RESTRICTED {{SEB}}

[ada]

-----STEAL MY HEART-----
AND HOLD MY TONGUE
---------------

Oh, the joys of leading a double life! Not only did it make a girl personable and just a great companion, it also left her lots of free time, and therefore she had loads of extra energy to burn.

Right.

Ada Williams was tired, both emotionally and physically. All this sneaking around after-hours left very little time for sleep, not to mention the fact that she had to write reports in that damned “journal” they gave her. Every day. No skipping, because the Muggles needed to know everything that she knew. And Ada could’ve handled being physically tired—she’d worked long, late shifts as a waitress since she was fourteen—if it weren’t for the emotional stress that came with it. Her inner conflicts actually left her more drained than anything she did physically. She hated talking to the other Gryffindors and smiling and trying to joke, while all the time knowing that she would sneak out later that night and report everything to a Muggle agency that certainly didn’t have anything good in store for these wizards and witches.

But it was Ada’s job to learn and pass on the information, and she found it was much easier to do when she thought of it as exactly that: a job. She was even getting paid for it, in a way. So after classes had ended, Ada had forsaken the social time with the other students and headed straight for the library, where she picked out a nice little table in the corner, sat down, did some of her homework, and then got started on her other homework. She pulled out a note from her Transfiguration Professor that asked the librarian to allow her access to the Restricted Section. Ada had asked the Professor for the special permission because she genuinely liked the class, for one, but also because the Professor liked her back, and didn’t doubt Ada’s motives for a minute when she asked to look up advanced Transfiguration techniques. The fact that the Professor never even doubted Ada stung a little, and it made Ada feel horrible for abusing his trust—she despised betrayals, and here she was, betraying someone else. She tried not to think about it as she opened up the old book and diligently took notes, not really caring if the Muggles found it interesting or helpful at all. In fact, she took pride in making her handwriting as messy as possible.

The book got to a particularly dry chapter involving the effects of a mispronounced spell and the counterspell that such a thing would require, and Ada found her eyelids getting heavier and heavier…

She jerked her head up, peeling her cheek off of the page of the book that it had been stuck to. God, how long had she been out? Fifteen minutes, maybe? Ada held up a skinny wrist and pulled up her sleeve, checking the face of the watch that lay beneath it. She blanched—an hour and a half? Christ, she’d even missed dinner. And the library wouldn’t stay open for too much longer…Ada was such a great time manager. And she’d wasted so much time. Usually Ada was a hard worker—she could accomplish things through sheer willpower. And yet she’d wasted most of her night in a corner of the library, asleep on a Restricted book that she might not get access to again. Crap.

”Way to go, Ada,” she mumbled to herself, shoving her notes into her book bag and running her hands over her face. ”You’ve successfully accomplished nothing.” She rubbed her eyes, wondering how she could still be tired after such an indulgent nap. She tried, unsuccessfully, to rub away the crease mark the book had left in her cheek, but gave up after a while. She felt oddly disoriented, as if the nap had left a fog over her mind that had yet to evaporate in the face of her own regained awareness. Ada was prepared to wait it out and simply get her bearings straight before she tried to do something about the book, but a sound nearby made her jump, and the fog was suddenly cleared away. She was overreacting—it was just another student, or even the librarian herself. Still, Ada didn’t stop herself from calling out, ”Hello?”

((gah >.< my muse ran out halfway through--sorry!))

[seb]

Sebastian turned a corner heading in the general direction of the library. He was running slightly later than he'd have like. Not that he really had any thing against the house of Slytherin as a whole but why was it that most of the bullies of the school seemed to originate from there? His hold up, the reason his was running a bit behind on his plans for the evening, had involved happening to pass a first year girl who looked to be on the verge of tears having the mickey taken out of her in a none to pleasant way by some burly dunder head of a boy. He was maybe a fourth year by the look of him and was making her feel like the most daft student in the school for simply having asked him directions. This had placed Seb in a wrench, really he'd rather not get involved with...well, anything that didn't directly concern him. But she was a bloody first year.. the git was obviously doing it just because he could.

Seb had stopped short a few feet past the two, closed his eyes with a sigh and a shake of his head and turned back to stride over to them. While not one of the tallest in the school and by far not the most intimidating when it came to muscular stature, he had his fair share but his build just didn't pull off the whole " I'll kick your arse if we fight " look. What he did have was a solid two years in age difference from the kid and a reputation for being simply unknown.. no doubt those intrigued by his aloft nature had their own rumors and guesses at his character and temperament, none of which Seb had heard, or had any desire to hear about.. let them think what they like, as long as they stayed out of his way. Apparently the boy 'had' heard one such rumor or two, that, or the age difference had un-nerved him. As Sebastian stopped in front of the kid, he didn't bother to cross his arms, give a pointed look or any other show of trying to intimidate. Rather he just stood there his hand on the strap across his shoulder that supported his school bag, and his intense gaze focused on the kid as he voiced a simple and quietly toned comment. " You know, getting lost once in awhile isn't really a bad thing,.. it can be learned from, ..you should try it... "

The kid eyed him nervously for a moment before glowering at the girl and heading off down the hall. Sebastian's gaze dropped, expression straight lipped and calm, to the small girl briefly. She was smiling at him and her gratitude tugged a small smile in return to the corner of his mouth. He nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. "Two floors down and head to the end of the corridor.. watch out the third step on the second set though..it'll vanish on you. " He watched as the girl thanked him and hurried off the the steps and then had continued on his way.

