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When the Goblet of Fire spits out a fourth strip of parchment, Seungmin waits with as much confusion as everyone else does. Mingled with that is the thought that there’s a smudge of dirt on his glasses, and that he hates Lee Felix’s greasy baby fingers.
He’s attacking the lens with the edge of his robe when Professor Dumbledore calls out, “Kim Seungmin.”
It doesn’t hit him until Lia digs her elbow into his side so hard that he stands up out of reflex. Everyone is staring at him, and they all look like the same thing that’s going through Seungmin’s mind is going through theirs as well: What. The. Fuck.
The last thing he sees before he’s ushered into the side chamber the other three champions had gone through just moments earlier is Hwang Hyunjin’s dumbstruck face.
. . .
“So you didn’t put your name in it?”
Seungmin raises his face from the pillow he’d been smushing it against long enough to give Felix the most deadpan look he can muster. “For the last time, Lix, no. You saw what happened to Eric and Sunwoo. Do I look like I have the facial hair of a naked mole rat, let alone a three-foot beard?”
Felix winces at the memory of the two fifth-years who’d crossed the Age Line Dumbledore had drawn around the Goblet, to prevent people who were too young to enter the Triwizard Tournament from submitting their names. With the help of an aging potion, Eric and Sunwoo had crossed the thin gold line, but before they’d set another foot, they’d been hurled back out with long white beards and crooked backs. Madam Pomfrey had been livid when they’d hobbled up to the infirmary.
“Just confused, mate.”
Seungmin burrows further into his sheets. “Well, I’m as confused as you are.”
There’s a beat of silence before Felix chuckles. “You have to admit it’s pretty wicked, though. The youngest champion of the Triwizard Tournament in centuries.” The bed dips near his side and Seungmin grudgingly lifts his eyes to meet Felix’s bright brown ones. “Did you see the look on Hwang’s face?”
“Which one?” Seungmin asks, despite himself. One of the twins is decent enough for Lia to have befriended, but the other one…
Felix scoffs. “As if you’ve ever cared about Yeji.”
“Hey, I care about Yeji,” Seungmin says defensively. “She’s pretty… cool. The fact that she shared a womb with an absolute git is unfortunate, admittedly- hey, maybe all the brain cells that were meant for Hyunjin went to Yeji instead.” The look Felix is giving him nearly tempts Seungmin into smothering him with a pillow, but he likes Mrs. Lee’s kimbap too much to murder her younger son. “What did Hwang look like?”
Felix makes his eyes wide and his mouth fall agape in a comical impersonation of the Hwang twin of the supposedly less fair sex (admittedly, Hyunjin’s troublingly pretty as well, but even liberal amounts of Firewhisky would never coax it out of Seungmin). Seungmin shoves a finger down Felix’s throat and he nearly chokes.
Felix recovers almost instantaneously. “He looked kind of stupid.”
Seungmin snorts. “So, like he always does.”
“Yeah, when he’s around you,” Felix mutters, but Seungmin pretends to not have heard it.
. . .
The myriad of questions Rita Skeeter asks him for the Daily Prophet interview are, suffice to say, nothing short of torture.
Seungmin feels stuffy in his school uniform, buttoned to the top and his tie so tight he fears it might choke him. He prays that the sweat stains on his shirt won’t show up in the photograph; it would give the rest of the school- especially Hwang- all the more reason to make fun of him.
He glances to his right. Seo Changbin is sitting next to him; the youngest player ever on a national Quidditch team, a phenomenal Seeker, the object of affection for almost the entire female student body and Felix- and Durmstrang’s champion. Though small in stature, he’s almost scarily bulky and has a chin so sharp he could stab someone. Probably. Seungmin isn’t too keen on testing out the theory.
He’d seen Changbin play at the Quidditch World Cup last summer- Mr. Lee had scored them tickets for seats in the top box and he’d been blown away by Changbin’s sheer skill. Changbin’s team had lost, unfortunately, but he had caught the Snitch in the end- and Felix’s heart. Seungmin is tempted to ask for an autograph for his best friend (“Mate, I wish someone put my name in the Goblet too, just so I could stare at Changbin.” “Lix, you do enough of that already. Any more would be considered assault.”), but he figures that would be far too weird.
Jeon Soyeon is the Beauxbatons champion; even shorter than Changbin but somehow even more intimidating, with her permanent scowl and short blond hair with never a strand out of place. She’s glaring at the photographer now and Seungmin wants to congratulate the man for not shrinking away from her icy eyes.
