Chapter Text
“Stop squirming already!” I huff as Sebastian shifts again in the seat at vanity in my dormitory. I’m bent over him, tweezers in hand, plucking his eyebrows as he flinches for what feels like the thousandth time.
“Why does it have to hurt so bad?” He groans as I pull a few more tiny hairs.
“Beauty is pain, my love. Just stop moving.” I say concentrating. After a few more minutes, i finish shaping his brows and set the tweezers aside. Taking a step back I smirk.
“How much do you love me?” I ask, hand on my hips. His freshly plucked eyebrows rise in a silent question. I stroll over to the trunk at the end of the bed and open it with a wicked grin on my face.
“I don’t like that look.” Sebastian says wearily sitting up a little straighter. “You do know I have Quidditch practice in about an hour, don’t you?” He adds glancing at the clock on the wall. I turn around, holding a bundle of neatly labeled jars and vials in my arms like they’re precious cargo. “Then we’d better get started. You’re long overdue for a proper facial.”
“Merlin’s left sock,” he groans. “Can’t you just kiss me and call it a day?”
“Skincare is love,” I reply, getting everything set up“Now hush, and let me work. First up, cleanser.” I grab a cloth wrap and carefully tie it around his head pushing his unruly brown hair off his forehead. Then I reach for the bottle of cleanser, pump some into my hand, and rub my fingertips together to foam up the soap before applying it to his face.
“It’s cold!” He whines, flinching under my touch. I roll my eyes at his dramatics, gently massaging the cleanser into his skin before wiping it away with a warm towel. “Alright drama queen. Next exfoliation.”
I pick up the small jar filled with a soft, herbal scented scrub, unscrewing the lid and scooping a bit onto my fingers. “This will help with the dead skin on your face.”
“This looks like something you would feed a hippogriff” Sebastian says while squinting at the mixture.
“Lucky for you this is going on your face and not on your plate” I reply rolling my eyes once again. I start to buff the scrub onto his cheeks working it in a circular motion making sure to cover his entire face.
“You’re sanding me alive!” He groans as I work the mixture. “You’re being reborn Sebastian, like a phoenix. A very dramatic, slightly whiny pheonix.”
Once the scrub is wiped away I grab my wand. “What’s next?” he asks wearily, eyeing it like I’m about to hex him.
“Steam.” I answer.
“I knew this would somehow involve a wand pointed at my face at some point.” He mutters leaning back in his chair. I flick my wand with a practiced motion and whisper “Calidum Aerem.” A soft jet of warm steam pours from the tip, swirling in the air before settling on his face like a gentle cloud. He jolts back. “Merlin! t’s hot!”
“It’s warm” I correct him, adjusting the angle. He exhales slowly, his posture relaxing in spite of himself, his lashes fluttering closed. “This is actually.. kind of nice” he says quietly his body slowly relaxing.
“I know,” I say smiling as the steam continues to rise around him. “You’ll thank me later when your pores are clear and your skin looks like glass.”
He cracks an eye open. “If anyone finds out about this we are breaking up.” I smirk “noted.” I respond.
Once the last of the steam fades, I grab a small bottle filled with light pink liquid and give it a shake. “What’s that now?” Sebastian asks suspiciously, already regretting asking. “Toner.” I respond cheerfully “Witch hazel and rose water. It’s refreshing, hydrating, and brightening.”
“It sounds like a scam.” I flick open the cap pour a few drops onto a cotton pad, and gently swipe it across his face. He jerks back at the first touch.
“It’s tingles!”
“That means it’s working.”
“It means it’s attacking me.” He huffs. I press the pad against his temples with extra care. “You’re very brave, love. The first man to ever survive toner.” Once the toners on, I reach for a tiny dropper bottle, holding it up like a rare elixir. “This,” I say dramatically “is serum.”
“I’m going to need actual results after this torture. Like clear skin and a high chance at winning the next quidditch game.” I squeeze a few drops onto his cheeks and forehead, then gently pat it in with my fingers. His eyes flutter slightly once more at the touch.
“See? That’s not so bad is it?” I murmur.
“I still think you are doing this for your own amusement.” He scoffs.
“You’re not wrong there.” I reply grinning. Finally I reach for the tiniest jar in the lineup. “And finally, eye cream” I announce unscrewing the cap.
“Absolutely not!” He says immediately trying to stand.
“Sebastian.”
“I draw the line at under eye potions.”
“You stayed up until three am last night reading about quidditch stats. Sit.” I say firmly. He groans but reluctantly sits back down in the chair. I scoop the barest bit onto my pinky and dab it beneath his eyes with a practiced touch.
“You girls do this everyday?” Sebastian asks. It comes out as more of a statement than a question. “Beauty is pain darling.” I respond. “I’m trying to keep you from looking like a cursed portrait by age thirty.” I add. I wipe my hands and reach for the last full sized jar. A thick velvety moisturizer with a faint scent of chamomile and something sweet wafts through the air. “This is it, the final boss. Moisturizer.”
Sebastian squints at it. “This better not be another potion.”
“You’ll live, you’re almost done.”
“I’ve survived inferi attacks and cursed crypts, but I don’t know If ill survive this.” He says dramatically. I laugh before warming a small amount of the cream between my palms and smoothing it into his skin with slow strokes. His eyes drift shut.
“You’re.. unnervingly good at this.” He mutters.
“I know.” I say softly. I massage his cheeks, forehead and down his jaw. He features going slack under my touch. Tension melting away as he nearly dozes off. “There.” I say softly “you look radiant.”
“I feel like a glazed pastry.” He mumbles opening his eyes.
“You look like one, in a good way of course.” I reach for a small tube and he begins to protest before I silence him. “This is just lip balm, relax. It’s honey vanilla.” He groans but doesn’t move as I swipe the balm across his lips before giving him a quick kiss.
“If anyone finds out about this-“
“I’ll tell them it was your idea.” I cut in, grinning. “There.” I say stepping back to admire my work. “You look refreshed, glowing and ready for practice.” Sebastian exhales slowly.
“You know if you weren’t you, I’d hate you for this.” He says a small smirk tugging at his lips. I lean down kissing his cheek. “Well it’s a good thing I’m me then.” He lets out a small hum.
“I do feel.. oddly loved right now.”
“It’s because you are loved Sebastian.” With that I remove the head wrap, running my hands through his hair. “You better go or you’ll be late. Oh and don’t forget to reapply this later!” I say handing him the lip balm. “Gotta keep your lips soft.” He takes it with an eye roll, but I can’t help but catch the smirk on his lips.
He makes it to practice with two minutes to spare, his broom slung over his shoulder. When he makes it onto the pitch the rest of the team is already warming up. One by one the rest of the teams heads turn towards him. Imelda is the first to speak.
“Did… you do something to your face?” Sebastian slows to a stop. “No.” He mutters his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
“You’re glowing like you’ve just returned from a month long spa retreat to France.” She reply’s stepping closer. Her nose twitches like she’s smelling him. “Is that.. rose? Merlin why do you smell so nice?”
“Shut up.” Sebastian growls his cheeks turning darker.
“Sebastian, you have no pores.” She mutters circling him like a hawk. “None! What the hell happened to you?”
Sebastian runs his hands though his hair, sighs in defeat and says flatly. “My girlfriend tried to kill me with love and skincare okay?” Imelda buckles over laughing catching the attention of the rest of the team.
“You look very refreshed” she says between laughs. The rest of the team laughs around them.
Sebastian groans and marches off towards the field “I’m never letting her near my face again.” But later after practice when no one is looking, he pulls the lip balm out of his pocket and swipes it across his lips with a sigh.