Archive of Our Own

“Ancient Runes, Divination, Transfiguration…” Professor Kibum tapped the edge of the scroll with his pointer finger as he reviewed Baekhyun’s O.W.L. results from the previous year. He paused to give Baekhyun an uncomfortably disappointed look. “I’m afraid your score for Care of Magical Creatures isn’t high enough for you to continue onto N.E.W.T. level. Neither is your score for Arithmancy… Astronomy looks to be fine…”

“I’d rather not take Astronomy,” Baekhyun blurted, promptly regretting it when his asshole of a best friend, Sehun Oh, stifled a laugh right after. Professor Kibum lowered the paper a fraction, this time regarding him with confusion.

“I don’t see why not. From what Professor Young said, you seem to enjoy it—”

“I don’t,” Baekhyun said. Then added, “Sir.”

Another beat of unpleasant scrutiny passed before Professor Kibum nodded, readjusting the glasses propped low on his nose. “Then should I assume you’ll be continuing with your other subjects? Most were Outstanding, and if you’ll be dropping Astronomy and Arithmancy, and won’t be taking Care of Magical Creatures, then…”

“Could I also drop Muggle Studies?”

Professor Kibum hummed. It seemed he wanted to say more, but after a moment he brought his wand to the empty scroll in front of Baekhyun, inking his new schedule on the page. “Very well. Next, Mr. Oh. I’m quite disappointed in your performance in Potions. I remember it because I had to sit through the agony of grading it, but if you’ll give me your scores...”

While Sehun got a steady and well-deserved lecture from the House Head, Baekhyun reviewed his schedule with a breath of relief. Finally, he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Asking was the hardest part. Now that he was clear to skip out on Astronomy and Muggle Studies, his parents would stop nagging him about his scores. He was tired of it. Just because Muggle Studies was one of the easiest classes, just because he happened to get good grades in Astronomy and not in some of the other, more magical classes, didn’t mean he was a mudblood sympathizer.

Baekhyun shuddered at the thought. If he felt anything for people with lineage like that, he didn’t want to think about how his family would react. Though, if they really had something against it, maybe they should have home schooled him instead. The thought made him chuckle; as if the muggle concept of home schooling would work in the wizarding world. There were far too many subjects for that, with far too many magical materials required for homeschooling to be practical.

Professor Kibum dismissed them once he’d gone down their grade, but before Baekhyun could even stand from his seat, he asked him to stay behind.

“Ooh,” Sehun, the annoying shit he was, whispered. He dodged Baekhyun’s smack and hurried away, peering over his shoulder at their House Head as he went. 

What did I do? Baekhyun wondered anxiously. He fidgeted in place as Professor Kibum sat in front of him, and suddenly the enchanted ceiling above them seemed to darken, so was the effect of the Potions professor’s stare.

“Tell me,” Professor Kibum started. “Why don’t you want to take Astronomy?”

That was what this was about? Baekhyun was baffled. “I just don’t like it, Professor.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

Baekhyun jiggled his leg, looking everywhere but Professor Kibum’s eyes, which he knew were scanning him inside and out for the truth. Was this something that happened? They were the only two in the Great Hall now, aside from the house-elves that were tidying up. No other student was being grilled about their schedule choice. Baekhyun had been under the impression that it was a one and done deal: once your schedule was on the parchment, that was it. So why was he getting interrogated about his? This didn’t seem fair at all.

“Did your parents tell you not to take it?”

Without meaning to, Baekhyun snapped, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Sir.”

“I know that the Byuns aren’t the most… sympathetic bunch.”

“They’re fine,” said Baekhyun stiffly.

“Well, alright then,” Professor Kibum said with a sigh. It seemed he’d come to terms with the fact that Baekhyun wasn’t going to budge about the subject. “Regardless, Professor Young wanted me to ask you if you would tutor a student in her class. It seems he wants to go into N.E.W.T. level classes, but she’s worried about his progress.”

Baekhyun couldn’t believe his ears. “You want me to tutor someone in a class I’m not even taking?”

“You could put it on future applications. It would also allow you to be out after midnight on Wednesday classes, which I’m sure you’d find great pleasure in.” He added the last part with a wry smile, referencing the numerous times he’d caught Baekhyun out of the common room after hours. “Of course, attendance to the Wednesday class isn’t mandatory if you’ll tutor, but it would be helpful in refreshing your memory, so Professor Young will allow it if you want to.”

“Wednesday? Isn’t that for underclassmen?”

“Recently, first year Astronomy has been moved to Monday night. Wednesday is for the fifth years.”

So the student he would be tutoring was a fifth year. Baekhyun imagined that it was someone he didn’t know, as he didn’t talk much with the underclassmen. It would be painfully awkward, he was sure. Not that he didn’t know how to be friendly. He just didn’t want to teach a subject he didn’t even like to some random kid he didn’t even know for some class he wasn’t even taking. His answer was clear, then.

Or, at least, it should have been.

But curiosity killed the cat, and Baekhyun was on his way to that metaphorical death the very next night, climbing the seemingly endless stairs leading to the top of the Astronomy Tower. He was late. Not only had it taken him eons to convince the prefects prowling the halls that he had a reason to be out that time of night, but he also had to sneak out of his room so as not to wake Sehun, who would probably tease him until his death about the fact that he was going out for an Astronomy lesson for the fifth years of all things. Even worse, the Astronomy Tower was the tallest tower in Hogwarts, and he, being a Slytherin, had to go up a million flights of stairs just to get there. His legs ached. He was tired.

He really didn’t know why he was doing this.

When he’d finally made it to the class, it was already underway. All the students were either looking through telescopes or huddled around one, with appearances similar to a bunch of penguins fighting off the arctic chill. Indeed, it was bitingly cold at this altitude, September wind cutting right to the bone. Baekhyun knew from experience that this was far from the worst that it could get in the Astronomy Tower. Once winter hit, it would be awful. Normally, Professor Young would have cast a warming charm on the tower, but she, for whatever reason, didn’t have it going until October at the earliest, so the students were left to freeze until then.

Professor Young noticed him the instant he pushed the heavy door open and stepped out into the cold air with a shiver. She beamed. “Byun, I’m glad you could make it! I was worried you weren’t coming.”

Her smile was blinding. Baekhyun fought the urge to block his eyes. “Sorry I’m late, Professor. I got stopped by five different prefects, and—”

“Oh, it’s quite alright. We’re looking at Jupiter right now. We don’t have any telescopes open, but if you’d like to join a group…”

“No, I’m fine just watching, Professor.”

“Actually, this would be an excellent time to introduce you to the student I want you to tutor. I assume you’re here to tell me you’ll do it, right?”

This was a mistake. Baekhyun had underestimated Professor Young. She was too difficult to say no to, her expression painfully hopeful. “Well…” Just say no. Just say you came because you were checking it out. No big deal. You don’t have to say— “Sure.”

“I knew I could count on you!” Professor Young said cheerily, and Baekhyun had the hunch he’d just fallen for some elaborate trap. “Come, let me introduce you. Kyungsoo!”

It was. It was a trap. Baekhyun’s heart dropped when he heard the name. No way it was who he thought it was… right?

But when the boy in question turned around, Baekhyun resigned himself to his fate.

“Remember when I said I would find you a tutor?” Professor Young asked. “This is Byun Baekhyun.”

The Hufflepuff smiled shyly. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m Doh Kyungsoo.”

“Baekhyun and Kyungsoo sitting in a tree—”

“Oh Sehun, if you say another word I swear to Merlin I’ll practice that charm we were working on in class on you right here.”

Immediately, Sehun quieted - he knew well what that threat meant, having attended the same Charms class with him a few hours ago. They were in the Slytherin common room to do homework at one of the tables designated for wizarding chess. It was no wonder Sehun was teasing him. When Baekhyun had gotten back last night, Sehun was wide awake, asking him what on earth he’d been doing after hours (“without me!” he’d lamented). Much like it was impossible to say no to Professor Young, it was impossible for Baekhyun to not tell Sehun what had happened when he was asking so directly.

There was blessed silence for a few minutes, but of course his best friend couldn’t contain himself. “So did you agree because of Kyungsoo, or—”

“No.”   Baekhyun was grateful that they were the only ones in the common room at the moment; the last thing he needed was a bunch of loud mouths spreading any rumors. This was their free period, and most students who were lucky enough to have a free period at that time were spending it somewhere else, so they had some privacy. “I didn’t even know it would be him. In the first place, I wasn’t planning on agreeing to a damn thing, but Professor Young is so persuasive.”

“Well, she is attractive.”

“Don’t say that like you aren’t a raging gay, Sehun.”

Sehun shrugged. “I’m just saying it like everyone else says it. She’s the youngest of the professors, isn’t she?”

No pun intended, but she was. She was also one of the more popular professors, in spite of the fact that her class was known as one of the more challenging, though reasonable, subjects.

“So you said yes because you have a thing for the Astronomy professor, then.” When Baekhyun put a hand in the pocket of his robe threateningly, Sehun backtracked. “Alright, alright. Jeez, what’s got your wand in a knot?”

Baekhyun sighed. Sehun was right. Usually he wasn’t this touchy. Especially about something so absurd. “I’m just tired. These N.E.W.T. level courses are already killing me. How are you so relaxed?”

“It helps to not give a shit about grades,” Sehun said. They were there to study, but in reality Baekhyun was pretty sure all Sehun had accomplished in the past half hour was eating half a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Baekhyun wasn’t sure how he’d managed to go through that much without so much a change in expression. Surely he’d’ve eaten some disgusting flavor, but then again, Sehun was another breed. He shouldn’t be too surprised. “Are you really going to tutor Doh?”

“Well… I already said I would,” Baekhyun said half-heartedly. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“For a Slytherin, you sure are obsessed with being a good student.”

They exchanged a smile at the stereotype.

“Why is it always so dark here?” The door to the common room opened with a bang to reveal a squinting Jaemin nestled underneath Ten’s arm. The two underclassmen were followed by Joy and Irene, the latter of which brought out her wand to brighten the dimmed lanterns. 

“Have you two been studying here this whole time?” Joy, one of the Slytherin prefects and a fifth year, asked. “And without turning on more lanterns?”

“It’s better not to see the work we have to do,” Baekhyun said gloomily. Jaemin and Ten bounded over to look at his scroll for Ancient Runes and actually gagged on sync, somehow managing to make Baekhyun laugh. “This’ll be your future, you know.”

“I’ll go to the Forbidden Forest before I choose to take Ancient Runes in my sixth year,” Jaemin said. 

“It’s not too bad,” Joy said. “If you need help, Irene got an Outstanding in her Ancient Runes exam last year, so you could ask her.”

Irene, also a prefect but a seventh year instead, shook her head. “I’d rather you not volunteer me for tutoring work. I have my hands full with my own classes, thank you.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t ask,” said Baekhyun bitterly. “I know how bothersome tutoring can be, anyway.”

At that, the five Slytherins looked at him curiously.

“I was only kidding,” Irene said after a moment. “I’ll help you if you need it.”

Baekhyun sighed for the upteenth time that day, setting his quill down on the table. “It’s not that. It’s just… Professor Young’s got me tutoring a fifth year.”

“A fifth year?” Ten perked up. “Do I know them?”

Jaemin elbowed him in the stomach with a grin. “Oh, come on, Ten. I know you’re popular and all, but you can’t know everyone in your grade. There’s— how many… is it two hundred? You know what I mean.”

“Two hundred isn’t that much,” Ten said patiently. “So? Who is it?”

Baekhyun hesitated to say, but Sehun didn’t have that sort of filter. “Doh Kyungsoo.”

“Oh, the Hufflepuff.”

“You actually know him?!”

“Are you really continuing your Astronomy class?” Irene asked, confused. “I think I remember you complaining about it for the past year.”

“Past two, I think,” Jaemin contributed.

“Maybe three,” Joy said.

“It’s complicated,” Baekhyun muttered. “Leave me alone about it. I’m not exactly thrilled either.”

No, it had to be clear that he wasn’t. Especially not when, somehow, it spread around the school that he was tutoring Kyungsoo. When he’d interrogated his friends, they all insisted that they hadn’t said a word to anyone else. So it must have been that kid, then, and the notion that the fifth year had the audacity to use him for attention made him boil with anger. The final straw was when, Friday morning, he received an owl from his parents asking about the rumors they’d heard: that he was helping someone who wasn’t of pure blood.

“I don’t know who he thinks he is,” Baekhyun said, furiously shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth. He wasn’t hungry exactly—just mad. “Somehow my parents caught wind of this, and now I’ve got to deal with their nagging when I see them next. Or they’ll keep sending these nasty letters. Look at this!”

Sehun picked up the paper that Baekhyun had flung in front of him.

Baekhyun,

What in the heavens is it that we’re hearing, that you’re tutoring a muggle-born (the usual wording his parents used, they avoided in letters that could be read by others) , a Hufflepuff no less, and in Astronomy of all things? We heard about you dropping out of Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. We trusted you to do well in school without our help, but if this continues, we may need to step in…

A few more paragraphs of lecture ended with the following ultimatum:

Either get yourself together, or we’ll have you transferred to another school. Sixth year isn’t too late to start over in Uagadou, you know.

We miss you dearly.

Love,

Mum and Dad.

“We miss you dearly,” Sehun scoffed, handing the letter back. “Wait. What school did they say they’d transfer you to again? Let me see.”

Baekhyun’s expression soured. “Uagadou.”

“Uagadou?! That wizarding school in Africa? Are your parents even human?”

“They’re Byuns. That means they’re about forty percent human, sixty percent heartless bastards.”

“Well, on the bright side…” Baekhyun already knew this wasn’t going to be helpful, but there was no way to prevent Sehun from continuing once he’d already started, “Uagadou students are known for being really good at Astronomy.”

Baekhyun stared at him. “I might actually kill you.”

Cackling gleefully, Sehun only jumped at the solid kick Baekhyun gave him from under the table, which attracted the attention of a group of first years scuttling past to find a seat. “What do they even mean by getting yourself together?”

“They mean I have to drop Astronomy, which I’m not even taking, and stop tutoring Kyungsoo.”

“You haven’t even started,” Sehun said.

“And look at what it’s done to me,” Baekhyun said miserably, referring to the letter but also to the group of gossiping Slytherins by the far end of the table. Their attempts to keep their glances to a minimum were awful attempts at discretion. “I’m going to give Doh a piece of my mind. And I’ll go to Professor Young and tell her I refuse to teach a muggle-born—”

Sehun groaned. “Again with that. I thought you’d grown out of it by now, but I guess old habits die hard.”

“What are you talking about?” Baekhyun snapped. “It's fundamental, isn’t it? Muggles don’t deserve a place in the wizarding world. That’s obvious.”

“He’s not a muggle, Baekhyun,” Sehun said. “He’s muggle born. And that way of thinking is old-fashioned. I don’t even think you believe in it, to be quite honest with you; it seems like it’s a personality trait of yours that comes out when you’re reminded of your parents' existence.”

“Whatever,” Baekhyun muttered. It wasn’t his job to convince his friend of anything. Besides, Sehun didn’t understand. He couldn’t associate with anyone but pure-bloods. It wasn’t his family’s way. Why he’d even considered it in the first place, he didn’t know. It had to have been a moment of insanity. Yes, that was it: insanity. He had to have gone temporarily insane to even be curious. Now, after three days of insanity, this was it. He would go to Professor Young and talk to Doh Kyungsoo and get this sorted out before his headache got worse.

That night, he brushed off all the commentary and giggles from the other students and confronted Kyungsoo just before he left the Great Hall after dinner, dragging him away from his friends to ask him what on earth his problem was.

“You spread it to everyone, didn’t you?” Baekhyun accused. He’d shoved the fifth year against the wall in a deserted corridor the instant they were out of sight, uninterested in the pleasantries the Hufflepuff tried to engage in. “You ran around with your mouth open the instant Professor Young told you I’d be your tutor, and… er…”

It wasn’t that he felt anything strange. The stuttering of his breath for a moment was because of his asthma or something, that was all. The castle was dusty in some places, he reasoned, so it made sense that he would find it a little hard to breathe. And his heart was thudding in his chest purely because he hated confrontation. It made sense.

“I didn’t tell anyone,” said the Hufflepuff, looking rather confused and a bit ruffled. His glasses were crooked, and his cheeks a little red in the flickering candlelight above them. Wide, impossibly brown eyes blinked up at him. “I don’t have a reason to. I mean, everyone knows who you are, and just about everyone knows what you do anyhow, so I wouldn’t need to tell anyone about the fact that you’re going to tutor me.”

