Chapter Text
“Beomgyu, what the hell did you add to the cauldron?! The book said to take it off the heat before adding anything to it.” Taehyun wretched, smothering his robe over his nose and mouth to act as a filter.
“I thought it would be faster if I just added them and then pulled it right off! It shouldn’t have reacted that fast!” Beomgyu pointed with his wand. He bent down, face inches off the paper to try and blink through the billowing smoke and read the fuzzy words. ‘CAUTION: TAKE OFF FIRE BEFORE ADDING THE TWO PORCUPINE QUILLS.’ “Okay, but it didn’t tell me that it would do this!” Beomgyu defended with a whiney pout.
As the toxic smog dissipated enough for the two to look at one another, the brunette raised a strained brow, smacking the page repeatedly to emphasize the text. Right there, right next to the caution warning, was the effects and dangers if the instructions were not followed strictly.
“Okay well-” The oldest interjected. “Will you two stop your bickering like an old married couple and help me clean this out?” Heuningkai whimpered, lifting the cauldron an entire arms length away from himself. His eyes watered as he quickly ran over with the bubbling cauldron to the sink. The two follow after to swell out the potion and frantically scrub the remnants clean from the inside. Each one of them whispered to one another, elbowing each other around.
Two large hands slammed down on Heuningkai and Taehyun’s shoulders. “You three could have sent someone to the hospital wing! Madam Wiffel has enough on her shoulders without you three adding to her list of problems.” A scolding voice boomed behind the squabbling kids. "Potions are not to be taken lightly, any wrong ingredient, or preparing it wrong, can turn a simple healing tonic into a deadly poison." The professor of potions let go of their shoulders, waving a wand for each window to crack open. The toxic smog slowly began blowing out of the large room, allowing the students to finally sigh a fresh breath of relief.
“I’m sorry Professor Ambrosius, we didn’t read the instructions correctly.” Taehyun owned up, turning to face the stocky professor. The middle of the three pulled up his wet sleeves, the soppy cloth sticking to his arms uncomfortably. Taehyun glanced at the other two, both nodding solemnly to the claim of responsibility. It was all three of their faults after all.
“It was Hueningkai-”
“Oh really?” The youngest exclaimed, hands propped on hips as Beomgyu lifted the cauldron to protect himself behind it. A devilish smile plastered on the older Gryffindor's face, he was always a menace in starting up nonsensical drama.
Taehyun pinched the bridge of his nose, "why am I friends with you guys?" But as Huening went to quip back, Professor Ambrosius barked, “If you three do not resolve this, ten points will be taken from each of your houses, for lack of teamwork.” That sure made them shut up, losing house points was lethal for a student's social reputation. A nail in a kid's coffin.
“Sorry Professor…” They all answered in semi unison. The older man sighed, giving them all one last warning glare before walking off to monitor the rest of the class. Those same students all seemed to quickly return to their own potions after watching the scene unfold.
Hueningkai glanced at Beomgyu in the corner of his eyes, who seemed dejected in his previous antics. He honestly looked like a kicked puppy. The long haired student offered the pewter to the youngest in apology. The two Gryffindors were off in their own world; leaving the Ravenclaw to diligently work on gathering the ingredients for redoing the potion. They needed to finish it, and guess the tonic correctly in order to get the grade. And Kang Taehyun was not about to let these goons give him a failing score simply for being the Gryffindors they were, fooling around.
“If you two could bring me that cauldron, six snake fangs, four horned slugs, two porcupine quills, and heat up the burner, please.” The shortest guided, glancing at the two with a gentle smile. Once sorting them all out, they got straight to work, seeming to follow the textbook word for word. The Ravenclaw turned to scan over the instructions to ensure it was done right this time.
The snake fangs were crushed finely in the mortar, before cautiously dumped into the lukewarm water. Hueningkai had taken it upon himself to be the one to dispense the ingredients, Taehyun being the one to read the instructions, and Beomgyu only left to follow said instructions. Much to his ego, he kept to simply obeying this time, not going astray from what he was told.
“We’ll be late to our next classes.” Beomgyu pouted, eyeing Taehyun. “Just put the cauldron on the fire. If we’re late, then you can thank yourself.” Taehyun challenged, glancing up to face Beomgyu directly. The Gryffindor stiffened, he hated bristling the younger genuinely. Shooting an apologetic frown, Beomgyu lifted the cauldron, clunking it into the grate that helped hold it over the burner.
With a wave of his wand, the brew turned in color while boiling. Taehyun nodded, quickly writing down the observations, “Does it smell like anything, hyung?” Taking a whiff, it really only smelled like the gas that fueled the flame. “No, not really.” The feather quill scribbling again, this time on its own.
