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Lovino stomped down the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room, glaring daggers at anyone who dared to meet his eyes. So far, the day had been absolute shit. He'd woken up late and missed breakfast; he'd gotten pissed off at that annoying Korean kid in Transfiguration, cursed him out, and gotten detention; he'd found Feliciano hanging with that potato-eating Kraut-breath again and had been forced to listen to him babble on about some scary ghost; and to top it all off, there hadn't been any fucking tomatoes at dinner.

He threw open the door to his dorm, ready to collapse onto his bed and ignore the world for as long as humanly possible. He got as far as his bed when he noticed the scroll lying innocuously on his pillow. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he picked it up and cautiously rolled it open.

You are cordially invited to participate in the first official

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

SCHOOL-WIDE PRANK WAR!

Any and all are welcome to join, and everyone is in danger of being pranked whether they join in or not. In order to participate, just write down your name and prank and put it in the chalice set in the storage cupboard in the classroom next to the painting of Uric the Oddball on the fifth floor of the west wing BEFORE you pull your prank.

The rules are simple: Do not attempt to take credit for another person's prank, and do not tell any professors about the war.

At the end of the year, whoever has pulled the best prank will win a prize of fifty galleons!

Happy pranking!

-The PW Founders

Lovino rolled his eyes and tossed the scroll into the trash can. A prank war, really? Only a complete idiot would expect people to believe something like that. All at once, Lovino noticed scrolls identical to the one now in the trash resting on each of the other beds in the room.

Alright, so an idiot with a lot of time on his hands, then. With one last derisive snort, he collapsed onto the bed, certain that this so-called Prank War wouldn't affect him in the slightest.

.

Okay, so maybe there was more to it than he'd thought.

Lovino sat at the breakfast table, glaring at the pile of confetti in his palm that had only two seconds ago been an apple. Across the Hufflepuff table, and the others as far as he could tell, all of the food had disappeared in a burst of color. It took all of two seconds for the hall to dissolve into chaos as everyone tried to figure out what happened to the food.

He had to admit, whoever had pulled this was smart; with all the professors stuck in a staff meeting all morning, there were no authority figures around to witness it.

Before the prefects could attempt to restore order, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and a dozen owls flew in carrying a large banner. Painted untidily across it in bright pink letters were the words WE, THE FOUNDERS OF THIS PRANK WAR, DECLARE IT OFFICIALLY BEGUN!

Another pair of owls flew in carry a transparent money sack jingling with Galleons, displaying the prize for all to see, and Lovino could tell many of the students were eyeing it greedily. Even he found himself considering pulling a prank. It wasn't like he didn't want to get back at those annoying bastards Antonio insisted upon hanging out with anyway.

The owls flew a few turns around the hall, making sure everyone saw the message before disappearing through the doors as quickly as they'd come. As few seconds later the confetti dissolved into fine dust, and all evidence of the prank was gone. The professors would never be able to tell; Lovino was beginning to gain a grudging respect for these 'founders'. Whoever they were, they knew certainly knew how to break the rules without getting in trouble.

Lovino left the Great Hall hungry, but contemplative.

.

"Yo, Toni, where do you think you're going?" Gilbert sat at the Gryffindor table, the early morning light reflecting almost blindingly off of his pale hair as he raised an eyebrow at his friend, half a bagel hanging from his mouth. Antonio, who was halfway out of his seat, gave him a similar expression.

"I was going to go say good morning to Lovi," he wrinkled his brow when Gilbert snorted. Taking another bite, he yanked him back into his seat and shoved at piece of bacon at him.

"Sorry, lover boy, but that could go on all day, and we don't have time for that."

Antonio cocked his head, trying to figure out what he was forgetting. It was Saturday, so it wasn't class, and Bella had bullied him into actually finishing his homework before it was due for once, so it wasn't that either… "What are we doing today that's more important than Lovi?"

"Seriously?" Gilbert stared at him as if he'd just grown a second head. "Don't tell me you forgot Quidditch! Our first practice of the season is today, and as Captain I cannot allow the best chaser on our team to miss practice, even for a chance at true love that he refuses to take because he's an insecure pansy."

If Lovino hadn't been across the Great Hall at the Hufflepuff table, he would have rejoiced at the opportunity to get revenge on Antonio for always comparing him to a tomato considering how red Antonio turned. That is, if he wasn't too busy flushing a similar shade or attacking Gilbert. Or both.

Before Antonio could make any protests (which Gilbert wouldn't believe anyway as Antonio is exceedingly obvious to everyone but Lovino) or initiate a counterattack (which would be even more ineffectual considering Gilbert would just loudly proclaim that he was too awesome for love and quickly bring the conversation back to Antonio) Elizaveta launched a spoon across the table and hit Gilbert right between the eyes.

"The best chaser on the team, you say?" Her eyes narrowed and Gilbert rolled his eyes back at her, though he surreptitiously rubbed at his forehead.

"Of course. You see, Antonio, as a friend of me and my awesomeness, has had some of that awesomeness rub off on him, making him more awesome, and by extension better, than you. Understand?"

