Summer Vacation III: Honeymoon in Japan, Part 11

by Geri ([email protected])

My homepage: http://www.geocities.com/geri_chans_fics/index.html

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Aric/Takeshi, Snape/Lupin

Author's note: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts

Disclaimer: Based on the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; no money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.

Warning: This is a continuation of the Always series, but the main focus is on Aric and Takeshi, and Snape and Lupin appear mainly as supporting characters.

Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, Phoenix Rising, Aftermaths, The Revenant, and Ash's Story. Although it's not so much a sequel to the latter two stories as it is a companion piece. The Revenant, Ash's Story, and Summer Vacation III all begin at around the same time, a couple of days after the ending of "Aftermaths," and pretty much run concurrently.

Summary: Aric and Takeshi go to a party (and Aric parties a little too hard); Snape and Lupin return home.
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Aric's summer vacation passed by quickly. The days were carefree and idyllic, spent going on romantic walks with Takeshi, and sometimes playing with the twins or sparring with Tsubasa. The nights, of course, were spent making love, either in their bedroom or in the little grove surrounding the hot spring.

And there was the party that the tengu threw for Tsubasa, which although it had seemed carefree at the time, was hardly idyllic in retrospect. When Tsubasa had told the tengu that he would be leaving Japan to work at Hogwarts, they had insisted on throwing a big party for him to bid him farewell and wish him good luck. And since Takeshi was Tsubasa's cousin, he and Aric had been invited. Ichiro was also invited, but politely declined, saying with a self-deprecating laugh that his constitution wasn't strong enough to endure a night of tengu merrymaking. Aric had no idea what he meant at the time, but he soon found out on the night of the party.

It started off harmlessly enough, with the tengu telling stories about Tsubasa's time with them, some praising his abilities as a swordsman, and some poking good-natured fun at his expense. They teased him about his pretty looks, and recounted a time when he had been bathing in the river and a mischievous tengu maiden had stolen his clothes. And they laughed over the memory of how a young Tsubasa, then only eighteen and recently graduated from Salem, had gotten very sick and thrown up all over himself after a night of drinking at a party similar to this one.

"But we toughened him up!" Karasu laughed, slapping Tsubasa on the back heartily. "Now he can hold his liquor like a tengu!" Tsubasa endured the teasing graciously, laughing along with the others.

After they were done teasing their comrade, the tengu staged demonstration matches with wooden swords, and called upon Aric to join in, which he did willingly enough. He was no match for the experienced tengu warriors, of course, but he acquitted himself respectably enough to win a smile and a friendly slap on the back from his opponents. He was hot and sweaty afterwards, and was grateful when someone pressed a cup of cold sake into his hand.

He downed it in a quick gulp, and someone immediately appeared at his side to fill up his empty cup. He remembered how Takeshi had warned him at the wedding that the rice wine was stronger than it tasted. The sake that the tengu served had a sharp bite to it, seeming much stronger than the smooth-tasting stuff that had been served at the reception, so Aric tried to drink sparingly at first. But it was hard to keep track of how much he was drinking when a friendly tengu would refill his cup as soon as he emptied it, or even when it was just half-empty. And as a guest of the tengu, it seemed churlish to refuse their hospitality.

When Takeshi tried to politely dissuade the tengu, they just laughed off his protests and said, "He's a werewolf, right? He's strong enough to handle a little liquor!"

"That's right, I can handle it!" Aric declared, feeling rather euphoric, and held up his empty cup to be filled, as Takeshi sighed and shook his head.

"And what about you, Takeshi-kun?" one of the tengu asked. "You've hardly touched your sake! Come on, drink up, this is a party in honor of your cousin, after all!"

The tengu seemed to refill Takeshi's cup almost as often as they did Aric's, but the mediwizard remained as calm and composed as always, while Aric found himself growing increasingly intoxicated and loquacious. His thoughts grew a bit fuzzy as the evening wore on and the party grew increasingly rowdy and boisterous. Somehow he found himself standing on a table singing a German drinking song that he had learned at Durmstrang...

That was the last thing he remembered before he woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, the sunlight painfully bright to his eyes as it spilled in through the bedroom window.

