Chapter two

The strange boy cornered him on his way back to Ravenclaw tower from his last class "listen, I think you should come with me" he said, his voice deep and almost hypnotic. Carlos stared at him blankly, wasn't he angry at him? He had seemed very irate when he was yelling at him earlier this morning. He allowed Cecil to drag him outside, opening his mouth to say something against this several times but not quite having the courage. Something about the boy was magnetic, despite his oddness he found he wanted to go along with whatever he was planning.

The September evening was mild, and the sun had only just begun to set, casting a warm orange light over the grounds, which was lit further from the light from the many windows of the castle. The streams golden light were reflected across the black lake, rippling with its gentle motion. A few students were on the quidditch pitch getting in some light hearted practice, the very idea made Carlos gulp in fear, but Cecil was watching them thoughtfully his pale eyes analysing their flight.

The two boys reached the muddy edge of the lack and Carlos pulled back warily, Cecil looked at him pleadingly. "I know you two will get along if you just give him a chance" he begged in a melodic tone.

"How do I give it a chance? It's a giant squid" Carlos was confused.

"Here" Cecil shoved several pieces of burnt toast into his loosely held hands. Carlos stared at it, looking at Cecil bewildered, was he planning a picnic?

They were quiet for a moment as Cecil considered how best to explain his plan, the silence was broken by the crash of waves as a pale orange tentacle broke the surface of the great lake, showering them both with a spray of icy water despite Carlos' distance. Cecil looked delighted at this development.

"Oh look, he knew we were here. Maybe he's hungry" Cecil gestured for Carlos to hand over some of the toast, who looked at him in disbelief. Surely he had realised how little Carlos wanted to spend any time with a creature that could crush his ribs in the blink of an eye.

Noticing Carlos' reluctance to move, Cecil began to drag him towards the lake and they made slow tentative progress. Carlos began to relax a little as he realised an attack was not imminent. Cecil stroked the large tentacle tenderly. "You just want some toast, don't you boy" he said in a babyish voice. The squid responded by playfully tickling Cecil's armpit.

Carlos edged forward slowly, holding the toast as far away from any vital organs as possible, when he was within a few inches of Cecil the tentacle politely curled itself around the pile of toast and took it from Carlos surprisingly gently. A giant squid with manners, what next?

The squid sank under the water once more, content with its toast. Together they watched its monstrous shadow glide under the surface away from them. Cecil turned to him "see, that wasn't so …" he as cut off as the squid launched the toast in the air at the centre of the lake, jumping after it playfully. Catching its food in its beak it fell back into the water with a humongous splash, taking both of them by surprise. The resulting wave dragged Cecil under the water unawares. Carlos watched in horror as a few bubbles rose to the surface where he had seen him go under. After a few seconds Cecil surfaced, flailing, but looking oddly serene.

Carlos came to his senses and threw his robes into the mud as Cecil went under once more. He dove into the icy water, but did not feel it as his blood was already running cold in terror. He scrambled blindly for Cecil, eventually finding purchase around his wrist and dragging him towards to surface. They surfaced to find themselves a few metres from the shore, where the water was dangerously deep and a current was winding its way seductively around Carlos' ankles threatening to drag them both further away from safety.

He was beginning to realise how much peril they were actually in, when he felt a cold tentacle wrap around both of their middles, keeping them afloat and pushing them gently back towards the shore. The fell into the mud gratefully, both breathing heavily and looking at each other in shock.

Shivering, Carlos was the first to recover. Standing shakily he pulled Cecil up with him and wrapped his robe around the boy, whose usually icy white skin was beginning to take on a blue tinge. Cecil looked at him gratefully, solemnly telling Carlos he "I owe you my life, but you'll have to wait till I'm not using it first".

The walked in a comfortable silence to the entrance hall, stopping Carlos turned to Cecil "when you were in the lake, it well… it didn't seem like you were scared or even that bothered you might be drowning" Carlos hesitated, trying to be delicate.

"Oh that, I knew you'd save me" he replied with an honest smile, and they walked into the warmth of the castle gratefully.

Deciding to get dinner in their still sopping wet clothes, Professor Flitwick rushed over to check they were okay and cast a drying spell for their robes before they had even reached the Ravenclaw table. Carlos sat down heavily next to Tamika, who looked them both over before pouring them two large steaming hot chocolates.

They didn't speak any further on the great lake incident, but Carlos was studiously avoiding going anywhere near any large bodies of water from now on. He seemed to have won Cecil's unconditional friendship, the boy popped up wherever he went. He even managed to get into Ravenclaw tower occasionally. Driving their head of house crazy with the constant breaching of his wards and detecting spells.

Fearing Cecil might eventually be expelled over this if his breaking and entering continued to escalate, Carlos began to update Cecil awkwardly whenever the password to the portrait changed, as he seemed incapable of answering even the simplest riddle.

