Tap, tap, tap, tap.

You do your best to ignore the irritating noise as you scrawl on your parchment quickly, quill dancing erratically as it leaves sparse inky figures that only barely resemble letters. It was nearing midnight and you had only just returned to the Gryffindor common room after your curfew patrol. Though you had done your best to complete your transfiguration essay, it was taking you longer than usual to grasp the basic fundamentals of the Inanimatus Conjurus spell. You had only just begun getting the hang of vanishing spells before Professor McGonagall had decided to assign new spellwork for your class. It certainly didn’t help that the OWLs were approaching this school year, casting a looming presence over your shoulder during those late nights you spent pouring over your books or patrolling the halls as a newly appointed prefect.

Tap, tap, tap.

You curse as your attempt to dip your quill into ink results in you accidentally knocking the inkwell on its side, spilling its dark contents on the table.

“Taehyung! Quit that tapping!” you growl at the brown-haired boy sitting at the other end of the table, opposite from you. You hastily pick up the inkwell before it can continue to waste your ink, ignoring the dark stains it leaves on your palm and fingers. Just as the spill begins to reach your parchment as a large, black tendril, you shove it aside and take out your wand.

“Scourgify!” you recite, flicking your wand at the mess, vanishing it instantly. You turn to face the only other person in the room. “Your incessant tapping is giving me anxiety, Taehyung,” you complain, struggling to keep the edge out of your voice.

“Sorry, [Y/N],” the lively boy smiles sheepishly, raking his hands through his hair. “I can’t help my movements sometimes. It doesn’t help that I’ve got a lot of energy left over from that energy drink that I had to help me out on my patrol.”

You sigh, dropping your wand on the table beside your quill as you slump into your seat. “It’s okay, I’m just stressed out about this essay. Having curfew patrol duties this week isn’t helping, either.”

The brown-eyed boy frowns as he watches your slouching form. You watch him with tired eyes as he gathers his books and parchment to slide them across the table. He grabs his quill and ink pot and hops from seat to seat down the table until he plops onto the seat across from you.

“Scourgify,” he chants softly and waves it in the direction of your blotchy hand. A subtle tingling sensation accompanies the spell as the ink vanishes from your skin. You stare at your clean palm for a second before looking up to meet his soft gaze.

“Thank you.”

Taehyung smiles in response. He leans forward and tilts his head as he scans your barely legible parchment. “So what is it that’s troubling you? The inanimate conjuration spell? Maybe I can help you out. Transfiguration is kind of my thing,” he offers eagerly, his bright eyes searching yours for agreement.

You bite your lip as you consider his offer. Despite the fifth-year’s status as a prefect, you knew full well that the boy was a true troublemaker. Unlike the professors and a majority of the student body, you were not fooled by the brunette’s puppy dog smile and high grades. The boy was too good at causing trouble with his friends, Jungkook and Jimin, while leaving no clues for the staff to speculate about their involvement. Even the other Gryffindors were sometimes unsure about whether the sunshine trio was responsible for the caretaker’s sudden changes in hair color or the mysteriously transfigured items around the common room. If anything, they were more likely to blame Jungkook for the pranks. Merlin knows how many detentions the third-year kid had taken for the trio. Jimin was simply too sweet and Taehyung was simply too charismatic to be caught red-handed. As a result, you were less than keen about involving yourself with the protean Gryffindor.

But this was your Transfiguration grade – and potentially your OWL score – at stake.

“Yeah, I just can’t get the conjuration down,” you murmur quietly, sheepishly looking down at your hopelessly sparse parchment. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“Could you try doing it for me?”

You purse your lips, and reach hesitantly to pick up your wand. Pointing your wand at an empty spot on the table, you wave it while chanting “Inanimatus Conjuratus” as you concentrate hard on conjuring a new inkwell. Much to your disappointment, the spell fails to yield any tangible results.

“Don’t worry, this is definitely a higher level spell compared to the others we have worked on in the past,” Taehyung reassures you. “Can you tell me what you are concentrating on?”

You stare at your wand thoughtfully as you run through your course of action. “Well, first I focus on constructing the shape of an inkwell identical to mine. I imagine shiny, transparent and sturdy glass. Then I focus on its shiny, black ink contents. Finally, I imagine a simple black lid covering the opening.”

“How about the magic? How do you work with it?” he inquires.

“What do you mean?” you frown with uncertainty. You were positive that you had perfected the wand motion and pronunciation.

“When you cast a spell, don’t you feel a tingle or soft buzz around you or on your skin?” he clarifies, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Oh,” you muse thoughtfully. “That certainly does happen. Although I feel like it’s easier to feel when I’m doing Charms work, not so much for Transfiguration.”

“That makes sense, I guess. You’ve always seemed great at Charms,” he praises you, showering you with a breezy smile.

You blush and smile gently. “Thank you.”

“It’s only the truth,” he replies honestly. He bites his lip, a thoughtful look crossing his features. “Why don’t we try a little exercise? Do you mind humoring me?”

