In the Shadow of the Game

His gorgeous and talented best friend, who had blossomed into one of the most promising witches Hogwarts had ever housed despite only starting in her fifth year. He was completely taken by her, but he didn’t stand a chance while he was practically locked up in the friend zone.

Quidditch captain Isaac Cooper had made his move on her when their sixth year had begun, meaning their irritating and less than loving relationship had surpassed the one year mark already. Sebastian could see straight through the lanky git. The tall and lean hero of quidditch just wanted the hero of Hogwarts on his arm and nothing else from her.

He didn’t care about her the way a boyfriend should—especially her boyfriend. Sebastian often wondered how he was the only one who saw it. Whenever she was upset about something, she went straight to Sebastian. If ever she was stuck, she went straight to Sebastian. If she needed help, it was him she would go to first, not the guy who should be doting on her.

She didn’t need protecting or mollycoddling, not that the gangly athlete could succeed in either of those things. But she did need consistency, love and affection. If she needed to lean on someone, she shouldn’t have had to seek it out from someone other than him.

Yet he had never pushed her to recognise just how shitty and wrong her relationship was. He never asked her why her own boyfriend didn’t seem to care enough to actually be there for her. He loved doing things for her, and adored the fact that if something was bothering her, she wouldn’t think twice about coming straight to him about it. He just wished he could be the one to show her off like her so-called boyfriend can, and not to improve his social status. He loved everything about her and was not interested in boosting his own image.

That was clearly all that interested Isaac.

“Are you going to ask her?” Ominis asked through a mouthful of porridge. His blind friend wasn’t so blind to the truth, so no matter how many times Sebastian tried to deny his utter adoration for the girl, his best friend could see straight through it.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ominis scoffed as he swallowed his mouthful of breakfast. “I’m sure you don’t, Sebastian.” He responded sarcastically, shaking his head in his general direction.

It always seemed as though Ominis Gaunt knew more about everyone else’s thoughts and feelings more than they knew themselves. Sebastian was convinced he had some sort of blind guy superpower that allowed him to read his mind at all times.

He slowly stirred his now stale porridge around the bowl in front of him, his appetite leaving him by the second. Without looking up from the beige sludge stuck to his spoon, he could feel a number of eyes on him. He was single after all, so the girls that he knew had a thing for him likely thought they were in with a chance of being asked to the ball.

Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t going to happen. If he couldn’t walk into the ball with MC beside him, then he wouldn’t be going at all. Which ultimately meant that he would be holed up in the Slytherin common room alone, trying not to think about Isaac’s slimy hands all over MC.

“You’re not leaving me to endure that ball alone,” Ominis scolded, his psychic powers clearly kicking in again.

“I’m sure you’ll live,” he muttered back, making the mistake of looking up at him. In his peripheral vision, he caught at least a dozen girls staring at him very indiscreetly. “Who are you going to ask?”

Ominis put down his spoon, pushing his bowl of half eaten porridge away from him and rolling his eyes. “Likely nobody, so you needn’t worry about being the only dateless person there. Do you really think any girl would want to dance with the blind kid?”

Sebastian smirked. He knew exactly who would want to dance with the blind kid. Samantha Dale hadn’t been the most restrained person when it came to gawking at him, but Ominis never believed him when he told him about it.

“She definitely would. You should ask her,” he urged.

“Don’t start, Sebastian,” Ominis sighed, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

“Start what?”

Both boys jumped at the unexpected arrival of their trio’s final member. MC slotted herself down onto the bench beside Ominis, tossing her satchel down between them. She flashed Sebastian a kind smile from across the table, causing his heart to flutter pathetically as he smiled back.

“Sebastian is too scared to ask the girl he really wants to go to the dance with if she’ll go with him,” Ominis blurted.

Her smile instantly dropped a little, an unfamiliar expression clouding her face. She began playing with the silver spoon sitting in the bowl of muesli Ominis had placed in front of her, avoiding Sebastian’s gaze as she spoke.

“Who is it?”

Despite it being entirely pointless, Sebastian glared harshly at Ominis while her attention was averted. He did look a bit guilty for throwing him under the bus. 

Sebastian knew he needed to say something, but it seemed his brain wasn’t controlling his mouth. “Oh, you know…just a girl I’ve had my eye on,” he muttered while internally cringing. “What’s more interesting is that Ominis is too chicken to ask Samantha.”