Which was why he now found himself a bit behind in the time he'd planned for things this afternoon. Usually when he chose to visit the library the best time to do so was right after class. If he could make it there before any other student his choice table in the corner would be free and once he had settled into a seat at it most people, on noticing him, would veer away and seek out an open space elsewhere. The solitude was preferable, it gave him time to study, allowed him to jot a note or two obviously intended to be read by an outside party who might not understand many of the terms mentioned in his notes. He didn't have to be concerned that some nosy student might read over his shoulder, become suspicious. He wanted extra details in his notes this week, his last must have been less than satisfying as the letter he'd received from Kimberly had suggested that she hadn't been given much time to write, and there fore basically had just assured him she was doing ok and that school was going well but boring and how she wished his school wasn't so far away, or that he could go to one closer to home. Kim didn't know about what he was..about..this..he thought as his gaze took in the high arched ceiling of the castles library.

Skimming the room his eyes came to settle of his favorite table, only to find that it was already occupied.That new girl, an exchange from the states or something. He'd seen her around the castle and common room, but like with most everyone else hadn't bothered to introduce himself. She'd likely just gotten here, brilliant.. well, that was his loss for getting involved on behalf of the first year. Mark it down as a bad choice and move on then, Turning on his heel he headed off to occupy himself with other tasks till dinner.

****
Over an hour later a large black tom cat could be seen padding silently at the edge of the corridor leading to the library. Seb's caramel colored gaze was set forward as typical cats are inclined to do, paying no mind to those passing by him in the hall. Though his ears flicked every so often as he took in the noise around him, catching tid bits, seeing to it that he hadn't been taken notice of. It worked well coming like this, when he knew that the library would be closing and he'd have little to no time to research what he'd planned to. In his animagus form he could find a vacant shelf, curl up and fade into the shadows for a short while and then study at his leisure, returning to human form once everyone had gone.

Slipping past a last set of legs coming out of the library doors he raced a few paces through the legs of several chairs and tables, set on reaching his perfered spot in the corner. The library now seemed deserted for the most part, though he was sure the librarian was lurking about somewhere. There was usually a vacant spot high enough in the deep book shelf behind it to easily conceal him while he waited. If the Librarian caught a cat in here she'd be chasing him out faster than he could shift forms.. not that he would. He'd been just about to leap to the table and the shelf in turn when his eyes spotted a pair of legs in front of his usual chair.. oh you've got to be kidding me!.. he thought.. she still here?? Skidding to a halt he altered his direction slight and lept into the chair beside the girl instead, the lower level causing him to have to scramble a bit to pull himself to the shelf.

Peeking over the edge of the shelf he stared down at the girl, his whiskers twitching a bit in irritation.. why was she still here?... hadn't she gone to eat or anything? It was then that she jerked her head up and he found himself having to stifle a purr of amusement as she rubbed at her check and stared around in bewilderment. She'd fallen asleep then? Really, what could be such dry reading that she could fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position? His curiosity was held at bay however as the candles all dimmed slightly at once and a loud click could be heard. Oh this was just wonderful.. she might not know that sound he guessed, as she was calling out to whoever had made it, but he'd heard it often enough over the years. The librarian had just locked up, and with the prefects lurking if the girl left now she'd have them watching the library for hours. By now all students would be due back in their dorms. His sides heaved in a sigh and turning in the tight space he wiggled back in the shelf, over to the other sides books and shoved a few out so that he could hop down into to the row just the other side of where the girl sat, out of her line of view. in the time it took the thud of the books hitting the stone floor to echo into silence in the deserted library Sebastian had transformed back into his human form. Hair slightly disheveled and uniform as it always was in a stage of disarray he managed to pull off with style, tie loosed and collar unbuttoned as he bent to pick up the books.

[ada]

The room was darker. For a moment, Ada was sure that her mind was just playing tricks on her—as if her subconscious didn’t want to surrender its hold on her mind. But a second later, as her blue eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting, Ada shoved aside her former theory—it really was darker in here. The library was really closing up, and she had picked such an obscure little corner that no one had thought to wake her up on their way out. Oddly enough, Ada was not perturbed by this beyond her frustration with herself for falling asleep in the first place. She didn’t feel insulted that no one had noticed her—she preferred being quiet, and she was aware that quiet people were often overlooked. It wasn’t a personal attack on her by other people, it was just a fact of life. But now she was alone in the library, however temporarily, so she had the slightest bit of time to do something about the Restricted book in front of her before she had to put it back on the shelf and leave. She wasn’t done reading it, after all.

Her mind was whirring through possible plans of action concerning the old book when Ada heard another noise, only a second or two after the one that had startled her, but a different type of sound. The first had been a clicking of sorts, and this one was more like a thump. And this one came from nearby. Ada swiveled around in her chair, whipping her head towards the shelf behind her and narrowing her eyes. This was not the same thing that had caused the first noise. Obviously.

Ada rose to her feet in one swift motion, meaning to head towards the mysterious noisy shelf, but the Restricted book lying open on her desk caught her eye. If there really was someone else in this place, she had very little time to hide the book or whatever the hell she was going to do with it to make it easily accessible again. There wasn’t much a girl could do to one of the library books, though, but Ada had Transfiguration on the mind and thus a spell popped into her head rather quickly. She pointed her wand at a nearby piece of parchment, muttered a spell, and flicked her wand towards the book. The parchment turned into a rusty shade of brown leather-looking stuff and wrapped itself around the Restricted book like one of those stretchy Muggle book covers that Mel and Suze were so fascinated with back in their early days. The words “A Guide to Better Pronunciation of Incantations and Spells” formed on the spine of the book cover, and Ada allowed herself a brief moment to smile at her handiwork. If anyone spent more than a second looking at a thick book about pronunciation while she was gone, she’d lose faith in humanity.

