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Jason wanted to argue that detention was unfair, that he’d done nothing wrong, that it was all Zack Taylor’s fault and therefore he shouldn’t be punished, but his professors weren’t exactly the most forgiving.
He’d been caught out of bed after hours in the restricted section of the library, and therefore he was to serve in detention. Normally, detention was just an inconvenience, but with a big game against Hufflepuff coming up, he needed to be at Quidditch practice. He’d seen what a mess the Gryffindor team could be without its captain, and he didn’t want to repeat that experience.
Zack had been trying to talk to him, to get back on Jason’s good side or something, except Zack was a perpetual screw-up who never managed to stay on anyone’s good side for very long. He’d gotten them caught, and Jason was suffering because of it.
Since they were both seventh years and both in Gryffindor, Jason couldn’t manage to get away from Zack, no matter how hard he tried. He was relieved, then, that he wasn’t alone with Zack in detention. Billy Cranston, the Ravenclaw boy with a penchant for pyrotechnics, was there, as was Kimberly Hart, the freakishly adept Slytherin Beater who struck fear in the hearts of anyone playing against her.
Rounding out their group was a Hufflepuff--Trini something-or-other--the one person who seemed to be able to tolerate Zack, though Jason wondered if she scared him and that’s what kept him in line.
“Barely on time, I see,” the professor said, looking at a device that Jason wasn’t convinced could tell time.
Jason just nodded, but Zack started to say something, which Jason assumed was going to be a smartass comment. So he hit him on the shoulder to shut him up, which no one seemed bothered by.
“Now that you’re all here,” their professor said, standing up and walking around her desk, “these are your duties, to be divided amongst yourselves as you see fit.
“First,” she said, gesturing to a pair of buckets on a table next to the nearby trophy case, “the trophies are to be cleaned using this Vanishing Potion. It has been adjusted to be safe on metals and human skin. Still,” she added, “I recommend gloves, just in case.”
Just in case never ended well at Hogwarts, and Jason eyed the gloves nearby greedily.
“The second requires careful attention to detail.” She looked at Zack, and Jason wondered if it was a challenge. “The potions master has recently acquired additional supplies which need to be integrated with her current stock. As she is exacting in her requirements, the shelves will need to be rearranged like so.” The professor held up a long piece of parchment with dozens and dozens of ingredients listed. “I needn’t remind you that the inventory has been hexed to ensure no supplies go missing…”
So why remind us then? Jason wondered, and from the look of it, the other four were thinking the same thing.
“You will spend the next four hours on these tasks, and you will only be allowed to leave if they’re completed to my satisfaction.”
That, Jason knew, was going to be difficult test to pass, but since he couldn’t risk missing more Quidditch practices, he was determined to get it right the first time.
And he was determined that Zack fucking Taylor wasn’t going to screw off and ruin it for him.
------
Zack had been the first one to volunteer for trophy cleaning, because organizing tiny, fragile bottles sounded tedious and risky.
Surprisingly, Jason Scott had also volunteered to stay in the trophy room.
“I thought you didn’t wanna be anywhere near me,” Zack said with a smirk.
“I’m keeping an eye on you…”
Trini gave Zack a look that was part sympathy, part “good fucking luck, homeboy” before she, Kim, and Billy left for the dungeons.
The freeze-out from Jason made Zack wonder if he should have risked restocking the shelves--Billy had seemed excited, and with him organizing it probably would go fast--but it was too late to switch, and he was still hoping he could get Jason to talk to him.
“How’s it going?” Zack asked after about 30 minutes. “I’m doing pretty well over here. I could help you if you want?”
Jason didn’t answer.
Ten minutes later, Zack tried again. “Looking good, dude! The, uh, cleaning, I mean.”
Still no response.
“So,” Zack tried for a third time, “I never got a good look at what you were looking at in the library. What was important enough to sneak outta bed?”
He saw Jason bristle and focus his energy on the trophy in front of him.
“I’m missing Quidditch practice for this,” he grumbled, “so thanks for that.”
Zack sighed. Of course Jason blamed him. Sure, he’d bumped into the table in the library and knocked that shrieking book on the floor. Sure, he’d dragged Jason left instead of right and run headlong into the Head Girl. Sure, Jason might have avoided detention if he hadn’t been there, but that didn’t mean Jason hadn’t broken the rules.
