Archive of Our Own ^beta

the first thing taehyung says to yoongi - like, in real life, not in his dreams - was, “i fucking love you.” 

yoongi merely replies, “tell me this when you’re sober, and i’ll think about it.” it was his seventh year at hogwarts; taehyung’s fifth, and they have not actually exchanged words once.

it was inevitable that they saw each other, really, yoongi and jimin were in slytherin, and taehyung was jimin’s best friend, so they saw each other quite often. 

also, taehyung has harboured a deep, deep crush on yoongi ever since his first year, so that might have something to do with the fact that he’s too terrified to talk to the older slytherin. 

jimin apologises profusely to yoongi and his friend seokjin, who was watching amusedly. “i’m so sorry. we, uh, we went to hogsmeade.” 

“three broomsticks?” seokjin asks with raised brows. taehyung stumbles, at latches himself onto jimin’s side. 

jimin nods, grimacing at taehyung’s weight. “again, i’m really sorry. he had barely a glass.” and then he pulls taehyung away, cursing at his best friend’s idiocy. 

“who the hell gets drunk on butterbeer?” taehyung wails the next day, when jimin recounts the events from the weekend. 

of course, they were just starting their fifth year, they had important examinations and all, but it wouldn’t stop them from celebrating their return to the magical school with a much needed visit to hogsmeade. for taehyung, especially, after going through a muggle summer, it was essential that he could at least taste a beverage better than the pure shots of vodka his muggle friends liked to indulge in. 

“you do, hyung,” jungkook says smartly, a fourth year ravenclaw who, although quiet, was an essential asset to their little trio. “you know you can barely handle a glass. and yet you drink it, anyways.” 

taehyung looks at his parchment forlornly. “i can’t believe that’s the first thing i say to him. what is wrong with me?”

“at least it’s true,” jimin offers, scribbling on his own parchment. “you’ve had a crush on him for like, what, four, five years?”

“this will be the fifth year,” jungkook informs, elegant handwriting filling his parchment. the ravenclaw was smart, quiet, and shy amongst those he didn’t know well, but put him on a quidditch pitch and everyone’s done for. 

“thanks, jungkook,” taehyung scowls, picking up his quill. then he puts it down again. “oh my god, what does he think of me now?”

“probably that you’re a little crazy,” jungkook supplies unhelpfully. 

jimin rolls his eyes, finishing off a sentence and then spelling the parchment to roll itself up neatly. taehyung’s remained empty. “did you forget what i told you? he just said to tell him when you’re sober. that means he at least has some sort of interest in you.”

taehyung is mortified. “i can’t talk to him after all of that!”

“it’s his last year, hyung,” jungkook chips in, enchanting his own parchment. “you might as well try.” 

oh, he’s been trying alright. just...in imaginary scenarios inside his head. 

taehyung grumbles, and picks up his quill again. he manages to write his name, this time. “i don’t think i can actually face him after that.” 

jimin pinches the bridge of his nose. “taehyung-ah. how about you finish that essay first, and then we can talk about yoongi-hyung?” 

yoongi-hyung , taehyung thinks jealously. he wants to be able to call yoongi ‘hyung’ as well. “fine,” he mutters, and begins to work. 

-

“why the long face?” hoseok, a sixth year in his house - hufflepuff - asks when taehyung sits down next to him for breakfast. “there’s a quidditch match today, look excited! we can so beat gryffindor.” 

taehyung shrugs. he wasn’t too big of a fan of playing quidditch himself, but he always went to support his friends. even if it meant choosing between his own house and slytherin sometimes, because, well, yoongi was an excellent beater. 

as he butters a piece toast, two figures come to a stop beside hoseok. he looks up to see seokjin and namjoon, a seventh and sixth year in gryffindor. 

taehyung’s cheeks burn as he remembers that seokjin was there when he drunkenly confessed his love for yoongi. 

namjoon has a shit eating grin on his face. “ready to lose, hobi?” 

“in your dreams, joon,” hoseok replies, scooping some porridge into his mouth. “see you on the pitch!” 

“that is, if you don’t throw up from the amount of food your eating,” namjoon teases, eyeing the large bowl in front of hoseok. 

hoseok waves his spoon around. “nonsense.” 

taehyung keeps his head down, well aware that seokjin is right there. 

“are you sober now, taehyung?” 

he whips his head up to look at seokjin. “excuse me?” 

namjoon and hoseok continue to talk, and taehyung blinks up at seokjin. 

the older boy repeats his question, and taehyung stutters out his reply. “oh. uh, yeah. completely sober.” 

seokjin grins. “yoongi meant it, you know. you should tell him again.” and then he grabs namjoon’s arm, pulling him away to the gryffindor table. 

taehyung gapes. was seokjin referring to the drunken confession? 

of course he is , taehyung thinks. what else would it have been? 

taehyung peels off the find jimin, dragging the slytherin out of the great hall to quickly tell him what seokjin said. 

“see?” jimin says, with his plate of his breakfast in his hand. “you just have to go up to hyung and tell him, ‘i love you’, again! it’s as easy as that.”

taehyung stares at his best friend.

“oaky, maybe its not that easy,” jimin amends, moving his plate from one hand to another. “it’ll be fine, taehyung-ah.”

“what if he doesn’t like me back?”

jimin sighs. “okay, let me finish my breakfast first before we get into this type of conversation.”

taehyung makes a face, following jimin on his heels as he heads back to the slytherin table. “what do you mean, this ‘type’ of conversation? what kind of conversation is it? why can’t we just-” he trails off as he sees yoongi, chatting with his friends a little further down the slytherin table. 

as if sensing that he was looking, yoongi turns around, and meets taehyung’s gaze. 

taehyung wants the ground to swallow him up. 

but the older boy just gives him a smile - the cutest smile taehyung’s ever seen - and then turns back to his friends.

“taehyung?” he blinks, glancing at jimin, who had sat back down. 

“huh?” he manages to get out, because yoongi just smiled at him .

jimin snorts, no doubt having seen what just happened. “okay, go finish your breakfast, then we can talk.”

“breakfast.” his thoughts are a mess. “right. food.” 

“yes, food,” jimin says slowly, but he’s laughing, and then he’s pushing taehyung towards the hufflepuff table. “you’re a lovesick fool, taehyung-ah.”

indeed he was. 

horrible weather greets him when he strolls outside alongside hoseok to get to the quidditch stands. it was nearing october, but it didn’t mean that it was allowed to be this cold. 

“you should wear more layers,” hoseok scolds as the school-sized stadium comes into view. “you don’t know how long you could be sitting there for.”

“i know, hyung.” taehyung shivers, wrapping his arms around himself. “okay, i’ll see you later. good luck!”

“i don’t need any luck to beat gryffindor,” hoseok replies, a big smile on his face as he heads in a different direction, no doubt to get ready for a team talk. 

they sat in their houses whilst watching quidditch, of course, but that doesn’t stop taehyung from sitting on the edge of his house stands so he could be next to jimin, who sat on the edge of his own house stands. 

“you do not have enough layers,” jimin deadpans as they settle down, binoculars hanging around their necks. 

“yes, yes, i know, you don’t need to tell me,” taehyung says, swatting away jimin’s fussing hands. “oh good, it’s starting.”

hufflepuff win - just barely. 

taehyung hugs hoseok happily as they walk back to the looming castle. “you did so good, hyung!”

hoseok laughs, and there’s a small glow around him. nothing better than winning a quidditch match for your house. “thanks, taehyung-ah. i think i could hear you screaming, telling me to go faster at some point.”

“oh, you mean like, throughout the whole game.”

hoseok punches taehyung playfully, and then spies namjoon walking nearby. he moves to throw an arm over the gryffindor’s shoulder. “good match, joon.”

namjoon smiles. sometimes, taehyung felt as if the boy was too nice to be a quidditch player. ‘sore loser’, was not in namjoon’s dictionary.

