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Chapter Text

1st year - As easy as that

It was the 1st of September when little eleven-year-old Donghyuck Lee entered platform nine and three-quarters for the first time in his life.

It was also 10:57am, which meant they were just about the miss the departure of the Hogwarts Express.

His caretaker, Miss Kwon, was pushing his grandmother in her wheelchair through the secret passageway in a hectic manner, the old lady clutching her wool blanket with a gummy smile on her face. His grandmother rarely left the house anymore. Due to her proud age of 97 years, she rather stayed in her own four walls, enjoying her well deserved rest after a long and busy life.

Today, however, she had requested for Miss Kwon to get her ready for this journey to King's Cross - she couldn't miss sending her one and only grandchild off to Hogwarts for the first time.

Everybody around them was chatting excitedly, parents waving goodbye to their children, old friends catching up with each other after the holidays, wild pets running around and sneakily escaping from their cages. The Hogwarts Express was standing tall and boldly red on the rails, white steam chuffing out the funnels with a high whistle - reminding people to board swiftly as the train would leave in a few minutes.

In the midst of it all Donghyuck was heaving his heavy carriage behind him, big brown eyes filled with wonder as he took in the organized chaos surrounding him.

"Hurry up, it's about to leave without you!" Miss Kwon scolded him when Donghyuck took a second too long to appreciate the red train in its full magnitude.

Donghyuck was just about to enter through one of the doors, when his grandmother reached out to him. With a warm smile Donghyuck kneeled down before her, taking her hand and placing it on top of the blanket in her lap.

"Don't let anybody mess with you," the old lady told him in a hoarse voice, but her eyes were awake and youthful, as if it was her about to go to Hogwarts for the first time. "You are a good kid, Donghyuck. You have to be proud of yourself."

His grandmother gave his hand a soft squeeze, managing a shrewd smile. A deep sadness started to mingle with all of Donghyuck's excitement - it would be the first time in his life that he would be living without his grandmother and it was hard to leave her behind.

"No, don't get emotional now, your train is leaving!" Miss Kwon reprimanded them, having already hauled Donghyuck's suitcase into the train for him. Another whistle resonated through the air - the last call for boarding.

"I'll write you tons of letters," Donghyuck hurriedly promised his grandmother, pulling away from her. "See you soon!"

The train was already setting in motion when Donghyuck jumped in with the help of Miss Kwon. With a bittersweet smile he stood at the glass door, waving at the two of them until the train took a turn and they were out of sight.

His shoulders slouched as a deep sigh left him.

A sudden rustle coming from behind distracted him from his gloomy mood as a few older students searched for an empty compartment, whispering and laughing excitedly

A smile began to spread on his lips - Hogwarts, here he comes!

Since he had probably been the last person to board the train, there were no empty compartments left for him to sit in. Most of the people that looked his age had formed little groups already, leaving Donghyuck no choice but to awkwardly join two older students in their compartment. They barely acknowledged him except for the mandatory greeting, both their faces hidden behind books for the entire ride - Donghyuck cleverly deducted that they must be fifth years, since one of them was reading a manual on how to master O.W.L.s.

Boredom overtook him for the majority of the train ride, being left alone with his silent nervousness and excitement as they got closer and closer to school grounds.

He only got up once to change into his school uniform, bumping into a small boy on his way to the bathroom, who seemed to have done the same. Donghyuck gave him a shy smile, but the boy was too busy fixing up his tie to notice him properly.

When they finally arrived it was already dark outside, bright stars sparkling in the night sky far away, indicating a time and space foreign to what they would ever know.

Donghyuck was desperately trying to manhandle his suitcase out of the train, until one of the older students had mercy on him and let him know that their luggage would later be transported to the castle for them.

With pink cheeks from embarrassing himself before he had even stepped a foot into Hogwarts Donghyuck left the train. In a hurry he almost stumbled over his feet, trying to catch up to the other first years, who were gathering around a slender figure that was calling out for them with a striking voice.

It turned out that the figure was a teacher, shortly introducing herself as Professor Ahn. With powerful strides she started to lead them towards a grand lake where they split up into groups of four and climbed into small boats that would carry them towards the other shore.

The boats magically started floating over the black surface that mirrored the dark sky and Donghyuck couldn't keep his mouth closed from how much he was in awe. In front of him the huge towers of Hogwarts started to appear, a warm glow making the castle shine in adventurous mystery against the darkness of the night. Immediately Donghyuck sensed a feeling of home spreading inside of him - as if this place was calling out to him, a promise of a new home, a place to feel safe and call his own.

After they had all safely crossed the lake, Professor Ahn guided them up a seemingly endless staircase - Donghyuck briefly started to wonder why the people who had once built this most magical of all places couldn't have thought of a spell that would make getting to the castle a little less exhausting.

Everybody was panting out of breath when they finally reached the big entrance door, only sturdy wood separating them from the inside of Hogwarts. With a smirk Professor Ahn got her wand out, tapping against the wood in rhythmical patterns as she mumbled a few words - then the door swung open with a deep creak, revealing a large entrance hall, the ceiling higher than any room Donghyuck had ever been in. Excited gasps rushed through all of the first years as they stepped into Hogwarts for the very first time - Donghyuck had gone back to stunned gaping himself - and Professor Ahn seemed pleased with their reaction.

Not wasting any more time she walked ahead to another huge wooden door, the clatter of her black shoes resonating through the high room. She turned around to face them when they stopped in front of the second door, her piercing eyes making everybody shut up in mere seconds.

"Once this door opens you're going to head forward in an orderly manner and wait in front of the Professor's table. When your name is called, you will step forward so that you can be sorted into your house. I expect all of you to behave appropriately for this traditional ceremony, so that you can be an enrichment to your future house, as they will become your closest friends while you're staying here," she told them, staring into partly expectant, partly scared eyes.

Donghyuck himself couldn't wait - he knew about the house sorting, having been impatient to get to Hogwarts and learn magic all his life. (He was too proud to admit that maybe, maybe he was just a tiny bit afraid as well.)

However, before he could decide what exactly he was afraid of Professor Ahn smoothly moved her wand through the air and to her command the door opened, a great hall appearing behind it. To the left and right students were already seated at long tables - banners with their house crests floating in the air above them. With hesitant steps the first years in the front started walking forward, all eyes on them as they headed to the end of the hall.

Not even five minutes at Hogwarts and Donghyuck already had to eat up his own words - this was now the room with the highest ceiling he had ever been in. Because the ceiling was endless, a magical spell creating the prefect illusion of the sky above them. Donghyuck had never seen anything as magical before with his own eyes - it was fascinating.

Slowly they approached the end of the hall, a lonely chair placed in front of the table accommodating the Professors who were looking down at them from their seats. On top of the chair laid a rough looking bundle of fabric - the sorting hat, Donghyuck recognized from all the stories he had heard about Hogwarts before.

Once they had all come together in front of the chair, Professor Ahn stepped up front, lifting the old hat from its place. Just as she had told them earlier their names were called out one after another. Donghyuck's heart was pounding against his chest as they worked through the list in alphabetical order.

"Huang Renjun - Ravenclaw!" The hat called out and the small boy that had run into Donghyuck on the Hogwarts Express earlier stumbled towards the applauding table underneath the blue banner with the silver raven.

Soon it would be his turn, Donghyuck noticed as they had already reached the surnames starting with a K.

"Kyle Jasmin - Hufflepuff!" Was the last name announced before his own.

"Lee Donghyuck-"

Like prickling needles Donghyuck felt all the stares in his back as he stepped forward - not to mention the Professor's dignified looks resting upon him- and with weak knees he took a seat, only glad that his legs hadn't given up before.

The large hat slipped down over his head, covering his eyes and leaving him momentarily blind - the fabric was cold and rough, just like Donghyuck had expected when he had seen the worn out hat.

"Huh, Lee Donghyuck. Quite some family history there, hmm..." her heard a voice begin to talk with him and he startled in surprise. "As always, I see great ambition, lots of guts as well and compassion...you also seem to have a lot of wit. Great potential, I see...But I still think you best fit in with - Slytherin!"

Applause erupted through the hall and Donghyuck realized that the last word had been shouted out loud and not only in his head. The hat was pulled off of him and Donghyuck quickly got up. His knees were still a bit wobbly as he made his way to the table on the far left. The green and silver ties and the snake on their banner were very familiar to him.

Just according to their family tradition he had been sorted into Slytherin - he had expected that. It wasn't that he hated it, nor that he was ashamed, but as his thoughts drifted to his parents for a short moment he could help but to feel a bit queasy.

The ceremony went on and Donghyuck watched the remaining first years get sorted.

A boy with a nice eye-smile, "Lee Jeno - Gryffindor!"

And another boy with sparkling eyes and a shy demeanor, "Lee Mark - Gryffindor!" That one surprised Donghyuck a bit, the boy appeared rather timid to him.

After a few more Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, a boy named Na Jaemin joined him in Slytherin.

His smile was as bright as the stars above them as he slid into the seat next to him on the bench, white pearly teeth on display as he held out his hand for him.

"Hey, I'm Jaemin!" The smiling boy introduced himself, as if his name hadn't been blasted through the great hall for everyone to hear just seconds ago.

"Donghyuck," he said in return, shaking Jaemin's hand.

"Cool, let's be friends," Jaemin said, as if it was that easy. (Maybe it was just that easy.)

As the sorting finally came to an end the woman right in the middle of the Professor's table rose up to her feet. Dark, red robes were hanging off her shoulders - she looked powerful and wise. Donghyuck felt reminded of his grandmother when he got a view of her dark brown eyes, holding cheekiness as well as venerability.

