[div style="width:500px;text-align:justify;font-size:12px;margin-top:10px;color:#000;line-height:120%"][align=center][size=9pt][font=georgia]❝ EXOLLIARMUS  CHAPTER FOUR: DOWN WITH THE BUBOTUBERS. ❞
Chanyeol wasn't quite sure what he had expected when he entered the antechamber connecting the main gates to the Great Hall, but it certainly wasn't this. Tao and Baekhyun were having a calm little chat by the giant hourglasses belonging to each house, with Tao's back turned to them and the Slytherin's hand on his shoulder. Behind the two of them, Kyungsoo stood against the wall, looking quite frankly bored and a tad dismayed. Baekhyun was laughing with smiling eyes, as if trying to get a good look of Tao's face. He seemed perfectly friendly.
And then Chanyeol noticed it. He noticed the fluffy thing dangling down from Tao's trousers, and the two little mounds shaking in his hair.
Tao had cat ears and a tail.
"Fucking hell...!" he shouted.
Baekhyun jumped; Tao jolted and turned around, facing them...and Chanyeol's jaw dropped on its own, not believing what the Slytherin had done. Tao was now a true kitten, his eyes slanted, shining with a golden shade of yellow, long whiskers fluttering with anguish. His fluffy black ears trembled when he tried to speak but only let out a small mewl instead. Jongdae brutally burst into blasphemies and lashed out with his wand at once.
"I'm going to fucking kill you two!"
"Woops," Baekhyun bit his tongue, the hilarity obvious on his face, "here comes trouble!"
"Damn you, Baek, I told you this was stupid." Kyungsoo gritted his teeth. But Jongdae had already directed his wand straight at him, shouting: "Lacarnum Inflamari!"
Kyungsoo bashed the hex away with one shielding spell and immediately fixed his wand back on him:
"Flipendo!"
The bright light hit Jongdae in the chest and knocked him backwards onto the ground. Around them, some Ravenclaw students screamed and ran away.
"Quick, someone call the prefects!" someone shrieked.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Kyungsoo intoned before Jongdae could stand up, and the Gryffindor fell back again, incapable of moving a muscle. Jongin slashed out his wand at him, eyes burning: "Stupefy!" Baekhyun pushed Kyungsoo down to avoid the hit, and they both slid against the cold hard ground, knocking against the Hufflepuff hourglass. Tao threw himself against the wall with a terrified mewl. Chanyeol felt the fury rise to his brain.
"Byun Baekhyun, you wanker!" he raged, but the Slytherin had already stood up and pointed his wand at a small pebble on the ground.
"Waddiwasi," he declaimed and the pebble shot at Chanyeol's forehead, who ducked. Behind him, Sehun cried out in pain. Far from surrendering, Chanyeol aimed for Baekhyun and cursed, but the elder boy blocked his jinx and scurried towards the staircase. He immediately swished the wand again and shadowed the first spell with a second hex. This time, the yellow light hit Baekhyun in the shoulder and the prefect fell to the ground with a gasp, then slowly tried to scramble back to his feet. Before Chanyeol could hit him with a third hex, Kyungsoo stepped in with a murderous glare:
"Silencio!"
For a second, Chanyeol was sure that the spell had hit him and he helplessly gaped, expecting his tongue to have gone completely numb.
But nothing happened.
With a jolt, he suddenly realised that Jongin had deflected the incantation away from him with a spell of his own, making Kyungsoo open wide, astonished eyes at the two of them. The Slytherin backed up. His anger redoubled, Chanyeol threw himself forward with a furious snarl. The struggle continued, hexes flying across the walls and over the air. By now, even Peeves had flown into the entrance hall to jeer at their fighting, screeching stridently through the hallways with unrestrained joy. They were out of control.
"Stop it! Stop this madness, you goons, get off each other at once!"
Luhan's voice was louder and angrier than Chanyeol had ever remembered it to be, but too busy to avoid the enchantments coming from Baekhyun's wand, he barely looked back enough to catch a glimpse of the prefect charging at him with Minseok and Joonmyun at his heels. Ignoring them, he continued to aim at Baekhyun's head while Jongin flung red lights all over the place. If I can just get one hit at this weasel's stupid face... It would be worth at least all the points of Gryffindor and his savings for a month.
