I am NOT [who I used to be]

I am NOT [Stray Kids Hogwarts AU One Shot series]

Hi! I'm back with yet another Minchan! Can you tell that they're my fav ship? (There's gonna be more Jisung soon, I promise). 

Sorry, this is so late! My lazy couldn't get to proof read this and the upload got kinda ed up. I did a half-assed job with the proof reading, so if you see any typos, I'm really sorry! I'm also sorry for this one shot...you'll see why lol. And it's not the best one I've ever written...

As always, my sister Jenny came up with most of the idea for this one shot! 

Let's get started!

 

People said that old habits die hard.

Minho agreed with that.

He used to be known as one of the biggest flirts in Hogwarts – or a hoe, but Minho preferred the term flirt – for around two years. Then, at the beginning of his seventh year, he had started dating Bang Chan, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which he didn't regret one bit. He loved spending time with Chan and just being someone's boyfriend. He had grown to like depending on someone who also depended on him.

It was just that, despite being Chan's boyfriend, he was also still himself.

In Minho's defense, he was a natural flirt. He always had been. Most of the time he didn't even realize it right away. So, when he started falling back into habit and subconsciously flirting with other guys, it took him a while to realize that his boyfriend wasn't exactly happy about it.

~

"Good practice today, Minho," a random Slytherin called out to him when he came into the entrance hall with Chan, who had waited for him after Quidditch practice.

"Thanks," Minho replied with a wink.

Chan gave him a look and waited until the guy disappeared before speaking up. "Are you serious? This is the third guy you've winked at in the past 10 minutes," he pointed out. He didn't sound amused, not at all.

Minho thought about his words. The third? He hadn't even noticed. Though that was probably not what he should say to calm him.

"I'm sorry, Channie... it's a reflex," he apologized, trying his award-winning smile on the older, who didn't even budge.

"Those guys think they have a chance with you if you keep doing that. You know I'm not possessive, but I also don't want to lose you to one of those thirsty dudes," he muttered in a displeased tone.

The Slytherin stopped walking and reached for his boyfriend's sleeve to hold him back as well. "You're not going to! I'm sorry, okay? I'll work on it, I promise..." he assured the older. He didn't want Chan to be mad at him. Luckily, his apology seemed to have worked because Chan nodded, and his features softened a little bit.

Minho had meant his words. He was really going to work on his habit. He wasn't even interested in all those other guys, and sometimes girls, who threw themselves at him; he never had been in the first place. They had mostly served as a way to pass the time before he'd started dating Chan.

The older was the first guy he'd ever actually been with and he liked him too much to jeopardize that.

"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Chan switched subjects. Minho was glad that his boyfriend wasn't holding any grudges and the atmosphere between them had already gone back to normal. He interlaced their hands.

"I'd much rather have you to myself. Hogsmeade is always so crowded. We could do something alone," he suggested.

Chan chuckled. "Why does everything you say automatically sound more suggestive than it probably is?" he joked. Minho grinned, happy to have made Chan smile.

God, he was whipped for this guy.

They ended up really staying in that weekend, deciding that this was probably the best time to have some alone time in the prefect's bathroom. Neither of them was a prefect but Chan was a Quidditch captain and Minho knew the password from Changbin, who had only reluctantly given it to his friend, knowing that he probably wouldn't use it alone...

~

Working on himself to get rid of his old habits was easier said than done.

He caught himself getting a little too close to flirting with guys that weren't Chan but once he noticed, he immediately let them know that he wasn't interested. As for the winking, he'd mostly toned it down. It only happened occasionally, luckily mostly when Chan wasn't around to see it and he mentally scolded himself right afterwards.

Today, though, he had unintentionally winked at one of his former hook-ups. A Ravenclaw sixth year going by the name of Kang Minjae he'd had a short thing with last year. The wink was more to than to flirt with him. The younger just smirked at him and whispered something to his Hufflepuff friend.

Minho didn't pay it any further mind, as he made his way to whatever class he had next. He couldn't wait for lunch when he'd meet up with Chan before they'd ditch afternoon classes and spend their evening together.

~

"It was just a matter of time, to be honest."

"Yeah, I'm surprised he even lasted that long..."

"Do you think Bang Chan knows?"

Chan stopped in his tracks when he heard his name being whispered. He turned around to see a small group of girls from different houses huddled together in the courtyard he was just passing through. He usually didn't pay attention to gossip, but since it seemed to be about him, he was a little curious.

The things he'd heard them say left an unsettling feeling in his gut, but he wasn't going to let that show as he approached the girls. They didn't seem to notice him and kept talking excitedly.

"Do I know what?" he questioned, effectively startling the gossiping bunch. The girls looked at each other, seemingly troubled, not having expected to get caught.

"Um... maybe you shouldn't hear this from us," one of them, a tall, blonde Hufflepuff girl said sheepishly.

Chan raised his brow at her, which seemed to intimidate her. "You were so ready to share your news about me with your friends and now you're gonna leave me out?" he asked in faked offense.

A Gryffindor girl Chan had seen around before sighed and spoke up: "It's not directly about you... it's about your boyfriend..."

~

Minho rose from his seat with a groan. "Holy , that was the longest History of Magic class I ever had to sit through. Do ghosts never retire?" his classmate, a girl from his house named Jung Eunwoo, protested.

Minho nodded in agreement. "Seriously, one might think he gets sick of teaching the same for centuries..." he mumbled. "I should have just skipped."

The slightly older girl chuckled. "You already skipped first period to do Merlin knows what!" she told him.

"I prefer taking naps over forcing myself through Charms class. I only got up to meet Chan. I'm sure Flitwick would understand!" Minho informed her. She just snorted.

Eunwoo walked alongside him to the Great Hall, since it was finally time for lunch. She grinned at him. "So, are things going well between you and the Gryffindor?" she questioned teasingly.

"The Gryffindor has a name. And yes, it's going pretty well... surprisingly well, actually," he replied with a chuckle.

