In the Shadow of Power - Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 27

After finishing the second trial, Alayna found it a little hard to return to classes the following week. It was almost like the adrenaline from sneaking into Rookwood castle and fighting all those stone knights in the trial was still lingering in her blood. Sitting in class for hours during the day was a difficult task and so was trying to focus on her homework. At least spending time with Sebastian and Ominis was a bit more exciting than school.

Now that Alayna wasn't upset with Sebastian anymore, everything returned to normal with them. Or almost normal. Since her encounter with Sebastian, when he'd kidnapped her into an empty classroom, she'd started to notice things. Things that he did or said when around her or when they passed each in the hallway or when he caught her eye across a classroom. That smirk that before had always spelt danger for her felt...different. She tried to tell herself it was just wishful thinking, but she felt more and more that Sebastian was...

"Hey, whatcha thinking about?" Sebastian slid onto the bench next to her, purposefully bumping into her as he did.

"Shh, keep it down." Alayna cast a glance towards Miss Scribner who was thankfully too occupied with another student to have caught Sebastian's louder than a whisper question.

"Sorry," he lowered his voice. "You were staring off into space instead of-" he tapped the book in her hands. "-reading."

"Nothing, I was just spacing out. Some of these History of Magic books are just as boring as Professor Binns," Alayna groaned. Not entirely untrue, she definitely had been getting bored reading a book on the history of wizard architecture within the Ministry of Magic. It didn't help there were no illustrations to provide an idea of what exactly they were talking about.

"Ah, but not daydreaming?" Sebastian asked.

"Not...really." Alayna was starting to wonder if he had an ulterior motive to these questions. "What's going on? Why all the questions?"

"Nothing, just curious." Sebastian shrugged. "Mind if I join you for now?"

"You want to read?"

"No....but we could go for a walk. It's not too chilly outside or we could stay inside the castle." Alayna stared at Sebastian, trying to gather more clues from somewhere in his expression. This was what it had been like since their discussion in the classroom. He was always asking her to do things together. Even just the most mundane things like taking a walk or even just sitting together while they wrote up their homework. Professor Fig's words were always ringing in her mind. If you liked someone, you always wanted to be around them.

But there was no way Alayna could just come out and ask Sebastian about how he felt. That would be insane.

"It would be nice to stretch my legs a bit. These benches are so uncomfortable." Alayna stretched her legs under the table to make sure neither had fallen asleep while she'd been reading.

"Alright, let's go." Sebastian smiled and stood up, quick to lead the way out of the library. They walked in relative silence, Sebastian making comments every once in a while about some part of the castle or a student they passed. Alayna was happy just to listen and learn what he knew. She had come to understand a lot about Hogwarts and learn a lot about its students, including those from other years. They were all like one big dysfunctional family living under the same roof.

As they turned towards the large castle doors that led outside onto the lawn, Alayna spotted Poppy coming in. When the small Hufflepuff saw her, she gave a quick wave and came over looking eager.

"Alayna! I was just about to come looking for you!" Poppy wasn't smiling, in fact, she looked rather serious which was a rare expression for her.

"Oh, what is it?" Alayna asked.