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Shoto’s day at Hogwarts usually starts with him getting up from bed and preparing for the day ahead. Sometimes the red and gold of the common room stings his eyes when he wakes up. He always did find more comfort in the cooler colors such as blue and purple. Over time, the Gryffindor colors have grown on him and it's only fitting that its warm colors make him feel at home despite being a whole other world to him.
Once he's done fixing himself up to the best he can, he greets the Fat Lady painting a good morning on his way out before making his way down to the Great Hall yawning and tiredly rubbing his eyes as he speed walks down the hallways. Not long after, he’s joined by his friends from Ravenclaw, Uki Violeta and Shu Yamino.
Before he could greet any of them, Uki beats him to it by immediately saying, “You played with your muggle contraption all night long again.”
Shu starts to chuckle when he sees how Uki guides them to one of the moving staircases with ease, tugging Shoto who was still sputtering in protest and dragging his feet. He frowns at Uki who pays him no mind because he knows that he’s right, can't argue with a Seer.
“But I was catching-”
“Maybe try catching more sleep rather than those pokepuff things, bitch.”
“It’s Pokemon.” Shu pipes up helpfully at the same time Shoto lets out a long winded groan, “Shut the fuck up Ukiiiiii!”
Once they arrive at the Great Hall, Shoto walks over to his usual seat next to fellow quidditch teammate Mika Melatika while Uki and Shu sit back to back with him from the Ravenclaw table next to their house table.
Mika snorts at his messy appearance and Shoto doesn’t even get to defend himself before she giggles. “Your tie isn’t even straight.”
“Neither are we, babe.” Uki replies.
Shoto waves his hand dismissively, “I’ll fix it later. Food is the priority.” Mika giggles and nods resolutely in agreement and leaves him to grab some food from the spread.
He immediately reaches for some pancakes and drizzles over the syrup after picking some fresh fruits and lets the talking wash over him. He chats with his friends in between taking bites of his food, enjoying the buzz and chatter of the wide hall.
As Shu continues to talk about the new charms he learned from the other day, Mika hands him some honey to mix into his cup of tea. He flashes her a grateful smile, touched that she’s known him long enough to pick up on his food preferences. It’s the little things that make it count.
His peaceful breakfast lasted a full 20 minutes before Uki giggled to himself which was announcement enough. Soon enough, large hands settle on his shoulders, the sensation makes his cheeks warm up despite himself.
And of course, it’s not a normal day in Hogwarts for Shoto without him making an appearance.
“Aww, Shoto! Your tie is all crooked, let me straighten it out for you.” A low voice croons.
He looks up to glare at Vox Akuma who was smirking down at him, his brother Fulgur not too far from him as well, who was currently occupied with greeting Uki with a good morning kiss. Shoto clicks his tongue in annoyance as the older boy leans down and starts adjusting his tie. The sudden close range leaves him no choice but to stare at the boy in front of him.
Vox Akuma, a boy who looked so hauntingly beautiful that whispers of him having Veela blood spread throughout the year like wildfire.
The first time Shoto had seen him as a first year, he had thought that he escaped from a painting. It was kind of embarrassing for little first year Shoto because he stood for a whole minute staring at Vox, who was minding his own business, like an idiot and immediately skittered away when he caught himself.
And as Vox grew older, his power over the student body grew stronger, innocent beauty became devilishly handsome, his voice becoming deep and almost sensual that it could be considered a spell of its own. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also incredibly intelligent and witty, a Slytherin through and through. Such a smooth talker that he could make an obvious lie sound like a meaningful truth. The damn guy is one of the best in the year as well!
No one can compare to him when it comes to anything related to history, Muggle History even. Such a student would rouse up his competitive side. That alone would make Shoto consider him as a rival but no, the bastard went out of his way to give a reason of his own.
“I was going to fix it..” Shoto grumbles eventually and looks away, face warm from embarrassment. Vox chuckles again and tuts, patting his fixed tie and finally backing away from him. “Sure you are. D’aww, little baby just can’t afford to do things without me huh?”
