Chapter Text
Chapter 10
Crowley dissociated into the distance as his potion bubbled into an unflattering brown, he'd hardly noticed before he heard a bellow from behind him "MR CROWLEY!" he jolted upright "THIS IS THE THIRD TIME YOU'VE WASTED MY INGREDIENTS TODAY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!" He glanced down at his cauldron witnessing his creation. The muddy sludge rippled and bubbled, it smelt foul like if a cigarette could sweat. This was by far the worst of all 4 of his batches to cure boils, he was pretty sure it would probably give you boils 5 times worse than the ones you already had. He was trying to concentrate but could barely come up with a coherent thought, he could only focus on the little padlock in his pocket.
Strangely enough, it hadn't actually occurred to him that in the madness of hearing voices, a room appearing with everything he could ever need at that very moment and a near miss for an internal meltdown. That a lock with no key to be seen is a bit weird. He zoned out as the professor shouted at him, his hand involuntary shuffled towards his pocket, he picked up the lock and twirled it in his fingers, "THIS MAY BE YOUR LAST LESSON OF THE YEAR BUT THAT IS NO EXCUSE TO SLACK OFF" he nodded, she was now stood in front of him "DON'T NOD, SPEAK BOY" Crowley tensed, his shoulders felt like they carried the galaxy "yes Professor" he muttered, she turned furiously and the bell rang "Of you go then" she paced at her desk waiting for everyone to leave, he sat tentatively
"You too, off you go" he scurried off back to his dorm.
He threw off his robes and shirt and pulled on a more comfy jumper then face-planted onto his bed, he groaned before pulling out his phone and began to type
Crowley: Hi angel
Angel 😇: Hello dear!
He responded within seconds, Crowley almost thought he'd been staring at his phone waiting for him to text him.
Angel 😇: How was your day?
Crowley: A bit strange
Crowley: Are you home yet?
Angel 😇: No we're driving home right now
Crowley: Did you find anyone to sit with on the train?
He had been worried that Aziraphale might be sat on his own the whole train ride, luckily he'd found some friends to sit with.
Angel 😇: Yes! I sat next to Michael
Crowley: Who?
Angel 😇: Michael? She's in the journalism club
Crowley: Not a clue
Angel 😇: I'm home now It feels like it's been years *attached photo*
Crowley opened the image, Aziraphale was all cuddled up with his teddy bears filling the shot, he blushed, he couldn't help it. after some consideration he typed a response.
Crowley: Looks comfy :D
Angel 😇: It is
Angel 😇: Do you have any more classes today?
Crowley: luckily not
Angel 😇: do you want to call?
Crowley: Yeah :)
They both rushed to call the other first, Aziraphale won.
"Hello!" Aziraphale waved obnoxiously
"Hi" he turned to see if anyone was coming through the door before removing his sunglasses and placing them next to him. Aziraphale's face lit up, he loved seeing Crowley's eyes no matter how many times he felt comfortable enough to take them off the feeling never got old.
Aziraphale's mother poked her head around the door "hi love who're you talking to?" He looked over his phone "just a friend, do you need help with anything?"
"Can I see her?" She assumed he had a female friend because, to be honest, Aziraphale had only ever had female friends before. "Would you like to meet my mother?" He directed the question at Crowley to give him warning who was grinning widely with his glasses back on.
He scoffed "yes please, Hi Mrs Fell!" Aziraphale sighed "I'm just going to give you the phone" he passed the phone over and she let out a loud gasp and covered the phone camera before mouthing 'he's a boy?!?!'
'of cause he is?' Aziraphale mouthed back, little did either of them know she'd missed the camera and Crowley had seen what she was mouthing, it felt weird but he wasn't sure why.
His mum gave the phone back and they continued to talk for a while before Aziraphale had to leave to get some preparations done in time for Christmas, Crowley waved goodbye and hung up. Suddenly a wave of exhaustion flooded through him he changed into a pair of more comfortable joggers and layed his head for just a second.
