Chapter 18 - Gringotts

Josiah was sweating profusely; he would give anything to have his wand right now, so that he could cast a nice Breeze Charm over himself and be done with the whole mess. It was too risky, though, especially at this time of day, and people would surely notice if his hair was ruffling on its own. It was a wretchedly windless day in Liverpool.

He hadn't done much physical labor since he'd started school at Hogwarts, and now that he was out, he realized that he hadn't missed it as much as he'd thought. He was constantly sweating through his shirts in embarrassing places, he was always sunburnt, and he was always tired and hungry. He hated lifting things without magic, even if he could; the idea that he could lift things with magic constantly niggled at the back of his mind and made every box he heaved up onto the deck seem that much heavier.

He had lost weight, though, so there was that...

He trudged up the stairs to the condo and let himself in, only to find Noah standing in the middle of the room looking incredibly angry. He was also shirtless.

Josiah proceeded with caution.

"Noah," he said carefully, judging his boyfriend's response. "Why are ye glowering at the telly? Did it cut out?"

Noah turned his head at the sound of the door, hoping it was Greengrass.

It wasn't. Seeing Jo filled him with a mix of relief and dread. Jo would help him regain control of his emotions; Jo would also be mad at him. He half-sighed, half-groaned.

"The… what? No." He grumped confusedly. He closed his hands into fists. "That prat! He has a damn big mouth and very small bollocks! And now he's gone."

Jo blinked confusedly at Noah's confusion. He looked at the television, then back to his inexplicably shirtless boyfriend - not that he was complaining - and tried again, slightly more desperately.

"Which prat?" he asked, crossing the room and patting one of Noah's biceps reassuringly. The heat had addled his brains somewhat, so it took him a few moments to flick through his memories before he placed the insults with one face in particular.

A small wave of panic struck him like a single humming cord, steadily increasing in intensity. The worst part was that he didn't know why.

"Ezra?" he asked, confirming. "Where'd he go, did he say?"

"Who knows!" Noah said irritably. "To get drunk, maybe? Or to rob a bank?"

Looking at Jo's confusion, Noah stopped moving – tried to, at least. "We argued, and," he glanced at the table, where the money was still pathetically scattered. "I told him we couldn't pay the power bill this month, and…" He shrugged. "He just left!"

Josiah looked down at the money on the table - a five pounder and about thirty-five pence - and looked back at Noah.

"Did you say something to him?" he asked, his voice teetering between serious worry and outright accusation. "Noah, we have had this conversation literally a million times. Do ye remember it? Aye? Don't push his buttons, you have no way of knowing what he'll do, yeah?"

He took a step back, closing his eyes and trying to inhale.

This was bad, and he knew it. It could potentially be very bad, although he didn't know how or why. And, then, a single, chilling thought flashed across his mind.

What would he tell Dan?

"Shit," he breathed, helplessly. He had his suspicions, but there was no way to know for sure where the Slytherin boy had gone, and he would only waste time and effort trying. The only logical thing to do was to wait for him to come back.

If, indeed, he was coming back.

"So, I just keep my mouth shut and let him mock me?" Noah's frown deepened. "Can't say a word to the little prince, he gets all upset!" He swore, because he couldn't push away the guilt. And Jo was really upset with him now. Shit. "I'm sorry, I just… sorry," he said, exasperated.

He reached out tentatively to his boyfriend, and then they heard the sound of keys and the doorknob moving. He held his breath, hoping it would be Greengrass.

It was Daniella Hawke.

Daniella entered and closed the door, carrying a heavy grocery bag. She glanced at the two boys in the common room and gave a small smile. "Oh, hi! Sorry I'm late. The restaurant was so busy!" She set the bag on the table and made her way to her side of the condo. "But I'll make shepherd's pie for dinner. Let me just have a shower, I'm stinking of fries, and I'll get right on it."

Noah's eyes widened. "Uh…" He gave Jo a pleading look.

Josiah gave the other boy a look so scathing that it could have soured milk from three blocks away and light a match from ten feet.

"Well, it doesn't matter now if you're sorry or not. In fact, the real issue at hand is what we are going to do when Dan gets home, because she is going to have both of our heads on a spike and then you can tell her how sorry you -"

The door swung open and Jo's mouth snapped shut instantly, as though someone had hit him with a Silencing Charm. He blinked awkwardly for a few moments, trying to think of the best way to phrase to his best friend what was happening. When she reached for the doorknob, however, the guilt overcame him and the truth slipped out.