Shoto ignores the sweet tone of the other’s voice and rolls his eyes. “Don’t fucking flatter yourself. Don’t you have anything better to do?” Vox huffs with amusement, the corner of his lips curling into a smirk, “I have a good idea right in front of me.”
He looks at Shoto with purpose and laughs when Shoto finally catches on. He gasps, scandalized, and moves to cover his face but stops midway when Vox continues to chuckle at him. Shoto drops his hands down to the table with a defiant smack! “Ugh, just go! Let me drink my tea in peace!”
Fulgur chuckles from the side as well but seems to have taken pity on Shoto because he pats Vox’s shoulder. “Come, brother, we still have to get some breakfast before classes start.”
Uki pouts up at the silver haired boy, “Aw, so soon?” but smiles once again when his boyfriend leans down to give him another kiss on the cheek and then looks over at Vox. He gestures to the Slytherin table with a tilt of his head, “Let’s go, shall we?”
“Alright brother, we shall.” Vox sighs before winking at Shoto.
Shoto squeezes his eyes shut just in time before Vox leans back down again to ruffle his hair. “Bye bye, puppy~”
The two of them walk away, leaving Shoto to grumble to himself as he smooths his hair back down. “What the fuck man, he’s always doing this! Ruffling my hair and treating me like some kind of fucking dog, what a bastard! I hate him so much.”
He goes back to drinking his tea and tries not to sulk as his friends meet each other's eyes over his head.
Without a word, they go back to eating their food.
They do not mention the fact that Shoto leans to Vox’s touch every time he ruffles his hair.
Later that day, Shoto walks to his Potions class with a spring in his step. Although his interests are centered around Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions take up a close second place. It’s just interesting to him how combining weird and unassuming ingredients could make something with different effects to a person and environment. It almost makes sharing a class with Slytherin worth it.
He’s very excited for this lesson in particular because today they will be making a potion called Amortentia.
According to the book, it’s the strongest love potion in the world and smells different to each person based on what attracts them the most. Love potion uses aside, the thought of just being able to face an undeniable fact of the heart regarding your inner feelings is a bit thrilling and scary for him.
He could think that what he would smell are pancakes or perhaps the chili oil that would tingle his nose when he walks in on his mother preparing it in the kitchen but the potion would tell him something completely different.
Shoto sits on his usual seat and greets Fulgur who is seated next to him, setting his book and parchment down with a noticeable flourish. “Hello, Shoto. You seem fairly excited for this lesson.” The Slytherin smiles at him. He laughs when he nods eagerly. “Then I hope you don’t mind guiding me through the process.”
He smiles back at Fulgur, “Of course I don’t! I’ll be happy to help.”
This is why he likes Fulgur. Not just because he had to tolerate him as his seatmate to promote house relations nor is it because Uki inflicts details about their relationship to him but it is because the guy is genuinely easy to talk to! He was quite surprised to learn about Uki’s fancy for him since he didn’t see much appeal aside from his looks but after getting to know him, Shoto understands why his best friend is all over the guy. He even shares a common interest in regards to things like novels and whatnot.
Shoto and Fulgur continue to chat for a bit before their professor walks in, telling them to take out their books and to prepare themselves for receiving the ingredients from him. The class is quicker to oblige since everyone was curious for their own results.
After receiving his ingredients Shoto sets to work immediately, in between doing his work he makes sure to assist Fulgur whenever he asks for it and in no time achieves the desired mother of pearl sheen with his potion. His smugness must be obvious because Fulgur takes a look at his cauldron and whistles in appreciation. “Damn, you’re good at this.”
“Thank you very much!” He grins, stirring the potion until steam rises from it in telltale spirals. The professor praises him when he arrives at their table to observe their progress, leaving Shoto quite pleased with himself.
Soon enough after completing his rounds in the classroom, the professor claps his hands, “Alright everyone, now you may lean towards your cauldron and lightly fan the steam over to your nose. Be careful not to inhale too much and please do not take some for yourself or for any personal use!”
As if they were released from binds, everyone eagerly clamors to take a wift of the infamous Amortentia potion. From the corner of his eye, he sees different classmates get all kinds of reactions. It ranges from a dopey and almost lovesick smile to a fond and serene look of happiness that he could see on Fulgur.
