A blooming suspicion and a promise to keep

Kyungsoo felt a shiver going down his spine as he left the Potion classroom. Since that really odd Quidditch match the Headmaster had decided to increase the level of security in the hallways and there now was at least one professor or ghost patrolling in any corner of the castle.

They were still allowed to go to Hogsmeade and practice for Quidditch, but there was no more going out past their bedtime or else… well, when Kris had explained it to the first years that morning his face was terrifying enough to leave it at that.

Kyungsoo however had not stopped thinking about what had happened. He went hunting for information in the library, hoping to find some kind of information in the various Spell books, but so far he’d had no luck. Nevertheless, he was certain: something was lurking in the castle, unwanted.

No one aside from him was having any suspicious, they thought someone had pulled a really low class prank on the Quidditch players and they were content with that explanation. Kyungsoo had been a wizard for less than five months and he wasn’t sure if his way of thinking was different from his fellas because he was still adjusting, but something in his gut was telling him he was on the right track, and if there was something his Grandmother had thought him was to always follow his gut.

He was strolling down the hallway, headed to his Charm lesson alongside Chanyeol when suddenly his friend excused himself with a low:

“Bathroom, be right back”

And ran away.

Kyungsoo lifted his gaze from the floor, confused, when he saw Baekhyun, Minseok and Jongdae coming towards him and shot a knowing smile in Chanyeol’s direction, but his friend had already vanished.

Baekhyun greeted him with a tired expression and a little wave before heading up the stairs to the Divination classroom, scrolls of parchment and quills loosely under his arm instead of inside his bag.

“How is he doing?” he asked Jongdae.

The Ravenclaw shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

“He’s really tired, but that’s not the worse I’ve seen from him so I wouldn’t worry. One time for a Potion assignment he didn’t sleep for a week”

“Yeah” queued in Minseok, grumbling “And we didn’t as well, since he kept us awake to help him”

“I’m sure that must have been hard” chuckled Kyungsoo.

His mind was still buzzing with questions and as soon as he stopped talking his eyes leaned once back on the floor, glued on the tip of his shoes. Was there any way to know what had happened to the Quidditch equipment? Maybe…

“Hey, Jongdae, Minseok” he called, snapping his head back up “Can I ask you two a favor?”

The two Ravenclaws looked at each other, perplexed. Kyungsoo had never been the “Baekhyun” type, always asking for crazy favors and never really paying back, so they nodded.

“I was wondering if there was a spell to see if something was once under the influence of magic, like… a magical traces’ detector or something like that”

Jongdae shot a knowing glance back at Minseok.

“You’re thinking about the Quidditch game, aren’t ya?”

“Kind of.” Said Kyungsoo hesitantly. He wasn’t sure they were going to believe his theory, but they had proved to be good friends, so maybe he could trust them “It just seems strange, what happened. And the idea of it being just a prank doesn’t really convince me”

Minseok nodded, folding his arms.

“We were thinking the same thing, but what do we know. This is a school for wizards and witches, strange things happen every day. But a spell like that exists, if you’re interested”

Kyungsoo bit his lip, looking around to see if anybody was watching. Once he was sure the hallway was deserted and that the patrolling professor was out of earshot, he looked back at the duo.

“Well, we could go to the equipment room and see if it works. I’m sure the Headmaster has already tried that, but since they don’t want to tell us anything, maybe we can get some answers ourselves”

The two wizards stared back at him in silence, before breaking into a silent laugh.

“Kyungsoo, I didn’t think you were a reckless one and look at you, already breaking the rules in your first year. I’m kind of proud”

Minseok elbowed him in the stomach with a fake annoyed expression.

“Don’t go and corrupt the newbies.” He turned to Kyungsoo and his face turned serious “But really, are you sure you want to do this? We are on the teachers’ blacklist since day one thanks to this idiot here and trust me, it’s not nice.”

“Hey” huffed Jongdae “It’s not always my fault. There was that one time when you poisoned that girl…”

Minseok flashed red and elbowed him harder, murdering the rest of the sentence.

Kyungsoo silently observed their antics and smiled.

“Don’t worry. As long as we don’t get caught there’s no problem right?”

“Oh Merlin, Dae you’re rubbing on him”

Jongdae smiled proudly and took them both under his arms. There was enough time before the start of their next lesson to go and confirm Kyungsoo’s theory, so they headed down the stairs and outside, were the cold air of February made them shiver in their robes. They entered the castle through another door, smaller than the one in the entrance and chiseled in wood.