"Someone turn out the lights," he groaned, throwing his forearm across his eyes. "And tell those house-elves to stop tap-dancing on my head."

Takeshi drew the curtains over the window, blessedly cutting the light back to a tolerable level. "Didn't I tell you not to drink too much?" he chided, but gently, sounding more amused than annoyed.

"I didn't mean to drink that much," Aric groaned as he sat up, then had to pause and clutch at his head when the room seemed to spin around him dizzily. "But they kept filling up my cup." He gave his mate an accusing look and demanded, "Why don't you have a hangover, too? You drank almost as much as I did!"

"Transfiguration magic," Takeshi replied, looking infuriatingly smug. "It's very difficult to change water into wine, but relatively easy to change wine into water, because you're subtracting ingredients from the original substance instead of trying to add them. That's one of the laws of magic, of course: it's always easier to destroy something than to create it."

"Spare me the lecture, Professor," Aric muttered disgruntledly.

Takeshi just grinned at him and continued blithely, "It was Tsubasa who taught me that spell, actually. His specialty is Transfiguration, and he developed the spell out of sheer self-preservation. He likely wouldn't have survived ten years' worth of tengu drinking parties without it."

"Does that mean all their parties are like that?" Aric asked, finding the thought a bit daunting. He and his friends at Durmstrang had liked to party, but he'd never had a hangover this bad before, although the one he'd gotten after drinking on the Astronomy Tower with Draco came pretty close.

"More or less," Takeshi replied. "They seem to be able to consume vast quantities of liquor without too much ill effect. Although most of them are probably suffering from hangovers this morning, too. Still, the hangovers never seem to deter them from drinking just as much at the next party."

"You know, you might have shared that spell with me beforehand," Aric said sulkily.

"Ah, but you assured me that you could handle your liquor, my dear," Takeshi said sweetly. "Due to your werewolf strength."

"Aw, come on, you knew that I was already half-drunk at that point," Aric groaned. "You're so heartless, Takeshi! I told you that you should've been Sorted into Slytherin."

"Then I suppose I shouldn't give you this Hangover Potion," Takeshi said, holding up a small bottle. "Since I'm so heartless."

"I take it all back!" Aric cried out, reaching for the bottle eagerly. "You're an angel, 'Keshi!" He eagerly gulped down the potion despite its bitter taste, and the pounding in his head subsided to a dull throb.

"Do you think that you can keep down some breakfast?" Takeshi asked. "Or at least drink something? Nonalcoholic, that is. Getting some fluids into you will make you feel better in the long run."

Aric paused to check with his stomach, which felt slightly queasy although nowhere near as sick as he would have been if he hadn't taken the potion. "I think I could manage some tea and toast."

Takeshi left and returned a few minutes later with a tray holding a pot of tea and a plate of unbuttered toast. The tea was weak, mostly water, which his stomach found soothing. After he downed a cup of tea with no sign of it coming back up again, he started nibbling on the toast, taking small bites and chewing very slowly before he swallowed in order to make sure that the food stayed in his stomach.

"By the way," Takeshi said as he watched Aric eat, "you'll have to translate that song for me sometime. I don't speak German, but one of the tengu knows a little--"

"How does a Japanese shapeshifter learn German?" Aric asked curiously.

"Crows are very curious creatures and great mimics," Takeshi replied. "This one spent some time living among the Muggles, and made the acquaintance of a German businessman who was working in a Tokyo branch office. Anyway, he said that he couldn't follow all of the lyrics, but they seemed to be rather obscene."

Aric choked on his toast and had to wash it down with a gulp of tea. "I really was singing in front of everyone, then?" he asked, his face turning red. "I was sort of hoping I'd dreamed that part."

"No, it was quite real," Takeshi said cheerfully. "The tengu were taking turns singing, and then someone urged you to give us a song, and you were more than happy to jump up on the table and start singing." Aric groaned and Takeshi laughed. "So what was the song about, anyway?"

Still blushing, Aric mumbled, "It involves a wizard and a tavern wench and...well, I'd rather not go into any more detail, if it's all the same to you." He took a big bite of toast in order to give himself an excuse to stop talking. Takeshi laughed again, but allowed him to drop the subject.

