middlefletcher

[middlefletcher]

Ian grimaced when he saw the face Ethan was making as he talked at Patricia. It was embarrassing having a mum who people made faces at when you talked about her, especially because she fully deserved the faces. She was awful. The worst person Ian knew, probably, other than Dumbledore. And he was her son. And yet Ethan was still here. Maybe because he just hadn’t met her yet. It was probably hard to really understand just how awful she was without seeing her in action. Which was why he needed Ethan to never, ever meet her. Even after everything Ian had spilled the other night that hadn’t scared Ethan away, Ian was pretty sure Patricia would be too much. He wouldn’t even blame Ethan for that. If he had the option to not have Patricia anywhere near his life he would take it. Well, not if it meant losing out on his siblings. …Or Ethan, he supposed. He thought back to what Ethan had said that night, that if someone really liked him they wouldn’t care if his mum was crazy. But Ethan had said that without having actually met Patricia. He didn’t know just how bad she was, and hopefully he never would. It was much nicer to think about Ethan at the castle, even though Ian wished he could have been there too. Especially knowing he could have met Ethan a whole lot sooner. But it was interesting to hear how his muggle school had been different. A grin pulled at Ian’s lips when Ethan looked sheepish and apologized. “Don’t be sorry, I like listening to you talk,” he answered without thinking about it, because it was true. Plus I learned something, didn’t know muggles use papers with lines on it.” It seemed sort of odd at first, until Ethan started talking about writing in a straight line and he realized that’s what the lines were for. Which sort of sounded nice, now Ian thought about it. 

Ian chuckled when Ethan said just working on vacuums wouldn’t be very fun. He wasn’t surprised to hear that from someone as good at fixing all kinds of things as Ethan. His grin widened when Ethan added that most of his non-vacuum things to fix came from Ian; he liked that he was making Ethan’s job more interesting. What he didn’t like was how stupidly nervous he felt with Ethan here in his bedroom with no one else in the house, on the way to Al’s to meet the rest of his family, at least everyone in his family who Ian ever wanted Ethan to meet. “Cool,” he answered when Ethan said he was excited to meet them. That was so lame. Ian was so lame. Ethan was probably rethinking the fancying him thing. Which was a surprisingly disappointing thought, though less surprising after his talk with Mac. Which he really did not need to be thinking about right now. “Um, right, guess we should, um, get going then.” That was really what they needed to do. Before Ian said something stupid. “Unless…” The addition was past his lips before Ian could stop it. So much for not saying something stupid, fuck! “I—sorry,” he apologized, realizing a second too late he’d just apologized for what he was thinking about saying but hadn’t actually said. “I mean, uh–nevermind.” They should go. Ian was feeling all kinds of weird about how they’d left things the other night, but he’d decided to bring that up after they went to Al’s for a reason. It was already going to be a lot. And they were already running late. And Ian was still standing here in his room like an idiot. “I—” Maybe he should just bring it up. Just mention that he hadn’t forgotten it and wanted to talk to Ethan about it. Only would that really help any awkwardness? Maybe they should just talk now. But what if Ethan really had changed his mind about the fancying thing and then the rest of the day was even more awkward. Ian wasn’t used to feeling like this, so stuck in hesitation. But he also wasn’t used to fancying someone who fancied him back, or at least who had fancied him back a few days ago. He let out a flustered laugh. “Sorry. I’m—I was just—I just feel weird about how I left things the other night,” he finally blurted out. “I was thinking we could talk about it when you came to the bar, but then I had to cancel that, and I didn’t wanna bring it up when we were owling because it felt like it should be a face-to-face conversation, but I also didn’t wanna bring up it before we go to Al’s in case you were already nervous about seeing Dirk again and meeting my family. But then I was feeling weird about just not mentioning it at all, so I just—well now I’m just rambling. Sorry.” Yeah, Ethan probably didn’t fancy him anymore after that. What the hell was wrong with him? “I just, um—well I wasn’t not bringing it up because I don’t wanna talk about it. I was just thinking later might be better. But we can talk about it now if you want. Or later is fine too,” he tacked on, not feeling like that was helping. “Sorry,” he added again, suddenly almost wishing one of the kids was here and could come barreling into his room right that second to save Ian from himself.

Ethan couldn’t help but make a face at all the new information he was getting about Ian’s mum. It was hard to know what was worse in this new wave of awfulness. The possibility that she’d try to foist the blokes who rejected her onto Ian. Her seeing him as competition. Or maybe it was the idea that a university bloke had been interested in a woman who had sons his age. Creepy. “I can’t blame you. I wouldn’t either.” At least this time he had something to reply back about. Because honestly the best thing he could think to say was to agree that Ian should just avoid both of those options and keep having to deal with her trying to push birds on him. Felt like the better of the terrible options facing Ian. He’d never been so glad to have the conversation slip to school work before. Ethan laughed lightly at Ian’s words about the essays. “They were’t. It kind of did suck. So much easier writing essays in my room back home. Especially for muggle school because I used a pencil instead of a quill and ink. Took me forever to get used to writing with a quill. But I dunno why biros just didn’t work on parchment. Those are muggle pens, way easier than quills,” Ethan explained hoping he hadn’t just explained about something Ian knew about. “Not to mention there’s no lines on parchment either. One of the blokes, Dirk actually, showed me a spell when I was a first year to make temporary lines so I could write easier. Still took a long time to master parchment, quill and ink. Anyway got a bit distracted on that rant, sorry.” Ethan looked a little sheepishly over at Ian. “Wasn’t just the writing stuff that made it harder. The environment was a lot to get used to too. I will say that times when everyone was working on homework made it not so bad. Still would have preferred not so many essays.” Ethan could only contribute his going on and on about essays to nerves.

He was nervous about talking about Ian’s mum and saying the wrong thing. He was nervous about being in Ian’s room. Nervous about no one being home but him and Ian. Nervous about meting basically Ian’s whole family and some random broom guy who sounded like a rich, benevolent grandpa. Maybe even a little nervous hearing that Ian had purposefully tried to talk to him and not just brought things inn because he found the fixing cool. Despite the nerves he smiled at Ian’s words. “Working for you would probably be interesting. But a vacuum shop would not have been a big incitement. Sure I fix a lot of vacuums but I also get different things on a decent enough timeline. Admittedly mostly from you but others bring in non-vacuum things too.” The change from vacuums to talking about meeting his family felt more abrupt. Or maybe it was just those nerves again. His hands were sure feeling clammy. Ethan tried not to think too much into being the first friend. Or even the second one. He couldn’t help wondering what Ian had told them about him. Probably nothing beyond his mate from the repair shop. There wasn’t more to tell. “I agree, it will be cool. I’m excited to meet them too.” And he was. Just the excitement was under the nerves.

#ethan #look at that a THIRD REPLY #with a GIF #who am i ??? #what a time to be alive xD #sorry ian is a mess #i know we were gonna gt them to the house for patty mess #but ian couldn't stand the elephant in the room lol #if we wanna get them there tho i was thinking patty could come home #not get to the house but ian could hear her coming from far enough away they can make a break for it to al's #thinkign he evaded her until she shows up there xP #i'm leaving it up to you tho i'm good either way xD #updating to add trimming reblogs apparently doesn't work on this post bc its older? #we could just start this in a new post maybe?

[middlefletcher]

Ian looked over at Ethan when he said it was uncomfortable when his schoolmates would tease him about birds. Definitely not the same as Ian’s mother trying to set him up with his tutors in very obvious ways, but Ian appreciated Ethan trying to relate it to something that happened to normal people. And he appreciated Ethan sharing about something that hadn’t been fun for him either. Ian gave him a grateful smile and shrugged. “I’ve considered telling her I’m not even into birds, but then I think she’d just start trying to get me to hit on the blokes instead, at least the ones that aren’t interested in her. Which is all of them except this one idiot that Cal fired. Either that or she’d see me as competition, which might actually be worse. Not something I want to test out either way.” Birds was safest, at least there was zero chance of anything happening for him there ever. Though up until a few days ago Ian would have said there was zero chance of anything happening for him with anyone. Now there was a specific someone that maybe he might want to take a chance on. And that specific someone was in his bedroom right now. Thankfully they were talking about homework which was enough to stop Ian from panicking too much. And much better than talking about Patricia. Ian laughed at Ethan’s assessment of Hogwarts schooling. “They did tell me that, but I always sort of wondered if they were just trying to make me feel better. Guess they weren’t kidding. Which sucks for you, being in a fancy magic castle and having to sit and write essays.” Ian made a face; that was so lame. Of course adults found a way to make magic school sort of lame, even if Ian still very much wished he could have gone and written essays in a magic castle like his siblings did. 

