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another year has successfully kicked off at hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. for some, this means whispering in fear to the sorting hat and learning the pathways to their newfound homes, and for others it holds the daunting realisation that shit is getting real and final exams are looming. but for all, however, it brings the exciting new beginning of quidditch season.
quidditch is hogwarts’ pride and joy; it unites professors and students alike, from the awed first-years to passionate seventh years all donned in their house colours and cheering from the stands. the atmosphere the morning of the first match of the year is electric as nervous chatter fills the great hall.
the chatter halts when the slytherin team enters, wearing their emerald quidditch robes and expensive broomsticks slung over their shoulders. at the head is the captain, a tall, broad sixth-year named dennis field, and he leads them to the far end of the slytherin table. he eyes down the gryffindor team, already seated across the room and picking at their breakfasts. they all stare back, stone faced. last in line is the smallest member of the team, another sixth-year and seeker, tyler joseph. he glances over at the gryffindor team also, gaze landing on the rival seeker, josh dun.
everyone at hogwarts knows of the fierce centuries-old rivalry between gryffindor and slytherin. except, a rivalry of similar intensity has formed in recent years, between the two youngest seekers the respective houses have had since the twentieth century. the spectators watch in hushed anticipation as the seekers scowl at one another. josh rises abruptly, turning and striding away with a swish of his scarlet robes. the rest of the team scurries after their captain, and they leave the hall in formation, the slytherins glaring at their backs.
“gather ‘round guys,” josh calls in the gryffindor changing room, bringing the team into a tight circle. “i want you to go out there and give it your absolute all today. but please remember- it’s the first game of the season and we’re bound to make some mistakes, so don’t be too hard on yourselves.”
the team nod in unison, some sending tiny grateful smiles their captain’s way, particularly the new players. one of the older players, the team’s keeper, claps josh on the shoulder as they head out.
“we can’t lose with the greatest hogwarts seeker on our team. joseph’s got no chance against you.”
josh snorts, thinking of all the times joseph had beaten him over the years. as the captains shake hands firmly, dennis’ grip almost painful, josh swears he’ll do whatever it takes to get a win for his team.
the first few minutes of a match are always thrilling, only outdone by the last few. the feeling of his robes billowing behind him forcefully as he kicks off the grass, paired with the roars of the crowd breaking through the deafening wind, never fails to send a shockwave through josh’s body. he soars upwards until the other players are just specks zooming up and down the pitch. he takes a moment to breathe in the silence from in the clouds, before he begins his descent and focuses all his attention on seeking out the flittering golden snitch. he can feel joseph watching his movement, and doubles his efforts to stay focused.
right when the match begins to lull, after almost an hour of the seekers circling the arena, josh spots joseph diving at full speed towards where the other players are passing the quaffle. most of them stop to watch as he follows in quick pursuit. he can see the glittering gold snitch now, zig-zagging through the players and moving towards the gryffindor goal posts. he reaches joseph, and the two follow it shoulder-to-shoulder, willing their broomsticks to give them at least a centimetre on the other. joseph inches ahead as they’re only metres from the snitch- which is heading straight through the large centre goalpost. just when josh thinks he’s lost, a bludger comes whistling past, narrowly missing his face, whacking into joseph’s side with a thump and throwing him violently off path. josh takes the opportunity, sailing through the post and grasping the snitch. he grins triumphantly, raising it above his head as he hears the announcement that gryffindor has beaten slytherin 240-110.
when he turns back to celebrate with his team, his face falls. tyler joseph is dangling from the goal ring, broomstick nowhere in sight. josh can see how terrified he looks, and hastily flies over to him. the rest of the gryffindor team make no move to help, and he reaches tyler before the slytherins.
“get on,” he yells, shifting underneath joseph. he glances over his shoulder at josh uncertainly, adjusting his grip on the metal.
“what if i fall off?” he asks.
“i’ll catch you,” josh assures. tyler drops the small distance onto josh’s broom, and josh steadies him quickly with an arm around his waist from behind. tyler winces, the bludger having left some damage on his ribcage.
“are you okay?” josh asks, lowering them to the ground slowly.
