A Tale of Sallow

Chapter Four: Fight To Stay

Spotify: Never change by Lukas Graham

Sebastian woke up to the delicious aroma of soup brewing in his childhood home. Before he could open up his eyes, Anne dropped a smack to his head and shouted as loud as she can right next to his ear.

"GOOD MORNING, SLEEPYHEAD. IF YOU SLEEP LONGER, YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY TURN INTO A PIG."

Sebastian jolted up from his bed, shocked from the sheer loudness and... Anne? How is Anne here?

He caught a glimpse of Anne already halfway out the door of their shared bedroom and rushed out to follow her to the kitchen.

He couldn't believe his sight when he saw his mother standing in the kitchen stirring the cauldron of soup with her wand. His father looked up at him with a smile as he continued setting up the dining table. Anne was sitting comfortably at one of the chairs at the dining table, mumbling about something or the other.

Professor Sallow turned around, facing her son.

"Well, don't just stand there, love. Come here and help set the table with your father," Professor Sallow said.

Sebastian couldn't believe his eyes and he was not sure what was happening. He wondered if this is reality or a dream. But he was willing to take the chance that this is in fact his reality and he had just woken up from a nightmare. He smiled brightly thinking it must all have been just a silly dream.

He set the plate down at the table and looked up. He couldn't find his father.

"Mother, did father..," he turned around to face his mother but she was gone too.

He swiftly turned to face Anne. Anne with tortured expression on her face spoke to him in a haunted voice.

"I will never forgive you for killing Uncle Solomon. Never."

"No, Anne. Let me explain... no please. I can explain, Anne. Don't do this to me please," he begged but Anne got up and left.

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Sebastian's POV

I woke up in cold sweat. What the hell was that? I have been having nightmares constantly but it always starts dark and gloomy, just as my reality is. This is something new. A dream that started out nice. Wait, is that soup I smell? Don't tell me I'm in a loop of this nightmare. Well, I better check it out.

I got up and opened the door slightly, half expecting to see my family and braved myself for another round of this dream. But all I saw was a small figure swishing her wand around, trying to clean up the mess she caused in my kitchen.

"Lilian?," I almost whispered, surprised to see her standing in my home.

Lilian turned around, putting on the sweetest smile I've ever seen.

"Sebastian! You are awake. I prepared some soup for breakfast. I'm not sure of the taste but I tried my best," Lilian said with a faint red tint across her face.

"Than- thank you," I stuttered. Why is Lilian in my home and what is she doing here?

"Judging from the confused look on your face, I can tell that you don't remember what happened last night," Lilian stated.

I nodded to agree with her.

"Well, I found you in a pile of books. I nearly thought you were dead. You had me worried there for a second. But turns out you were just a pig and were asleep on the table like a dead log. You didn't even hear my knocks," she said with a cheeky smile on her face.

She is definitely in high spirits, this girl. Her positivity is starting to rub off on me, already making me feel better to see a familiar face in three months.

"Well, sorry for the trouble. But what are you doing here?," I said.

As soon as those words came out of my mouth, Lilian's expression changed.

"What AM I doing here? What ARE YOU doing here, Sebastian? You should be in school," she scolded with furrowed brows.

"I- I dropped out of Hogwarts." I said with no further explanations.

Lilian just stared at me. With silence filling the room for a solid minute or so, Lilian finally said in an angry tone.

"Well? Care to explain why?"

I hesitated before replying but I do owe her some kind of explanation. She was there for me all fifth year. Hell, she is here for me now.

"I don't even know where to start.. as you know, a lot of things happened last year. I- I don't think I deserve to be in school enjoying a carefree student's life," I sighed.

"And what about the books?," Lilian questioned.

I looked over at the books on the table, now neatly stacked on top of each other. Damn. She saw.

"The way I see it, after what I've done, I don't see a reason to stop pursuing Anne's cure at this point. I've already gone down the darkest path there is. I don't see why it should all have been in vain," I explained my most inner thoughts. This girl really could dig into the deepest parts of my mind.

"Reason? Reason?! I'm the reason! Ominis is the reason! We put our morality on the line to not report you to the ministry. How could you do this again? I shouldn't have trusted you. You shouldn't do this to us," Lilian almost screamed with tears welling up in her eyes.

It really broke my heart to see her like this.

"I'm really sorry, Lilian. I don't know what to say. I promised I won't use dark magic again. And I meant it. But I never said I will stop pursuing a cure for Anne. If you saw the titles, they are not at all on dark arts." I rationalised.

"And I never asked you to stop trying. But you should not have left Hogwarts. Part of the reason I never reported you is because I believe Hogwarts is a good place for you. You have Ominis and me there. The professors are more than willing to help you, if you'd only asked. All our friends are waiting for you back at Hogwarts. We can work together to help you and Anne. But you have to let us in first. Don't push us away," Lilian said with tears streaming down her face.

I said nothing but million thoughts rushed through my mind.

"Please. Promise me you will come back, Sebastian," Lilian said in a soft whisper.

Something in her voice made me vulnerable.

"I- I don't think I de- deserve to be in Hogwarts after what I've done. An- and Anne is sti- still out there without a cure," I said in a croaked voice, fighting back my own tears.

Lilian did the one thing I never thought she would have and took me by surprise. She came over and gave me a tight hug.

"It's okay, Sebastian. It's okay to make mistakes. But we must grow from it. We must learn from it. We must be accepting of others' help. What good would come out from isolating yourself? One thing I know for sure, I cannot allow you to punish yourself like that. We will search for Anne's cure. But together," Lilian spoke into my jumper, soaking it with her tears.

"And I'm so sorry that I neglected you after the whole ordeal. But you must forgive me for I was preoccupied with my own stuff. But I'm here now. And I will be there for you. Always," she continued.

How can this girl be so good to me? What did I do to deserve such goodness from her? Maybe she is right. Maybe isolation might not be the right approach. This is how I went down the wrong path in the first place. How could I have been so blind to go down the same path twice? It will be good to be around my friends. It will definitely be better to be around Lilian.

"I- I will come back. To Hogwarts," I finally said.

Lilian sobbed harder into my jumper. She must have been really relieved to hear me say that. And with that, I hugged her tighter and let down a few tears that I had been holding back for the past few months.