"I misbehaved." Sebastian and I strolled the streets of Hogsmeade again. I hadn't taken his hand as we left Honeydukes because I was still pissed at him, and he seemed to understand I was serious. "I'm sorry." He shuffled beside me, head down, hands in pockets like a kicked dog. I stopped and grabbed Sebastian's arm to make him stop as well. He looked at me cautiously with puppy eyes. "Both of you didn't behave properly. You didn't have to be macho, and he shouldn't have chatted up so cheekily." An auspicious spark lit the hazel eyes, and the Slytherin pulled me into a small alley between the houses. He pinned me to the nearest wall of the house by resting his two hands on the wall on either side of me. This dominant side of him made my knees weak, and that inevitable tugging in my private parts appeared again. Sebastian tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and came closer to me. "I just don't like it when another guy stares at you. I want to be the only one who looks at you that way." With a steady gaze, I put my hands on his chest and pulled him a little closer to me by the collar. "And I don't like it when other girls make eyes at you, and I still don't bite them away." Lust sparkled in Sebastian's eyes, and he pressed his knee between my legs. "You want me to show you what other mischief I can do to you?" he snarled, making my desire for him grow even more. "Mischief, I just want to do to you?" He kissed my neck, and I began to breathe heavily so as not to make apparent noises to attract the attention of passers-by. "You have no idea how crazy you're driving me, Y/N." "Then show me," I gasped. That was enough for Sebastian to kiss me greedily and wildly. He pushed me further against the wall with his body and clasped his hands with mine to press them against the wall above my head. With a deft grip, he suddenly held my arms by the wrists with only one hand still above me and his other tangled in my hair. "Tell me if you don't want something," he whispered in my ear, then nibbled on my earlobe. "Kiss me," I commanded and was rewarded with Sebastian's soft lips on mine just a second later. Hungry for more, I pressed my body closer to his, after which Sebastian only pushed me even harder against the wall. "Someone's getting impatient?" "Maybe a little," I breathed out of breath. A mischievous grin graced the freckled face, and Sebastian's hand went to my butt to give it a squeeze. "Oh, mo leannan. I can't show you everything at once. You'll have to settle for small bites." He planted one last kiss on my lips before pushing himself away from the wall. Disappointed, I slumped against the wall behind me and sighed, exhaling from my lungs. "You're mean," I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest. The Slytherin just chuckled and held out his hand. "Come on, pouty. Let's check out Zonko's."
In the joke shop, Sebastian's eyes sparkled like those of a small child at Christmas. Excitedly he rummaged through the shelves and told me what he had already tried and how well each campaign had gone. "These are quills where the ink disappears after an hour. I gave it to Anne once, and she wrote an exam with it." The Slytherin scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Wasn't my best idea to give her those the day before. I deserved the slap she gave me. And I got a week's worth of detention." I shook my head with a smile. Typical Sebastian. We continued browsing and eventually arrived at a pink fountain. Colourful bubbles danced around the fountain decorated with hearts, on top of which a naked baby was enthroned with a bow and arrow. Cupid, the god of love. "In need of a love potion?" Sebastian picked up one of the pink bottles and held it in front of my nose. "Do I really need this anymore?" I asked with raised eyebrows. "No, actually not. At least not for me." "There you go," I grinned at him. "And I wouldn't want to use a love potion for someone else." Now Sebastian was grinning from ear to ear. "You're exhausting enough on your own." The grin on his face vanished just as quickly as it had come. "Hey!" An evil laugh rose from my throat, and I nudged the brunette with my elbow. "Oh, come on! I'm just teasing you." "Keep it up. You get all that back." Still giggling, I took the bottle from his hand and put it back with the others in the well. "I hope so," I breathed, wrapping my arms around his neck. As if by pressing a button, Sebastian's hands landed on my hips, and our lips met for a short, tender kiss. "Man, the love potion must be strong if it works just by standing next to it," Sebastian joked. I shook my head again and rolled my eyes with a smile. "Dumbass."
We looked around a bit, and with the Extendable Ears on the first floor, I was so distracted that I didn't even notice that Sebastian was no longer standing beside me. Confused, I searched for him, which was no easy task in the throng of Hogwarts students. As I descended the stairs, I saw him at the cash register. He just put something in his jacket pocket and took his change. With a thousand questions in my head, I walked up to him and poked his side. "So, are you hiding something from me?" I teased him. "Always," the Slytherin grinned and took my hand. "Are you done here? I wanted to show you something else." "Well, we can go," I answered and was immediately led out of the shop and out of the village by Sebastian.
