do kyungsoo and the mudblood muddle (2/2)

[exolliarmus]

They Apparated to the front of what reminded Kyungsoo of the ancient summerhouse his parents owned in some remote place in Ireland. It was too small to be called a mansion, but too big to be a cottage. There were tall trees all around them, obscuring the house from peeking neighbours and proving a great shelter from the rain.

Chanyeol straightened his back, messily brushed his sopping hair with his fingers and knocked on the door. Kyungsoo traced the movement of Chanyeol’s fingers with his eyes, watching the rain pellets bounce off them, as the other man clenched and unclenched his hands while staring at the doormat.

A few minutes passed in silence before Kyungsoo heard footsteps coming from inside the house and forced himself to look away from Chanyeol’s hands. The door opened a second later, revealing a smiling Teddy Lupin, wearing a pink bathrobe and sporting a mess of blue curls.

*

Kyungsoo shot up, knocking the pillows off his bed. He looked around the room for the source of the bang that woke him up, rubbing at his eyes and coughing. His throat was raw and itchy, as if he had swallowed a handful of feathers, and his muscles were unusually sore. He felt as if he’d run a marathon and climbed Mt. Everest right after; classic magic overuse. He groaned, frustrated at making such a rookie mistake, but only ended up coughing more. When his throat finally settled down, he noticed Chanyeol lying next to his bed and groaning.

“What happened?”

Chanyeol rolled around to face Kyungsoo and cursed when he managed to bang his head on the edge of the bedside table. “Fell off the bed, hit my head really hard, and now hit it again.”

“Any brain cells left?”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, carefully rearranged his limbs and stood up, this time without knocking into any furniture. “Plenty. Do you know that you snore?”

Kyungsoo gasped, throwing his duvet off himself and jumping off the bed. “I so do not.”

“You so do though.”

“Do not.”

Chanyeol laughed, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles. He ruffled his hair, making an even bigger mess out of it, and said, “It’s cute snoring. Like little-baby-puppy snoring.” Before Kyungsoo could retaliate, the man grabbed his wrist and pushed him towards the door. “Let’s get breakfast and then go to Cathar Mor. Work won’t do itself.”

They were stepping over the threshold of the room when Kyungsoo froze, suddenly hit with the memories from the previous night. He had been so knackered, standing in Teddy’s hallway, swaying mindlessly to and fro, and staring at Teddy’s navy blue curls in awe, barely saying a word. At some point he’d glanced at Chanyeol’s wrists, and done a double-take while making a weird gasping noise. From then on his eyes had stayed glued to Chanyeol, and he’d only stopped being an embarrassing mess when he’d blacked out.

He felt a blush shoot up his neck and light his cheeks on fire. He had actually blacked out.

“Did you carry me to bed?”

Chanyeol turned towards him, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Sure thing. You definitely didn’t try Apparating yourself.”

The blush on Kyungsoo’s face was now reaching the tips of his ears. “I will never live this one down,” he said and buried his head in his hands. “And in front of Teddy bloody Lupin. Please tell me you didn’t carry me bridal-style.”

Chanyeol winked, trying to keep a straight face but ending up chortling. “Nah, I threw you over my shoulder.”

Kyungsoo looked up at him from beneath his fingers at him and gasped, covering his eyes with his hands once again a second later. “Merlin’s balls, I better get a pay rise out of this, what with my dignity in shambles.”

*

The moorland in the middle of Cathar Mor was breath taking. The area was bowl-shaped, fringed by a coniferous forest. It was covered by a thick carpet of heather in different shades of purple and violet, which turned a rusty red colour the closer one got to the forest. Here and there one could see patches of green grass and bunches of what looked like hay but was probably just the type of grass they saw yesterday on Fan Fawr.

Kyungsoo walked over to the forest, stopping right at its border, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes and turned around. Chanyeol was frowning, his eyebrows scrunched up.

“Why shouldn’t I be?”

Chanyeol ruffled his hair and licked his upper lip, looking at a spot above Kyungsoo’s shoulders. “Well, uhm…you did black out yesterday. And-well, I didn’t expect that? I utterly forgot it could happen if you overworked yourself. I don’t know what I was thinking. I-”

Kyungsoo chuckled. “It’s OK. Really. It’s OK, Chanyeol. It was my own fault.”

“But-“

“My own fault, yeah? So forget it and let me get to work.”

Chanyeol looked as if he was going to argue, but in the end he only shook his head.

“Go ahead then.”



After casting the last spell, Kyungsoo took out a small crystal ball out of his pocket. He tightened his grip on the ball and repeated all of the spells he had used so far. Then, he said the names of the places he’d cast them on out loud. The ball glowed red for a moment, heating up in his palm, before the light it was emitting went out. Kyungsoo put his wand and the crystal ball away, and stretched, moaning in approval as his vertebra popped back into place.

“Should we go back to Aberdeen to have lunch?”

“You want to?” said Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo nodded, grinning. “We’re done! And I’m starving so, yeah, would be great.”

“Oh. OK, fab. Teddy told me about this one place-”

“Intruders! Intruders! Intruders in Loch a’Garbh-choire!”

Kyungsoo gasped, startled by the noise coming from the crystal ball, now glowing red and burning him even through his robes. Chanyeol was blinking rapidly, looking back and forth between Kyungsoo’s face and the pocket of his robes that the ball was in. Kyungsoo quickly took out the ball and his wand, and said, “Chanyeol, hold onto my arm. Now!”

The moment he felt Chanyeol’s fingers gripping his forearm, he pointed his wand at the crystal ball and said, Teleportus.



They landed among wet heather in a pile of flailing limbs, right in the same place they had yesterday. Kyungsoo pushed Chanyeol off himself, struggling to catch his equilibrium and stand up when he heard the clicking noise again, followed by the pop of Apparation. He cursed and shot up, only to slide on the heather and fall down on top of Chanyeol.

“What was that?”

“Someone must have attacked a unicorn nearby and they fled before we had a chance to react,” Kyungsoo said, slowly standing up again. Once he felt there was no danger of him slipping, he grabbed Chanyeol’s hand and hauled him up.

“Fuck, look at that!”

Kyungsoo whipped around to look in the direction the other man was pointing in, only to slip on the ground and painfully knock into Chanyeol.

“Merlin’s baggy Y-fronts, this place will be the end of me,” Kyungsoo muttered, ducking his head low so that Chanyeol wouldn’t be able to see him blush. Kyungsoo had a limited tolerance for skinship and had definitely exceeded it in leaps and bounds over the last few minutes.

Chanyeol chuckled, helping Kyungsoo straighten himself up. “I think there’s a unicorn lying under that tree. Let’s walk over there. Slowly.”



The unicorn was magnificent, even lying on mud and soggy leaves. Its mane looked smooth as silk and its horn glistened in the sunlight.

Kyungsoo halted in front of it and crouched down. The unicorn glanced in his direction but didn’t move. Letting out a breath, he shifted forwards and gingerly touched the unicorn’s abdomen. There was a deep gash right where its gallbladder was supposed to be.

“What the!”

Kyungsoo looked up, catching Chanyeol mid-crouch. At some point the unicorn must have turned in the other man’s direction, and was now pointing its horn at Chanyeol’s chest.

Chanyeol took a step backwards and tentatively sat down on the ground. The unicorn huffed but lowered its horn. Then, it shifted towards Kyungsoo, laying its head onto Kyungsoo’s lap.

“I see how it is,” said Chanyeol, cocking an eyebrow.

“Tell anyone and you’ll wish you were dead.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrow rose higher.

“Circe help me, I’ll punch you in the face. Instead of having this dumb convo, I suggest you Portkey to London and get us some medical help asap, yeah?”

“Sure. Sure, OK. Don’t get your knickers in a twist, mate.”

*

“These are all of the Unspeakables’ files?”

“Yes,” said Hannah, batting her eyelashes in what was probably supposed to be a subtle manner. “Well, we do technically have more, but they’re classified. These are just general pieces of information – names, dates of birth, education, parts of the department the people work at. Nothing that needs to be kept secret from the DMLE.”

Kyungsoo groaned inwardly, trying to imitate Kris’ gentle smile without telling Hannah to get it together. Kris might have been handsome but he wasn’t that handsome.

“Thank you. Have a nice day.”

“My pleasure.” Hannah beamed at him.

Kyungsoo levitated the stack of documents he’d been collecting for last two hours off Hannah’s table and hurried to the lift. He got out on the second floor and went straight to Potter’s office. He kicked its door open, dumped the documents onto Potter’s desk, and slumped down into the nearest chair. He felt as if he hadn’t slept for ages, when in fact he’d been at Teddy Lupin’s just a few hours ago.

“You managed to get all the files?”

Kyungsoo rubbed at his eyes sleepily before forcing himself to look around the room. Chanyeol was splayed on a chair next to him, staring at Kyungsoo in what looked surprisingly like awe.

“I know how to charm the ladies.”

Chanyeol snorted and then turned back to watching Kris pace back and forth.

“It’s been barely two days and Kris has already gone mad. Should I expect you to follow in his footsteps soon? I mean, you’re still gonna be stuck in my flat for some time.”

Kyungsoo yawed, shifting in his seat so that he was half-lying. “Nah, I’m good. Anabelle’s great company.”

“And I’m not?”

“Hmm…you’re decent, I guess.”

“You done chit-chatting?” Kris said, putting a stop to their conversation.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and sat up properly. “Yes, mum.”

Chanyeol sighed, rubbing at his face. “OK, so let’s try and go over it again. Who could have been able to Disapparate that fast?”

“Well, it was a bloody complex Anti-Disapparition Charm that I put on the place so I’d say Unspeakables and the Heads of Departments.”

“No one else?” asked Kris.

“No. We don’t really share such advanced spells with just anyone.”

“Well, that narrows things down somehow,” Kris said and cast a spell on the stack of papers that Kyungsoo brought with him. Around one quarter of the pile flew up in the air and fell down onto the floor.

Kyungsoo chortled. “Graceful.”

Kris rolled his eyes and cast another spell to make the papers form a neat pile.

“Well, this is great but that pile’s still huge. I really don’t fancy reading all these files with you two on a Sunday evening. Especially since we don’t know what to look for anyway,” said Kyungsoo and stood up, moving towards the door.

“So you’re just gonna go?”

“Kris, this isn’t actually my case. And I’ll help when I can, but right now I definitely can’t.”

From the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo saw Chanyeol walk over to Kris and throw his arm over the man’s shoulder.

