Love Drunk (Sebastian)

[Ren Satoshi]

Ren seemed to never quit smiling when Sebastian was in his thoughts, and imagining those little half smiles of his was enough to make him giggle. He was bloody...beautiful and interesting, mysterious, and he'd stood up for him.

The sudden realization that he might be allowing himself to slip and fall for him made him sit upright quickly before burying his head in his hand. Not again. He couldn't fall again. One more heart break would simply destroy him.

Currently, Ren sat in the study of the small, impersonal townhouse in the West End, staring with complete and total shock at the locket that lay open on his desk. He had tried to stop Sebastian before he'd left spying his locket slipping away from him as he appirated. He went and picked it up, letting the metal rest in the protected leather of his glove. It wasn't until much later that he'd taken the gloves off and examined the locket closer that the riddle had come across the front of the locket. The first one, he hadn't understood well enough to answer, so he'd answered wrong. The second one, however, was one that he'd heard from Takumi several times.

What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?

"A river."

The locket swung open and he jumped slightly, cautiously using the pad of his thumb to open the top of the locket a little further. Inside he found the last name Héderváry scrawled in a graceful font, and he smiled. So, that was Sebastian's last name. He'd only barely started to wonder about what family he had come from. However, when he looked to the small picture his eyes settled on the young face of Sebastian Héderváry and in that instant, he could remember every instance he had seen him.

In classes, in the corridors, but particularly...at the Yule Ball.

"You should talk to him."
"Watashi wa dekimasen." (I can't.)

Takumi had wandered back after the seventh consecutive dance with the girls from Beauxbatons, and this time he had a lovely blonde on his arm, who looked from brother to brother with wide eyes. They looked exactly the same. Exactly. Their hair fell the same way, they stood the same way, the only difference that she could notice was the soft sheen on lip gloss on the boy who stood alone among all the dancing teens. Even the other Japanese boy that he'd arrived with was off dancing with others, he looked lonely, gazing off at a small trio of Hogwarts students. There was a boy with longer hair, dancing with a girl with short dark hair, and with them danced a taller Asian boy with eyes that matched the first boy.

He looked happy...it was the first time that Ren had ever seen him with a smile.

"Takumi, vhat ees ze problem vith your sweet brozer?" The blonde crooned, voice laden in that thick French accent of the Beauxbatons girls.

"He has a bit of a crush on the taller Asian over there, but his English is limited, so he's afraid to talk to him."

The blonde's tongue clicked softly, "Oh, you poor sing...zhat is so sweet."

"I'll translate for you, Ren, if you want to dance with him."

The boy looked hopeful for a fleeting moment, "Anata wa yakusoku shinai" (Do you promise?)

"Of course."

"Vhy do you not answer him in Japanese, Takumi?"

Takumi smiled, "Because, he is the other half of my heart. He understands me always, no matter what I say or do not say, he just can not vocalize it in English."

The girl crooned softly as Ren looked at his brother with a sweet smile, then blushed and looked down. However, it was then that he was told that he had duties to attend to and he had to leave the ball and prepare transcripts for the school. Ren felt his heart sink, but, it wasn't as if he was noticed anyway. Takumi spoke up for his behalf, trying to get him at least one dance with the boy his brother seemed to like so much, arguing in rapid and heavy Japanese with the person telling him that he had to leave.

Ren interjected, saying to Takumi that it was better this way and quietly left the hall while everyone else had the time of their lives, and he sat in the corner of the library, writing away as the music played on.

At least he had seen him smile once.

Inconceivable.

The world was either very cruel, or very kind. He wasn't sure which. He decided to use his brother's owl, telling her the name of who she was to find. The owl carried a scroll with a simple single sentence on the parchment.

I found your locket.

He sat quietly now, waiting for the sound of the pop, the knock, any signal of his arrival.

[Deleted]

Upon returning to his own home, Sebastian had chosen to make himself a cup of strong tea and had allowed himself to sit quietly in his living room as he reflected on the happenings of that night. Despite the two over-grown bullies that he had protected Ren from, it truly had been a night that he had enjoyed. Ren was a pleasant person and had proven himself to be one of the few people whose company the Hungarian enjoyed without even trying, something that greatly impressed him in a way that no one ever really had ever managed to do before and yet as he thought about his own actions that night, he couldn't help but suffer from the slightest bit of confusion. There were two things that he had done in the company of Ren that he would have never done if he had been with another person.

One, he had almost lost control of his anger, something that under normal circumstances he would have never allowed to happen. The last time he had ever gotten that angry was when some fool had tried to assault a very pregnant Daphne all those years ago, something that had resulted in the would be assailant receiving a trip to St.Mungos with pretty much every major bone in his body broken and his memory completely wiped so that the damage could not be traced back to him. He could not understand why he would protect this man that he had just only met with the same intensity that he had protected his brother's pregnant wife and yet he had absolutely no regrets about what he had did.

