The Yule Ball!
Ah, Christmas Day. A time when family and friends get together and celebrate many things. It is also a time for when certain people refuse to wake up and get out of bed. To begin, we'll start at the place where we left off.
"Why is it so goddamn early?" Lovino complained. Waking up early for school was bad enough, but being shaken awake by his twin brother was worse.
"Fratello," said Feliciano, "It's the 25th. Everyone wakes up early." From under the mass amount of blankets Lovino had around himself, the Italian glared at his younger brother.
"It doesn't mean that I have to."
"You can't stay in bed all day!" Lovino turned over and cover his face, burying himself deeper in the mountain of warmth.
"Are you two still arguing?" asked Matthew. He still had traces of his ruined sleep in his voice.
"Per favore, Lovino! The only person who sleeps through the morning, and most of the afternoon, on Christmas is Tino!"
"That is because I have a good reason," Tino moaned, "Can you please be quiet so I can sleep?"
"I agree!" said Lovino's muffled voice.
"Tino said he has a good reason," pointed out Matthew, "So what's yours, eh?"
"I am not moving my ass!"
"That's not a good reason!" Feliciano said, slightly dejected, "Do I have to get sorella? I know she can get you out of bed!"
"I will kill you if you do." Shaking his head, Feliciano ignored his brother's wishes and turned to fetch their sister. With swift moves, Lovino pulled out his pillow and chucked it at the back of his brother's head. "Fine, just give me five minutes." Feliciano smiled. "FIVE MINUTES!"
"As long as you're getting out of bed, I'm happy."
"Are you two coming?" asked Matthew. The Canadian was standing in the doorway, rubbing any trace of sleep from his violet eyes.
"Si!" Feliciano ran down the stairs with Matthew following slowly behind.
A few minutes later, Lovino, to his dismay, was forced out of his warm bed and into the Common Room with everyone else.
"Big Brother!" exclaimed Rosaria as she tackled her brother in a hug.
"What the hell?!" Lovino shouted in surprise before realizing about what had just happened, "THIS IS WHY I DON'T GET OUT OF BED ON CHRISTMAS!" Antonio put an arm around Lovino, smiling as usual.
"Come on, Lovino," he said, "You know you love us."
"Screw you, and get off me!"
"Nope!"
"Yes," Lovino said. He pushed the two off of him and sat down next to Feliciano. "Buon Natale and Buon Compleanno and all that crap." Rosaria smiled and kissed her brother's cheek. Lovino gently pushed her away.
"Oh, stop being a kill joy," said Vladimir, "Join in on ze fun!"
"One more word out of you, vampire, and I will f*cking kill you."
"C-Can you please not fight?" Raivis stuttered, "It is Christmas, after all." All of the other Hufflepuffs nodded in agreement.
"Fine."
"Emma~" sang Antonio. He slithered his arms around the Belgian's waist, making her laugh. Antonio held a small sprig of mistletoe about them before kissing Emma on the cheek. "Feliz Navidad, cariño." Emma smiled and kissed Antonio back. At this sight, Lovino audibly gagged.
"The affection you two are showing makes me want to vomit!" the Italian said. Antonio turned to Lovino.
"Come on, Lovino. You're just jealous because you are alone."
"Vhat do you mean?" asked Lili curiously. Lovino's hazel eyes began shooting daggers at Antonio's green.
"He doesn't mean anything," the boy said through his teeth. Antonio smirked and tossed the plant at Lovino.
"Keep that," said the Spaniard, "I have plenty more hung around the castle."
"Why on earth would you have that much mistletoe?" Matthew asked suspiciously.
"That is a secret." During this, one of the Hufflepuffs took the mistletoe out of Lovino's hand.
"Hey!" Lovino said in surprise. He flipped around and saw Vladimir standing behind him. His eyes narrowed. "I will kill you if you even try." Vladimir smirked, showing his small fang.
"Zat is a risk I am villing to take," remarked the Romanian. Lovino stood up immediately as Vladimir held the poisonous plant over Rosaria and himself. He bent down and pecked her on the cheek, making the girl blush heavily.
"Why did you have to go and do that?" the Italian said through gritted teeth. Vladimir laughed.
"Tis ze season for giving and love." If you looked into the tsundere's eyes at this very moment, you could have sworn to see flames of anger.
Well that happened. I think it would be a better idea to cut to one of the other houses now. How about the Slytherins? Yeah, let's go to the Slytherins.
"Francis. Francis," Gilbert whispered as he poked the French teen repeatedly, "Francis. Francis. Francis~ VAKE UP!"
"Non…" groaned Francis, "My bed...she is calling...saying 'don't go!'"
"Your bed vill be zhere later! GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF ZHAT BED!"
"Why~?"
"Es ist Weihnachten, Arschloch!" Gilbert exclaimed in German, "NOW GET UP! I'm pretty sure I voke up zhe entire house trying to get you out of bed!" Francis rolled over, half asleep. His blue eyes shot icy looks at the Prussian. "Do you remember vhat ve discussed last night?"
"Oui…" moaned the French boy, "Why?"
"Use it." Francis smirked and sat up.
"As long as you distract."
"Got it!" Francis tossed off his sheets with a smirk and got out of bed quickly.
