Letter

“Brian! Brian! Hey! Wake up!”

The lump under the bedsheets moved a bit, releasing a small groan as it became smaller. The older boy jumped up on the bed as he continued screaming.

“Brian!”

Another groan, “Jaehyung hyung, it's so early.”

The older, Jaehyung, sat down and threw the bedsheet off from the younger, beaming, “But you're going to Hogwarts today! I've got your letter!”

Still sleepy, Brian snatched the letter from his best friend's hand. He opened it and, compared to Jaehyung, unenthusiastically pulled the folded paper out. He unfolded it then rubbed his right eye as he read. And then his eyes closed.

“Brian! Wake up! What time did you even go to bed last night?” Jaehyung screams again.

“I just went to bed two hours ago…” Brian mumbled.

Jaehyung scoffed, “I would have hexed you but we're not allowed to do magic outside school so get up already.”

Brian groaned out loud as he let Jaehyung pull him from his bed. His bedsheets fell on the ground with him as they were entangled on his feet. He fell to the ground with a thump and a pain on his hip but he kept his eyes closed, still letting Jaehyung pull him by his hand. He untangled his bedsheets from him first and fixed his bed for him. Then he resumed his mission to drag Brian to the kitchen where his parents are waiting, excited as well.

“Eommeonim, Abeonim! Brian won't wake up!” Jaehyung reports as he enters the kitchen with Brian on the now clean floor.

“Oh, Brian, come on. Stand up! It's the day!” his mom chuckled.

“Brian, you know your mom and I can do spells, right — “

“I'm up!” Brian stood up and closed his eyes when his surroundings spun.

His mother chuckled at him as she put bacon and fried chicken on his and Jaehyung's plate. Brian sits down on his chair and looks at Jaehyung with squinted eyes.

“Why are you here?” he asks.

“Oh, don't be rude. We invited him for breakfast. He'll come with us to Diagon Alley and help you buy your equipment,” his dad says as he reads from the Daily Prophet, his other hand used for drinking tea.

Brian hums loudly as he thinks about what he'll buy. He took the letter again and looked at the list of his equipment. The only things that caught his interest were a wand and a pet to bring to Hogwarts. If he remembers correctly, Jaehyung brought a cat with him and named him Jaedong.

Jaehyung is a half-blood wizard whom Brian knew since he learned how to walk. Their families were close friends as they go way back to their school days in Hogwarts as well. Jaehyung's father was a Gryffindor. Brian, on the other hand, is a pureblood. His dad was a Ravenclaw, and his mother a Gryffindor.

Jaehyung had told Brian stories right when he came back from Hogwarts after his first year. Everything from the sorting ceremony to the secret passageways he had found while roaming the school grounds during his free time. He had waited for them to get to Brian's room before Jaehyung discussed all the passageways. Brian wasn't excited, nor did he get excited even when Jaehyung was telling him all those stories. It's not that he didn't like magic. It's more like he's too lazy.

He knows magic will make everything much easier for him, like getting himself a glass of water whenever he fails to get up from his bed after counting to three. But still, even when he already saw the train to Hogwarts and the pictures of the castle from his parents' photo album, he doesn't get any excited. He had tried to get himself excited by borrowing his dad's book of spells and learn some before going to Hogwarts. He had learned several spells but still, he wasn't excited. If ever, he felt even lazier now that he learned he has to buy his equipment now.

At least, he was excited to have his wand and pet. He once found his mother's wand laying around the living room and he had decided to use it. He had swished and flung it around and wreaked havoc in the end. His mother seriously considered not letting him go to Hogwarts. His father had just told him he would learn to use and control his magic when he gets to Hogwarts. As Brian was getting scolded by his mother at that time, he gave an unenthusiastic response to his father.

After breakfast, they, together with Jaehyung, went to Diagon Alley. They had first gone to buy his required books. Brian was already exhausted just by looking at the books they'd bought. His mother, already knowing him to the core, suggested buying some snacks and have Brian try some. His father had deadpanned that they can't stop for food every after coming out of a store. Brian had only nodded as he carefully opened a box of chocolate frog. Jaehyung once mentioned they jump when the box is opened.

They went to get him a pet after. They entered a shop and Brian looked around at the three kinds of animals that he sees — cats, toads, and owls. They let him roam around and choose what he wants, while Jaehyung tried to play with the cats, caress the owls' feathers or beaks, and poke at the toads to make them jump. Brian frowned, blinking a couple of times as he spun around, still looking at each animal.

