I.

Yifan should not have promised anything. At all.

Especially when it was for something that absolutely required the use of his big clumsy hands and his most measly organ that was often mistaken as his brain. In fact, sometimes he thought the latter was hollow enough to replace his current cauldron.

Potions had never been his forte. Cute boys with dimples even less so.

He was so much better with DADA (being tall has its advantages), exceeded expectations with Charms (because he was born charming, ha), had better grades everywhere else because they did not require that many grey cells (Arithmancy notwithstanding, though they all try to forget such a subject existed) and was by far the best Keeper in all Hogwarts history (mostly because his limbs were long enough to cover double the diameter of the goal).

So what was he doing here, then? Sitting on some cold and icy wet ground of some closet in some dark Slytherin dungeon, trying to Incendio his little bunch of branches in order to heat up his cauldron so he could brew a bubbly concoction?

It was ridiculous. It was against his very nature. One shouldn’t try changing the scales of a dragon’s hide; he’d been telling himself that for the past few years.

Ironically, he couldn’t even make a fire because it was so bloody cold and wet. In fact, much to his displeasure, he might have to resort to Muggle matches because he didn’t have any other choice…

But when he put away his wand and tried reaching into his robe pocket and inadvertently knocked his bag over, from which a jar of ashwinder eggs toppled out and rolled to his cauldron, which in turn tipped a bit and splashed some thick green liquid on his shoe that then burned through the leather and almost got to his toe had he not taken his shoe off in wild panic, he realised maybe he should just give up on the whole preposterous ordeal.

If only he were a potion prodigy. If only he didn’t have a petty crush on Zhang bloody Yixing. If only he had shut up and kept to himself and never promised anyone anything before he actually ran it through his brain several times for it to register and report back saying, No can do, Wu Yifan.

 

 

II.

Years after that small incident in the closet, Yifan finally fulfilled the bigger half of his promise. It was neatly tucked in a robe pocket, in the form of a tiny vial of golden liquid, which he fiddled with once in a while to make sure he had not crushed it every time he sat down.

He was fidgeting with inexplicable excitement throughout double Herbology, wishing for the end of the day to come soon because he had made an appointment with Yixing at Hagrid’s old hut. Professor Longbottom had eyed him curiously, but Yifan had smiled widely in order to reassure the Herbology teacher that he was definitely not up to no good. Nope. He was a good Slytherin student indeed. He passed a hand in his light platinum hair for good measure, trying to communicate his non-existent state of nonchalance.

“You’re creeping the professor out, Yifan, stop smiling like that,” his classmate and best friend Luhan – an uncommonly eccentric Gryffindor – commented offhandedly while they were handling squill bulbs. Yifan frowned. He was quite certain he had been discreet.

“I wasn’t creeping the professor out, it wasn’t my intention, it’s just that—” he countered weakly, but Luhan wasn’t paying him attention, so Yifan turned back to the potted plants sitting quietly in front of him, and wondered if they were sentient and if they would care more about his future plans than his best friend did. To his dismay, the squill bulbs did not whisper a thing when he had said “hi, how do you do”. He concluded that they did not have proper manners, just so he could forget the fact that he actually talked to plants.

Nonetheless, time wasn’t going any faster. In fact, he was even starting to get sleepy, and the main event wasn’t due before after supper, which was still two hours from now. He shoved his hands into his robe pockets, felt around for the vial, confirmed it was still in one piece, and then sighed heavily. He then muttered Tempus and realized only a minute passed since he last checked.

“You’ve been doing that a lot. Afterschool date with someone? Who’s the lucky one?” Luhan teased with a distrustful grin, and Yifan rolled his eyes. Oh so now he cared.

“Though I guess it’s arguable whether they’re lucky or not,” Luhan then added when Yifan wasn’t quick enough to answer.

“You’re a horrible best friend,” Yifan groaned and turned away. Maybe he didn’t want Luhan to care about his torch-carrying prospects after all.

“That’s sweet of you. I try my best most times,” Luhan replied with a smile that Yifan had learned might translate to a very sarcastic “I love you” sometimes. Which is unhelpful, to say the least. Luhan then inquired again, “So, who’s it? A fluffy Hufflepuff I bet.”

Yifan groaned again.

“Look, if you’re just going to laugh at me, then we might as well drop the topic,” he opted and tried to look stern.

“Finally some Slytherin pride showing. I was starting to think you were definitely a Sorting Hat mishap.”

“Let’s drop it,” Yifan conceded and tried concentrating on whatever Professor Longbottom was lecturing about.

“So, it’s a fluffy Hufflepuff isn’t it?” Luhan prodded nonetheless. Count on Gryffindors to be irritably persistent.

“Drop. It.” Yifan growled in annoyance.

“Is it the one with the unicorn complex or the one with the panda complex?”

“Shut it or I swear I will AK you before you can even say unicorn again.”

“It’s a three-syllable word. Are you sure you can make it?”

Yifan whacked the Gryffindor from behind the neck, hating to resort to unrefined Muggle methods (Professor Longbottom did not allow wands during gardening). It hurt his hand but at least his pride felt salvaged in some way or another when he saw the other boy rubbing his neck with a frown and a pout.

“I was just kidding, you know,” Luhan groaned, “I do wish you the best. The unicorn guy is definitely a lucky guy. Keep me posted. Hope you have a dozen babies soon,” There was a muffled laugh when Luhan turned away, and Yifan just couldn’t be bothered any more. If he could ever turn back time (could time turners go back far enough? He’d have to ask,) he would have made sure he never became best friends with the shoddiest kind of Gryffindors. Or Gryffindors period. There was a reason why the two houses have been rivals for centuries.

(Yifan would also make sure not to fall in love with a Hufflepuff, too, as a matter of fact. Nor make promises of taking said Hufflepuff out to the Forbidden Forest in order to find a damned unicorn, no matter if it would cost their lives or not. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins should never get together anyways.)

Zhang Yixing was a special case, however, Yifan counter-argued himself, softening the frown he had built up while thinking of all the things he half-assedly regretted.

Yixing both did and did not quite fit the category of Hufflepuffs. He was hardworking, studious, devoted, overly friendly yet absurdly stubborn and talentedly whimsical. He could be an endearing whiny pup while also be a seductive yet elusive cat. Or, sometimes, simply be the badger he should actually be.

