Changmin found June and July to be extremely boring. That’s what he got for assuming that his friends would keep in contact, he supposed, but he wasn’t going to contact them first, was he? Nah, that was too desperate, and Changmin would rather be lonely than lose his pride.

Well, okay, maybe not. Which is why, at the beginning of August, he sent one (1) letter off to Yunho by normal muggle post. Just one, and technically speaking, it wasn’t even to him. That would be embarrassing, so he addressed it to Jihye, since he’d asked her for the address.

But Jihye wasn’t a fool, and the envelope she sent back contained a letter from her brother as well as her own, including a postscript that said, ‘you fool, you could have sent two separate ones.’

No. Changmin was not going to do that, ever. It didn’t stop him from blushing when he opened Yunho’s letter, though.

‘Hi, Changdol!’ the letter read in messy but graceful ballpoint pen. ‘I hope you’ve been having a good summer. I haven’t :(( Jihye’s been stressing about OWLs (it’s too early!!) which makes me stress about my NEWTs (again, it’s too early for this!). You haven’t been stressing over OWLs, have you? Don’t; they’re not as bad as everyone says.’

Changmin paused here. Yunho’s opinion couldn’t count for everyone. He was good at everything, so obviously, OWLs weren’t a big deal to him. But to Changmin, who could barely pass transfiguration? No, Yunho overestimated him. He always did.

‘Anyway, enough about school. Do you want to come visit sometime? Or, if not, we can meet up at Diagon Alley. Or if not… then we can just meet up at school :D oh right, I meant to ask’

The letter ended there, abruptly. Nothing on the back, either. Almost frantically - he barely managed to hold himself back - Changmin leafed through Jihye’s letter and came up empty-handed. Tears almost formed in his eyes before he realized how embarrassing he was being. The second page had probably gotten lost when Jihye mailed the letter, or Yunho had forgot to give it to her. There must be a logical explanation.

And he could write back! Realization dawned upon Changmin. He had to write back anyway, to tell Yunho that he’d be down to meet at Diagon Alley. He could just ask about the second page in the letter! His own geniusness (read: stupidity) surprised him sometimes.

‘Sure,’ he wrote back, trying not to come off as too enthusiastic. ‘I’ll be going to Diagon Alley around the 20th. Should we meet up at Fortescue’s or somewhere else?’

He sent the letter off with the owl that delivered the siblings’ letter. It was a big eagle owl, probably a family one, because Changmin had never seen either Jihye or Yunho with an owl. Then again, there were lots of things that he didn’t know about Jung Yunho.

Including that he could slay formal clothing. It was a shock seeing him walk around in a white shirt and black pants, both pressed and pristine despite the heat. His hair was styled up and back, shining underneath the sun, and it looked like he was holding a suit jacket over one arm. Compared to him, Jihye looked like a mess with her jeans and t-shirt, hair hastily thrown up in a bun.

Changmin nearly choked when Yunho’s eyes lit up upon spotting him. God, how could anyone’s teeth be so white? How could anyone look so handsome and yet adorable at the same time? Charming, that’s what he was. The word popped up in Changmin’s mind as Yunho ran to him, and then his mind short-circuited as he noticed that he was taller than him.

‘You’ve grown!’ Yunho exclaimed matter-of-factly. He had to raise his head slightly to look Changmin in the eyes. It was only a few centimeters of a difference, but it made Changmin feel shy. Thankfully, Jihye broke into the conversation and saved the day.

‘Can we get our ice cream now?’ she grumbled, fanning herself with her hands. ‘This temperature is ridiculous.’

As expected, Yunho ordered a strawberry swirl bowl. Jihye arbitrarily picked rocky road, and Changmin opted for plain vanilla. They sat outside, despite Jihye’s very loud protests, and watched the soon-to-be first-years flock by nervously. Changmin couldn’t help looking at Yunho; he was very eye-catching in formalwear. Not that he wasn’t normally, he added as an afterthought, but he looked ridiculously good today.

The subject in thought currently had his elbows on the table. He held the spoon in his mouth, the handle in his fingertips, and he looked absolutely smoking hot. Changmin quickly took a bite of his ice cream, but he could hear Jihye snickering quietly and knew that his staring had not escaped her observation.

Funny thing was, when it came to him and Yunho, very little escaped her attention.

Yunho, spoon still in his mouth, let out a laugh. It turned out ‘bad boy’-esque, and Changmin did not want to admit how hot and bothered it made him. One second, that was all it took for him to fall under Jung Yunho’s spell. One single second.