After he finished his breakfast, Aric returned to bed (or rather, to his futon), and sighed with relief as Takeshi laid a cool, damp washcloth across his forehead, which eased the lingering pain that the potion had not cured.

"Ahh," Aric sighed happily. "It's nice to have your own personal mediwizard to take care of you."

"Since you're a mediwizard too now, I ought to make you take care of yourself," Takeshi said, but he looked pleased by Aric's words. "Still, I guess I should have warned you that the tengu can drink any normal human man--and any werewolf, apparently--under the table. So I suppose it's my duty to nurse you back to health. Get some rest, my wolf." He bent down to kiss Aric on the cheek, and gently stroked Aric's hair. And Aric closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, lulled into slumber by the soothing caresses of his mate.
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Lupin and Snape went home a few weeks ahead of Takeshi and Aric, and arrived at Snape Manor to find Selima and Molly in the drawing room chatting over tea as if they were old friends.

"Welcome back, Severus, Professor," Selima said serenely. "Won't you sit down and have some tea with us? Molly has made a most wonderful lemon-poppyseed cake."

"I brought extra since Selima said that you were returning today," Molly said brightly. "Did you have a good trip?"

"It was very productive," Snape replied coolly, a slight lifting of his eyebrow being the only indication that he was somewhat taken aback by Molly's presence. "We've made vast improvements to the Pain's Ease Potion, among other things. We've found a way to use less dangerous ingredients without affecting its potency."

"That is indeed good news, Severus," Selima said, nodding approvingly. That potion was one that he had brewed for his father during his illness. None of Severin's regular Healers had been able to prescribe it for him, since it was very difficult to make, as it contained a number of ingredients that were poisonous in the wrong dosage.

"And also a more effective salve to treat serious burn wounds," Snape continued, then stopped himself from lecturing further. Both women were listening politely, but he knew that they didn't really have much interest in potion-brewing. "But I'll save my lecture for Dylan, since he's the only one in the house not likely to be bored by it," Snape finished.

"Oh, but I am interested, at least in the burn salve," Molly said with a rueful smile. "Fred and George suffered another accident while you were gone. They were trying to create exploding Easter eggs, of all things, and managed to blow up half their workshop!"

"I hope that they're all right," Lupin said.

"They are, although they singed off their eyebrows and a good deal of their hair," Molly sighed. "But mine shall turn completely gray at this rate!"

"Then perhaps Severus could brew some hair dye for you," Lupin laughed, ignoring the affronted look that his lover gave him, at the idea of wasting his skills on something so trivial. "Or at least a Hair-Raising Potion for Fred and George! Let us take our bags upstairs, and then we'll join you for tea."

"That's not necessary," Selima said, ringing a small silver bell, and Vorcher instantly appeared. "Take their bags to their room," she instructed the house-elf.

"At once, Mistress!" Vorcher said.

"Er, that's not really necessary..." Lupin started to protest.

"Of course Vorcher cannot allow Master Severus to carry luggage like a servant!" the house-elf exclaimed, looking horrified. "Why, Vorcher would be shamed! Vorcher could never again hold his head up--"

"Just take the bags, please, Vorcher," Snape interrupted, a pained look on his face.

"Yes, Master!" Vorcher said obediently.

"Here, Vorcher, this is for you," Lupin said, pulling a small box out of his pocket. "It's a little souvenir from Japan."

"Not clothes?"Vorcher asked anxiously.

"He can't dismiss you, even if he gives you clothes," Snape said irritably. "Only your Master--that would be me--can dismiss you."

"It's not clothes," Lupin said gently. "It's just a box of sweets that I bought in the village."

"Vorcher is not worthy of such a gift," the house-elf said, but he smiled joyfully as he took the box from Lupin. "Vorcher is only a servant. Vorcher--"

"Vorcher is going to take the bags up to the Master's room," Selima interjected, in a gentler voice than she would normally have used, probably due to Molly's presence, but there was still a hint of impatience beneath it.

"Yes, Mistress!" Vorcher said, making a quick gesture with his hand, and the suitcases floated up and hovered a few inches above the floor. He scampered out of the room, still grinning happily at the box of candy, while the suitcases trailed along behind him.

