~ In the Library ~

Arthur was sitting at his usual table somewhere in the depths of the library, when Alfred appeared in a nearby aisle looking for a book. And suddenly neither of them really cared about what they had been doing before.

Arthur's table was directly at the end of Alfred's aisle, so he had a clear view of the little show the Gryffindor boy was putting on for him.

At first, Alfred pretended to be searching the shelves for book, but the fact that he was casting very obvious glances over at the Slytherin made it clear that Arthur was meant to be watching. The American leant one hand casually against the bookshelf, the other resting on his jutted hip as he settled into a very cowboy-esque pose. He stayed like that for several seconds before he shot a look and a hopeful grin over at the Slytherin.

Arthur raised one impressive eyebrow, but leant a little in Alfred's direction, resting his elbow on the table and his chin gracefully on his knuckles to show he was paying attention. All focus on his essay forgotten.

Alfred's smile brightened in triumph, and he worked himself into a new pose that was obviously meant to look suave and flattering. He pressed his back against the bookcase behind him, resting a foot on one of the shelves so that his leg was brought up and bent at the knee. He crossed his arms and puffed his chest out – but then seemed to think better of it as he brought a hand up to his chin and settled into a classic "thinking pose." Then he checked to make sure he still had Arthur's attention.

Not that he really needed to. He could feel the other's intense green gaze burning into him across the empty space between them. Arthur's eyes were like the sparks that burst from so many magic spells, and seemed just as powerful. No one else had eyes like that. And he was quickly discovering that he loved it when they were focusing just on him – and not in hate and frustration, for once.

Arthur looked down demurely. He rolled the wrist of his hand which was still holding his quill, making it look unintentional when the feather brushed underneath his chin flirtatiously as he looked up at Alfred through his eyelashes.

Such a simple, joking gesture, but it still gave Alfred a thrill he'd never felt from anything else – even after his 5 years of learning how to fly and do magic. It had been indescribably exciting to find out that there was a whole supernatural world hidden behind the "muggle" reality he was used to, but it still hadn't given him a rush like this little private, silent moment with Arthur. This was a new world in itself.

Next, Alfred pulled out a random book from the crammed rows in front of him. He leant forward and rested an elbow against the bookcase, brining his fist back to rest his cheek against the knuckles. Then he propped the book open in his other hand and pretended to read, crossing his legs casually and looking not so much the picture of 'studious' as 'drop dead handsome.'

Arthur's heart pounded. Something he had secretly wanted for a while now was coming true in the most spectacular of ways.

He and Alfred had barely spoken a civil word to each other in 5 years. They were their year group's stereotypical inter-house rivals. Every year group at Hogwarts had a Slytherin who was particularly Slytherin-y, and a Gryffindor who was the most Gryffindor-y, and they inevitably fell into a classic rivalry that entertained their classmates during their years at Hogwarts. He and Alfred had fallen into their parts on day one and had a most stimulating rivalry ever since. They truly hated each other.

But in his fourth year, Arthur returned to Hogwarts after the summer holidays and found, to his mild surprise, that he didn't hate Alfred anymore. He actually had to make an effort to be his enemy, and it all seemed rather ridiculous and pointless. When fifth year started he just decided to stop trying so hard. If he didn't hate Alfred, there was no point pretending to do so. He had better things to be doing, so he just got on with it all.

But it had really felt strange. Like there was an empty space in his life all of a sudden. He hadn't realised that hatred was that important to him – and in fact, it was a rather disturbing thought. He didn't want to be a bad wizard: someone who fed on hate to motivate himself, and give him satisfaction! That was no way to live. He may have been a Slytherin, but he wasn't like all those fairy-tales and urban legends about Slytherins being evil.

The more fifth year went on, however, the more Arthur realised that he just missed interacting with Alfred. It wasn't the hate he missed; it was that loud, naïve charisma, that reliably smiling face – all so unlike anyone else he ever talked to or spent time with. That breath of fresh air he used to have was gone, and it had left everything stale.

And now that he found he didn't really hate Alfred, or care about beating him at everything just to put him down, he kind of wished he could get to know him. He found himself wishing that Alfred was there at the most random times – and quite out of the blue considering that he had never spent personal time with Alfred anyway. How did he know he wanted to hang out with him when he had never done so before in his life?

Sixth year arrived and Arthur really wished there was an opportunity that they could just start over. It seemed unfair that he was banned from befriending a nice, clever, interesting person just because the two of them were particularly Slytherin-y and Gryffindor-y. But the shock and questioning he could expect from his classmates if he even attempted to talk to Alfred made it much too intimidating to change the way things were. It was a shame that something like peer pressure could hold him back from possibly making a friend; but at school, at Hogwarts, and especially between the classic Slytherin and Gryffindor who had made a big show of a five-year rivalry…it was just impossible.

And yet here they were. Tucked away in a secret corner of the library, Alfred posing charmingly and Arthur giving him as appreciative looks as he could muster. How the hell had they managed to get here?

Whatever the case…Arthur was relieved. It felt so liberating! This blatant, shameless flirting was wonderful. He and Alfred were playing together, just having some fun, not caring what anyone else would think about them. It was the best time Arthur had ever had, almost.

In fact, off the top of his head, he couldn't think of any other experiences that felt quite as nice as this.

