Chapter Text
Who would’ve thought that a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin could get along so well, even after hating each other for so long? Jeno is a Hufflepuff, who definitely lives up to the name. Hard working, loyal, patient - he’s a Hufflepuff Helga would be proud of. He was almost sorted into Ravenclaw, but the sorting hat found that some qualities outweighed others. Jaemin, on the other hand, is most definitely what you could call a Slytherin. Not evil as people commonly believe Slytherins are, but he has his moments. Cunning, ambitious, resourceful - qualities of a solid Slytherin, and he’s willing to do whatever he can to get his way.
When the two supposed “opposite houses” go against each other during the Quidditch season of their third year, Jaemin, the Slytherin's best beater, smokes Jeno, the Hufflepuff's best chaser, right off his broom with a bludger. Not a soft fall, let me tell you that. After that incident, Jeno started holding a grudge against the Slytherin, which most of his house thought would last throughout the rest of their years at Hogwarts. All of the encounters between the two consisted of Jeno either rolling his eyes or glaring at the Slytherin, whether it be in class or simply passing each other in the halls. It stayed that way for almost 3 years.
Now how did this seemingly everlasting grudge start to weaken?
“I just don’t understand why he’s still holding that grudge. I mean, it’s sorta petty if you ask me,” Jaemin said to Renjun, who had his nose buried deep in a book, trying his best to look like he didn’t hear his best friend.
“No one asked,” Renjun mumbled before giving up on ignoring Jaemin and closing his book, knowing that Jaemin would only continue to pester him. “But is it really all that much of a surprise? Also look who's talking.”
Jaemin simply looked confused after rolling his eyes at his best friend’s usual remarks. “What do you mean? It's just the sport, it's part of the game. If someone held a grudge with me every time the bludger that I hit nails them, I would have so many enemies that every corner I turn I would be getting glared at. I mean, I do tend to hit my mark a good ninety-five percent of the time.”
“Now you’re being narcissistic. I was there at the game, you know. I saw him fall from his broom after the bludger plowed right into his stomach, knocking him off. The thing is, maybe he’s irked about the fact that you never apologized, even remotely, after putting him in the infirmary for almost a week with a concussion and a broken wrist. All you did was continue the game like nothing had happened with a smirk on your face”
Jaemin bit his bottom lip and had the decency to look guilty. “Well, what was I supposed to do?”
Renjun sighed. “You could’ve visited him in the infirmary after the fact to even simply say ‘how are you feeling’, ‘are you okay’ or even ‘sorry.’”
“Well it's a bit late now, it happened almost three years ago. It's not my fault.”
Renjun gave Jaemin a look that said ‘are you kidding me?’ “Says the one who swung the beater’s bat.”
Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Let me rephrase. It's not my fault that the guy holds a grudge like a mule.”
“It may have happened a while ago, but do you really want to spend the rest of your Hogwarts’ years being glared at by the same person every day?”
The brown haired boy muttered a small “no,” and Renjun continued. “You can still apologize, even now, to try and get him to forgive you.”
“And why would I do that?” Jaemin asked, exasperated. The boy in the armchair beside him gave him a pointed look, making Jaemin rethink. “I can’t get within a five-foot radius to the guy without him glaring at me. How am I supposed to get him to forgive me?”
“Work that ‘Jaemin charm’ that you always talk about. I’m sure even he’ll fall for it,” Renjun snickered before pushing himself out of the chair and walking up the stairs to the boys’ rooms.
“Wait, Renjun,” Jaemin called. “What was his name again?”
Renjun looked at one of the walls and pursed his lips like he was on the office . “Jeno, Jaemin. Lee Jeno.” He turned away and stalked up the rest of the stairs to their shared room, leaving Jaemin alone with his thoughts in the common room.
●★●
“C’mon Jeno, get up, we have to get a good seat in the great hall,” a voice whined in Jeno’s ear, jarring him from his sleep.
“Why do you do this to me almost every day?” Jeno grumbled. “It’s not like the whole house will simply just flock in all at once.”
“That doesn’t mean the good seats won’t be taken,” the freak of nature and enjoyer of early mornings complained.
“How do you even get up this early? It’s Friday, Chenle. Give me a break, you’ve been doing it for four days already.”
“Well it's five now, so you’re wrong,” Chenle laughed.
“It’s too early for this disrespect,” Jeno grumbled from where he had pressed his face back into the pillow.
Nevertheless, the Hufflepuff boy dragged himself out of bed and threw on his robes, before walking down the stairs to the common room where Chenle was waiting.
The two boys made their way down to the great hall for breakfast, through the winding halls of moving staircases, occasionally stopping to greet a picture or two. As soon as they passed through the doors, Chenle sped up while along the far side of the table, peering across the hall as if looking for someone.
“Chenle, the Gryffindors are on the other side of the hall, you won’t be able to see him for long anyway, don’t even bother,” Jeno said, catching onto what the younger was doing.
“Just for a bit is better than nothing,” Chenle countered. “Besides, it’s not like he knows who I am, and I would be surprised if he even knows about my existence.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it child. I mean, the whole entire hall can hear those high frequencies that come out of your mouth whenever you laugh. Which is, a lot, might I add,” Jeno said with a small chuckle.
Chenle shot him the stink eye before sitting down in line with the young Gryffindor. The Hufflepuff was about to take a seat beside him when he noticed a certain Slytherin sitting not to far off from his line of sight. Jaemin . Looking away quickly, Jeno shook Chenle’s shoulder to get his attention. “Yah, yah, we should sit somewhere else.”
Keeping his gaze on the blond boy across the great hall, Chenle waved him off nonchalantly. “Why? I like this spot. You can go sit somewhere else if you want though.”
Jeno gave him an irritated huff, dropping his voice so only the short blond boy could hear. “Jaemin is sitting right there, and I do not want to look at his face this early, let alone the whole time I eat breakfast.” Jeno didn't particularly like Jaemin, but as much as he didn't want to look at the latter, he had to admit that Jaemin was good-looking.
Chenle finally looked up at Jeno, his eyes flicking to the ‘annoying Slytherin’ then up at his face. “You’ll either sit beside me, or you will end up sitting with your brother while he gives Eunwoo goo-goo eyes at the Ravenclaw table, ignoring you. I suggest you choose wisely.”
Jeno glared at the boy, rolling his tongue across his cheek. Moonbin - his brother - looking at his boyfriend with heart eyes most of the time, or Chenle, giving his crush heart eyes while the latter remains oblivious? Sighing in defeat, Jeno walked around Chenle and sat as far away as possible from Jaemin.
●★●
Jaemin noticed this, of course. The same Hufflepuff boy that had been avoiding him for years on end now saw him in the great hall and tried to avoid him. Again. Jaemin was getting sick of being avoided like the plague for so long. It had started to make him feel unwanted, in addition to the Slytherin burden. Over the years, the discrimination between houses had gotten better, and there were more and more diverse friend groups popping up, overall making the school more accepting. He still felt as though Slytherin’s got the most shit out of the four houses, and Jaemin absolutely hated it when people talked shit about his house. So he came up with a plan; he was going to confront Jeno later on that day about his grudge.