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The orb of light dropped a little and raised again, its centre flickering. The harder Taehyung tensed his fingers the less its edges wavered. He had succeeded in holding it up for several minutes, a new personal best, but he could feel the strain now. His head hurt from how long he’d been furrowing his eyebrows and staring at the ball of light.
“Ugh,” he sighed, letting it vanish into the palm of his hand. He slumped back from his position knelt by the fire and sat on his heels.
“You’re getting there!” Jimin’s voice sounded from the fireplace.
“Yeah, that’s heaps better than last time,” Namjoon encouraged, his face popping into the embers beside Jimin’s.
“Slow but steady progress,” Taehyung smiled.
“Can’t wait for you to put those bloody kids in their place!” Jimin yelled passionately. Taehyung could hear Namjoon quietly telling him to calm down, they might wake up his parents in the next room.
Taehyung sat cross-legged and propped his hands under his chin, elbows on his knees. He missed his friends. Despite the constant stream of customers he’d had thanks to the hordes of tourists who visited Hogsmeade every summer, the tea shop downstairs had felt empty without them and the other regular Hogwarts teachers coming in, and the students bustling around in the shop every weekend. He couldn’t wait for the school year to start.
“How are things over there?” he asked. “Namjoon’s mum still feeding you six times a day?”
“Yes and it’s glorious-” Namjoon started, before Jimin cut him off with a whine.
“It’s so bad, Tae, I can feel this becoming my new normal eating pattern, I’m not gonna fit into my robes at this point-”
“Not complaining though, are you?”
“No, Joon, and that’s the problem, it’s all so good - that blueberry pie? Merlin’s beard -”
Taehyung giggled as the couple carried on. They’d gone, as they did every year, to visit Namjoon’s parents in Ireland for the last two weeks of the summer holidays and, as per usual, Namjoon’s mother had been trying to fatten them up before they went back to work.
Taehyung knew how Jimin felt - one Christmas, when they were all still at school, Taehyung hadn’t been able to go home for the holidays and none of his friends had been able to host him. Namjoon - who at that point Taehyung only knew as the kind sixth year who had been tutoring him twice a week, before he became his best friend’s boyfriend - offered to let him come home with him so he wouldn’t be lonely. Namjoon had five younger siblings, some of them also at Hogwarts and some of them not yet old enough to go, so Taehyung had had a blast playing muggle and wizarding games with the children. And, of course, Namjoon’s mum had fed him so well, he’d felt nearly starved when they got back to school in January and only ate three times a day.
“So, Tae,” Namjoon suddenly said, “the reunion’s next week, you’re coming, right?”
“Oh, please, Taehyung-ah! You have to come!” Jimin added.
“Yeah, I may as well,” Taehyung said. “You’re all just going to end up at the one of the pubs down here anyway. And you two, you’re going to be able to just hang out and mingle with me, right? No special professor duties or staff meetings or anything?”
“Nah, we’ll be free. All the teachers will be there, anyway, either for the free booze or to catch up with ex-students,” Jimin said.
“As if you’re worried about having people to hang out with, Tae,” Namjoon laughed. “You had everyone wrapped around your finger in high school. You were the social butterfly of your year.”
Taehyung laughed, too. “Yeah, yeah, well, I don’t know. I’m excited to see everyone but, you know, a lot of things might be different. People have probably changed a lot since graduation.”
“I think,” Namjoon mused quietly, “that as much as things might have changed, you’ll be surprised at just how much has stayed the same.”
“Well said, Joonie-pie,” Jimin said sweetly.
“Was that how it felt at your ten-year reunion?” Taehyung asked.
“Mostly,” Namjoon answered.
“Okay, but life changes everyone, doesn’t it?” Taehyung questioned. “Leaving school and getting a real job and moving out of home… I mean, I’ve changed, haven’t I?”
Namjoon just hummed, smile looking kind even through the minor distortion of the flames. “You never know, Taehyung, someone may just surprise you.”
…
“Soobin-ah! More tea and cakes for table six, please, and don’t forget to prepare more finger sandwiches! We’re going to need many more than usual for this afternoon,” Taehyung instructed his chef.
Madam Puddifoot’s was packed that afternoon. After the lull of the previous week - the awkward quiet time between the tourists going home and the Hogwarts staff and students coming back - Taehyung was happy to be thrown back into the chaos of a crowded shop.
A few days before the start of the new school year, the professors liked to catch up in Madam Puddifoot’s and, later, in either the Hog’s Head or the Three Broomsticks. Taehyung knew that their choice of pub to spend the night drinking in would set the tone for the next few months: the owners, Min Yoongi and Kim Seokjin, were always trying to outdo each other in their competition for business. Even Taehyung had to be careful that he split his time equally between the two pubs despite being close friends with both owners, never wanting either of them to think he favoured one of their pubs (or one of them) over the other.
As it grew later in the day, the first lot of teachers began to wander in and occupy a table by the window. Taehyung greeted the group and started to pour them tea. Despite being friendly with his professors both at school and now, he didn’t like to socialise with them much. This was mostly because they’d spend most of the time sharing gossip about people Taehyung had never heard of or about things Taehyung had no context for or didn’t care about.
It was also partly because he’d found that, if he got too comfortable amongst them, his seventh year teachers had a habit of asking well-meaning but irritating questions about why he was wasting his time running the teashop when he could be using his “full potential” doing something more academically stimulating, or when he could be pursuing a career on the back of the success of his published journal articles. At the time, his high NEWT scores had felt like a nice reward for all his hard work at school, but in situations like this, they just felt like a burden. He preferred to keep academic work as a hobby, something he could enjoy on the side of running the shop.
So, instead, until Jimin and Namjoon arrived, he would normally hover and serve the teachers and only engage when they spoke to him first - telling him it was good to see him, asking how his break had been, asking politely for more of something for the table.
This year, however, the teachers’ gossip intrigued him. It revolved around rumours of the new Flying instructor and Quidditch coach. Madam Hooch had left a few years earlier and Hogwarts had employed a string of casual replacements, none of them sticking around long enough to become permanent. It sounded like this time, though, they’d found a very exciting permanent replacement. Taehyung contented himself with eavesdropping as he brought over sandwiches and soup, reminding himself to ask Jimin and Namjoon more about it later.
“I heard he’s very good with kids,” Imelda Everglass was saying when Taehyung neared the table. “He’s helped out at some of those Quidditch holiday camps over the years…”
Taehyung went to the kitchen to get another plate of cat’s tongues.
“He had so much potential,” opined Livinia Baumbeech loudly. “If only he’d continued with Defence rather than spending all his time on the Quidditch pitch, maybe he’d have some better career prospects now…”
Taehyung stopped by the cutlery station to grab a handful of napkins, interest piqued. At the information that this new hire was a former Hogwarts student, Taehyung could almost imagine his ears had pricked up like a dog’s when they hear a familiar whistle.
“Pity he can never play again,” Maurice Le Toux pitched in. “He was their biggest asset…”
At this, Taehyung paused on his way to the table, distracted by this new tidbit, his eyes wide. He blinked a few times and schooled his face into a professionally blank expression so as to not let on to the teachers that he’d been eavesdropping. He focussed back on the plate in his hand and continued to the table, concentrating only on stepping each foot in front of the other and keeping his hand steady, nothing else.
As he set down the plate in front of Maurice, he felt a body barrel into him from behind. It was Jimin, crushing him in a back hug, and Taehyung could hear the door banging open against the wall from where Jimin had presumably flung it open.
“Taehyung!” he yelled in Taehyung’s ear.
“Hey, Jiminie,” Taehyung laughed. He turned as much as he could with Jimin latched onto him and smiled at Namjoon. “Hi, Namjoon-hyung. Take a seat, I’ll bring you some tea.”
They settled into the free seats and immediately started snacking on the teacakes on the table. They were asked about their holiday for a while, and asked others about theirs, but the conversation inevitably returned to the gossip of the new teacher.
Under the guise of placing more teacups and saucers on the table and pouring fresh rounds of tea, Taehyung leaned down between Jimin and Namjoon’s heads, close to their ears. “Do you know if it’s…?”
“No idea, Taehyungie, Bang never tells us about new staff members until our first night back at the castle,” Jimin whispers back.
“Yeah, we only find out a few days before the kids are introduced to them at the feast,” Namjoon adds.
Taehyung nodded. “Okay.” He straightened up and quickly made his way back through the tables to the kitchen to check on Soobin.
His waiters Yeonjun and Beomgyu were in the kitchen with him when Taehyung peeked through the door. They were helping Soobin put together the finger sandwiches layer by layer: Yeonjun waved neat leaves of lettuce onto the rectangles of bread lined up on the counter, then Beomgyu followed, sending slices of chicken flying on top of each lettuce leaf, and Soobin directed seeded slices of bread through the air and onto the chicken to complete the sandwich. Taehyung watched them make quick work of arranging the sandwiches on trays with a stack of napkins on each one, everything moving so quickly that the kitchen was a blur.
Seeing that his staff were handling things well, Taehyung went back to the front, the waiters following soon after to continue waiting on tables. He was glad he’d hired competent employees but he felt dejected when he watched them use their wandless magic so effortlessly. He thought of the ball of light he’d conjured the other day, and remembered how happy he’d felt at the little progress he’d made. He held on to that feeling, putting his other feelings of hopelessness and of curiosity about the new Quidditch and Flying professor to the back of his mind as he got back to work.
They ended up spending the night at The Hog’s Head. Headmaster Bang, although he hadn’t come, had set up a tab with Yoongi earlier in the day, and the drinks flowed freely all night. Yoongi was in good spirits after a highly profitable summer - a particularly good one this year as he’d been able to capitalise on the two weeks that Seokjin had been away visiting his family in France, leaving The Three Broomsticks in the less capable hands of his employees.
Taehyung sat at the bar chatting with Yoongi as the professors steadily grew drunker and drunker. Jimin was clinging onto Livinia, body folding in half as he laughed at her teasing Namjoon about the time he lost his herd of wild, non-magical hedgehogs in the greenhouse of magical plants. Maurice had collapsed into a booth after a strained attempt at opera, and Imelda was fanning him aggressively by spurting gusts of wind from the tip of her wand. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, who Taehyung had not met yet, was whispering frantically to two of the groundsmen, who kept nudging each other and were trying not to laugh.
Taehyung and Yoongi watched the chaos with smiles, both so happy that the school year was about to start. It meant that things would settle into a comfortable routine for them soon, now that all their regulars were back and the weeks had defined starts, middles and ends, unlike in the summer.
Yoongi poured another glassful of butterbeer for Taehyung and poured himself a cup of iris and honey tea.
“Have you been adding mistleswith to that like I told you?” Taehyung asked, nodding to the tea.
Yoongi sighed. “No,” he grumbled.
“Oh, hyung!” Taehyung whined. “Why not? It’ll boost your immune system tenfold for at least a month!”
“I know, you little know-it-all, but it ruins the taste.”
Taehyung frowned at him. “But, hyung…”
Yoongi sighed again and crossed his arms on the counter. “How about, if I promise to proofread your next article without complaining about it, you stop pestering me about the mistleswith for a month?”
Taehyung instantly lost his frown and smiled. It was a win for him - Yoongi always complained about reading his work, not because he actually minded doing it but because Taehyung really liked to write long, often convoluted sentences and they drove Yoongi crazy. Besides, a month wasn’t really that long. “Okay, deal!”
“How’d the last one go, anyway? When’s it being published?”
“This month’s issue, actually,” Taehyung replied. He was excited. It was his third research article to be published in the international journal The Toil and The Trouble: Wizarding Innovations and Ideas, and he was particularly proud of this one. He’d studied the properties of magical tea leaves and investigated the implications of their rare genetic make-up for other areas of Herbology. It had bloomed from an idea he’d had while sorting the shop’s stock of tea one morning and developed into a passion project, and he could barely believe it was being published.
“Well, that’s certainly something worth boasting about tomorrow night,” Yoongi said, grinning and clapping Taehyung on the shoulder. “You are going to the reunion, right?”
“Yeah, I’m going to go,” Taehyung replied. “Did most people go from your year?”
“More than I’d expected, yeah,” Yoongi said, sipping his tea.
Taehyung hummed. He loudly slurped his butterbeer and Yoongi made a face at him. Taehyung grinned back innocently and Yoongi rolled his eyes.
“Anyone you’re keen on seeing? Anyone you’re curious about?”
“Umm,” Taehyung thought for a moment, “it’d be interesting to find out what So Moonyoung ended up doing. Remember her? She was always pretty out there.”
“Yeah, Merlin, do I remember,” Yoongi laughed. “She was in Music with me and always tried to get us to cover songs from Wicked , you know, that muggle musical?”
Taehyung laughed, remembering how Moonyoung had charmed herself green and then hadn’t been able to reverse it for three weeks.
“I hope she’s doing something amazing,” he said, wiping his eyes, “she was always so passionate.”
“That’s one word to describe her,” Yoongi muttered, not unkindly.
Someone had started up the piano in the corner and was making it play old classics from the seventies. Professor Prokofiev didn’t like this, and tried to play on it himself, but the enchanted keys continued to play tunes by Devil’s Bride and The Wicked Sisters, resulting in a jarring clash of keys and chords. Virgil Phémèreau, the International Wizard Relations professor, waddled up to the bar and ordered absinthe with three sugar cubes and complained about the noise.
“But, um,” Yoongi started, picking up their conversation again as the professor hobbled away, “come on, Tae, aren’t you just a little curious to see Jeongguk again?”
Taehyung gave Yoongi a pouty glare and sighed. “I don’t know. I really… I don’t know.”
“It’s not like you guys had a big falling out or anything,” Yoongi continues gently. “I know break-ups are sad and you were hurting-”
“No, I know, hyung,” Taehyung interrupted. “We left things on really good terms - we even kept in contact for a couple of years after we split up. But with the distance and his profile and the demands on him… and me just in the shop, it was hard.” He drained his butterbeer, Yoongi watching him closely. “Look, it’s been eight years since his last letter and I don’t know if there’s any point in catching up at the reunion, if he even comes.”
“You’re gonna be mopey either way, though, aren’t you?” Yoongi teased.
“Whatever,” Taehyung laughed. “It’s just Jeongguk. It’ll be… whatever, doesn’t matter either way.” He twisted his glass on the counter, biting his lip. Then, he perked up, a cheeky grin in place as he teased back, “Anyway, you must be happy the holidays are over, hyung. Everyone back in town, no one still away on holiday across the Channel-”
“Heeyyyy!”
Their heads whipped around at the sudden shout-like singing and saw a ridiculously drunk Namjoon trying to get an equally inebriated Jimin down from the table he was standing on as he tried to serenade the pub.
Taehyung jumped down from the barstool and Yoongi hurled himself over it and they pushed their way through the crowd to help Namjoon get Jimin down, conversation abandoned.
…
The castle was alight with floating, golden lanterns and hovering clusters of thin white candles. The Great Hall was decked out for celebration: the house flags were hanging, one of the long dining tables had been placed in the centre and was overloaded with food, and the drinks stations were heavily stocked.
Taehyung was among the first few to arrive. He went with Namjoon and Jimin, dressed in his best robes. They were a deep purple, glistening fabric with small stars and moons stitched onto it. All the detailing was charmed to reflect the lights around him so, when Taehyung went to lit-up events like this, it looked like he was wearing the night sky cloaked around him. The robes were lined with a dark blue-green material detailed with swirls and other astronomical symbols, which Taehyung sometimes liked to wear on the outside, treating the robes as reversible. He paired his robes with a plain lilac collared shirt tucked into slim-fit black trousers and finished off his look with slides he’d made himself based on a pair he’d heard were popular in the muggle world.
“Fuck yeah, Tae,” Jimin had said with a wolf whistle when Taehyung emerged from the tunnel connected to the Honeyduke’s cellar and into the Room of Requirement, where Namjoon and Jimin were waiting for him.
“If you’re dressing for Jeongguk, or because you might see him,” Namjoon had said, “I couldn’t think of a better outfit.”
Taehyung had grinned and swirled his robes around himself, admiring how the stars and moons were already catching the light. Jimin and Namjoon were dressed up, too, Namjoon in pale blue robes and Jimin in navy blue, both with silver detailing. Jimin had charmed strands of his hair silver to match, and they shone in the candlelight, while Namjoon had adorned the hems of his robes with little green blossoms that Taehyung knew would bloom into delicate flowers over the course of the night.
They were a great couple and they looked the part as they stood together in their matching robes, chatting with Jimin’s former classmates. Taehyung admired them as he waited for the bartender to concoct his cocktail. He was happy for them, sometimes envied the longevity of their relationship, and the care they displayed for one another. He was proud to have been the matchmaker, the one to introduce them when they’d returned to school after that Christmas Taehyung had spent at Namjoon’s.
Drink made and in hand, Taehyung thanked the bartender and was just taking a sip - warm plum juice mixed with eucalyptus extract and melvirose syrup - when a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
“Kim Taehyung?”
He spun around and nearly spilt his drink in excitement. “Park Seojoon! It’s so good to see you,” he cried, throwing his arms around the man’s shoulders and hugging him tightly. “I’ve missed you!”
“You, too, Tae,” Seojoon beamed. “Come on, join us.”
He stood aside and Taehyung could see that Choi Wooshik, Park Hyungsik and Kwon Seonghwan were standing in a huddle not too far away. Taehyung hadn’t seen them since their first year out of school, when they’d managed to catch up a few times before life got in the way. They’d all been in Ravenclaw together and, after sharing a dorm for six years, they had been some of Taehyung’s closest friends at school. Taehyung smiled at them as he walked over, regretting that he hadn’t spent as much time as he could have with them in their final year because he had spent all his time with Jeongguk.
“Taetae!” Hyungsik crowed, tackling Taehyung in a hug and causing a little of their drinks to go sloshing over the rim of the glasses. “How are you, man?”
“Yeah, long time no see,” Wooshik joined in, slapping Taehyung on the back. “How’ve you been?”
“Hi, hi,” Taehyung giggled, overwhelmed at seeing them. He greeted and hugged all of them and then stood back, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. “I’m good, not much happening. Merlin, it’s good to see you guys!”
They talked about how their jobs were going - Taehyung’s shop and his research, Seojoon's career as a junior auror, Hyungsik and Seonghwan’s work at a big London music company, Wooshik’s theatre troupe - and caught up on each other’s personal lives. Since Seojoon, Hyungsik and Seonghwan all worked and lived in London now, they saw a lot more of each other, and Taehyung could see that they’d grown closer. Maybe he was stuck here, Taehyung thought; maybe he had limited his options and embarked upon a dead-end career.
Before he got too lost in his thoughts, Wooshik spoke quietly from beside him as the other three laughed about something that had happened at a party they’d been at in London over the weekend.
“So, Tae, have you spoken to Jeongguk recently?” he asked. “Or, you know, since the accident?”
Taehyung shook his head and lowered his voice. “No, we kind of lost touch after a while. Tried to keep in contact for a few months after graduation but with him travelling all the time, sometimes it’d be months before my letters got to him, and it just sort of…”
“Petered out?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung nodded, taking a sip of his plum drink, “started to seem like there wasn’t any point. We weren’t going to get back together or anything, so.”
Wooshik nodded sagely. “That’s hard.” He looked around for a moment, then whispered. “Is he here? Do you know if he’s coming?”
“I don’t know, actually,” Taehyung responded. He hadn’t been keeping an eye out for him, and hadn’t heard anything from Jimin or Namjoon, so he’d forgotten momentarily that Jeongguk might actually come.
“Tae, Woo, you gotta hear this!” Hyungsik interrupted.
As Seojoon began regaling the group with an anecdote, Taehyung cast his eyes around the Great Hall. All he’d seen of Jeongguk in the past few years were media shots and little excerpts of game play in the Quidditch section of the newspapers. He didn’t even know if his hair was still black, or how he’d be dressed, or -
Seonghwan made a joke then, and the rest of them began to laugh, but Taehyung didn’t hear it.
Because there he was.
Jeon Jeongguk was talking to Jimin and Park Daeyoung over by the floral arrangement on the banquet table.
He looked… Taehyung couldn’t even think how to describe him beyond the litany of “wow” running through his head. The pictures Taehyung had seen of Jeongguk in the papers over the course of the past decade hadn’t done him justice. Jeongguk was as beautiful as he’d always been, perhaps even more so now, with his smooth skin, his sharp jaw and the confident way he held himself as he spoke to Jimin and Daeyoung. He looked much the same, although more mature now, his laughter lines starting to show and his cheeks a little less full. Taehyung felt a sudden urge to squish them to see if the skin would still feel the same between his fingers.
Jeongguk had never been the showy type at school, always dressed well but conservatively, and always favouring comfort over style. That didn’t seem to have changed, and although he’d probably become accustomed to more fashionable, pricey outfits, tonight he had a modest, refined glamour about him. His robes looked expensive but they weren’t extravagant; they were quite simple and elegant. They were a dark, metal-grey colour, so unlike the rich crimson of his Catapults uniform, and they bore only minor embellishments. He wore a simple fitted turtleneck underneath them and plain black trousers, nothing fancy at all.
Taehyung thought he looked like a star regardless, with his neat hair shining under the lights of the candles and his small stud earrings sparkling as he moved his head. He could feel his heart beating, thumping, in his chest as he watched Jeongguk’s eyes crinkle at something Daeyoung said, and saw how he threw his head back just slightly as he laughed open-mouthed at whatever Jimin was saying. He stood with open body language, looking comfortable and at ease and happy and it just made Taehyung’s heart ache .
“Tae?” Hyungsik brought his attention back to the group before him.
“Yeah? Oh! Sorry, just-”
“A bit distracted?” Seojoon asked with a knowing look. “Go on, for Merlin’s sake, go talk to him!”
“We’ll be in town for the rest of the week,” Wooshik added, “so we’ll come to the tea shop to catch up some more, okay?” He gave Taehyung a kind smile.
“Sounds good,” Taehyung said, a little nervous. “Come in whenever you like. Everything will be on the house.”
“You’re too kind, Taetae,” Seojoon said with a fond smile. “Now, go!” He placed an encouraging hand on Taehyung’s back, urging him over to the banquet table.
Taehyung nodded to himself as Seojoon nudged him away, trying to muster up some courage. Why was he even nervous? They’d broken up amicably after graduation - it wasn’t like they hadn’t seen it coming. And they’d tried to stay in contact a little, and that had fizzled as Jeongguk had been swept up in a storm of training sessions, press conferences, matches, promotional events - all the stuff that comes with being a Quidditch player - and it had been natural. Just a gradual fading away.
He just hadn’t expected Jeongguk to be here. Despite all the gossip of the new professor and talking about it with Yoongi, he hadn’t contemplated how it would actually be to bump into Jeongguk again.
He made his way over to the trio slowly, clutching his plum cocktail tightly. Jimin caught sight of him first and smiled at him, causing Daeyoung and Jeongguk to turn and follow Jimin’s gaze.
Taehyung plastered a smile on his face as he approached, hoping the way his heart was pounding in his chest didn’t show in his expression.
“Hi,” he said as he stood beside Jimin, who pulled him in with an arm around his back.
“Hey, Taehyung, nice to see you!” Daeyoung said.
“You, too, have you been well?” He could hear how stilted his voice was. He didn’t dare look at Jeongguk as he spoke, fearing his voice would break with nerves.
“Yeah, thanks, and you? I hear Madam Puddifoot’s is doing well.”
“It is, thanks,” he said. He smiled at Daeyoung and finally flicked his eyes over to Jeongguk. “Hi.”
“Hi, Taehyung,” Jeongguk said, voice sweeter and smoother than Taehyung remembered. Jimin rubbed his fingers against Taehyung’s back. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you,” Taehyung said, smiling a little wider, a little more genuinely. “So do you. Very smart.”
Jeongguk laughed. “Thanks.”
“Daeyoung-ssi,” Jimin cut in abruptly. “Didn’t you say you wanted to chat to Jieun? I’m sure you did, let’s go find her. See you later!”
With a cunning smile and a ridiculous wink, Jimin whisked Daeyoung away and left Taehyung alone with Jeongguk.
“I swear he wasn’t this subtle in high school,” Jeongguk said drily, and any nerves and tension Taehyung had felt evaporated.
He laughed, making Jeongguk smile. “He’s really mastered the art now,” he joked. “Or at least, he’s definitely improved since he tried to set Jung Hoseok and Kim Areum up.”
Jeongguk snorted. “Oh, Merlin, I completely forgot about that. What a time.”
“Remember how he conjured those vines in Herbology?” Taehyung giggled.
“Oh, fuck, yeah, I remember now,” Jeongguk’s eyes widened. “To try to tie their hands together, right?”
“Yeah! And the vines grew too much and started flailing around like tentacles!” Taehyung threw his head back as he laughed. “I still can’t believe he did that, the idiot.”
Jeongguk’s laughter died down a little as he watched Taehyung laugh. “Glad he did, though,” he said gently, tentatively.
Taehyung responded with a kind smile. He could feel his eyes crinkling and hoped he didn’t look too wistful, too nostalgic. “Yeah, me, too.”
Jimin’s match-making efforts may not have been successful on Hoseok and Areum, but his stunt in the greenhouse had produced the unexpected result of Taehyung and Jeongguk getting together. Taehyung had always wondered whether they would have started dating if it hadn’t been for that incident. They’d been in such different circles. Taehyung had spent his time studying with Jimin, getting help from Namjoon (and trying to convince him to go out with Jimin) or hanging out with his roommates, and Jeongguk had always been training for Quidditch matches or sneaking into the kitchens for more food or getting up to mischief with his friends in older years. Even when Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw shared classes together, they hadn’t interacted much.
So when Professor Sprout had sent Jimin to Professor Flitwick’s office for determination of his punishment, quickly freed poor Hoseok and Areum from the vines rapidly tightening around their wrists, and dismissed the class, Taehyung had been surprised when Jeongguk had stayed back with him to help tidy up. As Professor Sprout flitted around trying to salvage the pots and plants she could, Taehyung and Jeongguk had smiled and begun their first proper conversation with each other over fragments of terracotta, broken roots and detached flower buds.
Taehyung had found Jeongguk sweet and funny in a dorky way as they carefully cleared away the debris that the vines had created. They’d talked about Quidditch and the upcoming OWLs, about Taehyung’s family and his interest in the Romantics and Impressionists, about Jeongguk’s backup plan should he not make the national Quidditch team and how he was trying to learn how to cook from one of the Hufflepuff seniors.
By the end of the afternoon, after Professor Sprout had awarded Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw ten points each and they’d meandered back to the castle, basking in the afternoon sun and the ease of each other’s company, they’d agreed to a date in Madam Puddifoot’s on the next Hogsmeade weekend.
“What are you drinking?” Taehyung asked after a few moments of comfortable silence, in which he was sure Jeongguk was also thinking about their first meeting. Or maybe their first date in the teashop, all bumbling pleasantries and awkward smiles at first, then easy conversation and cheeks rosy with laughter and sweetly holding hands on the walk back. Maybe even the first few days when everything was so new and every shared class was exciting, always catching each other’s eyes across the room and blushing like fools.
Jeongguk, who’d been staring at Taehyung as if in a daze, snapped his head down to his almost empty glass. “Oh, um. Gooseberries and lilac essence, I think… and something else but, you know, recipes never were my strong point.” He gave a self-deprecating smirk, his eyes amused.
“I do know,” Taehyung giggled. “My charred pendant is a constant reminder.”
Jeongguk lowered his head as he laughed, looking into his glass again and swirling the contents around. Taehyung could see the apples of his cheeks rise, could tell he was smiling, as he probably thought about that seventh-year Potions class when he’d set the cauldron alight and Taehyung’s pendant had been scorched because he’d been standing too close.
“You’ve still got that pendant?” Jeongguk asked with raised eyebrows, expression open, not guarded like Taehyung had expected.
“Yeah,” Taehyung sighed. “Although the silver looks more like bronze now, despite how much I tried to clean it.”
Jeongguk laughed softly. “Jeez, I’m so sorry.”
“Nah,” Taehyung reassured, laughing too, “it looks better this way. More… unique, you know. It’s a Jeon Jeongguk original.”
Jeongguk regarded him for a moment. “Do you still wear it?”
Taehyung smiled, small but warm. “Yeah, sometimes.”
Jeongguk nodded with a small smile of his own. He looked around the room again and fiddled with the handle of his glass. “Remember when I gave it to you?” he asked without looking at Taehyung.
Taehyung tore his eyes from Jeongguk and looked around the hall, too; he didn’t feel he could look at Jeongguk as they talked about this. He’d given him the pendant for his birthday in seventh year but it still felt too raw, too much to talk about, even after ten years.
As Taehyung watched his old classmates laughing and drinking and eating, he felt a pang of nostalgia for how simple their lives had been at school, when they didn’t even know it or think to appreciate it.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I thought you were pranking me and it was going to burst open or give me boils or something.”
“So disrespectful,” Jeongguk joked. “As if I would do such a thing.”
“To be fair,” Taehyung said, voice rising as he teased, “you did spend a lot of time with Jimin around the time you gave it to me, and we both know how often he pranked people, and how often it was a disaster.”
“Look, you’re not wrong,” Jeongguk started, with a familiar tone Taehyung knew to be the one he employed when he thought Taehyung was, in fact, wrong and was about to tell him why. “But I only hung out with him at first because he was your friend, and then, before I gave you the pendant, I just wanted his advice. Wanted to get you something you’d like, that you’d be happy to wear.”
Well, that… wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Jeongguk’s voice had grown soft, fond almost, and sincere where Taehyung had been expecting more of a teasing match.
“You asked Jimin for advice? About a gift for me?”
Jeongguk nodded. “And other things,” he murmured. “Just… didn’t want to get it wrong. With you.”
Oh.
“That was really sweet of you,” Taehyung said, voice barely above a whisper.
Jeongguk shrugged.
“Anyway, I’m glad you came,” Taehyung continued when Jeongguk didn’t offer anything more.
“Me, too,” Jeongguk said, smiling genuinely and so prettily Taehyung’s heart performed a little leap in his chest.
“Quite surprised, actually,” Taehyung barrelled on. “I thought you’d hate something like this. Especially after… you know.”
Jeongguk cocked an eyebrow, a half-hearted smirk on his lips. He looked a little sad, possibly, Taehyung thought, or maybe just resigned. “Especially after shattering my leg, not being able to play anymore, and it being broadcast on every major international news site?”
Taehyung winced. He mentioned the accident so casually that Taehyung was stumped for a moment. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d put it so delicately, Jeongguk,” he tried to joke.
Jeongguk smiled ruefully. “No point in putting it delicately,” he said and took a swig of his drink. “It happened, it was fucking terrible, and I’m getting on with things.”
He took another long drink and looked around the room. Taehyung could see the way people glanced at him, trying to be subtle about it but letting their eyes linger when they thought Jeongguk wouldn’t see. He looked at Jeongguk, taking in his profile and seeing the way his face hardened, just a little, as he met others’ gazes.
Before Taehyung could think of what to say, Jeongguk spoke again. “I, um, actually wasn’t that set on coming ‘cause I thought that all anyone would do was tiptoe around the topic of my accident and ask about what I’m going to do now that my playing career is over, but…” he bit his lip, his voice a little less harsh and his eyes a little gentler as he turned them back onto Taehyung, “I assumed you’d come. And when I got the job here, I thought… it’s kind of perfect.”
Taehyung smiled and let what Jeongguk meant go unsaid. Really, for all his fretting, he’d wanted to see Jeongguk again. Pretty badly, truth be told. And he had hoped, secretly, that Jeongguk would come because he wanted to see him, too.
But then… what had he said?
Taehyung’s smile dropped from his face as Jeongguk’s words sunk in. He thought back to all the gossip he’d overheard at the shop. It couldn’t be true, could it?
“Wait, a job? What job?” he blurted.
“Oh, you…?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “I mean, yeah. You didn’t hear?” At Taehyung’s silence, he continued. He looked a little sheepish. “I suppose I should’ve written but, um, I’m going to be working here. Moved in this morning.”
“Here ? Hogwarts?”
“Yeah,” Jeongguk said earnestly, eyes searching Taehyung’s nervously. “I assumed you knew. Not much else a retired Quidditch player with no other qualifications can do except coach.”
