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Chapter Text

Ayan was not impressed. 

It would be fun, they said, before he and Akk decided to apply to the International Exchange Program. It all started at the end of the last year, when an important announcement was made at their school, Suppalo. Hogwarts had announced something called the International Exchange Program – the first of its kind, really!

It offered a semester abroad for seventh year students. It was meant to foster cross-culture and better understanding between wizarding communities. Many other schools from all over the world had also been invited, which was supposed to be fun. Akk and Ayan decided to apply as well and somehow, the two of them were chosen by the Suppalo’s headmistress to travel abroad and spend a whole semester there.

Oh, their friends had been jealous.

Not only would they be travelling abroad and spending one whole semester at Hogwarts, but they would have the chance to meet two war heroes – Severus Snape, Potions professor and one and only, Harry Potter –  Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. 

Akk was beyond excited, this was the only thing that he could talk about during their summer break and Ayan couldn’t hold it against him because he was also very excited. He was thrilled because he thought that he needed a bit of a change of environment. 

Suppalo was stifling his magical abilities and he was aware of it. He had a particular interest in the dark arts, but he wouldn’t be using them for bad. He was just interested, but he almost got expelled last year when he got caught using them.

So, he  thought this could be something new, something different.

A new start, he could be more free.

And what was better than spending a whole semester with Akk, right?! Spending a whole semester abroad with his boyfriend sounded romantic enough, but Ayan didn’t know that his expectations would soon come crushing down. Apparently, ‘’together’’ meant something completely different than he had first imagined it to be.

It didn’t take even an hour for them to get separated when the two of them got sorted into their separate Houses.

Ayan, as a Slytherin.

Akk, as a Hufflepuff.

Ayan was aware it was going to happen, but what he didn’t know was that it would completely separate them – so, now they were divided by the entire castle and a misty lake. 

Ayan was not impressed when he learned where his common room was located.

The fucking dungeons.

The air there was damp and it was dark, shuddering as he stood there in the middle of the Slytherin Common room, his suitcase still next to him as he was trying to figure out what he had done in his previous life to deserve this kind of a punishment. He glanced up, watching the ceiling and he narrowed his eyes. It arched lower in some places, supported by heavy stone pillars, which were carved centuries ago. 

The castle was stunning, but… The dungeons weren't it.

The air there felt heavy and he slowly stepped closer to the large curved window, carrying his suitcase with him, ready to hex anyone that said that this was a good idea, his hand going into his pocket and he relaxed when his fingers curled around his wand, chewing on his lower lip as he watched the murky depths of the Black Lake, shuddering.

It was… Supposed to be beautiful? That was how he  remembered it being described in the books that he had read about this place, but he was of a completely different opinion, making a face when something large and or slimy drifted past the window, narrowing his eyes.

Ayan didn’t dare to step too close and he halted when he saw the Giant Squid slowly drifting along the window, its tentacles brushing along the glass, like a bored cat trying to tap onto the glass and get your attention. The other students there didn’t budge at all. No one was paying attention.

Some students were reading books, some of them were chatting by the fireplace.

Ayan sneezed.

It was cold.

Ayan missed Thailand already. 

The Slytherin common room wasn’t beautiful, it reminded him of a prison.

The greenish light that was coming from the lake cast everything in murky colours. Even the flames from the fireplace were somehow murky and they looked cold. Everything in there was mocking him and rubbing it into his face just how far away he was from Akk, whining along as he slowly dragged his suitcase to the side, shuddering because he felt a chill going through him, turning his head to the side and he sighed.

“This is supposed to be my home  for the next few months?” muttered Ayan, now talking to himself in Thai as he slowly dragged his suitcase into the corner and he plopped down onto one of the armchairs, which was still empty and he decided to stop there for a few minutes and clear his mind a bit. He didn’t know how to proceed. 

No one was there to help.

Ayan rolled his eyes.

Severus Snape, the war hero, was the Head of their House, but he wasn’t much help. He just took him down to the dungeons and left him there to fend  for himself. Ayan already disliked him – he was the Chadok of this school, wasn’t he?

Ayan should have been placed into Hufflepuff! So that he could be with Akk instead. 

The Sorting Hat was stupid. Old and dusty, talking hat – how was it supposed to know where he should be living at, huh?! It spent sitting on his head perhaps 5 seconds, if not even less, and then it shouted the name Slytherin out loud. It told him that he had a big potential, which was enough to stroke Ayan’s ego at the time. He was proud as he slowly walked over to the Slytherin table, watching Akk over at the Hufflepuff one. 

Both, happy.

But, then Ayan learned the horrible, awful truth of how he wouldn’t be able to see Akk just whenever he wanted. Apparently, it was prohibited for him to be in the Hufflepuff common room, which was the end of the world for Ayan because he knew Akk wouldn’t like breaking the rules and… 

… Ayan was in a terrible, awful mood, really.

One old hat and a lousy personality quiz determined how the rest of the semester was going to be! It really wasn’t fair, the two of them were supposed to be together. Ayan wanted to go over to Akk, to see how he was doing, but… It wasn’t going to be so easy. He wanted to see how Akk was doing, he needed to vent to him how terrible the dungeons were.

Ayan closed his eyes and watched how a shadow slowly travelled past the window again. There was a large tentacle there and he shuddered.

He was doomed! 

Ayan didn’t really know how long he spent sitting on the armchair, still sulking about everything, but he didn’t have any plans of getting up any time soon, pressing his lips together. He heard a pair of footsteps slowly walking closer, but he didn’t really think of it too much. He had been sitting there for the past hour or so, and no one was really interested in striking up a conversation with him.

That was until he heard someone talking to him.

“You’re the new exchange student, aren’t you?”

There was a voice asking him in English and it took a while, but Ayan eventually switched to English, too caught up in his own thoughts, sighing as he slowly turned his head to the side.

“Um… Yeah?” asked Ayan in English and narrowed his eyes.

There were two boys standing near them.

One of them had messy black hair, sticking in all kinds of directions. His eyes were green and there was a mischievous little grin plastered over his lips. The other one was slightly shorter, his skin pale and his eyes were blue. Blonde hair and he looked a bit more put together, Ayan narrowing his eyes.

The blonde one was wearing a badge.

A prefect, huh? There to welcome him, probably. Ayan really wasn’t in the mood, but he still mustered a little smile and he tipped his head to the side.

“I’m Scorpius,” said the prefect. “Malfoy,” he added in a polite tone that was kind of cold around the edges and Ayan narrowed his eyes. Oh, a Malfoy? “I am a prefect and if there is anything that you need, perhaps some guidance, don’t hesitate to ask, alright?”

Ayan slowly nodded along.

Guidance?! Ayan needed an escape plan.

“I’m Albus,” quickly said the taller boy and his smile widened a bit. “Potter,” he then added gingerly, as if he didn’t really like being associated with the last name and Ayan’s eyes widened as he kept looking from one to the other.

Malfoy.

And

Potter.

Oh.

Oh.

Malfoy as in Draco Malfoy.

And Potter as in… The son of the Chosen One?!

Ayan’s jaw hung lower than he expected and the other one wasn’t really surprised by the reaction. He sighed in a somewhat tired way as Ayan opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again and he…

“Potter as in…”

“Yeah,” deadpanned Albus. “Just call me Al.”

“Your dad is-”

“Yeah, him. No need to keep bringing it up, I’ve spent my whole life being compared to him,” whined the boy and Scorpius gently bumped him into his shoulder, grabbing his hand and he shook his head.

“Be nice,” hissed Scorpius.

“I didn’t do anything-”

“It’s his first day here,” muttered Scorpius. “We should show him around.”

“What did I do?!” groaned Albus, but Scorpius ignored him.

“You’re from Thailand, correct? Suppalo Wizarding School?” he asked and Ayan slowly nodded along, his eyes still travelling from one to the other one and he wondered if the rumours that he had read in the Newspaper were true.

“Yes,” said Ayan.

“I really hope you will enjoy your stay here,” said Scorpius. “If there is anything, really-”

Ayan perked up. He said he wanted to show him around, right? Well, he wasn’t going to pass out on the opportunity as there was only one thing that interested him, really.

“You said you’d like to show me around?” asked Ayan.

“Yes.”

Ayan smirked.

“Then, show me how to get into Hufflepuff’s common room,” he said and Scorpius pressed his lips together, while Albus snorted next to him. Ayan frowned – what? 

“Ah,” said Scropius. “You may not know, but it is against the rules-”

“Rules are made to be bent,” challenged Ayan right away, ignoring the fact that he was talking to the prefect. Scorpius snorted, but Albus seemed impressed and he stepped closer, grinning.

“So, you like breaking rules?” asked Albus.

“I mean,” said Ayan and made a pause. “Some rules are stupid, like the one where I cannot see my boyfriend whenever I want to,” mumbled Ayan and Scropius pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head when he saw the way Albus’ eyes lit up.

“I like you,” said Albus.

“Al, don’t,” stressed Scorpius.

“What?” asked Albus, the innocence on his face, but…

“Don’t give him any ideas,” muttered Scorpius. “It’s his first day, if he breaks the rules on his first day, it’ll be a new record and I’ll blame you completely!”

Albus waved it off.

“I can help you get into Hufflepuff’s common room,” was all that Albus said.

Ayan narrowed his eyes – so easily?

“Really?”

“Yes. I also happen to share your opinion that this school has way too many rules that limit us,” said Albus. “I mean last year I got banned from the library for a week because I accidentally set a book on fire,” said Albus and shook his head.

Scorpius scoffed.

“Accidentaly?!” asked Scirpius. “You were brewing potions in the Restricted Section, Al!”

“And?” asked Albus. “I mean this is a school. If there are some dangerous books they don’t want us to see, then there shouldn’t be a restricted section, no?”

Scorpius didn’t argue with him because it looked like they had this conversation way too many times.

“Also, it worked,” announced Albus. “The potion would-”

“There was an explosion, Al!”

Ayan snorted and pressed his lips together – these two seemed like… fun. Maybe he could make some new friends, at least, while he was staying in this prison. 

“Anyway,” said Albus. “You really didn’t like your sorting, did you?”

“Oh, no I loved it,” deadpanned Ayan. “The dusty hat first told me that I had potential and then he banished me to a troll cave!”

“Dungeons,” said Scorpius, automatically correcting him.

“Same thing,” said Ayan. “Uh… No offense. It’s just that I’m used to the sunlight, fresh air and, uh, happiness.”

Albus laughed, shaking his head as he looked over to Scorpius, who looked troubled.

“Sorry,” said Ayan. He didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but it’s been a day!

“It’s fine,” said Albus. “You’re not completely wrong. But, it has character.”

“And mold,” said Ayan in Thai.

“Mn?” asked Albus.

“Nothing,” said Ayan as he switched back to English.

“But, I mean it. There’s ways that I can get you into Hufflepuff common room,” said Albus and Scropius shook his head. Again.

“Al, don’t encourage him,” said Scorpius.

Ayan also wasn’t really so sure that it was a good idea to be discussing this in front of the prefect. He would get them both in trouble. Or, was this some sort of a test? Ayan didn’t know, keeping his guard up.

“I’m helping,” said Albus. “You said we should help him out, no?”

“You’re unbelievable,” muttered Scorpius. “As the prefect, I will not allow you two sneaking around-”

“Yes, but as my boyfriend,” said Albus and Ayan laughed, rubbing his forehead. So, the rumours were true. “You will not tell on me, yes?” 

Oh, Albus was a lot of trouble. Ayan could see himself getting along with him, but he was nothing like he had pictured him to be. The son of the Boy Who Lived was… different than he imagined. In a good way, though. 

“Fine,” huffed Scorpius, that pale face having a bit more colour than Ayan remembered. “But if one of the professors catches you, you’re on your own, I’m not helping you two!”

“They won’t catch us,” said Albus, waving it off.

“Your dad is one of the professors, in case you forgot,” deadpanned Scorpius.

Albus made a face.

“Don’t remind me,” muttered Albus.

“So, how does one get into the Hufflepuff common room?”

“Yes. Hogwards isn’t as half locked down as the professors like to think,” said Albus. “You can get into the Hufflepuff common room fairly easily. Passwords can be overturned, barrels can be climbed over and I might know someone who knows the current entrance sequence.”

Ayan’s  good mood was back, but Scorpius covered his ears.

“I can’t believe I’m hearing all of this right now,” grumbled Scorpius.

“Calm down, love, I will get him back in one piece and without getting caught,” said Albus winking.

“Sure, you say that now, but when you’ll be in detention or worse, the hospital wing, I will not be visiting you!”

Ayan burst out laughing. He liked these two a lot – this could be the start of a very beautiful friendship!

“Welcome to Hogwarts, Ayan from Suppalo. Let me show you around?”

“I'd be pleased to,” said Ayan.

“You know, this could be the start of a beautiful relationship,” said Albus.

Ayan  chuckled – maybe… This couldn’t be so bad, after all! Now that he had met an alley, who offered to help him out, maybe the Hogwarts experience wouldn’t be so bad, but first Ayan really needed to see Akk!

It was the next day – one week before classes started for the new exchange students. They were given a week to properly settle in and get used to the castle before they would join the other students with their classes, but Ayan wasn’t wasting any time. Most of the students were out exploring the castle, but Akk was in the common room, reading.

Ayan didn’t mind it one bit.

Even if he had seen him just an hour ago, Ayan felt bored as hell, so he decided to put his plan in motion. 

As it turned out, getting into Hufflepuff wasn’t as easy as Ayan had imagined, but Albus had walked him there half-way. The entrance to Hufflepuff common room was in the corridor, which was near the kitchens, hidden perfectly behind ordinary looking barrels. 

Without Albus, Ayan would be lost.

The corridor leading up to it smelled of fresh bread and pastries, which just made Ayan more jealous of students that got sorted into Hufflepuff, but after Ayan managed to get in, he decided that the hassle was worth it. There were traps hidden all over the place, but with Albus’ help, he managed to bypass all of them. 

It was a lot of work to get into the common room, but once inside, Ayan felt proud, taking his time to actually drink in the sight. The common room was bathing in the golden colours of sunshine – the light was shining in through the low, round windows. There was greenery all over the place and the place looked alive.

Not gloomy, like Slytherin’s common room.

No.

There were potted yellow flowers and other plants. The place looked soft and warm – big cozy armchairs that were around the fireplace and he sighed along. The place smelled fresh and warm. Cosy. 

This really was a perfect place for someone like Akk.

Honestly, Ayan was happy that Akk got sorted into Hufflepuff and not Slytherin. At least here, he could be warm and cosy, not cold like he felt down there. The thing was – Ayan didn’t really feel cold, per se, but the atmosphere was cold down there, so being here was actually such a big change.

For a moment, Ayan just stood there and watched his surroundings, sighing happily as he squinted his eyes, a quick smile flashing on his face when he finally saw him.

Akk.

His boyfriend.

It didn’t matter that he had seen him an hour ago in the Great Hall. He had already missed him and he was glad that Akk didn’t feel like exploring the castle grounds. This was going to give them a perfect chance to spend a lot of time together. 

Akk was sitting by a fireplace, a thick book in his lap as he had his leg tucked under the other, wearing his Hufflepuff robes and he smiled. Akk’s hair was neatly combed down and his face was soft and calm in the golden colours that were kissing his cheeks.

Ayan felt his chest getting tight and somehow, he had fallen for Akk all over again. He didn’t like wearing his school uniform, but Akk looked great in it. Ayan bit into his lower lip and he slowly walked closer as Akk still didn’t notice him, too absorbed into reading, which made Ayan wonder – just what kind of a book was Akk reading now?

Akk was so cute.

“Hey, Big Foot,” suddenly said Ayan, his voice cutting through the silence and Akk jumped a bit when he heard someone talking to him in Thai, recognising the voice right away and he smiled at first, his ears going a bit red.

“Aye?”

Ayan laughed when he saw Akk’s surprised face.

“Missed me?”

“I…” started Akk and then he looked over to the tunnel entrance and he narrowed his eyes. Wait, how did Ayan manage to get in here?! “You’re not supposed to be here, Aye, it’s against the rules,” whispered-yelled Akk, turning his head around, but it was just them in there.

Ayan laughed.

“Oh, I kind of got the message when one of the barrels tried to eat me,” said Ayan and he shook his head. “Why is it so difficult to get into your common room, Akk?!” whined Ayan. “How rude.”

Akk pressed his lips together and he shook his head because… Why was Ayan already breaking the rules? And he wasn’t wearing his school uniform! Oh, Akk should have known that Ayan wouldn’t really stay out of trouble for too long, but it’s been only two days.

Seriously?

“Aye,” said Akk and he slowly walked closer to him, but he was happy to see him. Akk also wasn’t too happy with this arrangement. “You cannot sneak into other common rooms. If anyone catches you, you will get in trouble.”

“They won’t, don’t worry,” said Ayan at ease. “I had help, Hogwarts rules aren’t as strict as you may think.”

Akk narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious.

“Help?”

“I made friends,” said Ayan and Akk sighed, but decided not to question him further about his new friends. “I just wanted to see you. I told you that the dungeons are terrible. I feel miserable there and I’m starting to develop a fear of marine life,” whined Ayan, which caused Akk to softly laugh.

Akk couldn’t help it – seeing Ayan made him too happy and his eyes got all big and round on Ayan when he leaned closer and then his cheeks reddened when Ayan kissed his cheek.

“What? Will you tell on me?” asked Ayan with a pout.

Akk shook his head.

“I missed you too,” confessed Akk and Ayan’s arms came around his waist, pulling him closer. “Might as well make the best out of it since you’re here,” he sighed and finally gave in.

Ayan’s grin was even wider.

“That’s the right spirit,” said Ayan and nuzzled closer. “This place looks amazing. Care to give me a little  tour?”

Excitement got the best of Akk and he nodded, holding Ayan’s hand and he pulled him to the side as the two of them wandered through the cosy space of the common room. Ayan loved the way Akk was pointing out the small details to him – there were so many herbs that were growing there, most of them used in the kitchen for cooking. Some of the plants were watering themselves. Akk loved showing Ayan around, showing him all of the little details before the two of them ended up sitting in front of the fireplace and Ayan sighed happily.

