Chapter [VIII] Feast of the Pumpkins
Seconds turned into minutes, into hours, days, weeks and eventually, over a month had passed for Jamieson, Leonidas and Frona. Things had been rather normal for the trio, going to their classes, finishing their homework and going about their usual business as they would on a regular school day. It had been quite a long time since Jamieson had heard the hisses he did after their first Astronomy class, which had scarred him enough for the boy to hate walking alone at night for the first few weeks, but after a while, he figured he had simply been imagining things.
"Ta'morrows Hallowe'en Feast, did'ja guys 'ear?" Hargreeves, one of the Gryffindor first years piped up, sitting down across Jamieson and Leonidas, with Frona leaving for the library earlier since they didn't have class on the weekends. "Well... Yeah? What about it?" Leonidas asked, enjoying his food as Jamieson flipped through his thick textbooks, trying to finish the homework Professor Yelena had given them. Out of all of the classes they have, History of Magic turned out to be the most fact filled, least-practical classes they had. Jamieson loved going to classes, including History of Magic, but even he had to admit it got boring after a long while.
"Don'cha guys know? Hogwarts always coms' up wit' the best treats during Hallowe'en! A' heard from ma' sister last year, they made pumkin' pasties so delicious, students couldn't stop eating till' late midnight," Hargreeves continued, with Jamieson drowning out the conversation between Leonidas and Hargreeves about what this year's food could possibly be.
"Ah, Mr. Potter-Diggory," Professor Dolevia had approached them, startling the boy as she had seemingly come out of nowhere, not noticing the cat making its way down their row earlier. "I will need you to come with me," She instructed, turning back around and making her way down the long row of table.
Jamieson, looking down at his quarter-finished homework, let out a long sigh. "Hey Leo, can you take this back to our dorm later?" He asked, knowing full well the blond boy would return to their dorms for a nap later.
"Sure... Any idea why she'd need to see you all of a sudden?" Leonidas asked, watching his friend take off with a small frown. "No idea," Answered Jamieson as he sprinted to catch up to the tall female professor, the two of them making their way to the Clock Tower Courtyard, meeting up with a later large, heavily bearded man who Jamieson felt like he had seen somewhere before.
"Mr. Potter-Diggory, this is Mr. Cypress Grawp," Professor Dolevia introduced the two, exchanging a handshake, only Jamieson's hand looked like a midget compared to Mr. Grawp's and the force the gigantic man exerted in their hand shake was enough to almost break the boy's hand, Jamieson doing his best to hide his pain.
"You' sendin' me a scrawny boy to help?" The giant man asked, lifting a brow as he eyed the small, thin boy the professor had brought to him.
"Because it just so happens that Mr. Potter-Diggory here has the best levitating charm out of all the students here, which I'm sure you'll find useful," Professor Dolevia responded, leaving the two after a while.
"What... exactly will I be doing, Mr. Grawp?" Jamieson asked as they began walking down the courtyard, Jamieson excited to finally explore another part of the castle. "No need to be so formal wit' me boy, call me Cypress," The giant man answered as they made their way down a worn-looking wooden bridge.
"Ye'll be helpin' me wif' exporting the giant pumkins' they'll be needin' fer' the Halowe'en Feast this year," The man answered, Jamieson nodding in response as he remembers Hargreeves mentioning something about the Hallowe'en Feast, which Jamieson figured would be different in some way to the muggle's own Halloween. Thinking of Hallowe'en, Jamieson remembers how much he despised it. Almost every kid in the neighbourhood hated the Dursleys, for some reason, and egging their house was a yearly tradition.
Guess who had to clean up afterwards? Of course it'd be Jamieson.
"Ever been down this path, boy?" Cypress asked as they walked past some sort of mini-stonehenge gardens and down a dirt path. From far, Jamieson could spot giant pumpkins growing next to a hut, along with various other vegetation around.
