School would start on the first Monday of every new year.

Hence, one could say that it was a blessing the new year started on a Tuesday, giving the students an extra week to relax before school would once again throw them under the bus.

 

 

“So did you two ?”

Chanyeol turned around, his face showing a faux appalled look. “What the , Jongdae?”

“It’s chill, Dumbyeol,” said Jongdae, grinning that Cheshire smile of his. “I’ve seen Baek since he was a little sausage. I just want confirmation.”

Chanyeol had only arrived at school yesterday morning; however, Jongdae decided that he had been patient enough.

“We didn’t,” Chanyeol said, but he strangely didn’t sound upset by this.

“Spill.”

“What?”

Jongdae narrowed his eyes at his best friend, sitting up straight on his bed to face the long-limbed Gryffindor, “Why do you sound so happy despite not getting laid?”

Silence blanketed them for a few seconds before Chanyeol broke out into the biggest smile Jongdae’s ever seen on him in a long time. “I think Baekhyun is starting to open up to me,” he said, not able to keep the giddiness out of his voice.

“What makes you think so?” asked Jongdae, genuinely curious.

“He told me that he agreed to go out with me to piss off his family.”

This only made Jongdae more confused, a perplexed expression washing over his face. “Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“Yes and no,” said Chanyeol sagely. “That’s the reason he went out with me, yes, but the damage is done, isn’t it? His family already knows about our relationship and they’re angry. He’s already done with that. He doesn’t need to stay in this relationship anymore if he already achieved his goal.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to dump him,” Jongdae suggested. “Knowing Baekhyun and his pity-complex, that might actually be true.”

“You really are his best friend, aren’t you?” Chanyeol said, amazed. “He did say that. He said he was going to wait for me to get tired of his diva and dump him, but I never did. Don’t you see, Dumbdae? He felt guilty about it!”

“I don’t follow,” Jongdae admitted.

“If he didn’t like me one bit, he wouldn’t tell me about this,” said Chanyeol. “If he didn’t have even one drop of affection for me, he wouldn’t feel guilty about anything – but he does. I think I finally broke down his walls. He’s finally letting his guard down. We can start the next phase of our relationship now.”

The two boys stared at each other, silence falling between them once again.

This time, Jongdae broke it with his delighted laughter. “That’s great!” he nearly shouted, “The idiot finally got himself a set of eyes so he can now see what’s been right in front of him all along.”

“Glad you’re happy about it.”

“I’m ecstatic,” said Jongdae. “My best friends are together. What more can I ask for?”

“So what happened with you and Minseok?” asked Chanyeol, shifting the focus of the conversation to his friend now. “Will I have to testify in court that you’re an Animagi?”

“No, you won’t,” answered Jongdae happily. “Minseok won’t report me. I have nothing to worry about.”

“So what happened between you two?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb,” the big-eared boy said. “You and Minseok were being all shy and around each other. Kind of creepy seeing you of all people acting shy.”

“He kissed me. And I kissed him back. He said he likes me.”

Once again, there was silence.

Jongdae was enjoying the look of utter shock on Chanyeol’s face.

“Don’t pass out on me,” he teased.

Chanyeol shook his head, still in shock. “What do you mean you guys kissed and he confessed his love to you?”

“He didn’t confess his love,” Jongdae said, rolling his eyes.

“Stop trying to dodge the question!”

This time, Jongdae was the one smiling. “He said he likes me. He said he likes me. He said he likes me! He said—”

“Shut up. I heard you the first time.”

“You know I don’t cry, right?” said Jongdae seriously. “Like ever. I’m made of stone. Driest eyes in the school.”

“Yes, and?”

“I had a sudden urge to cry when he said that,” he admitted. “Years of pining after him. To get his attention, I landed myself in dozens of detentions – half of them assigned by Minseok himself. From this kid who asks his parents if he can pet his pet to a rebel who chases after the hot prefect. It’s been so tiring and I thought I had to give it up and move on and then he comes out of nowhere and says he likes me.”

“Understandable,” Chanyeol said. “You did spend a good portion of your time here in Hogwarts trying to catch his attention. He always treated you like a nuisance and was constantly annoyed with you, which is really your own fault for making so much trouble for him. To know that your hard work all paid off… I’d say that’s something worth getting emotional over.”

“I really thought… it’d be useless of me to keep liking him,” said Jongdae wistfully. “I thought that he’d never notice me or my feelings. I thought I’d be a distant memory for him after he graduates. I really thought he’d never look my way, you know?”

“Are you actually feeling emotions, Jongdae?” Chanyeol asked in mock surprise. “Big bad Jongdae actually feeling teary after getting a confession~ How sweet.”

“God, he makes me so soft,” Jongdae groaned, plopping down on his bed.

“That’s normal,” said Chanyeol simply. “So what are you guys? In a relationship? Strictly platonic? buddies? What’s the bottom line?”

“I… don’t know. We didn’t talk about it that far.”

“You two should talk then. It’ll make things awkward if you let things go like this. Instead of moving forward, you’ll probably be taking five steps back.”

“Since when did you know so much about relationships?” Jongdae shot at him, smirking. “Just because you and Baek are finally moving forward, you think you know everything in this field?”

“Do you have anyone else to get relationship advice from then?” Chanyeol asked, raising a brow. “Will you be going around blubbering about how much you like Minseok to get advice then?”

Jongdae thought about it for a few seconds before biting out a reluctant, “No.”

“Exactly. Like it or not, my advice is the best advice your pride will let you listen to.”

 

 

Sehun was standing in the Grand Hall, eyes closed and in deep concentration.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Luhan sitting cross-legged beside him, on the verge of dozing off.

“Are you done contemplating life, Sehun?” the Gryffindor asked, one eye lazily opening up to look in his direction.

Only, the person Luhan was looking at looked nothing at all like his boyfriend.

This person was shorter – the clothes on his body looking a size too big for him – and had a smaller, wider nose and green wide set eyes. He had high cheekbones and wavy brown hair that reached just above his shoulder.

