Written for Morning Lilies' Connect the Weasleys Challenge at HPFC. Prompts: Louis/Al; storm
Al stood in front of the door, scratching his head. He'd been there for minutes, and he's starting to doubt the Sorting Hat's decision to put him in this house.
"Could you repeat it, please?" he said meekly.
"What is the noise of a twigless broom?" the beak said. The inflection never changes, but if it did, Al would be certain it'll sound exasperated by now. Maybe he should wait for people to come in.
"Merlin's beard, how long've you been here?"
"Louis! A while," he said, grinning sheepishly. "It's 'what is the noise of a twigless broom?' and honestly…"
His cousin faced the door. "Same as that of a single hand clapping," he said.
"Astute," the beak said, revealing the passageway. The cousins climbed in. When they reached the common room, Louis patted Al on the head.
"It needs some getting used to," he said with a smile. His gaze fell on the tall windows, and the smile turned into a worried frown. "Oh no. Looks like I can't give you the tour that I promised. It's going to rain; those dark clouds mean business."
Al, who wasn't looking forward to staining his new robes, nodded. "It's okay, we can stay in. Maybe play chess or something," he said.
"How're you holding up? Knight takes e6."
"What do you mean? Pawn takes Knight e6."
"Word on the Weasley vine is, Teddy and Vic are dating. Bishop to b3."
Raindrops pelted the tall windows, students buzzed in the background, and Al frowned. He's not sure if this is a ploy on Louis' side to distract him, but he did want to talk about it.
"Rook to b8. I could care less," Al said, and Louis chuckled.
"You're over Teddy? Since when?"
"Summer, when Molly told me that he wrote her a love letter."
"Huh. You're taking it better than Dee, at least…"
Al didn't get the chance to ask Louis what he meant, because a hand clapped his shoulder. He turned to see Dominique, and he gulped. How much did she hear?
"All right, boys?" she said. Louis nodded at his sister.
"Yeah. Bonding a bit with Albus—we were supposed to see the grounds, but you know. Rain."
Dominique gave him an apologetic look, and Al waved weakly. "Well, I'll be patrolling now," she said, disappearing into the passageway.
"What did you mean by Dominique? a7."
"Oh, she kind of hates Teddy. Bishop to b6," Louis said. Al was confused. How can anyone hate Teddy? Sweet and quiet and intelligent—
"a6," Al said. Louis brought a piece down with a flourish.
"Queen takes Rook b8, and checkmate."
Al watched his king throw its crown at the other queen's feet. "Not fair, you distracted me!" He scowled at his cousin, and Louis shrugged, smiling.
"Don't talk so much next time. Hey, Leah Kaufman has the latest Couture Robes issue, want to see it?" Al nodded, and eagerly followed Louis to some third years across the room. He is the coolest.
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