"Dan," he said, in a very particular tone that indicated he was about to give her bad news but he wanted her to be calm about it. "Ezra's... not here at the moment. He and Noah had an argument, and he took off."

He cleared his throat uncertainly, waiting for a reaction.

"He didn't say to where," he added, answering the question that he knew would come next. "He was already gone when I'd come in."

Daniella froze as the words slowly sank in. She stared at the door for a long moment, to make sure her heart still remembered how to work.

When she finally turned around, she looked at Josiah and then her gaze shifted to Noah. She'd told Ezra they would help him. She'd guaranteed it. "What did you tell him?" She asked in a hollow voice.

Noah looked down, avoiding her gaze, as well as Josiah's. "Just… you know, about the bills. Look, I didn't mean to get him so riled up he'd run away, but he-"

"And what did he say?" Daniella asked over his justifications. A strange cold was creeping up through her, a sense of dread she was desperately trying to keep at bay.

"I don't know, something about making our lives easier. He probably just went back to his job hunt," he said tentatively.

Daniella glanced at Josiah and saw he believed that possibility as much as she did: not at all. He'd gone back to London. The question was, to where exactly? And would he come back to her?

-/-/-

When Ezra cracked into Diagon Alley, he was still seething almost painfully from his argument with Ledger. He had wanted to stay and fight - not physically, but at least verbally - but he knew that the aggression building in him wouldn't be satisfied with petty quibbling. It was deeper, and far more troublesome than that.

Wizarding London buzzed around him, although it was getting nearer to supper and there were less people out than there usually were during the afternoon. He knew the crowds well - he had worked here for years, after all. The majority of people were headed to the Leaky Cauldron, where they would either Apparate or Floo home.

Ezra started moving against the crowd, making his way to the large, imposing structure at the end of the street.

He just needed to get in, exchange his galleons, and get out. If he could do that, and quickly, there would be no harm done. His parents wouldn't suspect a thing until they checked his vault, and even then, they wouldn't find him in Liverpool...

It took him ten minutes to get to the counter at Gringotts, and one more for the bespectacled goblin to acknowledge his presence.

"Mister Greengrass," the goblin said cordially. Ezra noted the tone of his voice, and realized fully the possibility that his parents could have paid every single goblin in the place to keep an eye out for him. He narrowed his eyes slightly before shaking the thought out of his mind.

"I'd like to access my vault," he said hollowly. The goblin bowed, making his way down to the floor where Ezra stood, waiting.

"Of course."

Logan walked up the street, thinking it must be his lucky day. He was having a drink at a pub in Knockturn Alley when the mountain goat Patronus appeared to deliver the long awaited message. But, then again, he'd spent many evenings there, searching, waiting. And now, finally, he had his chance.

He ran a finger up and down his wand as he hid in the shadows, away from the lamp posts in front of the main entrance of Gringotts. "If my orders weren't so clear, I'd deliver your son, but not in the state you'd like," he murmured to no one, watching the large doors. "Sneaky bastard, fooling me, taking my little sis' away from the family."

Someone came out and adrenalin shot through his veins, but it wasn't his prey yet. When he was starting to feel impatient, Greengrass made his appearance at the door. Baring his teeth in a wicked smirk, Logan pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and followed the younger boy.

Ezra slipped out of the bank entrance as quietly and discreetly as possible. He hadn't seen any indication that anyone had tipped off his parents; that long pause from the goblin had been suspicious, but goblins were notorious for being rude to wizards in any case. The only reason they were around was because they were useful - it wasn't as though they were working in customer service.

Still, his jacket felt heavy where the money (lots and lots of money, more Muggle money than he'd ever seen at once) was tucked into the inside pocket. His hand was on his wand, just in case.

He walked hurriedly toward the far alley, trying not to make eye contact with anyone lest they recognize him instantly. He wouldn't put it past his parents to put up reward posters with his face on them - they had the money to spare, certainly, and no excess love for him that he had ever been able to identify.

If he could just Apparate out and get back to Liverpool without being seen...

There was a back alley up ahead, and Ezra made for it hurriedly, walking more quickly now that the end was in sight. He turned onto it immediately and then, out of sheer paranoia, turned to look behind him.

