Platform nine and three quarters was very crowded. Jisoo started to scan her surroundings the moment her parents dropped her off, hoping to see familiar faces in the sea of unfamiliar ones but she was surrounded from all sides by strangers. She gave up searching halfway and just reserved an empty carriage by throwing her luggage in before going back out the train door to peep. She couldn't even spot Bona in the crowd. 

Jisoo leaned forward and craned her neck from left to right, eyes carefully landing on every face she sees. 

Then she catches sight of him, a few feet away, his side profile still looked prominent and distinguished from all the others. And when he turned his head a little to the right, Jisoo could see the whole of his face and it's like being hit with a stunning spell that she's just unable to say or do anything for the next few seconds. It's been months since she's last seen him, his hair is a bit longer and his features seem to be more angular even as she was looking at him from afar. 

Taehyung stood tall, but he looked serious which wasn't a very common look on him. He stood in between an middle aged man and woman, while the man was speaking, Taehyung was listening intently. Jisoo's gaze shift from Taehyung to the man and almost gasped out loud because the resemblance is so uncanny; he really does take after his father. It's in the details of their features, particularly in the curve of their noses and shape of their jaws. On his other side must be his mother, she looked regal and poised as she nodded along to whatever his father was telling him too. 

Jisoo had heard a few things about his family over the years, even before they got close. The Kim Clan were a typical rich, pureblood family coming from a long line of notable and respectable wizards and they were from old money. Some have said they're all involved in the Dark Arts but one look at Taehyung and you would just know that couldn't be exactly true.

She wants to call out his name, wants to for him to turn around and finally see her but she doesn't know what his parents are like towards other people or how they'll react. She doesn't know if they'll even like her or if Taehyung would consider introducing her to them (just the thought of it makes her blush for some reason), so she restrains herself from doing so.

But Jisoo must have been staring for far too long because Taehyung looks back abruptly, as if somehow sensing that someone was watching him. When he looks back at her, their eyes finally meet and she holds onto his stare for as long as she can, unblinking as this memory of seeing him for the first time in months in a crowded train station embeds itself in the back of her mind. She smiles. 

Taehyung smiles back at her.

The empty feeling that's been weighing Jisoo down all summer evaporates. A new feeling overpowers her senses: she's absolutely elated and happy to be spending another school year with him and this is only the first day. But her eyes flicker to his parents, and their unreadable expressions momentarily buffers her newfound joy at seeing Taehyung again. 

Taehyung turns to his parents, muttering something to them. His father merely nods and his mother pats his back, giving him a small smile and their expressions soften as they both look onto their son and Jisoo is surprised to witness the sudden shift in looks given all that she heard about his parents from Taehyung and Jimin. She feels like she's invading a private moment, so she turns her head and looks away.

"Hi," Taehyung bounds up to her, brandishing a lopsided smile with his dimple peeking through. He jumps onboard the train, he lands right beside her and they face each other. The space between them is so narrow that Jisoo's body acts on its own: her arms reach out to encircle his neck, her head rests on his chest and her nose breathes in his familiar scent. She's missed him so much. 

He chuckles, his hands drop the luggage he's carrying and move to caress the small of her back. He buries his face in Jisoo's hair and his lips are right on her shoulders and that's when it sinks into her that he's really here: he's flesh and bones and hers to take. 

His tight hug makes her forget about their summer apart and how she thought that he'd ever introduce her to his parents. How silly of her to think that. 

By some miracle, Jisoo managed to get an O for every subject. Taehyung had sternly told her it wasn't by luck or even chance, it was all Jisoo's doing; her hard work and dedication and natural brilliance. 

"And look, we have two classes together," he says while pointing to her parchment.

Both of the classes they shared were O-level classes, advanced classes that held only less than 20 students. It's not much of a surprise that one of them is Arithmancy, the two have always shown skill when it came to numbers. The other subject was much more unexpected, Jisoo has never shared a Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Taehyung because Ravenclaws were paired with Hufflepuffs for it so she wasn't really aware of how good he was until now.

Meanwhile, Bona had received an E for Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was still an impressive grade considering it's the second highest score one can achieve for an OWL but the advance classes required an O so Bona had to take another one. She was devastated. 

"I'm never going to become an Auror!" She was wailing in the middle of the corridor. A few heads had turned their way and they were garnering stares.

