He Couldn't Be That Bad? // Sebastian Sallow and You (spicy)

2. Hospital Winging It

It's relatively silent in the castle. So close to curfew all the students have gone back to their dormitories, and even the ghosts have stopped milling about. The only lights now are the candelabras that speckle the stairs and little alcoves, making our stroll together feel that much more intimate, despite how cavernous the grand staircase is.

The heels of our shoes make a pleasant clipping sound across the smooth stone floor.

We pass an enormous display of a Rhinoceros skeleton. Its head turns slightly to eye us with empty sockets as we pass. I hate all the skeletons around here. At first I thought they were interesting, but after seeing all those Inferi and the bones in the crypts, I'd be happy if I never saw even a chicken skeleton again.

"A Prefect, huh? Then I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year." He takes one of his fingers and runs it along one of the rhino's toe bones, causing the whole thing to rattle slightly.

"Please don't break anything, at least not in front of me." I lightly scold.

Every once and a while when our arms swing our hands briefly knock into each other. The first time was an accident but Sebastian is now walking closer to me and the bumps seem less unintentional now.

It would be so easy to flatten my hand and let it close around his. I want to, but right as I'm about to give it a try he puts his hand on a suit of armor that's standing at attention beside a door.

I swat my hand out and press my palm on the armor. Harder than necessary to keep it in place. "Seriously?" I say as I keep it positioned upright.

He smiles, "I'm just seeing what the rules are for my new Prefect ." Something in his tone at the last word catches my attention. He holds the door open for me and whispers. "Or perhaps seeing what it takes for you to send me to detention."

"You say it like it's a bad word." I say as I pass in front of him.

"Detention?" He falls back into step. "Hardly."

I roll my eyes. "No. Prefect . Out with it then."

"You're one of the worst rule breakers I know. How could this happen to you?" He says with his arms wide.

"Look in a mirror, Sebastian." But before I let us stew on that can of worms too long, I scoff with a shrug. "I saved the school. What, like being a Prefect is going to be hard?"

He doesn't seem satisfied with my answer and crinkles his nose. "My, how much you've changed in a year."

Walking a little faster, I'm annoyed at his presumptions. "It's not like I asked for it. Honest. But the teachers did it. Thought I deserved it. Thought it would help keep my mind off of–" I stop myself.

I don't have the courage to tell him I've been having nightmares ever since my showdown with Ranrock. Sometimes I get confused and can't determine whether I'm actually in Hogsmead or stuck in another vision, waiting for it to play out. Or that Professor Weasley gave me this position because she saw my grades slipping and thought giving me a purpose or extra responsibility would keep all those dark thoughts at bay. After seeing what I've seen, the small and mundane just doesn't feel real anymore.

I open my mouth to say something, but whispering up the stairs makes me close it.

The grand staircase is practically a whisper chamber, it's rather easy to eavesdrop on someone even having the most hushed conversation here with the way the acoustics of the stone send the voices to the other side.

But I don't even need to see who it is before I know.

We round the corner after a statue of an ancient wizard holding a floating sphere when I spot a little cluster of students at the top of the stairs. Huddled around some overstuffed arm chairs, a few ghosts are sticking their heads up through the floor to listen and contribute, and a nearby painting is absolutely crammed full of other artworks.