After that, Ada wasted no time getting down to business and heading towards whatever was behind that shelf. The librarian? She doubted it. A student? Maybe, but unlikely. Who else would have the slightest motivation to stay in the library after the closing time? Maybe one of those students from the blue house. Those kids seemed to have a certain love for the library. Still, as a paranoid precaution, Ada kept her wand loosely in the palm of her hand. Being prepared for anything couldn’t hurt her, could it?

Ada peered around the corner, eyes narrowed, but upon seeing the cause of the noise her eyes widened. She hadn’t expected to find a guy back here. Let alone a Gryffindor guy. Let alone an attractively disheveled, mysterious-aura-giving Gryffindor guy. Wasn’t he in her year? He was always so quiet and withdrawn whenever she’d seen him around that it was hard to place him. Ada froze for a moment, sizing up this situation—what was this guy doing here? And more importantly, what had she been doing, ogling him a second ago? Ada shook her head slightly, making her pale hair swish against her cheek in a comfortably familiar way, before stepping into full view of the Gryffindor. He might’ve been in robes, but she had hurried to change before she came to the library and was now wearing a pair of well-worn jeans and a white button-down shirt that was a little too big, but Ada had attempted to make it charming by rolling up the long sleeves.

She placed her hand on her hip, not to be saucy, but in a languid motion that was far more casual and relaxed than feisty. Quirking an eyebrow in a purely curious manner, Ada inquired, “What, did the Common Room get too crowded?”

[seb]

Gathering up the books that had fallen he tucked them back on the shelf. He saved the last one out though, intending to take it with him around the shelves, use it as cover a book he'd been searching for, the others dropped while sliding it from the shelf. He wasn't really sure what to do about this little problem, and by little, of course, he meant his rather petite house mate sitting on the other side of the shelves. He had hoped he'd spook her with the noise, that she might hurry out the door after the recently departed librarian, maybe miss the first round of prefects in her rush. But as he'd failed to hear any gasps of surprise or the patter of nervously departing feet he rather doubted it. In fact, come to think of it he hadn't heard anything in the way of noise on the other side of the shelf apart from a slight rustle of parchment, and that had been several moments ago. Narrowing his eyes he reached up and removed a book or two at eye level, balancing them on the book already in his arm as he moved to tug another from the opposite side of the shelf. Maybe with a hole to see through he could catch a glimpse of what she was up to, try and figure out the best plan to get her out of his hair before he wasted any more time on this ridiculous game of cat and mouse. Time he could be spending jotting down some detailed notes that would be impossible to take in daylight hours.

The way in which he had to write things for the center, the explanations placed in the side margins and such, would be a dead give away to the wrong person. Anyone remotely knowledgeable in muggles would become suspicious on seeing them. Balancing the finale book on the already heavy and crooked stack of volumes in his hands he leaned forward peering through the hole.. searching for a glint of blond hair.. When he didn't see her an odd feeling of disappointment washed over him and he shrugged it off for what he knew it to be.. don't even take notice Seb..pretty or not you've bigger worries than getting interested in some girl....he thought. What, did the Common Room get too crowded? The voice to his right was so unexpected that Sebastian's eyes widened a bit and he jerked back from the open space he'd had his face up close to, his head snapping around to take in the girl standing to his right. He'd jumped a bit as well in his surprise and the book stack, already rather unstable in the crook of his arm, tumbled down, books falling on all sides as he stooped and grabbed rather unsuccessfully to catch hold of the falling tomes.. A rather worried crease set into his brow as he quickly began picking the books up and he could feel a bit of heat rising on his neck.

Wonderful.. not only had she caught him trying to ogle her through a bookshelf... he didn't dare to hope she might not have realized what he was doing... but he also had to wonder just how long she'd been there.. he'd heard parchment rustle on the other side 'after' he'd taken human form.. at least he was almost positive he had.. so she hadn't seen him change.... .. .. had she? ..Gah! ..what a daft idiot he'd been! He should have just stayed in the shelf in his cat form, watched her till she left. It would have wasted a night of study but it would be worth it to not have jeopardized his cover...jeopardized Kim's safety.. he blanched at that thought and lifted rather guarded eyes to the girl before him as he straightened with the books. He had to say something... give some form of excuse for being here after hours. His voice when he finally found a few words to put with it, came out in a quite and mild if rather obviously embarrassed answer. " Umm... no..no.. just, never been much for the social scene you know? .. like to come here late when things are slower.. and.." He fished around with his eyes for a reason to have gotten locked in..." got lost in a rather interesting passage.. lost track of time, next thing you know.. well.. " He managed something of a cross between charming and rather sheepish smile as he nodded to her, indicating that she to had been a victim of time getting away from her. ".. you know? "

[ada]

When Ada had rounded the corner, she hadn’t done so expecting to find the Gryffindor boy. Maybe a bookish student, maybe a Prefect checking up on the library, or maybe even the librarian herself. Ada’s fellow Housemates did not have the reputation for being particularly dedicated to schoolwork. Damien and his House, though, were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were what her American friends referred to as ‘nerds’. Not all of them had the perpetual book stuck under their nose, but there was a good number of them that did—enough to earn them a stereotype. So when she and Damien got together to compare notes or just talk, if they wanted the use of a Common Room they had to choose between the lesser of two evils. Damien’s Housemates were observant enough to notice something was up and curious enough to theorize about them, but Ada’s Housemates were simply bold and brash enough to barge into their private discussion at inopportune times.

