Reflection

[Maya Fergusson]

Maya had never considered leaving school. Dropping out had never been on her radar, she'd always seen herself as the type of person who would finish school and end up in some job that she hated somewhere doing what she was told for a living. Graeme dropping out had in fact made her more determined to stay, so she had thought. No one in her family had been a dropout as far as she knew, she was the first. The thought of returning to the school had sent her into an almost panic and so she had conveniently forgotten to actually go to school and had instead jumped back onto the plane and headed to the only place she knew she could go where her father wouldn't find out that she was no longer in school. She wanted to keep that from him for as long as she could, because she knew he would not be happy. She wasn't even completely sure she was happy about the situation herself, given she had no money and no job. Her Aunt and Uncle in England were her only salvation at this time and even they would only support her for so long before she had to move on. They were muggles after all and wouldn't really understand her inability to just continue her education at a university or other college. She had no transcripts of course, at least none that she could show a muggle, but her relatives wouldn't understand that, they didn't know she was magical. She didn't blame them for trying to give her options of course, but she did rather wish they wouldn't given the nature of her predicament. Still, not telling her father was probably the only thing they were holding over her at this point and so she was greatful for that, she knew they wouldn't actually do it, they were too kind to throw her under the bus like that. Besides, they would have to deal with her dad too, they're hiding her after all.

Maya wasn't even sure that Graeme knew she'd dropped out. Not many did. The only people who knew by now was probably the school and she didn't expect her dad to open any letters from Hogwarts is they sent him some, he always expected that they were for her, especially if they had an official seal, he would stick it in an envelope and probably send it to her. The owl would know she was in England and not in the school and so she tended to use owl mail with him as opposed to muggle mail, she didn't have to spend money she didn't have on stamps. As it was she was taking on odd jobs around he neighbourhood to supplement her. She could only make it so far on baby sitting money alone after all. She didn't want to contact Graeme yet though, she had some things she had to do before she contacted him. It was weird though, being so close to him and yet she wasn't. She knew he'd be looking into Quidditch, but she had no idea if he had actually made the time to get onto a team. According to her he was the best player in the world, but that wasn't neccessarily true for everyone. There were a lot of good players in the world she knew, but she would always be Graeme's number one fan no matter what. She needed to be able to support him though and to to do that she needed a job, something she did not yet have. She needed to get her life together, travel, explore herself and who she wanted to be. She'd never allowed herself the time to find more information on her birth mother, the only mother she'd ever known had been Carol, she'd never needed anyone else and never really thought it would matter to her. Apparently it did.

Maya headed out of the house, her aunt having left earlier in the day to volunteer at the local shelter. She was a real bleeding heart that one and Maya was constantly concerned her aunt would bring home strays. She had a real urge to help those in need, regardless of what that need might be. Drunks and homeless people were her specialty and though Maya had yet to share the house with unknowns, she constantly lived in the anxious state of "what if". Her Uncle, bless him, was almost as bad. He was a bleeding heart with regards to animals and so considering they had a large property, there was always some animal or other moving about in the yard. The last animal he'd brought home with him was a donkey. Maya didn't even know they had donkeys in England, but they apparently did. They lived so close to the border of Scotland that Maya sometimes wondered if these animals were Scottish and if so, it may be a little difficult to locate their owners. It was this inherent kindness in the hearts of her Aunt and Uncle that kept them from informing her father of what had happened. They didn't want her to leave, but they didn't want her to lie to her dad either. Her dad and her Aunt were siblings after all and so it was probably hard for her. She'd always seen Maya as a daughter though, so Maya kind of exploited that feeling a little bit.

