Fifth Year
CosmosSatus
Yoongi sat up on his bed, sweating and eyes wide as his hands shook. His lips were trembling as he caught his breath. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness, blinking a couple of times. There were movements from two beds and then there were two heads popping under the sheets.
“Hyung?” one of them calls. “What’s wrong?”
“Had a nightmare?” the other asks.
Yoongi gulped and looked at the window and seeing the sun slowly setting up, he got out of his bed. “We don’t have classes today, right? It’s Saturday?”
“Yes, where are you going?” Jimin sits up, rubbing one of his eyes.
“Hyung?” Jinyoung calls softly as the older briskly walked out of their dorm after putting his robe on.
Jimin and Jinyoung looked at each other and shrugged before choosing to go to sleep and ask the fifth year later. Yoongi sprints down the empty corridors and even with the cold breeze, he was still sweating. It was still a bit dark but he can guess it was about five in the morning already. He was never a morning person but he doesn’t care. He gets to the owlery and takes out the spare parchment and extra quill he has in the pocket of his robe.
Then he writes,
Professor,
~~
Yoongi stayed in the owlery for as long as he knew. The sun was already high up and a couple of students had come to the owlery to write a letter and send it off. Yoongi guessed it was already seven. Looking one last time at the view, he pulls his robes closer to him and turns around to leave. He kept his head down until he reached the Great Hall. He hears Seokjin’s voice calling for him from their table, where their whole group sat.
He looks up and stops behind Namjoon, looking at each of their faces. Jimin and Jinyoung had glanced at each other again, hesitant to ask him about what had happened to him earlier. Yoongi’s eyes landed on the core of their group and he stares deeply. Sungjin sees something cross his eyes and he was about to ask but Yoongi had already looked at Brian. And Sungjin sees something flash past them again. Yoongi looks away and sits on the space that Hoseok had provided between him and Namjoon.
“Are you okay?” asks their eldest Gryffindor.
Yoongi silently nodded and stared at the table, propping his head with his hand. The group talked quietly amongst themselves and he listens but does not say anything. His eyes flicked up and then he was forced to look away. His eyebrows furrowed as he stood up, grabbing Sungjin’s shirt and pulling him up to him as he sneered. Sungjin’s breath hitched, eyes widening. Brian instantly stands up and carefully pulls Yoongi’s hand from Sungjin and Yoongi lets him.
“Yoongi, what’s wrong?” Jaehyung questions.
“Do it again. Go on. Do it!” Yoongi demands from Sungjin. And Sungjin does. Yoongi speaks to him through his mind, “Don’t ever try to read my mind again, you punk.”
Sungjin his lips and nodded, unnoticed by the others. Yoongi leaves, Hoseok follows him. Yoongi can feel all eyes look at him but he doesn’t care and simply goes to wherever his feet would take him. Hoseok follows him wherever, apologizing to students they bump shoulders with, even if Hoseok didn’t bump against them. He apologizes for Yoongi. He was jogging to keep up. Yoongi was walking quickly and Hoseok should easily walk alongside him but that wasn’t the case at all.
They end up in an empty corridor, almost like it was abandoned. Well, considering the size of the castle, some corridors, and even rooms, are might as well be abandoned. Yoongi had stopped in the middle, hands clenched tightly on his sides. Hoseok steps in front of him and just stares, watches. He waits for him to simmer down a little before he takes the older to him. And the Slytherin breaks in his arms. He felt hands grip his sweater tightly, pulling.
Hoseok doesn’t know what’s wrong but he wants to be there. Yoongi tries to push him back and Hoseok only steps back a little, hands on the shorter one’s shoulders. Yoongi had tearstains on his cheeks, silently crying to himself. He was breathing hard and heavy, hands still closed tightly that they were beginning to shake. Hoseok frowns and brings Yoongi to the stone bench by the wall. He gently pushes his shoulders down to make him sit and Yoongi obliges. Hoseok takes a sit on the floor in front of him.
Yoongi sniffed and looked at him, “What? Why are you here?”
Hoseok blinks, “Because you’re here.”
Yoongi brings his hands together and fiddles with his fingers, looking down at them.
“You can tell me what’s bothering you. You can also choose not to. But I’m absolutely sure of myself that I won’t leave you,” Hoseok smiles a bit.
Yoongi takes a deep breath and looks back at him, “This midnight, I had a nightmare…”
“Is… How’s Yoongi?” Seokjin whispers to Hoseok over lunch the next day.
The Hufflepuff shrugs, “He’s fine. He’s been getting rest until now. You know how he hates moving too much.”
Seokjin smiles and nods. All heads turned towards the head of the table, where Sungjin and Brian sat. They were bickering since they had assembled in the Great Hall. They were talking hushed to themselves and gradually got louder to the point where the whole squad could hear them, like now.
“It was your fault Yoongi’s been like this!” Brian says.
“I didn’t mean it! I’ve talked to him last night, I already apologized!” Sungjin argues.
“Well, apparently that’s not enough, is it?” Brian retorts. “And didn’t you say you — “
He stopped and looked at their friends, Sungjin looks as well. Everyone blinked at them, Jaehyung ushering them to continue as if telling them to not mind the rest of them. Sungjin turns back to Brian and the Gryffindor leans to him, whispering.
“You won’t read minds whenever you want,” Brian continues.
“I’m sorry! I was just worried and I — “ Sungjin sighs. “Sorry.”
“What did Yoongi say last night?”
Sungjin his lips, frowning, “He didn’t actually acknowledge it. I talked to him. I did apologize. But he just turned away, he didn’t say a thing since I pulled him aside.”
“What’s to say he’d forgiven you then?” Brian asks.
Sungjin sighed again, “I don’t know. I’m planning to talk to him again later when I see him. I hope I see him.”
“Mr. Park.”
Sungjin snaps his head back and sees McGonagall staring him down, glancing sternly at his friends, and lingered especially at Brian. Then she looks back at Sungjin.
“Professor Dumbledore wants to see you,” McGonagall says.
Sungjin looks at Brian and Brian sees the panic in his eyes. Brian gives him a smile and a small, encouraging nod.
“It’s alright. It’s Professor Dumbledore,” Brian mutters to him, making Sungjin calm down at least a bit.
Sungjin smiles back at him and that drives Brian to show him a grin. And Sungjin naturally mirrored it. He stands and looks up at McGonagall who has a small, barely seen, amused smile on her lips before she tells him to follow her. He struggled to keep up with the Head of the Gryffindor House, he needed to jog to keep up. She stops in front of an arch, which has a huge eagle statue inside with its wings formed, resembling that of an embrace.
McGonagall ushers him to step in and he does. She mutters some words and the eagle spirals up slowly. Sungjin steps on a stair and watches his way up. It stops once it reaches the top and he walks out to the door, knocking on it gently. He hears someone tell him to come in and he does. He enters Dumbledore’s study and stops abruptly once he sees the Potions master. Snape stares him down.
“Mr. Park,” sneers Snape.
“Now, now, Severus. What happened in their second year was solely out of care for his best friend. Isn’t that right, Sungjin?” Dumbledore smiles a bit, Sungjin nods.
“Sungjin,” Dumbledore calls, Sungjin listens attentively. “You have abilities that many people find hard to master. And with your age, fifteen, you are almost considered to be a prodigy.”
Sungjin lets his mind work, “Is this about Legilimency and Occlumency?”
“You have the brains for them, too,” Dumbledore nods.
“Oh, I might not consider myself a prodigy, Professor. It’s just that, my parents — “
“Taught you at an early age,” Snape finishes. “That’s the point, Mr. Park. You learned it at a young age and by the age of eleven, you already master it. Do you understand where I am going with this?”
Sungjin nods, blinking.
“Well then, off you go, Severus,” Dumbledore ushers to the door. “Take it easy on the boy.”
“I can’t promise,” Snape says before grabbing Sungjin’s robe and dragging him out of the Headmaster’s study.
He drags him down to his office, Sungjin nearly stumbles on his feet and falls to the ground on the way. But he didn’t. Snape makes him sit on a chair.
“Legilimency is the practice to magically enter people’s minds, however,” Snape pauses. “It can be dangerous for the caster too.”
