Just visiting (Seff and Sebastian)

[Deleted]

Seff let out a sigh as he looked around the massive library of Hogwarts. As much as he loved Tomes and Scrolls, it was nothing compared to the rows of bookshelves lining the walls here.

It felt like so long ago since he'd been here. Four years was a long time, he guessed. Though he'd never admit it, he kind of missed the place. He wouldn't want to go back, though. He didn't miss it that much. Coming back every once and a while to drop off books and see old acquaintances was good enough for him.

As he finished up the business and catching up with Madam Pince, he strolled between the massive bookcases and picked out all the books he had read during his stay here. Picking out one of his favourites and brushing a hand over the spine, he cracked a rare genuine smile and allowed himself a moment of nostalgia.

Coming back here was always a nice break. As he set the book back and turned the corner, he didn't care whether or not anyone saw him with a foolish grin on his face. Bloody hell, he was back where he'd spent some of the best days of his life. He was only human, after all.

[sebastian]

Sebastian hated interruptions. He always had. It was a trait Gale often chastised him for, though she often tried to be soothing when she went about it these days, like she believed he was made of glass and balanced precariously at the edge of a very high shelf. It was an astute observation of his character these days, he admitted grudgingly, but it was annoying as hell all the same. Still, whether the aforementioned interruptions were caused by noise or people trying to socialize with him didn't matter - the fact of the matter was that he hated them.

Hated them.

Especially when he was trying to read.

And so, naturally, his very first reaction to the shadow that suddenly loomed over him was a very unfavourable one indeed.

"Would you mind?" the ornery Gryffindor asked through gritted teeth, his dark eyes narrowing into angry slits. "I am trying to finish this, and - " He cut himself off as he glanced up, a strange choking sound making it way out of his mouth before he closed his book very distinctly - and with purpose goddamnit.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

ooc;; i suck i'm sorry :c

[Deleted]

Seff didn't lose his smile as Sebastian looked up at him. Sure, it morphed into a sneer, but it was still there nonetheless. He knew he'd run into him here. He always did.

"Hey there, shortstop," he jeered at the young Gryffindor standing in front of him. God, he was short. Or maybe Seff was just tall. He did have a good nine inches on him. He knew it was a combination of both, but making fun of his friend because of his height would never get old. Ever. "Can't say I'm surprised to see you here. I'm here on business. You know, what grownups do."

Leaning down somewhat so Sebastian had to crane his neck to look up at him, he bared his teeth in a contemptuous smile. "And do answer your question, no, I don't mind. Not one bit. Whatcha reading?"

[sebastian]

Sebastian's reaction to the other man's words was a very audible twitch, the kind that mad people often made in popular science fiction movies. The difference was that he was a wizard, not a scientist, and he was a Gryffindor, thank you very much, meaning he didn't twitch.

It also meant that the only one he was fooling was himself.

"Don't call me that," he snapped, and if his eyes narrowed anymore they would have been closed completely. Two twin spots of red appeared on his cheeks, abnormally pale these days and very different from the healthy shade of whatever he used to have. He didn't even pay attention these days, if he were being honest with himself.

"If you were truly on business," he continued in a bit of a mutter, "you wouldn't be over here bothering me! Drop your silly little things off and retreat to your hovel!" Rearranging himself, Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest, a sneer of his own manifesting. "And for your information I was reading something for potions. Snape hates me."

[Deleted]

Seff raised his hands on mock surrender. "Whatever you say." He noticed the growing colour on his cheeks, and laughed. "Great to see you too. And potions, eh? That sounds so dreadfully...boring. I never liked that class."

It was true. He'd hated potions. Spells, he was good at. He had aced that class with top marks. But potions had been his weak point, and no matter how hard he seemed to try, he never really did get much better than average.

Leaning against the bookshelf and crossing his arms, he bared his teeth a little. "Maybe you should read up a little bit about the world of business, pipsqueak. You might learn something about how it actually involves getting out every once and a while, something you have obviously not been doing," he added, grabbing one of Sebastian's pale hands and raising it as if he were studying it. Though his cheeks could hardly be called anything but rosy. He was flattered, for lack of a better word, and tipped his head up ever so slightly as he smirked down at the younger student.

