Chapter Text
Outside, the rain hammers against the glass windows of the library. Inside, Hoseok feels Yoongi watching him out of the corner of his eye.
He tries to focus on his transfiguration notes; practices the wrist action under the table that is tucked in between the library stacks, and desperately tries to focus. Hufflepuff is playing Slytherin a week on Saturday, but he knows if he doesn’t pass the Transfiguration test on Tuesday, he’s got no chance of being allowed to play. He’s only been playing as keeper for two months now, but he’s been told not-too-privately by the captain that they haven’t a hope of winning if someone has to fill in for him. It’s flattering, of course, and he’s proud of himself for how quickly he’s taken to the game, but the pressure is certainly on him now.
He’s been doing well in all his classes so far this year, even with the added pressure of Quidditch practice and the looming panic about taking his OWLs next year, but he does find himself struggling sometimes. This week, it’s the snake summoning spell he’s been stuck with. Yoongi thinks it may be down to his reluctance to conjure a snake at all, which he doesn’t disagree with. Still, he knows he has to do it, so he’s practising. Or he would be, if Yoongi wasn’t staring at him and making him nervous.
He looks up, raising an eyebrow at Yoongi in question, frowning when his friend keeps looking at him but doesn’t say anything. His mint hair looks particularly bright today, Hoseok can’t help but notice, and for a moment he considers asking whether or not Yoongi has freshly charmed it. It’s coming up to a year since the Hervicicus Charm back-fired, and Yoongi still hasn’t gotten rid of it. Hoseok is secretly very glad of that.
Not right now, though, right now he’s just annoyed.
“What is it, hyung?”
“Nothing,” Yoongi says, all too innocently. Hoseok knows that voice. It’s the voice of someone up to no good.
“I really need to practice this, hyung.”
“I know, I know,” Yoongi says, holding his hands up. “Go ahead.”
Hoseok gives him one last warning look, then goes back to looking at his notes. He flicks his wand, reading the spell in his head and trying to remember the notes he’d been given for improvement after the last class. Too tight in the wrist, he remembers McGonagall saying. He supposes he’d been gripping it a bit too much, but in all fairness, snakes being conjured from every direction had freaked him out a little.
Knowing he can’t actually do more than read the theory and practice the wrist-work here, Hoseok sighs and puts his wand back on the table. He looks up again to ask Yoongi how he’s getting on with his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, when he discovers Yoongi is still looking at him, smiling mischievously now.
“What’s going on, hyung?” Hoseok asks, slightly exasperated.
Yoongi looks delighted at the question this time, like now Hoseok has put down his wand he’s finally got all of his attention. He watches as Yoongi leans across the library table dramatically, lacing his fingers together with his wand caught between them. “I want to do something.”
“Oh Merlin, this should be good,” Hoseok says. “Why does every conversation we have nowadays start with ‘I want to do something?’”
Yoongi pouts. “I get bored. You know this.”
“But all you seem to want to do is get into trouble.”
“That’s not true. I like to experiment, sometimes my experiments don’t strictly follow the rules, and-”
“And you end up getting us both in trouble.”
“Not every time. I never got you into trouble when I tried the vanishing spell before we were meant to learn it.”
“Well, considering you made me invisible for two days, I’d say you pretty much got rid of all the evidence needed to get you into trouble!”
Yoongi blinks, defeated. “Point. But I think this should be fine. I don’t need to experiment on you this time.”
“Well, that is a relief.” Hoseok crosses his arms, doesn’t speak for a moment. Yoongi continues to look at him smugly, like he knows his curiosity is going to get the better of him. It always does, after all. Still, sometimes Yoongi can be such a know-it-all, and so Hoseok waits a moment before he asks, “what is it, then? What is it you want to do?”
The second Yoongi flashes his infamous gummy smile, Hoseok knows they’re headed for trouble.
“You know what an Animagus is, right?”
Hoseok sighs, already hating where this is going.
