In the Shadows - Sebastian Sallow x reader (English)

Chapter 33

TW: Self-harm, alcohol abuse

Everything was spinning in my head. I was now officially Sebastian's girlfriend. We enjoyed being close to each other for a moment before we separated and continued our walk through the gardens. "What do I get if I hit that thing up there with a snowball?" I pointed to a spike on the archway at the entrance to the gardens. Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Um, respect and recognition on my part?" "That's enough for me." I picked up some snow and pressed it into a ball between my hands. Concentrated, I set my sights on my target, swung and threw with too little gusto. The snowball fell sadly to the ground just in front of the gate. It didn't even come close to the top I was aiming for. Beside me, Sebastian didn't even try to suppress the loud, gleeful laugh that rose from his throat. "Well, it's good that you're a Seeker and not a Chaser." "Do it better yourself first!" I crossed my arms over my chest with a pout. With a wry smile, Sebastian formed a snowball and casually threw it at our target. The snowball burst on the cold iron and left a white imprint. "Pah! "That was a lucky shot," I scoffed and tried again. This time, I hit the archway at the bottom edge. "Better, but still room for improvement," the Slytherin teased me. I made several attempts, but each one failed. Sebastian threw another snowball and scored again. "What about the lucky shot, again?" he teased. Annoyed that I was so terrible at throwing and Sebastian had no trouble hitting it, I threw the snowball I held at Sebastian's chest. "Hey!" "Got it," I giggled. "Just you wait!" The brunette threw a snowball at my arm, and our foolishness escalated, and a snowball fight broke out between the two of us. We ran through the garden, laughing and throwing cold balls at each other. Sebastian raced towards me with a huge load of snow in his hand, and I tried to escape on the slippery ground, but he had already caught up with me. He grabbed me by my waist and lost his footing. The snow slipped from his hands, and we slid a good metre further until we finally slipped. Sebastian turned us so that I landed on top of him. He hit the ground with an oof, and I squeezed the rest of the air out of his lungs with my impact. "Are you okay?" I asked, and Sebastian just nodded. "Who knew it would be slippery when it snowed?" he joked, brushing my hair out of my face. We looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. Giggling, I stood up and held my hand to the Slytherin to help him. Sebastian gently pulled me to him and caressed my cheek. We looked deeply into each other's eyes. Slowly, our faces came closer, and our lips met in a tender kiss. I sank into the touch. My fingers scratched the back of his neck, eliciting his contented sigh. Sebastian's hand moved up and down my back. Pleasant goosebumps tingled all over my body.

"Sebastian?" A gentle, feminine voice made us jump. Could it be? "A-Anne?" Sebastian opened his eyes in disbelief and stared at his twin sister. It took us a moment to realize that Anne Sallow was actually standing in front of us. Then Sebastian broke away from me and cautiously walked towards his sister. "Anne, I..." She interrupted him by pulling him into a tight hug. Sebastian wrapped his arms around Anne, and his body began to tremble. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed into her shoulder. "I know," she replied. Tears streamed down Anne's cheeks. I wanted to give the twins space so they could express themselves and went back to the castle. "I'll leave you alone," I said to them as I passed and briefly stroked Sebastian's back.

I decided it would be best to wait in the undercroft for the siblings, so I strolled towards the secret room. On the way, I met Ominis, who was having fun listening to three first years being teased by Peeves. The trio was apparently playing gob stones when the poltergeist appeared and started throwing the stones at them. This old tormentor. Ominis leaned against a stone pillar and chuckled to himself. Shaking my head, I joined him. "So you're gloating," I stated, leaning against the post beside him. "It's just nice to know that everyone here gets targeted by Peeves. He really annoyed Sebastian, Anne and me in our first two years." "Well, he still seems to like to annoy Sebastian." I laughed softly, and Ominis joined in. "But he's an easy target if he keeps sneaking into the restricted section." The blonde Slytherin shook his head with a smile. "I'm surprised they haven't put a high-security lock or strong ward on the library door to stop him from breaking in again." "It's almost like they want him to sneak in," I grinned. "But then only to give him more punishment." Ominis raised his index finger in a mock-instructive manner. "Speaking of which, where did you leave Sebastian? You were together." The Slytherin raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Well... We have a surprise guest, it seems," I explained, and Ominis' second eyebrow joined the same level where the first lingered. "Anne is here. I left the two of them alone." "Anne is here?" Ominis' face lit up. "I can hardly wait to finally meet her again." "I wanted to wait for Anne and Sebastian in the undercroft. I thought that would be the most logical thing. Are you coming with me?" Ominis nodded in agreement, and we strolled together to the large grandfather clock under the stairs to Professor Hecat's classroom.