Chapter Text
Dorian's voice started breaking over the summer, and he absolutely hates it. He has to look up at Maxwell now, Felix has begun looking at girls, and Solas already sounds like a grown man. Looks like one too, with the bald head and proud shoulders. Only Finn seems untouched by the ravages of puberty, which may actually be the worst fate of all.
It's all happening so fast, and Maxwell in particular seems keyed into the mood. Well. Either that or he's overly excited about divination. He spends the train ride back to hogwarts doing palm readings.
Hawke asks an alarming amount of questions about love, Finn checks Max's answers against the textbook, Neria scoffs at the whole subject and Dorian can't remember if Max's hands had always been as warm and gentle as they are now.
"Solas, your life line says you'll live to be two thousand!"
"Give me the book, Maxwell."
*
Dorian has divination with Maxwell and ancient runes with Merrill, Solas and Velanna. Ancient runes is a challenging class, but mostly in the good way. Divination is more fun, while also being somewhat of a fluff class. He and Max end up with a number of inside jokes about tea leaves, which Neria never appreciates. Felix is taking muggle studies, which Dorian's father had thought quite the scandal. Quietly, Dorian doesn't think it's anything to get up in arms about.
He doesn't envy Max, Merrill and Neria, who are taking care of magical creatures alongside Marian 'when do we get to pet Dragons' Hawke. The potential for fatalities is very high.
*
One of these days, Merrill is going to get banned from potions class. She's phenomenal at Charms and there was an honest-to-god fight over who got to be her partner in defense against the dark arts this year (Neria won), but potions? Not her strong suit.
Today marks the third time something she's brewed has claimed a victim, following in the solemn tradition of Solas' hair.
Hawke is staring at the boils swelling on her hands and forearms like she doesn't quite believe they're real. A few of them are an extremely bizarre shade of reddish-purple, so Dorian doesn't blame her.
"Oh, Hawke, I'm so sorry--" Merrill babbles as Orsino hurries across the classroom. Hawke is visibly gritting her teeth but staying entirely silent. Next to Dorian, Felix shakes his head.
"She isn't doing herself any favors, hiding how much it hurts," Dorian comments, watching Maxwell offer Orsino and Hawke all of his vials of curative potions. Felix chuckles.
"She doesn't want to worry Merrill," Felix whispers, a hint of a smile on his lips.
"I think Merrill will worry regardless," Dorian says, watching his friend hover fretfully around her potions partner. Something Max had up his sleeve seems to be fixing the regular boils, if not the purplish ones.
"Then maybe she wants to impress Merrill," Felix says fondly. Dorian gives the scene another glance and finds that Hawke is sitting with her back straight, grinning at Merrill between winces instead of paying attention to her injury.
Felix might be right.
*
On their first trip to Hogsmeade, it takes them an hour to coax Maxwell out of Honeydukes. Dorian thinks they should have expected it; they've all seen him interact with the trolley on the train.
Dorian doesn't have nearly the sweet tooth his friend has, but watching Max interact with magic sweets is even better than eating them. He carefully selects all the oddest products in the shop, including a few Dorian wouldn't touch.
"Are you seriously going to eat all those pepper imps?" Finn asks nervously, watching Maxwell grab boxes off the shelf. Max doesn't look up from what he's doing to reply.
"I need enough to test the magic in them and still have enough left over to eat," He explains absentmindedly. Finn looks anxiously at Dorian, who sighs and steers his friend towards the less flammable sweets.
The girls are browsing through the chocolates, that seems safe enough.
"Find anything good?" Dorian asks Neria as Maxwell starts investigating boxes of fudge flies.
"Well, Hawke's gone a bit mad. She's buying blood pops."
"They're for my little brother!" Hawke calls cheerfully from the other end of the display. Felix sighs.
"From the stories you tell, I think Carver's suffered enough," He says. Hawke snorts a laugh.
"Well, maybe if he wasn't such a little--"
Felix elbows her and she yelps.
