"We did it," Sebastian's triumphant smile grew as he stepped back over the scene of the battle they had just endured. "Rose, we actually-" he began to say before turning to see the state that she was in.

Her normally warm skin tone was paling by the second as the blood spot on her left side began to grow. She released a shaky breath, pulling the ornate dagger from the spot. Her hand was covered in her own blood as the dagger fell from her hand on the ground with a thud. While Sebastian wasn't able to see the dark magic swirl around the dagger, Rosalie was able to and she knew immediately that she was in trouble.

"S-Sebastian -" she breathed, stumbling toward him.

Sebastian immediately ran for her, grabbing her in his arms as her feet gave out underneath her. "H-Hey, it's okay," he said shakily as the blood spot began to grow, causing him to apply pressure to the spot desperately. "K-Keep your eyes open, I'm here. We-We'll get you some help - someone must - there has to be - SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE!"

They were completely alone in the field that they had just battled in, scorch marks from spells covering the lightly snow-covered ground, as well as several other bodies lying off in the distance, the ones they had been fighting. Sebastian looked around frantically before realizing just how alone they were in that moment and how dire the situation was.

"Rose," he sniffled, watching the grow blood spot, "y-your magic -"

She shook her head, looking at the dagger as she began to shake in his arms. "Dark magic," she barely breathed out, gripping his arm. "I-I'm scared -"

"HELP, PLEASE!" Sebastian yelled around him, not thinking clearly as he looked around frantically, tears welling in his eyes. "No, no, no, you can't - you're not -"

"Sebastian..." Rosalie's soft voice spoke, turning his face to look down at her.

"Sebastian..." she whispered in a softer tone before her eyes fell closed for the last time.

-

"Sebastian!"

A sharp gasp left him as he sat straight up in his bed, looking around frantically for Rosalie's body which had just been in his arms. His sweaty body was clinging to the sheets on the bed as he looked around frantically for a few more seconds.

"Hey, hey, breathe," the familiar voice of Anne Sallow assured him as she gripped his shoulders. She pulled him into her arms as he trembled at the memory, clinging to her like she was his lifeline.

And in the years after Rosalie had died, she was.

After a few minutes of Anne sitting there and holding her trembling brother, Sebastian slowly pulled away, running a frustrated hand down his face.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled softly.

"Sebastian -" Anne tried to say but he cut her off.

"No, I am," he stated firmly. "This keeps happening, no matter how many damn potions I take or how many of those fucking shrinks I go and talk to about her. It's been five years, Anne, but it feels like it's just getting worse with every passing day -"

"You lost the love of your life, Sebastian," Anne told him. "I know we tell you that you should move on, but no one except you can decide when that can happen."

Sebastian knew she wouldn't say it out loud, but they all still felt the effects of Rosalie's death. There were days when Sebastian would catch Anne's gaze lingering on the pictures above the mantle, all of which Rosalie was in. Or when he would catch Ominis playing with the pocket watch that Rosalie had gifted to him the Christmas before she passed away.

Before he could respond, the sound of feet running into the room caught their attention.

"Uncle Seb!"

As if on cue, the familiar child flung herself onto the bed with a happy smile and tackled her uncle into a hug, causing a smile to break on his face as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, there she is!" He greeted, beginning to tickle her as her giggles filled the room.

"Stop, stop!" Rose cried out as she giggled, but Sebastian listened and released her. "Daddy sent me to see if you both were coming down for breakfast."

Sebastian smiled as he began to climb out of bed, checking the time. "Well, I have time before I have to get ready for work and leave, so let's go!"

With that, he lifted Rose into his arms and ran out of the room as she yelped in surprise, their laughter filling the home as they made their way to the kitchen. Ominis was sitting at the table, his hands skimming over the newspaper as he read it before registering that his daughter and brother-in-law entered the room.

Anne entered behind them, smiling at the interaction between her twin and daughter. Sebastian always did his best to care for Rose and love her unconditionally. He always knew that he wanted to be better than how their uncle had treated him. He was a good uncle.

"Good morning, Sebastian," Ominis greeted. "Sleep well?"

Sebastian shrugged before realizing Ominis wouldn't be able to see the action and cleared his throat. "As well as I could, I suppose," he answered as Rose claimed her spot in the chair next to his and the four of them began to delve into the breakfast Anne had prepared.

