[div style="width:500px;text-align:justify;font-size:12px;margin-top:10px;color:#000;line-height:120%"][align=center][size=9pt]❝ EXOLLIARMUS — CHAPTER EIGHT: OH, WHAT A NIGHT! ❞
[PART ONE] [PART TWO]
[PART ONE] [PART TWO]
The night of the Christmas ball saw Hogwarts dressed up in red and white, the decorations for the festivities extending to the furthest staircase and the highest tower, with enchanted snow falling in every corridor. In the somewhat empty dormitory of the Gryffindor tower, Chanyeol rearranged his bow tie in front of the mirror and turned to look at Jongdae, who had just emerged from the bathroom with a questioning air on his face.
"Mate, do I look okay?" the Gryffindor asked, and Chanyeol tilted his head to examine him.
The elder boy was sporting a blue suit over an immaculate shirt – very vividly blue but very stylish – brown curls resting neatly over his head and bow tie as white as Luhan's snowy owl. Chanyeol turned back to his closet's mirror with an appreciative nod.
"You look like a fucking chump," he said.
"Thanks," Jongdae replied with a bright grin and glanced at his pocket watch. "Cool. I knew that blue was a good idea."
"Are you going to pick Yasmine up at the Ravenclaw tower?"
"Of course. I'm leaving now."
"Already?" Chanyeol spun around with too much haste.
But Jongdae headed for the door and blew him a kiss:
"Relax, I won't forget you even when I'm dancing with her. Don't you worry, buttercup."
"Ugh, sod off." the younger boy rolled his eyes and returned to his struggle with the clip of his bow. "I hope you choke on fruit punch and never come back."
"Thanks, and you, enjoy yourself with the other bachelors," the elder boy snickered, and Chanyeol tossed a pair of dirty boxers at him. The door of the dormitory slammed shut just in time, leaving him alone in the room as the loud hubbub of the common room cut off once more, and the dirty underwear fell onto the carpet with a pathetic plop. He watched the door with a slight twinge of discomfort in his chest, feeling lonely against his will. But almost instantaneously, it opened again and Sehun stepped in carelessly, lifting his arms and shutting the door behind him as he gave Chanyeol a questioning nod:
"Hey. How do I look?"
Chanyeol had to do a double-take.
"Uhhh."
In front of him, Sehun stared with his palms open, his gown as white as a newly-wed's, but his hair a rainbow nest of red, yellow, orange and turquoise. As if that wasn't enough, the boy also had a bright blue parrot on his shoulder, an animal Chanyeol was sure he had never seen in the younger boy's company before.
"You, uh, you look great," he eventually replied.
"Yeah?" Sehun smiled and tugged at his sleeves. "Thanks. You don't look too shoddy either."
"Where did you get that?"
"Him?" the boy pointed at his parrot, who squawked with a tilt of its funny head, "I asked Jongdae to transfigure it out of Tao's bedside plushie."
"Are you serious?"
"Shhh, he doesn't know."
Chanyeol frowned.
"Where's Jongin?"
"Gone to pick up Do Kyungsoo," the younger boy said with lidded eyes. "Probably in the Great Hall with him by now, I don't know."
"And...Tao?"
"I'm here!" came Tao's voice right afterwards, swinging the door open and entering the room with distress in his eyes. He was still in nothing but a bathrobe, holding three clothe hangers in his hands and shuffling difficultly in his fluffy slippers. Chanyeol and Sehun both stared at him incredulously.
"Why aren't you dressed?"
"Well," Tao sighed, showing the three different suits in his hands, and looking quite exasperated already. "All my gowns look really great on me and I don't know which one I should wear for the ball. I can't choose, this is really too hard."
Chanyeol glanced at the black, navy and crimson gowns critically. He lifted his finger and gestured towards the first one.
"Black."
"Crimson." Sehun said.
"I thought navy..." Tao trailed off.
They stared at one another.
"Okay, navy," Sehun admitted.
"Black." Tao mused.
"Crimson's okay." Chanyeol dropped.
Another silence.
At last, the eldest boy rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Alright," he exhaled. "Well, I guess this is going to take a while."
"I also have different bow ties." Tao added dejectedly. "Do you think white is better or-"
"Stop." Chanyeol raised both hands angrily, glancing at both of them, one after the other, before sighing and taking the suits from Tao's hands. "Okay," he mumbled, "let's take this step by step..."
⚜
In the Great Hall, Jongin sat at one of the many round tables that had been set up about the room, with his vest constraining him uncomfortably around the waist as he played with his golden cufflinks. Next to him, Kyungsoo was equally quiet, his hair slicked back loosely and his black waistcoat flattering over a clean white shirt. The younger of the two boys glanced at the thriving dance floor in front of him, then at the mountain of fruit cocktails stacked up behind them. He pointed at one of them.
"A drink?" he suggested over the booming music.
But Kyungsoo shook his head calmly. Jongin bit his lower lip as the two of them both gazed at the mob of students dancing around them again.
Well. This was a lot more awkward than he had first anticipated.
McGonagall had not lied when she had said that this would be the biggest ball that the school had ever seen. The entire castle had been decorated by house elves overnight; dressed in crazy garlands and branches of holly hanging not only in the Great Hall itself, but also in every other corridor of the school, leaving no place or corner untouched. The statues were covered with frost and laced with streamers and ribbons. Thousands of candle lights led a non-ending flow of students into the Great Hall, the centre of which had been altered into a glassy dance floor, and huge banners displaying the usual house animals in Christmas colours were hung on every wall. Where the teachers' table ordinarily sat stood a titanic pine tree which stretched all the way to the starry sky of the enchanted ceiling, its branches gesticulating occasionally to drop snow on the ill-timed passer-by, and bursting out into a hearty Santa Claus laugh whenever it hit its target.