“He’s right, you know? It’s frustrating, but let’s face it, we’re stuck. Let’s go ask Harry if he wants us to tail all these lovely people and in the meantime Kyungsoo can go home, yeah?”

Kris furrowed his eyebrows, shooting a glare at Kyungsoo, before grunting, “Fine. OK. Yes. Whatever.”

Chanyeol patted Kris on the back and turned to Kyungsoo. “I’ll be back in the evening, probably. Take a rest. If you come up with anything, just tell me tomorrow. Don’t want you collapsing on me again.”

“I’m not a fragile princess.”

Chanyeol snorted. “Of course you’re not. Especially not when you look like Kris. But that’s not the point. You’ve just administered first-aid to a unicorn and survived a grilling by Harry and Hermione. Hell, you’ve been levitating piles of documents left and right for the past hour, and it was only yesterday that you overused your magic. I have the right to be concerned.”

“Fine. I’ll put a warming charm on dinner for you, you twat.” Kyungsoo muttered, walking out of Kris’ and Chanyeol’s office and stomping towards the lift.



It was pitch black outside by the time Chanyeol was back. Kyungsoo had only planned to lie down on the sofa in the living room for a few minutes, while waiting for Sharpie to finish cooking dinner; somehow that turned into taking a nap, and here he was, splayed on the sofa, still half-asleep, and staring at Chanyeol taking off his robes in the middle of the room.

“Hi.”

Chanyeol smoothed down his hair and grinned. “Hey. The unicorn’s fine. The Magizoologists said we were just in time. A bit longer and it would’ve died.”

“That’s great,” Kyungsoo said. He got off the sofa and pushed Chanyeol towards the kitchen. “Sharpie made dinner. Let’s eat.”

“You haven’t yet?”

“Nah, I passed out on the sofa.” Kyungsoo yawned and sat down at the counter, immediately grabbing his cup of tea. He hummed in approval, feeling the hot liquid soothe his throat, and glanced over at Chanyeol, unsurprised when he found the other man gobbling the food up as if it were the last meal he was ever going to have. “Did you make any progress with the case?”

Chanyeol shook his head. “You saw the files yourself. We might have narrowed it down but it’s still a lot of people we have to look into. We’ve managed to clear the Heads of the Departments, that one was easy, but the Unspeakables are a different matter.”

“We must have missed something.”

“Missed something? We cast every possible spell we could have on that place. There was no trace of any unique magic, no dropped belongings. Sometimes the bad guys just know what they’re doing. Sometimes they are actually a step ahead.”

Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrows. “You really think so? You think it’s a hopeless case?”

“I don’t think it’s a hopeless case. But it’s not an easy one and I’m afraid it’ll be a while before we solve it.”

*

The flat was quiet when Kyungsoo woke up; he could only hear the wind outside and Anabelle’s meowing. In the week he had spent at Chanyeol’s flat, it was the first time he got up after Chanyeol went to work.

He hoisted himself off the bed and traipsed to the kitchen, Anabelle trailing behind him. He ate his lunch, took a shower, put on his robes and went back to the guestroom.

The Time-Turner was tucked safely inside his old pair of robes in the wardrobe. He took it out and sat at the desk, his fingers shaking slightly from anticipation. He’d forgotten all about the device during his crazy trip with Chanyeol, but the only thing he’d been able to think about since he had woken up today was finding out if the Time-Turner worked.

After checking the time and making sure it had been more than an hour since he had woken up, he gripped the Time-Turner tightly, took a deep breath, and turned it once. The world spun around him, his surroundings blurring until he couldn’t make out a single thing. No matter how many times he used the device, the spinning never got less confusing. When it finally stopped, he stumbled, and only avoided falling down because someone grabbed his arm. He turned towards the person to thank them and gasped. Standing next to him was Kris – or more precisely another Kyungsoo polyjuiced into Kris – wearing his bathrobe, with hair sticking in every direction and Anabelle peeking from behind his legs.

They studied each other for a minute or two, neither breaking eye contact, before the Other Kyungsoo grinned. “So I did it? Or should I say, we did it?”

Kyungsoo smiled back, feeling the tension leave his body at once. “Let’s see,” he said and checked the time. “Exactly one hour. We did it indeed. Considering there’s two of us here, everything is now working just as Granger-Weasley said it should.”

The Other Kyungsoo hummed in agreement and sat down on the sofa. Kyungsoo followed his steps, stifling a laugh – Anabelle had been looking back and forth between him and the Other Kyungsoo since Kyungsoo had appeared in the living room.

“I wonder if we’re messing the future up by being in the same place at the same time though, even if neither of us is freaking out.”

The Other Kyungsoo scrunched his eyebrows in thought and said, “Can we really mess anything up if we’re stuck in this room alone? There’s no one we could directly influence. Well, except Anabelle, but I think she’s fine.”

“I guess you’re right. You know what I’m really curious about though?”

“What will happen to me once the hour is up?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Yeah. Granger-Weasley missed that moment every time she went back in time. I think we’ll be the first people to ever find out.”

“The first people to find out and live.”

Kyungsoo snorted. It was nice to talk to someone who thought exactly what he did - must be what having a twin would have been like.

The Other Kyungsoo smiled at him lazily and asked, “Do you want a cup of tea while we wait? Sharpie’s still around and I need to eat lunch anyway.”

“Yes, please. Never enough tea, right?”

“Exactly.”



They were chatting away, the Other Kyungsoo cleaning the dishes when he began to fade away. At first, he appeared slightly less solid, as if he were losing colour, but as the time passed he became see-through – like a ghost.

“Does it hurt? Do you feel like anything’s different?” said Kyungsoo.

The Other Kyungsoo shook his head, unable to make a sound. A second later he seemed to flicker and then he was gone, dissipating into thin air.

Kyungsoo took the last gulp of his tea and stood up. Anabelle was still staring at him with distrust in her eyes. He ignored her and went back to the guestroom, where he rummaged through the desk’s drawers until he found the old Time-Turner he had spelled wrongly. He looked at it for a last time, memorising the scratches on the glass and tracing them with his fingers, before saying, Evanesco. Glancing at his empty hand, he muttered, “And now the faulty Time-Turner is gone.”

The brief, clicking sound, barely audible although the flat was utterly silent, made him drop his wand, his eyes widening. The damn clicking sound, he thought, the same as when we landed in Cairngorms, and back at Jongdae’s…and in the Time Room.

He cursed, picked up his wand and Apparated to Diagon Alley.



After casting a plethora of spells on the door to Jongdae’s shop, on Jongdae and on himself, Kyungsoo plopped onto the sofa in Jongdae’s living room, grimacing.

“Tired?”

“Shush Jongdae. I’m trying to fit this ginormous body onto your bloody sofa without setting it on fire. I definitely prefer being more compact.”

“Compact?” Jongdae cocked an eyebrow. “You mean tiny.”

Kyungsoo groaned and shifted so that his legs dangled off the sofa a bit more comfortably. “No, compact. I am not tiny, and never will be.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, mate. So what’s the deal?”

“Oh, what isn’t. I can’t believe it took me so long to notice someone was monitoring my every bloody movement. There are spells on the door to your shop that trace who goes in and out, a bunch of tracking spells I’ve never heard of, and the Taboo spell on both me and you.”

Jongdae’s eyes widened. “Taboo? You mean that spell that You-Know-Who used?”

Kyungsoo nodded, leaning further back and staring at the ceiling. “Bingo. I bet it’s the same at my office. Merlin’s balls. I need to check it too.” He sat up and started to rummage through the pockets of his robes. “That idiotic Spherophone. Can never find it when I need it…Ah ha!”

Jongdae shook his head, snorting. “Knock yourself out and use the sofa as long as you want. You can Floo from here to the Ministry too.”

*

Kyungsoo was pacing around Granger-Weasley’s office when Chanyeol opened the door with a bang, hugged him, lifting him off the floor, and said, “Knew you’d crack it!” Noticing Hannah side eyeing them from the hall, he quickly extracted himself from Chanyeol and slammed the door shut.

“Be careful, idiot,” Kyungsoo hissed, making sure to put some distance between himself and Chanyeol. It wasn’t the first time that Chanyeol made him feel as if someone set his blood on fire – it’d become a worrying regular occurrence ever since the fourth year at Hogwarts, but it never got less disconcerting. Every place that Chanyeol had just touched tingled, his nerves blazing.

Chanyeol smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Forgot myself there for a second. So anyway, what’s up?”

“Someone put tracking spells on Jongdae, Jongdae’s shop, me and my office. They also included a modified Taboo spell which alerted them every time Jongdae, I, or anyone in our vicinity said the words ‘Time-Turner’, ‘Kyungsoo’, ‘Unicorn Bile’ and ‘Hour-Reversal Charms’.”

“What?” Chanyeol gaped at him.

“Yes. Seems like the person who caused me to Polyjuice into Kris is actually after the Time-Turner I’m working on.”

“Fucking hell. But I thought no one knew about it apart from you and Hermione?”

“I thought so too. Clearly, I was wrong. Granger-Weasley went to talk to Auror Potter-”

Chanyeol nodded. “Told me to get you. We need to go to Harry’s office. Kris is already there.”

Kyungsoo scowled. “Right. Bloody Hippogriff’s anus, I can’t wait until I’m back to looking like myself. This whole sneaking thing is horribly annoying.”



“Where’s Harry and Hermione?” Chanyeol said, transfiguring one of Potter’s pencils into a chair.

“Went back to work and said to use the office for as long as we need to,” Kris said, looking far less tense than the last time Kyungsoo saw him.

“Hmmm…so did they decide on anything?”

“Yeah. Harry said we should first determine who from the Unspeakables could be responsible for this whole mess.”

Kyungsoo regarded the two men for a moment before sitting down in Potter’s chair. Kris pressed his lips into a thin line and appeared to be digging his fingernails into the palm of his hands. Chanyeol glanced at Kris, confused, before looking over at Kyungsoo and laughing. “Well, you sure are making yourself feel at home.”

“No need to waste time and energy, when there’s a perfectly good and empty chair right here,” Kyungsoo said. “Anyway, we’re looking for Unspeakables who either work in Spell Development or were involved in it at some point. Going back one year in time though. Before that we didn’t really understand how the Taboo spell works.”

Kris unclenched his fists and put his hands on his legs. He seemed to have been trying to stop himself from scowling, which only made him look constipated. Kyungsoo snickered and bit his lip, seeing Kris half-frowning in response.

