Archive of Our Own ^beta

  Jisung had detention.

  Not like a detention was given to Jisung and he then possessed one detention . Jisung had detention like someone has the plague - contagious, long-term, maybe terminal.

  Jisung had been in detention with Professor McGonagall every day for the past week, and still had three more weeks to go. Despite being the only Gryffindor sitting in her office scrubbing desks, he absolutely refused to take the blame for that.

  First of all, it hadn't even been his jar of peanut butter.

  Jeongin had managed to steal it from Felix while he wasn't paying attention (though Felix having a jar of peanut butter was completely unexplainable), and returned to the Gryffindor common room with it as if he had just successfully robbed a bank. Jeongin had never tried peanut butter.

  Naturally, every Gryffindor in the whole room found this absolutely astonishing and unacceptable. However, opening the jar of peanut butter proved more difficult than expected.

  The lid wouldn't budge at all. Jisung heard an upperclassman whisper something about how bombarda maxima could be used to easily open things like this. Jisung, a certified fool, listened. Luckily enough for him, he forgot the maxima part, which he now knows would have left a massive hole in the wall of the Gryffindor common room.

  Instead, Jeongin, Jisung, and several over enthusiastic first years received a face full of peanut butter.

  Jeongin had an allergic reaction.

  So Jisung had detention.

  It isn't as if he hadn't had detention before, but this was keeping him from Quidditch, so much so that their back-up beater actually got to play in Gryffindor's match against Ravenclaw. (They lost. Jisung blamed it on the beater.)

  Jisung didn't even realize he had been staring out the window at the Quidditch pitch.

  “Mr. Han,” McGonagall scolded.

  “Oh, uh, I'm sorry, Professor-”

  “Your time is up. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

  Jisung hesitated, searching her face for any sign of joking behind her glasses, but eventually beamed and sprinted from the classroom.

  He didn't make it three large steps out into the hallway before he ran into something. It's just like him, he supposed. However, the thing cursed loudly and Jisung realized it wasn't just a wall or something. It was what looked to be a student, green and silver tie catching Jisung's eye.

  The figure regained his bearings and glared at Jisung with cat-like eyes. “First years,” he scoffed simply.

 Jisung couldn't contain his small noise of complaint as he examined the boy for any signs of familiarity. “Fifth year Han Jisung, nice to meet you,” he said sarcastically.

  “Wish I could say the same,” the boy snarled. With that, he sauntered into McGonagall's room and Jisung was struck with remembrance.

   Lee Minho .

  Minho was said to be one of the meanest people attending Hogwarts. The rumor was that his bogart showed a bunch of Gryffindors having a good time. He was a sixth year, friend of all the Slytherin prefects, the target of way too many affections, and possessor of a much too bitter personality. Jisung had only seen him, never been the direct target of his hatred. For some reason, he felt honored. Given that Jisung was, as Chan often put it, “a standard Slytherin's worst nightmare,” he definitely didn't have to be surprised.

  Jisung glanced at his cracked pocket watch. He grinned as he realized he still had several hours left of his Sunday. He could use it to catch up on work.

  “Jisungie!”

  Or he could bother his friends.

  “Felix!” he exclaimed, rushing over to his side and wrapping both his arms around his bicep.

  “How was detention?” he asked.

  Jisung scowled. “Not great. But I did run into none other than the legend himself: Slytherin Lee Minho.”

  Felix looked genuinely surprised. “Really? I thought he would go to all lengths to avoid you.”

  “It's not like he said anything that wasn't an insult,” Jisung said cheerily.

  “He hasn't ever said anything nice to a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff, so I've heard,” Felix said. “One time he told me that I'm 'not quite as stupid as I look’, but I don't really think that counts.”

  Jisung laughed. “So, where are you off to?”

  “I was gonna go finish up my Charms essay and ask Hyunjin if he wants to go down to the Quidditch pitch with me. You wanna come?”

  “Absolutely!”

  “In that case, you head to the library and I'll go get Hyunjin. The Hufflepuff common room isn't for the likes of you,” he teased dramatically.

  Jisung stuck his tongue out and turned to make his way to the library.

  Hyunjin practically sprinted into the library, earning stares from nearly everyone in the room, and a loud shush from several of them. Jisung jumped as he slammed his hands on the table he was sitting at loudly.

  Hyunjin looked up at him and Jisung waited for him to break life-changing news.

  “Beat you,” he said, turning towards an out-of-breath Felix, who was making his way towards the desk at a normal pace.

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Rules are rules,” Hyunjin said as he grabbed Felix chin and pressed his lips firmly against Felix's cheek.

  Felix whined the whole time.

  Jisung laughed. “Hyunjin’s legs are longer than your entire body, Felix. Bad move.”

  “So I realized. But only after I agreed,” he pouted, sitting down and rubbing his face with the back of his hand. “I'll have you know that I ran straight through Nearly Headless Nick on the way here and that, ” he says, gesturing towards his cheek, “felt shockingly similar.”

  Hyunjin scowled, offended, punching Felix lightly in the shoulder. “It's a wonder the both of you haven't been expelled,” Jisung mused.

  “ Bombarda, ” Hyunjin whispered with a laugh.

  Jisung restrained himself from slapping him. Felix stifled a snicker as he scrawled on a long piece of parchment.

  “...hey, Felix?” Jisung asked after a moment of silence.

  “Mm?”

  “I wanna go to the pitch.”

  “I need to finish my essay.”

  A beat passed.

  “Felix?” Hyunjin questioned.

