The Raven and the Snake (Sebastian Sallow x Ravenclaw MC)

Selfishly Selfless

Although keeping a secret from Sebastian was hard on Clora both mentally and emotionally, it was also just as hard in a technical and literal aspect.

He'd always been protective of her, even before they'd begun dating. A quality that, naturally, had only become more pronounced once they'd become romantically involved, rather than just platonically. And every time Clora thought Sebastian couldn't get much more protective of her, something would happen that would swiftly show her otherwise.

Suffering under Crucio in the scriptorium, or having other boys show more than just a friendly interest in her, or growing weak from the curse she'd inhaled, to now the most recent incident of nearly being crucio'd once again by Harlow.

It was most likely a culmination of all of those instances—combined with his already pre-existing fear of her being taken by Ranrok—that made Sebastian on higher alert than ever before, and Clora was quite certain that he'd reached some sort of new record because of it.

Or, perhaps Sebastian was the same as he always was, and it was actually Clora who was different. Maybe she was merely noticing his protective and possessive nature more than she normally did, due to the fact that she was currently and secretly plotting to escape from it.

And while Clora was under no illusions that slipping away from Sebastian and leaving the grounds to carry out her plan would be easy, it was only once she assisted Duncan Hobhouse with a task one day before lunch that she realized just how hard it would truly be.

She'd intended to make her way straight to the Great Hall to meet up with her trio of Slytherins for lunch, when she caught sight of—or, perhaps caught voice—of Duncan moaning and whining from the side of one of the stairways, lamenting to nobody and everybody on how he needed help.

Naturally, most of the students walking by either ignored him or only gave him a curious, passing glance. But his pleas for help were the perfect trap for someone like Clora as she approached her fellow Ravenclaw.

Duncan had buttered her up for a bit after she'd asked what was wrong—such as how she'd survived confrontations with both a troll and a dragon—before he finally got to the reason for his dilemma: how, during one of Madam Blakes classes in repelling Boggarts, his had turned into a Puffskein of all things.

The incident had resulted in Duncan being granted the nickname 'Puffskein Dunkein', (which Clora had heard students say around the school and in her common room, she just hadn't known why) and so upon learning as much, despite her willingness to help Duncan, Clora still couldn't hold back the laugh that she quickly tried to cover with a cough.

"I'm sorry," Clora offered immediately, clearing her throat. "But you have to admit that's rather clever."

"I do not have to admit that," Duncan replied indignantly and pompously as he straightened his posture, though he was soon back to slouching again as he continued, his tone glum and dejected. "...Everett said the same thing."

At his miserable mood, Clora did her best to stamp down her slight smirk that still threatened to break out into a full-on smile at his nickname, realizing that perhaps she had a soft spot for rhymes just as she did for alliterations.

And this request from Duncan truly was the perfect sort of trap for Clora. Because as he continued on and revealed that he lied to some of his classmates about how he'd braved a certain section of the school, he offered her both.

"The Hidden Herbology Corridor?" Clora repeated, swiftly and almost automatically revising it in her head to the 'Hidden Herbology Hallway', in order to make it a triple alliteration. "Why would informing others that you've gone to an area of the Greenhouse make them stop calling you Puffskein Dunkein?"

"Because. Rumour has it that the Herbology professor before Professor Garlick kept dangerous plants there," Duncan divulged somewhat nervously. "It's supposedly so overrun now that no one dares enter it anymore. I was hoping you could go there and bring back evidence that I could use to show that...well, I'd gone in. Say, a bit of an exceptionally dangerous plant of some kind?"

Duncan needn't have hoped, because Clora was already nodding and straightening up as she dug out her wand. "What sort of plants should I expect in the Hidden Herbology Hallway?"

"Hidden Herbology H—" Duncan blinked at the new name and adjusted his glasses, looking confused for only a moment, before he quickly shook his head and pressed on. "I haven't a clue. But have you seen the kinds of plants Professor Garlick grows? If the previous professor was anything like her, I'd imagine they're not exactly harmless."

Clora nodded. She already knew she would be able to handle whatever dangerous and harmful plants lived in their school Greenhouse, of course, and had only asked Duncan what plants grew there out of curiosity alone.

"Alright, you can count on me. I'll go take a look right now," she assured him, her straight and confident posture contrasting rather starkly with Duncan's bent form as he sighed in relief.

