(no subject)
Title: Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
Author:achika_chan
Pairing: Linkara/Insano
Rating: R-ish? One of the scenarios is a bit smutty
Summary: 5 Ways that Hogwarts AU Linkara and Insano could have gotten together, if things had been just a bit different.
I. Linkara had just enough time to register Insano saying “Oh shit,” and look up to see what had caused such a reaction when the potion blew up all over them and the lab.
Linkara made a disgusted face. The potion was kind of sticky and it was a red color with shiny pink specks. Linkara wiped his face with a part of his robe that was clean to get the potion off.
“What was that stuff?” Linkara asked. There was a faint taste on his lips left over from the potion like chocolate with chili powder in it, or strawberries, or…it was hard to describe it, Linkara thought, pulling himself out of his thoughts, but it was definitely not a bad one. Linkara licked his lips, trying to place the taste, but it kept shifting and it was hard to concentrate on it.
“An experiment. Scourgify!” Insano said, pointing his wand at the potion that had been spread everywhere.
Insano’s cheeks had flushed to a pink color, and it was kind of cute. The contrast of it with his pale skin and dark hair and uniform was captivating. Linkara found himself wondering what it would be like to trace that blush with his fingers, and did Insano blush with his whole body?
“It…uh, doesn’t work with skin contact, right? You have to drink it?” Linkara asked, realizing that something wasn’t quite right.
“The effects are…severely lessened. Ignorable,” Insano said pointedly, trying desperately to get everything clean before their professor came to check and see how the tutoring was going.
Linkara felt a faint tingling in his skin, and his heart rate go up. He was suddenly grateful that the uniform required robes. Ignorable. Right. Linkara could do that.
He helped Insano clean and tried in vain not to get distracted by his own brain, or wonder why Insano was brewing a - probably illegal, but that had never stopped Insano before - aphrodisiac in the first place or that Insano was feeling the same things right then, and probably even more so since he’d been closer and been splashed with more of it.
They managed to get everything cleaned up, somehow, and Insano turned with a victorious grin to Linkara. He’d had to take his goggles off, and Linkara could see that his eyes were dark, and his hands were trembling slightly, held firmly at his sides.
“Great, everything’s back to normal and -“ Linkara couldn’t help himself anymore and kissed Insano roughly.
Insano opened up to him immediately, and somehow Linkara managed to maneuver them so that he had Insano pinned against the dungeon wall. Insano moaned, pressing his hips against Linkara’s and grinding.
Insano pulled away with a gasp. “We can’t,” he said, but his hands were clenched tight in Linkara’s uniform holding him in place and they didn’t seem to want to let go. “It’s the potion. I -oh god - “ Linkara’s mouth went to Insano’s neck, nibbling and sucking “I re-refuse to sleep with someone because of a- hngh- potion, damn it!”
That was kind of disappointing, but Linkara had an idea.
“So we won’t sleep together,” Linkara said, running his hands down Insano’s sides and making him shiver.
“What?” Insano asked, distracted.
“This is nice. We’ll just…do this. Until the potion wears off,” Linkara said, trailing kisses up Insano’s neck and across his cheek. “Clothes on. No hands below the waist,”
Insano didn’t even hesitate. “You’ve got a deal,” he said, sealing it by capturing Linkara’s lips with his own.
The potion’s effects were weakened by not drinking it, they still had enough control left for that…didn’t they?
II. Linkara ran right into Insano in the doorway to Honeydukes.
“Sorry,” Linkara said.
When he tried to move out of the way and let Insano and Spoony pass, he found that he couldn’t. Linkara frowned.
“Look up, moron,” Spoony said, laughing.
Linkara did. Up on the doorframe, by the bell, was Mistletoe.
“Is that…?” Insano asked in horror.
“It is,” Spoony said, full of unholy glee.
Insano and Linkara just stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Linkara shifted nervously.
“Umm…”
“You’re blocking the door, get on with it,” Spoony said, tapping his foot impatiently. Linkara and Insano both glared at him.
Linkara leaned forward and kissed Insano lightly. It was dry and so warm, Linkara didn’t know if it was because he’d been outside in the cold or if Insano was actually that warm.
When he pulled away, Insano’s cheeks had turned bright pink. Insano started to say something, but Linkara’s mouth beat him to it.
“Do you want to go get a Butterbeer? Or…something?” Linkara blurted out before his brain could tell him that he was being stupid.
