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Jon was running through the castle’s corridors, he was late for potions class, even if the professor wasn't as strict as others lecturers he knew that if he wanted to get a decent grade he needed all the time at his disposal to accomplish the potions, when he entered the classroom all the looks were on him, what made him feel self conscious.
“Well, since mister Kent is the only one standing I’ll take that as him volunteering. Come here, young man”
The boy walked shyly until he was in front of the steaming cauldron.
“Now, tell us, what do you smell?”
“Uh… I think it is um… ink and parchment… something like iron… musk and acacia.”
“A very interesting smell. Do you have a clue what potion is?”
“Um… I believe I don’t know of any potion with all of those ingredients”
“Indeed, young man. Do you know why?”
“Ummm… No-uh”
“Maybe someone else has the answer. Another volunteer?”
Almost everyone lowered their gaze in a try to avoid the teacher's attention, just one boy remained with his gaze on the front, rolling his eyes knowing that everyone wanted to avoid going to the front of the classroom.
“Mister Wayne. Would you help Mister Kent with this?” the teacher insisted.
The boy got up from his chair and walked until he was beside Jonathan.
“What do you smell here?”
“It smells like sweet corn, straw, petrichor… and cow manure”
“A very different smell. Do you have a clue why it is a totally dissimilar scent from what mister Kent described?”
“I suspect that’s because of the nature of the potion?”
“Good. Would you like to elaborate?”
“I believe that the potion is amortentia”
“Excellent. That’s why. A love potion, but remember that love can’t be faked, so this causes an infatuation, more like an obsession. The reason that Mister Kent and Mister Wayne smelled different things is because the smell changes to what the receiver finds alluring. Ten points to Slytherin, the both of you can take a seat”
Before they could reach their seats the whole classroom was snickering, when Damian seated beside Collin he was teased.
“So cow manure. What a preference you have, very obvious hahahaha”
“Stop it” he grumbled.
Jon watched this as he sat beside Kathy, in the bureau behind them, where she whispered to him.
“He was not the only one being that obvious, you know. Acacia is not very common in wands”
That made him blush, without knowing it he disclosed his crush on his friend, of course that Damian would have a very distinct type of wand, and also his perfume with musk was not so common between other students.
Feeling mortified he hid behind his book the rest of the hour.
When the lecture ended he took his things quickly and walked out of the room in hopes that no one would notice how nervous he was, but just a few steps he heard someone calling for him.
“Jonathan” Damian’s voice called him and he stopped abruptly, he nervously turned around.
“D… Hi… Uh… I must go, I have another class and the professor is um… very strict. See you later” he turned around and jogged through the corridor, leaving the other behind, hearing the other grumbling something that let everyone know that he was angry.
Later that day, he stood nervously at the Great Hall entrance, even if he and Damian don’t sit at the same table it was the perfect moment for the other to approach him and talk about what happened at potions class, he surely was going to let him down subtly, or that was what he hoped for, maybe he would said him that he didn’t want anything to do with him anymore.
He was about to retreat to Gryffindor’s tower and skip supper, but he saw a few slytherins walking towards him, he didn’t took long to notice that the boy that he wanted to avoid was also walking towards him, so before the slytherin could see him he entered the comedor and jogged to Gryffindor's table and took a seat, while eating he didn’t look up, he knew that his friend was looking his way, but he wasn't ready to face the imminent reject, so he ate quickly and stood up to hurry up throw the corridors and reach Gryffindor's tower before Damian could reach to him.
Jon let himself fall on the mattress, he knew he only was avoiding the inevitable, but wasn't ready to face the reject of his best friend, to be fair maybe no one could be ready for that, but his feels for Damian were so strong, damn Jon loved him since kids, so maybe he was more afraid of what could happen to their friendship once Damian rejected him, maybe he’ll lose him forever, or Damian would make fun of him… no, Damian wasn’t someone that would make him feel bad about that, the first option was more possible, that made him feel an immense anguish, and with that thought in his mind he fell asleep.
