Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Infuriating; that’s the word Park Chanyeol would choose if he had to describe that little shit Yoon Bomi, Gryffindor’s new Seeker.

Even now, as the match between Slytherin and Gryffindor was on going and Chanyeol as the Keeper was supposed to keep eyes on the Quaffle directed at the three goal posts behind him, all Chanyeol could see was pink pink pink as Bomi flew around the pitch, her pink-dyed hair made her easy to spot.

Chanyeol didn’t even know since when he felt the annoying heartburn in his chest whenever he caught sight of the younger girl. Just a mere glimpse of her grin during the mealtime could rile him up, pissed him off for no particular reason, and there’s this itch to do something that he couldn’t really explain.  

If, he had to explain it, though, Chanyeol supposed he could write a long list of reasons why Bomi’s existence infuriated him.

First of all, the shorty was noisy, louder than Gryffindor’s Quidditch Team’s Captain Byun Baekhyun, and that fact alone should speak volumes because Baekhyun’s arrival could be anticipated from meters away thanks to his loud voice whenever he talked – and the fucker talked a lot.

Bomi was loud, whether she’s talking or laughing, probably when she’s breathing, too. It was a recurrent event to hear a sudden burst of loud laugh from the Gryffindor’s table whenever they eat, and ever since Luhan the Chaser graduated, the source of that ugly laugh could only be the fifth year student. She’s been in the Quidditch team albeit as a substitute player since her third year, therefore she hangs around Baekhyun and Luhan a lot, and before, the three’s laugh combined, ‘make winter feels like summer’ according to stupid delusional people – but to Chanyeol, it made him wanted to do the unforgivable curses to them.

Second, the girl always looked like she just won the lottery, sporting a huge, stupid grin on her small, stupid face everywhere she goes. She probably modified her shoes with magic too, a spell that made them able to fly cause hell, Chanyeol swore she didn’t walk on her heels, she bounced.

Couldn’t she walk normally, like any other normal people?

But she’s a Muggle-born after all, so maybe it explained it. Probably some bad genes running in the family, and the result it made her hyper 24/7 like she’s high on something. Even when she’s on her broomstick – Chanyeol was surprised that the ratty, outdated model broomstick from three years ago could still fly – she’s fully grinning, hovering above them all, looking for the Snitch.

What’s so fucking funny—

“PARK!”

That’s all Chanyeol got as a warning before he saw a Bludger coming through to him, and it’s just thanks to his good reflexes that he was able to dodge it, nearly lost his balance on the broomstick by diving to the side while the Bludger missed his ear by a hairbreadth.

Chanyeol cursed under his breath, the cheer was loud from the spectators below them and he bet it came from the Gryffindor.

Sehun, one of the team’s Beaters, came to chase after the damn Bludger, and when he flew near the goal post he stared hard at Chanyeol, as if telling him to keep his head in the game. Kyungsoo, his second-in-command, had no problem at being vocal about it, though, as he was the one who yelled out his name before.

“Would be nice if you focus in the match, now, Captain,” Kyungsoo said when he flew by, his words flat but icy, and his stare was cold too. Kyungsoo didn’t exactly look like a Slytherin with his innocent eyes and gentle smile, but the boy didn’t have any single sympathy in his bones.

Chanyeol only tightened his jaw, finding the culprit who sent the Bludger his way.

It was Jongin, a fifth year, Gryffindor’s Beater. He had a smug expression on his face when Chanyeol glared at him. Right then Chanyeol saw Bomi lowered her height, flying near Jongin so she could give a high-five to the boy.

It’s infuriating, seeing the two fifth years exchanging giggles.

He knew the two were best friends, always side by side on every occasion, getting into troubles together and even joined the Quidditch team together – but Jongin got his chance into the team earlier since the previous Beater graduated, he already played since last year.

Chanyeol didn’t remember him as this irritating last year, though. Must be because of Bomi’s influence.

Overall, the match was basically one-sided. Gryffindor’s Keeper was also new, and he’s simply suck. Slytherin kept on scoring, and Eunji, a Gryffindor served as the commentator, kept on let her bias shown, announcing with grumpy tone every time Slytherin scored yet another goal.

Speaking of, she’s also Bomi’s best friend, a group of four with Jongin and another kid named Taemin, and Chanyeol despised them all.

Now, if only their team’s Seeker could find the Golden Snitch before Bomi did, their victory would be secured and unless Gryffindor could make miracle in their next matches, Gryffindor would say goodbye to this year trophy.

But the problem was, their Seeker also suck. He joined in the middle of season last year, in the team because of his father’s connection and the Park was a family friend, Chanyeol couldn’t say no his father’s request. But screw family relation, Slytherin suffered enough last year; Chanyeol wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. This was the last match they put that Seeker in the team.

Suddenly the spectators cheered, a loud trumpet sound roared in the air – part of Gryffindor’s cheering goods – and Chanyeol looked up. He narrowed his eyes to see. Of course it’s her.

Bomi’s leaning forward in her broomstick, trying to make it fly faster, apparently already found the Snitch and pursuing it.

In the background Chanyeol heard Eunji screamed, “… GRYFFINDOR’S SEEKER YOON BOMI IS AFTER THE SNITCH—YOU GO GIRL! Um, sorry, Professor, just a moral support. SEEMS LIKE SLYTHERIN’S SEEKER HASN’T SPOT THE SNITCH YET!”

Bomi dived down, spiraling her way through other players and Chanyeol’s eyes widened because she almost ran into one of her team’s Chaser. Her style of flying could be summarized as reckless and that fact was, infuriating, too, for reasons.

Then Chanyeol saw it, the golden, small ball, passing him by and he heard the sound of its flapping wings.

“DO KYUNGSOO THROWS THE QUAFFLE AND—Dammit! Uhm, I mean, HE SCORES ANOTHER GOAL, AND THAT’S 130 TO 0 FOR SLYTHERIN, AND SLYTHERIN’S SEEKER IS STILL FOLLOWING YOON BOMI, I DON’T THINK HE SEES THE SNITCH, THOUGH. THE QUAFFLE IS ON SLYTHERIN’S AGAIN AND—OH SEHUN HITS THE BLUDGER TO YOON BOMI!”

It all happened in a flash.

Sehun swung the bat in his hand, directing the Bludger directly to Bomi, trying to stop her from getting the Snitch. But instead of giving up her chase and move out of the Bludger’s way, Bomi jumped forward, arms stretched out to catch the ball.

She probably could land back to her broomstick, hadn’t Sehun’s Bludger hit her right in the ankle, and the painful cracking sound that followed after that drew gasps from the audience.

The impact pushed Bomi to the side, away from her broomstick, and now she’s falling fast to the ground.

Chanyeol didn’t even think when he dived down with his broomstick, abandoning his goalposts, catching Bomi mid-air right before her body hit the ground. But it’s too late for him to stop, he could only slow them down before the hard ground welcomed them, and both of them rolled around several times because of the fall.

“Fuck…” He grunted lowly, feeling pain in his back and his shoulders. Then he remembered about a certain infuriating pink-haired Seeker in his arm, and Chanyeol quickly kneeled on his knees, holding the girl in his arms. “Yoon Bomi! Are you alright?! Yah Yoon Bomi!”

Bomi cracked her eyes open – from the corner of his eyes Chanyeol saw Madam Hooch and Gryffindor’s players landed on the ground around them to check on her.

The smile that stretched on Bomi’s lips was slow and weak, but then she lifted her right hand, gripping tightly to the Golden Snitch that struggled to fly away.

Chanyeol felt anger creeping under his skin seeing the smile.

He barely noticed the whistle signaling the end of the game, Eunji announced the last score of 130 to 110 with Slytherin winning, or how the Gryffindor all chanted Bomi’s name, the Slytherin’s cheer lost in the middle of, “YOON BOMI OUR QUEEN!”

They won the game, but they all knew who the real winner was – it’s certainly not any of Slytherin’s players, and it’s infuriating.

*

Kyungsoo said it was only polite for them to visit Bomi in the Hospital Wing after the match – ever since The Battle of Hogwarts years ago, it’s clear that Slytherin was not in a good position in people’s eyes, and all sides had been trying to suppress the rivalries between the houses, especially one between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Not to the point of holding hands and exchanging Christmas’ gifts, but they should at least show some civility to the other.

It was only the three of them, Chanyeol because he’s the captain, Sehun because he’s the one who made a fracture on Bomi’s ankle, and Kyungsoo because he’s the one who’s capable faking politeness.

Even from afar they could hear Baekhyun’s laugh, and when they arrived at the Hospital Wing the Gryffindor’s team was there, still in their dirty uniform, surrounding Bomi who’s sitting on one of the bed. Her right ankle was bandaged, being supported by a stack of pillows.

“Only six visitors at a time!” Madam Abbot, the matron, yelled as soon as she saw them. It made the Gryffindor’s team turned their head at their direction.

“Oh, hey Park,” Baekhyun grinned, his canine peeking out. “Thanks for saving our Seeker back then.” There’s a smear of dirt on Baekhyun’s face, it seemed they headed to the Hospital Wing without cleaning up first.

Chanyeol made a non-committal grunt in the back of his throat. He felt stupid and angry at himself, why he had to do that? He’s sure Madam Hooch could cast a spell so Bomi would fall slower. And if she got hurt, there’s nothing Madam Abbot couldn’t cure. Either way, his act was unnecessary, although Gryffindor students were impressed by his saving that they all dared to pat his back when he met them after the match.

Both Kyungsoo and Sehun made no comment, but Chanyeol could tell Kyungsoo’s leering at him from the corner of his eyes, judging, something alongside, Yeah, Park, why in the world you did that earlier?

“Kids, some of you really need to get out now, or I’ll kick you all out!” Madam Abbot yelled once again and Baekhyun laughed.

“Alrighty, Madam! We’ll leave now, please take care of our Bomi! Ah, she’s always hungry, so I think it’s better if you pile some food beside her bed…” Baekhyun turned to Bomi now, ruffling her hair. Chanyeol’s eyebrows twitched seeing the clear affection on the gesture. “Bomi, we’re leaving, take a good rest!”

Bomi nodded, saying goodbye to her team-mates one by one. Jongin was the last to leave, his hand stroked Bomi’s arm lightly before they made a fist-bump, laughing for no particular reason. Chanyeol started to get pissed off for no particular reason, too. Something about Eunji was mentioned between Bomi and Jongin before he turned away, eyeing Sehun from head-to-toe with unconcealed distaste on his way out.

Kyungsoo tap the inner of Sehun’s wrist then, reminding him, and Sehun nodded a little at Jongin – the boy returned the gesture.

As soon as her friends left her, Bomi turned her attention to the three Slytherin.

“How do you feel, Yoon?” Kyungsoo asked, voice nice and soothing. Kyungsoo was good at being polite.

“I’m good, thanks for coming!” Bomi answered, grinning, and she’s too loud and too happy for someone with a fractured ankle and something in Chanyeol’s stomach coiled unpleasantly.

Kyungsoo smiled at the girl. “That’s a relief to hear. We are very sorry for what happened. Sehun,” he placed a hand on Sehun’s lower back, pushing the boy forward, “is sorry.”

Sehun’s face was blank when he said, “… I’m sorry. For what I did.” He said it like he recited a line from a textbook. Sehun, contrary to Kyungsoo, was not good at being polite, even to his peers. It probably tortured him inside that he had to say sorry to a Gryffindor.