A hard kick to his shin from the hopeless Slytherin caused him to jolt in his seat, but he didn’t have time to retaliate as the now very cold sounding girl continued to press.

“Who’s the girl?” MC asked again, her eyes now boring back into his.

He really didn’t want to have this conversation, and he definitely didn’t want to throw out a random name while half the female population of The Great Hall were clearly listening in. He was starting to panic. 

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” he finally muttered, wincing at the hurt look on her face.

“Why not?” She pushed, abandoning her breakfast completely. She looked royally pissed off at this point, but kept her cool. “We always share things with each other.”

The pressure of her stare, her words, her slight frown and the sea of eyes gawking at him suddenly became too much to handle. That, and the fact he was lying to her through his teeth. He definitely didn’t mean to snap at her, but he wasn’t prepared to say a name that wasn’t hers—and Merlin knew he couldn’t tell her the truth.

“Well maybe we shouldn’t share everything! Just drop it!”

Silence. 

The entire hall had muted itself as he roared out his harsh words like a cornered animal. He swore that he could feel his heart fall out of his ass as soon as his mouth snapped shut, cutting himself off before he made a bigger fool of himself. After their few tiffs and his harsh accusations during the difficult time that was their fifth year, he had vowed to never speak to her that way again.

All signs of annoyance in her features had melted away. Now she looked downright hurt, right to her very core. Never had there been a more suitable time for the ground to open up beneath him and drag him down to the fiery core of the earth, where he and his stupid words could burn together.

Backtracking wasn’t going to be possible in this case, but he still went straight for it. “Shit. I’m so sor-”

“You’re right,” she said quietly, cutting him off as she stood from the bench and grabbed the bag she hadn’t long put down while avoiding his sorry eyes. He could see the shimmer in them, the sight making his once fluttering heart hurt like hell. “Maybe we shouldn’t share things.”

Before he could say anything else, she was quickly darting towards the large doors to leave, looking utterly humiliated. Imelda had been on her way in, and stopped her friend immediately in her tracks to ask her what was the matter. He watched the exchange, watched MC walk out, and then watched Imelda’s eyebrows furrow angrily in his direction.

He gathered his own things, quickly getting up and ignoring whatever Ominis was saying to him as he attempted to go after his upset friend, insistent to himself that he wouldn’t let Imelda get a word in. The quidditch star was stronger than she looked however, and hauled him back swiftly by the hood of his robe before he had the chance to completely pass her.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the biggest idiot I know?!” She scolded venomously.

“More than once, yeah,” he mumbled back, turning towards her as the strength and the will to fight her grip didn’t arrive. For once, he completely agreed with her.

The short brunette shook her head slowly, actually looking the slightest bit pitiful beneath her scowl. “I truly cannot stand you Sallow, but you and I both know that you worship the ground she walks on. Had you just asked her out before Isaac did-”

“In what world is this helping?” Sebastian quipped back in the middle of her rant, irritance now lacing his words. He was well aware that Imelda knew just how lovesick he was for her best friend. Their only common interest was MC.

Imelda scoffed. “Who said I was trying to help you? I don’t care so much about your needs as much as I do hers. She’s my best friend, and for some reason yours,” she muttered the last part while rolling her eyes. “At least she was before you shouted at her. Just because you didn’t get to her first doesn't mean you can speak to her like shit.”

He was getting flustered as Imelda shot some home truths at him. “I didn’t mean to snap at her. I just- it’s just that-”

“That you want to be the one to go with her, yes, I know,” she rolled her eyes as she spoke in a surprisingly calm tone. “Honestly, Sallow, I’m not entirely sure why she would, and frankly you don’t deserve to know this, but I’m fairly certain she’d rather be going with you than Isaac. Maybe if you hadn’t just fucked things up with her, I’d be able to elaborate.”

Sebastian frowned in confusion. He glared deeply into Imelda’s cold eyes, looking for the deceit behind her words. When he didn’t find any, he crossed his arms and silently demanded that she elaborate.

She began tutting at him, shaking her head in false pity. “I’m not speaking any further on it, so you can stand there and pout at me all you like. I suggest you leave her alone to figure things out for herself.”

Figure things out for herself? 

He had no idea what Imelda was implying, but she waltzed away from him before he got the opportunity to press her further. She was quickly replaced by Ominis, who looked as if he had nothing to say for once. Guilt was easy to read in his best friend's expression.

Silently, they accompanied each other by heading to their first lesson of the day.

