Chapter 24: Matching Rings
"I'm half a heart without you,
I'm half a man, at best,
with half an arrow in my chest."
One Direction
Faint laughter filled the air of the tree garden, dancing amidst the rustling summer leaves and lowering sunlight. You could see the majestic peaks of the Hogwarts castle from a watchful gaze upon the young couple.
Penelope Silverthorn and Sebastian Sallow lay beneath the Enchanted Elm Tree; if you saw the two students from a distance, you wouldn't have detected the white tree due to Penelope's spell. It was a comforting embrace.
It became a hidden sanctuary, and time seemed to be non-existent as they were there. Penelope's magic shielded the safe place with love and care.
"No more, Sallow!"
Sebastian Sallow rested on his side on top of a knitted blanket and his elbow rested against the grass from his tall height while the other arm held grapes.
"Awe, come on. You were doing well catching them with your mouth!" Sebastian chuckled, "One more."
Penelope Silverthorn sat nicely near the white tree. A pink dress with curly white patterns illuminated her skin as she moved around with the playful gestures. There was a white bow hanging on her hair that Anne Sallow let her borrow for the day.
It was a perfect date.
Sebastian became mesmerized by the presence upon him. His smile never left as he stared at the beauty of his one and only; he had to take a heavy breath from how breathless he became at the sight.
"Fine..." Sebastian put the grapes aside, "I got you something." He stood up, waving his wand, and dragged his body lazily to reach behind the tree.
Penelope blushed, "What? No. You know I'm not a huge fan of gifts—"
Sebastian waved around a few fresh roses from behind his back and held them up, "You can't deny flowers. Especially, your favorites."
Penelope smiled widely, surprised at the sight of roses knowing they weren't really grown around the region, "Are you serious?"
"Dead serious." Sebastian waved them, "Spent eternity traveling the world for them." He spoke in sarcasm.
"How gracious of you," Penelope spoke back in sarcasm.
As Sebastian prepared to hand her the roses perfectly, there was an odd movement from the plant, causing him to wince in pain at a random cut.
"Ouch," The flowers in his hands fell onto the floor from the unexpected cut as he looked down at his bleeding finger.
Penelope furrowed, "Oh, what happened?"
As Sebastian sweated a little, he tried wiping off the blood against the white tree as he spoke, "The roses....they..."
Penelope adjusted up, taking a glimpse of the roses and taking ahold of them herself to inspect them.
"I think the thorns-" Sebastian then turned to see Penelope's movements and tried to stop her, "-no, don't—"
"Ouch." Penelope grabbed the stems of the roses the same way Sebastian did and found herself also getting cut on the same finger from the touch.
"—touch them..." Sebastian chuckled in worry, "The thorns are a bit spikier than I remembered."
Penelope raised her hand, watching the blood run down rapidly. It was bizarre how such a small thorn could cause so much pain.
Sebastian wiped his hand onto the white tree, cleaning off the blood and leaving a print.
"You stained my tree!" Penelope scoffed, looking at the stain.
As he licked his skin to stop the bleeding, his tongue clicked and he scoffed, "Huh? What? Honestly," he squinted at the mess, "It's artwork."
Penelope laughed and stared down at the imprint Sebastian left on the tree trunk. Her head tilted as she inspected.
"It looks like...you left half a heart." She squinted her eyes, bending her body to see it better.
Sebastian mirrored her movements, also looking at it, and chuckled, "It does. Your turn," he elbowed.
Penelope furrowed, "What?"
"Complete the ritual, you witch." Sebastian joked to her. He was obviously kidding, but he enjoyed to tease her as much as she did. "Complete the heart."
Penelope kept laughing and looked down at her finger, "What's the oath, Sallow?"
Sebastian crossed his arms, "Hmm, I wasn't thinking of oaths, but now that you say it," his hazel eyes stared up to think.
The man was handsome. Penelope knew it. If it were for her, she'd jump on him right there. The brown suspenders over his white dress shirt didn't help a bit.
