Here, there be dragons

“Oh no, I do mean it,” Lorcan corrected, almost immediately feeling like an idiot for having talked to the plant but hey, his brothers weirdness was contagious. He didn’t actually mean it though, he would never take to cutting the plants himself, at most he would just make Lysander think he would. He knew if he actually attempted to he would end up killing them and he didn’t want the plants dead, just smaller.

At the mention of the dragon Lorcan sighed, at first he had been furious his brother had brought back a dragon but like most animals Lorcan quickly warmed up to him and he was actually sad to hear he had to go now, but he knew the bathtub was no place to keep a dragon “Of course, I’m not gonna miss saying goodbye to the little fish.” He said.

Lysander’s face lit up when his brother agreed to accompany him. He was quite sad to be rid of the thing really, but he knew Soren was not his to keep. Naming the baby dragon was possibly his first mistake. But Lysander had always wanted a dragon for a pet - he could hardly resist the temptation. Of course, dragons made terrible pets. They were unpredictable for one thing. And not to mention the fact that they seemed to grow at a much faster rate than a bathtub could really accommodate for. 

Lorcan rolled his eyes at his brother, shaking his head slightly “Oh I’m wounded, I’ll never recover,” he said sarcastically, “Zeus and I will go retreat to our rom and wallow in depression over being picked over a couple of dragons.” he teased back, chuckling lightly. Lorcan wasn’t gonna admit that wallowing was exactly what he did when Lysander first left, mostly out of not knowing what to do without Lysander there to take the lead. He figured it out though and as hard as it was at first he was glad Lysander was doing something that made him happy and he was glad the time apart had made him just the slightest bit more confident in himself.

At the question Lorcan shrugged “Aside from trimming the plants if you won’t?Nothing.” he said only half joking, he really would trim them down if Lysander wasn’t going to, he couldn’t walk down the hallway anymore without getting hit by at least one of them “I don’t have the broadcast today so I don’t really have anything planned. What about you?”

"He doesn’t mean that.” Lysander assured a rather sad looking spider plant. He was more than thankful to Lorcan for having taken care of his plants while he was away. Honestly, he’d expected to find them all dead by the time he got back. And while they were rather gray looking, they’d survived. Lorcan deserved some credit for that at least. They’d started to flourish again since Lysander’s return and that meant overgrowing...just about everywhere.

Lorcan scoffed slightly “I kept them alive for an entire year on my own, I think I’ve been plenty nice,” he retorted, not able to stop the grin appearing on his face. He shrugged when Lysander mentioned his owl “Honestly I don’t know what you expect me to do about that, I haven’t had control of Zeus since we were thirteen. The prophet is rubbish anyway, you won’t find anything with actual substance there, the quibbler is probably more reliable at this point.” He said with an eyeroll. That was one way they were different, unlike his brother he refused to believe anything that the quibbler put out, he didn’t believe in any of the things their grandpa had told them as kids either.

Lorcan actually laughed at what his brother said, he couldn’t even deny it really. Zeus was an asshole and had actually killed Lysanders last pet. “I wouldn’t put all barn owls into a category based on Zeus, he did use to be really nice, I think he’s a category all on his own.” He mused reaching into the bag that was offered and eating a few of the cheese puffs “I don’t blame you for choosing a dragon over him though, he is an arsehole.”

Lysander shrugged. “I’d probably pick a dragon over you too. It’s nothing personal.” He teased his brother. Of course, that was hardly even remotely close to the truth. If there was anyone he’d choose over his beasts, it was Lorcan. He’d proved that even in being here now. He’d probably still be in Romania if he didn’t think it necessary to be by his brother’s side given recent events. But it seemed Lorcan didn’t need his brother as much as he thought he might. The year apart was good for both of them. But Lysander did sleep better at night knowing Lorcan was just down the hall. 

What the hell? Did the fucking guy behind the counter just like… play himself? And who the fuck was so special to get some ridic ass discount? Danny turned to side-eye whoever it was, but he was a little more offended at who the fuck it actually was.

Scamander man wasn’t the kind of guy to like, come around this part of Diagon Alley. It wasn’t his deal. Like sure, Scamander man knew his magical creatures, but he was a talk show host or something – not that Danny really paid attention to that sort of thing. But bro definitely had some money coming in from whatever booksales his great-great-great-great-grandfather had, so it didn’t make sense for the asshole cashier to be giving materials away.

What the hell was he doing ignoring Danny anyway? It wasn’t like Danny hadn’t bought him drinks with the very gold that he got from this shop. He turned to chase Scamander man on his way out of the store. “Whoa whoa whoa, Scamander man, since when did you come to the apothecary? Without giving me a hook up? And dude… what the hell happened to you?”

Scamander man looked a little more… rugged. More… scarred. Like different, but like not that different.

The last time Lysander had been in this shop, he’d promised dragon scales to the keeper. Surely this was just his way of reminding Lysander he hadn’t forgotten. Dragon scales were particularly hard to come by. After all, it would take almost half a dozen wizards to stun a dragon. But in a sanctuary for dragons, his chances fared just a little bit better than your average wizard. 

Of course, Lysander was hard against any form of cruelty against creatures - even the likes of dragons. He despised poachers. In fact, Lysander was a firm believer in treating such beasts with dignity and respect. Even if they did try to burn him to a crisp first.