Sebastian spent the rest of the week on the receiving end of MC’s cold shoulder.

He despised it. Every class they had together he spent watching her like a weird stalker, hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of her lovely smile. It seemed though that the last one she had managed was the one she had for him, right before he shouted at her in front of half the school.

Isaac had caught him staring at her in their Arithmancy class, and if looks could produce flames, then Sebastian would have no eyebrows. As far as he was concerned, that asshole had no right to feign possession over a girl he couldn’t treat right.

All he wanted to do was apologise to her for shouting at her like a fucking idiot, but he willed himself to leave her alone like Imelda had so kindly demanded he do. He still had no idea what the feisty Slytherin girl meant when she said MC needed to figure things out on her own, but whatever it was he’d be there for her if she needed his input.

It was Saturday morning, the entire school either buzzing with excitement or shaking at the knees over the highly anticipated night ahead. Sebastian had zero intentions of going all week, but Ominis already had dress robes out ready for him. 

His less cowardly friend was in the midst of hyping himself up to finally go and speak to Samantha, who was staring at him from the fountain in front of the library. Out of sheer lack of brain cells, Sebastian had promised him that if he sucked it up and asked the girl that was so clearly crazy for him, he would attend the ball for at least an hour. Now he was completely regretting it. He didn’t want to watch MC dance with a guy who didn’t deserve her. 

Not that he himself deserved her either.

“Will you snap out of it,” Ominis demanded in a whispered shout, snapping his fingers far too close to Sebastian’s face to draw his attention. “I need help here!”

If he couldn’t be a good friend to MC at the moment, the least he could do was help his oldest one. “Alright, useless. Just go over there, flash the pearly whites and tell her she looks beautiful,” he instructed, unable to contain the slight smirk now pulling at his lips.

Ominis frowned heavily, a reaction that Sebastian often expected from him. “I don’t know what she looks like, you moron!”

He barked out a laugh. It felt nice considering he’d been pouting since Monday morning. “Just tell her your beautiful friend Sebastian vouched for her beauty.”

“On second thought, neither of us are going,” Ominis said matter of factly, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning heavily. “I’m not doing it.”

Sebastian backed away from his stroppy friend mid-breakdown as he noticed the Ravenclaw in question beginning to approach them. Deciding that he’d wound his best friend up enough, he quickly made him aware of her presence.

“Oh, hey Samantha.”

The dark haired girl smiled politely back at him before her heart eyes landed straight back on Ominis. “Hey guys. Everything okay Ominis?”

Ominis froze, his pupil-less eyes widening in shock. “O-Oh…hello Samantha.”

Sebastian continued to back away to capture the full picture of hormonal disaster playing out before his eyes, admittedly enjoying the insecurity radiating off of his friend. As much as he did enjoy winding him up, he really was hoping he’d find the confidence to just ask her. Merlin knows they’d be good together.

“Are you going to the ball tonight?” Samantha asked cheerily, a hint of hope in her distinctive voice.

“Yes. Yes, I was planning to,” Ominis responded quickly.

Samantha smiled, a bright blush pigmenting her cheeks. “Oh good! Unfortunately I didn’t manage to find a date, so it’ll be nice to see familiar faces!” Her voice had become a little louder than she had likely intended. She seemed embarrassed.

Thankfully, Ominis dropped his arms from his chest as he began wringing his hands instead. It was a telltale sign that he was nervous about the next thing coming out of his mouth, which meant he wasn’t going to cower away from this.

“Well actually, I was hoping…well- I know it’s a bit late and all-”

“I’d love to go with you!” She all but shouted, a huge smile on her face. The smile faltered quickly though as she began to look a little unsure of herself. “If that was what you were going to ask, of course! Totally cool if it wasn’t.”

Ominis smiled, his own pale cheeks burning with a furious shade of red. He stopped pulling on his fingers to shakily take one of her nervous hands. “It was. I’ll wait for you at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower at six,” he offered with a delighted smile.

Sebastian wished his blind friend could see the look of pure joy on Samantha’s face. She looked like she was in a daydream, eyes fluttering and smile stretching further and further until it couldn’t spread anymore. It was adorable, and Sebastian was rather surprised by how happy he felt for the two of them, despite his own fiery inferno of a situation.

As Samantha cheerily shouted her ‘see you later’ and practically skipped away, Ominis whipped around to face Sebastian. “Did that really just happen?”