“Oh! Um…Okay. Yeah,” Insano said, dazed.
Spoony rolled his eyes.
“You two are such pussies. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go meet Snob and Phelous and get them to try these potentially gross candies for my sick enjoyment,” Spoony said, shoving past them and in the process shoving Insano into Linkara.
“So…The Three Broomsticks?” Linkara asked tentatively.
“That…sounds like a plan,” Insano said, fighting back a smile.
III. The Astronomy Tower, despite its reputation as a place to go to make out, was a great place to think when you wanted to be alone. Gryffindor had just beat Slytherin in Quidditch, and there was a very loud party happening in the common room, so Linkara had ducked out for some quiet. Linkara was only marginally surprised when, after deciding to up there to get some air and watch the stars for a while, his contemplation of the universe was interrupted by Insano showing up.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Insano asked, raising an eyebrow pointedly. Linkara laughed.
“Nope. Just me and the stars,” Linkara said, motioning to the sky.
Insano nodded and walked over, laying down to get a good look at the stars.
They didn’t speak for a long time, just laid there in comfortable silence.
“When I was little and couldn’t sleep,” Linkara said quietly, trying not to disturb the peace. “Harvey would take me into the back yard and we’d lay in this hammock and he’d point out constellations in the sky and tell me stories about them. I’m pretty sure he made most of them up, but I remember them,”
“Really? Like what?” Insano asked.
Linkara took Insano’s hand, pointing out a cluster of stars. “That one there is Angela the Fierce. I think he named it after one of his ex girlfriends. Angela the Fierce was princess, see? And she had suitors from all over, but she wasn’t interested in any of them. She wanted to have adventures instead of getting married. One of her suitors was a Prince, and the other a Bard, and she liked both of them well enough, but still didn’t want to get married. But the Prince and the Bard both liked her, and they got into a fight. And Angela was so upset at them that she threw them both into the lake and told them to come back when they had dignity. Well, long story short, the Prince and the Bard became friends, Angela and the Prince got together and had adventures, and the Bard found another princess to sing to,”
Linkara spoke quietly and surely, and when he turned his head to look over at Insano, Insano was staring at him. He hadn’t realized before that they were so close.
“…So that’s one of the stories,” Linkara said, wetting his lips.
“It was nice,” Insano said, barely above a whisper.
Linkara didn’t know how they wound up kissing, but he wasn’t about to question it.
Waking up at the first sign of daylight after spending the night out on the hard stone was distinctly uncomfortable and awkward, and so was trying to sneak back into the Gryffindor Tower without anyone seeing him.
IV. “They’re seriously giving us this lesson when we’re 17? Isn’t that just a tiny bit late, considering that people usually start going to the Astronomy Tower when they’re 15?” Insano asked.
The entire 7th Year had been summoned for a once a week, mandatory, ‘Health’ lesson.
“I think that they think that parents are supposed to have this talk with their kids,” Linkara said.
Spoony snorted. “Oh please, we spend almost our entire fucking year trapped in this castle! They can’t just pawn us off on our parents when they feel like it and then keep us away from them for the rest of the time,”
“Shut up, this should be hilarious,” Snob said, leaning back in his chair.
“Alright, everyone, settle down,” the professor said. “Now some of you might think this is just going to be a Sex Education lecture. You’re wrong. It’s about relationships and communication and trust. So you’re all going to get paired up randomly and ‘raise’ a ‘child’ together,”
The professor held up a doll. “This doll cries, needs changing, needs food and sleep and care, everything a real child needs. It also knows when it’s not being treated well, and at the end of the assignment I’ll find that out and it’ll be part of your grade,”
Snob and Jillian got paired up and immediately decided to name the doll Lloyd for some unknown reason. Spoony wound up paired with Roses - and got a dirty look from her boyfriend Paw in the process. Joe got Lisa Foiles, and Film Brain and Luke Mochrie were busy glaring at each other over their doll. Linkara was expecting/hoping to be paired up with Marzgurl, but those hopes were dashed when the professor called Insano’s name instead.
Their doll was bright pink with big eyes and was actually kind of cute, but Linkara wasn’t going to admit that. Insano seemed immediately enthralled by it, though, because it cooed and giggled in response to him.
“This is going to suck,” Phelous said. He’d been paired up with Lupa, which didn’t seem so bad to Linkara.