Luckily he was once again distracted, laughing at Ethan’s retort to his comment about bringing him vacuums. “Nah, if I had a vacuum shop I would have just hired you after the third vacuum, or at least tried to cut a deal or somethin’,” he answered with a chuckle. This was good. They were joking around, laughing. Normal. Except Ethan was still standing in his bedroom at his house and they were completely alone and thinking about it made Ian’s heart start speeding up again and his hands felt kind of sweaty. “Um.” Probably a cue it was time to just get out of here and go to Al’s. Instead of suggesting that, Ian went a different direction. “Everyone’s excited to meet you. You’re the first friend of mine they’ve ever met, other than Leo. And—well Leo’s great but that was more necessity, you know, ‘cause of Dirk joining Seb for tutoring.” Ian wasn’t sure why that mattered, but it felt like it did matter, and he felt like Ethan should know that. This was special. Ethan was special. “Um. I’m excited too, for you to meet them all,” he added with a bashful smile. “It’ll be cool.”

Inviting Ethan along to Al’s shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. Al was always telling them to bring their friends along, especially this year now that the kids couldn’t see their friends at school anymore. Granted there had been a lot of reasons they never took Al up on that offer: the fact that Patty often liked to invite herself along, the fact that they didn’t want to impose on Al’s generosity, not to mention it was only the younger kids who even had that many friends they’d invite in the first place. But Cal had invited Wil along a few times so it only felt fair that Ian could invite Ethan this time. He’d tried to be casual about it, but it had been a relief when Sadie and Seb decided to bring friends along as well. It wasn’t just Ian shaking things up now. Ian was a little surprised Seb brought along Dirk instead of one of his other Gryffindor mates from school, but the pair did seem like they’d become fast friends and it had to be good for Dirk to be around people who didn’t remember him as the kid who went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too weird for Ethan. As if Ian’s whole family situation wasn’t weird enough. That stuff wasn’t Dirk’s fault though, so Ian was glad he was coming along to hang with some kids his own age. Henry coming too would be even better, the kids could all hang out together and no one would pay attention to him and Ethan.

Except Ian was quite certain Mac would be paying attention, and probably Cal because Mac had probably told Cal about their conversation. Probably waited to do it while Ian was at work so he wouldn’t overhear them. But it would be fine. Ethan had sounded like he was curious about meeting Al and his siblings and Ian didn’t see a reason not to bring him ‘round, at least once he knew Patricia wouldn’t be there. Ian just wished he didn’t feel so nervous about seeing Ethan. Which was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. Ethan was great and they were mates and it just so happened that Ethan fancied Ian and Ian fancied Ethan back and had no idea how to proceed with that information except that after talking about it with Mac he was pretty sure he wanted to be more than just friends with Ethan. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like or how to get there. Other than talking to Ethan about it, probably. But that felt like a big conversation to have right before introducing Ethan to his whole family. Maybe they could talk after. 

With that settled, Ian felt a little bit less nervous as he biked to the shop, grinning when he saw Ethan waiting there with his own bike. “Hey,” Ian greeted him with a wave as he stopped his bike. For a second he considered getting off and giving Ethan a hug or something, which was weird because he usually didn’t think about what he was doing when he touched Ethan. Or did anything with Ethan. Everything felt a little off-kilter now. Except there was still that warm happy feeling he felt when he saw Ethan. “You all set?” He said with a smile, waiting for Ethan’s confirmation before he nodded and led the way back to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a friend to the house, since Leo had ended up coming over to get Dirk set up to tutor here. But bringing Ethan over—because Ethan was interested in seeing the house—felt a lot different than Leo coming by with his brother. Still, Patricia had been gone already before Ian left, and they’d just be stopping in on the way to Al’s. This was fine. “Here we are,” he said when they got to the house. “Come on, we can leave our bikes in the broom shed.” He hopped off his bike and walked it around to the backyard, pulling open the broom shed for them and showing Ethan where he could park his bike. “This is the best part of the house, really,” he added as they stepped back out into the backyard.

#ethan #ugh i know that feel #it's so frustrating when you're tired and then can't sleep well like WHY #hang in there #here's some more stuff for ethan to find a friends explanation for xP

[middlefletcher]

“Oh—no, it’s not that….” Ian hesitated as he tried to think of how best to answer Ethan’s question about his tutors before deciding he’d already told Ethan enough truths, he might as well keep on with it. “It’s Patricia,” he admitted, eyes fixed on the books on his desk. “She, uh, tends to scare most of our tutors away. Cal usually hires students at the university, and Patty tries to hit on all the blokes and she tries to get Cal and Mac and me to hit on all the birds,” he explained, making a face. “Which obviously we don’t do, but it still makes everyone uncomfortable and so all the tutors end up quitting eventually,” he explained, shrugging his shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal that his mother was so disgusting no one wanted to stick around them for too long. He’s pretty much told Ethan as much the other night, anyways. But even homework was a better subject. “Writing essays is the worst. You’d think we’d have done enough of that in the years before we were allowed to have wands anyways, but apparently not.” Ian shrugged again. 

Ian wasn’t sure if Ethan looking at all the pictures and stuff in his room was better or worse than talking about tutoring, but it was definitely better than talking about Patricia so at least there was that. Even when Ethan found the robot, which was also maybe embarrassing that Ian still had it, but Ethan wasn’t acting like it was embarrassing. He grinned when Ethan talked about how he hadn’t been sure he’d be able to fix it either, grinning wider when Ethan said he was glad he proved him wrong. “Me too,” Ian answered, because it was something he’d been very glad to be proven wrong about. Not just because of the fixed robot, but mostly because it had started the back-and-forth that was the foundation of their friendship. Though friendship maybe wasn’t the right word anymore. Ian was pretty sure that was right, after his conversation with Mac. He was just still sort of terrified of exactly what that meant. “Would have gotten pretty boring just having to bring in busted up vacuum cleaners as an excuse to talk to you,” he joked instead of lingering on that, not quite realizing the admission in what he’d said. It was as much an admission to himself as it was to Ethan, that all the stuff to fix had really just been about spending more time with Ethan. Though he’d enjoyed finding new things to challenge Ethan with and watching him fix them all.

Inviting Ethan along to Al’s shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. Al was always telling them to bring their friends along, especially this year now that the kids couldn’t see their friends at school anymore. Granted there had been a lot of reasons they never took Al up on that offer: the fact that Patty often liked to invite herself along, the fact that they didn’t want to impose on Al’s generosity, not to mention it was only the younger kids who even had that many friends they’d invite in the first place. But Cal had invited Wil along a few times so it only felt fair that Ian could invite Ethan this time. He’d tried to be casual about it, but it had been a relief when Sadie and Seb decided to bring friends along as well. It wasn’t just Ian shaking things up now. Ian was a little surprised Seb brought along Dirk instead of one of his other Gryffindor mates from school, but the pair did seem like they’d become fast friends and it had to be good for Dirk to be around people who didn’t remember him as the kid who went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too weird for Ethan. As if Ian’s whole family situation wasn’t weird enough. That stuff wasn’t Dirk’s fault though, so Ian was glad he was coming along to hang with some kids his own age. Henry coming too would be even better, the kids could all hang out together and no one would pay attention to him and Ethan.

Except Ian was quite certain Mac would be paying attention, and probably Cal because Mac had probably told Cal about their conversation. Probably waited to do it while Ian was at work so he wouldn’t overhear them. But it would be fine. Ethan had sounded like he was curious about meeting Al and his siblings and Ian didn’t see a reason not to bring him ‘round, at least once he knew Patricia wouldn’t be there. Ian just wished he didn’t feel so nervous about seeing Ethan. Which was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. Ethan was great and they were mates and it just so happened that Ethan fancied Ian and Ian fancied Ethan back and had no idea how to proceed with that information except that after talking about it with Mac he was pretty sure he wanted to be more than just friends with Ethan. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like or how to get there. Other than talking to Ethan about it, probably. But that felt like a big conversation to have right before introducing Ethan to his whole family. Maybe they could talk after. 

With that settled, Ian felt a little bit less nervous as he biked to the shop, grinning when he saw Ethan waiting there with his own bike. “Hey,” Ian greeted him with a wave as he stopped his bike. For a second he considered getting off and giving Ethan a hug or something, which was weird because he usually didn’t think about what he was doing when he touched Ethan. Or did anything with Ethan. Everything felt a little off-kilter now. Except there was still that warm happy feeling he felt when he saw Ethan. “You all set?” He said with a smile, waiting for Ethan’s confirmation before he nodded and led the way back to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a friend to the house, since Leo had ended up coming over to get Dirk set up to tutor here. But bringing Ethan over—because Ethan was interested in seeing the house—felt a lot different than Leo coming by with his brother. Still, Patricia had been gone already before Ian left, and they’d just be stopping in on the way to Al’s. This was fine. “Here we are,” he said when they got to the house. “Come on, we can leave our bikes in the broom shed.” He hopped off his bike and walked it around to the backyard, pulling open the broom shed for them and showing Ethan where he could park his bike. “This is the best part of the house, really,” he added as they stepped back out into the backyard.

