"Good morning, Lovino!" Something began bouncing up and down on Lovino's bed. He groaned, turning over and pulling a pillow over his head in hopes that whatever it was would go away. No such luck, however; the pillow was yank unceremoniously from his grasp, and he found himself glaring blearily up at the smiling face of his brother.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Feli?" He growled, trying to push him onto the floor. Feliciano just laughed and started dragging him off the bed.
"Come on, it's time to get up!"
Lovino glared, clinging resolutely to his mattress. "Since when are you a morning person? You usually hate getting up early!"
"Yeah, but breakfast is served on a schedule here, and if we don't hurry we'll-"
"Oh my God, would you guys just shut up?!" The two Italians, along with everyone else in the room, jumped about a foot in the air at the loud screech that came from the other side of the room. Feliks was sitting up in bed looking supremely pissed off, though the picture was somewhat ruined by his bed head and pink pajama shirt. "It's seven in the frickin' morning and I'm trying to sleep!"
Lovino had by then taken refuge beneath his bed with Feliciano not far behind him. Though Feliks was usually a wimp, he could be downright terrifying when his beauty sleep was compromised. "H-how about we all just calm down…?" Tino, ever the peacemaker, said from where he'd fallen off his bed after Feliks had rather violently woken him up. "Hey, Feliks, I heard that there is going to be some kielbasa at breakfast this morning."
"No way, really?" Feliks went from 'those known as morning people must die violently by way of my flat iron' to all-smiles in almost an instant. "Oh my god, what are we waiting for? If we don't hurry up it'll all be gone!"
He all but sprinted towards the bathroom, completely missing Lovino's muttered "No one likes that weird Polish food but you." As soon as he was out of sight the twins crawled out from under the bed and dusted themselves off. The other boys quickly gathered their things and filed off to the bathroom, though with Feliks in there they weren't likely to have much time in front of the mirror. Lovino glanced longingly at his bed, but his sight was blocked by a pair of pants as Feliciano rooted through his trunk, trying to find an appropriate outfit among the mess.
"Come on, we're going to miss breakfast, and then we won't be able to eat for hours!" Lovino sighed but grabbed the pants off of his head and started to change, narrowly missing a sneaker to the face as he pulled on his robes. Feliciano was still half-buried in his trunk, which he had deliberately made into such disarray in hopes of deterring his brother from doing precisely what he was doing. He should have known that nothing could stop Feli when it came to style. "Hey, what's this?"
Lovino glanced up from pulling on his socks, and his expression morphed into one of horror as he saw just what Feliciano was pulling out of his trunk. "NOTHING!" He cried, snatching the photograph from his brother's hand before he could get a good look at it. "It's, uh, it's nothing," he coughed and didn't quite meet Feliciano's questioning gaze, but held the picture firmly behind his back. After a moment, Feliciano shrugged.
"I'm going to go get some pasta. Hurry down when you're finished getting dressed, alright?" At Lovino's nod, he ran off. As soon as he was out of sight, Lovino let out the breath he'd been holding and turned his attention to the photo, making sure it hadn't been bent or creased. The grinning image of Antonio waved up at him, eternally sitting on a park bench in Paris, from which he'd sent the picture to Lovino last summer along with a letter detailing how much fun he was having and how much he missed his 'favorite Hufflepuff.'
When Lovino had first started feeling different around Antonio he'd had no idea what was happening, and it frustrated him. A lot. Rather than trying to figure out the reason for his Antonio-induced sweaty palms and elevated heart rate, he'd taken it all and channeled it into something infinitely more manageable: anger, aimed at the cheerful brunette who was the cause of all the strange feelings.
It had taken him a long time to figure out that all of his symptoms were the result of him falling for Antonio and not some strange Spanish disease, and even longer for him to allow himself to acknowledge it. But every time he tried to confess the words froze in his throat and he found his mouth saying things like 'Fuck off' and 'Bastard' even as his mind screamed that he didn't mean it and why wouldn't his mouth stop lying, damn it?
