The Svetkova house & Kras' apartment

Reed about lost it all over again when Ivan hugged him. He sniffled a little then led him to the kitchen so they could sit and talk. He sat down and fidgeted with his hands. "I'm not sure where to start. It's all so messed up. Basically Kras is hurt. Cursed actually. He uh...kind of lost control when he confronted some bullies of mine.." Reed had the feeling like this was all his fault. If he had stood up to those stupid boys himself, none of this would have happened and Kras would be okay. He felt the tears rising again and cleared his throat softly. "Anyways he...I don't know, lost control a bit and used some curse he read about when he was at Durmstrang. It...it had to take blood from him and oh god!" He let his head fall on the table, unable to go any further from there.

Ivan sat down at the kitchen table and waited patiently as Reed explained what was going on. His concern grew as he heard that his son was hurt and was in trouble from a curse. It didn't surprise him that his son had confronted some bullies - he knew Kras would do almost anything to protect the ones he loved, especially after all he had been through in his past. When Reed had to stop talking and dropped his head to the table, Ivan moved over to sit next to Reed, rubbing his back comfortingly. "This sounds terrible...but Kras seems to know vot he's doing...at least I hope he does, anyvay. I'm glad Andrei vent vith him. I vish I could be more help to my son, but I think he'll appreciate the fact that I'm staying here vith you." He was going to be strong, even though he was sort of feeling a bit terrified for his son at the moment. "So...you're saying this spell took blood from him..there must have been some sort of demonic activity involved, if anything. I'm not the best ven it comes to dark spells like that, but I know vot can result from them. He didn't mention anything about dying, did he?" His face paled at the thought. "Ve'd be lucky if the vorst vould just be that he vos unlucky for a long time unless he found a counter spell or something."

Reed was extremely glad Ivan was here, he would not be able to handle any of this alone right now. His head snapped up at the mention of dying. "He-he had a dream last night...he said the demon thing t-touched where he's cut...and he said...oh god, he said he wasn't going to die like how they had planned. Wh-what does that mean?" He was on the verge of hyperventilating and had to take deep breaths to try and calm himself.

"Shhh, calm down," Ivan spoke quietly, trying to get Reed to calm down a bit, "It'll be okay. Kras isn't going to die. There are a lot of people at that school who vill be able to help him." Ivan had no idea what that stuff meant from Kras' dreams, but he really really really hoped the teachers and staff at that school would be able to help his son. He was really worried though, because curses and such involving death...well, it wasn't as easy to fix something like that. He wasn't going to mention that to Reed though. Ivan got up and went over to get a glass of water. He went back over to sit at the table and set the water down in front of Reed. "Here, drink. I don't vant you to pass out. Kras mentioned he'd be in contact ven he got there so ve should hear from them soon." It would take long at all for Kras and Andrei to apparate to the small train station outside the school area. Then someone would probably go get them. So they must be there by now.

It wasn't long after that Gavin flew by and tapped at the window. Ivan quickly stood and opened the window, letting the eagle in so he could get the letter. He got the bird some water and a few treats before sitting back down at the table and silently opening the letter so he and Reed could read it.

We made it safely. Professor Roderick helped us up to the school. We're going to meet with the Highmaster before heading on over to the library. I don't really like the guy, but he probably knows more about this stuff than anybody. Will keep you both posted.
Much love,
Kras

Reed nodded and tried to further calm himself down. He looked up at Ivan as he was handed the water. "I'm so sorry. I know you're probably freaking out too. I feel like this is all my fault. If I hadn't---I only I could have stood up to them, none of his would have happened. I'm so sorry." He bowed his head again but quickly snapped it back up when he heard Gavin tapping on the window. He eagerly read the letter when Ivan brought it over, letting out a small sigh of relief. "Well, at least they made it. Now we wait..." Which was the worst part for Reed.

Ivan shook his head at Reed's earlier comment. "Don't blame yourself for this, Reed. I'm sure even if you had stood up for yourself Kras vould have tried to confront them anyvay. He's like that ven it comes to defending people he cares about, I think." He set the letter aside and rub at his jaw wearily. "Do you vant to get some rest vhile ve vait? You could sleep for a bit in Kras' room and I'll just vait out in the living room for any news. You look exhausted."

