Divided

Brian stood beside Chan by the veranda, looking up at the night sky, at the stars that littered it, and at the moon that shone down upon them. He remembers his owl, Bbirong. He had left the owl with his parents while they were on break. He had told his parents to stay in the Muggle World just to make sure that they were safe. Brian didn’t want them to join the war and assured them he’ll be fine. He also remembers Sungjin — no. He never forgets Sungjin. He thinks of him wherever, whenever. And it hurts him.

Moreover, Chan was frowning more often lately. He hadn’t smiled even a bit since Ilhyun had left. No one knows where she went. Chan was still upset at her, but still hopes she was fine. They were at Chan’s house. The rest, Jaehyung, Mark, Jackson, Seokjin, Hoseok, Taehyung, Youngjae, and Jungkook, were downstairs, while Chan and Brian were at the veranda by the second floor.

Jaehyung, Mark, and Jackson were all still in disagreement with their usual partners. Seokjin was here because Jungkook was here, and because he and Namjoon agreed to part just to make sure both sides were safe. The same with Hoseok, Yoongi told him to keep an eye on Brian and Chan, while he looks out for Sungjin and maybe Ilhyun as well. The two other Hufflepuffs came with Hoseok.

On the other side, at Sungjin’s house, were Wonpil, Jinyoung, and Jaebeom. As well as Namjoon, Yoongi, Jimin, Bambam, Yugyeom, and Dowoon. Seokjin had told Namjoon to keep an eye on Sungjin and told Sungjin to heed Namjoon’s advice. Seokjin leads the other group, helps everyone as much as he can. Right now, he was assuring that everyone wasn’t on edge.

He goes up to the second floor and joins Chan and Brian by the veranda. He walks out, the wind messing his hair and fringes slightly covering his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair to push it back and let the wind blow it to his right as he walks toward the two younger Gryffindors.

“You guys alright?” he asks, accepting the hand hug that Brian had proposed.

Brian gives him a small smile, nodding a bit, while Chan stares off to the distance. Seokjin puts a hand on top of the boy’s head, Chan blinks.

“What’s on your mind?” Seokjin questions.

“She didn’t betray us, right? Ilhyun?” Chan mumbles.

Brian leans to the railing of the veranda. Seokjin puts his hand down on the younger’s shoulder.

“Do you think she betrayed us?” Seokjin asks back.

“I’d like to believe she didn’t,” says Chan. “I’d like to believe she’s still a friend.”

Seokjin sighs, “You know, you might want to hold onto that.”

Chan looks at him and he smiles.

“I don’t think she’ll turn against you, or any of us, for the dark side,” Seokjin says.

“How can you say?” Chan blinks.

“I just — “

He stops and looks up at the sky, eyes widening when he sees two black smoke flying around Chan’s house.

“Brian! Brian, Chan, Seokjin-ah!” Jaehyung shouts from the floor below them. “There are Death Eaters, be careful!”

Seokjin draws his wand out and takes Chan behind him. Brian stands behind Chan to protect him from the other side. More black smoke arrives, sending them spells from all sides.

“Younghyun, get in the ing house!” they hear Mark shout from below them, followed by footsteps.

Mark arrives and runs out to the veranda to grab them in. They join the others downstairs and try to put protective spells on the house but they were too slow. An explosion occurs on the wall, making a gaping hole in the house. They run out of the house before it collapsed and instantly surrounds Chan.

“Chan, hold this,” Jungkook hands him something, and then he was apparated to somewhere before a spell hit him.

The spell sent for him hits Jungkook instead, leading him to bleed out. Seokjin catches him before he hits the ground.

“Crucio!” a Death Eater yells, wand pointed to Jaehyung.

Brian grabs the older in chances of taking the curse for him. But a black smoke intersects the spell and it crashes down to the ground. Then the Death Eaters fly away.

“Kook. Jungkook,” Seokjin breathes before looking up at Jaehyung as he tries to replenish the younger’s fluids that were rapidly pouring out of his body. “Yah. Yah, help me.”

“It’s Ilhyun!” Jackson suddenly yells as he kneels beside the black smoke that crashed before.

Brian, eyes wide, looked back and forth at the third-years. He was confused about who he should go to. Another black smoke arrives, swooping down to Jungkook. They look up from the Ravenclaw and sees Snape pointing his wand at Ilhyun who was still squirming out of pain in front of Jackson and Mark. He flicks his wand and Ilhyun slowly stops, her squirming reducing to flinches until she remains unmoving.

Then Snape kneels beside Jungkook, hovering his wand over his body, “Vulnera Sanentur… Vulnera Sanentur…”

He repeats the spell over and over, and they see Jungkook’s blood return to his body. Jungkook clings onto Seokjin’s arm, and Seokjin stays beside him.

“Where’s Chan? Where did — “

“Sungjin hyung,” says Jungkook, cutting Hoseok off. “I sent him to Sungjin hyung’s.”

Mark and Jackson walk over to them and looks down worriedly at Jungkook but he seems to be getting better.

“Where’s Ilhyun?” questions Youngjae.

“She apparated to somewhere,” Jackson mumbles.

“Probably back to her house,” Snape suddenly says, standing up after he was done with healing Jungkook.

All of them looked at the former Potions master. He looks at each of them and then he turns to smoke, flying away. Taehyung draws out a mirror and looks into it, tilting it side to side every second. Seokjin helps Jungkook stand up and Hoseok stands on the Ravenclaw’s other side. Brian looks at the remains of Chan’s house and his lips.

“Jimin is calling,” Taehyung says, pocketing the mirror.

“The others are at Sungjin’s, right?” Jaehyung asks.

They nod, Jaehyung poking Brian on his shoulder, “Let’s go. Jungkook said he sent Chan to Sungjin.”

“Sungjin hyung gave me his captain badge,” Jungkook pauses as they grab onto Seokjin and Jaehyung to apparate.

The two graduates bring the group to Sungjin’s house, landing on the pavement and a few distances from the building. They walk toward it, the lower-level students stumbling as they felt like puking after apparating.

“He said he turned his captain badge to a portkey for a while and told me to use it when we get ambushed. He said Yoongi hyung had a vision,” Jungkook adds.

Jaehyung walks up to the door and knocks, but no one answers. He looks at the others before knocking again. And again, no one answered.

“Are we even in the right house?” mumbles Jackson as he looked around the neighboring houses.

Jungkook steps up to the door after assuring Hoseok and Seokjin that he was fine. He peeks into the keyhole before wiping the lens with his thumb. He looks around the porch and kicks the pot that was by the door, breaking it.

“What are you —?” Seokjin stops when the door clicked open.

Jungkook pushed the door open and the rest of them follow the Ravenclaw into the house. Jungkook looks around and enters what looks like the living room. They hear a creak from the stairs and they flinch, heads whipping to the direction where the noise had come from. And Jungkook suddenly grabs Brian, pressing the tip of his wand on his throat.

“Jungkook?” Mark calls warily as Brian freezes, eyes widening.

Jungkook slowly looks back and sees a pair of round eyes from the dark part of the stairs. A figure descends and points its wand at him.

“Sungjin —?”

“Speak,” Sungjin sneers at Jungkook.

“Sicut nos duo qui intelligunt,” Jungkook mutters as he points his wand to the older, waiting for him to reply.

“Vivere tardius,” Sungjin says and Jungkook puts his wand down, letting Brian go and apologizing to him.

Sungjin relaxes as well and looks at each of them, “Chan’s upstairs.”

“Sungjin hyung said it’s what I should do when we get here! To make sure neither side is compromised!” Jungkook whines when Brian glared at him.

They go upstairs, Sungjin going to the door to make sure it was secured. Then he follows them but stops when he sees Brian waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. The younger stared at him and Sungjin stared back as he stood by the division between the living room and the hallway leading to the kitchen.

“Is everyone okay?” asks Brian, voice small.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and find out?” Sungjin nods to the stairs.

Brian his lips and then bites down on his bottom one, gulping. Sungjin sighs.

“Yeah, everyone’s okay. What about you?” Sungjin says and Brian peeks up at him. “Is everyone okay on your side? Chan said you were ambushed.”

Brian nods, “His house collapsed. Jungkook got hit with a spell that made him bleed out but Professor Snape was there. Ilhyun was there, too. She took a Cruciatus Curse aimed at Jaehyung hyung.”

Sungjin walks to him, “Is Ilhyun alright, then?”

Brian takes a small step back and his back hits the wall, “Maybe. I hope so. She left as soon as Professor Snape lifted the curse off her — “

Something crashes from upstairs and Sungjin bolts up, Brian right behind him. The window to the second-floor living room had been broken and two people join them, both in black cloaks.

“Professor Snape,” Seokjin acknowledges.

Snape looks down at them.

“Ilhyun,” says Brian as he hides Chan behind him.

“Do your thing already, we don’t have much time,” Snape pushes Ilhyun forwards.

Ilhyun raises her hand and opens it, something gold flying out and about. Chan follows it with his eyes and catches it when it flew near him.

“The Snitch,” says Chan before looking at the Slytherin.

“The first Snitch you caught, when you played against Ravenclaw,” Ilhyun says. “Snitch has flesh memories.”

Chan furrows his brows before looking down at the Snitch who had retracted its wings. And then an inscription appears, ‘Sungjin.’

Chan furrowed his brows tighter before looking up, “What does this —?”

Bambam blinks at him, “They left as soon as you caught it.”

“Why? What’s the matter?” Namjoon asks.

Chan looks down at the Snitch he held between his fingers, “It has Sungjin hyung’s name.”

All heads then looked at Sungjin.

Yugyeom looks at him suspiciously, “Are you a double agent?”

“What? No,” Sungjin answers, eyebrows furrowing.

“Then why is your name on the Snitch that Ilhyun gave?” Bambam asks.

“How should I know — “

“Let’s calm down,” Seokjin cuts him off. “Sungjin, do you know anything at all? Anything that none of us knows?”

Sungjin thinks for a while, blinking down at the ground before shaking his head truthfully, “No. I don’t have something that none of you knows.”

Chan lets the Snitch go and it flies in front of his face. And then a new inscription appears, ‘Younghyun.’

“It shows Younghyun hyung’s name now,” Chan says.

They gather around the Snitch and watch the inscription change again, ‘060907.’

“What do those mean?” Yoongi squints his eyes, eyebrows furrowing.

“Sungjin. Younghyun. 060907,” Namjoon mutters, letting his brain work.

And then his head snaps over to Seokjin. The older Gryffindor looks at him, eyes staring at his, unblinking. And it was as if Namjoon was a Legilimens to be able to let Seokjin know what he was thinking of. Seokjin then looks at Chan and sighs, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Chan, you remember what I asked you earlier?” he asks.

Chan looks at him, blinking, “If I think she betrayed us?”

Seokjin nods, “Do you?”

“As I said earlier, I like to think she didn’t,” Chan mutters.