#ethan #it was perf being exhausted is the worst tho i hope you can get caught up on sleep soon #at least you've about made it to friday! #and lmao ty i do need to burn some vitamin c or something get some healthy energy up in here #i am feeling a lil better tho hoping its just a 24 hour thing and i'll be better tomorrow sigh

[middlefletcher]

Ian wasn’t really sure where to look as Ethan looked around his room. He wanted to look at Ethan, to try to gauge his reaction to everything, but he also felt weird just staring at Ethan. It was a relief when Ethan commented on something, even if that something was his homework. Ian let out a chuckle. “Yeah, unfortunately. Not all the tutors give it, but the one I’ve got right now does. Seems sort of unfair, doesn’t it, since technically everything I do is already homework.” The tutoring happened at their house, after all. In Ian’s already limited free time. He’d thought about how he could just not do it, it wasn’t like he was at school getting grades or anything, but the non-spellwork parts of tutoring felt like the only ones he was good at. Plus he didn’t want the tutors telling Cal he wasn’t working hard enough. So he kept his head down and did the work when he had to. 

It still felt odd having Ethan in his room, especially looking at his photos. Once again Ian wondered if they were embarrassing. Hopefully Ethan didn’t think so. He was once again spared thinking too much about that when Ethan spoke, though Ian was confused about why he cut himself off until he saw what had caught Ethan’s attention. “Oh,” a sheepish chuckle fell past Ian’s lips as Ethan picked up the little robot. The first thing he’d ever brought for Ethan to fix up. “Yeah, it’s wild isn’t it?” All of the “toys” Ian had growing up were just bits of trash fashioned together to look like toys, at least until they moved out of Knockturn. Al had gotten them all some toys for their birthdays, and Ian had still been young enough to enjoy some of them.Like this little robot. There had been a small window of time where Patricia brought home toys for the younger kids too. “Al actually got that for me,” he said, even though Ethan hadn’t asked. Ian was pretty sure he’d told Ethan he just found it or something, but that was back when he barely knew the other. “First real toy I ever owned. Eventually ended up in one of Ruby’s dollhouses till she kicked him out ‘cause he was making weird noises. I’m not gonna lie, I was not expecting you to actually be able to fix it. I just thought it’d be a laugh to bring it in to you,” he admitted with a grin. And when Ethan had actually fixed it, well, Ian thought it was neat enough to keep it on his nightstand. Hopefully that wasn’t weird. He thought the strange little robot was cute. And he liked how Ethan had given it a second life. “Sure proved me wrong on that, huh?” He added. After that Ian had to start looking outside his house for things to bring to Ethan, which had been fun. Not as fun as seeing the look on Ethan's face when he brought even weirder things to him.

Inviting Ethan along to Al’s shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. Al was always telling them to bring their friends along, especially this year now that the kids couldn’t see their friends at school anymore. Granted there had been a lot of reasons they never took Al up on that offer: the fact that Patty often liked to invite herself along, the fact that they didn’t want to impose on Al’s generosity, not to mention it was only the younger kids who even had that many friends they’d invite in the first place. But Cal had invited Wil along a few times so it only felt fair that Ian could invite Ethan this time. He’d tried to be casual about it, but it had been a relief when Sadie and Seb decided to bring friends along as well. It wasn’t just Ian shaking things up now. Ian was a little surprised Seb brought along Dirk instead of one of his other Gryffindor mates from school, but the pair did seem like they’d become fast friends and it had to be good for Dirk to be around people who didn’t remember him as the kid who went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too weird for Ethan. As if Ian’s whole family situation wasn’t weird enough. That stuff wasn’t Dirk’s fault though, so Ian was glad he was coming along to hang with some kids his own age. Henry coming too would be even better, the kids could all hang out together and no one would pay attention to him and Ethan.

Except Ian was quite certain Mac would be paying attention, and probably Cal because Mac had probably told Cal about their conversation. Probably waited to do it while Ian was at work so he wouldn’t overhear them. But it would be fine. Ethan had sounded like he was curious about meeting Al and his siblings and Ian didn’t see a reason not to bring him ‘round, at least once he knew Patricia wouldn’t be there. Ian just wished he didn’t feel so nervous about seeing Ethan. Which was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. Ethan was great and they were mates and it just so happened that Ethan fancied Ian and Ian fancied Ethan back and had no idea how to proceed with that information except that after talking about it with Mac he was pretty sure he wanted to be more than just friends with Ethan. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like or how to get there. Other than talking to Ethan about it, probably. But that felt like a big conversation to have right before introducing Ethan to his whole family. Maybe they could talk after. 

With that settled, Ian felt a little bit less nervous as he biked to the shop, grinning when he saw Ethan waiting there with his own bike. “Hey,” Ian greeted him with a wave as he stopped his bike. For a second he considered getting off and giving Ethan a hug or something, which was weird because he usually didn’t think about what he was doing when he touched Ethan. Or did anything with Ethan. Everything felt a little off-kilter now. Except there was still that warm happy feeling he felt when he saw Ethan. “You all set?” He said with a smile, waiting for Ethan’s confirmation before he nodded and led the way back to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a friend to the house, since Leo had ended up coming over to get Dirk set up to tutor here. But bringing Ethan over—because Ethan was interested in seeing the house—felt a lot different than Leo coming by with his brother. Still, Patricia had been gone already before Ian left, and they’d just be stopping in on the way to Al’s. This was fine. “Here we are,” he said when they got to the house. “Come on, we can leave our bikes in the broom shed.” He hopped off his bike and walked it around to the backyard, pulling open the broom shed for them and showing Ethan where he could park his bike. “This is the best part of the house, really,” he added as they stepped back out into the backyard.

#ethan #today is monday-ing so hard lol

[middlefletcher]

Ian listened to what Ethan had to say about the broom, or maybe more about gifts in general, and considered it. Maybe Ethan was right; he’d know better than Ian would about what gifts were supposed to be. Al probably did too, really. He’d told Ian each Fletcher should have their own Comet when he gave it to him and then hadn’t bothered Ian since about whether or how often he used it. Though Ian had been sure to let Al know how much he liked it when he did use it. He chuckled at Ethan’s comment about flying to work. “Now there’s an idea! Maybe I should start bringing it to work, might could clean the floors faster if I’m on a broom.” More like he’d crash into everything, but the thought amused him. He chuckled again when Ethan said too quiet wasn’t a problem at his flat. “Nope, it’s not that bad though,” he answered without thinking about it, since it had been kind of loud but not the same kind of loud as Knockturn, and then a second later wondered if it was weird that he knew how loud Ethan’s flat was at night. Only it wasn’t, he’d stayed over for very good reasons. Not something Ian wanted to linger on right then, so he was glad for the distraction of showing Ethan around the house. 

He was surprised when Ethan asked about tutoring, if only because he figured it probably wasn’t that interesting. “A little of both. Seb and Sadie are different years at Hogwarts so they’re mostly separate, but some of the stuff they’re learning is stuff I haven’t got to yet so I’ll join their lessons sometimes. Mac and I used to tutor together, back when we first started. That was right after Cal got his first quidditch job, when we moved in here. It was mostly history and theory and how to write and do maths and that sort of stuff. Then a bit of magic theory once we got older. But then when Mac turned 17 and got his wand he started getting practical magic lessons. Been way ahead of me ever since.” Ian shrugged, trying not to sound as bothered as he was by the fact that he hadn’t just failed to catch up to Mac, he’d fallen farther behind because of how absolutely rubbish he was with a wand. Instead he led the way to the kitchen, where his mind went to another place he didn’t want it to. He was grateful for Ethan offering a distraction. “Yeah, it is nice,” he agreed with a small smile. “I know all about being squashed up. Still can’t believe I have my own bedroom sometimes,” he admitted, chuckling softly. “Speaking of…” Ian’s smile turned a bit bashful as he nodded back the way they came. “The rest of us are this way, come on.” He led Ethan back to the living room then down the hallway connected to it. As they walked down the hall past the various doors, Ian told Ethan whose was whose. Cal and Mac closest to the living room, a barrier between Patricia and the younger kids, and Ian all the way at the end where it was quietest. “And here’s me,” he said when they reached his room, feeling nervous again. This shouldn’t be a big deal. It was just a room. But it was his, the only space that had ever been just his, and he’d never had anyone in here that wasn’t one of his siblings (or Patricia, but she was very much uninvited). He bit his lip and glanced at Ethan, willing his heart to slow down to a normal pace. Then he pulled out another key attached to the same keyring as the house key and used it to unlock the door. “Patricia likes to nick our things,” he explained with a grimace. Locking the door didn’t always keep her out when she was determined, but it was a helpful deterrent all the same. “So um…yeah, this is it,” he added as he pushed open his door and stepped aside so Ethan could go in. 

The walls were a soft shade of gray, except for the left wall where the headboard of his bed was, which was painted forest green, a project he and Sadie undertook two summers ago. The bed itself had white sheets and a soft, dark gray blanket along with a few yellow pillows. On the wall to one side of his bed was a tall bookshelf crammed full of with a variety of books: old textbooks handed down from Cal and then Seb and Sadie; a large collection of old tattered paperbacks Ian had picked up at secondhand shops and liked enough to keep;  and a smaller collection of crisp new hardcover books that Al had gifted him for various birthdays and Christmas or ‘because he was done reading it and had no more room in his library and so really Ian was doing him a favor by taking them,’ which Ian knew was not true because Al’s library was massive but he’d taken them anyways because it was clear Al had no intention of actually keeping them for himself. The book he’d been reading in bed last night was on his nightstand, a beat-up secondhand copy of a fantasy novel from a series about a band of time-traveling centaurs. Next to the book were the noise-cancelling ear plugs Al gave him. Opposite his bed was a small desk with a stack of schoolbooks, a half-written essay about shield charms for his latest tutoring session, and a bunch of sticky notes reminding him which jobs he had which days at which times. His leather jacked hung over the back of the chair. There was also a small, framed photo of him at seventeen, Cal and Mac grinning proudly on either side of him as he held up his brand new wand, beaming with excitement that didn’t even fade despite his embarrassment when Al insisted on taking a photo in the first place. On his wrist was the watch Cal had gifted him earlier that day, the same one he wore everyday since. Now Ian wondered if that picture was sort of embarrassing. Maybe Ethan wouldn’t notice it. There were plenty of others on shelves, photos of him with the kids, one of him at 13 with a 16-year old Cal in his Arrows uniform. There were also a couple of crayon drawings Ruby had given him ages ago and a potted plant Seb gave him one birthday that he’d only kept alive because of Seb’s help. “It’s not much,” he said, trying not to pay too much attention to Ethan or think too hard on the fact that Ethan was in his bedroom. “But it’s mine.”  The first and only space he’d ever had like that.

Inviting Ethan along to Al’s shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. Al was always telling them to bring their friends along, especially this year now that the kids couldn’t see their friends at school anymore. Granted there had been a lot of reasons they never took Al up on that offer: the fact that Patty often liked to invite herself along, the fact that they didn’t want to impose on Al’s generosity, not to mention it was only the younger kids who even had that many friends they’d invite in the first place. But Cal had invited Wil along a few times so it only felt fair that Ian could invite Ethan this time. He’d tried to be casual about it, but it had been a relief when Sadie and Seb decided to bring friends along as well. It wasn’t just Ian shaking things up now. Ian was a little surprised Seb brought along Dirk instead of one of his other Gryffindor mates from school, but the pair did seem like they’d become fast friends and it had to be good for Dirk to be around people who didn’t remember him as the kid who went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too weird for Ethan. As if Ian’s whole family situation wasn’t weird enough. That stuff wasn’t Dirk’s fault though, so Ian was glad he was coming along to hang with some kids his own age. Henry coming too would be even better, the kids could all hang out together and no one would pay attention to him and Ethan.

Except Ian was quite certain Mac would be paying attention, and probably Cal because Mac had probably told Cal about their conversation. Probably waited to do it while Ian was at work so he wouldn’t overhear them. But it would be fine. Ethan had sounded like he was curious about meeting Al and his siblings and Ian didn’t see a reason not to bring him ‘round, at least once he knew Patricia wouldn’t be there. Ian just wished he didn’t feel so nervous about seeing Ethan. Which was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. Ethan was great and they were mates and it just so happened that Ethan fancied Ian and Ian fancied Ethan back and had no idea how to proceed with that information except that after talking about it with Mac he was pretty sure he wanted to be more than just friends with Ethan. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like or how to get there. Other than talking to Ethan about it, probably. But that felt like a big conversation to have right before introducing Ethan to his whole family. Maybe they could talk after. 

With that settled, Ian felt a little bit less nervous as he biked to the shop, grinning when he saw Ethan waiting there with his own bike. “Hey,” Ian greeted him with a wave as he stopped his bike. For a second he considered getting off and giving Ethan a hug or something, which was weird because he usually didn’t think about what he was doing when he touched Ethan. Or did anything with Ethan. Everything felt a little off-kilter now. Except there was still that warm happy feeling he felt when he saw Ethan. “You all set?” He said with a smile, waiting for Ethan’s confirmation before he nodded and led the way back to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a friend to the house, since Leo had ended up coming over to get Dirk set up to tutor here. But bringing Ethan over—because Ethan was interested in seeing the house—felt a lot different than Leo coming by with his brother. Still, Patricia had been gone already before Ian left, and they’d just be stopping in on the way to Al’s. This was fine. “Here we are,” he said when they got to the house. “Come on, we can leave our bikes in the broom shed.” He hopped off his bike and walked it around to the backyard, pulling open the broom shed for them and showing Ethan where he could park his bike. “This is the best part of the house, really,” he added as they stepped back out into the backyard.

#ethan #hahaha yep cal did it so it's allowed nothing to see here xP #sorry this is SO LONG but one paragraph is really just me going into too much detail about ian's room xD #i also was thinking he has some sort of trinket somewhere that's like something ethan fixed up that he thought was cool and kept #and has on his nightstand now xD #but i couldn't figure out what that would be so open to ideas feel free to make something up that's there xD #the image is for the bed/general aesthetic

[middlefletcher]

“Yeah, I like it,” Ian answered with a grin when Ethan asked about the brooms. He was pretty sure it wasn’t common for people to have brooms that were made just for them. It was undeniably cool, mostly a normal Comet from what Ian could tell but made to fit him perfectly, a little smaller than the ones on the shelves. It was just…Ian hesitated, shifting his weight a little. “It’s just…I sort of feel like it’s wasted on me,” he admitted. “You know, since I don’t fly all that much. No reason I couldn’t just use one of Cal’s old ones. Or even just some old Comet Al had lying around.” Ian wasn’t used to having nice things, especially nice things that weren’t necessities. But Al was also a broommaker, so he’d decided maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal for him to make a few brooms for them. “But it is really cool. I love it, when I do go flying,” he added with another small smile, because he didn’t want to seem ungrateful. He was very grateful. He just felt like Al had already done way more than necessary for them. He grinned at Ethan’s understanding about how different a detached house felt, wondering if Ethan’s house had been detached like this one. Sounded like maybe not. “Right? It’s so quiet. All the noise in the flat always kept me up but then when we first moved in here it was almost too quiet, took me awhile to get used to it,” he said with a chuckle. He laughed at Ethan’s comment about herbology. “I always thought that too, but apparently people who are good at it can get the plants to do their thing way better than I can.” At least that was how Ian figured it. 

Ian tried his best not too look too pleased when Ethan said he wanted to see his room. That was normal, probably, for mates to see each others rooms. Or maybe it wasn’t and maybe that was okay because Ethan wasn’t exactly a normal mate, only that line of thinking as related to taking Ethan into his bedroom was a bit much for Ian right now. “Great,” was all he said, deciding to focus on the rest of the tour first. “So this is the living room, obviously,” he said gesturing to the room they were in. “Mac took most of the pictures. And the stuff mostly belongs to the younger kids. This is supposed to be the dining room, but it’s more of the study room,” he added as he led the way into the next room, which consisted primarily of a big table that was covered in various schoolbooks and bits of parchment. There was even a blackboard that hadn’t been touched since Colin quit showing up. “We do our tutoring in here. Bit crowded ever since Hogwarts closed.” Fortunately Ian’s tutoring was usually at different times than the younger kids’ was thanks to his work schedule. “Here the kitchen,” he led the way into a sunny kitchen with a smaller table that was still large enough to hold all the Fletchers, a few coffee cups left out from breakfast. “Patricia’s room is through there,” he nodded toward a door just off the kitchen, a slight edge in his voice. It led to the master bedroom, which was bullshit that she got it, but he also knew the reason Cal gave it to her was because it was separated from the hallway the rest of their bedrooms and bathrooms were in. Definitely the better choice. Just thinking about Patricia right now, with Ethan in the house, made Ian feel nervous, like just saying her name would make her show up to ruin everything. Or it would make Ian start acting too much like her. But today at least Cal and Mac knew he’d gone to meet Ethan and was going to show him around the house for a bit before they went to Al’s. No one would be wondering where Ian was right now. He’s just ignored the look Cal and Mac had exchanged when he’d said he was bringing Ethan over. Cal had brought a bloke here, surely Ian was allowed.