Reed still felt terrible, he would probably always feel terrible when he thought about this incident. Not to mention he was worried sick by the fact that they didn't know if they could get rid of the curse. "I-I can try. I didn't sleep much after Kras' nightmare because he lost so much blood and he couldn't eat because he felt sick..and just..I'm just so worried." He took a few deep breaths then took a sip of water, which did make him feel a tad better. "Will you come get me the moment you get more news?"

Kras wouldn't like the idea of Reed feeling terrible about the incident, because it was Kras' decision to go after the two idiots, and they should have known it wasn't going to be good if they messed with Reed again.
Ivan nodded at Reed's question. "I'll come get you first thing. I know you're vorried, but you need to rest as vell. It sucks having to just vait, I know that." He gave Reed a comforting smile then stood. "Take that vater vith you, okay? And I'll just be in the living room if you need me."

Reed nodded and stood as well, feel a little shaky. "Thank you." He felt so drained right now and didn't know what else to say. So he picked up his water glass and made his way back to Kras' bedroom. He surveyed the room for a moment and spotted what he was looking for. He walked over to Kras' dresser and picked up the picture of his boyfriend and stroked it lovingly. He took the picture with him and laid down on the bed, clutching the picture to his chest. He wished it was the real Kras, but since he couldn't have that right now, a picture of him would have to do. Although Reed was certain he wouldn't be able to sleep, his exhaustion took over as soon as his head hit the pillows and he fell asleep before he could even get under the covers.

Aww. *huggles Reed*
Ivan watched Reed head on off to Kras' room. He felt bad that he couldn't do more to help out, but he really did think some rest would do Reed some good. He sat at the kitchen table for ten minutes, just sitting and thinking. After a bit he got up and went to check on his son's boyfriend. Reed had apparently fallen asleep before he could even get under the covers. Yep, he had been right. Reed really did need the rest. Ivan went over and carefully got the covers from under Reed and then covered Reed with them. Then he quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him before heading on to the living room to sit on the couch.

[aaaand now I'll post the stuff happening at Durmstrang...
*was too lazy to do it before*]

Awwww Ivan <3 <3

Reed clutched the picture tighter to his chest when he felt the covers shift underneath him, but he didn't wake. It was one of the few times where he had a dreamless sleep, which was good because he'd probably have nightmares if he did dream at all.

