Chapter Text
“It’s not going well, is it,” Seokmin asked dubiously as the three of them stared down at the bubbling pot resting on the floor of the Potions resource dungeon. The Hufflepuff stirred miserably at the liquid steaming in the small cauldron.
“Shut up, it looks exactly how the book describes it,” his Slytherin best friend said patiently, Minghao concluding this statement by blowing on the cauldron’s contents before sitting back on his heels. “Now we’ve just got to let it brew for a week.”
“Do you really need extra credit in Potions?” Mingyu questioned the latter, sitting back likewise. “You’re Snape’s favorite student.”
“More reason to attempt getting it,” Minghao replied, grinning at the Gryffindor. “Why? Jealous?”
“Why would I be jealous?” Mingyu scoffed. “I don’t care about kissing teachers’ asses. I’m fine with the grade I have. I can’t believe I’m using my Sunday evening for this.”
“I would’ve thought you’d’ve wanted better grades to send home to your parents for the holidays,” Minghao drawled, a mischievous smirk on his lips.
“Yeah, let’s see what you have to say about that when we take our final Defense Against the Dark Arts exam later this year and I beat you again-”
Seokmin whistled to break the tension, natural result of the other two working in close quarters for so long. Although the three of them were best friends and had been since the first day of their Hogwarts journey, and although there was little to no House rivalry anymore, there were still traits between them that could flare up small arguments from time to time. “Let’s put this on a shelf to set for that week and get out of here. It’s always cold down here and even more so now that it’s winter.”
“I’ll take it,” Mingyu volunteered, Minghao intercepting rapidly and scooping up the pot.
“You’ll drop it on the way. And I’m not spending another hour juicing more squill bulbs.”
“Maybe if you listened to me and just crushed them all in a bowl instead of going one by one-”
“Meticulosity is key in potions, alright? And that explains why you’re not Snape’s favorite.” Minghao breezed away to pick a shelf available for students to brew long-standing potions, leaving Mingyu sulking as he cleared away the ingredients.
“Someone mark down the date we put it to set,” Minghao called from the shelves, and Seokmin ripped a strip of parchment off the roll, scrawling down the date before stuffing it into his bag. “If we mess up the date, it’ll be catastrophic. Felix Felicis is absolutely catastrophic if not brewed correctly. Exactly 132 hours- five and a half days, and then we have to do the incantation to solidify the magic of the potion. If we’re even a few minutes off, we’ll screw it all up.”
“Watch us do exactly that,” Mingyu replied, just as several third year girls swept into the resource dungeon, chittering as they retrieved their own cauldron from another shelf and set to work.
Minghao eyed the girls as suspiciously as he’d looked at anyone else that’d come in during their little potion session, and pushed their cauldron a little deeper into the shadows of the shelf he’d picked as the other two came to stand next to him. “Can’t have anyone stealing our pre-brewed liquid luck.”
“They’re two years younger than us, I don’t think they’ve got interest in our OWL-level potions,” Seokmin said exasperatedly, wrapping an arm around each boy’s shoulders and leading them from the dungeon before Minghao exploded with paranoia and carried the cauldron to his room for maximum privacy.
“Anyway, it’s a real bummer we don’t even get to keep the potion after going to all the trouble of making it,” Mingyu sighed as they made their way up another staircase, the castle relatively quieter seeing as everyone was finishing up dinner and heading to bed. “Imagine how nice it’d be to have some Liquid Luck in your pocket. Pity it’s just for extra credit. Damn Snape for assigning something so impossible that only people as smart as Hao can do it.”
“I suppose it’s confiscated after judging it for extra points because Snape doesn’t know what we could do with it,” Minghao said thoughtfully, unswayed by the compliment as he adjusted the strap of his bag. “Students could use it to cheat on exams or sports…”
“Or you could use it to confess to- well, you know,” Seokmin crooned as they passed the library, and Mingyu flushed at the direct implication.
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t even say anyone’s name,” Seokmin teased, blinking wide-eyed with mock innocence. “I’m wounded at your accusation, Gyu.”
Minghao snorted. “When are you gonna confess?”
“I’m not,” Mingyu mumbled, staring at the ground as they kept walking, his usual bright energy dimmed.
“It’s not like you see him much anyway. Even if he said no. It wouldn’t be awkward.”
“I’ve told you, our parents are friends back at home. That’s how I got to know him, remember? If he says no I’ll still have to see him around every time we have vacation. Plus, he’s a year older than me and I doubt he’d have any interest. A lot of people like him,” Mingyu said morosely.
“Gyu, you do realize that you’re the one who looks older than him, right?”
“He probably thinks I’m just immature and all I have is a good body.”
“Well, you’ll never know until you ask.”
“I’m not going to ask, Seok, just quit it.”
“Even if you do ask and he says no, it doesn’t mean that’s the end,” Minghao reminded Mingyu gently, for once his voice leaning towards soft and not its usual sardonic tone. “Remember, I rejected Junhui the first time he-”
“Hao!”
They all turned to the enthusiastic voice, Minghao grumbling, ‘speak of the devil’ as they found Wen Junhui walking quickly to catch up with them, the sixth year Hufflepuff beaming at the sight of his boyfriend.
“Jun, I just saw you at dinner-” Minghao barely began, but Junhui had already wrapped the younger in his arms, and, upon finding that unsatisfactory, pressed a passionate kiss to his lips.
“Christmas isn’t even close and they’re already kissing like it’s New Year’s,” Seokmin muttered to Mingyu, who stifled his laugh. For all of Minghao’s posturing of being exasperated by Junhui’s antics, it was no secret that Minghao had a serious soft spot for his lover.
