Wait for It

“Yes. Of course there’s no one else!” Xanthus insisted. He was a bit annoyed by how worried Isaac was about having some competition at the school, and now he was certain that he’d never utter the name of another dealer to the boy. It was too dangerous.

He put his hands between his knees and stared down at them, eyebrows kitted together as he listened to Isaac’s suggestion. It wasn’t a bad idea to talk to someone, especially with how vulnerable he’d felt after speaking about the tragedy to Pandora. Truthfully, he was overcome with guilt every night, and he could barely get through the day without self-medicating. Although the boy might’ve thought he sounded dismissive, Xanthus took his words with the best of intentions. “I don’t want to take them alone, you know…” His eyes rose to meet Isaac’s. “I just… Even I don’t have enough friends to find someone to join me every night. I’d ask you, but… I know you’d say no.”

He nodded. There really was no way of deciding whether Xanthus was telling the truth. But for now, he’ll have to take the other boy’s word for it. There were, after all, other means of figuring out. He’ll just have to keep his eyes and ears peeled around campus.

Isaac was always strictly business with Xanthus, and to be completely honest, it got on his nerves. For how often they saw each other, he desperately wanted to be closer to the other boy than just business partners, but Isaac was so aloof and distant that he was never able to drive the nails into their friendship coffin. A metaphor like that surely explained how Isaac felt about the situation as well.

“Of course. Your stuff is pure and convenient - why would I buy from anyone else?” And although Xanthus definitely wouldn’t buy from another source as long as Isaac was around, there was another reason why he might slow his roll. “I mean… I know I’ve been buying a lot lately, and I dunno if I’m gonna keep that up forever, but for now… While I… You know…”

"Also because there is no someone else, right?” Isaac tried again, remembering that Xanthus didn’t actually tell him whether there’s another dealer on campus earlier. He made sure to ask with no menace in his voice, however. Threatening his best client was not the best way to do business. 

Damon raised a brow, smirk curling his lips automatically. “Oh? That just makes me all the more curious.” Maybe it was his curiousity or simply the fact he didn’t care about people getting hurt. Isaac wasn’t Amycus or Alecto, he wasn’t Rosamund or anyone else of the greatest significance. He subtly glanced over at the chilled vase of water and cookies people had left all the studious NEWTs students and Valentines day celebrants in the common room. And he had an idea. 

Damon spun around, making a show of inspecting the bottle further. “Does it do anything?” He took out his wand and walked off, making sure the other boy wouldn’t start reaching out for it before he could avoid him with distance. Damon tapped the vial with his wand as if to test something out. He scoffed. “Nothing, huh?” Making sure his back was turned away, he subtly tapped it once more and pocketed his wand along with the real vial. 

It was quick and the slight of hand was easy enough for a boy who spent his entire childhood outside of his house trying to find ways of entertaining himself and staying away from his father. Damon turned around to face him with a look of dissatisfaction and handed a duplicate bottle to Isaac. “Boring. Got something I could actually buy? Something fun.”

Isaac grimaced. He shouldn’t have said anything. He didn’t know Damon that well but he knew enough about his impulsive tendencies that meant trouble for the people around him, more often than not. Thinking about what Damon might do if he knew exactly what the potion was inside the bottle, worried Isaac. That’s why when he refused to hand it over immediately, Isaac took a few steps closer. “Nothing interesting really,” he lied as he kept his eyes on the bottle, worrying that Damon might break it. Isaac got a little more frustrated when Damon walked away and inspected the bottle, turning around as he did so, but he thought nothing of it.

The younger Slytherin didn’t show any sign of relief, but a huge load was lifted off his chest once Damon finally gave him the bottle. He smiled. “Find me again later. I’ll have something for you.” Just like that, Isaac walked back to his table and continued to label the bottles.

“Exactly. My friend. My friend who makes more money than I do. I dunno how you think I’m supposed to pay for it. Not one of those rich bastards, me.” Brenton had never done an honest day’s work in his life and wouldn’t know how to hold down a job when he does get around to trying. He hadn’t much thought about how he was going to make a living after Hogwarts. His future plans comprised solely of the Death Eaters with no thoughts as to how that would pay.

