“This year we’re getting you a boyfriend!” Baekhyun announced as he entered the train compartment. He sat down beside Kyungsoo who once again wondered why he as an 11 year old kid had ever thought it was a good idea to choose the other as his best friend.

“Whatever happened to ‘I’ve missed you’ and ‘What did you do this summer?’?” Kyungsoo grumbled and put away the book he’d currently been reading.

“You already know I’ve missed you,” Baekhyun answered cheerfully “and I got your last owl like two days ago. I know what you’ve done this summer.”

It was true. They’d been exchanging owls all summer and since Kyungsoo hadn’t done anything horrible or embarrassing enough to hide from Baekhyun, the other knew basically everything that had happened in Kyungsoo’s boring life. And Kyungsoo in turn knew everything that Baekhyun had done, including far too many details about his life that Kyungsoo didn’t know if he actually wanted to know or not. Then again, it could serve as blackmail material later and that’s always good to have.

“And, hey! Don’t try to change the subject! We’re getting you a boyfriend and that’s it!”

Having known Baekhyun for five years he now knew better than to argue.

“Okay.” Kyungsoo simply answered, almost getting blinded by the bright smile Baekhyun sported “But first, two questions, why and who?”

“Because I want someone to double date with and the perfect guy for you is obviously Jongin.”

“Who?” Baekhyun looked so pleased with himself that Kyungsoo guessed that he was supposed to know who this Jongin person was. He didn’t.

“Oh come on. You’ve been having potions and transfiguration with this dude for five years now! You know who he is! Sehun’s Hufflepuff friend.”

Of course Sehun was in on this. Sehun was always behind everything that Kyungsoo didn’t like. That didn’t stop him from being friends with the slightly younger boy, but at times his never ending pranks and schemes got a bit annoying. Especially when they involved Kyungsoo. Like now. This was all Sehun’s fault.

“His name is Jongin?” Judging from Baekhyun’s exaggerated sigh this was something he was supposed to know. But it wasn’t Kyungsoo’s fault that everyone in this school was known for their surnames only, with the only exception for close friends and housemates.

“And a Hufflepuff? How would a hufflepuff be ‘the perfect guy’ for me?” Not to be stereotypical but Kyungsoo hadn’t seen that many Slytherin-Hufflepuff friendships, not counting Sehun and this Jongin fella, so he wondered what reason Baekhyun had for thinking that they could hit it off. And also he didn’t think he’d ever spoken to any Hufflepuff without wanting to kill himself after about ten seconds since they never seemed to know what they were talking about. Then again, maybe he’d just had bad luck with his Hufflepuffs.

“Well… He is…” Baekhyun started, suddenly not sounding so sure anymore. “He is a Hufflepuff, okay? What’s not to love, right?”

Okay, so Baekhyun clearly didn’t know anything about this guy other than who he was.

“And he’s hot, and you’re adorable and hot depending on your mood, which means that you two would be really cute together. And Sehun says he’s nice and if we’re lucky he isn’t lying this time.”

“If you say so.” Kyungsoo laughed. “I’ll think about it.” He wouldn’t. The last three years Baekhyun had announced that he would find a boyfriend for Kyungsoo. Never had Baekhyun seen it through. He’d always stopped mentioning the chosen guy after about a week, either forgetting about it or not deeming it important enough anymore. So Kyungsoo didn’t think this year would be any different. Especially not since this was the first year Baekhyun basically didn’t know anything about Kyungsoo’s “soulmate”. Last year Kyungsoo almost suspected that Baekhyun had stalked the other guy’s family the whole summer judging from the alarming amount of personal information he had on the Slytherin prefect. So being the first year that Baekhyun didn’t care about his future boyfriend, and said boy on top of it all was a Hufflepuff, Kyungsoo wasn’t too worried. This first week would probably not even be as bad as former years’.

~ * ~

He was wrong. One step into the potions classroom and Kyungsoo knew he was doomed. He’d been late to breakfast because someone (probably Sehun) had hidden all of his socks and he really couldn’t wear shoes without socks on. Fortunately after only 20 minutes of searching he realized that he could just steal a pair from Sehun which was the sole reason for him actually making it on time to the potions class at all without having to completely skip breakfast. However, arriving as late as he was there were basically no spare seats left.

