| VI. slytherins and gryffindors |

While Baekhyun and Jongdae were stuck in detention, Kyungsoo and Jongin were having their weekly tutoring session.

Kyungsoo stares at the sky through the tall window that they're currently seated next to. The sun is hiding completely behind the gray clouds, and many students were already bundled up in warm clothing.

It wouldn't be long until it started to snow.

Besides him, Jongin is currently reading over his notes for this session. They had decided to meet up a little later than usual, since Jongin approached him after breakfast and explained that Quidditch practice was going to be moved due to Jongdae's detention. Apparently, Luhan was pretty irritated about it.

"Irritated is probably an understatement, though," Jongin had told him at the time, a small frown on his face.

The Slytherin didn't really have anything to say in response to that, so he just nodded.

In all honesty, Jongin's seriousness when it came to these tutoring sessions caught him off guard. Kyungsoo was expecting Jongin to mess around the whole time and probably try to talk to him about stuff he didn't particularly care about, but that wasn't the case at all. This is only their second tutoring session, but the Slytherin was able to sense how much Jongin really wanted to improve his grade. Because of that, he felt that he'd definitely have to do his best in order for Jongin to understand the subject a lot better.

Jongin grabs his quill and scribbles a couple more things down.

Kyungsoo thumbs the corner of his parchment, wondering if he should say something. He's always been very bad at small talk, especially with people he's only started to get to know, but he feels like he should at least attempt to talk to Jongin more if they were going to keep doing this. 

"So..." He begins awkwardly, and Jongin turns to look expectantly back at him (he's clearly surprised at Kyungsoo's attempt to start conversation). "Is, um, any of this actually helping you at all?"

"Yes!" Jongin answers immediately, voice a little too loud and a little too enthusiastic, and they both wince at the sound of it. Several heads turn towards their direction, and Kyungsoo bites the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep his expression neutral. Jongin coughs awkwardly before continuing. "Uh, I mean, yes. It's helping a lot, actually."

Kyungsoo lets out a tiny sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear. I was worried that I wasn't doing enough."

"Oh, it's definitely enough." Jongin reassures him as their gazes meet, and Kyungsoo's eyes widen a little due to the seriousness of his tone. "Some of the directions could be so vague, you know? Same with the way we're supposed to chop ingredients. You explaining the steps to me before we get around to doing it really helps me understand it better."

Kyungsoo breaks eye contact, embarrassed.

"I'm glad you're starting to understand it," The Slytherin mutters. "Hopefully your grade'll be able to get up soon, then."

"Me too," Jongin smiles kindly at him for a while before he returns his gaze to his notes. 

It's strange. So many students claim that Jongin is capable of easily getting whatever he wants, which is why Kyungsoo wanted to keep his guard up around him. But with these meetings, Kyungsoo is able to actually see that Jongin is totally different than what people were saying about him—he acts more like an excited puppy rather than a sly fox.

"Well, this is really all I was planning to go over for today." Kyungsoo tells him as he leans back in his chair. He looks at his watch, seeing that only a little over an hour has passed since they first started. "I guess it's a good sign that we were able to finish early."

Jongin stops in the middle of putting his textbook back in his bookbag and tilts his head, looking as if he were in deep thought.

Kyungsoo notices this and asks, "Something the matter?"

"No," Is the Gryffindor's reply, but his expression is sort of sheepish when he turns to face the other male. He hesitates. "I was, erm, just wondering if you had plans before dinner?"

"The usual, I guess. Just planning on studying for other stuff," Kyungsoo blinks, genuinely surprised by the question. He frowns a little in confusion; by now, he was sort of expecting Jongin to push in his chair and leave. "Why?"

"Because..." Jongin starts, but then cringes. "Nevermind."

"Huh?"

The two of them look at each other.

Kyungsoo raises a questioning eyebrow, and Jongin turns away at once.

"Er, I was just thinking that maybe we could hang out for a bit since we finished up earlier than usual." The Gryffindor clarifies after a moment of silence. He starts fidgeting with the the corner of his sleeve. "But it's really okay! I don't want to waste your time, especially if you're planning on catching up with your other classes."

The Slytherin studies him for a while. Jongin definitely seems embarrassed now; he's refusing to make eye contact, and it makes Kyungsoo feel slightly amused by the sight of it. 

"Sure," Kyungsoo finds himself saying.

Jongin's mouth falls open as he faces him again.

"You're serious?" The Gryffindor asks, uncertain, but he's starting to smile a little. "You're sure it's okay?"

Kyungsoo nods slowly, wondering if he made the right decision after all, because the excitement on Jongin's face just keeps on growing... he thinks that the Gryffindor's face is going to split in two due to how wide his grin is.

A few moments later, the two of them finish packing up and leave the library together. 

"Where to?" Kyungsoo asks as soon as they step out. 

"I don't really have an exact place in mind." The Gryffindor admits as they continue to walk down the corridor. "I asked you sort of spontaneously, so I didn't really think you'd agree."

"This is just out of curiosity, but why did you ask in the first place? I figure you're busy with your own stuff too."

