Not who you seem (Sebastion)

[anabelledupree]

As she sat listening to her Mother ramble on about the approaching wedding, Anabelle rubbed her eyes tiredly. Talk of the wedding, and her planned future made her sick to the stomach. "Mother can we not...I don't want to talk about the wedding." she sighed, brushing down a crease from her skirt as she sat on the hospital bed waiting for a Healer to be sent in.

All she'd done is taken a stumble, but her ankle was pretty painful and bruising up. The woman currently stood in the centre of the room, looking around in distaste at her surroundings, glared at Anabelle, "Well you are going to have to talk about it Anabelle, the date is drawing closer, and with all the money your Father is throwing towards this you could at least seem grateful!"

"Grateful? Grateful I'm being forced to marry that ass of a man..."

"Yes Anabelle, grateful! You will marry that man and be happy!" her Mother snapped back, cutting off Anabelle and ffectively ending the conversation. Anabelle looked away cursing the tears that had filled her eyes, she refused to allow her Mother to see them so didn't look at her again, instead she kept hoping the Healer would come in.

[sebastian]

Sebastian approached the room, clipboard in hand, examining the paperwork. He was seeing an Anabelle Dupree, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He would recognize the last name "Dupree" anywhere, they were a very well-known Pureblood family. He didn't have a problem with them, of course, but the rich Purebloods were the most aggravating patients. They tended to criticize his work, and, while Sebastian would never brag, he was a skilled Healer. He'd been practicing since he'd gotten into Hogwarts, and had almost completed his internship at St. Mungo's. He was to be finished in July.

Sebastian placed a hand on the knob of the door when he heard arguing. He wasn't one to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help himself at that moment. It was two women fighting over an arranged marriage, and Sebastian shook his head. Arranged marriages, while common in Pureblood families, weren't right, in his mind. He always believed in being with the one you love, nothing more, nothing less. Turning the knob, he entered, smiling compassionately and clearing his throat. His gaze fell upon the snobbish woman in the center of the room first, but almost immediately found his patient.

Sebastian's heart dropped into his stomach and his throat contracted. Anabelle was absolutely stunning. It wasn't because of her fancy wardrobe or immense amount of money. It was her eyes, her perfect face, her lovely frame, her gorgeous hair. It was everything. Time seemed to stop as Sebastian and Anabelle exchanged a fleeting glance. However, Sebastian knew it was rude to gawk, and so he attempted to hide his fascination with the exceptional beauty by approaching her. Hopefully she couldn't hear his heart beating at a million miles per hour. "You must be Anabelle. I'm Sebastian, I'll be the Healer taking a look at you today. What happened?"

[anabelledupree]

Anabelle's eyes immediatley locked with the Healers as he entered the room, her breath immediatley caught and her heart skipped a beat. Her anguish over the marriage for a moment was forgotten about, but as soon as he looked to her Mother, reality hit her square in the face again and her shoulders once more slumped slightly, her normally straight posture anything but.

"I tripped over, that's all...my ankles quite sore though..." she said, avoiding looking at her Mother as the older woman shot a disapproving look at the younger Healer. Anabelle didn't need to read minds to know what she was thinking, and right now was wishing she would leave the room. 5 minutes away from the woman was all Anabelle was craving, "Mother why don't you wait outside I won't be long..." she said softly, a sharp edge to her tone.

[sebastian]

Sebastian turned to the woman. "If her ankle is broken or sprained, anyone being here other than a Healer could potentially cause her brain to get stressed and make it nearly impossible to heal it with magic. You don't want her in a cast for her wedding, do you?" he asked, eyebrow raised slightly. The woman seemed to buy into what he was saying and she left rather hurriedly. The moment the door closed, Sebastian burst into laughter. "Can't believe she bought that load of bullshit," he said between chuckles, clutching his stomach slightly.

