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September 1st. Yeosang’s favourite day of the year. The day summer ended and he could leave the stuffy confines of his family home and find solace in the cold dungeons of the Slytherin common room.  

The day he was able to dislodge the red and gold leech that his parents forcibly stuck to his back for three months of the year. 

Yeosang really didn’t understand their insistence that he associate himself with Jung Wooyoung every summer. Sure, their families were old friends. Growing up, Yeosang was never particularly fond of Wooyoung. He was loud and rambunctious. He liked to do stupid things like climb trees and try to fly brooms. But Yeosang tolerated him. Their families were both of high status, and had been friends when they attended Hogwarts together in Slytherin house. 

When the two boys attended their own sorting ceremony, Yeosang was, of course, placed into Slytherin before the sorting hat had even touched his head. Jung Wooyoung, the disgrace, was placed in Gryffindor.  

Yeosang was elated. Gryffindors and Slytherins did not get along. Once his parents got wind of the other boy’s fall from grace, Yeosang was sure he would be free of his loud and obnoxious existence.  

The summer after his first year, Yeosang was surprised to find the Jungs on his doorstep once again. What were his parents thinking? 

Gryffindors and Slytherins did not get along.  

Their second year, Yeosang took his iciness to a new level. If his parents were going to make them hang out in the summer, Yeosang needed to be extra mean during the year. Their first year, he had just ignored Wooyoung. It was pretty easy, being in conflicting houses. They shared some classes, but overall he was easy to avoid. But their second year, Yeosang was downright nasty any time the other so much as looked at him. He wanted to make it clear.  

Gryffindors and Slytherins did not get along. 

And so, every year on September 1st, as soon as they passed through the gateway onto Platform 9 and ¾, Yeosang would sneer at Wooyoung before stalking away. The Hogwarts Express was their peace zone before their war resumed inside the castle.  

This year, Yeosang immediately lost Wooyoung to the crowd without so much as a second glance and was now on the train making his way towards his usual cabin. He knew Hongjoong and San would be waiting for him inside, whereas Seonghwa had to take care of his prefect duties. 

Yeosang pushed open the compartment door without knocking, startling the two boys inside.  

“Good morning,” he said cheerily.  

Hongjoong eyed him warily.  

“Someone’s in a good mood,” he commented, raising an eyebrow.  

“Of course I am! It’s September 1st! I don’t have to so much as  look  at Jung’s face for the rest of the day, I’m finally free.”  

“Ah yes, how was this year’s summer of love?” asked San. Yeosang made a face. 

“Gross, don’t even use that word when talking about that gremlin. And it was torture, thanks for asking. Every year we get older and our parents try to force us closer together. At this rate, next year they’ll probably be having us share a room,” said Yeosang with a shudder.  

“I’d worry for Jung’s safety if they try and make you share a room. One night and you’d turn him into a toad in annoyance.”  

“I’d do far worse than that.”  

As the train left the platform the three settled into a comfortable conversation about their summers. San had spent his vacationing in Japan with his family while his father was on business. His father was a prominent ambassador for the Korean branch of the Ministry of Magic, and often had to travel around to keep peace with other countries. He was in the middle of telling a riveting story about his sister’s love affair with a Japanese half-blood when the door to their compartment opened.  

“Sorry I’m late, prefect duties,” said Seonghwa. The eldest smiled at the rest of them, eyes crinkling and soft, shiny black hair framing his face.  

“Hey, Hwa,” said Hongjoong, quickly scooting over on his bench to make room. Yeosang held back a snort at the hearts he could practically see shooting from Hongjoong’s eyes.  

“What did I miss?” he asked, settling down beside the shortest of the group.  

“Just the usual, Yeosang complaining about his future husband,” said San casually.  

“He’s not my future husband,” groaned Yeosang. “Maybe my parents originally intended that, but even they wouldn’t force me to marry a Gryffindor.  That would be social suicide.” 

Seonghwa smiled at their antics, but it was that strange smile he tended to use over the past year whenever they talked about the Gryffindor. A smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Only Yeosang seemed to notice it. 

The conversation continued, Seonghwa talking about his own summer and how he was sure he’d already intimidated some first years during his initial rounds on the train.  

“I’m pretty sure they’re praying they aren’t in Slytherin right now,” he chuckled.  

Conversation eventually lulled and a comfortable quiet fell over the cabin. Hongjoong quickly fell asleep, head in Seonghwa’s lap, and Yeosang was resting his eyes while leaning his head against the window. San and Seonghwa were talking in hushed whispers, clearly thinking Yeosang was asleep, but Yeosang didn’t care enough to try and listen in.  

He was relaxed. Nothing could annoy him right now. He thought about the dinner they were going to have later. Of course, Yeosang’s summers were filled with catered meals and parties, but nothing quite compared to the decadence of Hogwarts meals. Yeosang almost moaned at the thought of all the chicken he was going to eat later. 

But all good things must come to an end. 

Their peace was interrupted by laughter. One deep and warm, the other high and shrieking. Laughter that was all too familiar.  

Yeosang shot out of his seat.  

“Yeosang, don’t,” said Seonghwa, placing a hand on Yeosang’s arm as he moved by him.  

Yeosang shook off his hand, slamming open the door to their compartment.  

“What the hell are you doing in the Slytherin car?” he hissed, glaring icily at Wooyoung and his tall Hufflepuff friend as they stood frozen in the hall.  

Wooyoung quickly shifted his face into an equally steely expression.  

“Just passing through, calm down,” the other responded.  

“You’re breaking our deal. The train is peaceful territory. I don’t have to see your face until we get to Hogwarts.” 

“I don’t recall ever making a deal with you, you decided that on your own,” retorted the other.  

“Whatever, you still don’t belong in here, now get out,” snapped Yeosang. 

“Like I said, we were just passing through until you voluntarily left your compartment to come see us.”  

Yeosang flushed angrily. 

“Just leave,” he said slamming the door shut again.  

“He’s so annoying, why can’t he just leave me alone!” said Yeosang with an annoyed huff as he dropped back into his seat, crossing his arms.  

“Yeah I’m gonna have to agree with Jung here and say that one was on you,” said Seonghwa. “He’s allowed to walk through here and you didn’t have to open the door.” 

“I can’t help it, his laugh just grates on my nerves,” snapped Yeosang. “It’s like nails on a chalkboard.”  

His friends exchanged a look.  

“What was that for?” asked Yeosang, narrowing his eyes.  

“Nothing,” replied San in a tone that was very much not nothing. Yeosang huffed before turning away from his friends.  

The three started up a new conversation while Yeosang pretended to ignore them, too used to his dramatics. All too soon, Seonghwa had to leave for his prefect duties as they would be approaching Hogwarts.  

Finally, thought Yeosang.  

~*~ 

The first meal of the year was always extra delicious, though it was a bit sad since Hongjoong wasn’t allowed to join them at the Slytherin table like he usually did. Yeosang really would never understand why Hongjoong wasn’t a Slytherin, he certainly acted like one. The older was smart, of course, constantly in competition with Seonghwa to be the top of the sixth year class. Hongjoong, however, was in no way fit to be a prefect. He was the kind of smart that made teachers exasperated. He was a troublemaker and often talked back to teachers. Yeosang supposed even the sorting hat could make mistakes sometimes, and, in his opinion, Slytherins and Ravenclaws had always tended to be similar.  

He didn’t pay any particular attention to the sorting. Especially now that he was a fifth year, he was rather uninterested in children, even new ones coming into his house. Seonghwa had to pay attention, as a prefect, as it would be his duty to help guide the new batch of Slytherins. After being assigned the position of prefect last year he had taken his duties  very  seriously. Yeosang always thought he was a little bit too eager to help to be a Slytherin, but he supposed someone needed to be or they wouldn’t have any prefects at all.  

San, like Yeosang, was a Slytherin through and through. The other fifth year spent the sorting ceremony flicking wet balls of napkin at the heads of poor unsuspecting Hufflepuffs at the table next to them. Mostly one tall, red-headed Hufflepuff, but no one needed to know that. Seonghwa either pretended not to notice or was actually engrossed in the ceremony. Either option was equally possible.  

When the ceremony finally ended and Yeosang managed to sink his teeth into the first bite of glorious roast chicken he let out a loud moan.  

“You act as though you haven’t had a good meal in months, when I know for a fact your family has house elves in employment that make all your meals at home too,” said Seonghwa, eyebrow raised.  

“Listen, every meal in that house is soured by the presence of a cat, let me have this,” responded Yeosang, mouth full of steaming chicken.  

“At least swallow before you speak,” said Seonghwa, throwing a napkin across the table at the younger.  

“Hey, guys!” said San, elbowing Yeosang to get his attention.  

“What? Let me eat,” whined Yeosang.  

“This is more important! Looks like tall and taller started dating over the summer,” snickered San. Yeosang whipped his head to look at the Gryffindor table on the other side of the Great Hall.  

There, among the sea of red, sat one person in yellow robes, as if the bright red hair wasn’t enough to make him stand out. Next to him, Wooyoung’s other tall friend (who kind of looked like a big golden retriever puppy but Yeosang would never admit that) sat with his arm around him, nuzzling his cheek with his nose. Wooyoung beamed at the two of them. 

Disgusting.  

Not only was it disgusting, but the Hufflepuff was breaking tradition by leaving his table. What would the first years think?  

Of course, it wasn’t that they weren’t allowed to sit at other tables once the actual ceremony was over. But it was tradition. It was polite to stay at their own table. That’s why Hongjoong never sat with them. That, and Yeosang had to admit it was funny to introduce new first years to Hongjoong by having him walk into the Slytherin common room unannounced since he always had the password.  

“Gross, why’d you have to show that to me while we're eating?” whined Yeosang. “I never wanted to see a Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff canoodling.”  

“The fuck kind of word is canoodling?” asked San.  

“Open an english textbook for once in your life.” 

“Whatever. Anyways, you have something against inter-house relationships? I would think you’d be open to it, with your future husband being in Gryffindor and all,” teased San.  

“I have nothing against inter-house relationships. I handle Seonghwa and Hongjoong just fine.” 

Seonghwa spat his drink all over Yeosang. 

“Gross, Hwa!”  

“We’re not in a relationship!” said the older quickly.  

“Oh please, it’s gonna happen soon. Do you really not see the way he looks at you?” asked San.  

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” defended Seonghwa. “We’re just friends.” 

“Come on, hyung. It’s been years! At least give him a chance, it’s just getting sad. Unless... there’s someone else?” said Yeosang teasingly. 

“Maybe there is,” said Seonghwa, eyes boring into Yeosang, who paused in wiping himself dry with a napkin. Involuntarily, Yeosang felt his cheeks heat up and his teasing smile faltered.  

“N-nonsense,” he said. “You don’t have any friends other than us, who would you have a crush on if not Hongjoong?” 

Seonghwa simply shrugged, and Yeosang could practically feel San vibrating in the seat next to him as he watched the two.  

Seonghwa’s gaze gave Yeosang a strange feeling, but he decided to ignore it in favor of the desserts that had just appeared in front of him.  

Feelings were a problem for future Yeosang. 

~*~ 

As usual, Yeosang was woken up far too early the next morning. Seonghwa never let him and San be late. The whole year. He woke them up every single day.  

At least Seonghwa had the decency to lay out their uniforms for them the first day when they would have to drag themselves to the great hall half asleep.  

This year, Yeosang let out a groan when he received his schedule.  

“Why are all my favourite classes with the Gryffindors?” he whined. San didn’t even bother looking at his schedule knowing it was the same as Yeosang’s, and instead had his head laid on the table, eyes half closed as he slowly fell back asleep.  

“At least we’ll have something fun to do during history of magic,” he responded sleepily. 

“No, that one’s with the Hufflepuffs,” responded Yeosang.  

“Hey, Mingi is fun to mess with too.”  

“I feel a little mean messing with Mingi when he’s alone, not gonna lie.” 

“Yeosang? Feeling mean?” San cracked an eye open, suddenly awake. “That’s a first.”  

“You have to agree that Jung and Choi are the best ones to mess with.”  

“True, too bad Choi is a fetus so we never have classes with him.”  

Seonghwa sighed from his spot across the table.  

“Can’t you two let the first day of classes pass without picking a fight for once?” 

“Hwa, my dearest hyung, you know perfectly well that the first day is the most important. Jung has to be reminded how much I hate him after 3 months of me pretending to tolerate him.”  

“I’m sure he knows,” responded Seonghwa.  

“But it’s oh so fun to remind him,” responded San with a sneaky smile, finally lifting his head. “Besides, what would Yeosang do if his future husband didn’t pay attention to him?”  

Yeosang smacked him.  

“I don’t care about his attention! Like I said, it’s a reminder of how much I hate him!” 

“Whatever you say, Sang.” 

“And I say you’re crazy. Anyways, hyung, we have to attack the first day before they do. Attacking first gives us the upper hand and establishes dominance.”  

“I don’t think they’ve ever attacked first, it’s always been you,” said Seonghwa pointedly. 