He smiled but it did little to calm Taehyung’s stomach. Of course he’d entertained the idea that the new Quidditch coach and Flying professor could’ve been Jeongguk. He’d wondered what it would be like, being just down the hill from him every day, if they’d be able to reconnect - but he’d thought he was just allowing himself to daydream, just fantasising about something impossible and ridiculous. He’d dismissed the idea, putting it down to just him indulging in his nostalgia for how their relationship had been - sneaking around the dimly lit hallways of the castle and rolling around in the snow of the courtyard and pretending, on all those little dates in Hogsmeade, that they could stay that way forever.
He wasn’t sure how much of his feelings showed on his face but Jeongguk looked a little nervous, maybe concerned for how Taehyung would react. Taehyung realised he didn't want to tiptoe around each other; they’d been apart too long for that.
“That’s great,” Taehyung breathed, and it looked like Jeongguk exhaled a breath of relief with him. “That’s… that’ll be so good for you. And for the school.”
Jeongguk looked so happy at that and it broke Taehyung’s heart just a bit, just a little crack.
“Thank you,” Jeongguk said, smile widening. “I think it will be. And hey, we can see more of each other. I can come visit you in the shop - i-if that would be okay with you, of course.”
“Absolutely,” Taehyung nodded. It would be fine, maybe even nice, to see Jeongguk more. It didn’t have to be a big deal, and Taehyung would try not to make it one.
He willed his heart to slow down.
“Daeyoung mentioned it’s going well?” Jeongguk asked. His eyes were wide and expectant; he looked like he genuinely wanted to know how the shop was going.
Taehyung smiled, grateful for the shift in conversation. “Yep, business is good! Just had a very successful summer season, lots of tourists giving me their money.” That made Jeongguk laugh, eyes crinkling at the corners. “And I have some guys who were a few years below us working for me, which is nice. Can’t complain at all, really!”
Jeongguk’s smile grew as Taehyung spoke and now it was… proud? He looked at Taehyung like he just said he’d won an International Wizarding Prize or something. “That’s fantastic, Tae,” he said warmly. “It’s what you always wanted. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks,” Taehyung blushed, pleased that Jeongguk remembered his dream of running his own teashop one day, ever since Madam Puddifoot’s became their favourite date spot. Jeongguk seemed so proud and genuinely happy for him that he didn’t feel the need to bring up his research; he didn’t feel one bit like Jeongguk thought less of him for running a shop when most people at school had assumed he’d become an auror or Minister. “I hope it’s as good as you remember,” he said, “if- when you come to visit.”
“I’m sure it will. And actually, my parents will be visiting in a few weeks, so I’m sure they’d love to see it, too. And you, of course.”
Taehyung felt warm all over, like he was sinking into the calm waters of a rockpool, warmed by the sun.
“Another drink?” Taehyung asked later, after they’d shared the gossip they’d heard about their former classmates and people-watched for a while. (To Taehyung’s delight, Moonyoung was indeed working in magical theatre, and she’d invited them both to the opening of a production she was managing in London in spring. He couldn’t wait to tell Yoongi.)
Jeongguk’s face lit up. “Yeah, I want to try one of whatever you were drinking.”
Standing side by side at the bar, waiting for their drinks to be made, Taehyung allowed their shoulders to brush. As he watched the bartender pour ingredients into a tumbler and shake it over his shoulder, he imagined inching his fingers over on the counter, just enough to bridge the tiny gap between their hands. He’d let the pads of his fingertips brush over Jeongguk’s knuckles, touch his skin, trace the tattoos on the back of his hand. He wondered how Jeongguk would react to that.
But Jeongguk’s hands flew from the counter then and took their drinks, passing one to Taehyung. “Here you go,” he said, breaking Taehyung’s reverie.
“Thanks,” he said, taking a sip gratefully and humming at the delicious taste. “How are your parents, by the way?” He’d always been fond of Jeongguk’s parents, his mother in particular, who always told the most outrageous jokes and called Taehyung during the school term just to catch up with him, as if he were an old friend of hers and not the boy dating her son. “Are they still working?”
“Nah, Dad retired soon after we graduated,” Jeongguk replied. “And Mum went part-time for a while, but when I had my accident she quit and helped look after me.”
“Oh,” he said intelligently, blinking rapidly, once again unsure of what to say, what he could possibly say, about what happened to Jeongguk.
Jeongguk, however, just shot him a gentle smile. “We can talk about it, Tae. It’s not like someone died.”
Taehyung stammered, flustered. “N-no, no, I know, I just… I don’t really know what to say.”
“That’s okay,” Jeongguk said simply.
“Yes, but I-” Taehyung stared into Jeongguk’s eyes, those kind, pretty eyes, and searched for words to say. “I just feel terrible - for you, of course, but also because I- I didn’t reach out. I didn’t write and ask how you were-”
“We hadn’t spoken for years, Taehyung, it’s alright,” Jeongguk laughed lightly. “And, as you can tell, I’m doing fine. I can still walk, I’ve got this job now, and I had nine pretty great seasons, you know? I’m fine.”
Taehyung bit his lip. “There was really nothing any healers could do?”
“Nah,” Jeongguk shook his head, “the damage went beyond just shattered bone, so brackium emendo wouldn’t have done much. There’s all this,” he thrust a hand towards his knee, gesturing carelessly, “nerve damage and other issues they said would be too risky to use magic on. It’s all a bit too finicky and there’s still no guarantee it would be as good as new, or allow me to play, so. I just have to manage it. Lots of exercises and ferula for the pain and a sleeping draught when I really need it.”
“That’s shit,” Taehyung said bluntly, making Jeongguk laugh in agreement.
“Yeah, it is, a bit. But,” he shrugged, “I’m fine.”
Taehyung was glad to know that with Jeongguk nearby, he’d be able to make sure he was telling the truth.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully. With the knowledge that Jeongguk would be staying, at least for the coming school year, Taehyung decided to spend more time chatting with old classmates. He returned to Seojoon, Hyungsik, Wooshik and Seonghwan, leaving Jeongguk to catch up with his Hufflepuff friends. He caught Jimin and Namjoon bickering (they were so married, he thought) by the motorless chocolate fountain and made his way over under the guise of wanting chocolate-covered strawberries.
“Hey!” he chirped, missing the fleeting look of irritation that passed across his friends’ faces. “These look sooo good.”
He began to stick strawberries on skewers and pass them to Jimin and Namjoon.
“Why don’t you try not to use your hands?” Namjoon suggested. “Consider it practice.”
It was as Taehyung had finally gotten the skewer horizontal and floating under the waterfall of chocolate that Jeongguk returned to his side.
“Hey, guys,” he greeted, causing Taehyung to lose focus and the skewer and strawberry to plop into the base of the fountain. “Oh, um, whoops? Sorry about that, Tae.”
Taehyung shrugged and started on a new strawberry.
“Hey, congrats on the job, superstar!” Namjoon said, using the nickname he’d given to Jeongguk when he’d been recruited by the Catapults and rather aggressively shaking Jeongguk’s hand.
Jeongguk smiled brightly. “Thanks, Namjoon-ssi! I’m really looking forward to starting on Monday.”
“Oh, come on, Jeonggukkie, you can call him hyung now you’re going to be working here,” Jimin said. “Don’t need him getting an even bigger head than he already has!”
Jeongguk and Taehyung snorted, knowing Namjoon to be one of the most humble of their friends, but the joke appeared to have fallen flat with Namjoon, who rolled his eyes. In fairness, Jimin’s tone had been a little more snarky than teasing, but then, Jimin always got like this when he was tipsy or tired.
“Alright, so, where’re we heading? Hog’s or Broomsticks?” Jimin demanded, cutting the silence.
“I heard some talk about the Three Broomsticks,” Taehyung pipes up, mouth full of chocolate and strawberry.
“Oh, good!” Jeongguk exclaimed excitedly. “I haven’t seen Seokjin-hyung in ages!”
“Yoongi’s not going to be happy,” said Namjoon.
“He’ll be alright,” Jimin replied, looping his hands around Namjoon’s elbow and leaning on his arm. “We’ll go to the Hog’s Head next time.”
They went over to where a bunch of people were already queuing by the fancy fireplace, waiting their turn to Floo to the pub. Taehyung found it fun to watch his already-tipsy classmates stumble into the fireplace; he was sure he heard a few drunken mispronunciations of “The Three Broomsticks” and wondered where they’d end up.
Once Jimin and Namjoon had gone, Jeongguk let Taehyung go first with a cheeky, “Age before beauty,” despite them only being a few months apart. As soon as Taehyung arrived in the Three Broomsticks’ fireplace, built into the wall opposite the bar, he could make out Seokjin’s loud voice and high-pitched laughs above the cacophony of the pub.
“Mes amis ! My friends, yes, bienvenue, welcome!” Seokjin crowed as people milled about near the fireplace, rejoining their groups. He ushered them all further into the pub happily. “‘Ello, ‘ello, please, make yourselves comfortable, grab a drink!”
“Hi, Seokjin-hyung!” Jeongguk shouted from behind Taehyung as soon as he Flooed in behind him. His bunny smile was in full force at seeing Seokjin, who was currently directing a group of former Slytherins to a table.
Seokjin whipped around and perked up like a meerkat at Jeongguk’s voice, his smile so painfully genuine that Taehyung felt a tear develop in the corner of his eye. They had had the sweetest and most hilarious friendship back in school. They’d become friends almost immediately when Beauxbatons had visited Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament and had kept in touch in the years between Seokjin coming back to England to run the pub. When Jeongguk had started playing Quidditch professionally and he and Taehyung had still been writing to each other, he had often asked about how Seokjin and the pub were doing.
Now, Seokjin embraced Jeongguk like a long-lost brother, which, Taehyung supposed, he kind of was.
“Jeonggukkie!! Tu m’as manqué, mon pote, I missed you!!” Seokjin pulled back to look at Jeongguk’s face and cupped it in his hands. “You ‘ave grown! But you are still my petit Jeonggukkie!”
Jeongguk was smiling so wide Taehyung feared his lips were snap from the stretch. “I missed you, too, hyung. I’m sorry I couldn’t visit-”
“ Non, non , do not be sorry,” Seokjin shushed him. “You are ‘ere now!” Then, lowering his voice, he said, “For a long time, this time, right?”
For a split second, Jeongguk’s eyes flicked to Taehyung, who pretended to be listening to Jimin and not eavesdropping on the conversation. “I hope so,” Jeongguk replied to Seokjin softly.
Seokjin wrapped an arm around Jeongguk’s shoulders, pleased by his response, and gestured to Taehyung, Jimin and Namjoon. “‘Ello, my friends! Let’s get you very drunk!”
Far too many shots and far too much dancing later, Jeongguk and Taehyung took a breather against the wall. Wooshik and Seojoon were competing in a dance battle with Jimin and Chaeyoung, while Namjoon and Seonghwan drunkenly placed bets on the outcome. Moonyoung and Min Sana were making out by the fireplace so intensely that they didn’t break apart even when Lee Taemin burst through the flames and collapsed onto the stone floor by their feet. He laughed as he watched Choi Minho try to pick him up and instead fall himself, his shirt lifting to reveal a very poorly done magical tattoo on his abdomen. Taehyung hoped he hadn’t had that done by someone equally as drunk tonight.
Beside him, Jeongguk was also entertained. He clapped whenever one of their friends in the dance battle did something particularly skillful or funny, and bent in half in laughter whenever Seokjin mounted the bar, held his wand to his neck and announced a lame joke to the crowd.
Taehyung thought he was beautiful always, but especially like this: carefree, his perfect look messed up a little, laughing unabashedly. Taehyung watched him as he enjoyed himself.
He stared for a moment too long, though, and Jeongguk caught him. With his attention suddenly and wholly focussed on Taehyung, breathing became harder, the air between them thicker. Jeongguk smiled playfully and bumped their shoulders together.
Then he bit this lip, seemingly mulling something over, and his expression grew gentler, a little more serious.
“Tae, I’ve been thinking,” he murmured, “all the reasons we broke up…”
Taehyung held his breath, all the music and shouting and laughing around them turned to white noise.
“…they’re all gone now.”
“Guk…” he swallowed thickly.
“Hear me out, please? We broke up because of the distance and not being able to keep in touch with all the travelling I was doing. And now we’re both in the same place for a while…” he pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows, looking hopeful.
“We haven’t seen each other in ten years, Jeongguk,” Taehyung reasoned, voice kind but firm. “We’re different, we’ve grown up. A lot has changed since we were together.”
Jeongguk’s eyes pleaded with him, like a dog wanting food or affection. “But-”
“How about,” Taehyung cut in, smiling to soften his interruption, “we just see how the term goes? Let’s just… hang out and spend time getting to know each other again. We have a lot to catch up on.”
Jeongguk sighed but he nodded, acquiescing. “Okay. For my part, I knew my feelings for you hadn’t gone away the second I saw you tonight. But I’m happy to do it that way if that makes you more comfortable - if you need the time to… figure things out on your end. I can wait,” he took one of Taehyung’s hands in both of his and held them gently, gliding his thumbs across his knuckles, eyes sincere and loving, “for however long it takes.”
Taehyung nodded, grateful. He bit his lip to hold himself back from telling Jeongguk that his feelings hadn’t changed either, because he knew that he would rather them ease back into a relationship slowly than blindly rush in head first and have it all crumble like sandcastles under a wave later.
The celebration raged on, and Taehyung let himself enjoy it for now - everything else could wait.
…
“So, I hear your loverboy is back,” Hoseok said in a sing-song voice, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. He was leant on the front counter with his hands pillowed on his fists, looking cherubic but for the mischievous glint in his eyes.
Taehyung leveled him with a dark glare. “Don’t, Hob.”
“What!” Hoseok squawked, delighted at Taehyung’s sour reaction. “It was just an observation.”
“With a huge implication,” Taehyung retorted.
Hoseok laughed and placed a hand on each of Taehyung’s cheeks, pushing them together so Taehyung’s downturned lips make a funny shape. “Aw, Taetae, you know I only want you to be happy!” he sing-songed again. He dropped his hands and leant his elbows back onto the counter, returning to picking at the kimbap he’d brought to work with him but not eating much of it.
Taehyung had decided to visit him since the teashop was quiet that morning and had walked in to find that Zonko’s wasn’t much busier. The joke shop had continued to do well under Hoseok’s careful management - he stayed true to the Weasleys’ vision in every decision he made - and he’d had an equally as profitable summer as Taehyung. But with the summer over and everyone back at work or school, weekdays were boring and had a tendency to drag on for much longer than they were. Taehyung was glad to have friends amongst his fellow shopkeepers in the village if only to help stave off the boredom.
Despite being a year older and in different houses at Hogwarts, he and Hoseok had built an easy friendship through the Music club. Their friendship had mostly been Hoseok fawning over Taehyung like a little brother and Taehyung looking to Hoseok for advice, and that dynamic had stayed with them when they started seeing each other again in Hogsmeade, when Hoseok took over the shop.
Taehyung usually didn’t mind Hoseok teasing him or treating him like a child, but he found he did when it was about Jeongguk.
“I know you do,” he grumbled in response, “but I don’t know what I want.”
Hoseok snorted. “Well, that’s not true,” he said very matter-of-factly.
“Okay, okay,” Taehyung conceded, self-aware enough to laugh at himself. “I know I want him. But I don’t know if I want to get into a relationship with him again.”
“Why not?” he asked through a small bite of seaweed and rice.
“Well, it’s just not going to be like it was, is it? I mean-” Taehyung cut himself off when the bell on the shop’s front door rang out in the otherwise silent shop. He looked at Hoseok, who was looking behind him with a calm expression that Taehyung knew to be forced - he could see how his cheeks itched to puff up in a smile, how his eyes were alight and wide, despite how he tried to look neutral.
Curious but already half-certain of who was behind him, Taehyung twisted to look over his shoulder and saw Yoongi walking through the door, a big white parcel in his hand.
“Hey, you two,” Yoongi greeted monotonously, like it was a chore to have come here.
“Ayo, Yoongi!” Hoseok bellowed, fingers turning white with how hard he was pressing them into the wood of the counter.
“Hi, hyung,” Taehyung added, and it earned him a small smile from Yoongi as he walked past him and around to the front of the counter.
“Brought you this,” Yoongi told Hoseok, plopping the white thing in front of him. It looked like one of the sandwiches he made at the pub during lunch hours.
Taehyung’s suspicion was confirmed when Hoseok tore open the white paper to reveal a delicious-looking, evenly baked sourdough baguette stuffed full of lettuce, roasted turkey, fancy looking cheese and some sort of red sauce, maybe cranberry or something similar. Taehyung could feel himself nearly salivating at the look and smell of it.
“Woah, hyung!” Hoseok exclaimed, eyes wide. “You really shouldn’t have!”
Yoongi looked down then, a little shy, and spotted the kimbap. “Oh, I see you already have lunch. Sorry.”
“Not at all! This is so much better than my kimbap - look, hyung, I didn’t even have any cucumbers or enough rice to fill them, and I ran out of kimchi on Sunday night!” He held up his container to show Yoongi the rather miserable rolls and Yoongi made a face, seeming to agree that the kimbap wasn’t very nice.
“Well, I’m glad you don’t have to eat that now. Make sure you come by the pub for some kimchi on your way home. I always make too much.” Before Hoseok could respond, Yoongi turned to Taehyung, who had been fiddling with the trick music boxes on the side of the counter while his hyungs talked. “Brought one for you, too, Taehyungie, but I left it with Soobin at the teashop. Didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Aw, thanks Yoongi-hyung! I’m starving,” Taehyung whined.
“Here, have a bite of this, dongsaeng, it’s amazing.” Hoseok pushed the baguette towards Taehyung’s mouth, his own mouth already full with a big bite.
“Anyway,” Yoongi said as Taehyung ate, “I also came for, um… do you still have those trick serviettes?”
“Yeah, still have a few boxes,” Hoseok said. “What do you want them for?”
Yoongi scratched the back of his neck, clueing Taehyung in on what he wanted to do with them.
“Oh, no, hyung, don’t.” He folded his arms and threw his head into them dramatically, as if what Yoongi was planning to do pained him.
“What? What?” Hoseok asked.
“It’s nothing,” Yoongi answered, pointedly looking at Taehyung. “Just a little friendly joke.”
“Do you seriously think it’s going to work?” Taehyung challenged as Hoseok went behind the counter to find some. “I can’t believe you’re being this petty, it’s so unlike you.”
“It’s nothing, Taehyung-ah.” Yoongi said with finality.
Taehyung sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to talk Yoongi out of whatever he was planning with those serviettes. Yoongi was also like an older brother to Taehyung but sometimes Taehyung felt like he was the hyung. By ‘sometimes’, Taehyung meant all the times Yoongi had liked someone and decided to do something ridiculous to try to show them. He’d only ever gone through with whatever dumb idea he’d had a couple of times, but Taehyung had a feeling he’d be going through with this one.
Hoseok - wonderful, clueless Hoseok - bounced back to the counter and cheerfully rang up one box of the trick serviettes. “Remember, a simple reverso spell will work with these ones,” he said kindly.
Yoongi nodded, and with a tight smile at Taehyung and a kind, “Enjoy your lunch,” to Hoseok, he walked out of the shop and turned left to go back down to the Hog’s Head at the end of the main street.
Hoseok sighed and flicked his finger to fly the receipt from the counter to the storeroom and waved his hand to pack up his kimbap container. Taehyung watched him carefully from beside him and fiddled with his bottom lip.
When Hoseok finished, he turned and leant his bum against the counter so he could look beyond the front window display and out onto the street.
“You good, Hoseokie-hyung?” Taehyung asked quietly, voice gentle.
“Yeah, ‘course I am,” Hoseok replied easily. He flashed a small smile at Taehyung and then returned his eyes to the window, staring forlornly at the pub across the street.
Taehyung realised then that maybe Hoseok wasn’t as clueless as he thought.
…
On Sunday afternoon, after Taehyung farewelled his final customer and locked up, he wandered up to the start of the main street, where the shops started and the path up to Hogwarts ended, and waited for Jeongguk.
The autumn sun was warm on his face as he perched himself on the edge of an old stone wall. They’d decided to go for a walk, just something easy and nice to do together. It felt like less pressure than sitting opposite one another for a meal, where a lack of things to say would be far more obvious. At least, out here, Taehyung could play off any lulls in conversation as just him pausing to take in the scenery around them.
He watched as a small blue tit flitted about on the low-hanging branches of a nearby tree. It paused and sang out its staccato call, the feathers of its soft blue crest and wings and fluffy yellow breast fluttering in the breeze.
He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his attention away from the bird. Jeongguk was walking down the path from the school, two cups in hand. He smiled brightly when he saw that Taehyung had seen him and hurried over to him.
“Hi!” he greeted. “How are you?”
“Hey, fine, thanks,” Taehyung smiled. He hopped down from the wall and stood beside Jeongguk. “You?”
“Yeah, good, I’m good.” Jeongguk looked a little giddy. “Excited.”
Taehyung arched an eyebrow, a hesitant smile playing at his lips. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah,” Jeongguk said earnestly. “It’s been years since I’ve come to Hogsmeade. I’ve missed it.”
They both paused, looking at each other for a moment. Jeongguk looked like he was waiting for Taehyung’s reaction, but Taehyung was waiting for Jeongguk to crack. He did, after a few seconds, unable to keep from laughing as Taehyung lightly hit him on the arm with a roll of his eyes.
“You shit,” Taehyung laughed, and Jeongguk grinned at him, looking very proud of himself for teasing him. “Come on, shall we go this way?”
They turned away from the main street and took a side lane around the edge of the village. It was quieter back there, only muffled noise filtering through the gaps in the buildings, the beautiful sound of birdsong and the rustling of the breeze through the autumn leaves to break the silence.
“Oh, this is for you, by the way,” Jeongguk said, passing Taehyung one of the cups. It was hot to the touch; he must have insulated the cups with a heating charm to keep the drinks warm. “It’s berry tea. Nothing special, but I thought you’d like it.”
Taehyung sniffed the tea and smiled. “Wow, thank you, it smells wonderful. What’s in it?”
“Um,” Jeongguk frowned in concentration and stared into the cup as if it would give him the answers. “Definitely strawberry, ‘cause you like those, um… raspberry, blackberry, elderberry… hibiscus, rose something… I’m sure there’s something else that I’ve forgotten.” He quickly looked over at Taehyung with wide eyes. “Don’t worry, though!” he assured him. “I didn’t make it! I asked one of the kitchen elves to help me. It’s a German recipe, I think he said.”
Taehyung laughed, thoroughly endeared. He took a sip and thought for a moment. “Mm, that’s delicious. Tastes a bit like blackcurrant.”
“Blackcurrant!” Jeongguk yelled excitedly. “That’s what it was!” He giggled, happy that Taehyung liked it. “Smartypants,” he teased.
They wandered along the lane quietly. The shop buildings cast long shadows across the path, and some of the branches of the trees lining the lane were so low-hanging that they had to duck as they passed.
“Well, that was really lovely,” Taehyung said as he finished the last dregs of the tea. “Thank you for going to the trouble of having it made.”
“Glad you liked it,” Jeongguk replied sweetly. He took Taehyung’s cup from him and stacked it inside his, then shrunk them to the size of a thimble and put them in his pocket. “Reusable,” he explained.
Taehyung nodded. “Did you want to look around the shops? I know you were joking before but I’m happy to wander around if you want to. I’m sure you actually have missed Hogsmeade.”
Jeongguk looked surprised and a little relieved when he smiled. “I’d love that, actually, if it’s not going to be too boring for you?”
“Of course not,” Taehyung smiled. He looped an arm through Jeongguk’s and tugged him towards an alley between two shops. “You can tell me about your first week while we walk.”
The first place they came to was Dervish and Banges, and Jeongguk peered at the window display for a while, marvelling at all the new equipment. “So much nicer than what we had,” he laughed.
“Do many of the kids in your class have brooms like that?” Taehyung asked, referring to the Nimbus 2021 in the window.
“Surprisingly, yes,” Jeongguk pouted. “Some of them are so spoiled. You know, even the Catapults didn’t have brooms this nice last year?”
“Outrageous,” Taehyung teased.
“Damn right!”
“How’ve the kids been? Are you getting the hang of teaching?” Taehyung asked as they started walking to the next shop, Scrivenshaft’s.
Jeongguk pushed open the door and they greeted the boy at the register. They wandered over to a display of fancy quills, their plumes elaborate shapes and wonderful colours.
“They’re pretty good, actually,” he said. “Better behaved than I had expected. Although, when you go in expecting every kid to be as much of a menace as Kim Yugyeom and Cha Eunwoo were, of course they’re all going to seem like angels.”
Taehyung laughed loudly at that, remembering how some of Jeongguk’s Hufflepuff friends used to get quite rowdy in class. He fiddled with a long lilac feather, admiring the colour. “Can you use some of the stuff you used to do in training sessions to teach?”
“Sort of, but simplified a lot, of course,” he replied, watching Taehyung walk along the aisle of the shop. He picked up a quill every now and then but didn’t really pay attention to them, his eyes never straying from Taehyung for too long. “I love teaching the older years. I started doing some formation flying with the fourth years, and I’m going to start agility training with the fifth years next week, but when I get to my first year classes, I have to keep reminding myself that most of them have never flown a broom before whenever I set drills.”
“Is that boring?”
“Not as much as you’d expect. The time goes by quickly when you’re scared shitless that they’re going to lose control and crack their head open the whole time.”
“Oh,” Taehyung laughed, screwing up his face, “lovely.”
Jeongguk shrugged, and it was just another thing that hadn’t changed about him - the movement of his shoulders and the playful expression on his face were exactly the same as they had been when they were younger. He looked so young and boyish as he did it that Taehyung faltered for a moment and had to clear his throat.
They continued to look around the shop slowly. Jeongguk told him more stories about his students and how strange it felt to sit up at the teachers’ table in the Great Hall, something he didn’t think he’d get used to. At one point, Taehyung lost him when he went into the next aisle, but he found him again at the front of the store, and they resumed their conversation.
“Do you think… do you want to stay here for a while?” Taehyung asked carefully as they stepped out of the shop. The sun had lowered a little now and its light bounced off shop windows, blinding him a little.
Jeongguk sighed, sounding content. “Yeah, I do. It’s nice to be back somewhere that feels like home.”
Taehyung nodded to show he was listening. They passed Gladrags Wizardwear and he looked at the window display, not wanting Jeongguk to read into whatever reaction showed on his face.
“I’d like to do some mentoring, eventually, too. Like, rookie players, or players in lower divisions looking to break into the top teams. I think… I have years of experience now that I could share with new recruits and up-and-comers, you know?”
Taehyung turned to Jeongguk this time, allowing him to see his encouraging smile. “That’s a great idea. You’d be such a good mentor to younger players. I think they’d be so lucky to have someone like you guide them.”
“Well, that’s making me sound a bit too grand,” Jeongguk laughed self-deprecatingly, “but I think I could be of some use to the sport that way. And, of course, teaching here, passing on the love of the game to younger generations or whatever…” he trailed off, a light blush on his cheeks.
Acting on impulse, Taehyung grabbed Jeongguk’s wrist and gave it a light squeeze. “That’s brilliant, Jeongguk. Really, you’ll make such a good role model to these kids.” He smiled, overwhelmed by a surge of pride and fondness for Jeongguk, for the kind of person he was, wanting to give back when everything had been stripped from him in a single moment, in one freak accident.
As they walked up to Zonko’s, Taehyung felt relieved for Jeongguk that he was enjoying his job, even if it had only been a week. He felt selfish but he was happy not only because Jeongguk was happy, but also because it meant having Jeongguk here with him. Of course, it wasn’t like Jeongguk could leave before the year was up anyway, but Taehyung hoped he would stay on for longer than that.
He was thankfully snapped out of his daydream of how life with Jeongguk would be - him up in the castle and Taehyung down in the village - when the door to Zonko’s flew open. A bunch of giggling shoppers burst out with bags overflowing with gag gifts and he jumped out of the way quickly, landing straight onto Jeongguk’s foot.
“Oh, shit, sorry, Guk!”
“Ow,” Jeongguk winced, but Taehyung could see he was exaggerating. “I see you’re still a clutz, then.”
“Oi, watch it or next time I step on your foot it won’t be so accidental.”
“Okay, okay,” he laughed, giving up his act and holding the door open for Taehyung to enter first.
They found Hoseok easily by following the sound of his laughter to the edible gags section. He was explaining the use of a product to a customer, who seemed to be laughing just as uncontrollably as him.
“You’re not doing a demonstration again, are you, hyung?” Taehyung asked to announce his presence.
Hoseok looked away from the customer, startled, but his expression settled when he saw it was only Taehyung. The customer turned around to look at them.
“Didn’t go too well last time,” Taehyung told Jeongguk in a stage whisper.
Hoseok rolled his eyes. “No, dongsaeng, I’m not.” Then he noticed Jeongguk and his rueful smile turned delighted. He turned back to the customer and said, “Sorry, it’s my friend I haven’t seen in a while. Would you like me to hold onto this at the counter for you?”
“Oh, sure,” the customer said, giving Taehyung and Jeongguk a once-over. “I’ll come up now, actually. Need to be getting back.”
“Of course, right this way,” Hoseok said genially. He led the customer past Taehyung and Jeongguk, giving Jeongguk an excited squeeze on the arm as he passed. The customer smiled politely at the two of them as he followed Hoseok to the front of the store.
Jeongguk and Taehyung watched the way the customer spoke to Hoseok: watching him and hanging on his every word. They shared a look between each other and Jeongguk raised his eyebrows. When the man was paying, they made their way up to the counter.
“He’s a bit cute,” Taehyung teased as soon as the man was out of the shop.
Hoseok pursed his lips and filed the receipt away. “He’s nice, I guess.”
“Does he come by often?” Jeongguk asked innocently, but Taehyung could see he was fighting a smirk.
“I’ve seen him a few times, yeah,” Hoseok said, dismissively. “But you , I haven’t seen you in forever, my little Jeonggukkie!!” He rounded the counter and pulled Jeongguk into a tight hug, eyes closing as he smiled widely. Jeongguk looked at Taehyung over Hoseok’s shoulder and Taehyung shrugged. They’d have to get more information about the customer out of Hoseok later.
As he watched Hoseok squeeze Jeongguk’s cheeks and ask him how he was in a high-pitched voice one would use for dogs and babies, Taehyung smiled. It was good to have Jeongguk back, although a little strange - it was simultaneously like nothing had changed and like everything was different. Like they were both different but had been transported back in time.
Jeongguk kept stealing glances at Taehyung as he spoke to Hoseok, though, and Taehyung could see there was still so much of the sweet, bright boy in him - the boy who Taehyung had fallen in love with. He wasn’t too worried about all the ways that Jeongguk had changed; no, he was looking forward to learning them all.
⋆ ☆ ⋆
“That’s it, Tae, you’ve got it,” Namjoon encouraged.
Taehyung kept his mind focussed, hands tensed as he held the water droplets in place. He manipulated the droplets into the shape of a rabbit, then pushed them together to form one long stream of water that flowed in the air, rolling over itself in place. He broke the water apart again, back into separate droplets, then directed them one by one into the glass that sat on the table between him and Namjoon.
“Nicely done!” Namjoon said proudly, reaching up a hand for a high five, which Taehyung returned with a smile.
They were sitting in Namjoon’s rooms between his Herbology classes and practising Taehyung’s wandless magic again. Namjoon’s rooms were cosy and warm, a nice reprieve from the increasingly cold October weather. There was a large south-facing window that let in lots of natural light, a standard fireplace whose mantel was covered in knick-knacks Namjoon had collected while travelling, and he’d furnished the rooms with handcrafted wooden furniture and interesting, warm-coloured artwork on the walls.
He was a neat person, so you could also feel Jimin’s chaotic presence in the space: the cardigan over the armrest of the couch, the tea mugs left out on the kitchen bench, and little polaroids of the two of them propped up on the table and mantel amongst Namjoon’s things. To Taehyung, it just made the atmosphere warmer to have both of his friends’ personalities shown like this - the fact that their life as a couple could be seen and felt in the rooms.
