#17 Can't (Trans)Figure You Out
TITLE: can't (trans)figure you out
SUMMARY: in the pre-O.W.L. craze, kyungsoo is offered an awful(ly cute) solution to boost his transfiguration grade.
PAIRING: Jongdae/Kyungsoo
RATING: PG-15 (for snogging, crude humor)
WORD COUNT: 5,419
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
+ note: the "Trace loophole" refers to the trace charm put on underage wizards that prevents them from performing magic outside of school. if the charm is triggered, it allows the ministry to track down the offender's location. however, since so many cases of underage magic occur in wizarding communities, the ministry usually doesn't interfere with those offenders, and trust that their parents will punish them instead.
+ one of the working titles for this was "rock hard cactus dick"
+ MANY THANKS to my proofreaders, b and bro. ilu.
In Double Transfiguration, Kyungsoo’s folding up the sleeves of his grey school jumper, having left his robes draped over the back of his chair, when Chanyeol bursts into the classroom and skids to a stop at their shared desk, smelling like he’d been out in the November afternoon sun too long.
Kyungsoo picks up his partner’s blue and silver striped scarf from where it unravelled and fell at his feet. “Quidditch practice ran late?” he asks, pointing his wand and muttering a quick Cleaning Charm to rid the scarf of grass bits.
“Yeah,” Chanyeol replies, slumping into his chair and ruffling a hand through his wind-tousled black hair. Kyungsoo has half a mind to spell it into something resembling less of a chaotic bird nest. “The captain’s been giving each of us more individual attention since first match of the season for us is this week.”
Ravenclaw’s captain is a tiny thing, barely reaching Kyungsoo’s shoulder, but startlingly fast on a broom. She’s always been the one to give Kyungsoo the hardest time during Slytherin-Ravenclaw matches. Chanyeol, on the other hand, is a much easier target to aim Bludgers at, thanks to his lanky limbs and his tendency to linger after swinging his own bat.
“Hufflepuff won’t be easy to win against,” Kyungsoo warns as he slides Chanyeol’s scarf across the table to him. “Joonmyun and Yixing are always a difficult combination.” Last year, Kyungsoo had foolishly allowed the Chaser duo to occupy most of his focus during their match. Though Slytherin eventually caught the Snitch and narrowly won with a 10 point lead, the next morning Kyungsoo found himself hovering above the dew-covered pitch, slamming Bludger after Bludger as if he could beat away the lingering shame.
Chanyeol glances amusedly at the neat square before placing it in his bag and rummaging around. “You think I don’t know that?” he retorts, pulling out a Self-Inking Quill and a roll of parchment with a crow of triumph. Kyungsoo doesn’t know why Chanyeol bothers to take notes when he always ends up scribbling experimental lyrics in the margins instead. “There’s rumors that Joonmyun Kim’s father gave everyone on the team the newest Firebolt model.”
Kyungsoo snorts. “I highly doubt that.” Joonmyun, though definitely wealthy thanks to the nature of his parents’ academic work, was hardly the type to make such an extravagant display of his wealth.
Chanyeol sighs wistfully, his eyes glazing over, probably imagining himself atop a Firebolt of his own, soaring to the cheers of the many admirers he always insists he has. “Must be nice being rich and Head Boy.”
Before Kyungsoo can roll his eyes and scoff at Chanyeol some more, their professor walks in, a looming stack of floating scrolls at her heels.
Kyungsoo feels himself wince at the sight of their graded tests. Transfiguration, for whatever reason, never came easily to him, not like the way Potions and Herbology did. Knives, precise cuts, the weight of a plant in his hand-those were comforting things. Waving his wand as he tried to envision a hazy image in his mind was not. Kyungsoo only feels dread gathering, sticky and revolting like Stinksap, as his professor quiets their class with a wave of her hand.
“Now, I know many of you are all very anxious to know the results of your latest test. However, as always, many of you did excellent. I have faith that you lot will make me proud during the O.W.L.,” she says, beaming. Kyungsoo highly doubts he was part of that “excellent” lot. With a flick of her wand, the neat pyramid of scrolls disassembles, each roll of parchment flying back to their respective student. Kyungsoo’s lands in front of him with a decisive smack. His stomach churns in response.
“As always, please let me know if I have any errors in grading. Now, today, we’re going to introduce the Doubling Charm…”
The professor’s voice fades out as Kyungsoo breaks his seal and unrolls his parchment with shaking fingers. The sight of all the red ink makes his stomach plummet in an awful dive, despite his professor’s attempt at phrasing her corrections lightheartedly. He quickly scans down to the end of scroll, where Please see me after class, Mr. Do is written in neat, vivid scarlet script.
The words look like blood. Kyungsoo didn’t think it was possible for his stomach to disappear altogether.
⬤
“My my, doesn’t someone look awfully happy this morning~”
Kyungsoo groans under his breath, because the last thing he needs today is Baekhyun Byun disturbing the morning peace with his toxic, disgusting cheer. “Go back to the Gryffindor table, Baekhyun,” he grunts, not even sparing the sixth-year a glance as he angrily stabs at his eggs. One of the yolks bursts, bright yellow leaking out mischievously as if to mock him too.
“But I would be a terrible upperclassman if I didn't greet my favorite fifth-year!” Baekhyun theatrically wails, slinging an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders. Kyungsoo immediately retaliates by elbowing Baekhyun in the gut, hard, and is slightly mollified at the pained groan that the elder lets out.
“Jongin, Kyungsoo’s being mean to me!”
Jongin sleepily looks up and over at Baekhyun from where he’s sitting across from Kyungsoo. The fourth-year, as always, seems to be seconds away from face-planting into his own plate. Jongin’s never actually done so, but from the way his emerald green tie is slowly soaking in the marmalade on his toast, Kyungsoo wouldn’t be surprised if it happened any day now.
Kyungsoo sighs at the state of his underclassman and nudges his foot against Jongin’s leg. The younger moves away the contact, bending away from the table and choosing to snuggle up against Taemin’s shoulder instead, marmalade-sticky tie now starting to stain the front of his robes. Taemin barely reacts to Jongin’s presence, used to the antics of his friend, and continues to robotically chew on his corn flakes.
Just as Kyungsoo reaches for his wand to clean off the mess on Jongin, his wand arm is suddenly pinned to his side as his field of vision is obscured by black fabric. “Sehun,” Kyungsoo says simply, resigned to his fate as he feels the Hufflepuff’s pointy chin rest on top of his head.
“Kyungsoo,” Sehun parrots back. Kyungsoo tries to fight the way his mouth twitches with a smile. Sehun has always been full of sass, even as a tiny three-year-old. Kyungsoo himself had been barely four when he’d tried to reach for Sehun’s plush Flobberworm, only to have his hand swatted away. Sehun had stared down at him, his hands on his hips, a defiant cock to his head. “No touch for the unworthy.”
Kyungsoo has that Flobberworm now, stowed safely in his school trunk. He brings it out when the winter nights are especially freezing, the icy silver of the Great Lake’s surface visible from the Slytherin dorm windows.
“How was morning practice today?” Sehun’s usual baby powder scent nearly masks the unmistakeable odour of dewy grass.
“Decent,” Sehun replies, his chin digging further in Kyungsoo’s hair, before pulling back to sit down next to Kyungsoo, snagging a piece of bacon off Kyungsoo’s plate in the process. “Joonmyun’s in one of his ~moods~ again, though. You know how he gets right before matches. All jittery and unable to shut up with the dad jokes.”
Hand now freed, Kyungsoo shoots a quick Scorgeify at Jongin’s tie, happy to have the offending sight cleared away. He hears Baekhyun’s loud, obnoxious laughter somewhere off to his left-Baekhyun must’ve hurried off to bother someone else. “He shouldn’t worry. You’ll all do great,” Kyungsoo earnestly says. Joonmyun and Yixing might be the powerhouses of the Hufflepuff team, but Sehun’s quickly showing the traits of a formidable Seeker-no Harry Potter, but Kyungsoo wouldn’t be surprised if Sehun ends up being Captain of the Hufflepuff team at some point in the near future.