The boy sat down beside Luhan and popped on the hood of his hoodie before curling into himself, his face tucked into his knees and a minute later, Sehun emerged with his chiselled jaw, small mouth and bubble gum pink hair.

“How did you know it was me?” the younger boy asked. “I looked nothing like myself.”

“Your posture and your cologne gave you away,” said Luhan simply. “But most people won’t notice, so don’t worry.”

“You’re not most people.”

“Certainly am not,” the senior said proudly. “I always had a hunch that you were a metamorphous. Your hair wouldn’t look that lush and healthy if you used products on it.”

“You’re sharper than you look,” Sehun said impishly.

“That was a compliment with an underlining insult, but it’s okay. I’ll let that one slide.”

The Slytherin looked over at his boyfriend, noticing the tired expression on his face.

To most people, he would’ve looked the same, but he spent years looking at that face. He used to feel an irrational surge of annoyance in himself whenever he’d notice the little changes in Luhan’s expression, but he felt thankful for his little talent now.

“Is today not a good day?” asked Sehun softly.

Luhan shook his head, a little smile playing on his face. “I was up all night with Seulgi.”

Like the child he really was, Sehun was about to be upset, until he realized that Luhan was gay and that Seulgi herself had a girlfriend.

“Get those naughty thoughts out of your head, sweetheart,” said Luhan, chuckling lowly. “She asked for my help a few days ago. It’s her girlfriend. You know her right? She’s in your year too. Son Seungwan, the little Hufflepuff Quidditch commentator.”

“I think I know her.”

“Well, she disappeared a few days ago. Seulgi said they were staying at school during this break because Seungwan’s parents were out of the country and Seulgi didn’t want to leave her alone,” Luhan started explaining. “When Seulgi asked around about Seungwan, they told her that she went home. Which didn’t sit well with Seulgi and she told me to help her find out more about the situation.”

“I have a feeling you found out what happened to her,” said Sehun quietly.

“Seungwan’s in the Hospital Wing. Apparently she’s petrified.”

“You don’t seem to think so?” Sehun said unsurely.

Luhan shook his head again. “I don’t. Neither did Seulgi. She’s half-blood, you know. Her mother’s a Healer and her dad’s a doctor. She grew up around medicine and healing spells. She insisted on checking Seungwan and found a needle mark on her upper arm. We then checked the others too and lo and behold, everyone had it too.”

“There’s no basilisk, is there?”

“I’m sure you figured that one out yourself,” said Luhan. “That’s what you were trying to listen to, wasn’t it? A voice in the walls to prove that a serpent is moving through the school.”

“It was,” Sehun admitted. “I’ve been listening everywhere. Not one hiss. I can’t hear anything.”

“Because there isn’t anything in the walls to listen to.”

“Someone’s trying to imitate the incident. The opening of the Chamber of Secrets. Someone is purposely trying to scare people, aren’t they?”

“That’s the only explanation we have,” said the Gryffindor. “Son Seungwan’s a muggle-born. We checked. All the victims are muggle-borns. This isn’t a random accident. They’re aiming for muggle-borns.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Find Kyungsoo.”

It took Sehun several seconds to swallow the answer and not spit out any mean insults right away. Instead he settled for a polite, “Why?”

“Do Kyungsoo is one of the best potioneers in the school, despite his age. Catching the culprit is all good, but we need a cure. The school is working on one, but the patron maid isn’t the best at cooking up antidotes against dark magic,” said Luhan. “Seulgi managed to extract a sample of the potion that the culprit injected into the victims. I’m no expert, but it looks like a complicated potion. We need Kyungsoo to cook up something to counter it, something similar to a Mandrake Potion.”

“No way he’ll do it. Kyungsoo hates you.”

“Which is why I have to go there and beg him to do it. He’ll like seeing me on my knees.”

“I’m sure a lot of people would.”

“Including yourself, it seems. Keep your naughty thoughts to yourself, sour plum.”

Sehun rolled his eyes, but his pale cheeks were pink. He cleared his throat and said, “Why isn’t the school doing anything about this?”

“They’re doing something, just not officially,” said the Quidditch captain. “We are in the middle of the Triwizard Tournament and the media attention is on us. If this gets leaked, Hogwarts will have to bear the shame of having weak security against threats like these. If there’s a panic, the parents will start pulling out students. I’m sure they’re trying to avoid that.”

“Perfect timing to cause havoc,” commented Sehun. “When the school can’t do anything about it.”

“The culprit is dangerous,” Luhan told him. “Son Seungwan is an active member of the Duel Club. She’s one of the school’s Duel reps. We took her wand and I used the Prior Incantato spell on it to see the last spell casted.”

Sehun didn’t need to know the rest to know what Luhan was implying.

“She casted the Reductor Curse. That was her last spell. Seungwan wasn’t just any student. She’s a trained dueller with a winning percentage of 93 percent,” he said. “So I don’t want you anywhere near this, okay? I take it back. I don’t want you to find this person with me.”

“Too late for takebacks, Lu. I’m interested in this now.”

“I’m serious, Sehun. You shouldn’t be tangled in this problem. Just ignore it.”

“Stop trying to play hero,” Sehun said, rolling his eyes. “I know how to take care of myself.”

“You can barely tie your shoelaces in one go,” snorted the senior.

The younger boy stuck his tongue out childishly and pushed himself off the marble floor. “Let’s go find Kyungsoo before he gets petrified.”

Luhan quietly groaned, not looking forward to it at all.

 

As expected, Do Kyungsoo was in one of the empty classrooms, reading next to a pile of books.

“I thought the exterminators killed all the rats when they did their rounds yesterday,” the Ravenclaw drawled, flipping to the next page, “but it looks like they missed one.”

“Charmed to see you, too, Kyungsoo,” Luhan returned the less than kind greeting. “Hoping to have a word with you.”

