Okay first off I am so sorry for the delay! I tried to get this one shot finished on time, but it just didn't work out. 

Anyway, today I am back with a somewhat special thing, I guess? You'll see what I mean. We have a little bit of Changlix and Seungjin in this one and we meet a few side-characters yay!

I hope you guys will like this one. It really took a long time to finish lol...

There was one thing Changbin had tried to ban from his mind ever since the Prefects' meeting at the beginning of the school year.

The camping trip.

The fifth years would go camping for a weekend to learn about Magical Creatures and Herbology.

In reality the school just needed as many hands as possible to gather plants to fill the Herbology stock.

That wasn't Changbin's problem though. He just absolutely hated camping. He would have to come along as a chaperone prefect, just like all his fellow sixth year prefects.

Call him spoiled, but he had never even thought about spending a night in a tent in the middle of some woods. He preferred a nice warm bed and his parents agreed with him. They would have never forced him to go on a camping trip with them.

Hogwarts was different though.

They didn't care about what Changbin wanted.

Why would they?

"At least you'll be with Felix," Hyunjin said in an attempt to cheer him up. It was the evening before the trip and as usual the younger was sprawled all over Changbin's lap like the kitten he probably secretly was. "And me, of course," he added cheekily, even having the nerve to make a cute pose and bat his eyelashes at Changbin.

Changbin flicked his forehead as a response. "I can just be with Felix in a place that isn't full of bugs and completely out in the open!" he complained.

Hyunjin laughed at him. "I'm sure it's not gonna be that bad. Seungmin's really looking forward to it..." he said.

Changbin sighed and shook his head at his friend. It was cute how whipped Hyunjin was for Seungmin, but that didn't change anything about this horrible camping trip that was about to ruin an otherwise perfectly fine weekend.

~

"Felix! Where are you going our bus is that way," Jisung called out, pointing at the larger one of the two buses that would take them merlin-knows-where for their camping weekend.

Felix looked around to make sure that nobody was paying attention to them. "I know," he whispered dramatically. "I want to sneak into the prefects' bus to be with Changbin!"

Jisung rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless..." he said. He let Felix turn away and made his way into the right bus. Jisung entered the bus to see Hyunjin and Renjun sitting further in the back. He walked over and let himself fall into the seat behind theirs.

"Where's Felix?" Renjun questioned, turning around to look at his fellow Ravenclaw.

"He's trying to sneak onto the prefects' bus," Jisung replied.

Hyunjin snorted in amusement. "Good luck getting past Professor Sprout. She's like a guard dog," he spoke up.

As if on cue, a defeated-looking Felix entered their bus. Jisung couldn't suppress a laugh at his friends' pouty face, as he scooted over into the window seat and let him sit next to him.

"You get to be with him when we get to the forest," Jisung said, patting Felix' shoulder.

"I guess..."

The bus took off and the four of them began making light conversation, talking about anything and everything.

"I feel like this will be more of a couples' weekend than a camping trip, to be honest," Renjun suddenly spoke up.

"Ugh, you're right..." Jisung agreed. "Well, since my girlfriend isn't here, you won't be completely alone," he added, causing Renjun to smile a little.

"Besides, it's not like we're going to spend all of our time with our boyfriends!" Hyunjin said reassuringly.

"Speak for yourself, dude. I plan on 'rooming' with Changbin," Felix joked.

Hyunjin chuckled. "Milking the opportunity, I see," he replied with a smirk. Felix blushed at the implication.

"I mean... he's actually a decent cuddler! That's all we intend to do!" he exclaimed.

The others just laughed at the youngest's reddened cheeks. Desperate to change the subject, Felix turned around to find Eric Son from Hufflepuff sitting there, staring out of the window absent-mindedly.

"So, Eric... who are you dating these days?" he questioned.

Eric looked at him in confusion. "Nobody?" It came out as more of a question than anything else.

Renjun also looked at him, eyebrows raised. "But you totally have your eye on someone," he pointed out.

Eric actually smirked at that. "Maybe, I do..." he said secretively.

"Who is it?" Felix questioned excitedly. Eric chuckled in return. He didn't seem to be spilling the beans anytime soon. Something told Felix that they would find out soon enough, though.

~

As it turned out, once they'd stepped out of the bus in complete wilderness, rooming with the person of your choice wasn't exactly possible. Professor Sprout announced that there would be two prefects' tents, one for girls and one for guys as well as two tents for the other students.

"What made them think four tents are enough?" Felix questioned bitterly.

Seungmin who had joined his friends as soon as he could, chuckled. "They're obviously going to be magic tents. I just don't see why I, as a non-chaperone, need to sleep in the prefects' tents as well..." he replied.

Felix was still bitter at the fact that he was deprived of more time with Changbin.

Seungmin soon left them, claiming that he should get his stuff into the prefects' tent before activities started. Professor Sprout led the fifth-year boys to a normal looking, khaki-colored tent. When they stepped inside, though, it was almost as big as the Great Hall. Okay, maybe that was a little bit exaggerated, but it was definitely bigger than it had appeared from the outside.

"This is the living area, where you'll eat. As you can see," the professor pointed along the walls of the 'living area' where a bunch of doors were located, "these doors will lead to your rooms. You'll be sorted in pairs – which have already been decided!"

A collective groan rumbled through the crowd of fifth years.

