The next morning I woke up well-rested. The first rays of sunshine peeped through a window between the beds. So it had to be about eight o'clock. I hadn't slept so peacefully in a long time. As I slowly came to my senses, I realized that Sebastian was still lying next to me. In fact, I was lying halfway on top of him. Sebastian was on his back and I had my head resting on his chest. His heart was beating slowly but strongly and his breathing was regular. So he was still asleep. My left leg was across his pelvis and he had his hand on my thigh, making my face heat up. My right leg was intertwined with his. As I moved a little, I felt his other arm wrap around me, pulling me closer to him again. "Ten more minutes", mumbled Sebastian. Merlin, how could he be so cute? I giggled and looked up at him. "Ten? Isn't that five minutes?" Sebastian opened one eye and blinked at me. "You're right, let's make it twenty. It's so cosy and peaceful right now." With that, he closed his eye again and pulled me close once more. I didn't want to get up either, but we still had a mission ahead of us. But I allowed ourselves a few minutes.
For breakfast, Sebastian fried us eggs. He really had thought of everything. While he threw the eggs into the pan, I changed and washed myself. Sebastian had changed beforehand, without any prying eyes from me. Even if I would have liked to take a look at his bare bottom. Or anything else about him. But even if it was hard to believe: I could also behave.
The eggs and I were ready at the same time and I sat down at the small table with a growling stomach. Sebastian put a couple of eggs on both of our plates and sat across from me. "Did you sleep well, Sleeping Beauty?" Sebastian grinned at me mischievously. Shit, what have I done now? He seemed to read my question on my face because he explained, "You talk in your sleep, you know?" I buried my face in my hands, embarrassed. "What did I say this time?" The brunette chuckled. "Not much. Just..." He paused. I blinked bright red at him through my fingers. "Just what?" Now he was blushing, too. "Just... mynam", he mumbled. I took my hands off my face and looked straight at him. "I'm sorry, what? You were mumbling." Sebastian avoided my gaze. "My... my name. You said Sebastian." Fuck. How do I talk my way out of this now? "Hm... It would have been weird if I'd said a different name since I'm already lying next to you, wouldn't it?" The Slytherin laughed. "That's right. I would have taken that as an insult." I nodded in agreement and finished my fried egg when the devil on my shoulder whispered something in my ear, which made me grin. "And to answer your question from before, Christian: I slept well. And you?" Sebastian looked at me as if I had lost the last spark of my mind. "Now you're aiming for it, aren't you?" Cocky, I wanted to screw Sebastien a little more. "Oh, sorry, I meant Michael. Or was it Leander after all?" "LEANDER? OK, that hurt. That one was personal!" A malicious laugh escaped my lips and Sebastian sat across from me pouting. I just had too much fun teasing him. "You'll get double that back." "Is that a threat, Sallow?" I laughed even more viciously. "More like a promise, Y/LN." Now a wicked grin spread across his face that would have scared any small child and his hazel eyes darkened. Grinning and still teasing each other, we happily continued to eat breakfast until we made our way to the Rookwood estate and reached our destination in the early afternoon.
The mansion was in the middle of the North Highlands. It was an impressive villa built of anthracite-coloured stone. A lavish garden of symmetrically draped box trees, presumably once pruned to perfection, wrapped the villa like a green, lush cloak. An impressive fountain in the middle of the gravel path completed the picture in front of us. If this hadn't been Victor Rookwood's mansion, I'd want to move right in.
We landed on the white pebbles, which began to crunch under our feet. To make sure we didn't have any surprise encounters, I cast Revelio and took a good look around. We were actually alone. I took a deep breath. "Let's go then." With Sebastian at my side, I walked briskly towards the large, ornate front door. I was about to pick the lock when the Slytherin pushed the heavy door open with ease. "I told you I was in here before", he grinned. I shrugged defiantly. "It could have been that you were good for once and locked up again. But I seem to have forgotten who I'm talking to here," I scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sebastian asked indignantly. "I'm always nice and kind." I laughed briefly ironically. "Yeah, you can tell your grandma, king of detention. Shouldn't you be getting a cup in the trophy room for that?" "You get one at 100. I need a few more. But I'm working on it." Laughing, I shook my head and entered the grand entrance hall of the mansion. The floor was white marble and the walls were panelled in light-coloured wood. A curved staircase led to the first floor. Light stains on the walls indicated that paintings had once added some colour to the room. The furniture had been overturned and smashed across the floor so one could only guess what it had once been about. "What was that person looking for here?" I wondered aloud. "They were probably fences looking for valuable things to turn into some galleons at the nearest black market. Come on, the library is this way!"
