Jeonghan presses two fingers to his lips, seething. It's got to be here, somewhere, if only he could find it... He flips his shoulder length hair back and groans at the grimy stone wall before him. 

The Room of Requirement is kind of an open secret between him and the Gryffindor Captain at this point, and he's going to be pissed if it turns out that the Other Quidditch jock (mark his words, it's probably That Gryffindor Dolt) is making out with his "gal" or something equally stupid.

Because, see, for all his scheming, Jeonghan's actually left his reading glasses there when he dozed off during lunch break, poring over 'Advanced Essays on Particle Physics' and 'A History of Charms: 1300-1700, First Folio'. A huge mistake, obviously, because (a) some idiot could place their grubby, immature hands on his carefully-modified glasses relics, (b) he's not about to spend the day knocking into walls or saying hello to gargoyles, and (c) he really wants to get back to reading the aforementioned relics. 

So maybe he's a bit of a nerd. No one needs to know that. Yoon Jeonghan, Slytherin Seeker, Brightest Wizard of his Age, Captain of The Rhetoric Circle, Editor of 'Serpentine' ... okay, so maybe this is already an open secret. But right now, Jeonghan's already had the accumulation of Bad Things happen to him.

First, when he woke up to an empty dorm, he found that someone had helped themselves to his Charms essay. Then Jisoo went to breakfast without him, and had the audacity to grin up at him. That Cheshire little . And then all throughout Potions he kept misreading the quantities, and to top it all off, their captain cancelled training due to "personal reasons". 

Jeonghan swears, if it's ... their captain who comes out of the Room... he'll probably have an uncomfortable time sitting on his broomstick in future sessions. Of course, revenge would only be served after their first match with Gryffindor. 

And if it's any of the other Houses, he'll gladly take up the excuse to enact a bit of personal justice. 

Tapping his feet impatiently, Jeonghan wills the Room to appear. This has got to be the most tiring and futile thing he's done. In a matter of seconds, he gives up and brushes his hair back. 

And then a sly, devious smile stretches wide upon his lips. He pulls out his wand and whispers a newly-created incantation. 

The entire wall is coated with a translucent gum-like jelly. If the occupant of the Room didn't want to come out, then, well, too bad.

Choi Seungcheol marches up to him, livid and matched with a withering glare, the next morning. The problem is, he also looks like a half-drowned skunk, his hair sticking up with the look of some childish vengeance. A thoroughly amused Lee Chan is trailing behind him too, diminishing whatever fury he might have wanted to portray. 

"YAH! Yoon Jeonghan!" Seungcheol bellows, as if he weren't already drawing enough snickers from the neighbouring tables. 

Jeonghan glances up lazily from where he is - beside Jisoo who is currently choking on Jeonghan's Special Concoction (he lost track after mixing in hot sauce and vinegar) instead of his usual morning coffee. 

Oh, so that was Choi Seungcheol in the Room yesterday? Jeonghan smirks, upon realising that no one else is coated in goo.

"Yes?" Jeonghan says nonchalantly, and tries not to laugh at the vein threatening to burst on Seungcheol's forehead. 

"You - you - you know what you did!" Seungcheol chokes out, lost in his own anger.

Jeonghan pitifully claps Jisoo on the back. Jisoo shoots him a glare and scuttles closer to Wonwoo instead. 

"Please enlighten me, Seungcheol," Jeonghan says, hands forming a steeple to hide his blossoming grin. "What did I do?" 

"The gum," Seungcheol snarls. "Outside the Room-"

"You'll have to be more precise," Jeonghan shoots back, a warning. "What room?"

They both know it's not really a topic for discussion here - it would be a Disaster if anyone were to encroach on their secret hideout. Not that Jeonghan would share a hideout with Seungcheol. It's just a place that only they know about.

(Unless Seungcheol's told someone else. In which case Jeonghan has to confront the ugly rearing head of his possessive streak - over the Room, of course.) 

Seungcheol fumes, caught by the realisation that the Slytherin table is carefully eavesdropping on their conversation. Though with the way Seungcheol's dripping slime all over the Great Hall, even the Gryffindor table's noticed already. 