“What crawled up your arse and died, Kris? Let’s take this moment to have a heart to heart, yeah?”

Chanyeol snorted, kicking Kris in his shin. “Stop it, man. You’re looking ridiculous.” He turned to Kyungsoo and continued. “Kris is just really, really invested in this case and he’s worried you’re stealing his spotlight. Don’t mind him. He’ll get over it.”

“Stealing his spotlight? It’s not like anyone but you, Jongdae, Potter and Granger-Weasley will ever know I was involved in this case. Kris, get off your high Hippogriff, for Merlin’s sake.”

“This is pointless. Less talking, more working. And I’m not worried. I just don’t like outsiders to get involved.” Kris said, rolling his eyes.

“Outsiders?” Kyungsoo could feel the irritation bubbling under his skin.

“Anyone not from DMLE, alright? It’s strange working with someone who’s not Chanyeol or my superior. Don’t take it personally.”

“Whatever,” Kyungsoo grunted and grabbed a handful of the Unspeakables’ files.



“How many people do we have in total?” Kyungsoo said, chewing at a pencil he stole from Potter’s desk.

Kris levitated the files they didn’t need off the desk and quickly flicked through the remaining ones.

“Ten.”

“Excellent. Pass them over to me, please.” Kyungsoo put down the pencil and took the files from Kris. “Let’s see…Hannah only helped with one spell. It was pretty basic and she didn’t have access to the main laboratory anyway. James deals with a branch of spells irrelevant to this case. Aurelia’s the same. Caroline moved to Canada a month ago, so I really doubt it’s her. Greg is pants at tracking spells. Joyce helped improve the tracking spells so she’s worth considering. Oh. OH!”

Chanyeol perked up. “What?”

“You know, I worked in Spell Development for almost two months. They don’t have too many people and needed someone to help with strengthening the Anti-Apparation and –Disapparation charms. I got to know those people pretty well. And this guy,” Kyungsoo waved one of the files. “is the best Spell Development has ever had. He loved to experiment too. I’m absolutely sure he was tinkering with the Taboo spell when we worked together, because he explained some of the theory behind that spell to me.”

Kris grabbed the file, eyes widening. “Otis Asquith?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Yeah. He’s a relative of Jagiełło’s wife.”

“Jagiełło? The Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?”

“Yep. I heard Mrs. Jagiełło adopted him after his father died. I think she was his only surviving relative? Her maiden name was Asquith so that’s why the surnames don’t match.”

“That won’t complicate things, right?” Chanyeol said.

“It…shouldn’t,” Kyungsoo replied. “Jagiełło is very strict, from what I’ve been told. He doesn’t play favourites. If you arrest Otis because of plausible reasons, I think he’ll just let you do your job.”

Kris scowled. “It would have been too easy, if the guy was a nobody, huh? What about the rest?”

Kyungsoo looked through the files once again. “Well, you can still look into Joyce and Algernon. Maybe SooKyung too? She’s relatively new, but she’s amazing. I’m positive she’d be able to modify advanced spells successfully.”

Kris nodded and took the relevant files from Kyungsoo, while casting a spell on the unneeded ones so that they formed a neat stack. “Thank you. I’ll bring the documents back to Hannah. You can go home first.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. If we need anything more from you, Chanyeol will tell you. It’s background checking and tailing awaiting us now. Standard procedure.”

Kyungsoo glanced at Chanyeol, his eyes stopping on Chanyeol’s hands for a moment before he looked up at the man’s face. Chanyeol was looking back at him, head tilted to the side, worrying at his bottom lip. Kyungsoo swallowed and quickly turned towards Kris. “Well then, good luck. Don’t stay up too late,” he said, wiping his palms on his robes. His hands were feeling strangely sweaty as he dashed out of the office, Chanyeol’s gaze burning a hole into the back of his head.

*

Although he’d gone to bed well past one o’clock in the morning, Kyungsoo hadn’t heard Chanyeol come back last night. When he woke up sometime before eight o’clock the next day, Chanyeol was already gone too.

Kyungsoo ate his breakfast in silence, not even bothering to give Anabelle the bacon scraps. He nearly slipped in the shower, and kept fidgeting while reading “How to Charm Your Enemies. The Compendium”, even though he’d learnt all of his favourite spells from that book. He gave up on trying to pretend he wasn’t going to start climbing up the walls at any moment from restlessness after lunch and Flooed Jongdae.



He landed on the carpet with a bang, covered in soot, his face millimetres away from Jongdae’s feet.

“What a lovely surprise. Would you care for some tea?”

Kyungsoo rolled over onto his back and rubbed the ash off his face, spluttering. “I hate to Floo so so much. Who even came up with this tosh?”

He blinked, making the rest of the ash fall off his eyelashes and was finally able to see Jongdae clearly. His friend was grinning, wearing his laboratory apron and a purple headband, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows.

“You gonna stay on the floor, mate? I know this carpet’s rad, so I won’t judge.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and stood up, smoothing down his robes. “Nice headband, wanker.”

“Nice manners, prick. I can still kick you out.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Jongdae cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really now?”

“Really. Let’s have tea and chat. Like we did around your doll tea set when we were but wee lads.”

Jongdae sighed, but took off his apron and called Googley over, asking her for tea and scones. Kyungsoo smiled, plopping onto the sofa. He loved Googley’s scones; she served them with world’s greatest lemon curd and perfectly whipped cream.

“So what’s up, freak?”

“Does anything need to be up for me to come over and see you?”

Jongdae snorted, shaking his head. “Yes. Yes, it does.”

“I’m just antsy, OK? I’ve been running around, helping Chanyeol and Kris for the last two days, and now I’m stuck at home with nothing to do.”

“Hmmm… Is that so?”

Kyungsoo frowned. “Huh?”

“I don’t think you’re antsy because you’re stuck at home. You’re great at entertaining yourself, mate.”

“OK?” Kyungsoo said, setting his tea cup back on the table. “So what is it, pray tell, that is making me antsy?”

“Shouldn’t you know that?”

Kyungsoo gaped. “No? If I knew how to fix whatever is going on, I would have done it already.”

“It’s Chanyeol-related, isn’t it?”

“Not everything revolves around Chanyeol.”

Jongdae laughed. “Could have fooled me, mate.”

“Well, it’s not Chanyeol- I..I don’t know, OK? I’m just so horribly restless,” Kyungsoo said, running a hand through his hair. “What about the antidote?”

“Ah hah, change of topic. I see how it is,” said Jongdae, smirking. “The antidote’s not done yet, though it’s coming together. If we’re lucky, I’d say, one more week and you’ll be back to looking like yourself.”

“Is Malfoy still helping you?”

Jongdae beamed. “Yes. Yes, he is. He is amazing.”

“Disgusting,” Kyungsoo muttered, going back to sipping his tea.

“Is your face.”

“Nah, your Malfoy boner.”

“I do not have such a thing as a Malfoy boner, my dear friend. Just deep appreciation for people with power,” said Jongdae and raised his tea cup. “Cheers.”



Kyungsoo managed to stumble out of the fireplace in Chanyeol’s living room somewhat gracefully, avoiding tripping over Anabelle, his robes in only slight disarray.

“You’re right on time for dinner.”

Kyungsoo looked up abruptly, startled by Chanyeol’s voice, and collided with an armchair. “Fuck, that hurt.”

Chanyeol snickered, hiding his smile behind his hand. “Where were you? At Jongdae’s?”

Kyungsoo walked over to the other man, glancing at Sharpie levitating plates onto the kitchen counter. “Yes. I’m not wasted though. We only drank lavender tea.”

“Lavender tea?”

“It’s my favourite.”

He glanced at Chanyeol, catching him staring at Kyungsoo unabashedly.

“With honey?”

Kyungsoo looked away, focusing his attention back on Sharpie. “Of course not. Honey utterly destroys it.”

He heard Chanyeol laughing and then felt him put a hand on his shoulder.

“But it’s so bitter without honey.”

Kyungsoo shivered, forcing himself not to shake Chanyeol’s hand off. “Says the person who takes their tea with two cubes of sugar and a litre of milk.”

“Is not true,” Chanyeol muttered. “Only one third of my mug is milk.”

Kyungsoo huffed and started to pick up imaginary lint off his robes. “One third too much. Bitter lavender tea is the best. End of discussion.”

“Dinner’s ready.”

Kyungsoo hummed, pulled out his usual chair and sat down. He focused all his attention on the roasted carrots, cutting them obsessively into perfect cubes.

“We did a background check on Otis.”

Kyungsoo put down the cutlery and finally met Chanyeol’s eyes, which were crinkled in the corners and shiny with mirth. He didn’t enjoy it much – Chanyeol looking like there was something Kyungsoo didn’t know, something so utterly amusing. And Kyungsoo had the feeling the other man’s good mood had nothing to do with Otis.

“Do you know who Otis’ father is?” Chanyeol said.

“No. Not really. It never came up when I talked to him.”

“Macnair.”

Kyungsoo tilted his head to the side, frowning. “Sounds familiar.”

“He was a Death Eater.”

“No way.” Kyungsoo’s eyes widened, his dinner completely forgotten.

Chanyeol chuckled. “Yeah, I was flabbergasted when I found out. And, you know, Macnair’s still alive. He’s in Azkaban.”

“I guess that makes sense? I don’t think Jagiełło would have liked people to know he was taking care of a son of a Death Eater. I wouldn’t be surprised if he told Otis not to tell anyone about this.”

Chanyeol nodded and swallowed a few chunks of chicken before continuing, “Exactly. We want to check if Otis visits his father in Azkaban though. The guards keep records of people going in and out, and you won’t be allowed inside unless you’re a relative of the prisoner or an official with a permit.”

“Do you think his father’s involved somehow?”

“Who knows,” Chanyeol said, his fingers covered in grease and mindlessly poking at a chicken leg. “I figure Macnair knows a lot of shady people. He might have dropped some names. To be frank, Otis is the only person from Spell Development who has any connection to a criminal. I don’t know how the others could have got mixed up with a Potion smuggling ring.”

Kyungsoo sighed, pushing the carrots half-heartedly around the plate with his fork. “This is surreal.”

“Hey, it’s not a certain thing yet. Are you friends?”

“Sort of? We don’t really meet outside of work, but we do get along pretty well. I figure Otis would have had plenty of opportunities to cast all those spells on me and my office. He knew who I was closest to as well.” Kyungsoo paused and ruffled his hair. His right knee kept bouncing and his thoughts were running amok. “It seems logical for it to be him. But I don’t get the motive.”

