Gold Blood

The Ministry Man

  Corrin Pines isn't exactly what you would call a normal British kid. Not only did they move to England from Australia as a young child, but he is also a wizard.

He'd first found out this little fact when he was six years old and accidentally turned his long straight blond hair into red and curly locks. Of course, this was just before they met Bear Griffis. When they met Bear and told him about the incident, Bear told him that he might be a wizard. Bear's mother was a witch and he could do magic just like her. So maybe Corrin could be too, even if he didn't have any other people that could do magic in the family.

Then it just kept happening, again and again. Some weird little things that happened when Corrin was angry or scared that just couldn't be explained by science. He could make flowers grow and die and grow again with just the snap of his fingers. Once, he even sent objects flying around the house. He was glad his mum wasn't home for that one, but then he did get in trouble for the broken vase.

The two of them sit alone on a grassy field. It's the only green place around in Cokeworth. Their legs are out straight in front of them and their hands are stretched out behind them to keep them sitting up.

Corrin has his hair long, dark brown and curly. He would love to cut it, but he's never been allowed to. His eyes are a bright blue-green, but if he's being honest, his favourite feature is the numerous freckles on their nose. Today is supposed to be a day of celebration, however, and so he's quite happy wearing a long white shirt under brown overalls, and large leather boots

"Do you think we'll fit in?" he says quietly. Inside of him, his stomach twists in a small knot.

Bear takes a small breath in. He turns his head to look at Corrin. "I'm sure it'll be fine. And if anyone is mean, I'll punch them in the face."

Bear runs a hand through his hair. It's soft and brown, mostly short but slightly puffy and curly on the top of his head. He has joined in with the celebratory clothing and wears a long white shirt, a brown sweater and light coloured pants.

Corrin lets out a small laugh, relaxing slightly. "Thanks, Bear."

Bear stares at Corrin with a small smile on his lips. "I'm sure you can stand up for yourself. In fact, I know you can, I've seen you do it. But I still want to be there for you."

Corrin meets Bear's eyes. They're a surprisingly beautiful blue behind his circle glasses. Corrin often finds himself just staring at them from time to time, memorising each and every line and dot in them.

"I'll always be here for you," Bear says. There's a beat before he continues. "Besides, we can't not go. This is the dream. It's what we've been waiting for our entire lives. Getting out of this crap town and finally going off to learn proper magic."

"It is the dream, isn't it?" Corrin looks away into the distance, wistfully. "Imagine that... we'll be able to do anything with just the wave of a wand. I read that when you get more advanced, you can perform spells without even saying a word out loud."

"It's going to be incredible," Bear smiles.

"Yeah," Corrin says. They hesitate for a moment. "It'll be much better there. We won't even have to come back for the holidays if we don't want to. We can just stay at Hogwarts. Together."

Corrin feels Bear look at them again, but he doesn't meet his gaze this time. Bear faces forward again. "Yeah."

"I'll miss this, though," Corrin says. "Just sitting here with you. It's always so peaceful."

"Hopefully there's a place we can go to sit together at Hogwarts," says Bear. "So we won't ever have to stop doing this."

"That would be really nice. Anyway... I suspect I should be getting back home now," Corrin looks down at his lap. "You said that there's supposed to be a ministry worker coming to explain it to my mum and take us to buy supplies. Probably a good thing, seeing as she's always thought that we're mad."