[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]
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"There's a seat over there, come on! Come on! Come on!"
Tao tugged Sehun's arm towards him as he lead him straight to the single stool by the giant chocolate cake, crashing onto it and almost falling over in the process. The younger boy glanced at the single taken space, and pouted with his parrot on his head.
"That's not fair, where do I sit?"
Tao pulled him downwards and made him sit on his legs.
"Are you having fun?" the elder boy asked after a minute of peaceful grinning.
"Yeah," Sehun smiled drowsily. "But I'm really tired now. I just want to go home."
"Me too." Tao yawned, trying to put his head on Sehun's shoulder, only to fail and bury his face in the boy's back instead. "Dancing's tiring. I don't think I've ever been this crazy before..."
"Except when you drank that Befuddlement Draught by accident, last week."
"What did I do?" Tao moaned with a worried frown. "Do I want to know?"
"You ran around screaming you could do anything in the world for something like an hour straight; then, you started to strip in the middle of the courtyard outside, near the viaduct, until we caught up with you. You proposed to Millie Hannigan."
"Oh no!"
"You also gave Hagrid a bear hug when he tried to stop you... And you kissed McGonagall on the cheek."
"Oh my God," Tao covered his face in embarrassment. "That's terrible. Sehun, I want to bury myself in a hole for the rest of my life."
"Why?" Sehun chuckled softly as he looked back at him. "You were really cute."
"Really?"
"Uhuh. You gave all of us hugs when we brought you to the Hospital Wing, too."
"That's because I like you guys a lot," Tao said, smiling drowsily. "I hope we can all just be very happy forever."
Sehun blinked at him silently, then turned around and looked at the people dancing around them. A lot of the students had gone back to their rooms already, especially the younger ones, who were subject to their curfew. He sat back against Tao and joined his hands together.
"We're going back for Christmas tomorrow."
"I know," Tao mumbled groggily. "I can't believe Jongin's staying alone at Hogwarts this year. Won't he be lonely?"
"I'm going to be lonely." Sehun responded in a quiet murmur.
Tao looked up at him.
"Then why don't you come to mine?"
The younger Gryffindor immediately twisted his neck to stare back at him.
"Can I?"
"Of course. I don't have any siblings...so if you come, I'd be super happy." the other boy smiled widely. "I'll ask my parents tomorrow and you ask yours."
"I'd like that," Sehun said softly, "I'd really like that. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Tao smiled again, big feline eyes beaming up at him. "I'm really glad you're coming over."
And as he talked, he slid his arms around Sehun's waist, giving the boy a tight, affectionate hug. With a small smile, the younger boy leaned into him and closed his eyes in newfound peace.
"I'm really glad too," he breathed in a whisper.
By the chocolate fountains, Minseok was catching his breath, a broken garland in one hand and a glass of cherry syrup in the other. Luhan laughed hoarsely, dragging the elder boy along towards the corner of the room in spite of the other prefect's protests. They stopped beside the grand window, in a quiet corner hidden from people's view by a large pillar.
"Stop," Minseok begged, voice rasping, "I'm too old for this...Please, I need a break for my failing heart..."
"Stop pretending. You're the same age as me." Luhan smiled fondly as he took hold of the Ravenclaw's hands.
Above their heads, there was a cut off branch of bobbing mistletoe. Luhan glanced up at it first, then he looked at Minseok, who caught sight of it, and immediately diverted his gaze.
The Gryffindor cleared his throat.
"So..."
"So?" Minseok side-eyed him, but the corner of his mouth was twitching a bit with the start of a smile. Luhan felt his heart flutter. This was the pair of eyes he had been enthralled and enraptured by; the mouth he had seen smile and dreamed to kiss for countless nights in the past. His breath was failing him slowly, leaving him light-headed and dizzy. This was the boy he had fallen in love with... How could he be so perfect?
"Luhan?" Minseok smiled.
