Chapter Text
Jimin runs quickly after a little fluff ball of white and grey. His robe bats behind him wildly, his socked feet are cold and he can feel his hair getting ruffled by the wind that comes through the windows of the corridor. He isn't sure what animal it is that he is chasing, all he knows for sure is that it's a magical creature that doesn't belong inside the castle. The small creature is pulling along a pastel blue ankle socks that it stole from under Jimin’s bed. Jimin’s quick footsteps echo in the cold stone walls as he tries to keep up with the animal. He doesn't care about getting his sock back, he’s got plenty of missing pairs to combine it with, he just wants to see what the animal looks like so that he can look it up in the library later. Jimin turns a corner and bumps into someone. He stumbles but doesn't pay the startled student much mind and keeps running.
"Hey!" the person calls out and Jimin yells back a rushed " sorry! " as he keeps going.
Jimin doesn't stop, not when he winds up leaving the castle and not even when he finds himself on the edge of the forbidden forest. He is focused on catching the sneaky fluff ball and isn’t paying attention to his surroundings or the change of them. It’s only as the little fat animal is trying to sneak inside a hole on the ground, where his den must be, that Jimin finally catches it. He throws himself on the ground and with both hands gets a hold of the round fluffy thief.
"Aha!" He cheers happily and lifts it up as it squeals in his grip. Then Jimin turns it on its back and the animal goes pliant in his grip. It's got large ears and big black eyes, looks like a combination of a mouse, a beaver, and something he can't quite place a finger on. He's never seen anything like it and after getting a good look at it he sets it down again and lets it disappear inside his den with the sock.
Once the animal is gone and Jimin stops being so hyper focused he finally takes note of his surroundings. He stiffens and freezes, eyes going wide and hands shaky. Oh no. He's lost and in big trouble.
He gets up off the ground slowly and cleans the dirt of his hands while he takes a slow look around. He squints, trying to find the castle lights between the tree line, but the forest all looks the same and he has no idea what direction he came from.
"Hello?" he calls out without thinking and scolds himself quietly when he remembers where he is. Jimin knows a lot about magical creatures, particularly about those that reside in the forbidden forest, so he knows there's a lot that aren't exactly friendly. He takes a deep breath to calm down and takes a tentative step in a random direction. His socks are wet with mud at this point and the damp sensation combined with the cold air makes him shiver.
He walks for a little bit without running into anything so he quickens his pace, feeling more confident by his good luck but nervous about the passing time. The moon is high in the sky by now, barely visible past the treetops. It makes sense, he'd been done with his clases and the sun was already setting when he started chasing the strange animal, but the darker the forest gets, the more freaked out he feels.
His good luck runs out all of a sudden and Jimin hears rustling to his left. He panics briefly but then quickly runs to hide behind a tree as the sound gets closer. He instinctively reaches for his wand, which is usually secure at his hip on the waistband of his skirt, but when he doesn't find it he pats all over himself in search of it with increasing panic. Jimin's back presses against the large tree until he hears a voice along with the approaching footsteps.
"Go away," someone says without much conviction. "Shoo."
Jimin frowns curiously and slowly peeks his head from the side of the tree. On the other side he finds a bored looking Slytherin with a lantern in his hand.
"What?" the Slytherin asks, surprised. "Who- what are you doing here?" He asks Jimin, taking a quick look around before his gaze returns to him and he starts walking in his direction.
Jimin cowers back, Slytherin's aren't usually gentle and he doesn't need to be scolded by some rude student on top of what he'll probably get from whatever professor catches him trying to sneak back into the Hufflepuff common room. He can't help the way his eyes start watering as the other one gets closer. The other student has messily styled black hair, a piercing on his eyebrow and another one on his lip, he isn't wearing the school robe and the sleeves of his shirt are pulled up to show off an abundance of tattoos on one of his arms, the largest of which is a snake that moves to wrap around his arm. God this man looks merciless, he's surely going to call Jimin all kinds of mean names… but then why are the butterflies in his tummy going so wild?
"You're a Hufflepuff? What the fuck ? You're not wearing shoes ! Are you insane?" He takes Jimin's wrist and starts pulling him in a different direction, raising the lantern to see where they're going as he tugs Jimin along at a pace that’s just a little too fast for the nervous Hufflepuff. "You shouldn't be here at this hour, are you dumb? It's dangerous! Seriously, what in the world- wait… oh wait no, don't cry," he’s yelling at first, clearly annoyed as he rants but stops when he glances at Jimin and his voice gets softer suddenly, a delicate whisper towards the end.
