Bond
“Do you have a game here that we could play?“ You've squirmed on a wooden chair several times in the last ten minutes. The wooden cottage you were both in was modest but cozy furnished. To your right was a small fireplace that kept the room warm. Next to it was stacked firewood in a neat pyramid. There was a shaggy rug on the floor, the walls were decorated with shelves full of books, and by the left wall was a bed that looked too much like a bird's nest. It was twice as big as yours with a mattress and a fluffy pillow. You didn't notice the blankets. At the last wall was a kitchen with a door that probably led to the bathroom.
Talbott gave you time to take a good look at his home, and when you looked at him again, he asked you to sit down at the table. As the right host he tried to be, he offered you something to drink, after which you asked for tea. Then you both remained silent except for a "thank you for the tea" and "you're welcome". You tried to figure out anything you could talk about, but nothing occurred to you - and so you got into a situation where you asked about the game.
“I have an old wizard chess set.“ Talbott rose from his seat across from you and walked over to one of the lockers from which he pulled the checkerboard. He was right, it was old - in several places the paint was peeling off the figures. Still, you enthusiastically reached for one pawn of each color and hid them in your palms. As you shuffled their position under the table several times, you pulled your hands over the table directly in front of Talbott.
“Choose one.” You said excitedly.
“You wanna play?” He asked you doubtfully. He didn't remember the last time he played chess with anyone. Or any other game. He had lived in the woods alone for several years, not having any contact whatsoever expect for the animals. He liked animals since they couldn’t speak and were loyal once you earned their trust. So the idea of playing a game with someone seemed to him weird but exciting.
“Duh. Unless you have a better idea how to kill time.“ You snorted at him watching as his hand reached towards yours, his fingers brushing against your palm like a shooting summer wind. Just like that you started playing. You definitely didn't consider yourself a master, but you knew the rules as well as a few clever moves. You used all the dirty tricks you knew and you won in the end. You watched with amusement how your knight blocked his king smashing it into pieces as his eyebrows cringed in obvious frustration.
“One more time.” He said, and before you could answer, he reached for all his figures and began to deploy them to their rightful place. A faint laugh escaped your mouth, yet you imitated his movements: “Do you want to lose again?” You teased him. He glared at you, pursed his lips, and growled, "I plan to win."
You just shook your head in amusement and watched him move his g-pawn up two squares. You knew he certainly wouldn't know a Fool's Mate - the move your friend Murphy beat you in five seconds when he first taught you how to play chess. And when he moved his f-pawn up one square you had him. He had made the same mistake as you once did - by moving his f-pawn he made a clearing to his king and you moved your queen diagonally, attacking his king.
“Checkmate.” You said sweetly and winked at him as he looked at you with a disbelieving look on his face.
“That’s not fair!” He exclaimed in bewilderment. The shocked look made you laugh hysterically. “How could you do that to me! You must have cheated. I'm requesting another game.“
“And why sould I do that? I won honesty.” You knew how frustrated he felt, but you enjoyed teasing him. You couldn’t help but stare at the way he pushed his lips out into a cute pout.
“Because...” You watched him try to come up with an acceptable reason for you to agree. The fact that seeing him enjoying himself was enough reason for you to continue, you didn't tell him. “Because... The loser will have to fulfill one wish of the winner.“ He said finally.
“Any kind of wish?“
“Anything the winner wants.“ He answers in the affirmative. This piqued your interest so with a simple "sure" you started the next game.
During your many games, you learned a lot about the handsome young man; he is surprisingly competitive, he had a relentless determination; the expression to give up did not exist in his vocabulary and he was incredibly receptive and clever. It was enough for him to see some move once in order to devise a way to defend himself against it. He never repeated the same mistake twice.
“HA!” He shouted as he surrounded your king leaving no opening to escape his rook. “Checkmate!” He tossed his hands triumphantly in the air, pumping his wists up and down in sheer excitement. A smile spread across your face as you saw his wide smile showing his teeth.
“Congratulations!” You applaud him and inhale for your next sentence: “So what is your wish?” Talbott raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“What I want? I owe you like what... Five wishes?” He scratched the side of his head while tilting it to one side. You waved your hand dismissively: “I don't even know what to ask you. Probably just an opportunity to play with you again someday.”
“Would you really want that?” He asks with obvious disbelief in his voice. The thought of him thinking so little of himself hurt your heart. Does he really think he doesn't deserve your time and attention? You have probably never met anyone with such a pure heart and a friendly nature to a stranger. Just what have happened to him to isolate himself from all humanity?
“Yes. I had a lot of fun with you which I haven't experienced in a long time.“ You answer truthfully, and with a painful sting in your heart, you watch a faint smile spread across his reddened face. He deserve so much more, you think.
“I had fun too. So if you really wish this... Consider it granted.” The whisper hesitantly leaves his lips, and though to anyone else it would seem like nothing more than courtesy, you know just as well as he does that it’s a promise that will fulfill. “You still have four more wishes though.” He didn't forget to add and with a pleasing feeling spreading inside of him he watched your face glow up with happines.
“No matter how many times you lost today, you eventually won. And that means I owe you one wish.” You watch his inner struggle take place in silence. He looks like he's in pain, so you're ready to tell him it's nothing binding, to not worry about it, when his gentle voice speaks first.
“Then... Stay here tonight. With me.” You stared at him stunned in surprise. His words played through your head like a broken spinning top. Did you hear right or is your mind playing tricks on you? When you didn't answer for a long time, Talbott panicked and quickly tried to find an excuse to correct his previous mistake. I crossed the line was the only thing he could think of now.