“Reading,” he repeated with a roll of the eyes. “Pointless activity.” He smacked his lips together and blew a mocking kiss at his dormmate. “Scared of a bit of spit, Buchanan?” His mind had never been that great at focusing on anything, though, and weed never helped. The only thing it did help with was his usual excess of energy which was calmed as he took a second hit straight away.

“Maybe start your own business, yeah? Just not selling. Or I’ll break your legs.” The smile on Isaac’s lips formed easily. He was obviously teasing. If anything it will be him asking for Brenton’s help breaking someone’s legs once he hears about someone trying to steal his customers. Isaac was convinced that he just might do the same if it were Brenton asking that of him. “Hmmm what do you do successfully?” Isaac pretended to explore possibilities. “You could become a rent boy,” Isaac offered.

“That’s just cause you’re a dolt.” Isaac chided, almost fondly. He extended his legs and lightly kicked his friend in the knee. “Your spit, maybe.” Brenton’s open sexual preference was no secret and Isaac had always been okay with it. Just as long as he tried none of that on him. “It’s disgusting is all I’m saying yeah?” His hand reached towards Brenton, asking for the joint. “Give it,” he ordered. Having one measly puff wasn’t enough to get him into that nice high.

“Bobbin,” she corrected. “B-O-double B-I-N. It is like a little wheel that the film is wrapped around. The end of it feeds around the spool at the other end. Your photos collect on the piece of film behind the lens. Our cameras turn the spool to move the film along whenever you take a picture so you don’t accidentally put two photos on the same bit of film. I have no idea if muggle cameras are clever enough to do that. Or if they even work the same way at all. If this whistle thing is just a normal film, you can probably still develop the photos in the normal way.” She passed his camera back to him, curious now. “Who did you say gave you this?” It was odd to her that anybody had bought Isaac a muggle camera.

“Maybe...” Isaac muttered in no way intelligently as Rosamund handed him his camera back. Perhaps this was a bad idea after all. Perhaps, Isaac should have just worked it out himself first before asking someone else’s opinion. Especially someone who might care whether his camera was a muggle one or not. “I’ll probably just try it out on my own. See where everything fits.” Isaac tried for nonchalant as if it was no big deal. Not knowing anything about how cameras work, he felt that his hand was being held and Isaac doesn’t want to be seen as a helpless buffoon who is simply a bother. 

He was mindlessly turning his camera over and over as if he’ll find a new part that he hadn’t before when Rosamund asked who gave it to him. Isaac stopped and looked at her in the eye. Had he not already said that it was from his father? That was lucky then. Before another second passed making Isaac’s reluctance to answer suspicious, he shrugged. “I’ve forgotten really. It was just one of the gifts from my great aunts. Probably didn’t know what it was, only knew that I wanted one.” There was a time in Isaac’s life that that could have been true. Now, their Christmas tree practically stays empty as their relatives continue to shun them away due to his father.

“Well - I don’t really need to do that. If I wanna shag, I’ve got at least a dozen friends that’ll saddle right the fuck up.” Weird flex, Xanthus, but okay. He counted out the coins again before placing them carefully into Isaac’s palm, tilting his head. “That should be enough? I don’t know how expensive the mandrakes are, so…” A little jingle of his coin pouch as he put it back into his pocket signaled that he’d be willing to part with a bit more money if necessary.

And then he stood, walking over to the parapet and resting his hands on the stone as he looked out at the castle grounds. “Oh, you know I’ve only got eyes for you,” he teased, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder. Although he did feel loyal to Isaac, he would never snitch to him if he found that another student was dealing. The best case scenario there would be to tell the poor student that he’d better cut it out if he wanted to keep all of his fingers, and to feign ignorance if Isaac brought it up. “Besides, you give me the best prices around here anyway. I appreciate that - I spend a looot of money on you, mate.”

Isaac looked at him unimpressed. He never understood those who felt the need to shag like rodents with no tomorrow, much less those who boasted about it as if it was an achievement to be proud about. Isaac was no virgin himself, but he’d rather keep bedroom matters where they belonged. In the bedroom. Isaac reached for the coins and counted them underneath the moonlight. Xanthus paid him a couple galleons more and Isaac returned the excess. May no one ever say that he wasn’t fair to his customers. “This should be enough.”