The equipment room was a surprisingly big closet built at the end of a hallway Kyungsoo had never seen nor walked. It contained all sorts of utensils, from spare gloves made of dragon skin to old dusty brooms, and then polishes of all kinds, bandages and kneepads on the shelves, alongside tons of books on tactics and past famous players.

“Baekhyun would love this place” Kyungsoo thought, coughing from the dust.

They began their search, rummaging inside every drawer and under every carpet.

“Found it” said Minseok, trying to keep his voice at minimum.

In his arms he had the leather case that contained the Quaffle, Bludgers and Golden Snitch. It was trembling, like something was aching to come out of it and they all knew it was exactly like that: a mere lose movement, and the Bludgers were ready to give them a bloody nose and transform the room in a total disaster.

Carefully, Jongdae took out his wand from his pocket and placed it above the case, murmuring a spell so low Kyungsoo barely heard his voice. All of a sudden a cloud of blinding light appeared where the wizard had touched the case, shining blue and then green. It grew larger and larger, fading in the expanse of the room, until it dissolved leaving a trail of sparkles.

The three wizards stood dumbfounded, blinking rapidly to disperse the colored spots coming from staring at the intense light.

“Well boys, we got our answer” said Minseok, placing the case where he had found it “There was definitely a spell involved, and a powerful one”

Jongdae didn’t answer. He was rubbing his eyes, looking deep in thought.

“Here’s the thing” he said, brows furrowed “This spell reacts differently to each type of magic: Dark Arts resolve in smoke, good magic in a mist of light. This spell came from a normal wizard”

The three looked at each other once more, not really knowing what to say.

Kyungsoo’s mind was spinning: had it been a student after all? Or was it a teacher with double purposes? Or maybe… there was something else, hiding in the shadows of Hogwarts at night, something mysterious but not malicious.

As they returned to their respective classrooms, the thought didn’t want to leave his head. He had to know what was going on, and for that…

“Chanyeol, what do you think about some visual practice?”

***

Yixing stared at T-rex and the mouse stared right back.

They had left an hour early, just to make sure they couldn’t get lost on their way, and there they were: in the place they actually wanted to be. Was Yixing getting better at recognizing the way? Absolutely not, but since Junmyeon’s confession his mind was somewhere else all the time and his feet always found their way to him.

In front of him were the locker rooms where Ravenclaw was getting ready to take the field against Hufflepuff. His palms were sweaty and as he approached the door he dried them on the hem of his robe, shifting from a foot to the other.

T-Rex peeked from the edge of his pocket, rubbing his tiny nose against his pinky. Everything was going to be alright, he had been doing this since Junmyeon’s audition for the team. He took courage with both hands and finally entered the room, adverting his eyes from the other players and Jongdae, warming up his voice in the corner.

His only destination was Junmyeon and him only, like always.

He found him with his uniform half on the floor, half on his legs, exposing his torso and his arms. Yixing had always admired the wizard’s dedication to what he was doing: for Quidditch he had gone into a strict exercising regiment, and even before when his family had wanted to make an excellent heir out of him he had given up all of his free time to take dueling lessons from his father.

He had seen him shirtless countless times, from their sleepovers to their impromptu swimming excursions on the lake. This time however, he found himself unable to look away: from his waistline up to his chest, and up again to his face; he was beautiful. His chin, his mouth, his eyes… looking straight at him.

“Xing, are you… are you okay?” he asked. His voice sounded so frail, Yixing noticed.

“I… wanted to wish you good luck. For the match. You have a match now”

He felt T-rex biting down his fingers curled into his pocket. What was he saying?

Junmyeon’s lips curved upwards, holding back a laugh.

“Really? Hadn’t even noticed” he joked, taking a step forward.

Yixing’s muscles tensed, but he imposed himself to calm down. He was not going to freeze now. Junmyeon however noticed, turning back to catch his shirt and putting it on.

“I… listen Xing, I know you said that you need time think about it, and I don’t want to be that person that always presses others, but... I was wondering if after this game we could talk. After what I said you and I haven’t been seeing each other at all and I don’t want us to drift apart like this, so…”

Yixing could almost hear Junmyeon’s brain melting inside his head as he put a hand on his heart and clutched at his shirt, trying to calm himself down.

It was painful to see his best friend like this and it was all his fault. How had things gotten so complicated? They had been so close all those years and he didn’t want them to suddenly disappeared like nothing had happened. Yixing thought of Junmyeon as one of the best things in his life, he was sure of it. And he also knew he owed him an answer.