"This trip is to encourage new friendships between houses, so we have decided to partner you up beforehand. Now, I will read your room-assignments..." Professor Sprout said, ignoring the protests. The next moment a list appeared in her hand on a roll of parchment, and she put on reading glasses that hung around her neck.

"Alright, it's going to be Lee Jeno and Eric Son, Kim Sunwoo and Na Jaemin, Kang Chanhee and Lee Donghyuck, Go Sangyeol and Choi Bomin, Han Jisung and Huang Renjun and lastly Lee Felix and Hwang Hyunjin..." she read, pointing at each of the rooms for each pairing. "If you have any complaints about anything – it up, cause I don't want to hear it."

With that Professor Sprout left the tent. The boys began to head for their respective rooms. Felix wasn't sure what to think about having to room with Hyunjin. Sure, he didn't hate the older, but he also wasn't particularly warm with him. They had spent the entire bus ride talking, so he figured that spending the weekend with Hyunjin as his roommate wouldn't end up being too bad.

"So, you want this bed or that one?" Hyunjin asked, pointing at each of the beds standing opposite from each other in the rather small room. It basically held nothing but the two beds, which Felix supposed, was enough for one weekend. He shrugged at Hyunjin's question and just threw his backpack onto the bed he was closer to. Hyunjin took the other one. Felix cringed at the awkwardness that surrounded the two of them when nobody else was around.

Luckily, Jisung decided just that moment to come in and break the awkward silence that had fallen over them. "Guys, we've got some free time before activities start. There's this lake nearby and everyone's going. Are you coming along?" he questioned.

"Yeah, why not," Felix said, while Hyunjin nodded and they both followed Jisung out of the tent.

~

It felt nice to finally have some time with his boyfriend after that boring bus ride, Seungmin thought, when Hyunjin joined him at the lake Jisung had so badly wanted to visit. He was rooming with a grumpy Changbin who definitely did not want to be here.

The Slytherin had only agreed to join Seungmin and the others at the lake because he knew that Felix would be there. Seungmin had endured a good twenty-minute rant about how displeased Changbin was that he wasn't Felix and he didn't take it personally, but it annoyed the living out of him.

Now, finally reunited, Changbin was Felix' problem and Seungmin could finally be with Hyunjin. "You look stressed," Hyunjin pointed out once they'd gotten comfortable on a picnic blanket, watching their fellow fifth years have fun by pushing each other into the lake or chasing each other around.

Seungmin sighed. "Your best friend is really annoying when things aren't going his way," he replied, leaning into his boyfriend's side in exaggerated exhaustion.

Hyunjin laughed. "Well, he is a spoiled brat, so I guess that's to be expected," he agreed with the younger, though he was mostly joking.

"How's rooming with Felix?" Seungmin asked, looking up at Hyunjin almost teasingly.

"Awkward. Why do I feel like he hates me?"

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you. You can use this weekend to show him how wonderful you are," Seungmin tried to encourage the older. Hyunjin smiled and put an arm around his boyfriend just as Jisung, Renjun and Eric walked over to join them.

"Aren't you guys going for a swim?" a dripping Eric questioned.

"Maybe later. I don't feel like swimming right now," Hyunjin replied, giving Seungmin a fond look.

Jisung snorted. "You guys are like a lame, old married couple," he told them.

Hyunjin smirked. "You're just jealous because Eunseo isn't here," he retorted.

Jisung shrugged, not bothering to deny Hyunjin's claim. Seungmin noticed Eric looking somewhere else, obviously distracted. He followed the younger's gaze and his face broke into a smirk. He nudged Hyunjin and pointed his new discovery out to him.

"Eric, sweetie, you're staring... at Lee Juyeon," Seungmin pointed out. Eric snapped out of his trance and looked back at his friends.

"Can you blame me?" he questioned, surprisingly not one single bit shy at getting caught.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Jisung questioned.

Eric shrugged. "It's not like I haven't tried before. He's always brushing me off, only cause he's a sixth-year..."

Seungmin looked over to Juyeon again. The older Ravenclaw was looking in their direction, or more specifically, at Eric. If he didn't know any better, he'd say whatever Eric was feeling for the older was not completely one-sided. But he wasn't one to interfere in other people's relationships.

Before they could get further into the subject Changbin and Felix also decided to join the group. Luckily, Changbin looked far less cranky and therefore didn't get on Seungmin's nerves anymore.

The little group proceeded to crack jokes, talk and just bond. It was nice, Seungmin thought. No drama, no jealousy. Just friends hanging out. This was exactly why he had been looking forward to this camping trip.

Well, at least, until his boyfriend and so-called best friend thought it was funny to pick him up and carry him over to the water. He knew what they were planning to do, and he was not having it! He struggled against their grip, trying to free himself, yelling and causing everyone's eyes to land on him.

They mercilessly threw him into the water, ignoring his threats and curses. When he came back to the surface, he glared at Jisung, putting him in a headlock. He only partly acknowledged Felix meeting the same fate as him, as he tried to strangle his best friend.

"I hate both of you!" he said, finally letting go of Jisung, who was still laughing.

Hyunjin wrapped an arm around the younger's waist and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Aw, come on, we had to," he teased.

Seungmin hit his chest half-heartedly. He obviously wasn't mad at them for real, but he sure wanted to let them know about his dismay. "You two are s!"

"Why are you making such a fuss, are you scared of water or something?" Go Sangyeol suddenly piped up from a few meters away.