That made sense. Too much sense. Enough sense, in fact, that Baekhyun felt annoyed again, if not a little embarrassed, scratching the back of his neck and turning away. “Fine, then. I mean, it’s not like I’m known enough for everyone to have heard about this without you saying anything. But I’ll let it slide. Just this once.”

“Were people bothering you about it?” Kyungsoo asked hesitantly. Worriedly.

“It’s none of your business if they were,” Baekhyun said. “Just… keep your mouth shut from now on, alright?”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said.

“Really… I volunteer to help you, and all I get is trouble…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Baekhyun snapped. It looked as though the Hufflepuff wanted to apologize again, but one look at Baekhyun’s withering expression convinced him to stay silent. Good. His voice was irritating anyway.

“Uhm… are you going back to the Slytherin common room now?”

Had he just been standing there like an idiot? What was he even thinking about? “Yes. I reckon you should be heading to yours, too.”

Kyungsoo nodded. For a moment, neither of them moved. “... Are we still meeting tomorrow for the tutoring session?”

Absolutely not, Baekhyun thought instantly. And yet, to his horror, his mouth went ahead of him. “Sure.”

Something was definitely wrong. And not even in general. No, something was wrong with him.  

Baekhyun stood in front of the large mirror of their dormitory, straightening his robe while Taemin watched from his bed. It was 10:47 in the morning. Both boys had skipped breakfast under the unspoken agreement to sleep in, while the other three (Sehun, Jimin, and Yoongi,) went off to do who knows what on a Saturday morning. His meeting with Kyungsoo was supposed to be at 11:30. If he wanted to give himself enough time to walk to the library, though, he’d have to leave at 11:00 sharp.

“You look good,” Taemin offered helpfully from under his covers. It looked like he didn’t plan on leaving bed anytime soon. “Are you worried about your tutoring session with Doh?”

Did everyone know about it? Baekhyun sighed. “I’m not worried. I just… have to leave a good impression. I can’t let him think Slytherins are slobs, can I?”

“I guess not.” Watching him through the mirror, Taemin yawned. “But is there much to do when we’ve got matching robes? You should be worrying about your hair, instead.”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“No, it looks fine.” Then, “Maybe wash your face, though.”

“I did,” Baekhyun said, suddenly a little stressed. “What is it? Do I look tired? Puffy?”

“Tired, but it’s not too obvious. I just thought it might help you wake up.”

Baekhyun tousled his hair a bit and straightened his tie before grabbing his bag, which had the usual assortment of books and supplies, as well as a few snacks he’d saved from breakfast the other day. “Forget it. I’m already awake. But thanks, Taemin.”

“No problem. Are you leaving now?”

“Might as well,” Baekhyun said with a sigh. “You’re staying?”

“Might as well,” Taemin echoed. “Good night.”

The great punishment of being a Slytherin, or so was the joke in their house, was the fact that they were at the part of the castle that was called ‘the dungeons,’ which was the least welcoming name they could have given the location of any common room. Even Hufflepuff, whose common room was on the exact same floor as Slytherin’s, were located in what was known as ‘the basement.’ It was no wonder that Slytherins were known for being nasty. That, and it was hard to tell when it was morning in their common room with the windows all facing the bottom of the lake, so being a morning person was all but a distant dream. As he dragged himself up numerous staircases and through winding halls to the library, Baekhyun told himself it was entirely natural for him to be in a bad mood, considering the circumstances. It served as a way of self-consolation that proved useless once he made it to his destination and faced the sad truth.

He was stuck with this tutoring job. It was too late to go back and too late to fix his reputation. He just hoped his parents wouldn’t hear about the fact that he was going through with it. At the very least, he hoped they would hear about how he’d tried to quit. Right after speaking with Kyungsoo, he’d gone straight to the Astronomy Tower to talk to Professor Young about quitting before he’d even begun.

“Do you not like him?”

“Well, it’s not exactly that, but—”

“Did he bully you?”

“Well, no, but still—”

“Then I don’t see the problem. You were my best student, Mr. Byun. While I am disappointed that you didn’t choose to continue taking my class, to watch you share your knowledge with your fellow wizard would almost make up for it. I told you, too, that if you ever wanted to return to my class, I’d be willing to talk it out with the Headmaster. And if you think you aren’t getting anything out of it, at the very least, I’ve heard from Professor Jung that Mr. Doh is quite the gifted Charm’s student… nearly skipped a level, actually. So I’m sure you could learn a great deal from him, too.”

“That’s not the point, Professor. I can’t teach him.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I’ve got loads of work from my classes, and I have Quidditch on top of it, and I… er…”

“Byun. Are your parents pressuring you again?”

“It’s— it’s not them…”

“It is, isn’t it? I should have a word with them—”

“Please don’t, Professor.”

“Then, how about this? You can tell them I forced you into it. And if you really hate it, then you can come to me and tell me you want to quit. Could I ask you to stick to it for just this term? You’ll be free after Christmas. What do you think?”

“I… I guess.”

“Wonderful! And I want you to know that if you ever want to take your N.E.W.T. level for Astronomy, you can tell me any time before the end of the term, too. If you did some make up work over the break, and then a bit more work during the next term, we could get you up to speed. Okay?”

“... Okay.”

And that was that. Flash forward to now, and he was definitely going a little crazy, on the search for the Hufflepuff who centered his current dilemma. He found him in the back by the History of Magic section. He was reading a large book under the lamplight, and didn’t seem to notice Baekhyun until he’d sat across from him.

Baekhyun cleared his throat.

“Oh, hi Baekhyun. Did you get here okay? I know the Slytherin common room is a bit of a way from here.”

“It’s fine,” Baekhyun said gruffly. The thought occurred to him a beat later, “Isn’t the Hufflepuff common room farther away?”

“Only a little,” Kyungsoo said.

A little? It was across the school.

“You’re here early,” Kyungsoo continued. “I didn’t expect you to be here now.”

“You shouldn’t be here either, then,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“I had some other classes to study for. I know it’s too early to be studying for exams, but I’m worried about them.”

He was studying for the O.W.L.s now? When Professor Young called him a hard worker, Baekhyun hadn’t expected him to also be insane. “You’ll forget everything if you study this early.”

“Well, Minseok — sorry, I mean a seventh year I know — said that studying early and in little snippets is a good way to prepare for the exams, so you won’t have to work as hard later.”

“I know Minseok,” Baekhyun said impatiently. He was a seventh year, the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and the Head Boy at that. Of course Baekhyun would know him. And of course Kyungsoo would take his advice to heart. While Baekhyun did respect Minseok, even without talking to him much he knew him enough to know that he was crazy when it came to grades. “He’s right about studying early, but how long have you been reading that book?”

Kyungsoo chewed his lip. “Um… since this morning?”

“How long?” Baekhyun repeated.

“Maybe… maybe eight hours? But I took breaks,” he protested before Baekhyun could say a thing. “And it’s not like I stayed in the library that long. I borrowed this yesterday—”

“Yesterday? Okay, put that away. I don’t want to see you reading that next time we meet.”

“But…”

“That’s final.” Jeez, was he the only one with common sense? “If you’re reading it because you think it’s interesting, that’s different. But if you’re reading it because you want to study, then you’re better off not wasting your time. Focus on your school work first. You can study bit by bit, but how on earth is reading a book that size in a day studying in snippets? Hand it over,” Baekhyun said.

Looking ashamed of himself, Kyungsoo slid the hefty textbook across the mahogany desk and waited for further instruction.

“Now take out your Astronomy homework,” Baekhyun said, “and tell me what you’ve been working on.”

The two of them went through the constellation chart Professor Young had assigned that week. After Kyungsoo told him the gist of what he’d understood from the last lecture, Baekhyun corrected his mistakes and added more detail to the explanations. Then the two of them did their work in silence, with Baekhyun pausing in his Herbology homework every once in a while to check Kyungsoo’s progress.

“Thanks for agreeing to help me,” Kyungsoo said as they were clearing the table of their belongings. “I know you didn’t want to, but you came anyway.”

“I told Professor Young I would.”

“You didn’t have to,” Kyungsoo insisted. It seemed the boy insisted, too, on being nice all the time, no matter if he was with a Slytherin who had threatened him the day before. “So thank you.”

“Whatever,” Baekhyun mumbled. He closed his bag. “I’ll see you next week, then.”

“See you.”

The next week went by suspiciously smoothly. Baekhyun didn’t attend the Astronomy lecture and had chosen to sleep instead, to Professor Jinki’s delight. Last week, or so he’d told him, Baekhyun had looked completely disinterested, but this time he was actually participating in class, which was apparently more like him. It was all due to the fact that he’d gotten more sleep. He didn’t realize how much nicer it was to not have to go to a midnight class — he’d gotten so used to being sleep deprived since his first year that not having to stay up was foreign to him.

Everyone seemed to notice his change in mood. When he’d partnered up with the tall, awkward Gryffindor named Park Chanyeol who he’d hardly spoken to despite the fact that they were in the same year, he’d mentioned, “You look like you’re doing better than last week, Byun.” And next period, while practicing the mending charm with Sehun’s quill (which he broke repeatedly for Baekhyun to fix,) Sehun said, “You’re in a better mood than last Thursday, huh?”

“Everyone’s been saying that,” Baekhyun said as he watched Sehun snap the quill once more. He lifted his wand and muttered, reparo! , before continuing, “It’s like you all went to a meeting and decided to say it today.”

Sehun took the quill in both hands and broke it again. He didn't even bother to put it on the table when Baekhyun was getting faster at fixing it. “It’s just obvious. Did it go well with Doh last week or something? I know I already asked you, but it’s really starting to seem like it.”

“I wonder if you think the world revolves around Kyungsoo Doh,” Baekhyun said. His mood had instantly soured at the mention of the Hufflepuff. “I’m in a good mood because trials for Quidditch are starting this weekend, thank you very much. What about you? You seem like you’re in a good mood.”

“That’s right, they do start soon, don’t they? I can’t believe I forgot. I mean, I remembered that you’re the captain, of course. I wouldn’t forget that about my best friend.”

“Thank you,” Baekhyun said, amused. He’d been captain since last year. “Anyway, you’re avoiding the question. What’s got you in such a good mood?”

Sehun shrugged, but he couldn’t hide his grin. “Well, you already know why.”

As a matter of fact, Baekhyun did. Sehun was head over heels for Chanyeol, and since they were in the same Charms class, he was always in a good mood after Charms. Even though Baekhyun had partnered up with Chanyeol this time (Professor Jung didn’t allow the same partner back to back,) Sehun had gotten to talk to Chanyeol on their way back to the dormitories, so he was satisfied.

“It sucks they have us sit at different places in the Great Hall,” Baekhyun said sympathetically. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be suspicious if you were to sit beside him.”

In the Great Hall, students traditionally sat according to their houses, but it wasn’t illegal to sit at a different table, just… attention-grabbing. Only couples and close friends from other houses did that. It just wasn’t the norm.

“I’ll get him to sit with us at Thanksgiving,” Sehun promised, this time snapping his quill with a bit more energy. “I’ve got to come up with some excuse…”

At dinner, Baekhyun left Sehun to meet with Jeonghan, his co-captain. They discussed the list of sign-ups as well as the time that they would hold the trials, which were traditionally on the second Saturday of the month. Since Jeonghan had Alchemy club at noon, and Baekhyun had tutoring in the morning, that left the afternoon for trials. Baekhyun already felt exhausted thinking about it. Trials were probably his least favorite part of being captain, and he’d only gone through it once thus far. It was a necessary evil, though. They’d lost some strong players from the previous graduating year, so they had to fill up the spots.

“There are a lot of people,” Jeonghan said, reviewing the list. “I’m pretty sure some of them have never even picked up a broomstick.”

“That’s just how it is for the first years,” Baekhyun said. “I’m sure we’ll find good players.”

Jeonghan shook his head with a sigh. “Hope so. If we lose to Gryffindor again like last year, I think I might actually quit.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I wish I could say it’s an empty threat, but with my sixth year coming up, my parents say I should focus on my studies, or if not then I should at least be winning in Quidditch.”

Fair enough. Baekhyun couldn’t argue against that one, not when his parents were the same. They had to win. The pride of their house depended on it. Last year was a disaster — if Baekhyun weren’t the captain of the team, he might have considered quitting by the second match. The thought of how bad it was despite having the seventh years from that year playing, and the thought of how bad it could be now that they’ve lost them, made Baekhyun’s stomach turn with anxiety. It was worse that he was the team captain; everyone would blame him, and that blame would be well-deserved. After all, if he wasn’t performing his duty well, then everyone else would suffer. The stress was nauseating.

“Are you going to be okay with your classes this year?”

“I’m just glad I’m not a prefect,” Baekhyun said with a shudder. He’d gotten the offer through owl his fifth year, but had declined much to his parents dismay. Actually, dismay was an understatement—they’d nearly revoked his Quidditch privileges when they heard what he’d done. He still blames Professor Kibum for mentioning it to his parents, although he did apologize when he heard the lecture his parents gave him.

“I still don’t get why you chose not to be a prefect,” Jeonghan said, reaching over to plate himself more vegetables. “It looks good on your resume, and it gives you more perks…”

“More like it gives you more work. I already feel swamped and school’s barely started.”

“In that case, I guess it was a good thing you didn’t go for prefect. Every time Yuta comes into the dormitories he looks about ready to pass out.”

Yuta Nakamoto, another fifth year like Jeonghan who just so happened to be the other Beater of their team, had recently been promoted over the summer to prefect, so it was unsurprising that he was still getting the hang of things. “I’m sure the other prefects would be willing to help if he asked.”

“It’d be that easy if he were willing to ask,” Jeonghan said disapprovingly. “I hope he does well in the trials this year. I want to play with him again, and it’d be awkward for us to be roommates if he isn’t on the team.”

They’d just have to see. The two of them went over their plan and solidified a time. Baekhyun decided it’d be best to move the tutoring session to later and have the trials first thing in the morning, since he’d be too distracted to teach otherwise, so the trials were set to 9 am sharp that Saturday. 

The next day was uneventful for a Friday. That is, until Divination. Professor Taeyeon had them read fortunes as always. Baekhyun was pretty sure that almost every student who’d continued through to N.E.W.T. level Divination had done so only for the easy O. It was a useless class but easy to pass as long as one was willing to do the work. That, and it wasn’t entirely boring, even though the class was more superstition than magic. Baekhyun enjoyed assigning meaning to mundane things — it was a better pastime than spreading dragon dung underneath poisonous plants, anyway (looking at you, Herbology).

“My, Byun. I hope you don’t mind my interrupting your reading.” Professor Taeyeon eyed the teacup Baekhyun had set in front of him. In the small classroom, her voice carried across, so that now all the students were looking at them. Wordlessly, Baekhyun leaned back to give her a better view. Beside him, just out of Professor Taeyon’s view, his friend and partner in the class,Yixing Zhang, watched with amusement. “Oh, yes. I thought I saw this. Tell me, Byun, what do you think this is?”

Baekhyun squinted, trying to make out a shape amongst the clumps of brown. “Er… maybe… a dog?”

“A dog? Where on earth do you see a dog?”

He could see a group of Gryffindors giggling at the other end of the classroom. His face burned. “I don’t know, Professor.”

“That’s not a dog, but a swan. Which represents…?”

Frantically, Baekhyun went through his inner catalogue of meanings that he’d studied last year for the Divination O.W.L. and came up with, “Loyalty?”

This time, Professor Taeyeon smiled. “Yes, loyalty. But paired with the raccoon and the frog, it means a fateful meeting, perhaps even with a soulmate of sorts. New beginnings, as well. Also misunderstandings, conflict… and danger.”

That sounded promising. Baekhyun stared at the tea dregs and tried to find the raccoon and frog. He could not. “I’ll be careful in the future, Professor.”

“As you should. And note any meetings from now on. One of them may be lasting.” Seemingly pleased with herself and her prediction of Baekhyun’s love life, she continued down the aisle, moving onto the next student and their teacup and proceeding to predict tragedy and misery for the upcoming term.

Yixing leaned over to look at his cup. “Wow, she got so much from so little.”

“I know, right?” Yet, Baekhyun found his mind wandering. Why was it that the only meeting he could think of was the one he’d had with Doh? It didn’t make sense.

Before he could figure it out, a crumpled piece of parchment hit him on the forehead. The Gryffindors were giggling again. Frowning, Baekhyun straightened the paper and read out the messily scrawled message: How about I meet you?

