Chapter Text
I.
The Great Hall was dressed for the occasion, the usual four long rustic wooden tables had been replaced by small fancy circular tables with luxury linen and ornate chairs that were accommodated at the sides, leaving space at the center for the dance floor. The magical sky projected a spectacle of northern lights of ever changing colors, looking like strobe lights in a disco club. In the front and center was a stage, where later in the evening the popular band Imaginari Dracones would be performing.
From the ceiling was falling magical fake snowflakes that would burst into glitter and then disappear once they reached the floor or touch any surface or dancing student. Jayce was among the group of students that were dancing in the ballroom, with him was Mel Medarda, looking stunningly beautiful in a white and gold dress. Jayce was also wearing a white suit, with details on gold, and a red cloak. Red and Gold were the colors of his family emblem, house Talis. Ironically the colors made him look like a Griffyndor student, when he was in fact a Ravenclaw.
Knowledge, intelligence and creativity were the principal traits of a Ravenclaw student, and Jayce was definitely defined by those qualities, but he was also kind, charming, good at quidditch, and a long list of positive characteristics that had earned him the title of “The Golden Boy” of Hogwarts. Mel Medara didn’t fall behind, she also had a reputation of her own. She was clever, cunning, ambitious and a natural leader, as expected from a Slytherin student. She was remarkable and exceptional and all professors liked her. Mel was from Noxus, which was something that made her even more interesting, since all the students from Hogwarts were from Piltover or Zaun. Together the two sixth year students were the perfect power couple.
As they were dancing, Jayce let his thoughts wander while looking at the fake snowflakes. He found snow fascinating and somehow terrifying at the same time. When he was a kid, he got lost in a snowstorm with his mom. The chilling cold was intense, cutting inside their clothes and making their bones shiver and ache. Eventually his mom fell unconscious as he helplessly called for aid. Out of nowhere, a sorcerer appeared and rescued them, teleporting them out of the storm to safety. To any kid who had grown up into the wizard community this would have been something normal to occur. This was not the case for Jayce. This was the first time he learned magic existed, and was immediately captivated by it. Later he would learn that he was a wizard too, and not only a wizard but a member of the Talis family.
Long story short: His father fell in love with a muggle woman, his mother. The Talis were outraged by the news since they were a family of ancient and pure blood lineage. They disowned Jayce’s father. His father died when he was a kid. He got lost in a snowstorm. A wizard saved him. He discovered that magic was real and beautiful. His grandparents showed up one day at his house. He was a wizard. He learned that magic was real, and running through his veins and he thought it was the answer to all the questions, and that he could help everybody, and save everybody. The possibilities were infinite and endless. Spoiler Alert!: They were not.
Turns out there were rules, laws and limitations about what you could do and could not do with magic. For example, Jayce’s father could not be brought back from the dead with magic, since necromancy was considered a practice of dark arts and was illegal, and even if it wasn’t, the probabilities of completing such a task were really low. To bargain with death and try to open the doors of the unknown usually ended in terrible horrors. Another important rule was that it was prohibited to perform magic in front of the muggles (people with no magic), so there it went the idea of using magic to improve lives and help everybody. And then it was the most recent disappointment: magic could not save everybody. Jayce’s best friend Viktor was at this moment at the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts instead of at the winter break party. He was sick, and he had been for a long time. They have tried all potions and spells and nothing seemed to work. The idea of losing him was similar, or maybe even worse than the desperation he felt in the snow storm. Unable to see was ahead, with the air turning every second more thin, and cold and sharp. Suffocating his lungs and breaking his bones from the inside.
- “Jayce, it’s the third time that you've stepped on me!”- Mel called him out, which made him snap back into reality. There wasn't any annoyance or reproach in her tone of voice, in fact it was warm and concerning.- “Are you ok?”.
He sighed, and let his head fall over Mel’s shoulder. There was no point in avoiding the question, or pretending he was fine. Mel always had the ability to read him so easily.
- “It’s Viktor”,- He mumbled from her shoulder. “I’m sorry”.
Mel took his head between her hands, and placed it in front of her, making their eyes meet.
- “You don’t have to be sorry. The fact that you are here even after how difficult these past days have been to you. I would have not blamed you if you didn't show up, and I won't hold it against you either if you want to leave now”.
- “I’m sorry” - he repeated, which made Mel lower her eyebrows. He took her hands from his face, kissed them and then kissed her gently on the lips as goodbye- "Thank you for understanding" - He said. And walked out of the dance floor and from the party.
