“Here, come on guys!” Chanyeol whispers as he spots a secluded corner down the current hallway they’re running in, ushering the other three ahead of him quickly.

 

The four wheezing boys manage to squeeze into the shadowed nook, all trying to quiet their breathing as they listen intently.

 

“Did we lose them?” Luhan whispers, loosening his tie almost completely by now.

 

Sehun watches in fascination.

 

“Yeah, but let’s wait just a bit to be sure,” Baekhyun responds, knees pressed snugly against Chanyeol’s as the two use each other for support.

 

Sehun, on the other hand, is trying to avoid all contact with the beautiful Hufflepuff standing directly in front of him, barely a foot of space in between them even with Sehun’s back pressing hard against the stone wall behind him.

 

It’s not that he doesn’t want to kiss Luhan anymore.

 

It’s just that he would prefer to not have an audience for his first kiss, thank you very much.

 

Sehun flushes when he looks up to see Luhan staring at him.

 

He’d apparently been too occupied with his “Kiss Luhan” thoughts to realize that Luhan just asked him a question.

 

“Sorry, what?” Sehun asks with a cough.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchange knowing glances on the side.

 

“I was just wondering why your hair is pink,” Luhan repeats curiously, and Sehun’s stomach drops.

 

Because Luhan already knows about Sehun’s hair color changing with his moods.

 

But he doesn’t necessarily know what each color signifies.

 

Not that it’s too difficult to piece that part together.

 

“Whoa,” Chanyeol comments, eyes growing wide as he takes in the pink tint spreading through Sehun’s hair. “Dude, that’s freakin’ aweso-” 

 

He’s cut off, however, by a slap to the thigh from Baekhyun.

 

“They’re having a moment,” the smaller Gryffindor mouths not too stealthily, and Sehun feels his flush deepen.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sehun says seriously, returning his attention to Luhan. 

 

“You’re hair, it’s pink,” Luhan continues in fascination, reaching up to softly touch a tuft.

 

Alarms seem to go off in Sehun’s head at this, and he’s pretty sure a piece of his soul just shriveled up and died.

 

“It’s not pink,” he croaks insistently, trying to move his head out of Luhan’s reach.

 

“It’s kind of pink,” Baekhyun points out from the side, Chanyeol nodding in agreement behind him, and Sehun almost yelps when he remembers the company he has.

 

He’s too concerned about Luhan seeing his pink hair to care if they see his hair change color as well.

 

But he’s got to get out of this nook, away from Baekhyun pressed against his side, away from Chanyeol’s unnervingly large eyes, away from Luhan’s hands. in. his. hair.

 

And so that is why Sehun ends up stumbling out of their hiding spot, hands trying to flatten his hair as he ignores their calls at him to come back.

 

The other three are squeezing out of the tiny corner when they hear it.

 

Unfortunately, it sounds like they didn’t lose their pursuers.

 

 

 

Suho stumbles a bit backwards in surprise when red sparks come flying at him through the darkness of the kitchens.

 

“No! No! No!” Luhan’s kidnapper shouts with each shot in Suho’s direction, and Suho’s momentarily distracted by the fact that the kidnapper has a wand.

 

Which means the kidnapper has to be someone from the school.

 

But he manages to deflect each flurry of sparks with his own wand, waiting for the next spell to come his way through the darkness.

 

What Suho does not expect, however, is to hear a scream cut through the silence, before something very tall and very gangly is knocking the air out of his lungs as it bowls him over.

 

He tries to grab ahold of anything he can get his hands on as the kidnapper struggles to escape, both of them breathing heavily as they scuffle.

 

But his attempts are futile.

 

Because as soon as Suho feels like he’s latched on to something, there’s a hand shoving against his face while something else, maybe a knee, catches him in the stomach.

 

Using Suho’s momentary agony to its advantage, the kidnapper scrambles off of him, almost careening into a countertop before sprinting for the doors.

 

Suho watches through watering eyes as it goes, trying to shout something out but unable to find his voice.