"Do you live around here?" Jamieson asked, looking around at the beautifully kept garden and farm lot, admiring the abnormally large pumpkins. "Yep, inherited it from me' uncle, uncle Hagrid a few years ago an' I figured instead o' loomin' around without a job, I might as well take it," The giant man shrugged, leading the boy to the giant pumpkins patch, taking out his wand, Jamieson quickly took his own tricoloured wand out.
"Wow, yer' wand's really made of three wood, eh?" Cypress asked, genuinely curious at the boy's wand, knowing full well he was the first and probably only wizard with such a wand. "Y-Yeah," Jamieson answered, seeing Cypress' dark brown wand confirmed to him once again that his own was out of the ordinary.
"Fun fact, dunno' if you've learnt this, if ye' point yer' wand upwards, ye' can levitate and move things around with ter' charm," Cypress stated, 'Wingardium Leviosa' he chanted, lifting up one of the giant pumpkins, pointing his wand upwards and moving it around in a random motion. Jamieson watched in awe as the pumpkin followed the movement of the wand. "Now, I need yer' help wit' bringing all these pumkins' back to ter' castle. Dunno' why Professor Dolevia only sent you though, there'd usually be four or five wit' me," Cypress instructed before he made his way up the path.
Jamieson gawked at the amount of pumpkins around, he knew he wasn't gonna spent the rest of his afternoon escorting the pumpkins up and down the path. Jamieson stood near the pumpkin patch, trying to think of how he could bring all the giant orange vegetables up in one go. "Ye' better hurry up boy, lest' ye' want us to be here all afternoon," Cypress sighed, startling the boy out of his thinking trance.
"Huh... What if..." Jamieson wondered, remembering how Professor Finnigan taught that spells can be altered, or even go wrong, with the slightest change in how one waves his wand and chants the spell, he began trying out numerous different chants and flicks. After numerous trials and errors, he finally found the right combination.
"Boy I'm already on my 4th pumkin, are ya' even tryin' ta' help?" Cypress groaned as the boy flashed him a toothy grin, realizing Jamieson hadn't even began.
Once the giant man had spun around levitating a giant pumpkin, Jamieson finally cast his altered Levitation charm, where he deliberately chanted the spell slowly, waving his wand and pointing it at the rest of the pumpkins, the boy grinned in satisfaction, watching the remaining giant pumpkins levitate and group together, he sprinted and caught up to Cypress, silently following the boy.
"5 down, 6 including yours. A lot more ta' g–" Cypress spun around, only to see Jamieson behind him, with all of the other remaining giant pumpkins levitating behind him, some of them spinning in random directions. "How did ya'.." Cypress gasped, running to the edge of the bridge and looking down, seeing how there were no more pumpkins left, Jamieson gently set the giant pumps on the Clock Tower Courtyard, where Cypress had rested the ones he carried earlier.
"Boy that was impressive. I'd award ya' with points if I' could, but gamekeepers can't really do that," Cypress chortled, taking a whistle from one of the many pockets of the coat he wore, the whistle letting out a low chirp as opposed to the high-pitched noise a regular whistle would.
After a few seconds of silence, a house-elf appeared right in-front of them in a black puff, Jamieson blinking a few times in confusion since he remembered Professor Finnigan had explained in one of her classes how Hogwarts was protected by a charm which stopped everyone outside from apparating into the castle, out of the castle along with blocking apparating while inside the castle.
"Ah, earlier than usual this year, Cypress?" The elf commented, counting the total of giant pumpkins laid infront of him. "An' more than usual. Those Enchanted Dragon Dung fertilizers are really workin'," Cypress commented with a big grin, Jamieson on the other hand began thinking of what type of sweets were made with pumpkins.
"Very well done Cypress. We don't know what we'd do without you around," The house elf bowed, apparating away along with the giant pumpkins. "Do you always grow large vegetables?" Jamieson asked once the elf had disappeared out of sight.
"Well, if the school requests so, then yeh. That's all I needed help wit', thank yous'," The giant man flashed Jamieson a kind smile before leaving the young boy, who hung around the area for a bit longer, deciding to explore the area a bit more. The boy only managed to explore a few more spots of the area until a blinding flash of light had suddenly taken his vision, accompanied by unfamiliar voices.
