The funeral was the most awkward situation Roro had found herself in since ever. She didn’t know anyone except her father who stood during the whole thing next to her, stoic face and tight fists. Worrying about how her reaction wasn’t the expected one, she hadn’t stopped to think about how her father was feeling. After all, he had loved her enough to marry, confess to be a wizard and have a kid together. That was a huge amount of love if you asked Roro. If the situation felt surreal when she was told what had happened, it turned even worse when she had to face her mother’s family. Other family. The one she had formed after running away from them. It was painful listening to her other husband retelling moments of their lives together: how she took the children with her to the Art Academy where she taught, how she read them bed-stories even when she was at the hospital, how she was such a beautiful human being…

After the service was done, her dad took her hand and they left without saying goodbye to anyone. Neither uttered a word while they were on the way home and even when they arrived, they answered Soohyun’s questions with monosyllables. The moment she got into her bed felt like she had been running for hours and her body felt exhausted. It was in the middle of her reading when her dad knocked on the door.

"Hey" he smiled warmly and sat on her bed. "What are you reading?"

"A comedy book Yu recommended, it’s good." She answered returning his smile. "Is everything okay?" Her dad sighed.

"I don’t know… is it? How are you feeling about today?"

"Well…" she bit her lower lip. "I’m not depressed or devastated about it, to be honest. However, I feel different. I’m worried I’m a monster." She confessed the last part with a small voice. Her dad wiggled his way until he was laying next to her and hugged her.

"You are not a monster baby" he kissed the top of her head. "You barely knew her."

"Yeah… That’s what Chanyeol said too but I don’t know, I still feel like I should be feeling some sense of loss or I don’t know, something deeper than what I’m feeling."

"She didn’t give you the chance to miss her anymore than a toddler would and that’s all on her, not on you."

"Are you still mad at her? Like, isn’t it bad to be resentful towards the dead?" Her dad closed his eyes as if he was thinking deeply about it and, for a brief moment, Roro saw the sorrow and pain that she had seen years before Soohyun and Dae appeared shown again on his face.  

"I’m not mad, I’m sad." He sighed again. "I was mad at her for a long time. I was mad you got hurt because she left, I was mad she decided to run away, I was mad at myself for not being able to reassure her that we were safe, I was mad at the world for being so unfair with us… And that was a lot of anger for just one person, no matter human or wizard. However, in between all that anger you were able to suffocate it and make me feel the luckiest man on Earth and I thought “it could have been worse, I could have been left alone”." Roro felt her eyes fill with tears again. "I was mad yes, but now I’m just sad. Sad because she missed your first day at Hogwarts, your first broom ride, your first crush… Now I’m sad because she won’t have the chance to amend her mistakes and still she would be missing all your firsts, including that first boyfriend I dread so much but I’m quit sure will happen soon." The last part was said between soft sobs and trying to ease the seriousness of the situation.

Roro didn’t say anything back but hugged her dad tighter and let herself be drowned in tears and love. Because it was them against everything and it would always be. Suddenly, for the first time in the last three days, she felt sad too.  

Suho was more than ready for Winter to be gone. He hated the cold and the days got even shorter than before which meant that every time he got out of the library from studying it felt as if it was midnight. In reality, it was almost seven and he was late for dinner. He was on his way to the Great Hall, thinking about how happy he was that in less than a month it was already Spring when he heard voices over that weird fountain they had installed over the summer. It was quite ugly, dark and huge. Apparently, it was a representation of his worst enemy winter, since it was freezed the whole year. Even when it was only October.

He was about to get going when he saw the face of one of the voices. It was Purtrefs. He quickly dodged and hide behind one of the big columns on the corridor. He hold up his breath and tried to hear what was being said.

"What do you mean just a month?" Purtrefs said looking directly onto the ice. Suho tried to understand what the other voice was saying but he was too far away. Trying to be as subtle as he could, he got closer to them. "I don’t think that is a good idea, Kun let that kid hex him, you know? You should have seen it! It was funny, the mighty Kun reduced to nothing by a Hogwarts student." Purtrefs snickered still looking at the ice.

