Work Text:
"kim taehyung, what the ever-loving fuck is that smell?"
taehyung rips the mask on his face off with his only clean hand and extracts the ladle from the cauldron he's brewing. he grins at jeongguk, "draught of living death!"
jeongguk violently hacks and coughs. "tae, drinking the draught is supposed to knock you out- not smelling the draught. please evanesco that." he stays close to the farthest wall opposite taehyung's work desk, waving a piece of parchment in front of his face as if that will provide him better smelling air. "it smells like troll vomit."
"and when have you ever smelled troll vomit-"
"-you took me to see grawp when he was sick with measles- i didn't even know trolls could get sick with measles," jeongguk interjects with a grimace. "troll vomit is a smell i don't think i'll ever be able to forget- probably not even if i get obliviated."
always the dramatic one. taehyung rolls his eyes and places the ladle on the wooden table. a big mistake seeing as a small amount of the liquid he had brewed slides down the curve of the ladle, dripping onto the table and sizzling, leaving a small dent in the wood in its wake.
he stares at the dent in the table and winces. okay, taehyung, maybe you brewed it wrong, what other harm could come to you-
"tae, the cauldron is bubbling- tae, it's- it's literally hissing- i think it's sentient-"
taehyung ducks as the cauldron's bubbling gets even louder and with the way the table is also shaking with the force of the bubbling liquid, things obviously can't be good.
powdered root of asphodel, taehyung realises- albeit way too late-, powdered. not the entire root-
he glances at jeongguk and sees that the slytherin has his wand out, poised towards taehyung's mistake of a concoction with his lips parted, ready to fire a spell but the cauldron exploding is precedent and he's left splattered with something that resembles black tar- and apparently smells like troll vomit.
jeongguk splutters, hastily removes his robe and chucks it across the room, heaving. "kim taehyung, i'm going to fucking-"
taehyung slips out from under the table, grabbing his own wand and casting an evanesco on the table, vanishing the cauldron as well. "-i'm cleaning, i'm cleaning-" he walks closer to jeongguk, smirking at the younger's flinch, and cleans his tie and shirt, ridding it of the black tar and making it look good as new.
"there!" taehyung flourishes, waving his wand around jeongguk's body. "now you're clean, too."
the latter rolls his eyes, heads to his discarded robe and picking it up daintily with two fingers, nose crinkling in distaste. "i'm gonna burn this," he announces, before shoving it into his book bag.
"i'm done here- come sit with me at dinner," taehyung proposes, dragging jeongguk out of the spare potions classroom and hauling him into the hallway, locking the door behind them. grabbing the slytherin's hand, he leads them out of the 4th floor corridor, down the grand staircase and into the great hall.
jeongguk makes to sit at the slytherin table but taehyung's brief screech and hand on his wrist stops him.
"sit with me today," taehyung whines.
jeongguk rolls his eyes, "taehyung, please. i can't sit at the gryffindor table- i'm a slytherin."
the gryffindor purses his lips and places a hand on his hip. "and why not?"
"because!- it's unethical. a slytherin at the gryffindor table, that's like making jimin sit with yoongi-hyung and namjoon-hyung at the slytherin table-"
"-namjoon-hyung's a ravenclaw-"
jeongguk raises his voice, "-my point!- is that it's really unethical, that's all. just sit with me at the slytherin table. you know how there's only a couple dozen of us and there's plenty of space."
taehyung whines. he's sat at the slytherin table a handful of times, so many times he probably can't count it on one hand. he glances at his usual seat at his own house's table. kihyun is there, raising a hand as if to beckon him over, cocking his head at taehyung's confused glances.
the gryffindor sighs, "okay," and relents. he lets jeongguk grab his wrist and drag him to the furthest table in the hall, plopping down in vacant seats.
namjoon's there, grumbling about divination and yoongi's not in a far off state, grumbling about arithmancy. taehyung thinks their relationship is mostly mutual grumbling and napping.
"gryffindor," namjoon greets when taehyung sits, waving a loose hand. taehyung reciprocates with a nod and, "ravenclaw," before grabbing a scone, other hand reaching out for a goblet.
"why are you always here?" yoongi mutters, not unkind but with a mocking scowl.
"a drop of veritaserum will be enough for you to admit that you love me."
the older slytherin shakes his head and mutters something along the lines of 'gryffindor brat child' into his goblet and namjoon and jeongguk chuckle.
jeongguk leans away from the table and turns to taehyung, "do you have quidditch practice today?"
he casts a time spell. "yeah, in about thirty minutes. why?"