  “I swear to God-”

  “I wanna go to the pitch.”

  Felix dotted a period after a sentence with exasperation. “You are intolerable,” he whined.

  “So I've been told,” Jisung said, half-serious.

  “By who? I want to shake their hand,” Hyunjin said with a laugh.

  “Good luck, it was Lee Minho.”

  “If any Hufflepuff can sway him, it'll be me,” Hyunjin retorted.

  Felix snorted. “Maybe, but it's still impossible.”

  “Maybe he's really soft underneath all the mean exterior,” Jisung said wistfully.

  They all laughed loudly enough to earn several glares.

~~~

  Jisung arrived in the infirmary an hour later with his heavily bruised nose bleeding violently.

  “Sorry,” Felix apologizes again.

  Jisung waves him off. “I'm a beater, Felix. I'm used to it. But. Ow.”

  The nurse returned with a tube of bruise removal paste - a familiar product to all of them as reckless Quidditch players. She smeared it on his aching nose and rushed to some Ravenclaw with a broken arm whining about a “stupid veela”. Hyunjin shuttered every time he uttered the phrase.

  “He isn't talking about you,” Jisung assured Hyunjin with a quiet laugh.

  “I know.”

  “And you have about as much veela in you as Jisung has English skills,” Felix added.

  “I'm a quarter-”

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  “Is that a compliment or an insult?” Jisung wondered, flopping down on the mildly uncomfortable mattress.

  “You don't wanna know.”

  Jisung laughed loudly at that, stopping abruptly as someone else entered the room with a hand clamped over their mouth. He turned to see a familiar fourth-year Gryffindor with an unfamiliar distressed expression.

  The nurse approached him. “What’s wrong?”

  Jeongin removed his hand from his face and bared his teeth - braces bound and glowing. Literally. They were bright, glowing from within, illuminating half the room with a soft yellow light. The nurse sighed loudly and took her wand from her pocket.

  “Jeongin, what happened?” Jisung asked.

  Jeongin sighed as the nurse looked through several large spellbooks. “Lee Minho tricked me.”

  Hyunjin laughed dramatically at that, but attempted to stifle it. “He what?”

  “I don't want to talk about it,” he said, covering his teeth with his palm again.

  Jisung sighed. “What is Minho's deal?”

  The three others raised uncertain eyebrows.

  “Seriously, how cruel do you have to be to be mean to Yang Jeongin ? He's probably the cutest and most innocent person alive.”

  “Hey!” Jeongin protested.

  “That's just how he is,” Hyunjin said with a shrug. “You’ve gotta be careful with Minho.”

  “I still don't appreciate him and his… ugh,” he mumbled. Words were escaping him but he was aggravated. Minho hadn't ever been a problem before, but suddenly Jisung would really like to give him a piece of his mind - or his limited curse repertoire. He contemplated it as he walked with Jeongin up to Gryffindor tower.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Hmm? Yeah, Innie. Just thinking about maybe making Minho eat slugs or something,” he explained plainly.

  Jeongin laughed. “You shouldn't do that. He's really not that bad. And he got a detention.”

  “Detention doesn't stop me and it won't stop him.”

  Jeongin just sighed in acknowledgement. “Maybe someday.”

   Jeongin was right.

   Jisung walked into detention and saw Minho painstakingly scraping Drooble's Best Blowing Gum off the bottom of a desk, objectively stupid face screwed up in disgust and concentration. Jisung would have half a brain to leave right then and accept the consequences.

  “Ah, Mr. Han!”

   Too late .

  He sulked farther into the room and pretended he didn't notice Minho's presence underneath the desk he was right beside. Jisung could have kicked him.

  “Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall,” he said through gritted teeth. He heard Minho make some choked snicker from the back of his throat.

  He really wanted to kick him.

  McGonagall handed him a piece of sturdy metal, reminiscent of the end of a spatula (?), and he took it.

  “There's only one desk with blowing gum underneath it, so, work together,” she said before sitting back down at her desk.

  Jisung sat down reluctantly and pushed himself underneath the desk.

  “Squirrel face,” Minho greeted.

  “Nice to see you, too, sunshine Salazar,” Jisung mumbled.

  Minho rolled his eyes, Jisung assumed, and scraped more aggressively at the gum on the wooden surface. “Didn't know they put people in detention just for being stupid,” Minho growled.

  “Oh, really? Well, I guess you have to be here for a reason.”

  Minho chuckled coldly as a piece of gum came unstuck from the desk and transferred to his spatula. He moved his arm towards Jisung and he jerked away.

  “What's your problem?” Jisung exclaimed, falling out from underneath the desk, earning a glare from McGonagall and an almost legitimate laugh from Minho.

 Minho continued his scraping and Jisung joined him. For an hour they scraped in silence, only occasionally elbowing each other or whispering insults.

  “Didn't know Voldemort had a son,” Jisung had said.

  Minho smiled and laughed, lightly and brightly and Jisung hated him for it. It was an insult. What kind of nerve did he have?

  With that they were dismissed. Jisung and Minho both rushed out of the room, Jisung being unceremoniously shoved to the ground as soon as they got into the hallway. He looked at his lightly scathed forearm as he watched Minho's retreating form.

  “Seriously?” he muttered.

  “Jisung?”

  He looked over to see Chan, dark circles under his eyes and several books in his arms.

  “Uh. Hi,” Jisung greeted. He scrambled to stan and face Chan.

  “What were you doing on the floor?”

  “Nothing.”

  Chan raised a suspicious eyebrow.

  “Anyway,” Jisung said, “why aren't you at your dorm?”

  “It's only six. I was going to go drop these off at the dungeon and head to dinner. Wanna come with?”

  Jisung went with him.

  He observed all the banners above the tables, assigning houses to each table, and smiled triumphantly as he sat down at the Hufflepuff table next to Felix.

  “Hey, Jisungie,” Felix managed through a mouthful of food. “How was detention?”

  “Nobody told me that Minho got a detention from McGonagall! I have detention from McGonagall!”

  Hyunjin laughed loudly. “What, so you punched him as your civic duty?”

  “I wish,” Jisung lamented as he stole a dinner roll off of Felix's plate.

  Chan rubbed his shoulder sympathetically. “Just stay civil, yeah?”

  “Too late.”

  “What did you do?” Felix asked with wide eyes.

  “I may have asked him if it hurt when he crawled out of the chamber of secrets. But I didn't do anything.”

  Chan shook his head disapprovingly.

  As if on cue, a very familiar outburst came from the Slytherin table.

  “What did Minho say this time?” Jeongin asked half-heartedly.

  Hyunjin stood quickly and rushed across the room. He returned quickly and sat back down. “Long story short, he told Jihoon that the reason he didn't make the Quidditch team is because he is - and I quote - too short to be able to swing his leg over a broom.”

  “He knows Jihoon is really insecure about th-”

  “And that's why he said it,” Chris said, crossing his arms. “Minho isn't just rude. He's mean.”

  Jisung sighed. He was going to be seeing a lot of Minho and his antics. He didn't know if either of them would survive such an event.

