In the Shadows - Sebastian Sallow x reader (English)

Chapter 19

"Y/LN caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!" The crowd went wild, but the sound of the Bludger hitting made me sick to my stomach. With an "Oof," Sebastian fell off his broom until he hit the ground fifteen metres lower with a blunt fump. A deafening scream escaped my throat and suddenly the excitement in the stands turned to screams of shock. I landed on the grass as fast as I could and shoved the snitch, still held tightly in my hand, into the hands of the nearest person. My whole body trembled as I knelt down next to the motionless Sebastian. His left arm was at an unusual angle, and blood oozed from under his helmet. I carefully placed a hand on his cheek. "Shit! Sebastian, wake up!" Now the tears were pouring down my face in torrents. My hand reflexively went to his neck to feel for his pulse. Bup... bup... bup... Sebastian's pulse was weak but there. In the meantime, the teachers had also arrived on the field. Professor Sharp got to us first, despite the fact that he hobbled. "Please make room, Miss Y/LN." I was stunned. My body refused to move even an inch. The only thing I could do at that moment was cry and scream bitterly. I can't lose him too. Two pairs of hands grabbed my arms and pulled me away from Sebastian's motionless body. I hung like a wet sack in the arms that dragged me away. My legs dragged across the floor. I watched Professor Sharp cast some spells I didn't recognize on Sebastian until my view was blocked by the other teachers. When I was out of the fray, the hands released me. Nellie and Imelda knelt on the grass in front of me and tried to calm me down, but I couldn't hear them. The panic made my ears ring and the tears left my vision severely blurred. Suddenly Sebastian's body floated above the crowd. He was taken to the castle. I have to follow! I have to stay with him! I jumped to my feet and started to follow the transport, but the two Quidditch captains stopped me. "Y/N, that doesn't make sense now! Let them take him to the hospital wing for now. Nurse Blainey will fix him for sure!" Nellie tried to reassure me. "He's not a toy that fell apart! He fucking got a bludger in the head that was meant for me! I have to go to him!" "And what do you want to do?" Imelda snapped at me. "Stand by and cry? You're going to be of more help to him right now if you give the professors and Nurse Blainey space and time to heal him." Imelda was right and I hated it. So, willy-nilly, I had to wait until I was allowed to visit Sebastian in the hospital wing.

The hours after the Quidditch game were some of the worst I had experienced. My thoughts were with Sebastian the whole time. How the Bludger had hit him, how he crashed to the ground, how he lay unconscious on the field. I hadn't even stopped crying the entire time.

In the late afternoon Ominis and I wanted to try our luck and stopped by the hospital wing. Just as we headed for the door, the teachers came out looking exhausted. They all looked exhausted, which only worried me more. I carefully stuck my head out the door and saw Sebastian in one of the back beds. He still appeared to be unconscious. Nurse Blainey spotted me and walked towards me with a soft smile. I straightened up and finally stepped through the door, Ominis right behind me. "How is he?", I asked the black-haired witch, my voice shaking. Her face didn't change, but her eyes showed exhaustion and pity. "He's stable so far, but we can't say more just yet. He was lucky he wore his helmet. Without it..." Nurse Blainey just shook her head and she didn't have to say more about what could have happened for Ominis and I to understand. "Can we go to him?" Ominis asked with a shaky voice. He was visibly affected by his best friend's injury. "Yes, go to him. Some company might even be helpful." Hand in hand, Ominis and I walked towards Sebastian's bed.