“you did well,” namjoon praises. “though i almost got you.”

“did not.”

“you were too busy trying to stay on your broom, but trust me, i almost got you.”

taehyung listens to the light hearted banter all the way up into the castle grounds, before he excuses himself to find jimin. 

and bumps into yoongi. 

taehyung turns into a bright red, stuttering mess. “oh, i’m really sorry. i was just- i didn’t mean to bump into you, like, i just came to find jimin. yeah.” 

yoongi lets out a little laugh, and taehyung thinks, can i fall any deeper in love?  

the answer was yes.

“it’s not a problem,” yoongi says, smiling kindly. “you’re taehyung, right?” 

taehyung nods eagerly. “and you’re yoongi. not that i knew that before, but like, i watch the quidditch matches, so when there’s commentary, and you’re on the pitch, i got familiar with your name, you know, because they say it so often,” taehyung rambles, and he’s dying inside. 

yoongi doesn’t seem to mind, watching taehyung with a small smile on his face. “good to know i’m well known around the school.”

“i knew you since the first day i came to hogwarts,” taehyung blurts out. he bites his tongue, hard. why did i say that? it sounds creepy.

“even better,” yoongi teases, and then steps aside. “anyways, i’ll let you find jimin.” 

taehyung’s face falls. “oh. yeah, jimin.” he takes an awkward step. “sorry again. for, uh, bumping into you.” 

“really, it’s not a problem, taehyung-ah.”

taehyung-ah .

he’s going to die. he needed to walk away, and keep his mouth shut before he said something embarrassing that no spell could take back. 

as yoongi turns to leave, taehyung’s mouth betrays him. “wait!” 

yoongi startles a little, turning back to face taehyung. “yeah?” 

taehyung gulps. it was now or never. “i love you.”

silence. 

fuck, maybe he should try the obliviate spell-

“are you sober?” yoongi asks, head cocking to the right a little. a strand of his dark hair falls into his eyes. 

taehyung nods. suddenly he can’t talk.

“hm,” yoongi hums, and his lips are forming a tiny pout. taehyung has never seen anyone so cute in his entire life. “okay.” 

“okay?” taehyung echoes after a few seconds. “just, ‘okay?’” 

yoongi nods. “yep.” 

this was definitely not what he expected. “so...this isn’t a rejection?”

yoongi shakes his head, and taehyung’s heart skips a beat. “nah.” 

so what is it then? taehyung thinks helplessly, but then yoongi is turning away. “i’ll see you around, taehyung-ah.” the older boy pauses. “oh, and, um, call me hyung.” 

taehyung watches until yoongi disappears into one of their many corridors before slapping his hands over his mouth, otherwise he was going to let out a squeal. 

he finds both jimin and jungkook - where one was, the other wouldn’t be far - within a few minutes and then words are tumbling out of his mouth as he explains what’s just happened. 

“i told you he was interested,” jimin says triumphantly, shoving his wand into his robes. they must’ve been practicing charms. taehyung should probably focus on his work a little bit more, too. his brain was just constantly yoongiyoongiyoongiyoongiyoongiyoongiyoongi. 

not that that was bad. 

“okay, but what to i do now?” taehyung asks desperately, watching as jungkook makes his quill float and move around. a classic wingardium leviosa . 

“just act like you normally do,” jimin says, shrugging. 

“what do i ‘normally do’?” taehyung stresses, batting the quill away as it gets to close. 

jungkook frowns, picking up his fallen quill. “act like you’re in love with yoongi. which you are.” the ravenclaw pauses. “i mean, it’s just how you are. so just act normal.”

normal. sure, he could do normal. whatever that was.

dinner that night was his favourite - roasted turkey. he’s helping himself to thirds when he finds out that all the stuffing is gone. his favourite part of the meal, all gone. he mourns his lonely piece of turkey, but finishes it anyways. 

he glances over to the slytherin table under the pretense of looking for jimin - but of course he’s looking straight at yoongi, who’s looking straight back at him .

he chokes on his food, turning back to his table and coughing violently as hoseok thumps him on his back. he gulps down his apple juice to wash away the bits of food. 

“alright there, taehyung-ah?” hoseok asks, looking worried but amused at the same time. “a certain slytherin catch your eye?” 

taehyung doesn’t answer, because really, it’s not a secret that he’s in love with min yoongi. 

he continues to eat in silence, and doesn’t dare look at anything else but his plate for the rest of the meal, even when people engage him in conversations. 

when he finishes, he rushes out of the great hall, annoyed at how he made a fool of himself in front of yoongi. so embarrassing. 

“taehyung-ah!” god, please no.

his feet pull him to a stop, forcing him to turn around to look at yoongi, who was hurrying after him, robes swishing behind him. 

taehyung cringes at the thought of him choking on his food - in front of his long-term crush - barely twenty minutes ago. 

he shuffles on his feet awkwardly as yoongi comes to a stop in front of him. he’s so pretty , taehyung thinks. 

“hi,” taehyung murmurs. then, “hyung.”

yoongi looks pleased. “hey. sorry to bother you you, i just wanted to ask if you were okay?”

taehyung knits his eyebrows together. “yeah, i’m fine. why wouldn’t i be?” thank god he was speaking normally; not stuttering or rambling.

“you choked on your food,” yoongi says bluntly, and this time, taehyung chokes on air. “it looked kinda painful, so i just wanted to check up on you.”

taehyung feels his face heating up. was yoongi purposely doing this to embarrass him, or make him fall even more in love? 

“i’m fine, hyung,” taehyung replies, not meeting yoongi’s eyes. they’re the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen, but if he looks at them for too long, he gets lost in them. “thank you for asking,” he adds. “it’s very kind of you.”

“oh, it’s nothing,” yoongi dismisses quickly, and then he’s gesturing down the big hallway. “are you heading back to your dorm?”

taehyung nods quickly. where was this going? he thinks to himself. he hoped that yoongi wasn’t leading him on. but the slytherin was way too nice to do something like that.

“let’s go, then,” yoongi says, and begins to walk. 

taehyung remains frozen. 

yoongi realises after a couple steps that taehyung isn’t following him, and turns around with a small frown on his face. “what are you doing? c’mon, lets go.”

taehyung practically runs after yoongi.

the slytherin was walking him back to his dorm. in the muggle world, this was the equivalent to the end of a date. or something that very good friends did for each other. something that people dating did for each other.

“you don’t have to walk me all the way there,” taehyung protests, well aware that the slytherin tower was rather far away from the hufflepuff one. 

“i want to,” was yoongi’s reply, and taehyung shuts up, because he was not going to say no to his crush walking him back to his room. he couldn’t push away the feeling that he was being lead on, though. quite literally. 

they walk in silence - surprisingly comfortable silence - until they reach the hufflepuff tower. 

taehyung opens his mouth to speak, but yoongi beats him to it. “did you know that our friends have a bet going that we’re gonna to end up together?”

yoongi says it casually, as if he hadn’t just insinuated that they could possibly end up together .

“i-, we- what?” taehyung gets out. he wasn’t sure he heard yoongi correctly. way to go, taehyung . once again, a stuttering mess, in front of the person he wants to impress the most.  

“i think they’re betting on how long it takes, rather than if we’re actually going to end up together or not, because no one thinks that we won’t,” yoongi continues, and taehyung is hyperventilating mentally. his crush was talking about them getting together. becoming a thing. 

it couldn’t get any better than this, nevermind that his best friends were betting on him. he would put spell a dungbomb into their rooms later.  

well, unless we actually do get together, then i won’t do that , taehyung thinks, but it’s wishful thinking.

he licks his lips, looking at the slytherin. “so you’re not going to lead me on?” 

yoongi looks surprised at this. taehyung himself was surprised that he had he guts to even ask the question. “did you think i was leading you on?”