Kras and Andrei had made it into the school and were quickly shown to the Highmaster's office. Once there they had had to wait a few minutes for the Head of the school to return. And just because I'm too lazy to come up with another name, and the time lines hardly make any sense around here anyway, it's going to be Karkaroff. Yep yep.
When Karkaroff had entered his office, Kras had had to do his best not to give away the fact that he didn't like the guy. Andrei didn't really like him either, but he didn't hold nearly as much dislike as Kras did.
"The details in your letter vere somevot vague, Mr. Svetkova." Karkaroff sat at his desk, surveying his two former students. Former, because Andrei had already graduated, and Kras was no longer a student there due to his transfer.
"I apologize, sir. I didn't have much time to right before I passed out last night, but I'm sure you must know vot spell I used due to your extensive knowledge of dark spells and their affects." Kras replied.
The corner of the Highmaster's mouth twitched upwards in a slight smile. "As it does so happen, I am avare of the spell and the affects you must be suffering at the moment. Though, I am quite astonished that a student such as yourself vould have even dared to use it. I vill not ask the circumstances, but I'm sure you have learned your lesson. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the necessary spell needed to counteract this spell's affects. So you and Andrei may have access to the restricted section for a day to find the book containing the spell and its information. Vonce you have the book return to my office and hopefully ve can fix this."
"Thank you so much, sir." Kras bowed his head in thanks. This was going so well. Hopefully he and Andrei would be able to find the book before the end of the day.
After a few more words, Kras and Andrei left the office and headed for the library. They didn't need a guide since they knew the place. And it was actually a fun trip because they managed to spot a few guys they knew.
Once in the library they made their way to the Restricted Section. Unlike Hogwarts, where they needed to show the librarian a pass to get into the Restricted section, here a student would not be allowed in unless given verbal consent by a teacher or the Highmaster himself. The Restricted Section would recognize the given consent and its allotted time. Therefore the student given access would be allowed to just walk in whenever within their given time.
The only problem with the books in this section was that they had a habit of rearranging themselves whenever they felt like it. So finding something you needed could take quite a bit of time. It was a daunting task, given the size of the section, but Kras and Andrei were determined. As they started their search, Andrei asked Kras a few questions about the circumstances surrounding Kras' usage of the spell. Kras explained everything, even if it was painful to think about.
"And the side affects...this Adam fellow is only going to be cursed vith bad luck for the rest of his life, plus the nightmares, vhile you...your side affects are vorse. Vot's the side affects for you?" Andrei asked, re-shelving a book about dark curses of the Middle Ages. A book that might have been okay in the normal sections of the library had it not contained the actual curses themselves and full detailed descriptions. If it only had the ideas of the curses and slight descriptions of them then it'd be okay.
Kras sighed, flipping through another book. "I get nightmares as vell. And the spell needed blood so it gave me cuts on both of my shoulders." He knew Andrei would want to see them so he unbuttoned his shirt enough so that he could pull the collar aside and show Andrei the wounds that had closed up.
"Vill those be permanent?" Andrei asked, wincing at how painful they looked. Not to mention the gray shadows surrounding them looked dangerous.
"Yep. No normal magic can get rid of these. I'm stuck vith them, but hopefully vonce ve get rid of the curse the gray shadows vill be gone at least." Kras buttoned his shirt back up, going to look for more books. "There's more though...last night I had a terrible nightmare and the demonic beings from the spell vere there. Von of them touched my cuts and vhispered in my ear." He shivered just remembering it. "Then they disappeared and I passed out...that's ven I voke up and realized my vounds had been reopened and there vos blood everyvhere." Just thinking about it made his stomach feel ill.
Andrei looked horrified. "That's terrible...vot did the thing vhisper in your ear?" He asked quietly.
Kras didn't like thinking about that part, but he knew he had to tell Andrei everything. "They're going to take my soul ven I die. It's sort of like a Dementor's kiss, except a lot more...painful. They steal your emotions von by von and then ven you die they come for you and steal your soul, dragging it down to hell, most likely. Something like that. Either vay...I don't plan on going like that." Kras wasn't going to suffer like that. He would remain stubbornly defiant. "Reed and I are going to get married and ven ve both die ve'll be together forever in the afterlife." He smiled, liking the sound of that more than having his emotions torn from him one by one until he died and then had his soul dragged down to hell.
Andrei almost felt sick hearing about what might happen to his friend if they didn't fix this. "I don't like hearing you talk about dying, Raz...ve're going to fix this. I swear it." He had a new determination to succeed for his friend.
"I'm just glad I have you and Reed and my father to help me. And I mean, look, there's only about ten thousand books in this section. Can't take too long, right?" Kras laughed, trying to sound somewhat optimistic.
Well...ten thousand books was quite a bit. Even more so considering the fact that the books liked to rearrange themselves.
Halfway through the afternoon found Kras and Andrei barely one fourth of the vay through the several rows of books. Luckily though, a few other students who had been granted access to the section for schoolwork purposes, agreed to spend the rest of their allotted time helping out on their search. Kras and Andrei just told them that it was for research and explained what the spell was that they were looking for. Progress was made somewhat faster as students came and went, helping them as they could. By five o'clock Kras decided he should write to Reed and Ivan, letting them know what was going on.
Gavin flew in through an open window and Kras quickly wrote a note, tying it to the eagle's leg before letting him go. Then he got back to his search.

Gavin flew quickly back to Kras' apartment, flying in through the window Ivan had left open in the living room. Ivan quickly removed the letter from the bird's leg, giving it some water before going to wake up Reed. "Reed?" He gently shook the boy's shoulder to wake him. "Kras wrote to us. I have the letter right here." He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the letter so he and Reed could read it.

Father and my darling Reed,
We're making a lovely dent into the Restricted section but have no, as of yet, found the book containing the information we need. It's sort of difficult when the books like to rearrange themselves. I'm sure I've seen some of the same books twice already. Anyway, some of the other students who are in the Restricted section for schoolwork purposes have spent some of their time here helping us as well, so that's been a big help. I'll write again once we find something. I love you both, so much.
Love,
Kras

Reed popped up as soon as he heard Ivan say his name. "What happened? Is everything okay? What time is it?" Then he saw the letter and the time. "Oh." He scrambled over to Ivan and read the letter as well. He felt his heart drop a little when he read that they hadn't found what they were looking for. Luckily he didn't know anything about the one day limit. Reed took a deep breath and looked at Ivan. "They'll find it. Kras won't give up and I don't think Andrei will. They'll find it." He wasn't sure if he was speaking to himself or Ivan right now.

