Chapter Text
I.
Wonwoo felt as if he'd always lived life through a storm cloud of mishaps and disasters and would never find his silver lining. Childhood friend Junhui would know that he wasn't always so introverted and shy to initiate things when he was younger, but an accident with his brother had changed everything for him. Even though Wonwoo tried his best to avoid trouble any further, fate always saved the best for him.
And once again, it just had to ruin the one day that he had needed to be perfect.
Being incredibly awkward, Wonwoo didn't know how exactly to tell a girl that he had feelings for her, especially with memories of his childhood accident chipping away at his confidence. However, Wonwoo did know about love potions, which he felt was the better option when it came to crushes. His friends found that absolutely ridiculous.
"I don't get why you can't just tell her you like her," Hansol said as soon as he took a seat next to Wonwoo at the Ravenclaw table. He had been Wonwoo’s partner in crime by distracting any students who were nearby as the older Ravenclaw slipped the vial into his cloak as secretly as he could. It had been a wonderful coincidence that their year was learning about said potions and how to brew them.
"You'll never understand," Wonwoo replied with ease. Unlike him, Hansol was popular and was never caught in a situation where he was socially inept. He revealed the vial carrying the potion and discreetly poured it into a glass of milk, which was next to him on the bench. The drink bubbled and fizzed for a few seconds before stopping, like the seeming calm before a storm.
Just then, Wonwoo spotted his crush walk into the Great Hall. It was perfect timing. Her name was Lisa, a Gryffindor girl who was one of the unofficial cheerleaders for the Gryffindor Quidditch team in a group called Blackpink. She liked rap and was incredibly smart too, and Wonwoo had admired her for a long time, probably since their 2nd year. They were friends, but they weren't too close either.
He stood up and grabbed the glass of milk, being careful not to spill it. Every single drop mattered. Ignoring some of Hansol's protests, Wonwoo strode over to her as confidently as he could manage.
"Hey," Lisa greeted with a bright smile as soon as he entered her line of sight and she noticed that Wonwoo had been looking in her direction.
"Hi." Wonwoo's smile was stiff. Both of them stood there for a good few seconds in awkward silence. This is exactly why I need a love potion, Wonwoo sent a mental telepathy to Hansol.
“I got an extra glass of milk for my friend but he doesn’t want it, so I thought I’d give it to you since you like to drink it,” Wonwoo lied. He sent a gentle prayer to Rowena Ravenclaw that Lisa wasn’t smart enough to see through his questionable pretence.
Thankfully, she took the bait. “Thanks, Wonwoo! You’re really nice.” Lisa smiled up at him and took the glass from him with one hand. Wonwoo attempted to smile back at her, but he guessed it came out as more of an awkward expression. It wasn’t his fault that he was born incapable of human interaction.
He slid back into his seat, and Hansol and Jihoon, who had also just arrived at the Great Hall, barraged him with questions about how it had gone. Ignoring them slightly, Wonwoo watched quietly as Lisa took a seat next to her friends, placing the glass of milk on the table. He took a bite of his croissant nervously, never letting his eyes roam away from her.
Just then, as she was laughing with some of her friends, Lisa lifted the glass of milk slowly. Wonwoo stared as everything miraculously went to plan.
The glass was halfway to her lips. Jihoon and Hansol had turned around too to watch as Wonwoo’s fate unfolded.
About 2 centimetres to go.
At this point, Wonwoo was convinced that he had succeeded, when a giant Gryffindor boy that he recognised as a popular Quidditch player by the name of Kim Mingyu approached her from behind.
Wonwoo was friends with him, but they weren’t very close. They talked a bit occasionally, but it was only because they were somewhat in the same social circle. Wonwoo could never be good friends with him; Mingyu was a league away from him. The Gryffindor was popular, handsome and extremely social, and was probably never seen without a girl swooning over him from behind.
Obviously, he was Wonwoo’s complete opposite, who was always quiet, never smiled, and preferred to stay beside the dormitory fireplace and read than interact with others. Mingyu's life also revolved around Quidditch as well, which was something Wonwoo never had a particular interest in. It probably explained why they never spoke to each other without their friends to initiate.
Just as Lisa was about to drink from the glass, Mingyu snatched it away from her hand playfully and took a huge gulp of the milk, then proceeded to down it all. Just as quickly as the love potion was taking effect on him, Wonwoo’s entire world was shattering. It still hadn’t sunk in that it was another boy that had taken his love potion, meant for Lisa.
Only when Mingyu blinked, tilted his head in confusion, and then turned to make direct eye contact with Wonwoo from across the Great Hall did Wonwoo realise that he had screwed up. Lisa had been hitting Mingyu’s arm in annoyance at his act, not fully aware of what had just happened.
“Oh, shit,” Hansol voiced Wonwoo’s thoughts. “Mingyu just drank your love potion.”
