For all his holiday, Johann felt exhausted for the end of it for two reasons:

1. Vedir seemed to turn him into some strange, slightly possessive person, and Liadán's presence with them towards the end of the week had made this worse. The feeling was entirely confusing, and Johann was beginning to suspect it came from a source he did not want to acknowledge, or he was sick.

2. After reconciling with Hannah, she revealed while Colin hadn't returned his owl. His other best friend had been kidnapped. Kidnapped! Poor Colin! Johann had been drunk when he'd found out (as a result of reason #1) so it had taken the edge off his fear for his friend. He'd also had to keep a lid on stressing about Colin while being in close proximity with Vedir.

All in all, he was very glad to be away from his second employer and on Hannah's doorstep, and not asleep on it either. Though, since losing his bet about the sleeping potion, and gaining some more potion while in France, he knew the possibility was still there. Even if he looked considerably more healthy, having had a hair cut, a good rest and been almost force fed by his French relatives.

It was later than he'd intended, and he hoped Hannah hadn't gone to bed considering her long day at St Mungo's as he waited for her to come to the door of her flat, wearing his grey wool coat over the suit which was creased from the journey home in the carriage. His satchel bag was hung over his shoulder, containing all he had taken with him on the trip.

"Hannah." Johann greeted as the door cracked open. "Sorry its so late, was hard to say when I'd get back to London. You don't mind if I come in, do you?" He asked apologetically, rather thoughtfully for his usual way, but he had after all fallen out and had to write a proper apology letter to Hannah to get this far.

Johann hadn’t turned up and Hannah simply believed he had chickened out and decided not to come. His letter had been so well worded but the wizard himself wasn’t. He may have decided the written apology was adequate and he could leave it at that. It wouldn’t work like that, obviously. They hadn’t spoken since he’d run off to France and while Hannah wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, she didn’t appreciate such an attitude.

This belief that her friend wasn’t going to show up now left the witch sat on the sofa in her pyjama shorts and a large oversized jumper. Around her shoulders and chest was a large snake, wrapped comfortably as she read her book and it enjoyed the warmth from her body.

But the doorbell rang, the snake hissed and Hannah closed her book, standing up. The book was deposited on the coffee table and she made her way, barefoot to the front door, stroking the snake’s smooth scales as she approached and slowly pulled the door open with her spare hand.

"Hannah."

“Johann.” The witch frowned and as the wizard asked if he could come in, her lips pursed in thought. He shouldn’t be here now. Not when she wasn’t exactly dressed for visitors. Nevertheless, after a moment she nodded and pulled the door back fully. “Excuse my casual dress. I judged you had decided to be a coward regarding seeing me in person.” The witch stepped out of the way for her visitor to enter as the snake’s tongue protruded as he analysed the newest guest.

"Casual dress?" Johann asked, as he stepped inside "Oh, I didn't realise a snake constituted British 'casual dress'. Brings a new meaning to dress-down Friday."

He looked a little surprised at the snake - Johann didn't mind snakes, but out of pet animals he preferred cats and dogs, rather than rodents and reptiles. Snakes were fine, but not Johann's taste at all. Clearly Hannah's though, the thing regarded him with interest and appeared to be wrapped around her.

"Yes, I am very sorry for it being so late. I got stopped... some Ministry bother." He wasn't entirely lying, but it made out to Hannah that it was the Ministry and not Vedir who caused the hold up.

"I was going to give you a hug but..."

Slipping his bag off his shoulder he landed it by the door with a heavier thud than intended and proceeded to tug off his coat and scarf, straightening his shirt collar automatically as he hung both outer garments on the coat-stand and followed Hannah into the flat-proper.

Settling down on one of the armchairs, Johann rubbed his face and sighed.
"Felt like a small century to get home." He admitted, and looked up at Hannah. "How have things been... and... have you always had a snake, and if so... where was it last time I visited?" His gaze fell down to it wrapped around her again, completely not noticing how she was dressed beneath.