Closing his eyes, he guides the steam towards his nostrils and inhales deeply.
He smells the sweet yet sharp notes of the grass from the quidditch field, the familiar scent of hydrangeas, and the fragrance of sandalwood with earl grey that seems to overpower everything else.
Shoto’s smile dims in confusion and slowly takes in another breath. The first two made total sense to him, being someone who is part of Gryffindor’s quidditch team and the abundance of his favorite flower, hydrangeas, in his mother’s garden. But sandalwood and earl grey? He only knows one possible source for that and it's-
No.
Shoto gulps and slowly turns to Fulgur. “Hey Fuu, Don’t you have your own cologne?”
Fulgur looks at him with confusion, “Yes, I do, why?”
No.
He forces out a laugh and waves his hand nonchalantly (read: frantically). “Nothing! I-It’s just that I think you don’t need to borrow Vox’s cologne? Your current one suits you more! On that note, I think you put on too much of it. It’s basically shooting up my nostrils.” Shoto laughs forcedly, the sound trailing away pathetically when he sees the other’s forehead crease.
To his growing despair, the confusion on Fulgur’s face only increases, the Slytherin’s eyebrows furrow deeply. “What is? Vox’s Cologne? But I’m not wearing..” he slowly looks at Shoto’s cauldron of amortentia potion.
No.
Fulgur’s bright eyes meet his own, suddenly wide eyed and alight. To Shoto’s dismay, his grin gets bigger and bigger, enough for it to look almost wolfish and infuriatingly triumphant.
“Oh, Shoto,”
“No.”
“Oh, sweet Shoto, wait until Uki hears about this.”
“Noooo!” Shoto hides his face in his palms, his muffled groan tugs a cackle out from Fulgur.
This is insane. It has to be all wrong! This makes no goddamn sense! It’s wrong, it has to be! He does not like Vox Akuma. He is not attracted to that bastard of all people. Hell, he barely even tolerates him on a good day! He hates him! The damn bastard goes out of his way to annoy him every single day! Almost consistently, ever since their duel during DADA class from second year that ended in a draw!
Shoto lets out another muffled groan before sitting up properly once again. He glares at the damned cauldron in front of him, half tempted to spill the damn potion all over the place, but decides against it lest it causes trouble for everyone else in the class. So now he has no choice but to let the potion bubble away smugly in the cauldron until class ends, as if it hadn’t upturned Shoto’s entire perspective.
He hears another muffled laugh from Fulgur and decides that the potion has to be wrong. He probably brewed it so wrong that the professor didn’t notice, which led him to smelling the wrong things, because there’s just no damn way.
Shoto hesitantly looks behind himself to peek at Vox, who’s almost all the way at the back of the class with the Gryffindor quidditch captain that insists for everyone to call him RPR. No particular reason, he tells himself, just to see if the other boy can sense his embarrassment.
Only to find him already looking at him.
With a curse at the tip of his tongue, Shoto quickly turns back to the front, face warmer than it already was, threatening Fulgur who has been snickering the whole time to shut the fuck up and that the potion was wrong! Because there’s no way in hell that Shoto is attracted to Vox Akuma of all people!
Not knowing that from behind the classroom, Vox Akuma continues to smile at the back of Shoto’s head.
With the scents of books tucked away in a library, rich wine and sweet lavender tickling his nose.
It’s later on after the school day has ended that he allows himself to properly think about what happened during Potions class. He flops himself down on the carpet of the Ravenclaw common room with all his limbs stuck out like a starfish, staring at the ceiling that imitates all kinds of constellations.
That’s the position Shu and Uki find him in moments after and proceed to block his vision of their pretty ceiling with mirrored looks of concern. He distantly notes how his friends remain good looking even from this ungodly angle.
“What are you doing on our carpet, bitch?” Uki asks with his dainty eyebrow raised with his hands on his hips. “Actually, how did you even get in here?”
Shu lightly pokes his leg with his foot and looks back at the door before looking at him again, “Sheesh, It’s actually impressive how you manage to solve the riddles to get inside more than a few of us here. We have to put blankets outside sometimes.”
