“Have you seen him?” Jonghyun immediately asked when he saw Minho sitting in front of him.

“Good morning to you too,” he answered. He then took a toast, “him who?”

The Gryffindor sighed and mumbled, “Kibum.” He had tried to act natural, even if he knew he could not really hide the worry in his voice and, seeing the smirk on his friend’s face, he knew it was hopeless.

“I haven’t, why?” He asked, chewing his breakfast. Jonghyun suddenly felt embarrassed.

Actually, he had never asked Kibum to meet him that morning, they usually did naturally. However, that day was special. It was a Quidditch match day, Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. The first of the season. Jonghyun was stressed, he often was before a match, but, somehow, the fact that Kibum still had not showed up yet to breakfast was making his condition worse. The Slytherin had a way to cheer him up that always made him feel warmer and more confident about himself and about his skills. The fact that he was trusting him was enough. But, Kibum was not there. And he was terribly anxious about it.

“The ring,” he finally said, showing his hand to Minho, “it hurts me when he’s not around. I can’t focus well.”

“Oh, really, the ring” his friend simply answered. His eyes were sparkling and he could not hold another sigh, “Yes. Really.”

Minho just quietly chewed his toast, a smile on his face. Jonghyun rolled his eyes and got back to his first occupation, staring at the entrance of the Great Hall, since he knew he would never be able to convince the Hufflepuff that he was being honest - even if he was not really -, and kept on hoping that Kibum would finally come. It was still early in the morning. Jonghyun usually was a heavy sleeper but, when it was a match day, he almost was the first in the Great Hall. Not that he could eat anything, He just waited for his teammates to finally come down so he could review with them their strategy, or have any kind of quidditch related talk. Before a game, the only thing in his head, ordinarily, was quidditch. However, not that day. That day, all he could think of was Kibum.

***

Kibum slowly opened his eyes. The light was bright and at first hurt his vision. He focused for a second on keeping his eyes open until he got comfortable with the lightning. Confused, he considered the place where he had woken up, ignoring the usual pain in his finger, indicating that Jonghyun was far away from where he was. He was in the library. He had slept on his table. The day before he came there to look for a special spell but in vain. Tired of looking for it, and trying different things, and since it was getting very late, he had fallen asleep.

“Kibum?” A voice suddenly said, “I can’t believe you’re really here, I own one galleon to Jinki.”

The Slytherin recognized immediately Taemin’s voice. He raised his head, “how did he know I was here?” It really made no sense. Actually, he never, or rarely, was in the library.

Taemin shrugged, “actually, i think he is just the one to think about this place. Anyway, we have been looking for you. Did you sleep here? I didn’t know it was possible to…”

“We? Why?” Kibum interrupted. His brutal waking up and the uncomfortable night he had spent was making him completely.

He saw Taemin looking curiously at what had been his pillow for the night, a few books, feathers, and a bunch of papers with different kind of drawings, “What were you doing anyway?” Seeing his severe look, he quickly added the answers to Kibum’s questions, “Minho, Jinki and I were looking for you. The game is about to start.”

Suddenly, the last traces of tiredness faded out of his brain and he remembered. The real reason why he had come to the library in the first place. The Quidditch match. Jonghyun’s Quidditch match. He muttered different kind of insults and started to pack his stuffs. Carefully the papers, especially one, the last one he had worked on before falling asleep, and not too carefully, his books and his feathers.

“We need to go! Now!”

He knew Taemin had a lot of questions, he could see that in his eyes, but he had no time to answer. He got out of the library and, while running on the stairs, he thought about the spell he had practiced the day before and the fact that he had no idea if he was able to master it now. What if at the end it was just a failure… He shook his head. If he could not reach the field on time, then everything would have meant nothing at all. Without caring at all about Taemin, who was trying to keep up, he accelerated, until he finally got to the field, out of his breathe. Thankfully, everyone was still entering the terraces. Among all the students, he managed to see Jinki and Minho, both were looking around nervously. Making sure that Taemin was behind him, he waved at them and joined them.

