RESTRICTED {{SEB}}

[ada]

God, now she was feeling guilty, to go along with her heaping serving of terror and her side dish of anger. But the guilt was slowly cancelling out the anger, which didn’t do anything for Ada’s ability to handle herself very well. Anger gave her a kind of adrenaline rush that could be semi-helpful, once the rage worked itself out. Guilt, on the other hand, did nothing but make her want to curl up in a corner with her knees up to her chest and hope desperately that none of this was real. It couldn’t be real. Because if it was, not only had she signed her very own warrant for arrest through her own carelessness, she’d also jeopardized Mel and Suze’s education, gotten her family’s restaurant as good as closed down, and royally screwed over both her parents and little Drew. And that just killed her. Not to mention that the wizarding world, the world she’d always loved, was about to disown her and turn against her. But that was all her fault. She should’ve been more discreet, more secretive, less abrasive, and she should’ve listened to her paranoia—it turned out to be right. But the one thing she shouldn’t have been doing was taking out her fear on Sebastian. He might’ve been a nosy asshole, but he hadn’t gotten her into this situation. And she had beat him with a book. Throw another serving of guilt into the mix.

When Ada’s brain finally snapped out of utter panic mode and allowed her some coherent thoughts, she was actually glad that she hadn’t thrown hexes at him. The words for the spells came rushing back to her, but she had no intentions of using them. Sebastian had stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, but how could he have known that the transfer student had a deep dark secret that didn’t revolve around boys or schoolwork? He hadn’t snooped expecting to find what he did. And he didn’t deserve to be punished for exposing her own despicable behavior—she shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place. She should’ve found a way around it all, instead of caving into the bribes and threats and betraying her own kind. Ada’s hand hovered momentarily over her back pocket where her wand was, but she dropped it back to her side. What was the use? Maybe this was fate’s intervention, telling her to stop what she was doing and pay penance for it.

He rose to his feet, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground, and Ada realized for the first time that she was actually crying. She’d gotten teary-eyed in front of her family before, and even Damien, but she never let the tears spill over. They stayed in her eyes or they went away. Those were her rules. If she had to cry, she went into the bathroom, stood underneath the hot spray of the shower and let the tears and noises come where no one would be aware of them, not even her. She’d cried when the Bludger-thing cracked her ribs, but that was from pain, not from…not from fear or frustration or whatever this crap was. Ada wiped vigorously at her cheeks and eyes with one over-large sleeve, blushing furiously at the fact that she had just cried in front of a virtual stranger. Damn it. Well, if she was going to be caught, she would go down with dignity. Which meant no more crying. She could do that, right? She had enough Gryffindor in her for that.

Ada was unprepared for Sebastian smiling at her. A crooked smile that had her heart beating quickly. Because she was scared of what that wicked grin meant—nothing more. But just because she wasn’t going to hurt this nosy jerkwad didn’t mean she was going to be nice to him. So Ada let her chin jut out defiantly as she met his caramel eyes. He laughed, and Ada bristled, thinking that he was playing with her. She narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest defensively, steeling herself for whatever this guy was going to throw at her.

And then he said the thing that she least expected to hear.

He wasn’t going to tell anyone? Why? How? Was he joking? But no, he didn’t appear to be joking...Ada was having a hard time believing her own sudden stroke of luck. What was prompting Sebastian to be so accommodating? She uncrossed her arms, her breath coming out on a relieved whoosh—she hadn’t realized she’d been holding it. She wasn’t sure if she could trust this guy—Hell, she barely knew him—but something about him seemed so legitimately genuine that she only imagined he was joking for a single second. Her shoulders released tension, and she dropped her book bag to the floor with a thump, but she barely noticed or cared. Her eyes were fixed on the boy in front of her, in a mixture of amazement, confusion, and disbelief.

She almost took an involuntary step towards him, but she stopped herself because she couldn’t quite explain why she wanted to be closer and therefore did not have a good reason. Instead, she leaned backwards and slumped against the bookshelf at her back. Then she regarded Sebastian with guarded yet hopeful blue eyes. ”Well, no spells were coming to mind at the moment. I was too freaked out to think. Hence, the book. And that was mostly reflex, believe it or not.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. ”I know it didn’t help anything. But it was the only thing I could do.”

She didn’t know why she was talking so much—he’d given her an all-clear, so she should be saying a quick thank you and running for the hills before he changed his mind. But she wasn’t. She wanted to stay here and figure this guy out. Why? She didn’t know. She should be on her merry way right now, but she found no urge to leave. Odd. She’d think about that later. ”So, Sebastian,” she began, liking his name more than she should, ”what makes you want to give me tips on memory charms? I know it’s not because of my manners, as nice as those are.” She gestured to the Runes book with a little smile, then turned her gaze back to the boy, trying to look at him objectively to get a better analysis of him. But it was hard to do with those eyes and hair and that crooked smile…Damn it, Ada, focus. ”In fact, why aren’t you turning me in right now? It’s what everyone else would do.”

[seb]

Seb had watched as she'd rubbed at her wet face with a sleeve.. it having gone pink with her apparent discomfort at having broken down in front of him.Yeah that had him feeling like a royal horses arse. Apparently expressing her fears in front of others wasn't a common occurrence for her, yet another preference to which he could whole heartedly relate. However even though the sight had him wanting to drop his grin, and his gaze for that matter, in discomfort at the fact, he forced himself to hold his hopefully reassuring smile as he'd spoken to her.