“Exactly, and that’s why we’re winning .” 

“Whatever you say, Sang,” said Seonghwa with a sigh, echoing San’s earlier words. 

~*~ 

Tragically, Yeosang’s first class of the day was Herbology. His least favourite class. Having to walk through the chilly morning air every other day to the greenhouses was going to be his own personal hell. Luckily, the class was with the Ravenclaws, so he didn’t have to deal with Wooyoung’s excited screeching first thing in the morning. Herbology was Wooyoung’s favourite class (just another thing that made Yeosang dislike him), and he could never be quiet during it.  

This also gave him and San time to plan their first prank.  

The initial attack was always something of a warm up. It was too early in the year to lose house points, Seonghwa would scold them if they did. Therefore, it had to be simple enough that they’d only get into slight trouble if caught, but annoying enough to make Wooyoung retaliate.  

Something like making him lose all of his hair in the middle of class, or transfiguring his shoes into rats. Making his quill disappear every time he set it down.  

Simple but effective.  

By the time their second class of Transfiguration rolled around they had the perfect plan. Unfortunately, the other tall Gryffindor would become a casualty. Usually, the first prank was done exclusively to Wooyoung. Yeosang wasn’t that mean, his vendetta was only against Wooyoung, so he didn’t involve the other three until they involved themselves (well, sometimes San involved the younger Gryffindor Jongho).  

But this year, it was inevitable. They’d learned from a reluctant Seonghwa that the first Transfiguration lesson of the year was always a partner assignment. Turning bread into fish, some weird assignment that Yeosang didn’t even try to understand the point of.  

Yeosang knew Wooyoung would partner with his tall friend, Yunho. And since Yunho was a rather gifted wizard (the only one who managed to top Yeosang’s scores when the other was feeling too lazy to do his work), the two would likely succeed. That’s when Yeosang would animate the fish. There was nothing like a good slap in the face with a fish to ring in the new school year. 

The plan worked perfectly. Yeosang was, of course, the first to complete their assignment, and then he turned his attention to the Gryffindors. As predicted, Yunho wasn’t far behind him. After they’d managed to turn their loaf of bread into a large salmon, Yeosang muttered a spell under his breath, and the fish immediately began to flop around, causing a ruckus in the class.  

In the fish’s desperate attempts at movement, it managed to smack Wooyoung right across the cheek.  

The class erupted into laughter.  

And then, to Yeosang’s horror, Wooyoung began to laugh with them.  

He wasn’t embarrassed, he wasn’t annoyed. He was entertained.  

Yeosang panicked. There was one important detail of his summer that he hadn’t shared with his friends.  

Just before the end of their summer, right after their annual Back to School party that their parents threw, Wooyoung had begun acting weird .  

While he’d never been overly affected by Yeosang’s coldness and rudeness even during the summers, he would always respond with a rude jab of his own or an annoyed huff or glare. But instead, he began to laugh it off. Yeosang would insult him, and he’d just smile.  

It made Yeosang absolutely livid . It also made him feel weird.  

And so, Yeosang was incredibly eager for their Hogwarts life to return to normal. 

But now it wasn’t.  

Wooyoung was still laughing.   

His stupid, high, shrieking, contagious demon laugh.  

So now, Yeosang was panicked. His last hope at normalcy had been ripped away.  

“Dude, you okay?” asked San, elbowing Yeosang in the ribs.  

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head slightly to snap himself out of his daze. He watched as the professor finally decided to halt the fish’s movements and calm the class back down, obviously amused.  

~*~ 

“Well today was a bust,” said San, yawning as they exited the History of Magic classroom, their last class of the day.  

They had tried everything to annoy Wooyoung. Yeosang even resorted to turning the other’s hair bubblegum pink.  

He just laughed at every prank.  

Laughed his stupid laugh that gave Yeosang stupid butterflies of annoyance in his stomach.  

“I’m not giving up yet,” Yeosang huffed, wracking his brain. And then it hit him. The perfect prank.  

A smile spread across his face.  

“I don’t like that look,” said San.  

“I have an idea,” responded Yeosang.  

“I really don’t like that look.”  

“Please, San! I promise it’s a good one. Plus, you’ll get to annoy the fetus.”  

“... I’m listening.”  

~*~ 

One hour later, they had a terrified Gryffindor first year cornered in a classroom.  

“Can you tell me the password to the Gryffindor common room?” Yeosang asked with a sweet smile. The kid blushed. That was exactly what Yeosang wanted. 

“I th-thought we weren’t supposed to tell people from other houses,” he squeaked.  

“Come on, don’t you think that’s a little outdated? Inter-house friendships are common now.”  

“He just wants to surprise his boyfriend,” piped in San. Yeosang opened his mouth to protest but San shut him down with a look. “Since it’s the beginning of the year he hasn’t had time to get the password from him yet.”  

The kid looked at them, wide eyed and terrified. Yeosang wondered if Plan A wasn’t going to work for once. Usually Plan A worked on first years, Yeosang was quite pretty and knew how to use his good looks. It was once they were a few months into the school year and his reputation caught up with him that he had to start using Plan B: threats.  

“Wh-Who’s your boyfriend?” he asked quietly.  

“Wooyoung Jung,” San answered for him. Yeosang ground his teeth together in annoyance. “But you can’t tell him anything! It’s a surprise.”  

San gave the kid a dazzling smile and the poor child turned red as a tomato.  

“P-pumpkin wine.”  

“Thank you,” said San, smiling again.  

“Remember,” chimed in Yeosang. “You can’t tell anyone. Don’t ruin the surprise!”  

“I won’t!” the kid squeaked. Yeosang gave him a nod and a smile and the boy scurried out the door and towards the Great Hall where everyone was gathering for dinner.  

“That was too easy,” said San once the kid was gone.  

“First years are always easy to manipulate,” said Yeosang with a shrug, leading the way out of the classroom and towards the Gryffindor common room.  

He knew where the common room was, but had never been inside. They never took their pranks that far, Yeosang always adhered to his strict rules of not involving innocent bystanders. But desperate times called for desperate measures.  

When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she eyed them curiously.  

“You’re not in my house,” she said matter-of-factly.  

“No, we’re not,” said Yeosang with a sweet smile. “I’m just here to get something for Wooyoung, he told me the password. We’re childhood friends you know.”  

“Oh I know, the whole castle knows!” she said, a sudden gleeful smile overtaking her features. “Did you two finally get together?”  

Yeosang grit his teeth.  

“Yes, we did,” he said, hoping his inner disgust wouldn’t show on his face.  

“Ha! Phineas owes me six galleons! He thought it would take you two until your seventh year!”  

“Well, you best tell him then. But please let us in first,” he said.  

“Oh, yes, yes, just tell me the password and you can go on in,” she said.  

“Pumpkin wine.”  

With one last smile the portrait swung open and the two Slytherins climbed inside.  

Luckily, the common room was empty.  

Yeosang looked around. The common room was warm. Hues of red and gold covered the furniture and walls, and plush armchairs sat in front of a roaring fire. Yeosang hated it.  

“We should start with the bedrooms,” said Yeosang.  

“I’ll take the fourth years!” said San excitedly, bounding towards the stairs that they assumed led to the dorms.  

Yeosang rolled his eyes before following after him. It didn’t take Yeosang long to find the fifth years’ room. As soon as he peered inside the door, he spotted a photo of Wooyoung and his parents on one of the nightstands.  

Their plan was simple. They were going to turn everything in the Gryffindor common room and dorm from red and gold to Slytherin’s signature green and silver.  

Yeosang quickly got to work, knowing their time was limited. He went through each bed, changing the sheets and curtains to an emerald green. He saved Wooyoung’s for last, but when he reached the other’s area he froze, noticing something on the nightstand.  

Next to the photo of Wooyoung and his parents was another photo.  

A photo of them .  

A young Wooyoung and Yeosang. And Yeosang knew exactly when that photo was taken. They were eight years old. It was back when Yeosang was only mildly annoyed by Wooyoung, before the other betrayed him and became a Gryffindor, allowing for his full hatred to blossom. Their parents had given them training broomsticks. Yeosang immediately fell off of his while Wooyoung zoomed around, toes whizzing against the grass since child broomsticks didn’t go any higher.  

In the photo, Yeosang was pouting, arms crossed, while Wooyoung had his arm around his shoulders and was smiling at the camera, laughing.  

Yeosang remembered how Wooyoung had told Yeosang to get on the back of his broom and hold onto his waist so he could fly the both of them around just after that picture was taken.  

Yeosang felt the butterflies again at the memory.  

Butterflies of annoyance.  Yeosang couldn’t stand that there was something Wooyoung was better at.  

He was broken out of his reverie by San’s loud footsteps on the stairs as he moved from the fourth year’s dorm down to the third.  

Blushing, Yeosang quickly finished his job and darted to the sixth year’s dorm, trying to shake the memory of that photo out of his head as they finished their prank.  

~*~ 

The next morning Yeosang hummed in delight as he chewed on his toast.  

Their plan had gone perfectly. No one had come back, and they had slipped out without getting caught.  

He couldn’t wait to see Jung’s annoyed face when he entered the Great Hall.   

“What’s got you so happy?” asked Seonghwa, one eyebrow raised.  

“Oh, nothing,” said Yeosang casually.  

“Sang, you’re smiling so wide the second years next to us just moved down the table out of fear,” deadpanned Seonghwa.  

“I know what’s got him so happy,” said Hongjoong, voice high and a wicked smile blooming across his face as he sat down next to Seonghwa.  

Oh no, thought Yeosang. However, before Hongjoong could speak again a warm body slid next to his and took a bite out of the toast in his hand.  

“Good morning, boyfriend.”  

No. Oh no no no. No way.  

Yeosang gulped, before turning and seeing the gleeful face of one Jung Wooyoung smiling straight at him.  

“What did you call me?” he asked, praying his voice sounded threatening.  

“I don’t know, you tell me,” he said. “The Fat Lady seems to be under the impression that we’re now dating. You would think I would be the first one you tell that to.”  

Yeosang chanced a glance at Seonghwa and Hongjoong across from him. Seonghwa stared, gaze hard and unreadable. Hongjoong looked like a child at a candy store. San, fortunately, was fast asleep on the table next to him.  

“I didn’t think she’d go blabbing it to the whole school,” Yeosang mumbled, moving to take another bite of his toast before realizing Wooyoung had eaten it and dropping it like it burned.  

“What was that, sweetie?” asked Wooyoung, leaning in, face much too close to Yeosang’s.  

“Don’t call me that,” hissed Yeosang, shoving Wooyoung away.  

“Now, now, don’t push me! You don’t want people to think you’re an abusive boyfriend.”  

“I’m not your boyfriend!”  

Wooyoung quickly covered Yeosang’s hand with his mouth.  

“Shhh, don’t let anyone hear you. If the Fat Lady finds out you tricked her, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble for sneaking into the common room AND defacing it,” he said wickedly.  

Yeosang froze from where he was trying to push Wooyoung’s hand away, eyes widening.  

He hadn’t thought of that.  

“You defaced the Gryffindor common room??” hissed Seonghwa, leaning forward so no one around them could hear.  

“Hey, San helped!”  

“I can’t believe you, we’ve been back at school for one day,” groaned Seonghwa. Hongjoong just snickered. “What did you do?” 

“He turned everything, and I mean everything, from Gryffindor colors to Slytherin colors. Took me and Yunho forever to change everything back before the prefects saw,” said Wooyoung.  

Hongjoong burst out laughing, startling San awake.  

“That’s so lame!” he yelled, almost doubling over.  

“Why did you change it back?” asked Yeosang, eyeing Wooyoung carefully. “You could have just left it and let me get in trouble.”  

“Can’t have my boyfriend getting in trouble on the first day back, can I?”  

“I’m not your boyfriend.”  

“Are you sure? I guess I’ll just have to tell the Fat Lady you lied to her then,” said Wooyoung.  

“Oh, Merlin, what the fuck do you want from me?” groaned Yeosang. Wooyoung gave him a wicked smile.  

“Oh, I have big plans for us, baby. I, out of the goodness of my heart, will pretend to be your boyfriend for an adequate amount of time before we have a staged break up. That way the Fat Lady will never know you tricked her.”  

“And what do you get out of this?” said Yeosang warily.  

“That’s for me to know and you to find out later.”  

Yeosang was silent for a moment, eyeing the other. To his dismay, he couldn’t see any other way out of the situation. 

“Fine,” Yeosang groaned.  

“Perfect!” said the other with a smile. With that, he placed a loud kiss on Yeosang’s cheek before jumping out of his seat and skipping toward the Gryffindor table, leaving two frozen Slytherins, a snickering Ravenclaw, and a recently awakened San staring in his wake in disbelief.  

“Okay, what the fuck just happened?”  

~*~ 

Whispers.  

That's all Yeosang could hear through his first three classes. Everywhere he went, his classmates would whisper. It seemed that word about him and Wooyoung got around fast after the scene in the Great Hall this morning. 