“...Are you okay?” Shu asks once he sees the traces of crisis on his face. Shoto brings his hands to his face and lets out another groan. Uki sighs and sits on the floor next to him with Shu following suit on his other side. “Are you okay, Sho?” Uki asks again, gently.
Is he okay?
Shoto peers at his friends once he lowers his hands. “I-I don’t actually like him, do I?”
“Like who?” Shu asks at the same time Uki nods, “Vox? Yes.”
Shu’s eyes widened at Uki. “Vox Akuma? Shoto likes Vox Akuma?”
“I am pretty sure everyone and their owl knows that Shoto likes Vox Akuma.”
“Stop saying his name!” Shoto screams into his palms. The more they say it the more it feels like a possibility. “How can you be so sure that I do?”
“Are you seriously asking me that? I could write an essay worth 3 whole scrolls of parchment.”
Shoto weakly glares at Uki, “Uhm yes?! Since when have I ever said that I liked Vox?”
Uki sighs once again but this time it was Shu who answered him. “I think it’s more about what you do rather than what you say.”
“Exactly,” Uki pipes in. “Doesn’t Vox talk with you whenever you’re practicing at the quidditch field? You always act like you’re forced to talk to the guy when actually, you always go to the same spot during your break time because that’s where Vox would meet you. If you really hated talking to him, you would’ve ignored him.”
“Oh, and like those times whenever you go to the library?” Shu grins when he sees Shoto’s face progressively getting redder. “You would sneak in some strawberries that you kept from breakfast to snack on and complain that Vox would drop by and steal some, when actually, you started bringing more for him. He does all these nice things for you and you reciprocate in some way.”
“Wha- I- That’s not-” Shoto sputters. “It’s not what you think!”
His friends ignore his protests in favor of teasing him. Uki looks at Shu. “I thought you didn’t know Shoto liked Vox?”
Shu flashes them a crooked smile. “I always thought it was Vox who liked Shoto. Though the more I think about it, Shoto liking Vox makes total sense too.”
Shoto shoots up from where he was curled up on the carpet to throw a ball of parchment he found nearby and shrieks, “What do you mean Vox likes me! He likes me?! How the- What?! One thing at a time please! I’m getting overstimulated with all this information!”
It’s one thing to realize that he potentially harbored feelings for his school rival for how many years but it's an entirely different thing to even consider the possibility that said rival had feelings for you too. Especially someone like Vox Akuma, who as much as he is infuriating, he is incredibly… attractive. In many if not all aspects.
All those years Shoto had seen Vox as someone who would arrive to make his day better and worse. He could even say that they were friends on a good day while bribed with food. But the thought of him liking Vox romantically? Let alone Vox having those feelings for him? He had never considered both scenarios and the whole thing was starting to feel like a big dumb joke.
“I.. I never thought about it that way. I always thought that all those feelings I had.. I-I just thought it was annoyance or frustration, and that he just wanted to get a reaction out of me.”
Uki gives him a look once more while Shu gives him a sympathetic smile.
“You’re that dense that it took you the world’s strongest love potion to realize you have feelings for someone who’s been constantly around you just to 'get a reaction from you' ?”
Shoto rubs his hands over his face and groans, “Shut up! I just- Ugh!” He sets his hands down and looks at his friends. “So I’m guessing I didn’t brew the potion wrong?”
It probably sounded extremely pathetic to their ears but Shu, god bless him, smiles kindly at him. He shakes his head gently, "Sorry Sho, but you didn't." He pats him comfortingly on the back, the best semblance of moral support he had all evening, “ If you didn’t brew it wrong then the potion isn't wrong, and according to the potion, you have feelings for him.”
With another loud groan, Shoto lies back down on Ravenclaw’s carpet and thinks that if he laid still enough, people would actually think he’s dead.
His silly idea was instantly kicked to the curb the moment their prefect Ike Eveland kindly asks him to leave.
It took a couple days for Shoto to sort his feelings out. By that, it was mostly him holed up in the common room during the mornings, playing more of his Pokemon and with Mika dropping off some pastries his other friend Bao had picked out for him. And when it was time for him to head to class, he would duck his head and scurry into his seat and then rush out the moment they were dismissed. This routine had given him a lot of space and time to think away from any distractions.
