Archive of Our Own ^beta

It’s not like Bin was a stupid child. He wasn’t. But he just didn’t like thinking, he would rather do things than think about them. And for that exact reason he ended up chasing the snack stroller in the train to Hogwarts. That caused him to wander away from his cabin. Minutes later, with thee boxes of chocolate frogs in his hands and two units in his stomach, he couldn’t find his cabin anymore. It’s not like he walked for a long time and was very far away from where he came from. But then again, he couldn’t remember for how long he was walking – Bin could only think of chocolate.

Twenty-five cabins and one and a half frogs in his stomach later, he decided to give up. Bin slid open the door to the twenty sixth cabin, finding three sets of eyes on him. And even though he was never the shy kind, he found himself looking at their shoes. Two pairs of sneakers and one pair of nicely polished black oxfords.

“Um… I’m sorry to interrupt. But I lost my cabin and can’t seem to find it,” Bin looked up at the three boys in the cabin, clueless to whether he should smile, laugh or stay emotionless. He ended up pacing outside of the cabin, searching three unfamiliar faces for reactions.

The dark haired boy sitting near the window was eyeing Bin with a humorous smile, very obviously entertained by a confused first year student. Leaning sideways, the boy straightened his blush pink jumper and looked at the blonde with the striped shirt next to him. The dirty blonde’s eyes stayed focused on Bin. If Bin were honest, the blonde was probably the only one who looked like he could help. Especially since the third boy in the cabin looked completely disinterested in Bin. His eyes from beneath his raven black coloured bangs wandered to the book in his hands. He moved his uniform away from the seat next to him, as if he already knew the verdict that the blonde was going to give.

“Why are you standing there? Come in,” the blonde smiled slightly turning his head as if to gesture Bin to come inside their cabin.

Minutes later Bin was seated next to the only boy with the school uniform and the owner of the black oxfords. For a moment, Bin kept eyeing the boy near him. Blue. His school uniform had had blue in it. In that moment, Bin noted that if everyone in Ravenclaw is as faint as the boy next to him, maybe it isn’t a place for him.

Looking at the other two boys in front of him Bin noticed how awkward the atmosphere had become. Fiddling with the only unit of chocolate frog he had left, Bin offered it to the two boys. “This is the only one left... So.. Thank you for- “

“OH! Cool! A choco frog,” the one with the blush shirt lit up, grabbing the box from his hands before Bin could even finish what he was saying. “You know if every first year is like you it might be a fun year,” the dark haired boy snickered, opening the box. He bit off the frog’s leg before it could even try to escape. Moon Bin couldn’t really explain why, but he felt as if there was something wicked about the one with the blush shirt.

“Hey! Speak for yourself, you don’t even share,” the blonde one finally looked away from Bin to his seat partner. The later had already shoved half of the frog down into his mouth. Giggling, the dark-haired boy opened his mouth wide for the blonde one to see the half-chewed chocolate in it. That earned the dark-haired boy a smack, which caused a loud groan to erupt in the cabin.

Watching the sight made Bin think back to home. He giggled, watching the two boys gag-fighting, thinking about how he used to do the exact same thing to his sister.

Smiling, Bin looked at the boy sitting next to him just to find the black-haired boy looking at the other two with a complete poker face. Two moments passed just like that, then the boy shook his head and got back to his book. Bin tried hard to see what the older boy was reading about. But he couldn’t. Because he couldn’t understand a single character on the page.

“Latin,” Bin’s seat partner spoke out of nowhere, eyes still glued on the book.

Even if Bin was seated next to this boy, he didn’t really expect him to say anything. And it’s not like he had an unwelcoming aura or looked like a rude person. Far from it. He simply looked too immersed in what he was reading, Bin didn’t want to bother him. But now that he spoke first, he might as well.

“You speak Latin?” Bin’s statement came out as a question without his intent. And by the way the raven black haired boy’s eyes shot up to look at Bin, the younger could tell that he probably sounded very stupid. This caused Bin to look away from his seat partner and look at the others, who seemed to be stuck in a very domestic looking fight about chocolate.

“I... Am trying?”

Just as quickly as he looked away, Bin was looking at his seat buddy again. Moon Bin expected a mocking response, like ‘obviously’ or ‘are you blind’. Instead, he got an eye smile from the boy next to him. That was the moment Bin finally understood why his dad always said not to judge a book by its cover and admitted that he might have labelled the other boy too quickly.

“I’m starting antient runes next year and I thought it might be useful. So, I just bought this book while shopping for school supplies,” his seat partner closed the book and showed Bin the title - ‘Beginner Latin’.

“But isn’t the course next year?”

“Yes. And for that reason, I need to learn it this year. I need to be prepared,” nodded the boy next to him and leaned back, resting against the back of the leather seat. Something in the back of Bin’s head told him that the kid next to him always liked to be prepared.

“And what if you don’t need it?” Bin blinked. “Isn’t learning a new language hard? What if in the end no one will talk to you in Latin and you won’t need it for runes.”

The black-haired boy was looking straight at Bin. The look wasn’t cold or rude, like the ones kids give to one another after calling each other their enemies. It was more of a confused and wondering look. Like the ones kids give when they don’t quite understand something. In this case, the black-haired boy didn’t understand the stranger’s thinking. His parents always told him that he must learn everything, no exceptions. And that the more you learn, the smarter you get. So, he always did just that. To the boy, there was never a ‘how useful is it’ factor in the things he learned. He just knew that he needed to learn, he was good at it and so that’s what he did.

“My parents always told me that there are a lot of things in the world to learn about,” he shrugged, his voice quiet. “I guess I will just be one step closer to knowing everything!” he offered a bright smile, really believing that he can and will learn everything one day, just like his parents had told him. The desire to know everything was something the boy always carried. And if by first glance it might have seemed like the black-haired boy was too mature for his age, his dream and genuine belief that knowing everything is possible reminded that he is a child.

“Ah,” Bin stared at his seat partner. He never really thought about learning like that. In fact, Bin never really thought about things. He thought thinking was for adults and that he will do it when he will grow up. He acted on impulse and feeling, like a lot of kids do. “Isn’t that impossible?”

“It’s possible,” his tone was defensive. “If you try hard enough, everything’s possible.”

He sounded determined, so Bin didn’t argue. He just nodded and labelled his seat buddy as a know it all. Not in a bad way. More in a knows-more-than-others way. Probably that’s why during the six years in Hogwarts Bin always used to go to the black-haired boy, who he got to know as Dongmin, for advice. That caused Dongmin to complain a lot because over the years he figured out that Bin’s definition of advice is his homework assignments from last year. But Dongmin gave the assignments to Bin anyway, ignoring how almost everyone teased him for having a soft spot for the most charismatic Gryffindor in his year.

And it was definitely true. Moon Bin was one of the most prominent and vivid people in his year. Everyone loved him, everyone knew him. Because frankly, Bin was a really likable person. He always had a bright smile and a nice enough personality to draw people in. He seemed to care about everyone, especially his friends, and he took care of almost everyone he met. It was no secret that Bin grew up with the motto of treating others the way you want to be treated. His actions always represented that, the warmth that he gave to others reflected on him, too. It caused people lining up to befriend him. And Bin never said no to a new friend. The overwhelming amount of friendquaintances, as Bin himself called them, had made masses gather to cheer for him whenever he was in the Quidditch pitch. It became even worse when the Gryffindor captain Jinwoo, who was the same dirty blonde from the train, passed the captain title to Bin before leaving Hogwarts. After that, Bin started receiving gifts after the matches, all of which Moon Bin declined because he never felt like he did anything to deserve them. That made rumours that ‘Bin is the most modest person in the planet’ start. The moment Dongmin heard that exaggeration, he found himself rolling his eyes, making comments about how he’s never that modest when he asks for help with homework.

It’s not like Dongmin minded helping Bin with whatever work professors gave him. Because Dongmin was just as interested in Bin as the next person. Over the years, Bin’s bright personality affected the other boy. And if in his second year Dongmin didn’t bother to look for Moon Bin in the dining hall, in year seven the boy found himself looking at Bin from across the room without any purpose whatsoever. Of course, back then they were kids. Now they were more mature and grown up. And the grown up Dongmin was annoyed at how much he wanted Bin’s attention. Mostly because the 100% of time he used to spend learning turned into 98%. Those 2% were reserved for thinking about Moon Bin. What is more, Dongmin often found himself not focusing on what he was reading, forgetting prefect duties and passcodes, writing incoherent sentences in his assignments because he was too focused on the younger boy. Dongmin couldn’t even pinpoint how this crush started. He always thought that Bin was sort of cute. But he admitted to there being a crush only a year ago, after Dongmin had gifted Bin some chocolate frogs for his birthday and Bin almost cried, hugging Dongmin and refusing to let go. The older didn’t understand why the frogs made Bin so sentimental. Maybe he was just too focused on the butterflies in his stomach when Bin hugged him.