“no, no,” taehyung rushes out, almost reaching out for the slytherin. almost. 

a few girls walk past them into the tower, and taehyung waits until they're gone before speaking again. “you’re too kind for that. i just...wasn’t sure what this is, is all.”

yoongi is quiet for a moment, and taehyung’s scared he’s said the wrong thing. but then yoongi asks, “what do you want it to be?”

taehyung is helpless. “um, i think you know.” he lets out a laugh. “i think the entire school knows, actually.” 

yoongi tilts his head at an angle again, studying taehyung. the silence went on for long enough for taehyung to feel uncomfortable. 

he laughs again awkwardly. “uh. i guess i’ll just have to see, then, right?” 

yoongi is still staring at him. a few more students walk past, giving them a once over, whispering as they walk into the hufflepuff tower.

they’d been standing there for a while now. 

taehyung turns slightly and clears his throat. “well, i should probably go in. thank you for walking me back, hyung,” he says, shoving his hands into his robe pockets to give them something to do. otherwise he might try and hold the slytherin’s hand. 

yoongi finally stops staring at him so intensely. “it’s okay, taehyung-ah. i enjoyed it.” 

taehyung blushes, damn him. “i’ll see you tomorrow?”

he cringes internally. what was he trying to insinuate? he barely saw yoongi anyways, except during meals, or quidditch games, or if he was lucky, in the hallways. 

“i’ll see you tomorrow,” yoongi repeats, beginning to walk backwards. “have a good night, taehyung.” 

taehyung swallows. “you too, hyung.” then, before he says anything stupid, he turns, and rushes into his tower. 

this was what, the third, fourth time he’s spoken to yoongi? and he’s still a mess. 

-

two weeks later, they’re heading down to the small stadium to see another quidditch match. it was slytherin against ravenclaw, this time. 

taehyung loved both jimin and jungkook dearly, so he always had a hard time figuring out who to secretly root for when they were against each other. 

in the end, it was always slytherin, because yoongi played for them as well.  

it was now october, and because taehyung can be a little forgetful sometimes, he doesn’t bring an extra layer. not even a scarf. 

so, he’s absolutely freezing as he heads down to the pitches with hoseok at his side, chattering away excitedly. 

“i thought slytherin were one hundred percent winning,” hoseok says as they walk down a hill. “but then apparently one of their chasers were injured, so i think it’s even now.”

taehyung just nods, because his mouth is practically frozen shut. 

hoseok notices, and wraps an arm around taehyung’s shoulder, pulling him closer. “you’re such an idiot. i told you last time to wear more layers!”

he huddles closer to the older boy, relishing in whatever warmth came through. 

they’re almost at the stadium when taehyung hears his name being yelled. 

he startles, turning around and out of hoseok’s hold as he tries to pinpoint the person who called his name. there was no mistaking it, it was yoongi’s voice, but why would he be shouting for taehyung? 

he spies the slytherin after a second, running towards them in his game kit, one broom in his hand and what looked like a an extra cloak in his other hand. 

taehyung is glad for the cold for once, because it disguises the blush in his cheeks. 

“i’ll go save us a seat,” hoseok murmurs as yoongi gets closer. he greets yoongi with a small smile before turning on his heel and leaving taehyung to fend for himself. 

feeling the loss of hoseok’s warmth, he starts shivering again. “what’s up, hyung?”

yoongi is panting slightly, with windswept hair, cheeks a little pink, like the tip of his nose. taehyung wants to kiss it so badly. he shakes the thought away. 

the older boy shoves the cloak into taehyung’s chest, and then throws something around taehyung’s neck. he soon realises that it’s a scarf, but he’s preoccupied with how close yoongi is as the slytherin wraps the scarf around taehyung’s neck.

butterflies erupt in his stomach and his heart stutters as he begins to say, “hyung, what-” 

“you don’t wear enough layers,” yoongi mumbles, quickly finishing with the scarf and then taking a measured step back. taehyung is both relieved and sad, because he liked being close enough to yoongi that he could see the little mole on the slytherin’s cheek, but he wasn’t sure his heart could take it for much longer. 

yoongi gestures to the cloak that’s in taehyung’s hands. “wear that as well.” he glances over taehyung’s shoulder to the stadium. taehyung could’ve sworn that the blush on yoongi’s cheeks wasn’t from the cold. 

“i have to go,” yoongi says, eyes sliding back to taehyung’s. “wear it.”

yoongi begins to move away, but taehyung grabs at his wrist. somewhere in the back of his mind he’s thinking that he’s touching yoongi and that it’s great but he just says, “thank you, hyung. and, uh, good luck.” 

yoongi smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. taehyung wants to take a picture. “thanks, taehyung-ah.” 

taehyung lets go, and then yoongi jogs off. 

he pulls on the cloak, instantly feeling warmer. as he continues his walk to the stadium, he wonders if yoongi spelled it to stay warm. 

he definitely cheers a little louder for slytherin that afternoon. 

-

taehyung realises halfway through the next week that he actually has to return the scarf and cloak. 

“i don’t see why you’re freaking out about it now,” says jimin. “i mean, after he walked you back to your tower, gave you a scarf and a cloak, you’ve got to at least be friends.”

“it’s not as simple as that,” taehyung scowls, staring at the cloak in his hands. he was wearing the scarf, even though they were inside. 

“it is, actually,” jungkook tells him matter-of-factly. “you talk a lot more, now. i’d say you’re friends.”

“i don’t want to be friends,” taehyung whines, scrunching up the cloak in his hand. “i have the biggest crush on him, i don’t want to be just friends .” 

the word ‘friends’ has never sounded so unappealing to him.

“you’ve got to be friends first before you get anywhere.” jimin tuts at him, patting at taehyung’s hands with his wand. taehyung releases the cloak, and jimin murmurs a spell underneath his breath to get rid of the creases. “and maybe you should give back the cloak whilst its not so rumpled, taehyung-ah.”

“that wouldn’t give off a good impression of you if it was all creasy,” says jungkook. he waves his wand, and the cloak folds itself neatly. the scarf unravels from his neck, also folding itself neatly before settling on top of the cloak.

“i was wearing that,” taehyung protests, but doesn’t reach out for the scarf again.

jimin snorts. “you’re just attached to it because yoongi-hyung gave it to you.”

“technically, hyung didn’t say i have to return it,” taehyung mumbles, but he knows he’s going to anyways, because it means that he has an excuse to talk to yoongi. 

it wasn’t like they weren’t talking - yoongi always said hi to taehyung nowadays in the hallways without fail, and taehyung always stuttered back without fail - but they didn’t really have the time for full conversations, with it being yoongi’s last year and taehyung’s OWLs coming up. 

that evening, it was once again taehyung’s favourite dinner. they had it once a month, and even then, it wasn’t enough.

as always, he mourns the loss of stuffing on his plate as he heads for his thirds. he always forgot to pile up the stuffing for his later helpings. 

hoseok makes a face just as taehyung hears a faint, “ wingardium leviosa!” from behind him amongst the chatter in the great hall. he dismisses it, as it wasn’t unusual for the students to do some basic spells during their meals - either for practice, or for fun, but hoseok stares over taehyung’s shoulder as he is shoving a potato into his mouth. “the hell is yoongi doing?” 

determined not to choke on his food again, taehyung takes a few seconds to swallow the potato before rotating his body on the bench to look at yoongi, who would be sat on the bench about five seats away from jimin , but on the side that was closer to the teachers’ table, between his friends who went to potions with him, and-

taehyung almost gets smacked with a plate.

his eyes widen as the plate gently nudges the side of his head over and over again, as if asking him to eat it’s contents. 

he grabs at the plate and places it on his table, seeing that the plate was full of stuffing. lifting his eyes to meet hoseok’s gleaming ones, he asks weakly, “was that yoongi-hyung?”

hoseok nods, a wicked smile on his face. “yeah. i thought he was just randomly charming the plate for fun, but…” he trails off, staring at the plate full of stuffing to taehyung’s plate which severely lacked stuffing. his smile widens. “i can see that he had another motive.”

taehyung goes as red as the gryffindor quidditch robes. 

