“I think I want to work with dragons.”

Seunghyun and Youngbae are frozen momentarily in shock as Daesung’s rather sudden proclamation sinks in. It was a typical Tuesday night for the boys: Jiyong worked until 10:00pm, and Youngbae, Daesung, and Seunghyun all got home at around 5:00pm. The three would always head out to the muggle side of town to grab some pizza, or something else a little less than healthy, and then wander around the area. Seunghyun assured the other two that it was important to get away from all of the magic from time to time, but they knew that what it really was was just an attempt at keeping some type of familiar routine in a part of the city that could offer him the comforts of his childhood.

They were sat in a big pizza parlor this Tuesday, tucked into a booth by a window in the corner. Daesung hadn’t been paying much attention to the conversation at the table, and had been staring rather unseeingly at the big brick oven behind the counter when he suddenly interrupted the flow of conversation with his statement.

“Really?” Youngbae asks after taking a sip from his drink. He kept his eyes on Daesung, a curious and interested expression on his face as he absently grabs a napkin to wipe the condensation from his glass.

Daesung nods and throws a quick glance at Seunghyun before turning his eyes downward to avoid eye contact with either of his friends. “Yeah. I qualify for training, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot since school ended…” He shrugs non-committedly and taps his fingers on the table in front of him.

“Why didn’t you apply for an apprenticeship over the summer?” Youngbae asks, and he’s pleased to see that Seunghyun nods along to the question; seemingly coming out of his stupor to become a part of the conversation.

“Ah, well…I wanted to see if I still wanted to try it… and I wanted to spend more time looking into the jobs that I could do…”

“You sound like Youngbae.” Seunghyun says with a slight smirk on his face. He nods at Daesung, his arms crossed over his chest as he leans back in his seat. “The best way to know if you want to do something is to try it. Doing the apprenticeship won’t hurt, will it?”

Daesung makes a face that rather clearly says that he isn’t so sure about that. “It’s not whether I want to do it or not that was holding me back.” He says softly before allowing a small shrug. “I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave the country.”

Youngbae darts his eyes at Seunghyun, waiting to see his reaction. “That shouldn’t affect whether you try to do what you want or not.” Seunghyun says, and Youngbae nods turning back toward Daesung. “If you apply and you’re placed in the middle of nowhere…we’ll figure it out.”

Daesung almost felt that Seunghyun was being too calm about this. But then he remembered that his boyfriend wasn’t a schoolboy anymore, and he was an adult who was trying to puzzle through what to do with his life, and that he should probably give the man more credit.

“Yeah, you’re right. I should just do it, shouldn’t I?” Daesung says, and the other two nod.

***

It had been Jiyong’s idea to go out to a tavern that night. They had all been fairly game for the experience, as there was a new place that had recently opened up near their flat and they had heard great things about the place…but Seunghyun was about ready to drag them all home.

Daesung hadn’t had much to drink, but Youngbae and he had decided to leave Seunghyun and Jiyong at their table to grab some drinks at the bar and just chat for a bit. The place was packed and it was almost too loud to hear anything. They weren’t up there for very long before people started to come up to talk with them. Some of the people that they chatted with they had known previously, and some they had never met, but they were having a pretty good time.

Daesung was just ordering them another couple of drinks when he heard Jiyong cut into a conversation that Youngbae was having with a very charming young woman. If it had been anyone else, Daesung would have ignored it…but being that it was Jiyong, Daesung couldn’t help but to become irritated.

It had become a rather normal occurrence, and one that Daesung had started writing to little Seunghyun about just to get his frustrations off his chest to someone who wasn’t around them all the time anymore. Jiyong would step on any chance that Youngbae had at finding someone, and Youngbae would just let it happen. It was nearing December and Daesung was starting to wonder if Youngbae was really just kind of stupid.

Seunghyun was just as perplexed and irritated as Daesung, but he was a lot more willing to bring the topic up with Youngbae.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” He asked as he dragged Youngbae out of the tavern a little under an hour later. Daesung was staying to have another drink with Jiyong.

“Does what bother me, Seunghyun?” Youngbae asked, tilting his head to the side and tipping it back to look up at the taller man.

Seunghyun lets out a sigh. “Jiyong. Doesn’t it bother you when he jumps in like that? When he stops any chance you might have of finding yourself someone to even just go out on a date with?”

Youngbae heaves a sigh and looks forward. “He just needs a lot of attention, Seunghyun, you know that.”

Seunghyun wants to argue, but they’ve had this conversation too many times for him to hope that Youngbae will come around to his way of thinking.

***

Seungri had sent all four of his older friends rather frantic letters the week before, and he was desperately hoping that he would get at least some kind of answer at breakfast that morning. He showed up to breakfast extra early that morning, possibly in the hopes that his owl would return much earlier than any of the other owls, but mostly because he wanted to be sure he had eaten before Erato came into the Great Hall.

She only ate breakfast with him on the weekends. For the most part, Seungri ate breakfast alone during the week, just because he wasn’t really the most pleasant in the morning and so it was a time when he preferred his own company over the company of others. His other friends mostly felt the same way, so even if they all drifted in at the same time, none of them spoke unless it was to ask for someone to pass something.