He turned a full 180 and stopped to stare at an owl. A small owl. He slowly walked towards it and the owl tilted its head to him, wings twitching at its sides. It blinked back at him. It was a black owl with small white pecks. It wasn't totally black, more like a very dark gray. Its eyes were yellow, like the other owls. But what caught Younghyun's attention was its feathers. It looked some sort of like the night sky, the white pecks as the stars and its eyes as the moon. The owl called to him and as soon as he heard that sci-fi-like sound, he turned to his parents and pointed at it.

His mother smiled and told the owner that they'd buy the screech owl. The owner put it on a cage after his father paid for it. Brian carried the cage. Jaehyung walked alongside him as they follow Brian's parents around Diagon Alley. They had one last stop. Jaehyung stares at the owl inside the cage that Brian was carrying by his chest. The owl was looking around, eyes wide.

“Why an owl?” Jaehyung questions.

Brian simply shrugged, “Why a cat?”

Jaehyung squints his eyes at him and ignores his comeback. They enter another shop and Jaehyung offered to carry the cage when Brian's dad called for him. Brian went to the counter and pulled himself up a bit, tiptoeing as he did. The old man with white hair smiled at him before walking to the back. He frowned and looked up at his parents who stared at where the old man had disappeared. The old man comes back a second later with a small, rectangular box in his hands.

He put it on the counter and opened it. He took the stick and hands it to Brian. Brian's eyes shone and took it, swishing it a bit. He and Jaehyung jumped when an explosion occurred on the back of the shop. Brian put the wand back in the box. The old man frowned and took another box. With this one, as soon as Brian held it, it looked like he was the one being controlled. His father took it from him while his mother helped him maintain his balance. Jaehyung laughed at him.

The next wand chose him. He felt his magic surge through his veins and it was as if a light shone down upon him. Jaehyung had looked at him with his mouth in an 'o' shape. Brian only stared at the wand, blinking. Still, it didn't excite him. What he wants to do now, however, was play with that owl he got. He was more interested in it than going to Hogwarts. Brian managed to convince his parents to get food before they go home.

---

 

Express

The next day, Jaehyung had woken him up again, telling him they were going to Hogwarts then. Brian was confused. He thought they go to Hogwarts on September 1 and, to his surprise, it was the first of September. He had confirmed that he has no sense of date when it's vacation. He thought it was just July or August. He got up from his bed at the voice of his mom calling him to get ready already and eat breakfast. He pats his owl, which he named Bbirong yesterday, on its head before taking a shower.

He ate breakfast with Jaehyung again that morning and went off to the train station. Brian still wasn't excited. Jaehyung was still more excited than him. The older was excited to go back, he didn't know why. He followed Jaehyung into the Platform 9 ¾, his parents following suit. He winced when the train honked. He was even more unenthusiastic now when he saw the crowd. He likes having new friends but today, he wasn't in the mood. He didn't know why. Maybe because he remembered that Bbirong was going to be with his luggage instead of with him on the train.

He let Jaehyung give their luggage to one of the conductors who was throwing the luggage to the train's compartment. At least, he was careful with Bbirong's cage. He said goodbye to his parents who were happy to send them off. Brian let Jaehyung pull him into the train and followed him around the train to find a cabin to sit in. Jaehyung suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway to turn to him and glare.

“What?” Brian asked.

“This is your fault,” Jaehyung mumbled as he continued walking, looking at every cabin, only to scowl when he saw it full. “You move like a snail, Brian. Now look, we don't have anything else to sit in.”

Brian only rolled his eyes and turned his head to his right. He stopped and grabbed Jaehyung's collar, stopping him from walking further ahead. Jaehyung choked and slapped his hand off his collar.

“What!” he spat.

Brian jutted his thumb to the cabin, “There's only this guy in here.”

Jaehyung looked and blinked before sliding the door to the side and sending a smile at the boy when he looked at them, “Hey, can we sit here? Everywhere else is full.”

“Sure, go ahead!” he replies with a small smile.

Jaehyung enters and sits by the door, leaving Brian to sit across the boy. Brian looked out to the window as soon as he sat down. He watched the trees pass by backward.

“I'm Park Jaehyung. Second-year. Are you a first-year?” Jaehyung sparks up a conversation with the boy.