But there this guy was in his Gryffindor robes, hanging out in the library past its closing time. Odd. Of course, she was here late too. But she had motivations that she was sure this guy didn’t have. One of them was perfectly innocent and truthful: she’d fallen asleep while reading, and hadn’t woken up until recently. The other motivation was neither innocent nor easily explained, but she intended never to have to use that one. It was possible that this guy had fallen asleep somewhere as well, but Ada diagnosed it as unlikely. And the possibility that he was spying for Muggles like she was—well, that idea was just ridiculous. So she was eyeing him with an odd mixture of paranoid curiosity, trying not to notice how his dark hair curled nicely where it met his neck, and attempting to figure out what he’d been doing a moment ago.

It would seem that he had been looking at a book or two on the shelf in front of him—innocent enough—but after closer inspection Ada noticed that there had been no books where he had been staring. So what had he been looking at? It couldn’t have been her (she wasn’t the type that attracted a lot of male attention), but a shock of fear jolted through her when she realized that he could’ve been watching what she’d been doing. And although reading a Restricted book was nothing particularly suspicious, hiding one was. If he had seen her hide away her notes to the Muggles and cover the book, she was dead. She went a shade whiter than her usual, which was saying something.

However, when the Gryffindor jumped at her voice and fumbled with the books he’d been holding Ada felt the blood return to her cheeks. If he was acting like he was the guilty one, there was nothing for her to be afraid of, right? Right. She never had to be afraid that someone would catch her in the act of betrayal—she was just such a good spy. She was so caught up in trying to deduce whether he’d seen her doing anything condemning that she almost didn’t react to the dropped books. After a second of recovering her lost breath, though, Ada tried to snap back into action. By the time she’d taken a step forward and half-extended her arm he’d already picked everything up, so Ada awkwardly dropped her arm and mentally scolded herself for not helping him sooner; it would’ve been the polite thing to do.

Ada thought it was odd that the guy was watching her with wary eyes—like he suspected her of knowing something about him instead of the other way around. She found this perplexing, but didn’t have a lot of time to think about it before the guy began to reply to her comment that had obviously taken him by surprise. It was much easier to focus on his voice than his eyes, because they were disarming despite their guardedness.

So he didn’t much like crowds either? Ada could sympathize with that, and if he hadn’t added onto it she probably would’ve bought it hook, line, and sinker. In fact, she had a small smile playing on her lips and was about to voice her own opinion on the busy Common Room when he continued on, saying that he’d gotten lost in an interesting passage. Ada’s newly developed sense of paranoia kicked in—he hadn’t looked engrossed in a book when she’d seen him. In fact, it looked as if all the books he was holding had come from the shelf right in front of him. Although Ada was very inclined to believe him when he smiled at her (which, strangely, made her want to grin back) and spoke in that nice British accent that she was jealous of (she felt her
American pronunciation made her sound brash and uneducated), she couldn’t quite buy that he’d come to the library and simply lost track of time. It just didn’t fit somehow.

But Ada didn’t want to jump to conclusions, especially if the conclusions were wrong. She might just be getting too paranoid these days. She took a step closer to him, smiling a little to make herself appear perfectly innocent. After all, she had to play a studious student who’d just lost track of time while reading. If she acted like she had something to hide, she would seem suspicious. The key was to act casual. Easy peasy. Right. Ada nodded. ”Yeah, I lost track of time. But it was because a boring passage put me to sleep, not because I was particularly engrossed.” Ada had never been a pretty speaker—she was more blunt than anything—so she tried to soften her comment with a little grin. ”I get the part about being alone, though. I’ve got to say that I’ve never been in the library this late before—it’s kind of nice, in a dim, slightly creepy way.” Ada spared a moment to scan the library. It was calm, she’d give it that. And perfectly quiet. But the low lighting gave it a spooky air.

Ada shifted her gaze back to her Housemate, then smiled and held out her small, skinny hand. ”I’m Ada. And out of curiosity, what book were you reading that had you so distracted?”

[seb]

Having shifted his attention back to the books in his hands he re-shelved all but a few. Best to not have her realize they'd all come from this particular shelf. (he was unaware that the writing on the books spines had already given that fact away) Her comment on having fallen asleep drew up the unbidden image he'd seen only a sort while ago. The bewildered and rather cute expression that had had him suppressing his amimagus's version of a laugh. Only now, lost on the thought he failed to stop the light tug at the corner of his lips at the memory. He'd finished with the books and had turned toward her with those he'd chosen to keep planning, only to find she'd stepped closer to him. Seb stopped short, Slightly creepy?.. he found himself raising a brow ever so slightly to that comment. If the darkened library worried her, made her nervous, then why had she come poking around into a dark row of books to investigate a noise that had nothing to do with her? What was done was done though.. she obviously didn't plan on leaving now that her curiosity of the noise had been seen to, no.. in fact she seemed rather chatty..brilliant... and she was gazing about as if getting her bearings on the darkened room.. getting comfortable with it.. even more wonderful..where was his luck tonight? Why had it chosen to abandon him?..