Huening peered over Beomgyu’s shoulder, trying to sniff too. “Yeah, I don’t smell anything either. Just Gyu’s fancy shampoo, you got any more? I wanna smell like that.” Hueningkai flipped the small amount of hair he had, scoffing playfully. “As if, smell like a troll all you want!!” Beomgyu shoved Kai back to the other side of the table, nearly knocking the pewter over. This caused the youngest to scream, a hand clapping over his mouth to shush him immediately. None of them wanted the professor back over to take away points.
With no reaction from anyone in the room, they added the horned slugs to the mixture. Remembering to take the cauldron off the heat this time, they added the quills safely. After a bit of cooling, the potion turned once again deep red. Taehyun snapped his fingers in realization, “Cure for Boils!!” He exclaimed, writing down the last bit of his discovery on the long parchment paper. “Really? I should give this to Raufice, he always gets boils from holding the toads in the choir.” Hueningkai beamed, taking a clear vial to ladle a portion into it.
“Okay, if you guys could clean up, I’ll finish this for all three of us and turn it in. If we hurry, we can make it to Soobin’s flying class. Yeonjun said that he’d get us a pass from one of the Hufflepuff prefects.” Both Beomgyu and Hueningkai grinned, a dubious glance from one another, quickly cleaning the table clear. Seeing Soobin fall straight on his face off a broom wasn’t something they were going to miss. Not for a moment.
“You have to grip the neck like you would a baseball bat.” Hands mimicked holding the handle, taking a long swing. “I’ve never held one, I don’t play sports, hyung!” Another exclaimed, toes scraping across the grass to keep balance. Soobin was practically holding on for dear life to the seat of the broom, teetering back and forth from each side. Yeonjun was standing near the sidelines, unable to hide his smile of amusement, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re hopeless, Soobin.”
“Yeah, and you’re the worst teacher imaginable!” Soobin bit back, slipping off the broom as it skyrocketed into the air, paused for a moment and plummeted back down. He lay there in the grass, staring up at the clouded sky when Yeonjun’s face popped into view, the biggest smirk plastered on his lips. “Don’t say a word, Choi Yeonjun…”
Yeonjun only laughed, flopping down beside Soobin and stretched out in the grass. “You know, with how big you are, I would have assumed you did SOME sports back at your old school.” He eyed the younger through long lashes, shifting around to get comfortable.
“Does PC gaming count as a sport here-”
“God no, and I’m afraid to know how often you did that.” Yeonjun snorted, shaking his head.
“I used to have nightly raids with some friends back home.” The clouds shifted as the wind picked up, the pang of being homesick pulled at Soobin’s chest. “I’m afraid... What if I hurt someone? Or curse somebody while flying by. Can you kill someone like that?” Soobins brows knitted with worry. This only made Yeonjun laugh even harder, holding his gut as he threw himself into a full body chuckle.
“I could just imagine you hurling by, screaming something and a whole group of people just crumble to the ground. Oh to read The Daily Prophet headliner for that one.”
“I’m serious!” Soobin wailed, sitting up and looking over at Yeonjun who was wiping away tears that rimmed his eyes. “Soobinah, there’s no way that can happen, there’s only a few unforgivable curses and you need wands, and a lot of malice to do something like that. Don’t worry too much.”
“Yeonjun hyung, Soobin hyung!” A familiar voice rang out causing the two seniors to perk up from their spots in the grass. Waving frantically was Hueningkai, jogging over with Beomgyu and Taehyun trailing behind. “Any luck with lifting off the ground yet?”
“Nope. At least, not with Soobin on the broom.” Yeonjun smiled, swiping up the broom in his hands, stepping one foot into the metal holster near the bristles. The broom lifted with ease as he guided himself back to Soobin while balancing on one leg. “Show off.” Soobin scoffed, dusting himself off. “Do you want my help, or not?” Yeonjun pursed his lips, cocking his hips to the side while handing back the broom.
“Soobin hyung, you have to think of it like riding a bike, except you’re flying.” Beomgyu motioned his hands like driving a car, holding a steering wheel. He’s definitely ridden a bike before, totally. “Very helpful Beomgyu, I never thought of it like that.” Soobin deadpanned, snatching the broom out of Yeonjun’s hand. One foot holstered, he gripped the neck like he was instructed to the best of his inexperienced ability. The feeling of warm hands rested on his hips, causing his entire body to stiffen. Yeonjun had inched closer and was holding Soobin steady. Wobbling back and forth, fingers dug into his waist, balancing him out easily.
“You need to hold your hands here. They’re too close to you, you won’t be able to steer like that.” Yeonjun guided, placing one of his hands over Soobins, pushing them along the neck of the broom, closer to the tip. The wind buffeted at their hair, blinking as it whipped in their eyes. Yeonjun leaned in, using his chest as a pillar against Soobin’s bicep, helping him keep balanced. “Now shove off. I’ll catch you if you fall, don’t worry.”
