Light Speed... [Oscar]

[oscarpeterson]

The fact that Seth never seemed to rush Oscar hadn't gone unnoticed. He just needed time to mull things over, that was all. The "things" varied in each situation, but nine times out of ten it was just gearing himself up to talking. After twenty years of near silence it was a little difficult to break the habit. Most people just got impatient waiting for Oz to get the words out, which made him all the more grateful to Seth. Seth - the amazing Seth. It was hard to believe that Seth was his friend sometimes. Oscar didn't doubt that he would do anything for Seth - seen as how he'd done so many wonderful things for him.

The grin that grew on Seth's face was infectious. He nodded in reply to his, "Awesome," then followed him into the packed pub. When they got in he almost regretted his desicion - there were so many people! But he steeled himself and reasoned that it wasn't anyone he hadn't seen before. And he was used to this amount of people - even more! - just in not such close confines. He felt like every school child there was whispering about the pair of them having entered together - he could have sworn he even heard the school paper's name. "Why should you care?" He asked himself, "Seth is your friend, stop wigging out at the slightest thing!"

Self-scolding, now that was new. A slightly baffled look crossed Oz's face as he followed Seth's bee-line for the bar. Rather than focus on his new revellation - if one can call self-scolding a revellation - he turned his attention to the bar worker Seth was headed for. It was the skinny brunette who they were headed for. Oscar got the sense that he'd seen her before, and remembered that he probably had. Seth had mentioned her being at Hogwarts whilst Oz had worked there.

He stood back, taking off his coat and keeping hold of it, as Seth and Jazmyn did their brother-sister thing. The caretaker would have kept his coat on, had it not been so sufficatingly warm in the Hog's Head. It was all those extra students, filling up the room with hot air as they gossiped about who knows what. Looking round, he saw students plotting and planning their attempts to get fire whiskey. None of them would succeed, Oscar imagined that pubs were stricter on their ID enforcement on Hogwart days.

Because he'd turned away to let Seth say his hellos to his sister, Oscar didn't realise that Jazmyn had spoken to him until she'd spoken again. This time, offering her had out. Oscar blushed a little, feeling a prize idiot for not paying attenion. "Ur..." He took her hand to shake before he could get his words out. "Hi. I'm Oscar." He mumbled a little, feeling a little nervous around someone new. Once again, he was grateful that Seth was standing right there - else there'd be an Oscar shaped hole in the wall from where he'd run through it. "Asked me what yet?"

His confusion got the better of him. It was always moments like that when he spoke without thinking. Oz's eyes went between Seth and Jazmyn as if he were watching a tennis match. Sibling banter was a lost concept on him - his brothers and sisters only spoke to him when they absolutely had to! Never mind in jest and playfully. It made him sad almost. Sometimes he wished his siblings had been nicer people, then maybe he wouldn't have so many issues.

"Christmas?" Nerves made Oz's voice shake. That would mean one more new person. And... But that was the thing. Meeting one more new person was the only reason Oscar thought of against going. The pro-list was far longer than the con-list. Which was insane! "Well, urr... If your ma says it's ok... then, I guess..." He rambled on, mumbling as he fiddled with his hands. This is stupid! Give a straight answer for once! That inner voice scolded him again. He didn't know how or why, but it worked. Oscar tore his eyes away from his fingers, looked at Seth and said, "Ok. Yes, I'd love to spend Christmas at yours." Ok, so a couple of the syllables had been omitted due to faltering confidence, but he hoped the picture was clear enough.

[Jazmyn Hevulen]

Jazmyn looked between her brother and his friend; they really were one in the same. For so long Jazmyn had known her brother to be this anti-social silent type that only ever spoke to people he had known for years. And what she knew about Oscar, he was pretty much the same. But she could see this new found confidence in both of them. She couldn’t help the small smile that spread across her face, ”Nice to meet you, Oscar,”

As Seth went off on one she grabbed a bottle of pumpkin juice from the fridge beside her, popping the lid and placing it on the bar in front of him. He didn’t notice, but he would eventually. Like he would spill everything about the match. After she had asked her question, she raised her eyebrow at him. He was useless. He had sent a letter to their mother ages ago and he still hadn’t asked? She knew they spent a lot of time together, he had had plenty of chance.