"Ah, well. I'm not very busy in general, to be honest." Jongin scratches the back of his head sheepishly before answering. "I just thought... it'd be cool to get to know each other better? It's still a bit awkward between us considering that we only started talking to each other recently, and I'd really like to know more about you."

Kyungsoo snorts. "So that you could use that information to your advantage and blackmail me?"

"No," Jongin pouts at him, and Kyungsoo smirks at his expression. "Besides, I'm friends with your friends. Therefore, we should also be friends so that it's not weird if we're all together."

"That has to be the most ridiculous explanation I've ever heard."

The Gryffindor wrinkles his nose.

"So why did you agree, then?" 

Kyungsoo thinks for a moment. Really, why did he?

"I'm not sure," The Slytherin eventually says, which is true. It sort of just came out without him thinking twice about it, which is strange, because he normally is the type of person that carefully thinks of what to say before speaking. "I'm mostly caught up with everything I need to do anyways... I think I can use a break. Plus, I guess hanging out outside of tutoring is a good way for us to get to know each other better."

"That's the spirit!" Jongin says cheerfully.

The two of them keep walking for a while, a comfortable silence resting between them. Eventually, they head into the clock tower courtyard. Besides the two of them, there are also a few other students scattered throughout the area huddled in small groups and sitting around the fountain.

They stop walking a couple of steps into the covered bridge, and Jongin walks closer to stand in one of the arches before resting his arms on top of the side of the bridge. Kyungsoo doesn't join him there and instead stays more away from the edge; he didn't really do well with heights, but he figured Jongin was fine with them considering that he probably flew as high or even higher during Quidditch matches.

"Okay, here's a question for you: anything else you like besides studying?"

Jongin turns around and leans against the bridge, now facing him. His hair and clothes blow gently with the cool breeze, and his back is lit with the setting sun, making it seem like there's a golden outline surrounding him. Upon seeing him like that, Kyungsoo can see why so many people are obsessed with him in the first place; the Gryffindor is truly blessed with good looks.

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to answer his question, but he changes his mind. He frowns deeply instead, and it makes Jongin tilt his head to the side.

"You do have something else you are interested in, right?"

"It's not something that I gladly proclaim to everyone." He mutters.

"You really don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" Jongin says quickly, noticing Kyungsoo's hesitation. He props his elbows on the side of the bridge and continues, "I can just tell you something about myself instead. I like dancing, for instance."

Kyungsoo can't hide the surprise on his face, and Jongin notices this—he smiles at him in amusement.

"Dancing." Kyungsoo repeats; of all the things he was expecting, it wasn't that. "Really?"

Jongin nods.

"Yep. It's been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember, to be honest. I used to take classes when I was much, much younger. Since we stay in Hogwarts a majority of the year, I'm only able to go back to the studio during the summer. It kind of  that I can't really do anything during school since it's always been a stress reliever for me."

Kyungsoo looks at him for a while. The way Jongin talked about dance made it clear that it was truly something special to him.

"You're okay with me knowing this? It seems pretty... personal."

"You just seem like a pretty trustworthy person." Jongin shrugs, as if it were just as simple as that. "Besides, I told you that I wanted to be friends. It's only fair that I tell you things about myself too."

The Slytherin doesn't say anything in response, feeling a bit taken aback of the fact that Kim Jongin of all people decided to entrust him with such a personal detail about himself. It's already strange enough that Jongin asked him to be his tutor, but Kyungsoo really wasn't expecting for the Gryffindor to go as far as actually wanting to befriend him in the first place.

The Slytherin purses his lips.

"Well..."

"Kyungsoo." Jongin gently interrupts him. "It's fine, really. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"No, it's okay. It's only fair." Kyungsoo insists. He sighs a little before continuing. "Besides studying, I'm also into music."

"Music," Now it's Jongin's turn to be surprised. He looks at him with widened eyes. "Wow, okay. You play instruments?"

"Erm, sort of?" The Slytherin says as he attempts to avoid eye contact; he focuses on the floor instead. "My parents have a piano back home, so I learned when I was a kid. I guess I can play it pretty decently since I was forced to take lessons, but I... I don't really play any other instruments in general."

"So what do you do, then?"

"I..." Kyungsoo cringes as he looks up to face Jongin once more. "I sing."

"No way," Jongin leans forward a little, amazed. He's back to smiling again, but this time it appears to be much softer. Kyungsoo bites his lip nervously as the silence stretches between them once more.

"W-What?" 

"Nothing, just..." Jongin grins even wider. "I was thinking it'd be nice to hear you sometime."

Kyungsoo feels himself starting to become more and more embarrassed by the second. He turns around immediately, his back facing Jongin as he feels his cheeks start to grow warm against his will. 

"In your dreams."

Jongin bursts out laughing at that, which makes Kyungsoo's face grow hotter. As soon as Kyungsoo feels like it's safe enough to turn back around, he's met with the sight of the Gryffindor still doubled over in laughter. Eventually, Jongin wipes the corners of his eyes before he finally straightens up.

"You're such an interesting person."

"I'm really not." Kyungsoo mumbles. He manages to regain his composure a few moments later. "I'd appreciate it if you don't go spouting this to everyone you know. The only other people who know about this are Chanyeol, Jongdae, and..." He pauses. "Baekhyun. Actually, music is something that all of us had in common."

