There are a number of reasons I wrote this cute, fluffy, awkward, strange fic.

1 - The legendary CurlyGleek inspired me with her HP!Niff fic, Of Hufflepuff and Durmstrang.

2 - I saw a pic that inspired me while wandering about the wide open spaces of the internet.

So yeah. This... thing was born. It's meant to be a little bit cracky, so forgive the strangeness? Anyway, warnings for strong allusions to past sexy times, cute Niff, snarky Snape and... I believe that's it.

Enjoy!

Jeff opened his eyes slowly. The first thing that made sense in his still-sleepy mind was that he was perfectly warm and comfortable – apart from his bare shoulder, where the blanket had slipped a little. He yawned and tugged the blanket up a little and sighed in contentment. A moment later he frowned as the blanket was pulled away from his shoulder again. Jeff sat up, stretching his arms out in front of him, and smiled as he glanced down at the person asleep next to him. The dark-haired boy was still dead to the world and mumbling something in his sleep, fingers twitching as he gripped the edge of the blanket he'd just pulled to his side. Jeff shook his head.

He and Nick had been dating for two years now, but had been friends ever since they'd met on the Hogwarts Express. Now they were in their sixth year, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively, and happier than ever. Not all at Hogwarts were accepting of them but they didn't care, and at any rate they had friends from all houses who would quietly deal with any hate that cropped up.

With another yawn, Jeff got to his feet and staggered past the tables that had become a makeshift barricade – no one had wanted to clear out either the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw sixth years' dorms for them, so they'd claimed one of the more rarely-used classrooms and locked themselves in. They were teenage boys, after all. He wandered to one of the windows and peered out carefully. Hogwarts' clock was visible from where he was and as he realised the time, his jaw dropped. Class had started ten minutes ago. And he had Potions first up. Snape would kill him…

"Nick," he hissed, grabbing scattered clothes and throwing them at his boyfriend "Get up!"

The brunette Ravenclaw boy muttered something darkly and glared through his messy sleep-ruffled hair. "What?"

"We're late for class!" Jeff said quickly, pulling on his own robes, then sighing as he realised he'd just put Nick's pants on, as they were far too short for him.

It took another five minutes for the pair to sort themselves out after Nick realised their predicament and shot out from under the blanket. When they finally stumbled out of the classroom, they were still fixing ties and forcing feet into shoes. Jeff leaned over and tried to kiss Nick on the cheek but stumbled in his haste to get ready and fell into him. Nick laughed, helping him back to his feet and kissing him properly.

"I'll see you at lunch?" he said. Jeff nodded. "Love you."

As he spoke, Nick was already halfway down the corridor, sprinting to his first class of Divination. He looked over his shoulder and called out, "Love you too!" before he disappeared around a corridor.

Jeff didn't stick around. He ran in the opposite direction to his boyfriend, heading down towards the dungeons and his first class. As he drew nearer, he knew Snape would be taking points from Hufflepuff for his lateness, but he couldn't help but think that it was worth it. It wasn't often he got to spend the night with Nick – what with them being in different houses and all. Any and all time they got alone was precious.

Jeff skidded to a stop outside the door to the Potions classroom and steadied himself, not bothering to calm his breathing before knocking on the door and pushing it open. At least it would show he had rushed to get here, and maybe that would pacify Snape.

Maybe it wouldn't.

Every head in the class turned as he stood in the doorway. Snape was at the front of the room and he looked at Jeff with a slight sneer of distaste.

"Sorry I'm late Professor," Jeff panted as he stepped into the room and slipped into his seat beside Wes, a friend and fellow Hufflepuff. "I overslept."

From Wes's other side, David poked his head around and immediately started snorting with laughter, hardly keeping it contained. Wes too looked fit to burst as he forced back sniggers. Jeff stared at them briefly in confusion, but his attention was brought elsewhere as Snape approached their table, looking down his long nose at him.