Selima sighed, but refrained from scolding Lupin for spoiling the house-elf as she normally would have. Lupin just chuckled, and sat down on the couch and helped himself to a slice of cake. After hesitating for a moment, Snape followed suit. He didn't really care much for socializing with Molly Weasley, but his mother obviously expected him to be polite, and the cake did look very tasty.

"Mmm, it's delicious, Molly!" Lupin said after taking a bite, and Snape nodded in agreement. She was a good cook, and he could almost like her if not for her seven annoying children. Well, actually Ginny Weasley was intelligent and well-behaved, and she wasn't a pompous prig like Percy, but that was annoying in itself, since she rarely gave him an excuse to dock points from Gryffindor.

"Thank you for the cake, Molly," Snape said grudgingly, after his mother gave him a pointed look and Lupin discreetly elbowed him in the side.

"Oh, it's I who should be thanking you and your mother, Severus," Molly said earnestly. "Selima has been a godsend to me, helping me plan Bill and Fleur's wedding. It's turning into such a big to-do, with the guest list growing longer every day. Half of those people I'd rather not invite, but it will cause problems for Arthur if they feel slighted...I wouldn't know what to do without your mother's advice."

"You're doing fine, Molly," Selima said soothingly. "It's just that I have a little more experience with planning large parties. Don't worry, dear, everything will turn out just fine." She smiled slyly. "And you might be planning another wedding soon enough, so it will be good practice. Young Ron seems sweet on the Greengrass girl, and he is apprenticing with her father..."

That set Molly off, and soon she was going on and on about how sweet Daphne Greengrass was, and how the Greengrasses would be providing the flowers for Bill's wedding. Snape's eyes glazed over as he tried to concentrate on his tea and cake and tune out her inane chatter. He was trying to calculate how soon he could excuse himself without angering his mother, when to his relief, Dylan and Cabal ran into the room, providing a distraction.

"Professor, Remus, you're back!" Dylan said happily. He had obviously been out walking the dog, because he was holding onto the end of the leash while Cabal half-dragged him along, eager to greet his master. Dylan unhooked the leash from the collar, and Cabal ran to Lupin, jumped up, placing his paws on Lupin's chest, and began licking Lupin's face, barking ecstatically.

"Down!" Selima snapped sternly, and Cabal gave Lupin's face one last lick, then dropped to the floor with a sheepish expression on his face. He curled up at Lupin's feet, as tamely as a lapdog, although he did look up hopefully, as if watching for any stray crumbs that might fall from Lupin's plate.

"Honestly, Professor," Selima scolded as Molly lifted a hand to her face to hide a smile. "You must teach that beast better manners."

"You seem to have things well in hand, Lady Selima," Lupin said with a grin.

"And he did try to protect me when the Rev...when Rabastan Lestrange attacked me," Dylan added, bending down to pet Cabal. "How was your vacation? Did you have a good time?"

So Snape told him about his potion research, and Lupin talked about the wedding and the Tanabata festival and the Japanese werewolf pack, dropping bits of cake to Cabal every now and then when Selima wasn't looking.

"And what about you, Dylan?" Lupin asked. "What have you been doing while we've been gone?"

"Oh, I've kept busy," Dylan replied. "I've been looking after Cabal, of course. And I've been helping Draco teach the werewolves to play Quidditch, and I've been volunteering at the clinic. Serafina and Draco have been spending a lot of time there, too." He grinned. "Well, Serafina's been spending a lot of time there because it's good practice for a future Healer, and Draco's just there because he wants to spend time around Serafina."

"I'm glad that the clinic's not shorthanded while Takeshi is gone, then," Lupin said with a smile.

"Theodore wrote to say that Master Tremayne is giving him a couple of days off so that he can come home and celebrate his birthday with us. Oh, and I took Hermione to visit Uncle Math and Aunt Goewin. She was horrified to learn that we have house-elves, but I think that we managed to convince her that they're more like family than servants. She's not really happy about it, but she can see that they don't want to leave us." Selima rolled her eyes slightly but said nothing, and Dylan smiled and continued, "And Ariana is walking now. It's hard to tell with a baby, but she seems to know when things are going to happen before they actually happen, like the time that she cried until I moved out from under the apple tree and a branch crashed down where we'd been standing. Aunt Goewin thinks that she's going to be a great Seer."

