"Remind me why I need to go to this thing anyway?" Sebastian asked, glancing at Ominis over his shoulder as he tied his tie in the mirror. It was a lot harder than he remembered, but to be fair, it had been years since he had to put one on.
Ominis was seated in a chair just a few feet away, legs crossed over one another. He was already dressed for the event. "Because you've been cooped up in this house for too long. It'll do you good to go out and socialize with some people." He replied plainly.
"I'm sure it would do me good. Just not with a bunch of uptight pureblood snobs; they might start a fight if they're not careful." Sebastian scoffed. "I thought you hated these kinds of events anyway."
Ominis let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm going because I was invited by a friend who lives nearby. She and a few others are the reason I go. I'm going to keep you company, and I'm going to introduce you to some people I know who aren't total wankers." He scoffed.
Hearing Ominis use that word made Sebastian hold back a laugh. Even at twenty-six, he was still a little immature when it came to things like humor. It was also just a word he never expected Ominis to use.
Sebastian just shrugged. "Well, I've never been one for massively sociable events anyway." He spoke casually, as if trying to brush the matter off. The truth was, he was just nervous to go out. Ever since being released from Azkaban, he had hardly socialized with anyone outside of Ominis.
He feared he'd be an outcast or that people would recognize him as some criminal and only that. Nobody knew the truthâor they excused it if they did.
After being in a place where the only other company was dementors and other prisoners who were slowly going insane like himâand could care less what happened to himâit was hard to set people outside of Azkaban away from that. When you're in a place experiencing something for ten years, it was hard not to expect the same thing to happen after.
Ominis let out another sigh, trying to understand his friend's situation but also not allowing him to completely back down from what he feared; it wasn't good for him to just stay in here forever. Even after getting out of Azkaban, it was almost like Sebastian was making this home his own personal prison, as if he didn't know better and as if that's all he knew how to do.
"Sebastian, you can't just be stuck in this house forever. You're not in Azkaban anymore, and nobody there is going to drag you back to it." His expression changed, a small, comforting smile on his face. "I promise."
"Just relax and do try to enjoy yourself. I'll be right next to you practically the entire night."
Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know. But being in that place for so long... it's hard to adjust back into a life like this. Around people you can actually talk to. The fear is practically eating me alive."
Ominis frowned a little at Sebastian's words, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart. He knew exactly how Sebastian was feeling regarding the fear of being rejected. He had experienced that many times in his life before. "I understand where you're coming from, but trust me, that won't happen. I'll be right next to you practically the entire time, I promise."
"And besides, you've changed so much the likelihood of anybody noticing you anyway is generously low." He added.
That was true. He looked much different. So different that sometimes he didn't even recognize himself in the mirror because he was still expecting the face of a sixteen-year-old boy.
Sebastian nodded his head, trying to weigh the negatives and positives in his head. Ominis had a point, and he knew he needed to get out of the house. And he knew there was even a chance he'd meet someone he really liked.
Or at least that's what he was hoping.
***
"Remind me why I need to go to this thing anyway?" Vienne asked her mother, the ability to breathe becoming practically impossible as one of the maids pulled the strings of her corset impossibly tight. This was always the worst part of these events. The outfits were pretty but terribly uncomfortable. They were supposed to be comfortable, though. Corsets were only uncomfortable if they got the measurements wrongâand well, it seemed like that's exactly what happened here.
Claudine scoffed as she heard her daughter. "You know exactly why we go. You cannot keep asking these silly questions." She spoke, annoyance clear in her tone. "We have a reputation to upkeep."
"I'm sure hardly anyone would know or care if I wasn't in attendance." Vienne insisted, shifting uncomfortably to try and find a position where the side of the corset wasn't digging into her skin. In the long run, she knew there was really no point in trying to change her mother's mind.
Claudine simply shook her head. "On the contraryâI'm sure quite a few people would know and care." She declared, crossing her arms stubbornly.
Truly, Claudine was extremely insistent on Vienne attending not only because of their reputation but also because of her wicked plan of introducing her daughter to Edward Carter. As she had discussed with Mrs. Darcy just a few days prior, they were hoping the social setting would put more pressure on Vienne to be more accepting of the man.
Certainly, this was not the way to go about things, especially if she truly did want to see Vienne get married one day. However, in Claudine's mind, this was the best option, somehow. But by Vienne getting married, it would inherently help their reputation. Which was another reason. But situations like these never end well, and they usually backfire pretty terribly.
"If you insist," Vienne sighed. She took a look at herself in the mirror before glancing at her mother over her shoulder. "Will Luis be there?" She asked, hoping that the answer would be yes. Her brother being at the event would certainly make it more bearable.