"From the look of you, Sterling, it would not appear that you have done much sleeping at all," the professor said in a mocking tone. Half the class started to giggle, while the others simply stared and grinned at him. Jeff felt himself start to blush madly and his eyes widened. How could Snape know? It was creepy! Plus, how could he just say that in front of the whole class? He was absolutely mortified and he tried to flatten his hair surreptitiously. But with everyone watching, he couldn't be very subtle about it.

"P-Professor?" he stammered in shock.

"Perhaps you have been up all night talking with the Headmaster."

Jeff frowned, not understanding.

"And the Sorting Hat, I would presume," Snape continued with a malicious glint in his eye. By now most of the class could no longer hold back their laughter. Jeff stared in utter confusion as Wes and David snorted and giggled like first year girls.

"Sir?"

"After all, I do not believe it to be a very common occurrence when a student changes house," Snape finally finished, and his eyes darted for a split-second down to Jeff's chest. With sudden realisation and a sinking feeling in his stomach, he reached up with one hand and glanced down at his tie – which was deep Ravenclaw blue.

The whole room erupted into laughter at Jeff's situation. One of the Slytherins made suggestive gestures and a small group of Gryffindor girls giggled and blushed. Jeff saw one of the Ravenclaw boys that he knew was a friend of Nick's raising his eyebrow and shaking his head. He ducked his own head in embarrassment as Snape called for quiet. It took a few moments but eventually, after the threat of losing points, the room faded into a foreboding silence.

"Thirty points from Hufflepuff, Sterling – or is it Ravenclaw I should be deducting points from?" Snape gave a small, wicked smile, but it disappeared almost instantly as he looked at David and Wes, who still couldn't quite contain themselves.

"Does it need to be another twenty points from Hufflepuff?" he snapped before turning on his heel and walking back to the head of the class.

The moment his back was turned, David looked over at his still-blushing friend and said, grinning, "Sleep well then?"

Jeff glared at him. "Shut up."

Wes and David snickered which quickly turned to coughing as Snape turned around to fix them with a piercing look. Jeff sighed, resting his head on his hand and wondering if Nick was alright. He was obviously wearing the Hufflepuff colours – how had they not noticed that? – and he didn't want his boyfriend to get into trouble. Then again, his first class was Divination. Professor Trelawney would probably be too caught up in her tea leaves and crystal balls to notice.

He hoped so.

Nick skidded to a stop outside the Divination classroom, sighing in relief as he saw the rest of the class standing around waiting. Either he wasn't late, or Trelawney was, but it didn't matter because he wouldn't be in trouble. He caught sight of one of his classmates and friends, smiled, and jogged over to her.

"Hey Luna," he greeted her, still panting from running all the way up the spiral steps. The blonde girl turned towards him and looked at him curiously as she faced him.

"Hello Nick," she said softly "You look tired. Did you sleep well?"

The brunette shrugged. When he had been sleeping, it had been well enough – but he hadn't been doing a lotof it last night. "I'm fine," he said "Is Professor Trelawney late?"

Luna tilted her head. "It would seem so. She hasn't unlocked the classroom yet. Did you see Jeff this morning?"

Nick frowned. "What?"

"You weren't at breakfast, so you must have been with Jeff," Luna said, as if that explained everything. "You'll have to see him at lunch, I suppose. I was hoping we could sit together again, but that's alright."

Confused, Nick asked, "What are you talking about, Luna?" But even as he spoke, he noticed the other students around them starting to whisper and look in his direction, as if he had something disgusting hanging from his nose, or a giant wart had suddenly appeared on his face. Something was clearly up.

Luna gestured to him. "Well, you'll have to give his tie back, won't you?"

He looked down and swore under his breath, grabbing at his tie – which was bright Hufflepuff yellow. He quickly yanked it off, almost strangling himself in the process, as a number of the other students giggled and laughed quietly. He'd just shoved it into his pocket when the door to the classroom opened and a faint, light voice called for them to enter.

