Tarantallegra - a spell that forces the foe to dance

Weeks went by, nothing being out of the ordinary besides the fact that the only thing everyone was talking about was the Yule Ball. Most of the students who were old enough to attend planned to go, and those who were too young were found to be kissing up to the upper classmen, hoping to be asked to go to the ball with them. 

Taehyung was currently in Charms with Jin and Irene. A couple classmates noticed that Irene had arrived to class a couple seconds late, hanging her head low and trying to hide her face. Among these students was Taehyung, who was immediately concerned. He kept nudging her with his elbow throughout the first few minutes of class to try to get her to acknowledge him, but she just ignored him. Eventually, she got up and left the class, telling the professor that she was going to use the restroom. Sighing, Taehyung just sat back, giving up.

Irene exhaled deeply, rubbing her face as she walked out of the ladies' restroom. "So are you gonna tell me what's wrong now?" Taehyung spoke from against the wall, causing Irene to jump. "ing," Irene slapped Taehyung's chest, "UGH, Taehyung!" "What?" he laughed, finding Irene's angry face amusing. Irene sighed, beginning to walk away from him. "Hey come on, tell me what's wrong," Taehyung ran to catch up with her. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm fine," Irene shot back, and Taehyung scoffed. "I know when you're not yourself, Irene. I know something's off when you don't insult me in the first ten minutes of class." Irene rolled her eyes, and Taehyung peered down at her face to notice that she was teary eyed. "Irene, tell me what's wrong," he demanded, grabbing her wrist to stop her from walking. She looked up at him for a brief second, then back down at the floor. She then eyed their surroundings, and shook her head. "I'll tell you in class, okay? It's too risky out here," Irene mumbled, shaking Taehyung's grip off of her as she walked back into the classroom.

The classroom was quiet, as some of the students were finishing up their classwork. Most of the students had already finished, and were occupied doing other classes' homework. Taehyung and Irene were writing in their journals, secretly talking to each other.

"Jimin and I had a fight. He kept accusing me of cheating on him because I kept laughing at Namjoon's jokes today during breakfast. I'm just so tired, this is like the tenth time he's accused me of cheating." Taehyung read Irene's sentence and instantly felt enraged. Then again, he didn't feel anything else other than anger whenever Jimin was brought up in a conversation. "Cheaters sometimes feel insecure of their significant other because they're cheating. Have you considered that?" Taehyung wrote back, eyes glued to the journal and nothing else. Seconds later, Irene wrote back. "He wouldn't." Taehyung stared blankly at the page and sighed silently. "Should I tell her?" Taehyung thought, "No, not like this." Scribbling down once more, he replied, "You shouldn't be dealing with this, it's ridiculous. You deserve better." As Irene read the line, she smiled a small smile. Before she could write a reply, the professor got everyone's attention when he spoke up. 

"Alright, since the last person has submitted their classwork and everyone in here, I'm assuming, is attending the Yule Ball, it's time to teach you all the proper dance at this ball," the professor announced, and mostly everyone laughed. "It's no laughing matter, it's a formal dance. Anyone found not to be dancing formally will not be allowed to stay," the professor explained, but the latter claim was probably exaggerated. "And the best person for this spontaneous lesson is none other than our very own Champion, Kim Taehyung. Please come down here so I can teach you properly." Irene looked over at Taehyung, bursting in laughter along with everyone else. "Alright professor, if you're really serious about this," he chirped, jumping out of his seat and scrambling to the front of the class. Irene couldn't help but laugh as she and her classmates watched on amusingly while Taehyung danced along to classical music with his professor. Resting her head on her closed fist, she cracked a smile everytime Taehyung stepped on the professor's shoe. As the song ended and the two stopped dancing, everyone hollered and clapped, laughing along with Taehyung and the professor. "Maybe you'll be more careful if you dance with a female classmate," the professor wondered aloud, looking at Taehyung. Irene sank in her seat to try and hide herself, well knowing what was going to happen next. "Well the only girl I would dance with is Irene, but for some reason I can't spot her," Taehyung pretended to be searching for her, looking left and right. As their classmates' attention turned to Irene, they egged her on to get up while she kept refusing, but gave up after everyone kept whining and encouraging.

"I don't accept this as your formal apology for taking our win," Irene scoffed, looking up at Taehyung. "I'm not going to apologize for taking a deserved win," Taehyung raised his brow, and their classmates gasped and laughed. Irene, shaking her head and biting her lip, tried to stifle a hearty chuckle. "Okay remember," the professor started, "your left hand goes here and your right hand goes here." The professor intertwined Taehyung's left hand with Irene's right hand, and placed Taehyung's right hand on Irene's waist. As soon as Taehyung's hand wrapped around the crook of Irene's waist, their classmates cooed and cat called, watching every single second. Everyone knew that Irene despised Taehyung, so to watch them get this close was interesting. "And your left hand goes here," the professor pulled Irene's left arm to drag across Taehyung's shoulder, placing it there. "Okay Taehyung, let's see how you do," the professor snickered, replaying the song. "I'll punch you for every time you step on me, so try not to if you want to be bruiseless," Irene muttered under her breath, and Taehyung just winked.