“I try my best to look unenthusiastic, but it seems like my expression isn’t putting you off,” sighed Kyungsoo. “So I’ll just tell you straight up that I am, one hundred percent, uninterested in whatever you have to say.”

“That’s unfair. You haven’t even listened to whatever I have to say.”

“That’s the whole point, Luhan. I don’t want to hear it.”

The classroom was bare, only containing one big desk – on which was littered with thick leather-bound books – in front of the blackboard and the rest of the spacious room left empty.

Luhan was standing in the middle of the room, directly in Kyungsoo’s line of vision and even at that distance, he felt the younger boy’s animosity.

“This is really important. Whatever ill feelings you have towards me about Jongin shouldn’t cloud your judgement right now.”

“Oh right. Jongin is irrelevant now, isn’t he? After you dumped him, he’s just your Chaser, isn’t he?”

The whole conversation was getting derailed, but Luhan knew that this talk was long overdue.

All that pent up anger Kyungsoo held towards him was due to him avoiding the topic whenever they came into contact.

“He isn’t. But you know what? Let’s talk about him since that’s what you want. I have a feeling you have a lot to say to me. So why don’t you just say it instead of keeping up this passive aggressive attitude towards me?”

“Talk about Jongin? Sure. Where do you want to start?” he sneered.

“How about why you are so angry at me?”

“You broke him,” said Kyungsoo bitterly, looking up finally. “After you dumped him, he was devastated.”

“He didn’t like me. It wasn’t affection that he was feeling—”

“How could you know?” snapped the Ravenclaw. “When he himself didn’t? You were his first love. He was supposed to be confused about his feelings. Wouldn’t you? You didn’t give him a chance and you left him. You told him that his feelings were lying to him. You made yourself look like the victim. Do you know how destroyed he felt when he thought he hurt you? The person he liked?”

Luhan smiled tightly. “Was I supposed to be selfless and let myself be hurt then? You know what I’m like, Kyungsoo. I’m a selfish little .”

“Yes!” exclaimed Kyungsoo, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You must have known about his condition, right? He was in a delicate state. He wasn’t mentally stable. His family life is . He was used to emotional abuse. He was depraved of affection his whole life and he was finally starting to open up to someone. Knowing that he hurt someone emotionally made him sick in the stomach and you straight up told him that he did just that. He hated himself for that.”

At this point, Luhan didn’t have a response.

“Your thoughts were noble, yes, but in the end, you hurt him more than he did you. You were already not on my favourite persons list, but after seeing what you did to him, I just wanted to see you fall from a thousand feet up,” Kyungsoo confessed. “Forgive me if I can’t look you straight in the eye without wanting to curse your face off after what you did to my best friend. Asking me for help is crossing this invisible line between us, don’t you think?”

“Best friend?” Luhan scoffed. “Sure. Play it that way, but don’t use Jongin as a shield to cover up your ugly jealousy. You don’t like me because I dated your ‘best friend’? Hah, you even managed to fool yourself into thinking that. You demonized my character and act as if you’re doing it for him. That’s all a lie, isn’t it? You just don’t like me, because when I dated Jongin, you stayed in your comfy friend zone. You’re jealous of me because Jongin saw me in a way he would never see you. You’re a decent person, but jealousy does ugly things to people.”

The look on Kyungsoo’s face was somewhere in between shock and anger, his mouth kept opening, but no response came out.

“Cool off and stop trying to play victim yourself. I trust that you can think straight and actually listen to my request the next time I come to you,” said the Gryffindor calmly, turning around on his heels and left with light steps.

Maybe he was deep in thought, or maybe he was just really unobservant at the time, but Luhan completely overlooked Sehun standing just beside the door.

The young Slytherin looked on from a distance, noticing his boyfriend’s heavy shoulders and the sudden loss of bounce in his stride. 

Against his better judgement, Sehun entered the room himself, a small frown marring his face as he stared down at the Ravenclaw still sitting behind the old table.

“That was harsh, don’t you think so?” Sehun said. “On both sides?”

“Eavesdropping isn’t attractive,” Kyungsoo replied acidly.

The pureblood merely shrugged. “So is being a ,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of Luhan myself, you know.”

Kyungsoo snorted, rolling his eyes deeply. “Oh Sehun, you’re dating him.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I used to despise him,” said Sehun. “He was a douche. He annoys me at any given chance, without any reason other than that I caught his eye. He can be really mean sometimes, but he would never hurt someone he cares about. He’s an , but he’s the most loyal person in this castle. He would never knowingly do something that could hurt his friends or lovers.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re dating him,” said Kyungsoo. “You and Luhan somehow hooked up despite you despising him at some point.”

“I’m an honest person,” Sehun told the older boy. “I don’t mince my words for anyone, lover or not. You may not believe me, but Luhan really did like Jongin. Maybe even more than he likes me right now. What he felt for Jongin was real and for him to find out that Jongin’s feelings were all artificial feelings caused by his Veela charms must have crushed him more than he lets on.”

“That doesn’t excuse him.”

“It does. I’m sorry, but before Jongin, Luhan has to put himself first. He had the right to think about himself. He had the right to be selfish. It was his heart being torn apart, not anyone else’s,” Sehun argued, frowning even deeper now, his brows furrowing. “You’re blinded by jealousy and anger. You’re only looking at it from one perspective.”

“Am I now?”

“Yes, you are. You sympathize with Jongin. That’s fine. He’s your best friend and you like him. Of course you would sympathize with him,” said the Slytherin. “But Jongin wasn’t the only one devastated. Luhan isn’t an evil, soulless playboy. He took it hard too. He’s tired of it. His Veela charms giving him false hope. He doesn’t want it. He didn’t ask for it. He’s just as pitiful as Jongin.

“Imagine growing up and realizing that the affection given to you by the people around you might be all fake. That’s what Luhan felt. He didn’t trust people and their feelings. But he trusted Jongin and all it got him was a heart break,” said Sehun. “You can defend Jongin. By all means, go ahead. But don’t blame it all on Luhan as if you wouldn’t do the same thing if you were in his shoes.”

