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Friendly Rivalry

The first time Lovino met Ludwig Beilschmidt, they were twelve years old. Slytherin and Gryffindor had history of magic and potions together, and Ludwig Beilschmidt sat in the row ahead of Lovino. He was tall, and blond, and Lovino hated him. Why? He wasn’t sure. He just… hated him.

Over the years, though, through the Yule Ball and awkward dates (with other people, mind you) Lovino and Ludwig became friends. That fact was blamed on Lovino’s Ravenclaw brother, Feliciano, because he and Ludwig were friends. (Lovino still wasn’t sure how that had happened.) Both Lovino and Ludwig griped about Feliciano’s longtime crush on his fellow Ravenclaw, Kiku Honda, who was in their year and top of his class and apparently oblivious to Feliciano’s fawning. They watched as Feliciano tried (and failed) to flirt with him, a bit like a very sad sitcom that started out funny but now was just a bit depressing. Lovino and Ludwig still kept up their bickering from second year, but it never had quite the same bite.

Ludwig and Lovino were in their fifth year. They’d been supposed to go with Feliciano to Honeydukes, but he’d unfortunately seen Kiku in the windows of one of the other shops of Hogsmeade. Now they were sitting outside on a stone wall, watching Feliciano trail Kiku like a lost puppy. It was starting to snow and cold. Lovino had shoved his hands into his pockets and was wondering if they could just leave his brother here to bemoan his fate. Instead, he let out a long disgruntled sigh while Ludwig kept awkwardly looking down the street.

“He just wants senpai to notice him.” Lovino muttered. Ludwig snorted, then burst out laughing. “It’s not that funny you moron!”

“But it’s true.” Ludwig wheezed. He was still grinning when a dejected Feliciano came out, complaining that Kiku had barely spoken to him.

“He’ll notice you next time.” Lovino pat his shoulder, though he didn’t necessarily believe it. Ludwig muffled a snort behind his hands but Feliciano did brighten.

When they passed one of the glass windows, Lovino pretended the red on his face was from the wind and not from watching his normally stoic classmate loss his chocolate frogs over something really pretty unfunny.

Lovino realized he liked Ludwig in his seventh year. Ludwig, Lovino, Kiku, Feliciano, and a friend of Lovino’s named Natalia were going to the Yule ball as a big group since none of them wanted to go with a date (rather, Feliciano had been too terrified of rejection from Kiku since last year’s catastrophe) They met up outside of the hall. Lovino and Natalia got there first. She was dressed in a chic white dress that went to her knees and was covered in holly that shimmered in the candlelight, plus short white gloves with her hair swept into a ponytail. Lovino had decided to go in a white suit covered in shimmering frost that his grandfather had sent from Italy. He’d promised the absolute best fashion and to not making him and Feliciano match. (last year really had been a disaster)

To no one’s surprise, Ludwig was right on time. Lovino was too busy peering down the hall to search for his brother and Kiku, but Natalia made a noise of appreciation.

“Now that’s a tall class of butterbeer.” She elbowed Lovino and he looked up. Ludwig’s hair was slicked back (like it always was) and he was dressed in a sharp black tailcoat, along with a black vest. Underneath was a deep red dress shirt. He was wearing black shoes and dress pants and he looked highly uncomfortable as he kept tugging on the sleeves. Lovino got another elbow to the side. “Stop staring and close your mouth.” His jaw snapped shut as Ludwig approached, looking rather relieved.

“I’m not the last one?”

“You’re right on time.” Natalia said. She kicked Lovino when he didn’t say anything. “This one’s brother hasn’t arrived yet, but no one’s surprised.”

“Probably busy ogling Kiku.” Ludwig said.

“You’re not very winter-y.” Lovino muttered finally.

“Red’s a Christmas color.” Ludwig frowned.

“Well, it’s not-”

“He means that you look nice.” Natalia linked arms with Ludwig. Lovino scowled at her and she smiled very sweetly, clearly squeezing Ludwig’s arm. The Gryffindor looked between them in confusion.

Kiku and Feliciano had shown up a bit later, maybe five minutes after Ludwig. Kiku was wearing a nearly-black suit with red lining and a white shirt, while Feliciano was wearing dark green with a grey shirt. They eventually melded with the mass heading into the hall. Natalia was still hanging off Ludwig’s arm and Lovino really didn’t like that. She kept smirking at him, which Lovino hated even more.

They looked really good together. It irritated him and he didn’t understand why. He flipped her off when Ludwig wasn’t looking and she laughed.