Sehun rolls his eyes good-naturedly at the compliment. “I will, at the very least,” he says. “You’re coming to the match too, right?”
“Of course.” Professor Flitwick was always nice enough to never schedule Frog Choir practices on the same day as Quidditch matches, and thankfully nothing unexpected popped up to cause a time conflict. Though speaking of unexpected things…
Kyungsoo starts when he feels Sehun’s finger poke at the crease between his eyebrows. “You’re making the face Jongin does when he has to wear dress shoes. What’s wrong?”
“…I have tutoring sessions for Transfiguration starting today,” Kyungsoo replies glumly.
“That sucks.” Sehun makes his own face in sympathy, his mouth turning dramatically down at the corners. “Do you at least have a good tutor?”
“Supposedly? It’s Jongdae Kim. I hardly know anything about him.” Kyungsoo’s seen the alleged Transfiguration prodigy in Frog Choir, the only class they shared, but Kyungsoo stuck mostly to Hyunsik during class. Plus, Quidditch practice was often right after Frog Choir, so Kyungsoo never stayed long enough to learn more about Jongdae Kim other than the rich timbre of his voice and what the back of his head looked like.
Jongdae Kim seems to have soft hair though, with little locks that curl nicely around his ears and the nape of his neck. Kyungsoo wishes his own hair was as interesting.
Sehun whistles in surprise. “Wow, they brought out the big guns for you.” He filches an apple off the basket in the center of the table, biting into it before continuing, “He’s a pretty nice bloke though. Jongdae helped me a couple times with my Transfiguration essays last year. Apparently he’d been studying N.E.W.T. level material at that point. Also really good friends with Baekhyun, actually, given they’re housemates and all.”
“Since when has being friends with Baekhyun become a good thing,” Kyungsoo dryly says.
“Every man has their vices,” Sehun shoots back. “Jongdae’s just happens to be rubbish taste in friends. Doesn’t stop him from having the singing voice of a Veela or being Headmistress McGonagall’s heir apparent.”
“You’re sounding more and more like Jongin every day, with all those big words of yours,” Kyungsoo teases. Jongin was the true resident bookworm in their friend group, his nose always buried in a book if he wasn’t sleeping, flying, or eating. As a result, his essays were always full of long, elegant chicken scratch prose, childishly eloquent compared to Kyungsoo’s neat and concise statements.
“Being friends with you all has its benefits,” Sehun simply replies. “However, if Jongin doesn’t wake up right now, we’re going to be late to Double Potions and I will revoke friendship privileges.”
⬤
Later, in the evening, Kyungsoo finds himself pacing outside the Transfiguration classroom, bringing his left thumb up to his lips before he thinks better of it and puts it back down. Kyungsoo’s embarrassed that he’s reverting back to nail-biting-it’s a habit that he’s been trying to break, but he’s been forgetting to put the salve his mother included in her latest package on his fingernails every morning.
Besides, Jongdae Kim shouldn’t be any cause for nail-biting. Sehun had given his seal of approval earlier today, after all. Though Kyungsoo often questions Baekhyun’s choices (like that one time he and Chanyeol flooded the dungeons to raise a young sea serpent-for Merlin’s sake, Hogwarts had a whole lake taking up at least a fourth of the campus grounds), Kyungsoo trusts Baekhyun’s taste in friends. Most of the time.
Kyungsoo sighs, rolling up the sleeves of his jumper once more. He’d wanted to go without it, but with the onset of November came colder nights within the castle. He’ll probably have to start wearing his scarf regularly by the end of next week.
Kyungsoo takes a deep breath then, tasting the dust mites in the air that hung around the corridors, and pushes the door open.
A slim figure, standing near the front, turns at the sound of the door creaking, gold and crimson tie glinting in the light of the classroom chandeliers. Jongdae Kim smiles as Kyungsoo approaches, and Kyungsoo is struck by how much he resembles his rumored feline Animagus form, eyes gently curved, his mouth turned gently up at the corners. His short hair is still infuriatingly perfect.
Jongdae holds out his hand when Kyungsoo comes to a stop in front of him. “Hi!” he says cheerfully. “You must be Kyungsoo Do. I’m Jongdae, your Transfiguration tutor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Kyungsoo takes the offered hand. Jongdae’s skin is warm, and softer than he thought it would be. “Likewise,” he offers back. “Thank you for taking the time to help me.”
“Oh no,” Jongdae laughs, disengaging their hands so he can wave both of his. Kyungsoo likes the sound of Jongdae’s laugh. It’s loud, especially in the empty classroom, but instead of wanting to cover his ears like how Baekhyun’s laugh makes him feel, Kyungsoo feels a strange want to hear more of it. “It’s nothing! I help out people in the library all the time. Although this is the first time I’m doing full-on tutoring,” he adds sheepishly. “So I’m sorry if I end up sucking.”
Kyungsoo has not heard of, much less seen, Jongdae ever sucking at anything. He was stellar at everything he did-singing, Transfiguration, Quidditch. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine by me.”
Jongdae beams at the reassurance, and Merlin, if Jongdae always shone this brightly every time he smiled, Kyungsoo would have to bring sunglasses to their sessions. “Thank you! But don’t be afraid to tell me any complaints or questions. Now,” Jongdae says, gesturing to the potted cactus on the nearest table, “I thought we might start off by reviewing Switching Charms?”
Forty-five minutes later, Kyungsoo has yet to produce anything that meets Jongdae’s request to replace the spines of the cactus with something harmless. Instead, he’s been putting appendages of varying danger on it instead.
Yet even though Kyungsoo’s been floundering since the start of their session, Jongdae’s expression has never changed to anything angry. Right now, in fact, said boy is looking at the cactus with a worried expression, mouth curving in the most… frustrating pout ever, as the cactus hisses at the two of them, feelers pulsating in a menacing shade of purple.
“Hmm,” the Gryffindor hums out, hands folded over his chest as he continues to stare down at the cactus. “Your pronunciation has been great, but the wrist flick at the end still isn’t there all the way yet… Maybe we should do this with a different approach.”
Kyungsoo is relieved for two seconds before he feels a soft hand on his and what.
“Here, let’s try this,” Jongdae says, breath tingling the skin of his ear, and Kyungsoo can barely register that Jongdae’s maneuvering his hand for him and can barely manage to blubber out the incantation before-
“Oh. Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”
⬤
“You did what now?”
Kyungsoo groans and covers his face with his hands again. “Don’t make me repeat it, Joonmyun.” He glares at the Head Boy through his fingers when he hears a small snort in reply.
“Aww, my poor Kyungsoo, all embarrassed because of a couple of penises.”
“Shut. Up.” He can’t believe he’d-that he’d just went and conjured a bunch of dicks to replace the spines of the cactus! Jongdae had even poked at one curiously and Kyungsoo was mortified when it stiffened at his touch. Kyungsoo had packed up at lightning speed after that, barely remembering to thank Jongdae for today’s tutoring session before running as fast as he could to Hufflepuff’s dormitory, grateful that Sehun had given him the password. Kyungsoo doesn’t think he’s ever tapped the Hufflepuff tune on the entrance barrel so fast in his life.
“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Sehun says, looking up from where he’s sprawled on the floor of Joonmyun’s room, working on his Potions homework, “given that Jongdae touched the dick, I think it’s safe to say that he has the potential to touch yours too.”
Kyungsoo is going to be permanently a tomato at this rate. “No one will be touching anyone’s dick.”
“Aw, but what about Joonmyun? I know for a fact that-“
“Nothing!” Joonmyun quickly interrupts. “You know nothing!”
“Joonmyun, everyone in this room knows about your ~secret~ older boyfriend.”