“What does that even mean?” Baekhyun muttered aloud. He stuffed the paper into his bag. He didn’t have the heart to outright throw it away. Not that it would be that uncharacteristic of him. “Come closer, Yixing. I can’t read your tea dregs from here.”

The Slytherin Quidditch team trials went about as smoothly as Baekhyun had expected. That is, they didn’t go smoothly at all. A first year broke his arm and had to be sent to the hospital wing, a pair of third years vying for the position of Seeker got into a fight, and one person even accused Baekhyun of having favorites when he decided to keep Yuta as the second Beater of their team. Not only that, but there was a considerably large group of spectators for the trials that bombarded Baekhyun at the end with requests to be tutored, apparently having caught wind of his situation with Kyungsoo.

“There’s a time and place for everything,” Baekhyun spit out, boiling. He and Jeonghan were walking back to the castle along with one of their Chasers, a third year named Haechan. “If you want to ask me to tutor you, fine, whatever, I’m over the fact that everyone knows at this point. But we’ve got more important things to worry about, like a first year on the ground because he didn’t know how to ride a broom and hit a Bludger straight on—”

“They didn’t actually want you to tutor them,” Jeonghan interrupted. 

“What do you mean? They were all asking me.”

“Didn’t you hear?” Haechan grinned, shoving him. “You’re all over. Professor Taeyon’s prediction? A fateful meeting?”

“What?” Baekhyun felt another headache on its way. “If I find whoever spread that around…”

“It could be anyone,” Jeonghan said. “But look on the bright side. We knew this before already, but everyone wants to date you—”

“You’d better not ditch Quidditch when you find your soulmate,” Haechan sang teasingly. He dodged a hit from Baekhyun and skipped backwards, a shit-eating grin on his face. “If I find you snogging around with some first year and neglecting your duties as captain…”

“Oh, hop off it, Lee. I’m not dating anyone.”

Haechan wrinkled his nose. “Boring.”

“Don’t you have other friends to hang out with?” Jeonghan said, coming to Baekhyun’s rescue.

“Yeah, yeah.” Haechan stuck out a tongue. “See you guys.”

He and Jeonghan discussed the trials a bit more before going their separate ways. Baekhyun was a little late to the tutoring session, but he made it clear enough that he was in a bad mood that the Hufflepuff didn’t say anything about it. The next morning, he woke up to a pile of letters that his bird, a small, gray screech owl by the name of Dubu, delivered in parts. Baekhyun made sure to feed him an ample amount of treats - he felt bad that Dubu had to deliver so much.

Throughout the week, it was the same, though it did die down the more time passed. Juggling his classes and Quidditch practice every day was a struggle as he’d expected, but it was surprisingly manageable so long as he had his friends to complain to. Tutoring Kyungsoo, too, proved to be tolerable, though he did receive letters from his parents every week reminding him to stay true to his family’s beliefs, lest he forget and befriend anyone other than a pure-blood. Secretly, Baekhyun was grateful for the reminders — every once in a while he’d find himself sharing a smile with the Hufflepuff, or saying a little more than necessary, and it worried him. If he actually started to like teaching him, it would complicate things. Not that he liked him. Not even as a friend.

Baekhyun reminded himself of that every week.

Halloween quickly approached. Hogwarts took on the role of a spooky castle, lights turned a strange, muted orange, spider webs appearing in corners that were usually spotless, and the occasional bat fluttering high enough to brush the ceilings. Baekhyun found that the change had hardly any effect on the dungeons, as most of the time that was the state of their part of the castle, anyway. Even Professor Kibum mentioned it with disgust during their weekly Potions lesson. “It’s like they’re trying to turn the whole castle into the Slytherin common room.”

That comment was funny on its own, though sorely untrue to those who knew what the common room looked like. In fact, it was Professor Kibum that did most of the decor there, with the help of the prefects. One morning, Baekhyun, Sehun, and the others had left their dorms to find that the common room was lit head to toe in floating, glowing lanterns and live skeletons that appeared to be surveying the lake. It was the brightest the Slytherin common room got, save for Christmas, which was just as festive.

“I suggested they add more lights,” said Jaemin proudly, to which Irene nodded seriously.

“A very good suggestion, Jaemin.”

As usual, everyone woke on Halloween day excited not only for the Halloween feast but for the first visit to Hogsmeade that was promised every year. Baekhyun, of course, went with his friends, and got his hair cut at the salon while everyone visited Honeydukes (he wasn’t much for sweets, so he had a habit of skipping that part.) At this point, having gone to Hogsmeade so much it’d become a bit less of a must-do, Baekhyun had considered opting out on the Halloween trip to nap before the feast. But he had been craving butterbeer, which was how Sehun had convinced him to go, and how they ended their trip. Sitting around a wobbly table in the bustling atmosphere of the Three Broomsticks, they chatted about classes and the like, every once in a while requesting refills and sharing snacks.

“The first match is coming up, isn’t it?”

It was Jimin asking. He and Yoongi weren’t a part of the Quidditch team; neither had tried out. While it seemed like Yoongi just wasn’t interested, Jimin didn’t join because of his parents, who were worried that he might get injured. It was an understandable concern, but Baekhyun still bothered him every once in a while to beg him to try out.

“It’s next week,” Baekhyun said, suddenly feeling a bit sick. He downed a whole glass of butterbeer before continuing. “I think we’re about as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Why is our first match of the year always against Gryffindor, anyway?” Haechan complained. Baekhyun shared the sentiment. Why they would pit rival houses against each other for the very first match, he didn’t know. It should be the closing match of the Championship. Not the entry game.

“Let’s just face it: we’re probably going to lose.” 

“With that attitude,” Baekhyun said to Lisa, who was a Chaser, “maybe.”

Lisa groaned. “Are you going to give us a motivational speech now?”

“No. I’m not feeling very motivated.” At that, Lisa laughed. Baekhyun grinned. “Cheer up. I know we lost a lot of good players, but we’ve got time to whip the newbies into shape. And they’re pretty good already. It’s not like the Gryffindor game is the end all be all for us. We could win the cup without it.”

“Motivationally realistic,” Jeonghan said. “That’s like you.”

He hadn’t meant to do a mini motivational speech, but it came out anyway. It just felt nice. Even though he had some bad feelings about the upcoming match, even though he felt a bit swamped with all his work, even though a certain person kept popping up in his head along with a certain prediction, he couldn’t bring himself to be too stressed when he was surrounded by his friends. 

The Halloween feast was as grandiose as always. The Great Hall was decorated with gigantic floating jack-o-lanterns, courtesy of Professor Jinki’s seventh greenhouse, the enchanted ceiling flashed with a very angry looking storm, and live bats flew around in droves, a few tormenting a group of Ravenclaws as they searched for a seat. Baekhyun took his usual place towards the center, where the food was freshest (Sehun called him crazy, but Baekhyun insisted he could taste the difference.) 

It was, Baekhyun deemed, a perfect All Hallows’ Evening, which ended as every night did in the comfort of his own cozy bed, listening to the fireplace crackle. He’d heard from other students that they didn’t have as many fireplaces as Slytherins did. Just a single one in their common room, but none in their dormitories. He knew it was simple, but that was one of the reasons why he was glad he’d been sorted into Slytherin. Since they were under the lake, it was much too cold at night to forgo a fire, and, while it had taken some time to get used to the light while he slept, it easily became his favorite part of the room.

Baekhyun was just beginning to doze off when there was a loud commotion outside. At first, he ignored it, thinking it was just another quarrel (the first years this year were quite energetic,) or the sound of a prefect reprimanding a student out of bed, but when the yelling escalated, he sat up.

“Is that Jaemin?”

Taemin rubbed his eyes. “Is it? It doesn’t sound like him.”

When the four boys (Baekhyun, Sehun, Taemin, and Yoongi,) had left their room to see what was going on, they found that it was, in fact, Jaemin. The third year looked absolutely insane, hair sticking up in different directions and eyes red, sobbing beside an empty rat’s cage. Baekhyun couldn’t make his words out very well, but it sounded like he was saying his rat's name, which was Herbert.

“It’s alright,” Joy said from where she knelt beside him, awkwardly patting him on the back. “Don’t cry.”

Ten stood off to the side. He looked utterly uncomfortable, but the worry was just as visible in his frown. He hardly glanced at Baekhyun when he shuffled beside him to discreetly ask, “What happened?”

“Someone stole his rat,” Ten said. “It was a gift from his grandmother before she passed away. He keeps saying it must be one of the Ravenclaws — apparently he got into a fight in Potions—”

“Everyone, go back to bed,” Irene said calmly. She seemed to be the only one unruffled by the crying boy at the center of the room. Whispering amongst themselves, the students dispersed to their rooms. Just before Baekhyun was ushered away by the other prefects, he heard Irene say, “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry, Jaemin.”

“Someone stole his rat?” 

They were lying in bed, talking in hushed tones lest they be heard from the outside, which was impossible considering the mermaids outside had begun to sing. Baekhyun told his dorm mates about what Ten told him. “It’s strange, isn’t it? He was saying it might be a Ravenclaw, but how are they supposed to go down here without the password? Unless someone shared it, which isn’t likely. And we’re under the lake, so there’s no way they could’ve gotten in from the windows.”

“I think what’s more strange is that they would want to steal a rat,” Sehun said. “Why a rat?”

Jimin, who Baekhyun had thought was asleep all this time on account of him not having gone out with the rest of them, said, “I’m sure it’s a very nice rat.”

The boys were silent for a moment.

“I’ve been saying you should’ve been a Hufflepuff,” said Yoongi finally. “‘I’m sure it’s a very nice rat?’”

“What? It could be.”

None of them had chosen to adopt a rat. Aside from Jimin (who had adopted a cat by the name of Jumi,) the rest of them had adopted owls, and thought that rats were more vermin than pet. It had been a relief to all of them when they found that their dorm mates had the same mind.

That being said, none of them were very sympathetic to Jimin’s statement.

“I do feel bad for Jaemin, though,” Sehun said. “I’ve never seen him so upset.”

Baekhyun hummed in agreement. “Ten did say that his grandmother gave it to him.”

It made sense why he would treasure something like that, to the point of crying about it. Jaemin had never struck him as the type to have a breakdown over anything. Normally he was relaxed, if not a bit cheeky. To see him so upset was shocking.

“Hopefully they find Herbert soon,” Taemin said, which was understood to be the end of the conversation as the boys assumed their sleeping positions.

They didn’t find Herbert soon. In fact, the very next day, another pet went missing, this time a cat from the Ravenclaw girl’s dormitories, which effectively debunked Jaemin’s theory that it was a Ravenclaw out to get him. By then, everyone was on high alert, but that didn’t stop more and more pets from getting stolen. Throughout the week, the castle was buzzing with news of more kidnappings. A salamander from the Hufflepuff dormitories, even an owl from the owlery. On Wednesday, the Headmaster announced that students might consider sending their pets home for a short time while he and the professors investigated. The owlery, however, would be under constant supervision by rotating staff members, as owls were necessary to mail family back at home. Baekhyun, worried for Dubu, had visited him the night before and was relieved to see him at breakfast, carrying the usual reminder from his parents that seemed less important when, after all the owls had left, Sehun’s wasn’t accounted for.

“They took him,” Sehun said frantically, though it was unclear who ‘they’ were. Baekhyun tried to calm him down, but his friend was at the height of panic, beginning to hyperventilate. In the end, Professor Kibum escorted him to the hospital wing, and Baekhyun was forced to walk to class alone.

He worried about Sehun for the entirety of his History of Magic class. It was hard to care about the history of wandlore when his friend was in distress. Naturally, he visited Sehun in the hospital wing the next period, which he had free, and found him at the back, opposite to a pair of second years who had apparently messed up a concoction in Potions class. Madam Yoona had done nothing more than give him a paper bag to breathe into and some water, saying that magic could only do so much for such a poor state. Baekhyun was inclined to agree.

Still, his friend did look better than before. His eyes were a bit puffy and he was worryingly unresponsive when Baekhyun first took a seat beside his bed, but at least he wasn’t having a panic attack.

“Do they know who did it yet?” Baekhyun asked.

“If they knew, do you think there would be more pets missing?”

“I guess not. I’m sorry, Sehun. I’m sure they’ll find Maeum.”

At the name of his beloved owl, Sehun sniffed. “You think?”

“I’m sure of it.” Rubbing Sehun’s shoulder, Baekhyun reached for the glass on the nightstand. “Here, drink some more.”

Obediently, Sehun downed half the cup before handing it back. “I can’t drink anymore. Madam Yoona kept making me drink. I think she was worried that I’d get dehydrated from crying so much.”

“Well, it’s a reasonable worry.”

“I didn’t cry that much.” Grabbing a tissue from a box he had beside him, Sehun blew his nose. “I heard Professor Taeyeon say they think the disappearance has got something to do with the Forbidden Forest.”

“The Forbidden Forest?”

“Apparently there was a trail left behind. Feathers.” At that, his friend began to tear up again. Baekhyun hushed him, telling him not to think of those things anymore, and that he was certain the staff would get to the bottom of it, to which Sehun nodded and blew his nose more. “They can’t go in, though,” Sehun said.

“Why not?”

“It’s giant breeding season. You know how dangerous giants can be — they won’t stop to talk things out. They’d much rather kill you first. And they’re difficult to fight with normal spells. It’s much better if they wait it out, and of course I get it, but still.”

Baekhyun nodded sympathetically. If he were in Sehun’s shoes, he would want to see his owl as soon as possible. Anything could have happened. “When does the breeding season end?”

“Middle of winter,” Sehun said.

“The middle of winter?”

He hadn’t meant to sound so incredulous, but the damage was done. Sehun began to cry again. “I know! That’s not for a month and a half at least — I don’t know why they’ve got to mate for so long—”

“That’ll be enough, Byun,” Madam Yoona said, materializing behind him. Baekhyun yelped in surprise. She nudged him out of his chair and then away from the bed. “Let Mr. Oh rest, please. It wouldn’t do to get him upset again after he spent an entire period working through it. There, there,” she turned back to Sehun as she guided Baekhyun to the divider, then returned to Sehun’s bedside, “it’ll be okay…”

“I’ll come visit during break,” Baekhyun called worriedly. Madam Yoona waved him away.

The rest of the week went by painstakingly slowly. More and more pets were stolen, and the Quidditch match set for Saturday was cancelled until further notice, much to Baekhyun’s dismay. No one knew the reason — there was no connection between the game and the missing pets, after all — but Jeonghan reasoned the Headmaster didn’t want to put more emotional strain on the students. With the match cancelled, Baekhyun called off practice and went straight to the library. He was in a bad mood. But it seemed like Kyungsoo felt worse. Baekhyun was sure he wasn’t imagining the fact that he was quieter, although he greeted him as nicely as always.

“That’s wrong,” Baekhyun said. “And that too. Honestly, did you even study?”

“I did, but…”

Baekhyun crossed out a number of columns, then drew out another one and slid it across the table. “Again.”

A small part of him knew he was being over the top. He nit-picked each and every one of Kyungsoo’s errors, neglecting any compliments and instead ruthlessly insisting he redo the chart over and over again. It was bad, he knew, to feed the twisted pleasure he felt in watching the Hufflepuff get more and more frustrated. In part, he might have been using the session as an excuse to get his disappointment over the game being cancelled out. Or it might have had to do with the uncertainty of the animals getting stolen, and his endless worry for his friends who had lost theirs. It could have been any one of those things that brought him to act out a little more, or it could have been the tiny curiosity that grew with his most recent feelings, that asked if it was possible for a Hufflepuff to be anything other than kind and patient. Wasn’t it a tad inhuman to be so persistently pleasant? Baekhyun wondered if Kyungsoo had any emotions other than happiness and shyness. He wondered if he could bring anything else out of him, if there was anything else that existed.

As Baekhyun returned the paper once more, nagging him on his errors, Kyungsoo said, “Thank you,” and he finally snapped.

“It must be tiring to be so disgustingly nice all the time,” Baekhyun sneered. “Don’t you think?”

For a long, heavy beat, he received no response. Then the library echoed with the sound of Kyungsoo slamming his quill on the table, jerking his chin upward to face him boldly.

“Well,” said the Hufflepuff, face bright red and with a bit of a stutter to his speech, “Well, it must be tiring to be such a huge jerk all the time, don’t you think?”

Baekhyun was taken aback. “Jerk?”

Huffing, Kyungsoo gathered his belongings so quickly it was surprising there was no magic involved and marched off, robe brushing at Baekhyun’s toes as he did. He’d forgotten his ink bottle. When he was six steps away he came back with the same amount of haughtiness and snatched it up. “I don’t think I need to be tutored anymore,” he said with an air of disdain. Then added, “Thank you for your time until now. Goodbye.”

