Chapter Text
Despite being a top student in the seventh year at Hogwarts, Lee Minho was pretty bad at using his words to express his feelings. Might be the whole Slytherin thing, even if it didn’t explain why his best friend Changbin was so certain and firm in his life altering decisions, like asking out the cute freckled Hufflepuff from the year below and getting himself a boyfriend in one month. Like, what was up with that? Still, going back to main point, Lee Minho couldn’t find a way to get Han Jisung, sixth year, Ravenclaw, and very good at everything he put his mind to, to go on a date with him.
He started falling for him when, the previous year, he saw the younger warlock saving a kitten from the rain during an outing in Hogsmeade. He had taken the poor kitten under his coat and brought it inside the closest pub, where all the patrons cooed as soon as they saw the black ball of fluff snuggle up to the cutest boy ever. Minho might have cooed for both of them but thankfully his cat-loving persona saved him from being made fun of by his friends. From that moment on, diving right into the crush like a bad performed Wronski Faint was inevitable and here he was, one year later, trying to come up with excuses to ask the boy out.
He had tried passing him his well schematised notes for his exams, but that failed as he realised at the last moment that Jisung, being a Ravenclaw, would not need them at all. So, he threw them in the trash right before talking to him and instead just stood there, staring. Merlin, he must have thought he was crazy. And when he later found out that the boy was a close enemy of History of Magic and of Professor Binns monotonous way of teaching, he regretted throwing away his notes and thus, his opportunity at finding himself in Jisung’s good books.
One of his most embarrassing and shameful moments was when he tried to offer him his pumpkin juice without realising that a) the kitchen provided it for everyone if they wanted it and b) that Jisung was allergic to pumpkins, making Minho feel bad for not knowing that important fact beforehand. Which, okay, might not be that obvious, especially in a magic school, but he could have at least asked someone. Needless to say, he spent the whole week avoiding the Great Hall and having Hyunjin from the year below bring him food when he needed it. His friend Chan laughed each time he saw him bolting whenever he spotted a blue and silver uniform, and the fact that he was one of Jisung’s closest friends didn’t help, since he probably told the younger boy what was up with Minho. He hoped that wasn’t the case though, as he had a reputation to maintain. The cold and distant Lee Minho, or something like that. And yet, seeing the way Jisung smiled teasingly at him when he next saw him gave him the confirmation that Chan probably did spill. Friend rights revoked for at least a week; he had decided.
The ‘cold and distant Lee Minho’ was the image most of the school had about him and he wasn’t bothered enough to correct them. It was not his fault that the rumours he didn’t accept any confession started spreading around when there was the very important fact that he was gay, and that those confessions were from girls. All of them. When in the third year he had his first confession from a boy he liked in the year above, he had accepted it, but since they were young and shy nobody got the message that they were actually together and thought them just really good friends, as historians would say. He just hoped Jisung didn’t think he was straight, that would be very embarrassing.
But then again, this was a new year and new year meant a “new me”, as his Muggle-born friends said. So, when he had seen the younger boy on the Platform 9¾ on September 1st this year, while he was loading his truck on the train ready to go back to Hogwarts, he had waved at him with the prettiest smile he could get on his face and Jisung had actually said hi back! And he had smiled! And maybe he had seen his cheeks getting redder, but that could’ve been the remaining summer heat acting against his dreams. They had then sat together with the whole gang, Hwang Hyunjin, Bang Chan and Seo Changbin from Slytherin, Lee Felix from Hufflepuff, Yang Jeongin and Kim Seungmin from Ravenclaw, both close friends of Jisung’s. He hadn’t even pranked the Kim kid to play the perfect boy part in front of him. Okay, maybe the book hadn’t fell on Seungmin’s head by accident, but nobody would know, right?