The two seventh years rushed out of their room and down the stairs as if they were little kids. The rest of the Slytherin house that had stayed for the holidays were already awake. Arthur and Michelle were seated on a couch in the center of the room, Ivan and Natalia were sitting in two separate chairs, and Tim was standing awkwardly in the corner.
"Gee, Do you two wanna be bigger two year olds than you already are?" said Hanna as the two came down.
"Shut up, sassy," Gilbert said back, sticking out his tongue.
"You know you love it." Hanna smirked before sitting on top of Arthur, who pushed her off so she was next to Michelle.
"I really don't, Ice Princess." Hanna just flipped off the seventh year before freezing the ground in front of him, causing Gilbert to slip on it. He fell on his face. The Prussian sat up, with blood leaking from his most likely broken nose.
"Is zhat zhe best you got? HA!"
"Knock it off, you two," Michelle sighed.
"He started it!" Hanna said, pointing to Gilbert as Francis helped him up.
"Neither of us care who started it," Arthur cut in, "I'm finishing it. Knock it off both of you or else it won't be pleasant."
"Oh, is Iggy gonna hurt me?"
"I will if I have to!" The Brit and the Greenlandic went back and forth, yelling insults at one another until someone decided to step in.
"Both of you will stop behaving like little children or I will hit you with my pipe, da?" Arthur grunted before crossing his arms.
"Fine." Francis looked over at Gilbert, as blood leaked down from his nose and onto his lips. It dripped onto the cold stone floor of the Slytherin dungeons.
"You're are bleeding everywhere, mon ami," said the French Slytherin. Gilbert raised a silver eyebrow as Francis pointed down to the blood dripping at his feet.
"Scheiße!" exclaimed Gilbert as he put his sleeve onto his face in order to catch the blood. Rolling her eyes, Hanna pulled a small, cotton object from her pocket and held it out to the Prussian.
"Here," she said, smirking, "Shove this up your nose. It's much better at catching the blood." Gilbert looked at Hanna with a dark red glare.
"Hell no."
"Just do it," snapped Natalia.
"It will stop the blood quicker," Michelle added.
"Nien," Gilbert said defiantly, "I'd razher bloody my clozhes."
"Just shove it up there, you git!" shouted Arthur.
"Nien, and I am not a 'git' or vhatever you just called me! Vhy don't ve do zhat stupid gift zhingy un stop vorrying about my blood." A wide, sly smile appeared on Francis's face.
"Can I go first?" he asked, smirking. Everyone nodded, thanking God that Gilbert had been shut up. Francis laughed quietly to himself as he crossed over to Arthur. "Arzur~ You're first~"
"Fine," Arthur sighed, crossing his arms.
"Close your eyes." Arthur raised a thick eyebrow in suspicion. Everyone eyed the French curiously.
"Why…?"
"Just do it!" Sighing, Arthur reluctantly, and looking back stupidly, shut his green eyes. Quick as lightening, Francis pulled a small green plant out of his pocket and pressed his lips firmly against the Brit's. Gilbert and Hanna high-fived one another as Arthur's eyes shot open due to the sudden contact. He put his hands on Francis, trying to push him away and off of him, but the French held his arms down. There was no escape. Arthur forced his arms against Francis's hands, still trying to push him away until one swift kick to the vital regions managed to get Francis away from him. Even with the pain he had, Francis had a smirk on his face. Arthur, however, looked like he was about to kill someone and was furiously red.
"WHAT THE LITERAL BLOODY HELL!" shouted the Brit in anger, "You bloody git, I'm going to bloody murder you until no trace of you is left!"
"Ja, you do zhat," said Gilbert, whose nosebleed had finally ceased, "Und stop vith zhe sexual tension!" Arthur's eyes darkened as he stood.
"I will kill anyone who had a hand in that. Taking my bloody fi-" Arthur's face reddened as his sentence cut off. Hanna exploded into laughter.
"Your first kiss?!" she laughed, "Oh my god, you are a sad sixteen year old!"
"Shut up!"
"I zought you tasted like a virgin…" added Francis. Arthur's face turned bright red as laughter erupted from several of the students. Francis pecked Arthur on his tomato-like cheek.
"Joyeux Noёl, mon petit lapin," he said to the embarrassed sixth-year. Arthur just blushed harder and muttered several curses under his breath. "So, did you enjoy my gift?"
"No, I did not!"
"Liar," laughed Gilbert. Arthur shot a toxic glare at him, making the seventh-year take a step back.
"You can't stop it once it starts, Brit," Hanna giggled, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Bugger off."
Okay…? Well that was interesting alright. I will never doubt the power of the Prussian and French again. Although it does explain why Antonio had so much mistletoe…
Anyway, we still have two more houses to get through until we reach our main event! Let's see what the Ravenclaws are doing…
Kiku was sound asleep on a quiet and peaceful morning. Or it would have been if he was home with his mother, like always. However, he had to stay at school this year because of the Tournament, and his roommates were not the quietest.
As soon as he heard the yells coming from both Yao and Lukas, Kiku opened one of his dull brown eyes. He looked over at the two, who were arguing, most likely about something ridiculous.
"Why are you two being so roud?" asked Kiku, still sounding as tired as he was.
