~Blaine POV

For the next few weeks, Blaine purposely avoided Kurt. His brother’s obvious contempt towards the boy made him keep a safe distance from him no matter what. He made various friends from other houses, too, but never Kurt. Or the ones around him. Blaine avoided them like the plague.

A month into the semester, the houses were called to order to prepare for the annual house choir competition. Gryffindor had a strong choir going, but Slytherin had the honors of winning for four years in a row, ever since Kurt had entered Hogwarts. From what Blaine gathered from Wes and David, Kurt was a countertenor, and never failed to win his house the competition. Something that Shane was very sour about, since he used to be the Gryffindor Warblers’ lead singer.

“That’s why we decided to give a little twist this year. We’re going to take auditions for lead this year, give someone else a chance. All Shane could manage these days were malicious outbursts of hate mixed with a melody, and the judges never liked it. I think he’s a better dancer than he is a singer.” Wes said, walking with an enormous load of books in his hands.

“And we’re going to make it really energetic, give a contrast to all of it. I bet everyone’s tired of sit-stool choirs.” David smirked, and Blaine laughed at his enthusiasm. Blaine was thinking about auditioning as well. He had always loved singing, and it was just something that he could do comfortably. At the mention of Kurt, though, he trembled in anticipation of hearing him sing.

No, Blaine didn’t have the hots for Kurt. He didn’t want a heartbreak caused from unrequited love, thank you very much. So why was he keep thinking about those blue-green eyes, that perfectly coiffed hair, the lean, strong legs that went on for- woah. Stop right there.

“Hello? Earth to Blaine. Come on, dude.” A hand was waved in front of his face and Blaine came back to his senses. Ethan – or Evan – was doing the waving, the other twin trying to pull Blaine into movement. Blaine blushed, and started moving again towards their defense against the dark arts classroom. This particular class was taught by professor Sylvester, who was intimidating yet a really good teacher.

“Okay, weaklings. Today, be prepared to face your worst fears… because that’s exactly what you’ll be facing today!!” Professor Sylvester half-screamed, making a few kids in the front row jump. “Everyone, get into groups of three or four, and you’ll be entering this side room here,” she gestured to a spare door, “and you’ll be facing a boggart. You take turns within the group, and come out and practice the spell. Remember, the spell is Riddikulus, so don’t confuse it for something else. Houston’s group can go first.”’

Dwight, Laura and another girl walked up, Dwight holding his holy water spray from the Professor’s grasp. She let him pass, muttering “Like that’s going to work against boggarts anyway.” Moments later, three collective screams issued from the small door and the three students ran out, face pale and breathing hard. A few more groups like that, and it was Blaine’s turn. He was walking up confidently towards the door with Evan and Ethan when professor Sylvester stopped him.

“Anderson, wait right there.” The Professor called out, and walked up to him.

Blaine groaned. He knew where this was going. Since he was new, the teachers had all been assigned to watch over his every work for a month. Today was the last day, but it somehow made it more annoying. With a sympathetic smile from Sue, Blaine took off from the tweedles and walked up next to her. He took a deep breath, and entered the small room, the professor following close behind.

In the room, there was a big trunk. Blaine paused for a moment and, with a nudge from the professor, clicked it open with a wave of his wand, expecting the worst. A cold air immediately swept the room, and the boggart had formed a familiar shape in front of him.

Blaine closed his eyes again.

And opened it.

He could hear professor Sylvester take in a sharp breath, and honestly he could understand. Because this was nothing that he was expecting to see out of a boggart.

Kurt Hummel was standing in front of him, walking slowly. Blaine gulped, and the figure gave a wicked smile. Blaine was terrified, but he was mesmerized as well. He knew the counterspell. He could easily raise his wand and curse this image off. Except that he couldn’t. He knew well as hell that he didn’t want to cast the spell. Somehow he wanted it to stay. He was terrified, but at the same time he didn’t want to make Kurt’s image disappear. The boggart faced him, inches from his nose and started to lean into his ear. Blaine subconsciously leaned forward was well.

“Ridikkulus!” A sharp shriek issued within the room and Kurt disappeaered in a puff of smoke. Blaine started slightly, and then blushed crimson as he finally remembered that the professor was still in the room with him. Her lips were pursed in a straight line, and Blaine was breaking sweat. What if she told anyone? Wait, tell what?

“Anderson… I’m going to respect your privacy and just erase that image from my mind. Don’t worry, I never tell.” Blaine let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He turned around jerkily, his legs feeling like jelly on the way out. He was honestly glad that he’d been separated from the tweedles for this activity. He needed to straighten his own thoughts out before the news ever broke into the student body.

~Kurt POV

Kurt sat there in transformation class, doodling on a spare piece of parchment as his intellectually challenged classmates tried – and failed – to cast a simple conjuring spell in class. The advantage of being so advanced but not being able to skip years was that he never actually had to listen in class. Santana didn’t really care about her grades, so they were always sitting together in the same classes, doing anything but paying attention. Today was no different, when Santana decided to break the silence.

“Hey lady lips. You sure you ain’t got a crush on that Anderson kid?” she asked, and Kurt choked on his inhale. After a few coughs and a reprimanding stare from the professor, Kurt wheezed out an answer. “Are – you – absolutely – insane?”

“Well, I would never say that, but your subconscious apparently says otherwise.” Santana remarked, and Kurt glanced at his own drawing before flushing red. He’d drawn a curly-haired boy in the middle, and was apparently doodling little hearts all around it when Santana had woke him up from his daze.

“Ahh…. That…. Well, ignore that for the life of me, Tana. My mind makes up some weird things when…. Gah….. nevermind.” Kurt rambled, and the latina smirked.

