A Change of Heart // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 21 - The Past

Florence laid in her bed in the now silent dormitory, the peaceful sounds of her fellow students sleeping soundly rang through her ears and she lied awake staring at the ceiling. The images of the nights events played through her head. How did they go from yelling and screaming at each other to sharing the kiss she'd so desperately hoped would happen for so long? Did he do it to make her stop being frustrated with him or did he share the same feelings she did? She had so many unanswered questions.

As dawn appeared with little to no sleep due to her overactive brain, Florence decided to get up before her peers and wander the grounds and enjoy the crisp autumn air. She dressed in her robes for the day and headed outside, instantly regretting her choice to not bring her vest or scarf. She walked around the fountain near the flying courtyard, seeing a familiar brown tuft of hair sitting on the opposite side of the water feature. A part of Florence told her to run, but she knew she couldn't avoid him for the next two years. Sebastian heard her footsteps approaching and turned to look at her.

"You couldn't sleep too?" Florence asked, taking a seat next to him.

"Not a wink." He smiled softly at her. "I'm glad you're here though. I wanted to talk about last night after dinner. I wanted to apologise."

"You don't need to apologise for anything Sebastian..." Florence reassured him.

"But I do. While I was tossing and turning last night, I realised that I wasn't very kind to you.  I had only written to you once over the summer. I suppose I had forgotten what was actually important to me and for that I am truly sorry... and I'm also sorry for what I did last night." He admitted.

Seeing him apologising made Florence feel happy even though she didn't want to find comfort in his pain, knowing he was finally grounded enough to see how his faults and actions affected the people around him made her think that perhaps he was changing for the better.

"Thank you, Sebastian. And I apologise for accusing you of having a crush on Imelda." Florence slightly laughed at her own misjudgement.

"That's possibly the worst thing you've ever accused me of and I've done a lot of bad stuff." He laughed right back.

To Florence's disappointment, they didn't talk any further about their kiss last night, instead they headed back inside for breakfast since Florence began to shiver from the cool morning air.

Florence chose to sit at the Ravenclaw table again, leaving Sebastian to awkwardly sit next to Imelda who had apparently saved him a seat.

"I thought you told your little trouble-maker friend to stop staring over here." Samantha asked.

Florence looked up from her plate and caught Sebastian's eye, he made a discreet cut throat motion to convey he wasn't happy with Imelda's presence and would prefer Florence to use Avada Kedavra on him. She couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head before averting her attention back to her breakfast.

"Oh, friends again are we?" Samantha said, nudging Florence's arm as she noticed the exchange they just had.

"Stop it." Florence grunted back at her, unable to wipe the smile off her face.

Potions was their first class of the day. She entered amongst her peers but Sebastian was no where to be seen. Not shocking, as he did tend to be late sometimes... or a lot of the time.

As they settled down in their seats, Sebastian's footsteps gained everyone's attention.

"Ah, Mr. Sallow. Since you have no issue with being tardy, I need you to do me a favour." Professor Sharp said. He scribbled on a piece of paper with a quill and flew it over to Sebastian with a flick of his wand. "Take this to the library, Madam Scribner will know where to find this book and bring it back to me, I had forgotten to get it myself before class. You can take..." his eyes scanned the room, looking at the students, Garreth raising his hand immediately. "No, not you Mr. Weasley... how about Miss McCallister. Keep him in line, will you."

"Yes, professor." Florence said, her heart skipping a beat at the thought of being alone with him again.

She swiftly followed Sebastian out of the classroom and they headed towards the library. Just as Sebastian went to open the door, it flew open almost knocking him over. Peeves flew quickly with Madam Scriber chasing him mumbling something.

"Well, I guess Scribner won't be helping us then. Shall we take a look for it ourselves?" Sebastian said, entering the library.

Florence nodded and Sebastian went to the left side of the library and Florence to the right. Florence looked up as high as she could reach, unable to locate the book they were supposed to be looking for. She went over to Sebastian's designated spot of the library and saw him sitting on the floor, his back against the bookshelf.

"Searching hard, are you?" Florence said, her hands moving to her hips with disappointment as she shook her head.

"I looked. I couldn't find it. Did you have any luck?" he asked.

"Nope, not over there either." Florence replied.

"Well, we could go back to Sharp's boring class, or... we could sit here and wait for Scribner to come back." He said, his hand patting the ground next to him, beckoning Florence to join him on the floor.

Florence thought for a moment but decided it would be fun to skip a bit of class.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable yesterday in the Undercroft." Sebastian said.

"What makes you think I was uncomfortable?" Florence asked.

"You didn't sit with me at breakfast. And you've hardly spoken to me at all let alone about it. So, I just want to apologise if I read the room wrong." He admitted.

"It's fine Sebastian. I definitely wasn't uncomfortable and you definitely got the cues right." Florence said, almost suggestively.

Sebastian turned his head to look at her, she could see his eyes searching hers for the same feelings he had rushing through his head.

"Oh, come on, Sebastian." Florence said, moving her head back slightly as a sudden bout of confidence overcame her. "Don't tell me you don't know I've liked you basically since we met."

He scanned her eyes one last time before moving his hands to her neck and gently pulling her closer. His lips met hers again, the same spark feeling hitting them both. Florence shifted closer to him, pivoting so she was facing him. She moved her hands to his chest, running them under his robes to rest on his waist. He felt her slightly open her mouth, giving him an indication she wanted more. His hands moved to her waist to pull her body closer to his while their mouths perfectly intertwined together.

Suddenly, they heard the library door open again and Madam Scribner trot back to her desk, muttering something about 'that bloody poltergeist'. They quickly pulled away from their kiss, standing quickly and readjusting their robes.

"Uh, let's get that book shall we?" Sebastian said, clearing his throat and walking over to Scribner, handing over the parchment.

They finally made it back to potions with the book, their time spent away not sitting well with Professor Sharp.

"Well, about time you decided to join us." Sharp said as Sebastian placed the book on his desk. "That will be points and detention for both of you."

"But it wasn't our fault, Sir. Peeves –" Sebastian started before being cut off by Sharp.

"I don't want to hear excuses, Mr. Sallow. Back to your seats."

Sebastian groaned as he and Florence moved back to their seats. "Worth it, though." He whispered to Florence.