“He’s-he’s not my boyfriend! Anyway,” Joonmyun hurries out before Sehun can continue the current train of conversation, “don’t worry about it, Kyungsoo. It takes a lot to faze Jongdae; he’ll still treat you the same during your next session.”
“How do you know,” Kyungsoo mumbles miserably. “I’m pretty sure no one else has ever thrust a bunch of dicks into his face before.”
“Well, he could be into some pretty kinky stuff, you never know.”
“Sehun!”
“Just throwing that out there, Joonmyun.”
“That’s my cousin you’re talking about,” Joonmyun whines. “How do you even know these things?”
“See, Muggles have this great thing called the Internet-“
“Sehun, are you using your Muggle Studies class materials to look up adult images???”
“There’s more than just images, Joonmyun,” Sehun scoffs, rolling his eyes at Joonmyun’s violent shivers of distress as he gets to his feet and makes his way to Kyungsoo, who’s thrown Joonmyun’s quilt over his head. Kyungsoo feels Sehun’s arms wrap around his self-imposed cocoon of shame, Sehun’s chin once again settling on top of his head. “It’ll be alright, hyung,” Sehun murmurs in Korean.
⬤
To Kyungsoo’s immense relief, Kyungsoo only has to meet with Jongdae twice a week, so he gets a day and a half to steel himself for potential revulsion. However, true to Joonmyun’s word, Jongdae looks as genial as he was their first day when Kyungsoo steps into the Transfiguration classroom.
“Good evening! Did you have a nice day?”
Kyungsoo hadn’t, in fact. He’d been so preoccupied with their upcoming session that during Quidditch practice he’d nearly knocked Jongin off his broom. Taemin had been thankfully close enough at the time to push Jongin back upright, saving his Chaser partner from sitting another season out. Jongin himself had laughed the whole incident off, even cheekily flying a couple loops around Kyungsoo, daring Kyungsoo to hit another Bludger at him.
“It was fine,” Kyungsoo says gruffly. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”
Jongdae’s expression falls, but returns so quickly to his normal brilliant smile that Kyungsoo thinks it must’ve been a trick of the candlelight. “Well, I wanted to go over Switching Charms once more to make sure you got the hang of it, and then I thought we could go over definitions and written exam questions?” He waves a hand at the chalkboard behind him, already marked with vocabulary terms.
“Sure,” Kyungsoo replies, stiffly taking a seat. No penises, he thinks firmly.
⬤
Somehow, Kyungsoo starts seeing Jongdae everywhere.
It’s not that Kyungsoo’s ever been completely unaware of Jongdae-it’s kind of hard to ignore someone in the same choir section-but suddenly Jongdae is in places where Kyungsoo’s never seen him before. He’s now joined Baekhyun in greeting Kyungsoo every morning at breakfast, he’s there when Kyungsoo’s walking to class together with Chanyeol, he’s even out on the Quidditch pitch, much to Kyungsoo’s astonishment (and makes quite the formidable Keeper).
And Jongdae keeps touching Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s never met anyone besides Sehun and Baekhyun that’s ever initiated so much physical contact with him. Jongdae’s touches are also so confusing-they make Kyungsoo simultaneously nauseous and giddy, not like the way Sehun’s hugs are comforting and Baekhyun’s grabs are a familiar (fond) annoyance. Jongdae is kinder than the both of them, pulling away when he knows he’s overstepped his limits, but the way he hovers on the cusp of too much and too little has Kyungsoo’s head spinning.
So, it’s with mild trepidation that Kyungsoo eyes Jongdae with as the Gryffindor scans the Potions classroom during the beginning of Double Potions. Jongdae’s gaze finally falls on Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo braces himself for Jongdae’s sunny smile.
Only it doesn’t come. Instead, Jongdae… is blushing? Kyungsoo squints, cursing his impaired eyesight. But as Jongdae approaches, Kyungsoo can clearly tell that Jongdae’s cheeks and ears are flushed. Maybe he was feeling the effects of the lingering potion fumes from the last class?
“Afternoon, Kyungsoo.” Merlin, if Kyungsoo thought Jongdae’s normal blinding smiles were bad for his insides, his (adorably) shy pink-faced smile made Kyungsoo feel like someone cast a Jelly-Brain Jinx upon him.
“Hey, Jongdae,” he offers back hesitantly.
Jongdae takes his seat, ears still pink. “I’ve never seen you wear glasses before.”
Kyungsoo touches his frames at their mention. “Yeah, the effects of my annual vision spell are fading. I have to get it renewed when I go back home next week.” He can’t help but smile at the thought of home-Seungsoo’s going to be home this year for Christmas, finally done with his research in South Korea on the ungnyeo and gumiho populations there. In his last letter, Seungsoo had been in Seoul, getting readjusted to urban life before he Portkeyed back to England. “One of the popular idols in Korea right now looks just like you!” he’d written. “I fire-called Mum to make sure you didn’t drop out of school to go be a playboy.”
A small squeak pulls Kyungsoo out his reverie, and Kyungsoo turns to see Jongdae an impossibly brighter shade of red. “S-sorry! It’s just hiccups,” Jongdae says, waving his hands around again. Before Kyungsoo can offer Jongdae water, Jongdae continues, “It’s nice that you get to go home for the holidays though. My parents are in China right now, and my brother lives in the US, so I’ll be staying at Hogwarts this break.”
“…Do you want to stay with me over break?” What.
“Wha-“
“I mean, you’ve helped me so much with Transfiguration, and I haven’t… properly thanked you yet.”
“But-“ Jongdae’s fluttering his hands again. “Will your parents be okay with it?”
“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says. “Sehun, Joonmyun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol-all of my friends come over for Christmas and New Year’s anyway. My mum likes throwing big parties. I’m sure my parents will be fine with having you.”
Suddenly, Kyungsoo finds himself in Jongdae’s embrace, warm and smelling faintly of peaches, and immediately stiffens-Jongdae’s never hugged him before, just pats and shoulder touches, but this-
“Oh! Sorry, Kyung-“ Jongdae starts to draw away, but Kyungsoo brings his hands up to Jongdae’s waist to keep him there.
“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo mumbles, and closes his eyes briefly.
Jongdae’s answering smile is bright enough that Kyungsoo can see it painting the backs of his eyelids, like the sunspots of the afternoon sun.
⬤
Jongdae had been uncharacteristically shy when they had gotten off the Hogwarts Express and met Kyungsoo’s family. Kyungsoo’s mum was immediately taken with Jongdae, cooed at how adorable Jongdae was while Kyungsoo lagged behind, chatting with Seungsoo.
“He’s different from your usual crazy friends,” Seungsoo had mused out loud. “Normally they would be making bad jokes or attempting to escape Mum by now. Well, minus Joonmyun.”
“He’s Joonmyun’s cousin,” Kyungsoo offered.
“Oh. That explains the perfect manners.”
Jongdae had also initially been taken by everything in Kyungsoo’s house, from the many moving paintings Kyungsoo’s dad and his circle of artist friends made that hung on their walls, to his mum’s tiny dance studio with the custom acoustic wall panelling.
“Both my parents are half-bloods,” Kyungsoo explains, now, a week later as they sit on the small leather sofa in his mum’s studio. “My mum, she was training in ballet when she got her Hogwarts letter. After she graduated, she went back to dancing until she married my dad and had Seungsoo. But she still tries to dance when she has time. Says she doesn’t want to forget.”
Jongdae nods in response. “I get that. It’s like how I try to take on my Animagus form as much as I can at school because I can’t when I’m home.”
“What do you even do when you’re a cat at school?”
“Peek into the baths-ouch, Kyungsoo!”
“You deserved that.”
Jongdae chuckles, his head leaning to rest on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. His eyelashes are so long. Kyungsoo wonders what they would feel like against his skin. “There’s a whole new world to see when I’m a cat. Completely different obstacles and sights, like those you encounter while flying. Plus, gossiping with Mrs. Norris is always a plus.”