And yet, even after all the curses and insults Lovino hurled at him, Antonio always looked at him with a bright smile on his face. As embarrassing as it was, this picture gave him hope whenever he hit a new low; even if he didn't have a chance of dating Antonio, at least he could be certain Antonio didn't hate him.
For Feliciano to find this tucked safely away in the corner of his trunk would result in a lot of awkward questions, and if Feli managed to figure out that his feelings towards Antonio were more than friendly then he was a lot more transparent than he would have liked. Of course, that wouldn't even matter because the whole school would be gossiping about it in less than an hour.
With Feliciano being so cute and sweet, there were very few who would point out his faults. However, there was one fact about Feliciano that was universally accepted: He couldn't keep a secret to save his life.
Or rather, if his life was even remotely threatened he would blurt out every secret he had at his disposal regardless of whether or not it would help him. Kiku was still a little miffed about the time someone had tapped Feliciano on the shoulder during breakfast one morning and had been treated to the revelation that the shy Japanese boy had a business selling hentai manga to his fellow students at a decibel level almost high enough to shatter the windows.
Lovino sighed and, with one last look at the picture, stuck it back into his trunk before hurrying off to the Great Hall.
.
"Lovino!" At the sound of his name, Lovino looked up from the grass he was tearing from the ground. Bella was running towards him with a large grin on her face, her hair and ribbon fluttering behind her. Within moments she'd plopped down beside him and pulled him into a hug. "It's so good to see you! Sorry I missed you on the train; I had to go to the prefect meeting." She released him and her hand went up to finger the badge pinned to the front of her robes, as if she was trying to assure herself that it was still there. "I still can't believe they made me a prefect!"
Lovino smiled, already feeling more relaxed in the cheerful aura Bella seemed to exude with every movement.
"I'm not. They would have been stupid not to pick you, you make the perfect prefect." Bella laughed and bumped him with her shoulder.
"Enough with the flattery; you'll give me a big head, you know."
"Oh, but it is impossible not to compliment a lovely lady such as yourself." Francis winked suggestively at Bella as he walked up and was soon elbowed in the stomach by Gilbert, who pretended to gag. Antonio, walking on Francis' other side, rolled his eyes.
"Can you ever take your mind off of flirting for even a second?" Francis laughed and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, shooting a coy wave at a pair of giggling fourth years in the same motion. Bella shook her head, disgusted, but made room for them along the wall anyway. Lovino found himself seated next to Antonio, and could feel his cheeks heating up. He forced back the color with an ease gained through years of practice, and mustered up an eye-roll and a scowl in response to the Spaniard's greeting.
"Ah, but I'm afraid that my heart has yet to be won, and until I should find myself without it, it is my duty to spread amour among our fellow classmates," he scanned the groups of students dotting the grassy courtyard as if looking for someone in particular, then turned his attention back to his friends. "Alas, it will take a very special person to capture my interest, so I'm afraid you will have to suffer my lifestyle for a little while yet."
Lovino glared while everyone else laughed, though he found he couldn't keep the expression for long when he got caught up in how bright Antonio's face became when he laughed.
"How about you, Lovino?" He jumped and quickly turned to his left, where Bella was looking at him with an expectant smile. "Any special girls I should know about? Boys?" She elaborated with a playful grin. "Come on, you can tell big sister Bella!"
"What?" Lovino immediately flushed a deep, dark red. His eyes flicked over to Antonio for a second without his brain's permission, though they were back on Bella before she could notice. "That's none of your business! And it's definitely none of theirs!" He motioned emphatically to Gilbert and Francis, who were seated on the other side of Bella and listening with keen interest.
"Oh ho, so there is someone!" Francis smirked, more interested than ever. He leaned around Bella, invading Lovino's personal space while the younger boy shrunk back and bumped into Antonio.
