The Devil Doesn't Bargain (MatD part 2)

Chapter TWO - No

"What if you just... took the curse- again... from yourself this time?"

Sebastian's quiet whispers trailed the moonlight across the rooftop where we sat, winding down and around our boots and tucking in through the open kitchen window. The stars above twinkled against a strikingly clear sky, the night watching us eagerly. Sebastian had a scratchy scarf pulled tight around his neck and a thick green sweater, two sizes too small, pulled over his head. The tight collar had mussed his neatly brushed hair into a chaotic heap of brown waves hanging loosely over his forehead.

He was far too attractive like that for his own good.

We of course hadn't packed any clothing from our rooms at Hogwarts and were left to riffle through a few boxes and drawers of the Sallow's old clothing from years past along with the bits Sebastian had left behind "for good reason" as he'd put it.

No one dared open Solomon's dresser.

My body temperature normally ran a few degrees higher than average but the curse had done quite the number on it. Now, no matter how many layers I pulled over my body, it never seemed to be enough. Sebastian had been all too happy to offer up his warmest coats and socks, leaving my arms stuck out to the side like a scarecrow, unable to move under the layers. My feet were in a similar position, Sebastian adding one pair after the other until they were the size of large black and green boots. He had had to help me maneuver out onto the rooftop very carefully after I had insisted on breathing in a bit of fresh air. He'd tugged along two thick blankets too and now had them tucked around my body tightly.

Since returning back to Feldcroft, I hadn't been able to sleep much. Thoughts of Solomon's dead body tying knots around my gut and mingling with the terrors of the curse nearby. I'd thought maybe the night sky would help clear my head.

It hadn't helped much.

Sebastian also hadn't dropped the subject of a cure and was now running through a list of ideas so long I wasn't sure how he was able to keep them all straight in his head.

"Where-" A small cough, just enough to remind my frozen lungs that the cold night air wasn't all I had to worry about. "-where would I put it though? Even if, theoretically, I could?"

Sebastian brushed a hand through his hair haphazardly. "Isidora did it."

"Isidora also had the practice and experience."

"She also wasn't nearly as brilliant a witch as you."

I couldn't help the blush that spread across my cheeks.

"Awfully big assumptions coming from someone who's never met her, Sallow."

"I've seen enough to be convinced." He winked.

My stomach turned. Despite the warmth of his flirts, nothing could completely stop the nausea that froze my blood every hour.

Sebastian's smile dropped as he registered my discomfort and pulled me closer to his chest, running an arm up and down over my shoulder. His other hand pulled mine to his lap and threaded our fingers slowly.

My eyes tracked the movement as he ran a fingertip along my own one at a time before wrapping it between his. Perhaps it was the touch of his skin on mine or the small bit of something else to concentrate on that did the trick, but the nausea rolled back and I took a deep breath.

"Better?" His voice somehow even softer than before.

I nodded, worried my voice would irritate my stomach.

Sebastian shifted beside me, allowing enough room for my head on his lap and I gladly took it. The next bought of dizziness settling in quickly.

Keeping my eyes closed, I hummed softly as Sebastian brushed my hair with his fingers again and again, starting near my forehead and running completely through as gently as my mother used to.

Though he wasn't able to fully take my pain and discomfort, he was incredibly natural at making the best of it. He noticed the smallest of shifts in my features, knew exactly what was next and what positions and motions might comfort the most. He knew the pain in my eyes no matter how much I tried to swallow it, to disguise it in a smile.

He knew.

He always knew.

And it had only been a day.

The late winter breeze tickled my cheek, cool with the smallest hint of warmth just beneath. It brushed across my ears and I shivered as Sebastian began to hum faintly.

Blinking a few times, I let my eyes wander the stars before climbing down to his face and the constellations across his skin. His lashes were pressed closed, one eyebrow raised just higher than the other and edges of his lips curled upwards.

I didn't recognize the tune, but found something oddly comforting in it, a familiarity from something entirely unfamiliar.

The wind swept a few loose waves of hair over his skin, one of them getting caught in the other. A couple strands at the top of his head also caught in the breeze and lifted upwards completely. I smirked at the goofiness of it all. There was something so calming in seeing the domestic side of Sebastian.

As if sensing my eyes on him, his humming stopped and he opened his lids slowly, glancing down and smiling slowly. His eyes brushed over my cheeks and he lifted a finger to do the same.

"I'll never get over how beautiful your skin is in the starlight."

My heart hiccuped.

His grin grew, mischief clinging to his lips. "In daylight though..." he scrunched his face and shook his head in disgust. "Let's just say there's a reason I prefer the night."

I lifted a hand to playfully swat his arm but he caught my wrist, turning it over and running his fingers along the lines of my palm.

"I don't deserve you."

I sniffed out a sharp breath. "Of course you do."

His motions slowed, his eyes staring blankly to the roof beneath us a moment.

"I would have killed him for you."

The sharp switch in conversation topic curled itself in my blood and slapped my skin.

"...but I did k-" I swallowed. Feeling the nausea pooling again. "I did it."

His eyes caught mine, holding steady the silence and gravity.

I did it to save you.

His words caught me off guard. "Do you regret it?"

I wanted to answer quickly, to admit the guilt that clung to the back of my throat, to explain how little I'd thought before the flash of light, how I'd only thought of him... but my lips smeared a harsher truth over my tongue.

"No."