“Have you heard! We had Charms class with the Hufflepuffs this morning, a girl was saying Jongin oppa hadn't come back to the dorm for two days!” a couple of first year Slytherins were gossiping with a pair of first year Ravenclaws. Kyungsoo's stomach churned. He was still not back?

“Oh, what happened!” one of the Ravenclaw girls covered and gasped. They were probably all members of Jongin's fan club. He was so popular, his fame transcended the houses, everyone loved him.

“You don't know?! Where have you been?!? Have you been living under a rock? A Slytherin poisoned him. Probably so they could win the quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff next week. Maybe we have a shot at the house cup this year after all.” one of the Slytherin girls frowned, clearly rooting for Jongin and not her own house.

As Kyungsoo passed them, they suddenly got quiet.

“That's him. That's the one that poisoned Jongin oppa!” she said in a hushed whisper. He could feel their death stares drilling into the back of his head.

As he entered the dining hall, he could feel a thousand eyes on him, judging him. There were whispers in every corner.

“I heard he went to the forbidden forest to get ingredients to curse him.”.

“No, didn't you know? He's You Know Who's grandson, you'd better watch out for him and not get in his way, or you'll end up like our poor Nini.”

“Don't be silly.”

“Wait, I heard he was the purest of pure bloods and a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself! Then it must be true!”

“Omg, do you think he can speak to snakes?”

“Oh, no! Maybe he put snake venom in the potion he used to poison our Nini.”

“I can't believe he's willing to kill someone just to win a quidditch match.”

“What did you expect, they're Slytherins.” an annoyed Hufflepuff retorted loudly and stood up at the exact same time Kyungsoo was passing by, bumping into him on purpose. Hard.

Kyungsoo resisted the urge to rub his sore shoulder, wanting nothing more than to get out of there. There was no way he was going to have lunch in this hostile atmosphere, he had lost his appetite. But he couldn't leave just yet. He had to find Sehun.

He scanned the Hufflepuff table, finding an endless wall of angry eyes before he spotted a tall, extremely skinny blonde. He hurried over to him. For some reason, no one was blaming Sehun for Jongin's disappearance, only him. Kyungsoo's heart squirmed over the unfairness of it all.

“I thought the effects of the potion were supposed to disappear in 1-2 days? Jongin is still in the hospital!” Kyungsoo whispered into Sehun's ear, concerned, both for Jongin, but also for himself. If Jongin didn't make it or never returned to normal, Kyungsoo's life was over. He could forget about becoming Minister of Magic, or about becoming anything other than a chimney sweeper.

“Uh. Oops.” Sehun grinned sheepishly, not really knowing how to respond to that. Just then, Suho came running with a plate full of all kinds of desserts and candy.

“I talked the kitchen house elves into doing me a favor, special just for you.” Suho had stars in his eyes as he placed the plate in front of Sehun.

“Awesome, thanks!” Sehun sent him a wink and happily sunk his teeth into a huge chocolate eclair. Suho watched his every move, beaming proudly.

“Come on, let's go talk to your brother. Now!” Kyungsoo looked around furtively. They had to find a way to cure Jongin, or Kyungsoo would be forced to leave school.

Sehun shrugged, not too bothered but eager to help, grabbing a couple of candies off the plate before heading over to the Ravenclaw table, to his brother, who was busy scolding a young Ravenclaw.

“I don't care if everyone in the fan club is planning on doing this, you are a Ravenclaw and so you are my responsibility. You can't just order dozens of Howlers and plan to send them to somebody all at the same time just because there's a rumor he hurt the boy you are crushing on. That's very irresponsible and doesn't demonstrate much intelligence nor wisdom. You are a Ravenclaw. You should act like one.” he said sternly, sending the girl off crying. As she ran past Kyungsoo, she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Oh! Hooney booney! What brings you here?” Chanyeol's stern face turned into a bright smile.

“We just heard Jongin is still in the hospital. You said the effects should dissipate in a day or two?” Kyungsoo cut in front of Sehun, anxious.

“Hmm. Did you follow the recipe carefully?” Chanyeol rubbed his chin, thinking.

“Uuuhm... no. It got mixed up with another recipe.” Kyungsoo awkwardly confessed, embarrassed.

“Oh! Then all bets are off. I have no idea.. everyone knows mixing potions can be crazy dangerous... but hey, he's under the care of the school's best professors, so you don't have to worry.” he assured them, pinching Sehun's cheeks.

“Hyuuung.” Sehun complained, while seeming to like it.