"Stop fighting!" Minseok screamed as he came to grab Jongin's arm, deviating one of his tongue-twisting spells towards the sky. "This behaviour is shameful! Stop it!"
Joonmyun was skittering on his toes:
"Park Chanyeol, Byun Baekhyun, if you don't stop I will be taking off points...!"
"Nobody fucking cares!" Chanyeol roared.
He bent forward just in time to avoid the purple light coming from Baekhyun's wand, then aimed for a punch in the good muggle-fashioned way – right in the Slytherin's stomach. Baekhyun buckled, then wrathfully jagged his wand at Chanyeol's chin, only to be stopped by Luhan's arm as the prefect pushed them away from each other through sheer physical force.
"I asked you to stop this idiocy... at once!"
Baekhyun stumbled a few steps backwards, bumping into Kyungsoo, and scoffed disdainfully.
"Hey, back off, princess!"
Luhan whipped out his wand the very next second.
"What did you say?! I'm the manliest of all men!"
"Oh Merlin, Luhan..."
The Gryffindor prefect leaped into the fight before Minseok could move a single finger to stop him.
"For Heaven's sake – LUHAN!" the Ravenclaw cried out in consternation. But the other seventh year's reason had already vanished in the middle of leg-binding curses and tickling charms.
For a good five minutes hexes flew, punctuated by fuming shouts from Minseok and exclamations from Joonmyun as the two prefects endeavoured to pull the fighters away from each other, in vain. Tao tried to claw at them with his little paws, but incapable of uttering any human word, his wand was of no use to him. On the floor, Jongdae barely stirred.
It was only when Yifan flew in with Professor Slughorn and Professor Jung behind him that they stopped, separated by a flash of white light coming from the younger professor's wand.
Chanyeol toppled backwards and hit the wall.
By now, his ears had been enlarged to the size of a Frisbee, and Baekhyun had a bleeding lip coupled with a sticking charm on both legs. Kyungsoo's hair had been reduced to a nest of puffskeins and Sehun had a bruise as big as a fist on his forehead. Jongin was still relatively intact, apart from a deformed left arm ruined by a fungus charm that had initially been thrown at his face, but which he had blocked using his forearm. Luhan and Minseok looked at each other, still breathless, then contemplated the teachers' flabbergasted faces. The Gryffindor prefect finally seemed to realize where he was.
"What's the meaning of this?" Slughorn inquired, too shocked to be properly angry. "Have you lot gone mad? And you, Mr Lu...! Mr Kim...!"
"Professor, we..."
"You're prefects! How can you three be embroiled in a student fight like this...? Thirty points off Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, for each and every single one of you!" then he looked at Baekhyun in resignation and added: "And off Slytherin, too."
"We tried to stop them, though." Joonmyun piped in quietly before staring down at the floor, utterly discouraged. Next to him, Minseok was still fuming into his palms.
Professor Jung took a step forward with his wand still drawn. Unlike Slughorn, he was perfectly calm.
"What happened to you?" he asked gently, nodding towards Tao, who raised bright, horrified cat eyes at him.
A sort of moan-like mewl escaped his lips, and Chanyeol could not take it anymore.
"Byun did this to him."
"Mr Byun?" Slughorn reacted, downright astounded. "This can't be...Mr Byun is such a respectable student habitually, he would never-"
"He did."
"Is this true...?" Jung inquired softly, still studying Tao's whiskers.
Baekhyun explained politely.
"It was a Halloween prank, professor. Nothing harmful."
"Nothing harmful, my ass!" Chanyeol roared.
"Language." Yifan stressed, eyes shut.
"It's easily reversible," Baekhyun countered flatly, raising his wand at Tao to prove it: "Finite Incantatem."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Tao's whiskers began to shrink, his ears and tail disappeared, and his eyes returned to a normal shade of hazel brown. Baekhyun shrugged, smiling lightly. "See?"
"Don't give me that smile, Byun, you transformed him into a freaking cat..."
"It was just an innocent prank."
"But not a very funny one," Professor Jung said pointedly, his hand falling heavily onto the prefect's shoulder. "Mr Byun, as a fifth year and a prefect, you should have known better than to transform one of your underclassmen into a cat. I know it's Halloween, but I'm afraid this is beyond what is acceptable as a playful prank. Mr Do?"
"Yes?" Kyungsoo looked up grimly, his hair still erupting.
"Did you participate in the realization of this trick?"
