Work Text:
“How much further, Sebastian?” Ominis grunted.
Sebastian only smiled.
The two of them were climbing up the ancient wooden stairs up to the Astronomy Tower for Sebastian to complete his stargazing assignment.
This morning, he was released from the hospital wing after an overnight stay for his broken arm and hand. Sebastian woke up with Ominis curled up next to him on the tiny hospital bed, hand on Sebastian’s stomach and his head under Sebastian’s good arm, and Ominis was still sound asleep when Madam Blainey came out of her room in the morning to check on Sebastian. Ominis’ white shirt was half unbuttoned, and Sebastian was too busy taking a good look at the beauty marks that were not covered by Ominis’ undershirt to notice Madam Blainey’s approach. Being caught in Sebastian’s arms was quite embarrassing for Ominis, who woke up immediately, not that Sebastian minded being seen. He could swear that Ominis’ cheeks were red even after breakfast.
It was an unusually clear night, albeit a little windy and chilly, and Sebastian knew that most of his class would be there because of the great weather.
And Sebastian wanted to describe how romantic stargazing could be to Ominis because he was exempted from taking the Astronomy class.
To be honest with himself, Sebastian didn’t mind seeing Ominis’ cheeks turn pink for the second time today after the long walk up from the Slytherin dungeons. He glanced down and observed how Ominis’ nostrils were inhaling more air than usual. The sound of Ominis’ breathing prickled a part of his mind.
Looking down to check out Ominis’ ankles, which were exposed with the short gray socks that he wore today, Sebastian suddenly noticed that there was a giant crack on the level of stairs that Ominis was stepping onto. “Wait—Ominis, careful!” he yelled.
If Ominis tumbled down the circular stairs, it would be unthinkable… Sebastian was not about to return to the Hospital Wing tonight—if Ominis got hurt when Sebastian was right next to him... Sebastian would never forgive himself.
Sebastian’s hand found the back of Ominis’ waist and pulled him in, and his other hand reached for the handrails.
Thank Merlin for his quick reflexes.
The two of them were suddenly trapped between each other, with Ominis’ back tight against the handrails and the wall. Ominis, flustered from all the walking, and perhaps something else, covered his face and touched Sebastian’s chest with the hand holding his wand as he breathed heavily.
Sebastian leaned down and lifted a strand of stray blond hair from Ominis’ temple.
“Are you… all right?” Sebastian asked anxiously.
“I thought I was going to fall. My foot was already beginning to get stuck…” Ominis leaned into Sebastian more, his voice shaky, and his pale hand traced down on Sebastian’s black sweater. His wand blinked a weak red.
“Thank you, Sebastian,” Ominis said.
But before Sebastian could answer, they were interrupted.
“Hurry up, Sebastian, or you won’t get a good spot! What a gorgeous evening! It’ll be crowded tonight with all our classmates! Oh!… Ominis, hi…”
Sebastian turned his head and saw Amit coming up the stairs with his heavy backpack, no doubt full of astronomy textbooks and constellation charts, and his precious telescope case cradled in his hands. In his typical fashion, Sebastian just threw all his supplies haphazardly in his light backpack.
Amit shivered and looked away when he saw Ominis, basically running away from the two of them and nearly lost his footing on the stairs. Ominis was probably covered in the shadow when Amit first started talking to Sebastian.
“Sure, see you up there, Amit,” Sebastian responded.
What was that about? Amit wasn’t friends with Ominis, but the change in Amit’s tone was certainly strange.
Interestingly, a shadow passed through Ominis’ face, and, always polite, he didn’t greet Amit back this time.
Something was up. Sebastian was curious, but out here where they could be again interrupted was probably not the best time to get to the bottom of this.
“Do you want me to hold your hand the rest of the way up?” Sebastian took a step back and asked Ominis, his hand pressed into Ominis’ waist.
“What… if other people see, Sebastian?”
“Who cares?” Sebastian’s hand moved to Ominis’ in a firm hold.
They started climbing up the stairs again. This time, Sebastian was distracted not by his best friend’s ankles but by the feeling of holding the delicate fingers in his. Gripping Ominis’ hand in reality was better than any fantasy that played in his mind a few minutes ago.
“We’re here, Ominis,” Sebastian whispered after their shoes clicked on the Observation Deck.
Ominis squeezed Sebastian with his fingertips and withdrew his hand. His wand must be telling him that there were several other students on the large platform.
Secretly lamenting the loss of touch, Sebastian walked to the railing and started setting up his telescope on a stand. He put down his backpack, shuffled out the telescope case, and took out the equipment.
When Sebastian was squinting into the lens and adjusting the knob on the right side, he became aware that Amit chose to set up his telescope away from Sebastian, and the Ravenclaw girl that had arrived before he did moved away her telescope to huddle with other students. Not that Sebastian was the most popular guy in class, but he always chatted with all of them and compared notes.
It was just him and Ominis standing by this section of the railing.
Whatever. Sebastian squatted to look again in his bag for the constellation chart.
“Are you cold, Ominis?” he asked when, lifting his chin, Sebastian saw that each exhale of Ominis brought waves of white condensation around his cheeks.
“A… little…” Ominis rubbed his hands.