Seungmin glared at the other Ravenclaw. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm not scared of anything!" he spat at his former friend.

Hyunjin didn't seem too keen on waiting for a response from Sangyeol and instead just dragged his boyfriend away, which Seungmin was thankful for. Getting into a fight with that sneaky rat wasn't very high on his agenda.

"Who let him come on the trip anyway..." Hyunjin fumed. Seungmin's 'anger' at his boyfriend had vanished at this point and he held Hyunjin back, effectively stopping him from walking.

"Hey, are you okay?" he questioned.

Hyunjin looked at the younger. "Sure, I just don't want this douchebag to talk to you like that..."

Seungmin raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure that's it?" he asked. Hyunjin nodded. Given his history with Sangyeol, Seungmin wasn't sure if he should completely believe his boyfriend. Then again, he didn't want to ruin the mood. This trip was to have fun and he sure as hell would not let Go Sangyeol get in the way.

"Okay, then..." he gave in.

~

A while later, Professor Sprout ordered for all the fifth years to gather for 'activities'.

Of course, Felix expected said activities to be anything but fun. And he was right. Today, the girls would go on some kind of expedition to observe magical creatures while the guys would get to collect plants for Herbology or something.

"Now, this trip isn't a vacation, as you all hopefully know. It's an opportunity to learn about different plants and creatures to help you pass your OWLs next month. You're going to be sorted in three groups of five with one prefect accompanying you..." Professor Sprout explained.

"Do we get to choose the groups this time or did you sort us beforehand again?" Jisung questioned bitterly.

Professor Sprout glared at him for his tone but answered nonetheless. "I have a list right here, Mr Han," she said, holding up a roll of parchment like the one she had yesterday. Jisung and Felix both groaned.

"So, the groups are going to be as follows: The first group will go with Lee Juyeon; that's Kim Sunwoo, Eric Son, Lee Jeno, Na Jaemin..." Felix stopped listening, instead making eye contact with Changbin, who stood next to Juyeon and a Gryffindor prefect named Park Minhyuk.

Felix grinned at his boyfriend and shot him a playful wink, proud to see that Changbin's stoic expression faltered the slightest bit as he tried to hide a smile. Felix only tuned Professor Sprout back in when he heard her read the names for Changbin's group.

"It's going to be Lee Felix, Han Jisung, Huang Renjun, Hwang Hyunjin and Kim Seungmin. Again, if there's any type of complaint, I don't care. Now, you have three hours to collect the required things on the list your assigned prefect will hand out. Magic is allowed in emergencies only. Stay away from the restricted area which is marked by signs. Other than that, have fun," Professor Sprout closed her speech.

Felix beamed at Changbin, happy to have landed in a group with his boyfriend and his friends. The six of them gathered together and Changbin handed each of them a list with the required plants they were supposed to collect, before making their way a little further into the woods.

"So... does anyone actually have an idea what these plants are supposed to look like?" Felix questioned a good five seconds later, casually lacing his fingers with Changbin's.

"No idea," Jisung answered, studying the list with a clueless expression.

"I can't believe we have three whole Ravenclaws on our team. We need Jeongin, at least he knows what he's doing," Felix deadpanned.

Seungmin cleared his throat, clearly not appreciating the lack of faith Felix seemed to have in him. "I happen to know what those plants look like. Follow me," he spoke up. The group didn't argue and let Seungmin take the lead. Changbin and Felix fell a little behind, hands still interlaced.

"Still grumpy about the whole camping thing?" the younger teased his boyfriend.

Changbin huffed. "Well, I guess it could be worse..." he admitted. Felix chuckled. His boyfriend was just the cutest. "You're lucky you're not a prefect..." Changbin added.

"If I was, we could be in the same tent," he pointed out.

Changbin seemed to consider that. "I guess you're right..." he said.

~

"This still feels like a couple's weekend, if you ask me," Renjun said. Jisung followed the older's gaze, watching Hyunjin and Seungmin inspect some plants before turning around to see Changbin and Felix holding hands in their own world.

He grinned at Renjun. "I'll hold your hand, if you're feeling too lonely," he teased.

Renjun shoved him playfully. "Shut up, you'd be the same if Eunseo was here," he pointed out chuckling.

Jisung shrugged. "Probably, but she's not," he replied.

"Are... you guys doing okay?" Renjun asked, sounding somewhat careful with the question.

Jisung smiled at the thought of his girlfriend. "We are..."

"And her ex hasn't tried to beat you up again?" Renjun questioned. Jisung made a face. He didn't look back too fondly on that memory.

"Nope, I think he's accepted the fact that she chose me over him..." he replied. "What about you? Any progress with your crush?"

Renjun blushed, avoiding eye contact at the mention of his crush. Jisung found it kind of cute. The guy must be someone special if he could make the older blush that easily.

Before Renjun could answer, or avoid the subject, though, Seungmin spoke up: "I think we've got everything...we should be able to head back now."

Jisung was glad to hear that, since it was almost time for dinner, and he was starving. Besides, hanging out in the woods wasn't his favorite thing to do either, no matter how good the company was. The group began to head back, running into Juyeon's group on the way.

"There's a shortcut to the camp," Eric pointed out. How he knew that was a mystery to Jisung, but he didn't miss the way the Hufflepuff made eye contact with Juyeon.