One of the professors strides over and tells Seungcheol to get changed before polluting the place further. It doesn't help that the professor briefly admires Jeonghan's handiwork - "hm, magical slime? Precocious but rather well done, wouldn't you say, Mr. Choi" - before taking points away from Gryffindor for Seungcheol's disgruntled glare. 

Seungcheol makes an obscene hand motion at Jeonghan, and gets a further "ten points from Gryffindor!".

It's pretty much war at this point. Of course, Jeonghan's a master of pranks but he can't deny that Choi Seungcheol can be crafty at times. Jisoo just sighs and tries not to interfere - he's still suffering the trauma of being at the receiving end of Jeonghan's Special Concoction. 

"Can't you go easy on him," Jisoo says, "as prefect, I kind of have to stop you."

"I'm technically not breaking the rules - he is." Seungcheol had turned up to their shared potions class in a Slytherin green jumper, and it was hilarious to see the usual golden lion dyed green. 

Even more so to see Seungcheol's half-awake face turn the exact matching shade upon realising what he was wearing. He got another ten points taken from Gryffindor for making an obscene gesture. 

Jisoo sighs. "Honestly..." 

Jeonghan shrugs. "Besides, the kids are having a bet and we'd hardly like to ruin their fun, right?"

"A bet?!" Jisoo freaks out. "With money? That's gambling!" 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes and slings an arm around Jisoo's shoulders. He can feel a heated glare suddenly trained on the back of his neck. "C'mon, loosen up a bit.

"Besides, I've got something absolutely hilarious lined up."

Jeonghan turns around aimlessly and sees Seungcheol wringing his mock-Slytherin jumper, an aggravated expression directed at where Jeonghan's clinging onto Jisoo. And then Seungcheol, looks up, turns pink, before resolutely turning away.

Huh, strange.

Minghao, the Gryffindor prefect, tells him that there's this wonderful shampoo in the prefect's bath that would really boost the shine in his hair. In retrospect, the fact that a quaking Gryffindor had walked up to him and shiftily whispered this to him was probably a big neon warning sign.

But at that time, Jeonghan had been enjoying Junhui's (the Ravenclaw seeker) meticulous brushing and was at his most malleable, vulnerable state. Besides, he was pretty good friends with Minghao then.

That was then.

When Jeonghan emerges from the bath, hair soft and fluffy, and sees himself in the mirror, he almost faints. 

"Red," Jeonghan says, dumbfounded and shaking. 

His hair, his glorious black hair - red. And not just any red; an electric, Gryffindor red. All of it, reduced to this pathetic, disgusting hue. Immediately he knows he's walked into a trap. 

"Choi Seungcheol," Jeonghan spits, face turning a vivid shade of frustration. 

He tries everything, from charming to washing it again (not too many times, or it'll dry out his hair). But they yield nothing. Jeonghan feels the prickling of tears, indignant and somewhat morbidly amused, but huffs it all away. 

Minghao peeks in from behind the door, followed by Jisoo. "Hyung..."

"Tell me he forced you into this, Hao," Jeonghan says, too calmly, as he turns to fix a cold stare on the Gryffindor prefect. 

Minghao shivers, eyes wide. "Seungcheol-hyung said he was making amends."

"That explains the cackling," Jisoo adds.

Jeonghan gives Minghao a once-over, and concludes that he was innocent. One less death to plot. 

Wonwoo barks a laugh at his new hair. He bites into a particularly disgusting flavour of Bertie Botts' two hours later.

But that's the extent of it. Somehow, everyone else has been very... fascinated by the change. Junhui gives a low whistle, and even Chan, who stays away from Jeonghan's coddling, can't help but come near and admire the strange glowing hair.

Jisoo considers his hair, having dragged Jeonghan out of bed the next morning. "You know, I think Seungcheol really dug his own grave."

Jeonghan's too busy trying to sleep in an upright position. "Huh."

"Stay still." And then, Jisoo's placing light feathery on his face. The motions are relaxing and Jeonghan drifts off into a half-slumber. 

When he gets to the Great Hall, everyone turns to look at him. Jisoo just offers him a catlike innocence, which is really suspicious. Jeonghan shrugs and walks over to his table. 