Of course he had heard about the headmistress before - Boa was a household name in the magical community, everybody had great respect for the skilled witch.

"I'm very happy to welcome everybody back to our beloved Hogwarts and I hope that our new students will feel right at home soon," Boa started her speech and there was not a sound to be heard despite her voice, everybody hanging onto her words entranced.

"As always I have to remind you that the forbidden forest is indeed forbidden – just in case some of you are under the assumption the name is only a wild coincidence. Also, it's my pleasure to have Mister Hee join our teaching staff - he will be teaching Herbology starting tomorrow, so I hope you treat him with respect. Now, I don't want to take too much of your time - I know we are all very hungry and can't wait to taste what our lovely houseelves have prepared for this occasion. So, I'm going to end this speech right here and just let you enjoy!"

Applause resonated through the hall as Boa took her seat again, followed by loud gasps as their plates filled with every food imaginable.

Jaemin next to him didn't hesitate to grab the juicy chicken wings and mashed potatoes - and Donghyuck didn't wait too long to fill his plate to the brim with his favorite foods as well. While he hadn't been starved at home, not at all, Miss Kwon was a great homecook - this was a different kind of meal. He hadn't even noticed how hungry he had been until now.

While stuffing their empty bellies Jaemin and him got to talking. He learned that Jaemin was also from a long line of Slytherins and that, like Donghyuck, he had expected to be sorted here. He also learned that Jaemin had an immense appetite - and that were at least two things they already had in common.

After everybody had eaten to their heart's content, their stomachs nearly exploding, the plates cleaned themselves from any leftovers, back to the clean golden state they were in when they had arrived hours earlier.

Donghyuck tried to hide a yawn, sleepiness getting to him after the enormous meal.

Just then a student stood up, calling for first years - there was a silver badge in the form of a 'P' on his chest, indicating that he was a prefect.

Quickly Jaemin and Donghyuck joined the small crowd that had started to surround him, all first years that were equally as lost as they were.

Together with the other houses' new students they left the great hall, the prefects leading them to a great staircase. Subconsciously Donghyuck's mouth had fallen open again as he took in the multiple staircases that never seemed to end and reached at least twelve floors high. The prefect explained something about moving stairs and steps disappearing, some stairs leading to different doors on Tuesdays - but Donghyuck was too tired to comprehend all this new information. The only thing he really cared about was where his bed was located.

They took a sharp right where the Gryffindor first years were standing, also listening to their prefect talking as they waited for the direction of the stairs to change.

The two prefects excused themselves for a second when they encountered each other, mumbling something about checking whether there was a certain poltergeist waiting for them on the way, but Donghyuck wasn't so sure what they meant.

Tired he stretched his arms out behind him, accidentally bumping into a Gryffindor boy next to him. It was the boy with the sparkly eyes - Donghyuck recognized him because he looked not at all like you'd imagine the typical Gryffindor. There even was a huge stain on his tie - it looked like watermelon, one of the desserts that had been served earlier.

"You have watermelon on your shirt," he politely let him know and the boy's ears turned red as he looked down.

"I know, I spilled some," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed. Feeling empathetic - and maybe to show off a little, Donghyuck got out his wand.

Donghyuck confidently puffed out his chest, "I know a cleaning spell, don't worry."

Prior to actually coming to Hogwarts he had studied a few of the books - and he had observed Miss Kwon do cleaning spells often enough - he was fairly convinced he could do this boy a favor.

"Err, are you sure?" The boy asked him, eyeing the wand suspiciously. All the eyes had tuned in on their conversation, obviously excited to see more magic.

"Yah, watermelon boy, don't question me," Donghyuck told him, swinging and pointing his wand around. He frowned, concentrating himself to perform the spell before muttering the words 'Scourgify' underneath his breath and flourishing his wand around.

Maybe it was because he was tired, maybe it was all the eyes on him (most probably it was the fact the he had never actually done a cleaning spell before) - but something went horribly wrong, because in the next second instead of becoming clean, the boy's tie caught on fire.

A loud scream escaped the Gryffindor, echoing through the hall and Donghyuck took a shocked step back from the boy on fire. Luckily just then the prefects returned.

"Aquamenti!" The Gryffindor prefect yelled, splashing the watermelon boy with water.

Wet to the bone the boy glared at Donghyuck, who could only give him a crooked smile. Quiet snickering went through all the first years - but to be honest, watermelon boy looked like a drenched poodle and it was a hilarious sight. Donghyuck couldn't help the snort escaping him, even though he did feel a tad bit bad for setting him on fire.

"Stop messing around! Who was that?" The prefect asked, eyes sharp as he scrutinized the rows of first years. Preparing himself to be ratted out Donghyuck bit down on his lip, avoiding eye contact. Maybe he would get the record for least time needed to get detention, receiving a punishment before classes had even begun. But to his surprise watermelon boy remained dead silent.

As nobody stepped forward the prefects let it go for now, continuing their way to the dorms. The Slytherin common room was down in the dungeons, so they separated from the Gryffindors soon, whose rooms were in the western tower.

Donghyuck and Jaemin shared their dorm with three other boys and they all got ready for bed quickly, more than tired after this eventful day.

"Dude, I can't believe you set a boy on fire," Jaemin laughed with him as he climbed into bed. "That was legendary. You need to teach me your tricks. Together we can totally turn this place upside down."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Donghyuck said, deciding to keep to himself that setting watermelon boy on fire had been a pure accident. He didn't want Jaemin to think he was some kind of moron who was too dumb to execute a simple cleaning spell. And in the end nothing had really happened - the boy hadn't even snitched on him. So it couldn't be too bad.

His first classes were a complete and utter mess. They were fun, don't get him wrong – but they could only be fun if you actually found the way to the classroom. He was more than glad that Jaemin had spontaneously decided to become his friend, because he would've been more than lost without him. Not that Jaemin was actually that responsible himself. But at least like this they were lost together.

After a few weeks they both got better at orienting themselves though the huge castle – Donghyuck really regretted not having listened more carefully to the instructions about changing stairs and disappearing steps - but he had always been more of a learning by doing type of person anyways.

However, now that they were settled into their new lives and schedules at Hogwarts, it was easy to get involved into other shenanigans.

And for Jaemin and Donghyuck that meant building a reputation as delightful troublemakers.

Playing pranks was easy as soon as you found out who to target. Older students and Professors were out of the questions from the beginning - they wanted to cause trouble, not get expelled or hexed in return. Hufflepuffs were too kind - you always felt bad after you made them trip or hexed their hair green. Ravenclaws were usually too smart to fall for their tricks; it often got frustrating trying to get one of them alone and unprepared. Which was a challenge they usually accepted, but there was nothing as fun as going after Gryffindors.

They always got mad, but not hurt, and they were too prideful to ever consider snitching on them. Watermelon boy, or how Donghyuck had learned by now, Mark Lee, was by far his favorite target. At first the boy had hardly gotten angry at them, as if he had never learned how to be angry before. Which Donghyuck had understood as his personal mission to teach him.

In just their first few months he had managed to make Mark's hair change colours three times, hexed his robes a bright pink, put a spell on his feather that only allowed the boy to write in Chinese signs, and bewitched him so there would be bubbles coming out of his mouth every time he spoke.

Now Mark always had the best reactions, his face turning a scarlet red, matching his Gryffindor bow tie as he chased after them with the most cookie cutter insults Donghyuck had ever heard. It was hilarious. Especially because that was all Mark ever did, not even the thought of revenge seemed to pass his mind.

Until one day.

Jaemin and Donghyuck had taken their usual seats at the Slytherin table for breakfast, enjoying bacon and scrambled eggs when suddenly Donghyuck's taste buds caught on fire.

Disturbed he gulped down his cup of water, only for the burning to get even worse. Jaemin was glancing at him in concern as he jugged down cup after cup, but the burning wouldn't stop, his tongue throbbing in pain. That was when Donghyuck spotted Mark watching him from the Gryffindor table, a satisfied expression on his face - and he immediately knew that this had been his doing.

Angrily he stood up and headed towards him. The sensation of fire was starting to actually drive him crazy, burning through his tongue and making his eyes teary.

"Yah, what did you do to me?" He confronted Mark, who only smiled innocently.

"Setting you on fire," Mark explained calmly. "Since you have experience with that."

Usually Donghyuck would've had a witty comeback for that, but his pulsating tongue wasn't letting him think anymore.

Burning with rage he stormed off, straight to the infirmary. His vision was blurry with tears when the nurse found the spell to end his suffering and Donghyuck had never felt more humiliated.

But if Mark wanted to play, Donghyuck was more than ready to win.

That was how his first year ended - Jaemin and him somehow passing all their classes by winging most of their exams while Donghyuck and Mark consecutively obsessed deeper into their prank war, trying to one up each other relentlessly.

In his books, that was quite the success and he couldn't have wished for a better first year.

2nd year - Hate, Friends and Ketchup

His second year started similar to his first one. Again, his grandmother had wanted to come along to send him off, so Donghyuck tried to block the view from any curious Muggles as Miss Kwon pushed her through the secret barrier between platforms nine and ten.

Grandmother Lee was clad in a thick wool scarf that Donghyuck had gifted her the previous Christmas. She always liked to wear it, saying it made her feel warm and happy. Donghyuck was already planning on making her a matching pair of gloves this Christmas - he wasn't the best at Charms, but it was enough to fix up his messy knitting.