“Yes. We learnt about them last year. Please don’t say what I think you’re going to-”
“-I want to become one-”
“-of course you do,” Hoseok interrupts, slumping in his chair in defeat. He already knows this is an idea Yoongi won’t get out of his head in a hurry. Even so, he opts to question him. “Why, hyung?”
Yoongi shrugs. “I just think it’d be really cool.”
“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to do? My aunt is one, and we didn’t see her for seven months while she was working on her potion. There are so many ingredients, so much time and effort that goes into it, and the circumstances have to be right and-”
“Hobi,” Yoongi says sharply, “I know, okay? I’ve been reading up on them since last year.”
Hoseok raises an eyebrow. “You have?”
“Yeah. I got permission to go into the restricted section and check out a book that details the process, too. I had to give it back, but I have some notes. I’ve been waiting for the right time, for the right weather conditions, you know, and I figured I could do it over the next few months, and-”
“The next few months? You know you have to hold a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month, right? Like, a whole month. How the hell will you pull it off during classes?”
“I know,” Yoongi says, sounding as relaxed as ever. “I really don’t think it’s gonna be that tough, though, you know. I don’t talk much in class anyway.”
“And what about when you need to eat? And sleep?”
Yoongi shrugs. “Other wizards have pulled it off just fine.”
Hoseok shakes his head. “You’re mad, hyung. You always wanna do something wild, just for the hell of it.”
“Not for the hell of it,” Yoongi says, with a tone of mock-offence. “I wanna learn, Hobi. It’s cool to know stuff, to try magic out. I wanna be a good wizard, it’s why I came to Hogwarts. I just wanna try things.”
Hoseok looks at him, knows by now how much Yoongi enjoys knowledge, how much he loves to test its limits and all it makes available to him. He gets angsty when he’s idle; when there’s a spell or a charm he wants to work on. He doesn’t like to be restricted by rules, and so pulling him back often feels like it’s doing no good. Sometimes Hoseok wishes he could get Yoongi out on a broom, just to take some of the energy out of him, but whenever he brings it up, Yoongi goes oddly quiet.
So, most of the time, Hoseok chooses to go along with whatever it is Yoongi has become obsessed with. Often, it’s trying out spells or potions that they’re not meant to learn yet. He’d wondered at one point whether it was just a need to be ahead of everyone else’s learning experience that drove Yoongi’s obsessions, but it had quickly become apparent that it wasn’t competition that motivated him. It was just a pure love of magic that fuelled every area of his life, it seemed. He loved to read, to test himself, to try things even if he wasn’t allowed.
Sometimes, Hoseok swears he can feel magic energy seeping out of Yoongi himself, like some kind of creature seeking its next magical conquest. It can be exhausting, but endlessly rewarding to learn alongside Yoongi. And Yoongi has always asked him, and him alone, to help him with whatever he sets his mind on. From the very start, everything they’ve done here at Hogwarts, they’ve done it together.
He supposes it’s that that makes him agree. It’s crazy, and no-doubt illegal, but the twinkle in Yoongi’s eye when Hoseok nods doesn’t let him dwell on it.
Yoongi can tell Hoseok thinks this is weird.
Two months on from when Yoongi had asked Hoseok to help him out with his little project, the pair of them have made a reasonable amount of progress in creating the potion. Yoongi had suggested the idea of Hoseok becoming an Animagus too, but Hoseok had respectfully rejected the idea.
“I like my own skin, hyung, I think altering myself like that would freak me out too much.”
The month that Yoongi holds the mandrake leaf in his mouth is surprisingly boring. Apart from having to get used to eating around the leaf, and attempting to talk without spitting the leaf out, the time passes by without much incident.