It was not every day that a Gryffindor sat at the Slytherin table. Especially not when it was Jung Wooyoung and Kang Yeosang.  

Even worse, it was not every day that Jung Wooyoung gave a kiss to Kang Yeosang.  

He received some messages of congratulations from his Slytherin classmates and a few Ravenclaws who weren’t afraid of him.  

He tried not to cringe every time.  

Even worse, he watched as his classmates exchanged money when he didn’t deny it. 

He approached the door to Potions with dread. It was his favourite class, but they shared it with the  Gryffindors.   

“Ready to see your boyfriend?” asked San, patting him on the back but smiling gleefully.  

“Say that word again and you’ll wake up to find that your cat is now a toad,” snapped Yeosang before pushing open the door.  

The room fell silent as soon as he entered. He glared back as everyone stared at him before his eyes fell on the one thing he didn’t want to see.  

Jung Wooyoung with an empty seat next to him. Jung Wooyoung smirking at him, challenging him to sit down. As if he didn’t quite believe Yeosang would do it.  

Well, Yeosang wasn’t weak.  

Head held high, he stalked over to the bench, slamming his bag down and dropping into the seat next to Wooyoung.  

Immediately the class broke out into whispers.  

“Hello, boyfriend,” said Wooyoung with a grin.  

“Don’t talk to me.”  

“Why are you so mean to me? I’m just a caring boyfriend trying to say hello,” whined Wooyoung, pouting. 

If Yeosang’s heart did a little flip, he would insist it was out of anger.   

“I don’t need you to be a caring boyfriend.”  

“Well I’m gonna be, you’re gonna get the whole Jung Wooyoung experience.”  

“Great, just what I wanted.” 

“So,” said Wooyoung, ignoring Yeosang’s sarcasm. “We’re having tryouts for our Quidditch team this weekend. We need a new keeper now that Henderson graduated. Do you want to come watch?”  

“Why the hell would I want to come watch?”  

“To be a supportive boyfriend.” 

“I am not your bo-” 

“Now, now, Yeosang,” Wooyoung cut him off, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “This needs to be believable or people will start to suspect. What would people think if the star Gryffindor seeker’s boyfriend wasn’t there to watch him?”  

Yeosang glared at him. “I hate you.”  

“I’ll see you there then,” said Wooyoung with a grin.  

Fortunately, the professor then entered and cut their conversation short.  

Not so fortunately, his lecture was short lived and they quickly started to brew a potion with their partners.  

Potions was Yeosang’s favourite class. Yeosang was good at potions. Wooyoung, however, was not good at potions.  

It took every ounce of Yeosang’s patience not to snap as Wooyoung once again miscounted his stirs.  

“Will you just let me do it before we fucking fail?” he hissed.  

“How will I learn if you do all the work?” asked Wooyoung, pouting. To Yeosang’s utter disbelief, the other was completely serious.  

“How does Yunho deal with you all the time?” he asked incredulously.  

“He teaches me instead of yelling at me.”  

“You’re unteachable.” 

“I am not.”  

Yeosang watched as Wooyoung crossed his arms, pouting with a huff and slouching in his stool. Yeosang immediately began to try and fix their potion, hoping Wooyoung couldn’t see the slight redness taking over his features. 

If he did, Yeosang would insist it was from the heat of the potion and not because Wooyoung kinda resembled a little baby duck when he pouted like that.  

~*~ 

Saturday came much too soon for Yeosang’s tastes. Grumbling, he trudged his way to the Quidditch pitch. None of his friends could join him. Seonghwa had prefect duties, San was “too lazy”, and Hongjoong wasn’t allowed, being the seeker of the Ravenclaw team.  

And so Yeosang was alone. He skipped over going onto the field to greet Wooyoung and sat himself right in the stands with a huff, arms crossed.  

Below, he could see six people dressed in red in front of a crowd of other hopeful Gryffindors.  

He spotted Wooyoung, as well as his friend Yunho, who played the position of chaser, and the kid Jongho, who was a beater. Yeosang couldn’t bring himself to care about the names of the rest of the team.  

Suddenly, a presence loudly dropped itself onto the bench next to him.  

“Hi, Yeosang!”  

No. Yeosang almost couldn’t bring himself to turn and look. He couldn’t believe it, but he would swear that deep voice belonged to Wooyoung’s stupidly tall Hufflepuff friend Mingi.  

Mingi dared to sit next to Yeosang. He let his gaze flicker to his left, and sure enough he saw the bright red hair and equally as bright friendly smile.  

Yeosang didn’t respond.  

“Are you going to ignore me?”  

He could almost hear the pout in the other’s voice.  

“Come on, Yeosang! We have to be friends if you’re gonna date Wooyoung. I know you don’t dislike me.”  

Now that got Yeosang’s attention. He whipped towards the other, fire in his eyes.  

“I am not dating Wooyoung,” he snapped.  

“Hey I got you to talk!” said Mingi, flashing a bright smile again.  

Yeosang snapped his mouth shut, turning back to the field with his face burning.  

“So, are you excited to watch the tryouts?”  

“No.” 

“Why not?”  

“Why would I be?”  

“Because Quidditch players are hot,” said Mingi dreamily. Yeosang looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “No, seriously! I’ve never been more turned on than while watching Yunho’s biceps as he tosses the quaffle across the field.”  

“I did not want to know that.”  

“It’s not just me! All of the fourth year girls gossip about Jongho’s muscles when he swings his bat too. Of course, I don’t look at Jongho like that. Kinda nasty with him being Yunho’s cousin and all, he’s like a baby.” 

Yeosang was getting the impression that Mingi really liked to hear himself talk.  

“And just wait until you see Wooyoung! Obviously since he’s the seeker he doesn’t show off his muscles throwing things around, but that sharp concentrated look he gets is super sexy. I heard that last year during the Quidditch final, a sixth year totally creamed his pants just watching Wooyoung.”  

“I did not want to know that,” repeated Yeosang, disgusted.  

“No need to be jealous, Wooyoung doesn’t care about any other guys.”  

“Mingi, you know Wooyoung and I aren’t actually dating, right?” asked Yeosang, finally turning to look at the taller boy again. 

“Yeah, ok,” said the other with a snort.  

“Mingi, I hate Wooyoung. I’m only doing this so that Seonghwa doesn’t curse me into the next dimension. Wooyoung hates me too, how did you not know this?”  

“Wooyoung doesn’t hate you,” said Mingi in confusion. “You guys are best friends.”  

What?  

Their conversation was interrupted by a sharp whistle signaling the start of their tryouts.  

Yeosang turned back to the field, eager to get out of the conversation, but his mind was reeling.  

Best friends? Him and Wooyoung? Impossible.  

Wooyoung definitely hated him. They constantly pulled pranks on each other and annoyed each other. How could he not? Yeosang was only ever mean to him.  

Yeosang tried to clear his head and focus on the tryouts.  

His eyes were immediately drawn to Wooyoung, who, since they were looking for a new keeper, was playing as a chaser, biceps rippling as he threw the quaffle through the air with much more force than expected.  

Yeosang gulped.  

Yeah, ok, maybe Quidditch made boys look hot.  

~*~ 

After the tryouts, Yeosang prayed that Wooyoung hadn’t seen him in the stands. He knew it was rather unlikely, as Mingi very loudly cheered every time Yunho did anything, causing most of the team and hopefuls to look in their direction. He tried to slip away unnoticed, but Mingi grabbed ahold of his arm and dragged him towards the players on the field.  

“Yeosang!” called Wooyoung, waving to him with a bright smile as they approached.  

Yeosang willed himself not to blush. Seeing Wooyoung up close in his Quidditch uniform after he’d just had some entirely unwanted thoughts about him maybe looking attractive was torture.  

Mingi immediately left his side to latch onto his boyfriend. As Mingi left a loud, wet kiss on Yunho’s sweaty cheek, Jongho watched with a rather disgusted face that Yeosang felt his face would probably mirror if he wasn’t so worried about the boy in front of him.  

A boy he disliked.  

A boy who was a little bit sweaty and out of breath.  

A boy who was smiling at Yeosang.  

And Yeosang was just staring like an idiot.  

“So, what did you think?” asked Wooyoung. Yeosang snapped back to reality. 

“I hate Quidditch,” he answered automatically. It was true, Yeosang wasn’t even sure he knew the rules to the game. He only ever went to matches when his friends dragged him and even then he didn’t pay attention.  

And now he had an even bigger reason to avoid it: Quidditch made boys hot.  

Wooyoung pouted at him. He really needed to stop doing that. Yeosang’s mind was going to short circuit at the image of the pout combined with the sweat causing his slightly tanned skin to glisten.  

“How can you hate Quidditch? It’s the best sport ever!” whined Wooyoung.  

“It’s stupid,” Yeosang managed to answer. “All you’re doing is throwing balls through hoops.”  

“You’re just saying that because you suck at flying.”  

Yeosang flushed. “I do not!” he flushed.  

He did. He really did. And Yeosang hated the things he was bad at.  

“Didn’t I at least look cool? Maybe I should be a chaser,” Wooyoung continued.  

“I don’t know, I wasn’t paying attention.”  

Wooyoung narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying, I saw you looking at us.” Yeosang felt the heat rise in his face as Wooyoung’s expression settled into a smirk and he stepped closer into Yeosang’s space. “Are you too embarrassed to say I looked hot?”  

Yeosang choked on his breath.  

“I told you I wasn’t watching!” he said.  

“Hmm, sure, whatever you say,” responded Wooyoung, smiling.  

They were interrupted by Yunho coming over, Mingi draped over his back and Jongho standing a few steps behind them, eyeing Yeosang warily.  

“Hey, we’re gonna go get snacks from the kitchens. You guys want to come?”  

Yeosang immediately started to voice his disagreement before he was interrupted by Wooyoung.  

“We’d love to!”  

Wooyoung laced his arm through Yeosang’s and dragged him after Yunho and Mingi, who had immediately made a beeline for the castle at the prospect of food.  

Around twenty minutes later Yeosang found himself sat at a table in the kitchens, arms crossed and pointedly looking away from Wooyoung next to him and away from the plate of sweets in front of him.  

Until he felt a poke in his arm.  

“Hey,” said Wooyoung softly. “Why aren’t you eating?”  

“I don’t need snacks,” snapped Yeosang, still not looking at him.  

“Come on, I know you love sweets. Just eat them.”  

“I do not love sweets.”  

“Yes you do, you just won’t admit it. I promise you won’t look any less intimidating just for liking cake.”  

“Don’t pretend you know what I like,” snapped Yeosang again, finally turning to look at Wooyoung.  

The other just looked at him sadly.  

“Okay,” he said, turning back to his friends.  

Yeosang felt a strange feeling bubble in his chest. Almost like guilt. But what did he have to be guilty about? Wooyoung didn’t know him. Yes, Yeosang did secretly love sweets but that didn’t mean Wooyoung knew anything about him. It was just a lucky guess. He wanted the other to stop pretending like they were friends. Especially right now, when it was only them, Mingi, Yunho, and Jongho. All people who knew they weren’t really dating. There was no need to keep up the façade.  

Yeosang eyed his plate. The cakes sure did look delicious.  

~*~ 

“You look exhausted,” said Seonghwa, eyeing Yeosang over breakfast at the Slytherin table.  

“Wooyoung dragged me to their Quidditch practice again. And then we went to the kitchens for snacks. Again,” Yeosang whined.  

“Why don’t you just say no?”  

“I can’t say no. Wooyoung starts whining about it being something that boyfriends do. Mingi goes to all of their practices for Yunho so it would look bad if I don’t go to them.” 

“You’re not actually his boyfriend though,” said Seonghwa pointedly. Yeosang blinked in confusion. He knew that, he didn’t need Seonghwa to point it out.  

“Yeah but Wooyoung is so annoying it’s better to just do what he wants so he’ll be quiet.”  

“It’s been a month. Don’t you think that’s enough time? You guys can break up now without looking suspicious.”  

“I don’t know, Wooyoung thinks we should wait a little bit longer,” said Yeosang, picking up a piece of toast and munching on it lazily.   

“And what about you?”  

“What?”  

“Do you want it to go on longer?” asked Seonghwa, eyes boring into Yeosang’s face.  

“No,” said Yeosang, feeling the heat rise to his face. “But I want to make sure I don’t lose 200 house points for defacing the Gryffindor common room.”  

This had been happening a lot recently, Seonghwa looking at him in strange ways. Asking weird questions. Sure Hongjoong and San always teasingly asked him about Wooyoung, but Seonghwa seemed to really want to know. Like he was waiting for the day Yeosang woke up and said he’d caught feelings for Wooyoung.  

Wait, what? Yeosang stopped his train of thought. There were no feelings for Wooyoung. He’d never catch feelings for Wooyoung.  

Sure, maybe recently the other had been shooting bright smiles in his direction that made Yeosang’s chest feel weird. And maybe Yeosang had been staring a little too intently during the Quidditch practices. But, hey, Quidditch made boys hot. Even one like Wooyoung.  

