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fortheloveof-sebastian · 1 year

Text

Bloody Good Luck

Pairings: Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Summary: Garreth tries to help ease your nerves about public speaking with a new potion. When things don’t exactly go as planned, Sebastian is there to support you.

Warnings: public speaking, fluff, blood and nosebleeds, playful fighting

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: This oneshot was requested by @sallyface1726 ! I hope this is what you were looking for. I think I might’ve gone off a little from your original request, but I hope you enjoy, I had a fun time writing it🥰

"Here, this will do it."

"What is it?"

You peer into the cauldron set in front of you. Boiling inside is a sickly-looking green liquid. The creator of said potion, Garreth, beams at you with an enthusiasm that you can't muster enough to match.

"It's very...green." It's the kindest thing you can think to say.

Garreth grins. "Isn't it bloody brilliant? This should do the trick to ease all of your worries."

Using the tip of your wand, you poke at the boiling potion. It doesn't burn your wand like acid, or turn it a funny color, or any other abhorrent third thing that you have yet to imagine; not to say that it bolsters your confidence, you're still rather quite concerned that you've somehow cemented your death.

"Have you tried it?" You ask the red headed Gryffindor.

Garreth's expression wavers. "No," he admits, then quickly adds, "but that's only because I don't need it, remember? I paired up with Amit for the project. He's taken care of it all."

Internally, you curse yourself. It would've been smart to complete the project with a partner, but you dreaded the outcomes — either you shouldered the entire thing by yourself, or your opinions were smothered by an insufferable know-it-all. Besides, your grade in Beasts Class was severely tanking, and you needed to secure a perfect score without any liability.

That is, of course, not counting your crippling fear of public speaking.

You had been complaining to Sebastian and Ominis on your way to class last week; flanked by the two Slytherin, and strolling casually through the courtyard, you thought you were safe. But apparently, you hadn't taken into consideration that your fears would be overhead, especially by that of Garreth, who you either loved or tolerated based on his current antics.

"Did you say you're worried?" Garreth had asked, barging between you and Ominis, slightly out of breath as if he had ran across the castle.

Ominis scoffed at the intrusion, his expression souring. "Well, pardon me," he retorted.

"I forgive you, mate," Garreth said, oblivious. He pushed the hair from his face. "So, did you say you had some worries about the upcoming presentation?"

Your gaze has drifted to Sebastian. He shrugged.

"Um, yeah," you finally admitted.

"Listen, I've been working on something — no, no, don't give me that face. I've been working on something to ease people's fears. A potion. After you drink it, your fears will vanish."

You frowned. "And how does that work?"

"Like I said, I've been working on it." Garreth grinned at you. "What do you say? You could be the first person to try it."

"I don't know —" you began.

Garreth's eyes widened. "Please? I'm sure it will be a smashing success. I'll even share the profits with you! Everyone will be dying to try it. I happen to know a first year who is so terrified of Professor Sharpe that he might buy the 'ole lot —"

"Fine," you conceded.

Garreth's mouth snapped shut. If you hadn’t been so reluctant about accepting, you might've smiled at his childlike excitement.

You’re then brought back to the present by Garreth pushing a goblet in your hand. "You'll want to take it now, before class, so that it has time to work," Garreth instructs.

Miserably, you look down into the goblet.

"Are you really going to drink that?" Sebastian's familiar voice floats into the room. Garreth and you both turn to find him strolling into the empty Potions classroom, shrugging on his robes.

You grimace. "I think so."

"And you tested it?" Sebastian asks. He stands slightly behind you now, and his proximity incites an entire flock of jobberknolls in your stomach.

Garreth has the good sense to appear nervous.

"Um, yeah, of course," he says. He suddenly loses the ability to maintain eye contact, then mumbles some excuse about finding Amit and scurries away. Sebastian watches him leave.

"I don't have a good feeling about this."

You gently punch his arm. "You didn't have to scare him away."

"What?" Sebastian feigns offense. "I did not."

"Yes, you did," you reply, full of amusement. "After you hexed Everett the other day for pranking me, no one wants to cross you."

Sebastian pauses, seeming to digest this information. Finally, he settles on, "Well he had it coming for him."

