𓆙 Chapter 5 - Nostalgia

Sebastian remained by my side the entire night. This wasn't the first time he's done this: there were many occasions where my ancient magic exhausted me to a point of needing to rest, even if it meant doing it in a dark cave or in the middle of the forbidden forest. Sebastian was always the one to stay up and keep watch, and this time was no different. It felt oddly nostalgic, having him there, even though there were no dangers, not as long as we remained inside the castle.

I shifted in my position, feeling the spine of the couch poking at my side, awaking me. I wasn't fully uncomfortable, but this was also not an ideal position to lay. I remained there for a moment longer, stretching, before flashbacks of last night hit me.

How long have I been asleep for?

I jumped up, startled, looking around the common room. Sebastian was gone, and instead, I found Ominis standing by the windows, leaning against the stone wall. He must have heard me because he quickly leaned away from the wall, his wand up, emitting a faint red flow.

"Lily, is that you?"

"Ominis? What are you doing here?"

His wand began to guide Ominis towards me, before he could take a seat on the same arm chair that Sebastian sat on last night.

"Good morning to you too," he said, almost sarcastically, "Sebastian woke me up, asking me to look after you while he's away. I won't ask why you're sleeping here instead of your bed chamber, but if you are having trouble with your roommates, please do let me know."

"No Ominis, things are okay with my roommates," I shook my head, appreciating his concern. "Away where?" I asked while pushing the heavy knitted blanket away.

"The Quidditch field. Sebastian is a such a vazey for choosing to practice at such an early hour. Honestly, I can't understand what's going through his head half the time, but I shouldn't be surprised."

I couldn't help but to smile. After everything we went through, Ominis still cared a lot about Sebastian, and it showed.

"Well, thank you, Ominis," I nodded, getting up, "You both didn't have to do that."

"Oh, I wouldn't say we didn't," Ominis shook his head, "Imelda is known to be quite the prankster around here, and if she were to find you sleeping here, all alone," Ominis stopped for a moment, as if considering his next choice of words, "Well, let's just say you'd have a bad rest of the week."

While we haven't heard of anyone willingly falling asleep in the middle of the common room before, everyone here knew not to make an enemy out of Imelda, because the consequences could be devastating. One time, Imelda felt like her broom skills were challenged by a third year, so she casted the Rictumsempra charm, leaving the student with the feeling of being ticked for a full day. And while Imelda and I were not enemies, we also were not exactly found of one another.

"I appreciate it," I walked up to where Ominis sat, placing my hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. It was one of the gestures Sebastian and I used to do a lot with each other last year. Whenever we wanted to show our appreciation or support, we'd simply place our hand on a shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Sebastian and I came up with it late one night together, for Ominis. It was our own way to show Ominis our appreciation for his knowledge and gifts. Sometimes scoldings, too.

"It's no trouble, I assure you, Lily," Ominis smiled, head leaned back to look up at me.

I took note of Sebastian's robe hanging loosely over the spine of the armchair, picking it up and folding it in my arms before I looked back at Ominis.

"I'll go and find Sebastian, to thank him properly."

"You do that, and do tell him to stop waking up at such Merlin hour!"

"Will do!" I giggled, jogging up the stairs.

Even though it was only a second week of September, the air was chilly now, especially this early in the morning. The Bell Tower courtyard looked dreamy, with the morning fog still settled low on the ground. I found myself circling around the fountain, feeling rested and ready for the day. Alchemy was not going to start for another hour and a half, and even though I was technically here on a mission to find Sebastian, I couldn't help but admire the autumn colors on the trees, and the rustling of the fallen leaves beneath my feet. It was peaceful, almost unrealistic. It was hard to think that so much had happened just a summer ago, but it did.

Slowly, I exited Hogwart's gate, making my way towards the Quidditch field. The fog surrounding the field made it tower above me like an unexplored structure, bringing me back to the days of exploring the grounds outside of Hogwarts. I had always enjoyed exploring, and with the Floo Flame, it was much more convenient. I hoped I'd get to do some more exploring soon. It would be good for me to leave the castle grounds, even for a little bit.