“I mean... The manticore is still lurking outside and it would be to risky... I mean to dangerous for you to go outside and its already past midnight and Hogsmeade is from here far away and whats more...“
“I would love to.” You jump into his frenzied speech. You watch a slightly surprised and nervous little smile appear on his face for a brief moment. For those few seconds, he looked like the cutest being in the world. However, his smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
“It's late, you should go to bed.” He utters while busiing his hands by putting away the chessboard. You watched him retreat, his broad back hidden by his massive wings.
“But what about you?” You ask ready to argue with him - by no means will you take his bed while he sleeps on the ground.
“I'm going to keep watch. Even though we're safe up here in front of the manticore, there are more dangerous creatures lurking outside this late at night.“ There is resistance in his voice that makes it clear he refuses to argue with you about this. He will overcome the short distance that divides you and will stand right in front of you, looking straight at you. Only now did you realize so closely how giant he really is. He was at least a head and a half taller - your body proportions are meticulous compared to him. You couldn't resist your wandering thoughts, imagining what it would be like to hide on his chest embraced with his firm arms. You're sure you wouldn't be even seen.
“So we will take turns. I'll take the first watch and you'll in the meantime catch some sleep.” You suggest, even though you knew from his relentless attitude, that he would vehemently reject your offer.
“No. Go sleep. Plus, eagles are nocturnal creatures. You don't have to worry.“ You felt the fatigue sign on you more and more, you couldn't help but yawn. “I know my bed doesn't look very tempting but I promise it's comfortable. I tried to create it just like I saw other birds do. I thought it was... appropriate. If you know what I mean.” He nodded toward his wings. You nodded in understanding.
“Thank you for everything you have done for me today. I really appreciate it.” You give him a sincere smile and you are happy to watch him reciprocate.
“Go on.” He ushered you to his bed and you watched him disappear through the front door into the cold evening. You lay down on his soft bed and was pleased to find that it smelled just like him. Your last thought was about Talbott and what you could do for him in return as a thank you for saving your life. You suppressed the fact that he was your target, not feeling quite ready to kill him.
You fell into the realm of dreams almost as soon as your head touched the soft pillow. Dreams passed you that night and you had a good night's sleep. You only came out of the dream realm once when you woke up because of the cold. However, before you could fully wake up and perceive your surroundings, a warm blanket as soft as feathers fell on you.
*Time skip*
In the morning you woke up accompanied by a soft clink of dishes in the kitchen. You got up and rubbed your eyes; Talbott stood with his back to you, preparing breakfast. You couldn't help but be happy about how domestic he seemed at the moment, unbothered and relaxed.
“Do you need help?” You cleared your voice yet it still sounded raspy. He looked at you and smiled involuntarily when he noticed how disheveled your hair was. “No need. Come eat.” He invited you and laid a bowl of fruit, greased bread and hot tea on the table. You accepted with science and during the meal you had a small talk with Talbott. You realized that it's actually easy to talk to him, even though he often liked to use metaphors which confused you.
“I forgot to ask you yesterday but is your back alright?” You looked up at him thinking for a minute what he meant by it. But then you remembered how the manticora attacked your back.
“Yeah, I'm fine. My clothes got torn but I'm alright. It was nothing terrible what Reparo wouldn't fix.“ You gave him a small smile. You had too many protection spells around you for one attack to destroy them.
You eventually left Talbott's home and headed to Hogsmeade. You had a report to write and you knew you had to think of something to postpone the inevitable. You didn't want to see the man who saved your life without expecting anything in return, to die. So you decided. No matter what it'll costs you or what danger you'll end up in, you'll never allow anyone to hurt Talbott.
And so after you wrote a report to your superior in which you announced that you had to search the last perimeters of the forest, but that otherwise you did not find anything, you pulled out another parchment where you started writing to one of your best friends for help. You didn't mention anything in detail to make sure if the letter got into the wrong hands, no one'd learn about Talbott's existence. On the contrary, you wrote quite ordinary writing where you asked how he was and what he was doing for the past few days that you haven't seen each other. But with the sentence I miss our adventure, you sent him a secret message: I need your help. During the few years you were in Hogwarts together, you began to use encrypted sentences that had hidden meanings. Rakepick didn’t give you much of a choice if you wanted to search for the Cursed Vaults without her knowing about your every step.
When you sent both of your owls on their way, you set out for a city determined to find a gift for Talbott as a thank you. That way you at least had an excuse for coming back to him so soon. In fact, you wanted to see him again as soon as possible, but you felt stupid to show up the same day you left, so you spent the rest of your day shopping. You noticed that he had a lot of books on the shelves, some of them were even your former school textbooks, so you bought some thick books from which he could hopefuly gain new knowledge.
As you walked past the jewelry store, you got an idea. Maybe it was over the line, but the possibility of seeing his smile was worth it. The store was small but relatively welcoming. Showcases with many different products were on display everywhere - from simple earrings to extravagant rings. An elderly man stood behind the counter with a friendly smile.
“What can I do for you, darling?“ He asked you and you couldn’t help but reciprocate his kind smile. “I would be interested in buying a small pendant for a friend. Ideally in the shape of an eagle with a simple design.” The man once nodded in agreement and with a quiet: a moment of patience dear, he disappeared into the corner of his shop. He rummaged in the drawers for a moment before contentedly pulling out a bracelet and stumbled back to you.
"What do you think of this?" He asked you handing you the bracelet.
“It’s perfect.”
To be continued