fly high
►recipient: everyone
►title: fly high
►pairing(s): xiumin/luhan
►rating: pg
►word count: ~6,4k
►summary: "stop taking quidditch so seriously." - kim jongdae probably
In an ideal world, Minseok thinks as he sits down with his friends in the Great Hall, this would be their year to win the Quidditch cup. He spent the holidays training and even when his less than supportive friends visited he still mostly spend it with more training (“This is inhuman, I didn’t come here to be hit in the face with bludgers!” he remembers Jongdae screaming. “Where is your house pride, Jongdae, we need to bring the cup home!” Minseok replied happily as he hit the bludger extra hard. “You’re not even a beater! And neither am I!”).
So all in all he’s pretty optimistic that this time Slytherin will stay as far away from the cup as possible, Because this year, their supposed star seeker won’t be there anymore due to him graduating last year. Sure, he is bound to get a new rival soon, but it isn’t even a question to him that he’ll be the better one out of the two. And he’s determined that it stays that way.
“Ah, there you are, Kim, I was looking for you!”
Minseok looks up to see his team captain standing in front of him. He gestures to a place next to him so he can sit down, which he promptly does. Sure, he may be a bumbling idiot at times, but at the pitch he’s a ruthless keeper (and sometimes really scary, too, especially if he’s determined to win).
“What for? Doesn’t whatever you have to say have time until after the sorting and the feast?” Minseok almost whines, as he listens half-heartedly to the new poem the Sorting Hat recites at the moment.
“Just Quidditch team stuff, you know the usual. I couldn’t find you and the others on the train, so we just have to postpone it…”
“Can’t we at least wait until after the feast or maybe even until tomorrow, so everyone’s settled in?”
“No,” is the simply answer as the captain is busy looking around the Ravenclaw table. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to look for the others. And be sure to be in the common room later for the meeting later. Or else.”
And with that he leaves them alone.
“Sucks to be you,” Jongdae snickers. “Can’t even have a peaceful return to the school without having to listen to your captain’s speech he gives every year. Does he even uses different words or is it just the same every single time?”
“You know what, Jongdae, just shut up.”
~
As usual first days start way too early for Minseok’s liking, especially because he had to stay up late due to an impromptu Quidditch strategy meeting - which in Minseok’s humble opinion could have waited until at least the second day of school, but no, everyone on his team had to be such overachievers.
Or maybe it was just their captain, because as Jongdae predicted, he just repeated everything he always said.
“Well, you don’t look so good,” is what Jongdae tells him when he finally makes it to the dungeons - just what Minseok needed, two hours of potions which is definitely his least favourite subject..
Minseok deems a disgruntled groan as answer worthy enough for Jongdae. Luckily for him it also doesn’t take long for their potions teacher to arrive; a young lady that definitely wasn’t there last year. He really should have paid more attention yesterday.
To his horror, he realizes that everyone already has an assigned place in the classroom. He arrives first at his seat and sits down, a little sad that Jongdae isn’t even in reasonable speaking distance to him. With nothing better to do than wait for whatever this lesson will turn out to be he sighs and turns his attention to the name-plate besides his, which reads ‘Lu Han’. The name seems vaguely familiar to him, though from where he can’t quite place.
As Minseok ponders this, another person slips through the door and after some looking around makes his way to Minseok’s seat.
“No way, you are my seat partner, Kim? I’m lucky this year it seems.”
That has Minseok looking up and he barely restrains from rolling his eyes. Of course.
“Sure, if you say so. Guess I’m the unlucky one this year then,” he replies.
“Oh come on, it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. Who knows what kind of surprises await us this year.”
“Whatever you say. Just please don’t embarrass yourself any more than you usually do, because it directly comes back to me.”
Lu Han looks like wants to say something to this, but just at this moment the teacher starts her lesson.
Minseok is not sure if he should be concerned by that secretive smile Lu Han sports throughout the lesson or not; with Lu Han you never know, Minseok learnt.
It isn’t like they are particularly close or anything. Sure, they started their time in Hogwarts together, but they never really talked much before. All Minseok really knows about Lu Han is that he admires him as a seeker or something along those lines. And he shows his admiration in the most embarrassing ways; but at least this only comes out during his games and not when he’s in class. Off the pitch Minseok’s impression of him is that he’s quite decent. Or so his friends told him when he was particularly annoyed at Lu Han’s shenanigans.
Besides that however he wouldn’t necessarily call them close. They barely speak with each other unless they just happen to be at the same place at the same time. And Minseok can count these by chance meetings on both hands - that’s how rarely they happen..
Come to think of it, it sure is strange that this is the first time we actually share a class.
~
It doesn’t take long for Minseok to fall back into the routine of school.
