AN: Some new pairings in this chapter... They're SLIGHTLY hinted at. (Well some more so than others... XD)
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PS. This is NOT going to become an Ivan/Arthur fic, I can assure you. [Poor Ivan just never really had any other good models to look up to! Don't worry, I'll give him someone else in the next chapter.]
JEEZ, I really hope Alfred and Arthur stop being jerks to each other and get it on soon... (^~^)
2ndyear
.
It wasn't at school that the two of them met again.
It was at Diagon Alley inside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Their parents were out somewhere shopping for owls for them. Alfred shuddered when he saw the spiked Bludgers chained down on the display in the shop.
"Reminds you of home, doesn't it?" Matthew told him grinning.
Alfred glared at him. "None of the street kids ever seemed to notice you while we were playing, they only attacked me with those."
Matthew laughed. "What can I say, sometimes it helps being invisible."
The proprietor of the shop walked up to them. "What can I help you lads with?"
"We're looking for brooms." Alfred told him.
"If you want easy rides you have the Comets, but if you want racing-brooms then you have the Firebolts through here—"
"We were wondering..." Alfred interrupted. "You wouldn't happen to have any American brands would you?"
Alfred and Matthew had been saving up for this all year. The man gave them a once over and nodded. "Americans, are you?" He asked, reminding Alfred eerily of Arthur.
"I'm Canadian." Matthew corrected automatically, but the proprietor just ignored him and walked further into the shop.
"We have three American League brooms." He told them, pointing. "The Canons are over there. Those are the Torpedoes and that's—"
"The Lightning, dude!" Alfred breathed as he took it in, starry-eyed. She was a true beauty! The proprietor smiled at his excitement. "What are her specs?"
"Zero to three hundred miles per hour in ten seconds, same as the Firebolt 3.0." He said. "Unbreakable Braking Charm, balance and precision, polished mahogany handle. The twigs come in either cedar if you want it lighter, or ash wood if you want better shock absorption. Comes with a free bipod and Broom Compass."
Alfred turned to Matthew who simply nodded at him. "Sweet!"
"Which ones then boys?"
"Lightning, please, cedar twigs." Said Matthew the same moment as Alfred yelled. "The one with the ash wood twigs!"
The proprietor blinked at them, then shrugged it off and went to get them their brooms.
"We'll need gloves as well." Matthew commented. "Do Keepers and Chasers wear different gloves?"
Alfred was about to tell him that he had no idea when the door to the shop opened again with a small ring. The proprietor, who had just walked back out carrying two wrapped brooms for Alfred and Matthew handed it to them hastily and rushed towards the newest arrival. "Mister Kirkand!" He said, making Alfred turned around so fast he felt his neck crick.
Arthur was looking bored as he waved a hello to the proprietor who almost bowed to him.
"Your mere presence is a pleasure."
"Don't say that." Arthur said tiredly. "That what they said when I went to get ice-cream a while ago… and my school books before that."
The proprietor chortled. "What'll I be getting you then?"
"Just a Broomstick Servicing Kit for my Firebolt, thanks."
The man scurried off in a flash and Arthur's gaze fell on Alfred and Matthew. He sneered. "Buying brooms already! How presumptuous… I'm not as worried about Williams as I am about you, Jones. Are you that sure you're going to even pass the tryouts?"
Alfred walked up to him and smirked when he realized that he was about the same height as Arthur. "Grown a heart, have you? That's unlikely. Although, I am touched by your concern, your Highness." Alfred replied, bowing with a flourish.
"Stop it." Arthur said, his face immediately imitating a ripe cherry.
Alfred growled at him. "Why? I thought that you purebloods loved the attention!"
Arthur's face dropped like a rock. "You little git. You have no idea about anything yet you've got no problem mouthing off about my life! You know nothing!" Arthur's voice was venomous. The moment the proprietor arrived with his kit, Arthur threw two galleons onto the cashiers desk and spun on the spot, striding out without another word.
"That was a bit mean, Alfred." Matthew softly told Alfred once the proprietor had herded them both outside.
"Oh please don't start worshipping him like Kiku does." Alfred pleaded angrily.
Alfred didn't know why, but he had recently found out that he absolutely hated it when Arthur turned his back on him.
"I don't." Matthew replied. "But you shouldn't have called him… that. You know, 'pureblood'. Remember what happened at Kings Cross with his brother? I heard he lives alone and all—"
"Mattie, if you're trying to appeal to my softer side…" Alfred interjected. "…it ain't working."
Matthew sighed dejectedly. "As you wish."
Alfred grinned at the broomstick in his right hand and grabbed Matthew's wrist with the other. "Come on! Let's get to the Owl Emporium before Mom buys me a tawny instead of an eagle owl!"
.
.
On the Hogwarts Express, Matthew immediately walked over to a pair twins Alfred now recognized to be Lovino and Feliciano Vargas. Alfred waved a momentary goodbye at his brother and set out finding an empty compartment with Kiku. They were all full. As Alfred passed the carriage Arthur was in he was surprised to find the boy completely ignoring him, turning his head away the moment their eyes met and staring adamantly out the window.
Alfred ignored the way his jaw clenched at the sight and shrugged as he moved on. The last compartment of the last carriage only had one person sitting in it. It was Ivan Braginski. Alfred noticed that the boy had grown at the same rate as he had during the summer.
"Yo, dude!" Alfred said, pulling the compartment door open. "Can we have those seats?"
Ivan's violet orbs looked Alfred over expressionlessly but he nodded. So yeah, Alfed still thought Ivan was a creep, but unlike Arthur who seemed to be a lost cause, Ivan was still young and impressionable. Maybe they could still be friends.
The ride was passing in silence before Alfred couldn't take it anymore. "So…" He began. "Tons of Quidditch players left last year. We'll have some decent chances! Kiku's gonna be a Beater. You up for it too dude?"
Ivan looked up at them. "I want to be a Beater too." He said, nodding at Kiku.
"Sweet!" Alfred said. "Let's have a nice match then bro!"
The looked Ivan gave him then seemed to chill the whole compartment. Alfred's smile turned into a scowl and Kiku looked between them worriedly.
"What?"
"I'm not your 'bro'." Ivan said.
"It's a figure of speech." Alfred snapped.
"I do not take that word lightly."
"Jeez, sorry." Alfred said, sounding anything but.