“What’re you guys up to?” Junhui pressed as they finally surfaced, Minghao pink in the face as he gently disentangled himself from Junhui’s arms, giving in to the older’s whine and allowing Junhui to continue holding his hand as they kept walking.
“Helping Minghao with our Potions extra credit,” Seokmin replied.
“You guys have it too? I thought it was only for the sixth years.”
“Maybe Snape gave a different potion to each year,” Mingyu suggested. “What’s yours?”
“Amortentia,” Junhui replied. “Wonwoo’s determined to perfect it and turn it in. Ten extra credit points always gets him going. And Snape’s just elevated the competition by saying only one person from our year will get it.”
Mingyu knew that his face was burning at the mention of said crush, and hoped fervently that Seokmin wasn’t making any stupid faces at him. Then again, Junhui was pretty dense when it came to subtle looks, so Mingyu was pretty sure Wonwoo’s friend wouldn’t notice.
“Ours is Felix Felicis,” Minghao informed Junhui. “I can’t believe Snape is setting us with something so tricky.”
“It’s your OWL year, what do you expect? At least he’s not having students test potions anymore,” Junhui said darkly. “Last year, Soonyoung had to feed a vial of Dizziness Draught to his hamster during a lesson.”
“What happened to it?” Mingyu asked fearfully.
“Well, it got its stomach pumped at the hospital wing two hours later. According to Snape, Soonyoung stirred the potion too vigorously while it was still setting. He got zero points and the hamster’s been on a refined diet since.”
Seokmin shuddered. “Horrible.”
“Imagine if I had to feed Mango anything I brewed in Potions class,” Mingyu said morosely, referring to his baby Niffler. “He’d die within seconds .”
“I’m so glad they’ve stopped testing anything on people’s pets. Remember when Hwang Hyunjin had to show his Engorgement Spell on Pepero last year and the thing damn near exploded?” Minghao asked, referring to the Slytherin same-year youth and his beloved pet bowtruckle, a docile thing that resembled the popular chocolate snack. Hyunjin usually tied his bleached hair up into a half-ponytail, in which Pepero usually lodged himself and squealed happily at passerby. It was quite cute, really, although people weren’t allowed to carry pets around unless for class (Pepero had an uncanny skill to detect teachers and usually dove into Hyunjin’s ponytail to avoid being caught). “If McGonagall hadn’t gotten there quickly enough…” Minghao shuddered. “I think Hyunjin would’ve dropped out.”
“Anyway, don’t do anything stupid with it, is all I’m saying. It’s not worth it to test it on anything, it’s just ten extra credit points.” Junhui finished. “And keep Mango away from it. Liquid Luck is probably the shiniest potion out there. He’d dive right into that stuff.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m keeping him far from anything Minghao concocts,” Mingyu joked.
“Like I’d let that furry thing anywhere near my ten golden points,” Minghao sneered.
“I’m going to be the one laughing when Snape deems your golden potion not worthy enough for those ten points.”
“It’s like every time I talk to them, the bickering is worse,” Junhui muttered in a not-so-quiet voice to Seokmin, making all four of them laugh.
“I tease Hao a lot, but I love him more,” Mingyu cooed, throwing an arm around the lean boy, who winced.
“Ew. Get off me.”
“Like you really want me to.”
Minghao scoffed, but nevertheless allowed his best friend to hold him to his side the rest of the way to the Hufflepuff dormitory, where they said goodbye to Junhui and Seokmin.
“It’s almost curfew,” Minghao reminded Mingyu as the latter dragged him up to his dormitory. “And you’re just making the walk back to my dormitory even longer by making me come all the way up to yours,” Minghao added, referencing the fact that the Gryffindor tower and the Slytherin dormitory under the lake were the two furthest from each other in the whole school.
“Here you are, pretending like you’re bothered by me bringing you up when you always say you’d rather walk me to my place before heading to yours,” Mingyu laughed.
“I am not pretending,” Minghao said, lightly nudging Mingyu’s shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”
A peaceful silence followed for a few more seconds, but Minghao felt the need to talk.
“Mingyu.”
“Don’t.”
“Gyu, you really should do something about Wonwoo.”
Mingyu shook his head. “Don’t push this on me now.”
“He’s going to be a senior next year, and then he’s going to leave. You’ll barely have a year or so with him. This is your chance.”
“Hao…”
Minghao smiled at Mingyu. “You’re really never going to know until you go and ask.”
“He’s into girls. Everyone knows that.”
Minghao chuckled. “Maybe you’re just looking into it too much. There’s no evidence of that.”
Mingyu sighed. “I just don’t want to make a fool out of myself.”
“Listen,” Minghao stopped walking, grabbing Mingyu by the shoulders. “Seokmin and I are your best friends, Gyu. We know you better than anyone else here. And we know how much you like him. We want you to do something about it.”
Mingyu nodded, but he didn’t feel convinced. It was Minghao’s turn to sigh.
“It’s absolutely unfair for you to be feeling this way about a person and not even give yourself a chance to go and tell him about it.” Minghao regarded him. “I think you really have a chance. Just… think about what I’ve said, okay?”
Mingyu nodded again. “I- okay.” He just wanted to be left alone about this. He was perfectly fine with crushing on Wonwoo from a distance. He didn’t want to get his hopes up for something that was never going to happen.
Minghao checked the time, laughing to himself. “Our curfew is soon. I should get going.”
“Cool. See you tomorrow. And by the way, could I-”
“I’m not helping you with your Herbology essay. We had all week.”
Mingyu grinned. “I had to ask.”
Minghao shoved him teasingly, turning and heading down the hallway. Mingyu sagged against the portrait hole, watching his best friend disappear, Minghao’s words lingering longer than he’d like to admit.
It’s absolutely unfair for you to be feeling this way about a person and not even give yourself a chance to go and tell him about it.
