Author's note: so uhm... the ending for this fic sort of sneaked up on me. It's not going to end this chapter, there's still a couple more of them to get through, but the ending's in sight so yeah. Just giving ample warning.

Please enjoy! <3

He pokes him with his toes from the other side of the couch.

Seungri half mutters a joke and attempts a laugh but doesn’t look away from his butterbeer. Daesung pokes him again, turning his head to exchange a concerned look with Youngbae at the getting another lukewarm answer.  No loud indignant noises, no protesting, no bark of a laugh, no teasing, just nervous mumbling.

It’s been like this ever since the Gryffindor decided to finally drop by, three weeks after the first article dropped. Daesung has been getting a short letter apologizing every other day and he had hoped his friend just needed time to realize none of it had been his fault since reassuring him of that didn’t seem to be working.

He can’t remember the last time it’s been awkward between them, nevermind just between Seungri and himself. Neither of them know how to approach the subject and his attempts so far haven’t been very successful since the interviewer seems determined not to talk about it and he feels a bit too tired to insist on having that conversation.

Youngbae looks between the two of them again before sighing, putting the butterbeer down on the coffee table with more strength than necessary. “Alright, that’s enough,” two sets of eyes blink at him, more than a little surprised. The older Hufflepuff doesn’t sound angry but he is using the same tone he once did when Daesung had forgotten his winter cloak and ended up catching a horrible cold in the middle of exams during his fourth year.

“Seungri, he’s told you again and again that it isn’t your fault. You did the best you could for as long as you could,” the youngest of them squirms a little in his seat, tapping against the mug in his lap with a finger. It’s so odd, seeing him this uncomfortable again, he’d grown past it a while ago. “And don’t you think Daesung has enough to worry about without adding you to the list?”

“Youngbae!” his mouth opens as he struggles to say something about that. He recognizes his older friend’s disappointed-mother-hen tone when he hears it but this isn’t very fair. Seungri is just feeling guilty, that’s all, he’s always hated letting people down after growing out of his more difficult teenager years. “That’s- that’s not what I-“

“And you, Daesung!” Youngbae clearly isn’t finished and turns, pointing a finger at him in an accusatory fashion, immediately making him feel fourteen again. His mouth snaps closed as he goes silent, clutching his own mug and shrinking slightly at the eyes narrowing in his direction. Jiyong might have been Head Boy of his year but Youngbae was always the one everyone was scared of disappointing. “Didn’t we have this conversation before?”

“But-“

“You’re not feeling well! I know you always want to be considerate and that’s good, you have a good heart, but you should at least be honest with your friends when you’re not okay. Seungri is practically an adult now, even if he doesn’t act like it, he’d understand.”

The older Hufflepuff crosses his arms, looking at the both of them like they were both just caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Daesung scratches the back of his neck, looking down at his sneakers but a movement at the corner of his eyes catches his attention. Seungri opens and closes his mouth, twice, but then his lips turn into something between a grin and a smirk.

“Yes, mum.”

And, just like that, the awkwardness is broken as the two youngest break down into laughter and Youngbae sighs, fake exasperation betrayed by the smile growing across his face. D-Lite tilts his head from his perch on the dresser, looking at them all like they’re a bunch of idiots and ruffling his feathers when his owner only laughs harder in response.

Seungri’s grin eases into something familiar as he takes a sip of the butterbeer before leaning over and promptly using Daesung’s lap as pillow without even asking. Youngbae seems to agree with this, sitting down on the other end of the couch as the Gryffindor just sprawls completely on them, seemingly unconcerned about anything.

The apprentice glares in mock indignation, doing a terrible job of pretending to be affronted like usual. Another smile escape and he doesn’t bother trying to maintain the farce up – something very much like happiness bubbles in his chest at seeing his friends like this again, at ease and content and teasing, even if there’s a hand currently being shoved at his face.

It seems like it’s been forever – not just three weeks – since he’s actually felt himself relax, since he felt like he wasn’t being watched and judged all the time or that he had to mind his steps constantly. Daesung’s nose twitches as he bats away the offending limb from his hair and tries to dislodge the interviewer using his legs, which only causes the other man to clamp down on their laps harder.