Mingyu, the 'local' Hufflepuff at their table, jumps up from his fawning over Wonwoo and shrieks at the sight of Jeonghan. His eyes are wide, and his jaw is gaping. Wonwoo turns around, and gives a low whistle.

"Your- your face-" Mingyu stutters, awestruck.

Jeonghan narrows his eyes, and turns to Jisoo.

"What did you do?"

Jisoo smiles like a saint. "A favour. Now look back."

Jeonghan obeys after a moment's hesitance, and spots Seungcheol mid-strut. Their eyes meet, and whatever previous expression of delight is replaced by a stunned, starstruck one. And then his cheeks start to colour.

Jeonghan doesn't know what's going on, but it's probably good if it lends Seungcheol into a stupor like that. A light thrill runs down Jeonghan's spine. 

He strides over to Seungcheol, watching in delight as Seungcheol continues to stare like he's a Firebolt or something infinitely precious. 

"So, Seungcheol, like the new hair?" Jeonghan says, knocking all the wind out of Seungcheol.

"Uh... yeah," Seungcheol says, and snaps out of it. "Yeah, must be nice for this Friday's match, huh? For Gryffindor's victory?" 

Oh. He forgot about that. 

"Don't get cocky," Jeonghan scoffs, and spins around, flouncing back to his table. 

Under Seungcheol's stare (he's probably plotting something again), Jeonghan peeks at a spoon, and sees a hint of eyeshadow on his lids. 

"Jisoo, why'd you put makeup on me?" Jeonghan whispers sideways, trying to look unaffected by the gaze from the Gryffindor table.

Jisoo smiles. "Look at how he's staring; if I did it this Friday he'd have flown straight into the ground."

Jeonghan plans his next step. He enlists the help of one regretful Minghao, who is already resigned to being part of this ongoing conflict. They enter the Gryffindor Common Room and sneak into Seungcheol's dorm one morning. 

Minghao looks like he would like nothing more than to leave. "Hyung... maybe we shouldn't do this."

Jeonghan shushes him, and points at his bold, unfading red hair. "Just this once, Hao, you'll just tell me if anyone's coming."

Jeonghan enters Seungcheol's dorm, and quickly identifies his bed by the strange starry duvet. No one else would have such a weird obsession with childish patterns. He starts placing enchanted chocolate frogs in strategic locations, ensuring that they'd all pounce onto Seungcheol once he got near his bed and then melt into disgusting sticky goo. 

He's about the set up the charms around the adorable set up when he spots a shimmering golden something on the bedside table. 

It's his reading glasses! He can't believe it - in his haste to retaliate Seungcheol's pranks, he forgot to get them back from the Room. 

"Why would they be here," Jeonghan muses, picking them up gingerly. Was Seungcheol planning to use them for a prank? 

But they were neatly placed on the table, and gently handled - no smudges on the lens, so he must have cleaned them then.

"Hyung, ah, um, nothing?" Minghao's voice alerts him, but Jeonghan's still staring at his glasses.

Seungcheol bursts in, and his eyes narrow in on the pair of glasses in Jeonghan's hands. Jeonghan cringes inwardly, expecting an outburst at his intrusion. But Seungcheol's just staring. And getting flustered. 

"You had my glasses-"

"I know."

"Were you going to use them as a prank-?"

"No!" Seungcheol jumps and shakes his head hard. "I know how much they mean to you. I just."

It's a weird, tense atmosphere that rests thickly on Jeonghan's tongue. His heart stutters.

"You just...?"

"I-" Seungcheol huffs, but immediately spots the flaw in this conversation. "Hey, wait, what are you in my room for?!" 

He charges at Jeonghan, and upon stepping within a metre of the bed, has a dozen chocolate frogs pounce on him. In the confusion, Jeonghan sneaks away, seeing the glasses in a totally new light.

Friday comes. Jackson Wang, their bull of a captain, prepares a length speech. No one listens - they're too busy glancing out at the grey, uneven sky and subtly flipping the Gryffindor team off. Jeonghan presses his lips together - his hair's still red, and it clashes so horribly with the royal green robes he's wearing. He looks like a Christmas Tree, for goodness' sake. Jisoo walks up to him, and the sea of players part under his majestic influence. 