The ball itself was fun, even if Natalia hung on Ludwig for too long, and he bid the rest of them goodnight as they parted ways. He power walked in front of Natalia and she laughed at him but didn’t pursue.

Lovino barely slept that night. He kept tossing and turning because how could anyone look that good in a suit (besides him) and just… ugh. This was Ludwig, he wasn’t supposed to be pretty. His heart had beat too fast every time he’d looked at him and it felt all weird and-

oh.

oooooooh fuck.

oh fuckity fuck spaghetti on a stick.

He liked Ludwig.

Lovino drew his silencing curtains very tight, buried his face in a pillow, and screamed.

Despite his newfound… emotions, Lovino didn’t make any move on the Gryffindor head boy. It was the end of seven years of school and too much to deal with. Instead he bitched to his grandfather over holiday breaks (Nonno laughed so hard it seemed like he was about to cry. Lovino may have flipped him off) and did his homework. He pressed in for the final tests, his NEWTs, and he regularly met with his head of house. He’d decided, some time ago, that he wanted to be a professor, and he wanted to work in astronomy. The current Professor, Akila Hassan (her Ravenclaw son Gupta had graduated in seventh year and Feliciano had adored him, which had been a mark in Lovino’s favor because everyone loved Feliciano and Akila had looked at his gruff attitude and thought it was charming) had long been Lovino’s favorite professor and he had always enjoyed her class, but she was nearing retirement age. He’d asked if he could apply for her spot and if she could wait until he could take her place.

He passed his NEWTs with decent enough grades that she agreed - he had to take a two year course at a magically university for teaching and astronomy, and then she’d take him on if she liked his style. He bid his friends goodbye (Feliciano was also aiming to be a professor, hopefully for charms, which meant working with his brother but also working with his brother) at the graduation podium. He really did consider kissing Ludwig goodbye, because Ludwig looked so good in his robes and his red tie with the proud flush on his pale face, but both Ludwig’s older brother (Gilbert, a Hufflepuff who’d annoyed the entire group until he graduated their third year) and father were there and Lovino just wasn’t going to do anything in front of them. So he settled with a handshake that ended up being a hug, and he figured that was the last of that. (did he dream about his cheek being pressed to that magnificently hard chest, inhaling the smell that he could never place but was definitely Ludwig and might have been what he smelled when they brewed amortentia? Perhaps, but he’d deny it if you asked)

Except, two years after he started teaching for good, five years after he graduated from Hogwarts, Professor Binns finally kicked the bucket. Three days later, it was announced who the new professor would be. Ludwig Beilschmidt stepped back into Lovino’s life and he was going to scream because somehow Ludwig was prettier and he just wanted to touch the muscles.

Kiku and Feliciano weren’t very sympathetic. One night at Madame Rosmerta’s with almost all of the teaching staff (as a bonding experience, Headmaster Wang had said, but everyone used it as a chance to drink and have fun. This was two years before Ludwig had come back into Lovino’s life) had resulted in several confessions. Feliciano had told the entire staff that he’d had a huge crush on Kiku in their school years but oh yeah I’m definitely over it now! Nothing more than good buddies! That had resulted in an equally drunk Kiku confessing that he had also had a crush, which then resulted in them snogging in the corner while Gilbert, Alfred, and Erzebet hooted and hollered. Lovino had confessed that he’d had a bit of a crush on Ludwig, which only his brother had heard somehow around the kissing noises.

“You could tell him.” he’d suggested, Kiku’s lips at his neck.

“Who knows what he’s doing now?” Lovino had waved a hand. “It’s fine. It was just a crush. Besides, he’s not even here.”

Well, now he was here and Lovino had a very big problem; every time History of Magic Professor Ludwig Beilschmidt walked past him, dressed in black and red or blue or whatever, Lovino’s heart went doki doki.

He wrote his friend Antonio who played quidditch with the Spanish team, he wrote his Nonno, he complained to his friend Manon, the healer, or Natalia who was now the defense against the dark arts professor. He went out and saw Ludwig doing his morning workouts at the buttcrack of dawn because the man looked good in a tank top and athletic shorts. They talked about business and students, about what they’d been up to, and Lovino had never wanted to kiss him more than watching Ludwig complain about students who couldn’t tell the difference between the goblin wars.

It was driving him mad and no one was helpful. They just told him to confess already or laughed at him.