You stare at him curiously. “Umm, sure I guess.”

“Close your eyes.”

You blink for a moment and obey, allowing your eyes to flutter closed.

“Now, focus on the feeling of your magic. Try to think about the feeling that washes over you when you cast a charm.”

You allow yourself relax and attempt to reach down within yourself to reach your magical core, imagining the familiar magic blossoming from your navel. After a few seconds of concentration, you begin to feel tingling sensations wash over your skin. You shudder with pleasure at the foreign sensation.

“It’s working,” you whisper quietly, afraid of losing the buzzing sensation of magic your skin gently and filling the recesses of your body.

“Now,” Taehyung whispers back, “Try extending your magic past your body. Try reaching the desk with it while keeping your eyes open.”

You let loose a heavy breath as you concentrate on the magic buzzing against your skin, like chains of pure lightning bouncing across the surface with an uneven fervor. Focusing on the embodiment of magic as lightning chains, you tentatively expel it from your body. Suddenly, you can feel the presence of the table in front of you as your magic bounces off of its surface. Your mouth opens involuntarily in wonder as you feel the edge and corner of the desk, able to visualize the table’s physical surface even with your eyes closed.

Eagerly, you press your magic outward, noticing the presence of your books and writing supplies as you scrutinize them with the shifting tendrils of magic. The small obstructions in your path across the table begin to take form as your magic envelopes them completely. With greed for more tactile sensations to experience with your magic, you expel the lightning tendrils outward even further.

“Oh!” Taehyung exclaims, causing you to instantly open your eyes and withdraw the magic closer to your skin. You watch him shiver as you feel your magic recede from his skin.

“I’m sorry!” you apologize, full of worry. “Did I hurt you?”

He blinks, staring at you with widened eyes. “I actually felt that just now. Do it again.”

“What?” you ask, nonplussed. He leans forward across the table, waiting with a fervent expression on his face.

Your eyes widen with surprise before you decide to close them again. Focusing on the remnants of magic on your skin, you feel it build up gradually within you again. You extend the magical energy outward tentatively, reaching across the table until it makes contact with Taehyung. His breath suddenly hitches as the buzzing tendrils dance across his skin, enveloping him as a fluttering blanket of magic. As you feel him across from you, you are able to see him even more clearly than with your eyes open. You explore his soft face, feeling the roundedness of his nose and his slightly parted lips.

Your eyelids twitch upwards while remaining closed when he releases his tongue from his mouth. He hums pleasantly as you tentatively feel the smooth and budded surface of his tongue. You notice him closing his eyes gently and allow your magic to gently roam over his eyelids, feeling the soft bristles of his eyelashes.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar charge of magic washes over your tendrils as they graze across the surface of his skin, causing you to gasp in surprise.

“I’m guessing by that sound that you felt my magic?” he asks cheerfully. His magic begins to seep out of his skin as lively tendrils, mingling against your own in a charged dance.

“Y-yes,” you breathe out with wonder, allowing some of your magic to wrap around his. You can intuitively visualize his strands of magic reaching past your own, using them as a conduit to reach towards you. As his magic washes over your skin, you shudder involuntarily with pleasure. Not even your own magic had stirred such a pleasing feeling against your skin like Taehyung’s was doing now. It almost felt as though his magic had a warm, breezy property, resembling that of a windy summer evening. His tendrils explore your lips, tickling them softly as they flitted warmly across the surface. You giggle as they reach toward your eyelids, blowing against your eyelashes delicately in the process.

“Tickles, doesn’t it?” Taehyung asks with an amused tone. Your magic allows you to sense his lips twisting upward. You begin to blush as his magic breezes across your cheeks.

“Ooh, what was that? You got warm all of a sudden,” he teases you with a knowing tone. Pouting your lips, your eyes flutter open, allowing you to see the space in front of you shifting with a subtle flecks of green and white.

“I can see your magic!” you exclaim with astonishment.

He opens his eyes as his magic recedes from your skin, leaving you feeling empty somehow. Your posture minutely sags with disappointment as Taehyung’s warm breezy magic slips away from your body.

“Magic is visible, silly.” He sticks his tongue out playfully.

You huff with indignation while retracting your own magic, which travels as white specks as it returns to your body. “Well I’ve only seen it while casting a spell.”

He nods with a smile. “I know. So now that you know how to physically feel your magic, I think you should try the conjuration again.”

You nod eagerly, returning your focus back to the importance of your Transfiguration grades. You take a deep breath and steady your wand. You imagine the magic within you surging into your wand as you chant the spell out loud and wave your wand at an empty spot on your table. You guide the magic from the tip of your wand as it constructs the inkwell’s component piece by piece. Your breath hitches with excitement as you watch the inkwell materialize on the table.

You grab it with your free hand, inspecting it closely. “Well, it’s not as shiny or as full as I was hoping to make it, but at least I managed to conjure it,” you chatter gleefully. “Thanks so much, Taehyung!”