Jongin had left the dorms early to pick Kyungsoo up today, eager to meet up with the elder boy for this special occasion; but ironically, neither of them had started to dance even after everyone else had flowed in to celebrate. The two of them had just stayed awkwardly rooted to their seats like penguins, stealing glances and exchanging irregular monosyllables for all conversation. Jongin was slowly starting to get worried.
"It's a bit noisy, isn't it?" he glanced at Kyungsoo after a while, hoping to strike up a conversation.
The elder boy looked back at him, uneasy beneath his calm façade.
"A bit."
"I really like this band, though."
"Oh." Kyungsoo said. "Really?"
"Chanyeol likes them too, he keeps on playing songs by them," Jongin attempted a smile.
Kyungsoo chuckled, but did not say anything in return. If the elder boy usually seemed sullen and a little tetchy, now he was as tense as an elastic band about to snap.
Jongin fiddled with his thumbs.
"You alright?"
"I'm fine."
The Gryffindor bit his lips. He looked at the far-end of the Great Hall, where an ice-skating rink had been set up for younger students to tumble around and laugh at each other's struggles. Amongst the first years, somehow, Tao and Sehun had found a way to join the fun and were now holding each other by the hand as they skated face to face, the elder of the two fighting to stay on his feet while sliding backwards and screaming like a madman.
Jongin watched them for a very long time in utter dismay.
"They look like they're having fun," Kyungsoo soon noted as he leaned closer to his ear, and Jongin jerked slightly.
"Uh," he stared in the direction of the skating rink. "You mean, those two idiots?"
The Slytherin nodded soundlessly.
Jongin stared at Sehun and Tao, who had just fallen over each other on the ice and were now laughing madly at each other while the younger boy's parrot flapped its wings furiously over his head. He pursed his lips and glanced at Kyungsoo.
"Do...Do you want to join them?"
"No, I'm okay. I'd just make a fool out of myself on the ice."
"Oh." Jongin nodded uncomfortably, "Well, me too."
"I'm sorry," Kyungsoo suddenly shook his head, looking shamefacedly towards the floor. "You're probably thinking that I'm hellishly boring right now. I'm really sorry."
"No, no, no," Jongin protested, though he wasn't sure whether he was really honest with himself. "I'm not a party person either, it's fine. Don't worry."
"I just don't know what to do with myself in settings like this."
"You don't have to do anything."
"Yeah, but I don't want you to be here," Kyungsoo cut wryly, "sitting around doing nothing, just because we have to stay together."
The Gryffindor realized that Kyungsoo was gradually starting to regret coming to the ball as his partner, and Jongin wanted him to think anything but that. He hurriedly grabbed the other boy's hand and jumped to his feet.
"That's nonsense," he said confidently, with an encouraging smile. "Come, let's dance."
Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes.
"I can't dance for two knuts."
"That's okay," Jongin replied. "I've got enough skills for two, my mum made me do ballet when I was young."
The Slytherin still hesitated for a while, but eventually relented and stood up, letting the younger boy drag him onto the dance floor. Jongin parted his way through the crowd. As he did, he saw Jongdae and his partner from the corner of his eye, the Gryffindor dancing the swing – or at least attempting to – over a rock song, making Yasmine Abott laugh her head off in her high heels. Shuddering, Jongin pulled Kyungsoo closer to him in a spot that was not overcrowded. He then turned around to face the elder boy.
"Come on, let's dance," he incited timidly, swaying along with the rhythm.
Kyungsoo stared at him blankly, then vacillated like a penguin and hesitantly bobbed his head to the music, his movements both too small and shy to be noticeable. When at last he started to dance more boldly, Jongin automatically laughed out loud, drawing a startled face out of the other boy, who immediately stopped moving.
"What?" Kyungsoo asked, wide-eyed.
"N-nothing," he shook his head, covering his mouth. "Just..."
Somehow, Kyungsoo danced like a middle-aged man.
"What is it?" the other boy insisted, frowning worriedly now. "Tell me."
"No, it's just cute," the Gryffindor admitted after a while, still smiling. "The way you dance. I'm sorry. I just found it really cute."
"Cute?"
"Well, uh, yeah."
Kyungsoo's eyes widened, then his eyebrows fused into a single line.
"That's it, I'm sitting back down."
"Wait, wait, wait," Jongin chuckled helplessly, "I'm really sorry. Don't go."
The Slytherin did not struggle when he caught him and dragged him back to their original position, almost falling backwards and making him tumble against his chest in the process. Kyungsoo gave him a judgmental look and he embarrassedly drew back.
"Sorry. Let's dance properly this time," he suggested with a bashful smile. "Here, when I was small, my mother used to teach me how to waltz."
As he spoke, he reached down for Kyungsoo's hands and placed one of it around his neck, stepping forward so that they stood chest-to-chest, nose touching, while the Slytherin blinked and tried to step away.
"What are you doing?"
"Um, we're waltzing." Jongin tried.
"That's definitely not a waltz they're playing."
"I know, but the waltz is the only kind of ballroom dancing I know."
Kyungsoo gazed at him cautiously.
"Right."
"I can teach you," Jongin murmured, pulse pumping loudly against his eardrums. "Here, hold my hand."
Kyungsoo complied, though his face still looked a little constipated. In fact, he seemed extremely green and constipated.
"Jongin, look, I really don't think dancing's a good idea after all."
