Kyungsoo pried his sleepdrunk eyes open, taking a moment to regain consciousness. Then he realized what day it was.

The first day of FREEDOM!

Jongin wouldn't be bothering him anymore. And hopefully, nobody else would either. Little by little, everyone would start forgetting he ever existed, ignoring him, allowing him to return to his beloved semi-hermit existence. Although, maybe not the Slytherins, since he had pretty much cost them the game and Slytherins were not the forgiving type. As far as they were concerned, he would have the letters 'traitor' written in blood on his forehead forevermore.

He glanced over the dorm room to make sure there was no one around, everyone had gone to breakfast. He stuck his hand deep under the mattress, pulling out the Marauder's map. He was just going to use it to avoid his fellow Slytherins as much as he could today. But instead of scanning his closest vicinity, his eyes found a moving dot in the Entrance Hall labeled Kim Jongin. He was heading outside. Odd. Where was he going?

He shook his head. What did he care where he was going, they had nothing to do with each other anymore. He stuffed the map under his pillow, just in case someone came in, and jumped out of bed. He was excited to start the first day of getting his old life back.

On his way from the kitchens, holding a bag full of way too much food when he had only asked for a simple sandwich, he shook the map out of his sleeve, checking if the coast was clear. He was going to the library to study. He was pretty behind on schoolwork after the events of these last few days. He noticed Jongin was still lurking just outside the entrance. What was he doing? Why was he outside, and why wasn't he moving?

Kyungsoo's curiosity got the better of him. Against his own advice, he decided to go see what he was up to. As long as Jongin didn't catch him in the act, it would be okay.

The school was strangely empty. Sure, it was Sunday so the students were free to lounge around their respective common rooms to their heart's content, but even so, the halls were unusually empty. Kyungsoo's spider sense tingled, but he couldn't think of the reason why. He checked the map again. Jongin hadn't moved an inch. Maybe the map was broken?

With his heart stuck in his throat, he stealthily opened the humongous front door and carefully stuck his nose through it.

“There you are! Finally!” Jongin exclaimed happily, as if he had been waiting for him. He had been staring at the front door, so the moment Kyungsoo's eyes peeked out, Jongin's eyes found them.

“You promised to leave me alone. You swore. We had a deal.” Kyungsoo told him with a deep sigh of disappointment. Although perhaps not as deep as he would have expected.

“No, I did no such thing. I promised to stop stalking you. And I did. I even gave you the Marauder's map as collateral. I'm going to want that back at some point, though.” Jongin explained patiently. “Now I'm just asking you, person to person, face to face, if you would like to have a glass of butterbeer with me at The Thirty Broomsticks.”.

Ah. It was a Hogsmeade weekend. That explained the mysterious disappearance of the majority of the student body. Kyungsoo had heard of The Thirty Broomsticks before, everyone had, but he had never been there. He had never set foot in Hogsmeade, period. He never really had any reason to. He had heard The Thirty Broomsticks used to be called The Three Broomsticks, but after Hogwarts hosted the IQCSMW, the International Quidditch Cup of Schools of Magic and Wizardry, and finally won the cup after a ten year reign of the Japanese Mahoutokoro School of Magic, they donated their victorious brooms to The Three Broomsticks in celebration, where they were still hanging on the walls with dusty pride. Hence the name change.

“I think it would be good for me to get some closure. I have to hear you reject me straight out, in order to be able to start getting over you.” Jongin continued when he didn't say anything.

“No problem! I can just do it right now!” Kyungsoo didn't hesitate in seizing the opportunity. He looked into Jongin's eyes, trying to ignore his pretty Disney prince eyelashes elegantly moving with every blink of his eyelids.

“I reject you.” he clenched his teeth, an arrow of guilt tearing through his heart. This was harder than he had expected. It was like being mean to a puppy. It was heartbreaking. He took a deep breath. “I don't have a crush on you, I'm not in love with you, and I never will be. We have no future together.” he watched as each of his words carved a bloody mark on Jongin's heart. It hurt him to hurt Jongin like this, but it was something that had to be done. It was the right thing to do, he convinced himself. It was for the best for both of them.

