Jiho says to him, "Have you heard?", and Jinwoo groans because Jiho talking to him this early in the day can never mean, and has never meant, good news. He pointedly takes his plate of breakfast in one hand, drink in the other and shifts one, two seats down. Jiho ignores the blatant expression of distaste, slides across the bench, and then he's leaning in conspiratorially, nicking a pasty off Jinwoo's plate despite the entire dish of fresh ones on the table. "There was a kitchen commotion."

Jinwoo keeps his eyes trained on his food, pointedly scooping up a large chunk of too-lumpy mash with his fork and shovelling it into his mouth. If he pretends he doesn't see Jiho, maybe he'll go away. He chews, exaggerated and meaningful. Swallows. 

"Apparently a house elf somehow burst a pipe and the entire Hufflepuff common room was flooded." When Jinwoo looks up, Jiho is now perched cross-legged on the dining table, having swiped the cutlery out of the way. The others at the Slytherin table barely bat an eyelid, it's their final year and everyone was well and truly too tired to contend with Jiho by their second. Jinwoo finds himself wishing silently that Taeil had come down for breakfast this morning, if only for Jiho to have another target for his gossip.

Jinwoo sighs, toying with this thought longingly as he reluctantly raises his gaze back up to Jiho. He's slurping loudly from what was, seconds ago, Jinwoo's goblet of juice. "So?" Jinwoo prompts defeatedly, with his second sigh that morning. Jiho toys with the empty goblet between his fingers, always one for dramatic tension. He proffers the cup to Jinwoo with a smirk and Jinwoo snatches it back. 

"So," Jiho parrots, slinking off the table and looping an arm around Jinwoo. His cloak dips into the custard dish for the bread pudding and it smears in a creamy streak down the table; Jiho doesn't notice.

"So," Jiho says, and he has his mouth almost to Jinwoo's ear now. Jinwoo cuts delicately into a slice of treacle tart and lets Jiho get on with it. "We all have to share!"

That gets Jinwoo's attention. He pauses with his fork halfway to his lips, then carefully sets the mouthful of dessert back onto his plate. "Share?" 

"Yeah." Jiho tosses a grape into his mouth. "Dibs on Minho, by the way, but the rest of Houses have to share the homeless little Hufflepuffs for a week or two."

"Minho's not a Hufflepuff." 

"Yeah, petty details," Jiho munches on his fruit distractedly. "Not gonna stop us."

"From what? Throwing a ridiculous party in our dungeon in the wee hours of the morning that you will be to hungover to clean up the next day?"

"Exactly!" Jiho beams, "See, I knew you'd get it. Taeil just kind of--" he pulls a face. "Anyway, hope you get someone nice, man. Can you imagine? I'm sure people are dying to be rooming with you."

"Whatever that means." Jinwoo says with a grimace. He gives his wand a little wave and tidies up Jiho's cloak for him with a perfunctory cleaning spell, because it's hard not to be fond of him, all things aside. With the promise that he'll see Jiho for supper, Jinwoo wraps a pasty in a napkin and decides that perhaps the courtyard will make for a better breakfast spot.

Jiho is right, he realises. About two things. One, the kitchen pipes really did explode, leaving the Hufflepuff common room and dorms a sopping, dirty mess. It didn't help that most of the room was natural wood and plants. Two, apparently, Jinwoo really is in demand. 

Between breakfast and his last class, at least five more people than usual had come up to say hi to him; some shy smiles, some unshy smiles ("Yo Jinwoo, mind if I crash your room?" probably took the cake). Thankfully, though, the school owls had soon come around with notices from the Headmistress that Hufflepuff redistribution-- so to speak-- would be assigned.

So around ten that first night, Jinwoo slides open the door to a bright yellow sweater.

"Hey," he grins down at Jinwoo from behind a towering, stuffed-full knapsack. "Mind if I Slyther-in?"

It's going to be a long four weeks.