“Hey, Dongmin!” Bin exclaimed happily as he took a seat next to his friend behind the Ravenclaw table and eyed the food there. His eyes travelled to Dongmin, who, rather than eating, was slouched over some papers, eyes shooting from one side to the other. The Ravenclaw was too concentrated on whatever he was reading. So, instead of a hello, Bin received an ungainly hand gesture. And for a moment, a thought that Dongmin was pretty much like a machine crossed Bin’s mind.

Turning his torso towards Dongmin and leaning against the dining table, Bin watched Dongmin read. The way his friend was so concentrated on whatever was written in the papers was amusing to Moon Bin. Partly because Bin admired how Dongmin always craved knowledge and found any subject interesting. He recalled one time not even a year ago when a professor gave them an assignment on effects pronunciation has on different kinds of spells. Bin would have found the subject interesting if they were allowed to test out the different pronunciation. But since that wasn’t the case, Bin found himself struggling while searching for material in 500 year old books. He would have given up on the assignment if Dongmin wouldn’t have sat right in front of him in the library that day.  

“Can you be a little bit more quiet?” Dongmin whispered, leaning over the library desk towards Bin after the later had slammed his fifth book shut in rage and pushed it to the side with a loud sigh.

“I can’t, Dongmin. I am about to die here,” Bin whined, not even trying to keep his voice down. Instead, he let his head free fall on that desk, causing a loud bang to erupt in the library.

Dongmin wasn’t used to loudness in libraries. The sound of Bin’s head hitting the wooden desk startled him, causing Dongmin to jump back, leaning against his chair. He looked around only to see that every pair of eyes in the room were on him and Bin. In panic, Dongmin quickly stood up, apologizing to everyone for his ungraceful friend.

“I highly doubt you’re dying,” the older said, sitting down again.

“I am. I am dying. You’re invited to my funeral. Please bring white flowers. I like white flowers,” Bin kept whining, slowly turning his head so his cheek would rest on the desk.

“You seemed fine to me in the field half an hour ago,” Dongmin rolled his eyes, opening his second book of the day and trying to keep his gaze on the letters instead of Bin.

This statement caught Bin’s attention.

“I thought you don’t do Quidditch games,” Bin blinked as he sat back up, eyes focused on the back-haired person in front of him.

Dongmin almost chocked.

He doesn’t… Didn’t.

“I was close by, I saw you floating over the pitch,” he lied, not daring to look up at Bin.

Quietly observing his friend, Bin smiled to himself. Dongmin was obviously lying. He was always a bad liar. And both of the boys knew it well. The blush that was creeping onto the older boy’s cheeks didn’t help his situation either. So, for a moment, Bin considered letting it go. But thinking wasn’t something Bin liked doing, no decision Bin had ever made came from thinking. Instead, he leaned over the desk towards Dongmin, reaching for his left hand that was placed near his book. Silently, Bin started tapping Dongmin’s hand with his index finger, looking up to find him already staring.

“It’s... I mean,” on rare occasions, even Moon Bin struggled to talk. “If you came to watch me- “

“I didn’t,” Dongmin interrupted the boy in front of him, quickly moving his hand away and placing it under the desk on his knee.

Bin stayed slouched over the desk, not moving his hand from where Dongmin’s hand was just a couple of seconds ago. He slowly blinked. They stared at each other like that for a couple of moments. Then Bin sat back up.

“But,” Bin began, looking down from Dongmin’s eyes to the table in front of him and scratching its surface. “Let’s imagine you were... It’s nice, I like it.” Bin smiled softly more at himself than at the person in front of him, who was sweating more than he had in his entire life.

Dongmin would be lying if he said that a million thoughts crossed his head in that moment. Because there were more than a million thoughts crossing his mind. And while he was thinking of a million meanings to Bin’s words and processing what happened, Moon Bin was sitting in front of him completely blank, biting on his bottom lip and watching the older boy stare at the ceiling.

“Minnie?” Bin said quietly after almost five minutes of silence, his voice only a bit louder than a whisper.

Dongmin jumped, brought back to reality. He looked at Bin, puzzled. “What did you just call me?”

“Um,” Bin scratched the back of his head, hesitating. “Minnie? You don’t like it? Sorry, I thought it was cute and it fit you...”

Butterflies. Damn it.

“It’s fine,” Dongmin nodded after a couple of moments had passed, pushing all of his soft feelings deep into his heart.

The older smiled at the boy in front of him, deciding that the way Bin is acting had only to do with the fact that he was an overall friendly and affectionate person. Though, little did Dongmin know, whenever Bin’s house pal and best friend Minhyuk grasped onto Bin’s arm for some encouragement, he always got a smack over the head.

They stayed silent after that for a couple of minutes, looking at each other with faint smiles. The air was undoubtedly a bit weird around them. At least Dongmin felt like it was. And after a while, he couldn’t bare the heavy atmosphere around them anymore.

“So, what assignment did you get?” Dongmin raised his brows, peeking at the books Moon Bin had with him.

“What?” Bin had completely forgotten about his assignment.

“The assignment you were dying over,” Dongmin leaned on his hand, waiting. “What is it about?”

“Oh, that,” Bin pushed his papers towards Dongmin, so he could read himself. “Spells, pronunciation, effects... That stuff,” he grumbled. As quickly as Bin’s mood went up, it went down.

Dongmin held up the papers in his free hand and started reading. With every word he read, his posture became more straight and attentive. You didn’t need to be a genius to understand that Dongmin found the assignment interesting.

“That’s so cool. In my day, we never got assignments like this,” he joked, waving the papers around and then laying them down on the table.

“You’re one year older, grandpa,” Bin rolled his eyes, giggling.

“Still,” Dongmin shrugged and stood up, catching Bin’s attention. “Wait a second, I’ll be back.” With that, he waked away, leaving the younger boy alone.

Bin almost strained his neck trying to see where Dongmin went after he disappeared between the aisles. He was back after a couple of minutes with two books in his hands. Sitting down, he placed the books in front of Bin, saying that the Hogwarts star Moon Bin didn’t even have the right books to begin with. And the way Bin scrunched his nose at that might have been the cutest thing Dongmin had ever witnessed in his entire life. Those thoughts caused Dongmin to blush, saying that Bin should start reading the books if he wants to finish on time. The younger listened well and all Dongmin could do was try to focus on his own assignment, as it was really tempting to just stare at Bin working. In the end, Dongmin ended up switching seats so he was next to Bin and helping him on his assignment. He read over the two books in a span of an hour and he was more than happy to tell Bin about what he should write. Dongmin was even excited, because Bin had no choice but to listen to him for one and a half hours. Not that Bin minded. Because the way the older told about what he had read made Bin stare at him in awe. Dongmin was gesturing, and scribbling on a blank page, trying to find a better and more understandable way to explain what he had read to Bin. His eyes were sparkling which was a really important detail in Moon Bin’s book. It showed how interested and passionate he was. It also made it impossible to look away Dongmin. And Bin didn’t. Instead, he listened to every word and focused on every gesture and detail.

By later hours of the evening, Bin found himself finishing page 20 of his assignment, smiling triumphantly to himself. Bin stretched in his seat, waking up his muscles and looked over at Dongmin, who was reading a book in the seat next to Bin's. He didn’t really want to bother his older friend but leaving without saying anything would be rude. So, Bin leaned close to Dongmin, peeking at his book like he always did. He looked over Dongmin’s face soon after. However, Bin didn’t know that Dongmin’s breath caught in his throat the second Bin leaned closer.

“Thank you, Minnie,” Bin whispered and smiled at Dongmin, nodding at the book the older boy was holding. “I feel bad that I kept you away from your own work. Sorry.”

“I don’t have that much work,” Dongmin lied again, still very much struggling to keep his breathing intact. Bin noticed it, leaning back with a faint smile.

“I’ll make it up to you!” Bin said, getting up from his seat and gathering his things.

“You don’t nee-“

“I want to.” Bin looked straight at Dongmin, catching his attention. Bin acted on impulse again, reaching out for Dongmin’s hand and squeezing it, staring at the confused and flustered seventh-year student. And after a couple of seconds, he was gone.

So yes, Bin was staring at Dongmin reading his papers in the dining hall partly because the way the older boy reacted to new sources of knowledge was admirable. But another part of the reason to why Bin chose to look at Dongmin instead of stuffing his face like he would normally, is that he found Dongmin amusing period. Ever since the first time they met in the train, Bin found him interesting. And as the years passed, the interest grew into amusement. Which drew Bin to Dongmin the same way everyone was drawn to Bin because of his light persona. It was unavoidable. And Bin didn’t try to avoid it. So, for almost nine months he kept ditching his lunch friends near the Gryffindor table for Dongmin, he excused himself from practice early just so he could go to the library, find the older guy, sit in front of him and pretend to study, when his actual intentions were to just look at Dongmin reading. Bin drastically changing his routine didn’t slip past his friend Minhyuk. And when Minhyuk asked why he was following the Ravenclaw around, Bin blushed, answering that he just felt like it, flustering Minhyuk. As a matter of fact, Bin didn’t really hide his feelings at all and admitted them a long time ago.