 They still argued all the time. Yeosang was snappy and Wooyoung was annoying. They didn’t mesh well together. And of course, there was the most important thing.  

Gryffindors and Slytherins did not get along.  

His thoughts were interrupted by Wooyoung dropping onto the bench next to him, the loud noise startling San awake.  

“Good morning,” said the Gryffindor sleepily.  

“Didn’t you sit with us yesterday? You should be with your friends today,” said Seonghwa icily. The rest looked at him in shock. Seonghwa had never sounded so cold before.  

Yeosang glanced at the others. San’s face mirrored Yeosang’s confusion. Hongjoong looked strange, a bit sad and a bit angry.  

Wooyoung was wearing his hurt puppy look.  

“It’s fine, he’s supposed to be my boyfriend, isn’t he?” said Yeosang dryly, stabbing a sausage onto his fork.  

Wooyoung immediately smiled brightly and began loading the plate in front of him with food.  

Seonghwa stood up abruptly.  

“I have prefect duties,” he said, quickly stalking off.  

“He didn’t even finish his breakfast,” mumbled San, reaching over to grab the food from Seonghwa’s plate and eat it himself.  

Hongjoong stared after the eldest with worry lining his features.  

“You should go after him,” said Yeosang softly. Hongjoong glanced at him.  

“He doesn’t want me to,” he said sadly.  

“But it seems like he needs you to. Something is up with him.”  

Hongjoong looked at him again, watching as Wooyoung tried to sneakily steal a sausage from Yeosang’s plate while the other was fully aware.  

“You’re probably right,” he finally said with a sigh. “I’ll go.”  

The smallest grabbed his things and quickly went after the eldest.  

“Do you think they’ll finally fuck?” asked San after a beat.  

“Gross, San,” whined Yeosang.  

“He wanted you to go after him,” came Wooyoung’s voice from beside him, uncharacteristically quiet.  

“What?”  

“The tall one. He didn’t want the tiny one to go after him. He wanted you.”  

“Hongjoong will be a lot better at calming him down than me,” said Yeosang pointedly.  

Wooyoung shared a look with San, confusing Yeosang even more.  

“The tiny one, Hongjoong. He’s in love with the tall one, right?”  

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the whole school can see it except for Seonghwa.”  

“That’s because the tall one is in love with you,” stated Wooyoung.  

Yeosang dropped his fork while San choked on his drink next to him.  

“What?”  

“You really didn’t know?” asked Wooyoung, confused. “It’s obvious, the guy glares at me every time he sees me.”  

“You’re wrong,” said Yeosang. “There’s no way Seonghwa has feelings for me. I would have noticed. Plus, he glares at you because you’re annoying.”  

“I’m telling you, you’re just oblivious. The guy is crazy jealous of me.”  

“Yeah, except we’re not dating so he has no reason to be jealous.”  

Wooyoung frowned. “I’m not wrong.”  

“Whatever, you don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s not in love with me. It’s almost time for class now, come on San,” snapped Yeosang, standing up and hauling San up with him as the other tried to get in a few last bites of food.  

He was stopped from walking away by Wooyoung’s hand on his arm.  

“If you ask him about it… if he is in love with you…” he began. Yeosang glared at him stonily. “If you confront him about it and it’s true. Just remember… you’re my boyfriend.”  

With that, Wooyoung walked away towards the Gryffindor table before Yeosang could respond.  

“Possessive,” commented San after a beat of silence. Yeosang flushed.  

“Whatever,” mumbled Yeosang, pulling San out of the hall toward their first class.  

~*~  

That Saturday was the first Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff.  

Yeosang had spent the last few days avoiding both Wooyoung and Seonghwa. Both of them had left him with too much on his mind. Too much to think about.  

Yeosang didn’t like thinking.  

He especially didn’t like thinking about feelings.  

His feelings. Seonghwa’s feelings. Wooyoung’s feelings.  

Wooyoung had said Seonghwa is in love with Yeosang. Had he really been that oblivious? No, he had somewhat caught on. But he wanted to pretend it wasn’t true. He didn’t want to think about his own feelings for Seonghwa and whether he had them or not.  

And he especially didn’t want to think about his own feelings for Wooyoung. Not that he had any.  

He walked to the Quidditch pitch alone, other than the crowd of students around him headed in the same direction. He didn’t want to face Seonghwa or his other friends and their teasing.  

He was too lost in thought to notice the increasing whispers as they approached the entrance to the stands.  

He froze when he saw him. There, standing by the entrance, was Wooyoung, dressed fully in his scarlet Quidditch game robes. His hair was slicked back off his forehead, held in place by a black headband so that it didn’t get into his eyes while he searched for the snitch. He held something in his hands, but Yeosang wasn’t paying attention, too busy trying to figure out how to slip past him unnoticed.  

He wasn’t so lucky.  

“Yeosang!” the other called, seeing him standing in the middle of the walkway. He quickly came up to him.  

“What are you doing here?” asked Yeosang.  

“I have something for you,” said the other, shuffling nervously and glancing around them.  

“What?”  

For a moment, Wooyoung didn’t answer. Yeosang almost yelped in shock as suddenly the other moved, wrapping something around his neck.  

“Wear this!” he said before bolting away.  

Yeosang stared after him in shock, bringing a hand up to his neck. A scarf. A Gryffindor scarf.  

“It’s too hot for scarves,” mumbled Yeosang to himself. “Idiot.”  

He didn’t notice the soft smile that had taken over his features or the whispers of his classmates around him.  

~*~ 

He sat alone in the back of the Slytherin stands when he felt a large presence drop onto the bench next to him. He glanced over to find Mingi, the Hufflepuff wearing a Gryffindor tie and carrying a large scarlet banner.  

“Can I sit with you?” he asked sheepishly. “The other Hufflepuffs get kinda mad when I cheer for Gryffindor and not our own team.”  

“Whatever,” said Yeosang, turning back to the field.  

“Nice scarf."  

Yeosang could almost hear the teasing grin in his voice.  

“It’s too hot. Wooyoung is an idiot,” Yeosang huffed in return.  

“Why don’t you take it off then?”  

Yeosang felt his face heat up. “Then people will be suspicious,” he mumbled.  

Yeosang would have been grateful that their conversation was cut short, except that it was interrupted by the arrival of his three friends.  

San plopped onto the bench in front of him, eyeing the red and gold scarf with glee.  

“What is  that  around your neck?” he said loudly. 

Trying to avoid San’s gaze, Yeosang made the mistake of looking at Seonghwa. Who seemed to be staring at Yeosang’s scarf as if it personally offended him. He cursed Wooyoung for putting weird ideas into his head.  

“It’s Wooyoung’s scarf,” he responded to San.  

“I can see that,” said San. “I just can’t believe you’re actually wearing it.” 

“What was I gonna do, reject it in front of the whole school? We’re supposed to be dating.”  

“No, but you don’t have to wrap it around your neck like that,” said Seonghwa. “Take it off, you’re going to get heat stroke.”  

Yeosang felt his face heat up and hoped he could pass it off as being too warm. He unwrapped the scarf from around his neck but let it hang over his shoulders, still clearly visible.  

Seonghwa didn’t look satisfied, but stayed quiet.  

Yeosang didn’t like it. He didn’t know if Seonghwa was suddenly acting different or if he was just more aware now that Wooyoung had planted weird ideas into his head, but he didn’t like it.  

“Wooyoung wanted to give you a tie, but he couldn’t find one this morning,” said Mingi, awkwardly trying to fill the tense silence that had fallen over the group.  

“Does he even own a tie?” asked Yeosang. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the Gryffindor actually wearing one.  

“There should be one somewhere in his room... I think.”  

“I hate to interrupt this riveting conversation, but the game is starting soon,” said Seonghwa, turning to the field. The others awkwardly settled into their seats.  

Yeosang leaned forward toward Hongjoong, who sat next to Seonghwa on the bench in front of him.  

“Is something wrong with Seonghwa?” he asked quietly. Hongjoong gave him an unreadable look.  

“I think it’s better to ask Seonghwa about it.”  

“So there is something wrong? Does it have to do with what happened at breakfast a few days ago?”  

“It’s really not my place to talk about it,” mumbled Hongjoong, turning away to end the conversation.  

Yeosang pouted, leaning back while Mingi looked at him curiously.  

“Everything ok?” he asked.  

“I don’t know,” said Yeosang, frowning.  

The whistle blew, signaling the start of the game.  

~*~ 

Yeosang hadn’t been lying to Wooyoung the day of tryouts. Even now, after watching countless practices, he had no idea what the point of Quidditch was.  

It was just a bunch of boys throwing balls at each other. Sure, there was something appealing about the way the boys’ muscles moved when they threw the ball or swung a bat, but it’s not like they even got all that sweaty with the wind constantly blowing in their face.  

Plus, Wooyoung had the second most boring position.  

But he had to say, Mingi had been right when he’d talked about the serious face Wooyoung made during games. There was something about his sharp gaze, something almost predatory, as he scanned the arena for the small gold ball.  

Hufflepuff was leading 90 to 30. It was kind of pathetic for the Gryffindor team, in Yeosang’s opinion. The new keeper they picked wasn’t doing his job all that well, and the only one who’d scored was Yunho. Yeosang couldn’t tell how the Gryffindor team had won the Quidditch cup the past three years in a row.  

Wooyoung had been drifting high above the rest of the game. Yeosang didn’t know how he hoped to see such a tiny ball from that high. 

Suddenly, Wooyoung dove. The Hufflepuff seeker, some seventh year Yeosang didn’t know the name of, had been hovering around Wooyoung and was quick to follow.  

But Yeosang could tell something was off. Wooyoung didn’t seem to be focused in front of him. Sure enough, just as the Hufflepuff seeker caught up Wooyoung rolled, taking a sharp right turn and closing his hand around the snitch in the blink of an eye, almost 100 meters away from where he’d dove, leaving the Hufflepuff seeker in the dust.  

The stands erupted into noise. Even those who were rooting for Hufflepuff were going crazy over the move Wooyoung had just pulled. Even Yeosang, with his limited knowledge of Quidditch, had to admit it was impressive.  

Yeosang sat in shock while Mingi jumped up next to him, screaming and cheering.  

“Come on, let’s go!” shouted Mingi, grabbing Yeosang’s arm and pulling him up, leaving the others behind.  

Mingi dragged him out of the stands and down to the field, breaking through the crowd and practically throwing Yeosang at Wooyoung before jumping into Yunho’s waiting arms.  

Yeosang stood awkwardly near Wooyoung, blushing as he watched what seemed like every student in Gryffindor house congratulate Wooyoung.  

The other hadn’t noticed him yet, and he was debating trying to slip away before he was stopped by his friends catching up to them, San slinging an arm around his shoulder.  

“Ya! Why are you just standing here like a loser? Go push those people out of the way and congratulate your boyfriend,” San yelled, purposefully raising his voice so that everyone in their vicinity could hear.  

Wooyoung’s head snapped over to where they were standing, and a grin spread on his face as he pushed his way through the crowd over to Yeosang.  

“Hey,” he said, stopping in front of him.  

“Hi,” said Yeosang awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. “Umm... good job.”  

“Thanks,” said the other. He reached out and grabbed the ends of the Gryffindor scarf around Yeosang’s neck, tugging on them to pull Yeosang out from under San’s arm and closer to him. Yeosang was suddenly much to close, overwhelmed with the scent of Wooyoung and a little bit of sweat. He tried not to inhale too deeply. “There’s going to be a party in the Gryffindor common room, will you come?”  

“Am I allowed?”  

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. “Duh, I’m inviting you.” His eyes flickered behind Yeosang, where his friends were watching. “You can bring your friends.”  

“We’ll be there,” said Yeosang. Wooyoung smiled brightly, releasing Yeosang from his hold and stepping back.  

“Ya! Wooyoung!” called Hongjoong. “That was a nice move, but I hope you know that will never work on me.”  

“I know,” said Wooyoung, rolling his eyes at the older. “You don’t follow me around like a leech like the Hufflepuff seeker does. I have a different strategy for you.”  

“You won’t beat me this year, I have a strategy for you too!”  

“Whatever,” said Wooyoung playfully. He stepped closer to the others, wrapping an arm around Yeosang’s shoulders to drag him with him. “We’re having a victory party, you guys wanna come?”  

“Hell yeah!” said San, practically jumping in the air. “I love parties!”  

“Sure, sounds fun,” said Hongjoong.  

Yeosang glanced at Seonghwa, who had been silent until now. The other seemed to be gazing intently at Wooyoung’s arm resting around Yeosang’s shoulders.  

“I’ll pass, I have an essay to write.”  

“You’re no fun,” whined San. Hongjoong gave the taller a concerned glance before making eye contact with Yeosang. He could read it in the older’s eyes. He was going to have to talk to Seonghwa soon.  

But that was a problem for after the party.  

They were joined moments later by Wooyoung’s friends.  

“Are you guys coming to the party?” asked Yunho, giving a friendly smile.  