It's Lee Seunghoon, from the same year. They have a couple classes together and Jinwoo knows him vaguely, if only because he once exploded an entire cauldron and turned himself blue, and then Minho, from Gryffindor and not much smarter, made it worse. Seunghoon was sporting neon tiger stripes for a day. Right now, Jinwoo supposes he is glad to note, Seunghoon seems to be in his standard form. Tall, gangly, swathed in a lumpy knit sweater spelling HUFFLEPUFF with the P flipped mirror-image. He is at least ninety percent leg and Jinwoo finds himself constantly face-to-face with bright yellow wool torso and Adam's apple as they try to get him settled in.

"You have a lot of stuff," Jinwoo mutters, keeping his voice neutral. Eyeing Seunghoon with some measure of caution as the Hufflepuff wastes no time laying claim to his temporary abode (and what was Jinwoo's private space); absolutely no time at all. He's got luggage piled in a corner and is already digging through the first case-- a couple tee shirts strewn on the floor, a puddle of socks.

Jinwoo runs a hand through his hair, taking a seat on the mattress, smoothing the duvet down absently. "Make yourself at home." He says, only slightly sarcastically with a wave of his hands. Seunghoon only hums in response, setting his shoes in neat pairs by the door. "Need help?" Jinwoo ventures.

Seunghoon pauses, turning to smile brightly at him. "Yeah, thanks! Could you help me get the shelf out from that bag in the corner?"

"The shelf?" Jinwoo asks, confused.

"Yep, the shelf."

A little puzzled, Jinwoo does as instructed and crouches by the luggage case Seunghoon mentioned. It's bright yellow and small, there's no way there could be a shelf in there. He unclasps it and flips it open-- just a couple of socks and books. "Where's the uh, shelf?" Jinwoo asks cautiously.

"Oh, here," Seunghoon moves briskly to his side. "Let me get that." He reaches towards the luggage-- and Jinwoo gasps as Seunghoon's fingers dip through the fabric like water. He frowns, leans forward until his whole arm is swallowed and there's a loud, hollow clang of a spacious area that echoes from beyond the baggage. 

"How?" Jinwoo gapes.

"Uh, magic." Seunghoon says. "Kinda our thing." He has both arms elbows-deep in now and with a heave, he pulls out a small, but functional shelf, deep, heavy mahogany. His arms strain with effort as he topples the shelf gently to let it rest on its side. 

"Wow, that's real advanced." Jinwoo doesn't bother to disguise the note of awe in his voice. "That's pretty handy."

Seunghoon smiles. "Not bad for my first night here huh?" He says, sounding proud of himself."

"What do you mean?"

"I just impressed the Kim Jinwoo, and he even complimented my wizardry." Seunghoon grins, shooting him a wink that has his eyes disappearing into upturned crescents. 

Jinwoo can't help the flush rising to his cheeks and dips his head, biting his cheek and trying for what he hopes is an expression of irritation. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kim Jinwoo, Slytherin's elusive island prince. I'm sure you know," Seunghoon says with an amused eyeroll. "We all see the owl storm of flowers at your table every Valentine's Day, birthday and odd Wednesdays."

Jinwoo puffs his cheeks. Seunghoon knows people are interested in him. Seunghoon knows people think he's pretty.

Well. 

As he files that thought away, Seunghoon is humming merrily, propping the shelf in a corner and slotting bottles of ink and a couple rolls of parchment into it. Jinwoo turns his attention to the bunk bed tucked cosily against the wall and by the fireplace. "Top or bottom?"  

Seunghoon whips around sharply, thin eyes fixing intently on Jinwoo. He frowns, then turns away again, hands busying themselves sorting out textbooks in a corner of the shelf. "Well," he says thoughtfully. "That's rather forward, but it really depends doesn't it?"

Jinwoo frowns, leaning back on the bottom mattress, propped up on open palms. It's pretty late and he— they— have class early the next morning. He's hoping that Seunghoon isn't one of those finicky, indecisive people because he can't be entertaining him the next one, god forbid, two months. "On what?" 

The Hufflepuff shrugs, unwinding the thick yellow scarf from his neck. He takes a seat beside Jinwoo, crossing his long legs, their knees bumping. "On... if you'd prefer me on my knees, or if you like to be on your back, or—"

"The beds!" Jinwoo yelps, and oh Merlin, he can actually feel the heat rushing to his cheeks, "I'm talking about the beds!"

