sortinghat_logs | Unexpected reunion

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Unexpected reunion

WHO: Tavros Nitram and Peter Banks
TONE: Awkward!
RATING: PG probably?
WHEN: Last day of Easter Holidays
WHERE: Tavros's house
WHAT: Peter decides to finally meet his birth mother. He finds a little brother instead.
STATUS: Ongoing

Nerves were not something Peter was used to. Not knowing how to approach a situation wasn't something he was used to caring about. Peter rushed in where sane men feared to tread, he'd been told on more than one occasion, and frankly, that was the way he liked it. But now that he finally knew who his birth mother was--a name and an address at least--he was gripped with uncertainty. He knew she'd married, because that had been easy enough to find, and assumed she'd had children. He'd actually taken the position at Hogwarts in part to be close to his theoretical half-siblings, but her name hadn't been on the student rolls when he'd looked. She wasn't a witch. He'd spent so long thinking of his biological family as magic that it had come as quite a surprise! Not that it mattered in the ways a lot of other wizards cared about, because Peter was muggleborn through and through regardless of his biological parents, but it did make the ways he'd come up with to break the ice all obsolete. Flying in on his broom wouldn't work, and it meant he couldn't use quidditch as a discussion topic. He wasn't sure on Ministry regulations concerning revealing magic to biological but estranged parents either.

But he couldn't put it off any longer. It was the last day of holiday and he'd sworn to himself that he'd go and introduce himself once he'd settled in at Hogwarts. Well, he was settled, had been since the first day, actually, so it was time to take the plunge. Teacher was easier to explain than quidditch star to a non-witch, at least, and he could say he taught--ugh, it had been so long since non-magic school--sports? Sports worked. Ah, the hell with thinking things over. Never his strong point anyway. He was here, and there was the house and he was just going to march up and knock. It would get sorted during the conversation.

And that's exactly what he did. He went up to the door and knocked. Straightened his clothes, wishing he'd just worn something comfortable instead of going for an understated look that wasn't outlandish by any standards. It wasn't like he was going to hide the red streaks in his hair, though he hadn't spiked it up today. Another concession to this stranger who was his mother and her sensibilities. Oh damn, he was nervous!

The door was opening. Too late to back out now. "Hello. Wendy Nitram? I-- I'm Peter and I think you're my mother."

... On second thought maybe he should have rehearsed something.

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"I know," Tavros said, his tone almost defensive, but not quite managing to get there. Mostly he felt a little awkward at being told what to do... He knew what he was doing, he just... has had a bad couple of days. "Um, I'll do that, soon- and, I have, a bird and also two cats. And, a hamster!" He was sounded a little cheerier as he listed them off, and then he blurted out, "We used to have a bull, but... Uh, we had to get rid of it. But that, was a long time ago, actually..."

He trailed off, and then hesitated as at the next question. "Oh, um... Oh!" his eyes widened, as he suddenly remembered the stain on the table as he was trying to think of a way to get out of answering. "Oh, no, um, I need to clean the table, so it doesn't stain...Sorry, hang on," he said quickly, as he began wheeling back towards the kitchen.

"They all sound smashing!" Peter laughed, thinking fondly of the creatures he knew. He didn't keep pets, but there was a score that he saw regularly and gave treats to. He valued their independence and so did they. Muggle pet animals were another matter though. "A bull? A bull would be fun to spend time with!"

Peter didn't notice the evasiveness at all, suddenly remembering the dye. "Oh right! Let me help out since it's my fault! I'm a deft hand at cleaning up messes."

And if non-magic methods failed, he could probably sneak a charm or two.

"Uhh, no, it's okay!" Tavros called over his shoulder. "It's my fault, for being so clumsy." He was in the kitchen before long, staring at the table with a look of horror slowly coming over his face. There was no longer just blue on the table. One of the cats must have gotten up there and knocked the other dyes over, because it was like a rainbow of liquid all over the table.

And it was dripping all over the floor.

"...Oh, god, mum' going to kill me," he squeaked out.

Peter followed, fully intending to help whether his new brother wanted help or not. It was partly his fault anyway. "No she won't! We'll get it cleaned up. Trust me."

Peter frowned a little after the pronouncement though. This would probably take a charm or two, but he couldn't do it with someone else in the room. "But we'll need supplies! A mop and bucket! Towels. Hot water. Why don't you go get them?"

Tavros didn't believe him. The mess was far too...messy! There was no way the strongest cleaning supplies would ever get the stains out. But he sighed, because he couldn't refuse a command from a grown up. Especially not... his brother.

That was going to take a lot of getting used to.

"Ummm... Okay," Tavros murmured after a few seconds, letting out a soft sigh. "I'll, go get them." With one last depressed look at the table, he turned and headed out of the kitchen to the supply closet.

Peter grinned as Tavros wheeled out of the room. Making the magic unnoticeable would be a challenge. He had to stop and think a bit before working out something that might work. Just vanishing the mess would be too obvious so there would be some cleaning to do, but he could put some charms on the table and floor to resist staining, he thought. Of course, he'd never tried them so he had no idea if they would work when the staining substance was already there but if it didn't work there were other methods.

Peter rolled up his sleeves, careless of the bruising still on his arms and pulled out his wand to do some quick spellwork while he waited.