“It’s really so cosy up here,” said Ayan, slowly trialing his fingers over Akk’s nape, gently running his fingers through Akk’s hair, whose face was even redder, looking around. “It’s just us, don’t worry, na?”

Akk nodded, ducking his head down.

“Mmm.”

“I’ll give you tour of our common room tomorrow, you will see-”

“I don’t break the rules, Aye,” Akk reminded him and Ayan chuckled.

They sat like that for a little longer. Ayan loved listening to the way fire crackled in the background, Akk’s breathing near him calming him down a little bit, but then Akk moved his head and narrowed his eyes as he glanced at Ayan.

“Aye, why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”

Ayan blinked and looked down. He was wearing jeans and his usual sweater, which was his usual to-go outfit and he stuck his tongue out.

“I happen to like my freedom,” said Ayan.

“Aye, not again,” said Akk and Ayan shrugged.

Ayan observed the way Akk looked in his own robes. Black and golden robes neat and perfect, his tie was tied in the right way. Akk really looked so good wearing his own uniform, dragging his tongue over his lower lip. He looked unfairly good and Ayan was definitely taking advantage of that tie.

“You look so cute wearing yours,” sighed Ayan and leaned closer, Akk’s eyes getting wider again, flustered.

“Don’t…”

Too late.

Ayan slowly reached out and gently tugged onto the end of Akk’s tie, playfully tugging him closer. Akk froze, heart leaping into his throat as he waited for the kiss that he needed right now and Akk’s breath hitched when he felt their foreheads brushing together, cheeks getting redder.

Ayan leaned in and kissed him, still holding the tie as he slowly pulled away.

The kiss was soft, barely a kiss, but it tasted faintly of pumpkin juice. Akk froze and melted a bit, his fingers curling around Ayan’s sleeve and he huffed under his breath.

“So fucking adorable.”

“You’ll get us both in trouble,” sighed Akk and shook his head, but leaned closer and brushed his lips against Ayan’s quickly.

“Worth it,” said Ayan simply because he already knew how much chaos he could cause. Akk shook his head and he melted into Ayan’s arms, happy that his boyfriend was there. Ayan also felt lighter, kissing the top of Akk’s head and he smiled when he saw Akk looking up at him.

“Maybe I should tell Professor Longbottom about you sneaking in,” said Akk.

“... hmph.”

Akk chuckled and slowly lifted, no longer interested in spending time in the common room. Akk’s big eyes were sparkling with curiosity and Ayan tipped his head to the side.

“Wanna go out a bit and explore around the castle?” asked Akk softly and Ayan perked up, slowly nodding.

“Yes, let’s find that Chamber of Secrets everyone keeps-”

Akk gently flicked his forehead.

“Ayan!”

“Fine, let’s keep things tame for now, I guess,” said Ayan and Akk shook his head because Ayan really was unbelievable. 

Akk could already tell that this semester was going to be full of chaos, wasn’t it? With Ayan around, Akk wondered if Hogwarts was really ready for them.

Chapter Text

Ayan was waiting for Akk to be done with his Charms classes – he had been waiting outside of the Charms classroom for what felt like ages. It couldn’t be more than fifteen minutes, but every minute without Akk felt like a freaking lifetime to Ayan as he was leaning against the wall and he sighed under his breath as he watched some of the first years pass by him, rubbing the back of his neck.

It was a week since he and Akk came to Hogwarts. They finally managed to settle in. Classes were interesting, Ayan’s favourite was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Potter was quite a cool teacher, he had to admit, unlike someone else. It has only been a week and Ayan has already been sent to detention twice thanks to Snape! That man had a personal vendetta against him!

So, what if he wanted to hang out with Akk in the Hufflepuff common room more than once?!

Why was that considered a crime?!

It wasn’t Ayan’s fault that this fucking school had zero privacy. All that Ayan wanted was to spend some quiet and alone time with Akk, but there was absolutely no privacy at this school and he rubbed his forehead, tapping his foot against the floor as he watched the other students walk past him. 

What was taking Akk so long in there? 

The thing was – Akk took his studies very seriously and Ayan didn’t really want to get him in trouble, but it wasn’t really his fault if the trouble somehow managed to always follow him! Then again, perhaps his new friend, Albus, had something to do with it as well, but Ayan didn’t really mind it.

Getting in trouble was worth it sometimes. 

It just sucked he had to be stuck alone in the classroom with Snape of all people, when he was sent to detention, and clean the cauldrons without any magic. That was a crime, but… Ayan forgot what he was about to say because Akk suddenly appeared, walking out of the classroom, his smile softening as soon as he saw Ayan standing there, already waiting for him and Ayan sighed.

Suddenly, the world made sense again.

Akk was there!

Akk chuckled and he felt his cheeks reddening a bit – Ayan was always there, waiting for him when he finished a class, so that he could walk him to his next one, even if they didn’t have classes together. Akk loved it, it made him feel happy. 

“Hi,” said Akk, slowly adjusting the strap of his bag and he slowly ducked his head down, narrowing his eyes. Ayan again wasn’t wearing his school robes, but… Akk stopped trying to talk some sense into his boyfriend. 

“Hey,” said Ayan, quickly stepping over to him and he slowly reached out, fingers wrapping around Akk’s wrist and he tugged him towards the nearest empty corridor that he could find, licking at his lower lip. Akk followed eagerly, his heart leaping to his throat when Ayan suddenly pinned him against the wall, trapping him there with his body. “I’ve been waiting for so long, Akk!”

“I’m sorry,” said Akk and he laughed under his breath. “I, uh, I just needed to ask something. The professor gave us an assignment and I wasn’t really sure if I understood it all correct since-”

“I know, it’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I’m just impatient,” said Ayan and Akk rolled his eyes. Ayan wasn’t annoyed, there was nothing but a smile decorating his face now. He leaned closer and Akk’s eyes got all round and big as he pressed himself against the wall, looking around. 

There were other people around them!

“However, I’ve been deprived of affection for too long, Akk. It’s been hours, you have to make it up to me,” said Ayan, his eyes glimmering in a very playful manner and he chewed on his lower lip. Ayan could already taste the victory, which was a kiss from Akk and he sighed, pouting a bit.

“Aye,” sighed Akk.

“I want a kiss, Akk!” stressed Ayan and pointed at his cheek. “Please?”

“I… Not here, Big Foot,” whispered Akk and he looked around. It was tempting, though, but… Even if they were completely alone now, someone could easily walk on them and…

“Please? I’ve missed you,” sighed Ayan, holding onto Akk’s hand.

“I’ve missed you too,” confessed Akk.

“So, a kiss?” asked Ayan and Akk looked around and he finally melted against Ayan, brushing his lips against Ayan’s cheek and he quickly pulled away. 

At that very moment, a group of six years – Ravenclaws – happened to walk by the two of them and they burst into a sea of giggles. Three girls, whispering something as they paced and Akk froze, looking surprised and he pulled away.

“I-”

“Oh, come on, like you have never seen two people kiss before!” groaned Ayan, not amused at all.

Seriously?!

The group of girls only giggled louder before disappearing around the corner. 

Ayan sighed and swallowed thickly. He wanted to return the kiss, but the whole situation just got worse as Peeves suddenly materialised right above their heads, turned upside down and there was a grin stretched on his face, which made Akk jump back and he yelped.

“Ohh, what do we have here?! Lovebirds in the corridor, lovebirds in the corridor!” sang Peeves and he kept looping around them, Akk’s face turning red as others came to see what was going on.

Akk wanted to disappear.

Ayan, on the other hand, was going to strangle Peeves. Once… He would learn how it would be possible for him to Kedarva a freaking Poltergeist.

“Shut up!” hissed Ayan, now switching to English.

But, Peeves didn’t look phased and kept shouting.

“Smoochy-smoochy Suppalo boys hiding from other students! Someone, fetch the professors!”

Akk needed to disappear.

“Aye, let’s just go, people are looking-”

“Let them look,” whispered Ayan and he could feel others staring at them. 

However, Akk muttered something about being late to the class and having a lot of homework to do, so he slowly started walking away, his ears burning bright red as Ayan stood in the middle of the corridor and he pressed his forehead against the cold wall-stone, narrowing his eyes.

“This school has zero privacy,” muttered Ayan and he frowned when he noticed a portrait next to him. From it, he could see a very stern looking witch with a pale face and a traumatised face. 

Ayan glared back.

Even the paintings wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Leave me be,” sighed Ayan and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he missed Suppalo.

It was supposed to be a fun date.

It was the weekend – no classes or professors, just the two of them. Hopefully. A first official date since the two of them had gotten to Hogwarts and Ayan had been looking for it for the whole week. Akk had been as well, counting down the days because he was desperate to spend some time with Ayan.

As much as studying was fun, he also needed… other things.

Privacy.

This was their first time going to Hogsmeade, so Ayan made sure to research things – he asked Albus and Scorpius where to take Akk before and apparently, there were a few great spots to spend the Saturday date at.

However, as it turned out, the rest of the castle decided to join them on their date as well. The streets of Hogwarts were packed, filled with other students and it was nothing like Akk had imagined it to be. He had read about Hogsmeade. He had imagined it to be just him and Ayan, walking towards the village, hand in hand. It sounded romantic, but it was anything but that.

People kept running past them.

Even if Akk wanted to hold Ayan’s hand, he couldn’t, as he kept being shoved to the side. Also, the weather was pretty miserable. There were heavy clouds above them and Akk still wasn’t used to the colder weather, rubbing his hands together. But, Ayan knew how to warm him up, holding onto his hand and he hid Akk’s hand into the pocket of his own coat, linking their fingers together and Akk smiled, stopping to turn around.

Akk sighed happily and he leaned closer.

The two of them stopped in the middle of a busy street, so it really was their own fault, but someone suddenly pushed Akk and Ayan lost it.

“Hey, watch it!” yelled Ayan. “You have eyes, use them to-”

“Aye,” whispered Akk, shaking his head. “Shh.”

“I’m sorry, I just,” whispered Ayan. “I want it to be just us. Ugh.”

“I know,” said Akk shyly. “I just… Maybe we can try to find a quieter place? You said Al told you about a few locations?”

Ayan nodded and so they tried.

Their first stop was Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop. 

Scorpius said that it was a tea shop, right? At least Ayan thought it would be romantic to take Akk there, but Ayan soon realised his mistake. As soon as they stepped inside, Ayan shuddered – the whole place was awfully pink. There were frills and bows, lace curtains, floating cherubs. There were steaming cups of tea shaped like hearts.

The place was cramped, every table occupied by other couples.

As Akk and Ayan stepped inside, all of the eyes were on them and Akk gulped, his cheeks turning even more pink than the tea shop itself.

“Aye, maybe not this place,” whispered Akk and Ayan shuddered as he glanced at the tea pots and he quickly nodded.

“Agreed, let’s get out of here,” he whispered and allowed Akk to tug on his hand and drag him out from there.

Next, they decided to check out Zonko’s Joke Shop, but that place turned out to be more chaotic than either of them were prepared for. Ayan had heard great things about it, but as soon as the two of them stepped inside, chaos erupted.

There was an explosion, which nearly caught fire on Ayan’s right sleeve.

Ayan tried to yell at the kid, who kept laughing at him, but then he ended up inhaling bubbles from… He didn’t even know where and he started coughing up violently. Akk kept laughing and he had to drag Ayan from there or he would really start up a fight with a thirteen year old, shaking with laughter as he dragged Akk over to Honeydukes.

Honeydukes sounded like a sweet treat. 

Ayan wanted to buy Akk something, but the aisles were overflowing with mostly third and four year students, all of them trying to grab onto the newest arrivals, like it was a main survival event. 

There were far too many people, so they ended up escaping that place as well and ended up at The Three Broomsticks. That was packed, but they managed to find an empty table, squeezed somewhere in the corner of the pub, the smell of butterbeer was heavy in the air.

The place was noisy as he tried to tune out the table with the Gryffindor Quidditch team, slumping down his seat and he looked completely miserable. There went their perfect date that he planned.

“I really think we would have more privacy in the Forbidden Forest,” whined Ayan and Akk snorted.

“Planning our second date there?” teased Akk.

“Might as well,” sighed Ayan and he shook his head. “Akk, I’m sorry, but this place is really cursed,” he said and shook his head. 

Akk decided to cheer him up and he slowly reached close, sliding towards Ayan, his hand now slipping into his under the table.

“See? It’s not all that bad,” said Akk, face pink, but he squeezed Ayan’s hand. “Even if we keep running around, I’m having fun.”

Ayan smiled back and he sighed, slowly nodding.

“Mmm.”

With Akk’s hand resting in his, Ayan’s mood got a bit lighter!

Akk was annoyed. 

Yes.

Annoyed.

A couple of days later, Ayan was in class, while Akk had a free period and he was truly starting to feel the whole thing getting to him as well. The whole no privacy thing – it was starting to piss him off as well. Akk needed to do something, he needed to take matters into his own hands because he also needed alone time with his boyfriend.

Akk’s cheeks burned as he slowly walked down the corridor. He could hear laughter and chatter of other students, humming along as he wasn’t really paying attention to where he was going. He just needed to clear his mind, his hands buried into his robe pockets, his eyes on the floor.

Annoyance was getting the best of him.

Akk needed to put an end to this – the zero privacy thing was terrible and he really didn’t know how Scorpius and Albus managed to pull through it. Maybe Akk needed to ask Scorpius for some guidance. There had to be one place in this whole castle where someone wasn’t watching.

Because Akk loved this castle, he really did – there were so many secrets yet to be uncovered, but he was tired of always being watched by someone. Sometimes, it even felt like the castle was alive, like it was watching him all the freaking time and he rubbed his forehead as he slowly turned, going around the corner, walking past the tapestry of Barbanas the Barmy and the dancing trolls.

The corridor on the seventh floor was silent.

Finally, Akk slowed down a bit and he leaned against the stone, exhaling.

“I just want a place where Aye and I can be alone, is that too much to ask for?!”

Akk was talking to himself.

He sighed and paced down a few steps, down the hallway, turned around and walked back. Then, he did it again, trying to think of something that would make this whole thing get easier with time.

“I miss being alone with Aye,” sighed Akk, turning on his heels and he walked past the same spot for the third time as he kept replaying in his mind how much he wanted to be alone with Ayan. Hidden from the eyes of others and then he suddenly heard something.

A faint sound.

Akk jumped because it felt like someone was breathing.

Like the stone was breathing.

“What the-”

Akk grabbed his wand and took a deep breath as he waited and watched how the wall in front of him started shimmering and slowly rippling, something else appearing in front of him. Just like that, Akk wasn’t facing a blank, cold stone, but a door appeared in front of him.

Tall door.

Golden, with patterns carved into them and his heart made a little jump as he stepped closer to it.

What in the world was this?!

Why was there a door?! Suddenly!

Akk took a deep breath and stepped closer, slowly reaching for a handle. It wasn’t really wise to be going through a door that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but curiosity got the best of him. 

He turned around again and when he was sure he was completely alone, he stepped inside. Pushing the door open, Akk kept holding onto his wand, heart hammering in his chest as he slowly stepped into the room that smelled like… honey.

Sweet.

Fresh.

Inside of the room, the world changed.

Suddenly, he was no longer at Hogwarts. Or so it seemed.

There were large windows all around him, and it was warm, nothing like it was outside. He looked up at the sky and he could see tall ceilings hanging above him. The space felt comfortable and warm. Cosy. It felt like home. 

There was a sofa in the centre of the room, cushions sitting on the floor.

There was greenery, which he loved so much. 

So many potted flowers hanging from the wall – ivy, potted plants and he sighed happily. 

Akk had absolutely no idea what this place was, but… It looked like a sacred sanctuary. 

There was a large fireplace, fire crackling softly and he stood there slowly, taking it all in. It reminded him of home, the room felt like a blessing. It was like the castle gave him what he needed the most – a space where he could finally breathe. A space where it could be just him and Ayan.

This… Was this truly possible?

Akk had never heard of such a place being at Hogwarts, but then again, the castle had many secrets and he smiled as he sat down onto the sofa and he closed his eyes.

The room appeared when he most needed it.

This wasn’t a place to study or to hide, it was a space for them.

Him and Ayan.

Akk knew that Ayan would love it here. His chest tightened and his cheeks reddened because he needed to bring Ayan here, right away! Deep down, he had a feeling that this was a castle answering what he wanted most.

A place where Akk could be finally himself and stop glancing over his shoulder.

A place in the world that was just for him and Ayan – even if just for a little while – where no one else could find them!

Ayan was pleasantly surprised to see Akk waiting for him in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. As much as he had fun during the class with Professor Potter, Ayan was even more happy to see his boyfriend, who looked very excited, grabbing at his wrist without saying anything as Akk started dragging him somewhere, ignoring the way others were looking at him.

“Akk?!” stammered Ayan and he grinned as he walked after Akk – someone was determined, huh? “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see, just follow me,” said Akk.

“Not that I’m complaining,” said Ayan and he laughed. “But you really need to settle down.”

“I have something to show you,” whispered Akk, heart pounding in his chest, looking excited as hell and Ayan narrowed his eyes, following as Akk still held his wrist, humming along.

“Should I be scared?” teased Ayan.

“Maybe?” teased Akk back and Ayan chuckled, his grin getting wider, but he followed Akk.

Ayan followed in silence through the corridors, up the staircase, all the way up to the seventh floor and he narrowed his eyes when they stopped by tapestry of Barbanas the Barmy. 

“Look,” stammered Akk, but the door was gone.

Huh?!

Akk’s heart fell a bit.

“Dancing trolls?” asked Ayan and chuckled. “Charming.”

“No, it’s not,” whispered Akk and he held Ayan’s shoulders. Before… He walked up and down, and he thought about how much he wanted to be alone with Ayan, so maybe he needed to do it again.

