The Raven and the Snake (Sebastian Sallow x Ravenclaw MC)

Realization

Clora had always thought the Undercroft to be a touch creepy.

The stone walls and floors, the empty suits of armor that formed imposing silhouettes in the darkness of the room, and even more imposing shadows in the light of the room, not to mention the cold bareness of the space itself.

It was actually quite a long list, really, but at least they'd managed to cross one of them off, as the Undercroft was now anything but bare.

The three of them had gone back to Isidora's manor in Feldcroft in order to collect the rest of her research, and between those notes and the ones they'd recently obtained from their spider-infested mine excursion, the Undercroft now looked downright carpeted.

Until you looked closer and saw that it was really just parchment upon parchment upon parchment, all scattered about and covering nearly every inch of the stone floor.

They'd given up on stepping around it ages ago, and the sound of rustling paper had begun to haunt Clora's dreams, with every movement of theirs causing some sort of shuffle, or flap, or tear.

And as unfitting as the Undercroft was as a place of research and study, considering the lack of proper lighting, bookshelves, cases, tables, chairs, or anything else, really, they still had no choice.

They couldn't very well talk about ancient magic and the Keepers in the Library, after all, nor in their common rooms. Not only was Clora supposed to be keeping everything regarding ancient magic a secret from the other students, she now also had to worry about keeping their research into Isidora a secret from Fig and the Keepers.

Because if they'd disagreed with Isidora doing this research, then they weren't likely to appreciate Clora and her friends now doing the exact same.

The worst part of it all was definitely the lack of chairs and a table, however, and there was only so much a person could take, sitting on that cold stone floor hunched over her notes all day. Despite being only sixteen, Clora's back suddenly felt about twenty years older.

They did take breaks every now and again, though, and for good reason. The second canvas piece they'd slotted into the triptych had again been a place Sebastian claimed to recognize, yet one he couldn't put his finger on. And so her and Sebastian would go out on their brooms to search for it whenever they'd reached their limits of being hunched over in the darkness of the Undercroft.

Or, whenever Clora reached her limit, to be more precise. Sebastian seemed content to remain there forever—and she had no doubt he would, if not for the classes he had to attend. He was a man obsessed; a mad scholar going through every word and every note to see if something would lead to what he'd need for his sister.

To get him to agree on a break, Clora would insist to him that it wasn't truly a break they were taking, but a different sort of work. Considering, if they did find the location during one of their flights, it would then lead to the location of the final triptych canvas piece, which would then lead them to more of Isidora's research.

But in the end, Clora really had just been using it as an excuse to take a break and get some fresh air, and the thought of actually finding that triptych piece and bringing even more research and notes and paper back to the Undercroft as a result almost made her woozy.

With them going on these broom excursions, though, Clora felt more and more like it was time to buy her own broom soon. And although Sebastian had originally been an advocate for that purchase, despite all of their recent flying, he oddly enough hadn't brought up the suggestion again.