"No, he didn't." Baekhyun answered before Kyungsoo could open his mouth. "He flatly told me that it was stupid, actually."
"Well, then. Mr Byun, you'll be the only one to find yourself in detention." Professor Jung smiled. "One week of detention under my discretion, starting tomorrow, and ending next week-end after the Hogsmeade outing."
"After the Hogs..." Baekhyun's eyes widened. "Wait-!"
"Who started the fight?"
Chanyeol, Sehun and Jongin considered Jongdae, who was still struggling hopelessly on the floor, then exchanged a doubtful look.
"I did, professor." Chanyeol finally muttered.
"Detention with Mr Byun," Jung declared with finality. "I shall see you two in my office tomorrow at seven sharp."
Without sparing them another glance, he left, and Professor Slughorn soon followed whilst shaking his head, before giving Baekhyun another helpless look, as if sorry that he could not do anything for him. Yifan heaved out a heavy sigh, stopping to exchange a discouraged glance with Minseok and Joonmyun, then suddenly reached out to pet Tao's head out of the blue. He then turned around under the underclassman's stupefied gaze and paced off without any further explanation.
Glued to the ground, Baekhyun was still looking terribly outraged, not so much by the loss of points, but by what Professor Jung had said.
"The Hogsmeade outing!" he cried out, staring at a face-palming Kyungsoo. "I can't believe he decided to put a detention right on that day!"
"Had special plans for Hogsmeade, Byun?"
"None of your business!" Baekhyun snapped back, and Chanyeol restrained himself from strangling him altogether. "God...I can't believe I'm going to be stuck with you in his office for seven days straight, now. What an unlucky day..."
"You've got nerves, to say that after you've transformed Tao into a cat!"
"Hey, I said it was joke. I wasn't going to leave him like that for the whole day," Baekhyun scrunched his nose under Kyungsoo's appalled scrutiny, "maybe just the morning..."
"Baek, I think you better shut up."
"You're not any better," Jongin suddenly stepped forward, glaring at the second Slytherin.
Kyungsoo looked sincerely shocked by the sudden attention.
"What?"
"You raised your wand on Jongdae when he was still on the floor." Jongin stated heatedly. "He was already struggling to stand up, but you threw a hex at him before he could move. That's just cowardly."
"He attacked me first. Not to mention that you're in no position to make a comment like that, you were the worst... What kind of person tries to stun their adversary during a mere student scuffle? I'm not a dark wizard, or something."
Jongin blushed.
"It was a reflex..."
"But stunning? Seriously?"
"Guys," Minseok said, dangerously calm. "Let me remind you that Jongdae is still lying on the floor, here, waiting for you to lift his jinx up, so Do Kyungsoo, you better free him immediately. And you, Jongin, you might want to get those fungi checked by Pomfrey. Byun Baekhyun, do something about Chanyeol's ears."
"If he allows me to lift my shoes off the ground..."
"Don't try me." Minseok warned, and though he looked mostly like a steaming Chinese bun, even Luhan took a step backwards. "I think we've all lost enough points as it is. So do what I say and get lost."
They obeyed in silence and then scampered with a few last complaints, leaving him, Joonmyun, and Luhan alone in the emptied hallway. The eldest prefect then passed a hand through Luhan's messed up hair, letting out a groan.
"You hot-headed idiot."
Luhan thought he might as well be buried six feet underground by now, red as a tomato. In the interim, Joonmyun observed them from the side, silent but attentive. At last, he rolled his shoulders and sketched a helpless smile.
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"You troll-brained goon." Kyungsoo cursed violently, and next to him, Baekhyun puckered his lips in what he hoped would be a vexed expression.
"You're so stupid, so damn stupid, I can't believe I'm still bothering with you."
"Alright, alright, I got it already," Baekhyun sighed, rearranging their telescope so that it faced the right direction. He puffed into his scarf, the cloud of hot air dissolving gently into the biting cold...he had always hated the Astronomy Tower. "It was a silly idea," he moped. "I admit it."
"Brainless tit."
"You don't have to be so mad at me, geez, you're not the one who ended up in detention."
Kyungsoo threw him a glare that seemed to say 'shut-the-fuck-up-or-I'll-hex-the-living-shit-out-of-you", and Baekhyun obediently opened their Astronomy textbook, flipping through it to get to the right page. Next to them, some of the Slytherins who had heard of the fighting this morning exchanged a few giggles while peering at them. Baekhyun rolled his eyes and handed the book to Kyungsoo, who was twiddling with the telescope, his eyes focused on the lens.
