Under Your Scars || Sebastian Sallow x MC

Flashback - Six Years Earlier

Winter, 1893

Juliette POV

A blinding flash obscured my vision as we smiled for the camera. I sat on the floor in front of the sofa, the Sallow twins behind me with Ominis taking up the rear behind the sofa.

I rested my head on Sebastian's leg for the photo, using my tipsy state as an excuse to be closer to him. It wasn't entirely a lie. I was feeling quite warm and fuzzy from the wine. With the four of us being of-age, and Anne starting to regain her strength, my parents had permitted us each two glasses of wine during Christmas Eve dinner. 

Our quartet waited for my parents to retire for the night before sneaking into the kitchen and stealing two more bottles of wine. With our plunder, we scurried up the stairs to the guest room for a game of tipsy Gobstones.

We pulled the pillows and blankets off of the bed to create a cozy seating area on the floor. It was not until we all got comfortable that I realized we had no glasses for our wine.

"Oh my, we've forgotten wine glasses and I don't even have a corkscrew. I'll be right-"

"I'll get them!" Ominis interrupting me, shooting up from our blanket pile. "Anne will you be a dear and accompany me? I can make my way to the kitchen but will need help carrying everything back."

Anne looked back and forth between Sebastian and Ominis for a moment before she got up. She followed him from the guest room, giggling as she closed the door behind her. 

Weirdos. 

I was left with Sebastian, who started to shift in his seat. 

"Jules I- I- almost forgot! I've got a gift for you." he rummaged through his satchel for a moment before producing a blue velvet box and placing it in my palm. 

I looked down at it and raised an eyebrow, but internally I was screaming. "But Christmas is tomorrow?"

He shrugged, "I want you to have it now."

I held the small box gingerly in my hands and opened it. Inside, a dazzling pendant on a silver chain rested on a tiny velvety pillow. The pendant had the head of a bird and two silver wings with three blue gemstones set between them. 

"Seb it's beautiful. It looks like - "

"It's an eagle. The symbol of Ravenclaw House. For my favorite Ravenclaw."

"May I?" He took the box from my hands and removed the necklace. He drew a circle with his finger, gesturing for me to turn around. I turned around and pulled my hair out of his way. 

My heart pounded in my chest as he placed the necklace around my neck, giving me goosebumps with each brush of his fingertips against my skin.

I traced the delicate pendant with my fingertips. The silver metal had a familiar weightiness to it. 

"Is this Goblin silver?" I asked, turning back to Sebastian.

His eyebrows knit together, "It is. How did you know?"

"Wanna see something cool?"

I held out my hand between us and summoned a sliver of Ancient Magic, like a small silver-blue flame in my palm. 

Sebastian leaned forward until his face was just inches from my hand. The light of my magic reflected in his eyes as I twirled it between my fingertips. 

I brought my hand to my chest, where the pendant sat. Sebastian's mouth fell open as he watched the Ancient Magic flame absorb into the pendant, leaving shimmering traces in the feathers of the eagle's wings.

"How did you do that?" he looked up at me, his brown eyes twinkling with wonder and curiosity.

I could feel my cheeks flushing the longer I looked at him. I looked down at the pendant to try to hide what his eyes were doing to me, reigniting a spark I thought was long-extinguished.

"For some reason, Goblin silver can act as a vessel for my Ancient Magic. It absorbs that which makes it stronger, and I guess my magic is pretty strong."

When I looked back up at him he was looking at me with a lopsided grin, his eyes darting from my face, to the pendant, back to my face. 

"I apologize I don't have anything for you, all my gifts for you are still downstairs." I said sheepishly.

"That was a gift in itself. You're positively breathtaking." 

I bit my lip, unsure of how to respond to that. 

"I mean, that. That  was breathtaking." his cheeks flushed as he pointed to the pendant resting on my chest. 

The creak of the door opening caused him to jump and lean back against the pile of pillows behind him. 

"Now it's a slumber party!" Anne entered the room holding four wine glasses over her head. Ominis followed behind, corkscrew in hand. 

I poured wine for each of us and raised my glass to make a quick toast. 

"Cheers to Anne, we're thankful you could join us for your first of many Fontaine Family Christmases. May you wipe the floor with us in this game of Gobstones!"

"Oh, me next!" Anne declared with a signature Sallow smirk. It was uncanny how similar the twins looked when they were up to something. "Cheers to Ominis, may we soon have a wedding to attend once you finally present Poppy with that ring you've been carrying around for the last three months."

Ominis's pale skin turned the brightest shade of red I had ever seen at the mention of his girlfriend. It was adorable how they'd been together over a year now but he still got all flustered any time her name was mentioned. We all knew she was going to say 'yes', he just had to find the 'right moment' he always said. 

Ominis cleared his throat before raising his glass and taking his turn with the toasts.

"Cheers to Sebastian, I'm pleased to hear you've made it through 4 months of Auror training without getting into any trouble. May you and Juliette have fruitful careers of kicking ass and taking names." he nodded in my direction. 

"Best for last, I suppose." Sebastian teased before raising his glass toward me. "Cheers to Jules, thank you for being a lovely hostess, as always. And thank you for bringing my sister back to health. I don't know what I'd do - what we would do -  without you." 

With that, we clinked glasses and settled into our blankets for our slumber party.