Archive of Our Own

“It does exist!” Hwiyoung slams his palms on the table.  His plate tilts dangerously off the edge; Rowoon’s fast reflexes stop it just before it hits the ground with a loud shatter.   

Chanhee gingerly rubs the spot between his eyebrows, “How do I spell away a headache?” he grumbles.  He wrinkles his nose, and then nudges Rowoon. “Unless you know a spell to nudge away a pair of idiots?”

Rowoon grins and ruffles Chanhee’s hair as Dawon flicks a grape at them.  “This is our table you know; we’re perfectly entitled to intellectual discussions.” 

“You’re Hufflepuffs,” Chanhee rolls his eyes, “And stop stressing Hwiyoung out, or he’s gonna live in the library pretending we don’t exist for the next month,” 

“Slither back to your own table if you can’t appreciate the existence of the single most important magical creature to ever exist,” Hwiyoung grumbles. Yet he grabs a cinnamon roll, grimaces at the sheer size of it, and opts to tear it open and drop half on Chanhee’s plate regardless. 

Chanhee rips a chunk off and chews thoughtfully, “Well, don’t you think we would have seen it by now?  I would think it’s a little difficult to hide a giant squid.” 

Rowoon frowns, “Maybe it’s shy?”

Youngbin chooses that moment to make his entrance, smacking Rowoon upside the head in greeting and nestling himself between Hwiyoung and Chanhee.  He throws an arm around Hwiyoung’s shoulder and leans over to rip a huge mouthful from his cinnamon roll.  He takes a moment to relish the sweet taste and sighs, “Alright, tell Mama what my babies are fighting about today,”

“Hwiyoung hyung thinks the giant squid is real,” Chanhee supplies, “The rest of us think he’s an idiot,” 

“He is!” Dawon squawks.  The other Hufflepuffs around them grumble but Dawon pins them with a glare.  “It would be dead by now,” Dawon affirms, “Giant squids don’t live that long, and it can’t live at the top of a lake, they’re deep-sea creatures, it wouldn’t make any sense.”

“You know this is a magic school, right?” Hwiyoung smirks, “With magic people, magic animals – not to mention the literal magic stairs?” 

Dawon flicks another grape that Hwiyoung smoothly catches with his mouth.  Despite the squabble Dawon whoops and high-fives him anyways, and slowly the Hufflepuffs around them slink away from the noise.

“Well,” Rowoon taps his chin, “Magic does have its limits, and I’ve never heard of a magical giant squid before Hogwarts…”.

Dawon grins triumphantly, and Hwiyoung gasps, utterly betrayed. “I thought you were on my side?!”

Rowoon grins, leaning his head against Chanhee’s head and yawning loudly. “I like the winning side,”

Hwiyoung snorts, “Aren’t you a too cunning for a Gryffindor?”

Youngbin grins, slathering a generous amount of butter on his toast, “We’re a rather adaptable house.”  He does reach over to pinch Chanhee’s nose, though. “Although this snake has been tainting my cute little Rowoon,”

Chanhee nudges him away and crinkles his nose.  “Your cute little Rowoon is the one tainting me.” 

Everyone laughs.

Chanhee groans, “I’m going to hex every single one of you in your sleep.” 

Dawon clears his throat, “Anyways, is the counsel in favor of deeming I, Lee Dawon, smartest person to walk this school because I am obviously always right and Hwiyoung is obviously not?” 

Youngbin furrows his eyebrows, “Even though I agree with you, you’re wrong-to-right ratio with Hwiyoung is still once every thousand years,”

Dawon gasps, clutching his chest as if personally attacked. “I’m offended. I am a genius.”

Youngbin throws an arm over Hwiyoung’s shoulder, “We all know this little shit is a Ravenclaw in disguise – I’m surprised Inseong hasn’t snuck him into his own house yet,”

Hwiyoung smirks, “Let’s bet on it!” He slams his hand on the table, and the plates around them rattle again.  Even more Hufflepuffs glare at the group and sneak off to other tables grumbling all the way.  “If I can prove to you that the giant squid exists by the end of the year, then you have to be my slave all of sixth year.” 

Dawon grins wildly, “Even during NEWTs?”

“Especially during Newts.” Hwiyoung affirms.

“Kim Youngkyun,” Dawon grins wildly, and sticks his arm across the table, “Get ready to spit shine my shoes every morning for the rest of your miserable life,” 

“You’re on,” Hwiyoung beams.

“So now that everything’s settled,” Rowoon sighs, “Where are Inseong and Jaeyoon hyung anyways?”

“Didn’t you hear?” Youngbin questions, “Ravenclaw is hosting Durmstrang I think, so Professor Flitwick asked Jaeyoon to help extend the dorms.  Naturally, he dragged Inseong to help him, I bet.  They got permission to sleep in today,” 

Hwiyoung tilts his head, “What’s a Durmstrang?”

Chanhee chuckles, leaning forward on his elbows to smile up at Hwiyoung. “Do you ever listen to anything that isn’t about magical creatures?  The Triwizard cup is this year,”

“Ah, yes.” Hwiyoung deadpans.  “The Triwizard cup, I read all about that in muggle elementary school.  What a cup, that thing.”

Rowoon snickers around his toast as Chanhee’s cheeks turn pink.  He pinches them lightly but explains the tournament to Hwiyoung regardless.  “It’s annoying because we can’t play quidditch, and it’s honestly boring.” 

“So is quidditch,” Hwiyoung mumbles. 

Dawon gasps again, as if personally wounded, but is placated by Youngbin shoving half a chocolate croissant in his mouth.  Dawon chews carefully for a moment and speaks with his mouthful regardless.  “Who do you think’s gonna be champion?”

Someone answers from behind them, shoving Dawon aside to squeeze themselves into the now nearly empty Hufflepuff table. “Congratulations for asking the most obvious question ever.”  Jaeyoon huffs.  “It’s obviously going to be pureblood prodigy Yoo Taeyang,”

Chanhee snatches the apple Jaeyoon grabs right out of his hands with a smirk, “Don’t be mean to Taeyang Hyung just because he’s smarter than you.”