Jisoo could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Bona, come off it!" She pulled her friend close beside her with Taehyung trailing behind them. "It's fine, you got an E. You didn't even fail, you're just being placed in another class."

"But you know I was aiming for the advanced classes," Bona frowns, her voice cracking and tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I still failed, in some way."

"It's okay, Bona," this came from Taehyung, who walked up to Bona's other side and gave her what might be a trying effort of a comforting smile. "Don't feel so bummed out. You know, if we could, I'd let you switch places with me." 

Bona turned to him, her frown growing more prominent. "But why? You have it good! You're in the advance class and that's just making me feel worse."

Jisoo immediately shoots Taehyung a warning glare. 

Taehyung shakes his head vigorously and stammers out an apology. "So - sorry, what I just meant is that the advanced classes this year are no better than the other classes. It's just Ministry standard stuff so it's quite boring." 

Bona doesn't seem very convinced but Jisoo an eyebrow at him. "Have you already read through the course book?" 

"Of course, they won't even let us cast spells till the end of the year." Taehyung says nonchalantly. "Like I said Bona, you're not missing out on much." 

Bona rubs her eyes with the back of her hand and lets out a defeated sigh. Jisoo honestly feels bad for her because she knows how much Bona had studied for it, but there's really not much they can do now. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better, you guys," she says, pouting at the two of them while trying to it up and get through the day without having another breakdown. "Anyway, I'll see you later at third period Charms, Jisoo. Bye!" 

They part ways with Bona, who still looks rather disappointed but knowing her she'll be able to bounce back later on. The two head over to their first class of the day and of the year which was Arithmancy.   

Jisoo glances at Taehyung walking beside her, he had insisted they walk to class together every morning after breakfast from now on. She purses her lips and nudges him by the elbow. "That wasn't a very good method of comforting Bona, Taehyung."

He smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, was I too honest?"

"That's not the point," she stresses. "You sounded like you couldn't be bothered with a class like Defense Against the Dark Arts." 

"That's because you're right, I really can't be bothered with it." He shrugs casually, making Jisoo roll her eyes. "I'd rather switch it for an advanced class in Potions or even Transfiguration." 

Jisoo looks at him with a puzzled expression. "But you got an O." She says, as if Taehyung didn't know that fact himself.

"Trust me, I'm more surprised than anyone about that." He chuckles, but it's lacking the usual humor. 

Her eyebrows furrow as she looks at him. "You're not... thinking about skipping it on the first day, are you?" 

He looks back at her, an eyebrow raised. "Of course not," he says, which makes Jisoo sigh a little in relief despite herself. "Why would I when I can sit next to you for a whole hour and a half. Sounds like a lovely way to spend the morning, don't you think?" 

"Stop it," she mutters, shoving him aside.

Taehyung grins at her, wrapping an arm around her robbed waist and pulling her closer towards him without a word. Things have surely escalated a lot between them even when they had been apart for the past 3 months, even more so after their kiss, Jisoo's still getting used to it but Taehyung does all of these things with so much ease that she feels simultaneously jealous and ecstatic at how comfortable he already is with her. She wants to be like that with him too; the one who grabs his hand first and the one who might even lean in and kiss him first. 

But Jisoo shouldn't be in a rush, they have the whole year and the next to figure out where they both stand and to explore each other together. All she knows for now is that she likes having him beside her all the time. 

Jisoo never knew peace could exist in the space between their lips; when he lays his mouth on , the world is oddly still and quiet. There's no ripple in the water or a breeze in the air, there's just his hands on her face and her arms around his neck and their lips touching for an eternity. 

"You really shouldn't be snogging up in the Great Lake," Yuta Nakomoto's voice startles her from behind. She knows it's Yuta because they walked back to the common room together after tonight's prefect meeting. He hasn't said a single word since they left the meeting room but now they were in front of the entrance door to the common room at Ravenclaw Tower, he suddenly decides it's a good time to break the ice between them. 

Jisoo glances suspiciously at him from the corner of her eye. "You saw that?"

Yuta looks back at her. "Didn't have to, Lee Taeyong is surprisingly very good at giving vivid descriptions." 

She looks away from him, confused yet somehow embarrassed. She pieces his words together in her head, the meaning behind them becoming clearer. "Lee Taeyong had spread it then? Are you two friends?" 

