Me and the Devil: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter FIVE - Hogsmeade

The cool crisp air whispered next to my ears and traced my fingers as we walked. The sun was warm and the leaves were gold.

As Sebastian and I walked in step together down the path, I couldn't control my eyes as they darted from singing flowers to glowing bushes to the way the light cast gently against the castle behind us. Sebastian contrastly, kept his eyes on the path ahead of us smiling and waving back every now and then to the people we passed.

We turned the final corner and the archway entrance came into view. My heart pounded giddily against my ribs.

"Here we are madam. Welcome to Hogsmeade." He bowed dramatically and swept his arm out to usher me in. I skipped from store window to store window, in awe of every nook and cranny. Cauldrons of every shape and size stacked high into the sky and I wondered if they had been charmed to stay that way or if the slightest bump would cause them all to come tumbling down. In the next window perched a hundred tiny purple birds that watched the passerby with beady eyes. I moved quickly by that one, feeling incredibly uneasy. The next little shop was painted a bright shade of cherry red and sparkling lights framed the windows. Inside, a large black feathered quill floated on its own above a deep brown wooden podium. It scratched away feverishly at a peach parchment page. Behind it I could just make out rows and rows of shelves filled with all sorts of writing utensils, books, rolled up papers and ribbons. I pressed my hands against the glass to see further in.

I didn't realize Sebastian had been shadowing me so closely until I heard him laugh quietly to himself just a few paces over my shoulder.

"What's so funny?"

He looked up at me, his usual smile staring back at me but his eyes fogged over with something I couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Nothing." He waved me off

"Oh come on, tell me!"

"You just remind me of Anne is all."

"Whose Anne?"

You would think I had slapped him the way he exhaled the rest of the air in his lungs. He paused a moment. "My sister."

"Oh! Does she go to Hogwarts too?"

"Uhh ya- well- she used to. She's actually... sick, so she's at home these days until she gets better."

I nodded and took the tone of his voice as my cue to not push it further. Something tingled up my body and whispered in my spine that there was something deep he was holding back. I didn't want to pry.

"I actually think you two would get along. Just a feeling." He seemed to shake himself out of his funk and continued on before I could respond. "I actually need to stop in here really quick if you don't mind?" He pointed to the cherry red shop.

"No! Not at all! I was actually kind of hoping to take a peak."

"Great!"

A sweet bell tinkled above our heads as we opened the front door and stepped inside. A small fireplace roared to the right, two small tables and accompanying chairs framed either side. To our left were the shelves I had spotted from the window. They rose so high above our heads that I decided the roof had to be charmed. A large wooden sign hung from the rafters with arrows pointing in every direction- "quick-quotes quills", "spell-checking quills", "self-inking quills"... Among the shelves were rows and rows of inks, parchments and quills. Black and gold pheasant-feather quills, eagle feather quills, peacock feather quills. Just about every color in the rainbow was available. I had never seen so many and my heart leaped with excitement.

Sebastian walked confidently over to the counter and leaned his body weight against it as he spoke to the cashier - a brutal faced old woman who looked less than pleased to see him.