Jaeyoon hisses in response.  “Where’s Inseong?” Youngbin asks.

Jaeyoon shrugs, “Tangled in his covers probably. We were offered the morning off, and of course that lazy ass is gonna take it,”

“But not star student Lee Jaeyoon,” Youngbin teases.

“Never star student Lee Jaeyoon,” Hwiyoung and Dawon say firmly.  They high five again when Rowoon coughs around his water, spluttering so hard Chanhee has to smack him on the back to calm down.

“Sometimes I think Inseong has the right idea,” Jaeyoon sighs, but a grin sneaks on his mouth regardless.

Hwiyoung dozes off five times staring into the only window in the entire dungeon floor before he considers that he might need a better plan of attack. Yet Hwiyoung is a stubborn piece of shit, and a dumb plan is better than none.

So, he loiters around the window anyways, smacking himself awake and hoping if he stares hard enough, the squid will sense his presence and make an appearance.  A part of him wonders if perhaps the squid refuses to show up out of pure spite, or if Dawon has bribed it in some way. 

Hwiyoung has class in an hour, yet he slumps down in front of the window and hits his head against the wall.  He doesn’t mean to doze off a sixth time, really, yet the gentle lull of the black lake does wonders on his sleep-deprived, teenage brain. 

He wakes up differently that time though.

“What are you doing here?”

Hwiyoung blinks awake, “Huh?”

Half-asleep, the first thought that pops in Hwiyoung’s mind is wow, that’s a deep voice.  He rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances up to find Yoo Taeyang staring down at him with his arms crossed neatly over his chest and a perfectly poised, judging eyebrow staring pointedly down at him. 

Taeyang smirks, it slots smoothly onto his face as if the expression was designed for him.  He scoffs, leans against the wall above Hwiyoung’s head and his eyes stare down; piercing his soul.  It sends literal shivers hiking down his spine, and he scrambles to his feet, tripping over his own robes in the process.  Taeyang doesn’t move an inch; he stays positioned neatly over Hwiyoung so he’s leaning just into his personal space.  Hwiyoung notes he smells strongly like vanilla, and it reminds him a lot of his grandmother’s cupcakes – and nothing about a sinful man like Yoo Taeyang should remind of his short, slipper-wielding grandmother. 

“So?” Taeyang questions.  “What are you doing?”

“Er…I was just…” Hwiyoung helplessly glances between the glass window and Taeyang, searching for the least idiotic thing to say, but his poor Hufflepuff brain gives him nothing. 

Ravenclaw my ass, Hwiyoung thinks.  “I was just…you know…chilling.”

Taeyang purses his lips and nods his head in mock understanding, and Hwiyoung hates himself for his inability to talk to attractive humans.  “Chilling,” Taeyang repeats.

“Yes.” Hwiyoung says, “It’s a very chilling type of day.” 

Hwiyoung decides, in that moment, there is no one on this Earth he hates more than himself.

But Taeyang laughs, it’s quite the opposite of what Hwiyoung expects. His succulent voice turns soft, and his eyes crinkle up and he covers his mouth with his hand to hide the expression.  It humanizes him, he goes from an insanely hot important person to a little bit cute – but still insanely hot. 

Taeyang pushes off his wall, and although Hwiyoung is thankful for the ability to breathe normally again, he misses the smell.  It looks as though Taeyang starts to speak, but he’s cut off by Slytherin seventh years strolling his way.

“Hey Mr. Champion!” Someone calls, “Headed to the common room?”

Hwiyoung flinches a little.  People aren’t his strong suit. 

Taeyang raises his eyebrow yet again, but Hwiyoung can only offer a helpless smile. “Um, I should – “

“Who’re you?” The Slytherins crowd around Taeyang, one of them slings an arm over his shoulder and they both pin Hwiyoung with a calculating stare.  “Are you lost or something?”

Hwiyoung thinks now is seriously not the time to mention the giant squid.  Yet despite Hwiyoung’s stunning grades, and strong desire to absorb every bit of magical information his greedy little hands can find, there is a very clear reason he’s a Hufflepuff.

“I’m looking for the giant squid,” He whispers.

All three Slytherins stare at him.

He hears his conscious, startingly resembling Chanhee’s deep baritone. Hwiyoung, you are utterly fucked.

The older students laugh, doubling over and Hwiyoung shuffles his feet nervously.  Taeyang doesn’t make a sound, only frowns deeply and furrows his eyebrows together.  He stares at Hwiyoung in a way that reminds him a lot of Inseong whenever he’s done something stupid. 

One of the students sneaks away from Taeyang and throws his arm around Hwiyoung’s waist, pulling him closer. “I think I know you,” he muses, “Aren’t you a mudblood? Always with Kang Chanhee?”

Hwiyoung squeaks; he recoils at how meek it sounds. He gurgles out an awkward laugh, carefully trying to duck away from the snake’s grasp, but he only tightens his grip on Hwiyoung’s waist.  “Ah…yup, uh…that’s me,” Hwiyoung swallows.

The student pinches his cheek, hard enough that Hwiyoung is sure a bright blue bruise will sit there tomorrow morning.  The first thought on his head is how he’ll explain this to Youngbin, and how he’ll have to stop Chanhee from lighting his own house on fire.  “You know, I think I outta go.  Probably doesn’t exist anyway,” Hwiyoung mumbles quickly.

Taeyang roughly grabs the older student by his tie, yanking him hard enough to pull him down to eye level.  Hwiyoung gulps, but Taeyang sneers.  “Leave him alone,” he demands.  “You both have quite the number of warnings for using that word, if I recall.”

They visibly pale, and the student locked in Taeyang’s grips yanks his tie away cleanly. “Come on, we’re only messing around.”  He rolls his eyes and glares back at Hwiyoung, “No hard feelings, right?”

“Right.” Hwiyoung says in a quick breath, wringing his hands together beneath the sleeves of his robes.  “None at all,”

Taeyang’s frown deepens but the offenders leave after that.  Hwiyoung catches them mumble something about blood traitors, and a useless champion but he’s a bit too shaken to pay attention. “Um…” he starts.