Ivan smiled at Reed's assurance. "Yes, they vill find it. Neither of them are the type to really give up." He set the letter aside. "Don't vorry. I'll let you go back to resting now, alright?" Ivan placed a comforting hand on Reed's shoulder before standing back up and heading for the door.

~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Kras and Andrei were getting sort of desperate. It was getting closer and closer to the end of the day. Once it was midnight they would no longer be allowed in the Restriction section until the Highmaster gave them access to it once more. Valuable time would be lost until then and both boys were worried. Though Kras was mostly worried about Reed who was probably back at the apartment missing him terribly. Just like how Kras was missing him terribly.
"Any luck over there?" Kras asked, yawning as he sat down another book that was about as helpful as the past several hundred books they had looked at.
"Nope." Andrei groaned, rotating his shoulders. They hurt from all the sitting and hunching over books they had been doing for the past several hours. "Maybe if these books stopped moving..."
"Vait!" Kras shot up from his seat, looking like he had just thought of something brilliant. "Vot vos it that the kids used to say about this section? About how sometimes the more you looked and thought about something you desperately needed a book for-"
"-the harder it vould be to find it because the books liked to mess vith you?" Andrei felt more awake all of a sudden. They had a bit of hope now.
"Stupid books." Kras laughed. "I mean...nice pretty old books." Andrei laughed with him. They were the only two left in the section now and the sounds of their laughter carried along the shelves, echoing slightly back to them. "Alright...so if ve really don't think about how much ve need the book then ve might just find it." Kind of like...a reverse Room of Requirement, Kras thought.
"Easier said than done. Considering how much ve really vant that book." Andrei wondered just how exactly they'd manage that.
Kras had a pretty good idea. He just hoped it work. "Alright...so, lets think about something else ve'd love to know."
"Like one of those books a few hours ago I saw about horcruxes?" Andrei asked, figuring that was a good topic. "I only skimmed through it and there vosn't much detail...but it seemed fascinating."
Kras shrugged, "Sounds like a good idea too me. Vot exactly are they? The horcruxes, I mean."
"Something you place a part of your soul in, I think, so that you can't die." Andrei was heading back towards the section he was pretty sure the book was in.
Kras followed, wondering how that would even work. It was interesting. "So you can never die. That's like cheating death, isn't? I vonder how you'd even split a part of your soul. Sounds sort of painful."
"It does, doesn't? I vouldn't vant to do that. Lets see..." They skimmed the shelves around the area Andrei remembered the book was near.
Kras was about to put his hand on a small book when another book flew into the back of his head. "Ow! Vot vos that for?" He turned to Andrei, looking somewhat confused.
"I didn't do anything..." Andrei turned and looked down at the book that lay on the floor, "hey...it's that book I vos looking through earlier this morning ven ve first got here. It's the von about dark curses of the middle ages. I only skimmed through it but nothing seemed promising..."
Kras took the book Andrei was holding and went over to sit at one of the tables. Andrei went over and sat next to him, sitting closer so they could look through the pages together. "No table of contents..." Kras flipped through the pages, "And no chapters. It's just one straight thing the whole vay through."
He and Andrei both groaned. "This could take hours to get through."
"Vell, it's almost midnight. Lets go to the guest room the Highmaster set up for us and ve can take turns throughout the night reading it. How about that?" Kras suggested.
Andrei figured that was a good idea, considering they were about to get spit out of the Restricted section. Literally too.
"Alright. Sounds good." he agreed, getting up and taking the book from Kras. "But I'm taking the first book reading shift because you need some rest."
Kras was about to protest when Andrei held up his hand, shushing him. "Nope. I don't vant to hear it. You're getting some sleep. And if you have any nightmares I'll be right there to vake you up, alright?"
Kras nodded in agreement and the two boys left the library, heading to the guest room.
It was a rather plain room, decorated in the school colors. There were two beds, a couch, a wardrobe, a fireplace, and a table with some chairs sitting inside the room. A bathroom with a shower was connected to the room as well so they wouldn't have to travel to the bathrooms and showers elsewhere in the school.
"Huh, much better than the dorms here, vouldn't you say?" Andrei laughed as they walked in.
"I'll agree to that." Kras grinned. Pajamas were folded neatly at the bottom of each bed for the two and they took turns getting changed and ready for bed in the bathroom. After laying down, Kras quickly wrote out another note for Gavin to send to Reed and Ivan, while Andrei flopped down on the couch and opened the book to page one to start reading.
"Night, Drei." Kras smiled over at the friend after having sent the letter.
"Night, Raz." Andrei replied, smiling back over at his friend. "Just like old times, huh?"
"Yep." Kras laughed, settling down to sleep. He was out like a light before he even knew it.