Bomi grinned wider, “Haaa no big deal, don’t mention it! You don’t have to be sorry, it’s a game and that’s your job, have to admit you’re really good, Slytherin’s lucky to have you as their Beater!”

The out-of-nowhere compliment obviously took Sehun aback as he glanced to Kyungsoo, desperate for help.

Kyungsoo appeared to be at loss for words too, and for a while they could only listen to Bomi’s babbling about her injury. “Actually, earlier Madam Abbot gave me this potion and it’s already healed but Madam Abbot wants me to stay for the night and she told me to be careful until it’s fully healed—”

Chanyeol wanted to shut the girl up, her voice was starting to make him restless.

Luckily, Kyungsoo regained his composure. He cleared his throat to get Bomi’s attention back. “We bring something for you.” He put the small box he had been carrying since earlier on the bedside table. “We wish you get healthy again in no time.”

“What, you really don’t have to!” Bomi already took the box and placed it on her lap, opening it. Her eyes rounded immediately. “WOOAAAH. How did you—Why—This is all for me? AMAZING. THANK YOU.”

She looked up to them, her eyes had more spirit on them now, and Chanyeol thought it’s ridiculous how happy the girl was when they just gave her some sweets like Chocolate Frogs and two bottles Butterbeer.

Bomi grinned again, the grin threatened to split her face in two, and Chanyeol felt the usual unexplainable itch he felt whenever he saw Bomi laughs in her table with Jongin from across the Great Hall during mealtime.

They already turned around to leave when Bomi called out.

“Hey Captain?”

Chanyeol stiffened hearing the nickname, halting his steps.

Sure he was a captain, but he’s not her captain. Still, he turned his back to look at Bomi, checking whether it’s him Bomi called. Judging by the gleeful grin she shot him, it’s indeed Chanyeol she addressed just now.

“… I’m not your Captain,” Chanyeol said, and even to his ear, his voice sounded a pitch lower.

“Yeah but you’re Slytherin’s Captain,” Bomi pointed the obvious, smiling widely. “Ah, umm… Thanks for saving me. I wouldn’t get away with just a fractured ankle if it wasn’t for you.” This time, it was Chanyeol’s fingers that twitched. “You’re so—,” Bomi inhaled sharply, as if what she’s going to say next was a big revelation. She stage whispered,“—cool!”

It’s almost like he’s being hit with a Bludger right on his chest, because the next thing Chanyeol knew he choked – trying to talk and breathe in the same time, swallowing his saliva with the wrong pipe and all. On his side, Kyungsoo snorted and Sehun coughed in a poor attempt to cover his laugh – the nerve, Chanyeol would end his life later.

Outside the Hospital Wing, Kyungsoo tilted his head to him with a smirk. “Congratulations, looks like you earned yourself a little admirer with your heroic act.”

“Shut your mouth,” Chanyeol hissed. He needed to hit something and since it couldn’t be Kyungsoo, he smacked Sehun’s head instead.

“Aaww! I didn’t say anything!” the fourteen years old whined, his young age shown when he’s like that.

“You laughed,” Chanyeol said, gritting his teeth, feeling even angrier than before. He should had known that seeing Yoon Bomi was not good for his temper, and Chanyeol vowed to avoid the younger girl from now on.

***

A few days passed in relatively peace for Chanyeol – during mealtime he made sure to take a seat that turned away from Gryffindor’s table so he didn’t have to see the infuriating pink-haired girl. But unfortunately he could still hear her, her laugh after Baekhyun’s jokes or her high-pitched whine mentioning her best friends’ name; usually it’s Jongin. Every time Bomi complained about Jongin’s stealing the food she wanted to eat, Chanyeol fought the urge to whirl around in his seat and threw his food at her. There were more than enough food there, for God’s sake, and why the hell that Jongin kid had to steal from her when there were foods everywhere?

Chanyeol was running late that morning, Kyungsoo didn’t wake him up and it was past breakfast time, the Great Hall already empty. His stomach growled and Chanyeol tried to ignore it, jumping over steps to the second floor with Peeves flying above him singing a song with crude words. He ignored the poltergeist too.

What he couldn’t ignore, however, was the sight of a certain female students a few steps ahead of him, and unless pink hair was a trend nowadays, it’s most definitely Gryffindor’s new Seeker.

Chanyeol groaned internally. He really didn’t need to see her right now. He supposed he could take a detour, but then he wouldn’t make it to the class on time.

In the end Chanyeol decided to just ignore the junior and he’s about to walk past her when he realized the weird way Bomi’s walking, more like wobbling – like a baby duck. She held onto the rail tightly, putting her weight on her left leg, careful not to put any burden on her right. Her teeth were gnawing at her bottom lips in super concentration, as if by abusing the small lips it would help the walking process. She’s limping.

Suddenly the whole stairs shook, and the next moment it started to move, changing direction to another wing. Great, Chanyeol thought, now he’s officially—

Whatever thoughts preoccupied his mind got cut off when he saw the duckling in front of her lost her balance due to the moving stairs, and Chanyeol found himself jumped through several steps so he could grab Bomi’s arm, keeping her steady.

“Watch out!” he shouted.

Bomi needed a moment to grasp the situation, blinking and looking up Chanyeol. When she finally did, she, of course, grinned. “Captain! You save me, again!”

The anger started to boil up as soon as he saw the stupid grin, just like usual. “I’m not your captain,” Chanyeol hissed, his hand still holding Bomi’s upper arm. “I thought you said your ankle’s healed.”

“Well yeah, but see…” Bomi continued her explanation in a quick mumble that Chanyeol didn’t quite catch, he heard ‘dare’ and ‘jump’ and ‘stupid’, but there’s also ‘Jongin’ somewhere in the explanation so Chanyeol decided that it’s not important. “And that’s what happened! Madam Abbot said it will hurt, just for these two days, though.”

“Uh-huh,” Chanyeol said, distracted. The stairs stopped moving, already connected with the second floor now. “Where are your friends?” Usually they walked together like a sandwich, Taemin and Jongin on the outer side while Bomi and Eunji on the inside. Or like a duck with its ducklings, Eunji in the front leading her stumbling, giggling, baboons friends.

“We have different schedules,” Bomi stood straighter, and she glanced down to Chanyeol’s hand on her arm. She grinned. Chanyeol didn’t notice.

“And they left you alone? Some friends they are,” the boy snorted. His words made Bomi frowned, but before she could protest about the remark, Chanyeol already asked again, “So where are you going?”

“The fourth floor.”

“… The fourth floor,” he repeated slowly. That’s quite a walk from where they stood. The baby duck wouldn’t survive.

“History of Magic!” Unaware of Chanyeol’s blank look, Bomi started to babble. “You know Cap—”

“I’m not your Cap—”

“—since I don’t know anything about this whole magic world before I got the letter of acceptance from Hogwarts, I want to know everything and it’s all actually boring until we start to learn about Voldemort—”

Chanyeol flinched at that. Even after years and even though he couldn’t remember anything from the time The Dark Lord returned, his parents still called him with ‘You-Know-Who’ and ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’, and all the stories about him affected Chanyeol too.

“—and Harry Potter and can you believe he’s fourteen when he first dueled with Vold—”

“I’ll take you there,” Chanyeol cut her off so he wouldn’t have to hear the name for the second time, impatient as he started to pull her through the steps.

“What? Oh, are you sure, Cap? You won’t be late for your class?” Bomi asked, automatically leaned on Chanyeol and even held onto his robe. “I mean, thanks a lot, but—”

Peeves, who apparently still lingered around, decided to be a pain in the ass like he was and started to sing, “Park and Yoon, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

Bomi glanced up to the ghost, smiling widely as if the teasing was amusing to her.

Chanyeol didn’t share the sentiment, but he kept silent cause he was 100% sure he would spewing out profanities if he opened his mouth. It wouldn’t do any good cause Peeves only listened to the Head Master, to Bloody Baron, and to Kyungsoo, for God-knows-why.

Needless to say, Chanyeol was late to his class, and he got points taken from Slytherin for his tardiness.

Even worse, he couldn’t stop feeling angry about his encounter with the girl and he couldn’t focus on the lecture either, resulting in more points deducted when he was caught daydreaming.

Really, he should stop seeing Yoon Bomi and her stupid infuriating grins.

***

“So,” Kyungsoo glanced up from his reading when Chanyeol entered their room later that night. He hadn’t seen his roommate all day since they took different subjects. Now, there’s something evil in those round eyes that Chanyeol didn’t quite like. The shorter boy smirked. “I heard something interesting today.”

Chanyeol eyed him, putting down his bag on the bed and started to take off his robe. “What about it.”

“A certain poltergeist...,” Chanyeol stiffened in his place, he just knew where this was going, “... had said that your type is short, noisy, pink-haired, and. A Gryffindor.” Kyungsoo finished his sentence with a stress over the house’s name, looking incredibly smug and annoying Chanyeol would throw his dirty uniform to his face hadn’t he still wanted to live.

“Well tell that certain poltergeist that he’s wrong.” Chanyeol hoped Peeves was still alive just so he could kill him. “Because my type is tall, elegant, blonde.” He described Nana, a senior he had been flirting with since the beginning of the year. Nana didn’t give his stomach those ugly, unpleasant, unexplainable coils. “And definitely not a Gryffindor.”

Kyungsoo shrugged, nonchalantly going back to the book on his lap. “If you say so.”

Chanyeol could only grit his teeth as the response.

Chapter Text

The probability of there’s something out there hating him was quite high by now, because even though Chanyeol did his best to avoid Bomi, the world just casually ignore his determination and presented the girl in front of him.

He was back from Arithmancy class, later than his friends since he had some question to the professor – what do you know, Park Chanyeol was actually an over-achiever in the subjects that he loved – when something pink assaulted his eyesight.

His stomach churned on automatic and Chanyeol was so ready to turn around, except that whatever it was the Gryffindor’s Seeker was doing, it piqued his curiosity. She was walking back and forth in the corridor, mumbling things under her breath before shaking her head and continued walking.

Something clique on Chanyeol’s mind – they’re on the seventh floor, left corridor. Yoora, his sister, had told him about it.

Yoora was a terrible sibling with her being a genius and unfair ability to be the best at everything; she was a brilliant Chaser, was a Prefect on her fifth and sixth years, and the Head Student on her seventh. But she’s a good sister, always ready to help Chanyeol despite her tendency to bully and embarrass him, and Yoora, with all her glory as a perfect student, was downright a troublemaker. Chanyeol had no idea how she found out about the room, but he was thankful that she told him about the hidden room; The Room of Requirements.

Chanyeol was too busy thinking about his sister that he didn’t realize Bomi had turned around facing his direction, and he was startled when he met eyes with the girl.

“Cap!” Bomi loud whispered, her whole face lightened up like a Christmas tree, eyes sparkling as if seeing Chanyeol was the best thing that could ever happened to her. The thought was unsettling.

All of the sudden Chanyeol felt tired, like Bomi’s existence drained all of his energy, that he could only sighed. “I’m not your Captain…” Would it be rude if he walk away now? But why did it matter if he’s being rude or not?

He needed to learn to think faster because the next thing he knew Bomi was already in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

None of your business. “Arithmancy,” he waved his hand on the general direction of Arithmancy class behind him. Now is a good time to leave. He stayed in his place.

