~Friday
"Alright Mr. Potter, you can leave now. Your spine is all healed up, your leg not so much. I'd advise against running for at least 2 more days," The female nurse instructed as I got off my bed and stood up, Devin and Rafe by my side. If they weren't, I would've lost balance, actually.
Standing up again after days of lying on your bed feels horrible! It felt like I was learning how to stand up!
"You okay?" Devin asked as Rafe let go. His grip on my shoulder lightened and eventually, I was able to stand on my two feet. "I'm fine, thank you guys," I smiled, stretching and yawning once I was completely balanced.
"Right, let's go back to our dorm," Rafe smiled before leading the way, in a hurry. "Why're you guys in such a hurry?" I asked as everyone walked in a pretty fast pace.
"Right, here we are," Rafe said with a big grin, panting slightly. "Godric Gryddindor," Devin stated the password. The door opened to reveal a really dark Gryffindor common room. At least that's what I saw from far.
As soon as we stepped into the corridor leading into the common room, the door behind us slid close. I heard a few peoples whisper, "Sphaera Lux" then bam, out of the blue, the entire room lit up, balloons tied everywhere, tables filled with food, pretty much everyone in Gryffindor except for the professors.
"Welcome back, Jamieson!" Everyone yelled in unison, meanwhile I stood there, startled.
Frozen in fear, actually.
"W-What's this for?" I asked as Rafe neared me. "A welcome back party! You were gone for a pretty long time," The ginger boy grinned at me. "It was their idea, not mine." Devin put his hands up in defence.
"C'mon, there's a lot of food and I know you like food." Hazel said with an eyeroll before pulling my wrist and pulling me towards the food table.
"I do like food," I grinned, picking up a plate from said table. "C'mon everyone, dig in before he finishes the food," Oliver stated, smiling widely.
Soon, everyone was enjoying themselves, eating food, talking, staying up way past curfew.
"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall asked, entering the common room with a stern face.
"A big party? Mr. Oliver, please explain all of this. All of this ruckus in the middle of the night?" She asked, her tone somewhat angry.
"We were holding a welcome back feast for Jamieson, professor…" Ceilan said instead, earning a curious look from the professor.
"A welcome back feast?" She repeated, earning nods from everyone else. I was about to step up and say it was all my fault, since it really was, until she smiled. "So you decided to hold such a big feast without inviting Gryffindor's professors?" She asked, earning shocked look from everyone else, and smiles.
"Well I must say that's quite rude of you, Mr. Oliver." She added, grinning now.
"I-I'm sorry professor, I'll go get them now!" Oliver stated excitedly, running out of the room. "Oliver, wait!" Ceilan yelled, running after Oliver.
"Dig in, professor McGonagall!" Rafe smiled, handing a plate to her. Even though everyone's already eating, or at least has food on their plates, but the food table is still filled with food.
~10 Minutes Later…
The professors of Gryffindor began coming in one by one, until all of them were in. "Uh… Where's Oliver?" Ceilan asked, nearing me. "What? I thought you were with him?" I asked, putting my plate in one of the to-be-cleaned basins. "We split up…" His tone growing more and more worried.
"Oh no," I said before running out of the room. As soon as I was out, my foot began aching. "Jamieson, you're in no condition to be running!" Ceilan yelled after me. "We have to look for him! Who knows what happened to him?!" I stated, panicking.
"I'll go look for him, you stay in there with the others. This party is for you, Jamieson." He frowned before taking off.
If he thinks I'm gonna stand here and do absolutely nothing about it…
He's wrong.
He's very wrong.
Ceilan went left, so I went right this time. "Oliver, where the heck are you…" I whispered, initially I was gonna yell, but then I remembered how there're insane things here at night.
Did I mention I was discharged at night? Couldn't be a more perfect time to discharge a patient, honestly.
"Oh no, this is not very good." A ghost wailed, flying past me. "Excuse me! Have you seen Oliver?" I asked said ghost, who stopped in the middle of the road.
"No, but someone's not moving! He looks dead!" She continued wailing. "P-Please take me to him!" I said, panicking. Please for the love of god don't tell me Oliver's dead!