And the other Hogwarts champion, supposed to be the only one; Park Seonghwa, a Hufflepuff seventh-year with an easy smile and artfully styled dark hair. He isn’t smiling now; he’s the one being interviewed and though Rita’s dragged him away for ‘privacy’, Seungmin catches snippets of the questions she’s asking; “Do you feel like Seungmin robbed you of your spotlight?” makes him shift in his seat uncomfortably.
Rita adds to that uncomfortableness when she’s interviewing him and her scarlet-taloned fingers always seem to find a way to touch him. He shrinks away from the hand reaching for his forearm, crossing his arms over his chest so she can’t touch him.
She places her hand on his thigh instead, and Seungmin bites back a groan.
“So, Seungmin.” She simpers, showing off three gold teeth amidst her unnaturally white ones. “Why did you enter the Triwizard Tournament?”
Seungmin refrains himself with great difficulty from rolling his eyes. “I didn’t enter; I dunno how my name even got into the Goblet in the first place.”
The exaggerated wink she gives him is nauseating. “I suppose you like to keep an air of mystery about you, don’t you?” Seungmin begins to protest, but she barrels on as if he hadn’t spoken. “How do you feel about the tasks ahead? Excited? Nervous?”
“I haven’t really thought… yeah, nervous, I suppose-”
“Champions have died in the past, haven’t they? Have you thought about that at all?”
Seungmin feels like he just swallowed a block of lead. He tries to ignore the lump in his throat. “Well… they say it’s going to be a lot safer this year.”
Rita simpers. Seungmin tries not to retch. “Of course, you’ve faced death in the past, haven’t you? How would you say it’s affected you?” She leans closer to him, the nails digging into his thigh, and Seungmin leans so far back his head hits the wall. “Do you think the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to your name? Do you think that you were perhaps tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because-”
“I didn’t enter.”
“Can you remember your parents at all? How do you think they’d feel if they knew you were competing in the Triwizard Tournament? Proud? Worried? Angry?”
Seungmin’s saved from having to snap at her when Dumbledore interrupts them to whisk him away for the Wand Weighing. He catches a glimpse of Rita’s notes and grimaces; Losing his parents at such a young age has left its marks on both the fifteen-year-old’s psyche and physique; deep brown eyes house shadows of demons that urge him to prove himself to the world.
Hwang will have a blast with the article when it comes out.
. . .
Seungmin bashes a Quaffle with all the strength he has, pretending it’s Hyunjin’s face on the smooth red ball. It soars cleanly through the center of the middlemost goalpost just as he hears Felix’s deep voice bellowing from below.
“Kim, it’s alright, you’ve done great for today.” Hongjoong, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, claps him on the back. For a moment, Hongjoong looks as if he wants to add something else, but then he shakes his head and Seungmin descends.
Felix and Lia gesture for him to change out of his Quidditch robes before walking over to the stands. Seungmin pulls on his uniform and doubles back out, pulling on a scarf on the way.
“Dragons,” Felix blurts as soon as he’s three feet away, and Lia claps a hand over his mouth, even though there’s nobody around to hear them. Nevertheless, she only takes it away when all three of them are close enough to hear each other when they whisper. “Dragons,” Felix repeats. “That’s the first task. Chan’s here. He told Hagrid, who told us.”
Felix’s older brother works in Romania with dragons, and the last Seungmin saw him, he had a savage burn mark on his left arm. “Got a little too close to a Hungarian Horntail,” Chan had said, displaying the damaged skin with the fondness reserved for one’s newborn. “Barely got away with all my limbs intact.”
Seungmin gapes at them. “When I die, punch Hwang in the face for me.”
Felix and Lia exchange looks. “Seungmin, you’re not going to-”
“Bloody dragons.” He laughs incredulously. “I might as well throw myself into the Great Lake and be done with it-”
Lia clears her throat. “Are you serious?” She glares at him, fierceness in her eyes. “You’ve faced He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named not once but twice, and one of those times as an infant; you’ve taken on a fully grown Basilisk; you’ve defeated a swarm of Dementors- and you’re worried about lizards?” She scoffs. “Well, I call bullshit.”