It hadn't seemed promising at first.. she'd crossed her arms defensively and eyed him with a guarded expression.. what? Had she expected him to be a total prick? Kick her while she was down so to speak by taking the Mickey out of her? Had he really come off as being that much of a git to her? Well, yeah maybe he had, and he'd meant to then. So what had changed in the last few seconds? Why did he suddenly find himself wanting to encourage her to look beyond his terse and often jerk like front? He'd always found being the one shrouded in uncertainty to be one of his more useful tools in this game of spying that had become his life. So why was it that this one girl in-particular had him wanting her to not think ill of him.. not follow along with any rumors she might have heard and not think him the arsehole she'd appropriately deemed him for his actions a few moments ago? It couldn't be the simple fact of physical attraction..she was beautiful sure, something he was still determined to disregard, but she was still just another girl after all, right? It wasn't like he hadn't seen an attractive girl before.. hell, he'd done a lot more than simply 'seen' them, and hadn't bothered to worry over whether they bought into what rumors they may have heard..weather they feared or mistrusted him behind the smiling, seductive masks they wore for the purposes of the moment. and she was just another pretty face..right? Something within him failed to be convinced of that notion and he quickly dismissed it to the fact of their shared circumstances.. that was all there was to it, she'd struck a cord of compassion in facing the same dangers on some level that he'd been dealing with alone for years now.

So when while watching her, he saw the tension suddenly leave her shoulders, her bag slipping to the ground as she slumped back in relief against the book case behind her. He couldn't help a full and true smile from spreading across his features. Her gaze still held a level of distrust.. really he couldn't blame her for that.. but there was a hopeful light in them now that allowed him for feel just a touch less like the biggest prat in Hogwarts. And then a torrent of chatter poured forth from her that both surprised him and oddly enough greatly amused him. He kept his mouth shut and simply listened as she carried on, his gaze traveling to the tome of Runes as she motioned to it. Leaning back against the table next to him in a casual way he rested one hand on either side of him, fingers curled over the tables edge. Though his face remained trained on her own and his brow rose to go with his smile as she finished speaking. His shoulders lifted in a bit of a shrug. " Oh, I don't know... I'd say it helped a bit.. " He glanced over at the book once more and his hand went unthinkingly to his shoulder again. ".. It's gotten your point across on the reading of a girls journal.. you lot go a bit mental over those things don't you? " His voice, though soft as ever, had a joking quality to it that made it clear he was only having a bit of harmlessly intended fun. " Of course I can understand why you'd be more defensive than most given whats in yours.. I would be after all.. if I kept one that is.." His gaze roamed back down to take in the toe of his shoe as he absently scuffed at the floor with it. " .. I don't though..actually prefer to use letters, less to have on me for someone to discover if its all sent out regularly... see Ada, the thing is.. I'm 'not' everyone else. I know what your facing... at least part of it, and well... I get it, alright? You don't have to worry I'll run telling on you because I'm in the same cauldron so to speak.." He blanched thinking of all of the details that went along with his situation. " ..Well,... Its just as important I don't get caught at least.. we'll go with that.."

He risked a peak up at her from beneath the waves of his mouse brown hair, face still tilted down for the most part and he tried to gauge her reaction to what he'd just come clean about. As for her question on why he wanted to help her improve in her techniques at not getting caught, he'd put that one off, buying himself a few moments more to come up with a satisfactory answer.. since he had yet been able to bring himself to really think on the fact and come up with the 'complete' reason behind it. " As for helping you.." another shrug.." would sort of be helping myself now wouldn't I? You get caught and they'll start having suspicions about every out of place shadow and be thoroughly questioning every student finding themselves tardy at curfew.. might make my...task.. a bit more difficult if that were to happen wouldn't it?"

[ada]

Ada found it odd that she wasn’t already out of that library. Really. Why was she still here? She didn’t need an explanation as to why Sebastian was being so charitable, she should just go, before she did something that made him change his mind. It was supposed to be her instinct—when fight was not an option, it was supposed to be flight, aka running the hell away. And yet here she was, reasonably relaxed in the presence of someone who held the power to ruin everything. So Ada had to ask herself, ‘You stupid girl, why aren’t you leaving?’ But she didn’t really have an answer to that.

One thing was for sure, it felt oddly nice to have someone know the truth. Even if Sebastian had found out her secret in a nosy, jerk-like manner, he still knew. Ada felt a new kind of honesty around him, the kind she hadn’t felt around anyone but Damien and her family for a long time. Because this job made her lie, and it turned her life into a lie, and it made her hide from people. Even the simplest inquiry by a friendly peer, like, ‘Why are you so tired, Ada?’ or ‘What are you writing about, Ada?’ had to be answered with a lie. It made her feel fake, traitorous, horrible. So she may not have liked Sebastian himself at the moment, but she liked being able to feel genuine again. She wanted to talk to him. Which was an odd thing to want.

But odd or not, Ada half-grinned at his comment. ”Well, if you didn’t already know not to read a girl’s journal, someone had to teach you. And yeah, what I write in there is sensitive—secret, you know. I thought it was safe if I took it everywhere with me.” She slid him a meaningful glance and a glare that she put no force behind (she wasn’t mad at him for finding out anymore, not if he wasn’t going to tell anyone). ”Obviously, I need a new plan for the whole journal situation.”

She listened to what he had to say next. and an inkling of suspicion formed in her mind. More than an inkling. But she shoved it away—impossible. His talk of letters had to do with something else—anything else. But he went on and dispelled none of her insane conclusions. The same cauldron? How was that possible? ”You…get it?” Ada repeated him in a daze, her brow furrowed in confusion. It couldn’t be. But then Sebastian said more—he couldn’t get caught, he wanted to help her because it would make his ‘task’ easier…Ada couldn’t believe it, but there it was—staring her in the face. Ada stayed frozen for a moment, her blue eyes locked on his face, her expression carefully composed. She stared at him for a few seconds, staying silent and trying to evaluate what he was thinking—he was a hard guy to read; in the end all she could tell was that he was either an amazing actor, or he was telling the truth.

She wanted to believe him. Really, really badly. Because she was being so damn rational right now. She shouldn’t let her weird desires determine what she would and wouldn’t believe—she was supposed to be logical. That’s how she usually functioned—or how she liked to function.

There was only one way to find out which option it was, and that was the rational way. She had to find proof.