Kiku looked like he wasn't enjoying the way things were escalating and interjected at that point.
"Ivan-san, I heard that you are good friends with Arthur-san now?"
It seemed like that had been the right thing to say because Ivan brightened up infinitesimally. "Da, that I am."
Alfred simply grimaced. "I don't get how that jerk can be friends with anyone. Every time he looks at me, I just see the words 'screw you' shooting out of his eyes."
Ivan seemed a little annoyed at first, but then his expression relaxed. "Is that what you really think?"
Alfred shot him a confused look. "Yeah."
"Good… That's good." Ivan murmured to himself. Alfred turned to give Kiku a do-you-think-Ivan's-mental-too- look, but saw Kiku worrying his lip, his eyes fixed on Ivan.
"I think Arthur-san is a good person." Kiku said suddenly.
Alfred could practically see Ivan's hackles rising at the comment. "Why would you say that?"
"Do I need a specific reason to find him nice?" Kiku replied.
Ivan carefully scrutinized Kiku, then shrugged. "You Gryffindors gave Arthur and his friends a lot of trouble last year."
"Not me." Kiku said.
Ivan didn't seem too bothered. "Whatever."
"You know, for someone who's boasting like he's Arthur best friend, you two don't seem that close. How come you're not sitting with him right now?" Alfred didn't know what made him say that out loud.
Ivan immediately rose, his fingers quivering as if he wanted to grasp his wand. "He has other friends."
Alfred stood up too. "If you socialized a bit, you'd have a few more too!"
That made Ivan draw his wand. It was so pale and grey that it looked like it was made out of frost. Alfred pulled his own wand out of his jeans and pointed it at him.
"I don't need anyone else! I just want Arthur!"
It seemed like a strange thing to say, but Alfred was just a bit too young to understand the gravity of that little sentence unlike Ivan. Kiku however, looked stricken as the two boys squared up to each other with wands held aloft.
"…the trolley?" Came the voice of the Honeydukes Express lady. "Anything off the trolley for you, my dears?"
Alfred and Ivan hastily replaced their wands back into their clothes and Alfred coughed awkwardly, pulling out his wallet. "Umm, yeah. I'd like a box of chocolate cauldrons, jelly slugs, four pumpkin pasties, and a pack of wizochoc."
"Nothing for me." Ivan muttered.
"A packet of sugared butterfly wings for me." Kiku told the lady.
After she handed them their purchases, there was a tense silence in the room. Alfred seemed to have realized that he had touched a nerve somewhere in his conversation with Ivan and tried carefully to tip-toe around it.
"Hey." He said, throwing one of his pumpkin pasties to Ivan who caught it with precision. "At Quidditch, may the best man win."
Ivan didn't smile at Alfred, but he unwrapped the pasty and bit in.
It was a temporary truce, Alfred guessed, but it was good enough for now it seemed.
.
.
As they entered the Great Hall, Alfred spotted Gilbert who untangled himself from Francis and a friend of Matthew's from Hufflepuff called Antonio, and strutted towards them.
"Hey Alfred! Kiku!" Gilbert said, fist-bumping both of them. "Hey so… I'm planning on holding the tryouts early this week. We have tons of positions to fill and lots of practices to get the new members functioning like a team."
Alfred nodded energetically until he realized something. "They made you the captain? But you're a third year!"
"Matthias, Lars and Bella all left last year. I was the next in line." Gilbert said, leading them to the Gryffindor table. "I want you two to make the team, so be prepared!"
Throughout the Sorting Hat's welcome song and the sorting itself, Alfred's eyes couldn't help but flicker over to the Slytherin table where Arthur was sitting with Ivan. There was a small smile constantly etched on his face whenever he spoke to the younger boy.
"Alfred-san." Kiku nudged him with his elbow. "You're staring."
Alfred grunted and looked away, only to turn back a couple seconds later.
"Alfred-san…" Kiku said exasperatedly. "Look there, that's my cousin Yong Soo Kim, and the other one's Meimei."
The boy under the sorting hat was placed In Slytherin and the pretty girl went to Ravenclaw. "Nice..." Alfred said in monotone.
"If you want to be friends with Arthur-san then—"
Alfred stared at Kiku, wide-eyed. "What? No! What made you think I— Look, I just don't think that they should be friends! I mean look at them!"
Alfred and Kiku turned just in time to see Ivan narrowing his eyes dangerously when Francis pulled Arthur back into his conversation.
"So, you're worried about Arthur-san?" Kiku guessed.
"No I—"
"What was that? Who's worried about Arthur?" Gilbert asked curiously from Alfred's other side.
Alfred thought that it felt sort of like a déjà vu. "I'm not worried about him." He told them patiently and adamantly turned back to Headmistress McGonagall who was explaining something about a Dueling club people could sign up for that year.
Hmm… something to look forward to this year after all.
.
.
Alfred was on his eighth lap around the pitch, and he was well ahead of the rest.
"Nice going Alfred!" Gilbert's sonorous-amplified voice roared. "Come on you slackers, two more laps to go!"
By the time they finished, Gilbert had them grouping up for the tryouts for each position. "Right, here are the rules people." He yelled. "Just because you made the team last year doesn't mean you'll be signing up this year too. Now, I'm Captain and I'm a Chaser, so we'll still be needing two more. But I'd rather start with the tryouts for the Seeker first. Then, we'll have the beaters, followed by the two Chasers and finally the Keeper. Got that?"
"Yes!" They all replied.
The seeker tryouts began. Several spelled Snitches were released and the students had to capture the most. Then there was a fun exercise in which they all threw golf balls at the plays and they either had to dodge the projectiles or catch them. Finally there was the one where Gilbert handed out five Beater bats among the students and had them beating bludgers at the potential Seekers.
Alfred however, saw the genius of Gilbert's plan. Along with the watching the Seeker exercises, he was also keeping an eye on the other students, watching for those who had a good aim with the golf balls, or were good with the bats. In short, he was holding a mini-tryout for the other players as well.
"Right!" Gilbert said by the end of their exercise. "Let's move on to the rest."
For the beater tryouts, Alfred decided on staying behind a perpetual Protego shield after he was almost knocked out nearly six times by several mishits. Kiku was doing wonderful though, Alfred saw him dodge two Bludgers simultaneously and hit one with a back-hand swing towards a player who fell straight off his broom.
