Tom ran through the hallway desperately trying to get to his potions class in time, he glanced at his watch and gasped seeing he only had two minutes until the morning bell would signal the beginning of class
This wasn't the first time he'd be late and surely it wouldn't be the last, however he knew Professor Snape wouldn't be happy to see him stride into class late once again....the excuse of saying he'd gotten lost wouldn't work forever
This morning in particular his tardiness was due to the fact that he'd been too busy enjoying his breakfast and staring longingly at the older Ravenclaw boy he fancied, though he didn't know his name yet, he'd taken an embarrassing interest over the past couple weeks of string longingly at the unfairly handsome boy who was three years his senior
He bumped into a very tall very intimidating Slytherin girl who grabbed him by his messily tied tie, "don't touch me, you little git..."
"S-Sorry about that I was just trying to get to class and you were in the way and—"
"So this is my fault now?" She asked tightening her already firm grip and causing Tom to let out a little whimper
Tom quiet often found himself in precarious situations such as this, one time he'd tripped on his robes and stumbled into a boy who'd in turn shoved him to the ground...maybe he just had a knack of stumbling into bullies but he was used to the whole threat and intimidation that he received rather often
He was about to apologize once again but was very literally saved by the bell as it echoed through the nearly empty corridor
The girl let go of him and laughed watching him stumble away desperately, he hated the sound of her snotty laugh but had no intention of picking a fight he knew he'd lose so he held his tongue and marched away as fast as his feet would carry him
He had double potions this afternoon and he knew that professor Snape would not be happy with him being this late...although, Snape would probably be upset with him anyway, he did not have a liking for Tom, in fact he nearly always found something to pick on him about, whether it be his incapability of tying a tie properly (four years at the school and he still hadn't learned) or his incapability of keeping his mouth closed...when it came to Tom Snape always found something he could humiliate the boy about
When Tom had finally reached the classroom he feared and dreaded most, he had a lump of dread in his throat
He swallowed what little pride he had and walked into the class, a fake wide smile plastered on his face, "Good morning professor, lovely day today innit?how are you tod—"
"It's nice to see that mister Blake remembered our class this morning....however late he may be"
A few of the Slytherin students giggled at this which caused Tom to blush, he wanted to say a sassy remark to Snape but held his tongue known it would do no good
"Sorry sir I jus got a bit distracted that's all it won't happen again I promise" Tom said as cheerfully as he could taking a seat beside his friend Cooke
"Don't make empty promises Blake...then again, other than your brain...nothing about you is empty" Snape said slyly
Tom frowned his face turning a bright shade of red out of both anger and embarrassment
"You're one to talk with that big thing on your face" Tom mumbled quietly, he thought too quietly for Snape to hear but was unfortunately mistaken as his professors sly smirk widened ever so slightly
"Fifty points...from Hufflepuff for your fellow students cheek"
All the Hufflepuffs let out annoyed groans and glared at Tom, he knew he'd been awful lately loosing points left right and centre but...sometimes he just couldn't help his remarks, they just slipped out as if on reflex
"You can't do that!" Tom said desperately, hating the pleading tone in his voice but nevertheless anxious to redeem the several points he'd just lost
"Last time I checked I was the teacher and you were the student, now if I wanted instruction on how to do my job, surely I wouldn't take it from the student with the poorest grades now would I?"
