Chapter Text
“Do you even like dragon scale beer?” Seokjin asked next to him, his voice teasing him playfully, drinking out of his own beverage, showing off his ability to do so and not wanting to throw up.
Hoseok looked at him hoping that his eyes would convey the threat he felt necessary. Seokjin needed to shut up, or speak in a lower voice, or else, the owner of the pub they were at —the owner of Hoseok’s heart as well— might hear them.
It would be over for him then, how could a pub owner fall in love with someone who could not drink beer? It would ruin Hoseok’s plans, and he would not allow Seokjin to take that away from him.
“Of course I do”, he said, raising his voice, hoping the pub owner would hear. “They do not make dragon scale beer this good anywhere else, dare I say, it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.”
It was not.
But perhaps it would be, if he could drink it from the lips of a certain pub owner, which was why Hoseok needed him to listen as he praised his beer.
Seokjin laughed, couldn't hold it in him to tease Hoseok whenever he had the chance. “Yah, Yoongi-chi, Hoseok here says the dragon scale beer is the sweetest thing he has tasted.”
The pub owner approached them quickly, drying off a jar that he used for butterbeer. Would it make Hoseok look too bad if he asked for an actual sweet beer instead?
“I think he wants another one.” Seokjin continued, making a sport out of bothering Hoseok. Laughing at his attempt at wooing a bar owner by proving he could drink everything he made. “Don’t you?”
Hoseok thought about it, he could say no, that he had enough for the day and he needed to stay focused on planning out his classes for tomorrow. A wise man who knew when to stop drinking should prove very attractive in the eyes of a bar owner, right? But he looked at said man, pink was invading his normally fair face, he was blushing. And Hoseok was so weak for him, he would drink liters of dragon scaled beer and praise it a hundred times over if it made him blush like that.
“Of course”, said Hoseok, agreeing to one more drink, and everything else the man in front of him would offer.
Yoongi watched his two last clients of the day walk off the pub, hoping Hoseok wouldn’t notice him staring longer than he should.
Taking a deep breath, he moved to close the inn behind them, switching the entrance sign to show the bar was now closed, he leaned against the door, luckily the streets were empty now and nobody would notice him sighing like a teenage girl with a crush.
Yoongi was not a teenager anymore, he wasn’t a girl either. Yoongi was a grown man, a wizard, and he was a pub owner. He had nothing to offer to a Hogwarts professor who just frequented his bar because he liked his beer.
Maybe if they had met earlier in life. Had he studied at Hogwarts as well? Were they from the same house? Why hadn’t he met him before? When Yoongi was something worth offering, when Yoongi was—
It didn’t matter now, did it? Yoongi was a pub owner now, and the only thing he could offer Hoseok was dragon scale beer and a friendly smile.
He used to drink butterbeer, Yoongi remembers. The first time he came to the bar was in the beginning of wintertime, the streets of Hogsmade were full of Christmas decorations, some shop owners had even made snowmans in front of their establishments, some of them held signs, most of them had broomsticks or wands.
Students from Hogwarts invaded Hogsmeade this time of the year, Honeydukes was popular around the holidays, sweats did make a perfect gift after all, some others preferred Zonko’s Jokes Shop, Yoongi found it funny, were Christmas presents supposed to be some sort of trick or treat?
There was also an increase of happy couples that came to visit Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, it was the closest thing they had to a love haunt after all, and most of the students went back home during the holiday seasons, so they wouldn’t see their partners for a bit. The streets were cold but the inside of the shops were cozy and welcoming, there was music coming from Dominic Maestro’s Music Shop, and the familiar sound of the train coming from the station just made the scene even more comforting.
And yet, Yoongi’s pub couldn't offer what the other establishments could. His was not the Three Broomsticks Inn, always full of students, laughter and light; Hog’s Head Inn was dark where the other one was bright.
It used to be dirtier, Yoongi remembers, it was not only the lack of illumination that made the place look so obscure, it was genuinely dirty. All covered in ash, courtesy of the chimney and dust from the lack of cleaning. Yoongi got rid of it, and found that the place looked a little brighter, felt a little better.
The smell was another problem, it was smoky, not precisely in a bad way if it was what you enjoyed, but it was not how a pub should smell. It would never smell like vanilla cakes out of the oven, like the Three Broomsticks Inn, but it didn’t need to smell like that, just a little more… homey.
To Yoongi, home means a lot of things, home is the butterbeer pot de creme his mother used to make for him and his brother, home is the sound of chatter in the Hufflepuff common room, home is the smell of food in the Hogwarts dining room.
