kingdom by the sea - sebastian sallow

one

september

"...so that her highborn kinsmen came and bore her away from me | To shut her up in a sepulchre | In this kingdom by the sea."

-Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee

It was my first time at King's Cross Station.

Frankly, it was my first time travelling alone to Hogwarts. The absence of Professor Fig bit at the back of my mind as I successfully navigated to Platform 9 ¾. Last year, while this train was making its way through the grassy fields of the Scottish Highlands, I was in a carriage that was ripped in half by an enchanted dragon.

The thought of free falling in the air like that made me shudder, but I pushed the feelings aside and lugged my trunk behind me, the heavy contents within making it hard to manage with my owl, Nike, grasped in my other hand.

"Need a hand?" A familiar voice called out.

I couldn't help but let a smile reach my lips as I looked up to see one of my closest friends, Sebastian Sallow. Immediately dropping my trunk and laying Nike's cage atop it, I nearly launched myself into the Slytherin's arms.

"I missed you!"

When Sebastian let go of me, I watched as his eyes scanned my face, almost as if he was waiting for something.

"I missed you too. How's our little Hero of Hogwarts?" He snickered, stepping beside me to hand me Nike while he grabbed my trunk. "Theodora Adkins? Oh my, it's such an honour to meet you!"

"Would you quit it?" I rolled my eyes as I followed him along the side of the train to where the attendants waited for luggage. Instead of an actual person, though, I saw a pair of enchanted gloved hands take the trunks of some first years and load them in the luggage carriage themself.

Sebastian looked different, even only after one summer. He was taller, his bone structure stronger, and shoulders broader from what I could tell just from the few moments we already spent together. His voice was laced with even more sarcasm and flirtation than before, if that was possible.

From what I could tell in the train's reflection, I observed that I did look a bit more refined. My face was deeply set and my posture was even the slightest bit arrogant. I wouldn't lie that being the talk of the school changed the way you carried yourself. However, my eyes were darker, likely from the nights over the summer where I would wake up from nightmares resulting from the entirety of fifth year.

"Are you sitting with me on the train?" Sebastian asked as we handed the pristine gloves my luggage.

Just as he said that, a pair of hands grasped my from behind, a joyous and accented voice following, "No," A laugh sounded, "You cannot have Theo all to yourself, Sebastian!"

I turned in excitement to see Natty, my other partner in crime from last year. We had exchanged owls all summer talking about anything and everything. Natty knew some of my deepest, darkest secrets.

"Did you get my last owl?" I laughed, pulling her in for a tight hug.

"Oh, it was the best one yet! I cannot believe that girl had the audacity to say such things!" Natty's caramel eyes sparkled.

Sebastian just looked at us in a confused manner. "I'm not even going to pretend to be interested in what you two have gossiped about this summer."

"Oh, but you so are, Sebastian," I winked at him.

He stared at me and then coughed, muttering something about Ominis and climbing up the steps inside the carriage. Natty eyed him suspiciously as he disappeared from our eyeline. "Theo, has that boy sent you anything this summer? If there was one thing you never talked about in your writing, it was him."