The second thing that he had done was allow this man to touch him, to hug him even when normally he would have avoided any sort of physical contact with someone who was not a blood relative of his. Granted, he was not given much choice in the matter but even so he still could have pushed the other away instead of just standing there and awkwardly returning the gesture! Yet for some reason, rejecting the hug had been the furthest thing from his mind at that moment in time and for some reason or another he had actually found himself enjoying that hug and for some reason his heart grew warm when he even thought of it!

This was all very confusing for him. Perhaps he was getting sick and needed to make a visit to the wizarding hospital soon.

It was a short moment later when he was shaken from his thoughts as he heard the small sound of an owl pecking at his window, causing the man to rise from his seat with a confused look on his face. The ministry should have been closed by now and there was no one that he knew who would send him an owl so late at night. It was then that he opened the window and took the note from the owl that he did not recognize with a confused frown, watching as the owl flew away before his eyes fell down to the note, his throat constricting in panic as he read the note.

Someone had found his locket.

His hand flew up to his neck immediately, his heart racing when he found that the locket was indeed missing from his possession.

Damn it!

With a shaky breath, he calmed himself before allowing himself to apparate across the street from the house of the person who he knew had his locket and with that he slowly made his way to the front door, rising a hand and hesitating for the smallest moment before calming himself and bringing his hand to knock on the door, waiting with a calm expression as he waited for Ren to appear.

This was either going to go very well or very bad.

[Ren Satoshi]

The knock came as he was nursing back a drink of his favorite jasmine tea from a set that Tanaka had gotten him for Father's Day when she was but a very small child. He stood quickly, balancing the tea cup within his palm as he went to the door and opened it. When he saw Sebastian there, he smiled softly. "I thought you'd be here soon. I tried to catch you before you popped away, but I must have seen it fall just a little too late. Please, come in." He moved back from the door and left room for him to pass into the small entry.

The door was settled shut behind him and he found that almost irritating blush creeping onto his cheekbones. "Would you like some tea? I've just made a pot." He asked softly, before admitting, "I'm sorry to say that curiosity did cause me to answer the riddle that popped up on your locket, that is a clever way to lock it. But, seeing the picture...I definitely remember where I've seen you before." He moved through the entry and down a small hallway and into a living room where the tea set was sitting in an orderly fashion on the table. Aside from being decorated in their homeland fashion, there was nothing remarkable of their home, really.

Save for one photo that was placed on the wall.

In it was a young boy with a young girl among an orchard of beautiful cherry trees in bloom. The kids were laughing and waving at the camera, and they were mid hug with each other. When Ren entered the room, the kids noticeably lit up and waved frantically, smiling brightly. They cast a glance over to Sebastian and waved enthusiastically, smiling warmly to him too. From the table, neat the tea set, Ren picked up the locket and handed it to Sebastian. "You know, you didn't have to hide your last name from me." He was still smiling, not angered in the least.

It was obvious that the news of the war had not reached Japan. He'd no idea of what had happened.

"The image was all I needed to jar loose some memories, I remember you well. I guess you could say that over the year I was at Hogwarts, I was a little enamored with you." He was speaking so calmly that he was surprising himself. He was putting on an amazing calm front, though he had set the cup down because of his horrible nervous habit of his hands quaking when he spoke of anything regarding his heart. He smiled sheepishly, "Not that your last name would have helped me remember that any better, but it's nice to remember your whole name with your face."

Well, might as well get it all out since that calm was sticking around.

"You probably never noticed me, I have never been very remarkable, but I certainly remember you. I think I made a couple of people jealous for watching you during the Yule Ball. I wanted to ask you to dance with me, but I really...really..couldn't speak English well enough to ask you." He laughed. "Takumi offered to translate for me, but...I worried that that would be too..." He was searching for the word to use again. "Not desperate...but maybe weird? Does that word make sense there?"

English was such a hard language to learn.

"I was going to let him do it, just for an excuse to maybe see you smile again. But, I must have showed that I was happy because I was told I had to do work for my school and had to leave the ball early. Takumi really tried to argue my staying for one dance, but...I was content to have seen you smile just once. So, I left just as I came, and went to work in the library, left the door open so I could hear the music." It was close enough to being there for him. He'd spent the time at the actual dance watching everyone else dance, En with Shalie, Takumi with so many different girls that he was actually impressed, the other Ravenclaws with their dates, and Sebastian with his brother and the Ravenclaw girl. He couldn't remember her name, but he remembered that she had always been nice to him and patient with his language barrier.

