Lumos

Sebastian

Felicity couldn’t sleep.

The sun hadn’t yet risen and Felicity kept thinking about a nice walk around the lake. Was it too early to be out in the corridors? Would she get into trouble? She got out of bed and crept to the window, peering out at the silver sky. It was nearly sunrise - what could it hurt? If anyone stopped her, she could just explain that she didn’t know it was too early to be out.

After putting on a simple, white blouse and jeans, ignoring the need for shoes, Felicity stole out of the dormitory and out into the common room. A far table was covered in bits of scrap parchment and she briefly considered doing her homework. Deciding it couldn’t hurt, she hurried back upstairs, collecting her bag, and left the common room - she’d be more motivated to work out in the fresh air.

Felicity made it all the way to the entrance hall without meeting a soul. The morning air was chilly and the grass was damp beneath her bare feet as she made her way down to the lake.She managed to find a fairly dry spot and emptied her books onto the grass, then laid out her bag to use as a seat. Tucking her legs beneath her, she popped the lid of her ink bottle, placed it by her knees, and dipped her quill in it, wondering how to best begin on her Transfiguration homework - the uses of Switching Spells.

She managed to scratch down the few things she remembered about Switching Spells, but Felicity soon set the parchment aside in favor of her potions homework. Shed completed it by the time the sun came up fully. Next, she pulled a handful of matches from her pocket and dropped them on top of one of her books. Taking out her wand, she concentrated very hard, trying to picture the wood transforming into silver, the red tip becoming pointy and shiny.

But, no matter how hard she tried, Felicity couldn’t get the match to turn into a needle.

“Need help?” a quiet voice asked just over her shoulder.

For a fleeting moment, she hoped it was one of the twins - once she turned around, however, she’d have been happy to see anyone other than who it actually was.

Sebastian sat down heavily next to her and picked up her abandoned Transfiguration homework. “You know, I don’t think ‘switch someone’s lips with a zipper’ is quite what McGonagall’s looking for.”

“Maybe if the Weasley twins were around, she would,” said Felicity, snatching the parchment away. “Besides, no one asked you.”

Sebastian sighed, brushing some of his dark hair from his face. “Look, Felicity, I’m sorry, okay?”

“For what?” she asked innocently. “For letting Malfoy talk to me like that? Or for choosing them over me? Or for basically abandoning me before we even got to school?”

“Look, Felicity-”

Or,” Felicity continued, her voice getting rather shrill as she started stuffing her belongings into her bag, “for letting your petty girlfriend call my mother names?”

“She what? Felicity-”

“Or for spending all summer pretending you wanted to be my friend?”

“Felicity!” he shouted, looking irritated. “I do want to be your friend, but you’re making it bloody difficult.”

I’m making it difficult?” she repeated.

“Yeah. If you could just keep your temper- I mean, the way you snapped at Malfoy-”

Felicity let out a strangled sort of laugh, cutting Sebastian off mid-sentence. “I cannot believe this is your idea of apologizing. If you don’t understand that your friends were in the wrong, not me, then I really don’t think there’s any point in us talking anymore.”

Jumping to her feet, Felicity began to walk back up to the castle.

“Hell, Felicity, would you just stop for a minute?” Sebastian called, hurrying after her. He caught her at the elbow and jerked her around to face him. Dropping her arm, he said, “Look, can’t we just start over?”

Felicity looked up at him, trying to read all the emotions on his sincere face. He looked so much now like he had in her kitchen, that morning when he’d brought her letter. But she remembered his other side, the way he’d looked when they met and again on the train, in front of his friends. It was like he was two different people, and Felicity wasn’t sure she could be friends with either one of them.

“I already gave you a second chance, so there’s no reason for us to keep talking.”

She turned to go, but stopped when Sebastian said, “What about the flying lesson? When you hugged me? Or that moment in the car, when Markus asked if you thought I was handsome? Holding my hand in Gringotts? Aren’t those reasons for us to… to try this again?”

Felicity hesitated, her heart thumping loudly as her thoughts raced. Did she dare trust him enough for another chance at friendship? She thought of Ulric, who had thrown himself in front of a curse for her - the twins, who had offered to jinx someone for her before they were even friends - even Neville, who had stopped her from stepping into the grip of the venomous tentacula during Herbology just a few days ago. Friends, she thought, protected you.

