Jongdae really thought that Hogsmeade was overrated. Sure, you could run around with your friends, have something to drink and visit amazing shops. So what? He was actually looking forward to find some peace and quiet so he would be able to read.

Not many people knew this but Jongdae enjoyed reading a lot. It was one of the best things for him. Usually, people told him he was nuts because he was already living in a world full of Magic. Which was true. However, the plot in the stories, building a character, following them into adventures, whether they were spies or swordsmen under the king’s orders. It was the thrill of the unknowing and it didn’t matter if he knew magic or not, it was magical in its own way. And okay, to be honest, he did enjoy it when he was reading some muggle book about magical worlds and all the incoherences that people wrote. It was funny. Sometimes it was interesting how the muggles viewed some aspects of the magical world.

It was on the third chapter of a muggle’s book that he heard someone getting inside the common room. He lifted his head from the pages while two Gryffindors were walking to the rooms.

"They say his eyes became red as blood." One of them said.

"I heard Miranda saying that Madame Pomfrey was hysterical when they arrived, she had never encountered a poison like that." The other one answered.

"I wonder if someone was trying to get back at him because he’s been playing awfully these past matches." The boy snickered.

"Robert! Don’t say that! Park is a really great guy, I hope he is fine…"

"Did you say Park?" Jongdae asked startling the two boys. He got on his feet hurriedly while the other two boys nodded without saying anything else. "What happened?!"

"He was poisoned."

Not a second after the words left the boy’s mouth Jongdae was running through the Hogwarts’ halls. Many students were getting back from their visit to the magic village so, he had to dodge many times not to bump into one of them. What had happened? What was happening? He was really mad at Chanyeol because he had been playing with the only thing Jongdae swore to protect. It’s true that he hadn’t let the boy explain but because there was nothing to explain. Chanyeol had to understand that as Roro’s older brother he couldn’t let this sled. So then, why was he running as if his life depended on it to get to know how was his best friend? Well, yeah, because he was his best friend. And maybe Jongdae was regretting a bit not letting Chanyeol explain and come clean since every time the tall Gryffindor had tried to explain Jongdae had been mean and insulted him. He called his best friend a betrayer. And now his best friend could be dying… With his heart beating at light speed he turned the corner to the infirmary.

His group of friends were all there. Baekhyun standing in front of Mina and Amber, he looked disheveled and both girls were looking at him with soft eyes. Yixing, Yu, Luna, Suho and Xiumin were sitting in a row with their backs to the wall. They were also talking in whispers. But what seemed strange to him was his sister. Roro was sitting closer to the closed door, her eyes were puffy and red. Her back was also resting on the wall but her arms were embracing her knees. The weirdest thing, however, was her look. She was looking at Victoria, who was sitting some meters in front of her, with stern and cold eyes.

"Dae!" Baekhyun’s voice brought him back from his observations. "What are you doing here?" He asked softly.

"I heard what happened… but, how did it happen?"

"Ask Victoria, she apparently knows a lot about poison." His sister’s voice sounded cold and harsh.

"I already told you I’ve done nothing!" The chinese girl shouted at Roro. "Why don’t we ask you? You were with him and did NOTHING!"

"IT WASN’T ME WHO GAVE HIM THOSE SWEETS!" Roro shouted back.

"I DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE POISONED BUT IF I HAD BEEN THERE I SURELY HAD KNOWN WHAT TO DO!!"

"I WAS SCARED!" Roro ended shouting while she began to cry. "He wasn’t breathing…" She added with a small broken voice.

"Stop! Both of you!" Suho interrupted them. "It’s no one's fault, let’s just wait until the Professors come out, arguing will not help Chanyeol."

Both girls huffed and calmed down. Jongdae decided to walk to his sister and ask her about what had happened. He was beginning to feel more afraid as each second ticked. His sister was also worrying him, she looked pale and scared. He crouched in front of her and caressed her right knee.