"We can't take it. It leads through the restricted area," Juyeon said, pointing at a sign next to Eric reading 'Restricted area: pass and you'll die'.

How very uplifting.

"That's just to scare us. I'm sure nothing will happen," Eric answered.

"Have you never seen a horror movie before? I'm not taking that shortcut!" Felix exclaimed. Eric shrugged and turned, seemingly ready to make his way through the restricted area. Jisung didn't know why the Hufflepuff suddenly seemed to have a death wish...

"Stop right there, Eric, I swear to god!" Juyeon suddenly roared, holding Eric back by grabbing his wrist. "I'm the prefect here, so you listen to me! If you want to explore restricted areas and dangerous forests in your free time, be my guest, but as long as I'm responsible for your safety, you behave and follow the ing rules. Do I make myself clear?!"

Jisung grimaced. Juyeon's harsh tone had caused everyone to fall silent and watch the two of them in awe. Eric glared up at Juyeon and yanked his arm free. "Fine," he gave in.

Changbin cleared his throat. "We should probably get moving..." he said uneasily. Jisung's group began to take off in the direction of the camp.

"Well, that was... intense," Seungmin said once they had created a small distance between their group and Juyeon's.

"Why did Eric want to take that shortcut so badly?" Hyunjin questioned.

Renjun sighed. "Obviously to impress Juyeon. He thinks doing something bold and reckless will get him the attention he wants from him... and in a way he succeeded, only that he made Juyeon mad," he explained.

"So much for no drama..."

~

At dinner, Hyunjin noted that things between Eric and Juyeon seemed to have calmed down. They even sat next to each other, talking about merlin-knows-what. Juyeon was laughing at something Eric had said.

"They actually don't look half bad together," Seungmin noted from beside him, following Hyunjin's gaze. Hyunjin nodded in agreement before focusing his attention on his boyfriend.

"Wanna do something later?" he questioned.

Seungmin looked at him. "I'm not sure we'll have much time to do anything after dinner. We still have a curfew after all," the Ravenclaw reminded his boyfriend. Hyunjin almost cooed at his boyfriend's innocence. He grinned and leaned in to give the younger a quick peck on the lips.

"You're so cute," he told him. Seungmin pouted as he always did when Hyunjin called him cute. "I meant let's meet up later. Secretly," Hyunjin clarified.

Seungmin's eyes widened at that. "What if we get caught?" he questioned.

The older chuckled. "Scared of Professor Sprout?"

"I thought we had already clarified that I'm not scared of anything. Fine, let's meet up at midnight. I'll wait outside of your tent," Seungmin said defiantly.

Hyunjin grinned at him. He still thought that Seungmin was incredibly cute, what with the way he was sulking over Hyunjin teasing him, but he figured that if he told him that again, the younger would turn him into a toad.

~

After dinner, Hyunjin spent the rest of his time before curfew with Seungmin before joining Felix in their room. The air was less awkward between them after practically spending half their day together, which was something Hyunjin was thankful for. He didn't know what Felix' problem with him seemed to be, but he wanted to get along with his best friends' boyfriend.

"So..." Hyunjin trailed off, trying to find something they could talk about. "Are you excited about the Quidditch endgame?" he asked.

Felix flopped down on his bed, getting comfortable. "Sure, my team will beat your team's . I'm always looking forward to seeing that," he replied with a cheeky grin.

Hyunjin laughed. "Keep dreaming."

The last game of the season always brought the biggest hype and Hyunjin was definitely excited to be a part of it.

"Have you ever been camping before?" Felix asked after a few seconds of silence.

Hyunjin shook his head. "No, my mom isn't really an outdoors type. I've always wanted to, though, so I'm actually happy to be here. It's new, so I like it," he answered truthfully.

Hyunjin's mother wasn't big on relaxing. She believed in hard work, so she did just that, year-round. Hyunjin had lost count on how many times he had begged his mother to take him on a camping trip even if just for a weekend, but she had always brushed him off with a 'maybe next summer, I'm really busy...'

"What about you?" he returned the question.

Felix grinned excitedly. "My sisters and I usually go camping every time I visit home. Nowadays, they work a lot, so the last two or three times it didn't really work out, but it's alright. There's always next time..." he said.

Hyunjin didn't have any siblings, so he found himself the slightest bit envious that Felix seemed to get along with his so well.

"You know, Seungmin actually used to be a boy scout, so I guess you never have to be worried about getting lost in the woods with him..." Felix suddenly pointed out.

"What's a... what's a boy scout?" Hyunjin asked in confusion.

Felix looked surprised for a second. "Well, I guess wizards don't really do that. Um, boy scouts usually spend a lot of time outdoors and learn how to make fires and how to navigate and all that jazz. He showed me pictures before. I don't know, maybe he can explain it better," Felix said. "Changbin would make a great boy scout," the younger suddenly said.

Hyunjin looked at him furrowing his eyebrows. As far as he knew, Changbin hated nature. "What makes you say that?"

Felix smirked. "Well, he sure knows how to make a fire," he said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh my god, you did not just..." Hyunjin trailed off, reaching for his pillow and throwing it at the younger. "That's not the kind of thing I want to hear about my best friend," he muttered.

Felix just laughed at him. "Aw, my poor, sweet, innocent Hyunjin..." he teased the Slytherin.

"Listen, dating Seungmin isn't exactly the most innocent life either, okay!" Hyunjin shot back, feeling the need to defend himself. It was a new experience for him to bond with Felix, but he definitely welcomed it. For the first time he felt like they could actually become friends.