Chanyeol stared at him for a moment, then shifted in his chair and put his hand on top of Kyungsoo’s. “We still don’t know if it’s him. Don’t worry, alright?”

Kyungsoo bit his lips, slipping his hand from under Chanyeol’s and scooping some of the mashed potatoes with his fork. Neither of them said anything else for a few, tense minutes, until a question that had been nagging Kyungsoo for a while carelessly tumbled off his lips. “Why were you so adamant at getting my attention back at Hogwarts?”

Chanyeol swallowed, blinking. “Huh?”

Kyungsoo quickly looked down at his lap, mortified. “Sorry. Don’t know where that came from.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I just thought you never noticed me when we were at school.”

“Was hard not to notice you.”

Chanyeol beamed, polishing the rest of the chicken off his plate. “You know, I knew near to nothing about the wizarding world when I first came to Hogwarts. I sat with a few other Muggle-borns on the train and so was unaware of the reputation Slytherin had. I actually thought it wasn’t a big deal that I got sorted into that particular House. So you left quite an impression on me, what with you death glaring me through the whole welcome feast.

“How did you know I was a Muggle-born right off the bat anyway?”

“Well, the wizarding community is quite close-knit, as you must have noticed. If you were a pure-blood or had at least one parent who was a wizard, I would have heard your surname before. So yeah, I was at least 95% sure you were a Muggle-born.”

“Hmmm…makes sense,” Chanyeol said. “I noticed rather quickly that you were pretty much the embodiment of a perfect Slytherin. When I found out your heritage was impeccable, I was a bit impressed. At that time my parents’ brainwashing was working very effectively, so for me you were everything my parents would have ever wanted in a son. I basically wanted to be like you, and wanted you to like me.”

“Are you serious? You went about it all wrong. Circe help you,” Kyungsoo said, grinning. “I mean, I noticed you, but I definitely didn’t want to befriend you. I was actually quite terrified of your manic grin. Although some of the things you did were ingenious, and single-handedly responsible for us holding the House Cup for so long.”

Chanyeol’s smile widened. “Exploding cauldrons during Potions, eh? I was amazing at sabotaging Hufflepuffs during Care of Magical Creatures too. Those were good years.”

“I don’t know. I still wanted to skin you alive half of the time.”

“You didn’t though. That must count for something.”

Kyungsoo snorted. “Yes, for how strong my self-control is.”

“Wanker. I bet you secretly liked me, but were too concerned with your social standing to talk to me.”

“In your dreams. It’s pretty clear that you liked me, not the other way round. Anyway, shouldn’t you have stopped this whole act in fifth year though? What with your parents and everything?”

Chanyeol coughed, lowering his eyes so that he was looking at Kyungsoo’s plate rather than his face. “I still thought you were cool back then. Conditioned response maybe? But yeah, trying to get your attention was something that came naturally after so many years, and I just continued to do it. I was sure you were fun, no matter what everyone said, since you had such bizarre friends.”

“You mean Jongdae, huh?

“Yeah, him too. But remember Eleanor Nott? She had a death glare even yours couldn’t rival.”

Kyungsoo smirked. “Ah, Eleanor. It’s a shame she moved to Italy with Blaise.”

Chanyeol gaped, putting his elbow right into a bowl of mashed potatoes. “Shit fuck. Jesus. Blaise Zabini?”

“Those are some plebeian curses, Chanyeol. There’s no Jesus for you anymore. It’s all about Merlin, remember that.

“And I know what you’re thinking; Blaise is much older than Eleanor so it’s strange. They work though. I heard they seduce unsuspecting innocent tourists together. Possibly boys under the age of eighteen. You’d have to ask Jongdae for details though. I’m not that up to date,” Kyungsoo said, eyes glued to the layer of mashed potato that was now covering Chanyeol’s elbow up until his wrist. “Scourgify.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol looked around the counter, finally noticing how close his hand was to the potatoes. “Oh, thanks. I’m a bit clumsy sometimes.”

“A bit? Maybe if a bit means a lot.”

“If I were clumsy a lot, I would have never made it through the Auror Training,” Chanyeol said, wolfing down the rest of the mashed potatoes straight from the bowl.

Kyungsoo poked mindlessly at the few remaining pieces of carrot on his plate. “So what? You magically become clumsy around me?”

“No. I’ve just been easily distracted lately.”

“Distracted?” Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes. His knee was bouncing again and he knew he was being utterly ridiculous, trying to read too much into a simple statement; he didn’t even know why he cared in the first place.

“Yeah. I guess? I’m probably just tired. It’s nothing.”

*

November was proving to be unusually cold, the temperature dropping down to zero degrees almost every night. Kyungsoo wasn’t a big fan of the winter weather, but he wouldn’t have minded getting some snow to go along with it. So far, however, all that lay on the streets were decomposing leaves, and they were much more likely to get a Brown Christmas rather than a white one.

Kyungsoo sighed, head propped on his hands, half-lying on the desk in the guestroom. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to blow the Time-Turner off the desk. He was bored. Again.

The last two days had passed in a blur. Chanyeol had been spending almost the whole day at work, leaving before Kyungsoo got out of bed and coming back just before his bedtime. They had barely spoken a word to each other, and for the first time in forever Kyungsoo was starting to crave human interactions. It didn’t help that Jongdae was locked up with Malfoy in Malfoy’s laboratory, finishing the antidote; he had no one to pester.

Kyungsoo sighed again, leaning back in his chair. A moment later he cried out, toppling down onto the floor, when he heard his Spherophone buzz in his pocket. He cursed, scrambled off the chair, and hoisted himself up, using the desk as leverage. He took out the Spherophone and smiled – Chanyeol was coming home early tonight.



“Are you sure his favourite food is Thai? Just because he gobbles it up, doesn’t mean anything. He could eat an elephant if he was served one.”

Teddy Lupin cocked an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “Are you his best friend or am I?”

Kyungsoo scowled, his grimace worsening when he inhaled a cloud of ash. “Those buggering Floos. Sometimes I think Muggles are onto something with their mobile phones. Firecalling is utterly impractical.”

Teddy laughed, dragging his fingers mindlessly through his now-baby blue curls. “I agree wholeheartedly. But Chanyeol’s favourite food is still going to remain Thai. He may love to eat, but it’s only Thai that he truly inhales.”

“Anything in particular?”

“Nah, everything is fair game. Just make sure it’s authentic Thai food and spicy as hell.”

Kyungsoo sighed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“He has that effect on everyone,” Teddy said, smiling fondly. “There’s only so long one can resist his charm.”

“Charm? Merlin’s beard, he has none.”

Teddy chuckled. “You know he does. Otherwise you wouldn’t be trying to do something nice for him right now.”

“It’s nothing. I’m not even the one cooking. No big deal. And don’t you dare tell him. I promise I’ll personally drag you to hell if you do.”

“No big deal, huh?”

“Yes, it’s absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.”

Teddy laughed, the curls bouncing with his every movement as if they had a life on their own. “OK, I’ll keep the secret. Now go and have fun.”

Kyungsoo said his goodbyes and pulled his head out of the fireplace, toppling sideways onto the floor. He rolled onto his back and rubbed the soot off his eyelids, before pointing the wand at himself and saying, Scourgify. One would have thought that after using the Floo so many times, he should have got the hang of it already, but Kyungsoo was still utterly hopeless, no matter if he Flooed or firecalled.

He spotted Sharpie sitting on a stool in the kitchen and got up. “We’re having Thai today. You can make it spicy.”



Kyungsoo was reading a random book when he heard the pop of Apparation. He waited until Chanyeol was done showering to finally come out to the kitchen.

Chanyeol was half-lying on the kitchen counter, smiling stupidly at Sharpie. He looked as if all of his biggest dreams had just come true. Kyungsoo tried stifling a laugh, but ended up letting out a giggle that had Chanyeol whipping around, nearly falling off the stool.

“Enjoying the view, aren’t you?”

Chanyeol grinned. “Yes! Thai is my favourite.”

“It’s good Sharpie wanted to make some today then, right?”

“Hmmm…wasn’t that your decision?”

Kyungsoo walked over to the other man, biting his lip to keep himself from smiling back at him. “Absolutely not. It’s always up to Sharpie what we have for dinner.”

“I see. Well, since you’re here now, let’s eat, yeah? I’m starving.”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo said, looking at Chanyeol inhaling the papaya salad. He shook his head, more amused than irritated, and dipped one of his spring rolls in sauce.

Once Chanyeol was done with the salad, he put his plate away and glanced at Kyungsoo. “So I have some good news.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I haven’t been home because we’ve been tailing Otis. Turns out he’s awfully close with one of the guys we know is definitely a part of the Potion smuggling ring. He also seems to be quite partial to hanging out in front of your office.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “No. You’re kidding, right?”

“Afraid not. We’re pretty sure he’s our culprit. Now that we’re familiar with his daily routine, we’re going to plan on how to catch him red-handed.”

Kyungsoo sighed, poking mindlessly at some of the grilled prawns. “That’s it then. Now I just need the Polyjuice to stop working.”

Chanyeol beamed at him, waving a half-eaten spring roll in the air. “And that’s where the good news part comes in. Malfoy came over today and said the antidote should be ready by tomorrow. It’s possible it may not work out yet, but he sounded quite optimistic, so I think it should be fine.”

“No way. Merlin’s saggy testicles, this is fabulous!”

“I know. I really don’t know how you’ve managed to stay reasonably sane stuck here, being Kris. The Kris part is probably the most traumatizing one, I guess.”

Kyungsoo snorted. “Oh, you have no idea. I may be tall and good-looking now, but I have Muggle relatives.”

Chanyeol hummed, wolfing down the green curry, then coughed, seemingly only just having understood what Kyungsoo meant. “Kris’ not a pure-blood?”

“No, he’s a pure-blood alright. His extended family, however, is a bit mixed.”

“I can’t believe you checked his background. Scratch that, I can’t believe you’d say this-No, wait, I can believe that. It’s you we’re talking about.”

Kyungsoo huffed, trying to keep a straight face, but failing utterly. “I was curious, OK? But to be frank being Kris hasn’t been that bad so far. I’ve always wanted to see how it’d be to be so tall and uncoordinated, and now I’ll definitely appreciate being compact more. Also, I got to finally know you,” Kyungsoo said, digging his fingers into his thighs, suddenly feeling a bit queasy.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, biting his lower lip and ducking his head. Kyungsoo stared at him, rendered speechless, letting a strange kind of tension seep into the room. He made a strangled noise, before grabbing a spoon and stuffing his mouth full of curry. It seemed fairly possible to him now that the Polyjuice might have made him barmy.