"Ack!" Jamieson cried in pain, falling over onto the floor, both hands clenching his head as images formed, though he could not make sense of any of them since they seemed to blur into one another.
"Well, look who it is... What's wrong with you...?" A familiar voice came over, though that was all Jamieson heard before passing out.
The next thing he knew, he woke up on one of the many beds in the infirmary. "Good news for you, no injury of any kind," He hears Madam Abbott, the current matron of the school informed him. "You feel anything wrong?" She asked, stirring a cup with orange liquid. "Uh... I-I don't think so...?" Jamieson replied, seeing her nod as she handed him the cup. "Drink up, it'll restore enough energy for you to get back to your dorms. A bit more rest should get you all healed up," She instructed as Jamieson downed the cup, handing it back to the nurse and watching as the long, blond-haired, aged matron left him alone.
Jamieson struggled to get off his bed, picking his wand up and tried to walk for a short distance, only reaching the door when the effect of the mixture came in, surging him with energy. Remembering what Madam Abbott said, Jamieson did his best to get back to the Gryffindor Towers as fast as he could, not even bothering to change out of his clothes, as soon as his head had hit the bed, he was immediately washed over by a wave of fatigue.
"Jamieson, Jamieson," He felt a soft hand on his shoulder shake him gently, waking him up. "Uh... H-Huh?" Jamieson blinked a few times, sitting upright in panic, "I-I'm late for class," He squeaked out, realizing Frona and Leonidas beside him, both of them looking worried as heck. "You're awake!" Leonidas had hugged him tight, almost squeezing the boy's air out of his lungs.
"It's Sunday, you doof," Frona rolled her eyes, wondering what had happened after the three of them separated the day before. "W-Wait... How long was I out for?" Jamieson asked, the last thing he remembered was leaving the infirmary, making his way back to his dormitories and going back to sleep. "Y-You were out for the entire afternoon and evening yesterday! I thought you were just tired, when I couldn't wake you this morning, I panicked and called Frona over a-and we almost sent you to the infirmary," Leonidas explained, bawling his eyes into Jamieson's clothes, which he realized he hadn't changed since the day before.
"Oh..." Jamieson blinked a few times before sitting on his bed, cross-legged. He looked around and made sure nobody else was in the dormitory before he explained what had been happening to him, from the Astronomy towers incident to when he saw visions in the Clock Tower Courtyard.
"W-Why... didn't you tell us sooner?" Leonidas asked, growing increasingly worried after hearing Jamieson's stories. "I didn't know! I thought I was just dreaming things that night... Then yesterday happened. W-What if i-it's connected?" Jamieson squeaked in nervousness. Try as he might, though, he couldn't remember what he saw in his 'visions'. All he remembered was an extremely blinding bright light.
"Alright, how about this. We wait a bit longer. Tonight's the Hallowe'en Feast, there's gonna be tons of food. We can't do anything about what you've went through anyways, it doesn't make sense yet, so we wait for the next visions, voices, or whatever it is," Frona suggests, reminding them that the grand feast was only hours away. 'Something to look forward to, I guess...' Jamieson thought, catching up with Leonidas after Frona had left under the pretense of needing to 'review her notes'.
"Are you alright?" Leonidas asked, side-hugging his best friend, who was obviously still disturbed by what he had experienced. "I wish I could say I was," Jamieson sighed, looking down on as they both sat in the bed, Jamieson enjoying Leonidas' company in silence. "Look, how about... W-We play a bit of my version of Quidditch?" Leonidas smiled, remembering how everyone had told the black-haired boy how he had talent for quidditch, he thought he'd like it if they played a lite version of it.