~~~

  Detention on Tuesday came as expected, though Minho wasn't there. Though Jisung very much appreciated his absence, he wondered how he only got one detention. Detentions followed Jisung around like a hungry dementor would follow a Teletubby - Minho must have just had a knack for avoiding them.

  Wednesday, however, familiar cat eyes pierced Jisung as he sauntered lazily into the classroom, and he almost faltered. “Mr. Han,” McGonagall greeted.

  “Good afternoon, Professor.”

  McGonagall sent Jisung to join Minho in his attempts to write down what was written on the chalkboard into meticulous worksheets.

  “Why don't they have printers or something?” He heard Minho mumble.

  “Print...er?” Jisung wondered aloud.

  Minho's eyes widened and he shook his head. “Nothing. Just like the contents of your brain,” he spat at him.

  “At least I don't dream about someday getting a death eater tattoo.”

  Jisung started writing as slowly as possible. His handwriting was never the neatest, though Minho's seemed immaculate.

  “That would be more legible if you just spilled ink on it.”

  “Well, you have to have have nice handwriting to summon monsters from another realm.”

  Minho genuinely laughed, and Jisung hated it. Every human thing Minho did was a reason to believe he wasn't a basilisk, and Jisung just didn't want to go through that moral dilemma. Hating Minho was much simpler. And he made it really easy.

  “Hah, I bet-”

  “No talking.”

  Jisung snickered to himself and Minho elbowed him, causing his quill to jerk violently. He sighed as he crumpled the parchment and grabbed another one.

  Minho didn't push him to the ground when he left. Instead, he mumbled some curse that caused Jisung to slip dramatically and fall in the middle of the hallway.

  Jisung hated Minho for smiling.

  “Jisung!”

  What was up with people always finding him like that?

  He turned to see Jeongin, rushing towards him. “We have Quidditch practice soon! You coming?”

  Jisung stood up quickly. “For sure!”

  When Jisung got to the field, Jihyo, their short haired captain was already yelling at members of the team, pointing into the distance. Jisung rushed to hear what she was saying.

  “And when that damn bludger comes back, you ,” she seethed, poking Hyunjae in the chest, “are going to catch it.”

   “You got it, Jihyo!” he enthused, oblivious as always.

  Jisung stood next to him quickly.

  “Come on, now she's going to be mad at both of us all practice,” Jisung whispered. “Because-”

  “Because Beaters come in pairs,” Hyunjae finished with a roll of his wide eyes. He adjusted his crimson Quidditch robes before facing Jisung. “Just wait for Hwall to do something worse.”

  “Where is Hyunjoon?”

  Hyunjae pointed towards the pitch, and Jisung saw Hyunjoon himself, black hair blowing in the breeze, standing precariously on top of a scoring hoop.

  “Umm, Jihyo-” Jeongin said, apparently noticing it as well.

  “What?” she said coldly, following their gaze towards the pitch. “HYUNJOON!” she shrieked.

  He almost fell off the hoop, evidently startled. He hopped back on his broom and soon landed beside Jihyo. “It's Hwall, Cap. Because I fly fast like an-”

  “Arrow. Yes. Now can we please get started?”

  They all nodded, but the familiar whistle of air made them stop in their tracks. Jisung instinctively backed away from the others.

  Hyunjae was soon on the ground, holding a Bludger to his stomach, whining in pain. “It never hurts less.”

  Jihyo rolled her eyes.

  Practice went as well as it could be expected to, given the crackheads that made up the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Jihyo was probably the most normal person on the whole team.

  Jihyo was a Chaser, along with Sunwoo and Hwall. Hyunjae and Jisung were the over enthusiastic Beaters, leaving the mildly normal Keeper, Jeongyeon, and Seeker, Jeongin. All together, they were one of the best teams Gryffindor had ever seen, and the most obnoxious to the Slytherins and Ravenclaws they competed against.

  “Jisung! Pay attention!” Jeongyeon yelled. Just in time, Jisung swung his bat and knocked it back towards Sunwoo, who did a horrendous job of dodging it. It hit his arm, sending him spiralling towards the ground.