"Hey Roro, what’s going on?" He asked with a whisper. The ambience was so solemn he almost felt compelled to do so. Her sister took his hand and squeezed it with a sad look.

"Chanyeol has been poisoned..." She said with a small whisper.

"I figured that much, yeah… but how did it happen? Why are you angry and crying?"

"I don’t know how it happened, we were talking and he was apologizing…"

"Apologizing? For what?" He interrupted her.

"Not important right now Dae, it wasn’t that bad and… He asked me to share some sweets with him as a token of forgiveness" Roro looked at his brother with unshed tears and a trembling bottom lip "he ate them first and suddenly fell and began shaking… I didn’t know what to do, I just panicked." She cleaned some small tears that had fell. "I’m just so glad Professor Narcius was at the Hog’s Head, he acted really quickly." Roro sighed while Jongdae leaned in and hugged her tight.

"God… I’m sure Yeol will be fine" Roro sobbed hard "and don’t you dare blame yourself, do you hear me? It wasn’t your fault!"

"I know, I just feel so stupid the only thing I did was shout for help…"

"Because that surely would help to cure poison." Victoria snorted from the other side of the hallway.

"At least I didn’t poison him." Roro spatted at her, unbending herself from her position and stiffening.

"Oh my God! For the umpteenth time, IT. WASN’T. ME!"

"You gave him the chocolates! He said it to me himself!

"Yes! I got them as a present and decided to gift them to him" she explained with an exasperated huff. "I didn’t know they were poisoned!"

"Well, if what you are saying it’s true Miss Song, then we need to have a chat because someone is targeting you." A calm and stern female voice said interrupting the girls argument.

Headmistress McGonagall was standing with Professor Narcius and Madam Pomfrey in front of all of them. The three professors had really serious faces.

"I would be grateful if you can accompany me so we can have that chat as soon as possible." She said looking at Victoria.

"Well, yeah… I just want to know how is Chanyeol doing…" The girl asked standing up.

"Mister Park was very lucky that Professor Narcius was near."  McGonagall answered her. "You should thank him too."

"There is no need for that, Headmistress" Narcius interjected. "I did what I had to do, it was Madam Pomfrey’s antidote what saved young Park."

"Well, if you allow me then I am going to take that compliment." Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I had never seen a poison like this one, such rare ingredients!"

"Let’s be thankful that you are an excellent Healer then." McGonagall addressed the medic witch. "Now, Mister Park needs to rest and none of you can see him until tomorrow so, please Miss Song, you should come with me."

"Yes, ma’am."

The rest of the group was still there when Victoria left with the Headmistress. All of them threw Madam Pomfrey the puppy eyes but she was really strict about visiting the Gryffindor Keeper and didn’t allow them to enter the infirmary until the next day. Since they couldn’t do anything else for Chanyeol, everyone decided to leave for their own rooms.

It was on their way to the Gryffindor tower that Roro broke the heavy silence between her and Jongdae.

"I was worried for a second that you wouldn’t show up." She said without looking at him. Jongdae sighed.

"I didn’t even think about it" he shrugged "I mean, the moment I heard Yeol was at the infirmary my body reacted on its own and when I realized I was already running like crazy."

"Probably your body knows what your mind is still so stubbornly keen on forgetting." She chuckled.

"What would that be?" He looked at her confused.

"That you shouldn’t argue with your best friend like this, that you can’t be that extreme on people because one day they would disappear and then you would regret having been upset for so long and for such an stupid reason." She explained with a serious face.

"It’s not a stupid reason…"

"I’m not blind Dae." Roro turned her face to look at him. "I may seem oblivious to many things but you know me better than that. I know I’m the reason you were so mad at Chanyeol and although I’m not sure why, I don’t want to be it anymore." She sighed while Jongdae was looking at her with wide eyes. "I didn’t say anything and played dumb because I was hoping for one of you to tell me the truth but it doesn’t matter anymore. Your best friend, someone we both care about, almost died today and I think it’s really sad it had to come to this for you to realize that while I’m grateful for your support, protectiveness and love, I don’t want you to fight my battles." She showed him a small smile.

