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You stood in the back of the group, head down as names are called to get sorted into their houses. Every now and then someone would brush up next to you as they moved closer to the front, and you shuddered each time. When your name was called, you quickly rushed up, eyes to the floor as the hat was placed on your head. “You have potential, great potential. I’m sure you will find your place in Slytherin!” The hat yelled, and your eyes widened as it was taken off your head, quietly heading to the farthest side of the table, sitting down. You kept your eyes on the table, waiting for the sorting to be over so you could find your things.
Sebastian watched you from the other end of the table, his sister Anne beside him as they both watched you, puzzled. “Slytherin? They don’t really seem like a Slytherin to me.” Anne said, eyeing you as you tapped your fingers on the table. Sebastian nodded, intrigued. A Slytherin that can’t even sit with their classmates was peculiar, and he became determined to be your friend.
Sebastian kept an eye on you as you made your way through classes, getting your work done quickly and quietly. He watched as you would nod to people every now and then if they waved or greeted you, but that seemed to be as far as you would go. Anne had tried to talk to you a few times, barely getting much from you as you tried to concentrate on the assignment you were working on, and had complained about it to Sebastian and Ominis. Sebastian had most of his classes with you, and had formulated a plan to get you out of your shell a bit.
One day in Herbology, he set his plan in motion. Finding you already seated at your table, he made his way over. You watched him from the corner of your eye, growing anxious as he made his way closer. “Hello there,” he said as he placed his bag onto your table, taking a seat next to you. You quickly whispered a hello back, brows furrowed in confusion at his sudden change of seating. Sebastian didn’t falter, “My name is Sebastian.” You looked up at him looking at his face. “Y/n.” You whispered, quirking an eyebrow. Sebastian smiled at you, taking out the book needed for class. “Say, y/n, do you know which chapter we’re going over today?” He wanted to keep you talking. He already liked how your voice sounded, quiet now, but he was already thinking about how loud you would get if he told a joke, maybe your laugh would be contagious? You brought him out of his thoughts as you flipped through the pages of your own book, reading the top of the page. “I think it’s chapter 12 today.” Sebastian nodded, opening his book and following your movements.
“So, do you like this class?” You nodded, reaching into your bag to grab your quill and parchment. It wasn’t the response Sebastian had wanted, but he knew to take small steps, humming to himself. “We share a lot of classes, you know?” You nodded, biting the inside of your cheek. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.” Sebastian smiled to himself, glad to know that you were aware of who was in your classes. “Which one is your favourite?” You raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?” “Which class, you have a favourite, right?” You relaxed your face, a small “ah” leaving your lips. “I suppose. Charms is quite fun. I’m waiting for Defense Against the Dark arts, though. That class seems really cool.” You smiled softly as you talked, thinking about the class. Sebastian’s smile grew, “Me too! I can’t wait to get there.” He said excitedly, finding something in common with you.
Sebastian continued to make small talk with you throughout the class, sometimes asking you questions about what Professor Garlick was talking about. You would answer him quietly, feeling put on the spot each time he asked you something. You were curious as to why he suddenly grew an interest in you, but you weren’t quite complaining. You knew you needed friends, you couldn’t go through the whole year alone, but it was also hard for you, so Sebastian stepping up and leading the conversations made it a whole lot easier. You sighed as Garlick asked a question, searching for someone to give her an answer. You felt her eyes on you, and you felt yourself sink in your seat. “Y/n, why don’t you give it a go?” She asked, gesturing to you. Your eyes widened and you felt your cheeks heat up, your hands beginning to shake. “Um, it’s…” You stuttered, trying to speak. Sebastian gave you an encouraging smile, trying to ease your nerves. “Mandrake?” You asked, afraid it was the wrong answer. Garlick smiled as she nodded, “Correct! Ten points to Slytherin!” You sighed as you tried to steady your hands, glad that you had the right answer. “Nice job, ten points!” Sebastian whispered to you, and you smiled.
You waved to Sebastian as you existed the classroom, disappearing into the crowd. He felt accomplished, and headed off to tell Anne and Ominis his progress. “Wait, so you’re trying to…socialize them?” Ominis asked, confused. Sebastian nodded, “Yes. It’s going rather well, I think.” Anne smiled happily, glad that you were slowly becoming friends with her brother, hoping that you may become friends with her too. “We should invite them to eat lunch with us today!” She suggested, noting the time. Ominis nodded, “That would be nice, but we don’t want to overwhelm them.” Sebastian thought for a moment, deciding that at lunch they would invite you to eat with them. “Sure, we’ll ask them at lunch!”
They did not, in fact, ask if you wanted to eat with them. Sebastian led his two friends over and took a seat next to you, smiling at you. Anne took the seat next to you, and Ominis on the other side of the table, sitting across from you. Your eyes widened, confused. “Y/n! I want you to meet my twin sister, Anne!” He gestured to Anne, who smiled and waved at you. You smiled back shyly, “Hello.” “That right there is Ominis, he’s our friend.” Sebastian explained, pointing to Ominis, who only smiled. You recognized the two of them, knowing who Ominis was and seeing Anne around the common room. “Nice to meet you two.” You said, looking at Sebastian. “We were hoping we could eat with you. If you’re ok with it.” You nodded, seeing as how they were already sitting with you. The three of them smiled and talked with you about random things, trying to learn more about you.
You finished your first year of Hogwarts with three friends, who stayed by your side until Anne had to leave in your fourth year. It set you back a bit, becoming distant again, seemingly throwing away all the effort Sebastian put in to become your friend. You didn’t talk to anyone else in the four years you had been there either, still too shy to actually talk to anyone else. Sebastian became frustrated, having been stuck to being waved and nodded at whenever you passed him in the hall. It took him half the year to get you back again, and he was determined to keep you by his side.