Seokjin smiles and squeezes his shoulder, “And like I said earlier, you might want to hold onto that.”

Chan furrows his brows in confusion, “Again, how can you say that?”

“September 07, 2006,” Dowoon speaks up. “Younghyun hyung and Sungjin hyung. I’m sure no one can ever forget what happened that day.”

“The fallout,” says Wonpil.

“What does that have to do with this?” Jaebeom wonders out loud.

“Is she saying there’s going to be another fallout again?” Jinyoung crosses his arms.

Sungjin and Brian looked at each other, and Sungjin reads extreme fear in the younger’s eyes. He shakes his head a bit, barely noticeably. And Brian smiles a bit, barely noticeably.

“I don’t think that’s what it means,” Yoongi says. “I don’t see anything like a fallout happening.”

“If that’s so, then what?” Jimin mumbles.

Namjoon closes his eyes, Jackson nudges him, “Joon? Did you figure it out?”

And all heads turned to the Gryffindor-masked Ravenclaw.

Namjoon looks at each of them, and then at Chan, “Ilhyun gave you something.”

Chan blinks, eyebrows furrowing.

“The Snitch is simply a material symbol. The date tells us what kind of Younghyun hyung and Sungjin hyung she’s talking about,” Namjoon says. “That day, Younghyun hyung symbolized love, while Sungjin hyung symbolized loyalty. She wants to tell you that you have both of hers, and this Snitch is the proof of it.”

Chan looks at the Snitch and takes it from the air. Its wings retracted and the inscribed date disappears. He caresses its body and the same inscriptions appear, in order.

“It’s a symbol to remind you about where her love and loyalty resides,” Namjoon adds. “So I think it’s safe to say that she’s on our side.”

Chan looks at both Sungjin and Brian, the longingness obvious in his eyes as he gazes at them. Sungjin gets in his mind and shares the emotions that Chan was feeling. And he felt like crying. It was pure despair, but there was a small hope.

“I would have been stronger if you and Younghyun hyung didn’t fell apart,” Chan says to him through his mind and Sungjin looks away to Brian.

Sungjin sighs, “It’s getting late. Let’s get some rest for now. Room anywhere you want, except that one, and that.”

He points off to two rooms next to each other before waving his wand to fix the broken window.

“The right one is mine,” says Sungjin.

He watched them agree to room with others and as soon as everyone was settled, he looks to the man standing a few feet from him. Brian looks back at him.

“So, goodnight,” says Brian as he walked towards where Chan and Bambam roomed together.

But Sungjin grabs his arm, “You sleep beside me.”

Brian frowns. Sungjin opens the door to the left room and drags him in, standing in the center of it. He looks out of the window before muttering protective spells on it.

“Why?” Brian questions.

Sungjin looks at him from the window, “Chan said he needs us together.”

Brian tilts his head and Sungjin thought that was cute, “What?”

Sungjin sighed and sat down on the bed, “He said he would have been stronger if we didn’t have a fallout.”

Brian looks away and sits on the chair by the work desk in the corner of the room.

“I just need you close to me. Call me if there’s a problem, I’m right next to you,” Sungjin stands up and heads to the door. He grabs the handle and looks at him for the last time that night before he left completely, “It’s only our relationship that deteriorated, not my feelings.”

Brian feels his heart skip a beat and an overwhelming feeling well up in his chest, bringing him to tears. Sungjin goes into his room and sniffs, wiping his own unfallen tears from his eyes. He lies down on his bed, facing the window and back turned to the door. He pulls the covers to his chin and curls up under it before closing his eyes. And then a soft, gentle knock resonated from the door.

“Geom,” Brian’s voice calls. Spells hit the window of his room and Sungjin watched as they covered his window. “My… I just want to say, my feelings stayed the same, too.”

Sungjin shuffles, curling up more to himself as he prevented the small smile from tugging at his lips. He hears the door close and he finally relaxes.

 

~~

Plan A

“We can’t just go out. We need a plan of attack,” says Bambam as they gathered over the dining table, discussing how they would get to Hogwarts safely.

“I have a plan — attack,” says Chan. He receives a few glares from the seventh-years. He shrugs, “They’ll still attack even if we plan. I say we attack them back.”

“Ilhyun’s had a very bad influence on you,” Yugyeom frowns.

Chan giggles a bit as he takes the Snitch hovering in front of his face, “Speaking of, Ilhyun visited me last night.”

Sungjin sat up, “She was here last night? She came back?”

“No, like, in my sleep,” Chan says. “She told me the Death Eaters are going to be aggressive this time. She said she and Professor Snape are being locked in the basement of their hideout so they won’t be with us to keep a few spells away.”

He pauses and watches horror cross each of their faces.

“And by a few spells, I mean the unforgivable ones,” he adds. “She said they’ll try to break out when the Death Eaters leave to come at us. Professor Snape also came, said she’d get punished again.”

“Punished?” Youngjae questioned.

Chan looks at him, “The Cruciatus Curse.”

“Ah, Merlin,” Brian groans a bit. “She’s making it hard to hate her.”

“You want to hate Ilhyun?” Jaehyung raises a brow, amused.

“I want to, but it’s like she has no choice in all of this. She still tries to protect Chan even when she’s on the other side,” Brian mumbles.

“Yah,” Jaebeom nudges Sungjin who had been staring at the table since they began. “Hyung, you alright?”

Sungjin sighed, “Now that Chan’s mentioned it, I saw Ilhyun last night, too. I thought it was just a dream so I didn’t think about it too much. But it might be her using Legilimency to get to me.”

“What did she say?” Wonpil asks.

Sungjin gulps, “She said we need to move tonight. If not, the Death Eaters will ambush us while we’re asleep. She told me about a plan of hers but I’m getting rusty at that part. I can’t remember what she said.”

Sungjin cradles his head, his leg bouncing in frustration. They look at each other, Brian staring at the Hufflepuff while he was still covering his face. Silence ensues and stretches for a few minutes.

“Change…” Sungjin suddenly mumbles and they look at him.

They watch him run his hands through his hair and then his head snaps up, eyes landing on Brian who sat across him. And Brian accidentally holds his gaze, like he was suddenly trapped in his eyes.

“But it’s dangerous,” Sungjin whispers.

“What’s dangerous?” inquires Mark.

“The plan that she told me,” Sungjin replies. “Too risky.”

“How much? Life-threatening?” Chan narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “I won’t let you guys — “

“What’s the plan?” Seokjin leans to the table.

“There are two — Plan A and Plan B. Plan A is impossible to do within tonight. Plan A is to have at least seven Chans by the time we leave the house. That means we need to use Polyjuice Potion but that takes two months — one month to brew and one month to store it before using. It’s an attempt to confuse the Death Eaters,” Sungjin explains.

“No. We’re not doing — what’s Plan B, then?” Chan furrows his brows, upset.

Sungjin takes a deep breath, “That we risk leaving as we are.”

“Then we go with Plan B — ”

“Plan B is more dangerous since they only have you as a target whereas if we follow Plan A, the risk of you getting attack lowers to 14.28%,” Namjoon cuts him off.

“But we’ll get ambushed by the time we get to sleep if we don’t leave tonight! War is bound to happen wherever I am! That’s still the same!” Chan argues. “Two months is too long!”

“Not if you have two Potions master at your side,” Bambam smirks as he hi-fives Seokjin.

“It’s an advanced potion, you can’t shorten the brewing time! Do you even have the ingredients?” Chan burst out.

Bambam takes out a small sack, putting it on the table, “Don’t underestimate us, Chan, especially me. I am passionate about Potions and proud that Professor Snape considers me outstanding at it.”

“Have you been collecting ingredients for various potions?” Seokjin chuckles in amusement when the Slytherin nods.

“I just like to keep some,” shrugs Bambam. “You never know when I’ll get bored.”

“Again, the brewing time — ”

“Chan, the world continues revolving as you speak. We might really take one month or two if you don’t stop talking and let us go to work already,” Bambam rolled his eyes.

“How can you —?”

“No point in asking. I can see us succeeding,” Yoongi mutters.

Chan gapes at everyone in disbelief as they all agree to Plan A.

Sungjin enters Brian’s mind as he looks at Seokjin and speaks, “Get some of his hair.”

Brian obeys, grabbing a few strands of the younger Gryffindor’s hair and pulling at it. Chan winces, muttering a curse under his breath before massaging the part he had pulled at. Brian gives the strands to Sungjin, who hands them to Bambam and Seokjin. The two of them leave for another room to start brewing.

“Alright — ”

“Oh, get a move on — “

“Wait!” Chan holds a hand in front of Dowoon. “Okay, so we’re going with Plan A. I’m still wondering how in the bloody hell are they going to be able to complete that Polyjuice Potion tonight.”

“Bambam said don’t underestimate him,” Hoseok smiles and juts his thumb to Yoongi. “And don’t underestimate our Seer, too.”

“Besides,” says Jinyoung. “Ilhyun came up with this plan. She won’t put you in danger. She trusts us enough that she thinks we can pull this off. Why don’t you trust her, too?”

Chan sighs heavily.

 

~~

Shift

Sungjin carefully opens the door to where Seokjin and Bambam had stayed to brew the Polyjuice Potion. It was near midnight already. Sungjin doesn’t expect them to provide the potion, just as everyone doesn’t, although Yoongi believes they’ll have an output by midnight.

“Seokjin, Bambam,” Sungjin calls softly as he enters. “How’s the potion?”

“A few more stirs, hyung,” Bambam says as he watches Seokjin turn the ladle around in the cauldron. “And wand waving.”

There really was a bubbling potion in the cauldron, colored orange. Sungjin scrunches his nose.

“Ew, I hope that doesn’t taste like orange-flavored medicine,” Sungjin mutters.

Bambam looks up at him as Seokjin waves his wand, “Are you going to turn to Chan?”

Sungjin turns serious, “We have to talk about that. Ilhyun mentioned something about that, too.”

They bring the cauldron to the dining room, putting it in the middle of the table.

“That looks…” Taehyung trails.

“Like a medicine,” Jimin scowls at the potion.

“Anyway,” Sungjin clears his throat to gain everyone’s attention. “About who will take the potion.”

“I volunteer,” Jackson raises his hand.

“No, Ilhyun’s told me who should be taking the potion,” Sungjin at his lips. “It’s supposed to be the younger students.”

“What?” Hoseok furrows his brows.

“Specifically, all third-years, plus three fifth-years,” Sungjin adds.

“No, why are they the ones who are supposed to sacrifice?” Jaebeom stands up in protest.

“I’ll take the position of one — “

“No, Ilhyun said we can’t take it. Especially you,” Sungjin cuts Brian off.

Brian stands up as well, “Why are you set on following everything Ilhyun said? Why can’t you make decisions by yourself — “

Sungjin raises his voice, “You think I want this? Do you think I completely agree with this? I’m following everything Ilhyun said because I would never think of this plan! I want everyone safe, if I can, I would make myself the distraction just so you can get Chan to Hogwarts safely!”