And with the Quidditch season fast approaching, he can also feel his anticipation growing. Soon the first scheduled Ravenclaw training session is only a week away, which makes him even more excited (and his friends - mainly Jongdae - annoyed if his eye-rolling every time the word Quidditch is uttered is anything to go by).
Minseok is sitting in the Great Hall waiting for Jongdae to finish his breakfast, when he sees his team captain approaching, his expression a mixture of annoyance and something Minseok can’t quite name, but since he’s heading his way he’ll find out what it is that’s bothering him soon enough.
“Looks like Slytherin has a new seeker, or so I heard,” is all he says when he arrives at his side.
“Oh, really? Who is it?” Minseok replies nonchalantly without looking up from The Daily Prophet he’s reading.
“I have no idea. They just found him this week, so maybe it’s one of those last resort cases but on the off chance this isn’t the case I wanted to inform you about it. Maybe you can snoop around a bit - aren’t you close to some Slytherins?”
Minseok looks up from his newspaper. He isn’t particularly close to anyone from Slytherin, so it isn’t like he can just ask around.
“Well, his biggest fan is sitting next to him in Potions,” Jongdae chimes in and grins.
“Oh is that so? Snooping around it is then. Good luck! And remember, it’s all for the team!”
“Wait!” Minseok shouts, but it doesn’t matter, his captain is already out of hearing distance. Typical.
“What was the point opening your mouth just now?” Minseok asks Jongdae, who seems to be just seconds away from bursting out in laughter.
“Isn’t it obvious? To see you suffer. And the two of you seem to get along just fine, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Jongdae replies with a wink.
“What the hell, Jongdae, having civil conversations while working on our projects counts as “getting along fine” now?” Minseok nearly shouts.
“Is that a blush I see? Awww, how adorable, too bad the others aren’t here to witness this special moment.”
“I’m going to destroy everything you love if you don’t shut up about this. I mean it! Don’t think I wouldn’t do it,” Minseok threatens, but Jongdae doesn’t seem to take him seriously, as evidenced by the fact he just gets up and shrugs as if to say ‘sure you’ll do that just like the other 100 times you said the exact same words to me’.
“You wouldn’t do it even if you had a good reason for it,” Jongdae has the audacity to say. And as if that wasn’t enough he has a bright smile on his face. Damn Jongdae and everything he knows about him.
“Oh, looks like we have Potions now. Guess who also has Potions now? Your lovely seatmate who happens to be your one-way-ticket to some sort of relevancy in your Quidditch team for having top secret insider information. Good luck, Minseok!”
And before Minseok can say anything, Jongdae dashes out of the Great Hall laughing. He doesn’t even seem to care about all the strange looks he gets for that.
“Why am I always the entertainment channel for everyone? That seems hardly fair,” Minseok whispers to himself and sighs before he gets up to join his friend in the dungeons.
~
“So,” Minseok starts awkwardly while stirring their cauldron. For the last couple of minutes since the lesson started they hardly spoke anything besides the usual greetings and how are yous. It’s not like they usually talk a lot with each other, but today neither of them seem to be in the mood for talking.
Lu Han looks up from his potion’s textbook, an interested look on his face. “So...what?”
“You don’t happen to know who your Quidditch Team’s new seeker is?” Minseok asks. He figures that just outright saying what he wants is better than beating around the bush. And it looks like he was right about it judging from the knowing kind of look on Lu Han’s face.
“Of course I do. I know everything that’s going on in my house,” he proudly answers. “But why would you be interested in that, I wonder?”
Minseok doesn’t miss the slightly teasing tone in Lu Han’s voice and wonders where he went wrong. Sure, he wanted to know who his new rival would be as much as everyone else but it’s not like he couldn’t go on with life without this kind of knowledge either. Damn at Jongdae and his team captain’s infuriating talent to convince him to do things he’d rather not do, but it’s not like he can go back now. One short glance in Jongdae’s general direction also tells him that he is watching him. He also pretends he didn’t see the thumbs up Jongdae sends his way as some form of encouragement.
“Nevermind, just tell me what to do next so we don’t mess up this potion,” Minseok replies and focuses his attention back on the cauldron-stirring.
“You’ll find out soon anyway, so why would I ruin the surprise for you?” Lu Han asks and goes back to studying the steps in his textbook. Not without sending Minseok a knowing smile of course.
“If you say so, I’ll try to act as surprised as possible then, just for you,” Minseok replies and rolls his eyes.
“That’s the spirit, please practice a lot!” Lu Han plays along and throws another set of ingredients into the cauldron.
~
Finding out soon happens to be the next day. Minseok didn’t expect it, but he forgot something in the locker rooms from his team’s training session which is why he heads off to the pitch in the first place.
And just as he’s about to leave the room, the door suddenly swings open to reveal none other than the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Just his luck.