Claudine shook her head. "No, he told me he was busy tonight. You'll be just fine, though. Now sit down and let them do your hair. We haven't much time."
Vienne frowned a little at the revelation that her brother would not be in attendance that night. However, she made no verbal protest, instead just sitting down with a heavy sigh. She watched as the maids started fussing over her ginger locks, trying to decide how to style it.
Claudine turned towards the maids. "Make sure it's presentable. But don't take too long; we don't have much time before we must depart." She told them before turning and leaving the room.
Vienne couldn't remember the last time, in these sorts of situations, she had a choice over anything. Sometimes it felt like she was a puppet and that her mother was the one pulling all the strings. It was not pleasant in the slightest, and all she could hope for was just a little bit of freedom.
***
The event was loud and lively; the rooms were crowded, and the noise of everyone speaking to one another made it impossible to get a moment of peace. Vienne was cooped up in the corner of a random room she had wandered into in attempts to get away from the noise. It was horribleâloud, people who were already tipsy after just a few small sips of their beverages, and of course, nosey people asking her all sorts of questions.
Usually, she was much livelier at events, but that was only if she knew someone there, and unfortunately, she couldn't recognize a single person.
But moments later, Claudine came walking around the corner, her eyes locking with her daughters. "Vienne, there you are!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "I have been looking for you everywhere. What in Merlin's name are you doing in here?"
"It was too loud out there," Vienne replied, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "And I don't recognize anyone here. I don't want to be standing around awkwardly; it's embarrassing."
"You did look rather miserable out there." Claudine spoke, acknowledging how her daughter had looked earlier. "However, that's no excuse to be so horribly unsociable. You should go out and speak with someone."
"There's nobody to talk to. Nobody interesting anyway." Vienne spoke, muttering that last part under her breath.
However, her mother was starting to get nervous that Vienne's insistence on not being around other people would thwart her plans for the night, and that was not something she was about to tolerate. "No, I'm not having this. You are a grown woman; you simply cannot just avoid everyone the entire night."
"Who am I even supposed to talk to?" Vienne asked, her brows furrowed together. Little did she know she had just played right into her mother's plan.
Claudine's expression changed as she realized the opportunity she had. "Actually, I do have someone I want you to meet." She replied, a smile forming on her face.
Vienne's expression turned one of surprise when she realized her mother was actually being serious, and she quickly realized her mistake by asking that question, but there was no way for her to backtrack it. Claudine walked up to her and grabbed her arm, leading her along. "I'm sure you'll actually like this one."
Claudine led her daughter back into the crowd and straight through itâshe was very determined to make this work. However, something else caught Vienne's eye. Well, it was more like someone else.
He was a man she had never seen before, standing off of the side of the room. He didn't seem all too keen on being here (she could understand him on that much). He was tall, with brown hairâshe could make out that much. She could only see the side of his face for the brief moment she had seen him, but something about him captivated her.
Unfortunately, Claudine was pulling her so eagerly away that she couldn't get a better look at him. And soon, she was too far away to get a look at him. Claudine finally slowed, and Vienne could see them nearing another man who had his back turned to him; he seemed occupied with a conversation.
Politely, Claudine got the man's attention. He quickly turned around, his expression confused, until he saw the two women standing there. "Hello, Mr. Carter! It's such a pleasure to see you here tonight." Claudine spoke, purposefully glazing her words with kindness. "I'd like to introduce you to my daughter, Vienne."
Claudine gestured for her daughter to greet Mr. Carter. "Vienne, this is Mr. Edward Carter, the one I've been wanting you to meet for a while." She explained. Her smile wasn't forced, but it was certainly exaggerated.
"You've never even told me about this man; stop lying to him for the sake of show!" Vienne thought to herself after her mother's words. Wanting her to meet for a while? Without even mentioning him once? Ridiculous.
Vienne looked at Edward, taking in his appearance quickly. He was tall, with brown eyes and blonde hair that was slightly long on the sides. He had a strong jaw, and his hair definitely helped compliment. He was generally all around a handsome man, she had to admit. However, it didn't take a genius to know why Claudine was introducing Vienne to Edward, and so immediately, Vienne was hesitant.
"Oh, I uhâit's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carter," Vienne greeted, giving a small bow of her head.
Despite her small and timid greeting, Edward reached for her hand, bringing her knuckles up to his lips, pressing a small kiss to them. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss. Austen."
Vienne's mind was beginning to reel a little. Mr. Carter seemed like a very polite man; however, her mind was still fixated on the man she had seen back there. But there was no possible way for her to excuse herself when her mother was right there.