"Good to hear that the lion tamed the snake," she said overdramatically, causing both of them to crack up.

"Shut up," Minho muttered. They kept joking around until they reached the entrance to the Great Hall where Minho was supposed to wait for Chan. Eunwoo didn't stick around, since she was meeting her girlfriend at the Slytherin table.

Minho leaned against the wall next to the door and waited for Chan to show up. He smiled to himself when he thought about what they could do together all evening. Sometimes Chan told him about muggle stuff he grew up with due to his mother being one, sometimes they just talked about Quidditch or practiced together, sometimes they just got cuddly somewhere.

Whatever they did together, Minho always found himself enjoying Chan's presence. He'd feel all warm and fuzzy inside and he'd not want to let Chan go back to his common room at the end of the night until the older practically had to pry himself off him, laughing at he'd become almost clingier than Chan himself over the past few months.

Chan came down through the main entrance and Minho pushed himself off the wall, ready to greet his boyfriend with a kiss. What he didn't expect, though, was for the Gryffindor to angrily push at his chest, causing his back to hit the wall again. He gave Chan a confused look, about to ask what the hell was going on, but the older cut him to it.

"We're over!" he hissed before practically running off, up the stairs probably to the Gryffindor common room, ignoring the Slytherin's cut off "wait, wha–".

It took Minho a few seconds to process what had just happened. Did Chan just break up with him? More importantly, why? He had seemed angry and Minho was 98% sure that he had done nothing wrong to explain that anger.

He stayed where he was for a solid two minutes, half hoping that Chan had pulled some kind of awful prank on him and that he'd come back and laugh and hug him. But that didn't happen. Minho was still confused but he figured that it was probably best to head to his own common room right now.

He definitely wasn't hungry anymore.

On the way to the dungeons, the Slytherin kept asking himself what could have caused Chan to be so upset with him, but everything had been fine at breakfast and they hadn't seen each other since, so what was it? Minho reached the Slytherin common room and flopped onto a couch, just staring ahead of him, unable to wrap his head around the situation.

He didn't know how long he sat there when his friends showed up in the common room. They looked at him and Minho noticed that they both had... disappointed looks on their faces.

Could this day get any more confusing?

"Not cool, bro," Changbin said, shaking his head at him. Minho sat up straight.

"What did I do?" he asked his friends in desperation. "Chan just broke up with me!" Hyunjin sat on the couch across from him, the disappointed expression still on his face. Changbin stayed where he was, his arms crossed over his chest and Minho felt like a child that got caught doing something wrong.

"Kang Minjae? Really?! We thought you and Chan were serious. How could you do this to him?" Hyunjin questioned, speaking up for the first time since he and Changbin had entered the common room. Minho furrowed his brows in utter confusion. Kang Minjae? He hadn't even properly spoken to that guy this school year.

"We are serious! Would you two please tell me what's going on?" Minho questioned. By now he wasn't even sure he wanted to know. If Kang Minjae was involved it probably wasn't pretty. Changbin rolled his eyes, like he didn't believe Minho's cluelessness – which kinda hurt. They had been friends for years so he would have expected Changbin to have some trust in him.

"That little ferret is telling everyone that you two got it on in the prefect's bathroom during first period!" Changbin finally told him. Minho's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"What?! But that's not true!" he exclaimed.

"Oh really? Cause apparently you skipped first period and I didn't see him in Care of Magical Creatures either!" Changbin replied.

Minho jumped to his feet. "I took a nap here! I would never cheat on Chan!" he almost yelled.

He would kill Kang Minjae once he found him.

"Whatever, you better fix this!" the sixth year muttered before disappearing back through the portrait hole. Minho was still in shock. Chan thought he'd cheated on him and Changbin didn't believe him when he told him that he didn't.

"You believe me, right?" he asked Hyunjin who had been biting his lower lip absent-mindedly. The younger Slytherin looked at him for a few seconds, studying his friend's desperate features before nodding.

"I believe you..." he confirmed.

That was at least a small relief for Minho.

~

Chan felt like he was going to die. His heart felt like someone was squeezing it painfully as his body was shaking with sobs. Felix sat on his bedside, trying to calm him by running his hand through his brown locks while mumbling soft words of comfort, but nothing helped.

He couldn't believe that Minho would do this to him. After his last boyfriend had cheated on him, he'd taken ages to finally trust someone again, enough to date them and that person had just walked all over it.

He should have known... weren't things bound to go wrong with someone like Minho?

It was his own fault too, though. He had wanted to believe that Minho would truly change for him, but old habits truly did die hard...

Now, here he was, crying his eyes out over Lee Minho. He couldn't forget how the younger had seriously tried to pretend like nothing was wrong when he'd see him earlier.

Had this even been the first time he'd cheated on him?

The door opened, and someone came in, causing Chan to bury his face in his pillow. Felix stopped running his hand through his hair as he greeted the visitor.

"Jinwoo..." Chan heard the younger say.

"Sangyeon told me he was here... what's this rumor I heard about Minho?" Chan tried to calm down his sobbing, but to no avail. He felt the bed dip next to him and a calming hand rub circles on his back. "Do you want me to beat him up, because I will!" Jinwoo said. He sounded dead serious, causing Chan to finally look up again, shaking his head.

He probably looked like absolute , with puffy red eyes and tearstains all over his face.

He sat up wiping his face off with his sleeve – which didn't do much since the tears were still streaming – before looking at his friends.

"I-I'll be fine..." he said, cringing at the hoarseness of his own voice.

"I'm sorry, but I kind of have a hard time believing that," Jinwoo said, completely unconvinced. Chan sniffled unattractively, once again attempting to wipe his face off.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the heaviness of the situation came back full force and he only began sobbing again instead. Jinwoo pulled him into a hug, gently rocking his best friend back and forth like a little kid.

"I'm gonna kill him..." he muttered under his breath.

"And I'll help!" Felix said.