Still, there have been several times that Hoseok has asked whether or not Yoongi thinks it’s worth it; all this preparation. There’s a lot of ingredients to source and collect, specific times and conditions needed for brewing, not to mention the added pressure of having to keep it all a secret. They’ve mainly been operating out of an old broom cupboard he’s pretty sure isn’t used anymore, but they’d had to risk sneaking to the astrology tower after hours in order to bathe the mandrake leaves in moonlight, and there’s been more than one trip sneaking into the potion professor’s personal stores. It’s certainly not been his easiest fixation.
Yoongi can’t say for sure whether it has been worth it or not, since it’s very possible the potion will back-fire. But he’s identified already that it’s not the outcome that entices him. Well, maybe it is a little, but he’s sure the idea of turning into an animal at will would excite anymore (except Hoseok, apparently). The real thrill, though, Yoongi feels, is the process. He’s loved pouring over books and scrolls since he first came to Hogwarts, and the time spent over perfecting new spells or potions have always been what he’s treasured most. That, and spending time with Hoseok, of course, but he feels that’s a given by now.
Yoongi watches Hoseok now, the pair of them sat in the tiny broom cupboard, as the younger boy stares into the cauldron and frowns. Hoseok puts his whole face to work when he frowns; his forehead creases in the most adorable way, and his mouth forms a little upside-down v that makes even Yoongi stop whatever he’s doing to listen to any complaint or concern Hoseok has. It’s easy to drop everything for Hoseok, he’s found. Easy for Hoseok to make him shut up and listen for a while. It’s a different kind of magic. Just as fascinating.
“What animal do you think I’ll be?” he asks, casually, studying the little lines running along Hoseok’s forehead.
Hoseok shrugs, reading the detailed description of what the potion is meant to look like from Yoongi’s scribbled notes, and comparing it to the potion before him. It seems to be correct, by all accounts, but Hoseok is still nervous. There are things that could go wrong, he keeps reminding Yoongi, things more serious than bright blue hair.
“Hobi,” Yoongi whines.
Hoseok hums.
“Seriously, Hobi, guess! We could bet on it?”
“I don’t know, hyung. I really don’t. Your Patronus is a cat. Won’t it just be the same?”
Yoongi deflates a little. They’d discovered their Patronuses last Easter, when they’d decided (or, when Yoongi had decided) that they ought to be trying to learn the charm, if the school didn’t plan on teaching them. Hoseok’s sweet, glistening little squirrel had chased Hoseok around the room. Yoongi’s cat, a majestic ragdoll, however, hadn’t been so exciting. It had actually been quite lethargic in the way it had watched Hoseok’s squirrel bounce around the room. Hoseok had told him he thought it was pretty.
“It could be, I guess, but I hope it’s something a little cooler.”
“Cats are cool. Was it meant to be brown at this stage?” Hoseok asks, going to peer into the cauldron but pulling away quickly, like he’s afraid of it exploding in his face. The notes had instructed them to be quite hands-off at this stage, and so all they can do is watch it most of the time.
“More of a green, apparently,” Yoongi reads from his notebook, “but it’s close enough, I think, there are more ingredients to come, anyway. We haven’t even added the dew, yet. It has another two days before we can add it in. Do you really think cats are cool?”
“And you’re sure it hasn’t been exposed to any sunlight?"
“Yeah.”
Hoseok looks at him. “You’re sure, hyung? You have to be sure.”
“Merlin, Hoseokie, I’m sure. It’s been in a phial under my bed for five days now, it’s okay. What’s with you, you’re more worked up than I am about this potion.”
“Hyung,” Hoseok huffs, “you understand how dangerous this whole process is, right? If we do this wrong, you could end up getting seriously hurt. And who will we run to, if it goes wrong? We risk getting expelled if they find out what we’ve been doing. And unregistered animagi are illegal, who knows what the policy is for underage kids attempting the process? We could be banished from the English Wizarding Community, or- or-”
“Hey,” Yoongi says, trying out a soothing voice. He hesitates for a moment, then reaches out to pet Hoseok’s knee. “Don’t get all worked up, it’s gonna be okay. I wouldn’t let anything like that happen to you, Hobi. I wouldn’t let them punish you for this, it was all my idea.”
