xxxxxxxxxxxxticking clock // oneshot
xxxxxxxxxxxxlisten while you read
They weren't coming back.
The room was messy but relatively improved from the state it'd been in all year. Some of the quidditch posters had already come down and the young boy standing in the middle of it all knew more would follow soon. Running his hand down one of the smooth wooden bedposts, Basil wondered what he was supposed to do from here. A new crop of boys would be here come next fall. Would they be enough to distract him the next few years?
Tension hung in the air. War could erupt at any second. It all hinged on the actions of the summer. It hurt to know your friends would be out in the world making a difference while you sat behind a desk. Mighty unfair, he thought, for him to be born three years too late.
"There's where you are. What are you doing?"
"J-jus' gathering some books." Ryker's appearance had startled him. The boy was so loud, how could he have missed his arrival? He was so out of it these days.
"Ah, okay. Well, let's get going." Green met green with a cheerful carefreeness that lifted the younger redhead's spirits and he let go of the bed to tug his bag over his shoulders.
"Wherer we going?" Basil followed in unquestioning obedience.
"Wherever we feel like."
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"I'm worried about him." Wyatt glanced up from practicing his swing to look at his friend with a hint of surprise. It wasn't unusual for the blonde to voice his concerns (or complaints for that matter) but he tended to be more direct than this. Quin brushed a few locks of gold behind his ear and the gesture told the brunette the issue was seriously bothering his friend.
"You'll have to be more specific than that." Lowering his beater bat, Wyatt tried a grin to make Quin smile but it had little effect. The two of them stood on the quidditch field for one of their beater practices. Both were physically fit but it was obvious that the muggle born was the better of the two. Most of the practices were trying get Quin up to Wyatt's level.
"We're abandoning him." Guilt weighed on his shoulders and they sagged. It was a topic the seventh years had been avoiding as long as they could.
"We're not. We'll be together again as soon as he graduates." The most important thing was for Basil to finish his schooling. Worst case scenario would be the war ending and the Irishman left without a diploma, without OWLs or NEWTs and without a job. As tempting as it was to take him along and train him as they went, in the long run it'd only hurt him. They'd just have to patiently wait and strengthen themselves until he was able to join their side. Ryker had made the point that until he was out of Hogwarts, Basil's safety could be used against them. And so they would wait.
"Yes but-"
"He'll be fine. There's Alphonse and the sixth years, yeah?" He dismissed the negative thoughts brewing in the other's mind and the blonde smiled gratefully at him. Wyatt was full of pure unadultrated optimism and it seemed to exorcise the worst demons that plagued the four of them.
Pulling his bat up into position again, the muggleborn slowly moved through the motions to show his friend. The war might take away his future but he was determined to have a blissfully normal childhood.
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"You could apparaten to Hogsmeade maybe. It's not a far walk..." Sprawled back on Wyatt's bed, lime green eyes glanced up towards the brunette hopefully. He'd lost the slight chubbiness of his cheeks from his first year and it was interesting to see how much he'd grown since then. Already he was growing lanky and catching up in height though Wyatt suspected he wanted to be buffer like his redheaded hero.
"Sure thing! How's twice a month sound?" Squashed at the foot of the bed, Ryker spoke up as he tried to stretch out his legs. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough room with Basil spread out across the length of the bed with the two older boys on either side. Grabbing at the kid's ankle, wicked eyes glimmered and the sock came off faster than a blink. Basil gasped in surprise and squirmed gleefully, loving the attention.
"Yeah! And I'll write owls every week." Grinning, the panther joined in the play and pinned the smaller boy's wrists down to keep him from escaping and the bed because a mess of laughter and kicking until the unheard clearing of a throat repeated itself.
"Owls won't be necessary. We'll have these." The door shut behind Quin and he carried an expensive looking paper bag to the bed with him and shoved the current inhabitants around until they made room for him. Three sets of eyes peered curiously at the flat wrapped objects he began to pull out of it. Carefully, he slowly unwrapped one of them, a smug smile at the tortured expressions on their faces as they waited to see the unveiling.
"Books? Basil'll have enough to read I think." The boys laughed and the diva of the group glared with that familiar ruffled look. Wyatt grabbed at one as Quin handed the first to Basil. The leather was a rich chestnut color that dripped with luxury. Typical of a Benett.
"These aren't books, they're journals. What you write in one shows up in the rest."