“i’ll be fine,” tyler replies meekly, stepping away from josh as soon as they land. he murmurs a, “thanks,” before shuffling off to join the other gloomy slytherins. josh watches him go worriedly, but is soon distracted by his team congratulating him, eventually lifting him on their shoulders as they exit the pitch.
celebrations continue in the gryffindor common room well into the night. everyone wants to talk to josh, to tell him how much better he is than joseph and to ask if he really pushed him into the pole. despite repeating over a hundred times that it was a bludger that knocked the other seeker, the majority of gryffindors still send him sly looks and promise they won’t tell the slytherins about his dirty play. by midnight only a small group of students are left sitting by the fire, and they eventually trudge back up to their dorms, leaving josh in peace. he sighs, and immediately makes his way out of the portrait hole and into the corridor. the portrait of the fat lady guarding their entrance sends him an affronted look, whining about having been woken. he ignores her, and makes his way along the halls until he reaches what appears to be just another door and paces back and forth three times. with a last glance down the hall, he opens the door and steps inside.
he’s met by the sound of a stream trickling gently, and soft grass beneath his feet. a quick glance around reveals a single large oak tree across the stream. he shivers at the chill breeze and crosses a small bridge. the water underneath reflects the stars, glittering back at the dark sky. when he reaches the trunk, a ladder unravels and stops at his feet. josh grips the rope tightly and climbs up to a small opening. the gryffindor hoists his way through to sit on the sturdy wooden flooring.
“you’re late,” comes a soft voice from behind him.
tyler looks like the definition of comfort. there’s a fuzzy blanket wrapped around his shoulders where he sits against the wall, and another laying across his legs. his legs are stretched out on even more blankets, and he’s surrounded by pillows of different sizes. josh’s heart melts at the sight and he quickly shuffles over to the nest. tyler holds the blanket open, inviting him to squeeze under and curl against his boyfriend’s side.
“‘m sorry, you know how we like to celebrate,” he replies, then hastily adds another, “sorry.”
“it’s cool,” tyler says, stifling a yawn. he wraps an arm around josh’s waist and pulls him closer, the younger laying his head on tyler’s shoulder. “we’re used to it.”
they sit in silence for a while, listening to the breeze ruffle the oak leaves and feeling each other’s heartbeats. there's a gap in the roof of the treehouse where they can watch the stars. josh feels peaceful for the first time that day, until tyler’s sharp inhale when he squeezes his waist reminds him of the bludger hit. he untangles from his boyfriend and lifts the other’s sweater up carefully. he frowns at the sight of an ugly purple and red bruise spreading across almost tyler’s whole side.
“you should go to the hospital wing,” he murmurs, dropping the jumper again and looking up at tyler. his boyfriend smiles fondly, and tugs josh towards him again. he caresses the gryffindor’s cheek and kisses him softly for a moment.
“you worry about me too much,” tyler whispers when they pull apart. josh huffs, resuming his place against tyler’s side as they shift to lie down in their blanket cocoon.
“can’t help it that i love you ty,” he mumbles, jokingly disgruntled. the slytherin smiles once more, pressing a kiss to josh’s dark curls before wrapping him in his arms and humming them to sleep. he never imagined that he’d find love with anyone, let alone with the person he spent the first three years of his schooling at hogwarts hating with a passion.
one night early into his fourth year, tyler found himself restlessly pacing the slytherin common room. he had an important quidditch match the next day, against gryffindor, against him. josh dun had been tyler’s greatest headache so far in his life. whenever he thought he was one step ahead of the gryffindor boy, that he’d been training more, or had saved up for a better broom or had even grown an inch, josh was right there with him. they had a constant back and forth for three years already, and it made him anxious when he knew their matches were coming up.
he decided to leave the dungeons and head to the library to at least try and get some of his homework done. nobody was studying so late this early into the year, so the library was empty. as he opened hogwarts: a history and flopped down at a candlelit table, he was shocked to spot movement across from him. someone had been resting behind a pile of books, and now that their head poked above them tyler could see it was him. he rolled his eyes and stood up in order to move away from the other boy. as he stood he heard josh sniff, and glanced over cautiously to see him trying to subtly wipe his eyes. he stood awkwardly for a moment, but couldn’t help wonder what was wrong.
“are- are you okay?” tyler asked hesitantly. josh looked up, surprised to hear tyler talking to him.
“i couldn’t sleep,” josh replied after a moment. “i’m thinking about the match tomorrow.”
tyler sat back down. “me too,” he admitted. josh sent him a quizzical look. they’d never been alone together before, only ever shared classrooms or the quidditch pitch.
