In the Shadow of Darkness | Sebastian Sallow

Hufflepuff v. Slytherin

I woke up on Saturday morning to an owl from Anne asking if I could visit her. Finally, I thought. It had been weeks since I'd written to her. I wrote up a quick reply promising to visit on Sunday morning and then headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. I found Garreth and Natty sitting at the Gryffindor table watching both Slytherin's and Hufflepuff's pre-Quidditch festivities at their tables with amused expressions as I sat down beside them.

"You'd think this game mattered," Garreth remarked.

"Oh, hush," I laughed. "It does to them."

Natty sighed. "I can't believe this is the last Quidditch game of the year. This year has flown by so quickly."

I reached for a scone, taking a thoughtful bite. She was right. Considering how hard this year was compared to last, it had moved quickly. "Can you believe we'll be seventh-years in just a few months?"

"Don't remind me," Garreth groaned. "Mum is already on me about how doing well on my N.E.W.T.s next year means getting a good job at the Ministry, and I don't want to think about that right now."

"Let me guess, she wants you to be Minister for Magic one day," I said with a chuckle.

Garreth scoffed. "She'd be sorely disappointed, I'm afraid. They'd take one look at me and I'd be out faster than Basil Flack."

Natty and I both giggled at that comment. If I recalled, Basil Flack had only been in office for two months before he resigned sometime in the 1700s, but I couldn't remember exactly when because Professor Binns had nearly put me to sleep in that particular lecture.

A cheer from the Slytherin table drew my attention as their Quidditch team headed out of the Great Hall and toward the pitch to get ready. I barely caught sight of Sebastian as they left, his arm slung around Eris Gaunt's shoulders as they seemed deep in conversation. Despite how comical it was to see his six-foot frame leaning down to her tiny one, I wondered what they could possibly be talking about considering he'd made no secret of disliking her.

I excused myself from the Gryffindor table not long after both of the Quidditch teams left. Poppy had promised to let me sit with her since neither Natty nor Garreth planned to attend the game. I shook my head at Garreth's playful quip about being sure to actually watch the whole game as opposed to only the Slytherin Keeper. Though I was eternally thankful that he had the self-confidence to make such a joke, it also made me slightly uncomfortable. Did he believe I had ended our courtship because of Sebastian? Truthfully, I didn't even know the answer to that question.

I met Poppy just outside the Quidditch pitch and walked into the stands together. Slytherin and Hufflepuff were already on the field, each of them running drills I still didn't understand. I caught sight of Sebastian immediately, but Garreth's words immediately came to mind and I averted my gaze. Needing to look somewhere other than him, I leaned over to Poppy to ask who was whom on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team. She happily obliged, pointing out each member's name and position. I couldn't help but notice a blush when she pointed out one player in particular—the Keeper, in fact. I didn't catch his name, though, because almost as soon as she'd said it, Madam Kagawa blew her whistle, starting the game.

The flurry of green and gold that followed was maddeningly difficult to follow. Hufflepuff and Slytherin seemed equally determined to win. Even though Gryffindor's first place lead in Quidditch was by almost one hundred points, this game would, at a minimum, determine who got second, and therefore more points for the House Cup. I couldn't believe how quickly the Quaffle moved from one side of the field to the other with very little time in between. Both teams had a great defensive strategy, so the number of offensive plays by the Chasers yielded very little progress and not a single score for either team in the first thirty minutes of the game.

Poppy cheered nearly nonstop for Hufflepuff from beside me. I frankly could not understand how she had enough air or how that volume of screaming could come out of someone so small, but at least she was having a good time. I was sure I'd be deaf by the end of the game between her and her fellow housemates surrounding us.

After another hour of a somewhat painful-to-watch game between each team's Chasers and Keepers, I caught a green blur streaking across the field out of the corner of my eye. Eris Gaunt had spotted the Snitch!

"No, no!" Poppy groaned. "Come on, Evangeline!"

As if she heard my friend, the Hufflepuff Seeker took off as fast as she could, resulting in cheering from the Hufflepuff crowd. The whole stadium was alive with the shouting. Try as she might, however, she could not beat Eris' head start. The Slytherin caught the Snitch with no problems, with Evangeline still more than a broom's length behind her. Slytherin's already loud stands erupted in even more raucous applause and cheers.

"Well," Poppy sighed, "that's that, I suppose."

"That was a great game. Both teams were quite well-matched," I told her with a smile.

"Well, you know who I would've preferred to win." She looked across the pitch, watching the Keeper land with an interesting little smile on her face.

"What's the Keeper's name again?"

Pink tinged her cheeks. "Adrian Scamander. He's a seventh-year."

I couldn't stop a giggle from escaping my lips. "He's quite handsome, I think."

Her blush darkened to red. "If you say so."

I wanted to tell her to go for it, but when I tried, I found that I somehow couldn't. Perhaps it was because I wasn't exactly the best example when it came to relationships, so why would she listen to me, anyway? With a sigh, I stood to leave. My eyes sought Sebastian before I even realized it, finding him walking alone across the pitch.

"You still care for Sebastian, don't you?" Poppy's voice broke through my thoughts.

I glanced at her, then back at Sebastian, before focusing on her and our route through the crowd as we reached the top of the stairs. "Of course I do. He's my friend."

"That's not what I meant," she chided as we filed down the stairs. She quirked her brows and looked me up and down when I didn't answer. "Does Garreth know?"

I rolled my eyes. "Does it matter?"

"It does if that's why you ended your courtship over it," she pointed out gently.

A wave of uncertainty settled into my chest. Maybe she was right about that. "Garreth helped me get over Sebastian, even before we were together."

"So, if he doesn't know, he's blind," she said matter-of-factly.

We both stepped into the dirt from the last step. "Much like if you don't realize that Mr. Scamander is gorgeous, you are, too."

I wasn't sure if I'd meant to shut her up or encourage her, but it certainly did the former. She muttered something about him having a girlfriend and looked down at the dirt before asking if we could study for the Care of Magical Creatures final sometime the following week. I was grateful, but her comment about my feelings for Sebastian being the reason for ending things with Garreth gnawed at me.

I'd been telling myself for weeks it was because I wasn't ready, but the truth was, I wasn't sure if I was really over him. Though my dreams of him came less and less frequently, I still found myself missing the looks, the touches, the stolen kisses. I would've liked to say our friendship had recovered, but I found an uneasiness to it that hadn't been there before. I constantly worried about doing or saying the wrong thing and losing him completely. I wondered if Ominis felt the tension between us, too. Part of me hoped the next few weeks would go quickly so I could have a break from his presence and finally be rid of any remaining feelings.

Still another part of me, the one that still trembled slightly at the thought of his touch, and wondered what I would do if they didn't.

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A/N: I'm sorry the last two chapters have been so short. I actually opted to split what had beeN Chapter 39 into two chapters because it had gotten so long and there was a natural pause. But that means there's one extra chapter before the end of Sixth Year! I hope you've been enjoying the story. Please let me know!