“You really shouldn’t chill here,” Taeyang frowns, he crosses his arms over his chest again; he doesn’t lean against the wall, but he does stare into Hwiyoung’s soul in a way that makes it hard not to squeal.  “It’s dangerous,”

That though, does kill the mood.  “I’m not a child,” Hwiyoung snorts, “We’re in the same year, you know.” 

Taeyang knits his eyebrows together and glowers, “I know that, Youngkyun.” He mumbles. “People just aren’t nice down here,”

Hwiyoung rolls his eyes, “They aren’t nice upstairs either,” he remarks.  “I can take care of myself, thanks.” 

Taeyang sighs, running his hand through his hair (it shines even in the eerie dungeon light, and Hwiyoung thinks that’s just not fair). “That’s not what I – whatever, fine.  Why are you looking for a giant squid?”

Hwiyoung flinches, “Er…I kind of made a bet with Dawon – I mean Sanghyuk.  I need to prove it exists by the end of the year or I have to be his slave.” 

Taeyang laughs again, and Hwiyoung swear if someone could put a sound too literal sunshine, it would be the laughter akin to music that falls out of Yoo Taeyang’s mouth.  He coughs to hide the redness piling in his cheeks and prays Taeyang doesn’t notice.  “And you think you’ll find it staring out the window? For hours?”

Hwiyoung bristles, “It’s as good a place to start as any,” 

Taeyang sighs and gently rubs a tear from his eye.  “Just go back to your common room,”  He says, he’s smiling now; and not the smirk that makes Hwiyoung’s heart race from the sheer confidence dripping from it – but a genuine, honest smile that doesn’t quite reach all the way to his ears like Dawon’s, but it settles soft on his face as if it belonged there all along.   

Hwiyoung seriously doesn’t like being told what to do, but in that moment,  he really just wants to curl up under his bed.  This is much more social interaction than his normal daily quota, and he just wants some darn solitude; giant squid be damned.  “Yea…I will.  But uh…thanks, by the way.” 

Taeyang doesn’t say anything until Hwiyoung walks a good ten feet past him.  “And by the way,” he calls after him. “The giant squid absolutely does not exist,”

When Hwiyoung glances back, Taeyang is smirking at him. 

Hwiyoung decides, in that moment, if he doesn’t find a giant squid, he’s definitely ordering one off Amazon.

Dawon perches on the edge of his stool with his hands, he whistles a tune at the ceiling.  Hwiyoung rolls his eyes, but meticulously crushes dragon claws into a fine powder. “Kim Youngkyun, have I told you I love you yet? If I haven’t, let this be a confession of my unconditional undying love for you,” 

Hwiyoung clicks his tongue.  He rubs the powder between his fingers to test the texture, he deems it correct, but just to be sure he blows a bit in Dawon’s nose. 

Dawon sputters, his eyes water and his stool clatters loud enough to cause a racket in the already boisterous room.  Hwiyoung suppresses a giggle, and Inseong calls out from the Ravenclaw section, “Yah, Lee Dawon! Stop being a dramatic bastard!” 

“You…” Dawon heaves, he clutches Hwiyoung’s robes, pulling them down enough that Hwiyoung stumbles and feels a soft breeze hit his collar bone.  “You are the most hurtful human being I have ever called a friend,” he wheezes. 

Hwiyoung laughs, he pulls Dawon to his feet and helps him right the stool.  When Hwiyoung moves to re-position his robes, he catches Taeyang’s piercing eyes.  Taeyang smirks and refuses to look away until Hwiyoung does.  Dawon speaks over his sniffles, “So, any luck on your future pet yet?”

Hwiyoung grunts, “Edith is shy, she’ll come out eventually.” 

Dawon sucks in a loud breath, “Edith?”

“It fits her, she’s old – it’s an old English name!” Hwiyoung defends.  He carefully adds half the powdered claws and stirs exactly three times.  He catches Rowoon squinting from three tables back, carefully counting his stirs and Hwiyoung smoothly steps in front of his cauldron and flips him off.  He doesn’t need to turn around to know the sting on the back of his neck is from a particularly sharp paper airplane crafted and thrown by Kim Youngbin. 

“You named it,” Dawon mumbles. “You actually named it, oh my god.” 

Hwiyoung huffs, “Well it deserves a name doesn’t it?”

“Names are for cute things, Hwiyoung.” Dawon moans.

Hwiyoung raises an eyebrow, “And yet, you have two, Dawon hyung,” 

Dawon tsks and lightly hits Hwiyoung with his potions book.  It hasn’t been opened even once over the course of the semester.  “I am a saint for dealing with you, everyone’s dying to be my partner,” 

Hwiyoung grudgingly adds frog brains and smiles softly.  “If we weren’t forced to have partners, I’d leave you to fend for yourself like the others.” Hwiyoung shrugs, add the remainder of the powdered dragon root and neatly caps the cauldron.  “We’re done, it should be done in 12 hours.” 

As if summoned, Inseong squeezes his way past Dawon and rips the lid off Hwiyoung’s potion to sniff it himself.  “How.”

Hwiyoung beams, “It’s real easy if you have a knack for potions,” he teases.

Inseong groans, “Why aren’t you in Ravenclaw?” he whines, “Why can’t I switch you with Jaeyoon?”   

Hwiyoung pats his cheek with a faux grin, “Sorry hyung, I can’t possibly stand for Jaeyoon’s special place in your heart.”

He ducks under Inseong’s arm and moves to sneak out.  He spots Zuho whispering something and Taeyang with his sleeves rolled up brooding over his cauldron.  Taeyang pushes his hair from his forehead and Hwiyoung’s heart dies a little at the sheer beauty.  But more than that, Zuho’s frown stops him.  “You still haven’t figured it out?”

“It’s not exactly designed to be easy,” Taeyang mumbles.  He adds diced dragon claw and Hwiyoung winces at the thought of the mess that’ll make in the morning.  “The other champions aren’t exactly sunshine and daisies to me, either.”