  Jisung landed quickly beside him. “Sunwoo, you good?”

  Sunwoo stood slowly. “Yeah. Quick trip to the infirmary, I suppose?”

  “No need,” Jisung heard.

  He turned to see the nurse, mildly fond expression upon her face. “I was warned by a student that Gryffindor was practicing today.”

  She waved her wand and muttered something under her breath, healing Sunwoo instantly. He thanked her.

  “What passive aggressive Slytherin warned her we're practicing?” Hwall wondered aloud.

  “I don't think it's that deep,” Jisung said with a laugh.

  Jihyo just shook her head. “Yeah, I guess practice is over. See you on Friday.”

  They all cheered, continuing towards Gryffindor tower together.

~~~

  McGonagall had run out of ideas.

  It was clear when she disappeared to go a meeting, tapping on the wall with her fingers before she left out of what Jisung presumed to be anxiety. He was anxious, too. Being alone with Lee Minho was possibly the scariest thing he could think of.

  However, they weren't alone for more than two seconds before a horrible laugh ripped through the room. Jisung turned dramatically, terrified, and eventually saw someone sitting on top of McGonagall's desk.

  She had pigtails on either side of her head and a strange smile on her partially transparent face.

  “Myrtle,” Mingo greeted coldly. “The girl who's so much of a nobody she's been at school for the past seventy years.”

  Jisung winced, waiting for Myrtle's sobbing to start.

  It did, but stopped soon. “Sometimes I forgot how mean you are, Lee Minho,” she said with a choke.

  Jisung crossed his arms on his desk and laid his face in them. “Me, too.”

  “If you weren't so rude, I'd almost think you were… attractive. You remind me so much of Oliver.”

  Minho scoffed loudly. “Don’t compare me to him.”

  “Why? You’re a little bit like him,” Jisung said, remembering the legend of Oliver Hornby's relentless bullying of Myrtle.

  Myrtle sighed dramatically, once, twice, and three times to make sure she had both Jisung and Minho's attention. “Not like you, or you, Gryffindor, are heterosexual enough for it to matter.”

  Jisung laughed loudly and was surprised that Minho did the same, though it quickly became cold. “Even if you were a guy, I still wouldn't mess with a ghost,” Minho retorted.

  Jisung thought Minho being gay was a rumor. He filed it away in his brain.

  “Myrtle, aren't you supposed to stay in the bathrooms or something?” Jisung asked.

  “McGonagall summoned me,” she said with a shrug. “Can't I be useful?”

  Jisung buried his face farther into his sleeves. The room was cold from the ghostly presence and Minho's soul sucking capabilities, but Jisung was exhausted from classes. He figured he'd just take a nap.

  He woke up to the sound of a slamming door as Minho left. He checked his pocket watch. It was time to go.

  Jisung didn't fall, nor was he pushed as he exited the room. He did, however, see Chan rushing down the hallway. “Jisung!”

  Jisung smiled at him sleepily. “Hey.”

  “Why is there ink on your face?”

  Jisung raised an eyebrow.

  Chan rolled his eyes and grabbed Jisung's hand, leading him to the nearest bathroom. Jisung was too sleepy to really know what was happening until he was shoved in front of a mirror. There was, indeed, a massive amount of ink smeared across the left side of his face.

  “Minho,” he mumbled as he stretched his skin to look at it more closely in the mirror.

  “Minho drew on your face while you were sleeping?” Chan asked, voice dripping with disbelief.

  “This doesn't really look like a drawing, does it?” he said, gesturing to the blob on his cheek.

  Chan shrugged, conceding the point.

  Jisung decided to wash it off in the bath that night and left with Chan.

~~~

  Detention on Friday was uneventful, due to Minho's absence. He was jealous of his lighter sentences. Maybe Minho just didn't get in as drastic of trouble as Jisung did. Regardless, Jisung wanted to insult him and his cruel tendencies again. It certainly made detention more interesting.

  He stared into space until McGonagall dismissed him. He was expecting the hard shove to the ground, somehow.

  “Where you waiting there?” Jisung yelled as he pushed himself off the ground and watched Minho's black form disappear down the hallway.

  “Jisung?”

  He should have expected that, too. Jisung's life was one repetitive joke.

  He turned to see Jeongin, confused smile on his face. “Are you ready for Quidditch practice?”

  Jisung beamed. “Yeah!”

  When they got down to the pitch, it was much less chaotic than the practice before. Jihyo wasn't yelling, and Hwall had both of his feet firmly on the ground.

  “Okay, so, everyone's here, even our detention goblin,” she said. “So I have a Snitch. I'm gonna release it, and whoever catches it first won't have to work with Jisung and Hyunjae on target practice.”

  “Jeongin has an unfair advantage!” Sunwoo whined.

  “Oh well. Who wants him to get hit with a Bludger?” Jihyo asked.

  They all looked at each other in understanding.

  “Do we still have to play?” Hyunjae said.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you gonna?” Jisung chimed in.

  “No.”

  “This whole thing feels rigged,” Jeongyeon stage whispered.

  “Shush,” Jihyo said, pulling a Golden Snitch from her pocket.

  They all readied and their brooms and she let it go.

  Jeongin darted after it quickly, and the others followed unenthusiastically. He would win even if they tried, and nobody really wanted him to lose, so they were just trying not to forfeit too obviously.

  It had been ten minutes of aimless flying before Jisung saw a golden glint in the sun. He jerked after it instinctively, and looked around for Jeongin.

