Amazingly Ordinary

Standing in the middle of the potions shop, gaze moving over each and every bizarre nook and cranny of the shop. He held a small pouch of galleons, worked for in spare time he had piled upon hour after hour. He was going to buy his little brother - or well, just brother - a present in this shop. At least, that's why he had walked in. Now, he was lost, completely out of his comfort zone - if the boy possessed such a thing - looking at creatures and parts of creatures that he had no idea what was or wasn't-

Was that jar moving?!

Looking absolutely lost, he glanced around the shop, focusing on the almost empty place instead of its contents. What did a potions master even need?

"A receptive mierdim eye," Damian remarked, peering around Zander's shoulder in interest. "Several of them! Merlin's shorts, is the whole jar receptive?" The teen moved around his half-brother to pick up the jar in question.

He frowned in only slight disappointment. "Oh. No. Just some of them. Still, receptive mierdim eyes are rare. I think they like you." Damian held up the jar towards Zander. Four or five eyeballs pressed against the inside of the glass, seemingly looking at the boy. He peered at the eyes for a moment before returning them to the shelf.

"What are you looking for?" Damian asked. He gestured to their surroundings. "I could help you find it."

Zander jolted slightly at his brother's voice, the sudden urge to hide his galleons taking over before he quelled it. The idea that Damian would know the purpose of the galleons just by seeing them was ridiculous. However, it did not seem to be an idea he could shake.

"Is being receptive... good?" He asked, leaning slightly away from the jar as it was held at him. An idea struck him as his brother placed it back on the shelf, and he gave a small smile.

"Oh! Yes. I was buying a gift." He said, nodding his head. "What would a potions master want from here?" Pausing slightly, he blinked at his brother a moment before wrapping his arms around him and squeezing. "I missed you."

"Yes, no, and doesn't matter," Damian replied. "Mostly, it doesn't matter, and most of the potions requiring mierdim eyes are not affected by whether the eye is receptive or not. There are a few that require receptive eyes, though. Then, there are some that you can't use a receptive eye in; one of them explodes."

The boy finished his miniature lecture with a small shrug. "A potions master?" he echoed. He gave an incredulous laugh, and gestured around the shop. "Anything in here would be wanted by a potions master--or at least anyone who is an avid brewer. About the only thing that doesn't need to be replaced somewhat regularly are the scales, providing they already have a good set. Stirring rods are what I'm always needing more of, myself. I keep melting them in experimental brews. A good potions text is always good. You have to make sure it's from a decent source, though."

Damian was caught off-guard by the embrace, eyes widening a bit in surprise before he gave his brother a pat on the back of his shoulder. "I missed you, too." Despite his initial aversion to idea of having another sibling, he had come to actually mean it. "Glad to hear you didn't up and disappear again. I half-expected another owl from your girlfriend."

"And exploding... is bad?" Leaning back toward the jar of eyes, he waved slightly, blinking as a few seemed to follow his movement. "Potions is a bit too complicated for me, I fear."

He watched Dame's movements and expression carefully before following his gesture at the store. He sighed elaborately, a frown taking over his expression. "I cannot even find a gift." Shrugging, he held out the bag of galleons. "I was shopping for you, but I do not know what to get so... here."

Pulling away from the hug, Zander gave a sheepish grin, which was his normal response to the reminder of his disappearing act. He was still a bit frustrated that Ondrea had told Damian at all - no need to worry the boy for no reason - but he was over that.

Girlfriends, however, were another matter entirely.

A flush flit across his cheeks, first because it was Ondrea that had owled - and Drea had never even thought of him that way, he was sure, no matter what he wished - and second because upon the word girlfriend the face that popped up was the furthest from Lisette. "I- Ondrea owled you." He said finally. "Not- She's not-"

Damian blinked. "For me?" He gave a shake of his head, gently pushing the money away. "My birthday isn't until--it... it's not until later, and I don't celebrate it anymore, anyway. If you really wanna spend money on me, we can go out and eat, or something. That would mean more, anyway." Furthermore, Damian really didn't need any potions-related supplies since Karma had given him unlimited credit at pretty much every apothecary and potions shop he could possibly stumble across.

"Right. Sorry," Damian said, a slow smile pulling at his lips. "I just assumed she was your girlfriend if she was getting your mail. Do you like her, then? Her name sounds familiar, too--did she use to go to Hogwarts?"

Zander blinked, eyebrows furrowing slightly. "You do not celebrate your birthday either?" He asked, slowly bringing the bag of galleons toward himself. "Who did you lo- nevermind. It is not any of my business." Shaking his head, he ran his fingers through his hair, brown eyes suddenly sad. "Did you want to get anything from this shop before we went to go get food? You are free right now aren't you? I might be hungry." In all actuality, Zander didn't remember his last meal, nor did he remember much of his nights. The Knight Bus had been busier than usual, and he hadn't been able to get much sleep of late.

"Ondrea's heart belongs to another. It has since I met her." He said with absolute finality. "The girl I was dating at the time did not care that I had disappeared, and the one I am- I am not." He frowned again. "I'm not dating any one right now." His face seemed to be perpetually red, and it darkened again at his last sentence, mostly for the fact that he had no idea if it was still true. "I think Ondrea said something about transferring to Beauxaburton's. Perhaps it was from here?" He shrugged a shoulder, sure that if his- not his - wolf in a tree had said something, he'd missed it. It bothered him a great deal, and he wished he could ask her right then. She was most likely busy though, and he bothered her enough during school. He was done with being a bother to people. Done with being a bother at all. He would most likely just find somewhere and they would find them if they wanted him, and if they didn't... well... he had never been against solitude.