Inviting Ethan along to Al’s shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. Al was always telling them to bring their friends along, especially this year now that the kids couldn’t see their friends at school anymore. Granted there had been a lot of reasons they never took Al up on that offer: the fact that Patty often liked to invite herself along, the fact that they didn’t want to impose on Al’s generosity, not to mention it was only the younger kids who even had that many friends they’d invite in the first place. But Cal had invited Wil along a few times so it only felt fair that Ian could invite Ethan this time. He’d tried to be casual about it, but it had been a relief when Sadie and Seb decided to bring friends along as well. It wasn’t just Ian shaking things up now. Ian was a little surprised Seb brought along Dirk instead of one of his other Gryffindor mates from school, but the pair did seem like they’d become fast friends and it had to be good for Dirk to be around people who didn’t remember him as the kid who went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too weird for Ethan. As if Ian’s whole family situation wasn’t weird enough. That stuff wasn’t Dirk’s fault though, so Ian was glad he was coming along to hang with some kids his own age. Henry coming too would be even better, the kids could all hang out together and no one would pay attention to him and Ethan.

Except Ian was quite certain Mac would be paying attention, and probably Cal because Mac had probably told Cal about their conversation. Probably waited to do it while Ian was at work so he wouldn’t overhear them. But it would be fine. Ethan had sounded like he was curious about meeting Al and his siblings and Ian didn’t see a reason not to bring him ‘round, at least once he knew Patricia wouldn’t be there. Ian just wished he didn’t feel so nervous about seeing Ethan. Which was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. Ethan was great and they were mates and it just so happened that Ethan fancied Ian and Ian fancied Ethan back and had no idea how to proceed with that information except that after talking about it with Mac he was pretty sure he wanted to be more than just friends with Ethan. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like or how to get there. Other than talking to Ethan about it, probably. But that felt like a big conversation to have right before introducing Ethan to his whole family. Maybe they could talk after. 

With that settled, Ian felt a little bit less nervous as he biked to the shop, grinning when he saw Ethan waiting there with his own bike. “Hey,” Ian greeted him with a wave as he stopped his bike. For a second he considered getting off and giving Ethan a hug or something, which was weird because he usually didn’t think about what he was doing when he touched Ethan. Or did anything with Ethan. Everything felt a little off-kilter now. Except there was still that warm happy feeling he felt when he saw Ethan. “You all set?” He said with a smile, waiting for Ethan’s confirmation before he nodded and led the way back to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a friend to the house, since Leo had ended up coming over to get Dirk set up to tutor here. But bringing Ethan over—because Ethan was interested in seeing the house—felt a lot different than Leo coming by with his brother. Still, Patricia had been gone already before Ian left, and they’d just be stopping in on the way to Al’s. This was fine. “Here we are,” he said when they got to the house. “Come on, we can leave our bikes in the broom shed.” He hopped off his bike and walked it around to the backyard, pulling open the broom shed for them and showing Ethan where he could park his bike. “This is the best part of the house, really,” he added as they stepped back out into the backyard.

#ethan #lsdkfjlsdkfj i know so cute! #i was gonna have them get there this time but then the reply got away from me lol #so i bought myself a little more time to figure out exactly how ian's room looks xP

[middlefletcher]

Ian really wished this weird, nervous feeling would go away, but he had a bad feeling it wouldn’t until he had the conversation he needed to have with Ethan. Which maybe was something he should have done before he invited Ethan over to see the house and then meet all of his siblings and Al. Too late for that now, though. Ethan was here. At the house. And Ian was maybe a little bit too aware of the fact that they were very much alone at the house. It wasn’t common for Ian to be alone at the house, though there had been a few times he skipped out on quidditch matches everyone else went to, usually after insisting Mac didn’t need to stay home with him. Truthfully, part of Ian relished those rare few hours where he had the house to himself, where he was alone, where everything was blissfully quiet. Being here alone with Ethan felt decidedly different than that in a way that made him more nervous. Which was probably how he found himself rambling about broomsticks when Ethan asked about them. “You mean Cal’s? Nah. Some them are. I think his old school broom is here, and then the one he used during his first few years in the league, maybe another one or two between that one and the one he uses now? I don’t really keep track, but Seb and Sadie would know. He keeps his quidditch broom at Puddlemere, though. And then Al made brooms for each of the rest of us, even me even though I only fly sometimes. Plus Seb has two brooms now, Al made him a new one after he got quidditch captain,” Ian explained, a little distracted as he tried to gauge Ethan’s reaction to the house. Which was silly. It wasn’t like Ian picked the house. But Ethan being here felt big. He wanted Ethan to like it. He grinned when Ethan said as much. “Thanks. We love it here. Still hard to believe it’s really ours sometimes,” he admitted with a small smile as he looked over the house and the backyard. Home, the first place that ever really felt like it. He smiled when Ethan asked about the garden. “Me? No way,” he answered with a shake of his head. “That’s all Seb. Sadie and Ruby help him out sometimes, but it’s really Seb’s. He’s brilliant at herbology, really put a lot of work into the garden since Hogwarts closed.” Pride creeped its way into his voice as he explained the garden was Seb’s handiwork. His siblings were impressive. Ian often wondered how the hell he fit in, but he loved them all the same.

“Come on,” he added, nodding toward the patio and leading the way to the back door. “The fireplace is in the living room,” he explained as he unlocked the door with a charmed key that worked through the security charms. “I can, um, give you a quick tour if you like,” he added, wishing he didn’t feel stupidly nervous about it as he pulled the door open, stepping to the side so Ethan could go in first. “Not much to see, really, other than the living room and the kitchen. The yard’s the best part of the house, really.” The house was very much all of the Fletchers’ space. It had some of Ruby's toys, Sadie's magazines and some nail polish, Seb and Sadie's quidditch magazines arranged in a sort of orderly chaos from this morning. Some of Mac's photos hung up on the walls. Ian wasn’t really sure how much of him was in it, not like how Ethan’s flat had so clearly been Ethan’s. “But…I could show you my room if you want.” He added, really hating his nerves. Maybe he should listen to the nerves. Was offering to show Ethan his bedroom weird? He hadn’t offered to show Leo his bedroom. Hadn’t wanted to. Ethan hadn’t shown Ian his bedroom. But Ian’s bedroom was also the only place in the flat that really felt like Ian’s, and while he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the feeling, he was sure that he liked the idea of Ethan seeing the space that was his. 

Inviting Ethan along to Al’s shouldn’t have felt like such a big deal. Al was always telling them to bring their friends along, especially this year now that the kids couldn’t see their friends at school anymore. Granted there had been a lot of reasons they never took Al up on that offer: the fact that Patty often liked to invite herself along, the fact that they didn’t want to impose on Al’s generosity, not to mention it was only the younger kids who even had that many friends they’d invite in the first place. But Cal had invited Wil along a few times so it only felt fair that Ian could invite Ethan this time. He’d tried to be casual about it, but it had been a relief when Sadie and Seb decided to bring friends along as well. It wasn’t just Ian shaking things up now. Ian was a little surprised Seb brought along Dirk instead of one of his other Gryffindor mates from school, but the pair did seem like they’d become fast friends and it had to be good for Dirk to be around people who didn’t remember him as the kid who went missing from Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too weird for Ethan. As if Ian’s whole family situation wasn’t weird enough. That stuff wasn’t Dirk’s fault though, so Ian was glad he was coming along to hang with some kids his own age. Henry coming too would be even better, the kids could all hang out together and no one would pay attention to him and Ethan.

Except Ian was quite certain Mac would be paying attention, and probably Cal because Mac had probably told Cal about their conversation. Probably waited to do it while Ian was at work so he wouldn’t overhear them. But it would be fine. Ethan had sounded like he was curious about meeting Al and his siblings and Ian didn’t see a reason not to bring him ‘round, at least once he knew Patricia wouldn’t be there. Ian just wished he didn’t feel so nervous about seeing Ethan. Which was stupid. There was nothing to be nervous about. Ethan was great and they were mates and it just so happened that Ethan fancied Ian and Ian fancied Ethan back and had no idea how to proceed with that information except that after talking about it with Mac he was pretty sure he wanted to be more than just friends with Ethan. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like or how to get there. Other than talking to Ethan about it, probably. But that felt like a big conversation to have right before introducing Ethan to his whole family. Maybe they could talk after. 

