After All This Time// Sebastian Sallow x Reader Hogwarts Legacy Fanfiction

I slept well into the afternoon, waking up feeling groggy as hell. My head was pounding, and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. I couldn't though- I couldn't just take more sleeping medicine, and I didn't want to face my dreams either. 

Nerida and Imelda were nowhere to be seen. Knowing Imelda, she was probably out practicing for the upcoming quidditch game. I should probably be out there, but there's no way I'd be able to perform well right now. My hands were shaking nonstop, which was probably my least favorite side effect of the medication. 

Last year, I'd tried every other method of sleeping better that I could, from crazy potions and meditation, all the way to different herbology methods. Nothing worked. So for now, it was me and those pills against the world. 

The lights were still out in the room, so I got them going. I groaned and stretched, then pulled a robe over my body. I looked down at my shaking hands, eyeing the ring on my finger. 

Why would you buy a girl a ring if you didn't even like her at all? 

I let out a sigh, eager to chase those thoughts away. As I slowly became more awake, the memories of last night poured over me like a waterfall. 

There were good parts last night, even though it ended so terribly. The whole day, I'd been happier than I had been in a long time. It felt like everything was finally starting to go my way. But all of that was ruined now, because of one thing I'd said while I was drunk. 

I wonder if none of that would have happened if I'd only lied to him. I didn't want to lie to him, but I also couldn't keep letting my emotions get the best of me like that. Even though that stupid boy ruined my Birthday, I didn't want to let it show. I'd already cried in front of dozens of people last night, and I couldn't let that happen again. 

How is it that I went through so much my fifth year, did so many great things, but all I've been reduced to because of it is a mess of emotions and guilt? I was never this emotional and weak. I never let these things get the best of me. But right now, I couldn't find the will to do anything. 

I stood beside my bed, staring blankly into the walls of the room. I wonder what Ominis would think of all this. Did this mean he wouldn't want to be my friend now either?

We hadn't been as close as we were our fifth year during the time Sebastian and I had stopped talking. But recently, it felt as if we were returning to some state of normalcy; I'd hate for that to be ruined over this as well. But Ominis was Sebastian's best friend and if it came down to it, I know he wouldn't choose me. 

This felt like a tight spot to be in for me right now. I was supposed to be focusing on academics, but it felt impossible at the present moment. The thought of going to class knowing I had most of them with Sebastian was a frightening one. I wasn't sure if I was ready to see his face again just yet. 

Seeing him came quicker than expected though.

The door to my dorm opened a crack, and I heard voices outside the room.

"Sebastian, you can't go in there!" I heard Imelda grumble. "Just get out of here and go away."

"Step aside, Imelda," I heard him say.

"She doesn't want to see you," she bit back. I heard Imelda grunt, and suddenly the door finished swinging open. Sebastian was standing in the doorway. 

I couldn't move, nor could I speak. What else did he have to say to me? He made it pretty clear he never wanted to see me again last night. 

"I want my ring back," he told me, deadpanned. 

I didn't even know what to say, or whether I should say anything at all. I could see Imelda giving him a dirty look from the hall. 

I looked down at my hand, and at the ring. I started to reach for it, but my hands were shaking so bad that I couldn't even get a grip on it. 

"For heaven's sake, y/n," he grumbled walking toward me. He took my hand in his for probably the last time ever, and removed the ring and slipped it in his pocket. I tried as hard as I could to not let loose the tears I felt building up inside. 

"I'm sorry for what I said, Sebastian," I whispered. I was speaking as loud and clearly as I could in that moment. "I was drunk, Sebastian, I didn't mean it." 

"Well I'm not sorry about it," he finally said. He turned around and left without another word. 

As soon as he left, I fell to the floor on my knees. Did he really have to do that, too? 

Imelda rushed in after he left and helped me up off the floor. My legs didn't seem to want to support my weight, so she helped me to a sitting position on the edge of my bed. I felt a single stray tear slip down my cheek, but I didn't let out a single sound. At this point, I couldn't feel anything at all. My legs? Numb. Hands? Also numb. My heart... numb as well. I felt like I was sinking to the bottom of the ocean; I was weightless, and whatever Imelda was trying to say to me was covered up by the pounding of my heart in my ears.

"Y/n," I thought I heard her say. "Y/n, are you listening to me right now?" 

I looked into her eyes with a blank expression. "Are you going to tell me what happened? Why would he treat you like that?"

"I'm still not a hundred percent sure I deserved it, either," I finally told her after a few seconds of silence. 

"Did he say something to you last night? You went to bed awfully early, and Poppy was being awfully cryptic about it."

"he asked me how I felt about him, Imelda," I admitted. "I told him how I felt. Told him I liked him as more than a friend."

"That's it?" Imelda exclaimed with a look of confusion on her face. "What else did he say to you?"

"That he didn't feel the same way, and that it would be best if we ended our friendship," I choked. After experiencing this, I was starting to realize that my feelings for him were more intense than I thought. 

I thought back to the way it felt when he would grip my hand, or the single hug we shared in the Undercroft. Every moment with him added kindling to the fire of feelings I had toward him. But he extinguished whatever flame we had with a bucket of ice water last night. 

"Are you sure that's all that happened?" she questioned further. I nodded in response. 

"I don't know, y/n, that doesn't sound right. We all thought he was crazy about you from day one."