Jongdae is very good at a lot of things.

He feels no shame in admitting that he is a boy of many talents and skills, a hardworking student across all fields and probably one of the smartest and most capable in his year. As a muggleborn, it had been a challenge at first to adapt to the brilliant and terrifying world of magic and wizardry, the shock of diving head first into a brand new and amazingly vast world leaving him fighting for breath in a sea of people far more familiar with everything then he was. But now, at sixteen years old, Jongdae can safely say he has risen from whatever sorry hole he found himself in five years ago and taken on the magic world with great zeal, rarely struggling with whatever obstacle he has to face.

Or at least he likes to think so.

"Hyung, please," Jongdae whines, dropping his quill onto the table with a noisy clatter and ignoring the glares of the other students studying around him as he drapes himself across the desk, "I'm dying here! Please can I have a break? Please?"

Luhan looks up from his book from where he is sat across from Jongdae and gives him an unimpressed look, one eyebrow raised. "You've almost finished. You only have another foot to go. If you stop acting like a Second Year and get on with it you can be done within the hour."

Jongdae bangs his head onto the table. "We've been here for hours already! I can feel my life draining away from me, I'll be as wrinkled as Merlin's old ball-sack by the time I finish this bloody essay."

"Well that's what you get for leaving it to the last minute like you always do, dumb ."

Frowning, Jongdae turns his head to the side and presses his cheek into his essay where it sits in front of him. If only Minseok wasn't at quidditch practise, he could have asked him to help with his Arithmancy homework and not have to suffer under Luhan's judging gaze. It's unfortunate that Luhan is arguably the best person at the subject in the entire school besides the professor herself and the only person willing to put up with Jongdae's incessant whining if it meant the younger could hand in an essay that wouldn't immediately fail. "This is mean," he grumbles, "I came to you, like the delicate little flower I am, and begged you nicely upon my knees for mercy from my suffering and all you do is bully me and call me nasty names. I'm hurt."

Sighing deeply, Luhan closes his book and uses it to jab at Jongdae's crown until the younger stops grouching to himself. "It's almost dinner. If you finish this paragraph before then, I'll look at it and you can finish after you've eaten. Yes?"

"You were going to make me work through dinner?"

Before Luhan can reply, they hear the sound of a throat being cleared beside them. "Mr Kim?"

Jongdae lifts his head, and upon seeing Madam Victoria, the librarian (and Jongdae's future wife), he instantly sits up straight and flashes his most charming and handsome smile, pointedly ignoring the exaggerated eyeroll Luhan sends him from across the table and the fact he can feel a smudge of ink just above his left temple. "Yes, Madam. How can I be of service?"

She raises a quizzical brow at him and tuts as if she is unimpressed, but Jongdae can see a little smirk creeping onto her lips and rejoices internally. He's irresistible, no matter how hard his friends argue otherwise. Even with ink on his face.

"Mr Kim, I just received a message from the Hospital Wing. Your presence is requested there as soon as you are able."

At that, Jongdae's teasing grin is replaced by a confused frown. "The Hospital Wing? What's happened?"

Madam Victoria shrugs, her long black hair shining in the candle light. "I don't know, I'm afraid. Although, I do believe that a Mr Byun is the one that asked for you."

Byun Baekhyun? Was Baekhyun hurt? When Madam Victoria excuses herself, Jongdae turns to Luhan, worry etched into his features that the elder boy reciprocates. "What do you think's wrong with him?" Luhan asks. Jongdae shrugs and runs a hand through his curls.

"With Baekhyun, it could be anything really. Remember that time Chanyeol accidentally turned him into a slug?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Luhan laughs, reassuring. He reaches over and pats Jongdae on the shoulder. "If he's well enough to ask for you then it's probably only something small."

Jongdae snorts loudly, drawing more glares from the other students in the library. "I hope so. I'd kill him if he died on me." He goes to pack up his things, only getting to put the cap on the ink before Luhan stops him.

"Don't worry about this," Luhan says with a smile, nudging his head in the direction of the exit. "I'll finish this paragraph for you, but you'll have to do the rest by yourself when you get back."

Pulling the elder student into a one armed hug, Jongdae grabs his bag and sprints away. "Thanks, Lu. I owe you one!"

~

Despite being best friends with Jongdae and Chanyeol, the three of them inseparable since they were all sorted into the same house on their first night at Hogwarts, Baekhyun isn't one to get himself into trouble often.

As a group, the boys are known for being rather mischievous, even if it is often not their intention to be so. With naturally curious and excitable personalities, it's not surprising that trouble has a habit of finding them at the most inopportune moments. Take their third year, for example, when Chanyeol accidentally smashed all the pots containing newly grown Mandrakes in the Herbology professor's office, resulting in half the school fainting unexpectedly in the middle of the night. They had only gone into the office to sneak a look at the answers for the test the next day, ending up with busted eardrums and a months worth of detentions that involved squeezing the foul puss from all the bubotubers in the school. Despite how much Baekhyun and Jongdae berated Chanyeol for being an idiot and getting them into that mess, it wasn't long before they found themselves in detention again for turning a fellow student into a mouse for calling Chanyeol 'an ugly monkey boy'.

Being the lightest on his feet, Baekhyun is always able to run away from trouble first - Chanyeol has a habit of falling on his face if he runs too hard and Jongdae is just too darn loud - usually evading capture while the other two are accosted by the numerous prefects and professors that wander the halls. But Baekhyun is nothing if not loyal, and always goes back to join his friends in their punishment. Since becoming a prefect himself, the number of the groups escapades have dwindled in the passing year. Not that either of them are opposed to the odd scheme at some point or another. A particular highlight of their time since gaining responsibility, and Baekhyun's personal favourite incident, occurred when Jongdae made out with a girl during Minseok's birthday party who ended up being the girlfriend of the Ravenclaw quidditch captain. He spent the rest of the day screaming for his life while the whole team chased him around the entire castle. Baekhyun had almost wet himself with laughter watching his friend climb up the statue of the One Eyed Witch like a hairless koala trying to avoid the large and relentless hands of the murderous captain, stomach muscles aching as he eventually calmed down and stepped forward to save his friend from probable death.