And he went off, leaving Baekhyun in a stunned silence.

Of course, Baekhyun thought, he would remember to thank him before he left.

Kyungsoo was on his mind that night and the night after that. In the morning and afternoon, too. The Hufflepuff’s angry expression placed itself at the forefront of Baekhyun’s thoughts, so much so that he could nearly see it in his cauldron during Potions class, distracted enough for Professor Kibum to take points from his own house.

“You need to start paying attention,” Sehun said on their way to the Great Hall for dinner. “You’re costing us points, and you know the prefects will be on your butt about it if it happens again.”

Sehun was doing much better than last week, even though they had yet to find Maeum. So long as no one brought it up, he was fine. Every morning, when the owls came to deliver letters to the students, he got a little anxious, but a few puffs into the paper bag he’d started carrying around seemed to do the trick.

Speaking of the missing animals, Joy made an announcement at the common room after dinner. “There isn’t much news to share,” she said, “but we’ve been told to let you know that the professors think it’s got something to do with the Forbidden Forest. No student is allowed to look around there — that should go without saying — but the Headmaster wanted me to repeat that. No one is allowed to go to the Forbidden Forest. That’s forbidden. That being said, they don’t think they’ll be able to start investigations until December at the earliest, and even that’s a stretch. It’s giant mating season, and for those of you who haven’t taken first year Care of Magical Creatures yet, giants are dangerous, even for a wizard.” Letting those words settle in, Joy’s voice next had a taste of sympathy as she added, “I’m sorry to those who have lost their pets. I assure you everyone is doing what they can. Professor Kibum told me to let you all know that counseling is available in the hospital wing, and to speak to him if you wish to have some time off…”

“Time off?” Jimin whispered to Baekhyun. “Who wouldn’t want time off?”

Baekhyun agreed. But he was most certain about what that offer really meant: that there was nothing they could do, and that the animals that had been stolen were likely to never come back. Still, he didn’t say any of his thoughts to Sehun, who was excited, at least, to be able to skip Potions for the next week. It beat him being sad over Maeum, any day.

“What’s been bugging you?” Sehun asked as they went back to their dormitories. The other boys settled in bed, chatting amongst themselves.

Baekhyun lifted the covers and huddled underneath. He was tempted to increase the heat from the fire but was too lazy to retrieve his wand from the nightstand. “Nothing.”

“I know when something’s bothering you. You can’t lie to me that easily.”

“I don’t know what’s bothering me,” Baekhyun revised. “It’s… confusing.”

As the words left his mouth, he realized the room had quieted. Taemin, Jimin, and Yoongi had stopped their conversation to listen.

“Well, tell us already,” Yoongi said.

It was clear none of them were sleeping until Baekhyun told them. With a great sigh, Baekhyun said, “I think I might have… I mean, it wasn’t entirely my fault, and I didn’t mean to, anyway—”

“Just say it.”

“I think I might have made Doh mad,” Baekhyun said quickly, wanting nothing more than to retract the words the instant he spoke them.

“Doh?” Jimin tasted the name. “Oh, you mean the fifth year. Kyungsoo Doh.”

“The one you’re tutoring, right?” Taemin asked.

Baekhyun made a sound of affirmation. He wasn’t sure why he felt embarrassed. At least he knew he could trust his dorm mates not to tell anyone. It would be horribly damaging to his reputation, he should think, if word got around that Byun felt bad about hurting a muggle-born’s feelings. That, and if word got around, it would somehow manage to reach his parents, which would be the worst case scenario. He shuddered just thinking about it. The sheer length of the letter he would receive…

This time, it was Sehun who spoke. “What did you do?”

Baekhyun relayed what had happened as vaguely as one could, bothered by how much it bothered him. None of it sounded too bad when he explained it, but it felt bad. Just imagining the Hufflepuff’s expression, hearing his voice call him a jerk — his chest tightened. “And the little shit even thanked me afterwards,” Baekhyun joked. “It must really be impossible for a Hufflepuff to be rude. They’re bred different, that’s for sure.”

No one laughed. They all seemed to be thinking, but the silence just made Baekhyun uncomfortable.

“I don’t know why he was so upset anyway,” Baekhyun said awkwardly. “It’s not like I was acting any different from usual.”

Sehun coughed. “That… that doesn’t make it better, Baekhyun.”

“What do you mean?”

“God, I love you, you know I do, but you can be a real idiot sometimes.” Sehun sat up in bed, so overcome with incredulity. “You’re saying you’ve been an ass since day one? How does that make it better? He’s been putting up with your nasty attitude and you’re surprised that he finally snapped?”

“I— whose side are you on?”

“I’m always on your side, you know that.” 

Yoongi interrupted. “What he’s saying is that you obviously feel bad and that your attitude needs to change.”

“I was going to say it a bit nicer, but okay then.”

Now Baekhyun had sat up too, looking around the room. “Why does it feel like I’m getting ganged up on?”

“Listen,” Sehun said. “It’s not about us attacking you. We just know you better than that. You aren’t a bad person, and you’re actually a really good friend, and you’re outgoing and friendly to most people as long as they aren’t, y’know, not a pureblood, but your bias against people who are muggle-born or half-bloods is too much and you know it. I’m glad you’ve toned it down since our first year, because I’ve honestly found it maddening. You know there’s no difference where a witch or wizard came from. They’re all witches and wizards. And I know deep down you don’t even care as much as you act like you do. You’re just afraid your parents will find out. Isn’t that right?”

Baekhyun was speechless. This was the first time he was hearing this so directly. Sure, Sehun hinted at it at times, made some comments that questioned him, but never said anything so straight-forward. In his shock, all he could manage was a short, “Right.”

“You feel bad because you know you should,” Sehun continued as though this were entirely normal. “I think you should apologize to Doh.”

Apologize? Baekhyun nearly choked. “What?”

“It’s like he’s never apologized before,” Yoongi snickered, to which Jimin told him to hush.

“It’s not that I haven’t,” Baekhyun protested weakly. “It’s just…” him? Apologize to a Hufflepuff? A fifth year? And on top of it all… a muggle-born?

“Apologize,” Sehun confirmed, lying down once more. “Tomorrow.”

“I don’t even know where to find him.”

“Then ask Jongdae,” Sehun said. “He’s friends with Kyungsoo; he ought to know.”

They had Ancient Runes with him in the morning.

“Alright,” said Baekhyun reluctantly. “I will.”

All of them had overlooked the fact that they had breakfast with all the houses every morning. That meant that when they sat down at the Great Hall the very next day, Baekhyun desperately ignored the Hufflepuff table, which wasn’t too hard considering they had a buffer of the Ravenclaws between them. Sehun, who knew what he was up to, pointedly tsked a few times, but said nothing of it. Only in the next period did he remind Baekhyun of his promise — he kicked him a few times during Professor Hyoyeon’s lecture, even though Baekhyun couldn’t reasonably interrupt just for the sake of talking to the fifth year across the room, and nagged him constantly as they were packing up after the bell until Baekhyun finally gave in.

“Alright, alright,” Baekhyun said irritably, stuffing his bag with his scrolls. Jongdae was chatting cheerily with some other students his age from different houses. Baekhyun felt his heart pick up, a sudden, unfamiliar hesitation freezing him in place. He’d always gotten the feeling that Jongdae didn’t like him. And while he wasn’t sure why, he definitely didn’t want to find out at the risk of public embarrassment.

“Just go,” Sehun insisted, and shoved him towards the group unceremoniously.

If their professor wasn’t looking straight at them, Baekhyun would have hexed him.

“Byun,” Jongdae said coolly, the smile promptly disappearing upon his interruption. “Is there something you need?”

“Can I… er… can I talk to you?”

Jongdae blinked. The students beside him glanced between the two of them with interest. After a moment, the confusion passed, and Jongdae’s voice went cold. “What about?”

Baekhyun fought the urge to shuffle in place and cleared his throat. “I meant in private.”

With the way that Jongdae was staring icily at him, he was certain that he would be rejected in an utterly humiliating fashion. Instead, the Hufflepuff surprised him. “Alright. I’ll see you guys later.” The latter Jongdae said to his friends, who reluctantly left the pair alone. They glanced behind them as they left. Sehun, who apparently hadn’t planned on sticking around, sent him a thumbs up out of Jongdae’s sight and followed after them. “So?” Jongdae said impatiently. “What is this all about?”

“Can we walk?” Baekhyun asked, discreetly glancing at Professor Hyoyeon. 

“Yes, please do,” their professor said in monotone as she tidied up her desk. “This sounds like something I’d rather not be a part of.”

Was Baekhyun imagining her suggestive tone? Regardless, his face heated.

“Give me a moment,” Jongdae said. He packed up his bag. “Where are you headed?”

“It’s my free period.”

“Then you can walk me to D.A.D.A.”

That was quite a walk away. Baekhyun wasn’t sure he was willing to subject himself to that long of a torture. But he wasn’t in the position to argue. Following Jongdae out of the classroom, he thought of ways to say what he wanted to say and came up with a blunt, “Tell me where I can find Kyungsoo.”

Jongdae scoffed as if he had trouble containing his incredulity. “Are all Slytherins this rude? Don’t answer that; I think I already know the answer.”

“I guess not all Hufflepuffs are nice, either,” Baekhyun shot back.

“I don’t have a reason to be nice to you.”

“Well, do you have a reason to not be?”

“The same reason you had to be an ass to Kyungsoo.” At that, Baekhyun couldn’t say anything in reply, and Jongdae seemed to know that as he continued, “What makes you think I would tell you anything about Kyungsoo when you’ve been after him since our first year?”

Baekhyun spluttered. “First year? I didn’t even know him your first year.”

“If I were any less fair, I would be taking points from Slytherin,” Jongdae said, referring to his prefect badge that sat proudly on the front of his robes. He must have gotten promoted that year, because this was the first time Baekhyun noticed it. “Lying isn’t a very good trait to have, but then I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised for it to come from a house so… conniving.”

“You should have been a Ravenclaw, with how self-important you are.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“I—” Baekhyun cut himself off, realizing they were getting nowhere but closer to Jongdae’s D.A.D.A. class. “I’m- I’m sorry,” he forced out. “Let’s start over. I don’t know what misunderstandings you’ve held for five years, but I assure you—”

“I think you’re the one who’s misunderstood that it’s a misunderstanding.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Thank Merlin you didn’t end up in Ravenclaw, or else Minseok would have to deal with your stupidity.”

Minseok? Of course Jongdae would be friends with the Head Boy, Baekhyun thought irritably. Kyungsoo had very ambitious companions. “Fine. If you won’t help me find Kyungsoo, I’ll find him myself.”

“To do what?” Jongdae retorted. “Harass him more?”

“To apologize,” Baekhyun snapped, having had enough of Jongdae’s grating attitude. Much to his satisfaction, that seemed to shut the prefect up. “Honestly, if I’d have known it would be so damn annoying to say sorry, I wouldn’t have tried in the first place. Walk the rest of the way alone,” he said. “I’ve had it with you.”

He was five steps in the other direction when Jongdae stopped him. “He’s in the library.”

Baekhyun turned around.

“He’s usually there if he’s not in the common room, but he’s been hanging around there a lot more recently. He’s got a free period after lunch. Or you could catch him during break — he might be there then.”

They stared at one another for a moment. Baekhyun sensed no lie or challenge in Jongdae’s eyes. Not that there was anything positive, either.

“Okay,” he said finally. “Thanks.”

Jongdae nodded curtly and walked away.

He did find Kyungsoo in the library after lunch, sitting at their usual spot in the back with his head buried in a book. He was so immersed that he didn’t notice Baekhyun until he’d cleared his throat. Baekhyun had come determined to begin the encounter chivalrously. But fate had other plans. 

"What are you doing here?" Kyungsoo squeaked. In his surprise, he quickly shut the book and hid its cover. Then he seemed to remember his anger from earlier and added a bit shortly, “Didn’t we agree not to meet again?”

Instead of replying, Baekhyun caught sight of the words on the book that Kyungsoo hadn’t managed to conceal, reaching underneath him to snatch it.

"'History of the Forbidden Forest?' Why on earth are you reading this?”

“None of your business,” Kyungsoo said, the tips of his ears turning red. “Now give it back.”

He reached up to take it, but Baekhyun held it away. It wasn’t impossibly difficult to keep the book out of reach — the Hufflepuff was significantly shorter sitting down, and Baekhyun was faster anyway. “It doesn’t have to do with the pets going missing, does it?” 

He received no response to the question, which was more telling than any lie Kyungsoo could have come up with. However, rather than a gleeful victory at having caught Kyungsoo planning to break the rules, Baekhyun felt a very different, foreign emotion that made him press, “You don’t mean to go there, do you?”

“So what if I did?” Kyungsoo shot back. He’d given up on retrieving the book. Instead, he stood, collecting his belongings with an air of defiance. “What does it matter to you? We aren’t friends. What I do has nothing to do with you.”

“It matters if you’re planning on breaking the rules.”

“Oh, like you haven’t done it before.”

Baekhyun flushed. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve seen you getting lectured by Professor Kibum about sneaking out at night,” Kyungsoo said, and his words were rushed with the heat of argument. “In fact, I’d go so far to say that you’re probably one of the last people who should be nagging me about breaking the rules. Don’t act like you’re a star student all of a sudden just because Professor Young thinks you’re a genius.”

What? Since when did she ever say that? Baekhyun felt a tad flustered at the brunt force of Kyungsoo’s attack, grappling for a retort to no avail. All he could manage to say was, “I… it’s not about me being a perfect student. It’s about the fact that you’re planning on risking your life when the Headmaster clearly said—”

“I know what the Headmaster said,” Kyungsoo interrupted. “Anyway, I never said I was going. So why don’t you leave me alone already?”

“You aren’t going, then?”

“No.”

“I can spot a liar with my eyes closed, Doh.”

The Hufflepuff’s cheeks turned pink. “Why are you so intent on bothering me about this?”

“Because it’s dangerous,” Baekhyun said.

“So?” Kyungsoo pressed. “Why does it matter to you if I do something dangerous? Don’t you hate me?”

The words came as a shock. Partly because hate was a bit of a strong word for Kyungsoo to use, but also because there was some truth to his argument. Why did Baekhyun care? It shouldn’t matter to him, right? After all, if Kyungsoo wanted to do something dangerous, it was no skin off his back. If he got caught, they weren’t even in the same house, so it wasn’t like he was doing it to preserve house points. So why was he so insistent on getting all up in Kyungsoo’s business?

Kyungsoo was staring at him. With a jolt, Baekhyun realized that he had yet to provide an answer. “I don’t hate you.”

“Then? What is it?”

“You could die,” Baekhyun mumbled, oddly embarrassed. “Sure, it’s not like we’re friends or anything, but if you know someone is getting into harm’s way on purpose, don’t you think it’s common sense to try and stop them? I’m not in the business of living with guilt for the rest of my life, you know.”

“So you’re concerned for me.”

Baekhyun met his gaze, eyes wide. “What?”

“You’re concerned for me,” Kyungsoo repeated. He wasn’t shy or flustered or even angry anymore. Instead, he sounded the most confident that Baekhyun had ever heard him. “You’re worried that I’ll get into trouble, or worse. You want to stop me because you care.”

“I— what? That’s ridiculous.”

“If that’s not the case, then leave. I don’t have time to entertain someone who’s trying to stop me out of spite.”

With that, Kyungsoo turned away, picking up his bag. He made to walk off. 

Baekhyun caught his arm.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked.

He hadn’t even meant to stop him. Baekhyun’s heart thumped in his chest, though he didn’t know why. “Maybe I am concerned,” he said finally. When he released Kyungsoo’s arm, he was relieved to see that Kyungsoo turned to him rather than leave. “I don’t want something to happen to you. I mean, to anyone,” he added quickly, face heating up as he realized how he sounded. “If that’s what it means to be concerned, then fine.”

Kyungsoo said nothing. He only stared at him, as if he was waiting for something.

“Look, I—” he sighed and scratched the back of his neck “—I came here to apologize. I was being really awful last week. And the week before that.”

“Just those times?” Kyungsoo asked with a tiny smile.

Baekhyun winced. Touché. “Maybe since, I don’t know, the beginning of time?”

“That sounds about right.”

“Jeez, you really don’t pull any punches, do you?”

“Is this the worst you’ve been talked back to? Seems like your house has gotten soft.”