"Here."
"What?" Kyungsoo spat.
"The constellation, for Christ's sake. Stop being angry."
"I know what the constellation is. Found it already." Kyungsoo responded, though he took the volume from Baekhyun's hand and scanned the page. "Yeah, Cassiopeia. As I thought."
"Already?" Baekhyun beamed.
"Here, have a look."
The prefect did as his friend told and skidded over, staring into the lens. He saw nothing.
"Where is it?"
"On the right, the W shaped one."
"Whoa. It's even bigger than I thought." He blinked. Then smirked: "Heh. That's what she said..."
"You're fucking dumb."
"Are you still mad at me?"
"Yes."
Baekhyun sighed once more, leaving the telescope to lean over the edge of the tower, contemplating the void below as the navy curtains of the night stretched out before them. Behind him, Kyungsoo was flicking rapidly through the pages, taking down notes and drawing diagrams in quick, successive movements. He spoke up when the younger boy stood up again.
"My bad, Kyungsoo. I promise I'll be more careful next time."
"Whatever made you think it was a good idea, anyways?" the other boy replied with a hint of dismay. "If we'd found him in an empty corridor by the dungeons, I'd understand...but right next to the Great Hall, in front of everyone-"
"I like drama, you should know that by now, my friend."
"Oh, so choosing Huang Zitao was only for dramatic effect, was it?"
"Of course! He looked so cute, on his way back from the lakeside...Just like an adorable little kitten. How could I resist?"
"Hmm. Some could swear that you're just picking on their group on purpose."
"Whose group?" Baekhyun's brows jumped, confused.
"Park Chanyeol's."
"Oh. Well." the prefect blinked, smiling a little. "Him and his friends are always so quick to retaliate. It's the funniest thing."
Kyungsoo exhaled.
"That's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant. But you're getting ahead of yourself, friend, that's what I think. What's our next constellation?"
"Hydra."
"Err, your damn cat?" Baekhyun grimaced. And at last, Kyungsoo showed a smile.
"No, idiot. The stars."
"Sometimes, I still wonder why you decided to name your pet after a multi-headed monster that is supposedly impossible to kill."
"Cooler than to name one's owl after some vulgar muggle means of transportation."
Baekhyun gasped with indignation:
"Scooter is a very cool name!"
"Right. Just get up and find me these damn stars already. I found Cassiopeia, now it's your turn."
Baekhyun mumbled some improprieties and positioned himself in front of the telescope, moving it a few steps before adjusting the lens.
"Can you talk to me the while I look for it, then? I'll get lonely otherwise..."
"What the hell."
"Please, Kyungsoo, my friend, my beloved, my one and only..."
"I had scruples before those appellations, but now that you mention it, no."
"Just read me the textbook, then. Come on, make me happy and indulge the brainless fool that I am..."
Kyungsoo picked up the textbook with a sigh while Baekhyun smirked in triumph.
"The constellation Hydra is one of the largest known to wizards and stretches over 1303 square degrees and 100 degrees in length. Shaped like a giant serpent, it is often related to the Greek mythological water monster sharing the same name, Lernaean Hydra, described as the guardian of the entrance to the underworld and possessing multiple heads. The constellation has one bright star named Alphard, or Alpha Hydrae..."
"More enthusiasm, please."
"...and another called Epsilon Hydrae. Do you want me to kill you?"
Baekhyun beamed into his scarf.
"I love you."
Kyungsoo stopped reading altogether, then bit down on his lip and violently smacked his friend on the back of the head.
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Baekhyun arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at seven sharp, only to find it locked with a note stuck on the door:
Detention students: please find me directly in Greenhouse number four.
Cheers.
- Jung Yunho
Cheers.
- Jung Yunho
Puzzled, he strolled down to the designated greenhouse and found Park Chanyeol already present amidst the squirming roots and sleeping mandrakes, thick leather gloves in hand and goggles hanging on his nose. Professor Jung loomed behind him.
"Ah, Mr Byun," the teacher smiled at him. "Glad to see you found my note, I was starting to get worried. Here, take these. You'll need them."