As Namjoon got up to make them cups of tea, Taehyung leant into the back of the couch and sighed, happy with his progress and proud of himself for making Namjoon proud of him.
“What year do you have next period?” Taehyung asked.
“Third,” Namjoon responded, then swore under his breath when he dropped something in the sink with a loud clatter. “Sorry. Spoon slipped.”
Taehyung laughed lightly, used to his clumsiness. Namjoon handed him his tea then and he thanked him as he took a sip. “I meant it when I said I wanted to pay you back for all your lessons,” he said. “You and Jimin should come for dinner at the shop this weekend. I’ll get Soobin to make you something nice, on the house.”
“Really, Tae, you don’t have to repay me, I enjoy helping you out,” Namjoon said.
“Still,” Taehyung said with a pout, pretending to sulk. It made Namjoon smile fondly at him.
“We’ll come for tea soon. Maybe this weekend, actually, if Jimin’s not roped into supervising weekend study in the library again. He can never say no.”
“He’s nice to a fault, sometimes. I bet the librarian thinks he’s a pushover.”
“Yeah, probably,” Namjoon smiled. “But, um, maybe when we come, we could bring Jeongguk with us, have lunch together.”
Taehyung smirked, knowing that Namjoon wanted updates on where he and Jeongguk were at in their… whatever they were doing. He was just as much of a gossip as Jimin, although where Namjoon tried to subtly get it out of people, Jimin outright asked for (read: demanded) it.
“That’d be nice,” was all Taehyung said, and he laughed at the eyeroll Namjoon gave him.
Over a month had passed since the reunion and Taehyung had only seen Jeongguk a handful of times, always on weekends when Jeongguk let himself have a break from work. Jimin and Namjoon said they’d seen him a lot less than they’d expected, too, only speaking with him at dinnertime or catching a glimpse of him hurrying along one of the corridors. According to Jimin, Jeongguk had thrown himself into preparing for the year’s Quidditch competition and his Flying classes. That didn’t surprise Taehyung at all. Jeongguk had been a perfectionist about everything he did in school, whether it had been training for Quidditch matches, completing assignments or getting dressed in the morning. It was part of the reason he hated Potions so much - he just couldn’t ever get the hang of it.
What did surprise Taehyung, however, were the letters. Jeongguk sent Taehyung sweet little messages every few days, letting him know he was thinking of him and telling him something amusing or asking about his day. They ranged from cute, making Taehyung scrunch his nose at Jeongguk’s palpable excitement (‘Hey Taehyungie! Hope your day is going well. Look, a little first year brought me this cupcake at lunch today!' with an attached photo of a cupcake whose icing was enchanted to sparkle and change colour) to dumb, making Taehyung fondly roll his eyes, ('Remember how you said Sprout always used to squeeze your cheeks when you did something good? Joon-hyung just showed me a pic of you from first year and I have never wanted a Time Turner more in my life, I would squeeze the life out of you and those chubby cheeks’) to lovely in a way that had butterflies erupting in Taehyung’s stomach ('Tae, just saw this growing outside my window. I got Jimin to charm it so it won’t die. Hope you like it. Thinking of you (probably too much). See you soon, Guk x’, with a small bunch of snow-white baby’s breath enclosed).
When he did see Jeongguk in person, he was as lovely as ever. Each time, Taehyung made sure to have whatever note or flower or photo Jeongguk had sent him in his letters somewhere visible, like on his little manager’s desk in the shop or on his coffee table in his apartment upstairs, so Jeongguk would know how much he appreciated them.
The first time he’d visited the shop, he’d made Taehyung give him the ‘grand tour’ despite having been there countless times before.
“Yes, but I want to see it all again now that you’re running the place,” he’d said.
He’d asked Taehyung the most adorable questions, like about the menu and how he curated his tea selection and whether he gave discounts to cute customers like Madam Puddifoot used to (“You better not, Tae, that’s bad for business. Unless it’s me, of course.”). Taehyung had indulged every question and comment, chuffed that Jeongguk was taking such an interest in his work.
They’d sat in a corner booth, like they used to, and shared a pot of tea while the shop was quiet. Soobin had brought out a little plate of teacakes with a knowing smirk and a wink when Jeongguk wasn’t looking (Taehyung threatened to take them out of his payslip if he teased him about how red his cheeks became). It had been nice, sitting there by the window, watching students laugh as they rushed out of Zonko’s, or watching elderly couples feed each other lollies as they came out of Honeydukes.
He’d felt a pang of nostalgia as he looked at Jeongguk across the table. It was a sight so familiar and comforting that he felt like no time at all had passed since he’d seen him across this table as a teenager; but, simultaneously, it was like there was a gulf between them - a gulf of almost a decade between who they were then and who they were now.
Still, he found he craved Jeongguk’s presence in his shop. The first time he’d ever come to Madam Puddifoot’s had been with Jeongguk, and it felt so right to have him there. The days would drag until the weekends when he would come and sit at the table again, or lean up against the counter with his sweet face resting in his hands, watching Taehyung work.
The longest he’d spent with him since the reunion was two weeks ago, when Jeongguk’s parents had come to stay in Hogsmeade for a few days to see how he was going in his new job. They’d come into Madam Puddifoot’s, of course, and chatted with Taehyung over tea. His mother had treated him just as she always had, alternating between motherly and friendly, and bombarding him with questions about himself. His father had complimented him on the shop, and they’d talked comfortably until Jeongguk had joined them for lunch.
They’d spent a good few hours in the shop before deciding to walk around the town before it got too dark. Jeongguk’s mother had spoken to Taehyung quietly as Jeongguk and his father were heading outside, telling him she hoped to see more of him in the future, hopefully outside the shop. Taehyung had only smiled and nodded, wanting to say he hoped that, too, but not wanting to make any promises. Still, he reckoned he could have when Jeongguk turned before leaving, sought Taehyung’s eyes and threw him a shitty half-wink, half-blink and a blinding grin.
His parents had come by for breakfast the morning that they left, too, and asked Taehyung to take care of Jeongguk. He assumed they meant because of his injury and the loss of his playing career, but the more he thought about the way Jeongguk’s mother had patted his cheek and given him a hopeful smile, and the way his father had shaken his hand and patted his back, the more he wondered whether they meant his heart instead.
“Have you two talked about what you are yet?” Namjoon asked, setting his teacup down on the table.
“No,” Taehyung replied. He didn’t know how he felt about that - whether he wanted to talk about it or avoid it forever. He leant forward and scooped more sugar from the sugar pot into his tea and stirred it aggressively, the spoon clanging against the cup loudly, just to be annoying. He smiled, big and satisfied, when it pulled a pointed stare from Namjoon.
“Are you going to?” Namjoon pressed.
Taehyung widened his eyes to make him look innocent and clueless and responded, purposely obtuse, “To what?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Tae, walk on the moon,” Namjoon threw back. “What do you think?” Taehyung grinned at having pulled sarcasm from Namjoon, too.
“Don’t you have a third year Herbology class to get to?” he asked cheekily.
“You’re bloody lucky I do,” Namjoon retorted, but Taehyung could see he was amused. He ruffled Taehyung’s hair as he passed him on his way to put his cup in the kitchen sink. “You can stay here as long as you like, though. I think Jimin has last period free if you want to see him.”
“Nah, I’d better get back to the shop. Thanks, though,” Taehyung said, bringing his cup to the sink, too. “Really, hyung, thank you for today.”
Taehyung walked back to the Madam Puddifoot’s in the late afternoon sunshine, marvelling at the Halloween decorations that were already adorning several houses and businesses. He’d have to get on to that soon. The idea excited him not only because it was Halloween, the wildest holiday of the year in Hogsmeade, but also because, maybe, he could try putting up the decorations all on his own this year. Maybe he wouldn’t have to do it manually, with his wand, or ask Soobin and Beomgyu to help him.
(Maybe Jeongguk would be impressed by the decorations when he came on the weekend, and proud of him for putting them up without his wand, too.)
Back in his teashop, giddy at the idea, he tried to put what he’d just practised into action. But as he stood before the teapot full of motionless, cold tap water, he could feel Soobin’s pitying stare burning hot on his back. He clicked his fingers and shook his hand and tried every motion he could think of to make the water boil but, after ten minutes, he gave up. It was hopeless.
…
Hoseok’s Halloween party was, as usual, spooky as hell.
“This is so cool,” Jeongguk exclaimed, gripping Taehyung’s hand a little tighter in excitement as they entered Hoseok’s apartment.
Ah, yes, the hand-holding. That was new - something Jeongguk had started doing after their lunch with Namjoon and Jimin. Taehyung didn’t mind it, though. Not one bit. It was a sweet little habit and, as early as it was in their… whatever they were, it made Taehyung feel like Jeongguk was holding on to him, holding onto them.
He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning like a maniac as he looked over at Jeongguk. He was kitted out in all black: his pants and vest made of shining leather enticingly fitted to his body, big combat boots and belt heavy with chains and metal studs, and a demon tail and horns adorned with charmed silver sparkles. He had matte, liquid black eyeliner around his eyes and dark, metallic eyeshadow on his lids. He looked absolutely gorgeous.
Taehyung’s angel costume felt lacklustre by comparison, although Jeongguk’s reaction to it (wide-eyed and fishmouthing) had done much to boost his confidence. He wore flowing white trousers and a loose blouse unbuttoned to the bottom of his sternum, charmed with the same sparkles as Jeongguk’s tail and horns, and very realistic wings and a halo floating an inch or so above his curled hair. He’d gone for a simple makeup look, just a light shimmer at his temples and under his brows, a hint of pale pink eyeliner around the edges of his eyes, and a little lipgloss. Separately, they looked pretty good, but together, Taehyung thought they looked brilliant. It was as good an excuse as any to keep Jeongguk by his side all night, at least.
Walking into Hoseok’s apartment was like walking into a spooky, cave-like tavern. It was dimly lit by tiny lights spread across the ceiling and a series of oddly shaped lamps throughout the room - one looked like a gargoyle, the light bulb extending up from between its wings, another was shaped like a black swan, lights glowing from its eyes. An old Wicked Sisters record was spinning on a record player in the corner by the door and the food table was a mix of actual food and the tricky treats that Hoseok sold at Zonko’s. It was hard to tell the difference between them, and Taehyung was glad he and Jeongguk had eaten before coming.
They made their way through the throng of people by the record player and further into the room. Hoseok had coloured the walls black for the occasion and stuck orange and gold deco stickers on the walls that changed form every few seconds: one moment there was a witch and wizard zooming along the wall on their broomsticks, the next the sticker transformed into a pumpkin with an evil grin that laughed at passersby.
Over by the punch bowl (Taehyung didn’t even want to guess what was in there), they found Namjoon practising French with Seokjin.
“C’est un pomme,” Namjoon was saying, holding a large toffee apple in his sticky hand. His vampire costume was simple but effective: a simple white dress shirt and black trousers covered by a black velvet cloak with a severe, pointed collar and red satin lining. His incisors on either side of his two front teeth had been transformed, presumably by Jimin’s expert Charms skills, into sharp fangs, and he had red lip gloss smeared about his lips to mimic blond. His face was pale and his hair was jet black, and yet he looked his sweet, kind self as he bumbled out the French words and peered hopefully at Seokjin.
“Très bien!” Seokjin said, in spite of Namjoon’s very thick Irish accent. He clapped his hands together rapidly, although they made little sound because of his thick white gloves. They were part of his prince costume, which featured an intricate, royal blue double-breasted jacket, a frilly shirt beneath it and tight pants tucked into high, black, shiny boots. The look was topped off by a golden crown placed neatly on top of his slightly wavy hair. He finished clapping and picked up a small glass with a shot’s amount of a drink in it, holding it up between him and Namjoon. “And zis, zis is what?”
“Apératif!” Jeongguk yelled to announce their presence.
Seokjin whipped around, sloshing the drink onto the floor by accident. “Jeonggukkie! Very good, very good! And, might I say, you two look magnifique!”
“Thanks, hyung! Did you see Tae’s wings?”
Jeongguk placed his fingers on Taehyung’s arm gently, just suggesting that he turn around, but Taehyung could feel his fingers shaking excitedly against his skin, like he was a kid hyped on sugar, or a child eager to show off something they’d made at school to their parents.
Taehyung smiled and, as he turned, he heard Namjoon and Seokjin gasp and “ooh” at his wings. They were white and generously plumed, the fluffy feathers shimmering as he moved. They were shaped like two big arcs but if Taehyung flicked his wand they extended out to the sides as if he were about to take flight. He demonstrated that for his friends, careful not to hit anything or anyone, and heard Seokjin’s muffled clapping again.
“So cool,” Namjoon said when Taehyung was facing them again. “You look great, both of you.”
“Thanks! So do you, those teeth look so real,” Taehyung said and Namjoon gave him a toothy grin to show them off, making Taehyung giggle. “Have you been here long?” he asked as Namjoon started to lick at one of his fangs experimentally.
“Yeah, we came to help set up. Got to meet that guy trailing after Hoseok wherever he goes.” He gestured with his drink towards the middle of the room. Taehyung turned and spotted Hoseok chatting with some other Hogsmeade shopkeepers and -
“Oh, Merlin - Jeongguk, that’s the guy from Zonko’s!” he said, nudging Jeongguk excitedly to get his attention. Turning to Namjoon and Seokjin, he explained, “Jeongguk and I saw him in Zonko’s a few weeks ago. He must really like Hobi to be hanging around this much.”
They watched as the man leant in to whisper something in Hoseok’s ear, which was pointed like a pixie’s tonight. Hoseok laughed as the man pulled away and lightly hit him on his bulging green arm.
“The Hulk’s a little over the top, isn’t it?” Jeongguk said, eyeing the man’s superhero costume. “I mean, of all the ways to try to show off your body to someone you like…”
“You should've seen his entrance, though,” Namjoon said, and Seokjin thumped him on the shoulder in agreement.
“Yes! It was brilliant!” He and Namjoon laughed as they remembered it. Seokjin tried to stifle his laughs but it only made them whinier, while Namjoon just sounded like he was trying to exhale through his nose as fast as possible.
“He- he-” Namjoon tried to say.
“‘e came in dressed normally, in a suit and glasses, you know,” Seokjin said through breathy giggles, covering his mouth as he laughed, “but after a few moments, ‘e clicked ‘is fingers, ripped off ‘is clothes, down to ‘is underwear, and started to turn all muscly and green!”
“It was insane,” Namjoon cackled. “Like, I guess that’s one way of getting a guy’s attention, but even Hobi didn’t know how to react.”
“Oh my god,” Taehyung breathed, watching as the man tensed his fist around a cup and dented its handle.
“Why would you show off charmed muscles, though?” Jeongguk said between laughs. “I don’t mean that in a mean way, just, you know, what’s meant to impress Hobi about fake muscles?”
“Aw, babe, don’t worry,” Taehyung said, lightly teasing as he touched his fingers to Jeongguk’s bicep. “Your muscles are much more impressive than his fake ones could ever be.”
“But,” Seokjin chimed in, slapping a hand onto Jeongguk’s other bicep, “zey will never be as impressive as mine.”
The sweet smile that Jeongguk had been giving Taehyung immediately morphed into an indignant pout. “Hey!” he said to Seokjin, easing into his combative mode. He and Seokjin started throwing jabs at each other and debating which of their costumes made their biceps look more pronounced (it was Jeongguk’s, no question about it). They were clearly both loving it though - the apples of Jeongguk’s cheeks had puffed up as he spoke through a happy, twisted pout and Seokjin was trying to maintain wide, menacing eyes but they crinkled because he kept smiling too much at every insult.
Namjoon and Taehyung just ignored them after a few too many lame lines, seeming to mutually decide not to get dragged into it and to wait it out.
“Anyway, his name’s Dongwook and he was very nice when we spoke to him earlier,” Namjoon said. “He was quite early, too, so Jimin and I talked to him for a bit while Hobi was greeting other people.”
“That’s good, I didn’t really get a sense of what he was like when Jeongguk and I met him briefly,” Taehyung said. “It’s nice Hobi has someone showing interest in him. It’s been a while since his last relationship.”
Seokjin and Jeongguk returned to the conversation, cheeks pink from the exertion of their little play-fight. Seokjin nodded along to what Taehyung said and added, “I agree. Zis will be good for ‘im, you know, to ‘ave someone who can love ‘im like ‘e deserves.”
Taehyung hummed and smiled. It appeared Hoseok’s unrequited feelings for Yoongi were an open secret, because Taehyung noticed Jeongguk and Namjoon sharing knowing smiles at Seokjin’s words.
The moment of comfortable silence was broken by a mass of sparkles and giggles bouncing into their little circle, with a slightly less enthusiastic companion in tow.
“Hiiiii,” Jimin drawled, beaming at them all before tilting his head back so Namjoon could peck him on the lips. Namjoon did, leaning down with a contented expression and warm eyes.
Yoongi gave the group a half-smile, the corners of his mouth barely upturned. “Hi.”
Yoongi and Jimin’s costumes couldn’t have been more different. Jimin’s entire body was glittering, his shining, translucent, pale yellow fairy wings even fancier than Taehyung’s with their intricate golden detailing and edges; Yoongi was covered in black, head to toe.
“Hi, hyung,” Jeongguk said to Yoongi with a brief side hug. “What are you supposed to be?”
Yoongi’s grimace morphed into a smirk as he looked Jeongguk in the eyes and clicked his fingers twice in rapid succession. His clothes immediately disappeared to a collective gasp from all of them - no, hang on… Taehyung’s eyes took a moment to adjust to what they were seeing before he realised what had happened. Yoongi’s clothes were self-camouflaging - he’d seen this trick fabric before, but not for ages, possibly not since one of his school Halloween parties. His shirt and thighs blended in with the bodies around him and the bottom of his pants and his shoes matched the carpeted floor beneath them.
“Very, very cool,” Taehyung said, in awe at the simplicity but impact of the costume, his mouth forming an open-mouthed smile.
“Thanks,” Yoongi muttered. His voice was monotonous but it was clear he was proud of his costume and pleased with the response. “You all look great, too. Even if it is a bit matchy-matchy.”
Taehyung and Jeongguk beamed at that, high praise coming from Yoongi, and Seokjin rolled his eyes.
“Yours is ze definition of ‘matchy-matchy’, Yoongi-ssi,” he said.
Yoongi opened his mouth to throw back a retort but seemed to realise he was right, and instead stuck out his lower lip, raised his eyebrows and nodded as if hearing a good idea. “As much as I’d like to, I actually can’t argue with that.”
Seokjin smirked into his drink. It was surprisingly more pleased than smug.
Taehyung smiled into his glass as the conversation moved on, thinking that it was really nice to have both Seokjin and Yoongi in the group with everyone else. As much as he hung out with them on their own, or with Hoseok, during lunch breaks or after work, it was good to have them here together. And, Merlin, they were so similar, he wished they’d both just push their stubbornness to the side and acknowledge it. They alternated between talking seriously with and teasing Namjoon, they bantered loudly with Jimin, they doted on Jeongguk, who preened under their attention, and they listened quietly to Taehyung when he spoke, even when he didn’t speak clearly. He was sure both of them had mentioned fishing trips and musical interests in the past, too.
Taehyung liked to think that if they had met under different circumstances, and they weren’t operating rival businesses, they would have actually been good friends. And, if Seokjin felt the same way he was sure Yoongi felt, he wondered if they’d be together right now.
“So, so, tell me, what do we all think of Hoseok’s little admirer!!” Jimin chirped loudly, a little overexcited and tipsy, breaking Taehyung from his thoughts. Namjoon shushed him gently, laughing with an arm around his waist, and Jimin continued in a stage whisper. “Seems a bit desperate how he’s following Hobi around everywhere but it’s a bit cute, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I think it’s sweet,” Jeongguk says.
“Bit full on, though, maybe,” Taehyung added.
“Oh, for sure,” Jeongguk laughed, “but you know how unaware people can be of how they’re acting when they like someone.”
“We sure do,” Seokjin said. It sounded mirthful, like he was teasing someone but Taehyung didn’t know who.
Namjoon let out a sudden bark of a laugh and Jimin hid a giggle (poorly) behind his hand. Even Yoongi’s mouth turned into a small smirk, and when Taehyung turned to Jeongguk to see if he knew what was going on, he realised.
Jeongguk was bright red and pouting at Seokjin, combative mode fully re-engaged and now mixed with a little of his ‘put-out bunny’ look. “Hyung,” he hissed.
“I can’t ‘elp it, it was so cute!” Seokjin laughed.
“What was? What was?” Taehyung asked.
“Jeonggukkie used to stare at you with huge heart eyes all the time, Tae. I don’t know how you never noticed,” Jimin said, still giggling.
Namjoon smiled at Taehyung and Jeongguk fondly. “It was pretty cute. I remember seeing him watching us from across the library when I helped you with your wandless magic.”
“Or from the front of the Hufflepuff dining table when the choir performed before dinner,” Yoongi added with surprising enthusiasm, seemingly loving this.
“Always writing to me, asking for my advice on ‘ow to ask you out,” Seokjin said.
“But - wait, you liked me before Jimin’s failed prank in Herbology? Before we met?”
Jeongguk was frozen for a moment, before he shouted frantically, pouting as he did, “How did this become about me!! Can we get back to Hoseok, please?!”
Taehyung smiled to himself as their hyungs laughed and relented, steering the conversation away from Jeongguk. He wrapped both his arms around Jeongguk’s arm and pressed a light kiss to his shoulder over the top of his shirt. He glanced up to find Jeongguk watching him a little nervously (so damn cute, Taehyung thought), and when he smiled at him happily, Jeongguk relaxed and smiled back. Taehyung rested his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder then, and Jeongguk leant his head on his.
“I think a little subtlety would be good, though,” Jimin was saying. “Merlin knows I ruined the appeal of any romantic gestures or elaborate confessions for him when I tried to get him and Areum together.”
“Yes but I also think Dongwook just needs to tell him outright, you know? Make sure he knows he wants him,” Yoongi said.
Seokjin scoffed. “You don’t zink ‘e knows ‘e wants ‘im? Wiz all the following ‘im around and flirting?”
“I’m just saying,” Yoongi defended, visibly growing annoyed, “he can dance around him for ages and Hoseok might never be sure he’s interested in a relationship.”
“Oui, mais - uhm, but, zere is a tactful way to do it, non?”
“And, what, Hobi’s just supposed to guess this guy likes him and make the first move? What if he’s read it wrong, what if we’ve all read it wrong, and Hobi gets hurt?”
“You seriously believe zis?” Seokjin scoffed again and took a swig of his drink.
Taehyung got the feeling they weren’t talking about Hoseok’s love life anymore. He lifted his head from Jeongguk’s shoulder and looked between his friends, thinking that surely they weren’t this riled up about their friend’s potential new boyfriend.
Yoongi clenched his jaw. “I don’t know how you do things in France but this is not -”
“Don’t make this into some French versus English zing, Min Yoongi,” Seokjin fumed. “But if we are going zere, let us talk about you English and your pettiness and dirty tactics. Don’t zink I don’t know it was you who put those trick serviettes in my pub! Zey genuinely scared Mrs Wintergum, and I served soup zat night! Do you know how many patrons spilled ‘ot soup on themselves?!”
“Oh, look at that, you finally pronounced ‘th’ correctly,” Yoongi shot back.
Seokjin stopped, his mouth half open and ready to fight back, but the fight seemed to leave him at Yoongi’s jab. “My accent? Really?” he asked. He sounded disappointed, and genuinely hurt.
Yoongi broke eye contact with him and looked down at his feet, which he scuffed on the carpet awkwardly.
When he didn’t offer anything in response, not even a mumbled apology, Seokjin stormed off with a roll of his eyes. Taehyung noted a twinge of regret on Yoongi’s face before he, too, rolled his eyes, flattened his mouth until his lips could barely be seen, and left without a word.
“It’s a shame to see them like this,” Namjoon said, swirling his drink contemplatively in his glass.
“We should do something,” Jimin piped. “Just get them somewhere where neither of them can leave-”
“We shouldn’t meddle, Jiminie,” Namjoon interrupted tersely.
Trying to lighten the mood, Taehyung joined in. “Come on, Jimine,” he laughed, “haven’t all your match-making fails in high school turned you off meddling by now?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, Tae,” Jeongguk said, throwing an arm about Taehyung’s shoulders and pulling him in roughly, just playing around. “He may not have had a very high success rate, but he did sort of get us together, right?”
Jimin laughed and clapped his hands together, but Namjoon only gave a tight smile.
“See! Proof!” Jimin shouted.
“Yeah but we’re not at school anymore,” Namjoon said. “I don’t think getting involved is the right thing to do here.”
“It’s not like I’m going to pull a prank or anything, Joon.” Jimin furrowed his eyebrows. “I would only very subtly suggest -”
“I’m saying you shouldn’t get involved at all, Jimin, it’s not your business-”
“But they’re our friends!”
“So we should respect that they have their differences-”
“Oh, why do you have to fucking disagree with me about everything?” Jimin cried, uncharacteristically dramatic, even for him. His wide eyes looked hurt and his hands clenched into little fists. He looked so like Tinkerbell from the film Taehyung’s squib aunt had shown him as a child that in any other circumstances Taehyung would have cooed at him.
Taehyung and Jeongguk remained silent, Jeongguk’s arm slung heavily around Taehyung, the both of them following the escalating back-and-forth like spectators of a muggle tennis match.
“Sorry, excuse me,” Jimin mumbled.
Namjoon hung his head and placed his drink slowly down on the table behind him. “Sorry, you two, I guess we got a bit carried away,” he said. With a brief look at Jeongguk and Taehyung and an apologetic, sad smile, he walked away, heading towards the bathroom.
“That was awkward,” Taehyung said quietly.
“It was like watching my parents fight,” Jeongguk agreed.
“Should we go see if Jimin’s okay?”
Jeongguk twisted, pulling Taehyung with him by his shoulders, careful not to jostle his wings, and they found Jimin in the crowd. He was talking animatedly with Hoseok and Dongwook, whose muscles seemed to have deflated somewhat over the course of the night.
“Nah,” Jeongguk said. “Let’s leave him for a while. Let Hobi and Dongwook take his mind off it.”
“I guess,” Taehyung sighed. He rested his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder again and reached for the chain hanging off Jeongguk’s belt, idly twirling it around his finger.
“Come on,” Jeongguk murmured, lightly nudging his shoulder up to get Taehyung standing upright. “Let me make you a drink. Seokjin taught me how to make it just before graduation.” He turned them back around so they were facing the food and drinks table and got a new glass for Taehyung. He waved up a pair of large, cat-shaped ice cubes and flew them into the glass, then gestured his hand towards a bottle of white rum. It levitated from its place on the table and tipped so that a thin stream of it poured on top of the ice. He continued adding ingredients until Taehyung’s glass was full, then added a thin stirrer and circled a finger in the air so it stirred the drink. “All done. Ta-da!”
Taehyung had been marvelling at how strong Jeongguk’s wandless magic was but, as he took a tentative sip, he thought, the drink was even stronger. He grimaced at even the smallest of sips, and wasn’t surprised it had been Seokjin who taught Jeongguk how to make this.
“Fuck me, that’s strong,” he spluttered, coughing to clear his throat. “I think that one sip was enough to sterilise the entire inside of my body. Maybe even the outside, too, if I start to sweat it out.”
Jeongguk laughed with his head thrown back and turned to make himself one, too. They stood side by side on the periphery of the dance floor watching the other guests dance and steadily grow more intoxicated and commenting on things they observed. After a while, Jeongguk went off to join some of his and Hoseok’s Hufflepuff friends on the dance floor, and other store owners from Hogsmeade pulled Taehyung into conversation. As he mingled and people-watched, Taehyung thought Hoseok would be pleased by the turnout. The party was a success, overall, even if his friends were fighting.
Towards the end of his horrible drink, after his Hogsmeade friends had left because they would be opening their stores early in the morning, and while Jeongguk break-danced with Yugyeom to the rap of the Horntails, Taehyung noticed Seokjin and Yoongi standing close together by the front door. He watched curiously as they cast a furtive glance about them, then Seokjin shrugged on his coat and left. Taehyung threw back the last dregs of his drink and placed it on a nearby table. A few moments later, Yoongi put his coat on, too, and hurried outside after Seokjin.
Taehyung raised his eyebrows in surprise, sure he looked like a stunned mullet just standing there with a shocked expression. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed what he was sure was a monumental development in the rivalry they’d all been following. He was nearly jumping on the spot at the excitement of talking about this with someone, that this might be an actual enemies to lovers story unfolding before his eyes!
But the excitement drained from his body as his eyes landed on Hoseok, who was watching the door forlornly.
Shit, Taehyung thought. That must have been hard for him to see.
Taehyung went over to him and linked his arm with his rather aggressively. It had the desired effect of startling him and pulling his gaze from the closed front door.
“Hey, this party is awesome, hyung,” he said.
“Hey, Tae,” Hoseok said softly. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”
“Are you having fun, too?” Taehyung pressed. “Where’s your cute friend?”
“Oh, he - um, bathroom, I think.”
Taehyung nodded and waited for Hoseok to say something. As they stood there, Taehyung caught Jimin and Namjoon standing by the record player, Namjoon’s arms on Jimin’s hips and looking down at him lovingly as Jimin gently brushed a lock of hair out of Namjoon’s eyes.
“I’m guessing you saw?” Hoseok said, twisting their arms to face Taehyung comfortably.
“Oh, um, Yoongi and Seokjin? Yeah. I’m sorry, hyung.”
Hoseok shrugged and attempted to smile. It came out sad, the sadness showing in his eyes, too. “I think… I mean, I had an inkling. I knew there must have been something beneath all their arguing but…” He sucked in a shaky breath, and Taehyung tightened the grip of his arm around Hoseok’s elbow. “I like Yoongi, Tae.”
“I thought so, hyung.”
“For a while.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.” Hoseok looked at Taehyung and smiled, a little better now. “I’m actually going to have to get over it now, aren’t I? Like I’ve been telling myself to.”
Taehyung smiled back, aiming for encouraging and hoping it came across that way. “Are you going to tell him?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if it’ll help, so. I’ll see.”
Taehyung squeezed his arm again. “I’m here for you, hyung. If you want to talk about it.”
Hoseok smiled a little more brightly, squinting his eyes at Taehyung happily. “Aw, my cute little dongsaeng, what would I do without you?” He raised his free arm and patted Taehyung lightly on the head, careful not to mess with his halo. “Alright, well. Now, I’m going to get drunk. And find Dongwook. And dance!”
With a quick peck on Taehyung’s cheek, he sauntered off into the crowd. Taehyung saw him break into the dance circle a moment later with Dongwook in tow, immediately busting out moves that had the crowd cheering and wolf-whistling. Jeongguk, who’d been in the middle of a handstand, flopped onto his feet and started clapping as Hoseok danced like a pro.
Taehyung watched for a little while longer as the dancing grew more and more intense. Jeongguk whipped around on the ground, his tail getting caught between his legs a few times but he managed to keep his rhythm, the chains on his belt and boots swaying in time with his movements. His horns caught the light at every angle, and he truly looked every bit as sinful as his costume suggested as he flexed and tensed through the moves. Eventually, he emerged from the dance floor, flushed and a little sweaty and a lot beautiful, and came over to Taehyung.
“Wanna go onto the balcony? I need some air and I kinda wanna spend some time alone with you.”
Taehyung put on a scandalised expression, tilting his head and his halo following. “Time alone? What are you implying?”
Jeongguk laughed, all pretty teeth and crinkled crows feet by his eyes. “Absolutely nothing, of course.”
“Mm,” Taehyung hummed, disbelieving, before he broke and laughed. “But, um, are you sure? I mean, there are a lot of people here you haven’t seen in years. Don’t you want to catch up with them?”
“No,” Jeongguk said unashamed, breathing out a harsh laugh and screwing up his nose, “not really.”