Jihye shook her head with an affectionate expression. ‘You two are both idiots,’ she said, scraping her bowl with her spoon. Yunho looked offended, and the bad boy aura fell away, replaced by that of an indignant child.

‘What do you mean?’ he demanded, pouting slightly. ‘Changmin’s not an idiot.’

She rolled her eyes and put down her bowl, then looked straight at Changmin. ‘Apparently Boa and Donghae are dating now.’

Changmin glanced at Yunho, who dipped his head. ‘Oh, wow. That’s great for them!’

He might not have liked Boa, but he liked Donghae and wanted him to be happy. Yunho chuckled, putting his spoon into his bowl with a clink. ‘They’re a good match,’ he agreed, leaning back. ‘He’s patient and willing to take a step back, and she forces him to go out of his comfort zone.’ He hesitated briefly, looking at Changmin. ‘When we were together, we were both too stubborn, too prideful, and neither of us were willing to make sacrifices for the other.’

‘Oh, shut up,’ Jihye all but snarled. ‘You made plenty of sacrifices.’

Yunho shook his head, toying with his suit jacket. ‘No. There was a lot that went on behind the scenes.’

Desperate to change the subject - the air was thick with tension - Changmin blurted out, ‘Why are you dressed so fancy?’

The air relaxed, and Yunho’s eyes smiled. He leaned towards Changmin, one arm on the table, and whispered, ‘I got a job interview.’

Jihye smacked him. ‘It’s not a secret, everyone knows.’

He waved her away, eyes still trained on Changmin. ‘If I get hired, I’ll be able to get a job straight out of school. The publishing company wanted me to learn how to work their printing presses, and they’re really interesting, so I really hope I get this.’

He looked so earnest that Changmin couldn’t help smiling. It pained him, suddenly, to remember that Yunho couldn’t stay at Hogwarts forever. He would be turning seventeen this year - his birthday was in February - and after the year ended, he would leave, and Changmin would be alone.

Well, not alone, but Yunho-less.

‘You look good,’ he said suddenly, and almost regretted it if it wasn’t for the way Yunho radiated joy. ‘I mean-- yeah, you look good. Great, even.’

Jihye cackled loudly, drawing the attention of a few startled passersby, but Yunho hardly seemed to notice. He was still looking at Changmin, but now with a slightly awed expression on his face. ‘Really?’ he asked, grin growing wider by the second. ‘You think so?’

Changmin nodded, and Jihye groaned, dragging her brother up. ‘I didn’t come to watch you losers flirt with each other all day,’ she muttered, and Changmin froze.

Was Yunho flirting with him? Was that why he’d worn the clothes? No, he’d worn them for the job interview. But was that why he’d been acting like a bad boy? No, it couldn’t be; he just did that sometimes. 

A million thoughts flew through Changmin’s head, but before he could process them, Yunho’s fingers had closed on his wrist, and they were melting into the crowd of Diagon Alley. The shops passed by in a blur, and Changmin suddenly realized that they were going to Gringotts.

‘Why are we going to Gringotts?’ he yelled. Yunho’s fingers tightened, and he pulled Changmin slightly closer.

‘Jihye wants to get some money,’ he answered. ‘Stay close, Changdol. I don’t want to lose you.’

I don’t want to lose you. Those words brought an immediate flush to Changmin’s cheeks. He wanted to hear them again, in Yunho’s smooth voice, but at the same time, a flash of fear cut across his chest. What if Yunho didn’t actually like him? Jihye had made it clear that she believed he did, but what if he didn’t? After all, why would Yunho tell his sister about his crushes? What if he only cared about Changmin as a brother?

His panicked thoughts had taken the rest of the journey to Gringotts, and now that Changmin was standing in front of the bank, he could not help the awe rising from within him. It wasn’t his first time visiting, definitely not, but today, the building seemed more regal than ever.

Maybe it was because of the person beside him, the fool who smiled at the guards as they walked by, the idiot who smiled at the goblin who performed the transaction, the dolt who offered to stay outside with Changmin as Jihye went to withdraw money on her own.

If Jung Yunho was a fool, then Changmin was an idiot for falling for him.

---

It was only on the train that Changmin learned - from Jihye - that Yunho was Head Boy this year.

‘He didn’t want to brag about it,’ she scoffed, tearing a piece of paper from her sketchbook and crumpling it up. ‘Thought it would be egotistical. Good to see self-awareness.’