“Then I’m glad Clifford is here.” The response came before Hannah even had a chance to consider it. Physical contact was a no no with Hannah Bombay. Unless she inaugurated it. Johann had hugged her once before. That had ended in an uncomfortable silence and a complete denial that the event had ever taken place.  For a professional healer who touched and cured people daily, the issue with personal contact was truly bizarre. But it wasn’t until recently that the young witch had started to develop friends and lead a relatively normal (or close to normal) social life.

The bag landed on the floor with a thud loud enough to make the healer curious and Johann proceeded to remove his outer garments, leaving the pyjama shorts wearing witch feeling incredibly underdressed, even if she was decorated with a beautiful reptile who was watching Johann like it did its prey.

Deciding to ignore the first question of how things had been recently, Hannah focused on the second. She offered Johann a small smirk as she lifted a hand up to brushed some messy hair back behind her ear.
“Clifford?” The witch queried, stroking the top of the reptile’s head with a cold hand. “He’s been living here for a couple of years. He was probably under the sofa sleeping when you were here last. Or watching you. You’re not anxious of snakes are you, Johann?”

With Johann obviously planning on staying, Hannah turned on her bare heel and began to walk back into the living room. “Did you bring wine?”

“Clifford? He’s been living here for a couple of years. He was probably under the sofa sleeping when you were here last. Or watching you. You’re not anxious of snakes are you, Johann?”

"No, I'm just more of a cat or dog person than reptiles. I hadn't realised you had a pet of any sort." He admitted, raising his gaze from the snake to Hannah and giving her a tired smile.

“Did you bring wine?” Hannah asked. Johann clicked his fingers and hopped up.

"I did, I did." He assured her, returning to his bag in the hallway. Its insides were magically enhanced, and Johann hoped they'd survived the last of the journey through apparition to Diagon Alley and the walk since. Twenty seconds later he pulled a wooden crate larger than his bag from it, and carried it back into Hannah's living room.

Drawing his wand he paused,
"I can use magic here can't I?" He asked, receiving confirmation he broke the charm on the lid of the crate and revealed the bottles within.
"So do these count against our wager...?" He asked, gesturing for Hannah to inspect the wines. Glancing at Clifford again, thinking to himself about the last visit. Merlin, it was a good job he hadn't brought Hannah back drunk... what if he'd accidentally let it out?

"I won't be repeating that wager with either of you ever again. Learned my lesson." There was a pause. "About betting with you two, at least." At the thought of two, Johann's expression drooped, considering Colin.

Hannah was of two minds. In one she was happy that her friend had lost the bet and therefore she would soon be 35 galleons better off and not worse off. She was also completely unimpressed he hadn’t lasted without sleeping potion for long enough to even win a daft month long bet. His addiction was dangerous. That potion he’d pilfered from the stocks of St Mungo’s had the capability to be lethal and he’d already put himself in a few stupidly possibly dangerous situations thanks to his consumption of the strong liquid.

Her friend asked about this wager and Hannah’s lips pursed momentarily as she glanced at the crate of wine. She hadn’t thought about that.
“Well I hardly expected you to bring half of France’s wine supply back with you.” The witch remarked as she lifted the reptile from her neck and lowered him down to the floor as he was seemingly getting restless and wanted to investigate the newest visitor. This witch didn’t get many people visit her home. Not many people were even aware of where she lived. Her own parents included.

The drop in Johann’s expression made Hannah frown softly. But she didn’t know how to make someone feel better about something else. And emotions were too much to put up with, especially someone else’s. It was best to leave him to think about it himself and she would retrieve the wine glasses.

So that is what she decided to do. “Pick a bottle then, Storm.” She instructed before vanishing through a door into the tiny kitchen.

It was a few minutes later when she returned with a pair of full length trousers covering her still bruised legs and a couple of tall wine glasses. It was unexpected that she’d even had some suitable in her cupboard.

“How was France? How is your addiction?”

Hannah looked over the crate and set Clifford down. Johann kept an eye on him just because he wanted to know how such an animal vanished so easily, and because the snake hadn't taken its beady eyes off Johann since he'd arrived.