Bomi’s eyes widened as she leaned closer to Chanyeol, the smell of her shampoo was strong enough to invade his senses. “Cap, do you want to know what I’m doing?” she whispered, glancing around to check their surroundings, smiling giddily.

No.

Now is a really, really, good time to turn around and leave .

Even though the corridor was empty, apparently Bomi thought it’s completely necessary to pull Chanyeol down through his robe, and without asking for permission she whispered on Chanyeol’s ears, lips grazing his earlobe and her breath tickling his neck. “I heard from someone that—”

Chanyeol pulled himself back before Bomi could finish her sentence and he rubbed his neck furiously. “Don’t do that!” Bomi stared at him with wide eyes, surprised. “And I know what you’re doing, you’re looking for The Room of Requirements.”

The surprised look on Bomi’s face changed into admiration. “Captain! You know about the room too! They said I’m supposed to think hard about what I need, but I’ve been here for thirty minutes and there’s nothing. Was I being fooled?” She pouted and somehow she looked like a withered plant. A noise machine, a walking disaster, a baby duck, a withered plant, could it be this girl was actually a Shapeshifter?

Chanyeol shook his head before his thoughts could travel further down the Dumb Road.

“You have to think about it and walking back and forth three times.”

“Huh? I’m pretty sure I’ve done that millions of times…”

“What did you think of? Why do you need The Room of Requirements anyway?” Chanyeol asked, now genuinely wondering what possibly Bomi needed. She probably wanted a room full of food. Or a place where she could do stupid things together with Jongin. That’s very likely. And very irritating, for reasons.

“Well I just heard about the room and, don’t you think it’s so cool?! I want to try it out and I think about what I need except I don’t really know how it works so maybe a room with cakes—”

Hah.

“—but magic can’t create food—so maybe a room with a Snitch for me to practice, and I start to think would it possible if I need a room full of broomsticks and then I take a broomstick out but! Then I wonder if that counts as stealing so I start to think about different things all at once like fireplace would be nice isn’t it and maybe pillow but I also need to study for O.W.L—”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and reached out to cover Bomi’s mouth. For someone so small she sure could talk a lot. What did her mother eat when she’s pregnant with her? An announcer?

“Why you’re not with your friends?”

Bomi blinked a couple times, slowly looking down to Chanyeol’s hand on her mouth. The boy retracted his hand, trying to act as if covering people’s mouth was something socially accepted.

For a while, Bomi didn’t answer, and she’s not grinning either, just smiling rather shyly – it made a tremor on Chanyeol’s stomach. He furrowed his eyebrows, didn’t like the sensation at all.

Bomi looked down to her shoes and started to fidget. This time she spoke slower. “Actually... I just want to try it out first, and… I think… Sure, it’ll be cool if I can brag about it to them later and try it with the kids, but I want to try it… alone.” Then she glanced up to him, silently asking for his opinion.

Well in Chanyeol’s opinion, those round eyes and slightly pouting mouth were offensive. They’re infuriating.

“Move,” he said, pushing the girl’s shoulder lightly to the side. Then he walked back and forth in front of the big tapestry on the wall which depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet – the hidden entrance of The Room of Requirements was on the opposite wall.

Chanyeol started to think about a quiet room where the Noise Machine could study, he thought the room should had the text books she needed, also parchments and quills and ink, and she mentioned a fireplace so a fireplace should be there too, but then the image of a fireplace made Chanyeol thought of napping – because, seriously, what kind of sorcery Bomi’s voice had that it made him tired and anxious? – so he could sleep while she’s studying, a room where there’s only the two of them without the unwanted judging looks, Kyungsoo’s knowing leer every time Bomi was in sight, Peeves’ mocking song whenever he saw him—

Let’s erase everyone one by one except us

Paused as if only you and I exist here

The lyrics to the song Chanyeol had listened the couple past days chose this exact time to occupy his mind. He’s going to stop listening to that weird song with growling chorus.

“OH!” Bomi’s loud exclaimed took Chanyeol’s attention. Following her direct line of vision, there’s a door on the wall that wasn’t there before.

“There you have it,” Chanyeol said. “You just have to think and want it really hard.”

“AMAZING,” she gaped. “Come on, Cap!”

“What—”

Bomi pulled Chanyeol by the wrist and took him inside the room, gasping as soon as she saw what’s behind the door. Everything Chanyeol thought about before was there – a fireplace, like the little shit wanted, along with the couches and a table, shelves full of textbooks and another one with every type of quills and even some cauldrons with various herbs. It’s a perfect room for the Baby Duck to study for her O.W.L. test.

“Why there are pillows and blankets?” Bomi’s question broke the silence, and Chanyeol glanced to the spot near the fireplace, where big, fluffy pillows were together with a blanket that looked promising – inviting people to lie down there.

“Because I’m tired and I want to sleep,” Chanyeol answered without thinking first.

Hearing that, Bomi beamed sunshine from her face, and Chanyeol realized then the implication of his words. “You’ll stay here with me?” Bomi asked, hopeful and full of joy.

“That’s not what I meant,” Chanyeol said hurriedly, feeling hot under the collar. “I was sleepy, okay, it just—kind of slip my mind, that I want pillows, and—”

“You can sleep here while I study!”

“Why should I—“

“And maybe you can teach me some subjects too!”

“Hold on—”

“But it’s totally fine if you just sleep, because at least there’s someone accompanying me, and, don’t you think it’s nice when there’s someone around you?”

Bomi stared at him, still looking hopeful, and Chanyeol gulped. Why suddenly he remembered a puppy? He liked puppy. But he’s allergic. He should stay away.

He thought of millions different things to say, from rude rejection to mean comment about them being Slytherin and Gryffindor and Pure-blood and Muggle-born, and Chanyeol looked away. He contemplated his words for a second before turning back to look at Bomi.

“I thought you want to be alone.” That was definitely not a rejection.

“Yeah, but I mean… It’s…,” she glanced up, waving her hand in the air. “… It’s you.”

There’s the sound of the cracking fire from the fireplace, the light from the candles all around them casted shadow on her face, and Chanyeol felt something shifted in the air. For once, Bomi didn’t have the usual infuriating grin on her face, and strangely, Chanyeol wished now that she did.

“… Whatever,” he replied, grunting as he walked to the stack of pillows on the carpet and dropped himself there. He needed to rest anyway. Crossing his arms in front of his chest Chanyeol closed his eyes, determined to fall asleep as soon as possible so he didn’t have to be aware of the fact that they were together in a closed space. Alone.

He heard Bomi’s cheer after his decision, her footsteps when she walked around the room – but then it was quiet, too quiet for Bomi’s standard, that Chanyeol couldn’t help himself but to peek. The Seeker was bending down in front of a small table where lots of scented candles were, and she’s inspecting them one by one.

“Cap—”

Chanyeol quickly closed his eyes.

“—What scent do you like best? Oh. You’re not sleeping yet aren’t you?” she lowered her voice.

He sighed, pretending that opening his eyes was such a hassle and he’s annoyed that he needed to do so. “What’s there?”

Bomi didn’t look apologetic at all for disturbing his attempt to sleep as she quickly turned around to read the labels on the bottles. “Umm, there’s Coconut, and Margarita, Leather, …Strength? I wonder how strength smells? Also, Vanillaroma, Energy, Passion—”

Chanyeol almost flushed red at the word.

“—Cinnamon Apple, Christmas Night, Grass, boy, they have everything don’t they? Dirty Sock… Why anyone would light up Dirty Socks candles? Bubble Gum, oh this is my favorite! Morning Fresh, Bayside Breeze, Summer Linen—“

“That.” Chanyeol stared at the ceiling as he cut off the girl. “That’s fine.”

“Summer Linen?” Bomi repeated to make sure before she lit up the candles. “… Oooh. Perfect.” She sighed blissfully after a moment.

For some reasons, either the fresh scent that reminded Chanyeol of clean sheets under the shining sun or the peaceful look on Bomi’s face, Chanyeol felt content, too. This time, his heart felt full of more unexplainable things, and he decided to close his eyes to avoid thinking.

He drifted in and out of consciousness soon, lulled by the quietness and the warmth provided by the fire, and Chanyeol thought he must had been deep in his sleep, because at one point when he fluttered his eyes opened he felt warmer on his side and when he looked down there’s something pink tucked in under his chin. But when he really woke up moments later, he opened his eyes to the sight of Bomi writing on a parchment, books scattered all around her.

She looked up to him when she noticed his movements and Bomi smiled, almost like welcoming him back from his slumber, and Chanyeol felt a pang in his heart.

He supposed that’s another thing he should add in the long list of unexplainable things Bomi made him felt.

***

Christmas break was very much welcomed, and Chanyeol spent it with stuffing himself with cakes and pies or any food available and playing Quidditch with his cousins. He called Yoora whenever she’s free – she’s unable to come home since it’s her first year at work, chasing some rare dragons all around Asia.

On Christmas morning Kyungsoo’s gift was already there under the tree and it didn’t need a genius to find out what it was, a big, long box that could only be used to contain a broomstick. Kyungsoo gave him the newest model of Exodus 99 that was supposed to hit the store after New Year, and that’s the Do for you, an old, Pure-blood family who’s loaded enough to buy things before they were out.

Chanyeol was glad he could buy Kyungsoo a very nice gift this year because usually Kyungsoo’s gifts always outdone his. Yoora was able to get him an egg of a mini-dragon, the kind usually kept as pets, and Chanyeol thought there’s nothing more perfect than a dragon to accompany Kyungsoo conquering the world – not that the boy wanted to do that, he just gave out the vibe.

He received other gifts from his family and friends, and all in all, his holiday was great.

But there’s this just, one, small, thing.

At some points – a lot of it – Chanyeol remembered about his Christmas break last year. He couldn’t enjoy the holiday to the fullest because of the upcoming O.W.L and he was a little bit stressed out about it, and he wondered, briefly, very briefly – not like a whole five minutes before he shook his head to chase away the thoughts, of course – about a certain pink-haired Gryffindor, where she was, what she’s doing, did she eat a lot like every day at Hogwarts?

But sometimes the thoughts also followed by – did Jongin buy her gift, did she buy Jongin anything, what if they spent the holiday together – the thoughts usually ended by a frustrated groan that drew weird, curious look from his cousins.

Even when he couldn’t see her, she’s still infuriating.

Christmas passed and soon it was New Year. Chanyeol stayed awake until 5am with his cousins and he’s fully intended not to wake up at least until 1 or 2pm, but a loud, insistent knockings on his window woke him up.

He sat up on his bed groggily, wondering what just waken him up and he squinted his eyes to see better when he pulled his curtains aside. Outside his window was a small, round owl with white feathers that he couldn’t recognize. Sehun’s owl, Vivi, was brown, and besides, even though he usually sent his Christmas gift late, Vivi already arrived two days ago.

Chanyeol rubbed his eyes and opened the window, letting the owl came in to drop the package it carried onto Chanyeol’s bed. It squeaked proudly over the work and Chanyeol gave it some treat he kept for Sehun’s and Kyungsoo’s owl – he didn’t have a pet himself, not since he lost his ferret when he’s a kid.

“Who’s your owner…?” Chanyeol mumbled, petting the bird before he turned his attention to the package on the bed.

