The old raised and covered bridge was technically off-limits to students. It had been blown up during the Battle of Hogwarts, and only parts of it were left. What was left was held up entirely by magic and presumably happy thoughts because any actual structure that it might once have had was no longer there.

Seunghyun had apparently, in passing, heard someone say that no one was brave enough to climb out to the edge of the bridge. This statement was inherently incorrect, and if Seunghyun had just talked to someone about this whole business then they probably wouldn’t be here now; actually, no, they would definitely still be here but there would probably be a lot more blood and yelling. This is mostly due to the fact that if Seunghyun had let any of his friends in on his ridiculous need to walk out onto the rickety and terribly unsafe structure, they would have reacted badly and he would have tried to come out on his own. As it was, he had tricked Daesung into coming along for a ‘walk’ with him around the castle grounds. It was a wonderfully mild mid-November night, and they were having a great time just talking about their friends and classes.

Daesung couldn’t tell you what Seunghyun said or did that made it so that he agreed to let the older boy walk out closer to the bridge; all that he really knows is that if these types of incidents become any more frequent, they are going to name a bed in the Hospital wing after Seunghyun.

“Ow! Careful!” Seunghyun whines as Daesung pulls the older boy up onto his back.

Daesung stops himself from responding the way that he wants to, because dropping Seunghyun would only get him in trouble, and starts to walk back to the castle.

“You’re going too fast! My leg hurts still, you’re not being careful!” Seunghyun was whining directly into his ear, and finally Daesung had had enough.

Reaching the courtyard, Daesung moves quickly to a nearby bench and drops Seunghyun onto it, whipping around to face him and crossing his arms.

“OW! What was that for” The pout on Seunghyun’s face only proved to make Daesung angrier.

“What. Did you. Think. You were. Doing?” He was having trouble controlling his anger.

“Daesung, what are you…?”

“No, don’t answer that. You weren’t thinking. Do you know how dangerous that was? Wandering out onto the bridge? You didn’t even tell me what you were doing! Seunghyun, I can’t even, I can’t look away from you for two seconds if we are near something that could possibly cause pain.”

Seunghyun’s mouth had been hanging open since being cut off, but when Daesung continued on his rant, his mouth had snapped shut. He was looking at Daesung with wide eyes and an otherwise thoroughly chastised look. Daesung, for his part, had to keep his eyes averted or else he knew that he would just give in, like he always did. He had such a difficult time staying mad at his older friend and he felt awful for getting angry like this, but he hated how worried Seunghyun always made him feel.

Daesung finally looked at Seunghyun, and let out a sigh, “Top, just, just don’t do it. You always worry everyone. Just stop. Good Godric, stop looking at me like that, come on, let’s get you to the Infirmary.”

Daesung wasn’t surprised when three days later Seungri dragged Seunghyun to the infirmary from the lake. Stupid, brave, show-offy Gryffindors.

***

“What do you need a tutor for?” Seunghyun asks as he and Seungri walk around the lake. It was getting near to December and it was starting to get much colder (and snowier); but those things wouldn’t stop Seunghyun from completing a weekly ritual with Seungri. “You study with Youngbae on Tuesdays, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s only one night…and I’m really not doing well…” Seungri says, his voice dropping lower at the end and his face coloring.

“Ahh, Ri.” Seunghyun says, his voice holding a serious note that Seungri wasn’t used to hearing. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of. GD barely gets by in Herbology, that’s a well-known fact.” Seungri lets out a sigh and shakes his head.

“Yeah, but it’s allowed because he’s Jiyong and he’ll get by because he’s a Ravenclaw and stupid smart.” Seunghyun lets out a soft snort at that.

“’Stupid smart’? What even is that?” Seungri waves his hands in the air to divert the focus back to the issue at hand.

“I just, if I told Youngbae or Jiyong they would get upset with me and tell me I should have studied harder and I don’t want to be lectured when I can’t change the fact that I’m stupid.” Seungri was trying hard not to look at Seunghyun, but he was forced to when he realized that the older boy had stopped walking. “What?”

Seunghyun takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “You’re not stupid, V.I.” Seungri looks down and shakes his head, “You’re not, so stop saying that you are. You’re just frustrated, and I understand because this stuff is really hard and it’s weird.” Seungri looks back up and his head to the side, urging Seunghyun to continue. “Ah Ri, Daesung is the only one of us who has magic in their family history. Magic is weird, it’s strange to come here and then go home where we can’t do magic and our families don’t; that makes it harder to really be able to do it, to really understand it because it is always new and it is always surprising.”

“My parents sometimes wish that I would come back home and go back to Muggle School.” Seungri says quietly, as if he were trying to will himself not to cry.

“Mine did too, at first. But you know how to stop that? By being happy and doing well. Maybe then they will understand that this is a part of you.” Seunghyun lets out a harsh breath, shoving his hands deep into the pocket at the front of his sweatshirt. “School is hard, Ri. I’m not exactly awesome at school, but I know that I don’t want to be back at a Muggle School, because I hated it when I was there before, and that keeps me studying and passing.”

Seungri nods, wiping at his eyes to make sure he wasn’t crying. “Yeah, I know.” They are both quiet for a second, looking at the ground or out over the lake. Seunghyun gets fidgety after a moment and starts walking again, Seungri falling into step next to him.

“So, who’s your tutor?” Seunghyun asks, and Seungri lets out an annoyed breath.

“Some Ravenclaw in my year,” He says, and Seunghyun laughs.

“ ‘Some Ravenclaw’? You don’t even know their name?”

“Her name is Ette…I think.” Seungri says, his mouth falling into a frown of concentration as he thinks. “She’s friends with a girl in Daesung’s year, I’ve seen them together before. But otherwise I don’t really know much about her except that she answers questions in class.”