❆
“I thought love potions were banned at Hogwarts?”
“They are. This is just an extra credit opportunity. I doubt Snape’s going to expect us to bottle the stuff up and sell it,” Wonwoo replied cynically, flipping through his textbook as he lay sprawled across the rug of the Ravenclaw common room, staring at the cauldron bubbling over the fireplace.
Jihoon hummed, closing his own textbook. “Eager for extra credit, aren’t you? I thought you’re already class topper.”
Wonwoo huffed, lightly pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one elegantly slender finger. “So?”
The shorter Ravenclaw nodded towards the cauldron. “I mean, you’re really raring for it. Not even going down to the Potions resource dungeon to brew it, and doing it up here instead.”
“Someone could steal it,” Wonwoo said seriously. “Not only for taking my work as their extra credit, but I just want us to handle it responsibly, you know? I don’t want someone to take my Amortentia and get high off it and the blame goes to me. I could get framed for selling banned substances to students.”
Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Nobody that knows you is going to assume that you’re operating a love potion black market. Even if someone accuses you of it, Snape already has all the extra credit potions cleared with Dumbledore. So we have an actual reason for making it.”
Wonwoo shrugged. “Nothing wrong with being cautious.”
“Be careful with that stuff,” Jihoon yawned as he stood up. “Junhui might think it’s funny to slip it into your drink before you turn it in.”
Wonwoo snickered. “Nah, Junhui’s not that stupid.”
Jihoon gave him a pointed look, crossing to the windows and watching snow pile up on the sill. In the distance, the Forest was frosted over with crystalline ice, Hagrid’s hut lit brightly in the dark blizzard of the grounds as winter furthered its grasp on Hogwarts. “Yeah, sure.”
“And that’s why I’m keeping an eye on it,” Wonwoo said simply.
Jihoon shrugged. “You do you. Get to bed soon, we’ve got school tomorrow.”
With that parting, Jihoon swept off to his room and left Wonwoo gazing at the hypnotizing warm flames as they licked up the sides of the cauldron bearing his extra credit.
❆
“It’s too early for Christmas,” Minghao grumbled as they entered the Great Hall the next morning to a festive scene. “It’s nearly a week away! Why’s everyone overdoing it?”
“Okay, mister Grinch, no need to be so bitter,” Seokmin replied, eyes sparkling as he gazed out at the holiday-themed hall. “I love it. Christmas is the best time of year here.”
Students mingled amongst all the tables, ditching breakfast for candy canes and peppermint sweets, laughing and talking happily about their plans for the holidays- today was Monday the 20th, meaning that this Friday, Christmas Eve, was the end of term and students would be free to vacation for a few weeks to their hearts’ content.
“You two aren’t going anywhere this Christmas, right?” Mingyu asked mildly, tugging the other two out of the way to allow students behind them to enter the Hall. Seokmin wasn’t done taking in all the decorations, and Mingyu was content with standing here as Seokmin drank in his fill of holiday cheer. Minghao looked rather exasperated by Hogwart’s tendency to overblow decorations, but grudgingly leaned against a pillar, watching Seokmin with the fond affection one usually reserves for their most childlike friend.
“My parents wanted us to visit the Caribbean,” Seokmin said, dreamily watching snowflakes drift down from the ceiling. “But I’d rather be here, you know… OWL year, studying.”
“You only want to be here because these people are just as holiday crazed as you,” Minghao laughed. “Look at this! It’s madness.”
“I dare you to say that in front of Junhui,” Mingyu smiled. “He’s just as ‘holiday crazed’ as Seokmin is.”
Minghao’s smile only grew. “He already knows my take on holidays. We agree to disagree.” At Mingyu’s incredulous look, Minghao added reluctantly, “I still buy him presents, alright, and you know how he drags me out to play in the snow. I’m doing my part.”
Elves were scurrying around with large, glittering ornaments, decorating the vast snowy evergreens that’d materialized sometime overnight- clearly recently, seeing as the aforementioned snow that’d accumulated on their pine needles was still fresh and far from melting.
Snow that wasn’t actual snow, as Mingyu confirmed by swiping a finger along a pinecone and finding the ice clinging to his finger instead of dripping off it.
“Sugar,” he concluded, having impulsively put his finger in his mouth upon his suspicion. “Aw, that’s so nice. It’s like edible snow. They’ve decked the whole hall in giant sugarcoated trees.”
Mingyu glanced up at the teacher’s table as he voiced his realization, and found Professor Dumbledore smiling at him, eyes twinkling as if it was only a secret for those who were brave enough to look closely. There was no way the professor had heard him over the chatter of students, but he figured that Dumbledore had probably been watching everyone enter the hall, waiting for someone to discover the sweet surprise. He grinned back.
“I wish it was arsenic, I’ve told you so many times to not put random shit in your mouth. Can we go have breakfast now?” Minghao replied sarcastically, nevertheless pausing patiently to allow Seokmin to grab a whole pinecone off the tree, making a possibly stupider move than Mingyu had and happily biting into it, choking moments later.
“The thing’s coated in sugar, but the pinecone itself is definitely real,” Seokmin moaned, snatching a napkin off the nearest table and spitting it out.
“Idiots,” Minghao grumbled, and Mingyu and Seokmin shared a grin behind the mulleted boy’s back.
“One would think he’s the oldest of us three,” Mingyu muttered to Seokmin, who was distracted, looking somewhere behind him, a smirk spreading on his lips.
“Soonyoung, no! Are you insane ?”
Ah. That’s what Seokmin had been looking at.
Mingyu froze at the voice behind them, feeling blood rush to his cheeks as his face heated up.
