Potions & Charms

Eating

Scott woke up to the smell of a full English breakfast. He was still on the couch and stretched, then yawned before he sat up and a light, woolen blanket slid off his body, something that hadn't been there when he had fallen asleep on the day before. For a second he thought that Avi had been the one tucking him in until he spotted a house elf carefully placing two plates on the with parchment and books cluttered table in the corner.

"Winky?" Scott asked sleepily and got up, approached the elf.

"Sir!" she squeaked with a big grin and bowed until the tips of her bat like ears almost touched the floor. "Good Morning!"

"Good Morning. Thank you for bringing us breakfast, that's really nice of you. Do you do that often?"

"What do you mean, Sir?" she asked with big eyes.

"Deliver breakfast to the dungeons?"

The small house elf nodded. "Yes Sir! Every day, Sir. Sir doesn't eat enough sometimes and Sir doesn't like being in the Great Hall, Winky brings him food!"

Scott nodded slowly and smiled. "Thank you, Winky. I'll come and visit you in the kitchen soon, okay? Maybe we can talk then. I have to wake Avi cause we have to get ready for class."

"Yes Sir! Winky likes having company! Have a good day, Sir!" she squeaked, bowed again and disappeared.

Scott sighed softly. Avi really didn't seem to care about his health and hearing how he treated his body made the tall blonde sad. He lightly knocked on the wooden door and opened it with a squeak. "Avi?" But the man didn't answer. When Scott approached him and saw that he was still sleeping, safe and soundly tucked under the blanket with only his nose and half of his head peeking out, he couldn't help but smile. It tugged on his heart that Avi was such a loner and while the baritone was sure that it was some kind of defense mechanism it still made him sad. He liked Avi, a lot, and had to keep himself from reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. Instead Scott touched his shoulder. "Avi, c'mon. Time to get up."

But the man just let out a sigh and buried his head deeper under the large blanket.

"I know, me too, but you have to." Then Scott gave in and brought his hand up to Avi's hair, touched a few of the sprawled out strands on the pillow before he tucked the one covering his face back. It was surprisingly soft and even though the man seemed to tense up for a moment he relaxed again and exhaled. It was a rare moment of vulnerability and the tall blonde wizard couldn't help but smile. He noticed that he was slowly falling for the grumpy Potion Master, if he wanted or not, and Scott knew that just getting to know the other man would be an almost impossible task. And he didn't even know if Avi was straight, bi- or homosexual, which made everything even harder. The teacher kept touching the brown locks until Avi stirred again and slowly opened his eyes.

"Stop it" he mumbled but since he had just woken up his voice wasn't strong enough for it to sound like he was genuinely annoyed or angry. If Avi had been honest with himself he would've admitted that he enjoyed the soft and caring touch and savored the attention Scott had given him, but since he denied himself any sort of vulnerability he pushed the Charms teacher away again. He had been taught not to show his feelings, over years, and breaking the rules had resulted in a heavy punishment.

Scott sighed softly and pulled his hand back. He knew that there had to be a reason for Avi's self destructive behavior and the way he saw himself and his body when it came to his studies, after all nobody was born a bad person, but Scott decided to take it slow and win his trust first. "Winky brought breakfast and I expect you to eat, especially after what happened last night. Do you want me to get you a potion?"

"No, just...go away. I'll be in the living room in five." Avi stretched and sat up slowly while the tall wizard left the room and sat down at the desk.

Scott frowned when he skimmed over the parchments under the plates. They were covered in Avi's neat handwriting and tracked the growth of the plant, it's feeding schedule - three times a week - and then had accurate drawings of it on the other side of it. Avi had been working on it for almost three months, Scott found out, and its growth pattern had changed drastically after the Potion Master had switched from a special potion he had created to actual human blood. Scott put down the parchment when he heard the door creaking.

Avi was dressed in his usual clothes, a black button up with its collar covering half of his neck and dark pants. His hair was tied back neatly and while he still seemed a bit weak on his legs he made it to the desk and sat down. The man reached for his fork and began to eat. "Did you- uhm, did you stay?"

"Yeah, on the couch. I woke up when Winky dropped off breakfast, fifteen minutes ago. How did you sleep?"

Avi looked at Scott. He didn't remember the last time someone cared about how he had slept and he was taken aback for a moment. The Potion Master blinked and nodded slowly. "Good" he said surprisingly soft and looked back down at his eggs. "It was a calm night. And you?"

Scott smiled. "Me too. I really appreciate that you're not yelling at me."

"I have no reason to."

"You know, I figured out that you don't need a reason to either yell or snap at me. But I'm glad you're okay. I expected a rough night after what happened yesterday, especially after you fed the plant. Can I have a look at the wounds?"

Avi hesitated before he slowly pushed up the sleeve of his shirt and put his arm down at the table. He somehow trusted Scott enough to let him have a look at the puncture wounds and small scars on the underside, surrounded by pale skin.

"Thank you" Scott said softly and carefully dragged his thumb over the slowly healing spots.

The bearded man watched Scott's movements and slowly chewed his bacon. "I...I tried every single potion and lotion I know of but nothing helps" he admitted.

"Have you tried fenugreek?"

"The seeds, yes."

"The flowers."

Avriel looked at him. "No, just the seeds." He furrowed his brows. "Why would you think the flowers could help?"

Scott shrugged. "Just a thought. Meet me after class today, I am growing some in my chambers."