Usually Baekhyun saved Kyungsoo the seat beside himself so that they could work as partners when needed. Yet today Baekhyun was sitting beside Sehun looking smug and pointing towards one of the few boys that didn’t have a partner yet. Seeing that he was from Hufflepuff and that Baekhyun was doing highly inappropriate hand gestures and grimaces towards him, Kyungsoo guessed that this must be Jongin. He seriously deliberated sitting beside someone else, but since this Jongin guy was friends with Sehun he couldn’t be too bad. Also it would make Baekhyun happy which usually led to an easier life for Kyungsoo..

Kyungsoo awkwardly shuffled over towards Jongin trying to think up a good way to ask if the seat beside him was occupied or not. The nearer he got the more exaggerated Baekhyun’s gesticulations became and Kyungsoo seriously hoped that no one else in the class saw them (because of course Sehun didn’t stop him). Kyungsoo had just settled for “Is this seat taken?” and was about to ask Jongin that when said Hufflepuff somehow managed to spill all of his Flobberworm Mucus over the table as well as Kyungsoo’s pants and shoes.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Kyungsoo tried to ignore the feeling of slime soaking into his clothes and Baekhyun’s and Sehun’s loud laughing. After a couple of seconds, when Kyungsoo was sure that he wouldn’t kill someone (preferably Sehun), he opened his eyes again and came face to face with a frozen Jongin. He looked like someone had stricken him with the full body-bind curse, the only thing moving was his wide, panicky eyes that were currently scanning the damage he’d done to Kyungsoo’s pants. A short moment of eye contact with Kyungsoo was all it took for him to jump up from his seat and throw himself at Kyungsoo.

“OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY!” Jongin screamed as he violently started dabbing at Kyungsoo’s pants with his own robe. “I’m such a clutz sometimes, I don’t even know. I’m so sorry. I usually don’t -”

“It’s okay.” Kyungsoo said and tried to slowly back away from Jongin who was kneeling in front of him. “Really. It’s okay.”

“Really?” Jongin asked and, thankfully, stopped trying to amputate Kyungsoo’s legs by forceful dabbing. Kyungsoo nodded and sat down in the seat next to Jongin after carefully checking that there was no left mucus hiding on the chair. In a perfect world there would still be spare seats left beside someone else but unfortunately for Kyungsoo after the whole mucus incident the only one left was beside Jongin. This was all Sehun’s fault.

“You know that’s great.” Jongin continued while Kyungsoo took up his potion’s book that they could share (since Jongin’s was quite slimy at the moment). “Because I don’t really have the time to be cursed into something disgusting by yet another Slytherin.” He said this while smiling slightly at Kyungsoo. Apparently Kyungsoo wasn’t the only one who had some prejudice against the other houses.

“Don’t worry, I won’t” Kyungsoo whispered as an answer, careful not to let the Potions Master who’d finally shown up hear him. This could not have been the answer Jongin expected as he looked at Kyungsoo in obvious confusion.

“You’re not like most Slytherins, Kyungsoo.” He mumbled before turning his attention to the front and the lesson on love potions.

What had Sehun ever done to this poor kid?

~ * ~

“I want out.” Kyungsoo said as he sat down beside Baekhyun for dinner. It was the second week of school and Baekhyun hadn’t given up on his matchmaking yet, always finding a way to make Kyungsoo sit beside Jongin in their shared classes, and Kyungsoo had had enough. It wasn’t like he hated Jongin. On the contrary, he actually found himself quite liking the Hufflepuff. Their conversations flowed easily whenever they had the opportunity in class and Kyungsoo found himself on several occasions looking forward to hearing more about the obscure muggle inventions Jongin knew all about. They had started exchanging stories like that. Jongin would tell Kyungsoo about something from the muggle world and then Kyungsoo would try to tell the other something that he didn’t know yet about the wizarding world. Coming from an all-wizarding family for several generations it was easy for the muggleborn to find things to tell Kyungsoo. However, each day it was getting harder for Kyungsoo to come up with something to tell Jongin. Even if Jongin only had known he was a wizard for six years it was hard for Kyungsoo to figure out what the other boy did or didn’t know about this magical world.

