Desiderium

After the meeting with his aunt was done, Garreth left her office feeling both relieved and worried. He liked knowing that he didn’t have to hide from her, but the thought of how Sebastian might react was unsettling. Sebastian’s natural tendency to want to keep anything personal under strict lock and guard made him feel antsy. He wanted a distraction, and the weather was nice, so he decided to go down to the kneazle pen. He was walking through the quad courtyard when he saw Rosie. She smiled brightly and met him near the base of some stairs. 

“Hey you,” she quipped, she crossed her arms and tilted her head at Garreth. “What are you up to? Meeting someone?” 

“No,” Garreth said, a faint blush appearing on his face. “I was going to go see the kneazles. What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know, just looking for people to bother,” she replied with false innocence. “How was your Easter?” 

Garreth shrugged. “It was fine. Yours?” 

“Also fine,” she waited a moment, her eyes narrowed for a second before she spoke again. “You seem… more rested than usual.” 

“Well,” Garreth shifted his weight and looked off to the side. “It is Saturday. So I didn’t have to wake up early just to hear complaining all day.” 

“True. Got any… plans for tonight?” She asked much too pointedly for Garreth’s liking. 

“No,” he said flatly as he crossed his arms. He opened his mouth to speak again when they were both distracted by an echoing laugh and footsteps from the top of the stairs. 

“Did you really say that? That’s rather brazen even for you,” Sebastian laughed as he walked with Ominis. 

“Well, after almost ten years of dealing with him, I’ve lost any sem—“ Ominis cut himself off when he noticed Sebastian had slowed nearly to a stop. “Sebastian?” 

“Oh, hello, you two!” Rosie had turned towards the sound and called out to them from where she and Garreth stood. Sebastian looked a bit pale when he saw Garreth, and tried to recover quick enough to hopefully not draw too much attention. However, Rosie seemed to be quicker. She looked from Sebastian to Garreth, her smile widening into a grin when she noticed how they tensed up. 

“Hi, Rosie,” Ominis replied. He walked with Sebastian down the steps and stood with his wand in front of him. He moved slightly to the side when he noticed someone else with Rosie, and was about to ask who it was when Garreth spoke. 

“I’m here too,” he offered awkwardly, and began to wave but then quickly dropped his hand back down to the side. 

At the sound of Garreth’s voice, Ominis raised his eyebrows and smirked. “Hi, Garreth. How have you been?” 

“Uhm… fine,” he tried to keep his attention on Ominis, but could feel the uncomfortable energy radiating off of Sebastian. It also didn’t help that Rosie was watching them like a hawk, her eyes darting from Garreth to Sebastian as if waiting for one of them to sprout wings. “How are you? How’s the ministry?” 

“It would be better if I didn’t have to work with a certain wizard who always insisted on butting into everyone’s business, but, you know.” 

“Right,” Garreth chuckled nervously. He couldn’t help stealing glances at Sebastian, who had turned to stare at a tree nearby, apparently fascinated by the sight. 

A few moments passed—well, dragged by. No one knew what to say, the weight of what they all might know becoming more unbearable. A faint smile teased at Ominis’ face, and Rosie’s grin had faded to an annoyed frown, her hands planted on her hips as she stared at Sebastian. 

She sighed loudly before she spoke. “Well?” She turned from Sebastian to Garreth. “Are we all just going to stand here and pretend we don’t know?”

Sebastian had the audacity to look at her confused, and she rolled her eyes. “You two,” she pointed between Garreth and Sebastian. “Are together. Can we just admit it?”

Garreth felt a sense of unease in his stomach and his eyes met Sebastian’s for a split second, a nervous laugh tried to force its way out and he attempted to cover it with a cough. Sebastian inhaled deeply, eyes shooting from Garreth, to Rosie, then to Ominis, who was now facing towards Sebastian, head tilted down as he waited. 

Another long moment passed as Sebastian chewed on his lip and his arms went from crossed to on his hips, then back to crossed. He glanced at Ominis, before rolling his eyes and exhaling. “…yes.” 

Garreth felt the jumbled knot of anxiety loosen at Sebastian’s response. Before anyone could answer, Ominis threw his hands up and let his head fall back for a second. “Bloody hell—finally!” He rubbed a hand down his face and looked towards Sebastian exasperatedly. “Now, was that so hard?” 