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Viktor was at the Hospital Wing. Normally the students who would get hurt or ill would have been placed in one of the many beds that were aligned across the room, but since Viktor's presence was every time more continuous and repetitive he had gotten his own special room with all the accommodations that made it look like his regular bedroom at the dorms.
He was still awake, sitting on his bed reading a book about runes. Runes were the new path that he and Jayce were following in their pursuit of finding a cure for Viktor. The theory was the next: Spells were made of magic words, but because no spell seemed to work, they needed to find a new combination of words, the perfect words, maybe not event words, but something more ancient and raw. A symbol or a sign, something that will unlock the knowledge that had been avoiding them for so long.
His reading was interrupted as he heard someone knocking at his door, he recognized the rhythmical pattern immediately.
- “Come in!”- He said out loud.
The door opened and from it Jayce emerged, wearing his fancy clothes and carrying a silver plate with some food, sweets, treats and two glasses of butterbeer that he had taken from the party. He placed it carefully on a nearby desk, making room among Viktor’s scrolls and annotations.
- “Nice, you are awake!”- Jayce finally said.
- “Did the party end so quickly or did I stay up so late?”- Viktor asked, confused about the presence of his friend, who he did not expect to show up that night.
- “On the contrary, it’s just starting. And we are definitely staying up late”- Jayce replied playfully as he offered one of the glasses to Viktor.
Viktor closed the book that he was reading and took the glass. He drank almost half of the liquid in just one sip, it felt nice to finally taste something different to the nauseating potions that he had to drink to improve his health, and somehow made him feel better than any of the potions could. When he lowered his glass, he observed Jayce staring right at him.
- “What?” He asked.
- “Oh nothing, you can have mine too”- He said smiling while pointing at the remaining glass on the desk.- "I have missed you so much" - He added while approaching Viktor, sitting by his side at the bed and placing his arm around his back and his hand on his shoulder.- “I was really hoping that you were able to make it to the Ball”.
- “Professor Heimerdinger didn’t allow it, he and the nurses are still having reservations about the new treatment. But maybe this weekend we can still go visit Hogsmeade” - Viktor offered as a consolation.
- “Still, I don't like that you are missing out things. That’s why I decided that I am bringing the full experience to you!. Come on, get up!.” - Jayce stood up off the bed almost jumping, placing himself in front of Viktor. He took the glass from Viktor’s hand, placed it back into the silver plate, and forced Viktor to stand up too.
- “Jayce…”- Viktor tried to protest but he knew he was not going to win, whatever idea that was crossing Jayce’s mind was surely going to be completed.
- “First of all, those are not clothes for a Ball”- He said while looking head to toes at Viktor, who was wearing pajamas. - “Let’s fix that!.”
Jayce proceeded to remove his red cloak and started dressing Viktor with it. He tied the buttons and adjusted it the best he could, considering it was many sizes bigger for him. The cloak also had golden details that matched with the amber eyes of Viktor. Even if it wasn’t the right size, he kinda looked good on it, Jayce thought.
- “Now you are ready to dance!”- said Jayce. And he turned on a radio that was on the bedside table. It looked like a regular old transistor radio, but it was in fact magical. It was an old project that he had made with Viktor. One of their favorite pastimes was to mix magic with everyday items. They had enchanted the radio to play music based on the emotions of the user or the mood in a room, like the score soundtrack on a movie. Viktor usually used the radio while studying or reading, or when he was making a new invention with Jayce and they needed to focus, so the radio would play music that would keep them motivated and on track. Jayce taped it with his wand and the radio started to play a joyful but slow tune.
- “Surely you planned a lovely evening”- Said Viktor sarcastically- “but too bad that I don’t dance, Jayce.”
- “I do, it’s easy” - Insisted Jayce- “I’ll lead you”.
- “I need my cane for walking, how am I supposed to dance with a cane?!”- Protested once again Viktor.
- “You can lean on me, use me as your support. I’ll hold you”. - And while saying this, Jayce passed his arm around Viktor's waist holding him firmly and drawing him close.- “See?”
Viktor wanted to protest again, but before noticing and almost like a mechanical response he had placed his arm on Jayce’s shoulder- “Sure, whatever”- He finally said, and let out a little laugh.