Inhaling deeply, he searched for comfort in his pocket T-rex’s head, and took a step forward, placing a hand on the Ravenclaw’s shoulder.

“If you win.” He said, looking at him straight in the eyes “If you win, I’ll promise you we’ll talk, okay?”

Junmyeon barely nodded, only breathing again when he heard the sound of the door closing behind the Hufflepuff’s back.

After a moment of silence, painfully aware that his team had just witnessed everything, he shot an incredulous look at his mates, red tinting his cheeks.

“Well, you heard him guys: we have to win.” He said, breathlessly, as his team came crushing him into a hug.

Squished inside that collective bear hug, Junmyeon’s smile grew even larger: Hufflepuff was not just going to lose, they were going to be obliterated.

***

In the corner of the room, Jongdae smiled. Those two were finally going to talk about their feelings, it was about time.

As he watched the Ravenclaw give instructions to his players, however, his smile slowly faded away, leaving only a sting in his chest. Looking down at his hands, they felt cold.

Without looking back, he opened the door and stepped into the field, gaze upward to the sky.

It was such a lovely day.

***

“And here we go once again. Ladies and gentlemen, if today’s match is going to be anything like last time we’ll see some good ones”

Jongdae’s voice echoed in the stadium amidst the Houses’ loud cheers. This time though there was at least one teacher or Prefect among them to keep an eye on the game.

Madame Hooch stepped in sight with an entirely new and thoroughly inspected set of balls, and waited for the two captains to shake hands. It was a surprisingly sunny day with barely a cloud to cover the beautiful indigo sky, but it was still terribly cold and all the players were covered in scarves and were sporting wool gloves.

As Madame Hooch blew her whistle, freeing the Bludgers and the Snitch, all players sprung in motion, clashing into each other for a chance to obtain the Quaffle.

Junmyeon was a keeper and he couldn’t move far from the rings, but he was keeping his team under control with a hawk eye. He yelled with fervor at his fellow teammates, urging them to fly faster, to move quicker and to push their limits to steal the Quaffle and protect the others from the dangerous Bludgers.

That day he wanted to win and his team knew it, fighting for victory but also for their captain’s happiness.

“Well, nothing weird today folks, aside from our Kim Junmyeon who looks on fire today. He’s playing five roles at a time, what a captain everybody!”

Ravenclaw roared alongside Jongdae, cheering loudly for Junmyeon and their team.

Hufflepuff on the other hand was not backing down. They were considered the least threatening of the four teams, but they were going to prove them otherwise, fighting with all their might, pushing Ravenclaw’s team to the absolute hardest.

The occasion came and Minseok swung his bat aiming at their enemy’s captain, distracting him that second they needed to score. As he threw his arms in the air victoriously, he shot a smile in Jongdae’s direction, as he always did.

“Incredible action from Kim Minseok and Kim Hyeri that brings the score Sixty to fifty for Ravenclaw. What a player, that beater. Absolutely talented, even if maybe he should practice some more his swings and he could use some help in the department and…”

“HEY!”

Jongdae found himself with Minseok’s face hovering five centimeters from his own, his cheeks as red as Gryffindor’s banners.

“What the bloody hell are you saying? And what’s wrong with my ?”

Jongdae smiled slyly, shooing him away with his hand.

“Minnie, don’t you have a game to play?”

Minseok was about to argue, but he heard Junmyeon’s calling him so he just shot the Ravenclaw one last glare and flew back to his position, grumbling under his breath.

The game continued without incidents aside from some bloody noses and unhorsing from brooms. Jongdae however hadn’t ceased his embarrassing commentary on Minseok’s actions.

“Minnie strikes again with a precise aim gaining ten points for his team. Such a dashing lad, don’t you think?”

Or:

“Twenty minutes left and Kim Minseok’s smile is still beautiful. Ladies, if you’re interested, he’s still single”

Or even:

“A hundred to eighty for Ravenclaw and Hyeri has the Quaffle. She passes to Park and he… oh, who cares, can we just appreciate how toned Ravenclaw’s beaters’ arms are? Someone here is lifting in his free time”

In the sea of laughter Minseok had decided that for his captain’s sake, and his own sanity, it was better to tune his friend out of the game and concentrate on his role. Or else he was sure he would be jumping at Jongdae’s throat, wand ready to hex his in another country. He felt his muscles on fire and his eyes dry, but his willpower was iron-strong just as much as Junmyeon’s.