Once again, I ran to where the ghost was. Which was a major mistake. "Argh!" I groaned in pain, falling onto the floor, clutching my right foot. 'This is not the time to groan in pain, dangit!' I scolded myself, somehow crawling to where he was.
"Oliver!" I cried, nearing his somewhat motionless body on the floor.
I placed two fingers on one of his wrist nodes, like how Hazel taught me. She told me if there's some sort of beating, that means the person is still alive, and can still be saved.
To my major relief, he still had a pulse, though his skin was cold as ice. "Oliver, what happened to you…" I whispered. He was completely frozen, motionless in fact! He looks like a statue!
There it was again, the hissing.
"Stay away from them, you demon!" Yelled the female ghost, causing said hissing to immediately disappear. "Y-You can speak Parseltongue?" I asked, looking at her.
"Oh, all ghosts can speak Parseltongue, dear." She answered, giving me a smile. "C-Can you go to the Gryffindor Common Room and inform them of this? There's something wrong with my foot, again." I frowned, bearing the numbing pain.
She nodded before flying off towards said common room, leaving me and a statue-like Oliver in the long dark hallways. "Sphaera Lux" I tried to cast the spell, only to fail.
'You haven't learned it yet, of course you'd fail.' I rolled my eyes, mocking myself. I laid on the ground, letting the pain on my foot slowly calm down. "Jamieson!" Rafe's voice echoed down the hell, "There he is!" The ghost cried, leading a group of peoples towards me, mostly comprised of Gryffindor's professors.
"Oliver! Jamieson!" Professor McGonagall called us, panicking. "What happened to him, professor?" I asked once she was near us. "He's been petrified…" All of the professors gasped, and Hazel.
"Petrified? What's that?" Rafe asked curiously. "It means he's been turned to stone. But Oliver's not completely stone yet…?" Hazel answered curiously.
"Professors, do not report this to Salazar, or to any other professors. I will inform the students. Who knows what Salazar, or the rest of the Slytherins, would do after knowing that there's a basilisk in the castle," She warned before asking professor Diablo to carry Oliver into his dorm.
"Jamieson, are you okay?" Devin asked as I clutched onto my aching foot. "I warned you not to run until your leg heals," The nurse who was in charge of me earlier scolded me, taking out a small vial of bright pink potion. "It's pain reliever, hurry up and take it. Go back to your room and this time, no running," She scolded me again before leaving me with Rafe, Hazel and Devin in the hallways.
"You should've listened," Hazel mocked, rolling her eyes afterwards. How am I supposed to not run to someone who's in need of help?
~Tuesday…
The last four days had gone by awkwardly. We had to dodge peoples as much as we could, which caused Slytherin to be suspicious towards us while Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were somewhat annoyed.
"L-Let's just get to our classes before anything else happens," Rafe said with a small frown. The four of us decided to skip breakfast today. Surely Professor Sprout can brew the petrify-healing potion soon, or the Mandrake potion. I'm pretty sure none of us can go through any of this any longer.
And by 'any of this' I mean hiding the fact that one of our members is practically a statue.
"Oof- Sorry," I apologized. Great, I bumped into none other than Demetrius.
Don't get me wrong, I love Demetrius but he's the 2nd to last person I want to see today! "Oh, hey Jamieson," He smiled once he realized it was me, completely ignoring the fact I freaking bumped into him. "Uhm, hi." I said replied.
"S-Sorry, we gotta go," I said in a panicky voice, leading the other three friends towards our class, only for Demetrius to grab my wrist, "Hold on a sec," he frowned out of the blue. "You- No, all four of you look hungry. Have you had breakfast yet?" He asked, lifting a brow and crossing his muscular arms.
"W-We have, now if you'll excuse us," Hazel said, pulling me. "Oh no, you're not going to class until you eat breakfast. Lunch is like, hours away! Either the four of you follow me the easy way, or the hard way." He warned, looking at us with a stern expression.
I looked at the other three, who were all frowning at me. "We don't have a choice, we'll just have to eat quickly and go," Hazel whispered and I nodded.
We followed Demetrius into the Great Hall and ate our breakfast. And as soon as we were done, we left.
"Right, this time, let's not bump into anyone." Rafe sighed.