"You first." Sebastian gave no thought.
"Me? I asked first!"
"Fine! We'll say it at the same time," Sebastian encouraged, but he was nervous.
Penelope rolled her eyes, "Whatever. On the count of three," she placed her blood stain onto the trunk and created a heart.
"One, two....three,"
"I oath to love you forever, Sebastian Sallow."
"I oath Slytherin wins the Quidditch Cup before graduation."
Penelope took out her skin from the tree trunk and gasped at Sebastian's oath, almost feeling offended at his honesty. Her hands now clutching her mouth from how deep she went on the oath.
"Wait, wait," Sebastian chased her as Penelope turned her back and walked away from second-hand embarrassment.
"I'm so embarrassed. I thought we were being romantic—"
"No, I oath to love you for eternity, but I thought we were like aiming for like funny stuff....bloody hell." Sebastian carried Penelope over his shoulder from her running, "Come here."
"Let me go!"
"No. I'm fixing my oath." Sebastian said stubbornly.
"You're only saying that because you feel bad."
"I misread the oath, alright?" Sebastian set her down back over the tree again and began to take hold of the roses in the grass.
Penelope froze, "W-What are you doing?"
Sebastian cut himself purposely again with the thorn and threw it, "Fixing my oath."
Penelope stood breathless, "You're insane! I was only kidding!"
Sebastian placed his finger again onto the trunk, making his print side darker from the double take, and stared down at his girlfriend.
"I oath to love you always, Penelope Silverthorn. I oath that no matter what happens, this tree will never die, just like the love I have for you." He said romantically.
As Sebastian released his finger, Penelope blinked once before she started giggling, "Now, what Shakespeare novel did you read to get that romantic, Sebastian?"
Sebastian wiped the last remaining stain on his pants and shrugged, "Books? Maybe, I was born this way, darling."
"Oh, please!" Penelope threw her arms up, but she couldn't help, but feel special and lucky to have a man like Sebastian treat her the way he did.
Penelope then looked down as Sebastian took hold of the roses in the grass more carefully, preventing himself from cutting again.
"You know," Sebastian spoke softly, bringing his wand upward to gently remove the thorns over the stems, "My mother always kept the thorns in her flower garden..."
Penelope just watched and listened to the handsome man multitasking.
"...she'll say, 'People always want to cut the thorns in flowers, but I think it shows that even the most beautiful things in life can hurt us'," Sebastian recalled.
Penelope felt goosebumps in her body from the truth and swallowed, growing a small smile at the deep, yet beautiful quote given by Sebastian Sallow. Maybe, it wasn't the books. Maybe, he was genetically romantic from his mother.
Sebastian stopped picking the last of the thorns and wrapped the flowers tightly with his wand, making them seem like a small bouquet, and handed them to Penelope.
"Here. They're safe now." Sebastian smiled, "But perhaps, I should be afraid of you."
Penelope giggled with a blush, taking in the flowers, "And why do you say that?"
Sebastian licked his lips, "Because you're beautiful...and your last name is Silverthorn."
Penelope looked down and sighed, but kept a smile, "I barely hurt a fly, Sebastian." She defended.
"You kill spiders though," Sebastian defeated, but he laughed at her, "I'm kidding. You could kill me and I'll be thankful it was from an ancient magic witch!" He lied.
"Oh, shut up!" Penelope pushed him and Sebastian just laughed. She then smelled the roses and looked upon the brown hair man above her, "Thank you, Sebastian. I love them."
Sebastian nodded.
"And I love the marks they left us," Penelope raised her finger, seeing the small scar that was beginning to heal on her fourth finger.
"Nobody can get on our level, can they?" Sebastian smirked, also lifting his finger with the same mark.
"No, they can't."
...
Penelope Silverthorn's eyes blinked in space, staring down at the green band that wrapped over her fourth finger on her right hand. The ring shone as she repressed the memory in her head.