Baekhyun caught the leather gloves, studying them briefly before looking up at Chanyeol's face. The younger boy looked thoroughly horrified to be here, and when Baekhyun glanced behind him, he caught sight of a whole army of giant bubotubers lined up in enormous pots on the tables behind, their shiny bulbs pulsating disturbingly under the enchanted lights. An overwhelming sense of dread mounted in his chest as realization dawned on him. He gulped.
"Um, professor..."
"Yes, I'm sure you're still familiar with bubotubers from your lessons back in fourth year. Professor Sprout told me that she taught you how to collect bubotuber pus...so this is what you're going to do for today."
"Collect...bubotuber...?"
"Pus. Yes, exactly."
"From all of these?" Baekhyun had tried to say this in an indignant tone, but the noise which somehow emanated from his mouth was a sort of moan sounding pathetic even to himself. Even Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow at him, but hey, Baekhyun thought; he was in no position to talk about dignity.
Professor Jung looked at the whole flotilla of bubotubers lined up behind him – Merlin, there were at least eighty; Baekhyun paled – and laughed openly.
"Well, yes. Your detention ends whenever you finish the entire plot."
"Can we use magic?" Chanyeol asked.
"Of course not," Jung was categorical, "actually, now that you mention it, I shall collect your wands and give them back to you once you're finished."
Baekhyun glared at Chanyeol in consternation as he handed his wand to the professor.
Very smart, you witless chump of a Gryffindor, very smart.
The Gryffindor looked slightly mortified at his own mistake. But Professor Jung was delighted.
"Alright, this is great!" he said, slipping their wands into his pocket. "I'd promised Professor Sprout that I'd help her with this collection to increase her stock, but never got around to doing it...so you two are now going to help me hold my promise, while serving your detention. Perfect. This is what they call 'two birds with one stone'."
"Are we just going to be doing your dirty work for an entire week, professor?" Baekhyun inquired glumly.
"What a nice way to put it," Jung smirked, heading towards the door. "Ring the bell over there when you're done. I'll come back to check on you then...Good luck!"
He shut the door to the greenhouse behind him, and Baekhyun immediately gaped at Chanyeol, his gloves still in hand.
"He is evil...!" he exclaimed in a whisper.
"You're not much better," Chanyeol simply retorted, then turned towards the first bubotuber with his vial pressed below a particularly huge protrusion. "You take over that side of the plot, this way we'll finish faster."
"Oh, are we going for the 'ignoring-each-other-to-work-better' tactic, now?"
"Was there ever another option?" Chanyeol glanced at him.
Baekhyun did not like it. He did not like not having the last word at all.
Sticking out his chin, the prefect grabbed an empty vial and pushed it against the same bubotuber that Chanyeol was working on. The younger boy snarled at him:
"What are you doing?"
"Surely, working together would yield better results; never heard of teamwork, you brute?"
"This isn't teamwork, this is just you being in the way of my work, idiot."
"It's faster this way."
"No, it's not! I can't even move my arms, get your own...!"
Baekhyun pursed his lips when the other boy pushed him away, then reached out, grabbed the biggest bulb from the plant in front of him and squeezed it violently in Chanyeol's face. The pus shot straight at the boy's robes, forming a huge, revolting yellow stain on the front of his shirt that reeked of gasoline. Baekhyun burst out laughing while the Gryffindor exploded:
"Byun Baekhyun, you fucking...!"
"Woops, sorry. You were right, working separately would be a better idea."
"I swear on McGonagall's fitted chignon, if I had my wand with me right now..."
"You talk too much, we'll never finish, at this rate!" Baekhyun snapped quickly, hiding his smile behind one of the plants to shield himself from any potential attack from the angered Gryffindor. He could hear the other boy grumble swearwords under his breath, briefly trying to get the stain off his clothes, but without success. A simple Scourgify would have done the trick in normal times, but without a wand, the smell of petrol would have to haunt him for the rest of the detention.
Baekhyun wished he was sorry, but this was way too funny for him to be.
"You're a fucking nightmare, Byun, I hope you're proud of yourself."
"I am quite proud of myself, thanks for mentioning it."
"How do you even have friends?"
Baekhyun quickly thought about it. In all honesty, he was popular, but his real friends were scarcer than one could expect. People flocked around him, left, then came back again. He did not mind. Pushing the thought aside, he shrugged and started squeezing another bulb, smiling.
"I wonder too...Kyungsoo often says I'm insufferable. Talking about Kyungsoo, I wonder what he's doing right now."