"Don't... y-you'll only g-get yourselves in trouble..." Chan interfered. He just wished that he could finally get himself back under control. He pulled out of Jinwoo's hug and leaned against the headboard, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

Jinwoo had a dark look on his face.

"Just look at yourself, Channie! It's just like last time... I'm not going to just sit here and watch you cry your eyes out over this jerk! Not again!" he exclaimed. Chan stared at his knees, not answering. He remembered the last time he'd been through this, but he felt like this time was way worse.

Why was he so trusting when it came to other people?

He wanted to hate Minho for giving him the best three months of his life and then ruining everything, he really wanted to... but somehow, he just felt... devastated. For some reason, despite being angry, he couldn't hate the Slytherin, not after all the good times they'd had together.

He took a deep breath, finally managing to calm his breathing and the occasional sobs a little bit.

"I appreciate you wanting to defend my honor, Jinjin... but right now I just need to process everything... alone..." he told his two friends, who exchanged unsure looks. "I promise, I'll be okay... I just don't want to be around people, right now..." he reassured them.

The two others still didn't look too convinced, but got up nonetheless, leaving Chan alone to think.

~

Minho didn't want to go to the Great Hall to have dinner. He didn't want to see anyone looking at him or hear anyone talking about the rumor of him cheating on one of the nicest, most precious people of this school.

Unfortunately, Hyunjin wasn't going to let him skip any more meals, so his plan to stay inside his dorm for the rest of the day was flushed down the toilet.

Luckily, the Great Hall wasn't that full anymore since dinner was almost over but, as expected, several heads turned in his direction when he entered, some people gave him looks of hope, now that he was no longer with Chan, others glared at him and shook their heads in disbelief.

Hyunjin dragged Minho along by his sleeve. "Just ignore them..." he said under his breath.

They had almost reached the Slytherin table when Minho was spun around forcefully, finding himself face to face with Park Jinwoo, who looked anything but happy to see him. Before he could attempt to explain himself, the Hufflepuff placed a solid punch in his face, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Jinwoo!" a female voice exclaimed in a shocked tone.

When Minho looked up, he saw the head girl, Myoui Mina, who also happened to be Jinwoo's girlfriend, run up to them, helping Hyunjin, who had shown quick reactions by holding Jinwoo back before he could punch Minho again. She grabbed his arm and looked at Minho who wiped some blood from his lip.

"How dare you even show your face here? Do you realize that my best friend is in his dorm, crying his eyes out because of you?!" Jinwoo yelled at Minho, trying to fight off his girlfriend and Hyunjin.

"Let's not do this here!" Hyunjin tried to reason with him, as Minho got to his feet again.

"I didn't ing–"

"That's enough! Mr Kim, Mr Lee, what is this commotion?" Professor McGonagall who had just walked into the Great Hall questioned, effectively cutting Minho off mid-sentence.

"Nothing... I tripped and fell," Minho lied weakly before walking past everyone and leaving the Great Hall.

He made his way upstairs to the Gryffindor common room, determined to speak to Chan and explain himself to him. He hid near the Portrait of the Fat Lady, waiting until a Gryffindor said the password that would grant him entrance.

Fortunately, it didn't take very long. A girl that looked like she could be like in her second year came to a stop in front of the Portrait and said the password loud and clear.

"Lion Heart!"

The portrait swung to the side and the girl climbed inside. Minho waited for a few more minutes before he showed himself to the Fat Lady, who gave him a displeased look.

"What do you want, Slytherin?" she asked coldly. Minho decided not to give her an answer and just told her the password. She swung aside reluctantly, mumbling things under her breath that sounded like very bad words, Minho wasn't going to repeat.

He climbed through the Portrait hole and immediately found himself face to face with Felix, along with several pairs of shocked Gryffindor eyes staring at him, due to the intrusion.

"Get out of here!" Felix all but growled. Minho wasn't scared of the younger. He knew that the Gryffindor couldn't hurt a fly.

At least, not usually.

"I just want to talk to Chan," Minho half-pleaded.

Felix raised his eyebrows. "He has nothing to say to you. Now leave!" he warned the Slytherin.

"Please, Felix. I–"

The fifth year pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it straight at Minho's face.

"Don't make me say it again!" he warned. "I won't go easy on you for making Chan like this, so you better leave before I lose my temper!" Minho slumped his shoulders. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this.

"Fine... but I want Chan to know that I didn't cheat on him with Kang Minjae!" he said.

Felix snorted before motioning for him to leave again. Minho sighed but complied. He knew how good Felix was when it came to Charms and that kind of stuff. Maybe he was the same with curses. He did not want to find out by being on the receiving end of his wrath.

Outside, he ruffled his own hair in pure frustration. How could he get Chan to talk to him? And more importantly, how could he make him believe that he didn't cheat on him? Obviously, nobody except Hyunjin believed him. Not even Changbin.

This situation was hopeless...

~

Minho went to class reluctantly the next day. He hoped to see Chan in Potions class that afternoon, which was the only reason he even bothered to get out of bed. His first class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts where he sat down next to Eunwoo, who looked at him accusingly.

"I take it you've heard the rumors..." he said in a defeated tone. She just nodded. "Well, they're not true..." he informed her.

Eunwoo looked surprised. "They're not?" she questioned. Minho shook his head and rested his arms on the table in front of him. "I take it that bruise on your face is..."

"From Jinwoo..." Minho finished the sentence for her. "Chan's friends won't let me talk to him. Apparently, he refused to come out of his dorm yesterday," he said. Eunwoo only hummed in thought. "I just don't know what to do. Everyone believes that I hooked up with Kang Minjae..."

Eunwoo gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm, obviously not knowing what to tell him. Class started shortly after, but Minho didn't pay attention at all. He tried thinking of a way to get Bang Chan to talk to him again, preferably without his friends ready to curse him.