Before anyone could answer, they were interrupted by San screeching.  

“Choi! Give me your workout secrets! How did you get muscles like that?”  

A look of pure terror flashed across Jongho’s face, along with what seemed like... a blush? San practically pounced at him, and he bolted away, San chasing after him, leaving the others staring in silent confusion.  

“Okay, what the hell just happened?” asked Hongjoong. Wooyoung burst out laughing.  

“Jongho doesn’t know how to deal with San. He’s had a crush on him for like, two years but has never been able to talk to him. He only ever pranked you guys cuz he wanted San’s attention.” 

“He has a crush on San?” asked Yeosang in disbelief.  

“Yes, and it’s so gross!” said Yunho. “It’s all he talks about. It’s even worse during the summer when he can’t see him, he goes on and on about whether San will come back with a haircut or something.”  

“Should we go after them?” asked Seonghwa worriedly.  

“Nah, Jongho probably just ran to the Gryffindor common room. That’s where the party is anyways so we can let San in when we get there.”  

“Okay, if you’re sure…” said Seonghwa. “I’ll see you guys later, then.”  

“Are you sure you don’t want to come to the party?” asked Yunho.  

Seonghwa’s eyes flickered to the arm Wooyoung had slung over Yeosang’s shoulders.  

“I have homework to do. I’m not much of a party person.”  

“Ok, well if you change your mind send us a message and someone will let you in,” said Yunho with a smile.  

“Right,” replied Seonghwa, nodding.  

“We better get going or all the good alcohol will be gone by the time we get there,” said Mingi.  

“Please, they can’t start the party without the star player!” said Wooyoung, guiding Yeosang to start moving towards the castle.  

“Say that again and Jongho will put his fist through your face,” deadpanned Yunho.  

~*~ 

Yeosang was feeling light. He was just over the edge of tipsy. Drunk enough to be having fun even surrounded by Gryffindors, not drunk enough to do anything stupid. The perfect level. He downed one last shot of firewhiskey, feeling an arm snake around his waist.  

“Stop leaving me,” whined Wooyoung into his ear. Now Wooyoung was definitely drunk.  

“I wanted another drink,” said Yeosang, giggling and turning around in the other’s hold. Ok, so maybe he was well past tipsy.  

“You’re my boyfriend, you can’t leave me alone.”  

Yeosang rolled his eyes. “You have plenty of people to talk to.”  

Truthfully, Yeosang kept leaving Wooyoung’s side on purpose. He felt weird. Everyone’s eyes were on the two of them. The party was really for Wooyoung and the team, but even after a month Yeosang and Wooyoung were the hottest gossip in the castle. People watched them as if they couldn’t believe they were really dating.  

Which they weren’t, but the point was that no one else knew that.  

“Dance with me?” asked Wooyoung. Yeosang eyed the small space in the common room that was considered the dance floor. They had moved the plush armchairs against the walls to make space, and it was packed with people. He scanned the room, noticing San in one of the chairs against the wall talking to Jongho, whose face was bright red as he sipped a glass of firewhiskey.  

“There’s no room,” he responded.  

“Come on, just one da-“  

“Hey! What are you two lovebirds doing hiding over there?” interrupted the loud voice of some Gryffindor sixth year Yeosang couldn’t name.  

Yeosang flushed, wishing there was somewhere he could hide his face other than Wooyoung’s chest. Wooyoung had an iron grip on his waist, preventing him from moving.  

“Has Wooyoung gotten his congratulatory kiss yet?” someone else shouted. Every eye in the room was on them now.  

“Kiss him!” came another voice. More voices followed and soon the room was filled with the chant of “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”  

He looked back at Wooyoung, who stared at him with something unreadable in his face.  

“Just ignore th-“ he was cut off for a second time as Yeosang grabbed the sides of his face and pressed their lips together, the crowd bursting into cheers.  

Yeosang held them together, moving his lips against a tense Wooyoung, who hesitantly responded. It was awkward, but not unpleasant. Part of that may have been due to the fact that Yeosang had never kissed anyone before.  

Despite it being awkward and inexperienced, Yeosang felt like his body lit on fire when Wooyoung began to move back against him. The other’s lips were soft, moving against his skillfully as Yeosang let the other take charge instead.  

Wooyoung pulled him closer by the hips, and Yeosang moved to fist his hands in the other’s robes. His body felt light, but at the same time there was a burning sensation coming from where Wooyoung gripped him.  

When he pulled back, Yeosang was met with a face of pure shock, and he could swear Wooyoung was even blushing a little.  

There was a moment of silence as Wooyoung seemed to process what happened, before he smiled. 

“What was that?” he finally asked, a little breathless.  

“Just giving the people what they want. It’s no big deal,” said Yeosang, ears burning. Wooyoung’s smile fell.  

“I see,” he said. A tense silence. “Can you come with me? I want to show you something.”  

“Okay.”  

Wooyoung released the hold on Yeosang’s waist before grabbing his hand, dragging him toward the common room door. Luckily, after their kiss the crowd seemed satisfied and hardly anyone was paying them any attention for the time being. They slipped out quietly. 

“Ohoho, going out for a midnight rendevous?” asked the Fat Lady as they exited. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone! You two remind me of when I was young and in love. Just don’t get up to anything too naughty!”  

Yeosang blushed furiously, not paying attention as Wooyoung gave her a response then continued to drag him away.  

He led him all the way to the Astronomy tower. Yeosang didn’t take Astronomy, preferring to have his evenings free, even though he was secretly fascinated by space and everything having to do with it. When they reached the top, Yeosang let out a gasp.  

The view was beautiful. Out in the countryside, the sky was always clear, and Yeosang could see thousands of stars in the sky. He had stargazed on the grounds before, but the height of the astronomy tower made him feel as though he was surrounded by stars, like he could reach out and touch them.  

He turned to Wooyoung.  

“How did you know?” he asked.  

“That you like stars?” responded Wooyoung. Yeosang hummed, looking back at the sky. “You’ve always liked them. I never understood why you didn’t take Astronomy with me.”  

Yeosang gulped, feeling guilty that part of the reason was that he knew Wooyoung had taken it.  

Wooyoung still hadn’t let go of his hand, and tugged Yeosang closer. Yeosang moved willingly, but kept his gaze on the sky.  

“Hey,” said Wooyoung, calling Yeosang’s attention to him. “Did you really mean what you said? In the common room?”  

“What?” asked Yeosang, finally looking at Wooyoung.  

“Our kiss. Was it really no big deal?”  

“Of course not. I just did it to please the crowd. They need to believe we’re dating, don’t they?”  

Wooyoung stared at him, jaw tense.  

“When will you stop lying to yourself?” he finally asked.  

Yeosang froze. “What do you mean?”  

“When will you stop pretending this is fake?”  

“It is fake.”  

“You keep saying that, but your actions show the opposite.”  

“I’m just a really good actor,” said Yeosang bitingly, stepping away from Wooyoung. The other dropped his hand.  

“Why are you still doing this?”  

“Doing what?”  

“Pretending you hate me!”  

“I do hate you.”  

“That’s not true.”  

“It is true! Stop pretending you know me!”  

“But I do know you!” shouted Wooyoung.  

“No you don’t!”  

“I do,” snapped Wooyoung. “I know that you hate flying because you’re bad at it, but secretly love riding on someone else’s broom. I know you love sweets and plush toys but pretend not to because it will ruin your mature bad boy image. I know that your favourite color is actually red even though you pretend it’s blue because red is a Gryffindor color. I know that you watch videos of that muggle skateboarding sport online and wish you could try it. I know you care way too much about your image, always wearing suits and formal robes like your parents when you just want to wear giant hoodies all day. I know that your bad boy persona is just an image and you’re actually really sweet and innocent. And I know that you like me just as much as I like you, but have some stupid twisted idea that because we’re in Gryffindor and Slytherin we have to hate each other.”  

Yeosang stared at him, gaze steely. He was embarrassed. Embarrassed that Wooyoung knew all of these things he tried so hard to hide.  

Yeosang took a step back, but Wooyoung was quick to grab onto his arm.  

“Please, Yeosang, just stop running away from me.”  

Yeosang looked him in the eye.  

“None of that is true,” he hissed. “You’re wrong.”  

“Yeosang, you practically told me. The night of your back to school party. You got really drunk, and you said a lot of things. I thought everything was finally going to change, but the next morning you went right back to icing me out. But Yeosang, I’m tired. I thought that if this year, I could get you to stop doing your stupid pranks, you would finally see. I’m tired of playing this game together, I want to hold your hand and go on dates and playfully banter and eat in the Great Hall together. For real, not fake.”  

Yeosang stared at him, tears of frustration gathering in his eyes.  

He couldn’t deal with this. Wooyoung was dumping too much on him. He didn’t remember what he said at the party, he didn’t know what Wooyoung expected from him.  

And he certainly didn’t know how he felt.  

So he did the only thing he could think of.  

He wrenched his arm from Wooyoung’s grasp and he ran.  

Yeosang ran all the way to the Slytherin common room, not even noticing as the tears began to run down his face.  

As it was well past midnight, the common room was practically empty when he burst through the door aside from one lone figure.  

“Yeosang?” asked Seonghwa, confused. The other stood up from the chair he’d been in.  

Yeosang broke. He let out an ugly sob and the older ran to him, wrapping him in his arms.  

Yeosang had never been a hugger. While he secretly craved to be held, he never let it show, pretending he hated skinship and displays of affection.  

But now he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Seonghwa in return, sobbing into the older’s chest as he guided them to the soft green velvet couch.  

Seonghwa sat down, pulling Yeosang on top of him, shushing the smaller boy and stroking his hair comfortingly.  

They lay like that until Yeosang calmed down, with nothing but the sound of the crackling fire next to them.  

“Yeosang?” asked Seonghwa softly. “What happened?”  

Yeosang took a deep breath, not moving from where his head lay against Seonghwa’s chest as the other continued to stroke his hair.  

“I don’t want to think about things,” he mumbled.  

“What things?”  

“Am I in love with Wooyoung?”  

Seonghwa froze underneath him. There was a tense silence.  

“I can’t tell you how you feel,” the elder finally replied.  

Yeosang sighed, finally lifting himself off of the other and sitting beside him on the couch. Seonghwa straightened, watching Yeosang.  

“Do you want to break up with him?” Seonghwa asked.  

“No.”  

“So you like him.”  

“I don’t know.”  

“You have to decide one or the other, Yeosang.” 

“But I don’t know. I’m just so confused. We were just fake dating but sometimes it felt so real. And now I’m not sure if I wanted it to be real. He just makes me so frustrated.”  

“There’s a simple way to find out. Does he make you happy? If he does, then there’s your answer. If he doesn’t, you need to end it.”  

“He… makes me feel different. He always has. I used to think that it was hatred or annoyance… but now I’m not so sure.”  

“But are you happy?”  

Silence.  

“I don’t know,” whispered Yeosang.   

“Think about it,” said the elder. “But for now, go get some sleep. You smell like alcohol.”   

Seonghwa stood up, pulling Yeosang to his feet and guiding him to his dorm. San’s bed lay empty while his other classmates slept peacefully.  

Yeosang let Seonghwa pull off his shoes and guide him into the bed, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly fatigued.  

He fell asleep before his head even hit the pillow.  

~*~ 

Yeosang was avoiding Wooyoung.  

The other hadn’t made much of an effort himself though. Sometimes it looked like he wanted to say something during their shared classes, but he never did, and he stopped coming to the Slytherin table during mealtimes.  

Yeosang went back to sitting with San during their classes, and Yunho went back to sitting with Wooyoung, occasionally shooting concerned glances at Yeosang.  

Yeosang still hadn’t told his friends exactly what happened, but luckily they didn’t ask him about it. 

He wasn’t sleeping well. He also wasn’t eating much. He knew his friends were concerned, but he couldn’t help it.   

He couldn’t stop thinking about what Seonghwa had said. Did Wooyoung make him happy? He still didn’t know the answer.  

After a week of stewing in his own thoughts, however, he did realize one thing.  

Wooyoung was all he thought about, and all he had ever thought about since he was young.  

His friends has jokingly claimed that he constantly pranked Wooyoung because he wanted his attention. What if that was true? Ever since the others had mentioned that Jongho does it to get San’s attention, Yeosang wondered. All of his annoyance, what if it was just to hide the fact that he wanted Wooyoung’s attention?  

Ever since they were kids, Yeosang was jealous of the way Wooyoung was naturally good at things. Sure, Wooyoung wasn’t great at studying. But even then his grades weren’t bad. He was naturally talented at flying, he was naturally outgoing, and good at sports and art. He would always get praised by adults for being cute and friendly. Yeosang wanted to be praised too, but he only ever achieved anything through hard studying. He got the best grades, but it wasn’t without work. He was bad at sports and other things that kids should like, and was definitely not naturally cute around adults. They’d give Yeosang a pat on the head when he would show them his things, then quickly move on to ooh and aah at whatever Wooyoung was doing. Wooyoung was the only one who’d ever called him cute, the only one who oohed and aahed over the things he did, but he stopped when they got older. It wasn’t long after he stopped that Yeosang began to act coldly towards him.  

