Suho is mortified.

Completely and utterly mortified.

Humiliated.

Doomed to never show his face in the halls of Hogwarts ever again.

Lay sighs, listening to Suho lament all of this out loud from within the lavatory stall.

“Suho, seriously, it’s not that bad,” Lay tries to reason, stationed outside of the stall.

He’s exhausted, he really is.

Scratches line Lay’s arms and hands from where he had tried to pry Jyunmoney off of Suho earlier, before he had managed to soothe the deranged cat and deposit him back in the dorm room.

(He may or may not have had to use the Full Body-Bind curse.)

And then Lay had made his way back to the Great Hall, checking every lavatory between there and the Hufflepuff common room (which, if anyone is wondering, is an arseload) for Suho, who he had last seen running away while sobbing about how his dress robes were, “completely and utterly ruined.”

And now, after a half hour of trying to convince Suho to come out of the stall he’s barricaded himself in, Lay really just wants to go and sleep for the next few months.

A drawn-out wail is the only response Lay gets to his previous remark, followed by a storm of sniffling sounds, and the thunk of what Lay thinks is Suho’s head against one of the stall walls.

Lay lets his own forehead drop forward to rest against the stall door, going a little cross-eyed trying to read the words someone has scratched into the metal.

It kind of looks like it says, “K + Cupcake = Forever”, but Lay isn’t sure.

“Suho,” Lay tries again, straightening his tie around his neck and ignoring the multiple rips in his own dress robes, “we can just head back to the dorms if you want.”

Suho is silent.

Lay closes his eyes in weariness.

“It doesn’t matter if your robes are ripped,” he continues, trying to form sentences through his muddled thoughts, sleep clinging to every inch of him. “I bet you still look great.”

A small hiccup/laugh sounds through the door.

Lay smiles in relief, glad he’s finally getting somewhere with this.

“And really, I don’t care what you look like, ever,” Lay starts, inspired by his own speech. “All that matters to me is- Luhan?”

“What?” Suho’s voice floats out, confused and somewhat irritated.

But Lay is too busy staring at the person who has just burst into the lavatory, who just so happens to be Luhan, and who looks very, very angry.

And half-way .

“Merlin’s-,” Lay starts, but Luhan holds up a hand, silencing him.

“Don’t ask,” Luhan says, closing his eyes and breathing very deeply through his nose.

And then he turns and walks over to one of the sinks, buttoning up his shirt, his dress robes thrown over one arm.

He looks like he just had an encounter with a Veela, Lay thinks, but he’s paused mid-thinking by the bang of a door behind him.

“The only thing that matters to you is Luhan?” Suho asks disbelievingly, and Lay blinks at him, not following.

“What?” he asks, at the same time that Luhan says, “Excuse me?”

Suho scowls.

“Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?” he asks next, and Lay is still having trouble catching up, but Luhan squawks in indignation.

“No,” Luhan says, looking at Suho with sincerity. “No offense Lay, but I would rather snog Professor Flitwick than kiss you.”

Lay blinks slowly at Luhan, and Luhan can almost hear the gears in his brain turning before…

“Hey!” Lay protests, majorly offended.

But then he’s turning to Suho, ready to copy what Luhan just said because of course there’s nothing going on between them.

Gross.

Suho stops him before he can start.

“It’s okay, Lay,” he says, a tired smile on his face. “I just need to sleep.”

Lay smiles back at his boyfriend, before turning back to Luhan and sticking his tongue out at him.

But Luhan is too busy shrugging on his robes and running his hands through his hair to fix it.

“I would ask, but I would probably rather not know,” Lay begins, alluding to Luhan’s disheveled appearance, and sleepiness making him mumble his words. “All I can envision is you, Sehun, and licorice wands.”

Lay frowns after the words leave his mouth, seemingly confused by himself.

Luhan and Suho pause as well, looking at him with their brows furrowed as if they’re contemplating what he just said.

Lay shakes himself after a few beats.