Kyungsoo laughs out loud at that, making Jongdae whine out, “I’m serious! You should hear what she has to say about Baekhyun and Yixing. She’s caught them snogging thrice already, and it’s only been a month since they started their thing.”
“I should tell my mum to cut down on the amount of decorative mistletoe then.” Suddenly, a short chiming melody reverberates throughout the room-Kyungsoo’s doorbell. “That’s probably Baekhyun and Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo says, attempting to stand, but Jongdae tugs his arm back.
“Sit,” Jongdae complains. “I don’t want to move yet, your couch is too comfortable. Let them suffer in the cold outside.”
Kyungsoo huffs out a laugh, batting gently at Jongdae with one arm. “I thought you were looking forward to playing Quidditch with them out in the back?”
“That was before your couch decided to trap me,” Jongdae retorts, rubbing his head against it to prove his point. Now Jongdae’s short hair is sticking up every which way, and before Kyungsoo registers what he’s doing, he’s running his free hand through it.
It really is as soft as he thought it would be. Jongdae looks at up him, wide eyed for a split second before giving Kyungsoo such a soft smile, eyes crinkling into crescent moons, that Kyungsoo can’t help but smile back at him.
⬤
The early afternoon of Christmas Eve finds Kyungsoo walking through the corridors of his house, his hands free of flour for the first time in hours. He’d waken up at the crack of dawn to help his mum, Chanyeol’s mum, and Sehun’s dad prepare the food for tonight, but a couple minutes ago Kyungsoo’s mum had shooed him away, telling him to clean up and find Jongdae to make sure all the decorations in the house were all ready.
“Jongdae?” Kyungsoo calls softly, knocking on the door of the guest room. “You awake?” After a short silence, Kyungsoo pushes the door open.
Jongdae is nowhere to be found, and Kyungsoo feels himself start to panic when his eyes fall on a dark mass lounging by the bay window. By the time he pads quietly over to the window seat and sits down, the cat-Jongdae-still hasn’t stirred, stretched out in the light of the sunbeam. Kyungsoo doesn’t know much about cats, having owned dogs all his life, but he can tell Jongdae’s Animagus form is beautiful, dark brown striping the lighter brown of his fur. The way his short fur is arranged reminds Kyungsoo of the texture of Jongdae’s hair.
“Hey,” Kyungsoo murmurs. Jongdae blinks sleepily at the sound, revealing a glimpse of dark olive green eyes before closing his eyes again.
Kyungsoo chuckles. “It’s time to wake up, Jongdae,” he says. “I see Seungsoo told you about the Trace loophole that Wizarding families have.”
Jongdae made a soft meow, eyes still closed.
“Come on, Jongdae.” Kyungsoo gently poked the base of one of Jongdae’s ears-his fur really was as soft as his hair.
Jongdae bumped his head against Kyungsoo’s hand instead, insistently meowing at him.
“You want an ear rub?” A soft meow. Kyungsoo sighed in mock exasperation. “Alright, but you have to get up after this, okay?”
Kyungsoo doesn’t know how long he spends rubbing the soft fur at the base of Jongdae’s ears, but by the time Jongdae slowly pulls away from Kyungsoo’s touch to stretch, the sunbeam has moved positions, shining across the plane of Kyungsoo’s lap instead.
Jongdae meows at him decisively, as if he was thanking Kyungsoo, before leaping off the window seat gracefully and disappearing into the adjacent bathroom. Before long, Jongdae walks out, dressed in an awful Christmas sweater and dark slacks.
“That was exactly what I needed,” Jongdae says, stretching his arms above him.
Kyungsoo tries not to flush at the flash of flat stomach the movement exposes. Instead, he says, “What in Merlin’s name are you wearing.”
“It’s festive!” Jongdae jumps up once to make the bells on his torso jingle. “You need to wear something Christmassy too.”
Kyungsoo looks down at his all-black ensemble. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not!” Merlin, when did Jongdae get another sweater? “Now sit still and let me put this on you.”
“Wait, no-“ Kyungsoo tries to make a run for it, but Jongdae is there, sitting in his lap and pinning him down in the seat. “At least let me take off my pullover-“
“Nope,” Jongdae replies, sounding much too composed for someone currently wrestling. “You can spell it off later!”
“Jongdae, I don’t think there’s a spell for that-“
The feeling of wet snow falling on his cheeks shocks him out of his train of thought, and Kyungsoo looks up. Shit.
“…Oh. Well, would you look at that. I didn’t know mistletoe could be enchanted to move.”
“…Probably my mum’s idea,” Kyungsoo admits. He’s hyperaware of everything now, the fact that Jongdae’s sweater is in his clenched hands, Jongdae’s hands are trapped on top of Kyungsoo’s shoulders, Jongdae’s thighs a burning weight on top of his own, Jongdae’s thin lips temptingly pink in the afternoon light.
“We… should probably honor it then?” Jongdae licks his lips. “Who knows if your mum jinxed the mistletoe.”
Kyungsoo bites his lower lip. He can see Jongdae’s eyes, darker than he’s ever seen them, follow the movement. “Y-yeah…”
“Okay,” Jongdae breathes, and Kyungsoo leans up and closes the distance, Jongdae’s mouth plush, the softest thing he’s learned about Jongdae so far. Kyungsoo’s right hand lets go of Jongdae’s sweater to cradle Jongdae’s jaw, and Jongdae’s answering mewl makes Kyungsoo’s blood flush impossibly hotter, but Kyungsoo forces himself to gently pull away, because he needs to know-
“Jongdae-“
“Let’s date,” Jongdae interrupts. His ears are flushed, his voice is wavering, but his eyes are steady. “I’ve wanted to hold your hand since your first Quidditch game.”
That was three years ago, when Kyungsoo had been a tiny second-year, clutching a broom taller than himself, staring up into the brightness of the cloudy sky, frostbitten grass crunching under his boots. “That long?” he asks, breath hitching when Jongdae’s long, long eyelashes flutter.
“Yeah,” Jongdae murmurs, and this close, Kyungsoo smell the sweetness of the apricot tea Jongdae had earlier on his breath.
“Then what are we waiting for,” Kyungsoo whispers back, and this time it’s Jongdae that brings their mouths together, nipping insistently at Kyungsoo’s bottom lip until Kyungsoo allows Jongdae to slip his tongue in with a groan, fisting his other hand tighter in Jongdae’s sweater.
Kyungsoo’s kissed one other person in his life, once with Chanyeol, when the both of them just wanted to know what all the fuss was about kissing last year. But that was just the briefest union of lips, something equally innocent as it was strange.
This is something completely different. This is Jongdae, pulling Kyungsoo closer by the shoulders, licking into Kyungsoo’s mouth, Jongdae whining again as Kyungsoo rubs behind his ear, Kyungsoo taking this opportunity to experimentally suck on Jongdae’s tongue, pride surging at the answering whimper Jongdae lets out.
Jongdae pulls apart first this time, and Kyungsoo feels himself flush at the visual he’s created, Jongdae’s lips the brightest shade of red he’s ever seen them in, pupils dilated, breath coming in ragged puffs.
Jongdae laughs, and presses a sweet, fleeting kiss to the corner of Kyungsoo’s mouth. “Not bad, boyfriend.”
Kyungsoo can’t help but smile in return. “Definitely not bad, boyfriend,” he teases, leaning in to-
“Merlin’s boots.”
“I knew it! Chanyeol, you owe me five Galleons now, look at our lover boys here-“
Suddenly, Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s voices cut off. Loud squeaking starts to fill the silence instead, and Kyungsoo stares, mildly astonished at the sight before them, his wand drawn from where he drew it out of his pullover pocket. Jongdae looks equally as shocked, wand in his own hand, before he beams delightedly. “Well, would you look at that.”
“…Did you just Transfigure Baekhyun into a squirrel?”
“Yup!” Jongdae says cheerfully. Baekhyun chatters angrily in the distance. “But look at you! Teaching you that one N.E.W.T. level spell was useful after all.”