Both boys stare at her, because Lia never swears (usually it’s Felix who has the mouth of a sailor and cusses loudly in class and consequently gets into detention). She glowers at Seungmin for a moment longer, before her face relaxes into a soft smile.
“If there’s anyone who can battle a dragon, it’s you, Min,” she says quietly. “I believe in you.”
“Yeah, mate, so do I.” Felix nods. “If it helps, we can go see the dragons tonight; I know where Chan’s keeping them.”
“That wouldn’t be fair, though, would it?” Seungmin raises an eyebrow when both of them exchange another look. “Am I missing something?”
Felix purses his lips. “Karkaroff found out before anyone else, and Hagrid blabbed to Madame Maxime.”
Seungmin’s face falls at the realization. “So it’s just me and Seonghwa. And now, just Seonghwa.” He shakes his head. “I have to tell him.” They look like they’re about to protest, so Seungmin holds up his hand. “It isn’t fair. Karkaroff’s obviously going to tell Changbin-” He ignores Felix’s sharp intake of breath, “- and Madame Maxime’s telling Soyeon. We all have to be on even footing.”
He leaves before they can talk him out of it. It’s relatively easy to find Seonghwa, but Seungmin isn’t sure if the older boy entirely believes him.
I did what I could do, he tells himself. It’s up to him whether to believe me or not. He’ll see, anyway- they’ll all see-
He rounds a corner and bumps smack into someone. Luck must not be on his side, because he finds himself on his arse, glaring at dark green robes and pale blond hair.
Hwang Hyunjin raises his perfect eyebrows. “You seem to be in a hurry, Kim.” Surprisingly, he’s alone; Seungmin’s rarely seen him without his friend Jisung, who’s not as big of a prat as Hyunjin is but an enthusiastic accomplice in Hyunjin’s arsehole agendas all the same.
Seungmin scrambles to his feet. He hates the fact that Hyunjin has several inches on him; he has to crane his neck up to look him in the eye. “Yeah, to get away from you.”
“Ouch, you wound me.” Hyunjin presses a palm to his chest, and Seungmin tries not to notice how big his hand is, or what a broad chest he has. Seungmin fails both of them. “Like my badges, Kim? I made them just for you.”
It’s then that Seungmin sees the large badge right underneath the embroidered serpent on the front of Hyunjin’s robes. In luminous red letters, it blares Support PARK SEONGHWA, the REAL Hogwarts Champion! He wonders how he missed it at first glance.
You were too busy staring at Hyunjin’s face, his mind supplies scathingly, and Seungmin kind of hates himself.
“Lovely, isn’t it?” Seungmin desperately wants to wipe the smirk off Hyunjin’s face. “And that’s not all it can do; see-”
Hyunjin presses the middle of his badge. The luminous red is replaced by a glowing green font, which reads KIM STINKS.
Seungmin rolls his eyes. “Wow, that’s really witty, Hwang. You’re the envy of all Ravenclaws. Did you think of such a clever insult on your own, or did Han have to help your two brain cells?”
Hyunjin’s pretty face twists into a scowl. “You think you’re so funny, Kim?” he growls.
Seungmin shrugs. “I’m definitely funnier than that.”
The reappearance of Hyunjin’s smirk can’t mean anything good. “Oh, I don’t doubt that. ‘The youngest champion’s pale face masks a tortured soul, hiding years of pain behind a heart-wrenchingly bright smile’.”
He was wondering when Hyunjin would bring that wretched article up. Even Felix and Lia hadn’t been able to hold back their laughter when they’d read it. “You’ve certainly committed all that Skeeter wrote about me to memory. Pray, do I intrigue you that much?”
Hyunjin’s face goes very red and he starts sputtering. Without waiting for an answer, Seungmin shoulders past the taller boy. He ignores the spark that rushed through him where their arms brushed.
Felix and Lia are waiting in the Great Hall, snickering at something. They scoot apart when Seungmin arrives and he sits between them, reaching for a pastry.
“Look at Jisung and Minho,” Felix says, jerking his chin at the Slytherin table. Seungmin follows his gaze to see Jisung puckering his lips at the seventh-year. Ah, so that’s why Hwang was alone. Minho flicks his wand almost lazily and Jisung gags on his tongue, which has swollen to several times its natural size and is now dangling out of his mouth like some massive gross pink worm. Jeongin, Hyunjin’s fourth-year cousin and part-time friend, howls with laughter from across him.