Needless to say, Chan didn't show up to Potions this afternoon. Minho excused himself 10 minutes into the lecture, claiming that he wasn't feeling well and that he would head to the hospital wing. Maybe this was his chance to talk to Chan. Hopefully, Felix was in class, so he could sneak into the older Gryffindor's dorm without a wand being pointed at his face.

He all but sprinted up the stairs up to the Gryffindor tower, coming to a screeching halt in front of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Lion Heart," he coughed out.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "The password has been changed. This is the Gryffindor common room and I had to let random Slytherins and Hufflepuffs in yesterday. Do you really think I'm that easy?" she suddenly began to rant.

"Please, I need to talk to someone in there. It's important," Minho pleaded, starting to become desperate again.

"No password, no entry. Now get lost, pretty boy, before I report you to the headmaster!" the Fat Lady said coldly. Minho slumped his shoulders in defeat before he turned around and trotted back down the stairs.

He had reached his wit's end.

Fate obviously wasn't on his side regarding Chan. He didn't want to give up but there wasn't much he could do. Nobody was on his side, everyone just believed Kang Minjae. Maybe he really should kill the guy. That would probably prove that he wasn't into him.

However, Minho thought, that probably also would get him expelled.

He sighed in resignation and headed back to the Slytherin common room, figuring that going back to Potions class made no sense. And he wasn't up for it anyway, not without Chan. He ran into Hyunjin and Changbin on his way down to the dungeons.

"Hey..." he said.

"Hey, you okay?" Hyunjin questioned.

"Not really. I've been trying to get to Chan, but it didn't go well," Minho told him. Changbin huffed. "What's your problem? Are you so whipped for Felix that you don't even believe your best friend when he said he did nothing wrong?" Minho snapped at him.

He was done; done with this entire day, done with people not believing him and done with others choosing Chan's side over his.

It still hurt the most when Changbin did it, though.

"Leave Felix out of this!" Changbin threatened.

They faced each other, ready to attack at any given minute.

"Okay, okay, stop it, you two! Bin, if Minho says he didn't cheat on Chan then he didn't, okay?! Stop pissing into his butterbeer if you don't even have proof! You two are friends for Merlin's sake!" Hyunjin suddenly exploded, stepping between his friends.

A tense silence broke over them in which Minho and Changbin stared each other down. Hyunjin remained standing between them, ready to hold them back if they really were to attack each other.

Eventually, Changbin's features softened a little bit. "You really didn't cheat on him?" he questioned.

Minho shook his head. "Never even thought about it," he replied to the younger.

Changbin backed off a little bit, looking down at the floor. He seemed a little ashamed. "I'm sorry..." he muttered.

"It's okay. I guess, I see why it's so easy for everyone to believe that I did it. I just didn't expect you to be among everyone," Minho replied.

Hyunjin's face brightened up. "Here we go. Now hug it out!" he demanded.

Minho and Changbin both looked at him, but Hyunjin didn't seem to be joking.

The two older Slytherin's hugged briefly.

"Satisfied?" Changbin asked Hyunjin, who grinned and nodded. "Alright. I have to go. Prefect duties." With that Changbin took off.

Minho's shoulders slumped again. "I don't know what do about Chan..." he admitted. Hyunjin patted his back sympathetically, as they continued their way to the common room.

"I'm afraid, I can't really help you there... unless you want me to try talking to Jinwoo?" the younger offered.

Minho shook his head. "No... he made it very clear that he doesn't believe me. I don't want you to get in trouble with your friend because of me. If I could just talk to Chan. But I can't get into the common room and even if I could, every time I get close to him, Felix shows up out of nowhere..."

"Well, I don't know... don't they have Quidditch practice this week? If he's there, you could try talking to him there. I know, Felix will be there, too... but I think it's worth a try, don't you think?" Hyunjin suggested.

Minho nodded slowly. "That could work..." he said. He'd definitely try.

He just hoped that Chan would actually show up to practice.

~

Chan had contemplated whether he should just cancel Quidditch practice on Saturday. He felt like staying in his dorm forever, only sneaking out at night to get food from the kitchen occasionally.

However, they had to be prepared for the big game against Ravenclaw this month and he couldn't let his team down. It took him some willpower and Felix, to get out of bed and get ready.

His team members eyed him with sympathy, and he wanted to tell them that they should stop and that he was fine, but he couldn't bring himself to mention the topic. He knew they'd ask questions.

"Alright... you guys," he started, glad that the endless crying had stopped a few days ago and his voice was back under his control. "As you know, one of our Chasers had to quit the team because he wanted to focus on passing his OWLs. Which is why Eunseo, who also did really well at try-outs, will be filling in for him for the rest of the year..." Chan told them, pointing at Son Eunseo, a seventh year girl who waved brightly at the rest of the team.

"Well, let's practice, then!"

~

Practice went well and Chan was happy to see that Eunseo seemed to have no trouble fitting into the team. With her as a Chaser, Chan was actually confident about winning the Quidditch season this year. His team was doing great this year. He was also grateful that practice caused him to forget about the whole Minho thing for a while.

However, that feeling didn't last long. Once Chan had finished changing – he was last as usual – he grabbed his broomstick and was about to head back to the castle. He froze when he saw Minho waiting for him just outside of the changing rooms.

The younger's face lit up when he saw him, but Chan just picked up his steps again.

"Wait, can't you at least hear me out?" he called after the Gryffindor, but Chan ignored him. He knew how persistent Minho could be, though, which is why he wasn't surprised when the younger caught up with him and tried to reach for his arm to stop him. Chan wheeled around, glaring at him.

"Don't touch me! I don't want to hear it!"

With that he left Minho behind, glad to see that the Slytherin didn't follow him this time. He didn't stop until he was back at his dorm, taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself down. Chan couldn't believe that Minho still had the nerve to even try talking to him. He didn't want to hear what kind of lame excuse he came up with. He was done being lied to.

On the other hand, Chan couldn't deny that he missed Minho. They had spent so much of their time together over the last three months and, even though, a year ago, Chan would have never believed it, he liked the Slytherin way too much for his own good.