She dreamt about that specific day the previous night. Perhaps, Sebastian Sallow's Tranquart vials were getting to her. Although they took away nightmares, they gave her back tormenting dreams. No, not dreams. Memories. Memories that hurt.
And she began to find herself thinking more and more of him. It was weird —
"Can you stop?" Penelope called out mid-library.
Joshua Rogers had been kicking her feet under the small student desk inside the Library Annex one morning. She had dragged him into a studious session for research on the case and the man did not cooperate once.
"Oh, come on," Joshua puffed out, picking a few hairs from his quill pen and using his wand to throw them at Penelope across from him.
Although Penelope's concentration was stuck on her night dreams the entire morning, it became a blockage to even research with Joshua.
"Josh, we are working on a serious case here." Penelope reminded him.
"But I'm bored." Joshua sighed, leaning against the small wooden chairs.
Penelope sighed, her eyes jotting down bullet points on what she had gathered over Percy Dumbledore's notes on the students overnight.
"We've been working on this damn thing since five in the morning, Pen!" Joshua complained loudly, "Since when do you wake up so early? I thought you overslept a lot."
"Since I realized this case wasn't moving the way I wanted it to, so I need to spend more time and research on it. It's mandatory." Penelope explained herself.
Joshua grunted and Penelope hushed him, reminding him that they were still inside the library.
Joshua's blue eyes lingered on the enchanted watch on his wrist and smiled, "Hey, breakfast starts soon!"
"You can go. I'm not hungry." Penelope said bluntly, not even staring up.
Joshua Rogers knew he wasn't going to continue wasting his breakfast time watching the woman do her work, so he rose up and took hold of the notes in her hand.
"Yeah, no," Joshua shut the book in her sight and slid them away, grabbing her wrist unexpectedly and dragging her away.
"Josh!"
"You've worked enough. You need breakfast to energize that brain, Britain." Joshua encouraged, opening the library doors.
As the couple walked out to the Central Hall in chaos, the breakfast bell rang through the castle and Joshua only dragged Penelope more down those halls to make it to the Great Hall.
"Josh, let go of my wrist," Penelope frowned, "I could walk myself. I'm not a bloody dog." She snatched away, adjusting herself while still walking with him.
"I let go of you and you'll disappear into that library, again. At least eat." Joshua directed.
"You know I never eat breakfast. Don't act so surprised," Penelope murmured.
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day—oh shit, my bad."
Penelope stared up, watching herself almost bump into Sebastian Sallow as they passed the Faculty Tower. Her face almost reached his chest before Joshua dragged her back.
Sebastian Sallow stood there, his body laced with a very tight, and we mean a very tight green jersey in support of the first Quidditch game his players were having that evening.
Penelope tried not to stare at the fabric around him. How his body had only gotten leaner and fitter as the weeks went by. How his hair seemed messy from teaching his students and also teaching workouts for his players.
Merlin, he was handsome.
"Oh, Sallow isn't it?" Joshua pointed a finger at Sebastian as he guessed the name.
"Professor Sallow." Sebastian said in a heavier tone, correcting his own name to Joshua Rogers.
"Yeah, yeah, that," Joshua said, uncaring, "My bad. Uh, hey, since you're here, I owl'ed you over those notes Weasel—"
Penelope closed her eyes, beginning to get tired of the incorrect names Joshua Rogers had been learning during his stay. For such a powerful Auror, he had a weakness in learning quickly.
"Weasley." Sebastian corrected again.
Joshua clenched his jaw at the ongoing corrections Sebastian threw at him, but just nodded.
"Yeah, her. Told me to hand them over to you." Joshua gave out.
All Sebastian Sallow wanted to do was avoid Joshua Rogers. At all costs. And also avoid Penelope Silverthorn. Avoid everything. It seemed like the more he was near them, the more his buttons were tested. There were so many things unsaid.
"Oh," Sebastian said, preventing to even give a full sentence to the man across from him, "Yeah, thanks."
"Hey, Sallower."