“Pick a bottle then, Storm.” Hannah told him, hopping up and leaving the room. Johann looked surprised, but followed instructions - forgetting about Clifford a minute, using his wand to chill the bottle until Hannah returned with wine glasses.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to ..." Johann began to apologise and then gave up, uncorking the bottle with his wand. One of the few charms he did use on a regular basis. "This one's a good year, they were saying. Tried some, inclined to agree. See if you do." He poured them both glasses.

“How was France? How is your addiction?”

Johann contemplated, sitting back, completely oblivious to the fact Clifford had crept up the back of the chair and was now sat inches behind his head - in clear view to Hannah, but out of Johann's view.

"France was what I needed to do." He told Hannah softly. "I made a mess of things with you, Col, work. I bailed, I do. Its how I got to Britain in the first place." He shrugged, "But it worked out. I have family, good family over there who love art, culture, wine, food, and they make you forget." Johann smiled fondly.

"They're my mother's family, a lot different. You'd find them far too touchy-feely." Johann thought about the evening Vedir had visited, and how Sylvie his youngest cousin at sixteen had fallen asleep nestled against him in their sitting room, as she was under the weather but had been determined to spend time with a cousin she rarely saw.
"Sorry for suggesting the hug." He made a face, realising how daft it had sounded and drank the wine, pausing before answering the second question.

"I think I'll need some help with it." He told Hannah quietly and quickly took another sip of his wine, avoiding eye contact. A weight on his shoulder made him freeze and his eyes slid to his left shoulder, then to Hannah.
"Oh!" He spoke in a startled tone. "Lovely to meet you Clifford." Johann and snake regarded each other with curiosity, the almost full wine glass still poised in Johann's right hand.

Hannah had never deemed it a bright idea to ask why Johann had ended up in Britain. It was personal and if he ever felt the need to share, the witch had no doubt Johann would. Until then she wasn’t going to venture down that route. Hannah Bombay didn’t like making things too personal and if she did, if she asked Johann to share something like that, he would expect her to share something. There were a lot of things the witch rathered people didn’t know about. She told others what they needed to. Johann obviously did as well.

The healer shrugged her shoulders as she poured herself a glass of wine and stepped back, dropping into the large comfortable chair at the end of the coffee table. “Were you not hugged enough as a child, Johann?” a calm voice questioned as Hannah pulled her feet up onto the chair and hugged her legs. The idea of hugging as a greeting or anything really was quite bizarre to a witch that kept her distance from most people. Hugging was an invasion of personal space which was completely unnecessary.

“Help how?” Hannah questioned. She watched as Clifford moved up behind Johann but decided to say nothing to him. He deserved a little surprise if he was feeling jumpy. “I’m not exactly a professional at sleeping potion addiction rehabilitation, Johann.” The wizard had turned to the snake, and was practically introducing himself. Hannah allowed her eyes to roll before she took another sip of wine.

“He isn’t going to shake your hand.” A mildly mean smirk began to tug at the corners of the healer’s lips as she lowered the wine glass and watched Johann and Clifford over her knees. “You could hug [him though. He’ll be more obliging than myself.”

“He isn’t going to shake your hand. You could hug him though. He’ll be more obliging than myself.”

"Think I'll pass - and hope he doesn't give me one either." Johann told Hannah, his voice a little more shrill than usual.

He set the wine glass down and tentatively reached out to Clifford, who equally regarded him with suspicion. Johann paused, almost touching the snake and then hopped up, stooping to retrieve his glass and settled on the floor, surrendering his chair. Almost certainly Clifford would find his way to him there but hopefully the snake had gathered he didn't have any mice or whatever else it got fed.

"Er, yes I know its not your speciality. But, well, its difficult." Johann was still looking at Clifford who was enjoying the heat Johann had left on the chair by vacating it. The German wizard caught his bottom lip between his teeth in a half nervous, half thoughtful way - partly due to Clifford, partly due to the subject matter.

"Look, could I ask a favour, can I stop on your sofa for the night?" He looked round at Hannah in an almost pleading way. "I don't have anywhere to stay. Just tonight, and you can throw me out. Gabrielle and I have reached a point where we can't live together - I stopped with a colleague for a few days before I went away... intern actually." Johann was a little displeased with himself, it wasn't professional to stay with one's intern, much as Sasha was gracious and kind for allowing him to.