While Sebastian did have his own home, it wasn't uncommon for him to spend the night in the guest room at his sister's home. He was always happy to spend time with them, especially after Rose was born. When he wasn't working, he tried to spend as much time as he could with his niece.

"Alright, I should be off," Sebastian stated after finishing his breakfast, not wanting to be late for work.

After quickly getting ready in their home, he then Apparated to the Ministry of Magic in London where he worked as a Hit-Wizard. He'd been working there since before Rosalie passed away but since her death, he'd immersed himself into work.

What better way to distract from his grief than to capture the worst criminals out in the wizarding war.

"Sallow, good morning," Sterling Wood greeted as Sebastian entered the office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, holding out a cup of tea to him.

"Morning," he greeted as he took the cup, making his way to his office, Sterling following right behind.

The stack of folders on top of Sebastian's desk as he entered caused an audible sigh to leave him as he knew it was most likely a day filled with paperwork rather than going out to hunt the criminals themselves.  He always found the thrill of going out to help retrieve criminals distracted his mind better than sitting behind his desk

"You look tired," Sterling commented as he plopped down into the seat in front of Sebastian's desk.

"I'm fine," he waved off the blonde man, pulling the first folder from the pile and beginning to read over the report.

Sterling snorted. "You always look tired when you come into work, do you ever get any sleep?"

"Are you going to interrogate me the entire shift or are you going to go back to your job, Sterling?" Sebastian asked, obviously getting annoyed.

The blonde man raised his hands in defense. "Sorry, I'll get out of your hair, no need to have a cow," he teased before exiting Sebastian's office to go back to his own.

Finishing off the tea, Sebastian continued reading over the file in front of him, writing notes as he went before there was a knock at his office door.

"Come in," Sebastian called to whoever was on the other side of the door.

"Sallow," Winston greeted as he entered the office. "How's the work?"

"Same as always," Sebastian shrugged to his boss with a soft smile. "What can I do for you, sir?"

Winston sat down across from him, a file in hand.  "Well, I was looking over your file and I must say, you are one of the most exceptional hit-wizards that we have on staff."

Sebastian couldn't help but smile in satisfaction at those words.  He knew he was good.  He'd worked hard to get where he was, even if it had been after Rosalie died.

"But I also noticed how you haven't taken anytime off in the past five years," Winston stated, looking up over the file at him.

Sebastian shrugged.  "I don't feel the need to," he said.  "I enjoy my work and I usually get the days off around holidays or important days for my family.  Why should it matter?"

"Because everyone needs a break, Sebastian," Winston stated as he stood up.  "Which is why effective immediately, you are required to take mandatory vacation time, starting next week."

"What?" Sebastian asked with a furrowed brow.  "For how long?"

"Well, since you haven't in the past five years, I'd say four weeks would suffice for now and as the year goes on, take a little more time for you," Winston told him as he went to exit his office, but he paused when he saw Sebastian looking frustrated at the idea.  "I know Rosalie's death hit you hard, but burning yourself out and catching the criminals won't bring her back."

With that, Winston exited the office, leaving Sebastian alone with his thoughts. 

He wasn't angry at Winston's words, they were true.  For the past five years, Sebastian would delve into work to the point of near burnout several times.  Maybe part of it was because in some twisted part of his mind, working as hard as he was kept Rosalie alive to him.

His eyes fell to the picture from on his desk.  It was of Rosalie on Anne and Ominis' wedding day.

The photo itself was of Rosalie smiling before Sebastian appeared, wrapping his arms around her, causing them both to laugh. He remembered that day so clearly.

They had stayed for the wedding and most of the reception to celebrate with all their friends and classmates. But shortly after this photo was taken, Sebastian had become far too tempted by the baby blue dress Rosalie had been wearing.

He'd whisked her away from the celebration where they spent the entire night tangled in the sheets together until dawn the next morning. He could practically still hear her moans in his ear, could feel the way her hands felt against his skin, her lips on his -

"Fuck."

With a groan, it became abundantly clear that he would have a little - not so little - problem that would be bothering him for the remainder of the day, at least until he could get into a hot shower that night at home.

-

The feeling of lips against Rosalie's bare shoulder stirred her from her slumber as a soft smile grew on her face.

"Wake up," a distorted voice spoke. "You've been asleep for far too long."

That last sentence caused her to giggle as she opened her eyes to look up at the culprit who dared disturb her sleep. But like always, the face was blurry and she couldn't make out any features that they had.