To all of our relief, we managed to ace through our DADA class without having to deal with any more questions about the whereabouts of Oliver, and the strangeness of literally the entire Gryffindor house.
"Right, welcome back to Herbology, students." Professor Sprout welcomed us. "For today's lesson, I would like each and every one of you to retrieve the ingredients of this list within 45 minutes," She instructed, handing each group a list of herbs to retrieve.
"Forget-Me-Nots… I know where to find this!" Rafe exclaimed, grinning.
~After Herbology…
"Right. Hazel, Rafe, Devin and Jamieson, come." Professor Sprout asked us to stay behind, saying the professors for the rest of our classes know about our absence, and that they'd only be doing some revisions.
"So, I heard that Oliver Wood was petrified. Is this true?" She asked, sitting down and sighing. "Yes professor, it's very much true." Hazel answered with a big frown.
"Right well, in case the basilisk attacks again, I shall be teaching the four of you how to harvest Mandrakes. Afterwards, you'll bring the mandrakes to Professor Snape, who shall teach you how to brew the Mandrake Restorative Draught," She instructed and we nodded as our responses.
"First, you need to find the right mandrake. The one used in the draught is a mandrake matured beyond adolescence, and since you can't really see the roots of the mandrakes, one way to spot if it's mature or not, is to look at its head," She carried a mandrake pot onto the table and pointed at the bottom of the stalk.
"See how it's sticking out? A baby mandrake won't stick it's head out, a teenage mandrake will stick it out a little bit, while a mature mandrake will stick it out this much. You can't really measure it, since not all mandrake plants are the same, so you have to rely on your instinct," She taught before handing each of us somewhat thick earmuffs.
"Put those on," Professor Sprout instructed before putting her earmuffs on. We quickly did what she said so we could get this lesson over quickly.
We watched as she forcibly pulled out the plant, which included its roots. I'm surprised that the stalk didn't break!
As a result, a small human-like figure emerged, attached to the stalk. It let out an extremely ear-piercing scream for a while, until Professor Sprout laid it on the table and chopped its head off with a cleaver. She proceeded to take her earmuffs off afterwards.
"Now, if you lots were to listen to a mature mandrake's cry without any protection for your ears, it would result in immediate death," She explained. I heard Rafe gulp in response, while Devin and Hazel kept quiet.
"The last step is to chop it off. First, chop off its limbs, so it won't fight back when you chop the rest of its body," She explained before giving us a demo, chopping the limbs up, then the body into several pieces. Then we watched her chop the head into several pieces as well.
"I'm glad these things don't bleed," Rafe whispered, earning him an eye-roll from Hazel and a frown from me.
"Now, it's your turn to demonstrate. I want Jamieson to pull it out, and the rest of you take turns chopping it," She explained before leaving us to get another pot.
'Right, let's do this' I said mentally before forcibly ripping the mandrake out of its pot, which was actually quite hard since the mandrake was actually holding hard onto the dirt.
I handed it to Devin, who chopped off its head as a first step. He then passed it to Hazel, who chopped off its limbs, and finally Rafe chopped it's body into surprisingly even pieces.
"Very well done, all of you! This will definitely influence your grades in your exams later. 5 points to each of you, congratulations. Now take all of this chopped up mandrake to Professor Snape, who is currently waiting for you in his potions room," Professor Sprout grinned proudly, "Yes!" Hazel cheered once she heard our actions would affect our grades in a good way.
Actually, Professor Sprout didn't say either in a good or bad way…
"Let's go before anything bad happens," I frowned, putting the chopped mandrake pieces into containers. "Thanks Professor Sprouts for teaching us all of this," Hazel grinned before we left the greenhouse.
"Wait- I have a feeling we shouldn't go this way," Devin frowned, halting us. "This is the shortcut to our potions class though," Rafe frowned, "Plus, the only other way to our potions class is the long way," Hazel added, frowning as well.
"I trust Devin, we're going the long way." I stated before leading them, earning me groans from Hazel and Rafe.
~Approximately 15 minutes later…
"Finally we're here!" Rafe exclaimed in a mock-tired voice. We entered the lab and saw Professor Snape waiting for us with crossed arms and a lifted brow.
