It’s Hogsmeade Weekend, the first of the year and it feels like it happens much later in the year than usual. 

However, he’s pretty sure it is placebo effect because they’ve been blessed, or cursed depending who was being asked, with an early snowfall. 

Everything is prettier in the snow, the soft crisp white blankets that glitter in the sun and seem to make the outside world seem farther away.  Everything is quieter, muted by cotton layers and the students tend to scatter and linger inside, camping out in the library and common rooms by the fire. It brings a sense of peace and solitude to Hogwarts that he enjoys. 

Yunho is quite partial to lurking in the towers, staring out onto the pristine grounds. 

Hogsmeade, even in the snow, is bustling and loud, however. Hardly anyone passes up the opportunity to get out, to visit the shops and play around with their friends like there is no some exam lurking menacingly in the near future.  

The roofs of different shops hold onto thin coats of white and so do some bits of untrodden walkways, but most of the white is gone, stomped away to nothing but murky slush under the footsteps of too many shoes. 

Someone bumps their shoulder with his and he doesn’t have to look to know it was Changmin, but he looks anyway, mostly to fix the taller boy with an unwavering stare.  This is their thing, really, they go to Hogsmeade, hang out in their signature trio, humor their schoolmates who drop by to say hello, and Changmin usually snarks at the people who can’t take a hint and linger for too long. 

He’s like a weird, sarcastic attack dog, services rendered to balance the fact that Yunho reaches into his pocket to pay for all of their whims. He would do anyway, and he’s not sure if his friends know that but he isn’t about to tell them and lose out on the service.  

Lately things have been tense anyway, so normalcy even if it is a complete sham is probably his best option.  

Yunho isn’t sure he’s alright, but he doesn’t think he’s not alright, either. His grades are fine, his parents are nagging. It’s just... 

“Where to first?” 

If they let Changmin pick it’ll be Honeydukes, Junsu will want to go to Zonko’s Joke Shop and then he’ll be stuck playing tie breaker because stopping in the bookshop first is apparently boring. 

“Have you guys heard anything about Jaejoong going around?” he asks for what feels like the millionth time. 

Somehow, they claim not to know anything or hear anything which he finds completely ridiculous. Something is going on and it feels like everyone is in on it, everyone is keeping them apart, even their professors. 

Yunho’s come close a couple of times, almost successfully managing to corner the Slytherin, but just before he can actually get his hands on him someone is always there. Someone from his own house intercepts him for something or other and every time he manages to turn back to his original plight Jaejoong is gone. The boy even manages to disappear in the times in which Yunho diverts his eyes for only half a second. 

“This again!” Junsu huffs loudly from his other side, materializing from probably thin air, “Don’t you think you should let it go? I mean obviously that awful snake wants nothing to do with you.” 

He doesn’t growl, because he isn’t an animal, but it is a very near thing, “no. If he wanted that he would like... like break my nose or something, okay? No this... it’s our house always getting in the way, you haven’t noticed?” 

“How would we notice?” Changmin draws, sounding unimpressed, “every time you so much as think you catch a glimpse of him you ditch us for some illogical reason.” 

“Illogical! You two are the ones who refuse to help,” Yunho huffs over the words, tripped up by how angry he is, “Kim Jaejoong is my friend and I can’t so much as look at him without someone trying to stop me.” 

“Changmin and I are your friends, Yunho. That snake? Not a chance.” 

That he doesn’t snap, that he doesn’t round on Junsu and punch him somewhere is something that should be celebrated because his self-restraint is amazing. 

Yunho feels like the snow on the ground, stomped to watery nothingness until he is uselessly seeping away between lines of stone brick.  

When did someone cast a de-aging spell on him? How old is he now that he is apparently unable to decide who he is friends with or not, or who he wants to be friends with, at least?  

“I’m... not going to listen to this,” he snarls, reaching into his pocket and fetching one of the pouches he brought along, he doesn’t even look at either of the other boys as he blindly shoves it against Changmin’s chest, “have a nice day, and leave me alone.” 

He isn’t sure if the pouch hits the ground or not, but he lets go without hesitating as he marches forward, pointedly ignoring the sputtering protects and the way his so-called friends call after him. 

----- 

He stomps around Hogsmeade, literally, for nearly half an hour before he finally calms down. 

Maybe he’s childish, maybe he is petty, but he doesn’t care. 

Changmin and Junsu didn’t follow him and while maybe he should be bitter about it, he decides he is glad they did as he told them. 

Yunho have been feeling strange lately, but they've been acting weird, he thinks. 