"He refuses to give my coffee back to me," answered Lukas. To little surprise, the Norwegian looked like he was about to pass out. Coffee is the only thing that could really wake him up in the morning.
"He refuses to help me wake up, aru!" Yao replied, "But you're awake so-"
"Wirr you prease quiet down? You'rr wake everyone erse…" Kiku muttered though the tiredness he felt on his shoulders.
"They're already awake," Lukas grumbled as he tried to take away something Yao had in his hands. The Chinese moved it out of the Norwegian's reach. "It's Christmas."
"Was I the onry one stirr asreep?"
"Shì de," answered Yao, "Everyone else woke up a long time ago, aru." Kiku just turned over and fell back asleep.
"Bù!" Yao began to shake his adopted brother awake. "We need to go down, aru! And you need to come with us!" Sighing, Kiku opened his eyes again and sat up.
"Can I sreep for a few more minutes, nii-chan?" Yao shook his head, causing Kiku to sigh once again.
"You've been asleep longer than you usually are, aru. It's time to get out of bed."
"Hai…" Kiku swung his legs over his four-poster bed and yawning, he left the room. Lukas looked over at Yao and extended his hand.
"Give it. Now." Yao threw a metallic box to his fellow Ravenclaw. "Takk."
Down in the Common Room, Kiku was sitting curled up next to Emil and Lien. (A/N Yay! Vietnam's Speaking Debut! … I'm a dork...continue on with the story…) Roderich was sitting uncomfortably in one of the chairs, while Berwald sat across from him. Eduard was standing awkwardly among them all. Yao was sitting on the floor, and Lukas was standing behind Emil with a coffee mug in his hand.
"I am not going to be saying it!" Emil said angrily.
"I won't persist," said Lukas calmly. Wow, how caffeine changed his mood completely was still a mystery to Kiku, and to most of the other students as well. "Only because it's Christmas…"
"Thank you!"
"S' y'u w'n't b' f'ght'ng th' 'nt're d'y?" asked Berwald, skepticism in his roughly accented voice. Lukas nodded.
"What you call 'fighting', I call brotherly love," answered the Norwegian.
"I call you being an-" Emil began to say before Lukas covered his mouth.
"Language, little brother."
"Will you both stop?" snapped Lien, "i'm not afraid to take points away from my own house only to cease your bickering!" Everyone gave her a serious and skeptical look. "I'm not afraid to, and I'm sure everyone else with such power will agree with me. Right?"
"I vill if I have to," Roderich agreed, crossing his arms, "You all are such children!"
"As wirr I," added Kiku with a yawn.
"Even from your brother, aru?" asked Yao with a slight pout. Kiku took a look at him.
"My adopted brother, hai. We are not even rerated…" Yao's face fell.
"Either way, I'm still your brother, aru."
"That's harsh," said Emil, leaning back into the couch, "Even for what I put Lukas through."
"I thought we wouldn't fight," Eduard said with a sigh, "And I think this is leading to one…"
"It won't," said Lien, "I'll be keeping the peace here for the day. I'll make sure that no one even dares to try." Lukas walked around to the couch and sat down next to the Vietnamese.
"This is why most people don't socialize with you," he said, "You're always so 'take-charge' and it gets out of hand." Lien shot a glared at him.
"At least I'm not afraid to admit that I love someone." Lukas returned her glare before the conversation returned to normal.
"Anyway, let's get started, aru!" Yao said cheerfully.
Yay, that was short. We went through the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. This means we only have one house left. And now we head to Gryffindor before the main event begins!
You would expect that Gryffindor Tower would be pretty quiet right? Well, when you have two people like Alfred F. Jones and Mathias Kølher as your roommates, morning are never quiet.
"Alfred! Get your fat ass up!" yelled Mathias, shaking the American, "GET UP!"
"Vill you shut zhe hell up?" seethed their German roommate. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and felt like he was about to pass out from where he was at any moment. However, the Dane's loud voice was preventing the chance of gaining back the sleep he lost.
"No!" yelled Mathias before turning back to his friend, "Alfred!" The American jolted awake.
"THE SPAGHETTI IS ATTACKING!" Alfred yelled in his drowsiness, "DON'T HURT MEH!" The Europeans just stared at the American awkwardly as he looked around the room. Alfred picked up his glasses from the nightstand and slid them on his face. He blinked twice as his vision adjusted.
"Oh...I'm in the Tower...and everyone is staring at me...so um...how you doing?"
"Did you eat hamburgers before bed again?" asked Mathias.
"No…" Alfred said innocently while sweatdropping, "Maybe….Yes."
"Vill you both shut up?" Ludwig seethed, "Zhe task is done, now get out und shut up." The Dane and American looked at each other.
"No," they said in unison.
"People are trying to get zhe sleep zhey lost back. Get. Out."
"But everyone is already up!" whined Mathias.
"Zhen vhy don't you leave me alone und bozher zhem!"
"But dude!" Alfred exclaimed with a mixture of concern and excitement, "You need to get up! It's freaking Christmas!"
"Just leave me alone."
"Fine," said a dejected Mathias, "We'll leave you alone. Have fun spending Christmas in bed. Oh wait, you can't. The Yule Ball's today, and I know that Feliciano would be really upset if you-"
"I'll be down in ten minutes, Arschlöcher." Mathias and ALfred smirked at each other before they left their room and headed down the stairs.
Ten unfortunate minutes later, the German pulled himself out of his bed and downstairs with everyone else. He was stuck between Elizabeta and Basch, with Mei and Leon sitting on the floor. Everyone else was sitting in the chairs around the fire.
"I think this place needs some serious remodeling…" said Feliks from his place on Toris's chair arm.
"The last time you tried to do that, it earned you a month's detention!" said the Lithuanian dejectedly.
"But it looked so much better afterwards!"
"No," said Alfred, "No, it did not!"
"It was hipster pink! Of course it did!" Everyone felt like facepalming themselves- which three of them actually did.
"Can ve please move on from your remodeling?" Elizabeta asked. Feliks just waved her off and leaned back on the chair.
"Why is he so obsessed with the color pink?" Leon asked, "It's not even that great of a color."
"Hey!" Feliks said defensively.
"Who knows?" said Alfred, "Not like we can reach into his brain and poke around in there." Alfred leaned back in his chair. "Actually...we can."
"You can not probe his brain!" shouted Toris.
"I meant that spell thingy you can use to look into a dude's mind or something."
"That's even worse!" Basch added, "You are seriously an idiot…"
"Hey!" Alfred shouted, standing up, "You're the one who tried to kill Gilbert, Mr. Neutral!"
"Was?" Ludwig asked, glaring over at the Swiss.
"Shut up or I'll hit you with my family's peace prize!" Basch said, ignoring the German.
"Can everyone please calm down?" asked Mei with a sweatdrop.
"How about we open the gifts from our families?" Elizabeta said quickly, hoping to avoid any conflict...or bullet holes in the walls.
"If it gets everyone to shut up…" sighed Ludwig. He just wanted peace and quiet before tonight.
"Sure will!" Mathias said cheerfully.
"Thank you!"
The entire day flew by in the blink of an eye and soon the evening had arrived. Everyone had begun to get ready for the Ball that was swiftly approaching. However, someone was sitting in his designated emo corner because he had panicked and didn't get himself a date. Yes, I'm talking about Lovino. He's sitting in a corner with a sign on it that reads "emo corner" in his bedroom.
"Lovino!" said Feliciano as he looked over at his brother. The younger Italian was already dressed in his black suit and white dress shirt. The only thing left was the green tie in his hand.
"Fratello! Please stop growing mushrooms in the corner! You have to get ready!"
"I'm not going," Lovino shot back. He didn't even have someone to dance with, which he knew was required of the champions.
"I can still set you up~" said Rosaria from her spot in the door. Both boys turned around to see their sister in the doorway. She was still in her clothes from earlier that day. Lovino stood up from his emo corner.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR ROOM! DON'T YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO?!"
"Not for another few minutes." Rosaria giggled and stuck out her tongue briefly.
"GET. OUT."
"No, I just need to ask you two a question...okay two questions. Where are your roommates?" She was right. Matthew and Tino were already out of the room and who knows where.
"I think they left to meet up with their dates a few minutes ago…" said Feliciano with a shrug, "I really don't know."
"What a minute, hold up. Matthew, our Matthew Williams- the shyest and quietest guy I have ever met...has a girlfriend?" Feliciano shrugged again as Lovino walked out from his corner and towards his sister.
"What's the other question?" he asked.
"I…" Rosaria looked at the floor and played with her fingers, "I wanted to wear the locket. I want to know what you guys think about it." The twins looked over at each other in a moment of thought.
"I think it's a great idea, sorella," said Feliciano after a moment. Lovino face palmed himself.
"I don't think so," Lovino countered, "Don't you think that someone is bound to notice it? Like I said, Mama wore it all the time."
"But she wants to wear it! I think it's fine. If someone starts to look at weird, she can just take it off."
"Alright! Get us in trouble for all I care! I'm still not going!"
"You have to," Rosaria reminded him, "All of the champions do. They'll come down here and drag you up if they have to…"
"I'd like to see them try!"
"Ve, he's just upset because he didn't ask a ragazza…" Feliciano explained. Lovino glared at his younger twin.
"I could still set you up if you wanted me too," said Rosaria.
"With who, genius?" asked Lovino, poking his sister's forehead, "Everyone has a date. I'm going to make an idiota of myself and our entire family!" Rosaria wrapped her fingers around her brother's wrist, stopping him from poking her any further.
"I do have a friend you could go with. She was going to go by herself, since no one asked her. I could tell her that you were too shy to ask her to go with you."
"When you last did this, I ended up having to get a restraining order."
"It's not like that, I promise. Since when have I ever lied to you?" Lovino sighed. She wasn't going to give up on this.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Michelle." Both of the brothers stared at their younger sister, who had a cute little smile on her face.
"Michelle," Lovino repeated, "As in your French friend. That Michelle?"
"Actually, she's from Seychelles, not France, but si. That Michelle." Lovino muttered something that was unintelligible before sighing in his defeat and embarrassment.
"As long as I don't look stupid…" he said. Rosaria nodded.
"I'll see you both in a few minutes. Emma's going to help me get ready!" The fifteen year old girl left, slamming the door behind her.