Hwiyoung bites his lip and loiters in the doorway for far longer than normal. Dawon raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t move to drag Hwiyoung with him.  Zuho sighs as the potion gurgles, “You didn’t powder the dragon claws.” He groans.

“Sorry,” Taeyang says, not an ounce of apology in his tone. “My head’s just not all here,”

Zuho chuckles lightly and continues to add the frog brains, “Is it ever?”

Taeyang shoves him, yet he’s wearing a grin and Hwiyoung groans.  He hate himself and his stupid schoolgirl heart, he truly does.  Before he loses his already non-existent confidence he steps behind them. 

Hwiyoung clears his throat, “Hi.”

Zuho scrambles at his voice, nearly covering the floor with the other half of dragon claw properly mashed into a powder.  He narrows his eyes, “Did you need something?”

Hwiyoung’s resolve runs thin, “Uh…well it just, sounded like you need help?”

Taeyang pins him with a smug look, “And are you offering?”

Hwiyoung shrugs, he reminds himself they aren’t friends. Taeyang has no reason to trust him, “A favor for a favor, you could say.”

Taeyang tilts his head, “What favor…?”

“Um, for helping me yesterday,” Hwiyoung clarifies, “You know? In the dungeons?”

For a moment Hwiyoung thinks he’s such a big nobody Taeyang has repressed the memory, but then it dawns on him and Taeyang crinkles his eyebrows and frowns. “I didn’t mean that as a favor, I did it because – “

“Put it under water!” Hwiyoung cries suddenly.  His voice is squeakier than a mouse, and he mentally punches himself.  Despite puberty treating him well to his normal sweet, deep voice – genetics still doused him with a stupid anxious squeak.  “Your egg, put it under water – trust me.” 

Hwiyoung spins on his heels, determined to escape before Taeyang notices the deep red color spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.  “And add a bezoar to the potion and it will crush the diced dragon claw, it’ll come out as it’s meant tomorrow.”

“Youngkyun wait, why are you – “

Hwiyoung speed walks so fast he swears he beats the world record.  He hears Zuho confusedly ask, “When did you make a new friend?”

Hwiyoung, half from fear, forces himself to tune out Taeyang’s response.

But later, under the safety of a silencing spell and his own covers, Hwiyoung will wonder if that’s what this is.  If that’s what Taeyang will call this.

“And why, Mr. Kim do you need access to the restricted section?”

Hwiyoung figures ‘Because there is literally nothing on giant fucking squids, and I’m exhausting my options – and prime takes forever to deliver to the hidden mountains in Scotland’  is not the proper response, so he just shrugs, “I just was researching an interesting topic.”

Madam Pince peers over the bridge of her nose, narrowing her eyes and clacking her long finger nails against the mahogany desk.  Hwiyoung flinches at the sound, it spurs the start of a headache and seriously, this is too much work to prove Dawon wrong.  “I suppose I will allow this, but any subsequent visits will require a permission slip.”

“Of course, thank you, Professor!”

Hwiyoung doesn’t test his luck with further conversation, slipping into the shelves and relishing the old book smell that fills his nose.  Hwiyoung scours the shelves, pulling any book he finds on magical creatures until his arms are so full it becomes painful to carry them all.  He drops them on the nearest table and prepares for a long night. 

But just as Hwiyoung starts to get engrossed in his books, Chanhee plops in the chair next to him.  “Hiya, Taeyang Hyung’s looking for you.”

Hwiyoung freezes, then releases a sigh that rattles deep in his bones. “And why’s that?”

Chanhee shrugs, picking a book from the top of Hwiyoung’s monstrous pile and scanning the pages. “Beats me, Rowoon told me that Zuho told Youngbin that Taeyang is looking for you,”

Hwiyoung wrinkles his nose, “That’s uselessly complicated,”  Chanhee grins wide enough his eyes crinkle up and his gums peak out.

“Well, you should go find him.”  Chanhee shrugs, “He’s in the great hall right now – with the rest of the school, and where you outta be too – eating lunch,” 

Hwiyoung pretends to smile, “I’ll go talk to him in a bit,”

Chanhee narrows his eyes, but reluctantly shuts the book and stretches to stand.  “I’ll hold you to that, then.” 

Hwiyoung can’t imagine anyone is surprised when instead of seeking Taeyang out, his stupid brain convinces him the smartest plan of action is to do the exact opposite.

Avoiding a man who glimmers like the literal sun is much harder than one would think.  Hwiyoung settles to look for rays of sunshine strolling through the hallway, but it seems Taeyang’s ethereal presence blends in quite well with the oversized Hogwarts robes. 

His friends offer no solace, either. 

“Are you avoiding Taeyang?”  Of all people, Zuho nestles himself besides Jaeyoon at their usual Hufflepuff table and steals the apple from Chanhee’s plate. 

“Why would I do that?” Hwiyoung says, plastering the fakest, brightest smile he can on his face.

“He is,” Dawon says.

“Avoiding him like the black plague,” Youngbin agrees – he reaches around Zuho to snatch another bit of Chanhee’s dinner and the younger Slytherin glares at his food as if his friendship choices are the fault of the untouched, single Brussel sprout that Rowoon placed on his plate as a joke. 

Hwiyoung wonders briefly, if he can order new friends off of amazon along with the giant squid.

He realizes he’s been quiet too long and feigns indifference, “I’m not avoiding him, I just haven’t seen him.”

Zuho squints at him, “He’s tried to stop you after every class we have together?”

Hwiyoung starts to feel the strain of his fake smile, “Has he really? I never even realized,”

“Hyung,” Chanhee frowns softly, and instead of making a joke he gently covers Hwiyoung’s hand with his own. “Are you scared? Because he’s going to make fun of you like the others?” 

A solemn air fills the table, and Dawon wears a serious look that truly does not belong on his chipper face.  “Hwiyoung, if he even tried, we’d kill him – you know that, right?”

Zuho looks a tad bit constipated at that but chooses to stay quiet.  Hwiyoung sucks in a deep breath, “Guys I’m not afraid of anyone when I have you.” Hwiyoung reassures them.  His friends shift awkwardly, but the dull atmosphere slowly drips away.  But Hwiyoung grins softly at Youngbin’s arm weaving around his shoulders and staying there as a warm, heavy presence.  “I’ve just been focusing too much on Edith, is all.”

