In The Shadows // A Sebastian Sallow FanFic

Melancholy Miscommunication

"Sorry?" I repeated, exasperated.

"Y-yes," Sebastian stepped nearer to me, a hand outreached. His eyes looked desperate.

"Sorry for what, Sebastian?" my tone was venomous. "There is nothing to apologize for."

I stood my ground, clenching my fists. This boy- no, man -used to be my closest ally. Now I knew he'd spent the entire summer avoiding me. If he no longer wanted my companionship, he could have said so and avoided this embarrassment for me. It hurt to know Sebastian found my company so awful that he would rather go an entire summer speaking to everyone except me. Best friends are not supposed to abandon one another.

Though it hurts, I am more angry at Sebastian for leaving me behind. That my feelings of comradery were not reciprocated. I was embarrassed that I considered him to be so close when clearly, he only saw me as an acquaintance- someone to assist him on his chase for Anne's cure. Ominis had warned me of Sebastian's selfish behavior.

I guess I was a fool.

"Hadley, I didn't mean to not write yo-"

"You are by no means obligated to be my friend," I cut Sallow off. "You have made it quite clear that, despite having time for everyone else, you had no time to write me."

He grimaced. "That's not true. I swear it. It's not that I didn't want to write you. I just- there were so many things from last year I... I wasn't sure. And then, you didn't write and I figured... I just thought..."

I stared at him as he fumbled through his thoughts, those stupidly mesmerizing amber eyes searching the air as though the words he was looking for were there. His gaze caught mine and locked me in. I froze.

"Hadley." His voice was husky and warm, deeply enchanting. He moved closer, only a few inches between us. He reached up to touch my arm. "You're my bes-"

"Was." I corrected, stepping back and yanking my arm away. "Was your best friend. Acquaintances seems the more appropriate verbiage now. Now, I believe I'm off to wrangle chocolate frogs. If you could please excuse me."

I turned away from the ginger-haired Slytherin, leaving him standing in the train aisles.

*****

My heart raced like I'd just fought a battle against Ashwinders. I felt anger consuming me, against Sebastian, and begged it to subside. Ducking into the girl's commode, I caught my breath, leaning over one of the three bathroom sinks.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the lavatory. I looked up into the mirror.

Tear tracks moistened my cheeks. My eyes were puffy. I leaned over the sink and splashed water against my face. Drying off, I examined myself again in the mirror as my heart gratefully returned to a normal rate.

Had I grown like the rest of my friends? I stared at my features. Perhaps I had.

Freckles dotted the bridge of my nose and crests of prominent cheekbones. My round, hazel eyes had become more almond-shaped, lashes darker and longer. My lips were full, olive skin indicated my Italian heritage. I'd followed Sacharissa's less-than-kind advice about plucking my brows over the summer. My face was almost pretty if you saw it from the right angles.

My chestnut hair had grown quite long. I pulled out the tie holding half back. It was no special style, just thick and long with a hint of curl. Looking down, I realized that all my changes had not been merely to my facial features.

I was curvier than last year, putting on weight in my chest and around my hips. My school clothes fit in odd ways, pulling tight in new locations than previously. I turned from side to side, frowning in the mirror.

"You look stunning, darling," the mirror spoke. I jumped, not realizing this was an enchanted one. "Now please stop your crying or you'll ruin that beautiful face of yours!"

"Thank you, mirror," I giggled. The mirror was right. I shouldn't shed tears over him. Though it felt unjust, if Sebastian decided he no longer wanted me as a best friend, I should accept the fact. It hurt, but I had survived worse, right?

I could handle just being a distant former friend to him... right?

I guess I would have to. If anything, I had more than enough friends to keep me occupied. There was schoolwork to be done and adventures to be had. I could ignore that stupid, devilish, ginger beast. Surely.

In the meantime, I had chocolate frogs to hunt down.

*****

"Chocolate frogs for all who asked!" I announced, holding up a bag of bouncing delicious treats as I slid back into my cabin.

"Pass them here, won't you?" Ominis said. I handed the bag to him as I took my seat across from Ominis near the window. The group appeared to have been deep in conversation before my entry.

"Well, there's no other explanation for it. I'll bet my entire Gringotts account she used her feminine wiles to escape Azkaban," Sebastian snorted, glaring at Natty. I recoiled. What exactly were they talking about?

"I imagine more so that the Dementors see her as an equal," Natty argued. "Rather than a prisoner. Perhaps, they let her go due to their like-mindedness."

"Whatever manner it happened to be, it had to have been well orchestrated. They aren't even sure of the exact date she disappeared, meaning she must've pulled some strings amongst the prison guards," Ominis added, passing the bag of chocolate frogs to Sebastian. He took a mountainous handful of the sweets and handed the bag to Natty.

"My point exactly, brother," Sebastian bit the head of a chocolate frog.

"And who's to say where she is now," Poppy murmured. taking the frogs from Natty after she selected a few. Without looking, Poppy shoveled a few frogs into her mouth. She looked fearful as she mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate. "Hopefully nowhere near Hogwarts."

That was enough. I shook my head. If there was any downside to spending a summer amongst Mugglekind, it was the fact that I was woefully behind on wizarding news.

"I'm sorry, who is this woman you're all talking about?" I interrupted. The cabin fell silent except for the croaking of the remaining bagged chocolate frogs. I looked around at the expressions of confusion, moroseness, and shock surrounding me.

"Sorry, Hadley," Natty broke the silence. "It was not such big news in Matabeleland, so I never wrote you about it."

"I was too afraid to write her name down," Poppy shook her head. I frowned, ignoring the glare of a certain boy.

"Ominis? Then?" I asked, turned to my fair-skinned companion. He shrugged, sighing.

"I thought it best to inform you of the situation in person," he said.

"Well," I blinked. "What exactly is this situation?"

"Hadley," Ominis began, leaning forward on his knees. "Morticia Lestrange has escaped Azkaban."