“I think yours just got bolder. You know Jongdae destroyed me before this, right? I asked him where you were and he went off on me.”

“He does tend to be a bit protective. He also doesn’t like you very much.”

“Yeah, I could tell.”

“I wonder why.”

“Hey!” In spite of himself, Baekhyun grinned at Kyungsoo’s laughter. He quite liked it, if he allowed himself to admit it, the sound being so warm and welcoming. They met eyes. The small smile that graced the Hufflepuff’s features demanded Baekhyun’s attention. Tracing the shape, he found that Kyungsoo’s lips formed a heart, which disappeared with his smile when a spark jolted between them.

Kyungsoo wet his lips. “Um…”

Then Baekhyun remembered.

He’d heard that laugh before. Five years ago. It had been at Diagon Alley, just before the start of the school year. As usual, the shopping area was bustling with young witches and wizards preparing for the start of the term, and Baekhyun was with his parents, who had insisted on coming even though it was his second year and he knew how to navigate the shopping district. They were looking for books at Flourish and Blotts when they heard it.

“What is that incessant noise?” His mother had asked, wrinkling her nose. Baekhyun listened, but he didn’t hear anything grating. Just a sound as warm as the fireplace in his dorm at school, paired with a boy whose appearance made his heart stop. “Kyungsoo Doh,” she said with disgust. “I know his parents. Muggles. To think they’d let another mud-blood into the school… maybe we should have you transferred.”

She’d said it loudly and rudely, clear enough that the group Kyungsoo was with fell silent at once. Baekhyun wished the ground would swallow him whole as his parents looked at him expectantly.

“Maybe you should,” Baekhyun said with great difficulty. “I can’t stand the thought of having to go to school with that filth either.”

That was when it had started, then. Baekhyun wasn’t sure how he hadn’t realized it before. He’d always had something against Hufflepuffs, or so it seemed, but maybe it wasn’t something that had always been an issue until him. Kyungsoo Doh. The Hufflepuff whose laugh continued to cross his mind in the years after, the Hufflepuff who he, for some reason, could never truly bring himself to hate. No matter how much he tried to convince himself he did, it was impossible.

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun said finally. “I don’t know if you heard what I said in your first year. It was in Flourish and Blotts, just before the term started. I… I said…”

“I know. I did hear. And it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay.”

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said. “It’s not okay. But I forgive you.”

Impossible. Impossible for someone to be so kind, and impossible for Baekhyun to feel so many different, contradicting things at once. “Professor Jung was right. You are a gifted Charms student.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Baekhyun said. “Will you tell me why you want to go to the Forbidden Forest? I assume it’s related to the disappearances.”

He pulled out a chair and sat, looking up at Kyungsoo expectantly. Kyungsoo hesitated. “Why are you asking? To stop me?”

“No,” Baekhyun said. “So I can go with you.”

Kyungsoo seemed at a loss for words. But eventually he sat beside him and told him what had happened.

“I have a dog,” Kyungsoo said.

“You have a what?”

Dogs weren’t permitted in Hogwarts as a student pet. They were too disruptive and high maintenance to keep in school, so students left their dogs at home and returned to them only during vacation. To think Kyungsoo had one in his dorm. Did the rest of his house know about it?

“They know,” Kyungsoo said. “Even the prefects know.”

“And they didn’t say anything?”

Kyungsoo shrugged with a wry smile. “Didn’t you know Hufflepuffs are loyal?”

Well, it did make sense. But it was still a shock. Baekhyun expected them to be too obedient to do something like blatantly ignoring school rules. 

“How did you smuggle an entire dog here?”

“I didn’t. I mean, he was already on the grounds. He’s a stray, and I found him our third week in, and at first I only fed him scraps from the kitchens in the mornings and at night, but then it started getting colder and I got worried so I brought him in.”

“Okay… so your dog got taken and you want to get him back?”

Kyungsoo chewed on his lip, hesitating. “Not exactly.”

Baekhyun waited.

“He’s still in the dorm with me,” Kyungsoo relented. “He wasn’t stolen or anything. The problem is… I think he’s the reason for the disappearances.”

“What?”

“I got a note,” Kyungsoo said. As he spoke, his words tumbled out faster, as if he’d been holding them in and was relieved to finally get them out. “It threatened to keep taking animals if I didn’t return Parvos. That’s what I call him,” Kyungsoo explained as a bit of an afterthought. “I mean, I don’t really know if that’s what they were talking about. The note actually said something about their kid.”

A kid? That didn’t sound very good. “So you need to return him. And you think you need to return him to someone in the Forbidden Forest?”

“It said to go there.”

“Did it say exactly where?”

“Um… no…”

Baekhyun stared at him. “I’m sorry to say this, but this is starting to sound stupider and stupider.”

“I thought you were going to be nice from now on.”

“It’s not mean,”   Baekhyun said. “It’s the truth. And I never said that. Anyway, why don’t you just tell the Headmaster? Or a professor? Or anyone?”

“It said to go alone,” Kyungsoo said.

“Well, you don’t have to listen to it.”

“If I don’t go alone, I think something will happen to those animals they took.”

It was a good assumption. Baekhyun could understand the hesitation, but there was still a hole in his logic. “Then what about me? Wouldn’t you tell me not to come, then?”

“I don’t want to get in trouble,” Kyungsoo admitted. “I mean, they did say not to go alone. But you could hide or something. I’m more worried about my house. They all tried hard to hide Parvos from everyone… they would all get in trouble if anyone found out about him.”

That made more sense. Baekhyun sighed. “You really are crazy.”

“Just don’t come with me,” Kyungsoo said. He didn’t sound irritated or defensive, just defeated. “I was planning on going alone anyway, and I wouldn’t want you getting hurt if something happened.”

It would probably be for the best if Baekhyun agreed. He didn’t need to follow through with his words. It was dangerous, after all, and Kyungsoo himself was giving him a way out. Still. He shook his head. “I’m going. Two is better than one, and I’ve made my decision regardless.”

“If you say so,” Kyungsoo said. Despite the fact that he was trying to hide it, he looked pleased, if not flattered.

Baekhyun slid the book he’d snatched over to him and scooted his chair closer. “So? What have you been researching?” 

They studied up on the various creatures found in the Forbidden Forest, many of which Baekhyun had learned about in Care of Magical Creatures — that is, before he’d dropped out of the class. In particular, they focused on giants. Baekhyun had learned about them before, too. They were violent but intelligent; at least more intelligent than trolls were, and their skin was impervious to many offensive spells. Normally, they were hard to come by in the forest, preferring to reside deeper than most witches or wizards had reason to explore. But during their breeding season they were all over — Baekhyun shuddered to think of accidentally walking into something he’d rather not see, that being a greater fear than what he should have been afraid of, which were the giants themselves.

They decided the best time to go to the forest would be Saturday night. Friday, the sixth years had Astronomy at midnight, so sneaking out would be riskier. Baekhyun attended his Friday classes as usual, dodging any of Sehun’s prodding questions about his meeting with Jongdae and Kyungsoo the day before, and met with Kyungsoo the next morning for ‘tutoring.’ In reality, they were adding details to their plan. 

“I’ll meet you at the fifth greenhouse,” Kyungsoo said. “It’s a bit out of the way enough to not get spotted from the castle, but it’s not too far away that getting there will be hard.”

At last, night came. Baekhyun waited a painstaking two hours to be certain his roommates were asleep before slipping out of bed. The adrenaline buzzed in his veins. He knew this would be dangerous. A part of him felt guilty for leaving Sehun out of his plans, but he also knew that if his best friend found out he would insist on coming, and Baekhyun didn’t want to drag him into something that could get him into trouble.

Sneaking out was easier than expected. Baekhyun had a lot of practice with it, having snuck out with Sehun numerous times before for no other reason than to break the rules. He cast a spell to keep his footsteps silent; an essential when going through the dungeons, which were notoriously echo-y. A few times he nearly got caught — the prefects patrolling the halls were vigilant, to say the least. But eventually he made it out of the castle and started his way to the greenhouses.

The air was frigid this late at night. A sharp breeze made Baekhyun shiver. Each step over dead leaves crunched loud enough for Baekhyun to fear that it could be heard from the castle. It couldn’t, of course. And the moon, which would normally cast a bright light across the field, was covered by gray clouds. Kyungsoo wasn’t there yet, was he? They hadn’t thought of using a signal when they arrived, and there was no way Baekhyun would whisper his name like an idiot and risk being heard (as if he could be).

Instead, he peered inside the greenhouse. It looked eerie at night, the carnivorous plants still awake and turning at the slightest noise. Likely they were plants that hadn’t yet been covered in his sixth year Herbology class, since the fifth greenhouse was reserved for seventh years. Baekhyun tapped on the glass lightly. One of the plants closest to him whipped its head around and opened its mouth, making Baekhyun jump. The inside of it was lined with layer after layer of what looked like teeth. A wet mucus dripped from the top, like saliva.

“Gross,” Baekhyun muttered.

He was about to turn around when he got another fright of his life, a voice just by his ear whispering, “Boo!”

“GAH!” Reflexively, Baekhyun went for his wand in the pocket of his robes, only for his brain to catch up when he saw who it was. “Kim?”

It was Jongdae. The Hufflepuff grinned. “Good to see you, Byun. God, that was great. Made my night.”

“What are you doing here?” Baekhyun asked, tips of his ears red. “You…”

“Oh, I know all about your little nighttime date, Byun. And as a prefect, I’ve no choice.”

“Listen. If you let me go, I’ll do your homework in Ancient Runes for a month.”

Jongdae raised an eyebrow. “A month?”

“Two,” Baekhyun said, a tad bit desperate. “Just don’t say anything and let me go.”

“Will you go back to your dorm then?”

“Yes.”

Jongdae stared at him. He stared back. Then Jongdae scoffed. “You really are a Slytherin. You didn’t even bat an eye.”

“What?”

“You were lying just now, weren’t you? You weren’t going to go back to your dorm. You were going to pretend to go back and wait until I left.”

“No, I—”

“That’s enough, Byun.” Jongdae leaned back to look behind the building, where Baekhyun couldn’t see. “I was just messing with you. I won’t turn you in or stop you. In fact, I’m coming with you.”

Baekhyun stared. “Excuse me?”

At that exact moment, Kyungsoo appeared by Jongdae’s side, looking very much out of breath and red-faced, with something nestled in his arms. “Jongdae, would it have killed you to slow down? I could barely keep up.” Then he noticed Baekhyun. “Um… hi.”

“Can you explain what’s going on?” Baekhyun asked, crossing his arms. “You brought Jongdae of all people?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Kyungsoo said.

“Didn’t have a choice? What, did he hold you at wand-point or something?”

“Now then, are we ready to go or not?” To Baekhyun’s horror, there was a second voice that came from behind them. He whipped around to see a blue-lined cloak and familiar face.

“You took the Head Boy with you?” Baekhyun hissed, not even bothering to be quiet about it with Minseok right beside them.

“Yes, hello, Byun.” Minseok patted his head in an irritatingly condescending way, but he looked more amused than anything else at Baekhyun’s annoyance. “Did you think I would let our precious underclassmen go to the Forbidden Forest alone?”

“He caught me trying to sneak out,” Kyungsoo said, embarrassed.

“We both did,” Jongdae said. “We were patrolling the halls together, and Kyungsoo came out of the common room like a madman. He’s lucky we were the ones out there at that moment; I’m not sure what Professor Jinki would have done if he’d found him out.”

At the mention of the Herbology professor and head of Hufflepuffs, Baekhyun made a face.

“Anyway, we weren’t going to let Kyungsoo go to the Forbidden Forest alone,” Jongdae said in a very important manner. 

“But… you’re a prefect. Minseok is Head Boy.”

“You must have thought only delinquents and Gryffindors could break the rules,” Minseok said, with a slight air of excitement. “That’s not the case. Now, shall we get going? I’ve been to the Forbidden Forest before, of course, but that was with Professor Kibum to retrieve some potion ingredients…”

Utterly thrown off, Baekhyun trailed behind Minseok and Jongdae, alongside Kyungsoo. “Is this his first time breaking the rules or something?”

“I think so,” Kyungsoo whispered confidentially. “He was talking about how excited he was to do something so adventurous for the first time. Something about wanting to live his life before he graduated.”

“He could get expelled for this,” Baekhyun said under his breath. He wasn’t sure if Kyungsoo didn’t hear him or if he pretended he didn’t, but he received no response. After a while, Baekhyun glanced over. “Is that Parvos?” 

The small ball of fluff in his arms didn’t so much as stir when Kyungsoo held it out. “Do you want to hold him?”

“Er… okay.” Carefully, Kyungsoo passed the small puppy over. Baekhyun couldn’t help but melt a bit. With no discernible features, it was hard to tell what breed it was, but damn, was it cute. It shifted in its sleep to nestle against his chest, letting out a tiny sigh.

“Do you like dogs?”

Kyungsoo was smiling at him when he looked up. He cleared his throat and focused on the path ahead. “Who doesn’t?”

“You’re Mr. Grumpypants, so who knows?”

“I’m not grumpy,” Baekhyun grumbled, and Kyungsoo laughed a little. “Who taught you how to tease?”

“I’m not teasing. I just think it’s very sweet. You’re always trying to prove something, but you have a side like this, too.”

Baekhyun didn’t know what to say to that, so he settled for a muttered, “Whatever,” glad that it wasn’t bright enough to see the red on his cheeks.

They reached the edge of the forest without much fuss. Before Baekhyun could do so much as lift his wand, Minseok stopped him. “We should wait until we’re a bit further in,” he said, and his voice had lost all of its careless glee. Now, like the rest of them, he was grave. Baekhyun hated to admit it, but he could see how he could be Head Boy. “With how dark it is tonight, a light from a wand could be seen from miles away.”

Wordlessly, Baekhyun nodded. They began their walk.

“What exactly are we looking for?” It was a while before Jongdae finally asked. By then, they’d already traveled quite some way, and the four of them had their wands out to light their path.

“That is a good question to ask,” Minseok said. “I was wondering about that myself.”

There was a great pause. Baekhyun stopped walking. “Don’t tell me you’ve no clue where we’re supposed to be going.”

“I… I’ve got a clue, of course—”

“So where?” Impatiently, Baekhyun waved his free hand — his wand hand — in a vague gesture to the forest. “We’ve been walking aimlessly for who knows how long, and you don’t know where you’re going?”

“It’s your fault for following me in the first place,” Kyungsoo said, sounding offended. “I told you what the note said. It said to go to the Forbidden Forest.”

“Right. Right, it’s my fault for not asking. I should’ve known you wouldn’t have a plan. And now what, are you going to cry?”

Kyungsoo sniffled angrily. “You said you would be nicer.”

“I never said that!”

“Alright, leave him alone, Byun,” Jongdae said, stepping between them. “And lower your voices, for heaven’s sake; you’ll get us all caught.”

Caught. It was that word that hushed all arguments, as they were suddenly reminded of just who — or what — might catch them. “What’s the plan, then?” Baekhyun asked, calmer now. “So we’ve walked all this way. What are we doing? Waiting for something to find us?”

“I figured Parvos’ parents would come to collect him,” Kyungsoo mumbled. “I didn’t think it’d take this long. I’m sorry.”

The atmosphere was dampened by the apology. Even though Kyungsoo was definitely at fault, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel like he’d just kicked a puppy. He sighed. “No sense beating yourself up about it. I mean, I know I was blaming you, so I’m… sorry for that. If all the note said was to go to the Forbidden Forest, then that’s all we can do.”

“Exactly,” Minseok chimed in, sounding very much like a school teacher trying to encourage a student. “It’s no use crying over spilt potion. I bet my wand something will come up. They wouldn’t do everything they did just to leave us hanging.”

“Alright,” Kyungsoo said.

Jongdae held his wand out, casting dim light across the trees ahead. “So we keep walking, then. And we’ll run into something eventually.”

That didn’t sound very reassuring. But Baekhyun followed without further comment as they trekked deeper into the woods. The more and more they walked, the more Baekhyun began to feel a little sick. The trees loomed above them, seeming to get both taller and closer together, as though they were closing in on them. The sounds of wildlife buzzed in the distance, a cacophony of indiscernible chatter. Underfoot, each step came with a jarring crunch of dead leaves and frosty ground. A biting wind brushed past every so often. Baekhyun wanted to throw up. Everything about their surroundings screamed at them that they didn’t belong, that they should turn back…

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Baekhyun squeaked, before he could manage to feel brave. Jongdae hushed him and dispelled his wand light, leading the others to do the same.