The brown-haired boy gives you a boxy grin in response, his eyes crinkling delicately. “I’m glad I could help you out!”

“Seriously, you’re a life-saver. I was about to throw myself off of the Astronomy tower in frustration.”

Taehyung’s eyes widen in response. “Well I’m glad there are wards against that kind of thing,” he chuckles. He checks his watch and jerks in surprise. He quickly begins to gather his books and parchment. “Well dang! It’s nearly two in the morning. I need to get to bed or I’ll miss breakfast!”

You jump in your seat with a start. “And I need to finish this essay! Good night Taehyung!”

“Good luck, [Y/N]!” he cheers encouragingly before rushing toward the boys’ dormitory.

The next morning, a frantic urging rouses you from your deep slumber. You blink with weariness as you open your eyes to see Irene’s worried figure leaning over you.

“Oh thank Merlin! Hurry up and get dressed, [Y/N]. Transfiguration is in twenty minutes!” she exclaims, throwing your blanket covers aside and shoving your uniform and robes into your chest.

You stare blankly as you process her words. Then, at once your eyes widen with panic. “Oh no!” you groan as you jump out of bed with your uniform in your arms. “I missed breakfast!”

As you hastily change out of your pajamas, Irene digs through your drawer to retrieve your prefect badge. “Yeah, and you missed the sunshine trio’s best prank yet.”

“Oh no. What did they do now?” you ask in annoyance while buttoning up your blouse.

“Well somebody somehow managed to slip a potion into all of the Slytherins’ goblets. And they all sprouted pig snouts and tails and could only oink. Can you believe that?” Irene snickered as she dropped the pin on your bed.

You quickly slip into your robe and grimace as you listen to her recount this morning’s chaotic breakfast. “Oh no! I bet Yoongi was pissed!”

Irene smirks at the sound of his name coming from your lips. You shoot her a glare as you pin the prefect badge onto your robes and reach for your shoes. Yoongi was the Head Boy, and had been prefect since his fifth year, when you were in your third year. You couldn’t help admiring that he was so studious and smart. Not to mention good-looking. It didn’t help alleviate your crush on him when you had to meet with him and the other prefects every two weeks to discuss duties and school-wide activities. Your softening attitude toward Taehyung quickly soured at the thought of him and his ilk messing with the Head Boy. It was bad enough that he messed with the Hogwarts staff. Did he really have to mar Yoongi’s face while he was at it, even if it was only temporary?

When you finish casting a quick cosmetic charm on your face and hair, Irene grabs your bag and rushes you out of the dorm. She leads you through the Gryffindor common room, picking up a bowl of oatmeal with a piece of toast balancing on top of it from a table.

She pushes the bowl into your hands. “Here. Eat and walk. Professor McGonagall will give us the stink eye if we’re even a second late.”

“Have I told you how amazing you are, yet?” you grin as you rush out of the common room, taking a bite out of your piece of toast.

“No, but you can make it up to me by not putting me on McGonagall’s watch list!”

The next week, you emerge from Transfiguration beside Irene feeling triumphant. With your elevated mood, your feet seem to encounter no resistance, giving you the impression of walking on air.

“Wow, somebody’s happy,” a whimsical voice behind you catches your attention. You spin on your heel to face the speaker, encountering a fresh-faced Taehyung standing beside Jimin and Jungkook.

“You’re literally floating,” the third year Jungkook comments in awe, staring at your feet.

“Huh?” Your surprise brings you back to the floor before you can look at your feet. “I thought I was just imagining that. How did you even notice that?”

“We didn’t hear any footsteps,” Jimin explains with a smile.

“Quite an interesting bout of accidental magic, Miss [Y/LN],” Professor McGonagall nods with a small smile as she leaves the classroom. You gaze in wonderment at the professor’s retreating form.

“Helloo? Earth to [Y/N],” Taehyung sings as he waves his hand in your face. Your attention snaps back to him. “So what’s got you so happy? Is it what I think it is?”

You unfurl your parchment and display your high mark proudly. “I’ve never gotten such a high score on a Transfiguration essay before!”

Taehyung leans forward to read the red ink, sticking his tongue between his lips. “Wow!” he exclaims, interrupting your thoughts from straying to his tongue and the night you had felt it extensively with your magic. “She even wrote ‘Nicely written’! That’s awesome!”

You grin brightly, “And it’s all thanks to you! I owe you.”

Taehyung smiles, looking at you thoughtfully for a moment. “I think we can arrange a fair deal.”

You barely manage to catch Jungkook and Jimin exchanging meaningful looks behind him.  “Just name it! Food or whatever, I’m at your service,” you pledge eagerly.

The boys grin widely in response. Beside you, Irene coughs lightly, raising her eyebrow ever so slightly.

Your grin freezes in place as you realize just whom you had pledged your service to. Maybe you should have kept your big mouth shut.