Getting over him wasn't going to be easy.

~

Minho watched Chan storm off, unable to move or say anything.

Even before the two of them had started dating, back when Chan still didn't like him, he hadn't seen the older this angry. He exhaled. Chan probably really believed those rumors about Kang Minjae...

To be completely honest, Minho couldn't even blame him. Sure, he would have preferred it if Chan had let him speak and explain himself, but he had been cheated on before. Maybe he thought that avoiding Minho was the easiest way for him to get over him. But Minho didn't want Chan to get over him.

How could he prove that he was innocent?

Minho finally started to make his way back to the castle and into the Great Hall where dinner was currently being served. He thought about Chan again. The older looked pale and a little skinnier than usual, meaning, he probably wasn't eating and sleeping properly.

The Slytherin sighed, feeling guilty that he was the reason for Chan not in a very good condition.

He felt like crying, but he wasn't going to do that in the middle of the Great Hall with hundreds of students present.

~

Needless to say, Minho barely slept that following night. Yesterday had been the first time he had actually seen Chan since the break-up and he just couldn't forget how exhausted he had looked. He hated being the cause of Chan's unhappiness, so he was more determined than ever to show him that he would never do anything to hurt him.

The question was how?

Chan hadn't been to class in a few days and he knew that he had no chance getting into the Gryffindor common room unnoticed. Minho kept racking his brain, trying to think of another way on his way to class the next morning. He made a little detour to the bathroom, though, to mentally prepare himself for another long day.

The bathroom was empty, except for one person washing his hands. Minho let the door fall shut behind himself, causing the other guy to look up.

It was Chan.

Not that Minho hadn't recognized him before.

The Gryffindor looked like he wanted to flee the room again when he spotted Minho, but this time he wasn't going to let him get away.

"Get out of my way..." Chan said, though his voice broke towards the end.

"No, not until you let me say what I have to say!" Minho answered. Chan tried to push him aside, but Minho trapped him between himself and the tiled wall of the bathroom, grabbing the older's wrists and pinning them next to his head on each side.

"I don't want to hear it!"

"I didn't cheat on you!" they said at the same time.

Chan didn't look at him, trying to avoid his piercing gaze at all cost. Minho carefully let go of the slightly shorter boy's hands, hoping that he wouldn't run off again.

He didn't.

"Channie, please... you have to believe me! I did have something going on with Kang Minjae in the past, but I haven't thought about anyone but you in the past three months! I don't know why he's making this stuff up, but I swear that I did not cheat on you!" Minho explained, putting all of his sincerity into his words, hoping that it was enough to convince Chan to believe him.

A few tears ran over the Gryffindor's face and Minho fought the urge to wipe them away.

"Why should I trust you?" Chan asked, still not looking at him. Minho had a million reasons he could give the older, but he decided to choose the sincerest one. He gently put his hand on the older's cheek, happy when he didn't slap it away, and turned his face to make him look at him.

"Because I love you."

He acted impulsively, as he always did, and just captured Chan's lips before the older could say anything. He felt the older's hands on his chest and for a split second he feared that Chan would push him off. But then the Gryffindor's hands clawed into the fabric of Minho's robes and he kissed back.

Minho cupped the older's other cheek with his second hand as he deepened the kiss. Chan had always been the only one who could make Minho forget absolutely everything around him. Every time they kissed, he felt like it was in a completely different world.

Suddenly, Chan's grip loosened, and he pushed Minho off. He gave him a brief look, long enough for the Slytherin to notice his flushed cheeks and his puffed breath before he stormed out of the bathroom without another word.

Minho leaned his forehead against the cold, tiled wall in resignation. If that still didn't convince Chan, he had no idea what would. He let out a shaky sigh.

Maybe he'd just lost Chan for good...

He didn't go to class. He just couldn't. The only thing he wanted to do now was to cry, but he wasn't going to have a breakdown in the boy's bathroom.

Minho ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath, before leaving the bathroom to go hide in the Room of Requirements.

~

Chan ended up not going to class after all, he would explain himself to his friends and teachers later. For now, he was too confused and too scared to run into Minho again. He had to clear his head before he was ready to go anywhere....

He was at least a little bit relieved when he reached the common room without anyone trying to talk to him. The Gryffindor all but rushed to his dorm before burying himself under his blankets. His lips still felt tingly from that kiss and his face still felt hot because of what Minho had said to him.

Was the Slytherin telling the truth?

Had Chan just overreacted?

But why would that Kang Minjae guy randomly make up a rumor like that?

Chan was confused and hurt and angry, but at the same time he still had all those feelings for Minho, that not even his past behavior managed to erase. The past three months had just intensified those feelings.

What was he supposed to do now?

~

"Are you going to class today, Channie?" his roommate and classmate Sangyeon asked him the next morning after he'd spent the entire previous day either thinking about Minho, contemplating whether he'd told the truth or sleeping – which resulted in dreaming about Minho.

Chan got out of bed, groggily wiping the sleep out of his eyes. "I think so... it's time for me to get back on my feet. Besides... I want to talk to Minho," he muttered. Sangyeon looked surprised at those news.

"You do?" he questioned in slight disbelief.

Chan sighed; did he really want to? Kind of. But what if Minho had just told him a well-practiced lie? Would he really be that cruel, though? Telling him that he loved him only to make him believe...

Chan shook his head to get the negative thoughts out of his head. This was Minho he was thinking about. The Slytherin wasn't a cruel person. Actually from what Chan had gathered over the past few months, he was kind of like a kitten; cuddly, playful and adorable with a hint of mischievousness (also, his hair was really fluffy).

"Dude," Sangyeon's voice interrupted his thoughts about his ex-boyfriend. "You just completely spaced out on me!" he said when Chan gave him a perplexed look.

The younger smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... I was just... thinking..." he apologized. Sangyeon grinned.