"You're yelling at me!" Jimin sobs embarrassed, drying his cheeks with the long sleeves of his robe quickly.
"I'm sorry," the Slytherin says and Jimin hiccups, he has to admit he's a little surprised by the gentleness. "I didn't mean to make you cry," he apologizes, replacing Jimin's hands with his own on the task of drying his tears.
"It's alright," Jimin sniffles with a little shrug, taking in a shaky breath and trying to stop his crying. "It was dumb of me to run into the forest, I wasn't paying attention."
"That's alright, you were distracted. And you're safe now with me anyway. It's not that big a deal," he reassures him with a smile, ruffling Jimin's hair affectionately. “I’m Jungkook, by the way,” the Slytherin says, letting his hand drop at his side only for Jimin to reach over and shake it enthusiastically.
"I'm Jimin," he says softly, with his cheeks red and a wide smile on his lips. The butterflies are going absolutely bonkers inside of him.
Jungkook insists on carrying Jimin all the way back to the castle. The Hufflepuff ries to protest but the Slytherin isn’t having it, there’s no way he’s going to let him walk barefooted through the rough terrain. Jimin’s arguing is promptly interrupted when Jungkook picks him up without any more warning, princess style.
“You really didn’t have to,” Jimin says once again as the forest becomes less thick and the moon is finally fully visible above them. He catches sight of some night birds flying into the trees but even those aren’t enough to get his attention off Jungkook’s face now.
“I wanted to,” Jungkook says simply. Their lantern floats next to them, enchanted and following as they find their way out of the forest.
“What were you doing there anyways?” Jimin asks with a little frown, Jungkook only glances at him with a smirk.
“Detention,” he shrugs. “There’s some little thieves hiding around there and I was supposed to make some noise to spook them a bit… I don’t know. Honestly, I wasn’t paying attention to what my punishment was,” he chuckles nervously. Jimin kicks his feet lightly as he listens intently, Jungkook doesn’t seem like the gentle type, not in the way he talks or moves. And yet, he holds Jimin in his arms so carefully. Silly as it may seem, Jimin feels safe there.
“Jeon!” An angry voice barks out right as they reach the castle entrance. Jimin flinches and instinctively Jungkook holds him a little tighter. The source of the voice makes himself known soon after and Jungkook relaxes, slowly letting Jimin get back on his feet.
“Professor Min,” he says as he reaches to grab the lantern and break the spell on it.
“Don’t ‘professor’ me, you little brat, what are you still doing out of bed?”
“Detention,” Jungkook shrugs once more, brief and vague as he’d answered Jimin moments prior.
“Ah. Well, forget about that then. Just get back to your dorm.”
Jimin is standing behind him quietly, amazed by the defiance in the other student’s tone. Jungkook is taller so he has to stand on his tiptoes to peek over his shoulder. The professor’s eyes find his then and widen in surprise.
“Who’s this?” Professor Min asks. Min Yoongi is the potions professor and Jimin isn’t a big fan of his or his class. Just like DADA he has been close to failing it more than once and it frustrates him. Jungkook straightens up ever so slightly, shifting to glance at Jimin behind him.
“Jimin,” he answers for him. “It’s my fault he’s also out here, I convinced him.”
The professor doesn’t look too sure about it but he gives Jungkook a tentative nod with a raised eyebrow and then sends them both to their rooms anyways.
Jimin’s heart is hammering away in his chest, he was sure he’d lose his house a few points for being out after curfew but luckily Jungkook seemed to have a good enough relationship with the person who caught them.
“Thank you,” he says shyly as they stand outside the door to the Hufflepuff common room. His eyes are watering again due to the stressful situation and Jungkook coos at the sight.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, baby. It’s cool,” Jungkook smiles, once again drying the few tears that slip down Jimin’s cheeks. The Hufflepuff can’t even find the words to address the pet name so instead he nods fast and slips inside his common room, heart beating loud, whole body warm and face bright red.
Jungkook looks like trouble but he doesn’t act like it. He makes Jimin’s heart feel like a mess and his stomach fills with butterflies at the memory of his strong arms carrying him easily through the forest.
Jungkook might not be prince charming but he definitely made Jimin feel like a princess.
He lays in bed, a hand over his mouth to muffle the giddy giggles that keep bubbling up his throat at the memories of the day. Taehyung throws his pillow at his face to try and get him to shut up but even then Jimin just turns to his side to cling to the extra pillow and kick his feet.
He’s way too excited to run into Jungkook again.