The Keeper's Snake // Sebastian Sallow

Relief

Fiona entered Sebastian's old room and looked around. She noticed how many books he had. The shelves were overflowing. She then noticed the book from his most painful memory still on his bed. It was his copy of Gulliver's Travels.

"Hey it's the book from your memory!" Fiona went to grab it, but Sebastian beat her there. He held the book, closed, out of her reach.

"Don't you want to remember the girl you fancied? Maybe she wrote something in the book!" Fiona whined.

"Fiona, don't mistake this as me pressuring you, but I don't want to remember a time that I didn't know you. How could I have truly liked this girl? How could I love anyone else?!"

Fiona immediately gave up trying to grab the book, once again confronted with his serious feelings for her.

"Fine. It's your book. Do with it what you will. Just know I would never hold it against you, even if you were in love with Samantha Dale." Fiona calmly spoke and sat on the bed. 

Sebastian stood by the door, examining the outside cover of the book. It looked like it had been ready many, many times. Not paying attention to Fiona, he decided to open the book, to see if there was a message for him.

At the same time, Fiona noticed what looked like the back side of a photograph on the floor by her foot. She knew it was the photo that fell from the book. She didn't know if she wanted to see the front side. She didn't know how she would react if it was a picture of another girl. In the end, curiosity got the best of her, and she leaned over to pick up the photo. What she saw shocked her to her core.

She saw a younger Sebastian and her younger self. He had his arm around her as she smiled. The young Sebastian then stuck his finger in his mouth and placed it in her ear, causing her to try to push him away as he held onto her tighter.

She was hit with a sudden headache. The month of memories she lost from her head injury came flooding back. She was in Diagon Alley the day before she would have been on the Hogwarts Express. She met a young Sebastian in a shop. She lied to him about being a student. She gifted him the book.

He was the reason she could never accept a courting proposal. He was the reason she always felt like something was missing with other lads. She realised there was a reason he felt so familiar to her that first night in the Great Hall. There was a reason she felt drawn to him. Suddenly their argument outside the Sallow home seemed so trivial.

While Fiona was remembering a month's worth of memories, Sebastian was reading the note in the book over again. Suddenly he remembered his encounter with Fiona at Diagon Alley. He remember how she enchanted him. How she promised to meet him on the train and never showed up. It all made sense now. She lied to him back then. His train of thought was broken by Fiona.

"Sebastian, I remember now." Fiona looked at him, holding up the enchanted photograph.

"Me too, Fi." Sebastian opened up the book and showed Fiona her note.

"I'm sorry I lied to you back then." Fiona quietly spoke. "I was so ashamed of being a squib. When you assumed I was a student... I just wanted to feel like one for a while."

"I kept looking at the aisle of the train, trying to find you, for 7 hours." Sebastian admitted. "I only realized you were not on the train during the sorting ceremony."

Sebastian had tears in his eyes. It felt like the flood gates had been open. A lot of happy memories his brain had locked away came flushing back.

"I've been waiting for you all this time and didn't even know it." Fiona thought aloud.

Sebastian placed the book on his dresser. Fiona placed the photograph on the bed beside her. She stood up. Sebastian began to slowly approach her, and she did the same. They met in the middle of the room. Sebastian grabbed Fiona's cheeks, turning her head up. He was looking down at her, with an intensity in his eyes.