Soobin schooled his brows together, poked out his tongue in concentration. He just had to wield the broom, just like Professor Vastani told him. With a sudden kick off the ground, he felt a gentle pause in his arch before floating back down. A laugh of disbelief rattled his chest. Did he actually fly? Albeit it being two seconds, but did he really fly? Soobin looked over at his friends, who all seemed to smile, Taehyun giving a valiant fist in the air. “Keep going hyung, do it again!”
Yeonjun smiled, patting his back, “That’s it, I’m going to let go this time, okay?” His voice was gentle, airy like he was lost in the moment. Wait, let go? Soobin wasn’t ready to do this on his own. “Don’t let go!” Soobin wailed, having already leapt high into the air out of pure excitement to fly again. His eyes frantically searched for his so-called flying teacher, only to find Yeonjun showing both his hands up. He let go! The broom wobbled beneath him, but he remained in the air. The grip Soobin had on the neck of the broom was like a vice.
“Lean forward!” Beomgyu cupped his mouth to shout, as if Soobin was miles away, when in reality, he was probably only ten feet. With a shaky tilt, Soobin heavily leaned in, and what a mistake that was. He and the broom pelted across the courtyard, zipping past a huddle of students, thankfully missing them. He shouted in panic while barreling directly into the wall that encompassed the greenhouse. The broom splintered on impact, pieces flying every which way, and all Soobin saw was stone, and then it’s pitch black.
The feeling of being ripped in and out of consciousness always felt uncomfortable. Soobin hasn’t really ever been in this state other than when he was being jolted out of deep sleep from nightmares. He lost many restless nights to the battle of worries plaguing his thoughts.
His sister used to also be a night owl, enjoying shows and dramas quietly in the living room while everyone slept. Whenever Soobin couldn’t sleep, or was unfortunately scared awake; he’d slip onto the couch and watch her shows. She never prodded or asked anything, just smiled at him, made space on the couch and offered her snacks. Who was Soobin to deny perfectly good snacks?
Those nights were comforting, just having quiet company with the soft mumbles from the TV. Of course, she couldn’t help but whisper her opinions on the lead male or female at times. Not that Soobin seemed to mind, he could even fall asleep to her rambling. And he did, many times, waking up sprawled out on the couch by himself, a blanket tucked over him.
The sound of ringing filled his ears, the life of Hogwarts rumbling back to life. Everything was still pitch black, but sounds of voices hollering to one another finally registered. Those voices sounded muffled, like he was under water, he really wanted to breach the surface or sink back in and everything go blank again.
“-You insane?!’”
“What?”
“He’s never flown a broom, he doesn’t even know how to land properly and you tell him to essentially floor it?!”
Who was even talking? The sounds of rustling clothes and feet scrambling rattled his ringing ears. They must be fighting each other.
“Look, I didn't think he’d actually go full throttle like he did.” A loud thunk filled the silence, coughing and sputtering followed after. Soobin knitted his brows as more senses returned to him, unfortunately pain came to the forefront. His voice was practically gone, scratching in his throat as he groaned.
“Soobin hyung? You with us?” A voice cracked, inching closer hovering over Soobin. All he could do was respond with knitting his brows tighter, grimacing to the singeing pain slicing through his skull. Warm slender hands cupped his cheeks, one retracting to brush the bangs that stuck to his forehead.
“Soobin, can you open your eyes?” Another voice cooed, that one felt more familiar to him. With reluctance, Soobin peeled one eye open, the extremely bright sun blinding him. The silhouette of four figures hovered over his body. One lowered down and a face finally came into clear view, Yeonjun smiled, sighing out in relief. “There we go. Welcome back Soobinah. How do you feel?”
“Like shit…” Soobin answered, blinking out the pain while scrunching his nose. Warm liquid wet his lips, smacking them apart he tasted copper.
“Soobin hyung, how many fingers am I holding up?” A figure lifted up a hand against the sun.
It was dead silent for a minute before Soobin was scrambling to get on his feet, gripping the figure by the collar of their sweater. Beomgyu’s face skewed in concern, screaming at being lunged at. Hueningkai and Taehyun dove forward to hold Soobin back and pry his hands off. “Hey, hey, hey, relax. You’re bleeding everywhere.” Yeonjun soothed, cupping a hand under Soobin’s chin to catch the droplets of blood. “Here, lean your head back, hold this.” A handkerchief was shoved over his bloody mouth and nose.
Soobin sighed, wiping the handkerchief over his face, smearing most of the blood off. Recalling back on the sentiment before, why the hell would he listen and lean forward like that? But then again, it’s not like he knew that would send him barreling across the courtyard. “Uhm- your broom is broken, hyung…” Hueningkai opened his arms slightly, showing off the fragments of a broom in his swaddle. “I don’t think even Professor Vastani can repair it.”