Chanyeol coughed and ruffled his hair. “We’re going to remain friends, right?”

Kyungsoo swallowed the pile of rice in his mouth, before nodding. “Sure. I don’t mind.” He glanced at Chanyeol, catching him sighing in what seemed like relief, before the man grinned at him, showing Kyungsoo all of his teeth. “Close your mouth. You have carrots stuck in between your teeth.”

Chanyeol cackled, grinning even wider. “Well, there’s no one else here. Why should I care, right?”



They spent the rest of the evening on the sofa in the living room watching TV – Chanyeol’s lap serving Kyungsoo as a footstool. It was nice, even if they continued to have moments when things would get awkward - one of them freezing up and stuttering, or hiding behind a pillow to lessen the mortification at his own behaviour (though that one was mostly Kyungsoo).

“Have I ever told you what happened when my magic first manifested itself?”

Kyungsoo cocked an eyebrow. “No?”

“Well, it’s quite the story. I think I was like five years old and my family was visiting one of my aunts. Muggle, of course. There’s no one that I know of in my family who’s a wizard.

“Anyway, me and my brother were playing around with our cousins, having a splashing contest in a pool in the garden. At some point, I slipped and landed in the pool facedown. I panicked so badly that all the water turned into cotton candy. My brother is allergic to sugar so he got a really bad reaction and ended up in the A&E. When they got him out of the pool, he looked like a beetroot and was scratching himself silly.”

Kyungsoo gaped. “You are truly a walking disaster, Chanyeol. Cotton candy? Really? Merlin’s balls, all I did was make one of my bears fly around the room. You’re a riot.

“I guess we have an explanation now for your brother being a dick though. A life without sugar sounds quite horrific.”

Chanyeol snorted and leaned closer to Kyungsoo. “He doesn’t do well with chocolate either. I used to eat all my sweets in his room just to spite him. He’s been a proper wanker since the day he was born. I never felt sorry for him.”

Kyungsoo fidgeted a bit, trying to stop his legs from sliding off the sofa. He shifted in his seat, ending up a few centimetres away from Chanyeol. “Oh? What did he do to you when you were a child?”

“I don’t remember much anymore. I know he threw out my favourite teddy bear after I got better grades in primary school than he did. He also used to hide spiders in my bed quite regularly, until I got over my fear of them and it stopped being funny to him.”

Kyungsoo choked on air, turning away from the TV to look Chanyeol in the face. “Are you bloody kidding-” he stopped mid-thought, his eyes widening. They were a hair’s breadth away – Chanyeol’s arm splayed on the back of the sofa, his fingers touching Kyungsoo’s shoulders and his back bent so that he was hovering over Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo swallowed, suddenly overly conscious of how dry his lips had become. His heart was beating furiously, setting his nerves on fire and making his brain turn to mush. “Are you bloody kidding me?” he finally managed to say, cursing internally at how high-pitched his voice sounded.

“No, my brother was a true devil’s spawn.”

Kyungsoo nodded, unable to look away from Chanyeol who seemed to have inched even closer, now pretty much sharing his breath. As the other man’s gaze fell onto his lips, Kyungsoo’s brain seemed to have kick-started, making him slide to the very end of the sofa and break the eye-contact.

“Well, look at how late it is. You should go to sleep earlier tonight. Get a good night’s rest,” Kyungsoo said, smiling lopsidedly.

Chanyeol stared at him for a moment, then shook his head and stood up. “You’re right. I’m knackered. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”

“Good night,” Kyungsoo said, watching Chanyeol disappear inside his bedroom, before he slumped heavily against the sofa. He unclenched his fists and rubbed at his face. He could still feel Chanyeol’s breath on his face and the place where their thighs had collided itched; it felt almost as if the other man’s touch had been inked into his skin.

He sighed and curled himself up in the fetal position, burying his head in one of the pillows. He didn’t move until he heard the unmistakable sound of the shower being turned off. Then, he waited until he was sure Chanyeol was in bed, and tip toed towards the guestroom, closing the door softly behind himself. He glanced at Anabelle, who was lying at the bottom of his bed, and threw himself down next to her. She huffed and pretended to scratch him, but in the end let Kyungsoo run his fingers through her soft fur.

*

When he woke up, the sun was high in the sky, spilling into the room and making him squint. Anabelle was still beside him, curled into a ball with her head tucked under his arm. He scratched her behind the ears, stood up and took his robes off. Then, he shuffled to the living room which he found empty and felt his shoulders sag with relief. He didn’t think Chanyeol was planning on confronting him about last night; nothing had happened between them after all. Still, he[ES1] couldn’t help but be anxious.

He sunk down into the sofa, not feeling particularly hungry, and tried to think about what he was going to do today. Looking around aimlessly, he noticed a piece of paper lying on the coffee table and hesitantly picked it up.

Kyungsoo,

I have to go to work today. Will be back late.

Thanx again for the food :D

PS. I’ve been tinkering with the wards recently and now you can Apparate in and out of the flat on your own.

Chanyeol

Kyungsoo groaned and slumped back against the sofa, burying his head in his hands. It was all too much, the note being the icing on the cake. He couldn’t stay in the flat all alone with only his thoughts for company. He needed to get out.

Putting the note back on the table, Kyungsoo stood up and Apparated straight to Diagon Alley.



Although the living room was empty, Kyungsoo could hear voices coming from Jongdae’s laboratory. He stood awkwardly on the threshold, staring at the orange sofa, until the door to the laboratory opened and Jongdae stepped out into the living room.

“Kyungsoo? What are you doing here?”

Kyungsoo shrugged and tried to smile but only ended up grimacing.

“You OK?”

He sighed, hearing the concern in his friend’s voice. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to talk about why he wasn’t OK. He didn’t even want to think about the fact that he wasn’t OK. Not now. Not ever. “Yes. Yes, I am. Just bored. Chanyeol’s working today again.”

“He is? Really?”

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes. “Why do you sound so surprised? They almost cracked the case. Of course they need to work overtime now.”

Jongdae stared at him for a moment, frowning. “Look, I’m working on the antidote with Draco right now, but I’ll join you once we’re done. Have Googley fix you something to eat. Unless you’ve eaten?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Good. Good, do it then. And make yourself at home. Not that you ever don’t,” Jongdae said, snorting.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Like you’re any different when you visit me. I’m going to go to your study, alright?”

“Sure. Just stay away from the carpet and the books with food. Those are proper antiques.”

“Excuse you very much. It would do you good to remember that I’m much more familiar with antiques than you will ever be. I know what to do, so go and continue flirting with Malfoy.”

Jongdae coughed. “Shut up! I’m not flirting with Draco.”

“Oh, I see. You’re on first name basis now. Whatever you say.”

“Mate, he’s married with kids. Seriously. Be quiet.”



Jongdae joined him in the study in the afternoon. His hair was messy and his clothes rumpled; he looked tired as he sunk down into the nearest armchair.

“Are you OK?”

Jongdae nodded, splaying his arms and legs. “Yeah, just a bit tired. The last eight hours have been a challenge. We couldn’t take our eyes off the antidote.”

“Is it finished now?”

“Almost. It needs to simmer on low heat for another few hours. Depending on what colour it becomes, it’s either going to be a success or an utter failure.”

“So it’s not a certain thing?” Kyungsoo said, eyebrows scrunched.

“Mate, there’s nothing certain about experimental potions. And especially not about experimental antidotes. It’s been going well so far, but the truth is anything can happen.”

Kyungsoo groaned. “If I have to do this any longer, I’m going to go insane.”

Jongdae looked at him for a moment before a grin bloomed on his face. “It’s a miracle you survived for so long. I actually had a bet going on with Hermione about how long you’d last before you attempted to take Chanyeol’s life.”

“What?! With Granger-Weasley?”

“Yep. I lost, by the way. Thought you’d be done by day three. Yet here you are, eleven days and counting. I’m proud of you.”

Kyungsoo gulped down his tea, grimacing at how cold it was. “I can’t believe Granger-Weasley made a bet with you. Over me, to boot.”

Jongdae laughed. “Really? Weasley’s a handful. I figure she needs to have developed a sense of humour at some point in her life or they wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

“They’re a mystery. You would think they were the worst matched couple in the world.”

“And yet they’re still in love with each other, right?”

“They can be truly disgusting. I don’t think my parents have kissed as often ever since I was born, as they kiss in one day,” Kyungsoo said, chuckling. “That said, you’re going off topic. How many days did Granger-Weasley bet on?”

Jongdae smirked. “You sure you wanna know?”

“Wouldn’t have asked otherwise, arsehole.”

“At least a month.”

“A month?!”

“Well, at first she said ‘forever’, but I told her to be more specific.”

“But-”

“Mate, it’s only you who said you hate Chanyeol. Everyone else thought you were just pulling his pigtails.”

Kyungsoo gaped, before grabbing his tea cup and downing the rest of his freezing, over-brewed tea. “Preposterous.”



It was past dinner time when Kyungsoo Apparated into the middle of the living room, stumbled on the carpet and collided with Chanyeol. He groaned inwardly and pushed himself off the other man.

“You alright there?”

“Yes, perfectly fine,” Kyungsoo said, glancing at Chanyeol. The man was wearing pjs, holding a mug in his hand. His hair was all over the place and, for the first time since Kyungsoo had known him, he was sporting some impressive eye bags. “Actually, it’s probably a question I should be asking you instead.”

Chanyeol smiled weakly, looking down at the tea mug. “Yeah, I guess? Work’s catching up with me.”

“Any progress?” Kyungsoo almost bit his own tongue in the haste to stop himself from babbling. There really was no need for them to talk now that things between them were still horribly awkward.

“Yeah. We gathered enough circumstantial evidence to try and get a search warrant.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…”

Chanyeol looked up from his mug, his stare gaining in intensity the longer they held eye contact. Kyungsoo gulped, feeling his palms get sweaty. “Uhm, well, I-I visited Jongdae today and he told me that…uhm…The antidote should be done by tomorrow morning. H-he’s going to come over sometime before noon.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?”

Kyungsoo could feel panic settling in. He didn’t like how forcefully cheerful Chanyeol was sounding or how focused the other man was on him. It felt as if Chanyeol was trying to cut him open with his stare and see under his skin.