“Never mind,” he says, grabbing Suho’s hand. “Come on, I need to sleep too.”

“See you Luhan,” Suho calls as Lay tugs him out of the lavatory, and Luhan, still wondering about “licorice wands”, bids them both goodnight, finally managing to get his tie back in place.

After his friends leave the bathroom, Luhan stares at his reflection in the mirror.

He scowls in the most menacing way he can.

If he has to be honest, he’s actually pretty terrifying when he’s angry.

Actually, he looks like an enraged pygmy puff, but that’s besides the point.

Luhan makes his frown deeper, growling a little before he realizes that that’s probably a weird thing to do.

But then he’s back to glaring.

Because he has a job to do.

He’s going to find whoever cursed him earlier.

And he’s going to make them pay.

“Why?” Kai wails, banging his fists against the door. “Kris! Get me out of here you big idiot!”

But there’s no response.

Kai is alone.

In his room.

And it’s freaking locked because stupid Kris Wu had decided that Kai was being “uncivilized” and “humiliating” and a whole lot of other things that Kai can’t really remember, and had cast a locking spell on the door before leaving.

Kai isn’t sure what had gotten into him earlier, but he had vomited a few more times on the way back with Kris, and now he feels perfectly fine.

And he had definitely informed Kris of this before the other boy had left, even adding in one of his sunshiney-smiles to convince the taller boy, but somehow, that had only made Kris throw him in the room faster, muttering something about “hormonal teenagers” and “horrible friends” and “perfectly fine my ”.

Kai doesn’t even have his wand.

A person named Kris Wu does though.

A person named Kris Wu who is comparable to one of those dumb trolls Kai had read about in one of his classes a few days ago.

A person named Kris Wu who Kai is going to strangle the moment he sees him.

Kai looks dramatically at his own imagined camera, head lowered, eyes intense, mouth set into what he hopes looks like a serious line, pretending that he’s in one of those television dramas he knows Muggles watch all of the time.

“This is Kai, spy and intense lover of cupcakes, heading off onto my next mission… Finding Kris Wu.”

Kai pauses for a second, dropping the façade and thinking.

And then he’s whipping his head back towards the imaginary camera.

“Finding Kris Wu and then Cupcake. Hate vs. Love. Part II.”

Kai isn’t sure what that means, but he likes the sound of it.

Sehun groans, holding his head in his hands.

Everything hurts, and his stomach feels oddly empty, and, “Freaking fizzing whizbees, why do I feel like crying?” Sehun mumbles to himself mournfully.

“Mr. Oh, I will not tolerate that kind of language,” a familiar voice reprimands him, and Sehun squeaks, jumping a little.

Apparently he’s not alone.

Slowly, Sehun looks up, eyes finding the sharp features of Professor McGonagall first before Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick also come into view.

Professor McGonagall looks exasperated to say the least, and Professor Snape looks ten times more angry than he usually does.

And what is that all over Professor Flitwick’s hea…?

“Oh,” Sehun says.

He swallows hard, feeling the weight of three glares all directed at him, and then offers his most abashed smile.

“I feel sick?” he tries, hoping for some sympathy.

Professor Flitwick makes a sound like an enraged garden gnome.

“I hate you,” Xiumin snaps, folding his arms over his chest and sitting back against the wall.

Chen smirks at him from the opposite side of the hall, legs sprawled out in front of him comfortably.

“Are you sure about that?” he asks. “Because you looked pretty rosy earlier. Especially after my song.”

Somehow Chen is not at all ashamed of his love-stricken performance.

Xiumin on the other hand, well…

“You tried to kiss me!” Xiumin exclaims, throwing his hands into the air. “And now I’m stuck out here with you instead of at the party because Professor McGonagall thought that we needed to sort out our ‘feelings’ for each other or something.”

Xiumin uses very exaggerated air quotations on the word “feelings”.

Chen’s grin widens.

“Feelings, huh?” he asks.

Xiumin hates how hot his face feels.

“Shut up,” Xiumin responds, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall. “I’m done talking to you.”