‘He’s not egotistical,’ Changmin said immediately. Kyuhyun grinned, picking up the ball of paper that Jihye had just tossed onto the floor.

‘He very much has a streak,’ he said, unfolding it. ‘Oh, wow, this is great.’

The picture was a rough sketch of the train compartment, with Kyuhyun reading, Sooyeon sleeping in his lap, and Changmin looking out the window. Jihye jerked her head. ‘Nah, the perspective is all wrong.’

Changmin knew nothing about art, so he just sat back and listened to Jihye rant about everything that was wrong with her drawings. Suddenly, Kyuhyun held out a hand to silence her and pointed out the door. Curious, Changmin approached the small window.

It was Victoria, talking with someone he didn’t recognize. She seemed happy, he noticed, and blushed when he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Her hair was longer now, and though he still felt guilty over how he treated her, he was glad she found her happiness.

‘Miracles do happen after all,’ Kyuhyun commented casually. Changmin ignored him, but he couldn’t ignore the voice that appeared after the door slid open.

‘The old crew, hm?’ Yunho’s Head Boy badge shone on his robes. He looked at Changmin, eyes curved into a smile, and Changmin couldn’t help smiling back. ‘I have to go, sorry, but I just wanted to pop in to say hi!’

Changmin watched his robes flutter away with a sort of drunken giddiness. He didn’t even realize that his friends were making fun of him until Kyuhyun reached over and slapped his shoulder. ‘What?’ he asked, dazed. Kyuhyun and Jihye only laughed harder, waking up a grumpy Sooyeon.

‘Stop making fun of him,’ she muttered, and promptly fell back asleep. Jihye screwed her eyes shut trying not to laugh, and Kyuhyun looked like he might crack a rib if he didn’t let out a laugh immediately. Changmin only ignored them; he was used to it by now.

‘Did you know who the guy with Vic was?’ he asked in an attempt to change the subject. Kyuhyun nodded, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

‘Nichkhun,’ he finally said. ‘He’s a Ravenclaw, not sure what year.’ He paused. ‘You don’t…?’

Changmin threw his book at him in panic. ‘I don’t!’ he hissed, glancing at Jihye. ‘After everything?’

But Jihye only smiled. She knew he liked Yunho, knew it with certainty, and Changmin wasn’t sure whether to be thankful or distraught. Was he really that obvious? Oh, god, did Yunho know?

He better not, but judging by the evil glint in Jihye’s eye, he most likely did. Oh, no. The mere thought was enough to send Changmin’s heart racing, pounding in his chest like it needed escape. No, he couldn’t, he couldn’t, he couldn’t--

‘Attention, all passengers.’ Thankfully, the Hogwarts Express announcer cut in at just the right time. ‘The Hogwarts Express will be arriving at Hogwarts in approximately five minutes. Please change into your robes, and your luggage will be taken up to the castle separately.’

It was the same speech she made every year, yet Changmin found some sense of security in it this year. He pulled on his robes and tried not to think about the yellow lining of Yunho’s.

The carriage ride up to the school was uncharacteristically silent. For some reason, Kyuhyun was deep in thought, looking absently out the carriage window, and Sooyeon was still half-asleep. Jihye, on the other hand, only drew in her sketchbook. Changmin propped up his face with one hand and resigned himself to looking out the window as well.

The path was dark but familiar. He knew exactly where each tree was, knew where the wheels would rise and dip due to bumps in the path. He wondered in Yunho also took the carriages up to school, or whether Head Boys had another of way of going up.

He should have known. Yunho was a Prefect for two years, after all, and Quidditch captain. Would he still be captain this year? He sighed; emotions were hard to deal with, but he liked Yunho so much it was ridiculous. Jihye let out a huff.

‘Stop pining,’ she said quietly, handing him a piece of paper. The carriages slow, and the doors open of their own accord. ‘What will happen will.’

Changmin found himself staring at himself, on paper, a beautiful rendition of his lovelorn expression. Little hearts floated around his head, and he struggled to bite back a laugh. Jihye seemed so certain that things would work out, and he hoped they would, but what if it didn’t?

---

Classes began without preamble, and Changmin soon found himself drowning in homework. Kyuhyun too began to pull late nights, and they often slept in the library. It wasn’t like Madam Pince cared; she never slept anyway.

‘I hate this,’ Kyuhyun mumbled one such night, head drooping over his potions homework. ‘Why are OWLs a thing?’