Chanyeol, now a rock, says nothing.
SUMMARY: in the pre-O.W.L. craze, kyungsoo is offered an awful(ly cute) solution to boost his transfiguration grade.
PAIRING: Jongdae/Kyungsoo
RATING: PG-15 (for snogging, crude humor)
WORD COUNT: 5,419
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
+ note: the "Trace loophole" refers to the trace charm put on underage wizards that prevents them from performing magic outside of school. if the charm is triggered, it allows the ministry to track down the offender's location. however, since so many cases of underage magic occur in wizarding communities, the ministry usually doesn't interfere with those offenders, and trust that their parents will punish them instead.
+ one of the working titles for this was "rock hard cactus dick"
+ MANY THANKS to my proofreaders, b and bro. ilu.
In Double Transfiguration, Kyungsoo’s folding up the sleeves of his grey school jumper, having left his robes draped over the back of his chair, when Chanyeol bursts into the classroom and skids to a stop at their shared desk, smelling like he’d been out in the November afternoon sun too long.
Kyungsoo picks up his partner’s blue and silver striped scarf from where it unravelled and fell at his feet. “Quidditch practice ran late?” he asks, pointing his wand and muttering a quick Cleaning Charm to rid the scarf of grass bits.
“Yeah,” Chanyeol replies, slumping into his chair and ruffling a hand through his wind-tousled black hair. Kyungsoo has half a mind to spell it into something resembling less of a chaotic bird nest. “The captain’s been giving each of us more individual attention since first match of the season for us is this week.”
Ravenclaw’s captain is a tiny thing, barely reaching Kyungsoo’s shoulder, but startlingly fast on a broom. She’s always been the one to give Kyungsoo the hardest time during Slytherin-Ravenclaw matches. Chanyeol, on the other hand, is a much easier target to aim Bludgers at, thanks to his lanky limbs and his tendency to linger after swinging his own bat.
“Hufflepuff won’t be easy to win against,” Kyungsoo warns as he slides Chanyeol’s scarf across the table to him. “Joonmyun and Yixing are always a difficult combination.” Last year, Kyungsoo had foolishly allowed the Chaser duo to occupy most of his focus during their match. Though Slytherin eventually caught the Snitch and narrowly won with a 10 point lead, the next morning Kyungsoo found himself hovering above the dew-covered pitch, slamming Bludger after Bludger as if he could beat away the lingering shame.
Chanyeol glances amusedly at the neat square before placing it in his bag and rummaging around. “You think I don’t know that?” he retorts, pulling out a Self-Inking Quill and a roll of parchment with a crow of triumph. Kyungsoo doesn’t know why Chanyeol bothers to take notes when he always ends up scribbling experimental lyrics in the margins instead. “There’s rumors that Joonmyun Kim’s father gave everyone on the team the newest Firebolt model.”
Kyungsoo snorts. “I highly doubt that.” Joonmyun, though definitely wealthy thanks to the nature of his parents’ academic work, was hardly the type to make such an extravagant display of his wealth.
Chanyeol sighs wistfully, his eyes glazing over, probably imagining himself atop a Firebolt of his own, soaring to the cheers of the many admirers he always insists he has. “Must be nice being rich and Head Boy.”
Before Kyungsoo can roll his eyes and scoff at Chanyeol some more, their professor walks in, a looming stack of floating scrolls at her heels.
Kyungsoo feels himself wince at the sight of their graded tests. Transfiguration, for whatever reason, never came easily to him, not like the way Potions and Herbology did. Knives, precise cuts, the weight of a plant in his hand-those were comforting things. Waving his wand as he tried to envision a hazy image in his mind was not. Kyungsoo only feels dread gathering, sticky and revolting like Stinksap, as his professor quiets their class with a wave of her hand.
“Now, I know many of you are all very anxious to know the results of your latest test. However, as always, many of you did excellent. I have faith that you lot will make me proud during the O.W.L.,” she says, beaming. Kyungsoo highly doubts he was part of that “excellent” lot. With a flick of her wand, the neat pyramid of scrolls disassembles, each roll of parchment flying back to their respective student. Kyungsoo’s lands in front of him with a decisive smack. His stomach churns in response.
“As always, please let me know if I have any errors in grading. Now, today, we’re going to introduce the Doubling Charm…”
The professor’s voice fades out as Kyungsoo breaks his seal and unrolls his parchment with shaking fingers. The sight of all the red ink makes his stomach plummet in an awful dive, despite his professor’s attempt at phrasing her corrections lightheartedly. He quickly scans down to the end of scroll, where Please see me after class, Mr. Do is written in neat, vivid scarlet script.
The words look like blood. Kyungsoo didn’t think it was possible for his stomach to disappear altogether.
⬤
“My my, doesn’t someone look awfully happy this morning~”
Kyungsoo groans under his breath, because the last thing he needs today is Baekhyun Byun disturbing the morning peace with his toxic, disgusting cheer. “Go back to the Gryffindor table, Baekhyun,” he grunts, not even sparing the sixth-year a glance as he angrily stabs at his eggs. One of the yolks bursts, bright yellow leaking out mischievously as if to mock him too.
“But I would be a terrible upperclassman if I didn't greet my favorite fifth-year!” Baekhyun theatrically wails, slinging an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders. Kyungsoo immediately retaliates by elbowing Baekhyun in the gut, hard, and is slightly mollified at the pained groan that the elder lets out.
“Jongin, Kyungsoo’s being mean to me!”
Jongin sleepily looks up and over at Baekhyun from where he’s sitting across from Kyungsoo. The fourth-year, as always, seems to be seconds away from face-planting into his own plate. Jongin’s never actually done so, but from the way his emerald green tie is slowly soaking in the marmalade on his toast, Kyungsoo wouldn’t be surprised if it happened any day now.
Kyungsoo sighs at the state of his underclassman and nudges his foot against Jongin’s leg. The younger moves away the contact, bending away from the table and choosing to snuggle up against Taemin’s shoulder instead, marmalade-sticky tie now starting to stain the front of his robes. Taemin barely reacts to Jongin’s presence, used to the antics of his friend, and continues to robotically chew on his corn flakes.
Just as Kyungsoo reaches for his wand to clean off the mess on Jongin, his wand arm is suddenly pinned to his side as his field of vision is obscured by black fabric. “Sehun,” Kyungsoo says simply, resigned to his fate as he feels the Hufflepuff’s pointy chin rest on top of his head.
“Kyungsoo,” Sehun parrots back. Kyungsoo tries to fight the way his mouth twitches with a smile. Sehun has always been full of sass, even as a tiny three-year-old. Kyungsoo himself had been barely four when he’d tried to reach for Sehun’s plush Flobberworm, only to have his hand swatted away. Sehun had stared down at him, his hands on his hips, a defiant cock to his head. “No touch for the unworthy.”
Kyungsoo has that Flobberworm now, stowed safely in his school trunk. He brings it out when the winter nights are especially freezing, the icy silver of the Great Lake’s surface visible from the Slytherin dorm windows.
“How was morning practice today?” Sehun’s usual baby powder scent nearly masks the unmistakeable odour of dewy grass.
“Decent,” Sehun replies, his chin digging further in Kyungsoo’s hair, before pulling back to sit down next to Kyungsoo, snagging a piece of bacon off Kyungsoo’s plate in the process. “Joonmyun’s in one of his ~moods~ again, though. You know how he gets right before matches. All jittery and unable to shut up with the dad jokes.”
Hand now freed, Kyungsoo shoots a quick Scorgeify at Jongin’s tie, happy to have the offending sight cleared away. He hears Baekhyun’s loud, obnoxious laughter somewhere off to his left-Baekhyun must’ve hurried off to bother someone else. “He shouldn’t worry. You’ll all do great,” Kyungsoo earnestly says. Joonmyun and Yixing might be the powerhouses of the Hufflepuff team, but Sehun’s quickly showing the traits of a formidable Seeker-no Harry Potter, but Kyungsoo wouldn’t be surprised if Sehun ends up being Captain of the Hufflepuff team at some point in the near future.
