Compared to most, if not all the other students of Hogwarts, Lovino wasn't particularly eager for the arrival of the parties from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Lovino didn't see any good points to the Triwizard Tournament, nor did he feel like being forced to socialize with a bunch of strangers only here for that damn tournament. Ever since the Headmaster had announced that Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament, his parents had been sending owl after owl inquiring whether he or his brother would be partaking. As far as Lovino was concerned, neither of them would, but he couldn't tell his parents that; not outright, anyway. Lovino looked forward to their disappointment and irritation even less than he did the tournament itself.

Instead, he had passed off corresponding with them beyond the standard updates on his classes and private studies, and only vaguely referred to the tournament or the arriving students. Lovino did his best to keep himself away from any discussions about the tournament altogether, and had been one of the few students who refused to go outside to watch the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive. In fact, he had almost been late to the welcome feast, darting in barely before the congregations from the other wizarding schools. Feliciano had been unable to save a seat for his brother by him and Ludwig; it was easy to scare a group of first years further down the table to give him a wide berth of empty seats at the very end of the Slytherin Table. He had blatantly buried himself in his assignments from that day's classes, ignoring the introductions and welcome speeches. Lovino didn't even know where the foreign students were sitting, or how many of them were even there.

However, Lovino couldn't help but notice the fact students were being allowed to shuffle seats between all the tables. It was pretty much impossible to miss, since it was highly frowned upon for students to sit at other Houses' tables. Considering the fact that he was sitting very much alone, and with no barrier of students he "tolerated" (his friends, though he rarely felt the need to call them that out loud), the Slytherin worried some idiot who didn't know who the hell he was might actually try to sit with him and socialize. With a visible grimace, Lovino quickly waved his wand and sent his school supplies to spread across all the seats around him. While incantationless magic was still difficult for him, Lovino could at least levitate items without need for a verbal spell. Then, just as an added precaution, he put on his best grumpy face, the one that even made Feliciano hesitate for a few seconds.

Satisfied that he'd done enough to deter any idiots from approaching him, Lovino returned to his book, which detailed a lot of interesting theoretical material on the effects substituting ingredients had on various high-level potions. He ate between paragraphs, projecting his very best "stay the fuck away from me" vibes. There were much more important things for him to focus on than some idiotic peril-filled tournament and new students he didn't want to talk to; NEWTs to study for, and parents to please, for starters.

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Here you go, guys, if anyone wants to pester Lovi lol ^^;

Ah crap. Toni looked around the Great Hall, his face falling with dismay. He had been stretching his legs and exploring the castle he’d always heard so much about from Gil and somehow managed to forget about dinner. But could you really blame him? As much as he respected Durmstrang and grown to love the students he’d shared his time with there, it was a cold and stern building in an unforgiving landscape. But here? The rooms all seemed so warm and inviting, with big fireplaces and paintings that actually enjoyed chatting. Just today, Toni had spoken with two knights, one old philosopher, and a particularly chatty lady of society who gave progressively more lurid stories between sips of champagne, in Durmstrang the portraits were full of grim-faced wizards who always barked at him to pick up the pace or to get back to class. He loved Hogwarts already, though some of that might have been due to Gilbert’s stories. Gilbert had clearly thought of Hogwarts as somewhere precious and Toni could understand why. He’d received a warm welcome from this adorable brunette who clearly thought the world of him. He was loved here and those he cared about were here, and it was that love that had colored his stories about the place, which had made Toni look at the place with a rosier tint.

But of course, all that exploration took time, and as a result Toni was late to dinner. Very late. He sighed and looked around the packed Hall, green eyes searching for a place to sit. There was only one vacancy that he could find, a few empty seats around a lone brunette in Slytherin attire. Toni tilted his head, a bit confused, because the boy looking strikingly similar to the cheerful brunette who had greeted Gilbert when they’d arrived. There were just two things wrong with that idea: one—the boy sitting at the table looked like he hadn’t smiled in years, and two—he could see that same cheerful brunette animatedly chatting with Gil down at the other side of the table. So probably a relative… but with that close a resemblance? Twins? Driven by both curiosity and necessity, Toni stepped closer smiling brightly.