No. He was not an elementary schooler, he was not supposed to blush like this at the mere voice of his crush-
They all turned to find Kwon Soonyoung, Mingyu’s Quidditch captain and close Gryffindor friend, sucking victoriously on a whole bunch of pine needles. Jeon Wonwoo stood next to him, an expression of extreme horror on his face. Neither had noticed the trio standing there.
“Sugar again this year,” Soonyoung declared.
“Do you mean it’s always been sugar?” Mingyu exclaimed, causing both Soonyoung and Wonwoo to glance their way.
“Of course it’s always been sugar, Gyu,” Soonyoung grinned, sticking a single pine needle between his lips as he walked over, beckoning Wonwoo to follow. “Have you never put any of this stuff in your mouth?”
“I mean…” Mingyu glanced at the other two. “We don’t usually go around doing that sort of thing.”
“I expect better things from the person who’s going to succeed me as Quidditch captain in a year and a half,” Soonyoung said quite seriously. “We need a person of chaotic energy managing the team.”
Wonwoo, Minghao, and Seokmin all stared at him dumbly, Mingyu’s eyes wide as dinnerplates.
“What?” Mingyu whispered.
“Ooh!” Soonyoung clapped a hand over his mouth. “Oh no. I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
Mingyu grabbed Soonyoung in a crushing hug, spinning him around in a circle. “This is the best Christmas present ever, and it’s not even Christmas yet!”
“Shush! You’re not supposed to know,” Soonyoung said worriedly as Mingyu put him down, the shorter boy running his hands through his hair frantically. “I’ve got a whole year left, okay, calm down-”
“You really mean it? When you’re gonna graduate next year, you’ll make me captain?” Mingyu beamed.
“Shhh!” Soonyoung implored again. “I wasn’t supposed to reveal my captain pick yet!”
“You weren’t supposed to reveal it for another year and a half, dumbass, now let’s go and eat or we’ll be late for first hour,” Wonwoo said with a touch of affectionate asperity, barely having glanced at any of the younger three as he grabbed Soonyoung by the arm and attempted maneuvering him away.
“Hey-” Soonyoung twisted out of Wonwoo’s grasp, turning to the others. “Do you guys want to come out with us today evening? The snowfall was so strong overnight that it’s perfect weather for a snowball fight. I’ve spent an hour outside Won’s room today while he got ready persuading him.”
“Busy,” Minghao said immediately. Upon glances from his two best friends, he added, “Junhui already is planning to do that with me on Christmas Day, and I really, really… cannot fake enthusiasm for being hit in the face with powdery ice twice in one week.”
“I’m down,” Seokmin said, cutting off Minghao to reply to Soonyoung. “Anyone else coming?”
“I asked Seungkwan and he said he’ll come with Hansol. Chan’s busy and even though I pestered him about what could possibly be more important than this, he refused to give me an answer,” Soonyoung said, referring to their fourth year friends. Soonyoung, Seungkwan, and Seokmin co-ran the school choir and therefore Seokmin was quite close with that group.
“So that’s…” Seokmin paused. “Well, that only makes five of us.”
“But we need even numbers for teams,” Soonyoung said worriedly, as if tonight’s planned snowfight was this crucial and more important than the countless assignments he no doubt had due by the end of this week.
“Mingyu can join us,” Seokmin said, grinning like the devil as he nudged Mingyu.
No way was Mingyu doing something as intimate as a snowball fight with Jeon Wonwoo. Nope.
“I’ve got Quidditch,” Mingyu bullshitted straightfacedly, forgetting that Soonyoung was right in front of him.
“No you don’t,” Soonyoung scoffed. “I think if there was practice I’d know about it.”
“Right,” Mingyu said. “I don’t. Oops.”
Wonwoo stifled a laugh.
Mingyu could practically hear Minghao screaming ‘ HE DEFINITELY THINKS YOU’RE CUTE!’
“Then it’s settled,” Soonyoung said cheerfully. “I expect to see Wonwoo, Mingyu, Seokmin, Seungkwan, and Hansol join me in the courtyard at 8 PM promptly for our snowball fight.”
“I didn’t-” Mingyu spluttered, but Soonyoung had already skipped past him happily, snatching another bundle of pine off a nearby tree on his journey to the Gryffindor table.
Wonwoo clapped him on the shoulder as he passed, a mere friendly gesture from someone who just saw Mingyu as another part of their friend circle. “Get used to it. At least you’re not his best friend. See you two tonight. Minghao, you’re one lucky bastard for escaping this.” With that being said, Wonwoo grinned at Mingyu and moved off to the Ravenclaw table.
“Oooh, Wonwoo touched you,” Minghao mocked, faking dramatics. “Wonwoo’s enamored!”
“Shut up,” Mingyu said lightly, although he couldn’t deny that he still felt the phantom of Wonwoo’s graceful hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just go eat breakfast.”
Apparently the heavens couldn’t give Mingyu a few minutes of reprieve, because as soon as he’d sat down at the Gryffindor table, he was instantly jumped on from behind by a smirking seventh year boy with a head of sleek bleached-blonde hair.
“Jeonghan,” Mingyu exhaled, a hand over his heart.
The Slytherin Head Boy grinned back. “Did I scare you?”
Mingyu wanted to strangle him, but the two of them went way back. Jeonghan and his other two fellow Head Boy friends- the seventh years of their friend group- had been responsible for taking care of and practically raising everyone else in their circle.
“When you grab someone from behind after creeping up on them, I mean, yeah-”
“Shut up. Anyway,” Jeonghan cut Mingyu off. “I’m inviting you to a Christmas Eve party, this Friday. You’ve gotta come, or make room in your schedule for it. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Hm,” Mingyu accepted the card Jeonghan practically shoved into his hands. “Wow. Okay…”
The card was covered in glittery still-drying green paint and had a lovely picture of a pair of silver snakes engaged in unspeakable actions on it; made festive with stickers of candy canes around the edges.
