Luna was never wrong, Mirus had learned that quickly. Perhaps that was why he welcomed his meeting with Blaise so openly. If his young friend had not given him this clue on the train, he would surely have been much more suspicious but he had complete confidence in her and kept an open mind.
The two young men sat down on the towel that the blond had installed and spent the day talking about things as diverse as the subjects taught at Hogwarts and Durmstrang, Quidditch teams and even international politics.
Between serious discussions and fits of laughter, Mirus found himself more and more charmed by his interlocutor. Even though he respected them entirely, he had never felt anything but lust for his previous partners. Sometimes he had a little friendship with them but never this warm feeling that seemed to take place in his chest. The only problem was that he was on the island with Harry Potter's godfather and a Death Eater who had been declared dead years ago. This could be a problem if the brunette showed curiosity about his stay on Quechol.
At the end of the day, the two boys separated, meeting up at the island village the next afternoon.
.oOÔOo.
- I'm back!
A rustling of hastily put on clothes was heard from the living room and Mirus was glad he had not chosen to return discreetly.
A few minutes later, a messy-haired Sirius appeared in the hall.
-Mirus! My beloved godson! How was that day at the beach?
- Perfectly well. I spent the day chatting with a … charming boy.
- Oh? Chatting chatting or chatting "chatting"? asked the oldest, making the quotation gesture on the last word.
- Always so subtle, dear godfather. We've only been talking, if you want to know. He seems very intelligent to me, he is cultured and the conversation was interesting. And he has these eyes... I have a meeting with him tomorrow afternoon. He wanted us to meet in the morning but since you have to start teaching me how to become an animagus, I preferred to postpone.
Sirius looked at the young man seriously.
- Mirus, it seems like you have a crush.
The boy just shrugged, quickly putting his embarrassment away in a mental box.
-Hey, that's not a bad thing. You know they say that wizards find their match at first sight? This is not always true but it seems that Magic makes it easier to meet the best possible partner when It can. Listening to you, I would say that was the case.
-Like soul mates?
- Pffff, no, that only exists in Muggle stories. It's more a matter of compatibility. Meeting the best possible partner does not guarantee anything at all. The relationship may be limited to friendship or even never develop at all.
- Did you experience it?
- Yes, but it didn't lead to anything romantic. It was Remus and we never had romantic feelings towards each other, just a great complicity. But I have the impression that it's not going to stop at friendship with you. You're a good actor but your look when you talked about him was obvious.
- We will see. Okay, have you made dinner or do I still need to get on with it?
Sirius looked sheepish. They had spent the day in bed...and in the bathtub...and on the couch...but they hadn't set foot in the kitchen.
Rolling his eyes, Mirus left his godfather to go prepare a quick salad. Barty joins him a few minutes later, freshly showered, to help him.
The three men talked for part of the night before separating to go to bed.
The next day, Sirius and Mirus were sitting cross-legged on the living room carpet.
- Well, you need to start by finding your animal form. For this, the only way is with meditation. You must enter your mental landscape and then settle in and wait for your form to manifest. You don't have to react right away, let it come closer. Sometimes the form can be very fearful, other times it can be more friendly, you will only know it when you meet it. Once your animal is confident, observe it from every angle. You must have the most accurate mental image possible during your first transformation for it to be successful. A difference as slight as a misplaced stain and you simply won't transform, at best, or you risk partial transformation, at worst. This is what makes the process so long and dangerous; in the end, you will probably have to spend months observing your animal before having a perfect image of him.
Mirus nodded and closed his eyes. Entering his mindscape had never been a problem for him, at least not since he was seven.
It was during this period when he woke up one day in his landscape, a large green valley in which total chaos reigned. His thoughts, his emotions, his memories… everything was scattered in every direction. Used to clean everything at the Dursleys, he imagined boxes, hundreds of boxes, and spent an incalculable amount of time sorting and putting everything away. When he was finished, his valley was clean, each box neatly arranged on the shelves he had imagined. Vines grew quickly, holding each shelf securely in place. He quickly realized that his thoughts were clearer, that his mind felt clean. He experimented for a while with the boxes in which he had stored his emotions and quickly learned to use them.
He woke up in a white room with a machine that was beeping steadily. A young woman leaned over him. It was a nurse who told him that he had been found, beaten, in an alley in London and that he had been in a coma for three days. Once he gave his name, he knew he would have to return to the Dursleys. But his new mentality would allow him to survive more effectively. No more anger resulting from frustration, he would just have to put it back in his box each time. No more tears that enraged his uncle even more. Gone was the envy that showed in his eyes when Dudley received the affection he was forever deprived of and which triggered his aunt's irritation.
This is how Mirus found himself in just a few seconds in his valley, still flowering. He chose an open spot, a bit afar from his shelves, and made himself comfortable on the grass.
