Light in the Dark // Sebastian Sallow

Bowling

(Athena)

Adjusting to Sebastian being here was a bit odd, I gave him my room and I offered to sleep in my brothers room. I didn't mind, of course he declined but It wasn't a option for him.

"Bowling?" Sebastian asked. "What in the world is bowling Athena?"

I turn to him with a smile "oh Seb, get ready to get your butt kicked."

Sebastian gives a side smirk "is that a challenge? If so, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into but I'm ready to beat you at it"

"Okay so here's the ball, it's heavy so be careful. You see those three holes in the ball?" I say trying to explain what to do

He nods his head.

"You put you index finger and your middle finger in these holes, and then your thumb in here." I say place his fingers in the correct slots.

"Now the objective is to hit all the pins down all at the same time to get a strike. Whoever hits the most pins in the least amount of tries, wins. All you have to do is throw the bowling ball at the pins." I say encouragingly.

He says softly "no magic? Just throwing.... Like when the the chasers are trying to get the quaffle to go into the goal post?" He says trying to compare the game.

"I don't know what that is..." I say looking at him like he's mad.

"You mother next showed you quidditch?" He says baffled!

"Oh quidditch.... I just know I've seen people practicing it last year even though there weren't games..." I say honestly.

"Wow okay I'll have to change that.. anyway let's get back to This bowling with no magic..." he says trying to focus.

- - - - - - -

Surprisingly, Sebastian was amazing at bowling and did almost beat me! However he did not and we laughed on our way home.

Sebastian had been writing with Ominis for the last couple of weeks because he knew Ominis was at the Gaunts house who never loved him. As we arrived home we found a letter from Ominis saying he has been writing to Anne and is staying with her for the next couple of weeks....

The first couple of weeks with Sebastian were a little rough, he was still so upset about not being able to see Anne, but also felt defeated because of feeling like he let all of us down. Using the darks arts got the best of him and he knew it. Nights for him were terrible, that's where I would come in. I find that we both had a lot of nightmares after our last year at Hogwarts. I would spend a lot of time waking Sebastian up from a nightmare.

We would just sit together drinking tea. We both felt pain that no one else could understand, it was nice to have his company. He was my best friend after all. After awhile of showing him around Brighton he started to lighten up and enjoy the shore and small market.

Everything was going good until he received his letter for Ominis about his sister. He went right back into his defeated state.

I woke up the next morning to a note left in my empty room

'Dear Athena

Thank you for taking me here and providing a home to me. You are truly one of my dearest friends. I have had the most amazing time learning about how muggles do things. However, I need to go back to Feltcroft, I have to clear my head.

I promise you I won't do anything stupid though and don't you worry about me. You have no idea how grateful I am for you, and our friendship. I will see you at Hogwarts in September. Give my love to your family.

Sebastian'

I went down stair to my mother who saw tear running down my face.

She pulls me into a hug as I hand her the note. She pulls away from the hug and reads it.

"He'll be alright sweetheart. I'm actually the one who took him back to his house. He needed to be with them. His sister seems very ill.... She also didn't seem very happy to see him at all. It was a lot of shouting but eventually they hugged and he nodded to me that he was okay. He'll be okay. He has things to work on. How about we work on you this summer. I think you need that." She says with a small smile.

"He just left without saying goodbye... I was there for him every step of the way...." I say defeatedly.

"You really like this boy don't you?" She says smiling.

"What... no ... we're just friends mom.... No." I say not really understanding my own feelings.

"Mhm, okay come on. Let's get you breakfast and you can tell me more about these crazy people and your ancient magic, maybe we can go shopping later?" She says trying to cheer me up. I smile and let her lead the way. She always knows how to make me feel better.

"I don't need to shop, but I do want to spend some time with you." I say with a small smile.

"Thats my girl! Now come, come!" She says grabbing my hand leading me to the kitchen where she has been cooking breakfast.

Authors note:
When I wrote this I actually wasn't sure if they even had bowling in the 1890s! So fun fact: Sources tell us that the earliest known forms of bowling can be traced back to circa 3200 BC in ancient Egypt. If you want to know more here's a link
http://www.sportlegacy.net/bowling/history-of-bowling/