Ten years after I began at Hogwarts, Sebastian Sallow is back. And he's Professor Sallow now. He disappeared after the fall of Ranrok and Rookwood, after I lost Professor Fig, and after Ominis and I couldn't keep him from losing himself. But I never...
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April has been gone almost half an hour. I don't mind waiting, if I can even call it that. I enjoy the time. The darkness of the evening is present in the very nip of the air, revealing a whisper of Autumn. The open sky above is as clear as a warm ocean, the stars and constellations of the milky way as numerous and the sands.
I hope she's safe. I hope it's going well.
::I hope she's not wrapped around his stupid bare shoulders, again.::
Breathe.
::When she returns I'll show her who it is she's meant to ride. And how. Make her beg for it.::
Merlin's beard, Sebastian, get your head on. This is not you. She deserves better.
::You filthy wanker.::
She has flourished on her own. All this time. Without you.
::Merlin, what if she has...someone else.::
I don't think...
::That repugnant 'Kai,' yeah?::
I close my eyes. Inhale...2...3...4...Exhale...2...3...4
I feel into my legs. They are as roots to the ground. I feel into the top of my head. The universe is within me. I feel into my hips. Shit....inhale...I...I invite myself to feel worthy of joy. I feel into my forehead. I see a clear path. I feel into my abdomen. I am part of a greater whole. I feel into my throat. My voice speaks the truth. I feel into my heart. My whole body goes warm. There she is. And she has always been there.
Inhale. I am fully open to giving love. I...invite...an openness to receiving love.
I hear tiny, crunching footsteps and open my eyes. I'm seated near the center of the clearing, and I see a gentle rustling approach through the grasses and low shrubs. A pair of golden eyes blink open in a shrub no more than twenty feet from me.
Maintaining my composure, I furtively reach for my wand as the eyes emerge within a tiny furry head, looking right up at me. It appears to be some kind of small, gray fox, no more than fifteen pounds [seven kg]. Its nose sniffs at the ground as it walks cautiously towards me, ears back, whiskers bouncing, bushy little tail in a cautious wag.
Around three feet away from me it sits and cocks its head to the side, wrapping its tail around its gaggle of paws. I can't help myself from reaching towards it and it reaches its nose to me in return, sniffing my fingers until it bravely puts its head under my hand. Instinctively, I scratch behind it's ears and it almost seems to smile up at me as it gently hops its front paws up on my legs, making a clicking kind of purring sound, then jumping forward and curling up entirely in my lap, closing its eyes contentedly from my scratches.
I feel a little silly to think, but lean in to whisper, "...that you, Collins?" The adorable little fox springs from my lap and shifts smoothly into the womanly form I had suspected.