"Don't say that," the Gryffindor closed his eyes and smiled softly, "we barely tried."
"But-"
"Shhh, just...give it a chance. Please."
The other boy simply frowned as he followed, eyes wavering when the younger student leaned his forehead against his, slightly dazed. Kyungsoo seemed to hesitate.
"Did your mother teach you all the dances you know?"
"Hmm," Jongin said through closed eyelids. "She used to be very sweet about these kind of things."
"Used to." Kyungsoo raised his eyes.
"Yeah," the other boy smiled. "Used to, as in, not anymore."
"What happened?"
"I don't know."
Jongin opened his eyes indolently, fixing a sluggish gaze on the elder boy who opened his mouth subconsciously. He could feel Kyungsoo's breath flutter against his skin, his warmth only centimetres away. Foreheads still connecting, Jongin sighed.
"I guess I'm kind of the black sheep of the family, that's all."
⚜
Finding his way towards the largest buffet table, Chanyeol squeezed through the crowd, and knocked a glass over in his haste to pour himself a good goblet of fruit punch, desperate for a cold, refreshing drink. He downed the glass in one gulp, ignoring the couple of seventh years staring disapprovingly at him, and slammed it back down, vaguely disappointed that the refreshments here were non-alcoholic... Yes, underage drinking was not glorious, true, but he could definitely do with not being conscious right now.
The night had barely started, and yet, he was already prepared to go back to bed.
The Gryffindor was about to pour himself a second goblet when he noticed Professor Jung's eyes smiling at him from the other end of the table, the teacher chaperoning the ball with his usual destabilizing nonchalance. Sheepish, Chanyeol glanced down at the jug of punch in his hand, then discarded the goblet, opting to leave with the entire pitcher after all.
He was comfortably installed against a pillar at the end of the hall when Yifan appeared in his field of vision, blinking at him in mild surprise and glancing at the half-empty carafe in his hand.
"Hi."
"Hey," Yifan greeted calmly, nodding with a cocked eyebrow. "Feeling thirsty?"
"Err...you could say that," Chanyeol replied with a blush.
The Slytherin peacefully shifted to lean on the pillar next to him.
"Why are you alone?"
Chanyeol sulked immediately: "Way to remind me that I couldn't find anyone to come to the ball with me, mate."
"No, what I meant was..." Yifan corrected himself, "where are Sehun and the other youngsters?"
"Ice skating, I think? Man, I don't know, I saw them leave a while ago," the fifth year sighed, taking a gulp from his pitcher of punch. "Jongdae's having the time of his life with his Ravenclaw date...Luhan is in Minseok paradise...Ugh, just kill me already."
"You look jealous," the Slytherin suddenly smiled.
"Mm'not."
"You know a lot of people here are still single, right? If you try, I'm sure you'd end the night with someone at your arm..."
Chanyeol grumbled something incomprehensible. That was not the point; that wasn't what he was miffed about...but what was he miffed about, exactly? Chanyeol himself wasn't sure of it. The words escaped him before he could even stop himself:
"You know that even Byun Baekhyun found himself a partner?"
Yifan looked at him in a 'Oh-so-that-is-what-it-was-all-about' kind of way and Chanyeol suddenly felt like pouring the whole carafe of punch at his face.
"Yes, right. He certainly did, I saw." Yifan simply said.
"Not that I care. I'm just mentioning it."
"Yes, yes, of course." Yifan cleared his throat, while the Gryffindor took another sip, "I saw them leave the Slytherin common room together, earlier on. Leila Sturdivant, right? She's very pretty."
Chanyeol scrunched his nose as his fruit punch got stuck mid-way down the wrong pipe, causing him to snort and choke into his palm.
"Wait," he spat between two violent gurgles and looked up incredulously, "What?"
"His partner," Yifan cocked an eyebrow, patting his back distractedly. "Leila Sturdivant, she's his partner."
"Um..." Chanyeol jammed. "No, she isn't?"
"Yes, she is?" the prefect seemed openly unimpressed now, "look over there, they're dancing under the Christmas tree."
Chanyeol turned so fast his neck almost snapped, and his mouth dropped in astonishment as he saw, sure enough, that his Slytherin nemesis was chatting away with a pretty blond girl at his arm, dancing without a single care in the world. He rubbed his eyes, not believing it. But that was Baekhyun alright. It was Baekhyun and a girl, not Baekhyun and the handsome stranger from last time... which meant...
He reeled.
Baekhyun had rejected the smooth Slytherin brunet.
"I can't believe this," Chanyeol cried out.
"Why? You were the one who were talking about his partner in the first place."
"Yeah, but not that one!"
"Just what on earth are you on about?"
But suddenly, Yifan's vision seemed to have been distracted by someone 's sight in the crowd, and he tapped Chanyeol's shoulder absent-mindedly before leaving him behind.
"Hang on a second, I'll see you later."
Chanyeol was barely listening; his eyes were still transfixed on Baekhyun's laughing figure in the crowd, the Slytherin looking ever so skinny and short in his dark suit, but neat and dashing with his hair combed back and his forehead exposed... Hold up, dashing? Had he actually used the word dashing? Bloody hell, he was going insane; the lights of the room were getting to his head.
Was this punch really non-alcoholic?
He shook his head violently and fell back against the pillar, haggard and dazed. There were so many thoughts running through his mind at once that he barely noticed the presence of the other student next to him now, and only jumped in astonishment a good five minutes later when he finally recognized the person's side-view, shouting a bewildered "Merlin" out loud.
The tall silhouette next to him then turned around, revealing the fetching features of the handsome Slytherin brunet he had just been ruminating about a second ago. The seventh year blinked, then simply offered a hesitant smile.
