Out of the Shadows // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Forty

The rest of our last weekend in Hogsmeade was nothing short of picturesque. Sebastian helped me buy our new robes for Durmstrang and plenty of fur coats, hats and warm leather gloves that would do for working as well.

We had such a nice dinner with Omi and Anne. They were so cute flirting with each other. It seemed they had moved on from their awkward start and something was really happening between them. Their history together must have reawakened the flames of their attraction. I was so happy for them.

And I spent the evening curled in Seb's lap, while he read me to sleep in the chair in front of the fire. It was like a glimpse into what our future could look like. I felt so safe and happy in his arms. And he seemed genuinely happy to have me there with him in his home in Hogsmeade.

I don't remember getting into bed. I suspect that Seb carried me. But when I awoke with my favorite morning rays streaming through the window and his warm arms squeezing me to his chest, I knew this was my own slice of heaven. Right here, in this moment. It was the perfect way to start our new journey.

As we packed our belongings and headed back to the common room to get the rest of our things and our trunks, I started to feel nervous.

"I'll be waiting down here for you in about an hour and we'll head to the courtyard, ok, love?" He laid a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Ok. See you then." I squeezed his hand and headed to my room to finish packing and say goodbye to Imelda.

"Mels? You in here?" I asked as I entered and shut the door.

She sighed. "Yes. Sulking into my Charms homework."

"MELS! Don't sulk. You're too pretty for a sour face." I teased her.

"I'm just going to really miss Quidditch this term. Oh, yeah. And you guys are leaving." She added at the end.

I burst out laughing.

"What?! Why is my anguish so funny to you?" She asked rhetorically, obviously. She MUST know how ludicrously funny that sounds. "It's bad enough all my closest friends are leaving for three months but then on top of it, no Quidditch to take my mind off of it."

"Well, I suspected you would feel this way. So, I have a surprise for you. Albie Weakes has a colleague in from Italy helping him reorganize his inventory. Now, I know you two have had your differences... but Albie's colleague has some new brooms and would like to advertise but he doesn't really know their capabilities. He wants to run time trials. I volunteered you to help. And it's the colleague you'll work with, not Albie. If you're interested, you can show up and run some trials with him on the latest new models and compile statistics. What do you think?"

At first, she gave no reaction. And then her eyes lit up and a big smile spread over her face. "Oh, Rachel! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll at least have SOMETHING to occupy me. Oh, I have so many things to do to prepare!" She started rummaging through papers on her desk. I smiled to myself, knowing I'd brought her some solace.

--

I closed my trunk and locked it. "Well, that's it, I guess." I sighed. I turned to Imelda, and she was just staring at me.

"I don't know what to say... last time you... had to leave, I didn't get to say goodbye. And... I really missed you. So, maybe I shouldn't say goodbye this time either. Because you came back. So... I'll just say, I'll see you."

I grinned at her. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you, Mels."

We stared at each other for a few short seconds and then we were both closing the space between us and throwing our arms around each other. I was telling myself not to cry in my head over and over.