“Yes, fantastic. Hopefully, it works. But-I…well, I don’t want to keep you up. You’re clearly still sleep deprived. So…good night!” Kyungsoo squeaked and dashed for the bathroom.

*

Kyungsoo was sitting down on the sofa in Chanyeol’s living room, fidgeting, while Jongdae nattered on about the antidote. He’d tuned out completely from the moment Chanyeol had sat down next to him a few minutes ago.

Since morning, Chanyeol had been acting as if the last two days hadn’t happened. He’d made breakfast instead of Sharpie, chattered away about work and Kris, laughed in the typical over exaggerated way of his and invaded Kyungsoo’s personal space every chance he got.

Currently, Chanyeol’s arm was resting on the back of the sofa, his fingers skimming down Kyungsoo’s back. Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch the other man in the face or stand up and start screaming; he didn’t think he could concentrate for long enough to actually make a decision, not to mention land a successful punch.

“So Kyungsoo, how do you wanna do it?” Jongdae’s voice brought him back to reality.

“Oh! Well…It’s going to hurt, right?”

“Yeah, mate. I reckon it’ll be as painful as when you took the Polyjuice.”

Kyungsoo stood up. “Then, I guess I’d rather just sit on the carpet, OK?”

“Sure, here’s the antidote,” Jongdae said, pulling out a small vial from his bag.

Kyungsoo took a deep breath, grabbed the vial, uncorked it and sat down in front of the fireplace, his back to the two men. The antidote smelled faintly of grass and something nauseatingly sweet. It was silver in colour, but it glistened like the unicorn’s horn had in the sunlight.

Closing his eyes, he counted to ten under his breath and downed the contents of the vial. A first it made his throat tingle for a few seconds, an unusual warmth spreading down his body, before it turned into a fire, setting all of his joints ablaze. Kyungsoo slid down onto the floor, curling up onto himself, biting his lower lip so hard that he drew blood. He could hear himself groaning in pain and Chanyeol talking to Jongdae, urgency lacing his every word, but the sounds came to him as if from a distance, muffled by an invisible wall.

It felt like forever, although Kyungsoo was sure it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two, before the pain settled down into an unpleasant shimmer, sending occasional sparks up and down his spine. His body continued to tingle all over and he could feel himself shrinking, the robes billowing around him, until it all stopped as abruptly as it started, leaving Kyungsoo lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“Mate, how do you feel?”

Kyungsoo took a few deep breaths, making sure his equilibrium was back to normal, before he pushed himself off the floor and stood up, his legs trembling as if he were a baby giraffe learning to walk.

“Do I look normal?” he said, his voice cracking in a way it would have had after a long period of disuse.

“Yes-” Jongdae started to say, but his answer was cut short by Chanyeol’s scream of joy.

The next thing Kyungsoo knew, he was being lifted off the floor, squeezed so hard he thought his bones were going to get pulverized, and spun around. He vaguely heard Jongdae throw a handful of the Floo powder into the fireplace, before Chanyeol tripped and they toppled onto the floor, Kyungsoo landing on top of Chanyeol. A moment later, he felt himself being pushed back into an upright position, his nose colliding painfully with Chanyeol’s collarbone. He gasped, gripping Chanyeol’s arms tightly, waiting for the world to stop spinning. When he finally came to his senses, he realised that he was sitting in Chanyeol’s lap, the other man’s breath sending shivers down his neck. He closed his eyes for a second before hesitantly craning his head so he could take a look at Chanyeol’s face.

He wasn’t sure what had happened afterwards. His thinking seemed to have switched off and the tension in the air had grown so thick he could have easily cut it with a knife. Just like that, in a blink of an eye, the rest of the world had faded into the background and Chanyeol had become the sole thing he could focus on.

Chanyeol leaned towards him, their noses touching and breaths mingling, making Kyungsoo sigh and close his eyes. Then, all of a sudden, they were kissing, their lips sliding tentatively together. Chanyeol’s hand glided up Kyungsoo’s neck, his fingers tangling in Kyungsoo’s hair, pulling Kyungsoo’s head gently to the side and deepening the kiss. Kyungsoo gasped and slid his hands up to Chanyeol’s chest, bunching up the other man’s shirt in his fists. The moment their tongues touched, Kyungsoo’s eyes flew open and he pushed himself off Chanyeol, landing painfully on the floor. He scrambled blindly for purchase, grabbing at the fireplace and pushing himself into a standing position, his back plastered to the wall behind him. His chest was heaving, hands shaking and thoughts running a thousand miles a second. He couldn’t recall the last time he had been so terrified.

“Kyungsoo?”

After admiring the ceiling for a few tense seconds, Kyungsoo finally turned towards Chanyeol, digging his fingers painfully into his palms. “Yes?”

“Why did you kiss me?”

Kyungsoo shivered, pointedly looking at the other man’s shoes. “I didn’t kiss you,” he said, words barely audible.

“You did kiss-”

“I did not!”

“OK. OK, fine. Why did you let me kiss you then?”

“Nothing happened. Forget it,” Kyungsoo spat out, his breathing becoming progressively more shallow. “You can’t be my first kiss. A Mudblood can’t be my first-” Kyungsoo’s breath hitched the moment the words were out of his mouth and he abruptly looked up at Chanyeol’s face, watching confusion give way to anger.

“Mudblood? Really? Really now? Do you even know what you’re saying? Do you ever think about anything you’re doing?”

“I-”

Chanyeol stood up, his fists clenched and muscles tense. “No, I’m the one talking now. I should have said those things to you ages ago. You’re such a fucking hypocrite. You act like you’re this big shot, but you’re just a coward. Nothing but a pathetic coward, hiding behind all the idiotic, bigoted things your parents taught you. You know very well what’s wrong and what’s right, and yet you’re too afraid of being yourself. You’d rather act like an arsehole because it’s easier. Because it doesn’t make people question you. You’d rather live a lie. Fuck, look at you, you’re fucking terrified of what your parents would say if they knew you might have feelings for someone who’s not a pure-blood, and you’re an adult, not some confused teenager with no place to go.

“Why won’t you try thinking for yourself? Why won’t you just take a step back and try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes? Do you even know why you’re so against Muggle-borns? Because, fuck, I’m so sure you actually have no valid reason for the shit you do.”

“Chanyeol…please, I-”

“No. No. No. Don’t you dare say anything before you’ve worked it out. I’m tired of making up excuses for your behavior. I’ve been doing it since fifth year when my hero worship of you turned into a love so blind I continued to act like a clown just to get you to notice me. Hell, that seems to be all I’ve been doing up until now. Trying to explain to other people why I let you walk all over me regularly,” Chanyeol paused and took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving Kyungsoo’s. “I know you’re not a bad person. I know that at this point, I’m probably one of the few people who know the real you. And it’s great to know you trust me at least to that extent. But you can’t just drop this shit on me. Especially not when it insults me and the world I come from. We can’t be friends, we can’t be anything, if you’re going to be a total fucking wanker about my bloody heritage. We’re both human beings. This drivel shouldn’t matter. At all.

“And even if we put that aside. Do you…Can you say you have feelings for me? Can you admit to that?”

Kyungsoo swallowed and opened his mouth to answer but no words came out.

Chanyeol groaned. “Why are you so-”. Then, he shook his head, looking more tired than angry, and stomped to his room, slamming the door behind himself.

Kyungsoo slid down the wall and buried his head in between his knees, trying to stop his heart from going into overdrive. His muscles felt taut, as if stretched to the limit, and all he wanted was to claw at his skin until he’d feel nothing but physical pain.

It had taken mere minutes for him to pack. Kyungsoo looked around the guestroom for the last time, petted Anabelle and pussyfooted towards Chanyeol’s room. He knocked on the door and waited with bated breath for the door to open, but ended up being ignored.

“Chanyeol? I’m sorry. I…I’m going home. S-sorry,” he said, tiptoed to the living room and Apparated back home.

*

Kyungsoo had spent the rest of the day buried under the duvet in his room, refusing to see anyone but Sharpie. Although he’d successfully evaded running into both his parents, he knew that eventually they would find out he was back; Sharpie didn’t have to tell them anything but she couldn’t lie if asked a direct question.

No matter how hard he’d been trying not to think about what happened in the morning, he couldn’t erase the memory of Chanyeol standing in front of him, shoulders sagging and disappointment written all over his face. He could still hear Chanyeol calling him a pathetic coward over and over again. Kyungsoo might have had similar arguments with Jongdae, but it had never cut this deep, never rang this painfully true. Chanyeol’s words seemed to have wormed their way under Kyungsoo’s skin and made themselves at home.



Kyungsoo woke up a bit after his usual breakfast time to the smell of lavender tea and freshly baked bread. He sat up begrudgingly and took a sip of the tea before stumbling out of bed and towards the bathroom. He closed the door behind himself with a sigh and stepped under the shower, leaning his head against the wall and letting the hot water paint his skin red. He felt tired in a way he never had done before; his bones ached as if from overuse, his body weak.

He toweled himself roughly and reached for his toothbrush, glancing at the mirror. He grimaced, seeing how red-rimmed his eyes were and turned on the tap to splash some cold water on his face.

He got dressed in absolute silence, ignoring Sharpie who was waiting for him next to his bed. He fixed his hair and took a couple of deep breaths before saying, “Mother knows, doesn’t she?”

Sharpie looked at him with wide, tearful eyes. “Yes. Sharpie did her best but she had to answer.”

Kyungsoo sighed. “I know. Don’t worry. I don’t blame you. I take it she wants to see me?”

“Yes. She’s waiting in the library.”

“OK. I got it. I’ll go see her alone.”



He’d barely stepped into the library when he heard his mother’s voice. “How was Madagascar?”

Kyungsoo closed the doors behind himself, walked over to where his mother was sitting and sat down in an armchair opposite her. “It was nice.”

“Nice? Is that all you have to say?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what did you get me as a souvenir?”

“I didn’t get you anything.”

“Sweetheart, what is going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Sweetheart-”

“Mother,” Kyungsoo interrupted, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles were turning white. “How would you know you were in love?”

“Oh, Kyungsoo. Come here, dear,” Kyungsoo’s mother said, beckoning for him to sit next to her on the sofa. “In your case, just the fact that you’re asking me about this means you are most likely in love.”

