Valentines and Bludgers

It’s been a total six months since he’s been at Hogwarts, and Kyungsoo couldn’t find any other holiday he disliked the most.

It was Valentine’s day, and the walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceilings, and it was hard to go anywhere without seeing someone trip and fall with a face-full of hearts.

All day long, dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, much to the annoyance of some teachers, and later, during the afternoon as the Slytherins were settling down in the Great Hall for self-study with the Ravenclaws, one of the dwarfs caught up with Kyungsoo.

"Oy, you! Do Kyun'soo!" shouted a particularly chubby dwarf with a pink letter in his stubby little hands, squeezing through students in the Great Hall to get to Kyungsoo.

Face flushing at the thought of being given a valentine in front of half the school, Kyungsoo tried to escape. The dwarf, however, cut his way through the crowd by kicking people's shins, and reached him before he could hide behind his best friend Jongdae.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to Do Kyun'soo in person." he said, strumming his harp in a threatening sort of way.

"Not here." Kyungsoo hissed, taking quick steps towards Jongdae, who was sitting with Sehun at the Slytherin table.

"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, grabbing hold of Kyungsoo's robe and pulling him back.

"Let me go!" Kyungsoo snarled, tugging.

With a loud ripping noise, his robe tore apart into two. Kyungsoo scrambled around, trying to wrestle the other piece out of the dwarf's hands before he started singing, causing somewhat of a holdup in the Great Hall.

"What's going on here?" came the gentle, worried voice of Kim Junmyeon, a Ravenclaw fifth year. Kyungsoo let go of the cloth, and froze, desperate to not get embarrassed any further.

"What's all this commotion?" said another familiar voice as Minseok arrived.

Losing his head, Kyungsoo tried to make a run for it, but the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor. Which earned him a few snickers and concerned murmurs.

"Right." the dwarf said, sitting on Kyungsoo's ankles. "Here is your singing valentine--"

"No. No, no please don't--"

"-- Do Kyungsoo, you're so lovable. So I wrote a poem. D, for dark eyes like parchment ink and smiles that light up my life— O, for oh my love, if only you were mine.”

As laughter and howls erupted in the Great Hall, Do Kyungsoo felt like faking his death and moving back to France.

“Well, aren’t you popular.” Minseok laughed as he shooed the dwarf away, “How many times does this make, six?”

“Seven, hyung. This makes the seventh valentine today.” grumbled Kyungsoo as Junmyeon helped him to his feet.

“Do you reckon they’re from the same person?” Junmyeon wondered out loud.

Kyungsoo sighed, “Same person or not, I swear they’re dead set on embarrassing me in public.”

“Or maybe they just want to confess their undying love, and won’t rest ‘till you accept it.” Minseok suggested.

“Oh Merlin.” groaned Kyungsoo.

"Anyway, off you go." said Junmyeon as he gave Kyungsoo a gentle push towards the Slytherin table, "Jongdae looks like he's going to slap himself silly if you don't get over there."

"What, so he can ridicule me again?"

"The nature of your friendship is truly heart-warming." said Minseok as he pulled Junmyeon by the sleeve, "It gives me heartburn and indigestion."

Before Kyungsoo could reply, Minseok had already dragged Junmyeon away to the far table clad in blue and stacked with books. Sighing, Kyungsoo began the walk-of-shame back to his own table. His face burning and fists clenching at his torn robes.

"Aye, Kyungsoo!" shouted Jongdae, scooting over so that Kyungsoo could join them on the bench, "I was wondering if the dwarfs would memorize your name by the end of today— I mean, they've repeated it so many times already."

At Jongdae's comment, the Slytherins around them broke out into uncontrollable fits of giggles, and Kyungsoo glared at Jongdae with murderous fury in his eyes.

"Merlin, would you quit it?" he grumbled, and settled down his school bag beside him, pulling out a fresh roll of parchment and his quill.

"Hyung, no matter how many valentines you get, you're still going to love me the most, right?" Sehun asked teasingly from his left as he clung to Kyungsoo's robe.

"Ah, but too bad, he's in love with me." proclaimed Jongdae while he tried to sneak Kyungsoo's Charms essay out of his bag, "The poor guy can't live a day without me."

"More like your grades won't survive a day without me." snapped Kyungsoo, snatching his essay back, "Honestly, why am I even friends with you guys."

"Because our little Kyungsoo was so sad on his first day as a Slytherin, and Jongdae-the-saint was there to comfort him through his dark, dark times of despair." Jongdae narrated dramatically, gesturing with his hands.

"And I was always there to make you feel smarter than you actually are." added Sehun, "Which, knowing me, is saying a lot."

Kyungsoo sighed internally, but let the corners of his lips curve into a slight smile as he stuffed his essay back into his bag.

He took a glance at the two empty tables that separated them and the Ravenclaws. According to the weekly updates from Yixing, the Hufflepuffs were most likely having their Herbology classes around this time of day. And Gryffindors-- well, Kyungsoo was never really sure what those brash and thick-headed fools were up to. Ever since he'd met Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun at the beginning of the year, Kyungsoo's always had a bit of a negative impression on that particular house. But Jongdae told him that it was in every Slytherin's nature to detest Gryffindors, and Kyungsoo found it hard not to believe him when he's the one that somehow witnesses the shenanigans that Chanyeol and Baekhyun are up to everyday.

"Hey guys," came a familiar voice behind Kyungsoo, "do you wanna try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team this year? There’s a trial today at four, since one of our Beaters got injured."

"Ehh, I think I'll pass," muttered Jongdae, who Kyungsoo knew was very sensitive about his lack of physical prowess, "but thanks for asking, James."

"That's alright-- what 'bout you, Kyungsoo? Feeling up to it after all those valentines?"

James Castle was a fellow Slytherin fourth year; as the Keeper of their house Quidditch team, he was notorious for going around and asking students to join, even if it wasn’t currently tryouts season. Although Kyungsoo could tell his jokes were always good-natured, he couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable around James.

"Maybe." said Kyungsoo, "I'll let you know."

"Me too. I'll uh--" Sehun added hastily, "Let you know."

"Great! I’ll see you guys around." cheered James as he went back to settle amongst his friends at the other end of the table.

Jongdae turned to face Kyungsoo, "You're honestly going to try out?"

"I said maybe, Jongdae, are you barking mad." snarled Kyungsoo, flipping open his Charms textbook and furiously writing down his essay title, "And besides, I really don't feel up to anything today."

"Do they bother you that much? The valentines, I mean." asked Sehun, his tone a bit more serious.

Kyungsoo sighed, and pressed his palms against his eyes in frustration, “Honestly, I appreciate the gesture...I’m just not very comfortable with getting confessed to in public— I don’t even know who they are.”

“--That being said, you should go tryout today.” suggested Jongdae, mindlessly flipping through the pages of his own Charms textbook.

“Oh Merlin. You are barking mad.” whispered Kyungsoo in disbelief as he stared at Jongdae with wide eyes.

“No, no. Trust me, it might actually be good for you.” said Jongdae quickly, “And it’s not like you need to get on the team— just go fly around and beat up some Bludgers; us Muggles call it stress-relief.”

“Wizards call it stress-relief too!” argued Sehun, albeit a bit lamely.

“Sure, sure.” said Jongdae.

Kyungsoo propped his chin on his hands, “While it’s true I haven’t used my broomstick in a while…”

“Yes, keep that thought going…” prompted Jongdae eagerly, beckoning with his hands.

“...but you’re just trying to let me make a fool of myself in public, aren’t you.” Kyungsoo deadpanned, jotting down his topic sentence, “You both know I can’t play Quidditch even if my life was on the line.”

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