“Okay?”

“Just trust me on this, okay?” asked Akk and Ayan slowly nodded, pressing his lips together. “I just… Before I…”

Akk walked past the wall three times, like he did before. He closed his eyes and focused on how much he wanted this, to be somewhere with Ayan, where it could be just them.

Ayan didn’t know what he should be waiting for, but he did it anyway, and his eyes widened when he heard something, the wall suddenly disappearing and turning into golden gates.

A door appeared, tall and shimmery.

Ayan’s jaw dropped.

“What the… How did you do that?” 

Akk’s smile softened, sighing in relief because it worked. For a second he was worried, but the door was back and he grabbed the door handle. 

“Akk, did you summon the door out of nowhere?”

“Come and see,” said Akk, opening the door and Ayan had many questions, but he followed Akk inside and his eyes widened when he stepped into a whole different world, really.

There was warmth spilling around the room, the whole room feeling cosy and the air smelled like honey. He blinked a few times as the door closed behind him, watching the sofa and the fireplace, potted flowers everywhere and he sighed. 

It was quiet and warm here.

Safe.

It felt… surreal.

Ayan was completely in awe.

“How did you do this, Akk?” whispered Ayan.

Akk shrugged.

“I don’t really know,” whispered Akk, cheeks red now.

“You made a whole room appear!”

“I kept walking around the castle before, pissed off because we can’t get any privacy,” he said and Ayan’s eyes were on him now, carefully listening. “I was just thinking how much I missed us being alone, how much I wanted to find a place where it could be just us and the door appeared,” he said and Ayan narrowed his eyes.

Oh.

Akk summoned this room by thinking about him?!

Oh-ho!

A grin spread on Ayan’s face.

“So, let me get this straight,” started Ayan and cleared his throat. “You made a whole room appear because you kept thinking about me?” 

Akk stopped and colour flooded to his cheeks.

“I… it’s not like-”

“You’re amazing, Akk,” sighed Ayan.

“Shut up, Tiny,” muttered Akk. “This is the castle trying to make it up to us!”

Ayan laughed, his laughter reaching the walls above them and Akk slowly smiled despite the growing flush on his cheeks. Ayan was teasing, but Akk was too damn happy to care about that and Ayan slowly took Akk’s hand into his own, tugging him closer.

Finally.

It was just them.

Ayan sighed and pressed their foreheads together. For the first time since arriving here, it was just them. Silence, no other noise, no interruptions.

Just the two of them and it was perfect.

“How does this work? How long can we be here?”

Akk shrugged.

“I… don’t know,” muttered Akk. “I just know this whole space is only for us.”

Ayan hummed along and he shifted closer, gently holding Akk’s face between his hands as he leaned in and up, pecking his lips slowly. Akk exhaled against his lips and grabbed onto his hoodie, Ayan slowly tugged onto Akk’s tie and he pulled him closer, kissing him again.

The kiss lasted a bit longer.

Slow and careful, applying a bit more pressure as he tipped his head to the side and Akk squeaked when Ayan dared to slip his tongue in. Akk soon relaxed in Ayan’s arms and he wrapped his arms around Ayan’s neck, pulling him closer, kissing him softer and he shuddered when they parted.

“This is the best spell ever,” muttered Ayan.

“We’ll use this room when we really need to,” said Akk, wanting to be careful as he didn’t know if there were any limitations to the use of this room – he needed to research more about it!

“I need it all the time,” said Ayan and threaded his fingers through Akk’s hair as he huffed, but he didn’t mind staying there as much as it was needed.

Outside of the enchanted windows, birds were singing.

Inside of the room, the time was holding its breath.

For the first time since arriving here, Ayan didn’t feel trapped between stone walls, the dungeons and the freaking rules.

He felt lighter.

This really felt like the castle was trying to make it up to them.

A secret room, only for him and Akk to share – what could be more perfect?!

Chapter Text

It was the weekend, yet again.

It was one of those perfect days. Since there were no classes that day, most of the students were outside of the castle, sitting in the grass and just enjoying the beautiful day, Akk sighing alone as he shuddered as he felt the cold breeze welcome his face and he tugged the scarf tighter around his neck, which made Ayan smile and he shifted closer to his boyfriend, gently touching his red nose.

Akk’s nose was cold and red, but it made him look so cute, Ayan gently running his fingers through Akk’s hair, who nuzzled into the touch and let his eyes close for a second or two, enjoying the brief affection, but he quickly snapped out of it as he heard someone clearing their throat next to his left and he made a little noise of surprise as he was suddenly reminded that they weren’t hanging out alone.

Scorpius was next to the two of them, pretending to be listening to Albus, who had gotten way off track, explaining about his newest broom that he had gotten for his birthday. He was supposed to be showing it off to Ayan, who was quite interested in seeing it as it was supposed to be the newest model, but even he had gotten distracted – Akk’s cuteness got him completely to stop paying attention and Akk could see Scorpius rolling his eyes.

Scorpius was as enthusiastic about brooms and flying as Akk, or maybe even less. 

Albus was cradling the broom like it was a newborn, but the broom truly was stunning. It was sleek and polished, the carved handle gleaming and Ayan slowly looked towards him, narrowing his eyes. Albus had mentioned about it being a new broom, but the longer that he kept ogling it, the more he was… Interested, because it didn’t seem like any other models that he had seen yet. 

It was…

“Mum got it for me to test it out,” said Albus, his grin showing off just how proud he was to own such a great broom. “It’s supposed to have the fastest acceleration in the whole world, you know? Golden Whirl, they’re not even out yet properly. It’s still a prototype.”

Ayan’s head snapped towards him and his eyes were wide open.

Now, Ayan was listening.

“What?!” snapped Ayan and he slowly leaned closer to Albus. “The Whirl?! Where in the world have you gotten it?! I have only seen it in the magazines,” said Ayan and he slowly stood up, his eyes now admiring the broom, pressing his lips together, shaking his head. “Oh, it’s stunning!”

Ayan slowly reached out with his hand, wanting to feel the broom under his fingers.

“Can I?” asked Ayan and Albus waggled his eyebrows, nodding.

“Go ahead, mate,” said Albus and Ayan slowly smiled all the way up to his ears, his smile way too bright for Akk’s liking and he turned his head to the side while Ayan slowly checked the broom out. His hands twitched as he was careful with the broom, Akk gritting his teeth when he felt annoyance slowly kicking in.

What was wrong?

Well, he didn’t really like how big Ayan’s smile was, especially since the smile wasn’t for him. Didn’t Ayan give him a whole speech about not smiling or looking at other people a certain way?

At the time, Akk laughed, but maybe now he understood what it was supposed to mean. Akk wasn’t really impressed because the broom looked like any other broom to him and he chewed on his lower lip, rolling his eyes as he leaned closer to Scorpius.

“It’s just a broom,” muttered Akk in English as his eyes slowly flicked from the shiny broom to Ayan’s awe-struck face and he clicked with his tongue, Scorpius shaking his head because he could feel just how annoyed Akk was.

“It’s never just a broom when Al owns it,” deadpanned Scropius. “He will talk about it for hours, trust me. It was all I have been listening to for the past week.”

Albus smiled, shaking his head.

“Don’t be jealous. You can borrow it sometimes-”

“No, thank you,” said Scorpius, sighing. “You said it yourself, it’s still a prototype, no? So, it is still being tested and I, frankly, enjoy living.”

Ayan, on the other hand, completely ignored everything about this, still being a prototype that was still being tested and he wanted to try it out as well, leaning closer to Albus. Akk narrowed his eyes and he crossed his arms over his chest. Why so close, huh?

“Can I give it a try?” asked Ayan instead.

Albus grinned, giving him a little nod.

“Of course,” said Albus and Akk’s jaw dropped. “But safety’s first, like Scorpius said,” said Albus and Ayan slowly listened. “So, you’d have to ride with me.”

Akk’s head turned to the side so fast that he almost got a cramp and he narrowed his eyes when he heard what Albus had just said. He pressed his lips together, forming a thin line as he tried to see if Ayan would say something about it, but Ayan was completely oblivious to the way Albus made that sound.

Then  again, perhaps Akk was a bit too jealous, but… 

No.

Ayan was his boyfriend. He wasn’t riding anything or anyone that wasn’t Akk! That was it and it was the final decision.

“Oh, okay,” said Ayan.

Okay?!

Scorpius had to bite back a chuckle when he saw just how unimpressed Akk looked.

“You’ll see, you will love it. It has the smoothest glide ever,” said Albus, happy that finally someone shared the same enthusiasm, about brooms and flying like him!

Before Ayan could say anything else, Akk just couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He needed to say something, so he slowly pushed himself off the ground and walked closer to the two of them, slowly getting in the middle of them, placing himself like a wall between Albus and Ayan.

Those two didn’t notice anything, but Scropius was laughing under his breath.

Oh, this was going to be good.

“I’ll come too,” said Akk right away, his voice annoyed and quite frankly, Ayan was surprised to hear that. Akk tried to fix his expression to a casual and an unbothered one, but the frown between his eyebrows was very obvious and Ayan slowly blinked up at him.

“Huh?”

“I’m joining the, uh, race.”

Race?! 

“But… you hate flying,” said Ayan, now switching to Thai, a little bit worried when he saw just how determined Akk looked, actually. Akk pressed his lips together and he swallowed thickly.

Did he hate flying? Absolutely.

But, he hated the idea of Ayan flying on the broom with Albus even more.

Akk slowly shook his head and he held his chin high. Ayan clearly wasn’t buying it, but he didn’t really know what to make out of it – he truly didn’t understand why Akk was suddenly interested in flying a broom so much. 

“That was in the past,” said Akk, now switching to Thai, his voice tight. “I… happen to enjoy flying now. Big fan of all of the air,” he said and Ayan snorted, pressing his lips together as he was slowly starting to realise what was happening. It took him a while, but when he saw just how much Akk was trying to keep Albus away from him.

Oh.

Ayan smirked.

Albus couldn’t understand what the two of them were talking about now, but he understood what Akk said before – something about there being a race? Albus was interested. He would never pass down the opportunity of showing off his skills – Scorpius knew just how competitive Albus was and he already had a feeling that this was going to end up with someone’s hospitalisation.

“You want to race, Akk?” suddenly asked Albus and Akk turned to him.

A.. race?

Oh, right.

Ayan was about to stop him, but Akk was faster. The jealousy made him too brave, he was aware, but he couldn’t back down now. He wanted to prove to Ayan that he was just as exciting as Albus and his new stupid broom, if not even more. So, he slowly nodded.

“Sure, why not?” challenged Akk in English now, already regretting all of his life decisions.

But, what Albus could do, he could do as well and be even better at it! 

Flying truly was his weak point, though…

“Akk, what are you doing?” asked Ayan and Akk slowly turned to him.

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” stammered Akk and Ayan looked alarmed.

“We don’t have to race-”

Ayan got interrupted by Albus.

“Sounds good to me,” said Albus. “Aye, it’s you and Akk against Scorpius and me,” said Albus and gently caressed the handle of his new broom and he waggled his eyebrows. “Let’s test just how fast this thing can go, huh?”

Scorpius shook his head.

“I’m not participating,” said Scorpius slowly.

 While Albus was busy convincing Scorpius, Ayan turned to Akk and he narrowed his eyes, leaning closer and he gently held his hand, pressing his lips together, trying to see if Akk truly was okay with racing. Back at Suppalo, Akk would never suggest doing something this reckless.

Well, reckless by Akk’s standard. 

“Are you sure?” asked Ayan, now switching to Thai and Akk’s ears were burning up when he realised just how childish he was behaving, but he couldn't back down now!

“I’m sure,” said Akk and he rubbed his palms together. “Let’s show him just how better your broom is than his stupid-”

“Akk?” asked Ayan, feeling a grin coming up his lips. “Are you sure this isn’t about something else?”

Akk’s cheeks were even redder now.

“What… What would it be about?!”

“You being… jealous?” Ayan challenged, but Akk quickly turned around and shook his head.

“Of course not,” whispered Akk, keeping his eyes on the floor. “Call your broom, Aye, let’s go!”

Ayan sighed, but he shook his head. Akk wasn’t good  at lying, but he decided to go along with it, anyway. Akk would be flying with him, so he would be safe. Ayan would never put him in danger. Plus, flying on a broom with Akk was something that he had always wanted – it sounded romantic and fun!

“Accio,” whispered Ayan upon pulling out his wand and it took a few seconds, Ayan smiling when he heard a swooshing sound of his own broom and he smiled as he glanced at Albus, who managed to get Scorpius on board as well.

So, the race was on!

It didn’t take too long for the race to begin.

Albus and Scorpius were fast on their broom, shooting fast across the Quidditch pitch, the Golden Whirl prototype gliding smoothly across the sky, just like Albus said, leaving Akk and Ayan on their broom far behind. Ayan was going slower on purpose with Akk sitting behind him, who was holding onto him for dear life, but he tried to pretend like he was having fun, chewing on his lower lip and he squeaked when the broom wobbled a little bit.

“What happened?” asked Akk, voice alarmed and Ayan smiled.

“It’s just the wind,” said Ayan softly and Akk gulped.

“Oh.”

“Akk, we don’t have to race if you-”

“I want to,” stressed Akk, biting back another squeak because it was very windy that day, his hands freezing cold as he buried them deeper around Ayan’s waist. His smile got wider when he felt just how Akk was clinging onto him, but he still felt a bit cautious. 

Akk was forcing himself, no?

Ayan tightened his grip around the handle of his broom, slowly making little circles in the air, trying to  show Akk that there was nothing to be afraid of, Akk keeping his eyes closed as he pressed himself flush against Ayan’s back, but little by little, he slowly relaxed and opened one eye.

So high. 

Akk felt dizzy and he gritted his teeth.

No, no.

He could do this!

What Albus could do, he could, too! 

Akk sighed and buried his face into the crook of Ayan’s neck, who felt little shivers of excitement going down his spine and he leaned back a bit, the broom wobbling again as he was getting distracted.

“This isn’t so bad,” muttered Akk, whispering it into Ayan’s ear.

“See?” asked Ayan softly. “You’re doing great.”

Akk pressed his lips together.

“Oh, yes, I love it,” said Akk as he kept clinging onto his boyfriend, knuckles already white to the bone. He could feel the wind in his hair, his cheeks getting red from the chilly wind, but being behind Ayan like this warmed him up enough, sighing as Ayan slowly quickened the pace of his broom, flying over to Albus and Scorpius, who were waiting for them to begin their race, finally.

“Loosen up a bit, Akk,” said Ayan, laughing. “It will be better for the balance.”

“I… I’m loose, yeah? Don’t… worry about me,” said Akk, his voice cracking. He tried loosening up the hold around Ayan’s waist, but he got dizzy all over again and he pressed himself against his boyfriend tighter instead. “This is so much fun, Aye.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re having fun,” said Ayan with a grin, shaking his head. But, Akk insisted that he was indeed having fun, feeling adrenaline spreading through his body. Akk’s confidence, even if it was fake, was endearing. Perhaps it would have been better if Ayan listened to his gut feeling, but Akk was just so cute.

Akk hated flying so much, though. 

Also, Akk was jealous, which was why he was doing this and it made Ayan stupidly happy. He was being too greedy, perhaps, but then again – Akk was safe with him. And as a matter of fact, Akk did feel safe up there with Ayan. Even if the wind kept wobbling the broom. 

“Still okay?” asked Ayan, slowing down a bit as they were very close to Albus and Scorpius now.

“Mmm, it’s okay.”

“You sure?”

Akk nodded and squeezed Ayan closer.

“I’m fine, I feel safe with you, okay?” asked Akk and Ayan sighed happily, his heart making a little jump. His heart was melting and he slowed his broom, Albus glancing over his shoulder, hair fluttering in the air as he grinned.

“Alright, let’s make this interesting then,” said Albus. “The first one to the Forbidden Forest wins!”

“Al, no,” grumbled Scorpius. “It’s dangerous as it is to be flying on the prototype, but this is even-”

“We’re in!” yelled Akk in English, clinging onto Ayan from behind.

Ayan snorted – Akk was cute when he was jealous.

“First one to the Forbidden Forest wins and it will be us,” carried on Akk. “We will show you that Aye’s broom is much better than your fancy one!”

Albus  grinned – he loved a healthy dose of competition.

“Oh, it’s so on!”

“Albus!” yelled Scorpius, but then his glare turned into a smile when Albus made little loops around Akk and Ayan. This was supposed to be fun, slowly loosening up a little bit and he shook his head.

“Ready, you two?” yelled Albus and Akk was the one who answered.

“Yes!” yelled Akk and yelped when the broom swayed. “You’re going down!”

Akk was too cute and Ayan was shaking with laughter as he tried his best to keep holding the handle of his broom, but Akk was just too much. Clinging onto him, sending cute threats towards Albus about them winning and it was… Oh, too much for Ayan to handle.

“Ready?” asked Albus and Ayan gave him thumbs up.

“Yeah,” sighed Ayan and Akk shuddered when the broom wobbled a little bit, but the race finally started and Akk went very silent behind Ayan. Albus and Scorpius were in front of them, but Ayan sped up, quickly catching up to the two of them. Ayan didn’t care about winning or losing, but it was fun and he could hear Akk’s voice climbing higher and higher as they went faster, his grip around Ayan’s waist nearly crushing and the broom wobbled again.

Akk was too tense.

“Akk, loosen up,” said Ayan, slowly turning his head and Akk yelped.

“Keep looking where you’re going!” yelled Akk into his ear.

“I know, but you need to calm-”

“I’m calm,” said Akk as the two of them chased after Albus and Scorpius, two brooms gliding across the air, across field and getting closer to the Forbidden Forest, Akk pressing his lips together as he looked down and he shuddered. Everything was going so fast!

Ayan could hear Albus laughing in the front and he managed to catch up with them! But, then Albus sped up again and Akk gritted his teeth, Scorpius yelling in the front something about breaking at least seventeen of the school rules.