Sebastian chuckled at the look of awe on his face. “Told you she drools over you. You’d be smart to start listening to me from now on, blushy.”

Ominis rolled his eyes dramatically, but a content smile was creeping across his lips. Sebastian clapped him on the shoulder and shook him a little, his own grin beginning to hurt his cheeks. “Look at you…finally a man.”

That had earned him a half assed punch to the chest and a loud scoff, which only fuelled his amusement. He laughed loudly as his friend stormed off, arms back in their rightful place across his chest in a grump. When he turned back around to head into the library alone, he spotted MC watching him from across the Central Hall.

She was smiling softly at him, clearly having witnessed the two love birds finally uniting. Her eyes locked onto his for only a moment before she turned away, slowly walking in the opposite direction by herself. As he began to think about it, she’d been alone most of the time he’d caught sight of her recently, which made him feel a little uneasy. He didn’t want her to be lonely, but he knew there were plenty of people besides him that she could and would go to for company.

If she needed someone, she’d find them.

“Oh for goodness sake, will you leave it alone, Sebastian?!”

Sebastian groaned for what felt like the tenth time in the last sixty seconds. Amit Thakkar was practically strangling him with his own bow tie, and he wasn’t entirely sure why he was letting this happen. It was too tight around his neck, but every time he fiddled with the irritating garment he was met with Amit’s chokehold.

He had waited with Ominis in the Astronomy Tower, tirelessly telling him that he looked fine and to stop worrying about his appearance. Apparently he had become deaf as well as blind, considering he hadn’t seemed to hear him for the millionth time. When Samantha finally descended the spiral staircase to meet them with Amit in tow, her bright pink blush was still ever present on her face. To be fair to her, she really did look very pretty, and fit perfectly on Ominis’s arm. They truly suited each other.

Amit was tagging along to journey with them to meet his date, Poppy, who was already at the ball. Sebastian made an educated guess that he had already consumed some liquified encouragement in the common room as the star-loving boy had never confidently been so close to him, let alone trying touching him. Seas of students were bustling past them as they stood right in everybodies way at the foot of the stairs.

“Just leave it, Amit. I’m not looking to impress,” he said to the Ravenclaw boy whose nose was almost touching his.

“You don’t have a date?” Samantha asked with wide eyes.

Sebastian could only sigh, already picturing how his night was going to go. The only dateless person in the room was usually the recipient of pity dances and apologetic looks, which really had him wishing he hadn’t made that deal with Ominis.

“I know so many girls who turned down dates in hopes that you’d ask them,” she informed, still looking perplexed.

Oh great. So not only did he have to stand there alone like a sad case, but he also had to avoid eye contact with the girls who were going alone because of him. If he had just asked someone, the rest of them wouldn’t have turned down their admirers in hopes that he’d pop the question.

“He didn’t want any of them,” Ominis chimed in quickly, trying to save him from having a conversation he did not want to have.

“For the love of Merlin, can we please not start the night talking about how pathetic I am and just go to this stupid ball,” Sebastian huffed, swatting Amit’s outstretched hands away for the tenth time.

Unfortunately for him, Samantha’s questions hadn’t stopped on their walk to the ball, and Amit was still fiddling with the black dress robes he was donning. Sebastian was seriously considering legging it in the opposite direction, but when he finally got to the entrance of The Great Hall without shoving the two Ravenclaws into a broom closet, he found himself suddenly very eager to catch a glimpse of the girl who had been ghosting him all week.

The girl he owed a very big apology to.

The hall looked just as enchanting as he had expected it to, almost as if it hadn’t once been the place that he’d shouted at the love of his life for asking him a reasonable question. Every floating and hanging decoration was a vivid shade of red, green and gold. A charm had been cast on the starry ceiling, causing an illusion of snow to cascade down from the ceiling but never touching the ground. It really did look like the definition of Christmas, and despite his valid reasons for not wanting to be present, he found the scene rather breathtaking.

To his utter delight, Amit darted off immediately at the sight of his creature-loving date dancing with Natty, leaving Sebastian awkwardly third wheeling. The regret of his attendance was now in full swing, especially due to the number of sad eyes already on him.

The irises all belonged to girls who appeared to be dateless, and for some reason he felt tremendously guilty. He wasn’t entirely sure why as it wasn’t exactly his fault, but he thought that maybe it was down to the fact he had just walked in alone himself and got a taste of how it feels to wish he were walking in with the person he wanted.

