Gone & Buried: A Hogwarts Legacy Retelling

Down the Stairs

As quietly as possible, Alowyn pulls back the curtains to her bed, casting a silencing charm on her feet. She doesn't want to wake her roommates, most of all Imelda. She grabs her cloak, slipping it on as she makes her way to the door. She opens it slowly, peeking around the frame to ensure there aren't any other students in the hall. It was empty, the only sound she could hear was the soft snores of the other girls. Alowyn let out a breath, slowly shutting the door behind her making sure it was closed before moving. She doesn't want to make a sound, and she definitely doesn't want anyone to know what she is doing.

Making her way down into the common room, her heart pounds as she moves swiftly out of the Slytherin entrance. She pulls her cloak tighter around her, the stone walls of the corridor looming over her in the dungeons. The fire from the torches on the wall do very little to warm the halls at night. She walks in between shadows, trying to stay covered while making her way to Central Hall. She keeps looking around to ensure she isn't caught by anyone, she swears she can hear her heartbeat roaring in her ears.

She turns a corner, stepping onto the top of the staircase, stopping abruptly as unfamiliar emotions crash into her. Sebastian leans against the banister, his face lit only by the candlelight from above. For a moment, Alowyn's heart flutters at the thought of being alone with him in the castle at night. She can't help the warmth that comes to her face as she takes him in, standing there. He's even more handsome than she originally thought, his features illuminated by the soft glow of the flames. His eyes meet hers, as she moves down the stairs towards him. His eyes are following her as she walks, the flickering light dances within his irises, turning his eyes an even more vibrant gold than usual. A charged silence hangs in the air, growing thicker as she nears him. They stare at each other for just a moment, then he lightly pushes her to a crouching position.

"The librarian is usually gone for the night by now, and that's the door we need to reach," he says, pointing to the Library entrance she watched him enter through on her first day. "There's prefects around the corner keeping watch. They would love nothing more than to rat on us to Scribner. Do you know the disillusionment charm?"

"Yes, Professor Fig taught me over the summer."

"Seems he taught you a lot. We need to use it to get past them, so follow my lead, and be quiet."

"I can be sneaky, Sebastian," she bites out at him with a roll of her eyes. The prefects looming presence was starting to make her antsy. The tense air between them wasn't helping with her growing urge to move.

"Then let's go."

They both cast the charm over themselves, moving swiftly and light on their feet to avoid alerting the prefects. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sebastian's hand suddenly came around her waist pulling her hard against him. He presses them up against the handrails of the stairs, with her back flush to his chest. It's then, Alowyn sees a prefect come around the corner into the path she was just taking. She's breathing heavily and swears anyone in the hall can hear her. Sebastian's hand covers her mouth at the thought, then he lowers his lips to her ear, whispering, "I thought you said you could be sneaky?"

She rolls her eyes at him, again, even though she knows he can't see her. She feels his chest shutter against her back as she realizes he's snickering at her. She fights the urge to bite his hand, and bite it hard. They wait there a moment, as the prefect disappears down the hall towards the greenhouses. His smell envelops her as she breaths in through her nose, basking in the smell of cedar and spice. Sebastian's hand slips from her mouth, brushing against her lips, slightly parting them. She can feel a warmth pooling in her making it hard for her to regain her focus. She pushes off of him, putting some distance between them so she can clear her head. She could still smell his scent, lingering on her cloak.