Author's note: in which Seungri continues to have horrible timing. Enjoy~!

He quickly taps two cards with his wand, earning himself another point.

Christmas had passed without much incident. Daesung half expected to see something about their little confrontation with that couple at the ball or about him attending with Seunghyun, given how voracious and obsessed the wizarding world seems to be with gossip but, surprisingly, nothing showed up. He had asked Seungri about it but only received a very vague non-answer for his troubles. That pretty much told him all he needed to know anyway.

His parents had been as odd as ever, his mum still insisting on hunting down magical sweets, his dad walking around with reindeer antlers on. Daesung himself had been in a great mood, full of holiday cheer, helping them cook and make various desserts, singing and bopping around in the kitchen, in synch with D-Lite.

The food had been amazing and the conversation had been funny, even with all the teasing. To his mortification his dad had wanted to sit that framed picture of Seunghyun at the table with them and Daesung had to snag it out of his hands and put it back on the mantelpiece. They were both really happy, though, and hugged the life out of him which almost made him cry.

“Daesung, focus.”

“Sorry,” he grins sheepishly at Youngbae’s smile and pointed look, locating two more identical cards, manticores this time. The older Hufflepuff had been staying with him the last couple of days as his parents decided to go spend New Year’s overseas somewhere and he didn’t particularly feel like going with them. Originally they planned to go somewhere and celebrate but apparently this is an important time for pureblood families. Since Jiyong and Seunghyun couldn’t come they just decided to stay in – something Seungri had whined nonstop about.

Both of them are sitting down on the floor on top of the rug; the coffee table is resting against one of the walls to make space for their game of exploding snap. Not that the cards explode very violently – it would be banned in Hogwarts otherwise, although wizards in general seem to like making things more dangerous than they should be – but Daesung would just rather avoid cracking his own furniture.

There’s something wonderfully nostalgic about playing this together again, like they did in the Hufflepuff Common Room during winter, when it was too cold or snowing too hard to take a walk around the grounds. Their house regularly held exploding snaps and gobstones tournaments between all years, as a way of bonding them together. Usually they were held after the exams were done, to help everyone relax and unwind a little.

Both of them take turns sipping at their butterbeers, watching sharply as the cards keep switching faster and faster and faster. Pictures of mountain trolls, bowtruckles, and several species of dragons flicker before their eyes. Daesung is a second too slow at tapping the last cyclops card, withdrawing before it turns bright red and explodes, making them edge away and laugh.

“That’s another win for me!”

The younger Hufflepuff sticks his tongue out, chuckling when his older friend does the same thing in return. He taps the deck, watching it shuffle itself randomly a couple of times before the games starts again. It’s quite a fun game, actually, and unlike gobstones it doesn’t spray anything at your face, but he’s never been very good at it. It’s still nice to play with his friends, even if Youngbae and Seungri beat him almost every time.

“What were you saying about the wand?”

“Uhm?” his attention moves from the cards displaying themselves on the floor to his friend for a second. Oh, right. They had been talking casually about Daesung’s studies and somehow the conversation turned to his previous obsession with Seunghyun’s wand. His cheeks flush a little as he scratches at the back of his neck, embarrassed at having been fixated on such a silly thing. “Ah, it was bothering and I didn’t know why. I remembered later that he had a hawthorne wand before, not vine like now.”

“… hawthorne?”

“Yeah. I was surprised!” he chuckles, quickly tapping pairs of cards as they talk. They’re only playing casually but Youngbae has three wins over him already. Not that Daesung really cares about the score, it’s just an opportunity to playfully curse his own luck. “Hawthorne is attracted to owners who are conflicted or going through difficult times. I’m not even sure why I remember that…” it was an old memory. He thinks it wasn’t the wand that did it, but the ruckus and maybe the expression on the faces of both Slytherins involved because he still remembers that, the scowls and the anger.

