The Boy Who Wanted to Live

Certaintly a Scammander

Caleb and Draco sat in the owl emporium watching as the sun began to set. Draco relaxed slightly, watching as the bright orange sky faded to pink.
"Caleb?" Draco asked, turning to look at the dusty blonde.
Brown eyes turned to look at him and he swallowed hard at the golden fragments that swam around the pools of honey in those eyes. Caleb smiled at his friend and looked back at the sky.
"Yeah?" Caleb asked in a soft voice, not daring to raise his volume in fear that it would scare away the peace.
"Do you ever wonder what is out there?" Draco said, turning his gaze to the horizon. "Beyond Hogwarts, I mean."
"Yeah," Caleb said, softly "Before Newt came and got me," he swallowed and looked at the ground hundreds of feet below his swinging feet "Well back when I lived with my aunt and not with Cadence I used to dream of what it would be like to get out there. To see the world and get out of my cupboard,"
"Cupboard?" Draco asked, turning away from the sun.
"Figure of speech," Caleb said, looking at the Hogwarts ground, "Anyway, I used to wonder what was out there. I had no idea it was all of this,"
Caleb laughed softly and Draco turned to look at his friend.
"I thought you and your brother lived at the Scammander manor? You said your uncle took you two in after your parents died."
"Well he did but for a little while there," Caleb said, leaning back on the stone wall "I was sent to live with my aunt."
"Was she nice?"
Caleb stopped and looked at Draco's curious grey eyes. He swallowed hard and looked back at the sunset. His hands warming up and scorching the cool stone beneath them. He tensed and looked back at Draco.
"Of course, Dray, she was my aunt. Of course she was nice to me,"
"Yeah," Draco said smiling softly, although he looked away from Caleb, "Aunt's are the best,"
"Come on," Draco added after a moment "Let's get back,"
The two boys stood up and Caleb wiped his hands on his pants to get the grime off them. Draco scrunched his nose.
"I don't know why you insist on coming up here," he said "It's filthy,"
Caleb smiled and walked up to a snowy white owl and began to gently pet it with a finger.
"Because I like the birds," he said with a shrug.
"Caleb you are one hundred percent a Scammander," Draco said throwing his arm around Caleb's shoulder.
"You think so?" Caleb asked.
"Course," Draco said, leading him to the staircase "No one else would be so obsessed with those damn Lion's as you are,"
"I prefer Snakes," Caleb said with a chuckle earning a shove from Draco.
"Yeah well at least I'm not a damn Badger," he said with amusement.
"Or a Eagle!" Both boys said at once, before laughing loudly and leaving the towers.