 

Or his ability to breath.

 

But it soon returns to him as he’s crawling towards the area where he believed Luhan was earlier, only to find what?

 

Nothing.

 

Suho kicks a pot across the kitchen floor in anger, trying to ignore the immediate throbbing that that causes in his foot.

 

It was a trick.

 

But he’s not going to let this kidnapper get away that easily.

 

Because it couldn’t have gotten too far by now, and Suho swears that he will find it, and Luhan, as he slips out of the kitchen as well.

 

 

 

“Suho,” Lay whispers into the very large room he was just deposited in.

 

Kai told him to stay there until he felt better, and that he was safe in here because no professors would be able to find him.

 

He also assured him that Suho was waiting for him inside, but that he would have to find him.

 

Lay found that dubious.

 

But he’s doing it anyway, occasionally calling out for Suho as he wanders in between countertops in this mysterious room.

 

Lay gasps in astonishment as he spots a huge mixer within the room, the bowl attachment so big that it comes up past his head.

 

He continues cooing in wonder as he approaches it, placing both hands upon its stainless steel surface and then giggling as he sees someone staring back at him right in front of his face.

 

“Hello!” Lay says brightly to his reflection, the tip of his nose nearly touching the bowl.

 

“You’re a cutie,” he comments, giggling to himself, and then giggling some more when the person giggles with him.

 

But the person is not his Suho, so Lay detaches himself from the bowl to continue looking.

 

That’s when he sees them.

 

A whole plate-full of rainbows.

 

Or should he say, cupcakes with rainbow icing, practically shining under the light due to the heaps of sparkly sprinkles on top of them.

 

Lay’s eyes grow to the size of saucers as he walks towards them in a daze, arms outstretched.

 

Suho must have left them for him.

 

Of course he did.

 

They just look so happy, and sparkly, and they even go wonderfully with Lay’s sparkly unicorn pajamas.

 

 

 

D.O. pauses for a moment after turning off the faucet where he was washing his hands, currently in the back of his kitchen.

 

He could have sworn he heard something.

 

But no one knows how to get into his Room of Requirement besides Chen, Xiumin, and Kai, and Chen and Xiumin should still be collecting the Flitterbys while Kai already told him that he’d be busy tonight.

 

Something about a manhunt and Kris.

 

So he shakes it off as he starts walking back towards the main area, drying his hands on a towel as he goes.

 

The first thing that tells him something is off are the hand prints on his mixer.

 

D.O. specifically knows that he keeps everything in his kitchen spotless, especially his precious, over-large mixer.

 

Which means that someone is in there with him.

 

D.O. grimaces at the hand prints on the bowl, quickly using his hand towel to erase the smudges despite the fact that he’s not alone in his kitchen.

 

It’s only when he sees something move in the bowl’s reflective surface that he ceases his rubbing to spin around, wand in hand.

 

There’s a figure sitting on the ground near his cooking counter not too far away from him, their back turned to D.O.

 

For a second he thinks it may be Chen or Xiumin, but the clothes are off.

 

Because neither Chen nor Xiumin were wearing sparkly white pajamas.

 

Raising his wand, D.O. draws closer, praying that it’s possibly Kai returning from a night of “man hunting”.

 

He stops after a few steps, however, as he watches the figures shoulders shake slightly.

 

And then he hears a sniff.

 

Accompanied by the sound of… sobs?

 

D.O. accidentally hits the handle of one of pans on the countertop near him, just enough to make the vessel spin and clang against another nearby pot.

 

And then he’s staring in surprise as the person turns around on the floor, revealing that the sobbing person in his kitchen at this hour of the night is not, in fact, Kai.

 

It’s Lay, a Hufflepuff D.O. vaguely recognizes from his performance with Suho and the deranged cat at the Winter Formal, even though he’s never really spoken to him.

 

D.O. takes in his appearance in horror, feeling a sense of dread spread through his stomach at the sight of rainbow icing smeared around Lay’s mouth, sprinkles covering the front of his pajamas and streaking through his disheveled hair.