"I won't do anything like that." Jongin protests as he walks to stand in front of Kyungsoo. He frowns when he sees the serious look on the Slytherin's face. "You genuinely don't think that I could be trusted?"

"No."

The expression on Jongin's face resembles a kicked puppy's. "To be fair, you and Sehun are the only people who know about the whole dancing thing."

"Guess we're even, then." Kyungsoo tries to appear nonchalant, but his lips pull into a genuine, heart-shaped smile.

At that, Jongin stares at him for a while without saying anything. His expression is completely unreadable, and it makes Kyungsoo start to feel slightly self conscious at the intensity of the other male's gaze. The Slytherin's eyes dart over to the watch on his wrist instead. 

"It's almost time for dinner. We should head over."

"Already? We barely got to ask each other one question."

Kyungsoo shrugs at this, choosing not to reply. He turns to start walking to the Great Hall, expecting Jongin to follow behind him, but the younger male grabs his wrist before he could take another step forward. Surprised, Kyungsoo turns to look back at the Gryffindor.

"What is it?"

"Sorry!" Jongin rushes out as he drops his wrist immediately. The younger male looks panicked for a split second, but he regains his composure once more before Kyungsoo could even begin to ask about it. "Uh... just, are you planning on watching the Quidditch match next week?"

Kyungsoo sighs, remembering both the promise he made with Chanyeol back then, as well as the warmth of the Gryffindor's hands at the time. He gulps at the memory before his brain yells at him to come up with a response.

"I suppose I'll have to... Chanyeol gave me his omnioculars after all, it would be a waste if I didn't use them."

"Brilliant!" The Gryffindor exclaims, already back to his overly energetic self. The two of them start to walk off the bridge and towards the direction of the Great Hall afterwards.

"Don't forget that I'm a Slytherin, Jongin." Kyungsoo tells him seriously as soon as the Hall comes into view ten minutes later. "I still have House pride, you know, despite the fact that you and two of my best friends are in Gryffindor. That doesn't change a thing."

Jongin huffs, and Kyungsoo chortles at the dejected expression on the younger male's face.

"Have a nice dinner." The Slytherin then says, and he hesitates a little before continuing. "And... your, um, secret is safe with me."

The Gryffindor makes the motion of zipping his lips shut.

"Yours as well. See you, Kyungsoo."

---

It's nearing six o' clock, and supper has started over an hour ago. 

Baekhyun couldn't really care less about what time it was, to be honest. He's been so focused on what Jongdae had told him, which allowed him to work without actually thinking much about what he was actually doing. After mopping the floor and moving the desks back to their respective places without a single word spoken between them, they were now onto the second task of going through the other years' essays.

As of now, Baekhyun's currently sorting through the stack of the second years' essays (he had finished the first years' already). He is so engrossed in what he was doing that he doesn't even hear the door to Professor Kim's office open.

"Mr. Byun, Mr. Kim?"

Baekhyun and Jongdae both jolt up in surprise, both caught off guard. Professor Kim looks amused to see their reactions.

"Well, it's good to see how diligently the both of you are working." He says as he crosses his arms and leans against his desk. "I decided that you two are done for the day. I will take care of the rest."

Baekhyun breathes a sigh of relief as he sets the parchment papers down on the desk in front of him.

"Thanks, Professor!" Jongdae says gratefully.

"I hope this serves as a lesson learned, you two. Don't disappoint me again." Professor Kim's tone sounds stern, but he's smiling at the both of them. He takes the stacks of essays from both Jongdae and Baekhyun's desks before continuing. "You both should hurry and grab some food before dinner ends."

Jongdae steps out of his desk and thanks Professor Kim once more before he quickly leaves. Baekhyun does the same. He's about to leave the room when he stops himself before entering the doorway.

"I'll make sure to do my best from now on, Professor." Baekhyun promises, determined.

Professor Kim looks surprised by Baekhyun's statement, but he nods.

He finally steps out of the classroom after that, not really paying attention to the voices he was hearing outside. Since he's more focused on grabbing something to eat, he starts making his way down to the Great Hall when he looks up and freezes dead in his tracks.

Chanyeol's staring wide-eyed back at him. In front of him is Jongdae, whose back is currently facing Baekhyun.

Ohhh, . Chanyeol must've come up here to see how Jongdae was doing or something. At once, Baekhyun feels everything stop working. The two of them haven't broken eye contact yet, and Baekhyun is finding it incredibly difficult to look away.

, , . 

A moment later, Baekhyun uses all of his willpower to snap out of it by actually slapping himself. The loud noise resonates throughout the hall, and both Jongdae and Chanyeol flinch at the sound. Jongdae turns around and stares at him as if he were insane.

Cheek stinging, Baekhyun looks away before any of them could say anything. He quickly rushes down the staircase, his mind screaming at him to calm down as he attempts not to fall flat on his face. He's moving so fast that he almost runs into someone else when he finally reaches the bottom of the staircase, but before he could apologize, the person grips his arms tightly. 

Dazed, Baekhyun blinks and tries to focus.