“If the victim protects themselves from the attack, they could get into your mind instead even if they know nothing about Legilimency,” Sungjin supplies, and earns an unreadable expression from Snape. “My parents taught me Legilimency too but I figure I am more adept at Occlumency. Why do I need this, anyway? It’s not like the world will fall apart if I can’t protect myself from this — ”
“The skills you have are exceptional — “
“Thank you but you should teach others instead — “
Snape points his wand to Sungjin’s throat and Sungjin leaned back, “Interrupt me one more time, Park, and you will find yourself in the hospital wing as soon as you wake up.”
“I would question that. Given that I know that you’ll attack me any time, I would be alert to protect myself,” Sungjin says.
“You should stay away from Kang — “
“Don’t speak about him like that,” sneers Sungjin.
Snape sneers back at him before backing up, “What is it with you and Kang?”
“I will cooperate with this, whatever this is, just don’t bring him up — I have already told you that I know Occlumency, Professor, whatever you do, your Legilimency will not work on me,” Sungjin says.
“Very well,” Snape praises.
“So what does Professor Dumbledore want you to do with me if you have nothing to teach me?” Sungjin questions.
Snape looks at him and smirks, “So you and Kang really didn’t do anything in the Room of Requirement that Yule Ball night?”
Sungjin’s eyes widened.
“You are skillful in Legilimency, Park, but not skillful enough to not let your victim know you are invading their mind,” Snape drawls out. “This is what Professor Dumbledore wants — for you to elevate your skills.”
“And what good will this do?” Sungjin furrowed his brows.
“There are more to your friends than you think, Park,” Snape says. “Take Min, for example.”
Sungjin narrowed his eyes, “What about Yoongi?”
“For most Legilimens, they need to be near their victim to perform Legilimency, however — “ Snape dodges his question and walks slowly around his chair as he speaks. “ — it can be performed even at great distances and you will try to — “
“What do you mean? What about Yoongi —!”
“But before we get to that, I assume you can perform Legilimency without muttering an incantation, am I right, Park?” Snape questions. “You can perform it even with a glance?”
Sungjin huffs, defeated, “Yes.”
Internal
“Where were you all day yesterday, hyung?” Jackson asked over breakfast.
“Dungeons,” muttered Sungjin. “Can’t tell you why.”
“Younghyun was looking for you all day,” Jaebeom adds.
“Hm,” Sungjin simply hummed. “Where are the others?”
“They should be awake by now. Well, maybe Yoongi hyung and Younghyun might still be asleep, you know how they are,” shrugs Jaebeom.
Sungjin nods a bit and smiles. The Great Hall was filled with hushed whispers as each student talked to each other while eating their breakfast. It was Saturday so there weren’t that many students in the Hall. Just some who are early birds. Sungjin was awake early for some reasons that he doesn’t want to confront. Jackson doesn’t know why Jaebeom woke up early. The older had woke up when he was on his way to leave their dorm. He had waited for the older to get dressed and then they left for breakfast.
“Oh, there’s Seokjin hyung and Namjoon!” Jackson points at the entrance of the Hall.
The two Gryffindors were with another kid who was looking around the Hall with his big, round eyes. Namjoon sits beside Jackson, Seokjin next to him, and then the boy.
“Morning,” Jaebeom smiles.
“Morning,” Seokjin yawns as he takes food for him and the kid with him.
Namjoon nudges the older Gryffindor quietly, earning him a glare from him as he was putting a chicken drumstick on the kid’s plate. Namjoon only raised a brow at him.
Seokjin sighed, “This is Jeon Jungkook, first-year Ravenclaw.”
“Hello, Jungkook,” greets Sungjin with a small smile.
“Hello,” Jungkook mutters and bows a bit at him.
“How do you know him?” Jackson asks.
“He’s my neighbor,” Seokjin tiredly answers.
And then two more students were running towards them, “Jungkook-ah! There you are!”
“Bambam! You’re so noisy!” the taller of the two hisses, sinking back to his sweater as the others looked at them.
“Oh, stand up straight,” the shorter, Bambam, hits his chest before sitting beside Jungkook. “Hi, hyungs!”
“Hi!” Jackson waves, happy that their squad was still growing.
“Why is no one sitting beside me? Do you all hate me?” Sungjin chuckles.
“No,” Namjoon says. “Hey — what was your name?”
“Kun Bambam! First-year Slytherin,” Bambam replied and wraps an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “This is Kim Yugyeom. First-year, uh…”
“Hufflepuff!” Yugyeom whines at him, elbowing him on his ribs.
“Oh, hey, I’m a Hufflepuff too!” Sungjin grins when Yugyeom did.
“Bambam, tell everyone else to not sit beside Sungjin hyung,” Jaebeom orders.
“Why should I obey you?” Bambam cheekily says, leaning forwards to look at him.
Jackson hits Jaebeom on his shoulder when he clenched his jaws, “Because it’s reserved for another friend of ours, Younghyun hyung. He has small eyes, watch out for him.”
Sungjin chuckled, shaking his head.
“Alright,” Bambam sighs, nodding, before conversing with Jungkook and Yugyeom.
“Hey, Bambam,” calls Sungjin. “Do you know a Slytherin named Yoongi?”
“Yoongi? Ah, Yoongi hyung? Yeah. He’s always with Jimin hyung. He seems kinda depressed, though, Jimin hyung always looks worried,” Bambam rants and receives a blow on the back of his head.
“Yoongi!” Seokjin scolds.
“Don’t spread words, kid,” Yoongi sneers before walking around the table and sitting on Sungjin’s right.
Jimin sits beside him, followed by Taehyung. Youngjae joins Yugyeom, who sat beside him from the Sorting Ceremony so he already knows him, and converses with him and Bambam. Jimin and Taehyung eyed Jungkook and Taehyung smiled when he looked at them. Jungkook instantly looked away. And Jimin and Taehyung established a mission to get closer to the boy. Sungjin scoots away from Yoongi and the younger looks weirdly at him. The Hufflepuff only smirked at him. And another Hufflepuff blocked his sight.
“Hyung! How are you feeling?” Hoseok beamed at him.
“Ugh, you’re so… bright,” Yoongi complained, eyes squinting. Hoseok only giggled.
“I’m telling you, you should talk to Younghyun!”
Sungjin snapped his head to his left instantly when he heard Brian’s name. He saw Mark and Jaehyung hushing to each other as they talked, Dowoon, Wonpil, and Jinyoung behind them talking as well. They passed by Sungjin and Jaehyung taps him on his shoulder, ushering him to scoot aside. Sungjin does, rolling his eyes.
“What about Kang Bra? Is he okay?” Sungjin whispers to Jaehyung when the five of them sat in the space he provided between him and Hoseok.
“Hm? Oh, yeah. It’s just, he’s worried,” Jaehyung answers.
“He didn’t — we didn’t see you at all yesterday, that’s why,” Mark adds and looks across from him. “Oh, it’s you!”
Jungkook looked at him, eyes widening.
“Yah, Dowoon! It’s that kid you wanted to meet!” Jaehyung reached across Mark.
“What? Oh, yeah,” Dowoon’s ears turn red. “Hello.”
“You’re Ravenclaws too,” Jungkook mutters.
“Yeah, we know you from the Sorting Ceremony. Dowoon was interested in what kinds of arts you do,” Jaehyung babbles.
“Oh, um,” Jungkook clears his throat.
“Hyung, there’s Younghyun,” Jaebeom suddenly whispers.
Everyone stops and turns their head to the entrance. Brian was with another kid who was happily talking with him, constantly giggling. He looks at them, eyes instantly flicking over to Sungjin, and then he grins up at Brian. Brian only grabbed the top of his head and makes him face front. He sits on Sungjin’s left, the kid beside him.
“We have a lot of new members, huh?” Jackson grins at the first years and ushers them to introduce themselves.
Yugyeom and Bambam were childhood friends with Jungkook, so they were around Seokjin’s neighborhood too. But he was close with Jungkook only since his house was right next to theirs. The kid with Brian was named Chan, also a Gryffindor. Chan simply just sat beside Brian after getting sorted, like Yugyeom with Youngjae. And Brian decided to take the kid in, finding him cute and small.
“I have another friend from our house but I haven’t seen her,” Bambam mutters after introducing himself last.
“Just drag her with you later if you see her or what. We always hang out in this abandoned classroom,” Mark waves it away.