"You're usually stuck together, you should know."
"Meh, he sometimes leaves me in the middle of nowhere and disappears for hours on end. No idea what he's doing."
There was a silence on the other end of the room.
"You sure he's not breaking some school rules or stirring trouble..."
"Urgh, you Gryffindors and your house discrimination." Baekhyun snorted, bending his neck to throw a disdainful look at him from across the table. "As soon as a Slytherin does something, you're like – he must be on his way to become the next Voldemort, what a terrible guy, he's wicked..."
"Alright, alright," Chanyeol backtracked, looking genuinely embarrassed, "I'm sorry."
"As if all the criminals in history were Slytherins..."
"I said I'm sorry, geez. You're right. I shouldn't judge..."
As he said so, he lowered his head and turned his attention to a trickily placed corm, his expression soon shifting from self-consciousness to deep focus. Baekhyun observed him for a while, then retreated back behind his own bubotuber.
One had to admit that Park Chanyeol had been gifted with good looks. The boy had height on his side, large eyes, a small face, and a very sensual mouth that Baekhyun sometimes thought he might even be jealous of. He himself was rather short and sleazy-looking for his age – traits he had to blame his father's side of the family for. He relied on personality and charm, not outward appeal... But Chanyeol was naturally handsome, effortlessly so – something which was not really fair, considering they were both going through the same stages of puberty together.
Then, Baekhyun reminded himself that Chanyeol had not always been like this, really, and that back in first year, the boy had been nothing short of overweight, with glasses awkwardly hanging on his nose. It was only after the start of third year that the boy had begun to grow vertically instead of horizontally...And damn, did he grow vertically. Baekhyun rolled his eyes.
Ah, the wonders of puberty.
"Byun," the other boy suddenly said, making him blink.
"Err...Yes?"
"Do we have a rack to put the vials in?"
"Errr...." Baekhyun hesitated, then looked into the closest drawer, not wanting to say that he did not know. "Ah, yes. Here, take one."
He lifted up the rack and held it towards Chanyeol so that the younger boy could come over and take it. But when the Gryffindor reached out to grab it with his gloved hands, he pulled back his arm.
"Wait," he said with a frown.
And Chanyeol glowered.
"What now?"
"You keep on saying Byun, but that makes me sound old." Baekhyun said. "I don't like it."
"What do you want me to do about that? It's your last name!"
"You could call me Baekhyun," the Slytherin snorted simply. "I don't hear you calling Yifan "Wu"."
"Well, Yifan is my friend." Chanyeol stared at him pointedly. "Yifan doesn't play dirty pranks on Tao. Yifan doesn't make me slip down steep staircases either."
"Alright, alright, do what you want," Baekhyun scoffed, tossing the rack into the air and turning around.
He saw Chanyeol catch it just in time, looking at it in relief before shooting him another glare. Baekhyun was already back at his working desk when he heard the Gryffindor mutter between gritted teeth.
"Thanks, by the way."
Baekhyun smiled with satisfaction.
"You're very welcome... Man, we're never going to be done at this rate. I swear that Professor Jung is just a sadist."
"And it's only our first detention..."
"Ugh, kill me now."
"This is all your fault to begin with, so stop complaining. Seriously, transforming Tao into a cat..."
Baekhyun repressed a smile and shrugged:
"I know right, what's so good about cats anyways."
He had said this in a perfectly casual tone, but suddenly the other boy raised wide, flabbergasted eyes at him:
"Cats are great!" he exclaimed.
"Ugh, no. They scratch, claw, and are picky creatures, not even loyal to their masters."
"They're independent."
"And dogs are loyal. They're obedient." Baekhyun pointed out. "Worth raising."
"Oh, because that's all matters to you, of course. You just need someone to be at your feet, ready to take your every order..."
"Dogs are also affectionate," Baekhyun interrupted, puffing his chest out. "They are playful, gentle and cuddly."
Chanyeol took a step backwards, looking slightly shaken.
"Cuddly."
Baekhyun suddenly realised with horror what he had said.
"I mean..."
"Cuddly, huh." now a shrewd grin split the other boy's face in half.
"I didn't mean..."
"Never thought you'd be that type, Baekhyun. So is that your little secret...? Troublemaker Byun Baekhyun is actually just a big softie who's hungry for warm and snuggly cuddles?"