"You don't have to defend me, you know. I can do it perfectly fine myself."

"I know." Sebastian's lips curl upward. You try very hard not to think about what it's like to kiss him. "I just like to. Is that such a crime?"

"Hardly. Although it could quite possibly turn into one if you keep on this path of leaping to defend my honor," you tease him.

Sebastian smiles, then, and the sight of it is like the sun breaking through the clouds. "Guilty as charged." His expression changes slightly. "You were kidding about taking that potion, though, weren't you? Garreth can't be trusted."

The liquid in the goblet gurgles.

"You know how anxious I get," you remind him. Even the thought of the impending presentation makes your stomach twist and turn.

Sebastian frowns. "There has to be another way."

"I'm doing it, and you can't stop me."

"Well, go on then."

You grip on the goblet tightens. Now, it was no longer a matter of easing your nerves but proving your bravery. Sebastian watches, in thinly veiled amusment, as you pinch your nose and then drain the goblet of its contents. The potion doesn't taste half as bad as you thought it would.

Slamming the goblet down on the table, you announce, "Okay, I'm ready."

"Feeling any different?" Sebastian asks.

"I don't know," you tell him, "and I don't care. I'll see you on the other side."

And then you march towards the Beasts classroom.

The class begins rather uneventfully. Professor Howin introduces the topic of presentation — the care of exotic beasts — and selects the first student pairing to present. You're grateful that you're not first, but when it's your time to present, there's a nervous stirring in the pit of your stomach. You make your way to the front of the class.

Sebastian smiles at you from the back row. Garreth gives you a double thumbs up. And Natty, who is aware of your social anxieties after a disastrous project in Charms together, straightens in her seat and gives you an encouraging nod. Emboldened, you launch into your presentation about the care of Thorny Newts, bright-colored amphibians who dwell mostly in the eastern regions of Asia.

While the presentation starts slowly, you gradually feel yourself relax. You're not even a quarter of the way through the presentation when the tightening in your chest loosens, and you're suddenly confidently carrying through the necessities of Thorny Newt care. In fact, you barely remember feeling afraid at all.

You're about to delve into the feeding requirements of the Thorny Newt when someone near the front of the class gasps. You're not sure what it's about, so you forge ahead. Only when several other students start to recoil in surprise do you suspect that something is wrong.

Panicked, you look for Sebastian.

Looking rather pale, he mimes wiping his nose.

You copy the gesture, and immediately feel a thick wetness; you pull away, and find blood now smeared across your hand and sleeve. Horror yawns inside you. Your speech falters as even more blood begins to seep from your nose.

In an effort to stop the bleeding, you hold your sleeve firmly against your nose.

"Thorny Newts? More like Bloody Newts!" One of the other fifth years shout. This provokes a chorus of giggles. Several more students chime in on the unfortunate situation, until everyone is either covering their mouths in disgust or laughing uproariously.

Tears spring to your eyes. You wish desperately that a portal would open under your feet and swallow you up, take you somewhere where nobody knew your name. A mixture of humiliation and sadness crash over you.

Professor Howin approaches you. "Oh, dear —" but it's all the time she has to say before there's another eruption of gasps.

Grateful for, well, only a portion of the attention to be diverted from you, you stare in wide-eyed confusion as Sebastian shoots to his feet. Crimson blood dribbles down his lips and onto the front of his robes.

The class has lost all means of respect. Chants of "Bloody Newt" echo and disturb the nearby beasts in their pens. Students laugh at you, and now Sebastian. Professor Howin swallows thickly, then glances between the both of you.

"Infirmary, now!" She orders. "And if this was just some ploy to get out of your schoolwork, we will be having a firm talk with the headmaster."

Ashamed, you duck your head and scurry away. You're about halfway up the path to the infirmary, nose still gushing blood, when Sebastian catches up with you. His laughter, which usually comforts you, only makes the blush burning your cheeks even warmer.

"I can't believe that happened!" He cries, delighted.

Doing nothing to staunch his own bloody nose, it runs freely down his face. You find it highly annoying that he still manages to be painfully handsome.

You don't reply, and just walk faster.

"Hey, Y/N —" he grabs your shoulder. "Are you crying?"