Kyungsoo still wanted out of this weird matchmaking. His patience for getting weird things spilled on him was starting to wear thin. He didn’t think it’d gone even one day when Jongin hadn’t spilled something on him. The worst days were when they had potions because then Kyungsoo couldn’t prepare himself at all for what was going to stain his clothes. He sometimes deliberated showing up to class in an apron. Kyungsoo couldn’t understand how Jongin always managed to drop something on him. He was almost starting to suspect that Sehun had cursed him or something. It was always Sehun’s fault.

Another reason why he wanted out was because he actually missed Baekhyun. They still saw each other every day but it wasn’t like the rest of the years when they always sat beside each other in class and walked together everywhere. It’d gotten to the point that people got confused if they for some reason weren’t seen together. He guessed that maybe it was good to start to be more independent but he couldn’t keep himself from missing the other. So that’s why he announced to Baekhyun that he didn’t want to continue with this.

“Why?” Baekhyun asked looking genuinely confused. “You seemed to get along quite well?”

He wasn’t wrong. The got along very well. And Kyungsoo may or may not agree with Baekhyun’s earlier description of Jongin. The Hufflepuff boy was handsome in an almost distracting way. However Kyungsoo would never admit any of that.. That would just give his best friend material to annoy him for forever and he really didn’t want that.

“Well, yeah.” Was the very elaborate and well thought out answer Kyungsoo gave him. “But still. At least give me the real reason for you to want me to date him. It can’t be because we’re both hot.” Kyungsoo sincerely hoped that Baekhyun wouldn’t notice the fact that Kyungsoo indirectly had told him that he thought Jongin was hot.

His prayers wasn’t answered. It was probably Sehun’s fault.

“I knew you thought he was hot!” Baekhyun happily punched the air before settling down again. “But you know about Slytherin’s reputation, tight?” He continued looking quite serious with his pursed lips and slightly furrowed brow.

Of course Kyungsoo knew about the Slytherin house’s reputation. He was a Slytherin after all and he, as well as most of his housemates, thought the reputation to be quite silly. Yeah, sure they could be quite egocentric and have weird plans and ways of securing their own future. And true that many of You-Know-Who’s followers were said to be from Slytherin. But still, the all-pureblood-all-evil reputation the Slytherin house had was quite ridiculous.

“So I thought, what better way than to have some people from different houses dating each other to make us look better?” Baekhyun said all smug and pleased with himself. “And since Hufflepuff is known to be the nicest of all houses it’d be perfect to have a Hufflepuff-Slytherin relationship!” He finished suggestively wiggling his eyebrows at Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, no.” Kyungsoo answered. That wasn’t a good enough reason for Baekhyun to meddle in his love-life. “And also isn’t Sehun already dating a Ravenclaw? Shouldn’t that suffice?” Kyungsoo was pretty sure he’d seen Sehun with one of the Ravenclaw prefects. Was his name Laban? Lucian? Rohan?

“But Luhan ain’t exactly known for being nice.” Sehun answered for Baekhyun as he sat down across from them. Kyungsoo felt a bit proud for being almost right with Sehun’s boyfriend’s name. “He’s quite shady actually.” He added and reached for a glass of pumpkin juice.

“He’s right.” Sehun stiffened in his seat at the sound of another person joining their conversation. The new person being said Ravenclaw prefect they’d just been speaking about who was now standing behind Sehun resting his hands on the Slytherin’s shoulders. “But I just can’t help it when you have hair like a parrot.” He continued and ruffled Sehun’s hair before quickly kissing him on the cheek and then walked away with his giggling Ravenclaw friend.

“I don’t look like a parrot.” Sehun grumbled as Baekhyun only nodded as if Luhan had just proven his point.

“You see how we need someone better than them?” He nudges his head towards Sehun who let out an affronted “Hey!”

