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Cal stumbled back from tryouts, not even aware of where he was stumbling to, exactly. His brain was somewhere else, somewhere outside of Hogwarts. It was on holiday, Cal decided, giggling at the thought.
He hugged Remus.
He hugged Remus.
His arms had encircled his waist and he'd made skin-to-skin contact. He had felt the steady rise and fall of his chest, felt the warmth of his flesh. Felt the utter pleasure of being so close to the person who had held all of his love and affection for two long, arduous years. It was like fireworks were set off all across his body. He was on fire.
He could feel it coursing through his bloodstream. The wild, frenzied flames overcoming his nervous-system and plying deep into the marrow of his bones. It was a wonderful feeling, unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Cal finally got what all those romance stories had gone on about before. At first, he thought it was all a silly little crush, something that would fade with time. A product of new, teenage hormones. But no. His feelings had only amplified with time, each new wave of affection crashing down on the other with renewed vigour and amorous zest. Cal first felt it on the train, when he had crashed into Remus, his body knocking into Remus'. That was only a fraction of what Cal was feeling after the hug. He knew Remus. He knew his favourite food and the names of his parents and his habit of playing with things when he was bored or stressed. He was privy to all of those things because he was a part of Remus' life.
And that only made it better.
Cal, too busy relaying that hug again and again and again, missed the sound of incoming footsteps. He collided headfirst with the other person and they both fell to the floor, the person's books falling to the floor in a loud mess.
He scrambled up to help, apologies dripping from his lips like a broken tap, his mouth running a mile a minute. As he picked one of the books up and looked at it's cover, he noticed a name stitched neatly into the bottom right corner.
R.A.B
"Reg?"
Cal's head snapped up to see his friend. All at once, he felt the gravity of Reg's absence from his life, its weight bearing down on him like an old crone. He could feel its hands clamping down on his shoulders, its breath chilling his neck. Cal met those familiar grey eyes, and they were glacial in a way they had never been before.
It made him take a small step back, and as his foot met the floor, wrongness crawled his leg like poison ivy. Reg didn't seem to care, or even notice, and carried on picking up his things. Cal stood there, feeling stupid, his mouth agape, until Reg walked towards him and held out a hand.