He was really special.

Animal similes and vague statements aside, Yixing was the Hufflepuff that Yifan thought Slytherins could make exceptions for. There was something about him, maybe the friendliness in the glint of his eyes, his cute dimple, or mesmerizing smile that made him stand out amongst his kin. Of course, maybe Yifan was just terribly prejudiced: his inherited Slytherin snobbishness had long been run over by the Hogwarts Express six years ago, on the day he had first met Yixing.

They had sat diagonally across in a same compartment with no one else, on his first ride to the oh-so-daunting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Luhan hadn’t made it on time). Yifan, in a silk cloak and expensive designer trousers, had a book on his lap (one always looked smarter with a book) that he was not reading. He remembered Yixing having nothing but a nondescript tote bag and a peculiarly quiet toad.

“What are you reading?” Yixing had asked suddenly when Yifan had not particularly wanted to strike up a conversation, especially not about his book. He gave the cover a glance: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. He had a vague sense that it had been a textbook for school, but flushed up wondering if he had not picked something meant for children under three, instead.

“Just a book,” he’d blurted thoughtlessly. To his surprise, Yixing had just smiled, a dimple showing.

“Oh, I think I’ve figured that out on my own, really,” he answered, evidently amused, but not too condescendingly so, which made Yifan relax his shoulders. He shyly showed Yixing the cover of the book in response.

“Oh! So you’re also reading ahead? I heard we wouldn’t have Care for Magical Creatures until our third year. Are you expecting to be sorted into Ravenclaw?” the other boy chirped.

“Also?” Yifan asked confusedly. Yixing had practically lit up, and this time Yifan was thoroughly mesmerized by the dimples.

“Yes! I’ve read it about a dozen times. It’s an easy read.”

A dozen times? Yifan gave the book a scrutinizing look, wondering how any book could need a dozen reads. “I’ve… read it half a dozen times,” he lied for good measure. Maybe he was talking to a potential Ravenclaw, and there was no way he wanted to sound like he was too far behind.

“What’s your favourite creature?” Yixing prompted.

Yifan took a discreet peek at the page he was on.

“A… uh… a Diri…cawl. A Diricawl.”

Yixing’s eyes widened in surprise, and Yifan knew he had said something stupid and wanted to take it back. But then he didn’t want to say “Doxies” (which was on the adjacent page). It had a funny picture of a hairy fairy with eight limbs that definitely looked like it needed a shave, in any case.

“I’ve never known anyone who likes fluffy Dodos over just about anything else. Like dragons,” the other boy chuckled. “You somehow looked like the Chinese fireball type at first. I guess looks sure are deceiving!”

Yifan closed his eyes. Indeed, he did like Chinese fireballs. How had he forgotten that? He had posters of them around his bedroom, and t-shirts with realistic animations of the dragon. Way to go, Yifan. (Also, was a Diricawl a dodo? Or did he just outrageously mispronounce the name…?)

But it did not seem to bother Yixing at all: he hadn’t exactly mocked him for his (poor?) choice or anything.

“I’ve seen one in my backyard once, that’s why. They’re really… cute,” Yifan attempted to explain anyways, just to clear up the matter and close the case. “Erm, what’s your favourite creature?” he then quickly asked.

But at that instance, Yixing’s eyes glazed over, and he seemed to have zoned out, looking out of the window. Yifan followed the line of gaze but found nothing worth mentioning: just hills, valleys, rivers, clouds and some birds. He cleared his throat instead, which made Yixing blink and come back to the conversation.

“Ah, well, I like unicorns. Of course,” he answered quietly, eyes looking down at the floor. “I’m likely not ever going to see one though. We don’t have a backyard… you see, haha.” Yixing flung his head back and smiled at his own joke, even though something had felt oddly off about his reply, and the joke in itself was not that funny.

But somehow, it was arguably at that very moment that Yifan had fallen in love. Despite not even knowing his name, or anything else. Just his peculiar affinity to unicorns.

Perhaps it was because of the nice mix of Yixing’s entire overly friendly countenance, his awfully cute dimples, his unique voice, and the strange adrenaline Yixing had put into his last answer.

Perhaps it was just simply love at first sight, as cliché as that might sound.

“EARTH to Wu Yifan, you better put your earmuffs on before you die from a baby mandrake’s scream. Can you hear me? One two, one two, testing, testing. Luhan from Earth speaking. We’re preparing your tombstone. It’ll read ‘Death by Mandrake lullaby’—”

It was a crude and abrupt way to end a flashback (probably worse than a Mandrake lullaby) and Yifan was begrudgingly dragged back to the present as if he were portkeyed without mental preparation. Consequently he felt a bit nauseous but quickly put on his earmuffs, and glared at Luhan before pulling out the screaming root plant. He then dived back into his deep, deep thoughts.

Maybe if Yifan had been placed in another House – cough, Hufflepuff, cough – things would have been simpler. He would have been able to sneak into Yixing’s bed and feigned some kind of malaise for sleeping alone or something. He would have been able to sit next to him for lunch and be fed by the spoon. He would have had a lot of opportunities to approach the love of his life while not stressing over keeping his cold and reserved Slytherin demeanour. But then, all that would definitely make him a Slytherin through and through, wouldn’t it?

So there were hardly any chances for these ‘if’conditions to happen. Whatever happened six years ago was destined to remain so. He could be the most awkward Slytherin in history, but that did not change the fact that he was, to the very core, still a Slytherin.

With that grand conclusion in mind, Yifan was left to brood dejectedly for the remainder of Double Herbology.

 

III.

Another memory Yifan often revisited was the one where he did The Thing and promised Yixing something that was practically unmanageable, to say the least.

It was back in their third year.

“Yixing, we’ve read the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them a dozen times over. You can’t be serious. You know how many of those hostile creatures we may encounter in that forest!” he had commented incredulously. “Mind you, it’s called the Forbidden Forest for a very obvious reason.”

“You know this is important for me,” Yixing tried tugging away from Yifan’s grip, “I’ll have to do it this year or the next or the one after that before I’m sent somewhere where forests wouldn’t even have a single unicorn hair. I have to see one. It’s a prerequisite for being a Healer!”

