Only Death Will Have Me

Portus

Nick left and Neil was again alone with his thoughts, he was used to being alone, his brain giving him unimportant information right and left, but it was never trying to solve a problem like this. Neil was about to buy him some expensive chocolate and be done with it when he passed a store with shining combat boots in the window. He stopped in his tracks and looked around the store, entering it, he peeked behind to make sure Nick wasn't following him. The shop was tiny, everything in glass boxes for show, they were selling shoes, shirts and skateboards, besides jewelry and some other stuff, it all seemed for edgy people, punks his mother called them, maybe something there would be fit for Andrew. 

The cashier was reading a magazine and paid no mind to Neil, who looked around, still unsure of what to buy, if he had to give it to Andrew in hands with the others looking he'd apparate on the spot. He was near the jewelry section, it wasn't anything like gold or precious stones, they were metal or unshaped rocks. 

Neil set eyes on a pair of earrings, they were ring shaped silver or plain black, by the touch he could tell it was cold so not plastic, it said cirurgical metal underneath them. He grabbed the black ones and went to the cashier, they were not expensive, but not cheap either. 

"For 10 pounds more you can have the military tag collar." The cashier offered, showing it to Neil. "We can write anything, six words maximum." 

Neil looked at the collar for a whole minute, it looked like something Andrew would like, but then again, Neil had no way of knowing. If anything, what the fuck could he write on it? Andrew's name? Bullshit, his brother and cousin's names? Bullshit, he'd throw it out the window. Neil thought about his birthday, when Andrew said that thing about death, he considered arranging it to fit. 

"Six, you said?" The cashier nodded and Neil told him what to write, he took the collar to the back of the store, a couple minutes and he came back with it.

"Want to wrap it as a present?" 

"Only the earrings, please, thank you." Said Neil, reading the tag, 'Death doesn't choose, it just takes' He read it again and again, so the words would sink. His mother was gone, he'd never even visited her. It seemed right, now that it was in his hands, he'd do the spell once he got to bed. A portkey was always useful. 

They met again, Nick and Aaron had a lot of bags, Neil had one, since he shoved the small packages on the largest bag. Andrew had no bags with him, Neil wanted to laugh, but controlled himself. Of course Andrew wouldn't join them on the festivities, Nick huffed and they left. After lunch Nick and Aaron postponed the skiing thing for another day, they were too lazy to face all the snow again.

In the afternoon they were eating cookies by the fireplace, Aaron and Nick were playing a game with christmas socks and the wingardium leviosa spell, Neil couldn't grasp the rules, but they were giggling. 

"Andrew my love, didn't you have something you wanted to show, Neil?" Nick commented, Neil almost didn't catch it, he was about to fall asleep in his comfy chair.

"I don't think so, no." Andrew said, and Neil laughed at the deja vie from his birthday. 

"Don't be such a knob." Nick said, drinking from his mug and moving his wand. "Ah, I won this round." 

"He can survive two weeks without it." Andrew refuted ignoring his cousin, he had a magazine on his lap, the pages turned slowly on their own. 

"What do you think, Aaron?" Nick asked him. 

"Let's go." Aaron got up.

"Come Neil." Nick called and Neil got up, Andrew followed them, even expressing how much he wasn't willing to show whatever it was to Neil.