Everleigh Grayson has gone back in time.
A year.
And now she is the new girl at Hogwarts School and University all over again, on her eighth year.
Her past mistakes costed her the life of Sebastian Sallow, and Everleigh refuses to lose him again.
So...
She didn't have nightmares that night. The lack of sleep was possibly the reason why, but she managed to get a few hours, very close to dawn, when Sebastian finally gave up on his quest of keeping her awake.
He had Quidditch practice that morning, but he didn't seem to want to sleep at all. He had held her in his arms the entire night, stroking her hair and her back, and talking to her in whispers. Asking her all sorts of questions. Some of them she had already answered once in a different past, others were brand new.
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Eventually she had felt asleep on his chest, to the feeling of his fingers caressing her. And when she had opened her eyes again, Sebastian was out of bed and already dressing up.
He sat on the edge of the mattress and kissed her softly, cupping her cheek in a very intimate gesture, and Everleigh felt the butterflies fluttering around inside her stomach. They died when he finally pulled away and she saw his broken expression.
- Am I going to see you later?
He asked, in a low voice. And the notes of distress were too deep to hide. She stared up at him, and her heart ached. Everleigh covered Sebastian's hand, still on her face, with her own, and she squeezed it softly, with a faint smile.
- Of course you are. The castle is not that big.
She had tried to joke. Tried to make him smile. But his lips merely curved upwards as he scanned her face, and then he was leaning to give her one last kiss before he was leaving the room. Leaving her with her guilt.
Deep down they both knew she was going back to keeping her distance. Everleigh didn't regret the night she had spent with him. At all. She had missed him deeply. And his touch. There was a part of her that was ecstatic to find out that whatever he felt, he felt because of her. And not because she had told him who she was and who they were together.
But caving to her desire could cost her Sebastian's life, and she was not going to let that happen. Not again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
- Oh, yeah. You got on stage and started taking your clothes off.
Garreth glanced at her with a devilish smile and Everleigh pursed her lips.
- I did not such thing.
But she still looked at Natsai for confirmation. Because she had yet to remember the night of the Slytherin party, and Garreth would love to sprinkle the events that transpired on Halloween with a lie, randomly, just to mess with her.
Natsai shook her head faintly, with an expression of reassurance, and Everleigh exhaled sharply. And then she slapped Garreth on the shoulder.
- Merlin, I was joking!
- It stopped being funny days ago. - Everleigh muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. - Anyway, there's another party coming up. It's next weekend, after the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Quidditch's match. Would you like to come?
