Yunho slams into the compartment with his trunk rattling behind him. He smiles at the occupants in the room, “Heechul hyung, hi!”

The mentioned Heechul looks up from sweater he’s trying to shove back into his own trunk. “Yunho-yah! Welcome to your first train ride to Hogwarts!” He glances at the boy seated next to him, “Hey, Hyukjae move over to make room for Yunho.”

Hyukjae’s “But it’s my first train ride too,” is quelled by a glare from Heechul and a pout from Donghae sitting on the other side.

With a “Hehe, thanks hyung,” Yunho moves into the compartment and begins to stow away his trunk underneath. Then he collapses in between Heechul and Donghae and wraps long arms around the both of them. “Ah, I really missed seeing the both of you. Donghae, I saw all the time at Muggle school. But Heechul hyung, seeing you only in the summer made my heart hurt.”

Heechul coos at Yunho’s pout and says “Well, now you’ll see me nearly every day at Hogwarts for the next 4 years!”

Donghae pipes up from where he’s engulfed within Yunho’s elbow, “Yeah and hopefully we’ll be in the same house as you hyung, so we can see you even more often!!”

Heechul chuckles at Donghae’s pipsqueak voice, “Well, I already know that Donghae is going to be a Hufflepuff, but with Yunho’s-“

Heechul is cut off by the compartment door slamming open. The culprit isn’t even looking at them. Their attention is focused on something outside in the hallways. “Junsu! Is that compartment free?? It is? Go in, I’ll be right there.”

The interruptor finally looks into the compartment and Yunho swears the world actually stops turning for a bit. Never in his eleven years has Yunho seen anyone this pretty. Not even in the Muggle Korean groups that his baby sister is obsessed with. Yunho finally understands the pretty things that his English teacher used to make him read poems about. Maybe this is what the Helen of Troy that they read about in his history class looked like.

Yunho is still spaced out a full two minutes after the intruder apologized for the interruption, and closed the door. Yunho feels someone tap him on the shoulder and Heechul say, “Yah Yunho, are you okay?”

Yunho hears himself ask, “Hyung, who was that?”

“I don’t know, some kid looking for an empty compartment?” Heechul sounds puzzled with an underlying tone of concern.

An entire minute passes by with Yunho staring at the closed compartment door, and the other occupants in the cabin taking turns staring at each other and then at Yunho.

Yunho is abruptly brought out of his reverie by a sharp flick to his forehead, “Ouch, what the heck?!” Immediately, Yunho’s forehead is vigorously rubbed.

“Hyukjae! Keep your hands to yourself, what are you doing?” Heechul’s exclamation is screeched into Yunho’s ear as he attends to Yunho’s wound.

Yunho looks up at Hyukjae who is seated on the bench opposite them, “What? He was freaking all of us out. He was staring at the door like he saw a ghost!”

Heechul stops rubbing Yunho’s head and sneers at him, “Well you better get used to the idea of ghosts, because Hogwarts is full of them.”

Hyukjae visibly pales and starts stuttering. Donghae seeing his other best friend panicking jumps to the opposite bench and swings his arm around his shoulders, “It’s okay! I might end up being a Hufflepuff, but I’ll be the bravest there is and protect you!” Donghae flashes a full toothed smile at him and his other two friends. Seeing that, Yunho can’t help but beam his own 1000-watt smile back.

Suddenly, Yunho feels Heechul pulling at cheek, “Ah hyung… My mom already did that before I got in the train and made my cheeks all red!”

Heechul chuckles warmly and says, “Yeah, and they’re still red.” Yunho flushes and pats his cheeks, embarrassed that everyone (the pretty perpetrator) saw his embarrassing blush. Heechul wraps his arms around Yunho, “Aw you’re so sweet and cute! I really did miss you too, and I’m glad we’ll be able to see each other all the time at school.”

Yunho’s smile returns and he nods enthusiastically, “Yeah! And we can explore the castle together and eat together and you can help me study and we can play Wizard’s chess and I know you don’t like flying, but you can watch me fly, oh hyung it’ll be the best!”

Donghae, hearing Yunho and Heechul’s conversation, jumps in, “Me and Hyukjae too! You have to include me in the stuff you guys do too!”