Sebastian managed to stop chuckling in time to kneel before Anabelle, gently taking her foot. He slowly took her shoe off and placed it on the bed beside her, then examined her ankle. The moment his hands touched her skin, he felt tiny shockwaves move up his arm. Ignoring the sensation, he peered at her ankle. "Well, it's badly bruised. Could be sprained, but it's definitely not broken. Not a difficult fix," he replied, looking up at Anabelle and smiling softly, eyes warm and full of compassion as he examined the face of the beautiful woman before him.

[anabelledupree]

Anabelle smiled softly, the tension leaving her body when her Mother all but ran from the room upon Sebastion's threat. Though the mention of the wedding once more sobered her up once more, it seemed no matter what she did she couldn't escape the horrid reality of what was happening in another 2 months. "Mother doesn't want anything ruining hers and my Father's day so I'm not really surprised she left when she did." she smiled slightly.

When the Healer took her foot ever so gently between his strong hands, Anabelle felt her heart speed up and cursed herself silently. Shockwaves were shooting up her leg from his touch, and realising she had yet to answer she licked her bottom lip and nodded her head, "Well I guess that's lucky." she sighed, disappointment evident in her voice. Looked like she'd be out and back home working on arrangements for the wedding, sooner than she wanted.

[sebastian]

Sebastian's eyebrows raised. This beautiful woman was disappointed that her ankle wasn't broken? How strange. He stood, walking over to a cabinet to get some ice and some bandages, he'd wrap and ice the ankle before he examined the bone inside. Besides, he wanted to con his way into spending more time with Anabelle, surely he wouldn't ever see her again after this. "You really don't want to go through with that wedding, do you?" he asked, looking over his shoulder and smiling knowingly.

He could tell that Anabelle didn't want the wedding. The disappointment written on her face was inevitable. Sebastian returned to her side and pulled up a chair, sitting directly across from her. Propping her injured ankle in his lap, he wrapped it gently, then held the ice to bring the pain down slightly. Sebastian looked up and met Anabelle's gaze and couldn't help but smile slightly. He quickly looked down, pretending to examine her ankle.

[anabelledupree]

Anabelle didn't answer Sebastion, at least not at first. As he went to gather whatever he needed she kept her gaze fixated on the window. Experience told her not to bother opening up to anyone, though she doubted talking to him would do much, sadly she knew it was unlikely they'd see one another again, not that she'd object to seeing the extremely handsome Doctor again, but she didn't have much control of her life at the moment, someone was always watching.

"Marrying someone I can't even stand, not having a choice when it comes to the man I'm to spend the rest of my life with...can you blame me for not wanting to go through with it. 2 more months and I'll be Mrs Augutus Hawthorne, trophy wife, who'll one day end up as bitter and cold as my own Mother..." she sighed and shook her head, smiling softly down at him as he wrapped her ankle, holding the ice pack against it, "Life of the rich and spoilt...not all it's cracked up to be." she laughed slightly with no humour.

[sebastian]

Sebastian's heart was breaking little by little, listening to this utter stranger talk about her life. "I knew that," he replied in response to her crack about the lives of the rich. "You should try living a poor life, it's much more entertaining," he replied, smiling slightly. He adjusted the ice on her ankle, moving it to the opposite side. "Well, if you don't mind me saying, Augustus Hawthorne is a rather ugly name. Probably an ugly man as well, if he's so bent on marrying someone of your status and stature through arrangement."

Sebastian looked up at Anabelle and tilted his head slightly to the side, watching her curiously. She was an exceptional creature and, while most would see her as a heartless or selfish woman, he could see through that. Sebastian could see that she was as good as any other saint on Earth, but her surroundings were causing her to act differently. He would have bet all the Galleons he had to his name that she had a pretty personality to match that pretty face. Sebastian was certainly charmed by the lovely lady.

[anabelledupree]

Anabelle couldn't help but smile at Sebastion, for some reason she found herself able to spill all to this complete stranger, not caring she was opening up to someone. Biting her lip she shrugged her shoulders, sure she'd thought about running away from home, disappearing, escaping her family, making it on own in the world, having her own place, falling in love, making a family to be proud of.