It goes silent again, Jaebeom slowly sitting back down on his chair as Brian takes a small step back, surprised. Sungjin ran a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know what else we can do. I know no one would agree to this, I know no one would agree if I put myself out there while you get to safety,” Sungjin calms down. “No one wants someone else to sacrifice, Younghyun. But we need to.”

“So why don’t you let me sacrifice?” Brian questions.

Sungjin sits down, sighing weakly as he runs his hands down his face, “Because I can’t lose you again. Not for forever. And I told you last night, Chan needs you. Chan needs me. Chan needs the both of us.”

“Stand down, hyung, Chan can’t fight through this if he loses either of you,” Dowoon says.

“Yeah, and for your information, this is so offending. We might be third-years but we can fight. Mind you, Ilhyun and Chan are third-years, too,” Yugyeom butts in.

Jungkook pouts a bit as he crossed his arms, “And you’re all too old already. Sit this one out.”

Seokjin reaches for the Ravenclaw and hits his arm, making Jungkook giggle sheepishly.

“So who are the three fifth-years drinking the potion?” Jimin excitedly squirms in his seat.

Sungjin looks at Brian who looks away before standing beside him, hand on the backrest of his chair. Then Sungjin looks at the group who were waiting patiently for him. Jaebeom rolls his eyes at them on the side.

“Ilhyun said the third-years should take the potion. Along with Jimin, Dowoon, and Taehyung,” says Sungjin.

“Alright!” Taehyung and Jimin hi-five together.

“They’re actually excited to die,” Mark mutters under his breath.

“More like excited to cause trouble,” Youngjae grins a bit.

“Can I just ask, why them?” Chan raises his hand.

“Ilhyun said the Death Eaters will figure this out if some of us disappear while we you to Hogwarts. If the younger students disappear, they’ll think we just asked them to sit the war out and prevented them from joining,” Sungjin answers.

“God, Ilhyun is good,” Namjoon shook his head once. “It’s good we have her on our side.”

Chan smiles a bit at that. Seokjin distributes glasses of the potion to the younger students and they watched them change, impersonating Chan.

“Alright — Jimin-ah, Taehyung-ah, stop hitting each other, come on,” Sungjin sighs, exhausted.

“Yah, yah, yah,” Brian calls in a deep, dangerous voice, making the two of them stop and pay attention. “Listen to Geom. This is important.”

All seven Chan nod. Sungjin grabs Brian’s wrist and pulls, changing positions with him.

“Ilhyun said each Chan should have someone to focus on protecting him. Kang — Younghyun guards the real Chan,” Sungjin says.

Brian his lips, nodding before looking at the Chans, “Where’s Channie?”

“Here!” the Chan on the farthest right raises his hand.

“Namjoon protects Jimin,” says Sungjin and the Slytherin raises his hand. “Jinyoung on Yugyeom, Jaebeom on Bambam, Hoseok on Taehyung, and Seokjin on Jungkook.”

“Who protects Dowoon?” Brian frowns.

Sungjin smirks, “Me, of course.”

Brian’s heart skips a beat.

“The rest focus on diverting attention from the Chans,” Sungjin adds.

Mark grins, “Jaehyung hyung, ready to play Quidditch again?”

“Oh, we’re doing that, are we?” Jaehyung grins, nodding.

“Since we can’t apparate to Hogwarts, we’re going there using brooms. Please, please be careful. Wonpil, stay close to Dowoon and I — you know what, Wonpil, you protect Dowoon. I’ll guard from behind — “

“Why?” Brian cuts.

Sungjin looks at him, “I can’t risk it. I have to make sure that everyone is safe — “

“No, you’re risking it,” Brian says, walking over to him to pull him to the corner of the living room. “You’re risking it. If you don’t follow Ilhyun’s plan through and through, something bad might happen, Geom.”

“But you — I’m — I — “ Sungjin stutters as tears well up in his eyes. “I’m scared, Younghyun. They’re too young to die. Everyone’s too young to die. It’s like — I’m leading everyone, Younghyun, I can’t — “

“Shh,” Brian whispers, hesitantly raising his arms to wrap them around the older.

And Sungjin’s arms snake around his waist to pull him closer, chin slotting over his shoulder. Brian runs a hand through his hair a couple of times after Sungjin sniffed.

“I trust Ilhyun. I trust everyone, I trust you. Trust them, too,” Brian mutters, his other hand rubbing Sungjin’s back.

Sungjin closed his eyes and nodded, “I trust you too. Please be safe, Younghyun.”

“We will. You too,” Brian pulls back with a small, pained smile.

He wipes one of his eyes with his hand while Sungjin wipes the other. Then Brian returns to Chan’s side. Sungjin faces his back to them, taking a few deep breaths as he repeatedly pushed his hair back. He sniffs one last time before facing them again.

“Wonpil, stay by me and Dowoon. If something happens, call me, I’ll come to you. Wonpil, if someone calls, you automatically become Dowoon’s protector, alright?” Sungjin says, Wonpil nods affirmatively. “If something happens to someone, keep going. I’ll take care of it. If something happens, I’m the only one allowed to bear it — “

Jinyoung crosses his arms, “You’re taking everything, that’s so selfish. Why are you taking all the blame if something happens?”

Sungjin blinks.

“Yeah, share some portion with us. You’re not the only one to blame,” Jackson nods. “No one is to blame, hyung.”

Sungjin sees Brian roll his eyes from the side and he sighs, “Alright, alright. Just, if something happens, keep going. I’ll take care of it. I’ll talk to everyone through Legilimency. Yoongi, I’ll need your help in disseminating the information — “

Sungjin stops, freezing as he stares off to the distance. He blinks a few times after a few seconds. Chan, the one beside Brian, looks around.

“Ilhyun. Ilhyun was here,” he breathed.

“She changed the plan,” says Sungjin, clapping his hands to get their attention. “She said to go to another place. We’ll stay there until we can go back safer to Hogwarts.”

“Where do we go?” questions Wonpil.

“I don’t know,” says Sungjin. “She said she provided brooms which she and Professor Snape enchanted to bring us to where she wants us to go.”

“She’s making me cry,” Yugyeom Chan frowns.

“This is like Romeo and Juliet ,” says Jaebeom.

“Sacrificing everything for love,” Namjoon chuckles.

Someone suddenly knocks on the door and they freeze. Sungjin draws his wand out, glancing at Brian who moved to hide Chan behind him. Sungjin approaches the door and waits for the person on the other side to burst on. They knock a few more times, Sungjin and the others still waiting in alert.

“Oh, for the love of Merlin, just break the door already — “

“Bombarda.”

The door explodes and Sungjin steps back before sending a spell to the intruders.

“Whoever sent that spell is going to die,” Ilhyun’s voice speaks.

“Hurry up!” they hear Snape sneer to the Slytherin.

The smoke disappears, showing the two Death Eaters standing on the other side of the door.

“I’ll fix this door some other time. You need to hurry up. The Polyjuice only lasts for an hour, I’m guessing,” Ilhyun says.

“I’m amazed you’re able to brew it within today,” Snape drawls out.

“You know how we did it?” Bambam Chan grins and waves his hands fancily. “Magic.”

Mark and Jackson snort whilst Snape looks unamused at the Slytherin.

“You don’t have much time left, you know,” Ilhyun crosses her arms.

They run out of the house and see about fourteen brooms hovering about.

“You ride on pairs. Sungjin oppa, you ride alone, Wonpil oppa rides with Dowoon oppa,” Ilhyun says and watches them mount in pairs. “You ride alone but you fly right next to them. Wonpil oppa will still focus on combat, you focus on defending. The positions change should something happens.”

Sungjin nods attentively as he mounts the broom.

“You don’t have to focus too much on flying since they’re enchanted to bring you to my house,” Ilhyun adds.

“Your house?” Jackson repeats.

Ilhyun nods, “It’s deserted, no one knows about it. Except — “ she tilts her head to Snape.

“You still have to respect me — “

“Mhm,” Ilhyun shoos him away as she walks closer to the group. “Listen. The moment the Death Eaters arrive here, he and I are going to be detained. We won’t be able to fly with you lot. Sungjin oppa has the authority. Whatever he says, you obey.”

Ilhyun narrows her eyes at the Hufflepuff and the older rolled his eyes.

Sungjin points to Brian, “Have him keep me in line whenever I abuse the power.”

Ilhyun smirked, “You heard your man. Keep him in line when he abuses the power.”

“He won’t,” Brian shakes his head.

Ilhyun shrugs.

“I’m sensing they’re close,” Snape mumbles. “We need to go.”

They turn into half-smokes.

“Wait!” Chan shouts and unmounts their broom.

Ilhyun glances around the sky before landing again. And Chan tackles her into a tight embrace. Ilhyun gently places a hand on his waist.

“Who are you?”

“Channie. If I have a Snitch, I’d give it to you,” Chan mutters to her ear before pulling back and running back to the broom to mount on it again.

Ilhyun salutes them before she and Snape leave completely. And they kick off the ground just as the Death Eaters come flying around them. The pilots let the broom take them to, according to Ilhyun, her house. The spells thrown looked like lighting upon the dark sky. Most lightning would be colored green and red. The pilots would dodge or deflect spells that are deflectable. The independent ones also deflect spells headed for the Chans.

And then someone shouts, “Chan is down!”

Sungjin lags back after he and Wonpil looked at each other. The Chan with Hoseok, Taehyung, had been hit on his arm and blood pours out from the wound. Sungjin dodges a green light and deflects a red one before sending a Reducto on one of the Death Eaters. He stays by Hoseok and Taehyung’s side until they pass a barrier that disintegrated the Death Eaters when they passed by it.

They land in front of a deserted house and Jackson goes ahead to open the door. They drag Taehyung into the house and Namjoon helps Hoseok lie him down on the couch. The Chans return to themselves, the Polyjuice potion running out. Jimin crouches by the couch.

“Taehyung-ah? Taehyung-ah. It’s okay, you’re okay,” Jimin coos.

Taehyung hisses, “Do something. I can’t feel my arm anymore, please do something.”

Seokjin pushes his way to him and waves his wand over his injury.

“That’s right, his wand is highly suited to healing spells,” Namjoon mumbles as they watch the Hufflepuff’s injury slowly heal.

“This is Ilhyun’s house?” mumbles Yugyeom as he walked around.

“She probably lives alone in here,” Bambam joins him.

Something tugs at Youngjae’s pants and he looked down before jumping and screaming. Everyone jumps in surprise as well.

“Ahh, ssi —!” Youngjae dies against Mark, laughing.

“Oh, she has a house-elf!” Jungkook beams softly. “What’s your name?”

“Dobby, sir. Dobby the house-elf. I have been expecting your arrival. What can I get you, Mr.…?” the elf politely inquires.