Yeosang didn’t know if Wooyoung made him happy, but he knew that all he ever wanted was Wooyoung’s approval again.  

He knew he didn’t actually hate Wooyoung.  

No matter how much he wanted to. 

It was late in the evening when he was coming home from the library and he entered the common room quietly, thinking it was empty.  

“Yeosang,” came a voice, startling him. He turned to find Seonghwa in a chair against the wall.  

The older looked… drained. Had he looked like that earlier that day? Yeosang couldn’t recall. He couldn’t recall a lot of things from the past week that didn’t revolve around Wooyoung.  

“Hyung, you scared me,” he said with a nervous chuckle.  

“Are you okay, Yeosang?”  

“W-what do you mean, hyung?”  

“Yeosang. I’ve never seen you cry the way you did last weekend. I don’t know what happened, but we can all see how it’s affecting you. Is it something I said?”  

Yeosang was silent. He didn’t know how to answer Seonghwa when he himself didn’t know exactly what was wrong.  

“If it’s making you this unhappy, then maybe he’s not worth it,” whispered Seonghwa.  

Yeosang froze. “What?”  

“All you do is complain about him. You’re constantly annoyed because of him. I wanted to be a good person, Yeosang, but I can’t keep watching you struggle over this. Just forget about him.”  

“I can’t forget about him. We have classes together, we spend summers together, I can’t avoid him.”  

“You can, you just don’t want to,” said Seonghwa. His eyes had lost their concern and were instead full of something akin to desperation. “If you try, you can stop thinking about him. I can help you.”  

“How? How can you help me?”  

Seonghwa’s gaze burned on his face for a moment, before the elder crossed the room in brisk strides and Yeosang felt himself tugged forward, hands grabbing his face and lips meeting his.  

It was... different than with Wooyoung. Whereas Wooyoung had lit Yeosang’s entire being on fire, Seonghwa was comforting. The elder was gentle, waiting a moment for Yeosang to get over his shock. As Yeosang began to respond, Seonghwa let his hands slide down the other’s body to grip his waist. Yeosang tangled his own hands in the elder’s hair, pressing himself close.  

It was nice. The elder held him loosely but firmly, like he was something precious. Opposite to how Wooyoung seemed to desperately cling to him whenever he touched him.  

He kissed Seonghwa harder, and the elder seemed surprised at his eagerness. But Yeosang was desperately searching for something, because this kiss held one main difference from his kiss with Wooyoung.  

He didn’t feel anything.  

It was nice. But there was no fire, no electricity, no heat. But it was nice. And maybe, just maybe, he could forget about Wooyoung. 

He felt Seonghwa slowing the kiss down before he pulled back, resting his forehead against Yeosang’s.  

There was a moment of silence in which only their breathing could be heard.  

“So, I guess Wooyoung was right then,” said Yeosang quietly, more to himself. Seonghwa’s arms dropped.  

“You’re still thinking about him.”  

“I’m sorry, I’ll try harder.”  

“... what?”  

“I won’t think about him when we’re together.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“I mean,” began Yeosang. He leaned forward and pecked the older’s lips. “That I want to try this.” 

“Are you sure?” breathed Seonghwa, arms tightening around the smaller boy.  

“Do you love me?”  

“Yes.”  

“Then I’m sure,” stated Yeosang with conviction.  

“Okay.”  

Yeosang didn’t know if this was the right decision, and prayed he wasn’t going to regret anything. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Seonghwa, but he was desperate.  

He was only sure of one thing. No matter what Wooyoung felt for him, and no matter what he might feel for Wooyoung.  

Gryffindors and Slytherins did not get along.  

~*~ 

Yeosang stood in front of the doors to the Great Hall, having an internal panic as students passed by him, giving him glances of concern.  

He had forgotten one important detail the night before.  

Hongjoong. 

What was he going to say? How was he supposed to face him? 

Everyone knew about Hongjoong’s crush on Seonghwa. And Hongjoong, of all people, was probably the most aware that Yeosang didn’t have a crush on Seonghwa. He wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with whatever Hongjoong was going to say to him.  

“Why are you just standing here?” came a voice behind him. Yeosang jumped, whipping around.  

Of course, there stood Hongjoong. Yeosang stared, frozen.  

“Is something wrong?” Hongjoong asked again.  

Yeosang gulped. “N-no. Nothing's wrong. Um, I just... I have to,” Yeosang floundered, trying to find the words to say. “I have to tell you something.”  

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”  

“Nothing! Nothing is wrong. It’s not a bad thing. Well, it sort of is but not exactly. Good for some people, bad for others.”  

“Yeosang,” interrupted Hongjoong, cutting off his rambling. “You’re not making any sense. Just spit it out.”  

Yeosang stopped, looking at the older again before taking a deep breath.  

“What are you guys doing out here?” came a new voice.  

Seonghwa. Fuck.  

The eldest walked up to the two of them, standing beside Yeosang and taking the younger boy’s hand in his.  

“Are you okay? You look a little panicked,” he said, reaching his other hand to brush the hair out of Yeosang’s face.  

Yeosang felt himself blush, and didn’t have the strength to look back at Hongjoong, instead staring at Seonghwa’s face that was much too close to his.  

“I’m fine,” he said quickly. More students were beginning to arrive and Yeosang could hear the whispers as they passed, noticing his and Seonghwa’s entwined hands.  

He chanced a glance at Hongjoong.  

The other’s gaze was zeroed in on their hands, his eyes almost unreadable but betraying the slightest hint of sadness. Yeosang quickly looked away.  

“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Seonghwa again, eyes full of worry. Yeosang nodded. “Okay.”  

The elder gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before pulling away, but didn’t let go of his hand.  

“We should go eat,” he said. “You coming, Joong?”  

At his name, Hongjoong seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in. He gave a pained smile. “Yeah, I’m coming. You two need to tell me about whatever this is,” he said, pointing to their hands. 

He spoke with a lighthearted tone, but Yeosang could hear the underlying sadness and felt the guilt bubble up in his chest.  

“Ok, let’s go,” said Seonghwa, seeming to not notice. He tugged Yeosang towards the door. As he turned, Yeosang caught sight of just the thing he didn’t want to see.  

Wooyoung, standing at the foot of the main staircase. His eyes, much like Hongjoong’s, were glued to the spot where his hand was intertwined with Seonghwa. But unlike Hongjoong, Wooyoung wasn’t even trying to hide the pain on his face.  

Wooyoung glanced up, locking eyes with Yeosang, and Yeosang could swear he saw tears in his eyes before the other turned on his heel and walked in the other direction.  

~*~ 

Yeosang had only two days of peace before the inevitable.  

He was sitting in the library, studying, when a stack of books was dropped unceremoniously onto the table next to him.  

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” hissed Hongjoong.  

Yeosang sighed. He knew this was coming, but had prayed he’d be able to avoid being alone with him longer.  

“What do you mean?” he asked calmly.  

“What are you doing with Seonghwa?”  

“Dating him.”  

“You don’t like him.”  

“But he likes me.”  

“That’s not how it works,” spat Hongjoong.  

“That’s not up to you,” spat back Yeosang, finally glancing up at the other.  

“You’re going to hurt him. You don’t have feelings for him.” 

“He knows that.” 

“Does he?”  

Yeosang froze in the middle of the sentence he was writing.  

“Does he know that, Yeosang?” repeated Hongjoong. Yeosang sighed.  

“He knows... that I maybe... feel things for Wooyoung. He told me he wanted to help me forget,” he said softly, putting down his quill.  

“That’s not how it works.”  

“It could work.”  

“But it won’t.”  

“You don’t know that.”  

“Yeosang, can you see yourself developing feelings for Seonghwa? Have your feelings for Wooyoung gone away at all?”  

Yeosang was silent. The truth was, he hadn’t even let Seonghwa kiss him on the mouth again. They held hands, Seonghwa gave him forehead and cheek kisses, and they cuddled in the Slytherin common room in the evenings while San eyed them warily. But every time Seonghwa seemed to want to kiss him, Yeosang made excuses, or turned his head away so the other only caught his cheek.  

He didn’t know what was wrong with him. It had felt nice when Seonghwa kissed him before. But now, whenever they got close Yeosang couldn’t stop Wooyoung’s broken expression from popping up in his mind.  

“It’s only been two days,” he argued weakly.  

“You shouldn’t be using him to get over Wooyoung.”  

“I’m not. I don’t need to get over Wooyoung. And even if I was, he asked me first, Hongjoong. He wants this.”  

“He thinks he wants it.”  

“It’s not up to you, hyung!” said Yeosang a little too loudly. One of the nearby students shushed them with a glare. Hongjoong’s face softened.  

“I just don’t want either of you to get hurt,” he said softly. “I saw you and Wooyoung kiss at the party. Yeosang, there are real feelings there. Everyone could see it. I think you need to talk to Wooyoung before you decide to try anything with Seonghwa.”  

Yeosang sighed. Deep down, he knew that Hongjoong was probably right. 

But Yeosang had never claimed to be good at dealing with his feelings.  

~*~  

The second one to confront Yeosang was, surprisingly, Jongho.  

Yeosang had never really noticed before, but the younger was terrifying. The kid was only fourteen, why was he so fit? 

Yeosang exited the Slytherin common room the a few days after his talk with Hongjoong to find the Gryffindor standing outside, leaning against the dungeon wall. His arms were crossed over his chest, muscles bulging even through his robes while he glared at anyone who walked by.  

Yeosang gulped, debating turning around and going back inside before the other noticed him.  

“Yeosang-hyung.”  

Well, at least he called him hyung. That was a good sign, maybe he wasn’t about to be cursed.  

“Jongho,” he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. He silently cursed San for leaving earlier than him.  

“We need to talk.”  

“Okay.”  

Without another word Jongho walked off, expecting the other to follow. And so Yeosang followed. They didn’t go far, finding an empty classroom down an empty hallway.  

“You need to talk to Wooyoung hyung,” said Jongho, getting straight to the point.  

“I know,” responded Yeosang.  

“He’s miserable. Whatever you did to him you need to make it right. And stop playing around with Seonghwa-ssi. You’re only hurting both of them and yourself.”  

“I know,” repeated Yeosang.  

“Then why are you doing it?”  

“I don’t know.”  

“Well you need to figure it out, and fast. I can’t take this anymore. Even Mingi and Yunho are being dragged down by Wooyoung’s mood, and those two are like the epitome of sunshine and giggles.”  

“I’m sorry.”  

“Don’t say you’re sorry to me. Say it to Wooyoung. He likes you, you like him. I don’t see what’s so hard about that.”  

“It’s not that simple. There are things to consider.”  

“What things? That whole Gryffindor and Slytherin nonsense? That’s just an excuse.”  

Yeosang swallowed, not having an answer to the younger. He knew it was just an excuse. He was just afraid. He was afraid of Wooyoung, afraid of his feelings. He didn’t know how to not be annoyed with the other. He was afraid that if they got into a relationship his snarky personality would only drive the other away.  

“I know,” he finally said. The younger’s face softened.  

“I want you to be happy too, you know,” he said. “It’s not just about Wooyoung. I know you pretended to hate the rest of us, but we care about you, Yeosang. I can tell you’re miserable. Just talk to Wooyoung and work it out.”  

Yeosang nodded, turning his face so Jongho wouldn’t see the tears prickling at his eyes.  

~*~  

It was evening, just after dinner. The Slytherin common room was empty other than San, Seonghwa, and Yeosang. Hongjoong had been hanging out with them less in the past few days, claiming he had studying to do.  

Yeosang felt a small bubble of guilt any time he thought about the real reason.  

The three were lounging in front of the fire, San in an armchair lazily floating things around the room in boredom. Yeosang was leaned against Seonghwa’s chest, the older’s arms around him, fingers tracing lightly up and down his stomach.  

“Ugh, I’m so full,” whined Yeosang.  

“Then why did you eat so much chicken?” asked Seonghwa with a chuckle.  

“Because it tasted so good.”  

“It’s not like they’re never going to serve it again.”  

“But what if they don’t.”  

“I’ll make sure they do.”  

San turned his head to them. “Can you guys keep your nasty couple talk to the bedroom?”  

“My bedroom is your bedroom, San,” said Yeosang, sticking his tongue out at the other.  

“Seonghwa’s bedroom, then.”  

“I also share with five other boys. This is our only alone time,” said Seonghwa pointedly.  

“But you’re not alone, I’m here!” argued San.  

“Eh, that doesn’t count.”  

San made an affronted noise before turning back to his floating assortment of items.  

“I hate you guys,” he mumbled. Yeosang giggled, before letting out a sigh as Seonghwa began to rub his stomach again.  

It was nice. It felt nice. But Yeosang couldn’t fully relax, not while he had a nagging voice in the back of his head. A voice he so wanted to ignore.  

The voice that told him he still didn’t feel anything.  

