Me and the Devil: Sebastian Sallow

Chater ONE TWENTY FIVE - Nothing and Everything

Madame Blainey had been justifiably irritated by the assault on her extra store of sheets and had taken to keeping them in a new locked cabinet promptly following the incident. She had kept a very close eye on Sebastian ever since though he'd become particularly fond of helping the witch tend to the others in the beds closest mine. She didn't seem to mind and I think I'd even caught her smirking at him on more than one occasion.

Sebastian seemed naturally adept at caring for the ill.

I wondered if that was because of Anne or a trait passed down from his parents.

Nurse Blainey had insisted I stay in the hospital wing for a few days longer just to keep an eye on me, explaining that the nature of my healing was something she hadn't experienced before.

That more than anything had sent chills along my skin.

Sebastian and Ominis hadn't been permitted to stay in the hospital wing but no one had been able to tear Sebastian from my side. Ominis had told me that Sebastian had nearly begged on his knees after they had first brought me in and thankfully the witch had took pity on him. Even the professors had been gracious and allowed Ominis to bring Sebastian some extra coursework for the classes he was missing. I suspected their leniency had a bit to do with the knowledge of his sister's predicament and now how close he had gotten to losing me. I was incredibly thankful for his company, though my heart was dipped in guilt.

The boys weren't my only visitors during my stay in the Hogwarts hospital wing. Tooby had even made a trip up with more pears and to check in on how I liked the owl books he had gifted me. Marlene, Natty and Poppy had each stopped by for a chat and left their own little gifts. Ominis informed me that even Lee and Imelda had made an attempt to stop by while I was unconscious but at Sebastian's reaction, madame Blainey had been forced to turn them away.

Professor Fig had stopped by almost every hour on the hour to check in on me. I was thankful for him too. In the quiet hours when he thought Sebastian was asleep, I had told him about the recent trial. He had been far more intrigued by the inked world than I had expected but his main concern had still boiled down to my safety. He feared my injury had actually come from the trial and the boys had just happened to find me afterwords. I assured him that wasn't the case. Our official story was an attack by Rookwood's men.

No one knew about Rookwood himself.

What Sebastian had done.

And what he had intended to do to his best friend.

Ominis had been willing to supply Sebastian with changes of clothes and deliver his coursework but aside from that had kept far away from the boy. He always sat on the opposite side of my bed and looked far more tense and uneasy than I had ever seen him before.

I could only imagine his pain.

It had to be worse than mine.

At night he would return to his room, a bit reluctant to leave me but assured over and over that things were ok. I assumed his worries may be over more than my injuries.

Tonight was no different than the others. Sebastian had finished helping Madame Blainey with her rounds and returned with a satisfied plop into his chair at my bedside. His fingers found mine and his thumb traced over the lines of my palm.

As the moon had crept in through the windows and the sky took to black, the nurse had moved to the far end of the wing. Conveniently, she wasn't able to see my bed from there and Sebastian had hurried and tucked himself up underneath the blankets with me. The cool skin of his ankles wound around mine.

His eyes glued to mine, lazily brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

My eyes screamed for sleep but I still had so many questions

so much guilt.

The rough gauze at his fingers reminded me of one of the most pressing questions.

"What happened to you hands?" I whispered through the dark, the flicker of candle my only lens to view his small smirk.

He pulled his hand from behind my ear and turned it over in front of himself, other hand propping up his head.

"What these old things?"

I nodded, the sound of the pillow brushing against my ear.

Sebastian's smirk dropped slightly.

"You really don't remember anything... after you passed out?"

"I don't believe recollection during unconsciousness is very common."

He grinned slowly.

"Barlowe you lit up like fucking a firework. Your magic-" he swallowed. "Your magic may have very well saved your life. Wiggenweld wasn't working. I thought-"

Me pressed a hurried kiss to my temple. I felt unworthy all over again.

"I held on to you. I wouldn't let you go and-"

"Sebastian we've been over this-"

"I know. But Atley I didn't care. What happened to me? I knew you needed me. I couldn't just leave you alone."

The silence that grew afterwords wasn't particularly awkward. In fact it felt full and comforting.

Sebastian lay his head on my pillow, tracing his fingers over each divet in my skin.

Memorizing every minor outline.

We lay like that for far longer than I could keep track of. The time ticking by in unusually uneven minutes.

"You ought to fall asleep." I whispered against his fingers as they brushed my lips.

He grinned slowly. "Why fall asleep when I can just fall in love all over again?"

My heart fluttered, smushing the guilt just below the sleep that tugged at my eyelids.

Sebastian's fingers trailed along my side under my shirt though the touch wasn't innately sexual. More a comfort in the dark that was much needed for both of us. A grounder, a reminder that we both still existed here and now.

Together.

How lucky I was

How unworthy I was.

I let the starlight dance across my cheeks. Willing the dark feelings to dissolve into night, to be smothered beneath his fingertips.

But in that moment I felt something flick in my mind, knew somehow nothing and everything had changed,

knew that I would do whatever it took to make it up to him given the chance.