-

they do get a chance to talk on a weekend, when the castle grounds were pretty empty, as half the school had left to go to hogsmeade. 

it was a quiet saturday afternoon, and taehyung had opted to stay back at the castle instead of going out that day, finding that he was too tired to visit hogsmeade, which usually required energy, given the amount of shops there. 

“when i come back, those had better be returned, hyung,” jungkook had warned, pointing at the cloak and scarf that sat folded on a table. “you guys want anything from honeydukes?”

taehyung had denied, as had jimin, and after jungkook had left, they’d sat by the lake, skipping pebbles.

“if i can get more than five skips, we’re going back to slytherin,” jimin challenges as taehyung bends down to pick a small, smooth and round pebble. “and you’re going to talk to yoongi.”

“make it six,” taehyung says, straightening up. he throws his pebble, counting one, two, three, four, five. “no magic allowed.”

jimin scoffs. “i don’t need magic to throw a stone.”

taehyung rolls his eyes, pulls out his wand and says, “ accio! ” the pebble he had just thrown comes flying back into his hand. it was cold, biting at his skin, but that was a given, considering that they were going into winter. even though it wasn’t that late, with just a bit of time before dinner, the sky was dark. 

“you could’ve accidentally accio -ed like every single pebble in the lake,” jimin tells him, but taehyung shrugs.  

he gestures to the lake. “go on, then. if you get six skips, i’ll go with you to slytherin tower to see yoongi-hyung.”

jimin manages seven skips. 

“what if he gets annoyed that i’m coming to see him?” taehyung frets, holding onto the perfectly folded cloak and scarf in his hands. 

“taehyung-ah,” jimin says, exasperated. “he gave you those clothes because he didn’t want you to be cold. he literally gave you an entire plate of stuffing because he knows that you really like it but you never manage to get more in time. he won’t be annoyed that you’re coming to see him - in fact, i’m pretty sure he’ll be pretty happy about it.”

“ lumos! ” taehyung’s wand lights up the was as they had back up the castle. he’d rather not trip over and look a mess on his way to see yoongi.

he grumbles all the way to the slytherin tower - more so to disguise his slight panic and excitement - when they reach the entrance, and jimin tells him to wait, as students from other houses weren’t allowed in. 

once jimin disappears behind the entrance, taehyung quickly rightens his clothes, tucks his wand into his pocket, runs a hand through his hair a few times, and does a little cleansing spell to get the muck off of his shoes. he makes sure that the cloak and scarf were perfectly folded.

he stands there, tapping his feet impatiently against the stone floor, half anxious and half giddy when the entrance reopens. 

he straightens up as yoongi steps through, almost losing his resolve when the slytherin gives him a gummy smile.

what does he have to be so cute for? taehyung thinks to himself.  

yoongi’s smile brightens. “thanks, taehyung-ah. that’s really sweet of you.”

taehyung’s face burns. “oh god.” he pinches himself in the thigh. “did i really say that out loud?”

“yeah.” yoongi laughs. “but it’s okay, it was cute.”

he thinks i’m cute , taehyung thinks dreamily. then he remembers what he was there for. “oh, um, here.” he holds out the folded clothes. “sorry it took me so long to return them, hyung. thank you for letting me use them, i really appreciated.”

yoongi makes no move to take them. “it’s really not a problem, taehyung-ah. you just looked cold, is all. i don’t think its the first time you’ve forgotten to wear extra layers to a match as well.”

taehyung smiles sheepishly. “i haven’t got the best memory.” he holds the clothes out a little bit further. “i washed them and all.” 

“keep them.”

taehyung blinks. “sorry?”

“keep them,” yoongi repeats, placing his hands lightly over taehyung’s and pushing the clothes back at him. 

his hands were so soft . butterflies erupt as taehyung swallows. “no, hyung, really, i have my own-”

“i’ll just give them to you again next time i see you at a match,” yoongi interrupts, raising a perfectly arched brow. his hands were still on taehyung’s. he was never washing his hands again.

taehyung falters, not knowing what to reply. he did come to see yoongi to return the clothes, after all. what was he to do now? 

“keep them,” yoongi repeats again, pushing a little more so that the clothes were against taehyung’s chest. then he lets go of taehyung’s hands and gives him a pretty smile. “i’m sure you won’t forget to wear them every now and them.”

taehyung makes a face. “how would you know?” 

“because you love me, no?”

“you- what- you can’t use that against me!” taehyung splutters. he was sure that he was going redder, if that were even possible. 

yoongi angles his head. “why not?”

“because…” taehyung falters. “because you know that i like you, but i don’t- i don’t know what you’re thinking.”

“i think you’re sweet,” yoongi replies, not missing a beat. “and that you’re really cute. and that it’s really easy to like you as a friend. and that it would probably be easier to love you as…” yoongi pauses. “as something more.”

taehyung doesn’t dare to breathe. “so what you’re saying is?”

the corners of yoongi’s eyes crinkle as he smiles again. “what do you think i’m saying?”

“i don’t know?” says taehyung helplessly. “that you might like me? i mean, thank god you find me cute, and that you actually like me as a friend because you know, it would be quite awkward if we weren’t actually friends by now, and, well, actually, it’s pretty awkward considering i’m pretty much in love with you but i don’t know what you feel but then you say that stuff so i’m inclined to think that you do like me?” he scratches his head, and then grimaces. “i don’t know. sorry, i didn’t mean to ramble.”

yoongi’s smile widens. “it’s okay. it’s cute.”

taehyung feels hot all over. 

“we get it hyung, you think he’s cute!” someone hollers through the slytherin entrance, their voice muffled, but it is so unmistakably jimin that taehyung is about to ignore all the rules and go into the slytherin tower just so that he can pull a rictusempra on jimin. a tickling charm worked wonders on jimin. 

“just ask him out-” yoongi smoothly flicks his wand, and jimin’s voice is muffled.

taehyung internally sighs like the lovesick boy he was. yoongi was super good at quidditch, super cute, super smart, super kind and super good at spells. even the non-vocal ones - which was a little sexy. 

taehyung decides that yes, he could fall a little more in love. 

“anyways, where were we?” yoongi says dryly, and taehyung’s butterflies are going crazy. “before a certain midget interrupted us.”

and he had taehyung’s type of humour. even if yoongi was roughly the same height as jimin. taehyung wasn’t going to say anything. 

“you said i was cute,” taehyung trails off, staring at the the clothes in his hands. “and...yeah.” 

in the distance, the large tower clock starts to ring loudly, signalling that it was the time for dinner.

the entrance behind yoongi opens, and jimin is pushed out by a bunch of other younger students, who looked eager for dinner. his best friend didn’t even have the decency to look a bit guilty that he was listening in on their conversation.

taehyung glares at jimin as more students file out, not giving them a second look as they head for the great hall. 

“oh, is it dinner time?” jimin says innocently, hooking an arm around yoongi’s elbow. “shall we?”

although taehyung is this close to pulling a locomotor mortis on jimin and see how he’d enjoy a leg-lock jinx, yoongi doesn’t look bothered at all. 

yoongi only has to give taehyung a gummy smile and his annoyance dissipates. 

“i’ll just pop back to my room to put these away,” taehyung mumbles, taking a few steps back. “i’ll see you guys later.” he was definitely going to jinx jimin the next time they were alone. maybe a simple confundo would do. 

“thank you for these, hyung,” taehyung adds, bringing up the folded cloak and scarf in his hands up a little higher. 

