Enchanted by freckles - Garreth Weasley & Sebastian Sallow x female MC

12th chapter

The classes dragged on and gave me time to think about myself. What made me interested in Sebastian? Sure, he looks fantastic. But so does Garreth. And Garreth and I had a lot more in common than just looks. We were as close as human beings could be. For me he was not only my partner, but also my best friend and my family. So why was I thinking of Sebastian?Nellie nudged me and pushed a note at me.

"What are you thinking about? You seem depressed."

While Nellie was a very adventurous person who loved to joke around, she was also very emotional. She, Natty and Poppy were my dearest friends. Nellie was less tactful than the other two, but she knew me better since Natty started Hogwarts only 2 years ago and Poppy, as a Hufflepuff, was often away from me.

"Oh Nellie, unfortunately I can't write that to you either. I don't really know myself."I slipped my answer to her.

"You're not thinking about Garreth, are you?"

I widened my eyes in shock. Nellie took the piece of paper back, wrote something on it, and pushed it back to me.

"5.5. from 5?" Nellie and I used to use small ciphers a lot, so I knew right away that the 5 should stand for an S. While this was obvious, it made it a lot harder for someone who didn't know us that well to interpret our messages immediately.

I was ashamed. Now that I saw this message that saw through me completely. I took the note in my hand and reduced it to ash in my fist.

When the class was over, Nellie and I took a more hidden path towards the great hall so we could talk quietly.

"Oh Nellie." I started, "How did you know?". "Well, I didn't really know. But I had a feeling." she answered me. That was a reassuring answer. If someone who knew me as well as Nellie noticed, it was okay. While Garreth knew me better than anyone, he was less able to read my thoughts.

"What are you going to do now?" Nellie asked me. I replied, "If I knew. I don't want to talk to Garreth until I've sorted my mind though. I don't want to live without him. I'm afraid he's leaving me. I need him by my side. And I think confronting him without knowing how I feel or think isn't fair to him."

Nellie agrees. "Perhaps you should first find out what you like about Sebastian. Completely neutral and without comparing it to Garreth."

"Hm... good idea." I started thinking. "I like his freckles and his warm brown eyes. And his hair. I like how it looks so wild and messy. Also, he gets little wrinkles under his eyes when he's honestly laughing. Well, everything else is the usual. Good shape, intelligent, and stuff like that". Nellie laughed. "But these are almost all points that also apply to Garreth. Except for the one with the wrinkles," I said. 

"Yeah, but then you know where to start. Find out what you like about him. When's your next opportunity? Probably Defense Against the Dark Arts?" I cleared my throat and felt embarrassed as I said the words, "I'm at his house this weekend." Nellie looked puzzled, then shrugged her shoulders and said: "Hm, well, the faster you'll find out what you want. But tell me how in Merlin's name you come up with spending the weekend with someone who isn't Garreth?!"

So I had to tell her everything too.

"But Nellie, please keep all this to yourself." She looked at me dead serious. "Caelie, have I ever spilled your secrets? Trust me. And don't worry. Garreth loves you. He's fought for you to reciprocate his feelings for so long. He won't let you go. Not willingly." 

She nudged me lovingly with her elbow. As we got closer to the great hall, we changed the subject because of the other students.

We sat down at the Gryffindor table and began to eat when suddenly someone covered my eyes from behind. I reached up and pulled my head down towards me. I could feel Garreth's soft lips against my forehead. Again the butterflies danced. I didn't know everything about my feelings right now, but I knew that I really loved Garreth.

He sat down with me, took some food and ate. When his plate was empty, he took another portion, just as large as before. Apparently he was very hungry. He smiled at me, raised his hand, and removed a crumb from my hair. "You Caelie, if Sallow does anything you don't want, then please come back to the castle, okay?" he said with serious concern. "Garreth, don't worry. You know I'm a good witch. Besides, why would he do anything against my will? I'm there to help his sister. I don't think he will risk the chance to heal Anne." I replied calmly. I didn't see any reason to worry.

I tried to follow the astronomy class as best as I could. At the end of that lesson, I went back to the Gryffindor common room and found no one I wanted to speak to. I went to my dormitory and packed everything I needed into a small bag which, like Garreth before, I had enchanted with an expansion spell.

I went back to the common room, grabbed a book on alchemy from a shelf, sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace as usual and leafed through the book a bit.

I heard a group of four fifth year girls enter the common room, giggling loudly at a cute guy who would be pacing back and forth in the hallway outside. They sat down at a table and talked on. I tried to tune them out as best I could until I heard one of the girls say "she doesn't really like Slytherins that much, but this guy was amazing with his appearance". Slytherin? Was Sebastian already there? I checked the common room's large clock. It was 4:12 p.m. That would mean he would be there 40 minutes early. How unrealistic, I thought. I was trying to get my mind back on my book when I suddenly heard Natty's voice. 

"Um, Caelie, I think you should come over here". Natty was still standing in the common room entrance. I went to her. As I walked toward her, I heard loud voices from the hallway outside. I followed her out of the common room.

I saw Garreth and Sebastian. Both held their wands to each other's throats. "Weasley, I should have killed you before you -" I ran up to them and pushed them apart."What's the matter with you?!" I screamed. I could hardly breathe due to the excitement and gasp for air. "What is this? Why are you arguing?"

Garreth put his wand away. "We just discussed a few... etiquette rules.", he said, already smiling friendly again. "What's wrong with you guys? Can't you do that with words without almost killing yourself?" asked Natty. Sebastian didn't say anything, but I could see that he was seething inside. "Why do boys always have to be so exhausting?" Natty asked rhetorically as she walked back towards the Gryffindor common room. 

Garreth went after her. I stood there rooted to the ground. On the one hand I wanted to follow Garreth, on the other hand Sebastian and I had an appointment anyway. Garreth was already halfway across the room when he turned and asked if I wanted to come with him. I wasn't sure what to do when Sebastian said "go ahead, I'll be waiting for you here". I nodded to him and was glad that he seemed to understand my insecurity.

Arriving in the common room, I asked Garreth what had happened. "Oh, nothing really, I don't know why he freaked out like that either. I asked him why he's already there, and then it kept escalating.", he said, dropped onto a chair and let his head fall back. "But well, everything is fine," he added. "What are you actually doing this weekend?" I asked him. "I'll probably stay here and experiment a bit."

I kissed him before walking through the portrait outside.