before the fires go cold
Title: before the fires go cold
Pairing(s): QMi, implied!KangTeuk, implied!HanChul
Genre(s): Romance, Harry Potter AU
Length: 4975 words
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kyuhyun’s the gem of the Slytherin House, molding perfectly to the stereotype, arrogant, cold, manipulative, and pureblooded wizard with a large fortune to boot. Zhou Mi is a Muggleborn student of the Gryffindor House, eyes wide with excitement and fear. He’s all smile and hugs and infuriatingly good at DADA.
Inspiration(s): Originally written as a pinch-hitter fic for the Super Junior Holiday Fanfic Exchange. Title from Arcade Fire song.
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year one
The Sorting Hat had no problems placing Kyuhyun in the correct house on his first day at Hogwarts. The rims of the old weathered hat had barely touched the top of the young boy's head before calling out a very confident Slytherin!. Immediately Kyuhyun was escorted to the table where the other Slytherins sat, young men and women dressed in dark green robes with hungry eyes that could melt steel and cunning words that could cut through the air.
The boy knew that he was going to fit right in.
Last to be sorted was this tall lanky Muggle-born wizard named Zhou Mi, and Kyuhyun registered how the Slytherin upperclassmen all snickered at how damn excited the kid looked. He looks like a fucking Christmas tree, ornaments and all. Kyuhyun sniggered at the accuracy of the description. The guy looked like he belonged in Hufflepuff and the rest of those witless do-gooders who did nothing but smile humbly and study and puke rainbows all day.
Still, Kyuhyun had to admit that the guy was not hard on the eyes. Big bright eyes, a long nose (a perfect target a variety of jinxes), an overly excited smile, and legs. Kyuhyun was a complete sucker for a pair of nice long legs.
"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat shouted. Those big impossibly bright eyes seemed to double in excitement.
The hall exploded into cheers and applause. Kyuhyun grudgingly joined in, eyes never leaving the newest addition to the Gryffindors.
For the rest of the year, Zhou Mi was the main target of Kyuhyun’s pranks, and there was not one day when Kyuhyun failed to cast a leg-locker curse or tickling charm on him.
Strangely enough, Zhou Mi never seemed to find the need to fight back. He just picked himself up and brushed the dust off his pants without even a flinch. Zhou Mi also seemed to know every counter-spell single in the book, and more often than not, Kyuhyun’s jelly-legs jinx never lasted more than two minutes before the Muggle-born Gryffindor remembered the counter-jinx and got back on his feet, as happy and smiley as before.
It infuriated Kyuhyun how he had to work so hard to find new spells and hexes to catch his attention.
-
year two
Kyuhyun was the best at Defence Against The Dark Arts. It should have been written on the Daily Prophet: Kyuhyun, Undefeated! His father was the best in all of Korea, after all. His father went to war and survived three years on the front lines. Three whole years. Kyuhyun mastered the Knockback Jinx by the time he was four. When he was five, he perfected his nonverbal spells.
Which was why, when he was paired up with a certain bright-eyed grinning boy in his second year of DADA, he did not expect to be caught off-guard with the Disarming Charm and have a wand with a dragon heartstring core pointed just below his chin. Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes, and raised his hands up in submission. Immediately Zhou Mi lowered his wand.
“Caught off guard!” a redheaded Gryffindor crowed from close by. “What happened, Kyuhyun?”
“Heechul, stop it!” Zhou Mi barked, grin finally dropping from his face.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes easily. “Says the idiot who thought that the Polyjuice Potion could be used to turn into a cat.”
Heechul laughed derisively. “Your father would die of shame if he saw you getting your ass kicked by a Muggle-born.”
Kyuhyun felt his cheeks redden in humiliation, and anger boiled in his stomach. “At least my father is still alive!”
“How dare you! Densaugeo!” an enraged Heechul shouted, the curse shooting from the tip of his wand.
Zhou Mi, the plucky bastard, dove right in front of Kyuhyun and took the brunt of the spell that subsequently made his front teeth grow at an alarmingly quick rate. He fell to the floor, whimpering as he covered his mouth. Heechul rushed to his best friend’s side, conflict temporarily forgotten.
While the professor escorted the boy to the Hospital ward, Kyuhyun looked to where most of the class was frozen, either in shock or amusement, and shrugged coldly. “Gryffindors, all brawns and no brain. So uncivilized.”
The Slytherins snickered and Kyuhyun almost sighed in relief. No harm done.
“Hey Kyuhyun!”
Kyuhyun turned to see a big smile and a pair of mile-long legs. “Hey Toothless.”
Zhou Mi giggled-actually giggled. “Yah, I’m all back to normal now thanks to Doctor Ryeowook.”
“That was a dumb thing to do, just jumping into the line of fire. But you’re a Gryffindor, so I guess I should have expected no less.”
“Well, I just did what I thought was right,” Zhou Mi shrugged reticently. “Well, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about Heechul. He can be tempestuous if he wants to be. Just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”
Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes and straightened his back threateningly. “I can fight my own fights, thank you. And just so you know, I definitely did not appreciate your big act of bravery.”
“I never expected you to,” Zhou Mi frowned. “But you should at least accept my apology.”
Kyuhyun scoffed. “I don’t accept apologies from noisy magnanimous Gryffindor ruffians,” he gave the other a shameless once-over, “No matter how good-looking they are.”
Zhou Mi flushed. “You’re impossible!”
“So everybody tells me.”
It was only half a victory watching Zhou Mi spin on his heel and storm off.
-
year three
The wind and rain bit as Kyuhyun’s skin as he shot through the sky on his newly purchased Firebolt broomstick, and he clenched his teeth together to keep them from chattering. Damn this blasted weather.
“Catch the damn Snitch already, Kyuhyun!” the Keeper screamed over the sound of lightening. “At this rate we’ll all catch hypothermia.”
“Shut your trap, Youngwoon! You try finding that bloody Snitch when you can barely see where you’re flying.” Kyuhyun barely ducked in time as a Bludger shot right past him, mere inches from his head. Seriously, damn this blasted weather.
From the corner of his eye, Kyuhyun spotted the tail of the Comet 260 speed across the pitch surface, and he reflexively took off. The Slytherins were going to win the cup this time round, if he had anything to say about it. Down he flew, whizzing past the Chasers and Beaters, dodging bludgers and members of the Gryffindor team. He raced across the field, fighting to keep his eyes open against the heavy rain and fixated on the lean lanky Gryffindor seeker.
“Hey Zhou Mi!” Kyuhyun quipped as he finally caught up. The snitch was right there in front of them, dancing.