Kyungsoo didn’t budge. “Luhan’s played with Jongin’s feelings. It would have been better if he just let Jongin disappear from his life,” he said firmly. “But he didn’t. He refused to let Jongin leave the Quidditch team. He refused to let him eat alone. He even asked Jongin to the Yule Ball. Why can’t he just, let him be and heal his heart?”

“Their relationship ended with heartbreak and guilt on both sides, but they separated on good terms,” said Sehun. “They stayed friends. Luhan didn’t want him to waste his talents and he didn’t want Jongin to slip into solitude. He was doing his best to be a good senior and friend. And the Yule Ball? That’s their closure. Luhan went to tell Jongin that he was going to date me. He went to end the ambiguous relationship between them. He wanted a fresh start for the both of them. They broke up more than half a year before that, but he only just moved on. He did his mourning and he was moving on.”

The Ravenclaw was now frowning, a look of confusion on his face. “Closure?”

“Yes, closure. They both deserved better. They acknowledged it. They deserve someone who would love them genuinely and unconditionally,” Sehun said snappishly. “If you think you can treasure Jongin more than anyone else in this world could, then go for it. Don’t worry about Luhan. He’s my problem now. We’re happy right now. Don’t waste your time over Luhan and grab your own happiness.”

Silence fell between them and it became uncomfortable quickly.

Realization caught up with Sehun and his ears turned red as he digested the words he just said. He wanted nothing more than the floor to open up and swallow him whole rather than bear the embarrassment of his words earlier.

“What did Luhan want to ask me?” Kyungsoo broke the silence and grabbed the younger boy’s attention immediately.

“He wants you to brew up an antidote for the people ‘petrified’ in the Hospital Wing,” replied Sehun instantly, glad for the change of topic. “There’s an imitator going around acting as if the Chambers of Secrets is open again and the basilisk is out on the loose, petrifying students.”

“An imitator. Do you have proof?”

“Do you know Kang Seulgi? Her parents are in the medical field both in the muggle world and the wizarding world and she found needle marks on the victims. They didn’t see a Basilisk. They were injected with a potion that induces victims into a state of petrification. It’s laced with dark magic and Luhan thought you, one of the best potioneers in the school, could create an antidote.”

“Why isn’t the school doing anything?”

“They can’t,” said Sehun. “Taking action would mean admitting there’s a problem. There’s too much media attention on the school and they’re not taking a chance.”

“Professor Ryeowook wouldn’t stay quiet about this if he knew—”

“Professor Ryeowook was the first victim, Kyungsoo,” said Sehun solemnly, the face of their potions master emerged inside his head. “The night of the Yule Ball. Luhan said he saw Professor Ryeowook when they snooped around in the Hospital Wing. It’s an incredible strategy, I’ll give them that. Knocking out Professor Ryeowook, the person who could cook up an antidote in less than a day.”

“That’s terrible.”

“It is. There’s also the fact that all the victims, including Professor Ryeowook, are muggle-borns. It’s not a coincidence,” the Slytherin said. “Luhan is trying his best to find the person behind this and if he knew any better potioneers, he wouldn’t even ask for your help. But you’re the best and he doesn’t even want you to help him. However, those people in the Hospital Wing are innocent and he wants you to help them.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kyungsoo said after a tense pause.

Sehun nodded, feeling triumphed. “Luhan always keeps his words. He’ll be back. I hope you’ll listen to him then.”

He left the room soon after with mixed feelings.

On one hand, he was happy that Kyungsoo was considering the option of helping Luhan, the person he detested the most in the school, and on the other hand, he felt like he was going to die from embarrassment as he recalled his actions just minutes before.

The old Oh Sehun would never act impulsive. He was level-headed and calm, a person with no desire to get tangled in messy affairs, especially if it didn’t concern him directly.

But there he was, butting into Kyungsoo and Luhan’s one-sided feud as if it was his own.

He groaned to himself, hoping that Luhan would never find out about this. He’d never hear the end of it if his boyfriend knew what he just did.

 

 

It was odd for one of them to be missing.

Kim Minseok, Lu Han and Wu Yifan were a package. During school hours, they were inseparable. It was incredibly rare to see them apart.

So it was definitely felt odd for Minseok and Yifan when Luhan wasn’t around to increase their volume average.

They acknowledged that the Gryffindor Quidditch captain was annoying and brash, but he was the only thing that kept them from drowning in total silence. After all, Luhan would always be talking about something that would require them to actually open their mouths and reply.

If need be, Luhan was a pro at talking to himself while pretending that Minseok and Yifan were interested.

“He’s been a bit odd lately,” Minseok told the Slytherin. “He sneaks out after curfew with Seulgi. He’s being more secretive than usual.”

“He probably thinks we’ll stop him if we know what it is,” said Yifan. “We’ll find out what he’s been up to soon. He can never keep it to himself for long.”

“True,” Minseok agreed. “You seem to be under fire these days. Did I miss something?”

Yifan chuckled, “They found out about my real name,” he said. “At Tao’s party. His mother wanted me to marry into the family and things got a bit out of hand and all the purebloods who attended found out my real name is Li Jiaheng.”

“At the party?”

“Yes.”

Minseok nodded slowly, “So his mother wants you to marry into the family?”

“She likes my face.”

“She likes your face,” repeated the Head Boy, mildly amused. “I can’t believe you still went to the party. That was stupid.”

“The whole thing has been eating me up,” Yifan admitted. “Pretending to not know any of the purebloods when I’ve seen them faced at a fancy party in the summer.”

“I take it you didn’t mean to announce your real name to the pureblood community?”

“You know the terms I’m tied to. It’s not time yet.”

“You and Zitao are not on speaking terms right now?”

“He’s avoiding me,” said Yifan. “He would literally turn invisible every time I enter the room.”