A moment later, he realizes he's facing Taeyeon, who's staring at him in concern.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Taeyeon asks, worried. She studies him. "Why is your cheek so red?"

"I'm fine! I just hit myself on accident." Baekhyun answers her questions in one breath, and he takes another breath before continuing. "I was just coming from—" He stops himself from answering, his eyes widening.

, Taeyeon would kill him if she found out that he was coming from detention.

"Detention, weren't you?" Taeyeon sighs as she lets go of him. "It's a Saturday night and you're obviously coming from the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. You weren't at dinner, so I went to go look around. I guess it's kind of lucky that I was able to find you this fast."

"Er... yeah." . Baekhyun bites his lip. "I was actually on my way to the Great Hall right now."

"Baek, did you really think I wouldn't find out? I was so worried when I didn't see you at the Slytherin table!" Taeyeon crosses her arms, now looking a lot more frustrated. "Is there a particular reason why you didn't want to tell me that you got detention? Were you even going to tell me at all if I didn't end up finding out where you went?"

"Taeyeon... I'm really sorry." Baekhyun apologizes, hoping it sounds as genuine as he feels. "I really didn't mean to worry you at all. I just didn't want to say anything about the detention because it's something that I could handle on my own. I knew how mad it was going to make you, not to mention that you're already dealing with so many other things at the moment..."

Irritated, Taeyeon shakes her head. 

"That doesn't change the fact that you're still getting yourself into trouble. Sometimes I feel like I have to act more like a babysitter rather than your girlfriend, you know? Do you ever think of how your parents would feel if they heard about this? You need to grow up and get a grip."

Baekhyun stares at her in disbelief.

"I need to 'grow up'?" He eventually repeats, feeling the anger slowly bubble up inside of him. "Why are you always so quick to say things like this? Do you even think about how it makes me feel at all? Do you know how many times I've already heard the same damn phrase coming out of my father's mouth when I'm home?"

He breathes heavily after he finishes speaking.

Taeyeon looks away, her lips pursed.

"You should go eat." She then says quietly before stepping to the side.

He takes a couple of deep breaths in order to calm himself down. After a few moments, he leaves without another word.

---

One week passes after that. Finally, the day of the first match of the season arrives.

That Saturday afternoon, Kyungsoo wraps his Slytherin scarf around his neck and pockets the omnioculars Chanyeol gave him before finally exiting the Slythern dungeons. A bunch of his fellow classmates and other students from varying years pass by, all of them chatting excitedly around him.

When Kyungsoo finally approaches the Quidditch field, the noise from the crowd grows significantly louder and louder, filled with cheers from both sides of the stands. Almost everyone is dressed warmly for the cold weather; the sky is a gloomy gray color once more, but there luckily isn't any troublesome fog to deal with. 

As Kyungsoo starts heading over to sit with the sea of green covering the stands, someone accidentally bumps into him from behind, making him stumble a little in surprise.

"I'm so sorry!" The person apologizes immediately.

Kyungsoo turns around to face him, recognizing him as a seventh year Gryffindor. He smiles reassuringly, not noticing the way the Gryffindor does a double take at the sight. 

"It's fine," The Slytherin tells him, and he leaves without another glance back.

He finally makes it up to the stands, squeezing past people who were excitedly jumping up and down. Everyone supporting Slytherin is wearing varying shades of green (some people's faces are painted green as well), and several others are even holding up banners in support. A few of his classmates were also placing bets to see who's going to win. On the Gryffindor side, everyone was dressed in scarlet, and a ton of people are also cheering on the other side of the stands. 

With difficulty, Kyungsoo tries to search for any familiar faces in the crowd and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Tao sitting a short distance away.

"Hi, Tao." Kyungsoo drops when he finally reaches his friend, and Tao nearly jumps out of his seat in surprise. "Can I sit with you?"

"Blimey, Kyungsoo, you scared me!" The younger Slytherin places a hand over his heart but instantly scoots over, gesturing Kyungsoo to take a seat. "You're actually here to watch the match, for once?"

Kyungsoo slouches his shoulders in defeat. "I made a promise, so I'm going to be watching matches a lot more now."

Besides, he does feel pretty bad for not really seeing Jongdae and Chanyeol play that much.

"Trust me, you won't regret it!" Tao excitedly tells him as he hands him a small, green flag. "Kris has been telling me that the team's been looking very promising, lately. He seems even more confident about it. I'm sure we're going to have a hell of a match today."

Just then, the crowd suddenly erupts in a new wave of ear-shattering cheers. When Kyungsoo looks to see why people were reacting this much, he sees the Slytherin team currently walking towards the field, filing in a single line. Kris looks as cool, calm, and collected as ever—he walks with unmistakable confidence, and Kyungsoo can't help but smile at the sight of him. 

"YEAHHHH, KRIS!" Tao cups his hands over his mouth and yells as Kyungsoo winces at the noise. Many other people start to join Tao in their screaming of Kris's name. "LET'S GOOOOO, CAPTAIN!"