Oh shit indeed.
Jihoon gaped at Wonwoo, still in that state of disbelief. “You shouldn’t have tried that.”
Wonwoo didn’t need another Ravenclaw to tell him that this was the worst decision he had ever made in his life, and the feeling of Mingyu looking over at him was making him feel slightly nauseous.
"Is there a spell to completely obliterate myself?" Wonwoo choked out.
Jihoon stared. "You're in Charms NEWTs, Wonwoo."
“I think I’m going to leave first,” Wonwoo managed to cough out, and stumbled out of his seat towards the doors. There was still time to head back to Ravenclaw Tower and mourn over this under his duvet if he hurried, and then maybe he could find some more time to brew a love potion antidote before something turned for the worse.
Blocking out Jihoon and Hansol’s concerned questions, Wonwoo did a brisk walk out of the doors, only to feel a strong hand grab his arm. He turned around to see the one person he didn’t intend on bumping into at all, Kim Mingyu.
“Please let go,” Wonwoo said, trying not to make a big fuss out of it.
“Wonwoo-hyung, right?” Mingyu persisted, still grabbing onto his arm. “I know this is really sudden, but I like you.”
Wonwoo was about to implode in the the doorway. “You’re only saying this because you accidentally drank a love potion that wasn’t meant for you.” He tugged at his arm roughly, hoping that Mingyu would get a hint, but Gryffindors were impossibly stubborn.
Mingyu frowned slightly, looking hurt. “You don’t understand, Wonwoo-hyung. I really like you, in a romantic way.”
Wonwoo shoved Mingyu away with his free arm, and finally broke free of his grasp. “Listen, you’re under the effect of a love potion. You don’t actually have real feelings for me. Now please let me go while I try and fix this mess, please.”
Mingyu was the one who didn’t understand, apparently. He advanced towards Wonwoo and grabbed his hand this time, tightly intertwining his fingers with the incredibly annoyed Ravenclaw boy. “Wonwoo-hyung,” he continued. “Please go out with me. I’m in love with you.”
Wonwoo had had enough. Mingyu’s insistent voice was giving him a headache, and coupled with the fact that his plan had failed, the Gryffindor was really starting to get on his nerves.
“Shut up,” Wonwoo hissed, and this was one of the few moments that he snapped with anger. “How many times do I have to repeat myself, or are you an idiot? I told you that you took a love potion, so you don’t actually like me, so just go away and stop bothering me!”
Mingyu’s eyes softened, and released his grip on Wonwoo’s hand slightly, who took it as a cue to pull away as quickly as possible. “But hyung—”
Wonwoo was about to yell at the annoying prick who couldn’t understand English that was Kim Mingyu, when a very familiar-sounding cough broke him out of his state.
"Is there something wrong, Mr Kim?" Minerva McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor house, asked in a tone that spelled the warning of a detention. Wonwoo had heard many complaints about her from Chan and sometimes Seungcheol for being very strict with those under her house, but he was sure it wasn't just limited to Gryffindors from the way she was also staring at him.
Then again, she was a professor, and Wonwoo was sure that she would know what to do with a love potion gone wrong despite not being a potions master. Anything was better than consulting Snape, at least.
"Professor McGonagall," Mingyu began in a very assuring tone. "There's nothing—“
Wonwoo glared at him in the same McGonagall manner. How could he just pretend nothing had happened? Wonwoo wanted none of this, and he was sure Mingyu would be horrified if he was actually aware of the circumstances. If only it wasn't an insolent Gryffindor like Mingyu who had taken the love potion by accident, maybe things would have been so much smoother.
"Actually, Professor," Wonwoo raised his voice to be louder than Mingyu's, causing Professor McGonagall to turn towards him instead. Everybody in Hogwarts recognised this the typical voice that Ravenclaws used to get the attention of teachers during class.
"You are, my dear?" Professor McGonagall asked in a more gentle tone, peering at Wonwoo through the top of her glasses.
"I'm Jeon Wonwoo, Ravenclaw house," Wonwoo greeted politely with a bow. "I need to talk to you about something quite urgent actually, and it concerns Mingyu and me." He tried not to flinch at the mention of the Gryffindor's name, who was looking a bit uneasy.
"What's wrong?" Professor McGonagall asked, and Wonwoo thought maybe she was actually pretty nice to Ravenclaws. He'd heard that she was almost sorted into his house once, after all.
Wonwoo stepped a bit closer to her so that it wasn't heard by the other students who were walking past. "Mingyu accidentally drank some of the love potion that I made during potions class, so now he's... fallen in love with me, I guess."
Professor McGonagall blinked in disbelief at Wonwoo, then at Mingyu. "That does sound urgent," she said, and pushed both of them gently on their backs. "Come on, let's go to my staffroom."