Penelope's eyes lowered as the presence of Cecil Greengrass appeared in the hall behind Professor Sallow. Her fresh manicure rested on his shoulder as she greeted him.
Penelope hadn't truly seen Cecil since the one unnecessary discussion she had with her over, again, Sebastian. The aura was weird and she wanted to leave.
"Oh, hey! You're...you're that girl that gave me directions!" Joshua pointed at Cecil, remembering the first interaction.
How great.
"Her name is Cecil." Sebastian told him. His tone became defensive as he saw Joshua's interest in the girlfriend.
Penelope stared up at Sebastian, watching him as he defended Cecil. It shouldn't have even been a problem. It was his fiance after all. They were fucking engaged, for Merlin's sake.
"My bad, Cecil." Joshua greeted, then looked over at Penelope, and back at the couple. "I see we're all headed to breakfast."
"Yes, we indeed are." Cecil Greengrass grew a smile at them. It was as if she was glad Penelope had someone else to keep her toes at, "Shall we all proceed?"
It was an awful take, really. Penelope felt discomfort. Sebastian felt discomfort. The walk from the Faculty Tower to the Great Hall became an eternity.
"I hope they're serving pancakes," Joshua Rogers rubbed his hands together in excitement, "Shit, I'm really missing those American breakfasts so bad."
Then, perhaps, go back? Sebastian thought to himself as he listened to the man complain to Penelope in front of her the entire walk.
"I thought the stairs moved?" Joshua looked down at the moving stairs.
"Sometimes," Penelope informed, "Sometimes, you have to walk down and they'll just appear naturally."
As they walked down the spiral stairs, Joshua chuckled at the information being given to him, "Pfft. I'm sure nobody would want to walk these stairs when they're plastered drunk." He joked.
Penelope couldn't help, but let out a giggle at Joshua's nonsense. It was funny, she must admit and she laughed while walking down beside him. A real laugh.
"Shut up, Josh." She elbowed him with her smile.
Sebastian Sallow's jaw clenched without thinking about the actions.
Since meeting Penelope Silverthorn, Sebastian never witnessed her with anybody else. It was always him with her. Always. So, seeing himself in a perspective where she was with another, despite being eight years — it pinpointed him. It was new and he wasn't used to it. His body didn't know how to react.
Cecil Greengrass green eyes were able to distinguish the shifting expression of her fianceé beside her, but she kept quiet, just looking at the couple in front of them.
Thankfully, both couples parted ways once reaching the Grand Entrance and this only left Penelope and Joshua to find Poppy Sweeting along the way.
"Hey!" Poppy waved.
"Poppy! Hey!" Penelope smiled back.
"Are you two heading to the Quidditch game this evening?" Poppy asked as she strolled along with them onto the Great Hall.
Penelope thought about the quidditch game and Professor Sallow's attire and shrugged, "I don't know. I have to research for—"
"Hell yes we are, Sweets." Joshua answered without hesitating once on the play, "We'll be there."
Poppy Sweeting's brown eyes blinked at the tall man speaking to her. She avoided to even tell him that her last name was actually Sweeting, and just let him play with whatever came out of his mouth.
"Right," Poppy's eyes then flickered at Penelope, "I'll see you at the table, Pen!"
Penelope nodded, "Likewise, Poppy!"
The rest of the day went smoothly for Penelope Silverthorn, surprisingly. Joshua Rogers was adjusting to his stay inside the castle, becoming much more of his own and doing his own tasks.
Penelope fumbled around the clothing she brought from America inside the closet she organized. By now, it was no longer organized, yet, a complete mess from her findings.
The white dog wiggled her huge nose into Penelope, signaling her to hurry up.
"Give me a second, Luna! I'm just trying to find that one..." Penelope paused for a moment, her hands taking hold of a familiar green jersey and bringing herself upward as she stared down at it.
Penelope took her own breath at the sight, taking the realization that the jersey she had brought for Luna was the wrong one. From the rambling of packing in New York, she must've mixed it up with another particular jersey she still kept.