Once all the members of the Slytherin Quidditch team are out on the field, the roaring of the Slytherin crowd becomes louder and louder. Minutes later, it's time for the Gryffindor supporters to burst into cheers as the Gryffindor Quidditch team starts to walk out on the field. Through his omnioculars, Kyungsoo sees Jongdae, Jongin, and Luhan, all smiling (Luhan has that fire in his eyes again). When Kyungsoo finds Chanyeol, Kyungsoo expects him to be all smiles as well, but the tall Gryffindor actually looks like he's going to be sick.

Kyungsoo blinks at the sight, concerned. Was Chanyeol the type to get pre-game nerves?

The Gryffindor team stands facing the Slytherin team, and Kyungsoo could already feel the increasing tension between them. Though he knew Kris and Luhan were great friends off the pitch, he had a feeling that they did not hold back when it came to actually playing.

Eventually, Madam Hooch steps onto the field, and both teams turn to look at her. She seems to be speaking to the players about something, most likely reminding them to play fair. After a while, she stops talking, and both Kris and Luhan move forward to shake each other's hands. Both grin at each other as their grip tightens.

Moments later, the teams mount their brooms. Madam Hooch lifts her whistle up to her lips and blows, producing a deafening noise, and with that both teams immediately soar into the sky. Both Gryffindor and Slytherin supporters cheer even louder as the game officially begins. The Bludgers fly out of the trunk, and the Snitch soon goes out of sight.

Finally, Madam Hooch throws the Quaffle into the air.

Jongdae immediately dives down from his original position on the field and catches the red ball, being a hair faster than the other Slytherin Chaser who had tried to go for it. The Gryffindor grins as he shoots off with amazing speed towards the direction of the Slytherin goalposts.

"We start off with Gryffindor Chaser Kim Jongdae in possession of the Quaffle!" Lee, a Slytherin in his year, is the commentator for today's match. "Is he going to smoothly make it towards the Slytherin goalposts?"

Kyungsoo watches with his omnioculars, impressed, as Jongdae continues to weave through the Slytherin players. One Slytherin Beater aims a Bludger towards him, but a Gryffindor Beater gets there in time to smack the Bludger away. 

"Damn!" Tao comments from besides him. "Gryffindor seems very pumped today..."

Sure enough, Jongdae is able to make it towards the Slytherin goalposts without much trouble. Kris is currently looming in front of them, his eyes narrowed as he tries to predict which way Jongdae will throw. The Slytherin captain looks so incredibly intimidating that Kyungsoo is surprised that Jongdae doesn't bat an eye as he gradually picks up speed towards his direction.

Jongdae aims the Quaffle towards the right most goalpost with incredible accuracy, and everyone holds their breath as the ball sails through the air, until—

"Oh no you don't, Kim Jongdae!" Kris shouts, and he manages to get there in time in order to block the ball from entering the goalpost, resulting in cheers coming from the Slytherin stands and groans coming from the Gryffindor ones. 

"Amazing save from Slytherin Captain Kris Wu!"

"YES!" Tao shrieks, pumping his fist and jumping up so suddenly that he bumps into Kyungsoo and almost makes him drop his omnioculars. As Tao starts apologizing profusely to him, a tap on Kyungsoo's shoulder gets his attention.

"Mind if I join you guys?"

Kyungsoo turns his head to see a tired looking Sehun, who is currently yawning into his hand. Kyungsoo is pretty confused when he sees him, thinking that he must've had the wrong guy—he's never spoken to Sehun in his life, and here he is, standing right next to him.

"Hi, Sehun!" Tao smiles at the other male, and the blonde nods sleepily at him in return. "I was waiting for you. What happened?"

"Accidentally took a nap in the library."

"Good thing you woke up in time. You didn't really miss much, no one's scored yet."

"Cool," Sehun replies. He looks at Kyungsoo and gives him a curt nod as the crowd continues to cheer around them. "I don't think we've met. I'm Oh Sehun."

"Do Kyungsoo," He introduces himself as he nods back, even though he's already familiar with who Sehun is. Unexpectedly, the taller Slytherin's eyes widen a little at the sound of his name.

"Ohhhh," The blonde realizes, "so you're Jongin's tutor."

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to reply, but he's instantly cut off by whistles and thunderous applause. When Kyungsoo returns his gaze to the field, he notices that one of the Slytherin Chasers was able to get a goal in, resulting in the score becoming 10-0; Slytherin in the lead. As the Slytherin supporters start up a chant, Kyungsoo sees Chanyeol's expression change into a grimace; he still looks pretty shaken up.

Worried, Kyungsoo bites his lip nervously. Something was clearly wrong.

"It's okay, Chanyeol!" Luhan is shouting at him over the crowd. "Just get the next one!"

"Hmm," Sehun then says. It seems that he also somehow picked up on Chanyeol's unease.

Kyungsoo feels his stomach churn as his mind tries to figure out what was going on. He had a strong feeling that Chanyeol was hesitating to go all out... he probably didn't want to worry his teammates if he got hurt again.

"Slytherin in the lead, 10-0! Wonderful job, team!" Lee shouts into the megaphone a little too excitedly, but he laughs nervously when Headmistress McGonagall glares at him.

