⠀⠀September.

⠀⠀Jongin’s legs hurt.

⠀⠀He had spent the morning running around the Quidditch field, keeping in shape. Some of his peers thought this was strange, as ‘workout’ and ‘exercise’ weren't very common for Wizards. However, being mostly a Muggle, Jongin had obviously no problem with it. Jackson would join him if he wasn’t lazy enough, and Suzy liked to watch, but most of the time, she couldn’t be bothered. He didn’t mind; she was a distraction anyway.

⠀⠀It had been a while since he ran like that. But he had to be in shape. Being the Quidditch team captain meant a lot to him, so he wasn’t going to screw it up. His good grades could only get him so far in where he wanted.

⠀⠀Not to mention he had spent the day dodging Suzy and Hoseok, which further put an annoying strain on his already sore legs.

⠀⠀Not because they did anything horrible to him, no, because they were just irritating. Suzy’s incessant clinginess and Hoseok’s unadulterated hatred for the Slytherin (or any house that wasn’t Gryffindor, honestly) was tiring Jongin out. It had been a month since they came to Hogwarts, and they were already draining Jongin more than his Potions exam last year. Suzy would just be whinier when she saw him next, so he couldn’t stay away from her too long. Was he allowed no personal space and private time?

⠀⠀He was heading to his earlier mentioned Potions class, the only classes he shared with Hoseok and Suzy. He saw Suzy at dinner yesterday but hadn’t seen Hoseok in a few days. Well, at least, for a very long amount of time. He would be sitting with the two of them and Jackson, as well as the completely more capable Ravenclaw students. Most would think that come 7th year, and there wouldn’t be that many classes that involved the mixture of houses, right? Not really. Considering the decline in wizardly students around Jongin’s year of birth, the madness surrounding it involved the splitting of houses in certain classes. Not to mention the constant conflict between the houses (many of them being because of Jongin’s best friend). The staff decided it would be best for all houses to make “friends” with each other. As if that would help.

⠀⠀He had come to class a little late, probably too late, but he wasn’t reprimanded. Once he entered, he had heard Suzy’s voice call for him, and he took his seat with a small “hey” before settling. Looking up, Professor Kim was already beginning his lesson in his head.

⠀⠀Professor Kim, or as most people knew him as but didn’t dare call him, Seokjin. Those in the Hufflepuff house had known him as Jisoo’s practically-brother-cousin. Jongin didn’t know Jisoo well personally, but he did know she was a kind girl. The Hufflepuff house was the most unproblematic house within the four. They were basically braiding each other’s hair and feeding the rabbits outside every day. They always came in third or fourth for the Quidditch Cup, but Jongin wasn’t sure if that was because they or if they just didn’t want to get too aggressive. The most impressive player was their Keeper, Jimin, who could be the best player in Hogwarts if he was in another house.

⠀⠀Professor Kim was pretty zany, though no one could really point that out. He didn’t have any particular liking towards the kids, but he didn’t hate them either. He seemed to enjoy teaching Ravenclaw the most, probably not because he was one but because they usually kept up with him better than any other house. Having Gryffindor, one of his more disliked houses, and Ravenclaw in the same class was… interesting. Nearly every student knew his “house tier list” showed his favouritism towards Ravenclaw.

⠀⠀However, Professor Kim’s lesson today would be something Jongin was already quite familiar with. A brush-up lesson for the Gryffindor that wasn’t paying attention from last year’s classes (such as the ones next to Jongin). It was no mistake that Jongin could feel two strong lasers burning a hole in his head since he saw her first when he entered the room.

⠀⠀He has no idea what Soojung’s problem is. She really is stuck-up, but he didn’t really know how much until this year. They had known each other for quite some time. Soojung was the smartest in the school. While that was expected of a Ravenclaw, it was very expected of the Minister’s daughter. One could say an over-achiever since she barely had any friends, even with her house. Jongin spent a lot of time studying, though he had other things to do. Soojung spent all of her time studying, and to her frustration, Jongin always beat her. He didn’t exactly know why; honestly, nobody really did. The two of them were constantly at ends with each other, Jongin strived to be the best in the school, and Soojung probably started there too, but now it just seemed like she just wanted to be better than him.

⠀⠀It’d be great if she stopped staring at him.

⠀⠀“It’d be great if you stopped staring at Jongin,”

⠀⠀Soojung jumped in her seat once she heard the whisper in her ear, a flush along her cheeks as she furrowed her brows. “I am not! Keep your voice down.” She dared not to have the pink flush across her cheeks though knowing Jennie. She was able to detect it anyway. “You certainly are because you’re definitely not looking at what the Professor is writing on the board,” Jennie uttered, writing down her notes as she grinned at her friend. “Maybe I can beat you this year since you’re so focused on your boyfriend.”

⠀⠀“He’s not my boyfriend,” Soojung hissed.

⠀⠀“Not yet~!” Jennie said in a voice that made Soojung’s skin crawl. Why she sat next to Jennie, she had no idea. “Regardless, it’s annoying me. Don’t you have better things to do? It may be the start of the year, but that doesn’t mean the OWL exams aren’t going to be a pain in the .” Soojung rolled her eyes and looked forward again, trying to ignore Jongin’s incessant annoying-ness. She saw him running around the Quidditch track today (not because she was looking for him, no, she just happened to come across him), and she can’t help but ask herself, “Just who does this guy think he is?”

⠀⠀“Jongin?”

⠀⠀“He shows up late for class after running around the school aimlessly all morning. How is he supposed to be a model student? I will never understand why Headmistress Kim chose him as the Head Boy.”

⠀⠀“I meant, this guy thinks he’s Jongin.”

⠀⠀“Shut up, Jennie.”

⠀⠀Soojung was known for her cold death stares, which was an essential feature to the Ravenclaw House, meaning Jennie was naturally second to the Ice Princess herself. “Look, I get it. He’s beaten you 3 out of the 6 years you’ve spent here. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a life of his own, you know. He’s not doing this because he hates you. He probably wouldn’t even know you existed outside of being his ‘rival.’” Jennie rolled her eyes. “Can we stop talking about him? He’s just some stupid jock.” Soojung let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, bleaching Jongin from her mind.

⠀⠀It’s almost like those awful romance novels her mother used to read. But it was then when things started to get even more upsetting.

⠀⠀“Okay, now, let’s group into pairs! Your lovely headmistress has so politely asked me to push more house interaction between the lot of ya, so I will ask that all Ravenclaw and G