Before she could say this to Sebastian, however, a voice called, “Bastian! There you are!”

Felicity turned and saw Katrina heading their direction from the castle. She stopped short, her smile slipping as she saw Felicity. Frowning, she looked at Sebastian and said, “What are you doing out here with her?”

“Just ran into each other,” said Sebastian calmly. “We were talking about Switching Spells.”

“Yeah,” said Felicity half-heartedly. She hurried past Katrina who, to Felicity’s surprise, made no attempt to stop her.

The doors to the Great Hall were now open, the soft drone of voices reaching Felicity as she entered the castle. She spotted Neville sitting alone, prodding a spoon with his wand. Sitting opposite him and slowly picking apart a bagel, she watched him wordlessly. Finally, she cleared her throat and said gently, “Neville?”

Neville gave his spoon another prod. His hand was still a bit red, but the nurse had gotten rid of most of the evidence of the boils. “I’m trying to turn it to wood.”

“Out of matches?”

“Set them all on fire.”

“I have some extra,” said Felicity, dropping a handful onto Neville’s plate.

“What if they catch fire?”

In reply, Felicity picked up a nearby goblet of water and held it up pointedly. While Neville toiled with the matches, Felicity spread out her DADA homework and tried to remember the ways to treat a werewolf bite.

“Are you alright?” Neville asked after a few minutes, surprising Felicity.

“Sure,” answered Felicity. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem...off.”

“Off?”

“Yeah. You’re usually smiling. Even when you’re not, you look like it, I mean.”

“Er, okay. I didn’t know that.” Felicity worked her face into a smile. “Better?”

“I suppose. Do you feel better?”

Felicity considered this for a moment, then answered with a shrug. Since she didn’t really have an answer for him, she decided to put the whole matter out of her mind. Sebastian and Katrina, Uncle Markus, all of it. If Sebastian wasn’t going to make the effort, she couldn’t be his friend. It was that simple.

However, sitting in the common room that afternoon, Felicity was startled when an owl fluttered through the open window and landed in front of her. Ulric, who had fallen asleep on his Charms essay, snorted and turned his head away from the owl’s tickling wings. A snore told Felicity he was still fast asleep.

The owl hooted balefully at Felicity and held out its leg, attached to which was a small roll of parchment. Curious, Felicity took the parchment, spread it out before her, and read-

Felicity,

We need to talk. It’s important. Please meet me by the kitchens tonight at midnight.

Sebastian


For a long moment, Felicity stared at the note. Everything about it was suspicious - why did it need to be midnight? Why so far away from her common room? And why, oh why, couldn’t he have just said whatever he wanted to say when they spoke earlier?

The more she thought about it, the angrier Felicity got. No, she wouldn’t put herself and Gryffindor’s chances of winning the House Cup at risk just so Sebastian could talk to her in some secret manner to protect his precious reputation. It wasn’t worth it. And, she reminded herself, she didn’t care what he had to say, anyway.

Right?

. . .

At a quarter to midnight, Felicity quietly pulled a sweater over her pyjamas and crept out of the dormitory. The common room was, luckily, empty. So, steeling her nerves, she pushed open the portrait hole and climbed through. The corridors were dark and a little chilly; Felicity pulled her white sweater a little tighter around her and hurried off toward the stairs.

It was the most terrifying thing she’d done so far. Every shadow looked like Filch or Mrs. Norris, the caretaker’s cat that seemed to be able to summon Filch instantly to wherever rules were being broken. Her thoughts raced, imagining the trouble she’d be in if she were caught. Detention. Twenty points from Gryffindor, maybe even more. But, she told herself, a Gryffindor was brave and someone brave took risks.

It was just before midnight when Felicity reached the entrance to the dungeons, by which she’d heard the kitchens were accessed. It was colder than ever and she began to wish she’d worn warmer clothes. The darkness seemed to press in around her as she waited next to a stack of barrels, behind which she planned to hide if she heard anyone coming.