“Edith,” Zuho repeats.

Dawon speaks around a huge bit of bread in his mouth, “That’s what he named his non-existent giant squid.”

Zuho glances around, and finding that not one person bats an eye, he glances helplessly at Chanhee who only shoots him an award-winning smile.  “Welcome to the friend group, hyung.”

Zuho closes his eyes and shakes his eyes as if he’d never expected anything less.  “Well, anyways, it seems as if you’re free now, aren’t you? Taeyang should be here soon – he’s just finishing up herbology, I imagine.” 

Hwiyoung shoots up, his plate clatters loudly and Rowoon isn’t fast enough to stop it from clattering to the ground this time.  The solid silver does not shatter, thankfully, but it does get mashed potatoes all over Hwiyoung’s robes.  And he thanks Merlin that the gods of magic are surely on his side, if not his own friends.

“What a shame,” Hwiyoung sighs, he wears a pitiful look and points to his robes.  “Seems like I just got busy.” 

Hwiyoung rushes out of the great hall and runs to jump beneath the covers of his bed.

His friends mean well, ready to protect him at all costs.  And for the first time, Hwiyoung is grateful for being tormented first year.  He doesn’t miss the comments, doesn’t miss the M-word, but he sure as hell is happy his friends think he’s just scared.

If anyone found out Hwiyoung is avoiding Taeyang because he had a crush the size of Scotland on his gorgeous face, Hwiyoung would have to order a new magical school off Amazon. 

Against proper judgement, Hwiyoung decides to focus his undivided attention on finding Edith. He figures if he wants to keep Taeyang out of his mind, he simply needs to keep occupied.  And what better way then find the one thing that guarantees him ultimate servitude.

Desperation and the pressing need to forget Taeyang’s beautiful eyes is why Hwiyoung finds himself in his swimming trunks, shivering in front of the black lake in the dead of the night. 

In the brightest moment of his stupidity, Hwiyoung didn’t bother to tell anyone where he’s going – so the possibility his dead body will end up caught in a cluster seaweed at the bottom of the lake is much higher than he’d like, yet still a minor risk for his inevitable great discovery.

Hwiyoung squints, he tries to map out the edge of the lake, yet it stretches far beyond he can see in the dark.  That does ruin his plan, Hwiyoung banked on the fact that finding a giant squid in a tiny lake couldn’t be that bad. 

Except the lake wasn’t tiny.  Not at all. 

But he’s here now and turning back is pointless.  Hwiyoung mumbles a bubble charm and the strongest Lumos he can muster. 

The icy water initially forces his muscles to freeze up.  It fills the crevices between his bones and Hwiyoung seriously thinks for a strong moment he’ll actually die down here.  He manages to curl himself into a ball and mutter a warming charm that does fuck all to really warm him up.  It does enough to allow him to move, and despite the biting cold making his teeth chatter – Hwiyoung refuses to leave this lake until he finds Edith. 

His steely resolve lasts quite a few bubble charms, and then his foot gets caught in the seaweed.  Hwiyoung jerks his foot to set it free, until the light of his own wand reminds him of magic.  Hwiyoung smacks himself, casts a confringus charm, and continues onwards. 

The issue, however, is Hwiyoung can’t go too deep.  The bubble charm only lasts so long, and Hwiyoung can’t cast it while holding his breath.  He suddenly wishes he’d brought Inseong or had Chanhee steal him gillyweed from Slughorn’s stores.  In the middle of the night, Hwiyoung realizes there were quite a few better methods to go about diving in an ice cold lake.

He sighs into his bubble charm deciding to venture the slightest bit further and cast a few loud spells to perhaps lure Edith out. 

Hwiyoung starts mumbling his first spell when strong arms wrap snugly around his torso and his body jerks toward the surface.

By the time Hwiyoung grasps the situation enough to react, Yoo Taeyang shakes him violently by the shoulders, “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Hwiyoung blinks, Taeyang’s eyebrows knit together and his fingers dig into the skin of Hwiyoung’s collar bone.  His brain short circuits because Hwiyoung is with Taeyang.  Hwiyoung is half naked in the black lake with Taeyang.  “Youngkyun? Are you able to speak? Do I need to take you to Pomphrey – should I – “

“Hwiyoung.”  He mumbles, his voice betraying him into a soft-sounding squeak that makes Hwiyoung wince at the pathetic sound.  “My friends call me Hwiyoung.” He mumbles again.  

Taeyang looks at him as if he’s gone crazy. “You’re okay?”

Hwiyoung is not okay.   

Taeyang has his abs pressed snugly against Hwiyoung’s back.  His arms woven around Hwiyoung’s waist and when he speaks; despite the freezing lake, Hwiyoung feels the sensation of hot breath ghosting on the back of his neck.  Taeyang kicks his legs, and Hwiyoung feels the motion, feels each time his toes brush against the back of his calves, and Hwiyoung is a lot of things; okay is not one of them. 

Hwiyoung swallows hard. “Of course, I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Taeyang pulls them to shore, weaving his arms under Hwiyoung’s armpits and yanking him onto the sand. “Why wouldn’t – you...you were drowning!” 

Taeyang rubs his hands up and down Hwiyoung’s arms and drapes a towel over Hwiyoung’s shivering body.  Hwiyoung almost suggests Taeyang take the towel – Hwiyoung is feeling quite warm without it, thank you.  “What the hell were you thinking?” Taeyang shouts again. 

“I thought it would be the best way to find Edith….” Hwiyoung whispers. 

Taeyang gapes, open-mouthed and shakes Hwiyoung by the shoulders.  He pulls him so close Hwiyoung could count each hair that sticks to his sopping forehead.  “You jumped in the lake to find the freaking squid?!”

Oddly enough, that sobers him up.  “How’d you know I meant the squid?”

Taeyang jumps a little, eyes wide in an expression Hwiyoung’s never seen him wear.  Perhaps if it weren’t so dark; he would have caught the pink dusting across Taeyang’s cheeks.  “Zuho told me,”  he grumbles. 