Then he waited, eyes closed, enjoying the light breeze that caressed him.
He felt like he had been waiting for several hours when he felt movement behind him. His creature had approached slowly and he felt its breath on his head. Obviously, it was tall and sniffed him curiously. Mirus opened his eyes slowly and his gaze met two large yellow eyes reflecting a calm character. The beast was easily the size of an elephant and its head stood less than ten centimeters from his.
When it leaned back slightly, he could see that it was a huge feline. It had a multi-colored mane and an extremely long, flowing bushy tail. Its enormous fangs could have been reminiscent of a predator, but Mirus knew instinctively that his animal was purely vegetarian and that its teeth had a defensive nature.
The feline tilted its head in curiosity and the young man finally decided to get up. He reached out his hand until he touched the head of the animal which had lowered itself to his level. The purr that sounded surprised him slightly and a smile graced his face. His animal was like him, he felt, independent, powerful and capable of great destruction but ultimately not aggressive if he was not threatened.
He walked around the creature, fixing his gaze over each detail which he stored in a new box. Every tuft of hair, the size of its claws, the length and color of his tail, he went over everything. He even took a look under the tail to get an idea of the beast's most intimate parts, Sirius had said you had to know its anatomy in detail, after all.
When he felt he had inventoried all its characteristics, he gave it one last caress before leaving his landscape.
He opened his eyes and saw Sirius and Barty sitting on the couch.
- Finally! It took you a long time, you've been meditating for four hours! SO?! What is your animal form? Oh, tell me it's not a reptile, I want to be able to cuddle you!
Mirus laughed softly and shook his head, Sirius will always be an eternal brat and he adored him for that.
- I don't know the name of the animal I saw, but it's big. I suggest we go outside to test my memory.
- Uh, Mirus, Barty intervened, you've only seen your animal form once, even if it was for several hours, it's far from enough to try a transformation.
- Trust me, Barty. I have a very good photographic memory.
The three men went out to the back of the house, the only place free of any trees. Mirus walked away from the two older ones and closed his eyes, focusing on the box in which he had stored the information on his animal form. He felt his body change, hair growing, his limbs lengthening, his teeth growing...
Sirius fell on his butt in shock as his godson transformed before his eyes. Okay, Mirus was special, exceptional even, he knew that, but successfully transforming after only one encounter with his form?
Barty had managed to stay standing but he seemed to be in shock. His Master had told him about the young man's particularity and his mental faculties but, even with this information, the Death Eater did not expect him to succeed so quickly in visualizing his animal.
- Mi... Mirus? Are you in your right mind?
The big cat nodded, his eyes sparkling with joy. He approached the man on the ground purring and Sirius couldn't resist the request for petting.
- Barty, do you know what he is? I've never heard of a feline like this.
- Eh? What?
- Barty… Do you know what he is, yes or no?
- Sorry, I was a little in shock. Yes, I know what it is and normally it should be impossible. I was always told that an animagus form couldn't be a magical creature. We must believe that this is false since we have before us a Zouwu. This is a breed that normally lives in China. It is very powerful and fast, it can travel more than fifteen hundred kilometers in a day.
- Wow… And what does a Zouwu eat? Given the fangs, I'd say it's a predator?
-And you would be wrong. The fangs are used for defense. The Zouwus are vegetarians.
Barty looked at the big cat lying down, his head resting on Sirius' lap who was running his hands through the mane.
- I believe that Mirus has a very affectionate character in this form.
As if to illustrate these words, the Zouwu wrapped its tail around Barty and brought him to them.
- Yes, big cat, you like cuddles from Uncle Sirius and Uncle Barty!
The animal's purrs sounded like an engine and they spent a good hour like this before Mirus remembered his meeting with Blaise. He slowly broke away from the two men before returning to human form.
- Well, it's intense... Sorry for this forced hug, I reckon that my animal form wants to compensate for what I missed during my childhood.
- No problem, kitten. I'll always be here if you need a good hug.
- Ahem, thanks Sirius. Well, I have to meet Blaise in fifteen minutes, I should hurry, I think.
- Mirus, you are a Zouwu, you can be there in seconds, don't worry. Change quickly and leave. And, above all, have a good afternoon.
- Thanks Barty. Um, on the other hand, what do I do if he wants to know who I'm on vacation with? I don't know how to explain the both of you being with me.
- Hmm… Did you say Blaise? Zabini? How the hell…, Barty added after a nod from the youngest. Never mind. The Zabini have always been neutral, that's already a good thing. It's up to you if you feel like you can trust him or not. But if you have to reveal anything to him, make him take a Vow not to reveal anything to anyone for greater security. The Dark Lord would be somewhat angry if your previous identity was revealed, even accidentally.
- True. Well, you two have fun. I'll try not to come home too late but feel free to have dinner without me.
.oOÔOo.