"My sweet boy," his grandmother was cradling his face before he could board the train. "How old are you again?"

"Twelve, grandma - remember, we made twelve cupcakes for my birthday?" Donghyuck reminded her with a sad smile. After he had come back from Hogwarts last year, he had started noticing his grandmother's memory slipping more and more. (Some days he blamed himself - without him around the house there was one less person that talked to her, causing her to become less talkative and more forgetful.)

"Right, you're a grown boy now," his grandmother showed him her gummy smile. "Already your second year at Hogwarts - you'll make Slytherin proud."

"Proud? He's playing pranks left and right, he's a menace," Miss Kwon scoffed, more than one disciplinary letter concerning Donghyuck's troublemaking having been addressed to her.

"Ah, that's part of being a true Slytherin. Don't let them mess with you," his grandmother said, ruffling through his hair with a mischievous grin on her face - Donghyuck liked to think that he had inherited that from her.

"I won't," he promised, squeezing his grandmother's hand fondly, mirroring her smile.

"At least try not to get caught as often," Miss Kwon sighed, knowing that it was hopeless to protest against the two Lees. "The amount of letters I got was worrying."

Before Donghyuck could answer something witty, he heard someone call his name.

Jaemin was enthusiastically waving at him from across the platform.

"I'll have to go," Donghyuck bid his goodbye, planting a quick kiss on his grandmother's cheek.

Miss Kwon patted his head before the boy could leave. "See you Christmas," she said and Donghyuck gave her a warm smile. Maybe for her sake he would try to get caught a little less.

Back at Hogwarts it was like he had never left at all. Classes were still fun - Donghyuck started to develop an actual interest in Potions, finding it fascinating how something as simple as mixing different ingredients together could create something so magical.

Of course, Jaemin and him had not given up on their prank agenda - and Mark's and his little games picked up right where they had left them on hold over the summer. (If that had even counted as a real break, because Donghyuck had sent multiple Howlers to Mark during the holidays, content varying from fraud accusations to simple screaming fits. Mark had sent him a stink bomb in return. Donghyuck liked to think he had won that specific battle.)

Everything seemed to be going perfectly fine.

Until a certain newspaper started spreading.

It had been November when an outrage had happened in the magical community - an attempted mass escape from Azkaban. Luckily it had been unsuccessful, but it still made all the headlines for a few days afterwards. As punishment for the perpetrators, five of them had been kissed by the Dementors - a harsh sentence, only given to the darkest wizards and witches of their time.

When Donghyuck had first seen the faces of the five criminals in the newspaper a cold chill had passed through his bones. Two of the faces looking back at him, although now soulless, lifeless - like living death - were almost near replications of his own face. The golden skin, the moles, the plump lips - all features they had in common. Even though he hadn't seen them in ages he could remember their faces in his sleep. He didn't even have to check the names underneath the pictures.

Lee Hani - Guilty of conspiracy against the Ministry of Magic, involved with Dark Magic, responsible for the death of two Muggle families and countless witches and wizards, tortured many young witches into joining the Dark Army, leading force behind the attempted escape

Lee Dajeong - Guilty of conspiracy against the Ministry of Magic, involved with Dark Magic, responsible for the death of seven young Muggle children and several witches and wizards, active leadership role in the Dark Army, leading force behind the attempted escape

His parents had lost their soul.

Of course it had only taken one too nosy student to make the connection between him and his parents. Their resemblance was uncanny and it was a well-known fact among his peers that he lived with his grandmother.

People started judging him behind his back, he knew it, trying to figure out if the bad blood of his parents ran through his veins – the negative prejudice against Slytherin students not helping his case. Ugly rumours started spreading, rumours how he had apparently treated Muggle-born witches and wizards like lesser beings, how he had cried at the news of his parents punishment - even going as far as that he had apparently helped set up their attempted escape as an outside informant.

At first Donghyuck had thought it was simply ridiculous. None of the things spread about him were the least bit true.

Donghyuck was the last person who cared about blood status, albeit coming from a long line of pure-blood wizards himself. He had most certainly not cried about his parents, who were merely strangers to him, having spoken to them the last time at the laughable age of four. He had felt indifferent about the whole Dementor's kiss, at most maybe a bit weird about people losing their soul (although he doubted that his parents had ever possessed one in the first place). And even the sole thought of him, a second-year student at Hogwarts playing pranks to pass time, to have any hand in an attempted escape from Azkaban – the most strictly guarded prison in England, hell, perhaps the whole world! - was so nonsensical, Donghyuck thought it was a no-brainer.

But apparently not many people had the ability to form rational thoughts at Hogwarts and so the rumours followed him around like an annoying, dirty leech.

Only Jaemin seemed to be sticking to his side like the true friend he was, telling him to ignore any of the malicious comments thrown at him. The professors tried to step in a few times, but it was hard to get to the root of the gossip. So in the end Donghyuck had no chance other than to simply wait it out.

Luckily Mark was the perfect distraction - the Gryffindor was not fazed by any of the rumours but instead indulging even more in their rivalry. Most of the other students avoided any sort of contact with him, as if afraid that his apparent dark blood was for some reason infectious - so Mark not changing anything about their relationship was honestly a relief to him, finding comfort in that single piece of his previous everyday life.

Donghyuck thought he was finally getting rid of the rumours after a few weeks. Surely at one point people would forget about the whole story, noticing that Donghyuck was just a normal student, right?

Well, it seemed like a few weeks were not enough time to heal all wounds.

Donghyuck had been coming out of the bathroom when it happened. Maybe it was because he was without Jaemin for a change, who would usually calm him down when someone came after him. Maybe this day had just been the final straw.

"Hey, enjoy your freedom while you still can! Soon you're gonna join your parents in Azkaban," someone sneered behind him. It was an older Gryffindor with a taunting grin. His friends were hollering behind him, cackiling as if they had never heard a better insult before.

"Are you sad the Dark Army was defeated? I'm sure you would've liked to become their next leader," they kept talking loudly, following after Donghyuck who tried to escape from them and not do anything reckless.

"How can you sleep at night? Knowing your family killed innocent people?"

"You should just hand yourself over to the Dementors."

"Join your parents behind the bars already! That's where most of you Slytherins belong anyways!"

Enough was enough, Donghyuck thought. He had swallowed the insults for far too long. He was not to be messed with.

Snapping around Donghyuck pulled out his wand, brain canvassing every hex he knew so he could use a particularly nasty one on them.

Anger was boiling inside of him at the injustice of this whole situation. Donghyuck had never in his life done anything evil, except for being born by the wrong people. He had no control over his parent's actions. He had spent a huge part of his childhood feeling ashamed and guilty - now that he was finally in a good place, he wouldn't just let some stupid Gryffindors take away his newfound happiness.

They laughed at him condescendingly as he pointed his wand at them. Maybe he could enlarge their heads to thrice the size. Or make their nails grow all the way to the ground.

However, before Donghyuck could do anything of the sorts, their laughter stopped.

Confused Donghyuck frowned, letting his wand sink. The seniors opened their mouths, but no sound would leave them. In fear they reached for their throats, eyes wide with shock as they realized that they had lost their voice.

Like headless chicken they all scattered away, heading towards the infirmary.

Baffled Donghyuck looked around. He hadn't done anything. A silencing spell was way too advanced for him. Donghyuck only excelled in petty hexes, practiced from his various pranks. Taking someone's voice - that was serious magic.

His eyes fell on a short Ravenclaw student - he was a second year as well, Donghyuck recognized him from their shared Herbology classes. If he remembered correctly, his name was Huang Renjun.

"Did you...did you just-?" He questioned amazed, but Renjun only shrugged.

"They were talking shit. I did all of us a favour," the Ravenclaw said nonchalantly. "Besides, two of them were Muggle-borns - it wouldn't have looked good for you if you attacked them."

"I- you -" Donghyuck didn't know what to ask first. You don't believe in the rumours? You don't think I'm a monster? You helped me? "You know how to do a silencing spell?" Is what he settled for in the end.

It seemed to have been the right call, judging by Renjun's flattered expression.

"It's very easy once you have the right wrist flick," the Ravenclaw said, demonstrating the movement.

"Dude, that's some advanced magic! Don't we only learn that in like fifth year?" Donghyuck asked astounded, mouth dropping open as so often when he was impressed.

Renjun only shrugged again. "Doesn't hurt to study ahead."

Donghyuck spluttered, not knowing how to express his gratitude, "I...thanks."

"No problem. Anyone with functioning brain cells and a little bit of time to research would know that your parents have been locked in Azkaban for over eight years. Which means you have no involvement with them whatsoever," Renjun said. "Not that I would've taken you for that kind of person anyway."

"Thank you!" Donghyuck repeated, unbelievably happy to hear these words from someone else than Jaemin. There were still people with brain and reason existing.

Renjun was smiling at him shyly. Well, there was one thing he learned from Jaemin. It can be that easy.

"Hey, let's be friends," Donghyuck said and Renjun's face lit up.

"Sure," he agreed right away and Donghyuck mirrored his smile brightly.

"But you have to teach me that silencing spell. I don't know if you've heard, but Mark Lee made a whole basket of apples follow me around for a whole day - and they kept dropping on my head once the levitating charm fell off - I need to get him back good."

Renjun only laughed. As easy as that.

Over the winter holidays and maybe also due to the fact that Jaemin and him had been seen with Renjun, a true, real, living, veracious Muggle-born more and more often the rumours finally stopped. People were no longer after him, apart from the occasional nasty glare, but mostly they didn't seem to care about him anymore. And Donghyuck liked to think that at least some of them had come to their senses as well.

