Black Curiosities
Baby Blackbird

"What was I thinking, going into Nightingale's shop and asking for help like that? I don't know the woman." Sebastian dropped his keys into the bowl by the front door before heading to the front foyer and flopping onto the couch, the fingers of his left hand touching the floor as black strands of hair fell in front of his eyes

"I know you don't recognize me," his mind at that moment decided to remember the woman saying, the house too quiet as Olivia wasn't there yet.

Sebastian sat up, ruffling his hair in frustration and letting out a sound of frustration. "I can't use magic, but what's with me bloody pointing out that I was married like a bloody idiot! A normal person wouldn't do that."

"Since when were you normal?" a voice in his head asked.

He sighed, closing his eyes and reaching his left hand up to try and rub the tension out of his neck. "Seriously. Me thinking someone other than Olivia would take an interest in me," only for him to remember why he'd left the dentistry early that day, his cheeks heating up. He shook his head. "I, no. That's ridiculous. He's the one girls were…."

"He who?" the voice in his head said.

Sebastian sat there, yet he wasn't there, and instead, in some library he didn't recognize someone leaning over him, their breath hot in his ear as they said, " Hey. You 'll never get a girlfriend if your nose is always stuck in a book, baby blackbird. "

He'd turned his head and saw—

Seeing that person as Sebastian returned to reality was a definite negative feeling. Head still in a fog, he reached for pencil and paper, feeling the need to get the image out of his head, but the next thing he knew, slowly but surely, with his own hands, the person he'd seen came to life on the paper in front of him. Sebastian didn't expect the portrait he drew to come to life and sat there, his hands trembling, still holding the piece of paper and pencil.

"I didn't know you could draw."

Sebastian's eyes blinked, hearing Olivia's voice. He didn't lift his head, swallowing. "That's what you're going to comment on? Not how what I drew has come to life and is moving on the paper?"

"You've always known, Sebastian, that, unlike the rest of my family, I knew you before you lost your memories," Olivia sat down on the couch in front of him as he tucked the pencil behind his ear, looking at her brown eyes which always had a way of calming him. Their daughter had the same eyes and hair color, but the curl to Hermione's hair was something she'd gotten from him, not her mother. She patted the couch, smiling, although there was nothing cheerful about the atmosphere in the room. "You're sitting on the coffee table, by the way."

Sebastian's eyes blinked, then looked down to see she was right, before sliding over to the couch to sit beside her wife. He hung onto the portrait, unsure what to say regarding his current predicament. "You didn't think our daughter would want to know? That her dad is a," he glanced away. "You know."

He heard Olivia let out a sigh. "And have her ask questions you don't have an answer to? And while I know some things about you, I don't know everything. And," Olivia sucked in her breath. Her hand reached out, latching onto his sleeve. "The person you drew. Did you remember them?"

"No. Not really," he said, turning his attention to the picture.

"How do you feel when you look at that person's picture?"

"Angry," Sebastian said.

"Angry? You," Olivia said. "You don't anger easily.

"I know," he said. "But it's not just anger. Frustration. Disappointment. Loneliness, and I don't know why I'm feeling the way I do."

"Then put that picture aside and don't dwell on it," Olivia said. "Don't make yourself sick trying to remember."

"Do you know what caused me to forget?" He asked, sliding the picture under a book he fetched from under the coffee table so he wouldn't have to look at it.

"We've been over this before," Olivia said, shifting so she leaned into him, snuggling in. "I don't know what happened any more than you do."

"I see," he said.

Olivia shifted again, leaning her head against his chest. "No. There is one thing I do know."

"And that is?" he asked.

"Don't sound so hopeful, Sebastian, dear," Olivia said. "Because all I know is that whatever happened to you was traumatic. That's why your memories are shut away like they are. So don't go forcing the doors open. We've been through that, when we went shopping for school supplies with Hermione, remember?"

Sebastian frowned. "Except, I don't remember."

"If your mind is ready to remember, it will," Olivia said, only for her to pull away, frowning as she did so. "Hold on a second."

He looked at her, letting out a deep breath. "What?"

"A few days ago, you weren't sick with the flu, were you," Olivia said, swallowing. "You had one of your episodes, didn't you, but you didn't tell me? Why?"

"Still processing," he said, feeling Olivia reach out to squeeze his arm.

"Well," she said. "I guess I should be glad this time around you're processing what's going on in your head, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried, Rabbit dear." She reached up and grabbed his chin, turning his face so he could look at her as she smiled. "Whatever you remember, know you're a good person."

He smiled back, even though he didn't feel like smiling. "And what if I'm not?"

Olivia laughed, squeezing his chin slightly. "That's not even a question because I know you are."

"But you said yourself, while you knew me before I lost my memories, there are things I don't know."

Olivia laughed. "Crookshanks, dear, would disagree with you."

"Crookshanks?" Sebastian said. "Hermione's cat."

"A," Olivia said, shaking her head. "I can't remember what breed he's supposed to be, but I remember her saying Crookshanks knows whether someone is trustworthy, but he adores you, Sebastian. You might have gotten mixed up in some things, but you're a good person."

"Got it," he said. He took a deep breath. "Hey. Olivia?"

"Yeah."

"You know how I get feelings sometimes?"

"Yes."

"What if I were to say I've got the feeling there's something important I need to do?"

"I've not known those feelings of yours to be wrong," Olivia said, frowning as she placed her forehead against his. "I think it's part of your magic, or something like that."

"So, no losing magic when one falls in love?"

"What?" Olivia laughed, looking up at him before kissing him, causing relief to wash over him. "Don't be silly. Not all the magical accidents when our daughter was younger were our daughter, dear."

"Ah," he said, feeling her hand touch his cheek as he closed his eyes.

"Just don't do anything on your own."

"I don't want to drag Hermione into everything," he said, remembering Cassie Nightingale telling him not to tell Hermione about the tattoo.

"Yeah. But I think whatever happened to you," Olivia said, running her thumb along his chin as she continued touching his cheek. "I think whatever bad things happened to you all those years ago, I think it happened because you tried doing things on your own. So don't do things on your own this time. Not if you can help it. Promise me?"

"I promise," he said, closing his eyes, continuing to sit there across from his wife.