Magical Hogwarts

5th may 2005

“No peeking.” Gia guided Reed into her apartment by holding his hands in hers, checking over her shoulder as she walked backwards through the front door, around the sofa, avoiding the coffee table littered with half-melted pillar candles and books and burnt sage and a vase of fresh roses. She had insisted on blindfolding him before he entered, which he had interpreted as a prelude to something else (and she wasn’t opposed to reusing it later) but she had actually wanted him to wear it so that she could keep the surprise a surprise.

They had gone for dinner—Reed’s choice, for his birthday—and rather than book a hotel room, she’d told him she wanted him to come over: she had a present for him.

Giovanna stopped the wizard in the middle of the living area and manhandled him on the spot to face the easel square-on, then moved behind him. She waved her hand and candles all around the room burned into life to light the room moodily. She smoothed her hands up over Reed’s shoulder blades, then up the back of his neck to undo the blindfold. “Okay, you can look,” she murmured, stepping to the side so that she could see his reaction.

On the easel was a canvas: a portrait of him. Reed had expressed a desire early on in their relationship, when he had first found out what it was Giovanna did, to have his portrait painted ‘one day’. She had been working on this over the course of several months, capturing his likeness and adding enchantments so that the subject moved as all great magical portraits did. The Reed in the painting was smirking softly; he was wearing one of his classic suits, and positioned in the frame to show his upper body; his runespoor draped over his right shoulder and curled around his arm, hissing intermittently at the viewer.

“So?” she asked after a moment.

@Reed Stricklander

Reed had been inside Giovanna’s apartment, but only once before, when her roommate was out, during one of his earlier visits to America. In the time since then, whenever he visited, he brought her to some upscale hotel or another. Today was a special occasion, though, and Giovanna had something planned. Reed was a perpetually prepared individual who generally did not care for surprises, but this was a different sort of surprise. He imaged it wasn’t the kind that would try to kill him. And since it was his birthday, he imagined he had some sense of where things were going when she brought out the blindfold, and he of course had no objections.

Heading into the apartment, Reed was careful with each step, despite not being able to see. He went where Giovanna guided him, until he felt her moving around, and a brilliant heat enveloping them. Her ups up his back had Reed’s muscles flexing against her palms, and when she undid the blindfold, he let out a soft breath. Reed stood motionless for a moment, his icy blue eyes tracing the contours of the portrait. The smirking image, so strikingly similar to his own reflection, seemed to challenge him from the canvas. He turned slightly towards Giovanna, the hint of a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth – a rarity.

“This, Gia… this is more than I expected. This is impressive,” he remarked, his voice carrying a mixture of amusement and underlying warmth. “You’re quite skilled.” He had seen her work for the ministry, but restoring old portraits and creating entirely new ones were very different skills. This was the first time Reed had seen Giovanna’s true creativity on display, and he could not have been more pleased by the subject matter. Reed’s gaze returned to the portrait, lingering on the runespoor, a symbol of his complex nature and his prized pet.

Reed’s expression softened, a rare glimpse of vulnerability showing through his usually stoic demeanor. “It’s remarkable, truly. Thank you, Giovanna.” This was a gift he was unlikely to forget. Reed could buy just about anything he wanted, but he couldn’t remember the last time someone had given him a gift he could cherish, something he wouldn’t have been able to procure on his own. His words were measured, but the sincerity in his tone was unmistakable, a testament to the depth of his feelings, often hidden beneath layers of reserve.

“Come here,” he murmured, reaching for her waist to pull her closer.

Reed’s reaction immediately made the countless hours spent toiling over the canvas worth it. Giovanna smiled softly back at him, pleased she had not misread him and their relationship – she rarely doubted herself around men, and even with Reed she usually felt safe in her assumptions, but she knew this was a bold gift.

“Thank you,” she replied, bringing her hands together in front of her lap as Reed complimented her. Gio knew she was talented, and there was a degree of ease in working on a passion project – but just as much pressure, too, when the subject was personal. There was a reason she had kept this under wraps, wanting to capture everything perfectly before revealing it to him.

The brunette witch smiled again, stepping in close and slinking an arm around the wizard’s lower back, half-turned to be able to see Portrait Reed in her field of view as well as the real Reed, living and breathing beside her. “I enchanted it properly so, if you want to, you can teach him to be more like you.” To act, and think, and respond like the real Reed would. “Otherwise he’ll just be a pretty face,” she smirked. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Reed’s gaze lingered on Giovanna, a rare glimmer of warmth softening his typically guarded expression. He was not usually one to show vulnerability easily, but in this moment, he found himself unable to mask the depth of his gratitude. “Thank you,” he murmured, a quiet acknowledgement of her gesture. He was accustomed to navigating a world of power and influence, where gifts were often tokens of transaction, rather than genuine gifts of affection. But this time it was different. It was proof of the bond they shared, and it showed the depth of her understanding of him. It wasn’t something she’d purchased; it was something she had made.

His hand found its way to her waist, drawing her closer until their bodies were almost touching. His icy blue eyes remained fixed on the portrait, admiring each brush stroke, but his thoughts drifted to the possibilities it held. Enchanted, she’d said. The idea of molding the portrait to his likeness intrigued him in ways he could not quite articulate. He turned to face Giovanna fully, “Perhaps I will,” he replied smoothly, his voice laced with amusement.

Reed knew this gift was more than just a portrait, it was a symbol of the intricate dance they had embarked upon together. They hadn’t labeled their relationship, but there were unspoken boundaries and perks. Reed understood what Giovanna wanted from him, and he was happy to give her what he could. There would – at least for the foreseeable future – be things he was not willing to share, but in this moment, he felt an unusual willingness to open up to her.

“You know, I've never had a portrait of myself,” he confessed, his eyes returning to the canvas. “Not even as a child. Our family never commissioned them.” He had thought it peculiar before, the absence of painted likenesses of the children in their family’s ancestral halls. “My mother thought it would offend the ghosts that haunted her home.” Reed’s mother had insisted that creating portraits could somehow disrupt the delicate balance between the living and the dead. As if reminding them of the virility of youth might somehow offend their dead ancestors. In his troublemaking youth, Reed had of course found other ways to insult them instead.