Sungjin looks at each of them, smiling softly. They were complete. Nearly, at least, if Bambam manages to drag this friend of him with him. Then he looks to his left and sees Brian watching Chan converse happily with the other first-years with a small smile on his lips. And Sungjin smiles wider before nudging the younger. Brian looks at him, his smile also widening.
“You okay?” Sungjin whispers.
The smile on him disappears and a scowl replaces it, “No.”
“Why? What’s the matter?” Sungjin blinks up at him.
Brian remains strong, yelling at himself internally to not break under Sungjin’s gaze, “Because you were missing the whole day yesterday! I was worried, no one knew where you were! You weren’t in any of our classes, too!”
Sungjin grins, “I’m sorry. I was in the Dungeons with Snape.”
“That’s Professor to you, Park,” they hear a sneer behind them and they looked up to see their Potions master.
“Yes, yes, Professor,” Sungjin shoos the teacher away and his friends’ eyes widened in surprise and amusement.
Snape narrows his eyes at him and speaks in his mind, “I know things that everyone else do not, Park. Don’t make me open my mouth.”
Sungjin rolled his eyes and speaks back, “Of course. My fault, Professor.”
Snape hits him on the head to which Sungjin only giggles. He turns towards the entrance and calls, “Ilhyun! Come here!”
A girl obeys and walks towards him.
“Oh, Ilhyun! There you are!” Bambam beams.
“Brilliant, you already know someone,” Snape pushes her forwards. “Park, take her under your wing, will you?”
“Why me?” Sungjin raises his brows.
“Because I tell you to,” Snape narrows his eyes once again. “And because Professor McGonagall says so, as well as Professor Dumbledore.”
“But why?” Sungjin furrowed his brows as he looked at the girl.
Snape looks exasperatedly at him. Ilhyun looks at the Head of her House and raises a brow, “You expect me to mingle with these people?”
Snape looks at her.
“There are students from all houses and — “ her eyes land on Chan and she looks at him up and down, “ — Gryffindor.”
All heads turned to them, the Hall turning silent. Snape watches.
Chan stands up, head held high as he stares her down. He was a bit taller than her, “What does that mean?”
Yoongi stands up from his seat and grabs Ilhyun’s hoodie tightly, pushing her back as he does, “Stand down, Ilhyun. Don’t make me do something I will regret.”
Sungjin stands up as well, gently pushes Chan aside to make him sit back down. Then he carefully takes Yoongi’s hand from Ilhyun’s sweater. “Stop it. Let her go, come on. You’re from the same house, Yoongi.”
Ilhyun looks at him and he backs up to another table, stumbling on the bench and falling on it. He shut his eyes close and holds his head, groaning.
“Ah, stop!” Sungjin cries.
Snape steps in, waving his wand a bit to the side and Ilhyun stumbles to her right. Then he turns to Sungjin and watches him calm down. Chan goes to the Hufflepuff’s aid, Brian just watches confusedly like the other students.
“Hyung? Hyung, are you okay?” Chan asks softly, putting a hand on his back.
“No,” Sungjin shakily whispers, grunting to himself now and then.
Snape points his wand, “Finite.”
Sungjin flinches and Snape knows he’s free from the spell. When he turned, Ilhyun was gone. He looks at Yoongi who stares worriedly at Sungjin. Bambam catches his eyes and the boy looks at him before pointing to the entrance of the Hall. Snape nudges Sungjin and when he earns a nod, he leaves the Hall. Chan assists Sungjin back to his seat, Yoongi also walks back to his, squeezing Sungjin’s shoulder on his way.
Brian his lips when Sungjin tells their friends that he’s okay and that they go back to their own businesses. He waits for him to reopen his eyes. Sungjin takes a deep breath before he looks at him. And Brian knows he’s fine.
“Where was I?” Sungjin questions after looking around and seeing the other students go back to their business. He propped his head with his hand as he put his arm on the table.
“You said you were with Professor Snape all day yesterday,” Brian mutters.
“Oh, yeah,” Sungjin nods, and then Brian feels a hand on his waist. And he freezes. “I can’t tell you why I’m there, though. Confidential.”
Brian simply nods, “S-So you’re okay? You weren’t hurt whatsoever yesterday?”
Sungjin smirks at him amusedly, chuckling, “Yeah. I was with a teacher. Why are you stuttering?”
“I-I just — “ Brian clears his throat when Sungjin tightens his hold on him a bit. “I’m just worried. What happened with you earlier?”
“Oh, that was probably — “ Sungjin takes a deep breath when he saw Chan peek at him from beside Brian. “Just tiredness. My head was hurting.”
Brian stares at him, moving closer to him in compliance when he tugged at him a bit, “Alright. Long as you’re fine. You’re fine now, right?”
Sungjin hums, nodding as he smiled at him. Chan’s lips parted as he witnessed Sungjin’s eyes soften drastically while staring at Brian. And he knows what was going on with them. He looks down and sees Sungjin’s fingers softly caressing the younger’s waist, fixing his shirt now and then. Brian suddenly holds Chan’s wrist, his hand slightly shaking. Chan blinks curiously at Brian but lets him be. Brian clears his throat, head nodding to the others and Sungjin looks back to see the rest of the group looking at them both. He raises a brow and it was honestly kind of intimidating.
“So Ilhyun isn’t joining us?” Bambam frowns.
“Why don’t you tell us about her? Because that was a bad impression earlier,” Jaehyung says.
“What’s there to say, uh…” Bambam trails. “Honestly, I still don’t know her that much so I can’t tell you anything.”
Jungkook looks around at everyone, “I remember the Sorting Hat says in the Sorting Ceremony that she’s hugely misunderstood.”
“But still, we can’t have people hating on each other in the circle,” Mark mutters.
“Let’s throw her a bait, shall we?” Jinyoung suggests.
“You’re sick,” Wonpil nudges him.
“No, a bait like someone among us trying to befriend her and if they like her, then maybe we can give her another shot,” Jinyoung explains.
“If Chan’s okay with it,” says Jimin and all of them look at the Gryffindor.
Chan shrugs, “Yeah, why not?”
“I vote Taehyungie,” Hoseok raises a hand. “He’s hard to please, he senses bad vibes from people even from the first meeting.”
“Yeah, I vote for me too,” Taehyung nods with a smile.
“Alright — “
“Can I start now?” Taehyung grins, excited.
“If you want,” chuckles Jimin and shakes his head when Taehyung jumped up from his seat and runs out to find the Slytherin.
“So there’s kind of a screening in here now?” Jaebeom grins.
“Good thing we came before Ilhyun did,” Yugyeom sighed in relief.
Hidden
The group gathers in their now usual habitat — an abandoned classroom. The hallway it was located was abandoned too, hardly anyone passes by so they were confident about whatever they do in the classroom. They had already arranged the chairs and desks into a circle when they first occupied it and it stayed like that, only adding a pair whenever someone joins their group. Now, they add four pairs of a chair and a desk for the first years.
“So, Taehyungie,” Jaehyung starts. “What have you found out?”
“I didn’t actually find anything about her…” Taehyung squints his eyes. “But I feel comfortable around her.”
“You didn’t talk or anything?” Hoseok asked.
“I tried talking to her but she just nods at my yes or no questions. Any other questions, she stays silent,” Taehyung frowns.
“What about the Slytherins? Do they know anything at all?” Namjoon inquires.
“I think Yoongi hyung knows her the best,” Jimin points to his housemate.
Yoongi leans to his desk, “All I know is she’s quiet.”
“Wait,” Mark suddenly says, sitting up.
Everyone looks at him and watches his eyes dart to every corner of the room. Then he pulls his wand out.
“Hyung?” Jackson mutters.
He points to the corner by the door, “Revelio.”
Ilhyun appears, leaning on the wall, eyes cast down to the ground.
“What…” Jaebeom trails.
“How long have you been there?” Jinyoung questions.
“Before anyone of you even entered,” she mutters, looking up at them.
“Hey, look,” Sungjin sighs as he stands up to approach her carefully. “Why don’t you just introduce yourself?”
Ilhyun raises a brow, “Why?”
“So you can join,” Jimin replies.
“I don’t even want to join, why do you want me to join?” Ilhyun retorts and the room gets quiet.
Chan stands up and asks Sungjin to go back to his seat and that he’ll handle it. Sungjin gives him a questioning look but he only smiled. Then he faces the Slytherin.