  He saw him near the pitch, chasing something intently, so Jisung wondered what he was now following.

  Stray Snitches weren't very common. Still, he persevered.

  The Snitch was not very determined in its escape, and Jisung captured it with a calculated one-eighty of his broom, leaving him upside down when he clutched it in his fist.

  Jeongin's arm was held up in victory.

  Jisung stashed the Snitch in his pocket and landed quickly, glad he wouldn't have to hit Bludgers at Jeongin's precious face.

  When he landed, there were several unfamiliar (and some familiar) students in emerald robes talking to Jihyo.

  “-reserved the field.”

  “Don't pull that with me,” Jihyo hissed. “We have two hours until you have the field reserved. You know how I know that? I check the records. So get out of here.”

  Jisung made eye contact with Chan, the Slytherin Keeper and honorary leader since their current one - known only by his last name, Lestrange, was such a top-notch douchebag.

  Minho was to Lestrange's right, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. Jisung couldn't help but watch his nervous movement.

  “Your team is such a pushover anyway, what does it matter if you practice? ” Lestrange drawled.

  Jihyo snorted. “Could say the same for you and Lee Salazar over there,” she said, nodding to Minho.

  “Don't compare us,” Minho said quietly. “Let's go, Malfoy. It isn't worth it.”

  “Oh, shut up, Minho. Make her cry or something. It's the only reason I keep you around, you stupid mudblood. ”

  The word reached everyone's ears at the same time.

  Jihyo stepped back, shocked. Jeongin looked like he may burst into tears. Hyunjae was stomping towards Lestrange, only stopped by Jeongyeon and Sunwoo holding him back with angry expressions on their faces. Hwall shook his head and walked back towards the school, bringing a few Slytherins with him. Chan hurried to hold Minho's back. And Jisung was frozen.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Jisung heard come from his own mouth.

  Lestrange raised a threatening eyebrow. “Oh? Squirrelly is finally standing up for something?”

  “Oh, get a fucking life,” Jeongyeon spat. “No one at this school has pure wizard blood. Not even you. So will you shut your wannabe Voldemort ass up?”

  Lestrange snarled, and Minho finally spoke. “I rather be a Muggleborn, be a Squip, be a Muggle, have my soul sucked out of my body by the dementor that stole your human decency, than ever be 'kept around’ by the likes of you.”

  Minho turned hard on his heel and stormed towards the castle. Jisung felt something bubble deep inside him, and he dubs it as the worst anger he has ever felt in his life.

  Jisung's mom was a Muggle.

  Jisung joined the rest of the Gryffindors and Chan in slowly, gravely, angrily leaving the pitch. They didn't speak aside from curses whispered under their breaths. Jisung flopped down on his mattress when he got back to the tower and breathed heavily out his nose.

  After about five minutes, Jeongin spoke. “My mom told me that nobody uses that word anymore.”

  “Nobody is supposed to.”

  Jisung retrieved the Snitch from his pocket and rolled it around in his fingers above his face absentmindedly. He wished desperately it could be Malfoy's skull as he squeezed it hard in his fist.

  He felt the surface give and collapse. He sat up in surprise.

  The Snitch had cracked down the middle, but in a smooth edge that, despite not being perfect, was not the result of Jisung's destructive behavior.

  Within the spherical cavern within the Snitch was a milkly silver liquid and what looked to be a contact lenses.

  “Huh,” he said. He looked to see if Jeongin was paying attention, and saw him still lying down.

  He poked the lense experimentally, and it stuck to his finger.

  “Hey Jeongin?” he said, making a bad decision.

  “Mm?”

  “If I start dying,” he said, making a bad decision, “it's because I put this thing in my eye.”

  He held his eye open with his free hand and placed the lense on the white of his eye. He blinked a few times until he felt it was positioned properly.

  Jisung opened his eyes experimentally, and saw something he definitely wasn't expecting.

  He was in McGonagall's room, and the light outside suggested it was still early afternoon, though Jisung knew it was later than that. He felt his own hand - though it looked very unfamiliar - adjust his green and silver tie.

  This was not Jisung's body.

  The head turned involuntarily and Jisung saw himself, face buried in his arms, snoring slightly.

  This was Minho's body.

  Minho approached Jisung slowly, a bottle of ink in one hand. Jisung observed as he knelt down beside his desk and carefully dipped his finger in the ink.

  Minho touched his finger to Jisung's face and traced what was most certainly a very large heart.

  Myrtle's distinct laugh sounded from the walls and Minho smeared his hand over the heart before leaving the room.

  Jisung's eye hurt when he sat up in his bed.

 “What the hell?” he asked, more himself than anyone.

  Jeongin was standing over his bed, looking absolutely terrified.

  “A Pensieve. Interesting,” he heard Chan's voice say.

  “How did he get here?” Jisung asked.

  “You said you were gonna do something stupid so I sent my owl to go get him,” Jeongin explained.

  “You just saw a memory!” Chan exclaimed. “That's so cool! This is genius.”

  Jisung's words got stuck in his throat.

  A memory.

  That Minho had bothered enough to save.

  Jisung's whole head was swimming.

  “I… I need to go to bed.”

