Entombed // Sebastian Sallow

ten - practice

"I broke up with her to come back here."

A part of me lit up inside after hearing what Anne had said about me in the memories.

"Did you love her?" I dared to ask.

"No, not really."

"Then why did you sleep with her?"

"You know, when I asked if you had any questions, I didn't know I'd be absolutely drilled." He scoffed at me, his eyebrows furrowing.

I stood my ground, staring at him. Unrelenting in my questioning. He broke our gaze and sighed hard.

"Fine. I slept with her because that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do."

"Was it good?"

"Lara!"

Again, I tested him. I stared at him. I was unmoving. I think he knew what game I was playing here.

"It was alright." He admitted. "Can I ask some questions now?"

I thought for a moment. I wanted to stay mad at him, I held resentments for the way he left, but his memories made it clear that he wasn't in a right state of mind when he left and clarity away from me and everyone else here was probably what he needed. It seemed to work because I hadn't seen one emotional outburst in him since he returned.

"Go on." I said, casually.

"Is it good with Weasley?"

Oh, so we were playing that game.

"Yes." I said.

He raised a single eyebrow. He didn't believe me.

"Do you love him?"

"Y... yes." I gulped.

I was trying hard to be confident in my answers but he was intimidating me. He just had this look that made me crumble and cave to his every word.

"Hm. Alright. Well, I'm finished. If there's anything else you'd like clarity on, you now know where to find me. The password is 'aspiration' by the way. I'm going to head back, Ominis was about to score us some scones from the kitchen."

He started to take large strides towards the door to the Undercroft before turning back one last time.

"And thank you, Lara. For letting me give you the explanation. And for hearing me out. I appreciate it." He smiled. This time, his smile was genuinely full of gratefulness and not the usual cheeky smirk he threw. I rarely saw that smile.

"You're welcome. And I'm truly sorry about Anne. If you need someone to talk to about it, the password is 'grata domum'." I smiled at him.

How utterly un-prefect like of me. Professor Weasley would be disappointed.

✦✧✦✧

The next few weeks, things between Sebastian and I seemed to improve. I was grateful to have his presence back in my life in such a positive way. I must have been having a positive effect on him too because he was on time for every class.

I'd also been training for Quidditch and our first game was this weekend against Ravenclaw. To say I was shit scared was an understatement. Garreth had been giving me extra training about positioning and tactics, so my spare time had been quite full. I'd had no spare time to head to the Astronomy tower to paint. It was my creative outlet, my release. So, to say I was stressed out was a fucking lie. I was riddled with anxiety.

Garreth promised me one last training session before the big game so after classes, instead of going out with my friends or doing some art on a Friday night, I was lugging my Quidditch gear down to the pitch.