Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 1832

Hogwarts Assignment - Magical Law and Government: Task 5: Write about coming to someone's aid.

(Note: Max doesn't belong to me either. He's an OC of Lo and Amber's - Piers older cousin)

Haunted Dreams

Max popped his head around Piers' bedroom door, smiling at his younger cousin. "Me and James are heading out to eat, you wanna come with us?"

Piers rolled her eyes but smirked at Max. "I'm not about to be a third wheel on your date, Max! It's just a cruel reminded that I'm single and likely to remain that way forever."

"Oh my god, you're so dramatic," Max said, laughing. "You're barely eighteen, it's not like you're ancient, is it? You've got that roguish charm going for you, you'll be beating people off with a stick if you, you know, actually left the house occasionally."

"Leave me to my pity party, would ya?" Piers asked, fluffing his pillow. "I've got a date with a movie and a bowl of popcorn."

Max nodded. "Alright, if you're sure. But uh… you'll need to go and get some more popcorn, I ate the last of it about an hour ago."

He ducked out of the room seconds before the pillow hit the door. Piers snorted when he heard the loud laughter fading as Max walked down the stairs.

…

The light was dying fast as Piers walked back from the shop. He'd bought his popcorn, and a few other snacks because he had no self control, and was looking forward to the movie waiting for him at home.

Two streets from the house he shared with Max, something caught his eye on the treeline of the old woods that bordered the town on two sides. Frowning, he crossed the road to get a better look, and his eyes widened when he realised it was a person, slumped in the bushes, only just visible because of the blue sweatshirt he was wearing.

It was a young man, probably around Piers' age, he thought. He was clearly hurt, bloodied and bruised and had a hand on his ribs.

Unsure if he should phone an ambulance, Piers crouched down by the young man and felt for a pulse, feeling a little useless. He wasn't even sure if he was pressing in the right place.

"Don't… please don't," the young man begged, opening bleary eyes to blink up at Piers.

"Are you… okay?" Piers asked, feeling stupid as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Fine," the man wheezed out, trying to push himself up into a sitting position. With a bit of help from Piers, he managed it.

"What happened to you?" Piers asked, horrified at the amount of cuts littering the boys face and neck.

"Run across the wrong crowd." He seemed to be attempting to stand, so Piers stood up, holding out a hand to help. With only a slight moment of hesitation, the hand was taken and Piers helped him up to his feet. When the young man staggered, Piers shook his head.

"I can't leave you out here, come on," he muttered, helping the young man put his arm over his shoulders."I'm Piers. What's your name?"

"Dean. I, where are we going?"

"I live a couple of streets away," Piers said. "I'm going to take you there, okay?"

Dean nodded and slowly, the two of them made their way down their street.

…

Piers unloaded Dean onto the sofa in the living room and made his way into the kitchen. He was glad Max was out, given his cousin's propensity to panic whenever he saw blood. Dropping his snack bag on the table, he pulled an ice pack from the freezer and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

Thankfully, Dean was still conscious. Piers handed the ice over and put the water bottle on the table. "Is there anything I can...do?" he asked, uncertainly.

Dean shook his head. "No. I, uh… I should go. It's not safe—"

"Nobody will find you here," Piers rushed to assure him. When he realised that Dean was shivering, he grabbed an indigo dressing gown from the stair banister and gently laid it out over Dean. "Just relax, okay. Do you want me to call an ambulance? I wasn't sure—"

"No," Dean said, interrupting. "No ambulance, please. I'm okay. Just… I'll be okay."

"Um. Okay. I'll, uh… get you some clean clothes. Those are… not great." Piers raised his hand to gesture at the muddy, ripped clothes Dean was wearing. "I'll be back."

As Piers found a pair of clean sweat pants and a jumper that was too big on Piers for Dean to wear, he wondered what he was actually going to do. Max would be back in a few hours, and he'd probably raise a fuss about taking Dean to the hospital or ringing the police and Piers wasn't sure what Dean would do if he was faced with that.

Whoever had attacked him had clearly scared him.

Piers put the clothes into the bathroom and returned to the living room to collect Dean. He helped him up the stairs and into the bathroom.

"I'll just be downstairs, shout if you need anything, okay?"

Dean nodded and murmured his thanks, closing the door when Piers left. Piers stayed outside the door for a few minutes, waiting for any sign of Dean falling, before once more returned to the living room. He occupied himself with cleaning the dirt stains off the sofa, suddenly grateful that Max had insisted they get a leather one, even though Piers had argued for the comfier material.

When he realised that Dean had been quite a while, he made his way back up to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Dean? Are you okay?"

He waited for an answer that didn't come and knocked again. "I'm coming in, okay?"