“it’s really fine, taehyung-ah,” yoongi says, still smiling. god, taehyung would never get tired of that smile. “just promise me you’ll wear them to the next match, yeah?”

taehyung blushes - because that’s all he does, really. “of course, hyung.” he gives jimin - who puts on an innocent expression - a Look, before smiling at yoongi and turning on his heels. 

later that night, when jimin is giggling uncontrollably, jungkook grimaces and says, “well, from what i’ve heard, it sounds like it’s going to go well, hyung. i’m pretty sure yoongi likes you.” jimin lets out a shout of laughter. jungkook’s expression turns exasperated as he looks at taehyung. “hyung, did you have to use a tickling charm?” 

-

after that one conversation, taehyung definitely saw yoongi a lot more. they still didn’t have the time to properly talk, but actions are louder than words, aren’t they?

one morning, he was rushing to get to his potions class when a teacher walking down the hallway tells him to tie his shoelaces before he goes flying - and not on a broomstick. 

he curses, rounding a corner and almost bumping into yoongi. 

“ah, sorry, hyung, i was just rushing,” he gets out, trying to get out his wand to somehow tie his laces without having to actually stop. 

“it’s fine, taehyung-ah,” yoongi replies, and he’s looking down at taehyung’s shoes. “here, let me.”

taehyung gives yoongi a smile that is slightly lopsided, and when he looks down again, his laces are tied up perfectly. 

he looks up to thank the slytherin, but yoongi was gone. 

later that night, taehyung finds that his laces were fixed, and no matter how hard he pulled, they wouldn’t come undone, but it wasn’t a problem to get his feet in and out of the shoes. if anything, it was like the laces loosened and tightened to accommodate his feet. 

what kind of spell is that? taehyung thinks to himself, but he’s smiling anyways, because now he never has to worry about tripping over his shoelaces, and its all thanks to yoongi.

-

another day, taehyung’s bag splits as he overloads it with his books and ink bottles. 

he mourns the spilled ink that manages to get onto his textbooks, but before he can even get his wand out to clean the mess on the stone floor, the ink disappears from the pages of his books, the floor is wiped clean, and his bag no longer has a gaping whole at the bottom. 

he frowns, lifting up his head to look down one end of the hallway. there was no one there. but when he looks down the other end, he thinks he catches sight of a green slytherin robe disappearing around a corner. 

probably a house-elf taking pity on me , he thinks as he carefully places his books and ink bottles back into his bag. not yoongi .

-

a week later, taehyung is late to his classes again - not a surprise. his hair is a mess, his clothes are askew, and he was barely awake. 

unfortunately for him, he bumps into yoongi again, and curses at himself internally for the state of his appearance. 

yoongi bites his lips, as if holding back a laugh, and says, “are you late again?”

“is it that obvious?” taehyung ask weakly, trying to summon a laugh.

yoongi shakes his head a little, before smoothly pulling his wand out of his robes. with a wave of his hand, taehyung’s tie straightens, his robes become less wonky, and his hair flattens itself. 

taehyung’s eyes widen a little. “thanks, hyung.”

yoongi smiles at him, and taehyung wishes he could just study yoongi’s face instead of potions. “you’re always thanking me, taehyung-ah.”

taehyung shifts from one foot to another. “sorry?” 

“it’s fine,” yoongi says, eyes twinkling. “it’s cute. you’re cute. i’m always happy to help, anyways.”

there it was again. cute . 

“go to class,” yoongi tells him kindly. “i’ll see you around. study hard, taehyung-ah.”

taehyung barely manages to get out an answer before yoongi disappears. 

-

“taehyung-ah, let me help with that.” taehyung almost shrieks as the mountain of books topple out of his arms when yoongi appears from out of nowhere . he wonders if the slytherin apparated, even though that was impossible. 

“oh, no, i’m so sorry,” yoongi rushes out, sounding quite upset. with a wave of his wand, the books restack themselves on the floor, before yoongi says, “ wingardium leviosa!” 

the books begin to float, and then yoongi gestures for them to continue walking. “you’re going to the library, right?”

taehyung nods mutedly, because no one’s ever carried his books for him before. technically, they weren’t carried, but it was the same thing. 

“what are you studying?” yoongi asks, eyes roaming over the many books that now floated next to them. “oh, potions?”

taehyung finds his voice at last, and says, “yeah. we’re meant to be making a draught of living death potion, but it’s really hard. none of us are getting it right.”

“ah, that one is quite hard,” yoongi muses, and taehyung finds it a little hard to believe the slytherin, considering that he took potions at NEWT level. 

“i mean, we all figured out that crushing the sopophorous bean gives us more of its juice, but it’s still not working,” taehyung frowns as they round a corner. a couple of students walk past, not blinking an eye at the floating pile of books.

“do you want to know a little trick, taehyung-ah?” yoongi says, and taehyung takes a moment to reply because he’s so in love with the way yoongi says his name. “taehyung?” 

“oh.” his cheeks burn. “yeah, sorry, i was just...distracted.”

yoongi looks amused. “sure. the trick is to add a clockwise stir after every seventh counterclockwise stir.”

taehyung gapes. “did you figure that out?”

“no, no,” yoongi shakes his head. “there’s just a legend about the guy called severus snape that i heard about. he was pretty good at potions.”

the name rings a bell, and so taehyung files the bit of information away in his brain. “thank you, hyung. you’ve probably saved my life.” 

“it’s really not a problem.” yoongi halts as they get to the library. “i need to go to practice quidditch, so i’ll leave you here. if you need help with any of that-” he gestures to the pile of books “-you can always ask me.”

taehyung blushes. “i’m probably going to take you up on that, hyung. i really want to get at least an exceeds expectations for it.” 

“i’m sure you will,” yoongi says kindly, and taehyung is disappointed when he begins to walk away. “i’ll see you around, taehyung-ah.”

“see you, hyung,” taehyung calls back, taking the weight of the books into his arms again. he turns to enter the library.

“oh, a taehyung-ah?” he startles, looking back over his shoulder at yoongi, who looks - shy, for once. 

“yeah, hyung?” taehyung says, cocking his head. 

“you look really good today,” yoongi rushes out, and then he disappears around a corner. 

taehyung doesn’t get any studying done that afternoon.

-

yet again another quidditch match was scheduled, and although the weather was worsening, this one would be a match to watch. gryffindor against slytherin was always the game that was the most fast-paced, what with jimin as an incredibly fast seeker on the newest broom, but with namjoon and seokjin as chasers who worked astonishingly well together that no one got through them. not to mention that every bludger yoongi swung at hit it’s target. 

the rain was battering down on taehyung, jungkook and hoseok, all with their hoods up, even though it did nothing to block out the downpour as they headed towards the stadium. even from quite far away, taehyung could see that the stands were already packed. 

he shivers, hunching his shoulders up so that he could bury his face into his scarf. yoongi’s scarf.

with the whipping wind and pouring rain, he doesn’t hear when someone comes to a stop next to him, tapping his shoulder. 

he looks to see yoongi, dressed in his quidditch robes, wearing a headband that showed taehyung yoongi’s forehead. he likely wore it to keep his hair out of his face when he was flying around, but it definitely did wonders for taehyung’s eyes. 

“hey, hyung!” taehyung says loudly through frozen lips so that yoongi could hear him over the rain. he notices that hoseok and jungkook had continued walking. “what’s up?”

yoongi pulls out his wand, and for a second, taehyung thinks that yoongi is going to jinx him, but then the slytherin performs a complicated wave, and taehyung feels a jet of hot air hitting him in the face, then the rest of his body.

he feels warm instantly. 

“look, i don’t have much time, but here, do this-” yoongi does the complicated wave with his wand again. “and then just point it at yourself, or something, but it’ll keep you warm.”

taehyung’s heart skips a few beats. “oh, hyung, you didn’t have to.”