Akk, on the other hand, was screaming. His mouth was open, his throat raw from the high-pitched screams as he kept burying his face into Ayan’s back, his legs tight around the broom and Ayan was quite entertained by the whole thing, checking every now and then with Akk if he should slow down.

But, despite screaming and yelling, Akk insisted on winning!

Jealousy was a powerful thing, huh? 

However, it didn’t really take too long for something to go wrong.

It started with a little sputter of gold, Ayan narrowing his eyes when he saw that something strange was happening to Albus’ broom. The prototype wasn’t tested for a speed race and the Golden Whirl shuddered violently, howling loudly as the bristles started vomiting smoke. 

Golden smoke.

Albus looked alarmed and Scorpius was scrambling to find his wand.

“So much for the smoothest glide in the world!” yelled Scorpius.

“Relax, I know what I’m doing!”

“Oh, yeah?!” yelled Scorpius into his ear. “I told you it was a bad idea!”

The broom suddenly stopped and threw them back, Albus yelping as he was starting to lose balance, the smoke getting even worse and it didn’t take too long for the golden smoke to reach Akk and Ayan, who tried to go above it, but it was suddenly all around them.

“What the hell was that?!” stammered Ayan, coughing out the golden smoke, Akk pressing his lips together. 

And so, the chaos ensued.

Pure chaos as the prototype broom kept shrieking and jerking all around, going in a zig zag pattern, dragging Albus and Scorpius with them, Akk and Ayan watching them as they knew they had to do something. Scorpius was barely holding himself there, keeping his wand gripped in his hand.

“If I die, I’m coming back as a vengeful ghost to haunt you!”

“Don’t… don’t worry, it will be okay,” stammered Albus, pretending to be calm, but he was sweating buckets. 

“Akk, hold on!” yelped Ayan as the gust of wind hit the two of them as well.

“I’m trying-”

The prototype started spiralling all around and Akk quickly went to grab his wand when he saw what was happening – Scorpius and Albus were about to fall off. Akk knew that flying was evil! Gritting his teeth, he muttered a spell just at the very last moment, the broom going completely rogue and Akk let out a loud scream, hitting an octave higher and Ayan huffed under his breath, checking on Akk, who was holding his wand with one hand and Ayan with his other one.

Scorpius and Albus? Saved by Akk, thankfully.

The broom?

Ruined. 

Well.

It kept dancing around, spilling golden glitter all around, shrieking loudly, other students coming to see what was happening and it ended up flying back towards the castle, crashing loudly against the Main Entrance, just as the headmistressed stepped out to see what all of the commotion was about! Then, it exploded, leaving the whole place covered in gold.

The four of them were yet to find out that fact as they slowly settled down, Albus and Scorpius landing on the floor, Akk and Ayan slowly following as well and Akk couldn’t be happier to finally feel ground under his feet, stumbling over his feet as he needed to catch a breath.

For a long time, no one dared to speak.

Then, Albus burst out laughing. 

“That was bloody brilliant!” 

Ayan glared at him, Akk frowned and Scorpius…

“I’m breaking up with you!” yelled Scorpius, dusting his robes, covered in gold all over. “If it wasn’t for Akk, we would have-”

“But we didn’t!” insisted Albus.

“You absolute maniac! I’m never flying with you ever again!”

“But, I…”

“I guess we still win,” stated Akk proudly. 

“That’s not fair, if the broom didn’t go rogue, we would have-”

“Yes, but we managed to prove it to you that Aye’s broom is better than yours,” argued Akk, no longer feeling jealous. He was just glad to be back on the ground and he grabbed Ayan’s hand. 

I win, said Akk to himself.

Scorpius massaged his temples and yet… He burst out laughing. All of this was extremely ridiculous, shaking his head and he slowly picked himself off the ground, narrowing his eyes as Albus slowly stepped closer to him.

“I’m sorry?”

“Oh, I bet you will be, Mr. Potter,” suddenly said a voice behind the four of them and they froze in place because… That was Professor McGonagall, wasn’t it? 

Oh, they were in so much trouble now!

The four of them were escorted to Professor McGonagall’s office, leaving a trail of gold glitter behind them as they walked. As it turned out, the whole Hogwarts ground got covered in golden dust before it finally exploded into nothing and Akk sneezed as he felt some of the golden sparkles sticking to his nose.

The headmistress looked stern, hands clasped as her expression was quite unimpressed. Akk didn’t like the silence, so he kept looking down, looking over to the window where everything was bathing in the golden colours.

At least they made the Hogwarts ground look more interesting?

McGonagall inhaled and fixed her glasses.

“Mr. Potter,” she started and Albus flinched.

“Yes, professor?”

She raised an eyebrow and slowly sat down.

“Would you like to explain to me why the whole Hogwarts ground is now covered in golden dust?”

Silence.

Albus pressed his lips together, opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Ayan was about to say something, but Akk shook his head, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. 

Finally, Albus decided to speak.

“At least it sparkles?” asked Albus and McGonagall did not look impressed.

Scorpius snorted, but he quickly regretted it. 

“Do you find this funny, Mr. Malfoy?”

“Of course not,” said Scorpius right away.

McGonagall slowly exhaled and leaned against her seat, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I had really hoped that this year could start without any mishaps from you two,” she said, looking at Albus and Scorpius. “Perhaps, I had hoped for too much,” she said, her eyes slowly travelling over each of them in turn and Ayan felt like he was being put under spotlight – he didn’t like it!

What followed was a knock on the door and she glanced towards the door.

“Come in,” she said dryly and Harry Potter of all people stepped into her office. “Perfect timing, Mr. Potter,” she said and the man looked over towards the four students, his eyes stepping on his son and he closed his eyes.

Was all of this… Albus’ fault? 

“Are you behind this, again?” asked Harry, feeling a headache coming on.

“Hey, dad,” muttered Albus.

“Mr. Potter, perhaps it would be a good thing if you might explain to your son what the definition of the word prototype means and that broom prototypes are not to be tested over the school grounds,” she said, her voice strict and Harry bowed his head down, looking defeated.

“Great, now I have to explain it to the Ministry…” started the man, but then he stopped and felt McGonagall’s eyes on him. “You’ve heard her, Albus!”

Albus muttered something, it being just a harmless little fun.

“And you two,” she said, looking at Ayan and Akk. Akk quickly straightened his back, Ayan slowly pressing his lips together. “Please explain to me why you two decided to join this… circus?”

“Uh-”

“Moral support?” asked Ayan, trying to be funny, but Akk quickly grabbed his hand and shook his head.

“It… It won’t happen again, Professor,” whispered Akk.

“You’re quite correct about that,” she said and shook her head. “As for the consequences for your little aerial experiment – detention,” she said and Albus groaned. “A whole week.”

“A whole week?!” whined Albus.

“Albus,” started Harry. “Do you want us to make it two?”

“Ugh!”

“And until further notice, you four are to stay away from any broom,” muttered McGonagall. “If I see any of you hovering off the ground, I will transfigure you into a tea pot.”

“Technically, we could still fly on a tea tray, Professor,” added Ayan, who couldn’t help himself and Akk’s jaw dropped, horrified.

“Mr. Ayan!”

“I’m sorry, Professor!”

“Now, off you go,” said McGonagall. “You will help Mr. Filch cleaning up this mess without magic.”

“Without magic?” groaned Ayan. “But that’s-”

“Aye, let’s just go,” whispered Akk and dragged Ayan out, the other two  following them, quickly leaving the office, leaving Potter and McGonagall alone.

“They kind of remind me of-”

“Don’t try to humour me, Potter,” sighed McGonagall. “Three generations of Potters and not one of you had passed through Hogwarts without turning the castle grounds into a hazard zone,” she said and Harry grinned.

“Fair enough,” was all he said before leaving her office as well.

Chapter Text

It all started with one, innocent sip.

The drink – pumpkin juice – wasn’t meant for Akk. He was sitting in the Great Hall, next to Ayan, while Scorpius and Albus were sitting on the other side of the Slytherin table and were chatting. Akk wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings as he was completely absorbed into conversation with the other three, Ayan keeping guard of the glass with pumpkin juice that was sitting on the table next to him.

Oh. 

That juice was especially made for only one person.

There was one particularly annoying Gryffindor student, seventh year just like him, that kept bothering him and Albus. Well, all of the Slytherin students, always on their backs because of the house that they belonged to. It was stupid, he kept bullying the younger years, so Ayan and Albus decided to take matters into their own hands.

The plan was simple – revenge.

To make the idiot pay for being a bully. They wanted him to confess the truth to the professors and get proper punishment for it. And that was why Albus and Ayan came up with a very good plan – they spiked the juice with a very diluted Truth Serum, which Albus had borrowed from Snape. Without Snape knowing, of course. 

So, the bully was going to get embarrassed and end up spilling the truth in front of the whole school. Ayan kept looking around, waiting for the boy to finally appear so that he could swap his drink with the spiked one, but he was taking his time with showing up, getting restless, tapping his fingers against the wooden surface of the table as his foot was also tapping against the floor, feeling quite restless. He needed justice to happen right away.

Akk didn’t know about the plan – for now.

It was better that he didn’t know because Ayan didn’t want him to get in trouble. Scorpius had no idea as well – this was Ayan and Albus working on their own, trying to make sure that the idiot was going to pay. 

One moment Akk was chatting with Scorpius, Ayan and Albus whispering something next to the two of them, but Akk wasn’t really sure if he truly wanted to know what kind of trouble those two were going to get them in now. That was why he rather focused on talking with Scorpius, his hand slowly wandering over to the side, feeling quite thirsty.

Luckily, Ayan still didn’t finish his glass of pumpkin juice.

A smile crept onto Akk’s face as he reached for the glass, Ayan not paying attention, until it was too late. Ayan turned his face, but Akk was already drinking the juice and his jaw dropped because this was… Oh, this was horrible, gritting his teeth as Albus’ jaw dropped as well.

Akk drank the juice, narrowing his eyes. It felt different, tingly on his tongue.

“I think the pumpkin juice is off,” muttered Akk in Thai, but Ayan was just watching him, too quiet for his liking.

Albus looked pale as well.

What?

Scorpius pressed his lips together.

“Akk, what’s wrong?” asked Scorpius and Akk stuck his tongue out.

“I'm not sure,” muttered Akk and smelled the juice.

It smelled completely normal, though.

Scorpius quickly grabbed his own glass and took a little sip, giving it a little taste, shrugging because his own tasted and smelled fine. Then, he looked over to Albus, who was now slowly scooting away from him and Ayan looked very pale. 

Oh, no, what has he done?

Ayan poisoned Akk with the Truth potion!

Ayan’s fingers were shaking, looking and feeling guilty as hell.

“Oh, no,” whispered Albus.

“What?” asked Akk, frowning.

Ayan’s heart dropped even more, chewing on his lower lip. 

“That… That wasn’t pumpkin juice,” stammered Ayan and he bowed his head down, pressing his lips together as his face twisted with guilt. “That was-”

“What did you do, Al?” hissed Scorpius.

“It’s not-”

“What did I drink, Aye?” asked Akk carefully, speaking in Thai and Ayan swallowed thickly, terrified of telling Akk the truth. Akk gritted his teeth, Ayan’s silence making him feel even worse. “Ayan!”

“The Truth Serum,” said Ayan in Thai and Scorpius frowned, still not understanding. 

“What?!”

“I… I can explain,” said Ayan and Akk crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Akk?” asked Scorpius.

“It’s the Truth Serum,” deadpanned Akk in English now and Scorpius narrowed his eyes. Then, he slowly turned his head to Albus, who whimpered and flinched. For the first time ever Akk had seen Albus Potter look this terrified. He was never scared of the teachers, but one glare from his boyfriend and he unfolded completely.

“It wasn’t meant for him,” said Albus right away.

“I don’t care-”

“And it’s diluted, we don’t even know if it will-”

“Aye?” asked Akk and he squinted his eyes. “Why did you have pumpkin juice laced with the truth potion laying around?”

“It was meant for that fucking bully from Gryffindor,” whispered Ayan, talking in Thai. The plan was to not tell the truth, but Ayan couldn’t even muster lying to Akk in the first place, but especially not like this. “He keeps bullying other Slytherins, so Al and I decided to teach him a lesson. The plan was to embarrass him and let him spill the truth finally in front of other professors, that’s all. I swear. I didn’t know you’d-”

“Aye,” whined Akk. “You… How did you even get the Truth Serum?”

Ayan swallowed and glanced at Albus.

“He, uh, borrowed it from professor Snape,” said Ayan, still speaking in English and Akk looked at Albus.

“Do you want to get expelled?!” snapped Akk.

“No. Akk. I’m sorry, I-” 

Akk exhaled. 

Inhaled.

Glared at Albus for some more.

“Al, where did you get Vertiaserum?” asked Scorpius. 

Ayan was no longer paying attention to the two of them as he shifted closer to Akk and gently held his face, trying to see if Akk was feeling okay. He seemed perfectly fine, but Ayan was worried as hell. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, hands still shaking.

“Akk, I didn’t mean… This was so stupid, it should have never happened,” muttered Ayan. “Let’s get to the Hospital Wing to get you checked out, okay? I don’t want anything to happen to you. I… Fuck, all of this is my fault,” kept on talking Ayan, fumbling over words as he was worried as hell, but then Akk’s hands slowly slid into his own and he sighed.

“I feel fine, though,” said Akk and Ayan blinked a few times. “But, you are right. This was so stupid, Aye,” whisper-yelled Akk in Thai. “Do you know how much trouble you could get into if you got caught?!”

“I…”

“It doesn’t seem like it’s taking effect, huh?” asked Albus and Scorpius smacked his shoulder. “Ow, that hurt.”

“Merlin, you’re so stupid sometimes, Albus!” groaned Scorpius and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Akk felt fine, though.

It really didn’t seem like the potion was taking an effect, which was great news and he sighed along. It was good that Albus and Ayan decided to dilute the potion to this degree, right?

However, that didn’t mean that Akk wasn’t angry at Ayan.

Oh, no.

Akk was furious.

They had a double period of Potions soon after.

Ayan usually hated Potions since Snape was the professor, but since this was a double period with Hufflepuff, he was delighted. Also, he was kind of relieved that they had the period with Hufflepuff since it meant that he could keep his eyes on Akk, who was still pissed off, but all in all, it didn’t seem like the potion had any effect on him.

That was… Good.

Akk was trying to focus on the class, quietly setting up his cauldron, while Ayan kept stealing glances at him, worried as hell and Akk slowly shook his head. He could tell that Ayan really regretted being stupid and Akk really hoped that Ayan had learned his lesson.

“I’m fine, Aye,” whispered Akk, rolling his eyes. “Stop looking at me like that and start focusing. Do you want to get in trouble again?”

“I… I’m worried. Akk, I feel terrible,” whispered Ayan.

“Good, let this be a lesson,” sighed Akk. “Aye, I’m fine, okay? Now, start working!”

Akk quickly stopped talking as Snape passed by the two of them, the dark robes flying behind him as he kept barking the instructions for everyone to start working on their assignment. It didn’t take too long for the ingredients to fill the air. Something sweet and bitter at the same time, Akk focusing and he looked over at Ayan, who was struggling with his own potion.

“Careful while you’re stirring,” said Akk and Ayan sighed, nodding. “You’re going too fast.”

“I… I’m trying,” whispered Ayan and gripped the wooden spoon tighter, Akk’s eyes focused on Ayan’s fingers.

Slender, slightly shorter than Akk’s, but they were pretty.

Ayan had such pretty hands.

“Do you know how pretty your hands are?” asked Akk out of the blue and his eyes widened when he realised what had just slipped past his lips and he pressed a hand over his mouth.

Ayan’s eyes widened a bit.

“What?” asked Ayan.

“Nothing…” started Akk, but he frowned as that wasn’t the truth, mouth working faster than he could stop it. “It’s just that your hands are so pretty. And soft, I like it when we hold hands. It makes me feel safe… No, no, what’s happening to me?” whispered Akk.

The only good news about this was that the two of them kept talking in Thai, so no one could understand them. Well, Ayan understood him, which was bad enough. Seriously, what was wrong…

… Oh, the potion started working after all! 

“Oh,” whispered Ayan and smiled.

Yes, he dared to smile because hearing Akk say all of those things was adorable. But, the smile was soon gone as he remembered that this was happening only because Akk had drunk that spiked juice.

Snape’s eyes were on them and Akk squeaked.

“Shit,” said Akk.

“The potion is working,” whispered Ayan.

“You think?!” groaned Akk. He really needed to stop talking. 

“Akk, how do you feel-”

“Angry,” growled Akk. “If I get in trouble, this is your fault!”

“I know,” whispered Ayan. “So, you like my hands, huh?” he then asked and Akk wanted to smack him. Ayan was too opportunistic, he knew, but he wanted to hear more. Akk was usually too shy to tell Ayan straightforward how much he liked physical attention so… 

“Your eyes,” said Akk before he could stop himself.

“My eyes?” asked Ayan and smiled.

“Yeah, they’re so pretty-”

“Is there something you’d like to share with the class?” suddenly asked Snape and Akk flinched, turning his head towards him. He opened his mouth and he knew what he wanted to say – no, sir. It was supposed to be simple, but something else came out.

Akk had heard rumours about Snape and he always wondered…

“You have really shiny hair for someone who’s supposed to hate shampoo, sir,” dared to say Akk and he quickly clasped his mouth shut with his hands, the room going dead silent, but he could hear Albus laughing in the background, Scorpius pinching his side and he immediately stopped.

Oh, no.

Snape’s expression didn’t change.

“Thirty points from Hufflepuff.”

Ayan quickly shook his head.

“Sir, it isn’t his fault. If you want, take points from-”

“Silence,” said Snape, voice cold.

“I’m sorry, professor,” said Akk right away, panic rising. “I was just saying that the rumors are not true at all. Your hair isn’t greasy-shiny… It’s… Please, someone stop me. I can’t stop talking,” whined Akk and Snape got even more agitated. 

Ayan gritted his teeth.