“why are you worried? you’ve beaten me the last two times we’ve played,” josh asked, slight envy in his tone.
“it’s just luck,” tyler mumbled, fiddling with his quill. josh scoffed, and tyler hoped he didn’t offend him in some way.
“luck,” he mocked. “you’re the best seeker this school has ever had,” he added quietly, envy replaced with something close to admiration. tyler stared at josh incredulously at that statement.
“me? you only think that because you haven’t had to play yourself,” he replied truthfully. josh met his gaze finally, and he could tell the slytherin was being honest. he smiled slightly, nerves settling a little.
“maybe we should be friends instead of enemies,” he laughed.
“what would everyone have to gossip about then?” tyler joined in, entranced by josh’s squinty-eyed giggles. it started off as a joke, but the two boys found themselves gravitating towards each other more and more before their big matches, even when they weren’t playing each other. they only met in secret, helped by the discovery of the room of requirement, where they shared their first kiss in their treehouse by the end of that year.
it isn’t easy to have the whole school believe you hate each other, which they found out quite quickly. they can’t even share a quick ‘hello’ without it looking strange.
it also isn’t easy to have the whole school invested in your ‘rivalry’ to the point where your every action is analysed every day. sometimes they feel like the most popular students to ever grace the halls of hogwarts- although, they know that isn’t true. so they keep to themselves, not even glancing at one another while they share classes or pass on the staircase. it all changes when they are alone, of course, where tyler can’t get enough of tangling his fingers in josh’s soft curls or making him snort with laughter, then following it up with sweet kisses and wandering hands.
another issue with the whole ‘rivalry’ thing is the rest of their quidditch teams. they like to join in whenever they can, sending dirty looks and uttering snide remarks to their opposing seekers at every opportunity. josh and tyler laugh along with them in order to keep up appearances, but each know there’s no truth behind their actions- at least, not anymore. tensions between the two teams have risen with each passing year, and the gryffindors are particularly on edge this year as slytherin have won the last 3 house cups. they’re determined to get revenge and take the cup this year, and it turns out that they’re willing to do anything, including sabotaging the slytherin seeker before he has to play.
on a foggy saturday morning in february, josh is lazily stirring through some porridge in the great hall when someone sits down and instantly sidles up next to him.
“tyler?” josh asks, startled, looking around the room nervously. tyler moves closer, resting his head on josh’s shoulder and sighing almost dreamily. josh quickly retracts, sliding down the bench and staring at his boyfriend in bewilderment. he hears sniggers coming from the other tables, except the slytherins. the quidditch team are preparing for their match against ravenclaw, piling food onto their own plates. but when they spot their seeker interacting with his supposed rival, they watch on in suspicion. tyler once again flings himself at josh, wrapping his arms around josh’s shoulders and pressing a wet kiss to his cheek.
“i love you!” tyler announces while josh tries to pry tyler off him, desperate to put more distance between them, cheeks flaring red. dennis, slytherin team captain, has finally noticed the commotion and begins storming over.
“what is going on?” he asks tensely.
“i don’t- i don’t know,” josh struggles against tyler’s advances again, trying to figure out what could possibly have gotten into his boyfriend to make him act so obvious in front of half the school.
“joseph, we’ve got a game to play. quit messing around,” dennis demands, tugging tyler’s arm.
“no i’m not playing,” tyler replies easily, “i’m staying with joshie.”
josh blanches at the use of tyler’s nickname for him, and feels his cheeks heat up even more.
“what the fuck are you on about?” dennis spits, becoming impatient. he tugs on the seeker’s arm again, with enough force to break him apart from josh. tyler makes an indignant noise at this, fighting with dennis’ hard grip. a large audience is watching them now, and josh needs to act quick before tyler lets anything else slip.
“something’s wrong with him,” josh tells dennis, trying to act disturbed by the attention from tyler. don’t get him wrong, he is disturbed, but not for the reasons most would be thinking.
“clearly, if he’s trying to get with you,“ dennis snarls.
“hey don’t be mean!” tyler chimes in, sending josh a sad look. josh suddenly notices a group of his gryffindor teammates looking particularly smug about the interaction, and turns on them.
“what did you do to him?” he accuses. they suddenly look more guilty when met with josh’s fierce gaze. dennis has dragged tyler back to the slytherin table, but tyler’s whines can still be heard from across the room.
