To Live is the Rarest Thing

Chapter 20

It took them three days to get the cottage on the Isle of Skye to a state where they could comfortably stay there for a longer period of time. Tom installed a luxurious bathroom with walk-in shower, a ridiculously large tub and even a small sauna that could comfortably seat two people. Harry created a small but functional kitchen with a large farmhouse sink and a cooking island.

To some it might seem like a strange way to spend your honeymoon, but both Tom and Harry genuinely loved creating things, especially a new home. Sirius had certainly been right when he’d mentioned just that when gifting them the cottage.

They’d dubbed their new vacation home Brittle Cottage, since it stood right on Loch Brittle, which was an inlet that opened up to the Atlantic ocean. Harry couldn’t help but deeply inhale the salty air every time he stepped foot outside.

They created most of their own furniture from scrap wood they bought from a lumber yard. They both had Transfiguration masteries so turning planks and logs into chairs and tables wasn’t a problem at all. For their interior decoration they apparated around Scotland and visited many second-hand stores.

Both of them loved to hunt for second-hand treasures, and in more than one life they’d made their living that way, by reselling whatever valuable items they found in second-hand shops and flea markets.

Harry loved collecting second-hand porcelain with over-the-top floral patterns. It didn’t have to match, it just had to be in the same farmhouse chic style. Tom on the other hand had an obsession with kitchen gadgets and bought every hand-cranked mixer and potato ricer he could find. Before long they had their cottage decorated in a way that made them both instantly feel at home.

The only new thing they bought was a mattress to go on their transfigured cherry bedframe. They had learned long ago never to buy a second-hand mattrass unless you were willing to go through the enormous shitshow that was trying to get rid of a bedbug infestation.

Bedbugs were tiny little demons that sucked human blood. Once you got them, it was incredibly difficult to get rid of them, taking huge amounts of time and even bigger amounts of money. Just the mention of the word bedbug usually sent shivers of revulsion through both Harry and Tom. They despised the little demons to such an extent that during one life, when Harry had a degree in chemistry, they’d developed a pheromone trap to catch the notoriously hard to trap bedbugs. It had made them a generous fortune that life since the traps sold well all over the world.

“I’ve been thinking,” Harry said as they lay in their brand-new bed the first night they slept at Brittle Cottage.

“Hm?” Tom was burrowed under the new comforter, eyes closed.

“We should sell our bedbug pheromone trap to Mahatma Khan.”

Tom blinked his eyes open and then frowned. “I think it’s still a bit too early for that.”

Harry gave Tom a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

“DDT almost wiped bedbugs out, as you know,” Tom explained and Harry made an agreeable sound. “Their numbers are still very low as of yet. Their comeback won’t be until the turn of the century.”

“Yeah, all right,” Harry said slowly. “But I suggest we market our traps just before then. That way we might even prevent their comeback entirely, if people and businesses have an easy, affordable way to get rid of the little demons.”