Both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were led to Professor McGonagall's staffroom awkwardly, and the walk there was painfully silent. Wonwoo was aware of the looks that Mingyu gave him as they went, but he ignored them and opted to just walk on.
Once they were safely inside the staffroom away from possible prying students, Professor McGonagall allowed Wonwoo to explain the situation while she pored through a couple of textbooks which were neatly stacked on her table. They were in a long room with yellowing wallpaper and mismatched dark wooden chairs, which Professor McGonagall allowed them both to sit on.
"So... what can we do?” Wonwoo asked cautiously after telling her what had happened, obviously leaving out certain details like how it was meant to be used on someone else, and playing it out like it was a complete accident. He lied that Mingyu had stumbled upon his love potion that was made during potions class and had drunk it under the impression that it was a fizzy drink of some sort, causing him to fall in love with Wonwoo unwantedly (that part was true).
After a while, Professor McGonagall looked at Wonwoo albeit a little pitifully. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait it out, Mr Jeon."
“What?” Wonwoo gaped. “I’m sure there’s an antidote of some sort? I could brew it myself. I can’t have this guy following me around all day, attempting to confess his feelings.”
Mingyu frowned at him. “Hyung, I mean it when I said I love you, you know.”
Wonwoo face-palmed. “Shut up, please.”
“The antidotes we currently have in the school have the potential risk of causing side effects, and I’m afraid the school can’t risk that on our students. The best way, I reckon, is to wait for the potion’s side effects to go away. There’s a small chance that he’ll forget most of what happened as well,” Professor McGonagall replied in response to Wonwoo’s question.
“Forget? I don’t want to forget Wonwoo-hyung, though,” Mingyu protested, sounding like an incredibly lost puppy.
“I wish you would,” Wonwoo deadpanned. This Gryffindor was starting to get on his nerves. “So, how long will I have to wait for?” he asked, hoping that it wasn’t a month or even worse, a year. Only God knew how much he could stand Mingyu for any longer.
“A few days,” Professor McGonagall said, much to Wonwoo’s relief. “3 more days, excluding today, should be enough to let the love potion’s effects wear off.”
Wonwoo broke into a smile. “That’s wonderful, Professor. Thank you so much.”
Mingyu leaned in towards Wonwoo, causing the latter to scowl and back away slowly.
“You look really handsome when you smile, hyung.” He grinned, showing off his sharp canines. “You should do it more often, you know.”
“Why don’t you just don’t speak at all?” Wonwoo suggested, staring back at him blankly. “That would be the best 3 days I could ever have.”
“I can’t stay quiet for so long, but I’ll still make these 3 days the best few days you’ll ever have in your life!” Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo’s hands once again and beamed. “Go out on a date with me?”
Wonwoo gritted his teeth. “Never,” he announced, and ripped his hands out of Mingyu’s grasp. “I hate you.”
None of this would have happened if Mingyu didn’t drink that stupid love potion, and maybe Wonwoo would have already been a couple with Lisa. Yes, Wonwoo felt nothing but hatred towards the idiot of a Gryffindor.
Professor McGonagall offered Wonwoo a small smile, perhaps as her condolences. “Good luck, Mr Jeon.”
He needed it.
After thanking Professor McGonagall and heading out of the staffroom for classes, Wonwoo was stopped yet again by Mingyu. The Ravenclaw was tempted to use the silencing charm on him if he didn’t stop bugging him.
“Hyung,” Mingyu said more quietly this time. “I’m sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, but maybe you could give me a chance?”
“You drank my love potion meant for someone else.” Wonwoo glared, but said it as quietly as he could so that no one else could hear it but Mingyu. “Of all the people, it had to be you.”
Mingyu’s eyes were downcast on the floor and his hands cupped in front of him, honestly looking like a puppy who had just been scolded. Wonwoo’s usual stone cold heart softened just a tiny bit. Maybe he was a bit harsh. After all, Mingyu didn’t know about the love potion in the first place.
Wonwoo sighed. “Okay, I take what I said back. I’m sorry for saying that I hate you.”
Mingyu immediately perked up, smiling widely once more. “Really? So, you don’t dislike me then?”
Wonwoo rolled his eyes at how quickly his mood could change. “No, you’re still annoying.”
Mingyu laughed. “Hyung, you’re so cute.”
Wonwoo raised an eyebrow at that. “Even though you’re under a love potion’s effects, you still have terrible taste if you think I’m cute.”
Mingyu grinned, and nudged him gently with his shoulder. “Aw, you don’t have to be so shy around me.”
Wonwoo pushed him away, but this time gentler than before. “Shut up, and stop bugging me so much. I have classes to attend.”
Mingyu finally headed off in a different direction, but not before waving goodbye to Wonwoo. “I’ll see you later, hyung!” he said loudly.