"i'll drop you off at the field. i was planning on speaking with madam hooch about plays-offs, anyway," jeongguk replies, shoveling sausages and bacon into his mouth- with grace, of course. slytherins are nothing short of graceful, taehyung muses as he watches the boy dab his mouth with a napkin.
taehyung frowns. "but you'll be late for class then."
"that's alright."
his frown deepens. jeongguk doesn't like being late. his attendance is impeccable- unlike the older slytherin and his matching ravenclaw- and jeongguk's always early to classes, no matter how passive he might seem. "i can go to the pitch by myself, it's-"
"hey," jeongguk says, glancing at him from the corner of his eye, "i said it's okay. i'll drop you off."
taehyung isn't convinced but once again, he relents, simply because it's jeongguk. "...okay," he says, "alright."
jeongguk walks him to quidditch.
taehyung groans as jeongguk smacks at his face, demanding attention. he turns to face the younger.
"are there constellations like these in the muggle world?"
taehyung laughs. "we all live under one sky, jeongguk. the stars are the same," he explains. "the stars are always the same- they're just brighter over here."
jeongguk hums. "dim stars aren't fun." the slight pout on his face makes taehyung chuckle.
"no, they're not," he admits, thinking of vaguely starless skies back in seoul. "which is why i like stargazing here, instead of in the muggle world."
"are you sure it's not just because you're stargazing with me?" the slytherin teases, flinging an arm out and whacking taehyung on the thigh.
it's been a while since they last escaped up here. till a few day ago, his invisibility cloak had been in namjoon's possession and had only given it back when yoongi nagged at him to. taehyung had promised he'd acquire one for them, too, seeing as they went sneaking around the castle more often than taehyung does nowadays. to do what, taehyung doesn't know nor does he particularly want to know.
he'd told jeongguk to wait outside nigellus' portrait after curfew and when he snuck into the dungeons, he was there, leaning next to the portrait and chatting with nigellus. taehyung had taken him under the cloak immediately, whisking them away.
taehyung is the calmest during hours like these. heartbeat steady and breaths warm and slow. lying with jeongguk on a threadbare blanket, tracing the stars with their fingers, watching the night get darker and darker until the sun eventually wakes.
"that's for me to know and you to find out," taehyung mumbles softly, turning his head to the side and sending him a cheeky grin.
when jeongguk reciprocates and a wide grin blooms across his face, he thinks, yeah.
it's definitely because of you.
"do you want to tell me where you've been sneaking off to?"
jimin perches on his desk, fiddling with his spare inkwells and amusing himself with the random paraphernelia scattered around taehyung's work desk. with the way he's settled, jimin's legs don't quite touch the ground and taehyung chokes back a laugh, fearing jimin's wrath.
(he may be tiny but jimin's hexes are sharp and have long lasting effects, and taehyung isn't looking to be in any discomfort any time soon.)
taehyung doesn't dignify it with an answer and ignores jimin's question. jimin clears his throat obnoxiously and taehyung turns to see him with eyebrows raised and expectant look on his face.
"it's just the tower," taehyung replies, feigns nonchalance and continues to sift through his trunk, searching for his spare tie.
jimin snorts. "the tower with slytherin golden boy, jeon jeongguk," and taehyung doesn't even need to look back to know there's a mocking grin on jimin's face and he rolls his eyes. "he was late to ancient runes because of you- the old bat babbling gave him a right scolding for being late- all because he dropped you off at the quidditch pitch."
taehyung keeps silent and refuses to rise up jimin's baits.
"i rarely even see you at breakfast anymore- is the slytherin common room as comfortable as the slytherins make it out to be?" jimin teases, giving him a look.
"are you going to reprimand me?"
jimin isn't the first- and he certainly won't be the last, taehyung thinks. seokjin has tried- cornered taehyung with his share of admonitions shoved up his sleeve, but taehyung had ducked around him and slipped off to find jeongguk out in the quidditch pitch. hoseok had tried, too, but of course, taehyung had just shoved a scone in his open mouth and avoided him. taehyung supposes he should really think about why he keeps running off but he thinks he's too coherent to muse about reasons why.
"of course not," jimin says, pushing himself off the desk and surprising taehyung when he places a hand on his shoulder. "jeongguk's good for you."
taehyung honestly doubts that. jeongguk's constant presence cannot be good for his health. the way his pulse beats hard enough for his heart to hurt whenever jeongguk comes near him cannot be good for his health.
jimin hums, "you've changed." but it's not unkind and taehyung cranes his neck and sees the soft smile on his face. "it's only been something close to a year, but you've changed."