Tom grumbled, and sank into his seat trying to ignore the mockery from the snotty Slytherins
Snape gave a very brief instruction for strengthening potion they'd be making and set them on their way, Tom feverishly rushed through it, hoping maybe if he finished first his reputation could be mended? Although there was nothing really to mend...he was not a great student and everyone, including himself, knew that nothing could change that
He wiped the small beads of sweat off his forehead and looked into the cauldron where a rather nasty looking green paste was sitting, it was supposed to be a pretty turquoise liquid but alas, potions was not one of Tom's proffered domains at Hogwarts
"Pitty...if your strengthening potion had worked out maybe we'd have been able to use it on your brain, Blake" Snape said airily behind him
Tom frowned hard but refused to make any remark knowing if he lost any more points for his house he'd have to talk to his prefect again, something he hated to do
He'd singlehandedly lost his house about 200 points already, mostly from talking during lessons but in the eyes of his house, or any house, this was an unacceptable amount of points for one person to lose
He turned to Cooke beside him and sighed, "I don't reckon I'll be gettin an OWL in potions"
His friend chuckled, "me neither mate...I mean, how can anyone other than that lot" he gestured over to where the Slytherin were all happily chatting and giggling away, being the favourite in Snape's class allowed for far more fun and entertainment than being his least favourite
Tom rolled his eyes, "I hate potions...mum insists I take it though, finks it'll do me good in life"
"Well she ain't wrong" he said mixing his brightly pink potion
Tom couldn't help but smile looking at his green paste and his friend's pink goo, "mate...we're bloody terrible at this ain't we?"
They both chuckled quietly
They had been so caught up their conversation they failed to realize that Snape had been addressing the entire class
Tom was pulled from his distracted state of conversation upon hearing his name called in that unpleasantly calm low voice
"Sir?" He asked trying to look as innocent as possible
"Why do you think it's now acceptable to talk during my lesson?"
Tom slightly smirked and crossed his arms, "why do you fink it's okay to talk durin our conversation"
Snape's lip twitched and curled into a disgusted frown, "detention...and another fifty points from Hufflepuff"
Tom gaped at this and Cooke kicked his foot trying to gesture to Tom that another angry or sassy comment was the last thing their house needed at this point
"Now...as I was saying, next class I expect a two page essay on the importance of gillyweed"
The refreshing sound of the bell echoes through the class drawing a relieved smile from Tom who quickly stood and gathered his things leaving in as quick of a fashion as possible
* * *
Tom shuffled his feet reluctantly as he made his way to his potions class for his detention, he'd been dreading it all afternoon
He'd been swamped with homework from all his afternoon classes, too much and too little time to complete it all, and this detention surely wouldn't help the situation....all that combined with the fact that Tom simply had no desire to do any of the work made it all seem quiet impossible to complete
He let out a low sigh of dread and rapped on the door a few times, expecting to see Snape with that annoying smug grin on his face
However the door opened and he was startled to see the boy who'd answered
The one who'd made him late for potions this morning, the one who was so good looking Tom was left in a rare state speechlessness
He bobbled trying to say hello and hi at the same time and a sound of "hiyo" came out of his mouth
The taller boy looked him up and down and rolled his eyes and opening the door for him
"Professor Snape, he's here"
His voice was so gentle and soothing to Tom's ears that he momentarily forgot that detention was a bad thing
However his thoughts of appreciation were interrupted by the sight of his professor's revoltingly smug face
"Good to see you showed up on time"
Tom snorted and set his bags down, "what will I be doing tonight sir?"