“I’m sorry, but no.” Kyungsoo answered, gaze not wavering when Baekhyun tried to persuade him with his famous puppy-eyes.

“Okay, fine.” Baekhyun finally gave up with a sigh. However before Kyungsoo had the time to celebrate he continued. “But I’ll only let you go if you do this tiny thing for me.”

This did not bode well for Kyungsoo deeming from Baekhyun’s wide smile. This was all Sehun’s fault.

~ * ~

Being a Slytherin you’d think that Kyungsoo was used to sneaking around the castle trying to stay hidden. That is of course if you believe some of the weird rumours circulation the Slytherin house, which most people don’t. Anyway, Kyungsoo did not like having to crouch uncomfortably in the only hiding place he could find in the Tapestry Corridor, gaze fixed on Professor Snape’s Storeroom. Professor Snape may be Head of Slytherin House but both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun knew that he wouldn’t give out Gillyweed to students for free, no matter which house they were in. Which is why Kyungsoo was now trying to figure out how he was going to get into the storeroom unseen. He didn’t know why Baekhyun wanted Gillyweed in the first place and he didn’t know if he wanted to know either. It probably had something to do with Sehun. Sehun was always to blame.

Kyungsoo spared a glance at his watch. Five minutes left until Baekhyun would stage a distraction outside the Staffroom and Kyungsoo would be free to quickly get in and out of the storeroom. He knew that Baekhyun was a master of distractions but Kyungsoo was still a bit worried about being seen. Not necessarily by a teacher, but students would still roam the halls and since he so much at the Disillusionment Charm he didn’t even dare to try to use it on himself. Another look at the watch and he realized that he now only had two minutes left to prepare himself.

He did not expect someone to suddenly put a hand on his shoulder. His pulse skyrocketed as he let out a loud gasp and turned around to face whoever dared touched him. He was just about to punch said person in the face (he remember some stuff from the muggle self-defence lesson Baekhyun had lured him into last year and was not afraid to use it) when he saw that it was only Jongin.

“What are you doing here?” He whispered, hoping that no other student was around and had heard his gasp. Jongin only looked at him with an amused smile.

“I’m not the one looking highly suspicious clearly looking for a way to break into Snape’s storeroom so I don’t think I owe you an answer.” Jongin said, smile still in place and looking as if he was trying not to laugh. “So what do you want from Snape’s secret stash of ingredients?” He asked slightly raising an eyebrow as if daring Kyungsoo to lie to him.

Kyungsoo considered lying but it was painfully obvious that Jongin would see through him if he did, so he decided to tell him the truth. Jongin had already figured out that Kyungsoo was about to break into a teacher’s private room and still hadn’t run to tell anyone, so maybe he wouldn’t do that even after knowing exactly what Kyungsoo was about to do..

“I need to get some Gillyweed for Baekhyun.” He sighed and once again looked at his watch. The distraction should’ve begun by now so he really should get a move on.

“Why?”

A question Kyungsoo didn’t want to answer. He couldn’t exactly say that he didn’t want to hang out so much with Jongin anymore. Not really the nicest thing to say.

“Because Baekhyun and I’m the best of friends who agreed to do this.” It wasn’t a lie per se but it wasn’t really explaining why he was doing this either. Jongin didn’t seem to care though, or he was just too nice to pry, as he just continued to smile and nodded towards the room. Kyungsoo secretly wondered if all Hufflepuffs smiled this much or if it was just Jongin. He didn’t complain though, as the other boy’s smile somehow made him feel calmer. He didn’t understand why when, in comparison, he usually wanted to punch Baekhyun whenever said boy smiled this much at him.

“So shouldn’t you be getting the Gillyweed now then?”

“Ehm, yes… right.” Kyungsoo was just about to take a step out from his horrible hiding place towards the door when Jongin once again clasped a hand on his shoulder and held him back from going anywhere.

