In The Shadow Of His Love (Reader vs Sebastian Sallow)

Chapter 24 - Awakening

Since the ball, there are only two things on Riley's mind. Enjoy her time with Sebastian as her official boyfriend, and get revenge on Garreth. She does not want to plan anything evil or hurtful, but she still wants her revenge. And she knows exactly what to do.

"Last chance to turn around or wait here. You don't have to go with me" Riley says to Sebastian as they are standing near the entrance of the Forbidden Forest, in front of a massive sign with a spider and "danger" written all over it.

"I would have never forgiven myself if I let you get eaten by a spider," Sebastian says with a resolution in his voice and Riley laughs.

"I am not going to get eaten. I have a plan. It will be a quick in and out of there," She is moving closer to the sign, with a bag full of Chinese Chomping Cabbages over her shoulder.

"You are underestimating spiders," Sebastian's voice is still without a trace of panic or fear, as he follows Riley into the spider's den.

"And you are underestimating the Cabbages. Here we are. Go! Do your duty! Feed yourselves!" Riley shouts in a whisper as she lets two cabbages out. There is only one spider, and it goes down very quickly. Praying there will be no more spiders appearing, she quickly runs towards the remains and tries to snatch some fangs. The problem is, cabbages are not fully satisfied.

"Watch your fingers," Sebastian says in an amused voice as Riley quickly backs away, being the new target of Chinese Chomping Cabbages. They do not seem happy to let her take any remains, so Riley needs to get more creative.

"I don't want to hurt you. Stop it!" She shouts as she almost punches one of the Cabbages. Fully aware they would attack her immediately, she needs to distract them. "I will burn you if I have to!" She points her finger towards them, but instead of retreating, they try and bite her.

"Who would have thought Chomping Cabbages will be the most dangerous things near the spider's lair," Sebastian is watching her with a smile on his face, enjoying the struggle.

"Stop it! Now!" Riley yells at Cabbages but to no avail. Time to practice some newly learned spells, Riley quickly jumps over the trunk and looks around.

As she points her wand towards one of the stones, she mutters an incantation and the stone transforms into a small rodent. It does not take long for the Cabbages to start chasing it and Riley uses it to her advantage, snatching everything she can. Fangs, legs, eyes. With a bag full of remains of a dead spider, she quickly heads towards the exit.

"Nicely done," Sebastian says approvingly, watching Cabbages following the rodent, rolling quickly, ready to chomp everything in their way.

"There is a part of me that wants Professor Weasley to see that perfect transfiguration, but it would cause more trouble than it's worth" She whispers as they are heading towards Hogwarts and tries to blend in with the other students returning from Hogsmeade. As it's been a few weeks already, people are pretty used to seeing them together, so there are fewer and fewer weird looks.

Walking hand in hand, Riley is shivering a bit. It is nearing Christmas and getting very cold, with snow turning the grounds into a beautiful white fluffy fairytale. Clear skies, snow everywhere and a cold breeze are the perfect combinations but not for a very long time.

"It would be easier to get some hatchlings and send them with the fangs," Sebastian suggests but Riley shakes her head.

"Too obvious. And dangerous. You need to be clever about it. Leave no trace. No one can associate you with it. That's what makes it a master plan instead of a petty revenge. That's the Ravenclaw way. Cause chaos, enjoy chaos, but let no one associate you with the chaos," Riley smiles as they are walking on Hogwarts Grounds now, enjoying the scenery around.