"Um, hi."
"H-hi..." Chanyeol spluttered, feeling outright silly now. The Slytherin frowned slightly.
"You are...?"
"Park Chanyeol."
"Right," the Slytherin seemed to have heard his name before. "I'm Markus. Markus Hargraves."
They nodded at each other. Chanyeol had never felt this awkward in his entire life.
"Um...Enjoying the party?" Hargraves eventually broke the silence, holding his glass up with a helpful smile.
"It's alright," he responded. "But I'm not a very good dancer, so..."
"Oh, me neither." the seventh year chuckled softly, looking at the mob on the dance floor. "I am as clumsy as a new-born duckling when it comes to dancing, I have two left feet."
Chanyeol blinked, not wanting to say that he had spent a good number of restless nights with the unshakable conviction that the Slytherin brunet was a master of the cha-cha-cha. Then it occurred to him that if Hargraves had asked Baekhyun out, knowing full well that he couldn't even dance, he must have really liked the other boy a hell of a lot. That anyone could like Baekhyun that much was an amazing fact in itself. But somehow, the realization could only make Chanyeol shift uncomfortably on his two feet.
"So, err...you here with someone?" he asked after a heavy silence.
"No," Hargraves smiled and took a sip of his drink. "I got rejected."
"Ah."
So he didn't even try to ask anybody else. Chanyeol looked down at the grapefruit pulp floating in his fruit punch, his stomach doing weird little flips down his belly.
"Sorry for asking," he said after a while.
"No, don't be," Hargraves immediately replied, suddenly narrowing his eyes in recognition, "I hope you don't mind me asking, actually, but you're Baekhyun's friend, aren't you?"
"I'm – what?" Chanyeol spun around. He scoffed. "Me? Baekhyun's friend?"
"Sorry, were you not? I often see you two playing pranks on each other, so I thought..."
"Well, playing pranks and mutual appreciation are two completely different things." the Gryffindor snorted. "Baek and I hate each other's guts."
"Oh, really."
Hargraves seemed pensive, then eventually smiled to himself, making Chanyeol tick.
"And I thought I'd be jealous of you two's relationship."
Chanyeol suddenly wished he hadn't denied anything.
"Well, um, Baek is an annoying tit anyways, so..." he muttered into his jug, "no one would want to be friends with a dickhead like him."
"I'm not sure I can agree with that." Hargraves cocked an eyebrow with an annoying laugh, and Chanyeol suddenly felt a compelling need to use his carafe as a hammer on the other boy's head. He soon mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and the seventh year tilted: "Sorry, you were saying...?"
"Nothing."
"You look very red," Hargraves frowned, "is that alcoholic?"
"No it isn't." the Gryffindor grunted and rolled his eyes, "there's nothing alcoholic here anyways, so I wouldn't be able to get drunk if I wanted to."
"Oh, you could." the seventh year smiled evenly. "All the alcoholic drinks are over there, on the table where Filch is standing. But only students aged seventeen and above can have access to it."
Chanyeol blankly stared in the direction designated by the other student and blinked a few times.
"Oh."
Hargraves soon nodded towards Filch's table and offered a smile.
"Do you want me to get you something?" he suggested.
Well, Chanyeol considered. Maybe the Slytherin brunet wasn't all that bad, after all.
⚜
Joonmyun circled around the various buffet tables, biting anxiously on his newly opened ice mouse, happy to see no trouble ahead. No mischief in sight. This was a good thing , he told himself with a smile. As long as there were no student stirring trouble anywhere within a range of fifty yard in sight, this night would be more than good enough for him. A hand on his shoulder suddenly forced him to turn around, and he saw Yasmine's flushed face grinning wildly at him under the neon lights.
"Hi," she yelled over the music, pulling her dress up as the mob around them pushed them over. "What's up?"
"Oh, hey," Joonmyun said in a batter of eyelashes, pulling his ice mouse out of his mouth to smile properly at her. "I'm great, how is it going?"
"Not bad," she replied, dragging someone out from between two other students and pushing that person in front of the other Ravenclaw's face. "Do you guys know each other already? Meet Jongdae. Jongdae, this is Joonmyun, my prefect counterpart."
Joonmyun blinked disconcertedly at the boy in question with his lopsided bow tie, and Jongdae's eyes took a second before finally focusing on him, his forehead shimmering with sweat and a grin still hovering over his face as he casually extended a hand.
"Hey," Jongdae's voice thundered, loud despite the music, and the Ravenclaw stuttered a bit when he tried to smile back: "H-hi. Nice to meet you."
"You guys know each other, don't you?" Yasmine asked.
Joonmyun firmly shook his head.
"I know his friends, Yifan and Chanyeol, but this is the first time we talk to each other in person.
"Oh, alright."
"Did you two come together?"
"Yeah. Jongdae's my dance partner," she explained, still having to speak over the roar of the music, "but he really can't dance, I've just discovered that."
"Hey, what do you mean?" the Gryffindor pouted. "I just have my own vibe, that's all."
"I've certainly never seen anyone dance like you before, I'll grant you that." Yasmine gave him a look.
"And I've never seen anyone dance like that Christmas tree over there." Jongdae retorted with a cocked eyebrow. "Look at Slughorn."
Both Joonmyun and Yasmine glanced at the Potions teacher currently shaking his hips on the dance floor with Professor Sprout, both of them dressed as giant pine trees with their decorative garlands bobbing all over the place. While Joonmyun smiled uncertainly, the other Ravenclaw covered her face and chortled into her hand: "Do you know that he was actually doing that during one of the Slug Club parties last year?" she then smiled at both of them. "It was traumatizing, I had no idea what to do with myself at that time."