Mingyu rolled his eyes at Jeonghan’s handiwork.
“Do you not appreciate art when you see it?” Jeonghan accused.
“No, no. This really touches my heart.” Mingyu paused, staring at the card some more. “Did you just want to show people snake sex and think it’d be festive if you stuck some peppermints on it?”
“They’re celebrating the holidays together,” Jeonghan argued.
“I see. I expect you’re hosting this party?”
“Well, actually-”
“I am,” came an amusedly exasperated voice from behind Jeonghan, and it was the latter’s turn to jump slightly as he turned to find himself facing his ‘rival’- Choi Seungcheol, Gryffindor Head Boy.
Said ‘rival’ flushed at Jeonghan’s gaze, and it was no secret that the look Jeonghan gave him was far from hatred.
Dear god, they could just make it official so they could stop pretending to hate each other when they were with all their friends. Mingyu was pretty sure the whole school had already figured it out. Or maybe Jeonghan found competitive hatred very sexy and demanded Seungcheol to fulfill that kink of his. Who knew.
“If this is your party, why’d Jeonghan give me this 18+ card I know you’d never endorse?” Mingyu asked Seungcheol, raising an eyebrow.
“’Cause I haven’t given you mine yet,” Seungcheol replied, handing Mingyu a card made of red cardstock, a picture of two cozy lions dozing by a warm fireplace depicted on it. “The details for the party are on the back.”
“See, this is heartwarming,” Mingyu told Jeonghan, giving the card a flick. “Not traumatizing. You actually want your invitees to attend your party, you know. A graphic depiction of animal reproduction isn’t encouraging. Here, look at these lions. They’re adorable and appropriate.”
Jeonghan humphed. “Whatever.”
“Can someone please explain why I’m holding two holiday cards with-” Mingyu glanced at the back of both cards. “With the same date, place, and time on them?”
“We’re hosting the aforementioned party together,” Jeonghan said, as if it was obvious.
“You two,” Mingyu choked on his laughter. “You- no way!”
“Yeah way,” Seungcheol said. “We’ve decided to put our differences aside for the holiday season. So we’re hosting along with-”
Mingyu snorted. “Yeah? What differences? You guys know that it’s not a secret that-”
“Iwillcurseyouifyoudon’tshutuprightnowotherpeopledon’tknowandwe’dliketokeepitthatwayifyoucouldjustshutupthat’dbegreat,” Jeonghan hissed in one breath.
“They’re not hosting alone,” came another voice, and Mingyu wondered just how many people had to come along to deliver invites as yet another one was pressed into his hand.
“You too?” Mingyu glanced down at the third card, a bronze badger bundled in a scarf and mittens, holding a stack of books in front of a deep blue background. “Please don’t tell me-” upon turning the card over to see identical details, he glanced up at the Ravenclaw Head Boy. “Joshua, I really don’t think you want to host a party with these two-”
“Seungkwan dared me that I couldn’t be civil for one day, so I’m proving him wrong by hosting a party with the two most annoying people on earth,” Jeonghan replied.
Seungcheol shrugged. “I told Han- I mean, Jeonghan- I’d agree to work with him if we could have the party in the Gryffindor common room.”
“And I’m responsible for catering,” Joshua added. “I’m probably going to mass-order from the Cinnabon in Hogsmeade.”
“I said I don’t like cinnamon rolls,” Jeonghan snapped, somehow managing to do it while looking at Joshua affectionately.
“Well, you don’t have to eat them. Shove them up your ass for all I care.”
“You know very well what I’ll have shoved up my ass on Christmas,” Jeonghan sneered, and Joshua turned as red as Santa’s stockings. “Oh,” Jeonghan said, realizing that Mingyu was in clear earshot. “I mean-”
“When did this evolve into a threesome?” Mingyu questioned mildly, earning a three-way glare and a unified “ sssh! ” that nearly made him burst into laughter. “Alright. I’ll consider coming to your hell- I mean, Christmas Eve party.”
Seungcheol tousled his hair. “There’s my Gyu. I’ve got to go.”
“And where are you going?” Joshua questioned.
“You know exactly where, meet me there,” Seungcheol muttered, and disappeared. Joshua lingered for a few more seconds, and vanished after him down the aisle between tables.
“They’re really not being subtle, are they,” Mingyu observed. “Isn’t it too early in the morning for, well you know, that? And aren’t you going to go join them? Seeing as it’s you three now? Speaking of threesomes, I’ve always wondered how those work-”
Jeonghan bent down and on the pretense of straightening Mingyu’s tie clamped his hand over Mingyu’s mouth, bending down and whispering in his ear, “Why do you always have more than a thousand questions? If you make one more joke about my threesome, I will hang you ‘there upon the fireplace’ understand? Just like Mariah Carey said.”
Mingyu gulped and nodded.
Jeonghan stood up, still frantically eyeing nearby people to make sure nobody had overheard Mingyu’s threesome joke while wiping his hand on Mingyu’s cloak. “Anyways, I’m doing you a big favor, Gyu.”
“How exactly?” Mingyu lightly shook out his fringe, peeking up through the ends of the bangs at the still-smirking Slytherin. “Oh no. What did you do?”
“Ask me,” Jeonghan prompted.
“Ask you what? I just asked you what you did.”
Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “How can I ever live my life like a movie if nobody else understands the dialogues?”
“Sorry we’re not telepaths,” Mingyu grumbled. “Just tell me.”
“Come on, Gyu, just ask. It’s what most people say when they get an invite to a party.”
“Will there be cake…?” Mingyu saw Jeonghan’s expression and backtracked. “Okay, okay, I got it. What flavor is the cake?”