"Well, you should think while getting ready, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts and you need to get some breakfast first! You look thin as , my dude," he explained.

Chan rolled his eyes but proceeded to get ready. Sangyeon was exaggerating, but he wasn't completely wrong. Chan had barely eaten anything in the past few days. It had been the last thing on his mind, which worried all his friends, since he usually lived for food.

He met up with Felix in the common room and went down to the Great Hall with him.

"Are you feeling better?" Felix questioned. Chan didn't miss how carefully he worded the question, like he was afraid to trigger him.

"I'm fine, Felix..." the older replied. The younger seemed like he didn't quite believe him, but chose not to say anything, which Chan was grateful for.

They had breakfast together and Chan ate properly for the first time since the breakup, which seemed to calm Jinwoo a little bit. The Hufflepuff had joined them at their table to check on his best friend. Chan found himself searching the Slytherin table for Minho, but he didn't see him anywhere.

"If he bothers you, I'll be happy to give him another taste of my fist!" Jinwoo whispered, as if he'd read Chan's thoughts about Minho.

The younger looked at him. "You hit him?" he questioned.

Jinwoo shrugged. "Deserved it..." he muttered under his breath.

Chan let his eyes wander along the Slytherin table again. He spotted Hyunjin and Changbin, but Minho was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll be okay, Jinwoo. Don't get yourself in trouble because of me," he finally told his friend, who only raised his eyebrow at him. Chan rose from his seat. "I'll head to class..." he announced. Jinwoo and Felix eyed him a little worriedly but nodded.

Chan left the great hall, not without looking in the direction of the Slytherin table one last time, though.

He decided to stop by at a bathroom before class, just to brace himself. Maybe it was also partly because he hoped to run into Minho again, like yesterday.

He heard voices when he entered the bathroom but didn't think much of it, since it wasn't unusual for people to be in here.

However, he stopped in his tracks when he caught on to what they were saying. They seemed to be in the stalls, not noticing that he had entered.

"His boyfriend broke up with him. What are you going to do now?" one of them questioned.

"Well, I thought I had to try even harder, but his idiot boyfriend already believed it. I let Minho heal for a while. It's time to make my move," the other one replied. Chan froze. They were talking about him and Minho.

"Isn't it too early?" the first one asked.

"If I wait too long, I might miss my chance," the other one, Kang Minjae, as Chan assumed asked. Chan's blood was boiling, and he contemplated waiting for them to come out only to give them a piece of his mind, but the next moment he realized something; Minho had actually told him the truth!

He needed to find him!

Chan stormed back out of the bathroom and headed for the greenhouses where Minho was supposed to have Herbology right now. He got a weird look from the professor when he practically burst into the greenhouse, looking for Minho. He didn't seem to be here. Ignoring the professor's question what he was doing here, Chan stormed back outside.

If Minho skipped classes, he might be at the common room. Chan all but sprinted through the castle, stopping by at the Great Hall to see if he could find Changbin, who, if he remembered correctly, had a free period right now. He saw the younger sitting at the Slytherin table with another sixth year, seemingly studying.

Changbin jumped in surprise when Chan suddenly appeared next to him, panting violently. "Do you know where Minho is?"

Changbin looked surprised by that question. "No, I haven't seen him all day yesterday..." he finally replied once he got over his initial shock.

"He wasn't in class..." Chan mumbled.

"I don't think he returned to the common room yesterday," the other Slytherin spoke up.

Chan furrowed his brows. If Minho wasn't in class and not at the common room... then where the hell was he?

"Maybe he's practicing. Wouldn't be the first time he skipped classes for Quidditch," Changbin offered.

Chan nodded slowly. "You're right... thanks," he said, leaving the younger boy be.

He left the Great Hall once again, making his way down to the Quidditch field. It was raining heavily, so he wasn't sure if Minho would really be out here.

Turns out, he wasn't.

Chan checked the dressing rooms as well as the field itself. Minho wasn't here either. The Gryffindor took a break, sitting down on one of the wooden benches in the dressing room, running his hands through his damp hair. He was slowly but surely getting a little worried.

He thought about how awful he'd been to Minho, because he'd believed those rumors. Jinwoo had even punched him. The younger must feel like the whole world was against him. He must feel like Chan had betrayed him.

And, if the Gryffindor was honest with himself, he wasn't all that wrong about that...

~

Minho woke up feeling groggy.

He had no idea what time it was or how long he'd been here. The Slytherin sat up and looked around, taking in the familiar surroundings of his home bedroom. He sighed, almost wishing that he was really at home. He'd cried himself to sleep after Chan had walked out on him, and that was something that he'd never done before.

Minho sighed and got out of his bed, heading for the door.

When he left the Room of Requirements, he noticed that it was dark outside. How long had he been in there? He proceeded to sneak back to the common room, hoping that the patrolling prefects wouldn't catch him.

"Hey!" a voice called after him. Minho stopped in his tracks, squeezing his eyes shut and mentally scolding himself for getting caught. He turned around.

"There you are, I haven't seen you in almost two days! You had us super worried!" Minho breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the prefect who'd caught him was only Changbin.

"I was in the Room of Requirements. Must've fallen asleep there..." the older said. Changbin nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, you should get back to your own bed. I'll let you off easy this time," he told his friend. Minho nodded and turned around to continue making his way to the common room.

Since he'd just woken up, he couldn't really fall back asleep, which is why he just settled on staying up all night reading. He barely noticed the time passing since the sun never really reached the windows of the Slytherin common room. It was only when the first early risers came out of their dormitories that he shut his book and went to wash up and get some breakfast.

~

Chan hadn't slept a wink that night.

He had no explanation as to where Minho could be. Some of the most horrid explanations were running through his mind. He was close to just searching the whole castle again, but he didn't even know where to start. He just couldn't believe that he had been so stupid. How could he just have believed a dumb rumor which he'd picked up from a bunch of gossiping girls?

If something had happened to Minho, it would be his fault...