Felix raised an eyebrow at his words. "Excuse me, while I have trouble believing that," he replied.

"You don't know him like I do..." Hyunjin mumbled, his cheeks heating up. Felix gasped in mock-exasperation. "Did I just witness Hwang Hyunjin blushing over something Kim Seungmin did by just thinking about it? I'm not sure I want details!" he said with a chuckle.

Hyunjin waved his hands frantically. "It nothing of that sort, oh my god! Just..." he trailed off again. "He's a really good kisser, that's all..." he said, not wanting to get further into detail about it. Maybe he was too innocent, considering how shy he got talking about Seungmin.

"I can relate," Felix deadpanned.

Hyunjin's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You and Seungmin?" he asked.

Felix let out an almost barking laugh. "Gods, no! But I mean... there was this guy a while ago. His name was Stan..."

~

"Is it hot in here?" Jisung questioned, seemingly startling Renjun who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Huh?"

Jisung chuckled at his friend's confusion. "I'm super warm, aren't you? I didn't expect it to be like this at night..." he said.

Renjun shrugged. "I suppose it's a little too warm for comfort..."

Jisung didn't question things further and just sat up in his bed, pulling his sweater over his head, revealing a t-shirt underneath. When he looked back at his friend, he noticed the older's slightly reddened cheeks.

"You're warm too, aren't you?" he pointed out.

Renjun looked at him with wide doe-eyes before covering his cheeks with his hands. "Maybe a little... I don't really mind, though... um, good night," he somewhat stammered. Jisung chuckled at Renjun's weird behavior, watching him turn around in his bed so his back was facing him.

"Good night," he answered.

Unfortunately, though, Jisung had more trouble falling asleep than Renjun did. It was just too damn warm, and he couldn't find a rest. He sighed, throwing the covers back and getting out of bed after a good hour of fruitless attempts.

Maybe getting some fresh air would help him. Jisung shot a quick look over at Renjun to make sure that he was sleeping, before quietly sneaking out of the tent.

It was dead silent outside. The campsite seemed completely abandoned. Jisung was glad to see that no teachers or prefects were patrolling around, as he made his way to the lake. It was quiet and peaceful unlike earlier when he and his fellow classmates were wilding around here.

Jisung appreciated the peace and quiet, sitting down and just watching the moon reflect on the surface of the water. As expected, the air was a little bit cooler here, which refreshed him immensely. He didn't know what time it was or how long he sat here, but it didn't really matter. This place was really good to think.

"Here you are," a voice suddenly spoke up, causing Jisung to jump in surprise. He turned around to find Renjun standing there in pajama pants and a blue sweater.

He gave the older a small smile. "I couldn't sleep..." he said honestly.

Renjun sat down next to him, also looking at the lake ahead of them. "I was a little worried when I woke up and you weren't there. Wouldn't want a bear to have you as a midnight snack," he joked.

Jisung chuckled. "I appreciate the concern," he answered.

"Do you sneak out often?" Renjun questioned.

Jisung looked at him. "Rarely... sometimes I just find comfort in sitting by the water. It helps clear the mind..." he admitted.

Renjun returned his look. "What do you need to be comforted about?" he questioned.

"Nothing much. Sometimes it's about grades, before I met Eunseo it sometimes was about my sad single life," he half-joked.

Renjun hummed in thought. "Maybe I should try that too... since I have a sad single life of my own," he mumbled.

Jisung furrowed his brows. "That crush of yours... did you ever consider telling him how you feel?"

That one earned him a snort. "I can't do that," Renjun said.

"Why not?" the younger questioned.

He didn't know why he was so interested in Renjun's love life; it was probably because he wanted to see his friend happy too. He knew what it felt like to be the only single one in his group of friends. It was kind of lonely sometimes. He didn't want that for Renjun.

"First of all, because I know for sure that he doesn't feel that way about me," Renjun finally answered. "Second of all, because he's in a relationship anyway and I'm not a homewrecker, so even if he did return my feelings, I wouldn't want to get between him and his..." he trailed off, letting the rest of the sentence hang in the air. "And third of all... I'm scared," he admitted.

Jisung tilted his head. "Of what?" he asked.

Renjun brought his knees to his chest and rested his arms on them. "Of rejection? Humiliation? Another damn heartbreak. I've had my share of those..." he mumbled the last part, but in the quiet of the night Jisung heard him just fine.

"If you do confess to him and he mistreats you I'll personally fight him," the younger promised in an encouraging tone.

Renjun laughed quietly. "Thanks, Jisung. I'll hold you to it," he answered.

Jisung grinned, patting his friend's arm comfortingly. "Wanna head back?" he asked after a while.

"Not yet..." Renjun answered, resting his head on the younger's shoulder. Jisung let him and together, the two of them sat in comfortable silence, watching the lake in its full glory.

~

Seungmin was nervous to say the least. He had always felt uncomfortable with being out past curfew, but for Hyunjin it was worth it. He fidgeted around nervously while waiting for his boyfriend to come out of the tent. He kept looking around, making sure that nobody was there to catch him red-handed.

When Hyunjin finally did come out, Seungmin let out a sigh of relief. "What, did you think I'd stand you up?" Hyunjin teased, of course, catching his boyfriend's expression.