“We could always come back later. Y-you know. When I’m Head Auror and can actually protect you well enough for the duration of your… perilous quest!”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad: it’s not like we need to catch one. I just want to see one,” Yixing defended exasperatedly in a way that made Yifan not know if he was dead serious, or just pulling his leg.

Though, deep down, Yifan knew the boy was serious. Yixing had been set on finding a unicorn by their second year, saying that it was some kind of aspiring Healers’ pilgrimage-like requirement. Yixing had said his grandmother and mother had both seen unicorns, and they were now renowned Healers.

It had suddenly become some kind of familial duty and responsibility to Yixing. And it might sound ironic coming from a traditional pureblood Slytherin family, but Yifan thought it was completely ludicrous.

“I’ll go alone. You don’t have to come along,” Yixing had murmured almost in defeat, “I just wanted to let you know because –”

“Don’t go. Just don’t. It’s way too dangerous?” Yifan begged, “And it’s even a full moon tonight. Why tonight? Why not tomorrow night?” he was panicking. He invented the full moon thing just so he could distract Yixing enough to buy some time to think of a more persuasive argument.

Yixing looked out the window, frowning. “It’s not even—”

“Look,” the taller cut in and Yixing’s gaze snapped back from the window, “If you just put it off a couple more days, I promise I’ll go with you. On safer nights. Preferably after we finish the chapter on Werewolves and defence against dark creatures. What do you say?” Yifan was running out of solutions at a dangerous rate.

“We’re not doing those chapters until the end of the last year though!” Yixing realised.

That was the point! Yifan wanted to throw his arms up, but he resisted the urge and tried using a calmer tone. He shut his eyes and then opened them again. “Look, Yixing. I’ll go with you. I promise. Please. I’ll worry a lot otherwise. You don’t like it when I worry and frown, right?” It was a mediocre argument, but he frowned as much as he could to prove his point.

Anyone would have watched the scene with sheer disbelief, and that included Yifan himself: he wasn’t letting go of Yixing’s arm as if his life depended on it – and it was one of those rare occasions where the Hufflepuff student looked like he was angry enough to Wingardium Leviosa Yifan out the window.

All for a unicorn in a bloody scary forest. Couldn’t they inhabit nicer forests? The brighter kinds with less carnivorous beasts?

Somehow, Yifan regained his cool, and he took Yixing’s hands and brought them at eye-level and then promised, with the most serious tone he’d ever used in his entire life:

“I promise…,” a significant pause here, “I’ll you on your spiritual journey towards your predestined unicorn at the end of our last year.”

To Yifan’s relief, Yixing burst into laughter, mostly at the way he had formulated it if not at the absurdity of the topic itself.

Ultimately, he forgave Yifan, made him swear on his copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them and blessed the whole affair with their pinkies linked and their gazes locked.

“You’re a really nice guy, Yifan,” Yixing had commented, beaming brightly.

 

Yifan was doomed to fail. It was imminent. It was inevitable.

There came the time where he had to choose between the lesser of two nightmares. It was either the one where he’d break a beautiful promise with Yixing, or one where he’d possibly get killed and gruesomely devoured by a Giant Spider or some other hairy monster with five legs, whatever those were called.

“Luhan,” he had asked a day after his heated argument with Yixing. “What would you do if you were in a situation… where you’re, like, between life and death?” He wanted it to keep his predicament a secret, but realised only after he blurted it out how extremely vague his question was.

Luhan being Luhan though, had offhandedly provided him with an actually tangible – at least, at that time – solution while flipping through a Quidditch magazine.

“I would have wished I brewed myself some Felix Felicis, maybe. What’s this about? Potions essay? I feel you.”

Yifan had thanked Salazar, Dumbledore and Merlin back then and kissed his best friend a billion times, but now he wished he had never indeed made friends with one such Luhan.

Well, Yifan was to blame too. He should have known that when the recipe book said that Felix Felicis was extremely difficult to brew, it actually meant that it was extremely ing difficult to bloody brew.

 

IV.

But years after, he actually managed to brew it, and he was sure he had done everything to the word. Despite his past records of pitiable Potion handling, he was two hundred percent sure that he could become a professional potioneer any day now. It was definitely a graspable future, and might have always been written in his stars. After all, it really just came down to persistent practice. It wasn’t like he had to invent potion recipes or anything of the sort. And his N.E.W.T. had even proved to be as easy as pumpkin pie (of course he did not get an O, but he would have never dreamed of being able to get an E in potions).

Yifan was b with blinding confidence as he sailed down the hallway towards the terrace that overlooked the hill, Hagrid’s hut, and the forest. In fact, he might not even need Felix today: he felt that good (good) and lucky already. With the wind in his platinum blond hair, the last rays of sun shining from the horizon, he took a great whiff of the late spring air and thought he felt like a Greek myth demigod.

It was definitely a pleasant feeling while it lasted.

When he actually stepped on a banana peel right at the gate, slipped and scraped his knee, and almost let go of his precious golden vial and knocked his head on a boulder, reality came rushing back with a flagella in both hands, reminding him that maybe there were a few things he needed to consider and reconsider.

One, there was always the chance that his potion could go horribly wrong. It was after all, an “extremely difficult” potion to brew (an understatement that he learned the hard way). As much as he wanted to trust all the effort and wholeheartedness and ~love~ he had put into making it, he was still bothered with the fact that he might be holding a vial of blatantly faulty Liquid Luck.

Two, he was not fond of unfriendly beasts. With some good luck they might be avoided. With some plain luck, they might have to meet some and then successfully escape. The latter required some mental preparation. (It was also needless to talk about the third possibility where one did not have any such luck).

(Two point five, what if he could not recognize a diricawl? He’d embarrass himself in front of Yixing. He’d have to admit to the love of his life that he’d lied the first time they met, and his favourite memory would forever be corrupted.)

Three, he would have to confess his love. Mostly because it was almost the end of their last year. If he still couldn’t pluck up enough courage to confess after they’ve found (or not found) a unicorn, he may never forgive himself.

He really wished Yixing would have noticed by now, so he could save himself from doing anything embarrassing, but Yixing had the obliviousness of a fork and the emotional range of a teaspoon when it came to topics of love.

Nervousness started tickling down his spine, and Yifan found himself staring glumly at the ground. He swallowed dryly, and continued down the rocky path that led to Hagrid’s shack.