"Your own version of Quidditch?" Jamieson asked, turning and looking at his friend curiously. Leonidas grinned upon seeing the curious glint in the boy's eyes. "Yeah, c'mon," Leonidas grinned, grabbing Jamieson and his own room, both of them sprinting down the corridors, "Leo wait up," He hears Jamieson behind him struggling to catch up though he himself was too excited to actually slow down. 'Please don't let there be a team practice,' Leonidas thought as they made their way down the path leading towards the stadium.
"You... did... not... have to sprint... that fast," Jamieson panted once he had caught up to Leonidas, seemingly out of breath, becoming even more tired when they realized they'd ran from one end of the castle to another, Jamieson being thankful Merlin that they weren't caught by the school's caretaker.
"Right so the rules are, you have to score goals while I defend. We switch every attempt, so it doesn't matter whether you score or not if you throw the ball, we switch between defender and scorer. First to reach 10 points win," Leonidas grinned, waiting for a response from his panting friend once the boy managed to breathe normally.
"Easy enough," Jamieson smiled confidently, his new found confidence wavered once he saw Leonidas' smirk. "How about we... put on a bit of wager?" He smirked, seeing another twinkle in the boy's eyes at the mention of a bet, "If I win... You... do my homework for a week," He grins, seeing Jamieson's frown told him he'd made a great wager. "Fine... If I win," the boy paused, somewhat scaring Leonidas when his frown suddenly curled up into a devilish grin, "You need to sleep with me for a week," He replied with his own wager.
"W-W-What?" Leonidas stuttered, somewhat confused at the boy's answer, he had thought Jamieson would have an even worse wager. "You heard me. You sleep in the bottom bunk with me, and I get to be the big spoon," Jamieson explained, the mischievous glint in his eyes growing even more.
"F-Fine. You're on," Leonidas, trying to hide the blush on his face, began looking around, the thought of being cuddled made him even more of a shy wreck. Don't get him wrong, he loved cuddling, but with the person who'd made him feel weird and tingly lately? He was afraid of embarrassing himself. Maybe he'd fart while they were trying to sleep? Maybe his bladders would suddenly lose control? Maybe he'd begin mumbling in his sleep and end up slapping Jamieson?
Only the world knows, and the more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he became.
"What... Are you looking for?" Jamieson wondered, watching his blond friend looking around for... something. "Ah," Leonidas grinned, picking up a pebble on the ground, which he tapped with his wand and whispered with a spell Jamieson couldn't pick up on, watching the pebble hover and spin rapidly, turning into a compacted ball of leaves in a puff of green smoke.
"We play with this. At least neither of us would be bruised by the end of this," Leonidas shrugged, tossing the ball at his friend, Jamieson wondering how hard a real Quidditch ball would be. Jamieson watched as Leonidas mounted his broom, kicking off and flying towards the set of goals closer to the entrance, trailing behind.
Hovering in front of Leonidas, Jamieson scanned the three goal hoops behind him, "So... I get a point if I scored in any of the three hoops, right?" Jamieson asked, watching his friend turn around, then turn towards him again with a shake of his head, "That'd make it too easy for scoring and too hard for keeping. You get a score if the ball makes it through the hoop in the middle," Leonidas grinned, watching his friend reverse, he readied himself for the throw.
Jamies scowled slightly, remembering he had read up about throwing a curving ball from a baseball tips book, something Mr. Dursley wanted their stepdaughter to try, who instead found dress-up dolls to be more fun to play with instead of an outside sport. Jamieson remembered such an event clearly due to the fact that his step-parents argued that same night about how Mr. Dursley wanted their stepdaughter to grow up to become an athlete while Mrs. Dursley wanted her to become a fashion designer. 'Why would you even want her to become a dress maker?' 'Don't you see?! Fame, free clothes, rich!' He remembered vividly, wincing at such a memory.
Any memory involving the Dursleys were wince-inducing for the boy.
Shaking his head and losing the thought, Jamieson took a deep breath, winding up and throwing the ball at a certain angle, watching it curve in the air, only for Leonidas to zoom to the right and catch it. "You're not the first to try such a trick like that," Leonidas grinned, seeing Jamieson scowl before they switched position.
