Magicis Par // Sebastian Sallow

8. Second Date

            I followed Sebastian closely across Central Hall, my hand gripped tightly in his as he led me past a few prefects. Disillusionment wasn't perfect, but it was certainly good enough to get past a handful of students. Madame Scribner would be a bit more of a challenge.

He tugged me into a row of shelves near the entrance and watched as she strolled the aisles. "The key is in her desk," he whispered. "I can cause a distraction while you get it. Then meet me in front of the gates."

"Sir, yes, sir," I saluted. He couldn't see it well, but he still responded with a hushed laugh.

"Now, go!"

I slipped out of shelves and the opposite direction as Sebastian. I wasn't sure exactly what the distraction would—

I jumped at the sound of a contained explosion from the opposite side of the library, followed quickly by shrieking I recognized as Ferdinand Octavius Pratt's. The most miserable portrait in the entire school. I'd have to applaud Sebastian on that one later.

With Madame Scribner occupied, I tear through her desk for the key and head for the restricted section. Sebastian was already waiting for me, no longer under the disillusionment charm and a smug look on his face. "I hate that bloody portrait," he grumbled. "Next time I ought to burn him for real." We slipped into the restricted section once it was unlocked and made our way down the first flight of stairs. "There's usually a few ghosts who will rat on us to Scribner on the first few floors, so stay alert," he warned. He disillusioned himself again and pushed on, leaving me to follow behind.

We made it almost all the way to the room the map dictated when Peeves swooped down from the ceiling. He nearly startled a scream out of me.

"Who have we here? Sebastian Sallow and his new little friend, out exploring where they shouldn't be!" Peeves jeered. "Naughty, naughty, you'll get caught-y."

I hated this blasted poltergeist. In my time, I had more than enough encounters with the damn thing.

"Peeves, don't you—" Sebastian started, but he was interrupted by Peeves soaring over us and singing.

"I'm going to tell! I'm going to tell!" He sang all the way until he was nearly out of earshot.

"Blasted Peeves!" Sebastian turned to me. "Get what you came here for. I'll stop him, or at least come up with a good enough excuse for all of this."

He started away from me, but I grabbed his hand to stop him. "Don't get yourself into trouble at my expense, Sebastian."

He let out a laugh. "I would never. I quite like the idea of having you in my debts. Now, until our third date..."

The audacity of this boy. He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles before whisking away after Peeves. I knew my jaw was damn near on the floor. I almost needed a spell to pick it up like I did this suit of armor that Peeves knocked over.

It took a moment to shake the feeling his lips left on my skin and quell the surge of magic that coursed through me, but once I did, I pressed on.

It was probably beneficial that Sebastian was pulled away by Peeves, because where I needed to go, it appeared that he couldn't follow. The Athenaeum was hidden by ancient magic and guarded by the same knights at Gringotts. It was a much longer and more tedious trek than I was expecting. Two rounds of knights and a handful of hidden walkways later, I found myself with a mysterious book and at another Pensieve.