(Jongdae likes to think his suffering was all for a good cause, however, as the captain was then removed from his position for assaulting a fellow student, allowing Minseok to take up the role and lead Ravenclaw to victory at the House Cup that year. He doesn't regret that one much, even if his own house lost to an almost embarrassing degree.)

In light of their reputation and history, it's not unusual for Baekhyun to be in the Hospital Wing, most likely recovering from a prank or grilling his friend's asses when they've landed themselves there. However, it is unusual for him to be there alone.

Baekhyun is pacing back and forth outside the entrance to the Hospital Wing when Jongdae finally gets there, panting slightly with sweat beading on his brow from jogging all the way from the library. He calls out his friend's name and Baekhyun looks up, walking over to where Jongdae is leaning against a wall to catch his breath. "Well you took your time," he says teasingly, but it's not hard for Jongdae to miss the lack of force behind his jab and the tension in his face, purple underlining his eyes in deep grooves. Jongdae sweeps his gaze over his friend before standing up straight and facing him directly. "What's up? Are you hurt?"

Baekhyun lets out a strained breath that tickles Jongdae's forehead, cooling him. "Yeah, I'm fine." He grins weakly. "Mostly."

"Mostly? So what am I doing here then? Not that I don't appreciate it, Luhan was ready to staple my to the desk if I didn't-"

"It's Chanyeol."

Jongdae's eyes widen, although a part of him isn't surprised. As a person, Chanyeol has always been rather clumsy. As one of his closest friends, Jongdae can safely say he's never bored in Chanyeol's company - the boy is a walking slapstick comedy. One of Jongdae's fondest memories of Chanyeol making a fool of himself is from a year ago when a potion exploded in his face and his neck grew to be about two metres long in a matter of seconds. He was stuck in the hospital wing for about a week until his neck shrank back to its normal size, and had to endure months of after-hours tutoring so he could actually pass his O.W.L.S without blowing himself up. Chanyeol still blushes to the tips of his ears whenever Jongdae brings it up. "What's he done now?" Jongdae sighs. "Did he turn himself into a slug this time?"

He dodges the elbow that Baekhyun aims to his ribs but at least Baekhyun is laughing now, albeit a stilted, half-hearted laugh. "No, he didn't. Although I would have preferred that if I'm honest. This is…"

He runs a hand through his hair. He really does look tired. "I don't even know what this is, Jongdae."

"Right?" It's not like Baekhyun to be so serious. Jongdae feels worry curling in his gut. "Baek, what's going on?"

Baekhyun gives him a tense look before pushing the door to the Hospital Wing open and stepping inside, Jongdae following suit.

Chanyeol is in the second to last bed on the far side of the room. He's lying on his back, spread out across his bed with his long limbs filling up the minimal space and socked feet slightly dangling over the edge of the mattress. A thin sheet is draped over him, covering him up to his waist, and Jongdae can see he is still in his pyjamas. Dark brown curls lay thick against the pillow, slightly damp with sweat, causing a few stray strands to stick to his forehead and the tips of his ears.

Despite the uncomfortable position, the boy looks relaxed and content. In fact at first glance anyone would think that Chanyeol was just sleeping.

Upon second glance however, it is easy to see that something is very wrong. The boy is pale, scarily pale, almost sickly in how dull and grey his skin looks. Jongdae walks over and reaches out to touch Chanyeol's hand but he draws back instantly as if he has been burned because Chanyeol is cold, unbelievably cold, as if he is carved from stone and not a living being of flesh and blood. His lips are dry, parted slightly in a relaxed pout, and his chest is rising and falling in slow, deep breaths, barely noticeable to the point that Jongdae almost believed he wasn't breathing at all.

"What the ," is all Jongdae can come out with. He turns to look at Baekhyun, who shrugs his shoulders and stares back with an equally as lost expression. Turning back to his other friend, Jongdae leans over the bed to see a little closer. Chanyeol's eyelashes rest delicately against his cheeks, but his eyes aren't moving like they usually would when a person sleeps. It's a little unnerving. Reaching out again, he taps the side of Chanyeol's face, watching as his friend's head merely flops to the side and his mouth opens in a breathless gasp.

Chanyeol is a chaotic sleeper. He snores like a hog and grumbles and grunts out loud through his nose, kicks and rolls and tosses himself in all directions like a puppy having a bad dream. Bedsheets end up tangled around his legs and his pillow is almost never on the bed in the morning, knocked to the floor as collateral for the boy's incessant movement. Jongdae is surprised he's managed to sleep next to him every night and not go insane from the constant noise coming from the bed beside his own during the night.

Like this, laid out on this bed like a statue, serene, still, quiet as the grave, it's like everything that Chanyeol is has been stripped away, leaving only an empty grey shell of what Baekhyun and Jongdae know him to be, of what he once was.

"Well. This is. Different."

Baekhyun hums in response. Jongdae steps away from Chanyeol and keeps moving backwards until the backs of his knees hit the empty hospital bed behind him and he collapses down onto the neatly folded sheets, running his hands over his face. The older boy stays standing, staring at the unconscious boy while nibbling at his fingers.

"Baek, what the hell is this? What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," the other says, his voice cracking, "I found him like this. I thought he was just sleeping, but..."

Footsteps approaching them makes the boys look around in time to see the nurse come up to stand between them at the foot of Chanyeol's bed. She's a kind woman, gentle and bright, and always lets Jongdae have a lollipop from the jar in her office that she keeps for the younger students whenever he has the 'misfortune' to end up under her care. She greets Jongdae with a warm smile. "Hello, Jongdae. I see you got my message."

"Yes, Miss Luna. What's wrong with Chanyeol?"

Her smile falters slightly, and she turns to the boy in question before scanning the parchment in her hands, sighing. "I'm not actually sure. It's quite peculiar." She turns to Baekhyun. "And you say you just found him like this?"