“Are you sure?” Taehyung knew Jeongguk wasn’t the biggest people person - he used to tell Taehyung in his letters that the hardest part about adapting to life as a professional athlete wasn’t the gruelling trainings or the matches or trying to bond with teammates, but all the mingling at events and speaking at meetings and conferences, the interpersonal parts. But he’d thought, since Jeongguk had spent so much time with him already, that he’d enjoy catching up with all his and Hoseok’s mutual friends and meeting new Hogsmeade residents who hadn’t lived here before Jeongguk had left.
“Yes! Tae, I’m so sure,” Jeongguk said, smiling brightly and cupping Taehyung’s cheeks in his clammy palms. “Would rather talk to you away from the loud throwback music and people asking me about what their favourite Quidditch stars are really like in person.”
Taehyung’s mouth formed an O, then he grimaced. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”
Jeongguk shrugged. “I’m used to it. Just don’t really want any more of it tonight. Come on,” he leant to the side to swipe a bulbous bottle of fizzy ale from a table and led Taehyung to the balcony, “I want to spend time with you.”
They pushed aside the thick indigo curtains that covered the glass doors to Hoseok’s balcony and stepped outside. The night was still, the air cool and clear. Taehyung’s eyes were immediately drawn to the sky, and he let out a puff of warm air as he marvelled at the sea of stars.
“Remember when we used to do that,” Jeongguk murmured, “and pretend we were dragons?” He puffed out a white cloud of air, too, and giggled through a very unmenacing, un-dragon-like snarl.
“Yeah,” Taehyung smiled, feeling nostalgic as his warm breath filled the air and then fizzled as he spoke, “up on the Astronomy tower, when our patrol was over.”
He shivered violently, then, and Jeongguk waved his hand in an arc above them, shielding them in the cocoon of a heating charm.
“One day I’ll be able to do that,” Taehyung said.
“Yeah, you will.”
“I’m working really hard on it. I’m getting better.”
Jeongguk smiled, and it was warmer than the thick air shrouding them. “You always work hard and you always do well. You’ll be putting us all to shame in no time.”
They huddled together in the bubble of warmth, arms pressed up against each other’s as they leant on the balcony, taking turns sipping from the bottle of ale. There weren’t many lights on in the buildings visible from the balcony above Zonko’s, and it made star gazing a lot easier. Taehyung had loved Astronomy at school, had done really well in it at both OWL and NEWT level, and still enjoyed reading the Astronomy articles in the international wizarding journals the most (bar, usually, the Herbology pieces).
Looking up at the stars with Jeongguk by his side felt different now than how it had felt when they’d done it at school. There was still that element of excitement - back then, it had been the excitement of something new starting between them and, later, of something familiar and his. Now, it was exciting because it was both new, like starting again, and familiar, something he had thought was lost that had come back.
The difference was that now Taehyung looked at the stars and saw what he imagined the untrained muggle eye saw: just a blanket of beautiful, twinkling lights, their own form of magic up above them. He wasn’t worried about an upcoming exam, wasn’t half paying attention to Jeongguk and half revising where the different star clusters sat in relation to one another, wasn’t reciting the moons of Jupiter in his head. He basked in the glow of the stars and the moon, and admired the way they illuminated the bridge of Jeongguk’s nose and the bow of his top lip, and shone in his hair. He admired the brightness of the galaxy before him, and thought about how he saw it threefold in Jeongguk’s eyes every time he looked at him.
“Hmm,” Jeongguk sighed, stealing another swig from the bottle. Taehyung watched as a little ale slipped down the side of his mouth and rolled under his chin. He wiped at it and Jeongguk smiled sheepishly. “Thanks. Crazy night,” he said.
“Yeah.” Taehyung tugged on Jeongguk’s sleeve with his thumb and forefinger and they moved to the ground, sitting cross-legged and almost on top of one another. Taehyung pulled his wand from his sleeve and adjusted his wings so they were fully extended, then pulled them in by the tips so they enveloped both of them. The combination of the warming charm and the wings surrounding them made it feel more private than it was, sitting out on the balcony above the street, like they were secluded from the party raging behind them.
“Hey,” Jeongguk murmured, leaning in close. Taehyung held his breath as Jeongguk’s face came in front of his, his eyes dropping down to his lips, then to his neck. “You’re wearing it.”
“What?” Taehyung breathed out.
“The pendant,” Jeongguk murmured, reaching up a hand to pull the necklace out from under Taehyung’s shirt and delicately touch the charred metal of the pendant with the pad of his finger. “You did keep it.”
Taehyung stared at Jeongguk’s pretty face, half in shadow and half illuminated by the moon. “‘Course.”
Jeongguk’s eyes found Taehyung’s and he let the pendant drop back against Taehyung’s sternum. “Beautiful,” he said, voice smooth and eyes bright.
Taehyung was completely charmed by him. It felt like the moment in the greenhouse again, when they locked eyes over Jimin’s mess, and Jeongguk had left Taehyung feeling breathless for a moment.
Jeongguk had him in the palm of his hand. Taehyung just had to trust that he wouldn’t crush him or toss him away.
When Taehyung didn’t look or move away, Jeongguk closed the last of the distance between them, pressing his lips to Taehyung’s gently, as if in question. In response, Taehyung pushed his lips against his, latching his hands onto his shoulders and pulling him closer.
They broke for air, and Taehyung pressed their foreheads together before moving in again. Jeongguk smelled sweet and tasted sour, like the drink he’d made for them earlier. Most intoxicating, though, was how familiar it all was, how good Taehyung felt kissing Jeongguk again for the first time since graduation. His lips were so warm, soft, inviting - Taehyung sunk into him.
“So, can I take you on a second first date?” Jeongguk asked softly, pulling back and looking at Taehyung with those wide, hopeful galaxy eyes.
He felt just as breathless as he had eleven years ago.
“Please don’t take me to my own shop-”
“No, no,” Jeongguk giggled, the sound muffled as he hushed him with his lips against his. “I was thinking Yoongi’s.”
“Mm, that’d be nice,” Taehyung replied. “What about Seokjin, though?”
“I told him I wanted to take you out for a quiet dinner and that he’d interrupt too much. He surprisingly didn’t put up too much of an argument, just a little slur about Yoongi’s food being nothing compared to his, but that was it,” Jeongguk said. “Besides, I don’t think their feud’s going to last much longer, based on how they were acting tonight.”
Taehyung leant in and whispered conspiratorially, despite there being no one else around, “Did you see them leave together, too?”
“No!” Jeongguk whispered back in disbelief. “What?! I can’t bel- well, I can believe that. I just meant they seem to be getting a lot more personal with their insults and more genuinely offended when they argue, which I had hoped meant they’d call it quits soon. But leaving together? I did not see that coming.”
Taehyung smiled giddily, leaning in to rest their foreheads together again.
“Seems like this year’s just full of surprises.”
⋆ ★ ⋆
The second weekend of November brought cooler temperatures, a light sunshower that spat tiny, glistening rain droplets onto the windows, and a demanding crowd for which Taehyung was unprepared.
The teashop was overrun by Hogwarts students who had come straight from the first Quidditch match of the season, some still donning their house colours. From the varying moods of students of different houses, Taehyung deduced that Slytherin had beaten Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff had narrowly beaten Ravenclaw. Jeongguk would probably be smug about the second result when he came to visit, Taehyung thought, although he’d claim to be unbiased now that he was the referee.
Taehyung left the kitchen in Soobin’s capable hands and helped Yeonjun and Beomgyu take and serve orders. He felt as if school children were becoming more and more demanding and less polite, but he took their rudeness in his stride. At least their appetite for tea and cake hadn’t waned in the slightest over the years, and they kept his business thriving all year round.
After the lunch rush had started to slow, Jeongguk stopped by for a quick sandwich and a drink. He’d been so busy in the two weeks since Hoseok’s party preparing for this day that he’d barely had time to drop by, and whenever he and Taehyung spoke over their fireplaces, Jeongguk had been so exhausted from all his preparations that he would fall asleep within minutes of lying down by the fire.
Today, although he was rosy cheeked and energetic after the success of the first day of the season, Taehyung barely spoke a full sentence to him between attending to the other patrons and checking on the kitchen. Before he knew it, Jeongguk had scoffed down his sandwich happily, placed a swift peck on Taehyung’s lips and left for Gladrags Wizardwear for warmer winter robes to wear around the castle.
“See you tonight!” he’d called with a wink before pulling the door closed behind him.
As starved of time with Jeongguk as Taehyung felt, he supposed that barely seeing him since the party and their second first kiss was fine, because he was going to make up for it tonight on their Date. Date with a capital D. He smiled to himself and tried to focus on working, hoping that would make the time before tonight go faster.
Taehyung was physically drained by the time he finally closed the teashop and ventured over to the Hog’s Head. He had a spring in his step, though, at the prospect of seeing Jeongguk again. Just Jeongguk, just the two of them, left alone - except maybe by Yoongi, but he’d be kept busy by other pub-goers on a Saturday night. Taehyung was definitely more excited than he wanted to be given that he wanted to take this slowly, but fuck it, he thought. It was Jeongguk, and he’d somehow missed him more in the past two weeks than he had in the past decade.
He found Jeongguk waiting for him outside the entrance to the pub, rugged up in a thick woolly scarf and cute beanie.
“So, Hufflepuff won, huh?” Taehyung called out to catch his attention. “That ref must have rigged it.”
Jeongguk threw his head back, eyes alight as he laughed. “You Ravenclaws, always overthinking things when it’s plain and simple. Hufflepuff’s just the better team,” he teased with a shrug.
“You must feel so excited now that the season’s finally started,” Taehyung said, grabbing hold of Jeongguk’s mittened hand with one hand and tugging the door open with the other. The warm air of the pub hit them immediately and they hurried to tug off their coats. Jeongguk always felt the cold much more than Taehyung, and he rubbed his hands together after taking off his mittens. Taehyung worried for how many layers he’d be wearing when winter actually came.
“Yeah, it kind of felt like I never left but also felt pretty great to be the one making all the calls, you know?” Jeongguk answered, hanging his coat on the rack by the door. “Like, to be on the field and not fire up at the other team being given a penalty.”
Taehyung laughed as Yoongi rounded the bar and approached them, walking more quickly than Taehyung had ever seen him walk before.
“Hey! Welcome,” he said with a warm smile, his hands clasped in front of him. He looked like a small old man welcoming them proudly into his home.
“Hi, Yoongi-hyung,” they chorused.
“Here, I reserved a table for you.” He led them over to a candlelit booth by the front window with a view of the lane. There was a light caking of frost on the windowpanes that refracted the soft glow of the street lamps, signalling winter was near.
“Woah, Yoongi-hyung, the best seat in the house? For us?” Taehyung drawled with a huge smile.
“This is so nice, hyung!” Jeongguk added.
“Okay, okay.” Yoongi waited for them to get settled. “Can I get you anything to drink first?”
“Ooh, how about some wine?” Taehyung suggested.
“Yeah, why not? It’s a special occasion.”
Yoongi scoffed but they ignored him.
“What about that stuff we had at mine the other night?”
“The pinot noir or the merlot?”
“The pinot, definitely.”
“Yeah, that was good. Hyung,” Jeongguk turned to Yoongi, “could we have-”
“Coming right up,” Yoongi interrupted abruptly before walking back to the bar.
Taehyung and Jeongguk snickered to each other.
“Wow, he really went to some trouble,” Jeongguk said, looking googly-eyed at the candles, the Algerian iris and delicate white snowdrops in a vase, and the pretty side plate and cutlery that Taehyung knew Yoongi usually only put out at Christmas.
Taehyung smiled to himself and stroked a finger down the handle of his fork. He liked the ways Yoongi chose to show his love and affection for them.
Yoongi came back with two glasses of wine and placed them on the table. “Here you go,” he said with a smile. “Call out when you’ve decided what you want to eat, okay?”
“Okay, thanks, Yoongi-hyung,” Jeongguk said. Yoongi gave him a smile that to a stranger might have appeared glum or uninterested, but Taehyung saw right through it, knew it was fond.
They clinked their glasses together and took a sip. Jeongguk’s eyes went wide over the rim of the glass and he quickly put it down, like he’d just remembered something.
“Oh! Um, I got this for you…”
He jumped up and dashed over to the coat rack, pulled a box out of the inside pocket, then hopped back to their booth. The box was thin and rectangular, and was wrapped neatly in brown paper and tied with a thin purple string. He placed it on the table gently and nudged it towards Taehyung, biting his lip as Taehyung looked at it.
“Oh, Guk, you shouldn’t have,” Taehyung said, more than a little surprised. “I didn’t get you anything.”
Jeongguk didn’t say anything, just shook his head with a nervous lip bite and waited eagerly for Taehyung to open the gift.
When Taehyung peeled back a bit of the paper and saw the box underneath, he had an idea of what it could be, although couldn’t quite believe it.
“Oh, you really shouldn’t have,” he breathed, pulling the paper and string completely off the Scrivenshaft’s box. He opened it to reveal the beautiful lilac plume of the quill he’d been eyeing in the shop over a month ago, on his and Jeongguk’s first unofficial date. “This is beautiful, I can’t believe you did this. Thank you.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Jeongguk said, preening as Taehyung brushed his finger along the soft feather.
“I’m going to use it everyday,” he gushed. “I was going to start drafting my new article tomorrow so this is perfect timing!”
“Aw, I’m so glad- wait, article?”
“Oh, yeah, I’ve been, uh, I’ve been doing some work on the side, just some research and some writing on stuff I’m interested in,” Taehyung said shyly.
“That’s amazing, Tae. Why didn’t you mention it before?! Will you let me read it- them? I want to read all of them,” Jeongguk said, doe eyes in full force and shining brightly in the candlelight.
Taehyung giggled bashfully and ran a thumb nervously along the back of Jeongguk’s knuckles. “You can read them if you like, although I don’t know if you’ll find them very interesting. They’re mostly on the properties of different plant species.”
“Sounds great, can’t wait to read them all while you’re working tomorrow morning,” Jeongguk said assertively. “So, you’re working on something new now? What’s this one about?”
“Um, yeah! Actually, there’s a new shrub that’s been discovered and it’s being studied in Moscow right now. It’s called the Phoenix Wreath. You can burn it until it’s almost ash, then crush it up and put it in your tea and it’s thought to have some rejuvenating power… no one’s entirely sure, but that’s the most likely hypothesis to be proven, so they say.”
“And what’s your article going to focus-”
“Oh, you’re talking about the new article?” It was Yoongi, interrupting again to bring them a bread basket.
“You knew he’s been writing?”
“Yeah, he makes me bloody proofread them before sending them off,” Yoongi grumbled.
Taehyung noticed Jeongguk pout at that, and laughed, squeezing his hand. “Oh, come on, Guk, it’s not that important. Just a little thing I do to keep busy.”
“But it is!” Jeongguk said, still pouting. “You obviously enjoy it, so that makes it important!”
“Okay, well, you can tell me what you think of my most recently published one tomorrow.”
“Mm, the famous one,” Yoongi said, nodding. Then he turned to Jeongguk. “It’s been reviewed a lot, and all really positively. We’ve got a little genius over here.”
“Merlin’s beard, hyung,” Taehyung mumbled, blushing furiously. The candles were really warm, he couldn’t help it.
“Okay, okay,” Yoongi said again, waddling away to check on another table.
Taehyung glanced up at Jeongguk to find him giving him the fondest look he’d ever seen, probably the fondest since Taehyung bumbled his way through telling him he loved him for the first time, although that was a mixture of fond and overwhelmed… so maybe since he found out Taehyung received the highest NEWT scores of their year and burst into the Great Hall that evening and barrelled over to the Ravenclaw table to assault his face with kisses… or maybe since the time he found Taehyung crying over a baby mandrake getting sick like the absolute nerd he was.
“What?” Taehyung whined.
Jeongguk just smiled and shrugged. “Proud of you.”
“Okay, so I’m ninety-nine percent sure they’re hooking up,” Taehyung said over a mouthful of lamb stew. After talking more about Taehyung’s research and published articles, they’d ordered dinner and a refill of their wine. The wind outside had picked up and the street looked cold but they grew warmer the more they talked and drank, in their own little bubble. “I’ve suspected Yoongi liked Seokjin for a while but I didn’t think it was mutual until the party.”
“I did always think that their rivalry was very homoerotic,” Jeongguk mused, making them both snigger into their food. “And that there had to have been something more going on for them to be fighting like that. How do you think Hoseok’s handling it, though?”
Taehyung put down his knife and fork with a sigh. “He’s doing okay, I think. I haven’t seen him as much as usual these last couple of weeks, only once for lunch the other day, but I think he’s gonna be alright. Just… he’s clearly trying really hard to get over his feelings.”
“Do you think he’s going to tell Yoongi?”
“Well, that’s what I said but… don’t you reckon Yoongi already knows? So, unless it’s going to help Hobi get over him, I don’t really see the point.”
“That’s true. At least they’re not together together yet. I think that’d be harder for him to deal with.” Jeongguk took a big bite of his roasted chicken, his cheeks bulging like a rabbit’s.
“Also true.” Taehyung paused and took a sip of wine. Then he leant forward to whisper, “When do you think they’ll get together, though?”
“Who the fuck knows,” Jeongguk spoke through his mouthful, exasperated.
Taehyung laughed in agreement.
They finished their food and split a dish of Yoongi’s apple and rhubarb crumble and ice cream for dessert. After their busy days, the combination of the wine, the heavy food and the warm atmosphere of the pub added to their exhaustion. Taehyung could see the way Jeongguk’s eyes drooped, staying closed a little longer on each blink, and felt his eyes do the same.
“This was really lovely,” he said as they stepped back out into the lane, Yoongi patting them on the back as they left.
“Best second first date ever,” Jeongguk replied drowsily, voice muffled by his scarf.
Jeongguk walked Taehyung back up the lane to Madam Puddifoot’s with their arms linked and hands shoved deep in their pockets. The town was quiet, just the hooting of an owl, the crackling sound of the street lamps flickering in their glass boxes, and the few other pub goers returning home.
When they arrived at the back door to Taehyung’s apartment above the shop, Taehyung bit his lip and stepped onto the first stair leading to the door. He turned to face Jeongguk and smiled uncertainly.
“Are you, um, are you alright getting back this late?”
Jeongguk smiled understandingly. “I’m twenty-eight, Tae, I think I’ll be fine.”
Taehyung looked down, embarrassed. “I know, I just… if you want to come inside…”
Jeongguk was quiet for a moment and when Taehyung looked at his face, he could see he was thinking something over. “Maybe when we’re not both so exhausted,” he said. He yawned as if to emphasise his point. “But, um, maybe you could give me something you’ve written to read? And I could bring it back to you tomorrow?”
A grin spread across Taehyung’s face uninhibited. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. Come up, I’ll get it.”
It’s just Jeongguk, he told himself as he unlocked his door and held it open for Jeongguk. He felt a little nervous at having him in his space, felt on show, somehow, even though Jeongguk had seen every inch of him, naked and exposed, and knew him better than most other people.
“Your place is great,” Jeongguk said, stepping hesitantly further into the room and stopping by the couch. He looked around at Taehyung’s knick-knacks and art on the walls and his mismatched furniture. “Very you. I feel like I’ve walked into your brain.”
Taehyung let out a surprised laugh as he rifled through his desk drawer and pulled out two, thin booklets bound by string. “Thanks, I guess. Here. I won’t be offended if you don’t finish them, or even read them at all. I know they’re not the most interesting of topics.”
“Wow, so professional,” Jeongguk said, taking the booklets and ignoring what Taehyung said, instead running a finger down the bound edges. “Can’t wait to read them. I’m sure I’ll feel either very smart or very dumb depending on how much I understand.”
Taehyung rolled his eyes fondly and smacked him on the arm. He felt a little flushed at having Jeongguk here and talking to him so sweetly.
“Alright,” Jeongguk said, carefully folding the booklets into the inside pocket of his coat. “I’ll see you tomorrow, around midday, probably. I think I could sleep for a million years right now.”
Taehyung hummed, “Me, too,” and followed Jeongguk back to the door with a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades. “See you tomorrow, then.”
With a hand on the doorknob, Jeongguk turned back to Taehyung and, without dislodging Taehyung’s hand from his back, leant in to kiss him slowly. His wet lips kissed his top lip first, then his bottom lip, then he angled his head to kiss him indulgently, squarely on the mouth.
“Sleep well, Tae,” he said, then he left.
Taehyung watched as he went down the steps to the laneway and apparated away. He closed his front door and locked it, then leant his hands flat against it, trying to catch his breath.
⋆ ☆ ⋆
“So, we get down on our knees to pose in this hobbit door, right, and then Namjoon’s like, we should pretend to put our rings on, like they’re the ring in the movie, and we’re posing with our rings hovering above our fingers, just trying to be funny, when the tour guide rushes over, all ‘Oh my god, oh my god, this is amazing’, and he starts taking more pictures of us than he took for the other groups, and nice close ups, too, right, and we don’t realise until later that he thinks we were getting engaged! Like actually, for real, engaged, like who the fuck would propose in a hobbit doorway with the entire tour group watching?!”
Jimin had reenacted this story at dinner parties for years but it never failed to make Taehyung laugh. He was bent over the table, laughter muffled in his arms, his stomach and cheeks hurting from laughing so much as Jimin acted out the tour guide’s excited photo-taking. He was pretty sure he was also crying.
Jeongguk beside him wasn’t doing too much better. He hadn’t heard the story of Jimin and Namjoon’s almost-sort-of-not-really-engagement before and he was losing it, head leant on the back of the chair and hands holding his stomach as he laughed.
“We only realised ‘cause the guy asked us - oh, I can’t remember, what did he ask us?”
“Something about how long we’d been together, that we must’ve been huge fans to do it at Hobbiton, I don’t know,” Namjoon says to Jimin with a blissful smile and a relaxed, loving look in his eye. “It was ridiculous. But thank Merlin for his mistake.”
Namjoon took Jimin’s hand in his and Jimin slowly came back to his seat beside him, looking equally content.
“They weren’t together at that point,” Taehyung explains to Jeongguk, “and they only confessed to one another that night, when they realised they’d offended each other with how strongly they’d denied being together to the tour guide.”
“Ah,” Jeongguk nodded, an amused smirk on his lips, “I see. Can I see the photos he took?”
Namjoon stood up and went into Jimin’s bedroom, which was just off the living room as it was in Namjoon’s rooms. He returned quickly with a photo frame and a small stack of other photos. “Here you go,” he said, handing them to Jeongguk. “We got the guide to take them on our camera.”
Taehyung leant into Jeongguk and they looked at the moving images together. In the framed one, Jimin and Namjoon were laughing and smiling at each other with their rings held above their fingers.
“Better check on the dinner,” Jimin said as they laughed over the photos. He brushed a hand down Namjoon’s arm before walking to the kitchen.
“More wine, you two?” Namjoon asked, already following Jimin into the kitchen.
“Ooh, yes please,” Taehyung said, then went back to giggling with Jeongguk over Namjoon’s shocked expression in the photo that the guide must have taken as he’d rushed over to them.
The photos were sweet. Taehyung remembered Jimin’s letter that he’d received the day after the incident, where he’d told Taehyung the whole story and gushed about how he and Namjoon were finally together. Jeongguk seemed to think they were cute, too, judging by his smile. Taehyung thought he saw something akin to longing in his eyes as he looked at the couple in the little Hobbit doorway, but he tried not to give too much weight to it.
Since Namjoon, Jimin and Jeongguk had come to the teashop and had lunch with Taehyung, the four of them had begun to meet up for meals and outings more frequently. Taehyung didn’t want to get ahead of himself and call them double dates, but he really did hope that’s what they were. Or, at least, that Jeongguk considered them dates, too, after how well their date at the Hog’s Head had gone.
Voices from the kitchen drew Taehyung’s attention away from Jeongguk. He subtly turned his head towards the sound, not wanting to seem like he was eavesdropping, and furrowed his eyebrows when he caught the tone of Namjoon’s hushed voice.
“…use that tone with me all the time!”
“You’re misreading it again,” came Jimin’s voice, equally as low, “I only asked you-”
“Tae?” Jeongguk called quietly from beside him.
Taehyung snapped his attention back to Jeongguk and tried to smile. “Yeah? Sorry, did you say something?”
“No, just… they don’t sound-”
“Oh, well, you do it then!” Jimin shouted, much louder than they had been before, clearly not caring whether Taehyung and Jeongguk could hear.
“Don’t shout at me.” Namjoon sounded angry in a way Taehyung hadn’t heard before.
Jeongguk and Taehyung sat uncomfortably at the dining table and pretended to be looking at the photos, although Taehyung knew both of their minds were on the couple in the kitchen.
Jimin returned in a huff a few moments later, floating a big pot and some side dishes along with him. “Here we are,” he said, a hint of irritation in his calm voice and smile. He placed the food on the table and started to guide their plates to the edge of the pot, directing a ladle to scoop servings of the stew he’d made onto each plate.
Namjoon came back from the kitchen with two wine bottles and a tight smile. “Here’s that wine,” he said, starting to pour.
Whatever had gone on in the kitchen appeared to have just been a little spat because in no time at all everything was back to how it had been before, and Jimin and Namjoon seemed fine.
Maybe it was normal, Taehyung mused. Merlin knows he and Jeongguk used to have little arguments, and there was nothing wrong about that. And in a relationship of almost seven years, of course petty little fights were bound to happen. Taehyung wouldn’t worry yet.
“Ooh, ooh, tell Tae about what happened in your class this afternoon!” Jimin was saying when Taehyung focussed back on the conversation.
“Oh! Yeah, Tae, this is good,” Jeongguk laughed, turning in his seat so he was facing Taehyung a little more. “So, it’s the last class of the week, Friday afternoon, everyone just wants to go home, and this bloody first year, who’s flown a total of five times, decides it’s the right time to show me he can replicate the backflip I did when I scored the winning goal against the Harpies last season…”
The night continues like that, eating and laughing, sharing stories and reminiscing and laughing in Jimin’s rooms, and Taehyung feels warm all over. By the time dinner wrapped up, Jimin was clinging onto Namjoon and yawning tiredly, cheeks flushed from the wine and the heat of the fireplace. Namjoon wasn’t faring too much better, splayed out on the couch and struggling to keep his eyes open for a few moments at a time.
Taehyung couldn’t stop yawning either as he pulled on his coat and called out a good-bye. He and Jeongguk stepped out into the dark corridor outside Jimin’s rooms, their way lit by candlesticks along the walls. Jeongguk turned to Taehyung and took hold of his hands.
“Stay the night,” Jeongguk said, eyes imploring. “It’s too late and too cold for you to go home now.”
So, so tempting, Taehyung thought.
“Please, Tae, just… we don’t have to do anything but sleep. I know you don’t want to rush this; I just want to be close to you for a little while longer.”
Taehyung watched him openly. He’d changed since school - of course, that was to be expected, but he was so much more straightforward than Taehyung remembered. They’d sort of bumbled their way through the main stages of their relationship - first date, first kiss, first time, all entered into without much negotiation or communication beyond a mutual understanding that they wanted it.
Now, Jeongguk outright asked to spend time with him alone, and talked easily about how their relationship was progressing, and how he’d like for it to progress. It was… comforting, Taehyung thought, to have him so clearly express how much he wanted Taehyung, and wanted to be with him.
As he watched Jeongguk blink slowly, his kind, tired eyes reflecting the glow of the candlelight, he decided to voice this. “You’re so much the same as you were in high school, but you’re so different, too. You’re a lot more assertive.”
Jeongguk’s smile turned confused. “I know what I want.”
“Yeah,” Taehyung laughed, looking away, “you clearly do. It’s nice.”
Jeongguk inched forward, his hands sliding up from Taehyung’s hands, along his forearms, and up to his biceps. “Yeah? You like it?”
Taehyung met his eyes again and cocked his lips into a teasing smirk. “Don’t be so suggestive. We’re just sleeping, okay?”
“Yes!” Jeongguk whispered, elongating the s and pumping his fists in the air cutely, like he’d just scored a winning goal.
“I really mean it, though.” They walked further down the hall towards Jeongguk’s rooms. “You’ve really come into yourself. You’re a lot more forthcoming and confident in who you are. It’s nice to see, knowing how shy you used to be.”
“Was my shyness ever an issue for you? I know I could be awkward sometimes.” He pressed his hand to the clover leaf in his doorway portrait and it swung inwards.
“Not one bit,” Taehyung said, shaking his head as he followed Jeongguk inside. “As soon as you got comfortable around people, you were hilarious. You were so good to be around. And you are now, too. I feel good being around you.”
Jeongguk illuminated some lights in his living room and turned to face Taehyung. “I’m glad. I know you want to take this slow and see how it goes but it’s really nice to have the reassurance that you’re happy with me.”
Taehyung shucked off his coat and threw it over the arm of Jeongguk’s couch. He stepped up to him and ran his palms from Jeongguk’s chest to behind his neck, smiling serenely. “Mm,” he hummed lowly. “Very happy, bunny.” He leant in and rubbed his nose against Jeongguk’s before pressing a light peck on his lips.
“Ooh, ‘bunny’. Haven’t been called that in a while.” Jeongguk chuckled and kissed Taehyung again.
“‘S cute.” Another peck. “Do you mind?”
“Nah,” another one, as Jeongguk’s hands snaked around his waist and came to rest on the small of his back, “as long as I can call you ‘baby’ like I used to?”
“Hmm,” Taehyung giggled, biting his lip, “sure can.”
Taehyung laced his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, upper arms resting on his shoulders, and kissed him again. Jeongguk’s arms tightened around his back so they were flush against one another and licked along Taehyung’s bottom lip. Taehyung inhaled sharply through his nose and pressed closer, kissing him more deeply.
They struggled their way to Jeongguk’s bedroom, refusing to disentangle from one another, and fell sideways onto his plush bed. Jeongguk grabbed at Taehyung’s hips, at his back, inching closer to his ass as if hesitant to push Taehyung too far. Taehyung, though, arched his back, pressing his chest into Jeongguk’s and inviting Jeongguk’s hand to travel lower.
“Thought we were just sleeping,” Jeongguk murmured against his lips.
Taehyung licked into his mouth and squeezed the back of Jeongguk’s neck, massaging it as he kissed him. “Mm. This feels so good, though.”
Jeongguk gave Taehyung’s ass a generous squeeze with both hands and pulled Taehyung on top of him. They rolled into the new position, which allowed Taehyung to kiss Jeongguk even more deeply, and he cradled his face in his hands as he did so.
When he started to feel Jeongguk growing hard against his hip, though, he eased back.
“Sorry, just. Maybe this is a bit fast.”
Jeongguk was flushed beneath him, his lips swollen, deep red and glossy with spit, and his hair a mess against the duvet. “All good,” he said, running his hands up and down Taehyung’s sides.
“I know it’s been a few months, and I want to… do more but… soon, okay?”
Jeongguk brought his hands to Taehyung’s back and sat up so Taehyung was straddling his waist. “Mhm.” He pecked Taehyung’s lips. “There’s no rush, babe.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
They made out for a little while longer before Taehyung had to detach his mouth from Jeongguk’s neck to let out a huge yawn.
“Mm, I’m sleepy, too,” Jeongguk croaked, voice thick with tiredness.
They groggily changed into pyjamas, Taehyung borrowing an oversized shirt and some flannel pants from Jeongguk, and burrowed under the thick covers of Jeongguk’s bed.
“Let’s sleep.” Taehyung lay on his side and threw an arm and a leg over Jeongguk, wrapping himself around him koala-style.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” Jeongguk teased, but he nuzzled his face into the front of Taehyung’s hair and placed a light kiss to his forehead, and they dozed off.
The morning was surprisingly nippy for how well insulated (and charmed) Jeongguk’s room was, and Taehyung shuffled down further beneath the covers to escape the cold. He pulled the duvet tight around his shoulders and kicked out his legs in a stretch, his foot meeting -
Oh. Jeongguk.
He cracked open an eye and raised his head slightly off the pillow to peer down at Jeongguk’s sleeping face. Jeongguk was still on his back and Taehyung was curled up on his side, facing him, just like how they’d fallen asleep. Jeongguk’s brow was furrowed a little, presumably because of Taehyung kicking him in the leg, but it smoothed over quickly. Taehyung watched as he swallowed and breathed open-mouthed, licking his lips to wet them, all signs he was starting to wake up.