Seunghyun shrugs, “I don’t know her either, but maybe you could ask Jiyong or Youngbae, since they are in the same House.” Seungri makes a pained face at that suggestion, but Seunghyun continues on anyway. “Hey, they may know something about her, and Seungri, they are bound to find out that you’ve got a tutor.” Seungri sighs in response and shivers as a cold breeze blows past.

“I know, but…I dunno.”

“It will be fine; don’t worry about it so much.” Seunghyun says before pushing Seungri roughly in the shoulder and jogging lightly ahead. “Hey! Come on! If we hurry we can get hot chocolate and cookies from the kitchen before Daesung gets out of his Slytherin Homework Circle!” Seungri pouts lightly, rubbing his shoulder, before jogging to catch up.

***

It had been Daesung’s idea originally, though he would never admit it now because Big Seunghyun had been praising Little Seunghyun on it being such a great idea and the spark of happiness that was present in the younger boy’s eyes was enough to squash any jealousy at the compliments that Big Seunghyun was giving. The letters home to their parents had all been received rather well, and so it was that the five boys were going to spend this Christmas Holiday at Hogwarts instead of going home.

“Dad said that everyone should experience a Hogwarts Christmas at least once.” Daesung says, looking up from a letter he had received from home that morning. They had been chatting about how great the coming Christmas was going to be all morning as the final sign-up sheet for who was going to stay had been passed around the night before.

“I can’t wait, it will be perfect. The Hall is already mostly decorated, I can only imagine how utterly magical everything will look in a week or so.” Jiyong says, a smile stretched across his face as he leans around Seungri to look at Daesung as he speaks.

“Sometimes I can’t tell when you’re being sarcastic or sincere.” Seunghyun says, arching an eyebrow as he speaks.

“He’s probably being sarcastic.” Youngbae says, his head hidden by a copy of the Daily Prophet. Jiyong takes Youngbae’s lack of sight as an opportunity to stick his tongue out at him before kicking him hard in the shin. “Ow! What the heck?” Youngbae says, dropping his paper and rubbing his hand over his hurt shin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jiyong says, his face staying neutral as he reaches forward and grabs a pitcher of pumpkin juice. “If your shins hurt you should probably drink more juice, you are obviously missing an essential vitamin.” He says, pouring Youngbae a glass of the juice and pushing it toward him.

The other three keep their heads averted so that Youngbae doesn’t catch them laughing; this was the closest that Youngbae and Jiyong ever got to actually fighting, and it was more funny than unfortunate.

***

February at Hogwarts is a relatively quiet month. This was mostly due to a rule put in effect by the Headmistress and enforced rather enthusiastically by the younger staff members (especially Professor Longbottom), that banned overtly loud or extravagant celebrations of Valentine’s Day. That being said, most people still celebrated Valentine’s, they just did it a lot more tastefully…or as tastefully as a bunch of teenagers can celebrate that type of holiday.

It was nearing the end of the month when it happened, and it was a complete accident. Daesung had left his Arithmancy book with Seunghyun the night before, which was why Seunghyun was fighting his way through the swarm of Slytherins leaving the Transfiguration classroom instead of making his way to the Gryffindor Common Room where he normally went during his free period on Thursdays.

“Daesung!” He called, though not as loudly as he probably should have. Daesung had Arithmancy directly after Transfiguration on Thursdays so he always went the opposite direction from the rest of the 4^th year Slytherins, none of whom took Arithmancy with him.

“He’s heading up to the side stairs.” A little Gryffindor girl says to him as he tries to look over the crowd for his friend. “He always goes that way after class.”

Seunghyun nods to her, flashing her a quick smile and noting the cute way her dark brown hair bounced as she nodded at him, before he took off in the direction she had indicated. Sure enough, once he broke through the throng of Slytherins and Gryffindors (he had forgotten about the Gryffindors with all of the Slytherins milling about), he saw Daesung walking purposefully down the hall. Seunghyun quickens his pace and manages to catch up just as Daesung made his way into a secret passage that was a short cut to the Arithmancy classroom.

“Dae! D-Lite!” Seunghyun shouts as he follows the younger boy into the passage. Shocked out of his concentration on what he was doing, Daesung stops rather abruptly and turns.

Seunghyun hadn’t been expecting Daesung to stop so suddenly, and was only barely able to come to a stop. Maybe if he had had a couple of seconds more to catch himself it wouldn’t have happened, but in order to steady himself and Daesung as they collided, Seunghyun grabbed Daesung by the shoulders; rather effectively pulling Daesung closer. Somehow this collision brought their mouths together in a slightly awkward open-mouthed kiss as both boys had had their mouths open in shock when it happened. Daesung pulls his head back slightly only to have Seunghyun follow rather unconsciously; re-connecting their mouths in a much more purposeful and pleasant kiss than the first.

The bell for class rings and Daesung jerks back and away from Seunghyun. “I’m going to be late!” He says, stumbling a little, his eyes wide and his face flushed red.

Seunghyun was still a little dazed, but he manages to smirk as he shoves the Arithmancy book at Daesung. “You’re already late, Dae.”

Daesung grabs the book and starts to back away, a strangled noise sneaking past his lips as he brings his hand up to his mouth. “Ah, I’ll see you later!” He stutters out before turning and running down the hall to class.

Seunghyun stands there for a couple of moments, and soon the initial shock starts to fade and so does the inexplicable high he had received the second his mouth had connected with his younger friend’s. Those feelings are replaced by confusion and a strange sense of panic. What did I just do? His mind questions him, the thought flying through his brain and bouncing around, repeating itself over and over again until he can’t take it any longer.

He sets his face and turns around, heading toward Gryffindor Tower; there was a cute little 4^th year with bouncing dark brown hair that he needed to get to know better.