Sehun rolls his eyes good-naturedly at the compliment. “I will, at the very least,” he says. “You’re coming to the match too, right?”
“Of course.” Professor Flitwick was always nice enough to never schedule Frog Choir practices on the same day as Quidditch matches, and thankfully nothing unexpected popped up to cause a time conflict. Though speaking of unexpected things…
Kyungsoo starts when he feels Sehun’s finger poke at the crease between his eyebrows. “You’re making the face Jongin does when he has to wear dress shoes. What’s wrong?”
“…I have tutoring sessions for Transfiguration starting today,” Kyungsoo replies glumly.
“That sucks.” Sehun makes his own face in sympathy, his mouth turning dramatically down at the corners. “Do you at least have a good tutor?”
“Supposedly? It’s Jongdae Kim. I hardly know anything about him.” Kyungsoo’s seen the alleged Transfiguration prodigy in Frog Choir, the only class they shared, but Kyungsoo stuck mostly to Hyunsik during class. Plus, Quidditch practice was often right after Frog Choir, so Kyungsoo never stayed long enough to learn more about Jongdae Kim other than the rich timbre of his voice and what the back of his head looked like.
Jongdae Kim seems to have soft hair though, with little locks that curl nicely around his ears and the nape of his neck. Kyungsoo wishes his own hair was as interesting.
Sehun whistles in surprise. “Wow, they brought out the big guns for you.” He filches an apple off the basket in the center of the table, biting into it before continuing, “He’s a pretty nice bloke though. Jongdae helped me a couple times with my Transfiguration essays last year. Apparently he’d been studying N.E.W.T. level material at that point. Also really good friends with Baekhyun, actually, given they’re housemates and all.”
“Since when has being friends with Baekhyun become a good thing,” Kyungsoo dryly says.
“Every man has their vices,” Sehun shoots back. “Jongdae’s just happens to be rubbish taste in friends. Doesn’t stop him from having the singing voice of a Veela or being Headmistress McGonagall’s heir apparent.”
“You’re sounding more and more like Jongin every day, with all those big words of yours,” Kyungsoo teases. Jongin was the true resident bookworm in their friend group, his nose always buried in a book if he wasn’t sleeping, flying, or eating. As a result, his essays were always full of long, elegant chicken scratch prose, childishly eloquent compared to Kyungsoo’s neat and concise statements.
“Being friends with you all has its benefits,” Sehun simply replies. “However, if Jongin doesn’t wake up right now, we’re going to be late to Double Potions and I will revoke friendship privileges.”
⬤
Later, in the evening, Kyungsoo finds himself pacing outside the Transfiguration classroom, bringing his left thumb up to his lips before he thinks better of it and puts it back down. Kyungsoo’s embarrassed that he’s reverting back to nail-biting-it’s a habit that he’s been trying to break, but he’s been forgetting to put the salve his mother included in her latest package on his fingernails every morning.
Besides, Jongdae Kim shouldn’t be any cause for nail-biting. Sehun had given his seal of approval earlier today, after all. Though Kyungsoo often questions Baekhyun’s choices (like that one time he and Chanyeol flooded the dungeons to raise a young sea serpent-for Merlin’s sake, Hogwarts had a whole lake taking up at least a fourth of the campus grounds), Kyungsoo trusts Baekhyun’s taste in friends. Most of the time.
Kyungsoo sighs, rolling up the sleeves of his jumper once more. He’d wanted to go without it, but with the onset of November came colder nights within the castle. He’ll probably have to start wearing his scarf regularly by the end of next week.
Kyungsoo takes a deep breath then, tasting the dust mites in the air that hung around the corridors, and pushes the door open.
A slim figure, standing near the front, turns at the sound of the door creaking, gold and crimson tie glinting in the light of the classroom chandeliers. Jongdae Kim smiles as Kyungsoo approaches, and Kyungsoo is struck by how much he resembles his rumored feline Animagus form, eyes gently curved, his mouth turned gently up at the corners. His short hair is still infuriatingly perfect.
Jongdae holds out his hand when Kyungsoo comes to a stop in front of him. “Hi!” he says cheerfully. “You must be Kyungsoo Do. I’m Jongdae, your Transfiguration tutor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Kyungsoo takes the offered hand. Jongdae’s skin is warm, and softer than he thought it would be. “Likewise,” he offers back. “Thank you for taking the time to help me.”
“Oh no,” Jongdae laughs, disengaging their hands so he can wave both of his. Kyungsoo likes the sound of Jongdae’s laugh. It’s loud, especially in the empty classroom, but instead of wanting to cover his ears like how Baekhyun’s laugh makes him feel, Kyungsoo feels a strange want to hear more of it. “It’s nothing! I help out people in the library all the time. Although this is the first time I’m doing full-on tutoring,” he adds sheepishly. “So I’m sorry if I end up sucking.”
Kyungsoo has not heard of, much less seen, Jongdae ever sucking at anything. He was stellar at everything he did-singing, Transfiguration, Quidditch. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine by me.”
Jongdae beams at the reassurance, and Merlin, if Jongdae always shone this brightly every time he smiled, Kyungsoo would have to bring sunglasses to their sessions. “Thank you! But don’t be afraid to tell me any complaints or questions. Now,” Jongdae says, gesturing to the potted cactus on the nearest table, “I thought we might start off by reviewing Switching Charms?”
Forty-five minutes later, Kyungsoo has yet to produce anything that meets Jongdae’s request to replace the spines of the cactus with something harmless. Instead, he’s been putting appendages of varying danger on it instead.
Yet even though Kyungsoo’s been floundering since the start of their session, Jongdae’s expression has never changed to anything angry. Right now, in fact, said boy is looking at the cactus with a worried expression, mouth curving in the most… frustrating pout ever, as the cactus hisses at the two of them, feelers pulsating in a menacing shade of purple.
“Hmm,” the Gryffindor hums out, hands folded over his chest as he continues to stare down at the cactus. “Your pronunciation has been great, but the wrist flick at the end still isn’t there all the way yet… Maybe we should do this with a different approach.”
Kyungsoo is relieved for two seconds before he feels a soft hand on his and what.
“Here, let’s try this,” Jongdae says, breath tingling the skin of his ear, and Kyungsoo can barely register that Jongdae’s maneuvering his hand for him and can barely manage to blubber out the incantation before-
“Oh. Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”
⬤
“You did what now?”
Kyungsoo groans and covers his face with his hands again. “Don’t make me repeat it, Joonmyun.” He glares at the Head Boy through his fingers when he hears a small snort in reply.
“Aww, my poor Kyungsoo, all embarrassed because of a couple of penises.”
“Shut. Up.” He can’t believe he’d-that he’d just went and conjured a bunch of dicks to replace the spines of the cactus! Jongdae had even poked at one curiously and Kyungsoo was mortified when it stiffened at his touch. Kyungsoo had packed up at lightning speed after that, barely remembering to thank Jongdae for today’s tutoring session before running as fast as he could to Hufflepuff’s dormitory, grateful that Sehun had given him the password. Kyungsoo doesn’t think he’s ever tapped the Hufflepuff tune on the entrance barrel so fast in his life.
“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Sehun says, looking up from where he’s sprawled on the floor of Joonmyun’s room, working on his Potions homework, “given that Jongdae touched the dick, I think it’s safe to say that he has the potential to touch yours too.”
Kyungsoo is going to be permanently a tomato at this rate. “No one will be touching anyone’s dick.”
“Aw, but what about Joonmyun? I know for a fact that-“
“Nothing!” Joonmyun quickly interrupts. “You know nothing!”
“Joonmyun, everyone in this room knows about your ~secret~ older boyfriend.”
“He’s-he’s not my boyfriend! Anyway,” Joonmyun hurries out before Sehun can continue the current train of conversation, “don’t worry about it, Kyungsoo. It takes a lot to faze Jongdae; he’ll still treat you the same during your next session.”