Jamieson began attempting to read the boy's movements and trying to predict which direction he'd throw it, only to watch in confusion as the boy whipped out his wand. 'Verdimillious!' Leonidas chanted, pointing at a random direction, shooting out bright green sparks from his wand. Startled, Jamieson whipped his head towards where Leonidas had pointed, missing the fact that the ball had zipped right past him.
"First point goes to Leonidas!" The blond boy yelled excitedly, Jamieson blinking a few times as Leonidas fetched the ball, shoving it into his arms after. "I never said no spells or distractions," Leonidas smirks in satisfaction, earning himself yet another scowl as Jamieson moved towards the scorer position.
"Here goes," Jamieson sighed, shutting his eyes, he winded up his hand, throwing the ball at the tower behind the hoop instead of at the hoop itself, earning himself a confused look from his blond friend. In the blink of an eye, he whipped out his wand and yelled, 'Spongify!' while pointing it at the ball.
"Wha-" Leonidas spun around, only to watch the ball bounce off of the tower and through the hoops, scoring Jamieson his first point. "Not bad," Leonidas smirks, Jamieson playfully bowing mid air as they switched place.
"In your dreams," A brown-haired, 4th year student, walking beside 3 other guys, chortled as they made their way down the quidditch stadium. The four seniors, who happened to be the quidditch captain of their respective houses, were tasked to inspect the stadium for any faulty or broken bits before the quidditch season began.
"Wait, there're people playing?" The black and blue robed student asked out loud as they neared the entrance, all four of them freezing in their tracks, watching the small game unfold infront and above them.
"Wingadrium–," Jamieson began on a lead of 7 points over 5, Leonidas raised a brow at the boy, wondering what he'd do with a levitating charm, both of them unaware of the people watching them in curiosity. "Leviosa!" Jamieson chanted, pointing his wand Leonidas' broom. Within a few seconds, the blond boy began floating upwards until Leonidas was too high up to block the hoops, which Jamieson easily earned himself a score.
Somehow dangling upside down with his legs still clutched on his broom, Leonidas squinted his eyes at Jamieson as he slowly floating down, "Again, not bad," He hissed as Jamieson returned from fetching the ball. "8 to Potter-Diggory, 6 to Malfoy," Jamieson grinned proudly, imitating a muggle commentator. What started as an innocently simple game of outwitting and ball-blocking turned into quite an intense game, forcing both boys to rack their brains for strategies since they agreed not to use the same tricks and spells twice.
The game continued on, colourful spells shooting out each other's wands as distractions, both somehow being tied at 9 points. "C'mon Jamieson, lose this. At least I'll have a week off of homeworks," Leonidas grins, preparing himself for whatever was coming, remembering how both of them had almost exhausted every spell they knew.
Jamieson gripped the ball on his hand hard, a thinking scowl on his face as he began thinking of a master plan, a risky plan popping up on his head. "Y'know what Leonidas," His scowl softened, a small smile formed on his face as he relaxed his grip on the ball.
"Huh?" Leonidas snapped back, blinking a few times, expecting the ball to fly towards him any second. Instead, it was Jamieson who came nearer to him slowly. "I've something to tell you," the boy chuckled, nearing the confused blond boy even more.
"I just wanna say, you've been a great friend to me so far," Jamieson flashed a toothy smile at the boy. Leonidas saw a glint of mischief in his eyes, yet his word had rang differently in the boy's head. "R-Really?" Leonidas stuttered, immediately softening his grip on his broom, his guard quickly lowered.
"Yeah, I mean it. Hold this," Jamieson kept smiling, handing the leaf ball over to Leonidas, who held it between his hips and arms. "You've been amazing to me and Frona, alright? Honestly, we wouldn't know what we'd do without you," Jamieson continued, Leonidas seemingly heavily affected by his words.
