Tempest // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 77

Step 1 (Housing) of Sebastian's meticulous plan was going great.

Rosie moved out not long after Isabelle was discharged from hospital with the baby. And not back to Anne and Sebastian's apartment.

No.

She moved into Sebastian and Rosie's apartment.

The second and undisclosed part of Step 1 (Housing) was getting Rosie's mother out of the flat and into her own place.

And that required funds.

Funds that required the sale of the Callahan home since Vera wasn't entitled to her daughters' inheritance. And neither were her daughters.

And that sale required one of two things. Rosie's father sign everything over to Vera knowing he was going to Azkaban, likely for life, or... divorce (or death).

Fat chance of either of those happening. And death wasn't really on the cards if Sebastian could help it. He'd decided he wasn't going to take any more lives (willingly).

The reason the second part of Step 1 (Housing) wasn't going so well was because the only thing Sebastian could see helping was cosying up to Harry bloody Potter.

Sebastian knew that Harry was very close with the Minister for Magic. Best friends at school, he recalled. So if he could just get that push, the tiny bit of help to make James Callahan's trial go that little bit quicker, he'd do whatever he had to do to make everything right and everyone happy.

His plan of attack was simple. A housewarming party.

But Anne didn't agree.

"Why on Earth would you host a housewarming partyd invite my in-laws?" She scoffed when he'd brought up the subject at lunch one day when Anne's shifts at the hospital aligned with his 9-5 (or rather, 10-8 these days)

Sebastian realised how silly it sounded, but he was tired of hiding the truth and how he felt. Last time he did that, Rosie left him alone.

"Listen, I want to help out Rosie's mum. She's been living in that stuffy apartment and getting in Isabelle's space and with a new baby, I'm sure she'd like some time away from her."

Anne stared at him, "...and my father-in-law comes into this, how?"

"Well... Harry's best friends with the Minister for Magic. Perhaps he could get her to push to get his trial out of the way. It will be much easier for Vera to seek the divorce from a life-long Azkaban resident. Then she can sell the house and get her own place."

"No."

"What?" Sebastian exclaimed.

"I won't just invite him over to some silly party and do your bidding for you. Perhaps you just need to approach him yourself." Anne replied, taking a sip of her tea.

"Alright, fine," he sighed. "I'll talk to Harry myself."

The next day, after mulling his choices over all night, Sebastian found himself standing outside Harry Potter's Head Auror office at the Ministry of Magic. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in," came Harry's cheery voice from inside.

Sebastian entered, trying to look happy and confident. "Sorry, Harry, do you have a moment?"

Harry looked up from his desk, surprise flickering across his face. "Ah! Sebastian! Of course!"

Sebastian sat down at the chair opposite Harry's desk that he was gesturing to and cleared his throat. "Ah, well, I came to ask about James Callahan."