Tavros didn't take long to come back. He'd known right where the supplies he needed were, as they were right where he'd left them last time he'd cleaned up after his pets. He'd hurried so that they could get to work on the stains before they set in. When he wheeled back in, he was not expecting to see Peter pointing his wand at the mess.

"Oh my god," he murmured, as the mop and bucket and bottle of cleaning liquid tumbled out of his arms to the floor, and his hands flew up to cover his mouth. No way. Somehow, he hadn't even seen that coming, at all. Hadn't even thought of it.

Well shit. He was in trouble. Not that he cared overly much about who knew and didn't, but there were rules against revealing magic to muggles. Peter stood frozen for a good minute and then dropped his arm. How did he even deal with this? Should he explain? Pretend it was a joke--no, he wouldn't pull that on family. Well, the least he could do was clean up! "On the bright side you won't have to worry about staining? No sense in bothering with the usual way since you've seen."

And really, charms were one of his best subjects, so he wasted no time in cleaning the mess.

That done, he put his wand away and glanced around awkwardly. "I should explain."

But how?

Tavros was quiet for a long time as he watched Peter clean up the mess, and he didn't respond right away when Peter mentioned trying to explain. This was just so unexpected and he'd never thought that his brother would be a wizard. Well, of course he hadn't since he'd never thought that he had a brother in the first place.

But suddenly, he started laughing. Because, it was just kind of funny, in a weird way that he couldn't explain. After a few seconds, his laughter subsided into a few small giggles, before he said, "Well, uh... I guess that, I don't have to avoid the, uh, question about where I go to school, anymore..."

He let out another little laugh and rubbed at the back of his neck, "I... uh, am a wizard, too, and go to Hogwarts, so... you don't, actually have to explain anything at all," he said, and gave Peter a smile. Wow, his brother was a wizard, he just couldn't believe it. He hadn't thought they would have so much in common already. That was so exciting! And, he was really good at it, judging from the fact the spell had completely gotten rid of the mess. Tavros could never have managed it so thoroughly.

Adoration was probably showing on his face, along with a general look of wonder. "Wow..." he murmured. "I... haha, wow. This is, so cool, in a really unexpected kind of way..." He paused for a second before adding, "Oh, and, uh... thanks, for doing that! I... you're really, uh, good... at magic."

Peter was worried for a split-second that he'd broken his brother somehow, at least until the explanation for the laughter came. "Excellent! I thought our mother wasn't a witch though."

But there were more important things than trying to figure out that little detail. "I just started teaching there! Or I will be after break. Say you don't fancy brown ink do you?"

Because he remembered the student with the brown ink and the wheelchair well, if only because he'd been trying to tackle the problem of enchanting the wheelchair to fly safely and effectively.

He laughed himself, relaxing completely and grinning ear to ear. His little brother was...cute. Cute was a good word for it. Having something in common like this was amazing. "And thanks! Charms was one of my best subjects in school. I bet you're good too. I can't wait until I can see what you're capable of.

"Oh no, she's not," he said, "I actually, uh... got it from dad," he tried not to sound too sad, tried not to think back to parent's day. This day was a happy day and he really didn't want to think about sad things. Not when he'd just found out he had a brother, who was also a wizard. The next question from him made him furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, uh... how d'you- wait. Are you... I mean..."

Realization dawned on him slowly, and his eyes widened. "Oh, wow, you're the new flying teacher, aren't you?" he finally managed to ask. "... Wow, so we... already met! I... wow." He wished he could stop sounding so awkward, but this was all so much to actually process. "You're the, one who offered to make my wheelchair fly, aren't you...?" In answer to the his statement, he added on, "I could... never do magic like that, so... I'm really not good, actually."

Peter almost commented on the brief flash of sadness over Tavros's face at the mention of his father. But he didn't want to talk about sad things right yet. There would be plenty of times better suited to it. What he did do was grin and come forward to squeeze Tavros's shoulder. "That was me! I'm still working out the details of more than just a simple temporary enchantment so flying will have to wait a bit."

Then he actually went the faintest bit serious, though the smile was still there in a softer way. "Don't be like that. If anything you just haven't found where you're best gifted! I had classes I was good in but I also managed to get a T on one of my OWLS. Everybody has their own special mix of skills, and I know you're great at your talents."

"Oh, but... you really don't, um, have to," Tavros murmured, though it probably came out too quietly to hear. The thought was still terrifying, even though it was one of the nicest ideas he'd ever heard. It was just... more terrifying than exciting. And he wasn't sure if he really wanted that, though mostly he just didn't want to be an inconvenience.

He shrugged softly though, at his brother's next comment. "Well, I think that maybe I'm, uh, just better off doing things like, Care of Magical Creatures, than I am doing any, uh, actual magic," he said. "But it's okay! I, uh, really don't mind being bad at magic... Because, the animals and stuff make up for it."

"Really? Wicked! Care was my best class too. Then flying, charms, and herbology." Peter was so excited to find that he shared an interest with his little brother. They could go on trips into the forest together! Discuss all kinds of creatures! He could introduce Tavros to the centaurs and unicorns! "I have the best little brother ever!"

And there he went, grinning like a loon at nothing in particular as his mind raced with all the fun things they could do together.

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