"That was a nice backbeat from Kiku's …" Gilbert commented.
"Oi! Watch it!" Yelled a voice behind them and Alfred turned to see that the Slytherin team making themselves at home on the wooden bleachers, one of which had a hole through it where a bludger had presumably just crashed through.
"Here to spy on us?" Gilbert yelled back good-naturedly at them.
Francis winked at him with an arm around Arthur's shoulders. "You bet, mon ami!"
Alfred stared at Arthur but the other boy was still ignoring him. It didn't matter, Arthur would watch when it was his turn to show his skills. His very presence ignited a sort of competitive spirit in Alfred. He lowered the shield charm, and grabbed a Beater's bat from the ground, and swung it with all his might at one of the Bludgers hurling towards him like it was a baseball.
There was a loud crunch and the bat splintered, but the Bludger went flying clear off the Quidditch pitch, nearly taking a player's head along with it.
"Homerun!" Alfred shouted, not caring that probably nobody at Hogwarts caught the reference.
Alfred didn't need to look at the Slytherins on the stands to know that they were impressed, their gasps had been proof enough.
He saw Gilbert eyeing the cracked bat in his hand with a raised eyebrow. "You sure you want to be a Chaser? With an arm like that?"
Alfred nodded assuredly. "Strength isn't everything. I can't aim with a bat for shit. My Bludgers will go anywhere. Now, with a Quaffle…"
Gilbert grinned at him. "Big talk Alfie. Show me what you got then!" He said, pushing Alfred into the pitch.
The Chaser tryouts were started right then. Gilbert himself flew up to assist this time. The moment Alfred's feet were off the ground, he felt control surge through him. The Quaffle was released and Alfred had his hands on it already. He made sure not to commit any of the fouls his Quodpot buddies used to and barreled through the other players, shooting the ball through the middle goalpost from a distance of a good five meters.
The next time he got the Quaffle, he reached the three goalposts before the rest of the team even noticed where it was.
"You're fast!" Gilbert yelled at him.
"So would you be if you had a spiked Quaffle about to explode in your hands!" Alfred replied, grinning as he languidly tossed the Quaffle through a goalpost and looped through the air to get it back himself. "We should really play Quodpot sometime, Gilbert!"
The solo scoring exercise went on for a while.
They were assigned two more partners next for team play evaluation and Alfred found himself with Gilbert and a chocolate-haired girl who had caramel skin.
"Really?" Gilbert asked, panting. "The Quaffle explodes on you?"
"I told you Quodpod was a hard sport to play." Alfred told Gilbert, pulling his Lightning up beside Gilbert's Firebolt.
"That may be!" Gilbert said. "But I'm sure you didn't have Bludgers flying at you." He swerved away as a bludger came right between their brooms, courtesy of Kiku who saluted at them and picked up another one.
Alfred did in fact have experience with Bludgers flying at his face… scary, lethal ones with spikes. He easily darted around the sudden barrage of balls coming from the other trio of players. Gilbert was checked as the caramel-skinned girl in their team tried to throw the ball at him, and an opponent flew off with his steal.
Alfred urged Lightning forward until he was directly under the opponent's then kicked off his bipod, one hand still on his own broom while both his feet kicked the other player's broom. Not hard enough to make him fall but just enough to make him drop the Quaffle in surprise. Alfred caught it and reverse passed it to the tanned girl who caught it deftly and winked at him.
Gilbert flew up to him with a pained smile on his face.
"What?" Alfred said worriedly. "That wasn't a foul was it?"
"No…" Gilbert said. "It's not illegal, but nobody does moves like those in school because they're considered to be too dangerous. McGonagall would have you off the team of she saw that."
"Jeez, sorry I guess!" Alfred told him.
"Nah, don't. Heck, I think its cool." Gilbert shrugged. "That move's got a name by the way. It's called a Speelman Steal. "
"Really?" Alfred asked frowning. "My friends used to call it the 'sucker kick'."
"What type of friends did you have?" Gilbert asked, his grin wolfish.
Alfred chuckled. "I gotta tone down my moves right? Got it!" He said, flying off towards the girl in their team.
"You're gonna be full of surprises, aren't you Alfred?" Gilbert called after him and he smiled back.
.
.
By the end of the day the Gryffindor team was remade. Alfred had been chosen as a Chaser along with Gilbert and the girl they'd teamed up with, who was called Sesel. Lili, a slightly tomboyish girl with an angelic face had been chosen as the Seeker. Her vicious looking step-brother, Vash Zwingli was Beater alongside Kiku. The Keeper was the same boy as last year, boy called Tino.
"Nice catch this season?" Called Arthur voice as he came striding up to them with Francis and the rest of his Slytherin's Quidditch team. Alfred noticed that Ivan was present among them and wondered what position he had gotten.
"Awesome." Gilbert replied, grinning at his team proudly.
"I see my cousin was chosen!" Francis said, waving enthusiastically at Sesel who rolled her eyes.
"Ta gueule, Francis!" She grumbled and Alfred could tell it was something very rude in French when Francis winced. Arthur laughed.
"How did your tryouts go?" Gilbert asked Arthur.
"You're the captain too?" Alfred said incredulously before Arthur could answer. The boy turned to face him for the first time since the school year began and grimaced.
"Lukas should have been given the title." He said, sounding surprisingly bitter about his position. "Not me."
The boy he had been referring to gave him a small grin and shrugged. "You're the better flyer, Kirkland. Besides, I'm too busy. Fourth year's potions and spells are beginning to take their toll."
Arthur's lips twitched in slight amusement. "Anyway, our first matches are beginning soon." He told Gilbert. "I heard you're commentating for a few?"
"So's Francis." Gilbert said, guffawing and slapping Francis a high-five.
"Good, I'll look forward to beating you then." Arthur told them, his eyes brushed over Alfred before he walked away from them like some evil overlord.
"Alfred?" Gilbert said, and Alfred looked up to see the same sort of determination he had was etched on Gilbert's face. "Let's beat the shit outta them!"
"You're on!"
.
.
Alfred first match was a Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. They won of course, but it hadn't been easy. The Vargas twins were the new beaters and their Dopplebeater Defence had been superb. Antonio Carriedo, their ace Chaser had been a hard guy to get past and Matthew had been a stellar Keeper. In the end, the game's deciding factor had been the play been between Lili and a jumpy Ravis, and the Gryffindor team had caught the Snitch.