Everyone was either in class, at the library or enjoying the nice day outside. Damon had business to take care of. The Dark Lord himself had given them orders and he’d been waiting for Amycus to show up at the dorm so they could get to brainstorming. Or, more accurately, so Amycus could come up with a plan and Damon would be the one to help execute it with all his excitement. But it seemed his mate got held up with something so Damon came out of their dorm and arrived at the common room to leave and find something else to do.

A bottle rolled down to his feet, Damon watched as it collided gently with his foot before he paid attention to other Slytherin’s voice and request. He then bent down and picked it up, curiously turning it over in his hand and furrowing his brows as he inspected it. “The fuck is this?” He asked, not yet walking over to hand it to Isaac. He knew the man, of course. Anyone who wanted a bit of fun with drugs knew Isaac, and Damon was a reckless hedonist when it came to parties.

“Something I haven’t tried yet or your potions homework?”

Seeing that the older boy hasn’t walked to hand it over, Isaac walked closer. There was no point in lying to the other boy and telling him that it was what the bottle said it was. Damon was well aware of Isaac’s dealings and have sampled his products more than once before. He really hoped that the older Slytherin wouldn’t be dumb enough to drink something without knowing what it is. Isaac could never be too careful though. People will do take pretty questionable risks just to get a free high. With one hand outstretched for the bottle, he approached Damon. “Not something you’d want to try, trust me.”

Peter frowned at the sound of the price, he always did. He barely had enough money to buy decent new robes sometimes but the drugs calmed him down. They were worth it. Peter reached into his robe and, with the sound of a bit of clinking, fished out what was left of his spare change after going to Hogsmeade. He started to hand it over. “Well, it’s barely anyone’s business but it seems like all anyone can focus on anyway.” He pursed his lips and counted the sickles before handing them over. 

“You ever gonna have discounts for frequent buyers?”

There were always those who turned away after hearing the price. Peter was no Bagman or Lovegood, but Isaac still didn’t think that the Gryffindor will cheat him. He might have to pry the coins from the other boy’s fingers though. Isaac received the coins on his hand and counted them with his fingers before pocketing them. “Can you blame them though?” he asked as-a-matter-of-factly. “’ Tis not everyday people from Hogwarts get arrested.”

“Trust me. You don’t buy frequently enough.” If they were talking frequent buyers, Peter can’t even hold a candle to Xanthus. 

“Why would I want to do that?” he asked, sounding genuinely bewildered at the idea of paying when he wanted something. He bounced up off his bed and walked over to Isaac’s to accept the joint and leaned against the post at one of the bottom corners as he lit it. “Business schmismess. Reckon you’re doing alright for yourself.” He glanced over his dormmate and the book next to him on the bed. “Or maybe not if you’re resorting to those.” He sucked on the joint, feeling whatever focus he may have still been holding onto fading away. The follow-up comment of, “Don’t know how you bear them,” falling out his mouth just as he forgot what he was even talking about.

“This is good shit, you want some?” he offered, as if it wasn’t Isaac’s own goods he was holding out.

“Uhhh I don’t know... Maybe ‘cos I’m your friend. And I’m trying to make a living?” Isaac shifted to cross his legs over his bed as he watched Brenton lean into the post and start to smoke, unafraid of anyone who’ll catch them. Everyone in his dorm knew that Isaac dealt. Getting caught red-handed in the safety of their dorm room had never been an issue. Although it was true, Isaac did nothing to confirm it. In fact, Isaac’s monthly expenses could almost be covered by selling to Xanthus alone.

“What?” Isaac reached for the book beside him and held it aloft. “Reading? Well unlike you, Brenton, I do have something between my eyes and the back of my head,” the boy teased with an easy smile. He eyed his own joint. “Of course it is, you fuck,” he said, rolling out the curse word almost affectionately. “My shit isn’t cheap.” Isaac took the joint and eyed it. “Next time, dry your lips first yeah?” But all the same, he placed it between his lips and inhaled. He felt the sensation crawl into his chest before exhaling and passing the joint back to Brenton.

