Everyone at Hogwarts University loves Dr. Potter. He's so popular with the students that they've had to beg him to teach two lecture hall courses per term due to the sheer number of students who wanted to take his class. Some of his colleagues in the department can be quite rude about it, claiming that the only reason Potter was adored was because of his glowing reputation as one of the greatest detectives in MI6; he never denied it, just let it roll off of his back instead.
The only time he ever dignified that accusation with a response was on a particularly bad day when he said: "At least they know I'm competent, David. I believe the same can't be said for you. And besides, that isn't the only reason they love my class so much."
This was true. The other factor that cemented Potter's status as the best staff member at the university was his complete inability to go even one class without discussing his husband. His students have no idea who this "husband" is, but they do know more than enough about him; he loves Shakespeare, is thirty times better at math than Dr. Potter (who is known to be entirely inept when it comes to numbers), and is absolutely enamored with flowers, no matter the type. Potter's students have even taken to drawing 'police sketches' of his husband, which, considering they are all studying criminal justice, they were all slightly familiar with. However, no matter how hard they try, they can never glean anything about the mystery man's physical appearance from the professor, who only ever describes him as "angelic" and "adorable". Rumor has it that Potter's main office is full of photos of the two of them, but since he holds office hours in his other one (yes, he has two), no student has ever found out for sure.
Dr. Malfoy is slightly less popular with the student body, but still downright revered by those truly invested in his class. Anyone who walked into one of his lectures would not walk out the same man. He was really a master of money and economics and was completely obsessed with his work. So obsessed, in fact, that his students assumed he was a bit of a hermit with no social life (not in a bad way, of course, but still). He never mentioned his personal life, not his romantic status nor what he eats for breakfast, not even during office hours or with the other professors.
His office has no photos at all, only one black and white shot of a sign above a store reading 'Mr. Malkin's Suits for All Occasions'. No student could figure out why in the world the only photo he possessed was that of a seemingly random street sign, but no one questioned it after a while. Dr. Malfoy was just...weird sometimes, and his students loved him for it.
Some of them feel bad for him, thinking he must be lonely. Sometimes they suggest things for him to do or people he should meet in an attempt to find him some friends, but he always dismisses them with a smile and a wave of his hand, like he could think of nothing worse than socializing with other staff members. He insists that he’s fine the way he is, but his students never believe him.
One night, after a late off-campus excursion for their Forensics 101 class, two students heading back to the dorms spot him snogging Dr. Potter in the back of his car. Suddenly, the chill that night heads right for their bones, despite their thick jackets.
The day after, Dr. Potter is iced out by his entire class, desperate to figure out why. Rather than being delighted by stories of his husband, as they usually are, his students seem…disgusted. Less and less students show up in the lecture hall. It’s sad, in truth, and Potter worries how he could’ve offended so many people at once.
Meanwhile, Dr. Malfoy’s office hours go by without a single knock. Students stop telling him about the trendy new spots they usually love to bother him with, and they even seem uninterested in one of his regular intense discussions. Only three students give their input, and the class passes in tense silence.
It’s completely disconcerting, to go from being so liked to so ignored by people he had come to call friends; he decides, after three days of these awkward, stilted lectures, to make himself feel better by going to sit in on Dr. Potter’s Ethics of Justice lecture. According to him, it’s the most intense, crucial day in his classroom, and Dr. Malfoy was always fascinated by it.
“Hello, Aurelia! I didn’t know you took Dr. Potter’s class.” His tone is bright and cheery, but Aurelia only glares and takes her seat. Dr. Malfoy shrugs it off, assuming it has something to do with the tension in his class over the last few days. He takes a seat right in front and grins when he sees Dr. Potter walk in.
Potter, too, is glowing with happiness and love as he catches a glimpse of Dr. Malfoy here for a visit. “Hello, my Dragon.” Malfoy blushes at the old nickname. “To what do I owe this pleasure? You do know we’ve covered the fun part already, don’t you?”
Dr. Malfoy smiles lightly and exclaims, “Well, I don’t have any class until three, and I’d like to see you before dinner tonight.”
“I suppose I’ll forgive the audit fee, just this once,” Dr. Potter teases.
“Don’t you think you might get odd looks at the bank, depositing a check from your own account?”
“Wait, DR. MALFOY is your husband?” Aurelia screams in shock. The rest of the students look just as confused, as if trying to compute this sudden discovery in their heads.
“Where have you been, Ms. Stevens? I talk about him all the time.”
“Oh, do you, love?”
“You know I'd talk about you forever if you'd let me.”