Silver and Green with Envy: A Sebastian Sallow Story

Chapter Twenty-Six

~~~Sebastian

I put her to sleep. I couldn't think of anything else to do and she needed to rest. I laid her out on her pillows and went to one of her chests, looking for something else to put her in, so I could get her out of those bloody, dirty clothes.

Natty watched me like a hawk the entire time, as I did my best to clean her up and get her comfortable,  though her eyes were soft and she didn't say anything to me about what I was doing.

Not until after.

I stood up, taking her clothes and putting them on the dressing dummy I'd noticed. She obviously decided to keep the outfit here instead of her room knowing I wouldn't be able to get to them. To busy my mind, I started patching up tears and getting the blood out of everything, thankful for finally paying attention in charms class. I'd always thought the household magic was stupid but turns out, it wasn't.

Though I doubted this was what those lessons had in mind originally.

"They killed it."

I'd just stitched up a hole in her shirt and turned toward her, an eyebrow raised.

"Killed what?"

"The Unicorn. The one they'd somehow managed to get. But you know that, right?"

...I didn't. Really, I didn't. A Unicorn? That had never been mentioned to me. I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Natty angrily stood from the chair she'd been sitting in. "Do not lie to me, Sebastian Sallow. They cast the killing curse right at it, and if Elena had been standing any closer it would have caught her instead!"

"Natty I truly don't know what you're talking about. I swear to you I don't." I was shaking. Something was very wrong here.

"The way you swore to Harlow?"

I dropped my wand and swung toward her, but she grabbed my right wrist and held it up. In the moon and lantern light, a very thin scar wrapped around my forearm. Coiled like a rope. I ripped myself away from her grasp. 

"What did you promise him, Sebastian? Elena Varris on a silver platter?"

"I'd never fucking do that and you know better than to suggest it."

"Do I really? Then what!?"

"None of your fucking business!"

"None of my business!? She's my best friend, you absolute bastard!"

"I love her! I'd never-"

"You love her!? That's rich, coming from you. You abused the hell out of her friendship our fifth year, made her keep secrets, made her hate herself because she couldn't help Anne, spent all of last year spewing nothing but scorn toward her when you could be fucking bothered to remember she existed and-"

"And I hated her, right? I guess I did."

Natty stopped and stared at me, her mouth hanging open a little, like I'd just slapped her. 

"I hated her looking at me with pleading eyes. I hated her being so stubborn about staying, about keeping those secrets when she had every right to tell. I hated her for looking so beautiful even when she cried. I hated that I wanted her to stay with me, despite angrily pushing her away, because I didn't fucking deserve it."

I shook my head looking down at the floor. "You're right. About all of that. I was horrible, and I don't ever expect her to forgive me for it, nor do I think I'll ever have the right to ask it of her. But despite all I'd done, she was the only one who stayed. She was the only one who wanted to. But I didn't want that for her. And I was angry, and scared. A stupid, hormonal kid with rage and too much blind ambition, playing with magic I never should have touched. And I said things I regret. And I made her hate me. I wanted to beg her forgiveness that entire next year but I couldn't get myself to do it because I couldn't have bared hearing her tell me it was too late. So that's where we stayed. Hating each other."