The boy nods, “Yes. You're a Ravenclaw?”

Jaehyung smiled and proudly sat up straight to show his house's emblem, “Yep! This is Kang Brian — oh, call him Younghyun, though.”

Brian can see the boy look at him, that small smile still on his face. Jaehyung slaps his arm, “Yah!”

Brian rubs his arm with a scowl and looks at the boy and stops. He had never seen a pair of eyes so sparkly and bright. And round and cute. He stares with a frown, wondering why he thought he saw Bbirong in the boy's eyes. He tears his eyes away from the boy's when the other's orbs hid away as the boy grins.

“I'm Park Sungjin!” the boy says happily.

Brian blinked and that seemed to bring his senses back. He found his voice to speak, “Kang Younghyun.” — and you have a beautiful face —

“Why are you mad?” the boy, Sungjin, asks with a small frown.

Brian grins then, an involuntary attempt to make him smile again, “I'm not mad.”

“Oh,” Sungjin giggles boyishly, and — that was freaking cute. “I thought you're mad. Why are you scowling?”

Brian looks back out to the window, his grin widening at an impossible length as he bit down on his lip to prevent it from spreading even more. He shook his head.

“You look handsome when you smile. You should smile more!” Sungjin says.

Brian went brain dead and had a heart attack at the same time, the result his laughter. He ran a hand through his hair as he felt his ears burn.

“I was just… I…,” Brian trailed.

“Are you nervous? What are you to be nervous about, though? You didn't even seem excited when you came out from the wall,” Sungjin says.

Brian snaps his head back to him, “What?”

“I saw you and Jaehyung come out from the wall. I think it was your parents that came after. You were sad and scowling,” Sungjin explained. “Why? Is it because you're being separated from your family?”

“No — “ Brian can't help but laugh.

Sungjin was so cute as he speaks, his hands were moving so animatedly, pointing at him at times. His eyes were sparkling, too, and the smile never left his lips. Brian leaned back as he cradled his head, This is bad. Sungjin giggles again at him before swinging his feet as they dangle off the floor. This is so bad.

Brian sighed before leaning to the wall and putting his feet up to the seat. He just noticed that Jaehyung was gone and that he had left him alone to deal with this cute boy. Brian instantly frowns when he figured Jaehyung had left. Another giggle caught his attention and he looked at Sungjin.

“He left after introducing you,” Sungjin says. “You're even — yah, are you with me?”

Brian can feel his grin return and his cheeks were seriously starting to hurt. Sungjin laughed out loud.

“Yah, you can't just smile at me! Talk to me, I'm interested in you,” Sungjin copied his posture, feet still moving side to side. “Tell me something about yourself.”

Brian just stared at him, grinning like someone crazy. Sungjin was only curious why Brian was now smiling like he was out of his mind when earlier, he was scowling. Sungjin kinda wants him to stop smiling already and go back to scowling because he wants to see his eyes. His eyes looked so fierce and yet, they disappear whenever Brian grins. Also, he was really ravishing.

Sungjin frowned slowly then. Brian had ceased to talk and was just staring at him. Now he felt self-conscious. Was there something on his face? Is that why Brian kept on laughing? He contemplated wiping his face because Brian could laugh at him more if ever he does have something on his face and he'd smear it all over. So he just frowned.

Brian blinked and then his grin was gone like he didn't just show his canines a second before. There was no trace of him grinning then. Sungjin tilted his head, starting to think that this Brian guy was weird.

“I-I'm sorry, what was that?” Brian asked.

Sungjin frowned deeper.

“Sorry, I just thought you're so cute, I get distracted — what did you say again?” Brian sat up, putting his feet down from the seat and leaning forward to him, now about to listen attentively.

Sungjin processed his words and he can feel his face burn but he let the smile bloom on his face again, “I said, tell me something about you. I'm interested.”

“Oh — “

The door opened then. Great, Sungjin, and even Brian, thought. Jaehyung now stood by the door, with two boys behind him. He pushed them in.

“I have collected two more first-years. We're going to be arriving soon, wear your robes,” Jaehyung says.

“Yah, why are you collecting first-years?” Brian spoke up at the two boys sat timidly with them.

Sungjin giggles on the side, Brian gives him a grin when he glanced at him.

“For you to have friends, you ungrateful being,” Jaehyung retorts before leaving and closing the door.