When he didn’t wake up, and instead settled back into sleep, Taehyung contemplated waking him with a kiss. He started to lean in but hesitated centimetres from Jeongguk’s lips, embarrassed at how cheesy he was being. He pulled back slowly, readjusting so he was lying on his side again, his folded arms cushioning his head atop the pillow.
Jeongguk stirred again, this time blinking his eyes open against the light coming in through the slit in the curtains. He breathed in deeply and turned his head to Taehyung, smiling.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
“What, no good morning kiss?” Jeongguk teased, and Taehyung’s cheeks flushed. “Well, if you won’t do it, I will.”
He closed the distance between them and planted a smacking kiss on Taehyung’s lips, exaggerating it with a loud “mwah!”.
Taehyung giggled and pulled in him, kissing him seriously.
“Mmf,” Jeongguk hummed against Taehyung’s lips, trying to pull himself away. “Gotta get up. Important match this morning. Ravenclaw and Slytherin.”
“Ugh, but it’s so early.”
“I know.” Jeongguk threw back the duvet and swung his feet to the ground. He slipped on a pair of socks from beside the bed and stood, making his way over to the bathroom.
Taehyung watched him as he went with one hand propped up behind his head, thinking. “Can I come watch?” he yelled out.
“Really?” came Jeongguk’s voice, followed by the flush of the toilet.
“Yeah,” Taehyung called back. He rolled out of bed, tugged off Jeongguk’s pyjama pants and put back on the previous day’s underwear. “Wanna see you zoom around on your broom, blowing your whistle and telling kids off and stuff.”
He could hear Jeongguk laugh before he popped his head around the bathroom door frame to peer at Taehyung. “Sure, why not? But since we’ll now both need to shower and we’re in a bit of a rush, take those damn underpants off again and get that cute bum of yours in here.”
Jimin found Taehyung just as he was settling into a spare seat in the staff viewing section, where Jeongguk had told him he could sit. Knowing him as well as they did, none of the teachers batted an eyelid at Taehyung’s presence.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Jimin smirked. He looped his arm through Taehyung’s and dragged him to a bench that was higher up in the stands, telling him it had a better view.
“Where’s Namjoon-hyung?” Taehyung asked as he and Jimin settled onto the bench.
“Busy,” Jimin said shortly.
Taehyung shrugged and looked back towards the pitch, where Jeongguk was now addressing the players. He looked good in his referee’s uniform of sleek black robes, a collared white shirt and black tie, sturdy black gloves and thickly rimmed goggles slipped on top of his head, pushing his hair out of his face.
He didn’t think he was being that obvious about staring at Jeongguk the whole time but, it turned out later, he really was.
Of course, Taehyung had seen Jeongguk fly and play Quidditch many times before - the number was probably somewhere in the hundreds - at school matches and in the newspapers. He’d even attended a Catapults match in Jeongguk’s first season. But there was something different about seeing Jeongguk in this role - the way he commanded not only the broom and the field but the other players and their respect, and the way he clearly took his role very seriously, yet looked like he was enjoying himself. Taehyung thought it was great to see him like this, doing something he liked.
Although, Taehyung wondered whether it was frustrating for Jeongguk not to be able to play or perform any of the stunts and tricks he was probably used to whipping out whenever on a broomstick. Because of his knee, he had to stick to only very basic flying manœuvres. He’d mentioned to Taehyung that even sometimes taking a sudden, sharp turn or accelerating too quickly, both of which involved tensing the knees against the broomstick, could aggravate his injury, which is why he did a lot of exercises before and after matches to ensure he didn’t overwork his knee.
Watching him now, Taehyung could see he was being careful: he coasted along, following the quaffle and other balls in play at an easy speed that he could quicken or slow as needed, and looked ready to make any sudden movements. Or so Taehyung hoped - he’d never been much of a player, or even a keen spectator before dating Jeongguk.
At the sound of cheering, Taehyung took his focus off Jeongguk to check the score and was pleased to see Ravenclaw had scored a goal and were winning. He focussed back on Jeongguk to watch him head to the centre for the start of a new play after the goal, admiring the way he took charge.
“I can practically hear you getting hard,” Jimin mocked into his ear. “Didn’t think you’d be this whipped for him. Again.”
“What-” Taehyung spluttered. “I’m not!”
Jimin smirked and chuckled to himself, turning his attention back to the game. Taehyung did the same. “You’ve barely reacted to any of the major plays and fouls that everyone else here has been reacting to, Tae,” Jimin said. “Clearly, your attention is elsewhere.”
“I wish Joon-hyung were here, then maybe your attention would be elsewhere,” Taehyung grumbled.
Jimin remained still and quiet beside him.
There was a commotion on the field and Taehyung’s eyes followed Jeongguk, who was zooming over to a pair of tussling players. Everyone in the stands stood as the Ravenclaw seeker and Slytherin beater ripped into each other and Jeongguk went over to intervene.
Taehyung couldn’t hear what was going on but the student commentator, Aisyah-Lee Jordan, was recounting the way the beater had directed a bludger straight to the seeker as she’d been reaching for the snitch. Moments later, Jeongguk awarded Ravenclaw a penalty and the stands were filled with noise once more - cheering from the Ravenclaw supporters and jeering and booing from Slytherin.
“Good call, good call,” a deep voice commented from in front of Taehyung and Jimin.
“He really is excellent. So fair and perceptive,” another echoed.
“He really is far below his station here, isn’t he, Professor?” noted Professor Thistlethwaite to Professor Desai.
“Yes, quite right. I hope we can keep him here until he moves on to something more worthy of his talents,” Professor Desai agreed, adjusting her pince-nez higher on her nose.
Ah. There it was. That niggling in the back of his brain, the reason he wanted to take things slowly despite how happy Jeongguk made him feel.
As the staff began to take their seats after the excitement of the penalty, Taehyung shrank back into his bench, feeling small. For all that he knew Jeongguk loved this job, it had only been a few months and the novelty of being back here and trying something new probably hadn’t worn off yet.
Of course, Jeongguk was brilliant. Of course, he was well-loved. Of course, he was too big and too good for this place, for a high school and a small neighbouring town. They’d fallen into each other so quickly and recklessly in high school, and it had ended. Taehyung felt like there was more to lose this time, and more reasons to be hesitant, more reasons for this to end all over again.
The rest of the match passed by without any more noteworthy events, although the pride Taehyung felt when Ravenclaw won did help to assuage his glum mood somewhat. He and Jimin stuck around for the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor match and, by the end of the morning, Taehyung felt like all he could see was a blur of black and white across his eyes wherever he looked, and across the insides of his eyelids whenever he blinked.
Jimin waited with Taehyung outside the staff changing rooms after the match, talking idly about the Charms exam he was going to set in January. His favourite class was the first years, not only because they were often the most eager to learn, even if not always the easiest to teach, but also because they fucked up the most frequently. Jimin got a real kick out of charms gone wrong, which Taehyung suspected was mostly because he felt a sort of companionship with them due to all the times his pranks had turned out horribly.
He was in the middle of telling Taehyung about the kid who had tried to avoid being stung by bees by using a confundus charm on a swarm of bees he saw outside the charms classroom after a lesson but had instead made himself highly attractive to bees and had immediately had bees stuck to his face, neck and arms, when Jeongguk came out dressed in plain clothes.
“Hey!” he greeted. “Did you enjoy the games?”
“I always enjoy when Ravenclaw gives Slytherin a good thrashing,” Jimin said rather zealously.
Jeongguk laughed. “Well, I can’t officially agree with you but… me, too,” he whispered.
“You were great,” Taehyung offered, reaching a hand out to touch Jeongguk on the arm, feeling the soft material of his winter coat. “Is it wrong that I found you really hot in your uniform?”
“No, Tae,” Jimin interrupted with an exaggerated sigh, pretending to be exasperated, “it’s wrong that you were growing in your pants as you watched a high school sports match.”
“Not as long as it was only me you were watching,” Jeongguk said, playfully sultry.
“Of course, it was!” Taehyung cried, affronted.
Jimin cackled to himself and began to walk up the hill towards the castle. “I’d better be getting back. Need to start organising the equipment for the practical part of that exam. You two still good for dinner next week?”
“Yeah, we’ll be there.”
“But do we really have to wear Christmas jumpers?” Jeongguk complained.
Without hesitation, Jimin and Taehyung simultaneously told him, “Yes,” with annoyed (Jimin) and offended (Taehyung) facial expressions.
Jeongguk slumped his shoulders, sulking, and Taehyung gripped his arm tightly with a giant grin.
“It’s our last dinner before we all leave for Christmas,” Jimin continued, “you have to.” When Jeongguk gave a low grumble of “okay” under his breath, Jimin smiled, triumphant, and turned to keep walking up the hill. “Bye! See you soon!”
“So, did you really pop one while watching me?”
Taehyung snapped his attention from Jimin to Jeongguk, who was watching him with a cocky expression, eyes alight. “‘Pop one’? What are we, seventeen? And no, I did not.”
They started walking down the grassy slope and around the grounds, making their way to the road that led into town. The afternoon sun was warm on Taehyung’s face but the breeze was cool, and Jeongguk shivered slightly beside him. He slipped his hand from his arm down to his hand and gripped it tightly, hoping it would help him warm up.
“Just like you didn’t when you came to watch my first match against the Kenmare Kestrels?”
Taehyung narrowed his eyes at Jeongguk and pursed his lips. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
With a squeeze of Taehyung’s hand and a little skip as they neared the boundary of the school grounds, Jeongguk threw back, “Oh, I think you find me much more than cute.”
Taehyung whacked him on the arm.
Jeongguk walked Taehyung back to the teashop and stuck around until closing later in the afternoon. He settled into a booth and Taehyung gave him a steaming bowl of soup and thick slices of bread for lunch. Later, when he’d finished eating and kissed Taehyung on the cheek, whenever Taehyung looked over to check on him between chatting with other customers and supervising the kitchen, he caught Jeongguk dozing off in the booth. He refused to leave every time Taehyung told him to just go home, that he didn’t have to wait around for him, so Taehyung eventually relented and handed Jeongguk the key to his apartment, telling him to wait for him upstairs.
When Taehyung locked up and said goodbye to Soobin, Beomgyu and Yeonjun, he dragged his tired feet up the stairs to his apartment, keen to change out the clothes he’d been wearing for almost twenty-four hours. He opened his mouth to call out for Jeongguk as he opened the front door but stopped in his tracks as soon as he entered.
Jeongguk was passed out on the couch, his shoes on the floor in front of him and his coat bundled up under his head. Taehyung smiled at the sight, at Jeongguk’s half-open mouth and the way his hands were folded in his lap, like he’d fallen asleep in the middle of doing something. He looked to the coffee table in front of him and saw that he’d been looking at Taehyung’s new research - he didn’t know whether to find it sweet that Jeongguk was interested in knowing what he was doing or to laugh at the idea that it might have put him to sleep.
Slowly, trying to be as quiet as he could, Taehyung slipped off his shoes and placed them gently by the door. He slipped off his coat and hung it on his coat stand, then tiptoed around the coffee table and into his kitchen. He filled a teapot with water and, after a few moments of clicking and waving and pointing, he pulled his wand from his back pocket and tapped the pot, heating it instantly.
He stared at the teapot glumly, fed up, and clenched his fists. One of the empty flower pots on the sill outside his kitchen window exploded, and he snapped his head up to see the other pots hovering an inch in the air. He unclenched and watched as they landed back on the sill, and took a deep breath.
Putting the pot and two mugs on a small tray, he shuffled on socked feet back to the living area. The pot exploding hadn’t woken Jeongguk, whose angelic face looked peaceful in sleep. Taehyung gently placed the tray on the table beside his papers and stood in front of Jeongguk.
Leaning over him, he touched his shoulder lightly, shaking him a little. “Guk,” he voiced softly, “bun. Don’t sleep now, you won’t sleep tonight.”
Jeongguk twitched awake, jolting his head to the side and blinking his eyes at the light. He wet his lips and, when his eyes focussed on Taehyung, he smiled warmly, slow and slack with tiredness. His eyes brightened and Taehyung took another deep breath as he looked at him.
And, yeah, this was why Taehyung possibly, probably (definitely) didn’t need to hesitate. As much as Jeongguk was this big, famous, much-loved international superstar, he was here, with Taehyung. He was his, and Taehyung needed to trust that he meant it when he showed him, in all the little ways that he showed him, that that wasn’t going to change.
“Hey,” Jeongguk murmured, voice rough from sleep.
“Hey,” Taehyung said back.
…
To Taehyung’s delight, it was a white Christmas on the Isle of Man that year. He’d returned to his family home a few days before Christmas, the farm icy and the days plagued by drizzle and harsh winds. But when he woke on Christmas Day, it was to a light caking of frost on his window and a layer of fluffy white snow on his windowsill.
He sprung out of bed and corralled his siblings outside into the snow, flopping down to make snow angels and writing their names and rude words in the snow and trying to make snowballs as big as their bodies to hurl at each other. Even his father came out to join them, helping Taehyung and his younger sibling build a rather lopsided snowman.
They played until their mother called them in for hot tea and toast, and they shook the snow from their bodies as they huddled around their small kitchen table. This was what Taehyung loved most about winter: the gathering together in a warm, small space while the world transformed into a glistening expanse of white outside. The trees sat heavily in the fields, their long, sturdy branches weighed down by piles of snow that Taehyung could hear falling off every so often with a soft thud. When they wandered through the snow, they would find other, smaller trails and wonder about what animal was making its way through there and where they were going. The nights were the most magical, when the fireplace crackled beneath the noise of his family playing games after dinner, and when they descended eventually into a calm quiet. Mulled wine and hot chocolate warmed their hands and stomachs, and the wind swirled snowflakes around outside their little farmhouse as if they were inside a snowglobe.
On Boxing Day, Taehyung met up with Wooshik in the city. Their other friends had remained in London for the holidays, but Wooshik had returned home like Taehyung for the first time in a few years. His theatre troupe had just completed a long run of a magical interpretation of a Marlowe play to critical success and he was relieved and excited to be home for a proper holiday.
Taehyung was happy listening to Wooshik talk about his work. Where he’d been worried months ago that his friends had made wiser career choices than he had, now when he heard the passion in Wooshik’s voice, he found it mirrored his own love for his job. He told Wooshik about the shop and about his research and felt gratified by the wide smile Wooshik gave him as he listened.
Of course, Wooshik eventually steered the conversation to Jeongguk.
“He’s loving teaching,” Taehyung told him, “and he’s such a good referee, really mentors the kids.”
“And you?” Wooshik asked, eyes twinkling knowingly. “How are things between you two?”
Taehyung smiled down into his tea, fiddling with the cup’s handle. “Good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he looked up, “it’s… we’re really good. It feels so familiar but so much better than before. Like, there’s no… definite ending in sight like there was at the end of high school.”
“You seem really happy, Tae,” Wooshik said, and Taehyung could feel his cheeks straining a little, unable to contain his smile.
He really was. Jeongguk was full of surprises - on the day Taehyung arrived home, a small parcel from Jeongguk’s home town in southern England was waiting for him. Inside was a lovely note and crushed winter flowers - irises and purple pansies - from his mother’s garden. Taehyung had sent him apple scones with homemade blackberry jam in response, as well as a draft of his new article on Phoenix Wreath with a small note attached dedicating it to ‘my phoenix, who came back to me’.
And just that morning, another letter had come from Jeongguk, wishing him a belated merry Christmas and an early happy birthday. It also included a sweet little line with a kind of contrived metaphor about Taehyung being the summer sun - or a snowy owl, he couldn’t be sure - which he longed to see amongst the white winter landscape... he thinks? Look, Jeongguk tried, and Taehyung’s heart tugged at the thought of Jeongguk sitting down and trying to express his thoughts and feelings in the letter, more than at the actual words. He sent back moving polaroids of him and his sister lying in the snow, snowflakes in their hair, beaming into the camera, and of him and his parents in front of the fire, and told him that he missed him.
With a promise to send him tickets to his troupe’s next show and a playful demand to be kept updated on ‘Jeongguk and Taehyung 2.0’, Wooshik said goodbye to Taehyung in the lane behind the café. Taehyung stayed in the city for a little while longer before going home, wandering along the streets and pausing to peer at Christmas window displays and watch the Boxing Day sale shoppers stock up on clothing and muggle kitchen appliances. He smiled at the children tugging on their parents’ sleeves and pointing to the things they wanted, and at the tired looks the parents wore before they gave in.
Spending time in the muggle world was comforting for Taehyung. As much as it sometimes freaked him out or confused him, it was a constant reminder that he was unique regardless of the strength of his magical abilities. To be magical at all was special. And these muggles, they found ways to be unique amongst themselves without even knowing that real magic existed. (What was the real magic in this world, anyway?) As he watched them laugh and argue and walk along arm in arm, he thought of all the things they could be worrying about, of all the muggle problems they might have that Taehyung couldn’t imagine having. And here he was, thinking about how he couldn’t do magic without his wand.
So, he took his time observing the reactions of people eating unanimated and uncharmed lollies and the delight they experienced as they tasted them; he spent almost half an hour examining the new phones on display and trying to figure out how they worked; he strolled as slowly as he liked through the crowds at the Christmas markets and around the small ice-skating rink, dodging people with hot fried food and listening with interest to the muggle Christmas carols. He watched and he listened and he opened his mind to the idea that this was the ‘most magical time of the year’ for those without magical powers, and realised he could find many reasons as to why.
Still, practicing wandless magic alone in his childhood bedroom while his family were asleep had been somewhat demoralising. Back on his bed, where he used to read his parents’ old spell books and try to teach himself new tricks to show Jimin when he got back to school, Taehyung had only succeeded in performing the same water and light tricks he’d practised with Namjoon countless times before. With anything new, it was like his body couldn’t fathom what his brain was trying to get it to do. He ended up doing more wandless magic accidentally than intentionally, when he became frustrated and caused his candles to blow out or the gloops in his muggle lava lamp to break into tiny little pieces.
He reached the end of the main shopping street and turned to look back the way he’d come. The Christmas lights strewn across the road had turned on as he’d walked and shone brightly against the darkening sky. Smiling at the simple charm of muggle decorations, at the simple things that sparked joy for them, he slipped into a side street, held his thimble portkey tightly in his fist, and went home.
…
After another few days at home spent cooking with his mother, tending to the animals with his father, exploring the nearby woods with his sister, and celebrating his birthday with them all, Taehyung returned to Hogsmeade on the morning of New Year’s Eve.
Jeongguk arrived later that afternoon on the train. He dumped his bags in Taehyung’s apartment and gave him his birthday present (plus another present, which lasted for several hours) before they went to the Hog’s Head to celebrate. Of their friends, only Yoongi was back already, and Taehyung was looking forward to all the time he and Jeongguk would have over the next few days just to themselves.
They could hear the music emitting from the pub before they could even see it, and had to push their way to the bar when they got inside. This wasn’t unusual for the Hog’s Head on New Year’s Eve, but it was a shock to the system after the quiet and calm of rural life.
“Yoongi-hyung!” Taehyung called out over the din. Yoongi was filling a pitcher of beer and glanced over his shoulder at Taehyung’s voice. He cracked a smile when he spotted him and hurriedly handed off the beer to a customer over the bar and made his way over.
“Hey! Merry Christmas, guys, how were your breaks? How are your families?”
“Good, they’re all good, how was yours? How’s your mum?”
“She’s great, yeah, thanks, Tae. It was nice to get home for a bit.”
“I bet London was-”
“My friends! ‘Appy almost New Year!”
Taehyung supposed later that maybe he and Jeongguk shouldn’t have been so surprised to see Seokjin there but, in the moment, they both probably looked like a child seeing a ghost for the first time. Jeongguk definitely did.
“Seokjin!” Jeongguk said, shocked. “Hey! What are you doing here?”
Seokjin smiled and gave them both hugs. As he hugged Jeongguk, Taehyung caught Yoongi watching on fondly.
“I am celebrating, of course!” Seokjin said. He plonked himself down onto the barstool next to where Taehyung and Jeongguk were standing and grinned at them as they fish-mouthed. “When did you get back? Today?”
“Y-yeah, just a few hours ago,” Jeongguk said. He looked between Seokjin, Yoongi and Taehyung. “Um. How was your holiday?”
“It was very, very nice,” Seokjin said pleasantly. “Why don’t we ‘ave a drink togezer and you can tell me about yours, hm?”
Taehyung nodded dumbly and turned back to Yoongi, whose smile had morphed from fond to amused. “Um, some wine, please, Yoongi?”
Seokjin dragged them over to a spare table and they squeezed into the seats around it, careful not to bump any other patrons with the backs of the chairs.
“So,” Taehyung said, “you’re not in France.”
“No, I decided not to stay for ze ‘ole ‘oliday.”
“And you’re not at the Three Broomsticks?”
“Nope, decided not to open today.”
Taehyung and Jeongguk waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t. He just took a sip of his cocktail and sat back in his chair, smiling like he didn’t have a care in the world. Or two impatient friends staring at him, wanting more information.
“And?!” Jeongguk demanded.
Seokjin laughed and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Aaand. ‘Ere I am!”
“Seokjin-hyung,” Taehyung whined.
“Alright,” his face softened, becoming more serious but appearing no less happy. “So, I don’t know if you know, but Yoongi and I ‘ave been, um, ‘ooking up - is that right? ‘Ook- hooking up? Anyway, it’s been a while. Since, er, August, yes. And, well, I like ‘im a lot, you know?”
Taehyung sat back in his seat, pleased that he had been right.
Jeongguk nodded along as Seokjin spoke. “I, um, yeah, we thought you might have been. Have you liked him the whole time?”
“Ha, erm,” Seokjin laughed awkwardly, the tips of his ears going red, “to be honest, yes, and for longer. I remember meeting ‘im during the Triwizard Tournament, back when I met you,” he smiled warmly at Jeongguk, at the memory of them meeting, “and I didn’t like him all that much then. We weren’t very similar, I didn’t z-think. So, anyway. When I came back ‘ere, and met ‘im again… it was so different, it was so… I liked ‘im immediately. I don’t know what it was.”
“Wow,” Jeongguk breathed, mouth open and eyes wide, staring intently at Seokjin. Taehyung smiled, loving to watch Jeongguk when he was enthralled by something.
“But then, you know, we ‘ave this rival- rivalry and, erm, I don’t know how it started. I think some jokes I tried to make went wrong because I was nervous and he did not like that ‘e was losing customers because of me and - you know, we are so different but we are so alike. It was ‘ard to tell what we were actually fighting about after a while.”
As Seokjin talked, Taehyung oscillated between watching him and watching Yoongi work the bar. He felt like he was seeing his hyungs in a new light by considering what they were like as romantic or sexual people - by considering what they were like outside of the role of friend or hyung or publican. Taehyung had always thought of them as his two hyungs who were fighting and creating tension between their friends, rather than two men working through a complicated set of feelings and competing interests.
“Before I left for France in August, zat was when we ‘ad our first… Yoongi came to see me after we both closed for the night and we talked quite, erm, heatedly about our businesses and ‘ow we were doing and… ‘ow do you say, one zing led to another? And when I got back from France at ze start of September, it just became something we did.”
Jeongguk, entirely focussed on Seokjin, asked urgently, “So what changed? Why are you telling us now?”
Seokjin grinned. “Because we are together now!”
“Really?” Jeongguk asked, neck elongating as he pitched forward.
“Yes, really!” Seokjin looked over to the bar where Yoongi was making idle talk with a drunk customer.
“How? Why?”
Seokjin laughed at the urgency in Jeongguk’s voice. “Well, one night - not too long after Hoseok’s party, actually - I came ‘ere to see Yoongi, thought we might… get funky -” Jeongguk groaned at the expression “- but I saw Yoongi and Hoseok sitting quite intimately, very close, you know, and I didn’t know what to zink! I knew that Hobi liked Yoongi - everyone knew! - and I did not know what to make of it, them sitting so close and talking seriously, so I confronted Yoongi about it ze next day and… that was it!”
“What? What, hyung?”
“Hobi was only telling Yoongi that he ‘ad resolved to move on, to get over ‘im, and that ‘e needed some space for a while. It was great news! Yoongi told me ‘ow guilty he ‘ad been feeling, about Hobi’s feelings and about going behind everyone’s backs like we were… and we both confessed zat we wanted more and ‘ere we are! Boyfriends! Oh, Jeonggukkie, I really am so ‘appy!” He clapped his hands together and reached for Jeongguk’s hands, squeezing them in excitement.
“Wow,” Jeongguk repeated.
“That’s really sweet, hyung,” Taehyung said kindly, “I’m so glad it’s all worked out.”
“I am, too. And I spoke with Hobi -”
“You did?”
“Oui, I needed to. Just… it was ze right thing to do, you know? He is my friend, too, and a fellow shop owner. Even though I ‘ave not known him as long as Yoongi, I felt I owed him ze respect and, erm, ze decency of speaking to ‘im. Just… even if not to ask if ‘e was okay about it or to tell him outright that we were going to be dating, zen just to make sure that we were okay, he and I. To show ‘im that I cared about our friendship. We ended up talking more about France’s chances in the league and his trick broomstick collection than we did about me and Yoongi or him and Dongwook.”
Jeongguk sat back in his seat, his shoulders hitting Taehyung’s arm where it was resting along the back of the chair. Taehyung curled his hand around Jeongguk’s shoulder.
“That’s amazing,” Jeongguk said seriously, making Seokjin and Taehyung laugh.
“Yes, well, I can be very mature when I want to be,” Seokjin joked.
Yoongi approached their table then, and leant his hip against Seokjin’s shoulder, resting his arm on the back of his chair. “Only when he really wants to be,” he teased, winking at Jeongguk. “What’d I miss?”
“Just telling them about ‘ow we worked everyz-everything out.” He blinked sharply.
“Don’t, honey,” Yoongi said softly, in a voice that made Taehyung feel like he shouldn’t be listening, “don’t correct yourself.”
“Working on it,” Seokjin said back, equally as soft. It made Yoongi smile sadly, his brow creased in regret as he looked down at Seokjin and then looked away. Seokjin wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s waist, rubbing a hand down his hip gently.
After a pregnant pause, Taehyung leaned forward in his seat, arm slipping from around Jeongguk’s shoulders. “So, did you spend Christmas together, then?”
The looks the couple gave Taehyung in response made him wish he’d never asked. Yoongi looked smug in a way Taehyung hadn’t seen before and Seokjin looked delighted, but in the way he looked whenever he was about to do or say something he knew would make the other person squirm or complain.
“Oh no,” Jeongguk muttered from beside him.
“Well!” Seokjin started. “We went to my parents’ house first for lunch-”
“Strasbourg is incredible at Christmas, and his mum makes the best tartine-”
“-and we went around the markets for a little while-”
“So much better than the Parisian ones we went to a few years ago, Tae-”
“-zen we went to Yoongi’s house for dinner-”
“And, yes, London was crazy busy-”
“-and ‘is father made ze most amazing roast, I didn’t know baked potatoes could be improved but zey can!”
“And all the apparating was a bit much but we made it back here not long after dark-”
“-and we got zat big bottle of champagne zat Yoongi ‘as been ‘iding in the back room for a million years and went up to ‘is appartement-”
“-didn’t take us that long to finish, to be honest-”
“No, it really didn’t, did it?”
“So,” Jeongguk interrupted Seokjin’s giggling and Yoongi’s moony-eyed gaze, “what you’re saying is,” he turned to Taehyung for support, “that you apparated from France to London to here and had two Christmas dinners all in one day just so you could come back here and drink- oh,” he cut himself off, eyes widening as he realised they didn’t just come back to the privacy of Hogsmeade and Yoongi’s apartment to drink.
Taehyung patted Jeongguk’s back, trying to stifle his laughter, as Seokjin and Yoongi looked at him pointedly.
“No, we’re not saying that at all,” Yoongi said, amused at how flustered Jeongguk had become.
“I was going to say,” Seokjin said, “before I was so rudely interrupted, that we spent ze rest of Christmas night, ze next day, ze next day… ze next day and ze next day in Yoongi’s bedroom. Didn’t leave ze room even once.” He and Yoongi shared self-satisfied smirks and Yoongi ran his hands along Seokjin’s arms where they were still wrapped around his waist.
“Wow. I’m impressed,” Taehyung said. Seokjin threw him a set of finger guns and a cheesy wink. “Impressed that you had the stamina for that,” he continued, earning himself a thorough Seokjin Chewing Out™.
When he was done, and the rest of them had calmed down somewhat after nearly pissing themselves laughing, Yoongi went back to the bar, and Seokjin trotted along after him with a final exaggerated wink to Taehyung and Jeongguk.
“I… never needed to think about those two having sex,” Jeongguk said, face growing mortified as he said it. “Especially not with each other.”
Taehyung chuckled, so fond of Jeongguk he didn’t know how to contain it. He pressed his nose to Jeongguk’s cheek and nuzzled in, shaking his head and planting a kiss on his cheek. “Big cutie,” he said.
“You reckon Hobi’s really okay?” Jeongguk asked quietly, barely audible over the noise of the people and the music.
“I hope so,” Taehyung murmured in his ear, lips pressed to the shell of it. “I’ll make sure to check on him and keep him occupied when he gets back and you go back to work.”
“‘Kay,” Jeongguk sighed. “Merlin. It’s so weird but also… makes so much sense. Look at them,” Jeongguk turned his head, looking at where Seokjin was leaning over the counter and poking at Yoongi’s back, and Yoongi was happily slapping his hands away with a crinkly-eyed grin. Taehyung only looked at Jeongguk’s side profile. “They look so happy, it’s like it was always meant to end up this way.”
He turned back to look at Taehyung, bringing their faces a hair’s breadth away. Taehyung smiled crookedly and slid a hand into the back of Jeongguk’s fluffy, untamed hair, scratching there a bit.
It felt like everyone in town was packed into the pub by the time the countdown to midnight began. Yoongi turned up the music, a classic 1980s hit by Patronuca blaring from every corner of the room. Seokjin dragged Taehyung and Jeongguk from their seats, which they’d been hesitant to give up for fear of never finding a free seat again for the rest of the night, and pulled them into the crowd of chanting drunkards.
“Where is your champagne! You need drinks!” he yelled, unsteady on his feet and cheeks flushed from drinking.
“Twenty seconds!!” someone bellowed.
“I’ll get them,” Jeongguk said, patting Taehyung’s lower back as he inched over to the bar.
“You two,” Seokjin crooned in Taehyung’s face, his grin comically wide. “Make each other happy.”
Taehyung didn’t know whether it was a request, a demand or an observation but Seokjin swanned off to find Yoongi when Jeongguk came back, two flutes of champagne in hand.
“He’s wasted,” Taehyung giggled, taking the drink from him.
“You should have seen Yoongi just then, he’s just as bad,” Jeongguk laughed.
Taehyung wrapped an arm around Jeongguk’s waist and pulled him close. Jeongguk reciprocated with an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders and they waited for the countdown to start.
“Ten! Nine! Eight!”
Taehyung watched Jeongguk shout out the numbers, his electrifying smile lighting up the room.
“Seven! Six! Five!”
Jeongguk turned to look at Taehyung, too, and they yelled the numbers together.
“Four! Three! Two!”
Taehyung took a deep breath in, skipping the last number. Jeongguk breathed it against his lips, “one”, and kissed him.
“Happy New Year!!” the crowd roared.
“Woooohoooo!” came a drunken voice that sounded a lot like Seokjin with his wand to his throat.
Jeongguk pulled back and he grinned at Taehyung, cupping his face with his champagne-free hand. “Happy New Year,” he said.
“Happy New Year. Cheers,” Taehyung clinked their glasses together and they drank. He pressed his face into Jeongguk’s cheek again - one of his favourite things to do, Jeongguk’s cheeks were so soft and pillowy - and he kissed his jaw.
“I’m ready for us to be boyfriends again,” Taehyung murmured, loud enough for only Jeongguk to hear.
He watched from the side as Jeongguk’s eyebrows flew up, his face transforming into a happy, confused expression.
“Yeah?” Jeongguk murmured back.
“Yeah,” Taehyung grinned.
“Okay.” Jeongguk’s answering grin was cheesy and childlike.