He'd been about to come up with some form of a reply when she stuck out her hand, introduced herself, and promptly asked after what book had so managed to catch his interest that it had detracted him from the closing of the library. Any trace of a smile smoothed from Sebastian's expression leaving it rather blank. She'd asked souly out of curiosity had she?... well little,.. Ada was it? ..here was just full of that wasn't she? He really hoped for her own sake that she'd back off of it a bit. People couldn't know of his real reason for being here tonight. Not even attractive, apparently sweet natured people who oddly enough seemed to find no discomfort at all in having found themselves in a darkened library with the guy nobody knew anything about. Wasn't she the least bit put off by that like everyone else tended to be? He simply stared at her for a moment with his intent gaze, trying to read her, figure her out, his own curiosity roused. After a long moment he tugged the required half grin of politeness to his face that came with introductions. Tucking the books under one arm he reached out to give her hand a gentle shake... " Pleasure to meet you.. mines Sebastian.. " Yeah he had a nick name.. and Ada was probably short for something. But it would best to try and keep this conversation as impersonal as he could. Ada seemed like a really nice girl.. a really nice.. really 'curious' girl.. a girl he found himself rather intrigued by and wouldn't want to see get hurt. Feeling to friendly, to at ease, with him, knowing to much about him... yeah, that wouldn't be a good thing.

Pulling a book at random from the stack in his arm he glanced at the cover and frowned.. " An in depth history of the Giant Wars in the 1800's" right.. seriously?? ..Glancing at the other two spines he noted a book on the proper way to rid your house of magical pests..(why was that even in a school library??) and another on extensively difficult Ancient Ruins and the translating of them. Bloody effing brilliant.. the only one that could even stretch as interesting was the one on runes and he was utter rubbish at the subject. Still.. it wasn't like she'd be asking him to translate or anything right? Just small talk.. get through it.. sate whatever bizarre curiosity she seemed to have in him, and if he was lucky she'd decided not to risk detention and be off to the common room after that. Swapping the book on giants for the one on Runes he lifted it a bit. " Ancient Runes.. riveting subject it is.. can't seem to get enough of it. In fact.."
stepping around her he walked from the isle and round to the table she had deserted where he promptly sat down in the seat she'd recently occupied and kicked his feet up on the table, leaning back a bit on the chair so that its front legs lifted off the ground and reclined his back a bit. "..I think I'll stick around here awhile and study it a bit more.. but by all means, don't stay on my account. I know its a bit dank and 'creepy' was it?.. " He couldn't help the gentle smirk that lit his face. " Here in this dark place.. wouldn't fault you in the least for heading back to the common room. " He eyed her pointedly before flipping the book open on his lap and starring intently down at the.. rubbish... how could anyone find this mess interesting? Looked like a bunch of crossed sticks and loops to him..

[ada]

Well, her question seemed to have the effect that she’d half-predicted would happen. That is, he didn’t smile and offer an answer right away, which an eager bookish student would probably do when asked about his bookish interests. Mm-hm, just as she’d suspected--this guy wasn’t the nerd he was pretending to be. In fact, when his small, slightly amused smile was replaced with a none-too-pleased blank expression, he also took the time to check the spines of all the books he was holding before he even began to answer her. Ada let herself smirk a little, thinking that she’d figured out his little game: he was lying. But then it occurred to her that if he wasn’t actually here for studying or extensive reading or in-depth research or whatever dedicated people did in the library, then he must’ve been here for a different reason. And what if that reason was catching her in the act of spying for the Muggles? Had this Sebastian guy figured her out?

She barely heard him as he picked a book out of the stack in his arm and commented on it, because she was trying to focus on not hyperventilating. Please say he doesn’t know about me. For a moment she couldn’t think of any other reason for Sebastian to be in the library other than spying on her, so when he sidestepped her and headed towards her table, Ada almost had a heart attack. Her breath exited her lungs in a gust, and she was frozen in place with fear for a moment, and then as suddenly as it had come on, she was unfrozen and pivoting on her heel. Her feet carried her over to the table that Sebastian was now occupying, expecting to see him ruffling through her book bag for the notes she had been taking, or, even worse, the journal. She had the beginnings of an explanation poised on the tip of her tongue when she finally slowed down enough to realize that Sebastian was in no way even interested in her things laying on the table. He was leaning back in her chair, acting like he owned the place, not sparing the big book or the rolls of parchment a second glance.

And Ada experienced yet another momentary enlightenment. Luckily, this one didn’t give her a panic attack. So this guy wasn’t in the library to read dusty old books, but neither was he here to expose her for what she was. She was such a drama queen—how could she have overreacted? He obviously had no more of an idea as to why she was really here, than she had any idea as to why he was in here. Her brain finally caught up to her body, and Ada began to process what he had been saying earlier when she had been too busy having a mental breakdown to pay attention. So he was engrossed in a fascinating book…about Ancient Runes? She found it hard to believe that stuff was interesting to anyone but Damien. Just more evidence that proved that this Gryffindor was here for some mysterious reason that Ada decided she wanted to know about.

However sure she was that Sebastian didn’t know about what she was doing, Ada was still paranoid enough to want to get her notes safely out of sight. So instead of taking the chair next to him, Ada perched herself on the edge of the table right next to him, nonchalantly shoving the single sheet of parchment she had left out backwards and half-hiding it behind her own body. The book was still sitting there with its Transfigured cover, so Ada felt like she didn’t have to attempt to hide that one. She wiggled backwards, situating herself neatly on the part of the table just to the right of Sebastian. She raised one eyebrow at the charmingly stand-offish boy and allowed the corners of her mouth to pull upwards. ”Oh, so you’re a study nerd? Wouldn’t have pegged you as the type.”

At his next comments, where he oh-so-subtly hinted that he wanted her to leave, Ada was torn between grinning and rolling her eyes, but in the end she didn’t do either. He thought she was scared of the darkened library? To Ada, there was a difference between ‘creepy’ and ‘frightening’—a line that the library hadn’t crossed. But she widened her eyes and whipped her head around as if she were looking for menacing shadows. ”You’re right, I should go. After all, I hear the boogeyman comes out after the library closes down.” She delivered the line with a grin, then turned her attention back to finding out what brought Sebastian to the library.