"Yeah but what position on the—"

Jinwoo shoves a hand over Seunghoon's stupid mouth. "The— the bunk beds, Seunghoon." He gives Seunghoon's face a hard shove with the palm of his hand, scooting backward, crumpling the sheets. He sighs, rubbing his temples roughly. He didn't sign up for any of this, least of all being ually propositioned in his own dormitory. Seunghoon, the dumb, is staring back, corners of his mouth upturned, eyes glimmering with mirth. Jinwoo huffs, jumping to his feet and pacing across the room, determined to put space between them.

He leans against the fireplace, folding his arms and trying for a cross glare. "Which one do you want to sleep on?" 

Grinning now, Seunghoon says, "Yours?"

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"Absolutely not. This is harassment."

"You asked me," Seunghoon smirks, but he heads over and tosses a satchel onto the top bunk regardless. 

Jinwoo wants to be above this petty banter, but it's unfortunate that he isn't. He feels his mouth purse into a pout. "You are a despicable flirt." He says, but slides into the lower bunk where his stuff is anyway. 

He hears the heave and creak of wood and feels the bedframe tremble slightly as Seunghoon hauls himself into the bunk. 

Just as Jinwoo closes his eyes. 

"So, bottom, huh?"

He kicks the top bunk hard.

Their first class together, Jinwoo isn't sure what to expect. They don't have that many coinciding classes: Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Of the three, Jinwoo is by far the worst at the second, so naturally that would be the first class of the week. And at eight in the morning, too.

He's never really noticed Seunghoon in class before, with the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs getting along amiably enough but mostly keeping to their respective houses. Living together, though, has changed that-- that particular morning they are both late, Jinwoo unable to find his wand (it had somehow fallen through his mattress and stuck at an odd angle to the wall on a piece of gum) and Seunghoon taking too leisurely a shower after mistaking the Tuesday for a Monday.

When they both stumble out of breath into class, everyone is already well into the activity, and the professor lets them off with a warning (Seunghoon's less stern than Jinwoo's, Jinwoo has a record) and they pair up.

Less than five minutes into it, Jinwoo has lost Seunghoon. He whirls about in annoyance, only to gasp and hop back, narrowly avoiding thick feathers and scaly claws.

"Sorry 'woo!" Jiho yells as his huge bronze Hippogriff scampers off with him swinging dangerously from his back. Jinwoo gives him a weak thumbs up and he steps back-- only to have another exclamation of surprised forced from him when he collides right into what can only be the firm, muscled behind of a Hippogriff. 

He flinches instinctively as the creature lets out a screeching protest, but no angry horse hind legs send him flying. Instead, he hears cooing and scratching noises...

Seunghoon gestures proudly to the Hippogriff with a tilt of his head, running his hands up and down its neck soothingly. "We found you!" He laughs, "Or you found us. Her name is--" he makes a high-pitched bark, bobbing his head enthusiastically for emphasis. Jinwoo stares.

"Her name is what now?"

Seunghoon repeats the same shrill noise. 

"Ihee?"

"Ihee!"

"That's what I said."

"Your inflection was wrong." Seunghoon the Hippogriff placatingly even though Jinwoo is sure the creature is incapable of distinguishing one language from another. "Wanna hop on?"

Jinwoo hesitates, and Seunghoon nuzzles the creature affectionately. Jinwoo tries not to make a face. "Relax," Seunghoon says, bemused, "I've been caring for her since she was only double my size."

Gently, he leans and urges the Hippogriff forward two steps. He tilts off his perch a little, digging his knees into the thick feathers. Extends a hand to Jinwoo. "Trust me?" he says coaxingly. 

Something about Seunghoon is just extremely comfortable-- homely, safe when he wants to be. So in spite of himself Jinwoo finds himself taking Seunghoon's outstretched hand and then he's yanked, swung onto the back of a huge gleaming Hippogriff, pinkish roan and majestic. 

"Comfy?" Seunghoon grins. Jinwoo shakes his head. "Grab on." Seunghoon reaches back, grabbing both of Jinwoo's arms and placing them loosely around his waist. 

Jinwoo pulls back immediately. "Lee Seunghoon, we've talked about harassme-- OH MY GOD!" 

