Potions & Charms

Asking

Avi came back to the castle on Wednesday, over a week after he had been admitted to the hospital. He was still rather weak and unsteady on his legs, especially after Scott had brought them back by using the floo network. After a discussion with Minerva the Transfiguration professor had convinced the witch to temporarily allow a connection between St. Mungo's and Avi's chambers, since the stubborn Potion Master had demanded to get back to his own rooms.

Once he had been in bed Scott had made sure that everything Avi could possibly need was within reach and after making him promise to sent either an owl or Winky in case he needed anything Scott had left Avi by himself. He understood that the man wanted to spend some time alone after being surrounded by not only him but the healers as well, in a space that was barely bigger than Scott's bathroom with no privacy at all. The second Scott had closed the door behind him Avi had drifted off.

"Hi" Scott said. He opened the door and stepped aside to let the bearded man into his living room. "I was waiting for you to come."

Avi entered and walked past the man to sit on the couch. There were two mugs standing on the coffee table in front of the fireplace and he reached for one, only to be stopped by the baritone.

"Hey, it's not for you" he said. "Mitch is coming over in a bit. I thought you just wanted to grab your clothes and then leave again."

But the Potion Master frowned. "Why?" he asked in confusion and looked at him. "I thought we would spend some time together..." It had been their third week together as a couple. Not officially of course, nobody knew about them, but after the scare and Avi's stay at St. Mungo's they had wanted to try to be in a relationship.

And Avi had been surprisingly sweet. He had more control over his emotions and whenever he had intrusive thoughts he snuggled up closer to Scott to let him know that he needed the hug to be a little tighter. He had tried hard to keep himself from lashing out because he wanted their relationship to work so badly.

"Avi- no. I don't want someone as broken as you with scars inside and out. I want to be happy with my boyfriend and not serve as his therapist, Avi. And you're just- you're too much work for me. For anyone, really. Now please get your clothes and leave."

"But Scott-" he said. "I care about you!"

"All hearts are broken, Avi. Like you've said before, caring is not an advantage."

Winky had interrupted Scott's game of chess by appearing with a big pop, which had lead to Mitch flinching so hard that he yelled and cursed the little creature.

"Merlin's old knickers, I'm so sorry Winky" he then said and frowned. "I didn't mean to be so mean."

"It's okay, Sir Mitch" the elf squeaked and then looked at Scott. "Sir is not sleeping well" she reported to him and climbed on a free chair at the table. "Winky can't wake him, he doesn't want to wake up. Winky is terribly sorry for interrupting the game."

"Hey, hey it's okay" Scott said immediately to avoid her ironing her hands later on. "No worries. Thank you for telling me." He got up and looked at Mitch. "Sorry, I have to-"

The tenor smiled. "It's fine. Go and check on your man, Scotty. We can finish the game later."

"Mitch, I owe you" Scott mumbled before he was out the door a moment later and on the way to the dungeons. He almost flew down the stairs and opened the door to Avi's room with a breathy "Bowtruckle." When it swung open he made a beeline for the bedroom from which he heard soft whimpers.

The man froze when he saw the Potion Master. He was in bed, with the blanket kicked off almost completely, curled up tightly and- crying. Avi was crying.

Scott made his way over to him and reached out to touch the man's shoulder. "Avi" he mumbled and repeated his name until he woke up with a gasp. "Hey...it's okay."

But to Avi nothing was okay. He looked at the tall baritone and buried his face in his pillow again, to hide his tears and due to the fact that he couldn't stand looking at Scott right now. It hurt too much.

"Avriel, what happened? Did you have a nightmare?" Scott moved closer until he was sitting on the edge of the mattress. He reached out again and scooped the man up, then brought him on his lap and against his chest. He tucked Avi's head under his chin and held him while he sobbed. It was a new experience for him as the bearded man rarely showed emotions, especially not ones that made him seem vulnerable and weak, but Scott couldn't care less. He just wanted him to feel better.

It took the bas almost ten minutes to stop. The tight embrace felt good, he liked having Scott so close, holding him tight, but he just couldn't forget how he had looked at him in his nightmare. "Y-yeah" Avi whispered and hiccuped. "You didn't want me" he choked out and sobbed again. "You didn't want me, Scott."

Scott frowned before he held him a little tighter and pecked the top of his head. "Definitely a nightmare" he then said. It broke his heart to see the usually so strong Potion Master all curled up in his arms, scared to the point where he kept sobbing and whining which was highly unusual for him, and Scott wanted him to stop. He didn't want Avi to feel this way. "I will always want you, Avriel. I spent the past months fighting for you, you pushed me away countless of times, but I'm still here."

"Don't go. Please."

Scott leaned his cheek against Avi's head and gently squeezed him again. "Never. I'm right here" he whispered and while they sat there he realized that all the fighting had been worth it. Even though Avi hadn't shown it, but the Transfiguration professor's actions had an impact on him and his life. "And you know that I won't push you to anything you don't want. Let's take this day by day, Avriel. Are you okay with that?" Scott waited for him to answer, but instead of hearing his voice he felt movement against his chest.

Avi nodded slowly before he leaned his head back against the man's shoulders. "Can you...hold me?" he asked after a long pause which had been filled with lots of doubts. It had cost him a lot of strength to fight against the bad memories that threatened to come up, but then again it had been worth it when Scott slipped under the blanket with him and wrapped his arm around Avi's torso.