“isn’t it obvious? love potion,” one of them snorts. the others try to suppress giggles. josh, however, isn’t pleased at having his actual boyfriend tricked into showing him public affection.
“real funny. i’m adding extra practice every day for all of you,” josh snaps, slightly satisfied by their chorus of groans.
“joshie!” he hears tyler yell, and to his horror he spots his boyfriend wriggling free of his team’s grip and sprinting towards him. he holds out his hands to stop tyler from leaping at him and grasps his shoulders tightly, holding him at arms length.
“come with me,” he groans, ignoring the calls from the slytherin team as he drags tyler from the great hall. by the time he’s reached the hospital wing the slytherins are on his heels, demanding answers about what happened. the match starts in approximately 30 minutes, and all tyler will be capable of at this point is flying around the castle looking for josh.
“i think he’s been slipped a love potion. for, uh, me,” josh tells them and the nurse, a middle-aged stout lady named madam nichols. she leads tyler into the ward and sends a student to find the potions master to make an antidote.
“will he be ready in time?” dennis asks madam nichols, frowning.
“oh, no. it will take almost all day to brew the antidote. you’ll need to find a substitute.”
dennis stiffens at this information, balling his hands into fists as he advances on josh.
“you,” he seethes, the team rushing to hold him back from the gryffindor. “you’ll pay for this.”
he stalks from the room, team in tow, leaving josh shaking slightly in the doorway. he’d never seen the other captain look so furious, like he really wanted to hurt him. seeing that the hospital wing is empty apart from tyler, he decides to throw caution to the wind and stay by his boyfriend. and, well, tyler isn’t complaining.
slytherin are destroyed by ravenclaw, losing by over 300 points. the game goes on for hours, with only one skilled seeker looking for the snitch. meanwhile, josh sits by tyler’s bedside, listening amusedly to his boyfriend’s numerous attempts at love poetry.
luckily by the end of the match tyler’s been given the antidote and returns to the dungeons to rest, after a sheepish apology and promise to explain to josh later. the slytherin team are livid, and make sure to tell their house head about the sabotage of their best player. they demand a rematch, and with the support of their house head it is given. however, the rematch is to be against gryffindor, their previous match disregarded, to serve as punishment.
tyler tells this all to josh a week later while they sit by the stream in the room of requirement. josh picks at the grass, listening to tyler relaying the details of the team’s meeting with the quidditch referee and then the headmaster. he then shares his own retelling of the scolding he and his team received from the same professors.
“i feel like such an idiot,” tyler sighs, flopping back on the grass. they each had a free period and met during the day, so the sun is beaming down and warming their skin.
“it’s not your fault. it was my team so if anything, it’s my fault,” josh replies, peering down at tyler, trying his best to ignore the sliver of golden skin poking out from under his shirt.
“at least it was you. imagine if i’d been all over someone else,” tyler grins. josh growls, leaning down to attach his lips to tyler’s. tyler opens his mouth, letting their tongues meet. josh nips his bottom lip before pulling back.
“you’re mine,” he murmurs. tyler smiles softly, pulling him in for another brief kiss before letting him flop down on the grass also.
“as if we have to play each other again,” josh moans, tangling his fingers with tyler’s absently.
“just push me into another goalpost and you’ll be fine,” tyler replies. josh glances at his serious face before they both devolve into giggles.
“can i tell you something?” josh asks when they’ve calmed down again. he rubs circles into tyler’s hand.
“of course,” his boyfriend assures.
“it was kind of nice having you next to me, even if you were trying to get in my pants in front of everyone.”
“mmm?” tyler prompts.
“yeah, i mean- it just made me think that maybe one day we could really be at breakfast or whatever…” he trails off nervously. he misses the calmness of the stars, wishes he could distract himself by pointing out constellations.
“you mean together?” tyler tilts his head to meet josh’s uncertain gaze.