Sebastian led me down a long hallway into a huge room whose walls consisted entirely of white shelves. I was heavily impressed. If the shelves were filled with books, it would have been a pure paradise for Sebastian. But the library was empty. In the centre of the room, I focused on the ancient magic coursing through my veins and cast a tracking spell. The image of a gaunt, middle-aged wizard wearing a fedora with a phoenix feather appeared in front of us. He stuffed book after book into his enchanted bag. "It must be him! Is there any way you can track him down?" Sebastian exclaimed enthusiastically. "Let's see." The wizard completed his raid on the library and ran into the next room. It was the master's room. The cigar smoke had burned into the brown upholstery of what had been the sofas, so the whole room smelled of stale smoke. The unknown wizard unstoppered a glass bottle, smelled it and took a generous sip. Judging by the look on his face, the contents were heavy. He closed the bottle again and stuffed it, along with the other bottles on the service trolley, into his pocket. Then he seemed to have heard something, because he turned to the door, wide-eyed, and Disapparated. "Damn it! I can't find him like that." "Wait a minute. He's lost something." Sebastian picked up a yellowish-red feather from the ground and excitedly twirled it between his fingers. "The feather from his stupid hat", I stated in astonishment. Sebastian laughed with joy. "We could use this to track him down!" I frowned in surprise. "This works out? Only with this feather?" "Sure. And I even know the spell. But I still need some materials, because it's not that easy. I would suggest that we start to make our way back to Hogwarts. I can get all the things I need in Hogsmeade or in Professor Sharp's office." "I didn't hear the last part. I've had enough of the trouble Garreth got me into my first Potions class. I was lucky that I didn't have to do detention." Sebastian shook his head. "Weasley clearly took advantage of your puppy protection." "Didn't you do exactly the same thing?" Sebastian folded his arms across his chest indignant. "I never got you in trouble though. I was the only one who got in trouble because I covered for you." Now I crossed my arms over my chest, too. "So you never got me in trouble? What was in the scriptorium when we almost died? Or when you just ran into the goblin camp and threw curses at them like a berserker? Or in the catacomb when you controlled all the Inferi and I had to fight them to even get to you, only to be attacked by your uncle? Don't you call that trouble? Sebastian, I'm a fucking witness to a fucking murder case and if Ominis, Anne and I didn't cover for you, you'd be rotting away in a cell in Azkaban by now, if you hadn't already gotten a hot date arranged with a Dementor. And when that comes out, I'll be right next to you in the cell. So don't tell me you never got me in trouble. You've already messed that up." Sebastian had shrunk with every word of my grievance and now looked at me like a puppy that had been kicked. "Damn, you're scary when you're angry. I'm sorry. I also regret what I did and especially that I involved you in this. Really! And I've said it before and I'll say it again and again: I'm glad to know you. And I am infinitely grateful to you that despite everything you still stick by me and help me. I don't deserve you at all." The anger was still simmering inside me and I barely kept the tears from rolling down my cheeks. "Damn right, Sallow." My voice broke and with it the dam. I couldn't stop the flood of tears and let them stream down my face. Sebastian immediately reached out his arms to me and took a step towards me, but I backed away from that step. I didn't want to be comforted by him when I was mad at him. "We should go", I ground out between sobs. "Are you sure you can fly like that?", the Slytherin asked concerned. I just nodded. Flying cleared my head and I had good reason to be silent.
We flew until it was dark and the moon was already high in the sky. We now took turns yawning and were already looking for a possible shelter for the night. Of course, we could have stayed at the mansion, but neither of us wanted to since it was the property of the wizard who had cursed Anne and kidnapped me and tried to kill me. As we flew over a small forest, a chimney peeked out from between the treetops. No smoke rose from it, which was a good indication that the hut to which the chimney belonged was deserted. "Sebastian, down there!" The brunette motioned for me to land there and try our luck.
In fact, the hut was deserted. It was similarly minimalist in style to last night's little cabin. But instead of two small beds, there was only one large bed in the room. Great. I needed that too today. As if reading my mind, Sebastian suggested, "I can sleep on the floor if that makes you more comfortable. Unfortunately, I can't conjure up a second bed because I don't know the spell." I shook my head. "No. That's way too uncomfortable. You must still be able to fly tomorrow. The bed is big enough. And it's not like we didn't share a bed last night, too." The memory of last night made my stomach tingle. Even though I was mad at him, I didn't fall out of love all of a sudden. With a nod, Sebastian pulled out his wand and cleaned the bed. I lit a fire in the fireplace again to provide some warmth. The cold wasn't a big problem this time as we stayed dry. We got ready for bed and lay down between the sheets with enough distance.
I lay awake for a long time with my back turned to Sebastian. The argument from before was still in my bones and yet or maybe because of that my body wanted to be close to the Slytherin. I sighed and turned to be greeted by a pair of hazel eyes. "Can't sleep either?", Sebastian asked. "No. I'm still pondering about earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry." "You don't have to apologize. I more than deserve the lecture. And then I idiot made you cry too. You have every reason to be mad at me." I edged closer to him. "You're right. You're a total idiot", I grinned at him. "Are we good now?" "Yes." I moved a little closer and got a big smile from Sebastian, who lifted his blanket. "Would you like to come over here?" Without another word, I slipped under his covers and was immediately wrapped in a tight hug. "Thank Merlin. The last time you ignored me was enough for me." It wasn't just difficult for you, my dear. Relieved, we fell asleep in each other's arms and continued on our way to Hogwarts the next morning.