“Hey Kyuhyun!” Zhou Mi replied cheerfully despite the fact that his lips were blue and his knuckles were white from grasping his broom handle too hard. “Weather sure is nice today!”
Kyuhyun managed a breathy laugh. “So is your ass. I should know, I’ve been staring at it this whole time.”
And while Zhou Mi spluttered and turned a whole new shade of red, Kyuhyun rushed forward and grabbed the Golden Snitch in one swipe, marking yet another victory for the Slytherin Quidditch team.
Third years dealt with Boggarts in DADA, and Kyuhyun was almost nervous. But he was from the Cho family, and any member of the Cho family, Slytherin or not, had no reason to be nervous. Then again, the last time he had faced a boggart was when he was seven, and it had morphed into a giant black cat, which was pathetic. Horror movies bored him, goblins were more disgusting than frightening, and he never understood the fear for spiders or heights, so of course he had to be afraid of the lamest creature ever to exist. Kyuhyun fought back a sigh. Might as well get it over with.
On the bright side, he also had the chance to know what Zhou Mi’s biggest fear would be. The poor lad looked terrified.
"A boggart is a mysterious creature," Professor Jungsu from the Gryffindor House explained, sharply pacing around with his pristine white wand. "Nobody knows what the boggart is in its true form because of its shape-shifting abilities and its tendency of changing into the worst fear of the person it encounters. Dealing with a boggart is relatively simple but requires a high degree of concentration and sometimes sheer willpower." He faced the class. "I assume that all of you have done the readings. Right, Youngwoon?"
Youngwoon snickered. "Of course, sir."
"So you won't mind being the first to demonstrate?"
"Of course not, sir."
“Your deepest fear will be known to everybody in this class. Let it be known that any harassment stemming from this knowledge will not be tolerated. So, Youngwoon, are you still willing to share your worst fear with the class?”
Youngwoon nodded and stepped up to the big black box, where a big black orb sprung out and immediately morphed into a living embodiment of a very happy-looking Professor Jungsu in the arms of a very handsome man wearing a tuxedo. Immediately the laugh lines on Youngwoon’s face disappeared, and Kyuhyun noticed the reflexive clenching of Youngwoon’s fist as he waved his wand with Riddikulus! on his lips. The tuxedo-clad handsome man turned into a cardboard cutout.
There was a moment of silence before class resumed. Professor Jungsu’s face was unreadable. “Great demonstration, Youngwoon. Now, the rest of you, form a line. Every student should have a chance in front of the boggart unless you prefer to keep your fears to yourself.”
Each student lined up, alternating between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and the fears were standard. Bears, banshees, horror movie characters, ghouls, ghosts, basilisks, and the like. The boggart for one Slytherin girl was her father wielding a leather belt, and she started to cry even as her spell turned the boggart turned into circus juggler. Zhou Mi turned out to suffer from arachnophobia as his boggart transformed into a giant tarantella, and Kyuhyun made a mental note to release a jar of assorted arachnids into the young man’s bag when the chance arose.
Kyuhyun expected his boggart to be a black cat, perhaps a supersized one with white fangs and piercing yellow eyes.
It wasn’t. The boggart transformed into Zhou Mi in all his leggy glory, but instead of the usual smile that graced his pointy face, there were tears streaming down his cheeks. “I hate you, Kyuhyun! I hate you! I hate you! Don’t ever come near me again! You’re nothing but a rich spoiled brat! You’re a monster!”
Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. It hurt. The words spewing out the boggart stung. They stung more than all of the hexes ever targeted at him combined. They stung more than the first Quidditch injury he nursed. They stung more than his father’s constant disappointed frowns. “Riddikulus!” he yelled, mustering all the concentration he could to change the scene in front of him into something else-anything else! With a pop, the boggart turned into a water fountain.
The Gryffindor next in line took his place and Kyuhyun walked off, pointedly ignoring the worried and sympathetic looks that Zhou Mi kept shooting him for the rest of class.
“Someone has a crush,” a Slytherin girl named Seo Joohyun whispered amusedly, just loud enough for Kyuhyun to hear. They had met as first years and instantly became friends over their shared passion for charms. “Not that I didn’t know already.”
Kyuhyun fought the blush off his face. “Says the girl who is deathly afraid of inflated balloons,” he shot back without any venom. “Seriously? Inflated balloons?”
“I’m not scared of the balloons. I’m scared of the popping sound they make when they explode.”
“Like that’s any better.”
Joohyun rolled her eyes. “Want to talk about it?”
“Over my dead body. And if anybody asks, my boggart was a hoax.”
“Sure, Kyuhyun. Sure.”
The school hallways were always empty past six when everybody was at the dining hall, and of course that was the time Zhou Mi decided to show up. “Hey Kyuhyun, I was looking for you-”
“Go away, Zhou Mi.”
“No, Kyuhyun, please listen-”
“If this is about earlier in DADA class, you’re wasting your breath.”
“Please, I just wanted to know-”
“There is nothing to know.”
“Kyuhyun, I really do think that-”
Kyuhyun turned to face him and glowered, eyes filled with unshed tears. He was not going to cry, not here, not now, not ever. “You are nothing but a worthless Mudblood to me!” he hissed through his clenched teeth. “You got that? You’re a Mudblood!”
The openly betrayed look on Zhou Mi’s face made Kyuhyun’s heart clench painfully, and the Slytherin lifted his chin and went on his way to the common rooms.
“I’m trying to like you, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi called out to Kyuhyun’s retreating back, voice cracking suspiciously. “I don’t know why you’re making it so difficult.”
Kyuhyun fisted his hands and pretended that he didn’t hear. The boggart was never brought up again.
-
year four
Kyuhyun was the best of the best in his year. He was talented at Potions, he had a knack for Arithmancy, he aced History of Magic, he performed Transfiguration easily, and of course he excelled at Defense against the Dark Arts.
In spite of his achievements, everybody believed that he was just this over-privileged wizard who just so happened to inherit the best possible genes that guaranteed him success in everything he did.
(Did anybody ever notice that he spent hours in the library memorizing all the properties of all the potion ingredients, or that he wrote letters back home every week in hopes of receiving a reply from his father that showed some sign of approval, or that he woke up two hours earlier than everybody else to sneak onto the Quidditch field to fully master his technique on a broomstick?)
“Good duel!” Zhou Mi quipped after a session of DADA, giving Kyuhyun an enthusiastic handshake. “Where in the world did you learn all those hexes? It must have taken you forever to do them as well as you do.”
Kyuhyun tightened his jaw and thought back to those sleepless nights in his youth where he spent countless hours perfecting his jinxes and charms just so that the next day, he could perform them in front of his father in hopes of getting at least a smile out of him. One smile, just one smile. “I’m just a natural at DADA,” he replied stiffly.