Home is a lot like Hogsmeade, but Yoongi’s pub doesn’t resemble home.
But it can be, Yoongi will make it home.
So he adds butterbeer to the menu, for those who like their beer sweeter, he get candles and lights them up, he could’ve made them of thin air with a twist of his wand, but he wanted candles that would smell like cinnamon, so he went out of his way to buy them.
“Incendio.” He says and turns on the candles, assembling them on the table in a way that resembles the ones in the Hogwarts living room as well as he can remember. He makes them float then, and the place starts looking a little more like home then, it smells better, feels better.
The chatter takes little time, Hogs Head’s Inn has cheaper prices compared to its counterpart, so the customers come, almost none of them are students, Yoongi notes, but it’s nice to have other people here, and most of them talk to Yoongi and seem like nice folks.
“Ya’ did a great job here, boy!” Says a man that seems to keep lots of things in his large beard. “It ain’t smell like goats in here no more, do remember my regular ‘cause I’ll be back!”
Yoongi smiles, and keeps the knowledge in mind, he enjoys the idea of having regulars.
One happy customer brings three friends with it, and the pub starts to look fuller, livelier, homier. He gets a lot of praise from his beverages, and most of all, everyone seems to like the new image of the inn, and they give him credit for it. Yoongi is content being a bar owner.
It becomes a popular establishment for Hogwarts’ professors, since the other inn hosts students, the teachers took Yoongi’s place as their own, and Yoongi enjoys their conversations immensely. They talk about their classes, and most of all, they talk about their students. Seokjin is the first one to come, he teaches Charms and has a lot of funny stories.
“Everything you make here tastes better than what they make in Three Broomsticks, shall I tell my students that they’re missing out?” Asks Seokjin while he sips his blishen’s fire whisky.
Yoongi shakes his head, smiling thankfully nonetheless. “Thank you, hyung. But we can’t have both students and teachers in the same pub, and I enjoy our conversations too much to give them up for some clientele. And I don’t think I can offer them much, since the only alcoholic drink they can take is butterbeer, and I don’t have anything else to offer.”
Seokjin laughs, “You sure do know how to keep a customer loyal, Yoongi-chi. But worry not, I won’t tell my students, but I’ll tell my colleagues, so do expect more professors.”
He told the truth, another professor showed up days later, his name was Namjoon and he taught History of Magic.
“I know you!” He says when he comes into the pub, before Yoongi can even greet him.
And he does, Namjoon knows more than what is safe for him to know.
Yoongi speaks as little as he can when he’s here, he likes pumpkin juice, he confesses, and Yoongi makes it specially for him, even if it’s not part of the menu. He lets him talk as much as he wants, he listens with genuine interest when he talks of what he’s teaching that week in his classes, he’s very careful to guide him away from topics that could bring up Yoongi’s past.
Then the man who used to drink butterbeer and now drinks dragon scaled beer walks into Yoongi’s pub, and the place truly starts to feel like home.
“Welcome.” Yoongi offers him and receives a smile in return.
The inn used to be dark, the windows used to be so covered by grime that the sunlight could not come in, but it feels like the sun itself it’s inside of the room now, and the candlelight pales in comparison to the man.
“Hello! I’m Hoseok, my friend Seokjin recommended this place, he said your butterbeer would be right up my alley!” He sits in front of him as he talks, and Yoongi’s brain struggles to find its words.
He fails. So he turns to what he knows how to do and starts preparing the butterbeer. Once finished, he slides it towards him, holding his breath in expectation without realizing. “I hope you like it.”
If the look in his face once he tastes the drink is anything to go by, he does like it. And Yoongi sighs in relief. “This is amazing! Best one I’ve had for sure.”
And he smiles at him, and Yoongi melts like butterbeer pot de creme in the heat of summer, winter waits outside of the doors, and his inn is now his home.
Hoseok comes at least once a week, he always orders butterbeer and his smile lights up the room, their conversations are nice, and Yoongi is grateful for the lack of customers when Hoseok is here, he can give him his whole attention then.
“Maybe I should come earlier, most shops are already closed at this time, I can never find Dogweed and Deathcap at open hours.”
The herbology shop. Right, Hoseok teaches herbology. He wants to scream at him, tell him not to come earlier, because it will end their uninterrupted conversations. “Do you need to buy anything from there? I could buy it for you and give it to you when you come.”
Hoseok looked at him for a minute, mouth open in surprise at Yoongi’s idea. “That would be great.”
