Tempest // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 3

"Well, fancy meeting you here."

Rosie groaned and ran her hands down her face. She had spent all day in classes feeling like she had Sebastian's eyes boring into her. She'd managed to sit next to Poppy Sweeting during the first period of the day and she had so graciously offered to have Rosie sit with her for the rest of the days classes, meaning that Sebastian couldn't.

She didn't know what would have been worse. Having him stare at her and Poppy all day or have him accidentally think there was a chance at friendship by letting him sit with her.

While Rosie had come with the intent of not forming any friendships, she found herself quickly forming quite a close bond with Poppy, though she withheld the fact she'd had a detention on only her second day of classes and told her she simply had more to unpack in her dormitory to get away.

She finally thought to thank the Sorting Hat for placing her in Ravenclaw after all, just to get out of an awkward explanation.

But here she was, in detention without sweet little Poppy to rescue her and Sebastian took full advantage of that.

"Yes, fancy that. Considering it was you that got us here." Rosie groaned.

Sebastian scoffed and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "Excuse you, Primrose, but I believe you are the one who jumped out when I was covering for you."

Rosie shot him a withering look. "Covering for me? Please. Your excuses were pretty damn poor. And I told you not to call me that!"

"Details, details." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "And I've decided I'll call you that when you deserve it."

"Deserve it?"

"Yeah, like right now. You avoided me all day. I thought we were alright." Sebastian replied.

Rosie rolled her eyes. "I don't need your commentary on what I deserve. Let's just get through this and maybe we can  leave without hexing each other."

Sebastian chuckled. "Hexing? That's a bit extreme, don't you think? I was simply trying to make your first day a bit more interesting."

Rosie shot him a sceptical look. "Interesting for who? Certainly not for me."

Sebastian leaned in, sounding slightly more serious. "Look, Primrose, I get that you might not like me—"

"Stop calling me that!"

"—but we're stuck here together, so we might as well make the best of it."

They both sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment until Madame Scribner approached them, an enchanted stack of books floating behind her.

"Mr. Sallow, Miss Callahan, I trust you're prepared to spend the next few hours making yourselves useful?" Madame Scribner said, her stern look intimidating Rosie quite a lot.

Rosie and Sebastian exchanged quick glances before nodding.

Madame Scribner handed them each a stack of books with a stern warning. "No magic and I expect those books to be organised perfectly. I'll be checking."

As they began their tedious task, Rosie couldn't help but peer across at Sebastian. There was something about his casual demeanour that irked her, but she also sensed a hint of mischief that she couldn't entirely despise.

Sebastian though, he decided to break the silence. "You know, Primrose, if you gave people a chance, you might find they're not as terrible as you think."

Rosie scoffed. "Says the one who thinks detention is an opportunity for socialising."

Sebastian chuckled. "Hey, we're stuck here, might as well talk."