“I agree,” Linkara said, watching Insano poke the doll curiously.
It turned out that raising a child with someone who you weren’t living with was, in fact, kind of difficult. Insano and Linkara had to work out a schedule for who got the doll when. Linkara took the doll when Insano was in Potions and Arithmancy, and Insano took the doll while Linkara was in DADA and Charms. They rotated other classes, meal times, and who got to keep the doll at night.
Insano was a surprisingly good ‘parent’ and in his more irrational moments, Linkara was almost convinced that the doll liked Insano better. Which was ridiculous, because it was a doll and therefore not capable of liking anything.
It was weird, having to be around Insano so much. And they couldn’t even fight like they used to, because when it got bad the doll would start crying like it sensed that its ‘daddies’ were fighting. Which meant that they had to actually talk to each other about things like reasonable people, instead of yelling and jinxing each other
Linkara had never really wanted to be rivals or whatever with Insano, he was friends with Spoony so it was a little weird that he couldn’t get along with his twin. It had just sort of happened that way, and it hadn’t looked like there was a way to change it.
But having to take care of the doll had forged some kind of truce between them, and it was kind of nice, not always fighting with Insano.
Insano marched determinedly over to the Gryffindor table and Linkara could see that he was tired and trying very hard to stay awake and upright. The doll in his arms was making vague upset noises.
“Take it,” Insano said, shoving the doll into Linkara’s hands. “It cried. All Night. I used a silencing charm to spare the rest of the dorm but I didn’t sleep at all,”
The doll immediately started cooing and even glowed bright pink for a second before it settled down into ‘sleep’ mode. Insano was staring in shock.
“That’s what it wanted? It missed you?” Insano asked.
“You should have come found me,” Linkara said.
“Yes, I should have gone to the Gryffindor Tower in the middle of the night with a crying doll and begged the Fat Lady to let me in and hoped she’d take pity on me?” Insano asked.
“Point,” Linkara said. “Still. I’d have helped,”
“I know,” Insano said, rolling his eyes. “And you’re a god among men for it, I’m sure,”
Linkara snorted and got up from the table. “Come on, I know a place where you can take a nap without being disturbed,”
Insano stared at him for a moment before kissing him, right there in the Great Hall in front of everyone.
“Show me,” Insano said, before giving a jaw cracking yawn.
Linkara shifted the doll so that he was carrying it on one arm and took Insano’s hand with the other.
V. Linkara watched with horror as Insano hit the ground. Spoony was at Insano’s side in an instant, and Linkara practically sprinted over.
He had no idea what just happened. He hadn’t meant to hurt Insano, not really, but the duel had gotten heated quickly because it always did between the two of them and things had just happened.
“Is he okay?” Linkara asked.
“He’s breathing,” Spoony said.
Insano was taken to the Hospital Wing. Linkara and Spoony stayed with him. Linkara was given a lecture by Professor McGonagall, but it probably wasn’t as stern as it should have been because Linkara was beating himself up for it already.
Madame Pomfrey let them stay as long as that they didn’t disturb anything. Spoony passed out at some point, leaving Linkara to worry by himself.
When Insano stirred, Linkara scrambled to sit upright.
“What the…Oh. Right,” Insano muttered to himself, apparently realizing where he was.
“You got hurt in our practice duel. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Linkara said quietly, so as to not wake Spoony and because it didn’t feel right to speak at a normal volume.
Insano gave Linkara a flat look.
“I know that, you idiot. I know what you hit me with, and if I’d been half a second faster I’d have blocked it and sent something equally nasty your way. Now stop beating yourself up and go back to your dorm, it’s nearly 2 in the morning and there’s class tomorrow,” Insano said, shooting a quick glance at the softly illuminated clock face.
“No. I’ll keep you company. It’s boring here at night and I know that you wouldn’t wake Spoony up to keep you entertained,” Linkara said.
“Alright, fine. What do you suggest we do, then?” Insano asked, rolling his eyes.
“Marzgurl brought me some comics to read? Some of them are Muggle, though, so you’ll probably have to explain things to me,” Linkara offered.
Apparently the opportunity to show off his knowledge was something that Insano couldn’t pass up. He shifted over, making room on the bed for Linkara, and the two of them read comics together in the dim candle light.
They fell asleep curled together, holding hands, with comics on the bed and the side table, and were woken with a start by a frowning Madame Pomfry, who tisked and tutted and said that Linkara should know better than to disturb someone’s rest. Spoony was obviously trying very hard not to laugh at them.