“But then what about you, hyung? What about if you got in trouble, or if you got seriously injured doing this? It’s risky. It’s really bloody risky, but you’ve set your heart on it anyway.”
Something about Hoseok’s tone tells Yoongi this outburst isn’t coming from nowhere. He supposes it must be exasperating, for someone as law-abiding as Hoseok to be friends with someone so willing to bend and twist the rules to get what he wants. It’s times like this he wonders whether he did belong in Slytherin, like the sorting hat has suggested at his sorting, and perhaps Hoseok in Gryffindor. He supposes it wouldn’t have changed much, they’d still be best-friends no matter what, he’s sure of it. He’s not sure of a lot of things, but he’s always sure of Hoseok.
And it’s this surety that has him shuffling across the cold, stone floor to put his arm around his best-friend, patting his thigh with his other hand. Hoseok, still pouting, pushes into the half-hug a little, just enough for Yoongi to know he’s not angry. Not really. He’s a Hufflepuff through and through; his heart loyal as anything. And Yoongi, with his Ravenclaw stubbornness, has been able to spell-o-tape himself to his side in more senses than just the literal. They’re a package; a team.
“I didn’t realise you were so nervous about the potion.”
“I’m nervous about you,” Hoseok replies, pushing into Yoongi’s side to punctuate his words, “you and all these crazy ideas of yours.”
“I’m gonna be fine, Hobi,” Yoongi says. “I have you, after all. What could possibly go wrong with you here to help me?"
Hoseok snorts, lifts his hand to take a section of Yoongi’s mint hair in his fingers, shaking it just enough for it to pull gently. “Just to name one mistake of yours.”
“This was not a mistake,” Yoongi says, “this was a happy accident.”
Hoseok laughs, pressing even closer to Yoongi’s side, their knees knocking together. Yoongi isn’t ashamed to admit he likes having Hoseok’s hands in his hair, and so when he doesn’t let go right away, he says nothing to make him do so.
“I won’t do this if you’re worried, alright?” Yoongi says, meaning every word.
Hoseok instantly lets go of Yoongi’s hair and pulls back to look at him, regarding him like he’s mad. Yoongi just might be, now Hoseok’s hand is no longer on him.
“But you want to do this!” Hoseok says. “It’s all you’ve been focusing on for months! You’ve been planning it since last year.”
“I know,” Yoongi shrugs, leaning back on his hands casually. Hoseok’s eyes follow him when he moves. “But if it’s worrying you this much, I can find something else to obsess over.”
“You’d throw all that work away?”
“I’ve learnt a lot; I know the theory now. It’s all experience, right?”
“But you wouldn’t go through with it, if I asked you not to?”
Yoongi nods. “Of course I wouldn’t. You’re more important to me than knowledge.”
Hoseok falls silent for a moment, looks back at the potion. Yoongi opens his mouth to speak, to add something onto what he realises now is a heavy statement. Hoseok must know, mustn’t he? he thinks, he must know what he means to me by now?
But as he thinks about it, it’s possible he doesn’t; Yoongi is never sure if he’s getting his thoughts across right. For someone with so many thoughts buzzing around in his brain, it’s sometimes hard to make sure the right thoughts come out. He supposes it’s all too likely he’s never quite gotten across just how much he cares for Hoseok, how his presence in his life is so much more than convenience or necessity. He wonders how he could ever express it to its full extent now, after almost four years of being by each other’s side.
“You’re my best friend, you know,” he says simply. He’s not sure it gets everything across exactly, but it makes Hoseok smile, and that’s good enough for now.
It’s the ghost of the Fat Friar that wakes him up. He looks a little irritated, like he’s the one that’s been woken up in the middle of the night. Hoseok rubs his eyes, tries to still his racing heart after the shock of being faced with a ghost at two in the morning (he’s gotten used to the ghosts now, for the most part, but they do tend to catch him by surprise more than they do anyone else).