And so, rather than heading straight to the Great Hall for lunch like she normally did and planned, Clora had instead turned right back the way she'd come, heading outside and making her way towards the Greenhouses.

Clora hadn't been intending for the task to be a long detour—perhaps fifteen minutes at most. After all, how long could a trip to the Greenhouse and plucking a leaf off of a plant take?

Unfortunately, however, Clora realized it was called the Hidden Herbology Hallway for a reason, and that reason became very clear as she wasted more time than she cared to ever admit looking for said hallway, asking any nearby students if they'd heard about it, and if they knew the general vicinity in where it might be found.

By the time Clora had finally discovered and burned the ivy that had been covering her destination, traversed it and its unruly amounts of Devil's Snare, and then exited with a rather enormous leaf from the largest Venemous Tentacula she'd ever seen to show for all of her troubles, lunch was nearly over.

Nearly.

And all the while Sebastian barely ate, too distracted with taking glances over to the doors of the Great Hall whenever they would swing open, wondering if and when the next arrival would finally be Clora.

"I'm sure she's just stayed late to talk to a professor or some such," Anne reassured, her voice both firm yet also nonchalant, hoping to sound casual and unbothered enough to hopefully soothe her brother's clearly frayed nerves. "You know how Clora can get."

Unfortunately for Anne, however, reminding Sebastian of how Clora could get was the worst possible thing his sister could have said to reassure him in that moment, and so he stood up from his seat immediately afterwards.

"Somebody in her house must have seen her," Sebastian decided, not sparing Anne or Ominis another glance or moment of his time before heading over to the table next to them, his eyes scanning the rows of blue and black robes for either Samantha or Amit.

Though as Sebastian searched for them, he wasn't sure why it was Duncan Hobhouse's voice that suddenly stood out to him and got his attention among the rest.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that Duncan was currently boasting to Everett about how he'd gotten some one to do some thing for him, and how thanks to this person's efforts, he would no longer be known as Puffskein Dunkein.

It was just the sort of inconsequential task and busywork Clora would eagerly accept—such as diving into the lake for an Astrolabe in the winter—and so Sebastian turned course and headed over to where Duncan sat immediately, approaching him and Everett with such intensity that the two boys shrunk back as he approached.

"Who agreed to help you?" Sebastian demanded, cutting straight to the point as he hunched forward and put his hands on the table. "Was it Clora?"

"Y-yes," Duncan stammered, leaning back a bit and picking up his goblet, as if to put some sort of barrier between him and Sebastian. "I didn't specifically ask her, though. She came up and offered to help me."

Of course she did.

Sebastian ignored Duncan's nervous deflections as he lifted his hands from the table and stood up straight again, crossing his arms impatiently. "What is it that you tasked her with, and where? Is it within the school grounds?"

Duncan nodded vigorously to the inquiry—which, unbeknownst to him, saved him from getting his glasses smashed in as Sebastian relaxed. Somewhat.

"Of...of course. We're not even allowed outside the grounds. I simply asked her to go to the Greenhouses, where the Hidden Herbology Hallwa—I mean, corridor, is." Duncan corrected, flinching and looking confused when Sebastian made an annoyed grunt upon hearing the alliteration, knowing that it had no doubt been a contributing factor as to why Clora had helped the Ravenclaw boy to begin with. "I just want her to grab a part of a plant for me. Part of something dangerous that might be growing in there. To—to prove my...my bravery."

Duncan finished his sentence meekly and with a humiliated flush, no doubt embarrassed at the admittance that he'd not only gotten a girl to do this task for him, but also at the fact that he had the gall to speak as though he had any semblance of bravery left when he was still currently leaning back and away from Sebastian, hiding behind his shivering goblet.

Before Sebastian could act on this information—either to berate Duncan for doing so, or to simply go off and find where this Hidden Herbology Hallway was located on his own, the meek Ravenclaw before him suddenly put down his goblet and straightened, peeking around Sebastian with a bright, hopeful expression.

"Speak of the devil!" he remarked, though Sebastian barely heard those words as he quickly turned around to follow Duncan's excited gaze.

Clora was already on her way over as she trotted up to them in a half-run, half-jog, no doubt having made her way to the Great Hall as quickly as possible once she'd finished her task, based on appearance alone. Her hair fanned out behind her while her cheeks were rosy and flushed with the exertion, and although Sebastian knew 'speak of the devil' was merely a saying, he still almost felt obligated to criticize and correct Duncan on his current usage of it, especially when looking at Clora.

