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

[four]

By the end of her first Defence class, Aurélie felt certain of several things: being a seventh year at Hogwarts was going to be far worse than she'd imagined - and Sebastian Sallow hated her.

'Your Defence is strong, Miss Collins, very strong indeed,' Hecate had told her after she'd finally conceded their duel as a tie, 'but your offence needs quite a lot of work. Mr Sallow, you ought to know how to break through her defences. Miss Collins has demonstrated that not all opponents will attack you directly. Therein lies your weakness.'

Judging by the impressive glare he'd sent her way, Aurélie had the impression that Sebastian didn't appreciate being called weak. Though she had to admit, the sight of the unflappable Mr Slytherin looking so frustrated gave her such a thrill that she had to fight to keep the grin off her face for the rest of the class.

-x-

After a hurried lunch in the Great Hall - over which she was enthusiastically congratulated by several people she didn't know - she was met by an equally enthusiastic Poppy Sweeting, who had come to escort her to their first Herbology class.

'You're famous!' Poppy said in a tone that suggested offending Sebastian Sallow was the greatest achievement anyone could ever aspire to.

'Am I?' Aurélie grumbled, keeping her head low as they pushed through the giant greenhouse doors. Gossip spread fast at Hogwarts, it seemed. So much for keeping a low profile.

Hogwarts' greenhouses were undoubtedly the largest Aurélie had ever seen, but it was the smell that hit her the hardest. The familiar scent of damp earth and manure reminded her so forcefully of her father that she half expected to spot him elbows deep in soil, calling her over to look at whatever rare or unusual plant he'd managed to germinate.

Having spent countless hours with her father in his garden back in France, Aurélie was quite looking forward to her first class among the plants. The peaceful hush of her father's greenhouse was something she'd once come to rely on after a stressful day at school; the scent of freshly turned earth had a way of soothing her anxious mind, the tranquillity of nature acting like a soothing balm for her soul.

But tranquillity there was not.

Only him.

Him with his smirk and his freckles and his stupid shirt sleeves rolled up to his stupid elbows.

Of course. Of course Sebastian took N.E.W.T level Herbology.

No sooner had she taken her place at an empty potting station did he swagger past to knock a pot of fresh dragon dung onto her new school shoes.

Aurélie's palms tingled worse than ever, the magic in her veins flaring to life again as Sebastian muttered some vague half-apology and hurried back to his station.

Let me take care of him, her magic pleaded. I'll make sure he never does that again.

She took a deep breath and held it for as long as she could, willing the surge of power to recede back to wherever it lived inside her. But it was like trying to force a vast ocean back into a tiny pond; eventually, it was going to overflow.

'What is he, twelve?' she muttered darkly, glaring at the back of Sebastian's stupid head and imagining what it would be like to give him just a tiny zap of her power.

'Actually, he's already nineteen,' Poppy told her in an undertone as she magicked bits of dung from the floor back into the pot. 'Which just makes his behaviour even worse, to be honest. He's old enough to know better.'

The tall, infuriating boy was too busy studiously observing a large venomous tentacular to notice them, but Aurélie could tell he was smirking again.

'Nineteen? What - was he kept back a year?'