“It’s… It’s fine.” It wasn’t fine. He couldn’t afford another broom.
“Come on, let’s get you back inside. Do you think he needs to go to the hospital wing?” Taehyun glanced over to the others, hauling Soobin up onto his feet slowly. The other three exchanged worried expressions, Madam Wiffel would rat them out for skipping classes. “I'm pretty sure I have some Wiggenweld potions in my cupboard back in the dorms. Soobin, do you think you can make it to the Gryffindor commons?"
Beomgyu wrung his hands together, hoping the older would agree. This could be an appeasement for practically breaking Soobin's nose. Wiggenweld did have a legend behind it, so it was worth a shot. "Yeah, I can try." Soobin smothered his face with the bloody cloth, wobbling on his feet alone.
Both Yeonjun and Taehyun took to each side of Soobin, slowly walking him out of the courtyard and back into the North wing of the castle. They slinked around each corner, slipping into the Grand Staircase and up to the third level. They met a large framed photo, the woman in the painting turned, raising a brow at the group. She knitted her expression to one of concern.
"Good heavens, what happened to the boy?"
"Diligrout." HeuningKai muttered, heaving the fragments closer in his arms.
"Yes, yes, the password, but the boy needs to be seen."
"Open the door, Diligrout." Beomgyu bit back, trying to pry the frame off the wall. She paused for a moment, scanning over each boy, then glanced at a couple of paintings nearby. The group held their breaths, hoping she would comply and not pass word on of their antics. After a couple of anxious heartbeats, the painting hinged off the wall revealing a tunnel inside. They all scrambled to file in, guiding Soobin in with hushed voices.
"Are we even allowed in here?" Soobin checked his handkerchief, it was soaked through and so was the collar of his shirt.
"No, but don't tell anyone and stay hidden. I'm going to get the potion." Beomgyu warned, shoving them all in a corner that hugged a large bookshelf. Soobin squeezed in the space between, Yeonjun caging him against the wall. They lowered their heads to hide from any view. Taehyun sat on the other side with a book opened and hovering over his face.
These were all poor excuses to not look obvious, Taehyun looking like a cartoon villain hiding behind a newspaper. Then there was Soobin and Yeonjun, who seemed to be in their own world crammed in the crack of a bookshelf and wall. Like that wasn't going to draw any attention. Hueningkai cleared his throat, puzzle piecing the broom back together to keep any wandering eyes on him instead.
Soobin took a glance at Yeonjun, feeling the elder's arms adjust against the wall, barring Soobin in place. They were a lot closer than he initially thought. A crooked smirk quirked at the corner of Yeonjun's lip. "What, do you want to kiss me to make it more believable?"
"Will you shut up? I have a broken nose and you're asking that?" Soobin scoffed, ears burned hot and face flushed pink. Their hushed voices barely anything above a meek whisper.
They both tensed, Yeonjun creeping forward with his head inches away from Soobin's, as a group of Gryffindor's cruised through the tunnel entrance. "Where the hell is Beomgyu?" Soobin hissed.
"His cupboard is a complete mess, last I saw it. I'm just hoping he actually finds the Wiggenweld potion…" Hueningkai responded, sucking on a fingertip, trying to get a splinter out.
Taehyun was awfully silent, probably actually reading the large book he was hiding behind. But just like the mind-reader he seemed to be, he whispered gently. "Huening, do you think you could check if he has found it?" Peeking from his book over to the youngest, Hueningkai nodded and scurried off to find the long haired Gryffindor. Thankfully, mostly everyone else was in their classes, less likely for the boys to get caught.
"Here…" A hand removed the handkerchief, using a clean corner to wipe away the blood smears. "You look like you came out of a murder scene."
"Yeah, and who's fault is that? For the eldest, you should know better." Soobin reminded.
Yeonjun paused his ministrations, turning a firm stare directly into Soobin's own heated glare. Soobin had never really seen such an expression on Yeonjun before. It made his stomach sink. "I wanted to help you, teach you something you missed out on. Sorry to try and do that for you, I'll buy you a new broom." His voice was distant, almost scolding himself rather than Soobin. This only made Soobin feel guilty, turning his gaze downcast. "Sorry…"
"It's fine, I should have been more cautious in teaching you. It's on me." Yeonjun steeled himself, offering the handkerchief back for Soobin to plug his nose with.
"We got it!" Beomgyu whisper shouted. Which really, was simply talking, they were the same volume.