“Do you want to be seen that badly?” He asked. “Shouldn’t you use like a Disillusionment Charm, or something?” They had gone over that charm in class so he understood why Jongin thought he should use it, however, as mentioned earlier, Kyungsoo at that charm. Or more like he at charms in general. Not his greatest subject. He blamed it on Sehun who’d distracted him in that class during the whole first year and ever since then he’d always been behind the rest of the class. It was all Sehun’s fault.

“I can’t do that charm.” He grumbled, eyes stuck to ground. He wasn’t particularly fond of people knowing his weaknesses and charms were definitely one of them.

“Well you’re in luck.” Jongin said and Kyungsoo slightly looked up at the other boy who really never seemed to stop smiling. “I have a talent for charms.” And with that Jongin quickly cast the spell first on himself and then on Kyungsoo. When Kyungsoo didn’t move from his spot but still was looking at Jongin in confusion the other added, “You looked like you needed some help.”

~ * ~

It was surprisingly easy breaking into the storeroom. Either Professor Snape seriously trusted his students not to steal from him or he thought that no one was dumb enough to even try. It was probably the latter, Kyungsoo thought. However if it was easy getting in, finding your ingredient was a completely different matter. The tiny room’s walls were covered with shelves, from floor to ceiling, filled with bottles with different ingredients inside them. Kyungsoo took out his wand, about to use a Summoning Charm to get his Gillyweed when Jongin put his hand on the wand and slightly lowered it.

“You know magic won’t work in here right?” He whispered making it sound more like a statement than a question. “We’ll have to find it manually.”

Kyungsoo only grumbled something incomprehensive in return, thoroughly done with this school not allowing him to use magic to help himself, but also secretly glad that Jongin had stopped him because his Summoning Charm was almost as bad as his Disillusionment one.

Ten minutes had gone by since Baekhyun’s distraction had started and Kyungsoo was ready to give up when he suddenly saw a bottle filled with something grey-greenish. It was placed on a quite high shelf on the wall that Kyungsoo had previously scanned at least three times without seeing it, but now, finally, he had found it. Although his happiness was short lived as he soon realized that he’d never be able to reach the bottle (damn his family’s short genes). He looked over at Jongin who was still searching on another wall. Jongin was slightly taller than him. Maybe that one decimeter of height difference would help in this situation.

“Hey, Jongin.” Kyungsoo said to get Jongin’s attention who slightly jumped at the sudden breaking of the silence. “Think you could reach that?” He continued and pointed at the bottle.

Jongin slightly tilted his head as if contemplating if he could reach it or not. Or he was simply trying to figure out where Kyungsoo was pointing as the Disillusionment Charm was still on them.

“I can try.” He answered after a few seconds and walked over to Kyungsoo who moved away to give him space. Jongin reached for the bottle, even standing on his tippy toes trying to get a bit taller. His hand was reaching, slowly inching closer to its target before Jongin let out a gust of air and let his arm fall to his side. It had only been a couple of centimetres away. But that was all it took for it to be impossible to steal. Or at least that’s what Kyungsoo thought before Jongin spoke up again.

“If I lift you up we might reach it.” He said casually while Kyungsoo choked on his spit. Kyungsoo hadn’t been carried by anyone other than his mom and when he only was three years old he had declared himself a big boy who doesn’t need to be held by anyone. He glanced over at Jongin who was still looking up at the small bottle, contemplating how to get it. Kyungsoo felt a small jolt through his body when he thought about being carried by the other boy, surprising himself with slightly liking the idea. He quickly shook his head, telling himself that it was because he needed that bottle and this was the only solution they could find, and definitely not because of the thought of being carried by the very same pair of well defined arms that he may or may not have ogled at times before. Jongin suddenly looked over at him and Kyungsoo realized that he hadn’t given him an answer to his suggestion yet.

“It doesn’t hurt to try.” He said and walked over to stand beside Jongin. “Unless you don’t want to.” He quickly added, giving Jongin a second chance to come up with something else to do.

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t agree to it.” Jongin laughed before he swiftly bent down, put his arms around Kyungsoo’s thighs and lifted him.

Kyungsoo tried not to think of how his basically was in Jongin’s face as the other wobbled forward towards the shelf so Kyungsoo could grab the bottle.

