Lost Devotion // Sebastian Sallow

Breathe

By some stroke of luck our first two classes for the day were cancelled due to someone setting off dungbombs all over DADA tower, the odor was absolutely foul so we were instructed to stay away until it was cleared. I was glad because I had not studied enough for Ancient Runes class which was causing me astronomical stress.

After the events of the weekend, I had resigned myself to accepting that my second week of classes would be full of gossip, rumors, side eyes and stares. The entire school was talking about the date I had with Garreth, Ominis was acting weird along with Imelda. The only one that was being even relatively normal with me was Poppy, who was now sat in front of me at lunch, next to Ominis.

"So we have everything we need to start brewing the potion in class today. After we get that started we can move on to the writing portion," she said perkily. Her mood was very bubbly today and it was starting to rub off on me as I caught myself smiling at her as she talked.

"I so do not look forward to brewing this today in class," Ominis groaned while scanning over the morning paper with his wand.

I too was was dreading having to brew the potion today, so many things could go wrong if we didn't have the right ingredients or even the amounts correct. I took a deep breath and reassured myself to trust in my friends who had spent so much time doing the research.

"Olivia do you want to get together after class and start the paper together? You know I'm the worst at writing these things, my expertise is more in hands on experience," Poppy was giving me a pleading look and how could I ever say no.

"Of course. Ominis you can come too since writing is your forte as you said last time in class." He gave me a quick nod before finishing off his tea and standing up to head to class, Poppy and I following suit.

On the way there I hung back again, letting Poppy walk beside Ominis. I didn't think he would want me near him with how weird he was being plus I had a feeling Poppy had a little bit of a crush on my dear friend so she would appreciate the gesture.

As we were crossing the bridge I rummaged through my bag, realizing I had grabbed the wrong book for today. I dug through my enchanted bag a few more times, it definitely was not in there. I called out to Poppy letting her know that I had to go back to my room to grab it as I rushed to the nearest Floo Flame and immediately threw the powder after shouting "Slytherin Common Room!"

My feet couldn't carry me fast enough as I burst into my room and grabbed the book off my nightstand, shoving it into my bag as I dashed back out to the Floo Flame again, already out of breath.

I landed outside of potions class and ran to the door just as Professor Sharp was about to shut it. He gave me a stern stare before stepping aside and letting me in. I was so out of breath I could barely stand up straight as I walked through the door, my chest heaving as I tried to breathe.

As I stood upright to walk to my seat my eyes met Poppy's who had a look of horror on her face. Was I that disheveled from running to my room, I didn't run THAT far. I looked down at myself and straightened my skirt a bit, tucking my shirt in a little tighter as I continued walking.

I looked behind her and noticed Garreth sitting at his table, his eyes glued to me, his face sullen and downturned, not like his usual upbeat self. The rest of the class was mostly quiet, only a few students chattering away as Professor Sharp walked into his office. I looked back at Poppy again as she gave me another horrified look which was making me worry.

I settled onto the stool and glanced over at Poppy who was no longer looking at me. Good, she was making me feel extremely self conscious. Pulling my book and parchment out, I felt a nudge on my arm. I nudged her back before setting my quill down on top of my book but she nudged me harder and knocked my hand, the quill falling to the floor.