Yeonjun removed himself from the space, not even looking at Soobin. The potion in hand, the Hufflepuff tipped the vial back and took it like a sour shot. Cringing to the aftertaste, he grunted and cleared his throat. Huening inched closer with the broom now in a cloth, “I think we should get out of here, back to the hideout.” He whispered, eyeing the Gryffindor’s pooling into the main seating area of their own common room.
It didn’t take long for them to discreetly slip out of the common room and scurry off to the Astronomy tower. They were all sprawled out on their own piles of pillows or bean bags. Soobin flopped back with his head tilted to slowly stop the bleeding, thankfully most of it was clotted by now. Taehyun and Hueningkai were discussing what to do, and if the cleaning brooms in the corner could be enchanted to replace Soobin’s broken one. Beomgyu was stress eating, cramming chocolate drops after another, giving glances to Soobin apologetically. Yeonjun wasn’t even around, he must be out in the reading room near Professor Viotto’s living quarters.
“How’s your nose, hyung?” Beomgyu eased, peering over to get into Soobin’s view.
“It’s fine, how long does it take for a Wiggenweld potion to kick in?” Soobin scrunched his nose, the pain searing deep into his brain. Beomgyu gave a hesitant shrug, “I actually don’t know if it can even heal bones, but I guess the whole day for the pain to go away.”
“It actually takes about 8 hours.” Taehyun added, walking over to replace the completely soiled handkerchief with a napkin. “How’s the pain? Any less since you woke up? How’s your head?”
Soobin raised a hand to motion a so-so gesture. “It’s okay, I’ve been better. I’m just hoping it doesn’t heal crooked. Does it look crooked?” The tallest exposed his face, leaning forward. His nose was definitely askew, causing the three in the room to wince backwards at the view. “Okay… Bad idea but, I’m going to shift it back into place.” Taehyun settled between Soobin’s legs with a sigh. Hueningkai ran over with part of the broken broom, allowing Soobin to clench it tightly between his teeth. Beomgyu was at his other side, gripping his hand firmly, “you can squeeze my hand as hard as you want.”
Soobin did not like this idea, shifting awkwardly with a piece of wood in his mouth, it didn’t seem like he could get out of this situation. He couldn’t see Madam Wiffel about this, and he didn’t want to have a nose crooked after being healed. Reluctantly, Soobin relaxed as best he could in their holds and positions, settling down to brace himself.
“On three, okay?” Taehyun placed his thumbs on each side of Soobin’s slanted nose. “1…2…3-” With a quick snap, everything flashed white with gut ripping pain, blood gushing and catching on his lips. Soobin’s teeth sank into the wood, causing the sounds of weak grain crumbling between his canines. His vision blurred as tears rimmed his eyes, and Beomgyu was crumbling to the ground with his hand crushed inside Soobin’s.
Beomgyu screamed for the both of them, Soobin was just too stunned in the insurmountable pain. Taehyun immediately retracted his hands as teeth sank deeper into the stem, and blood soaked the edges. Patting napkins frantically over Soobin's face, Hueningkai kept ushering words of encouragement. All of them were pampering to Soobin's side as he sat there like a baby stunned from falling on their face. None of them noticed when Yeonjun squeezed through the crack with an ice pack in hand and some painkillers.
"Here, these should help." He casually offered, shaking the items in Soobin's blurry vision like treats for a dog. The screech of an owl perked up Yeonjun, immediately rushing to the broken window. Stroking the bird's feathers, the Slytherin pulled out an envelope from his back pocket. The interaction only lasted for a moment and the sound of flapping sent the bird off into the distance, envelope in talons.
"Why was your mom's owl here?" Hueningkai questioned, eyeing Yeonjun while prying Soobin's hand open and freeing Beomgyu. The eldest strolled over to the coffee table, inspecting the options before picking a bag of mint chocolate drops that Beomgyu never finished. "No particular reason, she was just asking about you guys. So I sent Harwren with a letter back is all."
Soobin finally came to, blinking away the tears and spitting out the piece of bloody broom from his mouth. Grunting out a pained yelp, he downed the painkillers and slapped the ice pack over his face. "I'm going to go back to my dorm and rest there." He croaked, stumbling to his feet. "Thanks for your guy's help, really."
𖧵✜𖧵
Soobin’s nose healed quite remarkably, and everything slotted back into normalcy. The group agreed that flying lessons were better off left alone, as per Yeonjun's request. The weekend was approaching and Soobin was itching in his seat, mind reeling at visiting Hogsmeade for the first time.
The Hufflepuff was practically bounding out of Divination class and into the hall. He was a man on a mission to dump his belongings in his dorm, change clothes and meet Yeonjun at The Quad. Slipping into a simple cardigan sweater, warm pants and a soft coat; he was waving goodbye to Heeseung through the Hufflepuff commons. “Don’t have too much fun, hyung!” Was all the younger student could holler before Soobin was leaving him in the dust.