Heechul reaches over and ruffles Donghae’s already messy hair, “Well you two will definitely make more friends besides me, but I’ll introduce to my friends and then we can all hang out! How does that sound?”

Hyukjae and Donghae immediately start asking Heechul about his friends, since Heechul never talks about them when he’s back home during the summer. In the summer, Heechul always seems oddly inclined to concentrate his fun on his childhood friends, and never talks about Hogwarts beyond his classes and the castle.

Normally Yunho would have all his ears in on the conversation between his friends, but for some reason at that moment, all he can think about are those eyes and that person.

Helen of Troy.

~

Yunho is struggling with the boat. Hyukjae and Donghae have no experience in paddling a rowboat. And from their first attempt with the paddles having nearly knocked a boy into the Lake, Yunho isn’t inclined to give them another chance. But at the age of eleven with his scrawny (but still there!) muscles, it’s becoming hard to row himself and two other kids across the vast expanse of the river.

Hyukjae peers at Yunho from behind the lantern he’s holding, “Yunho, if you’re struggling so much, why did you request a non-magic boat?”

Yunho turns back and huffs at Hyukjae, “Because Hagrid asked who wants the non-magic one and I volunteered because it seemed like the nice thing to do. This wouldn’t be as hard if it was just me I had to row.”

Donghae pipes up, “Sorry Yunho… But it’s okay! Look! Even without magic, we’re still ahead of some of Hagrid’s other boats!”

Yunho turns around to peer behind him. Too focused on reaching the shore, Yunho hadn’t been too preoccupied with the others. He looks around and sees that Donghae was right, he is ahead of nearly 40% of the other boats. Bolstered with newfound confidence, Yunho rows more vigorously ahead, flashing a winning smile at his other two occupants. He faces completely backwards to see the crowd that he’s singlehandedly passing by and to occasionally smile at Donghae.

Pretty soon, he’s up next to Hagrid’s boat. Neck in neck, the magic and non-magic boat are traveling ahead at the same speed to shore.

Hagrid chortles when he sees Yunho’s boat. He turns back to say to the rest of the flock of boats, “Well, would you look at that? This first year is stronger than the magic used for these boats, and he doesn’t even know a single spell yet.” Yunho flushes with pride and grins at Hagrid. “What’s your name boy?”

“Jung Yunho, sir!”

“Well Yunho,” Hagrid starts saying, but Yunho becomes distracted by the other occupants in Hagrid’s bigger boat. Within it, there are four other people all whispering amongst themselves, however Yunho can’t see the face of the fourth one holding the lantern. “If you’re half as good as rowing as you are with magic, you’ll be naturally talented at it!”

Yunho, trying to find a position that would grant him a glimpse of the fourth person, replies, “Well, rather than think of myself of naturally talented, I would like to say,” Yunho decides to squat on his haunches in the bench of the rowboat and see the student. But at that moment the lantern, is slightly moved. “That I’m a hard worker.” Eyes. Big, round obsidian eyes. The moment Yunho sees that, he feels himself losing balance. Before he can catch himself on the rim of the boat, he falls on his back into the water.

~

“You haven’t even officially begun your first day at Hogwarts, Mr. Jung, and you’re already getting into trouble! I’ll have the house elves send your dried robes back to your dorm,” Yunho keeps his head down as he dresses himself in the robes Madame Pomfrey, the head nurse, gave him.

Yunho comes out from behind the privacy curtain and meekly asks, “Should I come back and give you this robes you lent me?”

Seeing his contrite expression, Madame Pompfrey’s gaze softens and she gently says, “It’s quite alright, you can keep them.”

Yunho looks up from his shoes and beams at her. She returns his smile and says, “Well you better get going! The Hat ceremony has already commenced!”

Yunho pales and rushes out the doors, yelling his profuse thanks behind him.

Yunho screeches to a halt when he sees the line of other first years standing beside the side door tocthe Great Hall. He heaves a sigh of relief when he sees that Hyukjae and Donghae have a spot saved for him. He walks over and thanks both of his friends, to which Donghae replies, “No worries! We wanted to go with you to the hospital wing, but someone said it was better if we held your place in line instead of holding you up in the infirmary!” Yunho claps him on the shoulder in gratitude.