Zhou Mi chuckled. “Naturals can only do so much. You must have worked your ass off.”
Kyuhyun scoffed. “Hard work is for amateurs.”
(No, most people never noticed. But Zhou Mi was not like most people.)
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year five
Care Of Magical Creatures, although interesting and agreeably hands-on, was not a favorite of Kyuhyun’s. He preferred his books and he definitely liked the feel of casting spells with his wand. Being able to communicate with animals of the wild was tricky and usually required some self-depreciation, which Kyuhyun was certainly not fond of.
Zhou Mi, on the other hand, loved Care Of Magical Creatures. With his innate happiness and enthusiasm for life, he always won a creature’s heart some way or another. He was the only one in his third year at Hogwarts who earned the right to ride a Hippogriff, and since then Zhou Mi had always visited the Forest in his spare time to romp across the fields with the majestic creature.
It was therefore a drawback to Zhou Mi when thestrals were introduced in class during their fifth year.
“They are only visible to those who have seen and fully accepted the concept of death,” Professor Yesung from the Ravenclaw House explained as he carried around his pet turtle and stroked its shell. “People used to think that they were bad omens, but that’s just a myth. They’re very powerful magical creatures and clever to boot. Granted, they are attracted to the smell of blood, which irks some people.”
“So those who have never seen death cannot see them?” a student asked, clearly disappointed. “At all? Is there no other way?”
“Unfortunately not. But for those who can’t see them, look them up in the library for pictures. Thestrals are huge winged horses that have white eyes, dragonish faces, and skeletal black bodies. You know the carriages you use to come into Hogwarts every year? Most students think they move on their own, but they are actually pulled by these very thestrals. Such magnificent creatures, if you ask me.”
And they were. Kyuhyun could only stare in awe as one thestral locked in on his gaze with those knowing shining white eyes, comforting him in a way he wasn’t sure he liked.
On his right, he heard Zhou Mi sigh in regret. “What a shame! They sound like beautiful creatures. I wish I could see them, at least for a moment.”
Kyuhyun thought back to his mother’s cold withered hands and closed his eyes.
Dear Father,
We won another Quidditch game last Friday against the Ravenclaws. I caught the snitch in less than five minutes, which earned Slytherin an extra ten points. They didn’t stand a chance. The Slytherin house is in the lead, as it should be. The Gryffindors are twenty points behind and they know it. We make sure they do.
The O.W.L. exams are coming up, and if all continues smoothly I will score the highest in my year yet again. I have already been chosen as Prefect this year, and I believe that I am guaranteed the position of Head Boy in the following years to come.
In three weeks it will be Christmas break. I will spend my time perfecting my wizarding skills, as per usual. However, is it possible for me to return home this year? I miss sleeping in my own bed on a snowy winter night.
Your son,
Kyuhyun
The prefect bathroom was reserved for prefects and Quidditch captains. Kyuhyun was both, and rightly used this privilege every chance he got. Besides, it didn’t hurt that the baths were large and comfortable, and that the school provided the best brands of body soap that even the richest found expensive.
There were other perks to it as well.
“Your ass is getting nicer every time I see it,” Kyuhyun remarked as he burst into the bathroom through the side entry, taking the liberty of scanning those long lean legs that had grown even longer as the years passed.
“Kyuhyun!” Zhou Mi squawked, immediately grabbing the nearest towel and wrapping it around his thin waist. “Why don’t you ever knock?”
Kyuhyun chuckled, removing his bathrobe and reveling in Zhou Mi’s reddening face. “Not my style. Besides, we’re both men; it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“It’s common courtesy!”
“Well, you of all people know that I’m not exactly known for being modest,” the Slytherin purred, watching Zhou Mi from underneath his eyelashes as he stripped out of his underwear without any hesitation. “Like what you see?”
Zhou Mi’s face turned beet red and the guy all but hobbled out of the bathroom while Kyuhyun laughed and laughed. (While Zhou Mi didn’t answer his question in the affirmative, he certainly didn’t deny it either. The thought made Kyuhyun smile for a long time.)
Stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. I will be hosting two Ministry officers at the mansion, and cannot afford to have any distractions. I sent three hundred Galleons along with this letter. Do with them as you please.
Kyuhyun crumpled the parchment and threw it to the ground. “Confringo!” he growled, feeling a morbid sense of satisfaction as the letter exploded into flames.
On Christmas day at breakfast in the dining hall, Kyuhyun went to breakfast with an arrogant smile plastered on his face, bragging loudly about the Invisibility Cloak that he got as a present from his father. “It’s one of the very few in the world,” he crowed, smirking at the envy in his peers’ eyes and the looks of admiration he received from some of the first-years. He was invisible from his neck down.
“I wish I had a father like yours,” the girl sitting beside him sighed.
Kyuhyun’s eyes hardened and suddenly his appetite was gone. Joohyun shot him a worried look but Kyuhyun ignored it in favor of bragging some more. That was what he was best at.
-
year six
When Kyuhyun was chosen to be one of the competing champions in the Triwizard Tournament, he was a winner, the gem of the Slytherin House, and a hero of Hogwarts. It made him swell with pride, and he held his head high. And yet, he was given half-hearted pats on his back and cold felicitations from his peers at best, and the letter Kyuhyun sent to his father detailing these events went unanswered. The fact that the majority of the Gryffindors seemed to question the Goblet of Fire’s authenticity did not help. Heechul, for one, publicly announced his lack of faith in the genuineness of the Triwizard Tournament at breakfast one day.
The first person aside from Joohyun who congratulated him sincerely had a big nose and a wide smile. “I’m really happy for you,” Zhou Mi confessed, voice hesitant but earnest. “It’s the chance of a lifetime.”
“I’ll make sure to win,” Kyuhyun grumbled, permitting a half-smile to appear on his face.
“You’ll do great,” the Muggle-born assured warmly. “The Goblet of Fire never lies despite what Heechul says. Sorry about him, by the way. He loves talking big and he overdramatizes sometimes.”
Kyuhyun schooled his expression but allowed himself to indulge in the encouragement, the reassurance, the first little dosage of unconditional praise that he had received in a long time. “Heechul’s a Gryffindor, and all Gryffindors do is talk big,” he scoffed arrogantly. “Besides, I knew I was going to get picked.”
“Mind your ego,” Zhou Mi rolled his eyes, wrapping his long gangly arms around the Slytherin’s neck. “I wish the best of luck. I’ll be cheering for you in the stands!”
Kyuhyun swallowed the pang of happiness that he felt bubble up in his chest. “Now that you mentioned it, you’d make a great cheerleader,” he teased lewdly. “If you wore a miniskirt, you’d look just like a Veela. Bonus points if you don’t wear panties.”
