Chapter Text
The stone walls swung to a close behind them with a low hiss, and they were plunged into darkness. A look of confused panic had passed over Sebastian’s face from where he stood at the other end of the hall as the last sliver of light had closed over him, trapping them inside.
With an exasperated sigh, the new fifth year pulled out her wand. Together her and Ominis had tried to warn him against running ahead, especially given all of the trapped doors and literally striking statues they had gone through to get to this point, but no, of course he had ploughed on through with no regard whatsoever for their safety.
“Lumos,” she spoke into the darkness, so thick and heavy that she couldn’t see her hand where it was held in front of her. There was a pitiful whine from where she clutched at her wand, and then nothing.
“You have got to be kidding me,” came Sebastian’s voice from somewhere, the darkness stealing away any ability to place how close he was. There was a mutter, followed by a similar whine as he tried for himself, not even a flicker of light given off for his efforts.
“What’s going on?”
The voice that came from over her shoulder nearly had her jumping out of her skin. Had Ominis been that close this whole time? She was sure that he had been a few steps behind her when the doors had sealed, but she hadn’t heard him move, even with the darkness settling and her other senses sharpening to fill the gaps.
As she scrambled for words, shocked at his sudden presence, Sebastian answered for her from across the hall.
“Some sort of impenetrable darkness spell on the room,” he grumbled. “That, and no idea how to get out of here. I didn’t see any sort of door or passageway before we were sealed in.”
“Oh?” Came Ominis’ voice, and was that a touch of dry humour that she could hear? The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and a feeling of unseen danger settled in her stomach, the same one that she felt as she crept through a spider’s den with a thousand pairs of eyes trained on her. There was something almost predatory in his tone, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on as he continued speaking, the source of his words somehow even closer now. “I suppose we should have a feel around.”
The sound of Sebastian’s feet began to shuffle off at what she supposed was the other end of the hall, unsteady steps and the crunch of small pebbles underfoot echoing off the walls around them. As she let out a deep breath she didn’t realise she was holding, she stepped to move away, arms outstretched to feel for the wall somewhere in front of her.
Without warning, an arm snaked out around her waist and tugged her backwards.
The air was knocked out of her lungs as she hit Ominis’ chest, her back burning as it pressed up against him. As she opened her mouth to protest, a cold hand pressed itself over her lips, cool fingers splayed across her cheek and a thumb rubbing gentle lines back and forth across her cheekbone.
“Hush now,” he whispered, voice low and commanding, a soothing purr in her ear.
Flashes of memories flooded her mind; lingering touches as they had passed books back and forth under candlelight in the common room, the way he had swallowed thickly as a thumb had run over her bottom lip when she agreed to let him touch her face so he could visualise her. Weeks of tension snapped like a rubber band against her skin, sending shivers down her spine.
The feeling of danger suddenly made sense as everything fell into place - the dark was his domain. She had been flirting with the lion, but now she had stepped into its den, and it was toying with its prey.
He chuckled quietly as she relaxed into his grasp, the arm around her tightening as he moved his little finger under her jaw to tilt her face upwards and away from him, keeping his palm firmly pressed against her mouth. His breath washed over the exposed skin there, nose skimming across the tender stretch where the side of her neck met her shoulder. Goosebumps erupted across her skin and she couldn’t hold back the visceral shiver that ran through her, nor the sharp intake of breath as she felt him grinning against her as he soaked her in.
Slowly, teasingly softly, he began to place light kisses on whatever skin he could reach, tracing a line from her collar to the base of her jaw. His pace was almost unbearably languid, so achingly slow and hot that she found her breath catching in her throat. It was only the faltering shuffle of Sebastian’s steps somewhere off in the distance that had her biting off the moans that threatened to escape and spill into Ominis’ palm.
Unthinkingly she lifted her arm, and before she could even process that she was moving, the arm around her waist had released her and cold, deft fingers were wrapping around her wrist, capturing it and holding it in place. He seemed to pause for a moment, and it took a second for her to realise that he had two fingers pushing down against the pulse point there, tracking her pounding heartbeat as if he couldn’t feel her heart galloping in her chest already.