"You're 15 minutes late," He said, frowning as Devin closed the door. "No matter. Hurry now, surely you don't want anyone to know a student has been petrified. I'll be teaching all of you how to brew the Mandrake Restorative Draught." He said quickly, moving towards a big empty cauldron.
"As usual, start off with a warm cauldron filled with distilled water," He instructed before chanting "Incendio" and "Aqua Eructo Duo" quickly. Thank god we're used to Professor Snape's fast teaching, otherwise we wouldn't be able to catch up.
"Next, I want the four of you to mash the mandrake into pure mandrake powder," He instructed, quickly handing each of us a mortar and pestle. "Done," Hazel said as soon as we were finished, which only took like 30 seconds.
"Now, I want you to add the mandrake powder slowly. It will change from clear water to some sort of water with a red-orange hue, then to a yellow hue. Once you add the third batch, it'll turn into a green hue and once the last batch of mandrake powder is in, it'll turn into a peach-coloured liquid," Professor Snape instructed and immediately we started mixing in the powder.
Devin was first. As soon as he poured in his bowl of mandrake powder, the water turned from clear to a bright red, which then became had an orange tint on it after 5 seconds of stirring.
I was next. After I added my batch, it slowly turned from an orange-tinted liquid into a bright yellow liquid with very small bubbles forming.
After I was finished stirring, Hazel added her batch of mandrake powder, causing the water to turn sewage-green with bigger bubbles forming.
Finally it was Rafe's turn. Once he added his batch of mandrake powder into the mixture, white mist began forming in the cauldron before he stirring the mixture, causing big bubbles to form as the liquid slowly turned into a light-peach colour.
Some sort of bitter smell filled the room, "And that tells us the potion is complete," Professor Snape stated, extinguishing the fire beneath the giant black cauldron.
Professor Snape poured a small amount of the liquid into a small vial before handing it to Devin. "Administer this draught by pouring it into the victim's mouth. I'll keep the rest of this in case there're more attacks upon the students. Hurry now," Professor Snape hurried us, practically pushing us out of the room.
"Well at least we have this now," Hazel smiled, holding up the vial of potion.
We literally bolted towards our dorm.
"Goyle!" Devin yelled in panic as soon as we barged into the 4th year's male dorm. The large Slytherin student immediately flinched before somehow disappearing. The same way Devin pulled me into outside of the greenhouse previously, by distorting into nothingness and reappearing somewhere else.
"Hurry, before anyone else tries to hurt Oliver." Rafe urged. Hazel quickly handed me the vial of Mandrake Restorative Draught, and I quickly poured into Oliver's mouth. We watched as his skin slowly turned from a grey colour into his usual light skin, the colour of his eyes returning and so was the colour of his hair.
He let out a loud gasp, quickly getting up and panting. "I-I'm alive!" He gasped, looking around in a panicked state. "W-Where's Ceilan? He wasn't attacked by the basilisk, was he?" He asked, looking around the room frantically.
"Relax Oliver, Ceilan's in his class. Well, we're supposed to be in class as well but Professor Sprout and Professor Snape gave us permission to leave, to brew this." Hazel explained, handing him the small vial with only a little bit of the restorative draught left.
"Y-You guys brewed Mandrake Restorative Draught and skipped class… For me?" He asked, a frown slowly forming on his face. "Yeah, now rest." Hazel frowned, pouring a vial of potion straight into Oliver's mouth.
"What the heck was that?" Rafe asked, somewhat surprised. "Professor McGonagall gave this to me. It's the Dreamless Sleep potion," She explained, showing us the vial of potion she just poured into Oliver's mouth. "Now, the rest of us needs to go back to class and someone has to stay here to make sure Oliver doesn't get attacked again," Hazel sighed, looking at us afterwards.
"I'll do it. Not that I want to flunk my classes… I mean, you guys could just repeat what you learned like you guys did before," I smiled, earning nods from the others. "A-Are you sure you could stay here alone…?" Devin asked, frowning at me.
"You're talking about Jamieson! Of course he could stay here alone," Rafe grinned before leaving the room with Hazel. Devin stared at me for a few seconds before waving his wand and tapping the back of my palm, sending electric up and down my spine. This type of electric is different from the one I felt when I held hands with Devin, this one actually felt like zappy electric.