Seungmin pouted. "Of course, not... I was just worried that I might get caught waiting for you," he replied.

Hyunjin intertwined their hands and began leading the younger away from the campsite. "Where are you taking me?" the Ravenclaw questioned.

Hyunjin only gave him a secretive look, not answering the question. Seungmin let himself get dragged along, curiosity biting at him. They took a similar path as before when they were collecting plants.

Luckily, the walk wasn't too far and soon enough they reached a clearing. Seungmin looked around. There was nothing special here, so he wondered what exactly Hyunjin had planned for them.

Hyunjin sat down in the grass and Seungmin followed suit. He was about to ask what exactly they were doing here when Hyunjin spoke up: "Look up," he said.

Seungmin did as he was told. The night sky loomed over them, presenting them with a billion stars. "It's beautiful..." Seungmin muttered.

"It is..." Hyunjin agreed, but when Seungmin looked at his boyfriend, he wasn't looking up at the sky anymore.

Instead, he found him staring right back at him.

Hyunjin's stare turned into a smile as he watched a blush crawl onto Seungmin's cheeks. He wasn't lying. The soft moonlight really did compliment Seungmin's handsome features well, making him look like some sort of ethereal being. Hyunjin's heart paused just looking at his boyfriend.

Seungmin gave him a shy smile before leaning closer to Hyunjin, softly kissing his lips. He was about to pull away to look back up at the shining stars above them but Hyunjin stopped him by putting a hand on his cheek, making his boyfriend look at him again before returning his kiss.

Seungmin got weak in the knees at the way the older's lips felt against his whenever Hyunjin kissed him like that. He even lost his track of time, as it seemed to stop around them.

They stayed like this for a few more minutes before pulling away and focusing back on the stars above them.

~

"Okay, kids, today your task is to find and observe one of the given animals on the list. Just like yesterday, you'll be going in groups of five along with a prefect. To make things easier we're not going to make any changes and keep the groups as they are..." their Care of Magical Creatures professor announced the next morning.

"Um, does anyone have any idea where Eric is? Juyeon doesn't seem to be here either," he added, sounding confused.

Jisung raised his hand. "I just saw Eric, I'll go get him," he announced.

The Professor nodded and let Jisung head back to the tent to fetch the Hufflepuff. He had just seen Eric in the living area, so, considering he wasn't outside with the others, Jisung assumed that he must have forgotten something in his room. He decided to check, just to make sure.

"Eric, the professor is looking for yo– oh," Jisung cut himself off when he entered his friends' room. Eric was in his room, alright, but he wasn't alone. The younger hadn't even noticed Jisung coming in, since he seemed to be too busy making out with a certain Ravenclaw prefect.

Jisung was tempted to just shut the door again and let the two of them continue, but he wasn't sure if the professor would appreciate that. He cleared his throat, effectively catching their attention. Eric practically scrambled off Juyeon's lap and looked back at Jisung with widened eyes.

"U-um..." Juyeon stammered, obviously embarrassed about getting caught.

"I don't even want to know... professor's looking for you guys, so you better make yourselves look presentable and join us outside," Jisung said, referring to their messed-up hair and Juyeon's almost half-ed shirt. "I'll see you guys outside," he added awkwardly, leaving the two others behind.

When he rejoined the others, the professor gave him a questioning look. "They'll be right out. They just had... something to discuss," he lied. His friends shot him questioning looks, but he wasn't going to spill the beans right where everyone could hear them.

"Alright, then... Changbin and Minhyuk. Your groups can already take off. Juyeon's group will follow as soon as he's done discussing things with Eric, I suppose..." the professor said. The two groups in question, began heading for the forest and, of course Jisung was immediately bombarded with questions.

"Were they really in there together?"

"Were they fighting?"

"What exactly did you see?"

Jisung raised both his hands to get his friends to stop talking. "I'm not telling you guys, stop asking!" he said.

Felix pouted. "Not even your best bro?" he asked, batting his eyelashes at Jisung.

"Nope, you're just going to have to ask them yourself," Jisung replied sternly. His friends grumbled something about him being no fun, but he just shook his head fondly at their curiosity and began half-focusing on their task. They practically paired up again like yesterday and he found himself with Renjun again.

"They were making out, weren't they?" Renjun questioned knowingly. Jisung chuckled and nodded. "Well, it had to happen eventually. The tension between them was so thick you could cut it with a knife..." Renjun said.

Jisung couldn't help but agree. He'd never really paid much attention to his friend's love life before, but ever since he had found out about his not-so-subtle crush on Juyeon, the tension had been pretty hard to miss.

"One more happy couple," Renjun muttered underneath his breath. Jisung remembered the previous night, the older Ravenclaw opening up a little about his crush. He must really feel lonely here, he figured.

If only Jisung could be of any help but if Renjun's crush was already seeing somebody there wasn't much he could do.

~

Needless to say, observing some random creature wasn't exactly the most entertaining thing, so the group was pretty glad when they could finally return to the campsite. They decided to spend some more time just hanging out at the lake and doing nothing before dinner.

Dinner was pretty uneventful aside from the fact that Eric and Juyeon were all over each other all of a sudden. Seungmin was still a little tired from sneaking out with Hyunjin last night, so he went to bed pretty early.

Unfortunately, though he couldn't fall asleep immediately, which was why he opted for reading until he finally could.

"Seungmin! I'm bored, let's do something," Changbin said, as he entered the room.