Except, of course, Jason probably didn’t care about that.
“Whatever,” Zack said instead as he plunged his rag into the vanishing potion and starting attacking a trophy to vent his frustration.
Jason was exhausting, and every time he tried to befriend him, Jason would blow him off. Or he’d blow up at him. Maybe Zack was a bit tactless--Trini, ironically, had pointed that out--but he figured after seven years attending the same classes and sharing the same dorm, Zack figured they could get to know each other better.
It didn't hurt that Jason was gorgeous, extremely sought after, and notoriously single. It all made Zack curious, and curiosity, it seemed, had unfortunate consequences for him.
Those consequences never stopped him from trying, though.
With Jason being so uncooperative, Zack decided that they should get through detention in silence, and he’d try talking to him later when tension weren’t so high.
Jason, however, didn’t want to drop it. “What, you think this isn’t your fault?”
Zack tried not to react, he really did, but as soon as Jason barked “Hey!” at him, he threw his rag on the ground and spun around.
“Dude, you broke the rules all on your own, so don’t blame me.”
“I was trying to get some quiet and you just had to follow me and fuck everything up.”
Zack shook his head and tried to walk past Jason to the next trophy case, but Jason grabbed his arm. Zack took a deep breath to calm himself, shook Jason’s hand off, and tried to move past him, but when Jason grabbed his arm again, he turned, grabbed the front of Jason’s robes, and slammed him against the nearest wall.
“The fuck is your problem?” Jason asked, and Zack loosened his grip in shock. His problem? Jason was the one who insisted on being an asshole, but Zack was the one with a problem?
With Zack distracted, Jason knocked his hands away, grabbed him by the shoulders, and tossed him to the ground. Zack landed with a thud and groaned in pain.
“Why’d you follow me, huh?” he asked, kneeling on Zack’s chest and pinning both his arms down. “Saw me sneak out and thought you’d get me in trouble?”
Zack was considering whether a week of detention was worth it if he got to punch Jason in the face. And if he could get Jason to punch him back, that would be a week of detention for Jason. Not that he wanted to be stuck in the same room with him longer than necessary--he was proving to be incredibly exhausting--but he was fully prepared to take the hit if he got to knock Jason down a peg.
Jason seemed to relax when Zack stopped struggling, and Zack took advantage of that by wrapping his legs around Jason’s body and tossing him sideways. Jason didn’t seem to know what had happened until Zack was on top of him pinning his arms above his head.
“Not everything revolves around you, dude,” Zack said, tightening his grip as Jason kept struggling.
“If you weren’t following me, then why’d you end up there?” Jason asked as he fought against Zack. “You’re not exactly studious.”
Zack wanted an excuse, but he really didn’t have one. That night, he’d planned to wing it, and after they were caught, Jason refused to speak to him. Now, however, faced directly with the question, he wasn’t sure what to do. So he resorted to sarcasm. “Sure, fine, you caught me. I want you so bad that I followed you to have my way with you alone in the creepy-ass library.” He leaned closer to Jason and whispered, “I love the danger.”
Jason looked up at him as if he half believed him, and Zack was about to say something to fill the silence, but Jason caught him off guard, leaned up, and kissed him quickly on the lips.
When Jason pulled away, he was breathing heavily, and he looked slightly panicked, as if he were wondering how to explain the kiss away. Zack was curious if he could manage it--what the hell sort of explanation could he come up with?--and he slowly let go of Jason’s arms and leaned back.
“Jason…?” he said softly, brow furrowed.
Zack was good at projecting confidence even when he didn’t have any, but Jason Scott had never kissed him before. This was new territory, and Zack was clueless how to react.
Jason sat up, his breathing still ragged, and looked from Zack’s eyes to his lips and back again, and Zack, still struggling to catch up, found himself nodding.
Jason gripped the back of his neck and pressed their lips together again, and Zack relaxed enough to let Jason roll him over and straddle his legs. He vaguely felt his leg knock over one of the buckets nearby, but he ignored it as Jason’s hands started unclasping his robes.
“What if we get caught?” Zack asked between kissed, and he felt Jason’s lips smile against him.
