Under Your Scars || Sebastian Sallow x MC

Chapter 10 - Show Me

Sebastian POV

I spent the afternoons following the duel either pacing my office, writing letters to Juliette or harassing Weasley for information about my student's wellbeing. 

All of my letters to Juliette had gone unanswered. I once made my way to the seventh-floor, trying to visit Juliette in person, but the Room never revealed itself. I remembered she had a floo flame just inside the door. I tried to floo my way in there, but it blocked me.

Weasley assured me that all was well, and that my student would be excused from classes for the rest of the week as she recovered from her "fainting spell". The story that we had settled on  was that Miss Corben had tried using a form of wandless magic that was too advanced for her, and she had over-exerted herself, causing her to faint. I was meant to use it as a teaching moment about the dangers of pursuing advanced or experimental magic. What a bloody joke. 

My office hours became occupied by visits from Carina Parkinson, interrogating me about her friend's whereabouts. I informed her that her friend was at St Mungos, a lie we had come up with to excuse the fact that she was not in the hospital wing. When she was not asking about Rosalie, she was asking about Juliette. 

"Sooo are you two like... a thing? Rose told me that every time she came to your office hours, you and Miss Fontaine were in here having 'tea'." she used air quotes on the last word, implying it was something more than tea. "And you guys looked awfully close at The Three Broomsticks."

I tried to brush it off as I shuffled through the student essays on my desk. "I make it a point not to discuss my romantic life with students."

"So there IS romance!!" her face lit up as she sprang out of the seat across the desk, pointing a finger at me as if to say she had caught me.

Well, shit. 

I removed my glasses, rubbing my nasal bridge between my fingers. "Don't you have other business to attend to, Miss Parkinson? Classes to attend?"

"Romance is my business! I love love!" She spun around and held her hands to her heart. "But fine, if you insist. You're secret's safe with me, Professor Sallow,"  and with that she twirled her way out of my office. 

All I could do was shake my head. 

Miss Parkinson, or rather her friendship with Rosalie Corben, was something of an enigma to me. They were incredibly close, but they could not be more dissimilar to one another. Miss Corben was quiet, reserved, and incredibly studious. She took every possible elective she could and spent her free time tending to Professor Howin's beasts. Miss Parksinson on the other hand was bold and extroverted. She often neglected her studies to partake in quidditch, duels, and wizards chess, anything she could win. She reminded me so much of myself that it was a wonder she had not been sorted in Slytherin.

Despite their differences, they had been inseparable for the last 6 years. I occasionally spotted them walking arm in arm through the corridors. Knowing what I knew of Miss Corben's upbringing, it warmed my heart that she had found such a friend. 

____________________________

On Saturday morning, I decided I needed to get out of the castle and clear my head. I took a few books and made my way to the boathouse. Students rarely came down here and I enjoyed the tranquility that the lake had to offer.

I truly made an effort to read but my mind kept wandering. A spiral of questions kept me from absorbing any of the words on the page. 

Why didn't she tell me she was looking for an ancient magic wielder?