There was a third part to the reason Bin kept so close to Dongmin. The part that Bin refused to admit to himself.

Bin thought that he slightly crossed the line separating friendship and his actual feelings that time in the library. But Dongmin didn’t seem to change at all. He was acting the same, which confused Bin. The younger could have sworn that the black-haired boy was flustered because of Bin’s actions that day. And Bin found himself thinking about this. Thinking about it all the time. And Moon Bin hated thinking. He couldn’t stand wondering whether Dongmin understood him right, whether it was too little for him to actually understand, whether or not he should have said anything at all because now he doesn’t know if Dongmin is ignoring his feelings or he just didn’t understand them properly. The more he thought about that, the more questions he got, the more annoyed he was. After thinking for a while, Moon Bin decided that it would be best for him to make sure that he actually managed to get Dongmin flustered before dropping more hints. And he was quite happy with this choice if there hadn’t been a problem in a form of a seventh-year female student, who kept hanging around Dongmin all the time. She was near him eating lunch, she was walking with him down the halls, she was with him in the library. The worst part of it all was the fact that she was in Ravenclaw, too. And if Bin could keep close to Dongmin in most school territory, it’s impossible for him to enter the Ravenclaw tower. Which made Bin think that she was probably next to him in their common room, where he can’t keep an eye on his crush.

Jealousy and Moon Bin weren’t a great pair. And Bin hated to admit that he was jealous. Especially since, technically, Bin didn’t have a reason to be jealous. It’s not like him and Dongmin were an item. Though, Bin did have the right to his own feelings. And he was jealous to his core. That made Bin try extra hard to find at least some hint that Dongmin felt the same.

“Minnie,” Bin snapped his fingers by Dongmin’s ear after ten minutes of watching him. But his friend didn’t even flinch.

Bin leaned closer, looking at what he was reading so attentively. He was quick to see that Dongmin was reading the list of the prefect duties. Which Bin found weird, since Dongmin always told him that he memorized everything.

“Dongmin,” Bin whined. “Didn’t you memorize everything? Gimme that.”

With that, Bin snatched the papers away from under Dongmin’s slouched frame. But, to his surprise, Dongmin didn’t move. There was no ‘Bin’ or ‘give it back’. His friend gave no reaction whatsoever, he stayed frozen, looking down at the table. And it scared the hell out of Bin because if he didn’t know better, he would have said that Dongmin looked like a ghost.

Moon Bin placed the papers down on the table and carefully looked at Dongmin.

“Dongmin,” he whispered, worried. “Did something happen?” he asked cautiously, reaching for Dongmin’s hand under the table. Usually by now Dongmin would have turned away, stood up or did something else to avoid contact. But he didn’t. And the lack of response made Bin think that something was very wrong.

Grabbing Dongmin’s hand, Bin squeezed it lightly. With that, the black-haired boy’s eyes to shot up to Bin. And Moon Bin let out a breath he wasn’t even aware he had been holding ever since he saw Dongmin emotionless.

“Oh, Bin. When did you come?” Dongmin straightened his frame, smiling while looking over at a baffled Bin.

Bin’s eyes were wide. Was Dongmin pranking him? What just happened? A lot of questions were on Bin’s mind. Because the way Dongmin acted a couple of seconds ago was very different to the Dongmin who was smiling at him now. And it made Bin’s head spin. Didn’t he remember giving an ungraceful hand gesture to Bin, as he sat down?

“Dongmin, what happened?” Bin leaned closer, observing Dongmin’s face. “Are you sick? You looked like a ghost just now,” the younger couldn’t hide his worry, slightly pulling at his friend’s hand.

Dongmin gulped, looking away and pulling his hand away from Bin's grip.

“I’m fine.” He said, clearing his throat. After a couple of seconds of silence, he spoke again. “I guess I was too immersed in reading, I didn’t notice,” he offered Bin a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“You’re lying,” Bin’s cold tone sent a shiver down Dongmin’s spine. He wasn’t playing games. “And I’m not sure why you keep doing that when we both know that I see right through it.” Bin grumbled, getting annoyed at his friend.

“Bin-”

“No,” Bin leaned over, grabbing Dongmin’s hand again. “You’re not running away, I won’t let you lie to me again when something is obviously wrong with you.” Bin was looking down at Dongmin’s hand in his, slightly pulling at Dongmin’s fingers with his other hand.

“Bin-“

“I am worried about you, Dongmin. If you told me what’s wrong, maybe I could help you with fixing it. And I want to help, I don’t like being useless.” Bin kept talking while playing with Dongmin’s hand. “And you know how scary I am when I get mad so do-“

Dongmin’s fingers intertwined with Bin’s and he gently squeezed the younger boy’s hand. That made Bin’s eyes widen as he looked up at his older friend. Dongmin was looking at Bin. It seemed as if he was struggling to keep his eyes open, a sideways smile prominent on Dongmin’s face. His frame became slouched and unflattering from straight and attentive in a matter of seconds. Just like that the youthful and glowing black-haired boy looked like he was a middle-aged man. It was like a switch once again flipped somewhere inside Dongmin, draining him of any colour and energy.

“Binnie,” Dongmin kept his barely opened eyes focused on the boy next to him. “Binnie.. I’m tired,” he whispered as he leaned closer to Bin and placed his forehead on Bin’s shoulder, immediately shutting his eyes.

Bin froze, not really sure what to do. First of all, Dongmin wasn’t supposed to be making Bin flustered. That was Bin’s plan. Second of all, how didn’t he notice before how tired Dongmin was. Bin knew that Dongmin always took studying way more seriously than any other person in school. And on top of his devotion to know everything there were prefect duties to attend to. Dongmin couldn’t let himself do any of those things half-heartedly, he gave them his all.

“Do you even sleep?” Bin joked. That day he found his friend in the library at the early hours of the morning.

“Mm,” Dongmin smiled at his book. “No time.”

And now Bin cursed himself for thinking that the older boy was joking back then.

As Dongmin was resting himself on Bin’s shoulder, the younger boy wrapped his free hand around him, placing it on his back and gently patting it. There were people around the table looking at them and probably noticing the redness on Bin’s cheeks. Not that Bin cared. He was preoccupied thinking of what he should do with Dongmin, who was now close to dozing off.

“Oh,” a voice suddenly interrupted Bin’s thoughts and caused Dongmin to sit back up. “What happened here? Are you okay?”

Bin looked back to find the girl that bothered him for the longest time now. He watched, as she placed a hand on Dongmin’s shoulder, eyeing him from head to toe. Moon Bin would have lied if he said that the simple gesture didn’t make him furious.

“Great,” Bin whispered to himself sarcastically, earning a look from Dongmin who was still holding Bin’s hand.

“I’m fine,” Dongmin smiled at her, pulling his hand away from Bin’s grip. That caused Bin to look down at his hand, where Dongmin’s hand was just a couple of moment ago. “Just processing information,” he laughed, poking his temple a couple of times with his index finger.

Bin kept quiet, looking at Dongmin carefully from beneath his eyelashes. It was as if Dongmin flipped the switch again. He seemed fine and healthy. And it made Bin even more furious than the girl did. Because Dongmin was pretending to be okay when in reality he was physically and emotionally drained. Bin was mad at Dongmin for doing that to himself.

“If you’re fine then let’s get going,” the girl beckoned him before turning on her heel and walking to the door.

As Bin was watching the girl, Dongmin was gazing at Bin. The boys stayed silent for a couple of seconds. Then Dongmin stood up, causing Moon Bin to look at him.

“I have to go,” he whispered, smiling, and nodded his head towards the exit.

Dongmin leaned over the dining hall table, collecting his things. A moment later Bin’s hand caught Dongmin’s wrist.

“Bin, I have to go,” Dongmin looked over at Bin only to find Bin staring at him. He was boiling and the older saw it. It made Dongmin freeze in his place as he gulped slowly. The dark-haired boy has only seen Moon Bin mad once. It was after a Quidditch match. That day, when Bin came to Dongmin in the library, he was absolutely flaming. They didn’t talk and Dongmin didn’t ask, not wanting to ignite the fire even more. But on that day Bin snapped at anyone who let out a noise or walked past. Eventually, Dongmin did ask for Moon Bin to calm down, which seemed to shut Bin up for the rest of the evening. Though, the older couldn’t really focus on his work by then, wondering what caused someone as bright and beautiful as Bin to act that way.

Dongmin didn’t want Bin to snap at him. But by the looks of it, it was unavoidable. Not daring to look at Bin much longer, Dongmin quickly gathered his things with his free hand.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Bin pulled at his wrist. His tone could have cut through glass. “Don’t do this to yourself. Stay,” there was half an hour left before the next class started. And Bin was more than willing to let Dongmin rest on his shoulder, even if that meant that Bin’s face will be as red as his house colour.

Dongmin sighed, gently pulling his wrist away from Bin.