 

V.

Yixing was late by ten minutes, and it had been the most stressful ten minutes Yifan had had in his life. He had contemplated over drinking the potion just to keep his nerves at bay, but was glad that Yixing showed up before he succumbed to it.

“Sorry I’m late. You know how Professor Malfoy can be. What’s that you’ve got in your hand?”

And here, Yifan smiled extremely widely. He held up the golden vial proudly.

“This,” he said with a grin that went from ear to ear, “is what’s going to guarantee you a unicorn.”

Yixing raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“It’s what most wizards refer to as… Lady Luck,” Yifan continued confidently.

Yixing blinked.

And blinked again.

And then again, before saying, “You mean to say—”

“I—” it dawned on Yifan, and he felt the blood leave his face. “Liquid Luck,” he coughed out and tried mentally beating himself.

“Did you just say—”

“I did say Lady Luck, yes, it slipped, I’m sorry, it’s from a song I’ve been looping a lot lately, please pretend I didn’t say that,” Yifan tried to quickly dismiss but probably made it worse, “Besides, that’s not the point. The point is: I’ve brewed Felix Felicis for you a-and—”

Yixing smiled sheepishly, taking the vial from Yifan in order to examine it closely. “Wow, isn’t Felix Felicis extremely difficult to brew?”

Yifan scratched the back of his neck, chuckled modestly and winked. “Yeah, I get that a lot, haha.”

“It wasn’t a compliment,” Yixing deadpanned. “I was doubting your ability.”

Something eerily similar to a heart heavily dropped from Yifan’s chest into the bottom of his gut.

“I’m kidding,” Yixing amended with a smile and a pat on Yifan’s head. “I’m sure you put in your all. I appreciate it. Thank you, Yifan.” He patted the taller boy’s head a few more times.

The response was earnest enough for Yifan to sigh in relief and flush up shyly. “It’s my pleasure.”

Yixing then peeked over Yifan’s shoulder and looked around behind them as some kind of precaution before turning back. “So, you wanted to meet me today so we could go… in?” He cocked his head, pointing towards the intimidating forest.

Yifan put his hands into his robe pockets, feeling around for his wand and gripping it tightly, eyes shifting from Yixing to the forest and back to Yixing, before nodding in a stiff and diffident manner. “I suppose so.”

Yixing bobbed his head left and right, smiled and then gave Yifan a meaningful sidelong glance. The taller boy dazedly attempted to read the other’s body language but failed miserably, and hoped everything was all right.

“Honestly though, even without Lady Luck here,” Yixing tried muffling his laughter and Yifan reddened another notch because CUTE, “I think I’d be all right. Since I have you? You’re like my lucky charm… my Lady Luck! Don’t you think?”

As far as lucky charms went, Yifan decided Lady Luck wasn’t really a very flattering nickname.

“I say you drink my Liquid Luck anyhow. Better safe than sorry,” Yifan muttered nervously. He frowned considerably and pointed at the vial for added emphasis.

Yixing examined it once more. “Well, if you say so.”

“It’ll do my nerves some good, honestly,” Yifan said.

Yixing raised an eyebrow, but quickly removed the stopper from the vial and raised it to eye-level. “To your nerves, then!”

Oh Merlin what if it poisons him? Yifan thought unhelpfully at the very moment. He did not know if he should just dive and grab the potion before it reached Yixing’s lips. Yifan started reciting the steps for Felix Felicis, just to try to calm himself down and to keep him from doing something rash and inane for the time being.

Heat horseradish and ashwinder eggs in cauldron, he rehearsed mentally. Juice a squill bulb, add to cauldron and stir vigorously. Check.

Yifan started breaking into cold sweat, and it made Yixing look up and postpone drinking the potion.

“Are you all right?” he asked. Yixing was terribly perceptive, and Yifan was barely holding on.

Chop up anemone-like growth on the back of Murtlap, add to mixture and heat. Salazar, how were the growth supposed to be chopped again? Diced? Was diced the same thing as chopped? Was?? Chopped? Diced? Cut?? ??

“Yes, I’m fine, don’t mind me, I’m just having some sort of internal crisis,” Yifan explained mindlessly, evidently on edge, and trying to hold onto both the low branch of a tree and the last bits of brain cells left in his body.

Yixing frowned in concern. “That does not sound reassuring. You look awfully red, you know, now that I have a good look at you.” Unceremoniously, he reached out and pressed his palm against the Slytherin’s forehead. “I think you’re running a fever.” He leaned in closer, and it went without saying that it did nothing great to Yifan’s current state.

Getting fever right on their first date made the tall boy conclude that he had an insane amount of bad luck. The branch he was holding onto broke as if it ardently agreed.

Wave wand over potion in a figure of eight and say incantation ‘Felixempra!’ he finished with his breath hitching.

“I’m fine. Drink up. Let’s get going. We don’t have that much time,” Yifan mumbled. It did not seem to deter Yixing from looking worried.

“I think you should have the potion instead,” Yixing whispered. The Slytherin shook his head violently. “But you probably need it more than I do!”

“No, you’ll have it and—”

“—What if we shared?” Yixing cut in. “I’ll drink some first and then you could have the rest—”

The fact that Yifan might be blessed with an indirect kiss with Yixing practically blew him away. His brain was imploding in slow motion. He was now well over the threshold dividing typical fever and fatal fever caused by amorous deliberations.

“No!” Yifan practically shouted, breathing hard, and trying to get back on track. “You drink it. Otherwise we’ll never find a unicorn! We can take years in that forest and just meet your typical werewolf every other day!”

“They only come around every full moon, you big !” Yixing retorted, “Why are you being so stubborn? We’ll just share, I’m sure it’ll do us some more good. Hasn’t your mother ever taught you notions of sharing?” Yixing replied, somewhat impatient and stubborn himself. “I’ll feed you it if I have to!”

Yifan wanted to throw his arms up in the air but he resisted the urge, which gave him a vague sense of deja-vu. He then calmly said in a straight low voice, “No.”

“You’re insufferable,” the shorter man whined in such a cajoling way that made Yifan weak in the knees.

“Idem to you,” Yifan countered feebly. The other rolled his eyes.

“All right, I get it. I’ll drink it. To your nerves and brilliance.”