“Hey, hey. I’m not saying anything weird. He’s a hot piece of the male species and I don’t blame you for falling for him.” Kurt rolled his eyes at that. Santana was really the worst lesbian in the history of the world. “I’m just saying that you’re Kurt Hummel – you don’t shy out of crushes! No, scratch that, you don’t do crushes. You may make advances, but you don’t crush on anybody. Gets that?”

Kurt smiled at the suggestion, but the smile faded off soon enough. “Thanks for the words, but I really don’t think it’s gonna work. I mean, he hates me already. If he didn’t hate me right after that compartment incident, he certainly would now. You know how his brother hates me like the scum of the world. If there isn’t any talking back, he’s a gnome. And that’s saying something since gnomes are bald and he’s got that big mop of hair on his head….” Kurt droned on, and Santana slapped him on the shoulder to jerk him out of his incoherent trance.

“Now lookie here, Hummel. You don’t know it, okay? So you just go for it. Just corner him alone and if it doesn’t go well, he didn’t look like the type who’s going to run and tell anyway. Seems like he’s got something in his head. ” Santana scolded, and Kurt’s heart leaped once more before sinking again.

“Hey, Tana. Big problem here. I. Don’t. Freakin’. Know. If. He’s. Gay.” Kurt scoffed. Santana tried to speak up, but Kurt raised a hand to stop her.

She huffed out a breath and then turned around, adding, “I get to tell you ‘I told you so’ if you two ever get together.” Kurt rolled his eyes, and the rest of the class passed in comfortable silence. When class was dismissed, Kurt bade goodbye to Santana and started to walk towards the dungeons when Sue Sylvester stopped him.

“Hold it there, Gelfling.” Kurt rolled his eyes at that. “And don’t give me that look. I need a talk with you. Immediately.” Kurt froze. No matter how brave and headstrong he was, Sue Sylvester’s office was a place that anyone would want to ignore.

Kurt shuffled nervously before answering. “Um, professor, is it really necessary? I have this load of homework that I need to finish…” Kurt lied, and the professor knew it. Kurt never had to spend much time in his homework, no matter how much the load. Each piece didn’t need half an hour to be finished.

“We both know that it’s a lie, Hummel. Now come on. If you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to fear. And that attitude’s making me a tad bit suspicious. Now follow me or you’re guilty of whatever’s accused at this spot.” Kurt sighed at that. He really didn’t have any choice. He followed the professor to her office in the more secluded portion of the castle, and wondered what he could have ever done to get himself in this place. He’d left the Gryffindors alone in favor of the first peace month, then what could have happened?

While Kurt thought of all of the possible horrible punishments that he could receive for whatever he did, they arrived at the office and Sue gestured for Kurt to sit down. He complied nervously, glancing around and biting his lips.

“Soften up, sweet porcelain. I’m just getting you here to ask some questions. And drop the scared attitude, you remind me of those tiny midgets of first-years.” Kurt didn’t answer, and Sue sighed before speaking again.

“What kind of relationship do you have with that Anderson kid?”

~Blaine POV

“Blaine? What’s wrong?” Shane asked as he entered their dorm room, which was in complete chaos. Half the room was upturned, and Blaine was buried within a pile of things, searching frantically for something. Shane knew that this was never a good sign. Blaine was always so organized and dapper.

“Shane!!” Blaine nearly screamed, and when he surfaced from the piles of objects, his eyes were filled with pure terror.

“My diary’s gone!! I-I don’t know where it is!! I haven’t seen it since I came here, and I know for a fact that I did pack it. Do you think someone stole it? Oh, god. If anyone reads what’s in there…” Blaine paled again and dropped back into the messy heap. Shane sighed, and ran a hand through his messy curls. Blaine looked up, and Shane just made a beeline to the bed, flopping down.

“…..Shay?”

“Leave it, Blaine. I’m just exhausted.”

“No, you aren’t. There’s something more. What aren’t you telling me?”

Shane groaned, and rolled back into the pillows. “nnnnnghhh”

“Sorry?” Blaine asked, regaining his dapper, older brother posture. The diary bothered him, but not as much as his brother’s distress.

Shane rolled his head a fraction of an inch. “Reed’s not talking to me.”

“Hold it right there, Shane Anderson. Because if you say that you hurt Reed again with your stupid ideas and stubborn nature, I’m not going to help you anymore. Honestly, I’ve thought that you were going to wait before getting on a full relationship.”

“Look, just….” Shane sighed and spoke again. “Everything just hit together, okay? The competition, the workload, Reed’s mom being pushy again, and…” Shane stared at Blaine. “Hummel.”

Blaine frowned. Why did his brother hate Kurt so much? “What exactly is so wrong with Hummel? Look. I’m not saying that he’s the nicest person in the world, but he seemed decent enough-”

“That’s because you don’t know him!! He’s just an arrogant prick who uses his age and talent to a bad cause!! He breaks people’s hearts and pick on others for no reason. He’s just a stuck up-”

“Shane!” Blaine scolded, but his mind was whizzing with questions. He pushed them to the back of his head, especially the ones concerning how such a nice person could be all of those things, he wasn’t nice. Really, Kurt wasn’t nice. Just hot and Blaine was making all those images in his head and – stop. Then he turned back to his brother.

“Arrogant prick or not, you will not talk about anyone like that behind their backs. He didn’t really do anything to earn your backtalking if you exclude existing, so stop it. Just… just try to see things in a better light, will you?” Blaine reprimanded, his adult instincts kicking in.

“Yeah… well, I’m sorry. Anyway, what about that diary of yours?”

Blaine shrugged and pushed his worries aside. Nobody knew him anyway, so the diary can’t possibly cause that much damage. “Let’s deal with your problem first, shall we?”

Shane brightened. “You’re officially the best older brother in the history of the world.” Blaine smirked and jumped into brainstorming.