Watching Zhou Mi blush would never get old. Never.
Finding a date for the Yule Ball would have been remarkably easy since most of the girls would have been thrilled to be the Champions’ dates, but Kyuhyun had decided early on that no other than Joohyun had the right to accompany him. In addition to being considered one of the prettiest girls in all of Hogwarts, she was also one of the only students in Kyuhyun’s year with whom he could hold an intelligent conversation.
He arrived in the Great Hall with Joohyun on his arm, pasting on the biggest arrogant smile he could muster as he strutted in wearing a suit that cost significantly more than it was worth. Joohyun looked stunning in her frilly pink ballroom dress, and it must have taken her hours to get her hair to be as perfect as it was.
“You look nice,” he complimented suavely as they took their places on the dance floor. “New dress?”
Joohyun smiled. “No, this was my mother’s. She wore it to the Yule Ball when she was a student. It’s probably fifty years old by now.”
“Looks brand new.”
“Thanks. You’re looking handsome yourself.”
“Aren’t I always?”
Joohyun lightly slapped his shoulder. “Narcissist.”
Surprisingly, Kyuhyun was enjoying himself. It was nice dancing with Joohyun, and Kyuhyun patted himself on the back for his choice of dance partner. Joohyun wasn’t just a pretty face, after all. The girl wanted to be an Auror one day and work for the Ministry of Magic, and Kyuhyun had no doubts that she could-her skills and powers were on par with his own!
The only thing that managed to spoil the mood was looking across the hall and seeing Zhou Mi laughing at something a beautiful Beauxbaton girl said. An unstipulated rage sizzled in his blood without prior notice, and Kyuhyun found himself short of breath.
Joohyun noticed the change immediately, and she turned to face the direction of Kyuhyun’s eyes. “That’s Victoria, one of Zhou Mi’s closest friends,” she explained knowingly. “They knew each other since they were kids. She’s a quarter-Veela, and it shows.”
Kyuhyun seethed. “Does she have wings and a beak and spit fireballs, too?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. Only pureblooded Veelas have that trait, and only if you annoy them. Otherwise, they’re walking dick magnets.”
The joke startled a snort out of Kyuhyun. “That’s harsh, Joohyun. You sound jealous of them.”
“Not as jealous as you are.”
Kyuhyun seethed some more. She had a point. “It’s all Zhou Mi’s fault,” he concluded. “Why does he have to be so smiley and happy and so infuriatingly good at DADA all the time? Why can’t he be boring like the rest of those Gryffindor idiots?”
“Because you love him,” Joohyun replied easily, brushing a stray piece of hair away from her face. “And love makes even the most brilliant wizards do stupid things.”
One hex gone wrong in the last round of the Triwizard Tournament left Kyuhyun in a coma with a severe concussion. Apparently Sea Serpents were immune to sleeping charms, and the fire spells Kyuhyun used only seemed to anger it. One flick of the beast’s monstrous tail sent Kyuhyun flying.
After two weeks of lying immobile, Kyuhyun finally started to stir. He groaned, wincing at the massive migraine. He felt like he was dying a slow and painful death, and that hornets were buzzing around in his head out of spite.
He heard the shuffling of clothes on his right and willed all the cells in his body to move his head towards the sound. He found a very wrecked-looking Zhou Mi uncomfortably curled up in one of the chairs, legs too long to fit anywhere. Seeing Zhou Mi in such a vulnerable state made the pain slightly more bearable.
Kyuhyun placed second overall in the tournament, and he was not sure what hurt more: the fact that the winner was the fifth-year girl from the Durmstrang Institute, or that his father did not send a single letter of concern even though he was notified of Kyuhyun’s condition.
He learned later from Joohyun that Zhou Mi had begged Doctor Ryeowook to let him stay past visiting hours until he woke up. “He was a complete mess,” she described noncommittally. “Didn’t look like he slept or ate the whole time you were incarcerated in the Hospital ward.”
Zhou Mi made everything more bearable. Kyuhyun tried not to think too much about it.
-
year seven
On the first day of Potions class, Professor Kibum from the Ravenclaw House introduced the Felix Felicis potion, or Liquid Luck. “It’s a potion that renders the drinker lucky for a period of time,” the professor lectured. “When the effects kick in, everything that the drinker attempts will be successful. However, if the drinker overdoses, it can be poisonous and has been known to cause giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence. In other words, disaster. For all you Quidditch players, this potion is a banned substance and anyone caught using it during a game will be severely persecuted.”
By the end of the class, after several explosions and many cracked cauldrons, Joohyun managed to have brewed a perfectly decent amount of pale Liquid Luck. Professor Kibum congratulated her accordingly and placed her brew into a small vial. “I wish you the best of Felix’s luck in all your endeavors,” the professor commended warmly.
The minute class ended, Joohyun placed the small vial in Kyuhyun’s hands. “Take it,” she ordered sharply.
Kyuhyun frowned. “I don’t need your pity.”
“Trust me, you need it more than I do.”
Six months later, Kyuhyun opened the vial and swallowed its contents. He felt the calm resolution overtake him, and he broke into a smile. He strutted out of the Slytherin common room and made a beeline to the Quidditch pitch where the Gryffindor team was practicing.
Just as he reached the pitch, Zhou Mi landed and dismounted his broom. “Hey Kyuhyun!” he greeted cheerfully when he saw the approaching Slytherin. “What are you doing here?”
Kyuhyun’s grin widened and he pulled Zhou Mi into a kiss. Felix thought it was a good idea, and thankfully so did Zhou Mi.
Dear Father,
I won’t return home anymore. I don’t need to. Goodbye.
Your son,
Kyuhyun
During the Hogwarts graduation ceremony, the seventh-years left the school in the boats that they had once used as first-years.
Joohyun left Hogwarts with an internship at the Ministry of Magic, marking the start of her promising career as an Auror. Heechul planned on travelling to Europe, and later on he would meet a Chinese exchange student from Beauxbatons. Youngwoon was asked to play at the Quidditch World Cup as Keeper, which he accepted on the condition that he would always receive one free front-row ticket for his significant other (Professor Jungsu never missed a single game). Even Victoria had a happy ending, opening up her own little shop as a wand-maker.
Kyuhyun left Hogwarts with Zhou Mi’s hand entwined in his, and it would have been cheesy if not for the fact that he was just too happy to care. He planned on applying as the Charms professor that coming August, confident that his credentials were impressive enough against most of the other applicants. Zhou Mi, on the other hand, already landed the job of tending to the magical creatures found in the Forbidden Forest.
Thus ended one phase of their lives. Time to start a new one.