"I never did it because it was your battle but because it made me mad." Jongdae mumbled and Roro knew he wasn’t going to tell her what exactly was the reason. "And I disagree with you there, you are my sister, your battles will always be mine too and I don’t care who is the enemy, I will always have your back." He stopped and looked at his little sister with stern eyes. Roro chuckled again.

"For someone who claims to be so cool you are really cheesy, Dae" she jokingly hit his shoulder and then surprised the boy with a huge "but I’m happy to have such a cheesy Bro."

Jongdae left his sister hug him and he squeezed her tightly. He felt some of the fright and tension abandoning his body. Since the moment he had met her when they were 5 and 6 years old, Roro’s hugs were the best remedy for Jongdae’s sour moods. He remembers how on the nights when he was afraid that his biological dad would appear and took him away from his mother, Roro would climb in his bed and she would squeeze him really hard until he stopped trembling. He used to be worried that she thought he was weak. Once, when they were on their early teens, Roro confessed to him that he was the only guy she felt safe with. Roro’s small sobbing brought him back from memory land.

"Hey, hey… Don’t cry c’mon Roro." He tried to sooth her cries caressing her back. "He’s going to be alright, you heard what McGonagall said."

"I know" she sobbed "I just felt so scared and useless…"

"Which is totally normal and okay because someone was being poisoned in front of you and you aren’t an Auror, it was totally unexpected!"

"I’m really sorry… I’m just afraid Chanyeol will hate me now…"

"Don’t be daft Roro, I don’t think Chanyeol can feel anything close to hate for you, trust me." He held her hand in a comforting way. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"Many times." She said making them burst into giggles.

"Not with serious stuff!" Jongdae retorted.

"Okay, okay…"

"He’s going to be okay and we need to rest, it’s been quite a day" he repeated while becoming serious again "I could have lost you too today." he said pouting.

"You are stuck with me, don’t worry" she shrugged and smiled trying to comfort her brother. "Now let’s go, I’m really looking forward to lay on my bed."

Roro began to walk again while Jongdae stood there a second to look at her sister while a loving smile appeared on his face. Whatever people said, he didn’t care at all, blood ties were overrated.

The Monday after Chanyeol’s accident, Mina was walking to her charms class after lunch, to which she was really late,  when she heard a voice came from behind the corner of the hallway.

"I thought you said you would succeed this time!" A male voice said sounding quite furious.

"I made sure she took the chocolates!" This time, she recognized the voice. Purtrefs. Mina stopped on her tracks.

"Well, she obviously didn’t or she would be dead by now!" the other voice continued "we need to make sure she is out of our way before the Final trial."

"I know but we will have to wait for a while, the Headmistress is already suspecting something is going on… I can’t risk getting caught."

"Well, you better act fast then" the male voice sounded calmer now. "What about the mudblood?"

Mina felt her blood turn cold. She was keeping her breath and standing so still she almost thought someone had thrown a Petrificus Totalus at her. She knew for a fact the only muggleborn Purtrefs enjoyed torturing was her.

"We’re just having fun with her although that stupid Prefect kid keeps interfering, I wish we could show him some manners." She scoffed.

"Don’t go being stupid and reckless, you are not actually kids." The voice answered sounding annoyed.

"Don’t go scolding me, it’s Kun who’s obsessed with the little " she said huffing "Not that she is anything to be impressed by, tsk!"

"If I didn’t know better, dear Peng, I would think you are jealous."

"Me? Of that bloody mudblood? As if!" She huffed harder this time. "I just want to hurt her her pain expressions are fun." She giggled. Mina scared body couldn’t help but whine at how cold and scary she sounded. The moment the sound was out of she regretted.