“Oh, Jungkook,” Jungkook smiles.

“Mr. Jungkook. What can I — is that another Mr. Jungkook?” Dobby walks towards Sungjin.

Brian snorts, clearing his throat after. Jaehyung and Wonpil laugh out loud.

“I knew he looked like Jungkook,” Dowoon mumbles.

“No, I’m Sungjin,” Sungjin says.

“Oh, my apologies, Mr. Sungjin,” Dobby starts hitting himself, and Sungjin instantly bends down to stop him.

“Yah, yah, it’s okay,” Sungjin chuckles softly. “Can you get us some water, Dobby?”

“Water, of course. What else, Mr. Sungjin?” Dobby asks, big, shiny, round eyes blinking up at him.

“Uh, that’s it for now — actually, can you please get some rooms ready?” Sungjin requests.

“Sure, Mr. — “

“Just call me Sungjin, you can drop the honorifics,” Sungjin smiles.

“Oh, you’re nice. I like you. That’s why Ilhyun let you come here,” Dobby mutters as he walks away, probably to the second floor.

“What does that mean?” asks Jaehyung.

Dobby takes the first step of stairs and looks at them as he holds onto the handrail, “This is Ilhyun’s safe house. This is her only house and she’s the only one living here. Me too, of course. She doesn’t let anyone else come here unless she brought them with her. That’s why she put up a protective dome to keep out who she considers as enemies. The protective dome also hides this house to everyone, both muggles, and wizards.”

Dobby climbs up the stairs then, leaving them in surprise. Sungjin walks over to the couch, bending down to take a closer look at Taehyung’s still slowly healing injury. And he feels the guilt settle on his back. He his lips.

“Taehyung-ah, does it still hurt?” Sungjin softly asks.

The younger Hufflepuff shook his head silently and Sungjin sighs, standing up straight.

“Is everyone else alright?” he looks around to the others, eyebrows raising a bit. “Chan? Where’s Chan? Younghyun?”

“I’m here, hyung. We’re here!” Chan says from behind him. “We’re alright.”

Sungjin nods, running a hand through his hair, and puts his hands on his hips, “Alright. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do now but — “

“Dinner is ready, Sungjin-ssi,” Dobby suddenly says from the entrance to the dining room. “I have also already prepared your rooms.”

“Thank you, Dobby,” Sungjin smiles a bit.

The house-elf bows before he disappears.

“Let’s eat for now. I’m starving,” says Jaebeom. “Taehyung-ah, we’ll bring you food — “

“No, it’s alright, hyung. I can move,” Taehyung says as he slowly stood up.

“Wait a bit more, I’m almost done,” Seokjin says and Namjoon puts his hands on the Hufflepuff’s shoulders to keep him still.

They wait for Seokjin to finish up with him, summoning a bandage to cover his injury and let it heal. Then they go to the kitchen. The dining table was full of various food which they wolfed down as soon as they sat all together. Sungjin watched them take their first bite first before he started eating. He had started eating timidly until Wonpil nudged him. He looked over at the Slytherin who nodded his head across from them.

Brian stared at him as he ate just as timidly as him. Sungjin raised a brow, Brian just stared. Chan was eating happily beside him. And Sungjin started to think Brian was hiding an injury. He decided to confront him after dinner. They stayed in the dining room after dinner, Dobby using his magic to clean the table from food and plates. They’d decided to debrief what had happened, and planned about their next move.

“Sure everyone’s fine?” Sungjin asked again after debriefing.

“We are,” Jackson chuckles. “Why are you so worried?”

“I think Taehyung hyung’s the only one who was injured,” Jungkook muttered.

Sungjin nods and then looks at the man across from him, “Younghyun.”

Brian looks at him, blinking in question.

“You okay?” Sungjin raised a brow.

Brian sighs, “Yeah, I am.”

Sungjin was still suspicious of him but he decides to let it go for now, “We’ll wait until tomorrow if Ilhyun is going to come. Until then, we’ll plan our next move from here to Hogwarts.”

Everyone nods and Sungjin sees the tiredness on them, Jaehyung covering a yawn.

“Let’s go and get rest for now,” Sungjin stands up.

They move to the second floor and Sungjin watched them pick their roommates for the night. Dobby had told them the master bedroom so they void that room out from the choices. Sungjin had chosen to be alone again this night, politely declining Dowoon’s and Wonpil’s suggestion to room together. After making sure everyone was settled, he went to ask Dobby if there was a veranda, and the elf points to another set of stairs leading to another floor.

Sungjin takes the stairs which led him to the rooftop. He shivers a bit at the cold breeze that was blowing and walks to the railing to lean onto it. He looks up at the dark sky before sighing and closing his eyes as he bowed his head.

“You’re blaming yourself.”

He flinched at the sudden voice that spoke behind him. He peeks over his shoulder and watched Brian walk toward him, standing a few inches from him. Brian turns around and leans back to the railing, arms crossing by his chest.

“It wasn’t your fault Taehyungie got injured,” Brian says. “He wasn’t blaming anyone.”

“I could have taken his position and played as Chan instead,” mutters Sungjin.

“And I told you, it would have gone worse if you didn’t follow Ilhyun’s plan,” Brian reminds. “It’s not your fault.”

Sungjin sighed, “Why are you here? Go to sleep.”

“You’re punishing yourself. You think I would allow that?” Brian questions.

Sungjin his lips before looking at the younger to see him looking at him with concern written all over his face.

“Stop it. Stop thinking it’s your fault. We told you no one’s to blame for all this,” Brian adds.

“Are you really okay? I’m worried you’re hiding an injury,” Sungjin muttered.

He expected Brian to get upset, but the younger only shook his head, “I don’t have any injury. Really. I’m fine. If I have an injury, I would have asked Seokjin hyung or anyone else for help.”

Sungjin nods and looks away for a second, then looks back at him, “Can I hold you?”

Brian nods a bit, almost unnoticeably. Sungjin steps right next to him and wraps his arm around his waist, chin slotting itself on his shoulder. Brian uncrosses his arms and wraps one of them around Sungjin’s neck, his hand placing itself on his nape and playing with his hair. His other hand placed itself on the railing.

“I miss you,” mutters Sungjin.

“You can’t. I hurt you,” Brian mutters back.

“So why do you let me hold you?”

“Because you want to.”

“I need to.”

“And I’ll be willing to give whatever you need.”

Sungjin sighs softly, “Can you give me time? Just enough to sort my thoughts.”

“Of course. Take your time, Geom. However long you want. I’ll wait,” Brian nods a bit.

Sungjin snuggles his head against his and tightens his hold, “I still want you close to me. You hurt me but I still want you next to me.”

“If that’s what you want. You know I’ll stay,” Brian mumbles.

Sungjin relaxed, “Thank you.”

Brian hums, “Let’s go to sleep. You need to rest your mind and your body.”

“You too,” Sungjin says, pulling back from him.

“Hm, stop blaming yourself, Geom, okay?” Brian pulls back as well.

Sungjin nods and they return to the house. Brian admits he misses the older as well. But he keeps an eye on himself. He doesn’t want to cross the line again and hurt the other. He doesn’t want to cross the line because Sungjin might not allow him to come back again if he does. So he acts a bit distantly to Sungjin. He acts the same, just a bit distantly. And Sungjin knows that. They still act the same towards each other, but unlike before, there was a certain boundary set as soon as they had a fallout.

Neither of them set it. They just know there’s a boundary on how far they can act now. Brian accepts it, he understands. Sungjin needs it, but he never held Brian farther than at arm’s length. He’d always make sure he has a grip on the younger. He’d always make sure the Gryffindor was close, was still next to him. He’d always make sure he can still reach him. And Brian would make sure the older was still holding him. He’d make sure he was right next to the Hufflepuff to be there for him always. He’d make sure he was within Sungjin’s reach.

Meanwhile, Chan gets out of bed silently, careful not to wake up Bambam. He gets a bag and puts the Snitch in it, along with some clothes. He pockets his wand and then leaves after glancing back at Bambam. He pads down to the ground floor and the door, wishing Dobby won’t appear. The elf didn’t and he successfully leaves the house. But he wasn’t able to go that far before someone calls on his name. He stops and looks back to see Bambam standing a few feet from him.

“Where are you going?” the Slytherin asks.

Chan glances back and then looks back at him, “I can’t put everyone in danger. I need to fight them alone.”

Bambam scrunches his face, both in disgust and disbelief. He shakes his head, “That makes no sense whatsoever. You ain’t leaving. Give me your bag.”

Chan bites down his lip.

“Give it,” Bambam demands and Chan obeys. “You ain’t leaving alone. Not tonight.”

Chan scratches his head and follows Bambam back into the house, “Did Dobby tell you?”

“No. You weren’t so subtle when you left,” Bambam smirks at the Gryffindor as they enter their room.

 

~~

Chun Ilhyun

“So? What now?” Mark leaned back on his chair.

“I sent mail to Professor McGonagall. I told her we’re going to Hogwarts today,” Sungjin mutters.

“You’re kidding,” Brian gapes at him.

Sungjin raised a brow.

“Is your owl alright?” Brian frowns worriedly.

Sungjin chuckles, glancing at Jaebeom for a second to see him smirking knowingly at him, “Bang-bangie’s fine. He’s agile.”

“Oh, your owl’s name is Bang-bangie? That’s so cute,” Brian giggles.

Sungjin chuckles again, “I was eleven when I named him.”

Everyone looks between them and Brian cleared his throat, “Anyway, are we leaving tonight?”

Chan looked at Bambam, the Slytherin looking back at him.

“No, tomorrow in the morning,” says Sungjin. “She said we should at least rest for a day before going out again. And since we’re here at Ilhyun’s house, we’re safe.”

Brian nods, “You’re the leader.”

“Why is Sungjin the leader?” Jaehyung asks. “Why not, I don’t know, Namjoon or someone else?”

“Why won’t Su — Geom be the leader?” Brian questions. “He makes us listen to him.”

“How can you be so sure we’re safe here?” questions Jinyoung.

“It’s safe enough for Dobby to walk about alone,” Sungjin nods to the elf who had been walking in, out, and around the house since they had woken up.

“Don’t you know elves are powerful?” Yugyeom asks. “Elves are so much better than wizards.”

“Powerful enough to defeat a whole swarm of Death Eaters?” inquires Jimin.

Yugyeom frowns, unsure, and shrugged.

“If they’re so powerful then why are they treated like slaves?” questions Youngjae.

“Because if they aren’t, then wizards would cease to exist,” answers Bambam, jokingly.

“They aren’t slaves, they’re servants!” Yugyeom corrects.

“Same thing — “

“No!” Yugyeom slaps Bambam on his arm.

“Dobby is a free elf,” the house-elf suddenly spoke from behind Sungjin.

The Hufflepuff looked down and sees the elf walk to his side, hand holding the foot of his chair. Dobby looked at him with twinkles in his large, round eyes.