Five minutes were left until the break and they were still leading, but the Snitch was nowhere to be found and Junmyeon was still defending the rings like his life depended on it. He was starting to lose his mind, hands slipping from the stick of his Nimbus when finally, the bells rang.

Up above he saw their seeker parading victoriously towards him, the Golden Snitch trapped between his fingers.

It was over.

And they had won.

***

An hour earlier

“I hate you so much right now”

Kyungsoo ignored Chanyeol’s pout, hiding his face in the warm red and golden scarf and shifting in his seat. It was indeed a lovely day, but it was still pretty cold and the two Gryffindors were shivering inside their black coats, hiding their cold fingers in warm gloves.

Kyungsoo had persuaded Chanyeol to come with him to the game with the excuse of it being good visual practice, but it was clear his motives were others: he wanted to see for himself if anything was going to go wrong. Chanyeol had complied only because there was no way he could say no to his friend’s intense glare, but halfway across the match he had started complaining about everything: he was bored, he wanted to go back to sleep and his was frozen. Jongdae’s commentary was the only thing keeping him awake.

Kyungsoo sighed at his millionth whine and lightly smacked his head, sending him wincing.

“Just be quiet for a minute, I’m trying to focus”

Chanyeol huffed, plopping his head against his shoulder as usual. Kyungsoo’s face softened, leaning in towards his friend, eyes still on the pitch, but a new noise came crashing his concentration: high pitched screams coming from above their seats belonging to a swarm of girls. They were from all four Houses and years, their hair prettily arranged with colorful pins and their makeup shining under the sunlight, probably thanks to some sort of charm.

Kyungsoo squinted to see the cause of their squeals, shielding his eyes from the sun and furrowing his brows: in the middle of that chaos sat Jongin, eyes puffy from sleep and a yawn on his lips.

What was he doing there with all those girls? And why did he look so bored?

Chanyeol followed his friend’s gaze and his lips cunningly curved upward. Kyungsoo was still trying to understand what was going on when the redhead stood up and started waving at Jongin, using his loud voice to ask him to came over.

Kyungsoo widened his eyes in surprise, not really knowing what to do when Jongin stood up and waved back at Chanyeol, making his way towards them.

“Jongin, come join us”

Unfortunately, alongside the white-haired boy came his entourage of girls, all whispering to themselves looking down on the two Gryffindors. He however paid no mind to them, taking the seat next to Kyungsoo whose mouth had suddenly lost his ability to function.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jongin asked, tilting his head and burying a deep yawn in his hands.

Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo, and seeing as the latter wasn’t saying a word, he nudged him in the arm, propping him forward.

“We’re here on patrol” Kyungsoo replied, finally regaining his composure. “I was curious to see if something will happen today too”

He felt the pressure of a dozen eyes on his back, burning deep holes in his scalp; the girls were positively talking about them, their mouth turned downward in distaste and Kyungsoo couldn’t figure out why. He tried to ignore them like Jongin was doing, but he had never been one to like the spotlight so he hid his face even more inside the scarf and looked elsewhere.

“Is that so”

Jongin looked tired. His complexion had gotten paler, with few visible veins above his cheeks and dark circles weighting down his beautiful eyes. Kyungsoo wanted to ask if there was something wrong but he was interrupted by Chanyeol’s whispering in his ear.

“I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back”

Kyungsoo immediately panicked and grabbed the hem of his sleeve.

“Don’t you dare leave me here alone with them. They look like they want to skin me alive”

Chanyeol chuckled, looking at him with his famous puppy eyes.

“Oh come on, you can handle a couple of girls, can’t you? Besides, I really have to go to the bathroom. I’ve drank like seven cups of tea before coming here”

“I hope you fall in the toilet”

And so Kyungsoo found himself left alone with Jongin, who eyes were starting to close, and his posse of judging girls. In silence.

How he dreaded awkward silences. With Chanyeol he always had something to talk about, same with his other friends, but with Jongin it was different. Words melted into his mouth like honey before having the chance to come out and the fact that they weren’t exactly alone made it all the more uncomfortable.

“Hey”

Kyungsoo’s head snapped back to the Hufflepuff, the game completely forgotten.

“Do they bother you?” Jongin said, shamelessly pointing at the girls in the back.

The Gryffindor felt his cheeks flush, not really knowing what to reply.

“Kind of. Their stares are a bit… intense”

Jongin nodded and turned his face towards the group. All the girls straighten their backs, eyes fully on him.

“Can you please go away? Me and my friend would like some peace and quiet”

Kyungsoo flinched at his tone. His usually soft voice was replaced by an authoritative and commanding tone, almost as cold as the wind. The girls however stood unfazed, picking up their things and quickly leaving the pitch with a trail of winks and giggles.