Her name was pretty too, if he remembered right.

They all looked so happy, and he was just happy to witness it.

He had been asked to dance by a few of the Beauxbatons girls, but the look of "non-understanding" and apologetic Japanese had been enough for them to figure out that he didn't understand what they were asking him. When Takumi spoke English, it was different. He always knew what he was saying, not saying, thinking...twins could do that.

At least, hearing the music, he could play out scenarios in his mind to make himself feel like he was involved in the joy, rather than off by himself again. His mind wasn't a dark place then, he tried to find refuge there when he felt like an outsider at Hogwarts and imagined some beautiful stories to carry him through the year. It slowly stopped toward the end of the year, when things took a turn, but he could still remember those stories he dreamed up. Sometimes he dreamed them.

"I wish I would have had the chance now, but that's just me being a sentimental old fool." He laughed softly and shook his head. "I am rambling again. I'm sorry."

[Deleted]

The second that the door opened, the Hungarian's eyes immediately met the black gaze of Ren and all emotions as well as any sign that he was nervous were instantly wiped away. He was a little bit thrown off by the smile that he was greeted with and for a moment he dared himself to hope that Ren had not been able to solve the riddles and that his identity would be kept safe. Ren spoke after a moment, telling him that he had tried to catch up with him before he managed to apparate away, but it seemed as though he had seen his locket fall too late, something that caused Sebastian to shake his head before stepping inside of the home at Ren's request.

" I apologize for that and for any trouble I may have caused you. I am always in a bit of a rush these days, it makes it hard for anyone to be able to catch me at the right time." He gave a weak smile towards Ren before shaking his head at the offer of tea, politely declining the drink before speaking calmly, offering an explanation. " I just had a cup before coming here and if I have too much of it, I will be unable to sleep. Thank you for the kind offer however." He almost found himself smiling again, before freezing at the man's other words. So Ren had managed to solve the riddles after all, something that surprised him and yet didn't surprise him all at the same time.

Ren spoke again saying that how he had locked it was clever before saying that he could finally remember just where he had seen Sebastian just by seeing that picture alone and as he began walking through his home, Sebastian quietly followed after him, his body growing rigid with the slightest bit of tension when Ren said that he did not need to hide his last name from him, something that caused a soft sigh to leave his lips for a moment before he spoke to Ren again." Ren, I was not hiding my name from you in particular. There is nobody alive except for the British and Hungarian ministers who know my full name. I will not bore you with the details, but it would be a very bad thing if people were to know my full name so I keep it hidden to protect myself." It was obvious that Ren knew next to nothing that had happened both in and out of the wizarding war and he would not be the one to plague him with the details unless he had to.

It was a moment later that he was led into the room and upon seeing the portrait of the two children smiling so warmly and waving so enthusiastically at him, he couldn't help but allow his features to soften the slightest bit, before returning the smile that the children gave him with a brief one of his own. He truly had a soft spot for children, something that he tried to cover up when Ren returned his locket to him, something that caused him to nod his head in silent gratitude as he slipped the troublesome object into the inner pocket of his coat where he knew it would be safe, all the while listening to Ren as he spoke again, freezing yet again in shock as Ren admitted that he had a crush on Sebastian of all people when he had been at Hogwarts for that year, the revelation causing his cheeks to color the slightest bit as he became somewhat flustered.

What had Ren seen in him of all people?! He had been little more than an antisocial nerd during his school years!

He listened as Ren went on, saying that Sebastian had probably never noticed him because he was never really remarkable but he certainly was able to remember Sebastian. He said that he thought he might have made a few people jealous because of his staring before admitting that he had wanted to ask Sebastian to dance with him at the ball and the only things that had stopped him had been his bad English, the fact that he thought having his brother translate for him would have been weird and the fact that he had been forced to leave the ball early to complete some work in the library but that he had been content just to see that smile. Again Sebastian fell quiet, trying to process the information given before he allowed himself to speak again.

" I-I apologize about the fact that I never spoke with you before. As a child, I was not the most social of people and by the time that you had shown up at the school, the years in the house that valued me only because I was a Pureblood of high social status finally took their toll on me. I was content to stay in my own world that consisted of me, my older brother and his girlfriend in those days." He cursed inwardly when he failed to control his stutter again and took a deep breath before allowing the air to slowly escape his lungs. " I am not going to lie, I have absolutely no idea what you might have seen in me but I can assure you this, if you had asked me to dance with you back then, there's a good chance I would have said yes." There was no doubt in his mind that Ren would have caught his attention back then if he had and even if he had not ended up returning his crush, at the very least he knew he and Ren would have become good friends." One is never a fool for wishing to change the past for it's never a waste to dream or to think of the paste because it is the past that helps us learn for our future and prevents us from repeating the same mistakes over and over again.."

