Even though Alfred wasn't a morning person, breakfast time at Hogwarts was still his favorite part of the day. Part of the allure was the delicious food: savory sausage, creamy eggs, crisp hashbrowns, and perfectly toasted bread. There were stranger options as well. He could have beans, for breakfast!, and the food magically replenished itself whenever he scooped it onto his plate. For a 15-year-old boy just hitting his growth spurt, it was heaven.

But that wasn't the best part of breakfast time. No, the best part was when the owls swooped over their long tables and delivered the mail for the day. Alfred loved to watch the birds fly across the room. It was even better when someone got a howler and the entire school could listen to their parents berate them.

That morning, a letter arrived for Alfred. He cringed when he saw that it was red, but quickly realized that it wasn't a howler from his parents about his herbology grade. No, it was just a red piece of paper.

Burning with curiosity, Alfred ripped open the letter and read it eagerly. He blushed when he realized that it was a love letter.

My Dearest Alfred,

In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

There are many times I've seen you in the hallway and wanted to speak these words in person. I fear that I am too much of a coward to admit them aloud. These are words that can only be written; though I am not the first to do so. I hope the puzzle pleases you.

Sincerely,
Your Ardent Admirer

For the rest of the day, Alfred stared at the walls in distraction as he tried to figure out the note. Who had sent it? And what was the riddle? He didn't see any clues in the flowing cursive and flowery language. He could go back to his house and ask his fellow Ravenclaws for help. But he didn't like to admit that he needed help and part of him didn't want to share something so personal with all of his housemates. This was something he wanted to keep hidden...

A grin suffused Alfred's face. Perhaps the clues were hidden with invisible ink! As soon as his classes ended for the day, he rushed off to the library to look up all the spells to reveal invisible ink. When the spells failed, he even tried lemon juice and holding a flame under the paper. He gave up on those methods when the librarian threatened to hex him. Thinking that cryptology might hold the clue, he even tried a few different skip codes, but the words were still gibberish.

Alfred sighed and let his head plop down onto the table with a loud thunk.

"Still working on your herbology essay?" a friendly voice asked.

Alfred flushed guiltily as he glanced up. Arthur had been helping him a lot in herbology class, and he knew that the Hufflepuff would be disappointed in him for spending his time working on a love letter instead of doing his homework. "No... this is something else," Alfred admitted as he hid the singed letter under a blank piece of paper.

"Anything I could help you with?" Arthur offered as he took the seat across from Alfred.

Alfred opened his mouth to say no, and then thought better of it. He could use the help, and maybe showing the letter to Arthur would make him jealous. The Hufflepuff spent too much time on his homework; Alfred would rather that his friend focus on him. He handed over the letter and waited patiently.

Arthur skimmed over the note and arched an eyebrow when he saw the charred edges of the paper. "Did you try to set it on fire?"

"I just wanted to see if it had invisible ink."

"Invisible ink?" Arthur sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, I think you'd have better luck if you focused on the quote from Pride and Prejudice."

Alfred scrunched his face in confusion. "What quote?"

"This one," Arthur said as he pointed to the first paragraph. "We read the book in Muggle Studies, remember?"

"Oh... I, uh, sorta skipped the mushy stuff."

"Well, perhaps you should read it now," Arthur replied. He glanced at the blank paper in front of Alfred. "After you finish your herbology essay, of course."

With some help from Arthur, Alfred managed to write his essay in an hour. Sure, it wasn't a masterpiece, but unlike his hardworking friend, he wasn't willing to spend hours perfecting every detail when he had something more interesting to do. Before the ink had time to dry on the page, Alfred dashed over to the Muggle Literature section of the library and found the Jane Austen book that Arthur had helpfully identified for him. As he carried it back to the table, he was surprised to see a slip of red paper fall out from between the pages.

He picked it up and smiled to find another love letter from his mysterious admirer.

My Dearest Alfred,

Allow me to make another confession: When I first met you, I doubted that you were as clever as your house suggested. I thought you were foolishly arrogant and far too proud. I now know better. You can be brilliant, in your own distinctive way. I hope you'll forgive me my prejudice. It seems, in hindsight, that the greater foolishness was mine; never could I have imagined how deep my feelings would grow.

Perhaps romance does not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it creeps to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it reveals itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrays the rhythm and the music, perhaps… perhaps…love unfolds naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slips from its green sheath.

Green is your clue here. I just hope you've read the sequel.

Sincerely,
Your Ardent Admirer

Yet another puzzle. Whoever this person was, they certainly understood Alfred's love for puzzles. He didn't even know who it was, and he was starting to fall for them already. The Ravenclaw carried both the letter and the book back to the table, barely noticing as Arthur read it over his shoulder. Alfred's grin widened as one word on the page leapt out to his attention. His admirer had given him a wonderful clue in this one.

