𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒕 ➵ schlattbur

III / petrichor

petrichor

n.

a pleasant spell that frequently accompanies the first rain after s long period of warm, dry weather

wilbur

//

it took wilbur a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. the walls where covered in paintings and moving stairs that never sat still. it was way too late to be out, and he was completely aware about that. time flies when you're in a library, especially with a good book. 

rubbing his eye, wilbur paused. there was a slight shuffling somewhere nearby. was it a staff member? oh god- he'd be screwed if it was.  what student would be out at this hour besides him? maybe some other idiot who spends too much time doing.. doing... doing whatever they enjoy.  

"shit- where's the stupid fuckin' painting again?"

wait.

wilbur knew that voice. it was jonathan fucking schlatt. of all hours to encounter the strange boy, it had to be now. and to make it worse, he found himself seemingly staring down at him. 

"jonathan? what are you doing out this late?" 

"huh? what does it look like? i'm just running around pickin' daisies?" schlatt spoke harshly, clearly unhappy with the current situation. "but i mean, you shouldn't be asking me that if you're also out."

wilbur paused for a second unsure of how to respond, or maybe he was just bothered by schlatt's tone, maybe how it'd drastically changed since the last time they talked. "no, i just uh.. i.. i didn't expect you to um, be out here," he looked down, anxiety creeping in. god, this couldn't get worse. "s-sorry." 

schlatt nodded, looking away. this left them in an uncomfortable silence. neither of them knew what to do either. 

it was minutes later that wilbur spoke up again, but it felt much longer than that to him. "do you uh, want help?"

"no, i'm fine." schlatt declined, not putting too much thought into it. "i'll find the stupid painting soon enough."

"you can stay with me, " wilbur paused, realizing what he said quickly after schlatt sent him a dirty look. "n-not like that though! like, you could probably um, take my bed. i'm sure everyone's asleep. i can stay on the couch, or maybe with one of my brothers." he didn't bother that his brothers weren't even in the same house, or that he didn't actually wanna sleep on the couch.

"....right. and you expect me to trust you?"

"no.. it's just uh... the least i can do after i ran into you." wilbur smiled weakly. he didn't expect schlatt to even say yes, let alone trust him. he didn't even know if the poor guy knew his name. 

"i'm just fuckin' with you, wilbur. i'll come, but i swear to god if i wake up and you're right next to me i will kill you, got that?" schlatt pointed a finger at wilbur, like he was scolding him. it wasn't exactly funny, but it was definitely relieving in a sense. 

"right, got it. i'll sleep right next to you in that case," wilbur joked, making his way over to the gryffindor house. schlatt chuckled, closely following wilbur. if schlatt had to be honest, he was partially amazed how wilbur was able to navigate the halls so well. even though schlatt was a sixth year (junior in american highschool, year 12/lower sixth in the UK), the room just seemed to get harder to navigate. there was always new paintings in different places and the staircases just moved. you didn't even control where they where going, it just chose for you. it was always hard to get back into the pattern of finding things after breaks too, everything just seems to change here.

"expect a foot to the face then." schlatt said simply, taking a look around. the only response schlatt got was a quiet hum from wilbur, who continued to walk, never seeming to slow down. 

it was a while longer before wilbur stopped at a painting of a rather larger woman, who seemed rather offended that they where out so late. "what are you two doing out? and what are you doing with a slytherin?" she huffed, watching to two carefully.

"he needed help and i owe him one," wilbur paused to rub his eye. "caput draconis."

"hmfph, fine." she huffed, and then cracked open, creaking like an old door. wilbur winced at how loud it was, still on edge about getting caught. 

wilbur stepped in carefully, looking at the room or a minute. there was a few students passed out on tables, books and papers scattered around them. there was a soft crackling of the fire place nearby, but the fire was small and going out. the red and gold pallet was easy on  the eyes though, which was nice for both of them. 

there was an awkward silence for a while, both taking in the room. "bedrooms are over there, mines the third one on the right," wilbur whispered, pointing to a doorway. "don't destroy anything please."

"okay, third one on the right, destroy everything. got it." schlatt smiled softly, then turned and made his way over to the doorway. he paused just before entering the bedrooms, looking over to wilbur. "night."

"night jonathan."

--

874 WORDS LETS GOO I DID IT :D 

LONG CHAPTER FOR CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!! 
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!!