Pairing(s): QMi, implied!KangTeuk, implied!HanChul
Genre(s): Romance, Harry Potter AU
Length: 4975 words
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kyuhyun’s the gem of the Slytherin House, molding perfectly to the stereotype, arrogant, cold, manipulative, and pureblooded wizard with a large fortune to boot. Zhou Mi is a Muggleborn student of the Gryffindor House, eyes wide with excitement and fear. He’s all smile and hugs and infuriatingly good at DADA.
Inspiration(s): Originally written as a pinch-hitter fic for the Super Junior Holiday Fanfic Exchange. Title from Arcade Fire song.
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year one
The Sorting Hat had no problems placing Kyuhyun in the correct house on his first day at Hogwarts. The rims of the old weathered hat had barely touched the top of the young boy's head before calling out a very confident Slytherin!. Immediately Kyuhyun was escorted to the table where the other Slytherins sat, young men and women dressed in dark green robes with hungry eyes that could melt steel and cunning words that could cut through the air.
The boy knew that he was going to fit right in.
Last to be sorted was this tall lanky Muggle-born wizard named Zhou Mi, and Kyuhyun registered how the Slytherin upperclassmen all snickered at how damn excited the kid looked. He looks like a fucking Christmas tree, ornaments and all. Kyuhyun sniggered at the accuracy of the description. The guy looked like he belonged in Hufflepuff and the rest of those witless do-gooders who did nothing but smile humbly and study and puke rainbows all day.
Still, Kyuhyun had to admit that the guy was not hard on the eyes. Big bright eyes, a long nose (a perfect target a variety of jinxes), an overly excited smile, and legs. Kyuhyun was a complete sucker for a pair of nice long legs.
"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat shouted. Those big impossibly bright eyes seemed to double in excitement.
The hall exploded into cheers and applause. Kyuhyun grudgingly joined in, eyes never leaving the newest addition to the Gryffindors.
For the rest of the year, Zhou Mi was the main target of Kyuhyun’s pranks, and there was not one day when Kyuhyun failed to cast a leg-locker curse or tickling charm on him.
Strangely enough, Zhou Mi never seemed to find the need to fight back. He just picked himself up and brushed the dust off his pants without even a flinch. Zhou Mi also seemed to know every counter-spell single in the book, and more often than not, Kyuhyun’s jelly-legs jinx never lasted more than two minutes before the Muggle-born Gryffindor remembered the counter-jinx and got back on his feet, as happy and smiley as before.
It infuriated Kyuhyun how he had to work so hard to find new spells and hexes to catch his attention.
-
year two
Kyuhyun was the best at Defence Against The Dark Arts. It should have been written on the Daily Prophet: Kyuhyun, Undefeated! His father was the best in all of Korea, after all. His father went to war and survived three years on the front lines. Three whole years. Kyuhyun mastered the Knockback Jinx by the time he was four. When he was five, he perfected his nonverbal spells.
Which was why, when he was paired up with a certain bright-eyed grinning boy in his second year of DADA, he did not expect to be caught off-guard with the Disarming Charm and have a wand with a dragon heartstring core pointed just below his chin. Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes, and raised his hands up in submission. Immediately Zhou Mi lowered his wand.
“Caught off guard!” a redheaded Gryffindor crowed from close by. “What happened, Kyuhyun?”
“Heechul, stop it!” Zhou Mi barked, grin finally dropping from his face.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes easily. “Says the idiot who thought that the Polyjuice Potion could be used to turn into a cat.”
Heechul laughed derisively. “Your father would die of shame if he saw you getting your ass kicked by a Muggle-born.”
Kyuhyun felt his cheeks redden in humiliation, and anger boiled in his stomach. “At least my father is still alive!”
“How dare you! Densaugeo!” an enraged Heechul shouted, the curse shooting from the tip of his wand.
Zhou Mi, the plucky bastard, dove right in front of Kyuhyun and took the brunt of the spell that subsequently made his front teeth grow at an alarmingly quick rate. He fell to the floor, whimpering as he covered his mouth. Heechul rushed to his best friend’s side, conflict temporarily forgotten.
While the professor escorted the boy to the Hospital ward, Kyuhyun looked to where most of the class was frozen, either in shock or amusement, and shrugged coldly. “Gryffindors, all brawns and no brain. So uncivilized.”
The Slytherins snickered and Kyuhyun almost sighed in relief. No harm done.
“Hey Kyuhyun!”
Kyuhyun turned to see a big smile and a pair of mile-long legs. “Hey Toothless.”
Zhou Mi giggled-actually giggled. “Yah, I’m all back to normal now thanks to Doctor Ryeowook.”
“That was a dumb thing to do, just jumping into the line of fire. But you’re a Gryffindor, so I guess I should have expected no less.”
“Well, I just did what I thought was right,” Zhou Mi shrugged reticently. “Well, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about Heechul. He can be tempestuous if he wants to be. Just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”
Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes and straightened his back threateningly. “I can fight my own fights, thank you. And just so you know, I definitely did not appreciate your big act of bravery.”
“I never expected you to,” Zhou Mi frowned. “But you should at least accept my apology.”
Kyuhyun scoffed. “I don’t accept apologies from noisy magnanimous Gryffindor ruffians,” he gave the other a shameless once-over, “No matter how good-looking they are.”
Zhou Mi flushed. “You’re impossible!”
“So everybody tells me.”
It was only half a victory watching Zhou Mi spin on his heel and storm off.
-
year three
The wind and rain bit as Kyuhyun’s skin as he shot through the sky on his newly purchased Firebolt broomstick, and he clenched his teeth together to keep them from chattering. Damn this blasted weather.
“Catch the damn Snitch already, Kyuhyun!” the Keeper screamed over the sound of lightening. “At this rate we’ll all catch hypothermia.”
“Shut your trap, Youngwoon! You try finding that bloody Snitch when you can barely see where you’re flying.” Kyuhyun barely ducked in time as a Bludger shot right past him, mere inches from his head. Seriously, damn this blasted weather.
From the corner of his eye, Kyuhyun spotted the tail of the Comet 260 speed across the pitch surface, and he reflexively took off. The Slytherins were going to win the cup this time round, if he had anything to say about it. Down he flew, whizzing past the Chasers and Beaters, dodging bludgers and members of the Gryffindor team. He raced across the field, fighting to keep his eyes open against the heavy rain and fixated on the lean lanky Gryffindor seeker.
“Hey Zhou Mi!” Kyuhyun quipped as he finally caught up. The snitch was right there in front of them, dancing.
“Hey Kyuhyun!” Zhou Mi replied cheerfully despite the fact that his lips were blue and his knuckles were white from grasping his broom handle too hard. “Weather sure is nice today!”