Changmin only groaned in response, but a different voice cut in. ‘Because they test your ability to do magic.’ Different but familiar, and Changmin’s heart sped up immediately. ‘Come on, kiddos, go sleep.’

‘Can’t, hyung,’ Changmin whined, looking up into Yunho’s sparkling eyes. ‘There’s too much to do.’

Yunho ruffled Changmin’s hair, something deeper than affection in his eyes. ‘You can’t do anything well if you’re too tired to do it,’ he said softly. ‘Come on, Changdol, go to sleep. You can do it tomorrow.’

‘It’s due tomorrow.’ Kyuhyun seemed to be hiding a grin behind his yawn, and Yunho turned to him. ‘We don’t have any time between classes to do it either.’

‘Put something down and be done with it.’ Yunho moved his hand to Changmin’s shoulder, gently squeezing the stiff muscles there. ‘Slughorn doesn’t particularly care for homework. You should know.’

‘He said he’d check,’ Changmin groaned, arching his neck. Yunho’s fingers worked magic, and it felt good. He could melt in his hands and die peacefully. ‘This one especially.’

Yunho sighed, still massaging away. Changmin felt Kyuhyun’s eyes on them and pointedly ignored his friend. ‘What’s it about?’ he asked, leaning over Changmin to read the parchment. ‘Oh, that’s not too bad.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Kyuhyun let his head drop back. ‘It’s insane.’

Yunho smiled and sat down next to Changmin, guiding them through the work. With his help, they finished well before usual, and even stopped by the kitchens for a snack.

‘Why are you up, though?’ Kyuhyun asked, munching on a cookie. Yunho raised his eyebrows, still chewing the last of his pie.

‘Walking my rounds,’ he said, swallowing. ‘Making sure no idiots were still up doing their homework instead of sleeping.’

Changmin stayed quiet, focusing on eating his berry tart, but Yunho’s shoulder brushed against his too often for it to be a mistake. He tried to contain the blush on his cheeks, but how was he supposed to do that? The redness must have been obvious, because Kyuhyun kept looking at him with an evil grin.

‘Are you going to sleep now?’ Changmin finally asked, brushing the crumbs off his hands. He dropped them to his side, and almost immediately, he felt Yunho’s fingers brushing against his. Heat crawled up his face, and Yunho said, ‘Yeah, I was the last shift.’

Kyuhyun hummed, side-eyeing Changmin. ‘Well, have a good night,’ he said, dragging his friend away. ‘Hope you dream of a special someone tonight.’

They left Yunho standing in the middle of the hallway, but if Changmin saw correctly, the older boy was blushing. ‘Why did you do that?’ he hissed to Kyuhyun as they climbed down the stairs.

Kyuhyun only cackled. ‘You’re an idiot,’ he said. ‘I wonder why he even likes you.’

He… no way. No way, right? As tired as he was, Changmin couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed as Kyuhyun dropped off to dreamland, still mulling over the words that various people have said or implied to him.

Jihye and Kyuhyun had both straight-up told him that Yunho liked him, and judging by her reactions, Sooyeon thought the same. A letter from Donghae wished him luck, but it was heavily implied that the older boy believed that he would succeed. Even Yunho himself seemed to be making moves, and Changmin was left in the dust, confused and unwilling to get hurt again.

He didn’t see Yunho for a while after that, mostly because both their classes were busy. Changmin was busy with OWLs, and Yunho with NEWTs. It made sense that they would only bump into each other on rare days. But he bumped into Jihye a lot, per usual, and she’d always update him on whatever antics Yunho was up to.

‘My idiot brother,’ she’d say with a smile, and he almost agreed. Yunho was an idiot, a wholeass idiot, and Changmin was a fool for falling for him. ‘And you, his idiot crush.’

He’d told her before, how he didn’t want to rush things, but she waved his concerns away. Like a true Gryffindor, he supposed, ready to take risks. Strawberry Swirl’s sharp little claws dug into his arm, and he’d almost forgotten that he’d brought the little dragon with him to the library.

‘You do know that we’re playing Hufflepuff tomorrow, right?’ she continued, and Changmin started. He did not know that. ‘Yeah. Come watch Yunho beat Boa’s .’

He snorted. “I want to, but--”

“No buts.”

And that was how Changmin found himself sitting in the Hufflepuff stands with Jihye, shouting Yunho’s name until his throat turned hoarse. The bright yellow robes shone under the sunlight, the big letters J-U-N-G on the back, and then Yunho lunged, defended, and the Hufflepuff stand cheered. In the air, Boa’s scarlet robes fluttered as she scowled at him. He only grinned, joyously, and Changmin’s heart leapt at the sight.