"Thanks for that, Luna," he said as they walked in and took their seats around the low tables. The girl shrugged and said nothing, but Nick was sure he saw her smile slightly as she settled herself on a cushion.

As soon as his morning classes had finished, Nick was the first out the door. He raced along the crowded corridors, heading for the Great Hall. He knew Jeff would be waiting for him there. He also knew he'd had Potions; there was no way Snape wouldn't have noticed the swapped ties and if he hadn't, David and Wes would have. He hoped Jeff wasn't in too much trouble, especially coupled with the fact they'd been late. Was there a punishment for wearing another house's colours? He had no idea, but certainly didn't want to find out.

"You there, running! Stop."

The brunette stumbled and almost fell flat on his face as a terrifyingly familiar voice called out. He somehow managed to keep his balance and turned to face the stern woman walking towards him past the other students all milling around in the corridor, heading to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Professor McGonagall," he said, nervousness tinging his voice. The teacher looked down at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Duval, isn't it?"

"Yes Professor."

"And where might your tie be, Duval?" McGonagall asked.

Nick bit his lip, hand moving instinctively to his pocket, bulging slightly from the screwed-up tie shoved into it. McGonagall's sharp eyes followed the movement and she waited, her face impassive, until Nick sighed and pulled it out.

Both eyebrows shot up at the sight of the Hufflepuff tie. Nick knew he didn't have to say anything - she knew he was a Ravenclaw and that his boyfriend was in Hufflepuff. Everyone knew. There was a long moment of silence as Nick stared at the floor, until finally McGonagall spoke again.

"Well, you'd best hurry along and return that tie," she said and Nick looked up to see a small smile on her face "And collect yours."

"Yes, Professor," Nick grinned, and spun on his heel to sprint down the corridor.

He reached the Great Hall five minutes later to find Jeff, also tie-less, waiting outside the doors. There was still a clear red tint to his cheeks as Nick approached.

"Did Snape say anything?" was the first thing out of his mouth. Jeff's head snapped up and he flung his arms out to hug his boyfriend. "It was horrible," he mumbled into his shoulder.

"It was quite funny, actually."

Nick rolled his eyes as David and Wes, half-dragging their Ravenclaw best friend Thad in tow, came to join the conversation.

"The Weasley twins agreed," Wes added, making Jeff groan.

"You're so cruel," Nick said as he pried his boyfriend off him and handed him his tie. "Here."

"Thanks." Jeff gave him his Ravenclaw tie as David pouted and said, "Well, Snape was worse. He basically told the whole class you were sleeping together last night. And Flitwick noticed he wasn't wearing a tie, but he thought it was funny when he found out he had yours."

Nick stared at his boyfriend. From the rising blush creeping up his cheeks and ears, it was obviously true. He sighed. Sometimes it seemed like Snape just had it in for everyone. And Flitwick – he could imagine what the head of Ravenclaw would have thought about the mishap.

As the three best friends laughed and joked at Jeff's expense, the two boys moved a little farther away to talk.

"Did you get in trouble?" Nick asked.

Jeff shrugged. "I lost thirty points for being late to Potions. I was kind of expecting it though. What about you?"

"I got off pretty lightly. Professor Trelawney was late so I didn't get in trouble, though I think the entire class noticed before I did. The rumours are probably spreading right now."

"Well, everyone already knows we're together," Jeff said with a small smile "Let them think what they like."

"I like that idea," Nick smiled, kissing him lightly.

"Hey, you two!" Wes called "Are we going to eat or not?"

Nick shook his head and Jeff rolled his eyes. "We're coming," the brunette said, putting his tie on and following his friends, his boyfriend behind him.

And as he walked into the Great Hall, he couldn't help but check that he was wearing the right one.

I'm not entirely sure why I wrote this. I can't write humour D:

Still, I thought it was funny. If you liked it, please review? *hopeful*