[sebastian]

"You never liked it because you were awful at it," Sebastian said flippantly, his head moving back and forth in a derisive motion as he snatched his hand away from the other man, determinedly averting his eyes to the side and reaching down to grab his bag, which was filled with an unfortunate amount of books both for school and for his own amusement.

Ignoring the way his cheeks flamed just a little more, the sixth year Gryffindor only continued to scowl at the shopkeeper, dark eyes still narrowed.

"I'm sure you know all about the world of successful business," he snapped then. "Being such an expert. After all, you work in a bookstore. That just generates so much income these days, don't you agree? Yes, all the tricks of the trade can be found in there. You must be well-versed." He slung his bag over his shoulder, standing up before turning to the bookshelf behind him and placing the piece he had been reading back in its rightful place, the hateful-looking eye on the spine staring at him triumphantly as if mocking him for something. Stupid potions book.

[Deleted]

Seff leaned an arm against the shelf, half-blocking Sebastian with a grin on his face. "True, true," he said. "Potions aren't of any concern, anyways. Spells are where it's at."

He pretended to study his thumb, and then turned his bright eyes back to dark blue ones that wouldn't meet his gaze. "And actually, being a bookshop owner is better than one would think. Look at me, do you think I'm suffering?" He spread his hand, the one that wasn't currently resting on the bookcase. "Got new strings for my harp, too. Nice ones this time."

His face softened, something it rarely did. Taking in the red rapidly spreading over Sebastian's cheeks, it took everything in him not to laugh. "I thought you'd appreciate that," he said instead, speaking in earnest. The boy needed a break, and Seff knew that he loved when he played the harp for him.

[sebastian]

Sebastian glared at him, gritting his teeth. He tried rising on his tip-toes to just see past the other man's arm, but gave up after reflecting that Seff - insipid and recalcitrant man that he was - was unlikely to move despite what Sebastian himself might wish. He may only be half-blocking him now, but unless Sebastian had a legitimate place to be - like a class, which he didn't, it being Saturday and all - then it wouldn't matter. Resigning himself to the fact that he would likely be stuck, quite literally, in between Seff and the bookshelves for a little while, the sixteen-almost-seventeen-year-old huffed a small sigh and shifted the bag on his shoulder, letting it slide to the ground with a pathetic thunk.

Truth be told, though, he found he didn't really mind the situation. Err. that much, anyway. Obviously he wouldn't find something like this very favourable, but it could be worse. It could be that...
Well, it could be someone else, and that wouldn't have been desirable at all. At all.

"I don't know - I barely see you anymore," Sebastian snapped then, leaning back against the shelves. "You're always in that shop of yours." it was hypocritical - he was always in his classes and his goddamn school, after all - but he wasn't about to acknowledge that. Ever.

This was totally and completely Seff's fault.
Yes.

Still, the thing about the harp had him paying attention, the shift in his body language evident from the way he snapped his head up, shoulders losing the tenseness they had acquire. "O-oh," he said, glancing around like someone was going to jump out from around the shelves and accuse him of being a girl. "Well. It's... it's about time, then," he said gruffly, though he did love the sound of the harp. He always had.

[Deleted]

Seff watched the bag fall to the floor, knowing he had Sebastian's full attention. And knowing again when he flustered at the bit about the harp. As much as he tried to cover it up, Seff knew he had him with that one. "Yeah, I'm always at my shop because I have a job," he growled. "Grace is away, so I'm there full-time. And that means I have to work a lot. Just like you have school. And last time there was a trip to Hogsmeade you didn't go." He felt his smile falter ever so slightly, but fixed it before Sebastian noticed. Or at least he hoped he did. He leaned a little closer, so his mouth was mere inches away from Sebastian's ear. "I've come here four times this year 'on business.' Madam Pince likes me a little more than she likes any of the other students, graduated or not, but even she knows that four book runs in one year is a little out of the ordinary."

When Seff retreated, he tilted his head down so that he could glance with disapproval at him. "I'm going to have worn the damned thing out by the time you come and visit again."