What Alfred was worried about was their next match, against Slytherin. He and Gilbert had snuck up to observe some of their practices only to see Arthur training them for hardcore offense. It looked like Ivan had secured his position as a Beater after all.
Their match took place on a fairly sunny day.
"Good morning all students and teachers, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen!" Called the voice of a girl who was commentating. Alfred recognized her as one of the Ravenclaw Beaters. Gilbert swore at the sight of her as they were leaving the locker rooms.
"Scheiße! Elizabeta's voice is gonna be like a grater in my head throughout the whole game!" He growled.
"Fairly a few new recruits for both teams, so we shall have to see how the match progresses!" Elizabeta yelled into the magical megaphone. "So now here's welcoming the Slytherin team! We have: Steilsson, Bondevik, Łukasiewicz, Adnan, Braginski, Bonnefoy aaaand Kirkland!"
They tore through the air in a flash of silver and green, some of them performing acrobatics in the air to please the screaming crowd.
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you all what a hottie this year's Captain Kirkland is-"
Alfred could see Arthur's red blush from the other side of the pitch.
"Elizabeta!" McGonagall barked.
"Sorry Professor! Anyways, the Gryffindor team looks stable as well! Say hello to: Väinämöinen, Beilschmidt, Jones, Bonnefoy, Honda, hot-headed Zwingli aaaand cute Zwingli!"
They did a lap around the pitch. "What was that weird emphasis on my name for?" Gilbert shouted to Elizabeta with a nasty glare when they flew by the commentator's podium.
Madam Hooch was standing at the crate of waiting balls. Gilbert and Arthur shook hands and the whistle was blown.
"And they're off!" Elizabeta screeched. "Gryffindor is possession! That Jones is a beast! We've seen some of his unorthodox flying style during that match against Hufflepuff. He's passed the first block, oooh, the second one—no! A well orchestrated body blow by Adnan and Bondevik, Alfred drops the Quaffle but manages to stay on his broom!"
Alfred cursed as the tanned boy flew off with a smirk. He quickly realized that Arthur's role wasn't only playing seeker. He'd blocked Gilbert off completely and Sesel had been busy dodging relentless Bludgers from Francis. Alfred hadn't been able to pass at all.
"Slytherin scores!" Elizabeta yelled. "Nice feint by Łukasiewicz there!"
Alfred ducked as a Bludger nearly unseated him. He turned midair to see Ivan veering off with a malicious grin on his face. That had been too close!
Madam Hooch seemed to have noticed too because the whistle blew. "Unprovoked violence by the new Slytherin Beater Braginski. Jones gets a free shot!"
Alfred caught the Quaffle which was thrown at him and shot easily with his back to the goalposts. As he expected, there was a loud cheer from the Gryffindor stands which indicated that he had gotten it in.
"Now that's what I call suave!" Elizabeta's voice boomed. "You rock American boy, ten point for Gryffindor!"
Alfred chuckled and tried to find Arthur, who was looking flushed and angry. He pulled up beside Ivan and Francis and whispered something into their ears before shooting off.
Before Alfred could warn the others, Francis's Bludger hit Tino in the face and he momentarily descended, leaving the Gryffindor goalposts wide open. Arthur, Ivan and Francis blocked the Gryffindor Chasers while their three used the window of opportunity to score forty points.
"That, dear spectators, was a Montrose Magpies move if I'm not mistaken! Kirkland's sure got right brains for the captain's job alright!" Elizabeta said appreciatively.
The match went on gruelingly. For every point the Slytherin's scored, the Gryffindors got it back. The Snitch was nowhere to be found. The game got progressively more violent. Ivan's Bludgers kept attacking only Alfred for some reason. Suddenly, Lili went down into a sharp dive, a moment later Arthur was beside her. Alfred saw them bumping into each other aggressively.
"The Seekers are now on the Snitch! Look at them go!"
They were both a hair's breadth away from the Golden glimmer now, both had their arms raised, Lili seemed to have the advantage as the Snitch veered slightly to the right.
Out of nowhere, Alfred's honed sixth sense felt a Bludger tearing after him. He moved his head out of its path at the last moment and it swished past his ear... but Feliks who had been flying in front of him was not so lucky. The Bludger caught him hard right at the back of the head and he fainted immediately, falling of his broom to gasps and shout of alarm from the stands. On the way to his fall he collided into an unfortunate Lili, who had been so focused on the Snitch that she hadn't noticed the boy falling right at her. They would have both crashed to the ground if Alfred and Vash hadn't reacted instantly and rushed forward the way they did.
By the time Arthur had turned confusedly with the Snitch in his hand, to laughter and cheers from the Slytherin stands, Alfred was holding up an unconscious Feliks on one end of his Lightning and Vash was trying to stop the profuse bleeding from Lili's broken nose.
.
.
"Congratulations on winning, Kirkland." Alfred shot scathingly, enjoying the way Arthur shoulders froze up at his words. He'd been waiting for the boy to come out of the Slytherin locker rooms for a while now. Arthur's hair look darker now that it was wet, patches of his shirt were sticking to his skin.
"I asked Madam Hooch for a rematch." Arthur said, his back to Alfred. He didn't turn back around to face Alfred. "She said we couldn't have one, since the Snitch had been caught."
"Ivan aimed that Bludger at me." Alfred bit out, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning against.
"That a problem between you and him, not me." Arthur replied, equally incensed. "He told me that he couldn't stand the sight of you."
"How the heck is that my fault?" Alfred asked, enraged.
"Who knows? There has to be a reason. Maybe it's the same reason why I can't stand you either?" Arthur's back was still turned to him.
Alfred walked over to him and grabbed Arthur by the elbow, spinning him around. He was pleased to find himself an inch taller than Arthur. Tightening his fist, Alfred pulled it back and slammed it straight into Arthur's cheek. The boy fell backwards against the wall behind him and Alfred loomed over him with rage in his eyes.
"Your teammate, Feliks, he could have died today!" He yelled. "Lili's lying in the hospital wing with him with a couple broken ribs and blood gushing out of her nose and that's all you can say to me? How much you hate me?"