...
"Sebastian, no!" Seventh year Penelope Silverthorn jumped over the furniture and bumped into her Slytherin peers inside the common room as she escaped the man, "Sorry — excuse me!"
"Ew, Sallow! You reek!" Imelda Reyes shouted at the man chasing his girlfriend mid-common, "Why are you so wet and dirty? The game wasn't even that rough."
"Pen started it!" Sebastian Sallow scoffed at Imelda with a chuckle as he chased around.
There was wet dirt plastered onto the co-captain jersey. After a playful fight during the rain post-quidditch game, Penelope accidentally threw Sebastian into a puddle of mud.
Now, he wanted revenge.
"Pen, come here!"
"Let it go, Sebastian." Ominis Gaunt sighed, standing against the pillars near the open lake-view windows.
Penelope hid behind the pillar Ominis Gaunt rested in and as she thought she had finally hidden from the man, a sweaty Sebastian appeared on the opposite side grabbing the back of her shirt.
"Sebastian!"
"Oh, you thought just because you're wearing my sixth year jersey you can have a pass on not getting it dirty?" Sebastian murmured, "Oh, no, no, sweetheart."
Penelope gasped, feeling Sebastian's hand plaster with mud rest flatly onto her shirt, staining it with a dirty handprint.
"Hey!"
"Hey!" Sebastian mimicked her, "It was my jersey first. I'm just leaving my print on it."
Penelope scoffed, "And I kept it clean ever since!"
"It'll wash away." Sebastian rolled his eyes, and wrapped his dirty arm around her shoulder, "Don't ever throw me into the mud, again."
Penelope scrunched her nose from the blended scents of dirty rain and mud, and tried to detach from him, "Ew, please, go shower."
"Only if you join me."
"Get a room, Sallow!" Nerida Roberts gagged alongside Imelda Reyes from the public affection the seventh year couple was making.
"Oh, we will! And a shower too!" Sebastian chuckled, walking away with Penelope.
...
Penelope Silverthorn blinked twice at the memory before letting the jersey drop onto the floor again; same reaction as if she touched a bug.
No matter how much cleaning spells, how much muggle soap, how much money spent on elves expertise in cleaning was used, the handprint never disappeared; it left the faint brown stain tattooed on the abandoned jersey.
Until now.
Feeling regretful of her actions, Penelope bent again, picking up the old quidditch jersey without choice, and took hold of it, examining.
The lining of the handprint is still plastered on it noticeably after nine years. Several other stains covered it, but nothing like this one.
Slowly, Penelope Silverthorn's hand lowered onto it, tracing the stain before pressing it against the handprint; it fitted perfectly under his like she imagined.
"Here," Penelope whispered at the dog below, sliding on the stained jersey that once belonged to her and patted the dog to adjust it. "This should work for now." She smiled.
Penelope also slid on one of her old school jerseys she wore back in her quidditch days. She only played the sixth year, but they were always adjustable, so it fit her perfectly.
The faculty bedroom door shut loudly as Penelope locked her space and walked down the wooden stairs, guiding the dog.
"Down we go, Luna."
But the coincidences were always revealing. They shouldn't have considered the coincidences. They were in the same Faculty Tower, in the same two floors. It was obvious they'd see each other often.
Sebastian Sallow took a deep breath, also locking his door and killing off the nerves of hosting his first quidditch game of the season until Leander Prewett returned.
He turned, stopping himself as he witnessed Penelope and Luna in place down the stairs.
"Ah, there's my girls!" Sebastian would say to them before his games.
It always seemed like a usual routine, having Penelope and the dog support him from the stands after Penelope retired from her player card sixth year.
"That's your call, Co-Captain," Penelope would usually tell him back after he would waste time being with them pre-game.
It'll usually end with good lucks and kisses.
"See you soon, darling."
"Bye handsome." Penelope would wave with the dog in its jersey.