“What is it?” he whispers, trying not to wake his dormmates. One shuffles a little in his four-poster bed, but doesn’t wake.
“You have a guest,” the ghost says, “downstairs, outside the common room.”
“I have-?” Hoseok blinks at him, eyes bleary and dry. “What’d you mean a guest?”
“I mean just that, Mr Jung. There is somebody here to see you. And he shouldn’t be here, might I just add. It is after hours and he is not a Hufflepuff student. I would have had to get a professor, had it not been for the hilarity of it all.”
“Not a Hufflepuff?” Hoseok says, confused for a moment, but quickly realising. Yoongi.They’ve never attempted to sneak into each other’s dorms before, mostly because they’re rarely separated except for the odd class they don’t have together. If Yoongi had tried to sneak in, he must have good reason.
Hoseok springs out of bed, pushing his feet into his slippers and grabbing his dressing gown from the chair by his bed. He’s just grabbing his wand from his bedside table, when he stops, turning back to the ghost. “What’d you mean, the hilarity of it all?”
“Oh, you’ll see,” the ghost replies, with a slight chuckle. Without another word, the spirit glides out of the room and leaves Hoseok in silence. Hoseok quickly follows, taking the stairs two at a time to make it into the common room quickly. The moment he enters the room, the fireplace roars into life, greeting him with an instant warmth. He passes it, goes straight for the door that leads into the corridor.
He pokes his head out into the dark hall, gripping his wand and preparing to cast a light charm. “Hyung?” he half-whispers, half-shouts, into the darkness.
“Hoseok?” Yoongi’s voice comes back.
“Merlin, hyung,” Hoseok answers, “get in here, quick. What’s going on? What’s wrong? Why are you-” Hoseok sniffs, something sour in the air, “Is that vinegar?”
“Yes, it’s bloody vinegar, Hoseok.” Yoongi steps out of the shadows so that he’s illuminated by the lights of the common room. He’s soaking wet, wearing a face sourer than the smell he’s bringing in with him. “Apparently, your common room is booby-trapped. I got drenched in the stuff the second I tried to get past the painting.”
“Oh my god!” Hoseok says, realising what the fat-friar had found so funny. “I didn’t even know it did that.”
“So I suppose that’s not why I was offered a heads-up.”
“That, plus the fact that I had no idea you’d try and sneak in.” Hoseok moves out of the way of the door, concealed by the painting of fruit that hangs in the corridor. Yoongi steps inside, and Hoseok has to pinch his nose “What are you even doing here, hyung? What couldn’t wait ‘til morning?”
Yoongi glances around the room. “Just wanted to pop by. I like your common room, the plants are nice,” he observes, quite carefree.
“You’re mad, hyung,” Hoseok says, trying to keep his voice done but struggling to hide his indignation. “You could have gotten in so much trouble. The fat-friar might tell on you!”
“He won’t. He seemed delighted that someone got caught in the vinegar trap, I don’t think he’ll want me punished for it.”
“Still, you shouldn’t have risked it.” Hoseok crosses his arms over his chest, gives Yoongi a serious look. Yoongi looks back at him, eyebrow raised when he sees Hoseok’s judging face. He pouts, then smiles a little, then even wider when Hoseok smiles himself. “You’re so annoying.”
Yoongi is beaming now. “I know.”
“Is there seriously nothing you needed to tell me?”
Yoongi’s face falls slightly. “I don’t want you to freak out.”
Hoseok regards him carefully. “Why, what’s happened?”
“It’s nothing bad. It’s normal, the book said. But it’s a little…”
“Yoongi…”
Yoongi sighs as he starts to unbutton his soaking-wet pyjama shirt slowly. Hoseok looks at him, eyes wide.
