Different Worlds

THREE - YOUR WORLD, YOUR RULES

Sebastian's POV

As we were sitting in the small pub, eating lunch, I couldn't help but watch the tiny women in front of me. She refused to eat much first. She started to eat properly only after I paid for all of the food and pointed out the fact that they probably would throw the remaining food out if we didn't eat it.

It was clear that she was hiding something from me. I didn't pressure her though. We knew each other for not even a full day and I was hiding a lot of things from her too. But for this mission to be successful we had to trust each other. I couldn't trust someone I didn't know.

"Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face again?" She barked at me and quickly wiped her face with a napkin.

"Don't worry, squirrel. Squeaky clean." I pushed away the empty plate, leaning back to my chair. "I was just wondering. How was Alex as a child?" I asked, genuinely curious.

For a split second I saw a soft smile on her face as she remembered her brother. "He was the sweetest, the kindest soul I knew. I bet he is still the same now. He was always helping everybody. My roommate, Margaret, had a pet cat. The black demon hated everybody except her and was constantly running away. One time the cat climbed to the top of the tree we had in front of our window and as stupid as he was he didn't know how to get down. Alec climbed all the way up for him. And can you guess how the bloody cat repaid him? He scratched his face," she giggled at the memory.

"So that's where the scar came from?" I laughed at the idea that his only scar was from an angry cat. Not even all the trolls and goblins he fought weren't able to scar him. "He never told me. But you are right. He Is still the same. Once, when we were in school, he dove into the lake for some stupid astrolab that belonged to one of our classmates. Do I have to mention that it was in the middle of November?"

She was looking at me with wide eyes for a moment, thinking if I was telling the truth or not. After she didn't find any sign of a lie she bursted out laughing. "No way. I bet he didn't get anything in return either."

"Nope." I laughed with her, finding her laughter quite contagious. I could finally see a shard of the girl Alex was telling me about. Sweet and kind.

"He was always the bravest of all of us and so daring. He Is the only person who I would describe as chivalrous. He had so much determination. He always finishes what He started," she said dreamily.

I had to chuckle softly since she just perfectly summarized a Gryffindor. And Alex was in fact sorted in Gryffindor.

"I always thought he was too good for this world. But I wouldn't change a thing about him," She continued with a loving voice. I could feel she cared for him dearly. He really was her brother. "He helped me so many times."

"Yeah, me too." I didn't specify if I meant the changing part or the helping part but I was sure she knew I was meaning both. She looked at me with a raised brow but I just cleared my throat and decided to change the subject. "We should go if we want to make it before the sun sets." These were just another secrets I couldn't tell her. How Alex helped me find the cure for my sister and what it all entailed.

"Yeah, right," she said bluntly and grabbed her new coat and her bag and started walking towards the exit. The soft expression she had just moments ago when she were talking about her brother was gone now. "Where are we going anyway?"

"To the nearest train station. We start looking in the city first."

"I don't remember going this way," she said, confused.

Of course I couldn't tell her the truth, again. The shortest path was leading through a forest full of magical creatures. The Puffskein she almost saw this morning wasn't supposed to be there. Luckily it got scared of us and ran away before she could properly look at it. "This is the safest way."

"Oh, right. Your world, your rules." Her voice was full of irony.

The rest of the way we walked in silence. Unfortunately I had to change direction a few times. I didn't realize that the beasts would spread out so much. But I should know it. There were very few poachers left and it was much safer for the beasts to wander around freely. When we finally arrived at the village it was almost dark.

Unfortunately there was only one room available so we had to share it. The room itself was quite small, the majority of it was filled with a big bed. Big enough for two people. There was no sofa or couch.

"I could sleep on the ground," I offered politely.

"Nonsense. We both need to rest. I can't handle you if you become any more obnoxious because you are sleepless. I am going to the bathroom first."

She was right. It was probably another half day walk towards the station and my legs were already killing me. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to travel by foot. It would be much quicker and easier if I could simply apparate us to the station or we flew there on my broom. But I couldn't do that of course, for obvious reasons.

After both of us took a quick shower and ate a small dinner, we went straight to bed. I tried to scoot as close to the side as humanly possible and I was sure she did exactly the same thing because the bed seemed empty next to me.

"Tomorrow at dawn again?" She asked quietly.

"Yes." Was all I said. It didn't take a few minutes and I started hearing soft regular exhales. If only I could fall asleep as fast as well.

But my mind was always full of thoughts. Now I was wondering where Alex could be and how the hell I could find him. I could use some tracking spells but I had to be careful since Sophie would be with me, the secrecy law and all.

Somewhere between all of the worrying and planning I had to finally fall asleep. When I woke up it was still dark outside. I could see from the window that the sun barely started rising. I was still lying on the very side of the bed, one of my hands fell down, tingling and hurting like crazy.

At some point Sophie had to scoot closer to me, using me as her personal pillow now. Her hair was widely spread all over my chest, covering her face slightly. But I could still see she was smiling in her sleep.

It was still pretty early so I decided to let her sleep for a bit longer and examined the map I bought earlier in the meantime. But when I wanted to get up she just snaked her hand more tightly around my waist and locked me in place. So instead I was just lying there, unable to move without waking her up.

She finally woke up when the first ray of sunshine hit her face. I watched her as she scrunched her nose in aversion, probably cursing the sun in her head. A low chuckle bubbled out of my chest and she instantly springed up, looking panicked.

"I- um...Sorry," she squealed, looking bashful and disappeared in the bathroom quickly.