Sungjin chuckles and greets the two new boys. The slim one bowed a bit at him and introduces himself as Mark Tuan. The other who had chubby cheeks like Sungjin, the one beside Brian, introduced himself as Min Yoongi. They followed Jaehyung's advice and wore their robes. Brian finds it heavy as he looks down at himself. Sungjin giggles again.

“Why are your robes so long?” Sungjin questions.

“Yah, you can't even see your hands anymore,” Yoongi chuckled as he pulled at his sleeve a bit, stepping back to look at him up and down.

Mark grinned widely, “Don't trip while you walk. I heard we're taking a boat to get to the castle.”

Sungjin smiled and stood beside Brian as the train stops, “You can hold onto me if you feel like you're going to fall.”

Brian grinned again. The doors opened and they stepped out, him and Sungjin suddenly leading the group of first-years towards a man — a giant who was holding a lamp. They looked up at him.

“Wah!” Brian can't help but whisper.

The giant chuckles and identifies himself as Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. He asked them to follow him and led them to a dock where there were a couple of boats floating on the water. Hagrid helped them get on the boats before they sailed to Hogwarts.

As they sat on the boat, Brian looked at Sungjin. His eyes were even more sparkly now as they reflected the lights while he stared at the castle in awe. Mark had a small smile on his lips. Yoongi's face was neutral but his eyes held a bit of excitement. Brian looked back at Sungjin and grinned back when he saw the other now grinning at him. They arrive at the shore and again, followed Hagrid to the castle.

Once inside, they followed the stairs. They soon meet a woman with glasses and a pointy hat who stood in front of large doors. She introduced the four houses and Brian wondered what house he will be sorted into. Jaehyung was in Ravenclaw, Brian wondered about how he got in there too. He thought Ravenclaws would be quiet since they possess intelligence — alright, Jaehyung holds quite an IQ.

He's intelligent enough to debate with people, sometimes with adults, about various topics. But even then, he was quite far from being quiet. He heard a couple of shrieks from the back of the crowd and he looked back. An old man was standing there, scowling down at the kids on the back. He has a cat on his shoulder that meowed at the kids. The female professor returned, greeting the old man and addressing him as Filch.

“Professor,” he gruffly replied.

McGonagall looks at them again, “We're ready for you now.”

The giant doors opened, revealing what they know as the Great Hall. They walked down the middle aisle and on the far-right table, Brian saw Jaehyung grinning excitedly at him. Brian rolled his eyes and then felt a nudge on his arm.

“Cheer up already, will you?” Sungjin chuckled.

Brian was certain Sungjin would be sorted into Hufflepuff. Speaking of, the first one on the list was Sungjin. He smiled at him before going up the platform, eyes still sparkling. He sat on the stool with a small smile. McGonagall puts the Sorting Hat on his head and the Hat screams.

“Hufflepuff!”

Brian grinned when Sungjin looked at him before jumping off the stool and going to his house table. Next was a boy named Tyrus Adler and, too, was sorted into Hufflepuff. He saw Sungjin hi-five him and Brian snaps his head back to the front when his name was called. He goes up, glances at Jaehyung who was now smiling at him and sits down on the stool. He felt the Hat on his head. It was silently humming to himself for a second before —

“Gryffindor!”

Brian forced a smile and went to the table that rejoiced. He wanted to be with at least either Jaehyung or Sungjin, someone he knows. He still wasn't in the mood to talk to others. He felt someone poke his back and he craned his head to see the same pair of eyes he found himself staring at all day.

“Frowning doesn't suit you, Brian,” Sungjin says.

Usually, Brian would get upset at anyone who called him Brian, ironically. He had told off Jaehyung countless times but he eventually gave up since Jaehyung didn't seem like he'd stop calling him Brian any time soon. But with Sungjin, Brian thinks he'd like whatever name he calls him.

“Oh, right, Jaehyung said I should call you Younghyun, sorry,” Sungjin adds.

Brian chuckled, “It's alright.”

“Bri,” Sungjin mutters as he stares at him. “Younghyun… Kang… Kang Bri — Kang Bra!”

Brian blinked.

“I'll call you Kang Bra,” Sungjin declared.

Brian grinned lopsidedly at him, “Does that have any piece of Younghyun?”

Sungjin huffs and looks at their fellow first-years as they get sorted, “I will still call you Kang Bra.”