"I just made a big mistake," said Lovino as soon as she left, "Haven't I?" Feliciano shrugged. He wrapped his green tie around his neck and tried to tie it. However, Feliciano began to struggle in doing so. Lovino sighed and walked over to him. Moving his brother's hand away from the tie, Lovino began to tie it himself.
"When will you learn to do this yourself?" asked the older brother, "You're sixteen years old and you can't even tie anything, not even your own shoes. I still have to do this for you every single morning."
"I've tried to learn how…" Feliciano admitted, "It's too hard for me." Sliding the rest of the fabric in the tie, Lovino ouled the knot up to his brother's neck, finishing it off.
"There, done. Try not to undo it." Lovino walked over to his bed and picked up a suit off of it. It was the same as Feliciano's, only the tie was red.
"Grazie, fratello."
"Yeah, yeah." Lovino walked into the bathroom and began to get changed. "Go meet up with your boyfriend or whatever." Feliciano felt a little hurt by the way his brother's words sounded.
"Fratello-"
"What?" Lovino came out of the bathroom, fully dressed, with his jacket and tie in his hands. "Spit it out, or just leave."
"Are you still upset with me about that? About me and Ludwig?" Feliciano asked.
"My brother is dating the person I hate the most," said Lovino, "Yes, I'm still upset about that." Feliciano's face fell. "But, I can tolerate this. It just pisses me off." LOoking back up, a smile painted itself on Feliciano's face.
"I understand," he said. Lovino raised an eyebrow as he wrapped the red tie around his neck.
"Che cosa?" Lovino asked, "It's not like it's the other way around. It's not about Rosaria or anything. No, now that I think about it, it's Elizabeta who's pissed off with sorella's choice. But how on Earth would you understand?"
"I know you never can be really behind me on this a hundred percent, mostly because you hate him. At least you're trying for my sake."
"I can tell you I am. I'm trying my best not to hit you in the head and kill that bastard."
"And I appreciate that." Lovino finished off his tie and pulled his jacket on.
"Whatever." Feliciano and Lovino looked at their reflections in a nearby mirror. The younger brother smiled.
"We look pretty good, si?" he asked. Lovino just stared at the reflected images of them.
"...Why is it that we always manage to look even more alike than we already are?" said Lovino. Feliciano shrugged.
"We are twins, but separate people. I can see the differences between us, but other than those...we really do look a lot alike! We could switch places and no one would know!"
"Does that mean you will switch places with me for the next Task?"
"Nope!" Lovino sighed. He still hadn't even figured out what the next Task was or how to prepare for it. With all that had happened, he forgot about that stupid silver box that he had pushed under his bed.
A knock on the door interrupted Lovino's thoughts as both of the Italians turned their attention to it.
"The door is open!" said Lovino. The door opened to reveal Antonio behind it. He was dressed in a plain gray suit with a red shirt and a yellow tie. He claimed that he was representing the colors of his country's flag, and not the Gryffindor house. The Spaniard had to repeat this several times to many people.
"Are you two ready?" Antonio asked the brothers.
"No, we're standing around dressed like this for no reason," said Lovino sarcastically, "Of course we're ready!"
"Okay...Okay...the others are waiting."
Antonio, Lovino and Feliciano headed out into the Common Room, where the other boys were waiting, well, everyone except for Raivis because he had left earlier. Everyone sat there in an eerie silence. After a while, Matthew laughed nervously, breaking the tension between the males.
"Well…" he said nervously, "This is awkward…I have an idea. Why don't we talk about something?"
"Thanks for pointing the awkwardness out," Lovino said with sarcasm, "I didn't even notice it!"
"Lovino~" said Antonio, "Play nice with others~" The Italian shot a glare at the Spaniard.
"I'm not five anymore. I don't have to listen to you."
"Ve, please, fratello?" Feliciano asked, "Please be nice…"
"Fine." Lovino's sharp hazel eyes scanned the room, until they noticed someone shifting uncomfortably and that person's eyes darting around the room. The Italian walked over and behind him.
"Canadian!" Matthew jumped at the sudden voice from behind him.
"Maple!" he said in surprise.
"Since you want to talk so badly," said Lovino, "Let's talk about you." The Canadian squeaked.
"Y-Y-Yes, eh?"
"Now, I may not be one of the smartest people here, but you let slip that someone in this room has a girlfriend no one knew about," The Italian said as he paced slowly around the room.
"I-I did?"
"Actually I did," said Feliciano as Lovino turned to him.
"Shh, I'm interrogating."
"W-W-Why are you interogatting me, eh?!" Matthew stuttered in surprise.
"You're the one who suggested we talk about something."
"I didn't mean me!"
"Then you should have been more specific."
"Ve, can we please go?" asked Feliciano with very little patience, "Per favore?"
"Vat about ze fete?" Vladimir asked, "Shouldn't ve vait for zem?
"I agree completely!" said Matthew quickly.
"Why?" Lovino asked with a shrug, "Can't we just meet them there?" Everyone just stared at him. "What?" Antonio put a hand on Lovino's shoulder.
"This is why you've never had a girlfriend," began the Spaniard, "Girls flirt with you, yes, but you are too blind to notice it… No offense…"
"Every. Offense. Taken."