“You heard Professor Snape say yesterday that the professors want Sungjin hyung to take you under his wing, right?” Chan starts. “So one way or another, you’re gonna have to join.”
“They won’t be able to do anything if I don’t want some Hufflepuff to lead me around — “
“I can do something about it,” Chan cuts, drawing his wand out. “Why don’t we settle this over a duel? If I win, you join. If I lose, we’ll leave you alone, it’s up to you.”
“Chan?” Brian calls and frowns worriedly when he receives a smile from the boy.
“I like how you think,” Ilhyun pushes herself off the wall to stand straight as she pushes her wand out from the left sleeve of her sweater.
She catches it with her right hand and points it at Chan, the boy mirroring her. And in a second, a green beam shoots out of Ilhyun’s wand. Chan tilts his head to his left to dodge it, eyes widening.
Jaehyung gasps, standing up, “That was the Killing Curse!” And everyone else gasped.
“Is it really?” Ilhyun pulls a smirk and nods to the wall the spell hit.
All eyes flicked over and another series of gasps resounded when they see vines and flowers spread across the wall.
“You know, this room is too small for a duel,” Ilhyun smirks.
“Okay, wait, stop!” Sungjin grabs both of their arms down. He takes Ilhyun’s wrist and drags her out of the room. “Look — “
“The Gryffindor beside you looked really worried when we left,” Ilhyun cuts.
“Kang Bra?” Sungjin frowns.
“He hopes you can persuade me to join just because he thinks I need help,” Ilhyun adds.
“Oh, you’re a Legilimens too, right?” Sungjin whispers, Ilhyun nods. “The professors want me to look after you.”
“It’s because I still can’t completely control my powers yet,” Ilhyun mutters. “That boy Chan, I feel the same amount of power from him. But he can control it, unlike me. That spell was done by my wand. I was scared of what I could have done to him.”
Sungjin blinks, “That’s why they want me to look after you?”
Ilhyun looks away as she nods, “They think you can keep me in line and help me control my powers. I don’t expect you to take me with you but I would appreciate it.”
Sungjin keeps quiet for a moment, thinking. And then he smiles a bit, “Why don’t we let Chan look after you?”
“Goodbye,” Ilhyun starts to walk away and Sungjin laughed, grabbing her arm.
“Really!” Sungjin pulls her back in front of him. “He can help you more than I could. He’s still young but he can already control his powers and by the looks of it, it’s probably a huge amount. Maybe even the same as yours — “
“No, his are much greater — “
“Even greater. He’ll know what to do,” Sungjin says. “Come on, we won’t be complete if you won’t join.”
Ilhyun raised a brow at him and he smiled softly.
“I just have a feeling that you’ll complete our group,” he says.
“You know, if only I didn’t read that Gryffindor’s head, I wouldn’t agree,” Ilhyun narrows her eyes at him.
Sungjin grins, “His name is Younghyun.”
“Younghyun oppa has something going on for you. Much greater than Chan’s powers. It’s overwhelming.”
Sungjin chuckled, thinking Ilhyun was only babbling. But she was telling the truth. He pushes Ilhyun back in and puts another pair of chairs and desk beside his own.
“Is she joining?” Bambam was already grinning.
“Yeah,” Sungjin nods.
“For the record, I didn’t agree yet,” Ilhyun mutters to Sungjin.
“I have already decided for you, so welcome!” Sungjin beams.
Unus
•••
Brian has his voice raised as he argues with the Hufflepuff in front of him. Sungjin’s eyes glisten as he listens. He bit down on his lip before answering calmly. Brian cuts him off and then the look on Sungjin’s face completely changes. And his first tear falls. His mouth moves, mumbling. He glares at Brian and then turns around to leave.
Brian reaches for his wrist, guilt and worry painted all over his face. Sungjin turns back to him and extends his right arm, pointing his wand at the Gryffindor’s face. And Brian freezes. Sungjin mutters something before walking away completely, leaving Brian frozen on his spot.
•••
Yoongi’s eyes shot open and he was breathing heavily. He was sweating, too. He sits up and runs a hand through his hair, sighing as he closed his eyes. He sees the same scene, replaying from every angle and perspective.
“Hyung? You okay?” he hears Jimin’s voice and he nods. “Are you sure?”
Yoongi sighed again, “Yes, I am sure, Jimin. Go back to sleep.”
He gets off his bed and drapes his robe across his back. It was the same time as the first time he had visions. He would always go to the owlery to send letters out. He’d stay there until it was time for their classes. Thirty minutes before classes, though, Hoseok comes along. Somehow, he knows Yoongi was there. Yoongi told him about his vision this time and Hoseok tries to connect it to his first vision. Yoongi guessed he was just stressed.
“What do Younghyun hyung and Sungjin hyung have to do with you being stressed?” Hoseok frowned.
“They’re a bunch of fools in love and it stresses me that it seems neither of them realizes that,” Yoongi sneers to himself.
Hoseok agreed, laughing, “You’re right. Yah, you should get more rest, hyung.”
“I know. I am. But they still appear. Even when I just close my eyes to focus on class, they appear,” Yoongi mumbled.
“Why don’t you talk to Professor Dumbledore?” Hoseok suggested. “Maybe he knows what to do.”
Yoongi sighed and shook his head, “I don’t need to talk to him.”
Hoseok blinked.
“I think he already knows. That man has a way of knowing things without having to directly witness them,” Yoongi says.
Hoseok nods again, “You’re right.”
“Just…”
Hoseok looks at him to see him staring out the window of the owlery. The wind blows and then he looks back at him.
“Just stay with me through it all,” Yoongi muttered, almost inaudibly.
Hoseok chuckles, “Of course I will.”
Fro and Fro
“You know about Park’s Legilimency, I assume?” Snape starts.
Yoongi stares blankly. Snape returns the look. And they stare until the time stretched for about 5 minutes.
“How many Legilimens are there? Ilhyun is a Legilimens, too,” Yoongi questions.
Snape turns around and walks to his table. Then he turns to him again, “Ilhyun cannot fully control her Legilimency skills.”
“How does she know Legilimency but cannot control it?” Yoongi furrowed his brows.
“She’s born Legilimens,” Snape mutters, Yoongi’s lips part.
“Is-Is that why you ask Sungjin to take her — “
“It was to help her control it.”
“Why? It’s not like she would be hurt — “
“Blocking Legilimency allows the victim to look into the attacker’s mind,” cuts Snape. “And with Ilhyun’s mind being invaded, and taking her wand’s properties into account, she could retaliate without her even knowing or meaning to.”
Yoongi blinked, “Her wand?”
“Its core is the same as yours. And you know how your cores are,” Snape says.
“Phoenix cores tend to act on their own accord,” Yoongi mutters.
“And her wand wood — “ Snape pauses. “English Oak. King of the Forest from winter solstice up to summer solstice.”
“I think she took her wand wood seriously. She’s cold like winter but when you get to know her, get close to her, she warms up to you like the summer,” Yoongi wondered out loud.
“Additionally, English Oak demands partners who are strong, courageous, and loyal,” Snape looks at him. “You can expect that she’s loyal to those she considers friends.”
Yoongi nods and leans back on the chair, “So what am I doing here?”
Snape gives him a look.
“Am I learning Legilimency? Or the other way around?”
“Professor Dumbledore knows your visions,” Snape says, Yoongi wasn’t even surprised. “And you need to know what others plan to do, as it may lead to your visions happening and — “
“Is it the end of the world?”
Snape narrowed his eyes, “It may be.”
Yoongi sits up, “What did you say?”
“You need to keep an eye on everyone and their plans. Especially Ilhyun.”
“Why can’t I learn Legilimency with Sungjin? That way, you won’t need to teach two students.”
“Park is a prodigy in Legilimency and Occlumency. It’s not surprising that he learned the lessons in a matter of time.”
“So why can’t Sungjin just teach me?”
Snape sighs, “Because he will be destroyed by what he may see in your head before your visions even happen. What do you see with Park?”
Yoongi his lips, “He’s crying in every vision.”
“He can’t see those.”
“Why not? It’s to protect him from — “
“If he sees it, he’ll act on it before it happens. And it will mess up with your mind, thus, destroying you.”
“At least he would be safe from the visions — “
“You’re the first person to accept Ilhyun here in Hogwarts, are you aware of that?”
“What?” Yoongi blinks.