"Oh, I should get something for Evelyn! Which chewing gum is the one that makes all those pretty bubbles? The one you had last term, Merrill?" Maxwell asks. Merrill abandons the Gryffindors to grab hold of Max's arm.
"I'll show you!" She chirps, pulling him back in the direction of the effect sweets. Dorian exchanges a concerned glance with Felix.
*
Maxwell's mother does not appreciate the swarms of impossible to pop bubbles as much as Evelyn does.
At least the letter is entertaining.
*
"Any luck?" Finn asks Dorian as he walks into their dormitory. He's playing wizarding chess with a very befuddled looking Maxwell, while Solas reads in bed across the room.
"No. None of the teachers are eager to give a thirteen year old access to tomes of the undead."
Maxwell scoffs.
"What's the point of having a huge library if you can't read half the books?" He complains. Finn looks like he's about to correct him, but Max cuts him off. "Yes, I know it isn't really half, you don't have to tell me."
"Evidently, 'I'm a bloody ravenclaw, I want to learn something' isn't a good excuse to delve into some of the darkest magic in history," Dorian sighs. "It was a long shot anyways."
"Do you think we could get them anyways?" Maxwell asks, looking entirely serious. "I mean, they're only roped off, how hard can it be?"
Finn looks alarmed, and Dorian thinks he sees Solas set his book down on the other side of the room.
"Nononono, no, Max, let's not," Finn protests, nearly knocking over their chess game with enthusiastic arm movements. Max frowns.
"It isn't fair for them to keep information from us, Finn," He insists.
"I don't want detention!"
"I didn't say you had to do it!"
At this point, Dorian thinks it's time to step in.
"I'll just try to find copies over the Christmas holidays, it's fine," He says, hoping to cut things off before Finn starts hyperventilating or Maxwell compares anything to his muggle primary school. Finn looks immediately relieved, but Max doesn't seem any happier.
"Alright then," He mutters, and for a while, that's the end of it.
*
Vivienne isn't really one of Dorian's friends, even if they do chat a bit in classes the Ravenclaws have with the Slytherins. She's never written him at home before. It's an awfully flowery message, but it condenses pretty easily into a single sentence.
Maxwell touched something in Knockturn Alley and is currently at the hospital for emergency curse removal.
He gets similar owls from Hawke and Finn before Felix can escape his father and come over to the Pavus estate.
"Should we bring him something?" Felix asks softly as they get ready to Floo over to Saint Mungo's. He's been treating Dorian like a fragile thing since he arrived, and Dorian isn't sure if he's more annoyed or grateful. The worry is eating away at his insides like a parasite.
"Is he even awake?" Dorian asks, mildly horrified when his voice breaks halfway through. If Felix notices, he doesn't comment.
"Hawke said he was," Felix says.
"Stupid git's probably too excited about meeting that many healers to care about much else," Dorian mutters angrily. He isn't surprised when Felix reaches over to give his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"Let's go, then," Felix says as he grabs a handful of Floo powder.
Maxwell is fully conscious when they get to his room, but the damage is obvious. An eerie green glow follows the veins in his left arm, with a slash of light across his palm so bright it shines through the bandages. The room smells like a dozen different potions have been spilled in it.
"Dorian!" Maxwell calls out to him when they've made it to the doorway. His voice is raspy and there are dark circles under his eyes.
Dorian finds himself overwhelmed by a spike of worried anger and relief. The relief wins out and he hurries across the room to sit on the edge of the bed. He takes hold of Max's uninjured hand.
"What did you do?" Felix gasps as he walks into the room, staring openly at Max's arm. Max laughs weakly.
"Turns out Borgin and Burkes sells less rare necromancy books and more cursed artifacts. Not my best Christmas shopping expedition."
Dorian's stomach turns over. Sweet Merlin, Max was looking for a gift for him.
"Bloody moron," He mumbles, squeezing his friend's hand tightly.
