A Walk in the Light | Sebastian Sallow

4. Lars

            That night, Anne, Ominis, and I sit in the backyard with a bottle of mead and talk about our day after dinner when Dad retreats to bed. His new job at Gringotts as Head Curse-Breaker requires him to be out of the house most days before dawn. The trek into London for him is relatively short thanks to the Floo at the end of our street, but he needs to be present for the distribution of cases for the day and to check in with active cases as well. Fortunately, he is no longer required to break any curses.

I awake in the morning to the soft creak of my window and beating of wings. Archimedes. I bolt upright in bed and catch the letter as he drops it into my lap.

My love,

While I hope it pales in comparison to the lifetime of stories we've made in less than a year, I can't wait to hear it. I'll be honest—I'd never considered professional athletics as a career, but just one day of training has me reconsidering. I think I'd quite like it. Tough competition to make the starting lineup, but I'll persevere. I won't have you traveling all the way to the matches for nothing.

I can't wait to see you this weekend. Some of the guys are getting together at the Three Broomsticks with their partners on Friday night. Perhaps I could persuade you to pay me a visit a day early? I'd love for you to meet Callum's girlfriend and a few other wives. Absolutely bonkers that some of my teammates are married while I'm yet to graduate.

Let me know what Theo says about Friday.

Yours eternally,

Seb

Waking to his letter immediately starts my day off better. Without conferring with dad, I quickly pen back that I'll see him Friday night and will write him about my day of work come the evening. After yesterday's exciting close, I'm apprehensive for today, but it's blissfully mundane. Apparently, Tuesdays are slow and dull. I spend much of the day alphabetizing some of the shelves that had become disorganized over time. Lars doesn't come to exchange his book. There are so few customers that Mr. Briggsly decides to close the shop a bit early. It's still warm and bright outside when I arrive home. Ominis lounges on a bench in the backyard, his wand tracing the pages of a book. Anne is home already as well and hanging her laundry to dry.

"You'll never guess what I heard from the children today," Anne calls to me as she spots me through the open doors. I join the two on the patio, taking a seat beside Ominis on the bench.

"Pray tell."

"Keiran, the eldest boy, tells me you're betrothed." There's a hint of amusement to her voice that causes Ominis to snap his book shut.

"Betrothed? The scandal!" he playfully gasps. "Tell me more."

"Word on the street is our Allie here is apparently betrothed to Lars Becken." I let out a groan and slide down the bench until I find myself sprawled on the warm brick patio. "Someone simply must break the news to Sebastian."

"Sebastian was actually quite fond of him," I comment.

"Probably because of his affinity for all things forbidden," Ominis chides. "Did he return your owl? How is he? How did he take the news about Lars?"

"I woke up to it this morning. Figured that was a conversation best had in person, but he's loving training. He said that he's reconsidering it as a career after school and that I'm invited to a get-together with the team on Friday night. So, I'll be heading into Hogsmeade a bit earlier than anticipated."

"And where will you stay? With Fastidio?" There's amusement in his voice at the thought of Sebastian and I trying to hunker down in the back room of Vespers and Venum while Fastidio terrorizes the store. Honestly, the thought is quite entertaining.