Shadow of the Key | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 16: Heart of Shadows

Sebastian's POV

Faint footsteps and a snort woke him up from his peaceful slumber.

As he opened his eyes, he turned towards the sounds, seeing Valencia standing in front of the Undercroft gate with a knowing grin and popping jellybeans into her mouth as she watched him.

What time is it?

Why was Valencia just staring at him?

It was when he went to go sit up that he realized why she was staring with that knowing grin.

Amelia was still laying on top of his chest with her legs entangled with his, lips parted as she took soft breaths.

They had fallen back asleep.

That's right.

"Mooorning," Valencia drawls on with a grin.

As soon as she said this, Amelia eyes shoot open and her head raises towards Valencia. She slowly turned her head towards Sebastian with blushed cheeks and wide eyes. When realization hit her as well, she hastily scrambled off of him to her feet, brushing herself off and patting down her hair.

But Sebastian didn't care.

That was the best sleep he had in weeks. And he was sleeping on the bloody Undercroft floor.

His nightmares lately had only consisted of Amelia nearly dying at the Hogwarts front entrance. But last night, it was like having her next to him quieted the internal torment.

That scared him.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned towards Valencia with a smirk, "Morning, Val. What time is it?"

One side of her lip perked up slightly, as if she knew he was trying to avoid the elephant in the room, "It's seven in the morning."

"Ah," he acknowledges, "Why are you down here so early?"

"I could ask you two the same thing," she counters with a knowing head tilt.

Amelia still wasn't talking. She looked completely flustered and embarrassed, standing there and still attempting to brush her hair out.

"Taking a nap, of course," Sebastian says casually.

"Is that all-"

"Yes," Amelia blurts out.

Valencia hums and gives a simple head nod, clearly amused at Amelia's fluster, "Well, you two still have time to freshen up before breakfast. I came down here to research for a bit."

"Research what?" Amelia inquires, the blush slowly fading from her cheeks at the change of topic.

She walks over to the table and sets her bag and jellybeans down, grabbing a book from her bag and opening it, "I came across this book when I went into the library one day and I found something interesting that might help you. I wanted to dive into it further."

Sebastian immediately stands up at this, adjusting his uniform shirt and strolling up towards her with Amelia following, "What did you find?"

"Are either of you familiar with a key-shaped locket?" She asks, eyes darting between them in curiosity.

Key-shaped locket?

Sebastian and Amelia both look at each other in thought before they were turning back towards Valencia and shaking their heads.

She raises an eyebrow, "I thought you two researched everything last year to help Anne?"

"Not everything," Amelia speaks up, "We only read what was needed and had to combine some spells and counter-curses to save her."