“Ilhyun had given Dobby a scarf the moment she knew what frees house-elves,” Dobby adds.

“Then why are you still here?” Taehyung tilts his head.

“Ilhyun is Dobby’s friend,” Dobby simply says, happily, before he leaves for the kitchen, muttering about making something for them.

“So we’re going to relax for now?” Jaebeom blinks at Sungjin.

“No. We need to plan for tomorrow,” Sungjin says, leaning to the table.

Wonpil flicks his eyes from the table and up to Brian who stared at Sungjin. He sees the obvious worry on the Gryffindor’s face as he stares at his best friend. Wonpil looks at Sungjin.

“Why don’t we rest for now and plan later?” Wonpil asks.

Dowoon nods in agreement. Sungjin frowns and everyone knows he’s about to disagree.

“Younghyun hyung’s worried about you,” Jackson speaks up. “You seem like you haven’t got a good night’s sleep last night.”

Sungjin looks at Brian, who looked away as he gulped. He watched the younger smile softly at Dobby who provided them drinks and some snacks. Brian thanked the elf.

“Do you know where Ilhyun is?” Brian asks Dobby.

“Ilhyun is probably at the Death Eaters’ hideout. Ilhyun had been enslaved by Death Eaters since she lost her parents to them. Dobby had tried to save Ilhyun numerous times but it always leads to Ilhyun getting maimed for trying to protect Dobby. So Dobby stopped saving her,” Dobby says as he walks around to let everyone take a snack and a drink. “Ilhyun always returns at night. Dobby would always wait for her at the door. Ilhyun leaves in the morning again. It’s a cycle, Younghyun-ssi.”

Chan sat up, eyes wide and lips parted at the new information, “She’s — She’s enslaved by Death Eaters?”

Dobby stops beside him and looks up at him, “Ilhyun doesn’t like Death Eaters. Death Eaters tried to recruit Ilhyun. But Ilhyun always refused. Death Eaters were supposed to put a Mark on her. But Ilhyun’s wand acted on itself and maimed several Death Eaters. Death Eaters threatened to kill Dobby so Ilhyun compromised to work for them to make them leave Dobby alone. Ilhyun and Dobby stayed here since then, to protect Dobby.”

“We… never knew that,” muttered Hoseok.

“Dobby is a free elf. But Ilhyun is Dobby’s friend so Dobby chose to serve Ilhyun until he dies,” Dobby added.

“How are we going to fight Ilhyun now?” Bambam questioned.

“We’re not going to fight Ilhyun,” says Seokjin.

“We’re going to free her from them,” Namjoon nods.

“What is Ilhyun’s name again?” Youngjae asked.

“Dobby has been serving the Chun clan as far as he remembers,” Dobby says. “Ilhyun is the only Slytherin in the whole Chun clan. All Chun that Dobby knows was a Gryffindor.”

“So… did they disown her?” mumbles Jungkook.

“Ilhyun is rather protected. The Wizarding World knows everyone in the Chun clan. Ilhyun is the only Slytherin and Death Eaters knew Ilhyun would possess great magical powers. Death Eaters killed every other Chun there is. Death Eaters also look out for Gryffindors close to Ilhyun since Ilhyun’s family is strongly tied to Gryffindor,” Dobby answers.

Sungjin’s mouth hangs open a little. Yoongi sat up.

“That’s why she said that,” Yoongi muttered.

“What?” Sungjin looks at him sharply.

“When she told me she’s a Death Eater, I had a dream where she and Chan were together at… someplace,” Yoongi starts. “I told her about that. They were happy but Chan was under the influence of Amortentia. She said that she can’t be with Chan if she’s happy because that’s the price she has to pay. She can’t be happy because she tends to relax too much and she tends to lose her grip on her powers. I thought that was all. I never knew there was a subtext that Gryffindors are in danger with her.”

Sungjin leans to the table and cradles his head, sighing heavily, “Merlin.”

Chan looks at Bambam who stared at the table, looking determined.

“Just how powerful is Ilhyun?” Youngjae wonders out loud. “She’s so powerful, Sungjin hyung who’s an Occlumens prodigy can’t even block her Legilimency. Additionally, Sungjin hyung’s adept at Legilimency and she’s not an Occlumens but why is it that he can’t get in her mind?”

“We’ve been wondering about that since our third year, right?” Jimin grins at him.

“Maybe there’s something about her,” Seokjin muttered.

“Wait,” Yoongi leans to the table.

“What? Something about what she told you again?” Hoseok asks.

Yoongi shakes his head, “Not her, at least. Professor Snape.”

“What did he say?” Taehyung also leans forward.

“Ilhyun’s wand is an English Oak,” the seer looks at them.

“And?” Jungkook blinked.

“Owners of that wand have powerful intuition,” Yoongi says.

“So?” Jaebeom raises his eyebrows.

“Maybe that’s what’s blocking Sungjin hyung,” Namjoon suddenly speaks up. “If she has powerful intuition, it might mean that she’s thinking every second, her mind’s always busy and preoccupied.”

“But won’t that make her more vulnerable to Legilimency? If she has a lot to think about?” Jinyoung furrows his brows.

Sungjin nods, “The trick to Occlumency is to void your mind from thoughts.”

“Then why?” mumbles Jaehyung. “If she’s so vulnerable to Legilimency because her mind’s full of thoughts, then why can’t Sungjin easily read her?”

Sungjin gulps as he also wonders about that. Since Ilhyun is the embodiment of mystery, it would be easier to get to know her if Sungjin can just get a glimpse of her thoughts. But he fails every time he tries to enter her mind.

“Or maybe,” Chan speaks up and they look at him. He looks at Sungjin, “Maybe something in you is preventing you from reading her.”

And the house turns quiet.

“Maybe it’s on you, not on her. Because even just by looking at her eyes, I can read even just a bit of her,” Chan says.

“That’s you. You have a bond — “

“The second day that I met her, the day after our first encounter, I saw in her eyes how much hesitant she is to entertain me when I approached her,” Chan cuts off and then shakes his head. “It has nothing to do with the bond. Sure, it contributes a lot. But that time, we weren’t even acquaintances, we know nothing about each other.”

Sungjin bites his lip.

“Could Younghyun have something to do with it?” Yoongi mumbles and they look at the Gryffindor.

Brian blinks and shrugs. And it was quiet again. Dobby watched them from beside Yugyeom who had been asking him for more snacks. Dobby had been apparating from the living room to the kitchen since. Then Brian his lips and looks at Sungjin, eyebrows furrowing a bit.

“Could it be because it dug deep in you?”

Sungjin raised a brow at him, “What dug deep in me?”

“When you met my parents, it was the first time that I heard about your being an Occlumens and Legilimens. And I was suspicious of you. And you said you wouldn’t just read anyone’s mind,” Brian says. “Did you unconsciously burn that in your mind?”

Sungjin feels a shiver run down his spine at that possibility.

“So that you won’t disappoint me?”

And Sungjin’s mouth answers on its own, “Maybe.”

“But it’s like he’s asking permission from Ilhyun, though?” Wonpil says.

“Yeah, Ilhyun knows he wants to read her mind even just for once. She could have permitted him,” Dowoon nods. “She might have even dropped her guard when it comes to Sungjin hyung’s Legilimens but Sungjin hyung still can’t do it.”

And Sungjin mentally agrees, Because of Younghyun.

 

~~

Embark

“I cannot believe this,” Chan grumbles as he walks ahead of the small group.

Yugyeom giggles, “Don’t you just love that we have representatives from all houses?”

“I said I was going alone. I was going to leave alone!” Chan kicks the earth.

“Have mercy on the ground, Chan,” Jungkook grins.

Chan stops and turns to them, upset, “Why did you come with me!”

“I told you, you ain’t leaving alone, man!” Bambam pat his shoulder heavily.

Chan rolled his eyes and continued walking.

“Where are we going, anyway?” Jungkook asked.

“Chan is attempting to fight the Death Eaters alone. He’s leaving in an attempt to draw the Death Eaters to him,” says Yugyeom, throwing an arm around the shorter Ravenclaw’s shoulders.

“He’s just planning to show off his powers,” Bambam jokes.

Chan turns to them again, agitated, “This isn’t a joke! This is dangerous!”

“We know,” Jungkook frowned. “Why are you yelling? You need to let loose a bit.”

“Hey, we’re no ordinary third-years,” Yugyeom chuckles. “We can fight, Chan. We know what we’re getting into. You’re our friend, we’re not gonna let you go alone.”

“Yeah, we want the spotlight, too,” Bambam grins.

Chan sighs in defeat, “Alright. But if I say retreat, we retreat.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Bambam waved him away.

 

~~

“Jungkook and Yugyeom are not in their room!” Jimin says as he runs down the stairs.

“Bambam and Chan aren’t in theirs, too!” Jaebeom follows Jimin to the living room where they gathered to prepare to leave for Hogwarts.

“Dobby…”

They all looked at the elf when he stopped, hiding behind a chair.

“Do you know something?” Sungjin questions, walking closer to the elf.

“Dobby… knows no such thing,” Dobby muttered, stepping back.

“Dobby?” Sungjin calls in warning, stepping closer and Brian grabs his arm to stop him.

Dobby looked away, scared, “Dobby saw Chan-ssi with Jungkook-ssi, Yugyeom-ssi, and Bambam-ssi leave the house at midnight.”

“I think Jungkook stole the other mirror, Jiminie,” Taehyung whispers. “Only one mirror is on the bedside drawer.”

“Give me that,” Sungjin demands and Jimin hands him the mirror.

Sungjin tilts it side-to-side, hoping to get a glimpse of the third-years. He did, after a few tilts. He saw Jungkook’s frowning face. He looks into the mirror still but Jungkook had disappeared. Sungjin hisses a breath in and slowly puts the mirror on the table. He pulls out a chair to sit on and hold his head, taking deep breaths.

“I mean, don’t you think Chan would be able to handle himself?” Jackson mutters to Namjoon.

Namjoon shrugged, “Even if he has great powers, he’s still a kid. He’s still too young to fight this alone. Though he’s not alone, all of them are still too young.”

“Sungjin — “

“Shh!” Sungjin hushes Jaehyung. “I’m trying to reach Chan through — Chan!”

They look at each other.

“Where are you? … What are you doing? Get back here, all of you — … What — yah!” Sungjin clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Since when can Chan kick me out of his mind?”

“Have you forgotten he’s always with Ilhyun and that Ilhyun’s an accomplished Legilimens?” Mark grins.

Sungjin huffed, crossing his arms.

“What did they say?” asks Wonpil.

“Chan said he’s trying to lure the Death Eaters to him and fight them alone. The other three just went with him,” Sungjin muttered.

“And?” Yoongi raises a brow.

Sungjin looks at him, eyebrows furrowed, “What do you mean, ‘and’?”