You yank away from him. Tears mix with the blood. Swallowing, you try to disguise your sadness but fail epically. "I—yes. That was properly embarrassing. In front of the whole class, too." You shake your head. "I'm probably going to fail Beasts Class now."

Sebastian scoffs. "No you won't. Not if I have anything to do with it."

"Why is your nose bleeding anyway?" You ask. "If you did it just to save me, I already told you that I don't need you doing that. And now Howin thinks it's something we planned."

You hiccup.

You hated crying. Your face got splotchy, and you could hardly control your voice from revealing your emotions. Perhaps you were a fool to think that taking a potion would magically fix your fears, or that a presentation could actually go well.

Sebastian persists, matching your pace despite your efforts to lose him. "If you want the truth, I took some of the potion after you left. I knew Garreth would mess up somehow."

You shoot him a glance. "Really?"

"Swear." Finally, he swipes at his bloody nose but it only seems to make it worse. "You were doing so well that I thought the bastard actually did something."

You sniff. "You think?"

"Yes! You were brilliant!" Sebastian exclaims. "Howin would be foolish not to give you credit for it, bloody nose or not."

You had almost made it to the infirmary. Your tears had nearly ceased, although the blood had not. "I should've taken your word about trusting any potion made by Garreth."

"I will abstain from my right to say I told you so," Sebastian teases.

The nurse at the infirmary immediately ushers you both onto side-by-side beds and begins working. Sebastian and you share small, secretive smiles when she asks what happened. Neither of you tell her the truth. She doesn't seemed convinced, but manages to find a cure despite your lack of answers.

You're given instructions to wait half an hour, in case the bleeding starts again, and then return back to class.

"What I don't understand," you say, as the nurse leaves to tend to another patient, "is why you took the potion too. You're not scared of public speaking."

Sebastian shrugs. "You're not wrong."

"So why then? Especially if you don't trust Garreth."

"I couldn't let you take it alone. Whatever was going to happen, we were going to go through it together," he explains. Somewhat sheepishly, he adds, "I should've told you not to take it in the first place instead of challenging you. You do a wonderful job in everything you do, there's no need for stupid fear reducing potions."

Your previous humiliation melts into bliss. "It's sweet of you to say that."

"It's true, though," Sebastian says. "I know you don't like talking in front of others, but you're obviously so passionate about everything you do that hardly anyone even notices."

"They notice now," you remark.

"Shame on them, then. It shouldn't take a little blood for them to notice how great you are."

"Just a little?"

Sebastian snorts and rolls his eyes. "Did you have to ruin a perfectly nice sentiment?"

"I just wanted to confirm your perspective on the amount of blood that you qualifies as little," you reply with a laugh. Both of your robes are stained with dried blood.

The nurse dismisses you both.

You and Sebastian lapse into a discussion about how the rest of your day will look — now that you both look as if you've been in a horrendous battle — when he catches sight of something across the courtyard that makes him freeze.

Following his eyes, you spot Garreth moving through the crowd of students.

"Sebastian —" you warn.

"Weasley, c'mere you little twat!" Sebastian shouts. It's as if you hadn't even spoken.

He tears himself from your side in order to pursue the Gryffindor. You watch, partly in amusement and partly in disbelief, as Sebastian races across the courtyard and finally manages to tackle Garreth into a pile of leaves. Sounds of their tussle rise above the chatter of students, interspersed with the flash of red and green robes as their identities get lost in a tangle of limbs.

"Who messed with you now?"

Ominis appears at your side. His features are the picture of nonchalance.

You sigh. "Garreth."

"Bloody nose?"

"How did you know?" You look at him skeptically.

Ominis clicks his tongue. "Just because I cannot see does not mean I cannot hear." There's a pause as you, watching, and Ominis, listening, observe the fight between the two boys. "Should we stop them?"

You frown. "Mm. In a second."

Sure, you didn't need Sebastian to leap to your defense like a rabid dog, but it didn't mean that you didn't like it. It brought a certain kind of warmth to your body.

Besides, there were far worse things in the world then to be loved fiercely.

#fanfic #hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #harry potter #fluff #sebastian sallow x reader #reader #magical beasts

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