His eyes locked with Logan Hawke's; they had that predatory gleam that they had always had, but magnified. He took a couple of very slow backward steps and then, without warning, hauled off a large nonverbal curse that sent a nearby trashcan flying into the other boy's path.

He ran.

The chase was almost too easy for a while. Then, as if poked by some invisible hand, Greengrass turned around and looked straight him. Logan had just enough time to raise his wand when the trashcan came flying towards him. He shoved it out of the way with his wand and ran after him.

There wasn't enough time to catch up. He had always had good reflexes, but his intense training in the last few weeks had honed his skills to a whole new level.

He slowed down just enough to settle his breathing and take aim, before Greengrass Disapparated. He itched to cast the curse.

I want him alive. The order resonated in his mind, made him hesitate for the briefest moment. He waved his wand to another trashcan instead, returning the favor, and took a few steps closer.

"Come on, boy," he growled. "I hadn't taken you for a coward. Turn around and fight."

Adrenaline pushed Ezra's body beyond its limits, and he was suddenly running faster than he'd ever run in his life; the rough gravel of the alley crunched under his posh boots and sprayed behind him with the speed. The bricks on either side of him were a blur.

He didn't know what would happen to him if Logan caught him here, but he knew that it would kill him to find out. If not now, then later; if Logan caught him here, he was never going to get away again.

He chanced one look behind him and instantly regretted it - when had the other boy ever been so fast? - because the next thing he knew, he was stumbling over a large, metal rubbish bin and smashing his face into the pavement hard.

Logan's pounding footsteps were closing in on him. He winced against the pain and cried out instinctively; he'd made contact with the ground with his eyebrow, and he could feel silt and grit ground into the scrapes on his face, which was hot like wildfire. The next thing he did was fumble for his wand, which was luckily still intact, and deflect a sizzling hex.

But it was the other boy's words that chilled him most of all; nobody had ever used that tone of voice and meant well.

"Fuck you," he spat, throwing a hex blindly behind him before rolling over onto his back with some effort and slowly, excruciatingly, getting to his feet. He took a few more steps back, quicker this time, and grit his teeth.

He wasn't going to stand up and get pummeled like some idiot Gryffindor. Did the other boy know him at all?

He stood, wand outstretched, knowing full well that he would have to trade a moment of vulnerability for the ability to Disapparate.

Logan's lopsided grin appeared once more. He'd gotten him to stop. That was all he needed. He tilted his head mockingly when he saw the damage he'd made. "Uh oh," he said cheerfully, then made a 'hiss' sound between his teeth. "Seems like you ruined your pretty face. Will she still want you now?"

He stopped a few steps away, blocking off the rest of the street. He needed to find his sister before delivering the boy.

"Where is she, Greengrass?" His amused tone was gone. "I might even consider letting you go, if you take me to her," he lied.

Ezra could feel the skin around his eye swelling now; he was almost positive that the trickle of warmth he felt was just the protesting of his singed, angry nerves, and not blood... but then, he couldn't be sure.

"You know what the Muggles say about jealousy, Logan," he rasped, somehow managing a smirk amidst what felt like the slow, painful melting of the left side of his face. "Eventually, it will eat you from the inside out. Provided you aren't already hollow."

The younger boy licked a bit of blood from the corner of his lip.

"Did you lie to those Ministry Officials too, before you tortured them to death?" he whispered with utmost certainty.

Then, he sent a bright red curse flying through the air at an impressive speed; it missed its target, because his eyes were watery from pain, but it collided spectacularly with the wall nearby. The bricks that were touched by the light exploded into a grimy, sloppy mixture of green-brown acid.

He took a few steps back again, desperate to find a large enough window of time in which to Disapparate.

Logan's lip twitch was the only sign that he'd heard the words. His eyes grew darker. "Well, I wanted to get some practice before I found you," he replied. "If you want to do it the hard way, I'll-" Greengrass's wand moved, and the wall next to Logan exploded. He raised his free arm to protect himself from the debris. So, he'd made his first move.

He sent a curse that exploded where Ezra's feet had been just a moment ago. He was backing away. Logan raised his wand. He had to deliver the boy alive to find Dany, but no one said he had to go in one piece.