Claudine seemed extremely pleased with how things were going. This might just be her chance. "Well, I'll leave the both of you to get acquainted with one another." She said, a gleeful smile on her face. She quietly excused herself and made her way over to Mrs. Darcy so that the two of them could still watch Vienne and Edward closely.
"That went better than I expected; let's hope she keeps my expectations up." She muttered to Mrs. Darcy, immediately losing the kind act.
Edward looked down at Vienne, a pleasant smile on his face. "I hope I'm not coming off too strong, but you look absolutely stunning tonight." He spoke, putting emphasis on the word "stunning.".
"Oh, thank you." Vienne replied, a subtle smile on her face. She could practically feel her mother's eyes on her, and she needed something to get away from that.
"Of course. I was wondering if you'd care to dance with me? It'd be quite an honor," Edward asked, offering his hand to her.
Vienne quickly took his hand, faster than anyone was expecting. In his mind, that meant she liked him. That was a good and quick development and Claudine was thinking the same thing. "Did you see how quickly she took his hand?" She spoke to Mrs. Darcy.
Mrs. Darcy nodded her head. "I did... Perhaps this might actually go over well."
In reality, Vienne was just trying to get her mother's eyes to pry off of her already, but on the contrary, she didn't mind dancing with Mr. Carter.
Edward swiftly whisked her off to the dance floor, among the other couples who were already swaying there. It was a bit of a tight fit, but nonetheless. Suddenly, the man she had seen earlier suddenly came into her vision, and she looked over at him, getting distracted. When she realized what she was doing, she snapped her attention back onto Mr. Carter.
Noticing this, Edward chuckled a bit, and his hand tightened just a little around her waist. "You seem rather enthralled by something over there." He teased with a small chuckle.
"Oh, apologies. Something just caught my eye." Vienne replied, shaking her head.
Mr. Carter chuckled again, though it seemed a little forced this time. "Not to worry. However, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to have such a beautiful woman's attention on me." He said. Clearly he was trying to catch her attention and put it all on himself, but he tried to cover it up with a slightly humorous tone.
Vienne took a deep breath, picking up on what he was trying to say. She wasn't necessarily a fan, but she knew her mother was watching her like a hawk. "Apologies, Mr. Carter. You will have my attention from now on." She spoke, hoping that her words would fend off his odd behavior for a while.
However, she noticed how Edward's grip on her waist tightened a little bit, pulling her just a bit closer to him. Vienne almost gagged and began to internally panic a little, but she tried to keep herself grounded. This was definitely not the place where she wanted to make a scene.
The two swayed for a few more minutes until relief finally came when the song came to an end. Vienne wasted no time trying to distance herself from Mr. Carter. After all, she had danced with him; surely that would have been good enough for her mother?
And that mysterious man she had seen earlier was still on her mind, and for some reason, she desperately felt like she needed another look. There was something so oddly captivating about him. So, she quickly struck up a plan to find him and get out of this awkward situation.
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Carter, but I must go take care of something of a pressing matter." She spoke up apologetically. She was afraid that if she didn't go find that man, she'd never know who he was or see him again. She just wanted to get a good look at him, at least. "I'll be back momentarily." She said to Edward before disappearing into the crowd of people, not even giving him a moment to reply.
Claudine quickly noticed that her daughter was walking off with urgency. "What in Merlin's nameâwhere is she going?" She said, following her with her eyes.
Mrs. Darcy sighed. "Give it a rest, Claudine; I'm sure she'll be back." She said with a flick of her hand. "She seemed rather enthralled by Mr. Carter just mere moments ago. Stop overthinking it."
Claudine eyed Mrs. Darcy for a moment as if she hadn't been the one who had helped her come up with this plan in the first place. But eventually she just scoffed and crossed her arms. Maybe just this once she'd let it slide.
Vienne slipped out of the concentrated sea of people and towards the direction she had seen the man earlier, hoping that there was still a chance he'd be around.
However, when she turned the corner, her dress caught under her foot, quickly sending her plummeting face-first towards the carpet with no chance of catching herself before the impact.
But the impact of her fall never cameâbecause she didn't hit the ground. She suddenly felt someone's hand around her forearm that had kept her from falling. The strong grip slightly stung, but it was arguably better than her hitting the rough carpet face-first.
When she looked up and over her shoulder, it was the man from earlier. The exact same man she had been looking for mere seconds ago.
Vienne's eyes widened more than ever, and she quickly stood upâher cheeks turned pink, conveying her embarrassment.
"OhâI am so terribly sorry! I- I wasn't watching where I was going properly!" She apologized, positively stumbling over her words.
"Not to worry, it was a simple accident." The man said, gently pulling her up by her arm so she could stand up properly. He then straightened up his suit, drawing his hand away.