“i don’t want you getting cold,” yoongi says, and taehyung barely hears him over the rain. “can’t have my good luck charm getting sick, can i?”

taehyung raises an eyebrow. “i’m your good luck charm?”

this time, he was sure that yoongi was blushing. it was a nice change.

“did you get the movements?” yoongi asks instead, showing taehyung one more time. “i really have to go, taehyung-ah. i’m glad you remembered to wear more layers today, but, just in case.” another burst of hot air hits taehyung, warming him to his bones. “i’ll see you later? i can help you with some potions work, if you want?”

it’s somewhat a hesitant question, but taehyung grins, replying happily, “of course, hyung.” 

yoongi begins to move away, and the warmth is quickly leaving taehyung. before his courage does the same, he says, “hyung, wait!”

yoongi stops, turning back to look at him with expectant eyes.

“i’m your good luck charm, right?” he steps closer to yoongi. he could see the little mole on the slytherin’s cheek, now, and the way the rain clung onto his eyelashes.

before his resolve ran out, taehyung swoops down, heart leaping out of his chest as he places the briefest kiss on yoongi’s cheek, which was warm, even with the harsh weather around them. he swallows, and manages to say, “good luck, hyung. i hope you win,” before walking away. 

slytherin win - something which hoseok is ecstatic about, because it was now a battle for all houses to win first place - and taehyung gets a small note later that night, in between the pages of a potions textbook.

thanks for being my lucky charm, taehyung-ah. 

love, yoongi.

-

taehyung is pleasantly surprised when seokjin approaches him in the library a few days later. the gryffindor makes a face at all the potions books around taehyung. he notes that seokjin held a defence against dark arts textbook. 

“yeah, i’d definitely rather hex someone than poison them,” seokjin says by way of greeting, sitting himself in the chair next to taehyung. 

he feels a little awkward, because, well, seokjin had witnessed him drunkenly confess his love for taehyung, but then again…

“did you tell him, then?” seokjin asks, leaning back in his chair.

taehyung knits his eyebrows together. “tell who what?”

seokjin rolls his eyes. “did you tell yoongi that you are oh-so-in-love with him while you were sober?” 

taehyung feels his face heating up. “oh. that.” he clears his throat. “yeah, i did, a while ago.”

“but you’re not together yet?” seokjin frowns, and he looked as if he were trying to solve an arithmancy problem. “that makes absolutely no sense.”

taehyung is at a loss for words.

“i mean, obviously, you like him a lot ,” seokjin continues, stressing the last two words. “and yoongi clearly likes you too, because i’ve never seen him fuss over someone like that in our seven years of being friends - seven years of pain,” seokjin adds dramatically, and a laugh bubbles out of taehyung. “so?” 

“so what?” taehyung says, laughter dying.

“so, why aren’t you together yet?” seokjin asks, leaning forward and pinning his eyes on taehyung’s.

taehyung fiddles with a page of his textbook, feeling a little nervous. “well, he hasn’t actually told me he likes me yet.”

seokjin pinches the bridge of his nose. “you have eyes, yes?”

“yeah?” taehyung says slowly, hating that he made his answer sound like a question.

“so you’ve seen how he’s performed quite a bit of magic on you? like, with your shoelaces. not to mention him spelling your stack of books the other day,” seokjin says, eyes narrowing. “you’re a muggle born, yes?” taehyung nods. “well, so am i, and that to me looked like he was holding your books for you, and i’m pretty sure that that’s a rather romantic thing back in our little muggle world, isn’t it?”

taehyung cringes. “yeah, well, he’s pure, so he wouldn’t know that.”

“no, no,” seokjin shushes him, looking exasperated. “i’m saying that him wingardium leviosa -ing your books is the equivalent to having a boyfriend hold your books for you!”

“ah,” taehyung says after a moment. “i’m not really sure what i should be saying. or doing, actually.”

“just ask him out,” says seokjin, blowing his fringe out of his face. “simple as that.”

“jimin and jungkook say that too,” taehyung mutters, bringing his hands back into his lap. 

seokjin perks up at the mention of his friends. “okay, taehyung, listen. if you ask yoongi within the next two weeks, i’m going to win the bet. i’m sure you don’t want your friends to win, right?” the gryffindor looks at him with pleading eyes. “just ask him out. nevermind our bet, i do want to see you guys get together.” he grimaces. “though i’m sure there was a better way to get your attention than making a plate full of stuffing hit your head.”

taehyung opens his mouth to speak, but seokjin hushes him again, standing up. “i’m not taking no for an answer.” he begins to walk away. “ask him out!” seokjin half shouts at him and taehyung cringes as heads swivel towards them, and then the older disappears within the bookshelves. 

-

true to his word, yoongi offers to help taehyung with potions, and he finds himself walking to the library on a sunday afternoon with his textbooks clutched in his arms.

“it’s a study date!” jimin had sang once taehyung told him where he was going.

taehyung hit him with another tickling charm.

he finds yoongi already sat at one of the desks in the library, albeit in a more secluded corner, probably so that they could at least talk without getting death glares at them.

“hey, hyungie,” taehyung greets yoongi quietly, heart racing at the sight of the slytherin out of his school robes. 

yoongi raises an eyebrow. “‘hyungie’? that’s cute.”

“you think everything i do is cute, hyung,” taehyung tells him rather bravely, sitting down next to the older boy. 

“that’s because you are,” yoongi replies immediately, and taehyung is blushing again. “especially when you go all red like that.”

taehyung blushes harder. 

yoongi looks like he’s trying to bite back a smile as he reaches for taehyung’s books and opening them. “shall we get started, then?” 

the studying goes well for at least twenty minutes before taehyung gets distracted by yoongi’s nose. it was just so...round. so cute. 

“-you need to add the fluxweed, but only after you’ve been stirring for three minutes and-” yoongi stops, looking up from the textbook and at taehyung. “taehyung-ah.” 

he snaps out of his reverie. “yeah, hyung?” 

“what did i just tell you?” 

taehyung bites his lips, wracking his brain for anything, but only coming up with how he thought yoongi was the prettiest person alive. “i don’t know, hyung,” he says, a little guiltily. 

“is my nose that interesting?” 

busted. 

“sorry, hyung,” taehyung says sheepishly, once again feeling the heat creep up his neck. “sorry.” 

yoongi just shakes his head with a small smile on his face.

taehyung lasts another ten minutes before he’s too focused on yoongi’s hands , the way they looked so graceful even when turning a page, and-

“taehyung-ah.” he startles, looking up and yoongi. 

“my hands really aren’t that interesting,” yoongi says with a smirk on his face. taehyung’s heart stutters at the sight.

taehyung begins to mumble some nonsense about reading the book, but he knows he’s been caught. 

“i’m honoured and all that you like staring at my nose and my hands, but you should probably concentrate a little more,” yoongi continues, and taehyung is beginning to feel embarrassed.

“i can’t help it,” he mutters, lips forming into a pout. 

“do you want to do this some time else then, taehyung-ah?” yoongi asks, making a move to close the textbook. “i’ll walk you back to hufflepuff.”

he really doesn’t want to end his time with yoongi, but he doesn’t want to waste yoongi’s time either because he really can’t concentrate when yoongi is right there . “oh, no, it’s fine, hyung, i can go back alone, i don’t want to bother you anymore than i’ve already done.”

“you’re not bothering me, taehyung-ah,” yoongi frowns. “it’s a sunday, i get why it’s hard to concentrate. just let me walk you back, i’ll feel better if you let me do that.”

of course, taehyung would do pretty much anything to make yoongi feel better, so he nods, gathering up his books in his arms, but a tut from yoongi has him releasing them, and then yoongi actually takes the books himself as he walks out of the library. 

taehyung takes a moment to realise that yoongi is actually holding his books for him before rushing out after the slytherin. “hyung, i can hold them.”