Yoongi crossed his arms, “I just know there’s more to that.”

Sungjin sighs and stands up, walking out of the house with the rest following him. Dobby stood by the porch and stares at them, watching them wait for Sungjin to answer to Yoongi. Sungjin looks up and a broom came flying to his hand from the house. He turns to them and looks at Brian.

“He said we should protect the Gryffindors, like how we protected the Chans,” Sungjin says.

“I’ll protect Namjoon hyung,” Taehyung declares.

Yoongi quietly walks to Seokjin, Jinyoung to Jaebeom, and Mark to Jackson. Jaehyung sighs and walks to Brian. Brian threatens to hit him.

“You look like you’re forced to protect me,” Brian spits out at him.

“Because Sungjin’s petty is supposed to protect you,” Jaehyung rolls his eyes, muttering his next words. “I have my own man to protect.”

Brian chuckles, nudging him away, “Fine, go protect your man. I can just have maybe — “

“Oh, Sungjin’s protecting you! Stop acting like you’re taking the fallout seriously!” Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Hoseok looks at him, grinning.

Yoongi looks at Sungjin and smirks, “I can see a day ahead.”

Sungjin raises a brow at him and the Slytherin enters his mind, looking away from him.

“You hate skinship but you ask Younghyun if you can hold him. You’re a er for Young — “

Sungjin pushes him out of his mind and looks away, gulping as he feels his ears burn. Yoongi smirks wider.

“Sungjin’s protecting Younghyun,” Yoongi declares.

Sungjin sighs a bit and stares on the ground, fingers fiddling with the handle of the broom he had summoned. Brian walks to him and stands in front of him. He puts a hand on the older’s shoulder.

“Chan’s gonna be fine. They’re gonna be fine. He knows what he’s doing. He’s not dumb,” Brian mutters.

Sungjin nods, smiling a bit. Brian steps back before Sungjin looks up to them.

“Get your brooms. We’re going to Hogwarts.”

 

~~

“Bambam! Reducto!” Chan shouts, wand pointed at one of the men who were chasing after them.

That was the last of the three. They had been camping out, taking a short break. Jungkook was putting up protective spells and invisible barriers to hide them, though Chan was against it because he wanted the Death Eaters to find him. Jungkook had convinced him that it would all go to waste if they suddenly attack while they were sleeping, so Chan let him about. It was when he was about to put up an invisible barrier that he alerted them about the presence of three men.

Bambam knew them as the Snatchers. Seokjin had warned him before about them when they were brewing the Polyjuice Potion. Seokjin had said he heard there was a group of wizards going about collecting Muggle-borns and blood traitors. In that instant, Bambam worried for his fellow Muggle-borns — Mark and Jackson.

The Snatchers recognized Bambam as a Muggle-born and somehow, Chan had figured out they were going for him. So his first instinct was to jump in front of the Slytherin. The Snatchers had said he’s a disgrace, staining the pureblood legacy of his house. That infuriated Yugyeom, urging him to make the first attack and throw a spell at them. And hell had broken loose.

Chan turned to look at Bambam to see him looking around in alert in case there were more of the Snatchers that they’d just eliminated. It was after a few more seconds when he’d calm down, sure they were safe. Bambam sighed, hand running through his hair before he scanned their body, looking for injuries.

“You alright?” Yugyeom tilts his head at him.

“Yeah, thanks. Are you?” Bambam blinks.

Jungkook smiles, nodding, “Never better.”

“Okay,” Bambam grins. “Sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” Chan chuckles. “Come on. Let’s get a move on.”

“Channie,” calls Jungkook, frowning, as the Gryffindor took his backpack from the ground. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea. Maybe we should get back to hyungs.”

Chan looks at him, tongue peeking out to his lips as he contemplated.

“You — we can’t fight them alone, Chan. Even if your powers are enough, it’s too risky,” Yugyeom adds.

“Plus, they might divide and attack us and Hogwarts at the same time,” Bambam butts in. “I think it’s better to fight alongside everyone to make sure they’ll survive.”

Jungkook nods, “We could lose someone in Hogwarts while we triumph by ourselves.”

Chan looks at the ground, blinking as he took their words into account. He looks up at them and nods a bit.

“Okay. But first, we have to go somewhere,” Chan mutters. “Before it all really begins.”

“Where?” Yugyeom tilted his head in wonder.

Chan opens his mouth to answer but the surroundings suddenly turned cold, ice forming on the ground. Looking up, Chan pulls the other three behind him, scared and hands shaking as he gripped his wand and Yugyeom’s shirt.

“D-Dementors…” breathed Jungkook.

About thirty of them surrounded them, all hovering near them. Chan gulps.

“Anyone wouldn’t know how to cast a Patronus, would they?” Yugyeom mumbled.

“I can’t, honestly,” Bambam shook his head.

The Dementors swoop down and they hide their faces on each other’s shoulders, Chan looking up at them in hopes of accidentally producing his Patronus. And then a bright white light shone and the Dementors back up. A flock of small birds flies out, attacking the Dementors in batches. They watch them drive the Dementors away and then the light disappears, the small birds turning to white smoke to dissipate. Bambam, Yugyeom and Jungkook looked at each other before turning to Chan who stared wide-eyed at the sky, wand still raised and a bit of white smoke still coming out of its tip.

“Was that… Did you do that?” asks Jungkook.

Chan blinks a couple of times before closing his mouth and gulping, collecting himself and putting his wand down to look at it, “More like my wand did.”

“Is your core Phoenix?” Yugyeom questions and Chan nods.

“Wait — “ Bambam raised a hand to halt them. “Have we been using underage magic?”

They blink at him.

“We are, right? Why aren’t we being hunted by the Ministry?” Bambam furrows his brows.

Jungkook frowns, “And the Dementors came even when we’re not wanted — what if the Death Eaters took down the Ministry?”

“That’s a possibility. We should get going already,” Chan says.

“How are we supposed to go to where we’re going? We’re in the middle of nowhere!” Bambam says.

Chan ignores and just walks. They looked at each other before following the Gryffindor.

 

~~

“Wait, Sungjin!” Yoongi shouts.

Sungjin stops at his voice and turns to look at him, eyes squinted because of the wind.

“Ilhyun said Death Eaters took over Hogwarts,” Yoongi said and a chorus of gasps resounded. “They’re waiting for us back there. All of them.”

Sungjin gulps.

“She said she’s supposed to tell you but she can’t reach you. Somehow, your mind is tightly closed,” Yoongi added.

Sungjin looks around, up, and down. He looked agitated, for some reason. His lips started trembling as he on them, gulping once again. And then his grip on his broom was loosening. And he falls off his broom as his consciousness left him.

“Sungjin hyung!” Wonpil shouts as they fly down to them.

Jackson zooms down ahead of them and grabs Sungjin’s shirt, grunting as he pulls his weight up. He sees Jaebeom fly a little lower than him and he carefully puts Sungjin on the older’s broom. Jaebeom holds him against him as he lands on the ground. Jaehyung kneels beside him, putting two fingers under his jaw.

“He’s still alive, just lost consciousness,” Jaehyung says.

Mark also kneels on Sungjin’s other side, “He’s still breathing.”

Dowoon frowns down worriedly at his unconscious best friend, “Could it be because there’s a lot in his mind?”

They look at him in question.

“I mean, it’s bound to exhaust him. Moreover, Chan and the others are not with us,” Dowoon adds.

“Maybe he’s been so worried about them,” Jimin says.

“Yeah, more than anyone,” Taehyung nods.

“Probably. He’s taking all the responsibility,” Wonpil agrees.

“How are we going to get him to Hogwarts, then?” Jinyoung asks.

“I can take him. I mean, he can ride with me,” Jaebeom says.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Brian mumbles from where he stood a few feet from them, a mirror on his hand. “I tried to look for Chan in the mirror. I saw him for a second but I saw his expression change. I think they’re gonna come back. Let’s go to Hogwarts first.”

“What if the Death Eaters break us apart?” Hoseok inquires. “We don’t have Chan with us. They’ll do anything to extract information from us.”

Brian smiles a bit as he walks to them, “Right, you weren’t with us then. We know a room to hide in.”

Seokjin chuckles softly, “You don’t mean…”

“I mean that,” Brian nods.

 

~~

“Chan, where in the bloody hell are we?” Bambam whispers as they walk around a village.

“Hogsmeade,” Chan looks at them, a bit confused. “You don’t remember Hogsmeade anymore?”

“This is Hogsmeade?” Yugyeom’s eyes widened.

Jungkook frowned, “Really?”

Chan enters a building and they follow him, Yugyeom closing the door. Chan points to the table and chairs, ushering them to take a sit. They do, after looking at each other for the nth time since they left Ilhyun’s house.

“Who’s there?”

They hear a deep voice from another room and they freeze, looking at Chan. Chan smiles a bit and waits for the person to come out. A man emerges from the darkness of the other room, wand at the ready.

“Chan?” he questions. “Why are you here? It’s dangerous for you to just go about and — “ he looks at Bambam, Yugyeom, and Jungkook, then back to Chan, “ — who are they?”

“They’re our friends. The same year,” Chan replies.

“And?” the man raised a brow.

“From all the other houses,” Chan adds.

“So?” the man sighs, keeping his wand. “What are you doing here?”

“Hyung, Dobby said you have strong ties with Gryffindor. Is that true?” Chan questions.

The man raises a brow, “She brought you to the safe house?”

Chan nods.

“I’m a Gryffindor myself,” says the man. “Every one of us was sorted to Gryffindor starting from our earliest ancestors. You didn’t see the family tree in her house?”

Chan frowns, shaking his head, “No.”

The man looks away, “She probably burned it if ever the house gets compromised. Anyway, yeah, why’d you ask?”

“Dobby said Death Eaters are hunting Gryffindors close to Ilhyun so she’ll give herself up to them,” Chan says.

The man nods, “Ilhyun warned me about that. So why are you just going out and about? You’re a Gryffindor, aren’t you?”

“Professor McGonagall told me I can fight them off, save Ilhyun from them,” Chan explains.

The man his lips, “Probably. And?”

“How can I save her from them?”

The man shrugged, “You’re enough to save her. Just help her fight against the Death Eaters.”

Chan nods attentively. The man tilts his head to the painting hanging on the side.

“Now, why don’t you go back to your friends and stop going around alone?”

Chan giggles, nodding. They watch one of the people in the painting turn around and walk away. And after a few minutes, they returned, and the painting opened, revealing a secret tunnel behind it.

Yugyeom gasped, “Jinyoung hyung!”

Jinyoung nods at him and the man, “Shin-il hyung.”

The man, Shin-il, nods back, “Get these kids out of here.”

“Come on,” Jinyoung ushers them to enter the tunnel. “Yah, Bambam. Seokjin hyung said you have some potions in you.”

“Yeah, why?” Bambam raised a brow as they follow the older Slytherin through the tunnel.