Brian only chuckled again before watching the sorting ceremony as well. After two more students, Mark was called. Brian just knows the boy would be in Raven —

“Ravenclaw!”

Yep. At least Jaehyung has someone he knows now. Although, from his stories, Brian knows he already knows a lot of people in Hogwarts, even from the seventh-year students. After Mark was Yoongi. Brian thought he'd be in Ravenclaw too but to his surprise, Yoongi was sorted into Slytherin. Brian had heard, sometimes read, that Slytherins are all bad. The house itself has a bad reputation, and that they have a not-so-good relationship with Gryffindors. But since Yoongi was sorted into Slytherin, he decides they're not that bad.

Brian liked Hogwarts more as soon as the food appeared in front of them. The table was full of food and he was ready to get knocked out from eating so much. Unfortunately, he didn't. Dinner was over before he knew it. The guy beside him chuckled at him.

“I thought you're gonna wolf down everything. Take it easy,” he says.

Brian smiles abashedly as he puts his last chicken bone on his plate.

“I'm Kim Seokjin. Second-year,” he says.

Brian also introduces himself.

Seokjin looks back, Brian looks over as well and frowned when he thought he was looking at Sungjin. Seokjin looked back at him.

“You'll still get to hang out with your friends even if they're from the other houses, so don't worry about it,” Seokjin says.

Well, that cheered Brian even a little bit.

“Us Gryffindors have an ongoing rivalry with Slytherin,” Seokjin adds.

Oh, now he was talking about Yoongi, and Brian racks his brain for spells to use at him if ever he bad-mouthed his friend.

“But I think that's rubbish. You get to choose your friends, you can totally disregard that 'rivalry'. But I just want to warn you that students from either house can hate you,” Seokjin says. “I think that Yoongi wouldn't care. Slytherins are cunning but they're true if you get to be friends with one of them.”

Brian smiles again, “I'll keep it in mind, thanks.”

---

 

Erised

Brian stares awake in his dorm, sitting by the window as he stares at the moon. The night goes on deeper every second, and yet Brian doesn't seem to be getting any drop of drowsiness. He leaned back on the stone-cold wall and pulled his knees to his chest. He hears a shuffle and then a head pops from under the bedsheets.

“Younghyun? What are you doing up?” Seokjin croaks out as he sits up. “We got class tomorrow.”

Brian sighed, “I know, but I'm not sleepy yet.”

Seokjin sighs and gets off his bed. He plops down on the solo couch near the window and looks up at the younger one who was still staring out, face softly illuminated by the moonlight. Seokjin knows he's lying because Brian might have fallen asleep right there on the window but he keeps himself awake, for some reason.

“Are you sure? Or are you just sad you didn't get to talk or see Sungjin before the night ends?” Seokjin raised a brow when Brian snapped his head to him, surprised.

“What?” Brian was now awake again. “What — What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. You're scowling again,” Seokjin rolled his eyes as he stood up. “Come on. Follow me.”

“Where are we going? It's night and Filch might catch us roaming the castle — “

“He will if you don't stay quiet while we walk around,” Seokjin gives him a look.

Brian closed his mouth and followed the older down to the common room and out of their dormitory.

“I heard Yoongi telling Sungjin to meet at this time,” Seokjin whispers as they snuck around. Brian follows closely. “Sungjin told those two Ravenclaws. I guess they're supposed to let you know too but they didn't catch you at some point — “

Seokjin suddenly stops and pushes him back to the wall as he pressed his back against it. Filch walks past the hallway they were in, grumbling something under his breath as he carried his cat who Brian heard was named Mrs. Norris. They watched Filch turn the corner into another hallway and Seokjin leads the way again.

“Oh, Seokjin, Kang Bra! Yah!” they heard a whisper from the dark.

Brian turns and darts his eyes around, “Sungjin?”

Seokjin leads him into the dark, which he now recognized as a room. An empty room, of some sort. He sees the rest of his new friends there, Jaehyung leaning with his arm on Mark's shoulder. Yoongi had his arms crossed and Sungjin — well, even with the dark, he can see the boy grinning brightly at him.

“Oh, and hey! I just figured I'm older than you,” Sungjin punches Brian gently on his shoulder. “Jaehyung said.”

“He's a January baby,” Jaehyung says.

“Oh, so you're my hyung,” Brian blinked.

Sungjin smirked and gave him a wink, “Yep.”