Hours after leaving the house, Maya headed back with a little bit of dirt in her hair and her legs a little worse for wear. Gardening was not an easy job and spending hours on her knees in elderly Mrs Wilson's garden was not fun, but she'd got more than enough money for it. Too much as far as she was concerned, but Mrs Wilson had insisted. She couldn't do her own gardening anymore and so Maya tended to help out since her son had moved out. When she walked into the house, she didn't even register that there was an extra person in the room. She kissed her aunt on the cheek and went to sit on the counter. "So, how was the shelter today, did you figure out who stole all the... There's one more person here than there should be." She said, suddenly noticing the third body, which seemed oddly familiar to her though she couldn't see the face. She looked up accusatorily at her Aunt and was about to ask what was going on when the body suddenly turned around and Graeme looked right at her. "Graeme?!"
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Despite the cold winter air, the warm alcohol churning through the quidditch player's body made it feel like almost like a light summer breeze, he couldn't feel the bitterness, notice really how he shivered with each gust of it, after all, compared with what he was really used to, this really was almost spring weather. Graeme did not venture out of Scotland unless he had, and usually it was just for quidditch games, it boiled down to that, or to visit the young Hufflepuff from Hogwarts whom he'd encouraged to join the team, but aside from that the man scarcely even left the little island off the main land. Why on earth would he, his entire life remained on the island, his own career, his mother, his house, his friends, the bars he liked and that god awful weather that he loved. Playing international games were a pretty odd experience for him, he was used to playing in the wind and rain, playing when it was sunny and warm was an odd occurrence, but the game in this area of England at the border had not been like that, and as was usual with the other young teammates they had found some local muggle place, and just drank. Graeme had been with the team just about a year now, and he was essentially living his dream of playing chaser professionally, every day he trained and the joy he felt at it, the harsh wind and rain beating his cheeks, the camaraderie with his teammates, a dedicated team of mostly scottish and Skye born players. The team mentality was very different at Hogwarts, there was so much more riding upon this, but he had never felt closer to a group players as he did. There had been the unfortunate realisation that his ever so distant father had played for the team in his youth, and Graeme had caught a glimpse of the life his father had left his mother for. Graeme shut down any questions about it, he didn't care about who they were or what they did, and thankfully he was able to just be amicable enough that no one bothered him by it, and that was how Graeme preferred it. The chaser had somehow become separated from the rest of the team, but given just how much he'd had to drink the fact he was still functioning was a pretty good thing.

Eventually the man had decided to try to find his way back to where he knew the team were staying, if nothing else he'd be able to sleep a little and then sober up and find them, the one problem was that his brain obviously just couldn't function as clearly as he wanted to, and to avoid accidentally exposing the magical world Graeme didn't have wand, which in hindsight felt like a mistake, but at this level he was sure he might also struggle to cast lumos. Instead the man had wandered for several hours, being sick a couple of times, but eventually stumbled upon an animal shelter, and there inside he had enjoyed the warmth of the indoors and a lovely cup of tea made by a woman who he assumed worked for the place. Graeme by this point was still pretty drunk, thinking a little clearer than before, and he wasn't really that far from beginning to feel the impending hangover, but he didn't even think about that as he focused on what this woman was saying about the animals that they had, and he began in great drunken detail explaining the beautiful of his place, his mother's place, the rolling hills, the sheep, the flowers in the spring and summer, the red sunset in the summer, the waterfalls, rambling in his drunken state on a chair that allowed him to swivel about happily. If this person realised how drunk Graeme was they at no point seemed to indicate as such, not that it would've made much of a difference, the game had been played and he had no where to be, they had intended to travel back up together as a team the next day, so he had the day to find his way back to his teammates eventually. So, when the offer for food had been made, the scot had graciously accepted, he was not one to turn down food, he often found himself in places that were not his own, and usually he did just help himself to food, if this woman was willing to make something for him, then who was he to complain, the only thing he could do was graciously accept, though graciously was not something that Graeme could do, when he'd had this much to drink.

