AN: For the HP Potions Comp (Muffling Draught), Snakes and Ladders (Lysander), and If You Dare (335. It's nobody's business)

Lysander isn't sure that he can take much more of this. Lorcan is supposed to be the loud, outgoing one, but he's spent weeks holed up in his room, so secretive and quiet.

Without bothering to knock, Lysander bursts through the door, his expression serious. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demands.

Swearing under his breath, Lorcan quickly covers something on his desk with a book. "Don't you know how to knock?"

"Are you answering a question with a question?"

"Aren't you doing the same?" Lorcan counters.

Lysander grins. For a moment, he forgets why he's in his brother's room. Then his attention shifts to the book that's hiding something, and he sets the joking aside.

"You've been acting funny, Lor."

"Dunno what you mean."

"Dad offered to take you to a Ballycastle match. You turned him down, even though you're the one who's been talking about how it's the most important match in years," Lysander says, shutting the door and locking it behind him. "That's pretty suspicious."

"I-I was busy," Lorcan mutters, turning so that his back guards the book.

Lysander lifts a brow, stepping closer. "Busy? You stayed in your room all day," he reminds him. "What were you doing?"

A deep rose painting his cheeks, Lorcan shrugs. "Stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah. Stuff. I like stuff. Stuff is nice."

Eyes rolling, Lysander reaches out, hoping to catch his brother off guard. Before his fingers can even graze the cover of the book, however, Lorcan shoves him roughly.

"Oi!"

"This is my room! You can't just come in and touch anything you bloody well please!" Lorcan snaps, the blush deepening to an angry red.

Lysander steps back, rubbing his shoulder with a wince. "Then talk to me!"

"No."

"Git."

"Piss off!"

Lysander hesitates. Lorcan seems upset, and Lysander knows he ought to leave before things get out of hand. Their mother probably can't take a falling out.

But Lorcan is his brother. How can Lysander not worry about him when he's acting so strange? The way he's so defensive only makes it worse. What if Lorcan has gotten caught up in something illegal?

"No," Lysander says firmly. "I'm not leaving until you answer my questions."

Lorcan narrows his eyes. "Mum!"

"She and Dad are out. You'd know that if you'd bothered to show up to breakfast."

Silence.

"I'm worried about you, okay?" Lysander tries. "You hide in your room. You barely speak. What is it? What's happening?"

"I don't have to answer you," Lorcan mutters grimly. "I'm not on trial."

Lysander can't help but to smile. Weird behavior or not, he's still Lorcan through and through.

"C'mon, bro," Lysander says softly. "You can tell me, okay? Whatever it is, I won't judge you."

Almost reluctantly, Lorcan reaches back, pulling a piece of parchment from under the book and handing it to his brother. "This is the newest one."

As he reads, a grin cracks Lysander's lips. "'M is for my heart races when you're near'," he says, trying to remain serious. "'O is for obviously I love you. L is for let me be the one. L is for look at me and feel the same. Y is for you are beautiful.'"

A moment passes. Lysander is torn. Horrible poetry, or a brother in love. Which is the best angle?

Deciding on the latter, he grips the note tightly and skips along through the house. "Lorcan has a girlfriend! Lorcan has a girlfriend!" he chants childishly between laughs.

"You are so dead!" Lorcan shouts.