Antonio rolled his eyes and pushed Francis' face away. "Come on, guys, leave Lovi alone. He doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to." Lovino's eyes narrowed; despite Antonio's casual expression, he thought he could hear a faint hint of reluctance and maybe even fear in his tone.
"Nope, not an option!" Gilbert declared cheerfully, the tiny chick nestled in his hair cheeping as if in agreement. "The fact that he'd avoiding the question means that he's head over heels. And as his friends, it's our duty to make sure that whoever he likes is good enough for him!" He and Francis shared a smirk and, despite Lovino's protests that he would never be friends with them, pulled out their wands and held them threateningly in the fourth year's face. "Now, are you going to tell us, or do we have to hit you with the Loose Lips Jinx?"
Lovino's eyes widened. The Loose Lips Jinx had been created the year before by some enterprising Ravenclaw, and though it wasn't as popular as had once been, its consequences were still brutally effective.
For a full hour after being hit with it, the victim would lose all control over the little switch in their brain that filtered out all of the thoughts that shouldn't come out of their mouth. They would have no choice but to blurt out everything that went through their mind, and with the right prompting a person could spill their darkest secrets to anyone who happened to be passing by. The worst part about the spell, however, was that the victim is completely aware of themselves for the whole event, getting a front row seat to their complete humiliation while they can do nothing to stop their horrible case of word vomit.
So, yeah, Lovino had no fucking intention of getting hit with that while he was sitting less than a foot away from Antonio. Or on the same planet as Antonio, for that matter. He turned pleadingly to Bella, only to find her twirling her own wand around her fingers. At his look of utter betrayal, she merely shrugged. "It's not good to hold this stuff in, Lovi."
Lovino's eyes flicked around desperately for any possible way out of this situation, and he almost cried with relief when one walked around the corner of the castle in the form of his brother and his two friends. He leapt to his feet and was charging at his brother before Gilbert and Francis could react.
"Feliciano, what have I told you about hanging around that potato bastard?!" Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed the arm of a confused Feliciano and all but dragged him around the corner and safely away from stupid potatoes and creepy perverts.
.
Antonio watched Lovino run away as fast as, well, an Italian confronted with any form of danger. He turned back to his friends with a sigh. "You guys shouldn't be so mean to him."
"We were just joking," Gilbert assured him, putting his wand back in his pocket. Bella nodded as she tucked her own wand into her sleeve.
"Yeah, it's just so fun to watch him get all flustered."
"Besides," Francis sidled up to his Spanish friend and put an arm around his shoulder, "you want to know too, don't you?" He waggled his eyebrows, and Antonio went a bit red. He looked away and ducked out from under Francis' arm.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Before Francis could retort, a shadow fell over them. Mathias, his classmate, and Alfred, a Gryffindor one year below him, were standing in front of Gilbert with expressions that managed to look both serious and utterly devious.
"Hey, can we talk to you about something?" Mathias asked the albino, running a hand through his hair and inadvertently spiking it up even further.
Gilbert nodded, and the chick rustled its feathers with a quiet cheep. "What do you want?" Mathias and Alfred exchanged a glance.
"Uh, over there?" Alfred pointed over to a bench set away from the rest of the students who were milling around. Gilbert raised an eyebrow. He looked at Bella, Antonio, and Francis for a moment before shrugging and getting to his feet.
"Sure, why not? I'll see you guys at the usual spot, okay?" Gilbert addressed that last part to Francis and Antonio, who nodded. As he walked off with the two Gryffindors, Francis got to his feet as well.
"As beautiful as it is out here, we should be getting inside as well." Antonio joined him and, after waving goodbye to Bella, they headed around to the front of the castle and through the doors. Antonio let his feet guide him down the familiar route as his mind drifted to where it was far too often as of late.
Lovino Vargas. Loud, rude, frustrating, breathtaking, beautiful, incredible Lovino, who had occupied far too many of his thoughts since he first saw him. Lovino, who loved tomatoes and potions class, because it was so much like cooking, and distrusted anyone Feliciano hung out with because he cared too much about his brother to let him get hurt. Lovino, who had made an art out of sending mixed signals.
