the witch next door [zarry] ✔️

x

"Mum said you have to," Safaa says, putting her hands in her hips and frowning at Zain.

"She didn't tell me," Zain shrugs, not looking up from where he's painting their fence. It has finally stopped raining again and they promised three days on sunshine on the news. He has to make use of it or the fence will not get painted this year and they'd definitely get to hear about it from someone in the village.

"Well, you were sleeping," Safaa says. "And she was in a hurry. But she said I was allowed to go and to take you!"

"So she said you should ask me," Zain interprets, shooting Safaa a disapproving look.

"Well," she hedges, shrugging with a slight smirk that he knows she learned from him.

"Maybe tomorrow," Zain says. "I wanna finish the fence first. It would go quicker if you helped me, you know?"

Safaa shrugs. "I know," she says. "But I'm gonna practise my energising potion instead. It'll help you when you're finished."

"That's so kind of you," Zain says drily. "Are you good enough to not poison me?"

"Harry said it's not a potion you can screw up badly," she shrugs. "At worse it'll be like a tea, you know. No real benefit except for a few herbs, I guess."

"You guess," Zain sighs. "That inspires confidence. Where are you going to get the herbs?"

"We have them all," Safaa tells him confidently. "I'm gonna cut them myself. Harry says it's most potent if I cut the herbs with intent, you know. So I should think about making your better while cutting them."

"Huh," Zain says, moving a bit further along the fence. "Are you supposed to tell me that? Sounds like witching secrets to me."

"Harry says that was a joke, mostly. I can tell if I trust you," Safaa says, leaning against a bit of fence to Zain's right, where he hasn't painted yet. "But he also said part of being a witch was being mysterious, it's more fun that way, so I shouldn't tell everyone. Harry says secrets are only good if they're meant to be shared with people you love most and to make people happy, like surprising someone for their birthday-"

"What does Harry say about helping your brother paint the fence?" Zain interrupts before she can tell him everything Harry's ever said. It's not helping his crush at all, to hear about Harry, especially since Harry seemed to be perfect with Safaa as well.

"I don't know, we don't talk about boring stuff like that," Safaa shrugs.

"I bet he's in favour," Zain says, "I bet Harry says that you should always help your brother take care of your house. I bet he says it helps make the house safer."

"No, he doesn't," Safaa says, draping herself over Zain's back and making a nuisance of herself.

"Yea, I bet he does. I bet Harry says it's good practise for when you're trying to turn people into frogs," Zain grins, reaching back to tickle her.

"No!" she shrieks, letting herself fall backwards, still clinging to his neck. Zain laughs falling with her, careful not to crush her. She wiggles away, laughing, sticking her tongue out at Zain before sprinting away.

"Yes," he grins, scrambling to his feet and chasing after her. She's quick and much more agile, darting to the side when he almost gets her and not caring that she's gonna fall.

"Let me down!" she shrieks, laughing, when he catches her, lifting her off the ground as she kicks her legs.

"You gonna help me with the fence?"

"No!" Safaa laughs, giggling when he sets her back down, put trots after him. She sits down in the grass next to him, watching him for a moment and scratching her nose.

He rolls his eyes at her, amused when she just grins cheekily, kicking her legs as if to demonstrate that she's really not going to work.

"My ears were ringing all the way from the cottage," Harry says, startling them both.

Safaa recovers first, probably because she isn't stunned speechless by the expanse of chest he can see, Harry's shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and the fabric itself sheer enough that Zain can count all four nipples for himself.

"Were they actually ringing?" she asks curiously, tilting her head.

"No," Harry grins at her. "It's more like-" he trails off, frowning past then for a moment. "Like when wind goes through your hair, you know?"

"I guess," Safaa shrugs. "We weren't saying anything bad," she adds. "Zain tried to get me to paint the fence," she pushes at Zain and Zain flicks the brush at her in return, making her squeal.

Painting is far easier than watching Harry, and it's bad enough that Zain can hear him. He even thinks he can smell him, like fire and herbs and warmth. It reminds him of summers spent in the kitchen, when the heat had been almost unbearable but not quite and he'd feel languid with it, relaxed and content.

"I know it wasn't anything bad," Harry grins. "The wind was very playful. How did he try making you paint the fence?"

"He said it would make the house safer," Safaa shrugs. "That you'd think it's be good practise."

"Well," Harry says slowly and Zain can feel his eyes on him. It's a bit like a breeze on his neck, now that Harry's brought the image to his mind. "He's not wrong. But only if you do it because you want to make the house safe."

Zain looks up, surprised.

"Really?" Safaa asks, awed. "Zain was right?"

"Hey," Zain complains on reflex, though he is just as stunned. He doesn't quite understand how his teasing could have even hit close to anything but the truth, but Harry is still looking at him, his eyes green and bright.

Zain's breath catches in his throat, and he licks his lower lip on reflex. Harry blinks and looks back at Safaa.

"Apparently," he smiles, the tension breaking. "I've got to go. Louis's been complaining about a lack of tuna in the house and I need to be back in time to put my bread in the oven."

"Alright," Safaa says. "If I can make Zain, I'm coming by tomorrow. No, the day after, Zain's taking me swimming tomorrow."

"Alright," Harry smiles. "I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye," Zain echoes and turns back to the fence before he can stare at Harry for too long.

"I might try," Safaa says critically, taking the spare brush. "But not long. Harry said I have to want to make the house safe and if I get bored I'll be too bored for that."

"Alright," Zain grins. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Safaa says grandly and starts frowning in concentration.

🌿

it's ... not going quickly lol