“Nox,” Baekhyun said under his breath, heart thudding in his chest. 

The dark became an endless void. Not a sound came from any of them — they stood motionless in a tense silence that was interrupted only by the sounds of leaves rustling and wildlife scuttering past. Baekhyun wondered what assortment of magical creatures lived just beyond the foliage, out of sight. In a black so absolute as this, anything could be right in front of them, and they wouldn’t see it. Just a minute of this and Baekhyun began to question if he was awake, alive, even, or if he was simply floating in space in an endless existence.

A hand found his, making him jolt. Somehow, he knew whose hand it was, and instead of doing what he might have done under normal circumstances, he closed his fingers around it and held tight.

It felt like forever of nothing. And then, a sound.

Thud. Thud. Thud. The ground shook with every heavy thump, and Kyungsoo’s hand squeezed hard enough for Baekhyun to nearly curse. It sounded like… footsteps. Large, lumbering, human-like footsteps.

Oh, Merlin.

It would be able to see them, wouldn’t it? After all, even if they couldn’t see anything, the creatures in the forest were well-adjusted to the pitch black that was the forest at night. That was a given. Worse, if it did see them, they wouldn’t know. Not until it was too late.

Soft as a mouse, Baekhyun heard Minseok breathe, “Inviso!”  

Baekhyun held his breath. His palms were beginning to feel clammy in Kyungsoo’s grip. Slowly, his eyes were adjusting, enough so that he could see the shifting shadow ahead of them, movement matching the terrifying sounds that made the ground shake. Was it a giant? A troll? 

Or something else?

All Baekhyun knew for sure was that it was large, and that he wasn’t fond of the idea of it spotting them.

They watched it search the area. Then, when it had disappeared for quite some time, Jongdae whispered, “I think I nearly peed myself.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said. “Same here.”

They decided to forgo the lights, agreeing that the risk wasn’t worth it, especially when they were able to see well enough without it. There was one small problem. The spell Minseok cast made them blend into the background, but that meant that they couldn’t see each other either. So, much to Baekhyun’s displeasure, they were forced to hold hands.

Looks like he and Kyungsoo were ahead of things. 

They walked deeper into the forest in a chain. Baekhyun was glad he didn’t have to hold anyone else’s hand, seeing as he had his other arm full with Parvos, who had luckily stayed asleep the entire encounter. They didn’t speak. Baekhyun was grateful. He was still shaken up by the ordeal, and would rather keep to himself about it. 

“Wait,” Kyungsoo said, coming to a halt. Baekhyun turned to the general direction of his voice. “Do you guys see that? There’s a light.”

Indeed, beyond the layers and layers of trees, was a faint, red glow, and the curl of something in the distance.

A fire?

Kyungsoo tugged him forward before he could make it out. “Let’s go.”

Baekhyun didn’t want to, but he had no choice. Kyungsoo led them towards the light, closer and closer until they reached the edge of a clearing and came face to face with a horrific sight. A family of giants were sleeping around a large bonfire, using ginormous blankets threaded from straw to fight off the winter chill. One giant must have been a baby. It was absurdly huge, but significantly smaller than the rest and with the awkward proportions one would expect from a toddler. The giant baby was fast asleep, face contorting every so often with the slightest noise.

But what made the scene worse was what the giants were surrounded by. Like bird cages; that was the only way of describing them. Large, rusty cages hung from the trees, swaying in the breeze. And in them, animals that could only be Hogwarts pets.

Baekhyun stood in shock.

“Jondgae, Baekhyun,” Minseok whispered, eyes not once leaving the scene in front of them. “Will you be able to find your way back to the castle?” 

“Back? Why?”

“Go and get help.”

“But what about you guys?”

Minseok sent him a wry smile. “We have a dog to return, don’t we?”

How noble for a Ravenclaw. Baekhyun didn’t have it in him to feel touched. “I can’t just leave you two behind.”

“Are you concerned, Byun?”

Baekhyun didn’t even flinch. “So what if I am?”

“Go,” Minseok said. “Jongdae shouldn’t go alone, and Kyungsoo has to be here to give the dog back. I have a year on you in Charms, so I think I should be the one to stay just in case.”

As irritating as it was, Baekhyun had to admit it made sense. Leave it to a Ravenclaw to sound so reasonable. But before he and Jongdae could leave, a horrible groan sounded from the clearing. The ground vibrated with the noise. Eyes wide, all four of them turned.

The giant was awake.

It was looking right at them.

“Go!” Minseok hissed, and Jongdae nodded, running. But Baekhyun didn’t have such luck. It felt like an invisible force was pulling him towards the glade, his feet moving of its own accord. 

He tried to move his hand, grab his wand, but his body wouldn’t listen.

Minseok gaped. “Are you crazy?”

It’s not like I want to walk up to my death! Baekhyun thought, as the words refused to leave his mouth. 

This was the end, then? In the middle of nowhere, a dog in his arms? Step after painful step led to Baekhyun standing just in front of the giant, which had arranged itself in a crouch to examine him with a grin full of what Baekhyun hoped was moss. “My child.”

Baekhyun choked. “Your what?”

Oh. The spell was broken. But Baekhyun had barely gotten the words out when the giant grabbed him by the robe. His wand fell out of his pocket, clattering uselessly to the ground. Struggling in the air, Baekhyun attempted to no avail to kick the monstrosity of a hand that held him. “Let me go—!”

“Stupefy!” A sharp, red light came too close for Baekhyun’s liking but hit its mark on the giant’s wrist, making it yelp. Minseok and Kyungsoo emerged from the trees. From the look of things, Minseok had been the one who sent the spell.

About time.

“You brought others,” said the giant, holding Baekhyun up to its very large, very threatening-looking eye. “That was not a part of the deal.”

Baekhyun continued to struggle. “You can take your deal and stick it up your—”

“It wasn’t his fault!” Kyungsoo said, thankfully interrupting him before he could make things worse. Kyungsoo bravely stepped closer to the giant, ignoring its family that was now watching the ordeal with great interest. “I’m the one who took Parvos.”

“You? Then who is this?”  

“Kyungsoo, get away!”

“That’s my friend,” Kyungsoo said. Baekhyun took the assignment with surprise. “He was carrying Parvos for me. He wasn’t going to do any harm.”

It was quite the pretty statement, considering Baekhyun had been kicking the giant’s hand not too long ago. If his wand hadn’t fallen, he would have been putting up a fight. Now he hung limply in the air with Kyungsoo’s words. Look at him. A pathetic human. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“You took him,” the giant growled. At least, that was what Baekhyun thought he said. In reality all he heard was ‘you took’ and then a string of odd sounds that he could only guess was the dog’s name. The fluff ball in his arms perked up.

Parvos must have taught Kyungsoo a thing or two. The Hufflepuff had the most pitiful expression on his face, peering up at the giant. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take him away from you. I thought he was a stray puppy. I gave him food and water, that’s all.”

“You…”

“I took him in because it was getting cold. I was worried he would get sick staying outside with no heat. I didn’t know he had someone taking care of him.”

The giant stared at Kyungsoo. Baekhyun held his breath. Minseok had his wand down but at the ready, tersely taking in every detail of the exchange in case he had to do something drastic. And Kyungsoo… Kyungsoo looked neither fearful nor vigilant. In fact, he looked nothing but apologetic. As if he trusted that the giant would come to its senses, even though…

Hold on. The giant was talking? And listening?

“But giants don’t—”

“Very well.”   Luckily, the giant didn’t hear him and set him down rather gently. Taking his cue, Baekhyun lowered on his knee to place the dog in front of the giant. The giant stiffly added, “Thank you.”

“Can we take our pets back?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun returned to his side, and Minseok stepped up as well. “Everyone misses them very much. You took care of them, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said the giant uncomfortably. Baekhyun was beginning to feel that he and the giant had a bit in common. At the very least, they both didn’t know what to do with Kyungsoo. “Take them, then. And leave us.”

It was then that Minseok cleared his throat. “Excuse me. Not to be rude or anything, but you aren’t a giant, are you?”

Baekhyun stared at him, open-mouthed. They were about to make it out, and he decided to talk now?

The giant seemed just as flabbergasted. It didn’t say a word.

“I mean, you speak English fluently,” Minseok continued, and for whatever reason he was comfortable enough to put his wand in his pocket so he could free up his hands for gestures, “and you were affected by the stun spell I threw at you. That, and you haven’t eaten any of the animals yet. Besides, the fact that you would consider that dog your child… I haven’t read anything about giants domesticating wild animals, unless this is a new case.”

“Just ignore him,” said Baekhyun apologetically. “He’s a bit of a nutcase—”

Rudely, Minseok cut him off. “So what are you? I can only think of a few creatures that can shapeshift and talk, and as far as I know none of them reside in the Forbidden Forest.”

They were in an awkward position. It seemed the giant didn’t know what to do. “Oh, bother,” it muttered in a booming voice before a puff of smoke erupted in the place where it stood. When the cloud dissipated, Baekhyun was shocked to see a rather wrinkly-looking thing in its place. It was small, about the size of a toddler, maybe, with bushy, white eyebrows and pointed ears, and large, green eyes that fixated on Minseok with a look of annoyance. As it spoke, Baekhyun caught sight of tiny, flat teeth—almost like a human’s, except that they were smaller and there were much more of them. Seeing that the charade was over, the other giants also transformed, and suddenly the three of them were surrounded by odd, wrinkly little children.

“I think I’m going insane,” Baekhyun said.

Minseok squinted. Then his eyes lit up. “Kobolds! Of course! Why didn’t I think of it before?” His tone turned scolding. “You should be careful. If I hadn’t guessed you weren’t actually giants, I would have hit you with much worse than a stunning charm.”

“The boy wasn’t supposed to bring more than just himself!”  Said the creature haughtily in a high-pitched squeal. “He shouldn’t have done more than he was told!”

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo said. To his credit, he did sound remorseful, though Baekhyun couldn’t imagine what for.

“Anyway, now that that mystery is solved, you’d all better leave.” Minseok glanced back. “Our friend is getting help. You don’t want to get caught, do you?”

A bit petulantly, the creature sniffed. Then it scooped up Parvos and nodded to its companions. “You,” it said to Kyungsoo. Baekhyun took a step in front of him, but the thing didn’t care about him. It sniffed again. “Thank you. For taking care of him.”

Baekhyun couldn’t believe his ears. Kyungsoo beamed. “You’re very welcome. Stay safe, all of you.”

And just like that, it was over. The three of them were left alone in the clearing with the cages, which was where Jongdae, Professor Jinki, and Professor Kibum found them. “They’re here, Professor,” Jongdae was saying breathlessly, but by then they’d gotten the cages down and were waiting patiently for help to arrive.

“Care to explain yourselves?” Professor Kibum said. They’d returned from the forest and were in his office in the dungeons. After successfully bringing the cages back to Hogwarts (the contents of which would be sorted out the following morning,) he’d brought the four of them in for a thorough lecture. “You broke curfew, snuck off to the Forbidden Forest — do you understand just how dangerous that was?”

None of them said a word. Baekhyun got the feeling any excuse they made would make this worse, so he focused his attention on the scratchy carpet beneath their feet.

“And Mr. Doh. You brought a dog into the dormitories without permission. I’m sure Professor Jinki will have a word with you about that later.”

The professor in question had retired to his room without much comment when they returned to the castle. It didn’t really seem he was the type to scold. Still, Kyungsoo looked regretful. “Yes, Professor.”

“You two,” said Professor Kibum, referring to Minseok and Jongdae, “The Headmaster will want to know about the story behind this. Expect to be called early tomorrow. I’ll be surprised if you don’t lose your positions with all the rules you broke.”

They hung their heads. “Yes, sir.”

“Off to your dormitories, now. Except you, Byun. Stay here.”

Wordlessly, the three of them left, each glancing at Baekhyun as if to say, Good luck. Baekhyun gulped. It was never a good sign to be the last one left. Fixing his gaze on a bump in the carpet, Baekhyun stayed as still as a statue, preparing for the worst.

“Are you friends with them, Byun?”

Baekhyun looked at him in surprise. “Huh?”

Patiently, Professor Kibum elaborated, “Those three that just left. Are you friends with them?”

“Er…” Why was he even asking this? “I- I dunno.” Then, when he received nothing but a stare in response, “I guess so?”

“I can’t imagine why else you would do something so terribly stupid.”

Leave it to the Head of Slytherin not to pull any punches. Baekhyun winced. He didn’t have anything to say back, given he shared the sentiment. It was incredibly stupid of them. Still, it worked out, didn’t it? “We were just doing what we thought was right, sir.”

Kibum hummed. His stony gaze didn’t let up, even when Baekhyun formed his most pitiful expression.

“They won’t get into too much trouble, will they?”

“Are you worried about it?”

“Yes, sir.”

At that, Professor Kibum seemed to smile. “I don’t think they’ll be punished too harshly. After all, you did retrieve the lost pets.”

“So Minseok and Jongdae won’t lose their spots as Head Boy and prefect?”

“I’ll do some convincing if necessary.”

Baekhyun felt a rush of relief, shoulders sagging. “Thank you, sir.”

“You should go back to your dormitory,” Professor Kibum said. “Unless you have something else you want to discuss.”

That was all? Baekhyun thought for sure he would be grilled. He shook his head. “No, sir. Good night.”

Professor Kibum nodded and Baekhyun hurried away before he could change his mind. His friends were waiting for him when he finally made it back. Apparently, one of them had woken up to find that he wasn’t in his bed, and woke the rest of them up in alarm. They’d all been waiting anxiously for his return and pummeled him with questions the instant they saw him.

“Where were you? You’ve been gone the whole night—”

“You snuck off somewhere without me?”

“I can’t imagine you were gone for anything good—”

Baekhyun held up a hand, rubbing his temple with the other. “I’ll tell you guys tomorrow. I think I’m going to pass out.”

“Alright, then,” said Jimin worriedly. “You must be tired.”

“Should’ve brought me with you,” Sehun grumbled, but fell silent otherwise. 

Baekhyun settled in his bed gratefully. His body ached all over — perks of being swung around the air by a giant — but he found that it wasn’t difficult at all to fall asleep. What was difficult was waking up. He felt like he’d run a marathon the moment he regained consciousness, and it didn’t help that he woke up to Sehun tackling him in a hug.

“Ow! What—”

“I just came back from the Great Hall,” Sehun said breathlessly. “Did you really go out to find Maeum? Really?”

“Jeez, that’s what you woke me up for?” Still, Baekhyun couldn’t help but grin, flicking Sehun’s forehead. “How is she? Not too shaken up?”

Sehun sniffed, and with surprise Baekhyun realized he was tearing up. “I went straight to the owlery after breakfast. She looked so happy to see me… you wouldn’t believe it. I gave her a ton of treats. She’s healthy, at least; I think the kobolds fed her well—”

“Kobolds?”

“You didn’t know? They said it was a family of kobolds that were stealing all the pets. I guess they don’t cover them in Care of Magical Creatures since it looked like even the seventh years didn’t know what they were. They’re like… well, kind of like goblins, except they can shapeshift and aren’t as smart or something, I dunno…”

“I’m glad they figured it out, then,” Baekhyun said. “Now can you get off me? I can’t breathe.”

“Oh, sorry.” Sehun hopped off, beaming. “You went with Doh, didn’t you? And the two Kims.”

With a yawn, Baekhyun hummed in confirmation. He closed his eyes.

“So you two made up, then.”

“I guess so.”

“You know there are rumors going around. Your fateful meeting with a certain special Hufflepuff…” Sehun cackled when Baekhyun choked, eyes snapping open.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Oh, I’m so glad I’m not,” Sehun said, grinning. Baekhyun groaned. “All I’m saying — all the entire school is saying — is that it would be cute. Imagine, the callous Slytherin with the sweet Hufflepuff—”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Irrelevant. Do you or do you not have a thing for Doh?”

Baekhyun scoffed. He took the corner of his blanket and brought it over his head, avoiding further discussion even as he said, “I’ve got nothing for him.”

“Whatever you say, Baekhyun.”

Rumors sure traveled fast. Baekhyun found himself at the other end of whispers in the hall wherever he went, with the occasional thanks from people he’s never met for saving their pets. From what it looked like, Kyungsoo wasn’t having too good of a time either. The few times he saw him, be it in the Great Hall or in the corridor between classes, people were teasing him. They didn’t try to hide it, either. Baekhyun could see their pointed giggles from a mile away. Besides, Sehun found great pleasure in letting him know Kyungsoo was around, and that his friends were definitely pro their getting together.