And finally Yixing drank the potion. Yifan held his breath, and prayed to every single important wizard he knew, minus You-know-who.

Pun unintended.

(He suddenly wondered if Dumbledore was single or not.)

In the next few seconds, nothing seemed to change in Yixing’s countenance. Maybe there was a brighter twinkle in the Hufflepuff’s eyes. And he was not blinking, which might be a sign of enlightenment. Yifan started panicking by the millisecond and pondered over why he did not think about testing the potion himself first. Yixing turned to him in a brisk movement and grinned at him widely. It was not uncharacteristic enough to conclude about anything, but Yifan did feel a bit easier.

“We need to get to the lake!” Yixing exclaimed after a few moments of intense silence. “I’ve got a good feeling about something cold and wet. Must be water, right?”

Yifan was a tad bewildered, but nodded. Anything but the bloody forest was actually good news. Not to mention, his Felix Felicis was working!

But before the Slytherin could reply, the shorter wizard linked an arm around Yifan’s, and the next thing the latter knew, they were moving towards the front of the castle, where the lake slumbered, blanketed with white mist.

 

Somehow they arrived rather fast, after Yixing (or Felix?) had a good feeling about a shortcut Yifan was sure no one else on campus knew about. There was an alleyway between two parts of Hogwarts that seemed to have never been there before. The path was somehow so narrow it felt like a crack in the wall, but Yixing had been so aflame with excitement and even if the darkness and fog had scared the lights out of the Slytherin, he had felt relatively safe and calm.

Now they were at the bank, not going too close, but not straying too far off. Yixing looked at the far horizon. They stayed silent for a while, and Yifan quickly muttered a discreet Tempus to check the time. It was nearing curfew time. He’d have to start looking out for patrolling prefects and professors. He was prepared though: he’d practiced the Disillusionment charm until he got fed up with the incantation. He also prepared a charmed invisibility cloak in his bag he could use (and it would last at least a good six hours) in case he was too nervous to properly cast a camouflaging charm (which honestly was quite possible when Yixing was holding his hand and intertwining their fingers together so tightly).

“I think something should be happening, but I’m not sure what,” Yixing whispered and stood closer to Yifan since it was getting cool as the haze started enveloping them. Yifan did not know what to say. He was just glad that so far, they were both well alive and still in one piece.

“But something feels off,” Yixing added. “I think maybe this lake feels too… vast. Don’t you think?”

Yifan shrugged. He did not have an opinion about the size of the lake… though he must admit, it meant the lake was big enough to hide gigantic creatures and he’d rather not think about those.

“I suppose so. Maybe we should back away from it a bit,” he suggested. “You know, look at things from afar: they’ll look smaller.” Although, he was really just making sure they were at a safe distance from the shore so that they wouldn’t just abruptly get dragged in by some lurking tentacle of some horrendous monster that has yet to be recorded in textbooks.

Yixing beamed. “I think that is a rather brilliant idea! You’re actually really clever. I sometimes forget that!”

Yifan snorted.

“I think we should go to the astronomy tower. We might see something from there!” Yixing then clarified, sparkles in his eyes.

And before Yifan could respond, he was dragged away once again by the very determined Hufflepuff.

 

With excellent luck, they have managed to avoid all professors and prefects on their way to the tower. Yifan would have thought Thank Felix, but in all truth, it was all because of his good work. He patted himself on the back mentally.

They stood silent again, huffing from the long run up the dizzying winding stairs. The adrenaline settled in their chests, and they looked out at the scattered stars rather than down at the dark lake.

“They’re beautiful,” Yixing murmured with awe. “Aren’t they, Fanfan?”

Yifan looked at Yixing with wide eyes. He wondered if he had misheard. Fanfan? It was something only Yixing could come up with. It was disgustingly endearing, and made the Slytherin feel a bit warm at heart.

And then Yixing turned his head to look at Yifan and the latter shrank a bit because he was smiling at him in an almost expectant way. It was like he was waiting for Yifan to say something clever in return.

And then he did find something smart to say. Though maybe not the Ravenclaw type of smart. More like the Hufflepuff type of smart. Yifan laughed coldly at himself.

“Xingxing,” he said between his titters. Xingxing. Stars. Both so beautiful, he thought.

Yixing’s bites his lower lip as his smile forms. “I love puns. They make me feel giddy. Did I ever tell you that?”

Yifan shook his head bashfully, and they let the subject fade into silence again. They then looked down at the lake, both wondering the same thing: would they spy a unicorn there? Drinking at its shore? Galloping joyously around its perimeter? Making rainbows each step it took?

“Something’s wrong,” Yixing interrupted the moment abruptly. His tone did not really communicate worry though, and it was a strange feeling of dissonance to Yifan, but he shrugged it off. He suspected it was a Felix thing.

“I don’t understand,” Yixing muttered.

Yifan looked carefully at the shores, hoping to find any type of horse or creature so he could find something to say. Yixing was getting a tad distraught now. He was frowning.

“I actually… don’t think we’d find a unicorn tonight,” he murmured very softly. Yifan looked at him a bit worriedly now. “It’s just a feeling though. Not an entirely bad one. It’s just… it’s just a very hazy thought…”

At this point, a ‘hazy feeling’ could mean everything. Felix would know, wouldn’t it? Did this mean they should just head to bed and forget about the whole mission? Pretend it was never meant to be?

“It’s alright. Just talk to your inner Lady Luck,” Yifan endeavoured, not entirely happy to reuse a bad joke, but at least it made Yixing smile.

“It’s just telling me I got to find this cold and wet thing. Place. Whatever, and we’re at the lake, looking at the lake… but nothing is happening.” Yixing said. He sounded disappointed but not so disappointed at the same time. Perhaps he was mildly excited at the challenge of deciphering an enigmatic riddle.

Cold and wet. Yifan just hoped it did not mean they would have to go for an actual swim. He could live without knowing what was prowling in those dark waters. Definitely not a unicorn or diricawl, that was for sure.

“Maybe we should go for a swim?” Yixing contemplated aloud, though he himself seemed to abhor the idea, if the growing frown told anything at all.

“Unicorns don’t swim,” Yifan stated matter-of-factly, hoping to sound convincing. Though technically it was a rather widely acknowledged fact that unicorns did not swim.