“What are you d-”
“Just-” Yoongi reaches out, motions for Hoseok’s hand. Hoseok gives it, and Yoongi circles his fingers around his wrist, pulls his hand to touch his chest, right over his heart. Hoseok feels it pulsing, looks at Yoongi with a strange expression, but doesn’t pull his hand away. He feels there’s a point to this, somewhere it’s going that Yoongi is too scared to get to right away.
“Your heart?”
“My heartbeat. Feel really closely. Focus on it.”
Hoseok does so, looking at his hand and trying to hone into what he can feel. For a moment, its nothing, but then ever so slightly- No. Surely not. He looks up at Yoongi, eyes wide when he finally feels it for sure.
“T-two heartbeats?”
Yoongi nods, looking stuck between an astonished and fearful.
“It’s my animagus, beginning to form. The incantation I’ve been doing every morning and night, it’s working.”
“Oh my god,” Hoseok mutters, looking back at his hand again. He can feel it more clearly now, a tiny pulse on the offbeat of Yoongi’s first heart. Another life, somewhat, another being inside him. “It’s like you’re pregnant.”
Yoongi swats his hand away at that. “Shut the fuck up, that is not what this is like.”
Hoseok sniggers, takes his hand back. “So, how long until the potion is ready?”
Since they added the dew, they haven’t been allowed to be near the potion; the book instructing them to not so much as look at it while it brewed. It’s been a little tricky, since there’s been no way to check that no one has found the connotation other than casually strolling past the broom cupboard it’s hidden in every now and again, but since there’s been no talk of a highly prohibited substance wafting through the castle, Hoseok figures they’re safe.
“When the next lightning storm hits.”
Hoseok glances at the window in the common room, where rain is relentlessly pattering against the glass. It’s been raining for ages now, it’s been a very wet spring, and the winds have been picking up in recent days. He looks back at Yoongi.
“So, any day now, then.”
It’s five days, in fact, before a storm hits. Yoongi and Hoseok had agreed that the minute they heard the beginnings of thunder, they’d both rush to collect the phial, then head to the owlery together so Yoongi could take it without being interrupted.
It’s during dinner they see the streak of lightning flash across the enchanted ceiling in the great hall that mimics the sky outside. A few people scream, others begin to count the time between the flash and the thunder that follows it. Yoongi, however, looks straight at the Hufflepuff table, finds Hoseok is already looking at him, a grave expression on his face. He nods, and Yoongi nods back. They both get up from their respective tables and try not to run as they make their way out of the hall.
By the time they’ve collected the phial and raced towards the Owlery before everyone else has started filing out of the hall, they’re both out of breath and panting hard. The astronomy tower would have been preferable, really, but neither of them know what days have midnight astronomy lessons, and the thought of a whole classroom catching a transformed Yoongi in the act is one that lacked appeal.
Once they’re there, and Hoseok has shooed the majority of the owls into their respective cubbies, Yoongi takes a deep breath and holds up the phial. They focus on the potion as it convulses of its own accord; like it’s alive within its fragile crystal case. It’s like it leads him itself towards the door, like it’s directing him on where to move. He holds it up instinctively as another flash of lightning lights up the miserable sky, and the potion turns a deep, blood red. Yoongi swallows.
“Can I see?” Hoseok says, voice quiet and hesitant.
Yoongi turns slowly and shows Hoseok the phial in his hand. Hoseok cowers a little, it’s effect so striking.
“I have to take it now. Speak the incantation, drink it. Then I’ll transform.”
Hoseok continues to look at the potion. “W-what if you don’t change back?”
“I have to visualize my human self in my mind. It’ll be hard, the animal part of me might cloud the human part the first time, the book said. It might be hard to get back at first.”
“I’ll get you back,” Hoseok says, with surety, finally looking back at Yoongi with a serious glint in his eye. “I’ll get you back, hyung.”
The corners of Yoongi’s mouth twitch upwards. His sweet, loyal Hoseok. His very best friend.
“The incantation, one last time,” Hoseok reminds him.