"Fratello just doesn't understand girls very well," said Feliciano, putting a hand on Lovino's other shoulder.
"Get off of me! Both of you!" Lovino said as he pushed the seventeen and sixteen year olds off of him. "Who on this Earth can even understand girls!? It's impossible!"
"Everyone here but you," said Tino. Lovino shot him a frighteningly angry look.
"How?! What the hell is there to understand?!"
"If ve told you, zis vould end up being a Disney movie," explained Vladimir, "I do not vant to have to sing it."
"Please don't," said Matthew.
"I vasn't planning on doing it." That's when a stray piece of leftover paper from that morning hit Vladimir in the face.
"Shut. Up," Lovino seethed, "I don't want to hear what any of you have to say about women. I'm pretty sure that at least two of you are homosexual!"
"I can agree with that!" Tino added.
"What?" Everyone said in unison as Lovino pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You fail to realize that I included you on my list of homosexuals!" said the Italian.
"Oh, I know," Tino said with a laugh and a smile, "I don't care if it's true."
"Oh, really?" said Antonio suspiciously, "Who are you taking to the dance then, Tino?" The Finn's violet eyes darted around the room as he blushed.
"Oh, well it's…" Tino said, mumbling the rest of the answer.
"Oh no," said Lovino with rising anger, "No! We are not doing this again! Just spit it out!" Tino yelped and jumped a bit before rapidly speaking the answer.
"It's Berwald." Everyone stood there in silence.
"Why did I see that coming?" said Lovino. Tino laughed nervously and scratched the back the back of his head.
"Was it that obvious?" he asked. Vladimir pulled out an old style pocket watch from the confines of the dark, bloody red suit he was wearing. He looked at the time before shutting the watch and putting it away.
"If ve don't hurry soon," said the Romanian, "Ve're going to be late."
"GIRLS!" Lovino yelled down the hallway that led to the girls' dormitories, "WE'RE LEAVING!"
"HOLD ON A SECOND!" the faint voice of Emma yelled back. Lovino groaned.
"HURRY UP!"
As the boys split off into separate conversations, Lovino walked over to Matthew.
"You never did answer my question," the Italian said to him. Matthew looked up from what he was doing and tilted his head slightly.
"What question, eh?" asked the Canadian.
"Feliciano let it slip that you have a girlfriend. Who is it?"
"Oh," said Matthew as he stared at the floor, "Do you promise not to tell?"
"Si...why?" Looking around the room, Matthew lowered his voice before answering.
"Because I might die." Lovino raised an eyebrow.
"If you're dating that girl, you must have a death wish. I can see why the heck you want to keep it a secret." Matthew nodded.
"Her family is more protective that you, and they're more violent than Basch was when he found out about Gilbert and Lili."
"That violent?" Matthew nodded again.
"Yeah…"
"Who is it then?" Lovino repeated. Matthew began to blush heavily.
"Katyusha Braginskaya," he answered. Lovino looked at the blushing boy. To him, most of Matthew's behaviour over the past few months.
"Well," Lovino began, "It does explain a lot of things you've been doing. Sneaking off after matches and practices for example."
"Oh...I didn't think anyone would notice...I'm normally invisible to most people half of the time…" Matthew admitted.
"I didn't," explained Lovino further, "It was the tomato bastard who did. Not to mention the fact that it was you who crashed into me when the ragazza was attacked two months ago, still in your Quidditch uniform. It wasn't that hard to figure out that something was going on." Matthew face palmed himself.
"Uh...I forgot about that…"
"I think everyone did." Lovino looked over at Matthew. "I've been wondering. What did happen when you got to the hospital wing, anyway?"
"I had to wait outside the door until Ivan and Natalia left. It was very awkward for me."
"So...who else knows?"
"Uh...not many people really," said Matthew as he began to count off his fingers, "Only Francis, Alfred and Yao know, and I guess you do too, now. Please don't tell anyone!"
"I won't. I don't want anyone dying this year. Also, I could use this for blackmail in the future."
"Great," Matthew said with a sigh, "Just great."
"WE'RE FINISHED!" called out Emma.
"Like Lovino said, hurry up!" Vladimir called back. Lovino's eye twitched as he walked over to the Romanian.
"I need to talk to you. Now," said the Italian. Vladimir gave Lovino a weird look.
"Vy?" asked the Romanian. Lovino sighed and pinched his nose bridge again.
"Let's say if a bee messes with a fragile flower, the flower's older brother will smash the bee and leave him down in the bottom of the lake."
"Da...but vy vould a flower have a brother? Zey are inanimate zings…" Lovino gritted his teeth together. This boy wasn't understanding what he was trying to say.
"I'm saying that if you hurt my preziosa sorellina in any way, physically or emotionally, I will not hesitate in killing you, you freaking vampire." Vladimir paled at Lovino's words, but nodded.
"G-Got it," he stuttered. Hey, the Vargas siblings didn't have a father, so someone had to take on the role of intimidating the boyfriend.
Soon, all heads turned as the door to the girls' rooms and the girls came out of their dormitory. Each of them looked immaculate. Antonio swept Emma off of her feet with a peck to the cheek as Matthew walked awkwardly over to the Head Girl (with a little push from Lovino) and took her hand, both of them blushing immensely. However, one girl was missing.