“No, they don’t,” Yixing confirmed and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to focus on whatever Felix was telling him. “Swimming doesn’t seem to be the answer anyways…” he tried again, “Felix seems to find the idea repugnant.” He paused again. “You know, I find this Felix voice thing in my head actually sounds quite like you. Stubborn and non-eloquent.”

Yifan quietly took it as a compliment.

“It’s adorable,” Yixing then added with a grin, and opened one of his eyes and closed it again as if to wink, but it was hard to understand whether that was the actual intention when the other eye was closed too. Yifan thought that was adorable, but he kept it to himself.

“Where’s some place that’s also cold and wet? I was thinking baths, but those are hot—” Yixing thought mindlessly.

A flurry of lascivious thoughts (Yifan and Yixing taking a very clean bath, thank you very much) bombarded Yifan’s poor soul, and he gulped dryly, willing them away while he regained his composure.

Some place cold and wet? Yifan felt like it rang a bell, but he couldn’t seem to see the metaphorical label of the bell. If that made any sense.

“The forest?” he tried. “The forest after a rainstorm?”

Yixing shook his head. “Closer, but… still off.”

Yifan then looked away again, trying to think of all the times he was cold and wet. Shower after a quidditch match. A quidditch match in a terrible thunderstorm. Flying in mid-autumn rain in general. Getting snow in his boots or down his back because some git like Oh Sehun would have slipped one some in. Spilling ice cream on his trousers. Brewing potions in a cold and wet closet— wait!

The Slytherin Dungeons.

Bloody cold place. Could be wet in some circumstances.

“I think I have an idea,” Yifan bleeped.

 

Before they turned at the corner that led to the Slytherin house, Yifan made Yixing wear the cloak he had prepared.

“You’re really well equipped,” Yixing commented as he examined the material of the cloak. It was silky and smooth. It was actually the same cloak Yifan had worn on his first day of school. It was still rather big despite being something he used to wear when he was just eleven.

“Yeah, err, I take precautions. Anyways, don’t talk until I say you can,” Yifan ordered, and Yixing nodded, motioning a zip over his mouth.

Cute, Yifan mentally squirmed but tried keeping his composure collected.

They passed a great stonewall, and Yifan muttered a password, something like ‘Snakes on a plane’, and a dimly lit passage opened up before them. Yixing squeezed Yifan’s hands for a split second before murmuring very softly, “I’ve a good feeling, Yifan.”

Yifan gulped. “Just keep quiet. The people in there can be quite a hassle. It’s literally a den of snakes after all…”

They walked in quickly and before turning sharply towards the staircase, they had almost bumped into a tall, blond, pointy-faced and generally noodly fifth year Slytherin who looked up at Yifan with lazy eyes.

“What’s the hurry? Heading to your favourite closet again, Yifan?” he said with a mischievous undertone. “Make sure you remember to come out of it.”

“I appreciate the reminder, Sehun, but honestly, when did I ever forget to come out?” Yifan irately replied before walking further around the lounging couches, hoping that Yixing would ignore the stupid comment. A brunet who was sitting on one of the settees laughed cheerfully at something his friend was saying. When he spied Yifan though, he shouted:

“Hey Yifan! Heading to your broom closet again? Have fun! Did you need some help with juicing the bulbs?” he winked suggestively and even added in gestures the taller Slytherin would rather not describe. He scowled instead.

Jongdae knew about his crush on Yixing and had helped quite eagerly. Now he was undoing all that help because of a very misplaced joke. Though, if Yifan pondered over it a tad more, maybe it all came down to his bad fortune anyhow.

“Very funny,” Yifan grumbled. The other Slytherins around booed at his lack of a good counter, which made him sigh. It was so stressful to live with these people. It took a significant amount of determination and patience to heed to these demanding twats. Couldn’t they just leave him alone with his date? Though, well, technically, they couldn’t exactly see Yixing, so he could not exactly blame them. He wished he had just ducked under the cloak with Yixing before they had marched in.

“Was that honestly the best you’ve got, Wu?”

“You could do better, Wu!”

“Got some quick and dirty business to attend to, eh?” and somehow that one earned a round of applause. Yifan looked behind to check if Yixing was still invisible; he was scared his ear or something was sticking out from under the cloak, but there was nothing. He still had a nagging feeling his housemates knew he was trying to smuggle a Hufflepuff in though. Slytherins were extremely observant, after all.

Kim Minseok, a quiet seventh year student with a rather small stature, intercepted Yifan unexpectedly and had almost knocked Yixing over while doing so. The duo sighed in relief, thanking Merlin for Felix Felicis, but Minseok looked a bit worried.

“Yifan,” he greeted, “I think you should know that there’s something in the closet—” Minseok started saying, but the taller Slytherin’s impatience was running out, and he couldn’t hear anything after the word ‘closet’. So what, he liked closets! Didn’t these Slytherins ever want a place where they can have some peace? Pride be damned if the only way to get a bit of quiet was to lock oneself up in a cupboard!

“Oh god, not you too!” Yifan exclaimed irritably, and the other Slytherin recoiled. Yifan waved his peer away and bounded towards the infamous Closet with a capital C. It was a few arms-lengths away at that point. He tugged Yixing along and hoped no one would stop him or say something idiotic anymore.

Finally, when the heavy door closed behind them, got locked it, and was whispered a Silencing Charm, both Yifan and Yixing exhaled deeply. Yixing took off the cloak slowly, letting it slip from his shoulders, and looked around at the confined space.

Somehow it was at that moment that Yifan felt a bit self-conscious of how close they were. Or how they were willingly locked together inside a closet. He could not decide for the life of him whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but tried thinking in a more optimistic light for a change, and decided that it was a good thing.

“This makes absolutely no sense, but I think this is it. This is where a unicorn might appear,” Yixing interrupted Yifan’s train of brainless thoughts.

Not to mention, he had completely forgotten about unicorns…

It was definitely a cold and wet storeroom nonetheless. It smelled fishy but thankfully not too foul, and it was a matter of time before they got used to it. There was an old broom leaning on the opposing wall, which was just a meter from them. Some marks of green and purple splashes decorated the floor (Yifan’s potion casualties), and a round stone block with a dark surface sat dead centre. There was a candle lit with green fire floating eerily above them both, but the room was generally dark.