“Shut up,” Sebastian grumbled. 

“No.” 

Rosie grinned at Sebastian, then looked at Garreth and shoved him playfully. “Excellent.” 

Garreth groaned quietly and looked over to see Sebastian stifling a smile. Their admission appeased their friends enough that it was left alone, and luckily the rest of the conversation continued as normal. Garreth left to go down to the kneazles, like planned, and Sebastian walked Ominis down to the apparition point. Garreth made sure to ignore Rosie’s staring as they parted ways, and her subsequent pouting when all she witnessed was a simple “See you later” between Garreth and Sebastian. 

The rest of the day went along as usual. Any sense of dread about telling Sebastian that his aunt knew was slightly diminished when he saw how easily Sebastian had admitted their relationship to Ominis and Rosie. That evening after dinner, Garreth had gone back up to his room and was reading when Sebastian came in and quickly closed the door behind him. 

“Hey,” Garreth smiled and lowered his book. He vaguely wondered if his stomach would ever stop doing flips when he saw Sebastian. 

“Hi,” Sebastian replied, he sounded a little winded and looked frazzled. “I just had a very interesting conversation with your Aunt.” 

Garreth’s stomach dropped down to his legs mid flip, his eyes widened a fraction and he closed his book. “Oh? Is that right?” He only hoped he sounded more casual than he felt. 

“Mhm,” Sebastian raised his eyebrows and nodded as he walked over to Garreth. He perched halfway on his desk and folded his hands in his lap, looking at Garreth’s expectantly. 

A dull warmth crept up Garreth’s face and he swallowed heavily. “I was going to tell you. I promise. I didn’t even realize she knew until this morning. That’s why she wanted to see me.” 

“How did she even find out?” 

The warmth grew hotter, his eyes drifted off to the side. “It’s my fault. My mum told her about Easter. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad,” he grimaced and snuck a glance at Sebastian. He didn't look exactly mad, but he certainly wasn’t happy about it. 

“As much as I like watching you squirm, I’m not mad,” he relaxed his shoulders and scooted a bit closer to reach out for Garreth’s hand. “If I wasn’t such a freak about my privacy I would tell everyone that we’re together.” He forced a frown when Garreth started to smile in response. “But I am a freak about my privacy so that will not be happening. Don’t get cocky.” 

“Me? Never,” Garreth teased as he leaned up to kiss Sebastian. When he pulled away, he looked at Sebastian quizzically, who recoiled slightly at the expression. 

“What? I don’t like that look,” Sebastian said hesitantly. 

“You know, I’m going home again soon, and my mum—“ he wasn’t able to finish the statement because Sebastian had planted his hand against Garreth’s forehead and shoved him back against his chair. 

“Do not finish that. It’s not happening!” 

Garreth laughed and grinned at Sebastian. “What? Why not?!” 

“You’re annoying.” 

“I know,” Garreth leaned forward and pulled Sebastian closer. He wrapped his arms around Sebastian’s hips and rested his chin on his thigh. Sebastian looked down and smirked. 

“While you’re down there…” 

Garreth rolled his eyes, and stood up. He started to walk over to his bed, but paused and turned around when Sebastian didn’t follow. 

“You coming or what?” He asked coyly, and seconds later he was being tackled down against the mattress. 

~

The thought of audibly saying that Sebastian had been happier the past seven months than he had in years made him cringe, even though it was entirely true. Every so often, Rosie or Ominis would ask him how things were going, and the most they got was a simple “Fine”. However, if someone were to watch closely, they would see that things were much, much better than fine. Sebastian found that at any given time, there was a high chance that his mind was elsewhere. Usually that place was in a Garreth induced daze. He was more lenient with his students—within reason, of course. Even Rosie commented that he hadn’t had one of his moody days in a long while. Which, ironically enough, spurred on a bout of moodiness. Yet, it was short lived. 

Things had been going so well that when Garreth invited Sebastian and Ominis to Thanksgiving at Leander’s, Sebastian didn’t even think of the disaster that happened the year prior until he showed up on the farm and was face to face with Leander and Cora. Embarrassment immediately took hold, and he kicked himself for not remembering beforehand. More so because he showed up empty handed. Leander eyeballed Sebastian, and was about to say something probably annoying, when Cora interrupted him. 