"No!" said Rosaria from behind the door, "I look stupid!"
"You look fine," Emma said to her, "I did a good job. Just get out here!" With obvious hesitation, Rosaria walked out into the Common Room. Lovino, Feliciano and Antonio had to do a double take in order to make sure that this was their little Italian girl.
Instead of her usual messy ponytail, Rosaria's auburn hair was braided softly down her back and tied off with a bright red bow. Replacing her usual two black and two yellow school hair clips were four, shining silver hair pins. The girl was heavily blushing as she played with her silver gloved hands.
"Please stop staring at me," Rosaria asked the three boys. Emma laughed.
"See? I told you they would be surprised," said the Belgian as Vladimir stepped forward and extended his hand to Rosaria.
"My principesă," he said kindly to her. Rosaria took it as her eldest brother's eye twitched. Noticing his brother's behaviour, Feliciano laughed nervously.
"Let's go before Lovino kills someone!" he said. Everyone nodded in agreement and the Hufflepuffs headed to the Great Hall and the Yule Ball.
Up the stairs and through the corridors the small group went. Lovino felt like there was a stone in stomach, he was nervous. He was used to dancing when no one was watching. But everyone would be watching him now. The looming pressure kept pushed down on Lovino's shoulders.
Once arriving at the Great Hall, everyone of the Hufflepuffs went inside except for the Italians. Feliciano ran over to Ludwig, while Lovino and Rosaria remained behind.
"I could always tell Nonno that you got sick," Rosaria told Lovino, "It's not to late. You don't have to do this." Lovino shook his head.
"No, I'm going to do this," he said, "Even if I end up making an idiot of myself, I'm doing this." Rosaria nodded.
"I'll go get Michelle." The girl fled into the Great Hall with everyone else. Lovino sighed and leaned against the wall. A few moments later, the African girl exited the Hall and walked up to him.
She was in a silver and green dress with her dark brown hair out of it's usual style, having it fall down her back in elegant waves. Although Lovino didn't want to admit it, she did look very beautiful tonight.
"Joyeux Noёl, Lovino," said Michelle with her mixed accent.
"Buon Natale…" the Italian muttered back. Michelle moved a stray hair behind her ear.
"Someone told me you waited until ze last minute…"
"Yeah...I was to shy to ask earlier…"
"I zought you just panicked." Lovino rolled his eyes.
"No…" Michelle crossed her arms and shot him a look. It was the same exact look that Rosaria always gave him when she knew he was lying. "Maybe…"
"Zat wasn't so 'ard, now was it?" Michelle said with a smile.
"..." Michelle laughed.
"Okay zen, Monsieur Vargas. You were a wonderful dancer during practice. Let's see 'ow you do in front of an audience."
"What? No, no, no, no, no," said Lovino, "I am not doing any of that! Especially in front of a bunch of freaking strangers!"
"You 'ave to. Ze champions open ze Ball, remember?"
"No. Do you really think I can do two things at once?" Michelle raised a dark eyebrow.
"Quoi?" she asked. Lovino glared over at another pair. Michelle followed it, and her dark eyes landed on Ludwig and Feliciano. She turned Lovino's attention away from the two.
"Pay no attention to zem," she said, "Tonight is just a night for fun- not for being overprotective."
"I have a good reason to be protective," Lovino said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"So does my brozer. My point is, just ignore it! You can as protective as you want tomorrow, oui?"
"Fine," Lovino said with a groan, "Just this once." Michelle smiled.
"Fantastique. Ze champions are supposed to enter soon."
"Great… I don't even see why we have to enter like this. We could just walk in like a normal person."
"Lovino, it's part of the tradition."
"I don't care. It's a stupid tradition." Suddenly, the doors opened the champions names had begun to be announced. Lovino's body tensed up. Michelle slid her hand into his reassuringly.
"It will be fine," said the Seychellois, "Zere is nozing to worry about."
"Easy for you to say…" muttered the Italian.
"I promise zat everyzing will be fine. Trust me."
"Fine…" That's when Lovino's name was announced. He held out his arm for Michelle, who took it. The two entered the hall. Several rounds of applause hit their ears. Lovino felt his body tense up once more, and Michelle gripping his arm a little too hard.
"Who's the one who's worried now?" Lovino whispered to her.
"Still you," Michelle whispered back.
"Whatever, bella."
Both the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff's eyes widened. Lovino could not believe what he had just said.
"Did you just call me beautiful?" said Michelle as a slight blush appeared on her face, "And don't even act I like don't know what it means. Ze words are very similar in French and Italian."
"N-No," Lovino stuttered. He still could not believe he had let the word slip off his tongue and out of his mouth.
"Merci, Lovino."
"W-Whatever…" The pair took their place with the other champions and their partners on the dance floor. The music slowly began to play. Lovino hesitantly put his hand around Michelle's waist and slid his other hand into hers. The two began to pick up their pace with the music until everyone seemed like a blur around them.
"Someone improved since we last danced," commented Michelle.
"I've always been a good dancer," Lovino said stubbornly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well zen, maybe it was moi who improved."