Yoongi nods. He pulls his wand from his pocket and raises it to his chest. For the last time, he recites the incantation; “Amato Animo Animato Animagus.” He feels the second heartbeat that’s been growing for the last week, building in his chest.
“Now, hyung,” Hoseok says, sounding just about as scared as Yoongi feels.
“My parents are gonna kill me,” Yoongi says, finally, laughing a little before he downs the potion in one.
The pain is instantaneous. It rips through him like fire, or ice so cold it burns. He drops the phial to the floor and it shatters. His eyes sting so much he has to close them just to feel some sort of relief as he doubles over, the sight of Hoseok’s terrified face burnt behind his eyelids before another image takes its place. A face, covered with snow white fur, a soft, pink nose and a long, white whiskers. His patronus. His animagus.
“M-my heart,” Yoongi mutters, suddenly clutching at his chest as he feels the double heart-beat intensifying until it feels like he’s going to burst. “Oh- Hoseok, it’s- I can feel it, inside me.”
“Hyung-” Hoseok says, sounding close to tears.
“It’s- I’m=” Yoongi wants to submit to it, at the same time wanting desperately to fight the ache that’s taking over his body. It’s searing, unforgiving and brutal. Yoongi drops to all fours, the urge overwhelming him, before he lets out a long, resounding yell. The owls flutter overhead, stressed at the disruption to their evening, but he ignores them.
“Muffliato!” Hoseok suddenly casts, ensuring no one will hear the sound, even though Yoongi is sure the storm is covering it. He’s still grateful, and goes to thank him, but can’t quite capture the sounds in his mouth. He can feel himself growing smaller, his body no longer feeling like his own. The potion does its work, the new heartbeat taking over as he screams in pain.
He sees the vision of the cat as he becomes it; grows smaller rapidly, fingers curling as they become paws. Before long, the sound of his very human scream becomes more like a mewl, his words lost to his human form. Slowly, he loses will, new instincts begin to take over, his senses shift and everything around him feels heightened. He’s plunged into darkness as he shrinks into his robes, the process finally nearing its completion.
And suddenly, his human mind is lost to him.
The whole thing is quite terrifying. They’d been warned by the book, of course, of how much this was going to hurt Yoongi, but it’d still shocked Hoseok. You can never quite prepare yourself for seeing someone you love going through pain, not as well as you can prepare to take the pain on yourself. Hoseok feels powerless, as he watches Yoongi disappear into his clothes. He’d been right; Yoongi had taken on the form of a ragdoll cat, like his Patronus. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hoseok hopes he won’t be too disappointed.
When Yoongi’s wailing finally stops, Hoseok steps forward. “H-hyung?” he says, hesitant to lift the robes to find him. The bundle of robes is still, and he panics. He doesn’t want to fear the worst, but he carries the fear in his chest anyway. He can’t imagine what he’d do if this has all gone wrong, if he loses-
Hoseok forces himself to squat down, pulls back the robe, then the jumper and shirt that Yoongi, in his new form, is bundled up in. He’s there, clear as day, in the middle of it all; a pure white cat, with a little tuft of mint fur atop his head.
“Hyung…”
Yoongi looks up at him with his brand-new eyes, still brown but distinctly cat-like now. He looks as scared as Hoseok feels.
“Oh, hyung, look at you,” Hoseok says, affection leaking into his words. “It worked,” he adds, lamely.
Yoongi continues to look at him, and Hoseok suddenly isn’t sure whether Yoongi can recognize him in this state. The human and the animal mind can take a while to sync up, the book had told them. Sometimes the animagus can lash out in the confusion.
At least he’s not something dangerous, Hoseok thinks. He’d smile, if he wasn’t still so stunned by everything he’d just seen.
“Are you alright?” he says, softly, reaching out to touch Yoongi. He’s not sure whether it’s the sight of him as a cat, or the knowledge that it’s his best friend inside the cat, that makes him feel inclined to pet him, but he tries it regardless.