"Forgive me," she mumbled sleepily. "We left the wedding so early and as I recall, you did keep me up most of the night."

"And I'd do it again," the man cockily replied as he rolled her over to lay on top of her naked body.

Rosalie couldn't help the moan that slipped from her lips as he began to kiss down her neck, nor ignore the brush of his hardness between her thighs against the sensitive skin there.

With a gasp, she sat straight up, sweating as she looked around to find herself very much alone in her bed.  The sun was barely beginning to rise and Rosalie fanned herself, the heat of her dream still present.

This wasn't the first time something like this happened.  She'd slip into, what she assumed were memories of the past, and lose herself in the feelings that they brought.  Depending on the memory that she was able to recall, the more provocative ones left her breathless at times that she would have to step away from Lorelei and Elliot to compose herself.

After all, she didn't just become pregnant by some miracle, now did she? She was obviously extremely sexually active with whoever the memories were with.

It had certainly been better than the first dream - or nightmare - she'd had earlier in the night. She was wounded, bleeding in the figures arm's. It woke her up because of how terrified she'd been.

Seeing as she knew she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, she climbed out of bed and readied herself for the day. She could still hear the twins sleeping in their room, not wanting to disturb them. After ensuring they both were warm enough, she made her way out to her greenhouse to collect herbs and plants for her apothecary that she ran in town.

It mostly catered to those of the wizarding world, but occasionally, a no-maj would slip in and request her services, which Rosalie was always happy to provide.

She hummed quietly to herself as she held the basket close to her body, a mental checklist in her head as she recalled which of the many plants around her were needed more of in the shop. And thanks to her magic abilities, she never had to worry about importing foreign plants from elsewhere as she was able to have the perfect environment for every plant in her greenhouse.

"Mommy?"

After trimming some lavender to bring to the shop, she looked up to find Elliot entering the greenhouse, rubbing his eyes as he had just woken up himself.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Rosalie greeted as she walked over to pull his coat tighter around his body in the cold weather. "Did you sleep well?"

He nodded, letting out a yawn to indicate that he was still waking up. "Lorelei was waking up before I came out here."

"Well, then we'd better get inside and begin breakfast," Rosalie told him.

Taking his hand, the mother and son walked the short distance into the home just as the door opened to reveal Lorelei with her auburn bed head.

"You both look like you slept well," Rosalie laughed.

"I had a strange dream," Lorelei told her mother sleepily as they entered the kitchen.

"What was it about?" Rosalie asked, flicking her wand to begin prepping breakfast for the day.

"Dad," Lorelei said with a smile as she and Elliot climbed on top of the stools to sit on.

Rosalie froze upon hearing her daughter's words.  She turned to look at her, feeling her throat tighten.  "Oh?" She said softly.  "And what about him?"

"He was playing with me," Lorelei explained with a smile.  "And Elliot, in the park in the town."

"Do you think we'll ever get to meet him, Mommy?" Elliot asked after his sister finished speaking.

She sighed, a sad smile on her lips as she turned to face the children. "We've talked about this, my dears," she told them softly, moving to stand on the other side of the counter they sat at. "Mommy's mind was injured in a way I cannot remember.  And because it was injured, certain memories of the past for Mommy are blurry in her mind.  I don't remember what your daddy looks like or what his name is even."

"Will your mind ever become better?" Lorelei asked, her tone hopeful.

Rosalie's gaze fell, a strand of hair falling over her face as she thought.  "I don't know," she told them truthfully.  "I'm doing what I can to try and retrieve the memories but it's almost like they're blocked until something happens -"

"Like what?" Elliot asked.

She shrugged.  "I guess I won't know until it happens, will I?"

They both nodded, not entirely satisfied with the answer but accepting it for the time being.  Rosalie knew that they would ask that question again.  They would always be curious about their father and she desperately wanted to tell them, but she physically and mentally couldn't.

And it hurt her seeing the confusion on their faces when they saw other children living happily with their own families with fathers while it was just the three of them.  But that didn't mean that she loved them any less than a parent should.  But there were times where it was hard as she tried to remember anything from her past, even if it physically caused her pain at times.

It felt like a never ending cycle.

-

Another change, they both have different jobs than what I originally had written but not ones complaining, right?

Also, I'm in my third trimester of pregnancy, so it's almost time for baby girl! I'm so nervous because there's so much I have to do. Send all the positive vibes so I can get it done!

Please vote and comment!

-Syd♡