There’s a calmness in the air that Sarah rarely notices, but when she does, she can’t help but immerse herself in it. When she does notice, Sarah never lets it slip between her grasp. She may be an insomniac, afraid of staying in her quiet dormitory all night, and too cool to take herself seriously, but she notices the finer details in life when she’s not preoccupied with all of the weird shit that she does.
After she got an owl from her mum, Sarah decided to skip pranks tonight. She told Basil that she wasn’t in the mood, that she just wanted to sleep.
What she didn’t tell Basil was the news that the letter held.
After years of dodging the inevitable, Sarah got the news: it was time to grow up. She was to be married to Cornelius Rosier, a snobby Pureblood boy that was wealthier than all of the Weird Sisters put together. She finally had the chance to make her parents happy and end up in the life that was destined for her.
The problem was, Sarah never believed in destiny. She believed in the small things, like fleeting feelings, moments to hold forever, and the
fun in life. That’s all she ever wanted to think about. Cornelius surely wouldn’t understand that – not with his 800 Galleon designer dress robes or his Firebolt 5000.
Cornelius wouldn’t understand that Sarah was going to be the next Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. Cornelius wouldn’t understand that Sarah just wanted to have fun with her life. Cornelius wouldn’t understand that Sarah just
wasn’t that type of girl.She hadn’t even met sodding Cornelius, and that much, she knew for sure.
The calm still had not passed when Sarah opened the doors to the Entrance Hall, walking outside. She didn’t care if anyone saw her leaving the castle. She needed a moment.
--
Basil knew something wasn’t right. Sarah refused to
prank with him, and while he completely understood that she needed a night off to catch up on sleep, he highly doubted that she actually needed to sleep.
It wasn’t the way she said it or the lame excuse she made; it was the look in her eyes when she said it. That look wasn’t his Sarah.
It floored him even more when he spotted her after he split up with Ethan for Prefect Runs, knowing that it would just cause more of a headache than anything else to stay with him. When he saw her walking out of the Entrance Hall, Basil was about to say something, but the serious look on her face made him keep his mouth shut.
He didn’t know why, but suddenly, he was following her to the Lake, hiding behind bushes and tiptoeing behind her, not making a single sound.
--
It was one month away from graduation. After graduation, she was to be married to sodding Cornelius and then have his sodding babies and be a sodding good Pureblood wife. Sarah didn’t want any of it. She just wanted to be free.
Once she had reached the Lake, Sarah stopped just as the dirt started to turn to mud. Carefully, she leaned down to take off her shoes, and then her socks. Sarah set them aside, leaving them behind in the grassy lawn and taking a step into the mud, smiling slightly when the mud squished between her toes.
She didn’t need to worry about Cornelius or her mother or her father here. She was safe.
No one was watching. No one was judging her. No one was aware of her sudden seriousness, her sudden fragility.
--
Basil stood in the bushes, about ten feet away from Sarah. He watched her with a confused expression, oblivious to what she was feeling. Not knowing what she was thinking. He hated that he couldn’t help her, and he knew that she wouldn’t tell him what was wrong, even if he asked. But that was Sarah, and when she was serious, she didn’t want to be around him, or anyone else.
He pushed his hands into his pockets, watching her as she toed out of her shoes. If he couldn’t help her, he could at least look after her.
--
Shutting her eyes tight, Sarah just breathed in the outside air, trying to forget about everything. Trying to forget that she even existed.
She didn’t exist. Not now. Not at one in the morning, when she was completely alone.
Without a second thought – without even glancing around – Sarah put both hands on either side of her t-shirt, sliding it up her torso and off her body. It dropped next to her shoes. Slowly, she undid the button of her jeans and slid those off of her legs, too. Shivering in the still-cool May air, Sarah reached for the clasp on the back of her bra, easily unhooking it and sliding it off her arms.
She took one step closer to the water, which swallowed her feet, tickling her ankles with its cold, watery fingers.
Sarah gasped when she felt real, human fingers take a gentle hold on her hips from behind, not expecting anyone to follow. The thing was, though, she knew that if anyone would follow, it would be
him. Not bloody Ethan Troy or anyone else. It was always Basil.
He started to say something, and Sarah shook her head, quieting his words with just that. She didn’t want to speak. She didn’t even want to
think. And somehow, Basil understood that. The hands that were on her hips turned her around to face him, and Sarah had to open her eyes. When she did, though, Sarah couldn’t look away. She needed to see him. She needed to be close to him.
She leaned forward and gave him one kiss. That was enough for both of them to start working on his clothes – he knew that she had accepted him, and she knew that she really did need him here.
His tie was the first to go, landing on top of the heap that was Sarah’s clothes, and then his vest. Basil took of his shoes and socks, forgetting about them the moment they were off. Merlin only knew why he was still in his school clothes at this hour of the night, but Sarah wasn’t going to question it. She unbuttoned his shirt from the top-down – he started working from the bottom-up. Pushing the shirt off of his shoulders, Sarah stared at him, serious expression never leaving her face. When he leaned forward to kiss her again, even her kiss was too serious for his liking.
This wasn’t his Sarah.
He felt her anxious energy when she unbuttoned his slacks, so he pulled them down with his shorts and leaned forward to kiss her again, make her feel
something other than this awful seriousness again. The problem was, it was getting serious for Basil, too. His concern for her showed on his face, even when he pulled her closer.
Basil pulled away, settling his hands back on her hips and giving her a little smile. When she gave him a little smile back, he knew that it was going to be okay. Slowly, he slid her knickers over her hips, letting her step out of them, never taking his eyes off of her.
When they were both in the water, both of them shoulder-deep in water and soaked to the core, Sarah pulled away and smiled brightly at him, that same teasing smile she always had coming back. “Let’s run away together.”
Basil could only laugh at her, wrapping both arms around her waist. “Oh, sod off, Darling.” He grinned into the kiss, glad to have his Sarah back.