"Hey, you okay?" Sangyeon questioned quietly when Chan sat up in his bed and ruffled his hair in frustration. He must have stirred awake from Chan's constant tossing and turning.

"Yeah..."

"By the way... I didn't see you in class all day. I meant to ask, but you seemed kinda off..." Sangyeon said. Chan looked over at him. He didn't really want to discuss his stupidity in the middle of the night when they were supposed to be sleeping.

"It was nothing. I just had something to take care of. Nothing serious..." he lied. He couldn't see properly, but he felt like Sangyeon might be raising his eyebrows at him. "I'll get some sleep now..." Chan announced and lay back down. Sangyeon didn't comment.

Chan tried, but he really couldn't fall asleep, so he had no other choice but to wait until the sun rose. He got out of bed and washed up, ready to get breakfast before searching for Minho again until he found him.

He stopped in his tracks when he reached the entrance hall and saw none other than Lee Minho standing there. Though, he wasn't alone. Kang Minjae, that little rat was talking to him. He tried to snake his arms around Minho's neck but the Slytherin smacked his arms away and turned away from him.

That was when their eyes met. Minho looked panicked, probably thinking that Chan had misread the situation again, so the Gryffindor finally unfroze from his spot and approached him. Minho met him halfway, the panicked expression never leaving his face.

"I promise this isn't what it looks like–" he began but Chan cut him off.

"It's okay, I already know," he muttered, grabbing the younger by the collar and pulling him closer for a kiss. Minho seemed surprised by Chan's sudden change of attitude towards him, but that didn't stop him from tightly wrapping his arms around the older's waist. Chan couldn't help but be reminded of their first kiss which had also been very public and very unexpected.

Eventually, Chan broke the kiss and looked at Kang Minjae who had a sour expression on his face.

"Mess with my relationship again and I'll hex you into another dimension!" he told the Ravenclaw, even surprising himself with how serious he sounded. "Pass it on to the other thirsty hoes while you're at it!" he added. Minjae glared at him and took off without another word.

Minho looked at Chan, still shocked. "You believe me?"

The Gryffindor reached for Minho's hands. "It's a little late, but I do. I tried looking for you yesterday, but I couldn't find you. I'm sorry it took me so long," Chan apologized, lowering his head in shame.

Instead of answering, Minho settled for just pulling him into a hug.

They stayed like this for a while, just enjoying each other's presence after being apart for so long. Eventually, they pulled apart just as Jinwoo stepped into the entrance hall, looking at the two of them, obviously confused. Minho looked at him warily, probably to see if the Hufflepuff would punch him again.

Chan liked their hands together and gave Jinwoo a look. "It's okay... I'll explain later," he told his friend, who raised one eyebrow, but shrugged nonetheless before proceeding to head to breakfast. Minho exhaled in relief, causing the Gryffindor to chuckle.

"I'm sorry, he punched you... he can get a little protective sometimes," he apologized on Jinwoo's behalf.

Minho looked at the slightly shorter boy. "It's okay... I probably would have punched me too if I had been in his shoes..." he replied.

The bruise seemed to have healed by now, but Chan was very well aware that Jinwoo could lay a pretty good punch if he wanted to.

They went into the Great Hall to get breakfast, still holding hands, causing lots of students to stare at them in surprise. Gossip travelled way too fast in this school, so of course everyone had heard about the two of them breaking up.

"We should talk after class," Chan muttered once they'd found a seat at the far end of the Slytherin table.

"We can skip class and talk now..." Minho offered.

The older smiled but shook his head. "I haven't been to class in days... I should probably catch up," he explained.

Minho tried not to feel guilty about the fact that he was the reason for Chan feeling too bad to go to class. His true feelings must've shown on his face, though, since Chan put down his slice of toast and reached out to put his hand over Minho's.

"It's not your fault..." he tried to assure the younger.

Minho lowered his head. "Really, because last time I checked you were miserable because of me..." he muttered but Chan heard him anyway.

"I'm okay now, though, because of you," the older replied. "Let's talk about all of this after class, okay?" he continued.

"Alright..."

~

Minho received stares and glares alike when he walked through the hallways to his first class of the morning. He didn't mind, though. All he cared about was that Chan was talking to him again. The others didn't even know half of the story, probably still believing the rumors Kang Minjae had fed them.

Screw them.

Classes dragged on forever, at least that's what it felt like to Minho. He just wanted to properly talk to Chan in private and get this issue sorted out once and for all so they could go back to being the way they were before all of this.

"Hey, you look like ," Eunwoo, who was once again sitting next to him mumbled under her breath.

"Thanks," Minho replied half-heartedly. He knew that he didn't look his best since he'd cried himself to sleep, was asleep for over a day, woken up in the middle of the night and had practically stayed up until breakfast.

"Seriously, though, you okay?" she questioned.

Minho nodded. "I'm fine now," he told her with a small smile which she returned.

"That's good to hear."

~

Finally, classes ended, and Minho went to meet Chan on top of the Astronomy tower to talk in private.

Minho couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

What if they couldn't go back to the way they were?

Besides, Minho had told Chan that he loved him and he hadn't said it back yet. Then again, the timing might have been just a little bit off.

Minho paced around on the highest level of the Astronomy tower, nervously waiting for Chan to arrive. He wanted nothing more than to get officially back together with him, but his mind just started going through every possible bad scenario.

Had he been dreaming this morning?

Had Chan maybe changed his mind and decided that he couldn't trust him after all?

Did he simply not return Minho's love?

"If you keep doing that, you'll get dizzy," Chan's voice interrupted Minho's trail of anxious thoughts. He was referring to Minho walking around in circles, trying to get his mind back under control and only achieving the opposite. He stopped when he saw Chan standing there, looking gorgeous as always, with his Gryffindor robes and his slightly messy brown curls.

Another thing Minho really liked about Chan was his smile, so he couldn't help but feel a little relieved when the older smiled at him, before stepping a little closer.