And Yoongi saves his evenings with Hoseok that way, he keeps his herbology equipment ready, waits for him with butterbeer and keeps the warmth close to his heart.
Sometimes he comes with Seokjin and laughter finds its way into the inn. Yoongi is content being a pub owner.
Once, he came completely alone, no Seokjin next to him, no smile on his face. The candles were still there, but the place felt so dark.
Yoongi hurried to change the sign in the door from ‘OPEN’ to ‘CLOSED’, running back to Hoseok to check if he was not injured or something along those lines. Once he decides he’s physically okay, he sits him down on a puff close to the chimney, hoping he would warm up by being close to the fire. He goes back behind the bar and starts making dragon scale beer, is not what Hoseok usually drinks but it’s what he needs now.
“What happened?” Yoongi asks only when Hoseok starts drinking.
His face twists in disgust, probably remembering what had him in such a foul mood. “I had a problem in class today. It was the seventh year students, you expect better of them by that time, I’m a teacher, not a fucking babysitter!”
He screams the last sentence, frustration clear in his voice, and Yoongi places a hand on his glass, urging him to keep drinking. “I’m sorry.”
“It 's okay.” He answers, he wants to say he understands, but Hoseok won’t believe him, and Yoongi won’t explain.
“It’s just… it was the bubotubers, we were extracting their pus, and I told them! They had to wear their gloves!” He keeps raising his voice in frustration, and Yoongi is a little shocked to see this side of him. “One of the girls didn't listen and she didn’t handle the bubotuber gently, pressed him too hard, that poor thing, it was scared of course. She got all the pus in her face.”
Yoongi gasped, bubotuber’s pus could cause some bad skin reactions when in contact with it. He could understand Hoseok’s worry now.
“She screamed, obviously, I ran to her, I did have my gloves on but the poor bubotuber was almost dripping with pus,” he uncovered his arms, “some of it got me.”
Yoongi ran to get warm water and a towel, “It’s okay! I’ve already gotten it cleaned.”
He shook his head. “This should not be exposed, even if you had it cleaned already, you have to cover it up so it doesn’t get infected again.”
His voice was harder than he meant it to be, but he had to tell him, and had to make him understand. Hoseok didn’t understand the danger of an open wound, Yoongi had to keep it like that, keep him safe in his ignorance, he didn’t need to know what the lack of bandages could cause.
Silence settled between them, it was not a comfortable one, Hoseok seemed to want to speak but didn’t dare to, choosing to drink more of the beer instead. Yoongi focused on his task at hand, carefully cleaning the wounds. Once he was satisfied with his work, he applied a bandaging charm to the affected area. “Change them tomorrow morning, and when you come in the night, I’ll change them for you.”
Hoseok blushed, and Yoongi would’ve felt warm inside on any other occasion, but now he was full of worry and there was no space for anything else. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” Yoongi answered, “now, finish your dream while I contact Seokjin hyung, the beer I gave you is a little strong, he might need to pick you up.”
“I’m okay!” Hoseok said, standing up as if to prove it, but his legs were trembling as he made his way towards Yoongi. “Besides, he’s busy today, I doubt he can come.”
Yoongi bit the inside of his cheek, it was obvious Hoseok was not in condition to walk through the Hogsmeade streets and back to the castle.
“Come here.” Taking him by the hand, Yoongi guided him towards the back door of the inn, tapping with the tip of his wand before opening it.
Hoseok stumbled, confused by the darkness in front of him, it looked like a tunnel with no end. “Lumos.”
The tip of his wand illuminated their way, Yoongi still holding Hoseok’s hand, helping him walk with him.
“It’s a passage to Hogwarts. I’m sure you’ll find your way once you’re inside.” I can’t go with you, I can’t take you home. Yoongi wanted to say. I'm a pub owner.
Hoseok stopped him, he was still stumbling a little, but his hand was firm in Yoongi’s hold, he pulled him closer, held him by the shoulder at an arm's length.
“Did you study at Hogwarts too?” Yoongi nodded. “Which house were you from?”
Yoongi didn’t want to answer, it didn’t matter anymore. Yoongi was a pub owner, Hoseok taught herbology at Hogwarts, the only thing he could give him was butterbeer, and dragon scaled beer.
He answered. “Hufflepuff.”
“So was I.” Hoseok answered, making everything worse. Yoongi couldn’t hold it anymore, he had to leave, this tunnel was the closest he would get to Hogwarts. He would never set foot in the castle ever again, he needed to go back to the lonely darkness of his pub, to the candles that resembled the ones in the Hogwarts dining room. He needed to go back to his failed attempt at making a home.