In her hand, however, was something rather sinister looking: the largest Venemous Tentacula leaf Sebastian had ever seen. Though truthfully, he didn't spare it so much as a quick glance as he instead looked back to Clora's face, her eyes meeting his as her expression switched quickly from surprised to see him there, to happy to see him there—and a touch guilty, as well.

"Sebastian!" Clora exclaimed, his name sounding like both a question and a greeting as she reached them there at the Ravenclaw table, though she quickly remembered and prioritized her current task as she peeked around at Duncan from over his shoulder. "Sorry, I just need to give Duncan his—"

"That's one leaf? It must have been giant!" Duncan exclaimed in happy astonishment as he stood up, leaving the table to make his way next to Clora and stare at it in awe. "It's even more than I expected—I knew you were the one to ask. I appreciate you getting it for me, thank you."

"Of course," Clora smiled, reaching to hand it to Duncan as Sebastian stood next to them and continued watching on silently with his arms crossed. "I hope this helps you prove—"

But before Clora could finish her sentence or finish handing it to Duncan, Sebastian's arm shot between them, sharply plucking the large leaf out of her hand, and as the two of them turned to look at him in confusion, he nonchalantly pulled out his wand and burned it to a crisp.

"Sebastian—what—!"

"No!" Duncan cried out pathetically as he helplessly watched and half-reached out for the pieces of ash as they fell to the floor. "That was for me! I needed that!"

"Then you can go get another—and on your own this time," Sebastian suggested flatly, looking down at Duncan's pitiful display with disdain. "I'd wager this Hidden Herbology Hallway has no Puffskeins roaming about, so you have nothing to be scared of."

Before Duncan could utter whatever sad protest he was planning, and before Clora could get upset or apologize to the other Ravenclaw, Sebastian took her by the hand and led her out of the Great Hall entirely.

He'd already been on edge due to Clora's absence and what had caused it, and what Duncan had gotten her to do to cover his own cowardice. But Sebastian also just didn't like Duncan to begin with, same as Ominis. And if Duncan's shining personality alone wasn't enough reason to hate him, his views on Hogwarts and its inclusion of Muggle-borns certainly did the trick.

Rather than going out the main exit, Sebastian took Clora with him to one of the side hallways leading out of the Great Hall in order to give them at least some privacy. He could have led them further, but with his nerves and his relief he couldn't wait any longer, and so once they were there, Sebastian let go of Clora's hand, only so that he could turn around and pull her into a tight and smothering hug before either of them could say anything.

And although Clora had been extremely confused and slightly annoyed at Sebastian's stunt with the leaf and his treatment of Duncan, both of those feelings were replaced with guilt as soon as he'd turned and pulled her against him in one quick and desperate motion.

"Damned Duncan," Sebastian hissed with vitriol as he buried his face in Clora's hair and nuzzled her. "Yet another reason to despise him."

"Damned Duncan," Clora couldn't help but point out the alliteration, and despite his clearly frayed nerves and worry, Sebastian huffed a quick, strangled laugh as he shook his head.

"...I'm sorry I made you worry," she continued softly. "If I'd known it would take so long, I would have come to the Great Hall to tell you beforehand," Clora insisted softly and apologetically into Sebastian's shoulder, and after giving her one final and tight squeeze for good measure, he pulled back to look at her with a slightly apologetic look of his own.

"No. It's—" Sebastian sighed and tore his eyes from her to look off down the hallway, staring at nothing, before running a disheveled hand through his hair. "I'm the one who should apologize, since I'm well aware that this is my problem. Though when it comes to you, I still can't help but—"

"I know," Clora assured, stepping closer to Sebastian to wrap her arms around him and burrow into his chest once again.

Because they both knew what Sebastian was worried about, even without him saying as much. It was just like before, when she'd fallen asleep in her Bedroom of Requirement before Sebastian had learned of it—when she'd overslept and he hadn't known where she was nearly all morning. And just like then, he'd been worried she may have left the grounds.

And back then, Sebastian had asked Clora to reassure him that she would never do such a thing without telling him. And she'd agreed.

But that was back then, and although Clora felt awful for worrying him in the same way, and that she couldn't stay true to her prior words—especially now that his worry was indeed justified—Clora found she could no longer comfort him the way she had before.