The plan was to grab the bottle, tell Jongin to put him down and then quickly escape the crime scene. However what wasn’t taken into consideration was that Jongin’s balance was thrown when carrying a 16 year old (albeit short) boy. So when Kyungsoo had just grabbed the bottle, Jongin accidentally stumbled a tiny bit forward, making Kyungsoo grab the shelf in support as to not completely fall into it. The impact made the bottles nearest Kyungsoo’s hand dangerously shake and wobble and just when Kyungsoo thought that none of them would fall the one labeled leech juice decided to take a leap of faith off of the edge. Kyungsoo desperately tried to catch it with his free hand but all he managed to do was to make the bottle fly in the air for a few seconds longer before it crash landed on top of Jongin’s shoes.

“Please tell me that wasn’t the bottle we needed.” Jongin said sounding quite strained.

“No no. I’ve got it.” Kyungsoo quickly assured him and Jongin carefully put him down on the floor again.

It was quiet as both of them looked at the broken bottle on the floor. After a few seconds Jongin proceeded to pick up his wand from his pocket and without saying a word he repaired the bottle and made the spilled juice vanish. Kyungsoo tried not to show how impressed he was, not everyone could do nonverbal spells. Jongin clearly was someone who could though. After having put the bottle back up in its place Jongin looked over at Kyungsoo again.

“I think we should head out now.” He said and with that the two of them cautiously headed out of the room.

It was first when the two of them were back at Kyungsoo’s original hiding spot that Kyungsoo remembered what Jongin had told him earlier that evening.

“Wait. Didn’t you say that we couldn’t use magic in that room?” He asked looking up at Jongin in confusion.

“Well, looks like I was wrong there.” Jongin answered, hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. If Kyungsoo wasn’t wrong he almost looked nervous. Before he could figure out why he would be nervous Jongin continued speaking.

“Guess we had an upgrade in our relationship though.” He said and pointed at his soaked shoes. “Today you were the one spilling something on me.”

~ * ~

Getting the promised Gillyweed Baekhyun sweared that he would keep out of Kyungsoo’s relationships from now on. Although Kyungsoo didn’t stop sitting beside Jongin in their shared classes and sometimes they even had study sessions together in the library. In the beginning it was because he felt that he owed the other boy that, but the more time they spent together the more Kyungsoo found himself liking the other boy. He desperately tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that would appear at random times when Jongin smiled at him, helped him with his Charms homework or told him that he looked forward to their next class together. They were just friends after all, nothing more nothing less. Although, even if their relationship got better it didn’t hinder Jongin from still managing to spill stuff on Kyungsoo every now and then (at least it wasn’t every day now).

Baekhyun had promised that he would stop trying to set them up, but Kyungsoo believed that he most probably lied. Especially after the Hogsmeade incident. It was November and Kyungsoo and Baekhyun had planned to go to Hogsmeade together to just chill together, get a drink at the Three Broomsticks and maybe visit Honeydukes as every Hogwarts student are bound to do. However, when Kyungsoo got down to the Entrance Hall it was completely empty (excluding all the students that Kyungsoo simply didn’t care about). Baekhyun was nowhere to be seen. Even Sehun with his bright coloured parrot hair was nowhere in sight. Hopefully Baekhyun simply was late because of some weird reason so Kyungsoo leaned against the wall praying that he wouldn’t have to wait too long for him.

When someone after a couple of minutes tappen on his shoulder he spun around thinking that it would be his best friend standing there. It wasn’t. It was Jongin. Jongin who somehow managed to drop half of his package of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans on Kyungsoo. At least it wasn’t anything liquid this time.

“You’d think I’d know better by now not to carry anything when I meet you.” Was the apology Jongin said, or at least Kyungsoo took it as an apology because he knew that that was the best he’d get from the other.

“Well, it would be a rather dull greeting if you didn’t spill anything on me, wouldn’t it?” Kyungsoo answered going back to scanning the room for Baekhyun.

“If it’s Baekhyun you’re looking for I just saw him leaving.” Jongin helpfully told him.