Her blue-eyed gaze rested on the cover of his book for a moment, then she looked back up at his attractive face. ”Ancient Runes, huh? Interesting choice for a late-night reading session.” Ada leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the pages he had the book opened to. She managed to get a peek, although the page was upside-down to her and for some reason Sebastian’s momentary proximity was making it hard for her to focus. She felt better when she reclined, resting her weight on her hands, and was close to nothing much, other than his feet, which she didn’t really have much trouble ignoring. Ada felt a pleased smile pulling on her lips, but she restrained it to a certain point; at the top of the page she had seen, there was a symbol that she miraculously knew—Damien had been working on Runes a few days ago and the symbol had appeared in his work, so he had explained it to her (without her asking, really). It was a twisting, complex figure that stood for one of the cycles of the moon—an obscure Rune. Ada took its appearance as a sign that she was on the right track to figuring out the mystery of Sebastian’s presence in the library. She tucked her hair behind one ear and put on her best innocent smile. ”Reading the chapter about the naming of landmarks? I bet that one’s good.”

[seb]

Skulking around a castle for going on six years, into things, and areas most decidedly off limits.. and managing not to get caught in all that time, or at least.. not 'really' get caught.. (he was still here after all, not locked up in Azkaban for forking over secrets to the muggles) it left you rather observant to your surroundings. Like the way chair he was leaning back in creaked in protest at the weight expected to be born by the two rear legs. The moonlight spilling through the window onto his lap and the table his feet rested on. Or the rather slender figure of girl he now knew as Ada hurrying towards him, her figure outlined by the moonlight while the dimmed light of the torch on the wall nearby shed a warm light on her golden head of hair.. framing a rather pretty face with eyes that danced with what looked to be.. worry? What did she have to be concerned about?

Seb's eyes lifted from where they had been watching her from their corners and he regarded the girl with a raised brow and a bit of a smirk as she hoisted herself up onto the table to sit not to far from his own feet.. daring little thing wasn't she? Maybe she had some interest in him specifically? Not that she was unattractive, as that was (against his better judgment to admit to himself) far from the truth, but she'd best be getting over it if that was her game. Dating just didn't fit into the big picture when it came to staying under wraps.. protecting the secrecy of his mission and as a direct result protecting Kim. But as the girl sat down on the table another observation caught his eye. A slip of paper she'd pushed with just a little to casual an air behind her. If it had been important, if she had picked it up with purpose and set it aside so as not to wrinkle it, he'd have thought nothing more of it. That wasn't the case though.. she'd pushed to out of sight for the most part behind her and tried to seem as if it were no big deal.. if that were the case why bother with it at all, why not just sit on it?...it was only a sheet of parchment after all..

He'd let the nerd comment rest.. not bothering to take the bait, as he was hoping she'd take his hint instead and see herself from the library. Again... no such luck. Both brows rose as the girl returned with a mocking reply to his comments on her possible fears. She then leaned forward to peek over the top on his large tome of... rubbish... As she commented on the symbol at the top of the page and watched him for a reaction he stared back blankly for a moment. What did she think she was playing at.. as if this Gryffindor girl who had freely admitted to falling asleep due to a boring book could honestly find this... this...codswallop entertaining enough to be able to read the rubbish? His mind gave a mental scoff.. right, and he was wearing the bloody shorts of effing Merlin himself. She was digging for details, that's what she was after.. didn't buy his story and was set on discovering the truth. He didn't care for being backed to a wall, caught in a well laid lie. His lies were often all that stood between the one person he cared for and a great deal of pain and suffering. Just what was this girls game? She was mistaken if she thought he'd take the bait.. corner a wild animal and it would lash back in its own way.. a devoted brother wasn't far off from the same mark. if she did know.. somehow.. what that Rune meant, she'd be lieing just to see if he agreed.. and if she didn't then she was waiting to see him fall apart.. fret over it. In six years he'd become no stranger to suspicion and was the underlying responsible party for a fair number of potions gone wrong to cause befuddlement, and the occasionally student roaming about in a daze of mild memory loss.. among other things.. he'd not had to truly hurt anyone yet..no one had ever become quite 'that' curious. He really hoped Ada here wasn't set on being the first...

Sighing lightly he pulled his gaze the rest of the way up from the book, a crooked, rather roguish smile playing on his lips as he watched her for a moment, Ada having sense pulled back from him to perch on the table again.One thing he felt fairly certain of given the ay she'd used the word..a 'bogie' man in the Americas was obviously not some snot covered little man, but reather something to be feared. His intent gaze locked with hers for the spam of several minutes before he swung both feet down and stood, one hand at either side of her on the table, his face leaning in until his nose was barely a breath from her own face. His voice came out quite and almost whispery as he grinned.. " You know you really shouldn't make such light of those rumors.. never know how much truth there might be to them..or just what shape the....bogeyman was it? might take.." Smirking lightly he held her gaze as he reached around to snatch the paper from behind her and then fell back into the chair with casual ease. His feet kicked back up to the table once more as he cast a small grin of victory at Ada. " Now lets see then shall we?? ..Just what is it that you were hoping to keep to yourself hmm? ... Fancying someone maybe? Perhaps even one in my own dorms.. now that would be a fun twist wouldn't it?... " He grinned in a way that was playful and rather unsettling all at the same time.. he'd done so on purpose.. if rumor alone couldn't get through to this girl..keep her away from him where she belonged for her own good, then perhaps he needed to give her reason to dislike him. Unfortunate..really he wasn't the prat he was playing off to be..but it was for her own good. Dropping his gaze down to the paper his eyes skimmed it once... his smile fell into a straight line and he read through a second time.. by the third read over he was lifting his gaze to eye Ada in a whole new way.. bloody hell... couldn't be could it? He was the only one... let the notes read as if directed towards someone other than the one taking them.