“Was that enough or do you want more?” Kyungsoo asked, not knowing if he had the mental strength to continue.

It took Jongin a moment to piece his heart together again, taping it back into one piece and forcing a smile as he shook his head stubbornly. “No, not here. Not like this. Come with me to Hogsmeade and let's talk about it over some butterbeer. You at least owe me that.”.

That guy was relentless. He wasn't sure if it was the potion or just his personality, to never give up, even when he had already lost.

“I never go to Hogsmeade and I wasn't planning on going today either. I always use the time to study in the quiet, since most of the students are gone.” Kyungsoo explained.

“What.. are you preparing for world domination or something? I've never seen a Slytherin study so hard, are you sure you don't belong in Ravenclaw instead?” Jongin snorted.

“Maaaybe... You don't want to have to tell people that the new world dominator is your ex, do you? So consider yourself lucky to have dodged a bullet.” Kyungsoo sent him an awkward wink. It was originally supposed to be cool, but he lost his confidence mid-wink so it turned out all awkward and weird. Sigh. The story of his life.

“No, I'll just tell them he's my husband.” Jongin giggled. Kyungsoo took a sharp breath and felt his entire body start to blush. How direct did that love potion make you, what had Chanyeol been aiming for with that concoction of his?

“One butterbeer. Think of it as the stamp on our deal.” Jongin grinned hopefully. His puppy eyes were getting to him. Kyungsoo could feel himself caving.

“But.. but... I already got food.” he lifted up the bag he was holding. It was bursting at the seams, it was so full.

“Ooh! Perfect, we could have a picnic!” Jongin suggested, starting to walk in the direction of Hogsmeade, expecting Kyungsoo to follow him.

And he did.

***

Chanyeol grabbed the collar of Baekhyun's shirt.

“Where do you think you're going!? You have life long detention, there's not a chance in hell you'll get to go to Hogsmeade.” he warned.

“Just look the other way, there's no one here to guard me anyway, everyone's in Hogsmeade. You can't expect me to serve my prison sentence in the absence of a warden?” Baekhyun said cockily, sending him an unsettling wink.

“Well.. there's me.” he crossed his arms. He couldn't let him get away with that infuriating attitude. He just couldn't. What an annoying guy, the bane of his existence. And now he had to miss the trip to Hogsmeade and everything, for a Gryffindor delinquent.

He had even had a date planned. Or it was more like a quadruple date. He was going to meet a group of Hufflepuff beauties with a few of his mates. A friend of his had set it up. But Baekhyun had ruined everything. He did enjoy watching Baekhyun pay for his pranks, planning on making him clean all the blackboards of an entire corridor of classrooms before the day was out, but it was no date with a cute girl. Baekhyun was perhaps not the manliest guy out there, but he was no girl. Not that it mattered, girl or boy, he would never ever date anyone like Baekhyun.

***

“Hey!!” Sehun waved to them energetically, turning around and pulling Suho along to catch up with them. They were walking hand-in-hand. If not for the potion, it would have seemed really sweet.

They looked good together. Sehun was tall and incredibly slender, his broad shoulders giving him a manly feel. He was kind of like an oversized puppy, looking like he was a fully grown dog, but on the inside he was still just a silly little puppy looking for someone to love him. Suho, on the other hand, barely reached Sehun's shoulders, giving off a boyish feel even though he was mature beyond his years. Usually, he looked like he was carrying the whole world on his shoulders, constantly weighed down by responsibilities that weren't necessarily his, but the potion had freed him from his constant worries, giving him a mandatory mental vacation, making him worry only about Sehun.

Kyungsoo had never seen him this happy. It made him wonder, was it so wrong if it made him that happy? Unsolicited happiness was still happiness. It was an interesting thought, but it opened up a box of contradictions in his head. Free will, so everyone should be free to be unhappy? Kyungsoo shook his head, now was not the time for a silent philosophical debate inside his head.