“See you later,” he murmured, walking out from the dining hall.

Bin looked at his hands. Was this what a heart breaking felt like? He sighed quietly, looking at the food on the table to find his appetite gone. It just made him feel sick.

Overworking was something Dongmin was used to. He knew that he looked like a zombie. But he couldn’t really do anything about it. After all, duties were duties. And after that day at lunch, when he left Bin to attend to some of his duties, he felt like Bin was not around anymore. He saw him in between classes and hovering over the Quidditch pitch, but Bin never really spoke to him. Dongmin had tried to take matters into his own hands, walking to the Gryffindor table during lunch a couple of days ago but he only got a ‘what’s up’ and a couple of ‘mm’s’. Nothing more. That made Dongmin’s every day work miserable. Because knowing that Bin will meet him for lunch or that he will come to the library made finishing work easier for Dongmin. Even if after that incident in the library Dongmin had promised to himself that he won’t let his feeling slip anymore and never really showed how much meeting Bin means to him.

‘One more evening alone,’ Dongmin thought to himself after he didn’t find Bin in their usual spot at the library.

Sighing, the prefect took out his books, silently reading over the new material. About an hour in, he heard someone come through the door laughing. Dongmin knew that laugh by heart. His gaze immediately followed to the source of the sound. Bin was there. Bin was in the library. However, he was looking around, not sparing a gaze towards Dongmin. Then he turned back and whispered to someone. Dongmin tried really hard to see who he’s with. After a couple of moments, Bin moved to an empty table, revealing two other boys behind him. Dongmin remembered them as Minhyuk and Sanha. Bin had once introduced them to him.

Sighing, Dongmin leaned back on his chair, disposing of any false hope he had that Bin will come over to his table. It was bothering how Bin suddenly decided to give him the could shoulder. But truly, Dongmin would be lying if he said that he hadn’t expected it. Dongmin spent a number of nights thinking about how angry Bin seemed that day at lunch. If they switched places, Dongmin would have been angry, too.

Several books and a number of glances at Bin later, Dongmin started feeling light headed and drowsy. Yawning, he smacked his cheeks with his hands, trying to snap out of it. He blinked, looking back at his book, only to feel his head falling downwards a couple of minutes later. Dongmin was undoubtedly dozing off. His cheek hit his book but he didn’t refuse it anymore. Somehow, the book was really soft, like a pillow. And so Dongmin fell asleep.

He woke up good three hours later because someone was shaking him. He sat up quickly, eyes still heavy and vision blurry. Dongmin looked up at the person next to him, completely unaware of the birds nest that was his hair and the dried saliva on his cheek.

“Dongmin, curfew,” he met the gaze of the seventh-year girl he started hanging out recently.

Dongmin sighed, looking around to find the library completely empty. “Thanks,” he nodded at her She was a nice girl, a good student. She had some experience with magic outside Hogwarts so Dongmin wanted to learn from her about that. It was no secret that both of Dongmin’s parents were muggles. So, it wasn’t like he was allowed to use magic in front of them without getting a notice from The Ministry of Magic about it. And he was always very curious about what’s it like. He probably could have asked a lot of students about it, it was just that she was the first person to actually speak to Dongmin about it. And so Dongmin didn’t really ask anyone else. “You should go, it’s okay if they find me. I’m a prefect anyway, I’ll have to go around to see if no one’s out.”

She nodded, walking away, and leaving Dongmin alone at the library.

The boy sighed, stretching in his chair, and running his hands through his hair. It was only a three hour sleep but Dongmin felt like he could move mountains.

Looking down, Dongmin started gathering his things. He placed a couple of books on the side of the desk, as he planned to put them back to their shelves. But as soon as Dongmin stood up, he felt something slip from his shoulders. It caused a thump as it fell on the floor. Dongmin quickly moved around his chair and kneeled to find a black piece of fabric on the floor. As he picked the fabric and himself off the floor, he noticed that it was a robe with the Gryffindor emblem on it.

Dongmin froze, staring at the robe. Did Moon Bin..? He looked around for any signs at all. Unfortunately for Dongmin, he spotted nothing. Sighing, he finished gathering his things, picking up the books and throwing the robe on his shoulder. Dongmin slowly walked to the aisle from which he had picked out his books. The black-haired boy always had to check if he didn’t leave any notes in the book. Leaving sticky notes in thousand year old books had caused him trouble before, so he learned quickly.

The boy carefully shook one book and quickly fanned out the pages. Taking out some of the sticky notes he left there, he put it back on the shelf. Quickly, he took the other book and did the same, only to notice a green piece of paper falling out. Which was unusual because Dongmin only used the cheap yellow parchment paper.

The moment he saw the note he knew who it was from. But he was still curious. So, putting the book back to its rightful place, Dongmin picked up the green note.

‘Stop being annoying, mister drool.’

Dongmin gasped, quickly wiping his face with his hand. Then he turned to the other side of the paper only to see some more letters that have been scribbled over. Dongmin put the paper close to his face, trying to read what was crossed out.

‘Stop making me worried.’

The boy leaned against the bookcase, biting his lips and trying not to smile. Bin was worried.

At the early hours of the next day, Dongmin found himself standing in front of the painting of The Fat Lady. Originally, he was going to ask her to sneak into one of the paintings in the boys room and get Bin for him. But his hopes were shattered when he didn’t find the lady in the painting. So, all he could do was stand right in front of the painting. He held Bin’s robe neatly folded in his hands as he kept staring at the painting and waiting for someone to come out of the Gryffindor tower.

Half an hour later Dongmin started pacing. He was wondering why no one was coming. Maybe everyone was sleeping in, since they didn’t have classes that day. Too busy thinking and not paying attention, Dongmin didn’t notice that The Fat Lady had appeared in her usual surroundings, curiously watching the boy in front of her pace and stumble when the staircase decided to move.

“Young mister, what are you doing here?“ She eyed him, obviously looking at his blue Ravenclaw emblem.

Dongmin grabbed his heart, almost dropping Bin’s robe on the ground. He didn’t really consider that The Fat Light might coming back.

“Hello, miss,” Dongmin started politely, giving her his best smile, and taking a few steps closer. “I was wondering whether you could get someone from the Gryffindor tower for me.” He asked, gripping Bin’s robe tighter.

“And who exactly does a Raverclaw prefect want to see?” Her eyebrows had risen so high they almost reached her hairline. She sat down on the stairs and leaned forward curiously, resting her head against her hand. She didn’t look like she was about to move.

Dongmin almost felt defeated.

“Moon Bin,” he answered, knowing that she was the only chance for him to see Bin without waiting for him for Merlin knows how many hours. Bin was known for sleeping in.

That name got The Fat Lady even more curious. Dongmin guessed she liked gossip.

“This young boy wants to see our bright star Moon Bin,” she said it in a way too exaggerated manner. “And what is your business, young man?” she squinted, staring him down. If anyone had asked, Dongmin would have said that she’s way too over the top.

“I have his robe.”

“Why do you have our Moon Bin’s robe?”

“Because he gave it to me.”

“And why should I call him for you?”

“Because I want to give it back.”

“I am sorry to say, young mister, but my purpose here is to open the Gryffindor entrance and not to look for the boy who gave you the robe,” She finally said, leaning backwards. Obviously annoyed.

Dongmin didn’t say anything else. He decided to just wait for Moon Bin to come out. And almost two hours later a boy, who Dongmin knew as Minhyuk, came out of the common room. Minhyuk saw him immediately, stopping himself from going to his destination, and turned to Dongmin.

“Hi,” it sounded more of a question than a statement.

“Hello, Minhyuk,” Dongmin took a few steps towards Minhyuk. “Is Bin around?”

Minhyuk nodded, not really saying anything else. Just curiously looking at Dongmin.

“Is he still sleeping?” Dongmin blinked, not sure how to react to Minhyuk’s silence.

“He was getting up when I was leaving,” he smiled awkwardly at Dongmin.

Just then The Fat Lady decided to speak up.

“This young boy has been waiting for around two hours now. And I am not sure how for long he had been here, since when I came back from Violet he was already here.”

It was silent again for a couple of moments. Dongmin had to bite on his own tongue in order to stop himself from saying something to the Gryffindor common room guard. But Minhyuk’s sigh got his attention. The younger boy took a few steps towards Dongmin and patted him on the shoulder. Minhyuk almost wanted to laugh at the confusion that settled on Dongmins face, as the older eyed the hand on his shoulder. Then his eyes settled on Minhyuk’s face. Dongmin could have sworn that Minhyuk smiled at him for a couple of moments before going back to the chic expression he always carried. And then he turned away from Dongmin, walking to wherever he was planning to go before stopping to talk to Dongmin.

“Ah, really,” Dongmin whispered to himself turning on his heel and going back to where he was originally standing.