The next day he woke feeling tired, sighing he got up and got ready to start his day. He hoped that his friend didn’t search for him to address the matter. His first class was boring, and he almost fell asleep, but the rest of them passed in a blur. He was relieved that on Fridays they didn’t share any classes, so he didn’t have to put much effort in avoiding him.
He walked feeling more calm into the quidditch pitch, flying relaxed him, being meters above the ground feeling the air on his face, thinking only of maintaining himself in the air, leaving behind all his problems. Practice time was a relief to him, he didn’t think once about the imminent rejection that awaited him, he descended with a goofy smile on his face.
Katy was watching the practice from the ground, so he landed near her and sighed happily.
“You really are in your element while flying,” she said cheerfully.
“Well, flying was one of the first things that my father teched to me, he’s a great flyer. He passed on to me his love for the air, I love feeling the clouds, and the smell like rain”
“You mean petrichor,” his friend said while raising her eyebrows playfully.
He passed saliva feeling like he swallowed a stone down his throat, remembering that his friend was in love with someone else, and now that everyone knew about it, it wouldn't take long for the mysterious person to reveal themself and get together with the Wayne heir, because honestly, who could reject Damian Wayne?
He sighed once more, but this time with grief, he felt anxious just thinking about facing his friend at the dinner, but maybe if he could avoid him until he get together with whoever was his chosen person his friendship could remain intact, that way Damian wouldn’t have to reject him and he could nurture his broken heart in silence, being supportive of them and… being miserable.
“Why the long face so suddenly?” Kathy asked.
“Ugh. It 's just…”
“Kent!” the voice of his friend interrupted him.
Jonathan turned around and watched as Damian strode through the pitch in his direction.
“Umm… Hi Dame… Haven’t watched you since… uh… potions class”
“Yes, and not for my lack of trying!”
“Ah… Sorry Dame” he scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I have been… busy”
“Busy? You?”
“Yes, busy! You know, I have a lot of homework to do, and with the matches so near I need to practice and…”
“Lies!”
“What?! No… I’m… I’m serious… And… I think the captain is calling a teamback, so… uh… bye” he turned around and runned to the changerooms, where he hid until dinner time.
Once more he went to bed feeling sad and trying to decipher who was the person that got Damian’s heart, at least the next day he could distract himself in Hogsmeade, he promised Kathy and Jay, they probably will spend half of their day in Honeydukes buying lots of candies, trying to be optimist about it he fell asleep.
On Saturday he was happy walking through the path to Hogsmeade, breathing fresh air and laughing at his friend’s jokes he get to forget about his unrequited love, they entered a few stores to buy restock of supplies that they ran out, and then went straight to Honeydukes as they have planned.
Kathy and Jay went straight to the Every Flavor Beans, Kathy wanted to taste every flavor as the name said, while Jay loved the strawberry ones, sadly he got to taste some horrid flavors to find the one that he loved, Jon took a few candies and laughed from aside by hearing Kathy explain to Jay her plan to figure out which were strawberry flavored so he could give her the others, Jay was obviously seeing her with incredulity. After Kathy’s strange plan all their attention went to the Chocolate frogs, Jay was trying to choose the right one.
“There’s no way you can know whose card is inside”
“I know, but I tried so many times, so now I have to be careful about what frog I choose. I’ll never rest until I get miss Lane card”
“Ugh”
“You know I can get mom to sign her next article for you, right?” Jon was having fun with the situation.
“I know, but these cards are collectible, and Miss Lane’s is the only one that I don’t have”
“Maybe she is hiding from you,” Kathy jokes.
Jay talked back, and just like that they started a friendly battle, and even if Jon was having fun he still wanted to search for one of his favorite candies, so he left them to their thing and walked through the corridors, he went to the back of the store, where he could find some muggle candies.
