Sinner // Sebastian Sallow

SIXTEEN

You stare at the wall in front of you, picking apart every nook and cranny. Poppy's words spin through your head, and you can't seem to shake them off. Not even the distraction of Sebastian Sallow deters your mind.

Though, Sebastian isn't with you. You find yourself alone in the Undercroft today; alone with your thoughts and the tingling sensation under your skin. Just the thought of him isn't enough to distract you, so you barely think of him at all. Instead, you sit on the floor with your wand pointed outwards, tapping it rhythmically on your thigh. Not a perfect distraction, but it's something.

"I assumed I might find you down here," a voice you don't immediately recognise calls out into the gloomy room. You jump out of your skin, grip tightening on the wand in your hand, and whip your head around so fast it finds itself at risk of falling off your shoulders.

"What are you doing here?"

Ominis Gaunt gives you a half smile at your somewhat stupid question, wand out in front of him with that familiar little red glow on the top, "Sebastian and I used the Undercroft way before you. I just have less use for it than you do."

Tension released from your shoulders, you turn your head back around to face the wall again, "I don't come here that often."

The sound of his boots against the ground fill the air as one foot goes in front of the other. Every step is too slow, each one more frustrating to listen to than the other.

Ominis comes to a stop beside you, uniform robes brushing against your shoulder, "Considering how often Sebastian disappears after classes, I'm inclined to think differently."

Colour draining from your face, you chew on your bottom lip, "Why do you immediately assume he's with me?"

There's a pause, before, "Because you're all he's ever thinking about. He's always away with the fairies, and somehow you get brought up in conversation. At least twice a day, do you know how irritating that is?"

You swallow, grip tightening on your wand, and continue staring down the concrete opposite you. It sounds pathetic.

The Slytherin student takes a seat beside you, legs tucked under his body and right hand pressed onto the floor to lean on, "You don't believe me, do you?"

You frown, averting your eyes to him. He says it so matter-of-factly, like something he doesn't need you to confirm. He just knows.

"Why do you think that?" you ask.

"Because you're silent," he observes. "Or you already know it, and me telling you is just wasting my breath."

You shake your head, hastily in your reply, "No I—I didn't know he was like that. I'm just surprised you're telling me this."

"I'm telling you this because you have a right to know," Ominis explains. "I'm positive he's somewhat infatuated with you, and I haven't quite figured out why."

You wrack your brain for answers, gaze falling on the wand in your lap. You already think you know the answer, and the thought of it makes your blood simmer. Being around you, it does benefit Sebastian in some way.

"What have you two been doing down here?" Ominis adds.

"Not much," you reply.

A huff of a laugh beside you, and he tilts his head toward you slightly, "I don't believe that for a second. Nothing ever good comes out of you two together."

"No, it doesn't," you roll the handle of your wand across your fingers, clawing at the distraction in your mind. "We all know what happened last time."