Nothing. Zilch. Zero feelings. In his heart, Seonghwa was still just his hyung.  

He’d gotten over his weird kissing aversion. Well, not exactly over it, but had learned to push through the images of Wooyoung’s broken face every time his lips met Seonghwa’s. But there was still no spark. And no signs of those broken images fading.  

Yeosang sighed again, but this time not in contentment.  

He wished he could feel things for Seonghwa. The other was a great guy. And an even greater boyfriend. But there was no spark and no chemistry. Yeosang just felt… nice when he was with him.  

When he was with Wooyoung, he felt electrified. He felt everything. As he’d spent time thinking he’d come to many realizations. The most important of which being that Wooyoung made him feel things. Good things and bad things. But that’s what made life exciting.  

Seonghwa just made him feel nice.  

Yeosang let out another sigh, eyes wandering around the room to meet San’s.  

From the pitying look on the other’s face he knew exactly what Yeosang was thinking.  

~*~ 

Yeosang sat alone in the Slytherin common room. He’d been there for approximately an hour and a half, glaring at anyone who tried to join him.  

Once word got around that he was in a mood, no one tried to go down there anymore.  

Yeosang was waiting for Seonghwa, and wanted absolute privacy.  

He had finally come to a decision. It had been two weeks since his talk with Hongjoong, and the disappointed glances the elder would give to him every time they were together were becoming too much.  

That, and the guilt of what he was doing to Seonghwa was eating away at him.  

He loved Seonghwa. He really did. The older boy was one of his best friends. He was always there for him and dealt with his moods. But he didn’t love Seonghwa the way Seonghwa loved him.  

The other treated him incredibly well. He was the perfect boyfriend. Yeosang had thought his hyung took care of him before, but it was nothing compared to now. Anyone in their right mind would fall head over heels for Seonghwa.  

But Yeosang, apparently, was not in his right mind.  

When they cuddled, it felt platonic. When the older would kiss him, he didn’t feel a spark.  

He knew that continuing this semblance of a relationship with the older would only hurt both of them in the long run. 

Finally, the common room door opened and the elder walked in, surprised to find Yeosang alone.  

“Yeosang? Where is everyone?” he asked, sitting next to the younger on the couch. 

“We need to talk,” said Yeosang quietly.  

Seonghwa was quiet.  

“Do we have to?” he whispered.  

“You know we do.”  

Seonghwa sighed.  

“I know what you’re going to say. But this isn’t hurting me, Yeosang. I know you don’t have feelings for me, but that’s ok. I don’t care. I’m happy just having you by my side.”  

Yeosang gave him a weak smile. “I’m not doing this for you,” he said. “I think it’s time that I faced myself, don’t you?”  

The other was silent again. Yeosang reached over to gently grab his hand.  

“I need to talk to Wooyoung about… my relationship with him before I can hope to have a relationship with anyone. I kind of ran away from him before we could talk about anything, and that left not just him confused but also me confused,” said Yeosang slowly. “Hyung, I love you, but I can’t do this. I know you don’t care if I return your feelings, but I do. The guilt is hurting me. And even if you say you don’t care now, you will in the future.”  

Seonghwa was silent for a moment.  

“When did you get good at feelings?” he said softly, jokingly. Yeosang smiled back.  

“Hongjoong and Jongho talked some sense into me.”  

Seonghwa wasn’t looking at him. He was staring in the other direction, gripping Yeosang’s hand hard. He knew the other was upset, but trying to be a good hyung. A good person. Seonghwa was always a good person.  

Yeosang squeezed his hand gently.  

“You’re allowed to be upset, hyung. I shouldn’t have ever said yes in the first place.”  

“No, I’m glad you did,” said Seonghwa quickly. “Otherwise I might have held on to this stupid idea that I could make you happier forever. At least this way I know for sure.”  

“I really am sorry, though,” he said softly.  

“Don’t be. I was the one being selfish. I could see how happy you were with him and I still… took advantage of one silly fight you guys had. Took advantage of your confusion. I’m glad that I at least inspired Hongjoong to talk some sense into you.”  

“Actually,” said Yeosang with a smile, “Jongho is the one who got to me. He told me that us being Gryffindor and Slytherin is just my excuse to avoid Wooyoung. That really hit hard.”  

“It is a stupid excuse.”  

“It really is. I’m still not sure if I’m ready to talk to him. I spent so long telling myself I hated him, when in reality I was trying to cover up the fact that I didn’t. I think I still have things I need to figure out for myself before I can tell them to him.”  

“I’ll be here for you,” said the elder, looking at Yeosang sincerely and squeezing his hand. “I’ll help you however I can.”  

“You’re too nice to me, hyung. If you want some time away from me, I can do that.”  

“I never want time away from you. I’ll be okay. I may have loved you for two years but I’ll get over it. Just promise me one thing.”  

“What?”  

“Promise me that you don’t regret trying. The only thing that would hurt me is if you regretted it.”  

“I don’t. Even if it was only a few weeks, you were the perfect boyfriend, hyung. It was honestly just what I needed.”   

“I sure hope so. I have to make you remember me next time you fuck up with Wooyoung.”  

“Hey! How do you know he won’t be the one to fuck up?”  

“Because Wooyoung has known he’s in love with you probably his whole life. The whole school knew. You, on the other hand, have the emotional intelligence of a sea cucumber.”  

“Don’t be mean just because we’re broken up now,” said Yeosang with a pout.  

Seonghwa smiled at him, squeezing his hand.  

“He’s good for you, you know. He always has been. You always showed more emotions when you talked about him, even if you were always annoyed. And once you started dating, he brought out all the sides of you that you kept hidden. I always wished I could be the one to show you that you don’t have to hide them. But it took him one month to do what I tried to do for years.” 

Yeosang felt himself blush. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  

“You pretend to be the stoic bad boy, but we all know you’re just a baby inside,” teased Seonghwa. Yeosang opened his mouth to protest before the older cut him off. “I don’t know why you felt you had to hide it, but I’m glad you’re starting to show it.”  

Yeosang sighed. “I don’t know either,” he said quietly.  

Seonghwa just squeezed his hand again in response.  

~*~  

Although he’d broken up with Seonghwa, Yeosang didn’t immediately talk to Wooyoung.  

He watched the other during their classes. He seemed less happy, and Yeosang felt guilty knowing he was the cause of that.  

But Yeosang also knew he hadn’t been ready to face this entirely yet.  

He had no idea if the other knew he broke up with Seonghwa. He’d caught Wooyoung’s eye a few times when the other chanced a glance at him. The first time Wooyoung had been clearly surprised to find Yeosang already staring at him. Now he didn’t really react.  

Their classmates had clearly noticed a change, but thankfully weren’t making a big deal out of it. Maybe they could sense that something serious was going on, or maybe they were all just still afraid of Yeosang. It didn’t matter.  

Yeosang was content to watch and wait while he figured things out.  

The second Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, Yeosang secretly wore Wooyoung’s scarf that he’d never given back under his robes, even though all of his friends were supporting Ravenclaw.  

Even though Yeosang helped comfort Hongjoong when he lost, Yeosang was secretly happy for Wooyoung. The other had pulled off another insane tactic. Hongjoong was known for having sharp eyes, flying high above the stadium and spotting the snitch from impossible distances. Wooyoung had used a risky tactic, darting around at the same level as the main gameplay, whipping across the stadium and searching for the snitch while mobile.  

It had taken almost an entire minute before anyone had even realized he’d caught the snitch, as no one else had seen it.  

If he didn’t know it was crazy, Yeosang could have sworn Wooyoung had looked directly at him right before it happened.  

But Wooyoung was flying too fast to tell, and it’s not like he could have seen the Gryffindor scarf hidden under Yeosang’s robes anyways.  

Now it was December. The cold had set in deep but holiday cheer was spread through the peaceful castle. Most people had stopped caring about Wooyoung and Yeosang’s relationship by now, as it had now been more time since they broke up than they had been together, but there were occasional comments on how much more peaceful the year was.  

The holidays had always been Yeosang’s favourite time to pull elaborate pranks.  

Which is why he had planned a big one this year.  

He was ready. He wasn’t going home for the holidays this year, none of his friends were, and he knew Wooyoung wasn’t either since their parents were vacationing together.  

Yeosang, in the past two months, felt like he had finally sorted himself out.  

He learned to live without Wooyoung’s attention. In the past month and a half he didn’t pull any pranks or break the rules (other than normal things). He attended all his classes and did all of his homework (much to Yunho’s dismay as it put him in second place).  

He felt like he was in a place where he wasn’t so… hyper-focused on the other boy. Once he’d come to the realization that he was associating all of his childhood trauma with the other boy, he knew he needed to distance himself.  

As a child, Yeosang had used Wooyoung like a crutch. Used him to substitute the love his parents never gave him. And when Wooyoung suddenly stopped giving him that love, Yeosang had snapped like the immature child he was at the time. Started hiding the parts of his personality that his parents deemed unappealing and blaming his problems on the other boy. And, as his friends had pinpointed from the moment they met, all Yeosang ever wanted was Wooyoung’s attention back.  

But he knew that wasn’t healthy, and he was working on himself.  

He also knew that Wooyoung likely had a good explanation for why he’d stopped giving Yeosang attention when they were nine years old.  

He was ready to hear it, to apologize, to talk. Whatever.  

Yeosang had never been good at feelings, but he felt like maybe he could be.  

And so he made a plan. An elaborate “prank” during the Christmas feast.  

He had asked the Fat Lady for her assistance in recruiting some of the castle ghosts to help. She’d been quite eager to help, but only after giving him a lecture about how she lost 10 galleons to Phineas when he started dating Seonghwa and making him promise to do something very specific so that she could win their new bet. 

Yeosang had agreed, ears burning with the force of his blush.   

He sat in the Great Hall, chewing his lip in nervousness. He was early, the feast wasn’t supposed to start for a while. But he was worried. He caught sight of Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, across the room. The ghost gave him a small nod, an indication that everything was going according to plan.  

Yeosang was going to do something no student had ever done before. Something he hadn’t even known was possibly until the other ghost had mentioned it to him.  

Yeosang prayed that the teachers would be in the Christmas spirit and think his horrible embarrassment was punishment enough. The event was incredibly un-Yeosang-like and he knew by the end of it his entire body would probably be bright red.  

Twenty minutes later, the hall was filling up, but Yeosang still saw Wooyoung arrive.  

Since there were only a few students, the hall had been cleared and there was instead one long table for everyone to share.  

Wooyoung sat on the other side from Yeosang, seven people away. He hadn’t noticed Yeosang yet. His friends had all gone home for Christmas, Yunho and Jongho having big family plans and Mingi celebrating it with his muggle parents.  

Yeosang felt another bubble of guilt at how lonely Wooyoung looked, but hoped that what was about to happen would make up for it.  

The feast began, but Yeosang could hardly concentrate on his food, glancing around the hall nervously.  

“Are you okay?” asked San. He hadn’t told the others about his plan.  

“I’m fine,” he said quickly. Seonghwa eyed him suspiciously.  

“What did you do?” he asked, eyes narrowed.  

“N-nothing!” said Yeosang quickly. Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. “Nothing that will get me in trouble. I think,” mumbled Yeosang.  

San gasped. “You pulled a prank without me?”  

“Not exactly a prank,” said Yeosang, feeling the blush rise to his face.  

“Oh I see,” said Hongjoong with a grin. “This is gonna be good.”  

Suddenly, halfway through the feast, the floating candles in the enchanted ceiling blew out all at once, plunging the room into darkness.  

There were a few screams, some clangs as people dropped their eating utensils. Then, only confusion.  

The ceiling lit up again.  

But this time, it reflected the clear night sky, stars shining bright. And then the stars moved.  

Jung Wooyoung  

They spelled out. 

I’m sorry.  

Yeosang brought a hand up to bite his nails, fixing his gaze on the other boy as his classmates murmured around him.  

The message changed. 

I didn’t mean to hurt you.  

I was afraid of my own feelings.  

I know I don’t deserve another chance.  

But if you’ll give me one  

I’ll give you an explanation.  

All I want to say right now is  

Yeosang took a deep breath. 

I love you. Please forgive me.  

Silence. His classmates stared, open mouthed, looking between Yeosang and Wooyoung. 

Yeosang’s gaze was laser focused on the other, who still stared at the ceiling.  

He could feel his classmates staring at him, but he didn’t care.  

It seemed like an eternity before something happened.  

Wooyoung stood up abruptly, his gaze finally moving from the ceiling to scan the table.  

He pinpointed Yeosang, his eyes focused. And then he moved. With a purpose, he marched quickly around the table, their classmates’ whispers growing with each step he took.  

He stopped in front of Yeosang, who looked up at him and gulped. Wooyoung looked angry. That was not how this was supposed to go.  

“Stand up,” said Wooyoung.  

“Wooyoung, I-“  

“Stand up,” he repeated.  

Yeosang swallowed nervously, swinging his legs over the bench and standing up slowly.  

