While Gus had enjoyed nearly every moment (there had been some growing pains and maturity he’d rather not remember) during his stint at Hogwarts, he was ready to face the world as one of the newest apprentice Curse Breakers. He’d sent his owl with the job acceptance before the offer  had even registered in his brain - a chance to escape the guise of looking forward to debuts and parties and his mother pushing him to marry and be paid for it? Sign him up.

His mother would disappointed losing her son so soon after graduation but she would understand - Gus had always wanted to travel the world. His father had spun story after story when he and Fig were children, gathering them around the fireplace right before bed to tell them tales of when he was a Curse Breaker. Of course his son would follow in his footsteps. He’d soon find out how many were embellished; the Hufflepuff planned to keep a log of his own journeys to be able to recount his own tales one day. He had dreamt of adventure since he was child and now it was within his grasp; he would be a fool to allow that to slip through his fingers.

He hadn’t told anyone, not even when he’d joined his fellow Hufflepuffs to celebrate their last few days at Hogwarts earlier this morning, nor Fig who had accompanied him to the owlery. It had been Basil he wanted to tell first. Even at seventeen and their relationship still budding, he could tell it was going to be love. Or assumed; he figured wanting to spend every waking moment with him and yearning to be with him when they were in separate dorms meant something. A terrifying thought in itself, but not one that Gus felt the need to push away and bury. But the young Ravenclaw hadn’t been anywhere in the Great Hall, nor anywhere in the familiar haunts of the castle. He couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t received the news he’d wished. (Which might bode well for Gus, but he pushed the selfish thought away.)

He had come upon Basil by sheer accident, wanting to end his Hogwarts journey where it had begun. The Black Lake had seemed massive when he’d come across it as a first year, tiny and scared as he huddled with other first years in the boat, yet here and now, it was nothing more than a lake. Soon he’d set sail across it one last time. Basil was sitting by the edge of the cliff overlooking the water, seeming lost in his own thoughts, so Gus did what he always did: sat down next to him and knocked his shoulders against his. On instinct he reached for his hand.

“If you keep thinking so hard, I think I’ll be able to read your thoughts.” Gus grinned at him, although he kept his head straight to stare at the ripples of the water far below him. “Hard to think this is it.”

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