Unedited.

“We’re gonna be so late,” Hyukjae groans, walking quickly from the lecture rooms to the practical rooms.

Nana fastens her pace to join him, leaving Sungmin and Lizzy trailing behind them while Raina heads off to a different class. “It’s fine, Hyuk. All of us have this lecture before the next period – and since that was Potions, surely they know we’re all going to be a little late.”

“Whoever designs these timetables is a nutcase,” Hyukjae grumbles, still refusing to slow down. “I’m gonna be running around like a Caeyrus’d toy all day.”

“That was one time,” Nana rolls her eyes while the memory of an animated giraffe figurine comes to mind. “And it was cute.”

“A toy running around in circles confused is cute.” Hyukjae says sarcastically, shooting her a sceptical look over his shoulder. “That doesn’t sound creepy at all.”

“Animated or not it’s still a toy, Hyukjae,” Nana grins, widening her pace to catch up to him. “It doesn’t have feelings other than your own. When we get better, anyway, at the moment all you’d give it is hunger.”

“Hey!” Hyukjae grips his chest over his armful of books in mock offense. “So cruel to me. I hate you.”

“Sure you do,” Nana says, waiting to roll her eyes until Hyukjae looks at her. She smirks when he gives a growl of irritation. “What was that, kitten?”

“I am not a – oh that,” Hyukjae grumbles, abruptly spinning on his heel just before he can pass the classroom. Nana follows him in with a grin, glancing about the room and noting some students preparing their stations. They place their books in the shelf below their desk and retrieve their lab coats from one of the cabinets beside the shelf. While Hyukjae goes to the storage room to get their preparation from the day before, Nana heads for the pantry with the textbook in her arms. Noticing that more ingredients are required for the rest of the potion, she incants a quick, “Vertas,” to make the heavy book levitate before her while she grabs a basket.

“Eager, aren’t we,” Boa’s amused voice comes from behind her.

Spinning around with a handful of berries, Nana looks to her with wide eyes. “Oh – sorry, Professor, did you want us to wait for the briefing first?”

Boa shakes her head with a fond smile gracing her lips. “It’s fine, just don’t start until after. Okay?”

“Okay,” Nana agrees, a little guilty for not checking with her first. She collects the remaining ingredients and returns to their desk, placing the basket on the table beside the cauldron. She and Hyukjae swap places to inspect what the other had brought. Peering at the brewed solution, she smiles at the milky gold tint to the liquid. “Looks good.”

“It’s what it’s supposed to be,” Hyukjae says with relief while he compares the ingredients in the basket with the recipe. “And we’ve got everything.”

“Now we wait,” Nana shrugs, swapping places again to take a seat on the stool. “Wanna sort who does what?”

“Sure,” Hyukjae agrees. “Bags crushing the horns.”

“Violent as usual,” Nana teases, marking an H in her book next to the tusks. “Why am I not surprised.”

“You’re the one handling a knife,” he shrugs, allocating the ingredients that require chopping to her. “We’re even.”

“You’re both dangerous and can stay far away from me,” Lizzy says from the desk to their left.

“Uh, Lizzy,” Hyukjae says slowly, “you’re sitting next to Sungmin.”

Sungmin hears the response as he walks up to his desk and places his basket down. “I don’t know what you said but I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Alright guys,” Boa calls loudly from the front, “tute time. We’re finishing off the sleeping potion today and yes, you can keep what you make but don’t abuse it. Keep to the recommended dose and know that it’s being monitored. Nothing you make in those cauldrons is secret or untrackable.”

“So they’re spying on us,” a student says flatly. Nana glances at him but doesn’t recognise him at all.

“Better get used to it,” Boa says with a wry smile. “We can’t have potions going around unchecked. Criminal activity of any kind is taken very seriously both here and in the witching community. Even potions you cook up in your kitchen are monitored.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Gayoon says with a light frown. Nana looks to her and notices with slight surprise that the brown haired girl from yesterday is once again beside her. “Things are made by regulars all the time without being caught. Why would we?”

“It’s interesting when different subjects overlap,” the professor says, her eyes glinting with deep thought. “With increased freedom from magic comes increased restriction. Our authorities are diligent and the last thing we need is a rogue getting magical property into the regular world. Tracing spells have long been put into place so everything can be monitored. If you want to make something a little more questionable it’s possible, but you need to present why and how before a council.”

“Do they think we’re going to turn into druggies?” another student asks.

“It’s happened before,” Boa says dismissively. “But back to topic, potions – once you’ve gathered your ingredients, follow the instructions and ask me if you need help. Stir the correct number of times and ensure you get the order of addition right, and then enchant it. The solution from yesterday should already have residues which amplified overnight so be careful with it.”

As soon as they can get to work, Nana and Hyukjae divide the ingredients and start preparing them. She crushes the berries with a silver knife before chopping them, setting them aside to slice a goat’s heart into quarters inside a tray. “This is so unsanitary,” she mutters, setting the heart aside and drawing a quick rune for a bacteriocidal wash. She places her hands over it and pours magic into it, watching the air shimmer as it seep into the rune before leaping out of the page form purple loops around her hands. After the magic dissipates, she begins to dice a softened ruby.

“It’ll be fine in the end,” Hyukjae mutters while vigorously grinding lizard bones into dust. “Pretty and tasty and not containing obscure animal parts. Delicious.”

“I’m adding the berries now,” Nana says, double checking the recipe before dropping the handful of berries into the mixture bubbling within the cauldron.

“We’ll wait a minute and then add the horns.” Finishing with the bones, Hyukjae starts on pulverising hummingbird beaks.