"What was that?" The male voice asked suddenly. Mina opened her eyes and began trembling. She was far enough that they would need to turn the corner and walk a bit to see her but she was too close to run. Oh God, this was it, she was going to die. She closed her eyes bracing herself.

"Mina?!" She jumped startled when Sehun’s voice was heard. She opened her eyes looking around frenetically. There was no trace of Purtrefs or anyone else. Sehun looked around when he realized she was looking for something. "What’s happening? Have you lost something?" he asked confused. Mina looked at him again with wide eyes. She shook her head.

"No, no… I was just, I’m late to Charms." She explained without moving. Sehun raised an eyebrow.

"Then what are you doing standing there pretending to be a statue?" he joked.

"I just… I don’t know, I… wait, what are you doing here?" she asked now confused. Sehun was a fourth year, he was supposed to be in class too.

"I have a free period now, I was actually going to the library." he explained. Mina nodded.

"Hmm… Sehun have you, hmm… have you seen someone on your way here? Like, something strange?"

"Strange?" he asked furrowing "not really… I mean, not stranger than usual. Some students walking here and there…"

"Oh, okay." Mina sighed.

"Why? Has something happened?"

"No, no, no! I just… thought I heard something that’s all." She shrugged and smiled to dismiss it.

"Well, I didn’t hear anything apart from the dripping of the water on that awful fountain they just built" he said scoffing. "They just gave Peeves another place to torture students, tsk!" Mina giggled at that.

"C’mon, Peeves is naughty, he’s not that bad."

"Well, I wouldn’t have any problem with it if he decided to target another house for a change. They even charmed it so it wouldn’t freeze on winter, that’s like serving the devil with a new toy if you ask me" he rolled his eyes making Mina giggle again. "By the way, aren’t you like super late to Charms?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Shoot! I have to go!" Mina opened her eyes wide when realization dawned on her "bye Sehun! Good luck avoiding Peeves!"  She waved him goodbye while running down the hallway.

It wasn’t until she got to her class and the Professor looked at her with a stern expression and deducted 5 points to Slytherin for Mina’s tardiness, inducing a chorus of whines from the other Slytherins, that she stopped to think about what she just witnessed. She should be thanking her stars she hadn’t been discovered. Also, she was now more sure than ever that those two were up to something evil. The name’s changing, the talk about killing someone, a girl. Mina was actually feeling scared this was bigger than anyone thought. However, if she had learn’t something from her dad, it was to always make sure to have evidence and a good theory before telling a superior, or it would cost you your reputation, or worse, your credibility. She needed to talk with Baekhyun about what she had find out, there was no way he would deny something fishy was going on now.

The fact that it was an excuse to spend more time with the Slytherin Prefect was just a happy coincidence she wouldn’t admit to anyone, not even her mom, that made her happy.

Chanyeol was about to go nuts. He was really grateful towards Madam Pomfrey, she had saved his life after all, but enough was enough. He was feeling well, his body had recovered perfectly he just had occasional headaches that lasted ten minutes at most. However, the medic witch wouldn’t let him leave the infirmary for at least two more days. Everyone was going to leave for Christmas in 5 days and he would like to spend the remaining days with his friends and not here, dying of boredom.

It was funny and he thought he was lucky the first days after he woke up. Sure, having been so close to death wasn’t fun, not that part. But then, he could skip lessons, rest and he was able to practice with his muggle guitar. Also, his family came to visit him and he got to see his sister sooner than he thought. She had cried and hugged him so tight his brother-in-law, Mark, had to peel her off of him. Yoora had asked him a million times how was he feeling and after a million reassurances that he was just fine, she relaxed a bit. His family stayed just one day and then went back to their busy lives. Even though, he had been really happy to see his sister and feel her embrace again. After that, his friends had the green light to visit him.