 

“Ok,” D.O. says faintly, reaching a hand out to support himself on the nearby countertop as Lay continues to stare at him with tearful eyes, mouth opening to release a small hiccup.

 

Because D.O. only had one batch of cupcakes out in his kitchen that night.

 

The ones for Luhan.

 

The revenge cupcakes.

 

Now, these weren’t ordinary cupcakes, as one could assume from them being revenge cupcakes.

 

They had a little something special in them.

 

Which was why Xiumin and Chen had retrieved the Glumbumbles for D.O. earlier.

 

Because Glumbumbles produce melancholy treacle, a honey-like product that causes immense emotions in whoever consumes it.

 

Immense emotions of sadness, to be exact.

 

Lay sniffs again, lower lip wobbling as if on the verge of a breakdown.

 

Exhibit A.

 

And despite their overwhelmingly happy appearance, it’s the sparkly rainbow icing that really packs the punch.

 

It had been D.O.’s hope that Luhan would fall for the fluffy appearance of the cupcakes and at least eat like three or four of them.

 

It only takes one cupcake to affect a fully grown person.

 

Peering around the tearful Hufflepuff to inspect the damage, D.O. spots the entire plate of rainbow cupcakes sitting on the floor in front of him, and as he counts them up his heart sinks further.

 

Because three of the nine cupcakes are gone from the plate.

 

Two of them have to already be working their magic inside of Lay’s stomach, based off of the amount of rainbow icing spread across his mouth.

 

And the third is currently in Lay’s hand.

 

“I have to get that cupcake,” D.O. plans seriously, for Lay’s sake since he’s still got plenty left for Luhan.

 

Lay eyes D.O. sadly as he edges forward, wand now stuffed securely in his back pocket.

 

“You’re not Suho,” he states with a disappointed look, and D.O. pauses.

 

But before he can say anything, Lay’s eyes start tearing up again, enough for the tears to run down his icing covered face.

 

“But-but he told me that Suho would b-be waiting for me in h-here!” he says mournfully, fists coming up to rub at his eyes.

 

“Who told you that Lay?” D.O. tries to question calmly, because he would sure like to know who let him inside the Room of Requirement.

 

“K-Kai!” Lay now sobs, and D.O. facepalms.

 

He’s gonna kill him.

 

But he sets aside the question of why Kai put Lay in the Room of Requirement for the moment, instead focusing on the cupcake still clutched in Lay’s hand.

 

Lay’s sobs start to slow a bit, and D.O. holds out a hand in hopes that the Hufflepuff will have enough willpower to hand the cupcake over.

 

Only to watch in horror as Lay lifts the cupcake to his mouth and violently bites off nearly half of it.

 

“Ok, Lay?” D.O. says slowly as he crouches down closer to the crying boy, trying to keep his cool before he tackles him.

 

Lay watches as he gets closer, chewing messily with tears still running down his face and soft sobs still coming out of his mouth.

 

It’s a very pitiful sight.

 

“Can I have that cupcake in your hand?” D.O. asks, already having picked up the plate of cupcakes from in front of Lay and moved them into a much safer spot on the counter.

 

Lay shakes his head mutely as he continues to chew.

 

Oh boy.

 

“Come on, really, you don’t want to eat that,” D.O. insists, reaching forward as Lay leans away from him.

 

He fails to notice the change in Lay’s expression as the other presses up against the countertop.

 

Lay’s eyes widen crazily as D.O.’s hand draws closer.

 

“Oh so now you think I’m fat?!” Lay says hysterically, holding his half of a cupcake up in the air as the other hand tries to shove D.O. away.

 

“No! It’s not that!” D.O. tries to amend, eyes widening in alarm.

 

But it’s too late.

 

“You just said it!” Lay nearly screams, tears now streaming down his face.

 

“You think I’m f-fat!” he sobs, eyes squeezed shut in a grimace as his shoulders slump.