“just let me hold them for you, taehyung-ah,” yoongi says, nuding taehyung with an elbow. “really, it’s not a problem. i want to hold them for you.”

taehyung is neck deep in love. he was pretty sure - ninety nine percent sure - that yoongi at least liked him, because from what seokjin said, yoongi wouldn’t be fixing other people’s split bags for them, or help in making them look presentable, or teach them a charm to keep them warm during a quidditch match where everyone gets thoroughly soaked. 

“have you been flirting with me, hyung?” he asks, as nonchalantly as he could. 

yoongi replies just as nonchalantly, “you’ve only just noticed?”

right, now that that question was answered, taehyung’s pretty sure that he won’t get rejected, so after a few seconds of silence, he asks with a slightly wavering voice, “yoongi-hyung, will you go out with me?”

yoongi halts, and taehyung almost continues walking away because for a second, the doubt sets in and he’s sure that he’s fucked up and that yoongi doesn't actually like him and the slytherin is just a nice guy-

“as long as you hold my hand, taehyung-ah.” 

taehyung whips around, mouth open in disbelief at yoongi’s words. “wait, seriously?” 

yoongi laughs, and it’s the prettiest sound taehyung’s ever heard. “yeah, seriously.” 

taehyung reaches out for yoongi’s free hand immediately, but stops at a hair breadth away. “are you really being serious?”

yoongi smiles, and its all so soft, soft, soft as he clasps his hand around taehyung’s, linking their fingers together.

taehyung is overcome with happiness. his lips were beginning to hurt from how wide he was smiling. 

yoongi doesn’t make it any better when he stands up on his tiptoes, leaning into taehyung’s space and placing a soft peck on his nose.

taehyung actually crumples against the stone wall, pulling his hand away from yoongi’s so that he can cover his face. he was feeling too much at the same time.

“taehyung?” he can hear the smile in yoongi’s voice. “you okay?”

“this is too much for me,” taehyung groan, his voice muffled through his hands. “how can you be so goddamn cute ?” he rips his hands away from his face, grabbing at yoongi’s wrist and pulling the startled slytherin closer to him. he places yoongi’s hand over his chest, right where taehyung’s heart was. “do you feel that, hyung?” he demands, heart racing. “this is what you do to me.”

yoongi’s startled expression morphs into one that taehyung can only describe as fond. “you make my heart go crazy too, taehyung-ah.”

taehyung lets out a little noise. “nope. i can’t do this. i’m going to die. you’re going to kill me.”

“so you don’t want to date?” yoongi teases, moving his hand so that it rests on taehyung’s flaming cheek. “we’ve barely just started.”

taehyung can’t wait any longer. he doesn’t wait any longer, knocking yoongi’s hand aside to take the older boy’s face in his hands, and then pressing his lips against yoongi’s.

the slytherin lets out a small, startled noise, and taehyung faintly registers the sound of his books hitting the floor as yoongi places his hands on taehyung's waist, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

his heart was practically beating out of his chest, and the butterflies in his stomach were absolutely mad , but all he can think about is how soft yoongi’s lips feel against his, how the other boy tasted so sweet, and how hyper aware he is of yoongi’s hands resting on his waist. 

they jerk apart from each other when they hear a loud “whoop!” from down the hallway, and taehyung turns a little wildly to see jimin running away with seokjin on his heels. 

he hears seokjin shout, “pay up, you little cheat!” and a loud laugh follows after as jimin pulls an expelliarmus , making seokjin change his route so that he could get his wand back.

“well, i guess there’s that bet,” yoongi murmurs, snatching taehyung’s attention back. the slytherin’s cheeks were a little flushed, and his lips were redder than before.

he can’t help it, he kisses yoongi again.

the library doors open and they spring apart, trying their best to look like they weren’t snogging for the past ten seconds.

“well, took you long enough,” jungkook says as he swishes past, giving taehyung a knowing smile. “see you later, hyungs.”

“let’s go somewhere else,” taehyung mutters, because he’d be damned if he let anyone else disturb his time with yoongi again. 

he pulls yoongi into a broom cupboard. 

“i see that romance isn’t dead,” yoongi says, giggling as taehyung knocks over a couple brooms. “a broom cupboard, really?”

taehyung shrugs. “works.” and then they’re kissing again. there are no interruptions until they pull away for air, and yoongi is positively glowing, which makes taehyung’s heart burst.

“you look like the cute sparkly eyed emoji right now, hyung,” taehyung tells the slytherin, because yoongi’s eyes are sparkling, even in the dimly litted cupboard. 

“emoji?” yoongi’s eyebrows furrow together, and taehyung just wants to hold the older boy in his arms forever. “what’s that?”

it dawns on taehyung that yoongi was a pureblood, and wouldn't know how to use a phone, let alone know what emojis are.

“oh, hyung, you’re so cute,” taehyung murmurs, so helplessly in love.

“tell me what emojis are,” yoongi demands, lips forming into a pout. taehyung actually gets to kiss it away this time.

when they part again, taehyung explains, a little breathlessly, “they’re like, cute little pictures that can convey what you’re feeling. you just looked like one, and it was so-”

“-cute?” yoongi finishes for him, and they burst out laughing.

“yeah, hyung,” taehyung says, heart warm. “cute.” 

yoongi wraps his arms around taehyung’s neck, pushes himself up a little, and they’re kissing again. 

they stay in that cupboard for a while.

later that evening, when taehyung is with jungkook and jimin, who’s money pouch is considerably lighter, his best friend says, “a broom cupboard, really?”

“i think that’s pretty romantic,” jungkook chips in, giving taehyung two thumbs up. “happy for you, hyung.”

jimin makes a face. “sure.” 

“who’s the one who lost ten galleons?” taehyung says, laughing when jimin scowls and gives him a rude gesture. 

“nothing you say will get me off this high,” taehyung declares, sitting back in his chair. “i’ve waited five years for this.”

“and you couldn’t have waited like, another month?” jimin crosses his arms. “i so could’ve won!”

“shouldn't have bet on me in the first place,” taehyung teases, reaching out to mess with jimin’s black hair. “this is why jungkookie is the best.”

jungkook sits up a little straighter, looking pleased. “i’m also the smartest.”

taehyung gives jungkook a look. “i take back my earlier statement. you’re the absolute worst.”

jimin cackles loudly as jungkook hits taehyung with a tarantallegra jinx. 

-

“why did i ever take potions?” yoongi mutters, head flopping forward on top of his textbook. taehyung’s heart burns, because if he was struggling with potions at his OWL level, yoongi must be suffering. 

“you should take a break, hyung,” taehyung says quietly, running a hand through yoongi’s dark, soft hair. “you’ve been at it for hours.”

“that’s because i don’t get it,” yoongi groans, turning his head slightly so that he can look at taehyung. “can you just like, i don’t know, skip ahead so that we’ve both done our exams and we don’t have to worry about them anymore?”

“i would do that for you if i had that kind of power, hyung,” taehyung tells his boyfriend, tilting his head so that he was looking at yoongi at the same angle he was looking at taehyung. “come on, let’s go take a walk.”

yoongi is reluctant to leave his textbooks, but after a few kisses and coaxing from taehyung, they leave their books in their library, and they’re soon strolling along the lake, the pebbles crunching beneath their feet as they take in the fresh air. 

they don’t talk, but from the way yoongi is loosely holding taehyung’s hand, he knows that the slytherin is more tired than he let on.

he pulls at yoongi’s hand, making him stop. he opens his arms wide. “do you want a hug, hyung? you look like you need one.”

yoongi lets out what sounds like a sigh of relief as he lets himself be folded into taehyung’s arms, sagging against his body. “yeah. god, yeah, i needed one.”

“sorry for not doing it earlier,” taehyung says against yoongi’s hair, pressing a kiss to yoongi’s head. “sorry, hyungie.”

