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

Chapter 22

Sebastian's POV//

We'd probably been looking for about another hour after we passed the lake before we found her. 

She seemed fine- she was sitting beneath a tree, just staring off into the trees. Y/n seemed surprised to see us, like she hadn't expected anyone to come looking for her in the first place.

"Do you realize how late it is?" Imelda scolded. "We have classes in the morning! What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry I worried you," she said. She wouldn't look at me, only Imelda. She was practically pretending I hadn't come along at all. 

It irked me; I wanted her to look at me. 

I don't know why, but I wanted her to talk to me- I'd been worried about her. Even though she'd said hurtful things to me, I still wanted her around, and I didn't know why. 

My chest was burning with emotions on our way back as y/n proceeded to pretend I didn't exist. Not having her, I could handle even though it sucked. But this? This was torture. I was walking right at her side and she didn't even seem to care that I'd come looking for her at all. 

I tried not to let it show that it bothered me. She didn't want anything to do with me, so I needed to respect that. Even if it tore me up inside, I would give her what she wanted. 

As we walked, I thought back to this morning when she'd told me she hadn't meant it. We were both pretty drunk when things were said. But I think her behavior tonight fully constitutes her having meant it. 

Y/n's POV//

When they found me, I'd just been staring off into the distance for a while. I wasn't thinking about any one thing in particular; I had just been letting my mind run. I was really surprised to see them. 

Then as we walked back, I felt like I was being tortured. I didn't understand why Sebastian came along with Imelda. He made it clear he didn't care about me, so why was he here? 

He told me that my feelings were unrequited.

He said we shouldn't even be friends. 

He took the ring back.

He did so much to me in the span of twenty four hours- from helping give me one of the best days in my life, to making me want to forget it ever happened at all. 

So I wondered why I found myself walking back to the castle with him. 

I would speak to Imelda, but I didn't really have the energy to talk to Sebastian right now. Regardless of his reasons for wanting to come out here in the first place, I didn't want to deal with whatever else he'd have to say to me. 

I pulled my pocket watch out and used my wand for a light to see the time. It was already about to be three in the morning. I was supposed to be waking up here in just a few hours for class, but I wasn't sure if I'd go at all. My first class of the day would be Herbology, and I'm sure Professor Garlick would excuse me from class if I got a note from the Nurse Blainey. 

When we returned back to the common room, Sebastian headed off toward his dorm without any words. I instantly felt relieved, watching him walk away. 

"I didn't bring him on purpose," Imelda told me. "He insisted."

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious. If he didn't want to be around me anymore, then what motive could he possibly have?

"Wish I could tell you," she said. "Look, it's late, let's just go to bed. We can ponder the inner mechanisms of that arse in the morning."

We went down the hall and entered our dorm. Nerida was still up as well and looked relieved upon our entry. 

"Merlin's beard, y/n!" she exclaimed. "You scared us!"

"I'm sorry," I said. 

"Where was she?" she asked, turning to Imelda.

"The bloody forest of all places, this idiot was," she said, then looked over to me. "Don't go AWOL on us ever again like that."

"I'm sorry," I said again. I wasn't sure what else to say. 

Imelda got ready for bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Me? I got my nightgown on, but I didn't want to go to sleep. I was tired of the sleeping medication symptoms, and I was tired of the nightmares. I was just plain tired of everything. 

Back in my fifth year, I would go and see Sebastian if I couldn't sleep, or we would have already been out in the forest or some cave, fighting for our lives. 

We were back to how we were in our sixth year, but this was worse. He was absolutely clear about his intentions to cut me off entirely. 

But that still brought up the question: why had he accompanied Imelda into the Forbidden Forest?

I started to head out to the common room again after pulling my robe on, but decided to go to the hospital wing instead. Hopefully there was some other medication I could try, something with less side effects. I couldn't stand the shaking. 

On my way there, I passed by the entrance to the Undercroft. I heard voices coming from there, so I slinked back against the wall. Whoever it was, I didn't need people knowing I was out and about this late at night. 

"You're not thinking straight, Sebastian," someone said. I Immediately recognized it as Ominis.

"I'm thinking more clearly than I have in a while," Sebastian replied to him. 

"This isn't smart, and you know it. You just need to get some sleep and think it over in the morning."

"I've had plenty of time to think this over Ominis, please don't try and stop me," 

They both rounded the corner and I sunk into the shadows and stayed as still as possible. I sucked in my breath and held it in. They were illuminated only by the dim red light at the end of Ominis's wand. Sebastian walked by first, not noticing me. Ominis suddenly stopped and turned his head in my direction; I was still hidden in the dark, but because of his wand, he knew I was there. 

"What is it?" asked Sebastian, who turned around and looked our way. Ominis was quiet for a moment before replying. 

"It's nothing."

Sebastian then turned around and started walking off and Ominis followed. After they were a good enough distance away, I let out the breath I'd been holding in, and continued on towards the hospital wing.