Aftermath ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter forty

Sugar, We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy

-✧-✧-✧-

Amelia's Perceptive

"Darling, you can't give everyone a book for Christmas. If everyone gets one then it's less meaningful."

"What do you mean less meaningful?" I scoffed, "I picked each one out specifically for that person, there was a lot of meaning behind it actually!"

"What did you pick out for me then?" Sebastian asked with a devilish grin. 

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow," I teased the freckled boy.

That morning we hid in the Undercroft to eat our breakfast together. The Grand Hall was mostly empty, but being seen together still felt like breaking a secret. Plus the Undercroft had just always seemed like a safe place to hide away. 

Sebastian just laughed at me as he picked up the bits of fruit off my plate. I told him to get his own, but he insisted that he didn't like fruit. Now I just sat there watching him helping himself to the small chucks of apple mixed in. 

"There were a few more people that I wanted to get gifts for, but I don't think I'll have time now. Hogsmeade is closed all ready for the holidays," I confessed as I finished my food, pushing the plate closer to Sebastian to assist in his search for remaining apple bites. 

"Diagon Alley is still open on Christmas Eve, we could take the Floo there?" Sebastian suggested as he chewed at the last bit of apple, "Who's left on your list?"

Truthfully, the list felt endless. There were so many people that I wanted to thank for everything that they had done for me. But I did have to limit myself at some point. 

"Well, I'd like to find something for Professor Weasley," I said as it came to mind, "If she didn't come to the Ministry to help, I'd still be stuck there."

Sebastian laughed as he stood up from the dusty floor that we made a home on. After dusting off his hand against his brown trouser, reached a hand out as an offer to help me up. I gladly accepted it as he pulled me up and into his arms. 

"We should get going then, it's going to be busy with last-minute shoppers." He smiled before pressing a quick kiss against my forehead.

The smell of fresh apples kissing the air around him. Ever since I returned from the meeting with the Ministry, he had taken every chance he had to kiss or touch me in some way. 

I was still trying to get past the idea that we didn't have to keep our feelings a secret anymore. Sebastian wasn't with Adelaide anymore. Although it still felt as if I wasn't supposed to be with him either. 

Yet no matter how many times he kissed me, the butterflies never left. 

-✧-

Sebastian was right, Diagon Alley was busier than I expected. Hundreds of people flooded the streets in an attempt to find last-minute gifts for loved ones. As soon as we arrived by Floo Flame, Sebastian took my hand as he guided us through the crowds of people and into a nearby store. 

I hadn't gotten a look at the name of the store, but the walls were lined with books, and tables of trinkets filled the floor. 

"You can check here for more books," Sebastian teased before squeezing my hand and exploring the shop himself.