Some of the students were laughing, but…

Snape took a deep breath in, the long-suffering sigh of the man could be heard in the room. His eyes stopped on Potter and he made a pause before he started throwing out accusations. He couldn’t prove it, but he had taught too many Potters to now know who to blame for this.

“Mr. Potter, I assume this is your doing,” said Snape.

“No, sir,” said Albus.

“That’s a lie,” said Akk.

Snape’s eyes slowly flickered over to Akk and he frowned.

“Veritaserum,” muttered Snape.

“I didn’t mean to drink it!”

“Yet you did.”

“It was his juice,” said Akk and pointed at Ayan, who kept sliding down the chair. “They poisoned me by accident, but it’s fine. It happens, I can forgive Aye because he’s cute,” said Akk, now speaking in English and everyone could understand him. His face went red and he cringed. “Sir, is there a way I can melt into this cauldron and disappear?” asked Akk.

“Twenty points from Slytherin," said Snape and Akk wondered if he should tell Snape about Albus stealing his potions. “And detention, for all three of you.”

Akk groaned, but he knew he deserved it.

“That’s fair, sir, I deserve it,” said Akk and he glanced at Snape. “You have very symmetrical eyebrows, by the way.”

Ayan was now laughing next to him, but Scorpius shot him a glare and he quickly stopped, Akk slowly settling down and he turned towards him, Ayan grinning. This was too good. It sucked that Akk got detention, but…

“Akk.”

“Shut up,” was all that Akk said and Ayan pouted. “Stop. You’re cute, but I don’t care. I’m still mad.”

“I’ll take it,” said Ayan and chuckled.

If Akk thought that the incident at Potions was bad, nothing could prepare him for the next lesson – Defense Against the Dark Arts. Akk really wished that this potion could be out of his system as soon as it was possible. After Potions, he went to check with professor Snape if there was an antidote, but according to him, he was going to be just fine. The potion that he drank wasn’t strong and it should be out within a few hours.

How many hours?

Professor Potter was walking up and down the classroom, gesturing over to the dueling mats that he had conjured before and Akk was actually excited about today’s class, slowly forgetting about the potion that was still holding him in a choke hold. 

Slytherin and Hufflepuff had a period of DADA together that day and Akk was excited once professor Potter told them what they were going to be doing – practicing protection spells. It was kind of too easy for someone like Akk, but since he was going to be paired up with Ayan, he decided that it was going to be fine. He should still be angry with Ayan, but the look of guilt on his face was kind of enough for him to forgive him already.

Akk was aware, his backbone was pretty much nonexistent when it came to Ayan, but he could tell that his boyfriend felt terrible. He kept looking at him, checking up on him every few minutes, so much so, that Akk was willing to forgive him right away.

Akk sighed and turned his head to the professor.

“You will pair up,” said Harry and turned towards the rest of the class, clasping his hands together, his eyes landing on his son. “You will practice Protego. The other one attacks with simple spells – Rictusempra, Expelliarmus – the forbidden curses are not to be used in my class, understood?”

Albus frowned when he saw that he was still looking at him.

“Why is he looking at me?” whispered Albus and Scorpius sighed.

“As if you don't remember what happened-”

“And don’t aim for faces this time,” added Harry, Albus slowly raising his hand innocently enough as he tipped his head to the side.

“I told you that wasn’t me last time, dad,” whined Albus.

“Let’s keep it that way then.”

Akk took in a deep breath and slowly nodded to himself – he could do this. It was just magic, nothing else. He was good at magic and spells, there was no way that he could mess this up. However, it was kind of difficult to focus with the way Ayan’s eyes looked at that very moment.

They were sparkling in a very mischievous way.

In a way that Akk loved.

Akk nearly sighed, biting on his lower lip – he didn’t have to tell every single thing that was on his mind, biting harder on his lower lip and he smiled towards Ayan, who slowly stepped closer to him.

“Let’s pair up?” asked Ayan.

“Of course! Why are you even asking?” asked Akk suspiciously. “Did you plan on asking someone else? Because you cannot, I forbid you, I was here first. You can only pair up with me!” huffed Akk, sounding like a little possessive puppy and Ayan covered his mouth with his hand and laughed.

Akk was too cute.

Too freaking cute.

He couldn’t survive this.

“Okay,” said Ayan.

“You’re mine,” muttered Akk, still speaking in Thai and Ayan winked.

“Yours only,” said Ayan and puckered up.

Akk groaned, grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the dueling mats and he turned towards Ayan, looking at the side and he could see that Albus and Scorpius had already paired up together and he quickly turned to the side, grabbing his wand and he chewed on his lower lip.

Akk’s hand shook a little bit.

It wasn’t fair.

Ayan looked so hot when he actually concentrated and started working seriously. Akk wished he could see this side of him more often and he pressed his lips together. Ayan smirked when he felt Akk’s eyes on him.

“You’re staring, na?” sighed Ayan and Akk shook his head.

“I wasn’t…” started Akk, but his tongue got tied – he still couldn’t tell a lie. “It’s because you’re very hot when you concentrate!”

Ayan sputtered and he choked a bit on his breath.

“What?”

Akk was sure that his soul left his body, cheeks heating up.

“I bet you’re doing this on purpose!”

Harry slowly walked closer to the two of them as he could tell that the two of them were the only ones that didn’t start yet, tipping his head to the side.

“Everything alright?”

Harry cleared his throat and Akk slowly nodded.

“Yes, professor,” said Akk, switching to English. “Just practicing breathing!”

“Breathing?!”

Albus was wheezing.

“In and out, very normal, important for survival. Totally not because my boyfriend is too hot,” said Akk and quickly slapped his hand over his mouth. Harry frowned and his eyes travelled over to Albus – something told him that his son had something to do with this. 

Ayan tried not to laugh, but…

“Just proceed with the class,” said Harry and Akk nodded, but then he lifted his hand up and he realised that he… would have to attack Ayan? He inhaled deeply, his wand faltering and he slowly pointed it down, breathing harder as he couldn’t do it.

Ayan was going to use Protego, sure but…

“Akk?”

“I can’t attack you, Aye,” whined Akk. 

“It’s just practice-”

“I love you too much,” stammered Akk and Ayan’s smile got softer, shaking his head. Akk was too cute. He was always cute, but with the potion in his system, he was even cuter. And honest, it was refreshing. Ayan still felt bad for accidentally poisoning his boyfriend, but he was starting to enjoy this. 

“It’s fine, Akk, just do it, I can easily deflect it!”

Akk hesitated, but then finally…

“Expelliarmus!” finally managed to say Akk, his wand pointed at Ayan, who deflected the spell easily and Akk sighed in relief. “Your turn – now!”

Akk managed to dodge it and he clicked with his tongue.

“Can we stop?” asked Akk.

“Mmm?”

“I really can’t attack you anymore,” said Akk, voice small. 

“Maybe we should switch partners?” asked Ayan.

“No!” yelled Akk right away. “You can’t, you belong to me!”

Ayan snorted, but his face felt hotter than usual. Akk claiming him as his over and over again made him feel shy, which wasn’t like him usually. 

“Then what should we-”

“Akk and Ayan, focus!” was there to remind them of professor Potter again as they kept talking without practicing spells.

“I can’t do it,” whined Akk in English.

“I beg you a pardon?”

“I can’t attack the man I love, he’s too hot,” exclaimed Akk in English now and then he cringed, wishing that someone could stop him. “Aye, please, hex me,” stammered Akk because the potion apparently wanted him to never recover from this.

Potter looked perplexed.

“You two can switch-”

“That’s an even worse idea, sir,” said Akk and bowed his head down. “Respectfully.”

Harry fixed his glasses and scratched his head.

Ayan got worried – was Akk going to get in trouble again? Because of him?!

“Sir-”

“That will be enough from both of you,” sighed Harry. “Are you feeling unwell, Akk?”

“No, I feel fine,” said Akk. “Albus and Ayan poisoned me with Veritaserum,” he said then casually, like it was a well-known fact and Harry’s jaw dropped. Harry’s eyes were on Albus, who was now sweating and he smiled.

“I can explain?”

“Akk, stop talking,” whispered Ayan.

“I’m trying, but you’re very distracting. Your hair is doing that thing again and my brain is broken, I can’t think straight at all,” muttered Akk. “Not that I ever think straight, but…”

“Merlin, help me,” said Harry under his breath. “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Harry exhaled through his nose, shoulders shaking as he was trying not to laugh out loud when he finally understood what was going on with Akk. As for Albus and Ayan, though…. Detention was coming. 

“Ten points from… You know what? Ten points to Hufflepuff for honesty, I guess,” whispered Harry and massaged his temples. “I survived Voldemort for this,” he said to himself and clicked with his tongue. 

Ayan had a grin plastered over his face when Akk turned to him.

“I knew you liked my hair!”

Akk buried his face into his palms.

“Stop talking or I’ll tell everyone what your Patronus is!”

Ayan felt betrayed.

“You said it was cute!”

“It’s… Ugh, fine, it is!”

Akk was sure that he was never going to live this day down.

During their free period, it was just him and Ayan, in the Room of Requirement. The room was slightly different today. It had more of a romantic ambience, which was honestly so rude. Now, even the castle was mocking him!

Akk was sitting stiffly on the couch, face still buried in his hands and he shook his head.

“I can’t believe you told Harry Potter you were hot!” stressed Akk and Ayan was sitting next to him, biting on his lower lip as he was trying not to laugh too much, sighing under his breath.

Hearing Akk speak his thoughts out loud made this day wonderful, however, Ayan still felt bad.

“You also told him you loved me too much to hex me,” said Ayan and Akk sighed.

“Don’t remind me, please.”

“That was iconic,” said Ayan and Akk glared at him.

“Iconic?! Aye, he is Harry Potter, I made a complete fool out of myself in front of…”

“Relax, Akk, I’m pretty sure he has heard worse than this,” said Ayan and Akk didn’t know if he should cry or laugh. This whole day was just too much! 

“I change my mind, I’ll hex your right now,” said Akk, but then he changed his mind right away. “... Still can’t do it, Aye! It isn’t fair. Why are you so… so…”

“Akk, you’re fucking precious,” said Ayan and Akk huffed.

“Don’t flirt with me until the potion is out of my system!” snapped Akk.

“How about when it wears off?” asked Ayan, pushing his luck. “Can I flirt then?”

Akk tried to keep his mouth shut, but the potion was too strong.

“Yes. I love it when you flirt with me, Aye,” sighed Akk and Ayan leaned closer, tempted to kiss his boyfriend. Really, this wasn’t good for his heart. 

“You do?” asked Ayan on purpose. He already knew how much Akk loved it when he flirted with him – the flush was always there upon Akk’s cheeks to give him away, but it was more fun hearing it coming directly  from him. 

“Mn,” sighed Akk, his mouth still working on its own. “Makes me all fuzzy inside. It’s… Ugh, how do I turn this off?” whined Akk and he glared at Ayan. “You’re enjoying this way too much! I hate it that I can’t be even mad at you for this! I should be, but you’re too cute and-”

“O-ho, do tell me more about all of this, Akk,” sighed Ayan and leaned closer, pursing his lips. 

“Stop making me want to kiss you,” sighed Akk.

“You can, these lips are all yours.”

“Sometimes I really hate your face,” said Akk and shook his head. “It’s too perfect and it makes me forget what I was trying to do or say. Sometimes I find it so difficult to actually focus in class and… Merlin, stop me, Aye, please!”

“My face is too perfect, is it?”

“Yes, it should be illegal! You should be put in Azkaban for wearing this face in public!” he stammered and then he let out a high-pitched noise as he buried his face back into his hands and he wanted to disappear. He slowly stood up and wanted to leave, but then Ayan quickly caught his wrist and stood up as well.

As much as he was having fun, Ayan needed to make sure Akk understood how bad he felt about this whole accident. He slowly reached out and gently cupped Akk’s face, leaning closer as he pressed their foreheads together.

“Hey,” sighed Ayan and Akk gulped. “I really am sorry about this whole thing. If anything happened, I would never be able to forgive myself for it. I will be more careful, you shouldn’t have gone through all of this. I will make sure to make it up to you, Akk. I…”

Ayan closed his eyes and his face crumpled up, looking worried as hell.

Akk slowly opened his mouth, but then he closed it again.

“I… It’s kind of my fault as well. I should have been more careful instead of just grabbing that pumpkin juice,” huffed Akk. “I’ll ask next time.”

“Akk, no,” said Ayan. “Don’t make excuses for me, na? This is all on me. I’m sorry.”

Akk chewed on his lower lip, the tips of his ears red as he was again thinking about how pretty Ayan’s lips were and he gritted his teeth. This potion was really making him completely… Well, his mind was always filled with only Ayan, he was just more honest about it this time. 

“Mmm. Stop taking Albus’ terrible advice next time,” said Akk and Ayan slowly nodded along. “I can feel the potion slowly wearing off already. Maybe.”

Ayan pouted.

“Pity, I really love this more honest side of you-”

“Aye!”

“Mmm?”

“Stop being so… so…”

“Hot?” asked Ayan and flashed him a smirk.

“I told you not to flirt with me until the potion doesn’t wear off!”

“Okay, okay, but I really want to kiss you right now,” said Ayan with a little pout and Akk considered it for a little while. Ayan didn’t mean to push his luck, but Akk leaned closer and pressed their lips together a few times and Ayan sighed along, licking his lips.

“I want more,” blurted out Akk, Ayan’s hands now on his slim waist, pulling him closer as he kissed him again.

Chapter Text

The atmosphere at Hogwarts was that of a feverish frenzy ever since the Yule Ball had been announced. It had been many years, but this year, Hogwarts was hosting the Yule Ball once more in order to celebrate the Exchange Student Programme. It was still November, but this was all that everyone talked about as of lately. The preparations for the ball hadn't even started, but Ayan was already pondering how he was going to ask Akk to the Ball.

Ayan wanted to make it romantic and memorable – only the best for his Akk.

It needed to be something romantic and he didn’t want it to be too over the top, but it wouldn’t be Ayan’s style if it wasn’t just a little bit over the top. He wanted it to be something special, something that would leave the others whispering for days after Ayan would ask.

And he knew just of a potion that would make this just right.

The potion wasn’t complicated at all – at least technically, even a third year student could make it without putting too much effort into it. It was just a simple glitter potion, which would end up spelling Akk, will you go to the Yule Ball with me? Once thrown into the air. The letters would be golden – perfect.

It was harmless, pretty and romantic. Ayan knew he had caused enough trouble as it was, so he wanted this to be something tame, yet special enough for Akk. However, Ayan should know that things weren’t going to go according to his plan the second that Albus decided to help him out.

But, he was missing an ingredient, which Albus just happened to have on him.

Supposedly. 

Ayan wasn’t so sure as he was leaning over the cauldron, the two of them hidden in the Undercroft – a hidden room that Albus and Scorpius used when they were brewing things or practicing spells they weren’t really supposed to. Ayan narrowed his eyes as he observed the pink vial in Albus’ hands.

It was pink.

Almost, too pink.

“Are you sure this is the correct one?” asked Ayan and Albus nodded.

“Yes,” said Albus and nodded, sounding way too confident. Albus wasn’t really good when it came to potions, but Ayan didn’t really have any reasons to be doubting it either. “It’s sparkle concentrate, top quality stuff according to my uncles.”

And that should have been the first red flag.

Uncles, oh, Ayan should have asked who those uncles were, but he didn’t. 

Still, he said nothing and put the last ingredient inside of the cauldron and watched how it hissed. Ayan pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. The potion fizzled, burped and there was a little puff in the shape of a heart, which made him wonder if this truly was normal or not.

However, hearts were usually harmless enough.

Ayan shook his head, deciding that he was worrying it too much – he couldn’t wait for Akk to open up the vial and to see those letters being spelled out across the Great Hall’s ceiling, so that everyone was going to see just how special Akk’s invitation was going to be!

“So?” asked Albus.

Ayan smiled and nodded.

“Yes, this should be it,” he sighed and rubbed his palms together. “I can’t wait to ask Akk properly to the Yule Ball,” he said and Albus slowly nodded along, leaning back against the stone wall and he made a little pause.

“I better come up with something special for Scorpius as well,” commented Albus. “Perhaps it might not seem like it, but he does like a special flair for things, so I need to make the invitation also something special,” he said and rubbed his forehead.

“Let me help you out, my friend,” said Ayan and Albus smiled a bit – yes, he needed all the help he was going to need!

In a couple of days, the potion was ready and Ayan decided to test it out in the Great Hall . The Hall was full, students laughing and chatting and Ayan’s heart was pounding hard against his ribcage as he was hoping that this was going to work. He was hiding the small vial in his pocket as he was slowly attempting to finally stand up and walk over to the Hufflepuff table, where Akk was quietly reading a book.

It looked like the new Herbology book that professor Longbottom had lent him last week.

Akk looked so soft and adorable, his hair neatly falling over his forehead a little bit, his tie was perfectly straight and he chewed on his lower lip. Ayan was observing his boyfriend for a little while. Oh, yes, he was definitely the lucky one and he truly needed to make this proposal count.

Ayan took a deep breath and glanced at Albus.

“Ready?” asked Albus and Ayan slowly nodded.

“It’s now or never,” said Ayan and Scropius narrowed his eyes.

“What are you two up to now?” whined Scorpius. “As the prefect, I cannot continue supporting these misconducts that the two of you are-”

“Relax,” said Ayan and chuckled. “I’m just asking Akk to the Yule Ball, that’s all.”

Scorpius blinked a few times, but then he smiled.

“Oh,” said Scorpius, facial expressions now softening up a bit. “Carry on, then.”

And Ayan did. He slowly stepped over to the Hufflepuff table and he smiled when Akk slowly glanced up when he heard someone stepping over to him. Ayan reached into his pocket and Akk frowned because he wasn’t sure what was going on.

“Aye, what are you-”

“Special delivery for my favourite Hufflepuff,” said Ayan and waggled his eyebrows. “Hope you will enjoy the show.”

“The what?”