"It is a horrible name..." she nodded her head in agreement, laughing lightly. "Kind of bound by contract though, doesn't matter how much of a jerk the guy is I'm still going to have to marry him." she said softly. Somehow having met Sebastion, knowing there were nice guys out there, made her situation all that more horrid.

[sebastian]

"Well, that's certainly not fair," Sebastian replied, frowning slightly. "I know I may be old-fashioned, and life isn't fair, but I believe in true love. People should be able to marry whomever they want, not by what others say,"he explained, smiling slightly. Realizing how much of his personality he had spilled to a person he barely knew, he diverted his gaze back down to Anabelle's ankle. Strange... he thought bashfully. He wasn't normally one to get embarrassed, and was always one to share his feelings. But when it came to sharing it with Anabelle...

Perhaps it was just because he was choked up by her beauty. Perhaps he didn't like her situation. Maybe he wanted to play hero and save the beautiful damsel in distress. Either way it went, it was clear: Sebastian was smitten with Anabelle. He needed to drive those feelings away, he barely knew her and she was engaged to be married. Still, it was hard to ignore the sparks flying through his fingertips whenever they brushed against her skin...

[anabelledupree]

Anabelle looked down at Sebastian smiling softly as he spoke, it was taking everything she had not to simply spill everything she felt, her dreams etc to the man in front of her. Something about him made her want to drop these walls she'd built around her, drop the charade and be the girl she longed to be. When he spoke of true love she looked down, at her hands as they rested neatly on her lap.

True Love...something of a childish fantasy...something out of her reach now.

"Like you said life isn't fair, mine was already set out the day I was born, I've never had a choice in this...I just wish..." she stopped short of what she was saying, realising she was about to spill more than she wanted to. She'd learned a long time ago there was no point in wishing for anything, life was what it was, and hers was never going to change.

[sebastian]

Sebastian listened to her talk, his eyes popping up to meet hers as she trailed off at the end of her sentence. "You just wish...?" he asked curiously, eyebrows raising. Hopefully he wasn't crossing some invisible line. It pained him, to see such an obviously beautiful, yet distressed, young woman hiding something. He was a strong believer in the truth, and honesty started with oneself. Still, he didn't expect her to say anything to him. Sebastian wasn't stupid, and knew he was a total stranger to her. He didn't expect her to open up, at all.

[anabelledupree]

Anabelle chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, hating how vulnerable she felt but years of not opening up to someone was finally taking it's toll. Something was telling her to open up to Sebastian, that she could trust him as someone who wouldn't betray her to anyone else. "I just wish I could run away, hide from this...get out of this god forsaken life and just finally get to be myself..."

Smiling slightly she looked up at Sebastian, "I want a job, a place of my own..." she shook her head and sighed, the smile slipping from her face as she came crashing back to reality, "but I can't..."

[sebastian]

Sebastian smiled softly. "Why can't you?" he inquired, smiling mysteriously, then he laughed slightly. "I know, I know. Priorities and commitments and all that." Sebastian took the ice from Anabelle's ankle and retrieved his wand, taking the area and muttering a silent spell to eradicate and alleviate the the pain and bruises. Sebastian gently unwrapped her ankle, grinning. "Voila, good as new," he replied, gesturing to the unmarked skin. "Just a few more tests, and you'll be ready to go." Sebastian tilted Anabelle's ankle a bit, rolling it gently. "Does that hurt?" he inquired, looking up at Anabelle and smiling softly.

[anabelledupree]

"I wish it was that simple, I just don't have a choice..." she said with a shrug, did he not understand...clearly not, no one could unless they were in the same position. Looking down at Sebastian she smiled softly he was so lucky, doing something he so obviously loved, looking like he did, surely he had someone waiting for him back home, she had no doubt this man wasn't short on attention.

When he told her that her ankle was all done, and there was just a couple more tests to do she smiled lightly. "Feels as good as new..." she replied softly, tucking her hair behind her shoulder. Her eyes briefly flickered to the door before returning to Sebastion, "So how long have you been doing this...being a healer I mean?" she asked, curious, though she wasn't sure why, to know more about the man in front of her.