  And he did, with little regard for the others. Or the fact that was six o'clock.

~~~

   Things I know:

• Lee Minho is a magical genius

• Lee Minho isn't a pure blood asshole

• Lee Minho drew a heart on my face

• Lee Minho probably likes me

  Jisung thought over the mental list. It made sense in his brain, but he couldn't figure out what to do about it. What are you supposed to do in that situation?

  Jisung thought Minho was mean. Minho was very mean, to him and to everyone. However, Jisung pondered over the incident from the day before and decides that can't be all there is to him. In a sudden flash of realization, he added something to the list.

• Lee Minho doesn't know I know any of this

  Jisung hid his face in his pillow.

  “Jisung.”

  “Hnngh.”

  Jeongin shook him harder. “We have a Quidditch match today, you have to get up to eat breakfast.”

  “Did Chan tell you to say that?”

  “...He doesn't want you to make it easier for Lestrange to kill you.”

  Jisung sat up with a loud sigh. “Fine.”

  He was still in his Quidditch robes, so he figured he would just leave them on. He marched his way all the way to the Great Hall and sat down at the Hufflepuff table.

  “Wow. You look awful,” Hyunjin remarked.

  Jisung scowled.

  Felix patted his back in recognition. “Excited for the Quidditch match?”

  “Did you not hear what happened yesterday?” Jisung said, gathering an assortment of foods on his plate.

  Felix shook his head quizzically.

  “Lestrange and the whole Slytherin Quidditch team marched down to attempt to steal the pitch from us, and-”

  “Someone read Harry Potter's biography,” Hyunjin remarked.

  “I know!” Jisung continued. “And one thing led to another and Lestrange called Minho a… a…”

  “A Mudblood,” Felix finished quietly.

  Jisung nodded, watching as Felix frowned. Felix was Muggleborn, and never was too good at dealing with the prejudice that occasionally came with it.

  “So what is Slytherin gonna do?” Hyunjin asked.

  “Kick Lestrange off the team,” Chan said, sitting down on the seat next to Hyunjin.

  “And replace him with who?” Jisung said, partially out of curiosity and partially out of fear.

  “Younghoon. That kid with the eyebrows,” Chan answered.

  Hyunjin nodded approvingly.

   Does he know everyone?

   “Yeah, almost everyone was on board with him leaving. Most of our team is half bloods, so we really just don't have time for his-”

  “Douchebaggery,” Jisung finished.

  “Sure,” Chan said.

  “How's Minho?” Jeongin asked, and Jisung was grateful he didn't have to do it.

  Chan shrugged. “Brooding? But he hasn't said anything mean to anyone all day… though competing against Gryffindor may change that.”

  Jisung nodded thoughtfully.

  It's not like he cared about Minho and his emotional well-being. He was just occupying Jisung's mind to a nearly absurd degree, what with the contact Pensieve situation and the relentless bullying for the last week. He just wanted to punch Minho, kinda, but also ask him how the meanest person at the whole school could like Jisung, really, Jisung of all people? Jisung was called annoying by even Hyunjin sometimes, and Hyunjin wasn't one to-

   “Jisung,” Felix said strongly.

  Jisung shook his head quickly. “Huh?”

  “We're going.”

  Indeed. He had spaced off.

  “Well, I have to go serve my detention early so I don't miss the game,” he whined.

  Felix shrugged. “Alright.”

  “You think you can walk by yourself, Jeonginnie?”

  Jeongin scowled.

  Jisung trudged towards McGonagall's room.

  When Jisung opened the door, Minho was, yet again, scraping gum off a desk in the back of the room with a dismantled spatula, brow furrowed up in concentration.

  McGonagall only looked at him as he entered and went to go sit with Minho underneath the desk.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Jisung greeted.

  “Hey,” Minho mumbled, handing Jisung a spatula.

  “No insults?”

  Minho sighed. “You… you were there yesterday.”

  “Mm.”

  “I'm just not really in the mood, Jisung.”

  Something about hearing his name come from his lips made Jisung stir uncomfortably. It wasn't bad, but it sure was weird, and he didn't know what to do about it.

  “You sure you aren't nervous to get demolished in a Quidditch match?” Jisung asked, elbowing Minho.

  Minho elbowed him back. “You better watch it before I knock you off your broom.”

  “Have fun taking a Bludger right to your stupid face, Minho.”

  “I’m sure you'd be able to tell me what to expect from such an experience, hmm?”

  Jisung ticked his tongue in aggravation, but he turned to see Minho smiling, snake eyes turned into crescents, a gummy smile on his face.

  Jisung laughed lightly to relieve whatever tension was in the air. “It might mess your face up, temporarily, which would only be payback for what you did to me,” he said, sticking his tongue out.

  Minho's smile faded and he laughed once, coldly, before getting back to work.

  Jisung felt like he did something wrong.

  He scraped at the gum and thought about what he should do. What did he want to do? Jisung knew that he'd probably punch Lestrange and get detention for a million years if it meant he could see Minho smile like that. And calling him Jisung.

  “Thanks.”

  “...for what?” Jisung asked.

  “For yesterday. You stood up for me. You and all the other Gryffindors. It's not like I've been nice to you, so you really didn't have to.”

  Jisung felt like his face might be more red than his robes. “We stood up against the word. There's not a full pureblood among us. I mean, Jeongyeon is only a sixteenth Muggle, but you get it.”

  “Still. Thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  They sat in silence until the end of their detention. Minho didn't push him in the hallway.

  Jisung had some feeling in his heart, thinking of Minho's smile, that he fell anyway.

~~~

  “If we lose this match to Slytherin,” Jihyo started. “I'm going to kick Jeongin.”

  Jeongin's eyes widened in fear.

  “Protect the baby!” Jisung wailed.

  “You better,” Jihyo said. “And Jeongin, protect yourself. Get the Snitch before Lestrange Number Two.”