“Zuho…” Hwiyoung repeats slowly, “But how’d you know I was here?”

Taeyang finally releases him and curls his arms over himself to shut out the cold, he closes his eyes and sighs, “I saw you, through the dorm window.” 

“The…window?” Hwiyoung whispers.  “There’s a window?”

Taeyang  regains all his misplaced confidence, his smirk curling smoothly onto his face. “My room has an excellent view of the black lake, you could say.”

“Oh my god.” Hwiyoung gasps.  “You saw…everything.” 

“If you mean I saw you drowning, then yes.” Taeyang growls.

Hwiyoung bristles, his waterlogged brain momentarily forgets his huge crush, and his pride overcomes his anxiety.  “I wasn’t drowning, I was searching.” He insists.

Taeyang snarls, “Find a lot trapped in the seaweed, then did you?”

“Minor setback.” Hwiyoung smirks, he’s shocked when the action is enough to send Taeyang reeling.  He steps back, shocked at the audacity and sighs.  Taeyang releases an exasperated sigh and runs his fingers through his hair. 

“Let’s go inside,” he sighs.  Hwiyoung casts a longing glance at the lake, and Taeyang makes a noise that sounds near feral.  He loops his arm around Hwiyoung’s waist, yanking him closer so their chests bump against each other.  Taeyang breathes in his face, and when he speaks, Hwiyoung feels his voice rumble in his chest.  “Let’s go, Youngkyun.”

Even after a dip in the black lake, Taeyang smells so strongly of vanilla Hwiyoung has to hold his breath so he won’t swoon.  He takes back his blessing from the gods of magic, they hate him. 

“Okay, okay, fine,” Hwiyoung mumbles. He shrugs his robes back on over his swim trunks, despite the growing discomfort of his soaked shorts leaking into his clothes. He had anticipated just taking them off after and putting on underwear in the comfort of his own dorm – that clearly isn’t an option anymore.

They don’t talk for a good portion of the walk back, and Hwiyoung enjoys the silence.  But of course, Taeyang breaks it.  “Why did you help me?”

Hwiyoung blinks, “Huh?”

Taeyang glares at him, and as they enter the lights of the grounds, his piercing eyes shine brighter than Hwiyoung can really handle right now. “The egg – why’d you tell me?”

Hwiyoung laughs awkwardly, “Because I want Hogwarts to win?” 

Taeyang raises a single, perfectly poised eyebrow. “Young – “ he stops himself and covers it with a cough, “Hwiyoung.” 

Hwiyoung preens, his name sounds downright sinful in Taeyang’s husky voice.  “Okay fine – you just, really looked like you needed the help.” Hwiyoung admits, “I swear that’s all there is to it.” 

Taeyang blinks at him, utterly confused, and then he laughs.  He clutches his knees and bends over and laughs so hard he stops breathing for a moment.  Hwiyoung honestly doesn’t understand the joke but watching Taeyang gasp for air and clutch his chest and look up at him as if Hwiyoung is the brightest star in the sky, well – he can settle for that. 

Taeyang gasps for breaths as he throws an arm over Hwiyoung’s shoulder and pulls him into his side again.  His long fingers ruffle Hwiyoung’s hair and it takes a lot to keep his racing heart confined in his chest.  

But Hwiyoung can’t help himself.  “Do you like hot chocolate?”

Taeyang shrugs, “Sure, I guess, but why does – “

Hwiyoung doesn’t wait for him to finish, he grabs Taeyang’s wrist and rushes towards the kitchens before he loses the courage.  “Then let’s go warm up!”

The house elves welcome Hwiyoung like an old friend; scrambling to set up a table and shoving him and Taeyang towards a tiny table nestled in the back corner.  “Is this allowed?” Taeyang chuckles.

Hwiyoung beams, “Who knows, who cares. It’s one of the benefits of being a Hufflepuff,”  the elves return with two cups covered in a mountainous amount of whip cream.  Hwiyoung’s has exactly three marshmallows neatly positioned on top.

“I can’t believe you aren’t a Slytherin,” Taeyang mumbles, smiling softly at the whip cream that clings to Hwiyoung’s lip as he takes a long drag as if the drink weren’t scalding hot. 

Hwiyoung snorts, “First time I’ve gotten that, usually Inseong insists I outta be a Ravenclaw,”

“And you?” Taeyang asks, sipping carefully.

Hwiyoung stops sipping and casts him a questioning look. “Huh?”

“Where do you think you belong?”

Hwiyoung wears an odd smile, and his eyes fall into his lap.  “I’m definitely a Hufflepuff through and through.” 

“And why’s that?” Taeyang presses.

“Ah…well.”  Hwiyoung chuckles awkwardly, he nervously runs his fingers through his hair and avoids Taeyang’s gaze.  “I don’t think I quite fit in anywhere else, and isn’t that what Hufflepuff is for? It’s still a bit hard to come to terms with all of this, even after five years.” 

Taeyang furrows his eyebrows, “I don’t think so,” 

Hwiyoung watches him lean over the table and swipe the whip cream that settled on Hwiyoung’s cheek.  Taeyang holds his gaze and his tongue darts out to swipe it from his thumb. His trademark smirk paints his lips and Hwiyoung knows his whole face has become a tomato. He can’t hide it anymore, Taeyang must know. “I think you fit in everywhere,”

“So, I hear you took a dip in the black lake last night,” Zuho says while slathering jam on his toast.

Hwiyoung coughs over his water and freezes when Youngbin’s knife clatters. “You did what?”

“I can explain!” Hwiyoung sputters, “I thought Edith would –“

“Kim Youngkyun,” Youngbin seethes, “You did not go into the black lake to find a fucking squid.” 

“He did though,” Taeyang slides beside Hwiyoung, and Hwiyoung’s thigh burns every place Taeyang presses against it. And Hwiyoung swears Taeyang has no reason to reach for the butter plate farther away, other than line up his warm, vanilla-smelling body next to him.  It’s torture, Hwiyoung is being tortured. 

“Hwiyoung,” Chanhee sighs, “You’re dead.”