“How do you know,” Kyungsoo mumbles miserably. “I’m pretty sure no one else has ever thrust a bunch of dicks into his face before.”
“Well, he could be into some pretty kinky stuff, you never know.”
“Sehun!”
“Just throwing that out there, Joonmyun.”
“That’s my cousin you’re talking about,” Joonmyun whines. “How do you even know these things?”
“See, Muggles have this great thing called the Internet-“
“Sehun, are you using your Muggle Studies class materials to look up adult images???”
“There’s more than just images, Joonmyun,” Sehun scoffs, rolling his eyes at Joonmyun’s violent shivers of distress as he gets to his feet and makes his way to Kyungsoo, who’s thrown Joonmyun’s quilt over his head. Kyungsoo feels Sehun’s arms wrap around his self-imposed cocoon of shame, Sehun’s chin once again settling on top of his head. “It’ll be alright, hyung,” Sehun murmurs in Korean.
⬤
To Kyungsoo’s immense relief, Kyungsoo only has to meet with Jongdae twice a week, so he gets a day and a half to steel himself for potential revulsion. However, true to Joonmyun’s word, Jongdae looks as genial as he was their first day when Kyungsoo steps into the Transfiguration classroom.
“Good evening! Did you have a nice day?”
Kyungsoo hadn’t, in fact. He’d been so preoccupied with their upcoming session that during Quidditch practice he’d nearly knocked Jongin off his broom. Taemin had been thankfully close enough at the time to push Jongin back upright, saving his Chaser partner from sitting another season out. Jongin himself had laughed the whole incident off, even cheekily flying a couple loops around Kyungsoo, daring Kyungsoo to hit another Bludger at him.
“It was fine,” Kyungsoo says gruffly. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”
Jongdae’s expression falls, but returns so quickly to his normal brilliant smile that Kyungsoo thinks it must’ve been a trick of the candlelight. “Well, I wanted to go over Switching Charms once more to make sure you got the hang of it, and then I thought we could go over definitions and written exam questions?” He waves a hand at the chalkboard behind him, already marked with vocabulary terms.
“Sure,” Kyungsoo replies, stiffly taking a seat. No penises, he thinks firmly.
⬤
Somehow, Kyungsoo starts seeing Jongdae everywhere.
It’s not that Kyungsoo’s ever been completely unaware of Jongdae-it’s kind of hard to ignore someone in the same choir section-but suddenly Jongdae is in places where Kyungsoo’s never seen him before. He’s now joined Baekhyun in greeting Kyungsoo every morning at breakfast, he’s there when Kyungsoo’s walking to class together with Chanyeol, he’s even out on the Quidditch pitch, much to Kyungsoo’s astonishment (and makes quite the formidable Keeper).
And Jongdae keeps touching Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s never met anyone besides Sehun and Baekhyun that’s ever initiated so much physical contact with him. Jongdae’s touches are also so confusing-they make Kyungsoo simultaneously nauseous and giddy, not like the way Sehun’s hugs are comforting and Baekhyun’s grabs are a familiar (fond) annoyance. Jongdae is kinder than the both of them, pulling away when he knows he’s overstepped his limits, but the way he hovers on the cusp of too much and too little has Kyungsoo’s head spinning.
So, it’s with mild trepidation that Kyungsoo eyes Jongdae with as the Gryffindor scans the Potions classroom during the beginning of Double Potions. Jongdae’s gaze finally falls on Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo braces himself for Jongdae’s sunny smile.
Only it doesn’t come. Instead, Jongdae… is blushing? Kyungsoo squints, cursing his impaired eyesight. But as Jongdae approaches, Kyungsoo can clearly tell that Jongdae’s cheeks and ears are flushed. Maybe he was feeling the effects of the lingering potion fumes from the last class?
“Afternoon, Kyungsoo.” Merlin, if Kyungsoo thought Jongdae’s normal blinding smiles were bad for his insides, his (adorably) shy pink-faced smile made Kyungsoo feel like someone cast a Jelly-Brain Jinx upon him.
“Hey, Jongdae,” he offers back hesitantly.
Jongdae takes his seat, ears still pink. “I’ve never seen you wear glasses before.”
Kyungsoo touches his frames at their mention. “Yeah, the effects of my annual vision spell are fading. I have to get it renewed when I go back home next week.” He can’t help but smile at the thought of home-Seungsoo’s going to be home this year for Christmas, finally done with his research in South Korea on the ungnyeo and gumiho populations there. In his last letter, Seungsoo had been in Seoul, getting readjusted to urban life before he Portkeyed back to England. “One of the popular idols in Korea right now looks just like you!” he’d written. “I fire-called Mum to make sure you didn’t drop out of school to go be a playboy.”
A small squeak pulls Kyungsoo out his reverie, and Kyungsoo turns to see Jongdae an impossibly brighter shade of red. “S-sorry! It’s just hiccups,” Jongdae says, waving his hands around again. Before Kyungsoo can offer Jongdae water, Jongdae continues, “It’s nice that you get to go home for the holidays though. My parents are in China right now, and my brother lives in the US, so I’ll be staying at Hogwarts this break.”
“…Do you want to stay with me over break?” What.
“Wha-“
“I mean, you’ve helped me so much with Transfiguration, and I haven’t… properly thanked you yet.”
“But-“ Jongdae’s fluttering his hands again. “Will your parents be okay with it?”
“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says. “Sehun, Joonmyun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol-all of my friends come over for Christmas and New Year’s anyway. My mum likes throwing big parties. I’m sure my parents will be fine with having you.”
Suddenly, Kyungsoo finds himself in Jongdae’s embrace, warm and smelling faintly of peaches, and immediately stiffens-Jongdae’s never hugged him before, just pats and shoulder touches, but this-
“Oh! Sorry, Kyung-“ Jongdae starts to draw away, but Kyungsoo brings his hands up to Jongdae’s waist to keep him there.
“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo mumbles, and closes his eyes briefly.
Jongdae’s answering smile is bright enough that Kyungsoo can see it painting the backs of his eyelids, like the sunspots of the afternoon sun.
⬤
Jongdae had been uncharacteristically shy when they had gotten off the Hogwarts Express and met Kyungsoo’s family. Kyungsoo’s mum was immediately taken with Jongdae, cooed at how adorable Jongdae was while Kyungsoo lagged behind, chatting with Seungsoo.
“He’s different from your usual crazy friends,” Seungsoo had mused out loud. “Normally they would be making bad jokes or attempting to escape Mum by now. Well, minus Joonmyun.”
“He’s Joonmyun’s cousin,” Kyungsoo offered.
“Oh. That explains the perfect manners.”
Jongdae had also initially been taken by everything in Kyungsoo’s house, from the many moving paintings Kyungsoo’s dad and his circle of artist friends made that hung on their walls, to his mum’s tiny dance studio with the custom acoustic wall panelling.
“Both my parents are half-bloods,” Kyungsoo explains, now, a week later as they sit on the small leather sofa in his mum’s studio. “My mum, she was training in ballet when she got her Hogwarts letter. After she graduated, she went back to dancing until she married my dad and had Seungsoo. But she still tries to dance when she has time. Says she doesn’t want to forget.”
Jongdae nods in response. “I get that. It’s like how I try to take on my Animagus form as much as I can at school because I can’t when I’m home.”
“What do you even do when you’re a cat at school?”
“Peek into the baths-ouch, Kyungsoo!”
“You deserved that.”
Jongdae chuckles, his head leaning to rest on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. His eyelashes are so long. Kyungsoo wonders what they would feel like against his skin. “There’s a whole new world to see when I’m a cat. Completely different obstacles and sights, like those you encounter while flying. Plus, gossiping with Mrs. Norris is always a plus.”
Kyungsoo laughs out loud at that, making Jongdae whine out, “I’m serious! You should hear what she has to say about Baekhyun and Yixing. She’s caught them snogging thrice already, and it’s only been a month since they started their thing.”