Much to Irene's surprise, Taehyung did not step on her feet at all. As soon as the song ended, Irene immediately let go of Taehyung's hand and stepped away from him, pretending to be in disgust. "Out of everyone, you had to choose me? Your hands were so clammy," Irene complained, wiping her hand against her robe. "Please, you wish you could hold my hand again," Taehyung snickered, and Irene pretended to gag. Their classmates laughed, packing their supplies away once they were dismissed by their professor to head to their next class. As the students filed out of class, Taehyung nudged Irene, and she looked up at him. "Can you meet me by the tree we met at with Wendy? I'll be there before dinner," he asked, and Irene furrowed her brows. "Why?" she asked, and Taehyung exhaled deeply. "I just want to tell you something in person rather than on paper. It's not a big deal, really. Don't worry about it until you see me then," Taehyung replied, parting ways with her before she could question him even further. He had enough of seeing her upset and being used. She had to know the truth. 

Irene was running late to her secret meeting with Taehyung, as she and the rest of her classmates were held in their class for a couple minutes. She raced out of the classroom as soon as their professor dismissed everyone, not wanting Taehyung to wait in the cold by himself. As soon as she was outside, the sheer cold wind hit her face and she flinched in response. She looked over at the tree and saw Taehyung sitting by himself, gazing towards the Forbidden Forest. She trudged towards the bench, and Taehyung, hearing the door close, looked over at the building. He smiled, watching Irene walk over to him and sit by him. "Okay, whatever you have to say, say it quick cause it's freezing out here," Irene shivered, exhaling loudly as she sat next to him. Irene looked over at Taehyung, who had his hands dug in the pockets of his coat and wasn't saying anything. "Irene," he started, "you know that I care about you, right?" Irene nodded. "Okay, good, because what I'm about to tell you will hurt you, but it's for your own good. I'm telling you this because I care about you and want the best for you." Irene didn't budge. She was tense and a bit anxious, but didn't say anything so that she could listen to what Taehyung had to say. Taehyung sighed, looking down at the snow before looking back up at the sky. He was really about to do this.

Taehyung explained to Irene about the encounter he had with Jimin and a Hogwarts student, all without looking at Irene once. When he was done speaking, they were quiet for a bit. Not being able to take the silence, he glanced over at Irene, who was looking down at the ground. "I promise I'm not lying, Irene. I know we've had a rough patch for the past few years, but I wouldn't lie about this --" "I didn't say that I didn't believe you, Taehyung." Taehyung fully turned to Irene, watching her wipe her own tears. "I -- I know you would never lie to me. I just expected Jimin to be honest and I thought I could trust him --" Taehyung could feel his heart soften when he saw her sob. He pulled her over to him, immediately embracing her warmly. She sobbed harder, and he patted her head in an attempt to comfort her. As her sob died down, she pulled away from him, wiping her face. "How long did you know?" Taehyung looked away, not wanting to answer. "Taehyung," Irene said, "how long did you know?" "It happened three weeks ago." Irene scoffed, staring at Taehyung in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Taehyung knew Irene was angry. He would be mad at himself too if he was in Irene's position. "He told me that he would tell the Headmaster about how you and Wendy sneaked me into the Forbidden Forest. You and Wendy would get in trouble, and I would be disqualified from the tournament." Irene sighed, shaking her head. "So you didn't tell me because you wanted to stay in the tournament?" "Partially. I also didn't want to get you and Wendy in trouble," Taehyung began, well knowing that Irene was staring daggers into him, "but I couldn't take it anymore -- especially after you told me multiple times about how badly Jimin was treating you. I don't care anymore if he does end up telling the Headmaster and I get disqualified. I'd rather not be able to participate in the tournament than watch you suffer everday, not knowing something that you should have known." Taehyung sighed, never once looking at Irene in case he teared up. "I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I'm sorry that I let you keep getting hurt -- that's something I never wanted to happen to you, and being the ing I am, I let it happen." As soon as Taehyung was done talking, Irene hugged him. He blinked, not moving one bit. 

"I hate seeing you cry, Irene," Taehyung sulked, kicking at the snow. Irene chuckled, shifting her hug to his arm. She rested her head comfortably on his shoulder, smiling to herself before saying, "What would I do without you, you idiot?"