Youngbin grabs him by the ear, and Hwiyoung whimpers.  “Hyung I had to, for Edith!” 

“Hwiyoung,” Youngbin snaps, “If you ever find that thing, I’m going to kill it.”

He releases him and Taeyang reaches out to rub his ear.  Hwiyoung swallows a breath, his body tenses and shivers hike down his spine.  At least the redness of his ears can be blamed on Youngbin, and not the blood rushing to his face. 

Better his face than other areas, at this point.

“So?” Rowoon grins, “Did you find it?”

Hwiyoung visibly slumps over, brooding over his toast. “Not even close, she’s being difficult.”

Dawon rolls his eyes, “More than likely, she’s not real.”

Hwiyoung wonders if he outta pre-emptively place an amazon order. Then Taeyang speaks, “Well, she has a chocolate frog card.”

Dawon pales, Hwiyoung’s eyes light up.  They both cry, “What?!” simultaneously. 

Taeyang smirks, digs around his pocket and tosses the card on the table.  Hwiyoung swipes at it, but Dawon is faster and snatches the card and gasps. “What the fuck.”  He breathes.

“Proof!” Hwiyoung cries, “That has to be proof!”

“No!” Dawon insists, “I never said it never existed, it’s just dead now!”  He rummages through his own backpack, “Look at how many Dumbledore’s I have, chocolate frog cards are nearly always dead wizards – this is more proof I’m right!”

“No!” Hwiyoung growls, “I swear I’m going to prove you wrong.”

Taeyang sighs, leaning on his elbows, “Is it always like this?” He muses. 

Zuho thoughtfully chews his toast, “I’ve only been here for a week, but yea.”

“I’ve been here four years,” Chanhee mutters, “It always is.”

Taeyang chuckles, “Well anyways, I wanted to invite you to see the second task.”

Hwiyoung pauses mid-grape-flick and Dawon closes his open mouth.  “Us?”

Taeyang scratches the back of his neck, “If you wanna, I can invite up to ten people to a special section up front so, why not?”

Youngbin whoops,  “It took me six years to get a thoughtful dongsaeng, six years!”

Rowoon rolls his eyes, “What am I, chopped liver?”

Youngbin pulls him into a chokehold, and while everyone watches the two of them squabble, Taeyang interrupts Hwiyoung cheering for Rowoon to lean over and whisper into his ear.  “And I wanted to invite you to my room, tonight.”

Hwiyoung struggles to contain his squeak, and makes a weird gargling noise instead, “M-me?”

Taeyang leans his head forward on his elbows and peers up at him through his lashes.  “You know, to do homework, maybe use my window to look for the squid?”

Hwiyoung swallows the giant lump in his throat.  He kneads his sweaty palms into his thighs.  This is not fair.  Life is not fair.  He can’t say yes, he’s already mentally a goner.  But alone – with Taeyang – in his room.  Hwiyoung won’t survive that. His fragile, little heart can’t handle all this torture.

“Sure,” he says. “Let’s do it. 

Despite the wildest hopes of Hwiyoung’s rather active imagination, they really just do homework.  Well, for a while. 

Then Taeyang gets comfortable in his bed and Hwiyoung settles to search for the squid through his window. “Hey,” Taeyang calls, “It’s getting late – we should just sleep, you can come back whenever to look for the squid,” Taeyang yawns, rubbing his eyes and Hwiyoung quickly whips his head around to hide the blush growing in his cheeks.

“Alright,” he agrees.  He heads over to Taeyang’s bed to start packing his stuff.  “I’ll see you in the morning, then.” 

“Stay,” Taeyang says, suddenly. 

Hwiyoung freezes, “W-What?”

“It’s late and it’s pretty illogical to go back to your dorm this late.  If you get caught by a prefect, you’ll get a detention, just stay.” Taeyang reasons.

Hwiyoung breathes through his nose and counts to ten, “You only have one bed,”

“Just come sleep,” Taeyang mumbles through half-lidded eyes. He stretches his long body and weaves hand around Hwiyoung’s waist, gently drawing him closer into his bed.  “It’s big enough for two,”

Hwiyoung’s sure if he slots next to a sleepy Taeyang like this, his heart will burst.  “I-I really should go back,” he whispers. 

Taeyang yawns, he lowers Hwiyoung into the bed and stretches so his shirt rides up and Hwiyoung catches the small sliver of skin between his shirt and the waistband of his pants.  Hwiyoung whimpers out loud, he’s too far gone to stop this. “Just sleep, Hwiyoung,” Taeyang mumbles. 

Hwiyoung tosses slowly, body tense as a rock.  His heart hammers against his ribs, Hwiyoung stresses wondering if Taeyang can hear it.  Hwiyoung sure can, pulsing in his ears and every part of his body.  Taeyang sighs beside him, close enough that his chest vibrates with the sound and Hwiyoung is fucked, he is so fucked. 

“You’re gonna fall,” Taeyang whines. He grabs Hwiyoung by the waist and pulls him as if he weighed nothing at all.  Taeyang snuggles Hwiyoung into his chest, resting his nose into the crook of his neck.  When Taeyang breathes, Hwiyoung feels it down his collar bone, it settles warm against his heart.  Taeyang hums happily, “See? Much warmer now too.”  Hwiyoung doesn’t risk speaking, he barely risks breathing.  He tries to focus on anything but the sound of Taeyang’s soft breathing, anything but his sleepy moans ringing all over Hwiyoung’s body. 

Hwiyoung almost tells him.  Hwiyoung almost tells him that he’ll combust, and then Taeyang starts rubbing his back. It starts out gentle, almost questioning – small circles with his index finger just on his shoulder blade.  But Taeyang gets braver, bolder – when Hwiyoung doesn’t protest, he smiles into his shoulder and draws his circles long, kneading his fingers into the small of Hwiyoung’s back.  It settles there, right at the small of his back, where his pants meet his shirt, where a small bit of skin peaks out – Taeyang chooses that spot to settle his roaming fingers.