Friday night was apparently the night where Hogsmeade was accommodating for all the students getting out of their classes. Students were lounging along the courtyard in The Quad, meeting up to do the same thing the two elders were planning. Pulling the coat inward, Soobin began his search for the older Slytherin. It honestly didn’t take long against the dusk fall colors. Yeonjun’s hair became a deep red sea, rather than a soft wine in an elegant glass.
Soobin found the Slytherin slumped over a chessboard, mulling intensely. When peering over his shoulder, Soobin noticed how badly Yeonjun was to having his king smashed to bits. "Hyung, didn't you tell me the other day you were the best at Wizard's Chest in the group?"
"Shush, I need to concentrate, my snacks are on the line for this one." And oh, what a risk to bet on. Yeonjun's snacks made him the most competitive man alive. "Well, we can't be here all day." Soobin snorted, watching Yeonjun shout as his king got chased down by a knight.
As they walked through the snow, Yeonjun dragged his feet, leaving snail trails down the path. He lost his collection of snacks he hoarded from the hangout to the Ravenclaw he challenged. Soobin honestly couldn’t help but smile at how sulky the elder was, he definitely didn’t act his age at times. “Hyung, it’s okay, we’re going to Hogsmeade, you can just get new snacks there.”
“But it’s the fact I lost to Wizard’s Chest, Soobin.” Yeonjun groaned, throwing up his hands in exasperation. They had edged the outskirts of Hogsmeade, the barren farmlands with dried crops for early winter greeting them. “I’ll get you new snacks, you big baby.” Soobin laughed, patting the Slytherin’s back as their footprints matched together in the thin, sparse layer of snow.
“Speaking of, have you gotten any package recently?”
“What? Why would I be getting any package?” Soobin squeezed through the gate that Yeonjun opened for him. His eyes widening to the sturdy houses and storefront shops. The signs were so intricate and antique, like the village was here long before the castle. “So you haven’t… I suppose I’ll need to send another letter to my mom.” Yeonjun hummed in thought, striding up beside Soobin. “To your mom, why?”
Yeonjun shook his head, strolling past his friend and down into the heart of Hogsmeade. “Nevermind that, have you heard of The Three Broomsticks?” Soobin shook his head, completely awestruck by the bustling life of the village. “Would you like to start there then? It’s an inn, and they have plenty of warm drinks.” Yeonjun emphasized the mention of warming up, blowing his hot breath into his hands.
“Yeah, I could use a hot cocoa.” The Hufflepuff mimicked the elder. They walked shoulder to shoulder up the hill, staying close to keep warm. The sign of three brooms crossed in a triangle in the arch way, guess this was the inn. A group of students loitered around the entrance, it made it hard to get into. The two squeezed inside and snuggled into a corner where a lone booth resided. “Have you ever tried butterbeer?” Yeonjun questioned, rubbing his hands together to warm them up.
"No, what is it?" Soobin sat on his hands, letting his thighs heat up his numb fingers. His attention scanning the decorated walls, so much history on each item. "Okay, can I get you that, instead of hot cocoa? It's really good! It also comes hot so don't worry." With Yeonjun's reassurance and enthusiasm, Soobin nodded.
With a blink of an eye Yeonjun was making a b-line for the smokey bar. Once Soobin could no longer see him through the heavy crowd of wizards and students, he returned back to admiring the inn's decorations. Newspaper clippings of The Daily Prophet moved in their frames, he took time to read the articles. Animal mounts littered the high ceilings, which made Soobin frown, feeling a pang in his gut. Only the loud thunk of large mugs brought him back.
"Your drink, my liege." Yeonjun cooed, bowing dramatically to Soobin like he was royalty. Soobin smiled, sliding the warm mug closer to himself and peering into the contents it held. It was frothy, and whipped cream slathered like a mountain on top. “This looks incredibly sweet.” Soobin commented, lifting the rim of the cup to his lips, sipping loudly. Yeonjun couldn’t help but giggle when Soobin set the mug down and a giant white mustache covered his upper lip.
“You got something-” He pointed to his own upper lip. “You got something right there.” The Hufflepuff licked away only the corner of his lip. “Did I get it?” He smiled. The older chuckled, offering up a hand. “Here.” Yeonjun wiped over Soobin’s lip with his thumb, and scraped it over the edge of the cup. “Thanks hyung.”
They smiled at each other for a moment, taking turns sipping from their own mugs while watching people in the inn. Overhearing a couple of conversations here and there, a bit of gossip around the school and each house drama. “Soobinnie, how are you liking Hogwarts so far?” Brown fox-like eyes peered over to Soobin who fashioned a mustache again. “It’s easier to navigate, and spells are getting easier to manage. I keep losing my wand in the common rooms though.”