It was too late.

Ayan opened up the vial and tossed it into the air.

For a split second, it seemed that the plan was working. The letters slowly started to form as the potion rose, the gold dust slowly picking up, but then the dust suddenly turned pink and exploded right into Ayan’s face, his eyes opening as he was suddenly hit with pink smoke and he nearly forgot how to breathe.

“What the-”

Boom.

Everything went sideways.

Neon pink smoke started picking up and the glitter turned aggressive, Ayan coughing up the smoke and glitter, making a face as he felt enchanted hearts and butterflies dancing above him, huge sparkling and he shuddered.

The entire hall froze and chaos ensued right away.

Students were screaming, some of them running out of the Hall, some of them hiding under the tables, but they were unharmed. The smoke was only getting to Ayan, who was struggling to breathe, sneezing because of the glitter and he whined. How could this go so wrong?!

Ayan blinked, standing in the center of it all, covered with pink glitter from head to toe.

Albus’ jaw dropped because he also didn’t know what had  gotten wrong, but he already knew that Ayan was getting detention yet again and he swallowed thickly. Was the ingredient wrong after all?!

Akk just sat there, eyes wide and face pale.

“A-Aye?!” stammered Akk and quickly reached over to his boyfriend, who was still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. “What.. Are you okay?” he asked, stepping closer and Ayan slowly nodded, glad to see that the glitter explosion didn’t hurt Akk in any way.

“I’m… I’m fine. I think. I… What the hell went wrong?!” stammered Ayan and turned his head around, facing Albus. “Where the hell did you get that ingredient, Al?!” snapped Ayan, switching to English and Albus swallowed.

“From my uncles! My uncles Freg and George-”

Oh.

Of course.

Their joke shop was famous, everyone knew about it and Ayan wanted to strangle Albus, but one thing at a time because why was how hair suddenly felt so tingly. He reached up and he didn’t even want to know, looking worried as hell. Was it set to fire? Was he bald now?

Akk narrowed his eyes, but then he smiled.

“W-what?”

“Your hair,” said Akk in Thai.

“What about it?”

“It’s turning pink,” said Akk.

“What?!” whispered Ayan and touched the top of his head.

“It’s cute.”

Ayan swallowed thickly and he closed his eyes.

“I… I just wanted to ask you to the Yule Ball, why did it turn out like-”

Ayan never got to finish the sentence because McGonagall appeared at the door, looking mad and Ayan sighed.

How many weeks of detention was it going to be now?!

Days passed since the Great Hall incident and Ayan was still rocking the pink hair. No matter what he tried, the pink stayed. Until when? Well, that was the real question. Ayan wasn’t impressed with Albus, so he made sure that he asked his uncles about how long the effects of the potion stayed and even they didn’t know. But, apparently, it was supposed to lose its effects… Sooner or later?

Yes, Ayan wasn’t too impressed, but Akk happened to love the pink hair, so he decided to roll with it.

But, at least for now, Ayan wasn’t pulling any stunts like that again. For a while.

Akk, on the other hand, found it sweet. Even if the potion went really, really wrong, he found it endearing that Ayan wanted to prepare a grand invitation like this. And that was why he decided to prepare something special for Ayan himself. There were no glitter or explosions, something much smaller and humble.

Something more like him, but he knew that Ayan was going to end up loving it.

Akk put a lot of thought into it – he spent hours hunched over his desk in the Hufflepuff common room, parchment scattered all over the place as he wanted to write a romantic letter to Ayan, but he didn’t know what to write without it being too cheesy. Or too stiff. 

But, in the end, he decided that keeping it simple was the best.

The letter was simple and he put a charm on it – he was going to give it to Ayan, when they would all be in the Great Hall, working on their homeworks. The letter had a charm on it, so that it would only be Ayan, who would hear the melody that he enchanted the paper with. It was a melody that only Ayan would know.

It was private. safe and intimate, but also special.

Akk was ready.

However, Akk should have known that the word safe and Hogwarts never really mixed too well. 

Akk’s eyes were on Ayan, who was trying to work on his homework, the pink hair now making him stand out even more and Akk chuckled softly as he sent the small letter flying over to Ayan, trying not to stare as the letter gracefully flew across the Great Hall, slowly making its way towards the Slytherin table.

It was all going well until… It wasn’t.

Until Peeves noticed the small, flying letter, grabbing it midway.

Akk’s jaw dropped and his face turned red.

Oh, no. 

Peeves let out a satisfied cackle as he opened up the letter, floating upside down and he wasn’t too happy with his find as he couldn’t read it. Akk wrote the letter in Thai and for a second Akk thought that he had won, but the poltergeist had many tricks hidden up his sleeve.

“Oh, what is this? A loovee letter?”

“Peeves, don’t you dare,” growled Akk and grabbed his wand.

He was going to… To what exactly?!

“Oh-ho a love spell, enchanted letter,” sang Peeves and was delighted. “Let’s make it sing, then!”

Akk wanted to hide.

Ayan was now watching as well.

Peeves snapped his fingers and suddenly the Great Hall was no longer silent. The letter started singing, first in Thai, but then Peeves snapped his fingers and finally everyone could understand.

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

The letter kept singing over and over again, all of the eyes now on Akk and he started sliding under the table because he needed to disappear. Also, he was going to get back at Peeves for this!

Peeves was living for it, laughing and spinning across the sky, the letter spinning around and around and it wouldn’t stop singing.

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

“Aye, will you be my Yule date?”

Akk was mortified, but Ayan was delighted and he chuckled, turning to Akk, who was glaring at Peeves. His face was red and he swallowed thickly. Students were laughing while Akk was just mortified and he sighed along.

So much for a private and cute invitation, huh?

Students at the Hufflepuff table started chanting.

“Say yes, say yes, say yes!”

Akk hid his face into his palms, but he peeked through his fingers and he could see just how bright Ayan’s smile was. Despite all the chaos, Ayan couldn’t stop smiling.

Albus Potter was a man of inspiration.

After the whole mess with Ayan’s failed potion and Akk’s singing letter finally calmed down, Albus decided that he could do much better than both of them. He was a natural when it came to these things, a first class romantic. 

Albus’ plan was much simpler.

The plan was to charm the Slytherin common room, something like the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall. Instead of the sky, it would be showing snow. It wasn’t snowing outside yet, but Albus didn’t really care. It was still romantic enough.

The snowflakes would swirl around Scorpius and spell out a simple sentence.

Yule Ball? 

It was simple and elegant.

There were no explosions and or singing letters involved, but he knew that Scorpius would be into it. Even if he didn’t admit it out loud, Scorpius loved romantic gestures like this. He was a hopeless romantic at heart, so the plan was going to be full-proof.

Albus even made sure to put the charm to the test and it worked beautifully. The snowflakes were dancing around the ceiling, looking pretty under the greenish glow of the lake. It created a perfect and romantic ambiance. 

Albus was pretty much a romantic genius.

That was until he forgot to limit the charm’s radius.

He got too distracted about thinking how Scorpius was going to react to realise that the charm was slowly spreading through the entire castle. It didn't take long, just minutes, before it was snowing indoors through the entire castle.

The Great Hall, the corridors, clasrooms, the library, even the kitchens – it was all covered in snow and Scorpius had a feeling that this was Albus’ doing. The giveaway were the snowflakes that kept dancing over his head and following him around, spelling the Yule Ball? Right above his head.

Scorpius was… Amused, but he tried to pretend like he wasn’t.

Yet again, Albus was in trouble.

As he was on his way to the Slytherin common room he could hear Filch yelling, Mrs Norris was meowing loudly and Scorpius sighed along. He reached the common room and hurried over to Albus, who was trying to make the snow stop, but he was lost and he shuddered when he turned his head.

Scorpius was there.

Oh, no. 

Though, he looked very cute with the snow gathered on top of his head.

And the letters kept following him, huh?

Albus placed his hands together.

“I can… explain?” asked Albus and Scorpius rubbed his forehead, sighing because he was truly… How much longer was this chaos  going to follow him around? First Ayan and now him.

“It’s snowing indoors,” deadpanned Scorpius. 

“I know, it’s romantic-”

“The  whole castle is covered in snow!”

Albus’ eyes widened.

“The… the whole castle?” he asked and swallowed thickly. He didn’t know it got that bad! “I… I didn’t… I mean, it was supposed to be only-”

“Potter!” heard Albus and it could mean only one thing – Snape was there.

Albus started backing away and he grabbed Scorpius’ hand.

“Let’s run!”

“Al, I’m the prefect, you can’t just…” he started, but Albus was already running with Scorpius’ hand in his, dragging him behind and Scorpius sighed along, but the grin was on his face as he followed Albus out of the common room as the two of them went in hiding.

It would be fairly easy to find them though because the snowflakes didn’t stop following Scorpius around even after Snape muttered the reversal charm.

“I was aiming for a magical snowfall, you know!” complained Albus.

“And you ended up with this,” said Scorpius, looking above and he really wished that the snow would stop, but he did allow Albus to wrap a scarf around his neck until they found a way to make the snowflakes stop following Scorpius around.

After the explosion incident in the Great Hall and the snow incident, most people – including the professors – at Hogwarts assumed that Albus and Ayan had finally learned their lesson and stopped the chaos. However, apparently, that wasn’t the case as no matter how many detentions the two were given, they just couldn’t stop with their plan to give their boyfriends the best invitation to the Yule Ball that there was.

And what was worse – Ayan and Albus decided to team up. 

A truly terrifying alliance had been born.

The two spent a week of planning as they wanted this to be the most  romantic proposal that the castle had ever seen. Also, they needed to make sure that everything was going according to plan, so they put much thought and practice into it.

Nothing could go wrong, now!

At least that was what the two of them kept telling themselves as they were yet again hunched over the cauldron, making sure that their plan was completely and utterly full-proof.

“This should be it,” said Ayan, playing with his wand, speaking English and he rubbed his forehead. “Harmless, but perfect. Nothing can go wrong with this!”

Albus grinned.

“I told you it will work,” said Albus.

“Well, don’t jinx it now, Al!” snapped Ayan and he made a little pause. “Let’s just… Get on with it. The more we dwell on it, the more there are chances for this to go wrong, somehow,” sighed Ayan and Albus draped an arm over his shoulders and shook his head.

“Mate, you worry too much,” said Albus.

“Yeah?” asked Ayan and rubbed his neck. “Let me remind you that my mother sent me a Howler last week,” he said and he squinted his eyes. That was… an experience, but perhaps it was something that he deserved. With how much trouble he was getting into at Hogwarts, he was surprised his mom didn’t appear there and dragged him back home.

And… his hair was still pink!

“When did your uncles say that my hair will change back?” asked Ayan suspiciously and Albus shrugged.

“Soon.”

“How soon?” asked Ayan suspiciously.

“Didn’t you say Akk was into it?” asked Albus and Ayan slowly nodded. “See? Why ruin it for him?”

Ayan wanted to make a face, but then he turned over to the cauldron and looked inside – the potion was still bubbling, but it was ready. Right red colour. 

The plan was simple and truly harmless.

The potion was there to make roses bloom whenever Akk and Scorpius stepped – only around their feet, just a few charming blossoms that followed them around for a minute or so before Ayan and Albus popped the big question. It was something that the two of them could pull off without turning the castle into a hazard zone… probably. 

Ayan was in charge of brewing, so, technically, the two of them were on the safer side. And it was fairly easy to activate the potion as well – a simple drop onto Akk’s and Scorpius’ clothes and that was it.

Hopefully.

The hint was only one single drop.

One.

Single.

Drop.

While Ayan made sure to pay attention to that, Albus perhaps sprinkled a drop or… three too many, but who was counting, right? And the potion really started out beautifully. 

The moment Akk and Scorpius stood up from their seats after the Herbology class, the potion triggered. Soft little petals slowly bloomed at their feet, delicate petals scattering across the floors and Akk narrowed his eyes, but then he giggled when the sweet smell of flowers hit him and he crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. 

The thing was – Akk loved flowers, Ayan was aware, so he should have thought about this potion from the beginning.

There were a few students gasping and pointing at Akk, whose cheeks reddened. He knew what this was about, his ears burning up as well as he tugged onto Ayan’s hand and pulled him closer, ducking his head down and he cleared his throat. 

Akk sighed and glanced at Ayan.

“Aye, what is this?” asked Akk and Ayan leaned closer.

“Your formal invitation to the Yule Ball,” said Ayan. “Mn?”

Akk’s smile grew and he felt himself getting shy with everyone watching like this, feeling all fuzzy inside and he slowly shook his head.

“You’re really-”

“Mmm? I think romantic is the word you’re searching for, na?”

Akk slowly nodded and he pressed their foreheads together.

“How about it, Big Foot?” asked Ayan. “Let’s go to this Yule Ball thing?”

Akk wasn’t really keen on dancing, but of course. He had the plan to go from the whole beginning, it was just Ayan that was making this into a much bigger thing that it was supposed to be.

“Duh,” sighed Akk, trying to sound casual, but his crimson cheeks gave him away. 

The moment was sweet and Ayan went in for a kiss, but then he heard a yelp.

And a crash.

More yelling.

What the…?!

Akk turned his head to the side and his jaw dropped when he saw the amount of flowers that were blooming around Scorpius’ feet and they kept multiplying. Within minutes, the roses were everywhere. The vines crept on the floor, quickly travelling over to the castle and Albus watched with horror in his eyes how the castle soon started blooming magical flowers all over the walls.

Oh, this was the end.

“Oh, no,” whispered Albus. “Oh, no!”

“Al!” yelled Scorpius.

“Al, it’s one drop. One.  Single. Drop!”

“I know, but my hand slipped up and… Oh, I’m so getting expelled now,” whined Albus and closed his eyes as the flowers kept blooming, more of them now appearing on top of the castle’s roof as well.

Filch appeared with a broom in his hand and he looked utterly confused and just done, his eyes on Potter now and Scorpius was trying not to laugh. 

Akk slowly pulled his wand out and with a few spells, the flowers slowly disappeared. It was too late, though, because the professors had already noticed the damage, but at least… 

“You idiot!” whined Scorpius and Albus was prepared to get yelled at. Or worse. “Do you know how much trouble this will get me in? You… You’re unbelievable, you-”

Albus huffed and bowed his head down, but then Scorpius’ voice cracked and he burst into laughter. Loud, uncontrollable laughter, wrapping his arms around his stomach as his shoulders kept shaking and Albus bit into his lip.

“I just wanted to prepare something special for you.”

Scorpius glanced at him.

“Oh, it was special all right, you… You silly, unbelievable idiot,” he said and Albus stepped back, but then Scorpius stepped closer to him, grabbed his face and kissed him. 

Albus’ eyes widened.

Now, he was confused.

A kiss? 

No scolding?!

“So, er, you’re going to the Ball with me?”

“Yes, of course, I was going to go with you from the beginning, you just… Have to make everything ten times more complicated, huh?”

“I wanted to make it special for you,” whispered Albus.

“Oh, you didn’t disappoint,” said Scorpius and Albus thought he was off the hook, but he saw professor Longbottom and his dad slowly coming closer to him. Professor Longbottom was more impressed with the sheer power of the potion, but Harry Potter was not amused.

Then again, all was worth it in the end.

For love, he would do it all over again!

Chapter Text

Akk had a little smile upon his face as he was listening to Ayan, who was rambling about the Yule Ball next to him. Two weeks later and the excitement around the upcoming Christmas ball was even more present around the castle grounds. Akk was happy that he didn’t have to deal with the hassle of finding a date to the ball and since Ayan made a very public statement with whom Akk was going with, no one dared to ask him.

The same went for Scorpius.

Albus and Ayan made sure that everyone understood that their boyfriends were very much off-limits and taken already. Not that anyone would even dare to invite Akk and Scorpius in the first place, but still.

“The Yule Ball is on Friday, right?” asked Albus and Ayan slowly nodded along. “Perfect, this gives us then the time to spend the weekend with your dad,” said Albus and looked over to Scorpius, who smiled and then he made a little pause before he replied.

“Have you talked to your dad already?” deadpanned Scorpius.

Harry Potter somewhat tolerated their relationship, but….

“Why?” asked Albus and shrugged. “He’s not the boss of me. I’m seventeen, I can do whatever I want.”

Scorpius rolled his eyes.

“Al, don’t,” whined Scorpius. “You know things are still very tense between them. It’s-”

“Your dad is willing to invite my whole family over for Christmas, no?” asked Albus and Scorpius slowly nodded along. “See, he’s willing to try, but my dad is too stubborn. Merlin’s beard, it’s been over twenty years, can’t they just forget about their feud already?”

Scorpius chuckled.

“I asked my mum, though,” said Albus and Scorpius slowly relaxed then. “He says I can spend Christmas at the Malfoy manor,” he said and waggled his eyebrows which made Scorpius’ cheeks turn a bit pink and Ayan slowly smiled and tugged onto Akk’s hand as the four of them were headed to Herbology class.

Slytherin and Hufflepuff were having a double period today together.

That was why Ayan was in a good mood.

And things were going well for now.

Two weeks and there was no incident!

Two whole weeks without any chaos and Ayan was starting to wonder if things were finally calming down! Then again, perhaps he shouldn’t be thinking like this in the first place because he was going to jinx it.

They were headed down to the greenhouse, when Akk suddenly froze and stopped walking. He stopped down the path and he narrowed his eyes when he noticed something. Ayan was busy talking to Albus, so he nearly bumped into his boyfriend as he didn’t see him stopping.

Ayan slowly leaned to the side and looked towards Akk, who was looking at something on the floor.

“Akk?” asked Ayan and Akk pressed his lips together and hurried over to the stone wall. 

There was something small, something coiled on the cold floor, trying to hide, looking around for any possible danger.

Angry.

Hissing.

Akk’s eyes darkened and Ayan’s eyes followed Akk, who literally bolted over towards the stone wall and then he leaned to the floor and that was when Ayan noticed it as well.

A small… snake.

Pearly white scales.