He had thought he just wanted to get to know Alfred, maybe be his friend if things worked out. But apparently the reason he had missed the loud American these past few years was much deeper and more intimate than he had anticipated.

So this was what he wanted from Alfred F. Jones. Who would have thought it…

Alfred finally decided to kill all pretence, as thin and artificial as it had been. He held out an arm and flexed it – the muscles bulging visibly beneath the rolled up sleeves of his white school shirt – and grinned over at Arthur with no shame whatsoever.

And a truly happy smile just spread to life across Arthur's face, seeping into his eyes and shining through as obviously as it did in Alfred's. They smiled genuinely at each other, showing teeth and blushing cheeks as if they did this every day of their lives and trusted each other enough not to have to feel embarrassed.

Alfred shoved the book haphazardly back into the shelf and wandered over to join the cluttered desk and its lonely occupant. He pulled up a chair unnecessarily close to Arthur's, and slipped in beside him, slinging an arm round the back of Arthur's seat and making it all feel like their own little private world.

"Good afternoon…Alfred."

"Hey…Arthur."

They placed the names carefully into the sentences spoken between them, testing them out. It was the first time they'd ever called each other by their first names. For five years they'd had to be the impersonal "Jones" and "Kirkland" to each other – along with any other cruel, mocking nicknames they could think up.

"What'cha doin'?" the American wizard drawled.

"Not much," lied Arthur, ignoring the existence of his dozen or so essays and homework assignments. This was more important right now. He should take what he could while he had the opportunity. He leant his head back until it was resting on the arm Alfred had draped almost around his shoulders. He rolled his head slowly to the side and looked up at Alfred, their faces exhilaratingly close. "This work is so boring."

Had he ever said that in his life? God, this little game they were playing was easy to fall into.

"Oh yeah?" grinned Alfred, looking triumphant and excited. Had the Gryffindor boy ever imagined Arthur would be won round so easily, the Slytherin wondered with a twinge of shame and a thrill of delight. It just all seemed so funny, somehow. Here he was thinking it was impossible to be friends, and look how goddamned easy it was to have this.

"Yeah."

"That sucks." It looked like there was meant to be more of Alfred's little seduction speech, and Arthur really wanted to hear it. But the Gryffindor stopped abruptly, eyes wide, when Arthur scooted closer, his face now leaning right up against Alfred's shoulder, breath fluttering over the taller boy's neck, too close for them not to give in and touch anymore.

"Mm," said Arthur.

One lingering moment of green eyes locked on blue, and suddenly they were on each other, both attacking at the same time like they had planned it from the start.

They gasped and kissed and nipped and panted, all over each other, as much as they could reach. They dragged and pulled and clutched with their hands, at shirts, hair, arms, shoulders. It was desperate, like they had to have their fill right now because it was their only chance; it was scary, because what were they doing? What would the other think when it was all over? But it was exciting, it was necessary, they needed it. God, if they ever had to stop Arthur was going to explode, and if he didn't get it all, right now, if Alfred didn't give it to him, he was going to burst.

One of them moaned; the other growled, like an animal. And when Arthur gasped at the surge of lust that shot through him, Alfred launched himself in for more.

Before he could register what had happened, Arthur felt a thrill of panic at the sensation of falling, and suddenly he was on the ground, on his back, and his head was hurting.

He groaned, a different sort of groan this time, and felt Alfred's weight on him in a much less pleasant fashion than before. He looked down his nose to see Alfred slowly raise himself up somewhere around Arthur's chest. He rubbed at his right elbow, looking winded, but he still couldn't stop the sheepish grin that flashed onto his face as he looked up and spotted Arthur watching him.

"Sorry. I pushed the chair over," he explained. "Tried to protect your head, but I just ended up knocking my arm."

"That's okay," said Arthur, and he meant it. Alfred crawled off him, and the Slytherin sat up slowly in stages, rubbing his head gingerly. "It's probably best we don't continue that here anyway," and they both knew what he was referring to. "Madame Pince has spells everywhere to detect rises in body temperature and physical proximity and whatnot."

"Ooooh, so that's why everyone always gets caught in here," Alfred said in awed realisation. "All my friends always come back from the library totally pissed, it's so funny! But we never knew how she was doing it."

They were still on the floor, Arthur sitting cross-legged and Alfred kneeling beside him, not looking at each other. The uncontrollable desire that had flooded their senses had disappeared.

But it had left something else in its wake. Something that wasn't guilt, shame, embarrassment, or regret. Something that was wonderful and exciting and nerve-wracking, and left Arthur anticipating Alfred's next words more than he'd ever hoped for something in his life.

"So, I have class now…but I'd really like to see you later. I know a place where we could hang out, just the two of us."

That pleased, happy smile that was soon becoming impossible to keep off his face when the American was around blossomed to life again.

"That sounds…lovely."


A/N:

I'm not a fan of crossovers when the different sets of characters are mixed together, but I enjoy seeing Hetalia characters in the settings of other franchises. And I just luuuuurve our boys at Hogwarts!

I thought this one worked better as a Hogwarts AU rather than a regular Gakuen AU because of the unquestionable Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry, that Alfred and Arthur would no doubt be forced into.

I actually see Arthur as a Gryffindor, myself, but I like the idea of them being rivals, too. (They're both Prefects, by the way.)