Arthur cradled his jaw in his hand looked up at Alfred with a grim expression. "Thank you for saving Feliks." He finally told Alfred tight-lipped.
Alfred let out an exasperated growl and grabbed Arthur's shoulders, shaking him. "What is wrong with you? I'm asking you to control Braginski!"
"I'm doing my best!" Arthur spat, trying to wrench out of Alfred's hold. "He promised that he'll never do it again!"
Alfred shook his head in disbelief, his tight grip on Arthur's shoulders keeping him against the wall. "Don't you feel sorry at all?"
"I'm sorry alright! There, I've said it!" Arthur shouted back at him. "Are you happy? Can you please let me go now?"
Alfred removed his hands which turned into fists again as Arthur began to march away from him.
"What is that?" Alfred said, feeling angry at himself. Arthur ignoring him shouldn't affect him as much as it did. "What's with that high and mighty attitude of yours?"
Arthur stopped in his tracks. Turning around slowly, he glared once and stalked back towards Alfred. "You obviously want to tell me something. You have been for days now. Go on, spit it out."
Alfred found his blood pumping with irritation at Arthur's words and he lashed out. "Fine! It's your superiority complex! I hate it! What's it for, is it because you're a pureblood? That you treat everyone else like they're trash? Am I not good enough for you? Is that it—"
Blindly shouting whatever came to the tip of his tongue, Alfred didn't notice the way Arthur's eyebrows rose at the double meaning behind Alfred's last argument. But since Alfred didn't seem to notice anything wrong with what he said, Arthur let it go.
"— well you and your rich beliefs can go to hell!" Alfred finished, panting. There was an intense look in Arthur's eyes which made Alfred shudder.
"You idiot." Arthur said the moment Alfred finished ranting. "I am feeling sorry about what happened today, can't you see that? It was an unfair win in our part, and I wish it could have been otherwise. As for you..." Arthur paused for a moment let his eyes flicker over Alfred. "I hate you because you're a pompous, boisterous little git, not because of your blood-status. Try and get that inside that thick head of yours, will you."
With that Arthur spun on the spot and walked away again, leaving Alfred standing there feeling more confused than ever before.
.
.
The first strange piece of mail Alfred received was from a regular barn owl. It was a haphazardly written on a piece of parchment:
Touch him again, and I'll kill you.
Alfred burnt it straight away. Obviously not a message intended for him.
Gilbert was sitting beside him, looking strangely depressed for some reason.
"It's okay, Gilbert." Alfred told him. "We'll win the match next time!"
Gilbert sighed. "Alfred, do you think girls are cute?"
"Huh?" Alfred asked. A faint, unbidden flush rose up his cheeks. "I guess." He said, thinking about Kiku's cousin Meimei, she was a cute girl.
Gilbert gave him a look, like he hadn't expected Alfred to answer an affirmative. "Really? What about guys then?" He asked.
"Guys? What about them?" Alfred said. "Am I supposed to find guys cute? But they're not!"
"I know…" Gilbert groaned and placed his head into his hands. "My awesome life sucks!" He shouted suddenly and ran out of the Great Hall, several pairs of curious eyes following him.
"What's his problem?" Alfred heard Arthur ask at the Slytherin table.
Francis replied in a dreamy voice. "He's in love, mon cher!"
"Love? What do y—get off me, frog!" Arthur's nose scrunched up adorably as he glared daggers at Francis. "What do you mean he's in love? He's thirteen!"
"Ahh... does age really matter, in matters of the heart?" Francis asked, stealing a caramel éclair from Arthur plate.
Alfred wondered then if people could really fall in love that young. His own parents had been young… but they divorced. Now his mother was married to someone else, and his father had created a whole new life in Canada, completely giving up custody over Matthew in the process.
Love doesn't last, Alfred decided. But he thought, as he watched Sesel kissing Tino on the cheek and Roderich and Elizabeta holding hands, that he wouldn't mind falling for someone at least once in his life.
.
.
The second strange letter arrived the next week on the day the Dueling Club was starting. It contained one line of messy writing:
Stay away from him.
Alfred didn't know what to make of it. He showed it to Kiku who had proceeded to use several spells and charms to trace the letter back to its owner, but none worked.
"Be careful Alfred-san." Kiku told him. "Someone might have a grudge against you. Maybe you should tell someone about this?"
"What for?" Alfred had asked, shoving Pixie Puffs and milk down his throat. "It's probably a mistaken address."
He didn't really care. Alfred was feeling sufficiently refreshed nowadays. Slytherin had lost to Ravenclaw, so they'd have another chance to play against each other before the year was out. Alfred also couldn't help but feel very smug every time he saw Arthur walking down the corridors. The boy always had a look of fury on his face and a bluish bruise on his jaw... Alfred's work on him.
So by the time the Dueling Club rolled up, Alfred was sure that Arthur ready to go all out against him. The feeling was mutual.
The teacher in charge of them was a young witch, who began by pairing them up and checking their wands. Of course Alfred pushed past Francis and made sure he was standing in front of Arthur. Kiku gave Francis a low, apologetic sigh and the two of them paired up instead.
"American red oak, 14 inches, unyielding." The wizard checking their wands read from a piece of paper, taking Alfred's wand out of the checker for him. "Powdered Re'em horn core?"
Alfred nodded at him, and puffed out his chest proudly. Arthur's wand was next.
"Willow, 12 inches, stiff…" Alfred sniggered at the last word and Arthur glowered at him. "And... No! Does it really have a basilisk plume core?"
Arthur's smirk was smug. "It does." He answered cockily. "From the very same one found in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts."
"Talk about the evil eye." Alfred said under his breath so only Arthur would hear him.
The witch was now looking over at the whole room and gave everyone stern looks. "Now everyone! You've all paired up, good. I hope you're all past the childishness of youth and can all obey the disarming-only rule?"
Alfred rolled his eyes. When had that rule ever actually worked in a room full of kids who had magic sticks in their hands? She might as well let a Hungarian Horntail roam free in a farm and politely asked it not to devour the cattle.
"Three – two – one—"
"Incendio!" Alfred yelled, letting out a plume of billowing fire at Arthur who put up a shield charm.
"Stupefy!" The older boy shouted back.
The witch in charge simply raised her arms in disbelief and shook her head as the whole room exploded in a flurry of smoke and multi-colored sparks.
"Incarcerous!" A rope tied itself around Alfred's feet and he tripped over.