With that, he had been lead by the woman back to this adorable house, and he'd been mid story as he entered the house, grinning so easily as he did so, this wasn't the first time he'd gone back to someone's house in a rather drunken state, he remained loyal to Maya, he'd never done anything with anyone, he was just the sort of person who spoke to people and ended up having drunken conversations and food. Ever since leaving school, Graeme had easily gone back to how he'd been before the school, the school, in the final few years had returned to Graeme his confidence, his friendly tone and his welcoming manner, all of which had in his missing of his home, and nervousness about a new country had faded. He was better off now than he'd ever been, there was no longer any weight on his shoulders caused by school, of having to worry about his grandparents, of being just so homesick. Graeme could now easily talk to people for hours about everything and anything, the only thing he missed about it was Maya, but she was soon to graduate, so perhaps he should send her a letter of some sort. Graeme felt himself being polite pushed into a seat in the woman's kitchen, and soon had another hot tea placed in front of him which he gladly accepted with a drunken smile, and then just continued with what he'd been saying, a brief drunken laugh escaping his lips, "So, ah telt the guy, he's gonnae," he stopped when a person entered the room, interrupting him and addressing the people in the room, before noticing him, and he looked up at the person, a drunken glaze in his eyes, and definitely drunken smile, before he recognised who it was, which became even more apparent as she spoke his name, "MAYA, ayyyyyy," he made a jubilant sound, not even thinking about how slim the chances of something like this happening, "Wait, f##k, did I get tae New Zealand or some shite?" he said, slurring a little drunkenly, thinking for a moment that he'd somehow managed to get to New Zealand, "Or, am are dreaming, if ah am, then man is this a good dream," he said, his eyes easily running Maya up and down, she was older than he remembered, but then so was he, perhaps a little taller, far more built, thicker hair, a wind swept look, the tattoo on his wrist, and the untidy beard and general disheveled-ness that came from being drunk, a far cry from the hufflepuff quidditch captain.
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[Maya Fergusson]

In what world would Maya have ever expected to walk into her muggle Aunt's home and see someone who was a) not a muggle and b) her boyfriend. It was ridiculous, completely ridiculous that this would happen. The world was huge and of all the Scottish, English, Welsh and any other possible combination there of men who could have potentially been "rescued" by her aunt, it was the one person she had sort of been avoiding. Maya blinked, her mind was blank for a moment as she tried to process the scene that was happening in front of her. She'd not expected to see Graeme this early on after her drop out. She expected that he would be at Quidditch all the time, training perhaps. She especially did not expect to see him drunk or in her presence let alone in their kitchen. It was so unexpected, she didn't know what to say other then to gape at him open mouthed, the shock and unexpectedness of the encounter evident on her face. She looked up at her aunt as Graeme continued to talk and the look on her aunts face told her she did not know who she had brought home with her. Maya looked back at Graeme and smiled, remaining where she was n the counter and waving slightly. "You're not in New Zealand, this is England." He was not exactly in fit shape to have a discussion like this, after all, he didn't even know what country he was in, which was maybe a little bit vexing for Maya. She cleared her throat slightly and looked at her Aunt. "Auntie, this is Graeme, um, my boyfriend, kind of." SHe didn't really know what to say, she'd not seen Graeme really since he'd dropped out two years earlier and so this made things just a little bit difficult.

