“You can’t be mad at me forever,” Maxwell says trailing after Ellana as she stomps through the kitchen to throw together dinner. “Ellana how was I supposed to even know you still like him?”
“You live with me!” Ellana snaps, “Of course you should know. I’ve been following his career for years. I have scrap books.”
“You have what?”
Ellana waves her wand and murmurs an irritated Accio! under her breath. Maxwell ducks in time to avoid a book flying at the back of his head, instead Ellana catches it by the spine and the throws it at him.
Maxwell catches it and opens it. Inside are newspaper clippings of the Iron Bull’s solved cases.
Maxwell’s eyebrows raise, “You have more than one?”
“Don’t let her fool you,” Kaaras says from the other room, “The plural is from the fact that she has a scrap book for all of us. One of me, one of you, one of her brother, too.”
Maxwell blinks, turning to Ellana who scowls furiously down at the pot on the stove as she starts to boil vegetables. “What would you even put in them?”
Ellana raises her wand and summons the other books. Maxwell flattens himself against the wall to avoid being hit by them. Ellana deftly catches each of them and then slams them down on the kitchen counter.
Maxwell quickly scoops them up and retreats to the living room to flop down on the couch next to Kaaras, leaning into the man’s side as he flicks open the first one.
The first one in the stack is about Ellana’s elder brother Mahanon and has photos of the two of them, a small clip of hair, some leaves and flowers, and some other bits and bobs. There’s a clipping of a small article about his animal conservatory and rescue operation, a few more articles with brief mentions of his work.
It’s got a lot of pages filled out, and each one is carefully arranged and fixed together. Maxwell can see the love and care she put into it, the pride.
Maxwell quickly passes that one to Kaaras who puts it aside. Somehow the one of her brother seems too personal, too intimate to look at too closely for too long. Even if Ellana did give it to them to examine, Maxwell thinks this is one that they should step away from, give privacy to.
The second one is about Kaaras and it has some of his letters to her. It opens with a picture of them during the Triwizard tournament. Maxwell smiles down at the pictures of them, some with him in it, a lot without. Kaaras traces the edges of the photographs with a finger, laughing softly.
There are small entries written in Ellana’s neat hand, notes about dates and times, little moments and conversations that Maxwell doesn’t look too closely at to give them their privacy.
And there are articles about Kaaras’ research, there are even excerpts from his essays and his writings in here.
Maxwell gently passes that onto Kaaras to examine, to pore over, to understand. But from the way Kaaras handles it, this is familiar. Maxwell wonders if Ellana did these on their table, in their living room or their kitchen. Maybe she did it in her room or in their shared study. Maybe when Maxwell was in training and it was just the two of them here this is what she did. Maybe she did it alone.
Maxwell swallows softly and opens the one that must be his.
His breath catches and wavers in his chest like a weak candle, overcome with love and fondness.
Ellana has much of the same from Kaaras’ in there, after all they all came together through the same source. But there are other things, too. She has the petals from a rose Maxwell gave her for graduation in here. Maxwell carefully holds the book up to his face and – yes – he can still smell it. It must be enchanted.
He runs his thumb over it, the petals are still smooth and silky, delicate but not quite fresh-fresh. A few days old in their texture and their feeling, not a few years.
Maxwell turns heavy pages with a light touch, looking at the way she’s treasured their years together.
“Ellana this is beautiful,” Maxwell says.
“Of course it is, it’s you,” Ellana says.
She says it so easily.
Maxwell adores her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I’m on the Iron Bull’s Charger team,” Maxwell says as he looks down at a picture of himself in auror robes, Kaaras lifting him off the ground and beaming at him. Ellana must have taken this picture because she’s not in it.
“You’re halfway forgiven,” Ellana replies, “But you realize that I must take action to this slight against me.”
“You’re already on Hawke’s team, you could just walk across the office and come talk to us,” Maxwell says. “I feel like the situation has resolved itself.”
“Oh no,” Ellana says, “No, no. You didn’t tell me and now I’m on Hawke’s team and now I’ve got to make sure that Hawke’s team does better than yours. I’m going to prove a point, Maxwell. I’m going to out auror you in revenge for this hidden knowledge, for this duplicity.”
“You probably shouldn’t be telling him how you’re going to get revenge,” Kaaras says, gently stacking the books together on the coffee table.
“This is part one of it,” Ellana says, “You’ll see how the rest of it unfurls.”
“Ominous,” Maxwell shivers.
“Slytherin,” Kaaras shrugs.
“Dinner’s going to be ready in about thirty minutes, I don’t hear the sounds of the table being set.”
Maxwell and Kaaras immediately get up to set things together.
“You still love me even though you’re mad at me, though, right?” Maxwell asks.
“As if something so silly as revenge will stop me from loving you, Maxwell,” Ellana laughs, tossing him a smile over her shoulder, “Don’t be ridiculous. I said we bond for life.”
“Ominous,” Kaaras shakes his head.
“Slytherin,” Maxwell sighs.
This chapter is extra delightful. FRIENDSHIP!!
kiragecko 