Now, after the first two weeks of classes had passed and the students had gone back to the rhythm of Hogwarts, it was time to get his Bludgers together and try to ask Han Jisung out. Hopefully getting a boyfriend in the process and thus succeeding. He was a Slytherin, which was a good thing since it meant he wouldn’t give up on something – or someone in this case – he wanted. Unless rejection occurred of course, he wasn’t a total jerk, no matter what Hyunjin said.
I
The first plan he had intended to act on was rather simple: going to Ravenclaw’s try-outs and cheering him on. After seeing him on the stands Jisung would fly over to say hi and Minho would gather his wits, put on one of his flirty smiles and ask the boy out.
When the day arrived, after lunch, Minho got out of the Great Hall, taking with him a grumpy Seo Changbin – who just wanted to spend the free afternoon with Felix – to go to the Quidditch field. They went through the Hogwarts main door, managed to avoid a Weasley trinket some kid was playing around with and finally reached the field where the Ravenclaw team was already starting to mount on their brooms. The field was just outside the Hogwarts walls and in view of the lake, with the stands decorated following the Houses’ colours – red and gold, yellow and black, green and silver, blue and bronze – and going up for quite a few floors. Minho hadn’t taken into account the height factor, but that wouldn’t be a problem, would it?
Jeongin was the first to notice them getting closer and waved his hand, catching in turn Jisung’s attention. The blue-clad boy raised his head from the plans he was revising and when he smiled at Minho, he almost lost his footing. Thank Merlin he had decided to bring along Changbin, who managed to catch him before he made a fool out of himself yet again. They got closer to the team since they had yet to start based on the low number present on the grass and the couple of people already in the air.
“Hello! Are you here to spy on us?” asked Jisung with a teasing smile.
“U-um, well… we’re here to, um -”
“What Minho means to say is that no, we’re not here to spy on you, even if I do play in Slytherin’s team, we’re here because he wants to og-” the last word was cut off by Minho’s hand suddenly coming up to Changbin’s mouth and covering it.
He laughed nervously before trying to think of a proper reason to be there that didn’t involve outing himself as whipped in front of his crush.
“I’m here because I suddenly wanted to learn about some Quidditch rules and Changbin said you’d be practicing today! So, he would explain to me everything while you were playing! Yeah. That’s it, that’s why we’re here!”
“But aren’t you at your seventh year here? How do you not know the rules?” Jeongin, the little shit, was clearly trying to tease him. He would not fall for it. And he would not let Hyunjin talk to the young kid for a week, he wasn’t blind and he had seen the way the two looked at each other. Plus, this way he would manage to get back at Hyunjin for that time he called Jisung to them when he had just pulled an all-nighter and looked worse than Moaning Mirtle after crying.
“You also forget that these are just try-outs and that there will not be proper playing until at least next week.” Now Jisung was full-on smiling, a laugh just behind his teeth ready to spill out. Minho realised what was about to happen and promptly took Changbin’s shirt, dragging him to the stands, as far away as possible from Jeongin, now cackling loudly, and Jisung, missing the fond and amused smile he was sporting. He dragged his friend until the third floor before realising how far away from the ground he now was and stopping abruptly.
“Was this a good idea, Minho?”
“I may have not considered all the aspects involving Quidditch and the reason why I never go to the matches.”
“And what do we do now that we’re up here and not on the ground, where you normally prefer your feet to be?”
Changbin watched with amusement his best friend’s eyes widen with pure terror as the whole situation settled in his head. People always repeated ‘Harry Potter wasn’t a Ravenclaw for sure’ and now he could also add the name ‘Lee Minho’ to the popular phrase. His amusement faded when he saw that Minho was starting to tremble and he immediately helped him to sit down and breathe correctly again.
“Hey Min, you’re okay. I’m here, we’re on a steady structure and we’re safe.”
“Y-yeah I’m fine. I’m totally fine.”