"Since I'm busy marking papers and it's such a lovely evening....my helper here will be teaching you how to dispose of some unwanted creatures" his lip curled up in a rather unsettling way that maybe could've passed as a smile
Tom tried not to appear as confused and scared as he felt but hiding emotions had never been one of his strengths
"Off you go then" Snape said sourly turning on his heal and matching into his office leaving Tom alone with the boy he fancied
"Come on then let's go" said the older boy leading the way out of the classroom and out to the front of the school
They walked the first few minutes in a very uncomfortably loud silence
"Name's Tom" Tom finally mustered the courage to say
"Will" said the older boy quiet cooly seeming rather ignorant of Tom's presence
Tom however was unfazed by the other's irritable attitude, he was just happy to be spending his detention with the boy he adored...in fact it hardly was a detention, he should be thanking Snape for the 'punishment' he was receiving
"So what're we disposin of" Tom said trotting to keep up with the other boys long strides
"You'll see" Will said in a voice suggesting he was thoroughly uninterested in Tom
"Whoa is that a prefect's badge?" Tom asked amazed, he'd always wanted to be a prefect but he had begun to realize that it likely would never happen as he had a reputation for being a troublemaker
"Yes...that's what the badge says if you can read" Will said through clenched teeth, his strides were becoming faster and longer making Tom slightly out of breath as he was now jogging to match the quick pace
"Hey...mate...mind if we..slow down a bit?" Tom asked through heavy breaths
Will grumbled and came to an abrupt stop causing Tom to run directly into his back
"Shoot sorry mate" Tom said embarrassedly moving away and trying to hide the angry blush on his cheeks
Will pinched the bridge of his nose and mumbled quietly to himself before turning towards Tom, "look...not to be rude or anything but I have a lot of work to do and I don't want you slowing me down"
Tom was taken aback by this and held his tongue, he looked at the distressed face of the older boy and felt a pang of guilt in his chest
"Your tie..." Will mumbled quietly fixing his eyes onto the mess of a knot Tom has decided to keep it in
"What about it?" Tom asked looking down at it
"Do you really not know how to tie it?" He asked raising his eyebrows in genuine shock
Tom hesitated before nodding slowly
Will sighed and whipped out his wand mumbling quietly and aiming it at Tom's neck where the tie magically formed into a much better looking position
"Wow fanks mate!" Tom said through a wide grin, "now how do I look?" He asked with a smirk looking at Will who simply rolled his eyes unimpressed with the younger boy's behaviour
The rest of the walk was silent and uncomfortable, Tom was trying to find any conversation that wouldn't count as a waste of the other boy's time but for once he couldn't think of anything
"Alright now you know the stunning spell don't you?" Will finally asked, in a tone suggesting it was the most obvious thing ever
Tom snorted, as much as he admired the guy he couldn't deny that Ravenclaws all had too much brains....maybe he was just jealous and wished they could share a little with him
He shook his head slowly receiving an agitated groan from Will
"Really?? Aren't you fifth year? You should know this by now"
"Well I don't" Tom snapped crossing his arms and pouting, angry at himself for not paying more attention in his defence against the dark arts lessons, "now can you tell me what we're doing here?"
"We're getting rid of rats okay so I'm going to have to teach you how to stun"
"Well I'm glad it's a Ravenclaw stuck with then, I might actually learn something from you" Tom said slightly smiling over at Will who failed to return the gesture
"Watch me now" Will said hurriedly
He pulled back a curtain and revealed a repulsing sight of the rat infestation
Tom jumped back and gagged, "ugh yuck!"
"Stop being such a baby" Will said agitated, "now watch me"
He took a deep breath and pulled out his wand, "stupefy!" The rat froze and Will lifted it up and into a box with his wand, "surly you know wingardium leviosa by now?"
Tom was too enchanted in the way the sun made Will's eyes shine, he couldn't answer even if he wanted to, he noticed how soft and smooth Will's pale skin looked and how kindly blue his blue eyes were shining...
"Tom?? Did you hear me?"
"Uh no sorry mate"
He rolled his eyes, "I told you that you need to try it now"
"Try what?" Tom asked innocently finding himself staring at Will's soft looking lips
"Are you thick? The stunning charm I've just been practicing you prat" Will said, his temper boiling over to a point of severe anger
"Okay so...wot was it again? Stupidguy?"
"No no no stupefy now would you just get on with it?" Will's tone was stern and more and more agitated with each word
Tom nodded quickly and pointed his wand at a particularly fat rat
His hand was shaking from nerves, "okay so...stupefy!"
Nothing happened he flicked his want and tried again several times but to no avail
Will finally stepped in to help him, "okay now that your done messing around..."
Will reached an arm out and gently adjusted Tom's grip on his wand, "you don't want to strangle your wand you know right?" He asked amused for the first time all evening
Tom slightly smiled seeing the look of joy on Will's face, "n-no...m'not tryin to..." be said distractedly
"Well loosen the grip, and it's more of a swish and flick motion"
Tom nodded and cleared his throat turning back toward the rat, "stupefy!"
