Entangled Again || With Sebastian Sallow

Ch 2: Potion in Motion

"Master Sallow, I see we're off to a good start," Madam Scribner looked up from her desk in the library to greet him with a withering smile. "Are we going to be making our visits a weekly ritual again?"

"Only so we can have these moments together," he responded with a charming smile, tracing a finger seductively across her desk. "Should I... hit the lights?"

"Oh, very clever!" Madam Scribner tried to sound stern but she couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks. She had always had a soft spot for the cheeky Sallow boy. "Take a seat," she motioned to the long table and bench seats in front of her desk.

A few other miscreants filed in for detention, the last one to join was Juliet.

"I heard you were terrorizing Professor Hecat this morning?" Scribner raised an eyebrow at her.

"Expressing my opinion is not a terrorist action," she responded defensively.

Scribner tsked and pointed to the empty spot beside Sebastian. Juliet dumped her bag on the floor and slumped into her designated seat.

"Make anyone cry today, Jules?" he nudged her teasingly. He'd noticed her storming around the school in a bad mood all morning.

"No," she turned to look at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "But it is only 12:30."

Sebastian chuckled.

"So... how are you, Seb? How's Anne?" she asked.

"I'm alright, and Anne is too, thanks to you," he flashed her a grateful smile.

At the start of the summer holidays after Fifth Year, Sebastian had invited Juliet to stay with him, Ominis, and Anne in Feldcroft. While Anne mourned the loss of Uncle Solomon, Juliet put all her energy into finding a cure for Anne's curse, once and for all. It was her last ditch attempt at proving to Sebastian how far she'd go for him, after failing to garner his attention again after she'd screwed it all up at Halloween. After multiple failed attempts at using her own ancient magic to do so, she came up with a wild plan. She'd heard rumours that Victor Rookwood hadn't actually died during the final battle, and that he was actually in a coma and being held at St. Mungo's. Without telling the boys, she took Anne on a little trip to the Wizarding Hospital to track Rookwood down. She wielded her ancient magic to wake him up, and they struck a deal – if he would break the curse he had inflicted on Anne, Juliet would let him live. She convinced him to commit to an Unbreakable Vow, to ensure he wouldn't come after them, and in turn they wouldn't come after him. Juliet left the hospital that day with a cured Anne.

At first, Sebastian had been furious with her for risking their safety by visiting Rookwood. However, after a few days, when he saw Anne's health improve immensely, he was so grateful to have his sister back that he'd put all hard feelings aside. But almost instantly, Juliet felt like an outsider. Sebastian and Ominis focussed their attention on Anne, and Juliet barely knew her... so she decided to leave Feldcroft, to give them some space. She'd left them a note in the night, saying something sappy about needing some time to find herself. It wasn't a lie... she did need some time, time to move on from Sebastian, to get over him, for the sake of their friendship. It wasn't his fault that he clearly didn't feel the same way about her as she did for him.

But thoughts of him consumed her, and it drove her mad. She spent most of the summer on a total rampage, taking her anger out on poachers and dark wizards. She wiped out hundreds of them, convincing herself that she was making the world a better place, but the killings began to take its toll. One rainy evening, she showed up on Poppy's doorstep in Upper Hogsfield - drenched, gaunt, tired, drained. Poppy and her Gran took her in for the remainder of the summer holidays, and nursed her back to health, ensuring she was stable... well, stable enough to return to school.