After All This Time// Sebastian Sallow x Reader Hogwarts Legacy Fanfiction

Chapter 12

Sebastian's POV//

I was up late in the common room reading a book, trying to get my thoughts together. 

I was thinking an awful lot about y/n lately, with her birthday being tomorrow and all. I got her something small and I wasn't sure if she was going to like it. Ominis said she would, and so I trusted that, but he's also blind. 

She was pretty funny in the Undercroft today, trying to get Ominis or I to talk about what her friends and I have been planning tomorrow. It's just a party in the Slytherin commons, but I think she'll enjoy herself. Poppy was a little too friendly and definitely invited too many people, which I wasn't too sure about, but I thought it would be fine. 

After a little while, I heard talking coming from the hall of the girl's dorms. I peeked over the back of the armchair and saw it was y/n and Imelda. I hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but I heard them talking about the fact that y/n has been having bad nightmares recently, and Imelda was walking her to the hospital wing to see the nurse.

I felt a ping of guilt, knowing I hadn't asked her how she had been doing. 

I know better than anyone that these last few years have been difficult, but I hadn't even thought about the effects it would have on her. It made me feel guilty knowing I could've been there for her and I wasn't

It circles back around to me having not replied to any of her owls. I bet she would've told me something, had I been better about staying in contact with her. The fact that we'd had any falling out whatsoever was entirely my fault. 

After a while, I decided to sneak out of the dorms after her. I needed to check on her myself. 

Y/n's POV//

I looked at Sebastian, who'd been sneaking after me in the halls. 

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him. 

"Uh-" he stuttered. "I'm not sure, really," he told me, rubbing the back of his head. 

"You could get trouble for being out here," I said. 

"So could you," he replied.

"I have a note, Sebastian, I don't sneak around like that anymore. Seems you never outgrew it, though," I joked. I loosened my grip on his cloak, and he straightened up his posture. He was a whole head taller than me now, and towered over me. I've never been particularly tall, but it was still odd to see how much taller he's gotten. 

"I'm not sneaking around, actually I came to check on you," he admitted. "I was in the commons when you and Imelda came out of your dorm, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you were stopping my Nurse Blainey."

I fell silent. I wasn't really ready for him to hear that. I didn't want him to know that this stuff was still weighing on me. 

"Hey," he said, lifting my chin with his finger. "You know you can talk to me too, right? I know I haven't always been the best at talking about that kind of stuff, but I can be, for you."

I looked into his hazel eyes. His gaze softened as his eyes traced over my face. My heart rate quickened as I realized how close we were standing to each other. He didn't remove his finger from my chin as we spoke. 

"I know," I told him. "I just don't know if it's the best thing to do to bring up those old memories. I'd rather just try to move past it."

"No offense," he chuckled. "But you don't seem to be doing so well with your current method of dealing with things. I want you to talk to me about it. It might help, you never know." I sighed at his words. I know he's been hurting over everything as well, but in this moment, he's trying to be strong. I could see the hint of hurt behind his eyes as he spoke about it. 

"I'd rather not talk about it yet," I admitted. "I don't know if I'm ready to talk about anything at all." 

I felt tears forming in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "You've always been so stubborn, y/n," he exhaled. "You have to accept help from others every now and again."

he smiled at me, and I gave him a half hearted grin in response. 

"We should probably get back," I told him.

"You're right."

We walked back to the commons in silence, descending the stairs side by side. It felt odd being out in the castle with Sebastian at this time of night, even though we'd done it a million times before. I guess I just wasn't as used to it anymore. 

When I re-entered my dorm, Imelda was already back to sleep. I followed suit and climbed into my bed. I pulled the compact the nurse had given me from my cloak pocket and opened it up. She'd told me to only take a half tonight, since it was already so late. I did as I was directed, and passed out into a deep and dreamless sleep almost instantly. 

I woke up to Poppy jumping up and down at the edge of my bed. I was one, a bit startled to wake up to that, and two, confused as to how she'd gotten into the dorm in the first place.

"Wake up! It's your birthday!" she shouted. "I've made lots of plans today, so you need to be up and ready as soon as you can!"

"How did you even get in here, Poppy?" I laughed. 

"I let her in, though I'm starting to regret it now," Imelda groaned. She sounded annoyed, but there was a smile playing at the edges of her mouth. 

"Alright, Poppy, give me a few minutes to wake up at least!" I told her. 

I let out a sigh and pulled myself from my bed. I felt heavy and tired, like I hadn't slept at all. It must've been the sleeping medicine. I hated how drowsy I was, and was unsure that I'd even have enough energy to get through the day- I guess it was the price for getting rid of the nightmares. If there's one thing I've ever learned, it's that everything you do comes with a price these days.