Baekhyun nods. "I went to the dorm when class ended and found him in the same position he was when I left this morning." He speaks to both the nurse and Jongdae, filling the latter in on what he's missed, and Jongdae nods along with him. "His classes start later today so I didn't think much of seeing him still asleep, but when I came back and he was still there I tried to wake him up and he…just wouldn't."

Miss Luna looks at Jongdae then. "Was this the same for you?" she asks, and Jongdae thinks back to when he stumbled out of bed that morning, eyes still glued together with sleep as he fought Baekhyun for the shower, and remembers seeing Chanyeol's snoozing form wrapped up tightly in his bed like a giant cocooned caterpillar before leaving for class. He hadn't returned to the dorm once classes ended for the day, instantly being corralled by a persistent Luhan towards the library as soon as the elder laid eyes on him. "I think so, yeah," he says in reply. "He was definitely asleep when I left the dorm."

Miss Luna hums and jots something down on her parchment. "What was he doing before he fell asleep that night?"

Baekhyun looks to Jongdae. "He was at quidditch practise with me. We're both beaters," Jongdae says.

"Did he hurt himself at all? Any knocks to the head, any accidents?"

Jongdae furrows his brow as he thinks. "Not that I know of. He seemed perfectly fine afterwards. He did go to the dorm earlier than usual but he said that was because he wanted to beat me to the shower."

"Why, do you think he has a concussion or something?" Baekhyun asks the nurse, head tilted to the side in questioning. Miss Luna hums again before scribbling on her parchment.

"It was on my mind. But if he seemed perfectly fine then that's not what's going on here."

They all look at Chanyeol, watching the subtle rise and fall of his chest. Baekhyun reaches out and places a hand on Chanyeol's, curling his fingers around Chanyeol's own and holding him tight. It's quiet for a few moments before Miss Luna speaks, breaking the silence.

"I really don't know what to do with him," she says, frowning. "He's not responded to any rousing spells and I can't confidently give him any potions in case he chokes on them. He doesn't look like he's in pain anywhere or suffering at all. In fact, he looks…"

The word is unsaid but it hangs in the air like poisonous gas, strangling the two teenagers into silence.

Dead.

Chanyeol looks dead.

Miss Luna sighs again. "The most I can do is keep him here and monitor him to make sure he doesn't get any worse. There's very little I can do medically besides giving him fluids and some food so he doesn't waste away, but hopefully we'll see a change before that happens." She places a hand on each boy's shoulder and squeezes in reassurance. "I'll contact my colleagues at St Mungo's to see if they can do anything to help."

"Thank you, Miss Luna."

She smiles sweetly at them and squeezes their shoulders again before letting go. "It's no problem. You boys had best get some food and rest. I believe dinner would have started by now." It's a subtle command that each boy acknowledges and they stand up, Baekhyun reluctantly letting go of Chanyeol's hand and sending the unconscious boy one last look before turning and heading towards the door out of the Hospital Wing. Jongdae follows, eyes on the floor, until they are both stood in the corridor. The mumbles and shouts of students eating in the Great Hall echo around the cold stone walls and swallow them. Jongdae reaches out and punches Baekhyun lightly in the shoulder, drawing the elder's attention from where he had been staring at his shoes.

"Cheer up, buddy. I'm sure he'll be right as rain tomorrow."

Baekhyun gives him a weak smile in return, nudging Jongdae back with a jab of his own. "Yeah. It's Chanyeol. He always bounces back soon enough."

With smiles that are only slightly forced, the two boys head to the Great Hall, ignoring the weight on their shoulders and the heavy thought that maybe, just this once, not everything is going to be okay.

~

Baekhyun picks pathetically at his potatoes, rolling them around on the plate with his fork, occasionally shovelling some in his mouth when someone looks at him in concern for too long. Across the table, Jongdae is faring no better, choosing to stack his carrots and broccoli into as tall a tower he can before the whole thing collapses and he tries again, rather than eating them.

Baekhyun can feel Luhan's gaze on him from where the elder boy sits further down the table in conversation with Minseok and his other friends, and he can almost see the pitying expression he is sending the sixth year Gryffindors as if the elder is sat in front of him, so vivid that it makes Baekhyun's stomach churn, putting off his food even more. He pushes the plate and his fork away from him and rests his head on his folded arms, burying his face.

Chanyeol still hasn't woken up.

It's been a week since Baekhyun first realised something was wrong, a week since Chanyeol ended up in the Hospital Wing and the boy has made no signs of getting better. He doesn't seem to be getting worse either, which is probably the only reassuring part about the whole situation, but after days of nothingness, of seeing Chanyeol laying like a statue with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel, Baekhyun is starting to go a little bit insane.

On the second day of Chanyeol's hospitalisation, some healers from St Mungo's arrived. They were seasoned professionals, according to Miss Luna, having dealt with the most brutal and mysterious of maladies throughout their long years at the hospital, and they instantly took up the school nurse's case when she described what had befallen the student, drawn in by the peculiarity of such a condition. The weathered lines around their faces and air of confidence was comforting to the two Gryffindors as they were ushered out of the Hospital Wing with the promise that Chanyeol would be as 'peachy as a new-born's bottom' by the time they were done with him.

They spent half the day observing the teenager, Baekhyun and Jongdae peering in through the Hospital Wing door that had been left ajar by mistake, watching as the healers poked and prodded at the boy with wands and fingers, taking his temperature and feeling his pulse while muttering amongst themselves. At first they had been excited, gripping each other tightly as the healers began casting complicated spells and charms, speaking in tongues neither had heard before as brilliant flashes of electric green and shocking deep reds filled the room, casting shadows on the walls around them. But this feeling soon faded into confusion and then worry when nothing seemed to be working, both the boys and healers slumping in exhaustion as the hours passed with no result. There had been a brief moment when a healer managed to make Chanyeol's eyelids twitch and a ripple of joy spread between the healers before melancholy settled in again when nothing followed, Chanyeol remaining in his comatose state.

