Consuming Darkness: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 29

-Ronnie-

I came through the Floo Flame and crashed into someone's chest, nearly knocking us both over.

"I'm so sorry!" I quickly apologized and backed up.

"No really it's my fault for standing so close to the Floo Flame," the boy responded. He was tall with a lean muscular build. He had dirty blond hair  that hung in slightly messy, loose curls on his head. His eyes were a striking blue. I know I had seen him around, pretty sure he was in the same year as me, possibly in one of my classes.

I laughed, "Probably true. But still, I'm sorry nonetheless."

He chuckled. "I'm Finnian O'Leary by the way," he introduced him self with a slight Scottish accent as held out his hand. His voice was bright and cheerful. He wore Hufflepuff robes which matched the initial vibe I was gathering from him. "But you can call me Finn."

"Ronnie Underhill," I responded and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Of course I know who you are! Hero of Hogwarts! You're amazing!" He remarked with a smile.

I dropped his hand and I felt my cheeks blush. "Ahhh... Thanks."

"Come on Finn! Stop flirting!" One of his friends called as they all started to walk away.

"You have plans tonight? Want to come along?" He asked. His face was bright and hopeful.

"Detention..." I admitted and gestures towards Professor Pierce's class room. I was slightly happy for the very solid excuse to not hang out with a big group of people I didn't know. "See you around!"

"Awe, alright...I hope to bump into you again soon!" He called with a cheery laugh as he walked away. I had not had many interactions with many Hufflepuffs other than Poppy, but he seemed just as kind-hearted as she was.

I walked into Professor Pierce's classroom, a few minutes early. I hadn't wanted to start off the night already on his bad side. The Professor was a rather cruel man who delighted in antagonizing his students, especially those who were muggle born. I wasn't sure if people knew that about me or not, but I figured that someone who prided himself on his knowledge of wizarding families and their lineage, had already pieced together what that meant for me.

"Hello Ms. Underhill. Glad you showed up on time," he remarked from his desk without looking up.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to his desk. He said nothing to me and completely ignored my presence. Sebastian stumbled into the classroom right at six.

"Late," Professor Pierce remarked coldly.

"It's six," Sebastian commented and he walked over to us. "I'm right on time." Sebastian tone was cocky and quick. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"You're cocky attitude will get you nowhere with me Mr. Sallow," Professor Pierce replied not looking up at us.

Well it definitely did something for me. Sebastian looked over at me and winked. My heart leapt. Things still felt tense between us but he was at least acting more normal. I was really hoping we would get a chance to talk tonight.

We waited for a moment longer before the Professor stood up and began walking out of the classroom. "Follow," he commanded.

I looked at Sebastian to see him roll his eyes. I snickered as we followed behind the Professor.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we wandered through the halls.

"Off campus," Professor Pierce responded shortly.

We walked in silence until we were off of the Hogwarts grounds. Professor Pierce held out his arms. "Grab on."

Sebastian and I looked at each other, puzzled and disgusted.

Professor Pierce scoffed, "You think I want to be so close to you students? No. I'm going to apparate to the location of tonight's detention."

We both remained hesitant.

"The longer you make me wait, the longer detention will last," Professor Pierce warned.

I groaned and walked over to him. I grabbed onto his arm, disgusted I had to touch him. I looked at Sebastian who had taken hold of his other arm, his face looked even more repulsed than my own. As soon as we held on there was a loud swooshing noise and we were gone. Once our feet landed on solid ground again I let go of his arm and steadied myself. I had apparated a few times with Professor Figg and it always left me slightly nauseous and very disoriented for a moment.

When I began to gain my bearings I looked around at where we had been apparated to. We stood on the center of a circle made of stone. The light of the full moon and stars were illuminating our surroundings. There were tall, slender, light colored boulders surrounding the circle. Everything was covered in moss and other crawling plants. To the right of us was, what looked, like the entrance to a cave blocked by a very large boulder with an inscription on it. We were surrounded by trees and I had no clue where we were.

"Where did you bring us?" Sebastian voiced my question.

"Detention," Professor Pierce said flatly, not making eye contact with either of us. He instead studied the boulders.

I scoffed at how unhelpful he was. "What are we doing here?" I asked unable to hide my annoyance.

He ignored my tone, thankfully, and responded casually. "I heard that you are surprisingly good at retrieving things for people, and Mr. Sallow is your usual sidekick."

"Sidekick?!" Sebastian asked appalled.

I couldn't help but snort out a laugh at the professors' claim, and Sebastian's response.

The professor waved Sebastian off. "I need you to retrieve the ancient relic from this tomb."

"Seriously? What kind of detention is that? Sounds like you just needed our help," I shot back.

"I don't need assistance from a mudblood such as yourself-"

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Sebastian yelled angrily and pulled his wand out.

I looked at him confused. "It's fine Sebastian," I cautioned. I wasn't sure what offense had been so drastic that Sebastian was willing to fight a teacher but I didn't want the situation to get worse than it already was.

"No it's not!" He growled through his teeth at Professor Peirce.

"Calm down boy, if you don't want to be expelled," Professor Pierce warned.

I looked at Sebastian, my eyes pleading with him to lower his wand. He looked at me concerned but dropped his wand.

"Good," Professor Pierce remarked with a sinister smirk. He spoke to Sebastian almost as if he was a dog. "Like I said. The relic is in the tomb. Your detention is over as soon as I have it in my hand."

I shouldered past him and grabbed Sebastian's hand pulling him toward the tomb. I was over this conversation and a simple retrieval task would take maybe thirty minutes.

"Why not do this yourself? If you don't need our help," Sebastian questioned, as he stopped in front of the entrance.

"Why do it myself when I could have the two of you do it for me?" He admitted plainly with a slight shrug.

I hated him.

"Anything we should be aware of before we go in there?" I asked as I used levioso to lift the boulder in front of the door.

"Nothing you haven't encountered before, I'm sure," he mocked us.

"How unhelpful," Sebastian huffed out as he pulled me by the hand into the tomb. The boulder fell in front of the door behind us and we were plunged into darkness.

***Thank you guys for getting me over 1K reads!!! I used to write all the time when I was younger and decided to try it again. I am so grateful for all of the support! I have a direction I am wanting to take the story but if you guys have any suggestions or ideas I'd be happy to try to incorporate them! :) ****