"W-What was that?" I asked, frowning at him as I rubbed my palm.
"Uhm… Just a small enchantment. See you after classes," Devin smiled warmly at me before leaving me and Oliver alone.
I sighed before sitting down on Oliver's bed, staring at his perfect features. Even though he's fully clothed, I could tell he's one heck of a built guy, even though he's only 3 years older than me.
I mean, there's Oliver, and then there's Ceilan.
I'm not even going to talk about Ceilan.
~Approximately 3 hours later…
"Jamieson, hey. Wake up," Someone woke me up, shaking me somewhat gently. "Uh… Oh- Hi. I fell asleep…" I trailed off, looking around with a frown. Oliver is sleeping soundly on the bed…
"What are you doing here? And what's he doing here?" The tall, dark-skinned wizard asked, pointing at Oliver dozing off on the bed.
"That's his bed… Isn't it?" I asked, lifting a brow curiously. This is their dorm, right? "Oh, no. That's Reginald's bed, and no. Oliver and Ceilan has their own private room," The guy answered before picking up Oliver in a bridal style.
Boy, if Ceilan sees this guy, this guy would be dead within seconds.
"C'mon, I'll show you." He smiled before leaving the room.
I quickly went after him as he walked up another flight of stairs that led to another wooden door, except this one had a silver sign with 'Keep Out' written on it hung outside. "This is Oliver and Ceilan's room," He said, opening the door and leading me in.
"Wow…" I gasped, looking around the somewhat big bedroom.
So this is why I never see either of the two hunks in Gryffindor's bathrooms, or toilets… It's because they've their own bathroom and toilet!
Their balconies are bigger than the regular dorms', they've a queen sized bed with pillows softer than the clouds, a red carpet covering the floor, a huge table with bookshelves near it, table lamps… They even have a huge round table with these beautiful soft chairs!
"I know, it's unfair. Professor McGonagall won't tell us why they get this room, but I guess there's no use whining about it. We're thankful we even have a bed," He explained before tucking Oliver into the giant bed.
"Now, you haven't told me why you were in the room with Oliver," He placed both arms on his waist, lifting a brow. "Oh uh, I was supposed to watch over Oliver," I explained, sighing afterwards. "And skip your classes?" He asked, lifting his brow again.
I nodded, earning me a sigh from him. "Well you better take this then, unless you want to fall asleep and completely miss the your objective of skipping your classes," He said, handing me a small treat box with a grey bean inside. "It'll keep you up for the next 6 hours, no matter how bored or tired you are," He explained before leaving the giant room.
Before I could explore the room, Ceilan came in with a suspicious expression. "What are you doing here?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Oh, you're finally here. I'm supposed to make sure nobody attacked Oliver while he's resting, but now you're here, it's your turn." I sighed, preparing to leave the room.
"Stay," He frowned, stopping me from leaving.
"What for?" I asked, curious. I watched as he walked past the bed and towards the balcony, "Company," He answered, his tone somewhat sad.
"Uh… What's wrong?" I asked, standing up and nearing him, seeing a sad frown on his face.
"How does it feel, Jamieson? To have so many friends… To be adored by so many…?" He asked, his voice breaking.
This is actually somewhat awkward. I mean he's such a strict guy, it's hard to believe he has this broken, ready-to-cry side of him.
"Uhm… I guess it feels good. Why?" I asked, oblivious to whatever he's trying to tell me subtly.
"Oliver's the only one who talks to me as if I'm a human being. Everyone's just… Scared of me. I guess that's not bad, I really just need Oliver to be there with me," he sighed, looking down on his hand.
"Ceilan… Do you… uh…" I dragged out, feeling really nervous and awkward. Am I seriously gonna ask him this question? I mean it's pretty obvious what the answer is but…
"Do you like Oliver? Like, more than friends?" I asked, my hand twitching.
Those words really just left my mouth.
"Yes. And don't you dare tell anyone," He growled, giving me tiger-like eyes.
Actually, no… They look like the eyes of a hungry wolf.
I nodded before leaving him on the balcony, alone. "You know, you're not really alone anymore, Ceilan." I sighed, yelling at him from across the room, looking at their bookshelf.