When half a day had passed - Baekhyun and Jongdae had skipped all their classes for the day - the healers took some drastic measures. One of the healers, the eldest, if his long, knee length grey beard was anything to go by, spoke in a hushed tones to his colleagues, waiting for them to all nod in agreement before producing a small blue bottle from his satchel. Baekhyun wanted to be a healer himself when he graduated, had read every healing magic book he could get his hands on since he decided on his future career, and his mouth dropped in a gasp when he recognised the potion the healer held in his spindly frail hands.

"Wiggenweld Potion. They think Chanyeol drank a Draught of Living Death!"

Baekhyun hadn't even thought of that, and neither had Miss Luna apparently, who they saw pale at the sight of the bottle and turn her head away in shame, clearly guilty that she had not come to the same conclusion the healers did.

Jongdae had blanched, his grip on Baekhyun's arm tightening. "What, do they think someone poisoned Chanyeol? That Chanyeol poisoned himself?" They had been taught to make a Draught of Living Death a few weeks before, and no one in the class could master it, not even the small Slytherin boy with glasses who always managed to make every single potion they were tasked with so far without fail. Baekhyun snorted, though the tone was more hysterical than mocking. "Chanyeol can be dumb, but he's not that dumb. And how would someone get hold of it anyway? It's a to make and I doubt the professors have vials of it lying around for someone to take without being noticed. I doubt the professors would want to poison Chanyeol either, as annoying as he can be sometimes."

"So how do you think he would have taken it, if it is a Draught of Living Death?"

"I don't know.." Baekhyun starts, but stops when he sees the healer pouring little droplets of the potion onto a wiry finger, the green liquid dripping down onto his hand. The healer then brought his finger down to Chanyeol's lips, rubbing the liquid onto them before stepping back and sweeping the boy with a hopeful gaze. When nothing happened, he wiped his brow and leaned over Chanyeol, this time dripping the potion directly into the Gryffindor's mouth.

When nothing had happened again, the healer commanded his fellow wizards to sit the boy up and hold him straight, and Baekhyun had to slam his hand over Jongdae's mouth to stop him from calling out when the healer attempted to force the unconscious boy to drink the rest of potion before concluding it was far too dangerous, dropping him immediately when the teenager barely swallowed anything before choking and gasping for breath.

Baekhyun had nightmares after seeing Chanyeol like that, head titled back and suffocating, sickly green fluid spluttering out of his mouth and throat while the hoard of healers surrounded him, casting a flurry spells to clear his airway before he stopped breathing altogether.

The healers left a few hours later, heads hanging low. With no way to medically wake him, Chanyeol remains in his hospital bed, curtains drawn around him to give him some privacy, separated from everyone and everything with no way to bring him back to consciousness.

Baekhyun and Jongdae have been instructed to keep the knowledge of Chanyeol's condition a secret, disclosing only to a small circle of friends that Chanyeol was sick and they were not to worry, keeping the reality of the situation hidden. They tell Luhan the truth, and the elder's look of sympathy is almost as painful as seeing Chanyeol lifeless in bed. While some of them, such as Luhan, go to see Chanyeol every now and then, leaving some flowers on the table beside the hospital bed, Baekhyun and Jongdae visit him every chance they get, choosing to spend their free time sat on Chanyeol's bed doing their homework or chatting until Miss Luna had to physically kick them out for disturbing her other patients. It doesn't feel right going about their normal schedules without Chanyeol's booming laughter, wide shark-toothed grin or erratic gangly limbs beside them at every moment of the day.

"This , dude."

Every day Chanyeol looks a little paler, feels a little colder, and Baekhyun can't help but feel completely and utterly helpless. He's had a week to think, a week to chew and savour and digest what has happened and the only conclusion he has is that this isn't enough. It's not enough to just let Chanyeol waste away in the Hospital Wing. It's not enough for him to be looked over once, twice, a third time, and then ignored. It's not enough for Baekhyun and Jongdae and all his other friends to just sit around and mope while an innocent person suffers alone. Call it the Gryffindor in him, but Baekhyun has never been one to lie down and take life as it comes.

He almost lost Chanyeol once before. He's not going to risk losing him again.

After minutes of silence between them, Baekhyun lets out a frustrated groan that startles Jongdae out of concentration, causing him to send his vegetable tower tumbling and completely knock over his goblet of pumpkin juice with his elbow, drawing the attention of the students eating nearby. Baekhyun uncurls himself from his arms and slams his palms down onto the table before launching himself up from his seat, completely ignoring how Jongdae's juice is pooling under his hand from across the table.

"Baek?" Jongdae says weakly, watching in shock as Baekhyun climbs up onto the table, stomping across it before jumping down next to him. Without even looking at his friend, Baekhyun grabs Jongdae's sleeves and starts to march down the aisles between the long tables, hand balled into tight fists as he heads towards the entrance of the Great Hall. Jongdae trips over his robes as he stumbles up from the bench and almost lands on his face, scrambling to gather himself back up and chase after his friend. "Baek, wait!"

Baekhyun is halfway up the Grand Stairway before Jongdae catches up to him, grabbing onto the boy's elbow and tugging until the other stops storming and turns to face him. "Where are you going?" he pants, taking deep puffs of air to bring oxygen back into his lungs. Baekhyun tugs his arm out of Jongdae's grasp and returns to running up the stairs, determination and anger contorting his features.

"The library."

Jongdae jogs after him. "The library? Why?"

"Because I can't take this anymore! I'm ing done, I'm done with just sitting around. If no one is going to help him, I'll do it my goddamn self."

Jongdae startles for a second, blinking up at his friend before grinning widely and chasing after him. "Like Hell you are. I'm coming with you!"

And so, Baekhyun and Jongdae decide to take matters into their own hands.

All the minutes and hours spent at Chanyeol's bedside are now spent in the library, nestled deep between shelves upon shelves of books and tomes and wrinkled rolls of parchment, searching through every section they can reach for anything they think will be of use. It's a shock for some to see the two Gryffindors so keenly examining the pages of memoirs and textbooks. Luhan almost drops his bag on poor Yixing's foot when the Seventh Year students wander in to find Baekhyun stood on Jongdae's shoulders, the boy on top struggling to reach a particular book on one of the uppermost shelves.