“yeah,” he whispers. tyler squeezes his hand, but doesn’t say anything. instead, he opts for connecting their lips again, pushing all thoughts of daunting reveals and upcoming matches from both their minds.
tyler promises that it’s no big deal, but josh can’t help but feel sorry for him. while he gets to drink butterbeer and play tricks at zonko’s in hogsmeade, his boyfriend has to stay behind at an almost-empty hogwarts and study. his parents had never signed the permission slip to let him go, insistent that he not be distracted from his grades and his quidditch.
as josh peruses the various sweets in honeydukes he spots a row of pink coconut ice, tyler’s favourite. he buys three, as well as his own chocolate skeletons, and heads back to hogwarts. he makes a plan to sneak into the slytherin common room to leave them for tyler, as a way to wish him good luck and remind him that he loves him before their match tomorrow.
he’s never done something so risky (or stupid) before, but he knows tyler would like it, and he feels bad that he missed out. there’s a feast in the great hall tonight, so he can be certain that there won’t be anyone lurking around the dungeons. after telling his friends he’s feeling sick and skipping the feast, he waits for the gryffindor tower to empty out. after about twenty minutes he gathers the sweets and the note he’s written for tyler and heads out and down to the dungeons. he wishes that he had a way to become invisible. he mutters the password he'd heard tyler mention and slinks inside quickly. the common room is so different to his own, lit dimly with an emerald hue. a large intricate mantelpiece with a serpent carved into it draws his attention and sends a shiver down his spine. he moves quickly past and to a staircase, before heading to the sixth-year boys dormitory. he slips inside, one hand on his wand in case of company, but finds it empty. he looks around the five green four-posters, trying to figure out which belongs to tyler. one bed has the curtains wide open and a journal sitting on it, which josh instantly recognises as his boyfriend’s. he steps over to the bed, trying not to be distracted by the fish swimming by the windows. carefully, he lifts one of tyler’s pillows and places the sweets underneath. and then, feeling like a total creep, he lifts the pillow to his face and inhales a scent that is purely tyler, which brings a smile to his face. right when he lowers the pillow he hears the door fling open and he throws it down in panic.
“you,” comes a deadly snarl from the doorway, and josh turns to face the intruder. it’s dennis, and he looks downright murderous.
“i-this isn’t. i’m not-“ josh stutters, reaching for his wand. dennis slams the door shut and steps closer, lip curling.
“you’ve come to sabotage my team again,” he spits, lifting his own wand and pointing it at josh. “i’ll make sure you never step foot in here again, or anywhere else.”
dennis grins maliciously and before josh can even open his mouth to respond his vision goes completely black and he screeches, louder than he ever has. all he can feel is pure, white-hot agony, like he’s being run over and stabbed and shot all at once. he writhes, screaming his throat hoarse, begging for it all to end. the burning is so intense and consuming his every fibre, and he just wants to die.
josh is completely unaware as the door flings open a second time and tyler runs in. he gasps at the scene and immediately retrieves his wand.
“expelliarmus!" he shouts at dennis. the large boy flies back with the force, and his wand flies to the other side of the room. he hits the wall and slumps over.
“josh!” tyler exclaims, rushing over to kneel next to josh’s twisted body on the floor. there’s a small cut on his head from where it hit the floor and tyler quickly swishes his wand over the area with a mutter of episkey.
“josh, sweetheart,” tyler whispers, shaking josh’s limp body. he’s crying, and he can see that josh’s cheeks are also damp. it’s clear josh isn’t conscious, and tyler certainly isn’t going to leave him in the room with a maniac so he does the only thing he can and lifts josh’s lifeless body into his arms, groaning with the effort.
he scoots through the doorway and heads back to the common room, shifting josh’s dead weight in his arms and cradling his head into his chest. he can hear people heading back from the feast, and the entrance opens from the outside. the students opposite pause and gape at the sight. tyler continues forward, ignoring their stares.
“is he dead?” he hears a second-year whisper.
“that’s josh dun…” another student adds.
“why the hell was he in our common room?” another asks loudly.
the rumours begin spreading like wildfire within seconds, but tyler keeps heading to the hospital wing, passing countless more students from all different houses. the gryffindor house head spots them and follows in alarm, requesting for tyler to let go so she can inspect him. he refuses. after a long couple of minutes they arrive at the hospital wing.
“what happened to him?” madam nichols asks as tyler places josh gently on a bed.
“i’m not sure what it was, i just found him being tortured by dennis field,” he says, voice trembling. “is he okay?”
“well there doesn’t appear to be any marks of injury,” the nurse replies, prodding at josh’s limp body.
“tortured, you say?” the house head asks, forehead creased in concern.
tyler swallows over a lump in his throat, “he was screaming so loudly. i thought he’d be dead.”
“well thank you for bringing him to the hospital wing, and maybe for saving his life. i know you both don’t get along, but you’ve shown a true mark of courage. you can return to your dorm now, and i’ll deal with mr field.”