Xanthus quickly pocketed his weed and took out his coin bag, plopping it into his lap to show that he would be more than happy to pay as soon as he finalized his choices. He kept staring at the little vial as Isaac explained the drugs effects, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips until he looked up and barked a laugh.

“That sounds perfect. I’ll let you know when I’m taking it so that I don’t frisky with you, but damn, anyone else is fair game.” He waggled a finger at the boy, grinning, and slipped the vial into his pocket before loosening the drawstring on his coin pouch. If only his parents knew where the extra allowance they were sending him was going…

He searched for galleons and started making a little stack next to him on the bench. “You’ve always got something new and spiffy up your sleeve… Where do you find out about these things if you’re not usin’? If there another dealer on campus?”

Isaac simply nodded in acknowledgment. He would very much appreciate if Xanthus wouldn’t try anything with him, drug-induced or otherwise. Even if men weren’t his cup of tea, the Slytherin knows that there’s more than one way to life. In his line of business, men sleeping with men were definitely not the strangest thing in the world. “Other people have used this on others when on the pull. Not sure if you’re that kinda person but... that’s one use of mandrakes.”

It was a simple box Isaac pulled out of his pocket, no adjustable lens, barely big enough to hold film. She reached out for the camera, eyebrows furrowing as she looked it over. There was a lens and a viewfinder and a button to take the photo but none of them were on the sides she would have expected them. The brand was unknown to her. “It is a camera, yes,” she said, her voice thick with uncertainty of how she was supposed to approach this. “A muggle camera, I think.” She placed her own camera into his hands so that she could look at his properly, turned it over in her hands and finding along one edge where she guessed the film was. She opened it up and looked at the space with a bemused smirk. “If this is where they put the film, I’m not sure how it works. There’s two gaps but it’s not obvious which one you put the bobbin in and there’s no spool. They… they do use film, right? Did it come with instructions or anything?” She wasn’t sure how Isaac was ever going to get his photos off the weird little box otherwise. She really hoped this would be something they could figure out without her going to Wendy as then she would have to explain to Isaac how she found the answer.

Despite himself, Isaac eased into a relieved smile. The tension on Isaac’s shoulders also dissipated as Rosamund showed no visible disdain given the fact that it was a muggle camera. He held Ros’ camera in his hands. Now, this was what a camera was supposed to look like in Isaac’s mind. His camera in comparison was definitely thinner and lighter. He worried whether that meant that it wasn’t any better. Isaac peeked into what she found. It turned out that one of its sides opens up. “Bobby?” he asked, not following. “There was a smaller box that came with it. Had in it something that looked like a whistle.” Sure enough, the two gaps looked like somewhere the whistle-like object should be placed. “There was, yeah! I just thought to come to you first.”

Xanthus chuckled and shook his head. “Oh no, I definitely need the weed. The day I stop getting my usual is the day I die… Or maybe the day I have a kid, I dunno, depends on how well my life is going by then.” It also depends how uptight the mother is, but we won’t talk about that right now.

He leaned back on the parapet, looking up at Isaac and scrunching up his nose. “I don’t like PCP… It makes me irritable, and then I end up punching through walls.” With strength like his, losing the ability to feel pain made any inkling of a violent outburst into something dangerous for himself and everyone around him. 

“I could take some shrooms… And uh, mandrakes? What else is it called?” Xanthus reached out to hold the vial, examining it in the low light. “I like downers. Have you tried it? What’s it like, and how long does it last for?”

The Slytherin allowed himself a half-smirk as he reached for the bag of weed in his pocket and passed it to Xanthus as well. He normally would demand payment first but he trusted the Ravenclaw. They have had many transactions and not once have Xanthus given him any reason to believe that he’d shortchange him. As usual, Isaac simply listened to Xanthus’ tangents and said nothing in return.

Isaac took a mental note to possibly return the PCP. Xanthus refusing down a drug was often a good sign that no one else in the castle would buy them. “Mandies, ludes, soaps...” Any decent businessmen should know their own products. He asked his cousin to send everything that he needed to know about it. “Could take it with weed or alcohol.”