Taehyung cupped Jeongguk’s neck and tried to get his mouth to work despite the drunken, lovesick blur in his brain. “With everything Seokjin and Yoongi said before, like, the whole time they were talking, all I could think was that I want that to be us, telling our friends that we’re boyfriends. Even if they already know. I wanted that to already be us.”
Jeongguk’s eyes crinkled so much he could barely see any retina, just dark brown. “I was going to say before, I can’t believe they beat us to it.” He laughed, “Well, I mean, they didn’t really. Only with the ‘boyfriend’ label, not with the dating part. But, yeah, I want to be your boyfriend again. Real bad.”
Taehyung laughed and was embarrassed to find that it was a little wet, that he was choking up a little. “I want that. I want to start this year, and many more years, by your side. I’ve been-” he swallowed, made sure he was making sense, “I think I’ve been convincing myself these past few months that I don’t need you or want you as much as I really do, because I was so scared of losing you all over again.”
Jeongguk stroked his hand down Taehyung’s face, brushing aside a lock of hair and tucking it behind his ear.
“But I do, I do need you and want you. And I was us to be together, properly.”
“Properly,” Jeongguk giggled, and, yeah, it sounded a little juvenile, but Taehyung didn’t care so much when he had Jeongguk smiling beautifully in front of him, because of him.
“Yeah.” Taehyung pecked him on the lips quickly and pulled back, then went in again, torn between kissing Jeongguk and looking at his pretty, smiling face.
“You don’t have to be scared,” Jeongguk pressed into his lips. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
Wanting to hide the way his eyes were slowly welling up, Taehyung kissed Jeongguk soundly and tightened his arm around him, champagne flute digging into his back.
The moment was ruined when another loved up pair, completely off their face and smelling of Yoongi’s moonshine, knocked into Taehyung from the side. He bumped forward into Jeongguk and, in his surprise, spilled the rest of his champagne all down Jeongguk’s back. They spun away with a few yelled “sorry”s and Taehyung looked regretfully at Jeongguk.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just a bit cold and sticky.”
“Come here,” Taehyung turned Jeongguk around and pointed his wand at his shirt, muttering scourgify to clean up the mess. “Do you want to stay much longer?”
“I’m happy to go, honestly.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Later, they lay on Taehyung’s couch, their skin warm and sweet-smelling from the shower they’d shared. Jeongguk had started stripping off the moment Taehyung closed the door behind him and had left a trail of clothes from the living room to the bathroom. He’d thrown a look over his shoulder at Taehyung as he’d done it, clearly knowing he was being a little shit and challenging Taehyung to do something about it.
After a few minutes of stubborn resistance spent pottering around his apartment while the sounds of water running and Jeongguk singing had drifted in from the bathroom, Taehyung had given in. He’d tugged off his clothes, barged into the steamy bathroom and thrown open the shower door impatiently, to Jeongguk’s smug delight.
Now, they were both already hard from washing each other’s hair and bodies, nimble fingers soothing tired muscles and arousing excitement where they brushed over sensitive areas. Taehyung had Jeongguk on his front, his arms pillowed on the couch armrest and his back arched with desire as Taehyung placed feather-light kisses and deft fingers over his ass.
“Is this okay, bunny?” he asked between kisses, teasing around where he knew Jeongguk really wanted his mouth.
“Yeah, more than.”
Taehyung licked and bit his way down to Jeongguk’s rim and suckled at it, making Jeongguk quiver beneath him, his toned arms shaking where they were supporting his head. He whined breathily when Taehyung pointed his tongue and licked inside of him, his mouth quickly closing around him in a filthy kiss before he continued tonguing at him.
Jeongguk reached an arm back to fist Taehyung’s unruly wet hair, encouraging his face closer, his tongue deeper. He moaned when Taehyung sped up his pace and gripped his cheeks so hard he thought they would probably bruise.
“So good, baby, so, so good,” Jeongguk moaned.
Taehyung pulled back and sucked on his index and middle fingers, coating them well with his spit, then spat onto Jeongguk’s rim. He kissed the underside of Jeongguk’s balls wetly as he began fucking into him with his middle finger, making sure to tease his balls through the unpleasant entrance of his finger.
“Fuck, Tae,” came Jeongguk’s broken voice from above him, his words muffled as he pressed his face into his arm.
“You good, Guk?”
“Yeah, just-” he broke off to moan as Taehyung licked, tongue flattened and purposeful, up to his hole and he thrust his finger deeper, “‘s just the first time since… last time.”
Taehyung pulled his finger out slowly and rested his chin on the top of Jeongguk’s ass, breathing heavily. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Jeongguk huffed exasperatedly, looking over his shoulder. “No one’s… done this… since you. That last time.”
“Oh,” Taehyung said, sitting back on his heels and feeling a little dumbstruck. “You haven’t…? Since we…?”
Jeongguk huffed again and rolled his eyes, a blush heating up his cheeks. “I’ve had sex. It’s just that no one’s eaten me out. That was never… what we did.”
“Right,” Taehyung cleared his throat. He didn’t like to admit it, but he felt a small surge of pleasure, and kind of like he’d won a competition he didn’t even know he was in, at the thought of Jeongguk only having done this with him. He felt guilty - wondered whether Jeongguk hadn’t let anyone rim him because he’d never become that comfortable with anyone, or never been able to have a serious enough relationship because of who he was and what he did - so he tried to push that pleasure aside and assure Jeongguk it wasn’t something to be embarrassed about. “I, um. I’ve only had one serious relationship since high school - since you. And he’s the only other person I’ve done this with, if that helps. Do you, um, do you want to talk about this now?”
“I suppose we should.” Jeongguk sighed and folded his arms in front of him. He leant his cheek on his arms, increasing the angle of his ass and presenting himself obscenely to Taehyung. He wiggled a little, and his face regained some of that cockiness from before. “At some point. Right now, though, I think you should finish what you started.”
Taehyung stroked his hands along Jeongguk’s hips and down his ass cheeks with a smile and obliged him. He dived back in and put everything into eating him out, wanting to make Jeongguk feel better than he had as a teenager, and better than any of those other people he’d had sex with since then. They’d talk about everything in between later.
⋆ ★ ⋆
If January were this cold, Taehyung didn’t want to think about how cold February was going to be.
Sure, the cold weather was perfect for making snowmen with Jeongguk, having snowfights with Jeongguk, cuddling up in front of the fire with hot tea and making out under the blankets with Jeongguk, their hands and mouths travelling lower and lower…
But when Taehyung found his best friend out in the snow at the edge of the town, nearly frozen to the bone and with his face covered in frozen tear tracks and snowflakes, he never wanted it to be winter ever again.
“Jimin!” he cried. “Jimin, come on, get up, we’ve got to get you inside! Come on, Jimin, please!”
He tried desperately to drag Jimin along with him back to the teashop but he wasn’t strong enough, and his ice-cold fingers kept slipping where they held onto Jimin’s coat.
“He’s gone,” Jimin wailed. “He’s gone, he’s left me, he’s left.”
They eventually made it to the more populated part of the main street and Taehyung shouted out for Yoongi as they passed the Hog’s Head. Yoongi came rushing out onto the street and propped Jimin’s other arm over his shoulder. Seokjin appeared by Taehyung’s side a moment later and he hurried ahead to open the back door of Madam Puddifoot’s for them, the one that led straight up to Taehyung’s apartment instead of through the shop.
Jimin hadn’t stopped crying and mumbling into Taehyung’s neck the entire journey. Taehyung waited until he was settled on Taehyung’s couch before asking him what he meant. Yoongi and Seokjin gathered blankets from Taehyung’s bed and linen cupboards and swaddled Jimin in them, and he looked so small and distraught that it broke Taehyung’s already aching heart.
Taehyung filled a hot water bottle for Jimin to hold and rocked him gently as he wept. Seokjin flicked a burst of flame from the tip of his wand into the fireplace so it heated the room and went to make tea for them all. Yoongi carefully undid Jimin’s snow boots and tugged them off so he could warm his feet by the fire.
“What’s happened, Jiminie?” Taehyung asked softly, pulling his body into his chest.
“He’s gone,” he repeated, and a new wave of sobs wracked his body.
“Who is, Jiminie? Who’s gone?”
“Namjoon.”
Seokjin came back into the living room with a pot of hot tea and four mugs floating through the air in front of him. He made them land in the middle of the coffee table. “What? Where?”
“Japan,” Jimin wailed, covering his face. “He’s left me and gone as far away from me as he could.”
“That can’t be right,” Yoongi muttered, looking between Taehyung and Seokjin confusedly. “Did he mention anything to you?”
“No, nothing.” Taehyung was shocked. Surely Namjoon hadn’t just up and left out of nowhere, with no warning. That wasn’t the kind of person he was.
“He’s got a job there,” Jimin spoke through a violent hiccough. “Mahou- Mahata-”
“Mahoutokoro?” Yoongi asked. “The wizarding school?”
Jimin nodded.
“Merde,” Seokjin breathed. “I cannot believe it… could it really be true?”
“Did he say when he’d be back, Jiminie?” Taehyung asked, rubbing his hand in circles on Jimin’s lower back.
“J-June,” he mumbled. “He said he’d be gone for the semester. What do I do?”
“Should we, I don’t know, can we apparate to him?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Taehyungie,” Yoongi said gently. “If he didn’t tell any of us he was going, he obviously doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Mais- but, it’s a pretty drastic zing to do, non?” Seokjin urged as he poured a cup of tea and added milk.
“No, no, no,” Jimin muttered. “Yoongi’s right. You can’t go, he’s obviously left because he needed to but…” he began to sob quietly again, a pitiful sound, “but I don’t understand why he had to go all the way t- I mean, things weren’t that bad. I didn’t think we were-” He covered his face with his hands and rocked forward, crying almost soundlessly now.
“Did something happen, Jiminie? I know you guys would argue sometimes,” Taehyung tried to keep his voice gentle, “but did something else happen?”
Yoongi and Seokjin sat on the edge of Taehyung’s coffee table, Yoongi with his chin resting on his locked fingers and Seokjin with a comforting hand on Jimin’s knee.
Jimin raised his head from his hands and wiped hastily at his face. Taehyung used a finger to softly wipe at the tear tracks down his cheeks, and Seokjin passed Jimin the tea.
“We just… things had been getting worse. We used to bicker a little but it became more frequent, and then the bickering became arguing, and then,” he breathed shakily and took a sip. “Then, I don’t know, it was just all the time. Always little things, like what you saw at the Halloween party, or during our Christmas dinner, o-or,” his voice cracked, a tear spilling down his cheek, “when we went to see my family for my birthday. Just… arguments over nothing. All the time.”
“Oh, Jiminie,” Taehyung whispered, hugging him close.
Exhausted and still shivering, Jimin went to sleep in Taehyung’s bed a little while and a few cups of tea later. Yoongi, Seokjin and Taehyung sat by the fire as it grew dark outside. They made dinner together in Taehyung’s small kitchen and set a large portion aside for Jimin for when he woke up.
“He must have been planning to leave for a while,” Yoongi mused around a mouthful of curry. “I mean, he must have been in contact with Mahoutokoro for a while to organise a job there.”
Seokjin nodded as he swallowed quickly. “I thought ze same thing. It’s not ze kind of thing you just do on a whim.”
“How did we not realise?” Yoongi continued, looking at Seokjin like he hoped he would have all the answers. “He’s one of our closest friends and we didn’t have any idea it was this bad.”
Taehyung stared forlornly into his bowl, moving his pieces of chicken and vegetables around in the sauce while Yoongi and Seokjin continued to talk softly. He didn’t feel like eating, couldn’t stomach anything, with Jimin heartbroken in the next room and Namjoon doing something so out of character that Taehyung couldn’t even begin to make sense of it.
…
“He really left?” Jeongguk asked.
He’d snuck Taehyung into the castle and now they were lounging on Jeongguk’s four-poster bed after a particularly enthusiastic round of blowjobs that Jeongguk had initiated to “help Taehyung warm up”. A very transparent excuse but who was Taehyung to argue with the invitation to have Jeongguk’s mouth on him? The temperature outside was steadily heading below zero but, curled up on Jeongguk’s bed in his cozy bedroom, Taehyung felt as warm as if he were lying out by the lake on a late Spring afternoon.
“Yep. He’s really gone,” Taehyung replied, tracing the swirling stitched pattern on Jeongguk’s duvet cover with his finger. They’d come down from the high of sex quickly when they turned to the topic of Namjoon leaving, both quiet and contemplative now as they lay together.
“I can’t believe it.” Jeongguk’s voice was quiet and when Taehyung looked at his face he saw that he was sad, maybe even hurt.
“Me neither.” Taehyung stopped playing with the duvet and reached for Jeongguk’s hand. “You okay?”
He took Taehyung’s hand gratefully, intertwining their fingers. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just never would've thought he could - that he’d be the type to just leave, you know?”
Taehyung smiled sympathetically. He knew that Jeongguk looked up to Namjoon, that he was something of a role model to him in much the same way that Seokjin was like an older brother figure. He admired both of them and tried to emulate them and follow their example in life, whether it be his determination to master whatever he was pursuing, like Quidditch and teaching, or his efforts to be a kind and tolerant person.
Namjoon doing something like this must have been a nasty shock - Taehyung could imagine Jeongguk felt disappointed, disillusioned, or let down in some way.
“I know, bun,” Taehyung said, giving Jeongguk’s hand a squeeze. “I’m sure he had a good reason.”
“Yeah, he probably did. How are you feeling?”
Taehyung shrugged. “Same. Sad for Jiminie - sad for both of them. I never thought things were this bad.”
“Yeah, I thought every couple has their little disagreements but… when I think about it now, they did seem to be getting worse.”
Taehyung nodded and bit his lip. He felt frustrated that he hadn’t noticed before, or hadn’t even asked how they were doing. But then, what could he have done if he’d picked up on it? What could he have done if they’d told him things were bad? It wasn’t like he could have fixed their problems.
“We couldn’t have done anything,” Jeongguk said gently. When Taehyung looked at him, he was smiling knowingly. “I know you, Tae. I know you’re feeling like you wish you’d known and could have done something. They need to figure this out on their own.”
“You’re right,” Taehyung said. He lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed Jeongguk’s knuckles, feeling lucky to have him there, someone who understood him so well.
“What’s up? Something’s still on your mind, isn’t it?” Jeongguk prodded.
“I know this is selfish, when Jimin’s heartbroken and Namjoon’s probably not doing too much better all the way across the world...” Taehyung started, hesitant to voice his concern, even to Jeongguk.
“We’re allowed to be selfish sometimes, Taehyungie,” Jeongguk encouraged.
“I’m just a little worried about my wandless magic. Such a trivial thing to be worried about now but… Namjoon was helping me with it every week and I was getting better, and I’m worried I’m going to go backwards again, like I did when -” he cut himself off and took a deep breath, “when we broke up.”
“Oh,” Jeongguk breathed. He shuffled down on the bed so he and Taehyung were lying eye to eye, their hands clutched to his chest between them. “Oh, Taehyungie. My silly, little Taehyungie.”
“Hey!” he protested weakly, pouting like a child. “I’m not silly!”
“You are a bit, baby,” Jeongguk giggled. “You don’t need him to be good at wandless magic, Tae. You don’t need anyone anymore - probably never did. I think all Namjoon was really offering you was encouragement and support, and I think he knew that, too.” He waited for his words to set in and shuffled closer. “You just needed someone to push you along and acknowledge your progress. I’d be happy to do that for you, but I don’t think you really need it as much as you’d just like to have it.”
He brushed his fingers through the front of Taehyung’s hair gently, playing with the strands. It was a habit of his, something Taehyung had learned he liked to do when they were doing nothing together.
Taehyung took a few deep breaths, willing his heart to be calm as it thrummed with the excitement of knowing he loved this man and feeling more certain than ever that it was mutual.
After a little while, unable to calm down and in need of an outlet, Taehyung perked up on the bed. “You wanna do something to take our minds off it for a bit?” he asked.
Jeongguk cocked an eyebrow and smirked. “Again? That was a quick turnaround.”
“No, you idiot,” Taehyung laughed, thwacking Jeongguk on the arm. “Who’s the silly one now, huh? I’m not in the mood for that, anyway. I meant more like… why don’t we go exploring?”
“Exploring?” Jeongguk huffed, looking at Taehyung in disbelief. “Are we five-years-old? We lived here for six years and I work here now, I think we know this place pretty well.”
Taehyung rolled his eyes and jumped up from the bed. He stood in front of Jeongguk with his hands on his hips and a determined look on his face. “Come on, I mean, like, really explore! Just go where we want to go without the fear of being caught and reprimanded, because who’s going to reprimand us? There aren’t any consequences now, it’s perfect!”
“Alright, let’s do it!”
They bundled up in warm clothes and snuck out into the empty corridor. Jeongguk charmed their shoes to be muffled so they could run without making any noise, and they took off. They ran up and down the shifting staircases, racing each other to the ends and leaping to the other side when the staircases started to detach. They spoke with the human subjects of the moving portraits and admired the animals, like the giraffe who stalked the halls, its head and legs in wildly different scenes, and the dogs who scampered after them as they ran. They dodged behind elaborate, heavy tapestries to avoid the Bloody Baron and jumped into dimly lit alcoves and around sharp corners when they thought they heard a teacher or a patrolling prefect, muffling their giggles into each other’s mouth and necks. They made it down to the kitchens and Jeongguk let them in, remembering the old, trick pear from his Hufflepuff days. They stole a packet of assorted cream biscuits and a bottle of pure lemonade and made their way back up through the castle like a pair of bandits escaping the scene of a robbery.
They ended up at the Astronomy tower and looked out over the moonlit lake. Taehyung cast a heating charm around them but it wasn’t strong enough to heat them both (“yet,” Jeongguk said, “not strong enough yet”), so Jeongguk cast one of his own as well.
“Everything’s so messed up,” Jeongguk said softly.
“Yeah.” Taehyung leant his elbows on the stone wall of the tower. “I used to like coming up here with you after our patrols. Whatever was going on at school or whatever test was coming up, being up here with you and looking at the stars cleared my mind, even if only a little some nights.”
“I used to like that, too. I liked to look at the lake, though, because thinking about what the giant squid could be doing in that moment always made any problems I was having feel less significant. Gave me some perspective.”
“Like looking up at the stars, thinking about how small we are in the grand scheme of things.”
Jeongguk twisted his torso to look at Taehyung. “You know what’s not small or insignificant?”
“If you say your dick, I will honestly throw you off this tower.”
“Well, I mean, you know it isn’t- hey!” Jeongguk cried out as Taehyung kicked up a leg and whacked at Jeongguk’s bottom with his foot. “Hey, hey! I was going to say us!”
Taehyung froze mid-kick and lowered his foot back to the ground. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Jeongguk laughed, pulling Taehyung back into his position leaning against the wall, leaning beside him. “You and I may be just two tiny people in this enormous, terrifying, wonderful world-”
“Merlin’s beard, Jeongguk, write it on a greeting card or something-”
“Buuut, I think what we have together is pretty fucking big and- and good. It’s special. And being with you reminds me that I have a… a place, or something, I don’t know, you ruined what I was going to say.”
He rushed out his words and tried to play it off by throwing Taehyung a lopsided smile and a self-deprecating laugh. Taehyung remained still, trying to find the words to say. He pressed himself against Jeongguk, pressed the centre of his chest into Jeongguk’s arm and wrapped his arms around Jeongguk’s middle where he was still leaning on the wall. He pressed his face into his neck, resting his chin on his shoulder, and took a deep breath in.
“You know,” he exhaled, “I like looking at the stars because they remind me of you. When I look at you, I see the entire galaxy in your eyes.” He paused, then, with his own lopsided smile, repeated quietly, “Or something. I don’t know.”
Jeongguk turned his head, dislodging Taehyung’s head from his shoulder, and faced him. There they were, all the stars in the sky captured in Jeongguk’s big beautiful eyes. “I love you,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I love you,” Taehyung whispered, a giddy smile spreading across his face. He nudged Jeongguk’s nose playfully with his own, then he leant in to kiss him.
“Let’s go back to bed.”
⋆ ☆ ⋆
In a lot of ways, January had been a pretty fucked month.
Going into February, it felt like everything was upside down. Jimin was miserable, Namjoon was unreachable, Yoongi and Seokjin had gone from rivals to fuck buddies to boyfriends, and Hoseok was still slowly getting back to his usual, happy self but wasn’t quite there yet, despite all of their best efforts and Dongwook’s constant affection. At least the guy was persistent, Jeongguk thought.
The only thing that was keeping everything from being a complete nightmare, and that was keeping Jeongguk’s sanity mostly intact, was Taehyung. Their relationship had gone from strength to strength since New Year’s Eve, he was delighted to find. For all of Taehyung’s initial hesitation, they’d fallen into something wonderful - different to what they’d had before, sort of calmer but more certain, and no less all-consuming than it had been to Jeongguk in high school.
They’d settled into a routine: on Saturday afternoons, Jeongguk would traipse from the Quidditch pitch to the teashop, either with Taehyung, when he left the shop in Soobin’s hands and came to watch, or without him, when he opened up the teashop himself. Jeongguk would hang around in a booth or in the kitchen, watching Taehyung work until closing, and they’d spend the night together. On Sundays, Taehyung would insist that Jeongguk sleep in while he opened up for brunch service, and Jeongguk, of course, would never listen, and they’d spend a lazy afternoon together afterwards. Jeongguk found that he spent his weekdays counting down to Saturday mornings, often feeling like he didn’t have enough space in his mind or his body for anything but Taehyung.
Jeongguk reckoned his happiness only just surpassed that of his parents. Since their visit back in October, they had been pestering him for updates on his relationship with Taehyung. They asked more about that than they did about anything else, even his job. He didn’t mind too much, though - he’d take any excuse he could to talk someone’s ear off about Taehyung.
He was particularly keen to boast about how incredible his boyfriend was now that Taehyung was being recognised as one of the world’s leading experts on Herbology. After the success of his Phoenix Wreath article, Taehyung had been invited to an international conference on innovation in the wizarding world and, on the day dedicated to Herbology, to give the keynote address and be part of the expert panel. Jeongguk couldn’t even let himself be unhappy at the idea of being separated from Taehyung for the two weeks he would be away, he was so proud.
What made it even more exciting was that it was being held in Tokyo, giving Taehyung the perfect opportunity to drop in on Namjoon without it seeming like he’d gone to Japan just to see him. Jeongguk was itching to find out how he was doing, seeing as Jimin was such a mess. Taehyung had been sent a portkey by the organising committee so that he could travel to Tokyo without any hassle, and he had been working on apparition with Jeongguk so that he would be able to go to South Iwo Jima, where the school was perched on the apex of the volcano, to visit Namjoon easily.
So, when it came to Taehyung then, yeah, Jeongguk would concede that things had been pretty wonderful so far that year. It was his other friends he was worried about.
…
“I’m starving,” Taehyung complained late on Friday night, stretching out exaggeratedly on Jeongguk’s couch to emphasise just how starved he felt. “Do you want to get some food from the elves?”
“Yeah, I’m hungry, too. I’ll go. Any requests?”
“Umm… assorted creams! And chips!”
“Okay,” Jeongguk laughed, fond at his boyfriend’s enthusiasm for shitty food. “Jimin? Anything?”
Jimin raised his head from where he’d been focussed on a student’s essay. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Ooh! Ooh! Remember they said they were going to make those ginger nut biscuits you like this week? Jeongguk, try to get some of those for Jiminie!”
Jimin just nodded wordlessly and returned to marking the essay.
“Will do,” Jeongguk said, sharing a concerned look with Taehyung before heading to the kitchens.
Nights working together like this had been Jeongguk’s idea, a way to get Jimin out of his rooms and prevent him from holing up and wallowing alone. It had started out as something just he and Jimin did together, and Jeongguk liked to think that the time they spent working quietly side by side was their own form of bonding time.
After a while, with all the work Taehyung was doing for the conference, he became a nice addition to Jeongguk and Jimin’s little sessions. Jeongguk often caught Taehyung working on his speech and making notes about further research at the counter in Madam Puddifoot’s: he would walk in after Quidditch matches to see Taehyung’s nose in a stack of papers or see him frantically scribbling something down before getting back to teashop-related tasks. He was always infectiously excited about what he was doing, too. He would sit with Jeongguk during lulls in the afternoon and discuss something he’d discovered or ask his opinion on a part of his speech he was stuck on, and Jeongguk would listen to him with his heart hammering in his chest.
Taehyung infused some of this excitement into their work sessions. They still met in Jeongguk’s rooms usually, although sometimes in Jimin’s and in Tae’s apartment on weekends, and the two professors marked homework and prepared lessons while Taehyung wrote his speech, made notes for the panel discussion and conducted research for his new article. Between Taehyung and Jeongguk, they managed to get a few genuine smiles out of Jimin and make sure he was looking after himself, but they couldn’t mend the cracks that widened every day that Namjoon stayed away.
Jeongguk successfully scored assorted creams, salted chips, ginger nuts and white chocolate macadamia cookies from the elves in the kitchen and hopped his way back to his rooms, taking the stairs two at a time.
“Success!” he crowed as he walked back in and dumped the food on the table between his and Jimin’s stacks of paper.
“Yes,” Taehyung cheered, jumping up from the couch and ripping into the cream biscuits as if he would pass out if he didn’t eat one immediately. “Mmf,” he moaned through a bite, “so good.” He went back to sit on the couch and clicked his fingers, four more biscuits flying from the packet and into his open hand.
Jeongguk opened the container of ginger nuts, baked just that afternoon, and held one out for Jimin. Jimin took it gratefully, a little smile on his lips, took a small bite and placed it on a tissue beside him as he continued to work in silence.
Taehyung looked at Jeongguk, who shrugged and bit into a cookie, and they got back to work.
…
Seokjin dragged them all out into the freezing weather one Saturday afternoon for a non-magic snowball fight that no one wanted but that everyone got really competitive about once they got started.
Yoongi, the most vocal in his complaints, turned out to be his team’s secret weapon, catching everyone off guard with his throwing accuracy and cunning tactics. Taehyung and Jimin were on his team, with Hoseok, Seokjin and Jeongguk on the opposing side, and if Jeongguk weren’t so in love with Taehyung and so desperate to see Jimin enjoy himself, he would’ve found their million-watt smiles and high-pitched giggling a lot more irritating.
They’d established bases pretty early on and now Jeongguk’s team was being cornered.
“Go ‘round back! Go ‘round back!” Hoseok called as Yoongi and Jimin approached him slowly from the left and the right. “Get ‘em from the back!”
Jeongguk and Seokjin peeled off to the sides and gathered up enough snow for a few snowballs. Seokjin scurried, hunched over, around some thick shrubbery and made his way towards Jimin, raising an arm to hurl one at him.
Jeonguk was just about to do the same to Yoongi when he heard a light shuffle behind him and felt coldness trickling down his back.
“Ah!” he whisper-yelled. He swivelled in his spot behind a beer barrel to find Taehyung grinning maniacally at him, piles of snow in hand. “Oh, you’re dead, Kim.”
Taehyung giggled in that insanely cute, high-pitched way he did when he was excited and bit his lip devilishly before taking off, Jeongguk hot on his heels. They emerged from the alley beside the Three Broomsticks and into the main street, Taehyung trying to fling snow at Jeongguk over his shoulder as he ran. Jeongguk nearly managed to tackle Taehyung when a body collided with his from the side.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Jimin cried out, wrapping his surprisingly strong arms around Jeongguk’s chest and locking his arms to his sides. “Not my soulmate, bitch!”
They fell into the powder snow on the road and tussled for a few moments. Jimin succeeded in pinning Jeongguk’s hips to the ground but Jeongguk surged up and flipped them, trapping Jimin’s wrists in his and holding him hostage. He looked up to see Taehyung cackling and Yoongi using his wand to build a whole artillery of snowballs so quickly they were a blur.
“Leave Taehyung!” he yelled to Hoseok and Seokjin, who had started chasing him once Jeongguk got Jimin. “Get Yoongi-hyung! He’s cheating!”
“Min Yoongi, you little shit!” Hoseok screamed, charging at Yoongi with Seokjin right behind him chanting, “Yeah! Get ‘im!”
It was obvious that Hoseok threw a lot of energy into appearing fine. Whenever they hung out as a group like this, and especially when Yoongi or Seokjin or both of them were there, he made an effort to be loud and jovial. He made a point of talking normally with Yoongi and goofing off with Seokjin even if it pained him.
He didn’t come often, though, only when he couldn’t use Zonko’s or family stuff as an excuse, which made Jeongguk think the charade left him feeling drained.
Jeongguk wasn’t sure if this was one of those times. He hoped it wasn’t, because Hoseok seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. He laughed brightly as Seokjin tripped into the snow while trying to catch a fleeing Yoongi, and squawked indignantly when Taehyung jumped on his back like a koala, although he started laughing again when he saw it was his dongsaeng.
As he watched his friends play-fight, Jeongguk felt movement beneath him. He looked down and saw that Jimin was watching them, too, and that he was laughing, the rise and fall of his stomach shaking Jeongguk where he sat on top of him. He watched Jimin laugh and he felt like things were going to be okay.
“Truce! Truce!” Yoongi shouted, drawing Jeongguk’s attention away. Yoongi was struggling in the hold of Seokjin and Hoseok, still with Taehyung on his back, and when he saw he had Jeongguk’s attention, he smirked and yelled, “Now, Jimin, get him!”
…
After lunch on Wednesdays, Jeongguk and Jimin both had a free period and had gotten into the habit of spending it in Jimin’s office because it had the nicest view of the grounds and the Forbidden Forest beyond. Jimin’s office was cluttered but neat, unlike his rooms. It was full of trinkets and books and moving photos but all of it was ordered; everything had its place.
Jeongguk liked talking with Jimin. He seemed to always know the right thing to say, something he hadn’t really appreciated while Namjoon was there. He’d usually go to Namjoon, Seokjin or Taehyung for advice but over the increasing amount of one-on-one time he’d spent with Jimin, he realised his younger hyung was also someone he could rely on for serious conversation, someone who he could turn to when he had a problem.
“I’ve tried to go about it in different ways,” he was explaining, feet propped up on an ottoman by the window while Jimin sat behind his desk. “I tried speaking to her calmly after class, I tried offering her help when I could see that she was starting to get riled up, I tried engaging with her when she yelled out so I could work out what she was expecting to gain from disrupting the class, and then, last week, I just got mad. I just scolded her like I wanted to in front of the class, to see if that would work, but I’m worried that it actually just eroded any rapport I’d built with her.”
“Mm, she’s tricky,” Jimin agreed. He knew the student well, a fourth year girl who liked to test the limits of her teachers’ patience. “I think you were right to try being understanding and engaging with her first. When she first came into my class, I pulled her aside after a lesson like you did and that seemed to work. I wonder why she’s not responding to you doing it.”
Jeongguk tossed the apple he’d taken from lunch in the air, up and down, up and down, while he thought. He didn’t like it when he couldn’t get a student on side, or at least to respect him during classes. He suspended the apple in the air and watched it float.
“Maybe she’s a fan,” Jimin joked, making Jeongguk scoff. “Or maybe she thinks you’re a pushover.”
“Hey!” Jeongguk dropped the apple into his lap. “Why would she think that?”
Jimin laughed, tossing his head back and spinning his chair away from his desk so he was facing Jeongguk. “You are, a bit, Gukkie.”
Jeongguk pouted out into the green expanse of the lower school grounds. “But I properly scolded her.”
“Aw, it’s not a bad thing! Stop pouting, you big baby, this is why they think that,” he teased. “She probably just thinks you were trying to seem tough or something. Try to imagine what you would have thought as a kid.”
“I would’ve been terrified of getting detention or losing house points.”
“Yeah, actually, I don’t know what I was thinking, of course you would have,” Jimin laughed. “Look, she’s, um…” he spun his chair from side to side, thinking. “She’s really into swimming. She’s really good at it and trains all the time so… maybe when you pull her aside next time you start off by asking how that’s going? Ask her about the next competition she’s going in or something, just show that you’re interested in her as a person rather than as a bratty student. She might be more receptive to the next thing you say, then.”