A dramatic sigh. “The line is, ‘who else is invited to the party, Jeonghan?’ obviously!”
“Oh.” Mingyu stared up at him, and realized that Jeonghan was not going to answer him properly unless he just went along with it.
So he submitted and wearily asked, “Who else is invited to the party, Jeonghan?”
Jeonghan patted Mingyu’s head patronizingly. “Poor thing. You got there in the end.”
“Answer. The. Question.”
“Well, I invited our Slytherin friends, so Minghao and Chan are already set to attend. Seungcheol was responsible for Gryffindors, but I wanted to beat him to you, seeing as his card sucked.” Jeonghan elaborated with, “The three of us couldn’t decide on which card to use because each of us drew one so we just decided to deliver ours to different people. Anyway, since I consider you a good friend I gave you my card. Much better than Seungcheol’s, isn’t it? I feel so sorry for Soonyoung and Hansol, they also got Seungcheol’s card, being the other two Gryffindors. They probably hated it.”
“Really?” Mingyu sifted through the three cards in his lap, holding up the lion one. “I don’t know about Sol, but I feel like Soonyoung would really like this card. They’re pretty close to tigers, after all.”
“It’s absolute trash, Cheol sucks at designing,” Jeonghan said harshly.
“But this one looks like you, and this one looks like him. Maybe that’s why he designed it this way. He’s always thinking of you,” Mingyu said innocently, pointing at each lion in turn.
Jeonghan broke composure to giggle. “Really? They look like us?”
“No, not really. They don’t resemble humans.” Mingyu sighed exasperatedly. “Can we stay on topic? Is that the entire guest list?”
“You didn’t let me finish. Joshua got the Hufflepuffs. It barely took any convincing for Junhui, Seokmin, or Seungkwan to confirm their attendance- I mean, I don’t know any Hufflepuffs that would deny an invite to a holiday party.”
“Right. So you aren’t inviting any Ravenclaws?” Mingyu thought fervently of a lean boy with round-rimmed glasses and narrow eyes.
“Aha!” Jeonghan crowed. “You’re finally picking up cues. I personally took the liberty of inviting Jihoon and Wonwoo.” Jeonghan leaned in, repeating slowly. “Wonwoo.”
“Yes, thanks, get out of my face.”
Jeonghan blinked at him expectantly. “The love of your life!”
“He is not the love of my life! It’s a crush!” Mingyu frowned. “How do you know about this? Did Seokmin tell you?”
Jeonghan practically cackled. “Gyu, let’s just say that you’re about as subtle about liking Wonwoo as me, Seungcheol, and Shua are about our threesome. And for the record, he’s definitely the love of your life.”
“So…”
Jeonghan patted his head again. “And guess what Wonwoo said.”
“What?”
“No.”
“‘No’ what? You’re refusing to telling me what he said?”
“‘No’ as in, he’s not coming.”
Mingyu blinked. “So what’s all the suspense for?” Although he tried to play off as casual, he felt a small sprout of upset rooted in his heart.
“Because that’s not the end of the story. Con master extraordinaire, yours truly Yoon Jeonghan, convinced Wonwoo to come,” Jeonghan said with flair.
“What? How? He’s not really a party person.”
“Stop asking questions and say thank you.”
“Thank you,” Mingyu said cautiously. “But I feel like there’s a catch. What exactly did you say to Wonwoo?”
“You have to promise me you won’t get angry.”
“Why would I get angry?”
“Because I kind of maybe told a teeny tiny harmless little lie. And it kind of has to do with you, except not actually like your name or anything, but it’s something that could help you out on Friday.”
“What exactly do you mean, ‘kind of maybe’? So did you? Or didn’t you?”
“I may have did.”
Mingyu’s face went blank. “Jeonghan. What did you-.”
“Okay, okay! You’re already getting mad,” Jeonghan snapped his fingers. “If you start using that tone, I’m done talking.”
Mingyu took a deep breath. He knew how to talk to Jeonghan. Patience was key. “Fine. I won’t lose it.”
“Actually,” Jeonghan said, glancing at the time. “I should probably go catch breakfast. I don’t want to be late to first hour, I’ve got a big Arithmancy assignment to turn in and my professor always likes to collect right at the start of class.”
“What? No.” Mingyu grabbed Jeonghan’s cloak sleeve. “You can’t leave like this! You need to tell me what you said! I’m a part of it!”
“I’ll tell you tonight. You can come by to my dorm, if you want.”
“I can’t. I have to go to Soonyoung’s dumb snowball fight or whatever at 8.”
“Oh, that,” Jeonghan grinned. “I told him I had a spa appointment.”
“I’m assuming you don’t?”
“Ingenious of you. I’m actually hosting a cucumber-cocoa-cinnamon self-care lesson down in Hogsmeade tonight for the younger Slytherins and local villagers. They’re getting so interested in fashion and skincare. Thankfully, the end time will probably overlap with Soonyoung’s snowball fight proposal so I can’t make it. And I’ve demanded that the other Head Boys help me out, so none of us are free to come and get our skin dried out by snow.” Jeonghan ruffled his own hair. “I’m not surprised the demand is so high for my class. You know, everyone just wants to look like me. Figure out all my beauty secrets. Can’t blame them.”
“Yeah, I bet it’s all genetics,” Mingyu replied tiredly.
“Nah, I’m definitely better looking than my parents,” Jeonghan said flippantly, checking the time again. “I really have to go. How about you meet me at the Hog’s Head after you and Seokmin get off work tonight?”
“Why would I meet you there? Seokmin and I work at the Three Broomsticks, not the Hog’s Head.”
“Where do you think I’m having the spa session?”
Mingyu widened his eyes. “You’re having a self care beauty session at the Hog’s Head .”