“Where are you going?” Sehun grinned crookedly.

“I'm going to buy Kyungsoo here a pint of butterbeer.” Jongin beamed, clearly happy that his guilt trip had worked on Kyungsoo.

“Hyuuung, I want butterbeer too.” Sehun pouted at Suho.

“Of course! You can have everything you want... butterbeer, candy, ice cream, I'll buy it all for you. Today is going to be a wonderful day, because we'll be together.” Suho's eyes sparkled brightly. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. Man, he had it bad. He worried he wasn't going to get better if he didn't go to the hospital.

Sehun giggled, putting his arms around Suho, attaching himself to his side, kind of half-hugging him while walking. That pampered princess was overjoyed with his made to order prince charming.

The moment the four of them walked into The Thirty Broomsticks, the Hufflepuffs, who accounted for about 70% of the customers, erupted into rowdy cheers. Jongin was even more popular today than normally, but it wasn't just that. Some of the Hufflepuffs rushed forward to shake Kyungsoo's hand as well, giving him cheerful pats on the shoulder and on his back. He felt really uncomfortable. Apparently they accredited the victory partly to him, and rightly so, but Kyungsoo would have preferred to remain anonymous.

Jongin was loving it. And Sehun and Suho didn't hesitate in joining the festivities. But Kyungsoo just wanted to go home.

The pub was so packed there were no seats available, half the students in there were standing with their drinks, enthusiastically discussing yesterday's game. But when Jongin entered, a dozen or so Hufflepuffs who had crammed themselves into the corner booth sprang up, making room for Jongin and his friends. Jongin thanked them and told Kyungsoo to sit down on one side and Sehun and Suho on the other, while he was going to get them some butterbeers. But before he had taken so much as one step towards the bar, a Hufflepuff prefect popped up out of nowhere, slamming four butterbeers on their table.

“Now, everybody! To Jongin, the greatest seeker that ever lived!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, with his glass raised.

“To Jongin, the greatest seeker that ever lived!” the whole pub echoed his words, the sound of glass clinking coming from every direction.

“And to his special friend Kyungsoo! Let's officially make him an honorary Hufflepuff!” a girl yelled in a high pitched voice somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Everyone did a second toast to Jongin's 'special friend'. It sounded as if they all believed he was Jongin's boyfriend. Kyungsoo's entire being turned red and he tried to make himself even smaller than he was, hiding in the corner of the booth.

When everybody's attention finally shifted back to their own group's heated discussions about the game, Jongin turned to Kyungsoo, wanting to do a personal cheers just the two of them.

Kyungsoo was too embarrassed to put up a fight, he just raised his glass and then drowned himself in butterbeer, drinking half the glass in one sip. He could feel the effect right away, a warm feeling bubbling up in his chest.

“This is nice, right?” Jongin asked, biting his lip. There was something weird about how he was looking at him, but Kyungsoo couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly.

“Mm yeah... but look...” he started. They might as well get this whole thing over with. He wasn't thrilled to have to do this again. It was harder the second time around, knowing what his words were capable of doing to Jongin. He hadn't realized how real these fake feelings felt to him. Even though the feelings were made up, they could still break his heart.

“Do you want to go back right away?” Jongin interrupted him.

“No.” he answered automatically. Wait, he didn't?

“The butterbeer tastes good, ha?” Jongin grinned widely.

“Yeah, I guess... I didn't know it was this intoxicating though, I don't really like not being in control” he complained, his head felt a bit fuzzy. He glanced over the table so his eyes could rest for a while, having Jongin so close was a bit overwhelming. He was even more handsome so up close. Sehun and Suho were drinking their butterbeers couple style, having entwined their arms together. And instead of taking just one sip and leaving it at that, they were drinking the whole thing like that. It didn't look very comfortable, nor efficient, but they were both losing themselves in the giggles.

