It’s strange to think that this will be their last hurrah. Jungkook stands at the sidelines of the party and tries not too feel to detached from the moment, tries to stop himself from turning it into a picture postcard memory. 

Kyungmi drags each of the boys to the dancefloor in turn, she doesn’t mind if people don’t want to dance the night away but can’t bear the thought of anyone sitting alone all evening. Yugyeom is only too happy to wind his hips in time with hers but Chanwoo’s eyes grow wider than ever as she takes him by the hand, laughing all the way. 

Jungkook giggles into his butterbeer as Kyungmi throws her arms arounnd Chanwoo’s neck and sways her hips with gusto. She peeks over her traumatised victim’s shoulder to shoot Jungkook a wink that he returns - he knows he’ll be up there with her soon enough, pushing the boundaries of public decency. 

Him and Kyungmi always wind up getting a little after a a few shots of firewhiskey; half the school is convinced they’re ing and the other half take their firm protests that they’re not as evidence of their homouality. 

They’re not ing, and they’re not gay, though Jungkook can’t pretend he’s particularly straight either. Even now, he’s leaning up against the large tank of water at the back of the room of requirement (drunken party form) thinking that it’s far too empty. 

"I never really understood what this was for," Ikje crashes into Jungkook’s vision, bright green cocktail in hand,

Jungkook starts in surprise, glaring at Ikje when he has the audacity to burst out laughing in response,

"What are you talking about?" Jungkook grumbles,

Ikje reaches out to tap the glass of the tank, “this thing. What’s it for?”

"For fish, idiot,"

"The do you need fish for?" Ikje shakes his head, "this was never around in my day,"

"It’s the room of requirement, it gives us what we need. If the party room needs a fish tank then the party room’s gonna have a fish tank,"

Jungkook pauses, struck by his own phrasing. He’d never thought about it like that before.

"You ok?" Ikje waves a hand infront of Jungkook’s face looking like he could care a little if this turns out to be serious, 

"Yeah…yeah I just…" Jungkook swallows, "Kyungmi, come here a minute,"

"I’m busy having fun!"

"This is important,"

Kyungmi rolls here eyes and comes trotting over to where Jungkook and Ikje are standing, “what’s up?”

"You know how the room of requirement gives you what you need," Jungkook starts, "like…whatever you need,"

Kyungmi shrugs, “yeah, so?”

"So two years ago it became a pretty standard feature of every incarnation of the room to have a fish tank standing at the back. A fish tank filled with salt water,"

"I’m still not following Kookie,"

"Two years ago, the tank first appeared two years ago,"

"yeah but that was because..." realisation dawns on Kyungmi and here eyes go wide, "hooooooly …you don’t think…?”

"Well I can’t see why else it would be here,"

"Guys," Ikje cuts in, he sounds alarmed, "I don’t mean to get in the way of your pointless chinwagging, but there’s something coming out of the pipe in there,"

Their gazes follow Ikje’s finger as he points to the pipe that feeds the tank. Sure enough, a pair of long, orange tentacles are curled around the lip, slowly pulling themselves forward. they’re followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth…

"Speak of the devil," Kyungmi mutters and Jungkook whoops in delight as the octopus pulls itself fully into the tank and propels itself around the perimetre as if it were doing a victory lap.

Ikje watches it bug eyed, backing away from the tank and muttering something about how he has toilets to clean on the fifth floor. Jungkook pays him no mind as Kyungmi laugs him out of the room, his eyes glued to the octopus now making its way to the top of the tank. 

Kyungmi taps Jungkook on the shoulder, “do you think he remembered to wear clothes?”

"Probably not,"

"Do you not think that’s going to be a problem?"

"Probably not,"

"Jungkook-" Kemy is cut off by the almighty thud made by the octopus pulling itself out of the tank and landing on the floor at Jungkook’s feet. The sounds of the party going on behind them hush as everyone’s attention is caught by the three metre long cephalopod. 

"What the hell is that?" Chanwoo squeaks. For a moment, Jungkook worries that the presence of a large octopus might set more than a few people on edge but then Yugyeom is laughing and stepping forward to take a closer look,

"It’s just an octopus, it’s not even as big as the squid in the lake. It probably just-WOAH!"