  Jeongin nodded.

  They all put their hands in the center, standing in a circle. “Say Gryffindor on three! And if you do the thing, I swear to God, I'll deck you all,” Jihyo said. “One, two, three-”

  “KICK ASS!” they yelled.

  Jihyo didn't have time to deck anyone, as they all boarded their brooms and rushed out to the pitch, though she did scream in frustration as she flew after them.

  “Every time,” Jisung heard her whisper over the blaring music and cheers from the stands as she flew beside Sunwoo and they took their starting positions.

  “Welcome to the fourth Quidditch match of the season!” the announcer (who Jisung recognized as Ravenclaw Kim Seungmin) said. “Gryffindor versus Slytherin!”

  Soon enough, the Bludgers are released, followed by the Snitch. The Quaffle was thrown into the air, and time seemed to slow.

  “And the game begins!” Seungmin cheered along with the crowd.

  “Slytherin and Gryffindor have both had their struggles so far this season, so this is bound to be an interesting game. Gryffindor, however, has regained their Beater, fifth year Han Jisung-”

  Jisung swung his bat to hit a Bludger towards Hyunjae, who then directed it towards the Slytherin carrying the Quaffle. He dodged it, but faltered, allowing Jihyo to steal it.

  “And Jihyo has stolen the Quaffle, thanks to Gryffindor's star Beaters! In addition to Gryffindor regaining a teammate, Slytherin has lost and replaced their Seeker, who is now sixth year Kim Younghoon!”

  Applause erupted through the Slytherin section, and more slightly through all the others.

  Jihyo threw the Quaffle.

  “And… Captain Park Jihyo scores ten points for Gryffindor!”

  “Jisung!” Hyunjae yelled, pointing off to Jisung's left. “Code B-I-D!”

   Baby In Danger.

  Jisung whipped around to see Jeongin flying for his life away from a Bludger. Jisung leaned forward and darted towards the Bludger, meeting it and smacking it in the direction of the Slytherin currently carrying the Quaffle.

  He dodged it.

  “Lee Minho dodged the Bludger, just barely! He approaches the Gryffindor keeper, Jeongyeon.”

  Jisung looked around for the Bludgers, but realized too late that one had hit Jeongyeon's arm.

  “Sorry!” Hyunjae yelled, smacking it back towards Minho, who managed to escape and get the Quaffle through the hoop.

  “Ten points for Slytherin, scored by sixth year Lee Minho!” Seungmin announced. “The two teams are now tied. Both Gryffindor's and Slytherin's Seekers are nowhere to be found as the game intensifies.”

  Jisung watched as Sunwoo approached the scoring hoops as he smacked a Bludger to the Slytherin flying right below him, who would probably have a nasty shoulder injury judging by the sound.

  “Kim Sunwoo throws the Quaffle! And Slytherin's keeper, Bang Chan, blocks it, but-”

  Seungmin himself stopped in awe before he spoke again.

  “But Heo ‘Hwall’ Hyunjoon recovers it and scores another ten points for Gryffindor!”

  Gryffindor was screaming so loud Jisung almost missed the Bludger heading towards Jeongyeon, but he managed to hit it in time, almost hitting Jeongin, who was following something intensely.

  “Yang Jeongin is following something intensely now! But where is Younghoon?”

  Lee Minho cursed loudly enough that Jisung could hear it, even from where he was on the pitch. He was staring at Younghoon, who was relatively close to where Jisung was idling. “Younghoon! You complete moron!”

  “Lee Minho catches the Quaffle! He approaches the Keeper…”

  Minho chucked the Quaffle, hitting Younghoon in the stomach, catching it again to throw it past a confused Jeongyeon.

  “Ten points for Slytherin, scored by Lee Minho! We are at a tie again, wizards and witches.”

  Jisung watched as Hyunjae hit a Bludger after Younghoon as he darted after Jeongin. Younghoon took the Bludger to the back and spiralled into the sand.

  “Slytherin's Seeker falls! His inexperience may have been his doom. It's a hard thing to recover from, so we'll see how they do.”

  “Sunwoo throws the Quaffle and it's blocked by Captain Bang Chan!”

  Jisung could tell by Jeongin's face he was close to catching the Snitch.

  “Code A-S!” Jisung yelled to Hyunjae.

   Approaching Snitch.

   He turned to see Hyunjae nodding before looking for Bludgers. Jisung resumed his position defending Jeongin from below.

  Jisung heard the whistle of a Bludger that was way too close and spun his broom quickly, hitting it with the end and launching it towards the Gryffindor side of the pitch.

  “Lee Minho heads after Hwall, and-”

  A collective gasp drowned out his words.

  “Minho goes down!”

  The Bludger hit Minho, right in the forehead, sending him flying. He tried determinedly to stay on his broom and in the air, but eventually he seemed to be too faint to continue.

   Jisung's heart dropped, but was completely revitalized by more screaming.

  “And Gryffindor Seeker Yang Jeongin catches the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!”

  Cheers and boos filled the stadium, and Jisung looked around at all of his smiling teammates. They did a few victory laps before landing.

  Jisung couldn't help but enveloping a sweaty Jeongin in a hug once both of his feet were on solid ground. “Great job, Innie!”

  “Just did my job. Thanks for not letting me get killed.”

  “Anytime,” Jisung said with a grin.

  They congratulated each other and changed out of their gross Quidditch robes (which reminded Jisung he had been wearing his for more than twenty-four hours). “Party!” Sunwoo yelled as they exited.

  They all cheered, even Jihyo.