The Gryffindor smiled when he saw the look of frustration on his friend’s face. “Are you going to come clean to him?” he asked. “Tell him everything? Everything that happened in the past decade after you two stopped being playmates?”

“Better tell him in person before he hears it from someone else,” the pureblood said, sighing.

“How did you know you liked him?”

The shocked silence that fell between them was completely expected.

The Slytherin looked at his best friend, mouth slightly parted as he tried to get some words out.

“Pardon?” Yifan managed to get out. “What did you just say?”

“How did you know you liked him,” repeated Minseok just as calmly as when he first asked.

“I don’t—”

“You can’t lie to me,” the Head Boy said simply. “You’re the worst liar between the three of us. Also, I’m your best friend. I know you even better than your parents. So let’s cut the small talk. How did you know you liked him? Were there any signs?”

Yifan pursed his lips, reluctant to answer. Even if he lied, Minseok was right. The boy could see right through it. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly albeit a bit unwillingly. “It grew over time, I guess.”

“I see…”

Like Minseok, Yifan was sharp too when it came to his best friends. “I heard Jongdae went to your house during break. Did something happen?”

“Before the Yule Ball, Luhan told me that Jongdae likes me,” Minseok said. “Did you know Jongdae’s an unregistered Animagi? I didn’t, but I’ve had my hunches. Turns out he was and I had to make the decision between reporting him or turning a blind eye.”

“Seeing that he’s still in school, you turned a blind eye,” said Yifan, mildly surprised. “That’s rare of you. You take school rules so seriously and yet you’re letting him off when he broke a law. Did you drink a love potion or something?”

“It’s not a love potion that led me to make that decision,” said Minseok. “When we were at my house, I realized he knew so much about me. From how I liked my coffee to how I would react to a situation.”

“He’s quite a stalker then.”

“That isn’t it, but I won’t blame you for thinking that because that was my initial reaction too,” said the Head Boy. “After I did some thinking and remembering, I realized I told him a lot about myself. Other than you and Luhan, I’ve been spending the most time with him. During practice, during meals, during detentions. I never realized that I’ve been sharing things about myself until I really thought about it.”

“You were comfortable enough to talk about yourself to him,” said Yifan. “Which is also very rare of you. You never talk about yourself.”

“That’s what I’ve deduced too. And you know how he causes trouble 24/7? He’s been very off the radar this past school term. The only trouble he’d been in was that duel with Zitao and Sehun at the start of the year.”

“And you scared everyone out of the courtyard,” Yifan mentioned.

“Yes, well, the point is that he didn’t cause trouble. He’s been very quiet. No more trouble. I figured he must have wanted to focus on his OWLs. That’s only reasonable, but it still felt strange.”

“Did you feel empty?”

“Very. Sometimes, we’d go three days without seeing each other, which is a big change from the daily confrontations we had before. I never realized that he had such a big role in my daily life until he stopped showing up.”

“So you admitted to yourself that you like Kim Jongdae, resident attention grabber and troublemaker?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure you like him?”

“Yeah.”

“But?” Yifan prompted, knowing there’s more to the story than what he was being told.

Minseok grinned sheepishly, “I kissed him. I’m not a hundred percent sure about what my feelings are for him, but I liked the kiss. I don’t know if I like him, or I just like the attention he gives me.”

“Then why don’t you find out?” Yifan suggested. “Date him. You didn’t even bat an eyelash to anyone who showed interest in you before, and there were plenty. Jongdae’s somehow different to all your past admirers who’s showed you a lot of interest. You actually have some sort of feelings towards him. So date him.”

“That sounds like a bad idea.”

“The worst it could go is that you realize you have no romantic feelings for him,” Yifan pointed out logically. “We’re about to graduate. You’ll only have to endure several awkward months if it all goes south.”

“That’s… true.”

The Slytherin looked proud of himself and nodded surely as he advised his best friend, “Go ask him out. You don’t have anything to lose.”

Both seventh-years headed back to their common rooms later on with something to think about.

 

 

Wu Yifan’s attempts to talk to Huang Zitao were fruitless.

The younger boy was very good at getting away.

Finally, he had enough of the running and snapped.

He knew that Tao was inside the common room and when he entered, they made eye contact and the Huang heir immediately moved to leave.

Before Tao could make it far, two prefects grabbed hold of him, swiftly taking his wand out of his pocket in the process.

“Everyone,” said Yifan loudly, successfully grabbing everyone’s attention. “Leave the common room and come back in two hours.”

Almost immediately, complaints erupted from the students.

“You can leave on your own two feet, or you can be dragged out by the hair,” said the prefect calmly, but he didn’t sound like he was kidding. “Anyone not out of the common room in ten minutes will be given a month’s detention.”

“You can’t do that!” one of them shouted.

“If I can negate your detentions given by other prefects, I sure as hell can issue them back if I wanted to,” said Yifan icily. “Who’s going to stop me? The Head Boy? I’m sure most of you here have some overdue detentions to serve anyways. He won’t mind.”

Nobody moved.

“Do you really want to test my patience?” he asked them, annoyance thick in his voice. He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows and whipped his wand out of his back pocket. “Don’t want to listen to me? Fine. Wands out, children. I’ll drag each and every one of you out of this common room by your damned hair.”

Realizing that Yifan was, in fact, not bluffing, and that the rest of the prefects were on his side, the students quickly rose to their feet, fleeing from the room before they really pissed the seventh year off.

It took a little over ten minutes to evacuate everyone from the common room and when everyone was gone, the prefects let go of their hold on Zitao and headed to the exit.

One of them passed the younger boy’s wand to Yifan as he walked by.

Huang Zitao was definitely not impressed, if his expression was something to go by.

He plopped down on the sofa and looked expectantly at Yifan. “You got me. Was the scene you caused worth it?”

“You weren’t going to talk to me willingly.”

“You’re right. I wasn’t.”

The two purebloods had a short stare off and Yifan sighed.