They've shot up into the sky, Seunghoon whooping as Ihee the ridiculously-named Hippogriff has spread her wings open and wide and they're flying, the wind rushing into his face and tossing his hair wildly-- yeah, okay, Jinwoo tightens his arms around Seunghoon.

"I did say grab on!" Seunghoon yells over his shoulder. Jinwoo can't look up because of the sharp gusts of air in his eyes but he can practically hear the smirk in Seunghoon's voice. His mouth is clamped shut and his knuckles are white, fisted in Seunghoon's robes. 

Then the wind roaring in his ears dies down, and they're gliding smoother, in slow circles above the practise grounds. "You okay?" Seunghoon asks.

Jinwoo unclenches one hand and rams it hard into Seunghoon's ribcage.

"Ow-!" Seunghoon yelps. Then turning mock-angrily towards Jinwoo he says "I'll make Ihee speed up aga--"

"No!" Jinwoo lunges forward instantly and holds Seunghoon tight, burying his face into his back-- that promptly starts shaking, as Seunghoon breaks into amused chuckles. 

"What?" Jinwoo demands, and Seunghoon immediately stops at the glimpse of such a dark expression and with a wary glance at Jinwoo's fists. 

Instead of answering, he whistles long and low, running his gloved hands down the centre of the Hippogriff's feathery head. Jinwoo feels a faint shudder run through its spine, and then it slows down, but angles up, breezing easily through the low-hanging clouds. At this speed Jinwoo can feel the sun's golden warmth on his skin rather than the harsh, icy wind, and he unconsciously tilts his head up toward the sky, basking in the feeling. 

"Nice, huh?" He feels Seunghoon's abdomen expand and contract under his touch, his hands still wrapped around him for safety. He hums in response.

Later on, back at the dorm, Seunghoon says, "I thought we agreed on 'despicable flirting'."

Jinwoo scowls, smashing a pillow onto Seunghoon's face before swinging into his own bed.

"I had fun." he admits.

He's startled awake on the second week by a rustle of plastic. Stretching warily, he turns to his side and squints, eyes adjusting to the light in the corner of his room. Seunghoon's wand is illuminated, propped up against the wall. He's crouched on the floor, a couple strangely-shaped bottles with nozzles and small coloured boxes littered around him.

"Seunghoon?" Jinwoo calls, and then he gasps when the other boy turns towards him.

Seunghoon's hair is a soft, pastel pink-- a stark contrast from natural black. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I couldn't sleep."

But that's the last thing on Jinwoo's mind. "You're a metamorphmagus?" he asks, surprise and wonder evident on his face. 

"A metamagna what now?" Seunghoon says, running his hands self-consciously through his pink-tinged fringe.

"A metamorphmagus. You can change your appearance at will?"

Seunghoon laughs. "Oh, I get it. No, I'm not. Bleach and dye... Muggle technique." 

"That's so... Cool." Jinwoo finishes lamely. "It-- It looks good. The pink."

"Thanks." 

An awkward silence passes between them. Jinwoo slides off the bed and squats next to Seunghoon, picking up the empty package of whatever Seunghoon had been using. Hydrogen peroxide. Ammonium persulfate... For a muggle product, these certainly sounded like spells.

Seunghoon's voice breaches the terse quiet. "Would you like to try?" 

Jinwoo raises his eyebrows. "The... bleach and dye?"

"Yeah." Seunghoon nods. He adds, quickly, "You don't have to do pink-- we could do other colours too." 

Jinwoo has to admit the idea is fascinating, though he doesn't comprehend at all how it works. Seunghoon seems like he's familiar, though. His hair is, after all, currently what could be considered a very acceptable pink.

"I've always thought about being blonde." Jinwoo finally answers. Seunghoon breaks into a wide grin, jumping to his feet and almost bouncing. He looks so excited that Jinwoo can't help but to be excited too.

That's how he finds himself seated on the stiff-backed desk chair, an old towel wrapped around his  neck. Seunghoon stands behind him, wielding a fine-toothed comb and a brush, carefully partitioning Jinwoo's hair and smearing it with strange paste in sections.

