December 22: Second-to-Last Day of Fall Term: Three Days until the Yule Ball

It was, quite undoubtedly, a Howler, as red and forbidding as any Junmyeon had ever seen.

He thought, for a briefly relieved moment, that perhaps Jongdae had done something devious again and had been found out by their parents. It was unfortunate, then, that the Howler followed Junmyeon’s movement when he turned to face his brother; after that there could be little doubt that Junmyeon was, in fact, the scarlet missive’s intended recipient.

“Dear god,” he fretted under his breath, “was Mum really that upset when I told her I wasn’t going to wear those dress robes?”

Next to him Jongdae snickered, and on his other side Minseok, Junmyeon’s best friend and the object of Jongdae’s unsubtle affection, sighed in sympathy.

“You’d best open it,” Minseok advised, his voice wavering slightly. Junmyeon knew his friend was recounting his own experience with receiving a Howler and really couldn’t blame Minseok for his fear.

The round-cheeked boy had been sent a Howler by his great aunt the previous year. Minseok had pulled an all-nighter the evening before his end-of-term, History of Magic O.W.L. exam, had fallen asleep in the middle of the actual test, and had then nearly failed because of it. According to Minseok, his great aunt’s anger was apparently scarier than the fury of a mother and a father combined—even though Minseok had been an orphan practically since birth and wouldn’t actually know.

Junmyeon, as the eldest and general poster child for impeccable manners and behavior, didn’t really know what that was like either. He’d never had both his parents angry with him at the same time, and he’d certainly never misbehaved badly enough to be sent a Howler, by them or by anyone else.

Aware of Junmyeon’s inexperience with this particular type of letter, Minseok warily reminded his friend of how awful it had been to receive his own Howler, and anxiously gathered his books to leave. Then, waving goodbye, he said solemnly, “I’ll see you in Advanced Potions, Myeon. Hopefully you’ll survive until then.”

Minseok’s obvious fear for his best friend’s life had Jongdae in stitches. To Junmyeon’s continued disbelief, Jongdae had never received a Howler either; as such his great amusement, already unappreciated by the increasingly nerve-wrecked Junmyeon, sort of made Junmyeon want to dump the pot of porridge onto his brother’s head. (Maybe then he’d actually have done something to deserve the angry red Howler that was ruining his breakfast.)

“Don’t worry, Minseokkie,” Jongdae teased as Minseok turned to leave them. “You can cry on my shoulder after Mum murders our dear Junmyeon.”

Minseok had, up to this point, seemed quite impervious to Jongdae’s continued flirtations and compliments. No one was more surprised than Junmyeon, then, when Minseok’s face flushed brightly and he bolted out of the Great Hall, Jongdae’s tinkling laughter trailing after him.

“There’s no need to make Minseok so uncomfortable, Jongdae,” chastised Junmyeon, falling seriously into his role of protective best friend as the Howler, still shivering slightly in his hand, was temporarily forgotten. “It’s not nice.”

“I’ll tell you what’s not nice,” crowed Park Chanyeol, a Gryffindor, from across the room. “Making us wait! Just open the damn thing already!”

Junmyeon withheld a few choice words about the persistent idiocy of Gryffindor-style bravery; a Ravenclaw himself, he naturally did not hold with such recklessness. Neither did his Head of House, apparently, because almost immediately, and to Junmyeon’s immense satisfaction, Professor Seohyun took ten points from Gryffindor for inappropriate language. Less pleasantly for Junmyeon, she then called out to him from her seat at the high table and urged, “Mister Park is right though, dear. It’s probably best if you just get it over with. No wisdom or sense in prolonging the inevitable.”

Privately, Junmyeon disagreed. Still, she was his Head of House, and possibly one of the most intelligent witches he’d ever met, so Junmyeon sighed, straightened his shoulders, and flipped the letter over to break the seal on the back of the envelope.

The result was instantaneous:

“KIM JUNMYEON HAS THE SMILE OF AN ANGEL. HE’S GORGEOUS AND SMART, AND HE’S SO NICE. IT’S UNBEARABLE. AND WONDERFUL.”