"Any ideas?" Arthur asked.

"Yep. I know it's from a guy."

"Oh? How come?"

"Dude. It's got 'gay' right in it," Alfred replied, pleased with his cleverness.

"Al, 'gay' is just an old-fashioned word for happy."

"Oh, I dunno. I'm modern and it makes me pretty happy," Alfred teased. "Think about it, Art. Would a straight girl pick that quote?"

"How should I know?" Arthur shook his head and returned to his own homework. His lack of interest disappointed Alfred. Sure, they'd gotten off to a bad start when he had accidentally spilled everlasting ink on all of Arthur's books. But he thought their friendship had grown beyond that after the whole mandrake situation. And recently he'd started to hope for something more.

The problem was that Arthur was always so focused on his work, it seemed hard to imagine that he could possibly want a boyfriend. He would probably just complain about how his boyfriend distracted him from homework, the same way he always complained when Alfred dragged him along on trips to Hogsmeade.

Lost in thought, Alfred didn't realize how quickly the time had passed until his stomach rumbled, reminding him that a puzzle was no substitute for food. He walked with Arthur to the Great Hall and they picked seats near each other at their respective tables. While his classmates chattered, Alfred spent most of the meal in uncharacteristic silence. He wanted to solve this letter on his own. Maybe it would be enough to impress Arthur!

He thought about the clues he had been given. First, he was pretty sure his admirer wasn't a Gryffindor; they rarely admitted to being cowards. Second, he suspected that his admirer was in the same year as him, since they admitted to seeing him during the day and seemed to know what books had been assigned in Muggle Studies.

Thinking about the books gave Alfred a brilliant idea. What if all of the quotes were from books in that class? He devoured the rest of his dinner and raced upstairs, eager to look over his reading list from the class. He didn't stop running until he reached the bronze knocker and had to wait for the question.

"In a riddle whose answer is chess, what is—"

"—can't stop! Gotta check my book list!" Alfred interrupted. The door let him through, because there was nothing more Ravenclaw than ignoring one riddle when there was another one he was trying to solve.

His roommates didn't blink an eye as he burst into the room. They were used to Alfred going off on wild goose chases. Digging through his papers, Alfred punched his fist in excitement when he finally found what he was looking for. He scanned through the list and frowned in concentration as he compared it with the quote from the second letter. He didn't see how the hint of 'green' helped him, nor did any of the books mention a sequel. He sighed and flopped down onto his bed.

"Tough assignment?" one of his roommates asked.

"Yeah," Alfred replied. He slowly smiled as he re-read the words. Even if he couldn't return their feelings, it was exciting to know that someone liked him.

His grin disappeared as he looked at the book list again, comparing the two to see if there was something he had missed the first time. He was tempted to go to Arthur for help again, but he felt stupid admitting that he couldn't solve it on his own. The letter writer was definitely right about that; Alfred had his pride.

"So... how is your little project coming along?" Arthur asked casually as they waited for herbology class. They were both positioned at the far end of the U-shaped table, where the line of Hufflepuff students met the line of Ravenclaw students.

"Slowly," Alfred admitted. "I think it's another book we read in Muggle Studies class, but maybe in an earlier year."

"That seems like a good place to start," Arthur agreed.

"Good morning, class! We're going to be dealing with the Fanged Geraniums today, so be sure to put on your gloves," the professor instructed as class began. She walked around the tables and checked to make sure everyone was wearing their gloves. Arthur flushed in embarrassment as she spent extra time checking his gloves for holes. "Can't be too careful, dear," she explained, patting his shoulder before she moved on.

"One mistake and she's never going to forget it," Arthur complained under his breath. "I do everything perfectly 99% of the time!"

"Well... it was sorta scary," Alfred admitted. He was pretty sure his heart had stopped beating when the mandrake screams knocked Arthur unconscious. Thinking back on it though, the memory of catching Arthur and carrying him to the nurse left more of a fluttery feeling in Alfred's chest.

As the professor finished her glove check, she gave instructions for de-fanging the geraniums. Alfred was particularly grateful for his gloves when his plant tried to bite off a finger. He glanced over and smiled to see that Arthur was having an easy time of it. Other than the incident with the mandrake root, his friend really did have a green thumb.

Alfred paused in thought. Green. Perhaps the hint referred to the title of the next book, but what if it was also a clue to his admirer's identity? Maybe his admirer had pretty green eyes that sparkled when he was happy and darkened with ferocious intensity when he was concentrating. Could Arthur be his secret admirer? They hadn't started off as friends, but things had grown over time. Just the possibility made Alfred giddy with happiness. After a few moments of ignoring his geranium, he felt Arthur nudge him in the side.