Wonwoo turned and continued on his way, not bothering to reply. It was going to be a long few days.
II.
“I shouldn’t have tried to give Lisa a love potion,” Wonwoo complained softly to Hansol, setting his quill down slowly. Both of them were in the school library attempting to get some homework done after classes ended, but Wonwoo’s mind was mostly on the love potion fiasco from earlier, and Hansol’s was clearly on rap as he scribbled new lyrics onto his notebook which was laid over the top of his Herbology notes.
Hansol paused to look up and laugh at Wonwoo’s demise. Why was he still hanging out with him, Wonwoo wondered.
“As a Ravenclaw, I thought you would have known better,” Hansol chided.
Wonwoo stuck out his bottom lip slightly. “Okay, but I thought it was a pretty good plan at that time.”
“So, how’s Mingyu?” Hansol asked curiously. “He’s a pretty fun guy to hang out with.”
Wonwoo rolled his eyes, which was something he seemed to be doing quite frequently ever since Mingyu had accidentally taken his love potion. “He’s a pretty annoying guy to hang out with,” Wonwoo muttered. “He won’t stop talking about how much he has a crush on me, even though it’s clear that he’s under a love potion, and he knows it too.”
Hansol raised his eyebrows. “Really? Maybe you’re just upset over Lisa, but he’s not a bad guy overall. He’s pretty cool, if you just get to know him more.”
“You sound like you’re best friends with him already,” Wonwoo deadpanned. “Shouldn’t you stick up for your house mate?”
Hansol shrugged, returning to his lyrics. “I don’t discriminate against anyone who likes rap.”
Wonwoo was about to turn back to his essay when a familiar voice that he was a little sick of by now called out to him.
“Wonwoo-hyung!”
He spun around in his seat to find Mingyu standing behind him with a ton of books and quills in his arms, Chan next to him. Wonwoo’s eyes widened; had Mingyu heard their entire conversation?
“Hi, hyung,” Chan greeted, taking a seat next to Hansol, who was sitting directly opposite Wonwoo.
“Hi,” Wonwoo tried to say as cheerfully as he could, but it still felt dull due to the fact that Mingyu had taken a seat next to him.
“Where’s my greeting?” Mingyu beamed. Hansol stopped writing in order to see the situation unfold, obviously treating it like a comedy show.
Wonwoo scoffed quietly. “I’ve seen more of you than I’d like; I think a greeting’s overdone.”
Hansol cracked up in the background while Chan just stared at the two, processing their banter. Mingyu didn’t seem affected by Wonwoo’s distancing at all.
“We hope you don’t mind that we crashed to study with both of you,” Chan piped up, obviously not aware of the love potion disaster. Wonwoo knew that Hansol would update him later, anyway.
Wonwoo turned to smile at him. “Of course I don’t mind,” he said, but he honestly wished that it was just Chan alone.
He turned back to his work, avoiding any conversation with Mingyu at all costs. It would have gone smoothly, but Mingyu had the unfortunate habit of tapping the table as he worked, and about twenty minutes in Wonwoo had started to get peeved.
“Can you stop that?” Wonwoo asked, trying to be as cordial as possible.
“Sorry,” Mingyu apologised, looking rather annoyed himself. “I always seem to do that by habit whenever I can’t solve a question.”
Wonwoo sighed, and his Ravenclaw instincts took over. He stretched out a hand. “Give it here.”
Mingyu blinked up at him, eyes wide. “What?”
Wonwoo sighed even more audibly this time, catching the attention of those within a two-metre radius in the relatively silent library. “Do you want me to help you with your work or not?”
Mingyu nodded instantly, handing the book over to the Ravenclaw. “Thank you, Wonwoo-hyung. You’re too nice.”
Wonwoo nodded back, too busy reading the Arithmancy question that Mingyu was currently stuck at to bother to reply.
“It’s no wonder I like you so much,” Mingyu continued, and Wonwoo tapped his head lightly with the book at that.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I just don’t want you to keep tapping the table.” Wonwoo said, before showing the question to Mingyu again and circling a key part with his quill. Mingyu followed his indication immediately.
“This part here,” Wonwoo explained, pointing with his quill, “means that you can directly refer to your number chart to simply retrieve your answer.”
Mingyu stared at it, confused for a moment, before his eyes lit up and he took the book back. “I get it now! Thank you,” he said.
Wonwoo huffed, blowing some of his fringe out of his eyes. “You’re welcome, I guess.”
Not more than a minute later, the tapping resumed. Wonwoo spun to stare at Mingyu, annoyed.
“Another question?”
Mingyu grinned shyly. “I’m really shitty at Arithmancy.”
Wonwoo looked over his shoulder at the next question, not bothering to pull the book over to his side. He heard Mingyu breathe in an audible gulp, and he looked up, puzzled.