Seb eyed the girl, frown in place and gaze intense for several moments, before reaching down and jerking her book sack to his lap. Once it was there he promptly proceeded to rifle through it until his searching hands landed on a journal.. girls wrote everything in those things didn't they? Kim had a pink one she was quite fond of. And if his little sister were anything to go on then Ada would surely hate him for brazenly reading it right their before her.. but if she did then all the better right? If he were wrong she'd think him a rude git and it would be done with, she let him alone from then on. But if he were right...

Pulling the journal from her bag, his eyes flashed back to her least she make an effort to stop him. And then he flipped open the book.. read the first page..once...again.. and the snapped it shut, sliding it across the table to her. His intense gaze watching her as he gestured to the book.. " Care to explain? "

[ada]

Ada was no behavioral analyst, but she was fairly sure that Sebastian’s lack of reaction to any or all of her comments wasn’t really normal. She was known to use sarcasm liberally and occasionally take a joke a little too far, but Ada didn’t toy with people’s emotions for the fun of it. When she played a mind game with someone, it was for a damn good reason, if Ada could say so herself. For example, the only reason she was lying to the Gryffindor in front of her was in order to find out what he was about. He could be a shady, suspicious guy for all she knew, and she didn’t like not knowing—she felt like she needed to know something about this mysterious Sebastian, even if it was nothing more than his motivation for being in the library so late. But he was just looking at her with those nice brown eyes, not insulted by her calling him a nerd, not scoffing at her boogeyman comment, and not at all phased by her bait on the whole ‘Ancient Runes’ thing. This was not how it was supposed to go.

And when he closed his book without a word, locked gazes with her, and gave her some kind of wicked grin, it was not supposed to make her feel dazed. And she was pretty sure that he should’ve said something about the Rune by now, instead of…what was he doing? Oh, just standing up. Standing up and leaning over to box her into her own position on the table. And bringing his face very, very close to hers. Okay, Sebastian was very much in her personal bubble. And he had gone far past ‘normal reaction’ in any way, shape, or form. But what was really freaky about all of this was that Ada didn’t mind. Honestly, she didn’t mind that this guy was inches away from her face. Her breath caught, and she wasn’t about to ask herself the reasoning behind that one. No way.

Although it was easy—too easy—to focus on Sebastian’s tawny eyes and dark hair and his attractive face and his proximity, Ada forced herself away from those thoughts. He was invading her personal space. She should be mad at him. So when he made his dumb ‘I could be the boogeyman, you should fear me, ROAR,’ comment, Ada just raised her chin and felt a tiny spark of indignation follow after it. Did he really think she was that stupid and gullible? She opened her mouth to say something derogatory, but all of a sudden Sebastian was gone—out of her space, back into his chair, leaving her stunned in his wake. He was holding something in his hand, but Ada was still a little too dazed from the episode a moment ago to realize what it was. So when he let loose with a few questions about her keeping something to herself and having a crush on someone in his dorm, she wasn’t sure what the hell he was talking about. When had they begun discussing crushes? ”That’s stupid, why would I…”

Oh, shit. Were those her notes he had in his hand? The notes on the Restricted Transfiguration book? The notes that had more than a few snotty aside comments made in the margins, specifically addressed to Muggles? Oh, yeah. It appeared that he had those notes.

She was dead. Gone. As good as expelled and arrested. And it was too late to pull the parchment from his grasp—Sebastian’s face had already fallen into a solemn expression that meant he had recognized what, exactly, her scribblings contained. Ada’s mouth popped open, but no sound came out—she was mute, whether with shame, fear, or sheer surprise, she didn’t know. She buried her face in her hands, not sure what she should do next. It was too late to stop his discovery, so what would she have to do? A memory charm? A classic session of pleading? A good old-fashioned punch-to-the-gut-and-run-for-your-life move? Ada didn’t know—she was positively overwhelmed. And she hated the feeling of that hot pressure building behind her eyes. So she took a moment or two to hide behind her hands and try to compose herself.

When she emerged from her temporary hiding place, Sebastian was regarding her with an odd expression on his face. He might’ve been frowning, but there was none of the blatant hatred and disgust that she’d been expecting. And she was trying to analyze that development when he suddenly had a hold on her book bag and began to rifle through it. She thought she didn’t care—what was he going to do, read more of her notes?—until he pulled out a book bound in black leather with red flowers painted on the front. Her journal. He had her journal. And before she could attack him and wrench the book from his grasp, he glared at her and began to read it. Shit. Again.

When he was done, it still took Ada a few extra seconds to get her motor skills back. Always good to know that she was fine under pressure, damn it. But when she snapped back into her body, she snapped back fast. She was in charge of herself again, and she had to freaking do something about what had just transpired. After snatching up her journal and shoving it into her recently-recovered book bag, Ada snarled at the Gryffindor who had just ruined both her and her family’s lives. She would’ve fired off a good hex or two for the sake of it (not like she could get into more trouble than she was already in, and this guy deserved it), but her hands were shaking with a mixture of fear and anger and she’d probably miss.”No, I don’t feel like explaining, asshole. You read my freaking journal, so I hope you can get your answers from there.”