"Jisoo," Jeonghan whines, trying to tuck his hair under his green beanie. He will not go out there looking like a fool.

Jisoo sighs and helps him. "If you'd just postponed the whole war until after the match..."

At this, Jeonghan gasps. "Do you think he'd stoop that low? During the match?"

Jisoo smacks him on the head. "No, he's a Gryffindor."

"You're right."

"But the beaters on the other team don't seem very friendly," Jisoo whispers. "It's just a feeling, but be careful out there."

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow. "Why are we whispering about this?"

"Because I can't prove anything," Jisoo says. "They're new, and they're Gryffindors."

"Right," Jeonghan says. "I'm fast enough anyway, I'll get the snitch in under five."

Jisoo rolls his eyes. Jackson Wang does another roll call, and Jeonghan is immediately swept into a circle of cunning but somewhat childishly excited faces. It's the first match of the year, after all, and Slytherin is hungry for a house cup. They put their hands together, and give a collective shout. It's better than whatever cheer Gryffindor's having anyway. 

When they walk out into the field, Jeonghan immediately blocks out all the cheers and noise, and sets his game face on. He meets Seungcheol's gaze from across the field squarely, and doesn't look away first. The whistle blows, and Seungcheol flies to the hoops quickly, nodding his teammates into place. Jeonghan keeps a safe hovering distance somewhere to the side, eyes tracking the snitch as it's released from its cage. 

The game starts. Jeonghan reaches up to secure his beanie, just as Gryffindor lets their guard down and Slytherin scores the first point.

Remembering Jisoo's warning, Jeonghan hovers in a fixed position for a while, watching for the snitch and if the Gryffindor beaters are tracking him in spite of the heated game. The Gryffindor seeker is not next to him. Just as well. He'll conserve energy for a bit - 

It's there. The snitch flutters, golden and feisty, zipping near him. He stills, and immediately takes a dip, diving and willing to go faster, hand outstretched - it's there, so close, and everything narrows down to the few metres between him and an easy win...

"JEONGHAN!" someone's yelling, but he registers the terrible pain to his side that knocks him off his broomstick first.

He's falling through the air, and everything around him seems to have slowed down. His hands, wide open and terrifed, scrabble for purchase through the air, only catching the glimpse of some cold, struggling thing, before he hears a loud crushing noise. 

Everything fades.

Someone's his hair. Jeonghan tries to speak, but feels like his mouth is so dry and heavy.

"You stupid idiot, can't you hold onto your broom for longer than a second."

Jeonghan wants to protest, until he registers the sadness in the voice. He listens intently in the darkness of his half-sleep.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean - hey, but you started things first! I was in the Room, and then... I took your glasses - I always thought they were weird. Because you said you changed them yourself, and like, that's really smart, so I wanted to have them. It's like, trying to see things from your perspective, ha."

And then, rather than an instinct for comfort, he wants to tease, poke at their ribs, because he knows this gruff voice to be Seungcheol's. Jeonghan peeks open an eye, and true enough, sees Seungcheol with a worried frown. His heart does that weird backflip again, and Jeonghan wants to pinch his cheeks to make him smile.

"You've been asleep for so long, Jeonghan. I know you're lazy but it's so worrying. It's weird; I hate you when you're talking, but watching you lie here makes me feel even worse. Wake up already."

"I am," Jeonghan blurts out, catching Seungcheol by surprise.

"Jeonghan!"

"You're visiting me," Jeonghan says weakly. "How sweet."

"Don't get up - Madam Pomfrey says you've broken some ribs." 

"Did I break your heart," Jeonghan teases, gleefully watching a blush spread across Seungcheol's cheeks.

Seungcheol swats him, lightly. "Yes, by waking up."

"Oh, weren't you telling me to wake up? Because I was worrying you?" Jeonghan grins, reaching for Seungcheol's hand.

Seungcheol rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, anyway, you caught the snitch."