Hannah’s initial response was a great, loud and decisive ‘NO’. She didn’t want someone else staying over in her apartment. In her personal space where she did personal things. Fortunately for Johann, he carried on talking, attempting to explain himself. This had allowed the all encompassing ‘no’ to fade from the tip of her tongue and instead Hannah eyed him suspiciously from above her wine glass. He certainly wasn’t making a good case for himself. Stating that he and his cousin had reached a point where they had been able to cohabitate was certainly not the way to win this young witch around.

But alas he was asking to sleep for one night on her sofa, not to move in, warts, bowel functions, mess and all. No. One night on her sofa. She could allow that. She could be charitable to a friend before rolling him out on his hind the following morning. And if she didn’t stress one night Hannah knew she may as well open the spare room to him, all and sundry.

“Clifford resides on the sofa at night.” The healer plainly stated, lightly coloured eyes darting from her guest, to the Boa constrictor happily reclaiming its position on the sofa and back to her guest. “I suppose he can rest elsewhere. For tonight.” The final word was exaggerated obviously, making for certain that Johann wouldn’t take it as an offer to set up home. She knew he could be very persuasive.

"Thank you." Johann gave a grateful smile, raising his wine glass to Hannah in a toast. "I appreciate it." He glanced back to the snake settling itself on the sofa where Johann had just departed,
"I'm sure we'll be fine to share…." With luck he could wait until Hannah had gone to bed and use a body bind on the thing.

"Thanks for telling me about Colin, too. I can't quite believe he got himself kidnapped." He looked up at Hannah and smirked, "Maybe you can, but still not very pleasant for him to say the least." Johann's smile had vanished and instead he looked rather glum. "Thought I'd lost you both, made a real hash of things. I know I do that quite a bit." He glanced up at Hannah apologetically.

"How are you, and things at the hospital? Are all your direwolf victims getting better?" Johann asked, raising his wine and sipping - realising that despite Colin's kidnapping, it was likely Hannah would want to throw him out and not lend him her sofa if he pursued that line of conversation.

“Mostly.” As was a perfectly usual occurrence with Hannah Bombay, her mind decided to focus on one particular thing, ignoring the continued small talk, appreciative gratitudes and apologises she didn’t need to hear and instead deeming that one of the more pressing issues was her friend’s primary worry. Hannah didn’t like Colin Downer. Johann was aware of that and Colin was certainly aware of that. But right now Hannah didn’t exactly fancy dwelling on what she had presently agreed to with a conscious lack of consideration for the consequences of allowing Johann to stay over for one night. She felt that as a friend, she should console Johann and make him feel more hopeful for the survival of a wizard that would no doubt instil the desire to kill a soon as he opened his mouth.

“Well of course I told you, Johann. Downer, for all his obnoxious and multiple faults, is your friend.” Two thin brown eyebrows threatened to knot together as the young witch’s forehead creased into a frown. “No one deserves to be put through an unfortunate experience like that, Johan.” Hannah sighed and glanced down at the wineglass she was lightly fingering in her left hand. “Not even Colin Downer. He has the brain of a latent minded troll but I wouldn’t wish that upon him.” Contrary to popular belief, Hannah Bombay was not heartless. One simply had to dig deeper to find the organ associated with feelings and empathy.

With the energy from her first transformation only days ago still not having returned, Hannah appeared pale and tired. She felt it, and the wine wasn’t doing much to help. But Johann didn’t know, he didn’t need to know.

“I’ll fetch you a blanket.” The vacant bedroom across the hall was certainly not on offer. Hannah took a quick sip of her wine before placing the glass on the table and slowly rising to her feet. “Or Clifford is capable of taking care of that for me. He could hug you during your sleep.” A tiny smirk graced Hannah’s lips.

"A blanket would be preferable." Johann replied with a smile. As soon as Hannah went to bed that snake was being put in a full body bind.

As Hannah left to find him one, Johann contemplated on what other options he had. Perhaps a night would turn to two. She must get lonely in this place by herself. Hannah would appreciate the company.

Who was he kidding? Johann told himself as he looked to Clifford.

End