"you still love me though, right?" taehyung teases, pulling at the end of jimin's scarf and laughing when he gags. "come on, let's go to class."
taehyung is left a little bit unsettled by jimin's words, slumped in his seat in charms, staring off into space and drowning in his thoughts.
jeongguk's defintely a big change in his life, but taehyung is damn sure it's not an unwelcome one. the slytherin is soft but nebulous, a big question mark in taehyung's life.
the boy is a tease, voice always mocking and swathed in so much sarcasm that taehyung knows not to take some of the words that flow out of his mouth too seriously. at other times, the boy is subdued, muted and dulcet and taehyung's mind is always left reeling when jeongguk's voice turns calm and hushed. his eyes are always a mellow brown and his smiles are so shy and taehyung is shaken.
you've changed.
jimin's words ring around in his head and though taehyung knows it wasn't mean and meant with no malice, he can't help but feel a bit perturbed.
taehyung hisses as the cauldron lets out a large puff of warm smoke.
purple, taehyung, purple. sleeping draught is supposed to be a soft purple. not dark orange. he glances at the jar of flobberworm mucus and sprigs of lavander and valerian, and wonders where he went wrong.
he casts an evanesco on the cauldron and packs away it away. jeongguk was always the better one at potions- the slytherin's a straight 'outstanding' student, of course- but taehyung tries his best and accepts his 'exceeds expectations' that slughorn gives him.
locking the door behind him with a colloportus, he swivels around to find jeongguk leaning against a pillar with a parchment in hand. the way jeongguk looks bathed in afternoon light makes taehyung feel like he's been hit with a small- okay, considerably sized- punch to his chest and he feels only a tad bit breathless.
"waiting for me?" taehyung teases, trying to inject as much playfulness into his voice and hoping it masks the way it slightly trembles. jeongguk looks up at the sound of his voice and watches as taehyung walks closer to him.
jeongguk hums and absentmindedly reaches out for him, tugging him in the direction of the great hall for dinner.
"there was orange smoke seeping in from under the door," jeongguk not-so-nonchalantly points out, side-eyeing taehyung and nudging him with a finger. "taehyung, no draught or potion is supposed to emit orange smoke."
he groans, "i was trying to make a sleeping draught but-"
"but something went wrong," jeongguk finishes for him, parroting the excuse he always uses when it comes to his failures regarding potions. "did you juice the flobberworm right?"
"yeah, two blobs. i even used the right amount of valerian sprigs," he sighs. "i don't know what went wrong."
only when jeongguk gives his hand a reassuring squeeze does taehyung remember that his hand is actually being enveloped in jeongguk's own. taehyung's hands are bigger than jeongguk's, only slightly bigger, but lithe and sinewy and jeongguk's thick and calloused fingers dwarf his own.
"you'll get it right soon enough. want my help next time?"
taehyung turns to him with a pleading gaze and whispers, "please", and jeongguk chuckles, squeezing his hand once more.
they breach the great hall and jeongguk takes a surprising turn towards the gryffindor table.
"what-" taehyung starts to say, glancing at the slytherin table, but jeongguk's eyes speak multitudes so he shuts his mouth. he half-drags the slytherin towards his usually vacant seat and pushes on his shoulders to make him sit, occupying the seat next to him.
a couple of first years are glancing at jeongguk with curious gazes but the slyterin pays no attention, staring at his plate with a passive expression on his face. taehyung looks around to find hufflepuffs jimin and hoseok present.
"why are you here, puffs?" taehyung asks jimin and the latter smiles mischievously, loosely raising a finger to point at the uncomfortable slytherin next to him.
"more important question- why is he here?" jimin smirks at jeongguk and the slytherin, despite himself, meets jimin's gaze head-on and raises a challenging eyebrow, as if daring him to say anything.
"calm the bravado, big boy," taehyung chuckles, patting jeongguk's thigh. "it's just a harmless little puff."
"i'm not harmless!" jimin protests, to which hoseok next to him responds with, "your idea of a hex is avis- your idea of harm is sending birds after someone-"
jeongguk grabs his goblet and takes a sip before beginning his feast. taehyung momentarily ignores the two bickering hufflepuffs to focus on him. jeongguk's face remains impassive but taehyung can see his eyes are softer and more relaxed so he follows suit and starts to eat.
"so, jeongguk," jimin starts and the slytherin halts the spoonful about to enter his mouth, "what are your intentions with my taehyung?"
taehyung chokes on his bite of meatloaf and thumps at his chest to clear his airway. jeongguk hastily grabs his wand and casts an anapneo to clear taehyung's airway. he breathes deep and slumps against the table.
"merlin's fucking balls, park jimin-"
"it was an innocent question, taehyung," he raises his hands in surrender and the expression on his face says anything but innocent. taehyung flings a grape at his face. he flings a couple more until jimin hisses for him to stop wasting the food.