“I’ll see you at lunch, I guess,” Linkara said, standing awkwardly by the bed.
“Yeah, probably,” Insano said.
Linkara hesitated briefly before kissing the corner of Insano’s mouth. Insano looked a little shocked and confused when Linkara pulled away, but he was smiling as Linkara left the Hospital Wing.
VI. “You know,” Guy said, chewing thoughtfully on the end of the chocolate pipe in his mouth, “they really are crazy about each other,”
Snob gave Guy a flat look. “I’m sorry, do you not see them trying to jinx each other right now, or what?”
“It’s like Critic and his lovely counterpart. The animosity is hiding enormous amounts of sexual tension,” Guy said confidently.
Snob looked over at Linkara and Insano, who had reached the point of name calling in between curses and jinxes and looked like they were going to toss the wands aside at any moment and just use their fists. Spoony was on the sidelines, ignoring them and playing with some Muggle doo-dad that Insano had rigged to work inside the castle.
“If you say so,” Snob said.
AND NOW A SUPER SPECIAL BONUS: This is how the Honeydukes scene originally played out, back when I first had the idea for this fic. The concept changed slightly and so everything got rewritten, but this one I liked too much to throw away entirely. Enjoy!
II. Linkara ran right into Insano in the doorway to Honeydukes.
“Sorry,” Linkara said.
When he tried to move out of the way and let Insano and Spoony pass, he found that he couldn’t. Linkara frowned.
“Look up, moron,” Spoony said, laughing.
Linkara did. Up on the doorframe, by the bell, was Mistletoe.
“Is that…?” Insano asked in horror.
“It is,” Spoony said, full of unholy glee.
Insano and Linkara just stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Spoony must have gotten impatient, because he rolled his eyes and pressed his lips to Linkara’s quickly. Linkara jumped back the second he felt the spell lift.
“You two are such pussies. Now come on, Insano, we’ve got to go meet Snob and Phelous and get them to try these potentially gross candies for our sick enjoyment,” Spoony said, dragging Insano away.
Linkara watched them go, and Insano craned his neck back to look at Linkara.
Author:achika_chan
Pairing: Linkara/Insano
Rating: R-ish? One of the scenarios is a bit smutty
Summary: 5 Ways that Hogwarts AU Linkara and Insano could have gotten together, if things had been just a bit different.
I. Linkara had just enough time to register Insano saying “Oh shit,” and look up to see what had caused such a reaction when the potion blew up all over them and the lab.
Linkara made a disgusted face. The potion was kind of sticky and it was a red color with shiny pink specks. Linkara wiped his face with a part of his robe that was clean to get the potion off.
“What was that stuff?” Linkara asked. There was a faint taste on his lips left over from the potion like chocolate with chili powder in it, or strawberries, or…it was hard to describe it, Linkara thought, pulling himself out of his thoughts, but it was definitely not a bad one. Linkara licked his lips, trying to place the taste, but it kept shifting and it was hard to concentrate on it.
“An experiment. Scourgify!” Insano said, pointing his wand at the potion that had been spread everywhere.
Insano’s cheeks had flushed to a pink color, and it was kind of cute. The contrast of it with his pale skin and dark hair and uniform was captivating. Linkara found himself wondering what it would be like to trace that blush with his fingers, and did Insano blush with his whole body?
“It…uh, doesn’t work with skin contact, right? You have to drink it?” Linkara asked, realizing that something wasn’t quite right.
“The effects are…severely lessened. Ignorable,” Insano said pointedly, trying desperately to get everything clean before their professor came to check and see how the tutoring was going.
Linkara felt a faint tingling in his skin, and his heart rate go up. He was suddenly grateful that the uniform required robes. Ignorable. Right. Linkara could do that.
He helped Insano clean and tried in vain not to get distracted by his own brain, or wonder why Insano was brewing a - probably illegal, but that had never stopped Insano before - aphrodisiac in the first place or that Insano was feeling the same things right then, and probably even more so since he’d been closer and been splashed with more of it.
They managed to get everything cleaned up, somehow, and Insano turned with a victorious grin to Linkara. He’d had to take his goggles off, and Linkara could see that his eyes were dark, and his hands were trembling slightly, held firmly at his sides.