"Maybe…" Michelle's dark eyes looked up slightly and laughed a little. "Hey, what's so funny?"
"Oh, nozing…" Michelle giggled again.
"No, tell me. You're laughing at something. Tell me what it is."
"Zat little hair curl of yours…"
"What about it?"
"It's a 'eart." That's when Lovino's face turned bright red. How could this night get anymore embarrassing?
"N-No it isn't," Lovino said defiantly, "I think you're just imagining things."
"I can see it! It's curved like a 'eart and everyzing!"
"No, it isn't." Lovino said as he stared at the ground with embarrassment. Michelle laughed once again. There was a silence between the two before Lovino broke it.
"...Si," he simply said. Michelle raised one of her dark eyebrows.
"Si what?" asked Michelle curiously.
"Si, I said you looked beautiful earlier." This time it was Michelle who blushed.
"Merci...I zink you look handsome tonight...not zat you don't look handsome all ze time I mean-"
"Grazie, bella," Lovino said before the girl embarrassed herself further.
The rest of the night went by too quickly for the Italian. Soon, it was close to the end of the night, and Lovino as sitting outside of the Great Hall on his own. It had gotten far too exciting in there, and all he wanted was a little peace and quiet.
The door to the Hall creaked open, causing him to look up. Michelle came over and sat down next to him.
"Are you alright?" she asked. Lovino nodded, running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, "I just don't like going to parties or any event like this. I can stay for a while, but then I just get uncomfortable and leave. That's mostly why I never go to those parties back home." Michelle nodded. "So, what are you doing out here?"
"I was about to get back to the Slytherin Dungeon. Do you want to come with me? I came up here with Francis, but I can't find him anywhere." Lovino gave the girl a look. She had fear in her eyes.
"You asked me if I was alright, but I didn't ask the same of you." Michelle's eyes darted to the ground.
"O-Oui, I'm fine. Just please." Sighing, Lovino agreed.
"It's not that far from the basement, right?" Lovino asked as the two walked down the corridor. Michelle nodded as she twirled her fingers around each other. By the way Michelle was acting, Lovino could tell that something was wrong.
"I'm not stupid. Something's wrong. What is it?" Michelle bit her lip. A nearby torch flickered out, causing the hall to fall dim. She squeaked and leaned into Lovino, causing him to stumble a bit. "What the hell was that about?"
"J'ai peur de l'obscurité," Michelle said rapidly, "I'm afraid the dark."
"You're fourteen. You sleep down in the dungeons for crying out loud."
"The dungeons are different. I have everyone around me. Also, you would be scared too if someone broke into the school and you were almost caught by them! I haven't be able to handle the dark since then! I'm even scared to be alone..." Michelle sighed. Lovino's mind flashbacked to the events that had happened earlier that month. She had seen the person? Michelle yelped again as another torch flickered out. They must have been losing burning material or something.
"Don't you have anything you're afraid of?" Michelle asked the Italian. Lovino shook his head. That, however, was a lie. The boy was afraid of only two things.
"I'm not afraid of much," he said, "But they're really just little things."
"Like what?"
"...I am not telling you." Michelle smiled.
"I understand. It just makes me feel a little better that I have someone with me."
"Sure…"
It didn't take long until they arrived at the Dungeons.
"I think it's good if you leave," said Michelle, "I'm not really supposed to let anyone know the-"
"The what?" Lovino asked. Michelle pointed up. Hanging above them and the entrance was a single sprig of mistletoe. "Merda!" Michelle giggled.
"You do know what you're supposed to do, oui?" she asked. Lovino nodded.
"Yes...I do…" His face began to heat up. This night was about to have more embarrassment than he thought.
"Are you alright? You're turning red again."
"Si...I'm Italian. I'm fine with kissing a girl…"
"Lovino?"
"Yes?"
"You've never kissed a girl before, have you?"
"No." The two sat there in a weird silence. "I could try…" Michelle gave him a curious look, confused by what the boy had just said. Lovino, sighing and closing his eyes, leaned in and took Michelle's face in his hands. In one moment of surprise, Lovino put his lips to Michelle's. it was as if the world stopped for a moment. When the two pulled away, Michelle was staring wide eyed at Lovino.
"What just happened?" asked Michelle.
"You learned what an Italian can do." Michelle leaned in and pecked Lovino on his cheek with a smile on her face.
"Merry Christmas." She pushed open the door and went inside her dungeon.
"Ve, fratello, I didn't see you leave the Hall. Did you have a good Christmas?"
"I had a great Christmas. Probably one of the best I've had since we were little."
Alrighty, so I'm taking over the outro since Kitten is in Romano's Emo Corner.
It is not Romano's Emo Corner!
Yes, it is. I wrote it on there with Sharpie, therefore it is his.
Fine. I just feel so ashamed about myself! THIS CHAPTER IS WAY OVER DUE!
Oh, calm down. I don't think anyone minds.
Shut up. However, I will say this. The next chapter will have angst in it.
No! NO MORE ANGST!
Too bad, shut up. I'm in the Emo Corner, therefore I have to act like I don't care...which I do.
Aw...angst for the next chapter...
Next Time on Hogwarts From Around the World!
Nightmares of the Past!
We'll see you then!