Jinwoo hisses. "It stings," he whines, his voice coming out far pitchier than he intends. His hair feels stiff and he can feel it tugging at his scalp with every little movement of his head, and the ever-intensifying burning boring into his skin. Before he can even process it, he's sniffling, tears prickling involuntarily at his eyes. 

Seunghoon's face immediately comes to level with his, his expression concerned. "Wh— Hey, hey," There's a rustling of plastic as Seunghoon peels the stained gloves off, and then warm, slightly sweaty palms are cupping his cheeks, Seunghoon's thumbs brushing away his tears. 

"I'm sorry," Seunghoon says, smoothing his fingers over his face. "I didn't think it would hurt you this bad." His voice is gentle and placating as he continues to the ridge of Jinwoo's cheekbone. "Just a few more minutes alright?"

Jinwoo nods, puffing out his cheeks and letting out a short huff of breath, hoping he doesn't look as pathetic as he feels. It's useless, he feels hot tears smarting at the corners on his eyes. Way to go, Jinwoo, he thinks, you look so cool right now, Jinwoo, crying over what is essentially hair sauce--

Seunghoon doesn't look like he's about to laugh, though. Quite the opposite, actually; his mouth has settled into a thin line. "Sorry," Jinwoo blurts, before he can stop himself, wincing at the pain. "This is so lame of me-- I know it's just hair, but I've really never heard of muggle 'bleach' and I didn't know what to expe--"

Seunghoon's expression morphs into one of surprise. "What? No-- I should've explained it better, I'm the one who hurt you. I'm sorry, I just--" he scratches his head sheepishly, "Was so excited to, you know... Show you something you didn't know about."

"Oh." Jinwoo says. He snorts a gob of phlegm back up his throat. "It's-- It's okay."

Seunghoon shakes his head. "It's not, and I'm sorry." He chews his lip guiltily as Jinwoo tilts his head back and blinks back more tears.

"Tell you what," he reaches for his cloak, hanging behind the door. "Prefects' bath."

"Sorry?" 

"Let me make this up to you." Seunghoon tosses Jinwoo his cloak. "Grab a towel and some clothes."

Next thing he knows, he's creeping down the hallway with Seunghoon at three in the morning, a bundle of clothes in his hands, his scalp still smarting and smelling thoroughly acrid. "C'mon." Seunghoon whispers, darting around a corner and hopping onto a flight of stairs. It creaks lowly and starts to spin, Jinwoo yelps and clumsily scrambles on, grabbing Seunghoon's arm for support.

"Where are we going?" Jinwoo asks, a little miffed. 

"Fifth floor." Seunghoon replies.

They make it all the way up, then Seunghoon takes them down a narrow corridor, that opens into a wider hallway. "Mister Lee!" a voice calls, and Jinwoo jumps. Seunghoon seems non-plussed.

"Boris, hello." he says evenly, and Jinwoo realises he's addressing a white bust, a statue of a confused looking man with his gloves put on the wrong way. 

"Who is this?" The statue asks, eyes landing on Jinwoo. "I haven't seen him before. The bath is only for Prefects."

"Oh, of course you have." Seunghoon says smoothly, "This is Seungyoon, the Ravenclaw prefect. You probably just mixed our names up. You do tend to get confused, Boris."

The statue narrows his eyes at Jinwoo-- then he breaks into a short peal of laughter. "Oh you do know me well, Seunghoon. Sorry, fellow prefect, do go ahead then."

Seunghoon laughs along and pets the statue good-naturedly, moving four doors down from his pedestal. Jinwoo's eyes find the plaque above the statue, "Boris the Bewildered." He gives the statue a small, polite smile and hurries down to join Seunghoon where he stands in front of a yellow-gold door.

"Diggory." Seunghoon says and it slides open with a whoosh. "Go on," he prompts.

Jinwoo steps into the room, clean and bright, and lets out a whistle. It's spacious, with a row of toilets to the left and sinks to the back. In the centre of the room is a huge bath, sunken into the floor, lined completely with shiny gold taps. Jewels gleam off the taps, each one seemingly a different design and set with different stones from the rest. 

"Right?" Seunghoon grins, "My apology for hurting you. I hope this suffices."

Jinwoo pretends to think about it. "Well, dazzle me."

