Sinner // Sebastian Sallow

SIX

When you wake in cold sweat the next time, the same familiar faces stared back at you in your dreams, along with locks of black hair. It's enough to drag you into the real world; for even just a minute of undisturbed peace.

Though, this time, your peace fills with the presence of Poppy Sweeting, who comes barging through the dorm door with a light on the end of her wand. She ignores everything around her, instead homing in on you as soon as she lays eyes on you. Behind her is Arthur, who looks just as concerned as his fellow Hufflepuff. You groan internally - you're far from in the mood for his squeaky voice, regardless of how nice he may be.

"Are you alright!?" Poppy draws your attention back in, perching next to you on the edge of your bed. She uses the end of her pyjama sleeve to wipe your forehead, seemingly unbothered by the fact she might have to change her top before she goes back to sleep. "You're all sweaty and feverish!"

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone scream quite like that before," Arthur adds on. "You gave us both quite a fright there."

You chuckle nervously, rubbing your hand over your head, "It's nothing, I just get nightmares sometimes."

"Nothing!?" if Poppy were mean enough, you're sure she'd slap you there and then. "You were screaming like you were in pain. You were calling for people!"

"Calling for people?" you raise an eyebrow, voice coated in sleep. "I hardly doubt-"

"You called for Professor Fig, and someone called Lodgok?" Arthur recalls, much to your irritation. You really could be doing without the specifics; your weakness thrown out there for all the world to see.

"You even called for Sebastian Sallow, the Slytherin student." Poppy continues, producing a glass of water out of thin air. She pushes it forcefully towards you and you can do nothing but drink. 

Eyes on the glass, you try to ignore the way your stomach drops at the thought of saying his name aloud. Aside from Ominis Gaunt, no one else understands the connection you two have, you could be setting yourself up for some serious teasing, and you can already see Poppy's mischievous grin in your head.

However, more importantly, you spoke this time in your sleep. You screamed so loudly that your classmates woke along with you. The mere fact this incident is even becoming a reality mortifies you so much that you can allow yourself to forget that Sebastian's name you were shouting. You don't want intervention, not when there's no one else who fully understands what's going on in your head. The pure trauma wrapping around your brain is entirely unique to you, and links directly to your meddling in the Dark Arts and your Ancient Magic ability.

"I...I'm sorry for worrying you," you say as soon as the glass is pulled away from your lips. "I didn't know I'd do that, haven't before."

"Don't be," Poppy reassures you, patting the top of your hand. "Would you like me to get Professor Weasley for you? I'm sure she'd be able to help—"

"—no!" you exclaim, causing Poppy to flinch. Arthur falls deathly silent too, both blinking at you with unmoving and unsure expressions. You swallow harshly, sheepish look on your face, "It's—it's fine, I would prefer to go to her myself. This...it's just embarrassing for me. I'm sorry for shouting."

You don't want Professor Weasley of all people keeping a close eye on you. All you need is to blend in with the rest of your year group — you won't allow yourself to stand out in the spotlight.

Poppy hesitates for a moment, but she eventually smiles softly and pulls you into a bone-crushing hug. You accept her embrace, wrapping one arm around her waist. Her chin rests on your shoulder as she talks, "Alright, but please don't hide from us, okay? We care about you, and we want to help you."

You don't quite understand what she's getting at, if anything at all, but your warm smiles and open body language are enough to put both her and Arthur at ease. Without even moving a finger you manage to usher them out of your room with reassurance, and let out a breath you didn't know you're holding as soon as that door shuts.

Your head finds its way into your hands, fingers dragging down your cheeks. All of the past minutes you easily can do without, and now the Hufflepuffs have some idea that things really aren't alright. You can deal with Sebastian alone, but you can't hope to deal with Poppy and Arthur in that mix too.

There's no point in thinking about it now, it'll be a simple fix with decent acting and a silencing spell at night, so you choose to rearrange your sheets and reach for your wand on the bedside table.

As one hand reaches for your wand, your other brushes against a strange texture across the corner of your duvet. You frown and pause, rubbing the texture between two of your fingers. It's warm to the touch, and extremely coarse.

Casting a light on the end of you wand, you point it towards your hand, exposing the fabric of your duvet. The texture you feel under your fingers matches a singed part of the duvet that definitely wasn't there before, a dark and hardened patch with a hole through the centre. Those edges glow a faint orange, a reminder of your flames.

You did that. You did that in your sleep, there's no other explanation for it.

"If you're not careful enough, you will put yourself in danger."

The mere thought of Sebastian possibly being right cracks the mirror on the other side of the room. The line travels from the top of the frame to the bottom of it, and you flinch as the cracking reaches your ears.

You swallow and, with a shaking hand, cast a silencing charm over you and your bed. Even as your wand sails through the air, your eyes stay plastered to the cracked mirror, and the more you stare the more Sebastian comes into mind. You can imagine the 'I told you so' conversation, and it churns your stomach.

Magic should be wielded with a wand only, with the exception of Natsai, and you certainly never could without before, let alone in your sleep.

You take advantage of the silencing charm and cry out in frustration before burying your head in your hands.