Without hesitation, Sebastian took off his robe and pulled Ominis in. Closing the robe carefully so that it covered all of Ominis’ shoulders, Sebastian hooked the robe tightly by Ominis’ chest.
“There.”
“Sebastian! You… were just in the Hospital Wing last night. You need it.” Ominis’ fingers traveled to the enclosure, but before he could undo the button, Sebastian held the frozen, pale fingers in his.
“Don’t even think about it. I brought you here, right? I should be the one keeping you warm. Plus, you already run cold all the time,” Sebastian said firmly, not letting go of Ominis’ hands until he agreed.
A pink blush rose on Ominis’ face. He nodded.
Opening the constellation chart, Sebastian first took a second to familiarize himself with the stars in his assignment. Then, he squinted into the telescope.
Sebastian started looking for Cassiopeia and located it in the north-west. He tried to recall the star-hopping technique that they had to practice, keeping in mind the relative scale of his chart and that of the sky. When he successfully found Andromeda below, Perseus, Pegasus—and the Great Square of Pegasus, then Cetus, he smiled and made a mental note of his process to finish his report later.
When Sebastian was very young, his father sometimes set up a telescope in the backyard and held Anne and Sebastian steady on a wooden stool as they took turns watching the night sky. His mother sat close by with a patient smile and fascinated the twins with tales of muggle mythology, like the arduous love story between Andromeda and Perseus, which flickered in Sebastian’s mind now.
“I’m done,” Sebastian looked back to his best friend.
Under the vast night sky, Ominis’ skin was impossibly pale and clear, drawing Sebastian closer before he realized what he was doing.
He pushed Ominis against the ancient stone column. In the shadow of the night, it seemed like only he and Ominis existed.
Sebastian swallowed and looked lovingly at Ominis. The clear blue hues of Ominis’ eyes were more enchanting than any constellation that Sebastian observed tonight. For the rest of his life, even, he was convinced.
Sebastian cupped Ominis’ cheeks gently.
“I thought that you are supposed to look into the sky,” Ominis said with a smile. His shoulders were flush against the grooves of the column.
“I have done that, but… no constellation competes with your beauty. Ominis, you could never imagine how devastating you are… and I could look into your eyes forever. They are the only constant stars that I need in my life.” Sebastian whispered, stepping closer.
The two boys’ foreheads touched.
“And… I would like to know what happened,” Sebastian said quietly.
Ominis smirked, “Referring to the odd behaviors of our Ravenclaw classmates? So many of them like Astronomy, I noticed.”
Sebastian nodded, knowing that Ominis could feel the tiny movement with their foreheads connected.
“You might find it a riveting story, with your rebellious spirit, Sebastian. Late last night, after you were sound asleep, I surprised all the Ravenclaws by entering their Common Room—what a terrible system, I must say, anyone could go inside after merely answering a riddle. Then, I talked with the culprit who made you suffer in the security of his dorm… and painted a lovely picture of what would happen if that coward ever did anything to you again… For all his bravado on the Quidditch field, Everett Clopton was quite astounded when he was educated about the potential consequences of his stupidity. Not that I could see his reaction, mind you… but it was clear.”
Sebastian opened his mouth in shock.
“None of the Ravenclaws did anything?” The first thing that he thought to ask was to make sure that Ominis wouldn’t get in trouble for something unheard of like this. Going into another House’s Common Room to locate and threaten another student? Unimaginable for a troublemaker like Sebastian, even.
Ominis shook his head.
Although that made Sebastian feel better, breathing was suddenly difficult. Each passing second as he digested the news spread the realization of what Ominis did for him: the lengths that Ominis was willing to go to ensure that he was safe; the darker side of the typically reserved Ominis that only he could unleash; the idea that Ominis was capable of exacting revenge for him.
Mere friends would not do that for each other.
Ominis… must think of Sebastian as more than a friend—Sebastian had never been more certain of a fact in his life.
And, abandoning his conscious thoughts, Sebastian bridged into the impossibly close distance and kissed Ominis for the first time, closing his eyes to savor the moment before Ominis might push him away.
His lips were eager, timid, and gentle.
Because Sebastian could not believe that any element of this was real. Perhaps, if he breathed harder or blinked, he would wake up from such a perfect dream… a reality that he never, ever wanted to leave.
Except that the icy lips of Ominis were already returning the kiss, and his cold, long fingers were tracing Sebastian’s jawline, thumb touching the corner of Sebastian’s lips. His other hand wandered to the sensitive skin behind Sebastian’s neck, the caress from Ominis’ frozen fingertips sending shivers down Sebastian’s spine.
Each second as they devoured each other was absolutely dizzying.
“I think, Ominis… I’m falling for you. I have been, for a long time now.”
Ominis hushed him with another kiss.
“I have, too. There is plenty of time to talk about all of that, Sebastian, our feelings and such.”
Sebastian knew what Ominis meant—how could he not when Ominis tasted more delicious than he had ever imagined?...—in his waking fantasies, his quiet dreams, and his longing sighs.
With a low chuckle, Sebastian pushed Ominis harder into the column.
They kissed each other endlessly under the starry sky.
At its heart, it was a love story, between two best friends who grew up together, coming true.