“Great, everything’s back to normal and -“ Linkara couldn’t help himself anymore and kissed Insano roughly.
Insano opened up to him immediately, and somehow Linkara managed to maneuver them so that he had Insano pinned against the dungeon wall. Insano moaned, pressing his hips against Linkara’s and grinding.
Insano pulled away with a gasp. “We can’t,” he said, but his hands were clenched tight in Linkara’s uniform holding him in place and they didn’t seem to want to let go. “It’s the potion. I -oh god - “ Linkara’s mouth went to Insano’s neck, nibbling and sucking “I re-refuse to sleep with someone because of a- hngh- potion, damn it!”
That was kind of disappointing, but Linkara had an idea.
“So we won’t sleep together,” Linkara said, running his hands down Insano’s sides and making him shiver.
“What?” Insano asked, distracted.
“This is nice. We’ll just…do this. Until the potion wears off,” Linkara said, trailing kisses up Insano’s neck and across his cheek. “Clothes on. No hands below the waist,”
Insano didn’t even hesitate. “You’ve got a deal,” he said, sealing it by capturing Linkara’s lips with his own.
The potion’s effects were weakened by not drinking it, they still had enough control left for that…didn’t they?
II. Linkara ran right into Insano in the doorway to Honeydukes.
“Sorry,” Linkara said.
When he tried to move out of the way and let Insano and Spoony pass, he found that he couldn’t. Linkara frowned.
“Look up, moron,” Spoony said, laughing.
Linkara did. Up on the doorframe, by the bell, was Mistletoe.
“Is that…?” Insano asked in horror.
“It is,” Spoony said, full of unholy glee.
Insano and Linkara just stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Linkara shifted nervously.
“Umm…”
“You’re blocking the door, get on with it,” Spoony said, tapping his foot impatiently. Linkara and Insano both glared at him.
Linkara leaned forward and kissed Insano lightly. It was dry and so warm, Linkara didn’t know if it was because he’d been outside in the cold or if Insano was actually that warm.
When he pulled away, Insano’s cheeks had turned bright pink. Insano started to say something, but Linkara’s mouth beat him to it.
“Do you want to go get a Butterbeer? Or…something?” Linkara blurted out before his brain could tell him that he was being stupid.
“Oh! Um…Okay. Yeah,” Insano said, dazed.
Spoony rolled his eyes.
“You two are such pussies. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go meet Snob and Phelous and get them to try these potentially gross candies for my sick enjoyment,” Spoony said, shoving past them and in the process shoving Insano into Linkara.
“So…The Three Broomsticks?” Linkara asked tentatively.
“That…sounds like a plan,” Insano said, fighting back a smile.
III. The Astronomy Tower, despite its reputation as a place to go to make out, was a great place to think when you wanted to be alone. Gryffindor had just beat Slytherin in Quidditch, and there was a very loud party happening in the common room, so Linkara had ducked out for some quiet. Linkara was only marginally surprised when, after deciding to up there to get some air and watch the stars for a while, his contemplation of the universe was interrupted by Insano showing up.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Insano asked, raising an eyebrow pointedly. Linkara laughed.
“Nope. Just me and the stars,” Linkara said, motioning to the sky.
Insano nodded and walked over, laying down to get a good look at the stars.
They didn’t speak for a long time, just laid there in comfortable silence.
“When I was little and couldn’t sleep,” Linkara said quietly, trying not to disturb the peace. “Harvey would take me into the back yard and we’d lay in this hammock and he’d point out constellations in the sky and tell me stories about them. I’m pretty sure he made most of them up, but I remember them,”
“Really? Like what?” Insano asked.
Linkara took Insano’s hand, pointing out a cluster of stars. “That one there is Angela the Fierce. I think he named it after one of his ex girlfriends. Angela the Fierce was princess, see? And she had suitors from all over, but she wasn’t interested in any of them. She wanted to have adventures instead of getting married. One of her suitors was a Prince, and the other a Bard, and she liked both of them well enough, but still didn’t want to get married. But the Prince and the Bard both liked her, and they got into a fight. And Angela was so upset at them that she threw them both into the lake and told them to come back when they had dignity. Well, long story short, the Prince and the Bard became friends, Angela and the Prince got together and had adventures, and the Bard found another princess to sing to,”
Linkara spoke quietly and surely, and when he turned his head to look over at Insano, Insano was staring at him. He hadn’t realized before that they were so close.
