“Yeol! Wake up…” Baekhyun patted gently on the Slytherin’s cheeks. Chanyeol sat up after several moments and turned to his boyfriend with a scrunched up face. “What’s wrong?” Baekhyun sighed and showed him the watch strapped onto his wrist. “We fell asleep! Curfew is at 9pm and it’s almost 10pm now… Come on, we need to get back before the Professors catch us.” Chanyeol let the other pull him up before both were trudging down the long flight of stairs.

The two were on their typical after dinner date at the Astronomy tower. They ducked behind a wall at the sight of a figure down the corridor, probably a professor patrolling or Mr Filch looking to catch students out of bed. “This way.” Baekhyun tugged on Chanyeol’s arm, “I’ll walk you back to the Slytherin Common Room…” Chanyeol shook his head and wrapped an arm around Baekhyun’s waist. “I’ll walk you back first. It’s only my duty as your boyfriend.” He puffed his chest out.

“I’m also your boyfriend.” Baekhyun deadpanned, “Besides, with that mad man on the loose and you being a muggle-born. I’m going to walk you back, that’s final.” He nudged Chanyeol and the other relented. They startled when they bumped into someone at the next corner; it was a deserted shortcut that most Professors are unaware of, that’s why they snuck through here to not get caught. The apologies were already halfway out of their mouths when Baekhyun’s eyes lit up and he went to hug the other.

“Xiumin!” Chanyeol let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank god it wasn’t a Professor or worse, an Auror. “What are you doing out here alone?” The Slytherin smiled at the Ravenclaw. Baekhyun frowned when Xiumin shoved him aside and stalked towards Chanyeol. “W-What?” Chanyeol exchanged glances with Baekhyun who yelled out “Hey! What are you doing!” when Xiumin grabbed his boyfriend’s collar and shoved a pale orange rock in front of his eyes. The bright red eyes burned into Chanyeol and the latter found himself turning rigid before black consumed him.

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun screamed and ran to catch his boyfriend. He shoved Xiumin away, “What did you do!” He pointed his wand at Xiumin. Baekhyun froze under the intense red eyes. The Ravenclaw tilted his head and spoke in an unusually cold tone, “There is no place for mudbloods in our world.” Baekhyun slumped to the ground beside his unconscious boyfriend, “You’re not Xiumin… You’re not our friend… Xiumin won’t do this… Who are you?” He looked up with teary eyes; Baekhyun recognized that voice. Xiumin lifted his own wand at Baekhyun before a sly smirk made his way onto his face. “Why ask when you know who I am?”

“Stupefy!” Baekhyun shouted but Xiumin deflected the spell with ease. “Is that how you treat me, Baekhyun? After all, I am a friend of your father” Xiumin stepped closer and closer. “I don’t have a father and get out of my friend’s body, Keto!” Baekhyun yelled and spread himself to shield Chanyeol’s body with his own. “And why would I do that? This boy is smart and very capable… he’ll make a great inside help.” Both boys turned their heads to the corridor on their left when they heard faint footsteps. “I’ve got to go. Goodbye, Baekhyun.” The said boy slammed his eyes shut before he heard the loud “Stupefy!” leave Xiumin’s mouth.

Kai’s eyes sprung open and he sat up on his bed with his heart still racing. To his left, Luhan was still sleeping with no indication of being bothered by Kai’s heavy breathing and bed sheet rustling. Perhaps I woke because of a bad dream… But Kai dismissed the thought when he looked down at his glowing necklace. Kyungsoo. My boyfriend wants to speak to me! He smiled and wrapped a palm around the time-turner, before closing his eyes and waiting for the other’s soothing tone to float in his mind.

“Xiumin”. Kai’s frowned and stared down at the necklace. That’s it? He picked up his wand and pointed it to the necklace. “What did you mean by Xiumin?” Kai waited for a minute but when there was no reply from Kyungsoo, he picked up his wand and whispered to the necklace once more. “Soo? BabySoo… are you okay? You sounded weird just now. Are you crying, Soo?” Kai sprung up and started pacing around the room, though his footsteps faltered when he spotted Baekhyun’s empty bed.

He took a look at the room’s clock and frowned. Where did Baekhyun go? Did he and Chanyeol forget about curfew? With the prolonged silence interrupted only by soft snores from Luhan, Kai sat by the windowsill and his thoughts wandered back to Kyungsoo’s message. Xiumin? Why would he say Xiumin out of the blue? It was Kyungsoo’s tone when he rushed out the word that had him puzzled and extremely worried. There’s something not quite right with the way Kyungsoo said it…

“Soo? Why aren’t you answering, baby… Are you in trouble? Talk to me, Kyungsoo. I’m getting extremely worried now!” Kai looked up when Luhan’s sleepy voice sounded in the room. “Kai? What’s wrong?” Luhan sat up, rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly. Kai ran to the other and plopped down beside him on the bed. “There’s something wrong with Kyungsoo… I can feel it.” Luhan’s eyes widened and they widened even more when he noticed the absence of Baekhyun. “Where’s Baekhyun?” He pointed at the folded blankets.

“Don’t you think Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are in trouble? We must go find them!” Kai pulled on Luhan’s arm and half-dragged him to the door. “Wait! We can’t leave, Kai. It’s curfew and there are countless Professors and Aurors patrolling now… we can’t just wander about in the castle on our own.” Luhan stopped him sensibly. “Maybe Baekhyun is crashing in Chanyeol’s room? I know they went on a date after dinner…” Kai cut in, “Then what about Kyungsoo? He’s not replying me!” Luhan stared at the necklace Kai was waving in his face.

“It’s a two-way communicative necklace.” Kai explained. Luhan shrugged, “I don’t know… maybe he fell asleep?” Kai stiffened and considered that thought for a while before shaking his head. Luhan stayed up with him for an hour before Kai was pushing the older back to his bed. “Go sleep, Lu.” He urged. The other stared at him and made him promise not to do silly things and leave the dorms, before succumbing to sleep once again. However, Kai went back to sit by the windowsill. He didn’t sleep a wink that night; he spent every single minute talking to the necklace and hoping that Kyungsoo could hear him and somehow reply.

Kyungsoo never did.

Across the large castle, deep down in the dungeons, a single boy sat in small old cell. Like Kai, he was clutching onto his necklace but he had streams of tears down his face. “What did you mean by Xiumin?” “Soo? BabySoo… are you okay? You sounded weird just now. Are you crying, Soo?” “Soo? Why aren’t you answering, baby… Are you in trouble? Talk to me, Kyungsoo. I’m getting extremely worried now!” Kyungsoo wanted to call out to Kai; to tell him what happened, but the Aurors had taken his wand. There was no way he could transmit messages to the other without it.

Kyungsoo slumped against the wall; the red eyes earlier were burning into his memory. That wasn’t Xiumin. Kyungsoo shook his head. Why did he attack Baekhyun and Chanyeol? Unless… C-Chanyeol. His thoughts swung to the orange object in Xiumin’s hand just now. The Fraer gemstone... That must be it! But why, is someone controlling him? Kyungsoo wrecked his brain and finally slammed his fist against the wall. Last time… he was hit by dark magic… is that it? So the one controlling Xiumin is Keto, and Kohen and him. That actually makes sense.

Should I tell Harry Potter about Xiumin? Kyungsoo spent the whole night contemplating as well as listening to Kai’s hysteric voice through his necklace before they toned down to soft whimpers and concerns of his whereabouts. “I miss you, Soo… I hope you’re okay… I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kyungsoo picked at the necklace and whispered, “I miss you too.” But I don’t think you’ll get to see me in the morning…

Rumors were flying as students rushed to find their