Yunho’s spot in line is in front of his friends and behind a girl with short, black hair who is talking to her friend. The line moves slowly, but surely, into the Great Hall and as soon as Yunho is able to get a glimpse inside, he attempts to find Heechul. He spots him next to a couple of other boys he’s never seen before. However, he waves enthusiastically and Heechul returns it, to the smile of some of his other friends.

The girl in front of Yunho, sensing the little commotion he made, turns around and they both make eye contact. Helen of Troy. However, before Yunho can get a word in edgewise, she turns back to talk to her friend, an exuberant boy who hides his loud laugh behind his hands.

Yunho sighs, half in frustration at his own hesitation and half in relief at not saying anything stupid. Another 10 minutes pass where Yunho spends time gathering courage to speak to the girl.

Finally deciding what to say, he taps her on the shoulder to garner her attention. It was like a scene from a Muggle movie. The way she turned around and her hair spun around her face. Her red lips parted askance. Those eyes that closer up aren’t even obsidian at all. They’re a rich dark brown, almost like burnt sugar.

Not expecting to be face-to-face with someone like this, the wires in Yunho’s brain become crossed. Thankfully, when Yunho opens his mouth, word vomit does not come forth. However, something much worse occurs.

Yunho ends up saying, “Me Yunho are you?”

The sane Yunho within the confines of his mind is able to witness the confusion that manifests on his Helen of Troy’s face. In utter mortification, Yunho’s subconscious gears itself up to be able to field the question that the girl is sure to ask.

However a “Kim Junsu!” is called by Professor McGonagall and the pretty pretty pretty person turns around to cheer on her friend, patting his bum to urge him on the pedestal.

With Yunho’s crush distracted, Yunho turns back to his friends behind him. Rather than the expected nervousness at being so close to being sorted, both Donghae and Hyukjae at smirking at him. It was obvious they witnessed his blunder. Hyukjae’s face cracks to allow him to incredulously ask, “Me Yunho?? Yunho are you okay?”

Yunho jumps forward to cover Hyukjae’s unnecessarily loud voice before everyone finds out how much he embarrassed himself. Yunho spends the next couple minutes telling his friends to shut up.

Preoccupied in maintaining his reputation amongst his friends, Yunho realizes two things:

1. He wasn’t paying attention to what name Professor McGonagall used when she called for his crush, and
2. He’s up next to the Sorting Hat.

”Jung Yunho!”

On shaking legs, that weren’t even trembling this much when he was pulled out of the freezing Lake, Yunho walks up to the center stage. Yunho manages to see his Helen of Troy sitting at a table chatting amicably with someone that seems familiar, before the Sorting Hat covers his small head all the way down to his nose.

“Ah! Jung Yunho is it? Many a Jung have passed through these hallowed Halls.”

Yunho trembles when he hears the Hat, so loud that it’s nearly deafening, “Uh, yes sir?”

“What would you like to get out of your years at Hogwarts, lad?”

“An education? And hopefully some life long friendships.”

“Adorable. Now do you have any requests before I announce your house placement?”

“Wait already? Don’t you have to ask me more questions to see which house I’m fit for? I know all my ancestors have been in the same house, but didn’t you ask all of them more questions too?”

“Lad, I’m magic Hat that is thousands of years old. I think I know my way around the block. Now tell me any requests you have before I place you.”

“Well, there’s this girl… Whom I sort of really like.”

“Okay… What’s their name?”

“I don’t know, just that they were sorted before me.”

“So let me get this straight. You want me to Sort you into a house, which you’ll be in for the next 7 years, because you want to be with your crush?”

“Well if you say it like that it sounds dumb, but yes.”

“I guess if your love is meant to be, then you’ll find a way to be with them regardless of what house you’re in.”

“Wait, what???”

The Sorting Hat’s voice is heard again, this time not in the surround sound inside Yunho’s head, but rather outside his head, as though from a different room. The Hat announces to the Great Hall, “Although he wanted to be place in the house of his newfound crush, I have decided something different.”