“Sungjin hyung fainted. He said you have that potion — what’s it called again?” Jinyoung clicks his tongue.

“Sungjin hyung fainted?” Jungkook frowned.

“Ubbly’s Oblivious Unction?” Bambam asked.

“Yeah, that! How’d you know?” Jinyoung glanced back at him.

“Seokjin hyung and I brewed that while we were brewing Polyjuice. He said Namjoon hyung told him Sungjin hyung’s bound to take the fall from his thoughts,” Bambam replies.

Jinyoung nods and opens a door, “Yah.”

All heads turned to look at them. Jinyoung smiled and enters the Room of Requirement, revealing the third-years.

“Channie,” Brian breathed.

“Hey, hyung,” Chan greets back.

Bambam heads to Sungjin who Jaebeom and Mark lied down on a mat. They had entered sneakily into Hogwarts, immediately heading to the Room of Requirement as they arrived. Bambam took out a sack from Chan’s bag and put his arm in, searching for something. He pulls out two small bottles, one colored silver.

Bambam moves closer to Sungjin and asks one of them to open his mouth. They look at Brian, who was waiting for Bambam to do what Seokjin told them he was supposed to do. He looks back at them in question, Jaehyung nudging him. Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“Do you want me to tell them why you’re awkward since we got here?” Yoongi questions.

Brian blinked confusedly at him before he remembers the Slytherin is a Seer, and a Legilimens. Brian moves and bends over Sungjin. He grabbed his chin and parts his mouth a bit. Bambam pours one of the potions he took, presumably the Oblivious Unction. Brian keeps Sungjin’s mouth closed to let the liquid go down his throat.

After a few seconds, Sungjin’s brows furrowed, his eyes slowly opening. He raised a hand to cover his eyes and Brian watched them focus on him. His mouth parts open a bit and Brian feels the urge to come closer. He does but before he got too close, Sungjin pulls him to the side by his arm, putting his ear right next to his mouth.

“Get away from me while I can still control myself. Unless you want another mistletoe to appear even when it’s not December,” Sungjin murmurs to him, barely inaudibly.

Brian gulps and pulls back, ears turning red. Wonpil helps Sungjin sit up. Bambam get his attention and hands him the small silver bottle.

“Drink it,” says Bambam.

“What is this?” Sungjin questions as he looks at the silver vapor.

“Draught of Peace,” answers Seokjin and Sungjin looks up at him. “Relieves anxiety and agitation. You need it.”

Sungjin looks back down at the potion, frowning in guilt. And he realizes Bambam was in front of him. He looks up to the left and sees Yugyeom and Jungkook. His eyes widened a bit before he looks behind him. He sees Chan beside Brian and he feels himself calming down. Still, he drinks the potion because Brian was raising a questioning brow at him.

Sungjin stands up carefully, “What did you find out?”

Chan bows his head, “Not much. Nothing, really.”

“We did find something out!” Jungkook says with a frown and everyone looks at him.

Even Yugyeom and Bambam were confused. Chan tilts his head.

“Dobby said, well, more like implied, that Ilhyun is the only remaining member of the Chun clan. But that man earlier, you implied that he’s a Chun, too, since you asked him for confirmation if they were really tied to Gryffindor,” says Jungkook.

“Man? What man?” Mark questions.

“Shin-il hyung?” Jinyoung says, Chan nods. “What about Shin-il hyung? Who is he?”

Chan gasps a bit, “That’s right. Ilhyun… Ilhyun should be the last Chun there is. Why didn’t I notice that earlier…?”

“What is it?” Jimin asks.

Chan looks at them, eyes slightly blown wide, “Shin-il hyung is Ilhyun’s older brother.”

Silence ensues and stretches for a minute.

“Shin-il hyung is Ilhyun’s older brother?” Jinyoung furrows his brows.

Chan turns around and puts a hand on his chin before muttering to himself, “Why do the Death Eaters think they’d killed everyone from the Chun clan when Shin-il hyung is still alive? Why — does Dobby know Shin-il hyung? He probably does since Shin-il hyung knows him and Dobby has been serving the Chun clan even before Ilhyun was born so he should have seen the family tree. If so, then why did Dobby say that Ilhyun is the only Chun alive? Are they — “

Chan gasps suddenly, head raising to stare at the wall. And they look at each other.

“It’s a price they have to pay. Shin-il hyung needs to hide his identity. He knows Ilhyun is taken by the Death Eaters. Ilhyun probably told him to not tell anyone he’s a Gryffindor or a Chun or he’ll be hunted down by the Death Eaters too. And Shin-il hyung once said he has to be happy. He needs to be happy. He has to make sure he’s happy — “ Chan turns to them, “ — because Ilhyun can’t since if she gets to be too happy, she tends to lose her control over her powers.”

“Her real opponent is her powers. Death Eaters are the opponent of not only her but the whole Wizarding World, with or without her,” Sungjin says. “Death Eaters are not the darkness that we need to free her from. It’s the inability to be happy.”

“And you make her happy,” Yoongi butts in.

“That’s why Shin-il hyung said I’m enough to save her,” Chan mutters, eyes still wide from the realization.

Jungkook smiles, “See! We found something out!”

“Does that even change anything?” Taehyung asks.

“Yeah! That means unless any of us are hurt, especially Chan, Ilhyun’s powers are not going to go into a rampage,” says Jungkook.

“That means, Chan’s fight is against Ilhyun’s powers. Our fight is against the Death Eaters,” says Dowoon.

“That means, this war is all about the Wizarding World against the Death Eaters. They’re only after Chan not just because his powers are greater than Ilhyun’s but because he makes her happy,” Jimin adds.

“But everyone deserves to be happy,” Hoseok frowns.

“That’s why we need to deal with the Death Eaters first,” says Namjoon. “Until then are we going to be able to be free. And Chan will finally be able to save Ilhyun because no one would be chasing after Chan then.”

---

Clash

Mark looks up at the dark sky before raising his wand and mumbling protective spells to cover the castle in a dome. Jaehyung stood near him, putting up protective spells as well. The rest of the gang, along with some other students, scattered in front of the doors of Hogwarts, doing the same. Watching their protective spells create the protective dome, Mark looks at Jaehyung before turning around. They see Chan standing there, breathing heavily as he stares afar. He looks scared and lost.

“Channie?” calls Brian softly.

Chan gulps before looking at him, and at the others, “Please be careful. I don’t want to lose anyone.”

“You won’t,” smiles Seokjin. “I’ll make sure you won’t lose anyone.”

Chan nods, “21. We’ll be together again. All 21 of us. Yeah?”

They smile and nod in response.

“The Gryffindors, be careful,” Wonpil reminds.

Suddenly, Sungjin grabs the arm of the person next to him, which happened to be Jackson. They look at him and see him staring slightly wide-eyed into space, lips parted in surprise. Jackson nudges him a bit.

“The Death Eaters are coming,” Sungjin says.

“We know that — “

“They’re coming for the Gryffindors,” Sungjin adds, cutting Bambam mid-sentence. “For every Gryffindor there is, they’re going to get them to lure Chan out. Hide the Gryffindors.”

“Geom?” Brian walks to him, curious.

Sungjin holds his wrists, “Stay with me. You’re their main target. Stay with me, Younghyun — “

An explosion occurs as a spell hits the protective dome they had put up. And Mark feels someone throw themself to his back. He looks over his shoulder and sees Jinyoung with his eyes shut close as he rests his head on his back. Jaehyung walks to Wonpil and the Slytherin gladly accepts him. Hoseok grabs Yoongi’s wrist, and Namjoon looks meaningfully at Seokjin.

Seokjin nods, “I know.”

“Be careful,” says Namjoon, earning another nod from the older.

“Where’s Jaebeom hyung — “ Jackson looks around and stops when he feels hands on his shoulder.

He turns around and embraces the older Gryffindor tightly. Bambam, Yugyeom and Youngjae look at each other, blinking.

Jimin turns to Jungkook and Taehyung, “I better see you both after this .”

“We’re easy to spot. You aren’t,” Jungkook jokes, Taehyung giggles, and Jimin smiles.

Sungjin grabs Dowoon to him and kisses his forehead, “Be safe, Dowoon-ah.”

The boy nods attentively before another explosion occurs, a spell penetrating their protective dome and successfully breaking it. Chan inhales deeply and then he feels someone enter his mind.

“Take Younghyun oppa with you. They’re coming for the both of you. There’s a pure black vial in Professor Snape’s inventory, it has my name. Get it and take it to the Pensieve in the Headmaster’s study,” he hears Ilhyun say.

He snaps his head to the older Gryffindor and calls, “Younghyun hyung, I need you with me!”

Brian glances at him and back to Sungjin, pulls his wrists from his grip, and grabs his face as the Death Eaters start to swarm in.

“Listen to me!” Brian shouts to get his attention. “I’m gonna be fine. Don’t worry about me. Take care of yourself.”

He turns to leave and accompany Chan but Sungjin grabs him back, handing him something. He looks at it and sees Sungjin’s prefect badge. It felt hot against his hand, it was glowing a bit red, too. Sungjin puts a hand on his nape and pulls him down, pressing a quick but deep kiss on his lips. And then Sungjin pushes him back, ushering him to go already before he turned around to counter a spell headed for him.

Brian his lips before running after Chan. He follows the younger one around, stopping in front of a door and casting Aberto on the lock. He watches the boy look around the small room which consisted of shelves of potion bottles and vials.

“Ilhyun said there’s a pure black vial in here. It has her name. We need to get it,” says Chan, head turning every second.

Chan climbs the ladder while Brian looks up, eyes scanning each vial he sees. Then sees a pure black one and he points at it.

“Is it that one?”

Chan looks in the direction where he points and reaches for the vial. He turns it around to see Ilhyun’s name on it and then jumps off the ladder. He runs off again, “We need to get to Professor Dumbledore’s study.”

“Isn’t there a password to get the eagle statue moving?” Brian asks as they run around.

“Is there? We need to find Professor McGonagall, then,” Chan pants.

“Professor McGonagall is at the entrance,” Chan stops and breathes heavily.

Brian stops as well, “What?”

Chan grabs him and hides behind a wall when he saw a Death Eater. The Death Eater casts the Killing Curse towards them. Chan peeks out real quick and casts a stunning spell to them before looking at Brian.

“Ilhyun said Professor McGonagall is at the entrance,” Chan says.

“What the — it’s going to take us ages, Chan!” Brian retorts.

Chan stares off to space, hoping to get Ilhyun, but he wasn’t a Legilimens. But Ilhyun senses him.

“What the are you doing? Move.”

“We need the password to get up to the Headmaster’s study,” Chan replies, Brian tilts his head at him before fighting off some Death Eaters when he sees one.

“Try Sherbet Lemon,” Ilhyun says.

“Where are you, anyway?”

“I’m looking out for everyone,” and Ilhyun disappears again.