“That’s painful to watch,” Seungmin comments. “Hey, Lix- I’ve been meaning to ask you- if Changbin hasn’t asked you to the Yule Ball by December, d’you want to go together? Platonically?”
Felix splutters but recovers quickly and nods. “What makes you so sure no one will ask you?”
“Oh, believe me, they have.” People never paid attention to Seungmin or his scar after that time in the second year where everyone was convinced he was the heir of Voldemort, and all that attention had been negative. Being one of the Triwizard Tournament champions had supposedly upped his attractiveness, and more people than ever were asking him out. Seungmin was tempted to accept one of them just to shut the others up, but there was a small, petty part of him that didn’t enjoy the notion that people only liked him because he was, well, famous, so he found himself turning them all down.
“Sure thing, mate.” Felix flutters his eyelashes. “I’d love to go to the ball with you, my handsome prince!”
Seungmin shoves Felix. “You’re a toerag.”
“Only for your toes, my sweet.”
Lia shudders. “Never say that again. Please change the topic for the sake of my innocence.”
Seungmin clears his throat. “I bumped into Hwang on the way here. He was wearing this stupid badge he’d made.” He groans when Felix and Lia exchange yet another look. “Okay, what now?”
“Hyunjin’s not the only one with the badge,” Lia says quietly.
Seungmin looks around the Hall, his heart sinking when he sees how many people have Hyunjin’s stupid badge on their robes. None of the Gryffindors, but a decent amount of the Ravenclaws and almost all the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins do. He even spots some students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons wearing the badge, permanently blaring KIM STINKS. Surprisingly enough, Jisung, Minho, Jeongin and Yeji are among those who aren’t wearing any. He doesn’t recall one on Seonghwa either.
“At least he didn’t have the brain power to think of anything creative,” Felix says soothingly. “They’ll see, anyway. When you ace that first task, they’ll be eating their words.” He suddenly perks up. “Oh look, Changbin’s coming!”
Seungmin joins Lia in ribbing Felix for his crush, all thoughts of badges and dragons and a certain Slytherin being pushed to the back of his mind.
. . .
Seungmin is sweating buckets. His hands are clammy, his tongue is tied, and he feels like he might faint at any given moment. He’s squeezing his fists so hard he nearly chokes the tiny model of the dragon he has in his hand. “Oh, sorry,” he mumbles, loosening his grip. The Hungarian Horntail hisses indignantly.
Felix would like the tiny dragon. I’m going to give it to him after all this.
If I make it out alive.
Seungmin wants to throw up. He hardly touched his food at breakfast- the few bites he got in were only because Felix held his arms behind his back while Lia shoveled liberal amounts of porridge into his mouth when they’d noticed he hadn’t been eating.
As if thinking about them had summoned his friends, Seungmin hears a voice from outside the tent that sounds distinctly like Felix’s bass whisper, “Psst, Min. You in there?”
Seungmin parts the flap with shaky hands. Felix plasters on a wide grin. “Wotcher, Lix. Where’s Lia?”
“She went to the other side of the tent; in case you were there.” Felix leans back and waves like mad. “Oi, Lia! He’s here!” He leans back in. “How’re you holding up, mate? Ooh, what’s that? It’s so cute!”
Seungmin hands the dragon over to Felix, who cradles it adoringly. “Ready to die.”
“You’re so pessimistic.” Lia joins them and ruffles Seungmin’s hair. His nerves calm by just a smidgen at the sight of them; both of them are bedecked head to toe in Gryffindor paraphernalia, their cheeks bearing his initials in blazing red. The KS on Felix’s cheek is a tad wonkier than Lia’s, and she huffs when Seungmin points it out. “Changbin went by just as I was putting on the finishing touches, and this git turned his head.”
“Oi!” Felix shoves Lia. “Don’t be so loud, someone might hear you!”
But Felix’s scolding is louder than anything Lia ever said, and they attract the attention of quite a few people in the tent. Notably among them, Seo Changbin himself.
When Changbin makes his way over, Felix goes so red that his face-paint becomes near indistinguishable from his actual face. The Durmstrang boy casts a glance at the dragon in Felix’s hand- the unfortunate creature is again being strangled.
“I think you’re hurting him,” Changbin points out. Felix gasps and nearly drops the dragon. “You- you like dragons?”