The Sorting Hat roars, “GRYFFINDOR!”

~

“I still can’t believe you won’t tell me…”

Yunho pauses his efforts of trying to catch Heechul’s eyes, and turns to a pouting Donghae, “Why don’t you believe me when I tell that I don’t know who is it?”

“How can you have a crush on someone without knowing who it is?” asks Hyukjae from Donghae’s other side.

The three of them are sat at the Gryffindor table. Donghae and Hyukjae had both been sorted into Hufflepuff, but as soon as the banquet commenced, they made their way over to the neighboring Gryffindor table to talk to Yunho.

Yunho has already fielded multiple questions about his crush. Everyone from the prefects, the other first years beside him, and even the other students at the far end of the Gryffindor table have come to ask him. None of them believed him when Yunho said that he only knows her face, not her name.

Yunho sighs at Hyukjae’s question, “Apparently I’m the only one unlucky enough and stupid enough for something like to happen to.”

Donghae reaches across the table over the rotisserie chicken platter to rub Yunho’s shoulder in comfort. “It’s okay Yunho. You have the whole year to find and talk to her!”

Yunho gives back a half hearted smile and takes a few more bites of his steak.

After a bit he looks up again and sees Heechul trying to to catch his eye. Once their eyes meet, the older boy beckons him over. Yunho stands up to walk to the table at the far side of the dining hall to sit next to Heechul.

Seated on Heechul’s right side, Yunho is at the prime spot he’s been coveting all night. He’s across from his Helen of Troy that was sorted into the same house as his friend.

Heechul opens his mouth, about to about the crush that Hat has mentioned. However, once he sees the expression on Yunho’s face as he sees the person sat opposite him, Heechul decides to keep mum and see how the events play out.

After a couple minutes of silence wherein Yunho is staring at the oblivious person across him, due to his friends staring between Heechul and Yunho in confusion, Heechul decides to break the uncomfortable stillness.

“So Yunho!” Yunho jolts from his staring to peer at Heechul, “How do you like Gryffindor so far? Did you make any new friends yet?”

“I mean I’m sure my family will be proud with me carrying on my legacy as another Gryffindor.”

Heechul waggles his eyebrows as he asks, “But you would rather have been Sorted into a different house right?”

At this, Yunho’s crush looks up from their soup to stare at him. Pools of stars from across the galaxy. The tips of Yunho’s ears flush, “Ah hyung, come on!”

Heechul lightly chuckles, “Sorry Yunho, I can’t help but tease you know that! Anyways let me introduce you to my friends, I know I haven’t talked about them much back home.”

Yunho sits up eagerly, excited to meet new people, “This is Leeteek, and next to him is Jungmo,” Yunho nods and smiles at each person as Heechul introduces them to him. “And finally those two. Across from me is Han Geng, he’s in the same year as me. And next to him is my new protégée, Joongie.”

Joongie. What a pretty name for such a pretty person. I wonder what your full name is, so I can write it next to mine for the rest of time. So pretty. So nice. The face that launched a thousand ships. Wow "Joongie, you’re so pretty. Like literally the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

Every motion around Yunho seemed to stop. The only thing that was active was the new fire set ablaze behind Joongie’s eyes. Joongie calmly straightens up. “My name is Kim Jaejoong, and I am not a girl. I am a male student.” And his statement was punctuated with a stiff kick to Yunho’s shin.

Sending an apologetic glance towards Heechul, Jaejoong stands up from the table. After a glance from Heechul, Han Geng follows Jaejoong to calm him down.

Watching Yunho absentmindedly rub his shin, Heechul asks politely, “Yunho what the ? I have never known you to be that rude to anyone.”

Yunho stops rubbing his ankle and looks at Heechul next to him. Ignoring his question, Yunho states, “Hyung, I need help in devising my plan to make Kim Jaejoong my boyfriend. He is my male Helen of Troy. Will you help me?”

As Heechul stares at Yunho incredulously, Yunho stares at Jaejoong’s vacated spot as though it held all the secrets to life’s mysterious.

Somewhere across the hall, a loud guffawing dolphin laughter was heard from someone laughing at his friend’s expense.