“Absolutely. It’s got a nice rustic feel to it, you know.”
“Yeah, rustic like rust poisoning. Han, the place is falling apart.”
Jeonghan never really listened to other people when they were talking. “So tonight, 6:45?”
“Yeah, whatever,” Mingyu sighed. “Should I bring Seokmin along- wait, no. If he hears Wonwoo’s name anywhere near mine, he starts hyping like crazy.”
“Oh really?” Jeonghan’s eyes glinted with mischief.
“Yeah. He’s, like, president of the Mingyu-Ask-Wonwoo-Out-Please club.”
“Hmm. If you don’t bring Seokmin along tonight I won’t tell you what I said to Wonwoo,” Jeonghan declared with a grin, and before Mingyu could say another word he’d flounced off to the Slytherin table.
Mingyu sighed and slowly turned around on the bench to face the table properly, Hansol choosing this moment to appear and sit down opposite him.
“Hello...” Mingyu said, blinking at the cheerful younger boy. Hansol was decked out in a sweater with a grinning reindeer on it, the words ‘HO HO HO’ right underneath it. This was complemented with the Santa hat he’d donned in place of his wizard hat, the cotton puffball at the end of it replaced with a shining fat golden sleighbell that tinkled every time he moved his head, which was unfortunately very frequently. Hansol had rounded off the outfit by following school dress code and draping his cloak over his shoulders. Mingyu had never seen such a thing in his life.
One should be miserable while wearing something that ridiculous, but Hansol was so gleeful that he could’ve fooled Mingyu into thinking Christmas had been rescheduled a week early to today. Mingyu loved dressing up for the holidays, but this was completely over the top. He wouldn’t even wear something like this.
The fourth year beamed happily at him. “Hi, hyung!”
“Hansol, we’re not in Korea, we don’t need to-”
“You’ll always be hyung to me, hyung. Do you like my outfit? I lost a bet to Seungkwan and he made me wear this, but I don’t really mind. I kind of like it. It’s Muggle fashion, he said. Groovy, isn’t it?” Hansol shimmied his shoulders, causing the sleighbell on the end of the hat to chime excitedly.
Mingyu privately wondered how Seungkwan, a pure blood, had any idea what Muggle fashion was. Well, it wasn’t like he knew either. Maybe they actually wore stuff like this. If so, Mingyu was very glad he lived in a wizarding community at home, because if people walked around dressed like this he’d get very sick of the holidays too. Perhaps that was why Minghao, whose family had chosen to live amongst Muggles, hated Christmas season so much.
Hansol dinged the bell on his hat again. “So? How’s the outfit?”
“It’s stunning,” Mingyu mumbled, having lost his motivation to dote on Hansol as he usually did (Mingyu absolutely adored Hansol on most days, he’d practically adopted the boy as his younger brother over the years. Not to mention that Hansol was probably the most enthusiastic person on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, maybe right after Soonyoung himself. And Mingyu loved anyone who could play Quidditch well).
Mingyu was still too busy thinking about what Jeonghan must’ve done to Wonwoo. Mingyu loved Jeonghan like a brother, but also hated him like a brother. It was something in the way that Jeonghan always had the last word, and Jeonghan always knew everything about everybody. Frustrating.
“Did you get the invite to the big party, too?” Hansol peeped, eyes widening as he looked at the cards in Mingyu’s hands. “Wow! You got three? That’s so cool!”
“Apparently I’m special enough that everyone wanted to deliver one to me personally.” Mingyu said dryly, shuffling through them.
“Ooh.” Hansol’s eyes went wide as he caught sight of Jeonghan’s card. “Woah… what are those snakes doing ? Oh my god-”
“Maybe it’s a good thing that you only got Seungcheol’s card,” Mingyu said, and hastily put the cards away before any more innocent eyes were scarred.
Feeling very sorry for Chan, who obviously received Jeonghan’s card, Mingyu decided to just eat breakfast and push away his problems. His fiasco of feelings weren’t due to start until what he’d thought would be 8 tonight, but had backpedaled to an hour and fifteen minutes prior- 6:45; when he’d have to meet Jeonghan at the shadiest place in Hogsmeade to discuss whatever sneaky business the latter had done to manipulate Wonwoo into coming to the holiday party.
❆
“-and you would not believe what happened to Taehyung’s frog after that!” Seokmin said, speaking as quick as he usually did when he was in a rush to deliver a grand story.
“Do tell,” Mingyu said dully as he continued wiping down the bar. He’d usually be the one wide-eyed as he listened, enraptured, to what Minghao called ‘Seokmin’s Bouts of Foolishness’. But he was already weighed down from the prospect of meeting Jeonghan later.
Mingyu had spent all day thinking about Yoon Jeonghan, the boy that was, although quite kind and sweet most of the time, known for a playful flame of mischief and lies and sneakery that often ignited whenever he spotted room for chaos. Mingyu didn’t usually think of pretty boys that weren’t Jeon Wonwoo, yet his mind had been occupied with the blonde-haired Slytherin today because he’d spent most of it racking his brains for what on earth Jeonghan could’ve said to Wonwoo to convince him into coming to a festive holiday party.
Mingyu blinked out of his trance to find Seokmin sitting atop the bar, sulking with his bottom lip jutting out as it did when he didn’t feel his storytelling was garnering the attention it should.
“You’re not listening,” Seokmin grumbled.
“I am. You were saying something about Kim Taehyung and his frog.”
Seokmin lightly hit Mingyu’s shoulder as Mingyu gently nudged him off the bar counter to get the spot that he’d been sitting on. Moving out of Mingyu’s way, Seokmin continued ranting. “That was like, fifty years ago! Did you not hear anything after that, about the frog going absolute nuts and like, bouncing off the walls?”