The voice on the other side answered but Suho was still too far away to hear anything. Just a bit closer and…

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?" A voice behind Suho freezed him on place. Cold sweat began running down his spine and he tried to calm his heartbeat. Once he turned around, his face relaxed.

"Sehun?"

The Slytherin student raised an eyebrow as an inquisitive gesture and was about to speak when Purtrefs voice interrupted him.

"WHO IS THERE?!"

Suho widened his eyes looking at Sehun while the the other student showed him a sinister smile.

Yu sighed for the upteempth time that night while devouring her chicken. Yixing kept glancing at everywhere with nervous eyes and she didn’t know why.

"You are overthinking it, Xing. He probably got stuck at the library again and lost track of time." She shrugged while serving herself more pumpkin juice. Her boyfriend gave her a worried look.

"I don’t know… I have this sick feeling in my stomach since this morning, like something awful is going to happen."

"Well, then Thank Merlin there is not an ounce of premonitioner’s blood on your family." Yu rolled her eyes at him.

"I’m not joking Yu. He said he was going to come to dinner."

"Maybe he forgot, you know how Suho is. Once he starts studying is very difficult to keep him away from his books."

"Hmmm."

At her boyfriend's lack of response Yu sighed again and turned left to look at him. She put her hand on his right arm trying to calm him down.

"If it makes you feel better we’ll go to find him later at the library, okay?" Yixing nodded with a small smile and Yu did an internal victory dance for being able to help. "Now eat something, you are under a lot of pressure and we don’t want you passing out before the last trial."

"I still have a month and a half to prepare!"

"Eat."

"Yes, ma’am."

It was when they were stuffing themselves with pudding that Suho appeared. He threw his body onto the chair next to Xiumin getting the attention from his friends. He knew how he looked. Pale, covered in snow and sweating like a pig, all in all, horrible. He knew because that was exactly how he was feeling. Before his friends could begin interrogating him with questions, he held up his hand in a motion asking for silence.

"We need to gather everyone at the kitchen tonight. I will explain then."

After that, he proceed to devour a big portion of apple pie. He prayed he could hold it down. After fearing for his life he deserved to skip his mother’s strict diet. You only live once, if you are lucky.

Mina knew it was petty of her to feel frustrated at that exact moment. After all, Suho looked pale and very frightened when he asked them to meet in the kitchen for an update. It seemed like a serious situation too. However, Baekhyun was going to show her something at the Astronomy Tower that night. It was going to be a date. Not investigating or studying together or hanging out with friends but a proper date. Them. Alone. A proper date. So, excuse her for feeling a bit frustrated with her childhood friend. She was fifteen, she deserved that right.

Even thought those were her thoughts on the matter she was walking down the steps to the kitchen hurriedly with Baek. Her thirst for mystery calling. Once everyone was gathered in the storage room of the kitchen (except Roro who was still at home because of her mother’s passing), Suho cleared his throat and proceed to do the talking.

"Okay, I don’t exactly know what I’m about to tell you means but I know one thing for sure: whatever they are doing is far more serious than snuggling beer inside the Castle."

Everyone looked at Suho with wide eyes and surprised expressions. Since the beginning he had been adamant on how this was a bit silly. Nothing dangerous could happen at Hogwarts. Not again. But now he was there, with a very serious face and telling them this was no joke at all.

"What do you mean “far more serious”?" Baekhyun asked frowning.

"I don’t know but I stumbled on Purtrefs talking to someone using the frozen fountain!"

"Talking with whom?!" Mina asked what everyone else was thinking.

"I DON’T KNOW!" Suho sighed frustrated. "I wasn’t able to hear the other voice properly and I tried but…"

"You got caught?!"

"By Sehun."

A chilling silence enveloped them. Most eyes went from Suho to Jongin who had his hands forming tight fists and a somber expression.

"What was he doing there?" The Hufflepuff boy asked with a small voice while Mina caressed his arm in a comforting act.

"To be honest, he saved me."

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?" A voice behind Suho frozen him on place. Cold sweat began running down his spine and he tried to calm his heartbeat. Once he turned around, his face relaxed.

"Sehun?"

