timeless // Sebastian Sallow

CHAPTER 38: Fresh Out the Slammer

"Now pretty baby I'm running back home to you
Fresh out the slammer I know who my first call will be to.
Gray and blue and fights and tunnels
Handcuffed to the spell I was under
But it's gonna be alright, I did my time."

🎧 Recommended song for this chapter: Fresh Out the Slammer - Taylor Swift

*****

My eyelids felt heavy.

I made some extra effort to open them up, realising I was surrounded by the blinding daylight that invaded through the tall windows. It was just too bright, but my eyes progressively got used to it and I could finally make sense of the place: it was the Hospital Wing. And I was in Hogwarts. Safe.

But wait - why am I here? I thought to myself. I wasn't injured when we left the Gaunt manor.

Not physically injured, at least - my brain, on the other hand, almost collapsed from being immediately flooded with all the events of the night before.

You are a Sayre, Carolyn. And you are a Gaunt.

My family had been tracking yours for centuries.

They promised to save the Sallow twins, that was the agreement.

I was just stalling them to protect you.

We must put the Gaunt name back on you, and Ominis has to put his seed in you.

Of course you will abide, love... Are you telling me you wouldn't be willing to do anything to save them?

Not knowing what to do with all that information was paralysing - I couldn't even decide which piece of revelation I had to process first: the truth about my past, or the uncertainty of my future.

But then, I saw him.

I looked down and a head with messy wavy hair was nested into a pair of crossed arms by my feet, at the bottom of the bed. His back slowly moved from breathing in and out.

All the relentless thoughts vanished for a minute. If anything, the most positive outcome of that night was realising that all the suffering and the pain from the unreciprocated crush on Ominis was over, once and for all. My heart thudded in my chest, awakening fresh out the slammer. No more potions and lies handcuffing me. Free, at last.

I reached over and ran my fingers through his soft hair. Only then, as I sat up, a sore sensation crippled up my left thigh, wrapped in bandages from hip to knee.

"Ouch," I breathed out. So that was the reason why I was there, though I had no recollection of that injury.

He hummed and slowly leaned up, turning in my direction with puffy, sleepy eyes ornated with faint dark circles - I wondered if he stayed there all night.

"Sebastian," I let out in a whisper.

He raised from his nested arms, stood up in a hurry and hugged me tightly. My heart pounded furiously, and I was embarrassed because I knew he could feel it. Not that I needed any further confirmation but, in Sebastian's arms, a long-lost feeling emerged, tingling, making my stomach flutter.

All those feelings I had about being stuck in a foggy labyrinth in my head finally made sense. The Amortentia not only forged fake infatuation that yielded real pain and heartbreak, but locked away all the good memories and feelings I had for Sebastian, pushing him away.

Releasing me from his embrace, he gripped my shoulders with a worried frown.

"I am so sorry. I failed you," he closed his eyes while whispering these words. "It was my responsibility to bring you safe and sound back to Hogwarts. I had barely regained my senses after being released from the petrifying spell. Then, we arrived at the Undercroft, and you were unconscious... Your leg... You were bleeding so much... I carried you across the castle, it was the middle of the night... I was so scared... I..."