Gavin flew into Kras' apartment again and landed on the arm of the couch. Ivan woke up and took the letter into Reed's room. "Hey, Reed. Kras wrote again." He opened the letter and held it out so they both could read it.

Hello!
We found the right book. Took hours though. The only problem is that the book is just straight through with no chapters or sections, so ve're just going to take turns throughout the night reading the book until ve find what we need. I know that sounds confusing, but we just know it's the right book.
Get some sleep, both of you. Alright?
Much love!
~Kras

Reed nodded at Ivan as he left the room, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep. He looked at the picture once more and sighed before rolling out of the bed. Maybe a nice shower would calm him down, so he made his way to the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as it would go. He got in and smiled seeing that some of Kras' showering things were here. He used every single one, inhaling each deeply and scrubbing them onto himself as if he was trying to make the scent stay. Once he started to get really pruny, he got out and put on his pajamas. He went to go comb out his hair when he remembered, oh yeah he didn't need to do that anymore. He walked back to Kras' room and looked around sadly again. Reed would have loved to go and sit with Ivan, but he still felt so terrible and guilty that he was just going to shut himself away until he knew that Kras was going to be absolutely okay. He missed his boyfriend so much and realized it was a little pathetic how attached and dependent he was. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and stared at the picture of Kras. He wasn't sure how long he sat there before Ivan came in. Reed's head snapped up and he quickly read the letter and managed to smile a little. "That's really good to hear, er, read." He noted the time and was praying Kras wasn't going to have a repeat of the previous night. He looked back up to Ivan. "You should get some rest too. I don't think I can sleep anymore. I can stay up and wait for updates, if you want."

Ivan shook his head, setting the letter down. "I vos snoozing for a bit before this arrived, so I'm vide avake. Vould you like something to eat?" He stood, heading for the doorway. "Before I fell asleep I vent back to my house and brought some food over so ve could have some dinner." Yeah..I totally just added that in. Votever. "It's just some simple Bulgarian food. You'll like it. I'll go make some in the kitchen." He'd let Reed decide if he'd like to join him or not. He just figured the boy would be hungry by this point.