Because Slytherin scored, it is Chanyeol who is supposed to throw the Quaffle back in play. Kyungsoo sees the Keeper's eyes shut in concentration, eyebrows furrowed as if he was silently telling himself to get a grip. As soon as the whistle blows, Chanyeol chucks it into the field, but it flies in the direction towards a Slytherin Chaser. 

She catches the ball and attempts to throw it towards another Chaser who is closer to the Gryffindor goalposts, but just as she passes the ball, Luhan appears out of nowhere and intercepts it, earning whoops and cheers from the Gryffindor side. 

"Gryffindor Captain Luhan is in possession of the Quaffle!"

The fire is blazing in Luhan's eyes as he dashes towards the Slytherin goalposts, zig-zagging in and out between players.

As Arthur Collins, the newest Slytherin Beater on the team, sends a Bludger flying towards the Captain's direction, two Beaters on the Gryffindor team immediately swing their bats in unison towards the Bludger—due to the doubled force, the Bludger shoots back towards Collins' direction, and he manages to duck in time before the ball could injure him.

"Look at that! Beaters Jacob Brown and Athena Fletcher from Gryffindor executed the Dopplebeater Defense!"

At long last, Luhan reaches the Slytherin goalposts. He's grinning widely now, and even Kris looks a bit wary at the other Captain's expression.

A moment later, Luhan throws the Quaffle with a roar, and at the same time, Kris moves forward in an attempt to block it.

The ball seems to soar in slow motion as it heads towards the midde hoop, almost right where Kris's hand is. But before Kris could save it, the Quaffle unexpectedly curves at the last moment and shoots perfectly through the right most goalpost. 

The whole crowd is stunned into silence for a couple of moments, until Lee shrieks into the megaphone:

"NOW DID YOU ALL SEE THAT? A CURVEBALL FROM GRYFFINDOR'S CAPTAIN! The score is now tied, 10-10! We are off to an intense start, everybody!"

At once, everyone jumps back to life; the Gryffindor side is louder than its ever been. Tons of Gryffindors are screaming Luhan's name at the top of their chest, and some of them produce a banner with Luhan's face on it. Luhan salutes them, making them shout in glee once more.

"Wow..." Tao is staring at Luhan, his eyes wide. "I didn't know Luhan could throw curveballs now!"

"Impressive," Sehun comments. 

Luhan flies back to join his teammates, where Jongdae is holding up his hand for a high five. Luhan smacks his hand so hard and so fast that Jongdae winces when their palms meet. Kyungsoo sees Chanyeol finally smile, which makes him feel much more relaxed. Even Kris is smiling and shaking his head as he returns to his spot in front of the goalposts.

"This is so intense." Kyungsoo eventually finds himself saying, a small feeling of excitement starting to bubble inside of him. Ever since the match began, he gradually felt more energized by the competitive atmosphere around him. Besides him, Sehun hums in agreement.

"I know right? Makes me kind of glad that I don't play." Sehun snorts. He then points to a figure in the field. "Look, there's Jongin."

Kyungsoo follows the direction where he is pointing, and sure enough, Jongin is currently circling the field.

The Gryffindor Seeker gives Luhan a double thumbs up when the captain looks back at him. Jongin's been searching for the Snitch the past ten minutes since the match began, but there has been no sign of the small golden ball so far. Kyungsoo notices that although the Slytherin Seeker is a couple feet away, he's watching Jongin like a hawk.

Kris throws the Quaffle back into play, and the match continues.

Kyungsoo watches through the omnioculars as the players continue to fly around, looking like red and green blurs due to how fast they are moving; it's evident that neither of them are wiling to back down. The Beaters, who were at first hitting with a normal amount of force, started swinging twice as hard and with more accuracy, which ultimately became more difficult for Chasers to dodge. Both sides held their breath when Luhan had to execute what was called the "sloth grip roll" to avoid a particularly vicious Bludger.

The good news is that Chanyeol is starting to recover from his initial nervousness. He's managed to block an impressive amount of shots as the match goes on. Although there were shots that ended up passing through the goalposts, it doesn't faze Chanyeol; in fact, he appears to be getting more and more fired up. Kyungsoo feels a twinge of pride upon seeing the Keeper move so confidently, and he doesn't realize he's smiling until Sehun clears his throat.

"You sure you're cheering for Slytherin, Do?" Sehun raises an eyebrow, and Kyungsoo freezes on the spot.

"Of course." Kyungsoo replies as he attempts to keep his expression neutral. He continues to look into the omnioculars and doesn't see Sehun snickering behind his hand.

"40-30, Slytherin in the lead—and oh, wait! 40-40 now, since Alice Evans just scored, resulting in another tie!"

It's already been almost thirty minutes since the match started, but Slytherin and Gryffindor are still neck-and-neck. The match goes on, and Gryffindor and Slytherin continue to score back and forth. Whenever one team is in the lead, the other closes the gap almost immediately. Kyungsoo feels like Luhan's competitiveness has seriously rubbed off on the rest of his teammates, as the entirety of the Gryffindor team all had a burning fire blazing in their eyes at this point.

Gryffindor calls a timeout as soon as the score becomes 80-80. As they talk amongst themselves on the pitch, Kyungsoo lets out a sigh as he stretches his arms out; they were feeling quite cramped due to him peering through the omnioculars the majority of the match. Tao excuses himself, saying that he needs to use the loo, leaving him and Sehun sitting there.