Having Renjun join their little friend circle had multiple advantages at once.

Firstly, he had gotten Mark Lee back like never before - the Gryffindor had been unable to talk for a whole weekend. Donghyuck had watched in amusement how the boy had been carrying around a piece of paper and a quill to communicate with his friends.

Secondly, he got caught less for his troublemaking. Whether that was because Renjun was good at cleaning up his and Jaemin's messes, or because he was always talking them out of their most ridiculous ideas, leading to them playing less pranks in general was beside the point.

Thirdly, his and Jaemin's grades had drastically improved. Besides his Potion grades, that had always been somewhat decent, he had improved in all his subjects. Renjun seemed to excel in everything he did - maybe that was a Ravenclaw thing - and to their luck he was also very patient in teaching them whenever they had problems.

All in all, Renjun was a great friend to have. Another thing him and Jaemin had immediately agreed upon. So when their second year was slowly coming to its end, it was no wonder that the three of them had become inseparable.

There were only a few weeks left of the school year - Jaemin, Renjun and him had crammed together in the library, studying for their exams like upright students. Renjun seriously had too much positive influence on them - last year Jaemin and him had just somehow weaseled through them.

After a full morning of studying Donghyuck had found the perfect excuse to take a break - sending his grandmother a letter. Jaemin had whined when Donghyuck had left them in the library, but Renjun had been strict with him, only letting Jaemin have a break once he had successfully remembered all big troll wars.

So now Donghyuck was making his way to the Owlery on his own, a letter in his hand that he had dutifully prepared in case Renjun would want proof for his reason to leave their studying session early.

The fresh air was a nice change from the stuffy library dust and Donghyuck walked deliberately slow to get just a few more seconds of the nice sun warming his skin.

What he hadn't expected from his short trip to the Owlery was to hear quiet sniffling.

Puzzled Donghyuck pushed the door open - as usual he was greeted by the attentive eyes of many beautiful owls. Today, however, he wasn't alone here.

Mark was standing with his back towards him in front of one of the windows. He turned around when he heard Donghyuck enter the room, quickly wiping what were obviously tears out of his eyes.

"Are you here for another prank? Just do it fast," Mark huffed in a broken voice, closing his eyes and opening his arms, ready to receive any spell Donghyuck might've considered to cast on him.

Under normal circumstances a golden opportunity, but Donghyuck wasn't that cruel. In a weird way Mark had shown him kindness when he had been having a rough time before. It would only be right to return the favor.

"Are you okay?" He asked carefully, approaching Mark with cautious steps.

Mark sniffled, rubbing another set of tears out of his eyes, "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" Donghyuck asked once more, raising his eyebrows.

"It's just...it's just," Mark chocked messily. "Ketchup died."

"Who's Ketchup?" Donghyuck asked more than confused.

"My owl," Mark explained with trembling lips. "I just buried her this morning. But I somehow ended up here again. T-this used to be her favourite place."

Donghyuck had not expected that sort of revelation from Mark - their relationship had been purely based on upping each other's petty pranks. This honesty, this vulnerability was new. Mark had to be really hurting if he considered it a good idea to tell Donghyuck about his feelings.

"I'm sorry," Donghyuck said, awkwardly patting Mark's back, not knowing how to deal with this new sort of intimacy between them. "That sucks."

The Gryffindor nodded, a few more tears leaving him.

Mark bit down on his lip, shying away from eye-contact, "I know this might be a bit silly, but I really loved Ketchup. I got her from my older brother and she was like a friend to me," he said quietly.

"It's not silly," Donghyuck tried to comfort him. "Why is her name Ketchup?"

"Because she loved Ketchup," Mark answered simply and with the innocence only a true Gryffindor like him could have.

Donghyuck held back on a snarky remark - how could owls even like Ketchup?

"Which is ironic, because I really hate Ketchup," Mark added, mouth forming a small smile.

Donghyuck couldn't help himself.

"I'll keep that as a reference for the future," Donghyuck joked. "Gotta make all your food taste like Ketchup."

He almost immediately regretted that comment the second it had left his mouth - because Mark was clearly heartbroken right now and here he was thinking about the best way to prank him? Come on, Donghyuck, you can do better!

Luckily Mark chuckled, boxing him in his side. Somehow his tasteless comment seemed to have distracted him a little, lifting the mood.

"I doubt you know how to do that," Mark teased him with a snort. "I had to ask my brother for help to turn your food spicy in first year. And spicy is a much easier taste to achieve than Ketchup."

"I'm sure I can get Renjun to figure it out for me," Donghyuck retorted, already up for the challenge.

Mark rolled his eyes, but there was no viciousness in their exchange.

"Of course, letting other people do your work for you."

"Whatever, loser," Donghyuck huffed, walking over to one of the school owls, binding his letter onto its claws and sending it off.

Mark was still wistfully standing at the window when Donghyuck got ready to leave the Owlery, but at least he wasn't crying anymore.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about Ketchup," Donghyuck said one last time, trying to show him an uplifting smile.

"Thanks," Mark nodded, not turning around to face him again.

As they left Hogwarts a few weeks later Donghyuck felt like he had grown and learned a lot more in his second year than he had ever thought possible.

3rd year - Chocoballs

His third year returning to Hogwarts had been the first time his grandmother didn't send him off. She had been feeling too tired this morning to get out of bed. So Donghyuck had told her his goodbye by the bedside, promising to write her a lot of letters.

Miss Kwon had gotten married over the holidays, so she was officially Misses Kwon now. Donghyuck had met her wife once before - she was a nice woman. Someone that complimented Mrs. Kwon's uptight personality perfectly with her warmth and easy-going attitude.

Apart from that, not too much had changed for them. And so Donghyuck returned to platform nine three-quarters safely.

Renjun and Jaemin were already waiting for him in the Hogwarts Express - Renjun's nose was buried deeply in an Arithmancy book. They had all picked their new subjects at the end of last year. Jaemin and Donghyuck had opted for Care of Magical Creatures, eventually convincing Renjun to join as well. In exchange they also had to join the Arithmancy classes with him. Honestly, Donghyuck was fine with everything as long as he could rely on Renjun taking notes for them and boxing them through their exams.

Jaemin, much unlike Renjun, was not at all concerned with studying - at least not this early into the school year. The third year Slytherin had made plans to join the Quidditch team, having practiced all summer long to be good enough for the upcoming tryouts. He wanted to play as Chaser, but would also be okay with a Beater position as long as he would make it onto the team.

With the best pout he could manage Jaemin was currently begging Donghyuck to also try out, not wanting to do it alone.

"Come on, you are a good flyer! You could try for Seeker! You are fast!" Jaemin pointed out, the pitch of his voice a whiny frequency that made Donghyuck cringe.

"I haven't trained at all, Jaemin!" Donghyuck denied strongly. Although it was true that Donghyuck was decent on a broom, he felt nowhere near ready to actually play Quidditch for their house team.

Jaemin gave him his puppy eyes that he knew were irresistable. "Come on, pleeeease?" He stretched out his words like chewing gum, but Donghyuck shook his head. Jaemin huffed as if personally offended and then decided to change his target. "What about you, Renjun? You are tiny, you'd make a great Seeker!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Renjun deadpanned. "No ten horses can get me on a broom. But I agree that Donghyuck should join."

Donghyuck made a surprised noise. "What? Why?"

Renjun was usually someone that liked to spend most of his free time with study related activities and was by no means someone that wildly enjoyed Quidditch. Until now he had always encouraged him and Jaemin to follow in his footsteps.

"It will keep you busy. Might calm down that ridiculous catfight Mark and you have going on," Renjun shrugged with his usual no-nonsense attitude. "I'm tired of doing damage control for you."

Donghyuck snorted. "You wish."

He had invested a lot of his energy this summer in sending Mark small ketchup packages every day - only to receive a very angry howler screaming at him to stop wasting food in return. Donghyuck had continued to send empty ketchup wrappers instead.

"Well, I've heard Mark is gonna try out for Quidditch as well. So he won't be able to entertain your little games as much anyways," Renjun pointed out in his all-knowing manner and Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows.

"As if Mark would be accepted for the Quidditch team," Donghyuck pursed his lips. "How did you even hear about that?"

"That doesn't matter," Renjun shook him off, hiding his face behind a book.

"So, are you gonna try out with me? Pleeease?" Jaemin chimed in, back to begging and pouting with his big brown eyes.

Donghyuck didn't end up trying out. Despite Jaemin's continuous efforts to convince him, he had remained sure in his choice.

However, he and Renjun had come to cheer Jaemin on for his tryouts, who got a spot as Chaser just like he had wished for.

A few days later Donghyuck found out that Renjun had heard right about a certain Gryffindor trying out as well - Mark had been accepted to the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Chaser just like Jaemin, in contrast to what Donghyuck had thought of his skills.

Renjun had also been right about the fact that Quidditch did keep Jaemin pretty busy - with practices three evenings a week, two extra classes this school year and the usual amount of homework, his best friend hardly had time for anything else. Especially their usual troublemaking activities had fallen a little short over the past few weeks - which Renjun seemed more than pleased with.

However, that did not stop Donghyuck from continuing his feud with Mark. He couldn't let his intense studying about Babbling Beverage over the holidays go to waste!

