Out of the Shadows // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Sixty-Seven**

**Warning: This chapter contains mild sexually explicit adult content.**

"You look nice. Let's go! We're going to miss it." Garreth grasped my hand in his and quickly put my fingers to his lips while staring deeply into my eyes with his bright golden ones for the briefest of moments. And then we strode down the hallway together.

"Miss what, exactly?" I asked, full of curiosity. Garreth's other hand held a basket and blanket so I assumed we'd be picnicking, as we hadn't gone to dinner.

I left Sebastian at the Great Hall and went to the dorm to change. Garreth had been waiting for me outside the common room, so I assumed this was the start of our date.

"You'll see. Hurry. The sun is down already, I think." He was practically pulling me through the castle, but it didn't hurt.

"Ok, ok, just don't pull my arm out of the socket." I smiled at him.

We went out of the main entrance of the castle and made an immediate right toward the castle ramparts. There was a small wooden door. He entered quickly and held it open for me so I could follow. Then the ground sloped down inside the rampart to another wooden door.

"Come on." He gestured to the door and I went out. There were two large braziers, their fires burning brightly already as the sun would have been on the opposite side of the castle. They lined a small path that went down and around the south side of the Black Lake. You could see the Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade, and the train station. It was quite a view.

"Wow. Garreth. How did you find this entrance to the grounds? What a view..."

"Accidentally, actually. Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" We stood for just a moment in the warmish air of the spring evening.

"Come on. If I'm right, we'll have an even better view soon." He cheekily smiled at me and grasped my hand once more.

We trekked down the path, sloping slightly downwards for a bit, around a bridge that we didn't take as we snaked along the little river that spilled into the Black Lake. There were little pools of water, like small ponds that all fed into the lake. The grass was damp and the air felt a little swampy but not hot. It was too early in the year for that. I assumed being in the shadow of the castle, this area always felt moist. We were almost directly under the castle, going alongside it.

"We're almost there. It's just up there. Do you see it?" Garreth exclaimed excitedly.

"See what?" I tried looking around him. There seemed to be a small meadow of sorts just ahead, right on the edge before the large lake took over the entire landscape. It was the last piece of land before it was all water.

"That meadow?" I asked. He just grinned in answer.

We approached slowly and I looked around. It was truly beautiful. And peaceful. I could hear small frogs and insects making their soft evening noises. And it was getting dark quickly, the lights from the castle windows the only light shining down on us.

"Wow." I said, softly, approaching a cluster of blue flowers. "Agapanthus. They're beautiful." I leaned over to smell them. Their fragrance was light and spring-like.

"I'm just lucky we've had an unnaturally sunny spring or this area wouldn't even be bloomed yet." He said a little in awe. "What else do you see?"

"Um, Yarrow. Lots of it. All assorted colors. It's... truly a wonder. What a lovely place." I looked around and inhaled the smell of the flowers deeply. There were other flowers mixed in too. Small white ones that looked like closed lilies in a way. I didn't pay them too much attention as they hadn't bloomed yet. I was feeling my body relax and my stress relieve. Garreth was truly too good to me.