“But mother-”

Kyungsoo’s mother shook her head and put her hand on Kyungsoo’s arm. “Dear, I know you’ve never had any romantic interest in other people. Just because it used to be that way, however, doesn’t mean it can’t change.

“If you’re catching yourself thinking about that person more often than about anyone else. If you’re happy just by being next to them. If you’d rather never leave. If that is how it is, then you’re in love.”

Kyungsoo sighed and looked up. “It’s a man, mother.”

“Well, that’s unorthodox, isn’t it?”

Kyungsoo gaped. “Unorthodox? Is that all you have to say?”

“I was losing hope you were ever going to find anyone. I’m just glad it’s not a Hippogriff.”

“Merlin’s beard, what is it with you people and Hippogriffs…,” Kyungsoo muttered. “He’s also a Muggle-born, mother.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. That’s probably a bit too unorthodox, isn’t it?”

“I have to admit it is. Slightly. Father won’t be pleased.”

“Won’t be pleased? Mother, he will be furious.”

Kyungsoo’s mother smiled. “Dear, I know that we brought you up very strictly. We instilled the pure-blood ideals in you to make sure you’d fit right in with the other pure-blood families. And you have done that and more. I do not, however, want you to stick to those ideals at the expense of your own happiness. If you want to be with someone who’s a Muggle-born, then I won’t protest.”

“Are you sure father would say the same thing?”

“No. But you have two parents and if need be, I’ll choose you. If need be, I’ll try and persuade him.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo said and looked down at his lap. “He works for the Ministry.”

“The man that you like?”

“Yes.”

He felt his mother gently brush the hair off his face. “Is he a good person?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that settles it then, doesn’t it?”

*

Kyungsoo was finishing his breakfast when Granger-Weasley’s head appeared in his fireplace.

“I’m so glad I’ve managed to catch you. I heard the antidote was successful. Is everything fine?”

Kyungsoo swallowed and put down his cutlery. “Yes. I’m so sorry I didn’t notify you. I wanted to take a short break. To get used to this. Again,” Kyungsoo said, pointing at himself.

Granger-Weasley laughed. “I can imagine it must feel quite different, especially after such a long time. Can you come to work today though? Kris told me he really needs to talk to you.”

“Is it urgent?”

“It seemed to be.”

“I’ll come then. I’ll finish here and go find him.”

“Great. Come over to my office later,” said Granger-Weasley, smiling, and waved before her head disappeared from the fireplace.



Kyungsoo closed the doors to the Auror Headquarters and looked around the room, spotting Kris in one of the cubicles; Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen. He walked over to the other man and stopped at his desk.

“I’m here.”

Kris looked up from the report he’d been writing. “I can see that.”

“So what is it?”

Kris snorted. “Eager to run away, aren’t you? Don’t worry, it’s not about Chanyeol. It’s Otis.”

Kyungsoo tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand.”

“Look, we went to Otis’ flat yesterday to search it and we found Unicorn Bile, amongst other things.”

“Amongst other things?”

“Not that important. Anyway, we have the guy in the interrogation room and he’s willing to confess. The thing is he wants to talk to you first.”

“What?”

Kris sighed. “Yeah. He wouldn’t say why. Are you up for it?”

“Well…I guess? What if I refuse?”

“It will be considerably more difficult for us to get any information from him.”

“So basically you don’t really need me but it’ll make your life easier?”

Kris rolled his eyes. “Yes. Also, I won’t give you shit. Because of Chanyeol.”

“Oh, wow, how could I refuse then,” Kyungsoo said, huffing. “Let’s go and get this over with, please.”

Kris stood up. “Sure. Let’s go.”



They were standing outside of the interrogation room, waiting for Otis to be brought from the holding cell. Kyungsoo was fidgeting, trying to think of something to say and Kris kept glancing at him, looking smug.

“I won’t give you shit. Not really. But you’re still a dick.”

Kyungsoo spluttered. “We’re not talking about it. Did you tell Jagiełło you arrested his son?”

“Yes, he already knows.”

“Did he give you a hard time?”

“No, not really. Seemed rather unsurprised, to be frank. I don’t think there’s any love lost between the two of them,” Kris said, smiling.

Kyungsoo snorted. “Do you think he’s glad to be rid of Otis?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he’ll be very glad if we actually charge Otis. That man’s a true pain in the ass. I can’t believe you’re friends with him,” Kris said and then widened his eyes comically. “No wait, you’re a pain in the ass too. It would work.”

“Merlin’s balls, can you stop maybe?”

“I can.”

“Then do it. You can continue this fascinating conversation with Jongdae. He’ll be able to appreciate it much more than I would.”

“It truly baffles me that Chanyeol likes you.” Kris said, laughing. “Oh, look, Otis is here.”

Kyungsoo turned around, noticing Otis standing behind him, looking even more sullen than usual.

“Well then, let’s do this,” Kris said and opened the door to the interrogation room, showing them inside. “You can take as long as you want. Me and another Auror will be waiting for you outside. Kyungsoo, if at any point you feel threatened, you should press this red button under the table. When you’re finished, just stand up and walk to the door. Otis is under Veritaserum which should start working in approximately one minute. Since this is how he wanted to confess, everything he says will be recorded. Are you fine with that, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“Great. Have fun.”

Kyungsoo glanced at Otis before walking to the table in the middle of the room and sitting in the chair closest to the red button Kris had mentioned. He clasped his hands together and watched his friend sit down in the other chair. They looked at each other in silence for a few minutes until Otis’ upper lip started twitching. Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, only to have Otis howl with laughter.

“Is being arrested a laughing matter to you?”

Otis stopped laughing and leaned closer to Kyungsoo. “Oh no, not a laughing matter. It’s disappointing that I’ve been caught, but what’s funny is that you’re here.”

Kyungsoo cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t you ask for me to come here?”

“I did. I didn’t expect you to grace me with your presence though.”

“Why are you being such a bloody prick?”

“Oh, Kyungsoo,” Otis said, sneering. “You can be so naïve. It’s quite amazing for someone who’s as intelligent as you are. No understanding of how real life works maybe?”

“Stop this tosh and tell me what you did and why you did it, or I’m walking out.”

Otis leaned back against his chair, legs splayed. “OK, OK. No need to get all pissy on me. I will tell you everything.”

“Why did you put all those spells on my office door, me, Jongdae and Jongdae’s shop?”

“Well, it’s a long story. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?” Otis smirked and Kyungsoo shrunk back. “I hated you from the moment you became an Unspeakable. You were no one, fresh out of Hogwarts, with good grades but absolutely no experience. Yet, it was you who was chosen for Spell Development, even though everyone else had to work their ass off for at least a year to be allowed to create any of the advanced spells. Then, to top it off, you were transferred to the Time Room and asked to work on the Time-Turner. Instead of Hermione. Out of all the Unspeakables she chose you. You who were completely green compared to the rest of us in Spell Development.

“You think I’m the only person who disliked you? I’m pretty sure the only people who tolerate you in the Department of Mysteries are Hermione and Hannah. You’re just a stuck up prick who gets by because he kisses his boss’ arse.

“Anyway, earlier this year I decided I had enough. The moment I was sure you were in fact working on creating a new Time-Turner, I tried to locate your office. I planned on breaking in once you were done and destroying the finished product. In the meantime, I visited my dear father in Azkaban and got him to introduce me to the leader of the infamous smuggling ring the Aurors have been after since ages. They helped me get a few rare ingredients I needed to strengthen my tracking spells and explained to me how the Taboo spell works. In exchange I agreed to help them with obtaining the Unicorn Bile. It was a great partnership. I should have known you’d ruin it.”

Kyungsoo counted to ten in his head, digging his fingers into his thighs. “If anyone ruined anything here, it was you.”

Otis rolled his eyes. “Ah, but of course. How could I have done anything illegal? And to a friend! Oh my.

“Look, I only got close to you so it’d be easier for me to destroy you. I couldn’t care about you any less, to be frank. You’re like a piece of gum stuck to the sole of my shoe that I can’t get rid of.”

“Well, I reckon you’ll be rid of me permanently once you end up in Azkaban. With your father,” Kyungsoo said, standing up.

“Oh, I’m afraid that won’t happen. In fact, I expect to walk out a free man. There’s a lot of information I can give the Aurors because I know the right people in the smuggling ring. Although I’m still hoping to never cross paths with you again.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Kyungsoo spit out and stomped towards the door. The moment Kris opened the door, Kyungsoo dashed down the corridor. He didn’t, however, manage to get too far before Kris caught up with him, grabbing his arm.

“Wait. Please, wait.”

Kyungsoo groaned, shoulders sagging. “What do you want?”

“I’m sorry about this. Don’t take what he said to heart, alright? It’s not true.”

Kyungsoo snorted. “Not true? That’s rich coming from you.”

“Look at me,” Kris said, pulling at Kyungsoo’s arm. “I don’t hate you. You can be an annoying prick but you’re a good person. Jongdae and Chanyeol really trust you. That’s enough for me.

“That said, I need you to talk to Chanyeol, OK? I don’t know what happened between you two, but he’s been a wreck. Please fix it. Promise me you’ll go and talk to him. Please.”

Kyungsoo sighed. “It truly is none of your business, Kris. I’ll talk to him though. I promise.”

“Thank you.”



Kyungsoo stumbled out of Jongdae’s fireplace only to find the living room empty. He went over to the laboratory but the door was locked. “Jongdae,” he shouted. “Googley?”

“Yes Master Kyungsoo?” The house elf appeared before him a moment later, carrying a tray with a teapot and two tea cups.

“Where’s Jongdae?”

“He’ll be here in a moment. I was told to bring you some tea.”

Kyungsoo lay down on the sofa, eyeing the tea pot. “Is it lavender?”

“No, chamomile. Master Jongdae said you’d need to relax.”

“Oh, did he?”

Googley nodded, her expression earnest. “Yes, he did. Now if you will excuse me, I will go prepare lunch.”

Kyungsoo sighed and ruffled his hair, mussing it up beyond repair. It seemed like Kris had managed to contact Jongdae much quicker than Kyungsoo thought possible. The wanker actually understood how Kyungsoo worked quite well.

Propping himself up on the arm of the sofa, Kyungsoo sipped his tea, letting the cup warm up his hands. He was barely halfway through the first cup before he heard a loud bang and saw Jongdae stagger into the living room.

“Mate, it’s great to see you!”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “We’ve seen each other just three days ago.”

“Still a pleasure.”

“Cut the crap, will you? Chamomile tea really won’t do it. This is a perfect occasion for having some of that liquor you stole from your father.”