Tao was going to be stubborn.

“I want to tell you the truth,” Yifan started carefully.

The younger boy scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You can keep it. You have no obligation to tell me. Besides, who knows if it really is the truth.”

“You’re right,” the seventh-year agreed. “I have no obligation to tell you anything. But let me anyways. I want to tell you.”

There was a short pause in which Tao looked as if he was going to argue, but he kept quiet. Instead, he just nodded and waited for the truth he was promised.

“My real name is Li Jiaheng,” he said. “My parents, before they were disowned, were part of the Wu and Ko families. I don’t know if you’re aware of the pureblood politics, but the two families have bad blood.”

“I know,” Tao said shortly.

“Your parents and my parents are old friends,” Yifan continued. “I used to come over to your house a lot to play. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your mother. I’m sure she has pictures of that.”

“How come I can’t remember?” Tao shot at him.

“It was over a decade ago,” replied Yifan. “You were probably around four years old at most. I stopped coming after that. You were too young to remember.”

Tao made a mental note to ask his mother to owl those pictures that were supposedly taken during their playdates a decade ago.

“Around that time, the Wu and the Ko families individually realized that I was a potential heir,” said Yifan. “Having pureblood is rare these days. My parents were called to court. Both families wanted to claim me. It was all kept under wraps though. I’m sure everyone knew there was another lawsuit between the Ko and the Wu, but they didn’t know about what.”

Tao nodded, following his story.

“The Wu family won that fight. My father, who was a Ko, explained that his siblings carried on the pureblood line,” said Yifan. “My mom was the only Wu left. Her brothers died without leaving an heir before I was born. One from a rare virus he was infected with on an expedition into the Amazon forest and the other from an Auror mission. No one was left to carry on the Wu line.”

“They told you to change your name?” Tao asked.

“They did,” affirmed Yifan. “When it was finally over, I was twelve. It took six years to resolve the problem. My parents sent me away to Durmstrang in an attempt to get me away from the two families.”

“So how come you’re here now?”

“We have a signed agreement. Between the Wu and my parents,” Yifan explained. “They want me to enrol in Hogwarts, as per the Wu tradition. They decided on my name, Wu Yifan, and told me to use it while I’m here. I can’t legally change my name yet, as I’m not of age, but they want me to use it as practice. To break in the name and get used to it.”

Tao nodded slowly, trying to digest what was being said.

“My parents want me to keep my identity as a Li outside of school, at least until I come of age. They think it’ll get messy if word suddenly gets out,” said Yifan. “No one remembers that my mother was a Wu. She was forgotten, so if I suddenly came out as a Wu, it’ll cause quite a stir.”

“That’s true,” said Tao. “The new generation doesn’t know that the Lis have any connections to the Ko and Wu. The older generation treats it like yesterday’s news. But that was a bad decision. The problem isn’t that you’re a Wu. It’s the fact that you didn’t tell us you were Li Jiaheng.”

“It wasn’t my choice,” said Yifan. “I could get sued for telling people I’m Li Jiaheng. My grandparents on the Wu side hates my father. The name Li reminded them that they lost a daughter to their enemy. They’re really against me identifying as a Li. The fact that I can even use it outside of school is a miracle.”

As much as Tao would have liked to think otherwise, he realized that Yifan was stuck between two rocks.

He didn’t have a say. He was just expected to follow orders.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Tao said after a long pause. “That’s why I defended you.”

Yifan looked at him, confused.

“When word spread, people were badmouthing you for lying about your identity,” said Tao. “I defended you because I didn’t think you did anything wrong. Logically speaking, you couldn’t use the name Wu if you weren’t blood related. The family would know.

“And the school acknowledges you as Wu Yifan, meaning that you were authorized to use the name. You just didn’t tell us that you were also Li Jiaheng. You didn’t commit any crimes. You didn’t even lie. You just kept personal information to yourself, which is what a lot of people do,” said Tao. “So I didn’t think the hate you got was necessary. I get why people would be upset, but shunning you is immature.”

“Ironic hearing you call others immature,” Yifan chuckled. “Thank you for defending me even when you didn’t know the whole story.”

“S’all good.”

 

 

In one of the empty rooms in the dungeons, a magically conjured fire warmed the surroundings. There were mats on the ground with a mountain of pillows on it.

Kim Jongin sighed as he laid against the soft pile, feeling more relaxed than he did in the past week.

Beside him was Yixing, who was sitting cross-legged with a book open on his lap.

“Were they angry?” the Hufflepuff asked offhandedly, flipping through the book idly.

Jongin just assumed ‘they’ referred to his family. “Yeah,” he replied. “Grandparents were beyond livid. Father left the room and mother was just very quiet.”

“…Ah…”

“It’s done,” said Jongin. “You and Joonmyeon came out to the family. Joonmyeon is serious. He wants to be with you.”

They were silent for a minute and when the Gryffindor glanced over at the older boy, he saw that Yixing had a conflicted expression on his face.

“What is it?” Jongin asked, knowing full well that Yixing wouldn’t say anything if he wasn’t prompted.

“He wants to be with me,” said Yixing.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“At the cost of his family?” the Hogwarts champion inquired. “I don’t want him to lose his family because of me.”

“You left your country to follow him here, but you think him losing some grumpy family members is too much?”

“I’m not the best person to talk about sacrifices, I know,” said Yixing. “But I feel bad. I don’t want him and his family to be on bad terms.”

Jongin sighed as he sat back up. “I’m sure he told you this before. Grandfather was punished for the misuse of magic. It was a really bad time for the family. Half of our fortune was taken away and as punishment and a safety precaution to the other wizards, our home was removed from the wizarding community.”

“Yeah. It was relocated to an obscure muggle town, right?”

“It was. It’s muggle-proof and out of sight. The family was shunned and lived in isolation until father was old enough to work,” Jongin continued. “Father worked night and day to get the family name back up. Our business was near bankruptcy and my parents, in only one generation, managed to save it. It’s one of the top companies right now.”