As I reached the Quidditch field, I studied the structure, noticing how magnificently large the arena was, compared to how it looked from the distance. Quidditch was cancelled last year due to a student getting injured, so I never really had much business coming here, other than to occasionally remind Imelda that she wasn't all that great at flying. The field made me feel some type of a thrill, similar to what I felt when flying on Highwing for the first time. And even though I knew I was never going to find myself riding a broom the way Imelda did, I was exited to watch the games this season.

I heard a swoosh! from behind, turning to see Sebastian circling around the field on a broom, with the quaffle wrapped in his arm. He was swift with the way he guided his broom to reach the large set of rings, goals, on one of the sides of the field. I have only seen Sebastian handle himself in battles, where he was rather reckless, eager to prove a point. Eager to cure Anne. A true Slytherin, I would always tell Sebastian while patting his back in an aggressive manner, which he wasn't quite fond of, but never once told me to stop doing. Yet, watching him glide so easily up in the air on a broom, and scoring a couple of goals, it was like he was a different man now.

I probably spent ten minutes standing there like that, watching him. Sebastian redirected his broom after scoring another goal, swiftly circling around to land. As he came closer, we locked eyes, and he landed a few feet away from me, with a surprised look on his face.

"Lils? What are you doing here?"

Sebastian's hair was damp, falling on his face. He ran his hand through them, fixing little hairs so they wouldn't continue to fall on his face.

"Ominis told me where I'd find you," I watched him do his thing, noticing how his hair had grew and changed over the summer, "I wanted to return this to you!"

What happened to properly thanking him for his comfort?

Sebastian picked up the broom with his left hand, smiling at me as we approached towards each other, "Thank you, but I didn't mind leaving it there. I was going to come back for it anyways."

Well that was dumb of you, Lils.

I was slightly embarrassed, because now it looked like I came all this way to give Sebastian his house robe back. I truly didn't think this through enough, feeling my face redden.

"W-wait no! I didn't just come here to make an excuse to come here!" I panicked, barely standing in one place while Sebastian continued to eye me, nodding with a soft chuckle, "Sebastian! I am serious!"

"As serious as your reddened face?" He pointed out, unable to keep his laughter to himself.

"I just grabbed it! It's still early! I seriously was not keeping tabs on you! I didn't know you were going to return to the common room, so I grabbed it and went to find you!" I rolled my eyes, knowing I was only digging my own grave further.

Sebastian continued to laugh, wiping a single tear that formed in the corner of his right eye, "Of course not! I totally didn't think that!"

Ugh. Sometimes I couldn't stand him!

"Alright, alright! I am done, I promise," Sebastian chuckled, coming down from laughing at me for a good minute or two.

"Are you truly finished?" I asked, ready to head out.

"I am," he reassured me, following as we started to leave the field.

"Thank you - "

"You should have seen how red your face was just now!"

"Sebastian!"

Sebastian dropped his broom, with hands up in the air, an innocent look in his eyes as I glared up at him ver my shoulder.

"Okay! I am done for good this time! Shall we head back?"

"About time," I scoffed, walking off.

He caught up to me after picking up his broom, running his hand through his damp hair once again. I hated how distracting he became. We left the Quidditch field, entering the courtyard. The sun was slowly rising, and some of the student athletes began to show themselves outside. It was still early for breakfast to begin, so many spent their time adjusting their Quidditch gear, or catching up on their assignments. Sebastian was greeted a couple of times, waving to some of his Quidditch teammates. I kept my eyes forward, avoiding his, but I could feel his gaze shifting to me every so often as we continued to walk.

"Listen..." I stopped myself at the entrance to the school, catching Sebastian off guard as he halted himself and turned to face me.

"Yes?"

"About last night..." I mumbled, looking down at his house robe that was still in my arms.

"You don't need to explain yourself," Sebastian stood still, eyes on me, "You've been through enough. The least I could do was be there for you in that moment. I didn't want you to go through all that on your own."

I dug my nails into his robe, nodding.

I wish you felt the same way back when I had to fight Ranrok.

"Yeah, I'd like to keep that between us."

Sebastian gave me a nod, not questioning my intentions, " Of course."

I joined his side then, giving him a weak smile before we proceeded to walk back to our dormitory.

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I try to match their language with the time period, so I hope that is working out so far ☺️
Thank you for reading! I am excited to explore Sebastian and Lily's bond, and see where it can go :)

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