How incredibly unexpected. Junmyeon suspected his cheeks were on fire, likely the same horrifying red of the Howler which, having successfully delivered its message, was now tearing itself apart into little jagged-edged hearts that rained down onto the breakfast spread and landed in Junmyeon’s pumpkin juice.

Jongdae, still beside him at the table, started guffawing so hard he was literally gasping. Junmyeon did not need to look to know that the rest of the room had joined his brother in laughter. He was also unsurprised to spend the rest of his day fending off good-natured ribbing from students of all houses, and even a few teachers too.

(He did not notice a lone, furiously blushing Ravenclaw duck quickly out of sight whenever Junmyeon rounded a corner to be again swarmed by his laughing fellow students. Nor did the knowing grin of one particular Gryffindor stand out to Junmyeon more than any of the others, though Junmyeon might have avoided further public embarrassment if it had.)

December 23: Last Day of Fall Term: Two Days until the Yule Ball

It was, again quite undoubtedly, another Howler. Still red and forbidding, the letter floated insistently in front of Junmyeon’s face as he tried, and failed, not to flinch.

Minseok was the first to find his voice in the suddenly silent Great Hall. “I’m sticking around for it this time,” he assured his best friend who was just then fervently wishing he’d never gotten out of bed that morning.

“Great idea, Minnie,” agreed Jongdae enthusiastically. He patted his lap and someone across the hall tittered when he added, “But just in case he’s really in trouble this time, you’d probably be safest in my lap where I can protect you, don’t you think?”

Junmyeon and Minseok rolled their eyes simultaneously, though Minseok cheeks were perhaps tinged slightly pink. Even the Howler itself seemed nonplussed.

“Please,” Minseok begged jokingly, “open the stupid thing so your brother stops being such a slimeball.”

“I second that!” A different Gryffindor this time, a friend of Jongdae’s named Byun Baekhyun, shouted. He sounded suspiciously gleeful so Junmyeon was a little tempted to leave the Howler unopened if only to be contrary. Then the Howler shivered, evidently preparing for some sort of escalation in pursuit of Junmyeon’s attention, and he reluctantly grabbed it, flipped it over to slip his thumb under the back flap, and broke the seal to open it before it could start spitting fire at him, or worse, smother him in papery kisses.

Again, the result was instantaneous:

“I CAN’T JUST ASK HIM TO THE YULE BALL, BAEK. ETHEREAL BEINGS LIKE HIM AREN’T MEANT FOR NORMAL MORTALS LIKE ME. AND WHAT IF HE SAYS NO? OR WORSE, WHAT IF HE SAYS YES?!”

Jongdae choked on his pumpkin juice. Minseok began to giggle quietly and it wasn’t long before he, and the rest of the people eating breakfast in the large room, were laughing loudly and openly.

Junmyeon thought he might cry. Not seriously, of course, because at least now he had a clue as to who might be sending him these oddly-affectionate Howlers. As far as Junmyeon knew, only one person at Hogwarts went by the nickname “Baek” and said person just happened to sit two rows in front of Junmyeon in his first class of the day: shared Ancient Runes with the upper year Gryffindors.

It was almost too easy for Junmyeon, Minseok, and Jongdae to hunt Baekhyun down after breakfast. Frankly it was more work to escape the Great Hall, and Junmyeon had the sneaking suspicion that Baekhyun was practically waiting for them to find him.

“Gentlemen,” he greeted, turning in his seat to smile and nod as the three boys entered Professor Namjoon’s Ancient Runes classroom. “I assume you’re looking for me?”

“I don’t know anyone else called Baek,” was Junmyeon’s aggravated response.

“Same,” agreed Jongdae. “What about you, Min?”

“Nope,” Minseok said, gesturing lazily to Baekhyun. “Just this guy.”

“Oh jeez,” Baekhyun groaned, slumping down into his desk dramatically. “I have absolutely no idea what he sees in you. You’re practically the Three Stooges.”

Jongdae sniffed, indignant. “We prefer the Three Musketeers, thank you very much.”

In the absence of convenient breakfast porridge to dump, Junmyeon sort of wanted to knock their heads together. “You’re both idiots,” he told Jongdae and Baekhyun. Minseok nodded supportively, though he stopped the movement as soon as Jongdae caught his eye and winked at him teasingly.