Oh, he was so ed. He was so desperately in love with Jung Yunho.

‘Just admit it,’ Jihye yelled in his ear. ‘You like him and you want to be in a relationship with him.’

‘Maybe so,’ Changmin said, tugging her away from the crowd. He didn’t need to stick around to know that Hufflepuff was going to win. ‘But I don’t want to get hurt again.’

‘You keep stressing that, but that idiot’s never going to hurt you of his own accord.’

‘No, but--”

‘Take your time.’ Jihye wasn’t often this patient. ‘Just know that he might confess at any point in time.’

---

Yunho did not confess at ‘any point in time’. Well, not when Changmin saw him again, that was for sure. He’d been planning to go to Hogsmeade for a long time, but who knew he’d pick the day that Jung Yunho decided to go too?

Changmin felt like an idiot when he let Yunho go along with him, bouncing along the path like it wasn’t the middle of November and dreary-gray. He talked like the sun was shining on the lake and the squid was out and playing and unbeknownst, Changmin was caught up in his fantasy as well, and they talked animatedly all the way to Honeydukes, whereupon Yunho bought some candy and immediately shoved one into Changmin’s mouth, watching him savor it with a sweet expression on his face.

It was November, and Changmin thought that he would give his life and soul to entrust to Jung Yunho, and he almost couldn’t stop himself from taking Yunho’s face in his hands and kissing him silly right then and there. But he did, and he shoved a Fizzing Whizzbee into Yunho’s hands and then shoved his own hands into his pockets.

He was slightly taller than Yunho, and the older boy had to look up just a bit to look him in the eye. ‘Thanks, Changdol,’ he said while laughing, and stuck the candy into his mouth. ‘Let’s come more often.’

‘Yeah.’ Changmin didn’t trust himself to speak more than one-syllable words. ‘Let’s do that.’

But November gave into December and Yunho all but disappeared. He could be stubborn like that sometimes, focusing on whatever he needed to focus on and pay no attention to anything else, and Changmin tried to distract himself from the growing hollowness in his heart by studying for his OWLs, even though they were still far, and by going to Quidditch matches, where he cheered for Kyuhyun and Yunho and booed for Boa.

He shouldn’t be doing that, he knew, but it was hard not to when Boa’s eyes always managed to find him, clad out in green and silver, in the Hufflepuff stands, and it was especially hard not to when her eyes would narrow upon meeting his gaze like she still resented him for being the subject of Yunho’s affections, even though she was dating Donghae.

He wondered how Donghae was doing, absently, as he walked to the Great Hall one day. Would the Hogwarts owls deliver across an entire continent? Or two entire oceans and an entire continent, if they went the other way? He was so entrenched in thought that he didn’t even realize Yunho sneaking up behind him until the other boy’s hands were already on his shoulders.

‘Bloody hell,’ he gasped, rubbing his chest. ‘You nearly gave me a heart attack.’

Yunho chuckled, but it wasn’t his normal laugh. It was less happy, Changmin noticed, more forced. Sort of like when he’d been dating Boa. Unconsciously, his eyes narrowed, and Yunho’s eyes widened.

‘Changdol?’

Changmin zoned back in to find Yunho staring at him in worry. ‘Sorry, hyung.’ He looked out the window at the unusually-sunny Scottish landscape. ‘I was… thinking about something.’

Yunho didn’t look like he believed him. He sighed and sat down on the windowsill, gazing out at the frozen lake. ‘Changmin,’ he said, so quietly that he could have imagined it. ‘Are you happy?’

The question felt reminiscent to a year ago. ‘No,’ he answered. ‘I could lie, but you would know, wouldn’t you?’

Yunho smiled, but there was none of his usual spark. ‘What would make you happy? I want you to be happy, Changdol.’

He sounded desperate, and before he knew what he was doing, Changmin stepped forward, sunk to his knees, and put his head in Yunho’s lap. Yunho’s thighs jumped - in surprise, Changmin thought with amusement - but then his hand settled in his hair, and Changmin sighed in contentment.

For a while, they stayed in that position in silence, Yunho’s fingers carding through Changmin’s hair. Then, with a sigh, Yunho gently pried Changmin’s face off of his legs. ‘I have to go.’ He looked intently into his eyes. ‘We’re playing Slytherin next. You’ll come, right?’