With that settled, Ian felt a little bit less nervous as he biked to the shop, grinning when he saw Ethan waiting there with his own bike. “Hey,” Ian greeted him with a wave as he stopped his bike. For a second he considered getting off and giving Ethan a hug or something, which was weird because he usually didn’t think about what he was doing when he touched Ethan. Or did anything with Ethan. Everything felt a little off-kilter now. Except there was still that warm happy feeling he felt when he saw Ethan. “You all set?” He said with a smile, waiting for Ethan’s confirmation before he nodded and led the way back to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a friend to the house, since Leo had ended up coming over to get Dirk set up to tutor here. But bringing Ethan over—because Ethan was interested in seeing the house—felt a lot different than Leo coming by with his brother. Still, Patricia had been gone already before Ian left, and they’d just be stopping in on the way to Al’s. This was fine. “Here we are,” he said when they got to the house. “Come on, we can leave our bikes in the broom shed.” He hopped off his bike and walked it around to the backyard, pulling open the broom shed for them and showing Ethan where he could park his bike. “This is the best part of the house, really,” he added as they stepped back out into the backyard.

#ethan #YAY #sorry for going out of order i'm excited for them xD

[middlefletcher]

ethanbarrowman​:

Ian,

Glad you think so too. About muggle stuff being interesting. Wizards have a lot of amazing things but I like to think muggles do too. Like films. That makes sense that they don’t start off bad. Shame with all the resources wizards seem to have that they can’t get more help. But muggles have stuff like that too. People who don’t get much help even though it seems like they should be able to. It’s a shitty thing for them to have in common. Yeah, totally! I think you’d like Connor. We could all go out to eat or something. I do tink you’re normal. Yeah, family is important. I’m glad you’ve got your siblings. I dunno why you’d think that but thanks. Glad you’re not here to see me looking like an idiot over that. I think they are. Still nervous about you meeting them though.

Yep! That is terrible, I’m sorry that’s been your experience. I feel like it should be. Only one is an auror but they’re both still great blokes. Not at all. You can’t help nightmares. Hate that it’s normal for you though. Nightmares are awful. Do they? I hope things get better for all three of you. Yeah, it made the castle feel real scary. It was scary first year too so it just made it worse. Thankfully I haven’t had any since I’ve graduated.

Ethan

Ethan, 

I do! I think muggles are more impressive, figuring all that cool stuff out without magic. Plus, I dunno, I grew up with magic so obviously its different, but I also couldn’t actually do any magic until a couple years ago and I’m still pretty rubbish at it so I end up doing a lot of things the muggle way anyways but without all the cool muggle stuff. Like films! Good thing I have you now to show me all the cool stuff like that. Yeah, it sucks muggles and wizards have that kind of shitty stuff in common. Guess it’s just people stuff. I think I would too, I mean he’s your best mate so he’s gotta be a cool bloke. You’re sure you fancy me and not him? That’d be rad! Hopefully Connor will also think I’m normal. They are, yeah. I dunno what I’d do without them. What do you mean you don’t know why? You’re an interesting bloke. For a lot of reasons. 

Thanks. Maybe it’s better only one of them is actually an auror. I guess not. Feels kind of lame to have them though. I think theirs are probably similar to mine. They’re usually just about everything falling apart and something happening to Cal or Mac or the kids. Mac’s are probably worse now, actually. I had a nightmare last night about him getting killed by Death Eaters and then Cal quitting quidditch to fight them and then him getting killed by Death Eaters too and I was left in charge of everyone. Cal would never actually do that but I dunno, the Death Eaters attacked his quidditch team a while back. If he’s in danger and Mac’s in danger...I dunno. It’s just scary a lot of the time. I’m glad you’re out of the scary castle, at least. 

Ian

#ethan #honestly i'm willing to write opposite myself like man two characters out of three for that one #bc they have got to meet xD

[middlefletcher]

ethanbarrowman​:

Ian,

Kind of is, yeah. The wizarding world just doesn’t seem like it gives much thought to muggleborns in general. Or other wizards I guess either, at least those from Knockturn. It’s the impression I’ve gotten from talking to you anyway. Thanks! They helped a lot. Especially Dirk and Leo cause they understood better than Connor could. But eh’s also a great bloke. Maybe you should meet him before my parents. I find that hard to believe but you’re welcome. Yeah, you seem normal to me. A little interesting but nothing that would make you not normal. Thanks, I hope so. I don’t have siblings or even other relatives who know about me so my parents are all I’ve got really. Life would feel really different without them. Yeah, I’m grateful that they do help with that. I’m glad that you find me interesting to talk to. I like talking to you for the same reason. Yeah, that should work. Are we really doing this? Meeting my parents?

Apparently so. You’re welcome. That stinks for both of you.

It is very wild. Glad it worked out. That sounds terrible. They’ve always been great blokes, fair. I don’t think they’d have changed for a job. They both wanted to be aurors to make things better, help people. Do what’s right. That sort of thing. No, you don’t have to worry about that. It doesn’t sound lame. I can’t imagine always having nightmares, it doesn’t sound good at all. I hope you finally get some sense of safety where you won’t have nightmares. I remember when I had them back in first year and then after Dirk disappeared. They suck!

Ethan

Ethan,

Yeah, it doesn’t seem like they do. Which is stupid. Muggleborns are cool, and muggle stuff is interesting. I mean wizards haven’t come up with anything like Indiana Jones. The people in Knockturn aren’t all bad either, at least they don’t start off bad. The problem is when people get stuck there it turns them bad. Maybe if other people had help like we did they wouldn’t get stuck there and they’d turn out okay, you know? Makes sense that it was nice to have mates who understood. He sounds like it, you should introduce me to him too! Do you? I dunno about that, but I’m glad you at least think I’m normal. That makes sense. That’s how I feel about my siblings. Yep, you’re one of the most interesting people I know. I bet your parents must be interesting too, it’ll be cool to meet them. 

They wanted to be aurors to help people? In my experience aurors always made things worse, but it’s nice they want to help people. Having some good blokes as aurors is probably a good thing. Oh. I’m glad you don’t think it’s lame. It’s just sort of normal for me. I think Cal and Mac get them sometimes too, some nights I can hear them wake up or I dunno, just breathing too loud, like they’re scared about something. I don’t blame you for getting them being in that castle after Dirk disappeared. Glad they went away.

Ian

#ethan #woo we love it!!! #and lmao ethan ian woudl gladly meet connor first xP

[middlefletcher]

ethanbarrowman​:

Ian,

Yeah, it is weird. I didn’t get the impression anyone really cared about filling muggleborns in. Less screw up and more didn’t see the need. We were just sort of expected to keep up. Don’t say normal wizards, you’re plenty normal even if you didn’t get to go to whatever wizard primary is. He sounds it, I’m sure I will like him. For sure! Maybe that’ll help him like me. You make a good point. I just don’t know if I’m ready to risk it. I’d be risking a lot. Yeah, it does help. Not sure how I would have kept the secret if they’d just made me do it on my own. I hope that’s a good thing, it seems like it would be. I’ll try to figure something out. Though we do have to work around your work schedule too.

Sorry! I did have a lot of mates who had really good siblings. And were really good siblings. Best of luck if you do, I’m sure it’ll turn out well. Can’t imagine he is any happier than you are about everything.

Wait? Does’t he play for Puddlemere now? Sorry that’s just sort of interesting. I’m glad that hhe did’t get sent to Azkaban. I can see why you were worried about Mac, you’ve already been through that stress once. I don’t believe they think it either! They’re good blokes. Yeah, I’ve never felt compelled to go. I’m sorry you have nightmares about it. That sounds rough.

Ethan

Ethan,

Well that’s even worse, but I bet you’re right about that. Sounds about right, anyways. Glad you had some good mates in your corner to help you through that. I think you might be the only person in the world who thinks I’m normal, but thanks. I reckon normal’s overrated, anyways. You really think I’m normal?? Yeah, you’ll get on great. I get that, about not wanting to risk it. Can’t blame you for worrying about that. At least they can help with your other secret. Of course it’s a good thing! I just meant you’ve never talked about anything where I was wishing you would stop talking about it. You always have interesting stuff to say, whatever you’re talking about. Rad! Oh. Yeah, that’s a good point. I can let you know when I’m off about a week ahead of time. 

Clearly you took some tips from those mates of yours. Thanks. I know he’s not any happier about it. 

Ha! Yeah, he does, wild how that all worked out isn’t it? I’m glad too, but yeah, feels like we finally got away from all that and now Mac’s stuck in something just as bad, maybe worse. I hope you’re right. Just hope being aurors doesn’t change that. Good, glad I don’t have to try to talk you out of it or anything. It’s alright, I’m sort of used to it by now. I’ve pretty much always had nightmares. Which sounds pretty lame, probably. 