“Told you,” Samatha whispered, nudging his arm. “There’s still time to ask one of them.”

She clearly meant well, which he appreciated. He always knew her to be kind. His mind couldn’t be changed though, not even to make the night more bearable. Nobody could hold a candle to the witch living rent free in his head.

He simply shook his head in response, traipsing away from the pair and heading toward the drinks station. One butterbeer would suffice before he could make his swift exit all while still committing to not breaking his end of the deal with Ominis. As he sipped the not-so-subtly watered down beverage, he made a mental note to tell Sirona that she did in fact brew the best butterbeer in Scotland.

His eyes began to scan the crowd of people gathered under the facade of falling snow. There was no sign of MC and her useless armband, which he immediately found strange. If the list of Hogwarts students was organised by popularity, Isaac and MC would be at the very top. He’d already laid eyes on a few of Isaac’s groupies. He’d never seen them without him before now.

As if on cue, loud gasps and shocked murmurs muffled the sound of the melodies coming from the self-playing orchestra. He mentally prepared himself to see her walking in with her arm linked in his, knowing those reactions could only be for the school's most famous couple. There was no need to look up at her to know that she looked gorgeous, but seeing her in all her perfect glory beside his lanky nemesis was going to spark a bad reaction from him, so he trained his eyes to the floor.

Isaac’s deeply irritating voice bellowed out as he greeted his mates, like any normal asshole on a date with the world's most precious girl would do. Sebastian was trying to calm his breathing, a skill he wasn’t so good at when riled up. 

The fucking nerve of the guy.

He had to consider for a moment whether or not the mug of butterbeer struggling in his tight grip had been spiked with something mind altering as he overheard the whispers of a group of girls beside him.

“Oh my goodness, who knew he was back on the market?!” One of them hissed.

“I can’t believe Violet McDowell swooped in there first, that lucky bitch,” another responded coldly.

Sebastian’s head whipped up so quickly that he had to steady himself. If he didn’t believe what the girls were saying, then he sure as hell didn’t believe his own eyes. But no matter how many times he rapidly blinked, all five foot and fuck all of Violet was still standing there, holding Isaac’s hand with an accomplished smirk on her face.

Rage, confusion and disbelief all fought each other to become his sole feeling towards the situation. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet were taking him to get a closer look. Too close of a look. One of Isaac’s quidditch goons spotted him approaching first, nudging his smarmy captain to catch his attention. 

When their eyes locked as Sebastian’s feet came to a halt a mere foot or two away from him, Isaac pulled up a smirk of his own. “If you’re about to ask me to dance then I’m afraid the answer is no.”

Sebastian had to bite his tongue for a beat in order to not spit on him. He composed himself quickly, suddenly realising what was most important in this moment. “Where’s MC?”

The taller boy stepped forward, looking a lot less intimidating than he was trying to be. “Well of all people, I assumed you would’ve been the one to know,” he sneered, looking at him with disgust.

“Why would I be the one to know where your girlfriend is?”

The words he used to describe MC left an awful taste in his mouth. He silently vowed to never regard her in that way again.

Isaac scoffed and raised an eyebrow at him. “So she didn’t come running to you with her bullshit this time, huh? You finally get bored of her whining too, Sallow?” He insinuated, looking down on him slightly. “I heard about you shouting at her, it’s about time someone shut her up.”

Sebastian took a whole step forward despite there being no space between them, knocking into him with intent. The dull group of Isaac’s followers stepped toward the pair immediately, but before Sebastian could do something very frowned upon in front of the entire school, a firm hand pulled him back as Isaac was pulled back by his own goons.

Garreth Weasley kept his grip on his bicep, holding him in place. “You don’t want to do that,” he warned with concern, knowing exactly where that exchange was heading. It was only then that he realised that they had attracted a crowd of nosy onlookers. “Maybe you should look for MC. She was all dressed up and on her way here the last time I saw her, but she hasn’t turned up.”

The red haired Gryffindor was evidently trying to sway his attention, and he was silently grateful for the reminder of who was most important. 

He nodded. “Thanks.” He muttered meaningfully before heading towards the tall doors to find his friend. Whatever Isaac was shouting as he left warranted no interest to him whatsoever.

