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“Is it just me, or does Eddie seem extra stressed today?” Hen questions when she walks into the kitchen.
“He’s stressed,” Buck comments, barely looking up from the book he’s reading.
Hen raises her eyebrows at Buck. “May I ask why?”
“Tomorrow’s September 1st,” Buck tells her, finally looking up from his book, placing the book beside him. “Which means Christopher will be going to Hogwarts for a whole year. Eddie’s stressed and worried.”
“Ah,” Hen nods. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“So if you can, please be nice to him today,” Buck says softly.
“Of course. I can only imagine what he’s going through as a parent. I know Karen and I will be going through the same thing when we send Denny to his first year at Hogwarts,” Hen says.
“I don’t even want to think about sending Jee-Yun away to school,” Chimney pouts.
“Well, luckily you still have a long way to go before then Chim,” Hen chuckles. She looks over when she hears footsteps and sees Eddie walking into the area, looking pouty. She raises her eyebrows as she watches Eddie make his way over to Buck and plopping himself next to him, curling up in his lap.
Buck chuckles. “Okay. Make yourself comfortable, babe,”
Eddie huffs, resting his head on Buck’s lap. “Cap gave us the day off tomorrow,”
“Oh. That’s good. How’d you manage that one?” Buck asks curiously.
“Cap says I’m being pouty. I’m not being pouty,” Eddie grumbles.
Buck barks out a laugh. “Babe, you’re so being pouty. You’ve been pouty all day. But, it’s okay. It’s not easy for you to send your child away to school for a year. Think positive. Christopher is excited to go to Hogwarts, and he’s going to have a butt load of fun with the other students.”
Eddie pushes himself up, sighing. “I know he’s going to have fun, but you can’t blame me for being worried. He’s never been to school like this before, let alone a magic school. What if he gets made fun by other students because of his CP? Or, what if he gets hurt? I won’t be there to help him. Nor will you.”
“Well, if I find out our son is being made fun of, I will personally walk to Hogwarts and kick anyone’s ass. Eddie, you know I will,” Buck says, grinning when Eddie rolls his eyes fondly.
“Yes, I know you will, and I appreciate you for that. However, I don’t think the school would be okay with you kicking any of their students' asses,” Eddie says, raising his eyebrows at Buck.
“Well then, maybe they should make sure their students aren’t bullying our son,” Buck retorts, huffing.
Eddie huffs out a laugh, and shakes his head. “You are ridiculous, Evan,”
“You love me,” Buck grins, leaning over to kiss Eddie’s cheek.
The next morning, Eddie finds himself even more stressed than he was before.
Today is the day Buck and Eddie are sending Christopher off to start his Hogwarts experience. He’s starting his first official year, and will be gone for a whole year. Eddie is a complete mess. Buck’s upset that Christopher will be gone for so long, and the house won’t be the same without him there, but he’s excited that Christopher has a chance to go off and do some fun magical things. He’s a young wizard, after all.
“Do we have everything?” Eddie asks as they’re in the living room.
“Babe, we triple checked his list to make sure that he has everything he needs. We have to get going, or he’s going to miss the train,” Buck urges, grabbing a hold of his suitcase.
“Well, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing for him to miss his train,” Eddie mumbles.
“Eddie, Christopher’s excited. He wants to go to Hogwarts. You would really take that away from him just because you’re going to miss him?” Buck asks, raising his eyebrows when Eddie glares at him. “Just saying. We’re going to see him on the holiday’s, and Christopher promised he would write letters.”
“It’s not the same,” Eddie sighs sadly. “Christopher! Come on, we have to get going!”
“I know it’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing,” Buck reminds him. He looks over and grins when he sees Christopher walking out of his bedroom, all dressed in his uniform. “There’s our little wizard!”
“Bucky,” Christopher whines at the nickname. “I’m not little!”
“Oh right. Sorry. You’re a big, strong man now. Aren’t you?” Buck chuckles. “Are you ready to go, bud?”
Christopher nods. “Dad, do you have my wand? I can’t find it!”
“Yup. I have it. We don’t need you losing it before you get to Hogwarts,” Eddie says. “Come on, let’s go.”
Eventually, they make it to Kings Cross Station, where they’ll be dropping Christopher off at platform 9¾. Eddie is quiet, Buck notices, and he knows exactly why. He knows Eddie’s stressed, and anxious.
“Alright, we’re here Christopher,” Eddie says after they’ve walked through the barrier. He glances around, seeing how packed and busy the train station is, full of young wizards saying goodbye to their familiar.
“The train!” Christopher squealed, pointing up at the train.
“Hey,” Buck says, bending down to look at Christopher. “I know you’re excited, and we want you to have as much fun as possible. But, you have to promise you’ll be careful, and listen to your professors.”
“I know. I have to follow the rules,” Christopher pouts.
“Rules exist for a reason, bud,” Eddie chuckles. “You know you’re different from most of the other students, so you need to be extra careful, and tell your professors if someone is being mean to you.”
“I know,” Christopher says, looking up at Eddie. “We’ve already been over this, dad.”
Buck huffs out a laugh. “Alright. I think we’ve kept you waiting long enough,” he says, reaching forward and gently pressing a kiss to Christopher’s forehead. “We’re going to miss you.”
“Yeah, we are,” Eddie says softly, bending down to pull Christopher into a warm hug. “But, I know you’re going to have a lot of fun. We’ll see you on Thanksgiving, okay? Write to us as soon as you can.”
“I will dad,” Christopher groans.
“Hey, be easy on your dad,” Buck warns softly.
“Alright. Let’s get you on the train,” Eddie says, grabbing Christopher’s suitcase. He looks back at Buck, who gives him a nod. He knows this is a big moment for Eddie, sending Christopher off to Hogwarts.
Eddie walks Christopher over to the train, helping him up onto the train, and handing him his suitcase. “Christopher, make sure you try and make some friends,” he says.
“Thanks dad,” Christopher says, and he hesitates, before leaning down and hugging Eddie tightly.
“Oh,” Eddie melts into the hug, before pulling away and taking a step back.
“Bye Bucky!” Christopher shouts, waving to Buck.
Buck grins, and waves right back to Christopher. “Be good, Christopher!”
Eddie slowly walks backwards towards Buck, keeping his eye on Christopher as he goes into the train, and stops when he’s beside him again. He sighs as he stares at the train.
“You didn’t cry,” Buck points out, looking over at Eddie.
“Nope, I didn’t cry,” Eddie says, and instantly feels tears forming in his eyes. He points, and rests his head on Buck’s shoulder. “I’m gonna miss him, Buck.”
“It’s okay,” Buck whispers, gently wrapping his arm around Eddie comfortingly. “He’ll be okay. We wouldn’t have sent him to Hogwarts if we didn’t think it was safe for him.”
Eddie slowly nods. “I know that,” he looks up at Buck. “Can we go home and cuddle?”
“Of course,” Buck chuckles, gently kissing Eddie’s forehead. “Of course we can go home and cuddle.”