“Where were you?” Minho asked when he finally saw him, “Jonghyun was so anxious during breakfast, I doubt he would even managed to fly correctly. He said the ring was hurting him too much because you were not there, and that he could not focus.”

Kibum grinned, “I’m here now, my ring doesn’t hurt me too much, so I guess it’s the same for him,” the Hufflepuff nodded so he continued, “let’s get in, we need the best places.”

***

Jonghyun tried to keep his attention on his captain, who was explaining over and over their strategy. He knew it was more important to focus on the fact that the Ravenclaw seeker always was the first to see the snitch but that he had a more efficient broom. But he could not. He had been forced to leave the Great Hall before he could see Kibum and, even if Minho, Taemin and Jinki all promised to find him, his ring was still hurting him and a lot right now. His confidence was low. Worst than usual. Since he had not be able to hear Kibum’s cheerings, he was feeling like he would not be able to do anything. He felt sick. It was weird how the Slytherin had become so important to him, but he could not help it. Even if Kibum had no interest in Quidditch, from the moment they had met, he had always listened to him when he was rambling about strategies, the best broom or how impatient he was for the next world quidditch cup. Without ever interrupting him. Kibum was a good listener and, if at first, he had no idea about what Jonghyun was talking about, for some reason, the Gryffindor could feel that, the more they talked about it, the more Kibum knew things. One day, he even recognized every member of his favorite quidditch team. Just thinking about it made him smile.

“It’s time to go.” His teammate voice cut him out of his thoughts. He nodded. He could feel his hand shaking.

Adjusting his robe, he took his broom and got up. As he was walking out of the changing room, he focused on his breathing to calm the fast beating of his heart. His legs were heavy and taking a simple step had become a hard task. The cheering from the terraces was becoming louder, and the pain in his finger was fading. Once he finally entered the field, the pain was gone. He felt lighter. It meant that Kibum was there, that they had found him. A smile on his face, he tried to look for him among the students of Slytherin, in vain. Somebody yelled his name. Confused, he discovered that all his teammates were already on their broom. Understanding that the game had started, he quickly did the same and flew as high as possible to have a clear view of the entire field. However, instead of looking for the snitch, like he should have done, he was looking for Kibum. He heard cheering from the Ravenclaw’s tributes, meaning that they had scored. He swore. He needed to seriously get in the game, if the other team was winning then they would have no chance to win the cup at the end.

Just when he decided to force himself to focus on the snitch and on Kibum, a sudden roar and bright lights coming from the Gryffindor’s terrace. Startled, he thought that the snitch could wait a bit more and flew discreetly toward it. A huge and shining lion’s head was floating in the air along with as shining letters that were forming the words “GO GRYFFINDOR”. He contained a chuckle when he understood where it came from. Kibum’s concentrated face seemed to be mumbling spells, his wand pointed to the lighting. Feeling suddenly full of strength and confidence, his eyes sparkling now that he knew that Kibum was cheering for him, he knew he could win that game.

***

“It was super lame,” Kibum said, playing with the food that was in his plate. Jonghyun smiled, “I thought it was cute.”

The Slytherin grinned, “it was supposed to last, and I only managed to hold it for like a second. It was lame and you’re just being nice.”

Jonghyun shrugged, “I’m not, it was cute and I caught the snitch at the end, it’s all thank to you.” At those words, he saw Kibum’s cheeks turning red. He was not lying. After seeing the supportive message, he had gotten immediately into the game, had noticed the snitch way before the other chaser and Gryffindor ended up winning. Which meant that they were on a winning streak - Minho had joked after the game that it was just because they had not yet played against Hufflepuff and that he would destroy them all in a blink of an eye.-

“Technically, it’s thanks to you. Because you’re an amazing player. Really, you’re the best,” he smiled, “plus, don’t tell me I know nothing about Quidditch, because I learnt stuffs and, also, I heard some players of the Slytherin team talking about your skill,” he confessed.