Together with Jaemin's help he stole the ingredients out of Potions classes one by one so that a few missing Jobberknoll feathers and Lovage wouldn't be too suspicious. Despite totally not approving of this plan, Renjun agreed to be the look out for them as lastly they sneaked a whole golden cauldron out of the dungeons. He even charmed one of the iron cauldrons to a golden colour in disguise, so they wouldn't be caught right away.

Apart from that the actual brewing was the hardest part - even Jaemin, who usually fully believed in Donghyuck's talents to cause chaos, was skeptical if he could pull this trick off and accomplish a satisfying result. Babbling Beverage was an advanced piece of magic, far back on their curriculum, not to be taught until fifth year.

After a few failed attempts, lots of frustration, sneaking of more ingredients and starting over twice, Donghyuck finally achieved the clear looking potion. The liquid looked like it came straight out of a text book and even Renjun couldn't find anything to criticize about his work.

It was an ease to slip a few drops of the potion into Mark's drink, using a simple confusion spell and then levitating a small vessel filled with the potion over his cup, tipping it over when Mark wasn't looking.

As a reward for all his hard work Donghyuck had a blast watching Mark embarrass himself for the rest of the day, babbling nonsense whenever a Professor would ask him a question, not able to stop himself from sharing unrelated details and pointless information. For the first time Donghyuck was happy about the many classes they shared with the Gryffindors, who were usually just very obnoxious classmates.

The best part was that Mark could only send him furious glares, not even able to express his anger properly with words due to the potions effects. Only Professor Ahn, the head teacher of Slytherin who taught Potions, could figure out what had happened to the boy and brewed a quick antidote for him.

When she asked who had done this to Mark, her eyes immediately drifted towards Donghyuck, by now aware of his peculiar talents in her subject. Of course there was no actual proof other than her suspicions, and Mark would never tattle, just like Donghyuck would never - an unspoken rule in their otherwise ruthless battle. So he got away without even getting detention.

A few days later Donghyuck got hexed with a tingling spell, laughing the whole day until his belly started to hurt and Renjun had mercy on him, lifting the curse off him. For a few days afterwards Donghyuck felt like he had done daily sit-ups - but it was still better than detention and very much worth it.

However, before he could come up with another revenge plan for Mark, there was something else that captured all of the third year's attention.

Hogsmeade.

A first visit to the magical village was announced for a late November weekend. Everybody was excited about leaving the grounds of the castle - Donghyuck included. Since the walls weren't as keen to change as the stairs, it was easy to grow bored of them. (Even though little lost first year Donghyuck who had been scolded way too often for his tardiness would probably not agree with him on that prospect.) If it weren't for just a tiny little problem, everything could've been so perfect.

Due to his grandmother's dementia getting worse with each day that passed, she hadn't been able to sign the permission slip for him in time. Donghyuck had gotten a signature from Misses Kwon instead - she was not officially his guardian, but he supposed it had to work, since she was still an adult that was taking care of him.

One day he stayed after Potions class to talk to Professor Ahn about it, who was the house teacher of Slytherin and therefore in charge of who could leave the castle for a visit to Hogsmeade.

"I'm sorry, Donghyuck," Professor Ahn said after Donghyuck had explained the whole situation to her. "I need your guardian to sign, otherwise I can't let you go."

"But Misses Kwon is taking care of me and my grandmother," Donghyuck argued, deeming the whole issue unfair. Professor Ahn could only sigh. "Can't you...can't you make an exception for me?"

"I'm really sorry, Donghyuck, I would love to let you go. But that are the rules. You'll have to wait until your grandmother sends you a signature," Professor Ahn told him, soundly genuinely apologetic.

That had left Donghyuck pretty defeated. If he had known about the permission slip earlier, he could've gotten the signature! But apparently his owl had been delayed and so it hadn't arrived together with the lists of schoolbooks he had to get months before he would need it. Instead it came only a few days before his departure with the Hogwarts Express, leaving him a very limited time frame.

Sadly his grandmother had been really tired in the late summer, all the hot weather making her more exhausted than usual. Plus, the side effects of the new medication she had been taking – his grandmother had not been in any way capable to sign it for him, leaving him no choice than to at least get Misses Kwon's signature.

"It's just so stupid. It's not like my grandmother wouldn't sign it," Donghyuck huffed when he told Renjun and Jaemin about his conversation with Professor Ahn. They were on their way to Care of Magical Creatures, another class they shared with the Gryffindors. "She just couldn't do it in time."

Renjun patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry you can't come," he sounded as bummed out as Donghyuck felt.

"We could stay behind with you?" Jaemin offered like the good friend he was.

Donghyuck shook his head. "No way, you two should go," he insisted right away, not wanting his friends to miss out just because of him.

Without paying attention he accidentally stepped on someone's toe, apologizing mindlessly, not even looking who had been the victim of his clumsiness. He was still too caught up in the Hogsmeade topic.

"I just wished I could've gone to Honeydukes. I've heard they sell these super delicious chocoballs! I've been meaning to try them since forever."

"You can just come next time," Jaemin tried to cheer him up as they took their place among the other Gryffindors.

"Yeah, I guess," Donghyuck shrugged upset. "It still sucks."

Renjun looked like he was deeply lost in thoughts for the rest of the week. In typical Ravenclaw fashion he was usually very concentrated in classes, but this was different. His focus was even more intense than usual, like something was permanently occupying his mind.

More often than not he excused himself from their hangouts after classes, locking himself in the Ravenclaw tower that neither Jaemin nor Donghyuck had access to. (They had tried solving one of the riddles to get in once, but ultimately given up after some first year students laughed at them for not getting the answer right.)

So when a day before the Hogsmeade visit Renjun joined them at the Slytherin table after dinner instead of retreating into his dorms, they were both expectant for an explanation.

"I might've found a way for you to go to Hogsmeade," Renjun announced, throwing cautious glances towards the teacher's table.

"You found a loophole with the permission slip?" Donghyuck asked surprised. He had even read the boring house rules for the first time to maybe find a gray area that would allow him to leave the castle. Not to mention that his search had been very fruitless – whoever had written the Hogwarts house rules had known what they were doing.

"No," Renjun shook his head, before lowering his voice so it was barely heard. "I've been practicing something."

"Why are we whispering?" Jaemin asked quietly and Renjun deadpanned at him.

"Follow me. I'll show you what I came up with."

They found an empty Charms classroom in the west wing of the castle - Renjun acting very secretive the whole seven minutes it took them to get there, climbing hundreds of stairs, avoiding all the ghosts and using every hidden passageway they knew to not be seen.

"So? What's you genius plan?" Jaemin asked after he had closed and locked the door following Renjun's orders.

Renjun pulled out his wand swiftly, pointing it at Donghyuck's face. Even though Donghyuck blindly trusted in Renjun's magical abilities, having a wand pointed directly at you with no idea what was going to happen and what spell was about to be performed made him take a tentative step back.

Disregarding Donghyuck's visible concerns Renjun closed his eyes, frowning deeply in concentration as he began mumbling underneath his breath.

A weird sensation shot through Donghyuck's body, sort of a soft tingle or paint dripping down on him. For a second he was confused what Renjun had done to him, not recognizing the spell he had been muttering.

"Wow!" Jaemin's eyes widened almost to the size of plates. "You're invisible!"

Shocked Donghyuck looked down his body, only to find nothing there.

"Renjun, you are absolutely insane - don't tell me you mastered a Disillusionment charm!" Donghyuck exclaimed, mouth wide open – although nobody was able to see that.

"It'll only last a few minutes, though. But that should be long enough to sneak you in and out the castle with us," Renjun elaborated humbly. "Once we're in Hogsmeade nobody should care if you are there or not."

"Damn, is this a Ravenclaw thing or are only you this smart?" Jaemin whistled impressed. A Disillusionment charm was nothing you just mastered incidentally – it needed focus, practice and a lot of control. That a third year like Renjun had been able to even make a hand disappear would've been astounding – not to speak of a whole person!

"It's a studying and actually paying attention in class thing," Renjun sneered at the Slytherin and Jaemin pouted offended.

"I do pay attention!" He protested and Renjun raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

Donghyuck interrupted their bickering, pulling Renjun into a tight embrace, who startled in surprise - which was understandable, it must be quite weird to be hugged by an invisible person.

"Thank you!" Donghyuck squealed unconcerned, grabbing Jaemin's arm and making him join the hug.

Like that their plan stood. The day of the Hogsmeade trip Donghyuck bid goodbye to Jaemin and Renjun with a wink at the huge wooden gate of Hogwarts, demonstratively walking back into the castle so Professor Ahn could see him return inside. Then he sneaked out through a secret passageway he and Jaemin had discovered in their first year, when their initial plan had been to get into the forbidden forest (a plan they had quickly given up on after they had heard rumors about Acromantulas living in there).

Before they had to pass the outer portal where their permission slips were controlled one last time they met up again, hidden behind a small statue at the side of the gateway. Jaemin watched out for the Professors while Renjun quickly put the charm on Donghyuck, making him disappear from sight completely.

Then they mingled back with the crowd, where nobody would pay much attention to an extra body bumping into them, the pushing and shoving making it impossible to tell apart who had stepped on whose toes.

Just like that they successfully smuggled Donghyuck outside. They exchanged a deserved high-five once the charm wore of and they were out of sight of the castle.

First, they went to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, because Renjun had wanted to buy a new quill for himself, his old one having broken apart a few days ago - Donghyuck decided to treat him, spending almost all his allowance on a nice and fancy quill since the Ravenclaw had made it possible for him to come here in the first place.