“I should tell my mum to cut down on the amount of decorative mistletoe then.” Suddenly, a short chiming melody reverberates throughout the room-Kyungsoo’s doorbell. “That’s probably Baekhyun and Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo says, attempting to stand, but Jongdae tugs his arm back.
“Sit,” Jongdae complains. “I don’t want to move yet, your couch is too comfortable. Let them suffer in the cold outside.”
Kyungsoo huffs out a laugh, batting gently at Jongdae with one arm. “I thought you were looking forward to playing Quidditch with them out in the back?”
“That was before your couch decided to trap me,” Jongdae retorts, rubbing his head against it to prove his point. Now Jongdae’s short hair is sticking up every which way, and before Kyungsoo registers what he’s doing, he’s running his free hand through it.
It really is as soft as he thought it would be. Jongdae looks at up him, wide eyed for a split second before giving Kyungsoo such a soft smile, eyes crinkling into crescent moons, that Kyungsoo can’t help but smile back at him.
⬤
The early afternoon of Christmas Eve finds Kyungsoo walking through the corridors of his house, his hands free of flour for the first time in hours. He’d waken up at the crack of dawn to help his mum, Chanyeol’s mum, and Sehun’s dad prepare the food for tonight, but a couple minutes ago Kyungsoo’s mum had shooed him away, telling him to clean up and find Jongdae to make sure all the decorations in the house were all ready.
“Jongdae?” Kyungsoo calls softly, knocking on the door of the guest room. “You awake?” After a short silence, Kyungsoo pushes the door open.
Jongdae is nowhere to be found, and Kyungsoo feels himself start to panic when his eyes fall on a dark mass lounging by the bay window. By the time he pads quietly over to the window seat and sits down, the cat-Jongdae-still hasn’t stirred, stretched out in the light of the sunbeam. Kyungsoo doesn’t know much about cats, having owned dogs all his life, but he can tell Jongdae’s Animagus form is beautiful, dark brown striping the lighter brown of his fur. The way his short fur is arranged reminds Kyungsoo of the texture of Jongdae’s hair.
“Hey,” Kyungsoo murmurs. Jongdae blinks sleepily at the sound, revealing a glimpse of dark olive green eyes before closing his eyes again.
Kyungsoo chuckles. “It’s time to wake up, Jongdae,” he says. “I see Seungsoo told you about the Trace loophole that Wizarding families have.”
Jongdae made a soft meow, eyes still closed.
“Come on, Jongdae.” Kyungsoo gently poked the base of one of Jongdae’s ears-his fur really was as soft as his hair.
Jongdae bumped his head against Kyungsoo’s hand instead, insistently meowing at him.
“You want an ear rub?” A soft meow. Kyungsoo sighed in mock exasperation. “Alright, but you have to get up after this, okay?”
Kyungsoo doesn’t know how long he spends rubbing the soft fur at the base of Jongdae’s ears, but by the time Jongdae slowly pulls away from Kyungsoo’s touch to stretch, the sunbeam has moved positions, shining across the plane of Kyungsoo’s lap instead.
Jongdae meows at him decisively, as if he was thanking Kyungsoo, before leaping off the window seat gracefully and disappearing into the adjacent bathroom. Before long, Jongdae walks out, dressed in an awful Christmas sweater and dark slacks.
“That was exactly what I needed,” Jongdae says, stretching his arms above him.
Kyungsoo tries not to flush at the flash of flat stomach the movement exposes. Instead, he says, “What in Merlin’s name are you wearing.”
“It’s festive!” Jongdae jumps up once to make the bells on his torso jingle. “You need to wear something Christmassy too.”
Kyungsoo looks down at his all-black ensemble. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not!” Merlin, when did Jongdae get another sweater? “Now sit still and let me put this on you.”
“Wait, no-“ Kyungsoo tries to make a run for it, but Jongdae is there, sitting in his lap and pinning him down in the seat. “At least let me take off my pullover-“
“Nope,” Jongdae replies, sounding much too composed for someone currently wrestling. “You can spell it off later!”
“Jongdae, I don’t think there’s a spell for that-“
The feeling of wet snow falling on his cheeks shocks him out of his train of thought, and Kyungsoo looks up. Shit.
“…Oh. Well, would you look at that. I didn’t know mistletoe could be enchanted to move.”
“…Probably my mum’s idea,” Kyungsoo admits. He’s hyperaware of everything now, the fact that Jongdae’s sweater is in his clenched hands, Jongdae’s hands are trapped on top of Kyungsoo’s shoulders, Jongdae’s thighs a burning weight on top of his own, Jongdae’s thin lips temptingly pink in the afternoon light.
“We… should probably honor it then?” Jongdae licks his lips. “Who knows if your mum jinxed the mistletoe.”
Kyungsoo bites his lower lip. He can see Jongdae’s eyes, darker than he’s ever seen them, follow the movement. “Y-yeah…”
“Okay,” Jongdae breathes, and Kyungsoo leans up and closes the distance, Jongdae’s mouth plush, the softest thing he’s learned about Jongdae so far. Kyungsoo’s right hand lets go of Jongdae’s sweater to cradle Jongdae’s jaw, and Jongdae’s answering mewl makes Kyungsoo’s blood flush impossibly hotter, but Kyungsoo forces himself to gently pull away, because he needs to know-
“Jongdae-“
“Let’s date,” Jongdae interrupts. His ears are flushed, his voice is wavering, but his eyes are steady. “I’ve wanted to hold your hand since your first Quidditch game.”
That was three years ago, when Kyungsoo had been a tiny second-year, clutching a broom taller than himself, staring up into the brightness of the cloudy sky, frostbitten grass crunching under his boots. “That long?” he asks, breath hitching when Jongdae’s long, long eyelashes flutter.
“Yeah,” Jongdae murmurs, and this close, Kyungsoo smell the sweetness of the apricot tea Jongdae had earlier on his breath.
“Then what are we waiting for,” Kyungsoo whispers back, and this time it’s Jongdae that brings their mouths together, nipping insistently at Kyungsoo’s bottom lip until Kyungsoo allows Jongdae to slip his tongue in with a groan, fisting his other hand tighter in Jongdae’s sweater.
Kyungsoo’s kissed one other person in his life, once with Chanyeol, when the both of them just wanted to know what all the fuss was about kissing last year. But that was just the briefest union of lips, something equally innocent as it was strange.
This is something completely different. This is Jongdae, pulling Kyungsoo closer by the shoulders, licking into Kyungsoo’s mouth, Jongdae whining again as Kyungsoo rubs behind his ear, Kyungsoo taking this opportunity to experimentally suck on Jongdae’s tongue, pride surging at the answering whimper Jongdae lets out.
Jongdae pulls apart first this time, and Kyungsoo feels himself flush at the visual he’s created, Jongdae’s lips the brightest shade of red he’s ever seen them in, pupils dilated, breath coming in ragged puffs.
Jongdae laughs, and presses a sweet, fleeting kiss to the corner of Kyungsoo’s mouth. “Not bad, boyfriend.”
Kyungsoo can’t help but smile in return. “Definitely not bad, boyfriend,” he teases, leaning in to-
“Merlin’s boots.”
“I knew it! Chanyeol, you owe me five Galleons now, look at our lover boys here-“
Suddenly, Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s voices cut off. Loud squeaking starts to fill the silence instead, and Kyungsoo stares, mildly astonished at the sight before them, his wand drawn from where he drew it out of his pullover pocket. Jongdae looks equally as shocked, wand in his own hand, before he beams delightedly. “Well, would you look at that.”
“…Did you just Transfigure Baekhyun into a squirrel?”
“Yup!” Jongdae says cheerfully. Baekhyun chatters angrily in the distance. “But look at you! Teaching you that one N.E.W.T. level spell was useful after all.”
Chanyeol, now a rock, says nothing.