This is what he thought of so far:
On one hand, Vox Akuma was an extremely annoying and frustrating guy to be around with. The older boy always made it a point to push his buttons just to see him shout in outrage. He would say all sorts of things to make him trip over his words and make him dizzy from all the teasing and innuendos that were thrown at him.
He’s also everywhere! Vox being a Slytherin meant that he shares most if not all of his classes with Gryffindor which further meant seeing him most of the time. Thankfully, he was usually seated at the front so he’s spared of the usual annoyance. Doesn't stop them from making eye contact though.
On the other hand, Vox Akuma was not that bad of a person at all. Not one bit. He was actually quite supportive of him even if it was in the most unconventional of ways.There was actually a time where he would always wonder if the other boy hated him or picked on him because he was a muggle and Vox a pureblood.
Though when he asked, Vox had gone uncharacteristically serious and told him that it was never about whether he was a muggle or not, but to simply tease him. So since then, Shoto felt significantly more relieved, begrudgingly enjoying their banter more and chalked it up to keeping up the ole Gryffindor versus Slytherin rivalry.
If he thought about it more, he didn’t hate Vox at all, but rather hated how he made him feel.
Whenever Vox was around, it’s like he wasn’t his usual self. He gets tipped off of his game because the other would’ve grabbed the board and thrown it, leaving Shoto to scramble after the pieces. His body would act on its own, his ears would turn red and his hands would shake whenever he heard Vox’s voice. For some god damn reason, his eyes would always look around to spot him just before classes started to relieve something in him.
His heart would beat as if he had just flown loops in the sky with his broom, adrenaline kicking in at the sight of Vox’s grin, making him tremble whenever he’s near. And the fact that it’s beating into overdrive right now as he thinks about all those times he had felt and continued to feel for that damned Vox Akuma is all coming back to him and it makes him want to scream.
He doesn’t even want to think about any possibility of Vox harboring feelings for him. If he thinks about it anymore he might implode within himself, he needs a break from all this thinking!
Shoto sighs and looks up, registering that he is not at Gryffindor tower’s entrance but rather at a peculiar area. He could have sworn he was headed for the common room and not at some other area of Hogwarts’ seventh floor. Across him was a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. With his nose scrunched in thought, he passed by it once more. Has he really been walking in circles?
Something shifts from the corner of his eye and Shoto may or may not have screamed from the sudden movement, his mouth dropping open at the sight of a door materializing right in front of him.
Quickly, he checks to see if anyone else was there to see it. Shoto almost opts to leave the door alone but curiosity loves to bite him in the ass. So, he gave in.
He looks around the hallway to make sure there were no professors in sight before slowly inching towards the door. He wraps his hand tentatively around the knob and is once again shocked to realize that there was no resistance; the door had simply swung open.
Once he steps inside, Shoto’s eyes almost pop out from his eye sockets. The sight that greeted him was beautiful, it was like some hidden corner of Eden, with sunlight pouring in from stained glass of light purple and blue from up above, depicting hydrangeas and forget-me-nots intertwined with one another. White pillars seemed to arch into the center of the room as if it were a gazebo, granting Shoto the breathtaking view of a pristine garden overflowing with hydrangeas, forget-me-nots, and lilacs.
Shoto gasps at the sight. As he looks at the nostalgic sight of his favorite flowers, he instantly feels relaxed. It was then that he realized, "I'm at the Room of Requirements." he whispers to himself, awestruck.
He walked to the middle of the gazebo where there was a white stone bench overlooking the beautiful garden, thankfully stacked with soft cushions and even a blanket. Shoto sighs thankfully and drops his satchel onto the bench, and walks towards the flowers.
He carefully plucks a hydrangea from the bunch and feels his heart swell from the familiar and comforting sight. Cradling the flower in his palms, he nestles himself onto the cushions.
Looking at the hydrangea in his palm makes him think of his mother and he smiles at the thought of her. He thinks about what she would say to him regarding the mess he called his feelings. Probably tease him for being so dense. But she always did say that there was a fine line between hate and love.
