Potions & Charms

Quizzing

"Hold on tight" Scott mumbled and felt Avi's shaky hands gripping his jacket before they disappeared into thin air and found themselves in front of Scott's house moments later. "Let's get you back inside and then we'll talk." 

After a long shower Avi felt better already and, dressed in a pair of thick sweatpants and a hoodie from Scott, made his way back to the couch. He slipped under the blanket and closed his eyes while the heat coming from the fire in the fireplace swept over his face. He closed his eyes and sank deeper into the large pillow Scott had fetched from the bedroom before he heard the baritone chuckle softly. 

"Are you comfy?" the baritone asked and set down two cups of tea on the small table next to the couch. "Let's hope you didn't catch a cold or something." Scott sat down and almost immediately felt Avi's head on his thigh. 

"I'll be fine" the bass mumbled and looked up at him. "Can you...uhm, can you do the- the thing? With your hands and my hair?" He felt heat rising to his cheeks and squeezed his eyes shut quickly. Avi had never liked asking for things, and now where it was rather intimate he was having an even harder time.

But Scott just ran his hands over Avi's hair to collect it before he gently moved it across his lap. Then he combed the baby hairs aside and ran his fingertips over his hairline. "Sure" the man mumbled and smiled when he noticed Avi's red cheeks. "Didn't know you could blush." 

"Happens to the best" Avriel shot back and smiled. "Scott, I- I'm so sorry for what happened. I never meant to point my wand at you. It was disrespectful, immature and highly embarrassing behavior." He looked up at him. 

The baritone hummed. "I appreciate your apology, Avi. I really do. But I think we should talk about all that, hm? Find out why you sometimes act like the biggest asshole I ever came across because I know that you can be such a sweet guy. Just like right now, you're so- I just like being with you, you know so much and you are funny, you have a great humor. And I would like to add more but right now that's all I know. It's all you have shown me, but I know that there's more. You're not just knowledge and- and potions or...whatever. You're more than that."  

"Scott- I was never really allowed to be more than that. Everything else is fragile and has been built on guilt."

"Would you mind answering some of the questions I have then? Or at least try to?"

"Yes" the bearded man said immediately. "Of course." 

The baritone smiled lightly and leaned back, but he kept moving his fingertips over Avi's scalp and through his hair. "Have you ever been with someone?"

"In a relationship? No. We were taught by Death Eaters and former Azkaban inmates. To them love didn't matter and they made sure we would think the same after graduation. Feelings were bad, every single one of them." 

"Except anger?"

Avi paused. "Yes" he then said. "Anger was good. Anger meant that our bodies were ready to fight and the performance was on peak. They triggered us with memories or just said things until we were ready to kill."

"Did they teach you Occlumency?" 

The man on Scott's thighs chuckled. "No, of course not. At least not before our last year. We were trained excessively in Legilimency though and only later on in Occlumency." 

Scott couldn't help but grin. "Please don't tell me you have been wandering around in my head without me knowing about it." 

"I haven't, I promise." Avi turned until he was facing the baritone and closed his eyes. "But I guess your next question would be why my mind looks the way it looks?"

"Oh, no. That's self explanatory. You're into gothic stuff and all that. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you would never allow anyone who wasn't welcome into your mind, that's why it looks like the Black Gate or fucking Minas Morgul straight out of-." 

"The Lord of the Rings." Avriel smiled lightly and shrugged. "Probably. All the minds I've seen were equally as dark as mine."

Scott gently tugged on the man's hair. "Maybe I'll ask Kirstie to give you a tour of her mind. You'll be gobsmacked how pretty it is in there. It's like interior design, but next level." 

The bearded man sat up slowly to take a sip of the by now lukewarm tea before he got comfortable again and demanded more of the soft touch from Scott. He was by now back to being warm and it felt good to be home again, on a couch where he felt safe, surrounded by the man he trusted the most. 

"Any more questions?"

"Is there an actual color that you like? Cause all you wear is black. All of your clothes are black, even when you're not at school you wear black pants and a black button up. Even your shirts are...black." 

"It allows me to blend in."

"Haven't thought about that, you're right" Scott admitted and hummed. "Still, I think my hoodies look good on you too. Especially the dark red ones." 

"And you have an awful lot of them, for whatever reason." 

"Cause they are comfy, Professor Kaplan. You know that, huh?"

Avi chuckled again. Even though the topic had been rather serious he was having more fun than expected. "I do. Very comfortable. Can I ask you a question now? I know that it's your turn but I- I've been wondering." 

"Sure! Go ahead. Whatever you want, whenever you want." 

"What's your Patronus? Do you have a regular animal or some kind of creature? They're so fascinating and I can't cast one of my own." 

Instead of answering Avi's question verbally Scott reached for his wand and just moments later a large, silver Thunderbird rose in front of them before it screeched and then stood on the floor, spreading its wings.

Avriel sat up quickly. "That's a thunderbird!" he exclaimed and watched as it disappeared again. He turned towards Scott who had lowered his wand and smiled widely, but his thoughts kept sticking to the image of the Patronus that had burned itself into his memory. 

"Scott, the-" he ran his hands over his face and up to his hair as he still couldn't believe what was happening. "my wand's core is a tail feather of a Thunderbird. You have to be kidding me."