Sinner // Sebastian Sallow

ELEVEN

If it weren't obvious before that Sebastian has changed, it certainly is now - unless, of course, it's all just show for your benefit. Either way, you think you could get quite a lot of use out of his company, and you're ready to start sussing him out. You have to; especially seeing as his attitude changed so quickly from asking to help you to asking to just be your friend.

A few days pass with little drama, aside from the usual nightmare-induced incidents. Turns out not using the Dark Arts at all makes these incidents far more dangerous than before, and so you find yourself back down in the Undercroft on one occasion in an attempt to find the answers in your forbidden books.

The time after that you go down there is Friday evening after dinner, with all your texts and your wand on your person. You expect your time to pass just the same as it did before, but this time you find yourself in company.

Sebastian is already in the Undercroft by the time you arrive, sitting down and back pressed against one of its many pillars. His uniform robes are nowhere to be seen, instead he's just in his shirt, trousers, green waistcoat and tie.

Sleeves rolled up to his elbows, one arm floats through the air with wand in-hand. There are no mutterings of spells and charms, just a wand with a faint glow on the end to practice the right movements.

He glances your way when he hears your footsteps, wand still circling the air, "Fancy seeing you here."

You can't tell if he's being genuine or trying to make some strange sort of joke. So you say nothing, shuffling your way towards him in the direction of your favourite open space. Turns out, you're not the only one who picks it.

Once settled, you peel your books away from your chest and place them neatly on the floor with open pages. Arranged carefully in a pattern only you can distinguish, you can finally allow yourself to sit cross-legged in front of them.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian asks behind you, the clattering of his wand on the floor following shortly after. The sound echoes through the room, bouncing from wall to wall.

Your fingers flick over a page on the book closest to you, skin brushing over the smooth surface of the paper, "Looking for answers."

"For what?"

You frown; is it really worth telling Sebastian all this? Might be another way for him to slip through your guard and use it against you when it suits him. Though, your Hufflepuff classmates already know and you wouldn't be surprised if gossip spread it across the dorm's entirety. You're still awaiting the teasing about calling for a particular Slytherin student, but it's yet to come your way.

So, maybe it won't do you any harm, and you bite the bullet before you can rethink everything, "Nightmares. I'm casting spells in my sleep without a wand."

For too many moments that follow you'd be able to hear a pin drop, and for a moment you wonder if you've said the wrong thing.

"What?"

You flinch at the sound, suddenness catching you off guard. Looking over your shoulder, you find him leant forward, one knee pulled up and one arm resting over the top. His eyes narrow your way, but his mouth hangs open slightly in disbelief. You hate it.

"Do I really need to repeat myself?" you mutter as you turn back to your book. The listed charms blur into a mess of nothing, thoughts over-running your mind.

You swallow harshly, regret beginning to creep back in. It's another ploy for whatever Sebastian has cooked up in his head, you just know it. Vulnerability isn't an option.

But his voice sounds so soft and sweet when he asks, "How long has this been going on for?" 

You roll your bottom lip between your teeth and you shrug your shoulders, "Last month or so. Always had nightmares, but never with magic."

The shuffling of fabric fills your ears behind you, but you keep your neck in an iron hold, unwilling to even give him the satisfaction of looking at him.

"I have them, too," he admits freely, his voice sounding closer to you than before. "But...not casting spells in my sleep. You...you have a unique ability."

That final sentence sends an eerie chill straight through your spine; he sounds just like his fifth year-self. Those memories flash to the front of your mind like a rolling film, anger simmering under your skin.

"It's not a unique ability," you scorn, reading the same sentence on the page over and over again. "It's a curse. It drives me mad."

"You might think that, but what if that means you can cast magic without a wand awake, too?"

"I've no interest in finding out, I just want to fix it."

That shuts him up effectively enough, and you grant yourself a victorious smile. In all honesty, you really don't have any interest in it. Sure, perhaps it's a possibility you didn't realise before, however you've gained nothing but misery from it. Every night you toss and turn, wondering which object in the dorm is about to be destroyed over night, and every morning you find yourself casting Reparo again and again.

That reminder carries your mind far enough away that you don't notice Sebastian taking a seat beside you. Legs stretched out across the floor, he props himself up on his hands behind his back and spies over your shoulder. One book gets pushed side by his foot, which you try to let slide as much as you can, and suddenly he's so close you can feel his body heat.

"Then let's fix it," he says with a lop-sided grin. "Two minds are better than one."

You roll your eyes. Sebastian Sallow's mind is the last one you're after.