Ada kept her eyes on Seb as she took a few steps towards him, only moving her gaze when she was right next to the table he was leaning against. She reached behind him, grabbed the Runes book, and proceeded to flip rapidly through the pages. No notes. She shook it upside-down, hoping something would fall out and she could believe him. But there was nothing. Nada. Zilch. Ada frowned—why did she want to prove him right so much? So she could trust him? Or for a reason that she couldn’t understand yet? for whatever reason, Ada was upset that she wasn’t finding evidence to cement Sebastian’s claim.

Without another word, Ada spun on her heel and walked away from the table, headed towards the bookcase where she had first spotted Sebastian. She looked on the ground, on the shelf, and angrily shook a few of the books she had seen him holding—still nothing. ”Where’s all your stuff then, huh? Your letters, your notes…Hell, I don’t even see a quill.” She shoved the last book back on the shelf, frustrated.

[seb]

She was just starring at him.. as if trying to figure him out or something. Normally that would have bothered Seb. Set off the internal alarm connected to his emotional phobia of being conversationally cornered... analyzed. But this was altogether different.. he'd basically invited this girl to do exactly what she was. Weigh what he had to say and believe him if she found herself able. So rather than look away or drop his gaze instead he held hers and waited. Whatever he had expected in way of a reaction, it wasn't what occurred. His brow as a whole shot up as Ada walked towards him, her eyes kept firmly on his own until she was beside him.. and reaching around him for..for what? ..the Runes book?? What interest could she possibly have in it with the conversation they had found themselves in? Confusion was clear on his features for a moment as Ada, focused on the book, flipped through the pages and then turned the large tome over giving it a firm shake. His mouth pulled into a frown.. what the bloody hell was she on about?

He had little time to think on the question before she was turning on the spot and heading off to the row of shelves where they'd first met such a short while ago. Pushing off from the table, he righted himself and followed after her.. damned if this little Gryffindor didn't know just how to play at his curiosity and keep him constantly on the guessing end where she was concerned. Coming to a stop just behind her as she looked around and then began tugging books from the shelf, giving them vicious shakes his frown remained and one brow shot up. His mouth had opened to voice a warning, but barley a syllable made it out before Ada cut him off and suddenly started carrying on about letters and quills.. and... oh, ..that was it was it? She thought he must have brought things necessary for note taking if he were telling the truth. Shaking his head Seb gave a light sigh, she 'did' have an awful lot to learn then. He'd been just about to make another effort at speech when Ada took the last of the books and shoved it harshly back into place. As she did the corner of the old cover snagged and ripped back a bit and Seb's eyes shot wide.. and flew to Ada. She was still upset and if she took any more notions that lead to the damage of yet more books..

Stepping forward quickly, Seb reached around her and grasped her wrists, pulling her to his chest in the gentle trap of his arms. His quiet voice registering just behind her ear. It held a calm tone of authority as he tried to get his point across.. " No, stop fighting.. now listen. I'm going to let you go, but you'll not touch another of those books as roughly as you have been..alright? " Waiting for some form of confirmation, he closed his eyes trying for the life of him to ignore the rather intoxicating smell of something fresh and smelling faintly of citrus as it wafted up from the girl in his arms to mix with the dry smells of parchment and books. Once he'd heard something in the way of an agreement he released his hold on her and stepped around her to pull the damaged book from the shelf and inspect it torn corner. He grimaced.. " Well, no hope for that.. " Looking thoughtfully at the book for a moment he motioned with his hand for Ada to fallow him and began talking as he strolled towards the librarians counter. " She puts a charm on this place every night at lock up.. it lets her know if any of them have been damaged during the night. See Pince cares about the books first and foremost.. not so much about students being up after hours. In harming this.." He tapped the spine of the book in his hands. " You've managed to put her on the alert to someone messing about in here nights... "

Arriving at the counter he reached over it and pulled up a journal that was more the size of a large tome and opened it on the counter top. His wand lifted to point at the scrawl of handwriting already present in the librarians script and he murmured an incantation.." duplicate.." that done he moved the wand tip to the next available empty space on the page and signed the book out to himself at the end of the previous day. Madam Pince was likely to recall he wasn't the last one she'd checked out.. but then last of the day before closing was a hectic time..and seeing as the sign out was in her own handwriting, he doubted she'd do more than check to be sure the book was in fact gone. "This way.." he said, turning to eye Ada with a less than pleased expression.." I'll return it, and hopefully just get a lengthy suspension from the library. " He grimaced as a thought occurred to him.. " Or she'll let it beat me about the head for damaging it.." His hand went to his shoulder which had only recently quit aching from Adas assault. " can't say I'll be thrilled with that part. But, at least it will still leave us free to come here when we need at night."

Tucking the book under his arm he regarded Ada for a moment.. dare he show her that much? If she lost her nerve, turned herself in, he'd be done for and Kim along with him. The memory of Ada's hopeless face at thinking she was about to be turned in surfaced before him and he thought that no, she definatley wasn't of a mind to..if nothing else her fear of what the wizarding world would do to her would keep her from speaking up. One thing he was fairly certain of.. she wasn't going to be inclined to believe him or take advice from him without proof.. and another thing he was dead sure of.. If Ada kept tripping about in her little game of 'spy', as this fumble with the books had shown her to be doing, she was going risk giving them both away. " I've something to show you, if you'll let me.. it'll prove I'm not lying to you.. but we'll have to make it back up to the seventh floor." Here he paused and gave her a rather serious look compared to anything he'd cast her way since their meeting. And to do that without getting caught your going to have to trust me enough to listen to me.. I know the prefects rounds patterns.. unless of course Potter's on rounds tonight.. " He frowned at that thought, Albus was always a bit to dedicated to his prefect role for Seb's liking.. though they might get lucky and he'd be spending time with that little red head he always seemed to be around. " Anyway, if were going to stand a chance of getting there without getting caught I need your word that you'll listen alright? I don't usually go back up.. " Seb caught himself quickly and choked back his own words with a silent mental curse.. he'd nearly said in my natural form Come to think of it he'd spoken more to this girl in the last half hour than he could recall doing to the school at large in the last week. Just what was it about her?... Sparing only a moment to ponder the elusive answer to that question he continued. " That is, I don't usually go back up with another person in tow.. so can I have your word on that then?"