When they got the positions of the heads of house, after some deliberation by headmaster Yao, their friendship threw itself back into the rivalry of their second year. They exchanged quips over breakfast about the points, they threw themselves into the Quidditch Cup (the first year, Gryffindor won and Lovino was still bitter) and into the House Cup. (Ravenclaw won that year, under the Arithmancy professor Francis Bonnefoy. Both Feliciano and Kiku were smug about that. Lovino and Ludwig bonded over complaining about the snide comments)

Lovino pined away for Ludwig Beilschmidt, who was somehow still none the wiser and he had no idea how this idiot was still oblivious to it. He hated how much his heart sang when he saw Ludwig in his Gryffindor sweaters over winter break, hated how much seeing the idiot smile made his heart do the thing, he just- ugh. It was fine. He’d get over it, eventually. Ludwig had never shown any interest in him anyway.

Almost two years after they’d gotten the heads of houses position, Ludwig informed the rest of the staff that he was going on a trip to Brazil with a few other historians to explore one of the regions rumored to be rich with information and relics from the ancient peoples. He would be gone for at least a month, perhaps two, but he’d return for the school year. Lovino waved as he left with a promise to get dinner at the Three Broomsticks.

When Lovino arrived with Feliciano after visiting their Nonno for most of the summer, he went to Ludwig’s room. The professor wasn’t there. Gilbert, the flying instructor, told him that Ludwig hadn’t been heard from since the beginning of the summer, and that Ludwig’s family was starting to get worried.

Gupta, who’d been speaking with Ludwig a lot before he left, shook his head at dinner when the topic came up.

“Mother had a few places she didn’t visit for any trips.” he said when Erzebet pressed. “Brazil had lots of interesting things for her, she’d always liked history, but there were so many unknowns in the forests and so many curses that she feared she’d never return. I tried to tell Ludwig not to go, but… he said it was too good of an opportunity.” The entire table stared at him.

“You mean he might be dead?” Gilbert asked. Gupta sighed.

“Perhaps. Perhaps he’s just trapped. Brazil is a beautiful but unpredictable place. The area he was going to is… not supposed to be very friendly.”

The rest of the summer was melancholic. They prepared for students but were very aware of the empty seat between Gilbert and Lovino, of the empty classroom at the end of the hall. Lovino hated it. They got a substitute, Vasilica Popescu, for history of magic, and Professor Erzebet Hédévary took over as the Gryffindor head of house until they heard from Ludwig again.

Two weeks into the school year, late at night, there was a great commotion in the hall. Lovino was woken up by his brother’s silvery wolf patronus.

“Ludwig’s here.” Feliciano’s voice sounded frantic. Lovino didn’t listen to the rest of the message, instead pulling on his black robe and running down the hall swearing under his breath.

Ludwig was in the hospital wing, which had taken Lovino a minute to realize. All of the staff was already there and he was speaking with Gilbert, who looked ready to cry or strangle him. Ludwig was still dressed in a brown coat and his arm was being tended to by Manon, who didn’t look happy either. There was a wicked looking cut bleeding through his right arm, like he’d been splinched, and he had a bandage on his cheek. His knee looked odd and his right elbow was clearly broken. Lovino slammed the door open and the staff parted like the sea.

“Where the fuck have you been?!” he snarled it. Ludwig looked up at him with rather wide eyes.

“If you upset him I’m kicking you out.” Manon warned. Lovino waved an acknowledging hand, but he did lower his voice.

“You were gone for months longer than you said! And then it turns out that Gupta was telling you not to go and you went anyways! We got nothing from you, at all, and now you just show up in the middle of the night?! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Lovino kept going for almost five minutes. Ludwig kept blinking at him rather dopily and it eventually led to Lovino trailing off, because dopy Ludwig was a very innocent and sweet looking Ludwig, and it meant Ludwig was gazing at him like he was the night sky.

Lovino stepped back when the headmaster arrived. Ludwig would be resuming his position as head of house, but he’d be taking some time to recover before retaking his position of teacher.

Ludwig was back on his feet the next morning. His knee had been completely fixed but his arm was still bandaged (Manon had done what she could, but splinchings were nasty things and on top of the elbow she wasn’t taking any chances) and he still had a bandage on his cheek. He was too busy catching up and checking in with the students in his house (all of whom were glad to see him back) to really chat but Lovino caught up with him in the library behind one of the bookshelves, looking at something. He turned when Lovino stepped behind the otherwise empty shelves. They looked at each other, then Lovino huffed.

“If you ever do that again, I’ll beat you with my telescope.” The idea of losing this stupid man had been killing Lovino for literal months, and then Ludwig just showed up with his arm falling off and grinned at him like he was… something? It made his head spin. Ludwig stared at him for a moment, then smiled a little.

“You were worried about me?” Lovino was fairly certain he wasn’t imagining the pink flush spreading across those beautiful cheekbones, but he was livid enough to ignore it.

