"The only people who can see thestrals," she said, "are people who have seen death".

"PUPPY!"

With a pout, the tiny Hufflepuff stomped in the opposite direction of the teasing voice. Much to Woohyun's frustration (and embarrassment) the stupid nickname had stuck ever since Sunggyu "gifted" it to him that day in Transfiguration. Now, calls of "puppy" followed the shy first year wherever he went and even though it had already been two months since the dumb joke started, it was still going strong. Outside of Hufflepuff, most of the other first year students didn't even know his real name! 

"Yah! Nam Woohyun! Didn't you hear me calling for you", an out of breath Sungyeol panted when he finally caught up with his short friend. 

Woohyun glared at the Ravenclaw boy. "No, I didn't", he huffed, lips pouting even more, "I don't recall you calling my name at all".

An arm was suddenly thrown around the little Hufflepuff's slim shoulders. "Ahh, don't be like that, Woohyun", a smiling Dongwoo teased, "the nickname's cute and now everyone knows who you are! Plus, it's not everyday that Kim Sunggyu goes out of his way to give adorable first-years nicknames. You should be happy~"

The Hufflepuff's nose crinkled at the mention of the older student. After his Transfigurations "incident", Woohyun had done his best to avoid the Slytherin boy because everytime they encountered each other in the halls, without fail, Sunggyu would call out to him, asking how "his puppy" was doing. Needless to say, this embarrassed the first year to no end especially because the "endearment" was usually followed by a round of laughter from students who happend to hear it.  "Can we not talk about him please", Woohyun hissed to the Gryfinddor, afraid that saying the small-eyed boy's name would somehow summon him to their location, "I seriously don't get what's so great about him anyway".

"I don't know why you hate him so much, Woohyun. Sunggyu seems pretty cool. The older students like him and I always see him helping out first years", Sungyeol mused absentmindedly, eyebows scrunched in concentration as he searched through his blackhole of a backpack. 

Dongwoo nodded in agreement, "Mmm, Sunggyu likes to tease everyone but he's actually really nice! He even helped me with my Potions homework a few times and didn't even ask me to do anything in return".

As much as he hated to admit it, Woohyun couldn't deny what his friends were saying. As much as he tried to avoid the second year student, the young Hufflepuff still often saw the other boy around school. In the Great Hall, Library, Hospital Wing, Astronomy Tower, and of course in the hallways. And each time, Sunggyu was always giving directions, sharing notes with a classmate, comforting a worried first year, or, as Dongwoo had said, helping someone with homework. All while having a smile on his face. To make matters worse (at least in Woohyun's opinion) despite the Slytherin boy's impeccable grades, he wasn't opposed to having fun with his year mates. Sunggyu was always the first to be invited to weekend hangouts among the first and second years, the first person to be in the know about pranks going on around campus, and if anyone ever needed a chess or gobstones opponent, Sunggyu was always the first person everyone asked. It annoyed Woohyun because he couldn't do anything or go anywhere around campus without the older boy already being there. However, the annoyance he felt, annoyed him even more because he had never been the type to be this annoyed with anyone. Something about the second year Slytherin just made him...uneasy. 

A loud "ACK" pulled the Hufflepuff out of his thoughts. "What's up", he asked his tall friend who was now kneeling in the middle of the hallway, frantically digging through his bag.

"I can't find my Charms essay!", Sungyeol yelled, his large eyes becoming wider and wider the longer he searched his bag. "It took me so long to write it too! There's no way I can finish another one before our class tomorrow morning!"

"Whoa, calm down, Yeol", Dongwoo snatched the backpack off the floor and held it away from his childhood friend, "You probably just left it laying around your room or something. Come on, I'll help you look for it and if it's really lost, I can help you write a new one before dinner".

The lanky boy gave his friend a grateful look before bidding Woohyun goodbye. "Sorry, Woohyun! We'll meet you at the library if we find it before dinner and if not, I'll see you in class tomorrow", Sungyeol called back to the shorter boy as he and Dongwoo walked briskly back towards the stairs. 

The Hufflepuff wished the duo luck in finding the lost homework assignment before continuing on his way to the Library. It seemed that he would be struggling through his Potions essay on his own.