Yuta snorts. "As if I'd be friends with that lot," he muttered but Jisoo had still heard him. "He seems to have a personal vendetta against Taehyung, though. Can't blame him, he was banged up pretty bad last year by your boyfriend." There's a thick pause that becomes a little too prolonged to the point where the air between them turns awkward. And then, he speaks again right when Jisoo was about to grab the door knocker. "Can I tell you something, Jisoo?" 

Jisoo bites back a retort and fully faces him. "What?" 

"Take this as a friendly warning," he says, looking at her with dark eyes but his smile is wide, though dripping with false kindness that makes Jisoo uneasy. "Don't get too close with purebloods, especially one who comes from a commanding family like Taehyung." 

His words almost knock the air from her stomach, it hits right and true at its target. She's not sure if whatever type of relationship they currently had even warrants them as friends, but Jisoo decides not to say anything further. She looks away from him, hiding her angry and slightly bewildered expression in the shadows of the late evening as her mind raced with thoughts that she had to push away. 

Jisoo clenches her fist and takes a stiff step forward towards the single door that led to the Ravenclaw common room, banging on the bronze eagle doorknocker once. 

A mystic voice fills the air between them. What gets broken without being held? 

Jisoo in a deep breathe. 

Yuta clears his throat. "Trust." 

The door stays close, nothing happens. 

"A promise," Jisoo says softly. 

The door swings open right away and Jisoo steps inside without another glance behind her. 

Jisoo is just about to exit the library when Taehyung comes up to her, panting and falling forward, hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breathe. "I'm so sorry I'm late, detention ran for a while longer than I expected." 

Somehow, Taehyung had slipped back to his pre-Jisoo lifestyle which consisted of wicked pranks and detention at odd hours. Sometimes by himself, other times with Jimin and never with Jisoo because she's far too busy to be pulled into whatever mischief he's concocted. Though Taehyung did bring the idea up to her once or twice, baiting her to help him with innocent enough jokes, she never did accept any of his offers. 

Even though Jisoo had been muttering quite a few undesirable phrases and even obscenities under her breathe for the past hour when Taehyung was extremely late and didn't show up till the end of their planned study session, at his immediate apology, the scowl melts away from her face and is replaced by a reluctant smile. 

This effect he has on her is quite dangerous and downright unfair. All he needs to do is flash her a charming smile or a cheeky grin and all is instantly forgiven. 

"You have the same effect on me, though," Taehyung says when Jisoo shares this to him one day. They're walking down the courtyard, basking in the Friday afternoon sunlight in their thick, heavy school robes. "This relationship is a two way transaction, come on." 

Jisoo stops abruptly in her steps. His usage of words had never bothered her before, but there's something about his tone that's so implying and trying hard to be discreet that it makes it all the more obvious instead. She looks at him, he looks back at her. The both of them realizing just what his words really mean. Jisoo tries to hold onto his words, lets his voice ring clear in her head to push away a certain annoying warning that a fellow Ravenclaw had told her a few nights ago. 

Taehyung averts his eyes downwards, breaking eye contact for a moment. His smile is wistful, almost hopeful when he looks back up at her. He's already asking her with his eyes, a silent question where she had already prepared an answer to.

"Will you...?" He trails off, distracted by the way the sunlight catches her dark hair and creates a halo around her head. His smile grows softer and he's unable to finish his sentence, not when she can already tell what he's trying to say. 

Jisoo nods, suddenly feeling shy under his gentle gaze. "Okay." 

Taehyung offers her his hand and Jisoo takes it. 

But the nagging voice in the back of Jisoo's head is getting harder and harder to quiet down, don't get too close with purebloods.  

She's been avoiding him all week, but she can't keep it up. Not when they're both on the same schedule for patrol duty and meeting outside the Ravenclaw common room like this before starting their rounds suspiciously reminds her of the time they had to clear out a misunderstanding last year.

His hand is wrapped in gauze and bandage, she only notices it because she can't seem to look up and into his eyes. "What happened to your hand?" She asks out loud before she could stop herself, her curiosity getting the best of her. 

"A bludger hit it during practice." He says. "My fast reflexes backfired." 

"Oh," was the only thing Jisoo could mutter out. They walked the halls in silence together which was odd, because usually they would do the rounds individually and never as a pair. But neither of them could seem to break apart from the other even when the air between them was saturated with uncomfortable tension. 

Yuta cleared his throat when they reached the staircases that moved and changed every minute. So far, they hadn't seen a single student out of bed. They hadn't even