Jongdae gaped at him for a moment, before collecting himself and grinning. “Now, let’s not make hasty decisions-”

“Jongdae, I already decided everything I needed to decide. I don’t want your pep talk. All I want is for you to get wasted with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as I’ll ever be.”



Kyungsoo hiccupped and giggled, slapping Jongdae’s arm. “So basically mother gave me her blessing. Never thought I’d see that day.”

Jongdae laughed and put his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders, almost tipping over his glass of Firewhisky. “Well, now you can try doing what you want for once. As the great Oscar Wilde used to say: ‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken’,” Jongdae said, raising his glass.

Kyungsoo scrunched his eyebrows. “The fact that you’re quoting Oscar Wilde at me again is disturbing. I can’t be ‘myself’ though. I’ve always been someone else. I-I have no idea who I really am.”

“Well, I’m probably too shitfaced to give you proper advice, but I reckon you should just do whatever you feel is right. Don’t think whether your parents would approve or not. That most likely would be what being yourself is?”

“Are you asking me?”

Jongdae snickered and laid his head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Nooooooo. Maybe? Be spontaneous! You can’t pretend you’re someone else if you don’t think about what you’re doing!”

Kyungsoo guffawed. “Spontaneous! Yes, I should do that!” he said, standing up and throwing his glass onto the floor. “It was great talking to you, you awful prick. I’m afraid I must be going.”

“Where to?”

“To spontaneity!” Kyungsoo said and staggered out of Jongdae’s living room and through the storage, barely avoiding a collision with a row of glass jars, glowing red in the semi-darkness. He giggled, opening the storage door which was clearly visible from the inside, and sashayed outside, past a spluttering clerk.

The cold wind hit him like a freight train, sobering Kyungsoo enough for him to pull out his wand and Apparate straight into the middle of Chanyeol’s living room.

Kyungsoo yelped and swayed in place for a second, before catching his balance and looking around. Chanyeol was standing in the kitchen, blinking rapidly, a spatula in one hand and a pan in the other. Kyungsoo grinned and stumbled towards him, zigzagging around Anabelle. “Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol put the pan and spatula down onto the counter and crossed his arms across his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Being spontaneous!” Kyungsoo shouted, before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

“Are you drunk?”

“Yes! Drunk on the beauty of your eyes.”

Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“Absolutely,” Kyungsoo said, wiggling his eyebrows. A second later he grabbed the counter, steadying himself, before doubling over and throwing up all over Chanyeol’s floor and shoes. Then, he promptly passed out.

*

Kyungsoo woke up to sunlight so strong he dove right back under his duvet. He yawned and snuggled closer to Anabelle who was tucked into his side. Sighing contently, Kyungsoo closed his eyes only to open them a second later and shoot up, throwing the Kneazle off the bed, who then hissed and dashed out of the room through the half-closed door.

Groaning, Kyungsoo pinched himself, hoping against hope that he would suddenly find himself in his own room. When that failed, he threw off the duvet, got off the bed and started pacing around the room. Considering that he felt sober and woke up in the guestroom, and not on the kitchen floor, he was sure that at some point last night Chanyeol must have given him a Sobering Potion and carried him to bed. Also, considering that he’d managed to actually Apparate into Chanyeol’s flat, the other man still hadn’t changed his wards. Which Kyungsoo figured was probably a good sign. If Chanyeol truly hated him, he would have changed the wards, wouldn’t he?

Hearing the footsteps in the corridor, Kyungsoo halted his pacing and tensed up. His breath hitched when Chanyeol stepped into the guestroom, hair messy, eyes rimmed red and bathrobe askew. The man sighed and said, “What are you doing here, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo gulped and tugged at his robes. “I-uhm…I woke up here?”

“You don’t remember last night?”

“I do. I got plastered and Apparated into your flat.”

Chanyeol let out another sigh and leaned against the wall, running his fingers through his hair. “Why did you come here, Kyungsoo?”

“I-well, I-I guess I want to give this a try.”

“Give what a try?”

Kyungsoo clenched his fists, trying to calm his racing heart down. “Us.”

Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow. “You mean you want to go out with me?”

“Yes.”

Chanyeol laughed wryly, clapping his hands. “Well, that’s a splendid joke. Good job.”

“I’m not joking!”

“Why should I believe you?”

Kyungsoo took a deep breath. “I talked about you to my mother.”

Chanyeol titled his head to the side. “And?”

“She’s OK with this. Father obviously isn’t, but.”

“But?”

“Look, I think I’ve probably always liked you a bit. Ever since Hogwarts. Possibly first year? And it scares me – this relationship thing. You know I’ve never been with anyone. I have no idea how it works. I’m not sure if I love you, since I don’t really understand what love truly is. But I want to try. I want to try to change, and I want to try and see if I love you. I-”

“Stop.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “Chanyeol, please-”

“Why should I give you a chance? I’ve given you so many already. Why should I do this again?”

Kyungsoo shrunk back, barely keeping tears of frustration at bay. “Because you love me? And because this is the first time I actually have any idea of what’s going on? Please.”

Chanyeol scowled, before crossing the room and stopping right in front of Kyungsoo. “What if I kissed you now?”

“Uhm…”

“No,” Chanyeol said, shaking his head. “You kiss me. Show me you actually mean it.”

Kyungsoo hesitantly craned his head up so he could look Chanyeol in the eye and inhaled sharply, aghast at the intensity of Chanyeol’s gaze. He took a step forward, closing the remaining distance between them, and put his trembling hand on Chanyeol’s neck.

Kyungsoo could hear alarm bells ringing inside his head, a cacophony of horrified screams vying for his attention. He knew that if he hesitated now, the screams would only get louder and more illegible, and turn into his father’s stern and disappointed voice.

He watched his hand slip, sliding down to Chanyeol’s collarbone. Feeling the racing pulse under his fingertips, Kyungsoo looked back up at Chanyeol, got on his tip toes and entangled his fingers in Chanyeol’s hair, before giving him a chaste kiss. He drew back a second later and unconsciously licked his lips. Chanyeol blinked and groaned, grabbing Kyungsoo by the waist and crashing their lips back together. Kyungsoo gasped but immediately closed his eyes, linking his arms behind Chanyeol’s neck.

Kyungsoo’s mind went blank; the only thing he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears. He sighed and parted his lips, sliding his tongue against Chanyeol’s and letting out a moan.

They parted to come up for breath, their lips still millimetres away, Kyungsoo’s hands clutching Chanyeol’s shirt.

“Yes,” Chanyeol whispered, smiling.

“Yes?”

“Yes, I will give you another chance.”





The quote “I made my money the old-fashioned way; I inherited it” was borrowed from John Raese.

“C'est l'ironie de la vie” loosely translates into “That’s the irony of life”.

Comments

[edori]

wow this fic was incredibly long but very very worth reading *o*

I love the way you put so much thought into their everyday lives and interactions. The details about Annabelle and Sharpie and all their banter while they were living together really showed the progression of their relationship in a way that was natural. The dialogue was lively and fun to read, and even though the story was long I never felt bored during it.

From the plot it was clear that you had a very good understanding of the world of Harry Potter and all the little touches about the Ministry of Magic and the different settings really made the fic come alive. There was a lot of background for everything that happened and it made the plot even more solid.

Also it was really interesting to see the way you tied Exo in with the characters already in the Harry Potter universe. It really seemed natural to have them all working together; I loved how Jongdae and Kyungsoo argued about how to address Hermione and Kris' man crush on Harry was so strangely fitting.

I really enjoyed reading this fic, thank you so much for writing it! ;o;

[ajin]

Ah, thank you :3 I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much.

I love when people tell me they weren't bored. Such an ego boost lol I was worried about the progression of Kyungsoo and Chanyeol's relationship all the time tbh. It's good to hear it worked out in the end.

Wasn't it like the first fic you read by me? You have no idea how happy your comment made me, really. I always care more about the opinions of people who actually know me /o\ So thank you again <3

[rhaineyy]

Firstly, just a warning. I do not know what to say because I do not often comment on fics. This has to be one of the exceptions, though.

Anyway! I love it! Needless to say ♡ I think that you've morphed these characters with the way we know the members' personalities are. I feel like whenever I see them now, I will always remember your fic haha.

I actually have a lot of favorite parts but ofc, I love the ending the best! I feel like I really would act like how Yeol did in that scenario given the situation.~

Plus, I also like that you've incorporated some of the original characters from the books. I'm too attached to them that I want to read about them from time to time with EXO.

Really, great job! And sorry for the messy comment. I'll practice.

P.S. I've made this account just to comment on your fic so be honored!

[ajin]

I don't think there's a set way of writing comments. As long as you write what you thought it's great. Thank you, really, for actually making an account just to leave me a comment. That's lovely :3

I'm glad you liked this fic so much. Hearing that my characterization had such an impact on you is amazing,

I totally understand the HP characters thing. I love the books and I'm super attached to the characters as well. It's fun to play around with them.

You should totally tell me what other parts you liked lol Thank again for your comment,

[thatscraptastic.livejournal.com]

I've always avoided harry potter crossovers because I imagine it's not easy to blend the worlds smoothly, but you did it perfectly and I loved this.

[ajin]

Thank you so much! I did my best to make the crossover seem natural so I'm happy to hear that :3

[xiuxun]

OMG This is so freaking awesome!!
Those HP-related details are completely well written.
If I didn't already know firsthand that this is an EXO fic. I would definitely say it is 100% a HP fic!
Because, it totally looks like one ! lol Even those familiar canon characters were mentioned here.

/MIND-BLOWN

♡ Chanyeol is seriously a fanboy of Kyungsoo. Fanclub no.1 since first year. lol
♡ Kyungsoo isn't a prick, he is just a typical adorable yet cool tsundere. lol
♡ Annabelle is cute.
♡ Googley is such a pretty name.
♡ Drunk BFF!ChenSoo (especially the latter) are the best lmao they are so lame together ! xD
♡ JONGDAE AND HIS CRUSH ON DRACO MALFOYS OMFG SCREAMS DON'T DENY IT
♡ CHANYEOL AND HIS CRUSH ON THAI FOOD!!!!1!! OMG I'M THAI AND NOW I'M CRYING PROUDLY SOBS (really, I appreciate that you've mentioned Thai food several times here ;u; thank you)
♡ The kiss scene at that end ;u; hngggg <3
♡ I would love to read more though, some kind of sequel? >w< <3

LOVE YOU ♡