Now, both adults stood in the same visuals, but at different times. It was no longer in the common room. It was in the Faculty Tower, and there were no smiles. Just distant stares.
Sebastian wanted to say something. He wanted to mention how Luna looked incredible with the Slytherin jersey on, but his eyes closed slightly, noticing the stains on the jersey over the dog.
Was it? No, it couldn't be. She would have thrown it away.
"I—"
"Oh, look at you two!" An American accent disrupted the hall, making Sebastian hold back his words and manage to handle the presence that entered.
Penelope gulped, not wanting to seem annoyed at Joshua Rogers uncalled visit, and pressed her lips together.
"What are you doing here, Josh?"
Joshua looked at Penelope with a look of confusion, as if she was dumb as he spoke out, "What do you mean? Sweets mentioned there was a game I was invited to. I was just waiting for your call to go to the field."
Penelope nodded, forgetting about the morning interaction with Poppy Sweeting, "Right."
Joshua nodded and then took sight of the man in the second door, "Oh, evening, Sallow. You're coaching?"
Sebastian's eyes wanted to twitch at the obvious question, as if his jersey that said Coach in bolded letters while he held a clipboard didn't say enough already.
"Yeah, I am." Sebastian answered in a boring way.
"Oof," Joshua said in struggle, "Sounds like a hard task."
"Yeah, well, leadership isn't for everyone, Rogers." Sebastian let out confidently and gave him a smile.
Sebastian Sallow said that in a joking matter. Penelope took a hint of it and wanted to laugh at the passive-aggressive words, but Joshua clenched his jaw, holding in the aim.
"Funny." Joshua spoke bluntly, not laughing as he began to gather Sebastian's language and stepped closer to the coach.
Penelope reacted quickly, grabbing around Joshua's arm and dragging him away with the dog.
"Come on, the game starts soon and the stands are far." Penelope murmured, wanting to exit.
On their exit, Penelope Silverthorn turned once, wanting to look at Sebastian Sallow one last time before the first big game.
Sebastian had already been staring, watching every movement between her and the dog as he took sight of Penelope's turn.
Good luck, she wanted to tell him.
But she didn't have to. Sebastian Sallow knew her well. He read her eyes. And all he did was give her a positive nod.
Penelope Silverthorn couldn't help, but stare at Sebastian Sallow/Professor/Coach/Ex-Boyfriend/Whatever he was at that point to her. All that mattered was that her eyes were attentive on him from afar on those stands.
Coach Sallow became so concentrated and encouraging on those young players on the field, you'd think he was coaching his entire life. No matter the circumstances, he stared, supported, and motivated the students. One by one, despite the house team.
No wonder everyone liked him. The man was clearly likable.
Sebastian Sallow would be a great father one day. Penelope thought to herself.
The wandering began in her mind. Penelope wondered why Sebastian wasn't a father. Although the idea of him having kids with someone else ached her a little, she knew he was destined to be a parent figure
"But if it's children that are from you and I...I'll teach a whole class." Sebastian's old voice lingered.
Sebastian had no kids, but instead, he took that father role he always wanted to be and stuck it with students. Never-ending children for him.
Penelope smiled.
"No offense, but your house team sucks." Joshua Rogers voice caved in the middle of the game.
Penelope lost concentration, ignoring Joshua's complaints, and looked over at the sky, watching the Slytherin players lose balance little by little.
There was a worried expression that plastered on Coach Sallow. Although it wasn't allowed to rule over his own Hogwarts house, you can tell he would've been upset deep inside if Slytherin lost over Ravenclaw.
Penelope watched as the seventh-year Ravenclaw seeker ran fast in her broom toward the Golden Snitch above. And she wondered....
"No, I shouldn't," Penelope whispered to herself, not wanting to let her intrusive thoughts win over her magical powers. "It'll be inappropriate of me."
"Shouldn't what? Oh! That kid almost fell!" Joshua laughed.
But if Slytherin loses, Joshua Rogers would never shut up about it to Penelope. He'll bother her the rest of her life about how her house sucks.