With a quiet, satisfied hum, he replaced his fingers with gentle kisses, grazing against the soft skin that still tingled from where his icy touch had held her still just moments before. Leading her as if it were a dance he raised her hand to the back of his head, encouraging her fingers to run through his hair. It was soft as silk, and as she twisted her fingers through the strands and tugged softly she felt his breath hitch, laboured and heavy in his chest for just long enough for her to notice it. Something deep inside her fluttered at the idea that he was as affected by this as she was, a burning heat building deep down inside her.
Without permission, her head rolled back onto his shoulder, and he traced the outline of her body with the backs of his fingers, feeling his way down to her hip where he grabbed at her and used it to pull her impossibly closer. The places where his fingers pushed into her with their vice grip seemed like they were on fire, his freezing touch somehow passing through the layers between them as if they weren’t there.
The hand that had been covering her mouth finally moved and she took in a deep, quivering breath as his hold on her moved down to her throat, long fingers wrapping around her in a way so possessive, so protective that it made her head spin.
He returned his attention to the skin open at the base of her jaw, seeking out her pulse again and laving it in warm kisses that turned to ice as his breath passed over them. The control that he had taken over her was too much, the hard, confident thump of his heart against her back in such utter contrast to the way that she was practically shaking under his touch, every kiss and each movement a reminder that while they were here in the dark, she belonged to him.
Sebastian had been all but forgotten until he called out from across the room, his voice cutting through the haze that had been filling her mind.
“I can’t find anything over here, any luck over there?”
Ominis didn’t stop at the sound of his friend calling to them, instead tightening his grip around her throat, an amused tone colouring his voice as his lips found her earlobe.
“Be a good girl and tell him what you’ve found.”
The command was less than a whisper, but her legs all but gave out underneath her and it was only the strong grip on her hip that kept her on her feet, earning her the ghost of a chuckle that she felt more than she heard.
“N-nothing over here,” she finally managed to choke out, her voice sounding so far away and foreign to her that she barely recognised it as her own. There was a hum of approval from behind her, and her willpower broke, spinning around and reaching into the darkness as if she were reaching for a lifeline.
He was gone as quickly as it seemed he had come, and her fingers could only find empty space, grasping at air as she reached out for his clothes, or his skin, anything she could use to pull him closer again. Despite the rush of heat still running through her veins, the space where they had been pressed together only moments ago was now freezing over, leaving her trembling from the cold running down her back in waves.
A strange hissing, grating and yet fluid broke the silence, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Before the sound had a chance to clear the air there was movement from the other end of the hall, cracks of light forming and bricks falling away to reveal an opening. The warm candlelight from the other side of the new archway caught Sebastian’s face first, and he turned slowly to fix his friend with a stare, crossing his arms.
“Parseltongue, Ominis? Really?”
Following his gaze, she found Ominis leaning against the wall across from her nonchalantly, shrugging as a timid smile spread across his face. She couldn’t believe she had never noticed how silently he moved before, had he always been able to do that?
“Seemed worth a try.”
Her jaw fell slack. He had known all along, holding her there in that darkness to tease her, to claim her. She wasn’t sure if she hated or loved him for it. A blush rose to her cheeks as she replayed those stolen moments in the dark, how right his hands had felt sliding across her skin.
“Are you feeling okay?” Sebastian asked, and it took her longer than she cared to admit to realise that the question had been aimed in her direction. His face was painted with worry as he walked towards her, stepping between her and Ominis. “You don’t look well, do you need to sit down for a moment?”
With a shaky smile she shook her head, brushing her hair out of her face and straightening out her collar.
“No, I’m fine, I’m just,” she searched desperately for an answer, “scared of the dark.”
Behind Sebastian she heard Ominis laugh, and she decided that she absolutely, definitively hated him. She hated him, and if this was a game he insisted on playing, she would more than happily oblige.