[Ren Satoshi]

This time, Ren chuckled to himself.

" I'm afraid, if you would have spoken to me, I might have just looked confused. Or fixed you with this sort of face." He looked up at him and his eyes looked confused, but his whole face was engulfed in a smile that people had always dubbed "unbearably cute". Even as a teen, when he didn't understand something, he always just smiled cutely, hoping that the fact that he didn't quite get it wouldn't upset anyone.

Another chuckle shook his frame before he straightened up and smiled more naturally. That was before his mind started going in circles on itself.

You should tell him you never stopped liking him.

What?

Yeah, just tell him!

That's not normal conversation direction.

So? Look at how cute he is when he's turning red like that!

Ren looked at him a moment and that color was still clinging to Sebastian's cheeks.

Damn it.

See? Cute! Now tell him!

You...are worse than my kids, brain.

Ren cleared his throat, "Well, it's not as if that crush ever fully left."

BLOODY MERLIN!

You're welcome.

And, back to the red his face turned. A smile twitched on the corners of his lips and he smiled warmly as he turned his gaze bashfully away. Oh, bloody hell. His mind was NOT allowed to take control like that again! EVER. Oh, but no. It decided to continue onward!

"I still get all those same feelings when you smile. Even that little half smile. There was something about you when we were younger that just pulled me in/ It may have been your shyness, it might be the determination in your eyes, it may even have been the way that animals used to warm up to you in Care of Magical Creatures, but whatever it was, it never left." Ren's eyes widened, as if he had no control over what he was saying, then his eyes narrowed and he got a sudden look of realization.

Damn Takumi. Damn him to the firey depths of Hell.

Veritas serum in his tea.

Really?

"And now that I've managed to embarrass us both, I will go strangle my dear brother the Potions Master for his creative lacing of my tea with veritas serum. Be thankful that you did not have some or I think we both would be matching my damned coat."

His face was even redder than the coat!

[Deleted]

His lips curled upward in one of his rare full smiles the minute that he saw that cute expression that covered Ren's face and it that small moment in time he could feel his heart begin to race again, pounding heavily and rapidly until he felt as though his heart was going to fall directly out of his chest for some reason or another, something that caused his hand to move to his chest and his brow to furrow in the slightest bit of worry as fear began to plague his mind, fears that gave him one of the greatest near panic attacks of his life as he began to think the absolute worst of things and caused one single question to take up a constant residency in the depths of his mind.

Why did he always feel so bloody strange whenever he either was around or even simply thought of Ren?

That was the one thing that he just could not figure out the answer to no matter how much he tried and as Ren spoke again, he managed to clear his mind with a great amount of difficulty just to listen to what it was that he had to say to him this time, his face exploding with color when Ren admitted to him that despite the length of time that they had gone without him seeing or even hearing about the Hungarian that the crush that he had on him never fully faded away. For some reason that news made his heart feel lighter to him and while it continued its rapid beating to the point where it even skipped a beat, causing the Hungarian to inwardly panic for a moment before he spoke again, replying to the Japanese man's words with a soft question. "Y-You still like me, e-even after all this time?"

Despite his hardest efforts, he still could not see what made him out of all possible people appealing to Ren, especially when compared to someone that had been as charming and likable as his brother, or even all of the other good looking men at Hogwarts! What had made him stand out to the beautiful Ren?

Wait did he just think of him as beautiful?!

He swore that the first thing that he was going to do when he left Ren's house was going to St.Mungos and checking himself in! He would not leave until he figured out just what the hell was wrong with him! He had never in his lifetime thought another person to be beautiful, not even his own mother, sister and niece! Why had Ren suddenly change that? Why was Ren making him feel so strange?

He just did not understand!

It was only when Ren began to list some of the things that had drawn him to Sebastian did the smallest bit of his confusion begin to fade away, though his heart began to beat even more insanely than it ever had before, almost as though it wanted nothing more than to leave his own chest and go to Ren. He felt lightheaded and feverish and so nervous that he felt as though he was going to be violently ill. Part of him was urging him to say something to Ren, something that he did not know and for a moment he was completely frustrated with himself as the feelings grew stronger and stronger the longer that he was in Ren's presence.

When Ren spoke up saying that his brother had laced his tea with Veritas Serum all he could manage to give him was a weak smile before the feelings that he had came back to hit him at full force, causing his smile to waver and his face to falter in absolute panic as his hand moved to grip at his chest. He needed to get to the hospital and now before something bad happened!

" R-Ren....p-please don't take this the wrong way but I need to leave." He gave another week smile before quickly bowing his head and hurrying out of the room.

Off to St. Mungos he goes.