DOUBLE TROUBLE (Sebastian Sallow x F!MC)

three: right where you left me

— I can't follow your advice — Sebastian replied after a long moment of silence — I don't deserve her.

— That's true, you don't deserve her. But that doesn't mean you can't try to make things right.

That night, Sebastian Sallow couldn't sleep at all. He tossed and turned under the covers, unable to fall asleep due to the myriad thoughts that kept troubling his mind. He missed Daisy terribly and he hated enduring her relationship with that Weasley idiot. He couldn't even fathom what she saw in him: first of all, from his perspective, a Gryffindor boy could never handle a Slytherin girl the way a Slytherin boy could, it was simply impossible, especially when it came to Daisy Rosier, the most stubborn and proud woman he had ever met. Moreover, he knew Daisy better than anyone else and was well aware of how much she needed intellectual stimulation; she loved literature, and he was almost certain he had never seen Garreth open a book in his life.

The next morning, Sebastian prepared for his first seventh-year class: Advanced Potions with Professor Sharp. He decided to skip breakfast, not feeling particularly comfortable showing his face in the Great Hall after the scene Daisy and him had caused in the Common Room. Slytherins were known for keeping to themselves and not indulging in meaningless gossip, but their relationship had always been an exception, mainly due to the pride that the Hero and the Best Duelist of Hogwarts brought to their house.

Sebastian quickly took his seat, slightly late compared to the students who had arrived a few minutes earlier but early enough to notice that Sharp was nowhere in sight. The moment he decided to pick up his copy of Dostoyevsky again to read the last few pages — he had read that book several times, but it had become a comfort for him since the relationship with Daisy had ended — Daisy and Garreth entered the room. Sebastian sighed audibly, turning his attention back to the book in his hands, but couldn't help but notice the coldness that seemed to hang between them: they hadn't spoken a word to each other during those few minutes, maintaining a distance he knew didn't belong at all to their relationship, which was flaunted by Garreth at any given moment of every day. He watched Weasley take a seat next to Leander Prewett and almost got distracted from a scene he hadn't witnessed in over a year: Daisy was heading towards him to sit at his table. He had no idea why she chose to sit next to him despite the argument from the night before; it might have been that she was so bitter about what had happened with Garreth that she was using it to get back at him, but Sebastian didn't mind that idea at all.

— Hello.

Daisy furrowed her brows at his greeting. — Are you talking to me?

Sebastian chuckled, loud enough to turn a few heads in their direction, including Garreth's. Good, he thought. — I was just saying hello.

Daisy looked confused, muttering a "hi" before Professor Sharp entered the classroom and quickly commanded everyone's attention.

— Open your books to page 230 — he instructed. Sebastian was surprised by the topics they would be covering during that lesson: Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck, and Amortentia.

— As you well know, I do not like having to teach you anything related to such potions, but they are part of the curriculum set by the Ministry for your NEWTs at the end of the year.

Professor Sharp then began his lecture starting with the explanation of Felix Felicis, a potion Sebastian had learned to brew the previous year, in the company of Daisy, so that they could use it during their excursion to one of the mines infested with spiders, trolls, and Ranrok's henchmen, in search of the last piece of the triptych. Turning to her, however, he noticed how she was frantically taking notes, not letting a single word from Sharp slip by. Sebastian smiled amusedly and thoroughly enjoyed the moment, knowing well that their closeness would not last forever.