Work Text:
Fred left when they were in their third year at Hogwarts.
Change of plans, he had said. Dad got a good job somewhere else. He wants to move, so I’ll attend Durmstrang.
Logan, as well as Oscar, knew what it was like to leave. To leave the sunny and warm climate, to join a society so unfamiliar and strange. From America to Britain, from Australia to England, they had much in common.
It was just getting better. Oscar, Fred, and him. They were tied to the hip, never branching out, always huddled closely together.
“Can’t you stay?” Oscar asked. It had been the most anguished he looked in a long time. Eyebrows creased, mouth flattened into a thin, unhappy line. Logan hated it when he looked like this.
No. I wish I could. He had said, sorrow evident in his eyes.
They said nothing after that. Oscar seemed to have accepted it, a defeated look in his eyes. Logan sat in Fred’s bed that night.
“Have a good stay at Durmstrang.” He says suddenly.
Fred looks up from his magazine. He never reads magazines.
Yeah. He had said softly.
Oscar never showed much more emotion than regret in his eyes, but Logan cried in Fred’s arms that night.
Maybe that was the difference between them.
Then, Fred was pulled out right after Easter.
-
And maybe that was when Oscar had enough.
He had slipped right by Logan’s hands. Maybe Logan hadn’t noticed. Maybe Logan had secretly let him.
Logan was introduced to Lando. Lando Norris, one of the star players in Gryffindor, is an amazing duelist and a master at Defence of the Dark Arts. He seemed to slot into Oscar’s side perfectly.
“He’s an idiot. The potion made a gurgling sound and just seemed to die right there.” Oscar had described their failed attempt at Antidote to Common Poisons. “But he gave me a sugar quill, so it’s okay.”
Sugar Quills. Hogsmeade. Logan’s parents hadn’t signed his papers.
“Cool.” He cleared his throat. They were sitting in the Ravenclaw Dormitory, chatting as usual. Usually, they’d have to join Fred’s and Oscar’s bed together to fit three people, but…there weren’t three people. There were only two.
“Oh, and he’s friends with George. And there’s this guy, Carlos–I think he’s Spanish or something. They have something strange going on–Lando and him. I think they–”
Logan may have slightly drifted off into his own planet. He’s sitting on Mars, or something, watching as the stars blink back at him, twinkling happily in the dark.
“-and Max and Charles. I have no clue what’s with them, but–”
“Osc, have you done the Care of the Magical Creatures homework?” Logan’s suddenly reminded. New classes mean a heavier workload, which means he’s been actively struggling. Maybe Oscar and he can find a possible excuse to fuck off towards the Forbidden Forest, maybe to find Professor Webber to ask about the assignment–
“I did it with Lando.” Oscar frowns, looking at him with a slightly bemused expression, probably for bringing this up randomly.
Oh, yeah. Lando Norris. Who doesn’t even take Care of the Magical Creatures? Who’s Oscar’s latest friend. Who he just met, a week ago, alongside all his new friends, when Logan’s known Oscar for two and a half years–
“Sorry.” He says. “Continue.”
His stomach twists, and the taste in his tongue is sour.
-
Logan sits, at the bleachers, as Oscar zips through the air with a quaffle in his hand, dodging all the bludgers that are aimed at him.
Quidditch season was upon them, with Ravenclaw’s dominance unmatched, partly due to Oscar himself. He had joined, just this year, but was wrecking through all the teams like he was an experienced quidditch player reborn.
Logan’s sitting in the bleachers, alone. Last year, he’d be sitting with Fred and Oscar right beside him, sipping on some pumpkin juice, watching the match unfold.
He watches as Oscar scores his seventh goal.
Logan wonders how Oscar achieves such greatness in a short period. In his first year, Oscar had topped the board with Os dotting all over his report card. When it had happened, his parents had brought both Fred and Logan out for dinner, right after school had ended. They sat in a quaint muggle restaurant, sipping on milkshakes, as Oscar buzzed with excitement, and Fred and Logan followed right alongside him.
Even after, when his parents had berated him lowly in the car with If Oscar could do it, so can you , Logan hadn’t felt an inch of resentment. Because that was how spectacular Oscar was. He was one to be remembered, to be up with all the stars that twinkled right back at Logan.
The Match ends in Ravenclaw’s victory. Logan rushes down to the pitch, ready to congratulate Oscar.
His teammates slap Oscar’s back, ruffle his hair, and almost kiss him, for god’s sake, cheering in triumph. Ravenclaw had ended Gryffindor’s dominance and for good. Logan stands at the side of the pitch awkwardly as the players file out, as he waits for a familiar brunette to turn his head and walk over.
