For The Love Of A Snake

Chapter 13: With Passing Time

     The next few months seemed dull. I hadn't talked to Sebastian at all. I simply muddled through my classes. In fact I hadn't even seen Sebastian. It was like he didn't exist anymore. Even in defense against the dark arts he wasn't there. I tried to ignore the fact that I was constantly thinking about him. His wavy brown hair, copper whirlpools for eyes and that delving grin that rose up his freckles. I missed his presence but at the same time I reminded myself that I needed the time away from him.

He was like an addiction that I couldn't cure. I had no closure from our fight and his sudden nonexistence made it even harder to move on or find some form of closure. I figured that was what it would be after all, closure. With no word from him, or of him I figured we were done. I figured I had lost whatever chance I had with him. It made my gut turn and my core ache thinking of it.

I tried to distract myself with the presence of others. I would hang out with Ominous, Garreth and sometimes this other girl named Poppy. Poppy and I had met during Beasts Class. She was a Hufflepuff and it was incredibly obvious that's where she belonged. She had a way with beasts that reminded me of my mother. I found her presence to be oddly comforting, in fact she was the only girl I really seemed to get along with here anyways. Maybe it was because she wasn't like other girls, she'd rather be around beasts than humans. I was the same way sometimes so maybe that's why we got along so well.

At lunch I would sit with Garreth and his Gryffindor friends. They were obnoxious but always found ways to make me laugh. Leander Prewett was one of the boys who sat with us. He was the red haired boy who had challenged Sebastian in defence against the dark arts when I first arrived. After a while I came to realize that he wasn't all that bad just like Garreth.

      Sitting across from Ominous was too painful for me. Especially knowing Sebastian wasn't going to be there. Ominous didn't blame me for it and had other Slytherin friends that had been sitting with him since Sebastian's presence had been absent. I always wanted to ask Ominous about Sebastians whereabouts but I figured if he had been expelled or something important had happened Ominous would have told me immediately.

     The morning after our fight I had told Ominous about what had happened between us. He seemed disappointed in his friend and suggested that I give it time. He told me that everything that needed to be explained had to come from Sebastian. That he couldn't do it himself. I knew he was right but it frustrated me. Ominous knew more than he was letting on. He reassured me that Sebastian really did have feelings towards me and that he had never seen him like that with anyone before, but I couldn't help but feel used. After I told him Ominous had said he would talk with him and then Sebastian seemed to just disappear out of Hogwarts. Ominous told me not to worry and that with passing time everything would end up like it was suppose to.

Soon it would be winter break and I would be stuck at the castle instead of returning home with Professor Sharp. The professors had all insisted that I stay and try to catch up on the work that I was behind on. I really wished I could escape the castle but Garreth had been required to stay to catch up as well and he promised to make it a fun break. I hoped that he would find a way to get us out of this godric forsaken castle. He was good at that kind of stuff so I held some faith that I wouldn't feel stuck during break.

I had actually grown fairly fond of Garreth's presence. He was always kind, made me laugh and kept my mind off of Sebastian when I was with him. Part of me felt guilty for spending so much time with him but I wasn't Sebastians girlfriend. Sebastian had made that very clear before he left. He wouldn't like me hanging out with Garreth but maybe that's why I liked it. A toxic part of me wished he'd appear while I was with Garreth, cause a scene, swoop me off my feet and take me back to his dorm room. I kept waiting for it to happen but it never did.