Potions & Charms

Hikes

"No. I have noticed some of them coming up through, just randomly, and I managed to tuck them away where they belong, but it takes time. And I like the process of organizing them this way. It's not forced or draining. Just- really calming, with all the pain gone." 

Scott held him a little tighter and brushed his lips over Avi's forehead. "That's good news, Avi. Really." He felt the man curling up slightly, then nodding. 

"Yeah. Feels good, too. Sleep?"

"Probably. Long day tomorrow, I guess. We'll talk tomorrow, Babe." 

"Babe?"

"'s that okay?" The baritone ran his fingers through Avi's curls. 

"Perfect." 

Scott was up early, before five, but instead of waking Avi he spent the remaining thirty minutes watching his sleeping boyfriend. On other occasions he would've found it stupid, even creepy, but since he hadn't gotten a chance to see him so calm and peaceful in a long time he found the perfect excuse to just stay in bed and hold his sleeping man. 

He had lots to do. Scott wanted to owl his parents, ask about Christmas and if they were okay with them coming over for a night or two, he wanted to make breakfast for Avi, maybe hold him a little longer- he paused and looked down on his chest, down on Avi's face and saw him scrunching up his nose lightly. Then a couple of fingers found their way into the fabric of the duvet and gripped it to pull it closer. 

"Got you" the tall man whispered and dragged the blanket over the Potion Master's bare shoulder. "Sleep." 

And much to his surprise Avi settled again and slept for another hour. 

Scott was officially in love with nature. He still wasn't sure why Avi preferred to go by car, they could've apparated and saved at least forty minutes, but he appreciated the man's eagerness after putting on a pair of really professional looking hiking boots and the bounce in his step on the way out. 

Once they had reached the parking lot of the Sequoia National Park Avi was out of his seat and on the trail faster than Scott was able to get out of the Jeep. 

"C'mon Scott! We'll be late!" 

"We could've just apparated" he huffed and followed his boyfriends into the woods, past the gigantic trees near the road. 

But Avi shook his head. "No, it's less fun. Hiking is nice! Helps the soul breathe." 

"But not the body, man." The baritone tried to stay close to Avi, but not even his long legs helped him to catch up. "Damn, you're fast. Little weasel." 

"And you're like a big bear right now. C'mon Scott!" Avi was excited to be in the woods with Scott. He was excited to show him the spot he had found weeks ago, his happy place when even the small town he now lived in got too much. Over the course of the past months he had learned how to take better care of himself — it had been a bumpy ride, but after reading a few books about it things had improved — and he wanted to share it with Scott. 

Once they had reached the top of — Scott didn't remember the official name of the place— they sat down on one of the logs. Avi put down his backpack and handed him a water bottle together with a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap before he got comfortable next to him, to keep his eyes on the first rays of sunshine that appeared on the horizon. 

"Breakfast?"

"Uh huh. Made sandwiches while you were busy with Aldrich." 

The baritone chuckled lightly and unwrapped it. "Thank you. I was wondering, you know, maybe we could keep talking about the whole memory thing?" Scott looked at Avi and smiled lightly. "Or not, if you don't want to. But I had quite some time to think about it this morning and maybe there's a reason why you feel so good here. Cause nobody wakes up one day and thinks 'Yeah, I'm moving to Visalia', y'know?"

Avi smiled lightly. He tied his hair back and then, after adjusting a slice of tomato, took a bite. "Alright" he said after chewing for a moment. "Tell me. I'm intrigued."

"Well, maybe there is extended family. Maybe you were born here? Your birth certificate and everything else got destroyed right after your parents were killed, right? So what if you have some kind of memory from when you were younger, from when your parents told you about all that, what if there is more information? I mean, you essentially just- you're traumatized by everything that happened in school, when you were still a child, and everything you bottled up and stowed away back then might be important to you now. Cause Avi, think about it. You're figuring out who you are for the first time ever. That's important stuff."

They didn't stay for long. After their breakfast and the sunrise Avi and Scott headed back home and the bearded man found himself on his couch, with Scott's wand pointed at his head. He wasn't nervous, he knew that the Charms teacher would be as gentle as possible and he trusted him, but the thought of finding out more about his parents and himself was both exciting and intimidating at the same time. 

"Ready?"

"Mhm."

Scott raised his wand, then lowered it again and made his way over to his boyfriend. They shared a short yet sweet kiss and he cupped Avi's cheek. 

"It'll be fine, Avi."

"Y-yeah. Probably. Just- don't mess up." 

"I won't. Legilimens."