They strolled around the village, paying a short visit to a potion shop, because Donghyuck thought it looked interesting and then shopped around in the local Quidditch store to get Jaemin some brand new protective leather-gloves for his first Quidditch game in a few weeks.

In return Jaemin purchased a whole bag of chocoballs for them to share from Honeydukes on which they munched on as they explored the rest of the village.

In the evening they ended up in The Three Broomsticks, having their first taste of Butterbeer together, ending their visit on a cheerful note.

Deep happiness filled Donghyuck as they made their way back to the castle. It might be a cheesy thought, but he found himself wishing for days like this to never end and for Renjun and Jaemin to always be his friends.

They almost forgot to put the Disillusionment charm back on Donghyuck when they reached the gates, only Renjun remembering last minute that Donghyuck was not supposed to be with them as he spotted a professor doing a headcount of all the third years who had been gone.

Donghyuck and Jaemin might've pulled a lot of tricks in their first two years - but that might've been the biggest one yet - they snickered as they slipped into bed that night. Maybe they also had some good influence on Renjun, having taught him a thing or two.

The next day Donghyuck woke up earlier than Jaemin. Letting his friend sleep in on a Sunday morning he quietly left their dorm. He wrote a long letter to his grandmother and Misses Kwon, reminding her to please get the permission slip signed so he wouldn't have to rely on Renjun again to visit Hogsmeade.

With the sealed letter Donghyuck made his way to the Owlery.

As if fate was trying to tell him something, once again he encountered Mark Lee in the small enclosed space.

Holding his head high he walked past him, paying him no further attention - the memory of his abdomen pain after that forced laughing fit still fresh in his muscles.

"Hey, I have something for you," Mark interrupted the cold silence as Donghyuck tightened his letter to an owl.

"I'm not that easy, I won't fall for that," Donghyuck snorted, sending the owl off. "I don't want it."

"No, I swear this is not a trick," Mark insisted, grabbing Donghyuck by his wrist before he could leave.

In record speed Donghyuck pulled out his wand, pointing it straight at Mark's throat. "Let me go," he hissed, shaking his hand against the hold and Mark let go of him without a fight.

"It's really not a trick. I swear on Ketchup," Mark repeated earnestly - and that made Donghyuck pause.

If Mark swore on his late owl, he must be telling the truth.

Curiously, but cautiously he let his wand sink. "What is it?" He asked, hoping for both their sake that it was really not a trick.

"I've overheard you talking in Care for Magical Creatures the other day...erm...that you couldn't leave for Hogsmeade," Mark answered, getting out a small package from his bag. It was the chocoballs Donghyuck had been dying to try and that they had all shared yesterday.

Suspiciously Donghyuck eyed the Gryffindor. "You did something to them, didn't you?" He questioned, squinting his eyes as he inspected the package for a sign of tempering.

"No, I already swore," Mark sighed exasperated. "I just thought it wasn't fair that you weren't allowed to go. And I got some anyways, so I brought you a package as well."

"Try one first," Donghyuck demanded and Mark rolled his eyes, before ripping the package open and plopping a chocoball in his mouth. Expectantly Donghyuck waited for any sort of weird reaction - but nothing happened as Mark kept chewing on the treat.

"See, completely normal," Mark said after he swallowed, holding the package out for Donghyuck to take.

"Are you trying to buy me?" Donghyuck asked as he slowly accepted the sweets. "I still have to get you back for that tickling spell."

"You gave me some weird potion first," Mark defended himself.

"Well, you send me a howler!"

"You send me ketchup packages! Every. Single. Day."

"Urgh, you're so annoying," Donghyuck sighed exhausted. He let his gaze roam Mark up and down. "Thanks," he mumbled quietly, motioning to the package of chocoballs and Mark nodded, a soft smile playing on his lips.

Normally this would've been the perfect opportunity for him to reveal the genius scheme that they had come up with to sneak Donghyuck to Hogsmeade, boast about all their (mostly Renjun's) skills, and make fun of an obviously useless gift, since Donghyuck had already tried the chocoballs yesterday. However, something in Mark's kind gaze made him stop, deciding to keep all that information to himself and just leave it with a simple thanks. (At least, for now.)

A few days later Donghyuck mixed some Hair-Raising-Potion in Mark's drink (maybe a bit repetitive and not as creative on his part, but it was still a funny sight seeing Mark roam around the castle looking like he had been electrocuted).

In retaliation Donghyuck spent a day with a green complexion - seemed like Mark was also slowly running out of ideas on how to hex him.

They returned home for Christmas, leaving their pranks on a rest for the time being (although Donghyuck did spent a majority of his time at home trying to come with some innovative ideas).

Quidditch season was in full swing when they returned. Jaemin's first game before the holidays had been against Hufflepuff - an easy win for their team this season, since their team had strong players and a few of the Hufflepuff players had been injured from an apparently intense game of exploding cards that had gone down in the Hufflepuff dorms.

Ravenclaw had been next - putting Renjun in a slight dilemma on whom to cheer for. After Jaemin had pouted long enough, the Ravenclaw had compromised on at least not cheering against him. Although he regretted it afterwards, since Ravenclaw had lost very closely to Slytherin and "we could've won if I had cheered them on."

That left them with only one more match for the season. They were all expecting the grand game - Slytherin against Gryffindor, both teams undefeated in the season until now. It would be an important victory to gain for either of them, deciding who would win the Quidditch trophy for their house.

Renjun had designed a huge banner in support of Jaemin, green and silver colors spelling his name with a snake circling around the letters. Donghyuck's jaw dropped the first time he saw the artwork - seemed like Renjun was just good at everything and it wasn't just a Ravenclaw thing.

Jaemin had been a nervous wreck the morning of the game. Donghyuck basically had to force feed him, and even then Jaemin only managed a few bites of dry toast before disappearing with the Slytherin team to talk tactics one last time.

With their banner held high, Renjun and him had made their way down to the Quidditch pitch, taking their seats in the high stands and cheering as loudly as they could when Jaemin and the Slytherin players marched onto the field.

Donghyuck's eyes momentarily flickered to Mark, who was walking right next to Jaemin, also in the Chaser position. Then he shook his head, trying to focus his attention on his friend down on the grass.

The referee blew the shrill whistle, releasing the golden Snitch, the two Bludgers and finally the Quaffle. Immediately the colorful capes started chasing, blurry spots of red and green surging through the air and scoring goal after goal.

Slytherin and Gryffindor were going head-to-head, no team giving in or slacking off, both wanting this win desperately, willing to give their everything.

Jaemin scored a few points early into the game, visibly more relaxed after he had contributed to the game.

Against his will Donghyuck's eyes kept being drawn to Mark, who owned the air like nobody else on his broom, flying faster than human eyes could even perceive, with more finesse and precision that his teammates or opponents. The young Chaser had scored half the goals of the Gryffindor points on his own, earning the favour of the crowd quickly, who were chanting his name loudly whenever he acquired hold of the Quaffle.

Suddenly the two Seekers were rushing through the air, effectively gaining all the attention of the audience - everybody was holding their breath as they dashed forward.

Then a scream of joy erupted in the golden and red stands as the Seeker in matching colors came out triumphantly, holding the small golden ball in her hands as she flew a victory lap over her supporters.

Mark and his teammates were hugging each other as they landed on the ground - and suddenly the idea plopped into Donghyuck's head.

He was going to join the Quidditch team.

Funny, it had taken him all of his third year to figure out that simple solution.

4th year - The Seeker

The holidays leading up to his fourth year at Hogwarts were the first one's that he didn't spend fully with his grandma. The last few weeks Jaemin had invited Renjun and him over to his house and so he had packed his suitcase, kissed his grandma goodbye and temporarily moved into Jaemin's room.

Ever since Donghyuck had made the decision to try out for the Quidditch team the following year, Jaemin had been nonstop chatting his ear off about how great it was to be on the team. According to Jaemin, Donghyuck would have the best chance to join the team as a Seeker, since his flying was sharp and fast and the position didn't require a lot of strength (which, ouch, but Donghyuck supposed Jaemin had a point).

They trained almost daily in the backyard of the Na residence - Renjun had hexed a small golf ball to fly around to function as a golden Snitch. Even though the Ravenclaw had violently resisted climbing on a broom himself, all it had taken to tear down his walls was one day of Jaemin's begging and pouting to join them, becoming the designated keeper of their games.

For the first time ever they found something Renjun wasn't good at. The boy had trouble even flying a steady line, the fear of letting go of his broom with both hands made it impossible for him to catch or throw a ball - all in all, he was a hopeless disaster. On the other hand it was at least a nice change of sight to see the Ravenclaw struggle for once in his life. Donghyuck and Jaemin agreed it was good to strengthen his character.

On the first day of September Jaemin's parents dropped them off at Kings Cross – in contrast to the previous years Donghyuck wasn't dangerously close to missing the departure of the train.

They found a spacious compartment near the end of the train. As soon as they sat down Renjun was already making schedules for them to repeat their lessons, preparing for the O.W.L.s they were about to take next year.

Jaemin and him both agreed that even for Renjun's standards that was way too early to prepare for any test. So they smoothly stole his colourfully marked parchments away from him, watching the Ravenclaw stomp his feet angrily as he chased them around the narrow space, trying to get back his carefully crafted repetition schedule. (They gave in to the angry Ravenclaw when Renjun threatened to no longer proofread their homework assignments.)

The feast after the sorting ceremony was phenomenal - the delicious food appearing out of nowhere never losing its appeal - and both Donghyuck and Jaemin ate until their stomachs protested, the capacity their bellies could stretch brought to its limits.