Seungmin looked up from his book to look at the older. "Um... what would you want to do with me?" he questioned.

Changbin shrugged. "I don't know, aren't you also curious about that restricted area?"

"Not really, no..." Seungmin answered, not liking where this was going. Changbin looked at him like he was the crazy one; Seungmin begged to differ.

"Come on, live a little! I want to know why it's restricted," Changbin half-pleaded.

Seungmin furrowed his brows. "Hm, I don't know. It's probably because something big and murderous is lurking there. Besides, why do you need me to explore with you?" Seungmin asked.

Changbin and Seungmin had never really spent much time together and even though, they were kind of roommates right now, he didn't know why the older insisted on going with him.

"It's more fun than going alone. Come on, let's explore... or are you perhaps... scared?" Changbin asked, a teasing grin spreading on his face.

Oh, hell no. Seungmin sat up and shut his book with force. "I'm not scared of anything!" he clarified sternly. Changbin raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest, as if to say 'prove it'. "Fine, let's go 'explore'! But if we die, it's on you!" Seungmin finally caved, rising from his bed and mentally waving goodbye to sleep.

Changbin looked pleased with himself as he led the way out of the prefects' tent.

Seungmin was fairly sure that he was going to regret this.

~

"Hey, you up?" Felix questioned.

Hyunjin turned around in his bed, facing the younger, though he couldn't see him in the dark. "Yeah, why?" he asked.

"I want to sneak over to the prefects' tent and see if the guys are up...wanna come along?"

Hyunjin snorted in amusement. "Sure."

The two fifth years scrambled out of their beds, leaving the tent without a hitch. Hyunjin found himself wondering if the teachers even cared if anyone sneaked out at night.

Felix led the way over to the prefects' tent, while Hyunjin glanced around, making sure that nobody saw them. He furrowed his brows when he saw two figures approaching the forest. It didn't take a lot for him to recognize them as his best friend and his boyfriend.

He reached out to hold Felix back by his sleeve. Felix shot him a confused look but Hyunjin pointed in the direction of the two figures just disappearing.

"It's them..." he whispered.

Felix looked even more confused now. "What are they doing?" he asked in the same whisper-like tone.

"I don't know, but I think they're heading towards the restricted area," Hyunjin said. "We should follow them..." he added.

Felix looked uneasy, but nodded nonetheless and together, the two of them changed paths and headed towards the restricted area of the forest.

~

"Um, Changbin...I can't see , despite my wand so I'm not sure this was a good idea..." Seungmin mumbled. Changbin didn't answer so Seungmin looked around. As he'd said, he could barely see anything, but despite that, he could tell that Changbin wasn't nearby.

It was weird considering the fact that the older had been there just three seconds ago.

"Hey, this isn't funny, okay? If you're trying to scare me, you gotta try harder!" Seungmin called out. "Changbin, I swear to god! I won't hesitate to leave your sorry right here in the woods!"

He wasn't scared of the dark or of being alone. It also wasn't his first time alone in the woods; he figured that being a boy scout had really paid off. But he was also not up for getting pranked.

He heard a noise behind him, almost like a crackling. He rolled his eyes ready to snap at Changbin for acting like an idiot when he saw the source of the crackling noise. It was a small flame. Seungmin had no idea where the hell it came from, but he figured he should probably put it out, if he didn't want to risk the whole forest burning down.

As he stepped closer, though, the fire seemed to rapidly grow bigger, flames etching high while forming a circle around Seungmin.

He was trapped.

Seungmin rarely seriously panicked because he didn't have any fears.

Except one.

Blazing fire.

In his panic, he dropped his wand. He didn't dare look for it and pick it up to maybe put out the fire.

He let out a scream as the flames seemed to close in around him.

Even if Changbin or anyone, for that matter, could hear him, he was done for...

~

"Did you hear that?" Felix questioned at the sound of the scream roaring through the quiet night.

Hyunjin's blood ran cold. "That sounded like Seungmin!" he exclaimed. He rushed further into the woods, not caring if he alarmed anyone or anything. He faintly registered Felix calling out his name, but he ignored him.

He bumped into something - or rather someone, judging by the groan he heard.

"Binnie?" An out of breath Felix said, helping the figure, which turned out to be Changbin, to his feet after he'd caught up with the younger Slytherin.

"Where's Seungmin?" Hyunjin asked frantically.

"I don't know, we got separated. I just heard him scream... what are you guys doing here anyway?" Changbin asked, looking from Felix to Hyunjin and back.

"We saw you–"

"Doesn't matter. I have to find him!" Hyunjin interrupted them. His nerves were on edge, he needed to get to Seungmin and make sure he was okay. Another scream made Hyunjin run off again, before the other two could even react. A source of light caught his attention and he decided to follow the source.

He heard small whimpers and pleas for help. That was no doubt Seungmin. Hyunjin pulled out his wand, ready to take on whatever it was that was scaring his boyfriend.

His eyes widened in shock when he saw the younger trapped in a ring of fire. He didn't think long or hard and pointed his wand at the flames.

"Aguamenti"

Nothing.

This wasn't a normal fire, Hyunjin figured.

"Seungmin," he called out to his boyfriend. The younger didn't seem to hear him right away, so he tried again. "Seungmin! Listen to me..." he shouted over the flames.

