Invisible String - A Sebastian Sallow Story

Chapter I

If you can, I would like you to accompany me to Feldcroft when I visit home soon. I know I mentioned it briefly last week so it is somewhat short notice, but Anne is eager to meet you in person, and I'm really hoping it will lift her spirit. There's so much I would love to share with you about where I grew up. If you decide to join me, meet me by the lookout tower near the Floo Flame in Feldcroft tomorrow after dawn. ~ S

She delicately played with the edges of the parchment delivered by the sleek black barn owl moments before. Over the past few months her and Sebastian's pet owl had become well acquainted. She had begun carrying around extra treats in her pocket daily in anticipation of a visit from his owl, Theodore, nicknamed Teddy for short. Given the frequency of their communication outside the classroom, she had grown fond of the bird, beginning to suspect he was also taking a liking to her as well judging by the way he had started nuzzling her hand when she moved to pet him.

Sebastian had mentioned a few days before possibly having her join him in Feldcroft when he went to visit Anne. The invitation to others may have seemed a tad forward, but the pair had grown close since the moment they met in the Slytherin common room by the fire. In fact, after talking Anne's ear off on his first weekend home about the new student after the start of 5th year, she had wondered how long it would take to finally meet his new classmate. While the girl never pressed, knowing how ill Anne had fallen, she couldn't say she too wasn't excited at the prospect of meeting his sister. The only problem now was figuring out how to make the best first impression possible...

She often worried what would happen should his twin not take to her as much as he had. The twins were very close. It was no surprise that after months of cheeky quips, sneaking into the restricted section of the library, almost dying on several occasions and countless hours alone in the Undercroft together that she had begun to harbor feelings for the boy. She couldn't help but admire the little details about him. From the way his Adam's Apple bobbed with each word he spoke, to the mischievous glint in eyes. When he laughed, the sound would always below out from deep in the pits of his stomach, allowing the sweet melody to sing in the air. The way his mouth would shift ever so subtly to the right and a single eyebrow would raise at the mention of something lewd or interesting. The freckles that dotted his entire body, not just his face, in a pattern that was more beautiful than the constellations in the night sky she observed at the astronomy tables. How his eyes would appear as rich chocolate pools with seemingly no end in the darkness of the undercroft yet shift into a lovely amber shade in the sunlight.

Something that had become a favorite pastime of hers - a brief indulgence in the scary world she'd been thrown into of magic, goblins and poachers - was the way he constantly seemed to unconsciously fret over his hair. The lovely and increasingly overgrown strands of brown were in a forever state of disheveled atop his head. Every time he became annoyed, bored, embarrassed, elated or even upset his fingers seemed to take to his hair. Maybe it was a nervous tick or necessity due to his current lack of styling, she thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the ways in which he disrupted his locks.

The girl could remembered the first time she truly noticed how much he moved his tanned and freckled digits through his hair. One late night in the undercroft, growing increasingly frustrated with yet another book from the restricted section providing little insight, he gave up and slammed its cover and startlingly her. She looked up from her own notes taken from the keepers journal and watched as his eyes formed their own version of an apology for scaring her. For someone who could easily take down trolls and spiders she sure was jumpy.

He had let out a frustrated sigh, letting his head fall into his hands. She noticed how his nimble fingers stretch around and met at the back of his neck, playing with the small waves beginning to touch his collar from the months he'd been at school without a haircut. Come to think of it, she'd never actually seen him attempt to maintain his hair at all in the brief time she had known him. And in the time since September the brown tendrils of hair had seemingly begun to grow out of control. As quickly as she had become mesmerized watching him slowly weave his fingers in and out of his hair to calm himself, Sebastian lifted his head, eyes meeting hers. A single brown strand of hair fell onto his brow instead of its normal pattern of being pushed to the side. He went to speak but before he could get a word out her arm lifted towards his eyeline, shutting the boy up quickly. His eyes grew as she ever so carefully brushed the strand up and off his forehead to join the rest of his unruly locks. She briefly allowed herself the indulgence of feeling the soft hair she'd been slowly noticing for weeks under her fingers.