“Sorry, you were just really close to me,” Mingyu admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with an arm.
Wonwoo looked at him pointedly. “You’ll never get anywhere if you keep thinking about your fake feelings for me.” He looked down at the book again and pointed at a line with his finger. “This is basically the same thing as the last question, just differently phrased.”
Mingyu let out a long, but soft “ohh”, and went ahead to continue with the question. Wonwoo continued to look over at him.
“You’re really that bad at Arithmancy?” Wonwoo asked.
“Yeah,” Mingyu admitted sheepishly.
Wonwoo looked down at his own essay, but his Ravenclaw instincts were itching to teach Mingyu. He supposed he could always finish it at night after dinner. Wonwoo pushed his homework to the side, and pulled Mingyu’s book over so that it was between them now.
“I’ll tutor you,” Wonwoo offered.
“Really?” Mingyu gaped at him in disbelief.
Wonwoo nodded up at him.
“Thanks, hyung. You’re the best!” Mingyu grinned, his eyes reduced to small crescents.
Wonwoo coughed, turning back to the book. “Yeah yeah, you’re welcome. Now back to Arithmancy.”
(He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel the slightest bit happy at what Mingyu said.)
A few hours later, Wonwoo and Hansol had to go for a short house meeting. Mingyu disappointedly pouted at the former as he packed away his books and quills.
“Are you sure you have to go?” he asked. “I think I still need your help.”
Wonwoo scoffed. “Don’t lie to me just to make me keep you company,” he said, tapping Mingyu’s head with his pile of books once again. “I can tell you’re getting better.”
He turned to leave with Hansol in tow, saying goodbye to Chan as well, when a hand grabbed the back of his cloak. Wonwoo turned to look Mingyu straight in the eyes.
“I really like you, hyung,” Mingyu repeated, but his voice sounded strangely genuine.
Wonwoo sighed, reaching behind to lift Mingyu’s hand off his clothes. It was repetitive, but Wonwoo decided that he might as well be nicer to the affected Gryffindor.
“Mingyu… I understand that you’re saying all this because of the love potion, and I’m sorry it had to be you.” Wonwoo offered him a small, sad smile. “But please don’t waste your time following me around or trying to get me to like you back. After all, your feelings are only temporary and they’ll go away in the next few days, okay?”
Wonwoo let go of his hand and walked away for a bit, but turned back to wave just a little at Mingyu, who seemed stunned by his words. “I’ll see you around, I guess.”
III.
The next day, Mingyu didn’t really approach Wonwoo anymore, apart from a small wave and a smile at breakfast, which Wonwoo awkwardly returned. It felt kind of strange to not have Mingyu following him around anymore, but Wonwoo was pleased to know that he had talked some sense into the Gryffindor. There was no point for him to follow or talk to Wonwoo, since he didn’t have actual feelings for him. In 3 days, they’d just go back to being strangers.
Wonwoo snuck out of the Great Hall after having a cheeseburger for lunch, making sure not to let anyone spot him. He had the occasional routine of heading down to the pen where hippogriffs were kept, which were half horse and half eagle creatures.
Wonwoo reached the pen near the forest where the school kept the hippogriffs, and where the students usually went for their Care of Magical Creatures class. Despite having a supposed resting bitch face, Wonwoo actually liked animals a lot, and only a select few of his friends knew that that was actually his favourite lesson.
He had a soft spot for the hippogriffs especially, with the way the majestic creatures seemed so proud and aloof, but were incredibly loyal and steadfast. Physical differences aside, Wonwoo thought they were somewhat alike.
Wonwoo trudged through the slightly muddy pen and headed towards the mythical creatures; his favourite one was grazing at the back. It had coppery bronze feathers which blended into soft brown hair halfway, and slanted, brilliant orange eyes. Wonwoo knew that he wasn’t allowed to interact with these very dangerous creatures without teacher supervision, but they were always strangely friendly with him.
Sometimes he preferred to be around them than actual people. It was easier to deal with animals since they were much simpler than humans, and Wonwoo didn’t have to worry about initiating things and getting others hurt—
Forget it. Wonwoo tried to blank his bad memories out of his mind as he approached the creatures.
The hippogriff shifted its attention to him as soon as he got close enough to it, and Wonwoo bowed to it first before doing anything else in order to show his respect. He had fed and patted it more times than he could think ever since he joined the Care of Magical Creatures class, but it was always a procedure he took just to be safe.
Almost immediately, like recognising an old friend, the hippogriff bowed back before approaching him with a low growl. Wonwoo beamed, scratching it behind the ears happily. It kind of seemed like the dog he’d always wanted but never got.
“I never pegged you as the type of guy who’d good with animals,” a voice rung out sharply against the serenity of the forest clearing.