A knitted scarf was inside the wrapped box, the color’s green like Slytherin’s symbol but when Chanyeol moved it sometimes it would look like the color’s silver instead. A magic was involved in that, Chanyeol had no doubt about it and he kind of wondering how to do that, but the more important question was… Who’s knitting him a scarf?

Looking for the card, Chanyeol found it on the bottom of the box. He opened it, a strange sensation of anticipation building up inside of him because he had a guess, a rather wild one, and his eyes went down to the signature first before anything else.

Yoon Bomi , that’s all Chanyeol needed to read before his throat went dry and there’s a burning feeling on his heart.

Chanyeol forced himself to read the words on the card.

Captain, merry Christmas!

I’m sorry the late present, I want to finished it before Christmas but

I’m still figuring out how to knit with magic and it’s hard >.<

It comes out not as good as I hope it is… T_T

The winter’s really cold this year, hope it can warm you up, don’t get sick, Cap!

Happy New Year, see you soon~!

Yoon Bomi

The first thing Chanyeol felt after reading the whole message was nauseous, because she knitted him a scarf and what the hell and what does it mean and it’s ridiculous how she used emoticons in her writing but then a wave of panic hit him – the holiday’s almost over, he had nothing to give the girl, and wasn’t it a common courtesy to give people gift when they give you one?

Using the logic as a reason for himself that it’s completely common to buy a gift for Bomi, Chanyeol browsed through the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes’ brochure, the one he got with Sehun’s gift – the younger boy had stock him with the usual sweets like Fainting Fancies and Fever Fudge for days they didn’t feel like attending classes and faked illness, along with some stupid products Chanyeol knew Sehun wanted for himself – there’s no doubt that he’s going to ‘borrow’ them from Chanyeol later.

Chanyeol settled with buying a bubble gun, a new bubble machine that could save several scents so it would smell after the bubble burst. Apparently it could also store short words, since his younger cousins were playing around with the same gun and they sent ‘boobies’ to his ears before giggling to themselves.

The toy was completely childish and useless, something that Bomi would definitely find entertaining.

Thinking that a toy was nothing compared to a self-knitted scarf, Chanyeol was resorted to call Yoora. She’s currently in Tokyo and before she had teased Chanyeol, “Do you have special someone yet? Are you seriously going to leave Hogwarts with no love experience at all? There are a lot of popular accessories here, tell me if you want one, upgrade your relationship with Do, maybe?” Yoora had laughed back then, finding enjoyment in joking about Chanyeol’s and Kyungsoo’s long-lasting friendship.

He ended the call as soon as Yoora started to ask questions about who’s the lucky girl that would receive the accessory Chanyeol ordered.

Supposedly, it was a trend among witches in Tokyo now days, a bracelet with round, glow-in-the-dark beads that could changing colors as the user’s wish.

The rest of his holidays were filled with anxiety and pointless worries about what would Bomi thought about his present, and the night before he had to return to Hogwarts Chanyeol couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning around in his bed.

He finally fell asleep way past midnight, his new scarf folded neatly on the bedside table, and he dreamt of a lingering smile under the bright sun, wrapped in clean sheets and flashes of pink.

***

“What is it?” Kyungsoo asked, bug eyes glancing up from his book to look at Chanyeol who’s sitting in front of him on the compartment they shared. They’re on Hogwarts Express now, on the way back after Christmas and New Year break.

“What… What?” Chanyeol asked back, furrowing his eyebrows. He hadn’t said a word, he didn’t do anything that could disturb Kyungsoo’s reading either.

“You’re nervous about something.” Kyungsoo nodded at his legs and Chanyeol realized that he’s been shaking his right leg, his habit whenever he’s nervous. He quickly stopped his leg from moving.

His best friend gave him an unimpressed look at his obvious pretend, but then something like understanding fell on Kyungsoo’s eyes and he smirked, looking back down to his book. Chanyeol hated it when he’s on mind-reading mode like that. “You haven’t seen your Tweety?”

“T-Tweety—w-what?” Chanyeol spluttered. Sure he knew about the animated yellow bird character, but why Tweety? And, his Tweety?

“You know,” Kyungsoo shrugged, flipping a page, “Since her mouth is so small, and she’s tweeting all the time…” Chanyeol agreed that Bomi had a small, round lips – like a bird – yet somehow the thought that Kyungsoo also paid attention to Bomi’s mouth was disturbing. “… Plus, now she’s…” Kyungsoo stopped talking, suddenly looking back up to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol tried hard not to shout at him to continue his words.

Kyungsoo tilted his head. “Ah. Right. You haven’t seen her yet. … Well, can’t say that she’s ugly before, but now she’s definitely…” He shook his head, the end of his lips curved up a little bit in a mocking smile, agitating Chanyeol even more. “Let’s just say that you will be very pleased to see her, becoming closer to your type.”

The taller between the two scowled, turning his head to look outside the window. “I already told you that she’s not my type.”

“Huh. It’s quite interesting that you understand who I refer as your Tweety even though I never mentioned any name.”

Chanyeol scowled deeper, ignoring the hotness on his face or Kyungsoo’s obnoxious snort in the background.

*

Chanyeol thought he hadn’t feel angrier before; before that night, when he saw Bomi the first time after Christmas break.

The students filled the Great Hall for dinner and Chanyeol wore his new scarf around his neck. Not because it’s cold inside the castle, more like a… fashion statement, yes, that, because the scarf actually did look good. Sehun even asked where he bought it, and Chanyeol answered with a mutter that it was a gift.

It’s not that he’s specifically searching, but it’s hard to miss pink among the black robes of their uniforms, yet Chanyeol saw nothing of the taunting pink in the Gryffindor table. But then he heard the very annoying, very familiar laugh that he could imagine inside his head no matter where he was, and he saw Baekhyun, then he saw Eunji, Taemin, Jongin, but there’s no pink, instead, there was—

Blonde .

Bomi’s hair was blonde.

Pale yellow in colour, looking bright and even brighter along with Bomi’s smile – like sunshine, Chanyeol absentmindedly thought.

Now Kyungsoo’s reference about Bomi being Tweety made sense.

But that hair color.

On the girl.

Was, extremely, upsetting.

Chanyeol closed his eyes and put down his spoon, losing his appetite. He took a big gulp of his pumpkin juice to water his suddenly dry throat, feeling exhausted simply because he saw Bomi’s new appearance. If he thought pink was infuriating before, now he thought blonde should be banned and never be allowed on Bomi. It drove him very, very angry.

It drove him mad.

The new hair colour didn’t only affect Chanyeol, it seemed, since from across the room Chanyeol could see Baekhyun looking up to Bomi’s hair and his mouth moved to make a comment about it before he smiled. Eunji who sat beside her stroked it, and Jongin, that damn kid with no manner, twirled some of the strands on his fingers, playing around with them with fascination on his eyes.

Desserts had never been this unappetizing before.

After dinner Chanyeol shuffled along with the other students leaving the Great Hall, momentarily stuck near the entrance since there were so many of them. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, Kyungsoo and Sehun on his sides, burying his face deeper into the scarf around his neck to cover his grumpy face. He’s sulking, so what.

He saw a bubble from his peripheral vision right before it burst near him, and all of the sudden Chanyeol smelled something familiar, like perfectly washed linen, fresh and clean, and his brain’s first thought was Summer Linen, together with a small, cozy room, a fireplace, a pink-haired girl and a heart-warming smile.

Chanyeol didn’t have the time to process the thought any longer, another bubble burst right next to his ear and Chanyeol heard her voice, quiet and shy, unlike her usual cheery shouts, “Thank you, Cap.”

He looked to the side and caught a glimpse of the now blonde girl, stealing a glance at him – a bubble gun on her hand with Chanyeol’s bracelet circling her right wrist – before she got dragged away by Eunji.

Chanyeol ignored Sehun’s question about whether he had a fever and chose to bury his face deeper into the scarf, trying very hard to stay grumpy but to no avail.

Chapter Text

O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) and N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test) which felt like months away before Christmas break now started to feel just around the corner, and the fifth and seventh years were pressured to study even harder. Sleepy stare with deep eye-bags were almost prominent on the students’ faces, and Chanyeol could only grimace when he thought about his previous year or how he would look next year – his last year at Hogwarts.

It certainly wasn’t any different for the Gryffindor’s Seeker.

She seemed to laugh less now days, bringing her notes to read them while eating, sometimes even discussing her homework with her friends or her seniors before she let out her trademark high-pitched whine, this time accompanied with pulling her hair.

Her hair, which back to pink, but in a lighter shade.

It’s kind of confusing and quite annoying because her hair appeared to change color every day – sometimes it’s bright pink like it used to be, sometimes it’s a very light, washed out pink, another day it’s pale yellow, then the next day it would be a darker blonde. Chanyeol wasn’t sure which one infuriated him more. All of them, probably.

On good days, Bomi would bring her new bubble gun to dinner, sending bubbles to her friends, and once Chanyeol snorted to his apple pie because Taemin yelled loud enough for the whole Great Hall to hear, “STOP SENDING ME DIRTY SOCKS YOON BOMI, I’M EATING!” while Bomi just laughed hard, open-mouthed and very unlady-like.

But on bad days she would look like she’s able to sleep while standing, refusing to let go of her notes, and her seniors, more often than not Baekhyun, had to battle her so she would let the parchments go and eat properly. On days like that, Chanyeol’s stomach ached and he didn’t feel like eating, too – must be because he’s easily influenced, or maybe because he had a soft heart or something.

And yet, through the good and bad days, Chanyeol’s gift to her stayed on Bomi’s wrist, changing color every time – but Chanyeol accidently notice that usually it’s pink, or a combination of green with gold, or red with silver.

He couldn’t help but to think that those were Gryffindor’s and Slytherin’s colors mixed.

***

It’s not like Chanyeol had any hidden agenda at all, he just happened to had some questions about the last lecture and this time Kyungsoo didn’t have enough patience to wait until he’s finished, so after Arithmancy class, Chanyeol walked out from the room alone.

Professor Kwon walked ahead of him, Chanyeol bowing to the lady while he adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder, taking his time – definitely not on purpose, he just didn’t feel like walking together with his professor, that’s all. It’s not like he’s expecting to see a fifth year Gryffindor walking around on the corridor, not at all.

But Chanyeol did see her – her long, pink hair contrasted with her black robe and she’s leaning back to the stone wall behind her as if she’s waiting something. Someone.

Chanyeol halted his steps, grimacing a little. It’s probably a good idea to walk away right now before Bomi got aware of his presence. He took a step to the side, about to turn away – but keeping his eyes forward, just in case – when Bomi heard his loud footstep and she looked up.

“Captain!” Bomi smiled so wide, her cheeks should hurt from doing so.

Chanyeol supposed there’s no other way but to acknowledge his junior now. He exhaled, “I’m not your Captain, how many times should I tell you that?”

Walking closer, Bomi ignored his remark. “I waited for you last week, but I guess you already left when I arrived… The classroom’s empty.”

It felt like abandoning a puppy in the middle of the rain, now, with Bomi looking up to him, wide eyes and a rather sad, disappointed expression on her face, but last week Kyungsoo had dragged him away back to Slytherin’s dorm since they had homework to do.

Chanyeol scratched his neck, wasn’t really sure about what to say. It would be weird if he had to explain himself, considering that they were just a pair of a senior and junior who happened to exchanged Christmas gifts. “…Uh, … yeah.” He cleared his throat. “W-What is it? Do you need something?”

