A Change of Heart // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 26 - The Past

The rest of the school year flew by with Florence in a state of bliss. She had spent the Christmas break at the castle with Sebastian and he even went home with her to London during the summer. Her parents seemed utterly bedazzled by him, falling for the same witty and charming personality that caught Florence's attention in her fifth year. They spent all year in each others company, studying together by day and sneaking around the castle at night, hardly finding time for sleep between their romps. They relished in finding new places to explore each other. The owlery, the astronomy tower, Sebastian's dormitory and even once in the Forbidden Forest. It was like they dared each other to find an even more dangerous location each time.

For once in her life, everything was in place. They began their seventh year on a high, discussing their plans for their lives outside of Hogwarts after the N.E.W.Ts. Everything was peaceful, until June.

On a Monday night, Sebastian invited Florence to the Slytherin common room which had become commonplace as no one dared to challenge Sebastian on it. He was sitting up on the lounge, Florence laying her head across his lap. She had her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. Sebastian was holding the Daily Prophet over her, reading to himself.

"Wait..." he said suddenly, sitting forward and nearly tossing Florence off his lap, startling her from her daydream.

"What?" she said, quickly sitting up to avoid rolling onto the cold stone floor below.

"Theophilis Harlow, that's Victor Rookwood's henchman, right?" Sebastian said, his eyes not moving from the paper.

"The one I took down myself, yes." Florence gloated. "What about him?"

"He's escaped Azkaban." Sebastian said, still looking intently at the paper.

"What?" Florence said, almost snatching the paper out of Sebastian's hands.

"It says right here. He got out. Someone helped him but they don't know how." Sebastian said, pointing to the article and turning the paper to show Florence.

"Oh my god... I wonder if Natty knows." Florence sat back and wondered. She decided she would try and find her tomorrow after class to see if she had heard the news before kissing Sebastian goodnight and heading back to the Ravenclaw common room.

The following day, she caught up with Natty after Charms class.

"Hey, Natty." She said, chasing her out the door before she left.

"Oh, hello Florence. I haven't seen you in a while." Natty said, she sounded slightly cross with her.

"I'm sorry about that, I've been busy." Florence said.

"I know. With Sebastian. You know how I feel about him, Florence." Natty said, disapprovingly.

Natty's words stung Florence. It was true she had drifted apart from Natty lately, but she didn't feel it was fair that Florence had to do all the chasing.

Ignoring her disapproval of Sebastian, she asked Natty if she had read the Daily Prophet yesterday.

"Yes, I did see the news of Harlow's escape. I am going to see my mother after classes to discuss it with her. I will send you an owl later on. Goodbye, Florence." Natty said before turning to leave.

The frosty interaction left Florence feeling a bit deflated as she headed down to the Great Hall for lunch. Though she was late, she didn't see Sebastian so she sat at the Ravenclaw table.

"Well, look who it is. Are we finally good enough for you?" Samantha laughed as Florence took a seat next to her.

"Oh, stop it. I'll always love my house." Florence laughed.

"Yeah, but you love Slytherin boys even more, right?" Samantha said, nudging her arm. "I can't really blame you though. You both look great together."

Florence felt her cheeks go bright red as Samantha complimented them both. She still couldn't believe they'd gone from hiding to being the most popular couple of their year. Many students had been dating or having flings as evident by their many trips to Madam Puddifoot's over the course of the year, but no one garnered attention like they did though she never understood why.

She picked at the food on her plate, peering across the table. She didn't see Sebastian arrive but he was already at the table. She stared for a moment, realising he was deep in thought, reading something intently which was unusual for him as she almost always busted him staring at her first when she didn't sit with him.

She decided to see what was wrong with him and approached the Slytherin table, nudging another student out of the way to make room for her.

"What's got you so intrigued?" She said, placing her arm around his shoulder. She looked down and realised he was still looking at the Daily Prophet from yesterday.

"Where could he be?" he uttered to himself.

"Hello?" Florence said, gently shaking Sebastian.

"Oh, sorry." He said, turning his head towards her and giving her a short kiss on the lips.

"Why are you still reading that?" Florence asked.

"I... look, can you meet me in the Undercroft tonight?" Sebastian said, his eyes wanting to return back to the newspaper.

"Sure.." Florence said, moving her arm from his shoulder and getting up from the table. "See you later, I suppose." She said. He didn't reply.

Florence arrived to the Undercroft early, pacing with nerves. She hadn't seen Sebastian this hyper focused on something since the relic. She finally heard the cage door lift of the Undercroft and Sebastian entered. He approached her and gave her a kiss and a long hug.

"Sorry about today." He said, his chin resting on her head.

"So why are you still reading that newspaper?" Florence asked again.

"I had a thought. It's a bit mad, so please bear with me." He started.

"Sebastian..." Florence said, warning him not to continue with his sentences.

"Harlow and Rookwood worked together, yes?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes..." Florence confirmed.

"So Harlow knows what Rookwood was capable of. He knows what spells he used. He will know what exactly Anne was cursed with." Sebastian explained.

"Sebastian... no. That's ridiculous. I know you want to help Anne, but he's extremely dangerous and we don't know who he's got on his side now. Besides, you don't even know where Anne is!" Florence felt herself getting upset, feeling she was going to lose him again.

She saw Sebastian wince slightly at her disapproval.

"I know it sounds crazy, but please. Let me try and work out a plan. This may be my only hope." He begged.

"You know I can't support this... I can't risk losing you again on a very slight chance that something incredibly dangerous, and frankly a death wish, may work for Anne, if we can even find her at all." Florence said, fighting back the urge to cry.

Sebastian looked taken aback. He was always able to convince Florence that things he wanted to do were a good idea and she always helped him when he asked. He realised he had probably taken advantage of her kind nature too much back then, but he didn't feel he was asking too much now.

"I have to go to bed, Sebastian. I'll see you tomorrow." Florence said, her robe flicking as she turned around to exit the Undercroft.

"Dammit!" Sebastian yelled, kicking the a barrel beside him before leaving to return to his own dormitory.