Suho came running with a cold cloth, putting it on the spot Chanyeol had pinched him. This was too much. It was true that Jongin was being attended to by the most skilled wizards in the entire wizarding world, but what about Suho? He had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

Skipping lunch, Kyungsoo showed up early to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class with professor Shim. It was his favorite class. He was the first one there, enjoying the quiet of the empty classroom. He often got the feeling professor Shim would rather be practicing the dark arts rather than teaching how to defend against them. He seemed to have great respect for them, which Kyungsoo understood well. He sometimes felt he and the professor were kindred spirits. The dark arts weren't an evil thing in itself, they were misused by evil people.

Suho popped his head in the door.

“Oh, what are you doing here?” Kyungsoo started.

“The principal wants to see you.” he informed him, before disappearing as suddenly as he had appeared.

There went his plan of going unnoticed for the entirety of his stint in Hogwarts. He had become infamous, both amongst the students and now the teachers and the principal too. He dragged his feet all the way up to the top of the tower. Why did the principal office have to be in such an inaccessible place, it was enough to get scolded, it was too much to be tortured by physical exercise as well. He wiped a drop of sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his robe.

Turning a corner after the topmost step, Kyungsoo ran into Sehun.

“They called you as well, huh? We didn't do anything wrong!” Sehun pouted, popping a caramel into his mouth, probably courtesy of Suho.

“Well... we did put a fellow student in the hospital.” Kyungsoo noted.

“That wasn't our fault! It was Channie hyung's fault! He shouldn't have left his dangerous love potion recipe lying around like that. That's just irresponsible.” he complained. That was one spoiled little brat, Kyungsoo thought. Except he wasn't so little.

“Have you ever been to the principal's before?” Kyungsoo asked, nervous. The old stonewalls seemed to be closing in on him, making the narrow corridor seem even narrower.

“Yeah, plenty of times!” Sehun chuckled. It figured. Sehun was such a troublemaker, he was probably a frequent visitor. “He's my uncle!” he beamed.

Oh no.

Ever since Kyungsoo had been paired with Sehun as a partner, he had had the most rotten luck. The principal's uncle! Now he was going to get all the blame and Sehun was going to get away scot-free.

“Don't worry, hyung, you can trust in me. Uncle likes me.” Sehun sent him a sweet smile. Ugh, what a privileged idiot.

The huge wooden door to the office opened on its own, creaking ominously. Kyungsoo was shaking like a leaf, but he tried to hide it from Sehun, who was completely relaxed and just sent him an encouraging 'I'll take care of this' wink. As if.

The office was at the same time scary and intimidating, but somehow also warm and inviting. It was huge, with a high class yet old-fashioned interior, fit for a king. Kyungsoo's heart was doing its best to escape its bony prison, pounding as hard as it possibly could. It stopped dead when he noticed a tall, formidable silhouette of a man standing in front of the fireplace. The fire was roaring, reflected in the man's eyes as if he was the one in control of it. The air about him was powerful and majestic. He was indeed wizarding royalty. Truly awe-inspiring.

“Uncle Yunho!!” Sehun ran past him and threw himself into the arms of the beast. Principal Jung chuckled heartily.

“Sehun-a, have you been well?” the professor smiled his perfect Colgate smile, lovingly ruffling Sehun's pink hair. Wait, hadn't it been blonde this morning? Maybe his memory was playing tricks on him. What was it about Sehun that made everyone just automatically dote on him?

“You haven't been to see me lately, the workload isn't too hard on you, is it?” professor Jung inspected every inch of him to make sure he was intact.

“Uncle, stop.” Sehun giggled.

Kyungsoo just stared at them, mouth open, his jaw the floor.

“Oh, yeah, uhm... hehemm...” principal Jung released Sehun and turned to face them both. Kyungsoo nearly gasped. It was the first time he had seen the principal so up close. He was so handsome, it was almost hard to look at him. Was he enchanted? Did he have siren blood running in his veins? Maybe that was it, then Sehun did too, which explained why everyone was so taken by him.

“Boys, boys, boys... what a mess you've made... look, of course it is natural to make mistakes, that's why you came here to Hogwarts, to learn to do things the right way, so you won't create an even bigger mess when you join the wizarding world as fully fledged wizards. But I have no choice but to give you both detention for a month. You have to learn and remember that magic is dangerous and fickle, you can never trust it, you always have to be on your toes, treating it with the utmost care.” he told them in a calm, serene voice, but the words felt like knifes, each one drawing blood. Kyungsoo felt so wronged. He had taken care, he always took special care, it was Sehun who had acted without thinking.

“Uncleeeeeee...” Sehun said in the poutiest voice Kyungsoo had ever heard. “It's not our fault.” his smile turned upside down. “It's all Channie hyung's fault, it was his potion.” he crossed his arms in a huff. “It's not fair to punish us. You should punish him if you have to punish someone.”.