Realising that he must have looked mental, he flung every door along the hallway open to peek into every room. He had no idea where to start, all he hoped was that she wasn’t crying somewhere. He checked the undercroft, Professor Fig’s old classroom, every courtyard and set of stairs. But he couldn’t find her anywhere. 

He stopped for a moment in the Clocktower Courtyard to think. As he very seriously began to consider storming into her dormitory to check it off his list, a glimmer of gold caught his eye in the makeshift Crossed Wands arena. Approaching the open gate with caution, he spotted the beautiful subject of his hunt sitting on the steps beside the little founder of their not-so-secret duelling club.

Sebastian was expecting tears from the newly single girl, but the two of them were laughing, which was quite the sight to behold. As beautiful as he thought The Great Hall was in all its Christmas glory, it didn’t hold a candle to how incredibly stunning she looked. Her floor length, gold ball gown was glittering in the dull light of the room, the puffy skirt draping down the few stone steps she was perched on. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun with pretty gold clips reflecting the flames of the candelabras.

None of that took any spotlight off of her smile though, and he was relieved to see that it wasn’t forced. Whatever the overly confident fifth year was telling her, she sure was getting a kick out of it. Lucan was the equivalent to a mischievous and often useful little brother. Sebastian didn’t have a bad word to say about the kid, and was certain that he was going to miss him when their seventh year came to an end in the summer. 

In the midst of trying to figure out whether or not he should intrude, the younger boy called out cheerily. “Hey, Sebastian!”

His eyes came back into focus on the pair. He was dreading the moment that her smile would inevitably drop at the sight of him, but it didn’t.

Taking a few cautious steps towards them, he offered a halfhearted smile back. “Hey. You’re both aware this isn’t The Great Hall, right?” He attempted to joke, though it came out a little monotonous.

MC giggled anyway before Lucan stood up, looking around the room dramatically. “Ah shit, you’re right! I better go find my dates.”

“Dates? As in plural?” Sebastian asked.

The short boy smirked, pulling on the lapels of his dress robes with an almighty smugness. “Yes, Sebastian. Dates. It’s not easy being little old me, you know? The girls are practically falling over each other for a minute with the CEO of the Crossed Wands club.”

Sebastian couldn’t have held back his laughter if his life depended on it. It was true, the kid was very popular. He wasn’t at all surprised to hear that he had multiple girls willing to share him just for a few minutes of school fame.

Lucan made his way to the exit, calling back over his shoulder. “Don’t hate me because I’m better than you, Sallow! It’s all part of my natural charm!”

“I think that’s just delusion, mate!” Sebastian called back with a genuine smile, causing the fifth year to bark out a loud laugh before disappearing behind the closed door. Leave it to Lucan Brattleby to be the ice breaker he so desperately needed. “That kid's ego is colossal.”

“A bit like yours,” MC chuckled quietly, looking up at him. They stared at each other for longer than should have been comfortable before she patted the stone step beside her, silently inviting him to replace the now empty space beside her.

He did as instructed, careful not to trod on the skirt of her impressive dress in the process of also trying not to sit on it. The intrusive guilt he’d been feeling all week wormed its way back into his chest as soon as their arms brushed each other. He hadn’t been so close to her all week, and now that he was in her personal space he didn’t want to be out of it ever again.

“Listen, about Monday—”

“Don’t apologise,” she whispered quietly, staring off into the courtyard.

“I have to,” he responded. “I was a complete asshole and you didn’t deserve that. I was way out of line.”

She sighed, her attention now on her hands in her lap as she played with the silky fabric of her dress. “I shouldn’t have pushed you to tell me. That wasn’t fair.”

Gingerly, he rested a hand on her knee, turning himself toward her. “Lots of things aren’t fair, but that wasn’t one of them. We do tell each other everything, and I should have stopped being a coward and opened up to you from the very beginning. So I apologise.”

Her bright eyes met his, a sad little half smile on her lips. “I think we’ve both been withholding things from each other,” she said softly before admitting, “I broke up with Isaac.”

His tongue found itself painfully clamped between the sharp ridges of his teeth to stop himself from smiling with relief. He was ecstatic to hear that she had been the one to break up with him. He could only imagine how much that bruised the asshole's ego.

“I can see you trying not to smile, Sebastian,” she accused, raising an eyebrow at him with a little smirk.

Sebastian pursed his lips, refusing to give her the satisfaction of knowing she was right. The change of facial expression made her laugh again, which made him think about how much he wanted to make her laugh like this every day for the rest of his life. 