Elizaveta rolled her eyes. "If being the best means being friends with someone as obnoxious as you, than I'd rather stay as I am. Now, are we going to practice or what? I can beat all of your asses any day of the week, and I'll prove it!"

"Uh, I don't mind not being the best…" Antonio offered, but he was either ignored or unheard by the two having a stare-down over the plate of treacle tarts.

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that, won't we?" Gilbert stood up, Elizaveta pushing her chair back at the same time, and they almost sprinted out to the pitch. Antonio sighed and, with one last longing look at the Hufflepuff table, rounded up the rest of his teammates and headed out into the October chill to make sure Gilbert and Elizaveta got through the practice without murdering each other.

.

Lovino was wandering around looking for the entrance to the kitchens. It had been ages since he'd had a good tomato, and his last hope was the house elves in the kitchens he'd heard about from the older students that apparently loved nothing more than to give out food. It was a stormy Sunday evening, and he couldn't help but jump at a particularly loud crash of thunder.

"It's just a storm," he muttered to himself as he glanced out one of the numerous windows. "It's just a fucking storm, so don't-" he bumped into something and let out a shocked shriek, falling heavily to the ground. He blinked, then glared up at the other person only to start screaming. It was a giant fucking sludge monster, and it was coming right for him!

"Hey, I'm sorry, Lovi, are you all right? Why are you screaming?"

Wait… he knew that voice… "What the- Antonio?" Now that he got a better look, he could see brown curls and tanned skin hidden under thick layers of mud and bracken."What the hell happened to you, bastard? Someone prank you?"

Once the Prank War had been started off and people knew the prize was real, people had begun pulling pranks all across the school. They were getting crazier and more elaborate every day, including what had been dubbed as 'Missing Shirt Monday' or 'The-Day-That-Shall-Never-Be-Spoken-Of'. Whoever had orchestrated it was lucky that it hadn't affected the girls, or they would have been tracked down and destroyed by a homicidal mob of estrogen.

The professors, however, had yet to get involved, and there were whispers that all of the students had somehow been jinxed to make it impossible for them to tell and that the teachers didn't know about the Prank War at all.

Antonio just shook his head as he wiped some of the muck off of his face. "No, I've had Quidditch practice all day. Our first match is coming up soon, and Gilbert's been working us as hard as he can since it's against Ravenclaw. He doesn't want to lose to his little brother."

Lovino rolled his eyes at the mention of his brother's friend, then froze. "Wait, he had you out there, all day, in that?" He glared out the window, where dark heavy clouds had been hovering all day and the rain thundered down hard enough to be mistaken for hail. Antonio nodded, and Lovino sighed. "That idiot's going to kill you all. What are you waiting for? Go wash off that mud and get in front of a fire before you catch pneumonia!"

Antonio stared at him for a moment, eyes wide. All at once he launched himself forward, throwing his arms around Lovino and spinning him around. "Aw, Lovi, you do care!"

"What the fu- get off me!" Lovino struggled, face bright red, but Antonio ignored him. "You're getting mud all over my robes!" Antonio released him after a few more moments, and Lovino did his best to quash the part of him that wanted nothing more to fall into those arms and stay there forever.

"You're right, Lovi, thank you. I'll see you later, alright?" He ran off, dripping a trail of mud onto the floor as he went. Lovino brushed the mud from his clothes and resisted the urge to run after him. With all the Quidditch practice he'd been doing, Antonio had almost no free time to spend with Lovino.

To anyone who watched their interactions and took them at face value, Lovino was delighted that he didn't have to spend any more time that humanly possible around happy-go-lucky, overly-affectionate Antonio. Of course, that was exactly what he wanted them to think. Like he wanted the whole school to laugh at him for pining over that annoying bastard.

N- not that he was pining or anything! Lovino wasn't the type of person to do any girly shit like that. It wasn't his fault that Antonio would rather spend his time playing a stupid game than following him around. And that fact wasn't upsetting him, thank you very much!

"Hey, fratello, what are you doing all the way over here?" Lovino jumped and his head snapped around before he relaxed. It was just Feliciano running towards him, his cheerful mood contrasting sharply with the moody weather. "I was looking all over for you; I thought you were eaten by a ghost!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Ghosts don't eat people, idiot." Feliciano ignored his biting tone and looked him over as if to make sure he was telling the truth.

"Oh, you're all muddy! Did you go outside in this weather? You could get sick!"

"Fuck, who are you, my mom?" Lovino waved him off before he could start fussing with his clothes. "And I didn't go outside, so you can quit worrying."

Feliciano waited for him to continue. When he didn't, he gave him a searching look before shrugging and heading back to the common room. "Alright, Lovino."

.

Antonio let his head fall to the desk with a loud thunk. On his right, Gilbert was sprawled, snoring, across is desk, not even pretending to take notes as some of the more studious Gryffindors and Slytherins were. On his left, Francis had his chin plopped in one hand, doodling on a sheet of parchment as he ignored the betrayed looks from the few Slytherins who still couldn't get past the fact that he was willingly friends with Gryffindors.