He let Hoseok go.
“Yoongi.” It was his first time saying his name. Must be the dragon scale beer talking.
Why hadn’t they met sooner? Why didn’t they meet at Hogwarts?
When Yoongi was a student, he could’ve found Hoseok in common ground, they would have laughed together in the Hufflepuff living room, they could have gone on dates in Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, like two teenagers in love.
But Yoongi was not a teenager anymore, he was a grown man, and a pub owner.
Hoseok’s next visit was a little awkward, they were quiet again, but Yoongi approached him still. Silently, Hoseok gave him his arm and allowed him to change his bandages, he was okay, he would never know the dangers of an exposed wound as long as Yoongi was here.
“I have something for you.” Yoongi said once he finished, going back behind the counter.
Hoseok smiled, an attempt at his usual sunny-like behavior. “If it’s butterbeer, I must decline, I think I will go with dragon scale beer from now on.”
Yoongi shook his head, unable to stop a little smile from appearing in his face.
“It’s a gift, you can take it as an early Christmas present. Taking into consideration yesterday’s accident, maybe it will come handy for you.” More than they are for me.
Hoseok took the box from his hands, eager to find out what was inside. Yoongi watched him carefully, assessing his reaction and holding his breath without realizing. They had been in a similar position before, Yoongi recalled, the first time Hoseok tried his butterbeer.
His eyes went from surprise, to understanding, to gratitude.
“These are not regular dragon-hive gloves.” He said knowingly, allowing Yoongi to expand if he desired to do so.
He did not want to. “They are not,” Yoongi said, voice lower than normal. “They cover more than your hand, almost half of your arm. I could give you a pair that is full coverage as well.”
Hoseok eyed him curiously, the question was obvious between them, why did Yoongi have such gloves?
“I… I really like dragon related stuff.” Was the only explanation Yoongi offered.
The professor smiled, accepting what he offered without demanding more.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
And he did, Yoongi received Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland as a present that Christmas, Hoseok had wrapped the book carefully and a note waited for him inside.
For a dragon lover, from a herbology teacher, with love.
The last two words made him blush a little, and he was grateful for Seokjin’s absence that day, he would’ve teased him for it until the end of his days. Hoseok did not.
“You like it?” He asked, voice hopeful and his fingers tapping his glass of beer nervously.
Yoongi smiled at him, warmth filling him from inside, hugging the book close to his heart. “I love it.”
It was Hoseok’s turn to blush, he struggled with his words and chugged down what was left of his beer.
“I have something to tell you,” he said, his face stern with determination. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while, actually. I… really enjoy our conversations and I can’t help but feel that you understand me more than anyone and you… of course, you are just so pretty and I, I really, really like you.”
Silence settled between them, Yoongi was too surprised to speak. It was true that they danced around each other a lot, flirting came easy with a man so handsome and usually tipsy; but he didn’t expect him to say it bluntly, why would he? He couldn’t want a relationship with Yoongi, he was just a pub owner with nothing to offer more than—
“And your beer!” Hoseok took his lack of a response as a sign to keep talking. “I hate this dragon scale drink but since that time you gave it to me I just can’t help but keep drinking it, it might as well be a love potion from the way I like you so much I can’t even say no to it.”
Yoongi’s world came down in a second, his vision became blurry and he blinked the tears away, focusing his sight on the candles next to him to stop himself from crying.
“You don’t like dragon scale beer?” He asked, grasping at straws, hoping it was all a bad joke.
Hoseok shook his head, his face immensely red, gaze fixed on Yoongi as he waited for something.
“I see.” Yoongi turned around, should he give back the book? “You don’t have to come anymore then, it’s okay. I understand.”
Yoongi left the book on the counter, at Hoseok’s reach in case he wanted it back. “But I like you! I came here because of you!”
He stood up, trying to take Yoongi’s hand, but he squirmed away from him, trying not to let the look on Hoseok’s face affect him.
“Leave.”
Hoseok wanted to argue, but hearing Yoongi’s voice almost breaking had him standing up immediately. “Please, leave.”
Yoongi looked away after seeing him nod, the bell in the door announced his departure and Yoongi allowed himself to cry. He’d never dared to imagine Hoseok felt that way towards him, it was harmless flirting over some alcohol and that was all. Yes, he did like him too but he knew better than to get in a doomed relationship; realistically, Yoongi had nothing to offer to Hoseok’s life. He was a Hogwarts professor, and Yoongi used to be someone worth standing by his side, but now…
Now Yoongi was just a pub owner, and Hoseok didn’t like his beer.