Jeonghan frowns. Seungcheol's avoiding everything - did Jeonghan misinterpret everything? He was pretty sure that sounded something like a confession. Or maybe he wants it to be one. Seungcheol looks at him, and rubs a finger where Jeonghan's forehead is wrinkling up. Okay, screw it.

"Seungcheol," Jeonghan says, voice barely louder than a whisper. "Come closer."

Seungcheol is confused, but obliges. Jeonghan motions for him to get even closer. The distance is somewhat awkward, given that Seungcheol's leaning unsteadily over the bed railings, and has to steady himself with a hand on the bed. Everything screams scandalous, but nothing reeks of it more than when Jeonghan can't hide his smile and presses a soft kiss to Seungcheol's cheek.

There's a pause, and Jeonghan briefly worries if he's broken the other boy. 

"W-what?" Seungcheol hops back, hands cupping his cheek like he's just been burnt. "What was that?"

"A kiss?" Jeonghan says, heart pounding wildly. Was that a wrong move? Broken ribs suddenly don't feel like much compared to this dread.

The silence that lingers is infinitely louder, and Jeonghan suddenly wants to tell Seungcheol that it's probably the concussion or something. But before he can rescue them from his mistake, Madam Pomfrey rushes towards them, alerted of Jeonghan's consciousness.

"Oh, you're awake!" Madam Pomfrey says, pushing Seungcheol to the side. He stumbles like a frozen puppet, and quickly excuses himself. 

Seungcheol doesn't visit him in the sickbay. There are tons of flowers, however, so maybe things are okay anyway even without the Gryffindor Dolt. Jeonghan lowers his expectations to the minimal, and as though knowing there was some sort of inept display, the dye in his hair fades. 

When he goes to the Great Hall, the Slytherin table welcomes him heartily for his gameplay, though disastrous. Jeonghan notices a bulky figure sneaking out of the hall at the same time, from the Gryffindors' side. But he smiles, and grits his teeth and bears it. Jisoo shoots him concerned looks, and Jeonghan brushes it off as lingering inertia from the week of lying down.

He doesn't realise how much he misses Seungcheol's bickering or stupid interferences until it's gone. He winds up walking up to the Room, pacing back and forth in front of its wall. The Room only appears when someone summons it, or needs it for something. Jeonghan walks aimlessly in front of it, trying to think of a right way to phrase what it is he want - he knows it's useless, though, because as vast and promising as the Room of Requirement is, it cannot bring him Seungcheol's company.

"Jeonghan?" Until it does.

Jeonghan spins around, and almost falls. A hand steadies him, and the warmth deserts him as soon as it finds him. "Seungcheol."

"What are you doing here?"

Jeonghan wants to laugh. "Um. The Room."

"Yeah, me too." Seungcheol looks frazzled, like he wants to say something but doesn't know how to. "So. You've recovered?"

"More or less," Jeonghan shrugs, but is faced with Seungcheol's rigorous head-shaking. "Seungcheol?"

"That's not actually what I wanted to ask," Seungcheol says quickly. "Do you like me?"

Jeonghan pauses. "What?"

"Do you," Seungcheol says, and Jeonghan loves the way his ears redden. "Like me? That's why, the sickbay."

Jeonghan bites his lip. "Come closer."

Seungcheol looks at him like he's saying "you're gonna do that again, aren't you?", but he obliges anyway.

Jeonghan leans in and presses a kiss to his cheek again. He watches a light pink start blooming across Seungcheol's face again, starting from where his lips have just kissed. Suddenly, Jeonghan doesn't mind even if Seungcheol dyes his hair a bright blue.

"We have our answer, then," Jeonghan says smoothly. 

Seungcheol's staring at him, in a daze. Then suddenly, he turns to the wall, and a door appears. The blush that spreads to his neck as he pulls Jeonghan into the room with him is indication enough.

Extra:

"I heard from Jeonghan you're betting on the prank war," Jisoo says disapprovingly to a group of younger Slytherins and Gryffindors.

They look down, aware of the rebuke the prefect's about to shower on them.

What they don't anticipate, however, is Jisoo's catlike smile. "Now, how about betting on when they'll get together?"