Baekhyun rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Whatever... Just like your cats for all I care."
"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind." Chanyeol snorted through his nose. "So, how many bubotubers have you done already?"
"Umm...one."
"Are you kidding?"
"You keep on talking, I can't multi-task!" Baekhyun groaned.
"Then what have I been doing all this time?! Blimey..."
"If you think you're so capable, just do the entire plantation, be my guest."
"And let you get away with your incompetence? No way in hell."
Baekhyun glared at him for a moment, then abruptly leaned over the table, grabbed a bulb at random and shot its pus at Chanyeol's back, who yelled and span around with bewilderment.
"For fuck's sake, Baekhyun!"
"Are you guys working well?" Professor Jung suddenly opened the door to the greenhouse with an inquisitive smile.
They immediately jumped back to their respective bubotubers and looked down at their hands, thoroughly engrossed in their work.
"Yes, professor." Baekhyun chimed as seriously as he could.
Professor Jung simply observed the pus on Chanyeol's robes for a long time, then looked at Baekhyun, who hid his face behind the shadow of his pot, and finally left the room without another word. The Slytherin and Gryffindor raised their heads prudently, exchanging a quick glance, then slowly returned to their task in obedient silence.
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Kyungsoo put the uninteresting book on dragons back in place, glancing behind him to check that there was no one else in the library watching him. The rows of shelves around him were completely silent. He was alone.
Pulling out his wand, he discreetly flicked it over his own head and murmured the incantation of the disillusionment charm, staying immobile as he waited for the trickling sensation to fall over his shoulders, then down to his legs, and finally his feet. Once he was certain that he had become more or less invisible, he scurried towards the restricted section, lifted the red rope and rapidly slipped underneath it.
The wall he was looking for was all the way at the back of the section, a plain, barren wall with no shelves and no paintings to decorate it. Kyungsoo had discovered it in fourth year, when he realized that from outside, the restricted section had five windows, but when he was asked to fetch a book for his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in said section back in third year, he had only counted four. Since then, Kyungsoo had frequently tried to sneak into the forbidden area, tapping the wall at the back of the section for some sort of secret passage, and had finally found the opening spell after a year of trial and error.
"Ianuam Aperi." he whispered to the wall, his palms spread over it.
The rock slowly disappeared, revealing a whole new room full of bookshelves behind it, obscure, uninviting and eerily cold. Kyungsoo checked the time, he had approximately five minutes if he did not want to be late for dinner. Baekhyun would probably wonder where he had gone but he would manage to invent an excuse – he always did. Swiftly lighting up his wand to scan through the different bookshelves, he rapidly arrived at the last row, picking up a small, pocket-sized book with a black leather cover. At his touch, the front cover illuminated with golden letters, showing him the simple word: "Ameliorations". He tucked it into his bag and scampered out of the secret room, making sure that the rock wall was safely closed behind him.
When he arrived into the Great Hall ten minutes later, Baekhyun immediately raised his head and waved energetically at him.
"Oi, over here!"
Kyungsoo grimaced at the volume of the call and paced towards him, his bag over his shoulder. The tables were already overloaded with food, the students eating and chatting amongst themselves with their plates full. They were having roasted lamb tonight.
"No need to shout," he said as he sat down next to Baekhyun and pulled his plate over. "I saw you already from over there."
"You could say thanks, I saved a place for you." the prefect scoffed, before reaching for the pumpkin juice. "Where were you anyways?"
"None of your business."
"I was looking for you in the dorm, but you weren't there," Baekhyun turned, and for a second, a glint flickered in his eyes, making Kyungsoo shudder. He held his gaze.
"So?"
"So, I asked people where you were, but no one had seen you leave. Guess you really are unnoticeable, friend." the elder boy snorted, returning to his goblet, and Kyungsoo inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He picked up his knife and fork.
"Better be discreet than outright obnoxious."
"Oh, I would beg to differ."
"I know you'd beg to differ, but that's why you're obnoxious. How are detentions going with Park Chanyeol?"
The change of subject seemed to be a success, because Baekhyun instantly shrugged and returned to his plate with an uninterested tone.
"Not bad. If you don't think about the amount of crap we have to put up with...literally."
"Lite...what?" Kyungsoo frowned.
"Repotting geraniums. Dragon manure. What a drag." Baekhyun explained, then suddenly smirked. "Were you doing something naughty in secret; is that why you were late?"