“Hmm.” Jeongguk thought about it as he listened to the Hippogriff that Professor Hagrid was going to show the third years in sixth period squawk from the pumpkin patch. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“Of course, it’s not,” Jimin said, like Jeongguk was stating the obvious.
Jeongguk threw his apple at him, and Jimin caught it with a grin and took a big bite.
The period was already half over, so Jeongguk tried to finish off the plans he’d started for the next week’s classes. He wanted to really challenge his sixth years, thought some of them had real potential, and he wanted to get his first years a lot more confident at flying one-handed. He drew up some diagrams for drills and made notes of tips he could suggest, things he’d learned or been taught in Catapults training.
He finished off the first half of the week’s plans when Jimin spoke again.
“I’ve been hanging out with Hoseok a lot.”
Jeongguk looked up. “Oh, yeah?” he prompted, not wanting to seem overly keen to hear about it although he was really curious.
Jimin nodded. “Yeah. Misery loves company.” He smiled wryly.
“Jimin…”
“No, no,” he waved his hand, “I’m kidding, don’t pity me. It’s a good thing. He invited me to dinner about a month ago, just the two of us, a sort of broken hearts club, and I thought it’d make it worse, you know, to focus on Namjoon leaving and Yoongi not loving him back.” He leant back in his chair and sighed happily. “But it was actually really great. Don’t get me wrong,” he held out a hand, “I love you guys - I love you, and I can see you’re trying to help me and I appreciate it - but it’s been kinda nice to just be able to be not fine around someone. You guys are all loved up and I’m happy for you, of course. But moping around with Hoseok has actually helped me need to mope less, because I can let it all out. Does that make sense?”
“I think so.”
“He,” Jimin huffed out a laugh, “he’s actually been great because he gets so sick of being sad and makes us do stuff. He gets all energetic after we’ve wallowed for a while, it’s like hanging out with a living self-help book.”
Jeongguk laughed with him. “I can see that, actually.”
“Yeah,” Jimin sighed again, poking at the charmed figurine on his desk to wake it up and make it start dancing. They watched it together as it did a backwards bridge and pushed up onto its toes, dancing forward with its silver arms flapping like wings.
⋆ ★ ⋆
In the last week of March, Taehyung left for the conference.
He had stood in the centre of his living room with his bulging suitcase - “I have to look my best when I speak, Gukkie! I want to make a lasting impression but I won’t know what kind of outfit will do that until I get there!” - and had held the envelope with the portkey inside tightly. He’d beamed at Jeongguk, looking like a kid going off to his first day of school, his eyes bright and excited, his smile boxy and beautiful. He’d held out the envelope for Jeongguk to hold, and when Jeongguk took it from him, he reached in, touched the portkey, and disappeared.
“Did ‘e get there safely?” Seokjin asked a few days later as he performed the classic bartender role, listening to Jeongguk talk while he poured him drinks and dried glasses at the counter.
“Yep, he went by portkey and there were officials waiting for him when he arrived.” Jeongguk sipped at his butterbeer slowly - it was a cheat day and he wanted to savour every bit of his one sugary allowance.
“Has ‘e seen Namjoon yet?”
“Yeah, he contacted Mahoutokoro as soon as he arrived and they got him in touch with Namjoon. He went to see him yesterday.”
“And?”
Jeongguk sighed, leaning his weight on his elbows on the counter. “I don’t know what to make of it, hyung, and Tae doesn’t either. He said Namjoon seems okay when they’re talking about teaching and the conference and Herbological things. But when he tries to ask him how he’s doing personally and how life there is outside of teaching, he clams up. He said he looks exhausted, too. He showed Taehyung around and took him to dinner and stuff but Taehyung said it was like he was running low on energy the whole time, like, sluggish and struggling to keep up conversation.”
“They’re pretty clear signs he’s not doing okay.”
“Yeah, but Tae said when he was at the school and introducing Tae to some professors, he was fine.”
“Seems like a façade.” Seokjin put away the dry glasses and got himself a drink of water.
“Mm. Probably.” Jeongguk pillowed his cheek on his fist. “Tae said he tried to get Namjoon to open up about why he left but he didn’t say much other than that things were hard.”
“Namjoonie’s always liked working through things ‘imself. ‘E will come around when ‘e feels ready.”
As Jeongguk continued to drink and tell Seokjin about Taehyung’s first letter from Japan, Yoongi came down the stairs at the back of the pub. His hair was fluffy and messy, and his clothes were sleep-rumpled. He smiled sleepily, eyes still half-closed, as he approached their side of the bar and slipped behind it.
“Hey,” he croaked. He pushed into Seokjin’s space and wrapped his arms, still heavy from sleep, around his waist. Seokjin wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his head.
“Were you sleeping, hyung?” Jeongguk asked. “It’s four in the afternoon.”
“Just a little nap,” Yoongi yawned. “When did you get up?” he asked Seokjin.
“About an hour ago.” He pressed a kiss to his forehead.
Jeongguk sat silently on the barstool and watched them be affectionate. He didn’t know why they were so tired in the afternoon and didn’t want to find out. But - “Who’s running the Hog’s Head right now? It’s open, isn’t it?”
“Promoted waiter Yang to floor manager,” Yoongi murmured, head resting against Seokjin’s chest. Seokjin smirked, pleased.
“Alrighty,” Jeongguk said, not prodding any further, just happy his hyungs seemed happy. He took another slow sip of his butterbeer.
Time trudged on, the afternoon passing like there was thick sludge over the whole town, slowing everything down and making Jeongguk feel lethargic. The pub was warm and the butterbeer brought a warmth to his stomach and a heaviness to his body as he came down from his brief sugar high. Yoongi and Seokjin pottered around the pub, and Jeongguk helped them clean the tables and organise the cutlery and crockery in preparation for the evening crowd.
He took the long way back to Hogwarts when the sun started to set. It was a strange time of year, Jeongguk mused as the sky transformed before his eyes. Pale blue turned to violet and a violently bright pink, and the elongated clouds that passed across the sky shined orange. The sky above him darkened to deep blue, nearing navy, while up ahead the sun created pastel pink and orange-yellow streaks in the sky.
The air was crisp, the last of winter not fully gone yet, and it felt cool against Jeongguk’s exposed neck when he tilted his head back to look at the stars and the moon. It was the same moon you’d see from anywhere - was that right? Jeongguk wracked his tired brain, trying to remember what they’d learned in Astronomy. With the time difference, it would be the early hours of the morning in Japan, and Taehyung would be asleep right now. If he were to look out his window, though, he’d see the same moon, maybe at a different angle. The stars would be different, but the moon would never change.
Jeongguk followed the winding footpath that led up to Hogwarts’ main gates and through the grounds to the side entrance. It was getting darker now and the trees that lined the way curled over, forming a shadowy arch with their spindly branches and new, spring leaves, only just distinguishable against the evening sky. This time of year was like half-time of a sports match, an odd and seemingly endless interim between winter and summer, that ended all of a sudden when you realised it was too hot to wear long pants and a jacket anymore, and that the world around you had bloomed to life again. He still had classes and work to do, but the half-yearly exams were over and final exams weren’t for another two months. It was a time of year that felt full of waiting.
He entered the castle and ducked into the kitchens. The elves were about to set up dinner in the Great Hall but Jeongguk didn’t have the energy for small talk with other professors, so he got a plate of food from the friendliest elf and traipsed upstairs to eat in his rooms. He sat at his little desk by the window, where Taehyung’s letter laid open from when he’d been rereading it that morning.
As the last of the daylight faded, he chewed contemplatively on a potato, thinking that, for once, he wasn’t waiting for anything. The moon shone brightly through his window, and he realised he had everything he’d been waiting for already.
…
“Pass the Brussel sprouts, please!” Jimin shouted down the table, right into Jeongguk’s ear.
“Merlin, hyung,” Jeongguk whined, rubbing at his ear like that would help the damage to his eardrum.
Jimin giggled. “Sorry.” He reached across him and took the bowl of sprouts from Yoongi. “Yum, yum, yum,” he sing-songed as he loaded some onto his plate.
“How much wine have you had?” Jeongguk teased, earning himself a death glare.
“Everything tastes so good, hyungs,” Hoseok said politely as he cut into his chicken breast neatly.
Seokjin and Yoongi bobbed their heads. “Thanks, Hobi,” Yoongi said. “I’m glad you’re all here.”
“Why? You got an announcement to make or something?” Jimin asked with his mouth full.
“No,” Seokjin laughed, “really, we are just really glad to spend time wiz you all. Things ‘aven’t been easy lately and we are lucky to ‘ave each ozer.”
“Cheers!” Jeongguk said loudly, raising his glass and clinking it with everyone else’s.
Hoseok cheersed with Seokjin beside him and stood from his seat so he could reach Yoongi’s glass, smiling.
“I think we do have one important announcement tonight, though,” he said as he sat back down. He looked pointedly at Jeongguk and raised his eyebrows. “Our little dongsaeng has some news!”
All eyes were on Jeongguk and he blushed as he cut his asparagus stalks in half, then in quarters, and stacked them on his fork. “Um, yeah. Quite exciting. I, um,” he looked around the table at his hyungs’ encouraging faces. “The Catapults coach has asked me to be part of a mentoring program with the team, working with new recruits and younger players to help with development and stuff. And also some of the older players, to help with their transition into careers beyond playing professionally.”
The table erupted in a chorus of congratulations, of “Woah, that’s great!” and “That’s our Jeonggukkie!”, of “Ah, that’s amazing, just what you wanted!” and “You’re going to be so good at that, Gukkie, they’re lucky to have you!”.
“Thanks, thank you,” he said giddily, happily nodding to everyone, an excited grin spreading across his face. He felt like he did when he found out he had been recruited by the Catapults straight out of high school, and like he did when he was approached for the job at Hogwarts, and like he imagined Taehyung felt, almost bursting at the seams with excited energy as he left for the conference.
“When do you start?” Yoongi asked.
“Well, first, there’s a rookie camp in summer - not just for Catapults players but for all new Quidditch players in the premier division and amateur league, just to sort of… ease them into the season and get them networking and stuff, I think. They didn’t have it when I started so I’m keen to see what it’s like.”
“And you’ll be a mentor there?” Jimin asked.
“Yeah and assistant coaching, too, which is really exciting. Might pick up some more things to bring back here and integrate into my classes.”
“So this isn’t going to interfere with teaching? You’ll still be here next year?” Yoongi asked, eyes unnaturally wide, and Jeongguk was hit with how much he was loved all of a sudden. The knowledge wasn’t new, the feeling not unfamiliar, but he felt a rush of affection and appreciation for these people, his chosen family, when just how much they loved him was made obvious in the way they looked at him or in something they said.
He smiled calmly, comfortingly. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I made sure when I spoke with Coach Woo that I’d be able to keep my job here, which is my top priority.”
Yoongi relaxed at that and Seokjin gave him that small, fond, close-mouthed smile he did when one of his dongsaengs did something to make him happy.
“So, the job as a Catapults mentor requires me to attend a few meetings throughout the year,” Jeongguk continued, “and to be available for the mentees assigned to me when they want a chat or some advice. I can check in with them over Floo and meet with them on weekends - it’s up to me and the mentees to organise how we want to do things. It’s quite informal.”
“Sounds perfect,” Hoseok said. “You’re kind of the most ideally placed to do this, aren’t you? Like, a decade of professional experience, and by then you’ll have a year of teaching experience, it’s perfect for you and them.”
Jeongguk smiled. “Yeah, I’m pretty chuffed about it, really.” He let out a laugh, a mix of excited and nervous and overwhelmed that things had worked out this well, that everything was falling into place, and that he had such a solid network of people around him.
“Have you told Taehyung yet?” Jimin asked. “He didn’t mention it when we spoke over Floo last night.”
“No, haven’t had a chance yet. I’ll tell him when I respond to his latest letter, or Floo, whichever comes first.”
“Sounds like he’s been really busy over there,” Hoseok said. “Has he had a chance to see Namjoon yet?”
Seokjin and Yoongi shared a brief look and took big bites of their dinner.
Jimin was stiff beside Jeongguk and seemed to physically snap himself out of it, quickly lurching forward and taking a gulp of his wine. Jeongguk tried to look at Jimin’s face through his peripheral vision but couldn’t gauge his expression, so tread carefully when he spoke.
“He has.” He paused. “He went to Japan a few days before the conference started to get settled in and went to Mahoutokoro the day after he arrived.”
Jimin continued eating, his head down.
“Um,” Jeongguk was lost. He looked around the table and when no one offered anything else, he turned to Jimin. “Would you like me not to talk about it? Or I can tell you alone later-”
“No.” Jimin shook his head. “He’s all of your’s friend. I’m okay.”
Jeongguk nodded. “Okay. Um, he’s liking being on top of a volcano. He took Tae on a hike to show him all these native plant species. Tae said that was cool.”
“That’s good, they’d both love that,” Hoseok said diplomatically.
“Yeah, he talked my ear off about it actually,” Jeongguk said, trying to lighten the mood. He succeeded in putting smiles on Seokjin and Yoongi’s faces, so he barrelled on. “He said Namjoon-hyung’s liking teaching in Japanese, that he enjoys the challenge of it, but, um… he also said that he looks worn out.”
“Already?” Hoseok frowned.
“Mm. Tae said he looks exhausted and that he went to bed straight after they had dinner.”
“Is he- is he okay?” Jimin asked, voice small and shaky.
“I think so,” Jeongguk said gently. “I think… it hasn’t been easy for him either.”
Jimin nodded into his plate of food and that seemed to be the end of the conversation.
“So, anyway, Tae hasn’t been back to see him again yet. His speech and the panel is tomorrow so he’s preparing heaps for that.”
“Ah, our little Taehyungie!!” Hoseok cooed, refilling Yoongi’s wine glass and then his own. “That’ll show his seventh year professors! Have you told them yet?”
“They were all talking about it at breakfast the other day, actually,” Jeongguk replied, chest puffed out in pride. “There was an article in the Daily Prophet on the conference and a list of the keynote speakers. Bang even asked me if the speeches would be published, or if I could get Tae to send a copy of his to him.”
“So deserved,” Seokjin said, raising his glass for another toast.
They all drank, and then kept drinking, and eating, and drinking some more, and they were a mess by the end of the night. Jimin’s cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and from laughing at Seokjin and Hoseok’s attempt at flamenco dancing, and Yoongi was curled up on the love seat in Seokjin’s living room, cry-laughing quietly. Jeongguk tried to photograph as much as he could and was sure more than half of them would come out blurry, but he wanted to remember this.
Yoongi eventually fell asleep and Jeongguk and Seokjin carried him to bed. Hoseok took Jimin home with him so he could sleep in his spare room and Jeongguk walked with them through Hogsmeade, the town asleep already. He said goodbye to them once Hoseok had helped an exhausted Jimin through his front door, then he apparated to Taehyung’s bedroom and curled up under his heavy blankets, sleeping soundly until the sun woke up.
…
Dear Taehyungie,
I loved reading your last letter, it made me smile a lot. I’m so happy that you’re able to use your wand less and less, you should be very proud of yourself for all the progress you’ve made. And I’m so, so, SO happy that your keynote speech was received so well!! Although, of course, I’m not surprised. I always knew you were a true genius, everyone else has just been slow on the uptake! Sounds like you’re having a great time - that story about the mandrakes is crazy!! Australian witches and wizards are actually insane hahaha I’m glad you’ve made friends / connections with some nice, cool people and learned new and interesting things.
I’m glad to hear Namjoon’s doing okay and is enjoying teaching in such a different natural environment. I was (still am) worried about him. I think Jimin-hyung is worried, too, but he doesn’t ask much whether you’ve mentioned him in your letters. Only asked about him once at dinner the other night. I’m sure he wants to know but doesn’t at the same time. (Namjoon-hyung isn't liking it too much there, though, is he?? You think he’ll come back, don’t you?)
Things here are good! I’ve been spending time with Jiminie - it started out as me always making plans for us to hang out but lately he’s started to seek me out first, which feels nice. Yoongi and Seokjin are doing well, too - still a bit strange that they’re together, and I think I will be scarred forever after walking in on them kissing, but obviously it’s better than them fighting!!
Hoseok’s getting better, too. I actually caught him and Dongwook on a dinner date and he looked really happy - like, truly, old-Hobi happy, Tae - so I suppose things between them are going well. They were in the teashop actually - probably thought since you weren’t there that no one would catch them, HA! He doesn’t talk about it much but when I’ve visited him at Zonko’s he often has little flowers in his hair and non-trick chocolates on his desk, so that must be a good sign, right?
I’ve also had some good news. My old Catapults coach wrote to me the other day, and we talked over Floo yesterday. He’s offered me a mentoring role with the team, for new recruits and players who’ll be quitting soon, and a job at the international Quidditch rookie summer camp this year as a mentor and assistant coach. I’m really excited about it! I think I could offer young players some good guidance. I hope I can, at least. And maybe this will lead for future roles in the industry! Only if it doesn’t conflict with teaching, of course. I’m enjoying that too much :)
Anyway. I miss you so much that I’ve reread your letters many times. It’s nice to be writing with you again - I’m sorry we ever stopped. Holding something you’ve written to me, words you’ve put on the page just for me, it’s a nice feeling. The weather is getting warmer, as it must be in Tokyo, too, but I feel warm just from your words, Taehyungie. It would have been hard to sustain over almost ten years but I wish I hope we can keep this up. I have all your notes from Christmas on my desk, to read when I can’t work. I still have your letters from after graduation, too. I want you to know that I think of you, and this is a bit embarrassing but I want you to have this poem I wrote during my second season, when I thought I would probably never see you again, or that if I did see you things wouldn’t be the same. I just want you to have it so you know how important you are and have always been to me.
Ah, I guess I’m getting a bit emotional since I miss you! I can’t wait for you to get home but I also want you to have as many amazing experiences at the conference as possible, so I won’t say ‘hurry back’ or that I hope the next few days pass quickly.
I love you and I’m so proud of you. I’m not crying!!! :D
Can’t wait to hear more stories, lots of love,
Your phoenix, your (strong!) bunny, Jeonggukkie
I often dream of seeing
You again
I can’t remember how your hair felt in my hand
I want your smile against mine
Once again
I can’t remember how it felt
I often think what I would say
How I’d greet you, what you’d think of me
Would I be impressive or would I be the same?
Would I be disappointed or would you be the same?
I often dream of you making me laugh
Of how I made you shy when I ran my fingers through your hair on a hot day
Of how you told me I looked nice the first time you saw me in a suit
How you made fun of my Quidditch posters but let me kiss you up against them
How you were as lost as me
But had the upper hand
I gave that to you, did you take it from me?
You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen
It all ended before it began but I’ll always miss the time you filled in my life
Wasn’t long enough for me to be certain I was in love
But I know you are all I want in one person
I hope I find it again
I think I’ll never find it again
⋆ ☆ ⋆
“Ooh, Guk, you’ve got another letter from Tae!” Jimin squealed, excited to hear another one of Taehyung’s exciting stories from the conference. He fed a handful of treats to the delivery owl and it flapped away spritely, chewing happily.
“You may as well read it out so I don’t have to recount everything to you again,” Jeongguk said, continuing to mend the sleeve of his refereeing robes that he’d torn while mending a poor second year’s temperamental broomstick.
They were sitting in Hoseok’s apartment, wasting the afternoon away with wizard snap and trading stories from before they’d all known each other. Jimin had been friends with Taehyung since their first year, and Hoseok had met Taehyung a year later in the music club, so they had a lot of stories to share from before Jeongguk met him.
Jeongguk spread out on Hoseok’s floor as Jimin began to read, stretching his hamstrings and massaging around his knee. He was a little sore from the intense Quidditch matches that morning - Gryffindor and Slytherin had fought tooth and nail for the win, and ended up drawing - so he muttered a ferula spell to ease the joint and muscle pain.
“‘...and they showed me the thick bunches of mistleswith they’d harvested and even said I could bring some home’ - Merlin, Taehyung, get to the good stuff!” Jimin complained as he read.
Jeongguk smiled, his nose scrunching up and his referee uniform abandoned. “No, hyung, it’s so cute, he gets so excited about it. Don’t skip anything!”
Jimin sighed dramatically from his spot on the couch. “Okay but get comfy ‘cause he’s about to go on about the Astronomy panel for the rest of the page.”
Hoseok, perched in the armchair by the couch, kicked out a leg and hit Jimin with his foot. “Oi, don’t be bratty, I wanna hear Taetae being a little nerd at his big, important conference.”
Jeongguk smiled fondly to himself and leaned back on his elbows. Jimin stuck out his tongue at Hoseok but continued reading.
“Aww, he signed off, Yours, Taehyung,” Jimin said when he reached the end. “Ooh, and there’s a P.S.: My place, 8pm, Friday night. The door will be unlocked. Can’t wait to get my mouth on your pretty co— ”
“OKAY, okay, okay, okay,” Jeongguk shouted, jumping up from the floor and snatching the letter from Jimin’s grubby hand as Jimin cackled and Hoseok looked like he wanted to die. “Never letting you read my letters ever again.”
The Room of Requirement was sparse when Jeongguk entered it, much, much different from when he and Taehyung would sneak into it to hook up in school. In place of a luxurious bed, cracking fireplace and elaborate chandelier, there were only a few dim candles lining the walls, but they were enough to illuminate the simple wooden door in the corner. Pulling it open, Jeongguk slipped into the dark passageway, careful not to let the door slam shut behind him.
The passageway was the fastest way for him to reach Taehyung from Hogwarts since he couldn’t apparate into or out of the school grounds. And while it was one of the shorter secret routes into Hogsmeade, the anticipation that had been building in Jeongguk’s chest all day made it feel as if the passageway went on for miles.
After jogging for twenty minutes as fast as he could with his damaged knee, twenty minutes that felt more like two hours, Jeongguk turned a corner and could finally see a warm glow at the end of the tunnel. He smiled and picked up his pace, ducking to avoid low-hanging roots and the uneven sections of the tunnel’s roof.
The final stretch of the tunnel was a two-storey uphill climb from beneath ground level to the inner walls of Honeydukes. Finally at the end and thankfully not too embarrassingly out of breath, Jeongguk gently eased the trap door open and entered the cellar. He quickly apparated to Madam Puddifoot’s side door, which Taehyung had left unlocked for him like he’d said, and went inside.
His eyes immediately latched on to Taehyung, who was pouring wine into two delicate glasses with his back turned to the door. The door swung closed behind Jeongguk with a soft click, enclosing them in the homey, warm room, and alerting Taehyung of Jeongguk’s arrival.
“Hey,” he whispered with a soft smile.
“Hi,” Jeongguk replied, walking over and standing as close as possible to Taehyung, arms brushing. That made Taehyung smile wider and Jeongguk couldn’t resist pressing a light kiss to his cheek, one to his jaw, and a heavier kiss to his neck. Taehyung giggled and pushed Jeongguk back a little.
He looked stunning. The soft light of the candles Taehyung had lit flickered across his face, his golden skin glowing and his eyes shining. His hair was messy and fell about his face, and he was smiling beautifully.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Jeongguk breathed.
Taehyung passed a glass of wine to Jeongguk and, picking up the other glass, guided Jeongguk by the elbow to the door at the far end of the room. “Come on, my room is much cosier than this.”
Two weeks had been far, far too long. Jeongguk and Taehyung couldn’t keep their hands off each other as they sat on Taehyung’s bed telling each other about their time apart and enjoying the wine Taehyung had gotten from Seokjin. Even Taehyung’s stories of his time at the conference and exploring Japan, which were even more exciting when he told them in person than they had been in his letters, couldn’t retain Jeongguk’s attention.
Taehyung, too, was becoming distracted, losing his place in his own stories, stumbling over his words and repeating himself whenever Jeongguk brushed his hands along his back, or his leg, or licked his lips or laughed in that way Taehyung found cute and -
Jeongguk couldn’t wait any longer.
They undressed quickly, without any sense or order. Jeongguk unbuttoned Taehyung’s pants and Taehyung impatiently tugged at Jeongguk’s shirt, hauling it off him; Taehyung pulled one arm out of his shirt then scrambled, fingers frantic, to edge Jeongguk’s pants down his hips; Jeongguk finished taking off Taehyung’s shirt then nearly toppled them over in his haste to pull off his pants. Then they were finally down to their underwear, and peeled their own off slowly, watching each other, full of anticipation and excitement, chests heaving and bodies glowing in the low lights of Taehyung’s bedroom.
Taehyung threw his underwear onto the floor and shuffled backwards on the bed, towards the pillows, never breaking eye contact. Jeongguk smiled and took in Taehyung’s body - long, shapely legs, a soft, slim middle, elegant arms that looked stronger than he remembered them being, and an angelic face haloed by dark, messy curls. Eyes, tempting and inviting.
Jeongguk kneed onto the bed and moved between Taehyung’s legs. He ran his hands from Taehyung’s ankles to the backs of his knees, feeling the definition of his calves and watching as Taehyung watched him, waiting for what he might do. Jeongguk thought for a moment - there was so much he wanted to do, so many things he’d been thinking about doing with Taehyung again, and so many new things, too. But he had time, he told himself, and could afford to take this slow.
He settled back onto his haunches, as if going into child’s pose, and ran his hands along Taehyung’s shins as he brought his lips to the inside of his ankle. Taehyung audibly inhaled, and Jeongguk looked up to find him biting his lip, anticipating growing. He kissed his way up the inside of Taehyung’s left leg, kisses starting out light as feathers and growing heavier as he approached the juncture of his inner thigh and groin. He made sure to breathe deliberately over Taehyung’s half-hard cock before pulling away and starting all over again on his right leg.
Jeongguk pressed his lips to Taehyung’s right ankle and looked up to catch Taehyung laugh and roll his head to the side on his pillow. Jeongguk smiled into Taehyung’s skin, making his way up to the inside of his thigh, back up to his groin. This time, he made sure to make eye contact with Taehyung before lowering his mouth, painstakingly slowly, to his cock. He exhaled, the warm air making his cock twitch, and then lightly kissed the side of it. Taehyung gasped as Jeongguk flicked out his tongue, teasing it along the underside of Taehyung’s cock, and then kissed wetly around its base.
“You tease,” Taehyung breathed.
Jeongguk let out a low chuckle before kissing Taehyung’s crown and settling higher on the bed, moving his hands further along Taehyung’s legs as he positioned his mouth on the skin above Taehyung’s cock.
He straightened his tongue and, with a hand on the outside of each of Taehyung’s supple thighs, he trailed the tip of his tongue from the top of Taehyung’s groin, just above where his hair grew, up to his navel, pausing there to suck a wet kiss below his belly button. He continued, tongue dragging along Taehyung’s soft, tanned skin, feeling the rise and fall of his stomach as he panted beneath him. He flicked his eyes up to watch Taehyung, who was watching him, watching his mouth, with a furrowed brow and slack mouth.
Jeongguk smirked and moved higher, squeezing Taehyung’s thighs so hard he was sure the skin beneath his fingertips was turning white. He alternated between keeping his tongue rigid, running it along Taehyung’s ribs, and flattening it as he teased him, pressing sloppy, open-mouthed kisses to his skin. He felt Taehyung’s legs kick out beside him and his hips rise as he huffed out impatiently, letting him know he was just as turned on as Jeongguk.
“Guk,” Taehyung whined, a high, breathy sound followed by a mewl as Jeongguk sucked harder beneath his right pec.
Jeongguk hummed against him, letting up and laving over the bite with his tongue. He inched higher still, pointed tongue teasing around Taehyung’s nipple and a hand letting go of one of Taehyung’s thighs so he could play with his other nipple. Taehyung arched off the bed as he did so, breathing growing more rapid and shallower as Jeongguk took his nipple into his mouth slowly.
“Guk,” Taehyung moaned, bringing his now free leg up around Jeongguk’s torso and digging in his heel to bring Jeongguk’s body in contact with his.
Jeongguk moaned around Taehyung’s nipple, never letting up his tongue’s ministrations, as he felt his abdomen brush against Taehyung’s hard cock. Taehyung’s hands were frantic, indecisive: he had one in Jeongguk’s hair, fisting it whenever Jeongguk did something that felt particularly good; he had a pillow locked in the vice grip of his other hand, latching onto anything he could. Then Jeongguk felt a hand squeezing his shoulder, the one in his hair loosening its grip and trailing down the side of his face towards his mouth, cupping his chin as a thumb inched closer to his lips.
Jeongguk took his thumb into his mouth and sucked, making sure it looked and sounded obscene. Taehyung’s other hand cupped his head and urged him forward, up to his mouth. Jeongguk released Taehyung’s thumb from his mouth and his thigh and nipple from his hands and heaved himself up with a hand on either side of Taehyung’s chest, hovering above him. Both of Taehyung’s legs wrapped around his waist tightly and he leant down to press a series of wet kisses to Taehyung’s neck and behind his ear.
Taehyung dug a foot into his ass to bring their groins together and guided Jeongguk’s mouth to his own with a hand on the back of his head. When they brushed against one another, they both let out moans, panting into each other’s mouths, and Jeongguk finally closed the distance between them.
He licked into Taehyung’s mouth, not bothering to start with gentler kisses. Taehyung responded in kind, his hand fisting Jeongguk’s hair again and the other scrabbling for purchase on Jeongguk’s back. Jeongguk cupped Taehyung’s face in one palm and latched onto one of his thighs again, moving their bodies in sync.
They moved like that together, entangled on the bed and rubbing against one another, growing more and more desperate. Their kisses grew sloppier and Jeongguk’s hand slipped against Taehyung’s leg as he ground down harder against him.
“Tae,” he breathed, “Tae.” He pulled away and immediately Taehyung moved his head down to Jeongguk’s neck, sucking and biting without any finesse, just tasting him. Jeongguk moaned and dropped his head to Taehyung’s shoulder. “Tae,” he tried again, voice breaking as Taehyung nipped at his earlobe and ground their cocks at the same time. “C-can we? Tonight?”
Taehyung’s thighs squeezed Jeongguk’s hips and he pulled back to face him, their movements only slowing a fraction, too wound up to stop completely. “Yeah. Yeah, you wanna?”
Jeongguk could only nod, his eyes squeezing shut and brow creasing.
“Do you still…”
Jeongguk opened his eyes and slowed their pace a little more, turning his hand on Taehyung’s cheek to stroke the back of his finger down his cheek. “Yeah?”
“I want you to fuck me. Is that okay?”
Jeongguk gulped and his hips gave an involuntary little thrust at Taehyung’s words. “Yeah. Yes, yeah,” he breathed. “Wanna fuck you, Tae. Been thinking about this.”
“Yeah?” Taehyung threw him a coy smile.
“Yeah.” Jeongguk shuffled forward onto his forearms, bracketing Taehyung’s head. They were connected all along the length of their torsos but were still, now. Jeongguk looked at Taehyung seriously, wanting to make sure he expressed himself right. “Don’t get me wrong, I was fine with the pace we were going. What we’ve been doing so far has been great, so don’t feel like you have to-”
“I want to.”
“Okay. That’s good. I, um, I really want to as well. If you’re ready-”
“I am.”
Jeongguk laughed at Taehyung’s impatient interruptions and kissed him through their grins, their teeth clacking awkwardly for a moment.
“You got some stuff?”
Taehyung nodded and Jeongguk rolled off of him as he turned on his side and rummaged in the drawer of his bedside table.
“Fuck, where is it?” he muttered. He grabbed a condom and turned to pass it to Jeongguk, then whispered accio lube quietly, making Jeongguk giggle. “Shut up, I didn’t think this through.”
“You’re cute,” Jeongguk said, placing a gentle hand on Taehyung’s hip.
Taehyung huffed as he rolled back over and handed Jeongguk the lube. Jeongguk put it to the side and pulled him in for a kiss, soothing a hand down his tense jaw and neck.
“Turn over,” Jeongguk murmured against Taehyung’s lips, “on your knees.”
Taehyung’s breath hitched and he eagerly flipped onto his front and pressed up onto his knees. He placed his hands amongst his pillows and watched Jeongguk over his shoulder.
