The Wandmaker

Wings

Medea had suspected that something wasn´t quite right with her eyes healing. At first she had assumed that Lickey had laid a simple blinding curse onto the barrier, which she triggered when she ran out. But these things were temporary, they could be treated, or healed with time. None of the spells she knew were actually powerful enough to let her eyes grow shut. Except for maybe…

“Polyphemus Curse…” Paddy whispered, his voice trembling with anger, “Do you know the legend?”

Medea nodded in defeat, as she remembered the lessons of Professor Binns. Polyphemus had been a cyclops, living on a Greek island during the times of the Trojan wars. When the Greek Hero and Wizard Odysseus landed on his island with his crew, they seeked shelter in his cave and ate the Cyclops livestock. This angered Polyphemus, who proceeded to eat Odysseus´ crew. The Wizard offers him wine as a gift of hospitality, but when the Cyclops does not repay them accordingly and still threatens their life, he is blinded by Odysseus, who rammed his wand into the eye of Polyphemus. In return, the blinded cyclop prayed to his father Poseidon to avenge him, making it impossible for Odysseus to return home.

“Your brother… you were at his house and ate his food, but then you attacked him, or didn´t fulfil your part. Am I right?”

The lacewings… I never finished cooking them, the thought shot through Medeas mind. Knocking Lickey unconscious probably didn´t help either. But how could she break it?

*****************************

“I am not squeamish, but I am definitely not cutting out one of your eyes, so you can regrow it with a potion!”

“Oh come on Paddy, theres a potion for thad, wee only need Agroromantuals poison for that ans maybe some … ehm … Eeleyes I think…” Medea slurred, her tongue dragging, after the two of them had returned to drinking some more Firewhiskey. The witch reached for the bottle again, but when she poured it into her cup, she could only hear the last few drops, drizzling down.

“You are already drunk, there are other ways. I am sure…”

“Unicorn bloods -hicks- that could worrrrk, don’t ya think?”

“Sure you aren´t a Slytherin? That’s even worse…”

They had thrown around ideas for a while now, Medea even made him use every single healing spell she had ever heard. Until Paddy had lost his patience: “Episkey? Are you kidding me? Its not a broken bone!” Sure, the easiest way was to have Lickey take back the spell, but she didn´t know how or where to find him. She did not have his real name and the location of the manor was unknown to her as well. Subduing him in a Duell was a whole other problem in itself.

“The best chance is still getting a hold of the guy who did it, why won´t you tell me about him?”

“Paddy, you cannt go looking for em. His.. dangerrrrous -hicks-…”

“So am I.”

“Dangersssly -hicks- stupid maybe -hicks-“

“Oi, watch it Chamberlain, you are completely piss drunk. You should sleep that out, before you get any more dumb ideas.” With that he got up and pulled her to the bed in the corner. It must have been the alcohol, or the desperation of staying blinded for a long time, Medea reasoned later. Otherwise, she would have never dared to do that, but she pressed herself against him and gave him another kiss.

**********

The next morning, Medea woke up with a throbbing headache and her throat felt like dry sandpaper. She felt around her bed for Snuffles, who was usually their in the mornings, but instead she touched Paddys leg. Shock and anxiety flooded her, what had happened last night? The memories rushed back and she felt her face getting hot as she flushed thinking about how she had kissed him.

“Paddy, did we…?”

“Good morning to you too. No, obviously not, you were completely wasted, what kind of guy do you think I am?”

“Thank Godric, that would have been awful…” she said, holding her head which felt like a bunch of banshees were howling inside.

“Oof, don´t hurt my feelings Charlemagne. I would have been quite the catch, but I am not wasting my good looks on a blind, bald chick.”

“Oh Fuck you!” she said, suddenly feeling as if she was going to be sick.

“You´d wish!” Paddy laughed as he left the little cave.

Medea fell back into her bed, trying not to vomit. Why did he always have to be so crude? But then again, did she maybe want …? “No stop it! Focus!”, she scolded herself. Medea needed to get out of England and heal her eyes, there were more pressing things then falling for someone she couldn´t even see.

Maybe he was looking like a gnarly cave troll after all? She hardly knew him anyways. Not to forget that he had actually kissed a ‘blind, bald chick’ as he put it. Medea wasn´t too vain, but knew that she was easy on the eyes, before … well everything. Now she probably looked like a plucked chicken, with an assortment of scars.

Luckily, Paddy had left her some water, which she drank up gratefully. Medea was quite hungry, but the pure thought of eating fish again made her stomach turn. The headache stayed with her for the whole forenoon, at least she assumed that this was actually the time of day.

When Paddy returned later, he had somehow gotten his hands onto some Cauldron Cake and Mine pie. Medea devoured them like a starving Hyena, and the greasy food actually made her feel better.

“I am greatly indebted to you, you actually saved my life twice now!” she mumbled between two bites.

“Always a pleasure to help a lady in distress. Though you might want to work on your table manners, even Buckbeak eats more elegantly. You have something … there.” He reached over the table, removing some crumbles from her cheek, resting his fingers a little longer than necessary.

Medea began to feel a bit uncomfortable when her heart began pounding faster and the warm feeling in her stomach expanded again. This wasn´t supposed to happen, it wasn´t part of her plan. Meanwhile Paddy explained that they needed to do something against their headaches and pulled her back outside again.

She could feel two strong arms around her waist, lifting her up onto the Hippogriff. Medea protested under the pretext of being afraid of heights, when in reality she was simply afraid to be seen and recognized by someone.

“You can´t be afraid of heights when you can´t see them, stop worrying. Just hold on tight!”

Paddy climbed up onto Buckbeak in front of her, guiding her hands to hold onto him. Medea had no choice but to embrace him from behind, forcing her against him, while the beast was attempting to lift off the ground. Paddys hair was surprisingly soft and long, tickling her nose. With her arms around his waist, she could not help but feel how slender and lean his body was. It felt a bit strange to touch him like that, but his muscles were a pleasant surprise.

The cold wind was blowing into their faces and the fresh air actually helped to sooth the hangover immensely. They must have been flying quite high and the only thing Medea could hear was the steady flapping of Buckbeaks wings. Her own nervousness diminished as well, and she relaxed a bit against Paddys back. He smelt nice, she realized. It was a mixture of cigarettes, firewood, coffee and Snuffles on him, but something else was there too. She couldn´t quite put her finger on it, but it made the butterflies reappear.

It was over all too soon, when Paddy told her to brace for the landing. Buckbeak leaned forward at first and Medea slid closer to the wizard, to be suddenly thrust back when the Hippogriff opened his wings with a loud swooshing sound. His claws and hooves hit the ground hard, shaking her thoroughly. Before they even stood still, Paddy had already jumped off the back and Medea felt his hand firmly grip her thigh, probably to make sure that she didn´t slide down. His hands wrapped around her waist again, lifting her off the Hippogriff. The ground beneath her feet suddenly felt wobbly, as if she was standing on the deck of a boat on a stormy day. Medea was relieved that Paddy still held onto her.

“Sober now?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you still want to kiss me?”

“Also yes.”