“I thought you liked the danger.”
Zack moaned, bit Jason’s lip, and flipped them so he was back on top. The nearby bucket clattered sideways, and Zack grabbed Jason’s wrists and pinned them above his head to keep him from moving. The resulting look on Jason’s face was fantastic, and as Zack started sucking a trail down Jason’s neck, Jason started making noises he was pretty sure the whole castle could hear.
Jason was squirming weakly, so Zack was shocked to be on the bottom yet again, and he figured that this couldn’t possibly end without property damage since they were both determined to pin the other.
Zack was enjoying the bottom--for now--letting Jason continue unbuttoning his shirt and latch himself onto his collarbone, when he heard a sharp gasp from across the room.
Jason froze, and Zack looked past his head to see Trini, Kim, and Billy in the doorway. Billy was peaking out from behind his hands, Kim was gaping at them with a mix of shock and horror, and Trini was smirking in an unsettling way.
Zack saw Jason’s face redden, and he ducked his head down near Zack’s shoulders, as if staying still would keep the others from seeing him.
“Hey, guys!” Zack said, waving as if he didn’t have someone straddling his lap. “Finished already?”
Trini raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn’t react. “Billy’s crazy efficient. He figured out a way to cut the time in half.”
Billy uncovered his face and nodded. “It’s really simple with the way the stock was set up originally, and with three of us we were able to divide the work for optimal time savings.”
Zack saw the way his expression changed as soon as he was finished talking, and he quickly covered his eyes again.
“Looks like you two found a good use of your time, too,” Kim said, eyes focused on Trini instead of Zack and Jason.
“Might wanna cover up, White Boy,” Trini said, and Jason, still extremely red, turned his head to look at her. She just gestured vaguely toward him, and only then did Zack realize what had happened.
The Vanishing Potion.
Zack had knocked over the Vanishing Potion, and they had managed to roll around in. And though it was safe on skin and safe on trophies, it was not safe on pants.
Jason realized at the same time as Zack that his bare ass was pointed toward the door. He clumsily sprung up and tried to cover his butt, but when he realized there was also noticeable tenting in the front of his pants, he backed up against a wall and covered his crotch.
Zack tried not to laugh, since he was only missing part of a pant leg and a button that Jason had managed to rip off his shirt.
“Maybe he wants people to get a look at his ass,” Trini said, and Jason’s blush darkened.
“I mean, it’s a nice ass,” Zack offered, and as Trini tried to swallow a laugh, Jason glared at him.
“Oh my god I will tackle you again...” Jason muttered, though Zack could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
“Can we make out after?”
Jason tried to hit him, but Zack jumped out of the way. Jason seemed to consider trying again, but that would require moving, and that was proving difficult with a damaged pair of pants.
While Jason glared and Zack peered around to get another view of his ass, Billy busied himself with scooping up as much of the potion as he could, talking to himself as he worked.
No one bothered him while he was thinking, and after a few minutes, he explained to them the way they could get the whole room cleaned and, possibly, fix Jason’s pants well enough to get him back to Gryffindor Tower without any questions.
“And why should we help them?” Kim asked, incredulous as Trini grabbed a rag and started on the section Billy told her to clean.
“Because you’ve seen White Boy’s ass and he looks like he wants to die?” Zack asked. “Because you’re feeling nice tonight? Because you want to hold this over our heads and blackmail us later? Your call, Hart.”
Zack winked at her, grabbed a rag, and flicked some of the potion at Jason before hopping out of the way again. The potion dissolved a small part of his shirt, which offered him a better view of Jason’s chest.
Not that he hadn’t seen it before--the Gryffindor showers had given him several options to stare at Jason--but he wasn’t going to complain at seeing more skin.
“If you help clean,” Billy said to Kim, “then I can fix his pants and then you won’t have to see his butt anymore.”
That was enough to get Kim moving, and Zack was impressed at how fast she could move.
Apparently, Jason’s ass was great for motivation, Zack thought. He frowned when Billy conjured a makeshift spare for him, and he frowned more when Jason insisted on stepping out of the room to change, but he made a point to revisit this with Jason when they were back in their room.
If he was lucky, he could get another view of that ass. And maybe this time, he thought with a grin, he could manage it without a Vanishing Potion.