Wonwoo jumped backwards from the startle, causing the hippogriffs to screech and spread their wings as if preparing to attack. Mingyu, who had been staring at Wonwoo all along and leaning against the side of the pen, yelped and stumbled backwards upon hearing the hippogriffs’ cry, almost falling onto the grass clumsily.
Wonwoo quickly regained his composure and, ignoring Mingyu, reached out both hands in an attempt to calm the startled hippogriffs down. “Steady, boy,” he whispered, slowly approaching the creatures once more and stroking their heads slowly.
Once the hippogriffs had calmed down and resumed their grazing, Wonwoo turned to glare at Mingyu, who had straightened up and was dusting down his cloak.
“What are you doing here?” he hissed. If Mingyu told on him, he would definitely be in for a huge detention.
“I kind of followed you out of the Great Hall,” Mingyu said innocently, his head titled slightly with a grin. He sounded as if that wasn’t an act of stalking. “But damn, who knew you were good with hippogriffs?”
Wonwoo sighed deeply, turning back to his beloved creatures. He supposed that he couldn’t avoid Mingyu after all. “They’re easier to connect with them than real people.”
“Honestly, that sounds just like you,” Mingyu grinned.
Wonwoo continued to stroke the hippogriff at the top of its head quietly, feeling just a bit uncomfortable from Mingyu’s constant gaze on him.
“How are you so calm around them?” Mingyu asked. “They’re really dangerous, aren’t they?”
Wonwoo nodded. “Of course. But they’re easy to connect with if you understand how they think.”
“I don’t get along well with animals,” Mingyu admitted.
Wonwoo turned to stare at him in disbelief. “Really? But you look like the type of guy to love them.”
Mingyu shrugged. “I do love them. I’m just bad with them.”
Wonwoo hummed in response, and an idea came to his mind. He reached a hand out to Mingyu, who reddened a little at the gesture.
“Give me your hand,” Wonwoo said calmly. “I’ll help you pat him.”
Mingyu shook his head quickly, leaning back slightly. “I don’t think so. What if he bites me?”
“He probably won’t if I’m around,” Wonwoo reassured, albeit slightly smug at seeing Mingyu’s terrified side. It felt like a one up. “You saw how I was able to calm them down after you startled them.”
Mingyu pouted. “It was by accident.”
Wonwoo ignored that fact. “Bow to him first. If he bows back, then you can touch him.”
Mingyu hesitated. “What if he doesn’t?”
When Wonwoo shot him a look, Mingyu sighed before turning to look at the hippogriff and bowing as low as he could. The mythical creature stared at him for a while before bowing in return, then slowly took a few steps towards him.
“You did it!” Wonwoo beamed, which was a rare sight. Mingyu’s head shot up at his exclamation, and instantly flushed red upon seeing his smile.
“You should smile more often, really,” Mingyu confessed. “You looked really cute then.”
Wonwoo, suddenly aware that he was doing so, instantly switched back to a scowl. “Don’t say that.” He gestured at the waiting hippogriff with his head. “You can pat him now, you know.”
Mingyu carefully reached out a hand, and stroked the top of the hippogriff’s head gently. It didn’t rear back, and instead enjoyed the sensation of being pet by a new person.
Wonwoo looked at them both, satisfied. “You see? It wasn’t that hard.”
“I probably couldn’t have done that without you.” Mingyu grinned at him happily. “Thanks, Wonwoo-hyung.”
Wonwoo turned away and coughed. “Um… You’re welcome.”
“Have you ever flown on a hippogriff?” Mingyu asked. “You must have looked really cool.”
“In my 3rd year, yes.” Wonwoo vaguely remembered the feeling of soaring above the trees and around the school’s turrets, the wind in his face strangely soothing. It was a good memory. “I can’t fly them without the school probably spotting me, and we’ve moved on to other creatures in class now. But I loved the feeling of flying.”
Mingyu lit up instantly, since it was an area that he was largely familiar with. “That’s exactly why we have broomsticks!”
Wonwoo scrunched his face up at that. “I’ll pass. I haven’t ridden a broomstick since 1st year when we were forced to.”
Mingyu gaped at him, and the pause in patting the hippogriff made it screech softly. “Since 1st year? But— you’re in Year 6, aren’t you? How have you even gone that long without riding one?”
Wonwoo sighed. “I’m not a Quidditch player like you, obviously. But I had some bad memories, I guess.”
Mingyu leaned in, face laced with genuine concern. “Um, if you don’t mind,” he started slowly. “Could you tell me?”
Wonwoo contemplated for a while. “Okay,” he agreed, though he wasn’t completely sure why. Mingyu would probably forget about it after the love potion wore off, anyway.