After grilling them profusely for endangering themselves you stupid idiots, you know that the book will just come down to you, you don't have to scale the bookcase, this is a magic school you morons, honestly, the elder students promise to help them whenever they have the time, relieving the boys of some stress for s short while. They understand when the Seventh Years can only help a few times. They have their own lives to worry about with N.E.W.Ts coming up.

It becomes obvious very soon that locating useful information is no easy task. They spend days and days searching, skipping meals and staying out past curfew, even skiving lessons, but can barely find anything worthwhile. None of their potions or charms textbooks, from their year and over, give them anything about sleeping besides that of a Draught of Living Death, which they know is not what is effecting Chanyeol. They harass Madam Victoria so much for ideas and suggestions that she bans them from the library for a day until they beg on hands and knees to let them back in. They even break out dictionaries from all sorts of languages, dead and alive, to translate the especially ancient books from writers long since gone from this earth, but find nothing. After almost a week of backbreaking work, the boys are well and truly exhausted.

"I don't understand," Baekhyun whines on their sixth evening of desperate reading, collapsing into the nearest chair and draping himself across the table, "we've searched through every single section relating to sleeping charms, curses and potions, practically exhausted the magical maladies section and even checked the areas on mythical creatures. What is it that we're missing?"

Jongdae shuts the book he was skimming through and rubs his eyes. He was starting to lose focus, all the words and pictures blurring into one black block on the page he was reading. He yawns and brings a hand up to scratch his head. "I feel like I've aged fifty years. I know more about the life cycle of a horklump than I do my own family." He rubs his eyes again. "Maybe I should leave school and become a horklump expert."

Baekhyun rolls his head to the side as he snorts. "I'll join you. We can get married and move to a farm in the middle of a forest somewhere and raise them together. A little horklump family. We'll be famous."

"Sure," Jongdae mumbles back, eyes drooping closed. "The horklumps will be happy to have a mother."

Baekhyun lifts his head. "Why am I the mother?"

"You have nicer hips than me."

Baekhyun thinks about it for a moment before nodding sagely in agreement and dropping his head back down to the table.

The clock on the wall says there are only five more minutes until dinner ends but Jongdae can't bring himself to care. His stomach is empty and growling at him to be filled but his temples are throbbing, his feet heavy, and all he wants to do is sleep. The piles and piles of books on the table are scary and ominous, towering over the exhausted boys as grim reminders of their failure to find anything worthwhile and useful. Every second they spend searching in vain is another second that Chanyeol spends in bed, alone and lost. Jongdae can't help but feel guilty for leaving him, even if it was to search for a cure for his condition. It doesn't help that their search has been fruitless, making the Gryffindors' guilt grow stronger every time they close a book, shaking their heads.

Jongdae stares at an unravelled scroll depicting sick and withered bodies (they were really desperate to find anything) and has to turn away when all he could imagine was Chanyeol's face in place of ink and parchment. His eyes drift around the shelves of books and tomes until they land on the crooked black metal gate right at the back of the library, concealed slightly by a thick and dusty curtain. He almost falls out of his chair.

"You okay there?"

Jongdae is practically vibrating. "Baekhyun, there's one section we haven't checked yet," he grins, almost manic in his sleep deprived state, pointing to the gate. Baekhyun follows his gaze and gasps before turning back to Jongdae with a look of pure horror.

"The Restricted Section, seriously, Jongdae?" he hisses in a shocked whisper. He squawks when Jongdae nods his head with far too much enthusiasm. "Oh no. I love Chanyeol but I'm not getting expelled for his dumb ."

"We won't get expelled!" Jongdae says, sitting up in his chair. "Well, not if we don't get caught." Baekhyun is staring at him like he's grown an extra head. "What? It's a great idea. Better than what we're doing right now anyway."

"Jongdae, we can't break into the goddamn Restricted Section! As much as I want to, it's pretty much impossible, like it's charmed and everything. I heard that one student tried to break in and ended up with massive boils all over their body." He emphasises his point by poking at his arms and cheeks. "I can't have boils! My face is too good for boils!"

Jongdae shrugs. "Then we won't break in."

Baekhyun raises his arms, slightly hysterical. "What will we do then? Convince someone to let us in without a single complaint?"

"Yeah."

"You can't be serious!" Baekhyun's voice is a little strained from lack of food and exhaustion. He rubs his eyes and peeks at Jongdae through his fingers. "There's no way they'll let us in there. You need to be a seventh year student to get permission anyway, which we are not, and even then you need to have a decent reason with a pristine reputation to even get close to being allowed," he says, sighing. He sends Jongdae a pointed look. "Who in hell would let us do that?"

Jongdae sighs, looking off to one of the shelves before his eyes light up suddenly and he turns to Baekhyun with a face glowing with brilliance. That was never a good sign.

"I know exactly the person."

~

Minseok doesn't even look up from writing his notes before saying "No," in a firm, crisp tone when Jongdae and Baekhyun approach him in the Ravenclaw common room. Jongdae doesn't even blink, waltzing up to the elder and plopping himself down in the empty seat beside him. "Oh come on, hyung. You haven't even heard what we were going to say!"

"If it's you I know I'm going to regret it so I've learned to just refuse before you even open your mouth," Minseok scoffs, eyes still on his work. After a few moments he blinks and looks up at the boys in front of him. "Wait, how did you even get in here?"

Jongdae preens and flicks his curly locks over his shoulder as if they extend past his shoulders. "You know, mother's always said I am a Gryffindor with a Ravenclaw's mind."

"Then my aunt must be a fool." He shoves Jongdae off from where the Gryffindor has curled himself around Minseok's shoulder and sends an unimpressed yet unsurprised look at the two boys. "You flirted with one of the second years, didn't you?"

"Third year, actually," Baekhyun chirps before turning over his shoulder to flash a wave and a wink at a group of young girls that have been staring at them for a while now, sending them into a chorus of giggles that makes Minseok wince.