“…So that’s one of the stories,” Linkara said, wetting his lips.
“It was nice,” Insano said, barely above a whisper.
Linkara didn’t know how they wound up kissing, but he wasn’t about to question it.
Waking up at the first sign of daylight after spending the night out on the hard stone was distinctly uncomfortable and awkward, and so was trying to sneak back into the Gryffindor Tower without anyone seeing him.
IV. “They’re seriously giving us this lesson when we’re 17? Isn’t that just a tiny bit late, considering that people usually start going to the Astronomy Tower when they’re 15?” Insano asked.
The entire 7th Year had been summoned for a once a week, mandatory, ‘Health’ lesson.
“I think that they think that parents are supposed to have this talk with their kids,” Linkara said.
Spoony snorted. “Oh please, we spend almost our entire fucking year trapped in this castle! They can’t just pawn us off on our parents when they feel like it and then keep us away from them for the rest of the time,”
“Shut up, this should be hilarious,” Snob said, leaning back in his chair.
“Alright, everyone, settle down,” the professor said. “Now some of you might think this is just going to be a Sex Education lecture. You’re wrong. It’s about relationships and communication and trust. So you’re all going to get paired up randomly and ‘raise’ a ‘child’ together,”
The professor held up a doll. “This doll cries, needs changing, needs food and sleep and care, everything a real child needs. It also knows when it’s not being treated well, and at the end of the assignment I’ll find that out and it’ll be part of your grade,”
Snob and Jillian got paired up and immediately decided to name the doll Lloyd for some unknown reason. Spoony wound up paired with Roses - and got a dirty look from her boyfriend Paw in the process. Joe got Lisa Foiles, and Film Brain and Luke Mochrie were busy glaring at each other over their doll. Linkara was expecting/hoping to be paired up with Marzgurl, but those hopes were dashed when the professor called Insano’s name instead.
Their doll was bright pink with big eyes and was actually kind of cute, but Linkara wasn’t going to admit that. Insano seemed immediately enthralled by it, though, because it cooed and giggled in response to him.
“This is going to suck,” Phelous said. He’d been paired up with Lupa, which didn’t seem so bad to Linkara.
“I agree,” Linkara said, watching Insano poke the doll curiously.
It turned out that raising a child with someone who you weren’t living with was, in fact, kind of difficult. Insano and Linkara had to work out a schedule for who got the doll when. Linkara took the doll when Insano was in Potions and Arithmancy, and Insano took the doll while Linkara was in DADA and Charms. They rotated other classes, meal times, and who got to keep the doll at night.
Insano was a surprisingly good ‘parent’ and in his more irrational moments, Linkara was almost convinced that the doll liked Insano better. Which was ridiculous, because it was a doll and therefore not capable of liking anything.
It was weird, having to be around Insano so much. And they couldn’t even fight like they used to, because when it got bad the doll would start crying like it sensed that its ‘daddies’ were fighting. Which meant that they had to actually talk to each other about things like reasonable people, instead of yelling and jinxing each other
Linkara had never really wanted to be rivals or whatever with Insano, he was friends with Spoony so it was a little weird that he couldn’t get along with his twin. It had just sort of happened that way, and it hadn’t looked like there was a way to change it.
But having to take care of the doll had forged some kind of truce between them, and it was kind of nice, not always fighting with Insano.
Insano marched determinedly over to the Gryffindor table and Linkara could see that he was tired and trying very hard to stay awake and upright. The doll in his arms was making vague upset noises.
“Take it,” Insano said, shoving the doll into Linkara’s hands. “It cried. All Night. I used a silencing charm to spare the rest of the dorm but I didn’t sleep at all,”
The doll immediately started cooing and even glowed bright pink for a second before it settled down into ‘sleep’ mode. Insano was staring in shock.
“That’s what it wanted? It missed you?” Insano asked.
“You should have come found me,” Linkara said.
“Yes, I should have gone to the Gryffindor Tower in the middle of the night with a crying doll and begged the Fat Lady to let me in and hoped she’d take pity on me?” Insano asked.
“Point,” Linkara said. “Still. I’d have helped,”
“I know,” Insano said, rolling his eyes. “And you’re a god among men for it, I’m sure,”
Linkara snorted and got up from the table. “Come on, I know a place where you can take a nap without being disturbed,”
Insano stared at him for a moment before kissing him, right there in the Great Hall in front of everyone.