It was the start of the weekend and people were very much excited to get out of the castle and walk around Hogsmeade. It was the weekend before Valentine’s too which meant that lovers old and new will be going on their strolls around the village pretending as if it were some scenic destination. For Isaac however, that meant hand-delivering orders to those who wanted to get their hands on some love potions, (with one particular exception of someone ordering a hate potion). Many students tried to pass him the word that they wanted some but Isaac only accepted orders that were made a week in advance since he still had to post the list to his older cousin who sources the items for him. 

The potions arrived yesterday morning. Isaac woke up earlier than usual to head up to the Owlery just so he could collect them before breakfast. They came in disguised as perfumes or cough potions. The higher they paid, the more potent it was. 

That morning, Isaac lined the love potions on one of the tables in the relatively abandoned Slytherin Common Room. He was slipping a tag on the necks of the bottles containing the names of those he was supposed to give them to when he knocked one of the cough syrup bottles off the table. It rolled on the floor until it stopped at the foot of an older student.

“Mind passing that?” Isaac asked Damon as he stood up to collect the bottle.

Like clockwork, Xanthus’ feet carried him up the Astronomy tower, pockets full of coins that his parents sent him to spend in Hogsmeade with his buddies. His hands fidgeted with the rings on his fingers, silently mouthing words to himself as he tried to calm his anxiety without the help of his usual methods.

At the top of the tower, he opened the door and scanned the landing for Issac through the moonlight, spotting him several paces away. Quietly, he walked over to the boy and then gripped his shoulder from behind, giving it a friendly squeeze before moving to sit on a bench by the parapet. “Right on time. What’ve you got today? I think I need a little more than usual… And I’m open to trying something new.”

Isaac heard him first before he saw him. He turned his head first, just to make sure it really was Xanthus and not some fourth-year looking for a place to rendezvous with their lover. He nodded in acknowledgment as Xanthus squeezed his shoulder. Of course, he was on time. Isaac was no bloody amateur. Isaac turned towards the Ravenclaw, elbows propped against the parapet as he leaned on it. “Not gonna need a refill of your usual then?” he asked. Inside his right pocket, he had a bag filled with an ounce of weed, just in case. 

With classes done for the day and no club meeting scheduled to happen at the moment, Isaac climbed the stairs towards the Astronomy Tower to meet one of his most frequent customers, Xanthus Lovegood. By now, he knew that whenever Xanthus needed something, all that Isaac had to do was go up to the tower at night when classes are over. 

A huge chunk of his profit has been coming from the Ravenclaw lately. It wasn’t hard to imagine why given the incident that happened earlier in the year. Although Isaac would like to think that he wasn’t taking advantage of the situation, he still wouldn’t turn the customer away. (Who would turn down a steady source of income?) He can cut the other boy off if he ever it comes to the point that he’ll feel like he’ll need to. But for now, while Xanthus still passed for being okay, Isaac will just have to remain stocked whenever he meets the boy.

She dug through her bag to take out the small camera she had kept on her since joining the school paper, deciding it might be easiest to have one to compare to his. “Oh that’s okay, we can have a look at it. Different ones have different features and you will want to make the most of them. Especially while you are getting used to it and deciding what sorts of photos you like to take. I generally like the artistic shots. Landscapes and interesting lighting but this camera,” she held up the one in her hand, “is not so good at capturing those. I use this one to photograph people because it has an anti-blur charm on it. Do you have yours on you? I can teach you framing but the best way to learn is to take plenty of photos and see what effects you like best or which subjects you prefer. It is developing the photos which is the more technical part.”

His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to take in everything that she was saying. “I see,” was all he replied. He guessed that it made sense that different cameras can take different kinds of shots. Isaac took a mental note about the anti-blur charm but there was no guarantee that he’d use it in the future. Even if he wasn’t sure yet about the things he’d like to capture, he was certain it won’t be people. There were far more interesting things than humans.

Isaac reluctantly fished out the camera from his pocket revealing a black plastic block. Suddenly his dad’s gift didn’t seem that nice. He was eyeing Ros’ camera which seemed vastly different from his. “Its... this... thing.” It suddenly seemed to thin, too small to be a camera and Isaac was worried that he was making a fool of himself if it didn’t turn out to be a camera at all. He looked back at Ros’ camera, then back to his. Maybe his father had been mistaken and sent him a toy instead. “It is a camera, right?”