“Right, so this is where I worked on Felix Felicis,” Yifan introduced with an élan of unintended sardonicism. He sighed because it was not supposed to sound so depressing. “Sorry about my housemates,” he added, “They’re really just… playful, for lack of better word. Wish I could introduce you to them properly next time. They’d have manners.”

“Oh, they were fine! A lively bunch, mind. We usually sleep ten minutes before curfew,” Yixing replied with unanticipated enthusiasm. “Also, this is a really dingy closet. How were you able to work in here?”

Yifan shrugged. He often asked himself that question, but never found an answer. “Sometimes the fire was hard to kindle,” he conjured up the numerous times he wanted to throw his cauldron out the door, “But everything else was all right, really. I got used to it real quick.”

“I can’t imagine trying to build a fire while there are unidentified liquids dripping from the ceiling,” Yixing commented, and they both resisted the urge to look up. It made Yifan want to laugh because he had assumed it was just water. In any case, he hoped it was just water.

“I’m glad it’s only this closet. Our bedrooms are fine,” Yifan said. “Our parents and grandparents made sure those are renovated every year.”

Yixing smiled. “Well, at least I got a really, really good feeling about this place.” He tried walking around it, surveying the walls with genuine interest. Yifan looked down bashfully at the floor.

“It’s like something might pop out of these walls anytime—” Yixing started, but was cut off midsentence. There was a stiff pause, and Yifan looked up and eyed the Hufflepuff curiously before he, himself, caught on.

They both froze, breathing shallowly.

 

Something black was materializing itself around the abandoned broom.

The wall against which it was leaning on was turning pale, white, and crystal. The sound of the crystallization was awful: it cracked and expanded dangerously in every direction. The broom handle also turned white and icy, and in the next second, Yixing and Yifan’s breaths turned into fog in front of them. Their fingertips turned purple and stiff. A mist mixed with clashing colours formed around them and quickly dissipated everything in sight: walls, ceiling, floor, and door.

There was a hollow sound that sounded both like a thunder’s grumble and a banshee’s deafening cry. They both tried covering up their ears, but it did not help in the least.

“What’s happening, —” Yifan cried over the noise, but Yixing cut him.

“It’s a dementor—” he breathed uneasily, his eyes focused on said warden as it stretched its dark and long fingers towards them. Its face was obscured by a dark hood, but they knew they were far too close.

 

It took a while for them to react, or at least it felt like long centuries. Yifan had taken out his wand but couldn’t quite make out a spell. He sometimes felt detached from his body and the experience was sickening. Though he perfectly understood that it had to do with the proximity of the monster, he did not know how to make the swirling stop.

“Yixing, are you still with me?” he said instead.

He saw Yixing looking pale and faint. Yifan’s heartbeat grew louder and louder in his ears. He wondered if he had enough willpower to even reach for the door and ask for assistance, den of snakes or not, but he couldn’t quite make out the direction of the door, and his sense of orientation had long been taken away from him.

He could only stare groggily at the darkness in front of him. For a while nothing really passed over his mind. The dementor seemed to be doing something to his face, but he couldn’t really tell what was happening.

He suddenly had the urge to let go, to just fall into it. It was inviting, and he felt like it couldn’t possibly hurt if he… just… went with the flow.

Maybe this was it. This was all because of his faulty Felix Felicis. He would get his soul away in the very cupboard he started this whole practical joke.

He might have added too many ashwinder eggs. He might have not been vigorous enough when he stirred. Maybe the squill bulbs had been too mature to use. He must have ed up everything; there was no point in getting into details. And he had thought a closet would be so much safer than the forest or the lake! He had been so terribly mistaken.

But why would a dementor be in a closet anyways? It made no sense—

They were both on the floor now, he realised as an afterthought. Yifan was on his knees with his wand pointing shakily at the monster as he grew weaker and weaker. Yixing was already completely on the floor, it seemed, as only half of his face was visible. He was still conscious, but he seemed to be slipping away into sleep.

They had a chapter on dementors in Defence Against the Dark Arts, hadn’t they? Yifan mused as darkness started eating away at his vision. There was a charm… An extremely hard one to perform. But Yifan was good at them, wasn’t he? Because he was born charming.

He’d give it a try. It never hurt to give it a try. He looked at Yixing, and hoped he could do it. He closed his eyes so he could concentrate.

A sudden flashback of the first day he’d met Yixing passed his mind.

A quiet toad. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. Dimples. Dodos. Awkward smiles. Yixing’s eleven-year-old self. Yixing making a joke about not having a backyard— Yixing throwing his head back and laughing wholeheartedly. Yixing’s eyes glazing mysteriously. Yixing’s voice.

“Ah, well, I like unicorns. Of course.”

The very moment Yifan fell in love, without reason, without warning, just a tingling feeling.

“Expecto Patronum!” he screamed with all his might.

 

And there it was.

A beautiful unicorn in ephemeral blue light.

 

 

VI.

That was it.

That was the end of their wild evening and foolish adventure. A long way coming for a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin duo to say the least, but they made it. And thus, Yifan had somewhat fulfilled the second half of his promise. He smiled goofily at himself while he fiddled with his wand. It had been hell, as expected, but he had harvested much more than he anticipated. That was exhilarating on its own: he still had some of the adrenaline caught up in his chest.

It was just a pity Yixing was not so conscious when the unicorn had appeared (perhaps even asleep, Yifan couldn’t really tell, the fog had been thick). And no matter how many times Yifan tried the patronus charm afterwards, nothing came of it, no spark no nothing, so it was not like he could just show it off to Yixing any time in the foreseeable future. It was a rather depressing thought, but Yifan believed at least it was something he could work on, and it would be killing two bats with one stone since he wanted to become an Auror.

Yixing’s head was lying on his lap, and he was sleeping soundly. The unidentified liquid that was dripping from the ceiling had stopped somehow leaking. Yifan did not exactly know what that meant. The floor was warmer now than it had been before too. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from Yixing’s forehead.

His heart thudded heavily. He was reminded that he still needed to confess. He would have to wait until the Hufflepuff woke up, of course, so he tried not thinking about it in order to calm his nerves. He grabbed his cloak and covered it over Yixing, who would have turned invisible, but the charm had worn off. Yifan cast a Tempus charm and realised it was way past even a Slytherin’s bedtime.