Meanwhile, at the front of the classroom, Professor Binns continued to drone on about some war between goblins. Antonio couldn't decide whether billions of Goblin Wars had taken place over the course of history, or if he was just teaching about the same one over and over. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to care.

It was getting towards November, and between Gilbert's relentless Quidditch practices and the professors' giving out of a ridiculous amount of homework in preparation for the NEWT tests, he had been almost completely deprived of social activity for a few weeks now. Well, unless getting tackled off of a broom by Alfred counted as social activity.

Antonio shot a longing glance out the window. The loss of interaction with his favorite Italian was affecting him the most. This was Lovino's free period, and he could almost see him sitting under a tree, the light filtering through his hair as he struggled to hide a smile. It had been far too long since he had been able to spend any real time with Lovino. Antonio buried his face in the crook of his elbow and he silently cursed Professor Binns for never bothering to repair the clock in his room.

As discreetly as possible, Antonio kicked Francis' ankle under the table. Francis glanced over at him, expression first surprised, then faintly suggestive as he ran a foot up his calf. Antonio shot him an unimpressed look and motioned to his wrist. 'Worth a shot,' the Frenchman's wry grin read, and after a quick peek at his watch he held up five fingers.

Antonio nodded, relaxing, and Francis returned the gesture before resuming his doodling. Five minutes left; that was better than he'd expected. He slid his unused quills and parchment into his bag, resisting the urge to count the seconds.

As soon as the bell rang he was out the door, pausing only to wave a Francis and Gilbert, the latter of whom was still fast asleep. Francis and the rest of the Slytherins had Transfiguration and Gilbert was taking an extra class, Ancient Runes (something about discovering an alien language and a map to intergalactic treasure; Antonio had stopped listening after Xenu), but this was Antonio's free period and he planned to make the most of it.

He could almost feel all of his negative emotions dissolving as he stepped through the doorway and allowed the tapestry to fall back into place. The scent of damp earth and ripe tomatoes filled his nose, and he couldn't help but be reminded of home.

To his delight, he found quite a few tomatoes ready to be picked. Antonio always saved a few for himself and took the rest down to the kitchens for the house elves to use in the meals. While they had at first been a bit hesitant to accept something from one of the students they so loved to serve, they had eventually warmed to the idea and even had a set of tomato-themed recipes to use whenever Antonio brought some.

After he had taken care of his plants and brought the ripe tomatoes down to the kitchens, Antonio strolled towards the Gryffindor common room, humming happily to himself. He still had about an hour before dinner, and he would probably be able to convince Gil to play him in a game of Exploding Snap.

He pulled one of the extra tomatoes out of his pocket and took a bite, eyes closing in bliss as he turned a corner. He immediately felt something plow into him and fell backwards, tomato juice flying everywhere as he landed on his back, the thing falling with him. His eyes flew open, and his lips twisted into a wry grin as he realized just who was sprawled across his chest.

"You know, Lovi, we really need to stop meeting like this."

Lovino blinked, staring down at him as the situation clicked in his mind. Within an instant a dark blush spread across his face, and he quickly scrambled off of Antonio. "Shut up, it was an accident!"

Antonio laughed and got to his feet. "Don't worry, I was just joking." Lovino scowled, but allowed Antonio to pull him to his feet as the excess color slowly drained from his face. He'd barely regained his footing before he was almost knocked to the floor once again as Antonio almost tackled him in a bone-crushing hug. "I missed you."

Lovino froze, staring wide-eyed over Antonio's shoulder as his cheeks flooded with warmth once more. "I- uh…" After a few moments he seemed to remember himself and began to struggle in the taller boy's grasp. "Hey, get off of me, bastard! And why the fuck is my hair wet?!"

"Huh?" Antonio stepped back, finally noticing the tomato that was now crushed in his hand, most of its juice running down the back of Lovino's neck. He brought the tomato into Lovino's line of sight with a sheepish grin. "Oops. Sorry."

Lovino rolled his eyes, though Antonio saw him look sadly at the destroyed tomato when he thought he wasn't paying attention. "Where do you even get those? They never have any whole ones at meals no matter how many times I complain."

Antonio grinned at Lovino's poorly-disguised jealousy. "It's a secret," he winked and pulled another tomato out of his pocket, "but you can have this one." Lovino glared, but snatched the tomato from his grasp all the same.

"Yeah, right. 'Secret' my ass. You just want to hoard them all for yourself." Lovino grumbled around a bite of tomato. Antonio raised an eyebrow and wondered if Lovino didn't remember that he'd just shared a tomato or if he was just deliberately overlooking it. Probably the latter, though you never knew with Lovino.

"So, do you want to take a walk with me? I haven't seen you in forever!" Antonio heaved an over-the-top sigh, to which Lovino just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. But just because I don't have anything better to do," he shot a glare at Antonio, as if daring him to argue. The Spaniard just laughed and tossed an arm around Lovino's shoulders before leading the way down the hall.

"Of course, Lovi."