"For ******** sake! Why didn't you buy these earlier?! Passing notes would've been so much easier!" Ryker held the book up over his head and let the pages rapidly flip past his thumb, liking the sound. It was probably for the better that he hadn't had another extra distraction with the grades he had. But he was still graduating!, as he liked to rub in everyone's face.
Basil hated it when he said that.
"I didn't know about them until recently, okay? It's not like you got-" The two older boys began to launch into one of their play fights until the young seeker spoke up.
"Stop the lights, this for real?" Basil's fingers ran down the crisp white sheets in wonder, weighing the possibilities that Quin was teasing him with a trick. This was a chance to pass notes back and forth in class, before bed and during lunch as if they'd never left. He wanted to grab a quill and experiment so bad but he hesitated, wondering if that seemed too childish or desperate.
Fingers pinched at his nose and he yelped from the sensation, glaring up into the culprit's warm chocolate eyes. The books tumbled to the floor forgotten for another time, he had some asses to kick.
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The day was warm and fresh as a swift breeze rolled through campus. It felt odd for Basil to stand with them, dressed in his uniform while the rest of them donned commencement robes decorated with various honors. The ceremony had taken place on the quidditch pitch. It felt strangely appropriate for their group of friends. They laughed and stumbled their way over to him, their arms around each other's shoulders making it hard to walk.
"We did ittttt! Woo!" Ryker let out a laugh to the sky in triumph as if the reality that he'd passed Potions class had finally sunk in. Letting out a whoop of joy, the redhead looked to be bursting with energy and itching to start running somewhere.
"Otter, you'd better train hard." A quiet voice cut into the conversation, a dark haired girl shyly placing an arm on the brunette's arm and he turned to blink in surprise. Sophia looked serious and focused as always, trying not to let her emotional side show through as several friends were leaving today. But she had to talk to Wyatt, they were aiming for the same place.
"Oy, whit's this? Ye run off 'n bother the Huff without 's much as ey g'dbye." A teasing girl grinned and followed the hawk to the cat crowd. Poking her in the sides, Adena gave the younger girl a hard time for running off to see the badgers off before saying goodbye to her fellow Gryffindors! The redhead wasn't honestly bothered but that embarrassed apologetic look on Sophia's face was priceless. The hawk turned to hug her and Basil tugged on Wyatt's sleeve to get his attention back. He wanted to-
"Heeeey! I'm trying to take a picture of everyone. Stop running off!" Despite her noble upbringing, Alice never seemed to hide her annoyance and frustration well. Quin let out a laugh as the brunette waved to them all amidst the crowd. It would be an odd picture, a lone Slytherin surrounded by the golds of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff but she'd gotten over the house rivalries by now.
"We'd better do as she says. Her temper's exponential."
The group pushed and shoved with excitement as the seventh years went cheerfully to the brunette and her camera and Basil didn't have the heart to stop them. But darn it! He'd just wanted a moment alone to tell them he'd miss them and needed- aughhh what was the point. Falling into place behind them, he lit up his face with a smile. This was one of the milestones of their lives.
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The scenery rolled by like a blur as the wheels of the train turned. He sat by the window quietly, uncertain of what to talk about with his remaining companions in the compartment. Normally bright and excitable, the others glanced at him nervously before looking to each other with concern. His best friends had long since apparated back to their homes to prepare for their future jobs and adventures. They'd promised not to get too far ahead but how could you keep such a thing?
"You don't look so good." Madison took the seat next to her fellow badger and slid her fluffy gray cat into his lap. Light had grown a little over the year but his fur was still soft and nice to run a hand over and he did so absentmindedly. After a minute or so, the feline lost interest and hopped down to the floor to swat at something in his bag. He looked down curiously as it began to chew on a stray feather sticking out.
"Hey! That's my quill! Stop, I need that for-" Basil's face flushed as his eyes widened and his heart stopped. Grabbing at his luggage, the redhead began to yank things out of it and toss his clothes aside as he dug through it in a focused search. He could hear Imogen's cries to stop but ignored them for now, frantically opening the book open to the first blank page.
Would they even check this? He wasn't sure. He wet the quill in a bottle of cheap ink and paused briefly before writing a few brief sweet words. The reply came back almost instantaneously and his breath hitched in surprise before he relaxed his shoulders and traced the familiar cursive.
Wait for me.
Of course.