"What? N-no! I was finishing up my essay for Ancient Runes in a study room on the fifth floor."
The prefect nodded in comprehension, then suddenly grinned, lunging side-ways to grab his bag.
Kyungsoo internally panicked.
"Give that back, you moron...!"
Baekhyun cocked an eyebrow, but the headmistress lifted her goblet at the same moment, asking for silence in the hall. Baekhyun immediately turned his attention to her, lowering his arms, and Kyungsoo seized the opportunity to snatch his bag back, sighing in relief before glancing up at the teachers' table too. McGonagall was now towering above them with her goblet and spoon still in hand, waiting calmly as quietness settled down across the hall. She was smiling. Rare sight. Kyungsoo felt his eyebrows crease.
"No need to look so serious," she soon said to everyone, smirking a bit as she saw their confused expressions. "This isn't a drill. As you know, this week-end, your first Hogsmeade outing will take place - for those of you who have the permission to go and are in third year or above. Then, as you also know, your second outing comes four weeks after that, and two weeks after that, your winter vacations."
A few cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, and Kyungsoo turned to see Luhan smack Kim Jongdae and Park Chanyeol violently on the back of the head. A few people laughed and McGonagall simply chuckled – yet another rare sight...She must have been in a really good mood tonight, Kyungsoo thought.
"You might be laughing carelessly now," she suddenly said, "but ten years ago, at this very moment in time, no one in Hogwarts could think about Christmas. Our school was going through a colossal crisis back then, as you all know from your parents or your elder siblings: Hogwarts was about to go to war. Ten years ago, there were no festivities and no cheers of joy in this Great Hall. There was no peace. And that is why peace is to be celebrated."
Baekhyun and Kyungsoo looked at each other, blinking. She raised her glass:
"Therefore, in honour of these hard-earned years of peace, in honour of all those who have fought for it and in honour of the approaching ten years' anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War, I would now like to announce, on the fifteenth of December this year, the greatest Christmas Ball that Hogwarts has ever seen."
And then it seemed to Kyungsoo that the hall had suddenly exploded, shattering his eardrums, because everyone abruptly started to rumble with eagerness, nudging each other with hardly contained excitement and whooping hysterically. Girls immediately leaned towards each other's ears to talk of dresses. Next to him, Kyungsoo heard a guy wondering how he would ask his crush to go with him to the ball.
McGonagall laughed and raised one hand.
"You have more than ample time to start thinking about your outfits and partner – if you so desire. So use it well!"
"Damn it, I am going to have to buy a new suit, now." across of them, François Putieux said dejectedly with his usual accent.
Baekhyun laughed at him, still chewing on a piece of potato.
"What do you mean, François – surely, with the size of your wardrobe you should be able to conjure an acceptable outfit for everyone in this room."
"Are you joking?" the French student looked genuinely aghast. "Don't you know that it's "Dress up a stick and it will not look like a stick"? This is time for some serious shopping, ladies and gentlemen. I will have to go to Hogsmeade and visit Gladrags Wizardwear again."
"Hogsmeade, that's a problem," Baekhyun suddenly frowned, lowering his tone so that only Kyungsoo could hear. "I still have detention on that day..."
"What's the problem? Just use the other outing to go shopping."
"Yeah, but what about Knockturn Alley?" the prefect pouted.
"Uh."
"Well, I suppose I will just have to figure out something."
"Also, we will need a partner," François was still talking, flicking some hair away, not hearing the interruption. "Otherwise, it's just damn, damn sad."
"I bet you five galleons that I can find a partner before Kyungsoo." Baekhyun grinned.
"Why me?" Kyungsoo scowled. "Bet against someone else, I'm not part of this!"
"I will not accept the bet," François said very seriously. "Because Kyungsoo won't find a partner unless it's Moaning Myrtle."
"Thanks for the faith, Putieux." Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. Damn, such supportive dorm mates.
"Don't worry," Baekhyun smiled, sleazily passing a hand behind his shoulder, "in this day and age, going to the ball with a male partner would be perfectly acceptable too, so if you don't mind..."
"I refuse categorically." Kyungsoo cringed.
But inside, he knew that the quest for a partner would be harder than anything he had ever undertaken so far, harder than any potion or any school rule to break. As far as he was concerned, going to the ball alone was probably still the best option...if not the only one.
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