Antonio was the first to admit that he could be a little slow at times, but he prided himself on his ability to recognize attraction, which was almost as good at Francis'. Still, no matter how easy it usually was, nothing could ever be clear cut when it came to Lovino. There were times, when his eyes met Lovino's and he felt like he could read every thought passing through his head, that he was sure his feelings were requited. Then Lovi would close himself off or go talk and laugh with Bella, and he just couldn't be sure. And whenever he managed to work up the courage to confess, he'd worry that he'd just be burdening Lovino with the information and he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"-that okay?"
Antonio blinked and looked over at Francis, whose eyes were flickering between his friend and something down the adjacent corridor, past his shoulder. "I'm sorry, what?" He glanced over his shoulder, but didn't see anything.
"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going to meet Gil on your own while I catch up later. There's something that I'd like to take care of." Francis wasn't even pretending to pay attention to him anymore, and from his expression Antonio was sure he'd either caught sight of a real French pastry (the ones usually served at Hogwarts were apparently 'cheap, tasteless copies') or his next date.
"Alright." The word had barely left his mouth when Francis shot him a smile and sauntered off. Antonio sighed and kept walking, though he couldn't help but smile. He might not be successful in his love life, but at least Francis was.
He still had some time before Gilbert would be expecting him, and he turned around, heading over to a less-used part of the castle. After a few minutes he had made his way up to a tapestry that showed a lush countryside filled with fields and rolling hills. He pushed it aside and ducked through the doorway hidden behind it, instinctively shielding his eyes as he was hit with sunlight.
The room had probably been a spare greenhouse for anything that spilled over from the Herbology classes, but as far as he could tell the teachers had forgotten about it. Now it was filled with neat, straight rows of tomato plants. He'd been delighted when he'd discovered it as a first year, and had used the seeds from the tomatoes he'd brought from home to make a little garden. It was one of his favorite places in the castle, where he could be alone with his tomatoes and his thoughts. His secret sanctuary.
At the end of last year he'd cast a spell to keep the plants fed and watered, and they'd grown beautifully over the summer. Even though he was sad he hadn't been there to watch them develop, he was glad that he'd have fresh tomatoes throughout the year. Already, they were starting to ripen.
He grabbed the watering can by the door and went down each row, carefully checking to see if any of the tomatoes were edible yet. After depositing the can back in it rightful spot, he barely remembered to clean the dirt off his robes before he sprinted off to the other side of the castle.
.
"Finally!" Gilbert threw his hands in the air as Antonio poked his head up past the eaves of the roof. He grumbled, but helped pull his friend off the window ledge and onto the lightly sloped shingles. The roof over the charms corridor had the gentlest incline, and Gilbert had managed to find a window in an abandoned classroom with a ledge wide enough to stand on. Now the roof was the property of the Bad Touch Trio, as they were referred to by the rest of the school, and they came up here whenever they wanted to talk without being overheard or drink smuggled firewhiskey. "Where have you been? I've been sitting up here for ages! And where's Franny?"
Antonio flopped down next to Gilbert, relaxing only after he was sure that he wasn't in danger of falling. "I took the long way around, you've only been waiting for ten minutes at most, and Francis is most likely off on his latest conquest."
"Why am I not surprised?" Gilbert rolled his eyes.
"So, what did Alfred and Mathias want? They seemed pretty serious." Gilbert shrugged and put a finger to his lips.
"Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy. But I can tell you that they're planning something big, and rather crazy, and they were in desperate need of my… expertise in the matter." Antonio raised an eyebrow, but Gilbert just smirked. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."
He sighed but didn't argue; Gilbert could be outrageously stubborn when he wanted to be, and fighting over it just wasn't worth it. He tilted his head back, a single thought drifting through his mind just as the clouds drifted across the sky.
This is going to be an interesting year.
Kielbasa is a form of Polish sausage, for those who didn't know.
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