It was curled up on the ground, clearly shaken up. It was trying to run away or hide. It looked pretty shaken up and Ayan’s heart slammed down into the pit of his stomach when he saw that.

“A snake?” whispered Ayan, speaking Thai.

“What’s happening?” whispered Scorpius and leaned up against Albus, his eyes widening in shock when he saw the small creature, trying to run away, but it was clearly too overwhelmed. Albus gritted his teeth and looked towards Ayan.

Scorpius looked a bit alarmed when he saw that Akk was about to touch it – the snake was clearly in danger, so what if it would suddenly strike at Akk?! Was it really wise to touch it?!

“Akk, watch it, it can bite-”

But, the snake didn’t bite.

Instead, it lifted its little head and hissed and Akk’s facial expression changed. It was almost as if he could understand the snake. 

Akk needed to know what happened, so he decided to ask the snake.

It looked like it was running away from something. Or someone.

“What happened?”

“A boy was chasing me.”

“A student?”

“Yes. He was wearing red.”

“Let me help you, I will not hurt you, I promise.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“You don’t have to trust me. Just allow me to help you and then you can be on your way. Let me see if you have any wounds.”

Amidst of it all, Albus’ jaw dropped and Scorpius let out a small noise of surprise.

Ayan, on the other hand, audibly choked when he heard his boyfriend talking to the snake. The low hissing sounds that were coming out Akk’s mouth were always something that Ayan loved, perhaps a little bit too much. Ayan’s face was a bit too red and hot for his own liking, but he loved it.

Ayan loved that Akk was a Parselmouth.

Akk didn’t really hide the fact, but he had read upon the beliefs of the Western culture and apparently, the ones who spoke Parseltongue were used to be connected to the dark magic and dark wizards, which was just stupid in Akk’s humble opinion, but he didn’t really want to attract too much unwanted attention.

Akk didn’t  really notice any of them as his entire focus was now on the angry creature on the floor. Akk made sure to reassure it that he wasn’t going to hurt it, using his wand to check if there were any wounds, but luckily, the snake didn’t seem to be wounded.

The snake's fear soon turned into anger.

‘’You don’t have any wounds.’’

‘’I was faster than them.’’

Akk’s voice was soft, delicate hisses rolling off his tongue and he sighed. 

It sounded like Akk was singing.

Ayan’s face was now crimson red, probably.

It felt hot, too hot.

“You,” stammered Albus and Akk calmly turned over his shoulder. Albus looked pale now. “You just hissed!”

Akk looked confused.

“Huh?”

“You’re a Parselmouth, Akk!” whispered Scorpius, sounding just as surprised and Akk slowly blinked again, trying not to roll his eyes and he slowly nodded along.

“I’m aware,” said Akk perfectly calmly.

“But… The Hat sorted you into Hufflepuff, how-how is this even possible?” asked Albus, trying not to shout, but this new discovery shocked him, completely! 

Akk glanced at Ayan, who was trying to focus, but Akk saw the flush and he rolled his eyes again. He knew how much Ayan loved when he would speak in Parsel, chewing on his lower lip.

“Like I said, the personality quiz your old Hat uses is a scam,” muttered Ayan, finally snapping out of it, but his words were still a bit breathless. “Akk, is the snake okay?” asked Ayan and Akk shook his head.

“Yes, it managed to escape, but it says that a boy wearing red was chasing it. It was a student, I-”

“It was him then,” growled Ayan and Akk sighed.

“Do you think he’s descended from Salazar Slyhterin?” whispered Albus carefully.

“Do I look like someone who could be connected to Salazar Slytherin?” deadpanned Akk.

“I… I don’t know. Hogwarts was established a thousand years ago. Who knows, you might-might be!” said Albus and Ayan snorted, shaking his head.

“From where we come from, plenty of wizards can speak to snakes, it’s not seen as something bad as it is here,” said Ayan and crossed his arms over his chest, stepping in front of Akk, thinking that now Albus and Scorpius saw Akk in another light. If they were about to accuse him of being into dark arts, he was going to be very disappointed in both of them. “It’s normal, na?”

Albus slowly looked at Scorpius, who slowly nodded along.

“Oh,” said Scorpius. “I didn’t know.”

“And now you do,” said Ayan and Akk snorted.

“Don’t get so defensive, they didn’t know,” whispered Akk, now speaking in Thai.

“No, but if they say something stupid, Akk, I will-”

“Mn?”

“That’s kind of cool,” said Albus all of the sudden and Ayan relaxed, sighing along and then he quickly nodded along.

“And hot,” was quick to add Ayan and Akk’s face turned red.

“Aye!” whined Akk and Ayan started laughing. 

Before Ayan could tease him back, they heard loud footsteps coming behind them and Ayan quickly turned around, only to see the stupid Gryffindor and his gang slowly coming closer to the four of them. Akk decided to ignore them, slowly checking on the snake again and he gently picked it up, checking up on it again.

One glance at the tall Gryffindor and the snake hissed, now in anger.

“Was it him?”

“Yes. He is the one that attacked me. Let me get to him, I will bite him.”

As soon as they heard Akk speaking Parseltongue, the so-called ringleader stepped closer to Akk, wearing a disgusted look on his face and he pointed at him.

“Oh, that’s gross. You can talk to snakes?!”

Akk stiffened.

Ayan immediately stepped in front of Akk and he got his wand ready.

“Say that again,” growled Ayan, his heart hammering against his ribcage, pissed off. He wasn’t going to stand for it. He hated the fucker already, but hearing him talk to Akk like this was overstepping so many boundaries. 

“Oh, look, are you gonna defend your little boyfriend?” the Gryffindor sneered. “Well, not that I am surprised. The Hufflepuffs have always been bloody cowards.”

“Cowards?!” asked Ayan and pushed into him, pushing him back.

Akk was not a coward.

The truth was – they didn’t know just how strong Akk was.

Behind the gentle look and the shy smile…

Akk knew he should back out of it, but he  was too angry and he gently placed the snake down, walking past Ayan and then he approached the Gryffindor, not a sheer ounce of worry or fear on his face. His hands were itching to hex the guy, gritting his teeth and he tipped his head to the side.

“Why did you do it?” asked Akk in English.

“Stay back, you freak,” hissed the boy.

A freak? Because he could talk to snakes? 

“Why did you try to hurt an innocent creature?” asked Akk one final time and the shy, soft-spoken Hufflepuff that everyone was used to was gone. Now, he looked different. Eyes dark, jaw clenched as he slowly stepped closer to the guy, holding the wand in his hands.

“Innocent?” spat the Gryffindor. “Snakes are disgusting.”

Akk didn’t blink, he didn’t even think.

The wand was in his hands.

It wasn’t like him to get aggressive, but when someone pissed him off to this extreme, he was willing to break his own rules, pressing his lips together. Ignorant,  stupid people like this pissed him off and he needed to make sure that this idiot was going to be taught a lesson.

He bullied other students.

Akk had enough.

With a simple flick of his wrist, the wand was pointed at the other student.

“Expelliarums!” muttered Akk.

Ayan flinched when a beam of red light shot across from Akk’s wand, the Gryffindors’ wand suddenly hitting the stones, Akk disarming him right away. Akk looked completely calm, but there was a storm going on inside of him.

The Gryffindor looked angry, he looked completely humiliated that a Hufflepuff managed to disarm him so easily. He looked over to his two friends and pointed over to Akk.

“Get. Him.”

He ducked down to pick up a wand.

His two ‘’friends’’ were quick to obey.

“Stupefy!”

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Akk didn’t even flinch when he saw the two spells flying towards him, narrowing his eyes as he used his own wand to protect himself.

“Protego,” said Akk simply and a dome of golden light suddenly wrapped around him, the force of it pretty strong. Akk managed to deflect the two spells too easily. They shattered against the shield like glass and he tipped his head to the side, slowly stepping closer to the three.

The leader got his wand back and stepped behind his two friends, hiding.

Who was the coward now?

“Akk-” stammered Albus, but Akk didn’t really hear him.

Scorpius wanted to stop the fight, he tried to, but no one was listening to him.

Akk stepped closer to the three of them and took a deep breath. One glance at the small snake made him angrier and he tightened his grip around the wand.

“Ventus,” whispered Akk and a controlled gush of wind suddenly surged from his wand, hitting the closest of the three right into his chest. He howled as he was taken back by the strong wind, slamming into the stone wall as his robes were whirling around him and Akk swallowed thickly.

Calm down.

Akk should have calmed down.

Ayan, on the other hand, was living for it. Seeing Akk like this made his knees weak.

“Akk, professors will-”

“I don’t care,” whispered Akk in Thai now, so Scorpius couldn’t understand him.

Akk saw a flash of light flying his way, but he easily ducked to the side.

“Levicorpus!” muttered Akk and aimed to the boy on his left, who shrieked when he was suddenly yanked up by his ankles, suddenly dangling from the air and Akk laughed when he saw him, trying to free himself, but the wand fell from his hands and Akk glanced at Ayan.

“Aye, the wand,” said Akk in Thai.

Ayan used Accio, the wand quickly flying to him.

Ayan snorted.

“Oh, this is good, Akk,” said Ayan. “My boyfriend is so hot today.”

Akk’s cheeks turned pink.

“Aye, now isn’t the time to flirt,” said Akk, still speaking Thai.

The main bully was now left to fend for his own. One of his friends was still trying to stand up, the other one dangling upside down and he ran towards Akk. Ayan’s smile disappeared when he saw the other one running towards Akk.

It was a bad move on his part.

“Incarcerous,” hissed Ayan and thick ropes were suddenly conjured out of thin air, wrapping around his legs and he stumbled over his feet and fell right onto his nose. 

Ayan snorted.

“Loser,” sighed Ayan and Akk chuckled.

Oh, this was fun.

“Scorpius, get one of the professors. Let them know what has been going on,” said Akk, turning over his shoulder and Scorpius nodded, but he didn’t get too far as the Gryffindor still had his wand. 

He grabbed it, aimed it at Scorpius.

He was completely humiliated, hatred burning deep in his eyes as he looked at Scorpius, hand trembling. His feet were still bound, but the wand was in his hand and he aimed it at Scorpius.

“Cruc-”

Albus’ fist against his cheek stopped him, hissing out in pain as Albus grabbed him and ripped the wand from his hand, slamming him against the floor, grabbing his robes and he rammed him into the muddy ground underneath.

“Using an Unforgivable on my boyfriend?! Are you fucking mad?!” hissed Albus and gripped onto his tighter, the wand kicked away from the idiot on the floor, who was now screaming for help.

Both of his friends wanted to flee, but Scorpius detained them.

“Akk,” stammered Ayan as he scrambled over to Akk, who was a bit winded. “Are you okay?”

Akk flashed him a sheepish smile.

“I’m fine,” whispered Akk and then he closed his eyes, huffing under his breath and he walked over to Albus, who was still holding the guy against the ground. “Al, hold him,” said Akk, now in English. “While I use Incendio on him,” said Akk and the other student looked terrified.

“Akk, uh, that’s-” started Ayan.

“No, let’s do it,” said Abus. “He tried to use an Unforgivable curse on my boyfriend, burn him all you want, Akk!”

Before Akk got to that part, Professor Longbottom was seen running to their side and the three Gryffindors tried to run, but they were held and detained.

Akk and Ayan were in The Room of Requirement because they needed a very much deserved alone time. After the fight happened, Professor Longbottom made sure that the three Gryffindors were escorted to the Headmistress and once she heard everything that happened, Professor McGonagall was appalled that a student now only wanted to attack a fellow student with an Unforgivable curse.

The punishment that was going to follow was going to be severe.

For now, the three students were suspended until further notice, but that wasn’t going to be the only punishment. Akk had heard the word expelled being thrown around as they were being escorted out of her office, as well. 

Things were slowly settling down, though.

Scorpius and Albus were busy enjoying their alone time, while Akk and Ayan were still trying to calm down after the fight. The Room of Requirement was their safe sanctuary, but this time, it wasn’t only them. The two of them weren’t alone.

No.

Akk’s new companion – his new friend, the snake – was there as well.

The snake was stunning. He took her to the Hospital Wing as well, but apparently the snake was okay. No sign of wounds.

She was perfectly healthy and ready to return back to nature, but she refused to leave. Now, she was stuck to Akk’s arm, wrapped around it as the two of them were sitting by the fireplace, Akk enjoying the sound of the warm fire crackling next to him and the snake happily hissed when he gently rubbed her little head. She seemed happy and content.

And she was stunning.

Pearly whites and  golds.

Sitting around Akk’s arm like that, she looked like a piece of jewellery. 

Ayan, on the other hand, watched them from the couch, sitting there with a little smile on his face, chewing on his lower lip. He wanted to go closer, but something told him that the snake didn’t like him much. For some strange reason, she kept giving him the side-eye, which was very unfortunate as he liked snakes and he wanted to befriend her as well. 

But, she had quite the attitude on her.

Big and loud, especially for a small creature like this.

“He’s looking at us again,” hissed the snake and Akk turned his head to the side.

Akk chuckled.

“Akk, can I sit next to you?” asked Ayan. “I mean, she keeps giving me the side-eye and I don’t want to get bitten.”

“She’s not going to bite you,” said Akk with a soft smile.

“Why is she looking at me like this?” asked Ayan.

“Tell him to stop being so loud,” hissed the snake and Akk snorted.

“What? What did she say?”

Akk shook his head.

“Akk!” whined Ayan.

“Too. Loud.”

The hissing got louder and Ayan flinched.

“She says you’re too loud,” said Akk, amused as hell and Ayan’s jaw dropped.

“I beg you a pardon?!”

“She’s not wrong,” commented Akk, clearly playing around, but Ayan took that personally.

The snake hissed again and Akk hummed along. Perhaps, she needed a name.

“We should name her,” said Akk.

“Huh? You’re going to keep her?” asked Ayan.

Akk hummed.

“Why not? She’s adorable,” said Akk and brought her closer to his face, smiling when her tongue flicked against the tip of his nose and he laughed. “It’s like she’s giving me kisses. That tickles,” giggled Akk and Ayan was melting there.

No, this was literally too much.

Akk speaking Parsel.

Akk giggling.

Ayan needed to breathe.

“You better stay away from that one,” hissed the snake as a warning.

Akk frowned.

“What, why?”

“I don’t like the way he’s looking at you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s looking at you like he’s about to eat you. I don’t like it, he’s dangerous,” hissed the snake and Akk snorted, but he felt his ears heating up when he looked over his shoulder and saw that she wasn’t wrong technically.

Ayan was gawking at him.

Drooling, shamelessly so.

“Shameless, Ayan!” snapped Akk, but the smile was on his lips.

“What do you expect me to do? You know I have a thing for you speaking Parsel!” whined Ayan and tried to scoot closer when he sat down next to the fireplace, but the snake hissed again and raised her head, studying Ayan very carefully.

She tightened around Akk’s arm and Ayan noticed that.

“Oh, she’s territorial, huh?” asked Ayan and Akk snorted.

“She’s still shaken up after what happened,” commented Akk and then looked at the snake, who was now looking right into Ayan’s soul. “Please, stop looking at my boyfriend like that, you’re scaring him.”

“Good, he should know I’m a threat.”

Akk laughed and Ayan narrowed his eyes.

“You two are gossiping about me, aren’t you?”

“No,” chirped Akk and Ayan grinned, leaning closer.

“You’re a terrible liar,” said Ayan and wanted to melt against Akk as he really needed to kiss him, but as he was about to kiss his cheek, he felt his lips touching something cold and…

Ayan ended up kissing the snake.

To protect Akk from being eaten, the snake quickly moved up to his shoulder and Ayan shuddered, quickly wiping his lips.

“Hey, what gives?!”

Akk burst out laughing.

“He was about to eat you!” hissed the snake.

Akk wrapped his arms around his stomach, shoulders shaking and Ayan knitted his eyebrows together.

“Akk, this will be a problem,” said Ayan seriously.

“She’s trying to protect me, she thinks you want to eat me,” said Akk, still laughing and Ayan’s jaw dropped, humming along as he eyed the snake, which was now glaring back at him.

“I am refined and classy and he is loud,” hissed the snake and Akk snorted.

Ayan squinted his eyes.

“She’s making fun of me, isn’t she?” he deadpanned.

“No,” said Akk, but it was clearly a lie and Ayan groaned. “Oh. Lighten up, Aye. She’s just clingy because she feels safe with me, give her some time, na?”

Ayan sighed.

Right, yes.

He understood all of that, but he didn’t like anyone that was getting in between him and him kissing Akk. He gritted his teeth and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Hey, how about Pearl?” asked Akk, back to hissing and paying attention to the snake. 

The snake looked at him.

“Pearl?”

“Yes, your name, if you want to. It’s pretty, like you.”

The snake went still, but then she left out a soft and very pleased little sound, nuzzling into Akk’s hand and she happily glanced up at him.

“You like it?”

“Yes!”

Ayan rubbed the back of his neck.

“What just happened?” asked Ayan.

“We just decided on her name,” said Akk. “It’s Pearl, she likes it.”

Ayan smiled.

“Oh,” said Ayan and smiled softly. “Alright, Pearl it is, then. And since she is apparently staying, can you please let her know that I won’t eat you?” asked Ayan, lowering his voice a bit. “At least not in the way she thinks-”

Akk rubbed his ear and tipped to the side when he heard Ayan whispering into his ear.

“Back off, you foul fiend!" hissed Pearl and Akk ended up cracking up again, Ayan’s pout setting on his lips.

But, the pout was soon gone as Akk leaned in and snuck a little kiss against Ayan’s lips instead, Akk’s cheeks bright red as he pulled away, but it was all worth it, in order to see that smile upon Ayan’s lips.

Ayan looked way too happy with himself, his eyes landing on Pearl, who was still staring at him judgementally.

Oh.

This was the start of a very interesting friendship, huh?

Chapter Text

It was Friday and it was luckily the last class of the day, Ayan listening carefully for once and Akk was happy about it. Then again, Ayan always paid attention when they were having Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Potter was his favourite teacher, so it really was no excuse for Ayan to not be listening and Akk sighed under his breath as he was slowly scribbling down the notes with his quill, looking forward to this.