 

D.O. tries to comfort him through his sobs, awkwardly patting his knee because he can’t really reach anything else with Lay’s hand still pressed firmly against his chest to keep him away from his cupcake.

 

What he doesn’t expect, however, is for Lay’s eyes to flash angrily after he calms down a bit, since melancholy treacle usually inhibits any other emotion besides sadness.

 

Unless of course if the person has already been influenced by some other sort of spell prior to eating the Treacle.

 

“Fine!” Lay says angrily, sitting up straighter. “Fine, then if I’m fat, then y-you can be fat too!” he half-sobs, half-shouts.

 

Before bringing the remaining cupcake down to smash it against D.O.’s mouth.

 

D.O. sputters as he tries to move away, but Lay scrambles after him, hand still pressing the cupcake mercilessly against D.O.’s face.

 

He swears he feels a finger slip into his mouth.

 

Ew.

 

“Stop. Stop!” D.O. shrieks, rolling under his attacker as he tries to wipe the icing off of his face with his hands and not get any in his mouth.

 

But his heart sinks for more than one reason when he tastes the tiniest bit of sweetness on his tongue.

 

Lay’s crying again when D.O. sits up, because he’s finally out of cupcakes or because he just attacked someone, D.O. really doesn’t know.

 

But he does know that even without the help of melancholy treacle he’s a bit of a contagious crier, and hearing the pitiful whimpers coming out of Lay’s mouth is a bit more sad now.

 

“Please don’t cry,” he whispers, now sitting up and facing Lay who’s back to where he started with his back pressed against the counter.

 

“I’m sorry,” Lay says, trying to rub the tears out of his eyes and then looking confused when they keep falling.

 

“It’s ok,” D.O. says, scooting forward to lean against the counter beside Lay.

 

“You just let it all out,” he says softly, placing an arm around Lay’s shoulders and not minding the slightest when the other curls up against him and even shuffles his legs into D.O.’s lap.

 

And so they sit there as Lay continues to cry quietly, a mixture of tears and snot soaking through the fabric of D.O.’s shirt.

 

And D.O. himself would never admit it, but a few silent tears of his own manage to escape as well.

 

 

 

“I can’t see anything,” Luhan whispers into the darkness.

 

Faint sounds of agreement follow his statement from the other three, everyone’s eyes straining to see something through the darkness to no avail.

 

In one way, it’s a good thing, or at least it’s a good thing for Sehun since no one can see his bright pink hair anymore.

 

And in another way it could be a very bad thing, since they really don’t know what’s in the classroom they currently chose to hide in.

 

But it can’t be worse than the laughing creatures following them outside.

 

Or so they hope.

 

After the group had heard the echoing laughter of their pursuers drawing closer back when Sehun had run from their initial hiding spot, no one had wasted any time in finding a new one, which is why the four of them are now hidden inside the pitch black classroom.

 

“Come on, let’s at least sit down for like five minutes,” Baekhyun murmurs tiredly, walking carefully with his arms held out in front of him further into the classroom before plopping down with a sigh.

 

The other three follow him until they’re just a semi-jumbled pile of limbs in the darkness of the room, everyone too tired to really care about who they’re leaning on.

 

Luhan tenses when he feels a breath of air brush past his ear.

 

“Hey Luhan?” he hears Sehun whisper, and he smiles into the darkness because even though his night didn’t go according to plan at all, he’s glad he got to run away from terrifying laughing children with Sehun anyway.

 

“Yeah?” he whispers back, hoping that their voices are low enough to not be overheard by Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

 

They’re not low enough.

 

Not that Baekhyun is eavesdropping or anything.

 

Or shipping them at the moment.

 

“Uh, I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess,” Sehun says softly, squeezing his eyes shut in a grimace.

 

Luhan’s never going to want to hang out with him again after this night.

 

But he jolts slightly when Luhan he thinks grabs his hand quickly and gives it a pretty hard squeeze.