“Relax,” Jeongguk whispered, running one hand down Taehyung’s spine and flicking the lube open with the other. Taehyung sagged forward, his forearms on his pillow and his ass up. “Pretty baby,” Jeongguk cooed, his hand tracing over Taehyung’s ass.
He poured lube onto his three middle fingers and leaned forward to kiss Taehyung’s ass cheek, cupping Taehyung’s hip with his other hand as he brought a finger up to his rim. He circled it around the muscle before inserting it slowly, muttering a warming charm on his fingers so it wouldn’t be too cold for Taehyung.
Taehyung shifted forward slightly, body instinctively moving away from the intrusion, but a moment later he relaxed back into Jeongguk’s hand. Jeongguk worked him open slowly, steadily speeding up his pace and pressing more kisses to Taehyung’s cheeks and above his rim until he was writhing beneath him and begging for more.
“Guk, Guk, another one, please,” he breathed.
Jeongguk complied, pulling his middle finger almost completely out of him and inserting his index finger in alongside it on the next thrust. Taehyung breathed out harshly, and Jeongguk praised him with a kiss to his heated skin, “That’s it, doing so good, baby, feel so good.”
When he’d worked up to three fingers, Taehyung was getting antsy. He bunched up his pillow and his sheets in his fists and clenched sporadically around Jeongguk’s fingers as he rocked back and forth, chanting Jeongguk’s name, a nonsensical litany of moans.
“I got you, baby, I got you,” Jeongguk soothed. He was painfully hard, his poor, untouched cock aching at the feeling of Taehyung around him, the sound of his blissed-out voice and the sight of his body before him, reacting so nicely to everything he did.
He pulled away completely then, making Taehyung whine and push back into nothing, seeking contact. Jeongguk chuckled and kneed forwards on the bed, pulling Taehyung up from his bent over position to kiss his mouth, his bitten-red lips. Taehyung hummed into the kiss and opened his mouth greedily. Jeongguk licked into his mouth and they moaned as their tongues rubbed against one another’s.
Taehyung’s hand found Jeongguk’s waist and squeezed, feeling his skin, and explored downwards. When Taehyung’s hand bumped his cock, Jeongguk jolted and gasped, the contact so good and so tempting.
“Wait, Tae,” Jeongguk panted. “Don’t - uh,” Taehyung wrapped his fingers around him and began to jerk up and down, “don’t, I won’t last.”
With a final kiss, Jeongguk pulled away and searched on the bed for the condom. He and Taehyung knelt facing each other on the bed as he fumbled to open it and rolled it on carefully. Taehyung stroked Jeongguk’s abs and the side of his thigh as he watched him lube himself up.
“How do you want to do this?” Jeongguk whispered, his voice shaky as he lubed himself gently, so turned on he felt he would come with the slightest bit of pressure to his cock.
“From behind,” Taehyung whispered back. “On our knees. Want to feel you all around me.”
“Fuck,” Jeongguk’s voice cracked and he pressed his forehead to Taehyung’s collarbone, panting into his skin and biting at it, wanting a taste, “yes, yeah, turn back around.”
Taehyung moved into the same position as before, ass up and hands on his pillow, and waited. Jeongguk positioned himself behind him, his knees between Taehyung’s, and lined himself up.
With a choked moan, he tapped the head of his cock against Taehyung’s rim, his hand gripping Taehyung’s hip so tightly there would probably be bruises in the morning, and eased in. Taehyung’s arms gave out as Jeongguk pushed further inside of him, keeping a steady pace until he was in to the hilt.
Their breathing became more laboured, both adjusting to the overwhelming feeling of being this close, of Jeongguk being inside Taehyung again. Taehyung eased up, pushing up onto his knees again and his hands searching for Jeongguk’s, feeling unsteady. The motion of his body pushed Jeongguk deeper and changed the angle, and Jeongguk whined at how tight Taehyung’s body was around him.
Taehyung’s hands found Jeongguk’s on his hips and he laced their fingers together. His back arched, pressing his shoulder blades into Jeongguk’s firm, rippled chest, and he threw his head back onto Jeongguk’s shoulder.
“You can move,” he breathed, angling his head so he could place wet, open-mouthed kisses onto Jeongguk’s jaw.
Jeongguk’s head dropped to Taehyung’s neck and he brushed his nose along the underside of his jaw and the back of his ear as he began to rock forward. He started slowly, wanting to make it last, and slid their joined hands from Taehyung’s hips to his stomach and his chest. He ran his fingers down to his belly button while his other hand explored Taehyung’s chest. When he reached a nipple, Taehyung’s hand flew into his hair, fingers curling into the strands as Jeongguk flicked and twisted it.
“Ungh, Jeongguk, yeah,” Taehyung moaned, emitting whines with every exhalation as Jeongguk worked his hands over him.
With his other hand, he reached lower, running his palm along Taehyung’s smooth navel. Taehyung let go of that hand, too, resting his palm on Jeongguk’s forearm as Jeongguk teased closer and closer to his cock.
“You like that?” he teased, tonguing at his earlobe. “Does it feel good, baby?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung whined, head flopping to the side.
Jeongguk increased his pace, straining to keep a rhythm and prevent his thrusts from becoming erratic. It was a hard task, though, with Taehyung whining and moaning in his ear, his hand tightening in his hair and his hole clenching around him, making him lose his mind. He began to snap his hips, holding Taehyung upright by his chest and his hipbone, keeping him close to him as he kissed down his neck and shoulder. He opened his mouth and sucked at his skin when Taehyung pushed back into him, meeting him thrust for thrust.
When he felt himself getting close, he finally fisted Taehyung’s cock, using the precome dribbling from his slit and the remaining lube on his fingers to make the motion smoother.
“Fuck, Guk,” Taehyung cried. Jeongguk looked to the side and saw Taehyung’s face contorted in pleasure, his eyes squeezed shut and his eyebrows scrunched together. His mouth was hanging open and his chest heaved, his body glistening with a light sheen of sweat.
“You close?” Jeongguk murmured, never letting up his quickened pace, rabbiting his cock into Taehyung and relishing the sound of his hips meeting Taehyung’s cheeks.
“Yeah,” Taehyung breathed, “‘m close, bun, you close?”
“Yeah, baby, gonna come.”
Jeongguk kissed Taehyung’s ear as he began to sag against him. He tightened his hold on him, wrapping his left arm around his chest from beneath his arms and quickening the motions of his hand on Taehyung’s cock. Taehyung’s hand in his hair and the hand on his forearm spasmed, his fingers gripping and loosening as the pleasure of his climax neared.
Ramming his hips forward in quick succession, Jeongguk ran his thumb over the head of Taehyung’s cock and breathed harshly into Taehyung’s ear. “Come for me, baby, let me see you come in my hand,” he murmured.
Taehyung whined, high and needy, and spurted into Jeongguk’s fist. He arched his back into an impossible curve, ass pressing urgently into Jeongguk’s hips, and gripped at Jeongguk’s hair and arm painfully as he rode out his orgasm.
Jeongguk continued to pound into him, hips working at an unforgiving pace. He clenched his jaw and whined through his teeth, pushing and pushing until he came inside Taehyung. His mouth dropped open and he moaned as his hips stuttered through his climax.
Taehyung was like a ragdoll in his arms. His heart was hammering in his chest beneath Jeongguk’s arm and his fingers slipped out of Jeongguk’s hair, arms limp by his side.
“I think you broke me,” he murmured. A satiated smile grew on his lips, his eyes closed and face blissed out, and Jeongguk pressed a loving kiss to his cheek.
“Feeling’s mutual.” Jeongguk held onto Taehyung’s hips as he slowly pulled out of him. Taehyung tilted forward and Jeongguk eased him forward slowly until he was lying on his side.
Jeongguk made quick work of discarding the condom and summoning a washer from the bathroom and a bowl of warm water from the kitchen. He soaked the washer and gently cleaned Taehyung’s ass and stomach and his own cock of lube and cum, then applied a cleaning spell to the washer and the sheets.
“Okay, enough cleaning, come here,” Taehyung complained with a pout. He still hadn’t opened his eyes, thoroughly fucked out, but he smiled even through his pout.
Jeongguk curled up behind him and curled his body around his, his knees bent into the back of Taehyung’s and one arm around his waist while the other supported his head. He kissed the back of Taehyung’s head, his ear, the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and along his shoulder.
Taehyung squirmed happily in his hold and intertwined their fingers against his stomach. Moments later, he was asleep.
As they lay in Taehyung’s bed the next morning, Taehyung’s head pillowed on Jeongguk’s chest, Jeongguk trailed his fingers down Taehyung’s back, feeling his smooth skin beneath his fingertips.
“You know how I’ve always wanted a tattoo?”
Taehyung hummed sleepily, cracking one eye open and looking at Jeongguk to show he was listening.
“I’ve finally decided upon a design.”
“That’s great! As long as it’s not the goblin one you wanted in high school.”
“No, no,” he laughed.
“Is it something to do with the Catapults or Quidditch? I’m surprised you don’t already have one related to Quidditch, to be honest.”
“Quidditch isn’t my whole life,” he said petulantly.
“Oh, I beg to differ,” Taehyung joked, earning him a playful jab in the ribs.
When they settled down, Jeongguk took a deep breath. “I was thinking… I want to get a phoenix? On my forearm. Just here,” he turned over his arm to show his bare, left forearm to Taehyung. “Like, it’s emerging from flames, but also, beneath the flame is a flower, so it looks like the flames and phoenix are coming from the flower. Does that make sense? I did a sketch of it, it’s somewhere here…”
He rolled over to rifle through his pants, looking for the sketch he’d folded and put in his pants pocket. When he turned back over, Taehyung’s eyes flickered from his arm up to his face. They turned dark as he stared, Jeongguk’s meaning sinking in.
“This is what I was thinking,” Jeongguk said, feeling shy and proud of the drawing. It was just as he described, a phoenix emerging from a flaming flower, and Taehyung traced its delicate lines with his middle finger. “You like it?”
Taehyung nodded. “Yeah. I love it.”
⋆ ★ ⋆
Warmer weather and stronger sunshine brought more flowers and animals out of their winter hibernation, and the longer days allowed more time to spend walking hand-in-hand with Taehyung by the banks of the lake and through the blossom trees of the outskirts of Hogsmeade.
Jeongguk decided that this was his favourite time of the year, when everything around him was at its best. He loved this pleasant period before the summer heat set in, when the nights were still cool enough to cuddle up with Taehyung and a cup of tea and sleep comfortably under blankets; when the sunsets were vibrant and cast pinks and oranges across the calm water of the lake, and morning swims were refreshing rather than hypothermia-inducing; when the end of the school year was approaching, making him feel like a childlike excitement as he thought of all the mornings and nights ahead when he would be able to lie next to Taehyung uninterrupted by an alarm or other people. Spring made the last of the early morning Quidditch matches less painful, too, although he was sad that the grand final was only a few days away.
Taehyung was also taking advantage of spring. As soon as the weather had started to grow warmer, he had devised a fresh, spring-themed menu for Madam Puddifoot’s and had planted new tea leaf seedlings in the small planter boxes outside his kitchen window. They were the subject of his latest research project, which was being financed by the Netherlands’ Herbology Society after Taehyung impressed their delegate at the conference. He’d started wearing looser, lighter pants and flowing blouses and little jasmine flowers in his hair, and seemed perpetually rosy cheeked. His skin started to tan even more in the strengthening sunlight and every day it was like waking up to a golden orb of light, Jeongguk’s very own sun around which he revolved.
Spring also saw the full return of Hoseok’s bright, sunny side, thanks largely to Dongwook and Yoongi’s love for him, although of very different kinds. As many times as Hoseok had told Jeongguk he was okay, Jeongguk had finally started to believe him when he saw how he and Dongwook looked at each other. And it seemed that Hoseok easily fell back into friendship with Yoongi - Jeongguk often caught him demonstrating his latest Zonko’s inventions for Yoongi, both of them dissolving into laughter just like they used to.
Spring was a time for things to grow, a time both for new things to blossom, breaking through the fresh soil and meeting the sun for the first time; and for rebirth, for old things not seen since the previous spring to bloom once again, to come back to us after a cool autumn and a long, dark winter.
So, Jeongguk thought it was fitting that in spring, a month earlier than expected, Namjoon returned to Hogwarts.
He returned to Hogsmeade first, arriving on the train at lunchtime and stopping to visit Taehyung in the teashop before making his way up to the castle. Taehyung had sent his patronus ahead of Namjoon, his iridescent bear cub finding Jeongguk alone in the staff common room and warning him of Namjoon’s arrival so he could make sure Jimin wasn’t completely blindsided.
Jeongguk hurried over to Jimin’s office, knowing he had fifteen, maybe twenty minutes max, until Namjoon came knocking. It was a Wednesday, so he knew that Jimin would be there waiting for him.
He burst in on Jimin sitting calmly at his desk, probably looking like he’d seen the inside of Nearly Headless Nick’s severed neck. Jimin startled, accidentally kicking the leg of the desk and dropping his sandwich.
“What the fuck, what is it? What’s happened?”
Jeongguk closed the door and came around the side of his desk, leaning on his knees because he was out of breath. “Jiminie-hyung,” he panted. “Hyung, Namjoon’s coming back. Right now. He’s just been to see Tae and he’s coming here now .”
Jimin stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth half-open. “Now?” he whispered.
“I’d give him fifteen minutes, maybe,” Jeongguk breathed. He straightened up and moved over to the seat by the window, sitting down and wiping his forehead.
“Shit.” Jimin muttered. He looked more put out than anything. Jeongguk was expecting screaming or tears or panic, but he just looked annoyed. “Shit, shit, shit. The day I finally tell Trelawney I’m free to help with her stupid experiment, he comes back.”
Jeongguk frowned, confused by Jimin’s reaction. “Uh… I can, um, do you want me to help her for you?”
“No, no,” he waved his hand back and forth, “I’ll just tell her my buffoon of a boyfriend is back unexpectedly. Letting her be the first in on the gossip that he’s back should appease her for a day or two.”
“Okay.” Jeongguk was at a loss. Jimin was acting like it was an inconvenience that Namjoon had come back. At least he called him his ‘boyfriend’ - Jeongguk guessed that was a good sign. “So, it’s a good thing, right? That he’s back?”
Jimin looked at Jeongguk and his features softened, the annoyance turning into fondness. “Of course, it is, Jeonggukkie. Sorry, I’m just a little frazzled today as it is. Stayed up too late reading those bloody muggle stories Tae keeps going on about.” He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “So. Fifteen minutes, huh?”
Jeongguk nodded, sure his eyes looked like they were bugging out of his head. “Yeah. Don’t worry though, hyung, you look great.”
Jimin laughed again, seeming more at ease now. “Thanks, Gukkie, but I don’t care what I look like. It’s Namjoon, he’s seen me in every possible state.”
“Are you nervous?”
Jimin thought for a moment. “Kind of? If you’d asked me a few months ago - Merlin, even a few weeks ago - I’d say I was bricking it. But five-and-a-half months is a long time to think and… and reflect. I know what I want to say to him, so I guess I’m just a little nervous about what he wants to say to me.”
“Do you think it will be the same thing? What he wants to say to you?”
“Wouldn’t have a clue, Guk. Hope so, though.”
He smiled at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk could see a little of the nerves there, at the corner of his mouth, but he smiled back. They settled into silence - not quite the comfortable kind they usually shared during Wednesday afternoon free periods, both too keyed up with anticipation - but the spring sun felt nice on Jeongguk’s face, so he tried to relax. Jimin gave him half his sandwich and they ate together while they waited.
A knock sounded on Jimin’s door ten minutes later. Jeongguk snapped his eyes to Jimin and gripped the edge of the seat. Jimin took a deep breath in and gulped.
“Want me to get it?” Jeongguk asked.
Jimin nodded silently.
Jeongguk walked to the door - it was only his hyung, his friend, why was he worried? - and it creaked open.
“Oh, Professor Trelawney,” he exclaimed in surprise. He opened the door wider and looked to Jimin then back to the profesor. “How are you this afternoon?”
“Fine, my dear, just fine, thank you,” she said, adjusting her glasses. “I’ve just come to ask Professor Park whether he’s still free this afternoon.”
“Hello, Professor, unfortunately, I’m no longer free to help you. You see-”
“Do not worry, my dear man,” she interrupted, nodding her head knowingly and clasping her hands in front of her. “I only asked because I saw an unexpected arrival in your future a few minutes ago, which I think may occupy you for some time today.”
“Ah, yes, well,” Jimin smiled uncertainly. “That is what has come up-”
“Well, I won’t keep you. It will happen imminently, I suspect. Professor Jeon, perhaps you will accompany me back to the staircases?”
“Oh, um, of course,” Jeongguk looked over to Jimin, who nodded as if to let him know that he should go, he’d be fine. “See you… when I see you, then. Hope it goes well.” He smiled awkwardly and waved, closing the door behind him.
As Professor Trelawney held Jeongguk’s forearm and they stepped away from the door, Jeongguk asked her, “How did you see this arrival, Professor? In tea leaves?”
She looked up at him with an amused, crooked grin and a twinkle in her eyes, which were abnormally enlarged behind the thick lenses of her glasses. “No, no, sweet boy. Out the window. I saw him walk up the path and into the castle.” She patted his arm and leaned in close. “Not all magic is magic.”
Then she walked away down the corridor, very much not in the direction of the staircases. Jeongguk stayed where he was, frowning in confusion as he thought about what she meant.
“She’s not wrong, you know,” came a voice. Jeongguk whipped his head around and saw Namjoon standing on the top step of a moving staircase. He waited until it connected with the landing and hopped off, his bag and coat hanging off his arm. He wore a friendly smile, a bit apprehensive, Jeongguk thought, and had deep, dark circles beneath his eyes. “Hi, Jeonggukkie.”
“Hey, Namjoonie-hyung.” He stood still as Namjoon approached him.
When he came to a stop in front of Jeongguk, Namjoon dropped his bag to the floor and spread his arms wide. He enveloped Jeongguk in a tight hug, something Jeongguk wasn’t used to receiving from him. He hugged back tightly, though, realising how much he’d missed him when he smelled the familiar scent of his aftershave.
“Missed you, hyung,” he said softly, surprising himself by feeling a small pang of fear that he’d scare Namjoon away by being too emotional.
But Namjoon responded in kind, his voice uncharacteristically affectionate. “Missed you, too, superstar.”
They pulled back and Jeongguk was startled to see that Namjoon’s tired eyes were wet.
“Argh, sorry,” Namjoon sniffed, wiping his eyes with the end of his sleeve. “Things have been a bit hard.”
That was an understatement. The sight of his hyung looking weary and on the verge of bursting into tears had Jeongguk’s own eyes welling up, his heart aching for him.
“It’s okay, hyung,” he said quietly. He was sure he looked distraught, or maybe terrified - Taehyung said he looked like a wounded little mouse when he got teary - but Namjoon looked so small and helpless like this, and Jeongguk just felt lost. So, he directed Namjoon to where he knew he needed to go. “You’re back now. Jimin’s in his office right now.”
Namjoon nodded. “Okay.” He picked up his bag and stepped forward. Then he stopped, resting a kind hand on Jeongguk’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “Good to see you, Googie.”
Jeongguk watched him step uneasily over to Jimin’s office door, watched his shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath, and watched his strong hand rap gently against the wood.
When it swung open, Jeongguk turned and walked away, giving them their privacy, only looking back when the staircase beneath him started to move and he heard the soft click of Jimin’s door closing.
…
“He’s back??” Hoseok asked loudly, attracting the attention of patrons at nearby tables. Dongwook chuckled and ran a hand down his back affectionately.
“Yeah, today!” Taehyung stage whispered excitedly as he refilled the couple’s cups of tea. “He came into the shop to say hi before going up to find Jimin. I told Jeongguk so he could warn him!”
Hoseok and Dongwook’s heads turned to Jeongguk, who had been sitting in the booth across from them silently and fiddling with his rings. Hoseok’s wide eyes begged him to tell him what he knew.
“Yeah,” he cleared his throat, “he came up near the end of lunch. I was in Jimin’s office but left just when he was coming up, so I saw him before he went in. He- he hugged me.” He felt fidgety, buzzing like he’d had too much butterbeer.
“He hugged you?” Taehyung was the one who asked loudly this time, and he turned to apologise graciously to his customers.
“Uh huh,” Jeongguk nodded, feeling his eyes doing the bugging-out thing again. “He looked exhausted, just like you’d said, Tae. But Jimin seemed mostly fine while we were waiting for him to come - not angry or panicky or anything. So, I think that’s good?”
Hoseok hummed. “That does seem like a good sign, yes.”
“Did you see them at dinner tonight?” Dongwook asked.
“No. But I came straight here after eating, so maybe they went later, I don’t know.”
The three of them sat in contemplative silence while Taehyung went back to work.
“So, what do we do?” Hoseok said, breaking the silence. “Do we go and ask them how it went or do we wait for them to come to us?”
“I think wait,” Dongwook said. His hand on Hoseok’s back moved up to Hoseok’s furthest shoulder and he massaged at his trap muscle. “Rushing things never produces the best results.”
Jeongguk cocked an eyebrow and Hoseok leaned into his boyfriend, smiling adoringly. Completely whipped, Jeongguk thought.
“Aww, Wookie,” Hoseok crooned. “Good things come to those who wait, right?”
“Right,” Dongwook smiled and pecked Hoseok on the cheek.
Jeongguk looked away, resisting the urge to give a childish fake gag, instead letting them have this moment. His eyes found Taehyung and he trailed him as he went from table to table, from the front counter to the kitchen, charming and chatting effortlessly with everyone. Taehyung’s eyes found Jeongguk’s as he crossed the room and he threw him a Seokjin-style kiss, and Hoseok was the one to fake-gag.
…
As it turned out, they didn’t have to wait very long to find out how Jimin and Namjoon’s reunion had gone. As Jeongguk walked to breakfast the following morning, he caught Jimin and Namjoon emerging from Namjoon’s room together, small smiles gracing both of their faces. They noticed him before he could look away and joined him on his way to the Great Hall. They didn’t mention anything about the previous night or their current relationship status, but Namjoon invited him to dinner in his rooms.
So, Friday night found all of them seated around Namjoon’s dining table, magically elongated to fit eight people rather than four, and engaged in idle small talk while they waited for someone to address the elephant in the room. Namjoon showed them a slideshow of pictures from Japan - of the volcano upon which Mahoutokoro sat, of the grounds and classrooms, of him with other professors and the headmaster and Taehyung… all very nice and interesting to some extent, but the anticipation in the room was palpable. Even Jimin was fidgeting and far too eager to pour refills as soon as someone’s glass looked nearly empty.
After the slideshow and more talk of Japanese food and customs, how he adapted to teaching in Japanese, and hanging out with Taehyung, Namjoon finally quietened and sat back in his chair with his glass of wine. He looked over at Jimin and placed a gentle hand on his knee, and there was a collective holding of breath around the table.
Jimin smiled lovingly at Namjoon, his eyes warm. “So,” he said, turning to look at everyone. “Namjoon and I have had a chance to chat.”
Taehyung was literally on the edge of his seat beside him, his bottom perched right on the end of the chair and his hands gripping its sides. Jeongguk was equally as intrigued and sat pitched forward against the table. He looked between Namjoon and Jimin with wide eyes and his mouth agape. Seokjin, who was sitting on the other side of Jimin, noticed his and Taehyung’s mirrored expressions and positions and pointed at them, looking across the table to Yoongi and laughing.
Yoongi looked over and laughed, too, then focussed again on Jimin. “And?”
“Well, obviously, I was an idiot,” Namjoon said bluntly. It made Jimin laugh, and the rest of them tried to join the laughter but it was nervous. “Our relationship wasn’t…” he raised his hands and gestured in the air, like he was trying to physically express how things had gone wrong. “We weren’t stepping back and noticing how bad things had become.”
Jimin nodded, watching Namjoon as he spoke. “Right,” he said, “we were so caught up in arguing that we couldn’t see the damage it was doing to our relationship or realise what we were losing by not fixing things.”
“And I just,” Namjoon hung his head with a heavy sigh and Jimin massaged the back of his neck comfortingly, “It all sort of came to a head and I felt like there was no way we could come back from it, like fixing things would so much harder than just throwing it away. It was cowardly,” he looked up at Jimin, eyes wide and desperate, “I was such a coward.”
Jimin just continued to massage his neck, warm gaze never wavering. “I was, too. I didn’t make any attempt to fix things, either.”
The table was silent, like everyone was afraid of making a sound or any sudden movement lest it disrupt Jimin and Namjoon’s emotional revelation. Namjoon sniffled and looked at a point on the wall so he didn’t make eye contact with anyone.
“Anyway, we’ve, um,” Jimin sat up straight and gripped one of Namjoon’s hands in his free hand, “we’re going to give this a real go, put a lot of effort into it and, yeah, work hard to make this work because…” Jimin paused and Jeongguk heard Taehyung inhale sharply beside him as Jimin got a little choked up, “because we love each other, and that’s important.”
Namjoon turned back to Jimin and cleared his throat. “We do. That’s the thing that matters, no matter how hard it gets. I,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, as though it might crack otherwise, “I know that now.”
Yoongi leaned forward on his elbows slowly. In a low, steady voice, as if talking to a cowering animal, he said, “We’re all really happy you’re going to be okay. And I, for one, am proud of you both. Love takes real guts.” When Namjoon and Jimin looked at him, he nodded with his lips pressed in a line - an ‘it’s okay, you’re doing so well’ kind of nod.
“Thank you, hyung,” Namjoon whispered gratefully.
“You guys are-” Taehyung piped up, voice betraying how emotional he’d become, “I’ve seen how good you can be to one another and how right you are for each other and I’m just so glad you’re staying together.” He sniffled loudly; Jeongguk passed him a tissue.
“Come on,” Seokjin said. “We ‘ave all fucked up, Namjoon-ah. Honestly, if you didn’t fuck up sooner or later I would ‘ave started to believe you were a robot like Taehyung said that one time!” He shook his head wildly, making Namjoon laugh with all his teeth bared. “You know you are not ze only morons when it comes to love at zis table. Look around!”
At the end of the table, Hoseok and Dongwook held hands on the table and shared happy smiles. Hoseok turned to Yoongi at the other end and nodded, and Yoongi looked back to Seokjin fondly as he diffused the tension effortlessly (which he knew was not effortless at all, the red tips of Seokjin’s ears signalling it took him courage to be the kind of person they all needed). Yoongi nudged his foot against Seokjin’s under the table, Jeongguk catching the movement and smiling. Jeongguk threw an arm onto the back of Taehyung’s chair and kissed the side of Taehyung’s head. He got one of those megawatt beams in return and Taehyung’s head on his shoulder.
“Things have a way of working themselves out in ze end, even if it’s in ways we don’t expect. We just have to ‘ave faith in ourselves and try to be good, you know, so that when everything goes up in flames, it is not ze end, and something else even more wonderful can come out of it.”
⋆ ☆ ⋆
Epilogue
Summer in Hogsmeade had been better than Jeongguk had imagined. He only knew the town in its other seasons, its other iterations: the sunburnt place he returned to every autumn as a student and whose alleys full of crunchy dead leaves he would explore with his friends and Taehyung; the cosy winter wonderland, blanketed in shin-deep snow, where he and Taehyung would hole up in the teashop with scones during exam week; and the charming village that seemed to come alive in spring, little blossoms blooming through the cracks in the cobblestoned lanes and the sun thawing out all that winter had frozen.
In summer, Hogsmeade was transformed once again. Some days, it felt like the sun refused to set, its golden rays clinging to the windowpanes and front signs of the shops on the main street. Taehyung and Jeongguk had taken to picnicking in the field near the lake, sitting under a fruit tree for shade, and, when it grew late, they would skinny dip in the warm water. Berries bloomed right throughout the season, so Jeongguk was able to perfect the Hogwarts elves’ berry tea recipe and Taehyung ate strawberries until his lips were stained red. Jeongguk would kiss him until well after the sweet berry taste had gone. On those long, steaming days, the only thing to rival the sun was Taehyung’s smile and the heat of his hands on Jeongguk’s skin.
Today, Jimin and Namjoon were coming back from their customary two weeks in Ireland, the day before the return of the students. Taehyung, Soobin and Beomgyu had been preparing all morning for the impending influx of Hogwarts staff that afternoon. The summer had been fruitful for Taehyung, as he could perform most simple tasks and charms without the need for his wand at all. That morning, he had wandlessly assembled most of the trays of food and teapots with different varieties of tea without any trouble. Soobin and Beomgyu clapped every time he managed it, and it was very condescending but he told Jeongguk he found it kind of sweet at the same time, so he endured it.
Yes, fruitful the summer had been, in more ways than one. Jeongguk had returned a few days earlier from the international Quidditch rookie summer camp where he’d been a mentor, and had set up a schedule with his mentees for their meetings for the coming year. He was happy to be back for another year of teaching most of all: he found himself getting more and more excited as August wore on and the school year approached, keen to get back onto the field with a new raft of students.
For Taehyung, too, the year ahead looked bright. Headmaster Bang, at Namjoon’s suggestion, had invited him to give guest lectures in some of Namjoon’s Herbology lessons after the success of his address at the conference and his latest article in The Toil and The Trouble . He was an international success, a critically acclaimed author (“peer reviewed, Jeongguk, I’m not a film”) and a world-renowned expert in his field. And although he complained about it taking him away from running the shop, Jeongguk suspected he appreciated the recognition. He couldn’t wait to see what their seventh year teachers would say about Taehyung being a proven academic success but still wanting to run the shop, and how Taehyung would put them in their place about it.
Jimin and Namjoon made a loud entrance when they kicked open the door of Madam Puddifoot’s at around four that afternoon. Taehyung was in the middle of floating a plate of cat tongues over to Livinia and Virgil, so Jeongguk hopped out of his seat and greeted them first.
“Hi! Good to see you, and to see so much of you!”
“Look, you little shit,” Jimin chastised, one chubby finger raised in warning while Namjoon laughed from behind him, “it’s not my fault Mrs Kim kept offering me blueberry tart every night. No man in the world could say no to that woman and her cooking.”
Namjoon giggled, then pecked Jimin on the cheek and squeezed his hip as he went to say hello to Maurice and Prokofiev. Jimin watched him go with a fond smile and sighed as he turned back to Jeongguk, catching him observing him.
“Quit staring, hotshot,” he said. He winked as he went to join Livinia and steal a sandwich from the tray in front of her.
They seemed to be better than ever. Namjoon being quietly affectionate and Jimin being playful were the surest signs that they were happy, and Jeongguk had a feeling it would last this time. They had requested adjoining rooms this year, but hadn’t fussed about having a timetable with coinciding free periods. They’d decided that the best thing for their relationship was to have totally separate work days and a shared home space in which to spend time together. Even from how they were behaving now, after a summer of working hard at their relationship and two weeks with each other constantly at Namjoon’s family’s place, Jeongguk could see that it would work: they weren’t sitting together, but their eyes kept finding each other across the tables and the other teachers, like they were subconsciously tied to one another.
With his heart full and his stomach growling, Jeongguk rejoined the other teachers at their tables and poured himself a hot cup of Taehyung’s latest concoction, blackcurrant and lemon tea. Taehyung joined him when he could, perching on the edge of his seat and feeding him teacake and biscuits before flying off to cater to other customers and check on the kitchen.
Later, they would go to the Hog’s Head for drinks, and next week it would be the Three Broomsticks, just as it always had been. Except, this year, Yoongi would serve Seokjin’s onion soup and crême brulée, and Seokjin would charm his piano to play the compositions Yoongi had kept hidden in his desk for years, and more often than not they would be in each other’s pubs anyway. Tonight, Jeongguk wouldn’t have to stumble along the cobblestones to visit Seokjin in his pub. Seokjin would close up and join Yoongi behind the bar, and Hoseok and Dongwook would be there to share a toast to a successful year ahead with them across the counter.
All the stumbling Jeongguk would have to do would be into Taehyung’s warm arms at the end of the night, the flames of his phoenix tattoo pulsing with every beat of his heart. And after falling out of one dream career and into a new one, and falling into a life he’d only imagined he could have, the only falling he had left to do was further and further in love with Taehyung, which he did every minute of every day.