After adding the ingredients in order, Nana stirs the mixture clockwise fifty times. “Come on,” Hyukjae grins as her arm begins to tire. “Put some muscle into it!”

“Talk to me after you’ve ripped a hole in a jacket from your muscles,” she says shortly, frowning before swapping arms without disrupting the flow of the potion.

“Are you sure it was from muscle,” Hyukjae jeers, leaning onto the counter to smirk at her.

“Jerk,” she grumbles, kicking him subtly under the table. “See if I get you anything for your birthday this year.”

“Okay, okay,” he sighs long-sufferingly. “You may insult me.”

Nana hums, continuing to tap her fingers to count the stirs. “One Piece .”

His eyes widening, Hyukjae clutches his chest with both hands as he gasps. “The pain! You have struck me where it truly hurts! I will never recover from this agony,” he moans pitifully.

“Oh you’ll be fine,” Nana says dismissively, “go sit in your corner and read your baby manga.”

“Baby manga,” Hyukjae gasps again, “the blows continue to fall!”

“Hyukjae, Nana,” the professor says from where she stands beside two confused students peering into their smoking blue potion, “quiet down please, you’re being distracting.”

“Professor! Is it weird for the potion to be sinking?” Nana stops stirring at fifty and looks up to see the girl with fierce eyes pointing to Han Geng and Donghae’s cauldron.

“Sinking?” Boa says with a frown, heading over before stopping short. “Duck!”

The quick to act students dive for the floor, Nana included. She has enough time to yank Hyukjae down before a loud explosion fills the room, shaking the floorboards and quivering glass containers on their shelves. Nana opens her eyes to see billowing bronze smoke moving about the room, running over surfaces as if searching for something. The practical room is silent while the smoke moves, everybody inside in shock. The smoke then smoothly retracts back, leaving the surfaces unmarked. Nana stands slowly to survey the damage, watching the last of the smoke crawl back into the cauldron it originated from. Donghae and Han Geng both stand behind the bench with equally stunned expressions, their hair blown back and glittering. Nana brushes a finger over her face and pulls it back, finding glitter dusting her fingertip.

“Sorry,” Donghae says awkwardly to the room, his eyes on the professor. “I got distracted and got the timing wrong.”

“I see,” Boa says after a moment, standing slowly and hesitantly walking up to the cauldron. “And why did the smoke return?”

“I added baymint leaves with a bead from my bracelet,” Donghae admits, his face turning red under the weight of so many stares. “Had my magic recall it.”

“…I see.” Looking down at the now golden potion bubbling innocuously, Boa shakes her head with bewilderment. “Be more careful next time. I still want two vials for marking. Please take care with it from now on, potions need good attention.”

“I will,” Donghae agrees. After Boa returns to the couple of students, Nana watches with a raised eyebrow as Donghae apologises to his partner.

“Well that was unexpected,” she says. Glancing at Hyukjae, she breaks into a smile. “And you’ll be glittering for all your following classes.”

“Lovely,” Hyukjae grumbles, rubbing at his face and looking at the resulting glistening specks on his palm with dismay. “As if I wasn’t gay enough,” he says drolly, his voice quiet amidst the rising volume of the classroom.

Snorting, Nana places her hands onto the cauldron and waits for Hyukjae to do the same. “We’re all sparkling. You’ll probably get more vampire jokes than anything else.”

“I’ll give them vampire,” Hyukjae hisses, shifting his focus to pool magic into his hands. Nana watches her fingers while she feels the pull of the potion tugging tendrils of magic and drawing it inside, swirling of its own accord. Once the colour settles to a deeper shade of gold, they withdraw their hands. “I really could, you know,” Hyukjae says while they scoop some of the potion into vials for marking. “I’ve been working on the Kuaerus incant, you know, for Halloween or something.”

“You’ve been using magic to pretend to be another fictional being,” Nana grins amusedly. “Your logic is impeccable.”

“It’s fun!” Hyukjae protests, “You should try it some time.”

“Maybe,” Nana shrugs, sticking tape onto the vial and writing her and Hyukjae’s names onto it. She divides the remaining potion into two jars, handing one to Hyukjae and keeping the other. She screws the lid onto it and joins him in cleaning up. “On the bright side,” she says after returning the basket, “we know we did better than those guys.”

After the Runes lecture ends, Nana heads straight for the library. Donghae and Sungmin tag along with her, bringing books with them under the guise of studying as if she hadn’t already seen the deck of cards transferred between them. She enters the large library with alert eyes, quickly finding the room to be empty for the most part. “Looks like we don’t have to be entirely silent,” she says, unable to hold back a grin when the other students do a double take upon seeing them.

“I think we’ll hold them speechless,” Sungmin says dryly, clapping Donghae on the back on purpose to produce a puff of glitter at the contact. “I still say we should’ve changed first.”

“What’s the fun in that,” Donghae laughs, much more comfortable than he had seemed earlier. “Let’s add a little sunshine to their day.”

“You’re more cheerful about this than before,” Nana says as they take a table in the corner far enough from the other five students. “You seemed way more shy in class.”

“That’s because a certain someone isn’t here,” Sungmin snorts, dumping his bag on the table only to yelp when Donghae punches him in the arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

“What do you think it was for?” Donghae huffs and pulls a book out of his bag, hurriedly opening it to the marked page and hiding his face behind the novel.

“That’s not studying,” Nana says flatly while she arranges up her notebook and Runes textbook in front of her.

“It’s not what he wants to be studying,” Sungmin grins, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Nana sends him a perplexed look as Donghae hits him again, his embarrassed expression visible when the book wavers in his grip. Sungmin looks between the