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Wei Wuxian swore as he reached out to grab a pillar to bank around the corner without slowing his running. He held his red ribbon in his mouth as he tried to comb through the mess that was his long black hair with his hands. As he slid down the banister he gave up, settling for tying it up messily with the ribbon.
He practically launched himself down the staircase to the dungeons. Like diving off his broomstick, he tucked his head and rolled to his feet and continued barreling forward. He cursed whoever decided to make Advanced Potions at eight in the morning. Gryffindors lived in a bloody tower! How were they supposed to get there on time?
He barreled into the potions classroom, his chest heaving as he came to a stop. He pitched forward bracing his hands on his knees. He’d have to suggest this run to Jiang Cheng for the Quidditch team.
“Mr. Wei, how nice of you to join us,” Wen Qing’s voice broke through the quiet of the classroom. Wuxian lifted his head, giving a nod and a wave. The rest of the class was gathered around her table, a cauldron bubbling happily away on it. He was too far away to see what was in it.
“I overslept,” He offered as an apology. “Then the staircases shifted, and-”
“I rather not have your excuses distract from class time, 5 points for tardiness.” Wen Qing replied tersely. Wuxian nodded sheepishly as he plopped his bag down at his spot and moved to join the rest of the class.
Wen Qing was the youngest Potion’s Master in Hogwarts history, having graduated only a few years prior. She’d quickly shot down any ideas about special treatment to those who knew her as a student. In Wuxian’s case, having a teacher who knew he brewed a polyjuice potion in second year was a personal hell. He still had cramps from the last paper she demanded he redo, with the order to ‘write it properly this time’.
Wuxian grinned as he saw an open spot. He tugged lightly on the back of the Ravenclaw robe as he slid next to its owner. A pair of annoyed golden eyes slid to him, Wuxian’s own silver orbs winked in return.
“Lan Zhan, you really overdid it with the incense burning this morning.” He teased, his nostrils filled with the sandalwood scent lingering in the air. Usually, it was only trace amounts drifting off of Lan Wangji. Wangji wondered how much he had to burn to make it so strong.
Not that he was complaining.
“I did not burn incense this morning,” Wangji replied, his gaze focused on Wen Qing in front of him. Wuxian’s brow furrowed in confusion, why were Wangji’s ears bright red? They only did that when he was embarrassed.
“Wuxian, since you’re volunteering why don’t you tell us what else you smell?” Wen Qing smiled. Wuxian paused, was she hiding a laugh? He threw a glance around the class, seeing Jiang Cheng with his face in his hands.
Confused, Wuxian took a deep breath. The sandalwood was still there, but now he was picking up on two other scents. The first was loquats, but what was that final one?
“Sandalwood, loquats,” Wuxian paused trying to put a name to the final scent. He bounced in place as he tried to figure it out. “Fresh parchment and ink at the Library!” He named it, although seemed oddly specific. “Did I get it right? I don’t think I know any potions that smell like that.”
“We’re studying amortentia, idiot!” Jiang Cheng hissed from beside him.
Wuxian felt his blood freeze.
“Amortentia?” He almost stuttered.
“Yes,” Wen Qing nodded. “As Mr. Wei has shown, the unique trait of the Amortentia potion is the scent changes from person to person based on what they find attractive.”
Wuxian’s mind numbly tuned out Wen Qing as she continued her lecture. His mind connecting memories to all of the scents. The incense he burned during meditation that clung to his clothes. The loquats he pretended not to enjoy when Wuxian stole them from the kitchens. The scent of line writing detentions that morphed into study sessions. All of those scents traced back to Wangji.
Attracted?
The word bounced around Wuxian’s head. Lan Wangji was his friend, just his friend. Right? It wasn’t like he hated it when he didn’t see him for more than a day. Or that he was filled with a happy warmth whenever he saw him. He teased and flirted with him because it was cute to see him react.
Did he say cute?
Cute, his mind repeated. Cute, like the way his ears turned red when he was embarrassed. The aggravated tick of his eyebrows. The way he vocalized his exasperation with a small huff. The tender upturning of his lips when he smiled. Would they be soft if he kissed him? Wuxian felt heat flood into his body.
He was in love with Lan Wangji.
He was in love with his best friend.
“Wei Ying?” Wangji’s voice questioned. Wuxian let out a squeak as his eyes focused on the face before him. The golden orbs and those lips so close. Wuxian stared at his lips for a moment, before he realized what he was doing and nervously pulled his eyes away. “We’re moving on to potion making.”
“I-” Wuxian stammered. “I need to go.”
