The Wicked Walk On Every Side

Chapter 15

"Merlin's beard, that has got to hurt." Maxentius said. He was sitting on his bed in Ravenclaw tower, watching Mordecai walk back and forth on Wolfbane's back. In his opinion, it was only a short matter of time before Mordecai misstepped and broke Wolfbane's spinal cord, and he'd rather not be in the room to see that happen.

"Nah," a sharp pop came from Wolfbane's back, which caused the blond boy to grunt. "This feels great. I feel like a Rice Krispy treat."

Mordecai laughed, but Maxentius didn't quite understand the reference.

"A what?"

"You know, 'Snap, Crackle, Pop?'" Mordecai said, and then took another step. Another pop came from Wolfbane.

"It's a muggle treat. 'Snap, Crackle, Pop' is their jingle." Wolfbane said. His back had gone from popping to crunching, so he had decided that that was probably enough. His back did feel significantly better, though.

"Oh, I see."

"Maybe over Christmas break I'll get one for you so you can try it." Mordecai said, and then catapulted himself onto Maxentius' bed, which sent them both somewhat into the air when the first-year made contact.

Wolfbane was much calmer in sitting down on the other side of Maxentius. "Ryot would probably have the best bet of getting you one, although I don't know if he's going home over Christmas break."

Maxentius had gotten used to Wolfbane bringing up Ryot at this point in the school year, but that didn't mean that it made him any less reactive to it.

'Ryot this' and 'Ryot that'. He really can't be all that great, Maxentius thought to himself while Wolfbane put his head on Maxentius' shoulder. He didn't say any of this out loud, no matter how much he wanted to.

Why did Wolfbane put Ryot on a pedestal? Maxentius was Wolfbane's friend first, so shouldn't Maxentius be Wolfbane's closest friend? It just didn't make any sense to Maxentius. At least Wolfbane and Maxentius were in the same house! What was it that made Ryot so appealing to Wolfbane?

Instead of voicing his concerns, Maxentius said, "How does your back feel?"

"Much better, thanks to Mordecai."

The first year simply clicked his tongue and pointed finger guns at the two upperclassmen. Then, as if a once loose wire had finally been fixed inside of Mordecai's brain, his eyes widened and he started bouncing on the bed where he sat.

"Ooo! You know what would be super cool?" He said. A lock of cerulean hair had fallen in between his glasses and his face, causing him to squint his right eye. Mordecai simply brushed it away and resumed his excited fidgeting.

"What do you have in mind?" Maxentius asked. The fact that Mordecai (whom the older boy cared a great deal about, but would probably never admit this, for the pain of vulnerability was too much) was so excited and worry-free about something warmed his insides and made him forget about his bitterness towards The Gryffindor. The blue haired boy reminded Maxentius of his own little sister (this thought brought on feelings of both softness and the sharp stab of separation).

The almost hysteric smile Mordecai sported transformed into an exaggerated pout, paired with the deployment of 'puppy-dog eyes'.

"You're not even gonna guess?"

Maxentius, being a middle child, was not affected by The Eyes. Wolfbane, however, being one of the babies of his family, simply couldn't resist.

"You, uh. . . oh I don't know!" Wolfbane struggled to come up with something to 'guess', and was also forming a pout to rival Mordecai's. "Bought a zebra?"