Penelope licked her lips, looking around her surroundings, and then stared up again at the young students playing in the air.
The woman's eyes narrowed, contracting before an invisible transparent wave of Ancient Magic traced onto the Ravenclaw seeker, slowing down her pace for a few seconds. Just a few seconds.
"And Henry Malfoy catches the snitch! Slytherin wins the first game of the season!" The student announcer shouted out into the microphone.
Penelope gave a breath of relief, feeling glad nobody noticed her forbidden actions, and looked around, seeing the Slytherin stands go crazy on the unexpected last-second win.
"Never mind," Joshua huffed out, "I might've underestimated your house, Britain." He elbowed her with a smirk at the win.
Penelope elbowed him, "Don't underestimate me or my house, Josh." She teased.
Joshua smirked down at her, biting his lip, "Never that."
Penelope Silverthorn reached down to the Faculty Tower in a positive mood. It might've been the Slytherin house winning that brought her nostalgia, but she walked down those halls with a confident glare.
Lucky, not so lucky, Joshua Rogers and her separated ways for the night. Joshua wasn't truly raised with the correct mannerisms for a man, or as Penelope defended, American men were raised differently, so he didn't drop her off at her tower. He left her by herself post-game.
Or maybe, Sebastian Sallow treated her so well in the past, that the bare minimum actions of a man never competed — but she wasn't going to think that.
Sebastian Sallow was drumming his green wand upon his bedroom door when Penelope Silverthorn entered the Faculty Tower floor. Again, it shouldn't been a coincidence, but the timings were always planned.
Sebastian had his back on her. He might've been too busy with his wand and clipboard to notice Penelope. If he did, his head would've been on her right away.
Penelope was sneaky, not wanting to make a lot of noise as she passed behind him with Luna, but it was such a good game to ignore. Perhaps, this would've been a good moment. No people around them. No interruptions.
"Good game, coach." Penelope blurted out to him once she reached the first steps of the stairs.
Sebastian turned around at the sound of the familiar voice and confronted Penelope a few feet away. He had to reassure himself that she was actually talking to him. She was.
"Oh," Sebastian said, holding a smile, "Thank you."
Penelope gave a nod, but you could tell the direct eye contact was very direct. Sebastian had to say something else. His brain wanted to explode if she left with no more responses.
"I wouldn't have done it without you." Sebastian admitted.
I wouldn't have done it without you — Sebastian's famous words after a game. He'll say that sentence in the past too. After every game, Penelope would sometimes, sometimes, cheat with magic to save Sebastian from losing.
It was like an inside forbidden joke between the couple. Nobody ever knew why Slytherin kept winning Quidditch Cups' for a while. Only them.
Penelope blinked, oblivious on purpose and she shrugged, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Sebastian chuckled, almost a snort coming off him at her words.
"I see some things never really change, do they?" Sebastian smirked at her.
And Penelope found herself blushing at the words of the coach. The Undercroft's chaos from a few days ago became distant and all that mattered was that the two adults were starting little by little, again.
"No, they don't." Penelope smiled.
Both of them stared at each other for what seemed a while in that hall. It was impossible to break the contact.
How Sebastian Sallow stood there with his coaching uniform. The brown hairs sweaty from yelling and guiding the players. His freckles peaking nicely against the rosy cheeks.
How Penelope Silverthorn's sporting jersey still fitted her well after years. How her contagious smile made the room glow. How just standing there looking at him made him weak.
Fuck — they both thought to themselves.
If only...
Luna wailed out, signaling Penelope that she was tired. The dog lay on the floor and Penelope broke off, looking down.
"Sorry, Luna, uh," Penelope breathed normally again, "G-Goodnight Professor Sallow."
Sebastian clenched himself at the damn name-call. You know by now, Penelope. He thought to himself.
"Goodnight, Pen." Sebastian revealed before opening his bedroom door and entering.
Pen.
________________
I'm sorry if the slow burn is slow burn-ing.