"Is Jongin treating you well?" Sehun then asks, and Kyungsoo looks up from playing with the flag in his hands.

"He's not being troublesome, if that's what you mean." 

"Good," The taller Slytherin nods, "just let me know if he is ever giving you a hard time, and I'll talk to him."

"I don't think that will be necessary, he's been very cooperative so far." Kyungsoo manages a small smile this time, though he is a little taken aback at Sehun's friendliness. "But thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

As soon as Tao comes back, the whistle blows, indicating the end of the timeout. Both teams definitely look more serious now that the match has been going on for a while. Players on both teams were starting to send each other menacing glares. Jongin is looking particularly annoyed by the Slytherin Seeker, since he had been following him the entire match.

Once everyone returns to their positions, the Quaffle is thrown back into play. A couple of penalties start to be called since the players were starting to get more reckless, but the score still remains tied: it is now 110-110, and there is still no sign of the Snitch. Kyungsoo could tell that Jongin is starting to get more restless as he continues to search the field.

About ten or so minutes later, Tao mutters, "Do you guys see that...?"

He points at a wildly fluttering ball hovering towards the Slytherin stands, and Kyungsoo squints for a while before he blinks in recognition. Sure enough, the Snitch is right there—and no one has noticed it yet.

Before Kyungsoo could even look back at the field, a sudden whoosh flies over his head, messing up his hair, and he looks up to see Jongin flying towards the ball; he had seen it! The Slytherin Seeker is hot on his tail, and he gradually picks up speed as he also flies in the direction Jongin is heading.

"Damn it, Jongin." Sehun mutters as he attempts to fix his own hair.

Back on the field, Luhan currently has the Quaffle in possession. However, he's having a little difficulty getting away from the Slytherin Chasers on his tail.

Before Luhan could chuck the Quaffle down to Jongdae, who is following him from a few feet below, Jongin suddenly blasts past them out of nowhere—his teeth are grit in concentration. Everyone becomes distracted as he stretches an arm towards the golden Snitch with Slytherin's Seeker right next to him, doing the same.

"GO, JONGIN!" Luhan shrieks as both Slytherin and Gryffindor supporters start to scream their support for their respective Seeker.

Heart pounding, Kyungsoo holds his breath. The golden ball is about an arm's length away—

A moment later, Jongin's broom inches forward with a burst of speed. With the help of the omnioculars' magnification, Kyungsoo sees Jongin's fingers graze the ball. A moment later, his palm manages to enclose around the frantically fluttering Snitch.

Luhan lets out a yell so loud that he scares the people within earshot. However, before he could do anything else, an incoming Bludger connects with the arm holding onto his broom, resulting in a sickening crunch as his bones break.

"LUHAN!" Jongdae shouts, alarmed.

Everyone gasps as Luhan drops the Quaffle and quickly holds onto the broom with his other hand; the Gryffindor Captain swears incredibly loudly with pain etched all over his features.

Meanwhile, due to how fast Jongin was going, his broom veers towards the ground due to the lack of control—resulting in him flying off as soon as the tip of it hits the ground. Jongin tumbles for a while before he manages to sit back up again, looking altogether overjoyed despite the dazed expression on his face (and grass in his hair).

He raises the Snitch in the air, and the Gryffindor supporters erupt into loud cheers once more. They have now resorted to chanting "KAI, KAI, KAI, KAI," over and over again as many wave their flags, banners, and everything of the sort in the air excitedly, looking enthusiastic after being able to secure their first win of the season.

Kyungsoo sighs and smiles, even though he knows his House was just defeated.

Madam Hooch blows the whistle.

"Fifth year Kim Kai has caught the Snitch, it's Gryffindor's win with the final score 260-110." Lee says into the microphone, dejected.

Kyungsoo watches as all the players fly to the ground and land neatly on the grass; some of them stumble a bit due to several minor injuries and bruises they may have received during the match. The only other serious injury appeared to belong to Kris, who's sporting quite an impressive black eye. Madam Hooch returns the balls to the trunk and talks to Luhan, most likely ordering him to go to Pomfrey immediately.

"AGH, that was so close!" Tao drags his hands across his face, looking morose. He sighs despondently as everyone starts to leave the stands. "I honestly didn't expect Gryffindor to keep up with the tie, but whatever. It's only the first game of the season, things could still change."

"Luhan's arm looks pretty bad," Sehun observes. He turns to Kyungsoo afterwards. "Want to go and see them?"

"Sure," Kyungsoo agrees. "See you at dinner, Tao."

"Wait, I'll come with you!"

They make it down to the field minutes later after managing to push past everyone else and are greeted with the sight of the Gryffindor team jumping up and down in excitement, all huddled together with all of them sporting wide grins. On the other hand, the Slytherin team head towards their changing room with an air of gloominess surrounding them.

"How the did you manage to pull that curveball shot earlier, huh?" Kris demands as he pulls Luhan out of the Gryffindor huddle. He looks like he's in a pretty good mood despite the fact that his team just lost. The Slytherin Captain clamps a hand on Luhan's shoulder before continuing. "Bloody impressive, mate."