"i- i don't have any intentions-"
jimin interrupts jeongguk's sentence with a loud buzzer noise. he slaps his hand against the hardwood table, the sound echoeing all the way to the end of the table and causing several people turn their heads to give jimin looks. "wrong answer, golden boy."
"park jimin," taehyung hisses, "if you don't shut your ugly mouth, i'm going to fill it with sand."
he raises his wand up to jimin's face and points, but jimin is neither threathened nor perturbed, merely rolls his eyes and pops a mouthful of ham into his mouth.
"a boy who has no intentions does not take you back to his house's common room," hoseok smirks, suddenly siding with his fellow hufflepuff and jimin nods his head in agreement. the two exchange high-fives.
"i'm going to bind you two together and then feed you to grawp," taehyung hisses, "maybe he'll like the change in menu."
taehyung stands in the forbidden forest with his shoes in hand and bare feet planted in soft grass. the wind blows softly and sifts through his hair, ruffling the strands and getting in his eyes. the sun's setting and they're technically not supposed to be out here- filch has a soft spot for taehyung and his mischief and is always keen to send him to detention- but hagrid always tells him the forest is home to those who need a night off and taehyung is in desperate need of one.
"you can't see them, can you?"
jeongguk stands next to him with one hand clasped around taehyung's and his cloak pulled low over his head.
taehyung shakes his head. "no- no, i can't." all he sees is wide unchanging forest and it slightly unsettles him that there are creatures right in front of him but he can't see them.
"want me to describe them to you?"
he nods and jeongguk raises a hand and strokes something in mid air. the boy chuckles at something and strokes more earnestly.
"they're skeletal and really bony, thestrals, they don't have much meat on them- mostly just bones and skin- especially their wings. i guess that's what makes them slighly more terrifying to others," jeongguk explains.
"people don't like them because they represent bad omens but i think they're captivating to look at."
taehyung quiets, listens to every word jeongguk gives him and waits for his turn to speak. "whose did you see?" he murmurs, subdued and almost inaudible.
"my mother," the younger replies, eyes vacant and glazed. "she'd been killed in our garden by a band of vigilantes who wanted to eliminate high noble families. my father was away in the north during that time so they didn't catch him."
there's nothing he can say in reply so he resorts to giving jeongguk's hand a reassuring squeeze. the latter looks at him and his eyes shift to show gratefulness. for what exactly, taehyung does not know, but he gives his hand another squeeze and shifts to entwine their fingers.
taehyung swiftly changes the topic and jeongguk seemingly lets out a small sigh of gratitude. "are they like abraxans, thestrals?"
jeongguk cocks his head to the side and contemplates for a short moment. "well... in the sense that they are both winged horses, yes, but abraxans are white and are quite fancy horses, so they have a lot of meat on them. thestrals are grey and bony, possibly larger than most adult abraxans."
"they say the headmistress of beauxbatons feeds her abraxans single malt whiskey."
jeongguk snorts. "the french like to spoil their creatures."
taehyung hums and tugs on jeongguk's hand. the wind is getting colder and his bare feet are getting numb, so he places his shoes on the ground and slips his feet into them. "do you want to go back to my room? it's getting chilly."
he pulls on jeongguk's hand and leads them back the trail they came from, breaching the outskirts of the forest and getting back on safer grounds.
taehyung's no stranger to the forbidden forest.
he's volunteered to help hagrid on several accounts and spent last winter break helping the caretaker usher the centaurs inside into the castle to shield them from the cold weather. he knows hs way around the forest like it's the back of his hand and so he leads them out with practiced ease.
"hey," taehyung yanks lightly at their joined hands and jeongguk stumbles back, swiveling around to look at him with raised eyebrows. "thank you. for showing them- well, not showing, but you get what i mean- thank you for describing to me."
jeongguk smiles but it swiftly turns into one that looks a bit melancholy. "thank you for not being able to see them."
he loiters outside the slytherin entrance for quite a while, wondering whether or not to go in. he paces back and forth and nigellus lets out a loud groan.
"what are you doing, boy? do you wish to enter or not at all? i haven't got all night, i hope you're aware."
"you're a portrait, nigel- you don't necessarily need to sleep," he waves a hand in the air.
"that attitude is not going to help you, young gryffindor."
taehyung places a hand in his hair and tugs lightly, grumbling and whining softly before turning to look at the portrait. he slumps and looks pitifully at nigellus.