"Finite Incantatem." He muttered, embarassed. "Tarantallegra!"
Arthur was a decent dancer, Alfred thought, as he watched him do the flamenco for a while, barely managing not to guffaw.
"Finite!" Arthur snarled, getting his hand to stop clapping long enough to cast the spell. "Anteoculatia!"
The red light hit Alfred in the face and he felt a sensation of intense heat on two circular zones of his head. When he moved a hand to touch his head, he found two bull-horns growing out of his skull. Alfred grinned as Arthur frowned. "Damn! I was going for reindeer antlers!"
"Thanks, Kirkland!" Alfred said, shooting a Levicorpus at Arthur. "I'll keep these on for the moment."
Upside down, Arthur fought to keep his shirt from falling over his face. Alfred looked up curiously at the jutting hipbones on Arthur's thin, pale waist.
"Holy Gryffindor, do you eat Kirkland?" Alfred asked, laughing.
Alfred couldn't tell if Arthur's face was red from embarrassment or from the blood flowing to his head. Probably both.
"Argh!" Arthur yelled, get frustrated from flailing around. "Fumos!"
A cloud of grey smoke appeared around him in a shield, blocking Alfred's sight of him.
"Liberacorpus." He heard Arthur mutter and then heard the noise of a pair of feet landing.
"Flipendo!" Alfred yelled into the smoke-screen. Arthur who had obviously been ungainly on his feet tripped over and fell on his back. The smoke cleared and Alfred tackled Arthur before he could get up, straddling his hips and placed the tip of his wand against Arthur's throat.
"Haha!" He laughed childishly. "Gotcha!"
Arthur however was looking up at him furiously and… there was a hint of something else in his forest eyes as he took in Alfred's horns and his hovering form. Why was Arthur blushing like that?
Suddenly that didn't matter. Alfred's eyes were stinging like someone had put them on fire. His mouth opened in a pained scream and his eyes saw Arthur's horrorstruck face under him, blurring with every second. Then, Alfred couldn't open his eyes. The pain was intensifying. He felt himself fall face-forward into Arthur. The back of his eyes were burning… what were those falling down his cheeks, tears?
"Jones? Bloody hell… Jones!"
Alfred could barely think through the pain now… everything was slipping away so fast-
When Alfred regained consciousness again, he was on a soft bed on the hospital wing. He could tell that just from the overall smell of the place… and because he could hear Madame Pomfrey talking with someone not too far away.
He didn't open his eyes though. He couldn't. They were bandaged.
He recognized Matthew and Kiku's voices speaking. Then to his surprise, he heard Arthur talking as well.
"So he'll be fine? He'll see?" Arthur was saying in a low voice.
Kiku's voice was strained. "He'll need glasses for now… But with the surgery at St. Mungo's, his vision will be fully restored. Arthur-san, are you sure it was—"
"I'm quite certain." said Arthur again.
"What do we do about it?" Kiku asked.
"Nothing! It wasn't his fault." Arthur said quickly. "He's… different. Surely you've noticed. He's had a bad childhood. I think he did it without considering the consequences."
"So, we just pretend that nothing happened?" Came Matthew's incredulous voice.
"He said it was a mistake." Kiku said.
There was silence.
"This is rubbish." Came Matthew's wavering voice.
"Shhh…" Cooed Francis, who was there too apparently. There were sounds of sobbing and Francis's soothing tones. "It's okay..."
"It's not!" Matthew said. Alfred got slightly worried. Something really must be wrong with him because Matthew rarely ever raised his voice. "Nobody even realized that it was a Conjunctivitis Curse! What kind of a second year would be capable of producing that? If we had known… an Oculus Potion would have cleared Alfred right up-"
"Please be more optimistic." Alfred heard Kiku say. "We just have to be patient, like Madam Pomfrey said. St. Mungo's magical ophthalmology unit can return his original vision again with a surgery, once he's 17—"
"If that guy wasn't lunatic then Alfred wouldn't need any surgeries!"
"I agree with that, but it was a mistake. I believe in Arthur-san and he obviously has a soft spot for the boy…"
"I'm so sorry." Arthur said suddenly. There was a movement from the bedsprings on the right side of Alfred's bed. "I think I'll—"
Alfred's hand shot out and grabbed hold of something which felt like fabric. From the startled gasp he received, Alfred deduced that it was Arthur's shirt.
"He's awake!" Francis called from further away.
There was scurrying of feet and Madam Pomfrey's voice sounded from beside him.
"Now then, finally awake Mr. Jones? Shall we sit you up?" She asked. Alfred let go of Arthur's shirt and felt the bed rising up by itself, tipping him forwards gently until he was sitting upright. "Now for the bandages."
They unraveled magically and disappeared with a faint pop.
"I want you to open your eyes, Mr. Jones. Slowly now."
"Okay." Alfred said. He opened them millimeter by millimeter, and found anxious faces all looking towards him. "That look so doesn't suit you, Kirkland."
Matthew huffed, puffy-eyes. "I take back what I said. He's as healthy as a hippogriff." He grumbled.
"You love me for it." Alfred grinned at him.
Madam Pomfrey kept whisking her wand around his head. "How clearly can you see?"
Alfred tried to focus his eyes. He thought he should be more panicked about his now impaired sight, but he wasn't really. "I can see Kiku clearly, but I Matthew and Francis are kinda blurry. Haha, from here they look like a romantic couple actually."
Matthew jumped right out of Francis's arms.
"You're taking this bracingly." Arthur commented, his previously striken face now emotionless.
Alfred's eyes immediately went to the bruise on his jaw, then to the dittany covered gash on his throat. "Who gave you the cut?" He asked, frowning.
Arthur scowled. "Your horn did, you git."
Alfred remembered the bull horns he had on at the time of the incident, and how he had fallen into Arthur when the pain had stuck. His horn must have barely nicked Arthur… but Alfred could have impaled him.
"…I'm not dead, you idiot. Merlin, it was terrible enough with you blubbering all over me once. Don't start again now." Arthur said. Alfred's expression must have given something away. "You should be more worried about yourself, Jones. You're going to have to wear glasses now."
"I'll look good in anything." Alfred shrugged. "Mom said so."
"You're such a infant." Arthur growled the same time as Matthew muttered, "So childish..."