"That was super cool," Tao adds as he stares at Luhan in awe.

"Hope you liked that secret weapon," Luhan smirks at the two of them, his expression mixed with smugness and pain. Kyungsoo finds it interesting on how the Gryffindor Captain is still able to smile despite his broken arm. "I've been practicing it a lot, and it finally came in handy."

"You need to get to the hospital wing." Sehun then speaks up from besides Jongin. 

Luhan's eyes widen at the sight of him, and his expression changes entirely.

"Wh—How—You—!" The seventh year stammers as the color rushes out of his face, and Madam Hooch pinches her nose bridge in frustration. 

"Mr. Lu, I told you to go already! And you too, Mr. Wu... that black eye looks pretty nasty. Can you accompany them, Mr. Huang?"

They both walk off (with Luhan grumbling under his breath), and Tao goes with them after waving goodbye to Sehun and Kyungsoo. Chanyeol finally notices Kyungsoo standing a few feet away from them, and his eyes brighten up as soon as he sees him.

Kyungsoo's heart rate immediately escalates, and the whole world seems to slow down at once.

"Do Kyungsoo!" Chanyeol roars as he makes his way up to him. He looks incredibly happy to see him there; his smile is as radiant as ever, and Kyungsoo almost forgets how to speak upon seeing him—Chanyeol still looks so handsome even though he's pretty roughed up. "You kept your promise!"

"Of course I did—" Kyungsoo smiles weakly, but he chokes when Chanyeol immediately engulfs him in a bone-crushing hug. "OUCH!" He violently flinches when another pair of arms gleefully wrap around them. "ACK, GET OFF! You're both sweaty!" 

Jongdae and Chanyeol both grin at him after letting go, looking too excited to care.

"Well, congratulations to you both." Kyungsoo says, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch up into a smile; their joy was starting to get infectious, but he didn't want to show it. "It was a pretty exciting match."

"I'm so glad you came, mate!" Jongdae laughs as he ruffles Kyungsoo's hair.

"Sorry to interrupt, Chanyeol, but can you give me a hand over here?" One of the Beaters then asks him.

"Be there in a sec!" Chanyeol replies. He punches Kyungsoo's shoulder lightly and smiles apologetically at him. "We'll talk more in a bit. Thanks for coming, Soo, It really means a lot."

"Chanyeol," Kyungsoo calls out to him before he takes off, and the taller male turns to look back at him expectantly. it, he can't hold back anymore. The Slytherin smiles, his voice coming out softer than he originally intended. "Great job out there."

Chanyeol beams in response before heading towards the Gryffindor changing room.

Jongdae coughs loudly from next to him, and Kyungsoo covers his mouth with his hand. He eventually lets go when he sees Jongin enter his field of vision—the younger Gryffindor looks lively despite the dirt all over his face and the rest of his uniform, and it makes Kyungsoo want to snort at the sight of it.

"Hey!" Jongin waves at him.

"You look like a mess," Kyungsoo comments; the Gryffindor smelled strongly of grass and his previously gelled hair was now sticking up in odd angles. Jongin laughs nervously as he attempts (and fails) to fix himself up.

"Yeah... that landing definitely didn't go as I expected."

Kyungsoo shrugs, "You still did pretty well."

The fifth year looks at him in genuine surprise at the compliment.

"So much for House pride, huh?" Jongin then says, tone teasing.

The Slytherin scrunches his nose without reply, earning a small chuckle out of the taller male. Jongin's lips stretch into a slow smile, and it makes Kyungsoo smile faintly against his own will.

Jongdae watches the exchange with raised eyebrows.

"Hey, hurry and get yourself cleaned up so that we could go to the Great Hall." Sehun says as he walks up to them, joining their small circle. He pinches Jongin's cheek, and the Gryffindor yelps in response. "I'm starving."

"Can't you see that I am having a conversation here!" Jongin groans as he massages his cheek. He sighs, looking apologetic. "Sorry, Kyungsoo."

"It's okay, really." Kyungsoo reassures him.

Jongdae also leaves after that, not before telling Kyungsoo that he and Chanyeol'll meet him back outside as soon as they've showered and changed back into their robes. Once the Gryffindors head into their changing rooms, it's just Sehun and Kyungsoo left alone once more. The silence between them is surprisingly comfortable despite the fact that they've only properly met about an hour ago.

"Gryffindors." Sehun rolls his eyes, and Kyungsoo laughs softly in response.

---

A/N: long time no update! this is a very long chapter, but i just had to include all that kaisoo in there :,) i'm so sorry for not including them a lot in the past couple of chapters, so i hope this makes up for it. i love writing them T__T also, the power kyungsoo's smile holds. LOL.

writing the quidditch match was also a lot of fun. i wasn't planning on having Lee appear again, but i had no idea who else to put as commentator haha. there's so much content that i want to fit in one chapter, which is why they usually average around 6k-7k words :,) hope you guys don't mind the lengthy chaps. thank you guys for always supporting this story, it is much appreciated! ALSO, happy holidays <3

pls stay safe and take care of yourselves! 

-seokminz x