“Show me,” Insano said, before giving a jaw cracking yawn.
Linkara shifted the doll so that he was carrying it on one arm and took Insano’s hand with the other.
V. Linkara watched with horror as Insano hit the ground. Spoony was at Insano’s side in an instant, and Linkara practically sprinted over.
He had no idea what just happened. He hadn’t meant to hurt Insano, not really, but the duel had gotten heated quickly because it always did between the two of them and things had just happened.
“Is he okay?” Linkara asked.
“He’s breathing,” Spoony said.
Insano was taken to the Hospital Wing. Linkara and Spoony stayed with him. Linkara was given a lecture by Professor McGonagall, but it probably wasn’t as stern as it should have been because Linkara was beating himself up for it already.
Madame Pomfrey let them stay as long as that they didn’t disturb anything. Spoony passed out at some point, leaving Linkara to worry by himself.
When Insano stirred, Linkara scrambled to sit upright.
“What the…Oh. Right,” Insano muttered to himself, apparently realizing where he was.
“You got hurt in our practice duel. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Linkara said quietly, so as to not wake Spoony and because it didn’t feel right to speak at a normal volume.
Insano gave Linkara a flat look.
“I know that, you idiot. I know what you hit me with, and if I’d been half a second faster I’d have blocked it and sent something equally nasty your way. Now stop beating yourself up and go back to your dorm, it’s nearly 2 in the morning and there’s class tomorrow,” Insano said, shooting a quick glance at the softly illuminated clock face.
“No. I’ll keep you company. It’s boring here at night and I know that you wouldn’t wake Spoony up to keep you entertained,” Linkara said.
“Alright, fine. What do you suggest we do, then?” Insano asked, rolling his eyes.
“Marzgurl brought me some comics to read? Some of them are Muggle, though, so you’ll probably have to explain things to me,” Linkara offered.
Apparently the opportunity to show off his knowledge was something that Insano couldn’t pass up. He shifted over, making room on the bed for Linkara, and the two of them read comics together in the dim candle light.
They fell asleep curled together, holding hands, with comics on the bed and the side table, and were woken with a start by a frowning Madame Pomfry, who tisked and tutted and said that Linkara should know better than to disturb someone’s rest. Spoony was obviously trying very hard not to laugh at them.
“I’ll see you at lunch, I guess,” Linkara said, standing awkwardly by the bed.
“Yeah, probably,” Insano said.
Linkara hesitated briefly before kissing the corner of Insano’s mouth. Insano looked a little shocked and confused when Linkara pulled away, but he was smiling as Linkara left the Hospital Wing.
VI. “You know,” Guy said, chewing thoughtfully on the end of the chocolate pipe in his mouth, “they really are crazy about each other,”
Snob gave Guy a flat look. “I’m sorry, do you not see them trying to jinx each other right now, or what?”
“It’s like Critic and his lovely counterpart. The animosity is hiding enormous amounts of sexual tension,” Guy said confidently.
Snob looked over at Linkara and Insano, who had reached the point of name calling in between curses and jinxes and looked like they were going to toss the wands aside at any moment and just use their fists. Spoony was on the sidelines, ignoring them and playing with some Muggle doo-dad that Insano had rigged to work inside the castle.
“If you say so,” Snob said.
AND NOW A SUPER SPECIAL BONUS: This is how the Honeydukes scene originally played out, back when I first had the idea for this fic. The concept changed slightly and so everything got rewritten, but this one I liked too much to throw away entirely. Enjoy!
II. Linkara ran right into Insano in the doorway to Honeydukes.
“Sorry,” Linkara said.
When he tried to move out of the way and let Insano and Spoony pass, he found that he couldn’t. Linkara frowned.
“Look up, moron,” Spoony said, laughing.
Linkara did. Up on the doorframe, by the bell, was Mistletoe.
“Is that…?” Insano asked in horror.
“It is,” Spoony said, full of unholy glee.
Insano and Linkara just stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Spoony must have gotten impatient, because he rolled his eyes and pressed his lips to Linkara’s quickly. Linkara jumped back the second he felt the spell lift.
“You two are such pussies. Now come on, Insano, we’ve got to go meet Snob and Phelous and get them to try these potentially gross candies for our sick enjoyment,” Spoony said, dragging Insano away.
Linkara watched them go, and Insano craned his neck back to look at Linkara.