“I think everyone’s warmed up to you by now,” Sehun said. “On account of you going to the Forbidden Forest and all.”

He said it like it was a good thing, but Baekhyun didn’t feel very good about it. Sure, he was glad it all worked out, but he sorely missed being able to go around the castle without attracting so much attention. The good news was that the first match of the Quidditch season had been rescheduled for the following Saturday. All the buzz settled around which team would win — Gryffindor, which had been winning the first match of the year for two years straight, or Slytherin, which had yet to win since Baekhyun’s second year. Pretty much everyone was on the side that Gryffindor would win. Even Baekhyun’s own team seemed unsure. Still, the perks of being in Slytherin was that they never gave up. Any slim chance was a chance. During their last practice, Baekhyun couldn’t help but be filled to the brim with pride, seeing how hard his team was working.

“We’ll win,” he told them.

It was difficult to maintain that sentiment into the next day, however. When Baekhyun dragged himself out of bed and to the library for the Saturday tutoring session, Kyungsoo noted his obvious stress. “You didn’t have to come today,” he said. “I think you could’ve used the extra hours of sleep.”

“No, it’s fine,” but he yawned as he said, “Besides, being here with you is helping me calm down.”

“Am I calming?”

“More like you’re sleep inducing.”

“Ha ha.” Kyungsoo stuck out his tongue. Baekhyun had his head down in his arms, but turned to look at Kyungsoo when he heard him put down his quill. “Are you worried?”

“What about?”

“The game, obviously.”

“I’m not worried,” Baekhyun said.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“That was my aim.”

Kyungsoo shoved him lightly, making him grin. 

“I’m worried,” he admitted after a moment. “I think we deserve the win. Everyone has been working really hard, and I know how badly they want it.”

“But you don’t think you can win?”

“I never said that.”

“Right.” Kyungsoo smiled. “You wouldn’t.”

Baekhyun smiled too, but a sudden, uncomfortable churn in his gut made him hide his face in his arms. It had to be nerves. The match was in less than two hours. If only they were allowed on the field before the match; Baekhyun would be out there practicing. He was pretty sure his entire team would be out on the field. There was no better way to get rid of nervousness than flying.

A touch to his hair made him jolt. Kyungsoo was petting his head. Without moving, Baekhyun mumbled, “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry so much,” said Kyungsoo. “Win or lose, you guys worked really hard. No one can deny that.”

“You should just tell me we’ll win no matter what.”

“Well, that’s something you have to prove to me.”

Baekhyun felt that his breath had stuttered, caught off-guard. He couldn’t help but grin, although his head was still down and Kyungsoo couldn’t see his expression. “Playing with fire is your hobby, then?”

Kyungsoo laughed. “I figured that’s a better motivator to you than empty votes of confidence.”

At that, Baekhyun lifted his head with a pout. “Are you saying you don’t have any confidence in our team?”

“I never said that,” said Kyungsoo, echoing Baekhyun’s words from earlier. He ruffled Baekhyun’s hair before withdrawing his hand. “Just win.”

He had a way with words. Baekhyun felt a little better as he watched Kyungsoo return to his scroll, picking up his quill to continue with his essay. But as the hour dwindled away and it was time for Baekhyun to get ready for the match, all the jittery feelings that had eased came back with a vengeance. Kyungsoo packed up early to walk him to the locker rooms, where he dropped him off with a cheerful, “Good luck! I’ll be watching in the stands!”

Baekhyun definitely didn’t feel less nervous after that.

Sehun caught him in time to wish him luck before the match. Baekhyun was grateful even though he knew his friend would definitely be watching with Chanyeol in the Gryffindor stands. After receiving a few more well-wishes, he went into the locker room with his team. They were sitting around in their emerald Slytherin robes, looking tense with stress. The instant he saw their worried expressions, he felt his captain persona take over. “I’ll be honest with you guys,” Baekhyun began. “We’re better than them.”

At that, the team laughed.

“Of course we’re better,” said Yuta. Baekhyun could always count on him to be confident. “Last year was just a fluke. This year, we’ll get them for sure.”

Baekhyun smacked him on the back. “That’s what I like to hear. Really, I had this whole speech prepared about how hard we worked and how I’ll be proud of you all even if we lose, but screw that. We know we worked hard. I’m going to beat your asses if we lose, so let’s go out there and win.”

That was the kind of pep-talk expected from a Slytherin captain. He could already see life returning to his teammate’s eyes. Rejuvenated, the seven of them walked out onto the pitch to a roar of noise that seemed to shake the ground. The stands had erupted in a clamor. Amidst the impressive “Sly-ther-in! Sly-ther-in!” chants from their house, members of other houses joined in a mix of cheers and boos. Baekhyun glanced at the rest of the team to find that they were also amazed. Gryffindor was the favorite. Not them. Yet it seemed that for the first time in years, there was an equal match between Gryffindor and Slytherin supporters.

“Now we’ve got to win,” said Jeonghan to his left. 

“No pressure,” Lisa, one of their Chasers, joked.

Baekhyun smiled, amused as the team traded banter, but caught the eye of their Seeker as he lagged behind the others, looking nearly like he wanted to pass out. Slowing down a fraction, he fell into step with him. “Hey, you doing alright?”

“Y- yeah.”

WinWin was the newest addition to the team. This would be his first Quidditch match, so it wasn’t a surprise that he was nervous. Baekhyun put a hand on his shoulder, making him jump. “You’ll do great,” he said gently. “Don’t be so stressed. Just imagine this is practice. I’ve seen you fly; I know you can do it.”

WinWin gulped with a nod. He still looked restless, but some of the tension in his shoulders eased.

They finally faced the Gryffindor team. Baekhyun’s stomach bubbled with an anxiety that made his fingers numb, but he managed a confident facade as he and the Gryffindor captain, a fifth year named Seungcheol, shook hands.

“Good luck, Byun,” said Seungcheol. Baekhyun answered with a nod. Seungcheol barely looked worried — he looked more excited than anything. Gryffindors really were a different breed.

Just before the starting whistle, Baekhyun surveyed his team. They looked just as nervous as he felt. Still, there was a dash of determination to their expressions, as if they’d taken his words to heart. Let’s go out there and win.

“On the whistle! Three… two… one…”

And they were off, shooting up into the leaden November sky.

At last. The remaining nervousness Baekhyun felt washed away as he ascended to the height of the goalposts, taking his place as Slytherin’s Keeper. It was easy to block out the commentator’s useless prattle; he had no interest in anything other than the Quaffle, which Yeji, one of their team’s Chasers, had retrieved at the start. Making out all the action from his spot at the opposite side of the field was challenging, but he could see that Yeji was doing an excellent job of weaving in and out of the Gryffindor’s ranks, dodging Seungcheol’s attempt to steal the Quaffle and neatly passing it to Haechan. With seemingly no problems at all, the score became ten-zero in favor of Slytherin in just a matter of minutes.

“And Jungkook takes possession for Gryffindor — ooh, the Bludger just narrowly misses him — nice defense work from Johnny and — it looks like Baekhyun Byun of Slytherin is on his own on his side of the field — the Chasers on Slytherin are doing quite a bit of work to catch up-”

Indeed, Haechan and Yeji had been thrown temporarily off-course with a calculated Bludger attack, and Lisa was the only one remotely close to the chase. Even amongst the Gryffindors, Jungkook had sped ahead, looking to have a one on one with Baekhyun at the goalpost.

As he neared, Baekhyun traced the movement of his arm, diving only to miss the Quaffle by a hair. 

“TEN-TEN TO GRYFFINDOR!”

Baekhyun’s heart sank as he righted himself again. Suddenly, the nerves were back. He’d talked big earlier, but he’d missed what should have been an easy save. Because of that, Jungkook had the Quaffle again, and they were even. Inadvertently, Baekhyun’s eyes strayed from the field to the stands. From this high up, it was difficult to make out anyone in particular, but he somehow was able to find the one face in the crowd that made his stomach buzz. Kyungsoo had his hands cupped around his mouth as if he was yelling something. Baekhyun couldn’t imagine what on earth he was saying, but he imagined it was something similar to “You call yourself a Keeper with that performance?”

Okay, so maybe that wasn’t what he was saying. Maybe that wasn’t even him. But Baekhyun wasn’t able to figure it out, because just as he turned away, Jeonghan materialized in front of him to stop a Bludger from taking him off his broom. “What in Merlin’s name are you doing?” Jeonghan yelled over the roar of the crowd below them. “You almost got hit and you were sitting there like a duck—”

“Great save from Jeonghan Yoon of Slytherin! Not quite sure what was going on with Baekhyun Byun there — might have been daydreaming — Gryffindor’s still got possession… Vernon’s approaching the scoring area! Let’s see if Baekhyun can catch this one!”

Baekhyun shook off his earlier haze and prepared himself for the throw. Jeonghan was right to be angry. He had to keep his head in the game. If he let them score once, fine. He just had to make sure it didn’t happen a second time. Gryffindor’s Chaser jerked upwards before throwing the Quaffle with great speed, catching Baekhyun off-guard. He had only a moment to react, reaching for it…

“AND HE SAVES IT! Seems like Baekhyun has woken up, then — he’s passed it to Haechan Lee… look at that speed!”

That was close. Baekhyun was hardly able to celebrate the save as Haechan quickly covered the distance of the field, both Gryffindor Beaters close behind. Even from this distance, he was able to see Haechan teeter as one of the Bludgers hit its mark.

“Haechan takes a hit and drops the Quaffle for Jungkook to take! Excellent Bludger work from Johnny of Gryffindor!”

Forty minutes in, and the score was seventy to forty in Gryffindor’s favor. Baekhyun gritted his teeth with his seventh miss, the Quaffle so close it brushed the tips of his fingers as it passed. The sea of red below them was screaming themselves raw, drowning out any other house’s cheers or boos. Things were beginning to look dim. Seventy to forty in Gryffindor’s favor quickly became ninety to forty. At this rate, it wouldn’t matter if they were the ones to catch the Snitch — their points wouldn’t be enough to win, at least not if things continued this way.

“The teamwork with these Gryffindor Chasers is impeccable! Vernon passes it to Jungkook, who drops it to Dino…”

Baekhyun narrowed his focus to the Quaffle. All other sounds faded to the background. The only thought in his mind was that he absolutely could not let them score again.

“— does he see it? Jeonghan and Yuta are too far away, but if he dodges now — OUCH! That’s got to hurt! But did he… HE DID! WHAT A SAVE FROM BAEKHYUN BYUN!”

Baekhyun held up the Quaffle to a tumultuous sea of applause and cheers. 

“Baekhyun! Are you alright?” His ears were buzzing, but he could at least hear Lisa’s concerned voice as she came to a stop in front of him.

“Call a timeout!” Yuta yelled. He grunted as he gave the Bludger that was going straight for Haechan a sturdy hit. “Just to get yourself checked out for a minute, or—”

A sudden swell in the crowd as well as the commentator's excitement interrupted him. “What’s going on with the two Seekers? Could they have spotted the Snitch?”

The Snitch? They weren’t too behind yet — the Snitch could save their game —

“I’m fine,” Baekhyun said, or tried to say. He found that attempting to make the words come out made him feel like vomiting. “Go!”

It looked like they wanted to protest, but they shot off without further argument. None of them had the power to call a timeout. In the end, it was up to Baekhyun as the team captain. If he said he wasn’t going to, there was no sense in wasting time arguing. 

Baekhyun’s head ached. The Bludger had just grazed his temple, but it was enough to do a number on him as he struggled to see WinWin across the field through his fuzzy gaze. The fourth year was a stream of emerald, closely followed by a blur of scarlet — the other Seeker was hot on his tail. With the prospect of the Snitch having been spotted, the Gryffindor Beaters were on the chase as well, intent on setting WinWin off-course. Seeing that, Jeonghan and Yuta sped towards the two Seekers as well to protect him.

“Is it the Snitch? I can’t see very well, but WinWin of Slytherin and Ryujin of Gryffindor are head to head, with the Beaters from both teams not too far off. Meanwhile, Gryfffindor’s got possession — it looks like we’ve got two games going on, with the way the field’s split —”

Gryffindor’s Chaser shot towards him, Quaffle in hand. This time, Baekhyun’s block was a little sluggish, but he managed to catch it with relative ease now that there were no Bludgers to distract him. He passed it to Lisa, who streaked across the pitch, determined to even the plane despite the fact that they were significantly behind. They would need five goals to go even with Gryffindor, and Baekhyun would have to make sure Gryffindor didn’t score a single goal in the meanwhile. It wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t likely, either. Still, Lisa, Haechan, and Yeji seemed bent on making up the difference, scoring a rather impressive goal to bring them to ninety-fifty in favor of Gryffindor.

Four more. At this point, Baekhyun was only thinking of going even — scoring more points could come later. The commotion over the Seekers had switched focus with Haechan’s spectacular goal, and the Beaters returned to the main game while the Seekers searched for the lost Snitch. Somehow, Baekhyun managed to block three more goals from Gryffindor in spite of the way his broom lurched below him, and another thirty minutes saw the four goals Slytherin needed to go ninety-ninety with Gryffindor. It was just after blocking a sideways throw that the Seekers gained attention again. The Snitch had been sighted, this time streaking low above the crowd in plain sight. It would be dangerous to follow it so close to spectators, but neither Seeker flinched, both diving in pursuit. With so many eyes on the chase, Yeji was able to sneak another goal into the Gryffindor goalpost, earning a loud cheer from the crowd below.

“Once again, they’re off! Look at the two of them! They’re head to head! But WinWin’s got the lead, and he’s closing the distance to the Snitch fast —”

Come on, WinWIn, Baekhyun thought urgently, jerking to the side to avoid a stray Bludger. 

“He’s got his hand out, looks like it’s within reach, and — HE’S GOT IT! HE’S GOT THE SNITCH! THAT’S TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY POINTS FOR SLYTHERIN AND THE GAME!”

An earth-shaking roar erupted in the stands as they went after WinWin, screaming too. WinWin looked dazed but was grinning broadly as the team converged to tackle him in a group hug. Baekhyun got there first. “You did it!” he said, putting his arms around him. Haechan latched onto his back and the rest of the team arrived within the minute, grouping up in an excited clump.

They were still in their huddle, surrounded by a cluster of excited students that had raced down from the stands (Sehun and the rest of Baekhyun’s friends among them), when Madam Yoona strode in, parting the crowd.

“Mr. Byun, if you’ll let me have a look at you…”

While the giddiness of winning didn’t dissipate, the reminder of Baekhyun’s injury cast a sense of worry over the team, all of them watching as Madam Yoona took stock. She peered at the side of his head. Now that he had the chance to notice the pain, it was pulsing, distractingly dizzying as he tried to answer Madam Yoona’s questions over the ringing in his ears, which he had previously assumed had come from the spectators but now realized was in his head.

“Alright, Byun. To the hospital wing with you. You need some good old fashioned rest, and I doubt you’ll get it from all the partying I’m sure you’ll want to do when you get back to the dorm.”

“What?” Baekhyun looked at his team. “But—”

“No ‘buts’ about it,” said Madam Yoona firmly. “Come on, then.”

“We’ll walk with you,” Lisa said.

“We couldn’t just let our captain go to the hospital wing alone after a win,” Yuta agreed.

But Madam Yoona had other thoughts. “On the contrary, I doubt Mr. Byun will be able to rest well with all of you with him.”

Comically, the crowd behind her booed. 

“Oh, come on, Madam Yoona,” Haechan said pitifully. “At least let us walk him!”

“We just won, and you want him to be alone?”

“Oh, alright, then,” said Madam Yoona to a great cheer. As he and his team followed behind her, he passed by Sehun (who yelled that he would be waiting for him in the dorms,) and Professor Kibum, who nodded at him with pride. At the very edge of the crowd, Kyungsoo stopped him for a hug.

“Good job, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo whispered before letting him go. Baekhyun was so dazed, he didn’t even mind the whistles and hoots that sounded from the audience. 

Madam Yoona had been right; Baekhyun was exhausted by the time they made it to the hospital wing, and a part of him was grateful when she ushered the rest of the Slytherin team out so he could rest. After drinking a concoction that tasted a bit like hot chocolate despite its murky green color, Baekhyun laid down and promptly passed out.

The buzz of their win stuck around for about a week until the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff match, which ended in a sweep from the Ravenclaws. When Baekhyun talked to Kyungsoo about it the following Wednesday at Astronomy, he didn’t seem to mind. From what Baekhyun could tell, he was happy either way, as he had friends on both sides (Minseok being the captain of the Ravenclaw team and all.)