"You've me now. And Rafe, Devin and Hazel." I felt a small smile crawling on my face. I guess I do feel good right now, I actually have friends. Back at the Dursleys, the only friend I had was…
Actually, I had no friend. Not even the wind!
"I… I guess you're right. I do have you guys now," He replied. I detected a little bit of a smile from the tone of his voice, and it made me smile too. It's always a good feeling when you actually managed to cheer someone up.
I entered the their private bathroom and wow was it beautiful. Everything was white! The tiles, the bath tub, the mirror, the sink… Except for the light blue waterproof curtains. The same goes for their toilet as well!
As soon as I was out of the toilet, Ceilan embraced me in a tight hug. "Thank you, Jamieson." He whispered. I smiled before hugging back, pushing away all of my dirty thoughts and just enjoying this friend-to-friend hug.
"Oh and uh, your trio friends had been looking for you since an hour ago," He grinned before letting go of me, making my eyes blow wide. "They were?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked before bolting out of the door. "I'll uh… I'll see you two tonight," I smiled before leaving the room, looking for my friends.
~That Night, Ceilan Diggory's Point of View
I entered my room, carrying a tray of food all while the conversation I had with Jamieson in the afternoon replayed in my head at least 100 times.
I opened the door slowly, to avoid creaking and saw Oliver lean up and stretch, letting out a small yawn. "Morning," He smiled, looking straight at me. "Morning? It's night time," I grinned, walking over to him. "Dinner," I said, handing him the tray.
"Well you're in a good mood, which is weird," He grinned before taking the tray. "I am," I replied. The conversation between me and Jamieson gave me a major mood boost. He's right, I'm not really alone anymore. Hazel, Rafe and Devin were never scared of me, now that I thought about it.
I guess I have Jamieson to thank.
While Oliver ate his dinner in silence, with me staring out of the balcony, the sound of someone apparating startled us. I immediately raised my wand, ready to protect Oliver as he sat on his bed.
"Dad," Oliver grinned, chewing on his dinner as I let out a sigh of relief. "Nice to see you taking care of your boyfriend, who happens to be my son, Ceilan." Mr. Woods joked, making us both blush pure red.
I wish he was my boyfriend.
I let out an eyeroll, "Good Evening Mr. Woods," I greeted, sitting down on the bed.
"I heard the news and I just want you two to know, Investigations of Magical Creatures will be canceled until the basilisk is taken care of. Our class happens to require the dark forest, and the basilisk is suspected to be in there," He explained before sitting across from me.
"You okay, chump?" He asked, patting the head of his son. Even though Oliver is practically the same height, and somewhat more built than his dad, he still gets the 'little boy' treatment from his dad. "I'm fine, thank you," Oliver hissed mockingly, earning him a laugh from his dad.
"Take care of Oliver for me will ya? This old hag might not last any longer," Mr. Woods said with a small smile, causing us to both frown. "Don't say that," Oliver frowned sadly, watching his dad stand up. "Well, I gotta go now. We need to begin searching for the basilisk. Oh and before you say anything, don't worry. There's at least 45 of us in this secret department, we'll be fine," Mr. Woods reassured his son with a big smile before saying goodbye and apparating.
If he hadn't reassured Oliver, the guy would've kept protesting until his dad gives up.
"Cuddle me, Ceilan." Oliver frowned, finishing his dinner.
"No cuddles," I mocked, putting the tray on the large round table.
As soon as I turned around, Oliver gave me his best begging-puppy eyes, "Please," He said. I rolled my eyes then chuckled. He doesn't need to give me puppy eyes, honestly.
A simple frown would be enough to make me fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness.
I sound like an insanely love-struck creep…
"Fine, scoot over." I grinned before climbing onto the bed. "G'night Ciel," Oliver grinned before laying his head on my chest. "G'night, Olly." I replied, smiling as I shut my eyes.
I miss this. Cuddling with Oliver.
It's been quite a long time since we cuddled, and I'm glad things are back to normal now.
Actually, things are amazing as of lately. Just recently, we've won our first Quidditch match in years! Excluding the fact that Oliver was petrified, I'd say this has been the best month of my entire life.