Yoongi swipes his paw at Hoseok’s hand then sticks up his ass, like he’s feeling threatened. Hoseok backs off, raises his hands in surrender. Yoongi doesn’t try to run from him, which he’s glad of; he doesn’t want to imagine what a disaster it would be losing Yoongi in the castle in this state. Plus, the storm is still raging on, and he knows enough about cats to figure it wouldn’t be best for him to face all that.
“Hyung, can you understand me?” Yoongi looks at him, the same look of coldness in his eyes. “Yoongi?” he tries. The look softens somewhat, and his body begins to level again. Hoseok shifts onto his ass, crossing his legs and looking at the cat seriously.
“Yoongi-”
Hoseok is interrupted as Yoongi rushes behind him suddenly, going for something Hoseok can’t see. He turns, follows Yoongi’s direction with his eyes and spots a tiny mouse, just in the corner of the room, beginning to run as Yoongi pounces towards it.
“Yoongi, no!” Hoseok shouts, springing to his feet and following. He manages to scoop Yoongi into his arms before he reaches the tiny creature, and it quickly disappears in a little crack in the wall. No doubt one of the owls will have it by morning, but that’s not Hoseok’s problem right now.
He holds Yoongi carefully in his arms as he squirms. He’s heavier than he looks, but still soft and pleasant to try to cuddle against his chest as he takes them back over to the middle of the room where Yoongi’s clothes are still heaped. He sits back on the floor, not letting go of Yoongi despite his protests. With great care, he puts Yoongi in his lap before lifting him again with his hands, this time so the cat is facing him. He holds him up until they’re face-to-face, Hoseok trying desperately to acquaint Yoongi with his face again.
“Yoongi, you know me, okay?”
Yoongi looks at him for a moment, then continues to shift, batting his paws at Hoseok’s face.
“Yoongi, I’m Hoseok. Your best friend. You’re not a cat, you’re a human, and I know your mind is muddled, but I know there’s part of you that can understand me.”
Yoongi stills again, seemingly searching for something in Hoseok’s face. He regards him in a way that feel familiar to Hoseok, a little hint of recognition that what Hoseok is saying is true. That he understands. At least a little bit. Enough to keep listening.
“Yoongi, picture yourself in your mind. Your human self. This- This isn’t you; this isn’t your real self. You need to find your way back, remember where your heart rests. Remember yourself, visualize yourself. Your kind eyes, your soft cheeks. Your ridiculous hair.”
Yoongi remains still, looking at Hoseok with such intensity that Hoseok is sure, had Yoongi been a human at this present moment, he would have blushed at the attention.
“Find your way back, hyung. For me.”
Yoongi seems to tremble in his hands at that, so he puts him down on the floor in front of him. For a moment, he fears he’s going to run off again, but he remains. He stumbles a little, his feet suddenly uncoordinated.
“Yoongi, are you-”
The change is quicker this time, but no less to strange to witness. Before Hoseok’s eyes, Yoongi’s head starts to balloon, reshaping itself to one he’s more familiar with. His fur seems to melt into his body, his limbs growing back to their original size. In a matter of seconds, Yoongi is before him once more; human and quite alright, it seems. Naked too. Oh Merlin, he’s naked.
Hoseok is quick to grab Yoongi’s robe from the floor and bundles him in it, aiming merely to cover him but then submitting to himself and hugging Yoongi tightly.
“You’re alright?” he says into Yoongi’s neck, as he feels the elder slowly raise his arms up to hold him too.
“My arms feel like lead,” Yoongi says, voice deep and disorientated. “But I’m okay, I think, I mean-” he pulls back a little so Hoseok can look at him.
“I look okay? I look normal?”
Hoseok looks at him, kind of wants to hit him because of this whole thing. But he also kind of wants to hug him again too, so he does.
“You look like my Yoongi-hyung,” he says simply. “My brilliant and mad Yoongi-hyung.”
The noise Yoongi makes in response is akin to a quiet purr.