“Who is that man?” 

“Oh my god, I knew it!" 

“What a .” 

“Think we can report him for this, too?” 

He’s not even sure why the words catch his attention, but he slows to a stop as the words latch onto him. 

A group of four girls are gathered, lurking by a window. He knows they go to his school but without their house colours he has no idea who they are. Two of them have Hogwarts crests pinned to their bags, though. 

It takes, almost too long, for Yunho to even realize where he is. 

Even with a coat of fluffy snow coating the peak roofs everything about the building looks unfriendly, dingy. 

Then again, they say only the unsavory actually go to the Hog’s Head Inn to drink and conduct shady business. Students aren’t allowed, so he wonders what the girls are even doing there before he sees it himself. 

Through the dingy window Yunho sees him. 

Seated inside at a small table sits Kim Jaejoong, across from a man with shaggy dark hair and an even shaggier looking oversized flannel. The man’s back is to them, but it’s easy to tell he is much older than the doe eyed boy across from him. 

Just as he is about to move closer, despite meaning he would be plastering himself into the group of girls, a bell sounds off and the door of the pub creaks something terrible. 

The man who steps out is old and grey and scowling, waving an old dingy dishtowel at the group of lurking students, “oh with ya! Get out of here!” 

The girls shriek horribly and scatter and the old man fixes his stare on Yunho, angry looking for a moment before fixing into something blank. He’s not sure if the man is meant to be intimidating or not, but Yunho merely his head slightly to the side and raises an eyebrow as if to say ‘and what are you going to go about me standing here?’ 

The man scowls even harder, but Yunho could swear the corner of his mouth quirks upwards as he turns away and disappears back inside. 

He only waits for a moment, long enough to pull the heavy hood of his cloak up and to snatch a newspaper from the hands of someone wandering by who snarls a ‘hey!’ at him before he slips inside of the crusty tavern.  

----- 

He doesn’t manage to slip by the old man, who seems hawk eyed on him suddenly, expression bland as he tracks Yunho to where he settles in a semi-darkened windowless corner. 

He suspects the old man knows who he is watching, too and Yunho finds it regretful the space doesn’t give him much more vantage point. He can kind of see the profile of the man creeping on Jaejoong, but not very well. But he needs to watch, needs to see before he runs off to bring in... well he isn’t sure who, the headmaster, perhaps? Or Professor Lupin, actually. Surely the old man at the tavern will be useless seeing as he is letting it happen. 

Quietly he lifts the paper up shielding himself with it. 

“You’re breaking poor Remus’ heart, you daft boy,” someone is scolding, hearing the name of one of his- their professor gives him pause, though. 

“Oh? The snarly puppy has a heart does he? And here- hey! Ouch!” 

The newspaper crinkles as he moves it, too quickly in time to catch a retreating hand and Kim Jaejoong rubbing the back of his head where he had probably just been clubbed in the head.  Yunho nearly leaps to his feet with a shout, but he refrains. Jaejoong doesn’t actually look distressed, actually, there’s the smallest hint of a smaller. 

“Whose taught you tact and secret keeping? They’ve failed miserably at it,” the man grunts, “You’re lucky this is a safe space, boy or you’d cause a lot of trouble for my husband and I.” 

“I-” 

“Ah-ah, save it. We’ve always wanted kids, Remus especially. As you can imagine despite all of our trying it’s never come to fruition,” there is a hearty laugh at that, one that grows in volume when Jaejoong’s face scrunches up as though he’d just smelled something rotten. 

“You’ve ruined it, Sirius. I’ll never be able to call you Papa now, not with that thought in my head,” Jaejoong scowls, making a retching noise, “I don’t want to imagine you , much less with- oh dear god make it stop.” 

The old man behind the bar snorts in amusement, shaking his head slowly as Jaejoong presses his hands over his eyes and shakes his head. 

“I’d offer you my fire whiskey, but...” 

“You don’t want to die, right? Lame. You’re already in trouble, I’m telling,” the Slytherin threatens finally peeling his hands from his face, his expression torn between murderous and uncomfortable, when he speaks next it’s with an over-the-top British accent, “’How was your first school trip to Hogsmeade my boy?’ Oh, it was fine, Remus, I met up with my other gay wizard dad like you suggested! He told me all about your lives which is why I won’t be sleeping for the next... what’s wrong with your face? Why do you look like that? Stop it.”  

Like what? Yunho almost shouts it out loud, but instead he turns his head sharply to get a look at the man, Sirius’ face. He looks strangely choked up. 

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter