Mattheo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Look, Tom,” he began. “I know we don’t always see eye to eye, but-”

Tom didn’t even let him finish. “But that's probably because you’re too short to do so.”

For a heartbeat, the room went silent... then Regulus choked on a laugh, Theodore snorted into his sleeve, and Draco actually grinned, which was rare enough to make it worse.

You couldn’t help it either; a quiet chuckle escaped before you could stop yourself.

“Very funny,” Mattheo muttered, straightening up and crossing his arms. “You should try that humor thing more often, Tom. Maybe it’ll make people forget you’re a complete nightmare.”

Tom smirked. “And you should try being taller. Then maybe you’d finally reach my level.”

That earned another round of laughter from the couch. Even you had to bite your lip this time to keep it from turning into a full laugh.

Mattheo turned toward you, narrowing his eyes. “Oh, you think that’s funny too?”

You raised your hands, pretending innocence. “I mean… objectively, it was a good one.”

Draco actually snorted again, and Theodore leaned back, grinning. “Come on, Mattheo, you walked right into that one.”

Mattheo sighed, dropping back into the couch and rubbing his face. “Merlin’s sake. Why do I even try talking sense to him?”

Tom tilted his head slightly. “Because deep down, you know I’m always right.”

Mattheo groaned and threw a cushion at him. Tom sidestepped it and the cushion hit Regulus instead, who burst into laughter.

You leaned back beside Mattheo, still smiling. “For what it’s worth,” you said, “I think you two see eye to eye just fine.”

Tom arched a brow. “Do we?”

Mattheo shot you a look that said do not encourage him. “You are insufferable, almost like my brother.”