Perhaps it was silly of her, seeing as she would figuratively and literally be going behind Sebastian's back very soon, but Clora nonetheless found she still couldn't bring herself to lie so brazenly to his face. Especially not as she comforted him, and felt his heart hammering in his chest against her own, and felt his arms wrap around her tightly once again, his relief from seeing her still here and within the grounds almost palpable.

Sebastian, for his part, didn't ask her to reassure him this time around, either. Perhaps on purpose. Perhaps he was scared of what he'd hear, whether it be her affirming his fears, or hearing her lie to him.

So instead all Clora did and could do was hug Sebastian and soothe him with her presence—for now.

"Let me in your room tonight," Sebastian proposed quietly and suddenly, still keeping Clora in a tight hug as he muttered his request into her hair.

Clora pulled away slightly to look up at him in surprise.

"My room? Not the Room of Requirement?" she verified uncertainly, as if hoping to be proven wrong. It was hard to say no to any request of his at the moment due to her guilt and desire to comfort him, but still. There was a limit to that, and so she could really only shake her head regretfully. "Sebastian..."

"Not for anything untoward," he clarified with a hint of amusement, his earlier anxiety and worry slowly but surely easing as he smirked at Clora's misunderstanding, amused that, for once, it was her mind that had gone someplace dirty first. "I promise. I simply mean to check on something."

Which was true.

Though if something extra were to happen while Sebastian visited her room, he certainly wouldn't complain about that, either.

*******

Clora sat on her bed and watched Sebastian as he walked this way and that, surprised that he seemingly hadn't come up to her room for any untoward reasons, after all.

What exactly those non-untoward reasons were, however, she still wasn't quite sure.

He had his wand out as he looked around and walked the entire length of the room and back, and then stood in front of the door, stopping to look up at the ceiling then. It was so amusing to watch him futz about, that Clora forgot she even wanted to ask Sebastian what on earth he was doing to begin with.

She'd brought him to her common room after dinner, which had been easy enough, really. Getting him past the knights was another ordeal entirely, though. Not because Sebastian had any troubles with them, but because unlike the last time when he'd come to her room during class, the common room was now rather full due to it being the evening, which meant he would have quite the audience when he trespassed once again.

And Clora was sure that if she'd only just asked, then the other girls on the floor would be alright with Sebastian dropping by quickly—perhaps if she told them he was only there to borrow notes or some such. But it wasn't the denial or refusal of permission that kept Clora from asking. It was the sheer embarrassment of it.

Because if she'd assumed that Sebastian had wanted to do something lewd during his visit to her room, then no matter what she ended up telling the other girls, it was clear that they would also think much the same, as well.

Not to mention they were in the Ravenclaw common room, and so asking to sneak a boy into the girls' area was even more unheard of than it might be in the common rooms of other houses, seeing as Ravenclaws, on average, definitely had less couples and less experience with romance than their peers.

So Clora had instructed Sebastian to cast the Disillusionment Charm before entering her common room, and from there he'd had no trouble sneaking by the knights the same way he'd done the first time. And once in her room, Clora had wasted no time in hastily shutting the door closed and locking it behind them, grateful that her roommates were currently elsewhere.

Though that still begged the question of what was happening here.

"Sebastian," Clora finally piped up after watching him long enough, her voice coloured with both curiosity and near-laughter. "What are you doing?"

"Inspecting." He answered promptly and slightly distractedly as he muttered under his breath, and then Clora finally did laugh, because that much had certainly already been obvious.

"Yes, I gathered as much," she agreed, letting out the rest of her leftover amusement with a blow of air. "I was more interested in why?"

Sebastian looked as though he'd been about to answer her, but instead he turned his head suddenly to stare at the window next to Clora's bed, grimacing at it as though it had instigated a fight with him as he approached.

"This is why," he claimed, apparently opting to show instead of tell as he waved his wand, and for a brief moment, the air in front of Clora's window distorted and rippled before it once again looked as though nothing was ever there. "The wards around the castle are mostly broad protection and anti-apparition. Meaning they leave quite a lot to be desired in terms of personal protection."

Clora scooted out of her bed, suddenly all Ravenclaw as she made her way next to Sebastian and peered at her window alongside him. "A protection charm?" she surmised, before turning to look at him. "And nonverbally?"