Kyuhyun managed a breathy laugh. “So is your ass. I should know, I’ve been staring at it this whole time.”
And while Zhou Mi spluttered and turned a whole new shade of red, Kyuhyun rushed forward and grabbed the Golden Snitch in one swipe, marking yet another victory for the Slytherin Quidditch team.
Third years dealt with Boggarts in DADA, and Kyuhyun was almost nervous. But he was from the Cho family, and any member of the Cho family, Slytherin or not, had no reason to be nervous. Then again, the last time he had faced a boggart was when he was seven, and it had morphed into a giant black cat, which was pathetic. Horror movies bored him, goblins were more disgusting than frightening, and he never understood the fear for spiders or heights, so of course he had to be afraid of the lamest creature ever to exist. Kyuhyun fought back a sigh. Might as well get it over with.
On the bright side, he also had the chance to know what Zhou Mi’s biggest fear would be. The poor lad looked terrified.
"A boggart is a mysterious creature," Professor Jungsu from the Gryffindor House explained, sharply pacing around with his pristine white wand. "Nobody knows what the boggart is in its true form because of its shape-shifting abilities and its tendency of changing into the worst fear of the person it encounters. Dealing with a boggart is relatively simple but requires a high degree of concentration and sometimes sheer willpower." He faced the class. "I assume that all of you have done the readings. Right, Youngwoon?"
Youngwoon snickered. "Of course, sir."
"So you won't mind being the first to demonstrate?"
"Of course not, sir."
“Your deepest fear will be known to everybody in this class. Let it be known that any harassment stemming from this knowledge will not be tolerated. So, Youngwoon, are you still willing to share your worst fear with the class?”
Youngwoon nodded and stepped up to the big black box, where a big black orb sprung out and immediately morphed into a living embodiment of a very happy-looking Professor Jungsu in the arms of a very handsome man wearing a tuxedo. Immediately the laugh lines on Youngwoon’s face disappeared, and Kyuhyun noticed the reflexive clenching of Youngwoon’s fist as he waved his wand with Riddikulus! on his lips. The tuxedo-clad handsome man turned into a cardboard cutout.
There was a moment of silence before class resumed. Professor Jungsu’s face was unreadable. “Great demonstration, Youngwoon. Now, the rest of you, form a line. Every student should have a chance in front of the boggart unless you prefer to keep your fears to yourself.”
Each student lined up, alternating between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and the fears were standard. Bears, banshees, horror movie characters, ghouls, ghosts, basilisks, and the like. The boggart for one Slytherin girl was her father wielding a leather belt, and she started to cry even as her spell turned the boggart turned into circus juggler. Zhou Mi turned out to suffer from arachnophobia as his boggart transformed into a giant tarantella, and Kyuhyun made a mental note to release a jar of assorted arachnids into the young man’s bag when the chance arose.
Kyuhyun expected his boggart to be a black cat, perhaps a supersized one with white fangs and piercing yellow eyes.
It wasn’t. The boggart transformed into Zhou Mi in all his leggy glory, but instead of the usual smile that graced his pointy face, there were tears streaming down his cheeks. “I hate you, Kyuhyun! I hate you! I hate you! Don’t ever come near me again! You’re nothing but a rich spoiled brat! You’re a monster!”
Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. It hurt. The words spewing out the boggart stung. They stung more than all of the hexes ever targeted at him combined. They stung more than the first Quidditch injury he nursed. They stung more than his father’s constant disappointed frowns. “Riddikulus!” he yelled, mustering all the concentration he could to change the scene in front of him into something else-anything else! With a pop, the boggart turned into a water fountain.
The Gryffindor next in line took his place and Kyuhyun walked off, pointedly ignoring the worried and sympathetic looks that Zhou Mi kept shooting him for the rest of class.
“Someone has a crush,” a Slytherin girl named Seo Joohyun whispered amusedly, just loud enough for Kyuhyun to hear. They had met as first years and instantly became friends over their shared passion for charms. “Not that I didn’t know already.”
Kyuhyun fought the blush off his face. “Says the girl who is deathly afraid of inflated balloons,” he shot back without any venom. “Seriously? Inflated balloons?”
“I’m not scared of the balloons. I’m scared of the popping sound they make when they explode.”
“Like that’s any better.”
Joohyun rolled her eyes. “Want to talk about it?”
“Over my dead body. And if anybody asks, my boggart was a hoax.”
“Sure, Kyuhyun. Sure.”
The school hallways were always empty past six when everybody was at the dining hall, and of course that was the time Zhou Mi decided to show up. “Hey Kyuhyun, I was looking for you-”
“Go away, Zhou Mi.”
“No, Kyuhyun, please listen-”
“If this is about earlier in DADA class, you’re wasting your breath.”
“Please, I just wanted to know-”
“There is nothing to know.”
“Kyuhyun, I really do think that-”
Kyuhyun turned to face him and glowered, eyes filled with unshed tears. He was not going to cry, not here, not now, not ever. “You are nothing but a worthless Mudblood to me!” he hissed through his clenched teeth. “You got that? You’re a Mudblood!”
The openly betrayed look on Zhou Mi’s face made Kyuhyun’s heart clench painfully, and the Slytherin lifted his chin and went on his way to the common rooms.
“I’m trying to like you, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi called out to Kyuhyun’s retreating back, voice cracking suspiciously. “I don’t know why you’re making it so difficult.”
Kyuhyun fisted his hands and pretended that he didn’t hear. The boggart was never brought up again.
-
year four
Kyuhyun was the best of the best in his year. He was talented at Potions, he had a knack for Arithmancy, he aced History of Magic, he performed Transfiguration easily, and of course he excelled at Defense against the Dark Arts.
In spite of his achievements, everybody believed that he was just this over-privileged wizard who just so happened to inherit the best possible genes that guaranteed him success in everything he did.
(Did anybody ever notice that he spent hours in the library memorizing all the properties of all the potion ingredients, or that he wrote letters back home every week in hopes of receiving a reply from his father that showed some sign of approval, or that he woke up two hours earlier than everybody else to sneak onto the Quidditch field to fully master his technique on a broomstick?)
“Good duel!” Zhou Mi quipped after a session of DADA, giving Kyuhyun an enthusiastic handshake. “Where in the world did you learn all those hexes? It must have taken you forever to do them as well as you do.”
Kyuhyun tightened his jaw and thought back to those sleepless nights in his youth where he spent countless hours perfecting his jinxes and charms just so that the next day, he could perform them in front of his father in hopes of getting at least a smile out of him. One smile, just one smile. “I’m just a natural at DADA,” he replied stiffly.
