In the Shadow of Darkness | Sebastian Sallow

Centaurs

Elek shook his head. "We have seen no poachers or suspicious activity recently...aside from the behavior." His head jerked right suddenly, ears moving in the direction of a sound that I couldn't hear.

He glanced back and to his right, giving a signal to an unseen member of his herd. A few seconds later, a chestnut centaur emerged from the shadows with a robed figure clutched to his side. The figure was squirming and grunting, clearly upset with the fact that they were being suspended some feet above the ground.

"Ah, please! Please let me go!"

I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Sebastian?!"

Anger flared in Elek's eyes as the chestnut centaur unceremoniously dropped Sebastian to the ground beside Poppy. "This boy believed he could sneak up on us."

"No, no. I wasn't trying to..." he trailed off, trying to catch his breath. "I—I'm with them.

Poppy pursed her lips in frustration, but ignored Sebastian other than that. "I beg your forgiveness, Elek. We believed we were alone tonight."

"When a member of your own will choose to hide his existence from you, it does not speak highly of wizardkind," Elek told us simply. "We are done here."

He signaled the others and the herd began to move off, save for Dorran, who cautiously moved closer. He eyed Sebastian. "Little boys who do not listen will suffer the consequences."

The Slytherin looked at the ground but said nothing.

"I'm very sorry, Dorran. We truly thought we were not followed here," I apologized, stepping toward him.

Dorran considered the three of us for a moment. "Was the centaur a young one?"

"I'm not sure."

He looked behind before continuing. "We found one of our colts wandering and dazed a few weeks ago. He had been missing for two days, and when asked where he'd been, he could only remember a cave. I do not know more."

"Thank you, Dorran," Poppy said with another head bow.

"I must leave you. Return to your castle. It is too dangerous here for you this time of night." He had disappeared into the cover of darkness before he finished speaking.

Poppy rounded on Sebastian, shoving him hard. "You idiot!"

Sebastian stumbled into one of the standing stones, shock evident on his face. "I was just—"

"You don't get an excuse, Sebastian Sallow! Centaurs do not tolerate stupid games, especially from strangers!" she shouted, shaking her finger at him.

I held up my hands, moving between them. "While Poppy is completely right, we need to remain quiet and get out of here."

Poppy, still fuming, dropped her hands and began walking away. "I'll find my own way out."

"No, Poppy. Don't go," I pleaded with a sound of frustration, but she kept going. I turned to Sebastian, letting a touch of anger show through. "Well, do you want to stay here all night or come along, then?"

He stood from against the rock, looking around and clearly feeling the eeriness of the place creep into his mind. "Let's go."

We kept pace with Poppy, but hung far enough back that her muttering was mostly unintelligible. Occasionally, I would hear words such as "vazey," "blunderbuss," or "git."

"I've never seen her like this," I spoke up quietly.

"Well," he said, sheepish, "that's not to say I don't deserve it."

I let out a breath. "What were you thinking, Sebastian?"

"I...uh. I guess I wasn't?"

I blinked, surprised at his answer. This wasn't the Sebastian I knew.

"I was already at Quidditch practice, so I decided to meet you so we could walk to dinner. Call it a surprise, if you will, but I saw you and Poppy heading away from the castle, so I figured I'd follow you."

"Well," was all I could manage.

"I figured it was some sort of beast the Poppy wanted to show you. I didn't think for a minute you'd be meeting with centaurs." He blushed, combing a hand through his already untidy hair. "I'm sorry."

"Even so, Sebastian, you should have never followed us in the first place," Poppy called from in front of us.

"She's right, you know," I commented a little more tartly than intended.

By the time we reached the Bell Tower courtyard, it was well past dusk. "Nox!" I whispered once the lanterns were close enough to light my way.

We entered the Bell Tower, but instead of continuing further into Hogwarts, Poppy turned around, watching both of us with an exasperated expression. "Thankfully, tonight did not go as bad as it could have. We have more information, as unhelpful as it was."

"There are several caves in the Forbidden Forest—probably more than you could count, actually. All but one or two are all along the western side, though," Sebastian told us.

Poppy shot him a dark look, causing him to avert his gaze to the floor and rub his hands together uncomfortably.

"It's a needle in a haystack," I offered, trying to defuse the situation as best I could.

"Precisely," Poppy agreed. "It's not going to be easy, and with the dangers of the Forbidden Forest, I'm not sure we'll make much headway. I have some research to do," she added with a sigh.

I knew the feeling. How was she supposed to do more research on top of all of the assignments and studying we were already having to do?

"We can work together, maybe? Split up the work," Sebastian suggested.

"Not a bad idea," Poppy said, turning to me. "Can you talk to Natty tonight or tomorrow morning? Between the four of us, maybe we can narrow it down."

I nodded. We started walking again, Poppy already planning how to break up the work. By the time we reached the Central Hall, she had developed an initial plan that we would discuss further during our study session the following day.

Then Poppy did something I hadn't expected. She turned to Sebastian. "You may also include Ominis in this, if you'd like. The more people we have to help, the better, I think."

Sebastian smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow, Poppy."

"Good night," she said to both of us, turning to head toward her common room.

I looked at Sebastian, still slightly miffed at his choice to follow us. On the other hand, this was more like the boy I'd known last school year. "You're very lucky that Poppy and I have a relationship with those centaurs. Things could have gone far worse."

He sighed, beginning the trek toward the Grand Staircase. "For the last time, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

I didn't know if he missed my suspicious look or chose to ignore it, but both of us know that was unlikely.