Changmin almost snorted. ‘You’ll be playing my house, hyung, I’ll come to support my own house.’

‘And Kyuhyun.’ Yunho’s eyes sparkled, and he laughed before heading away. ‘I’ll see you, Changdol.’

And see him he did. Changmin clambered over heads to reach the front of the Slytherin stand, Sooyeon and Jihye in tow. They leant over the railing desperately, searching for Kyuhyun and/or Yunho. Both, in Changmin’s case.

‘I should not be in these stands,’ Jihye grumbled, tugging at her scarf and burrowing deeper into her collar. ‘I should be supporting Hufflepuff.’

‘You love us,’ Sooyeon cooed. ‘I wonder who’s going to win.’

‘Yunho,’ said Changmin and Jihye at the same time. Sooyeon glared at both of them, and Changmin, at least, had the grace to blush. He shrugged and grinned sheepishly. Jihye only stuck out her tongue.

There really wasn’t much to the match. Kyuhyun was great, but even his greatness couldn’t beat Hufflepuff’s impenetrable defenses. Jung Yunho was a true Quidditch genius, and soon, it was obvious that, even if Slytherin could get the Snitch, they would not be able to win.

‘ing Jung Yunho,’ Sooyeon hissed, and Jihye cackled, slapping her on the back. ‘How hard did he work those poor kids?’

‘Yunho works hard,’ Changmin murmured more to himself, ‘but he also works others hard. He runs them into the ground.’

Jihye looked at him weirdly. ‘Have you been to a Hufflepuff practice?’

‘No.’

‘You don’t know how hard my brother works those kids. That’s why they’re undefeatable.’ A hint of pride tinged Jihye’s voice, and Changmin blushed involuntarily.

He didn’t know how to tell them that he had, in fact, witnessed one (1) Hufflepuff practice. It had been pure coincidence, passing by one of the windows overlooking the pitch. He was on his way to studying with Kyuhyun, but he stopped to watch Yunho, hair whipping in his face in the cold October wind. He looked more serious than Changmin had ever seen him, and it was unfortunately attractive, the way his teeth clenched and face scrunched and he shouted out orders with a scowl on his face.

He was seriously attractive, and Changmin felt his heartbeat thump against his ribcage, and he completely forgot about Kyuhyun, instead settling down near the window to watch Yunho play.

Yunho played well. He worked hard, and he worked his players hard too. But no one complained, though a few of them pulled faces when Yunho made them go through another training session. Night fell, and Yunho finally let his team go. Changmin also scampered, but in his brain was imbedded the picture-perfect image of Jung Yunho, windswept hair blown across his forehead, eyes hard and steely.

‘HE WON!’ Jihye screeched in his ear, bringing Changmin back to reality. ‘CHANGMIN, HUFFLEPUFF WON!’

‘They won?’ Changmin turned tail and ran. No one followed him, but he wasn’t counting on them to. Jihye would probably hold Sooyeon back anyway, if she tried to follow, but he’d bet that they’d be going off to find Kyuhyun to console him of the loss.

It wasn’t hard to spot Jung Yunho in the midst of the crowd. He wore yellow robes, and if that wasn’t obvious enough, he also glowed with the joy of winning the match. He was also surrounded by his teammates.

Changmin hung back, suddenly unsure, but as if he knew, Yunho’s eyes found his. He immediately said something to his teammates and broke away, heading straight for Changmin, eyes shining. Changmin took a step back, and Yunho followed, catching up to him in five large strides. He was still wearing his Quidditch gear, leather boots and tight-fitting pants and flowing robes, and Changmin couldn’t help feeling like a little schoolgirl fawning over a sports hero.

Which, to be fair, he was. 

They reached a little alcove beneath the Gryffindor stands, the ruby-stained sunlight washing down over them, and Yunho turned. ‘Changmin,’ he said in a breathless tumble of words. ‘Go out with me.’

Changmin froze. Yunho reached out, cheeks flushed from more than just cold, and took his hands in his own. ‘Changdol,’ he repeated, softly. ‘Please, go out with me.’

‘Why?’ Changmin blurted out, and hated himself for the way Yunho’s eyes suddenly lost their sparkle. ‘I mean, what’s so good about me?’

Yunho laughed, dipping his head. ‘Well,’ he said, still holding Changmin’s hands. ‘Well, you’re very cute, and you’re smart, and you make me want to protect you. You don’t mind my childish temperament, and you’ve never asked me to change to fit you. You’re adorable, Changdol. I think I love you.’