~*~*~*~*~

Andrei had always been a fast reader, and, as much as this book was interesting and he wanted to read all of it, he was doing quite the quick skimming to get through as much of the book as possible. Not just because he wanted to find the answers they needed, but also because he didn't want Kras to strain himself. Andrei had gotten plenty of sleep the night before, and, even though he was tired, he had gotten some of the house elves that worked here to bring him lots of coffee. So he was set for the night. His concentration however was broken around one in the morning when he was sure he heard Kras mumble something.
"Vot?" Andrei looked up, only to see that his friend was still very much asleep. Oh...must be talking in his sleep. He went to go back to the book but heard Kras mumble again, only louder this time. Something about not jumping off the roof. Andrei was slightly confused, but it wasn't until Kras started mumbling even more and getting fidgety in his sleep that he started to get worried. He knew one of the side affects of the spell, even for the one casting it, was nightmares.
Andrei got up and went over to his best friend's bed, sitting on the edge of it next to him. The only other time he had really had to deal with Kras and nightmares had been a few times around the anniversaries of Liv's death. Intent on just sitting there next to Kras and continuing reading, Andrei managed to get through a few more pages until Kras started shouting in his sleep, occasionally yelling Reed's name.
Andrei dropped the book and started shaking Kras. "Kras! Kras, vake up. It's just a nightmare. Kras? RAZ!!" He finally just yelled at Kras.
It worked...though painfully. Kras shot straight up and accidentally smacked his forehead against Andrei's face, hitting his nose quite hard. "OW, fuck! Kras, that hurt!"
Kras looked around wildly, still not fully awake and away from the nightmare. "Vot? Vot are you- oh! Oh my god, Drei, I'm so sorry! Your nose..." He felt really bad for having hurt his best friend even though he was just trying to help him. Now Andrei's nose was bleeding, quite profusely.
"It's alright." Andrei chuckled, making a run for the bathroom. He grabbed a box of tissues and came back to sit next to Kras. "It'll stop at some point. Are you alright? You vere having a nightmare so I tried vaking you."
Kras shook his head. "It vos really...terrible. It vos like votching Liv's death all over again...but this time it vos Reed instead of her." And again, Kras could do nothing to save the other person in time. It made his feelings of being a failure come back in full force.
Andrei knew what his friend was thinking and lightly punched him on the arm, trying to look at him while still having his head tilted back with a tissue at his nose. "It vos just a bad dream, Raz. Not real life. Reed's still alive, alright? He's not going anyvhere. Don't start making yourself feel bad and like a failure over a dream. I don't suppose a dreamless potion vould be any help vould it?"
Kras shook his head, still feeling rather bad about everything. "No...that von't vork, sadly. And I really am sorry about your nose. Has it stopped bleeding yet?"
"I don't think so..." Andrei checked, "nope. That's alright. My grandfather alvays calls me a bloody fool. Now he can call me a bloodless fool." He chuckled. Kras shook his head, grinning somewhat. They both knew Andrei's grandfather was a nutcase.
"Vell, how about after that stops bleeding you get some sleep?" Kras suggested. "I von't be able to go back to sleep now. How far did you get in the book? Any luck yet on vot ve need?"
Andrei was reluctant to get sleep, but he knew Kras would not be attempting sleep again for a while. Well, they could both stay up. That always would work. "I'm not really all that tired. Ve can both stay up." He reached down to the floor and picked up the book, finding the page he had left off at. "I got this far, but I haven't found the right information yet."
Kras was rather impressed by how much Andrei had gotten through. "That's awesome. Vell, I'll take over from here. I could use the distraction." He took the book from Andrei. "Vot are you going to do?"
Andrei thought about it for a while then shrugged. "I can practice some spells I haven't done in a vhile. Plus I really need to vork on the Patronus charm. Never vos easy for me."
"I haven't learned that von yet." Kras wondered if that should be something he should attempt. Maybe he and Reed could learn it together.
"It's not that hard to remember the incantation and the fact that you need to be focusing on a really strong memory...it's just really difficult if you get distracted easily like I do sometimes." Andrei laughed. "Now get on vith your reading, goof. I'll just sit over here on my bed and practice some spells." And with that he moved on over to his own bed.
Kras settled down to continue the book where Andrei had left off. There really was some interesting stuff in here, but none of it was helpful to them right now.
Luckily he didn't get distracted from his reading easily - unless Reed would be there...especially if Reed was sitting right next to him - because Andrei was mumbling spells and practicing things and on occasion there'd be rather loud sounds, whether that was just what the spell involved or because the spell had gone wrong.
At one point a small silvery eagle flew over to Kras' bed and landed nearby. Kras looked up, thinking he had seen Gavin out of the corner of his eye but was surprised when he didn't recognize the creature. "Voah...vot's that?" He looked over to see Andrei focusing really hard on the silvery eagle. "It's my patronus. I finally managed to keep it going for longer than five minutes! You vere too busy reading." Then suddenly the bird disappeared. "Oops! Got distracted." He laughed.
Kras chuckled. "So...you have to focus on a really happy memory, right?"
"Yeah..." Andrei nodded, a faraway look in his eyes.
Kras figured his best friend's happy memory must be personal, and he didn't want to pry. So he just shook his head, smiling a bit before going back to the book.
Andrei snuck a glance over at Kras, smiling to himself before he went back to practicing some spells. He'd never tell his friend that his favorite happy memory was from one of the times Kras and he snuck out of the school one night and spent the entire night hanging out in their secret tree house in the woods. It was a cramped space so they had kept bumping into each other, but that was part of the fun. That made him wonder if the tree house was still there or not.
"Do you think our tree house is still up? Maybe von of the creatures from the forest knocked it down."
"Or von of the staff found it." Kras laughed. He remembered their tree house. The two of them would sneak out at night sometimes to hang out there. "Who knows..."
"Ve should go find it before ve leave..." Andrei semi-sort of suggested.
Kras grinned, liking that idea. He sort of wished he could show it to Reed too, but knew that would not be possible. "Yes, lets do that. I hope ve both fit in there now. I think ve vere a lot smaller back then."
"Back then?" Andrei laughed, "It vos only, like, a year ago or so, silly. You vere about the same height and size you are now."
Kras stuck his tongue out at Andrei then laughed. "You're right...vell, hopefully ve'll make it. It'll be nice to-OH!" He sat up straighter, looking quite excited. "I found it!"
Andrei jumped over to Kras' bed and sat next to him, looking down at the page. "You're right! I don't suppose ve can show this to the Highmaster right now though."
"I don't fancy vaking him at this hour." Kras winced.
"Alright...then lets rest and then ve'll get up early, like around seven-ish, and then go see him. How about that?" Andrei suggested.
Kras shrugged. "Sounds good. I still don't think I'll be able to sleep though."
"Vell...ve could alvays play a few games of Vizard's chess." Andrei grinned, knowing he almost always won.
"You just vant to play that because you know you'll vin almost every time!" Kras laughed.
"I don't know vot you're talking about." Andrei gave him an innocent look.
Kras just shook his head and they went over to the table to sit and play. Though Kras did take the time to write to his father and Reed first.

