Passionate Professors || Sebastian Sallow

Part 1 | Ch. 16 - Enough

The hallway that housed the Potions classroom oddly lacked the earthy smell of dittany and horklump juice that enveloped my senses the last time I had been there. I figured with the ongoing investigation, Sebastian would have to work overtime to keep up with the Wiggenweld demand. It seemed as though things were a lot worse than anyone was letting on, the Daily Prophet hadn't even gotten ahold of the story yet.

Before approaching the door, I smoothed out my tight navy skirt, retucking my white shirt, and undoing a button, subtlety accentuating my cleavage. If I was going to confront Sebastian, I might as well make myself feel more confident.

"Hello?" I called out as I entered the noiseless room. There weren't many times this classroom was quiet between bubbling cauldrons, students' chatter, and Professor Sharp's booming lectures.

"What," Sebastian murmured, his back to me as he stared out a rounded stained glass window at the far end of the room. The sill below was stacked with various baubles and trinkets. A pile of chocolate frog cards pushed to the left side. Anne's collection.

The clouds rolled through the sky, casting a faint glow of light from the hidden moon. He didn't turn around at the sound of my voice. Instead, he put his hand on the back of his neck, craning it to the side, before letting go. 

I walked over to where he was standing, reminding myself that I was going to stay calm, no matter what kind of hurt he wanted to cause me today. I needed answers, and I longed for whatever mess that became of us to end.

"We need to talk." I began, waiting for his angsty rebuttal. I thought back again to our first conversation when he accused me of not returning his letters. Something definitely wasn't right with that.

"I know," he sighed, "I was wondering which one of us would finally suggest it."

"Can we sit?" I asked, motioning to a workstation, the wooden stools tucked away under the desk. 

"Not here. Let's go to the Undercroft." He turned around, subtlety checked me out, and strode by, the breeze from his speed reaching my hair and rustling it briefly. His long black robes swayed with each step. He led the way to what used to be our Slytherin clubhouse, both of us walking in silence the entire time.

The castle corridors were exceptionally moody despite it being relatively early in the night. Without the help from the moon and stars, there was only the occasional flicker of light from the torches every so often. I could hear Sebastian breathing, slowly but shakily. I became selfconscious of my own breaths, hoping he didn't notice me trembling with each heavy heartbeat.

We approached the entrance and he flicked his wand. The clock face spun and the door swung open, allowing us to go inside.

Sebastian began lighting the hanging torches one by one with his wand. He undid the rope on his robes, tossing them aside. Grasping the knot at the top of his tie, he wiggled and pulled until it loosened enough to hang around his collar, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt right after. Was he teasing me because he had seen my cheeks go red at the sight of his bare chest?

"So, what do you want to talk about?" After all his rude comments over the last couple of weeks, he had the audacity to be so casual.

I allowed myself a few breaths to think, what exactly did I want to know?

"I think we need to start from the summer after we graduated," I stated. I spent those stifling hot months alone, sending owl after owl, only to have them return to my window, letters unopened. Starting a brand new job was hard enough, let alone how tough it had been to be constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering if I'd run into him collecting ingredients on one of my poacher hunts. Sometimes, I thought I heard his whispers tickling my ears as I crouched through tall grass. I swore I caught a glimpse of the back of his flowing hair once, turns out it was a bramble of dead bushes. Continuously, I relived the heartbreak over and over.