Well, that was… odd, Kyungsoo thought.

“Here” Jongin murmured, his voice back to the calm tone he was used to “Much better, right?”

Kyungsoo had a thousand and even more questions: what was he doing with those girls? And why had he dismissed them so quickly like that? And then again, why was he more and more tired each and every day? But before he could usher his thoughts he was interrupted once again by Jongin’s sudden smile.

“You haven’t noticed, have you?”

The other wizard raised one eyebrow, perplexed.

“Noticed what?”

Jongin’s smile widened as he pushed aside his hair to reveal the white earmuffs underneath, completely camouflaged between the curls. As soon as Kyungsoo saw them, he felt his chest melting inside his clothes.

“See, not even Sehun was able to guess they were there. They are the perfect color” he giggled.

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but smile back. Now that they were truly alone (with a hundred other students loudly cheering for their House still playing) he felt more relaxed, their silence a little bit more comfortable.

“Is Chanyeol ever coming back?” Jongin asked after a while, resting his head on his hand.

“I don’t think so. I kind of coerced him into coming here; I think I’ll find him asleep on his bed once I go back”

“I can relate.” A yawn punctuated his words as Jongin lazily placed his gaze on Kyungsoo’s face, his eyes suddenly serious “But why are you really here?”

Kyungsoo stood in silence, taken aback as Jongin stared straight into his soul, unable to avert his eyes. Was he really that much of an open book? Fortunately, the Hufflepuff’s tense look instantly melted into a softer one, making his shoulder drop in relief.

“I was just thinking how weird this situation is: the teachers are telling us not to worry, that last times incident was just some student pulling a prank, but then why are they patrolling the hallways day and night like something is wrong? So I was thinking that maybe someone…”

Somehow, Kyungsoo found himself rambling. He told Jongin about his theories and what he and his Ravenclaw friends had discovered, that it was not in fact a Dark wizard’s doing, but something else. He talked and he talked until his fingers turned red in the cold and suddenly he heard the final whistle: Ravenclaw had won.

He smiled tiredly, taking a metal note to go and congratulate Minseok, but he quickly realized something felt off: his right shoulder was definitely heavier than he remembered. As he looked down, he felt his muscles tense and his neck warming up as he saw that somewhere in the middle of his ramble on conspiracy theories Jongin had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Taking deep breaths, Kyungsoo forced himself not to panic so that he wouldn’t wake the Hufflepuff up, placing a hand against his beating heart.

Casting his eyes down, he filled his eyes with Jongin’s beautiful face, his expression so relaxed in the arms of sleep. Looking closely, he noticed that his eyelashes were the same shade of white as his hair. That color made him so similar to a Muggle fairy it was incredible. He remembered his mother reading him bedtime stories about faeries and changelings, creature with lithe limbs and eyes the color of leaves, capable of bending the weather and lure humans into their kingdom. But, as every other Muggle myth, it had been debunked the second he had received his letter.

A constellation of moles decorated his neck, bared from his robe, and all Kyungsoo wanted to do was to trace them with his fingers, but he refrained. They looked so similar to the ones he too had on his neck and he found himself beaming.

People were starting to simmer down the stair and out of the Quidditch pitch, ready to celebrate their victory or mourn their loss, but Kyungsoo stood still, not having the heart to wake Jongin up.

As he looked closer, trapped in his hair were leaves and flower petals.

Just like a fairy prince.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What? Two chapters in the span of a week? Well, see me post a third one for Valentines day and then disappear for six month lol. Just joking, but was planning a Valentines chapter for real and quickly realized I needed this part of the "plot" to move forward so yeah, expect another chapter shortly.

Also, can we appreciate Jongdae and how he is my spirit animal? Whines a lot, check. Sneaky af, check. Loves Minnie to the moon and back, check.

And no, Jongin is not a fairy (wink wink), but since I at writing mystery plotlines it's very possible you have everything already figured it out and you're just waiting for me to say it just to laugh at me, you meanies. Sherlock Kyungsoo would be so disappointed in me. 

I'm sorry if last time I promised pouty Baekhyun but we only see him one time, but trust me, next chapter is going to be the fluffiest most lovey dovey chapter ever written and there will be all the characters, pinky promise.

Anyway, as always, if you liked this chapter, let me know in the comments. All your lovely words make my day (criticism over I dumb I am with characters and writing emotions are deeply appreciated) ^__^

syl peeps