The Slytherin student raised an eyebrow as an inquisitive gesture and was about to speak when Purtrefs voice interrupted him.

"WHO IS THERE?!"

Suho widened his eyes looking at Sehun while the the other student showed him a sinister smile. He was dead meat if the Slytherin boy ratted him out. He was oh so dead.

"Get back behind the column and don’t even breath." Sehun hissed to Suho without looking at him. "It’s just me!" He spoke louder this time walking to where Purtrefs was.

"Oh… What are you doing here, kid?" Purtrefs asked with a noticeable abhorrent tone to her voice.

"Do you think it is wise to do this now? Anyone could walk by." He answered unfazed by her tone.

"I don’t have to give you any explanation, kid. Don’t forget it, you work for us now." Suho could hear the smirk on her voice. He was able to see Sehun’s hands become fists.

"This is sheer business." The Slytherin boy answered through gritted teeth.

"Whatever. You keep your part of the deal and your precious mudblood friend won’t be harmed in anyway." Sehun huffed at this and turned around.

"You should finish up and go back to the Great Hall. People will notice you are missing."

"Nice to see you actually worry about our mission, kid. After all, he will be nice to you if you are nice to him, right?"

"I’m not interested on that. I just want this to be over."

"Well, Daddy will be really sad to hear that, won’t he?"

"I don’t care." Sehun’s face was ice cold but Suho could feel his frustration by the way his fists were trembling. "And don't call him that. He is not my Dad."

"Ah kid…" Purtrefs sighed dramatically and got closer to him. She put her hand on his right shoulder and Suho’s heart stopped for a moment. If she turned her head a bit to the left, she was going to see him. Sehun must have thought the same because he turned to face her, covering Suho with his body. "You can run from it all you want but, darkness is ingrained in your soul since you were the size of a peanut. It would do you good to come to terms with that." She winked at him, turned around and began walking back to the Castle.

Both boys stood there. Sehun trembling from rage and Suho frozen by sheer astonishment. He wanted to ask the Slytherin boy about everything, is was clear he knew what was happening but his body refused to move. Actually, as he tried to move, he realized it was impossible. He was paralyzed! When had that happened?!

"Don’t worry, you’ll be fine in a minute or so. I just had to make sure you wouldn’t move." Sehun explained looking over his right shoulder. "Now, you won’t say anything about this. Go your own way and stop shopping around. All of you." Suho kept there, unavailable to move or say anything. "You can’t stop them, nobody can."

And just like that, he walked calmly back to the Castle. The only sign of his actual feelings the nails digging into his palms.

When he finished his retelling of the situation everyone was silent again. The group faces went from surprised to horrified. However, Jongin’s somber expression hadn’t changed. He looked confused too.

"So he’s being forced to help…?" The Hufflepuff asked with an unsure tone.

"I guess…"

"How else do you explain him helping you?" Xiumin asked confused.

"Let’s forget about Sehun for a second." Chanyeol said. "What about the darkness part and the “he will be nice to you”? I mean, I don’t have to say how it sounds to you…" He said looking around the room making the others fidget on their spots.

"Don’t be ridiculous Yeol!" Baekhyun turned to his friend. "He is gone for good!"

"Well, then how do you explain that?" Chanyeol demanded frowning.

"It could be anyone, Chanyeol." Yixing intervened. "They could be working for someone dangerous, any radical group or something…"

"In any case" Jongdae pitched in too. "We have to remain calm because we don’t even know what they are trying to achieve." Everyone nodded and a sense of calmness enveloped the room.

"What do we know so far?" Yu asked. "We should sum it up and try to see what they are trying to do."

"Well," Mina spoke. "We know they are bullies and they believe in pureblood status." She said rolling her eyes. "We also know they are a couple."

"They use nicknames." Suho pitched in too.

"They wanted to help me win the Potion Championship too." Yixing said this time. "Which to be honest was a bit weird because I’ve never talked to them before that…"

"But that could be basic School Pride, couldn’t it?" Mina asked frowning .

"Well, it’s a fact so let’s not exclude anything yet, just in case." Baekhyun told his girlfriend.

