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

Sebastian's POV//

She thinks I can't tell that something's the matter. I know I haven't technically known her for very long, but I know enough to know at least something is going on for the short time I have spent around her. 

It's the way her eyes glaze over in class- she doesn't even take notes anymore, and she's always lost on the homework and can hardly do it by herself. I want to remind her that we have our N.E.W.T.s coming up, but I don't want to add another stressful thing to the pile of whatever she has going on. 

I know that everything with me has been stressing her out, and even though I've been trying to ease into things, I know it's been hard for the both of us. I have all of these feelings toward her that I'm not quite sure I understand yet. I know for a fact she feels that way too. Honestly, I'm boggled and not sure how to proceed. I'm sure there was a time when she would have no reservations about telling me what the matter was. I want her to know she can trust me, but I don't want to force anything. 

Y/n is like a knot in my stomach. I always feel her there; the closer I get to her, the more I ache. It was like a disease inside me, spreading, causing me so much pain, and the only thing that would cure me was having her close to me. She was my cure, and what happened between us kept us apart. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't take not knowing everything, though I knew it had to be more challenging. 

While I was getting to know someone all over again, like having a crush, she was burning for someone who used to be her closest friend. I was ripped away from her in a matter of seconds, and I think we both knew that there was no way we'd be able to return to the way things were. We would have to build ourselves out of the wreckage of what used to be. 

"What are you stewing over?" Ominis suddenly said, raising me from my stupor. We were in the Undercroft, working on some of our schoolwork. Y/n said she would be coming down, but it's been a while, so we weren't sure if she was joining us, which I was bummed about. 

"Just doing my schoolwork," I told him. 

"You've been silently staring at a blank piece of parchment for half an hour," he stated, turning the page in his book. 

"And how do you know it's blank?"

"Well, you haven't written anything on it- if there is something written there, I can't imagine it's interesting enough that it's taken you thirty minutes to read it over."

I rolled my eyes, removed the parchment, and pulled out a different book. He wasn't wrong; I hadn't gotten anything done. 

"Can I ask you something?" I said to Ominis. 

"Do I have a choice?" He closed his book in his lap.

"Have you talked to y/n recently? Do you know if she's doing okay?"

"She seems as fine, at least as fine as she can be," he stated. "Of course, it's her you're thinking about. It reminds me of our fifth year when you had a crush on her, and you wouldn't stop talking about her."

I scrunched up my nose at his words. Was I that smitten with her, even back then?

"I think she's hiding something," I stated, changing the subject. 

"What might that be?" 

"That's just the thing; I'm not sure."

Ominis's POV//

After leaving the Undercroft, I thought over what Sebastian had told me. Hiding things wasn't new for y/n, but knowing what had happened not too long ago, it might be worth discovering her secret. 

I was tired of seeing y/n, and Sebastian get themselves into trouble. It might be worth it to intervene before it gets too late. 

I let out a sigh and headed toward the common room. I held my wand before me and navigated the familiar walk through the halls and down the stairs. When I reached the commons, I couldn't find y/n. I didn't think she'd be out there. She never really hangs out in the main section unless there's nobody else out here. She could be in her room, but I thought it might be a bit weird if I visited her there. That's not something I'd typically do. But desperate times can call for desperate measures. 

Knowing her, I don't think she would've given up on trying to stop that evil man just because she was told to. I know she'd been confined to the castle walls as the rest of us have, but Sebastian and I knew better than anyone that she was good at sneaking around. I don't know how she did it in our fifth year; it seemed she was never within the castle, no matter the time of day or night. She missed classes but always made p the work, so the teachers weren't concerned. She never got caught sneaking around at night, either. She could be hiding something from even Sebastian and me, just like he suggested she might be. I know she did more in her fifth year than she told him and me about. 

I paused in the commons, wondering how to proceed. I was never good at prodding and getting information out of people without it being obvious, so I couldn't just go in there and start asking her questions. She'd know I was up to something. If anything, she'd tell Sebastian before she told me, but I don't know if that's the case anymore. I know she wants to keep him safe more than anything. 

I just don't want to see her get hurt over something we could've helped with. I know it's not like her to stop trying to fight. I know she has to be. That has to be what she's hiding. Maybe I should just let her know that we're there for her. 

But then again, I don't know that she'd tell us, even then. Knowing what she's up to could put us in danger, and she knows that. 

I finally decided to see her. I couldn't wait. I needed to confront her. What she did was stupid and dangerous if she tried to solve this issue alone. 

I knocked on the door to her dorm and didn't hear anything. I pressed my ear against the wood and listened intently. There were no sounds from inside, so I assumed the room was empty. Hesitantly, I put my hand on the doorknob and twisted it. Pushing the door open, I held out my wand and gave the room a once over, realizing it was empty. I let out a sigh and debated going in for a moment. 

If I got caught, it could be bad. I didn't want her to think I was trying to go behind her back. But maybe she was hiding more letters. Perhaps I could find something to tell me what she's been up to. 

I pressed on and entered the room, gently closing the door behind me. I made my way over to her bed and ran my hand along the edge of the sheets until I reached her pillow. I pushed my hand underneath and found nothing. I then went to her bedside table and opened the top drawer. Nothing odd was to be found in there either, so I moved on to the second drawer. I found a stack of envelopes and used my wand to read the outsides. I flipped through them and found nothing odd, so I moved on to the last drawer. There was a single book in there with something shoved between the pages. I picked up the book from the drawer, and a letter fell to the floor at my feet. I picked it up, carefully slipping its contents out into my hand. I heard movement outside the door and froze. A wave of panic washed over me as I listened to a group of girls chatting, but they walked right by y/n's door. 

I sucked in a breath and calmed myself before looking over the envelope's contents. I held my wand out over the parchment, eyes wide at what I saw. 

Was she still meeting with him?

The door to the room was suddenly yanked open, and I quickly tried to stuff the parchment back in the envelope, but it was too late. 

"What are you doing in my room?" it was y/n. 

"I, uh..." I wasn't sure what to say. I'd been caught in the act; there was no way to deny it.