Nothing's Fair In Love And War | Zarry

Part Ten

Zayn's room was in a bizarre harmony combining a college boy's dormitory with an old paranoiac witch's single room. The walls were covered with celebrities' posters such as Beyoncé, Drake, Frank Ocean and some singers Harry couldn't name. Under the Rihanna poster, it was a simple bed with a plain duvet cover. Piles of witchcraft books were scattered above the mattress, along with a laptop charging from a socket next to an antique celestial globe. Zayn's jackets were hung on the half-opened door of the wardrobe. Inside the wardrobe, there were a couple of medieval cases in the corner. The surfaces were carved into delicate lines, with a small wooden statue shaped as an owl standing on the top of it.

"My room is a mess." Zayn mumbled with a blush on his face, turning around to make the tea. Harry sat down on a clean space of the bed, looking up at the whole room again. He wasn't surprised when he noticed there was no mirror in Zayn's room.

The fragrance of herbal tea had spread inside the small room. Harry turned his face away, pretending he didn't notice how Zayn boiled the water in less than thirty seconds. And then his attention was caught by the Minions toys on the table that were dressed in small capes and pointed hat. Harry started giggling when Zayn handed him the cup.

"Uh...my sister Safaa gave me those before I left. You know...she's only fourteen." Zayn clarified in a flurry when he followed Harry's sight, coughing pretentiously.

"They are cute." Harry saved him, sipping the tea with a smile. The warmness brought alleviation immediately.

"Drink it up. You'll feel better."

Harry followed, feeling like all his tense nerves had relieved. He breathed tranquilly, blinking his eyes at Zayn who's collecting the items above the covers. Tiredness returned to his body as his temperature heated up.

"You good?"

"Yeah." Harry rubbed his eyes, putting the cup on the cabinet next to the bed. "I'm starting to suspect if you put drugs in my tea."

Zayn laughed and joked, "You right, I'm drugging you so I can steal your cat while you're unconscious." He snapped his fingers and had the rest of the room clean itself, and then approached to the bed as Harry pouted his mouth with his drowsy eyes.

"You should lie down." Zayn whispered softly, brushing Harry's hair aside with two fingers and pressed him down. Harry didn't resist his touching, resting his head on the pillow with his heart racing. He arranged his curls himself to cover the redness on his face, "Zayn, I don't understand why you're being nice to me."

"Should I not?"

"I mean," Harry stared at the corner of the pillow, "I've been a menace to you since the very beginning. I was rude to you, shouting at you and..." His voice faded. Zayn was silent, but Harry didn't have the courage to look up.

After a few seconds, Zayn finally replied. But he didn't answer to Harry's question. "I wanna show you something."

Harry adjusted his neck to look at Zayn, who's unbuttoning his collar.

"What –"

Zayn stopped his action and took a necklace out of his shirt. At the end of the tie, it was a tiny glass bottle with silver liquid inside. "Do you know what it is?" He asked with a sedate voice.

"Oh..." Harry lied back awkwardly, "No, I don't know."

Zayn smiled mystically, rattling the tiny bottle. "If I say this is a potion made from the philosopher's stone, would you believe that?"

"What?!" Harry struggled to sit up, but Zayn pushed him down again.

"One of my mentors gave me this." Zayn explained calmly, "He's a close friend to my father. I can't tell you his name, but he's an incognito alchemist whose family has been doing this research for centuries. And they found the study of Paracelsus, who, in fact, had discovered the philosopher's stone."

Not giving a chance for Harry to query, he continued. "However, Paracelsus knew that the secret shouldn't be revealed to the world. He decocted a small pot of potion with the stone, and then destroyed the stone itself. The potion and his document were hidden somewhere in the Middle East. My mentor's family followed the clues he left and found the place."

"And..." Harry stuttered, "And he gave that to you?"

"This small bottle has the power to change the world. And I'm not going to use it." Zayn replied, putting the necklace back. "He gave me this in hope of passing on the legacy, like a warranty to my ability. I made a promise – more like a curse – to myself. If I ever use this potion, I will never be able to practice witchcraft. Forever."

Harry widened his eyes, grabbing Zayn's hand with a weak voice, "Why are you telling me this...?"

"Because I want you to know that...even when you don't believe in something, it doesn't necessarily means it doesn't exist." Zayn gave him a comforting smile, leaning in to kiss on his forehead. "Just sleep."

Harry wanted to say something. But his eyelids fell as Zayn drew his hand away.