Baekhyun was the first one to visit him. His best friend had hit him on the head, telling him how scared he made all of them and then jokingly squeezed his right shoulder saying how happy he was to have his troll face around again. Everyone else had visit him together, brought him a lot of sweet treats (Yixing joked that none of them were poisoned). Even Xiumin was with the group when they visited, though he just nodded in his direction as a way of greeting and kept shut the rest of the visit. When Madam Pomfrey came back and saw how many of them were there she shooed them all out. Victoria visited him the next day. The chinese girl began to cry the moment she saw him awake, asking for forgiveness and apologizing. She claimed she didn’t know the chocolates were poisoned, that they had been a present for her. Chanyeol assured her he wasn’t mad about it and he was glad she hadn’t been hurt. They talked a bit about what McGonagall had told her. The Headmistress suspected someone was trying to boycott Victoria’s participation on the Potion Championship and the girl had to report if anything weird happened again.

Hours later, he had another girl crying next to his bed. This time it was the red-haired Gryffindor. Chanyeol chuckled and tapped Roro’s forehead. The girl looked up at him with a pout and puffy eyes.

"Stop crying. I’m alive and fine" he smiled. "I’m just really, really glad you weren’t poisoned as well."

"I’m just sorry" Roro sobbed. "I didn’t know what to do and…"

"And you called for help which was what you were supposed to do." He interrupted her and the girl closed . A weird silence appeared between them.

"I’m just happy you woke up, seeing you like that was probably the scariest moment of my life" she mumbled with a weak voice. "Don’t scare me like that ever again, Yeol, please…"

"I promise." He looked at the girl with soft eyes. "I still have to see you get that Outstanding on your O.W.L.S" He winked at her making the girl giggle and blush.

"As long as you keep being my tutor."

"Unfortunately for you, you are stuck with me." He poked his tongue out to her. Roro giggled.

"Well, I actually consider myself quite lucky regarding my tutor." She admit stopping Chanyeol’s laugh. The boy looked at her with a smirk and raised an eyebrow. Roro blushed and was about to change the subject when a cough interrupted them.

"I can come later if you want… " Jongdae’s voice sounded in the infirmary. "Maybe when you two are done flirt…talking I mean." He said teasingly.

The other two looked at him with surprised eyes and red faces. While Roro glared to his brother, Chanyeol was feeling really confused with Jongdae’s behaviour. After all, the boy had been mad at him five days ago and now was here joking as if nothing has happened. Roro felt the tension and decided to leave them so they could talk.

"Anyways, I gotta go" she stood up "I have to finish a paper on the uses of ancient runes and meet up with the girls to talk about New Year's Eve." She turned to face Chanyeol again. "I hope you will get better soon!" she grinned at him.

"I hope you will visit me again!" He smiled back at her and Roro left, not without giving his brother a meaningful look before.

Jongdae walked to the chair next to the bed and sat down. Neither Chanyeol or him were starting the much needed conversation and the air was weird between them. Chanyeol refused to look at him, deciding that his blanket was more interesting while Jongdae tried to find a way to apologize without screwing this up.

"What are you doing here?" Chanyeol’s harsh tone surprised Jongdae. The shorter boy smiled sadly.

"I came here to see how you were doing and…"

"Why would you care?" Chanyeol interrupted him with a harsher voice now. "You didn’t care what was happening to me or what I had to say before…" he huffed. Jongdae supposed he deserved that. He sighed again.

"I know and I’m sorry Yeol." He looked at his friend with pleading eyes. "I should have let you explain and that’s why I’m here because I want an explanation."

"So you can not believe me and get mad again?" Chanyeol knew those words were going to hurt Jongdae and he saw the effect they had on his eyes.

"I will believe you if you tell me the truth…"

Chanyeol let a heavy sigh escape his lips. He was honestly tired of fighting but he had been hurt by Jongdae’s behavior too. However, the boy was here and he looked quite worried and unwell, so he decided to give him another chance. After all, that’s what best friends do, they fight and make up again.

"Are you going to let me finish my explanation without interrupting me?" He side eyed the shorter Gryffindor and saw him nodding.