“How’s Jiyong?” Youngbae asks, eyeing the red and gold sock-clad feet resting on his lap contemplatively, as if figuring out the best angle for attack. 

“You know how he is,” Seungri replies, wiggling his toes provocatively with a challenging stare. “You guys write every week and I know Jiyong answered this morning. You’re just trying to distract me so you can attack. I’m not falling for it!”

The healer-in-training stops his fingers before they touched the squirming feet, one of his eyebrows shooting up as he stared at the youngest of them, trying very hard to hide his smile. “… I did, actually. Mail him this morning and received his answer this morning, I mean. But how do you know that?”

It’s only the second time Daesung has seen the Gryffindor impersonate a goldfish but it’s just as funny as the first time causing him to start chuckling and sink deeper into the couch. Seungri turns to him with a wounded and betrayed look but he just hums, pretending to find something in the ceiling incredibly interesting.

“Seungri…”

“… he told me about it?” it would have been a good excuse if he had said it straight out instead of hesitating and clearly thinking up some kind of excuse. Youngbae’s brow rises a little more as he crosses both arms across his chest once more. The interviewer stares back, putting on his sweetest and most innocent look – which clearly doesn’t work and he shrieks as the older Hufflepuff reaches for his feet.

“W-we di-didn’t do a-a-anything! I swear!” his pleas go unheard as the tickling starts. Seungri laughs, tightening his arms around Daesung and looking pleadingly up at him, all to no effect. The apprentice keeps staring at nothing in particular, biting his lips to keep from bursting into outright laughter. Even D-Lite isn’t offering any help, turning his back like he’s above all of their silly nonsense.

He knows that even if they’re sleeping together Youngbae doesn’t mind or anything. Well, not as long as they’re safe about it – the Hufflepuff house insists on giving talks about being safe to everyone starting on fourth year and every year afterwards with more details. The talks are impersonal and matter-of-fact which keeps the students from feeling too embarrassed about it. In the later years they learn a lot of spells to make everything easier and safer.

His cheeks burn as he remembers some of them, thinking he may need them eventually. Assuming the press eases up on them and they managed to get a bit of time to themselves. As much as the pureblood discussion is still ongoing, the gossip high has been dying down, probably the payoff for both of them being on their best behavior and refusing to give them something even bigger to talk about.

Seunghyun had been right, however. The Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly, in particular, had tried to dig into Daesung’s life and past but a quick intervention by the Choi and Kwon Houses stating any shots taken at him would be taken as personal attack on both families meant they couldn’t be as open about the gossip as they probably would have liked. It didn’t stop them completely but even the most unscrupulous journalists were weary of crossing such influencing people.

“Daesung?”

His eyes blink, slowly, as his attention focuses on his two friends. Both of them are staring at him curiously and he suddenly realizes he has absolutely no idea what they’ve been taking about. The blush on his cheeks darkens as he clears his throat and tries to think of something to say. Before he can, however, Seungri stretches in his direction, eyeing him speculatively.

“Have you-“

“No!” his answer is far more flustered than it should be, making the other men lean closer to him instead of dissuading them from asking any further questions. “We haven’t!” they hadn’t, there had been a few makeout sessions but nothing particularly heavy yet. Both Seunghyun’s personality and the way he’d been raised make progress slow and Daesung is alright with that, really, glad that they’ve taken their time getting physically comfortable around each other first.

Seungri keeps gazing at him, entirely unconvinced, but doesn’t get a chance to say anything else before Youngbae lets his feet go and gets up, clearing his throat and giving them a very pointed look. The younger men blink and stare up at him. His brows are still up and Daesung flushes deeper as soon as he recognizes that expression, pressing a palm against his face even as he protests: “Youngbae!”

“I know we’ve had this conversation before, Daesung, but maybe Seungri hasn’t. And you may need a refresher. So anyway, if you’re having-“

“Youngbae!”  the Gryffindor seems to have caught on to what the conversation is about and they whine together at the same time, waving their arms in a half panicked, half protesting gesture. Youngbae manages to remain firm for a few moments before giving into laughter, getting two pillows thrown at his head for that little act.