"Where were you yesterday? I looked everywhere for you..." Chan spoke up after a few seconds of silence.

"I fell asleep at the Room of Requirements after we met in the bathroom... I slept through the entire day..." Minho explained honestly.

"I was worried about you... I overheard Kang Minjae talking to a friend, telling him that the thing about you and him was a lie, so I wanted to find you and apologize..." the older said. Minho lowered his head.

"You don't have to apologize for that. I can see why it's so easy to believe that I'd actually cheat on you..." he admitted.

Chan stepped even closer and took both of Minho's hands. "Don't say that. You're not a cheater. I know that now. I already should have believed you when you told me in that bathroom..." he trailed off. Minho carefully looked up again and their eyes met.

A few more moments passed before the Gryffindor spoke up again.

"About... what you said in there..."

"I meant it. And that's why I'm even more sorry about all of this. I've... I've never really felt like this about anyone before and it kind of scares me. I thought I was just something like a natural flirt, but I think I was just... subconsciously trying to shield myself from all those feelings I have for you. I think in reality... I'm just really scared of getting hurt. But I ended up hurting you which I never wanted," Minho explained himself.

It was rare for him to openly discuss his feelings like that, but he wanted Chan to know what was going on inside of him. He trusted him.

"You know, I shouldn't have been so quick to believe those rumors. Even if you did flirt around before. You tried to explain yourself and I just shut you down..."

"I'm not mad at you for that... my past makes me untrustworthy; I know that–"

"I trust you! I know now that your past is just that... the past. But now to where I was actually going with this... I love you too," Chan said, and Minho felt like he might die on the spot.

Chan loved him back?

He pulled the older into a hug, causing him to chuckle and wrap his arms around the Slytherin's neck. Minho felt like a heavy weight was lifted off his chest now that he knew that Chan believed him and that he returned his feelings, too. He still had a lot to work on, regarding himself, but he knew he could do it with Chan by his side.

The Gryffindor was the first to pull out of his hug, but it was only to press their lips together in a chaste kiss.

"I've missed you..." the younger admitted. Their faces were still only inches apart from each other, their arms still wrapped around each other. And Minho knew it was sappy, but he found himself never wanting to let go again.

"I've missed you, too," Chan replied and the look he gave Minho made his stomach do backflips.

So that's what being in love felt like. He had first started to think about the possibility that he could actually be in love with Chan back in November when he had been afraid of losing him to someone else who might fit him better.

Back then, he hadn't been ready to admit it to himself. Now, he wanted to shout it off the Astronomy tower to let everyone know.

~

"So... I practically punched you for nothing?" Jinwoo said that same evening at dinner after Chan and Minho had explained the whole thing to their friends who had all gathered at the Slytherin table.

"It's alright... just next time maybe avoid the face," Minho answered, only half-joking.

The Slytherin caught Felix' gaze, who wasn't in his own world with Changbin for a change. The kid looked truly apologetic. "I guess, I should apologize for being so rude to you," he said. Minho waved off.

"You were being protective. Channie's lucky to have you guys as his friends," he retorted, addressing both, Felix and Jinwoo.

It had been frustrating to try and convince Chan's friends that he had done nothing wrong. But now, that everything was alright between the two of them, he was actually pretty glad that Chan had so many people who would look out for him. He was relieved that he could sort things out with his and Chan's friends.

He just hoped that this incident had taught them how serious he was about the Gryffindor. Chan reached for his hand underneath the table as the conversation carried on to more basic topics.

~

"For the record..." Minho started as he and Chan left the Great Hall. He had insisted on walking the older back to his common room, mainly because he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. "...the only person I'd ever get it on with in the prefect's bathroom is you," he said flat out.

Chan looked at him with a raised brow. "Is that like a promise or...?" he trailed off.

Minho couldn't stop the cat-like grin from spreading on his face. "I mean, we do know the password..." he told his boyfriend who stopped walking, causing Minho to do the same. It wouldn't be the first time the two of them had sneaked into the prefects' bathroom to be alone.

"I guess a little bath couldn't hurt before going to bed, could it?" Chan thought aloud.

Minho chuckled and gently dragged the older along. "I think you're absolutely right..." he agreed.

Luckily, the prefects' bathroom was only one short-cut away...

I'm not really satisfied with the ending. I rewrote it a thousand times but it just wouldn't come out well. I hope y'all didn't hate it, tho...  

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
NeliPyon
#1
Chapter 9: Kind of feels like Minho deserves more than an apology here (well they only seem apologetical, they didn't actually say sorry though), poor boy literally did nothing more than wink to the wrong person…
littledreamer101
#2
Chapter 24: They are the sweetest honestly, all of them ♡♡♡ I always imagine Mina and Jisung in a fanfic but Woojin and Mina went surprisingly well, tall and a lil buff Woojin with delicate Mina looks good hahahaha but seriously Mina and Jisung look-alike just a tiny bit :-D thank you for this awesome shots, aff needed to have more Straykids hopefully sooner♡♡
cherryeol04
#3
Chapter 8: Honestly these are the best pairings ever. And I totally wasn't crying during this chapter, you were! *sniffles* I love this and this entire mini series so much! You did amazing!
_moominobbsessed
#4
Chapter 7: I honestly never really thought about Chan x Minho before reading this, it was always Chan x Woojin or Chan x Jeongin but now I'm a huge Chan x Minho shipper, they're so cute.
Dcervantes98
#5
Chapter 2: I'm excited to read all of this!!!
VicSG7 #6
Chapter 24: I love this sooo much, can’t wait to see what comes next in season 2 lol!
MiWifeu
#7
Chapter 23: Liked the different point of views
annabelleshlee #8
Chapter 23: Poor mina!! Thank god woojins parents were accepting of them.. Im so glad you updated! Its been a while but the stories are still so good and cute!
kpop-lover_12 #9
Chapter 22: I straight up finished all of these in 2 days like I am addicted