“That’s… remarkable,” Yixing said, impressed.

Jongin chuckled, nodding. “Yes, it is remarkable, but it came with a price, you know? To save the company from near bankruptcy, mother and father spent the whole of mine and Joonmyeon’s childhood in the office. Sometimes we would go months without seeing them. Sometimes we would see them for the first time in months at a social party where they won’t even have time to talk to us.”

The Hufflepuff frowned upon hearing that. “They weren’t there for you two.”

“They weren’t,” affirmed Jongin. “Joonmyeon described his time before meeting you as the darkest period in life. As the eldest, he was the most pressured. He had no one to lean on. For fourteen years of his life, he lived selflessly. He did what our parents asked. He was the perfect son, but he was miserable.”

Joonmyeon shared little of his past with Yixing. He told him the fundamentals, but never went into detail.

“No one was more surprised than me when he finally made the decision to go out with you,” Jongin admitted. “It meant that he was finally being selfish and wants to do something for himself. Cheesy as it might sound, you’re his new beginning. I know it doesn’t really show, but he’s happier than he’s ever been.”

“Are you trying to make me cry?” Yixing muttered under his breath.

“Aside from me, Joonmyeon never had a family in the first place,” said Jongin. “So you don’t have to feel bad about him severing ties with them. He never considered them family in the first place.”

“Do you have anyone to lean on?” asked the Hufflepuff. “Was your childhood as bad as Joonmyeon’s?”

“I had Kyungsoo.”

Yixing brightened up at the mention of their mutual friend. “You had Kyungsoo to lean on,” he said, a knowing smile on his face. “You’re lucky, then.”

“I am,” Jongin said softly. “I was the weird kid in town. Joonmyeon never left the house, but I could never stay inside for too long. Because I didn’t go to muggle school, they all thought I was retarded. Kyungsoo was the only one who would talk to me.”

“You and Kyungsoo are really close, aren’t you?”

“He’s been with me since the beginning,” said Jongin, pausing for a second before asking, “Yixing, how did you know Joonmyeon was the one?”

“Considering that I was only eleven when it happened, you must think it’s all bull,” laughed Yixing, putting the book down beside him. “Did I tell you how Joonmyeon and I met? We bumped into each other in the corridor. It was a complete coincidence, but Myeon was very polite and he apologized and all. The rumour that I was a half-breed already spread through the school at the time and everyone was mean to me except a certain few.”

“Typical Joonmyeon.”

“It was a really bad day. I was locked in the toilet for four periods until someone finally let me out. I got four detentions for ‘skipping’ class. On the way back to the dorms, someone jinxed my shoelaces. It was just a really bad day,” said Yixing. “But that little act of kindness really turned my day around.”

“So you fell in love because he said sorry when you guys brushed shoulders?”

“Sounds like something stupid I’d do,” Yixing laughed again, shaking his head. “But no, that’s not how I fell in love with Joonmyeon. We bumped into each other a lot more after that and we hung out a lot after that.”

“So what was the turning point?”

“I was discriminated against during the whole of my childhood. Half-breeds are only liked if they’re human-passing. If you’re half-Veela, they’ll love you. But half-centaurs… I’m sure you understand what I mean,” said Yixing, scratching his neck uncomfortably. “During one of the times we hung out, someone came up and told him to stay away from me because I’m a half-breed. He didn’t avoid me after that. Most people would, but it was as if he never heard it.”

Jongin nodded. That was how his brother was.

“He didn’t care for my bloodline. He treated me the same as everyone else. He was so, so kind. Even my good friends took some time to adjust to me when they found out, but Joonmyeon’s attitude towards me didn’t change a bit,” Yixing said. “I used to dread school. People were cruel and prejudice. But Joonmyeon made me look forward to the next day. Just thinking about him made me happy. I knew then that I didn’t want to be in a place without him. I told my parents and they told me to transfer to Hogwarts.”

“Transferring wasn’t your idea?” Jongin asked, surprised at the revelation.

“I did think about it, but it was all in my head. Dad suggested that I transfer, if it would make me happy. They knew that I was miserable at Beauxbatons,” answered the Hufflepuff. “Everyone laughed at me when I told them that I was transferring to chase after Joonmyeon. They said it was an impossible mission.”

“I can see why they would say that,” the third-year said under his breath, not loud enough for the other boy to hear.

“I told Joonmyeon. He didn’t laugh at me nor did he belittle my plans. He gave me some pointers and suggested that I hide my half-centaur roots from the rest of the student body,” Yixing said, sighing. “He didn’t lead me on. He made it incredibly clear that he had no desire to get together with me, but he was supportive of the transfer.”

“And two years later, he finally crumbled and accepted the fact that he loves you more than he loves himself,” Jongin sniggered.

“Well the point is that he makes me happy. It’s hard to explain the exact feeling of love. You just feel it, you know? I didn’t expect anything from him. I genuinely loved him and I was happy just being his friend, if that’s all he wants. I guess that’s what love is?”

“Ah… I see…”

“Why are you asking me about love all of a sudden?” Yixing asked him. “Did something happen between you and Kyungsoo?”

“Why is it that you automatically mention his name?” Jongin demanded, slightly flustered. “I was just curious, okay?”

“Your relationship is quite ambiguous, is all. Everyone knows that Kyungsoo likes you.”

“How would everyone know that? He never even said anything himself.”

“Why would he? You were all heart eyes for Luhan. He put you before himself. If Luhan made you happy, he would just it up. Sometimes just seeing the person you like happy is enough.”

Jongin frowned. “I thought Luhan was joking.”

“What now?” Yixing prodded.

“Luhan said Kyungsoo is in love with me. That’s why he doesn’t like Luhan. I thought he was joking.”