"Unlike Professor Trelawney," Snape muttered under his breath.

"Well, she didn't do too badly with her predictions last year," Dylan laughed. "She said that I would face great danger, and I did. She also said that Aric would be faced with a life-altering decision, and you can't get much more life-altering than choosing to be turned into a werewolf."

"Hmmph!" Snape snorted. "Anyone, even a Muggle, can make a bunch of predictions so vague that some of them are bound to come true."

Lupin laughed. "Speaking of Professors, there will be a new teacher at Hogwarts this year."

"Really?" Dylan asked curiously. "Who?"

"His name is Tsubasa. He's Takeshi's cousin, and one of the crane folk, but he's also an expert swordsman who studied under Master Karasu. His specialty in magic is Transfiguration, so he'll be assisting both Lukas and Professor McGonagall with their classes."

"Oh dear," Molly sighed. "I have nothing against a cultural exchange program, but I wish that Albus would get rid of dangerous classes like Physical Defense."

"Well, I think it sounds like fun," Dylan said with a grin. "I'm really looking forward to the new school year."

"I don't know about 'fun,' but I hope that it will at least be quieter at Hogwarts this year, with Potter and his friends gone," Snape said, somewhat pessimistic about his hopes being fulfilled. After all, he'd thought that last year would be a quiet year, too, and he'd certainly been wrong about that!

"If nothing else, I'm sure that it will be interesting," Lupin laughed, and Snape glared at him, as if Lupin were deliberately jinxing things with his words.
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Takeshi finally finished plucking enough feathers to make a robe, and took them to his brother at the Weavers' Hall. Ichiro nodded approvingly, saying, "Yes, this should be more than enough to make a full-length robe. What kind of robe do you want me to make? A British-style robe, or a kimono? And what sorts of colors and designs would you like?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," Aric admitted, blushing a little. Whenever he thought about wearing a robe made from Takeshi's feathers, he rarely got past fantasizing about the sensation of silk against his skin. He'd never bothered to think about styles and colors.

"I think that Aric would look very handsome in a kimono," Takeshi said, looking at Aric and smiling, as if envisioning him in an imaginary kimono.

"A kimono is fine, then," Aric said agreeably. Anything that could make his mate smile at him that way was just fine with Aric. He didn't really care what form the robe took as long as he could wear Takeshi's feathers against his skin.

"Good," Ichiro said pleasantly. "What color would you like it to be, and do you have any particular design in mind?"

"I don't know," Takeshi said uncertainly. "Slytherin colors are green and silver, but our St. Mungo's uniforms are green, too, so maybe you'd rather wear something different when we're not at work, Aric?"

Aric shrugged. "I like wearing black robes, but it doesn't really matter what color it is. I would be happy to wear anything made from Takeshi's feathers."

"Will you leave it to my discretion, then?" Ichiro asked.

"Yes, please," Aric replied. "I'm sure that anything you make will be beautiful, Ichiro."

His brother-in-law smiled happily, looking very pleased. Takeshi explained later that the weavers considered themselves to be artists, not just mere tailors. Ichiro would create a robe to the wearer's specifications if they wished, but what he enjoyed most was weaving robes of his own design.

"It will take several days to complete the kimono," Ichiro said. "I'll bring it to you when it's done."

"How do you weave feathers into cloth, anyway?" Aric asked curiously.

"Like this," Ichiro replied. He picked up one of Takeshi's feathers, holding it by the quill end, then gently tugged at the tip of the feather with his thumb and forefinger, and the feather seemed to unravel into a long, white thread.

"Amazing," Aric said. "I've never seen anything like that, not even in Transfiguration class."

"It's an ability unique to the crane people," Ichiro explained. "Human wizards have never been able to duplicate it, although many have tried."

"Can you weave other types of feathers into silk?" Aric asked. "You said that you made some black thread from Karasu's feathers for the princess's wedding robe."

"It's possible to turn other types of feathers into thread," Ichiro replied. "But we rarely do so, since it's a tedious process, transforming the feathers one by one, and only the feathers of the crane folk create that extraordinarily smooth and beautiful silk. I used Karasu's feathers in the wedding robe mainly for symbolic purposes."