Around half an hour later Dongmin saw Bin walking out. It seemed as if Bin wouldn’t have even noticed Dongmin, if the later wouldn’t have called out for him. Hearing Dongmin’s voice caused Bin to stop in his tracks. He tilted his head towards where the prefect was standing just to witness the older quickly walking towards Bin. He opened his mouth to speak but ended up letting out a surprised squeak when Dongmin grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him away from the Gryffindor common room, earning a look from The Fat Lady who was eyeing them curiously.

A couple of hallways later Dongmin stopped pulling Bin and sighed, annoyed.

“Did you know that The Fat Lady is really annoying?” he turned around to look at the boy he just dragged away from the Gryffindor common room.

Bin tried to keep a serious face. He really did. But there was something about how annoyed Dongmin was that was really entertaining. So, Bin started giggling like a five year old at a magic trick. And Dongmin wanted to stay agitated. He really did. But all he could do was lightly smack Bin across his shoulder with the robe that Dongmin spent two minutes folding.

“It’s not funny, Bin,” he said right after, trying to hold back his laughter.

They laughed together for a bit. But as Bin caught his breath, he looked at his robe in Dongmin's hands.

“Did you wait for me for long?”

“No,” Dongmin answered way too quickly. And Bin knew, curiously looking up at Dongmin from behind his eyelashes. It was amusing to Moon Bin how Dongmin still insisted on lying to him, when Bin could always tell when he wasn’t speaking the truth. “I asked Minhyuk if you were awake and decided to come give you your robe back.”

“Oh,” Bin said simply, putting his hands in his pockets. “How did you know it’s mine, though?”

“I didn’t. I just hoped,” Dongmin’s words left his mouth quicker than he could think about them. Which left his mouth hanging open because Dongmin never does that. He always thinks before speaking. Everything he had ever said was well thought out. But somehow this time Dongmin forgot and he didn’t like the concept of it if it meant that the words that would slip through his mouth were like this.

Moon Bin was gazing at Dongmin with a fond smile of his face. There were a lot of ways Bin could have interpreted his words. But Bin didn’t feel like thinking again so he just let the words hang in the air, promising that he will put on a certain meaning to them later. When, in reality, he didn’t really want to find a meaning to them if they meant something different than Bin hoped.

Dongmin felt a hand gripping his own and looked down to find Bin’s hands gently taking the robe from him. The older cleared his throat, praying that his cheeks don’t turn a shade of red like they usually do when Bin does something like that.

“Did you sleep well?” Bin asked, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. “It’s not like you to fall asleep in the library.”

“I slept better in the library than I did in my own bed,” Dongmin admitted. “I don’t really know what came over me but one minute I was reading and the next one I was dreaming.”

“Ahh,” Bin whined, gesturing towards Dongmin. “It’s because you never sleep. If you’d sleep for at least eight hours every night, you wouldn’t be like this.”

Dongmin didn’t answer him, just smiled. It was nice to talk to the younger boy again. Dongmin had to admit that he missed him. And it seemed like the lack of time they spent together during the past few weeks were making his feelings for Bin even worse.

“Don’t look at me with that smile, Lee Dongmin,” Bin poked his friend’s chest. “You look cute now but you looked like a zombie during lunch that day. Scared the hell out of me.”

The older almost chocked. If he tried to hold his blush in, he couldn’t anymore. He was sure that he looked as red as a tomato.

“What are you saying,” Dongmin shook his head, trying to get rid of the redness on his face. “Zombies don’t exist, don’t be silly, Bin.”

“Look at yourself in the dining hall a couple of weeks ago and then tell me that,” Bin rolled his eyes. “Seriously, get some sleep.”

“I slept.”

“For how long?  Two hours?” Bin’s eyes rolled back.

“Five.”

“With the library or without?”

Dongmin stayed silent.

“Dongmin, you’re so annoying. Go to sleep.”

“But I ha- “

“No, you don’t!” Bin grabbed Dongmin by his shoulders, gazing at the older boy. Dongmin found himself staring back at Moon Bin, as it was impossible to look away from his intense eyes. “You go back to your tower and go to sleep.”

Dongmin nodded without even thinking. It was as if someone else nodded his head for Dongmin. It made Bin lean back, smiling and gently patting the top of Dongmin’s head.

“Good,” Bin said, taking a few steps backwards, slowly moving back to where they both came from.

Dongmin sighed, watching Moon Bin. These feelings were going to be the death of him one day. He could go back to his common room and read, it’s not like Bin would find out about it. But he felt guilty. Not as much about choosing work over rest. More about choosing work over Bin, when the younger obviously chose Dongmin over a lot of things.

As the Ravenclaw was about to turn around to walk to his common room, he heard Bin calling out to him from the end of the hallway. Dongmin looked at his friend, smiling softly to see Bin playing with the hem of his nicely folded robe.

“I know you said you don’t do Quidditch,” Bin looked from the robe in his hands to Dongmin. “But if you don’t have anything to do later, come watch me play?” He offered, looking at Dongmin’s frame for a reaction.

Dongmin smiled. If only Bin knew that over the past few months Dongmin has been going to every game Bin played in, just to sprint to the library afterwards, so Bin wouldn’t find out that the older was cheering him on just as much as everyone else.

“Okay.”

Bin lit up, waving with his free hand, “I’ll look for you!”

With that, Dongmin turned away from Bin and waked towards his common room, only to hear a faint voice from behind him, yelling for him to rest up. The older gripped his cape against his leg, laughing quietly. How could he say no to that. Moon Bin really was something special.

Dongmin woke up late. And it caused him to panic because never in his life had he been late for something. He jumped out of his bed, not even bothering to look at himself in the mirror. All he knew was that the Quidditch game started fifteen minutes ago and he was still in the tower.

He almost fell running out of the boys room. He was smoothing out his hair with one hand, putting on shoes with his other hand and looking for his coat. There were a couple of his housemates in the common room, all looked at him weirdly, asking why he’s in a rush. But Dongmin couldn’t answer them. He was too busy wrapping his scarf on his neck and running out of the Ravenclaw tower.

Originally, Dongmin had planned to find Bin right before the game and wish him good luck. But now he had to throw that plan out of the window. Instead, he decided that screaming might get Bin’s attention. Why he wanted Bin to know that he was there, Dongmin pretended not to know. But he felt like he was late for a date and now had to somehow make up for it.

Dongmin settled down when he reached the bleachers. Walking past people, he was looking for a place to sit. Then someone caught his attention. The boy had a bowl cut and was smiling and waving at Dongmin. As the Ravenclaw got closer, he recognized the boy as Sanha, one of Bin’s friends. Dongmin didn’t hesitate to take a seat next to him, looking at the yellow scarf the happy boy was wearing. Moon Bin really could befriend anyone, couldn’t he?

“Bin said you’ll come and Minhyuk didn’t believe it but I totally believed it and saved you a seat,” Sanha said as soon as Dongmin sat next to him.

“Oh,” Dongmin was surprised, looking for Bin in the sky.

“Yea. Bin was really sure you’d come,” Sanha nodded to himself, also looking up.

Bin waited for Dongmin. Somehow knowing that made Dongmin feel better and worse at the same time. Better because it felt nice knowing that someone anticipated him coming. Worse because Dongmin slept through the first fifteen minutes and took another fifteen minutes to go to the bleachers.

“You know, I think you’re really cool,” Bin’s friend kept talking. “You always look very cool working and reading. You get the highest grades. You are also a prefect. And you make it all seem so easy. I can barely write a sentence on beasts and you could probably write thousands,” Sanha started gesturing with his hands, showing how much a thousand is worth. “Bin seems to think so, too. Since he practically doesn’t hang out with us anymore.” Sanha’s voice cracked a bit and he giggled at himself.

Dongmin looked at Sanha, completely oblivious to why Sanha suddenly decided to tell him all those things. The look he received made the younger boy giggle once again.

“Go, Lee Dongmin!” Sanha waved his hands excitedly, giving Dongmin a thumbs up. Then he looked up at the sky again.

The boy was cute, to say the least. Not in the Bin cute way. But in a really friendly and innocent kind of way. Dongmin smiled to himself thinking that, but his thoughts were cut short when the boy next to him started screaming Bin’s name in the highest pitch Dongmin had ever heard. It made the older cover his ears and look up to the sky. He saw Bin immediately, floating right over them. Seeing Bin so focused and serious made Dongmin remember how they had talked about Bin’s love for Quidditch several times before. And how Moon Bin admitted that he turns into a different person when he’s on his broom in the pitch. He’s more focused and serious. Even so, Dongmin hoped that the seeker Bin wasn’t too different from the Bin in halls of Hogwarts. Mostly because Dongmin hoped that Bin will keep his word about looking for him.

Just as he was thinking that, Bin looked down at the source of the high pitch screaming. He found Sanha, who was standing up and waving his hands at him.

“Noodle,” Bin whispered to himself, chuckling at the excited Hufflepuff.

