All The Magic We Made (Sebastian Sallow x Fem!OC)

It's Giving Baby Groot (Screamy Edition)

"Okay, listen. I respect that you guys have an aesthetic going on here. I get it. But can you please just admit that it's only for the aesthetic, because there's no world where a quill is the most practical writing tool," I implore.

Sebastian scoffs, leaning back against the greenhouse table as we wait for Herbology class to begin. "A quill is a very efficient writing tool, thank you very much."

"See, now you're just lying."

"Then what do you propose we use, Loves?" he says, crossing his arms with a crooked smile.

"I don't know, maybe a pencil?" I say.

His brows furrow. "A what?"

"A pencil."

"What in Merlin's name is that?"

"A pencil??"

"That's what you said, no?"

I gape at him. "You don't know what a pencil is."

He just cocks his head, watching me expectantly. I quickly turn to my right, nudging Ginny. "Gin, you know what a pencil is, right?"

"Of course I know what a bloody pencil is," she says, pausing her conversation with Luna for a moment to answer. "Dad uses them all the time."

I turn back to Sebastian. "See?"

"What's a pencil?" Neville asks from the other side of the table. Natty shrugs her shoulders a few spots down, Sebastian shakes his head next to me, and even Draco furrows his eyebrows from another table.

"Oh." Realization dawns over me. "You guys don't have pencils."

"Again I ask," Sebastian says. "What is a pencil."

They're purebloods, of course they would have no idea about some muggle common day objects. The only reason Ginny knows about them is because her father works in a Muggle Artifacts office in the Ministry.

"Oh my God, I'm about to change your life."

Before I get the chance to educate the masses about wonders of the modern day graphite pencil, Professor Garlick enters the room, carrying a large basket of potted plants. Sebastian promptly pushes himself off the edge of the table and goes to her, taking the basket's handle from her hands before lifting it onto the table for her. She smiles warmly and thanks him.

Never would have guessed that he's a gentleman, of all things.

Sebastian nods to her before returning to his place next to me. I nudge him in the side and he rolls his eyes with a snort.

"Good morning, lovely roses!" she says with a bright beam and bright voice, clasping her hands in front of her. "I am delighted to see the flush of energy in your cheeks. Let's get started, shall we?"

I've been trying to decide lately which teacher is my favourite. Everyone has one, right? But it's been so hard to choose when you go to a kickass school of magic with iconic kickass teachers everywhere. Not to mention that I like all of them in different ways that don't make any of them remotely comparable. Professor Garlick is definitely up there, though. She reminds me of an elementary school teacher, full of enthusiasm and spirit.

For today's class, we are revisiting mandrakes from first year---well, at least everyone else is. This is the first time I've ever heard of these things. She splits us into partners based on who we're standing next to at the moment. I go to an empty table with Sebastian as Professor Garlick places two potted plants on each table, one for each pair.

"Do you mind if we work here, too?" Kylie asks, stopping at our table with Draco in tow.

"No, no, go ahead." I clear up some room on the table for them, putting my bag on the ground. She smiles back and examines the potted plant on her and Draco's side of the table. Draco is quiet, as usual, but when I look back at Sebastian, I notice a little stank eye they toss at each other.

Uh oh. Bro beef.

"It's been a while since I've worked with these," Sebastian mumbles, turning his attention to the plant. "Thought I left these bloody pricks behind in first year."

"Are these the mandrakes?" I ask.

"Irritating little shits is the term I'd go with."

Professor Garlick starts handing out earmuffs, passing them along to each student. I tilt my head. "It's not that cold."

"Those are for noise blocking," Kylie clarifies.

"Noise blocking?"

Sebastian whistles lowly. "This'll be fun."

I take a last resort glance at Draco, since nobody else seems to be elaborating.

"They scream," he deadpans.

Oooookay.

"Alright class, let's have a review of safety rules, shall we?" Professor Garlick says, back at the front of the greenhouse. "When we replant the mandrakes---"

The entire class groans collectively.

"I know, I know," she sympathizes. "But look at it this way: you did it once, you can do it again."

"I fainted the first time," Neville mumbles.

What the hell are these things bro.

"You know the drill," she says with a definitive clap of her hands. "Pull up the mandrakes by the stem, place them gently into the new pot, bury them as fast as you can. Sebastian, please give Isla a helping hand? Thank you. Earmuffs on!"

"Might want to put those on now," Sebastian says quietly to me, gesturing to the earmuffs I hold. I furrow my eyebrows and secure them over my ears. Everyone around the greenhouse begins putting on their earmuffs, and once they do, Professor Garlick gives everyone a thumbs-up. She then puts her hand into the air, flipping down her fingers one by one.

Sebastian steps behind me, a little bit to my side, and has me grip the stem of the plant. He grips his hand over mine on the stem, and with the little jump of my heart, we may as well not be wearing these gardening gloves at all.

All of a sudden, his hand tightens over mine and he tugs up. The mandrake root rips through the soil and I gasp at the sight. I didn't expect the roots to be so big, or for them to look like wrinkled, soiled babies, or for them to scream.

Even with the earmuffs on, I feel the need to throw up my hands and clamp them over my ears. The sound that fills the greenhouse from everyone's table is shrill, like high-pitched screeching, and it absolutely tears at my eardrums. All twenty mandrakes, collectively wailing like it's doomsday. Sebastian hurriedly plunges the root into the empty pot with fresh soil, releasing my hand to brush soil over the root as quickly as possible. I join him in the frantic brushing motion.

"Annoying bastards," Sebastian mutters once we're done burying our root, quiet slowly falling over the greenhouse again.

I throw a bit of soil at him. "Hey, they were kind of cute."

"Only you would think that, Loves." He gives me a wry grin, tossing some soil back at me. Once everyone has their mandrakes replanted, we all cautiously remove our earmuffs. From across our table, Draco hands Kylie a gardening rag for her to wipe her hands on. Sebastian flicks another pinch of soil at me.

I gasp dramatically, feigning indignation, saying, "Oh, now it's war, Sallow."

He laughs. "Bring it on, Andrysiak."

"No soil fights in my greenhouse, please!" Professor Garlick calls.

"War postponed," Sebastian whispers.

"Coward," I whisper back.

He elbows me. I elbow him back.