Sebastian huffed out a laugh. "With Anne sick and those goblins so close to Feldcroft, I've cast enough of them that I expect I could do so in my sleep, let alone silently," he informed her both easily and a touch smugly, reaching forward to pull one of the panes open for demonstration. "You can still open the window, but an alarm will scream out if anything passes in or out—excluding your owls and pets, thanks to an adjustment of my own."

Sebastian stopped then, his own words triggering a thought as he turned to Clora with a firm and somewhat accusatory look. "And only your pets being allowed past means that you can't go absconding out the window, either. Not unless you'd like to make the ears of all your fellow Ravenclaws bleed, that is."

Clora rolled her eyes. "Oh, drat. I suppose my days of jumping out my bedroom window are over," she lamented sarcastically and with mock disappointment, though she quickly ended up smiling and exhaling a small laugh under her breath.

Sebastian expelled a forced and quick laugh of his own at Clora's teasing, but his heart wasn't in it. Because he hadn't said that as a joke—he truly was worried about her leaving out of her window, or anything else along those lines. The truth was that the wards Sebastian was currently setting up were to keep Clora safe from external threats just as much as they were to keep her safe from internal ones—namely, herself.

After all, if Sebastian couldn't lock her in a tower of his own, he supposed the next best thing he could do was to fortify and foolproof the one she already resided in.

Clora had resumed sitting on her bed as she watched Sebastian with affection, due to how diligently he was examining every corner of her room as he occasionally muttered incantations under his breath, making sure to give the most attention to the windows and door.

She crossed her legs and leaned forward on her elbows as she did so, going over all of his previous and current actions in her mind's eye. It was hard to be precise and to know when he was even casting, however, due to the fact that Sebastian could lay down certain charms nonverbally, and without much wand movement.

"How many are you putting?" Clora eventually asked, trying to count what she thought were casts in her head. She supposed she could just check herself by using a detection charm, but it was more fun this way, and gave her something to do as she waited.

Sebastian was quiet for long enough that Clora thought he hadn't heard her and she'd almost repeated her question, though he finally did answer.

"Just a few."

Clora hummed in thought. "Give me a hint, at least. Is it closer to ten, or twenty?"

Sebastian pretended to think as he remained quiet for yet another long and prolonged moment, moving to another section of the room.

"Closer to twenty," he eventually settled on. "Nothing too extreme, mind you. Just enough to ease my mind at night."

Clora nodded as she suppressed a smile, coming to the conclusion that Sebastian's 'closer to twenty' most likely meant actually twenty. And while that amount did, despite his words, seem slightly extreme to her for the size of the room she currently occupied, Clora didn't say anything.

Though for how thorough and meticulous Sebastian was being, he was also still quick and efficient. And so by the time he'd deemed himself finished and satisfied, not even fifteen minutes had passed before he was nodding and backing out of Clora's room, stepping into the hallway outside her door.

"Last one," Sebastian announced, holding up his wand and murmuring something that started with 'Repello', though Clora couldn't quite make out the rest of the spell.

And before she could ask what the full incantation was or what it did, Sebastian ended up showing her instead as he swiftly attempted to step through the threshold of her room once more. Except instead of easily and normally passing through like he had every time prior, Sebastian was now seemingly met with an invisible wall as he staggered and recoiled back, looking as though someone had just pushed him. It sent him back far enough that he thudded against the wall behind him, and Clora shot up in alarm as she went to go run out of her room to check on him.

"Are you alright?" Clora looked him over in confusion once she'd made her way to his side, before looking back to the doorway that she'd just easily passed through—unlike him. "What was that? Did you do that?"

"I did—and to answer your question, it's a charm that repels only men," Sebastian proclaimed with satisfaction amidst Clora's look of continued confusion and disbelief. "Men other than me, I should say. I only included myself for a moment, just to ensure that it's working properly—though with how easily I snuck up here, this charm should already be in place within the girls' dorms to begin with, if you ask me." He paused in realization after he'd said so, straightening up. "I should make sure Anne knows this."

Clora laughed. "You may end up regretting that decision, since I'm sure she'll be all too eager to test it out on you. And many times, at that."

"Fair point," Sebastian agreed as he thought. "Then I'll save it for our next birthday. My gift will be both the charm, and the resulting torment I'll be suffering through at her hands."

He held up his wand then, repeating the incantation once again but this time adding his own name and a few extra words. And then, he stepped through the doorway easily once more, turning to look at Clora with raised eyebrows and a self-satisfied smile.