“Oh, right!” The sad expression disappeared in a mere second and Bomi bounced on her heels, the little ponytail on the top of her head bouncing along with her movement. “Can you get me to the Room of Requirements again? I really like studying there!”

“You can’t find it yourself? I thought you want to show it to your friends.”

“But it doesn’t work with me!” Bomi pouted, looking over her shoulder and glared at the place where the Room of Requirement’s entrance should be. “I don’t know what’s wrong? Maybe it’s only working if it’s you, Cap!”

Chanyeol snorted, secretly clenching his fists because when he saw the pink locks of Bomi’s hair, he remembered how Jongin had touched them so casually, twirling them in his finger, and Chanyeol might just had the sudden urge to do that too. “I bet it’s because you can’t focus on the thing that you want.”

“Is that so?” Bomi tilted her head. Her eyes met Chanyeol’s and suddenly she bit her lips, holding back a smile. “I can focus on the thing that I really, really want, though…”

“What, food?”

She’s pouting again and Chanyeol was so sick looking at the offensive lips that he decided to just go along with whatever she wanted and started to walk back and forth on the corridor, thinking about the previous studying room – where they could be alone, and maybe…

(Maybe he wondered about how it felt to touch her hair, maybe he’s curious whether she would fit perfectly on his embrace or not, maybe he had thought about ways to silent that small lips…)

Let’s erase everyone one by one except us

Paused as if only you and I exist here

Chanyeol frozen, shutting his eyes tight and almost cursing himself inside for thinking about that god-damn song yet again, but Bomi already cheered, “Cap, it’s here!” and dragged him inside the Room of Requirements.

It appeared to be the same room like the last time, and Chanyeol was secretly thankful that whatever certain images that flashed his mind before didn’t make any change in the room. Pillows and blankets were suspicious enough in a study room.

While Bomi stormed in into the room like it’s her own, Chanyeol lingered awkwardly near the entrance. Before, he was sleepy, so he could passthe time with sleeping, but now he’s wide awake and he’s not even sure if Bomi wanted him there.

His question was answered when Bomi turned her head, “What are you doing there, Cap, aren’t you coming in?”

Chanyeol scowled for being called ‘Cap’ yet again, but he did step inside, looking around because he didn’t do so the last time he’s there. Bomi approached the scented candles and lit up Summer Linen without asking and Chanyeol inhaled deeply for the fresh scent. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to smell clean laundry without thinking about Bomi anymore, and it should be infuriating, but strangely – or not – he didn’t mind.

While Bomi plopped down on the couch and took out her books and parchments, Chanyeol inspected the bookshelves, looking for something to help him working on his homework. He sat on the opposite end of the couch, leaving quite a distance between him and the Gryffindor girl who smiled as soon as their eyes met.

Right before Chanyeol looked away, his eyes landed on Bomi’s wrist, where her bracelet’s now red and silver.

He opened his book and tried to read, but the letters were jumbling in his mind he couldn’t make them into words.

Clearing his throat to appear as nonchalant as he could, Chanyeol said, “Do you, uh, like it?”

“Huh? Like…? … Ah, you mean this!” Bomi touched her bracelet, grinning. “I don’t like it, I really, really love it! Eunji said it’s a trend now in Beijing and Tokyo? It must be expensive. Thank you so much, Cap!”

Chanyeol grumbled under his breath as the response. At least his empty wallet worth something.

They fell into a silence, Bomi returned to her studying, frowning and crossing out her answer, but Chanyeol, although finally able to read the words in his book, couldn’t apprehend the full sentence.

He glanced to the side. “… You.” Bomi blinked before she glanced back at him, acknowledging the call. “… Why do you call me Cap? Do you…,” Chanyeol averted his gaze, “…call Byun like that too?”

“Hm, Baek?”

‘Baek.’

“No, I call him Baek, Baekkie, or sometimes Byun Baek, like the others.”

All of the sudden Chanyeol felt a little bit pissed – he assumed it’s just because of Bomi in general, as usual. “Then, why do you call me Cap? Isn’t Byun your captain? He’s the one you should call Cap.”

Bomi scrunched up her nose as if the idea was unappealing. She thought about it some more before shaking her head. “Baek? Cap? No, don’t think so.” She shook her head harder to emphasize that the idea of calling Baekhyun ‘Cap’ was ridiculous. “… He’s not like you, Cap. He’s not tall, he’s not handsome, and he’s definitely not cool.”

She sneaked a peek at Chanyeol and suddenly she blushed, hiding her face behind her book.

Her bracelet changed color to pink and Chanyeol must had a fever because his face was burning.

***

Quidditch match resumed at the end of February with Slytherin against Ravenclaw, and although they finally changed their Seeker, they still lost to Ravenclaw and their good teamwork.

Two weeks after was Gryffindor’s and Hufflepuff’s match, and during breakfast, with a poker face Kyungsoo offered Chanyeol a Gryffindor’s cheering badge – the shape was a familiar figure with pink hair on a broomstick with QUEEN BOMI under it, and someone had put magic on it that the badge could make tiny sparks every minutes or so. He slapped Kyungsoo’s hand away with a scowl. Kyungsoo, unaffected, shrugged and put the badge on his robe instead.

All Gryffindor wore the badge, even some Ravenclaw wore it too, and it’s kind of sickening for Chanyeol since he got to see pink everywhere.

Meanwhile, on the Gryffindor’s table, Baekhyun was seen busy coaxing Taemin to eat something. Taemin was Gryffindor’s new Keeper, and the boy’s face was as pale as a white sheet. Jongin was by his side, slinging an arm and presumably giving him pep talk for Taemin’s first match.

Even though it’s her second match, Bomi was in a no better condition, the dark circles under her eyes were so apparent and her hair didn’t glow like usual. She smiled when Eunji turned to her but she almost didn’t touch her food. 

Chanyeol knew she’s feeling pressured. Her brilliant – more like haphazard, Chanyeol’d argue – performance on the last match made people had high hopes on her, and she wanted desperately to meet those expectations. Baekhyun was tolerant enough with the fifth years with their practices but Bomi secretly practiced by herself outside the team’s scheduled training, not to mention all the subjects she had to study for the O.W.L; she’s basically pushing herself over her limit. She’s tired and stressed out.

He knew all of this because during their accidental study sessions together at the Room of Requirements, Bomi told him. She always had something to tell him when they’re together, but there were times when she looked like staying awake was a struggle itself and she’s on the verge of crying.

Chanyeol had asked her – in passing by, of course, not that he cared about her or anything – and she told him about her worries. As the Captain of his house’s Quidditch team, Chanyeol somewhat could relate about the pressure from people’s expectations and he’s pissed off at Byun Baekhyun for not taking care of junior and team members. It’s definitely just his conscience as a senior and a captain that made him helped Bomi.

Sometimes he helped with her homework, the other times with her study, giving her tips what to learn and how to learn, fixing her posture when she held her wand and her pronunciation with spells. Sometimes he just listened to her rambling about her day, her friends, the professors, her family – she’s a family of five and she’s the only wizard, her owl Quick, anything. Sometimes she asked about him. Sometimes he answered. Reluctantly. Cause he’s not very good with words and he’s not interesting and who’s this kid asking things about me, he always thought while he kept on telling Bomi what she wanted to know.

And sometimes…

Sometimes Bomi would nod off in the middle of her reading, falling to Chanyeol’s side, and because of… reasons, he would let her be. He would stayed as still as possible, inhaling Summer Linen mixed with Bomi’s shampoo because her head right on his shoulder under his nose, and he would just read quietly until she woke up.  

*

After his first saving - and a lot of cheers from Gryffindor’s supporters – Taemin gained confidence and improved in performance, locking his eyes on the Quaffle being thrown around the field by the Chasers, getting more cheers after every saving.

The flying sparks from Kyungsoo’s badge where he sat beside Chanyeol was quite distracting but he didn’t have the time to care about that since he was concerned about Bomi’s state. The Gryffindor’s Seeker was flying above all the players, eyes searching for Snitch and that was normal, but she didn’t have a grin plastered on her face – and that, that wasn’t normal.

She’s also blinking a lot like she’s not entirely awake, but her eyes were alert so it’s probably not sleepiness that caught her off.

“QUAFFLE ON BYUN BAEKHYUN—HE THROWS IT TO SON SEUNGHWAN—HUFFLEPUFF’S CAPTAIN KIM SEOKJIN INTERCEPTS AND NOW THE QUAFFLE IS IN HUFFLEPUFF’S POSSESSION—” Eunji kept on reporting the game with an amazing tongue ability, able to spew out words in high speed. “HUFFLEPUFF THROWS THE BALL—! BUT LEE TAEMIN KICKS IT AWAY, WHAT A NICE SAVE YOU DID THERE LEE TAEMIN! I KNOW YOU ALWAYS HAD IT IN YOU, MAN. Um, anyway, YOON BOMI AND MIN YOONGI STILL LOOKING FOR—WAIT, MIN YOONGI SUDDENLY SPEEDS UP, DOES SNITCH FINALLY SPOTTED?!”

Following Eunji’s comment the spectators cheered; Hufflepuff’s Seeker Min Yoongi’s leaning forward to make his broom flew faster, his cape fluttering behind him. Chanyeol looked up to Bomi – upon seeing her rival’s act, she quickly flew down, almost vertically, and Chanyeol unconsciously held his breath.

Yoongi came from the side and he barely avoided running into Bomi when the girl intercepted his way, but now they’re side by side in pursuing Snitch. The whole stadium was loud in anticipation over who would get the Snitch first, and among the excitement, no one really paid attention when Hufflepuff scored.

Chanyeol squinted his eyes, trying not to lose focus on Bomi — and then he saw it, how Bomi’s body leaned forward, swaying. Some students cheered, thinking that Bomi would jump again, but Chanyeol’s gut told him that this was different.

He tried to calm his heartbeat, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, his right foot’s jiggling.

Yoongi probably thought the same as the crowd cause he desperately tried to fly faster than Bomi, and he’s succeed, taking the lead.

She leaned forward even more, her hands already letting the broomstick go. But then, like a rag doll, her body fell to the side – she’s falling from her broom.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he stood up, his stomach’s sinking in dread – all around him people screamed, Eunji probably the loudest, but at the same time he couldn’t seem to hear them, his heart’s pounding too loud.

One of the professors must had cast a spell cause Bomi’s slowing down, and when she reached the ground Madam Hooch were already there to catch her. She blew the whistle, either to pause the game, or to signal that the game was ended, since Yoongi already caught the Snitch among the commotion.

The Seeker was holding the Snitch, confused as to what happened, but then his eyes landed on Bomi on the ground and he joined the Gryffindor’s players that already landed around Bomi.

Chanyeol balled his fists, he couldn’t see what happened since the players were surrounding Bomi – Jongin and Taemin were crouching next to her with Baekhyun behind them.

Finally Baekhyun raised his thumb to the direction of Gryffindor’s supporters, “Bomi’s alright!” He smiled and waved before he shook Seokjin’s hand to congratulate him.

Bomi’s body flew, carried by a spell by Madam Hooch back to the castle, with Jongin and Taemin following behind. Baekhyun and the other players lingered just to congratulate Hufflepuff’s team, but then all of them also rushed out of the field.