"I... I-I don't know what to say," Leonidas blushed, looking at the boy with a shy smile, somehow not noticing his friend pull out his wand slowly. After a short while of silence, 'Flipendo!' Jamieson chanted, aiming for the leaf ball and pushing it with such a strong force, it dislodged from Leonidas' grip and flew through the hoop, the transfiguration spell undoing as soon as it hit the tower.
Blinking a few times while looking at the regular rock, which had now hit the grassy ground, Leonidas froze while trying to process what had just happened, snapped back to reality by James nudging his waist. "I win," Jamieson grinned proudly, "This time," Leonidas growled, scowling at the boy as they both landed, Leonidas disappointed at losing the chance of having homework assist for the week.
"Oh-" The duo then realized they weren't alone, evident at the four quidditch team leaders looking somewhat impressed at the duo. "W-Wait, were you guys n-needing the pitch?" Leonidas asked, nervous as they approached the four seniors.
"Well, aside from needing to inspect it, not really," The Slytherin captain shrugged, both students blinking in sync, relieved they hadn't disrupted anything. "Y'know you two have a talent for Quidditch, the way you controlled your flight and how you both guarded your hoops. I mean, minus the spells and tricks, you should try out next year," The Ravenclaw captain smirked, finding it adorable that both of them blushed and looked away shyly.
T-Thanks. W-We should get going," Leonidas replied, trying to fight the blush as he grabbed both of them and sprinted away. "See? I told you you should try out for Quidditch with me," Jamieson grinned, Leonidas rolled his eyes in response, though inside, he was ecstatic to hear something like that from a quidditch captain.
"Assuming they do try out and make it next year, you are going to have fun training them," The brown-haired Hufflepuff captain commented as they had split up into two groups, inspecting two ends of the field.
"Well, if anything, I'm hoping they're better than this current team," The Gryffindor captain huffed, remembering how difficult it was to train the current team, even though most of them were 7th years now, he was hoping they'd be able to do better... But seeing how they performed during their practices before the season even started, he didn't have much hope.
"Hurry up you two, the feast is gonna start soon!" They both hear Frona's voice through the entrance of their dorm, both in a panic as they had spent too much time during their little game. The trio rushed down the corridors, waltzing towards their end of the Gryffindor row. Only when they had sat down and relaxed did they get to really take in the beauty of how the Great Hall was decorated.
Though the banners were still hanging on top, their colours were drowned out by how orange the entire hall was. Each of the professors wore pumpkin-coloured robes, with their houses displayed by the colours of their hat. There were pumpkins floating through the ceiling, even the candles were pumpkin coloured!
The ghosts even made a quick show, reenacting how they died, which a few students found quite morbid, though the trio were still fascinated by everything. Jamieson, in particular, was surprised at how different the wizard's Halloween and the muggle's were.
"Good Evening, students of Hogwarts. I welcome you to 2081's Hallowe'en Feast. I hope you've learned much and enjoyed your stay here in Hogwarts along with bonding with your peers, no matter the years or houses. Before we begin, I have a few quick announcements. As we all know, Quidditch seasons will begin in 3 weeks, the tryouts will be conducted by your Head of Houses and team captains. We will be doing our Hogsmeade trip as usual soon and last but not least, club meetings will soon begin, so ask around and learn about Hogwarts' clubs. That sums up all of my announcements. Please, enjoy the feast!" Professor McDuffel announced, food of all kind appearing in-front of them, somehow looking far more grand, delicious and diverse compared to the Welcoming Feast.
An hour in, Jamieson had noticed how the 2nd years and above had taken their pace, compared to how fast the first years were gorging themselves. Leaning slightly to the left, "Why aren't the seniors eating so much?" He asked Frona, munching on his third slice of pumpkin pie, each bite feeling like he had reached a new plane of existence.
"Didn't you hear? They've been whispering about the 'Hallowe'en Surprise' all week! They say that it is served after the initial feast, and most first years don't get to enjoy it because of how much they eat at first... And, the treat is almost never the same," Frona answered, copying the seniors in pacing herself. Jamieson then proceeded to lean slightly to the right, "Leo, you really should slow down. You might not have enough space for the treat!" He whispered, watching how fast Leonidas had been downing his food the whole time.