"The best way is to dance along," Joonmyun kindly advocated while taking another bite of candy. "That reminds me, did you already start on the Potions project he gave us for next term?"
"Oh, Joonmyun. Can we not talk about homework during a ball?" Yasmine smiled good-naturedly, then looked up and exhaled deeply: "That makes me think of a few weeks ago, when my keys to Slughorn's office just wouldn't work for some reason. God, I was so scared I thought I was going to have a heart attack."
"Your keys to his office?" Joonmyun repeated calmly, and all of a sudden, Jongdae seemed to freeze at his side. "I didn't know you had keys to Slughorn's office."
"I've got a spare set, to have access to his stock of ingredients when he's not available," she pulled out a pair of bronze keys out of her purse and dangled them in front of the other prefect's eyes. "But a few weeks ago, they suddenly stopped working for a while. I had no idea why, I thought maybe someone had stolen them and replaced them with a fake pair, but as soon as I thought of asking Slughorn, they started working again." she shuddered, "I've been too scared to part with them ever since."
Joonmyun nodded casually at the pair of hefty keys in her hands, slowly processing the information in his head. The keys looked somewhat familiar, for some reason...Then it clicked, and he gasped, so loudly that the girl jolted and almost dropped the keys to the floor; still gasping in his epiphany, he furiously pointed at the keys, then at Jongdae, then back at the keys, only to be gagged by the flustered Gryffindor before he could utter a single word.
"Oh my, what a night!" the fifth year exclaimed with a nervous laugh, speedily stuffing Joonmyun's mouth with the ice mouse, "I'm really thirsty, aren't you? Maybe I'll grab a cherry syrup for you too, Yasmine, shall I? The table's right there ha ha-"
"HESTHMLMMGFFH," Joonmyun moaned into the Gryffindor's hand.
"Is he alright?" Yasmine raised an eyebrow in bewilderment.
"Totally fine," Jongdae firmly reassured. "He's just choking on candy."
"I'm...gmmgfgh!"
"We're coming back asap!"
Joonmyun furiously fought against Jongdae's arms as the younger boy rapidly dragged him out of the mob, but the Gryffindor manhandled him doggedly until they were both in a corner of the entrance hall, then letting go of him only to place a shushing finger over his lips. Joonmyun shook his head violently and the Honeydukes' ice mouse popped out of his mouth, dropping to the floor.
"THIEF," he hurled as soon as he was free from Jongdae's grasp.
"Not so loud, for Merlin's sake, she could come out and hear you!"
"Um, that is rather the point?!" Joonmyun screamed.
But Jongdae rapidly hushed him again with both hands.
"Shhhh," the younger boy hissed, shaking his head. "Look, I know that you saw everything last time with Chanyeol and Professor Jung. But don't tell her, alright? She'll get really pissed at me if you do."
"You...you know about this too?! You were part of it, you...you were both sneaking into Slughorn's office!"
"So what?" the other boy threw his palms out, "as if you've never broken a school rule before."
Joonmyun stared at him with his mouth hanging wide open, and Jongdae speedily scratched his head:
"Alright, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say."
"You guys stole Yasmine's keys to break into Professor Slughorn's office..." Joonmyun trembled. "You guys were going to steal his potions ingredients. That's not only against school rules, it's actual theft!"
"Look, it was for a very good cause, I promise you," Jongdae susurrated, "besides, where's the harm? I gave the keys back to her already."
But the Ravenclaw prefect simply wheezed and covered his eyes, feeling more stupid than he ever had in his entire life. He could not believe that he had not guessed all of this before now. Back when Chanyeol had showed up with those keys in the middle of the night, looking guiltier than a Death Eater caught petting puppies...he should have known that something was up. He should have known!
Moaning, he buried his face into his arms:
"I knew it! I just knew that story about mushrooms was a load of crumpets!"
"A load of what?" Jongdae said with the start of a smile, which disappeared as soon as the elder boy pointed an accusing finger at him.
"You have to confess to the teachers, now."
"Oh come on, this is already part of the past," Jongdae pouted. "And it doesn't have anything to do with you anyways!"
"It became personal when you made me drop my ice mouse onto the floor."
"Do you like those?" Jongdae grinned with newfound hope. "I'll buy you ten galleons' worth of Honeydukes ice mice if you don't say anything to the teachers about Chanyeol and me. Ten galleons. Think about it, mate. That's something like twenty boxes' worth."
Joonmyun found himself hesitating and immediately slapped himself internally for it. The Ravenclaw categorically shook his head.
"No."
"Whyyyy," Jongdae said, and the elder boy noticed that he liked to drag the sound of that word out, childishly, as if he was whining. "It's not like it's a bad bargain for you."
Joonmyun watched him attentively for a while, momentarily distracted by the Gryffindor's exaggerated pout, before finally rubbing his eyes tiredly:
"No, I don't take bribes."
"You're missing out, man," the other boy winked playfully. "Especially with me: I'm particularly generous when it comes to giving special benefits."
Joonmyun flushed against his will.
"Tha- that sounds a bit wrong."
"I could give you private tutoring lessons for free."
At this, the elder boy scoffed: "I already have all the best grades you could get. I don't need any help in any subject but-"
He waned, and Jongdae tilted his head with a smile.
"But...?"
"Well, I mean..." he opened his mouth, stuttered, then closed it again, feeling his cheeks heat up involuntarily. "I mean, I can't do a patronus, sure. But it's not like that matters..."