Eunji already abandoned her post, leaving someone else to announce the score of the game with Hufflepuff’s winning, and reporting that Gryffindor’s Seeker Yoon Bomi was passed out in the last moment and they wished her speedy recovery.

The crowd began to leave, murmurs and buzz about the game, some fifth years who were friends with Bomi left earlier.

Kyungsoo stood up and squeezed Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

He didn’t feel like talking back this time, so Chanyeol just nodded, following the rest of the students who’s leaving the field.

Chapter Text

After the match, the whole school went to the Great Hall for the late lunch, the euphoria after the match still lingered in the air, evident with the loud chatters of, ‘Did you see—?’ and ‘The move s/he made when—’.

Chanyeol made notes too about the game, the things he’d tell his team later on practices in preparation before they’d play against Hufflepuff, but right now he didn’t have anything to say, that’s why he opted to zone out when the kids around him started to discuss the game.

That’s his reason as of why his eyes wandered to the Great Hall’s door from time to time, why he didn’t hear when Sehun called him from across the table, why he barely touched his meal—

“Look, Cap,” a voice cut Chanyeol’s thoughts and he turned his head to his best friend, startled with how Kyungsoo called him ‘Cap’. He never did that outside the field – even during a game, the moments were rare.

Kyungsoo’s expression was a bland as ever but Chanyeol swore he did it on purpose, the way he stretched the ‘Cap’ in his pronunciation. “If you’re worried, just go to the hospital. Or, there,” he nodded to the entrance of the Great Hall, where Baekhyun and the rest of Gryffindor’s Quidditch team just walked in. “Go ask Byun.”

“What—I’m not worried,” Chanyeol hissed, wanting so bad to kick Kyungsoo’s shin under the table.

Kyungsoo made a show of rolling his eyes.

As soon as his best friend’s attention was no longer on him, Chanyeol took a glance at Gryffindor’s table across the room. Surely there was no blonde among the Quidditch team, meaning that the shorty Seeker stayed in the hospital. He wondered if she’s hurt… out of curiosity, not because he’s worried. Kyungsoo was being ridiculous.

The Gryffindor students must be curious too, because they all crowded around Baekhyun when he arrived and they opened their mouth at the same, presumably asking about Bomi’s condition. And of course, Baekhyun chose this time to speak in a normal human’s volume that Chanyeol couldn’t hear what his reply was.

All of the sudden Kyungsoo stabbed a potato from the stew and shoved it to Chanyeol’s mouth, forcing him to eat and effectively making Chanyeol looked away from Gryffindor’s table. “Of course you’re not worried,” he said. It’s weird how Kyungsoo was able to make everything he said sounds like a sarcasm.

Chanyeol was absolutely not worried, though.

***

Slytherin Dungeon – the common room – was not as crowded as it was a couple hours ago, the younger kids already hit their bed time and now it’s only the older students who stayed behind. Chanyeol sat on one of the black leather sofa, glancing at Sehun on the opposite side. Usually the kid didn’t stay up very late.

The sound of the swishing water from the lake above them was always giving a relaxing feeling at night, and Chanyeol looked up in time to catch how Sehun’s eyes fluttered close and how he nodded his head down.

Chanyeol put down his book and nudged the younger. “Hey, Sehun, don’t sleep here. Go to your room if you’re sleepy.”

“Huh?” Sehun opened his eyes, already disoriented. “… Oh. Oh, okay. What about you, Yeol?” he asked, standing up and rubbing his eyes at the same time.

“I, uh, still have some reading,” Chanyeol said, waving his hand randomly at the book on his lap.

Sehun muttered something about Chanyeol being unusually studious, but he bid him goodbye and went to his room, leaving Chanyeol behind by himself. After making sure that Sehun wouldn’t come back, Chanyeol stood up.  

There were still some students left in the common room but no one paid attention when Chanyeol got out from the common room despite it’s already past curfew time. It’s not like anyone would rat him out – the Park might not be as powerful as the Do, but they did have quite the power.

Still he’s being careful, climbing the stairs and crossing the halls while being mindful of the patrolling professors, Prefects, and Flich all together. He reached the first floor in no time, and he’s about to turn in the corner to the Hospital Wing when he caught sight of something yellow, something bright from his peripheral vision, slipping out from the hall and to the direction of the Entrance Hall.  

Today Bomi was blonde.

Chanyeol sped up his steps and he barely caught the glimpse of Bomi taking the stone steps down into the basement through the door on the left. He raised his eyebrows, wondering where Bomi sneaked out to, and what was so important that she left the Hospital Wing at this time. Shouldn’t she go back to Gryffindor Tower if she felt fine?

The thought that Bomi was in a good condition brought a strange sense of relief to Chanyeol, but he’s also pissed off because he had been worried for nothing. Actually… No, he’s not pissed off because he was worried, he’s just upset because Bomi made people worried. Other people, that didn’t include him. At all.

Chanyeol’s best guess to where the girl was going was Hufflepuff Basement – he wasn’t entirely sure because he had no buddy in Hufflepuff but he thought it’s around here somewhere.

When Chanyeol followed Bomi to the basement, he expected to see a dark, gloomy underground passage, but instead he was greeted by a broad stone corridor, brightly lit by torches and decorated by a lot of paintings on the wall; mostly food.

Bomi was seen stopping in front of a portrait – upon closer inspection Chanyeol noticed that it was a portrait of a gigantic silver fruit bowl – and for some reasons unknown to mankind, she was tickling the pear on the portrait when Chanyeol approached her.

“… What on earth are you doing?” Chanyeol asked, half whispered. Still it startled Bomi so much she jumped on air while yelping – Chanyeol covered her mouth in time so she wouldn’t make any noise. He let her go when her eyes already focused on him.

“Captain!” Bomi whispered back, the blood returned to her face after she realized that it’s not a Prefect who caught her snooping around after curfew. “You’re scaring me!”

“… Sorry,” Chanyeol mumbled, feeling guilty because Bomi did genuinely scared. “But what are you doing here, aren’t you supposed to be in the Hospital? Uh… Are you—Are you alright? You… fainted.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I’m good, Madam Abbot said it’s just exhaustion, lack of sleep, stress…,” Bomi shrugged nonchalantly, but then she furrowed her eyebrows. “Cap, did you follow me here? … OH. Hold on. Were you visiting me?”

“I—” Chanyeol opened his mouth, a deny already on the tip of his tongue as his knee-jerk reaction, but then he just had to notice how close they were standing face to face like that – and even though Bomi’s height only reached his chin, she’s just too close, staring at him with expectation, all sparkly and shit, and it’s probably because of the fact she’s paler than usual that the dust of pink on her cheeks were prominent.

He also happened to notice that Bomi’s lips were kind of there, small and sort of waiting.

Chanyeol swallowed, averting his gaze to anything that’s not Bomi. His eyes landed on the pear on the picture that Bomi had tickled a few seconds before. “So, uh, what are you doing here? I saw you, uhh, tickled this… thing?”

Very eloquent. Bravo. Chanyeol kicked himself inside while scratching his neck.

Bomi didn’t answer immediately and when Chanyeol dared to take a peek he noticed that she’s biting her lips to contain a smile. She stepped in even closer to Chanyeol, holding on onto his sweater without a word.

She didn’t even touch him, yet it still made heat crippled under Chanyeol’s collar, giving him the usual unexplainable itch that came whenever he saw the girl’s grin. This time, though, he wanted to do something about it, he wanted to know what it was about Yoon Bomi that always made him restless, infuriated, so he raised his hand— 

“This is the passage to the kitchen,” Bomi spoke before Chanyeol could say anything – or do anything; already turning away from him as she tickled the pear again with her free hand.

Chanyeol retracted his raised hand and used it to push his hair back, pretending he was about to do that since the beginning. Then he focused at the pear which giggled and laughed before turning into a door knob. He raised his eyebrows at that.

“… I was hungry,” Bomi added rather sheepishly before she turned the knob and pushed the door.

Even though Chanyeol, as a Pure-blood family, knew damn well that the cooks of Hogwarts must be the house elves, he never really gave a thought about the location of the kitchen or how they made the food appeared on the tables. But now everything made sense when he saw five tables identical to the ones in the Great Hall above with the same exact position – they must be linked by magic.

He looked in astonishment at the place, a gigantic, high-ceilinged room with endless pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, also on the counter-tops and on the stoves, with house elves everywhere he looked, walking around and cutting vegetables and stirring soups and cleaning plates and just moving in general.

One of those house elves saw them coming and greeted them, “Miss Yoon!” with a high-pitched voice. The little creature had large ears and bulging eyes, and she’s wearing a necklace made from spoons and forks as the pendants. “What is the occasion that Miss Yoon visit kitchen? Bibi heard that Miss Yoon sick, is Miss Yoon alright?”

“Bibi!” Bomi greeted back, waving with her trademark stupid grin. Chanyeol made the conclusion that Bomi visited often enough to befriended the elves there. As expected of her. “I was at the hospital, but I’m fine, I’m not sick, don’t worry. But, ah… You know, the food they gave me at the hospital is, um, how do I say it…”

“She’s still hungry,” Chanyeol said it for the girl. Bomi nodded eagerly from her place.

“Ah! Bibi understands! Bibi will bring food…,” the elf trailed off as her eyes shifted to Chanyeol. “And what can Bibi do for you, Sir?”

“Just serve the lady here,” Chanyeol pointed with his thumb, ignoring the way Bomi giggled at how Chanyeol referred her as a lady.

They sat on the nearest table while waiting for Bibi to comeback, the elves around them paid them no mind as they kept on continue to work. Chanyeol tried his best to appear as nonchalant as he could but it’s a bit hard to do when Bomi was blatantly staring at him from across the table.

“What?” finally he asked, irked, but then he realized he’s been shaking his right leg and all of the sudden he remembered Kyungsoo pointing out his nervous habit. He stopped moving and placed his hand on his right knee.

Bomi shook her head, her blond locks falling to her shoulders, a small smile bloomed on her face instead of the usual infuriating grins. “… It’s just… you visit me, Cap. Thank you…”

Maybe he should be the one who’s hospitalized, because his stomach did a flip when Bomi smiled at him, all shy and timid and glowing. This time, Chanyeol didn’t have a comeback, so he hoped the lights in the kitchen was dimmed enough to cover the blush spreading his cheeks.

“… Are you sure you’re alright?” still he couldn’t bear to not ask. “I told you not to practice secretly and exhaust yourself.”

“Ah, yeah… Baek already scolded me. And he apologized for not noticing my worries. But mostly he was mad, he said I should trust him and told him things like that.” Bomi said as she played with the sleeves of her pajamas, it was pink, made from flannel, and in return it made her look warm, fluffy, also… cuddly.

That was a very odd thought for Chanyeol to have so he looked away. “Byun’s right. You’re a team, you shouldn’t worry about winning the match all by yourself. Lee is a good addition, with more practices you should have a solid team next year.”

“Taeminnie?” Bomi’s face brightened up with Chanyeol’s compliment about her best friend – Chanyeol’s eyebrow twitched at the nickname. “He’s indeed good, isn’t he! Jongin teased him but he was the one who encouraged Taemin to come to the try out when Baek wanted to find a Keeper—”

Bomi proceeded with the story of the tryout and Chanyeol was lost in the way Bomi told her story; passionate with a lot of hand movements, sound effects, and comical expressions. By now Chanyeol was already accustomed with Bomi’s bullet-speed speech, able to understand it without getting confused when sometimes she got too excited and slurred in her pronunciation.