On Wednesday night, Cecil was perched on the sofa behind Tamika and Carlos, watching intently but not contributing to their conversation. He was eventually persuaded to sit properly on the sofa by Tamika, and he was drawn into an argument about the properties of gilly weed with them. If you could get past the nonsense he came out with, which was probably about ninety percent of what he said, he actually had some good arguments and seemed to have a good grasp of the basics of propositional and quantificational logic when he wasn't obtusely ignoring it and the physical laws of the universe.

Carlos had at first been concerned Cecil's attachment might have been something to do with a wizarding life debt, but after a late night of panicked research had been reassured that there could be no bond between them without a formal acknowledgement of the debt by both parties.

It was the second Thursday night of the school year, Cecil had received a lurid pink post egg at breakfast that morning and had spent the day in thought - notably away from Carlos' side. Who was surprised to find he actually missed his constant hovering presence which had become to comfort him, he had never liked being alone.

Carlos was eating a quiet dinner with Moses of an exotically spiced curry which was an unappetising shade of green. A hush fell over the great hall as Cecil stepped onto the table at the great hall, a reluctant looking Tamika standing at his side. Carlos' heart dropped.

"I, Cecil Palmer of Nightvale do hear by acknowledge the life debt I owe to Carlos Flores, so mote it be" he intoned in a loud and serious tone. Heavy magic filled the air, waiting for the ritual to be fulfilled, poised to punish anyone who dared interfere in the ancient protocol or for Carlos to reject the debt.

Carlos stared at his hands until the magic became unbearably oppressive, it was growing in power every second. He stood. "I, Carlos Flores, acknowledge said life debt, and demand payment in whichever form Cecil Palmer wishes to give, at any time of his choosing" he stated clearly.

Cecil let out a notable sigh of relief, the books weren't clear on what happened if you rejected the debt - it was like saying they were unworthy of life, that you didn't consider the act of saving them worthwhile in any way. You'd have to be particularly heartless to do such a thing, Carlos wasn't really sure why such a thing a life debt existed in the first place. It opened up so many possible ethical quandaries, could you deliberately place someone in danger and then save them in order to accrue debts from them? If you saved someone in the knowledge they might choose to acknowledge a life debt, did that not devalue the act?

Cecil opened his mouth to speak, Carlos stared in shock, was he going to decide on a way to pay him back now, without discussing it with him first?

"I chose to pay my debt with my friendship to Carlos until the end of time. So mote it be" He swore with a hint of a smile tugging at his lips, slightly ruining the gravity of the moment. Carlos stared at him in horror, he was making their friendship the security of the life debt? He was being nice to him as a way to repay him, out of duty?

Carlos fled.

Carlos was trying his best to avoid Cecil, Tamika was a reluctant buffer. He knew rationally that he should speak to Cecil about this, and explain why he was hurt. But the larger part of him was angry and wanted to curl up in ball and ignore the problem forever. After a few days of giving into this impulse he knew it couldn't continue. With each day Cecil's enthusiasm was waning, and Carlos' anger merely grew.

After yet another lecture from the other Ravenclaws, he resolved that the next time Cecil appeared uninvited, they would sit down and actually talk about what he had done to their friendship. Like the adults they would be in six years time.

He was sitting by the great lake at break time, hoping and also dreading Cecil's inevitable appearance. There had been no sign of the giant squid, perhaps it was on the lake bed feeling remorseful, Carlos smiled at the image.

"Arggghhhh" he yelled as an icy cold hand rested on his shoulder, his scream trailing off as he realised it was just Cecil. While his heart still racing, they both sat down on the picnic blanket. And Cecil produced a steaming pie from his pocket, the irresistible smell of apples, cinnamon and vanilla began to swirl around them. He top was decorated with a little pastry motif that looked a bit like two stick figured holding hands.

"I'm not sure what I did. But I brought you an Apple Pie of Reconciliation" he said reverently handing him the dish "I would have done it sooner but I had to write home for the recipe and the runic scheme that goes in the bottom of the pan" it seemed as though muggles and wizards alike in Nightvale used runes.

Carlos took the pie, its warmth spread comfortingly through his palms. "You turned our friendship into a cost benefit analysis, now it's just a transaction of debts, I thought it meant more than that" Carlos sighed wearily, willing the tears that were threatening to spill over back.

"No" whispered Cecil in dismay, "That's not what I meant at all! I just, I just thought you didn't like me. And this way you'd have to" his wide blue eyes also began to brim with tears, as he looked at Carlos pitifully.

Carlos stared at him, confused at how he could seem so confident when feeding a giant squid, yet be so insecure. He couldn't hold a grudge against anyone with eyes like those. He put down the pie gently and pulled the distressed Cecil into a careful hug.

Cecil squealed in delight and hugged him back tighter. They each had a slice of the pie and began to discuss possible names for the squid - they disagreed over its gender and eventually decided they'd have to ask it, but it might take a while to find a suitable translation spell.

They walked back to the castle for midday classes arm in arm, the life debt completely forgotten about.

A/N: Sorry, for not updating. I literally have no excuse as I have enough for at least ten chapters without having to write anymore. It's almost my holidays, so updates should be a little more frequent!