“You almost died!” Lovino spat. “You just disappeared over the summer and then show up two weeks into the school year with-”

“You were worried about me.” Ludwig was still smiling and it made Lovino’s heart do the thing again. He hated it.

“Yes I was!” Lovino threw his hands in the air. “Are you listening to me threaten you!? Or did the potions Manon gave you addle your brain even more?!” Ludwig just smiled at him dopely again and Lovino had to look away. “Just- don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” After a moment, Ludwig leaned forwards and kissed his forehead. Lovino’s heart went from fifty to a hundred and he felt his cheeks burn. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I won’t do it again.” Ludwig stepped back, pink cheeked again. “A-after all, I wouldn’t want to get hit with the telescope.”

“Damn right you wouldn’t.” Lovino managed after a moment. His eyes were focused on Ludwig’s lips because wow they were right there and they’d touched his forehead holy fuck. “I… uh… I’m gonna… go. Back to my classroom. I’ll see you at dinner..” Ludwig looked disappointed and Lovino’s heart protested violently.

“You don’t have to.” Ludwig said tentatively. “I could use a bit of catch up on what’s been happening.”

“I… I think I have to.” If I don’t I’m going to kiss you until you’re seeing stars. “You already got the catch ups from everyone else.”

“I’d rather get it from you.” Lovino took a step back and Ludwig reached for him. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” Lovino shook his head. “I… I don’t know. I’m… God…” Ludwig still resembled a confused dog and Lovino finally cracked. He stepped forwards and pulled Ludwig down to proper height, pressing his lips tightly to his. They were warm, a little chapped, and tasted like maple syrup from breakfast. Ludwig froze, Lovino let go, then he bolted out from the shelves. When he risked a glance over his shoulder, Ludwig was staring after him with a completely red face. Lovino turned the corner and left the library. Fuck fuck fuck fuck-

He didn’t go down to breakfast the next few days and he avoided the halls like the plague. Feliciano thought he might be sick but Lovino told him to fuck off when he asked if he needed to see Manon, so Feliciano was less worried.

About a week after, there was a knock on his door. He was expecting one of his fifth years. “Come in.”

Ludwig pushed open the door and Lovino really considered diving under his desk and hiding for the next four years, but he froze instead. Ludwig’s arm was still wrapped up but the cut on his face had healed up. They both stared at each other for a minutes.

“I’ve got a fifth year any time now.” he muttered. “So make this quick.” Ludwig swallowed.

“So… that.” He flailed a little, then pointed at his lips like an idiot. “Was… was that… romantic? I know you and Feli do the kissing thing for greetings, it’s an It-”

“Italians kiss cheeks to say hello, not lips.” Lovino snapped. “And so what, if it was? I’ve liked you since seventh year, and-”

“Hogsmeade.” Ludwig blurted. His face was even more red than his robes.

“...what about it?”

“Uh. I’ve liked you since Hogsmeade. Fifth year.” He buried his face in his hands. “I- Do you want to go at some point, with me? As a… a date?”

Lovino’s Ravenclaw fifth year, Michelle Payet, didn’t end up having her meeting. She peeked inside the open door and found Professor Vargas pinning Professor Beilschmidt to the desk. (This was despite the fact that Professor Vargas was several inches shorter than Professor Beilschmidt.) She very slowly closed the door, then power walked down the hall.

When the pair of professors arrived at dinner that night, all the teachers were grinning. Headmaster Wang glanced up at them as they sat next to each other like they always did.

“I hope that you don’t make a habit of making out during class hours.” he said rather brightly. Ludwig went red, burying his face in his hands, and Lovino just grinned.

“I make no promises.” He loosely took Ludwig’s hand. Ludwig squeezed, and he squeezed back, his heart still making those goddamn doki dokis but at least he knew that Ludwig’s was doing the same thing.

----

Thanks for reading!

This fic is also on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27823528

This is all Frukmerunning’s fault. They posted about a Harry Potter AU and it lived in my head rent free for a few days. It’s also their fault that I ship Germano as much as I do now. (and Itapan. Damn you. I’m not sure if I’ve got their characterization quiiiiiiite right but I’m happy with it)

Natalia was included in the Yule Ball group because she was the only person in their year I had (for some reason? I kind of just… estimated the ages as I thought they worked) and I like her. Plus if anyone is going to make fun of Lovino about this, it’s her and Manon and I already had a plan for Manon.

I do have a list of sortings and positions that I made for my own amusement (this took a day of my life I will never get back) I’ll post it under the cut. There’s sort of a rhyme and reason for it but I can’t explain it, so…