“I’ve lost my wand a couple times too when I was a first year.” Yeonjun snickered. Right, Yeonjun was the oldest, and no one in the group was around until two school years later. “Yeonjun hyung.” The Slytherin hummed his response. “What was your first year like? I mean, you didn’t have the younger three with you by that time, right?”
“Ah- Well, it actually wasn’t the best for me.” Yeonjun laughed awkwardly. “I was really lonely, and having been an only child in a small family of important roles in the Ministry of Magic; I had a lot to live up to. I so desperately wanted to prove myself. I was drawn to anyone who gave me the time of day, and unfortunately, it was a much older group that was bad news. I snuck out a lot, which I told you about.” Soobin blinked, taking another sip, inching in closer. Yeonjun took a slow drawl of breath, nodding.
“I started stealing from Zinko’s shop, and my pranks on students got pretty harmful. But then one day, one of the older friends of mine roped us into it and we did something terrible to another student. I lost a lot that day, and my mom couldn’t look at me the same, and I’m sure she still doesn’t.” Yeonjun gave a bitter laugh, glancing down at his mug.
“Something terrible?” Soobin echoed.
“It was something… unforgivable. But after that, I didn’t talk, I didn’t even look in anyone’s direction my second year. I refused to stand out or be around anyone, I didn’t want anything like that to happen again.” Yeonjun couldn’t look up at Soobin, stroking his thumb over the handle of his mug.
“I’m sorry if this was something you didn’t want to talk about.”
“That’s okay, you wanted to know.” Yeonjun responded, finishing his butterbeer, matching his mustache with Soobin. “Then Beomgyu, Taehyun and Heuningkai came along, they would not leave me alone in my third year. They followed me around like lost puppies, but little did I know, I needed them more than they needed me.” His frown faltered, like he was reminiscing.
“They seem to really like you, hyung. You really are a good elder to them. You’re a good elder to all of us.” Soobin smiled, finally licking his mustache clean once noticing Yeonjun’s.
Yeonjun winced for only a split second. “Yeah, an elder. I’m glad that I can be that for them.” Soobin furrowed his brows, why did he sound so defeated? The wine haired student looked away, placing his chin in the palm of his hand. “Soobin, do you ever think about what it'd be like to be someone you're not? Or live a double life?"
"Hm… I did at one point, but that was during the time I tried to suppress my magic and not scare my parents. Why?" Soobin tried balancing his empty mug by its corner.
"Just curious. I always wondered what it'd be like to be a son in a normal wizard family sometimes." Yeonjun sighed longingly. "If I had an older brother, able to guide me through Hogwarts, and not be so lonely back then. Would things have been different?"
"You? Having an older brother? There's no way I can see it, you're so well put together. You always help and focus on others, you’re so kind and sincere to anyone. I think a big brother wouldn't do you any good, you have it all worked out already."
"Excuse me?"
"Even if that original group was no good, you wouldn't be where you are without them. Isn't that worth recognizing and saying you powered through it? You have turned the page and are now what the other three need, the glue for them."
Yeonjun blinked slowly, his expression turning of one Soobin couldn't exactly decipher. He abruptly stood up and scooted out of the booth. "You know what, actually" He tossed his napkin down on the table after wiping his face. "I think that butterbeer was spoiled… I don't feel good. I'm going back to Hogwarts, go find the others at Honeydukes."
Before Soobin could even say anything, Yeonjun was pushing through the sea of students and out into the cold village. What even happened? The Hufflepuff stood at the entrance of The Three Broomsticks, watching Yeonjun's figure get smaller and smaller until he could no longer see it. Slumping in defeat and trying to piece together what he said or did wrong, he searched the town for the shop in question.
The pink shop stood out like a sore thumb, the lettering of the sign was soft. The windows displayed mountains of sweets as students sardined inside. Begrudgingly, the taller shoved open the door and politely skittered through the crowd to find his friends. The trio were scrambling the shelves for jellies and chocolates, climbing over each other to try and reach the good ones on the taller shelves.
Soobin reached up and grabbed the package of Cauldron Cakes and offered the heavy box to Taehyun. “Hyung? What are you doing here? Where’s Yeonjun?” Beomgyu peered over Taehyun’s shoulder, raising a brow. “Wasn’t Yeonjun supposed to show you around before meeting us up?” He questioned, pouting out his lips.
“He went back to Hogwarts, he said he didn’t feel good.” Soobin frowned, staring at the box of chocolates as they were taken out of his hand.
“Not feeling good? He has a stomach of steel, he will eat Bernie Bott’s Beans like they’re nothing. What got him sick?” Beomgyu cackled, but his tone was still one of concern.
“I have no idea, we only had butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks.” Soobin admitted.