Thorin, a great Swedish Short Snout, had fallen ill during his time in Romania. It was disheartening to witness the passing of such a wonderful creature. But like any curious dragonologist, Lysander had brought his fair share of samples back home with him. He would have to return to the apothecary with his proper payment soon enough. But for now, he appreciated the shop keeper’s generosity. Even if the keeper did only seem to have his own best interests in mind. 

To be quite honest, most people were this way. Lysander had peered into enough minds by now to know humans were selfish creatures by nature. But then again, you didn’t have to be a Legilimens to know that. Lysander glanced towards the stranger as he struggled to keep up with him. He hadn’t yet made the connection that Danny seemed to think he knew him seeing as he was only half listening to what the other was saying. 

Autumn stood behind the bar of The Leaky Cauldron, polishing the glasses one by one. It was a pretty busy night, the recent events coming to an end was a relief for everyone. There were a lot of people who were part of the lockdown, some of them even strangely choose to be here after just a day of their release. Well, if she was in there with them; She’d probably want a drink too. Hell, she’d probably drink herself to death because of all the anxiety. Autumn liked to stay away from the news; they’re way too depressing. Especially around this time around; everyone’s hatred towards squibs and muggles were heightened.  The girl had no idea what her blood status was and that’s pretty dangerous today.

“Come on, man, I know my shit’s worth 4 galleons today – who died and made you in charge of the market?”

It didn’t help that the apothecary had too much lake flora in stock from what Danny had harvested over the last few weeks. He had become their unofficial employee and he no longer had the same leverage – especially since his American wares were lost to the Mad Queen months ago. He had to find something else to harvest – maybe some mermaid scales or something. But the mermaids here were much less friendly than the ones in the Pacific, much more guarded over their domain, and much more unwilling to let Danny in.

Being frustrated never got him anywhere though. “I’ve been a pretty loyal source for this shop, so I can be fine with the three galleons… as long as I have twelve sickles too.”

He would have been fine with six sickles extra for the trade, but the only reason, though he was totally unaware, was that the shopkeeper just wanted him to leave. His eager smile and his willingness to haggle over prices was drawing the shopkeeper’s ire – especially since Danny was now known to be spectacularly irritating, even to the most patient of conversationalists. The money clattered on the counter, and Danny wondered if those shops on the other side would pay more for what he’s bringing.

 @lymander 

Lysander entered the small shop, the apothecary assaulting his senses for an instant or two. The shop didn’t hold a very pleasant smell at all - one of rotted cabbages and eggs. But it was a necessary evil for Lysander seeing as he had to grab a few materials on the way back home. What this particular shop lacked in aesthetic, it made up for in it’s stock. This was just about the only local shop that sold proper aconite - which made up for their outlandish prices as far as Lysander was concerned.

His nose quickly adapted and he stepped into line behind the man ahead of him. There seemed to be some sort of conflict going on between the two but since he’d only caught the very end of the conversation, Lysander kept out of it. When the shopkeeper waved him forward, he took a step up beside the man. “Yes, I’ll take six dried Billywig stings and two sprigs of Wolfsbane please. Actually, better make that four.” 

Lorcan rolled his eyes as he walked down the hallway of the apartment he shared with his brother, several plants which Lorcan swears have doubled in size since his brothers return managing to hit him in the face. “Okay, this is getting out of control.”  He said to Lysander as he passed where his brother was sitting into the kitchen and going to their fridge to grab a bottle of water “You’ve got to do something about those plants, trim them, move them, something, the one with the thorns is gonna stab me in the eye one of these days.” He muttered, shaking his head slightly.

He put up with his brothers love of plants which he hated, even going as far as to try to take care of them while Lysander was away and he was actually a bit proud that he had managed not to kill any of them, but Lorcan feels like they’ve all multiplied since his brothers return and it was getting difficult for him to leave his room which was currently the only room in the house that was plantless. That combined with his owls nonstop screaming was driving him a bit insane. 

victoire stands at 5′5″  an average height,  but still small for some people who pride themselves for standing over six feet.  louis is one of them,  and dominique is a few inches taller than her too.  she hates it,  but it’s not like there’s anything she could do in order to ensure the dominance of her height over her siblings.  what she lacks in height,  victoire makes up for personality and charm.

          she smiles at lysander,  already remembering who the rest of his family are.  lorcan,  the twin brother,  and rolf,  their father.  it has been long since victoire had seen tante luna,  maybe a few years at most.  she doesn’t remember seeing any of the boys during that visit hence the reason why she couldn’t put a name to the face of the man she just bumped into.   “  oui.  in the flesh.  “   victoire responds,  shaking his hand.   “  it’s been too long since i saw tante luna last,  but probably much more for you and your brother since i didn’t quite recognize you at first glance.  “

“That’s understandable. Though I suppose we make it easy for you.” Lysander mused. After all, she only had to know one twin to remember the other. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t his own person. In many ways, he and his brother were opposites. They were their own individuals in their own right. But by now Lysander understood it was difficult for others to tell them apart. Sometimes correcting people just wasn’t worth the hassle so he simply went on letting people believe he was his brother. It wasn’t something that bothered him, really. Though he supposed it would bother anyone else.