“That’s the spirit!” Changbin joked, but his soft smile showed his relief. Minho’s fear of heights wasn’t usually that bad, not since he had joined Hogwarts and had to learn to at least fly a broom above the professor’s head in order to pass Flying lessons. It could be that being already on edge with the expectation of having to pass as a normal and charming boy in front of Jisung, he hadn’t psyched himself enough to also face the Quidditch stands. While he had – somewhat – talked normally in front of the Ravenclaw he now had to manage surviving a whole two, at the minimum, hours of watching people flying dangerously in front of him while being above the normally-human-preferred ground level himself.
“I can do this. Changbin, if I can’t actually do this, tell my mom and my cats I love them and tell Jisung he looked cute when he first drank Butterbeer and expected it to be alcoholic.”
“How do you know about that?” Changbin snorted, glad that his best friend was back.
“Hyunjin said that they would be at Hogsmeade at the end of last year after the OWLs and I happened to pass by.”
“’Happened to’ sure, I believe you.”
“Good, because it’s true.”
Ignoring the pointed look the shorter boy was sending him, Minho moved his gaze to where Ravenclaw Captain Han Jisung (that had a nice sound, wow) was rounding up everybody and dividing those who were auditioning for Chasers with those auditioning for Keepers and those who were auditioning for the free Beater spot were going to play with Jeongin, who was the Seeker and the Vice-Captain. The two groups took a section of the field each and thankfully – so he didn’t have to move again – Jisung’s group was the one closest to Minho. He was following the Keepers and Chasers group, using his Beater bat to point at what they were doing wrong and he looked so confident giving directions and suggestions that Minho lost track of time and the first half hour passed in the blink of an eye.
“Shit, I forgot about my study date with Lix!”
“Oh, well if you have to go don’t worry! I can just stay here by myself, I don’t mind!”
“But… how are you going to get down safely?” a frown of worry appeared on Changbin’s face.
“I-I’ll manage… I’m not two, you know?”
“I do know that, but I also know you’re a stubborn baby that can’t admit they need help sometimes. Wait, I have an idea!”
“Seo Changbin what are you plotting?” his friend started to go down the stands, marching directly towards Jisung who had just gotten down to the ground to drink a bit of water. “Seo Changbin?!?”
Minho saw his so-called best friend gesture to his crush to wait before flying again and they talked a bit, Changbin pointing at him while explaining something. When he finished talking, Jisung smiled brightly and looked up to him. No, his ears weren’t reddening and yes, he was maintaining a steady gaze back at him. No, you were not there to contradict this true and easily believable fact.
Jisung nodded back to Changbin, who gave him a pat on the shoulder before going back to the school. The Ravenclaw put away his water and looked towards Minho for a moment, smiling secretly when he saw the Slytherin shying away from his eyes. Then he went back on his broom because he had yet to finish a whole selection of people for his new team.
As the try-outs picked up their pace again, and the anxiety of having to be better to be chosen for the team started to grow, the players started to act skittish and missing some of the Quaffles going their way. Being focused on Jisung’s part of the field and on the Ravenclaw helping out with the posture of a kid trying for Chaser, Minho didn’t realise that one of the girls trying out for the free Beater spot had missed her Bludger, which was now flying fast towards him. Jeongin realised what was happening but was too far away to reach him and managed to only scream his name.
“MINHO!!”
At hearing his name being shouted, Minho looked his way and was too stunned to move when he saw the rapidly closing in Bludger. On the other side of the field, everyone looked at him after Jeongin’s scream, but the first to react was Jisung, who quickly turned his broom to the stands and flew to Minho as fast as he could. Just before the Bludger could hit him, Minho closed his eyes, ready to take the strong impact and to feel his bones being crushed, but what he felt instead was an arm taking him from the waist and lifting him up in the air. With his eyes closed, not feeling the ground underneath him anymore, Minho wrapped his arms around his saviour’s neck as firmly as he could to not fall down. Then he felt a sigh of relief close to his neck and shuddered when he felt the arm tightening even more than it already was.