She slid off the table, ignoring how weak all her limbs felt, ignoring how hopeless she felt, and ignoring all thoughts of her bleak future. She tried to simply focus on the immediate situation. Ada’s long fingers were closing around Sebastian’s book of Ancient Runes before she realized it, and then she was swinging it at him, aiming for his shoulders—mostly. She swung the heavy book around a few times, not sure exactly what good all this would do her but not really caring at this point. What would Sebastian do first? Would he tell the Headmaster? Would he chew her out himself beforehand? Or would he turn her over directly to the wizarding government? ”You don’t go through other people’s bags, you jerk,” she muttered, thinking of several other good names she could call him.

Then all the adrenaline-fueled strength left her body in a rush, and suddenly the book of Runes was too heavy to hold up. She let it tumble to the table, looking with a detached sort of horror at her trembling hands. ”Goddammit,” she mumbled, blinking away the wetness that formed at the corners of her eyes. Then she turned to Sebastian again, holding herself as steady as she could as she shouldered the book bag that felt uncommonly heavy now. ”Look, do you think you could give me a five minute head start or something before you go running off to tell someone?”

[seb]

He waited as Ada simply stood there, apparently still in shock from having her secret discovered. When she finally did manage to snap back into action he found himself blanching a bit at her words. Blimey, was it her American accent that made the name she'd chosen to call him seem so harsh and sting like it did? Must have been right? Because it surely couldn't have been for any other reason.

Well, if a little name calling was all she'd be sending his way he'd consider himself lucky. After all with the way she'd worded her entry in that journal she wasn't exactly thrilled to be taking part in what she was. He was actually surprised Ada hadn't seen fit to send a curse or hex in his direction. What he'd not expected ( what witch or wizard resorted to physical violence when they had a wand and the free use of magic at hand after all?) was for Ada to suddenly scoop the book from his lap and begin to wail on him with it about his shoulders and chest. His eyes widened as she advanced on him and his hands lifted to shield his head and face from unintended and possibly intended swings at it alike.

Finally her wrath was spent and his beating seemed to be over, or so he hoped. ( That bloody book of Runes hurt thanks! Who'd have guessed such a frail looking girl could put such force into a hit, given enough anger for fuel and a heavy enough object?) Sebastian risked a glance over his shielding arms, peaking his eyes over the edge of them to see if the 'booking' was actually over with, and what he saw made him wish she'd have just slapped him to follow up the book beating and them been on her angry way.

Ada's teary eyes did more to bring guilt to his heart then a thousand more sharp comments or name callings would have. Both because he could relate to the terror she must be feeling, the fear at being found out, knowing it was over and that you'd failed. And because he was souly responsible for inflicting on this girl his own great fear. Something or someone must be counting on her to make a go of this, come through for them. Someone she cared a great deal about. Her notes were laced with barley concealed venom, it wasn't hard to gather that she, unlike himself who was rather indifferent to the whole of it, was far less than thrilled to be doing what she was.

And yet despite the fact that she was facing a potential term in Azkaban for her actions and expulsion from Hogwarts the most she'd thrown at him in the way of retaliation was a sound beating with that damned book and a chewing out or two peppered with a few choice names. And now there she stood in front of him, begging for a head start on escaping with her pretty blue eyes spilling over with tears. Hardly a dangerous, seasoned adversary who could prove a threat to his own mission. The girl was to kind for her own bloody good. You couldn't live this way, do 'this' job and allow yourself to feel.. well.. much in the way of anything, if you wanted to survive it.. get it done for those who stood to suffer should you fail. He had no clue who this Damien bloke was mentioned in her journal but if he cared a lick for his what? Sister? friend? .. he was daft to let someone so tender in the way of emotions make a go of this alone.

Watching her it was all Seb could do not to turn his own wand on himself and mutter a well worded hex. Sebastian you are all she's claimed and more you great unthinking, inconsiderate, prat. He frowned at her from his chair, his gaze dropping to his lap as he feet left the table. Sighing he rose to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. How could he fix this? At least enough to where she didn't go running off away from wizards he had no intention of speaking to. And where would she run to at that? Hogsmead? The forest? Either was no place for a student in the dead of night. She'd get herself bloody well killed is what she'd do...and why should he care about that fact? Well... it was his fault she was upset, his fault she felt her world coming undone, so he should be the one to set things right again.. if he could. Reassuring her that he wouldn't tell anyone couldn't hurt or jeopardize his own situation could it? Not that she'd probably believe him.. but then again she might...'if' she knew why he was really here this late at night.. her knowing couldn't hurt anything could it? After all if she were essentially doing the same thing she'd be sabotaging herself by ratting him out..as he could easily return the favor. Right.... he'd keep things limited.. only tell her what was nesseary to put her fears at ease. She didn't need to know about Kim or the center.. just that she could trust him not to rat her out as he'd be doing himself in by doing so.

Lifting his gaze from the ground to look at her again, he half had the urge to step forward and wipe away a tear that had found its way to her cheek. Not that he made any move to do so. Try and do that and he'd probably get her book sack upside his head next. Settling for a crooked smile that he hoped would come off as an offer of truce he chuckled softly. " I'm not going to run off and tell anyone anything alright? ... though really, you might want to work on your strategy for dealing with suspicious parties. The whole beat 'em with a book thing? Yeah.." He lifted a hand to rub at his shoulder and flinched through his grin. " Hurts like bloody hell but the memory stays just as clear. " He tapped his temple to make the point. " I could give you a few pointers if you like? " His grin remained in place yet inside he was suddenly quizzing himself...'why' in the hell had he just offered to spend more time with her? Help her out even? .. he had no time to be basically mentoring someone in a task he was better off continuing in on his own. So why not just fool with her memory a bit.. rid her of the library, her meeting with him.. his intrusion.. why indeed.. why was it he felt reluctant to dwell on that question for an answer.