[ada]

Ada was happy to find that Sebastian had followed her, seeing as it was easier to question him when he was closer and there would be no need for yelling through the shelves and causing a ruckus that would only attract unwanted attention. She could feel his curious gaze on her as if it were a tangible thing, but she tried to ignore it. But when she put the last unhelpful book back in its place on the shelf, all of a sudden he was moving. And all of a sudden she found herself pulled up against his chest, his hands like temporary shackles around her wrists. She tensed up, trying briefly to tug away (a reflexive action) before she just stopped. Her pulse thudded in her ears, and she doubted that it was from anger, which didn’t make any sense because she should be angry at him for manhandling her for whatever reason. But she couldn’t summon any of the indignant anger she expected—in fact, all she could think about was that he was really warm and he smelled musky and spicy and nice…what the hell was wrong with her? She needed for him to let her go—he was screwing with her mind. Was this some sort of hex? Was he doing this on purpose?

She managed to pronounce a ”Sure, fine,” as she wondered why he cared so much about these books—he was no bookworm, she felt pretty confident about that. It seemed like it took a long time for him to let go of her, but she didn’t trust her senses—she was probably letting her imagination get the better of her. Then she saw the book that Sebastian pulled out of the shelf, and her eyes widened. Had she really just torn a book? What was wrong with her? She might not have been a cautious person, but she never really destroyed things. Okay, she might have a little violent streak; she’d been known to punch a pillow or two and occasionally smack a jerk with a thick book, but she hadn’t even realized she’d done this damage. She should be more careful—mistakes like these would lead to her downfall, as Seb was pointing out as she followed him around the shelves. Why was she being so careless tonight? She let him read her journal, let him find out about her, beat him with a book, stayed when she should’ve left, and then ripped a book that would set off alerts. She sucked at this. All of this.

She had no idea what Sebastian was up to when he pulled the ledger out of the librarian’s desk, but she watched intently and caught on after a moment, thanks to his actions and words. She wanted to drown in her own guilt and stupidity, for making this necessary, and when he directed a look at her that said exactly that: “You’re stupid and this is your fault”, she couldn’t even deny it. She just tried to muster a composed expression to hide her self-loathing behind. Then Seb flat-out told her that he would be taking the fall for her, and he looked so pissed off by his own good deed that she really couldn’t doubt him. Someone faking a favor, trying to trick her into trusting him, would’ve at least put on a sickly sweet smile. And Sebastian’s expression was so honestly displeased that a good portion of her paranoia kind of melted away. She wasn’t sure that he was really a fellow spy, but she had a little more faith concerning his intentions. She noticed him rubbing his shoulder and eyeing her, and Ada chewed on her lower lip. ”Look, I’m sorry,” she muttered, not mentioning that she was sorry for more than beating him with a book—she was sorry for being such a clueless ‘spy’ that she dragged him into her issues, even if he wasn’t such an innocent bystander himself. ”Thanks for…you know, this.” She gestured towards the librarian’s ledger.

Those caramel eyes were looking intently at her now, and Ada tried to tear her eyes away from them because they made her feel…odd. Such as the fact that her heart sped up in a way that had nothing to with an existing medical condition, and it wasn’t really unpleasant. So as soon as he finished telling her that they had to get back to the seventh floor, she looked away from him and down at her hands. ”I’ve gotten up to the seventh floor before, you know,” she said, her voice quiet but a little defiant. She might not have been the best spy, but she wasn’t completely incompetent. She could do a few things right. Granted, the times she’d snuck past the Prefects it had involved more luck than anything, and a few well-placed lies, but she’d done it all the same.

She felt more like herself after she had a moment away from his gaze, so she could raise her eyes again. She watched Seb cautiously, trying to figure him out, but didn’t really get anywhere. He was still a mystery, although the fact that he had apparently memorized the Prefects’ round patterns made her far more inclined to believe that he was what he said he was. The only problem was that she still didn’t know what he’d been doing in the library for hours on end if he wasn’t reading or taking notes…the thought fell away as Sebastian cut himself off and reworded…something. He had something more to tell, but he wasn’t telling it. Fine. It was none of her business anyways.

She nodded, letting the familiarity of her barbed tongue take over because her mind was too busy analyzing Seb and trying to get her to look at him some more. ”Yeah, you’ve got my word. I promise to do what you say when we go back up to the seventh floor so we won’t get caught. Which is a real bummer, you know, because I was going to use my usual method of waltzing down the hallways and singing showtunes.” She smiled a little, more of a soft grin than a mischievous smirk, to show that she really was thankful for all his help, she just wasn’t a complete loser who didn’t know what to do at any point in time. She pulled her wand out of her back pocket, murmured ”Accio,” and held open her arms as her messy book bag floated over. She slung it over one shoulder, half-heartedly shoving down the rolls of parchment that were sticking out of the top. ”Well then, lead the way.”

[seb]

He'd nodded with a detached small shrug of his shoulders at her apology and the thanks she gave him for taking the fall when it came to the book. Weather she realized it or not he'd done it simply to secure future use of the library at night. The type of studding he often did in here.. and he was fairly sure by now the same was true of her.. wasn't something you could afford to have someone pausing by your table to read over your shoulder out of idle curiosity. The book was torn.. no amount of lecturing..or yelling.. or finger pointing was going to change that. It was done, simple as that, and the next logical step in moving forward..keeping their cover, was to either repair the damage, or find the best way to move past it. The books of the Hogwarts library were not your average reads though. The use of magic, even for restorative purposes on them would find you in just as much trouble as damaging them in the first place. Seeing as that ruled out the option of repairing the damage, he'd gone for the only other alternative.. find a way to move forward, take as little a blow as you could manage and continue on from that point. If someone had to pay a price.. then he would be the one most likely pull it off and have it be believable.. Ada's skills at living a lie.. well, they were questionable at best.. and really he thought even to go that far was being overly fair.