“Next year, we’ll be having more Defense Against the Dark Arts, y/n, isn’t that exciting?” Sebastian asked, sitting next to you on the couch in the common room. You nodded, reading a book. “We can duel with each other too, you know. Then I can show you what I’ve learned so far.” You raised an eyebrow, looking over your book and glancing at him. “That’s assuming you could beat me, of course.” Ominis nodded listening to the two of you in one of your many banters. Sebastian scoffed, “I can, definitely.” You hummed, a smirk on your lips as you continued to read your book. “Just you wait, then. After our break next month, we’ll see.”
When you made it to your fifth year, you became closer to Sebastian and Ominis. Sebastian had suggested trying to talk to more people so you wouldn’t get bored of him, but you would shake your head, claiming that you had enough. “You might think that, but I still think you need more friends.” You shook your head, sighing. “I would rather not go through the process of trying to talk to people again, thanks. It’s bad enough the teachers still call on me in class, I can barely answer their questions still.” Sebastian sighed this time, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We need to work on that. You have the right answer to the questions, I still don’t understand why you can’t say them.” “Because what if they’re wrong?” “How are they wrong if the answer’s right in front of you?” You shrugged, unable to explain. You frustrated Sebastian sometimes, but he wouldn’t trade it if it meant he could stay by your side and help you with small things like asking a question.
Truth be told, Sebastian had begun to develop feelings for you, his quest to become your friend had quickly taken a turn and became a quest for your affection. When you weren’t hiding away from people, you were laughing and talking with him, and he would listen to the random rambling you would do if he mentioned something you liked. And he was right about your laugh, it was rather contagious. Although he wanted you to make more friends, he was glad he basically had you for himself, knowing that he would be one of two people you would turn to if you needed someone to talk to.
He sat on the edge of the fountain, looking down at the pages of the book in his hand. He wasn’t paying much attention to the words, however, as he watched you in the corner of his eye, crouching down and petting one of the many cats around. You do that quite often really, seeing a cat in the distance and rushing towards it, scratching it behind its ears and cooing at it. You did the same thing now, having left Sebastian’s side by the fountain to interact with a tabby cat that had walked by. He watched with a smile, looking back to his book, your voice cooing in the background.
A few moments passed and he couldn’t hear you talking to the cat anymore, but you hadn’t returned to his side yet, either. He glanced back up from his book, scanning the area for you. His eyes widened as he saw a boy clad in Gryffindor colour talk to you. You stood there awkwardly, fiddling with your fingers as you listened to him speak. Sebastian couldn’t hear what the boy was saying, but he watched as your cheeks turned a light shade of pink. You looked down at your feet, speaking softly and then nodding to the boy, making your way back to the fountain and Sebastian.
Sebastian glared as the boy walked past the two of you, sending you a smile. He turned to you, eyebrow raised. “What did he want?” You sat there, confused as you tried to wrap your head around it yourself. Sebastian felt a pang of jealousy as your cheeks grew darker, watching as you went through the events in your head. “He said hi to me, first. I didn’t expect it.” Sebastian nodded, closing the book. “And then he asked me out-“ “He what?” “I don’t even know who he is, but he said I was cute, and wanted to know if I wanted to go somewhere with him.” Sebastian felt the jealousy grow even more, whipping his head around in search of the boy. “Did he say where?” You shrugged, “I wasn’t really listening, it was very sudden.” Sebastian sighed in annoyance, looking over at your face. “What did you say when he asked?” You bit the inside of your cheek, “Maybe. I don’t know why I said that, I really don’t want to, but he put me on the spot, and you know I don’t like being put on the spot like that.”
Sighing heavily in both relief and annoyance, he bumped his shoulder against your own. “You know, you can’t just say maybe to everyone. One of these days you’ll find someone that’ll ask you that you actually like, and you’ll probably do the same thing.” You shrugged, “I really only want one person to ask me out, but that’s also scary to think about.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow, “You want someone to ask you out?” Your face heated up, stuttering, “Not just anyone- like, like a specific person!” Sebastian deflated, unsure if he should ask you who it was. You sat there, playing with your sleeve, cheeks still pink. “You could ask me. I’d say yes.” You whispered, barely audible to Sebastian. His heart skipped a beat and his face felt warm. “What? You want me? To ask you out?” Your eyes widened as you shook your head frantically, trying to change the subject. Sebastian smiled, watching your flustered face as you freaked out, not meaning for him to hear you.
“Ok then.” Sebastian said, placing his book into his bag and standing up. He offered you his hand, smiling. “Let’s go somewhere.” You looked up at him, worried. “Where?” “A date.” Your face flushed even more as you reached out to grab his hand, shakily. “But what about that guy-“ Sebastian held your hand as he found the guy that had originally asked you out, walking over to him with you trailing behind, shaking. The boy smiled as he saw you walk over, waving. “Hey! Made a decision?” Sebastian glared at him, “Yeah, they did. It’s a no.” With that, Sebastian turned around, taking you out of the courtyard and leaving the boy standing there, shocked. “Sebastian! That was rude.” Sebastian only shrugged, smiling at you as the two of you walked through the halls. “You said you wanted me to ask you out, so I had to take out the competition.” You laughed, shaking your head. “Where are we going then?” “The Three Broomsticks. Sirona’s been wanting to see us.” In truth, Sebastian had told her about his feelings, and Sirona had offered free butterbeer to the two of you if he ever managed to ask you out on a date, and Sebastian was eager to show her that he had finally done so.