Sebastian’s hands tremble, faint but undeniable, the aftershock of dark magic still pulsing through his veins. The echo of Crucio on his tongue. He’d only cast it on a stray rat scuttling across the Undercroft as practice. And the fact he justifies it to himself as ‘only a rat’ jars him momentarily. His usual confidence, that unshakable arrogance, dims. Instead, he glances at his hands as though they belong to someone else.

He lets out a shaky huff of a breath, trying to bring himself out of this hazy fog of guilt and shame that suddenly overcame him. His eyes lift to meet yours, something raw flickering in the depths of his gaze.

"You don’t fear me, do you?" His voice comes out in a hurried, almost desperate bark. “I’d never… I’d never…” Sebastian isn’t sure how to end that sentence. He’d never use that Unforgivable on a person? Or would he would never use it on you.