The younger boy woke up from the flick of the wand, blinking and a bit disoriented. He sat up and looked at Yifan as if the latter had a second head.

“You all right?” the Slytherin asked.

Yixing cracked his neck, and stretched a bit before saying. “Yeah. I think so.” He straightened his back and then blinked at Yifan several times. “Except… I think I may need a recap on what just happened. There was a dementor and a unicorn. That’s all I can remember.”

“To keep it short – well, it was a boggart,” Yifan explained briefly, smiling wider and wider at the fact that Yixing got to see the unicorn after all. It made the taller boy feel bubbly inside.

“A b-boggart?” Yixing’s eyes grew wide with a delighted kind of incredulity. “You mean those awfully curious non-beings that hide under your bed sometimes?”

That was one way of describing one, Yifan thought, but then left it to the expert since he did not know anything about them except for the fact that they turned into things its target was frightened of. As a really late afterthought, Yifan did not even know Yixing was afraid of dementors. He wondered why, but decided it was a topic for some distant time in the future…

“Yes, those things,” Yifan confirmed before asking with a frown, “…Also, I did not know you were… afraid of dementors?” Trust himself to think aloud when he really did not want to. Yixing did not really tense up though, thankfully.

“Gramps got kissed by one a long time ago, when they were rampant during the war. I was a tiny thing back then, but I guess it did scar me to see one up close,” he replied a bit solemnly, and Yifan wished he hadn’t brought it up.

“I was insensible. Shouldn’t have asked.”

Yixing felt the other’s uneasiness, smiled and said, “It’s fine. We should be getting to know each other too now. We’ve been friends for seven years after all…” He laughed nervously.

The word ‘friends’ made Yifan feel a bit dejected, but he shook it off and nodded. He randomly turned his gaze away, only to come across the stone on the floor.

“By the way,” his voice cracked unexpectedly, making it sound like he whinnied, “Do you know a way … to finish boggarts off? It turned into a … spider… after the dementor feat, and I crushed it with that rock.” He pointed at said stone that lay off centre now. “It should still be under it, but I can’t be sure.”

“You’re scared of spiders?” Yixing asked, eyes wide. Count on a Hufflepuff to stray from the main question.

“They do not appeal to me,” Yifan deadpanned. “I did not know it was a boggart at first. It was really smart! Kept itself small so that I would think it was my bad luck pulling an anticlimactic joke. I should have thought: what were the chances I’d to find one crawling towards me right after a duel with a dementor? Had it been big, I would have caught on.” Yifan was starting to ramble. He stopped before he sounded a bit too dramatic.

“The duel with the dementor!” Yixing was reminded. Yifan thanked Salazar the Hufflepuff wasn’t concerned about his phobia for spiders. “There was a unicorn. Or did I make that up?”

“That…” Yifan trailed. He wasn’t sure what to say. He was happy enough Yixing did not miss it.

“…Your patronus, isn’t it?” Yixing guessed with a serene smile. He grabbed Yifan’s hand and held tightly. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!” Yifan felt warm in his chest. His cheeks flushed up.

“I never would have thought… a unicorn! Haha,” Yifan grinned briefly before biting his lip. “But I tried to cast it again, after the whole thing, and it wouldn’t work anymore.”

Yixing shrugged. “It’s alright, I’m sure you just need some practice. It’s a really good sign though. Some Aurors can’t even manage a Patronus.” His eyes were shining. “You’d make a good Auror, Yifan.”

“And you a good Healer, now that we’ve got the unicorn business settled,” Yifan responded. Yixing cackled and fell against Yifan’s shoulder.

“I suppose so. I mean, it feels a bit like cheating… but I’d definitely make your unicorn count. It was beautiful,” he mumbled idly before his eyes met up with Yifan’s. He then laughed wholeheartedly. “I’ll never get over the fact that you managed an extremely difficult charm instead ofRiddikulus. You really like to challenge yourself, do you not? We’ve only ever covered on ‘expecto patronum’ theoretically,” Yixing said.

Yifan laughed. “Only for my Xingxing, really. Also, er, I still stand by what I think though: you’d make a good Healer even without witnessing a unicorn—” But then he choked on his words and coughed, and while he pushed himself upright, slapped his palm against a sharp rock on the ground. He yelped and saw that it was oozing with a small streak of blood. Curse his bad luck. God forbid it would always him while he was actually pretty cool.

Yixing smiled mysteriously before leaning closer onto Yifan, his hair tickling the other’s cheek.

“That’s sweet… To be honest, I was betting that you’d have a dodo as your patronus. I was quite convinced there was no way it’d be anything else… It’s nice to be delightfully surprised though,” Yixing said, taking a look at Yifan’s small injury, leaning closer than was possible. Yifan wondered if it was all that necessary for him to lean in so much. He was getting a bit dizzy; his mind was going blurry.

“You sure are clumsy and unlucky. I feel bad for you. I’ve got a trick, though, just for this,” Yixing said in quick succession. He seemed a little bit nervous and Yifan wondered why—

But before the Slytherin knew what was happening or before anything could be processed in his brain, Yixing kissed him.

Full lips on his own, kissing gently and roughly both at the same time. In the next second, they were already having an opened-mouth snog, and it was definitely heaven despite the shabby and wet cupboard they were in.

Yifan’s heart was pounding hard, especially when their fingers intertwined, and he prayed for this moment to last an eternity, wondered if he should really invest in a time turner so he could relive this over and over and keep it close to his heart. He decided he might not need one though. Yixing had shifted into his lap again. They snogged like their lives depended on it. It felt like it was meant to be.

And the point was, it felt like it was meant to be a forever kind of thing. This wouldn’t be the last time they’d do this. It didn’t feel like a mistake, there was no way it could be, neither of them was pulling back. They were both eager. Their hands were all over each other, the kiss deepening more and more, their eyes were closed tight.

It felt surreal maybe, but it was most definitely very real.

“Sharing some of the luck, really,” Yixing whispered shyly against Yifan’s cheek when they finally broke apart for breath. “You know, Felix Felicis sharing. I told you, you needed some of it, didn’t I?”

Yifan laughed and threw his head back before flinging his arms around Yixing and pulling him into a loose hug.

 

“You should teach me more about sharing then, Xingxing,” he said, smiling widely.

 

 

-fin-