Ian

#ethan #lmao poor guy xP #ian just like 'yay can't wait to meet your parents!!!!' xP

[middlefletcher]

leocresswell​:

Ian,

Agreed, it certainly seems to have worked out. Also agree that it’s more interesting this way. Not too often you meet someone thanks to your bike breaking. Never for me. Of course I don’t own one. But I did learn to ride one thanks to Ethan loaning his for the lessons. You’re welcome. Probably, though he seems to be as busy a bloke as you. Ha! Well I’ll probably keep telling you too. Consider it free medical advice. Hopefully you slow down before that. Definitely! I’m sure Connor would be willing, anything to get closer to his goal. Seb will just like this extra, or something. Yeah, I’m not surprised you know the feeling. I sort of, stupidly I know, thought that feeling was more or less behind me. I will, thanks again! I’m beginning to be one myself. You’ve handled the weird very well.

Leo

Leo,

Sure did! Ha! Yeah, only happened to me once, my bike breaking seemed like some bad luck but turns out it was actually good luck in that case. You learned to ride a bike on Ethan’s bike? That’s cool. He is as busy as me! Maybe busier! So he really has no business telling me to slow down. Medical advice? Ha! Gee, thanks. I think my health is gonna be fine, isn’t it good to be active? Rad! That’ll be fun. Yeah, I know that feeling too, believe it or not. It sucks. Sure thing! Seems like you are, welcome to the club mate. You’re not doing too bad yourself.

Ian

#leo #hahahah the fletchers are great a fletcher for everyone xP #and lmao RIGHT he will be dating fletcher adjacent too #when oli gets his shit together xP #he does and right such a cute lil friendship and very good for ian yep #he needs that comparison thinking through his feelings for ethan lmao

[middlefletcher]

ethanbarrowman​:

Ian,

Ha! That’s a good point. The downside is history keeps happening so we’ve missed a big chunk of time. Though some had heard about Dumbledore so maybe it’s just us muggleborns missing a chunk. I still don’t understand how pre-Hogwarts works for wizards. Connor didn’t say otherwise so I got the impression he liked Mac. Yeah, it’s also maybe the magic is their limit. I mean how much can two regular people take? I dunno if I wanna to find that out. Me too. It was weird and kind of scary but I at least had them trying to make the best of things and helping me lie to everyone. Which sucked but they were great about that. Good, I’m glad I don’t talk about them too much. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging about my parents or anything. That’s true, I hadn’t thought about that. Guess it is fair. We’ll have to figure out how and when. I can’t believe you want to meet my parents and it’s going to happen. I feel weird about this. I also feel really nervous about meeting your family.

Can’t blame you for that. I still feel bad that I freaked you out that first time. Yeah, it does sound like he’s doing the same thing. Glad you talked to him and hopefully you can find a way not to feel shitty about it. Maybe given the problems Mac not talking to you caused you can see why talking to them won’t make problems. At least not ay problems that aren’t already there. But I don’t have siblings or a similar upbringing so I might not know.

When you said he got into trouble I had no idea it was Azkaban trouble. But do they really send 10 year olds to prison? For stealing a broom? That feels excessive. I’m glad Cal did’t end up going. That’s terrible about the aurors. I’ve never heard either of them call Knockturn trash. They did tell us not to go there. But they said it was dangerous and that we had no business being there. Not to let curiosity lead us into trouble. That sort of thing.

Ethan

Ethan, 

Ha! Yeah, it does. Weird to think someday people will talk about the stuff we’re used to as history. Maybe, seems like a screw up on their part though not to fill the muggleborns in. I don’t really know what pre-Hogwarts looks like for normal wizards either. Good! No reason he wouldn’t like Mac, he’s great. I’m sure you’ll like him too when you meet him Saturday. I’ll have to tell him you’re mates with Connor. Oh. I dunno, you obviously know them and I don’t, but it could also be that now they know about magic they could roll with just about anything else. That’s good, having good people helping you makes a big difference when you’re in a shit situation. Nah, you don’t talk about anything too much. Glad you agree! Whatever and whenever you’re up for, I’m there.

Nah, you shouldn’t, like I said you didn’t do anything wrong. Yeah...shit, I hate realizing we’re doing the same thing and it’s the same wrong thing. For a bloke who doesn’t have siblings I think you’re making some really good points here. Maybe I’ll try talking to Mac again. 

Yeah, that’s what they said they were gonna do. I dunno if it actually would have been Azkaban but if they could have sent a whole crew of Knockturn kids and teenagers off that would have been the perfect excuse, breaking into Puddlemere and stealing some fancy broom prototype. I’m glad he didn’t too, obviously. Scary to think how close we came to that happening. Glad your friends at least don’t say Knockturn kids are trash, even if they think it. I wonder if they’d approve of me being your friend. They’re not wrong to warn you away from Knockturn, at least, I’d say the same thing. I still have nightmares about ending up back there, so definitely not someplace to go by choice.

Ian

#ethan #LMAO Poor sweet ethan #at least he'll have a better idea where ian stands pretty soon xP #bringing his bf to meet his parents is totally normal and not weird xP #and lmao HES NOT WRONG

[middlefletcher]

leocresswell​:

Ian,

Ethan’s your age right? Should have thought about introducing you two. But you two managed on your own. Agree, it’s cool that we know someone in common. No, though I’m sure he’d be a great bloke to hang out with given you are. But that just goes to show that slowing down really would be good for you. Brothers know these things. That’s a great idea! He does great cakes as well as biscuits. I bet Seb would like the cake. Yeah, I think it’d be impressive whatever your age.  You all are doing so much already. There’s really not much to do. Just hope it gets less weird. But thanks a lot! Ha! Yeah, I guess you do know something about weird.

Leo

Leo,

Yeah, he is! Maybe you should have but we did manage it on our own so it all worked out. More interesting this way anyways, wouldn’t have gotten this surprise if you’d have just introduced us. Well thanks, he is a great bloke to hang out with. You two would get on well, I think. Especially if you keep telling me to slow down, he’d like that. Ha! Yeah, whatever, I’ll slow down when I’m dead. Cool, I’ll just have to get Ethan to introduce us sooner rather than later. Seb likes anything he can eat but if Connor’s cakes are as good as his biscuits I’m sure it’ll be great. Sucks when there’s not stuff you can do, but I get it, I’ve been there. Anything comes up we can help us let me know. Yep, I’m an expert in weird!

Ian

#leo #sjfslkf AWWWW so sweet #lol right his lil brother figure and his big now little brother both dating fletchers who knew xP #it really is a shame mac and cal are taken lmao #when i make someone for leo i'll make them fletcher adjacent xP #i love leo and ian's friendship #and cal approves of leo he appreciates leo trying to tell ian to slow down xP

[middlefletcher]

ethanbarrowman​:

Ian,

Yeah, Professor Binns, the ghost professor. He teaches history. That’s a good point. Pretty sure he told Connor to be quiet about it too. Seems to be his thing. Yeah, it’s gotta be the weirdest way two people know each other. I couldn’t believe Dumbledore was doing that when he told me but now it seems not so bad compared to what else he’s up to. Connor was too young, your brother even more so. Yeah, I’m glad about that even though I know it’s weird and confusing for them. It’s sort of different though. But maybe. They’ve met most of my other mates so no. I just wasn’t expecting it. Sorry if I talk about my parents too much but I’m sure they’d like you. It just feels weird because I fancy you.

Glad you agree. Really? Was that sketchy? I guess maybe I could have fixed it outside. I didn’t think it would be scary. I think if they say it doesn’t and it doesn’t bug you when others do it then it probably doesn’t bug them. Your stuff is important too. From what you’ve told me I think maybe they wouldn’t want you staying out of their way. I’m glad you decided to talk to me. You should talk to someone. Azkaban? That’s the prison right? How old was he? And what happened? I can’t say for sure but I feel like Kingsley and Jacob aren’t like that. I just can’t see them being happy about locking kids up.

Ethan

Ethan,

It does weirdly make sense that a ghost taught history, I mean because he probably lived through all of it. But sounds like maybe he needs to update what he’s talking about. I’ll bet he did tell Connor to keep quiet about it, because that’s shady as hell too getting kids right out of school. While they’re still in school. Right? Wish they knew each other a better way but I guess it’s nice they know each other. At least I’m assuming Connor and Mac get on well. They were both too young. Yeah, I get how it might be different. I’m glad they’re good about the magic, at least. Oh, okay. No, you don’t talk about them too much! I hope it didn’t sound like I was suggesting that. I’m just curious about them is all, think it’d be fun to meet them. Plus you’re gonna meet Al and Cal and all the kids, only seems fair I get to meet your family next. 