Headmistress Boa was as charming and powerful as always as she sent them off to bed, but not before she announced a few important dates, such as the appointed days for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams - Donghyuck and Jaemin exchanged a giddy smile with each other when she mentioned the Quidditch tryouts that would be held in a few weeks.

In hindsight - maybe Renjun had been right when he had started making revision schedules on the train ride here. All the Professors decided to simultaneously make them write foot long essays, of course graded, influencing their final grade of the term.

Usually, it was Jaemin and Donghyuck crawling their way to Renjun for help with these assignments, so when Renjun suddenly turned the tables on him, asking him for help with the Potions essay, Donghyuck almost dropped his quill.

"You want my help?" He wanted to clarify and Renjun shrugged.

"You've been brewing advanced potions since your second year. You understand this stuff better than I do," the Ravenclaw told him - maybe losing a few rounds of Quidditch really had shaped him.

Jaemin nodded in agreement, "It's true. At first, I thought Professor Ahn just liked you for some reason but turns out you're actually a genius in Potions."

Huh.

Well, it wasn't like Donghyuck hadn't known before that he had a knack for potion brewing - but he had never put it so blatantly. And never in his life would he have considered himself better than Renjun in any study related regard!

Still, now that his friends had come for his help, he tried his best to do just that. After a few hours of explaining what was so natural and easy for him he finally realized: this was really one of his talents.

Huh. Who would have thought?

In between all the homework assignments and demanding lessons, Quidditch tryouts took place.

All the old Chasers quickly ran drills, everyone of them qualifying to stay on the team right away. Then the Slytherin captain tested the two applicants that had wanted to become Keeper, before moving on to Beaters.

Finally, after biting down almost all his nails - a bad habit of his that came out whenever he was nervous - it was Donghyuck's turn. Only one other boy had applied for the Seeker position. He was a lot bigger and more muscular than Donghyuck, but he supposed that that might not be an advantage.

Due to his small frame Donghyuck glided through the wind smoothly, meeting almost no resistance as he securely guided his broom over the field. On the audience stands he could spot Renjun watching him, having shown up to tryouts to show his support.

As if the Ravenclaw was his personal lucky charm, he saw a golden light blink up right next to his head and without hesitation dived in for what could only be the golden Snitch. The other Seeker was quick to follow him - but Donghyuck's reaction had been faster, putting him a full broom length ahead.

With ease from all the practice sessions in Jaemin's backyard he stretched out his arm and closed his fist around the cold metal before coming to a sharp halt only centimeters away from Renjun.

The Seeker behind him was not as quick and Renjun bolted out of the way with a high-pitched screech as the boy crushed right into where the Ravenclaw had been seated only seconds prior.

"This is insanity. Pure insanity," Donghyuck heard Renjun mumble quietly to himself as the boy slowly picked himself up from the ground.

Donghyuck could only laugh, clutching the Snitch in his hand before making his way to the captain, handing her the Snitch proudly.

Needless to say that Donghyuck made it onto the team that day.

As they began to clear the Quidditch pitch the Gryffindor team marched onto the field, also here to hold their tryouts now that they were done.

"Hey, Donghyuck, you didn't send me anything all summer! You've given up or something?" Mark asked him when they passed each other and Donghyuck snorted.

"In your dreams," he huffed. "I've been training."

"Training? For what?" Mark made a confused noise and Donghyuck smirked.

Confidently he shifted his weight to one side and leisurely pretended to inspect his nails. "Prepare to get crushed. This time Slytherin won't lose the Quidditch trophy," he just told him and Mark raised his eyebrows.

"You made it onto the team?" He asked and Donghyuck hated how surprised he sounded.

"Of course I did! Seeker," he boasted and Mark looked genuinely impressed for a second.

"Well, hate to disappoint you, but our team is still better," the Gryffindor countered with a confident grin.

"Really?" He asked, taking a step closer to Mark. "Just watch as I catch the Snitch before you can even score a single goal."

Their gazes connected, sparks almost physically forming in the air between them as neither of them looked away for a few long seconds.

"Donghyuck! Are you coming?" Jaemin and Renjun were calling out for him, waiting near the exit of the field and ending their intense stare off.

"Good luck getting back on the team," Donghyuck said arrogantly, striding past Mark and joining his friends.

"Please tell me you didn't just want to get on the team to butt heads with Mark," Renjun groaned, already sensing the headache coming.

"Well, hexing him was slowly getting boring. The next natural step was to find something he cares about, and then totally destroy him at it," Donghyuck disclosed honestly. "Besides, I like Quidditch."

Renjun sighed exasperated, shaking his head, "I can't deal with this."

"I'm happy you're on the team, Hyuckie," Jaemin said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "It's gonna be so much fun!"

Just then another Gryffindor passed them, obviously here for the tryouts - a totally normal occurrence, right? If it weren't for the fact that he halted in his steps for a second, a kind eye-smile on display as he waved at them. Jaemin and Donghyuck exchanged confused looks. They had no close relationship to the Gryffindor apart from sharing a few classes with him. Only Renjun returned his smile coyly, waving shyly as the boy continued to catch up with Mark and the other Gryffindors.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Renjun continued walking off the pitch, leaving Jaemin and Donghyuck behind, who had been frozen in place for a few seconds.

"Why the hell is Lee Jeno smiling at you?" Jaemin finally escaped from his state of shock, hurrying after Renjun.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Renjun shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

"I didn't know you two were friends?" Donghyuck pointed out - apart from them Renjun barely hung out with a few fellow Ravenclaws. So some Gryffindor being on friendly basis with him was indeed a big deal, no matter how casual Renjun wanted to act about it.

"We're not friends. He sits next to me in Transfiguration. I helped him turn his chair into a bed once," Renjun explained nonchalant.

Jaemin made a face as if personally offended, "How come you've never told us?"

"Because it's not worth mentioning," Renjun rolled his eyes. "Besides, he's best friends with Mark. I'm sure Donghyuck would've forced me to use him for his petty spiel."

"Exactly why you should've told me!" Donghyuck chimed in - he couldn't believe Renjun had kept this golden opportunity to play tricks on Mark secret.

"Stop it, I'm not gonna bother Jeno with your antics," Renjun set him straight. "Didn't you want to focus on crushing Mark in Quidditch anyways? I thought pranks were getting boring?"

As always, Renjun was right. With a pout Donghyuck huffed, still upset that he had missed out on involving Jeno in his tricks.

If anyone of them had paid attention a little closer, they might've noticed the faint blush on Renjun's cheeks at the mention of the boy's name.

Donghyuck's fourth year got extremely busy. Between Quidditch practices and keeping up with the new amount of homework they were given, he was kind of glad that Mark and he had put their little war on hold - at least outside of the Quidditch field.

Making the sport the new space for their rivalry had been an overall good decision. Like this Donghyuck would always have a little bit of that extra motivation to show up for practices early in the morning - even on weekends. Not that he didn't like Quidditch as the game it was anyways but imagining Mark's expression after they would take the victory away from Gryffindor was an accelerating incentive.

Their first match had been against Ravenclaw - the blue team had lost their captain after last year and the players were still trying to find themselves as a team. So the game had been an easy win - their Seeker didn't even react when Donghyuck had gone into a sudden nosedive for the golden Snitch only a few minutes after the game had started.

The following houseparty had been wild - even though Renjun had been sulking for a little while afterwards, only cheering up when Jaemin announced they would spent to whole next day in the library with him if he wanted to.

They all went home over Christmas.

Misses Kwon had asked for a leave over the holidays - and since Donghyuck was by now old enough to care for himself and look after his grandmother, she hadn't bothered to find a substitute caretaker for the few days that she was gone.

So on Christmas day it was just Donghyuck and his grandmother. Carefully Donghyuck helped the old lady out of her bed and into her wheelchair, rolling her to the big Christmas tree he had decorated a few days prior.

Misses Lee senior was singing old Christmas carols as Donghyuck helped her open the presents. Mrs. Kwon had bought her an old book full of love stories, because despite her old age slowly making Donghyuck's grandmother lose her memory and sharpness, she still enjoyed a good romance story.

Donghyuck had knitted her a nice pair of socks. In typical Slytherin fashion he had kept them in Silver and Green colours. He had asked Renjun to put a permanent warming spell on them before he had left - and his grandmother was more than delighted by the cozy warmth when he put them on her feet.

"Ah, you were always such a good kid, Hyuck," the lady said with a fond smile. "So caring. Not at all like your mother had been when she was your age. She was a troublemaker."

Donghyuck swallowed as he tried to manage a smile for his grandmother. She hadn't mentioned her daughter - Donghyuck's mother - in years. They had only acknowledged his parents once shortly after the Dementor kiss had been made public. For obvious reasons Donghyuck's parents had always been a sensitive topic.

"I've joined the Quidditch team. I'm a Seeker," Donghyuck decided to switch subjects.

"Of course you are," his grandmother nodded proudly, ruffling through Donghyuck's brown hair. "You better beat those Gryffindors. Back in my day they used to be so annoying about winning the Quidditch trophy."

Donghyuck chuckled - obviously his grandmother was having a very clear day, the medication not taking such a big toll on her mind.

"I'll send you a letter once we've won against them," Donghyuck told her confidently.

His grandmother gave a cheeky wink, "Good. Don't let them mess with you."

Now Donghyuck really couldn't loose.

The match against the Gryffindors took place in early March. The sky was gray and dark, stormy clouds blocking any sight of the sun. Renjun was mumbling underneath his breath the whole morning about the "Dangers of thunderstorms!" or "No muggle football match would ever take place under these circumstances and they are not even played in the air!" or "Absolute insanity of Quidditch!"

