“What the hell was that?” Yunho demands as soon as they’re enough paces away from Dumbledore’s office. 

They’re in trouble, but they’re not in trouble. Surely, they should be in major trouble, he had assaulted someone and... 

Well, technically perhaps Jaejoong shouldn’t have been in trouble? But there was that magic- that... whatever it was. Unsanctioned, illegal for underage wizards, perhaps? Yunho didn’t actually know what it was, hadn’t caught what spell or counter spell it had been. Where is Jaejoong’s wand? 

He still doesn’t seem to have it on him, and though he hadn’t been in the room for the discussion he had heard every word from the headmaster to Jaejoong. What he hadn’t caught was the Slytherin’s side of things.  

Dumbledore is disappointed, in them, in their choices, but ultimately it probably would have been a larger disaster had Jaejoong slung whatever spell back, however he had twisted and mangled it. The poor choice in language still wasn’t alright. They are losing twenty-five points each as a general penalty, Gryffindor is losing an extra thirty for the violent outburst and Slytherin’s secondary penalty was twenty. 

Jaejoong is on a slippery slope, thin ice and Yunho isn’t sure that is fair. 

They will be serving their detention with Hagrid, which meant it’ll either be a really easy one or it would be hell. He’s heard about students being sent out into the forest to help Hagrid check on this or that, he isn’t sure he wants to do that.  

Forbidden forest, it wasn’t exactly a welcoming place, being forbidden and all. 

“Oh, naughty words, didn’t think you had it in you,” Jaejoong jokes or taunts perhaps with a grin. 

The pale boy glances back at him over his shoulder, hesitates for just a second and then quite literally begins to skip down the hall. He expects Yunho to follow, if the weird see-sawing motion he made with his head is anything to go by.  

Yunho doesn’t, of course, he merely stares, not sure exactly what he is feeling. Bewilderment, comes to mind first. 

Not only was his question ignored, rude, but now he is expected to follow like some kind of puppy? 

It doesn’t take long before Jaejoong slows to a stop, and he his head to the side when the Slytherin turns back to him. Mooncalf eyes are back, joined by a slightly gaping mouth that makes him look properly offended or something. 

“Yunho!” Jaejoong calls, stomping one foot like a petulant child, as though it will do something.  
 
It does not.  
 
He isn’t going to do anything other than fold his arms across his chest. He has questions.  
 
Namely 'what the hell was that' and 'where are we going', but he is too dignified to shout across the large corridor, whether anybody else is around or not. The ghosts probably are around, and they will gossip more than any living person possibly can, which may be a nightmare in itself. 

“Yunho!” Jaejoong calls again, louder this time, “Yunho, Yunho! Jung Yunho c’mere boy! Come on!” 

He has already punched one person today, it landed him with a detention and a light scolding from the Headmaster. A repeat incident is certain to be much worse, so he does not make his way to the boy who is calling him like a dog.  

Fortunately, he is not the one who needs to move.  

Unfortunately, the raven’s patience snaps like a worn thread, in a matter of seconds he has a pouting Slytherin boy in his face. By appearances alone, Jaejoong is the least threatening thing he has ever seen, well perhaps second after a puffskein. Logically, he can still recall the ball of magical energy the boy had been toying with, and perhaps it had been harmless, but unknown magic is dangerous magic. 

“Jung Yunho,” Kim Jaejoong’s pale hands rise and cup his face in a very distracting fashion, the touch is mostly gentle but there is a press of a thumb to the back of either side of his jaw, promising pain if he attempts to jerk away, “we have detention, darling, foolish boy. Immediately after supper.” 

The look on Jaejoong’s face is expectant, he is pretty sure, but they are so close together he can feel the air between them being shared, so he might be imagining things. 

Still, he has no idea what detention after supper means in relation to the snake calling after him like a dog. 

“With Hagrid.” 

Yunho doesn’t speak, because he knows for sure the look is expectant now, but his mind is still blank. The puzzle pieces don’t fit, they cannot possibly fit in any sense of reason beyond some twisted logic only Jaejoong understands. 

“Merlin help me,” Jaejoong whispers harshly, removes his hands from Yunho’s face and then promptly turns away, “I am but a simple, humble witch forcibly entrapped within the walls of a magical bootcamp of a boarding school. Please give me the strength to survive the evening without maiming or murdering anybody.... Abracadabra.” 

And then, the boy waves his hand in some strange looping gesture like he’s just cast a spell or something.  

The Gryffindor should be concerned, murdering and maiming were not good things, but all he can focus on... 

“Wizard,” he cannot help but correct. 

Kim Jaejoong whips around to face him again, all flailing limbs that he has to duck to avoid getting clipped in the face by. The mooncalf eyes are large and incredulous, rosy lips parted and his jaw slightly slack as the Slytherin gapes at him. 

“What?” 

“You’re a wizard, Jaejoong,” Yunho mutters, “not a witch.” 

“Oh my god, were you eavesdropping on my private faerie prayer circle?” 

Yunho, honest to goodness, has no idea what in the bloody hell is going on.  

“Erm... you’re like... right next to me. You didn’t even walk away, you just turned around-” 

“Rude. I’ll have you know, I’m a very powerful witch. Sure, I cannot brew potions and I don’t exactly know where my wand is but-” 

“Wizard. You’re male so you’re definitely a wizard, not a witch,” Yunho interrupts, surely even Jaejoong can understand that... 

“Wrong.” 

Well, that is not what he expected. Like, at all. 

In fact, that answer is so far from his expectations that he finds himself taking a step backwards, eyes quickly trailing up and down the Slytherin’s body.  