“oh no,” tyler protests. “i’m not leaving him. josh is my-“ he pauses.
“josh is my boyfriend,” he admits quietly. the teacher’s eyebrows raise, but she doesn’t make any other remarks.
“very well,” she smiles gently, and leaves them be. madam nichols still hovers around josh, checking his pulse and his temperature.
“physically, he’s in perfect health. it seems he will just need time to recover physiologically,” she tells tyler with a sympathetic look.
“can i stay?” he asks weakly.
“i’ll allow it just this once,” she smiles, and returns to her office. tyler scoots closer on his chair, grasping josh’s hand between both of his own. he hasn’t even had a second to take in what happened, and now it hits him full force that josh could have been seriously hurt. he doesn’t even know why josh was in his room in the first place. he feels himself crying again, and misses the comforting reassurance usually given by his boyfriend when he feels like this. he also feels anger towards dennis, for daring to hurt his boy like this. he realises suddenly that it’s time they stop pretending, stop fuelling this stupid rivalry and hatred towards one another. he feels sick that it took so long to realise that it only causes them harm, when they could be living happily day to day at each other’s sides and not hidden away.
“i’m sorry,” he whispers brokenly to josh’s peaceful face. he doesn’t respond.
“tyler,” someone says loudly the next morning. he blinks blearily and groans at the pain in his neck. he’d fallen asleep hunched over josh’s bed, but now he’s being woken in the one next to his boyfriend. he peers over at josh to see he’s barely moved overnight.
“tyler?” the voice sounds again, and he looks over to two of his quidditch teammates. they’re decked out in their emerald robes, and tyler groans internally.
he clears his throat and grunts, “i’m not playing.”
“we heard what happened with dennis,” one of the chasers, yasmin, glances at josh’s still body and gulps. “he’s not allowed to play today, so we thought we’d see if you could at least play so we still have a chance.”
tyler sits up and stretches. for a moment they look hopeful, until-
“no way. i’m staying here with josh in case he wakes up,” tyler says, final.
“um. i don’t mean to be rude but, why do you care? don’t you hate each other?” the other chaser asks. tyler sighs.
“no, we don’t. we’re actually dating, and we have been for a while now. we just didn’t know how to tell anyone.”
“wait,” yasmin interjects, shocked. “you two,” she points between them.
“yep,” tyler replies, moving back to the chair by josh’s bed.
“oh,” yasmin says. “you must be so angry at dennis then.”
“yeah, i’m angry at him. i’m also angry at myself, for letting us get to the point where people could constantly mess with us when really there was no reason to. that’s why i owe it to josh to at least be here when he wakes up. we’ve done enough hiding,” tyler says, taking josh’s hand again and looking at his stunned team.
“alright, well we better get going. don’t even know why we should bother turning up,” she huffs a laugh and tyler smiles ruefully at them.
“good luck,” he wishes them, and they leave them alone once more.
tyler’s thinking about how badly the team must be getting beaten without their captain and seeker a couple of hours later when josh begins to stir. firstly, his hand squeezes back weakly, and then he coughs and his eyes flutter open. he glances around in confusion before his eyes land on tyler’s.
“hi sweetheart,” tyler smiles gently. he moves closer to brush some dark curls out of josh’s eyes.
“ty? where am i?” he asks, voice hoarse.
“you’re in the hospital wing, j. do you remember what happened?”
josh blinks. he remembers going to hogsmeade, buying sweets for him and tyler, sneaking into the slytherin dormitory and then- he was caught.
“oh god,” he chokes, thinking about the searing pain. “i thought i was dying, tyler. i thought i was dead.”
“oh josh,” tyler whispers, clutching tightly at his hand and caressing his cheek with the other. “you’re okay. you’re here, i’m here.”
“dennis he- he used an unforgivable curse on me,” josh says, sounding as if he doesn’t believe it himself.
“what?“ tyler sputters, sitting back again. “i knew it was a bad curse, but i didn’t think it was that serious. he needs to be expelled- he needs to be taken to azkaban! he’s insane!” tyler exclaims.
“ty, please calm down,” josh says quietly. madam nichols finally realises he’s awake and rushes over. josh tries to pull his hand from tyler’s grip but it doesn’t budge.
“i’m sorry. i don’t think i’ve ever been so angry in my life. he used an unforgivable curse on my boyfriend.”
they both snap their heads towards tyler at this statement. josh’s mouth opens in shock, looking between tyler and the nurse, who looks even more flabbergasted.