Felix blinks once, twice, before nodding with such vigor his head might fall off his neck. “My- my brother works with dragons.” He peers at the tiny dragon Changbin is clutching. “That’s a Chinese Fireball, innit?”
Changbin smiles, nodding, and Seungmin can imagine Felix’s heart beating out of his chest.
“Well.” Changbin looks around, finally noticing the other two. “Good luck.” He walks away, and Felix lets out a dreamy sigh.
“We’d better get going too.” Lia pinches Felix when he’s still gazing after Changbin. Felix yelps and gives her an accusatory look, which she steadfastly ignores. “I asked Chaeryeoung to save us seats but we might not be able to make it there if the stands get too packed.”
Felix finally tears his eyes away. “Break a leg, mate.” His eyes widen. “Not literally, of course.” He hands the dragon back to Seungmin and slips out of the tent.
Seungmin turns to Lia. She grins shakily. “Good luck, Minnie.” He’s caught off-guard when she jumps into his arms all of a sudden, winding her bony arms around him, and he stumbles backwards.
There’s a sudden flash, and then Rita Skeeter materializes in front of them, her smile nasty and cat-like. “Isn’t that sweet?” she coos. “Young love does warm my heart.”
Lia’s on her feet in an instant, her face twisted in rage. “He’s not my-”
But then the champions are being called and Seungmin has to leave with the rest of them. Rita trails behind them, leaving Lia fuming in her place. Seungmin tries to give her an apologetic look, but the nerves are hitting him again full-force, and he can barely muster a grimace. When Ludo Bagman calls out his name, he walks out as if in a trance. To death or to glory.
. . .
“You’re going to the ball with Lia, right?”
Seungmin’s scribbling down some nonsense for Divination (Felix’s infallible advice being: “Let’s make our predictions as tragic as possible; Trelawney eats those up. You can write that your tea leaves forecast your horrible death in the second task. I’m going to be brutally murdered by a Blast-Ended Skrewt.”) when Jongho’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts.
“Uh, no- I’m going with Felix.” Seungmin wonders if drowning in the lake or being eaten by the Giant Squid would appease Professor Trelawney more. “Lia’s already got a date. Some Ravenclaw asked her.”
Jongho’s eyes widen. “But I thought you and Lia were-”
With great difficulty, Seungmin holds himself back from slamming his face down on his parchment. “You read Witch Weekly, didn’t you?” Jongho’s sheepish smile is answer enough. “Well, Skeeter got it wrong. There’s nothing going on between Lia and me.”
Surprisingly, the one person Seungmin had expected to be badgering him about his and Lia’s so-called ‘affair’ is the one person who is pointedly ignoring him. Hyunjin has had ample opportunity to bring it up, but whenever Seungmin had readied himself for jabs and crude remarks, all he’d gotten was stony silence from the Slytherin. And there’s no way he hasn’t heard about it, either- he’d seen Yeji showing her twin something in the pages the morning after the article came out- somehow Seungmin doubts it was the spread on potions that alleviated menstrual cramps a few pages earlier.
It isn’t like there weren’t any juicy tidbits in it, either- Felix had read it aloud in the common room to the hoots and jeers of the other Gryffindors while Seungmin was torn between murdering him or Rita Skeeter. Seungmin wanted to burn his ears when Felix came across the sentence: ‘The young couple shared a very intimate moment right before the first task when Miss Choi snuck into the champions’ tent to wish her lover luck’.
Lia has taken it in stride, laughing it off whenever someone brings it up, and Seungmin has learned to emulate her. Certainly, Han Jisung has been very vocal about it indeed, making lewd gestures at them whenever they so much as walk side by side, but Hyunjin has been oddly quiet every time it happens.
He brings it up later in the common room, when all three of them are sitting in front of the fireplace, with the golden egg Seungmin had retrieved in the first task serving as a centerpiece. Felix has acquired a scale model of a Chinese Fireball in addition to the Horntail Seungmin gave him. The two miniature dragons are squabbling over the egg, even though neither of them is even a tenth of the size of the baby dragon such an egg would bear.
Seungmin watches the Fireball snap at the Horntail. “Hwang’s been awfully quiet about our torrid affair.”
Felix looks up from his Astronomy homework. “I bet he’s jealous.”
Seungmin stares at him, and his stomach sinks. It makes perfect sense- why Hyunjin has been at his throat for as long as he could remember, why he goes out of his way to be a nuisance to Seungmin at any given time of day, the enmity Seungmin never knew why blossomed between them. Until now. “He fancies Lia, doesn’t he?”