“You’re a gir-” 

“Jung Yunho if you finish that thought I promise I will transfigure your into a snake and feed it to my owl,” Jaejoong threatens, so perfectly deadpan that he might not be bluffing, “I am male. A very male, very powerful witch... who has had their privacy invaded during a crucial prayer circle...” 

Insane. Insane is what Kim Jaejoong is, too far gone to be saved. 

Somehow, all of this insanity circles back to the other boy calling him like a dog because they have detention with Hagrid after supper... Perhaps all he really needs to do is play Jaejoong’s game. 

“So, detention with Hagrid... after dinner.” 

Jaejoong’s stare is narrowed, suspicious and then the boy shrugs delicately, “oh, right... I was just going to invite you to the kitchens with me for a snack. If we’re working with any of the creatures, trust me, you do not want to show up to detention on a full stomach, blech.” 

“Why wouldn’t you just say that?” Yunho demands, scrubbing his hands over his face. 

“Uh? I did? Are you hard of hearing?” 

----- 

Since Yunho is not hard of hearing, they end up in the kitchens just minutes later.  

It should be an infinitely bad idea, surely the house elves, much less the Hogwarts staff, do not simply permit students to wander in and help themselves to the kitchens, but there they are. 

And there is a distinct lack of animosity once the elves take note of the Slytherin boy. In fact, they seem rather... joyous. As joyous as house elves might have been. 

“Darling!” a female elf calls, and Yunho knows just from the look of her that she is the head of the kitchens, “I’m surprised you’re back so soon, more trouble with your classmates?” 

From where he stands behind Jaejoong he sees the boy tense; his shoulders go stiff and tight and his hands clench. He suspects the boy would have attempted to shush the elf if it wouldn’t have come across as rude which was fascinating. 

So, classmates and even sometimes the unfortunate professor were not spared, but the house elves were?  

“Greta, you know I haven’t any issues,” the Slytherin breathes in a rushed whisper that Yunho knows he wasn’t meant to hear. 

The way Jaejoong jerks his head back to the side where the Gryffindor is standing tells that enough, and then he sees Greta’s eyes widen slightly before her expression turns firm. 

“Students aren’t allowed in the kitchens, Jung Yunho,” Greta scolds, pressing her hands to her tiny hips and looking an awful lot like she might yell- judging by the way every body in the kitchen stills. 

So naturally, he points an accusing finger at Jaejoong’s back and flicks his hand as though it makes the gesture more convincing and not more childish. 

It isn’t his fault he is in the kitchens, he was dragged, literally, there by the hand but the Slytherin who is also a student. Later he might take the time to be concerned she knew his name, but that probably isn’t too weird, right? 

“He’s with me, of course,” Jaejoong interrupts just as Yunho has the sense to fear for his life, “he landed detention trying to defend my honor like a moron.” 

“Hey!” he protests finally, glaring at the snake’s back. 

He wasn’t defending Jaejoong exactly, was he? Not really he was just... Well it was more like he was punishing his housemate for being a jerk really, that was all. 

“Oh, a friend?” Greta sounds different suddenly, her voice softer, and she beams up at him but doesn’t seem to have much more to say except, “Well then, what can I get you boys?” 

Eating in the kitchens is an interesting experience. He gets to watch the house elves put together the dishes they ask for, and even more interesting... he watches as Jaejoong helps them. The boy with obsidian hair slots in right alongside them, chopping this or that, stopping to wash things by hand in the sinks, pulling down items that would have otherwise required a stool or magic. 

More interestingly, Jaejoong knows their names- like all of their names and he recites them with ease. There is even a pair of twin elves that he seems able to tell apart by... well he isn’t sure because they are identical down to the way they are dressed. 

Somehow the boy looks like he naturally belongs in the space, completely comfortable and overly competent unlike when they are in the potions room. 

Yunho, who had been thinking back to the time Junsu and Changmin had been gossiping in the library, had asked the elves if it was possible for them to make kimchi pancakes and Korean barbeque and was delighted for find several dishes slide in front of him within the next forty-five minutes. 

It was an experience he wouldn’t pass up, so he thought nothing of stuffing his face or in delight despite how vulgar such a thing was. 

“This is fantastic,” the Gryffindor murmurs and then his head to the side curiously when Jaejoong slides onto a stool across from him with a basket of curly fries that looked to be covered in shredded cheese, hot sauce and bits of pepper. 

“Thanks, I kind of thought you’d accuse me of trying to poison you,” Jaejoong grins while popping a fry into his mouth. 

Yunho chokes around a bite without meaning to. One hand flew to his mouth and the other thumped against his chest as he coughs harshly. Just as quickly as he begins to choke, the Slytherin is at his side with a hand pressed to his back and a glass of water held in offering with the other. He is grateful, quickly gulping down the water as the burn in his lungs begins to dissipate and the kitchens that had gone eerily still burst back to life like nothing had happened at all. 

“Oooh, you didn’t realize, did you? Wow you’re dense, huh?” 

“You made this?” sure, perhaps he isn’t really helping combat the idea that he is dense but...  

Really? He glances down at the dishes, they had been quite pretty before he had torn into them.  

“Muggle, remember? I don’t exactly have a house elf roommate to take care of me at home, Jung. Which means the elves appreciate that I’m not lazy in the kitchen.” 

Right, right he knew that... 

“It’s really good,” the least he could do was repeat himself, his opinion hasn’t changed because Jaejoong cooked for him. 

Actually, it is quite nice of the Slytherin, isn’t it? Un... Slytherin like, really.  

“I thought you were gonna ask me, honestly,” Jae