You Cannot Put a Fire Out // Sebastian Sallow [Book Three]

Chapter Three: Happier Times

31st October, 1891 - Twenty-Four Years Ago

Sebastian and Anne turned seventeen today. Seventeen! What a momentous day.

In a few weeks, he would be licensed to use Apparition-thank Merlin-and the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery would no longer apply to him. Freedom!

Sebastian was already brimming with plans for the summer, even though it was barely fall. He and Damien had been discussing renting a room at The Three Broomsticks, provided Sirona agreed. Damien just needed to come up with a cover story for his father, which should be easy enough. They had plenty of time.

Speaking of plans...

The other day, Damien had asked Sebastian what he wanted to do for his birthday. Sebastian said there was only one thing that he wanted to make sure happened, but that it was a surprise.

"A surprise for whom?" Damien asked, an adorably quizzical expression crossing his face.

"You, of course!" Sebastian said with a smirk.

Damien burst into a delicious peal of laughter, which echoed through the Room of Requirement. The two young men reclined on a sofa Damien had conjured in the heart of the room, their new favorite spot to relax between classes. Whenever Deek wasn't around, they'd steal a fervent kiss or two... or twelve.

That day, Deek had, unfortunately, been in the corner sweeping, so Sebastian had to be on his best behavior. That didn't mean he couldn't discreetly grab Damien's thigh under their shared blanket and knead it gently. Which is exactly what he had been doing, a pleased expression on his face and a gentle warmth spreading through his nether regions.

"I'm quite certain that's not how birthday surprises work," Damien said once he had stopped laughing. He swatted at Sebastian's hand, pulling his legs up to block Sebastian's advances.

"Ah, but have we ever done things the usual way?" Sebastian leaned forward mid-inquiry, finishing the question as a whisper in Damien's ear.

Damien raised a brow. "I suppose not. We do seem to enjoy playing deviant." He brought his face forward so his lips were tantalizingly close to Sebastian's mouth. "Both literally and figuratively." Then, he scooted backward with a laugh, his legs acting as a barrier once more. Blast!

Sebastian chuckled in spite of himself. "So there. It's decided. I will surprise you on my birthday. That's what I want to do."

Damien tapped his chin, pretending to think long and hard about Sebastian's proposition. "Well then, if you insist. It will be your birthday, after all."

And that had been that.

And so, here Sebastian was on the momentous day, sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall at breakfast.

Anne and Ominis sat across the table from him, with Ominis's hand resting on Anne's as she quietly conversed with Imelda sitting beside her. ("Yesterday's match was exciting!" "We should have won much faster. If Violet didn't spend so much time with her blasted plants, we would have," and so on.)

Sebastian mused that the recent Quidditch matches had become far more thrilling, mostly because Damien was now in them. On a whim, Damien had tried out for the Ravenclaw team at the start of the school year and, since Damien was practically perfect in every way, had successfully earned a spot as a Chaser.

Damien was a marvel on a broom. Watching him soar gracefully through the air in his uniform, which highlighted his broad shoulders and impressive backside, was Sebastian's dream come true. He eagerly anticipated every Ravenclaw match, even enduring the taunts from fellow Slytherins when he donned a Ravenclaw scarf during the Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw game. It was all worth it to see Damien's dazzling smile after each match. Even when Ravenclaw lost, which happened rather often, Damien never seemed too put out by the loss.