He started humming while searching on the shelf for his favorite candy, they would probably be on a corner, since at that time of the year not many students would like to eat them. He turned around the corner of one of the shelves but he froze for a moment and then quickly moved backwards to hide behind the furniture. In the middle of the aisle was Damian,holding the only box of candy corn, Jon’s favorites.
He thought of making a joke, since the last time that Jon offered a few to him he rejected him saying that he disliked them, so Jon found it funny seeing him here buying a box for himself… unless… it wasn’t for him.
His friend mentioned sweet corn when he smelled the amortentia, so maybe Damian was preparing his proposal to the person he liked, and judging by what he was seeing the boy was making an effort, he felt a pang on his heart, trying to avoid facing him he jogged to where his friends were still bartering jokes.
“Uh…Are you alright Jonno?” Kathy was watching him from head to toe.
“Yes! I just…! You know what? Maybe I should go to take a table at the three broomsticks, or we wouldn’t be able to take a seat, you know they’re usually full”
“But you even haven’t pay your candies”
“Oh, yeah… right… um… I… I’ll put them in the basket, I’ll pay you later, so… see you there”
Both of his friends watched perplexed as he ran off.
Later they found him sitting on a corner nursing a butterbeer jar with a blank stare.
“Jon? Is everything alright?” Jay asked with clear concern on his face.
“I… yes”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”
“You have been acting weird”
“What? Pfft. I haven’t”
“Yes, you have!” Kathy said with resolve.
“Uh… well, maybe I’m a little stressed with the quidditch matches and the exams” he tried to sound apologetic.
“Um… If you say so” Jay didn’t seem convinced, but he knew that he would tell them when he was ready.
After that they started talking like always, joking and complaining about their homework, they were having fun, until the bell at the entrance sounded, and Jon, who had a direct view of the entrance, went rigid, his friends noticed instantly. Jon made eye contact with Damian, feeling caged he got nervous, so when his friend turned around to say something to his companion he got up.
“I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back!”
He runned away and once more hided, behind a column, with other customers seeing him weird he ignored it and watched as Damian went to the table they were sitting, there he said something to them and after talking a little he went to take a sit at another table, a few moments later he finally felt safe to go back to his friends.
“Hey. Are you sure you didn’t catch a bug? You really flew to the bathroom” Kathy said in a jovial tone.
“I… I’m all right”
“Anyways, you have plans for tomorrow? What about a…” Jay clearing his throat interrupted her.
“If you’re feeling sick you should go to the hospital wing and get checked. You wouldn’t want to waste the sunday being sick” the other male said to him in what sounded slightly like he was admonishing him.
“Uh… Yeah… I’ll go once we return to the castle”
“Good”
And with that the tension slipped away and the rest of the day passed in a blur.
Sunday morning was sunny and windy, the light smell of flowers blooming was hanging in the air, usually a day like that would be one of the happiest for Jon, but still with fear of being rejected and heartbroken he couldn’t enjoy it. Back from breakfast he saw a note on his pillow, he took the paper and noticed it was Jay’s calligraphy. The message was simple “Join Kathy and me at the Astronomy Tower at 2:00 pm for a lazy evening”, he sighed, he wasn’t in the mood to fool around, but it was better than staying rooting in his bed self-pitying, so when the time came he went there.
Going upstairs he heard one of his friends walking from side to side, like a nervous tic. He supposed that was Kathy, maybe she trapped him and Jay in a study session, since he was always lacking in Astronomy lessons.
How wrong he was. In front of him was Damian, in all the years that they knew each other Jon never had seen him nervous, well he couldn’t say Damian seemed nervous, but close to.
“Jonathan” he sounded like someone stole his breath away.
“Dame” Jonathan was now clearly nervous, behind his friend was a blanket and a picnic basket, with different dishes, in an obvious romantic gesture. “Sorry, I didn’t want to interfere” he was about to turn around, but the other stopped him.
“Wait! I need to tell you something. I…” for the first time in a lifetime Jonathan witnessed as Damian Wayne went speechless.