Brian thanks the dark because he can feel his face burn. Yoongi chuckles at him and leads them to the side of the room, where a tall, dusty mirror stood. Carved on the top, in an arch, was read 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'. Brian scratched his head. Mark stares at the inscription before pushing Brian to step in front of it until he sees his reflection. He earns a punch on the shoulder from Sungjin.

“You can speak, can't you?” Sungjin said.

Mark only looked at him and ignores him, bringing his attention back to Brian who now stared at his reflection, “What do you see?”

Brian blinks a few times as slowly, a figure appeared behind him. Sungjin was grinning happily at him, eyes were hidden as he does. Two arms wrapped around him and he whipped his head back. The other four stared at him, Sungjin with worry suddenly in his eyes. But they stood quite distant from him. Brian looks back at the mirror and Sungjin was still there, embracing him.

He furrowed his brows and tilted his head in confusion. Brian turns around to face them, lips parted as he now breathed heavily. He was getting hot and he can feel his heart race in his chest. He swallowed and looked at the mirror once again. He fears the others can see it as well — if Sungjin can see it as well. He bit down on his lip.

“Do you see… Sungjin?” Yoongi muttered quietly and Brian froze, eyes widening. Can he see?

“Me? Why me?” Sungjin frowns curiously.

“No, I — “ Brian thinks. “I see myself as an… Auror?”

Jaehyung hums and pushes him aside, “Okay, step aside. I see… mate, I just see myself laughing hysterically.”

Mark rolled his eyes, “Let me. I see… I see all of you smiling.”

Seokjin looks down on the ground.

Yoongi steps up when Sungjin told him to, and simply says, “I'm an Auror.”

Jaehyung pulls at Sungjin and makes him stand in front of the mirror. The boy blinks slowly as a figure appears just as slowly. Then he points to the side.

“Younghyun?” Mark asks.

“I see you grinning widely,” Sungjin says as he stares at the mirror. “You look so happy.”

Brian frowned and then looks at Seokjin and calls out to him, “Seokjin hyung?”

The older stops and looks back at him in question.

“Where are you going?” Yoongi asked.

“Back to the dorms. I just brought Younghyun to you,” he replied.

Yoongi scoffed, “Why? Stay, we're not done yet. If we get in trouble, we get in trouble together.”

Seokjin blinks, “Oh, okay…”

“Hey, go look at the mirror!” Sungjin beams. “Tell us what you see!”

Seokjin blinks again and obeys. He stands in front of it and watches the other boys appear beside him. And his reflection was smiling, laughing happily. A few more people, fourteen, to be exact, appeared but they were faceless. They were faceless yet they were smiling too. They were surrounding him, smiling and laughing with him. His vision blurs and he blinks the tears away before telling the others what he saw.

Jaehyung hummed, “So what does this mirror say?”

Mark reads at the inscription again, smiling a bit, before turning around, “Let's go, it's probably just nothing. Maybe it's the future. Whatever, let's go. We have classes tomorrow.”

The others followed him. But before Brian can walk, Sungjin grabbed his arm. His skin burned under the older's touch and he looks at him.

“Sungjin? Hyung?” Brian shook his head.

Sungjin smiles a bit and then frowns again, “You were lying.”

“Huh?” Brian tilted his head.

“What did you see? You were lying, you didn't see yourself as an Auror, did you?” Sungjin accuses.

Brian's mouth parted a bit, “Did you see?”

“No,” Sungjin shook his head, his hair moving along cutely. His round eyes blinked and Brian gasped.

“Night sky!” he breathed.

Sungjin blinked again, “What? Did you see a night sky? Why would you see a night sky?”

“No, no, no,” Brian waved his hand dismissively. “It's not that. It's nothing.”

“Hm, so what did you see?” Sungjin asked again.

Brian decides to tell him the truth. His voice came out ever so softly, “You.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You were with me. Just… smiling,” Brian says, nodding a bit, lies just a bit more.

Sungjin blinked twice, humming loudly, “Okay. I don't know what this mirror does but okay. At least you told me the truth. Let's go.”

Sungjin beams again and grabs his wrist to sprint out of the room, following their other friends. As they left, a man emerged from the shadows.

“Ah, young love. So early. They'd just met, and yet!” he declares in a soft voice. “They already see each other!”

A cat meows beside him and he looks down at it silently. It stands up and transforms into a lady.