“You don’t get scared of her and you understand that she’s only misunderstood. That it’s merely a case of her powers being uncontrolled. And as a Legilimens, she knows you’re willing to help her if she ever needs it,” Snape explains. “And if you get destroyed by your thoughts being distorted, and you being her closest friend as of now, and with her powers dangerously compatible with a self-acting wand, it might as well be the end of the world.”
Yoongi gulped.
“So you need to keep an eye on everyone’s plans and keep your visions from happening as much as possible. You need to keep an eye, especially on Ilhyun. Even if she gets a hold of her powers, she still can let her control go and her wand will let her go into an unintentional rampage.”
“I’m sorry, I still don’t get why I need to learn Legilimency,” Yoongi says.
“Oh, for the love of Merlin,” Snape sneers.
Yoongi grins.
“If anyone in your group, and I mean anyone, gets seriously hurt, Ilhyun will go into a rampage and her powers will end the world,” Snape says.
“Ah,” Yoongi nods. “You could have just said that in the first place.”
Snape glares intensely at him and swings his wand, sending him a spell. Yoongi easily blocks with a laugh.
“First lesson…”
Duo
•••
Mark follows Jinyoung around the castle, the Slytherin never sparing him a glance as he briskly walks ahead, hoping to get rid of the Ravenclaw behind him. Then at one point, he stops abruptly and faces the older, scowling. He sneers at him, Mark replies calmly. He reaches for the Slytherin’s arm but Jinyoung flinched away from him. Mark tries again, desperate.
Jinyoung pushes him back, Mark casts his eyes down to the ground, hurt. The same emotion flickers in Jinyoung’s eyes only for a second. He spits out a phrase, Mark bites his lip at that, keeping his head down. Then Jinyoung turns away.
•••
Yoongi wakes up calmly this time, already used to the visions he kept on dreaming about. It was later than usual. The sky was already tinted soft blue, the sun about to shine in a few minutes. Jimin was already awake, but still sleepy as he blankly stared ahead while he sat in the middle of his bed. Wonpil was still sleeping. Jinyoung was fully awake, sitting on the edge of his bed and facing Bambam, who was also awake already. They were murmuring something regarding Potions.
Yoongi guesses Jinyoung was asking for help from Bambam. The younger had been praised by the Head of their House that he was good in Potions, same as Seokjin. Bambam took pride in that and is always willing to help when it comes to Potions. With Jinyoung, however, the sessions were chaotic. Bambam was very sarcastic with him but Jinyoung tolerates it at his best because he needs the pointers. Also, Bambam can be serious if he wants to.
Yoongi sighs and gets off his bed, taking his robe and swinging it over his back. Jimin and the others had stopped questioning him after the second time they asked if he was alright. He would seem okay, and he’d be better as the day goes on. Still, they’re curious as to what was happening with Yoongi. He’d still go to the owlery, and Hoseok would still arrive at the same time. They’d wait for a letter addressed to Yoongi.
Yoongi had sent off a letter to their former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but he has yet to receive any reply. And it was the third time he’s sent a letter. He was hoping to hear from him soon. This time, as they stood by the window of the owlery, a Gryffindor arrives. Seokjin smiles softly at them and steps to the other window nearby.
“Still having those dreams?” Seokjin suddenly questions.
Yoongi snapped his head to look at him. Hoseok only watches. “How did you know? We never told anyone about what was happening to me.”
Seokjin smiled again and shrugs, “You should confront Professor Lupin.”
“I’ve sent him two letters, today’s the third one. I haven’t got a reply,” Yoongi informs.
“Ah,” Seokjin nods. “Maybe he’s having a rough month. Just wait. He’ll let you know what was going on with you.”
“What’s going on with me? How do you know about it?” Yoongi asks again.
Seokjin sighs. “I’ve known about an ability of yours since our fourth year.”
“So, our third year?” Yoongi clarifies.
Seokjin nods, “It was that night when we were practicing how to conjure a Patronus. Your Patronus says something about you, right?”
Yoongi looks out the window, “Snowy Owl. Symbol of transition and wisdom.”
Seokjin pats his back, “There’s one more. Professor Lupin told me but he didn’t want to tell anyone else because it may burden you if they know. I’ll see you later.”
They watch the Gryffindor leave and they settled in silence, sans the occasional calls of the owls. Hoseok was frowning as he looked at him. Yoongi looked confused and Hoseok was worried about what Seokjin could have known all this time. They see an owl flying towards the owlery, holding a letter on his beak. It flies in and drops the letter, it dropping on top of Hoseok’s head. Yoongi takes it and lets the Hufflepuff stand right beside him to read.
“Min Yoongi. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” Hoseok reads at the back of the envelope.
He patiently waits for the older to open the envelope and draw out the parchment folded inside. Then he stops him before he unfolds the parchment. Yoongi looks at him in wonder.
“Just… I’m here, okay?” Hoseok mumbles.
Yoongi blinks at him before nodding. They look back at the paper and Yoongi unfolds it carefully. He reads in a murmur:
“Yoongi,
“I apologize for the late reply. It had been a rough month. I received your first two letters and I acknowledge that your handwriting on the first letter denotes your nervousness. I hope this won’t come off too heavy on you.”
Yoongi pauses.
“Back in your third year, when you were conjuring your Patronus, I had known it since then. I told everyone that Snowy Owls mean wisdom and transition. That was all I had said. However, Seokjin knows this, that wasn’t all. Snowy Owls also possess strong magic and an insight into the future.”
Yoongi pauses once again, and Hoseok gasps.
“Your wand, as I remember it, was made of Silver Lime wood. And wands produced from this tree perform best for Seers and skilled Legilimens. Yoongi, your visions are glimpses into the future and what will be happening. I heard Professor Dumbledore has known about this and is now having Snape teach you Legilimens. You are a Seer and your skills are now awakening.
“If someone acts in the present, and their acts contradict what will happen in the future, your visions will be distorted. So it is just appropriate that you know what people would plan to do. However, if you act contradictory to the future, it may change accordingly. But note that the change cannot automatically be good. It can change for the better or the worse. You know what they say, do not mess with the past.
“If you do not desire what you are seeing right now, you have the choice to change it as time pass, until that day presents itself. Snowy Owls represent transition. Changes are bound to happen around you, Yoongi, for better, or for worse. As Snowy Owls represent wisdom, I hope you make the right decisions.
“Professor Lupin.”
Yoongi’s hands were trembling as he finished reading. Hoseok was just as surprised. Yoongi slowly turns to him.
“Does that mean, Younghyun and Sungjin are going to fight? A fight bad enough to affect Mark and Jinyoung?” Yoongi’s voice was now shaking in fear.
“And if it affects Mark hyung and Jinyoung, then — “
“It might affect the whole group,” Yoongi breathes.
“And Ilhyun would have to act,” Hoseok adds.
He takes the older into his embrace when he senses him having a panic attack. Yoongi breathed heavily against his shoulder, and Hoseok holds him tighter. It was a full twenty minutes before Yoongi had calmed down. They were late for their classes for the day, but they don’t care. That was until the Head of the Gryffindor house found them. Yoongi had pulled back and avoided the eyes of the professor. However, McGonagall catches the tearstains on his cheeks.
She sees the letter in his hand and then she brings them to Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore had borrowed the letter, just as Snape arrives after them. Dumbledore gave him the letter as soon as he was done with it. Snape scoffs.
“So Lupin had known about it two years ago. He didn’t even bother warning anyone about it,” Snape mutters to himself.
“This is obviously a sign, Professor Dumbledore. There hasn’t been any progress with Ms. Lee,” McGonagall says. “Park’s just not enough to help her.”
Dumbledore keeps quiet for a moment, and then he holds Yoongi by his shoulders, “You continue your Legilimency classes with Professor Snape.”
Yoongi nods silently.
“Alright, off you go. Mr. Jung, please stay by Mr. Min’s side. You are excused for today’s classes,” Dumbledore says as he lets go of Yoongi.
Hoseok throws his arm around Yoongi’s shoulders and carefully leads him out of the office. Snape and McGonagall turn to the Headmaster.
“That’s it?” McGonagall questions.
“Now, for Ms. Lee. Minerva, we would need a student from your house to replace Mr. Park,” Dumbledore says. “Ilhyun shall be with Chan.”