“Mm, yeah,” Mingyu said vaguely, casting his eyes around the empty bar. It was closing time for the Three Broomsticks, seeing as it was a Monday night. Seokmin and he came to work here part-time, two hours a day during the week (Hogwarts had, in recent years, begun to allow fifth-years and older to go to the village after school to work for a minimal wage, recognizing students with families in financial crisis. Neither Seokmin nor Mingyu were in that situation, but they still liked the feeling of responsibility that came with a real job and the bank report that came from Gringotts every month with a little more money in their vault each time. Minghao didn’t work because his family was rich as hell and he hated any sort of labor or customer service).
Mingyu was just thinking of Minghao and how absolutely lucky he was to not have to scrape Butterbeer foam off the counter every night when the door jangled and in walked the aforementioned skinny boy.
“Shop’s closed,” Mingyu joked.
“Very funny,” Minghao grinned. “Nobody’s happy to see me?”
“Hao! You’ll listen to me, right?” Seokmin beamed.
“Nope,” Minghao said, strolling over to the counter. “How’s closing going?”
Mingyu gestured irritably at Seokmin as he bent down to put away glass mugs. “Only one person is doing the closing here.”
With that, he dropped two mugs and winced at the shattering sound. “Oops.”
“You’ll never change, Gyu,” Seokmin said solemnly, observing the mess.
“ Reparo ,” Minghao said calmly, abandoning tact and climbing over the whole damn counter to grab the fixed mugs from Mingyu before he could drop them again, shelving them for him. “Ooh. Feels nice to be back here. All paycheck-y.”
“Yeah, stand here for a few hours and see how you like it,” Mingyu groaned, arching his back and untying his apron. “I honestly don’t think we get paid enough. What are you doing here anyway? It’s 6:40 on a school night, surely you’d be in your dorm, all locked up after dinner, studying the night away?” Mingyu did a double-take to the clock in the corner. “Fuck, it’s already 6:40.”
“I know, we were supposed to get off work ten minutes ago,” Seokmin mumbled. Although Mingyu and Seokmin were the only employees left, they were responsible for closing every weeknight by 6:30 and locking up the bar.
“We would be done by 6:30 if someone actually helped me clean up,” Mingyu snapped, walking around the counter and hanging his apron on the hook as he went. “And I have to get somewhere by 6:45. Seokmin, you’re coming too. Don’t ask.”
“Where is it?” Seokmin cheeped anyway, pulling on his coat too. Minghao exasperatedly pulled a scarf out of his jacket pocket, wrapping it around Seokmin’s neck.
“You always forget your scarf. I dropped by your dormitory to get it for you on my way, luckily some naive second year let me in. Seriously, are you five, needing me to bring you your articles of clothing?”
“Hehe. Thanks.”
“Sometimes I really think I’m the oldest here.”
“Where’s mine?” Mingyu asked.
Minghao stuck out his tongue. “Sorry. Forgot.”
Mingyu gave him a deadpan stare, grinning moments later as a green scarf sailed through the air, snatching it before it hit his face. “A Gryffindor wearing Slytherin pride. I like it. I’m so honored that you love me enough to give me your own scarf.”
“Shut up,” Minghao said, but he was smiling anyway.
“Will you ever admit that you actually think and care about us a lot?” Seokmin questioned as they walked out of the bar, Mingyu locking the place up behind them.
“If you get me drunk on enough Butterbeer at Friday night’s party, maybe,” Minghao replied seriously as they began strolling down Hogsmeade Lane, the snow flurrying around them.
“But you don’t drink Butterbeer,” Mingyu objected.
“Exactly,” Minghao smirked. “Now, why are we walking the opposite way of the school and further into Hogsmeade?”
“You tell us why you’re here first,” Mingyu said to stall for time.
Minghao shrugged. “Junhui’s busy.”
“And…?” Seokmin prompted.
“And I…” Minghao mumbled the last part.
“What?” Both Mingyu and Seokmin questioned.
“I might’ve been bored and needed someone to chat with,” Minghao conceded.
“So-” Mingyu giggled. “You missed us.”
“I did not.”
“Hao missed us!” Seokmin cooed, looping his arm around Minghao’s as they continued down the street, Mingyu reciprocating on Minghao’s other side.
“Whatever. Where are we going?” Minghao asked again.
“Jeonghan’s doing this beauty thing at the Hog’s Head, he asked Seokmin and I to pop in to support him after we were done with our shift. Something about cucumbers and… I remember cocoa-something too.” Mingyu shrugged, hoping the lie about his reason for visiting Jeonghan was enough to persuade them to come. It wasn’t like he’d really lied, right? Hopefully Seokmin and Minghao would be distracted by whatever class was going on and Mingyu could grill Jeonghan for answers. But a part of Mingyu remembered how enthusiastic Jeonghan had been about Seokmin coming too, and he figured that Jeonghan intended Seokmin- and probably Minghao too, now that the mulleted boy was here as well- to listen in. “You’re here too now, so I guess you’re coming along.”
“Hot cocoa?” Seokmin lit up. “Okay, you’ve sold me. Let’s go!”
Minghao gave Mingyu a side-eye that indicated the younger boy knew that it wasn’t that straightforward, but relented and allowed himself to be dragged along.
The Hog’s Head was brightly lit, but there was so much tinsel obscuring the windows from inside that Mingyu had no idea what he was getting the three of them into.
He raised his hand to the leering boar knocker, blinking at it as for a second its smirk mirrored that on Jeonghan’s face.
Mingyu shook his head. His imagination was running rampant as usual. He raised the dulled silver heavy ring and let it fall back onto the door with a resounding clang.
No turning back now. Time for answers.
☽