But neither Donghyuck nor Jaemin were overly concerned with the weather conditions. Their sole focus was on winning against the obnoxious Gryffindor team - their captain had led loud chants all morning, as if trying to cheer the Slytherin players into defeat.

Donghyuck had tried his best to not let them get to him - but with every bite it got harder to swallow his breakfast. Jaemin next to him was paler than usual, not even touching his food.

Since Renjun couldn't stop the game from happening, he deemed the least he could do was help Donghyuck and Jaemin survive. With skilled movements he made their vision waterproof and put a permanent dry spell on their gear - the rain had started to become quite violent this morning, big, heavy splashes beating down on them as they made their way to the Quidditch pitch.

Both teams were drenched the minute they walked out on the field - Donghyuck saw how Mark Lee's Quidditch uniform was tightly glued to his chest. Once again he was thankful for having Renjun as his friend - his own coat was warm and dry, shielding most of his body from the uncomfortable wetness.

The two team captains shook their hands - then the balls were released. The golden Snitch buzzed around his head one time before disappearing into the fog. Donghyuck tried to spot it, following it with his eyes - but despite Renjun's spells, it was hard to make out the tiny ball between the raindrops.

A shrill whistle disrupted the continuous noise of rain and thunder and all the players surged into the air. The game had begun.

With a big frown on his face Donghyuck circled over the field. His hair was falling over his eyes every few minutes, the rain and wind making it fly around wildly, blocking his sight. The announcements could barely be heard over the ongoing storm - but Donghyuck knew that the Gryffindors were currently in the lead.

Their new keeper - Lee Jeno - was exceptionally good, a real problem solver, making it hard for the Slytherin Chasers to score. Subconsciously Donghyuck realized that Jeno's clothes, similar to his own, were also very dry - but he was too focused on the match to draw the last conclusion between that connection.

Mark Lee had passed him every so often, a smug smile on his face as he carried the Quaffle with ease. But Donghyuck couldn't let himself be distracted by that.

The golden Snitch was the first priority on his mind. With eagle eyes he let his gaze roam above the cheering crowd. By now their only chance to win was if he were to catch the Snitch. A heavy sense of responsibility rested on his shoulder. Not only for their team and his petty desire to beat Mark Lee - but also for his grandmother at home, who he had promised a victory.

Clenching his teeth together Donghyuck flew another circle. At least the Gryffindor Seeker seemed to be as clueless as he was, also searching the pitch in irregular patterns for a sign.

By now Renjun's dry spell was slowly wearing off - the icky feeling of wet fabric against his skin making his body itch. He desperately wanted to find the Snitch and end the game.

Suddenly the Gryffindor Seeker sped up, reaching out his arm for something - a golden shimmer!

In less than a second Donghyuck was chasing after the golden-red robes.

The Snitch was flying in wild zigzag motions, making it easier for Donghyuck to catch up on the head-start the Gryffindor Seeker had. Then the Snitch started rising and rising and rising - both of them almost pulled their brooms vertical to the ground in an effort to keep up.

Suddenly there was a Bludger batted in their direction, forcing the Gryffindor Seeker to break out of his lane in order to not be knocked down. For a moment the boy lost his balance and he had to stop the vertical flight to steady himself on top of his broom.

This was Donghyuck's chance!

Pulling his broom a straight 90 degrees to the ground he reached out his hand - he had to be at least 200 meters above the pitch by now, no other player was near him and the stormy clouds were blocking his view down.

He was thoroughly wet, water having penetrated every fiber of his body - but he was not stopping his chase. He clenched his teeth together. Just a few more meters.

Donghyuck stretched out his hand - his fingers finally scraping the wings before he could clutch his fist around the golden metal ball attached to them.

Then a bright light blended him, brighter than anything he had ever witnessed before. In protection his eyes closed - but his vision was damaged and spotty, black dots making it impossible for him to see what was happening.

His body gave out underneath him as an unbearable heat set his broom on fire.

Muscles completely loose he fell and fell and fell - and with a numb pain he hit the grass, finally knocking him out completely.

"Donghyuck? Donghyuck? Shouldn't he wake up by now?"

"Calm down, the nurse said it might take a few minutes to work."

His skull felt like split in two and his skin was on fire.

"Donghyuck!" A very familiar voice exclaimed as he shuffled in his covers.

He groaned as he sat up, regaining his vision. His arms were completely bandaged as he guided them to hold his throbbing head.

Jaemin and Renjun were sitting on his bedside in the hospital wing of Hogwarts.

"Oh by Merlin, Hyuck, are you okay?" Jaemin asked and his loud voice felt like it had finally broken his skull in halves.

"Shhh," Renjun shushed him immediately when Donghyuck winced at the volume.

Donghyuck groaned, realizing that his last memory was him chasing after the Snitch. "Guys, what happened?"

"You won us the game!" Jaemin exclaimed in excited whispers. "Dude, you were totally awesome!"

"Jaemin!" Renjun nudged him with his elbow. "You almost got struck by lightning. It burned your skin and you fell to the ground."

"We won?" Donghyuck asked with a big smile and Renjun let out a heavy sigh next to him.

"Yes! It was insane - suddenly there was this big light, and then your burning broom fell out of the sky and your body followed! Headmistress Boa had to quickly cast a slowing spell on you - otherwise it would've been over for you!" Jaemin retold the story animatedly. "And despite everything you were holding the golden Snitch in your hands!"

Donghyuck smiled satisfied - that sounded like a cool catch.

"Of course, leave it to you two to almost die and then only care about some stupid game," Renjun muttered, sounding like he was completely done with his friend's priorities.

"It's not stupid!" Both Donghyuck and Jaemin immediately protested, only causing the Ravenclaw to roll his eyes in annoyance.

Like the good friends they were Renjun and Jaemin spent the entire afternoon by his side - the Slytherin team also making a short appearance to celebrate Donghyuck's phenomenal catch, only for the nurse to shoo them out when they were getting too loud after barely a minute.

Overall it had been a very successful game, Donghyuck concluded, as the hospital wing was left empty in the evening for him to get some proper rest. He would have to stay overnight to let his burning marks heal - the nurse had put some cooling bandages around his arms, legs and torso, where the damage had been the worst. It stung, but there was no way around it.

The only disappointing factor of his victory he could think of was not getting to see Mark's reaction to their defeat. The Gryffindor had to feel crushed after this humiliation.

It seemed like fate was on his side, though, when shortly before visiting time ended, the door to the infirmary opened one last time. At first Donghyuck thought it was the nurse, wanting to change his bandages one more time.

He double-checked when he first saw the red and golden robes - had his vision been permanently damaged from the lightning?

But it was in fact Mark Lee who shuffled his way to his bedside.

"What are you doing here?" Donghyuck asked bluntly when the boy was in earshot.

"Checking up on you?" Mark replied equally as bluntly, cocking an eyebrow. "You might be my nemesis, but I don't want you to die."

"We're enemies, Mark Lee - you should want me to die," Donghyuck pointed out with squinted eyes. Was this some kind of ambush? Was he about to get jinxed?

Mark rolled his eyes as he sat down by his side.

"You're so dramatic," he huffed, before pulling out a small package of chocoballs from behind his back. "I brought you something."

Suspiciously Donghyuck opened the package of sweets. Then he held it out for Mark, watching him expectantly.

"You really don't trust me, do you?" Mark chuckled, understanding what Donghyuck wanted without further explanation and having the sweet first, deeming it safe for Donghyuck to also dig in when there was no sign of any kind of weird reaction.

"Should I?" Donghyuck questioned, chewing on the sweet chocolate.

"You never noticed how it was always you starting a prank?" Mark pointed out with a shrug. "So as long as you didn't do something to me first, you can consider yourself safe."

Donghyuck tried to puff out his chest which turned out to be a tad bit difficult due to the bandages around his torso. "I beat you today," he boasted nonetheless, wanting to coax out at least some sort of frustration of the Gryffindor.

Mark made a surprised noise,"Oh, that was part of our thing?"

"Of course it was!" Donghyuck said baffled – surprise had not been what he had been going for! Where was the devastation?! "What did you think?!"

"I just thought you were being competitive. And that you had grown out of the tricks," Mark tilted his head, plopping another chocoball in his mouth. "You didn't even send me stupid stuff over the holidays."

"What? You miss me sending you Howlers?" Donghyuck snorted.

"Maybe," Mark smirked and Donghyuck chortled.

"You know that will only make it less likely for me to send you some now," the Slytherin stated.

Mark smiled cheekily. "Maybe that's what I wanted," he said before leaning back in his chair with oozing confidence and Donghyuck found it hard to keep up with this sort of banter, his head buzzing.

"Hey, I fell out of the sky today and got struck by lightning. It's not fair to play mind-games with me right now," Donghyuck whined when he saw Mark's smug expression.

"Well, you decided to make this part of our thing," Mark laughed at him. "The only thing I ever did was having a backbone and getting back at you."

Donghyuck scowled as Mark stood up, leaving the package of chocoballs behind on his bedside table.

"Get better soon. Next game I will crush you," the Gryffindor said, getting ready to head out.

"Hah, in your dreams!" Donghyuck yelled after him, but Mark only laughed fondly as he left the hospital wing.

Maybe their thing, as Mark had called it, was ready for an upgrade in their fifth year. (Turned out it got not the kind of upgrade Donghyuck had thought of when he went to sleep that night.)