Sectumsempra was an extremely fun curse Snape had taught him. A little too messy, but very useful. He started a wide movement with his wand and a silver flash cut the air in Greengrass's direction.

Ezra's world was, for exactly one second, a whirlwind of unrecognizable shapes and colors and a very intense squeezing feeling in his chest and a searing, unbearable pain in his side that hadn't been there a moment before. The second after was no less eventful, although he found himself stumbling into the cheap condo he shared with Daniella in Liverpool instead of careening through magical space.

The first thing he did was fall forward onto someone he couldn't see and gasp, very audibly.

"Oh my god," said Josiah, who was supporting a newly-generated Ezra with the majority of his body weight and holding him up by the arms. "Oh my god, your face!"

"Do you have charms on this building?" Ezra asked in a cracked voice immediately after catching his breath.

"I - well, not many, no, I didn't really - oh my god, you're bleeding -"

"Do it now."

"Yes, okay, I will, I will, but first -"

"Josiah!"

There was a stunned silence in which many thoughts went through Josiah's head, and none of them made any sort of sense in particular. Most notably, he was pretty sure it was the first time that the pureblood boy had ever used his first name.

"Okay," Jo whispered, removing his arms from Ezra's sides and letting him down onto the floor as gently as possible. For all his effort, though, the Slytherin still collapsed onto the floor with a dull thump.

Josiah was vaguely aware of the fact that his right hand was covered in blood.

"Someone go fetch me the dittany," he said breathlessly, waving his wand in very intricate, complex patterns in the direction of the front door. "Protego Totalum... Protego Maxima... Salvia Hexia..."

Ezra, meanwhile, was bleeding out somewhat pathetically on the heavily scratched wood floor. He blinked stupidly at the ceiling, which was spinning; he moved a hand down to his side, where something had torn a rip in his jacket and shirt and cut straight through into the flesh of his belly, to the left of his navel.

Daniella jumped to her feet at the loud 'POP' so quickly that the chair she was sitting on fell back noisily. She was nailed to the floor at the sight of Ezra; she could only stare in shock. Until he collapsed.

She hurried to his side, but a strong hand pulled her back to her feet.

"You get the stuff Jo needs, I'll take him to the couch," Noah's voice was even, but firm. She didn't argue. She wouldn't have the strength to pull him up anyway. With shaky legs, she ran to Jo's bedroom to find the dittany and whatever else they might need.

Noah, who hadn't said a word since answering Daniella's questions, resumed his silence as he pulled the injured boy up from the floor with experienced hands and half-pulled, half-carried him to the sofa.

When Daniella returned, hands full with towels, flasks and a basin, Josiah was still mumbling his protective spells. She couldn't tell if she'd been that fast, or if he was taking an eternity to be done. She dropped everything on the table and fell to her knees next to Ezra's bloody face.

"What happened?" she breathed, frowning as she started to take his hair away from the mess that was the left side of his face with shaky fingers.

Ezra's head lolled listlessly against Noah's muscles, which felt even more like tree trunks than they looked. He allowed himself to be eased onto the sofa, due in no small part to the fact that he was in no shape to protest, and coughed.

He met Daniella's eyes as much as he was able; as deeply as he loved her, all he could think about at the moment was how similar those eyes were to her brother's, no less sharp but full of so much more heart.

He wanted to speak in full sentences, but he was feeling a bit faint.

"Your brother and I..." he murmured, closing his eyes tightly against the throbbing of the side of his face. "...had something of a... playdate... in London."

Josiah, who had just finished casting ten protective spells, twice, whipped around and rushed over to Ezra like a large, overprotective hen. He pushed Noah gently out of the way and began unbuttoning Ezra's jacket. As he was pulling it off, a crisp stack of twenty pound notes fell out of the inside pocket and flopped onto the floor.

"Bloody hell," Jo breathed. He'd never seen that much money at once in his life, and probably wouldn't again, if things kept up at this rate. His focus was immediately drawn back to the Slytherin on the couch, however, at the sight of the bright red stain saturating his white shirt.

Knowing that there was no time to waste, he grabbed both sides of the fabric and ripped. Pearled buttons showered the room, landing in six different places with delicate clicks.

Josiah took the bottle of dittany from Dan's shaky hand and clasped it in his own, which was only slightly more steady and not half as nimble. He poured the contents of the bottle over the gash; the edges of the wound sizzled on contact.