“You don’t have to say anything to me… I understand…”
“What. No, I don’t think we are on the same page. This is about…”
“About what happened in potions class. I know, Dame”
“Yes, the situation was not the best, and seeing your reaction I knew that…” Here it was, the rejection that Jon was expecting, but the pain on his chest was so strong that he thought that there was no way he could bear to hear all those words.
“Really… You don’t have to continue with this. I…”
“You have been avoiding me”
“I know, It’s just… I didn’t want to lose what we have! We've been friends since forever, and… that day, I didn’t know it was amortentia, if I knew it I wouldn’t have said it for everyone in the class to hear it.
His friend remained in silence for a few seconds.
“Do you regret it?”
“I… Sorry, please don’t hate me” he turned around and runned, he didn’t stop until he reached Gryffindor’s tower.
The rest of the day he passed it on his bed, nursing his broken heart.
The next day he woke up with a headache and puffy eyes. Skipping breakfast he walked slowly to his classroom, he entered and sat at his preferred chair, but it was out of inertia instead of a conscious action, he let his fatigue win and leaned his head on his desk using his arms as a cushion.
He was almost falling asleep when other students started to fill the room, but he didn’t raise his head until he heard someone take the seat beside him, then he tensed and slowly started to raise his head.
“Good morning” Damian’s voice saluted him from his right. Damian was there like always, perfect pose, eyes to the front and calm.
“Mor… morning” he said in a hoarse voice.
The rest of the hour Jonathan couldn’t focus on what the teacher was saying, instead he was hyperfocusing on Damian, he was conscious of every gesture of his hand while writing, but not even once he gave him a look.
When the lesson ended the young man only took his books and walked out while saying his goodbyes to the other without giving him a look.
Seeing the other's back retreating he felt a pang of pain in his chest , he quietly wiped the few tears that escaped from his eyes and went with the rest of the students to the next class.
At supper he sat in his usual place, facing Slytherin’s table, with Damian in front, but this time even if his friend was in the same seat he didn’t lift his gaze from his food, not even once. That only made it worse for Jon, he didn’t want their friendship to fall apart, but now even that was damaged. Kathy noticed that he wasn’t eating.
“Hey, Jon. Are you alright?” she made a pause waiting for him to answer. “Uh, I see. You’re so enamoured that you aren’t hungry. Ahh?”
“It 's not that, Kathy” he murmured in a dejected tone.
Her friend seemed confused, but then her face changed in a surprised expression.
“Damian didn’t…?”
“Ugh. Stop it Kathy. I didn't let him speak, it was not necessary, and my heart was already broken, anyway”
“What?!”
“Please, I don’t want to talk about it”
His friend swallowed nervously, but let it pass.
“Okay… But you still need to eat” she said to the boy, who only nodded and continued moping and looking miserable. “Here, I know that the taste it’s not the same as the one cooked by your grandma, but I think this could comfort you a little”.
She passed him a plate of creamy corn soup.
“Thanx, Kathy” he started to eat his soup.
While his friends went to the greenhouses, they wanted to walk a little and breathe fresh air, but he wasn’t in the mood, so he went directly to his room. He needed to fix his friendship with Damian.
Passing in the room he was feeling desperate and frustrated he was thinking how to proceed, and in a moment of resolution he knew he have to talk with him after all, maybe say to him that no matter what he will support him, even if he didn’t reciprocate his feelings, so in a hurry he opened his vault and searched for his enchanted galleon, the one that they used to communicate when they were still children, nervous to be in the castle, and separated in different houses.
He will send a message, asking to meet him on the seventh floor, in the Room of Requirement, where it used to appear for them as a childish den that they used to call the fortress of attitude.
He didn’t know what he was going to say to his friend, but he would figure it out.
He felt that his vault was so full with useless trinkets, his desperation getting the best of him, he took a boot and throw it to the other side of the room, he should have changed them in his sneakers before going to Hogwarts, that way he would have them getting in his way, he really needed to find the galleon.