"do you think i should go in?"
nigellus pretends to look contemplative for a beat before replying with, "it's close to midnight, my boy; going inside would be a good idea, if you do not wish for the caretaker to catch you out in the halls past curfew."
taehyung snorts. "yes, because you're all about morals and ethics, aren't you, nigel?" he places his hands in the pockets of his pajamas and sighs, but with determination.
"i'm going in."
nigellus nods and gestures for him to say the password. "janus," taehyung mutters and the portrait door swings open. he mutters a small thanks to nigellus and enters, shivering in the cold air of the common room.
"taehyung?" a voice says and he turns to look at a pair lounging on the love-seat. "what are you doing here?" namjoon asks from his position underneath yoongi's half-asleep body.
he smiles at namjoon, "i had an epiphany."
yoongi somehow gathers enough energy to snort at him. "you had an epiphany, so you conveniently decide to barge into our common room and divulge said epiphany to our little golden boy up there in his room."
"bingo," he grins and namjoon chuckles at him. "and i didn't barge in- i know the password and nigellus usually lets me in here when i'm not with jeongguk."
namjoon groans. "how you managed to be friends with that menace of a portait keeper is beyond me."
he smiles before turning towards the spiral staircase. he glances back at yoongi. "is he awake?"
the older slytherin nods. "he's working on something for slughorn's extra class."
taehyung waves a hand at the two of them before ascending the staircase. he reaches the hallway and turns left, breaching jeongguk's door. he raises his hand and flexing his fingers in nervousness. he knocks.
"who are you and why are you knocking?" taehyung chuckles softly at jeongguk's words, leaning his head against the cold wood of the door.
"it's just me," he mutters.
footsteps sound on the other side of the door, before a small muttering of the password. taehyung leans away and the door swings open. jeongguk looks at him weirdly.
"why didn't you go right in? you know the password-"
"-i know," taehyung mumbles. he surprises jeongguk by suddenly circling his arms around his taller frame. "tonight's different."
the slytherin doesn't hesitate and immediately places his arms around taehyung, running a hand through his hair and kicking the door shut. he mutters a soft colloportus and the lock clicks.
"what's going on?" jeongguk asks him, in between soft pats.
"i had an epiphany."
it's nothing short of a split-second decision, his epiphany. he'd been lying in bed prior to this and tossing and turning before realization struck him like a freight train. a heavy freight train. which he supposes was long overdue to hit him in the chest. he tightens his grip around jeongguk and breathes deeply. it's shaky but it grounds him somehow and he figures now or never, right? if the worst-case scenario happens, he can body-bind jeongguk and obliviate him.
jeongguk hums, soft and encouraging. "tell me about your epiphany."
taehyung looks up and perches his chin on jeongguk's chest, the younger's hand falling to clasp around his hip. his room has always been the same green, and the light that flows around is nothing short of the same dark shade, but taehyung thinks that jeongguk manages to look bright amidst all of it.
jeongguk is taehyung's constellation in dark, seoul skies- bright and only for him.
"this is my epiphany," he mumbles softly, before rising up to the tip of his toes and pressing his lips against jeongguk's.
jeongguk lets out a small noise of surprise but doesn't hesitate to lean in and deepen the kiss, swallowing down taehyung's own noise of surprise. it's nice, kissing jeongguk, it's soft and easy and everything he's been tossing and turning about for the past month. he feels immensely euphoric.
taehyung stumbles a bit with his footing when jeongguk pulls him closer by the hips, and the younger chuckles softly into the kiss when taehyung accidentally steps on his foot. jeongguk steadies him by gripping tighter and he preens at the feeling of being completely surrounded by the slytherin.
he pulls away to breathe and jeongguk chases after his lips, placing soft pecks on the corner of his mouth and going down to his jaw. taehyung places a hand on the back of jeongguk's head and grips at the nape of his neck, pulling him away. he leans his forehead against jeongguk's and breathes heavily.
"i love you-" he mumbles, lips brushing against the other's when he speaks, "-that was my epiphany."
he feels rather than sees jeongguk's lips split into a wide grin and the younger boy exhales shakily, before capturing taehyung's mouth in another chaste kiss.
"i've loved you ever since the first time you brewed pepper-up potion wrong and forced me to down the entire thing in one gulp," jeongguk murmurs, prattling softly in between kisses, "i've loved you ever since you first dragged me up to the astronomy tower and forced me to lie on hard ground and watch the stars with you-"
"-that was a month into meeting you-"
"-exactly my point, taehyung," jeongguk chuckles and tucks his head into the crook of taehyung's neck. "i had the same epiphany months ago but i never acted on it because i didn't want bad change- i didn't want to lose you."
taehyung combs a hand through jeongguk's hair and whispers a small, "well, we're here now," into his ears. he feels jeongguk smile against his neck.
"that we are."