“He loves butterbeer, that’s his favorite, there’s no way one mug got him sick. What were you guys doing?” Heuningkai answered with an arm full of sweets.
“We sat down, had a bit of small talk, he did seem off though. He was talking about his first year with me. But he didn’t really go into much detail, then asked about wanting to be someone different, and I just tried to cheer him up.”
“He talked to you about his first year?” Taehyun raised his brows. “Hyung, did he say anything at all about it?”
Soobin shook his head, surely everyone knew what he was told. “Just something bad happened and that he didn’t talk to anyone and avoided everyone his second year.” The trio looked at each other in surprise then gawked back at Soobin. “What?” He breathed, glancing at each one with concern.
“Soobin, Yeonjun has never talked to us about his first year, he always just changes topics, we’ve been trying for so long to get him to talk about it.”
“Yeah, we try to sit him down and talk about it for years, and you just pop in and he starts spilling his guts within a month? That’s so unfair!” Beomgyu whined, while Taehyun smacked his shoulder.
Yeonjun seemed like an open book, why would he not tell his longest three best friends what happened? That seemed so out of character for him. But then again, Soobin has only known Yeonjun for about a month… Maybe he was wrong to spout about a big brother, he sounded so sure of himself, like he already knew Yeonjun through and through. Soobin sighed, slowly putting his face into his palms.
“I may have messed up.”
“What?”
“I may or may not have essentially told him he had everything sorted out, and he didn’t need anyone to help him. He just seems such a guidance for you guys, and even me, I could never imagine him needing help.” Soobin panicked, trying to explain himself. Hearing this out loud, he sure sounded like the biggest jackass. Yeah, Yeonjun had every right to bail on him at the inn.
Soobin wrung his hands together to the eerie silence between them. Taehyun took a deep breath before stepping up to Soobin, placing a steady hand on his shoulder as if comforting him. After a bated breath, he was swinging square into his cheek. Copper bloomed in Soobin’s mouth, stumbling back on his feet.
“Taehyun, what the hell?!” Heuningkai pleaded, pulling at his arm from getting another swing in. Soobin reacted simply out of frustration, shoving Taehyun back. There was volatile static in the air, suffocating anyone nearby before Taehyun broke free from hands and swung at Soobin again. The taller caught the fist, swung right back, and cracked across Taehyun’s nose. Beomgyu and Heuning dove between the wrestling boys, pulling them apart. “Soobin, chill out!” Beomgyu sneered.
Taehyun straightened out while spitting out blood on the ground. “Maybe you should go back to the castle, Soobin. And don’t even try looking for Yeonjun when you get there, leave him the fuck alone. Yeonjun doesn’t need your help.”
Soobin furrowed his brows, running his tongue over the cut in his gums. He locked eyes with Heuning, who seemed near tears in shock at how venomous Taehyun sounded. But Soobin couldn’t blame anyone, so he said nothing more; backing away with hands up in submission. Slipping out of the shop; Soobin trudged through the snow, he couldn’t feel the cold, he already felt numb. He didn’t want to go back to his dorms, he didn’t want to face anyone. Somehow, he managed to ghost through the castle and ended up in the dungeons.
His mind subconsciously took him to a place he was warned not to go by Taehyun. His thoughts just couldn't bear what he did and sought comfort, even though he didn't deserve it. The halls were dark, something that could conceal his bloody face, and tears he didn't know wet his cheeks. He couldn't tell if they were from the pain on his face or in his heart. How could he speak so damn sure of Yeonjun? He had no right to, and he hated himself for it. Whipping around to face the wall, he flopped against it, slumping down to sit in defeat. He felt hot tears flow down his cheek, so he shunned his face into his knees.
Soobin could hear Slytherin students pause when walking past him, but they didn’t stick around, running off. It was best they left him alone anyway, Soobin didn’t want to deal with anyone.
"Hufflepuffs aren't allowed this deep in the dungeons. Go back to your common room."
Soobin's eyes shot open and he nearly snapped his neck as he looked up. Yeonjun was standing at the end of the hallway, keeping distance between them. He was rigid, leaning against the damp wall, eyes red-rimmed and arms crossed over his hollow chest. "Yeonjun-"
"Some Slytherins were going on about some guy sulking in the halls, should have guessed it was you. Go back to your common room, Hufflepuff, you don't belong here."
“Yeonjun, please-”
The Slytherin didn’t answer, walking backwards and rounding the corner to be out of sight. The shape of Yeonjun slipped away and he was left to watch the shadow walk down the hall, wiping its face before that itself vanished. Soobin was left sitting in silence, staring down the hall, hoping, pleading, the shadow would appear again and Yeonjun’s face would pop back into view. But that comfort never came, and even if Soobin ached for it, he knew better.