There’s silence for a few moments, and Xiumin feels oddly disappointed because Chen really gave up rather easily…

And then something soft and warm is pressing against his mouth before it’s gone just as quickly.

Xiumin’s eyes fly open in surprise because did Chen just…?

Sure enough, Chen is hovering almost directly in front of him, all traces of joking aside.

Instead he almost looks nervous.

Xiumin blinks, dumbfounded and dazed.

“Maybe we should talk about our feelings,” Chen manages to choke out, cheeks flushed pink, and Xiumin stares some more. “Because I can’t believe I just did that.”

D.O. meanders around the Winter Formal aimlessly, sipping from his mug of hot chocolate and enjoying the ambiance.

Actually, he’s not wandering around “aimlessly”.

But he can’t seem to find that idiot Hufflepuff at the moment, so walking around seems like the next best thing to do.

And Kai isn’t anywhere to be found either, much to D.O.’s disappointment.

He had been sure that it had been Kai that he had seen walking back into the Great Hall earlier at the end of his own performance, but a closer inspection had revealed it just to be one of the younger Slytherins that D.O. didn’t really know.

Apparently there’s a Kai fan-club that D.O. never knew about, mostly composed of students from Slytherin, because the boy that D.O. had mistaken for Kai had also been the one to shout “Get some!” during Chen’s performance.

Chen’s performance had actually been the most disturbing of the night for D.O..

But back to finding Kai…

D.O.’s actually thinking about going back to the Room of Requirement later tonight just to see if Kai will show up again.

Hopefully this time D.O. won’t fall asleep.

Tao shouts screams in the highest-pitched tone Kris has ever heard when a hand slaps down onto his shoulder from behind.

A very disgruntled-looking Sehun comes into view as soon as Tao turns around, and the latter breathes a sigh of relief before regarding his friend with irritation.

“Really?” Tao asks. “You had to in right now?”

Kris has just been about to lead Tao out to the gardens, where apparently there was a lot of mistletoe.

Wink, wink.

Sehun growls at Tao’s words, looking half-way furious and just a little crazy.

Tao steps back.

“You little twaffle,” Sehun hisses, moving forward.

Tao is going to ask what exactly a “twaffle” is, but he’s a little preoccupied with feeling terrified.

Sehun looks like a mix between a deranged parrot and an angry house elf, his hair sticking up at crazy angles and his tie hanging off kilter around his neck.

“The candy,” Sehun says menacingly low, eyes alight with some kind of half-psychotic rage.

“Candy?” Tao squeaks asks. “What candy?”

“You switched out the candy I bought at Honeydukes with some of those disgusting prank ones, didn’t you?” Sehun asks, taking another step closer.

Tao grabs onto Kris’s arm, the taller one’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“I don’t know what you’re talki-,” Tao starts, rolling his eyes even through his fear, but Sehun lets loose a garbled scream and rushes him before he can finish.

Tao shrieks, scrambling to put some space between them, running behind Kris and almost slipping on the floor.

And then Tao is letting go of Kris’s arm, which he has pulled painfully behind Kris’s back at the moment, and sprints across the hall, headed for the gardens, Sehun hot on his heels.

Kris groans, slapping his palm against his forehead.

He’s never coming to another Winter Formal again.

(Meanwhile, while Kris is regretting his choice of friends/boyfriends, a stealthy figure rolls across the floor behind him, only stopping when they are hidden behind one of the ice sculptures.)

“How did Kai get out of the dorm room without his wand?” Kai asks himself, now pretending to be the narrator of his new drama show.

He takes another smoldering look at the pretend camera, making sure to let mystery enter his eyes and voice.

“Nobody will ever know. Stay tuned to find out what happens to the so-called impervious Kris Wu.”

Kai drops his narrator role, still crouched behind some kind of ice sculpture shaped like a centaur, and peeks out from behind it.

Kris is still standing where Kai had first spotted him after re-entering the Great Hall about three seconds ago, shaking his head and staring after what looks like Sehun chasing Tao, which is weird.