This time the rat seized up completely just as Will's had
"Ha! Ha ha! Did you see that? Serves you right you little bastard"
Will rolled his eyes, "alright back to work let's go"
The next few hours were spent clearing out the rats, Will had slowly begun to warm up to Tom and they actually shared a few laughs, especially when Tom told Will about the time he'd accidentally lifted professed Flitwick around the classroom in his first year
Will lifted the final rat into its box and sighed, "finally that took forever"
Tom nodded, "it was pretty fun though...best detention I've ever had"
"Best? You've had detention before??" Will asked utterly astonished by this news
"Oh yeah loads of times! I must have at least a couple detentions per week"
Will's jaw dropped and his eyes went wide, "haven't you ever thought to...I dunno, act appropriately"
"There's no fun in that Will...I don't wanna start actin like a preppy boy like you"
Will rolled his eyes, "oh shut up you're just jealous because I don't get D's on all my assignments"
Tom frowned, "I don't get D's in all my assignments...just most of them..."
Will chuckled, "sure...now let's head back to Snape before he bites my head off for taking so long to do a simple task—"
Will let out a startling yelp and jumped back looking utterly horrified
Tom, amused by this followed Will's horrified gaze to where he found his small toad, Tiger, hopping along the floor
"Tiggy! What're you doin out here mate!" Tom reached forward and scooped him up, "how'd you get out again? Did I forget to lock your cage?"
"Tom is that...yours?" Will asked his face in a repulsed sort of frown
"Of course he's mine! And he's so cute right? Come on Will he likes you just give him a pat"
Tom walked toward Will holding out Tiger and smiling brightly at Will
"No! No get that thing away from me"
"Hey...are you scared of a toad??" Tom said through amused giggles
"N-no I -I'm allergic" Will said weakly
Tom laughed hard, "Aww Will that's cute mate...but I'm serious Tiger is the sweetest toad you'll ever meet..."
"Oh come off it, are you a nutter? You can pick any animal and you pick a toad?? What on earth is good about a toad look at it..."
"Oi don't be mean, this toad is a lot like you actually...on the outside it might not seem very nice but once you get to know him he's a real lovely chap" Tom said with a wide grin
Will rolled his eyes, "that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard now come on..."
Will grabbed Tom's arm and pulled him along through the corridors
Tom couldn't help but grin noticing how Will didn't relent the grip at all, he basically walked him back to Snape's room practically holding his hand
They entered to find Snape cleaning off the chalkboard, "about time you finished...I was beginning to get worried"
"Were you really?" Tom asked before he could stop himself, a naive hope clung to his words that caused a smug grin to form on Snape's face
"No...now leave"
Tom smiled and looked over at Will who was rolling his eyes
Snape strode off back to his office and closed the door
Tom looked at Will, "So uh" he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Do you wanna maybe hang out...some time?"
Tom cursed himself for his lack of smoothness, he was half expecting Will to laugh at him and joke about the idea but the older boy simply smiled
"Yeah...I think I'd like that a lot"
Tom smiled feeling very pleasantly surprised, "m-maybe I'll get in detention again so I can see you again"
"No" Will said sternly, "no more detention okay? Or else I'm not hanging out with you"
Tom grinned, "is that a challenge"
"No...it's a deal, I'm serious, you need a good education if you wanna go anywhere in life"
"Okay Ravenclaw" Tom said rolling his eyes
"Okay Hufflepuff" Will said smugly crossing his arms
Tom groaned, and pouted
Will giggled quietly, "so I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast then"
"Y-yeah yeah I'm at my table" Tom said stupidly goggling once more over the way that Will had giggled in such a melodically pleasing way
"Alright, goodnight Tom" Will said with the most friendly sincere smile as he walked down the corridor toward his common room
Tom gathered his belongings with a stupid grin on his face, he knew he'd fallen for Will and that nothing could save him now...
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