“Wooyoung, listen I-“  

He was cut off as Wooyoung reached out, fisting his hands into Yeosang’s robes and yanking them together.  

And then lips were on his. Yeosang barely registered the sound of some of his classmates screaming in surprise before Wooyoung’s hands had moved to his waist, pulling him even closer.  

The kiss ended rather quickly. Wooyoung pulled his face away, not releasing his grip on Yeosang’s hips.  

As he pulled back, noise flooded back into his brain? And Yeosang finally registered the buzz of noise around them.  

Some of their classmates had stood up, yelling and screaming. Others were groaning, seemingly exchanging bet money. Some were still frozen in shock. He heard San yelling behind him, but couldn’t tear his gaze away from Wooyoung’s face, who was smiling at him.  

“I can’t believe you did that,” he said.  

Yeosang’s ears burned in embarrassment.  

“I can’t either,” he mumbled.  

“How did you do it? I thought the teachers enchanted the ceiling.”  

“I had some help. I know a guy,” said Yeosang with a small smile.  

Finally, their classmates started focusing their attention back on their food. Yeosang chanced a glance at the Professors, who weren’t even looking at them but were talking amongst themselves, clearly amused.  

Well, thank god for that. Yeosang had been worried he would get in trouble for messing with the enchantment on the ceiling.  

“We should get out of here. I believe you promised me an explanation,” said Wooyoung cheekily.  

“Yeah,” responded Yeosang. Still smiling, Wooyoung grabbed him by the hand and began dragging him out of the hall. Yeosang felt his blush deepen at some of the wolf whistles he heard as they went by.  

Wooyoung dragged him through the castle, ignoring the calls of the paintings around them who had already heard what happened (gossip travelled fast in the castle apparently), and up to the astronomy tower.  

“Really? You want to talk here?” said Yeosang skeptically. The last time they had talked in the astronomy tower things hadn’t exactly gone well.  

Wooyoung just smiled at him. “We can replace the bad memory with a good one.”  

Oh.  Yeosang’s heart fluttered.  

Wooyoung pulled them to the balcony and sat down on the ground, legs crossed and facing Yeosang, who had followed him.  

“So,” said Yeosang, looking everywhere but Wooyoung’s face.  

“So,” repeated Wooyoung.  

There was an awkward silence, Wooyoung simply waiting, rubbing the back of Yeosang’s hand with his thumb comfortingly. 

“I’m sorry,” Yeosang finally murmured, gaze pointed to the floor.  

“For what?”  

“For being emotionally constipated.”  

Wooyoung let out a loud laugh. “You aren’t emotionally constipated,” he said.  

Yeosang finally looked at him, confused.  

“You’re just shy,” explained Wooyoung. “I’ve always known that.”  

“But… I was so mean… and stupid.”  

“You were scared.”  

“That’s no excuse.”  

“And you know that now, so it’s ok.”  

“Why aren’t you angry?” asked Yeosang in disbelief.  

“Do you want me to be angry?” asked Wooyoung with a chuckle.  

“No… it’s just, anyone in your situation normally would be.”  

“It was my fault for being impatient with you. I know you, and I knew you weren’t ready and I pressured you anyways.”  

“But I think,” began Yeosang slowly. “If you hadn’t, then nothing would have happened. I wouldn’t have realized my feelings for you were different than I thought they were.”  

“Maybe you would have been in a better place to discuss it though. I just got impatient after this summer. I knew you were drunk and didn’t remember what you said but that only made me frustrated. Fake dating you wasn’t exactly the best strategy. Neither of us handled the situation well.”  

“What… what exactly did I say this summer?” asked Yeosang, feeling his cheeks heat up. He knew Wooyoung had started acting different at that party, but no matter how much he tried he couldn’t remember anything that happened between them.  

“You really don’t remember anything?” asked Wooyoung. Yeosang shook his head. Wooyoung let out a sigh.   

“Sorry,” said Yeosang, cringing. He knew he was a… crazy drunk and could only imagine the things he had said to Wooyoung.  

“Don’t apologize. I’m glad it happened, otherwise I might have never gotten the courage to get off my ass and do something. I’ve always known you don’t hate me despite the way you acted, but there were times when I second guessed myself. But the night of the Back to School party, you got really really drunk. And there was that… guy who just graduated last year. I don’t remember his name. Slytherin prefect. He was all over you, flirting, and you were just completely oblivious to the fact that he was totally trying to sleep with you.”  

Yeosang flushed. “N-no he wasn’t!”  

“He was. He kept touching you and smiling at you, nasty pervert, but you were in your own little drunk world. But anyways, I kind of… let my jealousy take over and butted in where I shouldn’t have. Made him go away. And then you were whining at me. You were whining about how I was mean to him and you kept grabbing my arm. It was really cute. You’re a really clingy drunk,” said Wooyoung cheekily.  

Yeosang groaned, trying to cover his face with one hand while the other was still held by Wooyoung.  

“It was cute, I promise!” Wooyoung said again with a smile. “But you were being really loud. I knew you would be embarrassed if anything happened, so I took you up to your room. When we got up there, you started ranting. At first I thought it was just drunken nonsense, which it was, but then I realized it was about me. And you seemed to know you were speaking to me. Most of what you said didn’t make any sense, but you mentioned how annoying I was, and then you kept mentioning my annoying traits but they were all… nice. Like how I’m stupidly attractive, and how my smile is like sunshine but you hate sunshine.”  

“Stop I get it!” whined Yeosang. Wooyoung laughed again, giving him a bright smile.  

“At the end of it all, you kissed me and then passed out.”  

“Oh my god.”  

“The rest of the summer I thought maybe you were just shy and embarrassed. But that day on the Hogwarts Express, when you went right back to how you usually acted, I knew you didn’t. Honestly, I was devastated. I acted rude in return because I didn’t want anyone to see how sad I was. But I also decided then that I couldn’t play along with your game anymore. Letting you pull my pigtails on the playground wasn’t going to cut it for me. When the Fat Lady congratulated me on my new relationship and I saw what you did to the Gryffindor common room, I saw an opportunity. I never expected you to agree. Honestly I don’t think there really would have been consequences if I told the Fat Lady you had lied, it would have just made any future efforts to get into the common room harder. That prank wasn’t even worth telling anyone about.”  

Yeosang gave him an embarrassed smile. “It was pretty lame, wasn’t it? I was just panicking. You had been acting so different since the party and I didn’t know how to handle it. When you retaliated with pranks or mean words it was easier to pretend that what I felt for you was hatred. When you didn’t… it felt like you were losing interest in me and I panicked. I couldn’t lose you again.”  

Wooyoung frowned at him. “Lose me?”  

“When we were kids… you were my everything. I know I didn’t show it. I’ve always been emotionally unavailable. But you were the only light in my life. My parents only saw me as the family heir, they never praised me or called me cute or treated me like a normal child. But you did. Everything I did was fascinating to you. You called me cute even when I didn’t smile and laugh and ramble about things like all the other kids did. And then suddenly you stopped. You didn’t call me cute, and you started doing things without me. So I cut you off before you could cut me off. I pretended to hate you because it was easier than thinking that you hated me. The final hit was when you were sorted into Gryffindor and I realized we wouldn’t get the Hogwarts experience that I always dreamed we would growing up. Sharing a dorm and sitting in the Great Hall together. Going to classes and me cheering you on as you led our house to win the Quidditch Cup. The dream shattered. Even when our parents didn’t reject you for being a Gryffindor, I had already spent years building up my walls and there was no turning back, I was stupid.”  

“It’s not stupid,” said Wooyoung gently. “You were scared. But can I tell you a secret?”  

Yeosang nodded.  

“I only stopped calling you cute and constantly hanging out with you because I had already realized, at nine years old, that I was going to fall in love with you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”  

Yeosang felt the blush flood to his face. “The rest of your life?” he whispered.  

“The rest of my life.”  

“But I’m so difficult.”  

“I know it’s not going to be easy. But Yeosang, we can still have that dream Hogwarts experience. We have two and a half more years to study together, go on dates to Hogsmeade, eat in the Great Hall together. If Seonghwa doesn’t kill me first. I’m pretty sure he still hates me.”  

Right, Seonghwa.  

“He doesn’t hate you,” said Yeosang. “He’s just… protective.”  

“And he was jealous.”  

“Yeah, he was.”  

There was a moment of silence. It wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t comfortable. If Yeosang had to pinpoint it, it was a little bit tense.  

“Why did you do it?” whispered Wooyoung. “Why did you date him? That’s what hurt the most. More than the rejection. Seeing you with him… you can’t imagine how many times I thought you two were dating in the past couple years.”  

“I’m sorry,” replied Yeosang softly. “I was… confused. And he was there. He was comfortable. And you were confusing. He was good to me, but he couldn’t make me feel the way you do. I know nothing I can say will make those few weeks better, but being with him made me realize how much I wanted to be with you. It was the final push I needed to sort myself out and stop being an ass.”   

Wooyoung stared at him, gaze unreadable. Yeosang’s eyes flickered between the other boy and the ground, skin prickling under the other’s gaze.  

“Hey, Yeosang?” he finally said, a little breathless.  

“Yeah?” replied Yeosang in a whisper.  

“Can I kiss you again?”  

“Yes.”  

The other dropped his hand, but Yeosang barely had time to lament the loss before hands cupped his face and lips met his.  

This kiss was softer than the others. Wooyoung was clearly experienced, leading Yeosang gently. Yeosang’s hands scrambled to find purchase by fisting in Wooyoung’s robes.  

And Yeosang felt everything. Sparks where Wooyoung’s lips moved against his. Fire burning through his veins. He felt the love pouring into his body. He felt whole.  

They still had things to talk about. And he knew their relationship wouldn’t be easy. Wooyoung was still annoying, and Yeosang was still short tempered. Wooyoung was clingy and openly affectionate whereas Yeosang kept to himself and didn’t like public displays of affection.  

But Yeosang knew they would work it out.  

~*~ 

Wooyoung’s friends had caused a scene in the middle of the entrance hall when they found out.  

For the rest of the winter break, Wooyoung had melted seamlessly back into Yeosang’s friend group. Seonghwa was still a little bit cold towards him sometimes, but San and Hongjoong got along like Wooyoung had never been missing. Hongjoong, of course, complained extensively about their last Quidditch match.  

The other students home from break tended to stare open-mouthed at the love-struck expression on Yeosang’s face as he watched his friends banter. Most people had never seen Yeosang smile before.  

By the time the castle was filling with students again, most of them had heard the gossip.  

When Wooyoung’s friends arrived and realized Wooyoung hadn’t even bothered to send an owl, all hell broke loose.  

Especially since they arrived in the entrance hall to find Wooyoung waiting for them hand in hand with Yeosang.  

Now the eight of them were constantly together. Three Gryffindors, a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, and three Slytherins. An unlikely group.  

Although the pranks of the years before had stopped, the castle wasn’t exactly more peaceful. The eight of them were loud. Jongho was still a little afraid of San, who constantly used that to his advantage. They ate together, messed around in class together, and were constantly found in each other's common rooms or cheering for the wrong teams at Quidditch matches.  

When Gryffindor ended up facing Ravenclaw once again in the finals, leading to another stellar win on Wooyoung’s part, the eight of them were found sprawled out in the astronomy tower with a pile of snacks and alcohol.  

Hongjoong was arguing with Yunho about Quidditch tactics and how Gryffindor only won because of Wooyoung.  

Wooyoung leaned over to Yeosang.  

“He’s just salty cuz I’m a better seeker,” he said. Yeosang rolled his eyes.  

“It’s all luck anyways,” he said. Wooyoung pouted.  

“That’s mean, can’t you compliment me for once?”  

“I compliment you all the time.”  

“I mean in front of other people.”  

“Keep your dirty talk to yourselves!” yelled Mingi, throwing a candy in their direction. Wooyoung stuck out his tongue in retaliation before turning back to Yeosang.  

“When will you admit you like Quidditch?”  

“Never, because I don’t like Quidditch.”  

“But you like me!”  

“That’s debatable.”  

Another pout, before a smirk crossed the other’s face. Yeosang swallowed, feeling his face heat up at the dark look in the other’s eyes.  

“I know how to get what I want out of you,” he said, grabbing Yeosang by the chin and planting a kiss on his lips.  

“Get a room!” yelled San as they parted.  

Wooyoung threw his shoe at him. Yeosang just smiled, moving to lean his head against Wooyoung’s shoulder as the other began yelling at San.  

He looked at his friends. Seonghwa was laughing. The other hadn’t let his feelings for Yeosang get in the way of anything, for which Yeosang was grateful. Currently, Hongjoong was laughing hard, leaning against Seonghwa for support. He knew something new was developing between those two, and was immensely happy for his friend.  

The two were laughing at Yunho and Jongho, who were involved in an intense game of arm wrestling while Mingi cheered from the sidelines.  

Yeosang was happier than he’d ever been. He never could have imagined that he’d end up here by the end of the year. All because Yeosang had realized one major thing. 

Gryffindors and Slytherins could maybe get along.