This is Magic: Ereri Harry Potter AU! Fanfiction

Chapter 10: Aftermath

The room fell deadly silent. Levi was afraid to breathe; he felt that it would break the spell that had been seemingly cast. It was as if the very air had frozen.

Eren’s eyes had lost their shine as he stared at Professor Hanji unwaveringly. His hands had clenched into balls, and when Levi looked closely, he could see them trembling slightly. After about fifteen seconds, Eren’s head started to shake.

“No, you’re wrong,” he said, his voice quivering, and Levi’s heart cracked. The brunet’s eyebrows furrowed as he continued. “My parents are fine. They’re sitting in our house; mom’s preparing dinner and dad is just coming back from work at St. Mungo’s.” The longer he spoke, the more the boy got choked up. He swallowed repeatedly, trying to keep his composure. Hanji looked on sympathetically.

“Honey, I’m so sorry,” she said in a hushed voice, approaching Eren and laying a hand on his shoulder gently. “I’m so sorry.”

Eren slowly turned to look at Levi, as if the raven was somehow in on a sick joke. Levi felt like Eren was begging him to refute the professor’s words, to comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be fine. He could do none of these things.

Levi remained rooted to the spot and watched as Eren’s world crumbled around him.

“I-I….,” Eren stuttered. The first tear rolled down his cheek. “I don’t…They were just alive…We were going to have Christmas together. I already bought mom a new dress. She’s going to—she would’ve—“ the brunet choked up, putting a hand over his mouth to quiet the sobs that had begun to slip out. His teal eyes swam with tears.

Levi somehow found his voice, and a small strangled noise came out. He cleared his throat quickly and tried again. “Eren…” Only the boy’s name came to him. Levi had never been in this situation before; he lived with his father all of his life, and rarely interacted with others. He had never had to deal with the loss of a loved one. He had never needed to comfort a friend in a time of despair. The silver-eyed boy was lost. So he did the only thing he could; Levi reached forward and circled his arms around Eren.

Gratefully, Eren turned and buried his face in Levi’s shoulder. Sobs wracked his body, and his arms reached around to grasp the back of Levi’s robes like a vice. Levi glanced at Professor Hanji and gestured towards the door. She nodded silently and opened it, allowing Levi to lead Eren out of the room.

The raven led Eren to their room in the Gryffindor tower. He allowed Eren to fall onto his bed, then turned and quickly ran to the library to grab their study materials and textbooks. By the time he had returned to their room, Eren had been smothered by their cats. Echo had jumped onto the brunet’s stomach and was currently rubbing her face against his wet cheek. Song was curled up behind Eren’s head, which was resting on his pillow. Both of the cats were purring and trying to console the heartbroken boy.

Levi’s heart throbbed when he saw that Eren’s eyes had taken on a dull quality. He silently set Eren’s belongings on his desk and put his own things away as well. Neither of the boys mentioned dinner; both of them were too depressed to think of food. Levi crawled into his pristine bed and folded his covers over him carefully.

The sky turned dark slowly. At some point, Eren had gotten up from his bed and turned off the light. Now, they were sitting in complete darkness. Levi tried to sleep, to no avail. His mind kept racing about Eren; what would this mean for him? Where would he live? Does he have immediate family members? How is Eren feeling right now? What should he do to comfort him? Levi felt dizzy. In his concentrated state, he barely felt his blanket being held up and a warm body sliding into his bed.

“Levi,” Eren whispered. “I’m scared.”

The raven’s eyes shot open, and he turned over to face Eren. “I know,” he replied, reaching up to run a hand through Eren’s hair as an act of compassion. Eren leaned his head into the reassuring touch. It felt good to have Levi concerned over him.

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Eren’s voice was barely audible. Levi was sure that if he turned on the lights right now, he’d see the brunet’s face all red and embarrassed.

“Of course,” he responded, scooting back to give Eren more room. The teal-eyed boy gratefully lay down and pulled the cover over both of their bodies. Levi sighed with content. He had almost forgotten how warm Eren was. Unconsciously, the raven wriggled closer to Eren, until his hands were trapped between them and their legs were tangled together.

Levi tucked his head under Eren’s chin and threw one arm around his torso. “It’ll be okay,” he murmured as he felt Eren tremor and try so hard to contain his cries. His long fingers stroked a small portion of Eren’s back, and the two fell asleep in each other’s embrace.

It had been several days since Eren had left Hogwarts. Headmaster Smith recognized Eren’s situation and gave him full permission to leave the school for a week to attend his parents’ funeral. Now, the next step was to find Eren a new home. He certainly couldn’t stay at Hogwarts. The brunet didn’t seem to have any immediate relatives that were fit to house him, either. It was a dire situation.

Levi wanted to help in any way he can. While Eren was away, he met with the Headmaster and pleaded for him to allow Eren to stay with him. Although the man did not have custody over Eren, he was highly influential. Headmaster Smith promised that he would do what he could to allow Eren to be taken in by Levi’s family.

In the meanwhile, Levi was instructed to send his father a letter explaining the situation and begging for acceptance. Levi was desperate to help his best friend. Ever since Eren had left the school, Levi couldn’t think. He simply couldn’t pay attention in class; his thoughts always lingered on Eren. He constantly worried about the brunet, wondering if he was alright, what he was doing, if there was anyone to watch over him, when he’d be back. All that the raven could do now was wait and hope that his father was merciful.

The following Sunday, Eren arrived at the school. He looked bad; Levi noted his shaggy hair and the dark circles under his friend’s eyes worriedly. He had welcomed the brunet eagerly and told him of his plans.

“Oh, no, Levi,” Eren exclaimed when the raven told him. “I can’t do that to you. I’d be such a burden. It’ll be okay, I’ll figure something out myself.”

“What the hell are you talking about, idiot? What are you going to do? You’re twelve, almost thirteen, and you have nowhere to go. You can’t get a job, you can’t get food; if you go off on your own for a whole summer, you’ll probably die in the streets,” Levi spoke harshly, but his concern shone through. He sighed and ran his fingers through his black hair. “Eren, please stay with me. It’s just for a few summers anyway, when we’re not at school.”

Eren smiled. He could see Levi’s worry as plain as day. He huffed out a breath and hugged the unsuspecting raven suddenly. “Alright, fine,” he said, still smiling.

“About time you came to your senses,” Levi huffed, his cheeks reddening.

“Thank you,” Eren mumbled quietly, resting his forehead on Levi’s shoulder. Levi lifted an arm and lay his mitten-covered hand on Eren’s head comfortingly.

Within a few days, Levi’s owl came back bearing his father’s response. It was short. “As long as he doesn’t make a mess, he’s welcome to stay with us,” Levi read aloud. His face brightened and he looked up at Eren. “You can stay with me!”

Eren smiled at Levi’s excitement, but he still felt depressed. The pain from loss of both of his parents would not go away so soon. Levi’s smile faded as he sensed Eren’s sorrow.

Levi nudged Eren’s hand with his own and intertwined their fingers. He looked into Eren’s teal eyes for a while before saying “It’ll be okay. I’ll be here for you.”