A/N: Go get yourself a nice pumpkin spice latte and enjoy! (Also, yes, I do think my puns are funny).

THC - Round 5

House: Gryffindor

Class: Astronomy

Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Food] Pumpkin Spice Latte

Beta(s): Copper's Mama, secretfanficlover

WC: 999

~~ Pump-kill Spice Latte ~~

Albus knew the moment he stepped into the coffee shop he should never have suggested going there. Truly, it was quite his own fault. He should have thought the whole date out, rather than submit to his cousin's wishes and agree to go to the stupid little coffee shop.

Alright, it was quite lovely, quaint and sweet; totally your cliché date setting. Something about the cosy nooks and little pillows made you feel right at home, or at least made you want to stay and buy another coffee. They always played this nice retro music, and everything was tasty

The only thing Albus didn't like about the coffee shop, at least in this moment, was the fact that his darling cousin and best friend, Rose, worked there.

That, in itself, wasn't too bad, truly.

As a matter of fact, most days, it was quite lovely. He did enjoy the perks that came with having a close friend work there, and, in theory, it was going to be quite nice for his date if he could have a cousin to back him up and all that.

No. Rose was a—somewhat—perfectly lovely person, and Albus truly loved her.

The actual problem was his other best friend, some bloody annoying fellow named Scorpius Malfoy.

Albus really should've known the moment he announced his date that Scorpius would've promised to be a wing-man, and obviously he was going to stalk them, and be there just in case. Albus had been totally incapable of even saying 'no, thank you' that Scorpius was already pulling his coat on and going off to 'scout'.

Actually, Scorpius wasn't the problem either.

The actual problem was both of his best friends, Rose and Scorpius, together, in the same room. The very moment Albus stepped into the coffee shop, before he could even turn back and give his date, Thomas, a reassuring smile to urge him in, he'd known it was a terrible idea.

The coffee shop was as lovely as usual. It was perhaps even lovelier than usual, the welcoming warmth inside was even more appreciable in contrast to the biting November air. The smell of coffee wafted around the room, and a blackboard proudly boasted the shop's season specials.

"What do you mean, I never make the pumpkin spice latte correctly?" Albus suddenly heard someone shriek. "I'd like to see you make one!"

"Yeah? Well, every time I've been here, you've made it incorrectly! Far too sugary and sweet, and definitely not enough pumpkin spice!" another person yelled right back.

"Please, as if you didn't like that extra sugar!"

Albus turned his head towards the counter, to see what the problem was, and groaned inwardly when he saw just exactly who the two people were.

"They seem to be having quite a spat over there," Thomas, who had come in right after him, said. "Wonder what's going on?"

Albus grimaced inwardly. "No clue…" he muttered back, though he knew very well what was going on, though he couldn't just explain it all easily.

As the two of them approached the counter, however, the subject of the conversation became more and more obvious. Well, obvious to Thomas, because Albus already knew it far too well, unfortunately…

"If you aren't happy, then go somewhere else!" Rose exclaimed.

"When your co-workers make it, it's just fine," Scorpius harrumphed.

"I've only ever had complaints from you," Rose pointed out.

"Well, it's not my fault I'm the only one who knows you're incompetent!"

Albus and Thomas were now right behind them, waiting in the queue, as the other customers had apparently been scared off by their arguing. Or rather, now that Albus looked around the room, they had all sat down to listen to the very entertaining argument.

"Incompetent? I'll show you incompetence," Rose muttered as she turned round furiously and began to make the pumpkin spice latte.

"What was that?" Scorpius asked. "You'd better not be putting anything bad in there."

"Just a touch of arsenic," Rose promised.

This had Thomas shoot Albus a worried look. "Do you think that barista's joking?"

"I...I don't know," Albus admitted. It probably was, but Rose's tone wasn't ironic at all…

As Scorpius left fuming to get himself a seat, while Rose yanked around the coffee machines—which surely couldn't be good for them—Thomas continued and said: "So, you say you come here often?"

Albus nodded hesitantly. "Trust me, it's not usually this...noisy."

Thomas smiled a little. "They seem to know each other quite well though."

Shortly after, Rose came back over to the counter to take their order. She seemed to still be in such a rage that she didn't even notice it was Albus and his date, instead continuing to mutter to herself. Something along the lines of other poisons she was reserving for Scorpius, and how she should've poisoned him in fourth year.

Albus found him and Thomas a comfy spot just for two not too far away from the counter, so they could still hear when their drinks were ready.

"Scabberus?" Rose hollered shortly after they had settled down, and sure enough, Scorpius came up to the counter.

"You know very well that's not my name," he growled.

"Sorry, my co-worker must've written it wrong," Rose simply said, shrugging innocently.

"You're literally the only one working right now," he pointed out. "Which is why you had to make my coffee."

"I made sure to add just a hint of belladonna, I know you like it so much," she simply replied, and Scorpius huffed, but seemed to make no motion of moving away from the counter.

Thomas smiled at them and told Albus, "You know, I think they've actually been secretly in love with each other for years."

Albus choked slightly. "What? No. That's impossible."

Thomas shrugged, but now that he had said it… Either way, his ridiculous two best friends were not the main focus of today, and despite their very entertaining argument, he still had a date to enjoy.