Enchanted

Patronus

"How do you want your coffee?" Eddy glanced over at Brett.

"As dark as my soul," Brett whispered.

"So a vanilla latte with extra cream and sugar?"

"Yes," Brett nodded, his voice cracking.

Distressed honeybadger, Eddy knew from the first glance. Today was the day when the final exam result would be posted. They both had a meeting with the professor to discuss their grades soon and Brett couldn't stop thinking of the worst scenario. Eddy was nervous himself as his father was coming to visit the professor, but he couldn't show it in front of the badger who was eating all his nails away.

"What if I got Troll for every subject?" Brett bit on his pinkie nail.

"Then it means you have written a legend that will forever be remembered in Hogwarts history," Eddy gently pulled Brett's hand away from his mouth.

They walked out of the Hogsmeade cafe and strolled back to school together. Brett's shoulder was slumped, almost looking like he was being dragged to the slaughterhouse. A cold wind blew through the streets, signaling the start of winter.

"I'm cold," Brett shivered, blowing on his hot coffee.

Brett's sentence has barely finished when Eddy hastily took off his coat, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"I fucking told you to bring more fucking layers but of course, you never listen -" Eddy pulled off his scarf, piling it up on the badger. "-and now I have to fucking make sure you don't freeze to death but you're allergic to sweaters, so what the fuck did I expect-" Eddy purchased a random hat from the street stand and shoved it on the badger's head. "-and how fucking long have you been cold? You should have told me sooner."

Brett, now armored with Eddy's coat, scarves and hat that was a bit too big for his frame, beamed for the first time in a day at Eddy's disapproval.

"Thanks...but aren't you cold too?"

"I'm sweating," Eddy muttered as he put both of his hands on his jeans pocket.

"I guess I feel colder because I'm nervous. Gosh, I think I made mistakes in every subject. How did your exams go?"

"Not bad," Eddy shrugged. "Except for the Patronus charm, though."

Brett sighed, knowing full well how Eddy has tried that charm all too many times, just to fail miserably. There was a rumor that some dementors have taken shelter near the forest so the charm has become the mandatory part of the defense against the dark arts class. Eddy has managed to produce a weak Patronus for the class, which was just enough to pass the exam. He could never produce a full Patronus with an animal form though.

"I told you, you should concentrate on me while doing Patronus," Brett proudly crossed his arms. "We had so many fond memories."

"Most of them were me trying to cover your ass, badger," Eddy laughed.

"I have a small ass."

"The last time I checked, it wasn't."

"You didn't check, you perv-"

"I can check it again, now."

"Not here!" Brett giggled as Eddy playfully tried to grab Brett's butt from behind. Brett ran away, shrieking, dodging Eddy's hand.

***

"You have a very gifted son, Mr. Chen," Professor Slughorn warmly shook hand with Eddy's father.

"My son, he has never disappointed me in any way," Eddy's father proudly sat down. Eddy sheepishly smiled, scratching the back of his hands. Even in the busiest moments, his father always made time to come to the professor's meeting after the finals. Yes, Eddy's parents will forget his birthday, forget Thanksgiving but they cared tremendously for his son's performance in school. Achievements were the first priority in Chen's family, as expected from generations of Slytherin family he has grown up in.