Gavin flew in through the window of Kras' apartment and into the kitchen to drop the letter to the floor. Ivan was getting the food ready when he heard the letter falling. "Reed! Look! They found it!" Ivan was quite thrilled as he read the letter. Hopefully his son would be able to be fixed up and well again soon.

Hellooooo!
It is late, I'm sorry. Not sure if either of you are awake, but Gavin would gladly wake at least one of you up. Watch out for the beak. Haha. Anyway! We found the information and bookmarked it. Can't see the Highmaster until after 7am so we're just chilling for now. Neither of us can sleep. Me mostly because I tried and had some just plain lovely nightmares. So we'll be up for a while. I hope both of you are getting some rest!!!!
Love,
Kras

[Awww Andrei *huggles* Also, my phone isn't working again, so if you text me I can't text back ]

Reed sat for a moment after Ivan left, then decided that he couldn't just hide away. He made his way out to the kitchen and sat at the table. He was actually rather hungry, having only had a piece of toast this whole day. "Thanks for bringing over food. I'm not allowed to be near cooking utensils." He gave a weak laugh and suddenly really wanted some of Kras' delicious hot coco. Reed laid his arms on the table and rested his head on top. He was lost in his thoughts and didn't hear the eagle fly back in. He practically jumped out of his chair when Ivan said they found the right book. "What. Lemme see!" He read the letter in Ivan's hand and sighed with major relief. "Oh thank god." He was so relieved to hear that they found what they were looking for, but still really sad that Kras had another nightmare. Hopefully his cuts didn't open up again. "I'm going to write something back to send with Gavin." With that, he went and found some parchment and quickly scribbled a little note. "Do you wanna add anything?"

His letter said:
Kras,
I can't explain how relieved I am to hear you found the right book. Your father and I both got some rest but are up now about to eat a little something. I miss you so much, but take your time so you can get better. I love you.
-Reed

[AHHHHH NUUUUUUUUU!!! *glares daggers at your phone* <.<]

Ivan continued finishing up the food as Reed wrote a reply letter. "I'll add a little something." He set a stirring spoon aside and went over to add a bit to the letter.

Kras,
I'm glad to hear your search went well. Please don't strain yourself. You know I worry about you. Reed and I are doing well. Get some rest, okay? And tell Andrei that it means a lot to me that he's helping you out with this. I wish I could do more to help, myself.
I love you,
Ivan

"Alright, so ve'll send this off vith Gavin and then the soup is about done so I'll just get out some dishes for us." Ivan went over to the cabinets to grab some dishes. His hands were shaking slightly, mostly just from the stress of worrying about his son. Thank goodness things were looking up now though. "Here ve go..." he set the bowls down on the table with two glasses for whatever they'd drink. There were some plates as well for the yummy bread with some random topping I'm too lazy to come up with or look up on the internet. And then he put the soup out for them as well. "I'm sure you're really hungry. Lets eat."