In short, what Ada thought to be a kind gesture on Seb's part was really simply just the boys way of forging ahead. Tackling the situation head on in the only way he knew how, the way he'd been conditioned to believe life worked. Nobody 'really' cared..no one would have true compassion for your situation, so get over it, look out for whats important to you, and move on. His gaze had fallen intently on her as he'd asked for her cooperation in making it upstairs. And it only searched her face more thoroughly, trying to gain some hold on what to make of her, as she pulled her eyes from his and dropped her gaze to her hands. He'd seen many girls lower their eyes.. bashful and un-nerved beneath his own searching expression. But her words were a new twist on that normal occurrence. They started out quiet, and he expected she'd agree and perhaps apologize again.. trip over her words.. something typical of the like. He was so use to such reactions, that the underlying defiance in her tone had his brow raising. And then she spouted off a sassy comeback at the end of agreeing to listen to him. Her mouth pulled into a soft grin that left him knowing she wasn't begrudging his help, but rather just being a smart ass in general.. for the hell of it. He simply continued to watch her as she summoned her bag and and asked that he lead them out. His eyes stayed on her for several moments more before a smirk touched the line of his mouth and he shook his head a bit.

Turning his gaze away from her he headed to the door of the library, placing a finger to his lips as he unlocked the latch on the door, a simple task from the inside, and peaked his head out. Cautiously scouting the vacant and quiet corridor beyond with his eyes. Right.. no one there.. should be on this floor.. this time of night. pulling his head back in he motioned with a jerk of it that she should follow and the slipped out of the doors. He waited until she had followed suite before re-locking the door and shutting it with a soft click behind them. The first two floors turned out to be rather uneventful.. on the third they'd run into Peeves. And Sebastian managed to deter the little man from raising the alarm both by assuring him that they were up to mischief that was sure to cause a bedlam of fun and chaos if they managed to pull it off and by bribing the little man with the promise of a bag full of dung bombs when next Seb saw him.

They'd made it to the sixth floor.. Ada doing very well.. surprising him with her quiet steps and the fact that he'd not had to lecture her once for trying to chatter at him. Most of the girls he'd known liked to talk.. a lot.. in fact the only thing they seemed to enjoy more was snogging.. which was usually his preference as well..and the past time of the two he usually tried to encourage with them. It after all lead to things much more.. satisfying.. than the rumor dribble and gossip they usually tried to share with him. He'd had to deal with none of that pointless running of the mouth with Ada though as they'd made there way to their current corridor. She'd been to intent on keeping her eyes and ears open to be bothered with idle chatter, and Seb found himself building a bit of hope that she might have some sort of a handle on what she was doing after all. Back in the library.. maybe she had just been having an off moment. Hell, he had caused her to think for the span of a few minutes that her life was basically over.. so what could he have expected?

A noise pulled him from his thoughts and his head jerked to look ahead. not a few yards from them footsteps were echoing around the corner.. preceding the prefect that would be following in just a very few seconds. Seb had no time to truly think.. his eyes cast about the walls, landing on a narrow, door sized tapestry that some hazed part of his over driven mind claimed had plenty of space beyond it, a hidden alcove in the wall. Snagging hold of Ada's arm he drug her to the hanging and shoved her behind it following in nearly the same moment. The tapestry drifted back into place concealing them, just barley managing not to brush the back of Sebastian's black school pants and white shirt. He couldn't move forward because the Alcove was only an alcove in size to something as small as a cat.. the memory of all that space had been made while he was in his animagus form. As humans it was more of an indention in the wall with a small step up that set slightly further back into the wall. Where this left them was hidden from view but with Ada's back to the wall, on the step up making her no more than an inch shorter than Sebastian while his own body was forced to lean in, press up against her own. He'd braced his arms on either side of her shoulders. Keeping just enough of his weight from her so that she wouldn't feel crushed.. though that didn't stop the fact that very little of them wasn't pressed up against some part of the other. Seb Tucked his head forward, his lips all but brushing her ear in the tightly confined space as he breath out rather than spoke one sound.. "shhh..."

His body stayed frozen, holding her to the wall as the foot steps grew...passed..and after several agonizingly tense minutes faded away. Once they'd gone he pulled his head back slightly, risking it causeing the tapestry to shift, and his eyes locked with two very wide.. very beautiful.. blue eyes. Eye's with a deep innocence that plucked at a cord within his chest.. In Seb's mind, he was a creature of habit.. and here was a prime opportunity that was simply to 'there' to pass up.. in his heart something else stirred.. something foreign.. and unfamiliar.. and so small in its new spark of existence that he chose to give it no more thought than to assume it simple excitement.. the rush of adrenaline and the feelings of passion sparked in the near missed prospect of getting caught. His eyelids hooded and his mouth perked into a lopsided grin as he stared back intently, and then leaned forward to press his lips gently, experimentally against hers. If she didn't mind she'd return the kiss.. if she did he probably had a sound smack to the face on the way.. between having basically just met her, and not having gotten off to the best foot at that..he had firm bets on the smack. At any rate, for this particular fraction of a moment in time.. damn'd if her lips weren't soft.. and damn'd if she wasn't the sweetest taste he'd yet experienced.

