Absence

A HariPo drabble

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. This pairing was discovered by my twin, Morghen, so please give her a little mention if you write them! Thanks! It is one of many of Mew and Mor's Weird Pairings, most of which you may find in the M&MWP forum. Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy!

For: Drabble Tag in the M&MWP forum. Pairing: Lorcan Scamander/George Weasley. Prompt: longing.

- ^-^3

It couldn't be considered an affair. For it to be an affair, they both had to be in relationships. And Lorcan's on-again/off-again thing with Scorpius couldn't count when Scorpius was pining after Lysander, Lorcan's twin. And George wasn't really married even though he hadn't divorced Angelina, who'd disappeared years ago to Ireland to play and then coach the Ballycastle Bats.

Of course, for there to be an affair, there had to be romance, too. And it wasn't really romantic when all Lorcan did was help around the shop on the off times from his Healer studies, listening to George create new ideas and jokes. And it wasn't really romantic when George paid Lorcan half of what he paid his other employees like Verity, even if he'd only hired Lorcan part-time because Lorcan had asked simply and politely with those too-bright and too-big cerulean eyes of his.

And for there to be romance, there had to be attraction, as well. It wasn't attraction if Lorcan admired the quite visible scar George had, thinking it made the older man looked experience and battle-worn and dangerous all at once. It wasn't attraction if George stared too long at Lorcan when the Scamander twin came over to his house to visit Freddie, since Lorcan was the best mate of George's twins and therefore always around wherever he looked.

Lastly, attraction required one thing itself: admission. And it wasn't an admission for Lorcan to say that he'd only ever liked wizards, but only wizards his age and never older ones… And it wasn't an admission for George to make no effort whatsoever in finding love after Angelina, although he wasn't sure it had been love since he hadn't ached nearly as badly as he should've after she'd left, choosing instead to throw effort into his kids' lives and the lives of their friends, namely their best mate…

Plain and simple, all George and Lorcan had was a camaraderie that kept them close and made them see one another often. Every now and then, Lorcan would have extended periods of time away from the shop due to his studies, but they were always together as much as employer and employee or…mates could be. Yeah, okay, maybe they were mates.

That would explain why George couldn't keep from glancing at the clock every five minutes on Tuesday, the slow day of the business week and Lorcan's first day of work every week. George knew that Lorcan's work could keep him busier than George's own imaginings up in what they called the "Lab," where George, and once upon a time Fred had, made the, ah, "magic" happen.

Lorcan was admirable, really. He was studying to become a full-fledged Healer so that he could someday travel with his parents and protect them from danger on their travels as Wizarding naturalists. Lorcan had been a smart child from the beginning, landing himself in his mother's House with ease. Lorcan had always been good at everything, though he hadn't had much motivation to focus on one subject long enough to choose anything other than those that would help him to become a Healer. He seemed to think of Healing as a hobby more than anything else.

George entertained that idea some more, more than he'd ever done before. Lorcan becoming a Healer entailed a certain amount of danger. But if he was successful, then George wouldn't be counting down the minutes until Lorcan began his part-time shifts. Instead, George would have to count down the weeks if not months until Lorcan returned from each and every journey. And all of George's family knew about how long Luna and Rolf would go to be on their escapades…

He began to wallow some more, numbly doing the petty tasks around the shop, scaring Verity into taking her break earlier than planned, and not getting much work done at all. But he couldn't exactly think without Lorcan there.

Alas! The shop's bell rang out, and Lorcan stuck his head in. His face was purely apologetic and he seemed let down about having let George down because he was late.

But George didn't see that. He saw Lorcan, there and cute and nose tinged salmon red from the chill autumn air that was turning wintry. And he left the counter to stand in front of Lorcan.

Lorcan closed the door and undid his scarf. He went to say something, but he shut up as George wrapped his arms gently around the younger wizard.

George sighed but didn't let go of Lorcan. It wasn't an admission, an attraction, a romance, or an affair. It was love, wasn't it, and always had been, hadn't it? As to what type of love they had come to share, though…

Lorcan's arms clutched George almost as permanently.

…there was no denying it now.

- ^-^3

FLUFFY! 8D Fluff makes me happy. It really does. And this was too cute to pass up… I think reading a lot of shoujo manga will do that to you… 0.0 Anywho, I kept some of my head-canon ideas in here (Ange & the Bats, Lorc as a Healer, etc.), so that was fun. Please note that Scorpius/Lorcan and Scorpius/Lysander as also M&MWPs, so a mention would be nice if you wrote them, thanks.

Thanks for reading, and please review!

-mew-tsubaki :3