Felicity was just wondering what was taking Sebastian so long when she heard shuffling footsteps heading her way. Then a voice that was definitely not Sebastian’s called, “I know you’re ‘ere. Show yourself.”

It was Filch, just around the bend in the corridor.

Heart in her throat, Felicity backed away from his voice, back up the steps into the entrance hall. Here, she turned and moved as quickly as she could away from Filch’s voice without making any noise. She could hear him talking, probably to Mrs. Norris, and he seemed to be gaining on her.

This is it, Felicity thought, I’m going to lose so many points from Gryffindor. Maybe even get expelled. Her stomach clenched - expelled from Hogwarts after just one week. It had to be some kind of record. It felt like she’d been hit by a Jelly-Legs jinx - she could barely seem to support herself. Half-panicked, she ducked behind a suit of armor, clinging to one of the ornate tapestries hung on either side of it.

From behind her, Felicity could hear Filch’s wheezing breaths as he hurried toward her. He would be upon her any second, and then she’d be in trouble - on the train home before dawn, probably. Just as she was about to completely break down, a hand shot out from behind the tapestry, grabbing her arm in a vice-grip and dragging her behind the hanging fabric. A hand clamped over her mouth to prevent her screaming and she found herself in a narrow passage completely concealed by tapestry, nose-to-nose with one of the Weasley twins.

“Come out, you little nuisance,” muttered Filch, sounding very close now.

The twin - George, she realized, recognizing his wand - met her panicked eyes with his own calm ones, holding a finger to his lips and then whispering, “Knox,” extinguishing his wand and casting them into total blackness. His hand found hers in the darkness and pulled her down the passageway, his steps silent as cats’ paws. Unable to see, Felicity did her best to trust his guidance, focusing only on keeping her footfalls as quiet as possible.

The passageway got lower as they neared the end - George had to hunch to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. Felicity felt like she was being strangled by the darkness and her own misery. She’d almost been caught. Gryffindor would’ve lost so many points if she’d been caught. Not only that, but Filch had clearly known someone was going to be there - Sebastian had set her up.

After a time, Felicity and George slipped out of the passage, into a hallway near the Transfiguration classroom. Only once they’d made it to the stairs and were steadily climbing did George say in a whisper, “You are absolutely mental. What were you thinking, wandering the entrance hall at night? It’s almost always got someone patrolling nearby.”

“I… I didn’t know,” said Felicity feebly.

“What were you doing down there, anyway? There’s better places to explore.”

“I was, er, supposed to meet someone.”

“Oh?” asked George curiously, eyebrows raised.

Felicity blushed. “Not like that. He’s my, er… relative, somewhat. Not blood, but… I thought I should give him a chance. And…”

They were nearing the Fat Lady’s portrait now, their steps a little less stealthy, their voices a bit less cautious.

George, his mouth twisting in a grimace, said, “And?”

“And…” Felicity shrugged, looking down at the floor. “I thought it would be cowardly not to meet him just because I was scared to get caught.”

They reached the Fat Lady, who eyed them suspiciously but said nothing, gave the password, and climbed through the portrait hole into the common room. Fred was sitting up in one of the overstuffed armchairs, snoring softly. George elbowed him awake as he said to Felicity, “You’re lucky I noticed you leave. Next time you fancy a night stroll, let us know. We’ll show you the ropes.”

Fred, who had been glaring at them, irritated at having been woken up, brightened and said, “Well, well. What have we here?”

“A rescue mission,” George said, taking a thick piece of parchment from his pocket and handing it to Fred, who stowed it away in his bag.

“Out wandering at night, Felicity?” Fred asked. “Told you so. Your heart draws you to the rule-breaking side. Join us. Join us and give in to your inner trouble-maker.”

Felicity, feeling somewhat more relaxed, rolled her eyes. “No, thanks. I think I’ll go to bed now.”

“Include us next time!” Fred called after her retreating back.

“And don’t worry about that bloke,” added George.

“We’ll hex him for you.”

“Thanks,” she replied before closing the dormitory door.

The other girls were all, of course, fast asleep. Felicity crawled quietly into bed, not even bothering with her pyjamas. She would never admit it to anyone, but she cried herself to sleep that night.