“Thank you, for coming, you two! I’m so happy to see you guys again,” Cora smiled warmly and led them into the living area where everyone was mingling. Including Garreth and Rosie. 

Garreth turned toward them when he heard Cora and walked over. He stood next to Sebastian, a hand placed on his lower back. Sebastian looked over at him accusingly. 

“Why did you let me forget about what happened last year?” He asked, though his face did not match the bite in his words. 

“I didn’t realize it was my responsibility,” Garreth chuckled. “You forgot?” 

Sebastian shot Ominis a glare when he heard him stifle a laugh. “I know, but it’s not something I like remembering.” He looked over at Leander and Cora apologetically. “I really am sorry about that.” 

Cora shook her head. “I said it last year and I’ll say it again. It’s okay, it’s not a real Thanksgiving without at least one fight. Besides, look at you two now! Makes the story even better,” she teased, which caused both Sebastian and Garreth to shift and look around awkwardly. “Really. I’m looking forward to actually getting to know you. Lord knows Garreth doesn’t shut up about you.” 

“Uh—hey!” Garreth gaped indignantly, which was answered with amused looks from the other four. 

She laughed and turned to walk into the kitchen. “Oh calm down, it’s cute. I’ll get you two some drinks, I’ll be right back.” She and Leander left for the kitchen. Rosie noticed them from the other side of the room and walked over to pull Ominis away, claiming she wanted to show him something. However, Sebastian noticed that all she did was bring him back to where she was standing and had positioned them so that she was facing Garreth and Sebastian and was watching them closely as if hoping to catch them slipping in some way. 

“Why do you think Rosie is always watching us?” Sebastian asked, dragging his attention from her to Garreth. 

“Dunno,” Garreth shrugged. “Maybe she just wants to see two men necking.” 

Sebastian snorted and looked back at Rosie. He regarded her for a moment before he shook his head at her in mock disappointment. She frowned at him and looked back at Ominis to continue their conversation. The rest of the afternoon went on as planned, and once everyone had eaten their share, Leander suggested a few of them go outside and do some shooting since the weather was nice enough. Sebastian perked up at the suggestion, and the chance of seeing his fantasy in person. He kept quiet but hoped that Garreth would agree. Sebastian ignored the way his chest tightened when Garreth got up to follow Leander outside. Twenty minutes later Sebastian was standing outside with Ominis watching Garreth shoot some bottles and desperately resisting the urge to drag him back to his room at Hogwarts. He was so focused on Garreth he didn’t realize Leander had walked up to Ominis until he heard him speaking. Sebastian didn’t look over, not wanting to miss a second of the sight in front of him, but he eavesdropped on their conversation.

“So, Sebastian and Garreth… about time, eh?” Leander said amusedly. 

A moment passed before Ominis replied, sounding as bored as ever. “Don’t try to relate to me.” 

Sebastian covered up the laugh that tried to slip out by clearing his throat, but wasn’t sure if it worked because he felt the glare Leander shot at him. 

~

That evening as Sebastian lay next to Garreth, sweaty and trying to catch his breath, he thought he would have to be nicer to Leander if only to see Garreth use a gun more often. After a few long minutes of them both recovering, Sebastian rolled onto his side and faced Garreth. His gaze drifted from his face down to his chest and he wondered how he went so long without noticing how attractive Garreth was. He felt a stab of regret and thought he would just have to make up for lost time. 

“Thank you for coming, today,” Garreth said as he also turned onto his side and looked at Sebastian. 

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” 

“Well, for one, I didn’t realize you had actually forgotten about last year,” Garreth smiled. 

“Ugh, I know. Don’t remind me,” Sebastian looked off to the side and sighed heavily. “At least Cora was nice about it… I like her.” 

“Me too. She’s good for Leander.” 

“She is. He doesn’t run his mouth as much around her.” 

Garreth laughed quietly. “Give it time. He’ll grow on you.” 

“Like some barnacle? Gross,” Sebastian muttered as he scooted close to Garreth. He took up his usual position of shoving his face against the crook of Garreth’s neck with his arm wrapped around Garreth’s waist and their legs tangled together. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Garreth said as he draped his arm over Sebastian. “How is that comfortable? You look like you’re going to suffocate.”