Passionate Professors || Sebastian Sallow

Part 1 | Ch. 8 - Makeover

The brown owl returned to my window sill the next morning. I must've fell asleep with it open because she let herself in, perching on the back of a wooden chair.

"Hoo hoot" she stirred me awake. She held two rolled letters carefully in her claws.

I scrambled over to her, letting her drop them in the palm of my hand. I had a few bits of dinner left from last night, offering her what was left on plate. She happily obliged, picking up the stale food with her beak before flying off into the morning sky.

Rubbing my eyes, I opened the first piece of parchment.

"Dear Gianna,

Thank you for the note, I was wondering how things went but knew they would go well. Congratulations on becoming a Professor. I just know mum would be so proud!

Don't worry about me, Biscuit and I are doing just fine. He even helped me with the nightly garden harvest a few days ago. I saw him running off with a zucchini in his mouth. He's a real fluffy monster, that boy.

Good luck this year and please take care of yourself. I'll always be here. Write when you can.

Love, Dad"

I laughed out loud picturing my orange fluff ball running around with a vegetable in his mouth. Dad knew how to make me smile. The worry of leaving him all alone melted away.

The next letter was from my best friend Poppy Prewett.

"Hi G!

I miss you, I'm so glad you wrote. I'll definitely meet you in Hogsmeade at 1pm. Sounds like you have a lot to share.

Love you,
Poppy"

I smiled wide, hearing from two of my very favorite people was a great way to start the day.

I got myself ready, pulling on some of my more casual clothes: a pair of navy slacks and a light gray short sleeve shirt.

As I was fixing my hair into a loose braid, there was knock on the door.

"Gianna, good morning," said Garreth, his hand resting on the frame as I opened the door, "care to join me for breakfast again?" It still stunned me with how much more confident he was versus the awkward red headed boy that regularly blew things up in potions class. His blue eyes held my gaze in a way that sent my heart into my throat. And I couldn't tell if it was a good or bad feeling.

"Sure, I was just headed that way, let me grab my bag," before I was fully turned around, I caught his eyes sensually shifting down to my backside. My cheeks reddened at his glance.

I closed my door behind me and allowed my vision to shift to Sebastian's room for just a second. The crack at the bottom was dark, reassuring me he was probably still asleep and I wouldn't run into him at breakfast. A breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding released itself.

We walked to the Great Hall again but this time he was much more chatty.

"So how are the lessons coming along?" Garreth asked, turning his head to me.

"They're going well, Professor Hecat was really detailed so it's a lot of me just learning the material." I nodded my head along.

"That's good! I felt so bad dropping all that work on you," he patted my arm, "but I trust you'll get it done." He was awfully cheerful this morning.

I gave him a small smile, as we continued to walk. An awkward silence enveloped us like mist.

"So...what are you doing later?" He asked coyly.