Sure do! Nah, I don’t think it was necessarily sketchy. It’s just something that would be sketchy on Knockturn and sometimes that’s still my gut reaction, you know? You didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe you’re right. I mean, I know you’re right. Logically I know you’re right. I just don’t wanna make problems for anyone, we’ve got enough of those as it is. I did talk to Mac the other day though. I don’t wanna be mad at him because I know all this isn’t his fault, but it feels shitty that he kept that from me all this time. ...I guess he was doing the same thing I just told you I do, huh? Thanks for listening. 

Yeah, Azkaban. He was ten, remember how I mentioned he almost got into trouble and then Al saw him flying and sent him to Hogwarts and got us out of Knockturn? Well he took a job with a gang that ended up being an attempt to steal Al’s newest broom from Puddlemere, Cal was just a lookout but when they got busted he took the broom and led the aurors on a chase for a while before they caught him. They were gonna put him in Azkaban for that, would have if Al didn’t get him and all the kids in the gang released instead. And those aurors were jerks, calling them all Knockturn trash, would have loved to see them all get locked away. I’m glad your mates aren’t like that, but some of the blokes they work with probably are. 

Ian

#ethan #hahhahaha oh ethan it's not you sweetie #you are crushing on an odd bloke xP #just casually introducing ethan to his whole fam #'when do i get to meet yours?' #before defining the relationship at all lmao #idr how much of the cal stuff ian told ethan #i feel like he got a brief overview but probs not all the details #i think i glossed over it when i had him telling ethan stuff bc there was so much lol #so i think it makes sense he doesn't know cal almost ended up in azkaban #but pretend ian mentioned the stuff he's saying he mention xD

[middlefletcher]

Leo,

Yeah, he is really great. Plus it’s nice having another mate my age. Even cooler that my mates apparently know each other! Slowing down would be good for me? Have you been hanging out with Cal? Oh, yeah Ethan did mention that. He actually gave me some of Connor’s biscuits to try, and you’re right, he’s a great baker, they were delicious. Maybe we can get a cake from him for Seb’s birthday. Fair enough, yeah. I’m sure I’d be floored if I ever saw the place, hard to fully imagine a magic castle, even hearing about it. Yeah, I get that. If there’s anything else we can do just let me know. I’m used to weird so no need to worry about me.

Ian

middlefletcher​:

Leo,

Right? It’s rad. Ha! Does it? Yeah, it’s been fun, we have a good time together. I’m not gonna disagree that I’m too busy, but I’m also not gonna stop being too busy. Cool, yeah he sounds like a good bloke. I hope he likes me. Always sounded like Hogwarts was a weird adjustment for muggleborns. Probably similar to how my brothers felt, maybe worse. Yeah, I’ll let Ethan know. I think he knows it’ll probably be hard for Dirk, but I’ll double check and make sure. And there’s no need to thank me. Truthfully I didn’t invite him, Seb did. Not that I’m not happy he’s coming, I am. My point is just that there’s no need for thanks, our little brothers are full on mates now, Seb invited Dirk because he wanted to invite Dirk. 

Ian

Ian,

It suits you both somehow. That’s cool. Ethan’s a really great bloke, I’m glad you two are mates. I didn’t think you would but slowing down would be good for you. He is! Makes some really great desserts too. I dunno if Ethan’s mentioned but Connor’s a baker, highly recommend him if you ever need baked goods. Weird adjustment feels like an understatement. More like having your world turned upside down. Probably so. They had the advantage of knowing about magic but I remember when we first got to the castle, all of us our first year, I wasn’t the only one looking around wide mouthed. Even the wizard kids were all surprised by it. Or most at least. Thanks! I’m sure he does, he’s a smart bloke but I just want to make sure he doesn’t get upset. It’s a weird, delicate time for everyone who knew Dirk. Probably a bit weird for you too even though you didn’t. Not something that seems to happen very often, if ever. I’m glad to hear it. Having a mate his own age is probably good for him. But still your family has done a lot for us, we really appreciate it.

Leo

#Leo #AWWWW LEO he has great big brother energy #what a sweetie we love him #can’t wait for him to find out just how closes Ian and Ethan are lol

[middlefletcher]

ethanbarrowman​:

Ian,

That makes sense. Is your mum really that bad though? Shit. Maybe except I don’t think the professor taught us anything that happened after he died. Clearly not! Fucking hell, nine. That’s so wrong! Nah, you were worried and I’m sure you did what you thought was right. Dumbledore was really wrong for that. I wonder if anyone knows he did that. Connor had told me what he was up to before and then when you told me about Mac I thought maybe it might be the same thing. I talked to Connor and we figured out that he knew Mac and it was the same thing. Apparently he talks a lot of people into doing stuff right before graduation. You think so? I hope he decides to go for it. My parents don’t always understand magic but they’ve been great about it. And I know they’ll be so happy he’s alive. You want to meet my parents? Not really bringing wizards home. That sure sounds like ….maybe that’s just because I fancy you. Sure, if you want. Why do you want? This is normal right? Probably yeah.

Makes sense. Rob you? Shit! I need you to know how much I laughed when I read that. I don’t think anyone’s ever worried about me robbing them. Sorry you worried about that. I’m glad you did too! Do you really think it bugs them? Who do you talk to then? Good. Ha! I’ll have to try and remember that you aren’t fond of aurors.

Ethan

Ethan,

Wait, your professor died? Is this that ghost professor that Seb and Sadie say is really boring? Yeah, looking back on it now it seems really fucked up. I bet no one else knows, why else would he have made us keep it all quiet for him? Oh wow. I can’t believe your mate and Mac are doing that stuff together. I can believe Dumbledore’s getting to kids right before they graduate. Yeah, I do. It’s cool your parents have been so good about it. Maybe they’d also be great about you being gay, if you decided to tell them. Sure, is that weird? It’s just I’ve heard a lot bout them and they sound nice and I’m curious. 

Ha! It is kind of funny to think of you robbing someone now I know you. But at the time you knew my bike was broken and you invited me into the back room of some shop that was already closed, for all I knew it could have been some plot to mug me. Don’t be sorry, not your fault. I dunno. They’d say it doesn’t bug them, I know that. And it doesn’t bug me when the younger kids ask me about stuff. It’s just Mac and Cal especially have so much on their plates I feel like my stuff isn’t that important, you know? The best thing I can do is just stay out of their way. Sometimes I talk to Mac anyways, or he’ll get stuff out of me. Otherwise I just talk to no one, I guess. I talked to you the other night, that was nice. Yeah, no offense to your mates, just they were always more of a problem than a help for us. I mean, Cal almost got sent to Azkaban until Al decided to help him out instead. Those aurors would have loved to lock up a bunch of Knockturn kids. 

Ian

#ethan #LMAO OOPS SORRY ETHAN #i can't tho like NO ETHAN ITS NOT NORMAL #ian told you he doesn't knwo what normal is don't #don't use him as your baselne lmao #ian just like hmm was that a weird thing to ask xP #ethan wanted to come to the house this can't be that weird xP

[middlefletcher]

leocresswell​:

Ian,

Nice! Never seen him try to fix anything and not be able to. I agree, it’s an amazing skill. Yeah? Somehow you becoming mates like that makes sense. That sounds like fun. I’m sure he’s enjoyed it. You’re too busy, but I’ve told you that before. I’m sure you will. And Connor is a great bloke, you’ll like him. Dirk always said us muggleborns had to stick together. I don’t think he realized how little the wizards cared about us. Nah, I don’t think so. Just gotta be patient and let him get there in his own time. Thanks! If you could make sure Ethan knows too. I know Jacob, Connor’s brother and a mate of Dirk’s, has probably let both blokes know about how tough this all is. I just wanna make sure Ethan doesn’t get his feelings hurt. Dirk wouldn’t want that either. Good, I’m glad it’s worked out for both of them. The tutoring has really given Dirk something familiar to focus on. I’m sure they will, it sounds very groovy. Thanks again for inviting him.

Leo

Leo,

Right? It’s rad. Ha! Does it? Yeah, it’s been fun, we have a good time together. I’m not gonna disagree that I’m too busy, but I’m also not gonna stop being too busy. Cool, yeah he sounds like a good bloke. I hope he likes me. Always sounded like Hogwarts was a weird adjustment for muggleborns. Probably similar to how my brothers felt, maybe worse. Yeah, I’ll let Ethan know. I think he knows it’ll probably be hard for Dirk, but I’ll double check and make sure. And there’s no need to thank me. Truthfully I didn’t invite him, Seb did. Not that I’m not happy he’s coming, I am. My point is just that there’s no need for thanks, our little brothers are full on mates now, Seb invited Dirk because he wanted to invite Dirk. 

Ian

#leo #lmao poor ian really tries his best xP