"Where is there to eat around here?" He asked curiously, shaking himself from his thoughts.

Damian tensed, hearing the question even though Zander had broken off in the middle of it. His lips pressed into a hard line, gaze shuttering off. Otherwise, he made no response, whatever thoughts continued through his head entirely unreadable.

"I don't need anything from here, right now. If I do, I can get it later," he said. "And I've got time. Already finished all my work for the year." He shrugged as though this was nothing new. It wasn't. Damian had been finishing his homework prematurely since third year.

He frowned thoughtfully. "Does she stammer?" he asked. "The girl I'm thinking of stammered when she was nervous -- which was all the time. Afraid of her own shadow. She had dark skin. I'd say she was tall, but she was a year ahead of me, and everyone was taller than me when I was second year."

Damian tilted his head, regarding the other boy solemnly as his mind continued to play over earlier thoughts. "Let's floo to London," he suggested, apparently at random. He seemed to draw in a slow, fortifying breath before he continued. "We can get some fish and chips to go from the Leaky Cauldron. I... There's someone you need to meet." His blue eyes had slid from the other boy's as he finished, as though to unconsciously conceal the grief that had risen there. After a moment, Damian had mastered his emotions again.

"Come on," he coaxed lightly. "I carry floo powder -- we can leave from the Three Broomsticks."

"Do you usually do that? Finish all your work in advance I mean." Zander watched his brother's motions, trying to read what was entirely foreign to him. Deciding that it was probably not his business, he moved on to lighter topics, trying to keep the mood between them happy. "Does that mean you'll graduate sooner rather than later? I mean, if you're doing all your work before most professors teach it, why bother being in school at all?" He shrugged, then frowned. "That doesn't make me a bad influence does it?" He didn't want to be one of those, they always had the worse reputations, and the people around them never seemed to end up happy.

"Well... Ondrea does have dark skin, and I suppose she's tall. She doesn't stammer though, and she's surely not afraid of her own shadow. She's not afraid of anything." He smiled. "Perhaps she outgrew it?"

"It must have been nice, being short, I mean. I've been taller than everyone for as long as I can remember. Only ever served to get me in trouble." Turning contemplative, the boy hummed. He was sure that if he'd been shorter, much would have been easier for him, and whether that was true or not no one would ever know.

"Okay." He agreed happily, near to bouncing on the balls of his feet. He stopped himself at the last second, not wanting to seem too overexcited, just on the off chance that Damian would change his mind. "Haven't been to London in a while, I don't think, except when the Knight Bus was passing through and- oh I get to meet someone? Are they nice?" He followed the boy closely, near afraid he'd lose him somehow. "That's handy. Do most people carry floo powder on them?"

The Italian paused slightly, accent thickening as he realized that something was... off... about Damian's emotions. "Are you alright?" He asked cautiously.

"I get bored in lectures," Damian shrugged, then laughed. "You're capable of being a bad influence?" he teased. "And I don't know, yet. I'm going to ask my master if I can just take my NEWTs this year, rather than waiting two more years. It's not like the material's that hard. At least, not in the subjects I'd bother with."

Damian looked a bit dubious at his brother's suggestion, but merely shrugged. "Maybe she did," he conceded. "It was pretty bad, though.

"No one likes being shorter or smaller than everyone else. Being shorter only makes everyone think you're easier to pick on and then you've got to prove them wrong," Damian stated with only a faint trace of bitterness.

He smiled a bit at the older boy's obvious enthusiasm as he led the way towards the Three Broomsticks, sobering again at his query. "The nicest and best person that ever lived," Damian confirmed.

"Not really," he replied, maneuvering towards the floo. "It would be smart if they did. Can't wait until I'm allowed to apparate, though. So much more practical." Damian poured some powder into Zander's hand before stepping through to the Leaky Cauldron. He went straight to the counter to order two orders of fish and chips while he waited for the other boy to follow.

Damian met Zander's gaze as he handed over one of the orders. His expression was carefully neutral. "It depends on your definition of 'all right,'" he answered honestly, making no effort to explain further. "Come on. We need to catch the bus."

"Being taller isn't all that." He murmured, running his fingers through his hair as he followed after his brother. "Everyone always suspects you of doing things you didn't, and even when you're just standing there doing nothing they think you're wrong." Something dark flickered over his expression for the briefest of moments, and then he was back to normal, just following once more.

"How old do you have to be to apparate?" He imitated his brother and called out the words that sent him spiraling toward the Leaky Cauldron, stepping out after him and regarding him with a half wary, half trustingly cautious look about his face that eventually slipped into a confused sort of glance.

Actually biting his tongue to keep from asking the question again, he shrugged a shoulder. "Are we ever really alright?" He asked in response, frowning slightly. "I only wish for your happiness Damian."

"Seventeen," Damian answered. "People learn before that, mind, but you have to be seventeen to do so legally. It's a bit stupid, really."

He led the way onto the bus, digging through his pockets a bit to find muggle money to pay their fare. "You really want to get philosophical about it?" the boy asked as he sat in an empty seat. He ate a chip before responding further, "I'm all right as far as what you're asking, but not all right because part of me never is." He ate in silence for a moment, watching the passing scenery through the window. When his spoke again, his voice was quiet.

"I know you do. But you'd be better off worrying about your own happiness, Zander. Some people don't get to be happy."

The bus stopped and some people got off while a couple other stepped on. "Our stop is after the next."