Shoto strokes the petals with his fingertips and thinks to himself once more,
Does he have feelings for Vox? Not just any feelings, but those that make warmth bloom in his chest, that light up his day like the soft light of a candle in a dark room, like fond teasing and gentle hands fixing his tie and ruffling his hair in the morning?
“Shoto? What are you doing here?” a familiar voice calls out from behind him.
He drops the flower in shock. Shoto looks up and almost startles to see the man of the hour, or rather- the man of the last few days, right in front of him.
No.
“Wha- What am I doing here? You’re the one who walked in, what are you doing here!” Shoto couldn’t help but yell out. He’s spent the last few days thinking about this boy! Almost every waking hour going over everything that he had said to Shoto before, every moment that they could have shared. Any instance that he could have probably made all of it up and it was only the potion dictating his feelings. It was a lot and he was not ready to see him!
But alas, the boy is in front of him. Standing across him with his robes and the unkempt and concern in those gold eyes that he had always kept himself from thinking about too much. Vox Akuma who was also panting and looking like he was thrown into a hurricane?
“What the fuck?” Shoto asks, bewildered. “Were you running?”
“Were you avoiding me?” Vox shoots back, previous fatigue gone and replaced with determination and maybe even irritation painted on his face.
Shoto sputters at the sudden question as his voice cracks, “What do you mean avoiding you? I haven’t- I was just- You didn’t answer my question!”
Vox steps forward and almost seems to loom over Shoto, who was still sitting on the bench, with a genuinely pissed off look in his face. “Not unless you answer mine! It was almost like you disappeared for the last few days and I couldn’t even get answers from Shu or Uki and it plagues me to think about because I feel like I had hurt you somehow,”
This time, Vox kneels down and is eye to eye with him, Shoto gulps at the sight of him filling his vision and being so close to him. The other boy’s voice drops into a whisper.
“If I did something wrong, or said anything offensive at all, you would tell me right? I know teasing each other is our little routine but hurting is the last thing I want to do to you. Believe it or not but I missed you, puppy. You’d tell me if I was at fault, wouldn’t you?”
Vox’s eyes were trained onto him, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, worry etched onto his statuesque features. It makes him feel very guilty, perhaps he had been too hasty to hide somewhere. The more Vox stares at him, the more Shoto wants to hightail out of there, he resists the urge to tell the other boy not to look at him.
Shit, did it look that bad to Vox? That wasn’t his intention at all. Shoto swallows once more, throat suddenly dry with his palms layered in sweat, as he looks away from Vox’s piercing gaze and tries to explain himself.
“No! I- I was just thinking, that’s all! It has nothing to do with you so nothing is your fault!”
“You’re a bad liar, Sho,” Vox snorts, “What were you thinking about and why don’t you look me in the eyes when you tell me this time?”
It was as if a rubber band snapped within Shoto, he slams his hands onto the bench as well and outright glares at the bastard in front of him.
“Fine, I was thinking about our potions class from the other day! Ever since that day with the amortentia potion I had lots to think about because I smelled something that I didn’t expect, okay? None of that was your fault.” he crosses his arms and looks to the other side.
“That’s what has gotten you so upset?” Vox blinks, surprised. “That doesn’t seem to explain why you were avoiding me… What did you smell, Shoto?” he asks as he sits himself next to Shoto on the bench, sitting close enough that the scent of the cologne that’s been plaguing him for the past few days fills his senses.
“I..!” Shoto starts and then trails off, his heart beating faster than a hummingbird, internally debating if he should tell the other boy. Is this really it? Should he really?
He feels something brush against his thigh and looks down to see Vox laying a forget-me-not on his lap and intertwining the stem with the hydrangea he had dropped earlier. There’s a pregnant pause between them the more Shoto observes Vox, who was close enough for him to count his individual lashes, he feels the other boy’s cooler knuckles brush against his own warm skin and feel his mouth move on its own accord.
“I smelled the grass from the quidditch field and my mother’s hydrangeas in the early morning,” Shoto says softly, a hair width away from mumbling to himself. “But most of all, I smelled your cologne,” he laughs weakly as he actively tries not to pull over his robe’s hood in embarrassment. Not realizing that Vox’s hands had stilled, his gold eyes staring at him with such heart wrenching fondness.