Speaking of Astronomy, and speaking of Kyungsoo, Baekhyun found himself spending more and more time with the Hufflepuff. Their tutoring sessions on Saturdays stretched to longer and longer hours, to the point where it was more of a study session than anything else. Sehun stopped asking him where he went all the time — it was common knowledge that he’d be in the library on Saturdays. He’d even joined them one session, hitting it off with Kyungsoo the instant they started talking.

“Don’t be jealous, Baekhyun,” Sehun told him on their way back to the Slytherin Common Room. “I can tell he likes you.”

He wasn’t jealous. And Kyungsoo definitely did not like him. At least, not in the way that Sehun was fond of implying. Kyungsoo was just nice. Of course people would take it the wrong way, especially with how much time they spent together. However, Baekhyun knew better. He refused to read into anything too much. There was no point wondering about Kyungsoo’s subtle touches (which had increased in number — not that Baekhyun was counting,) or his suspiciously deliberate comments. No point at all.

So the weeks passed. As per usual, Professor Kibum collected the names of the students who would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. When Baekhyun raised his hand, Sehun looked at him with surprise.

“You’re doing it because of Kyungsoo, aren’t you?” said Sehun during dinner in the Great Hall, whilst stuffing his face with shepherd’s pie. The Great Hall was brightly decorated with every manner of holiday decor imaginable, from the twelve great Christmas trees to the twinkling fairy lights, to the mistletoe and holly and the brilliant flurry of white falling from the enchanted ceiling. Baekhyun choked on his hot chocolate.

“What?”

“Staying over Christmas break,” Sehun clarified. “You’re doing it because of Kyungsoo, aren’t you?”

“I did find it strange,” said Yixing.

“Baekhyun's staying over break?” Now Joy had joined their conversation, interest piqued. “You’ve never stayed over winter break.”

“Well, it’s not exactly finalized.”

“Not finalized? But you told Professor Kibum.”

“Yeah, but I’m still waiting for an owl from my parents.” Baekhyun sighed. “I expect they’ll ask a lot of questions. I don’t even know if they’ll let me.”

Even Professor Kibum was suspicious when he’d signed the list. Baekhyun always went home for the holidays. Still, it would be a nice change of pace to stay at the school. He’d never seen Hogwarts over the winter break, after all. It would be interesting to see it when there were so few students to occupy it, and he wanted to see the decorations anyway. While the corridors were beginning to look Christmas-y, he’d heard it was even more spectacular over the break, despite the fact that there was hardly anyone there to see it.

“That’s an alright excuse and all,” said Sehun when he told him the same, “but it’s pretty unconvincing. C’mon, just admit it. You want to stay because of Kyungsoo.”

“What’s Kyungsoo got to do with it?”

“You heard he’s staying this year, too. There’s no way it’s a coincidence.” Sehun nudged him in the side, grinning at Baekhyun’s scowl. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re wrong,” Baekhyun mumbled, shoving a potato into his mouth.

“Oh, please. There’s no other reason for — hey, Kyungsoo.”

“I won’t fall for that,” said Baekhyun tiredly. “You’ve done it five times already, and—”

“Hey, Sehun.”

Baekhyun froze. Kyungsoo was behind him, smiling and sending Sehun a cute little wave. When he met Baekhyun’s eyes, his smile seemed to become even more brilliant.

“I heard you’re staying over the break.”

“Y- Yeah.”

“Let’s hang out! I’m the only one from my year who’s staying in Hufflepuff, so it’ll be lonely for me.”

At this point, they’d gathered the attention of the surrounding Slytherins, who weren’t even trying to hide their grins at the two of them. Baekhyun flushed. Beside him, Sehun stifled a snicker. “Er… yeah, sure. Let’s.”

“Great! I’ll see you, then.”

Numbly, Baekhyun nodded, watching him go. Once he was an adequate distance away, Sehun shoved him. 

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

Sehun spoke with an exaggerated stutter. “‘Oh, yes, Kyungsoo, I would looove to spend Christmas with you—’”

“Oh, shut up,” said Baekhyun, tips of his ears red. Sehun grinned.

“For the record,” said Yixing helpfully, “I think it’s cute.”

Baekhyun groaned while Sehun laughed, hoping his neck wasn’t as flushed as it felt. 

As he’d expected, his parent’s weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of him spending the holidays at Hogwarts. The very first sentence of the letter Dubu brought him at breakfast said, What in MERLIN’S NAME? which was worrying enough, but it was even scarier, penned in the perfect font of his mother’s hand. He’d delayed opening it for the entire day. It was only when Sehun mentioned it just before bed that he gave in and read it.

Baekhyun,

What in MERLIN’S NAME? You want to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas? Are you staying with Sehun? I don’t believe for a second that you want to stay for the decorations, and I am appalled that you would even think of signing that list before consulting with your father and I.

Send a reply this week, or I’ll tell Kibum you are not to stay at Hogwarts over the break. That’s not a free card to do as you wish, either. If I hear that you’re doing anything out of order I will have you sent right back, be sure of it.

With much love,

Mum and Dad

So Baekhyun sent a letter home detailing just how much he wanted to see Hogwarts on Christmas and mentioned nothing else, relieved that an apology was the only price to pay for signing the list without their permission. Term came to an end quicker than he’d anticipated. He and his friends exchanged gifts before everyone left for the Hogwarts Express, and then he was alone in the dormitory with the crackling fire and the giant squid, which Professor Kibum had charmed with the image of a Christmas hat that appeared every time it passed by the large windows of the common room.

Being in the Slytherin common room was strange without anyone else to occupy it. It was decorated almost as festively as the rest of Hogwarts, with a large Christmas tree by the fireplace and stockings hanging at the front, and fairies floating about in blinking dots of light, lining the garland that decorated the walls, but there was none of the usual chatter that Baekhyun had grown accustomed to hearing. Instead, there was the familiar white noise of the lake and the fireplace and beneath it all, silence. Baekhyun found himself bored without any classes to attend or people to talk to. Certainly, being alone during the holidays wasn’t very enjoyable.

The only thing that made it worth it was the afternoons. He and Kyungsoo spent the next few days walking around the castle chatting about nothing and everything at once. Strangely, by the time he returned to his dormitory, he had no idea what they’d talked about. He only knew that they’d spent the entire day together, with hardly a break in between.

Christmas came upon them just as suddenly as everything else. Baekhyun brought his presents out into the common room since he had the place to himself anyway, sitting in front of the fireplace to warm up. First, he opened the large box that held his family’s gifts. From his parents, he received a few fresh scrolls and ink bottles of various colors, and from his brother, a set of quills (which, upon further inspection, turned out to be sugar quills.) Sehun and Yoongi had gotten their presents from Zonko’s Joke Shop; Baekhyun set aside the trick wand and headless hat beside the quidditch gloves Jimin had gifted him, and opened Taemin’s present. It was a stress-relieving tonic. Useful, Baekhyun thought, what with his N.E.W.T. level courses taking up half his life. 

After he finished opening the rest of his gifts, he stowed them away in his suitcase and settled on the couch in front of the common room fire, snacking on the cauldron cakes Professor Kibum had given him that morning. The Potion’s professor seemed to feel sorry for Baekhyun, although it was Baekhyun’s choice to stay over the break alone anyway, and had come by every day to give him a different sweet.

The rest of Christmas day was largely uneventful, however. Kyungsoo told him during breakfast that he wouldn’t be able to meet today, but that he would see him later for dinner (“you’ll sit with me at my table this time, right?”) so Baekhyun was left to walk the halls of Hogwarts alone. At the very least, he had dinner to look forward to. The famed Christmas feast, though there were few students to enjoy it, was known as one of the best feasts Hogwarts offered. High praise, considering every Hogwarts feast was spectacular.

At last, evening came. Baekhyun dressed in his usual uniform but brought his scarf as well, thinking it might be cold on the walk there. He was right. Going from the dungeons to the Great Hall wasn’t a terribly taxing journey, but it was chilly. Thankfully, the Great Hall was much warmer. The instant it was within view Baekhyun removed his scarf, bundling it in his arms as he looked — and found, quite easily in the largely-empty hall — Kyungsoo.

The three students from Gryffindor and two from Ravenclaw looked up with interest upon his arrival, but otherwise didn’t pay much attention to the fact that he was headed straight for the Hufflepuff table. At the front of the room, Professor Kibum quirked an eyebrow at him. Baekhyun shrugged.

“Baekhyun! You made it!”

“Sorry,” he said, sitting beside him. He put his scarf in his lap and reached for a slice of roast turkey, only to give up and let Kyungsoo get it for him instead. “I was… er… napping.”

He’d come late. It was clear he’d missed something, as the floor was littered with streamers, confetti, and the like, but the Great Hall still screamed festivity with its Christmas trees and enchanted snow, and the self-ringing bells floating by their heads playing a holiday jingle. Kyungsoo looked like he’d eaten a whole meal already and then some. He was halfway through a serving of Christmas pudding, going between that and a plump slice of chocolate cake. Clearly, he liked his sweets.

“That’s alright,” said Kyungsoo cheerily. “Take your time eating. I’ll wait for you.”

“Wait for me?”

Baekhyun had finished pouring the gravy over his turkey and was just digging in before he realized Kyungsoo hadn’t responded. When he looked up, Kyungsoo looked disappointed.

“Weren’t we going to walk for a bit after dinner?”

Well, it wasn’t like they’d planned it. Still, Baekhyun didn’t have the heart to comment otherwise, nodding his head to Kyungsoo’s brilliant smile.

They went to the courtyard when they’d finished eating. The enchanted ceiling, it turns out, had guessed the weather perfectly; the moon was full in the middle of a clear night sky, and a light snowfall left a dusting of white on the icy ground. Baekhyun swept the bench of snow and sat, sliding over to make room for Kyungsoo.

His breath came out in a puff of white. “It’s cold out.”

“Good thing we brought our scarves.”

“Yeah.”

“Also,” said Kyungsoo in the same tone of voice, “good thing we’re wizards.”

There was a beat of silence. Kyungsoo laughed when Baekhyun came out with an, “Oh, right,” and procured his wand. “Focillo.”

A warmth dispersed from his wand in a stream, enveloping them in a cozy heat akin to sitting beside a fireplace with a blanket. Comfortable again, Baekhyun pocketed his wand and stretched his legs out in front of him. 

“So what did you think about the feast?”

“It was really good,” said Baekhyun without hesitation. “I can’t say I regret staying over the break.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Just for that reason?”

Well. Baekhyun got the sense that Kyungsoo knew it wasn’t just because of that. He didn’t think it was necessary to embarrass himself with something they were both aware of. Instead, he shrugged. “What do you usually do, alone the whole time?”

“I had Jongdae with me my second year. We just talked a lot and played in the snow. But the years I was by myself, I went around Hogwarts, exploring.”

“Exploring? By yourself?”

“Nothing else to do.” Kyungsoo brought his yellow scarf over his mouth. His voice came out muffled. “Besides, Hogwarts is huge. There’s so much to see. And it’s interesting to go around when there aren’t any student’s about. A bit scary, too.”

He could imagine. As much as he and every student called Hogwarts their home, it was still a castle with every assortment of magical and ancient secrets. There were hidden passageways and monsters, and strange plants and magical items nestled in every nook and cranny of the school. Even Baekhyun only wanted to know as much as they were mean to — anything more was unregulated terror. “Did you find anything?” he asked.

Kyungsoo thought about it. “Aside from a few pretty views and empty rooms? Not really. But it was fun anyway.”

“Take me to one of the places you found,” Baekhyun said.

“Tomorrow, then.”

“Sure. Tomorrow.”

The promise of another day spent with the Hufflepuff was easy to agree to. Baekhyun wondered if Kyungsoo shared his thoughts about it, how quickly they’d grown to be so comfortable with one another. It was odd. He felt like he’d changed a lot over such a short time, and it was all because of Kyungsoo.

“I bought you a present,” said Kyungsoo suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. “Will you… will you accept it?”

When Baekhyun glanced at him, he saw that his face was slightly red; be it from the cold or from embarrassment, Baekhyun wasn’t sure. “Of course I would. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don't know. I was worried.”

“Well, don’t be worried.” Baekhyun bit his lip. “I got you one, too.”

Embarrassment turned to surprise, which turned to shyness, all in one sweeping moment. Kyungsoo buried his face further in his scarf. “You didn’t have to.”

“Neither did you.” Clearing his throat, Baekhyun went to the pocket of his robes and pulled out the small, modest box. It was wrapped a tad messily in green and silver wrapping, as if he’d done it in a rush — which he had, just before the feast. For whatever reason he'd procrastinated on it the entire week. “It’s nothing too fancy or anything, so don’t get your hopes up—”

“Shh.” Kyungsoo cut him off with a smile, taking the gift from his hands. “Thank you. And yours — hold on…”

Just as Baekhyun had pulled his present from his pocket, Kyungsoo did the same, except he took out a small pouch instead. For a moment, Baekhyun thought that was his gift, but then Kyungsoo shoved a hand inside and searched before pulling out a large box that couldn’t have possibly fit in the tiny pouch. “Here.”

“I already feel like you’ve got me beat.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Just open it already.”

“You, too.”

The two of them unwrapped their gifts. Baekhyun did so with a bit of anxiety as he heard Kyungsoo opening his.

Kyungsoo had given him a broomstick servicing kit. That explained the weight of the thing; it was quite hefty, a luxurious-looking black leather case complete with his initials written in neat, silver lettering. Unable to resist taking a look inside, he found a small, brass Broom Compass, a large bottle of Fleetwood’s High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of Tail-Twig Clippers, and a handbook on broom care. Baekhyun was speechless. As he zipped the bag closed his stomach churned with anxiety, finally bringing himself to look at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo had finished unwrapping his gift. He’d already taken it out of the box, and was looking at it with wonder.

It was a clear, glass case with a piece of the universe. At least, that’s what the description had said when he’d bought it. Initially, he’d planned on getting Kyungsoo something practical, like a quill of some sort or a mini telescope, but after a few hours of increasing frustration he’d visited the Junk Shop and found, in the midst of all the trash, one of the most intriguing items he’d ever seen. It genuinely gave the impression of holding a galaxy. Tiny, free-floating stars lit an otherwise dark landscape in a brilliant circle of light. If he wanted, he could zoom in on one of the stars and inspect it in detail. Baekhyun thought it was a gift well-suited for the Hufflepuff, who’d shown a propensity for studying Astronomy. He was relieved to see that he liked it.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo said softly, carefully returning it to its box. “I love it.”

“Thank you.” And maybe it was the way that he said it, as if it were a competition, being thankful, that made them laugh a little together. Suddenly, Baekhyun wasn’t nervous anymore but undeniably warm.

They sat for a little in silence, enjoying each other’s presence and the snow that was beginning to blanket an inch up off the ground. “It’s getting late. We should probably go to our dormitories.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said.

Neither got up.

“Won’t you take Astronomy again?” Kyungsoo asked. Then, before Baekhyun could speak, “Professor Young’s been asking me to convince you, and I think I’m reaching my limit.”

“I’m not surprised she’s been bugging you about it.”

“What’s the harm in taking it? You like it, anyway.”

“Yeah,” said Baekhyun after a moment. “I do.”

It wasn’t the only thing, but that was a topic for another day, and besides, Baekhyun hadn’t figured that one out yet.

“And you aren’t thinking of quitting tutoring me, right?”

“Of course not,” said Baekhyun, slightly offended before he remembered that that had been the original plan.

Kyungsoo crossed his arms smugly. “Then?”

“I think it’s too late. She said to tell her before the break.”

“It’s not too late,” said Kyungsoo firmly. “She’ll pull any strings to get you back in her class.”

Baekhyun laughed. “I can’t be that much of a joy to be around.”

“I dunno… there’s just something about you…”

The two of them grinned at each other. It seemed the perfect, breathless moment, just caught up in each other’s smiles, to say something absolutely crazy. Baekhyun felt it like the pull of a magnet, North and South, and for a moment he considered it.

But, well. It was only Christmas. Only the end of the first term. He had time — plenty of it — to sort things out.

It was the perfect night for beginnings.

“I’ll talk to her,” said Baekhyun finally.

“Good.”

“And I’ll keep tutoring you.”

“Alright.”

“... Hey, Kyungsoo?” 

“Yeah?”

Baekhyun felt his heart steady as Kyungsoo’s eyes met his. “Merry Christmas.”

Kyungsoo smiled. “Merry Christmas.”