"Well, thank you, Ichiro," Aric said, bowing to his brother-in-law; the gesture now came naturally to him, after the weeks he'd spent living here in the valley. "For making the kimono. I really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure," Ichiro said with a smile. "It will take awhile for me to weave the kimono, as I said, so you ought to have Takeshi entertain you in the meantime."

Aric gave Takeshi a sly grin, and his mate blushed slightly and said wryly, "I believe that I have been keeping Aric sufficiently entertained, Niisan. If I 'entertain' him any more, I might collapse from exhaustion." Aric feigned a look of puzzled innocence.

Ichiro laughed and clarified, "I meant that you should show him the sights, little brother. Aric's spent all his time here in the valley so far, hasn't he? You should take him to the city, let him see how the ippanjin--the Muggles--live. It will be educational, and he'll have a chance to buy some interesting souvenirs to take back home to his friends."

Takeshi gave Aric a doubtful look, no doubt thinking that someone who had been raised as a Slytherin and a pureblood would have little interest in venturing into the Muggle world. All his life, Aric had expressed scorn for all things Muggle like a good pureblood should, but he--like many other young purebloods--was actually rather curious about them. It was a natural Slytherin trait to break the rules and seek out the forbidden, and what could be more tantalizingly forbidden than a trip into a Muggle city?

"I'd like that," Aric said.

"Here, you can use my credit card," Ichiro told Takeshi, tossing a small plastic card to him. "You can pay me back in wizard money later."

"Credit card?" Aric asked curiously.

"You can use it instead of cash," Takeshi explained. "Um...it's sort of a portable I.O.U. card, like going shopping in Diagon Alley and having the store bill it to your Gringotts account."

"Ah, I see," Aric said. He had little understanding of Muggle technology and customs, but that idea he could grasp. It was common for the wealthy pureblood families, his own included, to simply charge expensive purchases to their account rather than carry around a large bag of coins. Since the wealthiest families were well-known among the shopkeepers, there was usually no need to identify themselves with a card, although occasionally a servant might be sent to make a purchase with a promissory note signed and sealed by the Lord or Lady of the family.

"We'll need to make a few preparations for our outing, though," Takeshi said, frowning thoughtfully as he gazed at Aric. "You can't go out among Muggles dressed in wizard's robes."

"I have to wear Muggle clothes?" Aric asked, beginning to have second thoughts about the whole thing.

"Oh, come on," Takeshi coaxed. "It will be an adventure. Think of it as a disguise--which it is, actually."

"All right," Aric said with a shrug. He'd already worn a yukata to the Tanabata festival after all, which in Aric's mind meant that he had walked around in public wearing little more than the equivalent of a bathrobe. How bad could wearing Muggle clothes really be?

Ichiro and Takeshi both kept a few Muggle outfits stored away for such excursions. Outfitting Aric required a few adjustments, though, as Takeshi was slightly shorter than Aric, and Ichiro slightly taller, and both brothers had a much more slender frame than Aric, but in the end, Takeshi was able to cast a few charms to alter the clothing to the right size.

"You look very handsome, my love," Takeshi said approvingly. Aric wasn't sure that he really liked the outfit--close-fitting t-shirt and jeans, both in black--although he did like the appreciative look in his mate's eyes as Takeshi's gaze slowly traveled down Aric's body from head to toe and then back up again.

"If you say so," Aric said dubiously. "I feel a bit naked without a robe or cloak, though. Where am I supposed to put my wand?"

"You don't really need one," Takeshi pointed out. "The wizarding world is at peace, and besides, it's forbidden to use magic in front of Muggles."

"I don't care," Aric said stubbornly. "You never know when an emergency might come up. A Slytherin never goes anywhere without his wand. Can't I wear a coat or jacket and hide the wand in a pocket?"

"It's summer," Takeshi replied. "It's too hot to wear a heavy coat if we're going to be walking around outdoors. You could cast a cooling charm, I suppose, but then people will think it odd that you're not sweating. Hmm..." He reached into the closet and pulled out a backpack. "Here, you can put your wand in this, and use it to carry whatever souvenirs you purchase."

Aric reluctantly accepted it, grumbling a little under his breath that he wouldn't be able to draw his wand as quickly from the backpack as he could from a coat pocket. But he didn't argue too much, because he didn't really expect any emergencies to arise; it was more the principal of the thing. He was--or had been--a pureblood wizard, and a pureblood just didn't go strolling around without his or her wand.