He paused, weighing his actions, and then broke eye contact for a few seconds to make himself look busy studying the books around Sebastian's head. "You can always use the tunnels or something. On the weekends, when they won't really care if you've gone."

Because, even though he'd rather gouge out his eyes than admit it, he got lonely. He had Grace and he had his regular customers, but they just weren't the same. Not to mention that since Grace had gone to London for a few months and wouldn't be back for a couple more weeks.

He turned his eyes back to Sebastian, and raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

[sebastian]

Rolling his shoulders in an attempt to shrug off the sudden feelings of acute discomfort and guilt, Sebastian huffed out another breath, bringing one hand up to clutch lightly at his elbow in an unconscious gesture that maybe gave away more than he would have liked. Stupid Seff. He always managed to do that - make him shiver like a bloody girl. He was not the girl, damnit! There was no girl! "You didn't tell me about Grace, either," he muttered, turning to the shelf and grabbing a book in an attempt to look busy, facing away from the shopowner. "And for your information, I didn't go because - " he broke off with a strangled cough. "It doesn't matter. I'll try and make it next time. I'm sorry." A pause. He didn't know what to say to the last part, and decided to let it drop for the time being.

Sebastian felt Seff's disapproving eyes on him, but he didn't turn to look back. "You won't. If you even begin you, you'll stop, and you'll preserve them." He glanced over his shoulder. "I know you will."

He slipped back into the table he had been occupying before, flopping into the chair. "I've never considered the tunnels," he said at last. They had discovered them back in his first year, but not much had been said about them.

Feelings of guilt crept over him then, persisting until he was visibly reacting to them, shifting and unable to sit still where he otherwise wouldn't have any problem. He hadn't been doing very much, and, goddamnit, now he felt awful.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've got to maintain my grades, and..." He trailed off. What else could he even say?

[Deleted]

Seff didn't say anything, just watched as the boy twisted and turned in the chair as if he were crawling with ants. He'd said what he wanted to say. He knew that he could continue arguing, perhaps even convince him, but he didn't want to cause further conflict. The unsaid part about why he hadn't come to Hogsmeade and why he hadn't set aside some time for him upset him, more than he liked, and he knew that he had mentioned Grace in a letter earlier that year. Which meant that he was just making up excuses. Or trying to change the subject so he didn't have to.

He knew Sebastian was right about the harp strings, though. He wouldn't wear them out as long as he wasn't there. The damned boy was the whole reason he bought them in the first place, anyways. They both knew the tunnels would be a good idea, as well. Plenty of other students had been using them already, to get out on weekends when a trip to Hogsmeade wasn't planned for a while. A few had stopped by his shop, though he hadn't cared enough to ask them why they weren't in school.

So instead he huffed out a sigh, shaking his head, and stood up to his full height. Sebastian looked uncomfortable; guilty, even. Seff didn't even muster up his usual smirk as he finally responded.

"Okay," he said. "If you wanna come, then just send a note a day or so before. It's okay if you don't. You've got school, after all." He knew that part was more an excuse than anything; Sebastian's grades were in no danger of falling anytime soon. "If not, then I'll see you next trip to Hogsmeade, I guess."

[sebastian]

Sebastian sighed, glancing up at Seff through his hair, which he had absently flipped in front of his eyes. "I will be there on the next trip," he promised quietly. "Gale will come with me. Students aren't... kind. Not to 'Mudbloods.'" He cut himself off, eHis face darkened at that, and he glanced around the library like another student would pop out and eat him or some strange thing like that. "But I'll be there."

It really did make him feel guilty, and he honestly didn't know why he hadn't used the tunnels before then. The majority of the students had no idea they even existed, after all; in fact, he couldn't name a time he had ever seen anyone else traipsing them or even talking about them, and Lord knew that these things didn't stay a secret for very long in a place as rampant with gossip as Hogwarts - especially in a time like this.

He wanted to say more - Hell, he wanted to explain - but he kept his mouth stubbornly shut because it would do no good to anyone if he started babbling again. After all, not even Gale's strong pureblooded family could interfere now that Hogwarts was what it was. Death Eaters everywhere, Muggleborn prejudice as strong as it had ever been - heck, it was hard enough getting to his classes sometimes with all the hecklers in the hallway.
And not all of them were Slytherin.