Seunghoon laughs, sinking into a bow. "It would be my pleasure." He strides over to the bath to Jinwoo's delight and secret excitement, twisting a huge ruby on the biggest tap sideways. A hissing noise fills the room and the taps steam, before water starts to stream out of all of them at once, and each tap a different colour, hot magenta and rich red, soft mint green and vibrant orange. The streams swirl and bubble into the bath and settle into a smooth duck-egg blue. It smells sweet-- like warm vanilla and cinnamon.

Then Seunghoon is peeling off his shirt, and undoing his pants. He catches Jinwoo looking-- "Don't peek." he winks salaciously, tossing Jinwoo a towel. Jinwoo feels his face flush and he turns the other way to undress himself.

When they finally sink into the bath, Jinwoo sighs happily, the water hot and perfect, seeping into his skin and warming him to the bone. 

"Always makes me feel like a piece of chicken, steeping into a delicious bone broth." says Seunghoon from the other side of the bath, making his way over with a smile. He paddles lazily, and Jinwoo can't help the huff of laughter that escapes him. 

"You're so weird."

Seunghoon shrugs. "Here, let's get the bleach off you first." He places his hands on Jinwoo's shoulders. "Trust me?" Jinwoo nods. 

He pushes and Jinwoo goes along with it, sinking into the water, his eyes fluttering closed as he holds his breath. He can feel Seunghoon's hands working quickly through his hair, rubbing and washing off the paste he'd applied earlier.

Then a strong arm snakes around his waist and Jinwoo sputters in surprise as Seunghoon pulls him back up. He coughs, trying not to make it too obvious. 

"Great." Seunghoon says. "Now you might notice our hair kinda fried." There's a snap as he pops a bright pink bottle open. "This'll even it out a little."

Seunghoon pumps the conditioner into his hands, it's dense and marshmallowy in texture, and smells artificially sweet. He runs it through his hair, sweeping his long fringe back and Jinwoo can't help noticing how built his figure is, strong and sure, water trickling down his arms and chest and-- 

"Now yours?" Seunghoon beckons him over. Jinwoo swallows.

His hair feels stiff and like straw as Seunghoon cups his hands and splashes water on his head. Then the conditioner is being applied and immediately he can feel the strands smooth out, oily and thick. He's suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that Seunghoon is combing his fingers through his hair, gently rubbing conditioner into the freshly blonde locks. Seunghoon's hands in his hair-- on his skin-- moving slowly, deliberately... almost sensually. Jinwoo swallows again, his spine tingling. Fully consignant of Seunghoon's presence behind him, almost fully , in a bath. Together.

Then Seunghoon rubs a spot behind his ear that makes him gasp, and Seunghoon laughs softly-- husky, and his voice sounds so close and Jinwoo shudders. "You okay?" Seunghoon asks, immediately concerned. He kneads Jinwoo's bare shoulder, a soothing gesture that has the opposite effect. He feels like his skin is burning.

"Y-yeah." 

Seunghoon makes a noise of assent and gets back to work, now rinsing the conditioned hair with hot bathwater. The soapy warmth trickles down Jinwoo's neck soothingly. He rubs circles into Jinwoo's scalp and Jinwoo bites his lip to keep from mewling, melting into the hot bath and Seunghoon's careful hands in spite of himself.

"Better?" Seunghoon asks, his voice tinny and echoey in the big room. Off in the background, the sound of water trickling through the pipes. Jinwoo hums. 

"We're done then." Seunghoon says mildly, turning Jinwoo around so that they're face to face. His expression flickers for a second, unsure. He coughs, eyes darting away and then focusing back on Jinwoo. "This, um..." 

Without thinking, Jinwoo takes a step closer. They're almost chest-to-chest. Seunghoon is so tall and Jinwoo stares up at him. 

The water casts dappled shadows across Seunghoon's face, which, Jinwoo notes, is actually a considerably handsome one. Slowly, Seunghoon raises his hand from the water with a small splash and in a fluid movement, his fingers down the side of Jinwoo's face.

Then abruptly, he kicks away, moving to the edge of the bath. A loud splash this time as he hauls himself out of the water. "Yeah, that fee