Ffffwwwuuuuuupppppp
He could see the large tables in the great hall, he was sat around Anathema, Newton and Aziraphale they were all laughing but he couldn't hear it everything was so loud but so silent. Fwwwwuuuupppppppp a gush of wind spun him round and round. He was in a forest it was dark and hard to see, but he could make out one person, Aziraphale. He looked over towards Crowley, his clothes were ripped and mangled, he held a forgiving smile. A green flash manhandled Aziraphale into a tree. Crowley's eyes widened in horror. Fffffffwwwuuuuppppppp
He was knelt over a pile of fabrics, in between the folds and cresses hid a key, he picked it up. Ffffwwwwwwwuuuuuuppppppppp
He could feel the wind running through his hair, he was flying on a broom enjoying himself out of nowhere he felt a on sharp pain his shoulder throwing him off his broom he pelted towards the sand, before he could hit the ground he flung himself upright. He awoke in a cold sweat, shaking, all his dorm mates were peacefully slumbering. His stomach roared it felt like it was eating itself alive.
He composed himself and stumbled quietly out of the dorm he found his way to the common room. He could only feel the pain in his stomach, "is that you Crowley?" He flinched and looked behind him, Anathema was sat with a book in the dark. He nodded, "why are you up?" She asked
"Hungry" he replied "I'm making toast, you want any?"
"Yeah please" she stood up and walked over to help. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread while Anathema grabbed two plates, he placed two slices in the toaster, "you have them I'll do mine after"
"No it's ok I only want one" he grabbed the butter "Crowley nobody's seen you outside your room in hours" she looked concerned, "have you even eaten since breakfast?" he checked his phone 'bollocks' he thought to himself, it was half 3 in the morning. Ping
"I guess not" he reluctantly placed the toast on his plate, she handed him the knife and watched as he meticulously spread the butter. They sat down on one of the sofas "Are you going back upstairs?" She asked
"Probably not" he had only finished one of his slices before pushing away his plate while they talked.
"It's 5:30 I'm gonna go get changed" Crowley sauntered up the stairs back to his dorm and pulled on a red flannel with a grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans then went back to join her, Anathema was already changed "what's that in your hand?" He looked at his hand
"It's nothing, just a lock I found" he twirled the lock in his fingers "Does it have a key?" She walked over to examine the lock, she felt weirdly curious by it "I don't know I found it in the weird empty room in the main block"
"The what room?" She scrounged through her brain looking for a similar room in the castle
"The empty room, next to charms"
"Strange" Anathema reached into her pocket "I found this yesterday" she pulled out a silver necklace.
Just then a first year girl walked down the stairs "what are you doing?" She question while rubbing her eyes "just talking" he replied, she sat down across from them and started scrolling on her phone. "Can I look at that?" He gestured to Anathema's necklace, she nodded and passed it over. He slowly examined it, he ran his thumb over the slim chain and down to the gem "its a magicians claw, it's said to improve perception and 'guide you in the right direction' whatever that means" he handed it back "where'd you find it anyway?"
"I saw it in a plant in herbology"
"And you pocketed it?" He said in a judgmental tone, she nodded "when did you learn so much about stones?" He shrugged "can I see the lock again?"
She fiddled with the lock "so you found this in a strange room with no key in sight?"
He nodded "haven't you tried opening it with a spell?"
"Of course I have, I'm not stupid" he glared "I think I need to find the key" he put the lock in his jean pocket. "In a castle this big? Your joking right?" Her eyebrows raised,
"Can I ask why you both feel the need to open a lock that isn't even attached to anything?" The girl piped up, looking away from her book.
They obnoxiously turned to stare at her, "I heard about a mirror, in the forbidden forest, that shows you the location of what you want" she closed her book "if you can't find it" she quickly added, "how about.." Anathema smirked "we turn this into a competition. First one to find the key wins, if we give up we have to go into the forbidden forest and find the mirror." She paused for his response,
"Deal."