Chapter 3
Allah slid into the seat next to Chuck and Zeus in their Charms class. Zeus's voice dropped,
"I'm going to kick your ass Shurley."
"I'd like to see you try Titan."
"Alright kiddos let's see what you got. Mister Sufi you're up first. Please demonstrate the spell for levitation."
Said Professor Gabriel Novak as he leaned his hip against the desk a small smile ever present on his face,
Allah stood up and smirked down at both of them. He then turned and sauntered up to the desk where a feather lay. He flicked his wand and said,
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather hovered for a two minutes — Chuck would know he counted before gently floating back onto the desk.
Gabriel gave a low whistle,
"Well done! Anyone else think they can beat that time?"
Chuck's hand shot up a half-a-second before Zeus's. Gabriel chuckled,
"Alright Mister Shurley come on up, then you Mister Titan."
Chuck levitated the feather for 5 whole minutes, while Zeus did it just shy of 5 — 4:59. Chuck lauded it over him for the rest of the day.
Chuck was eating lunch when Rowena came running toward them,
"Charles come quickly."
Chuck set his sandwich down as Loki looked up from his paper,
"What is Rowena? Everything okay?"
Rowena shook her head,
"It's Amara she was with Atmun and they were flying really high and—"
"Cut to the point."
Chuck hissed, Loki looked at him slightly startled,
Chuck was known as competitive but pretty easygoing, at least that was until someone pushed his buttons. Then he turned downright wrathful.
"It's Amara she's in the infirmary."
Chuck sprinted away, his mind a blur of red and panic. He couldn't lose her, he couldn't. She was all he had, she was his family, no one. He couldn't lose her.
He burst open the doors to the infirmary to see Professor Raphael Novak turn to him.
"Mister Shurley can I help you?"
"My sister. Is she okay? Is she—"
Raphael put a soothing hand on his shoulder and gently steered him toward her bed.
"She's fine, see for yourself. Minor injuries. I gave her a potion for sleep, she'll be fine. I give you my word."
Chuck nodded distractedly, his eyes scanned over her, broken ribs, a cut over her eyebrow. Other than that's she looked downright peaceful.
After a while Chuck turned his attention to the healer. He had rumors from Amara and her friends, how he had been disowned for loving another man, how Gabriel had been the only one a of his family to stand with him, to love him, to take care of him.
Raphael looked happy, his eyes glowed a little with a chronic look of happiness, his body seemed to radiate it. Chuck looked away, he might not agree with Raphael's lifestyle choices but he was happy to see other people happy.
Chuck rose and gently kissed Amara's cheek.
"Professor Novak will you please alert me when she is awake?"
Raphael gave a small smile and nodded at him, Chuck kept his face perfectly neutral as he left the infirmary. He walked down the steps and heard voices wafting up from near the lake.
"Yeah she was screaming about the height, and holding so tightly to me. Haha she felt so good against my back, I can't wait to see how she'd feel under me. Catch my drift?"
His buddies laughed, Chuck clenched his fists, he felt a hand on his upper arm, he turned his hard eyes to see Maat, Atmun's twin sister.
She gave him a hard look of her own.
"Make him pay, Amara is a friend. She doesn't deserve him. Make him pay Charles."
Chuck nodded and went out to the lake, her wand twirling lazily in her hand. His mind going over all the "bad" spells he knew. He settled for something bad, but not fatal. He didn't want to be expelled after all.
"Levicorpus."
He hissed, his voice barley above a whisper. He tapped into the angry power that swirled just under his skin.
Atmun yelled as he was raised by his ankle, his friends took a step back in shock. They all turned at once to see Chuck standing there. They glared and whipped out their wands, coming toward him.
Chuck payed them no mind, he only raised Atmun higher, past the tree tops, as high as he could think without killing him. He let him go and watched in satisfaction as he plummeted toward the lake. His friends turned to watch in Morbid curiosity. Chuck waited till he was out of the water. His shoe coming to lie gingerly on top of his hand.
"You ever hurt my sister again I'll destroy you. Is that understood?"
Atmun only glared,
"Sod off Shurley."
Chuck pressed his shoe down harder, grounding his heel into his hand, smiling in satisfaction as he heard the snapping of what could have been considered dry twigs.
Atmun hissed in pain,
"Have I made myself clear?"
Chuck's eyes flashed in restrained anger. Atmun nodded, the pain too much overriding any sense of pride he had left,
Chuck stepped back and turned away, he heard the murmurs of spells behind him. But he didn't care, he would do it all again for her, no one hurt her. No one.
Pain laced through him like lighting, the ground rushed to meet him as his knees buckled. He saw Azazel rushing toward him as the world faded out.
He came to hearing murmurs,
"He'll be fine Raph. Babe your the best healer Hogwarts have ever produced."
Raphael scoffed,
"Az while I love your flattery, it will do nothing for him. If I can't reverse all the damage those boys did then I failed."
"You'll never fail, don't think like that my love."
He heard the sound of kissing, the tendrils of sleep were pulling him back under, soon the dark of the room and his mind would be indistinguishable.
"I hope I find a guy like that one day."
The thought slipped through his self-regulation unbidden. Chuck however was too hopped up on potions to pay it much attention. And he won't, not for a couple more years.