"So." Alfred took a deep breath, ignoring them. He decided to pretend he hadn't heard a word of what they'd been talking about. "What happened? What was it?"
"It was miscast spell, Mr. Jones." said Madame Pomfrey, but Alfred saw the way the others shared looks. "A student either said the wrong incantation or made the wrong wand movement. An unlucky mistake."
"Who did it?" Alfred asked casually and Arthur winced. Francis edged his way to Arthur who fell backward boneless onto his chest.
"We don't know." Madam Pomfrey said. "Of course the administration has Floo-called your parents. If you wish to file an official complaint then we'll look through the students and—"
"Wait! You told Mom?" Alfred asked.
"Of course!" Madam Pomfrey told him like he was five. "She has already sent your current eye power to the glass manufacturers. Don't worry, she took it well. She agreed that mistakes can happen."
That's because she doesn't know that he did this to me on purpose… Alfred thought. He now knew who had been sending him the messages. It was obvious really. How could he have missed it? Furthermore, why was Arthur being so…passive about it?
"Great!" Alfred finally said. "So when can I get back on my Lightning?"
"How many fingers am I holding up Alfred?" Matthew asked.
Alfred squinted towards him. "On one or both of your hands?"
"Seeing double, young man." Madam Pomfrey said shaking her head. "Honestly..."
Matthew shot him a sad, understanding look. Alfred couldn't really tell, Matthew himself was a hazy blur.
"I'm guessing Quidditch is out of the question until I get myself a pair of glasses." He told his already bespectacled brother. "Hey, now everyone will know we're twins!"
Arthur got to his feet. "Excuse me, I really have somewhere I need to be. I'm sure you all can keep Jones well occupied." He said with a meaningful look towards Kiku and Matthew, and pulled Francis away along with him, without another look at the rest of them. Francis waved at them as he was dragged away and blew a silly kiss at Matthew who flushed back at him.
Alfred didn't have time to give their abrupt departure much thought because the next moment, Alfred's mother marched into the room with loud, "Alfred, my baby!" She rushed over and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug.
Everything else was forgotten for the moment.
.
.
Alfred did even get to see Arthur much after that until the end of the year. It was like Arthur was avoiding him on purpose… again. Alfred had been replaced by a reserve team member, but he had still gone to see the last Gryffindor versus Slytherin match. To his great dismay, Arthur called in sick. He wasn't even at the stands to listen to Alfred taunts when Gryffindor won the match and the cup.
Not that it mattered or anything.
It was almost like Arthur felt guilty about the spell Ivan had cast at him, but why would he?
Not like Alfred found the time to ask Arthur about it or anything.
Matthew and Kiku did keep him occupied most of the time. They had to be doing it for a reason! Alfred had taken to staring at Arthur a lot, as if his gaze would work out the secrets from the very image of the English boy himself. He watched Arthur when the boy made tea in the mornings, when he walked down the corridor assiduously avoiding Alfred's eyes, when he was chatting with Francis or Ivan.
Finally, it was on the return trip to Kings Cross that Alfred reached his final straw. It was when he found himself face to face with Arthur in front of the sweet trolley and the latter swiftly turned around and returned to the compartment beside theirs, nearly shattering the door in his haste.
Alfred lost his appetite for the first time on the Express. He managed to thank the trolley witch before slamming the door to his own compartment shut. Kiku and Matthew looked up at him warily.
"Didn't you get anything to eat?" Matthew asked confusedly.
"Nah!" Alfred said, barely keeping his voice in check. "I'm kinda excited. Mom sent me letter saying those glasses were ready. I'll be able to see you guys at distance again!"
"Oh… that's nice." Kiku said warily, obviously noticing something off about Alfred.
"Hmm, I know right?" Alfred said, checking his nails carelessly. "Hey, with my sight back, you think I'll finally be able to pummel Braginski for what he did to me?"
"A-Alfred-san... we-"
"You knew?"
It was so worth it, to see the stricken faces of his brother and his best friend. After they had all recovered from their shock, Alfred released the bombshell which had been bugging him for days. "Can someone tell me why nobody went to tell the Headmistress that a guy nearly blinded me in petty retribution?"
Kiku sighed. "Ivan thought that you were trying to take his only friend away from him. He reacted without thinking. It really was a miscast spell, just full of his blind anger. He cried afterwards for what he did, his actions hurt Arthur too remember?"
People could really do that? Feel so strongly about someone or something that they would lose control over their magic?
"Oh yeah?" Alfred said, feeling more angered at the thought of Arthur. "And what's so special about Braginski that he has such a huge soft spot for him?"
Matthew gasped. "You were awake!" He said accusatorily. "That time at the hospital wing!"
"Yeah, so what if I was." Alfred grumbled. "Well... What is it?"
"That's not our story to tell." Kiku said.
Alfred let out a shrewd laugh. "Dude, I almost lost my sight! I think I have the right to know."
Not that he cared about what others owed him, he just really wanted to know Arthur secrets. It was like an itch he desired to satisfy, even more so now that the year was at its end.
"You won't get it Alfred." Matthew told him exasperatedly. "I promise I'll tell you… but not today. You just won't understand it yet."
"Why, because I'm not as emotionally mature as you are? You're twelve too!" Alfred scoffed, then paused thoughtfully. "It can't be because of that whole 'big brother' thing we saw at the Astronomy Tower in our first year? Is it Kiku?"
Kiku's eyes widened. "You're surprisingly close, but not exactly." He said.
"Okay… Then let me get something straight." Alfred said, closing his eyes. "Why's he helping Braginski at all? Does he think he's responsible or something for what the guy did? Because he isn't... That's just stupid."
"I wouldn't say that." Kiku replied thoughtfully.
"We- Kiku and I- only recently learnt just how messed up Arthur's life is." Matthew said, and Alfred thought back to the time he'd seen Arthur with his bother at King's Cross. "But you might be right, maybe he's doing this to himself."
Kiku looked like he wanted to retort so Alfred interjected. "So what now? Kirkland the Great is gonna ignore me for all eternity because he feels guilty?"
"Does that bother you?" Kiku asked him curiously.
Alfred spluttered despite himself. "Wha—of course not! Why would it bother me? He can do whatever he wants. Why should I care? I don't care. I'm not a petty child-"
"Could have fooled me." Matthew muttered, but he was smiling.