”Foot in mouth sister” Jazzie fake laughed and hit Seth up side the head, before leaning on the bar and turning her attention to a panicked looking Oscar. For a second she was worried, not knowing the caretaker in the way her brother did. She had half expected him to blow her fluffed haired kid brother off with an excuse. But this was Oscar, did he even know the meaning of the word no? Mum wanted to know? Jazmyn thought to herself keeping her laughter in. She had been briefed by Seth before hand. She knew what she was allowed to and not do.

She had know her brother to be nervous, but was he blushing? She couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her face. She’d carried that look many times before – and they weren’t Seth’s gloves, his were brown with lizards on them, she’d gotten them for him the Christmas before. She wouldn’t say anything to Seth, at least not now. She’d tease him about it later. Jazmyn looked at Oscar waiting for his answer.

She smiled when he accepted; he had struggled to say it confidently. She knew it was probably harder for him to even be in the pub, so many people and a new person he was being forced to speak to. ”Awesome,” she said, unaware she was quoting her brother, ”The house of Hevulen will be your new home,” she commented, ”D’you wanna drink?” she asked, grinning at Oscar.

[Seth Hevulen]

Rushing Oscar would never get Seth anywhere. He had to let Oscar take his own time over things, just gently pushing him that little bit further each step he took. If he didn’t wait for Oscar then he would push him into a regression of the new behaviours that Seth had helped him to learn over the last months. But then, taking things slowly and being mute weren’t new to Seth at all. He had spent most of his time at Hogwarts in silence, hiding in books in the library. Knowing he could help him was something that got Seth up in the morning. Knowing he would see Oscar in the library, or in his office or just in passing in the hallway. The moment Oscar greeted him without prompt always brought a smile to Seth’s face.

Seth knew that taking Oscar into the pub was a massive step. He expected to make it to the bar with nobody by his side. It didn’t help that there was an abundance of Hogwarts students. Seth was beyond caring if they talked about it. They were friends; they had as much right to be with each other as any of the other groups of friends. Why shouldn’t they get to see each other when they wanted? They were good friends, and – Seth hoped – it wouldn’t affect their relationship. He checked over his shoulder as he reached the bar, just to make sure he was still there. He was. Seth sighed in relief.

Knowing Oscar had remained with him he turned his attention to his sister. He knew he could speak a lot when it came down to it, talking to Jazzie was something of a revelation for Seth, he actually spoke to her a lot. When he stopped speaking, he noted that Oscar had pre-occupied himself, something he often did, and now he had introduced himself without so much as a prompt from Seth. Stopping his jaw from dropping was a feat in itself. Oscar was speaking to somebody he had never spoken to before.

Seth was nervous, he knew it would be better for Oscar at House Hevulen than at his own home. He would certainly have a better time of it, and his family (see: Jazzie, Seth and their Mum) would treat him with the respect he deserved. They wouldn’t look down on him for being a Muggle, they were all Muggles at heart. Seth would have been happy enough to go back to his life without magic. He could live life as a herpetologist. He couldn’t see himself doing much else, even with his magical abilities.

The smile that grew on Seth’s face when Oscar confirmed that he would ‘love to spend Christmas’ at their house was indescribable. ”Really?” he blurted out before thinking about it, ”Great! We can organise details later,” he said, as Jazzie spoke. New home might have been a bit strong, but if Oscar wanted to stay with them for more than just Christmas Seth wouldn’t be complaining. It would help him in his quest to bring Oscar out of his shell, ”You’d be staying in with me; we only have three bedrooms, so yah know. Is that okay? It wasn’t that much more of a step from them spending every free hour together, they would just be sleeping and waking in the same room as well.

Drinking from the bottle that Jazzie had given him automatically, he looked to Oscar to see if he would use his new found confidence to ask for something. Something he never did. But then the last five minutes had shown a lot of things that Seth had never thought he would witness at this stage.