Author's note: for those who have been trying to keep track, since it hasn't been made entirely clear in the story, when Seunghyun was in his final year Youngbae and Jiyong were in their sixth, Daesung was in his fifth and Seungri was in his fourth.

Enjoy~!

Tuesday. It’s only Tuesday, he mutters to himself for the twelfth time that day.

His mind seems hazy today and for some reason keeps trying to convince him it’s Thursday. Predictably, Youngbae hadn’t been able to celebrate his accomplishment during the passing weekend but he promised to meet him in The Three Broomsticks two weeks from them, urging him to ask other people to come too. Daesung’s mood hasn’t worsened any but he doesn’t really feel like making a big deal out of it. Still, maybe he should do that, invite someone else. Jiyong is probably too busy but maybe Seungri can make it. He can even introduce him to Youngbae, as far as he knows they’re only tangentially aware of the other’s existence.

It’s… weird. He’d sent word to some of his former housemates and gotten a lot of heartfelt congratulations letters, even from a few he hadn’t reached out to, but the people he immediately thinks of inviting to spend time with him… most of them aren’t from his house. It’s not like Daesung had been particularly isolated, he had friends from other houses throughout the years, but that had still been the exception rather than the rule. It’s odd to think that, apart from Youngbae, the people he spends the most time thinking about lately didn’t grow up or spend most of their time with him, have fairly different viewpoints and memories and don’t behave themselves by the same social rules that the Hufflepuff house always did. Maybe Hogwarts just puts them in the wrong mindset for their latter life but he can’t bring himself to think that of the place that gave him a sense of family away from home.

His eyes turn back from an unremarkable spot on the blank wall to the old, dusty book lying open in front of him. Rather than runes, it has illustrations and step by step instructions about carving this time. Even the motifs play an active part in this art – there is nothing truly just decorative about wand crafting, Daesung had learned – and are used to improve the flow of magic between core, wood and user. Wandmakers don’t have great insight people and then pick the right hand, they gain that insight when the customer is selected by a particular wand because they know each individual element that went into its construction, what they mean, how they interact as a whole and what type of person and character would be suitable for it.

Sometimes he wonders if he’ll ever truly be able to make something as delicate and strong, as complex and intricate as the pictures on the page but doubting himself isn’t going to accomplish anything. It’s better to take one thing at a time. They repeated the rune test earlier today with the exact same results; it feels good to know it wasn’t a fluke. Muttering fills the long room as he recites to himself what type of carvings improve the flow on which types of wood. His gaze wanders lazily as he does so, taking in the shelves and the myriad of boxes and the dust for the millionth time. At some point they had been intimidating but now they only seem to offer familiarity and comfort.

“Daesung!” the loud call startles him out of his reverie. “There’s someone here to see you!” A frown tugs at the corners of his mouth as his brows furrow. What? No one ever came to see him at work. Most of his friends are too busy nowadays, when they aren’t he himself is and anyway he tends to let them know when he has any free time, in advance if possible. “Daesung!” He gets up, shaking his head slightly, curiosity growing despite his confusion. It takes barely a second to carefully close the book and check that his wand is in the proper pocket before moving to the front of the shop.

He almost laughs at the sight. Black hair, dark eyes, robes that Daesung assumes are a mix between classy and what’s deemed fashionable by wizarding standards these days, giving his master his most killer smile… and failing miserably to get any sort of reaction. Both fondness and mischievousness blossom in his chest as he moves slowly from the side, creeping along with quiet footsteps as to not be detected until he’s close enough to tug his friend over and sling an arm over his shoulders, watching as the smooth-talking look is replaced by one of surprise. “Seungri! How nice to see you here!”

The no doubt charming response is cut off by a loud whine once Daesung’s fingers reach into his hair to ruffle it fondly. He laughs, delighted, as Seungri seemingly gives up trying to maintain his cool image and settles for crossing both arms across his chest, something halfway between a glare and a pout coming over his face. “You weren’t going to get anywhere,” a whisper accompanied by a friendly poke, hopefully low enough that his master didn’t hear. It doesn’t seem like it but it’s impossible to tell with her. Charm really isn’t going to get him anywhere in here, though.

