ā” When Sebastian Sallow is Your Academic Rival ā”
Youāre both gifted. Ambitious. Sharp-tongued, sharp-minded. In theory, Sebastian should admire thatārespect it, even. After all, his circle is full of people like that. Anne. Ominis. Himself.
But with you, itās different. Something about your brilliance grates on his nerves. The way you always have an answer ready. The way you breeze through lessons like you were born to outshine everyone else. Itās infuriating.
He watches you with furrowed brows in class, arms crossed, jaw tight. When you laugh at something a professor says, it physically pains him not to roll his eyes. He almost smiles with you onceābut catches himself just in time.
Itās not that he wants to see you fail. Not really. Itās more thatā¦ every time you get house points (even if you are both in Slytherin), or say something clever, or challenge him with that knowing smirk(ugh!)āit makes his blood heat in the most frustrating way.
He argues with you constantly. Even when your point is solidāespecially when your point is solid. He knows youāre right. He just canāt let you have the last word.Ā Thereās something he has to prove, and heās not even sure to whom. You? Himself?
One time he snapped his quill in half just listening to you speak in class. āWhatās wrong with you?ā Ominis asked.
āNothing,ā Sebastian muttered through gritted teeth, glaring at the inky mess.
You once called a sentence in his Transmutation essay āa bit weak.ā He rewrote the whole thing that night. The whole damn thing.
He fixes his hair every time he passes you in the corridor. Doesnāt even think about itāit just happens.
He always wants to know where youāre going, who you're talking to. Not because he cares, of course. Just for strategy. Justā¦ to be aware. So he scans the Great Hall for your silhouette every morning, watch your interactions with other students closely. Checks the titles of books you are currently reading, (reads them too, more often than not.)
Leander flirted with you once during a Crossed Wands match (or at least it looked like it, Leander surely looked tad too friendly to his tastes). Sebastian accidentally hexed him five minutes later. (oops.)
When youāre in the library, he always picks a seat that lets him see you. Just to keep an eye on you. Enemies must be in the plain eyesight, after all. Butā¦ enemy?
That word starts to feel less and less accurate every time he sees you.
The day you beat him in a duel again, you walked up and offered your hand to help him off the floor. He refused, stood on his own, and vanished into the shadows, hoping you didnāt notice how bright red his face was.
He talks about you so much that Anne and Ominis have grown completely sick of it. āLook,ā Ominis finally snaps one evening, pinching the bridge of his nose, āCanāt you just ask them out already?ā
Sebastian nearly trips over his own feet. āWh-what?! Are you mad?ā he stammers, stumbling backward like Ominis had just hexed him.
That night, he canāt sleep.
Because Ominis might be right. Heās been more lively since this strange... rivalry began. You challenge him. You make him sharper. You push him harder. Itās thrilling. Maddening.
He likes the way your eyes light up when you speak passionately. The way you make him work for every inch of ground. The way your laugh lingers in the air like magic itself.
And the way you sitāso casually poised, legs tucked just so, robes slightly rumpledā¦
Also, thereās always that little glint in your eyeālike you know something he doesnāt. It drives him insane.
He tells himself itās just the competition. Itās not your smile. Not your ink-stained fingers tapping your cheek while you think.
Definitely not the way he always seems to find you in a room without even trying. Heās not looking. Heās definitely not looking. ...Or maybe he is, with his heart beating tad too much :)
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Ā hi, you can find more of my works about sebastian ā”hereā”
you can keep the headcanons engine burning low and slow ā”hereā”
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