Title: Trouble Has a Name and His Name is Sebastian

Summary: It's only her first week at Hogwarts and new fifth-year Slytherin, Melisandre already finds herself in trouble with the king of mischief – Sebastian Sallow.

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Two males sat at the back of their potions class as far away as possible from Garreth Weasley. That kid was a danger around cauldrons – last time he had managed to give some poor Hufflepuff girl boils for a week.

"You'll see the new girl in Defence Against the Dark Arts later. Professor Weasley gave her the morning off to adjust to her new life here." Ominis said, dropping a touch of dittany into his pot. The liquid hissed and turned green. "At least she's a Slytherin. Imelda will be all over her trying to size up the competition."

Sebastian snickered. "Right, but I'll get to her first."

Lifting an eyebrow, Ominis said, "Do I want to know what you're thinking?"

"I want to test her. See what she's made of. She's also kinda cute."

Ominis frowned. "Cute? I don't even… Nevermind." He heaved a long sigh and shook his head. "Sometimes I don't want to know what goes on inside your head. But you want to test her? For what purpose? The last girl you dated dumped you after three days."

"I didn't even like Samantha anyway." A pause then, "I wish Anne could be here with us. She was always a good judge of character."

"She's never coming back."

Sebastian glared. "You can't predict that future. I can help her. I know I can." He took the remains of Ominis's dittany plant and threw it into his cauldron. "You…. My uncle… the nurses at St Mungo's… You all gave up. But I won't. I won't ever quit."

He was in one of his moods again. Every time the topic shifted to Anne it became difficult to direct Sebastian's thoughts elsewhere. The boy was obsessed with a future that didn't exist and no matter how hard he tried to convince him otherwise, Sebastian would not listen. "Anne would want you to test this new girl." Perhaps it was a mistake to encourage Sebastian to pursue this girl, but at least it would distract him from Anne – temporarily anyway.

Sebastian nodded. "We have Defence Against the Dark Arts next. Perfect opportunity to test her. Let's see if she really knows how to use that wand or if Professor Fig did all the work." A smirk spread across his face.

"Just don't humiliate her. She is a Slytherin. She's one of us and we don't taunt our own."

Sebastian opened his mouth to reply when a strange smell filled the air. It was enough to make one's head spin and stomach churn. Several students surged to their feet and ran for the exit.

"Garreth Weasley! What have you done now?!" Professor Sharp called.

"Uh… I accidentally used a rotten ashwinder egg?" The boy paled and seemed to shrink in size.

He could hear a few students gagging outside the classroom. As entertaining as it was to watch Garreth Weasley try to plead his innocence to Professor Sharp, the smell was getting worse. "We should get out of here before Weasley causes more trouble."

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Melisandre entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom huffing and puffing. "Blasted ghost," she murmured. One of the ghosts had found it amusing to prevent her from going anywhere and no one tried to help. It had been one of those 'it's always funny when it happens to someone else's moments. People just laughed at her misery. Someone even claimed she wouldn't survive the week.

She looked around the room observing her surroundings. There were a few combat dummies towards the back of the classroom. The place for practicing spells. She looked around some more, searching for somewhere to seat. It was not surprising to see that students tended to sit with people of their own house. There were two Slytherin boys sitting near the front. Both were looking at her as if she had grown an arm out of her head.

"You can sit next to me," a girl called.

Melisandre turned around. There was a black woman dressed in Gryffindor robes sitting at the back. "Thanks. I'm Melisandre." She sat down.

"Natsai Onai. Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh!" She arched her brows. "Onai. Your mother works here. I saw her name mentioned in my books."

Natsai nodded. "That's right. She teaches Divination. Not one of my subject choices."

"Professor Weasley suggested I should take Divination and Care of Magical Beasts."

"Good choices." The girl opened her books. "You can look at my books if you want. You won't have any notes in your books just yet, but you'll fill them up pretty quickly over the next few weeks."

"Thanks."

"We're supposed to be learning a new spell today and the professor was teasing duelling practice. I hope it's not duelling today – everyone always loses to Sebastian Sallow." She turned her head to one of the Slytherin boys at the front. "You see that one there with the messy brown hair? Like he just crawled out of bed? That's the duelling king. Never been beaten. I suppose you already know him though being a Slytherin."

She shook her head. "No actually – the common room was empty when I arrived."

Natsai shrugged. "That's okay, you'll become acquainted with him quickly enough. He's always getting into trouble. He's got a bit of a reputation around here for all the wrong reasons."

"Right. Sebastian Sallow. Red flag."

Before Natsai could explain further, Professor Hecate entered the room.

"Good afternoon and welcome back to a busy year. I trust you've all been keeping up with your studies over the break? You do have your O.W.L.S approaching so it's important to keep in shape." Her eyes moved focused on Melisandre. "Ah, you made it. Professor Weasley said you'd be coming to class today. Professor Fig tells me you know how to handle a wand. I expect great things from you." She paced back and forth then stopped before Sebastian.

"Oh great, we are going to be humiliated in a duel against Sebastian," Natsai said.