[ada]

After briefly wondering why it was that Sebastian was smirking at her, Ada gave up on trying to analyze this impossible guy for the moment, and tried to focus her efforts on following him out of the library. It was easy and simple, at first—walk out of the library, lock the door after them, scan the hallways to make sure they were empty, and then start heading for the next floor. Floors one and two were so easy that they set of alarms of paranoia in Ada’s mind—this was too easy—and she was right, because floor three held the delightful little surprise of Peeves. Thank God Seb was there—Ada had never been very good at handling Peeves. She tended to avoid him at all costs, because he wasn’t easy to get rid of and he didn’t fall for her sweet and innocent act like Prefects or Professors did. They managed to maneuver past Peeves without much trouble, although she couldn’t help but feel that Seb had made some sort of deal with the devil. She let out a silent breath of relief as they reached the next floor that had no picky poltergeist, glad that they wouldn’t have to face that particular roadblock again tonight.Sebastian didn’t speak to her on the way up to the seventh floor, but she hadn’t expected much else. In fact, until she had the tact to provoke him in the library tonight, she’d never heard him speak. Merlin knew there were enough rumors about him flying around the school, mostly centered around girls and certain activities, but Sebastian himself was very quiet and withdrawn from the rest of the Gryffindors—from the rest of the school, really. But in such a situation, Ada felt that silence was good and necessary. Talking would not only make unneeded noises, but it would also distract them from the task at hand. If she was running her mouth, she might not notice faint footsteps coming their way. She might not have any sort of experience on her side, but Ada did have an affinity for being quiet when she needed to be. Her thin body was able to carry her across the floor lightly, landing only on the balls of her feet, making little noise.

Fourth floor, check. Fifth floor, check. Sixth floor—not quite. They were on their way down a corridor when the horribly familiar sound of measured, collected, calm Prefect footsteps could be heard around the bend. Ada internally cursed, whirling around and looking for a cupboard to duck into or something, her mind clicking up a notch into ‘survival mode’. But before she even managed to find someplace decent to hide in, she felt Seb’s hand encircle her arm and all of a sudden she was being dragged over to one side of the hallway and shoved behind a tapestry that was hiding a small indention in the wall. This hiding place wouldn’t have been too bad if Ada had been there alone, but not even a second after her back had touched the wall, Seb was pressing against her front, sandwiched between the cold stones and the warmth of his body. There was no such thing as personal space behind that damned tapestry—something she usually despised—and yet she wasn’t that upset about it. Not like she could’ve moved even if she was bothered by it all.

Her pulse thudded in her ears. There wasn’t an inch of space between the two of them, especially since Ada was on a raised step which brought her even closer to Seb’s face, a fact that made color rush to her cheeks. And his arms were on either side of her, boxing her in, but even though she was technically trapped she didn’t feel…bad. She didn’t quite know what she felt, which was overwhelming and oddly pleasant at the same time. So she was flushed and breathing shallowly and trying to ignore the fact that her book bag was wedged awkwardly between her hip and the wall, and trying to calmly diagnose why the hell she was so flustered about being physically close to a guy. She’d had a boyfriend before, but it’d taken a whole lot of action to make her feel overheated and flustered. And she’d hidden in broom closets with Damien before, when they were almost caught out after curfew, but she’d never even really noticed whenever they were touching. So this was new. And odd. And Ada was determined to either figure out why this was happening or try to ignore it. And since she wasn’t figuring anything out...it came down to trying not to notice and waiting for Seb to step away from her, avoiding his eyes because she’d had trouble with those even when she wasn’t pressed all up against him.

Oh, great, his mouth was up against her ear. That made him easy to ignore. When he half-breathed, half-shushed her, it was all Ada could do to hold back a shiver—his breath was tickling her, that was all—but she held herself still, keeping tense, wishing that he didn’t have to smell so good. She focused on keeping her ears peeled for the sounds of the footsteps fading, and eventually they did, although the whole ordeal seemed to take far too long for Ada’s liking. She was in the process of trying to get a full breath of air into her lungs, looking at Seb expectantly, when his tawny eyes met hers.

He gave her a crooked smile, and not only did it make her breath catch, Ada began to get worried—that smile couldn’t be good. And she recognized the look in his eyes: Jeremy used to have it all the time, right before he kissed her. But that had nothing to do with Seb—

Wrong.

He. Was. Kissing. Her.

Ada’s mind was unresponsive, so shocked that she just froze up and stood there for a second in unbelief, not really absorbing or processing. All she knew was that one second she was standing there, motionless and nothing but an innocent victim, and the next second she felt an unfamiliar twinge at her heart, and then she was changing positions. She leaned into Seb, bringing him closer to her and pressing her lips against his. Her hands moved, too—one to his neck, one to his jaw, her fingers cool against his skin.

But then her eyes snapped open, her brain rebooted, and Ada realized what she was doing. And just as quickly as she had moved towards him, Ada moved away. She shoved at his shoulders until she made enough room for her to duck under an arm, shove past the tapestry, and emerge into the deserted hallway. She was flushed and very, very confused, and she didn’t really want to dwell on what had just happened so she made herself not think.

She turned on Seb, who had begun to step out from behind the tapestry as well. ”What was that, jackass?” she hissed, then she shook her head furiously—did she really want to know what all that was? ”Ugh, forget it. And I really mean it—forget it. This never happened.” She smoothed out the front of her shirt, readjusting the waistband of her worn jeans, and half-heartedly checking on her book bag. ”I’ll find my own way back to the seventh floor,” she muttered, not sure whom she was angrier with, Sebastian or herself. Probably the latter. Ada spun on her heel, avoiding Sebastian’ s gaze, and began taking silent strides towards the last staircase she would need that night, if she was lucky.

[seb]

The smack he'd been expecting... would have to admit he probably deserved, never came. He thought it might at first, as she stood frozen against his lips. He'd even braced for it, more to keep from potentially being thrown off balance than out of fear. Sure she could pack punch when angry..he'd learned that much.. but as long as she hadn't any weapons in reach such as a good heavy book, she wasn't exactly intimidating in height or build.

What did happen had him a bit startled and, as the shock faded, brought a roguish grin to his mouth as he kissed her. She'd leaned forward into him. Her one hand moving to rest on the sensitive skin of his neck while the other left a feathery light trail along his jaw with her fingers as she kissed him back. His own hand lifted from the wall and sought to rest on the small of her back. Meaning to tuck her gently into him for what was seemingly the start of a very willing and damned well promisingly pleasant snogging session. It never made it to its destination. As quickly as she'd joined in on the kiss she was pulling away.