"A patronus? But that's above N.E.W.T level anyways."
"Well, it's not like I can't completely do one either-"
"But it doesn't have a corporeal shape, right? I get it." Jongdae smirked, closing his eyes and bowing dramatically. "No problem, I can help with that too."
Joonmyun pursed his lips.
"I said I didn't take bribes."
"Got to have a first time for everything," the Gryffindor said decisively, hooking his finger on Joonmyun's into a forced pinkie promise. "Let's say that the deal is settled, alright? Come on. Let's get back to Yasmine before she starts worrying."
"Wait. I really don't want your help," the other boy blurted out in a hurry, then he panicked when the Gryffindor did not appear to listen. "Look. Jongdae, you don't have to buy me off to keep my mouth shut about the keys. I won't talk about it."
The fifth year turned around, looking genuinely uncertain.
"You won't?"
"I...I won't." Joonmyun frowned, truly embarrassed. "I won't tell. Just this time, I'll let you guys off."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," the prefect bit his lower lip. "Just this once, though. And you don't have to teach me how to do a patronus or buy me Honeydukes' ice mice, that's... That's not how I do things."
The Gryffindor fell silent, seemingly lost. For a moment, the boy looked much younger and innocent all of a sudden, running out of witty words to say while Joonmyun quickly freed his hand from his grasp and rubbed his wrist with an annoyed expression. Noticing that the Gryffindor's bow tie was still askew after all this time, he let out a sigh and then proceeded to rearrange it for the younger student in silence.
"Alright, we can go back to Yasmine now," he mumbled. "She'll get worried."
"Um," Jongdae said.
And Joonmyun looked back at him anxiously.
"What?"
"No, nothing." the Gryffindor shook his head hastily. "You're right. We should go now."
Joonmyun followed without insisting, but as they set off, he soundlessly wondered what the fifth year had really wanted to say.
Meanwhile, Yifan looked around him in search of Joonmyun's face in the mob, whom he thought he had caught a glimpse only a few minutes ago; but found no signs of the Ravenclaw as far as his eyes could see. Instead, he had run across Luhan and Minseok dancing like there was no tomorrow near the Christmas tree, riding on the music like strippers, the eldest of the two boys twerking his heart out on the dance floor. With his perspective on Minseok changed forever, Yifan headed out of the hall as fast as he could.
A few corridors away from the Great Hall, two Hufflepuff students were huddled together in front of the wall, one of them heaving loudly with a hand against the hard rock and the other one tapping him gently on the back. Yifan frowned and changed his trajectory to check up on them.
"You guys alright?" he asked.
"Ah, yeah," the first one started. "We-"
At the same time, the second Hufflepuff abruptly clutched the front of Yifan's robes and retched the sum of his half-digested dinner onto the surface of the smooth fabric. Instantly, Yifan froze. For a milli-second he thought he felt his consciousness start to slip away from his body as his eyes began to roll backwards. Then he stilled, too traumatized to speak; and the first Hufflepuff groggily apologized on behalf of his nauseous friend:
"I'm sorry, I am really sorry."
"It–it's... fine," the Slytherin uttered with difficulty, feeling the vomit drip down onto his shoes with horrifying lucidity. This had to be karma. Surely. He had always believed that he was an asshole in his past life anyways.
The sober Hufflepuff bent over his friend's back and rubbed his neck soothingly:
"I'm sorry about that. Bobby's just very sick..." he then looked down at the ill student. "Sorry, Bobby, I should've taken your medicine but I forgot it in the dorm."
"Maybe we should take your friend to the infirmary," Yifan muttered, still immobilized by the feeling of stinking substance on his clothes, until he looked at the apologizing Hufflepuff's face and had to blink a few times in recognition. It was that odd kid named Yixing who had worked with him in Divination before Halloween.
"Bobby doesn't really like the infirmary," Yixing continued without noticing, not looking like he recognized him one bit. "Could you help me bring him back to the Hufflepuff common room instead?"
Yifan did not reply, still too surprised to talk. But Yixing frowned hesitantly at him:
"Hello?"
"Um, hi." Yifan said, "it's just...long time no see."
Yixing's uncertainty deepened.
"Did we meet before?"
Well, that was embarrassing.
He was about to reply something considerate for manners' sake, when suddenly, a Gryffindor girl appeared out of nowhere, looking both furious and heartbroken as she ran up to their level.
"Zhang Yixing!" she shrieked in tears.
Yixing turned around in mild surprise and opened his mouth, but the girl shut him up with a violent slap across the face. Yifan timidly retreated against the wall, as the distressed Gryffindor poured out her frustration in a flow of blasphemies and tears:
"Where the Hell were you?" she tempered. "I've been waiting like a fucking idiot on the bench outside the Great Hall for hours, thinking you were going to come and pick me up like we agreed, only to find you here, like nothing happened, doing your own thing like you've completely forgotten about...Merlin, is this what you call being a ball partner?!"
Yixing stared at her with round, somewhat petrified eyes.
"I'm... your partner?" he blurted out in confusion.
She gaped at him then, anger so violent her veins looked about to pop, then clenched her fists and turned her back on him with a snarl.
"You are the absolute worst," she yelled. "I hope you never find yourself a girlfriend, ever!"
"Hold on..." Yixing blinked drowsily, "A-Abby? I'm-"
"It's Ally, you dumbass!"
"Yes, Ally, I'm..."
But at the same moment, the boy named Bobby started to retch once more, and Yixing's attention reverted back to him, his hand automatically going to the boy's back, comfortingly massaging it. With his other hand, he held his own swollen cheek which had just been smacked, the skin there slowly starting to turn red. Yifan stared at him, genuinely appalled, and grimaced uncertainly:
"Did you actually forget that she was your partner?" he questioned, still taken aback by the whole incident.