“Bang?” Snape inquires. “Why him?”
“Severus, have you forgotten that Mr. Bang has powers greater than Ilhyun? The only difference is, he has full control over them. What’s better than to have Ilhyun be with someone like her?”
Yellow
Brian crossed his arms, pouting as he sat on the table in the Great Hall, “I cannot believe you didn’t tell me.”
Jaehyung rolled his eyes, Sungjin giggled at him.
“It’s not like he’s your boyfriend to tell you everything,” Jaehyung remarks.
Sungjin grinned and looked up at Brian, “I didn’t think it was important.”
“But you got in! I would have been so happy if you told me,” Brian argued.
“So you’re not happy for him now?” Hoseok questions.
Brian huffed, “You could have told me you tried out.”
Sungjin only shook his head, still grinning. He had got in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team as a chaser. Hoseok and Taehyung got in too, as beaters. He didn’t tell anyone he had tried out. After all, he was just playing around and he didn’t think he’d actually get in. Sungjin watched Brian check him out in his Quidditch robes then raised his eyebrow when Brian looked at him. Brian slapped his arm and he laughed a bit, still in disbelief about the younger’s reaction.
“Hey,” Jaebeom grins from the other end of the group. “No hard feelings, alright, hyung?”
“Oh, it’s on!” Sungjin grins back.
“But it’s Chan’s debut game,” Jackson joins in. “You wouldn’t want him to lose his debut game, won’t you?”
Chan giggles beside side Brian and the older threw his arm around him, “Get the Snitch before Sungjin hyung touches the quaffle, alright?”
Chan nods, Sungjin chuckled.
“Let me just inform you, Kang Bra, since you didn’t know,” Sungjin turns to him, Brian raises his head high. “I wasn’t serious when I tried out.”
Brian sneers at him. Sungjin feels a tap on his shoulder and he looked up to see another chaser from his team.
“Ty,” Sungjin greets.
Tyrus saluted at him with a smile, glancing at their team’s beaters, “Captain’s calling everyone.”
Sungjin stood up, together with Hoseok and Taehyung who were excited since they woke up that morning.
“Good luck,” Sungjin winked. “You’ll need it.”
“Oh, you er,” Brian hisses, Sungjin smirked before finally leaving.
“Hyung, why don’t you just date him already?” Chan asked innocently.
Jaehyung laughs and hi-fives the younger Gryffindor, agreeing with him.
“Exactly what we have been thinking since our second year,” Yoongi remarks.
“What date?” Brian questions, confused.
“The tension between you two is annoying,” Mark says.
“What tension?” Brian questions again.
“ual tension,” Yugyeom mumbled from where he sat.
“See!” Seokjin points at the boy. “He’s a first-year and he knows there’s tension!”
“It’s so obvious, how can you not notice that?” says Bambam.
“I bet Ilhyun knows, too. She’s never been with us except that time she joined. I’m gonna ask her later,” Jimin says.
“I’m going to bet neither of you will be able to control yourselves from jumping on the other within this year,” Ilhyun’s voice joined as she was passing by their table, walking towards the exit.
“Ilhyunnie!” Yugyeom cheers, waving at her. Ilhyun nods at him.
Chan moved, grabbing her arm as she was passing by him, “Hey, hey, wait!”
Ilhyun looks back and the Hall turned cold, earning everyone’s attention to them. Chan pulls at her to make her sit beside him.
“Why aren’t you hanging out with us? I thought we’re your friends?” Chan asked.
Ilhyun stared blankly at him before turning away and leaving. Chan grabs her robes’ hood and pulls her back, earning whispers from everyone else in the Hall.
“Chan, yah!” Seokjin hisses.
Chan ignores, “Yah, don’t be rude!”
Ilhyun turns to him and grabs him by his Quidditch robes. She drags him out of the Hall with her and leaves everyone looking at each other.
“What the hell was that?” Youngjae muttered.
“Is Chan gonna be okay?” Jinyoung inquires.
“Ilhyun’s your housemate, why are you worried about Chan?” Mark chuckled amusedly.
“Ilhyun’s like an adult trapped inside a girl’s body,” says Jackson. “That’s what makes her scary.”
“Yah, aren’t you supposed to gather with your team now?” Namjoon turns to him and Jaebeom.
“Oh, right!” Jackson says and taps Jaebeom on his shoulder.
They watched them leave hastily, arguing about how the other didn’t remind them.
Wonpil shook his head, “Our group’s a mess.”
They went to the Quidditch Pitch a few minutes later. There were other students already, mostly from the two competing houses. Ilhyun was already on the stands, sitting with her arms crossed as she waited for the match to start. Brian sits beside her.
“Where did you bring Chan?” he asks.
“Somewhere,” she answers.
“You didn’t hurt him, did you?” Brian accuses.
Ilhyun simply shook her head, unoffended, “No, I just gave him tips. Sungjin oppa’s something else.”
“What do you mean?” Brian’s eyebrows furrowed.
“You’ll see. Chan is an excellent flyer. He’s light, quick, and agile. Jaebeom oppa and Jackson oppa have good chemistry as a duo. They’d win Hufflepuff over no doubt. But when Sungjin oppa enters the picture, everything gets ruined. Hufflepuff will win. Sungjin oppa’s a very different chaser,” Ilhyun says.
The match starts and Brian, confused at what Ilhyun had said, turned to watch. As soon as Madam Hooch threw the quaffle, Sungjin zooms forward. There was a cluster of yellows, reds, and blacks, but Sungjin had escaped as soon as he entered. He was already heading to Gryffindor’s hoops, the quaffle held in his right hand. He changes direction, flying to his right and then throwing the quaffle. It passes the keeper and goes in, earning his team ten points.
“Oh, it’s really on!” Jaebeom shouts at him.
Jackson gets the quaffle and he passes it over to Jaebeom. However, something yellow blurs past them as Sungjin intercepts the throw. He turns his broom around to dodge their last chaser as he goes for the hoops again. He throws, and the keeper didn’t even move an inch.
“Yah, what are you doing?!” Jackson yells.
“He’s scary!” their keeper shouts back, earning laughter from the spectators. “It’s like a bear’s coming for you!”
Brian blinks and looks at Sungjin who was laughing with the crowds. He didn’t look like he was tired. If ever, he looks like he’s having fun. The game goes on, with Hufflepuff scoring nearly every minute, Gryffindor barely even playing anymore. Jaebeom and Jackson had tried double-teaming Sungjin, yet as they were about to sandwich him, he zoomed forwards, making them bump against each other. Sungjin looked like he wasn’t seriously playing. For him, it was all fun and games.
“Chan is taking too long,” Ilhyun suddenly mumbles beside Brian. “I told him that within three minutes in, he should already be chasing the Snitch. Hufflepuff’s score already passes a hundred and fifty because of Sungjin oppa. If he gets the Snitch, they still lose because Hufflepuff still scores more than them.”
Brian blinks before looking back at the match. And then Chan was moving. Brian spots the Snitch just ahead of him and he sits up, watching the younger chase determinedly for it. But he can see that Chan was upset. He was mad, for some reason. And Brian knows why. He stands up and goes to the rails of the stands.
Then he shouts, “Chan, it’s okay!”
Chan lagged in his flying before he moved faster than he did. And he catches the Snitch in his hand. The game ends and Hufflepuff cheers. Gryffindor flew down to the field and watched Hufflepuff surround Sungjin who was grinning at his teammates, his ears red.
“Man, he’s good,” Jaebeom mutters.
“I agree with our keeper. It really looks like a bear’s coming for you,” their captain chuckles.
Chan mutters under his breath, blaming himself as he does. He still has the Snitch in his fingers, its wings flapping.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Jackson smiles as he takes Chan to his arm. “It’s your first time, it’s fine.”
Chan shakes his head once and looked at their opponents. He smiled when he saw Sungjin. Ilhyun was right. He was different. On the stands, the group claps their hands to congratulate both teams. Brian stares at Sungjin and etches into his mind his grin at the moment. Seokjin taps him on his shoulder, telling him they were leaving. He takes one last look at Sungjin and sees him looking at him. Brian smiles happily and gives him a thumb up. And Brian thought he couldn’t grin any wider.
