Male Bonding

[Professor James Cade]

James was at a loss. Halloween was over and yet he was still dating Lyra Potter despite his promise to Maddie. What happened at Halloween had changed things, Maddie going with Link Potter had changed things. Having to watch his dormmate manhandle her the way he had had made him feel physically sick and made his blood boil. It had almost made him do something stupid, something he no doubt would have regretted the following morning. The event of divine intervention may have been extremely embarrassing but it had probably saved him from crossing a line which would have destroyed any chance of him having a future with Maddie, and he wanted that more than anything.

Going through with what he promised Maddie was what he wanted to do, he didn't love Lyra and after being with her as long as he had been, he should be. With his head in a mess, James found himself wondering to the trophy room. He had hoped wherever he was he would be alone, but of course, he wasn't. "Aion," James grumbled. The pair were on better terms since the forbidden forest, but James was still uneasy about Maddie's ex-boyfriend. Simply because he was that.

 

[Aion Zephyr]

Having managed to avoid most of the Halloween commotion, Aion had set himself up in the one room that he believed not many people would bother with. He sat on the window sill, back up against the stone frame, with the view of grounds to his left. With his textbook propped open on his bent knees, he was sketching out some animal theories on a spare piece of parchment. The thought of being able to make it as a Magizoologist after Graduation seemed to be the only thing that was keeping the seventh year going, and every ounce of time and effort he had was poured into making his goal a reality.

As he worked, his mind was usual clear of anything except his current project, but he was rudely jolted out of his zone. His eyes flashed up, spotting a familiar face. He'd have much rather have been force fed boiled trout, but for Maddie's sake he would at least be civil. "James," he responded, with a similar amount of enthusiasm in his voice. He didn't stop his work, and proceeded to shade in the wing of his Griffin, although perhaps a little more heavy than he would have liked. It wasn't that he had a problem with James. He'd never interfered when Aion and Maddie were together, but since their break up the sixth year seemed to delight in making Aion feel as terrible as possible about his decision. He couldn't blame him too strongly, they were friends after all but a little empathy would have gone a long way. "I licked it so it's mine" he said, his eyes not leaving the page.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James said nothing when Aion said his name in response to his own greeting. Instead, he watched the older boy as he continued to work on something, drawing perhaps which was something James never had any time for or a desire to peruse. If he held any interest in the Ravenclaw perhaps he would have asked what he was working on but the words remained unspoken as he paced around the trophy room with his hands in his pockets. After a few moments of silence, Aion said something rather odd, something rather random and something that made his blood boil. "What did you just say?" He asked. It wasn't his words he wanted clarification on it was his meaning. "Licked what exactly?"

 

[Aion Zephyr]

Aion immediately sniggered at the Gryfindors reaction, only now looking up to meet his face. It was easy, almost too easy, to aggravate him sometimes. Not that he did it on purpose, but he was finding more that he had hadn't much left to lose, and it allowed him to speak his mind without too much thought. James was clearly stressed out that the Ravenclaw had touched something with his tongue, and the smile that formed on his face was doing nothing to help the situation. "Calm down" he responded eventually, nodding his head to the candy that lay beside him on the window sill. "Perhaps you forgot about Halloween with all the drama floating around" he added, watching to see what James would do next. Aion had been way too busy to attend the Halloween feast himself, but a number of first years had managed to collect a few spares, dumping them in the common room for their fellow blues. "Have you lost something?" Aion asked, half returning to his work as he finished sketching the thigh of his bird.

 

[Professor James Cade]

At the mention of Halloween James could feel himself calming down. Which was odd as it had been an eventful night and not in a good way. James eyed the bowl of candy at the side of Aion and shrugged his shoulders, "What do I care if you licked it," James shrugged his shoulders. He had briefly considered saying something about his tongue being where his tongue had been before but he couldn't disrespect Maddie like that. She didn't deserve to be dragged into a conversation that way. Instead James made his way over to where Aion was sat and took a seat on the other side of the candy bowl and sunk his hand in to grab some random chewable and popped it in his mouth. "I stopped worrying about cooties when I was six,"

 

[Aion Zephyr]

Aion disregarded his comment. He'd obviously cared enough to question him about it. Although before he realised what he'd done, James had stolen his candy and proceeded to waste no time in devouring it. Watching as James took a seat at the table below the window, he wondered if he really didn't have anywhere better to be than hanging out with a bunch of old trophies with, he assumed, a student he didn't particularly enjoy the company of. Then again maybe the Ravenclaw wasn't the only person trying to keep away from the goings on around the school, and both boys were in a similar mind set. He didn't really want to bring up any of the 6th years, and he was sure there'd be plenty more drama over the year to come. "Anything in here with your name on it?" Aion asked out of curiosity. He'd never bothered to check who'd won any trophies, especially since he'd only been here for a couple of years himself. He closed his book, resting it on the table beside the bowl so that he could fully turn his attention to James, taking another boiled sweet for himself in the process.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James sat silently as he chewed his candy and cast his gaze around the trophy room. It was a peaceful place so he could see why Aion had chosen to set up shop and work on his...whatever it was he was doing. For James, however, the room would always hold memories of a different kind. After a few minutes, Aion asked him if anything in the room had his name on it. He laughed, "A few I think, I won a couple of Halloween costume contests back in my early years and there is a highest house points earner from a couple of years ago, still not sure how I managed that," James laughed. He had never been a model student yet somehow he outscored everyone in Gryffindor on house points and got picked as a prefect. "Possibly something for Quidditch too but I'm not sure," James shrugged his shoulders. A few years ago James would have smugly held the trophies under the nose of anyone who had asked about them but now it didn't seem like something he needed to do. James reached into the bowl and took out a boiled sweet and in a moment of insanity proceeded to lick it while keeping eye contact with Aion then popping it in his mouth.

 

[Aion Zephyr]

Aion listened as James explained about his earlier years in the school, hiding his jealously that he'd been here for the full seven years. He gave a disgusted sound when James mentioned Quidditch though; he'd forgotten that he was on the team. It was one of the most boring sports in the world, and the only reason the man tolerated it was because of the memories he shared with his dad at the games as a kid. He would've made a joke about James being the highest earner in Gryffindor. He was surprised that he'd ever beat Maddie, but then he had no idea what he was really like in classes. Aion narrowed his eyes as James began to tease him with the candy, not quite sure what he was trying to do. "Will you be continuing to play with balls once you've graduated?" he asked in his American accent, enjoying not caring about their conversation. They were passing the time, and had had enough drama over the last few months that it was enjoyable to just let go.