"I genuinely can't remember," Yixing answered despondently, looking up worriedly in the direction that Ally had taken. The girl had already gone. "God, I hope I didn't hurt her too much."
"She's the one who slapped the stars out of you from what I saw."
"Oh, I deserved it," the Hufflepuff sighed and placed his friend's arm over his shoulder, pulling the scrawny boy up. "Come on, Bobby. Let's get back to the dorm."
"Wait, let me help."
He took a step forward, then momentarily stopped in his tracks because of the squelchy vomit on his robes and groaned in disgust as he pulled his wand out. Murmuring a curt little Scourgify onto his clothes, and then the floor, he finally lifted the sickly Hufflepuff's other arm and threw it over his own shoulders, thus spreading the boy's weight between Yixing and him.
"Alright, let's go." he said at last.
Yixing smiled at him. Then eventually, they quietly left towards the Hospital Wing, holding the sick Hufflepuff up on their shoulders without looking at each other.
A few minutes later, Chanyeol passed by the same spot on his own, with his bladder about to explode and his consciousness flown out of the window.
A few shots of chocolate liqueur and a few cocktails made from red currant rum were all that had been needed to terminate all functions remotely connected to his brainpower. Now he was only two nerves away from crawling on all fours through the corridors, looking for the toilets on the first floor with the urgency – and ineptitude – of a dying man. Good thing Jongdae was busy. Even in his current situation, his brain was self-conscious enough to know that he looked absolutely pitiful in this state. Using the weight of his body to push the bathroom door open, he stumbled inside, doing his best to control himself as he zigzagged towards the nearest cabin and shut himself inside with a muffled groan.
The next five minutes of his life dragged on for an eternity. But after the agonizing migraine and the painful aiming which seemed to last forever, he finally managed to pull his zipper up and stagger out of the stall, only to find a moving black mass hovering over the taps, bent over like a Dementor kissing the soul out of a condemned Azkaban prisoner. Chanyeol squinted. Well. On second inspection, the moving black mass proved itself to be Byun Baekhyun washing his hands at the sink.
Upon noticing him, the Slytherin stared at him with a mix of incredulous contempt and utter consternation.
"Bloody hell," he blinked, "you're as lit as a Christmas tree."
Chanyeol lifted a finger, feeling revoltingly insulted.
"You're the Christmas tree," he retorted in a blur, taking a step towards the taps, and having to take another two backwards to regain his balance.
Baekhyun snorted at him.
"What on Earth did you drink?"
"Chocolate," Chanyeol slurred, shrugging contemptuously, "jus' hot chocolate. With a lil' bit alcohol, maybe – I dunno...brunet jus' gav' me."
"What?" the Slytherin prefect frowned.
"Just chocolate I drank...! Don' you ever listen?"
"You're as pissed as a newt!"
"Brunet." Chanyeol said with finality, index finger up to make a point.
He wondered if it was just the alcohol-imbibed vision's effect, but Baekhyun looked a lot more sensible than usual when he was drunk. The prefect was now shaking his head and scoffing out loud, drying his hands on a towel before giving him another mocking look.
"Alright," he laughed derisively. "No idea what the hell you're on about, but I'll leave you to it anyways. I've still got stuff to do."
"Brunet you rejected," Chanyeol retorted dryly, vitreous eyes not quite focused, but doing their best to concentrate on Baekhyun's stunned face. "Made friends with him. Very nice guy."
The other boy looked genuinely gobsmacked for once.
"How the hell did you know about that?"
"About Slytherin brunet...?" the Gryffindor smiled glassily. Then, he shrugged, offering a mocking pout that made Baekhyun glower.
"Chanyeol, seriously."
"I'm jus' telling you what I think 'bout the whole affair... And you know what I think? I think it's a good thing you rejected him."
"You...What?"
"You guys don' suit each other, t' be honest," he continued, leaning against the cubicle wall to stay on his two feet. "He's a lil' bit too nice to be nice, y'know? A bit dodgy, if you ask me... Wouldn't trust him."
"Bloody Hell," Baekhyun covered his face. "If you only heard yourself talk...you're really smashed."
"I'm fine. I'm very, very fine."
"Look, if you've been saying really odd stuff to Markus just now..."
"Oh, first name basis." Chanyeol nodded. "That's really great...yeah, that's...good."
Baekgyun gaped at him in utter dismay.
"You need to go to the infirmary." he sighed. "I'll take you."
"Nah, you won't."
Baekhyun pulled out his wand, not even smiling.
"Chanyeol, I'm serious."
"Nahhh, you're not."
"I can't believe I'm saying this either, but I am." the other student said. "You say one more word, I'm sending you off to Pomfrey's."
Chanyeol wanted to laugh. And maybe he did, because Baekhyun looked so concerned for him, for once, that he almost realized that there was something wrong with him, indeed. Yet, as far as he was aware, he also felt like they were having the time of their lives, which, on second thought, was a very interesting prospect in itself. Having the time of his life with Baekhyun. Chanyeol wondered what it must feel like, to have fun with Baekhyun, and laugh with each other instead of at each other all the time... Oh, well, chocolate liqueur really made your brain think the strangest things.
Suddenly, Baekhyun pointed his wand at him decisively, and Chanyeol pulled out his own wand before the Slytherin could open his mouth.
"You don't wanna do that," he said, dangerously calm.
Baekhyun pursed his lips carefully and raised his hand. But Chanyeol was much faster:
"Confundo!" he immediately shouted.
