How to Make a Villain - [Sebastian Sallow x F!OC]

[two]

Aurélie knew it was too much to hope that a class dedicated to the Dark Arts in any capacity would be a nice, quiet sort of class, but she certainly wasn't expecting to walk into the middle of an all-out duel. For the second time that morning, she thought she was about to become the victim of an unprovoked attack as two boys - a tall, confident Slytherin and a nervous-looking Gryffindor - did their best to blow each other up in the middle of the cavernous classroom.

Aurélie blinked stupidly as a poorly-aimed disarming spell whizzed by her head, disturbing a lock of her hair as it narrowly missed her left ear. Just like everything else in life, her reaction times were all out of sorts since the attack on her parents; nothing seemed to work as it should, including her ability to defend herself.

Admittedly, Aurélie wasn't the world's best duelist, but she had been a member of Beauxbatons duelling club for six years and was somehow adept enough to have been accepted into Professor Hecate's N.E.W.T-level Defence class. Though, if she were being honest with herself, she was certain this had less to do with her defensive skills and more to do with what had happened to her parents - her new professors likely thought she ought to know how to defend herself against dark magic, all things considering.

'Is that all you've got, Prewett?' said the Slytherin, blocking another disarming spell with a mocking laugh. Judging by the easy confidence he exuded, he rather seemed to be enjoying the act of taunting more than the duel itself.

Aurélie thought the boy might be quite handsome if it weren't for the smug look of self-satisfaction plastered across his freckled face. Waves of chestnut-coloured curls cascaded over his brow with each perfectly executed deflection, while his dark brown eyes sparkled with wry amusement. And though his tall frame was frankly altogether too grown up for even a seventh-year, there was a youthful charm about him that made Aurélie think of a boy; a softness to his cheeks as if his face was holding onto the last vestiges of boyhood.

Contrarily, his duelling partner was lanky, red-haired and clearly having a much harder time of things; his brow was creased in deep concentration, and a light sheen of sweat had broken out over his pallid face with the effort of deflecting his partner's attacks. Aurélie thought that if he only stopped trying to verbally insult the tall Slytherin boy between spells, he might actually manage to get a shot in edgeways.

'Sallow, you arrogant prat!' shouted the Gryffindor as he sent another disarming spell soaring across the room. 'How many times do I have to tell you she's my girlfriend?'

The Slytherin boy only chuckled in response, deflecting the red-heads spells so easily he seemed almost bored by the whole thing.

'And how many times do I have to tell you,' he retorted, 'that I don't want your girlfriend, your girlfriend wants me?'

With some relief, Aurélie recognised a familiar figure sitting at a desk across the room. Ducking unnoticed around the two duellists, she hurried over to where Samantha Dale was sitting with her head bent over a thick book, her long black hair spilling over her shoulder and onto the page.

A fellow seventh-year Ravenclaw and a rather friendly girl, Samantha had been one of the first to introduce herself in the Great Hall after the sorting ceremony. Aurélie slid quietly into the chair next to her, grateful to finally unburden her arms of their heavy load of books.

'Hello Samantha,' she said shyly. 'I didn't realise we were in Defence class together.'

'Hm?' Samantha looked up from her book, blinking at her new companion in surprise. 'Oh, Aurélie! Hello, how wonderful that you're here! There aren't nearly enough girls in this class; I thought Poppy and I were the only two!'