“You should really stop spying on the students, Professor. You should reprimand them and — “

“Oh, but Professor!” Dumbledore cuts. “I never told you off that one time when you saw Potter and his friends transforming into their animagus in the Quidditch Pitch.”

McGonagall looks at him sternly, “Well, if you must know, that was entertaining. You know about it, that means you watched Potter and Black pretend-fight each other too.”

“Yes. Ah, and quite a swing Potter did with his horns to push Black away, wasn't it?” Dumbledore reminisced. “But are you saying this isn't entertaining?”

“I wouldn't deny it. That Tuan is witty enough to figure out what the mirror does.”

Meanwhile, Sungjin goes with Seokjin and Brian to the Gryffindor Tower. They had first set off Yoongi to the Dungeons. They had planned on sending off Sungjin next since he was alone from his house too, but Sungjin managed to convince them to head to the Ravenclaw Tower first. Brian had tried to win against him and convince him to go back to his dorms already but Brian should have known he's grown to be weak for the older's eyes.

So here Sungjin is, sending them off to the Gryffindor Tower. Seokjin entered first, giving them some more alone time. They'd been alone at the back of their group while they were walking Yoongi to the Dungeons. He had become friends with Yoongi on the way and he was glad the Slytherin was a whole lot different from the other students of the house. Mark and Jaehyung were leading the way, talking hushedly to each other as they walked. Seokjin just knows those two will be attached at the hip.

Brian glares at Sungjin who just grins at him, “You better not get caught by Filch and get yourself a detention first day, hyung.”

Sungjin giggled and nodded, “Alright, alright. I know it already. Go inside.”

He pushed Brian to get him in the Gryffindor common room but Brian grabbed onto the frame of the entrance.

“I better see you at Transfiguration tomorrow all smiley and — “

“Yes, yes! Now, go inside,” Sungjin laughs a bit. “Yah, The Fat Lady is going to get mad. She might wake up the other paintings and we both know that would end with us both in detention.”

“At least I'm with you — “

“Kang Bra, go in. I'll be careful, I promise,” Sungjin says, giving him the last push and then closing the door before sprinting off to his dorms.

Brian blinks at the now-closed door and then sighs to himself. He turns around and grins comically when Seokjin stared at him for a second and then pretended to snore. “Hyung.”

Seokjin wakes up and stands up from the couch, “Oh, are you done flirting? I thought it'll take you until morning.”

Brian laughed softly, “What do you mean flirting? Let's just go to bed.”

Seokjin smiled at him as they took the stairs to their dorm. They enter their room and Seokjin instantly plops down on his bed. Brian slips in under his sheets quietly. He faces the window, since he was next to it, and stares.

“Night sky. That's why I thought I saw Bbirong in his eyes when I first saw him. His eyes were like the night sky,” Brian whispers to himself as he slowly lets himself be enveloped in sleep.

In the Ravenclaw dorms, Jaehyung was lying down on his side, facing Mark, “So, did you figure it out already?”

Mark hummed affirmatively.

“Tell me then,” Jaehyung demands.

“Don't tell anyone. Especially those two, Sungjin hyung and Younghyun,” Mark says.

“Why? Okay, but why?” Jaehyung questioned.

Mark sighed, “The mirror shows us what we desire. What we want. What we really want. Something that even we don't know we want.”

Jaehyung blinks, “So that means Yoongi wants to be an Auror. I want to be happy. You want us to be happy. Seokjin wants friends? Sungjin wants Brian to be happy and Brian wants to be an Auror too.”

“No, Younghyun was lying. I had a feeling he was,” Mark stares at the ceiling of his four-poster. “Maybe he saw Sungjin hyung too. He looked scared, I think he was scared whether we can see what he sees.”

“Sungjin? Why Sungjin?”

“The mirror shows us what we desire. Do you see how Younghyun looks at Sungjin hyung? If he likes him, then Sungjin hyung might appear in the mirror for him,” Mark explains.

“Oh. Oh, that's why they can't know what the mirror does.”

Mark nods at him.

“I have acquired a piece of new information. Thank you, Mark.”

---

 

London

Their first year had ended in a blur. They were now on their way back to London via the Hogwarts train. Brian had lost his friends in the crowd since he said goodbye to Hagrid. He was one of the last who boarded in. He had tried looking for his friends on the train but he got lazy so when he found an empty cabin, he settled inside. He had been looking out of the window for a few minutes before the food trolley rolled across his cabin.