Maya laughed slightly as Graeme continued, seemingly unaware of what was happening right now. This was a whole new thing she would have to try to explain to her Aunt and Uncle, given they thought she was at a boarding school. "I'm also pretty sure this is not a dream and that you need a shower from looking at you." She hopped off of the counter and walked around to stand near her Aunt who was frowning at the scene playing out in front of her. She was clearly trying to figure this all out and Maya was going to have to spin her a story at some point, but not right now. Graeme was incredibly more disheveled than she'd ever seen him even having been in the same common room on a number of occasions. This was a whole new level of unshaven than she was used to and it was, maybe, just a little bit sexy. She was trying hard to ignore it though given his current state and also trying to placate the increasing confusion of the others in the room. "Graeme and I attended school together, Auntie, we'e sort of been dating for... Well, a while." She wasn't sure how much to tell them. She didn't think she was revealing anything in this way, but she also hoped that Graeme wasn't too far gone to realise that he needed to keep quiet about magic. She walked back over to Graeme and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I haven't seen you in a while, small world, huh?" This was turning out to be a very strange day. She was dirty and her hair was a mess and Graeme was drunk. Things were certainly not going the way she'd expected when she'd woken up that morning, that was for certain.
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Being drunk in this situation probably wasn't the best thing, but it wasn't like Graeme could've predicted this, or forseen this, he wasn't a seer and he didn't know any. But he knew in the hours in which he became sober and when he hopefully remembered this that hindsight would be 20:20, he knew that it would've been better if he wasn't so drunk, if he hadn't quite had as much as he had to drink to then deal with this peculiar situation, but then again, if he hadn't this might not have even been remotely able to happen. Graeme was very pleased when Maya confirmed that he hadn't accidentally apparated or somehow gotten drunkenly on a plane to New Zealand, that he was still in England, relatively close to the border and had played a game not two days ago. Happily to the man smiled at her, his gaze following Maya as she introduced him to her aunt, and this then in Graeme's mind explain who this person was to Maya and how fortunate he had been in stumbling upon this person in this town who had this connection to his girl friend. Graeme raised the cup of tea to his lips and sipped gleefully, his mind not quite aware of all that was really happening or the weirdness this might cause to the family, he remembered her talking about the fact she was the first of her family to show signs of magic, and therefore could only hope that his drunken mind would not blurt out anything that made it obvious they were both magic, not that he was sure what it would take to admit such a thing or for them to realise but hoping that his drunk mind would not, however this entire conversation had seemed to impede upon the food that the man had been promised.

As Maya looked at him and addressed him, he grinned easily, "That ah probably do," he replied with the continued grin on his face, so pleased to see her and completely unobservant to the sitiution around him with these people. The former hufflepuff just let his gaze linger upon her, as she addressed her aunt and he frowned thinking of that school they'd attended together. Graeme had dropped out, left a year earlier meaning this was his third second year outside of school, but Maya should've still been in school, "Shouldnae ye still be at the school?" he asked off handedly as he thought to himself, perhaps his maths was wrong, or he couldn't remember what year it was, he knew he was damn drunk, so perhaps it was his mind playing tricks on him, but she was really there, her arms were around his neck and he was staring into the face of the girl he loved, or had loved, it was more difficult to say now. Though he was very pleased to see her and wanting nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and just hold her close but, this didn't really seem like something he would be able to do, his mind didn't, instead he just grinned drunkenly at her, letting his joy at seeing her be the only thing that filtered through his drunk mind and be expressed upon his features. He looked between her and her aunt with the same pleased looking expression on his face, "Ah cannae believe this," he chuckled unable to stop himself from saying that, "ah'm gonnae end up forgetting this tae I bet, shouldnae have drank all the bar," Graeme said in a good natured way, his drunken mind being able to process those words say what he was really thinking on the matter.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya couldn't believe how this day was ending up. She'd started out kind of lost and confused and now she was more confused than anything else all because she hadn't expected to see Graeme. With his speech slurred by the alcohol, his usually understandable accent was becoming increasingly hard for Maya to decipher. She blinked at him slightly as he asked her a question and had to think about it for a second before she realised that he was asking her why she wasn't in school. She laughed slightly, a little nervous and looked at her aunt and uncle. She'd not expected to be telling him at this point, mostly she wasn't sure what he would say about it. He'd dropped out himself of course, but he also had something of a plan, which she didn't. "Ah, well, I should be in school, but I dropped out at the end of last year." Her aunt and uncle already knew of course, but she didn't think they'd be pleased after this, they'd probably think she dropped out to be with Graeme, which, truthfully, wasn't the most unlikely of things to think, after all, he had factored at least slightly in her decision. "I guess I was just... Lost a bit." Lost was probably the biggest understatement of the century for her too. Maya looked up at her Aunt then. "Could you make him something, Auntie? He should eat something." Though she looked slightly incensed, Maya's aunt did as she had initially said she would and moved around the kitchen to make him something to eat. Maya hoped that he wouldn't have too much of a hangover later, but it would certainly serve him right if he did. After all, this is what happened when your drank and was one of the reasons she avoided it.

