Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Twenty-One: Poachers Delight

"How do you know?" She questioned.

"He kidnapped me. Told me that children should be seen, not heard- like he'd told you. So when he tried to kill me, I killed him first."

There was no remorse in my voice, I'd spoken so bluntly that it had made Sebastian raise his head. The magic purred in my veins and I didn't bother to quiet it.

"So, so he was the one-"

"Yes."

"And Ranrok?"

"He wanted power. I stopped him, and he died in the process."

I left it at that. He wasn't important to this story anymore, it wasn't goblins who cursed her, and it wasn't Sebastian who killed him. All of the blame was on me.

"Happy now?" Sebastian grumbled, still refusing to look anywhere but the floor.

"Not particularly," Anne said. This surprised me. She should have been happy, Sebastian hadn't killed anyone else, he was fine. She was better.

"I'm not following," he said, glancing at her and then to me.

"If it was her, not you, why did you two stop speaking?"

I sighed, "Because you were right, in a way. We were bad for each-other."

He laughed, a bark of a laugh, that made me glare at him. That's what we had agreed; he was bad for me, I was bad for him.

"We need to go," was all Sebastian offered in response to my quizzical look. "I need to get this one out of here before the poachers settle in for the day."

"This one? Am I a cargo delivery, Sallow?"

He grimaced before coming over and lifting me from the chair by my elbow and nodding curtly to Anne. "If you hear anything else, I expect an owl."

With that, he guided me from the house and back over to the Floo station. I tried the whole walk to jerk my arm from his grasp, still angry he had refused to touch me in front of his sister in any comforting way, and by his laugh at our reasons for stopping speaking.

Taking a pinch of green powder between my fingers, I took the lead this time. He released me and I made a show of shaking him off.

"Hogwarts dungeons," I said, vanishing with a soft pop!

Within an instant I was there, in the dark and abandoned hallways of Hogwarts castle, the familiar coolness of our dormitory hall wrapping around my body. It was calming and I was grateful for it.

Sebastian appeared with a soft pop beside me, and without looking at him I turned to walk away. I'd made it all of two steps before his hand caught my wrist and he spun me back around and I slammed a little roughly into the wall. Sebastian's arms were on either side of me, and he was pinning me there, one hand still holding my wrist.

My breath caught in my throat as he pressed himself close to me, enveloping me in the intoxicating scent of cinnamon. I had to fight with my brain to remember that I was irritated with him, but his lips were moving and I was even more irritated at the fact that they were speaking instead of moving on mine.

"You have got to be kidding me, Abbi," he hissed at me, dark eyes flashing dangerously.

"Are you going mental?" I snap, forcing myself to look away from his eyes. "Let go of me."

"Why did you tell her? I worked so hard to keep that from her for you."

I blinked at him, surprised. He'd willingly lied to his twin sister about her curse to protect me, and while my heart swelled with happiness, I just got more irritated from confusion.

"Because, Sebastian, she thought you'd done him in. I couldn't have her thinking you'd committed more murder, could I?"

He didn't answer, chewing the inside of his cheek instead, before changing the line of questioning all together. "Why in the bloody hell do you have a Phoenix?"

"Deek told me about him, I rescued him fifth year before any poachers could get him." His fingers holding my wrist tightened and I gasped a little at the sensation.

"Where is he?"

"Room of Requirement."

"No one knows?"

"You and Anne," I said, annoyed, eyes darting down from his chocolate orbs to his lips and back again.

He smirked, having caught it this time.

"Look, I have to go," I said after a long pause of nothing. Imelda is sure to have practice and I was currently missing it. She'd slaughter me before any poacher could.

Sebastian pushed away from the wall, dropping my wrist as he did so. I frowned but nodded my head to him.

"I want to meet this damn bird," he said as he stepped away and the Slytherin Common Room entrance revealed itself for him. Without another word, Sebastian Sallow turned away from me, entering the common room alone and without so much as a backwards glance at me.