He bought a few snacks. He'd brought some money with him and he spent it all on the snacks. He was in the middle of carefully opening a chocolate frog box when the cabin door slammed open. He jumped, followed by the chocolate frog when he accidentally opened the box. He blinked a couple of times before looking up and seeing an already familiar and favorite smiling face. He instantly smiled as well.

“Careful,” Sungjin had caught the frog and hands it back to him.

Brian rolled his eyes, “Thanks, but you could have just opened the door like a normal person, you know. You didn't have to do it like the madman that you are, you didn't need to let everyone know.”

Sungjin grins and sits across him. He looked at all the snacks Brian still has left and chuckled, “I'm surprised you didn't buy the whole trolley.”

“Oh, shut up. You can just tell me you want some. Here,” Brian hands him Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans box.

“Another chocolate frog would be fine,” muttered Sungjin.

“But you also like Every Flavor Beans, right?” Brian raised a brow.

“Yes, but — “

“Then here,” Brian pushed the box to his chest, forcing Sungjin to take it.

“But this is the only box you have,” Sungjin points out, Brian waves him away.

The door opens again, calmly this time. Their other friends showed up.

“So this is where you two are,” Jaehyung says as he enters. He pulls Sungjin up from his seat and pushes him to the other.

Sungjin blinks around before gently pushing Brian's snacks to him and sitting beside them. Yoongi sat on the small space left on his other side. Jaehyung sat across Brian, Mark beside him, and then Seokjin. The number of Brian's snacks dropped dramatically as they all asked for at least one snack. Brian was already frowning by the time it had all disappeared, all eaten up. Sungjin was now next to him, giving more space for Yoongi.

They were all conversing with each other, while Brian was sulking in the corner. He hates to admit it but he liked it better when he was just alone, or when he was with Sungjin. First, he can solo the snacks, and second, he can share them with a friend, not friends. He knew his snacks would vanish just like that as soon as he saw Jaehyung standing by the entrance to his cabin. Yoongi pointed out that Brian was now pouting.

“I'll buy you some if the trolley comes back, don't worry!” Sungjin laughs, nudging him by his arm.

“I am going to hex you,” Brian sneers at Jaehyung who only laughed. “I am willing to get myself expelled from school, I want my snacks back, you took everything.”

“Sungjin hyung said he'll buy you some!” Mark grins.

“I don't want that!” Brian retorts and instantly rewords it when Sungjin frowned. “I mean, I don't want you buying me some — Jaehyung hyung took a lot the most, you should buy it back!”

“Oh, come on, Sungjin already proposed,” Jaehyung argues.

“Sungjin's gonna be sad now,” Seokjin speaks. “You wouldn't want to make a Hufflepuff sad, do you?”

Brian stops and slowly transfers his gaze to Seokjin to glare. Seokjin laughs at him. Sungjin springs up from his spot as soon as he saw the trolley pass by again. He buys quite a number and separates them into the Brian portion and the others portion. Yoongi only chuckled in disbelief at what he was witnessing. Jaehyung leans to Mark to whisper as he on a sugar quill.

“So the Mirror was right,” he says. “Sungjin does want Brian to be happy. Look.”

He nods at the satisfied look on Sungjin's face as he watched Brian eat away with a delight on his face.

Mark hummed, “I told you.”

“Man, I would do anything to give up Brian to him,” Jaehyung adds.

“Haven't you already? Besides, I think you don't have to give him up. He won't leave you just like that. And he was never yours, to start with,” Mark says.

Jaehyung squints his eyes at him, “Yes, but he was my best friend before he would be Sungjin's man. He was my best man.”

“A point. But a best man doesn't leave,” Mark looks away from Sungjin and Brian to look at Jaehyung who stared at them with a soft look on his face.

“I know,” Jaehyung smiled a bit.

And suddenly, Seokjin spits from the corner, “Ew, what was that? Was that vomit?! Ew!”

Yoongi laughed hysterically, the loudest he had since he met them. He watched Seokjin struggle to remove the taste from his mouth, still laughing. Sungjin looks at Brian unenthusiastically and Brian instantly thought something was wrong. So the smile on his face disappeared in worry.

“I don't want the Every Flavor Beans anymore,” Sungjin says.

Brian only laughs, making the two Ravenclaws smile at them.

 

--