Silver and Green with Envy: A Sebastian Sallow Story

Chapter Thirteen

~~~Sebastian

My roommates were quite cross with me for slamming the door. I didn't care. But as much as I wanted to pace, I sat down at my desk with my head in my hands, shaking instead.

You're going to undo everything I've done to keep you safe.

To keep Anne safe. Natty and Poppy too.

I burned your coat.  I'll sneak into your room while everyone is gone and steal the rest of that damned hunting outfit to do the same.

It won't stop you, I know this.

I wish I could stop you. But this is also where you burn the brightest, and it hurts me to think I could snuff it out on purpose.

Why did they have to grab the wrong hippogriff?

~~~Elena

I didn't realize how distant and uninvolved someone could be even while actively hovering around you, nervous, like they were waiting for you to drop dead at any second. Sebastian was clearly a professional and I somehow had missed that in the time I'd known him. 

Though he wasn't very subtle.

For the next few days, he'd sit quietly between Ominis and I at meals, follow not more than four steps behind me to any class he was able to, and I once caught him pretending to not be pretending to hide around a corner listening to a conversation I was having with Amit. It was sort of funny, though worrisome. I knew something was eating at him but I was at a loss for what, and any time I asked him what was wrong he just ignored me or waved the question off. 

It made me mad at first, but eventually I decided to treat it like a game. 'How long does it take to notice where Sebastian is hiding?'

I told him about it. He didn't say anything but he did not look amused.

That last time, as I passed him looking far too intently on a portrait he's seen a million times before, I stepped up behind him and put my hands on his sides for balance, stood on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear. "You're really bad at this."

I was a little surprised when he turned his face and kissed my throat before turning me around and scooting me away with a little whisper of his own. "I'm not trying to be good at it. If I'm not close enough for you to see me, I'm not close enough to stop you when you go try to do something stupid again."

Ah. There was my answer.

An answer which just made me question his disappearance harder on Saturday morning.   

~~~

"Ominis, do you know where Sebastian is?"

"Hm? No, I don't. I heard him leaving our room this morning, however. Is something wrong? I figured after how he's been with you lately you'd be glad he's not hovering."

"Normally you'd be right, but it's got me curious."

"Perhaps he's catching up on the schoolwork he's been neglecting chasing after you all the time. He knows we'e going to the match today so he might figure Xander and I were fine to look after you."

"Look after me? Merlin's beard, Ominis, I'm not a child!"

"I'm well aware, Elena."

We finished breakfast and left in a hurry for the pitch, excited to finally watch a match. Xander was in bright spirits about the whole thing, though he was constantly cracking jokes at how bad some of the practices have been since everyone was so out of practice from not having it for two years.

"I hate to say it because she's so arrogant about it enough, but Imelda is going to win this for us. She's the only one who has consistently practiced, even when there wasn't any Quidditch going on."

I readily agreed, simply because it was true.

The stands were already full to bursting as we managed to make our way to some open seats. I tugged at my robe and scarf, trying to not make it overly obvious that I was looking for Sebastian in a seat. But my fidgeting gave me away to Ominis pretty readily. 

"He'll be here just calm down."

"I'm quite calm, thank you."

Professor Black, of course, had to give some grandiose speech before the match started about this sport and it's longstanding tradition at Hogwarts, and how he was so happy to be reinstating it, and by the time he was done it was a shock that no one had fallen asleep.

Xander snickered. "Like hell he's happy about it. I thought he was going to choke trying to get his words out by the end there."

"You aren't wrong, but I think sitting through that was worth it to see the look on Professor Kogawa's face right now. She's sneering like it's her job."

She really was. The triumph on her face was infectious, to be sure. She'd fought so hard to force Black's hand and finally won. Fantastic for her and for Quidditch at the school, but maybe not great for Black. Now he knew he couldn't get away with whatever he wanted if he was arguing with someone that actually had a spine.

The match proper started in short order and it was off to a strong start for Slytherin from the outset. We were up fifty points within the first ten minutes. But then Ravenclaw started making a comeback and the tensions were running high. 

Imelda wasn't one to be outdone, and showed off some of her superior flying time and time again, but still only managed to keep Slytherin ahead by ten or twenty points. I elbowed Xander, leaning over and needing to half shout because of the noise. "Apparently the Ravenclaw chaser has been practicing!"

Imelda barely missed a bludger flying at her, one of our beaters knocking it back and straight into another beater, who nearly fell off his broom. The crowd collectively made a very loud 'ooh' as we watched him struggle not to fall completely off. 

But just as he managed to get back on, Professor Kogawa's whistle sounded as Temple Wright, the Slytherin seeker, blew past all of us with the snitch held high in his hand. 

It was utter bedlam as the stands erupted in cheers, though it was mostly Slytherin and Hufflepuff doing the cheering. Xander whooped and hollered and laughed. "Party in the common room tonight!"

Excitedly, we hurried off, talking and laughing about how crazy it was going to be later. Ominis mentioned having something special for the occasion, that he might or might not have snuck in from home. "But I'm only sharing with you three, so don't think you can go an announce it."

You three.

I looked around me again and still didn't see Sebastian anywhere, and my stomach started to feel sick. That game had lasted hours, it was nearly dinnertime, I had the absolute worst feeling as we finally walked into the castle. Other students filed past me and I fell behind, wanting to turn around and go look for him. But I was stopped at the door by Professor Weasley. 

She looked horribly upset, but relieved to see me, which I thought was odd. "Elena, good. I almost missed you. Come with me to the hospital wing, please. Sebastian's-"

I didn't hear anything after that aside from what I think was Professor Weasley yelling at me to slow down, taking off as fast as I could run upstairs.