Curse Breaker | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter three | Hogsmeade

I was waiting by the entrance of the school for my escort to Hogsmeade. Professor Weasley had said a student would be waiting for me here, but I wasn't sure who to expect.

"Fancy meeting you here, turns out you're my little errand," someone whispered in my ear, hot breath fanning the left side of my face. I flinched away, holding my left ear, and blushed. "Sebastian - Geez. Can you not. That was way too close, " I complained in reflex, fighting back the urge to pout. I was staring up in the laughing face of non other than my fellow housemate Sebastian Sallow. "You scared me." I turned my face away from him quickly.

"I apologise, you're reactions are just very- very amusing. I didn't mean to scare you. I heard from Professor Weasley someone was in dire need of my assistance on a trip to Hogsmeade, and I half expected it to be you" Sebastian held the door open and gestured me to go first "shall we?"

We made our way outside. It was a charming place, with patches of grass, separated by cobblestone pathways and a beautiful large fountain in the middle. About a dozen students were gathered here to enjoy the fading summer heat. Some played ball, and others hung out by the fountain, but most were scattered around the grass, chatting and studying. I must say, students here are far more willing to put in the work to learn things than they are back where I spend the first fifteen years of my life. No one ever studied.

"I'm glad Professor Weasley asked me to join you on your trip to Hogsmeade today." Sebastian said, once again making small talk. It was evident that he wasn't the best with long silences, I was sure if I kept quiet long enough, he'd blurt out random bits of information to fill the silence. Perhaps one day, I could use this to my advantage. "As am I. If you weren't here, I would probably get horribily lost. It's my first time going to Hogsmeade after all, " I confessed."Well then, in that case, I shall be the best of guides."

"It seems Professor Weasley has taken quite a shine to you," Sebastian chit-chatted. That surprised me. "Oh - has she? That's nice to hear. " "I'm still surprised that a professor would entrust me with anything, given my detention record." he chattered on, I wondered if he even heard my reply. "Spend a lot of time in detention, do you?" I humoured him, enjoying the small talk. "Just enough to keep me well-rounded," he answered mysteriously, as he teased, "might do you some good, too."

We continued a bit further in silence. I noticed how Sebastian was trying his hardest to control himself, but he couldn't. "Thank you, by the way. This trip to Hogsmeade might've actually saved me from detention." I chuckled at his failed attempt, luckily for me he hadn't figured out I was keeping quiet on purpose."Glad to be of service, my dear Sebastian, " I teased him. Earning yet another strange look from him. It was funny how he had no problem busting out smooth flirty lines and winks all over the place, but got weirded out as soon as someone did it back to him.

We made steady progress down the dirt road. I was memorising the way, which didn't take much effort since it was a straight road to Hogsmeade, as we passed a forest. "Merlin's beard! From the Forbidden forest. Look!" Sebastian pointed in awe, and I followed his gaze, gasping at the breath, taking sight of Hippogriffs coming out of the thick treeline. "I know what those are. They're Hippogriffs, right? They're gorgeous, " I sang, getting excited. When Professor Fig told me about magical beasts, he told me about the Hippogriffs first.

"You are very right there. That's a sight you don't see every day. We got very lucky today." Sebastian nodded. We stopped for a moment to watch them fly off in the distance until they were out of sight and then continued our way. "Oh - before I forget to mention it. The Forbidden forest is out of bounds to all students. We're usually told this at the start of our first year. " I scoffed sarcastically. "Who would've thought, with a name like that." My comment made Sebastian choke on air as he burst out laughing.