Before anyone could say anything Wei Wuxian was fleeing. He made it out of the dungeons before he slumped against a wall, running his hands through his hair. He couldn’t be in love with Wangji! It would ruin everything. It would mean the end of their late night study sessions, the visits to the illegal colony of rabbits they accidently started, their one-on-one quidditch matches. Everything he loved about their friendship, ruined by his stupid emotions.
After all it was obvious Lan Wangji didn’t like him back. They’d known each other for six years. Wangji might take awhile to get to know, but even Wangji would have made a move by now. He didn’t know what was worse, realizing he liked Wangji or that he didn’t like him back.
He needed to talk to shijie.
Pushing himself off the wall, he was crawling off to his favorite hiding place. After Jiang Cheng had found out he used the Boathouse as a hiding place, Wuxian had been on the lookout for a new one. He wasn’t sure how, or why, a classroom on the fifth floor was slowly being overtaken by a magical pond. But when he stumbled into it while dodging a night patrol, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. With a quick disillusionment charm, the room was Wuxian’s own little secret.
Wuxian moved quickly, careful to avoid any teachers, or prefects, that would know he should be in class. Before he knew it, he was sliding off his shoes and his socks and feeling grass beneath his feet. As he let his toes squeeze what felt like real ground, he wondered if it was real. He made a note to ask Wangji about it.
The idea made the reason Wuxian was hiding come crashing back to the front of his mind. He took a moment to roll up his pant legs, setting his feet adrift in the water. With a sigh, he dug in his robes producing a small mirror. He rubbed his thumb over its surface and in a manner of moments Jiang Yanli’s face was smiling back at him.
“A-Xian, shouldn’t you be in class?” She greeted him. He watched her face fall slightly as his own face came into focus. “Is everything alright?”
“No,” Wuxian shook his head. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. “Shijie, I messed up.”
“Did a prank go wrong?” Yanli questioned her eyes widening. “Are you hurt?”
“No, not a prank.” Wuxian shook his head. “We studied amortentia today. I was late, so I blurted out what I smelt in front of everyone.”
“I’ve never known you to be embarrassed,” Yanli hummed in reply. “Was the scent distinctive?”
“It’s Lan Zhan,” Wuxian replied, wiping at his face. “I’m in love with Lan Zhan. I just blurted it out in front of him and everyone else.”
“A-Xian,” Yanli laughed.
“It’s not funny shijie,” Wuxian whined. “We’ve known each other for six years, if he liked me he would have made a move by now. Now he knows that my stupid love potion smells exactly like him! I’m going to be stuck staring at his stupid gorgeous face and thinking about how I want to kiss him and it’ll ruin our friendship! Our bunnies will be parentless.”
“A-Xian,” Yanli interrupted him. “Have you talked to Wangji about this?”
“No,” Wuxian replied. “But I know Lan Zhan, I would have noticed.”
“You would have noticed,” Yanli replied, a smile playing on her lips.
“I’m glad you find my pain funny,” Wuxian sniffed. He saw Yanli roll her eyes, a hand coming up as if she was trying to tuck some of Wuxian’s hair behind his ear. He subconsciously did it for her.
“A-Xian, who brought you soup and stayed with you for three days when you got sick after swallowing the ink after you startled the giant squid?” Yanli questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Lan Zhan,” Wuxian sniffed in reply.
“Who sneaks you sugar quills in class?” Yanli continued. “Who helped you free the rabbits from the transfiguration room and relocated them to your ‘illegal colony’? Or who willingly stands by with healing charms when you practice new quidditch moves?”
“Shijie, that’s because we’re friends.”
“So he does that with all of his friends?” Yanli questioned raising an eyebrow. “Talk to him A-Xian.”
“But-”
“No buts,” Yanli shook her head. “Don’t call me back until you talk to him.”
Wuxian watched his sister cut the mirror’s transmission with an open mouth. He groaned as he fell back against the grass. Yanli was supposed to reassure him, to tell him everything would work out. She wasn’t supposed to confuse him further. Afterall, Wangji had done those things because they’re friends, hadn’t he?
Wuxian let out a growl of frustration as he pressed his hands over his eyes. Why did he have to fall in love with his best friend? He flirted with dozens of people, granted none of them were as pretty as Lan Zhan, but falling in love with one of them wouldn’t ruin his life. Wuxian let his feet flail in the water, feeling water hit him from the splashes.
“You can do this,” Wuxian rallied himself. “You’ve hung out with Lan Zhan every day for like 4 years. I mean this attraction didn’t happen overnight, I just know it’s there now.” He muttered to himself. “We can just bottle it up and nothing has to change.”
Wuxian was drug out of his internal, and external, monologue by the feeling of something warm on his chest. He lifted his hands off his eyes, tilting his head to see a silver rabbit on his chest.