Hand in hand, we walked the path back to Hogwarts, but instead of following the trail further, we turned right and headed towards the black lake. "Funny, this is where I originally intended to go with you," I laughed. "What, really?" Sebastian joined in my laughter. "And then what was the plan?" "Well..." I cleared my throat briefly. "I thought we could take a nice walk along the shore and stop at a nice spot. And then I wanted to confess my feelings to you. But that's been settled," I laughed. "I wouldn't say that." I looked at Sebastian, confused. He seemed to have noticed my look because he explained immediately: "You haven't told me how you feel about me yet. So far, you've only shown me that you don't find me bad, but I'd like to hear it when you're ready. And after that, you're more than welcome to tell me how you feel again and again." "Okay. It's not easy for me to talk about my feelings. But if it's important to you, I'll say it for you." I stopped and pulled the Slytherin towards me. "In case all those kisses weren't clear enough." I put my hand on his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. "I'm in love with you, Sebastian." Sebastian grinned widely and put his hand over mine to squeeze it tighter against his face. But the smile didn't last long. "Did you just say that because you felt obligated to?" "No!" "Because if I'm just a nice pastime for you, please do it quickly. Break my heart like you're ripping off a band-aid." What is he saying? My heart sank into my pants. I desperately took his face in my hands. "Sebastian Sallow, I'm head over heels in love with you, and there's no turning back. And I'm not just saying that! I'm deadly serious." The brunette closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Really?" "Do you want it in writing?" And there it was again: the smile I loved so much. "If you offer it." "Dumbass," I laughed and pressed a kiss on his soft lips, which he immediately returned. "It's kind of a nice pastime anyway, don't you think?" Sebastian pulled my waist closer to him. "That's right." He kissed me. "I could do this all day." Another kiss that made the butterflies dance in my stomach. "I think we're going to end up with either very sore lips or many calluses on them if we just kiss all day." Sebastian's hand went to my butt again, and a mischievous grin crept onto his face. "Who said it's just going to be kissing?" I blushed bright red. "L-like I said, don't promise anything you can't keep." A dark laugh rose from Sebastian's throat, and that lustful twinkle returned to his eyes. "And as I have already told you, mo ghràdh: This was all just a foretaste of what I want to do with you." Oh, Merlin! "But if you keep distracting me like this, we won't even get to what I wanted to show you." I raised my eyebrows in disbelief and crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm sorry, what? I'm distracting you?" "Yes." Sebastian stroked a strand of hair that the cold December wind had blown on my nose away from my face. "Because I can't resist you." With that, he kissed me again, briefly but passionately. Too short for me to completely sink into it, and yet I was happy about every millisecond. "It's easy for you to talk, Sallow," I breathed against his lips. "Have you ever tried to resist yourself? That's practically impossible." The Slytherin chuckled. And wordlessly took my hand to finally lead me to the place he wanted to show me all along.
After a short walk along the bank, Sebastian led me over some rocks to a lonely tree, which stood opposite the boathouse in a sheltered bay in the rocks. The branches hung low, and several small towers of pebbles were stacked under the tree. Sebastian held out his hand to help me climb, and I gratefully accepted. Under the tree, you had a fantastic view of Hogwarts and the lake. "Wow! It's beautiful here." Not taking my eyes off the castle, I wrapped my arms around Sebastian's body and snuggled up to him. The Slytherin pulled me closer and placed a gentle kiss on my hair. "And the best thing is: Nobody sees us here. Except maybe the giant squid." "Damn, it's creepy." I shuddered, thinking about my first encounter with the sea creature. "I'm just flying over the lake, suspecting nothing bad, and suddenly four huge tentacles appear out of the water in front of me, and the squid starts howling." Sebastian didn't even try to suppress the laughter that made its way up through his throat. I looked at him outraged and slapped him on the chest. "Don't laugh! I got so scared I almost fell off my broom." "Okay, okay. How do you think I felt on my first day at Hogwarts? The first graders cruise across the lake in boats. Anne and I had heard some rumours about the lake before. What can I say? We were curious and leaned over the boat's edge to the water." I already had a vague idea of what happened next but continued to listen spellbound. Sebastian just shook his head as he continued. "And suddenly, I lost my balance and fell headfirst into the lake." Sebastian's eyes widened. "That alone is scary enough. Then it was dark, which didn't improve the whole situation." He shook his head and let his eyes wander over the lake. "The crowning glory was when I realized something was wrapping around my foot." "The squid?" I interjected. "Exactly! I could have shit my pants in fear, and then when it pulled me under the water, I thought that was it. I watched my life pass me by. Well... Thank Merlin, the squid is kind and got me back on the boat, but since then, I've stayed away from the lake and avoided going into deep water as much as possible." I looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm glad the squid didn't drown you. But I can understand that it was a terrifying experience for you." "It was." Sebastian sighed. "And I'm also pleased that I'm still alive. Because otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this." With a quick movement, he pulled me into a passionate kiss, which I was only too happy to return. Hands tucked into his jacket collar, I stepped backwards to the tree and pulled Sebastian with me, not breaking the kiss. When we reached the tree trunk, I turned us so that Sebastian had his back against the tree and pressed my body against his. "There's the brave Gryffindor," the Slytherin muttered between kisses, burying a hand in my hair. The kiss was long and intense. I was getting hot and felt the need to take off at least a layer or two of clothing. My hand began to fumble with the buttons of my jacket, but Sebastian put his hand on mine. "It's way too cold out here. You're going to catch a cold." "But I'm warm, Sebastian," I wailed and made a face. The brunette grinned smugly. "Then I guess I'm doing everything right." "Oh, shut up!" I rolled my eyes and kissed him again. The kiss took my breath away, and Sebastian's hands were everywhere, which didn't help my heat.
After a while, we broke apart, out of breath and with swollen lips. Meanwhile, the winter sun descended and shimmered bright orange from behind the castle, turning the clouds into a sea of pink, red and purple. As if a defiant cat had knocked over a paint box and thus mixed the colours into a distorted ensemble, Hogwarts, which appeared black in the backlight, stood out from the sea of colours. It was beautiful and seemed surreal. We watched the sunset tightly embraced until a bell rang to alert us that it was time for dinner. "Were we really outside all day?" I asked in surprise, and Sebastian shrugged his shoulders without a word. "Time just flies with you," he whispered, kissing my forehead again. Grrrrrr, my stomach complained loud enough for Sebastian to hear. "I guess that was a definite sign that we should go," he laughed softly. I just nodded eagerly, grabbing Sebastian's hand and hurrying towards the castle with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
What could Sebastian have bought from Zonkos?
And do you know the tree on the shore of the lake? It's charming there.