He would have looked away if he hadn’t seen a familiar black-haired head next to Sanha. Bin’s eyes widened. He knew that Dongmin is coming but at the same time it felt like the biggest surprise in the planet. And the surprise made the serious gaze go away, as the seeker beamed lightly down at Dongmin, who smiled back and waved at Bin from his seat. Bin kept looking down at Dongmin for a couple of moments only to see the boy’s eyes widen as he called out Bin’s name loudly. Bin sat back up on the broom and looked around the pitch only to see a Bludger flying straight at him full-speed. He only yelped when suddenly Minhyuk was in front of him, hitting the Bludger to the other side of the pitch and glaring at Moon Bin.

“Stop staring and start playing, you idiot!” he yelled at Bin over the crowd.

All Bin did was nod as he shot upwards on his broom, hoping to see the snitch from higher up. Minhyuk looked at Bin flying away and then he looked down, only to find Dongmin and Sanha looking at him.

“Ah, annoying,” Minhyuk shook his head looking back to around the pitch, trying to keep an eye on the Bludgers.

Dongmin was confused as to why Minhyuk glared at him. It’s not like he asked Bin to look at him. He only hoped Bin would.

“Minhyuk’s just competitive, don’t worry,” Sanha said suddenly, as if he heard the elder’s thoughts. “Just enjoy the game. Our team isn’t as strong so it shouldn’t take long.”

If only Dongmin knew that by ‘it shouldn’t take long’ Sanha meant a four hour game. By the end of it, the sun had set and Dongmin was freezing. He paced near the pitch, blowing hot breath into his hands, trying to keep himself warm as he was waiting for Bin to come out. He was probably held up by a crowd, congratulating him on yet another win.

Fifteen minutes later Bin was rushing to Dongmin’s side with a warm cup of chocolate.

“I’m sorry. This was hot when I got it but I got help up,” he offered his friend a crooked smile when Dongmin took the cup from him.

“How did you know I’d be freezing?”

“Dongmin, you get cold when you have to walk across the garden to astrology.”

Dongmin laughed, taking a sip of the chocolate, noticing that Bin didn’t get one for himself. He was probably still hot from the game. But Dongmin offered Bin to take a sip from his cup anyway, which Bin politely declined, saying that Dongmin needs to get warm.

“Ah,” Bin winced as he pretty much free fell on the grass. As he got more comfortable, supporting himself on his own arms, he looked at the castle in front of him. It was the only light source for them at that moment, lights from the windows illuminating them enough so they could see each other clearly.

Dongmin sat down beside Moon Bin, trying to ignore how damp the grass was. He looked at Bin for a couple of moments, then looked at his cup. The two of them stayed silent. But it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was more of an enjoying each other’s presence type of silence.

“So, what have you been up to?” Bin was the one who spoke first.

“Working,” Dongmin admitted, laughing at himself for how boring he sounded.

“What else?” Bin raised a brow.

Dongmin looked over at Bin weirdly. Was he supposed to be doing something else? He spent a lot of time thinking about Bin. But it’s not like Dongmin was going to tell his friend that.

“Oh, come on, Minnie,” Bin smiled, trying to get a specific piece of information out of Dongmin.

Dongmin ignored the butterflies in his stomach and kept staring at Bin. “Was I supposed to be doing something else?”

“Aren’t you dating?”

Dongmin’s cup almost fell out of his hands. He didn’t even feel how Bin humorously poked his side, raising his eyebrows. But the look Dongmin gave Bin reminded the younger of the way Dongmin once looked at Moon Bin when they first talked on the train, after Bin had asked if he could speak Latin. Bin felt stupid again.

“Pardon?”

“I mean you hang out with that one girl all the time. Must be something,” Bin murmured, shrugging and looking away from Dongmin to the grass. He started pulling on it nervously.

Dongmin stayed quiet, not sure how to explain what the girl was to him. “I guess you could say she’s my teacher?”

“You’re in a relationship with a teacher?” Moon Bin looked back up at Dongmin, raising his brows.

“Binnie,” Dongmin started getting annoyed as he took a sip from his cup. “We’re not in a relationship,” he pouted slightly. Dongmin reminded Bin of a pouting marshmallow. “In our house, she was always very open about using magic outside Hogwarts whenever and however she needs it. And I found it fascinating because, firstly, we don’t really get to use that much magic in our classes. When we do, everything is staged. Secondly, you know that both of my parents aren’t wizards. So, the only time I can actually use magic without getting in trouble is here.” Dongmin admitted, nervously spinning his cup in his hands. “I ended up asking her to teach me how to deal with magic outside these walls,” he gestured towards the castle. “I don’t want to leave Hogwarts being completely clueless.”

Bin was staring at Dongmin. Out of all the things he expected to hear from his friend, this wasn’t one of them. Bin always thought that he knew the top Hogwarts student well. But Dongmin’s confession had him thinking that maybe he doesn’t know Dongmin as much as he’d like to say he does.

“Why didn’t you ask me?” was the first question that slipped. Bin kept his gaze on Dongmin and placed his own hands in his lap, fiddling with them nervously. “I could have helped you too, you know. I’m bad at explaining things but you could stay over in my place for the summer and maybe learn new stuff?”

“Theory comes first,” Dongmin shrugged. “Besides, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. It’s not like I could have come to you and asked for you to teach me real magic.”

“Why not?”

“I guess it’s embarrassing to admit that I don’t really know how to use magic.”

Bin didn’t push it further, feeling that Dongmin wasn’t completely comfortable taking about it. They were having a nice time together, Bin wasn’t going to ruin that.

“Did you go to a muggle school before Hogwarts?” Bin asked randomly. He stared at the boy next to him, who nodded. “How was it like?”

“Well… The schools don’t really have dorms. You only go to school during the day and after last class ends, you go home to your parents.” Dongmin recollected as Bin was staring at him with eyes full of wonder. “You learn how to write and count, you learn different languages, you learn about nature. There are usually a couple of classes for specific year students. Sort of like houses in Hogwarts. And you learn with the class you are in. Teaches grade your homework, you take tests every once in a while. There are also school trips, when everyone goes somewhere together.” Dongmin took a sip of his now cold chocolate. “It’s not that different from here.”

“That’s so weird,” Moon Bin whispered, trying to imagine how he would have to go to his parents after a day of studying.

Dongmin looked at Bin smiling. He wasn’t sure if Bin asked the question on purpose or not. But it made Dongmin think about how, even if he hadn’t experienced magic in life, he had experienced a lot of things some wizards hadn’t. It made him feel better.

“Binnie?” Dongmin called out, watching the younger boy.

Bin looked at Dongmin. To Moon Bin the older boy, who was illuminated by the warm toned lights, looked like magic. Bin smiled softly, thinking that if someone said that from now on he could only recall one memory for the rest of his life and asked to him to pick, he’d pick this one.

“Mm?”

“Thank you,” Dongmin smiled wider.

“For what?” Bin was confused but couldn’t help the warmth he felt all over his body when he watched Dongmin smile at him.

Dongmin shrugged. “A lot of things. Mostly just thank you for you,” it was a whisper, but Bin heard it. “You always stay with me. And it makes me happy,” Dongmin nodded more to himself than to Moon Bin. “Also, you make me forget about thinking. Which I appreciate, since I think too much sometimes,” Dongmin admitted quietly fiddling with his cup. He stopped as he noticed the intense gaze Bin was giving him.

Bin felt a lot of things that moment. Most of them revolving around Dongmin and how Bin’s heart was about to explode because of how much feelings Bin had for the older boy. And so Gryffindor’s star stared and the glowing Ravenclaw with so much fondness and feeling in his gaze that Dongmin suddenly found it hard to breathe.

“Dongmin,” Bin whispered not moving his gaze from Dongmin’s eyes.

Dongmin couldn’t answer even if he wanted to. His breath was caught in his throat and he very much felt like that time in the library when Bin almost made Dongmin faint. And just like that time, Bin reached out for Dongmin but instead of taking his hand he gripped the side of Dongmin’s coat.

“Dongmin,” Bin repeated, not really waiting for an answer. Instead, he swallowed heavily. Bin’s eyes slowly left Dongmin’s as his gaze travelled down his face to Dongmin’s lips. “C-could you… Forget about thinking for a couple of moments again?” he asked Dongmin quietly.

With that, Bin pulled Dongmin by the side of his coat, making the cup Dongmin was holing fall out of his hands and roll to the grass down his legs. Bin’s free hand flew to the side of Dongmin’s neck, resting there as he leaned closer. He looked back into Dongmin’s eyes for a moment, as there was less than half an inch between them. Bin could taste the breath Dongmin let out, as the older suddenly gripped Bin’s shoulders and closed the gap separating them.

For a few moments, their lips stayed in a peck. And soon Bin noticed Dongmin’s grip loosening. With that, Moon Bin felt himself letting out a needy whine. He only tightened his hold on the other as he started moving his lips against Dongmin’s, not letting the kiss end. And Dongmin didn’t seem to mind, softly groaning into Bin’s mouth, leaning forward and kissing the younger with just as much fever. That made Bin slump back a little. Reacting, Dongmin moved one of his hands to Bin’s waist, keeping them both steady as he leaned harder into the kiss. It went on like that for a while. They were kissing and biting, testing their likes and softly whining as they reacted to each other. By the time Bin’s both hands moved to grip Dongmin’s face and he pulled away, they were both breathless. Neither of them quite knew what to say so they just kept staring at each other quietly, both not sure what happened or how long it was happening.