“Hello there,” Wuxian greeted. “Whose patronus might you be?” Wuxian hummed as he reached out. He pouted as his hand passed through the patronus. “Guess that solves my question about being able to pet a patronus. I know, I’ll give you someone to play with!”
The rabbit hopped off his chest as he sat up. He dug around in his robes, quickly producing his own wand. With a flick, his own silver rabbit was hopping around. He propped his elbow on his knee, setting his chin on it to watch the two rabbits bounce around. His rabbit was definitely more lively with the other one. As he watched it hop circles around the other, he wondered if it was bothering the other rabbit.
“Wei Ying.”
Wuxian jumped, turning to see Wangji standing at the edge of the grown grass. He felt his brain freeze. He had charms up. This was supposed to be his hiding place! He wasn’t ready for this conversation yet.
“Lan Zhan,” Wuxian nervously smiled. He felt his face flush as he turned back to the rabbits, pulling his knees to his chest. The patronus that wasn’t his came bounding back over to him. It nuzzled against his hand, sending an odd warmth through it as passed through it. Once it was done, it was hopping over to Lan Zhan.
“Mn,” Wangji hummed to it. With a flick of his wand the rabbit was gone.
“Lan Zhan, is that your patronus?” Wuxian questioned wide eyed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it’s corporeal form before.”
“Mn,” Wangji nodded, moving to sit next to him. Wuxian’s own rabbit came bounding up to him, hopping in circles around them.
“Sorry,” Wuxian laughed dismissing his own patronus. “I guess he’s a bit annoying like me.”
“Not annoying,” Wangji replied. Wuxian looked over when he heard him pulling something out of his robes. He couldn’t help but smile when he pulled out a sugar quill and offered it to him.
“Ah, Lan Zhan,” Wuxian grinned, taking it. “You must like sugar quills as much as I do, you always seem to have one on you.”
“You like them,” Wangji replied.
“I think we’ve already established that,” Wuxian chuckled as he sucked absentmindedly at the tip of it.
“I carry them because you like them,” Wangji restated.
“Ah?” Wuxian turned to him. “Do you really not like them?”
“I prefer loquats,” Wangji replied.
“Ah, Lan Zhan, don't remind me.” Wuxian flushed clutching his knees to his chest. He wished this conversation wasn’t happening right now. “I’m embarrassed enough.”
“Chili peppers, lotus flowers and Great Squid Ink.” Wangji spoke.
“What?” Wuxian turned to him.
“What I smelled,” Wangji replied, his ears flaming red. “From the amortentia.”
“Wait,” Wuxian back tracked. “Great Squid Ink?”
“Mn,” Wangji nodded.
“Why does the person you like smell like Great Squid Ink?” Wuxian pouted. Of course Wangji would like someone else. They were probably smart, charming, and probably just as good looking as Wangji. He already wanted to punch them in the face.
“Because they decided to provoke it and got sick for three days,” Wangji replied. Wuxian stared at him for a moment.
“But Lan Zhan, I got sick for three days after startling the great squid!” Wuxian tugged on his sleeve. He saw the tick of annoyance in Wangji’s face. “I think I would have heard of someone else doing that. You just don’t want to tell me who you like,” He started to turn away to look out over the pond. He supposed it was for the best, he’d just make Wangji angry if he punched his crush.
Suddenly hands were grabbing the front of his robes. Wuxian let out a squeal of surprise, but found it silenced by a pair of lips.
Wangji’s lips.
On his.
Wuxian felt his mind short out, his eyes flickering closed as he leaned into the kiss. It wasn't an elegant kiss, but hot and needy. Wuxian’s hands wound their way up into Wangji’s hair, pulling him closer. His question from earlier managed to surface, and he let his tongue trail out to find out if Wangji’s lips were soft.
After the briefest brush of his tongue against Wangji’s lips, nowhere near enough time to determine if they were soft or not. Wuxian found something hot and wet eagerly twisting out to wrestle with his own. He felt Wangji shift forward, pressing his weight up against him.
The new weight caught Wuxian off guard and his hand flew back to support it. Wuxian gasped as his hand slipped in the grass and he started to fall backwards. The hand in Wangji’s hair only succeeded in pulling him down on top of him.
He heard a surprised grunt from Wangji, as he started to pull back. Wuxian let out a whine of protest, quickly pulling him back. When they finally parted, they were both panting. Wuxian’s eyes opened, finding Wangji’s darkened eyes staring back at him. A rare smile on his lips.
“You know,” Wuxian grinned, shifting his hand in Wangji’s hair to trace his lips. They were a bit swollen, but soft as imagined. “You really shouldn’t be kissing me when you’ve got someone who smells like squid ink to go find.”
He laughed at the exasperated huff Wangji let out, eagerly pulling those soft lips back down to his own.