A Change of Heart // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 18

It took Sebastian a while to recover from his whiskey bender, he was still feeling sorry for himself a few days later. As Florence brewed them both a tea, an owl dropped a letter on the ground next to Florence. Sebastian looked up from having his head cupped in his hands at the table, the owl grabbing his attention. Florence bent down to pick it up, noticing the A. Sallow scrawled on the back of it.

"What is it? Is it from Anne?" Sebastian said, suddenly perking up, the urge to vomit leaving him momentarily.

"Yes." Florence replied, hastily opening the envelope, turning away from Sebastian.

"Well, can I see it?" he said, standing up with his hand outstretched, walking to the other side of her.

"Uh, no. It was addressed to me. I will let you know if you can see it after I've read it first, Mr. Impatient." Florence said, swatting his hand away.

Sebastian sat back down on the chair, waiting for Florence to read the letter.

Florence,

It was so nice to see you again. I was hoping you'd like to catch up with me for a drink tonight. I'll be at the Leaky Cauldron at 7pm. If Sebastian is with you and he asks, no, he can't come.

Anne.

Florence giggled to herself as she read the last line.

"What? What did she say?" Sebastian anxiously said, reaching his hand out again.

"She wants to meet up with me tonight. You aren't invited." Florence told him, tossing the letter at him.

"Ridiculous..." he muttered, scanning over the letter himself before tossing it aside.

"You'll still be cradling that hangover so I'm sure you won't be pleasant to be around anyway." Florence stated, laughing at him still holding his head.

Florence decided that the visit to the Keepers could be postponed for now, she felt that putting Anne first was important if she had any hopes of getting her to make amends with Sebastian and the magic was still safe around his neck.

She relaxed for most of the day, Sebastian taking naps at many intervals between bouts of vomiting to try and alleviate the pounding headache he'd self-inflicted upon himself to cope with seeing Anne for the first time in 7 years. She dressed in a dark grey knee-length skirt and tights, a cream button up shirt and vest, layering a coat over the top to cope with the cold winter air, ready to go for the drink with Anne. She gave Sebastian a light kiss on the head as he took his 4th nap of the day. He groggily opened his eyes which were directly in line with the hem of her skirt as she stood beside the bed.

"Wake me up when you get home, I'll be taking that off later." He said, sleepily, eyeing off her skirt.

"I very much doubt that, Sallow." Florence said, rolling her eyes while looking at his current state. "I'll see you later."

She bid him farewell with a soft kiss, leaving him sprawled on the bed, half-naked and sweating and headed to The Leaky Cauldron. When she arrived, she saw Anne waiting outside for her, shivering. She told Anne to get inside immediately, it was so cold. They sat at a small table, Florence ordering them both a warm butterbeer. They small talked briefly, though Florence could feel it was a little awkward.

"I did ask you here because I wanted to talk to you about Sebastian." Anne admitted, Florence nearly choking on her butterbeer thinking he was off-limits.

"Alright. What did you want to know?" Florence said, struggling to inhale air after the butterbeer choking incident.

"Everything. I have missed so much and seeing him the other night made me realise that I had no idea what he's been doing at all. Did he finish the N.E.W.Ts? Does he work? Does he have a girlfriend?"

Florence gulped. Where to begin?

"Well, he finished school, he moved to Marunweem and worked there for years until he came here to London a few months ago." Florence said.

"You sure seem to know a lot about him, Florence." Anne said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you asked. And he's a friend, what can I say?" Florence said, lying through her teeth.

"I don't think you're telling me the truth, Florence. I didn't get the chance to know you very well, but I saw how you looked at him the other night. That's not what friends do. And not what my brother does." Anne saw through her lies, looking Florence up and down as she froze for a brief moment. These Sallow's could never be fooled.

"Alright, yes. We are together. It hasn't been long." Florence admitted, knowing Anne was seeing straight through her charade.

"I knew it. I'm glad to hear it and I hope he is making you happy. I did also want to personally thank you. I know it must have been extremely hard for Sebastian after your fifth year. He lost me, he lost Ominis but when I spoke to Ominis briefly afterwards, he told me you stayed with him. So thank you. For not letting my brother lose himself after he already caused himself to lose so much." Anne said, reaching for Florence's hand and giving it a squeeze.

Florence felt tears well in her eyes. She did stay by him for the years after the catacombs. Until he ended it abruptly.

"Honestly, it was no issue at all. I knew he needed the support at the time, but he ended the friendship after we finished up at Hogwarts." She said, the tears beginning to cloud her vision.

"What? Why? Bloody Sebastian... he's always been so good at self-sabotaging. Why would he do that?" Anne asked.

Florence cast her mind back to her 7th year, the tears she was holding back finally falling as she relayed to Anne what had happened.