“Now,” Junmyeon said, trying to steer the conversation back to where he wanted it before anyone else came in, “who is he?”

At first, Baekhyun played dumb. “Who is who?”

Junmyeon clenched his fist as obviously as possible, and Baekhyun reconsidered. “Oh, you mean who’s the guy sending you the Howlers? I’d tell you, but I’m fairly sure you won’t believe me.”

Junmyeon unclenched his fist but crossed his arms. “Try me.”

Eyes narrowed, Baekhyun seemed to consider this challenge, then said, “The Howlers came from me.”

Christmas Eve: One Day until the Yule Ball

At this point, Junmyeon wasn’t even surprised to look up from his bacon and discover a red Howler, hovering in front of his face.

Baekhyun appeared behind him, as if on queue, and he grinned when Junmyeon glared at him.

“Oh you’ll like this one,” Baekhyun assured him smugly. “I guarantee it.”

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t believe anything you say,” Junmyeon responded curtly. And with good reason, too.

After Baekhyun’s confession the day before, Junmyeon had sort of gaped disbelievingly until Professor Namjoon had come in to start the class and told Junmyeon that his face could get stuck that way if he wasn’t careful. The professor had then shooed Jongdae and Minseok out of his classroom and begun the lesson as if the whole scene with the Howler during breakfast that morning hadn’t ever happened. Junmyeon was grateful for the illusion of normalcy, even if none of the rest of the day’s professors followed suit, and even if Baekhyun flat out refused to say anything more on the Howler subject except to offer a deeply suspicious portent of “You’ll find out more tomorrow.”

And now it was tomorrow, the last day of fall term, and Junmyeon was indeed about to find out more because the Howler had started shivering again.

“Oh for God’s sake!” Junmyeon only barely kept himself from swearing aloud as he addressed the letter he now held in his hand. “I’m about to open you; stop freaking out!”

Behind his head he heard Jongdae stage-whisper to Minseok, “Uh-oh, it looks like older brother’s finally lost the last of his marbles.” Junmyeon also heard Minseok’s hushed giggle in response, though the sound was immediately drowned out as soon as Junmyeon broke the letter’s seal and opened the envelope.

“WHAT WOULD I SAY, THEORETICALLY, IF I DID ASK HIM OUT? UM, KIM JUNMYEON WILL YOU GO TO THE YULE BALL WITH ME? I MEAN, WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY? HI, KIM JUNMYEON, YOU DON’T KNOW ME BUT MY NAME IS DO KYUNGSOO AND I’M PRACTICALLY IN LOVE WITH YOU?”

This time none of the professors even thought to take points when Park Chanyeol whistled from the Gryffindor table and put into words what everyone was really thinking: “Holy .”

Christmas Day: Day of the Yule Ball

When Junmyeon made it all the way through breakfast, and the arrival of the mail, without incident, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

Yesterday, with Jongdae, Minseok, and even Baekhyun’s help, he’d looked all over the castle and the frozen grounds for Kyungsoo, but the fifth year Ravenclaw was nowhere to be found. Chanyeol and some of the other students—Junmyeon suspected the Slytherin troublemaking trio Kim Jongin, Oh Sehun, and Huang Zitao—put their heads together and charmed the crests on all student robes into buttons that sang out “Do Kyungsoo, where are you?” to the tune of the Scooby-Doo theme song whenever any fifth year Ravenclaw walked by. (And unfortunately for all fifth year Ravenclaws, Chanyeol was much better at being a class clown than he was at charms work, and all the crests-turned-buttons on their robes merely sang the tagline incessantly until a professor or non-Ravenclaw prefect could be found to cast a silencing charm.)

As far as Junmyeon could tell, Kyungsoo wasn’t at breakfast that morning either, and, when questioned as to Kyungsoo’s whereabouts, Baekhyun said he didn’t know.

“I’m probably not his favorite person at the moment,” the Gryffindor admitted. “You know, since I was never supposed to send those Howlers and all.”

“Why’d you do it, then?” Junmyeon wonders, half-rhetorically.

Baekhyun looks sheepish, but shrugs. “You try hearing about how perfect you are 24/7. Ever since you saved Soo from that rogue centaur back in his third year, he’s been head over heels for you. After a while it gets old.”