Lia chokes. “How in Merlin’s bloody hell did you come to that conclusion?”
“It’s obvious!” Seungmin knows he’s right. Lia’s mad pretty- she’s actually how Seungmin figured out he was gay; if he didn’t have a crush on a girl as sweet and beautiful as Lia was, there was no way he was straight. “Hwang fancies Lia!” He tries to inject a teasing tone to his voice.
Felix’s mouth is hanging open. So is Lia’s. “Sure, mate; you’re totally spot-on. Hwang fancies Lia.”
“I wonder why it’s only me he’s mad at,” Seungmin muses. “He was on my case before that darn article came out- and Felix, you’re just as close with Lia as I am.” He cocks his head to a side, the way that Felix insists makes him look like a puppy. “Your homosexual stench must be mad strong.”
“Oi!” Felix tackles him to the ground and then they’re squabbling, almost rolling directly into the fireplace. Lia only sighs and turns the page of her Astronomy textbook, shaking her head.
Seungmin tries to ignore the hollow feeling in his chest.
. . .
Seungmin twirls like a princess in front of the long mirror in the corner of the dormitory. His robes flutter with him, whipping around his legs. He turns to Felix. “Well?”
Felix wolf-whistles. “Don’t you look dashing, young man!”
“I could say the same for you.” Indeed, Felix does look very handsome; he’s wearing robes of silver satin and his hair is bleached white, the tips of his bangs dyed silver. Delicate diamantés are arranged in a line underneath his eyes and dot his high cheekbones.
Seungmin’s opted for deep purple robes. His makeup isn’t as bold as Felix’s, but he’d let the other boy dust some navy eyeshadow and glossy lipstick on him. He’d attacked his hair with a brush until his bangs fell over his face just right, and after a heated argument, he’d allowed Felix to change the colour of his hair.
(“If I go bald, I’m shaving your hair off and using it as a wig,” he’d threatened.
“My pubes are long enough for the both of us,” Felix had replied sagely, and he’d been stunned into a disgusted silence- long enough for Felix to mutter something, and then Seungmin was staring at his reflection in the mirror, at his newly mauve hair.)
They wait for Soobin, Jongho and Renjun to finish touching up, and they leave the dormitory. Soobin shyly links hands with his boyfriend, the sixth-year Yeonjun; Jongho joins his own friend group and Renjun dissolves somewhere.
Lia’s waiting for them near the portrait hole, even prettier than she usually is in robes of soft periwinkle silk. “You two look so handsome!” she squeals. “I feel like a proud mum. And I love the hair, Min; really brings out your eyes.”
“If the cards are played right, someone else will love it too,” Felix says under his breath, and Lia gives him a knowing look. Seungmin feels left out but he doesn’t want to put a damper on the mood, so he resolves to ask them about it later.
The Great Hall looks almost unrecognizable. Silver frost covers the walls, and hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy cross the starry black ceiling. The house tables have vanished, replaced by smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.
Seungmin walks to the top table with the other champions, arm-in-arm with Felix. They’re behind Changbin, and Felix’s face falls at the sight of the pretty girl next to him. Seungmin squeezes his hand and Felix forces a small smile.
Changbin turns around once they’re at the table, and his jaw goes slack when he sees Felix. Seungmin feels a wave of resentful glee wash over him. That’s right, you prat, see what you could’ve had.
“Which one of them is the pretty Hogwarts boy you’ve been pining over for the past few months?” Changbin’s date pipes up suddenly. “Oh, wait, let me guess- you said he had freckles, so I’m guessing this one.” She beams at Felix. “You look lovely, by the way. You too,” she adds, turning to Seungmin. “Love what you’ve done with your hair.”
Changbin’s robes are deep blue, but he’s matching with Felix in the sense that both of their faces are bright red. “Shuhua, I’m begging you-”
“- To leave? Gladly.” She winks at them. “I’m going to go order a shit ton of food and go into a food coma.”
She waltzes away, and Seungmin gapes at her disappearing figure. When he tries to take his leave, Felix latches onto him. Changbin glances at their interlocked hands and grimaces.
“I’m sorry about Shuhua.” He sighs. “I didn’t think she’d say- actually, I should’ve known- but.” He drops his head. “I didn’t mean to butt in to your date.”