They began to dance. At first they were moving stiff and slow, pacing carefully as result of the limitations of the space in Viktor's bedroom, and also the limitation of his leg. But as the music played and they carried on dancing, they started to feel more comfortable. Laughing from time to time, every time they stepped on each other. Spinning faster as the music rushed too. Finally the music was soo fast and they both lost balance and fell to the ground. As they were falling, Jayce managed to move his body in a protective way, making sure Viktor didn’t hit the ground but landed on top of him instead.
Jayce was laying back on the floor, with Viktor on top of him, still laughing. His cheeks were flushed, and his hair was messy. He looked so alive and gleeful in contrast to the past days that it made Jayce's heart shrink. As they were trying to incorporate, their faces were just inches away, facing each other. A sudden need crossed Jayce’s mind, he felt the urge to kiss Viktor. The thoughts rushed his head,-he was his best friend, would this ruin their friendship? What about Mel?-. But he was just in front of him, looking so beautiful, and he had missed him so much. Fuck it, fuck everything. He was going for it.
But he went too fast, too nervous and too hard.
- “Ouch!” - Viktor cried- “You know, I’m sure there are less violents ways to tell me to move”.
He had headbutted Viktor.
Viktor rolled to the side and sat on the floor, with his back against the bed. Rubbing his forehead.
- “I’m so sorry”- Jayce apologized. And rushed to sit next to Viktor, trying to check on his friend.
- “I’m fine”- Viktor dismissed Jayce’s gesture and chuckled- “If that big air head of yours is what 's finally taking me out, then my health is worse than i thought.”- He tried to joke, but the joke didn’t land.
The mood in the room switched, as so did the music playing, to a somber melancholic sad tune. Jayce had been trying to keep the sinking feelings at bay, but Viktor trying to make a joke about it, just opened the doors. Viktor’s health had been the one thing in his mind not only all night at the party, but since two weeks ago when he had found Viktor lying unconscious in their dorms, with blood on his face and barely breathing.
Usually Viktor would go in and out from the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, due to his frail health. But this time had been different. First of all he had never been that unconscious, he may faint sometimes, but he’d regard consciousness almost immediately. Viktor was not waking up and the medical personnel at Hogwarts were not making any progress. It was even discussed to send him to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, but moving him seemed risky in his condition. Finally a commission of healers from St Mungo’s came to Hogwarts to treat him. During all this time Viktor’s condition was reserved and Jayce had been kept in the dark about it, no matter how much he pleaded to Headmaster Heimerdinger.
-Fuck- Jayce muttered, as he realized that the magic radio that they had enchanted was doing exactly what they had enchanted it to do. He waved his wand at it, and turned it off.
They were sitting next to each other, with their backs resting in the frame of Viktor’s bed. Jayce rested his head against Viktor’s shoulder and let his façade fall.
- “When I found you, the way that I found you, I thought that you were… and then they brought the healers from St Mungo’s, and nobody was telling me nothing. All this time I’ve been so scared of not knowing, and even more terrified of the news that I could receive.” - Said Jayce, his voice was trembling but he continued - “And everybody was talking about the fucking dance, like it was important. But for me everything was frozen and nothing felt real. I was just going through the motions. And Mel insisted that I should clear my head and I got this stupid suit. And I’ve been hating myself and everybody else because how could life continue when you were just fighting for yours. And this afternoon they told me that you were awake, and I still went to that stupid dance. And when I was there I realized that you deserved to clear your mind too so I decided that I was bringing the party to you, and that you should have a fun time and now I am ruining it, because I am here rambling about how miserable I have been when you were the one that was in fact dying”.
- “Jayce…I - I’m sorry I didn’t know you were so worried”- Viktor was lost for words. They had always been inseparable, but still he hadn’t imagined that Jayce felt so strong about him.
- Viktor, you don’t have to feel sorry. Nothing of this is your fault. You are my best friend, of course I've been worried about you.
-Well for what it's worth, I am fine now. I mean the healers still want to wait some time to be sure. But I feel good. It was just a scare, you don’t have to be worried anymore. - Viktor’s voice was firm and calm, in contrast with Jayce’s. He placed his hand above Jayce’s hand, rubbing his thumb against it in a reassuring way. He also let his head rest against Jayce's head.
-Jayce was usually the one who was always initiating any physical contact, it was unlike it for Viktor. Yet Viktor was right now the one reaching for his hand, and soothing him. Something was definitely up. But Jayce wanted so badly to believe that the danger had passed, so he did.
- “So, Hogsmeade this weekend”.- Jayce said.