"Relax, I have two stomachs," The boy grinned widely, teeth stained red by how much cranberry tarts he'd been eating. Jamieson decided to take a quick break, watching how fast the food was reappearing in-front of them and how Leonidas hadn't stopped, he wondered whether the blond boy really had two stomachs or if his stomach was just a pure void inside.
"Students, students. Now. I hope you've enjoyed the feast, you may all leave the hall once you are done," Professor McDuffel announced, hearing loud gasps and confused whispers around, even the trio were confused, wondering what had happened to the 'treat' they've been hearing.
"Got ya'. Of course, you're not leaving this hall without enjoying our annual treat! This year, with the help of Professor Sprout and Professor Ancum, the house elves have come up with an amazing treat. There's no use in explaining it, so enjoy your treats! Once you're done, you may return to your dormitories," He continued, and as soon as he ended his short speech, the entire hall was immediately filled with the deliciously sweet and savory smell off pumpkin cheesecake bars.
The students gawked in awe, eyeing the beautifully made bars with cheesecake and pumpkin cheesecake fillings sandwiched between nuts and chocolate crumbs, with Jamieson being the first to reach out and take the first bar. Biting through the crunchy shell, the moment both cheesecakes hit his tongue, Jamieson felt like he had entered the 7th layer of another plane, unconsciously letting out a weak moan as he shut his eyes in enjoyment, which was enough to set off the entire hall.
Soon, everyone was enjoying their fill, with the professors helping themselves to over 5 or 6 servings of the bars. It took another hour before the students began to leave, most of them had eaten so much, they appeared bloated. Madam Abbott knew there'd be problems soon, so she helped herself to a last serving before making her way down to the infirmary, she herself feeling rather queasy after eating so much sweets.
"I feel so full," Jamieson groaned, lying on his bed, clutching on his bloated stomach, Leonidas on the other hand looked normal. "How are you able to eat so much?" Jamieson asked with a slight groan. If there was an eating competition in Hogwarts, the blond boy would ace easily.
Instead of getting the usual, cheerful reply, Leonidas sat on Jamieson's bed, looking down as the words Jamieson said that afternoon had came back. 'You're the greatest friend I've ever had...' Rang through his head, bringing him happiness, only for the boy to yell 'Flipendo!' loudly, making those words almost meaningless to him, thinking that Jamieson simply said it as it was part of his plan.
"Are you... Okay?" Jamieson fought back the pain of moving with such a full stumach, worried at his friend's sudden change in demeanor. "Did you... mean it, Jamieson?" He whispered weakly, Jamieson almost missing his words. "Wha–" Jamieson answered. seeing the boy stand up, "I-It's nothing," He quickly said, though before he left, his wrist as grabbed and with a gentle pull, he was pulled back down onto the boy's bed.
"I-Is it about what I said during the game?" Jamieson asked, which was silently confirmed when the blond boy looked away in embarrassment. "Leonidas, look at me," The boy immediately forced Leonidas to face him, grey and emerald eyes meeting shy light-brown ones. "I meant every word, alright? I mean, sure, it was my plan to win but... I mean it. You're literally the greatest friend I've had my whole life. I've never met anyone better than you," Jamieson grinned stupidly after a while, watching Leonidas blink a few times before the boy hugged him tight, fighting back his tears, "T-Thank you," he managed to stutter.
"Now, we had a wager, remember?" Jamieson grinned, Leonidas looking at him with an innocent face, faking ignorance. "You don't get to play dumb," The messy, black-haired boy rolled over to one end of the bed, pulling Leondias towards him and into a cuddling position in the blink of an eye.
"I was hoping you'd forget," Leonidas lied to both of themselves, enjoying having being the small spoon, "Mmm," He felt Jamieson's hot breath down the back of his neck as the boy hummed, both of them slipping into a comfortable sleep, stomach full and extremely happy.