Today, they would be summoning their Patronuses. 

Some students were already able to do it, some couldn’t. Ayan was one of those who was already skilled enough. Akk had seen his Patronus many times before and he loved it. Ayan, on the other hand, wasn’t too happy with his own Patronus, which was always something that made Akk chuckle because his Patronus was adorable and he chewed on his lower lip.

Akk was taking everything in – he really hoped that he could do this. 

Usually, he was very good when it came to spells and charms, but there was something about the Patronus charm that made it impossible for him to summon his Patronus. Usually, it was just a few sparks and then the charm fizzled out, but he felt determined to finally do it. Akk really wished to see what kind of a form his Patronus would take. 

Akk glanced over to Ayan and smiled softly.

Very determined. 

Akk sighed along and then he puffed his cheeks, shuddering a little bit as he looked through the window. It was already snowing, biting on his lower lip. Cold and snow was something that Akk just couldn’t get used to. He missed the warm weather, but he was enjoying his time at Hogwarts, his lips forming a tiny smile as his thoughts wandered over to his new little friend.

Pearl, the mighty snake.

Oh, she was quite something. 

Currently, she was at the Room of Requirement, enjoying her time there. The room had changed now, accommodating more to a snake and Pearl was loving it in there. As for her and Ayan’s friendship – it was still prickly, but they were slowly starting to get along. And maybe she finally understood that Ayan wasn’t going to eat Akk, who happened to be her favourite wizard.

Harry Potter turned towards the class and clasped his hands together.

“All right, like I have already said,” said Harry, clapping his hands together so that he could get the attention of everyone in the class, but most of the students were looking forward to this. Apparently, Harry Potter’s Patronus was truly something to feast your eyes upon, so Akk was also listening to him very carefully now. “Today we are going to practice the Patronus Charm.”

There was another ripple of excitement stirring through the room. Scorpius had a smile on his face, but Albus didn’t seem too impressed about it and he didn’t really try to hide his boredom, humming along as he crossed his legs together, his eyes on his dad, who placed his hands on top of his sides.

“Some of you are already able to summon your Patronus,” commented Harry, his eyes on his son, who wore a proud smile on his lips. “It’s very advanced magic, so I do not expect everyone to be able to do it on their first try,” he said. “It can take years to master the charm, so I don’t want all of you to be too harsh on yourself, understand?”

Akk nodded and Ayan smiled when he glanced at him. Then again, he was looking rather stiff ever since professor Potter mentioned summoning their Patronus and Akk gently nudged him with his elbow, giving him a little smile.

“You okay?” whispered Akk in Thai and Ayan nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” whispered Ayan back, speaking Thai as well. All he could do was hope that his Patronus was going to behave. Summoning the Patronus wasn’t something difficult, but controlling it was… Completely different thing for Ayan and he huffed under his breath.

Akk grinned and turned his head around when he heard Albus and Scorpius whispering about something, but he couldn’t really hear them, so he turned his head towards the professor again as Harry was speaking again.

Harry slowly lifted his wand.

“The Patronus Charm creates a protective field around you to protect you from any Dark creatures when it’s cast correctly,” said Harry and Akk slowly nodded along. “It requires a very strong and happy memory,” he said and then he slowly turned on his heel  and slowly started walking to the other side of the classroom and Ayan’s eyes widened, quickly lifting his hand up.

Harry smiled and then he slowly tipped his chin up.

“Yes?”

“Can we see your Patronus, sir?” asked Ayan as he switched to English and Harry Potter lowered his gaze, fixed his glasses and chuckled. 

“Very well,” said Harry, holding his wand up, muttering, “Expecto Patronum.”

The whole classroom – minus Albus - sighed when a bright and silver stag suddenly appeared from his wand. Akk’s eyes widened as he watched the Patronus slowly galloping around the classroom, leaving everyone impressed. It really was like the rumours have said – his Patronus was stunning as he strutted around the classroom before it turned into mist.

“Your turn now,” said Harry and slowly faced his students. “Small or big, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Patronus is strong – it requires to be there to protect you, so keep that in mind.”

Akk slowly nodded, writing everything down and Harry smiled fondly, eyeing his son. 

“Is there anyone who would like to go first?” asked Harry. “Perhpas someone who is already capable of summoning your Patronus?” he asked, his eyes on Albus, hoping that his son would volunteer, but he was already sinking down the chair and Scorpius tried not to roll his eyes at him.

Harry sighed.

Perhaps someone else. 

“Sir, Ayan is capable of summoning his Patronus already,” suddenly chirped Akk after lifting his hand up, a little smile on his face when he saw the horrified look on Ayan’s face and he smiled. 

Harry turned towards Ayan.

“Akk,” whisper-yelled Ayan. “What are you-”

“Come on,” whispered Akk back as he switched to Thai. “You should show off your skills, not hide them!”

Ayan rubbed his forehead as Hatty slowly approached their desk.

“Would you like to volunteer and show the rest how it’s done?” asked Harry and Ayan eyed Akk – like he had a choice, right? He tried not to whine, but he really wished someone else could go before him, biting on his lower lip.

Ayan couldn’t really say no to his idol, though.

That was why he politely bowed his head and slowly nodded along.

Akk’s eyes were sparkling when he glanced at him and he groaned – he really, really couldn’t say no now! That was why he slowly and stiffly stood up from his seat and walked over to the front of the classroom, like the professor had told him and he felt his shoulders slowly bowing down because he could only hope that he could control it this time.

“Ready?” asked Harry. 

Ayan nodded.

“Choose one happy memory and say the incantation," said Harry.

Sure. 

Choosing a happy memory wasn’t difficult thanks to Akk, but…

Ayan decided to accept his faith.

That was why he held his wand and finally muttered the needed words.

“Expecto Patronum.”

Akk perked up when he saw silver light suddenly bursting out of Ayan’s wand and he smiled when his Patronus slowly got a shape. It was small and sleek, but adorable. Ayan’s eyes were on his Patronus slowly taking shape and he rubbed the back of his neck when the Patronus slowly stood in front of everyone.

A tiny fox.

It was small and cute.

That was the first issue that Ayan took with his Patronus – it was too small, but then again it was powerful. Even if it was small, it was mighty and he sighed along as he watched everyone in the room watch his Patronus with awe on their faces. The fox was glowing, its fluffy tail dancing around and Akk couldn’t get over the fact just how adorable its oversized ears were.

Scorpius perked up.

“Oh, it’s adorable,” whispered Scorpius and Albus grinned.

Ayan rolled his eyes.

“Don’t let its size fool you,” said Ayan in English. “It’s very powerful.”

Harry smiled and clapped.

“Very good, Ayan,” said the professor and Ayan was about to say something. So far, everything was going good – the Patronus was next to him, listening to him and he thought that perhaps this time, it could go without embarrassment and chaos, but he was very, very wrong.

The second the fox noticed Akk, it stopped listening to Ayan.

Its ears perked up and without even hesitating the Patronus sprinted right towards Akk. So, even if Ayan was in trouble, he was doomed as his Patronus wouldn’t be paying attention to keeping him safe, but it was much more interested in Akk. Ayan could understand it very well, but at the very same time… 

Akk made a little squeak when the fox started jumping happy around his legs. The silver fluffy tail kept brushing through his robes and he smiled slowly because he loved it. He really loved Ayan’s Patronus. 

The rest of the classroom burst into laughter and Ayan groaned, running his hand over his face.

Akk wasn’t helping with the way he was leaning over towards the Patronus. The fox was sitting next to him, attempting to jump into his hands. It was raising its paw into the air, trying to get his attention and it was impatient. Akk couldn’t help it – he chuckled and he wanted to pet it, but Ayan whined.

“Akk, don’t,” sighed Ayan, now in Thai.

“I’m not doing anything,” muttered Akk back. “It’s petting me.”

“I know,” whined Ayan and glared at his Patronus, not really sure how to control it. “Get your ass back over here,” hissed Ayan, face red with embarrassment, but the fox wasn’t listening.

“Your Patronus is in love with Akk,” commented Albus and Ayan groaned.

“Do you have to point that out?” asked Ayan, now in English and he gritted his teeth.

The fox looked completely unbothered.

It was still sitting by Akk, making a silent happy squeak when Akk finally caved in and reached over. The Patronus nuzzled closer, Akk smiling when he felt the tingly sensation of magic washing through his hand and he slowly withdrew his hand.

“Akk!”

“What? It’s adorable!”

“Don’t encourage it,” muttered Ayan in Thai. “If I was in trouble, you would be absolutely no help!” said Ayan, scolding his Patronus, which finally lifted his head up and turned its back towards him.

Ayan’s jaw dropped.

“Ayan,” commented Harry, who was trying his very best to not laugh. He was the professor, he needed to be serious, but Ayan was horrified when he saw that even the teacher was trying his best to hold back his laughter. “You may consider asserting a bit more control over your Patronus. I must say that I have never seen anything like this.”

Ayan swallowed thickly.

“I have control, sir,” muttered Ayan and scowled at the fox. “Get. Back. Here!”

Ayan looked furious, pointing at the fox.

The laughter was getting louder.

The fox turned towards him, considering returning to him, but then it just wrapped its tail around Akk and Ayan almost yelled.

“Aye, it likes me,” said Akk happily.

“I know that’s the problem!” snapped Ayan.

“Why?”

The fox tapped Akk’s knee.

“You don’t see the problem?! What if a dementor attacked me? It’s no use if it will be hugging you!”

Akk snorted and shook his head under his breath.

The laughter and commotion in the classroom was getting louder, but Harry quickly decided to carry on with the lesson, pairing everyone in two, so that they could practice their Patronus charms together.

Luckily, Akk was paired with Ayan, Ayan’s Patronus slowly turning into mist- finally.

Akk was growing frustrated.

For the past half an hour he was trying and struggling with summoning his Patronus, but it just wasn’t working. Some of the students were able to do it, but there were still quite a few that were struggling – much like Akk over there – and he felt disappointed. He really wished that he would be able to summon a Patronus of his very own and he bowed his head down, lowering his wand.

“I can’t,” muttered Akk in Thai.

“You can,” said Ayan and nodded. “Trust me.”

Akk took a deep breath in and slowly lifted his wand again, eyeing. 

Right.

Akk just needed to focus. That was why he slowly closed his eyes and muttered, “Expecto Patronum.”

Akk opened his eyes and watched the spark appearing at the end of his wand, but it soon fizzled out into nothingness. It wasn’t fair. Akk was a very powerful wizard, yet he was struggling with a Patronus charm.

Akk’s face was flushed, feeling frustrated.

“Why can’t I-”

“You can, Akk, you’re just overthinking it,” said Ayan because he could see the look on Akk’s face. His eyebrows were all furrowed and he was too tense. Akk needed to think happy thoughts. “I believe in you, na?”

Akk smiled and huffed.

“Okay, again – Expecto Patronum!”

Still, nothing.

The charm started, but it fizzled into silver sparks, turning into nothing and he groaned, ready to throw his wand into the wall! Still, Ayan quickly approached him and slowly rubbed his back, leaning closer.

“Akk, it’s okay. You will get it,” said Ayan and winked. 

Akk nodded and formed fists with his hands. 

“Okay, I’ve got this!” said Akk and Ayan smiled.

“That’s the spirit.”

So, Akk tried – again and again, but each time, the charm failed. No matter how much he focused, he kept failing over and over again and he was getting frustrated with himself.

Ayan knew Akk – he was a perfection and when something wasn’t working out like he wanted it, he started being way too hard on himself. Just like he was doing it right now. He wanted to soothe him, but then Harry stepped over to him when he saw him struggling.

“Still struggling?”

“Yes,” said Akk in English. “Why can’t I just-”

“You’re overthinking it,” said Harry simply. “You must calm down and think of a happy memory.”

Akk felt his shoulders sagging.

“I am doing that, though. I keep thinking of happy memories,” he said and he felt dread coming up. “Maybe I just don’t have a good enough of a happy memory,” said Akk and Harry eyed Ayan, snorting. Well, he highly doubted that. 

“Akk, you do!” whined Ayan. 

“Which one, then? I keep thinking of everything, but nothing happens!”

Harry shook his head.

“Your approach isn’t good, Akk,” said Harry. “Stop forcing happy memories and rather focus on them. When was the happiest you've ever felt? Focus on how you felt in that moment, who were you with? It doesn’t require so much hard work. Just pick one happy memory and think how you felt in that moment.”

Akk slowly took a deep breath in, hesitating.

Professor was right, probably.

The happiest he had ever felt? 

Akk’s eyes quickly travelled over to Ayan, who was now smiling back at him and he chewed on his lower lip. Suddenly, Akk knew the answer.

It was Ayan.

Meeting him for the first time in Suppalo.

Ayan leaning against him, holding his hand.

Holding hands, neither of them daring to pull away.

The moment Akk realised just how much he loved Ayan.

Ayan confessing to him.

Their first kiss.

First date.

Akk felt warmth spreading through him and his smile got wider. The more he thought of Ayan, the more he was getting confident. There wasn’t just one happy memory. Oh, there were so many, and all of them were connected to only one person in his life.

Ayan.

Akk felt giddy inside, suddenly feeling Ayan reaching into his hand and he nearly melted.

Akk took a deep breath in, holding his wand, trying again.

“Expecto Patronum.”

The charm was much stronger than any time before. Silver light burst from the end of Akk’s wand. It was swirling around him, slowly getting a shape and Harry smiled, nodding as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest, looking proud.

“I knew you could do it,” said Harry and Akk took a sharp breath in.

What was it, though?

Akk’s eyes kept following the shape around and he slowly noticed two big ears, a fluffy tail, the Patronus hopping around him, its thumps glowing and Akk realised that his Patronus was a rabbit.

Small and round.

It looked fluffy.

Akk smiled – it was cute.

It was a bit embarrassing, perhaps. Then again, Akk didn’t mind his Patronus being a cute bunny.

Finally, he was able to meet his Patronus and he smiled when the Patronus hopped over to him and Ayan narrowed his eyes because it was adorable. And it fit Akk so well, chewing on his lower lip.

“It’s a bunny!” sighed Ayan in Thai and Akk’s face turned redder.

“Mmm. Cute, no?” asked Akk and Ayan grinned.

“Like you, na?” asked Ayan and rolled his eyes. “Really cute.”

The bunny kept jumping around, Ayan deciding that their Patronuses needed to meet. That was why he quickly summoned his own Patronus again and the fox quickly perked around the room.

It stopped on the bunny.

The bunny’s ears twitched, the fox perked up.

Ayan tried to assert more control, like the professor said before, but it was to no avail. Before he could stop it, the fox pounced after the bunny. It wasn’t a mean attack, but it was a playful one. It reminded Akk of the way Ayan kept chasing him around before they got together and he snorted when he saw the bunny running away.

Of course the fox chased after it.

Great.

The fox kept chasing the bunny around.

Around the chairs, under the desks, around Harry’s boots.

The bunny hid under the desk, but the fox found it and there was yet again chaos and laughter in the room, the bunny now hiding behind Scorpius’ leg, who was shaking with laughter as own Patronus – a squirrel – was sitting on top of his leg and he sighed along. 

Ayan’s jaw dropped.

“Get. Back. Here!” whined Ayan, but the fox kept chasing around, the bunny desperate to hide, hiding behind Akk now, who was trying to catch his breath, but it was too funny as the fox ran up to him and happily placed its paw onto his shoe.

Great.

Cornered, the bunny wanted to flee, but the fox gently approached it this time. Akk did nothing to stop this chaos and he watched how the bunny leaned closer to the fox, their little noses touching and Akk’s ears were burning up.

Their Patronuses were in love too?

Was that even possible?!

“Even your Patronuses are married,” commented Albus and Akk’s face turned even redder.

“No need to make a comment about it,” groaned Ayan. “Get back here, you menace!”

Akk shook his head, still laughing.

“It’s cute,” said Akk, but Ayan found it embarrassing and he looked over to Professor Potter, trying to get back the control of his Patronus, but truly – if he was ever in trouble, he was going to be doomed. 

Harry Potter had seen many things, but he had never witnessed anything like this as he watched the two Patronuses running around his classroom, the fox still running after the bunny. But, it looked like the two were playing now and Akk grinned softly.

The bunny ended up running back towards Akk, but so did the fox and Ayan face-palmed himself as he watched the way his Patronus kept circling around Akk and the bunny now. The fox placed its paw onto the bunny, but then both of them slowly disappeared into nothing and the silence finally settled back into the classroom, Ayan sighing under his breath.

Oh. This was quite something. 

“This was embarrassing,” muttered Ayan.

Akk shook his head quickly.

“It was cute.”

“Cute?!”

“Mn. I think it’s cute that your Patronus cannot help itself when it comes to me,” snorted Akk and his cheeks turned a bit pink. “Much like you, na?” asked Akk, feeling a bit bold since he was saying it in Thai and Ayan slowly hummed along.

That was true

Ayan really couldn’t help himself when it came to Akk.

It really was no wonder that his Patronus was the same way.

“I guess that makes sense,” sighed Ayan and Akk chuckled as the professor told everyone to sit back down as the lesson was coming to an end and Akk smiled as he watched Albus’ Patronus – a wolf – slowly disappearing as well, following Ayan to their desk, sitting down.

Underneath the table, Akk felt Ayan’s hand making its way towards him and he allowed Ayan to link their fingers together, paying attention to professor Potter.

Kind of.

“Excellent progress today, everyone tried their best,” said Harry and looked towards Akk and Ayan. “Even if some of the Patronuses were very enthusiastic," he commented and more laughter followed soon after, Ayan groaning in a very dramatic way.

Ayan rubbed his temples, but Akk kept the smile on.

Akk ended up loving the class because he knew that not only Ayan loved him, but his Patronus did as well. Every piece of Ayan loved him and that just… made him happier than ever, holding onto Ayan’s hand for the rest of the lesson.