Potions & Charms

Approaching

The next time Scott saw Avi was two days later, on the way to the Great Hall. Avi was coming up the large staircase from the dungeons while Scott and Kirstie headed down to have lunch. His hair was tied back and bunched up in a low bun and the man was wearing a black, heavy cloak, ready to head out in the rain. 

"Hi!" Scott said and started smiling, while Kirstie giggled and waved. "Hello! I like your hair!" she chirped and waited for Scott to keep moving. When it was clear that he'd have small talk with Avi she snickered and kept walking, making her way to the Great Hall. 

"She'll break both of her ankles in these shoes" Avi just said dryly as he watched her disappear  and then looked back at Scott. "Hello." 

"I haven't seen you neither in the Great Hall nor the staff room yesterday, did you skip dinner?"

"Yes and it's non of your concerns" Avi said and immediately bit his tongue. "How...was your first day here?" he asked hesitantly after realizing that he had been pretty rude and blunt. Then the man tucked his hands into the pockets of his cloak. They were a little shaky and he really didn't want to give Scott a reason to ask him about it. He had things to do.

Scott frowned for a matter of a second before his frown turned into a grin. "Great! Thanks for asking! I think I did well, the students were pretty calm and collected. No detention yet. And how was yours? Like, the first day after the break?"

"As usual. Calm, quiet. No first years until tomorrow. Since the Electives aren't starting until mid September I have some free time I want do dedicate to my studies and plants." 

"Oh right! You do Herbology as well, don't you?"

But Avi shook his head slowly. "No, Care of Magical Creatures. I would've picked Herbology if Care of Magical Creatures had been occupied already."

"That's awesome, Avi. Hey, I- I wanted to apologize for being so blunt the last time I saw you. Tea was probably a little too much for our first meeting."

"That sounds like we are dating, Scott. Just to be clear, I have no interest in a sexual or otherwise intimate relationship with you."

"No, no no I understand, no worries. I just thought that it would be nice if we'd get along. Friends."

"I don't need friends" Avi said, suddenly annoyed and stressed. He looked at the other professor, almost with disgust, before he turned around and pretty much ran out of the castle. He neither needed nor wanted friends. He was perfectly fine by himself, just like always, but as he hurried through the heavy rain he felt a dull ache in his heart. The Potion Master pushed it aside and focused on the muddy path leading to the Forbidden Forest.

Scott stood there and watched the man leave. He felt like he hadn't achieved much, Avi had pushed him away again and the situation with him thinking Scott would be interested in a relationship with the man hadn't been pleasant either but on the other hand he realized that they did in fact have a decent conversation at some point. It wasn't a lot of progress, but it was better than nothing. He turned around once he couldn't see Avi anymore, walked to the Great Hall and sat down next to Kirstie who was already eating. Mitch joined them just a minute later. 

"You don't look like you and Avi are friends yet" Kirstie stated and frowned. "Where is he going?"

"No Kirstie, we're not friends. You can be happy that I am still alive cause I'm pretty sure he was close to hexing me to death yesterday. And I don't know where he's going. Out, he might collect ingredients or something."

Kirste had spaced off and blinked. "Huh?" 

Scott sighed. He was used to Kirstie's eccentric behavior, it was tied to the ability she had been gifted with, but it sometimes made it hard to spend time with her. She was often dreamily distracted, just floating in her happy bubble inside her head, peeking into the future every now and then. Kirstie was also known for being brutally honest, thus making others easily uncomfortable. Sadly it also meant that she didn't have a lot of friends, especially at school. She was smart and constantly drifted away from conversations she didn't care about, didn't lie about being interested if she wasn't. When she met Mitch and Scott they instantly bonded as Mitch was an outsider as well, and Scott- well, his best friend even before they started going to Hogwarts. 

"Never mind."

"You should check on him in a bit. He might be in trouble" Kirstie said before he turned her attention back to the tofu scramble, toast and avocado on her plate. 

"He's old enough to take care of himself. And he's not the type of guy who would be happy about help."

"Oh, I'm just saying" the woman mumbled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you want to go to Hogsmead later? I haven't been in so long."

"Kirstie, it's raining. I'm not interested in getting soaking wet just to go to Hogsmead."

"It's raining? Oh.." she frowned and looked up into the fake sky that covered the ceiling of the Great Hall, mimicking the sky and weather outside. "Hm. Unfortunate." She turned her attention back to lunch, like before, and finished her meal. "I have a Divination class tonight but maybe we can meet in the Room of Requirements after and play chess?"

"You don't know how to play chess, Kirstie" Mitch reminded her. 

The woman shrugged. "I can try?"

They met in the Room of Requirements later that day and played chess. Kirstie ended up in front of the fireplace, fast asleep on the large mattress on the ground and surrounded by blankets while Mitch beat Scott and Scott beat Mitch. After midnight Mitch stretched. 

"I think I'm ready for bed. Kirstie should head to her rooms as well."

Scott nodded slowly. "Yeah, sounds like a solid plan. I think I'll go downstairs and see if the elves in the kitchen have leftovers, I'm craving something sweet."

"Don't eat yourself sick again."

"I won't. Promise."

They parted ways after waking up Kirstie and when Scott had reached the bottom of the last staircase which leading to the Great Hall to turn left and take the next few steps he froze when he saw a dark silhouette sitting on the second step, leaning against the cold stone wall. 

Scott reached for his wand, pointed it at the trembling shape and whispered "Lumos!"