But Seff didn't need to know that. Sebastian wouldn't tell him.
No good would come of it if he did.

[Deleted]

Seff stiffened at the comment about the Mudbloods. He knew about the intolerance directed towards them; he'd overheard many people talking about it around Hogsmeade. As well as the uneasy amount of Death Eaters now housed within the school. And truth be told, he worried about Sebastian. More than he probably needed too. He felt his eyes darken and his teeth grind together, suddenly much more suspicious than before.

He was lying. Or at least leaving out facts. Seff crossed his arms, taking in the boy in front of him, and realized he'd never seen Sebastian in this many clothes before. A long robe and a turtleneck must be awfully hot, and it was not the ideal temperature in the library to be wearing the combination. Even Seff, in a plain button-up shirt and an open jacket, felt slightly balmy. Sebastian must be overheating in his wardrobe. And there was the fidgeting, too. The way he couldn't meet his eyes, when so many times before he possessed the attitude that he might as well die before losing a staring contest, was unnerving.

That, and the hype about the students colluding against Mudbloods, came together for him in understanding. His fingernails left dark half-moons on his arms where his grip was far too tight to be comfortable, and his face twisted in a sudden snarl of disgust. How did he not see this before? Stupid, stupid. The signs had been everywhere.

He scrutinized Sebastian, noting how it obviously added to his discomfort, but didn't stop. The way his hairline just covered a darkening bruise on his head. The way he seemed to favour his left leg ever so slightly. The way he didn't let the sleeves of his robe show anything past his fingers.

Seff felt his body tense, anger boiling up in his veins. He couldn't get angry. He wouldn't do that to Sebastian; it would only make things worse. Huffing out a deep sigh and forcing him to relax somewhat, he held his head in his right hand briefly before turning back to the young Gryffindor.

"Tell me what they did to you," he said as gently as he could, genuine concern present in his tone, "and what I can do to help."

[sebastian]

Sebastian's eyes shot up instantly, dark and filled with something akin to absolute horror, even as he leapt out of his chair and searched the library, his flight response telling him to run run run someone knows even though, less than four months ago, before his parents' murder, he would have fought back tooth and nail. But now, the only thought in his mind was that he had to get out of here, because there were Death Eaters and Death Eaters didn't like muggleborns, and he would be next.

He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. People weren't supposed to find out. Gale was suspicious, but he had been looking rather pale lately anyway, and she chalked it up to nerves and perhaps just a means of comforting himself.

He should have guessed that Seff would figure it out.

"It's nothing," the sixth year said sharply, his fear channelling itself into anger, because anger he could use. "There's nothing you can do about it. This is Hogwarts now," he said sarcastically, scorn making his eyes appear like obsidian. "Where tolerance is preached by spells and jinxes."

ooc; short post, sorry.

[Deleted]

Seff immediately felt his face darken, his jaw clenching and his eyes narrowing somewhat. It wasn't easy to get anything out of Sebastian these days; why did he think this day was going to be any different? He noted how Sebastian's eyes flickered nervously around them, as if he expected someone else would jump out at him. No one should have to live in fear, Seff thought to himself, preferring to think of something like that rather than all the horrible things he would do to someone if he caught them doing so much as laying a finger on him. Horrible would be a very, very mind word.

"I'm not an idiot," Seff growled at him, taking a step forward. "Stop trying to hide from me. You know me, better than most. You know that I'm going to find out one way or another." His eyes flashed, and he shuddered with sudden adrenaline. "I always do."

But he paused, rethinking his approach, and stopped. Running a now shaking hand through his hair--he blamed it on anger, not nerves--he huffed out a deep breathe and shoved his hands into his pockets, hard. He had to stop making an ass out of himself in front of Sebastian.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, the words funny on his tongue. He never apologized, but hell, he never tried to calm his anger, either. If there was any day where he was going to tear down the barriers that had been there for nearly twenty-two years of his life, today seemed like an ideal day to do so.

HA HA HORRIBLE OOC POST sorry