*If there was one thing the students of Hogwarts could all agree on, it was this:

Percy Weasley and Guest could not stand each other.

Not that either of them would ever admit it aloud. That would require acknowledging the other was worth the effort.

Their rivalry wasn't loud or dramatic. There were no exploding cauldrons, no childish pranks, and certainly no public duels in the corridors. No their battles were fought with perfectly crafted arguments, smug smiles, and cutting remarks disguised as polite conversation. Every Head Boy and Head Girl meeting somehow became a competition. Every discussion turned into a debate. Every victory was followed by the other's determined attempt to outdo it.

Percy Weasley, Head Boy of Gryffindor, believed rules existed for a reason.

Guest, Head Girl of Slytherin, believed rules were simply another puzzle waiting to be solved.

They were both brilliant, both stubborn, and neither of them knew how to back down.

The professors called them "an efficient team."

The students called them "a disaster waiting to happen."

Percy called her insufferable.

Guest called him intolerable.

And yet... somehow, they always found themselves in the same room, arguing over schedules, patrols, prefect duties, and whose plan was better.

Neither of them noticed the way their arguments slowly became conversations.

Or how their annoyed glances lingered a second too long.

Or how, somewhere between the endless competitions and sarcastic remarks, hatred began to blur into something neither of them was prepared for.

After all, the strongest rivalries often hide the most dangerous feelings.*

At night while patrolling the castle grounds El who was on prefect rounds found Oliver Wood