Taehyung fidgeted a little in his seat as he waited for Professor Longbottom to start class. The Herbology teacher was always patient, content to wait for the class to finish settling down before commanding their attention. Of course, being Sixth year, the class roster was rather smaller than it had been in years previous and there were only a handful of students taking up seats. None of his friends had scored high enough on their Herbology O.W.L.S. to take it at N.E.W.T. level, so Taehyung sat by himself at the far end of the greenhouse table. It looked like everyone in the class had arrived when a Slytherin Prefect knocked on the door and entered, another figure in Slytherin robes trailing behind.

“Sorry to interrupt Professor.” The Prefect spoke clearly and calmly.

“Never, Silvanas.” The Professor smiled kindly, “I assume this is our new student, Mr Jungkook?”

“You are correct sir.”

“Welcome to my class then, have a seat wherever you like.”

The boy in question came forward then, Taehyung taken aback by his innocent looking face. How is a kid that cute a Sixth year Slytherin? He thought to himself. Jungkook looked around the room – at the huddle of students on one side and Taehyung on the other – and moved to take a seat next to him.

“Thank you for bringing Jungkook here Silvanas, you may go back to your classes now.” Professor Longbottom nodded in approval, signaling for the student to leave. “Okay, now that we are all present let’s get started?” He clapped his hands together, showing genuine enthusiasm and excitement. He was the reason Taehyung enjoyed Herbology as much as he did, and probably inspired many of his career aspirations.

“I will start by welcoming you to N.E.W.T. level Herbology, and congratulations on doing so well in your O.W.L.S. to get here. All of you have obviously chosen this class for a reason, so I want to speak one on one with each of you at some point in this lesson to make sure I am covering your interests and needs in the Syllabus this year. Today I want you to practice and perfect the Sunbeam Spell, a useful spell to have on hand if you are looking to deal with plants. The conjuration is “Lumos Solem” – repeat that please.”

The class dutifully repeated the spell incantation, followed by the wand movement as demonstrated by the Professor.

“Wonderful! Everyone make sure you are wearing your protective goggles, and have a go! Be patient, it can take a little bit to master the movement for this spell.” With that, the Professor sat back down at his desk, content to watch them for now. Taehyung wrote down the information that he gave them on the spell in his book, then took out his wand and simply started going through the movements until they started to feel natural to him.

“Sorry if I bothered you by sitting here.” Jungkook’s voice disrupted his concentration. “It just looked like everyone else was in a group, and groups of Gryffindors kind of intimidate me.” Admitting that, the boy blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

He is way too cute. “No problem at all, I get it – there is a reason I sit over here. My friends are in Gryffindor but other students can be a bit… trying to be around at times.” Taehyung whispered the last part. He was being honest though, sometimes it felt like Gryffindor students put more stock into status and blood than Slytherins.

That brought a laugh out of the other boy, who smiled (Tayehung had to focus on not being distracted by that smile, and wanting to see more of it).

There was silence for a moment, Taehyung was not sure what else he could say at this point. He wanted to ask about the transfer student but did not want to pry, or accidentally get in to uncomfortable topics.

“Why are you taking Herbology?” There. A simple inoffensive question. He mentally patted himself on the back for his socializing skills.

“I find the subject interesting, I don’t really need it for the career I want but I have always been interested in cultivating plants.”

“What do you want to after school then?”

“I want to trade rare items across the world.” Jungkook smiled “I love travel and I love being able to discover and share special items.”

“That sounds like it would be difficult to start up, right? You would need a lot of capital to get going.”

Jungkook simply shrugged “I’ll work it out, don’t worry.”

“Taehyung, you are up next.” The Professor’s call started the two students, who had not even noticed other students being called to speak to the teacher, they had been too engrossed in the conversation.

Taehyung stood up and walked over to the teacher obediently, sitting down across from him.

“So, what brings you to Herbology?” Professor Longbottom’s eyes glinted with knowing.

“I love the subject so much, and I want to work with plants when I leave school Sir.” The Professor nodded, obviously expecting that response.

“Are you comfortable sharing your after school career plans?”

Taehyung was grateful that he was asked, not just told to share his ideas. This was what made him appreciate Professor Longbottom so much to begin with. If he was going to talk about his future with any teacher, he would be most comfortable talking to him.

“Well, I want to brew potions for people but I also want to grow as much as my own plant material as I can, to ensure that everything is ethically and safely sourced.” It sounded much sillier when Taehyung said it out loud and he expected his teacher to laugh.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, and a challenging endeavor to give yourself.” The Professor surprised him by smiling encouragingly. “You already exceed in my classes, but if you find yourself needing assistance with that please let me know. Even if I can’t help then I might know someone who can. You can go back to your desk, and send Jungkook to me next.”

Taehyung smiled and left with a nod, feeling a sense of achievement at getting approval from his favourite teacher (there was no point pretending otherwise).

“You’re up.” He said to Jungkook as he sat. He was going to leave it at that, but he had a burst of confidence. “And I want to know more about your fascination with rare items, so maybe you can tell me about it and I can help you to your next classroom?”

“I would like that a lot, I was going to ask for your help anyway.” Jungkook and Taehyung both smiled at each other for a moment, breaking away when Professor Longbottom cleared his throught softly. Still looking pleased, Jungkook turned to the teacher. Taehyung would admit that he did not make much progress with the Sunbeam spell, he spent almost all the time talking to Jungkook.