"Yes, I promise to keep my mouth shut until you finish."

"Okay..." Chanyeol turned to his friend and began explaining. "It’s true that I was in love with Victoria. She was my best friend back when I was in Korea and we did almost everything together. I always wanted to impress her and that stuff. After I confessed and she rejected me I was sad. I was away from my home, my parents were gone and the only happy thing I had besides my sister, were you and Baekhyun. I had a rough time accepting we could just be friends and after I did that, everything went better." Jongdae knew all this already but he wanted to remind him. "Now, I was surprised when I saw her at the Great Hall but I felt that if she hadn’t contacted me before hand maybe it was best that way. However, later she asked to speak with me, she apologized for not writing again to me and we talked things out. I told her I was over her, I had moved on which you already know, and she just smiled and nodded. I will admit she looked a bit dejected and a part of me was hopeful she felt something. That worried me at night, that’s why I decided to share it with you and you said it was normal because after all, she had been my first love. I tried to be as polite as I could and she had been my best friend in the past too, so hanging out with her or inviting her to join us was normal for me. I thought that was the best way to handle the situation. I obviously thought wrong" he chuckled. "Jongdae, you’ve known me for years, do you really think I will hurt your sister?"

Jongdae didn’t say anything for a long time. Then he sighed and got closer to the bed.

"I’m sorry I had been such a jerk to you" he looked at his best friend with an apologetically smile. "I just lost it when I saw you came with her to the breakfast table. To be honest, when we spoke the night before I was okay but then, I just… I felt how Roro was feeling uncomfortable and I just, my Big Bro instinct took over…I’m sorry." He looked down again. "I just don’t want her to suffer and I know I told you it was fine by me if you liked her but she’s still my Baby Sister" he looked at Yeol again "and I would fight anyone for her happiness and wellbeing." He said with a stern look.

"I know Dae, I know." Chanyeol sighed. "I promise you that’s not my intention at all."

"Okay so, are we good again?" Jongdae asked hopefully.

"After you buy me a lot of chocolate we will be fine." Chanyeol joked. "Without poison please!" Both boys laughed at that.

"Well, now that is over, I have something to ask you." Chanyeol looked at him with surprised eyes. "My parents are spending New Year's Eve out and they told us we could invite our friends home as long as we all act like “mature teens”, if that’s even possible so, do you want to come?" Jongdae showed him his cheshire smile.

"You bet I want! Sounds fun!" His best friend answered excitedly. "How many of us?"

"Not sure yet, probably the usual group, now it has grown."

"Does that include pain-in-the--Xiumin too?" Chanyeol pouted.

"I’m afraid it does bro, I’m sorry." Jongdae laughed. "He is not that bad to be honest, he’s actually quite cool and Roro likes him too." He teased his tall friend.

"Shut up!" Chanyeol whined. "I don’t want to go anymore…"

"Okay, I’m sure Xiumin will have fun talking with my sister all night, you know."

"On second thought, you would need someone to handle the music so, I’ll be there." Chanyeol was fast to answer making Jongdae smirk. His friend was so easy.

"It’s gonna be great!"

"Yes" Chanyeol thought, he couldn’t wait for Christmas break.

I'm back! (briefly but back! \( ^ ^)/ 

I've been trying to find a moment to upload and write a bit more but adulthood is catching up with me ( >.<) I'm working on a lot of projects right now and working at the same time so, time is a valuable thing I don't have much of it. However, these summer weekends I'll try to write a lot :) 

Anyway! Christmas Break in the middle of July YAY! lol Hopefully, Jongade's side is clearer now and what do you think about Chanyeol's confession? Would something happen during Christmas? What about that mysterious voice? The plot thickens! 

Thank you to the people who reads the story! <3 I would appreaciate a bit more of feedback to help me improve though ^^' 

As always you can find me here:  ask & Twitter!!

Bye! (/ - \)♥