But right now he didn’t really pay attention to her story, because he was just glad that Bomi appeared to be like her usual self with no signs of exhaustion or stress, she’s already talkative and cheerful albeit a little pale.

Watching her was, Chanyeol had to admit, fascinat—

“Cap, you’re staring,” suddenly Bomi said, breaking the daze Chanyeol was in.

Shit, when did she stop talking?

“W-What are you saying? Don’t be ridiculous.” He coughed up and averted his gaze to the fire crackling under a pot somewhere behind Bomi, and he’s thankful that Bibi decided to come at the moment, bringing a plate of food with her. She put down a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallow for Chanyeol too, even though he didn’t ask for it.

Bomi cheered and she made sure to thank Bibi before the elf left, digging in almost immediately.

Chanyeol resorted to Bomi-watching again, sipping his chocolate every now and then and just, watch.

Now he had an idea why Kim Jongin always tried to steal Bomi’s food – the girl was capable to make any food looked super delicious with the way she ate.

He didn’t even realize that his eyes were fixated on Bomi until she looked up and met his eyes. He would be conscious about caught staring again if he didn’t notice the smear of sauce on the corner of Bomi’s lips.

“… You’re messy,” he muttered, gesturing with his hand and pointed to Bomi’s face.

“Oh.” Bomi put down the utensils, scrambling to find something to wipe her mouth. “I’m sorry—”

“Come here.” Chanyeol leaned from across the table and held Bomi’s chin to stop her head from moving. He used his thumb to wipe her lips. “… All clean. Careful, eat slowly.”

It’s strange, because Bomi did eat slower after Chanyeol’s act but she also ducked her head so low Chanyeol worried her hair would dip onto the soup bowl if she lowered her head even more.

When she tucked her hair behind her ears, Chanyeol noticed her bracelet was pink.

Her ears were red.

When she’s done they said goodbye to Bibi who decided to give some cookies for ‘midnight snacks’ – Bomi smiled like she had been given the greatest gift in the world that Chanyeol had a stupid urge to ruffle her hair.

“Cap, you don’t have to walk me back to the Hospital Wing,” Bomi whispered to Chanyeol in front of her, who tried to look around the corner and checked for patrol.

“Keep your voice down,” Chanyeol said without looking back. The corridor was clear and he took Bomi’s hand to lead her – there’s a persistent nagging in the back of his mind and it sounded like a joyous congratulatory cheer. He tried to ignore it. “Come on.” 

Bomi’s hand was small and warm, and it fit perfectly with his own hand. Smooth, too. It’s a very nice hand.

Chanyeol hoped he wouldn’t sweat too much.

They’re half-way through the hall when Chanyeol’s ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching, and Bomi must had missed it because she didn’t stop walking when Chanyeol did, resulting of her bumping into his back.

“Aaww—!”

“Sssh!” Chanyeol shushed her up at the same time someone yelled, “Who’s there?!” from the dark corridor ahead, and their eyes widened when they heard rushing footsteps along with lights drawing in.

Chanyeol looked around in panic and he pulled Bomi to the side, trying to hide behind a statue of knight in armor. Bomi made a little whimper but she kept quiet, pressing herself back to the wall and close to Chanyeol.

They held their breath – the footsteps stopped in their corridor, nearby, and the lights moved as if someone waved their wand over their head.

Whoever it was outside took a step closer to their hiding and Chanyeol pulled Bomi to stand behind him – it’s a vain wish, but he hoped his height could cover her. He would think of how warm she was next to him if he could hear his own thoughts over his beating pulse, anxious and tense about the situation.

The steps continued, quieter but also closer, before all of the sudden there’s a blinding light above of them, shining down from a wand.

Chanyeol tilted his head and raised an arm, trying to block the light with his hand.

“… Chanyeol?” someone asked, sounded confused, and Chanyeol recognized that voice – his first thought was oh thank god, but his second thought was oh shit.

“Hey, Soo. Can you, maybe…,” Chanyeol nodded to the wand, and Kyungsoo lowered it, dimming the light coming out from his wand.

“What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo asked. He’s a Prefect and Chanyeol supposed tonight was his duty night to patrol. On one side, it’s a relief that it’s Kyungsoo who found them, but on the other side…

Kyungsoo moved his wand when he noticed there’s someone else behind Chanyeol. He furrowed his eyebrows, recognizing who it was. “… Yoon Bomi?”

Bomi had no choice but to stepped aside from behind Chanyeol’s back. “Um, good evening, Senior Do,” she bowed a little, attempting to smile but it came out like an unsure grimace instead.

Kyungsoo stared at Bomi for a moment like he’s trying to process the fact that he had just caught Chanyeol with Bomi together before slowly, very slowly, he leered back at Chanyeol with a cocked eyebrow and an irritating smirk. “... Huh.”

Chanyeol gritted his teeth, he wanted to shout at his best from to erase that fucking smirk off his face, but unfortunately he’s fully aware that he’s at Kyungsoo’s mercy right now so he kept his mouth shut.

Kyungsoo turned his attention back to Bomi, and he smiled at her, warm, kind, and 100% fake, in Chanyeol’s opinion. “Good evening. I watched the match, and I was under the impression that you’re hospitalized. Are you feeling well now, Yoon?”

“Ah, yes! I was hospitalized. I mean, I am,” Bomi said in a rush, obviously startled with Kyungsoo’s question like she didn’t anticipate his kindness. She probably thought Kyungsoo would deduct Gryffindor’s point and gave her detention. “… But I already sleep a lot, and eat a lot too! So I’m definitely better now. Although, um, I’m still… supposed to be, in the hospital.”

Kyungsoo smiled again – wider, even. “I see… Well, I can understand, it must be boring in the hospital. The most important thing is you’re alright. My friend here was so, so, worried, about your condition, that he couldn’t even eat earlier.”

The girl’s eyes widened hearing that – she turned to Chanyeol with a big ‘Is that true, Cap?’ plastered on her face, she didn’t need to say it out loud for Chanyeol to know. Chanyeol also didn’t need a mirror to know he’s red to the neck, and he’s plotting various ways to get back to Kyungsoo inside his head.

“Don’t you need to patrol?” he asked in the end, irritated and wanted to get away from Kyungsoo as soon as possible.

Kyungsoo looked back at Chanyeol and smirked. “Why, yes, I do, thank you for reminding me. I’ll see you around, Yoon. And I hope you’ll be careful on your way back to the room, Park. Of course, that is, if you come back at all.” He smiled to Bomi’s bow, leaving with a meaningful leer at Chanyeol. 

“Waah… My heart almost exploded when he found us!” Bomi exhaled after Kyungsoo left them to patrol. “Cap, Senior Do is so nice, we’re lucky we were caught by him. But I don’t understand what he said earlier… Why won’t you come back to your room?”

“Ignore him,” was all Chanyeol said, fighting the blush that threatened to come out on his face. Why he’s so weak against stupid remark like that?

The Hospital Wing was quiet when they got there, no one seemed to realize that they’re missing one patient and the two were able to slip back to Bomi’s chamber without any problem.

Now they’re standing next to Bomi’s bed – it was messy, the thrown away blanket on the leg of the bed a clear indication that the bed was used – facing each other, but with no words exchanged. Chanyeol glanced, Bomi was playing with her pajama’s sleeves yet again.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, rocking on his heels. “… So.”  He tried to open a conversation.

He’s aware that he just visited the infuriating Seeker from Gryffindor and accompanied her to eat by his own will, without any explanation at all, and now what should he tell her to explain why he did that? He should come up with a good excuse.

“Uh. You should…,” Chanyeol paused. Reason. Excuse. Explanation. Yes. “… Go to sleep.”

What the actual fuck?

Bomi made a small nod but made no other move, instead she just bit her lips and something flashed on her eyes, something akin to determination. Before Chanyeol could realize what happened, she’s tiptoeing on her toes, leaning forward with her hand on Chanyeol’s chest, and—

“Ack!” Bomi squealed as she lost her balance, slipping and ended up hitting Chanyeol’s chin with her head. Chanyeol managed to grab her elbow, preventing her from falling onto him even though there’s a throbbing pain on his chin where Bomi’s forehead hit it.

“Ugh—What the—What the hell are you doing?!” Chanyeol hissed, stepping back to regain his footing, one hand rubbing at his bruised chin while the other still hadn’t let go of Bomi’s elbow.

“I was—I was trying to give you a goodnight kiss!” Bomi replied, frustrated. “But you’re just so tall and I—! Captain, are you alright? I’m sorry…” Her fingers brushed against Chanyeol’s chin, careful and attentive, lighting fire inside him.

The whole thing was just plain stupid and ridiculous that Chanyeol didn’t even have the time to be taken aback with Bomi’s bluntness about what her intention to kiss him.

He just pulled Bomi closer and looked down, irritated like always.

“If you’re going to do it, then do it right!”   

Then he leaned down and captured her lips with his own.

The first second, Bomi’s body was stiff against him and his mind supplied him with a big warning ABORT MISSION before he felt Bomi’s relaxing, didn’t push him away like he initially thought, instead she pushed herself closer to him.

He placed a hand on the small of Bomi’s back, feeling warmth radiating from the girl.  

Bomi smelled like clean laundry from what Chanyeol assumed came from her pajama, but she also smelled like something delicious, and her lips – small, soft, just perfect – tasted sweet. Bless Bibi for her hot chocolate she served them earlier.

They could be kissing for an hour or a second, Chanyeol lost the ability to feel the time, but in the end he broke away first.

He licked his lips—Did he—? He just—? He did, right?

In front of him, Bomi was smiling to herself, cupping her cheeks with her hands as she glanced up at Chanyeol before looking down and giggled again.

Fuck. She’s so fucking cute.

And Chanyeol felt a little bit breathless.

He cleared his throat, taking a step back because he didn’t trust himself to not reaching out to Bomi and kissed her again. “That’s how you kiss someone goodnight. Um. Yeah. I’ll—I’ll see you tomorrow?”

She nodded, still having the coy smile on her face. Chanyeol didn’t resist the stupid urge to ruffle her hair this time.

He returned to his own room without any trouble, and Chanyeol lay on his bed for minutes, just staring at the ceiling with a wide grin on his face. He probably could do that all night long – kicking blankets in unexplainable excitement, punching his fist into the air like he just won something – if it’s not for Kyungsoo’s coming back to the room.

Chanyeol quickly turned to his side and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. He heard Kyungsoo paced around the room carefully, changing his clothes to his pajama, and then he heard him climbing up his bed. Seemed like his best friend thought he’s already sleeping and spared him from obligatory teasing after their meeting earlier.

He tried to sleep for real, but the images of Bomi’s shy face after they kissed came back to his mind and Chanyeol ended up kicking his blanket again, tossing around on his bed.

“Stop moving,” a hiss out of nowhere made Chanyeol went rigid. He tried to peek at Kyungsoo’s bed – he could only see the back of Kyungsoo’s head, his blanket up to his neck. “I’m sure your love escapade is wonderful, Park, but some people need to sleep.”

“… Sorry,” he mumbled to the dark and turned away, feeling his ears turned hot.