Felix looks torn, so Seungmin saves him. “Actually, we’re not dating. Felix and I came here as platonic dates, so you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“But Min-”
“If it helps,” Seungmin adds loudly, hoping Felix won’t hate him too much for what he’s about to do, “you’re not the only one who’s been pining for months.”
Seungmin joins Shuhua at the food table, who’s attacking a pork chop like her life depends on it. Lia and her date join them a little while later, and all four of them split the massive cake Seungmin orders.
He’s licking the icing off his fingers when he finally sees the Hwang twins.
They’re in identical robes of dark green edged with silver- Slytherin to the bone even now. Both of them have hair long enough to hold back, but Hyunjin’s blond strands are simply brushed back from his face while Yeji has a severe knot at the top of her head. Both of them look stunning, but Seungmin can’t take his eyes off one of them in particular.
He doesn’t realize he has his finger in his mouth until Hyunjin’s eyes drift to it. Hastily, he pulls it out and wipes it on his robes. His face suddenly feels too hot.
And then Hyunjin’s taking calculated steps towards him, and he doesn’t know where to look.
His friends (traitors, the lot of them) have dissipated into the crowd at some point, leaving him alone. He half-wants to go after them (and throttle them too), but Hyunjin’s piercing stare is pinning him to his seat.
“Hwang,” he says stiffly when the Slytherin is in front of him.
Hyunjin nods, equally as stiff. “Kim.” The chair he drags out screeches, and Seungmin suppresses a wince.
The silence is tense. Seungmin’s tempted to throw an insult at Hyunjin, but looking at him makes him tongue-tied and he’ll probably say something really mortifying that Hyunjin can hold over his head for the rest of his mortal life. He wishes Hyunjin would make fun of him- at least that would mean things are normal between them.
Hyunjin opens his mouth. Seungmin braces himself for the callous remark that’s sure to escape Hyunjin’s (pretty) lips.
Instead, Hyunjin says, “You look nice.”
Seungmin’s sure he’s sporting an expression of absolutely enchanting stupidity on his face. “What?”
Hyunjin sighs and closes his eyes. “Are you really going to make me say it again?”
Seungmin searches Hyunjin’s face for any hint of mockery or ridicule, but comes up short. “You’re not joking?” He looks around them, trying to see if any Slytherins in the vicinity might be in on Hyunjin’s prank. The only one there is Jeongin, who’s gazing adoringly at the pile of food on his plate.
When Hyunjin opens his eyes, Seungmin is amazed to see remorse in them. “Is that what you think of me?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper. “That I’m taking the mickey of you?”
He’s really not joking. Seungmin clears his throat. “It’s what you’ve been doing for the past several years, Hyunjin. We hate each other, remember?”
Hyunjin shakes his head vehemently. “Goddammit, no, Seungmin. I never hated you.”
Seungmin wonders if he’s somehow slipped into another dimension. “Then what were all those years?”
Hyunjin’s silent for a long, long time. Finally, he lifts his eyes. His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat and Seungmin’s too entranced by the sight. “Kim Seungmin, I like you.”
Definitely in another dimension. Seungmin pinches himself to make sure he’s not dreaming, and pain shoots up his arm.
Hyunjin barrels on. “I’ve had a crush on you since the day we met- at Madame Malkin’s, remember, when we were both getting our school robes fitted just before first year started?” Hyunjin laughs to himself, shaking his head. “You had that awful bowl cut and your glasses were crooked, but you had the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen, and goddamn, did I want to see more of it.” His face darkens. “But then I saw you with Lia, and you seemed so close- I thought you liked each other. And I got jealous.” He sighs, tipping his head back. “By the time I realized you weren’t, it was too late- our animosity had already begun.” He meets Seungmin’s eyes. “Well. One-sided animosity.”
Dumbledore asks the students to stand up before Seungmin can gather all of his scattered senses, and suddenly, all the tables are zooming back to the walls and the floor is clear. Seungmin makes a split-second decision. “Dance with me.”
It’s Hyunjin’s turn to look dumbfounded. “What?”
“You were listening when they taught us how to waltz, weren’t you?” Seungmin extends a hand towards the taller boy. “The champions have to dance first. I hope you’re not too shy with an audience.”
When Hyunjin entwines their fingers, Seungmin feels a whole score of sparks shooting up his arm. He tugs the Slytherin towards the dance floor, hoping he doesn’t look too stupid.