- Two hours later -

Woohyun dropped his head on top of his Potions textbook and groaned quietly. The 'thud' of his head hitting the book caused a few of the older students sitting at the table next to his to glare in his direction. Unfortunately (for them), the Hufflepuff was so frustrated with his assignment that he simply turned his head in the opposite direction to avoid their angry stares. 

In his last Potions class, Professor Hyuk assigned them all a fourteen inch essay on the Wiggenweld potion to be turned in at the start of their next class. Sadly, after two hours of research and writing, the young Hufflepuff was stuck at ten and a half inches and simply could not find any new information to complete his essay. Woohyun sighed as he contemplated just packing up and asking Sungyeol or Dongwoo for help later. As much as he wanted to complete his assignment on his own, Potions just wasn't something he was good at. So far, in the span of two months, Woohyun had already managed to completely mess up two potions, melt one cauldron, and cause four classroom evacuations. Professor Hyuk had started to threaten that he would test all of Woohyun's potions on Aria thinking that it would motivate the boy to do better but all the threats really did was make him even more nervous and accident prone. Woohyun let out another loud sigh as he contemplated his dismal grades in Potions. 

"Hey, Puppy. Need help?"

The Hufflepuff held back another groan. Even without looking he recognized the owner of the teasing voice who was now sitting in the chair directly across from his. 

"I'm fine", Woohyun mumbled as he sat up and picked up his quill, trying to look busy so that the second year would take a hint and leave. The silly boy even thought that his plan was working until his homework was suddenly pulled away from him.

"Hey!"

"You're supposed to add five lionfish spines, not four, and the potion should turn purple after adding  the flobberworm mucus", the bronze-haired boy corrected as he gave the unfinished essay a cursory read through.

"Thanks", the flustered first year mumbled as he quickly took down notes of what he needed to fix later.

"I just finished my homework so I have time now if you need help", the Slytherin offered, signature smile gracing his lips.

Woohyun bit his lip as he quickly looked back down at his assignment and away from the smiling boy across from him. He hated needing help to finish his own homework, especially from Sunggyu, but he had already sat in the library fro two hours and made very little progress. Professor Hyuk had also made it very clear after their last class that he would be giving Woohyun detention if he did poorly on this essay. Plus, didn't Dongwoo say that the Slytherin student helped him with his Potions assignments before too? Maybe getting help from the cheeky boy would be okay...just this once. 

"If- if you have time, I would really apprectiate your help", Woohyun finally replied, looking up into the sharp eyes across from him. At the sound of the Hufflepuff's concession, the sharp eyes immediately softened into happy crescents.

"Great!", Sunggyu's smile suddenly turned into a smirk and Woohyun felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end at the change, "Of course, you'll owe me a favor in return".

The younger boy glared at the second year before contemplating his options. Was it really worth it? While he was thinking, Aria's head popped out his bag to stare at him. The orange pine marten gave her owner a sleepy look before she went back into hiding, probably to continue her nap. He thought of Aria and then of the Potion Master's threats. It seems his decision was made for him.

"Fine".

- - - -

"Wah! I can't believe how bad you are at Potions", Sunggyu laughed as he stretched his long arms up in the air.

Seeing as he couldn't deny the comment, Woohyun instead chose to quicken his pace towards the Great Hall. 

Even with Sunggyu's help, it had taken the tiny Hufflepuff the full time until dinner to complete his essay. And though he was loathe to admit it, Sunggyu was a good teacher. The older boy was kind in his criticisms, quick to praise good work, and very knowledgable about Potions. Without the Slytherin's help, Woohyun probably (most definitely) would've failed another Potions assignment. This was the first time that he was confident that he would get good marks in that class. Of course, the proud Hufflepuff would never admit any of this out loud. Ever. And definitely never to the taller boy next to him.

When the two students reached the Great Hall, Woohyun was prepared to make a beeline for his table but was held back by the collar of his uniform.

"Not so fast, Puppy", Sunggyu scolded jokingly, "We haven't discussed the favor you owe me yet".

"Well, what do you want", Woohyun demanded, impatiently tapping his shoe against the ground and crossing his arms. He just wanted to sit down at his table before his fellow first years noticed that he was with Sunggyu and the calls of "puppy" began. It was already bad enough that he could practically feel Sungyeol smirking at him from the Ravenclaw table.

Smiling at the younger's discomfort, the Sl