But he’s too elated to take Kyungsoo’s usual sarcasm to the heart, and Chanyeol hugged his pillow, trying to hide his smile on it as the night came over and he drifted to a restful slumber.

***

The following days, Chanyeol had to admit albeit very, very begrudgingly, were pure torture for him. They’re a blur of places and colors and people, but there’s no Room of Requirement, there’s no pink, and there’s no Gryffindor’s Seeker on them.

Slytherin’s team was determined to win the Quidditch cup this year and to beat Ravenclaw’s point they needed to win over Hufflepuff in the next match, so they practiced every day. Kyungsoo dragged him away whenever Chanyeol tried to sneak to talk to Bomi, although he wasn’t sure he could get her alone since she’s always with her friends.

There were glances during meal times, but Chanyeol always hesitated – were they… dating? Him, and the infuriating shorty from Gryffindor? Dating? Or not? Seriously, what were they? – and Bomi’s attention was often stolen by her friends; Eunji chatted her, Jongin took her food, Taemin demanded attention from the whole world.

‘Fuck what if it’s just a one-time thing, a good night kiss, and that’s that?’ was one of Chanyeol’s favorite recent worry between his study and the practices.

The sequel was, ‘What if she meant it as a casual kiss and I’m the only one thinking about it as more shit shit shit.’

When he couldn’t take anymore Chanyeol decided to do something. He’s a Slytherin, a Park, he could do whatever he wanted, right? If it turned out Bomi just thought of him as a friend, as a senior, well he could be a fucking fantastic senior.

So he ordered a pack of Butterbeer from Three Broomsticks and sent it to Bomi’s room with a simple note – ‘Enjoy it while studying with your friends’.

Nothing happened for a whole day after that, and Chanyeol was definitely not nervous and wondering whether Three Broomsticks delivered his order right or not, he definitely didn’t think about it all day and he definitely didn’t get dirty looks from Kyungsoo because he couldn’t stop shaking his legs. Nope, he’s a cool with being a Fucking Fantastic Senior.

He certainly wasn’t disappointed when nothing happened, and he didn’t go to his room late at night with slumped shoulders after yet another tiring Quidditch practice, and he didn’t throw his robe carelessly to the floor because he’s too tired to function—

“Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said from the next bed, a tinge of warning in his tone.

“Yea yea, I know, I’ll put it on the hamper,” Chanyeol said, picking up the cloth and took steps to put it away.

“It’s not that, Doofus, look at your table.”

“Huh?” He turned his head to his desk, and he saw something that wasn’t there before when he left the room for practice. There’s a big, white mug there, steaming, and when Chanyeol approached it he noticed that it was hot chocolate with marshmallow. There’s a note plastered on his table with a familiar handwriting – he’d seen it on the Christmas Card…

Thank you for the Butterbeer – my friends also said thank you!

Good job for today, and have a good night sleep, Cap! ^^

There’s a smile threatened to bloom on Chanyeol’s face and he struggled to suppress it until he heard Kyungsoo snorted from his bed. He glanced at his best friend, already tucking himself in and turning his back on him.

“Hope whatever bothering you is answered now, Park,” Kyungsoo said.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but to grin now. “Good night, Soo.”

“… Good night, Yeol.”

***

Chanyeol took a deep breath, seeing his team members went out to the field one by one, each one got a massive cheer from the spectators outside. It’s the day of Slytherin vs Hufflepuff match, and they’ve been working so hard for today, they had better teamwork now with their new Seeker – a third year named Yoon Jeonghan.

Kyungsoo was the last to go out before Chanyeol, and he threw him one last look. “We’ve got this, Yeol,” he said, raising his fist.

Chanyeol bumped it with his fist but said nothing, tense all over with anticipation and anxiety mixed in his gut.

Finally it’s his turn and he stepped out into the blinding light from May’s sky, frowning a little at how loud the cheers he got. He heard the Slytherin’s tribune singing something – a new cheering song, perhaps – that he tuned out as he focused his mind on the upcoming game, and when Chanyeol lined up with his team he was tempted to look at the Gryffindor’s tribune, wanting to check whether she was there.

Of course she’s here, the whole school is here, Idiot, his mind told him.

He stood firm in front of Kim Seokjin, Hufflepuff’s Captain and Chaser, and he was about to shake his hand when he noticed how Seokjin’s not looking at him. Instead, his gaze was directed to something far behind Chanyeol, eyebrows raised as if he couldn’t believe what he saw.

“Jin?” Chanyeol called out, having familiar enough with the boy since they both in their respective House’s Quidditch team for years.

Seokjin shifted his eyes to Chanyeol and he had an amused smile on his face when he said, “I’m going to assume that that isn’t for me.”

“What is?”  

Puzzled, Chanyeol turned his head.

There in the middle of Gryffindor’s red and gold robes, something green stuck out like a sore thumb, a big banner with silver words, All the best of luck, the Captain of my heart! ♥, held by the duo Jongin and Taemin while Bomi sat next to them, wearing an obnoxious large snake hat, her pink hair shimmering in contrast of green and silver on her head.

Chanyeol spluttered at the sight. His first reaction was embarrassed because the whole school surely saw the banner – Kyungsoo shook his head from beside him, he could hear someone whistled, it’s probably Sehun – and what was Bomi thinking?

“Captain!” the girl shouted from her place. “Fighting!”

She got some annoyed glares from Gryffindor’s students, probably thought she’s a traitor for supporting Slytherin, but Bomi paid them no attention as she sported the widest grin ever, waving with two hands at Chanyeol.

And that.

The image of Bomi’s smiling wide, unbelievably happy, making Chanyeol’s stomach churned and his heart burned… That’s infuriating, because he wanted to stop everything he did and went to her instead, holding and kissing her; be with her.   

He wasn’t sure what expression he made – but Slytherin girls were whining in jealousy about it.

He shook his head, turning back to Seokjin. “No, it’s not for you,” he told him. “It’s for me.”

“Good for you, Dude,” Seokjin punched his arm playfully.    

The two teams shook hands with their counterpart and Chanyeol flew to his position in front of the goalposts, looking over his mates scattered around the field with Jeonghan above them all with a bored expression but sharp eyes.

At last Madam Hooch blew the whistle, signaling the start of the game, releasing the Snitch and the Quaffle. From then on Chanyeol’s eyes never leave the Quaffle being thrown around the Chasers, trusting Snitch to the Seeker Jeonghan and the Bludgers to the Beaters Sehun and Jung Soojung.  

He blocked the Quaffle thrown at the goalpost, determined to not let even one goal made by Hufflepuff, all while wishing Jeonghan got the Snitch before Yoongi.

From time to time he sneaked a peek at Gryffindor’s tribune, at the striking snake hat above Bomi’s head that made her even more stood out beside her hair. Every time, Bomi always had a worry, stressed expression on her face, almost like it’s her own team that’s playing, and once Chanyeol looked at her when she glanced back. Her worried expression morphed into her usual grin, and it renewed Chanyeol’s determination.       

Entering the minute forty and Chanyeol already failed to block three goals, he heard the stadium roared in excitement, the atmosphere shifted into anticipation. He dared to look around for a second – he saw Jeonghan in pursuit of the Snitch, while Yoongi was on the other side of the field. Chanyeol held his breath, crossing his fingers as he looked back to the Quaffle, making sure that Hufflepuff wouldn’t score in the middle of the commotion.

The blood was rushing to his head that Chanyeol felt he could almost hear it in his veins, his hands were sweating around his hold on the broomstick as he waited for Madam Hooch to blow the whistle anytime now.

“Come on, Jeonghan,” he whispered to himself.

Not soon after the whistle did blow off, Chanyeol scrambled to look who got the Snitch. In the background he half-heard Eunji’s announcing Yoon Jeonghan from Slytherin caught the Snitch—And realization came down to Chanyeol that they won.

He abandoned the goalpost, flying to Jeonghan along with his team mates, crushing the new Seeker as they all circled him and attempted to hug him from their own broomsticks. It took a while until everyone satisfied at showering Jeonghan with hugs and pats in the back before they went back to the locker room.

They were chattering, full with happiness over their winning – they still had to wait for Gryffindor’s match with Ravenclaw to find out the final result, but they were optimistic. He entered the room last, that’s why Chanyeol didn’t immediately notice her, it was Sehun’s holler that alarmed him, “We’ll wait for you in the dungeon for the party, Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol looked up, and there in Slytherin’s locker room, somehow Bomi found her way, clearly not abashed at sneaking in as she stood with a proud grin directed at Chanyeol. She already took off her hat, her long hair falling to her shoulders.  

“Oh, great game, guys, congratulation!” She said at the Slytherin team one by one as they walked pass her, leaving the room after putting their broomsticks to the shed. Some thank her back, and Sehun was in a good mood enough that he responded with a salute. “Senior Do, congratulation, you were amazing!” She bowed at Kyungsoo when the boy walked to her.

“I’m sure to you I’m not as amazing as your captain,” Kyungsoo said and Bomi didn’t deny it, only grinning.

When the room cleared out leaving the two of them inside, Chanyeol took off his uniform and put it inside his locker, hyper aware of Bomi’s presence but tried to ignore it. He blamed the adrenaline post-game for his loud beating heart.

“… What are you doing here?” he asked, pulling clean clothes from the locker and swiftly put it on.

“Haa!” Bomi came closer, leaning on Sehun’s locker next to Chanyeol’s. She glanced up at Chanyeol, her finger’s drawing swirls on the wooden locker. “I’m here to congratulate you, of course. Congratulation, Captain!”

“… Thanks,” he said quietly, didn’t dare to look at the girl. Chanyeol wiped his face with a clean towel and raked his hair with his fingers, years of learning language failing him now as he didn’t know what to say. “… Is that why…” Bomi leaned closer and Chanyeol had to clear his throat. “Is that why, you call me Captain?” he asked, referring to Bomi’s banner.

“Hmm…,” she seemed to ponder for a while. “Probably?” Bomi answered with a cheeky grin that used to be infuriating, making Chanyeol wanted to do things.

By habit Chanyeol ignored his wants and stepped back, but when he did Bomi’s grin suddenly disappeared, replaced with a frustrated frown. “… Oh come on, Cap!”

“What?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“You know that I’m too short to kiss you! Just lean down and kiss me already!”  

There again, the bluntness, straight forward to the point, and strangely Chanyeol didn’t hate it. Not at all. The realization came to him just then – that he liked it. The stupid grins, the loud voice, the constant happiness, all of it, all of her; Chanyeol liked it.

He liked her.

He shook his head, chuckling to himself as he commanded his broom to float. He maneuvered the broomstick to float behind Bomi, and nodded to it. “Hop in.”

“Hop in? Why…?” Even though she questioned it, Bomi sat on the broom sideways just like Chanyeol requested. When she turned to face Chanyeol, they were on the same height since the broom flew higher. “Oh. Ooohhhh…”

Chanyeol arranged the broomstick so Bomi could lean against the locker while he stood in front of her. “Now I don’t have to hurt my back trying to kiss you shorty.”

“Well, I have to say it’s a very good idea, Captain Park.” Bomi grinned, more predatory than Chanyeol had ever seen, as she pulled Chanyeol closer for a lingering kiss.

Chanyeol realized now, with Bomi’s lips moving slowly alongside his own, that he’s no longer infuriated.

Or maybe he did – infuriatingly in love.