Maya shook her head at Graeme, she had no idea what he was saying. His accent had gotten thicker since he'd left school and she was definitely going to have to pay attention if she wanted to figure out his words. "Graeme, um, you're very hard to understand right this moment." She told him, not really sure what she was supposed to do about this now. If this was just some random person she wouldn't have worried about it, but he wasn't he was Graeme and she was now stuck with a drunk version of him in her aunts kitchen. Her Uncle had been hovering in the archway for a while until Maya sent him away to the study. She didn't need him gawking at her. She was seventeen for gosh sakes, she could handle this on her own. "How much did you drink Graeme?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but hopefully it wasn't too much because the more he drank the longer he would be drunk for. And there was no way she was letting him leave until it was all out of his system. Was flying whilst intoxicated allowed? Was apparating whilst intoxicated allowed? She didn't know, but she was going to apply muggle law to this until she knew more. Leaving her aunt to her work, Maya pulled out the seat beside him and smiled. "You're going to have to hang out until you sober up. I'm not letting you travel," she airquoted, "whilst the alcohol is still in your system, I don't really know how that works." She'd leaned in close enough to keep their conversation private, only hoping that Graeme's ears still worked. "We have a spare room, I can convince them to let you stay." She was certain that despite things, they wouldn't want him to drink and drive, or in this case fly and drive, but they didn't know that. She hoped that her aunt's general personality would refuse to allow her to let him leave until he was sober again, which hopefully would be in the morning.

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I'm sorry, this is a bit crap.

 

[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme kept his gaze upon Maya as she explained what had happened, he was a little surprised to hear that she had dropped out, that she not unlike him had just decided enough was enough. School was fun, interesting but at a certain point it had to end, and for Graeme he had just had enough at seventeen so he could not judge her for her choice, he'd just always figured that she liked school unlike him, he hadn't enjoyed school, he had liked quidditch but everything else about the school was just awful, the homework, having to attend class and what not, that had always been boring, "Ah thought ye liked school?" he asked,unable to think about if she had liked it or not, he had always thought she did but perhaps he hadn't asked enough, or maybe he just couldn't remember, couldn't find it in his drunken mind and he couldn't help but nod to what she said, that she was a bit lost. The scot could definitely agree with such a thing, he hadn't really felt lost, but he had definitely felt odd while in the school. It was the best thing he had done, leaving school had been the best decision for him, he smiled a little at her, and then nodded at the suggestion she gave to her aunt, Graeme couldn't help as his stomach grumbled loudly and a small drunken chuckle escaped his lips, definitely interested in the prospect of good fresh food. He had eaten some time before, he couldn't exactly remember when that was but it had been at some point between the first drink and leaving the pub when he had. The man put a hand on his stomach poking a little at it, before then glancing back up at the family whose home he had interrupted, though given that he was now with Maya he didn't think it too bad a thing.