“Funny thing actually, I thought it had come from Fulgur at first and asked him if he went overboard with borrowing it. I was really fucking freaked out when I first realized it wasn’t coming from him at all because all those years I somehow managed to convince myself that I hated you.” Shoto curls his hands into fists, scrunching the material of his robes as he takes another deep breath.
“And I do! I hate you because you always went out of your way to ruffle my hair in the mornings, or that you would never fail to grin back at me when we meet eyes during class. I also hate that you visit me during practices because you distract me and the fact you would cheer for me the loudest during games and make your friends do the same. I hate that you actually give me good advice whenever I ask for it or know when I’m in some sulky mood, you even bring me a thermos of honeyed tea and.. I also hate that you know what games I talk about despite being a pureblood. You probably own a gameboy and seeing you with one would make me laugh,”
“But most of all I hate that it took me 6 years and a potion to realize that I don’t hate you at all. Just the way you make me feel. You make me feel so stupid and you love flustering me so much that I just-” Shoto sniffs, suddenly aware that he had been tearing up. He lets out a shuddering breath and moves to cover his face only for Vox to gently pull his wrists back, peering up at his downturned face with a soft smile. “Ugh, wipe that look off your face I hate you!”
A surprised but wet sounding laugh tumbles out of Vox’s throat, “But you don’t hate me, do you?” he whispers as he gently wipes away the tears that cling to Shoto’s eyelashes.
“...I don’t,” Shoto admits reluctantly. “C-Can I go now? You got your answer and-”
“Ask me about what I smelled, Sho.” Vox says, his voice a touch too loud that it echoes in the room. Shoto couldn't help but click his tongue in mild annoyance, he literally had poured his heart out just now and he wants to hide more than ever. Instead he sighs and does as asked.
“What did you smell from the amortentia potion, Vox?”
The boy smirked at him and sharply tugs on his wrist, sending Shoto straight to the taller boy’s chest. His face heats up when he feels Vox stroke his hair, a stark change from the usual ruffling that it stills him.
“I smelled the old books and parchment tucked away in our family manor’s library. I also smelled the rich wine my butler would somehow sneak into a glass for me when guests were not looking, we were never discovered for that thankfully.”
Shoto’s face grows even warmer when Vox nuzzles his nose into the side of his head.
“The most potent smell though, was your lavender shampoo.” Vox chuckles. “Why else do you think I love ruffling your hair all the time?”
This time, Shoto lets out an embarrassed whimper. Opting to endure the gentle teasing from Vox, he finally gives in to his urges and hides his face into the other’s neck, feeling pleasantly warm from the comforting embrace Vox wraps him in and the familiar scent of sandalwood and earl grey that washes over him. The other boy coos at his actions and it makes his face warm up even further.
Despite that, he finds that he doesn’t hate being there at all.
From then on, tiny changes had been made to how Shoto starts his day in Hogwarts.
He gets up from bed like he usually does and gets dragged into the Great Hall by Shu and Uki. They eat breakfast and soon enough, Vox would drop by to not only ruffle his hair but to also give him a sweet kiss to his temple.
Vox would annoy him like always but had quickly found new ways to do so. Like hollering new sweet nicknames such as babe and sweet thing to throw him off during his quidditch games, ambushing him with a back hug out of nowhere in the hallways and swiftly moving away before he could retaliate, and embarrassing him during class by flustering him through wiggling his eyebrows or giving him flying kisses.
Hell, he would even deliver him little love notes through an owl, and watch him turn into a ripe tomato from across the hall as he reads through the notes like the cat who got the cream!
Shoto can’t hate the changes too much though, not when Vox walks him to his common room every chance he gets, and kisses him gently on the lips. Right in front of the Fat Lady who would watch them with so much giddiness that it makes him embarrassed.
Though, Vox just kisses him harder and he forgets all about it.
And perhaps Shoto thinks he's falling in love with him, just a tiny bit, but who knows? He might need another love potion just to make sure he is. Or just another kiss.
(He chooses the kiss.)