Dongmin gulped, not moving his gaze away from the man he was holding.

“I don’t think I will be able not to think about that,” Dongmin said completely bank.

That statement alone caused Bin to burst in fits of laughter. He smiled fondly at Dongmin, wrapping his arms around the older. Bin leaned closer just to place his cheek on Dongmin’s shoulder and let out a happy sigh, closing his eyes. He was enjoying the heart-warming hug.

“If the thoughts are good, I don’t mind.”

The next morning Bin woke up earlier than usual. And to top that off, he was feeling giddy. Like a child on Christmas. So, he smiled wider than usual, greeted others more cheerfully. Though, no one seemed to notice since a smile was a usual sight on Bin’s face.

Dongmin, of the other hand, was a mess. He woke up late and it took him fifteen minutes to get out of bed. He was too dazed and out of it to do anything. To be honest, he was not even sure if what had happened the night before was real or not. He could have sworn it was real but then why doesn’t he remember going back to the common room and getting himself into bed.

Dongmin remembered the realness of the situation as soon as he walked out of the Ravenclaw tower. Because he walked straight into Moon Bin, who had been waiting for the older boy to come out so they could grab breakfast together.

As soon as Bin saw him, his smile grew wider. He almost immediately stood next to Dongmin, looking him over.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he giggled, referencing sleeping beauty mostly for the fact that Dongmin slept in that day. Also, partly because Bin might have thought that Dongmin was a really handsome guy. Even with dried drool on his face.

“Binnie?” Dongmin was honestly surprised to see him there. “Don’t you have morning practice?”

“I do,” Moon Bin nodded.

“Then why are you here?”

“I ditched so I could have breakfast with you.”

Dongmin bit back a smile, trying to look serious despite the blush creeping onto his cheeks. They started walking towards the dining hall.

“Can the captain even do that?”

Bin blanked out, his mouth falling into an ‘o’ shape. Dongmin almost fell to the floor.

“Bin, don’t tell me you for- “

“I didn’t!” Bin defended himself. Of course he didn’t forget he was the captain. Or at least that’s what he told himself. “Gosh, all I was trying to do is spend a nice morning with my boyfriend but he just keeps reminding me of not fun things.”

Dongmin blushed even more, clearing his throat.

“Am I your boyfriend?” it came out as a question but Dongmin’s tone wasn’t a questioning one. He avoided Bin’s eyes, looking around the fairly empty hallway.

And the rhetoric question made Bin’s eyes shoot up at Dongmin. Bin was trying to catch his gaze as he blinked feverishly. Weren’t they...? Bin walked a couple of steps in front of Dongmin, turning around and walking backwards. His eyes were still focused on the older, trying to figure out whether Dongmin was joking or not. That went on for a while until Dongmin finally looked at Bin.

“Turn,”

“What?”

Dongmin giggled, grabbing Bin by his forearms and turning him to the side. Bin looked around noticing that if Dongmin hadn’t done that, he would have sent his back straight into a wall. Moon Bin looked back at Dongmin, who still hadn’t let go of his arms.

“Turn, stupid,” Dongmin laughed a little bit, lifting his hand only to flick Bin’s forehead with two fingers.

Dongmin watched how Moon Bin scrunched his nose. The older couldn’t help but smile. With that, a wave of courage flushed trough Dongmin, making him stop them both. Dongmin placed his lips on Bin’s forehead, leaving a soft peck there before looking at Bin.

“Don’t think so much. I think it’s hurting you,” the older smiled, feeling Bin relaxing and smiling back at him. “By the way, do you realize you just said that Quidditch was a not fun thing?”

Bin laughed at that.

“No, Quidditch is fun. Practicing for it is not.” Bin corrected Dongmin with a silly smile. Originally, he wanted to say something greasier, like ‘kissing you is more fun’ but he decided not to, completely ignoring that Dongmin had just told him to stop thinking. There’s a time for everything and maybe it was still too early to say things like that, even if Bin meant it.

They walked into the dining hall side by side, leisurely moving to the Ravenclaw table. Bin greeted a couple of people here and there. All in all, Dongmin would have said that having breakfast with his boyfriend was a very nice experience filled with lingering gazes and smiles. They ate and talked while playing with each other’s fingers under the table. It made Dongmin’s fingers tingle, it was a new sensation.

Both of then knew that people were watching them. In fact, there was a possibility that someone had seen them yesterday. Neither of them seemed to care, though, still keeping their intertwined hands under the table. Not for hiding reasons. More for privacy ones.

“Are you seriously going?” the girl Dongmin hung out a lot with asked him, looking up at him and away from her book.

Dongmin nodded, looking at himself in the mirror. He was too busy putting on a black beanie on his head to respond to her properly.

“If he asked you to jump out of the window, would you do that, too?” She asked in a joking matter only to receive a look from Dongmin.

“I would, actually.”

“Ah, the young and foolish love,” she laughed, looking back at her book. “Be careful.”

“This is the reason why I told you that we’re going into the forest,” Dongmin admitted, looking over at the girl. “If in the morning I’m not back, something might have happened to us. Tell the professor. And don’t worry, I’ll take the blame,” he whispered, pulling his beanie further down to cover his ears.

“What if you’re not back because of other reasons like you two got caught up in a hea-“

“Don’t even finish that thought,” Dongmin pointed his index finger at her. “I’m serious.”

“Alright, alright,” she rolled her eyes, not looking away from the book she was reading. “Just try to stay safe so I don’t need to go through that mess.”

Dongmin laughed as he exited the common room and turned to walk to the entrance. He looked at a clock on his wrist to find that it was almost 9 pm. Letting out a breath, he recalled his noon at the library. Dongmin was in the middle of finishing an assignment when Moon Bin appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He didn’t say anything, only gently placed a green paper on the desk, much like the one Dongmin found that night he fell asleep on a book in the library. ‘9pm. Meet me at the entrance. We’re heading into the forest so dress warm.’ were the only things written on it. Dongmin didn’t see Bin for the rest of the day so it wasn’t as if he could ask him what he was up to.

There were three minutes left until 9 pm. Dongmin was standing near the entrance, pacing nervously and hoping that Moon Bin will show up quickly before some professor walks by.

He saw the messy brown-haired boy he was waiting for after two minutes. As Bin approached Dongmin, he smiled.

“You’re early,” Bin whispered, pressing his lips to the side of Dongmin’s mouth. 

“You’re not late,” the older boy answered quietly, laughing. Bin responded with an eye roll.

They left the Hogwarts castle quietly, cautiously looking around for any type of guards. It took them about eight minutes to get to where the forest began. And the moment Dongmin stepped into the forest was the exact moment Dongmin felt that it wasn’t right. He chose not to say anything, seeing how excited Bin was. He was following Bin closely, as the younger walked further into the forest. Moon Bin held his wand in front of him. The end of the wand shined brightly as Bin decided lumos was a good idea when they were far enough to be sure that the light won’t be seen from Hogwarts.

The two of them walked in silence for a time that seemed close to an eternity to Dongmin. And after a while, Dongmin couldn’t help but whine, making Bin look back at him.

“Is something wrong?” Bin asked, not bothering to stop.

“I don’t think we should be doing this.”

“Why not?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Nothing in here is dangerous, Minnie,” Bin giggled. He had sneaked out to the forest way more times than he could remember. And not once did he face any kind of danger.

“Still, I don’t really like this.” Dongmin sighed, gripping Bin’s shoulder.

“And yet you’re still following me,” Bin looked at Dongmin again, seeing the other blushing. Bin smiled, wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue and gripping Dongmin’s hand that was on his shoulder. Moments later, Dongmin was lightly pushed against the nearest tree. Bin was standing right in front of Dongmin, looking up and down his face. One of Bin’s hands landed on Dongmin’s waist and the other one held up the wand higher so Bin could see Dongmin clearly. His hips pushed forward against Dongmin’s as he leaned closer so place a soft kiss on the other’s lips. Bin leaned back a few seconds after to find the older boy completely dazed, staring at him. That look alone made Bin grab Dongmin’s waist tighter, leaning back in and nipping on his bottom lip. A couple of moments later the older boy placed both of his hands along Bin’s jaw and moved his lips on Bin’s accord, responding to Bin’s affection. Moon Bin smiled into the kiss. “Just trust me,” he whispered, pecking Dongmin’s lips again. And all Dongmin could do was nod.

Grabbing Dongmin’s hand in his, Bin started leading the way again. The older followed Bin closely.

“Binnie, is there a possibility there were insects on the tree you... You know...” Dongmin asked out of nowhere after good five minutes had passed.

“Probably,” Bin answered simply. “Why?”