They gathered in the abandoned classroom, waiting for the Quidditch players in their group to arrive. Although, they’re not expecting any of the Hufflepuffs to arrive. After all, they’d won the match and they were certain they’re going to celebrate. Ilhyun had joined them this time. Yoongi had dragged her with, saying Chan will still find her if they arrive and figure out she wasn’t with them. She sat beside him now, and an empty seat on her other side, and then Brian, and another empty seat next to him.
The two seats on Yoongi’s left were empty, too, saved for Hoseok and Taehyung, and then it was Jimin followed by Jungkook. Beside the Ravenclaw would be Seokjin and then Namjoon. There are two seats empty for Jackson and Jaebeom. Then it was Jinyoung and Bambam, followed by Yugyeom and Youngjae. After Youngjae was Mark and then Jaehyung. Then it would be Wonpil and Dowoon before Sungjin’s reserved seat again.
“Wah,” laughed Youngjae. “I honestly didn’t think we’d win.”
“Honestly?” Seokjin looks at him. “I didn’t think we’d lose.”
“Yeah, Jaebeom and Jackson were so undefeated as a duo. Sungjin took them alone,” Jaehyung says.
“Chan’s probably blaming himself,” Namjoon says. “As the player who would end the game.”
Jungkook frowned, nodding, “He did well, too. The other seeker didn’t even know where to look even when Chan found the Snitch.”
“Chan’s the youngest seeker, isn’t he?” Bambam asks.
“Ilhyun’s seeker now too,” Yoongi speaks up.
“Really?!” Jimin grins.
“You’re a seeker? For Slytherin?” Jinyoung asks, eyes wider.
“No, for Gryffindor,” Ilhyun rolled her eyes and Jinyoung scowled at her.
“I didn’t know that,” mumbled Wonpil.
“But Chan’s still younger than you, right?” Bambam asked, Ilhyun nods.
“I’m gonna try for keeper next year,” Yugyeom declares.
“Yah, Jungkook! Try out for seeker in our team!” Dowoon beams.
“I’ll try,” Jungkook nods. “Mark hyung, Jaehyung hyung, you’re both chasers, right?”
“Yep,” both older Ravenclaws answered, hi-fiving.
“Younghyun hyung, are you okay?” Namjoon suddenly asks and all heads turned to the Gryffindor who had been silent since they gathered.
Brian nods quietly.
“What’s the matter?” Seokjin inquires, eyes narrowing. “You’re not upset we lost, are you?”
“No,” Brian instantly answers. “It’s not that. It’s just…” Brian trailed, sighing as he closed his eyes.
And his sadness seeps out from him, making the first-years frown and Ilhyun look at him knowingly. Yoongi leans to her, whispers something, and then she nods.
“What?” Jaehyung raised a brow.
“I wanted us to be complete right now but — “ he sighs again, head shaking once, “ — maybe not.”
Two arms put themselves on his shoulders, wrapping around his neck, “Why not?”
Brian looks up and sees Sungjin’s smiling face. He sat up and turned around, blinking as the Quidditch players enter, walking to their seats. Sungjin smiles wider and sits beside him. And they were complete.
“Sungjin hyung is a cheater,” Jackson huffs.
“I told you, you needed good luck,” Sungjin teases.
“Our players got scared of him!” Jaebeom complains. “He was the only one scoring.”
“Sungjin hyung doesn’t play that often but he’s scary as an opponent,” Dowoon giggles.
“I wasn’t even playing seriously,” Sungjin laughs when Jaebeom and Jackson protest.
“I hope you play against Slytherin and lose,” Chan pouts, Sungjin laughs again when the Slytherins cheered.
“Jinyoung hyung and I will try for beaters next year,” Bambam says.
“What? I don’t want to, you idiot,” Jinyoung slaps his shoulder.
“Why not? Don’t you always want to hit Bambam? You both would fit as a beater. You don’t need to play seriously. You just need to get behind an opponent and let the other hit the bludger towards you in hopes of hitting you and not the opponent. It works,” Ilhyun says.
“Oh, that’s brilliant!” Bambam’s face lights up.
“I might consider it,” Jinyoung squints his eyes.
“Wah, you’re really something,” Chan chuckles at her. “I don’t want to go against Slytherin now.”
Sungjin smiles at them before turning to the quiet Gryffindor beside him. Brian stared at the ground, thinking. He didn’t even know Sungjin was looking at him until he heard his soft voice.
“Yah,” Sungjin calls softly and he looks over. “Why are you quiet?”
Brian shook his head, “Just thinking.”
“About?” Sungjin tilts his head, frowning. “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you I got in the team. Really. I didn’t think it would be — “
“It’s not that. I was just joking about that. I’m absolutely happy for you,” Brian mumbled.
“Then what? Why are you sad?” Sungjin shuffles closer to him and he feels his hand on his waist as he put his arm right next to his on the desk.
“I just thought you won’t come here after the match,” Brian muttered, taking his hand and fiddling with his fingers.
Sungjin lets him, “Why not?”
“You won the game. I just thought you’d rather stay in your dorm and celebrate with everyone else,” Brian says, looking at him.
Sungjin’s eyes softened, accompanying the soft smile that appeared on his lips, “They are celebrating.”
“Then why are you guys here?” Brian asks, nodding to gesture at his two other teammates.
“We didn’t want to. Hoseok and Taehyung wanted to be here,” Sungjin replied.
“What about you, then? Why are you here? Brian blinks.
Sungjin smiles wider and squeezes his waist a bit, “Because you’re here.”
“But — “
“No one will care if the Quidditch team is complete or not while they celebrate. There are four of them there. That’s enough. Besides, they already praised me before we left, so it’s fine,” Sungjin cuts.
Brian frowned, “You didn’t need to be here just because I’m here. Your house is celebrating.”
“Do you want me to go back, though?” Sungjin asks. “Do you want me to leave and go back to our dorm to celebrate? Because if that’s what you want, I will.”
Brian kept quiet and stared at him.
“So? Do you want me to leave?” Sungjin lets his waist go.
“No,” Brian answers and Sungjin holds him again.
“That’s what I thought,” Sungjin smiles. “Cheer up. We’re complete, aren’t we? Plus — oh, Ilhyun’s here too!”
“She’s been here all this time,” Jaebeom laughs. “She even spoke earlier.”
“I didn’t notice,” Sungjin grins.
“You would have if you didn’t flirt with Younghyun hyung as soon as you entered,” Wonpil retorts.
Brian turns red, Sungjin only giggles.
“At this point, it’s already a habit,” Sungjin says.
Brian turns redder.
“You’re a snake,” Ilhyun muttered.
“Says a Slytherin,” Sungjin retorts.
“And since when was I a Parselmouth and how can you speak Parseltongue?” Ilhyun rebuts.
Everyone watched them banter, an amused smirk on their lips as they continue to answer. Sungjin stares at her, Ilhyun smirks.
“You can’t read my mind,” Ilhyun confidently says.
“I always forget Sungjin is a Legilimens,” Seokjin chuckles.
“I’m not reading anyone’s mind, don’t worry,” Sungjin assures. “I will read Ilhyun’s only. Or at least try to.”
“Who are Legilimens among us here?” Jaehyung questions. “Raise your hand.”
Ilhyun, Sungjin, and Yoongi do.
“Yoongi hyung? Really?” Jimin raised his brows.
“And what about Occlumens — you’re not an Occlumens?” Jaehyung furrows his brows at Ilhyun.
The Slytherin shook her head, “Just a Legilimens.”
“You only have to worry about Ilhyun. She’s the only one reading minds,” Chan reveals.
“That’s so invasive,” Yugyeom accuses.
“It’s only between you and me. Besides, I can’t help it,” Ilhyun mumbles.
“How did you know, anyway, Chan? That she’s the only one reading minds?” Jungkook quietly inquires.
Chan shrugged, “Because I always find her in my mind when I look at her and she’s already looking at me.”
“And… you’re okay with that?” Brian blinks.
“She doesn’t always just read my mind. Most of the time, we talk through it,” Chan says.
“Is that why you both always stare at each other across the Great Hall?” Bambam grins amusedly.
“That’s so sappy — “
“If that’s sappy, then what do you call you and Younghyun oppa?” Ilhyun cuts Sungjin off, raising a provocative brow at him.
Sungjin scowls at her before ignoring her.
Blithesome
Sungjin ran through the empty hallways, a grin on his lips as he does. He spots his best friend on the Wooden Bridge, and he ran faster, calling his name excitedly, “Kang Bra!”