Zhou Mi chuckled. “Naturals can only do so much. You must have worked your ass off.”
Kyuhyun scoffed. “Hard work is for amateurs.”
(No, most people never noticed. But Zhou Mi was not like most people.)
-
year five
Care Of Magical Creatures, although interesting and agreeably hands-on, was not a favorite of Kyuhyun’s. He preferred his books and he definitely liked the feel of casting spells with his wand. Being able to communicate with animals of the wild was tricky and usually required some self-depreciation, which Kyuhyun was certainly not fond of.
Zhou Mi, on the other hand, loved Care Of Magical Creatures. With his innate happiness and enthusiasm for life, he always won a creature’s heart some way or another. He was the only one in his third year at Hogwarts who earned the right to ride a Hippogriff, and since then Zhou Mi had always visited the Forest in his spare time to romp across the fields with the majestic creature.
It was therefore a drawback to Zhou Mi when thestrals were introduced in class during their fifth year.
“They are only visible to those who have seen and fully accepted the concept of death,” Professor Yesung from the Ravenclaw House explained as he carried around his pet turtle and stroked its shell. “People used to think that they were bad omens, but that’s just a myth. They’re very powerful magical creatures and clever to boot. Granted, they are attracted to the smell of blood, which irks some people.”
“So those who have never seen death cannot see them?” a student asked, clearly disappointed. “At all? Is there no other way?”
“Unfortunately not. But for those who can’t see them, look them up in the library for pictures. Thestrals are huge winged horses that have white eyes, dragonish faces, and skeletal black bodies. You know the carriages you use to come into Hogwarts every year? Most students think they move on their own, but they are actually pulled by these very thestrals. Such magnificent creatures, if you ask me.”
And they were. Kyuhyun could only stare in awe as one thestral locked in on his gaze with those knowing shining white eyes, comforting him in a way he wasn’t sure he liked.
On his right, he heard Zhou Mi sigh in regret. “What a shame! They sound like beautiful creatures. I wish I could see them, at least for a moment.”
Kyuhyun thought back to his mother’s cold withered hands and closed his eyes.
Dear Father,
We won another Quidditch game last Friday against the Ravenclaws. I caught the snitch in less than five minutes, which earned Slytherin an extra ten points. They didn’t stand a chance. The Slytherin house is in the lead, as it should be. The Gryffindors are twenty points behind and they know it. We make sure they do.
The O.W.L. exams are coming up, and if all continues smoothly I will score the highest in my year yet again. I have already been chosen as Prefect this year, and I believe that I am guaranteed the position of Head Boy in the following years to come.
In three weeks it will be Christmas break. I will spend my time perfecting my wizarding skills, as per usual. However, is it possible for me to return home this year? I miss sleeping in my own bed on a snowy winter night.
Your son,
Kyuhyun
The prefect bathroom was reserved for prefects and Quidditch captains. Kyuhyun was both, and rightly used this privilege every chance he got. Besides, it didn’t hurt that the baths were large and comfortable, and that the school provided the best brands of body soap that even the richest found expensive.
There were other perks to it as well.
“Your ass is getting nicer every time I see it,” Kyuhyun remarked as he burst into the bathroom through the side entry, taking the liberty of scanning those long lean legs that had grown even longer as the years passed.
“Kyuhyun!” Zhou Mi squawked, immediately grabbing the nearest towel and wrapping it around his thin waist. “Why don’t you ever knock?”
Kyuhyun chuckled, removing his bathrobe and reveling in Zhou Mi’s reddening face. “Not my style. Besides, we’re both men; it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“It’s common courtesy!”
“Well, you of all people know that I’m not exactly known for being modest,” the Slytherin purred, watching Zhou Mi from underneath his eyelashes as he stripped out of his underwear without any hesitation. “Like what you see?”
Zhou Mi’s face turned beet red and the guy all but hobbled out of the bathroom while Kyuhyun laughed and laughed. (While Zhou Mi didn’t answer his question in the affirmative, he certainly didn’t deny it either. The thought made Kyuhyun smile for a long time.)
Stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. I will be hosting two Ministry officers at the mansion, and cannot afford to have any distractions. I sent three hundred Galleons along with this letter. Do with them as you please.
Kyuhyun crumpled the parchment and threw it to the ground. “Confringo!” he growled, feeling a morbid sense of satisfaction as the letter exploded into flames.
On Christmas day at breakfast in the dining hall, Kyuhyun went to breakfast with an arrogant smile plastered on his face, bragging loudly about the Invisibility Cloak that he got as a present from his father. “It’s one of the very few in the world,” he crowed, smirking at the envy in his peers’ eyes and the looks of admiration he received from some of the first-years. He was invisible from his neck down.
“I wish I had a father like yours,” the girl sitting beside him sighed.
Kyuhyun’s eyes hardened and suddenly his appetite was gone. Joohyun shot him a worried look but Kyuhyun ignored it in favor of bragging some more. That was what he was best at.
-
year six
When Kyuhyun was chosen to be one of the competing champions in the Triwizard Tournament, he was a winner, the gem of the Slytherin House, and a hero of Hogwarts. It made him swell with pride, and he held his head high. And yet, he was given half-hearted pats on his back and cold felicitations from his peers at best, and the letter Kyuhyun sent to his father detailing these events went unanswered. The fact that the majority of the Gryffindors seemed to question the Goblet of Fire’s authenticity did not help. Heechul, for one, publicly announced his lack of faith in the genuineness of the Triwizard Tournament at breakfast one day.
The first person aside from Joohyun who congratulated him sincerely had a big nose and a wide smile. “I’m really happy for you,” Zhou Mi confessed, voice hesitant but earnest. “It’s the chance of a lifetime.”
“I’ll make sure to win,” Kyuhyun grumbled, permitting a half-smile to appear on his face.
“You’ll do great,” the Muggle-born assured warmly. “The Goblet of Fire never lies despite what Heechul says. Sorry about him, by the way. He loves talking big and he overdramatizes sometimes.”
Kyuhyun schooled his expression but allowed himself to indulge in the encouragement, the reassurance, the first little dosage of unconditional praise that he had received in a long time. “Heechul’s a Gryffindor, and all Gryffindors do is talk big,” he scoffed arrogantly. “Besides, I knew I was going to get picked.”
“Mind your ego,” Zhou Mi rolled his eyes, wrapping his long gangly arms around the Slytherin’s neck. “I wish the best of luck. I’ll be cheering for you in the stands!”
Kyuhyun swallowed the pang of happiness that he felt bubble up in his chest. “Now that you mentioned it, you’d make a great cheerleader,” he teased lewdly. “If you wore a miniskirt, you’d look just like a Veela. Bonus points if you don’t wear panties.”