Dongmin gulped loudly, which caused Bin to look back.

“I feel something on my neck.”

Bin stopped again, moving closer to Dongmin and observing his neck for a little bit. “Ah!”

“Ah?”

Bin reached for Dongmin’s neck with one hand, trying to hold back a giggle. “What are you doing here, mister centipede?” he asked cutely.

“Centi-“ Dongmin couldn’t even finish as his legs started moving on their own accord and he started jumping up and down in one place. Dongmin was a smart kid and he could handle a lot of things. Insects just weren’t on that list.

“Minnie, stop moving or I won’t be able to take it off,” Bin giggled, placing both of his hands on Dongmin’s shoulders. As the older boy stopped, the light from Bin's wand nearly blinding him, Bin reached out and took the centipede off of Dongmin’s neck, placing it near a tree.

“Bin, I hate insects,” Dongmin sounded stressed out. He was running his hands through his hair and looking around the forest. Moments later he started pacing in one place and Bin noted that as Dongmin being restless.

Bin stood up from his keeling position and turned to the older boy. Silently, Bin wrapped his both arms around Dongmin and pecked the middle of his neck lightly. For a minute, they stood just like that, with Dongmin in Bin’s arms. As seconds passed, Dongmin stopped pacing and jittering and he let himself sink into Bin’s embrace.

They started walking again, Dongmin gripping onto Bin’s hand tightly.

“We’re almost there,” Bin assured Dongmin.

Soon enough, Dongmin started noticing that there were less and less trees around. Which would only mean that whenever Bin was taking him wasn’t in the forest. And as they walked closer to their destination, Dongmin noticed how Bin’s eyes kept gazing back at him more frequently.

“Here,” Bin let go of Dongmin’s hand the moment they stepped out of the woods. “It’s nothing special but I come here a lot.”

Dongmin looked around. Where the trees ended, a field started. The grass was a nice shade of green. Or at least Dongmin guessed that it was, since it was too dark to really distinguish the colour. There weren’t any flowers in it. It was just a plain field that ended along with the horizon. And somehow this dull place felt so incredibly special to Dongmin. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as he looked at Bin, who was already staring at Dongmin expectantly.

“It’s a plain field, Binnie. But why does it feel so special?” he voiced what he was thinking about and Bin smiled warmly at him. They both knew the answer to the question. But neither of them answered, leaving it hang in the air.

Bin moved first, walking around the field for a bit before he found a nice enough place to lie down. He waited for a couple of moments but noticed that Dongmin wasn’t coming. That made Bin lift himself up on his elbows, looking for the person he just revealed his secret place to. He found the older staring right at him. He looked as if he was admiring Bin for afar. Bin liked that look and didn’t mind it at all, but he would have rather had Dongmin next to him. That made Moon Bin raise one of his hands, gesturing to Dongmin to come. He didn’t watch the older walking towards him, though. Instead, he plopped back down, looking straight at the night sky. The sound of Dongmin laying down next to him was the only indicator of Dongmin’s presence nearby.

They silently stared at the stars for a while. Then Dongmin noticed something moving in the sky.

“Wait,” the older boy gasped. “That’s a griffin, isn’t it?”

“Mm,”

“Wow,” Dongmin whispered to himself following the creature with his gaze, completely unaware of Bin’s eyes watching him.

“How did you find this place?” Dongmin asked suddenly, turning his head towards Bin and catching his look.

For a moment, Bin kept silent and Dongmin found himself wondering that maybe Bin didn’t want to tell him. Maybe he had some things he wanted to keep to himself. But then Bin tuned towards Dongmin with his whole body, supporting his head with his arm.

“I think it was in the end of year four,” Bin talked quietly. “As you know, I’m not that fond of thinking. I never think. But that year was the time of my life when I started discovering things about myself and others.” Bin’s voice gradually grew louder. “And it was overwhelming. I didn’t really know how to handle those things. It’s not like I could come up to Minhyuk and talk to him about it. It just felt weird. And Minhyuk isn’t stupid, he saw that something was going on with me. He refused to let it slide, he kept asking questions. We started bickering a lot. I ended up not really having a place to go to. Whenever I wasn’t in the common room, people were surrounding me. When I was in the common room, Minhyuk kept asking questions. It was annoying. And one night when I was boiling, my feet brought me here on their own. I stayed in this field for the whole night, trying to sort my mind out,” Bin sighed. “I ended up going back to Hogwarts in the early hours of the morning and The Fat Lady was really annoyed at me for waking her up. She ended up telling on me to the professor. But that’s a different story.” Moon Bin laughed at himself, laying back down to face the sky.

Dongmin nodded, remembering how Bin had cleaned the boy’s bathrooms for almost two months. He always wondered what Bin did to deserve that.

“From now on, talk to me about whatever bothers you,” Dongmin whispered as he lifted his arm up to trace some of the constellations in the sky that he managed to recognise.

“Recently I’m very at ease,” Bin admitted. Even though Dongmin didn’t look at Bin, he felt that the younger boy was looking at him with a smile on his face. “But if something bothers me, you’ll be the first to know.”

Bin looked at Dongmin’s hand, which was up in the air. Moon Bin grabbed the arm and shifted to place his head on Dongmin’s chest. With that, Bin carefully placed Dongmin’s arm over his torso, gripping onto it with both hands. Dongmin felt his chest tingling where Bin’s head was. He smiled at the feeling, lifting his free hand and stroking Bin’s hair. Bin seemed to like it, as he closed his eyes and slightly moved his head against the older boy’s hand.

“You’re really cute,” Dongmin whispered quietly.

“No, I’m manly,” Bin argued just for the fun of it, shaking his head. It caused Dongmin to pull his hand away from Bin’s hair and place it under his own head for support. When Dongmin looked back at Bin, he was greeted with a pout.

“You can’t say that you’re manly and then look at me with that pout,” the older boy was laughing.

“Well you aren’t that manly either,” Bin grumbled and shook Dongmin’s arm that he had been gripping the whole time. It reminded Dongmin of a five year old throwing a tantrum. “Mister, get that centipede away from me.”

Dongmin never stopped laughing.

“I never said I was.”

That earned him another pout from Moon Bin.

“Smarty pants,” Bin whispered.

After that they stayed quiet for a long time. Dongmin tried to count the constellations in the sky. Bin was playing with Dongmin’s hand and humming a song that was completely foreign to Dongmin. If they could have stopped time, they probably would have done just that. Because everything, even the air, felt warm and domestic. That feeling alone was drawing them closer to together, making them share kisses and hold on to each other tightly under the clear night sky.

“Bin,” Dongmin spoke. His voice was raspy from not speaking for a long time. His cherry red lips were slightly chapped from the wind that was blowing. Nevertheless, Dogmin’s lips were the only thing Bin could focus on. Reaching up, Bin lightly brushed them with his fingers.

“Mm?’

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Dongmin smiled at the boy next to him. Bin’s eyes looked up into Dongmin’s, noticing a sparkle in them. The same sparkle of wonder and passion that appeared in Dongmin's eyes whenever he was reading or explaining something. “This place is personal to you. Thank you for letting me in.” Now Bin was the centre of Dongmin’s interest and the reason behind the admirable sparkle Moon Bin never seemed to forget and kept in his heart.

Bin stared at Dongmin for a couple of moments. He wasn’t sure how he could respond to that.

“You keep thanking me for things,” Bin laughed, referring to the night Bin really stepped over the line. “Consider this as me making up for that one time in the library. I did promise.” Bin joked.

Dongmin shrugged.

I love you.

“I’m just thankful for you,” he hugged Bin tighter, leaving words unspoken, telling himself that it’s too soon.

Dongmin felt Bin smiling against his chest. Moon Bin moved his head to lay his cheek on Dongmin’s chest, breathing in deeply. Bin was enjoying the mixture of Dongmin’s scent and the wind that was blowing around them. If you asked Bin, he couldn’t tell you the last time he felt that happy. What Bin could tell you, was the actual meaning behind Dongmin’s words. He knew what Dongmin thought he hid well behind multiple ‘thank you’s’ he kept saying to Bin ever since that night outside Hogwarts near the Quidditch pitch.

“I love you too,” Bin whispered against Dongmin’s chest, patting it gently with one of his hands. Dongmin’s lips touched the top of Bin’s head seconds after. As if to tell Bin that Dongmin heard him.

They lied like that for hours, forgetting about their responsibilities. It was as if they forgot about their lives across the forest. Both of them stayed quiet, pretending that time didn’t exist and that they won’t have to go back to their everyday lives in a couple of hours, right before dawn. They were too happy stuck in the moment, where everything else that wasn't them was a blur.

Yes, Moon Bin often acted on impulse without thinking. Making up strategies in his head was something Bin almost never did. And in his life, a lot of people called him stupid for that, saying that thinking before doing was the right way to live. But acting on impulse is what got Bin the best things in his life. And if that was what it meant to be stupid, Bin would take stupid over smart any day.