it only hurts this much right now ━✫ sebastian sallow

chapter 7

The Prefect

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It was silent in the Ravenclaw common room, the only sound filling the air is the occasional turn of a page and the crackling of the fireplace in the center of the room.

It had been a quick yet eventful first two days of term, yet finally, Sofiya felt like she finally had the time to unwind. Last night, she was so exhausted from the day that she wasn't able to do anything but sleep. Tonight, however, she had given herself some lounging time - the only issue was that it was now far past curfew.

She sat on one end of a long beige sofa, her knees hugging up to her chest as she fit her small frame on the seat, and she had been this way for quite a while now. In her hands was a novel, a novel she has read several times before yet always found herself coming back to. She doesn't know exactly when she started reading, but she does know the sun has since set, and everyone else had gone off to bed.

It was moments like these that she craved. Of course, she was ecstatic to be back with her friends in Hogwarts, it's all she had been wishing for all summer; however, she enjoyed these moments when she could unwind.

"And just what are you doing up so late?"

Sofiya flinched at the sudden voice, her widened eyes shooting up from her book and meeting with the boy standing before her.

A few feet away stood a tall figure, with short messy hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to glow against the fire's light. His shoulders were broad, and even beneath his robes, he seemed to have a certain humble muscularity.

"Oh, aren't you Ravenclaw's Quidditch captain?" Sofiya furrowed her brows together as she suddenly recalled the boy's appearance. She hadn't even considered answering his question just yet, her curiosities taking up her mind too quickly.

The boy seemed stunned for a moment, but eventually broke the silence with a hearty chuckle, "Well... Yes. I assumed everyone would recognize their own Quidditch captain."

Sofiya simply shrugged, closing her book yet keeping her place in the pages with her thumb, "And I assumed someone so noble would be in bed long before curfew."

Another laugh erupted from the stranger. Sofiya found herself being a bit... Hostile toward him. Perhaps she was feeling annoyed that someone had interrupted her alone time, and she had to let him know. Or it was the smugness he seemed to hold, it reminded her of how Imelda often acted, and just how annoying that was when they first met. All Sofiya knew is that she wasn't exactly in the mood for small talk, just this once.

"Noble? Is that what you think of someone you only just met?"

Sofiya pouted at the boy, "Perhaps bothersome is a better term. What exactly are you doing up so late?

"Well, as a Prefect, I believe it is my job to make sure people like yourself aren't out too late."

"...Ah!"

Sofiya felt her face heat up slightly as she realized she was speaking to a Prefect. She had never interacted with any Prefects in the castle, besides Beau; but she never saw him as an authoritative figure. Yet this tall, fit man standing before her, who also happened to be the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain? Suddenly she was embarrassed, flustered, and mildly intimidated.

"Well, my apologies... I-I've never seen you around before, you see." Sofiya looked down to stare at the cover of her book - she would stare anywhere that wasn't at him.