"H-Hyunjin?" he heard Seungmin's small, panic-filled voice. "I'm right here, my love. Listen, this fire isn't real!" Hyunjin said.

"B-but..."

"It's not real, Seungmin. You can fight this!" Hyunjin encouraged his boyfriend.

"I-I can't... I'm scared, and my wand is..." he trailed off.

Hyunjin couldn't watch this any longer. He waited for an opening in the crackling flames and took the next best opportunity to join his boyfriend.

"W-what are you–"

Seungmin cut himself off, as Hyunjin raised his wand, yelling at the flames: "Come at me, boggart. Leave my boyfriend alone!" He shielded Seungmin from the flames as best as he could, never lowering his wand.

Soon enough, the boggart changed forms. The flames subsided and seemed to morph together to a person. Once it was done, a second Seungmin stood right in front of Hyunjin, looking at him with the most spiteful and disappointed expression.

The real Seungmin glanced at it, seemingly confused. Boggart-Seungmin held eye contact with Hyunjin for about three more seconds before turning around and walking away from them.

"Riddikulus," Hyunjin said sternly and Boggart-Seungmin tripped and fell face first into the mud. "Let's get out of here..." he addressed his Seungmin after picking up his wand.

Hyunjin took his boyfriend's hand; he was shaking, but other than that he seemed unharmed. When they turned around, they saw a stunned Changbin and Felix watch them in awe.

"We should head back before anyone notices we're gone," Hyunjin said. He noticed how tightly Seungmin held on to his hand, which only made him even more determined to get him out of this forest.

Changbin took the lead, seemingly knowing where he was going. Considering, he hated camping so much, he sure knew how to navigate around. Hyunjin was grateful for that, because he was too busy worrying about Seungmin to even think about finding the way.

It didn't take long until they reached the campsite. Felix and Changbin silently decided to give the other two some space and headed for the direction of the prefects' tent after bidding them good night.

Seungmin was no longer shaking, but he still looked agitated. Hyunjin faced him and gently put his hands on the younger's upper arms. "Are you alright?" he asked. Seungmin nodded, not looking at him. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" Hyunjin questioned to which Seungmin shook his head.

"Hyunjin..." he finally spoke up after a while, his voice was still small, barely above a whisper, but at least he was finally speaking. "What was that back there?"

Hyunjin furrowed his brows. "U-um... a boggart, I suppose?" he replied, slightly confused.

What exactly was he getting at?

"I meant what the boggart turned into when you faced it... it looked like me..." Seungmin said, looking directly at Hyunjin for the first time since they got out of the forest.

Hyunjin grimaced. "Oh... that..." he trailed off. He had half hoped that Seungmin hadn't caught on that, but then again, he had been right there. "Well, my biggest fear is somehow disappointing you and causing you to leave me..." Hyunjin admitted, averting his gaze.

Seungmin reached out to put a hand on his cheek and made him look at him again. "I would never do that. I thought we were over this..." he said.

"Yeah, I know... I mostly am, but the fear... it remains, even if it's irrational..." Hyunjin explained.

Seungmin pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug. "Well, I'm not disappointed in you ever. You saved me back there... you were the one who recognized that this thing was a boggart while I was literally trapped in my own fear," he told him. He looked back into the woods where they had just come from, shuddering at the memory. "I was being a headass, constantly saying that I wasn't scared of anything... this could have gone really wrong. So, thank you," he continued, reaching for his boyfriend's hands.

Hyunjin gave him a half-smile. "Sometimes it's hard to face your own fears... Come on, let's get inside," he said, heading for the fifth years' tents. Seungmin followed wordlessly, probably figuring that Felix wouldn't come back anyway.

On top of that, Hyunjin had no intention of letting Seungmin sleep alone after what happened.

The bed was too small for two people, but they managed. Seungmin lay half on top of Hyunjin with his head resting on his chest and the older's arms wrapped around his middle.

"I'm never going to leave you, Hyunjin," the younger suddenly said, closing his eyes as he listened to his boyfriend's heartbeat.

Hyunjin hugged Seungmin even tighter. "And I'm never letting you go, my love," the older whispered and the two of them soon drifted off to sleep.

~

The next morning the busses waited for them right after breakfast. Changbin was glad that this camping trip was finally over, even though he got to spend last night cuddling the life out of his boyfriend.

He vowed to himself never to go camping again.

Once he got home, he needed a long, refreshing shower.

Seungmin sat next to him on the bus, looking a lot better than when he had last seen him the previous night. Changbin felt as though all of this was his fault. If he hadn't suggested going into the forest, that boggart wouldn't have attacked Seungmin.

"Look..." Changbin trailed off. "I shouldn't have talked you into going into the woods. I'm supposed to be a responsible upperclassman and you could have gotten hurt... I'm sorry," he apologized.

Seungmin looked at him, a small smile playing on his lips. "It's okay, Changbin. I'm not mad at you..." he answered.

That was a relief. He figured that it wouldn't be the most pleasant thing to have his best friend's boyfriend be mad at him. "So... fire, huh," he started.

Seungmin's smile faded and he averted his gaze. "Yeah... um, there was an incident when I was younger. It just stuck, I guess..."

Changbin sensed that Seungmin didn't want to get further into detail about the whole thing, so he dropped the subject. He still felt guilty for being the reason Seungmin had to face his biggest fear, but along the ride back to the castle, the two of them made conversation and the memory of their tour through the woods wandered to the back of their heads...