"Pay attention to your plant!" the Hufflepuff warned as the teacher made her way around the table again, checking on their progress.

Grateful for the warning, Alfred quickly snipped off the rest of the plant's fangs and added them to the pile. As he thought some more about the mystery letters, he realized that it was just wishful thinking to hope that Arthur was the one writing the letters. He had spent so much time with the other boy and he had never seen the slightest hint of anything more than friendship. There was no way Arthur was that good of an actor.

Feeling depressed about his one-sided feelings, Alfred left with the other Ravenclaws as soon as class was over. He usually waited for Arthur, but it was hard to look at his friend at the moment.

That didn't stop Arthur from cornering him in the hallway that afternoon and pushing a sheaf of papers into his face.

Alfred's eyes widened when he realized that the papers were their Muggle Studies book lists from the past three years. He gave Arthur a bright grin. "Wow, thanks Art!"

"I would have given it to you earlier if you had waited for me after class."

"Guess you're really eager for me to meet this guy, huh?" Alfred replied, feeling a little disappointed that Arthur was reacting with pretty much the opposite of jealousy. He was practically shoving Alfred into the secret admirer's mysterious arms!

Arthur shrugged and averted his eyes. "I don't want to make them wait for your answer. Now hurry up or we'll be late to class."

"Yes, Mother," Alfred teased as he followed Arthur down the hallway. He dodged when the Hufflepuff tried to swat him with a book, and ran off to his class with a cheerful laugh. Even if Arthur wasn't interested in him romantically, it was still nice to be his friend. He was just going to have to explain to his secret admirer that he couldn't be with them because his heart was already set on someone else.

Busy with classes and thinking about Arthur, Alfred didn't bother looking at the list of books until two days later. He didn't really want to know the answer if it just meant that he had to let the poor guy down. On the other hand, Arthur was starting to make comments about helping him, and he didn't want Art to think that he was an idiot.

So Alfred read through the lists and grinned when he noticed that they had read Anne of Green Gables in their first year. The librarian was kind enough to point him to the sequel and he spent some time skimming it.

Alfred found what he was looking for on the very last page. This love letter was taped to the page so that it wouldn't fall out. He carefully pulled it out and read it.

My Dearest Alfred,

I know you're smart. And handsome and adventurous and kind and so many other wonderful adjectives I don't have time to list. Even your faults are dear to me. But I wonder... am I dear to you? I hope you've started to unravel my little puzzle and are ready to give me your answer.

You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.

Sincerely,
Your Ardent Admirer

Alfred glanced at the book again and grinned like a maniac. He grabbed it and rushed off to the Hufflepuff dormitory, located next to the kitchen. A girl who was just leaving was willing to fetch Arthur for him, leaving Alfred to standing in the stone hallway, bouncing up and down in uncontrollable excitement. Even the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen couldn't distract him from his mission.

"Arthur, I figured it out!" he cried as soon as the Hufflepuff stepped into the hallway.

"You did," Arthur replied with a hesitant smile. "And what's your answer?"

"It's Gilbert!"

"What?" Arthur stared at him in shock.

"The book was Anne of Avonlea and the love interest is named Gilbert. He's gay and green is for Slytherin, so it must be him!"

"You... do you want it to be Gilbert?" Arthur asked carefully.

Alfred stopped bouncing. In his excitement at figuring out the riddle, he had forgotten about the reason behind it. "Oh crap, I'm gonna have to think of a way to let him down."

"Look, I think you're overlooking something," Arthur said as he pointed to the red slip of paper in Alfred's hands. "I very much doubt that Gilbert's handwriting is that neat."

As he glanced down at the paper, a new thought wiggled its way into Alfred's head. Arthur seemed like the sort of person to have neat handwriting. And he had been able to help Alfred with most of the clues. Maybe it wasn't hopeless after all!

"Do you want some help figuring out the quote in that one?" Arthur asked tentatively. Something in the way he bit his lip made Alfred's heart flutter with excitement. How long had he been missing the clues that were right in front of his face?

Alfred laughed to himself. "Why am I using muggle methods when I could use magic?"

A panicked look crossed Arthur's face. "What do you mean—"

"Accio author!" Alfred cried as he whipped out his wand while focusing his thoughts on the letter in his hand. He really hoped he was right.

With a startled cry, Arthur jerked forward and slammed into Alfred's body, knocking them both onto the stone floor. "What are you doing?" he demanded indignantly from his position sprawled across Alfred's chest.

"Solving the riddle my way," Alfred replied with a grin. He leaned in and kissed Arthur full on the lips. After a second, he felt Arthur relax into the embrace and kiss him back with equal fervor. It was everything the letter had promised and more.

A/N

Thank you to Mayumisatosan for the prompt! Someday I will finish writing stories for all of the houses :D