Ezra screamed, a short, sharp cry that made his throat sore.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jo murmured, siphoning some of the excess blood off of the wound with his wand. The dittany was working quickly, but the cut was still a bit too deep for it to be totally repaired.

"It's too deep, I'm going to need something to pack it with," Jo told them, his voice shaking with nerves. "A shirt, a towel, anything..."

Daniella couldn't say she was surprised to know it had been Logan. She nodded vaguely, hushing Ezra. It wasn't important right now, but she realized she didn't feel the sharp stab of betrayal with the confirmation that her brother had done that, anymore. She didn't even feel disappointed. She felt only anger towards her brother. In that moment she knew, with terrible clarity, that Logan had broken something inside her, something she didn't think could ever be fully mended.

The sight of the money made her sick to her stomach. He had nearly killed himself for a fucking roll of notes!

Ezra's cry brought her back to the present. She couldn't even be properly angry with him while he was bleeding out. Burying all the anger bubbling up made her dizzy.

She grabbed his hand, so he'd have something to hold on to, and forced herself to look at what Josiah was doing. Her stomach turned again and she closed her mouth firmly. 'He needs to go to the hospital,' she thought, but didn't say it out loud, because obviously they couldn't take him there. His family would find him out in the blink of an eye.

Noah, jaw set and teeth clenched, reached for the towels Daniella had dropped next to the sofa and gave one to Jo. Then he turned his back on the others, took his wand out of his pocket and heated up a pot full of water, mostly just to keep busy. He placed the water and a few more towels between Josiah and Daniella and backed away.

Daniella chose the softest hand towel to start cleaning Ezra's face.

"You're such an idiot," she murmured angrily every now and then to Ezra.

Josiah was so focused on the wound that everything else had more or less disappeared. He heard himself giving orders, and vaguely knew that they were being followed, because the items he asked for appeared at his side within a few moments. If he had been thinking more clearly, he might have just summoned everything he needed, but right now his oddly-shaped willow wand was pointing directly at the gash and trying to mend it shut.

He took a deep breath, as steady as he could manage. The scream had put his nerves even more on edge than they had been already, and what he really needed was to focus. He needed to think back to all of his books, the ones that he'd read over and over again, cover to cover. He needed to think back and remember that this was something he could do.

"Vulnera Sanentur," he whispered, barely audible. The edges of the wound receded slightly, trying to knit themselves back together. "Vulnera Sanentur... Vulnera Sanentur..."

It wasn't perfect; it was an expert-level spell, and he had never attempted it before. He only vaguely knew the theory. Eventually, however, the gaping wound began to fuse together into a raised and tender line of scar tissue.

Josiah bit his lip. A professional healer could have avoided scarring, but he couldn't really be blamed for doing as much as he was able.

"Thank you, Noah," he said softly, now that the worst was over. He couldn't imagine how terribly guilty his boyfriend felt right now - he even felt guilty for yelling at him at all. He took one of the proffered towels and used his wand to rip it into one long, even strand.

"I can mend the cut, but I can't replace the blood you've lost," he said, speaking now to Ezra directly. "That will take time. You're not to move from here tonight. I'll bring you a cauldron to wee in if I've got to, but you're not to move. Do you understand? Dan, I'll leave that to you."

He used his wand to vanish the blood that was dried onto Ezra's pale skin and slowly, carefully dressed the wound with the makeshift bandage. It was certainly much better than it had been, but one wrong, eager move and it was apt to rip right open again.

"Accio Dittany," he said, pointing in the direction of the bedroom he shared with Noah. Another small bottle came zooming in to meet him. He handed it to Dan. "It should clear up the scrapes in a few minutes," he told her, not feeling strong enough yet to smile.

He really felt rather weak, if he was being honest. He leaned against Noah and closed his eyes in an attempt to steady himself.

"You really are an idiot," he agreed after a few beats of silence.

Ezra, whose eyes were half-lidded, was still focused on the feel of Dan's hand. It seemed to be the only thing keeping him anchored to the land of the conscious.

"Noted and ignored," he whispered to both of them, not quite managing to smirk. "Enjoy your electricity."

Noah held Josiah quietly, deeply relieved he was still allowed to do so, and take comfort from it.

