A ghost of a smile touched the edge of his lips but he didn’t comment further on the matter. The Lissington house wasn’t even half the size of the Foxwood home, and when his entire family had been present, the house had never been quiet: laughter, squealing, talks of the futures and whispers of their fears soaked into the walls, and if he looked anywhere hard enough Gus could conjure a happy memory. His family meant everything to him even if he’d allowed his relationship with Fig to rot and turn to dust between his fingertips, as if he had hidden real things from him for years now. But he’d done the same to her, hadn’t he? Being home now was different; sometimes Gus felt like he was walking on eggshells, but that wasn’t a conversation he was going to readily start with Foxwood. He just understood how disheartening living in a quiet home that was once filled with so much noise could be.Instead Gus focused on the man’s words, a frown touching his lips as he apologized for his brother’s actions. “Please don’t drive a wedge between yourself and your brother on my account.” The red-head squeezed his fingers. “I’m okay. Whatever he said I didn’t take to heart-” even if they both knew that wasn’t true, and had Basil not steamrolled him before he could get a word in, he also would have shifted the blame from his brother to himself, “Because I don’t think anything could take me away from you again.” Because of all the moving parts, the crappy summer and the doubt that plagued his mind, if it meant he’d wind up right here, at this moment, Gus would live every moment again and again. Even people called him a monster or a sinner… condemned him to hell for his preferences, he wasn’t sure he’d give up being in love with Basil for anything the world had to offer him.
Basil shifted to take another sip of his drink and Gus scrunched his nose up. The taste of fire whiskey still lingered on his tongue, in his mouth, and there wasn’t much he could do to rid himself of it. He straightened his back as Foxwood knocked their shoulders together and his lips quipped up into a grin. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure when I would be able to buy a new one, and we both knew I needed the practice.” An easy laugh slipped out of his lips as he turned toward him. “If I had gotten a glimpse of even a corner of that book floating in the water, I would have dived in after it.” Hogsmeade weekend had just happened and he couldn’t wait an entire month in hopes that the bookstore would have another copy. His fingers tightened against Basil’s and he pressed their foreheads together as the man leaned into his face. “But I think we spent the afternoon in a much better way.” It had been the first of many shared kisses. It had been shy, chaste and sweet, but Gus had butterflies floating around his stomach for days after - he was certain he was floating at times too.
“Out of all the places I’ve been to Basil, I’m pretty sure our spot is still my favorite.” Gus leaned back a touch and wrapped his free hand around the glass in Foxwood’s to take it from him. It joined his own on the side table. Then the red-head wrapped his arms around the man’s shoulders and tugged him backwards on the bed, so they were both laying on their backs. Gus nuzzled his head into Basil’s shoulder. “Although, this year we’re going to see if I can summon a broom faster than I hit the water.” A soft laugh sounded from Gus before he fell silent.