"I don't care how old they are. What do you want that's so important you couldn't wait before breaking into this sacred space of learning?"

"Am I not allowed to visit my cherished family members?" Jongdae sighs dramatically before draping himself backwards across the table Minseok is working on, covering all his notes and textbooks with his body and blinking up at the Ravenclaw with a seductive gaze. "Minseokkie, my most favourite and handsomest cousin, how are you this lovely afternoon? You're as ravishing as ever, have you been working out? You look great, the whole body-builder thing looks fabulous on you. You know, if we weren't related and I didn't have to fear Luhan violently castrating me with his delicate man hands, I'd happily court you myself, you y beast, you."

Baekhyun is practically dissolving into laughter by the time Minseok shoves Jongdae off of the desk, watching with an amused smirk as his cousin rolls onto the ground with a squawk. "Please stop talking before I have to murder you." He loves his cousin, but he can be such a pain in the sometimes.

Jongdae leaps up from the floor and crouches on his knees, resting his head on the edge of the desk. "I will if you help us with something," he says sweetly, batting his eyelashes. When Minseok does nothing but stare back with an eyebrow raised, Jongdae throws himself to the floor at his feet again, arms raised in gospel towards the older boy.

"Oh, most hunkiest Minseok! Too long have I been tortured with the desperate need and desire to-"

"Yes, alright! Fine! I'll help you, just get off the floor and stop making a scene."

Jongdae jumps up instantly, brushing himself off and marching over to where Baekhyun is clinging onto the desk in pain from laughing so hard. "Awesome. Knew we could rely on you, hyung."

Minseok throws out a fist to thump Jongdae in the arm before turning to the desk, packing away his notes and textbooks into his bag. "So what is it you need me for?" he asks, gently lowering his ink pot into his bag so it doesn't spill all over his things. "If it's your Arithmancy homework again, you know Luhan is way better at it than me."

"We need you to break us into the Restricted Section."

Minseok practically chokes on his own tongue, dropping his ink pot into his bag with a crash, not even noticing it seep into all his books and notes like a thick black plague because he's staring at the two Gryffindors like they just slapped his mother and called her a . His eyes are wide like dinner plates, his eyebrows somewhere near his hairline and his mouth open in shock. Jongdae thinks he looks an awful lot like a stunned hare, but then Minseok's face shrinks into a scowl that makes the Gryffindor Sixth Years step back.

"My dorm room. Now."

They waste no time in scuttling away, shoving each other up the stairs to Minseok's dorm and collapsing through the door. They end up in a tangled heap on Minseok's bed, elbowing and poking each other. "Jongdae, this is so stupid, he's never going to help us," Baekhyun hisses as he jabs his friend in the ribs. Jongdae pokes him in the cheek in return.

"Yes he will. Minseok's too much of a big brother to not want to help. Just going to need some persuading, that's all."

"If he murders us I will kill you."

Jongdae is about to retort when Minseok steps through the door. The Ravenclaw walks over to his bed and drops his bag down beside it, removing his now soggy books and frowning at them before grabbing some tissues from the tissue box on his bedside table and spreading them out on the windowsill, laying his ink soaked books on top of them. Baekhyun and Jongdae watch him silently, sat up straight with their hands in their laps. When Minseok is satisfied that the books have been arranged adequately, he walks into the dorm bathroom and grabs a towel, wiping his hands clean. As he does so, he walks back into the dorm.

"This is about Chanyeol, isn't it?"

Baekhyun blinks at him. "How do you-"

"Luhan told me. I was wondering why he was always asleep whenever we went to visit him and Luhan seemed to know so I asked. He wouldn't tell me at first but it accidentally slipped out over lunch." He looks down at the Gryffindors. "Don't be mad at him, it was my fault for pestering him so much."

The Gryffindors aren't mad. They feel more guilty if anything, for keeping the truth of Chanyeol's illness a secret, even from people they trust the most. Jongdae blushes and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah… Sorry for not telling you."

Minseok smiles. "It's cool. I understand. I'd want to keep it a secret too, if it was Luhan or Myeon or someone."

Baekhyun can't help but snort. If Junmyeon, the Head Boy, ever got sick to the same level as Chanyeol the whole school would collapse.

"So you understand why we need to get into the Restricted Section?" Jongdae asks. "We really need your help, hyung."

Taking a seat on the bed beside his own, Minseok sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I understand. But I don't think it's a good idea." He sends a look towards Jongdae when the latter looks as if he's about to complain. "It's not easy to just break into the Restricted Section."

"But that's why we have a plan! You're a Seventh Year so you can just ask for a permission note from one of the professors, get the key from Madam Victoria and then give the key to us. You don't even have to do anything. We'll be doing all the risky stuff."

Minseok raises a brow at Baekhyun's idea. "What if it gets traced back to me? If you get caught they can find out who asked for it last and then I'll get dragged into it as well. I'm not getting expelled for you idiots."

"Then we'll make a copy," Jongdae says, "Yixing can make it for us." He pouts when Minseok raises a brow incredulously at him.

"Please, Minseok," Baekhyun whines, flopping sideways onto the bed and disturbing the pillows, ignoring how Minseok startles at the sight of his bed getting messed up. "We wouldn't be doing this if we weren't desperate. Do you have any idea how long we've spent in the library, slaving away for days on end, only to come up with nothing? I've spent more time in that room in the past week than I have in any library ever my entire life!"

Minseok scoffs, kicking out a leg to nudge the younger in the shin. "Luhan mentioned it." He inhales through his nose and rubs the back of his neck, drawing his legs up to cross them in front of him. "You guys are serious about this, huh?" The Ravenclaw can't help but smile when the younger boys nod their heads and Baekhyun sits up to wrap his arm around Jongdae's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"Chanyeol's in trouble, hyung. We can't just sit and do nothing. Everyone else has just given up. What kind of friends would we be if we did the same?"