His friend is as quick to snap back from the situation as he usually is, opting to stop pouting and hug him instead in as obnoxious a fashion as possible, loudly berating him for not writing more often, asking if he knew what’s been happening, if he’s heard that such and such had done this or that and Daesung can only shake his head and keep laughing – which was precisely what Seungri had been aiming for, if the glint in his eyes is anything to go by. “I’m being nice and taking you out for lunch and this is how you repay me?”

The teasing and light-hearted conversation is familiar and warm, easy like the way most of their talks are but then, he supposes any friendship that starts with both people stumbling into each other stark is bound to be either really funny or really awkward. Daesung still doesn’t know how the former Gryffindor managed to know where the entrance to the prefects’ bathroom was since he had never even been a prefect but then he had always known more than he should.

His questioning gaze is answered with an already dismissive wave as his master moves to the back room. Seungri immediately tries dragging him off and it takes a couple of pokes to make him let go long enough for Daesung to carefully place the book he had previously been reading in the office’s shelves, grab his jacket, wand and pouch, before they both leave. He really needs to come up with some way to adapt a muggle wallet to carry around wizarding currency, it’s much more practical.

“You should get a mokeskin pouch, they carry a lot of stuff!” Seungri comments, apparently having read the slightly disgruntled look on his face. He considers asking how he does that, and how much he thinks Daesung earns as an apprentice, but the conversation continues before he has a chance to, flowing quickly from one topic to another. Between his dislike for the press and the fact sometimes they make him physically uncomfortable, these walks are a nice way for him to catch up on what’s been happening. The Quibbler confuses him, the Daily Prophet irritates him and he uses the WWN mostly to keep up with the Quidditch League.

As usual, the news update stops once they reach The Leaky Cauldron.  He doesn’t come to the pub nearly often enough to be a regular, despite living nearby, and he wouldn’t think Seungri did either but the few people around seem to know him well enough, waving lazily as they stop briefly by the bar to order before making their way to an empty spot at the back. There’s a small, fond smile on his face as they sit down and Seungri twirls his wand around his fingers despite the awkward length, much like one would do to a pen. Dogwood. The material suits him. “I read your last interview.”

“What did you think? I think I was very charming,” his chest sort of puffs out, making Daesung unable to resist reaching across the table to ruffle his hair again and press their foreheads together, ignoring his protests until an older woman comes closer with their drinks and food in her arms. Seungri immediately addresses her by name, asking her for help but the apprentice wandmaker offers a cheery and innocent smile, making the woman smile back in turn, shake her head and leave.

Pubs aren’t usually his thing – unless he’s had a bit of firewhiskey but that’s something he tries very hard to forget – and The Leaky Cauldron isn’t even exactly a fine specimen amongst them. It’s warm, at least, but also stuffy and filled with enough smoke for it to linger in layers near the ceiling even in the clearest days. Right now, however, he really doesn’t care. His hand finally releases his friend’s head as they both turn to their food, suddenly a lot hungrier than they realized they were.

“Jiyong mentioned you.”

It takes him a second to realize Seungri doesn’t mean in the article because there was certainly no mention of him. Even any mention of getting inspiration from muggle music was, at most, carefully alluded to but maybe they had spoken off the record for a bit. This is one of the reasons he should get around to introducing everyone but he didn’t think his name would pop up anytime soon.

“Oh?”

Seungri nods but doesn’t say anything else, biting into his sandwich. It certainly seems to be made of… some sort of bread… and meat… and some other things probably best left unidentified really. His fingers twitch, instinctively pulling the soup closer to himself. It tastes good, the warmth spreading through him a little, making him wish he had taken his jacket off before sitting down.

“The Harpies are having a really good season.”

“They’ve almost caught up with the Magpies!”

Whereas Daesung and Youngbae could sit for hours comfortably without saying a single word, the silence between him and Seungri never lasted for very long, easily broken by small talk and fond teasing. There really isn’t much going on besides their respective jobs, they talk a little about the League, about the weather, about the small commemorative gathering in The Three Broomsticks a few weeks away and an upcoming press event-slash-party Seungri asks him to attend.

The atmosphere is relaxing, it reminds Daesung of their times at Hogwarts. They hanged out together a lot during his last year, walking around the Great Lake even when it was snowing, talking about nothing in particular whenever the stress from the N.E.W.Ts preparation was taking its toll on him. That and the soup make him feel drowsy, lull him into a false sense of peace and security, which is exactly why he misses the smirk and doesn’t see the next question coming.

“So, I heard you bumped into Seunghyun Choi the other day?”