“it’s fine,” yoongi murmurs into taehyung’s chest, and it makes his heart hurt, because he knows that yoongi feels as if he doesn’t need to be taken care of, but he was always taking care of taehyung, so it was the least he could do to take care of yoongi too. “thank you, baby.”

taehyung lets out a small laugh. “are you thanking me for a hug?”

“yes, what about it?”

taehyung smiles, rubbing a soothing hand up and down yoongi’s back. the slytherin’s arms were holding taehyung’s waist loosely, almost leaning entirely on him, but he didn’t mind. “nothing. love you, hyungie.”

“love you too, taehyung-ah.” 

-

a seed of doubt plants itself in taehyung’s mind right after the christmas holidays, after he realises that it’s yoongi’s last year.

“what’s up, baby?” yoongi asks as they stroll through hogsmeade together on the first weekend back. 

“hm?” taehyung blinks. “what do you mean?”

“you look upset.”

“i’m not upset.”

yoongi gives him a look, pulling them to a stop. “taehyung-ah.” 

taehyung stares at yoongi for a total of five seconds before he relents. “fine. i was just thinking about how it’s your last year here.”

yoongi stays quiet, letting taehyung sort through his words.

“what...what are we going to be when you leave?” taehyung asks, and then the words are tumbling out. “i mean, i love you, so of course i still want to be with you even after you leave, but like, if you’re going to be busy, or you don’t want to be tied down, then i’d completely understand that, but if you could just let me know beforehand, then i’d really appreciate that because you know, i love you a lot and-”

yoongi shuts him up with a deep kiss that leaves taehyung a little dizzy. “you’re rambling again,” the slytherin says fondly, taking taehyung’s face in his hands. “you’re such an idiot. of course i’m going to want to be with you even after i leave. a little bit of distance isn’t going to stop me.”

taehyung’s shoulders sag. “okay. thank god.”

yoongi rolls his eyes. “i should’ve known you’d overthink something like this.” letting go of taehyung’s face and instead taking a hand in his, they start walking again. 

“sue me, i couldn’t help it,” taehyung mumbles, gripping yoongi’s hand a little tighter. 

yoongi’s face softens. “you don’t have anything to worry about, baby.” 

“are you sure?” taehyung asks hesitantly, looking for any signs of regret on yoongi’s face. 

“i’m sure,” yoongi says firmly. he looks like he’s about to say something else, and he hesitates before saying, “actually, i did have something to ask you.”

“what is it, hyung?” taehyung asks, and even though yoongi’s just told him that he still wanted to be with taehyung even after he was finished with hogwarts, he couldn’t help the bit of panic that leaks into his voice.

“do you want to spend the easter holidays with me and my family?” yoongi asks a little shyly, and taehyung thinks, oh . “i mean, if your parents don’t agree with it, then it’s fine,” yoongi hurriedly continues. “i just thought it’d be nice, you know, because sometimes its a little hard for us to meet, so i figured it would just be easier, and my parents are fine with it, i’ve already asked them, so-”

“who’s the one rambling now?” taehyung teases, cutting yoongi off and pulling the slytherin into his arms. “i’d love to, hyung.”

yoongi relaxes in taehyung’s hold. “really?” 

taehyung pecks yoongi’s nose. “really.” 

yoongi studies him, deeming taehyung’s answer good enough before the older boy scrunches up his nose adorably. “do you have an obsession with my nose, or something? i swear, you kiss me on the nose more than you do with my mouth.”

“hell yeah, i love your nose,” taehyung grins. “but, just because of that comment-” he fits his lips to yoongi’s, and he’s satisfied to see yoongi look a little dazed as he pulls away.

“i love every bit of you, hyung,” he tells yoongi, who gives him a gummy smile. “on second thoughts, i think i love your smile a bit more than everything else.”

“taehyung.” 

“i’m kidding, hyung, i’m kidding.”

-

it’s the day before the students head back home for the easter holidays - or stay at hogwarts, depending on their preference - and taehyung has had a bit too much rum. ever since hoseok perfected the spell, taehyung has been his faithful taster. 

he stumbles out of the great hall, stuffed full of good food and not very sober. hoseok laughs as he supports taehyung up, trying to get the younger boy to walk straight.

“boy, you really can’t hold your liquor, can you?” hoseok asks amusedly. taehyung spies a certain slytherin looking at them with a gummy smile, and he lurches from hoseok’s arms, staggering over to yoongi, pointing at the older boy.

when he gets close enough, he places his finger gently on yoongi’s nose, missing the first time - things were a little hazy. “hey, cutie.” he grins drunkenly. “are you single?”

yoongi laughs, pushing taehyung’s finger away from his nose and wrapping an arm around taehyung’s waist instead. “taehyung-ah, we’ve been dating for months.” 

taehyung gapes. his head is swimming, but the guy in front of him is just so adorable. “really? you’re joking.”

yoongi looks over to hoseok, who’s trying hard not to laugh. “how much did he have?”

“only two glasses,” hoseok replies, biting back his laugh. “i finally got the rum spell right.”

“he gets drunk on butterbeer,” yoongi tells the hufflepuff, before turning his attention back to taehyung. “taehyung-ah. come on, let’s get you back to your room.”

taehyung pouts. “can’t i sleep with you? you’re so cute , i just want to cuddle you. can’t i do that?” 

“you’re coming back home with me this easter, so you can, baby,” yoongi says softly. “there’s only one night left. you can sleep without me for another night, right?”

“no, i can’t,” taehyung whines. “let me cuddle you.”

hoseok doesn’t bother to hide his laughter now, rushing ahead with shaking shoulders. 

“he’s going to tease you so bad tomorrow, taehyung-ah,” yoongi tells him, and he’s laughing too.

“why will they tease me?” taehyung frowns, missing a step. he stumbles, but yoongi is holding him firmly. “i just want to cuddle.” 

“tomorrow, baby,” yoongi promises, and taehyung stumbles some more before they’re at the hufflepuff entrance. 

he holds his pillow extra tight that night.

-

“why did you let me drink it?” taehyung complains the next day as he sits down next to yoongi on the slytherin table. the rules were always relaxed on the last day before holidays, and he never ever sat somewhere else before, with jimin and jungkook always coming to sit at the hufflepuff table, but this year he was using it to his full advantage. “i have a headache.”

“i didn’t let you do anything, taehyung-ah,” yoongi replies amusedly, taking a sip out of whatever drink was in his goblet. “you were enjoying yourself, who would i be to stop that?”

taehyung takes a look at the goblet’s content, wrinkling his nose. “ew, pumpkin juice.”

“what?” yoongi looks a little offended, so taehyung presses a quick kiss to his cheek, well aware that there are still many students milling around. “what’s wrong with pumpkin juice?”

“you have no taste, hyungie,” taehyung says, smiling sweetly at his boyfriend.

“i do have taste, that’s why i’m with you,” yoongi says back casually, and taehyung hits him on the arm. “ow! what was that for?”

“don’t say stuff like that!” taehyung exclaims, going red. 

“why not? if it makes you go all red like that, then i’m going to keep doing it,” yoongi teases, and a pout begins to form on taehyung’s lips. “you’re such a baby. c’mere.” 

taehyung doesn’t object to yoongi’s kiss.

“can you not do that in public, please!” jimin’s voice interrupts them, but they pay no heed to the other slytherin. “jungkook-ah, can you believe that they’re ignoring me like that? are they deaf? should i use sonorus ? 

“no, hyung, you should just leave them alone,” is jungkook’s reply, but taehyung’s not really listening, because yoongi is melting in his arms, and he is so in love. 

“they’re spending easter together, it wouldn’t hurt to wait like, two more hours. my eyes are burning!” 

“hyung, shush.”

they spend a very happy easter together, and amidst the egg hunting and the chocolate eating, there’s cuddles and kisses and dates, and it’s the best holiday taehyung’s ever had.