Minseok’s lip curled in disgust. “Some friend you are.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, mouthing “Fight me,” while Jongdae stepped between the two and offered himself as an alternative outlet for Minseok’s aggression.

“Use me as you’d like, Minnie baby,” he cooed. The fist Minseok had raised against Baekhyun found it’s way to Jongdae’s shoulder, but he was smiling and Junmyeon didn’t believe for one second that his best friend and his brother weren’t secretly hooking up behind his back. If those two didn’t arrive together to the Yule Ball that night, Junmyeon would eat a Howler.

Speaking of which: “If you weren’t supposed to send those Howlers, how did you get him to record the messages?”

At that Baekhyun looked far too pleased. “Our Kyungsoo sometimes has a hard time expressing himself. All I had to do was convince him to dictate a message for you that I would write on his behalf.”

“So you recorded him without his knowledge?” Jongdae questioned. He sounded far too impressed for Junmyeon’s liking and he hoped his younger brother wasn’t getting any unsavory ideas. When Baekhyun nodded, Jongdae grinned. “Naughty naughty.”

“My boyfriends are in Slytherin,” Baekhyun informed them. “What can I say?”

“You can tell me where to find Kyungsoo, for one,” Junmyeon reminded. Baekhyun opened his mouth to protest but Junmyeon cut him off. “And don’t tell me you don’t know where he is. You’re his best friend; you’ve got to have at least some inkling.”

“How do I know you’re intentions are good? How do I know you won’t hurt him?”

Junmyeon thought of the wide-eyed Ravenclaw with the angelic voice who always remembered to smile and ask about his day whenever they crossed paths in the halls. Kyungsoo didn’t deserve what Baekhyun had put him through, but Junyeon wasn’t about to overlook an opportunity this golden.

“What happens between me and Kyungsoo is none of your business,” chided Junmyeon. “And it certainly isn’t the business of the entire school, though you’ve done a bang up job of keeping everyone informed. But I do understand the urge to protect your friends, so I’ll at least say that Kyungsoo has nothing to fear from me. I’m happy to go to the Yule Ball with him; if I can manage to find him and ask him, that is.”

“Room of Requirement,” Baekhyun breathed out, evidently relieved to unburden his secret.

Junmyeon rushed from the room, thinking as he jogged through the castle halls that it was probably unusual behavior for that particular Gryffindor to keep his mouth shut for very long, even on behalf of his friends. In Kyungsoo’s case, Baekhyun probably couldn’t help himself, and Junmyeon, ever curious, resolved to ask Kyungsoo why he kept telling Baekhyun things if his friend clearly had a hard time keeping secrets.

Resolve only goes so far, though, when faced with the object of one’s potential affections. As soon as the door to the Room of Requirement swung open to reveal Kyungsoo seated in a tall armchair in front of a blazing fire, Junmyeon’s brain completely failed him. Instead it was his heart working overtime, seemingly beating twice as fast and twice as hard as it ever had before.

Unsurprisingly then, it was Kyungsoo who found his words first. “Junmyeon,” he whispered, face reddening. “Oh god. I am so, so sorry.”

He curled in on himself in the chair as Junmyeon entered the room and approached him slowly, arms outstretched.

“So your best friend’s a troll,” Junmyeon offered, tone as light as he could make it. “Welcome to the club, only the troll in my life is my brother and he’s got the hots for my best friend and I’m pretty sure that when we split up yesterday to look for you and they left me alone with Baekhyun that they were just looking for a broom closet to have a quickie, which, gross, that’s my brother and practically my brother, right?”

Junmyeon realised he was rambling practically from the beginning of his verbal vomit, yet he found himself unable to stop speaking, especially when Kyungsoo visibly relaxed and actually began to smile a little.

“You’re cute,” blurted Junmyeon, mentally face-palming. “Go to the Yule Ball with me?”

Kyungsoo’s smile turned brilliant; maybe that made Junmyeon’s temporary idiocy worth it.

(Baekhyun was still a friend though; not even Kyungsoo’s happy acceptance of Junmyeon’s invitation wasn’t enough to make Junmyeon reevaluate that opinion.)