A Tale of Sallow

Chapter Seven: Our Night

Spotify: In The Night by Fly By Midnight

"Psst.. "

I turned around to look at whoever that was making hissing sounds at me. It was Poppy. She quickly handed over a note into my hand. That's odd. Why would Poppy be slipping notes to me during class? She can just talk to me later.

I opened up the note.

"Lilian

I found some interesting books to look through at our usual spot in the library. What say you? Tonight?

S. S."

Usual spot. That's our code for "restricted section." How clever of him to use initials for his own name but not mine. This bugger. But how can I refuse his invite? I would do anything to spend time with him. I immediately looked up at him. He was staring at me in anticipation. I nodded and gave him a smile. He gave me a lopsided smile in return.

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"Who was the note from just now?" Poppy questioned while looking at me with her big mesmerising eyes.

"Oh. Uh.. Sebastian," I replied.

"Oh!! Is he finally asking you out for a date?," Natty almost shouted from excitement.

"What? N- no. Why would he ask me on a date? He just want me to accompany him while we check out some books for Anne's cure," I explained.

"Well, after witnessing the romantic scene at the quidditch pitch the other day, I wouldn't be surprised if you guys are together," Natty replied.

"Y- you saw that?," I said, suddenly feeling hot.

"Everyone saw that. Even Ominis knows about it and he can't see," Natty said in amusement.

I turned red just thinking about what everyone must be talking about us. If only their whispers are true.

"Sebastian only sees me as a friend. Nothing more. So no, we will just be hanging out in the library as good old friends. Sorry to disappoint," I rebutted in a friendly manner.

"Alright. If you say so," Natty said as she winked.

It might have been just imagination but was that a faint blush I saw on Poppy's face when Ominis was mentioned? I could be wrong, of course. I've never seen Poppy interact with Ominis before.

As we chattered away during our lunch break, I couldn't help but look forward to the night.

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Sebastian's POV

I was waiting for Lilian at the staircase leaning against the railings, when I heard her voice.

"There you are," Lilian said.

"There YOU are," I replied with a cheeky smile on my face.

Somehow the night feels electric. It's rare to see Lilian in her casual attire. She was wearing jumpers with Ravenclaw symbol sprawled across it. Shame, a snake would look better on her.

I took out a bottle of Calming Draught and passed it to her.

"Calming Draught? We are not going to use this on the prefects to sneak in, are we?," Lilian asked, puzzled.

"Of course not. This is actually for you. I heard from Natty that you have trouble sleeping these days. That's why you were late the other day, right? About a drop of this into your tea before your bed and you will sleep like a dead log." I explained.

"Like you, you mean?," she teased with a chuckle.

"Funny," I countered.

"But if this doesn't help you, you should let me know. I have others to recommend," I continued.

"Is that concern in your voice I hear, Sallow?," she quipped.

"I always worry about you, Lilian," I said, surprising myself with the sudden serious tone of my voice.

"Th- thank you, Sebastian. For caring about me," she said looking down at her feet.

"Alright, let's not waste all our night here. I'm sorry to say but you won't be getting any sleep tonight because of me," I said and immediately realised how inappropriate it sounded.

She must have thought it too because she was bright red when I glanced over at her.

"Be- because we will be reading books," I quickly added, hiding my own red cheeks.

"Right. Don't worry about it. I can catch up on my sleep tomorrow," she replied.

It was a Friday night, after all. I wouldn't have suggested her to go on this late night adventure if it wasn't. I didn't like hearing she wasn't getting enough sleep because of her own terrors. I wanted to be there for her, just like she has been for me all this while.

We used disillusionment charm to turn invisible to get past the prefects, as per usual. Luck was on our side that night because Scribner was already gone for the night by the time we stepped into the library. The rest was a piece of cake dodging ghosts. We thank Merlin, Peeves decided to terrorise some other parts of the castle that night. Before we knew it, we located the books I heard were of interest to finding Anne's cure.

"Here, you take this book and I will read through this one," I said as I passed one of the lighter books to Lilian.

As she took the book from me, our fingers slightly brushed. I swear I could feel electricity in her fingers.

"Th- thanks," she said with a red tint on her face.

We had to sit on the floor to read with our wands out, casting Lumos constantly. Because, well, the restricted section doesn't really have furnitures lying around for us to study comfortably.

After what seemed to have been about two hours of reading, I finally felt the sleep creeping in on me. My visions get slightly blurry and I felt myself letting a yawn out. I glanced over to Lilian to see how she was doing. There she is. Already falling asleep. She was leaning over with her head bobbing to the side before eventually, her head rested on my shoulders. It took me by surprise and I immediately reddened at the thought of her being so close to me. My heart must have been the loudest in the room because that is all I could hear by the way it was racing. Her hair smells like lavender and bergamot. It was intoxicating how good she smelled.

I tried to calm myself down by trying to continue to read but she was just so distracting. I couldn't focus on anything but her. Why am I feeling this way? I've never felt this way about anyone else before. Sure, I do care about Lilian. Because she is a good friend. I care about her as I would care for Anne or Ominis. Of course, Anne is my sister and Ominis is my best friend. I wouldn't feel nervous around them. But even other girls don't make me feel this way. Take Imelda for example. She always locks my head in her arms to toy with me sometimes. That doesn't make me nervous. Even if I sit close to Natty or Poppy, I don't think I will notice how they smell. So why is Lilian different?

Do I like her? Romantically?

As the realisation of my own feelings sunk in, I accepted my fate then and there that I would definitely not be getting a wink of sleep tonight nor would I be able to continue reading.