  Jisung faltered for a second once they entered the castle. “I've got something to take care of first. I'll be there.”

  They all nodded and Jisung ran down the hallway in the opposite direction. He soon found the room he was looking for.

  He entered the infirmary and soon was met with two Slytherins. Younghoon was sleeping, and Minho was sat up in bed, but staring at the ceiling.

  Jisung couldn't think of anything to say, so he just sat beside him.

  “...I'm sorry I almost killed you.”

  “You didn't almost kill me,” Minho said with a laugh. His smile was bright.

  “I still feel a little bad.”

  “It's your job to hit people with Bludgers.”

  “Still!”

  “But you don't feel bad about hitting Younghoon,” Minho observed.

  “No, not really.”

  Minho didn't press the subject. “You did decent, though, squirrel face.”

  “You too, basilisk.”

  Minho sneered. “Don't you have a stupid party to go to?”

  Jisung shrugged. “I wanted to come here first.”

  Minho nodded.

  “Do you wanna come?”

   Why did I say that?

  “Huh?”

  “Come. To the Gryffindor party. If you want to. You don't have to.”

  “Wouldn't they spear me alive?” Minho joked.

  Jisung laughed as he took of his tie. He used both of his hands to place it around Minho's neck, and his face then turned so red Jisung worried for a second if he really was injured.

  Jisung remembered the Pensieve and backed away quickly, embarrassed.

  “I'll go,” Mingo said quickly.

  Jisung grinned.

~~~

  “Jisung! Jisung!” Hyunjae cheered as he entered the dark common room. A few others joined in and soon stopped with hearty laughs.

  Minho followed him closely towards the rest of the Quidditch team.

  “Hey, Jisung! Glad you could make it,” Hwall said, patting him on the back. Jisung grabbed Minho's forearm and tugged him towards the circle.

  “Lee Minho?” Jihyo asked, raising her eyebrows.

  Minho shrugged. “Park Jihyo.”

  Jihyo exchanged an indecipherable glance with Jeongyeon before speaking again. “Nice to have you.”

  Jisung sat on a loveseat near the fire, and tried to restrain his smile as Minho sat next to him, looking nervous but his mouth still upturned at the corners. Sunwoo soon approached with a few plastic red cups.

  “Seventh years came through,” he said happily, handing one to Jisung and one to Minho.

  “What is this?” Minho asked, smelling it.

  “Butterbeer. With lots of alcohol,” Jisung informed him, sipping it.

  “Doesn't smell like it.”

  “Because I was joking.”

  Minho shook his head as he took a swig of it. “Gryffindors.”

  “Amen,” Jisung said with a laugh.

  Several Gryffindors approached Jisung to congratulate him, some recognizing Minho and seeming confused, but generally being friendly and buzzed from the atmosphere. Somehow, both Jisung and Minho ended up with more butterbeer.

  Jisung dipped his finger in the thick foam of the butterbeer thoughtfully before turning towards Minho, who seemed to be spacing off.

  “What are you doing?” Minho asked as Jisung touched his finger to his face.

  Jisung traced a shape before grinning and backing away. “I drew a heart! Like you did during-”

  Minho's face fell and he looked panicked, and Jisung regretted ever opening his mouth to speak. Minho stood quickly and disappeared into the crowd, presumably heading for the porthole, and Jisung followed him.

  He finally escaped the common room to see Minho rushing down an actively moving staircase to get to the dungeon. The end of the staircase slowed to a halt, facing a wall. Minho was stuck.

  “Minho.”

  Minho didn't answer as he sat down on the steps, defeated, not facing Jisung.

  “Can we talk?”

  Jisung approached him slowly. Minho moved over so Jisung could sit beside him, and it brought a smile to Jisung's face that Minho didn't see.

  “You knew.”

  Jisung sighed. “Not at first. I found your Pensieve. It's absolutely genius, you know. Even Chan was impressed.”

  Minho laughed. “Thanks.”

  “You’re just really mean, you know?”

  Minho sighed. “I know.”

  “Why?”

  “Force of habit. People used to be like that with me, so I just picked it up. And people tend to leave you alone and then you don't get attached to them.”

  Jisung nodded, messing with his shoelaces. “But?”

  “But you were an exception. After that first time I ran into you, I started getting detention on purpose.”

  “Wait, seriously?” Jisung asked.

  Minho finally faced him, smiling but with tears in his eyes. “Yeah, really. I just hit a kid once in Transfiguration so I could come. I think McGonagall caught on and she started giving me more for really small reasons.”

  “And I'm sorry I was still mean to you.”

  “Why were you?”

  “I didn't want to like you, you idiot. You're a Gryffindor and just, frankly, very loud and intolerable, so-”

  “Ow.”

  “You know what I mean. But you got my Snitch? How?”

  Jisung shrugged. “I found it during Quidditch practice and was dumb enough to shove that contact in my eye.”

  Minho shook his head. “So?”

  “So what?” Jisung said.

  “What do you think?”

  “About what? You haven't said anything yet,” Jisung teased.

  Minho took in a deep breath and let it out slowly from his nose. “I like you, even though you're an idiot.”

  “That wasn't very nice.”

  “Do you accept or not?” Minho said loudly, hitting his shoulder.

  “Yes! I accept. I like you too. But that means you have to be nice.”

  “No promises.”

~~~

  “... Jeongin? How did you get in here?” Chan asked, glancing around the empty Slytherin common room. “And why are you out of breath?”

  “Minho and Jisung! They're finally dating!”

  “Oh thank God .”