There was a knock on their compartment glass and Alfred turned to find a pale figure with platinum hair looking at them.
Alfred nodded to his brother and Kiku before going out into the train corridor, closing the compartment door behind him.
"Hey." Alfred said carefully, his voice neither friendly nor hostile.
Ivan's eyes scrutinized him carefully. "I don't know if they told you about-"
"I heard." Alfred interjected, narrowing his eyes.
"I came to apologize." Ivan said without preamble. "I… I don't really know what happened. One second I was practicing dueling, and the next moment I really hated you."
Why indeed? Because Ivan wanted to monopolize Arthur's attention?
"I should have realized..." Alfred felt like smacking himself on the forehead. "You did warn me after all. Those letters were from you, right?"
Ivan didn't even bother to deny it. Alfred suddenly remembered the way Ivan had stared up at Arthur last year… like a person living in an icy tundra feeling heat for the first time.
"Look, I get that it was a mistake." Alfred said. "And I'm even willing to forgive you, just this once. I get that there's stuff going on with you and Kirkland that- are complicated. But really, you need to relax. I'm not talking about what happened to just me—Heck, I don't even wanna be friends with him! But Kirkland does have other friends, and if you hurt them the way you hurt me, then Arthur will stop liking you."
Ivan's brows rose, like he had never considered that possibility. "He was very sad when he heard about you."
"Exactly! He's feeling this guilty over someone he hates. Imagine how sad he'll be if you ever did anything to… I dunno, someone like Francis, or Gilbert." Alfred told him.
"I don't feel as much animosity for any of his friends, as I feel for you." Ivan confided.
Alfred shrugged. "I don't see why."
Ivan gave him a calculating look. "You say that you'll never be friends with him?"
"Definitely! I hate Arthur Kirkland! He hates me back" Alfred said, wondering why he was comforting the guy when it should be the other way around. "Dude, to tell the truth, I don't get why you got mad while we were dueling. We were fighting with each other that's all!"
Ivan's violet eyes seemed to stare right into Alfred's. "Fine... I'll take your word for it." He raised his hand to shake Alfred's.
Alfred stared at it for a while. Taking this hand would mean denying the possibility of friendship with Arthur forever. "I can still be his enemy right?" Alfred asked.
"Sure." Ivan said, half-smiling. "Anything but his friend."
They shook hands.
.
.
Ivan was currently speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, while Alfred stood in the background with Kiku and Matthew.
"I have informed the Headmistress of my actions and she said that she will speak to my guardians." He said very seriously. "If you need anything for the surgery in the future, I can pay for it when once I'm 17 and I receive my inheritance. My ancestors were very rich."
"Oh no, it's all right. Isn't it, sweetheart?" Amelia Jones asked her husband. "Don't worry about the costs dear, our insurance will cover it."
George Jones smiled at Ivan with his best parental pose, and Alfred internally groaned at his step-father's antics. "Certainly! Alfred will learn from the hardships in his life. This is just one of the many obstacles he will have to face. You're forgiven as long as you feel sorry for what you've done."
"I am sorry." Ivan said immediately in his usual monotone.
Alfred didn't know why he didn't feel as pleased about this turn of events as he should. He still felt oddly... vindictive. After Ivan left, and Alfred's parents were busy talking with Kiku's, Alfred spotted Arthur at a distance talking to several boys dressed in strange muggle clothes. Kiku and Matthew themselves were busy having some kind of argument over Gobstones, so Alfred decided that they wouldn't miss him for the moment.
"Erm… Hey! Kirkland." He said, walking over.
One of the boys Arthur was standing with looked up at him and snickered. "Kirkland? What's this he's calling you Arthur? Is it a pet-name?" The boy had at least seven hoops around the rim of his ear.
"Nothing, Bart! Just wait for me, yeah? I'll be right back, you lot!" Arthur turned to Alfred and quickly pulled him away behind the nearest station pillar, ignoring Alfred's confused look at the jeers and catcalls they were receiving. "What do you want? Don't you have your glasses yet?"
"Yeah, I'll—" Alfred felt his lips curl upwards. "Don't tell me you actually care, Kirkland?"
"Stop calling me that!" Arthur hissed, looking around behind them at the boys again. "Call me Arthur."
"If you insist..." Alfred said, glancing over curiously at the boys too. "I resolved my problem with Ivan. Are you going to stop ignoring me now?"
"What? H-How preposterous!" Arthur's cheeks immediately turned a deep pink. "I was doing no such thing! Ignoring you? Nonsense!"
"Yeah right!" Alfred snorted.
"Why would you care anyway?" Arthur asked. "Shouldn't you be happy that you're getting to see less of me?"
Alfred sighed. "You want the real truth? I just don't feel right unless I have a sufficient amount of hate from you every day. I know it's crazy! Didn't Ivan tell you what our deal was about?"
"He did…" Arthur looked troubled. His eyes kept flickering back to the gaggle of boys, several of whom, Alfred noticed were rolling cigarettes. "I— I have to go now Jones."
"Wait a second!" Alfred reached out and grabbed Arthur collar to stop him. "Why're you going with those guys? They look… weird. Where's your brother?"
"That's none of your—"
"Hey! I'm just asking out of general concern you big jerk!"
Arthur glared at him. "Those guys are my brother's friends. If you must know, I very recently came to terms with the importance of family— and with... erm, something else about myself. I'd feel hypocritical if I didn't go see my brother this summer."
"What was it?" Alfred asked curiously.
"What was what?" Arthur asked exasperatedly.
"The other thing you came to terms with about yourself?"
Arthur pulled free from Alfred's grip. "I'm not telling you! You won't even understand if I did." He said, a fresh blush on his cheek. "You're too young."
"Funny, I've been hearing that a lot today." Alfred scowled. He was almost thirteen for Merlin's sake!
Arthur simply shot him his usual sneer and walked away, without even saying goodbye.
But this time, Alfred watched him until he disappeared completely from sight.
AN/: At one (insignificant, almost overlooked) point in this chapter, Arthur had the huge epiphany that he was actually attracted to boys (namely Alfred)! I don't know if you guys caught that moment...
Just to warn y'all, the next chapter may have some more slightly hinted at pairings.
(PruAus, Franada, Spamano...) I'm soooo sorry if you don't like them. They'll be very slight!