 

“Nah, it’s ok,” Luhan says with an unseen smile. “It was kind of fun, I guess, running away from maniacal children in the castle at the dead of night.”

 

Sehun gives a small laugh of surprise.

 

Luhan tries to quell the warmth spreading through his chest, partially due to Sehun’s words.

 

And partially due to the hand holding his own, a thumb rubbing circles over his knuckles.

 

Luhan knows its Sehun, of course, he’d already reached out to hold his hand earlier when Sehun had first started talking.

 

Meanwhile, Baekhyun tries to calm his fangirling heart as he squeezes Chanyeol’s hand a bit harder in excitement.

 

Sehun’s really starting to wonder why Luhan’s gripping his hand so hard.

 

Chanyeol grimaces at Luhan’s previous comment, praying that those same maniacal children have ceased following them once they get back outside.

 

But he decides to worry about it later as he continues to rub Baekhyun’s hand slowly.

 

Sehun taps a foot anxiously as he mulls over his next words.

 

He still hasn’t kissed Luhan.

 

And now would be the perfect opportunity, seeing that they’ve stopped running for a while, Baekhyun and Chanyeol can’t see them, and he literally has Luhan in hand.

 

Plus, if once they escape their pursuers, Sehun honestly doesn’t know what the plan is, and he would hate to have Luhan leave for his common room before he could do the deed.

 

Luhan bites his lip in thought, torn between his different ideas.

 

He really wants to kiss Sehun.

 

But at the same time, he doesn’t want to just grab him right there without warning.

 

He does know one thing though.

 

Sehun had definitely been about to kiss him back in the first classroom they’d been in, before they’d been interrupted initially.

 

And dammit, if Sehun’s not going to finish what he started, Luhan will.

 

“They’re gonna kiss, they’re gonna kiss,” Baekhyun chants excitedly in his head, listening intently in the darkness.

 

Believe it or not, he’s been waiting for these two to get together for a while.

 

It’s so blatantly obvious that they like each other, the way Luhan always smiles when he sees the Slytherin, not to mention Sehun’s longing glances at Luhan when he thinks the other isn’t looking.

 

Because Luhan may not be looking, but Baekhyun is.

 

Not to be creepy.

 

And when he and Chanyeol were running with the two earlier, the tension in the air was so thick Baekhyun could’ve stabbed it with a 

knife.

 

“Great, they’re gonna kiss,” Chanyeol thinks with a mental sigh, listening uncomfortably to the sounds of everyone breathing.

 

He almost feels like saying something loudly to remind the other two of his and Baekhyun’s presence, but he knows Baekhyun would never forgive him for ruining the moment.

 

“Luhan?” Sehun whispers, just as his hand receives another squeeze and Luhan whispers “Sehun?”.

 

“Sorry, you first,” Luhan says with a nervous chuckle.

 

Sehun grimaces at Luhan’s tight grip on his hand but continues anyway.

 

“Would you mind if I-,” he starts awkwardly, cut off by Luhan’s quick “No”.

 

“So it’s ok if I-,” Sehun asks timidly, face flushed again in the darkness but heart beating excitedly.

 

“Yes, Sehun,” Luhan says with a laugh, waiting with baited breath as he feels movement within their pile.

 

Sehun’s heart is pounding in his chest as he leans forward blindly.

 

Luhan waits expectantly for Sehun to make the first move, eyes wide open because he can’t see anything anyway.

 

But when he doesn’t feel Sehun getting closer, he gets a little impatient.

 

Chanyeol nearly groans out loud at the expected turn of events, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to lean away slightly from the about-to-kiss-duo.

 

What he doesn’t expect, however, is to feel a hand tangle in his hair and pull him forward until his lips are colliding with someone else’s.

 

But Chanyeol smiles into the kiss despite its unexpectedness, angling his head to deepen it.

 

One of his favorite things to do is to kiss his Baekkie after all, and he’s not one to say no to surprise kisses.