Mingyu stared at him intently, and Wonwoo averted his eyes to tell his story. “I’m a half-blood, but my brother didn’t get any magical genes, so my parents used to forbid exposing him to too much of the wizarding world. But when I was young, I took my younger brother out for a ride on a broomstick secretly without our parents knowing.”
“I forgot that we had didn’t have an invisibility charm on, and when we tried to swerve out of the sight of muggles, I lost control and we crashed because of me,” Wonwoo explained, his face turning graver as he spoke.
Mingyu noticed this. “Did you get injured?” he asked quietly.
Wonwoo nodded slowly. “I sprained my wrists, but it wasn’t as bad as my brother. He broke both his legs, and it’s affected him ever since. His dream is to be a soccer player, but our parents won’t let him due to that incident and they’re afraid that his legs are too fragile since he’s always been weak since young. We haven’t spoken to each other since I came to study at Hogwarts.”
“I’m sorry,” Mingyu said.
Wonwoo sighed, turning back to the hippogriff, which was vying for his attention. “You don’t have to apologise for anything.” But he somewhat wished he hadn’t said anything; it had brought back a lot of painful memories.
“Is this why you don’t like to interact with people sometimes?” Mingyu asked softly, phrasing his words carefully. “Because you’re scared that they’ll get hurt?”
Wonwoo stared at him. Mingyu was like a key, unlocking his secrets through ways he wasn’t aware of. “How… did you know?”
Mingyu grinned shyly at him, resting his head on his arms which were folded on top of the fence. “I’m in love with you. Of course I know.”
Wonwoo didn’t know how to respond.
“You don’t have to be scared about anything,” Mingyu reassured. “If anything, I’ll rewrite your bad memories so that they’re replaced with better ones.”
Before Wonwoo could ask him what he meant, Mingyu pulled out his wand and pointed towards the school building. “Accio broomstick!” he yelled, and in a few seconds his shiny Nimbus 2001 dove through the trees towards him, halting mid-air just beside him, waiting for him to get on.
The Gryffindor vaulted onto the broomstick with ease, and edged it upwards so that they were circling above the pen for what looked like a mini test drive, before he dipped down next to Wonwoo, being careful not to scare any more hippogriffs.
Mingyu offered his outstretched hand down to a now flustered Wonwoo. "Let's go for a ride. You can sit at the back." He patted his the wooden handle of the mid-air broomstick.
"I'm not sure if I can trust someone who was drugged by a love potion..." Wonwoo trailed off, wanting to even say that he wasn’t sure if he could trust Mingyu, but something in the Gryffindor's expression made him reconsider. He wasn't sure what it was, but even what used to be annoyance towards Mingyu had changed into expectation.
"Okay," Wonwoo agreed. Mingyu's smile in return was the brightest he had ever seen.
Grabbing on to his hand carefully, Wonwoo manoeuvred his legs strategically so that he had managed to get onto the back of the levitating broomstick without losing his balance. The broomstick dipped down a little due to the extra weight, and Wonwoo yelped a little at the sudden movement, grabbing whatever was in his reach to stabilise himself instinctively. Of course, it had to be Mingyu's robes.
"Woah, hyung, it's okay," Mingyu reassured, but he didn't say anything about the quivering arms that held onto his uniform tightly. He turned back slightly to grin at Wonwoo. "You can put your arms around my waist if you'd like, though."
Wonwoo realised that he was still holding on to Mingyu, and let go immediately with a frown. "I'm fine, don't worry."
"If you say so," Mingyu agreed, and guided his broomstick so that they were starting to fly upwards. The hippogriffs screeched as they rose higher than the trees at first, and then almost at the same height as some of the highest turrets of the school building. Wonwoo didn't have much time to react since the Nimbus 2001 was one of the fastest brooms, after all, but as soon they were rocketing towards the sky he was yelling in utter terror, hands gripped tightly to the sleek wood of the broomstick. In order not to see the minute trees and people below him and recall his unwanted memories, Wonwoo shut his eyes and leaned against Mingyu's back.
"Fun, right?" Mingyu shouted over the sound of the wind gushing in their faces, his hair messy and scuffed. Wonwoo let out a muffled "no" against his back, wondering why he had even agreed to this. It felt like Mingyu was the one controlling him, rather than vice versa because of the love potion.
A sudden swerve to the right to avoid a tall turret startled Wonwoo, who had been expecting a smoother ride, and his arms came up in an unexpected reaction to hug Mingyu around the waist. He was about to release his grip after realising what he had just done, but Mingyu was surprisingly... warm, and it felt like the most comforting thing from being about 40 feet in the air.
"... Hyung?" Mingyu asked, sounding extremely concerned.
Wonwoo couldn't see his face, but he knew Mingyu had probably turned around to see if he was okay since what he was doing was out of the ordinary.
"Just keep flying," Wonwoo said softly.
"Alright," Mingyu said, voice calmer than expected.