The Gryffindor quietly nodded, letting his finger trace the outline of Minseok's lips, very briefly, before leaning in and placing a languid kiss on those enchanting ridges, taking them with their pink sweetness and enchanting splendour. Minseok's mouth was pliable, soft, honeyed – as heavenly as he had imagined and so much more – he slid his hand behind the elder boy's back and drew him closer while the other boy's fingers came fluttering gently against his cheeks. For a moment, the world stopped for them. The music muffled in Luhan's ears and his heart was all he could hear, Minseok's lips were all that he could focus on. When they separated at last and Minseok's eyes looked at him with expectation, bringing him back to Earth with their mesmerizing beauty, he could not utter a single word, and simply melted into a lovesick smile instead.
The Ravenclaw's face was slightly flushed too under the enchanted lights and Luhan sheepishly passed a hand through his hair as he looked out of the window. Meanwhile, a new song had begun on the dance floor, the tune both cheerful and beguiling, causing both of them to glance at the band, who had started to play again:
"Oh, what a night,
Late December back in '63,
What a very special time for me,
As I remember, what a night..."
Late December back in '63,
What a very special time for me,
As I remember, what a night..."
"Shall we go?" Luhan smiled, eyes sparkling under the floating candles.
Minseok offered his hand with a grin, and they both skipped back into the crowd, blending in within a second and joining the mob in their festive dancing.
In the middle of a horde of students, Joonmyun was struggling to stay on his two feet. Two hands on his shoulder were asking for his attention now, dragging him back to Yasmine and Jongdae's grinning faces next to each other as both of them pulled him closer to them and stared at him excitedly. They were already dancing to their heart's content, offering him a hand to hold onto. As he grabbed onto them, Jongdae winked at him and he felt his heart skip a beat.
"Let it all out, Joonmyun," Yasmine cheered, not bothered one bit, and he felt his cheeks heat up even more.
For a while the three of them continued this strange and mystifying ménage-à-trois, until a group of fourth years suddenly arrived from the side in an Indian line, singing loudly and shaking their hips to the pace of the song.
"Sehun!" Jongdae called out with a grin, and the third person in line turned around, a boy with rainbow hair and a parrot on his shoulder. He tapped the arm of the girl in front of him and directed her to turn towards them. The Indian line soon joined them, and Yasmine put her hands on the back of the last girl in the queue, Jongdae following her and pushing Joonmyun to go in front of him.
"Oh, what a night!" Tao, the first boy in line, blared loudly, and Joonmyun flushed when Jongdae's hands came down on his shoulders, the fifth year's breath close to his neck as he began to sing too. The world was quite wild, today, he thought to himself quietly. But the seven of them started their procession through the Great Hall all the same, with their disorganized line and their loud chanting; and as they moved along, students came to join them naturally as if it was a normal thing to do...
On the first floor, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were still struggling towards the Hospital Wing, the elder of the two burying his face into Chanyeol's neck with a crazy chuckle:
"You know," he said faintly, and it sounded almost gentle, "I've always kind of liked you, Chanyeol – as in, I've always liked to tease you, ever since the first semester we got into Hogwarts. Do you remember the first semester we got into Hogwarts?"
"Man," Chanyeol grunted but chortled all the same. "You were such a dick."
"I placed a farting parchment in your History of Magic book 'cause we were desk mates," Baekhyun wheezed weakly in his laughter. "And it farted so loud Binns sent you to the Hospital Wing thinking you were sick."
"I got called FartPark for a month after that because of your stupid face, do you know that?"
"What else did you want?" the Slytherin mumbled as the two of them stumbled in mid-step and used the wall for support. "You were chubby and shy and awkward, and I was sitting next to you all the time thinking you needed to loosen up." he sniffled, "Well, I did loosen you up, didn't I? From the intestines outwards."
"You fucking pissed me off, that's what you did." The Gryffindor snorted, hopping slightly to adjust Baekhyun's weight on his shoulder.
The Slytherin hiccupped like a child, and let his head roll lightly: "If you had a better sense of humour maybe we could've been friends," he yawned.
Chanyeol smiled softly, because Baekhyun was still hiccuping, and he was still heavy, but his hair was a mess, they were alone, and maybe, like this, Baekhyun was kind of cute.
"Well. You know, it was a pretty good one, actually, now that I think about it."
"Right?" Baekhyun smiled. "Told you so, FartPark."
"I'm going to drop you."