"He won't move," Daniella said in a definitive way, looking at Ezra. She took the bottle and finished cleaning his swollen face.

Her eyes were a bit too determined, a bit too intense as she worked. Her hand shook suddenly at his electricity quip and she stopped touching him, because she didn't trust herself to not smack him.

She gave Ezra the best, most caring treatment anyone could possibly receive, even in the hospital. She would get him back on his feet, safe and sound. She would do it, just so she could rip him apart because of what he'd made her go through.

When she was done, since the others were still close by to keep an eye on Ezra, she washed her hands, searched through her ingredients kit, found what she needed and started preparing a potion to replenish the lost blood. It wouldn't help much with the soreness, but he deserved to suffer a little, after making her go through that.

A few minutes of heavy silence passed while she stared at the cauldron, as if that would make it be ready faster. About ten minutes later, she filled a mug and brought it to Ezra.

"Thank you so much, Jo. Really," she murmured as she passed by him, resting a hand on his forearm. "You two should go wash up and eat something. I'll stay with him."

Ezra was using all of his remaining willpower not to flinch as Dan dabbed at his eye with the damp cloth. The dittany stung, but not nearly as bad around his eye as it had around his middle, for which he was grateful.

He knew she was mad at him. And if she wasn't yet, she would be eventually, after the shock of seeing him in a pool of his own blood had worn off.

"I think my parents have paid off the goblins," he said softly, closing his eyes as she rubbed a particularly stubborn piece of grit out of the scrapes on his face. "I can't think of any other way Logan would have known. He came out of nowhere."

Josiah, meanwhile, was staring at the wall, looking hollowed out and tired, as though he hadn't slept for days.

If Logan had found Ezra... there was only one logical explanation, but it was caught in his throat. He couldn't say it. It was painfully obvious, but somehow, saying it out loud would make it final, and if he said that to Dan...

He didn't know what Dan would do. What could any of them do? Logan had made his choice, the choice he had probably been planning to make all along.

Now they had to make theirs.

"Call me if anything happens," he said finally, nodding in response to Dan's gentle fussing. "I'll just whip up something quick."

He looked up at Noah, then looked back to Dan, then turned and padded into the kitchen.

Ezra was silent for a few moments after they had left; his mind was still reeling from the intense pain, even though the edge had been blunted by Johnston's quick thinking and Dan's gentle touch.

"Thank you," he whispered, finally able to get a clear look at her. He took a small, tentative sip from the mug she had offered him.

Noah hesitated, opened his mouth, then closed it and walked out after Jo, picking up the notebook he'd been working on, on his way. No point in saying anything now. He'd just be adding fuel to the fire. He seemed to leave a trail of hurt people behind him, no matter what he did, followed by another trail of angry people.

He closed himself in the bathroom, washing the blood off his arms and side, where he'd supported Greengrass's weight. Then, after making sure the bedroom was still empty, he took a t-shirt from the drawer, put it on and sat at the feet of the bed. He focused on writing down every workout routine he'd ever done, only to scratch them out after.

Josiah stuck his head in the fridge, peeking around at the sparse collection of ingredients he had to work with. They weren't starving, but they weren't living a luxurious life, either.

It was only when he shut the fridge and went to fetch a large stock pot that he realized his hands were still covered in blood, and his stomach gave an uneasy turn. He placed the pot gingerly on one of the grease-stained burners, made his way over to the sink, and washed his hands thoroughly.

He dried them off on a nearby dishtowel and, looking around for Noah but not seeing him anywhere nearby, took a few quick steps into the hallway and checked the bedroom.

"We have some leftover mutton and potatoes and a bit of broth," he informed his boyfriend in a soft, slightly dazed tone of voice. They had all skipped dinner, so they were surely all hungry, but somehow eating after such an event seemed out of place. "I thought I'd make stew, if you're keen."

He let his eyes drift over Noah's face; his brow was furrowed in concentration, and his eyes were cloudy. Jo crossed the room and nestled in beside the other boy on the edge of the bed.

"How are you?" he asked, softly.

Noah tensed when Jo sat next to him. He turned his head slightly, but didn't quite look in the other boy's eyes. He really didn't need any more help to feel guilty right now.

"I'm fine," he grumbled. He scratched out something else, and wrote down '15 to 20 laps'. "I know I screwed up, you don't have to tell me again. I'm not that stupid."