“Excuse me? I was hoping I could sit here. I… ah… I lost track of time so I missed all of the speeches and everything… I hope they weren’t important.” He laughed a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “But anyway, I can’t find anywhere to sit, so maybe… if you don’t mind…”

He gave the boy a hopeful smile, maybe he wasn’t a grouchy as he appeared.

Lovino's hopes for an undisturbed evening were almost immediately dashed, and just when he'd begun losing himself in his reading. While Lovino's grown quite used to both being the center of attention as well as forced ostrazation, he couldn't quite shrug off the pointed staring settled firmly against his profile. A quick glance to the side granted him a glimpse of a brunette wearing Durmstrang robes heading his way. Lovino's scowl deepened. Seems his "do not fucking approach" vibes weren't as potent against idiotic foreign students as it was the rest of his classmates. He tried to keep his attention firmly on his book, hunching his shoulders a bit as an impromptu physical barrier. His efforts were in vain.

"Excuse me? I was hoping I could sit here." The stranger didn't even bother to ask, simply hinted at a question with a hopeful statement. Lovino didn't have patience with idiots or strangers, especially not strangers and idiots who couldn't fully state their intentions. The Italian glared at his passage on the effects of slicing versus shaving one's ingredients, incabable of focusing on the words because the idiot kept talking. "--I missed all of the speeches and everything... I hope they weren't important." Lovino didn't join in the other's sheepish laughter. "But anyway, I can't find anywhere to sit, so maybe... if you don't mind--"

"You just stood in the fucking door and stared, you didn't search at all," Lovino snapped, finally setting his book pages-down to scowl at the brunette. "So don't give me that shit. I don't care about this shitty tournament or getting friendly with any of you, so--" His tirade, unfortunately, was interrupted by a quiet pop at his elbow. The gold plate placed there was filled with warm food, gently steaming. That was not Lovino's plate. With a scowl, he lifted his wand and sent the food back to the kitchens. He already had his food. "A-Anyway," he continued once the distraction was gone, lifting his gaze back to the stranger. "I have fucking N.E.W.T.s to study for, and I'd rather focus on that--"

Pop!

This time, the plate across from Lovino was filled with food as well as both plates at either side of him. He could even see the pitcher of water lift from the table to fill all three goblets. Lovino's eyebrow twitched, violently. The house elves were eavesdropping on his conversations, again! While he rarely saw them, there were two in particular related to his family's own house elves, and enjoyed trying to baby Lovino and Feliciano both. One of the biggest laments Lovino heard from them was the fact he "had so few friends!" And since they weren't his house elves, he couldn't tell them to stop meddling and actually be obeyed.

With a growl, Lovino's wand flicked quickly thrice in succession, sending everything away once again. And yet, his efforts were for naught. Every time he sent something away, all the plates plus one were filled, until every empty place around Lovino was loaded with food for three people. A hot flush started creeping up the back of his neck. He tried one last time, a full sweep of his arm that nearly sent his homework on the floor. In his agitation, he'd practically forgotten the Durmstrang student was still standing there, watching.

And for a moment, there was peace. Lovino heaved a sigh, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. He glowered up at the other, opening his mouth to speak--

Lovino's end of the table exploded in a flurry of flying parchment as magic crammed all his homework haphazardly into his bag, even the book under his elbow. In the same moment, half a dozen pops echoed across the hall as every empty placement Lovino had tried to use as a buffer filled themselves with food and drink. It was only by his white-knuckled grip that kept Lovino's wand in his hand. His eyebrow spasmed again, a twitch he couldn't stop as an angry flush colored him ear to collar in red.

"Fine!" Lovino snapped, glowering at his own plate. "You win!" His words were meant for the house elves obviously conspiring to ruin his entire day. It was surprising his grinding teeth weren't audible as his gaze snapped in the stranger's direction. Then he heaved out an angry huff of air, attempting to regain his composure. He could still feel his blush when he spoke up again. "Whatever. You can fucking sit here. I don't care. Che." Feigning indifference, and obviously failling, Lovino snatched up his fork and stabbed it into a piece of sausage. He couldn't bring himself to look at the other. Fuck, that was embarrassing.

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I'll add in the color formatting later, writing this on my tablet and damn if it's worth potentially losing my post rn lol Hope you like it!
Edit: Updated the formatting!