You received a letter on Monday evening from Garreth, which you had to admit you were rather surprised about.
Hey, me again
I'm half writing this to check in and half to make sure Pickett is actually delivering my letters.
If it isn't too much trouble, please could you send a reply?I only worry because Natty still hasn't answered me. We were supposed to talk via the floo network a couple of days ago, but she never showed.
I hope she's alright. Please let me know if you hear anything.
Garreth
Now that you were thinking about it, you hadn't heard from Poppy either, since you'd written to her several days ago. You'd subconsciously put it down to her being busy with her new friends that she'd met at her village's bonfire, but this just wasn't like her. You felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner.
You wrote a reply for Garreth, explaining that you hadn't heard from anyone else, but that he shouldn't worry too much just yet. If he did worry, he would most likely tell Professor Weasley, and there was no reason to involve her until they were sure something was really wrong.
On Tuesday, you barely thought about anything but Poppy and Natty. Sirona and Sebastian noticed that you seemed rather distracted and asked you what was on your mind. You assured them that you were alright, and focused on your work as best you could.
On Wednesday, Sebastian finally got it out of you, and it relieved you to some degree to express your concerns.
"I'm sure Poppy's just helping her Gran take care of the occamy or something," he said. "As for Natty, I bet it's just hard send letters across the world." Both explanations made perfect sense, and you wanted to believe that was just the case, but you still felt uneasy about it.On Thursday, Sebastian brought up the note you received from A.S. in the hopes that you might reconsider going alone. You tried to reason with him, explain that if it really was Anne, she wouldn't appreciate you bringing him along, and would surely change her mind about trusting you again. If it wasn't Anne, then it had nothing to do with him and you didn't want to drag him into something dangerous. Unfortunately, this only made him want to come even more.
"You think I want to let you wander into something dangerous on your own?"
"No, but I'm not taking any risks."
"Fine." It wasn't fine. The argument continued throughout Friday and all the way up until Saturday morning."Please let me come with you. I'll stay out of sight if needs be, I'll just keep an eye out, in case something goes wrong."
"I can take care of myself," you insisted.
"I know you can," he said, rolling his eyes. "But you don't have to, it's an important distinction." You shook your head and continued sweeping away cobwebs from the corner of the ceiling."You're not coming with me, and that's final."
"I'll find a way."
"You'll do no such thing."
"How are you going to stop me? You won't be here."
"I'll make sure Sirona keeps you busy."
"You think she'd keep me here if I told her you could be walking right into a trap?" You spun around to face him, giving him the most intimidating glare you could muster.
"Don't you dare, Sebastian. The less people I involve in my business, the better. Would you really want to put her in danger too?"
"No, of course not, but-"
"No. Stop fighting me on this. You're not coming."
"Fine!" He said, much louder than you'd expected, and the two of you glanced around at the patrons sheepishly. Sebastian spoke again, much quieter. "Fine, but if you're not back before midnight, I'm coming to find you."It was the best compromise you were both going to agree on, and you couldn't deny that you were quite relieved to have some sort of backup plan in case of things going South. You just wished it wasn't him. The more sensible thing to do was to inform one of the professors, but you couldn't tell them the significance of your meeting with Anne without telling them everything else.
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YOU ARE READING
In the Shadow of the Summer
Fanfiction[Also posted on AO3] Since that fateful night many months ago, you've been suffering beyond everyone's comprehension. When you're not plagued by horrific nightmares forcing you to relive the death of your beloved Professor Fig over and over again, y...