At the comment, he couldn't help the deep blush that reached his cheeks, he knew that he was difficult to understand but he had forgotten a little, he spent so much time with those just like him that he no longer had to worry about not being understood, but Maya was unused to heaviness and he could only assume that the fact he was drunk also helped no one, he knew that he would have to try harder to be understood. But, at the second question all he could do was chuckle but he couldn't actually tell her a number he had definitely lost count at a certain point, "The whole bar," he replied slowly drawing out his words, actively trying to nullify his accent, just make himself more more understandable to him, "The team an' I got drinks after the game, we always do," he explained, as if this would help her come up with a number as to how many he had drank. But he didn't really understand why that was important, however he nodded at the statement, "I was gonnae travel 'morrow, after all, isnae that far," the former hufflepuff told her, and then shook his head, "Ah no, ah canae, couldnae dae that to ye or yer family," he stopped himself from saying any more realising for the moment how harsh his accent sounded, he took a small breathe, "I have a room, I just can't really remember where it is," he assured her speaking more slowly and as clearly as he could manage, leaning over and taking her hand in his and giving it a light squeeze, "I'll be fine, I haven't got my wand anyway, it's in the room," The man told her with another little squeeze before giving her a reassuring drunken smile, obviously he didn't know how to get back, because his figure out where he was exactly which really was the biggest issue, but he didn't think it was too bad, not really something to worry about.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya's Aunt continued to glance over at them, obviously making sure nothing inappropriate was going on as she had her back turned, but Maya wasn't sure what her Aunt expected them to be doing in the three or so minutes she wasn't looking at them. Shaking her head, Maya thought about Graeme's question. She did like school, loved it in fact, but sometimes things had just happened that really made her question everything. The stuff that had happened between Chaos Zhefarovich and that Logan kid had really frightened her. Everyone had heard about it. Fights had erupted from it with her friend Emily getting into a fight with someone over it. A new Head of House, new professors, it all just became too much for her in the end and she'd decided that she just needed it all to stop. "I did, I do." She wasn't really sure how to explain her thoughts now, especially since she wasn't sure that Graeme would remember this conversation, but it was a conversation that she did want to have with him. They hadn't seen each other in over a year, she wanted to talk about this. But not here and not with her Aunt hovering like she was.

Whatever might have been going through Maya's head, was unimportant as she tried to figure out a way to keep Graeme in the house. She didn't want to go looking tomorrow only to find him hanging in a tree or something. She didn't know many people who got as drunk as he clearly was right now and so she had nothing to base it off of. Her father wasn't a drinker, nor was her mother or her extended family. "If you can't remember where your room is, how are you going to get back to it?" As she spoke, her aunt brought over the food he'd been promised and Maya smiled at her. "Graeme can stay in the spare room right?" Her aunt nodded and headed into the living room, clearly keeping an ear out, but giving them some privacy. "I told you they wouldn't mind. I really would prefer you to stay until you can remember where your room is at least." She dropped her head onto his shoulder and looked up at him. "Pleeeease?"
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme's mind was working no faster the harder that he attempted to concentrate, it didn't really matter, but he couldn't really figure out why Maya was here, but he had to assume that she had dropped out, much like him. On the one hand he couldn't exactly say anything about it, but on the other hand he was sure that she had been more interested in school than him, she had wanted to get the NEWTs that he had also not gotten. The quidditch player wondered why she had opted to drop out but Graeme could mostly understand why someone would, school was fun but really onlt if that sort of thing interested you. Graeme had gotten better at school but he hadn't wanted to be at it really so leaving and pursuing what he wanted had been better for him. However, currently, his drunk mind barely had a handle on anything and he definitely wasn't thinking straight enough to be able to figure it out. What was more strange was how in this place so far from hogwarts new zealand he had run into maya and her family, but he just assumed that it was the universes way of pushing back on the path with her, which the man was more than happy to be on.

Graeme shook his head at her, "I'll 'member in the morning," he told her, which really just meant when he had slept this off he would be able to remember where it was, as soon as he figured out at that point where exactly he was currently. He wasn't sure where he might stay, but clearly maya already had an idea of what she wanted, that he could stay with her and her family. Graeme nodded, "Aye Maya, I'll stay," The man told her sincerely, "When I've slept this off, I'll remember," Graeme couldn't help but chuckle, "This really isnae the first time this has happened," he knew this wasn't exactly a good thing, but it was a thing. He put an arm around her and without even really thinking about it, leaned in and kissed the top of her head, "I have missed you Maya, and ma ma is always talking about how I should bring you round with the amount I tell her aboot you," Which was true, Graeme hadn't really sent a letter to Maya at any point in the time since he'd left the school but he had talked about her to his mother. It was easy, Maya was just about the best thing that happened at the school for him, aside from quidditch, but given that his mother didn't really understand quidditch, it was easier for her to understand what Maya had been to him.
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