It's quiet for a moment, the wind outside rattling the windows and the dripping of the sink in the bathroom the only noise that disturbs the air. Minseok stares at his lap, gaze a little distant, almost like he's going over all the things that could go wrong if he agrees to help them break about a third of the school rules and risk his education and future. For a second the Gryffindor's are certain he would say no, to tell them that he'd love to help but there's just too much at stake, but then the elder breaks out into a bashful laugh and gummy smile that has Jongdae and Baekhyun thinking otherwise.

"Goddamn Gryffindors," Minseok mumbles to himself before looking up at the two boys. "You win. I'll see what I can do." He has not time to react before Jongdae and Baekhyun launch themselves at him, curling their bodies around him and squeezing him between them in the tightest hug imaginable. Baekhyun is rubbing his cheek into Minseok's hair and Jongdae's hand is a little too high on his thigh to be comfortable but he knows that nothing he says will make them get off so he stays still and deals with all the affection until they release him, faces painted in identical grins.

"Minseok, you're the best!"

"Thank you so much, we owe you one!"

Minseok swats them away from him and stands up, straightening out his robes. "It's fine," he says, "just know that if I get into deep because of you two, I will not hesitate to beat you both to death with my broom." The pair salute, barking out a "yes, Sir!" before pulling the elder into a tight hug once again.

They spend a bit longer in Minseok's room, catching up with the elder on everything they had missed during their long week in the library. After a while, their speech grows sloppy and starts to slur, eyes drooping and bodies hunching over, and it's not long before Minseok is grabbing a spare blanket from under his bed and draping it over them, both now curled up and sleeping on Minseok's bed, Baekhyun's head nestled in the curve of Jongdae's shoulder. They must be exhausted, Minseok thinks. A giant weight must have been lifted from their shoulders.

Minseok spares a glance at them before leaving the dorm.

~

The corridors are dark and haunting as Baekhyun and Jongdae tread as quietly as they can towards the library entrance. They peer around every corner and keep as close to the walls as possible, the weight of the Restricted Section key heavy in the pocket of Jongdae's jeans. Minseok had slipped it to them during dinner, dropping it in his cousin's pocket as he reached across the table to grab some extra bread rolls. "You need to give it back to me as soon as you find what you're looking for," he whispered into Jongdae's ear. "I'll meet you outside the Ravenclaw common room at 8 am sharp, okay? Don't up."

Luhan had stared at them suspiciously, eyes narrowing when Jongdae turned to Baekhyun and whispered Minseok's message to him as soon as Minseok had turned away, but Minseok flashed him a gummy smile and asked if Luhan wanted anymore juice and the Seventh Year Gryffindor soon forgot about the cryptic interaction he had just witnessed. Minseok is helpful in more ways than one. No one can resist the charms of the Ravenclaw student.

Madam Victoria is nowhere in sight as Jongdae and Baekhyun push open the library doors and shuffle inside, closing them slowly behind them so as not to make any noise. They tip toe through the shelves and study tables, wands acting as torches in the inky black night.

"This is so creepy," Baekhyun mumbles, grimacing when he sees a large spider web hanging over them like a ghostly curtain. "I didn't think I could hate this place any more than I do already and yet-"

"Shush, you're making too much noise," Jongdae hisses, jabbing his friend in the arm with the tip of his wand. Baekhyun scoffs, jabbing him back.

"Says the one. You could deafen a dragon if you tried hard enough, loudmouth."

Jongdae is about to protest in his signature way, a whine prepped at the tip of his tongue, but the rusting black gate comes in to view and both boys halt in their tracks, stunned into silence.

It looks twice as sinister and ominous than it usually does. The area behind the gate seems darker than the rest of the library and even the air feels a lot colder, goose bumps breaking out across the boys' skin as they hesitantly step closer. All the stories of the area being haunted and the wicked and terrifying things that lie behind the protection of the gate seem to become a reality and for a moment both boys want more than anything to turn around and run back to their dorm, frightened as to what they will have to face.

But Chanyeol needs them.

Jongdae slips his hand into his pocket and fishes out the key. It's big and black, about the size of his palm, and it feels heavier in his hand than it did before. Jongdae convinces himself it's because he is tired and little bit nervous. He gives Baekhyun a crooked smile, feigning confidence as best he can, before stepping forward and slotting the key into the lock. It's stiff, old and crooked with age, and he has to force all his strength into turning it, but eventually it clicks loudly into place and the gate grinds open.

"Right," he says, pulling the key out and shoving it back into his pocket again, "let's see what we can find." Baekhyun nods at him, grinning, and they step into the Restricted Section.

Nothing, Jongdae thinks, could have prepared them for all the bizarre and creepy things they find as they search around the dark and damp shelves. At first, nothing seems to be that bad; dodgy potion books, scrolls describing plagues, a few novels on horcruxes that Jongdae has only read about in his History of Magic lessons ("You'd think they'd have these things removed after last time, don't you?") but never actually thought he'd see. Then he finds a books with awfully graphic drawings of rotting corpses, a list of charms and hexes that can be used to turn a person inside out, vials of potions that make him feel ill just by looking at them. He physically gags when he comes across a jar with a mummified grindylow inside and has to hold onto a nearby table to breathe away the nausea. Maybe coming here wasn't the best idea after all.

Jongdae is about to suggest they call it a night, desperate to get away from all the disturbing things he has experienced in the past hour, before he hears Baekhyun's voice.

"Hey, Jongdae. I think I found something."

Jongdae wheels around and walks over to where he heard his friend's voice. He finds him the far corner of the Restricted Section, stood beside a round table littered with stacks of books and rolls of moth eaten parchment. Baekhyun is hunched over a large leather bound book, his fingers scanning over the page as he reads through it before flicking over to the next. The book is old, very, very old, the spine rotting away and the fabric of the cover faded to almost nothing. There is a thick layer of dust all over it, suggesting that it had just been left on the table and never moved again. A sprinkle of dust flies of the paper as it is turned, floating up to Jongdae's face and making his nose itch. "What have you got?" he asks, trying not to sneeze.

"I was looking at this book, it's about forbidden Medieval potions," he says, flipping the pages over to show Jongdae what little there is left of the cover before turning back, "and I found this." He looks at Jongdae with a grin.