A card explodes and he laughs, fist pumping at his victory. The victorious smile on his face swiftly turns into a slight pout, however, when he notices that Youngbae lost because he’s clearly distracted. His gaze is unfocused as he stares off somewhere above the younger man as if trying to remember something correctly, tilting his head slightly. “… conflicted? Yeah that makes sense.”

Daesung blinks. “… huh?”

“Oh, right. I think you were too young. You don’t remember Seunghyun’s initial reputation, do you? Before his fifth year?”

“… his reputati-“

There’s a very loud knocking at his door, interrupting the conversation. They stare at each other for a second before Youngbae shrugs and gets up, muttering a “I’ll go get it” as he moves towards the door. Daesung doesn’t watch him to go but furrows his brows instead and tries fruitlessly to remember. What about Seunghyun? All that he remembers is from his own later years when he had started paying attention to social standing and by then the Slytherin was quite popular with a good reputation.

The harder he tries to think back on it, the harder it gets to remember anything properly. More than that, he had been simply too young to pay much attention to anything except classes and his own friends. He shakes his head, determined, trying to push the subject out of his mind. He’s curious but not really bothered: whoever Seunghyun had been, he’s now the man Daesung knows and is familiar with. Besides, Youngbae hadn’t seemed worried when he learned of his crush a few months back.

“Daaaeesssuunnnggg!”

His train of thought is abruptly cut off by someone barreling into his back and a pair of arms sneaking around his shoulders and squeezing. The younger Hufflepuff laughs, trying to shake his friend off as Youngbae plops down in front of them and leans back on one hand, using his other one to pick up his butterbeer and making no effort whatsoever to help him.

“Seungri, get off!”

The interviewer refuses and they end up shoving at each other, completely forgetting about the cards flying everywhere as they stumble and bicker. The oldest of them picks those up, as well as the other butterbeer, and puts them a little further away from the mess. After a second, he goes into the kitchen, moving into the fridge – well, it’s a cupboard with freezing and preserving charms, but still – and getting another drink for the new arrival.

Both of them are settled down when he comes back and hangs the butterbeer to Seungri, laughing at the look Daesung is throwing the Gryffindor for all the clutching earlier. The game of exploding snap is promptly forgotten in favour of catching up with one another. Youngbae hasn’t been up to anything, eating the food around the apartment and sleeping until noon to make up for all the lack of rest. Daesung hasn’t been doing much either, other than work and study he’s been coming straight back home so they can hang out.

Silence hangs between the three men once it gets to Seungri’s turn – who smiles, seeming far too pleased with himself. A slow flush spreads across his face as he crosses both arms across his chest and raises his head. He seems so utterly happy that Daesung’s mind immediately jumps to Jiyong. The Gryffindor still isn’t saying anything, looking at them all smug, so he reaches over and swats him in the arm. “Seungri!”

“What?”

“Did you ask? Are you and Jiyong dating?”

“Tell us!” Youngbae immediately catches on. The two Hufflepuff men lean forward, simultaneously resting their chins on both hands and smiling with the cutest face they can muster. Seungri’s flush gets darker as he shoves at them and tries to push them to the ground but he’s laughing as he does so. The smile on his face is so happy and so bright that it spreads to the other two and they end up in a big pile on the floor, grinning and laughing and shoving at each other.

After a couple of minutes the youngest man waves a hand weakly from the bottom of the pile in a gesture of surrender. Youngbae laughs and rolls off, content to remain on the floor while Daesung clampers up onto the couch clumsily, chuckling to himself heartily. An occasional groan and whine reaches both their ears from the only person still left in his original position, sending them both into another round of laughter whenever they feel themselves calming down.

Eventually Seungri does get off the floor, pouting and glaring at them. It lasts only for a second before he grins mischievously, running off towards the door, making them raise their heads and exchange glances before staring after him. He comes back after a few moments, waving a bottle of firewhiskey in each hand. Daesung blinks before throwing his head back onto the couch and groaning, trying to guess where his friend’s bark of a laughter is coming from so he can kick at him.