Josiah looked at the blond boy with slight reproach, shifting on the lumpy mattress.

"That wasn't what I was going to say," he said. "You're not at all stupid. This wasn't your fault."

There were a few beats of silence wherein Josiah pondered this statement. Noah had been the catalyst for the night's events, certainly; he seriously doubted that Ezra would have stormed off to London on his own without provocation. The basic facts, however, remained the same: if Logan had been looking for them, one of them was bound to run into him sooner or later. And, really, in the scheme of things, Ezra was the only one other than Dan who would have had any chance at surviving the encounter.

It it had been him, Josiah thought with a chill, he probably wouldn't have bothered cutting him up before he...

"I'm not just saying that, either," he said suddenly, in an attempt to push his previous thought out of his mind for a few precious moments. "Logan... Logan would have found one of us anyway. You might have argued, yes, but even if you started it - which doesn't matter, that's nae what I'm saying - it wasn't your fault that he got... that he got hurt."

He looked over at his boyfriend, his eyes almost pleading, as though he needed everything to be okay. Even if it was temporary.

"Logan will find us. That's the problem." Noah finally looked up at Jo, and his heart ached. He hadn't met that Logan yet. The others always sounded wary when they talked of him, but he'd just thought it was because he was Daniella's brother. Now that he'd seen what this Logan could do…

If that had happened to Josiah… It could still happen to him, being Muggleborn. "Eventually, they will find us, and it was my fault that he ran out like that, on his own, without saying where he was going. Because I didn't take the risks seriously enough. If he hadn't made it back here, we might not find him in time. Or they might've found us."

A dread that had been slowly growing silently in the back of his mind, spilled out. "How will I leave every morning, and get through the day without knowing if you're safe?"

Josiah's hazel-green eyes were wide and a little sad.

"It's a war, Noah," he said, trying to sound soothing about it. "It's not good for anyone, but it's not as though... I mean... he's not alone, but neither are we," he finished, somewhat weakly.

He was quiet for a moment. Ezra was a talented wizard, and there was no denying it; blood purity aside, he had a certain finesse and quickness of thought that was beneficial in a situation like the one he'd narrowly escaped tonight. Josiah wasn't good at those sort of situations - he tended to panic and lose control of his mind for an undetermined length of time - but he was still a good wizard.

In his own way...

"I'll be alright," he said finally, reassuring the other boy. "I'll start taking my wand to work again. It will be fine. They're in London, and we're in Liverpool, and the condo is so stuffed with enchantments that it's liable to pop."

A pause.

"Noah," he insisted, raising a soft palm to graze his boyfriend's cheek and turn it toward him. "It will be alright. Now do you want mutton stew or not?"

Noah nodded at Jo's words, but the truth was, even if they were more united as group – which they were far from being – and trusted each other blindly outside of each couple, they would still be rookies, compared to those people. There was no denying that. But he saw no point in scaring Jo with such thoughts.

He met his boyfriend's eyes and managed a small smile. "Well, still, I'll walk you to work tomorrow. We can't be sure yet if Logan found something else out. We have no way of telling if they know where we are, so we really should be extra careful for the next few days. And if you see that bloke, you tell me right away, because I don't remember his face."

Jo's hand was warm and comforting, and despite his empty stomach, he suddenly craved a different kind of comfort much more intensely. Giving in to his need, he kissed Jo, then whispered close to his lips, "And don't you dare disappear on me like that, ever."

Jo smiled in return, relieved that the conversation was finally going in a place that he was willing to follow. Worrying too much gave him indigestion, and he wanted to at least have a decent meal before going to bed and tossing about.

"I'll allow it," he said, his tone mockingly imperialistic. Then, his face got a little more serious.

"If he'd grabbed Ezra while he was Apparating, he would have been in our front room," he said. "I'm not saying it's impossible, but... let's just not worry anymore tonight, okay? I put up Charms... I'll need to reinforce them in the morning, but they'll hold until then. If I can keep Logan away from my family, I can bloody well keep him away from us."

He set his face with determination, looking serious until Noah swept him up in a kiss.

Josiah rested his forehead against Noah's; he closed his eyes.

"Well, I'm not some daft pretty boy, that's for sure," he teased softly. "You'll have to do more than pull an attitude to get rid of me, Noah Ledger, and that's a fact."