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George and Alex were in DEEP shit. That much was certain.
"What did you do!" George screeched at Alex.
"He is going to kill us." Alex groaned in return, hands pressed against his face. A soft chirping noise interrupted their struggles, the little finch on the floor between them flapping its tiny wings impatiently.
"Do you think he can understand us?" Alex asked, kneeling down on the floor and holding out his hand for the small bird to hop on to. The finch did just that, before harshly packing Alex's fingers. "Ouch!" The Thai exclaimed, pouting. George sighed and knelt down too until he was at eye level with the bird.
"Lance… can you hear me?" He asked. The finch puffed up his chest indignantly and pecked George on the tip of his nose.
"That's a yes." George muttered awkwardly. "We're sorry Lance, we didn't mean to curse you." he added in a mumble. The finch hopped around grumpily, flapping his wings and chirping at the two men as if he was telling them off.
"George, you need to reverse it!" Alex said in a panic, holding the bird out to the other man. George winced and took a deep breath, reciting the reverse curse.
It did not work.
"That always works! Why does it not work?" Alex groaned. George started pacing the room.
"Checo is going to kill us!" He huffed. "He told us only to help Lance practise the mending curse!' He added. Alex huffed.
"You were the one to challenge me to the transfiguration spell!" Alex answered sharply. George raised an eyebrow, seeming unimpressed.
"I told you to change the vase into a bird, not Lance!" He bickered. Alex folded his arms over his chest to glare at George, Lance quickly hopping onto Alex's shoulder. The little finch chirped loudly and pecked Alex's ear, clearly agreeing with George.
"He stepped in the way!" Alex defended himself loudly. Lance puffed up his feathers, clapping his wings against Alex's cheeks. George tutted and let the finch hop onto his head, gently petting the soft feathers.
"I know, I don't like him yelling either." George cooed at the little ball of feathers. Lance chirped more happily now, leaning into George's touch.
"Don't team up on me!" Alex huffed. "We all need to work together if we want to solve this without involving Checo!" He added.
"Why would you not involve me." Checo spoke up, the Mexican walking into the room. "I'm a delight to be around.." he added, frowning at the too young man. George had hid his hand with Lance the finch behind his back, both Alex and George looking at the short Racing Point driver.
"Checo! Back already?" George squeaked out. Checo narrowed his eyes.
"Si. Need Lance, we have a meeting." He said slowly, looking around the room. "Where is Lance." He asked. Alex and George shared a panicked look.
"He ehh… went away." George said. Alex nodded fervently in agreement.
"He had to leave to go… flirt with Esteban." He blurted out. Checo's frown deepened.
"I told him not to flirt with Esteban! He is the enemy! A Renault driver now!" Checo grumbled, stomping his feet on the floor.
A very offended chirp sounded loudly through the room. Checo stilled, his anger forgotten.
"What was that?" He asked.
"My new ringtone." George answered with a nervous smile. Checo stared at him.
"Why are your hands behind your back? What are you hiding?" He said suddenly, hands on his hips. George swallowed thickly, glancing at Alex for help.
"Your birthday present?" The Thai tried desperately. Checo scoffed.
"It's not my birthday for months. Show me what you're holding!" He said grumpily. George looked at Alex, who slowly nodded. George sighed and brought his arm out from behind his back.
"...Do you have a new pet?" Checo asked, looking at the little bird. The finch chirped and clumsily flew over to Checo, perching on the Mexican's shoulder. Checo squeaked a little and tried to sway it off.
"I hate birds." He grumbled. The finch let out a sad noise and flew onto Checo's head, settling down in the man's hair.
"That eh… that finch is actually Lance." Alex mumbled. Checo frowned.
"What is finch?" He asked, not understanding what was going on. Alex sighed.
"I accidentally turned Lance into a bird." He mumbled. Checo drew in a long breath.
"You did what?" He cried out, grabbing the bird off his head to look it over. Lance the finch chirped sadly, wings twitching a little as he hopped back and forth over Checo's hand.
"We tried to reverse it, but nothing happened." George said. Checo took hold of one of Lance's wings, moving it up and down a little as he inspected it.
"What spell did you use?" He asked, the more senior driver/wizard seeming more than exasperated. Alex swallowed thickly.
"Just a regular transfiguration curse. It was meant to hit the vase, not Lance." He mumbled, blushing a deep pink. Checo hummed.
"And what did you use to reverse it, George." He said, now poking at Lance's beak. George swallowed thickly.
"A general reverse curse." He said with a shrug. Checo sighed deeply, putting Lance the finch on the table.
"You are both stupid." He grumbled, Lance nodding his little bird head in agreement. George frowned.
"What? Why?" He muttered. Checo rolled his eyes.
"You used a reverse curse on a transfiguration spell" Checo said in exasperation. "Of course it does not work!" Both younger wizards blushed now.
"...we hadn't thought of that." Alex admitted. Checo rolled his eyes again.
"Of course you didn't." He snorted. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, muttering something under his breath, and with a pop, the finch was gone.
In the finch's place now sat a very grumpy looking Lance, who was glaring daggers at Alex and George.
"You turned me into a BIRD!" he exclaimed, waving his arms around. Alex smiled awkwardly.
"We're very sorry, but you jumped in front of the spell…" he started. Lance angrily folded his arms over this chest.
"Bird!" He exclaimed again. Checo tutted and walked over, patting and squeezing at Lance's cheeks a little.
"You are absolutely fine." He soothed. Lance was still grumpy, eyeing Alex and George wearily. Checo turned to them now.
"Apologise." He said firmly. Alex and George both bowed their heads.
"We're very Lance." they muttered. Checo nodded his head approvingly.
"Good. Now if you don't want to be transformed into goldfish-" Checo threatened, "-you better leave fast." He grumbled.
Neither Alex or George had ever ran faster in their lives.