It was a lot of information to take in. Changmin stood there, face heating up more and more with each word Yunho said. When he finally finished, Changmin wasted no time and dove into his arms. Yunho was slightly shorter than him - not by much, but it still made it slightly awkward - and took a few urgent steps backwards to avoid falling on his , but he laughed and his hands came up to rest on Changmin’s back.

‘I take that as a yes?’

‘You’ve hurt me a lot,’ Changmin said softly, arms wrapped tightly around Yunho’s neck. ‘But I think I love you too.’

---

Life was so much better with Jung Yunho in it, Changmin realized belatedly. The way Yunho bounced into the Great Hall, practically radiating joy; the way he reached for Changmin’s hand in public, no hesitation or shame in his movements; the way he wrapped Changmin in his own robes, yellow and black, despite the protests of everyone else around them; the way he laughed, threw back his head and laughed; the way he focused on everything he did, face a mask of seriousness, and the way that Changmin could break that, shift the focus onto him, and the way his gaze made him writhe.

In short, Changmin was whipped.

There was not a single person in his friend group who was not relieved. ‘I thought you’d never get your together,’ Kyuhyun admitted, stretching his back. The bones popped, and Jihye snorted.

‘You? I thought they would both lose their minds. Thank god Yunho made the first move.’

Changmin only sat there and grinned. Sooyeon rolled her eyes. ‘Are you studying for your OWLs or not?’ she asked, a bit snappily. Kyuhyun stuck out his tongue. ‘Cho Kyuhyun.’

‘Sorry.’

As much as Changmin hated studying, he knew Yunho would never let him live down a bad OWL score because he was too busy daydreaming about him. As it was, Yunho was probably studying himself, also suffering, so that made Changmin feel a bit better.

Just a bit.

The thought that Yunho would inevitably seek him out and drop his head into the crook of his shoulder also made Changmin feel better. A lot better, at that, and so he continued studying with enthusiasm.

To be fair, he could barely focus, but hey, he tried. He tried, and at the end of the day, when Yunho was done with his Head Boy duties and met him with a grin as dazzling as the night sky - tired, but beautiful nonetheless - Changmin felt like he could die happy.

‘Changdolll,’ Yunho whined often, his beautifully windswept hair all stiff and cold from the wind. ‘Save me, I don’t want to study.’

‘Fat chance.’ Changmin didn’t really know where his sass came from, because honestly, he was sick of studying too. But with Jung Yunho, it just flowed out, natural as life. ‘If I suffer, you have to suffer too.’

Yunho pouted, and Changmin longed to wipe that stupid look off his face. With a kiss. He wanted to kiss Yunho until they were both breathless, chests heaving, eyes glassy, lips more than a little red, swollen from the force of the kiss. Changmin wanted a lot of things, but he was too ashamed to ask for any of them.

It seemed Yunho knew, or at least deduced from the way Changmin ducked his head and turned unsubtly red. He plopped himself down next to Changmin and pressed his body against his arm. ‘What if we don’t have to suffer?’ he whispered, and Changmin jerked away. Yunho put his chin on his shoulder. ‘Hmm, Changdol?’

Changmin’s brain short-circuited, and the only comeback he could come up with was, ‘I’m not legal yet.’

Yunho froze, and Changmin’s heart leapt to his throat. Then Yunho threw back his head with a loud guffaw, attracting the attention of many people in the Great Hall. Changmin wanted to hide in a hole, but Yunho didn’t seem to mind anything at all right now.

‘Changminnie.’ Mirth sparkled in his eyes, and Changmin felt himself drowning. ‘You don’t have to be seventeen. You just have to be okay with it.’

---

He looked at him like he was the world, which he - in this moment and many more - might as well be. He was also nervous.

‘You don’t have to,’ he kept saying, hands running down Changmin’s sides like he was trying to calm him down. ‘You really don’t.’

‘Shut the up, Jung.’ Changmin pulled him down into a kiss, heated and desperate with all the time they’d lost trying to figure themselves out. ‘I want you.’

He’s been wanting him ever since he laid eyes on him. But he wasn’t going to tell Yunho that, not when he was pressing up against him in the most tantalizing way, hips working magic and wonders and making him see the entire universe on the low ceiling of the Hufflepuff dorm. No, this was not the right time to mention that detail.

