Hiraeth | Sebastian Sallow Love Story

Chapter Forty Three: The Song that Causes Insanity

"Is it the crocodiles? I've read that-"

He shook his head and she felt his free hand slide from her shoulder down to her lower back where it felt more possessive, "Shortcake, while I'd buy you all the books in the world to hear you talk about them, now is not the time."

Gracie felt her cheeks redden at the effortless flattery leaving his lips, but kept her eyes on the water to see if she could make out anything. There weren't anymore crocodiles that she could see floating on the surface, it was like they'd all scattered away too. That or they were hiding on the lakebed.

CRAAAAAAAAAAACK

There was a rumbling beneath them, causing the entire canoe to shake this time, but it was different than before. They both broke apart to look down. There was a horn breaking through the center of the canoe. It was a dull shade of grey at first, but then it lit up, and bubbled with various shades of amber gold.

"Well. Fuck." Sebastian grunted in disbelief before reaching for her. His left arm wrapped around her waist while he bent down and used his right arm to pull behind her knees. He scooped her up like a newly wed crossing over the threshold for the first time and met her surprised glance without any amusement. "You'd better cast the levitation charm otherwise we're erumpent food."

She did as he implied, causing them to levitate a couple meters over the lake water as the beast rose to the surface. Gracie saw its beady black eyes looking at them with a mixture of curiosity and maybe disscontempt. Is it pissed off Sebastian decided to practically set the lake on fire and then cast multiple blasting spells out of boredom?

There wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the Erumpent, not until a little bright orange bird flew down onto its back. It ruffled its feathers, peering around at the chunks of dead crocodile like there was a feast to be had. She didn't find the bird interesting until it turned its head towards her.

Glinting against the sunlight was a little. Orange. Marble.

Chapter Forty Three: The Song that Causes Insanity

It opened its mouth and Gracie didn't hesitate to point her wand at it, "Silencio." Thank Merlin that Professor Howie taught her how to handle all sorts of common beasts. A fleeting sadness scurried through her when she remembered that most of the Hogwarts Professors she enjoyed were dead. She looked up at Sebastian, ignoring how close his face was to hers. "How should we do this?"

"Reach into the satchel and take the sword." Sebastian said simply, "I'll focus on the levitation charm and making sure no nasty beasts try to take a bite out of us from the water."

Gracie frowned at this, "If it's easier, I can wait on the shoreline." Even as she said it, she was reaching into the satchel at his hip to pull out the sword. It's goblin metal blade reflected the sunlight, blinding her momentarily.

"With nundus around? Not a chance." Sebastian's tone held no room for argument. He was adamant that she wasn't leaving his sight. Maneuvering his left arm slightly, Sebastian pointed his wand at the Erumpent. "Arrestum Momentum." He did the same to the Fwooper, before carefully walking on the water's surface.

Anxiety pooled in her stomach. She found herself subconsciously pressing against Sebastian to which his arms tightened around her, but his voice was confident as he spoke, "You can do this, shortcake. Don't think about anything else, I'll take care of it."