*
By the time they get back to school, Max's arm is looking much better. The angry green outlines have faded from his veins and the glowing palm can be hidden with bandages.
The healers say he's going to have a scar for life, and it's a coin flip on if the light will ever completely go away. Max is taking it in stride, cheerfully showing his hand to anyone who asks.
Dorian is conflicted on the whole situation. Maxwell had taken a stupid risk and he should really be taking the consequences more seriously. If he doesn't learn from this, what's stopping him from doing it again? On the other hand (no pun intended), Max did it for him. Just thinking about it makes Dorian feel a bit lightheaded. He's starting to get worried about his Maxwell-induced heart palpitations. The whole thing is suspiciously similar to the way Hawke's cousin Daylen talks about Morrigan.
The idea that he might fancy a boy is terrifying. That would add a thick layer to his father's growing disapproval, or at least another secret to the pile. But it's hard to deny it when it's staring him in the face.
Literally.
Maxwell's always had an issue with personal space, but Dorian is now hyperaware of the way he gets right up close when he wants your attention. Dorian could count freckles, he could kiss him.
"What?" Dorian asks, always wary of a smile that bright before breakfast. Max isn't even fully dressed, his tie draped over this neck instead of knotted. He'd been quite excited about the owl scratching at their window.
"You know how I met that healer at the hospital?" Max says, and Dorian nods. She'd been older than Dorian's parents and very talkative.
"How could I forget? I've never seen anyone willingly explain elfroot storage in that much detail."
"Brilliant, isn't she? I'm hoping she'll mentor me someday-- Not my point! She did me a favor!"
Maxwell takes his hands out from behind his back. He's holding a thick, old book entitled 'Undoing Death'.
"Sorry it's late. Merry Christmas!"
Dorian is struck speechless. He takes the book in his hands like it's made of glass.
"I-- thank you," Dorian says, incapable of anything more complex right now.
Maxwell smiles like sunshine and Dorian's fate is sealed.
*
"Do you suppose we can fail retroactively if our predictions don't come true?" Maxwell asks anxiously over a cup of tea he's trying to read. Dorian looks up from the textbook.
"Maybe that would be fair at N.E.W.T. level, we haven't even taken our O.W.L.s yet," He assures, and Maxwell snorts.
"I'm still not used to the cute acronyms for life-ruining exams."
Dorian shakes his head.
"Felix says muggles aren't much better."
"I have my doubts about that muggle studies class. I've seen Merrill try to dress like a muggle, you lot have no idea what you're doing."
That gives Dorian pause.
"When did you see Merrill in muggle clothes?"
"She visited over the summer. I introduced her to video games, it was great fun."
Dorian struggles to swallow the stab of jealousy. He and Maxwell are closer than Max is to Merrill.
"Ah. You hadn't mentioned that."
"Oh, right. Um. My parents said my friends can come visit if they'd like, but I know your parents are, um. Weird. About the muggle thing, I mean."
The discomfort in Max's voice is obvious, and Dorian feels a bit sick. Dorian can hardly spend a weekend in the muggle countryside. His father would never allow it, and Max knows that.
They drop the topic.
*
"Let's get together over break."
Dorian gets a thrill of victory just from getting the words out. They've just finished their divination exam and found a place to sit out on the grounds. Max is plucking blades of grass and tying them into knots, quiet but peacefully so.
"Huh? Oh-- uh, yeah! That sounds great!" Maxwell says, his voice getting louder as he goes along. His whole face lights up, then rapidly twists into worry.
"What about your dad, though?"
Dorian's given this a lot of thought, and he has an answer prepared.
"We'll meet at Diagon Alley, spend the day there. Maybe show your sister around?"
That was not the prepared answer. Well, the first part was. Offering to bring Evelyn was a panicked suggestion upon realizing this sounded like a date. Still, it was clearly the right suggestion. Maxwell is beaming at him.
"That sounds wonderful."