Cross Stitch
Title: Cross Stitch
Genre: Drama, a little angst
Pairing(s): USUK
Word Count: 1,292
Rating/Warnings: Swearing, 12/15
Summary: Ever since their fight, Arthur Kirkland and Alfred Jones have ignored each other as best they could. To Arthur, Alfred will always be important though and that can not be ruined over one little fight, so he continues to help Alfred any way he can. Harry Potter AU Done for the ' sewing' prompt of the usxuk summer camp.
"Are you sewing those robes for that boy again?" His brother is scornful, sniffing at Arthur's work. No self-respecting Slytherin or pureblood would ever sew the Muggle way. It was a good thing that Arthur liked to defy everyone expectations. If someone told him to do something, he would do the opposite just to be difficult.
"Don't call him that," Arthur said coolly, knowing better than to get angry at anything his brother said. It could only be used against him. He carried on sewing the set of robes, making sure his stitches were as neat and as small as possible so it was like they were done by magic.
"Merlin, I thought Alfred hated you. He made that big speech last year about how you were smothering him and that he wanted to be his own person. Remember? You completely froze up and practically cried in front of the whole school!" Arthur's fingers tensed on the fabric but he quickly relaxed. It would not do to get wrinkles in the robes.
"Yes I do remember. Thank you Jacob." Arthur's tone became colder and sharper and Jacob grinned, but backed off. Arthur may know better but if anyone pushed him hard enough, it would get him irritated enough to curse someone.
"Alright Artie, I'll leave you alone. But does Alfred even know that you do this for him? Or do you sneak the robes out of the bin when he throws them away and stitch them up secretly?" Arthur ducked his head, hoping that his fringe covered his reddened cheeks. His brothers knew him too well. Jacob snorted but did not say anything more. He walked away, leaving Arthur alone in the empty classroom. After what had happened with Alfred, Arthur had made plenty of new friends but his possessive behaviour and cold attitude had quickly pushed them away and now he was reduced to sitting in empty classrooms outside of lesson times because it felt less lonely than sitting in the Common Room all alone.
"Fuck, I'm pathetic," Arthur muttered as he squinted at the robes, trying to make his stitch as small and neat as possible. The dim light did not help Arthur's sight but as soon as he switched a light on, people would know he was there and they would never leave him alone. That annoying French Ravenclaw might come and annoy him again, or one of his brothers or that Gryffindor who moved from Denmark the summer before and had instantly made friends with Alfred. Arthur's thoughts were stopped abruptly as he jammed the needle into his thumb. A muffled curse sounded through the room and Arthur stared at the welling blood in irritation. He should just ignore it, Alfred would probably like the little bit of red on his robes among all the green thread that Arthur used in case Alfred ever wondered or cared how his robes got stitched up.
Arthur rolled his eyes at himself. If his thoughts got any more maudlin, he could just join Myrtle in her bathroom. Not like anyone would care. With another shake of his head, Arthur finished sewing the robes and tied the thread up before biting it off. He looked at the work with a critical eye. Not his best work but even Arthur's 'not his best' was better than average.
"Suppose it'll have to do," Arthur grumbled as he shot a glance at the rapidly darkening window. Not being a prefect, Arthur was not allowed out after curfew and Filch already had it out for Arthur even since Arthur had blown up the Potions lab in his first year. With the same explosion, Arthur had also earned the enmity of Professor Snape, a dubious honour that was normally only bestowed on Gryffindors. "Winky!" Winky, one of the house elves in the kitchen, popped into existence right in front of Arthur. Apart from empty classrooms, Arthur liked to haunt the kitchens and he had gained a few special friends in the house elves. Winky was one of them.
"Young master Arthur! What cans I do yous for today?" Winky asked, his voice eager to please. She had managed to brighten up slightly ever since she had been freed from her last owners, and seemed to stick to Arthur like glue. Arthur thought he might remind her of her past owners even though she hardly ever talked about them.
"Please can you take these robes back to Alfred," Arthur asked, stifling a yawn behind his hand. Maybe he was more exhausted than he thought.
"Of course Master! Make sure yous get a good nights sleep!" Winky gently scolded and Arthur gave a fond smile.
"I will. Many thanks Winky." Winky gave a deep bow before cracking out of sight. With a small groan, Arthur realised that he still had to do Snape's homework. Snape had only let Arthur into N.E.W.T level Potions if he could handle the work, no need to give Snape an excuse to chuck him out. Yawning again, Arthur started to walk back to his dormitory.
The next day at breakfast, Arthur stirred his porridge absent-mindedly as he read through the same page of his copy of Advanced Potions Making. The words were starting to blur before him, the product of too little sleep. No one else was up this early but his roommate, a foul-mouthed wizard from one of the famed Italian pureblood families, had woken him up by screaming about turtles. Everyone else had fallen back asleep quickly but Arthur had laid awake for an hour before cursing Lovino and getting ready for the day.
"Arthur?" The quiet voice made Arthur look up but when he saw who the voice belonged to, he almost dropped his spoon. His mouth definitely dropped open. Alfred F. Jones, the Gryffindor hero (after Harry Potter of course) was standing at the Slytherin table in front of Arthur Kirkland, the Slytherin loser. It was definitely him too and not his twin brother, judging from the length of his hair and the bit of hair that stood straight up.
"Yes Al- Jones?" Arthur said, trying to be as polite as possible even when his voice sounded like it had been dragged through the Forbidden Forest backwards. Alfred fidgeted and Arthur waited, with growing impatience, for whatever he wanted to say. "Either spit it out or leave," Arthur said coldly and turned back to his book even though the words were registering even less than they were before.
"I just wanted to say, thanks." Arthur raised his eyes to Alfred's again, shocked beyond words this time. He highly doubted that Alfred was thanking him for anything Arthur had done when he had thought of Alfred as a little brother. "For when you mended my robes. That was... really nice of you," Alfred explained, everything about him screaming awkward. Arthur rather thought that he looked like he had been forced to come over and say thank you and when he looked he saw Matthew, Alfred's twin brother, paying unusual close attention to their conversation.
"You're welcome Alfred. You can go and tell Matthew that you've said thank you," Arthur said, a false smile gracing his lips even as he closed his book and stood up from the table. Alfred gaped at Arthur in surprise before a familiar expression crossed his face.
"Wait a minute Arthur, that's not what I meant," Alfred said angrily but by this time, Arthur was fed up of the excuses and quickly left the table and his breakfast. Mother would have to forgive him for his lack of manners. However, as Arthur walked away, he could not help but feel a warm feeling spread through him. Alfred's gratitude may be fake but it still made Arthur happy.
Okay, I lied a little. This is my last AU that I'm going to start. I wrote this the first time the camp came out so it's been hanging around my computer for ages.
A little bad news: my internet has gone. It should be up tomorrow but my campus IT services said it would be up by this evening but that obviously isn't true since I'm posting this from the library. But I won't be able to answer any questions at the mo, I just want to post things on time. Thank you though, I will get to your comments soon enough. I was going to be doing them on my afternoon off but then internet didn't work so that put halt to any plans I had.