It was now Jonghyun who could feel that he was bleaching, “T-thank you.” His heartbeat was seriously going crazy. He had always been very shy when someone was giving him a compliment about his Quidditch skills but the fact that it was Kibum was something else. He truly felt pure happiness.

The Slytherin pinched his cheeks, “you’re bright red.”

“You should eat your food instead of playing with it,” he answered, embarrassed. The other one simply laughed but took back his fork in his hand.

It was only the two of them. After the game, Jonghyun had immediately left his teammates, totally against their will because they wanted to celebrate with him, to join Kibum. He had found him exactly at the exit of the Gryffindor’s team changing room. He had not thought twice and had hugged him tight. They had never done something like that. Hugging. Physical contact. Long physical contact. But he did not care at that moment. All that was important was that he had won and that Kibum was supporting him. When they finally let go, it was not even awkward, like they had been close like that since forever. He was so happy and, seeing his friend’s smile, he could guess that it was the same for him too. They had left together and, after Jonghyun went to take a quick shower, had spent the rest of the day just talking. Only them. They had seen quickly Minho, Jinki and Taemin at lunch, that was when Minho said he would beat him, but then they left together. The Gryffindor had talked about the game, how he had been angry at his teammates when they were not scoring enough points to win, how he had been scared to miss the snitch when he had felt that the Ravenclaw’s chaser was right behind him, how he had avoided the bludger at the last second, and on and on. Kibum had listened to him, cheer with him when it was needed, and then, he had explained what had happened the morning. How he had spent the night in the library to draw the lion and master the spell, how he had ran in the corridors to get there on time, how he had felt guilty because he had not seen him during breakfast, how he had been disappointed to see that the spell did not work the way it was supposed to. Jonghyun had told him that it was fine like it was, that it was enough that he had gone to so much trouble just for him, that he was so grateful, that he had loved it. For a moment, he had almost said that he simply loved everything Kibum was doing, whether it was for him or not. That he really loved every single thing about him. That he loved that they were so close, that they could spend so much time together so easily. That he had realized he had fallen in love with him.

However he had not said anything. Probably because he was scared that Kibum would not feel this way and that he would ruin their friendship. But, the more the day was passing by, the more it was hard to keep it for him. It was already dinner time but he could not get it out of his mind. They had came early in the Great Hall, because he was hungry, and they had started to talk again about Kibum’s attempt of new magic.

“The potion is almost done,” a voice said.

Jonghyun raised his head, Taemin was settling himself down in front of them. He started to generously put food on his plate.

“We spent the afternoon on the Room Of Requirement, I thought about calling you to help but Minho said no and Jinki approved so, I simply checked the potion.”

He frowned, “they should have let you call us, it’s for us after all.” Taemin bursted out of laughter, “even if you were there,” he said, almost tearing up, “you would have not done much, I mean, no offense, but the last time we let you two near the potion it almost ruined everything. You’re meant together.”

His last words made Jonghyun blush once again. He tried to stare at his plate to avoid having an eye contact with Kibum. If Taemin was not the oblivious type, he would have thought that he had said it on purpose. But the fact that Minho had told him to let him and Kibum be together was weird. Minho knew him very well. Minho was always over exaggerating everything but, most of the time, Minho was able to see and understand well other people’s feelings. Even if those people have not clearly said anything. For Jinki… He was the complete opposite. He had no clue about what people were feeling, maybe he did not really care, and he often was very awkward when it came to social interactions. Which was more or less funny. However, he was very close with Kibum, and if he had agree with Minho, well, maybe, his feelings were not one sided. That was what he was thinking. In any case, he was really getting tired to hide everything and he needed to try, especially if there was a chance his reflection was the right one.

“Are you listening to us, Jonghyun?”