The sixth-year nodded understandingly. “Knowing Luhan, it might have been a joke. But alas, it’s not. Kyungsoo is bad with feelings, just like you. That’s probably why he never said anything till now. He’s comfortable just being by your side. After all, everyone knows he likes you, but no one knows what your feelings towards him is. Except maybe Tao, but he doesn’t meddle in these things.”

Silence fell between them again and Yixing picked up the book once more, flipping through the pages with little interest.

“So how are you doing with the clues?” Jongin asked, changing the topic completely.

Yixing noticed the obvious attempt at avoiding the previous topic, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, he sighed, closing the book shut. “I’m not getting anywhere on it.”

“Have you tried everything?”

“Everything I could think of.”

Jongin nodded sympathetically. “If we’re going by the previous tournaments, the egg is supposed to give you clues, right? Have you heard anything from it?”

“Well, I have. It was very faint though. I was in the dorm at the time.”

“Do you remember any details? Something specific about that night?” Jongin inquired.

It took Yixing several minutes to think it through before nodding. “It was a new moon. I remember because it was pitch black in the room.”

“You heard it very faintly then?”

“Yes, but when I the lantern to check, it went quiet.”

“I think you should go into a pitch dark room alone and see if you can get anything. I think it’ll talk in darkness.”

It was a strange idea, but Yixing had was open to anything at the moment. The second round was going to start soon and he needed to prepare.

“I’ll try it out later, then,” he said.

 

 

“You’re not done yet?”

Baekhyun was surrounded by stacks of books at the corner of the common room. There were several rolls of parchment too, suggesting that the prefect did not only read the books, but also took notes on it.

To the untrained eye, it would seem like Baekhyun was just diligently studying, but to Joonmyeon’s keen and knowing eyes, it told him that his friend was in a state of internal turmoil.

The more cluttered the pureblood’s head was, the harder he studied. His reasoning behind it was that it helped him clear his mind.

“I am,” Baekhyun said, rolling up a sheet of parchment. “Is it time to patrol already?”

“It is.”

The two Ravenclaws exited the common room and headed down to the second floor, where they were assigned to patrol that night.

“Anything interesting happen to you?” Baekhyun asked the older boy after the first ten minutes of silence.

“I introduced Yixing to the family during the break,” Joonmyeon replied with a soft sigh.

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well?”

“You guess right. My grandparents were really angry. Insulted him and his mother. It was a mess.”

Baekhyun pursed his lips, nodding. He went through that before, so he could sympathize. “What did your parents say?”

“Not much. They don’t have a say in it anyways.”

“I guess not,” agreed Baekhyun. “How does it feel to be out to your family?”

“It feels liberating,” said Joonmyeon. “I felt like I was finally starting to live my own life. I felt in control, and that’s always a great feeling.”

“So how’s Yixing?”

“He went through with that minor memory erasing. He’s healthy and functioning just fine now.”

“That’s great,” Baekhyun said. “Looks like you had a good holiday.”

“How about yourself, Byun Baekhyun?” Joonmyeon asked. “I heard you went home to Chanyeol’s house. Which means you met his family. How did it go?”

“His parents bailed. Didn’t come to the new years’ dinner they themselves insisted on having,” said Baekhyun. “I met his sister and his grandparents. They love me.”

“I find that kind of hard to believe,” said Joonmyeon. “People actually liking Byun Baekhyun? Sounds like a foreign concept.”

“I can be likeable when I try, okay?”

“So you’re saying you tried for his family?” Joonmyeon shot at him.

Baekhyun inwardly groaned, feeling as if he stepped right into the trap the older boy set for him. “I guess I did,” he admitted reluctantly. “They’re just like him. Incredibly nice and happy all the time.”

“So are you going to tell me what you’re thinking so hard about?” Joonmyeon asked him. “You’ve been burying yourself in books since you arrived back at the castle.”

“I think I might really be developing strong feelings for Chanyeol,” Baekhyun confessed after a long silence. “I didn’t expect it to turn out this way. I didn’t even like him when we first talked. I didn’t even take his feelings seriously at first and now I’m the idiot falling for him.”

Joonmyeon laughed genuinely, a rare occurrence for him. “It’s okay. It happens,” he reassured his best friend. “When I first met Yixing, I didn’t think we would ever be the way we are right now. Maybe it’s because we’re both love-deprived as children, but little acts of kindness and love really moves us, doesn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“So why are you thinking so hard about it? Just accept the feeling and move on with your relationship.”

“I’m scared,” admitted Baekhyun quietly. “What if Chanyeol suddenly pulls a 180 and dumps me?”

Joonmyeon smiled. For the first time, Baekhyun was feeling vulnerable and he didn’t know how to handle it. “Chanyeol had his eyes set on you since first-year. He’s probably more scared that you’d do that to him.”

“I doubt that.”

Once again, Joonmyeon laughed heartily. “In a relationship, you’ll always be worried about the other person not feeling the same anymore, but over time, it gets better. When you learn to trust him, you won’t feel as anxious and worried anymore.”

“Did you feel like this?”

“I did. It’s a confusing feeling, isn’t it? But after I got rid of my doubts of Yixing, I’ve felt like a burden has been lifted. You’ll feel the same when you learn to not overthink things.”

Baekhyun nodded thoughtfully and mulled over what was said.

The older prefect excused himself an hour into the patrol and Baekhyun was left with his own thoughts once again.

 

 

---

 

a/n:

val: Hey everyone ;;; Sorry for such a long long long wait (entirely my fault). Life ust caught up post-highschool. :-) Anyway, hope you enjoy our latest chapter!!!

baku: first of all! IM EXTREMELY SORRY!!! as val stated above, we were caught up with life post-highschool. i was tying up loose ends (getting my license and stuff) before getting into uni soon and val was working so we had literally no time to sit down and write. we didnt even have enough leisure time to open aff tbh and i recently did and saw a comment saying they were waiting for the next update, which made me feel extremely guilty about not updating. we'll try our best to keep the updates coming and finish the whole story! please bear with us as its a really hectic time in our life right now. thank you for anyone still reading!!