"The only sure thing we know for now is that Sehun is not willing to work with them and that he is obviously protecting me." Jongin spoke after being in silence while the others were speculating. "I think I should try to talk about it with him. If he isn’t interested on helping them maybe I can convince him to tell me what’s going on or something…"

"Don’t you think that would be dangerous?" Yixing asked while sharing a worried look with everyone else.

"It’s worth a try at least." The Hufflepuff boy shrugged.

"I think the others should try to find out why they wanted to achieve by helping Yixing win the Championship." Chanyeol proposed.

"Yeah, I think that’s the best we can do for now." Baek agreed with his friend. "We can meet again if someone finds something new out…"

Everyone nodded to that and the impromptu session was finished like that. However, Mina didn’t have a nice feeling about this. While she was getting back to the Slytherin common rooms with Kyungsoo and Baekhyun she couldn’t stop thinking it was a very bad idea to press on Sehun. Once they were inside, Kyungsoo decided to go back to his room while Baekhyun and Mina stayed hanging out on one of the sofas. They were just resting there, Mina laying on Baekhyun side while the boy’s hand was around her frame.

"Way to spoil our date evening." Bake sighed making Mina chuckle.

"Well, the greater good knows no time." She shrugged snuggling on Baekhyun’s chest. She sighed again.

"Everything okay?" Baekhyun asked getting a bit away from her to look at her face properly. "You have been agitated since we left the kitchen."

"I just don’t like the idea of Jongin talking to Sehun… It could be dangerous."

"Nah, you shouldn’t worry about it." He dismissed her worries. "If he wants to do it, it’s his call."

"Yeah I know but what if something happens?"

"What could possibly happen? They are just going to talk Mina." Baekhyun rolled his eyes making Mina raise her eyebrow.

"Uh, something dangerous? Were you down at the kitchen with the rest of us or not? Sehun paralyzed Suho without using his wand!"

"They were friends, I don’t think Sehun is going to attack Jongin."

"He could!" She said exasperated by Baekhyun’s attitude.

"If he wants to play hero, let him be." He huffed looking away.

"What? He is trying to help!"

"Like the rest of us is trying but I don’t see you worrying about the others! What’s so special about him anyway?"

"Are you kidding me now, Byun?" Mina scoffed at him. She couldn’t believe Baekhyun was being this obnoxious about the situation. "This could be dangerous and you are letting your petty jealousy get in the way!"

"Excuse me?!" Baekhyun got up from the sofa and looked at her with an offended expression on his face. "Why on Earth should I be jealous of him?"

"That’s exactly what I don’t get! I’ve told you a million times we are just friends…"

"I know! This has nothing to do with that!"

"The hell it has!" Mina stood up too feeling frustrated by her stubborn boyfriend. "You’ve been making a point of how much you dislike him since we began dating. I’ve been telling you time and time again that we are just friends and that it’s impossible that anything happens but you keep this stupid, childish act!"

"Maybe you shouldn’t date someone as stupid and childish as me then!" He spat to her. His face red and angered. Mina’s eyes widened and her lower lip began to tremble.

"You don’t mean that." She said making a fist with both her hands. "I’m going to go to bed and tomorrow, once you have had time to think more clearly we can talk again." She turned away and began walking to the girls dorms.

"Mina." Baekhyun called after her but she didn’t turned around. He huffed angrily and hit the coffee table in front of the sofa. He winced when the pain of the hit began spreading through his left foot.

He stumbled inside his room huffing angrily and threw his clothes to the pile on the right of his bed. He put his pajamas on with forceful movements and got inside the bed huffing again. He closed his eyes trying to sleep but couldn’t find the peace of mind to do it.

UH-OH... toruble on paradise?(/_\) 

And what's up with Sehun? Do you think he's good, bad or he has his own agenda? Let me know!

As of now I'm working on the last two chapters of this story and I just cna't believe how much its grown and how much love I have recieved from you all <3

I'm sorry I couldn't welcome the new Subs one by one but adulthood has me quite stressed too (>.<) However, I want you to know that I appreaciate each comment, sub and upvote A LOT <3

I'll try to upload continuosly each week (maybe even twice a week for the last chapters!)

Love you, 

R.