He was not. Minho was snapping his fingers in front of his face, sitting on Taemin’s right side while Jinki was on the left one. He had not even noticed that his two friends had come too. He opened his mouth, but his lost face was enough for Jinki to interfere.

“Clearly, no.” The gryffindor mumbled an excuse but the other one did not care and continued, “I was saying, I think we would be able to take the rings off tomorrow night.”

He looked at Kibum, who had pushed away his plate, still pretty full, and he felt a pinch in his heart. The time had come to take away the thing that had brought them together, and, if at first when he had learnt about it all he wanted was to remove it, now, his state of mind had completely changed. “Okay, that’s a good thing,” he said. But he did not think so. Kibum nodded too.

“Great,” he quickly ate everything on his plate, under the surprised eyes of the others, “now I have to go, with all this and the Quidditch game, I had to delay my work and I can’t really do that anymore.”

Before anyone could say anything, Jinki was gone. They stayed together for about ten minutes, eating more or less quietly, Jonghyun was too lost in his thoughts to mind a conversation, then Taemin got up.

“I’ll check on the potion for tonight.”

Minho suddenly got up too, “I’ll go with you.” The Slytherin looked surprise but nodded.

“Are you okay? You look weird, you haven’t talked at all when they were here, something’s going on?” Kibum asked when their two friends had left the Great Hall.

Jonghyun bit his lips, wondering what he should say. He could see on the other one’s face that he was seriously worried. “Are you done eating?” he asked.

“Yes, why?”

“Come with me.”

He got up, filled with motivation, even if the beating of heart was giving away how anxious he was, and gently took Kibum’s hand to make him stand up too. The Slytherin seemed startle at first but followed him. Without a word, he lead him into the castle’s park. Autumn was slowly coming, the air was getting colder and the days were getting shorter. Considering that it was still dinner time, the park was almost empty. They both sat on a bench. Jonghyun smiled when he noticed that the first time they had talked had gone exactly the same way.

He took a deep breathe, “before starting, can you promise me to not talk until I’m done?” His friend nodded. He closed his eyes, thinking about how he could put words on what he was feeling.

“Since we are soon getting those rings off, I feel like you need to know something. When we first met, I totally felt like it was crazy. That everything made no sense at all. I thought, why did it had to be me, how did I ended up with such a dangerous object. Then, I got to know you and, now, I’m really thankful, I am truly delighted that I put this ring on my finger one day.”

He paused. He was still holding Kibum’s hand and his eyes were close. He was just so glad Kibum’s hand was still in his.  

“You’re such an amazing person, I don’t even understand how I was able to have a life when you were not around, I just want to be with you every day, the little things you do make me so happy and, I know we don’t know each other since a long time but I just…”

Kibum’s other hand was now on his lips. He opened his eyes. The Slytherin was smiling. His eyes were sparkling. He looked so happy, and so beautiful. He had interreptuded him before he had ended, but, the way he was looking at him made him totally forgot about the promise.

“I love you,” he said.

The three words were ringing in Jonghyun’s brain. He was so surprised that Kibum had confessed clearly before him that for a second he stayed still. Then he smiled, he smiled so hard it hurt. With his free hand, he took the Slytherin’s one who was still on his lips.

“I love you too.”

His heart was beating so fast now that he thought it would explode, but he did not really cared. He got closer to Kibum’s face, “Can I?” he murmured and the other one simply nodded. Before he even understood what he was currently doing, his lips were on Kibum’s. Their first kiss was gentle and sweet. It tasted like pumpkin pastries, the dessert the Slytherin had eaten before they had left the Great Hall, and also Jonghyun’s favorite. He had never imagined that he could love something more than pumpkin pastries until he had tasted it on Kibum’s lips.

Actually, there was a lot of things he had never imagined before that made perfect sense now that he was with Kibum. Like, the fact that he had fallen in love because of a cursed ring.