Felix and Changbin are already there, and Seungmin feels warm inside when he sees the lovestruck smiles mirrored on their faces. Lia’s in the crowd, and she gives him a knowing grin. Seungmin ducks his head, but not before seeing the exaggerated thumbs-up Han Jisung gives Hyunjin.
When the band strikes up a slow tune, Seungmin places a hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder. Hyunjin places his corresponding one on Seungmin’s waist, and they hold up their linked fingers.
“I lied,” Hyunjin says all of a sudden. “You don’t look nice.” He spins Seungmin, and Seungmin feels the breath whoosh out of him when Hyunjin pulls him into his chest. “You look absolutely divine.”
Seungmin doesn’t bother to fight the blush creeping up his face. “As do you.” He prays that Hyunjin doesn’t notice the tremor in his voice.
The next song is a far livelier one, and Seungmin finds himself laughing with Hyunjin as he tries to keep up with him. Hyunjin’s a phenomenal dancer, but instead of making Seungmin feel inferior, it makes Seungmin want to know more about the boy. What other talents he’s hiding. What his hair looks like in a ponytail.
How his lips taste.
One song later and Seungmin’s legs are aching. Hyunjin admits he could go on for longer, but trails after Seungmin when he goes out to the rose garden. Their hands stay intertwined.
“I like you too, you know,” Seungmin admits in the secluded safety. “Can you believe I missed it when you didn’t taunt me with excerpts from Skeeter’s godawful Witch Weekly article?”
Hyunjin laughs. “Well, now you know why.”
Seungmin gnaws on his lip and doesn’t miss the way Hyunjin’s eyes fall to it. “I thought you liked Lia, funnily enough.”
Hyunjin snorts. “I’m as gay as they come.”
“Guess we have that in common,” Seungmin replies, and Hyunjin beams.
There’s a clearing a few feet in front of them, where there’s a large stone fountain and a few benches; away from prying eyes, but open enough to be romantic. Seungmin can hear his heart thudding in his chest. Would Hyunjin kiss him in the moonlight? Would Seungmin want him to?
Maybe more than anything.
They reach the clearing. Seungmin’s heart is in his throat. “Hyunjin, I-”
“Jisung?”
The stone bench across the fountain is unfortunately occupied. Jisung’s panicked face peeks over the shoulder of the person he’s straddling. The person in question is Minho.
Jisung flips them off. “Don’t be a fucking cockblock, you wanker!” he hollers. “Go get some yourself!”
Hyunjin pulls Seungmin away hastily, both of their faces aflame.
Thankfully, the next clearing they stumble across is blissfully empty. There’s no fountain, but there’s a bust of someone Seungmin vaguely recalls from their History of Magic textbook. They sit down on the bench together, Seungmin’s throat suddenly dry. He feels like he’s swallowed sandpaper.
“Can I kiss you?”
Seungmin looks into the eyes of the boy he’s realizing that he never really hated. “Thought you’d never ask.”
Hyunjin’s lips are soft and pillowy, and Seungmin’s own part naturally to let his tongue in. When Hyunjin bites down on his lip and makes him whimper, he realizes he’s learned another one of Hyunjin’s hidden talents: he’s a brilliant kisser.
Seungmin finds himself carding his fingers through Hyunjin’s silken hair when the older pulls him into his lap. Hyunjin’s hands come to rest on Seungmin’s hips, and Seungmin presses as close as he can.
When they pull apart, Hyunjin looks at him with such adoration in his eyes that Seungmin wonders how he’d missed it. “Your hair looks really pretty on you.” Hyunjin’s hand slides up and toys with the violet strands.
It’s a compliment he’s already heard a million times that night, but it means so much more coming from Hyunjin. “Thank you.”
Hyunjin’s other hand rubbing circles into the small of his back. “I was so scared that day of the first task.” He leans into Seungmin’s touch when he tangles his fingers in Hyunjin’s flaxen hair. “When the dragon broke free of her chains and chased after you…”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Seungmin sneaks a quick peck to Hyunjin’s luscious lips. “I’m here with you.”
“And I’m so, so thankful for that.” Hyunjin returns the kiss with equal fervour. “I really hope you win,” he mumbles against Seungmin’s lips.
And there, in the moonlight, kissing the most beautiful boy, Seungmin thinks he can win anything with Hwang Hyunjin by his side.