Then he stilled, stopping what he was doing he remembered something, taking the other boot on his hands he remembered Damian teasing him on the train to Hogwarts, and the jokes that came after.
That day he started it with him helping on his grandparents farm, but time passed and he didn’t notice that he was late until his mother called him in, reprimanding him gently, then his father Apparate them at the station, where they gave him a rushed farewell and he searched for his friends.
Then when they seated at the compartment Kathy complained about a smell, then everyone was trying to find out where did it came from, until Jay noticed Jon’s booths and then the jokes started, everyone was teasing him, but he didn’t felt embarrassed until Damian called him farm boy, he haven’t called him like that since their fourth year in Hogwarts.
“Well, you know what they said. Save a horse, ride a cowboy?” Kathy butted in with that joke. Damian only frowned.
When he arrived at the castle he quickly changed his shoes, throwing his boots covered by cow manure into his vault.
Jonathan was there still holding his boot and gaping, he suddenly felt the most stupid person in the world. How didn’t he notice? And then when Damian wanted to talk he didn't let him. What if now Damian didn't want anything to do with him? Oh god. He had to make something, so he let the boot with dried cow manure fall once more into his vault and started running.
He stopped abruptly in the middle of a corridor, he didn’t know where was his friend, he tough for a few moments, trying to remember his friend’s routine, but from what he knew he could be wherever in the castle, so he run to the greenhouses, hoping that Jay or Kathy have seen him.
He stumbled when he arrived in front of them, they were with Maya and Collin, all of them whispering, and they stopped when they saw him.
“Do any of you know where Damian is?”
Kathy opened his mouth but Collin covered her mouth with his hands.
“Why do you want to know?” asked Maya suspiciously.
“I… I’m so dumb. And I need to tell him that now I know what he means and clear all the misunderstandings" tuning his best puppy eyes he explained to Damian’s almost sister.
She watched him without changing her expression.
“He bought your favorite candies, persuaded the house-elfs to cook your favorite dishes and made a picnic on one of your favorite spots and you runned away” she sounded angry.
“He really did that? I didn’t know it was for me”
“So you think he goes around making big gestures for everybody? It sounds to me that you don’t know him at all”
“I was being BIG stupid, I was so engrossed thinking he didn’t like me that way that I didn’t notice all of that?
Maya just hummed, still hostile towards him
“Pleeeeaaaseeee” he pleaded.
She sighed and gave up.
“He’s at the lake”
“Thank you” impulsively he hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Then he almost dropped her just to start running in the direction she indicated, he felt euphoric when he spotted him throwing rocks into the water.
“D!” he noticed the other tense, but he didn’t turn around. “D. We need to talk”
“No, we don’t. You made it clear yesterday” he threw another rock into the water, but with more force than the others.
“I was just being stupid. I didn’t know that you wanted to talk about us… in that way. I… I thought that you were talking about someone else while smelling the amortentia, that you were in love with someone that I didn’t know, I didn’t realize that… that you were describing the way I smelled the day we returned to Hogwarts”
That made the other to turn and watch him with incredulity, only arching his brow in a motion to invite the other to continue.
“I only realized it a moment ago, when I was trying to find the galleon to send you a message, but my boots appeared first and then I knew that… that day you were disclosing your feelings just the same way I did and… and I’m sorry. I was so scared, I thought you’ll reject me and I’ll lose your friendship that I didn't let you talk and I runned away. I’m aware I was being so stupid, and if you don’t feel the same way after all of this I’ll be happy just being fr…” he was silenced by the other’s lip smashing with his.
They separated to breathe, giving Jon the opportunity to speak once more.
“So… you forgive me”
“Just shut up, farmboy” they kissed like the desperate and clumsy teenagers they were, Jon arms clinged to Damian’s neck, while the other held his waist in a tight embrace.
And Jon felt like floating.