DISGUISED || SEBASTIAN SALLOW

Chapter 18

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My body stiffened at a soft knock at the door.

"I'm coming!" I yelled, shoving the journal back into the drawer. My chest was thumping drastically. 

"Take your time. The soup's ready." The soft and withered voice of Anne Sallow came from behind the door. I heard her footsteps relinquish. Pushing aside the stool, I reached for the doorknob. I had so many questions. Sebastian Sallow was in love with me. Was: a key word. Those feelings were buried now, they had to be. My thoughts drifted to the muggle.

Luke Smithington. You got me here. Thank you.

I opened the door, plastering a smile on my robotic face. Anne was dishing a bowl of soup with trembling hands. I aided her, grabbing the large spoon and scooping. Anne's body was shaking; that was wrong.

I looked down at her, noticing my minuscule height advantage, and muttered, "I'll take it from here."

Anne glanced at me in relief. "Thank you, Y/N," her quavering body walked to the diner table. I scooped us each a bowl of soup, walking to the table. I slipped the wooden bowl off my fingers, noticing how discolored the tips were. 

"How come Sebastian isn't here?" I whispered after I had practically downed my soup. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now.

Anne shook her head. "He said he was going to walk. No telling when he'll get back."

"Why is he here?"

The girl across from me let out a fit of coughs, her eyes watering before responding. "He escaped Azkaban a month ago."

My spoon dropped from my fingertips and clattered on the wooden table.

Anne pushed away her bowl and nodded in disdain. "He said he turned into a Fox animagus. Apparently dementors can only torment human souls, so he figured turning into his Animagus transformation would work."

"When did he learn to transform?" I asked, grabbing my silver spoon apologetically. 

"It was the summer I became sick. He never left my side and decided to endeavor in the concept of an animagus form. It worked, but I'm not sure how often he ever transformed."

I nodded. "You said a month? Where did he go?"

Anne's eyes distilled in the sinking sunlight from the window across from her. "I have no clue. He never told me. I was horrified when he arrived today.

"He arrived on my doorsteps and he looked worse for wears. He was bleeding everywhere, except, it wasn't blood. It was this dark liquid. His eyes were black, his skin was white, and he looked absolutely horrendous. The bleeding eventually stopped and he got his color back, but the mortification I felt knowing I could've possibly lost him then and there shook me. It was as if I'd forgotten everything he'd done to our Uncle Solomon, and those near death experiences change us."

Her eyes had grown grim, reddening from the tears that dared to spill down her sickly face.

"The nightmares," she continued, "were allegedly recurrent. He said he would dream about this black mob following him, and then it would swallow him. He said he went unconscious and then woke up half dead on the ground. Then, he came here."

I reached out a grabbed her shaky hand. It was deathly cold and sent a shiver down my spine. "You saved him, Anne. That's commendable."

She shook her head. "You would've done the same."

Probably, I thought. But not initially. "Maybe. Is is a lot to take in? It is for me."

Anne nodded, glancing around their home. "They can't know he's here. The other townsfolk are paying this home off for me and they have no clue he's here; they weren't very happy about your arrival, but they promised to keep it secretive. I told them you were a cousin of mine named Diana."

"Sebastian probably cast a disillusionment charm. That bastard, he's lucky he has a wand!" I let out a chuckle. "The name Diana is to die for."

Anne's small smile faltered. "What happened to your wand?"

I explained to her my pathetic situation, and with each passing second, realization dawned upon her. "Hold on. I think I have a wand that might work for you." The girl stood up, walking down into what I assumed her room. Anne walked back out with a wooden box that smelled of old perfume and old tears. She loaned me the box; I looked at her cool eyes in validation before opening the lid. 

"It was my mother's," she said softly. 

I opened the box, gaping at the polished wand. It was a purple and black, almost resembling the galaxy with shimmers of gold and white splattered across its surface. It had a marble handle, and it felt personal, as if I was watching a movie of here mom's that was never meant for me to see.

I grabbed the wand and fiddled around with it, twirling it between my fingers. It didn't repulse me so I guess that was good. Fiddling with the historic object, I glanced at Anne. "You sure?"

"Most definitely."

I whispered into the wand, "Lumos." The wand flickered for a second and then struck a strong beam of light, almost blinding in the dimly lit dining room. I was satisfied, tracing my fingers along the spiral patterns that laced around its edges.

"I think I'll take it outside to try it out," I muttered, lost in the color of the wand. 

"Yes! Of course," Anne's eyes were unreadable, strained, yet happy.

I stood up and before I could process much of anything, a dark satin overcoat was drawled over my shoulders. "Here. I think you're capable of finding you way around Feldcroft. I would just stay clear of the deeper parts of the forest. Don't stay out too late, okay?

Anne was almost like a mother in that moment. "I'll be back before twilight."

The Sallow smiled, a small hacking noise rumbling deep in her chest. She nodded while her face puddled and a stream of coughs followed. I took it as my cue to leave, slipping off a pair of hard boots and leaving the comfortable home of Sebastian Sallow.

I never really planned to just try out the wand...

...I was on a mission to find Sebastian. To have a little chat, to put it at that.

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