"Don't worry, Aric," Takeshi said cheerfully. "I can use wandless magic, if necessary, remember?"

"I don't think that I could forget," Aric replied dryly. He had a very vivid recollection of being slammed into a row of shelving at the charity clinic after he'd made drunken advances on Takeshi one night.

His lover just grinned and winked at him mischievously, no doubt recalling the same incident. Takeshi was also dressed in Muggle clothing: jeans and a light blue button-down shirt. He had put aside his robes and wand, but still wore the jade serpent bracelet that Aric had given him even though it looked a bit out of place with his Muggle outfit. Aric was pleased to see that; he would secretly have been a little hurt if his mate had put aside his love token. And he liked knowing that the bracelet marked Takeshi as his mate, even if no one else knew what it meant.

Takeshi looked a little odd in his Muggle clothes, but still quite handsome. Then again, Takeshi would probably look beautiful even in clothes made from burlap bags. It was certainly true that Muggle clothing exposed a lot more of one's flesh and figure than the traditional long, loose wizard robes did.

"You look good," Aric said, nuzzling his mate's neck. He looked Takeshi over again, then added suspiciously, "I notice that your clothes seem a bit looser than mine. Are you sure that you enchanted them properly? They're not going to suddenly shrink and split their seams while I'm walking around in public, are they?"

"No, my love," Takeshi replied, still grinning. "The enchantment is permanent. I chose the fit that would...let us say...best enhance your physique, my wolf." He ran his hands along Aric's arms, pausing to squeeze his biceps--which were rather well-developed, if Aric did say so himself. "You keep in good shape, Aric. I suppose all that sparring you do must keep you fit, even if does give me anxiety attacks."

Aric preened at his lover's praise, and couldn't resist flexing his biceps. "Oh, it was all those years I spent playing the Beater position on the Durmstrang Quidditch team," he said casually. "It really builds up your muscles. I didn't play Quidditch at Hogwarts, of course, but I guess Physical Defense class kept me fit." He growled softly with pleasure as Takeshi's hands ran lightly down his arms, then caressed his chest. And then one of Takeshi's hands slipped around his waist and dropped a little lower, causing Aric to raise his eyebrows and ask incredulously, "Did you just pat my arse?"

"Who, me?" Takeshi replied, with a look of shocked innocence. "My hand just...slipped."

"I'll just bet it did," Aric said dryly, giving his mate a pointed look, eyes narrowed with Slytherin cynicism. Truthfully, however, he was rather flattered by the gesture.

"And anyway," Takeshi continued unrepentantly, "it's your fault for having such a nice arse." He let his eyes rest briefly on the body part in question. "You really do look good in jeans."

Aric grinned; maybe there were a few advantages to wearing Muggle clothing, after all! "You have a pretty nice one yourself," he replied, reaching out to pat his mate on the rump--it was only fair, after all, since Takeshi had done the same to him. Except that the pat turned into more of a squeeze and a grope, and Aric found that his jeans were beginning to feel not just snug, but uncomfortably tight, and it definitely didn't have anything to do with the cloth shrinking.

Takeshi pulled away, laughing a little breathlessly. "Not now, Aric!" he scolded playfully. "We'll miss the train."

"But you started it!" Aric protested, then pretended to pout. "You're such a little tease, 'Keshi."

"Ah, but you love me anyway," Takeshi said, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "And besides, a little anticipation serves to whet the appetite."

"I'd like to devour you right now," Aric growled, staring at his mate hungrily.

Takeshi wavered for a moment, then sighed regretfully. "After we get back, my wolf," he said firmly. "Now come on, before we really do miss the train."

"Bloody sadist," Aric muttered under his breath as he followed Takeshi. However, his annoyance didn't stop him from admiring his lover's jeans-clad arse as he walked. It really was, as he'd pointed out, a nice one.

He asked Takeshi why they couldn't just Apparate, and his mate pointed out that it would probably cause a commotion if they suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the midst of a crowd of Muggles. "Besides, the train ride is part of the experience," Takeshi added cheerfully.
 

Chapter 12

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