“unforgivable curse! i’ll have to tell the headmaster at once,” she says quickly, and before they can blink she’s gone.
“did you just call me your boyfriend in front of madam nichols?” josh asks, voice slightly higher.
“of course, baby. what else would i call you?” tyler counters, his eyes glinting mischievously.
josh is kept in the hospital ward for another night, and this time tyler is forced to return to his dorm to sleep. he kisses josh gently, not caring about who or what can see them, to the point where madam nichols has to force them to part after a two minute ‘goodbye.’ when he returns to the dungeons, everyone leaps on him within seconds.
“did dennis really get expelled?”
“is it true you had to revive the gryffindor?”
“why was he in our dorms?”
“is it true you two are dating?”
the last question captures his attention, right when he’s almost made it to the staircase. he turns around.
“yes, it is. josh and i have been dating for two years, and he’s the love of my life. i don’t care who you tell, but if you wouldn’t mind i’d like to go sleep now.”
the common room falls silent after that. some aren’t sure if tyler is actually joking, if they should believe him.
“it’s true,” yasmin pipes up from an armchair. “i saw them kiss in the hospital wing earlier.”
as the bombardment of questions turns to yasmin and what she knows, tyler slips away. when he returns to his dorm he shivers, eyes landing on the spot where he found josh straight away. one of the beds is now stripped, and there’s no trunk to be seen beside it. tyler sighs, slipping into an old t-shirt to sleep in. his head hits something hard once he’s under the covers, and he reaches up to find something wrapped.
once he sees it’s pink he knows what it is- his absolute favourite pink coconut ice. he whimpers softly when he realises he knows exactly who left this for him. he never did ask josh what he was doing, but now it becomes clear. he broke a massive school rule and basically risked his life just to leave tyler a gift. his eyes mist up again when he finds a note attached. in josh’s bold handwriting, he reads:
tyler,
i missed you in hogsmeade today, so i bought you some of these. i know they’re your favourite. i hope you’re not too nervous about the match tomorrow, i’m pretty sure you’ll beat me this time. i probably shouldn’t say that as your mortal enemy.
i love you.
josh x
tyler holds the candy to his chest, choking back a sob at his sweet, lovely boyfriend and how lucky he is to have him. he wants everyone to know it.
tyler picks josh up from the hospital wing the next morning. he casts orchideous before he enters, and presents them to his boyfriend with a blush. josh is just finishing putting on some fresh robes, and he grins and takes the flowers from tyler.
“aren’t you a gentleman,” he remarks.
“only for you,” tyler replies. he leans in to capture josh’s lips with his own, kissing him slowly.
“you taste like pink coconut ice,” josh laughs, pulling back. tyler ducks his head sheepishly.
“i couldn’t help it. they’re so good,” he mumbles. josh just laughs again. tyler looks back up at josh, a soft sincerity gracing his features.
“i love you so much,” he adds. the crushing feeling from last night returns and his eyes tear up for what feels like the thousandth time in three days.
“i love you too,” josh replies, moving forward to wrap tyler in his arms. “i’m alright, ty. it was a horrible thing to feel and i hope i never feel it again, but i’m okay now. you didn’t lose me.”
tyler sniffs into josh’s shoulder, gripping him more tightly for a few moments.
“are you ready to go?” he asks when he pulls away.
“ready as i’ll ever be,” josh replies. he starts to walk out, but tyler catches his arm. he reaches for josh’s hand and intertwines their fingers. josh looks at their joined hands and smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners.
they walk down to the great hall hand-in-hand and share breakfast, barely even noticing the looks coming from all around them. everyone had believed for years that they hated each other, and now to see them sharing a bowl of corn flakes is astonishing. some people approach josh and wish him well, glad that he’s okay. he has a lot of friends, and many of them are surprised he wasn’t placed in hufflepuff. tyler likes to take advantage of this knowledge, calling josh his ‘little gryffinpuff’ to his boyfriend's dismay. they walk each other to class all day, sharing quick kisses and always holding hands.
it feels good, finally being able to share their love with the world. and, when they find out a few weeks later that ravenclaw has beaten them both in the house championship by far, it doesn’t hurt like it usually would. they had a taste of what it would be like to lose everything they had this year, yet they came out stronger than ever, because they came out together.