The Ravenclaw peeked open his eyes before opening them completely. The wind had calmed down just a bit, and the school looked even more majestic from above, somewhat making him feel like they were residing in a castle of sorts. The feeling of flying on a broomstick was foreign after years of giving himself excuses for not picking it up again, and it was completely different from riding a hippogriff since they tended to dip and dive a lot more. However... it felt welcoming, and not like how it had been when Wonwoo decided that he was never going to ride broomsticks ever again.
He sat up straighter and leaned out to get a wider view of the school, and Mingyu felt him shift since Wonwoo's arms were still tightly wrapped around his waist.
"Beautiful, right?"
“Yeah,” Wonwoo breathed out. “I haven’t seen this since my 1st year.”
Mingyu smiled widely at him. Wonwoo offered a shy smile back. Their faces were about fifteen centimetres apart.
Mingyu leaned in.
An approaching flock of birds cawed at them, and Mingyu snapped out of his daze, turning back to the front to guide the broomstick away from them. Wonwoo quickly let go of Mingyu and resorted to holding the broom for support, internally berating himself for accidentally triggering the Gryffindor for trying to make a move on him.
“Let’s land,” Wonwoo told him, feeling like the mood was incredibly awkward now. Or maybe it was just him, because Mingyu was going about it like nothing had happened at all. Maybe he was always like this with girls he liked?
“Wouldn’t it be nice to stay up here a bit more?” Mingyu asked.
Wonwoo shook his head even though Mingyu couldn’t see him. “We’ll be late for class.”
“I don’t really care about that.”
“But maybe I do.”
“Maybe I just want to spend more time with you.”
“But maybe I don’t…?”
Wonwoo quickly sighed, reeling from his own harshness. It was a bit mean of him to say it like that. Mingyu was actually… okay, like Hansol had said, but he just didn’t want the other to keep trying to get intimate with him. After all, they would get nowhere after more 3 days.
“Mingyu—” he tried to explain.
Mingyu turned slightly and offered a small smile. “It’s okay. I get it.”
It was painfully silent as they landed on the grassy clearing below. Wonwoo quickly got off, but Mingyu stayed on the broomstick. Somehow, looking at him, it seemed like he wanted to fly away and never return.
“Thank you,” Wonwoo said, causing Mingyu to look at him. “This made a much better memory.”
“It’s nothing.” He still looked like he was going to disappear without a word. Mingyu sadly smiled at the Ravenclaw standing before him. “Although I’m sure you would have rather spent it with someone else.”
“That’s not true,” Wonwoo immediately cut in, feeling horrible that he had made Mingyu think that way. “I enjoyed my time with you. Really.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Mingyu beamed, and for a second it looked like he was back to his puppy-like nature. “But I won’t do that again, I promise.”
Wonwoo hesitated. “You won’t?”
Mingyu shook his head, making his bangs ruffle. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Mingyu grinned. “I can do that much if I’m in love with you.”
“But you’re not actually—” Wonwoo started, but stopped himself. Why was he trying to force someone to control their own feelings when he was the one who had caused them in the first place? The least he could do was to let them savour the moment while it lasted.
“Okay,” Wonwoo smiled back at him, truly genuine. Mingyu really did respect him.
“Would you like to come to the Quidditch game tomorrow?” Mingyu spoke as he dismounted from his broomstick and held it up. “It’s my house against yours.”
Wonwoo frowned slightly at that, causing Mingyu to quickly wave his hands in defence. “Uh, I don’t have any ulterior motives, I swear!” the Gryffindor panicked. “It’s just, it would be nice—”
Wonwoo held up a hand, making Mingyu pause. “It’s not that. It’s just that I never ever attend Quidditch games.”
Mingyu let out a soft ‘oh’, and then slung an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders casually as they walked back towards the school building. “It doesn’t matter! I’m sure you can go with Jihoon; he’s a low-key Quidditch fan.”
Mingyu’s arm felt warm, like when Wonwoo kept his arms around him while they were flying. It was strangely comforting. The day before, he would have pushed it off, but—
“I’ll think about it.”
Mingyu laughed anyway. “I hope that means yes.”
Wonwoo rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but smile at the ground. “Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
;
Later, when Wonwoo walked back to their dormitory with Jihoon, the shorter Ravenclaw brought up the topic of the Quidditch game, saying that Soonyoung had told him about Mingyu’s earlier invitation to the match.
“I said maybe,” Wonwoo reasoned. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to go.”
Jihoon raised an eyebrow, and smirked up at Wonwoo. “Even though you gave him such an ambiguous answer, I’m pretty sure you’re going to go anyway.”
Wonwoo turned away, his cheeks feeling warm at Jihoon calling him out.
“I just think… I might be looking forward to it for once,” Wonwoo explained.