“You’re not as slick as you think you are,” she said through her giggles. “I know you hated him.”

“Hate is a strong word, MC,” he informed sarcastically. “But it’s definitely not strong enough. You know he’s just waltzed into the hall with Violet, right?”

MC let out a snort. “They both suit each other. Egotistical idiots who only care about themselves. Maybe this relationship will actually last for him.”

He began to feel bad again, hearing her description of the guy she’d spent so much time trying to work out a relationship with. But on the other hand, he was glad she finally saw what he did. It may have been long overdue, but it was about time she shook off that glory seeker.

“Why didn’t you ever talk about him to me?” She asked suddenly, her face becoming serious. “You could see these things too, I’m assuming, yet you never said anything.”

Sebastian sighed. There was nothing accusatory about her question at all, but man did that make him feel guilty. “I never thought it was my place to say anything,” he admitted. “I just hoped that things were different between the two of you behind closed doors…that maybe he made you happy in a way that you needed. Who was I to tell you differently?”

“My best friend.”

Her whisper came out broken, just like his fucking heart. In the same way she leaned on him for advice and comfort, she had needed him to be the voice of reason to show her what she finally came to see in her toxic ex-boyfriend. He could have saved her a lot of time and effort.

“It wasn’t until Imelda finally broke and ranted about how much of an asshole he was to me that I began to see what you guys obviously saw for over a year.” She said while chewing on her lip, her voice remaining quiet and soft as if to protect him from how she really felt about the situation.

As much as he hated to admit it, even in the privacy of his own mind, he and Imelda really weren’t all that different. In fact, he was certain he may be able to choke out some sort of thank you to her whenever he saw her next, even if she did return the favour by spitting on him.

The tough Slytherin team captain had done what he should have a long time ago. “You’re right. I should’ve said something. I honestly wish I had,” he said earnestly, moving his hand from her knee to hold one of hers. “I just didn’t want you to think that I was being annoyingly overprotective or overbearing.”

She smiled back at him sadly, squeezing his hand. “I don’t want you to feel bad, I’m sorry.” She said while shaking her head a little. There was a conflict going on judging by the look on her face, and he wanted to crack the case. She sucked in a long deep breath before speaking again. “When Imelda made me realise just how much more you were willing to do for me than any other person in this castle, it made me realise that I didn’t have what I wanted.”

His thumb brushed along the cool, smooth skin of her hand, silently encouraging her to continue.

“My judgement was severely clouded in the aftermath of our fifth year. You and I were rebuilding the foundation of our friendship and I felt like I needed to be with someone in order to make myself feel normal again,” she admitted. “I got so caught up in that that I forgot who really made me feel safe and secure and wanted.” Her watery eyes met him again. “I convinced myself that any girl as needy as I was didn’t deserve a guy like you, so I settled for rock bottom with him.”

Sebastian’s heart was without a doubt about to jump out of his mouth at what she was insinuating. His feelings towards her seemed to be mirrored, but the most fascinating girl in the world thought she wasn’t good enough for him.

Had she hit her head?

“The girl was you,” he admitted more confidently than he expected.

Her perfectly neat eyebrows furrowed slightly with confusion. “Pardon?”

He turned himself even more in her direction, making a grab for her other hand and gazing into her eyes. Anyone else likely would’ve thought he was being a bit intense, but she was aware of how passionate he could be when it came to things he cared for the most.

“You were the girl Ominis was talking about on Monday. I wanted to be able to ask you.”

He noted the shock in her eyes at his confession. Her watery eyes began to spill a few little tears, which were killing him. He quickly let go of her hand to rid her of them, swiping them away whilst trying not to produce any of his own.

“I knew that if I couldn’t walk into that dance with you tucked into my side then I wasn’t walking in with anybody,” he told her with determination. “Well, I did kind of walk in with Ominis and Samantha, but—”

“I can’t believe he really asked her,” she giggled, her voice a little wobbly. “I’d love to see them together.”

He smiled at her, finding her heartwarming interest in Ominis’s happiness rather adorable. His hand absentmindedly cupped her cheek, thumb still smoothing over the patch of skin now cleared of all tears. She leaned into his touch, smiling softly at him.

“I can’t express to you how beautiful you look,” he whispered.

The tears came back, but this time in his own eyes. He blinked them away rapidly. The moment was overwhelming, and he recounted the nights he’d sit up in bed wondering if he would ever get to say these things to her.