"Pfft, go ahead... Don't need your tall ass to support me. You're the drunk one, here, not me-"
"Do you really want to-"
"Oi, you over there."
They froze, blinking in their hazed confusion as two figures firmly made their way towards them from across the corridor, one very tall and imposing, the other much smaller. A grimace came to Chanyeol's face as he finally recognized the tall one to be Yifan; a very confounded Yifan, who was frowning at them with obvious concern on his features and his tie over his shoulder.
"What are you two doing here?"
"What does it look like?" Baekhyun snapped curtly, as if it was the most stupid question of the century.
The other of the two, a gentle-looking Hufflepuff, furrowed his eyebrows at him lethargically.
"Are you alright?"
"Of course, we're over the moon," Baekhyun smiled dizzily, letting go of Chanyeol's shoulder to prove his point. "Look at me. See? I'm standing! Totally fine, I tell you..."
"You guys look weird," Yifan said with a cocked eyebrow. "What have you two been doing? Have you been around the alcoholic beverages?"
"I think we better go." Chanyeol muttered quietly in Baekhyun's neck.
"Are you two drunk?"
Baekhyun's eyebrows jumped.
"What?"
"I said, are you two-"
"Go. Run!"
Baekhyun took flight the second after, and Chanyeol followed suit without delay, the two of them zooming past Yifan in the blink of an eye, leaving him and the Hufflepuff in shock:
"Oi," Yifan opened astonished eyes, but the two fifth years were already fleeing like thieves and disappearing around the corner: "Oi, both of you! Come back immediately!"
They ran until they were completely out of breath, and at last, Chanyeol collapsed against a statue covered in snow, holding his stomach with one hand as the Slytherin hurtled into his back before falling to his knees, rasping for breaths, his face a pallet of ecstasy and pain.
"Shit," he panted, his voice treading on a thin line as he tried to laugh, "that was...that was so funny; I think my lungs are about to explode..."
Chanyeol did not reply, still feeling like the apocalypse was going down in his stomach as he leaned against the statue and restrained himself from vomiting his dinner against the wall.
"Hey," Baekhyun clasped a hand over his knee to stand back up, still smiling with elation, "you alright?"
Alcohol and running was definitely not a good mix. Chanyeol straightened up slightly and turned onto his back.
"I don't think I'm feeling very well," he finally said.
"Oh, no, let me fix that." Baekhyun replied.
And before he could quite piece the picture together, the Slytherin had already closed in, grabbed his cheeks, and pulled him down for a tiny little smooch on the lips. One that was much too little and much too tiny for his liking, now that Chanyeol thought about it.
He leaned back in before Baekhyun's mouth could move too far away, and drew him in for another one, breath catching when small lips met his in a warm, soft kiss.
Before long, Baekhyun's arms were around his neck, the boy on tip-toe pushing against his mouth, and Chanyeol felt the apocalypse miraculously being revoked, the nausea inexplicably flying into oblivion as the feeling of Baekhyun's mouth against his blew him away. He felt it pulsating through his blood as if he had been lifted off the ground and was floating somewhere between the sea of chocolate liqueur and red currant rum, the stars in the navy sky, and the spark in Baekhyun's lidded eyes. There was nothing else. Just Baekhyun, so small and pliable that he fitted perfectly in Chanyeol's arms...Just Baekhyun, looking stupidly cute in his ruined, expensive suit, and tasting sweeter than the liqueur he had this evening. Maybe the alcohol had to do with it... but this kiss was like the call of thunder, the sound of his guitar on rainy days, and the last day of summer all rolled into one.
"Boy, I'm going to regret this," he mumbled groggily as they separated to catch their breath, and the Slytherin in his arms emitted a needy little moan.
But soon, Baekhyun's mouth was all over his again, consuming him; and as he rested limply against the old, worn-out statue, he locked his hands behind the elder boy's waist and pulled his body close, grabbing him tightly while their kiss deepened, holding him in his arms and feeling much too weak to let go.
[font=georgia]THIS CHAPTER IS SPLIT INTO TWO PARTS DUE TO THE CHARACTER LIMIT PER POST. PART ONE CAN BE FOUND HERE.
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