“Osc!” The only remaining Gryffindor player on the pitch envelops Oscar in a bone-crushing hug. Curly hair, tanned skin, and a toothy grin indicated that the boy was Lando Norris.
“Lando, you did great–”
“Oh shut up, you muppet, it’s your victory,” Lando says firmly, and Oscar laughs, loudly. The both of them giggle, and Lando puts an arm around Oscar’s shoulder, dragging him out of the pitch. The both of them are half stumbling as they pass Logan, making their way to the Great Hall.
“Party in the Ravenclaw Common room tonight?” Lando says as he walks by.
Logan stares at the both of them. Oscar just completely ignored his presence as he walked by. Well, maybe he hadn’t noticed, but Oscar didn’t notice him. Which was…
Logan lets out a laugh. What was he doing? He was supposed to be congratulating Oscar, not self-wallowing in pity because Oscar had friends . He laughs again, at the absurdity of the situation, his voice sounding even more bitter.
Great. Just great.
He trudges back amongst all the other students, who are laughing and buzzing with excitement. He feels so numb, like his legs could collapse under him in a second, as he could just lay down and die and decompose, as the earthly critters swallow him whole, as his body writhes with maggots and ants and worms that crawl through him, in and out. As he lies under the stars, as he watches them and they watch him back.
“Come on, we’ve got to congratulate Oscar!” A voice says and shoves him aside as two people rush out of the crowd of students. Logan studies them. He swears Oscar has mentioned the two of them before…George and…Aaron, was it? He can’t remember.
Logan doesn’t eat. Instead, he goes to his common room and hides under the covers, as his breaths get harsher under the lack of oxygen. The darkness that blankets him, that dulls out sounds and makes everything go quiet. He can almost fall asleep when the door unlocks and laughter echoes around the room.
“Who’s that?” A voice asks. Probably his roommate.
“That American guy. The one that couldn’t hold a wand in the first year, remember?” The other answers, and they both laugh.
The door shuts.
Logan unearths himself, sitting on his bed. His breaths come back to him. He hadn’t realised he had been holding them in.
-
He finds himself in the Ravenclaw Dormitory. Pure instinct, he assumes. Logan grabs a drink and a butterbeer. He holds it like it’s his saving grace.
The common room is filled with people, bodies pressed against each other as they jump to the beat, skin to skin, sweat to sweat. Logan stands at the entrance, trying to find some way to find space in a place that gives none.
And out of a corner, Oscar squeezes out. He’s laughing, a sheen of sweat on his face, eyes crinkled as he smiles.
Then he sees Logan.
“Lo!” He says, smiling brightly. “What are you doing here?”
“To celebrate your win, what else?” Logan smiles. “How’s it going?”
“I’m tired,” Oscar admits. And that’s one thing about Oscar that will never change. “Do you want to join us? Me and my friends are just chatting on a couch.”
“I…” Logan’s smile turns awkward. “Uh, who?”
“Idiots, that’s who they are. Lando, George, Alex. Max and Charles were there, but I suspect they’ve probably snuck off to kiss or something.”
“I…” He looks at Oscar. “Maybe not. I don’t really know anyone…”
“It’s okay, they won’t bite,” he laughs.
I know they won’t. He thinks, in his head. “I think I’ll just turn in for the night.” He says. “I’m tired, too.”
“Okay, see you tomorrow.” Oscar smiles. And he leaves, disappearing right back into the crowd.
Logan won't ever say he missed Oscar and Fred. But oh boy does he wish things were as they used to be.
Logan stares, for a few more seconds, before leaving.
He takes the bottle of butterbeer with him.
The dormitory room is empty, as usual. Logan uncaps it, drinking the butterbeer down.
It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep.
-
The next morning, Logan wakes up with a disastrous headache. He wishes he never woke up. Next time, he’d get two bottles.
He goes down for food. When they were younger, Oscar and Fred would meet Logan at the top of the stairs at the Great Hall, and they’d descend to the Hufflepuff table, eating toast and bacon and whatever they wanted, smearing jams and peanut butter onto each other’s faces.
That day, as Logan heads down, he sees a group of students huddled around the Gryffindor table. One of them stands out. One of them is Oscar, who’s laughing right amongst them.
And maybe Logan let him go. Maybe Logan distanced himself as well when Fred left.
Logan looks to the sky. No stars.
He’ll just have to wait for when night falls again.