Chan grabs Brian again and they run off to Dumbledore’s office.

Meanwhile, it turns cold outside Hogwarts, and another swarm of black-cloaked figures joins the war. Seokjin freezes, gasping as he watches the Dementors hover down towards them. He takes a step back, eyes widening. And then he hears a chorus of ‘Expecto Patronum!’ before bright lights exploded from behind him. He looks back to see half of their gang exude the white light, the others continuing to fight off the Death Eaters and block spells for the ones conjuring a Patronus.

“Hyung! Protego Maxima!” Namjoon shouts, wand pointed at him.

And a spell hits Seokjin, knocking him back. Namjoon catches him before he falls to the ground, and points his wand to the Death Eater, freezing him. The younger pulls him back to his feet.

“Never the Titanic between us, hyung. Stay alert,” Namjoon says before leaving to help others fight.

Sungjin casts an explosive spell on one of the Death Eaters before looking at the castle, worried. And then he decides to follow them. He runs into the castle, dodging spells thrown left and right and hoping to see the two Gryffindors. And then an orange, fire-like light was headed for him through the large gaps of the hallways. He stops to dodge the spell, but a black smoke intercepts it.

Sungjin’s eyes widened before running over to the black smoke that crashed on the courtyard. He pulls at their cloak to reveal their face, and Sungjin’s heart falls to his stomach.

“Professor Snape,” he breathes out.

“Trust Kang. Stay in your — lane,” Snape says.

Sungjin was about to cast a healing spell on him but Snape pushes him back.

“Expulso,” Snape casts near him, sending him to the wall.

“Confringo!” Sungjin hears a shrill voice shout and another orange light fills his eyes.

Sungjin blindly points his wand off to where the voice came from and sends a Reducto, surprisingly successfully hitting the Death Eater. Sungjin keeps his eyes shut close for a minute before opening them again and seeing the courtyard, void of Snape’s body. And Sungjin feels the guilt settle on him. He returns out to the entrance of Hogwarts.

In the Headmaster’s study, Chan watches the Pensieve emerge from the wall. He glances at Brian who stood on guard by the door. Brian nods at him. Chan looks back at the Pensieve, watching the silvery substance swirl slowly in it. He pops the cork off the black vial in his hand and pours the memory contained in it before putting his head on the basin.

 

•••

Chan lands back in Ilhyun’s house. He stood up from the ground and looked around, realizing he was in the living room. And suddenly, Snape walks through him from behind. He jumps from where he was and walks to the side of the table. It was then that he noticed Ilhyun sitting on the head of the table. Snape walks around slowly, looking around like the brooding man that he is. Ilhyun looked a bit younger but mature.

“Are you scared?”

It surprised Chan because that question actually came from Snape. Ilhyun sighs.

“I can’t say I’m not. My brother used to tell me death is yet another adventure,” Ilhyun answers.

Snape takes a photo frame from the top of the mantel. He looks at the family photo for a few seconds before putting it back, “You’re not going to… kill him… are you?”

Snape looks at her, and so does Chan. The boy’s eyebrows furrowed, head tilting in confusion.

“Is it wrong to have Bang help you in controlling your powers when the Death Eaters’ goal is to get him killed?”

Chan gasped.

“I know they’re going to come after him once I met him,” Ilhyun says. “This is why I didn’t want to join their little group.”

Snape walks around further, looking at what looks like a family tree on the wall. That’s what Shin-il mentioned before. The Chun family tree that Ilhyun had probably burnt.

“You didn’t know they’d actually put you into the task of killing him once they know his powers are greater than yours.”

Ilhyun leaned back onto her chair and crossed her arms, “I could have stayed away from Chan once I noticed his magical prowess.”

Snape looked at her, and for once, Chan saw his face soften even just a little bit, “You tried. But Bang was persistent on befriending you.”

Snape walked to her and stood near, looking down at her.

“Have you tried dueling him?”

Ilhyun nodded, “He challenged me to a duel when they were wanting me to join the group.”

“And I’m guessing your wand acted by itself?” Snape questions.

“It did. Everyone thought I cast the Killing Curse on him,” Ilhyun mumbled.

Snape chuckled, a bit coldly, “They didn’t know you can’t. But not because it’s immoral, but because your wands don’t permit you to.”

Chan blinked and walked closer to them, leaning onto the table to listen more attentively.

“So, tell me, Ilhyun. How are you going to perform the duty that the Death Eaters asked you to when your and Bang’s wands are twins?” Snape inquires.

Chan’s mouth parted, but he was still a bit confused.

“You can’t harm each other severely, Ilhyun. Forcing the both of you to compete against each other when you have the same source for your cores is impossible,” Snape says. “It can produce a more damaging result.”

Chan gulps and looks at Ilhyun who only stared silently at the table.

Then she shakes her head, “I can’t kill Chan. I can’t have him killed by anyone, I can’t lose him — “

“But they’ll kill you if you don’t kill him — ”

“Would you have killed Lily in exchange for your life if that was your mission?” Ilhyun looks up sharply at him.

Chan looks at the Potions Master who only looked at Ilhyun. Somehow, Chan knows Snape understood Ilhyun, for some reason.

“Then what? You can’t die, Ilhyun,” Snape says.

“And why is that?” questions Ilhyun.

Snape narrowed his eyes at her, “Because no one will stop the Death Eaters, and Bang’s wand might act for him and possibly destroy the world if you die.”

Ilhyun her lips.

“You know Bang wasn’t the Chosen One the moment he was born,” Snape pauses.

Chan blinks confusedly again.

Snape continues, “He was the Chosen One the moment your heart chose him.”

And Chan’s eyes widened at Ilhyun.

“Because he’s your happiness. And your happiness is a downfall for Death Eaters,” Snape finishes before Chan gets kicked out of the memory.

 

•••

Chan raises his head from the Pensieve, breathing heavily as he did. Brian walks to him and takes him to the stairs, making him take a seat. Brian sits beside him, hand squeezing his shoulder.

“Ilhyun’s tasked to kill me,” he starts and Brian’s eyes widened a bit. “But Ilhyun and I’s wands are twins. We can’t harm each other.”

Chan looks at him, lost. Brian looks back and squeezes his shoulder again, “After this war, we’ll all help Ilhyun attain the happiness she deserves. For now, I think we need to focus on defeating the Death Eaters. The opponents this time are the Death Eaters, Chan. After that, we’ll be happy. Together. Okay?”

Chan nods and Brian smiles before patting his shoulder. They stood up and suddenly, white light hits them. And they felt the heaviness of it.

Outside the castle, the rest of the gang remain dueling against Death Eaters. Seokjin has his eyes darting all over, in case a Killing Curse was sent to one of their friends from a blind spot. He was so focused on that; he didn’t realize one was coming for him from his blind spot.

He suddenly hears someone shouting his name, and then green blows up behind him. He turns around instantly and reduces the Death Eater to ashes before looking down. And he felt his heart drop to his stomach, just as he dropped down on his knees beside the now lifeless body of Lupin. He lets his head drop, eyes closing and tears streaming down his cheeks. He grips the adult’s cloak tightly.

“No, professor,” he whispers as he fully sobs airily.

And from his wand shoots out a bright white light that rivals that of the Patronus Charm. It spreads around numerous times, hitting every person on the light side. It hits Ilhyun. The gang stops. They feel extreme grief fill their whole being, moving them to tears of their own. The fight resumes for a few more minutes, the light side gaining massive amounts of courage and strength enough to defeat the Death Eaters easily. The war comes to a halt, and Namjoon runs to where his feet would take him.

He finds Seokjin on his knees, hunched over Lupin’s lifeless body. He walks over and takes the older’s shoulders, sitting him up. Seokjin leans to him weakly and cries on his shoulder. Namjoon squeezes his arm. It felt like an hour after Seokjin has stopped grieving, thirty minutes since his wand had ceased on shooting out white light.

They gather in front of the battered castle. Only a few Death Eaters remain, Ilhyun including. Now, the light and dark stand in front of each other. Mark had kept an eye on Jinyoung, Jaehyung on Wonpil. Jackson and Jaebeom had tag-teamed Death Eaters, reducing their number quickly. They were complete, or so they wish. Chan and Brian were nowhere to be found, still on the way to the doors of Hogwarts.

“Ilhyun,” one of the Death Eaters moves to the girl and puts the tip of his wand on . “Get the Gryffindors,” the Death Eater grits out.

Seokjin and Namjoon stepped forward in defense, heads held high. Behind them, Jackson held the Sorting Hat in his right hand. Namjoon had seen it on the ground. He had seen something glimmer inside it but he hadn’t had the time to ponder about it since he was running all around, helping everyone fight the Death Eaters. He had handed it to Jackson at some point and the Quidditch captain had been interested in the glimmering silver inside so he held onto it.

“If you’re so impatient, kill me already, Malchin,” Ilhyun stares at the two Gryffindors, eyes flicking to the Sorting Hat on Jackson’s hand.

The Death Eater, Malchin, pushed his wand deeper against , “Get the Gryffindors and lure the boy out, Ilhyun, so their suffering can stop.”

She remained quiet. And suddenly, they hear heavy footsteps from the castle. Brian runs out to the front of the crowd and points his wand to Malchin, and a spell shoots out from the tip. Malchin counters with a red light. Chan also runs out and Malchin flicks his wand, beating Brian’s spell and creating an opening for Malchin’s spell to hit him.

Ilhyun moves, a protective liquid covering Brian and protecting him from Malchin’s spell. Chan attacks the Death Eaters collectively, firing a strong, area of effect spell, “Confringo!”

Ilhyun turns into smoke and flies away to dodge the explosion. Malchin does as well, flying away while the rest of the Death Eaters die. Then Chan averted his wand to Ilhyun, sending a red light towards her. Ilhyun counters with the same spell and Jackson draws something from the Sorting Hat. He charges towards Malchin, deflecting his spell narrowly with the sword and then proceeding to stab him on the abdomen.

Chan’s red light meets Ilhyun’s and everyone watches after Malchin dies, turning into smoke from the sword. The meeting point turns bright white, almost blinding, and Jaehyung grabs Brian to make him stand and back up. And a couple of lights explode from the meeting point, targeting everyone behind Chan and covering them protectively. The duel pauses, Ilhyun’s hand shaking from the endurance.

“One more time. Fight me, Ilhyun,” Chan demands.

“Chan?” calls Yugyeom, frowning.

Chan raises his wand once more and again, Ilhyun counters. The same occurrence from earlier happened. Chan narrows his eyes at her.

“Redeem yourself. Control it,” Chan says.

Ilhyun lets go and turns into smoke, flying away to escape. She wasn’t ready. It was too powerful — her powers. She might hurt Chan, she might hurt everyone from being too weak, and she can’t have that. She decides to deal with it on her own. Chan watches the last trace of smoke disappear before turning to everyone, making sure they were all safe, and sighs.

 

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