“Aww, I know you didn't mean to, Sehun-ah... yeah, maybe you are right, maybe a full month of detention is a bit harsh. After all, it was an honest mistake. But I still have to give you some kind of punishment, else there will be an uproar, his fans will demand justice.” professor Jung sympathized, looking at Sehun like he was his long lost puppy. “A week then, for you two and Channie.”.

“Two days.” Sehun tried bargaining.

“Sehun-aaaah....” the professor warned him in a voice a mother would use on her five year old son, but then he turned serious and continued.

“The student, Kim Jongin, has to stay a few extra days at the hospital. Don't worry, he will survive, but we want to keep him under observation while he finishes the treatment. However, you have to prepare yourselves, since the potion was heavily contaminated, there will be residual smittenness. Which one of you was the target on which he locked?” he asked, watching their reactions.

“Mm...me.” Kyungsoo timidly raised his hand.

“Right. Yes. We can't really say how long the side effects will last, or to what extent they are going to be, but he will probably be fixated on you for a while. You have to practice patience and be tolerant towards his advances.” the professor warned him. “But hey, look at the bright side, most students would kill to get the undivided attention of the most popular guy at school. You just hit the jackpot!” principal Jung laughed heartily. Kyungsoo looked but did not see one bright spot on that side. It was the dark side he was looking at for sure. Wow. Jongin's fame was no joke if even the principal knew how popular he was.

“That used to be me, you know...ah, it takes me back... those were the days.” professor Jung got a nostalgic glint in his eye and started telling them very flourished stories of his heydays, when the students, girls and boys alike, had been lining up for the chance to drug him with a love potion. Kyungsoo didn't really see that as a positive thing, nor anything to be proud of. It just sounded scary and extremely inconvenient. Apparently there had been one boy who succeeded, but the professor didn't seem to harbor any ill feelings towards him. Hopefully, Jongin wouldn't either.

“Uncle Yunho, but don't we have to watch out for Jongin when he comes out of the hospital? How can we do that if we have detention?” Sehun asked in an overly innocent tone.

“Ah, you have a point. Okay, you have detention until Jongin gets out of the hospital, and then it's your job to make sure the poor boy doesn't get himself into trouble. Do we have a deal?”.

“Okay!” they both bowed and hurried to the door before principal Jung had a chance to change his mind. Kyungsoo ran right into professor Kim on his way out. “Sorry, professor.” he whispered, bowed and ran out. He wondered whether the Potions professor was here to update the principal on the latest news of Jongin. The door to the office was probably at least four times as thick as a normal door, so he probably wouldn't hear anything even if he squished his ear up against it. He racked his brain, trying to think of a spell that gave him super hearing, but couldn't remember anything that could be of any help. He started doubting how useful the school's curriculum was, they didn't teach anything for spying on other people or how best to cover one's tracks when in a pinch. He made a mental note to do some self-study at the library, he had a feeling he would need it.

Sehun exited the principal's office with flair, endlessly proud of himself for saving them. Kyungsoo was actually quite impressed. There was nothing Sehun couldn't get away with. He was just happy that this time he was included in Sehun's protective bubble, getting them both off the hook.

“Hey, let's just divide this down fair and square. I'll take care of Suho, and you handle Jongin.” Sehun suggested, as if he was being rational and practical about the situation. Yeah right. Take care of Suho... it was more like letting Suho take care of him.

“Shouldn't we let somebody know about Suho, though? If Jongin has to stay longer for observation...” Kyungsoo didn't want Suho's blood on his hands.

“No, no, he seems kind of okay. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him.” Sehun assured him.

“But maybe the effects of the potion won't go away without some counter measures.” Kyungsoo worried.

“Maybe that's not so bad...” Sehun mumbled and made himself scarce.

The day Jongin returned, everyone clapped when he entered the dining hall. The prodigal seeker had returned, and in plenty of time for the quidditch match. The Hufflepuffs had made a throne for him at the end of the table, but instead of sitting down there, Jongin headed straight for Kyungsoo.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked Kyungsoo sweetly, smiling at him as if there was nobody else in the room. Nobody had ever looked at him like that. Kyungsoo tried to swallow the dry lump in his throat that was preventing him from making a sound. Everyone's attention was on them.

“Eh.. yes.” Kyungsoo managed to squeeze out.

Shocked, but not deterred one bit, Jongin turned to the guy that was sitting next to Kyungsoo, staring at him like a hawk sizing up his prey.

“Uh uh, here! This seat is free!” the poor bloke exclaimed, jumping up and giving Jongin his seat.

“I suddenly feel really full.” Kyungsoo said as if he was talking to himself, standing up and leaving at once. His heart had turned into a tiny hummingbird, fluttering like crazy in his chest. How annoying. So unnerving. How was he supposed to be able to survive many more days like this?