‘Have I told you?’ Yunho’s voice was breathless as he worked his way into Changmin. Changmin could barely think straight for the life of time, much less focus on the goddamn words coming out of the goddamned man’s mouth. ‘I’ve wanted you ever since I laid eyes on you.’

And whatever other thoughts he might have had flew out of Changmin’s mind as he gave into temptation, the sweet electric jolts of pleasure that came with Jung Yunho and his body. He was not aware of when he started crying; when he locked his arms around Yunho’s neck and begged for more, more, more; when the delicate bedframe started to creak a steady rhythm. All he was aware of was Jung Yunho.

And by god, was he aware.

---

May came with startling beauty, the cloudless blue sky and sunshine. Unfortunately, May also came with the impending doom of upcoming exams.

By this point, Changmin had mostly given up on studying. He either knew everything he needed to know, or he didn’t. Kyuhyun shared his sentiments, but Jihye, of course, did not.

‘You idiots are going to fail!’ she hissed, marching off to the library alone. Sooyeon gave them a baleful glance and followed; she had her own exams to study for, and she was not going to waste that time goofing off with her boyfriend and his best friend.

Kyuhyun shrugged, yawning as they emerged into the sunlight. ‘It’s too nice of a day to study,’ he said. Then, throwing Changmin an evil sort of grin, asked, ‘How are your nightly visits to the Hufflepuff dorms?’

Changmin hit him. ‘Shut the up.’ Despite his embarrassment, he could not deny it. ‘I don’t go every night.’

‘Uh huh.’ Kyuhyun looked like he was about to burst from trying not to laugh. ‘You tell yourself that.’

Impromptu, they decided to go to Hogsmeade. Jihye and Sooyeon probably wouldn’t be going, and Changmin didn’t want to bother Yunho (in reality, he just didn’t want Kyuhyun to poke fun of him the entire day), so off they went alone.

The village was surprisingly full for exam time. They found the line in Honeydukes to be as long as it usually was, which was probably not odd, given the amount of sugar that most students craved during studying. Kyuhyun and Changmin were no exception, having bought two packages of sugar quills each. 

‘Gonna give that to your boyfriend?’ Kyuhyun snickered. Changmin elbowed him in the ribs.

‘You say that like you’re not giving one to Sooyeon.’

Kyuhyun stuck out his tongue. ‘Fair,’ he said, and opened the other package. The pink spun-sugar dissolved quickly on his tongue, and he and Changmin savored their sweets as they walked back to school.

Scotland was really beautiful, an ocean of purple heather during the spring. Now that summer was approaching, the heather began to fade, and more vibrant flowers started to pop up. Most often than not, Changmin identified poppies and scarlet pimpernels. Both red flowers, they stood out shockingly against the tall grass.

No words were exchanged, though none were needed. Changmin bent, picked a small bunch of the red flowers, and Kyuhyun did the same.

The next day, a small crystal glass mysteriously appeared on Yunho’s bedside table. In it stood seven or eight small red flowers.

---

Jung Yunho was a good kisser. This Changmin already knew. This, however, the rest of his friend group did not. It was not shocking that Yunho showed up to their compartment on the train ride back home; it was extremely shocking when Yunho bent down, tilted Changmin’s face towards his, and kissed him.

And then, in typical Yunho fashion, he disappeared.

The compartment froze in silence. Changmin tried to ignore the burning heat on his cheeks, but he knew better than to hope for peace.

‘Dude!’ Jihye was the first to break the silence. She seemed to have no other words. ‘Dude!’

Even Kyuhyun only spluttered by his side. ‘What the literal ?’

‘You could have warned us?’ Sooyeon seemed to be the calmest, but Changmin could tell that she was flustered too. ‘I mean, maybe I didn’t want to see that.’

‘Oh, you so did.’ Jihye cackled again, vibrating in her seat with excitement. ‘We all wanted to see that.’

‘Shut up.’ Changmin tried to hide a smile and failed, and Kyuhyun pounced on him. ‘Ow, , that hurt!’

‘Tell us EVERYTHING!’

‘I demand to know all the details.’

‘Let him breathe, god!’

‘I call best man!’

‘Hey, no fair! I’m his best friend!’

‘Yunho’s my brother!’

‘Be his maid of honor or whatever, I’m Chwang’s best man.’

‘Cho Kyuhyun, I will murder you before that.’

‘Why??’

Outside, the flowers bloom red across the moor. Beautifully vibrant red, almost as if it was an ocean. An ocean of constant everlasting red. Red for passion, red for love.

Red for forever.