He pushed the door open and stepped inside, frowning when he realised the bathroom was empty. Surely he would have heard Dean if he'd come down the stairs? The bathroom window wasn't open and anyway, it was too small for anyone to climb out of, injured or not.

The fresh clothes he'd left out were gone though, as were any trace of Dean's ripped ones.

It was as if he'd never been there.

Dean left the bathroom and wandered into his bedroom, sitting down on the bed. He was concerned that Dean was out there somewhere, injured and alone, and he was confused that he'd just left—and without Piers even noticing.

When Max returned to the house, a little over an hour later, Piers was lying on his bed, staring at the blank screen of the television.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah, fine. Guess I fell asleep."

Max nodded, frowning slightly. "So you didn't watch the movie?"

Piers shook his head no, and Max grinned. "Fetch it downstairs then. I saw your snack haul on the kitchen table, you can't eat all that on your own."

"You sure about that?" Piers asked, raising his eyebrow. "What if I don't wanna share?"

"Jokes on you," Max shrugged. "I can get to them first."

Piers followed Max down the stairs, laughing when his cousin snatched the bag up with a triumphant grin. They settled in together to watch the movie, but the smell of lemon cleaner stuck in Piers nose and he couldn't stop himself from glancing at the door every few minutes, wondering if Dean would come back.

"You sure you're okay?" Max asked, halfway through the movie.

"I'm fine." Piers tried to smile. "Promise."

That night, Dean haunted Piers' dreams, always out of reach, always leaving Piers with an unsettled feeling that he could have, and should have, done more to help.

…

"I'll be right with you," Piers called from the back room of the bakery. He took Max's last batch of muffins from the oven and placed them carefully on the side to cool. Max had nipped out for lunch, leaving Piers to deal with the place on his own.

Thankfully, it'd been quiet.

When he walked through to the main area of the shop and turned to the counter, he blinked. He knew that face, it was one that had continue to haunt his dreams frequently over the past year.

Dean was clearly nervous, his hands clenching and unclenching around the sleeves of his army green jacket, and his foot practically bouncing on the floor.

"Uh. Hi?" Piers said. "You look… better?"

Dean snorted and nodded. "I should hope so. I, uh. I wanted to come and apologise for just… ditching out the way I did, and also to thank you."

"I didn't really do anything."

"You helped me," Dean said simply. "I wanted to thank you for that. So, uh. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I, just… how did you leave? I mean, you couldn't have climbed through the window and I didn't hear you on the stairs and—"

"I, uh," Dean rubbed at the back of his neck. "This is going to sound really weird, and I'm so sorry, but I can't… I can't tell you. But. Well, I thought… you deserved to know that I was okay, so… I'm just gonna…"

He nodded to the door.

"Wait," Piers said, not even sure why. "Just… do you want a blueberry muffin? They just came out of the oven and, well, they're really good so… you could stay?"

Dean glanced at the door and then back at Piers. "Okay. I… thanks. I'd like that."

…

"Wait, wait," Piers said, waving his hand at Dean to make him quiet. Dean waited nervously for whatever Piers was going to say about the secret he'd been hiding since they met. "This is how you left isn't it? That first time, I mean. You just… magic-ed yourself away?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I thought I was losing my damn mind!" Piers exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. And, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just… we're not really supposed to, you know, tell people about it. It's kind of against the law."

"You… just broke the law to tell me that you're secretly a wizard?" Piers asked. "This is hurting my head. What does this mean for us, Dean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean," Dean admitted quietly. He waved his hand at the ring box Piers had offered him only a few minutes before. "I couldn't let you offer that without knowing the truth about me. It's not right."

"That's the only reason you didn't say yes?" Piers checked.

"Of course it is! I love you, Piers, you know I do! I just… marriage is a big step, isn't it? And you definitely shouldn't get married when you're hiding such a big part of yourself but—"

"I love you," Piers interrupted. "And if that means loving you while you make rabbits pop out of hats, then that's what I'll do."

Dean snorted. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Piers promised. "But, later, after engagement sex and engagement cuddles, you've got a lot of s'plaining to do."

Dean smiled. "I can do that. You gonna ask me again?"

Piers picked the ring box up and held it out, open, to Dean. "Marry me?"

"Yes."

Written for:

Disney - S2. Pairing with two characters from different walks of life (Muggle/Wizard)

Trope - 7. Write about someone with a secret.

Space - 8. Green

Angel - 20. "It's just a cruel reminder that I'm single and likely to remain that way forever."

Scamander's Case - 16. Nervous

Wandmaker - 2. Alder (holding out a hand) / 11. Rougarou Hair (Roguish)

Build A Bear - Bear: Wild Elephant - Piers Polkiss.

Game Night - Truth - Indigo

Pop Figure - Night King - 1. Blue / 2. Raise / 4. Ice

365. 277. Haunt

1000. 579. Dressing Gown