Cursed

Effie charged Ianto for the cedar and phoenix feather wand, and then they immediately engaged in a friendly debate regarding the basilisk horn wand that Ianto had destroyed.  Naturally, he wanted to reimburse her for it, but she felt that was nonsense and told him so.

“Ianto, my dear, I do appreciate the offer, but I believe I already intimated at how uneasy that wand made me feel.  If you had made a good pair, I would have gladly sold it to you, but quite frankly, I find it a relief that it has been destroyed.  Truly, my dear, you did me a service, there.”

“Well,” Ianto replied grudgingly, “only if you’re sure.”  He still felt responsible for the destruction of the wand, but he believed her when she said she was relieved to be rid of it.  The iron-bound wand box had been a bit of a clue, after all.

Both men gave Effie a hug, and they made their way out of her shop, hand in hand.  They were surprised to find that the entire process had only taken two hours, or so.  As they exited Ollivander and Stone, they spotted Harry across the way, sitting on a bench, eating popcorn.

“The real question of the day,” Ianto said, smiling at Jack, “is how many snacks Harry was able to fit in, while we were wand shopping.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Harry grinned, balling up his now empty popcorn bag and tossing it in a bin as they walked towards George’s shop.

***

Jack was in heaven in the joke shop.  And Ianto felt more like a parent than a partner when he told Jack he could pick out three things, and they would make their purchases before they left.  Jack gave a squeal of joy and scurried off, and with mischievous grins, Harry and Ginny trailed after him.

Luna took Ianto by the hand and led him to one of the back rooms, which had been converted to a tea parlor.  It was a place George and his staff could retreat to when on break, and a place to entertain, as he and Angelina had to obtain a permit each time they wanted to expand their flat with an Undetectable Extension charm.

In general, George eschewed rules, but he approved the idea of a permit, which involved having a professional come in and make sure that the charm was solid and stable.  No one would want that spare room to collapse in on itself, after all.  But the process took inordinate amounts of time, so for now, their parlor for entertaining was downstairs in the back of the shop, in a previously unused work room.

The room was filled with comfortable, overstuffed chairs, and in one of the corners sat a tea table large enough for them all.  George was setting the tea things onto the table as they entered the room.  He looked up with a smile and crossed the room to give Ianto another hug.

“Mate, it is so good to see you.”

“You too,” Ianto said.  “I know it’s p-probably strange,” he added, stammering a tiny bit.

George frowned, not taking his meaning until he realized that Ianto was talking about… well, everything.  “Oh, don’t worry about that,” George reassured, pushing the issue aside as though it were nothing.  “You forget that the wizarding world sees energy as well as physicality.  You’re still Neville,” he said, but then shook his head, to correct himself.  “Actually, you’re not.  But you’re still my friend.  And even if you look different and sound different and even think different, you don’t remember different.  Right?”

“No,” Ianto said, his voice quiet, “I remember everything.”

“Well, there you go, then,” George said, clapping him on the back.  “You look knackered.  Have a seat.”

“I’ve been sitting all afternoon,” Ianto chuckled, although he was willing to admit that the wand-finding had been somewhat taxing.

“So how was it?” Luna asked, and Ianto laughed.

“I do wonder if it’s the wandmaker’s remit, to make the process as terrifying as possible.”

George and Luna laughed.  They busied themselves with their tea, and after a few quiet moments that were exactly what Ianto needed to regroup, Jack came bustling in, telling him about all of the wonderful gags he had found in George’s shop. 

“Did you pick your three favorites?” Ianto asked, and George blinked.  He would understand in time that when it came to joke shops and a few other things, Jack was just a big kid, and his exuberance needed to be managed accordingly.

“Yeah, but I was going to ask where I can get some galleons,” Jack replied, obviously not wishing to narrow his selection down to just three items.

“We’ll come back sometime soon,” Ianto promised, and Jack heaved a sigh and began considering which three items he would select, and whether he might be able to convince Ianto to allow a fourth.  (He would.)  He had found several dandy gags that would be perfect for Owen.

“Oh, that does remind me,” Ianto said, clicking his fingers.  “George, do you still sell chocolate frogs on the side at all?”

George toyed with the linen on the tea table.  “I’m not supposed to,” he said.

“So can I get a case?” Ianto asked, unfazed by George’s answer.  He turned to Jack.  “I think Myfanwy would love them.  Oh, wait.  I need dark chocolate ones,” he clarified to George.

“It just so happens, I may have an extra case of dark chocolate frogs in the back.”

“George!” Ginny scolded as she entered the room.

“What?” George asked, trying to look innocent.  Harry and Luna made a point of ignoring the conversation.  It was a poorly kept (but tolerated) secret that George maintained a small inventory of sweets in order to experiment for new gags.  If he happened to sell some along to friends at cost, it was an extremely low-priority violation.  The Ministry chose to turn a blind eye, though George’s permit applications did tend to find their way to the bottom of whatever pile they were in.  George found that to be passive aggressive, but preferable to the fines.

The group enjoyed their tea and had a lovely chat.  While they had been waiting for Ianto and Jack to arrive, Luna and Ginny had wrangled George’s story from him and had shared with him as much of Ianto’s as they felt was prudent.  Much to Ianto’s relief, conversation flowed freely without the awkward questions that he didn’t have the energy to answer.