This was possibly the worst way she could've seen him again, let alone meet him; however, she wasn't all that mad. The man was much more attractive than she initially thought he was. Vienne straightened up, trying to compose herself. "Vienne Austen, pleasure to meet you." She said, still somewhat trying to catch her breath from her would-be tumble.
"Sebastian Sallow," the man said, introducing himself. And just as Edward had done, Sebastian reached for her hand and lifted it up to his lips, placing a kiss on her knuckles. But for some reason, this one made her heart skip a beat. "And the pleasure is all mine." He followed up with.
"Thank you for catching me back there." She said, still feeling slightly embarrassed. It was only embarrassing because she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going to find him, and he ended up being the one to catch her.
Sebastian shook his head. "No need. It was only the right thing to do."
Sebastian had brown eyes, just like Mr. Carter, but something in his were pulling her in much more than Mr. Carter's. Was she going crazy? Why was he so enthralling and captivating? She had just met him. She quickly began to feel even more embarrassed about how quickly she was becoming attracted to him.
Around the corner came a familiar face, whom Vienne instantly recognized. It was Ominis. "Sebastian, are you down here?" He asked, having heard his friends' voice down the hall.
"Mr. Gaunt!" Vienne exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. She had invited him to the event in the first place but hadn't seen him until now.
Ominis brows furrowed as he heard Vienne's voice. He knew she would be there, but why was she with Sebastian? Something didn't exactly make sense here. "Vienne, darling, I had no idea you were down here." He spoke, walking down towards the two of them. As Vienne watched, she was still fascinated with how flawlessly he navigated with his wand.
"Oh, I just stumbled down here." She replied, giving a simple version of the answer. "It's good to see you. It's been quite a while."
Despite their homes not being far from each other, Vienne had seen Ominis less and less over the past year, and she had always wondered why. And she wondered if Sebastian had anything to do with it since she had never seen him before until now.
"Ah yes, my apologies. I've been quite busy these past couple of months." Ominis spoke. "Now, Sebastian, I've been looking for you."
"Do you two know each other?" Vienne asked curiously.
Ominis nodded his head. "Yes, we do, very well. We've known each other ever since our first year at school. And now he currently resides in my home." He answered.
So Sebastian did have something to do with that. "Oh! How fun. I had no idea. It must be a joy to have such a good friend so close." Vienne replied.
"Joy would be subjective." Ominis said, half-jokingly. He then turned in Sebastian's direction. "Now, Sebastian, we should probably let Miss Austen go. She must have quite a lot to do tonight, and it'd be rude of us to keep her from those responsibilities."
Vienne was about to protest until she realized that that was probably his polite way of saying he and Sebastian had things to do. Sebastian then looked over at Vienne. "Of course, apologies for the holdup." He spoke with a small bow of his head. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Austen."
Vienne watched as the two men walked away, and she let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. There was just something about Sebastian that captivated her so much, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. But she did know that he was going to be on her mind for a while.
She began to make her way back to where she had danced with Mr. Carterâa plan to make up for her absence already in her head. However, that plan was cut short when Vienne made eye contact with her mother, who did not seem happy at all.
"Vienne Austen!" Claudine scolded her through clenched teeth. "Where in Merlin's name have you been? I watched you walk straight away from Mr. Carter the moment you finished dancing! And I thought maybe you'd be back swiftly, but this is far too long for me to be okay with!"
"Mother, I wasâ,"
Claudine scoffed, cutting Vienne off. "No, I am not doing this tonight. Mr. Carter is a wonderful man, and you will go back there and apologize to him for such ridiculousness!"
Vienne sighed, knowing there was absolutely no way that she was getting out of her mother's scolding. So she just nodded her head, reluctantly complying. "Yes ma'am."
Vienne made her way back to Mr. Carter, putting on a fake smile and pleasant act. Godric, she hated this. "Mr. Carter, please forgive me for leaving you so suddenly. I had aâerm, pressing matter, but I should've waited." She explained to him, obviously speaking the words her mother wanted her to say.
Edward looked back at her, his expression understanding. He grabbed her hand gently with a hint of firmness in it, as if he wasn't willing to let her slip away for a second time on him. "Oh, not to worry, Miss Austen." He replied. "But now that this 'pressing matter' is over, we can focus on each other, no?"
His smile was mixed with sincerity and something else Vienne couldn't read, and it was making her skeptical of the whole situation.
Vienne could only crack an awkward smile, accompanied by an even more awkward chuckle. "Yes, of course." She forced.
It was going to be a long night.
a/n: Sebastian is here ðð¥
*will be updated later with a header image bc I forgot to take on last night lol*