@mirekhausted​

As Zahi gradually became aware of the morning around him, he realized a few things: The light streaming in from the window was too warm to be his own window at home. There was an arm across his chest.

Zahi opened his eyes and eased himself into a somewhat upright position to take stock of his situation. He’d been right that he wasn’t in his own bedroom or even his apartment, although it was hard to focus on much else as he realized how strong the pounded in his head was. Zahi occasionally had a small hangover after a night out, but this level of nausea wasn’t exactly his usual. He didn’t like it and needed to focus on something else. Last night. Last night made sense.

He remembered having a conversation about potions, about going into depth about theory and ingredients, and about admitting to the protective potion he’d been working on for the Dark Lord. Zahi didn’t know exactly what he was making it for, but anything that could protect small items without interacting with powerful dark magic was a puzzle he enjoyed. And one he wouldn’t share with just anyone.

Finally Zahi glanced down at the arm that had slid down to his stomach when he moved and followed it to the man next to him. Huh. Mirek Yaxley did make sense in a lot of ways. He was attractive and someone Zahi was happy to share his potions stories with as anecdotes when Mirek was struggling with his own, but how had they gotten here? More precisely, what was Zahi still doing here? He didn’t stay the night. Staying the night set a precedent he didn’t often want to repeat.

And now Mirek was blinking away. Zahi must have woken him up by moving. “Morning,” he said, figuring it was best to sound less confused by the situation than he was.

Bailey loved being able to fly. It was nearly addicting, an as a consequence she spent a frankly ridiculous amount of time these days in her animagus form, even if she was just flitting around the Shafiq Manor grounds. Today she’d decided to stray a little farther though. When she caught sight of a birdbath she couldn’t resist; she angled her head down, tucked her wings next to her body, and plummeted from the sky like a tiny bird missile. There was something ridiculously satisfying about sending the other birds scattering in fear. Even though she was tiny, she was technically a raptor. Not that she felt inclined to actually hunt and tear apart any small mammals. 

Yet. 

She ruffled her feathers a bit in the water before noticing a familiar figure, and hopping to a nearby railing before turning back into her human form, hands steadying herself on either side of her perch. 

“Hello Healer Yaxley! How’re the experiments?” The St. Mungo’s potioneer had struck her as a little odd the few times she’d met him, and she was almost certain he was messing around and stretching hospital policy, though in her mind she didn’t see anything dangerous in that, just a talented potioneer who cared more about making good potions than following alarmist policies restricting things like farrow powder.

@mirekhausted​

Magical tattoos could be complicated and while Cas wasn’t a stranger to doodling on people, he wasn’t about to put all that effort into making a piece of art only for someone to decide they didn’t appreciate it. “At least try to narrow it down, okay? I don’t want you coming back in a few weeks saying it’s not what you want. If you want, you could try a henna tattoo to test out the look and see how you feel about it.”

Bailey had very little patience for reading after a certain period of time, but she could memorize like the best of them, and she’d worked through the boredom in order to memorize the Ministry of Magic’s entire approach towards controlled substances. She knew what was illegal, and in what quantities. She knew what could be kept with a permit. She knew how to buy in discrete bunches to avoid attention, or, even better, have a knowledgeable friend to help keep her out of trouble- Zahi. 

Farrow powder wasn’t precisely illegal, but it was dangerous, and Bailey’s interest was caught the minute she saw a familiar face paying for a rather large jar of it- surely too large a purchase not to be flagged? Unless the shopkeep was a friend- and shifting towards the store door.

“What’s a healer need Farrow powder for?” she asked, voice guileless as she glanced over at Healer Yaxley, one of the many faces with which she’d become reluctantly familiar since her move to London.

Zahi finally had to admit that this sore wasn’t going to heal itself, and it was beyond his initial abilities. Healing spells and potions had never been his specialty, and when one of the venomous vines at work had pricked him with its thorns, Zahi had immediately acted to contain it. He’d managed to stop the spread and even coax back out the poison, but something still wasn’t quite right. Zahi and tried this and that but still had an angry cut where it had happened. Even he had to acknowledge that sometimes these things required a trained hand. 

When he got to St. Mungo’s, Zahi looked around and eventually stopped a man who looked like he knew what he was doing. “Excuse me, who do I talk to about an injury related to a poisonous plant?” His trip here with Bailey earlier that summer perhaps should have told him, but that had been such an emergency that they hadn’t exactly checked in first.