"The Schneewitten Elixir," Baekhyun says, voice low in the quiet of the night. He points at a detailed drawing of a beautiful woman lying in a bed, surrounded by flowers, with Death curled around her like lovers in sleep. "Renders the drinker into a state of eternal rest, similar to that of a Draught of Living Death. The drinker appears to be in a death-like state, with a pallid, greyish complexion, skin that is cold to touch, a lack of any movement besides that of breathing, of which is deep and unnoticeable, and no response to outside stimulation. The drinker, while having not embraced death, appears to have done so."

Jongdae could cry. "That sounds exactly like Chanyeol!" he exclaims joyfully, gripping Baekhyun's arm and squeezing before a thought crosses his mind and he lets go, furrowing his brow. "Wait, did you say Schneewitten? Like Snow White?"

Confused, Baekhyun tilts his head. "I don't know what that is, but sure." His eyes narrow in questioning. "Why, is it important?"

Jongdae shrugs his shoulders. "Probably not." He turns back to the book and rubs his chin. "So what, you think Chanyeol was poisoned then?"

"It seems very likely. This is a very old potion, and it was pretty difficult to stumble across. If it is this, someone must have purposefully given it to him, there's no other explanation."

"But who? And what for? He isn't the brightest bulb in the box but I can't think of a single person that would want to hurt him to the point of poisoning him. The guy is basically everyone's best friend. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

Letting out a deep sigh, Baekhyun rubs his eyes and leans back against the wall. "I don't know. I'll guess we'll have to find out."

"Does it say how to cure it?"

Baekhyun turns back to the book and flicks through the page, scanning over them with intense eyes. It's quiet for a moment, Jongdae resorting to clearing a small space on the table for him to sit on it, until Baekhyun snaps out an "oh crap."

Jongdae raises a brow at him. "Baekhyun?" The Gryffindor prefect looks a little grey.

"It says here, 'the effects of this particular potion cannot be ceased through any ordinary magical means. For only the strongest and most powerful of all magic that graces this earth is able to overcome this fearful elixir's grasp: true love. When the lips of the drinker's true love meets their own, all effects this potion has shall become obsolete and the drinker is free to live again'."

What? "Excuse me?" Did Baekhyun just say what he thought he just said?

Baekhyun seems to turn even more grey. "The only way to save Chanyeol is by true love's kiss."

Jongdae slips off of the table. "You've got to be ting me."

"I'm not," Baekhyun blanches, shoving the book in Jongdae's direction. "Read it here."

Still not quite believing his ears, Jongdae leans over the book and reads the section Baekhyun is pointing at. "," he curses after reading over the page several times. Baekhyun is right.

The only way to wake Chanyeol is by true love's kiss.

"This just got a lot more difficult, didn't it?"

The laugh that Jongdae breathes out is dry and a little deranged. "You're telling me." He runs his hands through his hair. He was a little suspicious when he heard it was called the Schneewitten Elixir but now everything makes sense

"Seems a bit stupid though," he adds after a few minutes of tense silence. "A poison with an antidote of true love's kiss? What's the point?"

Baekhyun shrugs, turning to the book again. "It says here that it was originally created in medieval Germany when a father wanted to test the truth behind his a young man's professions of love to his daughter. He spiked her food with the elixir and told the suitor of her death. The suitor then kissed the daughter as a final act of his love. As it turns out, the suitor was not the daughter's true love and she remained asleep until she died a few weeks later, the father taking his own life out of guilt soon after her passing."

"Damn." This really wasn't good. "So… Chanyeol will die if we don't find his true love and get them to kiss him?"

It's a thought that leaves both boys suffocating in silence. The reality that Chanyeol could actually die is something they had managed to ignore thus far, but having said it out loud, it hangs off of them like cold metal weights. Jongdae's chest seems to clench slightly, and his throat tightens. Baekhyun closes his eyes and lets out a deep, hollow sigh.

"It seems so."

"How the hell are we supposed to-"

"What the hell are you doing in there?"

The boys turn their heads and see a flash of light coming from the library beyond the gate. They had been found. "," Baekhyun growls, slamming the book closed and grabbing Jongdae by the arm before ducking down behind the table. "We have to get out of here." Abandoning the book on the table, they crawl over to the closest bookshelf to the gate and peer around it, quickly hiding behind the shelf when the light beams over them. "They're too close to the door, how are we going to get out? We need to distract them."

Jongdae suddenly grabs something from the shelf, a small, dirty bronze egg-like object that seems to steam between his fingers, and throws it over the gate, both boys wincing when they hear it smash a few metres away. The beam of light stops moving and then the sound of footsteps breaks the silence of the library. Jongdae flashes a grin at a nervous Baekhyun, joyous that his plan had worked. When the footsteps fade further away from the gate, the two boys stand up and hurry out of it as fast as they can.

They barely make it out of the library before they're stopped in their tracks by a blinding white light. The Gryffindors are flung off their feet and into the air, landing on their backs on the cold stone floor several metres away. Baekhyun reaches for his wand but that too ends up flying out of his hand, clattering loudly on the floor. A wand is shoved in their faces, the bright light making them wince away to shield their eyes. The person lowers their wand and Baekhyun and Jongdae are confronted with the disapproving eyes of none other than Kim Junmyeon, the Head Boy.

"."

Fun Fact: in Harry Potter canon, you don't need a key to get into the Restricted Section. You actually only need a permission note from a teacher, and once you hit sixth year you don't even need permission. I also doubt students can get expelled for entering the section without permission, but I decided to ignore that and create my own rules because why the hell not. The Restricted Section is also only separated from the rest of the library with a rope in the books, but I chose to follow the films and use a gate instead. Much more dramatic.

I'm not sure whether to rate this chapter of not, what with the descriptions of Chanyeol in hospital being rather graphic. Please tell me what you think and whether I should or not!

I hope you enjoy this mess lol. Thank you for reading! Feel free to come yell at me on tumblr if you have any questions or simply just want to scream about EXO~