Brian turned to him and instantly smiled as soon as he saw the happiness on the older’s face, “Yeah? What did you want to show me? You look so happy.”
Sungjin stops in front of him and digs in his robes’ pocket pulling out something small. He holds it with his index and thumb to show the younger. Brian took it and looked at it closely to examine it. Then he gasped, looking up at Sungjin who smiled wider.
“Really?” Brian laughs in amusement.
Sungjin nods. Brian steps closer to him and pins the badge on his robe before tackling him into a tight embrace.
“I’m so proud of you,” Brian grins against his hair.
Sungjin returns his embrace, “Thanks, Kang Bra.”
“Prefect Park,” Brian giggled when Sungjin poked his sides. “Wah, hyung.”
Sungjin laughed when he pulls back. He takes the younger’s face in his hands, “Yah, why are you crying?”
“I’m just — I’m so proud,” Brian sniffs, wiping his tears and hugging the older again. “You’re doing so well. And I’m not doing anything.”
“Oh, don’t say that!” Sungjin scolds. “You’re working hard, too!”
“Like how?” Brian nods challengingly at him. “I don’t have any achievements, hyung.”
“No, listen to me,” Sungjin grabs his face with both hands and stares deeply into his eyes. “You’re one of the best duelers in the school, Professor Snape said so himself.”
“What?” blinked Brian.
“You’re one of the strongest, he said that,” repeats Sungjin. “When I was having my Legilimency lessons with him, he always brought you up because you’re close to me. It’s one of the praises he said about you — you’re a great dueler.”
Brian sniffs, his bottom lip jutting out a bit. Sungjin giggles as he wipes his tears then squishes his cheeks together. Brian looked at him, blinking.
“You’re so cute,” Sungjin says as he continues squishing.
“Hyung, your eyes are sparkling,” Brian says, voice muffled.
“Because they’re looking at you,” Sungjin pulls his lips into a thin smile, kind of teasing.
Brian pushes him away, “You’re so sappy.”
He looks at the yellow badge on Sungjin’s robe and he smiles again, feeling his ears burn for some reason.
“Hyung,” whispers Brian as he leaned on the older.
“Hm?” hums Sungjin as he closes his eyes, tracing the side of Brian’s neck with the tip of his nose.
They were in the Room of Requirement, sitting on the chairs. Sungjin’s chair was facing Brian, while Brian’s chair faces ahead. Brian was sitting sideways for him to lean back on the older. It wasn’t natural, he had to force Sungjin to turn his chair towards him for him to lean back. Sungjin had given him a couple of sighs before giving up. Now, his right arm was holding Brian around his waist, his other arm on the desk on their left.
Earlier, they were hanging out with Jackson and Jaebeom, and both of them kept on exposing Jackson to Jaebeom. Jackson has had enough and actually threw spells at them, despite Jaebeom trying to stop him. Sungjin and Brian had run away from him and they needed a place to hide. They couldn’t hide in the abandoned classroom since Jackson knows where that was. They passed by a wall and the Room showed itself to them so they slipped in, knowing it won’t open to anyone else if they were in there. So now here they are.
“If we fight,” Brian starts. “And I mean, like get into a very serious and potentially destructive fight, would you leave?”
“What do you mean leave?” Sungjin whispers, his breath hitting Brian’s skin softly.
“Would you not consider me your friend ever?” Brian asked.
“No,” Sungjin answers simply and inhales a bit, still moving his head and eyes closed. “If we fight like that, whoever is at fault, I’ll try to fix it.”
“What if it was a matter of, say, if you have a girlfriend and — “
“I’d never wanna lose you in any way, Kang Bra,” sighs Sungjin and settles his chin on the younger’s shoulder. “If ever the fight leads us to never talking ever again, I’d still consider you my best friend. Even if we go different ways, you’ll still be special to me.”
Brian keeps quiet.
“If ever I lose you, I would never forgive myself for letting that happen, when I know I could always have done something to prevent that. If I’ll have the chance, I’d still go back to you. You’re my best friend. I’d still love you the same even after the fight. Nothing can change that,” Sungjin adds. “Why?”
“No reason,” Brian mumbles. “Just, you know we can’t help but have differences.”
Sungjin hums in understanding.
“And at some point, we would be bound to clash,” Brian continues.
“But Kang Bra,” Sungjin moves his head to put his lips next to Brian’s ear as he props his head with his hand that was on the desk. His eyes were still closed to savor the moment. “You’re the type to easily adjust. So why would we clash if you always try to go by my flow?”
Brian sighs and lets his head fall back to his shoulder. Sungjin opened his eyes to look at him. Brian was already looking at him, smiling a bit. And something in his eyes changes, Sungjin sees his pupils dilate.
“Your eyes are the night sky,” Brian notes.
“You’re the moon,” Sungjin answers.
Then Brian looks up at the ceiling. Sungjin watched his Adam’s apple bob, indicating he gulped, before looking up as well. He smirked as he looked back down at Brian.
“Mistletoe,” Brian smirks back. “What’s it gonna be, Prefect? Are you brave enough to go for it?”
Sungjin chuckled, “Don’t try me, Kang Bra. You don’t know another thing about me.”
“Then let me know about it,” Brian challenges.
Sungjin moved swiftly and next thing Brian knew, he was sitting on the desks, the Hufflepuff between his legs and his hands on either side of his thighs. Sungjin raised a brow.
Brian takes him on, “That was it?”
“You really want me to show you a hidden side of me?” Sungjin questions. “I’m giving you a choice here.”
Brian leans to him, lips almost touching his. Sungjin didn’t move a centimeter, keeps his head where it was, and stares at Brian, alternating between his lips and his eyes.
“Sungjin hyung, I’ll always say yes to you,” Brian murmurs to him.
Sungjin smirks again and pushes his head forwards, eyes closing as he takes Brian’s bottom lip between his. An unintentional moan reverberated from Brian’s throat and he lets himself fall back on the desk slowly as Sungjin pushes him down. He feels a hand on his left thigh, pulling at it and making him wrap his leg around the older’s waist, pulling him closer as Sungjin takes the lead.
Sungjin holds himself up from him with his other hand beside Brian’s head. He pulls back for a second, only to tilt his head to the other side and kiss him again. Brian runs a hand through Sungjin’s hair, ends up with the back of his head, and pulls him deeper, mouth opening willingly. Sungjin pulls back, tilts his head to the other side, and enters his cavern, exploring it freely. Sungjin took his hand from his head and laced their fingers together, pinning it beside Brian’s head as he goes hard, pressing, going deeper, and forcing a deep, lengthy moan from the younger.
Brian puts his other hand on his chest to make him stop and breathe for air. Sungjin obeys easily, and moves his head to the side, putting soft but wet kisses down the side of Brian’s neck. He goes across his throat, hard once, and then proceeds to the other side. Brian breathes heavily, tilting his head to the other side to give him more space.
“Sungjin hyung, god,” Brian whimpers airily.
“I’ve always thought I’d be a Gryffindor — “ Sungjin moves Brian’s robes to the side and on his collarbone, earning another lengthy moan.
“, , — ah,” Brian just knows Sungjin left a hickey on that spot.
Sungjin goes back up to his neck and softly traces it with his mouth this time. And Brian feels him smirk against his skin.
“Kang Bra, I’m not even touching you,” he teases and kisses around his neck again.
“It’s still so good — ah, hyung,” Brian continues to whimper, falling apart under him.
“Kang Bra, if I touch you below the belt — “
“No,” Brian cuts. “I’m not ready. Please don’t, I — “
“Shh, shh, shh. Alright, alright,” Sungjin smiles and pulls back to press a gentle kiss on his lips.
He backs up then and pulls him up by his hands. Brian reaches to him, Sungjin goes within his reach, and Brian embraces him. Sungjin wraps his arms around his waist and pulls him closer, flush against his body. He was still between his legs. Brian buries his face on Sungjin’s neck and inhales deeply. Sungjin felt him smile and he smiled as well, pressing a kiss to Brian’s head.
“You embrace is so warm,” Brian murmurs.
Sungjin tightens his hold, but not enough to hurt the younger. Brian sighs at that, feeling cozy as Sungjin ran his hand up and down his back.
“They’ll always hold you – if you want to; if you need to,” Sungjin whispers.
--
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