Hwiyoung can’t help it, his voice hitches and the blood starts to run south.  Much more south than Hwiyoung wants. “T-Taeyang, I really think I should –“

“Shhh,” Taeyang whispers, his voice is course and husky, riddled with exhaustion and Hwiyoung squeezes his eyes shut and tries to think of literally anything else.  “Just sleep, Hwiyoung.” 

Hwiyoung thinks he won’t, not tonight, not when Taeyang resumes rubbing gentle circles over his back.  Not when his breath fans over the width of his collar bone.  Not when his nose is filled with nothing but vanilla and he can feel Taeyang’s chin settle in his hair. 

Hwiyoung’s out like a light in five minutes. 

Taeyang chuckles, “You’re so obvious.”  He leans forward to place a small kiss on his forehead. 

When Hwiyoung wakes up, he’s shivering and Inseong’s pulling him onto the shore of the black lake.  “W-What?”

Hwiyoung blinks a few times to clear his vision, to his left Rowoon has a towel in Taeyang’s hair.  Taeyang meets his eyes and rushes for him immediately, his face is painted with a smile so big it makes Hwiyoung’s heart giddy. It’s almost warm enough to will away the freezing air that cuts into his bones.  “Are you okay?” Taeyang asks.

“I- I think? But why – why am I wet? Why are you wet?” He demands.

“Ugh,” Inseong smacks his head. “This makes so much sense! And here I thought you must have hated Taeyang or something, refusing to show up today.”

“Today? What’s today – what about…what about the challenge?” Hwiyoung sneezes softly and Taeyang pulls the towel from his body and wraps it around Hwiyoung instead, using the ends to pull him closer.

“I just passed the second challenge,” Taeyang smirks, eyes wide.

“But I…but I missed it? How did I –“ Hwiyoung rushes to find his memories, and all he has are those of cuddling in Taeyang’s bed.  If his body weren’t fighting off hyperthermia, he knows his cheeks would light up as red as Christmas, at this point. 

Taeyang laughs, “You were the challenge.  They put you in the bottom of the black lake,” 

“Me?” Hwiyoung gasps.  “But why me?”

“Well, because I like you, probably.” 

Hwiyoung gasps, sucks in a huge breath of air, “Because you – wait did you just, you just said that?!”

Taeyang chuckles, twining his hands together around Hwiyoung’s waist. “I did,”

“Like – out loud? You just said that out loud?”

Taeyang pushes their foreheads together, and the strands of their wet hair get tangled but Hwiyoung finds it really hard to care.  “I did, since you weren’t gonna do it.”

“And no one – no one cares? Dawon, Chanhee they heard that, and they don’t – “ Hwiyoung knows he’s spluttering, but Taeyang hasn’t stopped smiling, this situation is already hard to process, Taeyang smiling with the sun lighting up his eyes doesn’t exactly make it much easier.

Taeyang smirks then, “Well, they’re quite a bit preoccupied right now,”

Hwiyoung finally looks to see his friends (other than Inseong and Rowoon who are still fussing over the inhumanity of the challenge, apparently) jumping excitedly and pointing out over the black lake. 

So Hwiyoung finally finds it in his right mind to turn around. 

“Holy shit.” 

Floating just above the lake, struck with a levitating charm – is a giant squid.  “EDITH?!”  

Taeyang bursts into laughter, clutching his chest again and nearly doubling over.  “Did you know – “ he stops to laugh harder, finding difficulty catching his breath.  “Did you know it doesn’t live near the bottom at all? It lives just under my window.  It took a whole lot of work levitating that thing and then coming back for you,”

Hwiyoung squeezes his arms, “Y-You did that?!”

Taeyang grins brighter, “I did,”

“F-For me?”

“Well I wanted to ask you out with a bang, and I figured this was the easiest way to do it,”

Hwiyoung loses all logical thought.  His brain short circuits, and he can’t quite think with it anymore.  All he sees are Edith, the sour expression on Dawon’s face, and shining, golden-eyed Yoo Taeyang. 

So, with his brain done for, Hwiyoung decides to listen to his heart for once. 

He grabs Taeyang by his shoulders, gets on his tiptoes – and kisses him.  He feels Taeyang’s lips stretch into a smile, he slots their mouths together and weaves his hands neatly around Hwiyoung’s waist. 

When he lets go, Hwiyoung’s brain still isn’t quite there yet.  All he gets the courage to say, is, “Guess I don’t have to worry about expedited shipping after all,”

“This is bullshit,” Dawon grumbles, tossing Hwiyoung’s bag over his shoulder and hiking up Taeyang’s bag under his arm.  “Isn’t this bullshit?” he preens, leaning closer to Rowoon. “I mean, it’s not like I’m his boyfriend’s slave too, this is abuse, really.” 

Hwiyoung grins at his intertwined hands and tosses a smirk back at Dawon.  “Don’t be jealous,” he warns, “It’s not a good look for you.”

Dawon imitates him under his breath. “I can’t believe this, he’s a Slytherin at heart.  He doesn’t belong in my house of love,” Dawon grumbles. 

Zuho sighs behind him, easily lifting all three backpacks over his head and strolling in front.  “H-Hey!” Dawon calls.

Zuho glances over his shoulder with a smirk, “Stop being annoying Hyung, just let them be happy,”

“Wow,” Rowoon says, “That was cool.” 

Dawon rolls his eyes so hard, he thinks they sunk to the back of his head.  “Oi, Zuho – give those back!” he calls, sprinting after him.  “Respect your hyung, punk!”

Hwiyoung watches him run with a satisfied smirk.  “Man, I really love Edith.” He muses. 

Taeyang raises an eyebrow, “Is she the one you love, eh?”

Hwiyoung smirks, he twirls his fingers into Taeyang’s tie and yanks him forward so their foreheads collide, “For now,” he whispers, “But I could be convinced otherwise.”

Taeyang wraps his arms around Hwiyoung’s waist and pulls him flush against his chest, “Allow me, then.”

He dips down for a kiss, and Hwiyoung’s smile fills his face. 

Despite chasing after Zuho, Lee Dawon has enough time to glance back and cry, “Get a room!”

Hwiyoung snorts, “I’ll order one off Amazon,”