Watching Zhou Mi blush would never get old. Never.
Finding a date for the Yule Ball would have been remarkably easy since most of the girls would have been thrilled to be the Champions’ dates, but Kyuhyun had decided early on that no other than Joohyun had the right to accompany him. In addition to being considered one of the prettiest girls in all of Hogwarts, she was also one of the only students in Kyuhyun’s year with whom he could hold an intelligent conversation.
He arrived in the Great Hall with Joohyun on his arm, pasting on the biggest arrogant smile he could muster as he strutted in wearing a suit that cost significantly more than it was worth. Joohyun looked stunning in her frilly pink ballroom dress, and it must have taken her hours to get her hair to be as perfect as it was.
“You look nice,” he complimented suavely as they took their places on the dance floor. “New dress?”
Joohyun smiled. “No, this was my mother’s. She wore it to the Yule Ball when she was a student. It’s probably fifty years old by now.”
“Looks brand new.”
“Thanks. You’re looking handsome yourself.”
“Aren’t I always?”
Joohyun lightly slapped his shoulder. “Narcissist.”
Surprisingly, Kyuhyun was enjoying himself. It was nice dancing with Joohyun, and Kyuhyun patted himself on the back for his choice of dance partner. Joohyun wasn’t just a pretty face, after all. The girl wanted to be an Auror one day and work for the Ministry of Magic, and Kyuhyun had no doubts that she could-her skills and powers were on par with his own!
The only thing that managed to spoil the mood was looking across the hall and seeing Zhou Mi laughing at something a beautiful Beauxbaton girl said. An unstipulated rage sizzled in his blood without prior notice, and Kyuhyun found himself short of breath.
Joohyun noticed the change immediately, and she turned to face the direction of Kyuhyun’s eyes. “That’s Victoria, one of Zhou Mi’s closest friends,” she explained knowingly. “They knew each other since they were kids. She’s a quarter-Veela, and it shows.”
Kyuhyun seethed. “Does she have wings and a beak and spit fireballs, too?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. Only pureblooded Veelas have that trait, and only if you annoy them. Otherwise, they’re walking dick magnets.”
The joke startled a snort out of Kyuhyun. “That’s harsh, Joohyun. You sound jealous of them.”
“Not as jealous as you are.”
Kyuhyun seethed some more. She had a point. “It’s all Zhou Mi’s fault,” he concluded. “Why does he have to be so smiley and happy and so infuriatingly good at DADA all the time? Why can’t he be boring like the rest of those Gryffindor idiots?”
“Because you love him,” Joohyun replied easily, brushing a stray piece of hair away from her face. “And love makes even the most brilliant wizards do stupid things.”
One hex gone wrong in the last round of the Triwizard Tournament left Kyuhyun in a coma with a severe concussion. Apparently Sea Serpents were immune to sleeping charms, and the fire spells Kyuhyun used only seemed to anger it. One flick of the beast’s monstrous tail sent Kyuhyun flying.
After two weeks of lying immobile, Kyuhyun finally started to stir. He groaned, wincing at the massive migraine. He felt like he was dying a slow and painful death, and that hornets were buzzing around in his head out of spite.
He heard the shuffling of clothes on his right and willed all the cells in his body to move his head towards the sound. He found a very wrecked-looking Zhou Mi uncomfortably curled up in one of the chairs, legs too long to fit anywhere. Seeing Zhou Mi in such a vulnerable state made the pain slightly more bearable.
Kyuhyun placed second overall in the tournament, and he was not sure what hurt more: the fact that the winner was the fifth-year girl from the Durmstrang Institute, or that his father did not send a single letter of concern even though he was notified of Kyuhyun’s condition.
He learned later from Joohyun that Zhou Mi had begged Doctor Ryeowook to let him stay past visiting hours until he woke up. “He was a complete mess,” she described noncommittally. “Didn’t look like he slept or ate the whole time you were incarcerated in the Hospital ward.”
Zhou Mi made everything more bearable. Kyuhyun tried not to think too much about it.
-
year seven
On the first day of Potions class, Professor Kibum from the Ravenclaw House introduced the Felix Felicis potion, or Liquid Luck. “It’s a potion that renders the drinker lucky for a period of time,” the professor lectured. “When the effects kick in, everything that the drinker attempts will be successful. However, if the drinker overdoses, it can be poisonous and has been known to cause giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence. In other words, disaster. For all you Quidditch players, this potion is a banned substance and anyone caught using it during a game will be severely persecuted.”
By the end of the class, after several explosions and many cracked cauldrons, Joohyun managed to have brewed a perfectly decent amount of pale Liquid Luck. Professor Kibum congratulated her accordingly and placed her brew into a small vial. “I wish you the best of Felix’s luck in all your endeavors,” the professor commended warmly.
The minute class ended, Joohyun placed the small vial in Kyuhyun’s hands. “Take it,” she ordered sharply.
Kyuhyun frowned. “I don’t need your pity.”
“Trust me, you need it more than I do.”
Six months later, Kyuhyun opened the vial and swallowed its contents. He felt the calm resolution overtake him, and he broke into a smile. He strutted out of the Slytherin common room and made a beeline to the Quidditch pitch where the Gryffindor team was practicing.
Just as he reached the pitch, Zhou Mi landed and dismounted his broom. “Hey Kyuhyun!” he greeted cheerfully when he saw the approaching Slytherin. “What are you doing here?”
Kyuhyun’s grin widened and he pulled Zhou Mi into a kiss. Felix thought it was a good idea, and thankfully so did Zhou Mi.
Dear Father,
I won’t return home anymore. I don’t need to. Goodbye.
Your son,
Kyuhyun
During the Hogwarts graduation ceremony, the seventh-years left the school in the boats that they had once used as first-years.
Joohyun left Hogwarts with an internship at the Ministry of Magic, marking the start of her promising career as an Auror. Heechul planned on travelling to Europe, and later on he would meet a Chinese exchange student from Beauxbatons. Youngwoon was asked to play at the Quidditch World Cup as Keeper, which he accepted on the condition that he would always receive one free front-row ticket for his significant other (Professor Jungsu never missed a single game). Even Victoria had a happy ending, opening up her own little shop as a wand-maker.
Kyuhyun left Hogwarts with Zhou Mi’s hand entwined in his, and it would have been cheesy if not for the fact that he was just too happy to care. He planned on applying as the Charms professor that coming August, confident that his credentials were impressive enough against most of the other applicants. Zhou Mi, on the other hand, already landed the job of tending to the magical creatures found in the Forbidden Forest.
Thus ended one phase of their lives. Time to start a new one.