“Thank Merlin you’re okay, Minho. That scared the shit out of me.” Minho felt the boy release a shuddering breath. He slowly opened his eyes, still holding on to the other’s neck and looked up only to find himself facing Jisung’s hair, since his face was still buried in the Slytherin’s neck, his breath hot above the collar of his shirt. As he slowly realised what had happened in the span of two minutes, he felt his ears getting hotter and hotter.
“J-Jisung?” the boy finally lifted his head from the crook of Minho’s neck and once their eyes met the Slytherin held his breath, as the look Jisung was giving him was full of worry and something that looked almost like fondness, but that couldn’t be right, could it? It’s not like they had ever talked that much. Well, yeah, their respective group of friends had started merging each day more since last year, but the two of them had never hung out alone and Minho had always been too shy to reply with more than two sentences to the Ravenclaw’s questions. And yet… that look was giving him the courage he needed.
It was time.
He was going to ask Jisung out and proceed with The Plan.
“Yeah?” replied the other softly.
“Will you-” suddenly a gust of wind made the two shift and Jisung tightened his arm around Minho’s waist, but the shift made the older boy realise that they were in fact still in the air and far, far away from the ground and from where his feet should be. He felt panic rise again in his chest and he let out a yelp as he squeezed his eyes shut again and held onto Jisung’s neck, now hiding in his neck.
“ohmerlinpleasebringmedownnowohgodohgodohgod”
“Oh shit, yeah, Changbin told me you’re afraid of heights, I’m so sorry Min. I’ll bring us down right away.”
All Minho could think about was getting his feet back to level zero, he wasn’t thinking about anything else and he could not hear anything other than the rushing of the wind in his ears as Jisung sped back to the field, where the others were still watching them, still worried. Jeongin had a knowing smile on his face when he saw the way Jisung was holding the other boy and promptly ignored the glare he received.
Alice, the girl who had missed the Bludger, was running towards them with a pained expression, apologising even before they were in hearing range. Jisung told her it was fine but to pay more attention next time, then told Jeongin to close up his selection of the next Beater while he calmed Minho down.
They went to the changing rooms, where Minho could sit without having to go up to the stands again. Jisung brought him some water and the older boy took it shakily, but he was already calming down now that he was in a safe space.
“I’m sorry I reacted like that.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” said Jisung, kneeling down in front of him and holding his hand over Minho’s on the bottle, “there’s no reason to apologise, it’s perfectly normal to have a fear. I’m the one who’s sorry for not bringing you down sooner!”
“But you saved me from having to spend a night in the infirmary! I’m the one with the irrational fear!”
“I’ll tell you a secret,” smiled Jisung, “I’m afraid of heights too. We’re humans, humans are supposed to stay on the ground!”
“But… You’re a Quidditch player. The best Ravenclaw has seen in years!”
“Well, yeah, I am pretty good.” Minho tsked at that, but he avoided his gaze when Jisung looked at him with confidence and a bit of cockiness. “But flying comes to me as second nature. When I’m not on a broom and I find myself above the preferred human to ground ratio I’m scared too. So yeah, don’t feel guilty; plus, I’m just happy that the Beater didn’t ruin your pr- um, your face.” The Ravenclaw looked sheepish for a moment, then he regained his wits and continued. “Listen, I’m going to have to announce the new players, and that’ll take a bit more time. I think you should go back to the castle and rest a little before dinner. I’ll see you then, okay?”
Minho, now calmer, nodded and waved at Jisung when he got up to run back to the field. He had forgotten all about his masterplan, just thinking about getting a warm drink in him and recovering in full from the experience. It was just after dinner, when he was going back to the dungeons, that he realised he had failed yet again in asking his crush out. And yet, the day hadn’t felt like a total failure, especially if he thought back to Jisung’s arm around his waist and how strong it felt – yeah, it was time to go to bed. He would try again another time.