“Excuse me? He was supposed to go with me?” Kyungsoo exclaimed, feeling slightly betrayed by his so-called best friend.

“If it makes you feel better I got ditched too.” Jongin sighed and when Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him in question he elaborated his story. “I was supposed to go with Sehun to Hogsmeade but he just left with that boyfriend of his. And Baekhyun was walking with them too. Apparently they both decided to ditch us.”

Of course Baekhyun had left with Sehun. Sehun was always to blame. Kyungsoo let out a sigh.

“Wanna go with me then?” He looked up at Jongin.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Jongin answered with a smile and the two of them walked out of the castle together.

~ * ~

The downside of being friends with Baekhyun and Sehun is that whenever autumn starts to turn into winter they for somehow always steal all of Kyungsoo’s pair of gloves. He always brought a whole lot of pairs with him to Hogwarts and he’d even tried to give them gloves and mittens as Christmas gifts but they still somehow thought that only Kyungsoo’s was worth being worn. And all of them too. Which was why, halfway to Hogsmeade, Kyungsoo’s hands was starting to turn numb from the cold.

He and Jongin was having a conversation about a Muggle invention called a “computer”. Or more correctly, Jongin was telling him about this so-called computer, Kyungsoo didn’t have that much to add other than a short question now and then. Although he found this subject actually being quite interesting it was hard to concentrate on whatever Jongin was saying when his hands were slowly and steadily turning more and more purple and were hurting quite a lot now.

It was obvious that Jongin saw right through his fake smile so when he asked him what was wrong he didn’t see a reason to a lie.

“My friends so now my hands are trying to imitate an ice sculpture.” He raised his hands to show Jongin who let out a small gasp at the sight.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He exclaimed and before Kyungsoo had the time to answer him, Jongin took the nearest of his hands in one of his own and then put both of them in his pocket. Kyungsoo was about to say that this would only result in him being uneven, one of his hands turning to ice and the other being quite hot and cozy. However, it felt nice holding hands with Jongin (only because of the heat, Kyungsoo tried to argue) so he kept quiet. After a couple of minutes Jongin switched sides so he could take the other hand, apparently not wanting either of Kyungsoo’s hands to freeze. Kyungsoo did absolutely not blush at the consideration of the other, the colour of his face was only the result of the harsh wind hitting them.

And so they continued the rest of the walk to Hogsmeade, holding hands and sometimes switching sides so neither of Kyungsoo’s hand would suffer the harsh fate of turning to ice.

They started of going to Honeydukes, both because CANDY but also because it was a high chance that either Baekhyun or Sehun would be there and then Kyungsoo could steal his gloves back. They weren’t there. Kyungsoo didn’t complain though, he had a great time hanging out with Jongin and judging him in his taste of candy (“They’re both tasty and cute, what more can you ask for? And they’re perfect to give to someone you like!”). After they’d finished buying their candy, Jongin did buy the Pink Coconut Ice after all while Kyungsoo kept to his favourite Ice Mice, Jongin said that he was more in the mood for tea than butterbeer. Not being the biggest tea-drinker Kyungsoo asked where the best place for tea was. Jongin told him that if you didn’t mind sharing the space with a whole bunch of lovesick teenagers, Madam Puddifoot’s were the place to be.

~ * ~

Kyungsoo didn’t know what he thought about the interior of the café. It was clear that he’d never decorate his own room like that but at the same time it was kind of charming in its own way. Although he might just be thinking that because it was obvious that Jongin adored the shop, and Kyungsoo’s brain had simply decided on its own that anything Jongin liked was worth liking.

Jongin hadn’t lied about the tea being superb so Kyungsoo enjoyed sipping his beverage while Jongin happily browsed the cake menu.