Clora remained in the hall, crossing her arms and looking at him from where he stood in her room. "I can't help but feel as though you've rendered that charm completely useless by giving yourself access," she pointed out knowingly, an amused smile playing at her lips. "Seeing as you're the one who's most likely to sneak into my room at night to do untoward things—In fact, perhaps the only man it should repel is you."

Sebastian barked a sharp laugh as he left her bedroom to meet her in the hall. "True enough," he murmured, stepping forward until Clora's back was against the wall. "Though I needn't sneak into your room and past any charms in order to do untoward things with you. As I'll demonstrate."

Though before Sebastian could, and before he could press her against the wall any harder or bring his mouth any closer, Clora quickly slid to the side to escape his brazen affections.

"Sebastian. We're still in the girl's dorms, in case you've forgotten. And you're out of my room and in plain sight," Clora accused quietly, leaning to peek both ways down the hall and up and down the stairs to make sure all of the nearby bedroom doors were closed. "Now that you've finished, re-cloak and let's go."

Clora wanted Sebastian to stay hidden with the Disillusionment Charm and to not be seen sneaking in or out of the girls' dorms due to what people might think. But for Sebastian, his main motivator in staying hidden was so that any male Ravenclaws weren't able to see him and follow by his example, especially after seeing how easily it could be done. Because while he may have warded Clora's room against men that weren't himself, that didn't mean Sebastian was exactly keen on putting it to the test.

Sebastian shed the Disillusionment Charm once they were safely out of the common room and back in the hallway, and as he became visible again and looked down at Clora, he found her smiling up at him rather coyly.

"If I'm being honest, I hadn't really believed you when you claimed that you had nothing untoward planned," she admitted, and Sebastian raised a challenging eyebrow at her in response.

"Actually, I'd say I technically did plan something rather untoward," he corrected her matter-of-factly, which made Clora raise her own eyebrow right back at him. "Unto-ward. Because I was setting up wards."

An audible snort escaped Clora at the awful joke—if it could even be called that—and she shook her head and laughed, lifting her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle and suppress her mirth, so that she could roll her eyes at his comment.

Undeterred, Sebastian chuckled under his breath as he reached for Clora, wrapping his arms around her waist to scoop her into his hold and pull her close. "Come on, that was a good one. Besides, you can't hide that smile from me."

"I'm only laughing because it was so ridiculously un-funny," Clora defended with yet another laugh. Though, again, her denial clearly didn't matter to Sebastian as he tilted his head and shrugged his shoulder.

"Whatever caused it, hearing you laugh is a win for me regardless," Sebastian dipped forward as his voice lowered to match, his lips brushing against her hair as he muttered softly. "But if you happen to be disappointed that I didn't do anything truly untoward, I'd be more than happy to—"

"Oh—Clora," Samantha Dale greeted as she approached to make her way to the Ravenclaw common room, looking to Sebastian in afterthought. "And Sebastian. Am I...interrupting something?"

"Yes—"

"No," Clora said louder than she normally would, in order to cover up Sebastian's blunt answer. "I was just saying my goodbyes to Sebastian for the night. If you're heading in now, then I'll join you."

Samantha amicably agreed, and for all of their sakes, she pretended she hadn't just stumbled upon the scene of Sebastian preparing to ravenously snog Clora in the hallway.

Clora had given Sebastian a parting hug instead, his opinion on the matter very obvious from his annoyed and dour facial expression alone, and it wasn't long before both Samantha and Clora were watching him disappear down the hall, waving to his back as he left.

And as they continued waving and watched him disappear, Samantha's eyes slid over to Clora beside her.

"...Sebastian doesn't like me very much, does he?"

Clora had to cough to cover her surprised laugh, though she couldn't quite hide her amusement at the observation as she shook her head and raised her hands in defense of Sebastian.

"It's nothing against you personally, I promise," Clora insisted, struggling on what to say due to the fact that there was no tactful way to inform Samantha of why Sebastian was truly annoyed, and so she quickly turned on her heel to change the subject instead. "Let's head inside."

Samantha thankfully didn't press the issue as they returned to their common room and then to the girl's dorms, talking about their homework for the night and future study groups and O.W.L.s. Though as Clora finally stepped over the threshold to their room and made her way further inside, she realized Samantha was no longer following her.

"Samantha?" Clora's eyebrows knit in confusion as she turned and saw the other Ravenclaw standing outside their door, looking just as confused and disgruntled as Clora was as she dug for her wand. "What's the matter?"