Yugyeom reaches out to touch one of the octopus’s tentacles at the exact moment that it decides it does not wish to be an octopus any longer. Some tentacles shrink inwards, others grow more substantial; a solid body begins to form with a torso and legs and a neck; the orange flesh fades, the fishy eyes become human and a patch of dusky blonde hair sprouts ontop of the newly formed head. 

Taehyung stands fully and dripping wet, blinking at Yugyeom as his eyes attempt to adjust to the light outside of the water, 

"Hey!" He grins, pulling his soggy fringe off his face, "ah, you all look so surprised to see me,"

Yugyeom smiles weakly, “just…surprised to see so much of you,”

"So much of me?" Taehyung frowns before examining his limbs in great detail. Once he’s conducted a thorough inspection he turns to Jungkook and speaks in his most serious voice, 

"Jungkook, I appear to be ,"

"Yeah…I’d say that’s about right,"

"Do you have anything for me to change into?"

"I don’t…." Jungkook is about to suggest that he run back up to Gryffindor tower to retrieve an old set of robes when he remembers a loophole he has installed for just such an occassion as this, "follow me,"

"Get back on with the party kids!" Kyungmi just about manages not to laugh. Jungkook looks back over his shoulder at her as he leads Taehyung away and can’t help the blush that creeps into his cheeks when she winks at him and decides not to follow. 

"Just in here," Jungkook opens the door to the antechamber hidden behind a pillar at the back of the room of requirement. Earlier in the year he’d decided to test the waters of the fish tank himself and wound up with robes rather wetter than he’d like. The room had of course immediately offered up a solution in the form of a large supply of old clothing. Jungkook has since made sure to learn a few drying spells but the clothes remain all the same, presumably for occassions such as this. 

Taehyung takes a moment to survey the antechamber before his face splits into an almighty grin and he throws himself at Jungkook,

"Ahh I’ve missed you so much," he breathes into Jungkook’s ear,

Jungkook beams, “what are you missing me for? Aren’t the Beauxbatons boys enough for you?”

"Kookie!" Taehyung steps out of the hug and actually manages to look slightly scandalised, "I’m a teacher!"

"Doesn’t mean you can’t look,"

"I can assure you I have better self control than that,"

Taehyung turns around and starts rummaging through the piles of old robes and muggle clothing. Jungkook finds his attention rather too firmly fixed on his friend’s rear end and decides that he would make a horrible teacher - he has no self control at all. 

"I’m surprised you kept the fish tank," Taehyung says, pulling a pair of black skinnies from the depths of a celing high stack of denim,

"I didn’t keep it it sort of just…kept itself. Like it was waiting for you," Jungkook watches Taehyung’s fingers fumble with the broken zip at the front of his jeans, "I mean it had to be for you, you’re still the only aquatic animagus the school has ever produced,"

Taehyung makes a half interested noise but the zip is still giving him trouble. Jungkook rolls his eyes and steps over to help out, 

"Let me guess," he smirks, tapping Taehyung on the head with his wand to allow a drying spell to deal with his hair, "you left your wand back in France,"

"You got me," Taehyung lets himself be meanuevered into position to fix his zip, Jungkook’s hand on his hip and wand pointing in a potentially dangerous direction, "you sure you know what you’re doing?"

"Yes," Jungkook breathes. His fingers curl into the denim, his wand arm drops and before Taehyung can so much as blink in confusion the space between them vanishes.

It’s not a long kiss, it’s not even a particularly well thought out one. Jungkook hadn’t been planning to kiss Taehyung, but that’s not to say he hadn’t wanted to, that he hasn’t wanted to for the past two years.

Taehyung’s lips are dry but soft, and though he tenses in surprise when Jungkook first leans in he relaxes quickly. A hand comes up to rest at Jungkook’s neck, thumb teasing the sensitive skin just below his ear.

Jungkook pulls away, feeling more shy than his boldness would indicate, “sorry I just…”
"It’s fine," Taehyung laughs softly, "really, it’s um…it’s great just…." he looks down at the broken zip, "you couldn’t have fixed this first?"

Jungkook shrugs, “you didn’t really think I’d try spellcasting that close to your did you? C’mon, take ‘em off and I’ll sort you out,”

"What?"

"You heard me," Jungkook flashes Taehyung a wicked grin, "take off your trousers and I’ll sort you out."