 

Sehun cups Luhan’s face in one hand, turning it for better access as he leans closer.

 

Baekhyun jolts a bit in surprise when he feels a large hand cup his cheek, before leaning into it with a smile.

 

Chanyeol must have been inspired by the blossoming romance of their companions.

 

Sehun closes his eyes as his lips meet Luhan’s, heart stuttering for a moment.

 

It is his first kiss after all.

 

He has to admit though, he’s a little surprised (pleasantly) at the eagerness with which Luhan returns the kiss, feeling a hand come up to angle his jaw a certain way before sliding up to tangle in his hair, dragging him closer.

 

Luhan pulls away from Sehun to catch his breath, a huge grin plastered across his face because he finally got to kiss Sehun.

 

Baekhyun plants one last quick kiss on Chanyeol’s lips before leaning back, both hands now holding his boyfriend’s as he sighs contentedly.

 

Sehun smiles as Luhan gives him a small peck on the lips, heart now soaring in satisfaction because he finally did it, he finally kissed Luhan.

 

He’d almost forgot about Baekhyun and Chanyeol until he hears Baekhyun’s voice nearby.

 

“That was nice, Channie, quite unexpected,” Baekhyun whispers with an unseen grin and wiggle of his eyebrows.

 

Sehun’s head whips to the side.

 

He could have sworn Baekhyun sounded like he was right next to him.

 

“Anytime, Baek,” Chanyeol’s deep voice responds, his hand still rubbing his boyfriend’s.

 

Sehun sits up a bit straighter at Chanyeol’s voice, because it came from right behind him.

 

Based off of what they just said, Sehun could assume that they’d kissed as well.

 

But if Baekhyun is at his side…

 

And Chanyeol is behind him…

 

Sehun’s heart drops.

 

Holy .

 

Chanyeol ceases his rubbing on Baekhyun’s hand as he mulls over his boyfriend’s words.

 

“Quite unexpected?”

 

“Wait, but you kissed me, didn’t you Baek?” Chanyeol whispers into the darkness, brows pulled down in a confused frown.

 

“Nah, you kissed me first, Channie,” Baekhyun says with a grin, elbowing Chanyeol playfully in the side.

 

Sehun feels nauseous as an elbow gently nudges his side.

 

“Luhan?” he whispers fearfully.

 

But a loud screech of rage interrupts Luhan before he can respond.

 

“WHO’S KISSING WHO HERE?!” Chanyeol’s voice booms through the room, and all three boys jump in alarm.

 

“Luhan?” Sehun whispers again, feeling faint as he tries to detach his hand from who-he-thought-was-Luhan’s grip to no avail.

 

Baekhyun holds onto Chanyeol’s hand when he feels him start to pull away.

 

“Why are you- what did you mean- what?” he stutters in confusion, keeping a firm grip on Chanyeol’s hand.

 

Luhan’s eyes are really starting to hurt from how hard he’s straining to see through the darkness, ears still ringing from Chanyeol’s sudden and confusing shout.

 

He’d apparently been sitting a lot closer to Chanyeol than he thought.

 

He has no idea.

 

“Where did I put that- Baekhyun!! Dammit, where did I put that camera?!” Chanyeol screeches, now frantically searching through his robes as he fears for his baby’s safety.

 

“Oh no,” Sehun moans, just as Chanyeol shouts out again.

 

“Found it! Hang on Baek, I’m coming!” he shouts.

 

And in the next moment, the room is illuminated for a split second.

 

On the bright side no pun intended, the only other thing in the classroom is a couple of old desks pushed off to the side.

 

On the not so bright side, a whole lot of other things are illuminated in that second of terror.

 

Luhan staring at Chanyeol sitting beside him, realization dawning on his face as he glances at Chanyeol’s mouth.

 

Chanyeol’s own terrifyingly large eyes darting to take in the scene in front of him.

 

Baekhyun’s eyes taking in the person attached to the hand he’s holding, mouth opening in shock when he sees that it’s not his boyfriend.

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