The journey actually only took a few seconds. He landed discreetly behind a municipal building and returned to his human form before heading towards the market square where they had agreed to meet.
-Mirus!
Blaise arrived quickly, dodging the locals who were shopping. The vision of the boy hurrying towards him with a big smile triggered a soft warmth in the blond's chest. Sirius was right, there was a good chance that their compatibility wouldn't stop at friendship. It was, in any case, what Mirus hoped for.
- Blaise, hello! How are you?
- Now that I have you in front of me, perfectly fine.
The heat intensified in the face of the brunette's charming smile. Yet he kept all signs of his interest hidden. He wasn't a horny little girl, after all, and that wasn't the image he wanted to portray. He turned back to the booth he was looking at before Blaise arrived, missing the withering of the smile.
- Um… So, what were you doing while waiting for me, handsome?
- Oh, I was looking at the stands. I'm thinking of bringing back some souvenirs for Lucius and his family. And for Viktor and Luna too.
-Luna Lovegood? Do you know she was very close to Potter before the Tournament started?
- Mmhmm. She told me, yes. We hung out a bit all year but Harry's death really touched her and she talked to me a lot about him.
Still looking at the trinkets on the stand, Mirus didn't notice Blaise's frown.
- I think I'll get this necklace for her. A moon made of volcanic rock would suit her very well.
- Hmm. Yes, I suppose. I'm going to take this opportunity to look for a souvenir for Theo. He was supposed to come with me but his father refused to let him leave England this summer. He usually comes with me every summer, I miss him a little. I can't wait to see him again at the start of the school year. He wouldn't tell me why he had to stay there.
Heat transformed in Mirus' chest. It was no longer a gentle radiance but a furnace that he quickly cataloged as jealousy. He closed his eyes while putting this emotion away in the box in which there were already dozens of memories containing it. He put a smile on his face.
- Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine and his father had a good reason to keep him with him this summer. I don't know Theo… Nott, right? He's the only Theo I remember from Slytherin.
- Yes, Theodore Nott Jr. He is in the same year as Draco and me. He always has his head buried in a book, it's even surprising that he didn't end up in Ravenclaw.
- Have you been close for a long time?
-Since our first year at Hogwarts. Most of the Slytherins in our year crowded around Draco but Theo and I, as well as Millicent, stayed quite far away from him. With all due respect to your family, he was a bit of a spoiled brat at the time. He's improved a little since then but we haven't gotten any closer to him.
- Oh, I can imagine he was spoiled when I see his relationship with Lucius and Narcissa. A true little prince! That's also why I'm here, Manor life is too restrictive for me.
The two young men wandered around the market for two hours, buying a few trinkets for their loved ones. Both realized that a barrier seemed to have been erected between them.
- Well, it was nice, Blaise, but I think it's time for me to go home.
- Already? I thought we would have dinner together before I invited you for a drink in the house my mother rents near the village. She's not coming back until tomorrow, her new husband needed her for a social event.
- No offense, Blaise, I'm not interested in a one-night stand. And, a drink, seriously? Aren't you supposed to be fifteen?
- I am sixteen, actually. I started Hogwarts when I was twelve because I was in Italy before that. And one drink doesn't automatically mean drinking until you're drunk, thank you very much.
- It's still no, sorry. You have a lot of options if you want someone in your bed to make you forget the absence of your partner, I have too much self-respect for that.
The surprise painted on Blaise's face seemed honest when he began to sputter.
- By… Partner? What do you mean exactly?
- Well, Theo. I know you miss him but...
- What? No! No, no, no! Theo is a very good friend but that's it! Plus, he's one hundred percent straight. Although it is more likely that he is asexual. He is more with his books than anything else.
- Oh? Sorry for the misunderstanding then.
The sweet warmth took its place again in Mirus' chest, who found himself ridiculous for having felt so jealous earlier. He had felt this particular emotion throughout his childhood when he saw his cousin receive everything of which he was deprived, whether affectionate gestures or material goods. It came to him far too easily even if he systematically put it away as soon as it appeared.
- What about Luna? How close are you to her? I know you're not gay, Rosalie isn't as discreet as she thinks she is, but the rumors about a French student make me think you're bi.
- Luna is a friend, nothing more. And let's say that the gender of the person doesn't matter to me. I prefer to be interested in a person's personality rather than what they have between their legs. Rosalie and Jean are people I respect, even though I had a good time with them.
- I can understand it, it's a bit of my philosophy too. So, for that dinner and that drink?
- I say yes for dinner. As for the drink, I reiterate that I am not interested in a one-night stand. I've done enough experiments, I'm looking for something more stable now.
Blaise looked at Mirus intently.
- Let's go to dinner. As for the rest, we'll see how things develop, what do you think?
The radiant smile of his interlocutor showed Blaise that he validated the proposal.