~*~*~*~
Kras and Andrei were well into their sixth game when Gavin flew back in. Their current score was Andrei: 4 Kras: 1.
"Oh! Gavin's back." Kras quickly read the letter, smiling happily. He let Andrei read the stuff Ivan wrote which made Andrei smile too.
"Vell, I'm glad they're getting rest and are doing vell." Andrei commented.
"Me too. And ve'll be back soon enough." Kras smiled, not really paying attention to the game at the moment.
"Checkmate!" Andrei laughed victoriously.
Kras blinked. "VAIT, VOT?!" He looked down at the board then groaned. "Dang it. Fine, that's another point to you." He pouted then cleared the board, repairing the pieces so they could start another game.

Reed felt a little lighter than he had before. He dug into the soup like he hadn't eaten in years, then realized how ravenous he probably looked. "Erm, sorry. I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was." He blushed then started eating like a normal human being. "I know the circumstance kind of sucks, but it's good to see you again." He gave a small smile and ate some more soup.

Ivan grinned. "Vell, I don't vant you to starve. So you better eat as much as you can vithout throwing it back up." His grin widened when Reed said it was good seeing him again. "It's good seeing you again too, even considering the circumstances. I really vant to thank you again for all you've done. And I'm really glad Kras vants you to be a part of our family in the future...vell, I already kind of consider you part of the family." He chuckled, eating some of his own soup. "I'd like to also apologize about Anna's behavior the last time you two vere here. Neither of you deserved to go through that. And I feel terrible that Kras has been kicked out of that side of the family...yet at the same time I'm kind of glad. No one on that side really vere as caring as my side of the family. My side of the family focuses more on the family together than our blood status and vot comes vith it."

Reed smiled and actually laughed a little bit. "I'm excited to be a part of your family as well. Not that there's anything wrong with mine. It's just rather small...especially compared to yours." Then he shrugged a little when the subject of Anna was brought up. "I don't look at it as him getting kicked out, I think he did the right thing and left. I'm so proud of him for standing up to her the way he did. And the bruise only lasted a few days....I'm just glad it's over with. Who knows, maybe once she see's this really isn't a phase, or whatever she thinks it is, she might come to her senses. It's a bit weird over here with the pureblood mania. It wasn't anything like that in the States." He shrugged and ate some of the bread that was really yummy.

"Hmm," Ivan thought for a second, "maybe sometime your family could come visit ours. Ve'd love to meet them." He ate some more soup, dipping some of the bread into it as well. Just cause he could. "I'm sure both you and Kras somevot hope Anna's mind vill change at some point, but I vouldn't put too much hope into that. She's stubborn and she's been raised vith those values in mind, living them for years. So it vould take a lot to change her mind. Not even her own family can change her mind a lot." He shrugged. "No need to talk about that depressing topic though. How about something more interesting. Like...kids." Ivan grins, chuckling a bit. "You think there vill be kids in your guys' future?" No pressure or anything...but Ivan would really like some grandkids. Just saying. Hehe.

Reed looked a little sad for a brief moment, then caught himself and put on a smile. "That would be nice. My mom is kind of really busy, and we really only get a vacation during Christmas, but I'll ask her." He took another spoonful of soup and nearly choked when Ivan mentioned having kids. He had to take a drink of water before he spoke again. "Kids. Yeah, we both want kids someday. We're both a little young right now, and I've still got two more years of school. But seeing how good Kras is with children has made me realize that I really want to have some someday." He smiled just thinking of them having children together, hopefully they would look like Kras.

Ivan wonders how often Reed gets to spend quality time with his parents. It kind of saddens him a bit to think that might not happen as often as it should. Well, Reed would get plenty of family time whenever he came to visit Kras' family, because everyone on Ivan's side of the family had agreed that Reed was an amazing boy and they were happy he was with Kras. Ivan grinned at Reed's response to his question. "Vell, that's lovely! Gives me something fun to look forvard to. Kras does love kids. It'd be just marvelous see a little boy or girl running around vith those lovely curls you had. Though I must say, you sure do look older vith your hair short like that."

Reed laughed and ran a hand over his short hair. "I'd much prefer if they looked like Kras. But, uh, thanks I guess. Still trying to get used to this whole short hair thing. The curls will be back though. Kras loves them and I actually kind of miss them too, even if they were the source of my teasing.." He blushed a little.