After a pleasant visit, they decided to be on their way.  Ianto was flagging, and though he was pleased with everything that they had accomplished for the day, he had to admit he was very tired.  Ginny, Luna, and Harry apparated with Ianto and Jack to Ianto’s flat, once they paid George for their purchases. 

As promised, Luna pulled out her wand and headed for the bedroom as Ginny opened windows in the living room and Harry headed for the kitchen.  Ginny followed him, and Harry left a few minutes later to make a quick run to the corner shop to get in enough essentials to last them the next few days.

Ginny cleaned the refrigerator and cleared out anything that was stale in the pantry as Luna changed the sheets on the bed and opened windows to help enliven the stale atmosphere of disuse that had fallen over the flat during Ianto’s extended absence.

Jack had sat Ianto on the couch, and he made sure to stay with the younger man so he wouldn’t be tempted to help freshen up the flat.  As they watched the bustle of activity around them, Jack put his arm around Ianto.  The younger man leaned into him and quickly nodded off.

Harry returned twenty minutes later with milk and all the makings for a week’s worth of full English breakfasts and some assorted sandwich fixings.  Ginny put the food away as Luna attempted to work the washing machine.  Ianto had wakened, and now he prompted Jack to help her.  He rather liked those sheets, after all.

Ginny and Harry fixed tea as Jack helped Luna start the washer with Ianto’s sheets.  She had already found the other bed linens and made the bed back up again.  By the time they all returned to the living room, Ianto had nodded off again.

“I suppose it has been a very full day for him,” Luna remarked, though her expression showed her concern.

“You’re right, this is the most active he’s been, since everything,” Jack agreed, setting their minds at ease.  “He won’t mind if we have our tea without him.”  So they sat and chatted, and Jack told tall tales about Ianto’s search for his wand.  Well, they sounded like tall tales, but every bit was true.

Ianto’s ease and joy were still providing Jack a great deal of pleasure.  When he sat on the sofa, Ianto unconsciously curled into Jack’s warmth and put his head in his lap.  Jack carded his fingers lightly through the younger man’s hair, eliciting the occasional sleepy purr of approval. 

The others chatted as they finished their tea.  Harry agreed to bring Susan the next day to check on Ianto.  She had promised that she or another Healer would probably visit every day until it was time for them to go to Hogwarts, where Madame Pomfrey would watch over him and monitor his progress.  It spoke to their care and concern that they were being so thorough, but after the long, hard road his recovery had taken, they were unwilling to leave anything to chance. 

Ianto woke again just as they were finishing their tea, and he embraced all of his friends before they left.  He and Jack decided that breakfast for dinner sounded very tasty.

It was a fairly well-kept secret that Jack was an excellent cook, and he fixed them a lovely meal that they thoroughly enjoyed as they talked about the events of the day.  As soon as the others left, Ianto had pulled out his wand, and it sat before them on the kitchen table as they ate.  He could barely take his eyes off of it.

“Do I need to be jealous?” Jack asked, a smile quirking his lips.

“Maybe,” Ianto replied demurely, knowing he was being silly, but he truly was enamored with his new wand.  “I just…  I didn’t remember this,” he said.

“Didn’t remember what?”

“This feeling.  When I got my… my other wand,” Ianto replied.  “It just feels so…  I can’t describe it.  It’s…  It’s like that feeling you get when you run for the door and it’s about to rain, and you make it just in time.”  He paused, then shook his head.  “No, that’s not it.  It’s like when a Weevil has you, and you’re holding your own, but you don’t know how much longer you can fight it off, and then someone comes and knocks it off of you.” 

He hesitated.  “But also, it’s like the feeling I would get when I’d visit my gran, and the only thing better than the smell of the chocolate chip biscuits coming out of the oven was the taste, all warm and gooey, with a cold glass of milk.”

He thought a bit more.  “And it’s that feeling I had when you came back, after Abaddon, and you kissed me.  And for maybe ten minutes, the world made sense.”

As he had spoken, Jack had taken his hand, twining their fingers together.  Now he brought their joined hands to his lips so he could kiss Ianto’s knuckles.

“It’s like Effie said,” he realized.  “The wand is helping you to anchor your magic so you feel safer now.  More in control of it.”

“Is it ridiculous that I feel this terrified?” Ianto almost blurted.

“Why do you feel terrified, Love?” Jack asked, though he knew the answer well enough.  He had been sensing it all day.

“There have only been a few times that I have felt like this,” Ianto confessed.  He looked at Jack and smiled.

“Can you tell me what you mean?  How are you feeling?”

“Safe,” Ianto replied.  “Warm,” he added with such a look of relief that Jack laughed.  Then he gave Jack a shy smile.  “Loved.”

Jack was certain that Ianto had only admitted that because he could cite his friends’ attention and care if Jack panicked over the near-declaration.

“And I know we’re in my flat,” Ianto went on, “but I feel somehow like no matter where we are, it’s like I’ve come home.”

“Wow,” Jack nodded sagely.  “I can see why that would be scary for you.  Is it that you don’t trust it?”

“It does feel a bit soon for trust,” Ianto replied, and Jack was impressed by the honesty. 

***