A Dementor's Kiss - Phan

Of Serpents and Sharks

"Yeah, I think that was in third year when a Tentacula bit your bum and you cried."

Chris threw a punch at PJ which PJ avoided deftly, pulling Chris into a headlock and tussling on the grass.

"So what about you, Dan?" PJ said breathlessly as he emerged triumphantly a brief moment later. "Do you have a life plan yet?"

"Jesus. I haven't even done my OWLs." Dan shuddered.

"Yeah, but you need to think about it when you're picking your NEWTs and stuff."

Dan shook his head slowly. "I really have no idea. I'm not particularly good at anything."

"You're good at Quidditch," Chris offered.

Dan snorted. "Not professional level good. I'm not athletic enough."

"That's true," Phil was plucking strands of grass and weaving them mid-air into a braid, ignoring PJ and Chris's antics. "You're a weedy scrap of a boy."

Dan rolled his eyes fondly, laying back to nestle his head in Phil's lap. "Anyway, if Umbridge is still here I probably will fail. She'll have snaked her way into all the other subjects by then. Well, maybe not Transfiguration. I'd love to see her take on McGonagall."

"Everyone would, there'd be nothing left of her." Chris beamed at the thought, taking a chocolate biscuit from PJ's plate.

Phil tutted as he tried to find a position whereby he could still reach his sketchbook without disturbing Dan's heavy head, before settling on resting the cool pages on Dan's face.

Dan faked a sneeze and earned a sharp rap on the nose. He rolled over so that Phil could lean against his head and continue his drawing of some sort of horned plant with worrying looking spiky tendrils. The pencil grating over the paper against his ear made Dan wince, but he was too warm and lethargic to move. The June sun beat down with a heat that made his skin tingle, but there was just enough breeze to prevent it from being truly hot. He yawned and received another clout from Phil.

Dan had avoided PJ's question, but not because he hadn't thought about it. The future stretched out long and daunting in Dan's mind. The three sixth years were planning their careers, while Dan was just getting to grips with school-life. The thought of two more years on his own terrified Dan. All of his closest friends were sixth years, it would be like his first two years all over again. Despite the heat, Dan shivered. He hadn't told anyone yet, but somehow he didn't think he'd be staying for NEWTs.

But what would he do? Without those qualifications his job prospects were bleak. He wasn't naturally talented enough to do anything impressive with just five years of study, and despite Chris's suggestion he really didn't see himself playing Quidditch full time.

Most terrifying of all, though Dan was loathe to admit it, was the thought of being without Phil.

Phil had nurtured Dan like one of his plants, watering him with love and encouragement, and Dan had blossomed. Phil wasn't just his boyfriend, he was his emotional backbone, and Dan wouldn't truly know how reliant he was on that until it was gone. He traced flower petals on Phil's knee and Phil cringed at the tickle.

He was his own person, Dan argued. Phil hadn't changed who he was, just helped him come blinking out into the open. Now he was there, there was no reason he'd go back into that shell of insecurity and self-loathing just because Phil had gone. He'd manage on his own. He'd make new friends. Because even if he left school at the same time as Phil, he wouldn't necessarily be following him. Phil's career would take him all around the world. Dan would probably end up working in a shop.

Opposite, PJ had transfigured strawberries into fleshy aeroplanes and was flying them into Chris's mouth. No one had talked about the imminent split of the fantastic foursome, but it hung over them like a gathering raincloud.