“Oh look who we have here, if it isn’t the magnificent Ravenclaw Kim. You’re not here to spy on our team to report back to yours, are you?” one of them asks. He seems nice, even if his way of talking and his tone suggest otherwise.
“As if,” Minseok returns with a smile. He isn’t going to let their attempts of starting something get to him. He’s past this. “Besides I didn’t even know you had your training scheduled after ours, so the joke’s on you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do.”
He pushes past them but then his eyes fall on someone familiar. Someone very familiar even who smiles at him.
“Hey, Minseok,” Lu Han says, a little unsure maybe, though Minseok can’t be too sure about that since he can count the number of times he’s seen Lu Han act unsure of something with one hand. Not that they are suddenly best friends or anything, but Minseok isn’t as unperceptive as people (mainly Jongdae) claim he is.
“What are you doing here?” is the first thing he asks, even though by now he has a good guess as to why he would find Lu Han amongst the Slytherin Quidditch Team.
Lu Han scratches his head as if he was embarrassed, but quickly stops to answer. “Well, you weren’t really supposed to find out this way, but I guess it doesn’t really matter one way or another. I’m on the team now,” he proudly answers with a grin.
Minseok raises an eyebrow skeptically. “That’s… good, I guess. I didn’t even know you played, or at least you never mentioned it before.”
“Aren’t you going to ask which position I play?”
“It’s really not that difficult to guess, since to my knowledge there was only one position open in the first place. This also means that from this day onwards we’re rivals, so goodbye for now. See you in potions, I guess? And on the pitch from time to time.”
Minseok leaves before Lu Han can say anything else.
~
“That’s what you told him? Oh my god, Minseok, can you be any more dramatic about these things?” Jongdae laughs at Minseok and isn’t even ashamed of his volume level. The other Ravenclaws in the common room don’t seem to be as into the noise though, as they send him disapproving glares.
“Did you even listen to anything else I told you? I can’t believe the nerve of this guy! I bet he isn’t even any good, but this just proves that anyone can call themselves a seeker these days!” Minseok continues his rant.
“And how does that make you really feel? Come on, let it all out,” Jongdae cheers on but it is clear even to Minseok that he doesn’t really mean it.
“Jongdae, there is no time for your jokes. Can’t you see how serious this is?” he asks.
“Man, calm down. It’s just Quidditch. The world isn’t going to stop just because your new boyfriend is now your rival. Think about the possibilities….”
“Oh my god, Jongdae, shut up! You’re not making any sense!” Minseok interrupts and storms off to his dormitory, leaving Jongdae behind.
“Yup, all in a day’s work for Kim Jongdae. This always does the trick,” he says to himself with a satisfied grin as if teasing his friend is the highlight of his day. In a way this is true, he thinks leaning back in his seat. Of course it’s then that Minseok returns looking a lot more furious than before.
“Oh, and before I forget, he’s not my boyfriend. In what sick world would that make sense?” Minseok says.
“Are you sure about that? It took you a long time to realize that,” Jongdae laughs. Getting a rise out of Minseok has never been easier and funnier.
“You suck. No one even asked for your opinion in the first place!”
And with that Minseok storms off again leaving Jongdae cackling.
~
The next potions class can only be called awkward, at least in Minseok’s opinion. He hardly says anything to Lu Han unless it has to do with the subject.
“So, are you going to ignore me all the time now? It seems a bit hard to work on projects together without talking,” Lu Han says conversationally without looking up from studying the instructions in his potions book.
“Okay, let’s talk then,” Minseok says. “I mean, I don’t know what’s left to say now, but go on.”
“For starters, you seem a bit angry at me for trying the Quidditch thing. I do wonder why.”
“But I’m not angry or anything,” Minseok says and it is kind of true, he got over it after talking to Jongdae.
“Are you sure about that? You seem pretty angry to me.”
Minseok sighs. “You only say that because you haven’t seen me when I’m really angry. Truth is, I was really surprised to see you on the field, because I never thought that you’d be interested in Quidditch enough to try this. I don’t know how you made it because I don’t think that you’d be that good to get on the team considering your team’s former seeker was really good.”
“Wait, why are you so convinced I’m not good? You’ve never seen me play,” Lu han says and sounds pretty offended.
“Exactly.”
“You know what? I’m going to show you just how good I am. Next week is our first game. Come and watch and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”
Minseok doesn’t know where that sudden bout of confidence came from, because he has never seen it on Lu Han before. Minseok suddenly feels something unwanted, but he’s not going to entertain that thought for now. When he looks at Lu Han to reply, he sees him looking at him in a very determined way. As if he has to prove something not only to himself, but to Minseok as well, which confuses Minseok a bit.