He did find it hard to ignore all the couples though. His brain had once again decided to betray him in such a way to make him feel jealous of the couples. It was obvious that Jongin only liked him as a friend but Kyungsoo had realized that he couldn’t keep denying to himself what he was feeling for the other. Baekhyun would be cheering if he knew this but Kyungsoo had kept that fact for himself. He would never hear the end of it in case Baekhyun knew. But being around so many couples made it impossible not to imagine how this outing would be different if it was a real date. How he then could reach over to hold the other boy’s hand without batting an eye. How it wouldn’t be weird if he found himself transfixed by the plump, soft looking lips that were currently telling him about the best chocolate cake the café had to offer. And how, if he were lucky, he would be able to lean across the table to kiss said lips. It would only be a quick kiss, short enough not to draw any attention on them but long enough for him to feel the Hufflepuffs lips against his own, memorizing the feeling forever. He tried to distract himself from such thoughts, crush them, but it was proven very hard when the boy in front of him seemingly never stopped smiling. And Kyungsoo was a er for that smile. He couldn’t help but feel like his heart completely melted whenever that smile was directed at him. And it really didn’t help when Jongin decided that they should share a tart as dessert and even went as far as trying to feed Kyungsoo (“because I want to embarrass that couple in the corner who just did that.”).

Kyungsoo’s emotions were all over the place when they left Madam Puddifoot’s to walk back to Hogwarts. Just as the previous walk, they were holding hands and switching sides at regular intervals. The walk back was mostly spent in a comfortable silence, both of them just walking and enjoying the view of the sunset.

When they parted in the Entrance Hall with a hug before returning to their common rooms Kyungsoo briefly wondered if he should thank Baekhyun for ditching him. His day had been pretty amazing and it all was because his friend apparently had forgotten about him.

When he found the Pink Coconut Ice that Jongin had secretly placed in his bag and he was reduced to an inwardly squealing mess he knew that he couldn’t tell Baekhyun about this, as he’d never let Kyungsoo forget that it was all thanks to him.

~ * ~

It was the next morning when Kyungsoo was sitting with Baekhyun and Sehun in the Great Hall eating breakfast that Jongin suddenly appeared, giving Kyungsoo a hug as a greeting before sitting down beside him. Baekhyun and Sehun had loudly been arguing about which painting in the castle looked the best but when they saw the hug they both shut up immediately.

“Don’t you two look cozy.” Baekhyun said with a raised eyebrow.

“The coziest.” Jongin replied as he laid his head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. Kyungsoo really wanted to kill his two friends purely based on the looks on their faces but the butterflies in his stomach was flying so violently that he didn’t think he could move a finger.

“And here I thought I was your best Slytherin friend.” Sehun dramatically exclaimed, hands clutching at his chest and making a very pained face.

“Well, I’ve had his in my face,” Jongin said and pointed at the boy beside him. Kyungsoo froze in his seat as Baekhyun’s look of confusion evolved into a big smirk instead. “and I think that gives him a few points.”

“You have, haven’t you?” Baekhyun begun and Kyungsoo seriously deliberated jumping over the table to strangle him if that meant that his best friend would stay silent. “I thought you said he wasn’t your boyfriend?” He directed this question at Kyungsoo but it was Jongin who answered.

“I’m not.” Kyungsoo was very grateful that Jongin had saved him from having to answer himself, but he couldn’t help feeling his heart sink at those words. “Although I really wouldn’t mind being it.” Jongin continued and Kyungsoo felt all of his blood rushing to his face.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Kyungsoo noticed that it was because everyone was looking at him, waiting for his answer.

“I’m not going to say anything while you two are here.” He pointed at Baekhyun and Sehun who both immediately stood up.

“I guess we’re leaving then.” Baekhyun said as he saluted them before sauntering away.

As they left Jongin smiled at Kyungsoo. It didn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out that Kyungsoo liked him back.

~ * ~

Two months later, when Kyungsoo had been invited down to the Hufflepuff common room, he found out the unthinkable.

“You’re not wearing socks inside your shoes?”

“No?”

“It don’t think this relationship is going to work out…”

“Because of socks?”

“I like socks okay!”

“Do you like socks more than me?”

“Hm… That’s hard…”

“Kyungsoo…”

“Okay… I like you more… It’s no competition really.”

“Thank you. I like you too. Now get over here.”

It seemed like one of Baekhyun’s match making plans had finally worked. And it was all thanks to Sehun.