A bright blush touched her cheeks as her coy little smile grew. “Only you could make me smile this much, Sebastian.”

Wasn’t that a fact. He had the greatest bragging rights in the world, but he didn’t need to brag about these things. He wasn’t looking for recognition, only her perfect smile.

“This may be a record for world's worst timing, but will you go to the ball with me, MC?” He asked quietly.

“You couldn’t have timed it any better, Sebastian,” she whispered back. He was going to have to pinch the shit out of himself after this, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining all of this. “There’s no one I’d rather walk into that dance with than you.”

As much as he wasn’t at all bothered by the amount of eyes instantly on them as they walked into The Great Hall, he really did hope that she didn’t immediately regret this.

The same gasping and murmuring aimed at her ex and mortal enemy echoed through the hall as he led her inside, her hand wrapped up tightly in his. Thankfully, the only whispers he could hear were from girls fawning over her sparkling dress, and not the dateless girls likely trying to hex him with their minds.

Despite all of the stares, nothing had ever felt more right to him than having her beside him, holding her hand. He was convinced nothing ever would feel more right than this. In fact, he was now wholeheartedly convinced that he was going to marry her one day.

Not that he was going to freak her out by mentioning that.

He led her straight into the middle of the dance floor, his hand remaining on hers as his other one came up to rest on her waist. She was glowing, the whites of her teeth through her smile blinding him from everything and everyone around him.

Unfortunately though, his blindness didn’t come with the gift of deafness. A chorus of obnoxious wolf whistles echoed around them as their friends gathered to catch a glimpse of them. Garreth shot him a wink from where he stood behind Natty, who was grinning wildly at MC, causing her to blush.

“It’s about time!” Imelda shouted over the orchestra, actually smiling at him for a change. He wasn’t sure whether he was more flattered or concerned. “I still think you’re an idiot though!”

Just as quickly as he believed she may have been an imposter, she managed to prove him wrong. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling, especially when MC’s forehead dropped against his chest while a fit of satisfied giggles shook her shoulders.

They began to sway, everyone eventually getting back to their own business rather than gawking at the new couple on the dance floor. MC was cuddled closely into him, her cheek resting against his sternum. Neither of them had ever seemed so calm in their lives. Being close to each other just felt natural.

It felt right.

She was watching Ominis, who was also swaying his date rather impressively beside them. Ominis had scolded her and told her to stop staring as she was making him nervous, but there was no malice in his voice. Clearly his weird psychic powers were kicking in again. MC only laughed in response, not at all phased by her flustered friend. Samantha couldn’t have looked happier if someone had just handed her a puppy.

Sebastian suddenly became completely distracted by the sound of something conjuring above his head. The small crackling noise caught MC’s attention also as they both looked up, their swaying coming to a dead stop once they found the culprit of the noise.

Above them, plain as day for everyone to see, was a large branch of mistletoe sprouting out of nowhere. He wouldn’t have found this strange had there been more of it hanging around people’s heads, but it was only shining a spotlight on them.

His head whipped around to find Ominis smirking maliciously in his direction, the gesture obviously being an act of revenge for MC’s fawning over him and his date. He glared pointlessly at his blind friend before looking down to find her wide eyes already locked onto his.

“Uhh…we don’t have to if you don’t—”

He was cut off by warm, soft lips pressing against his in a tender kiss. Every bit of his focus was on making their first kiss perfectly normal, and not on the fact that he could genuinely pass out if he gave himself enough room to think about what was happening.

A chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ played out around them, broken up by a few scoffs and wolf whistles. He could hear Isaac somewhere in the background mumbling about how she had moved on quick—which was very fucking rich coming from him and his dwarf sized rebound.

None of it mattered to him though, not when he finally had what he’d wanted for a very long time. For a Ball he was so desperate to avoid on account of thinking he didn’t have a shot with her, this was turning out to be the best night of his life.

When they pulled away after what felt like hours, he rested his forehead against hers. He was dizzy with adoration for her, and her ever-dazzling smile was almost too much. She was just as overjoyed as he was, which confirmed to him that they really were made for each other.

“I don’t ever want to stop doing that,” she said, seemingly in a bit of a daze.

He pressed another short yet meaningful kiss to her lips, both of them still smiling into it. “Never,” he confirmed to her.

And he meant it. He could kiss forever and feel like he still wasn’t kissing her enough.

He really was going to marry her someday.