“Sooo... what do you think of me?” Jongin visibly held his breath, looking straight into his eyes.

“I don't know..” Kyungsoo shrugged. “I mean, just what everyone thinks, I guess... You are an amazing athlete, very impressive, maybe one of the best ever... but you are maybe a little bit too conceited about it.”. Kyungsoo's eyes doubled, not believing he had just said that. Was he drunk? He didn't think it was possible to get drunk from half a butterbeer.

Jongin scowled, but then burst into laughter. “Alright... what a double edged compliment.” he chuckled. “Maybe too much honesty isn't a good thing.” he added, scrunching his nose.

“But, you think I'm cute, right?” he smirked with anticipation.

“Ugh, no.” Kyungsoo shook his head. That was right! He mentally patted himself on the back for not spilling the beans. “...more like stunningly handsome!!” he added with admiration.

Oh no.

He immediately looked away, staring at the table. He pushed the glass away, he was going to stop drinking this treacherous beverage. How could they give something so intoxicating to students?

“Do you like me?” Jongin asked him straight out, his finger gently nudging Kyungsoo's chin upwards so he could see his face.

“Yes.” he responded immediately. He gasped, putting his hand over his mouth. What was going on? Was someone else controlling his mouth? Had it grown a will of its own?

“I mean, do you like me, like me? As more than a friend?” Jongin lowered his voice a bit and leaned in, so that nobody would hear. The pub was noisy and Sehun and Suho were completely lost in each other, so the chances of someone overhearing their conversation were slim.

Kyungsoo tightened his grip on his mouth, but he felt his head start to nod. No way! He tried to hold his head in place, but it was useless, it nodded all the same. A light bulb went off in Kyungsoo's head.

“You put truth serum in the butterbeer!!” he accused Jongin angrily.

“Maaaaybe.” Jongin's wide grin said it all.

Kyungsoo was livid. He put his hand back over his mouth, pushed past Jongin and ran outside. Jongin came after him, but he just kept running and running. He had never run as fast in his life, but it was no use. Jongin was a top athlete, he was no match for him, and so he caught up with him in no time.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?” Jongin softly asked, after having pulled him over on some tiny country road outside the village.

“No.” Kyungsoo heard himself mumble through his palm. Damn it! Stupid truth serum! Crap! Tell him yes you idiot, he scolded himself. Agh!

“Stop asking me questions, this is not fair.” he growled, frustrated.

“We're just finally having an honest conversation.” Jongin smiled triumphantly. How could he not see what a total bastard he was being? “I'll drink some too, to make it fair.” he put a tiny little vial of clear liquid up to his lips.

“Don't. I really don't need any more honesty from you right now.” Kyungsoo stopped him. More love confessions was not what he needed.

“And it's not an honest conversation, not really, not when all of your interest and feelings towards me are fake.” Kyungsoo noted, digging into the gravelly road with the tip of his shoe.

“Are you scared to accept me because of the love potion?” Jongin asked in an A-HA! manner.

“Yes.” he blurted out. “Agh! Stop it!” he said, not sure if he was telling himself to stop or Jongin, probably both. He started running away again, even though his lungs were fiercely protesting.

“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Jongin called after him, not chasing him anymore.

“Yes!” he yelled back. He sighed. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Okay! Then we're boyfriends!” Jongin shouted excitedly. “Don't worry!! I like you for reals, I promise!” he added, his voice sounding further and further away. He wasn't coming after him.

Kyungsoo slowed down. He was in total shock. Not only had he given Jongin ammo to perpetuate his potion-made love fantasy, but he had completely broken the denial he himself was working so hard to be in. Jongin didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know what he was saying. This entire situation was very concerning. He could feel his heart sway, but he tried to convince it not to get duped.

It wasn't real. Jongin's feelings weren't real. It was all just the potion.

He repeated it to himself a hundred times on the way home, hoping that a good night's sleep would bring them both back to their senses.