But Kai has other things to focus on at the moment.

Kris turns a little to the side, running a hand through his hair, and Kai narrows his eyes, squinting to see if he can find…

“There it is!” Kai whispers triumphantly, spotting his wand sticking just out of the edge of Kris’s dress robes.

Kai, still crouching low to the floor, scuttles a little to the side, moving around to the side of the room that Kris isn’t looking towards.

He hasn’t really planned anything yet, not really sure what he could do that would embarrass Kris the most.

So Kai pauses, still hiding from view, and thinks.

And then, as a group of Ravenclaw guys that Kai recognizes from Quidditch pass by, greeting Kris, who, of all the possible reactions, seems to blush a little and wave back shyly, a light bulb goes off over Kai’s head.

He had noticed the looks Tao always shot Kris before when they had all first met, had kind of noticed that Kris and Tao seemed to be spending more time with each other recently, and now, after the Ravenclaws, a lot of the pieces click into place.

Not to mention that his plan also has the perfect cover, considering if what he had overheard Sehun saying a few seconds ago is true.

Kai grins evilly, still watching Kris, and then he makes his move.

Luhan straightens his tie, takes a deep breath, and walks back into the Great Hall.

He had passed by Chen and Xiumin in the hall outside, the two of them seemingly deep in discussion, and had decided to leave them alone.

After all, Luhan is looking for someone else.

He’s actually not sure how he’s supposed to find his spell-caster when he doesn’t even have the slightest clue as to who jinxed him, but Luhan hopes that maybe if he sees anyone looking at him oddly, he’ll find the culprit.

And just as Luhan enters the hall, a blood-curdling scream resounds throughout the room, making everyone around Luhan, including Luhan himself, jump about ten feet into the air.

Someone dressed in glittering emerald robes sprints past, closely followed by another figure in grey, and Luhan blinks, before shrugging and continuing his search.

He’s seen enough weird things at this school to almost not be fazed by it now.

Chen takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

He kind of feels out of place at the moment.

Usually he considers himself to be a confident and witty student, someone that the younger students can look up to, someone that has the ability to be as snarky as possible without actually getting in trouble for it.

But right now, Chen doesn’t feel confident or witty or snarky.

Chen feels anxious.

Xiumin is looking at him, waiting for Chen to speak because apparently he has something to say.

Or at least that’s what he had just told Xiumin a few seconds ago after he had decided to kiss Xiumin like the idiot that Chen was.

What if Xiumin didn’t even like him the same way?

Or what if he did, but the kiss had been the worst kiss Xiumin had ever had, and now he didn’t like Chen anymore?

Or what if…?

“Chen,” Xiumin says, still looking at him, and it’s making Chen’s pulse go faster. “I can literally see you thinking. Just tell me what you want to tell me.”

Xiumin sounds like he’s nervous too, but Chen is too caught up in his own whirlwind of feelings to really notice.

“Okay,” Chen breathes out before squeezing his eyes shut and going for it.

“I like you.”

And if Chen had been expecting a gasp of surprise, or possibly a scream of fear, from Xiumin, it doesn’t come.

Chen cracks his eyes open.

Xiumin is still looking at him, but he looks a little less nervous, which hopefully is a good thing.

“You what?” he asks, looking a little bewildered despite the blush that is blooming across his face.

“I like you,” Chen says again, the words a little easier to get out of his throat. “A lot,” he adds as an afterthought.

Xiumin’s face turns another shade of pink, and Chen breathes an internal sigh of relief.

Maybe Xiumin does like him in the same way.

Of course, there’s only one way to find out.

“So, do you like me too?” Chen asks, trying not to sound too eager.

Xiumin splutters, looking anywhere but at Chen.

Finally, he forces himself to meet Chen’s gaze.

“You drive me insane!” Xiumin exclaims suddenly, and Chen jumps a little.

“Ummm,” Chen starts, unsure how to answer.

“You’re constantly nagging me and foll