And though his numbed tongue might have deformed the spell just a tiny bit, it still seemed to hit Baekhyun just fine because the elder boy shuddered at first, then staggered... However, instead of being confused as he normally should, a purple light wrapped itself around the prefect's body and dispersed into the air immediately afterwards, leaving the boy stunned for a second, wide-eyed, before falling limply onto the floor like a lifeless puppet.
Chanyeol lowered his wand groggily and leaned back against the toilet stall while blinking blearily.
"Uhhhh."
The other boy wasn't moving anymore.
"Baek?" he slurred, then rubbed his eyes, trying to digest the information in his hazy brain. Baekhyun lied still on the floor, his eyes half-open, mouth agape like a dead mouse. Chanyeol held his spinning head, slowly putting two and two together.
Baekhyun was not moving.
Baekhyun. Was on the floor. Not moving.
...Shit.
"Oh shit! I fucked up-" he let out, and crisscrossed his way to the elder boy's side, falling straight on his butt instead, both palms gliding against the dirty bathroom floor. This was bad. Really bad. Too panicked to be revolted by the filth, he slid against the tiles towards Baekhyun's head, leaned over him and tapped the boy's cheeks a few time.
"Yo, Byun Baek..." he stammered dizzily. "Can you hear me?"
"Hnmmg..." came the muffled reply.
"Wake up," Chanyeol mumbled, grabbing the boy's cheeks and shaking him. "Wake up please."
"Where 'm I?" Baekhyun suddenly murmured.
Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief, and tried to stand up, wobbling a little a first, before bending over and pulling Baekhyun by the arm.
"Come on," he said, "stand up."
"Nooooo...Kyungsoo... give me five more minutes..."
He eventually picked the elder boy up and almost fell back down onto his butt. Then, they took one step forward, and Chanyeol saw the room spin ninety degrees sideways, only to realise that both Baekhyun and him had crashed back onto the grimy floor, the elder boy's body sprawled over his with his hair all over his face.
"Fuck. We need t' go to the infirmary." Chanyeol tried to articulate through the start of a sharp headache.
Baekhyun let out a hollow laugh and produced a sort of baby gargle.
"No one needs to go there, you dimwit," the Slytherin cooed.
"Something's seriously wrong wit' you, though..."
"Really? What?"
"I don't know."
Baekhyun abruptly started to giggle like a pigeon. Chanyeol stared at him. The Slytherin stared back. They both began to hoot like idiots, their laughs resonating cavernously in the empty bathroom.
"Did I make you drunk?" Chanyeol said stupidly.
"I don't know, did you? What did you do to me?"
"I don't know..." the Gryffindor scrambled to his feet at the speed of a sloth. "Maybe Pomfrey can help us."
"I want to go to bed."
"Me too."
"Let's go together."
Chanyeol forced himself to stand up, using the sink as a lever to pull himself to his feet, and staring down at Baekhyun's blissful smile once he was finally holding himself up vertically instead of horizontally. The Slytherin only grinned at him, still on the floor, his suit completely wrinkled and spoiled.
"Get up, you tit."
"Noooo..."
Chanyeol squatted down with a grunt, grabbing the other boy's hands and violently tugging him upwards as he jumped. The Slytherin fell into his arms with a huge 'Oompf' and they both staggered backwards into the wall, knocking brand new stars into Chanyeol's brain, as Baekhyun laughed madly into his chest.
"Do that again," he cried between two giggles.
But Chanyeol grumbled and threw the other boy's arm over his neck, putting his hand on the Slytherin's waist as they both stumbled out of the grubby bathroom. Now, a brand new obstacle arose to challenge the very last lucid brain cells he possessed, pushing his chocolate-scented intellect to its furthest limit. Where the hell was the infirmary?
"Okay." Chanyeol mumbled with narrowed eyes. "Where are we?
"I don't know, where's Leila?" Baekhyun whispered back with a lidded gaze.
"Who's Leila...?"
"I don't know..." Baekhyun moaned as they both tripped, collapsing against the wall. "I have no fucking idea."
"But I don't either..." Chanyeol slurred with a laugh, moving both of them forward. "I guess it's not important, then."
"Really...? Cool. I can live with that."
"Let's go to the infirmary – my God, why are you so heavy?"
"I'm not heavy. You're just weak."
But as he talked, the Slytherin continued to put his entire weight onto the other boy's side, dragging both of them towards the wall once again. Chanyeol felt his cheek connect with the chilling cold stone, and had to push himself away with a groan. This was really not going to be easy.
"You're such an ass."
He grabbed the elder boys' waist as he walked forward and held him tighter for support. Baekhyun burst into breathless laughter.
"Stop that, I'm ticklish..."
"That's stupid, I'm not even tickling you..." Chanyeol frowned.
"Yeah, well." Baekhyun snorted. "I think it tickles, okay?"
"That's pretty dumb...Maybe we can ask Pomfrey t' fix that too."
"Ohhh right," the elder boy grinned, throwing both arms around his neck. "You're so smart. You're a smart one, aren't you, Chanyeol – you're so very, very smart..."
"No, I'm not. You're just really stupid." Chanyeol muffled sleepily before suddenly glancing up. "Oh, look."
"What?"
Chanyeol stopped them, turning to look back at their steps, before offering Baekhyun a bleary-eyed grin as he said:
"We moved two metres!"
⚜
[font=georgia]THIS CHAPTER IS SPLIT INTO TWO PARTS DUE TO THE CHARACTER LIMIT PER POST. PART TWO CAN BE FOUND HERE.
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