Instead of replying to Clora's question, Samantha held out her wand as the tip began to glow and pulse like a sensor as she moved it through the air in front of the door, looking more and more confused the longer she continued.

Equally confused, Clora simply watched on and quietly observed before Samantha finally lowered her wand to drag her eyes over to Clora's, meeting her gaze with a look that was certainly still confused, but now had an additional tinge of accusation.

"Clora..." she began slowly and patiently, taking one last look around the door and their room as her eyes flickered about. "Would you happen to know why our room is covered in wards, and denying me entry?"

"They're not letting you in?" Clora rushed towards Samantha then, looking all around as if she'd be able to see them with the naked eye, subsequently realizing she'd never actually brought out her wand to look at them herself once they'd been put into place. "I...actually let Sebastian up to our room when he was here with me earlier. But it was just to place a few wards, as you can see—nothing else."

"Oh I can see, alright. And there's definitely more than just a few," Samantha rebutted with a sharp exhale of laughter as she placed her hands on her hips, sounding both annoyed and impressed. "Try fifty."

*******

Sebastian had returned to the Ravenclaw common room shortly after, in order to fix his very obvious error and oversight:

That Clora's room wasn't just her room.

Samantha had accompanied the both of them the second time around as Sebastian re-donned the Disillusionment Charm and made his way to their room to adjust his wards. And the entire time, he couldn't help but be slightly amused at the whole ordeal.

Because it was satisfying, in a petty sort of way. That after Samantha had interrupted his time with Clora again and again and on more than one occasion—with one of those occasions being her coming into that very room unannounced, and unknowingly breaking them up—it almost felt like a form of justice to forcefully keep her out this time, barring her from entry. No matter how briefly it may have been for.

In fact, Sebastian wouldn't have been surprised if his wards only kept Samantha out rather than all of Clora's roommates, albeit unconsciously. Perhaps he'd unwittingly channelled those sorts of feelings—feelings of wanting to keep Samantha out of his way—into the protective charms of her very own bedroom.

Either way it hadn't taken Sebastian long to finish his adjustments, and he naturally hadn't minded returning and seeing Clora once again as he did so.

Until she confronted him about the specific number of wards he'd put down to begin with.

"Fifty? Really? You told me that it wasn't too extreme a number," Clora accused.

"And I stand by that," Sebastian countered. "No measure is too extreme in regards to your safety."

"You also said the number was close to twenty," she reminded after a pause.

"I said closer to twenty," he corrected. "And fifty is closer to twenty than it is to ten, last I checked."

At that, and at all of his successful deflections, Clora had merely opted to stare at him with a pouty sort of scowl. It wasn't the first time Sebastian had lied by omission or by some sort of loophole in his phrasing, and he suspected it wouldn't be the last.

Sebastian also suspected that Clora suspected this too, hence the scowl. Though she wasn't mad—not truly. It was the same look she gave him whenever he'd tease her, and although she acted put-upon, he knew she liked it—or at the very least appreciated it—especially when it was something he was doing for her sake.

And his suspicion that Clora appreciated his care for her safety was proven to Sebastian as she led him out of her common room once more, sending him off properly the second time around with a kiss, wrapping her arms tightly around him and grabbing him as if she never wanted to let go, despite how it was supposed to be a parting kiss.

Because Clora didn't want to let go, and everything Sebastian was doing just made the inevitability of what she was preparing to do harder and harder. From warding her room against threats, to worrying she may have been captured when he didn't see her for prolonged periods of time.

All of it continued to stack higher and higher until Clora was practically crushed under the weight of her guilt, and so she was both looking forward to the day she would finally carry out her plan, and yet still also dreading it.

But Clora did her best to push those thoughts and her guilt aside as best as she could, opting to drown herself in Sebastian and his presence instead as she held him tighter and pulled him closer.

*******

"Everything is in place," Fig informed Clora one day as she stepped into his office during Magical Theory class.

She was thankful that her class with Professor Fig was separate from Sebastian's, because he no doubt would have been suspicious as to why her and Professor Fig in particular were speaking in his office alone.

Not only that, but speaking to the professor alone and during class time also meant that Clora didn't have to risk a repeat of what happened when she went off to help Duncan—disappearing after class for an unspecified amount of time, only for Sebastian to worry and wonder at where she was, if not for in class.