Her hands lifted to shove at his chest as though she thought she could actually move him if he really wished to keep her there, and he found himself fighting down a chuckle as he leaned away giving into the pressure. Despite his amorous reputation.. and regardless of a possible rumor or two blown out of
proportion to suggest otherwise, Sebastian had not, nor would ever, pressure a girl to do anything against their own choosing. Blokes who did that were just another type of bully.. and Seb had unspoken issues where bullies were concerned. Besides.. that was half the fun...half the satisfaction of a good snog or shagging.. knowing he'd been able to entice them into actually coming after him for what they'd decided they wanted.

He lifted both a brow and his arm as she shoved against it, and allowed her to duck out into the hall. A smirk formed on his lips as he watched after her for a moment, tapestry held aside, before stepping out into the hall himself. The flustered way she walked and the blush present on her cheeks were symptoms he was familiar with.. things he could understand and new very well that he had caused with his actions. What he didn't understand couldn't relate to.. was her sudden change of mood. He understood when a girl wasn't interested at all, knew to back off and leave them to their own choices. He'd also known one or two who were willing to the point that he'd found himself avoiding them occasionally for a chance to breath.. quite literally. The girls he... spent time with.. he supposed they could be called friends.. sort of..though they spent a lot less of their time talking with their voices and a great deal more speaking with their mouths and bodies, were nothing like the hot tempered little American storming away down the hall. She fancied him, he wasn't daft, or blind for that matter.. or at least she had, for a moment..and yet the venom she shot back over her shoulder made it clear that she resented the fact, for whatever reason. Would the mysteries with this girl ever end? Or was he to spend all future moments in her presence second guessing just where the boundaries lie?

And yet frustrated as he was.. he couldn't help the smirk that played across his lips as she cursed him, blushing and out of sorts even as she did. He simply stood in the hall relaxed.. his hands shoved into his pockets and let her march off some steam and a little distance between them. Before she'd gotten far enough for him to have the need to raise his voice though, he spoke. " Look.. I'm sorry..alright? You want it forgotten.. its forgotten.. won't happen again alright? .. Might want to think twice about that route your taking back though.. If Potter's on duty tonight you won't find he takes the offer of a bribe in quite the same spirit that Peeves does.. "

Moving over to the wall he pressed a hand to a stone in the wall about shoulder level.. had he time to think earlier this would have been what would have eventually come to mind.. did he regret that it hadn't? Not on your life... he hadn't lied to her, not really.. he was sorry... sorry that she, for whatever reason just wasn't into him like she'd apparently first thought she was.. sorry he'd not be having another taste of her sweet lips.. but sorry for kissing her in the first place? .. not on your life. The wall fell back to reveal a hidden set of stairs spiraling up to the next floor, it would let out behind a tapestry not far from the fat ladies portrait, and while he'd promised to show her proof of their mutual situation, somehow he doubted she was in a mood to deal with to many more surprises tonight. To go along with that, revealing one of his most guarded secrets to a girl currently fuming mad at him wouldn't be the brightest of moves.. "This stair case will let you out a few feet from the common room.. you can fallow if you like, if not... " he ended the sentence with a pointed shrug and stepped into the shadows before pausing briefly.. his face turning just enough over his shoulder for the smirk on his lips and a glimpse of his laughter filled eyes to show. " Just so you know though... your awfully good at that... what 'didn't' happen.. you know? ...just saying.. " with that he turned back into the shadow of the stairs and stared to climb up them, hands wedged firmly in his pockets once more.

[ada]

Ada couldn’t even begin to describe her emotions. Then again, she wasn’t really trying to—mostly she was ignoring the tangled mess that were her feelings and hoping that if she left them alone long enough they might just fade away and disappear. That would be nice. She’d love to go back to the times like earlier that night, when she was physically able to feel one emotion at a time. Things were neater that way. And certainly easier to manage events when she wasn’t overwhelmed by something like fifty emotions and desires and fears all firing at once. It made thinking just a tad harder.

But as she took a few steps down the corridor, Ada attempted to analyze what had just happened—she couldn’t help it. She needed to think about it, at least a little bit. And the little bit that Ada allowed herself to fixate on was the simple facts: he had kissed her, and she had liked it. In fact, she’d kissed him back. Ada knew that Seb had a bit of a reputation, and she knew that he was known for being…affectionate. So she didn’t take the kiss seriously from his end. He didn’t mean it—he was just a player. The problem was that she’d kissed him back—now that could lead to some problems. Ada was nobody’s toy, and she wasn’t about to let herself become Seb’s plaything. Even if his eyes made her feel odd and his lips felt really nice and he smelled fantastic. He was out of bounds. The end.

She was pretty pleased with her own exit strategy when the sound of Seb’s voice slowed her footsteps and she had to look over her shoulder at him. He, unlike her, looked perfectly cool and collected, his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed, and even a damned smirk on his attractive face. Oh, was this some kind of joke to him? A game? Freak Out the New Girl—fun for mysterious Gryffindor boys everywhere! And the rules were simple: first, make her think she’s dead. Then give her hope. Then kiss her in the hallway and make her kiss you back and then act like nothing’s phased you. Seb must be a freaking expert at that game. And even though what he was saying made perfect sense, she didn’t really want to listen to him. She wanted for him to be wrong. But with a sigh and an exasperated tossing of her head, she had to admit that he was right. Albus Potter was certainly a…dedicated…Prefect. She’d almost run into him once before, and she’d had to Transfigure a statue to hide her in its midst as he walked by. And then she’d spent a good ten minutes trying to get the statue back to normal before she moved on. She kind of wished Al was like his cousin, Rose, aka her dorm-mate. But then again, Rose was nosy as hell. The only reason she wasn’t in the way was because she wasn’t a Prefect…Ada took back her wish. Better a dedicated Prefect than a nosy girl.