"Sebastian, as you are the reigning champion of duelling from last year, you get to choose your duelling partner," Professor Hecate said.

Sebastian stood up and walked to the front of the class. He scanned the room. His eyes rested on her. "Melisandre."

"Oh Merlin," Melisandre mumbled. "This just isn't my morning. I'm not even using my own wand yet."

Natsai chuckled. "It's all right. Don't feel bad about losing – everyone loses to Sebastian."

"Thanks," she murmured. Her words provided little comfort. She walked over to the open space and drew in a deep breath. Everyone was watching her – probably expecting her to fail like they all had. Remember your brief training, she told herself. Treat him like he was one of those goblins. Though he was much better looking than one of those wretched creatures.

"Remember, this is just a practice duel so don't try to hurt each other. Melisandre, I know you're quite behind your peers, but I trust you know some magic. You should try and cast Levioso." Professor Hecate moved her hand as if she were conducting an orchestra. "It's a levitation spell. Useful in preventing the enemy from attacking first. Best of luck."

"I'll try to go easy on you," Sebastian said, throwing a smirk in her direction. No one in the crowd was cheering for him. So, they all wanted to see him go down too.

So confident, she thought. Remember – treat him like a goblin.

"Raise your wands! And… Three… Two… One… Begin!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Scarlet light hurtled towards her. She was blasted off her feet. She smashed into the wall, her wand flying out of her hand. "Dammit," she cursed, crawling across the floor to grab her wand. Fingers clasping around her wand, she lifted it up and thrust it forward. Small red orbs flew towards him. He used Protego to shield himself.

"Let's try that again," Sebastian said. "Expelliarmus!"

This time, she managed to react in time quickly casting Protego. Now it was Sebastian's turn to be flung around like a ragdoll. He slammed into the wall and fell forwards onto the ground. A wave of applause burst from the crowd.

"Excellent work!" Professor Hecate said. "Quick reflexes. All right. This time, try and cast Levioso!"

Somehow, she felt like she was being set up to fail the duel. Cast Levioso without having practiced? The professor must've had high expectations. She drew in a deep breath and faced Sebastian one last time. "Right. Levioso. Sounds easy enough," she mumbled.

"And for the last time, duellists – are you ready? Three…. Two… One… Duel!"

"Levioso!" they exclaimed. Sebastian had been quicker by a mere second.

Melisandre found herself lifted into the air. Her wand fell out of her hand, her legs dangling helplessly in the air. A few moments later, the spell ended, and she landed on the ground with a hard thud. 'I'm going to feel that tomorrow," she murmured, climbing to her feet.

"Victory to Sebastian!"

The crowd applauded despite the loss. She supposed her fellow students were somewhat pleased that she too had fallen to Sebastian.

The professor smiled. "You handled yourself well, Melisandre for a duelling first timer. Sebastian is one of the finest. He'd tell you that himself. Don't be too hard on yourself."

"Well done, Melisandre!" Natsai exclaimed.

"That duel wasn't that impressive," Ominis said, his arms folded.

The professor cleared her throat and addressed the crowd. "All right students! Your homework will be to read page 49 of your textbooks and write down what you observed today. You should also continue practicing as you will be assessed on your practical skills too. Good luck everyone. Study hard. Class dismissed!" She waved them out of the room.

"Not bad…" Sebastian climbed to his feet and dusted off his robes. He picked up his wand as the other students left the room. "You've duelled before, haven't you? No way you can be that good immediately."

"Professor Fig and I ran into a few… issues on the way here," Melisandre replied, choosing her words carefully. He might've been her housemate, but that didn't mean she was going to spill all her secrets with him especially after hearing Natsai's description of him. "You learn fast when put into tricky situations, but it seems I still need a lot more practice."

"Hell, I bet." He looked her up and down as if he was contemplating something. Either that or he was checking her out. "You did well. Seriously. You've got a lot of potential. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

"Can you defend me from the ghosts?"

He chuckled. "It happens to a lot of people. Especially first-years." He gestured towards her wand. "With your own wand, you'll perform better in a duel. The school wands are kinda hopeless. When you get your own one, we'll have a rematch. Now that would be a fair fight."

"You want a rematch," she repeated, an eyebrow raised.

He nodded. "Would be fun don't you think? Though, you might want to compete in the duelling club to sharpen your skills. You're good, but you could be better. Once you've beaten the first round, I'll show you a thing or two."

"Call me intrigued."

He grinned. "Excellent! I think we'll get to know each other quite well. I'll be seeing you."

She watched him leave not failing to notice the smirk on his face. "Maybe Natsai will practice with me… She seemed nice," she said as she pocketed her school wand. She'd rather face the knights again than approach Ominis or Imelda for help. Withholding a sigh, she headed towards the door. What had she gotten herself into?

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Here's another part to my 'Teenage Slytherin Romance' series. Rather than commit to a full-length story, I've decided it was best just to focus on the pivotal moments between MC and Sebastian. Maybe when I have more time, I'll be able to fully commit, but for now I'll be doing several one shots. This one will be a two-shot. Drop a kudos or a comment if you want to see part two!