The sight of him was so terrifying that I was startled. Sebastian's eyes were closed and his arm was in position again, but blood shimmered through the bandage around his head and his face had lost all colour so that even his freckles could only be guessed at. They had taken off his jersey and bruises were collecting on his bare chest. Ominis took a seat next to the hospital bed while I sat on the edge of the bed and took Sebastian's right hand in mine. "He looks awful, Ominis", I sobbed and the blond Slytherin groped for my hand until he finally found it and put his hands on mine. "He'll be fine, Y/N. Sebastian is strong." "I should be lying here, not him. The bludger was addressed to me." Ominis squeezed my hands. "You heard Nurse Blainey. Luckily Sebastian was wearing his helmet, otherwise, the injuries would have been even worse. As far as I know, you weren't wearing a helmet. Sebastian wanted to protect you." I couldn't utter a single word. The lump in my throat tightened and the tears continued to flow in torrents.

Until the evening, Ominis and I sat silently at Sebastian's side. The silence was broken only by the occasional sob or sniffle. "Dear ones, I'm sorry to have to send you away." Nurse Blainey had come over to us and gestured for us to leave the hospital wing. "Please go eat something. You can come back tomorrow." Ominis got up and noticed when he was about to leave that I had stayed seated. "Come on, Y/N." He held out his pale hand and I shook my head. "I can't." Desperately, I stroked the back of Sebastian's hand with my thumb and looked at his bruised face. "I can't leave him alone. What if he wakes up?" Ominis put a hand on my shoulder. "Then he'll still be awake tomorrow. Let's leave him alone for now." I got up reluctantly and left the hospital wing with one last look at Sebastian.

In the stairwell, I wanted to say goodbye to Ominis, but he grabbed my arm clumsily. "You really should eat something. If I'm right, you only had breakfast today and you definitely used it all up again at the Quidditch game." "I'm not hungry, Ominis", I replied tiredly. Ominis' face turned deadly serious. "It doesn't help Sebastian if you're lying in the bed next to him because you're starving. Please eat something. Even if it's just a piece of toast." I slumped in defeat and padded toward the Great Hall with Ominis. Halfway we met Garreth, who greeted me bawling. "There's the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen! We'll be celebrating the win extensively in the common room in a minute." He stepped closer to me and whispered with a mischievous grin, "I also stole some Firewhisky from the kitchen. So we can get wasted." Sadly, I looked down. "I don't feel like celebrating, Garreth." The redhead looked at me in horror. "What? How come? That was your Quidditch debut and you gave us the win. How can you not want to celebrate?" How little sense of tact can a human being have? "Are you kidding, Weasley?" I snapped at the Gryffindor. "Sebastian is lying unconscious and badly injured in the hospital wing and that's just because of me. How could I think of a party?" "Do you care so much about Sallow that it upsets you so much? He's a Slytherin, after all." "Hey! Watch what you say Weasley", Ominis growled next to me and I finally exploded. "Of course, I care about him, you fopdoodle! He is my friend. If you were lying there, I wouldn't want to celebrate either, you insensitive monkey!" Garreth looked at me wide-eyed and held up his hands apologetically. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't know that. My apologies." Garreth ducked past me and sprinted up the stairs. "Stupid idiot", Ominis murmured, shaking his head and continuing down the stairs, followed closely by me. Then I'll sleep in the Room of Requirement tonight.

The next morning, right after breakfast, I rushed to the hospital wing. Nothing had changed in Sebastian's condition. With a lump in my throat, I sat on the edge of the bed next to him and put my hand on his pale cheek. "Seeing you like this is really hard, Sebastian. Please wake up quickly, okay?" I leaned over him and gently kissed his forehead. I tentatively stroked his cheek with my thumb and studied the pale face in front of me. A tear rolled down my cheek and I sat down in the chair next to the bed where Ominis had been sitting the day before. Later, Ominis joined and I made room for him. The Slytherin had brought a book and pressed it into my hand. "Perhaps you would like to read us something." I looked at the book in my hand sceptically. "Romeo and Juliet? You want me to read you a tragic love story?" Ominis shrugged. "You can also read us from a dusty encyclopedia if you prefer." "Shakespeare, then." I cleared my throat and turned to the first page. " Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene..."

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Hands up, who cried? I did for example.

I found this chapter really difficult. I had to constantly take breaks. Here I pour out my heart to you.