And as much as Ada knew Seb was right and probably had an easier way out of this hallway, part of her wanted to simply be stubborn and go her own way—show Seb that she could do some things perfectly fine by herself. But based on her run of fantastic luck tonight, Ada would probably get caught or end up stuck somewhere in the process of hiding. But Ada was stubborn, not stupid, and as Seb pushed a stone in the wall and revealed a hidden staircase she recognized the convenience and relative safety of this secret route. Ada scowled to herself, but set off towards the staircase and the infuriating boy, her stride quick and purposeful and her chin held level. She had almost reached him when he decided to throw that extra little comment back at her with his signature smirk and then disappear into the shadows. Damn it. Why couldn’t he leave his stupid little game in the past? She wasn’t playing. She refused to, even if his damned smirk and his damned comment was making her want to step really close to him and wipe that expression off his face…Okay, woah, where was she going with that thought? She didn’t want to know.

Ada spent a moment staring at the spot where Seb had been, her mouth slightly open in a half-sneer, half-shocked expression, but she made herself snap out of it. She brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, tucking it back into the thick black headband that had been making a valiant effort to hold her hair back all day. Then Ada composed her expression and stepped into the shadowy darkness of the stairwell, snapping, ”Oh, I’m good at being half-assaulted? Great, thanks, it’s something of a talent that I’ve been working on.”

Ada was stepping up the stairs quickly, being under the impression that she’d wasted a good amount of time being shocked right outside the stairwell, but the truth was that she wasn’t very far behind Seb. And with her fast pace she was catching up to him rather quickly, and she didn’t know it because of the dark. So when she got to the point where she would’ve overtaken him on a normal staircase, Ada just blatantly ran into his back. And seeing as there was quite a noticeable size difference between the two of them and Ada lost the ‘sturdy’ contest by a long shot, it was Ada who rebounded backwards. And seeing as it was freaking dark in that stairwell, Ada almost lost what little footing she had on the stone stairs. The only thing that kept her from stumbling and falling down the long set of steps was the fact that Ada threw out an arm and wrapped it around Seb’s waist, pulling herself into his back.

Thanks to Seb being her anchor, Ada found her footing and her balance soon enough. But it came at the price of having her face pressed up against his shoulder blades, her torso against his lower back, and her arms around a midsection that she could now feel was very toned. She stood there for a moment, the shock from her almost fall and the following adrenaline rush almost gluing her muscles into place around Seb. One second. Two seconds. Ada released her hold on him, her eyes wide and her face pale from the scare and her cheeks flushed from the personal contact with Seb. She was grateful that this tiny corridor-thing was really dark.

”Well, that was fun,” Ada said, her voice only wobbling on the first word, which was surprisingly good considering her situation. She coughed a little. ”Uhm, well, let’s just be moving on. Y’know, before I mess something else up tonight.”

[seb]

Sebastian took his time in heading up the stairs. He’d taken this route often enough in the past that the need to use his hands to feel for the walls in the near blackness was a non-existent one. In fact he still had them shoved in his pant pockets and a grin playing across his lips as Ada’s furious comment echoed up the stair well.

There was something in her snappy comebacks and crisp American accent that appealed to him.. she wasn’t afraid to come right back.. give as good as she got, or at least try her best at it. He rather liked that about her. It made her by far more interesting that the ‘out to please’ random snogging partners he usually found himself in the company of, and if all she was interested in was a friendship..well..it was unfortunate..especially since he swore he could still feel the lingering tingle of her kiss on his lips. It had something.. different, extra.. behind it.. Which was daft seeing how many girls he'd kissed in the past who'd been just as enthused to participate and had never left him impressed upon in any way. And yet the feeling was there all the same..persistent and sensitive on his lips..shrugging off the notion he considered, really, could it hurt to get along with her? He'd have to anyway to some extent to see to it that she knew enough of what she was doing so as not to land them both in Azkaban for being found out, right? These were the thoughts trialing through his mind as he ascended the steps at a very leisurely pace. They were also the reason he missed the sound of her feet clapping on the stone.. or rather the speed at which they were gaining ground.

So he was rather surprised when what felt like a well aimed pillow thumped into his back.. sucked in a breath of surprise as it teetered in the air behind him, and then promptly reached out to grip a firm hold on his mid section. Feeling Ada’s weight settle against his back he glanced down at the arm clutching his stomach and a pleased smirk spread across his lips. A soft chuckle escaped him as after a rather extended pause she righted herself, her voice unsteady and accompanied by a nervous cough while she tried to brush the awkward moment aside.“ Now who’s being assaulted? .. Thought you wanted to forget about it? “ There was a playful mirth in his tone as he spoke and he turned his head to the side, eying the space behind him as best he could without actually turning around. He'd braced his feet as she'd wobbled, using the leverage to keep them both upright on the steps.. though his hands had remained shoved in his pockets through the whole thing.

His smirk broke into an actual grin and he pulled a hand from its pocket reaching back to hold it behind him, palm open for her to take. " Com'on then.. take it. Let me be your eyes till we get to the top... might be the
safest bet for the both of us. " In the darkened and narrow stair well he felt rather than saw her reaction to his request come in the form of a small, cool and soft hand grasping hold of his own. His own grasped hold of it gently and he lead her up the remaining steps. Watching closely for prefects at the top before stepping through a wall that wasn't really a wall at all and into the hallway. Quickly he guided her across the hall to the portrait of the fat lady who, and his murmuring of the password rose a brow at the late hour and then shrugged. I'm not a prefect so I suppose as long as you've password..Once she'd swung aside Seb crawled in through the hole, dropping Ada's hand as he did so.

Straightening in the common room he turned to Ada planning to let here know that with the way things had turned in might be best if he show her his 'proof' on some other night. The words never made it out of his mouth though. His eye was caught by a very small barn owl pecking at the window and all the color seemed to drain from his face.. always cool.. always collected Sebastian, for one moment, looked utterly terrified at the sight of the bird.