Seungri wasn’t wanting for friends. He definitely had plenty of people to hang out with and plenty of people to talk to and do homework with and skip class with…and he could almost say that he was content. But he most definitely missed his older friends. His group was far more than just a group of friends for him; they were a family, and he missed them a lot. But other than no longer having Thursday night quidditch practices with Jiyong, or desk hiding times with Daesung, or any other activity he had become accustomed to while they were all in school together…Seungri was pretty much okay being by himself in that sense, and that was something that he was very, very happy about.

But back to his pressing need for a reply. It was coming up on December, which would mean a Hogsmeade trip and Christmas break. Christmas meant gifts, and that was the problem: he didn’t know what to get Erato for Christmas.

If he were being honest, he would have to admit that he probably had a bit of a crush on the girl…but why on earth would he be honest about that when it was much more interesting to deny the feelings vehemently whenever someone brought them up?

Seungri was startled out of his reverie by an owl pecking at his hand. He jumped only a little bit and very nearly dropped his spoon. He regained his composure and recognized the owl as Youngbae’s. He only frowned momentarily, wondering where his own owl had gotten off to, before taking the letter from the owl and giving it a small piece of his bacon.

He looks down at the letter in his hands and tries not to seem too excited as he opens it up; the hall was pretty full by now and he needed to keep his cool in case someone was watching. He had just pulled the letter out and had barely unfolded it when someone dropped a hand onto his shoulder. He jumps just a bit and turns just in time to see Erato nudge the person closest him so that she could sit down between them. She drops into the seat sideways and cranes her neck a bit to try and see the letter.

“What’s got you so excited this morning?” She asks, trying to see the letter again. He quickly folds it back up and shoves it into the envelope, causing her to shrug and steal a piece of his toast. “Just wondering.” She says with a shrug.

“What’s up?” He asks her, still kind of surprised to see her.

“I want to learn how to dance.” She says simply, as if that explained absolutely everything about why she was sitting there on a Thursday morning.

“And….?” He says, shaking his head lightly, a look of confusion on his face.

She sighs and rolls her eyes before hitting him lightly on the arm. “You can dance. I know you can. Daesung told me so.” She tilts her head to the side, obviously waiting for an answer of some kind, but Seungri just continues to stare at her in confusion. She lets out a rather exasperated sigh. “Teach me.” She says, and Seungri wonders if she had meant it to be a question, because it definitely didn’t sound like one.

“Uh, I mean, I’m not that good, but I mean if you want…I could try.” He says, hoping that he sounds cooler than he imagines it did.

“Yay! Thanks Seungri!” She says happily, throwing her arms around his shoulders in a weird side hug. “See you in class!” She says before hopping up and off of the bench and skipping away toward the Ravenclaw table.

Oh Godric, what did I get myself into?

***

It was getting awkward. Well, it already was awkward. Jiyong would stare, and sigh, and sit too close. He would pout and he would giggle, he would touch too much and too often. They all knew that it was meant to mean more than Youngbae seemed to think that it did, but none of it ever really seemed to hit home with the guy.

"He practically sits on you when we play games." Seunghyun says as he fishes a tub of ice cream out of the freezer.

 “He’s just affectionate, he does it to everybody." Youngbae responds indifferently as he flips through his mail.

But GD didn’t do that to everybody. Hell, Youngbae couldn’t even look at anyone without GD breathing down his neck disapprovingly. Heaven forbid Youngbae be chatting with somebody, especially a girl, because Jiyong would appear out of nowhere to drape himself over Youngbae or somehow get between them.

"Doesn’t it bother you that you can’t even talk to a girl around him?" Seunghyun had asked one night after Youngbae had given up trying to dance at the bar they were at.

“He just likes attention; it’s not a big deal." Youngbae had responded, shrugging his shoulders and picking up a glass from the table.

So, being the annoyed but helpful friend that he is, Seunghyun is fed up with Jiyong’s reticence.

"Just tell him." Seunghyun and Jiyong were shopping for Christmas presents (for Youngbae because Jiyong always went mass present shopping with Youngbae, so he couldn’t buy him anything then).

Jiyong stops chewing and places the sandwich that he was eating back onto his plate. He had been rambling on about Youngbae and the perfect gift and Seunghyun’s statement had come instead of the answer that Jiyong had been looking for.

"What?" he asks, his confusion written plainly across his face as he sits back in his chair.

Seunghyun drags his hand down over his face and takes a deep breath; “Taeyang. Tell him that you like him and get it the hell over with."

"I don’t know what—“Jiyong starts.

Seunghyun cuts him off with a wave of his hand, “No don’t play that. You know exactly what I am talking about, and it’s getting frustrating. Just tell him, or stop interfering in his love-life."

Jiyong frowns, his mood thrown off; “He doesn’t have a love-life."

"Yeah, because you get in the way of every chance he gets." Seunghyun is becoming more frustrated by the second, “Ji, you know I consider you like a brother to me,” He says a little more forcefully than he intended as he sits forward in his seat to pin Jiyong with a stare. “But I also consider Youngbae a brother. You can’t keep messing around with his life and happiness if you aren’t going to do anything. Lay off him and let him go after somebody, or tell him."

"He doesn’t think of me like that." Jiyong says, giving up being angry and falling back against his chair in a huff.

"Just, just think about it. Because I’m getting tired of you ruining his game and just making the both of you miserable." Seunghyun says, and picks up his own sandwich, “Now eat, don’t we have the ‘most perfect and beautifully wonderful present in the whole entire world’ to find? I’d be offended that you put more effort into his presents than mine if I didn’t understand the sentiment behind it." He says, a small grin forming on his face as he watches for Jiyong to crack a smile.