“Sure, you do that. Can’t wait,” Minseok replies then.
“Oh, you don’t believe me then, okay. Why don’t we make it a little bit more interesting then. How about a bet?”
Minseok raises an eyebrow. He’s not sure if he likes that idea, because he usually has bad luck when it comes to bets. He then notices that Jongdae slided over to their table without anyone noticing.
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I heard the magic word ‘bet’ and I just had to see what this is all about. You know me,” Jongdae grins and winks.
“So, say if I catch the snitch before my opponent, you are going to go on a date with me,” Lu Han then says with a mischievous smile and winks himself.
“Oh, I like that,” Jongdae comments and gives Lu Han a thumbs up.
“Yeah sure, I don’t,” Minseok says and rolls his eyes. Of course that would be Lu Han’s main motivation. “What if you lose?”
“Ah, straight to the point, that is our Minseok,” Jongdae can’t help but say.
“Please stop.”
“Well, in that case, I leave you alone? I don’t know for how long, but I definitely will,” Lu Han says.
“How about for the rest of our time in Hogwarts? Doesn’t that sound appealing to you as well?” Minseok asks innocently, even though the look Lu Han is throwing at him seems to be telling enough.
“So what do you think? Does that sound fair to you?” Lu Han asks.
“I don’t know why I’m agreeing to this, but let’s see what you can do.”
“You definitely won’t regret it,” Lu Han says, suddenly the definition of determination.
“Oh, I definitely will,” Minseok replies and goes back to the neglected potions assignment,
“Do you always have to ruin a perfect moment like that?” Jongdae complains, even though Minseok knows he is secretly thrilled over this turn of events.
“Don’t you have an assignment you should be doing instead, Kim Jongdae?” asks the teacher at that moment.
Minseok can’t help but laugh at his friend’s misery. But what can you do when you more than deserve it.
“Laughing suits you more than frowning, if I may say so,” Lu Han says.
“Okay, thank you?”
Minseok doesn’t miss the faint blush on Lu Han’s face and almost blushes himself when he realizes that he was complimented. Though he refuses to think about it more than necessarily.
~
The day of Lu Han’s first match comes sooner than Minseok would have liked. Lu Han’s confidence in himself only grew stronger day by day, much to Minseok’s confusion. From what he knew the Slytherin team’s first match was against Hufflepuff and while their seeker, Oh Sehun, didn’t look like a big obstacle to a sure win, he had an impressive ratio of caught snitches (which didn’t always make their team the automatic winner). One could never be so sure about the Hufflepuff team, Minseok himself had a couple of close calls when it came to them.
Lu Han however didn’t seem like he was afraid of losing anytime soon though. Instead of not bothering Minseok, he found a way to get into Minseok’s personal space as often as possible asking things like ‘what do you like to do on a date?’. By the time the match came closer Minseok almost lost his patience with him, but luckily for him, he didn’t see him all day the day before the match and the day of the actual match.
~
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Minseok says as he watches both teams soar into the air and get into their respective positions.
“Well, you are always so competitive when it comes to bets even though you have the worst luck. I honestly don’t know how and why you do it,” Jongdae answers, just as the shrill sound of the whistle announces the start of the game.
“I don’t know either, trust me.”
“Maybe you secretly want to go on a date with Lu Han though, so your subconscious made you do it. Wouldn’t that be funny?”
“Haha, very funny,” Minseok dryly answers. “Or maybe my subconscious is sick and tired of Lu Han’s constant advances so it decided that the bet where he told me he’d leave me alone sounded like the best idea of the century and ran with it.”
“Keep telling yourself that, my friend.”
Minseok ignores him and focuses back on the game. Just in time to see the Hufflepuff chasers score a nice goal for their team. Minseok nods in appreciation, because good moves deserve recognition.
“Ugh this is boring, I don’t know why I’m even watching this,” Jongdae says after a while when nothing of importance happens (to him the only important thing would be who catches the snitch in the end, Minseok thinks).
“You want to see me lose a bet. Which makes you the worst best friend in the universe by the way. I hope you’re happy with that,” Minseok reminds him and rolls his eyes. Jongdae grins at that and shows a peace sign.
“Doesn’t it bother you that we haven’t seen much of both seekers so far? It can’t be that hard to catch that damn snitch,” Jongdae complains again.
“Spoken like a true Quidditch enthusiast. Maybe you found your calling, my friend,” Minseok replies and laughs.
“Stop making fun of me. I guess I’m just spoiled from your games, because they are more entertaining for me,” Jongdae counters and flutters his eyelashes in a mocking way.
Just then Lu Han stops in front of them which confuses them both, especially when Lu Han quickly reaches out to catch something. Not a minute after that the game is over and Lu Han grins.
“Looks like I just caught the snitch. Do you think it was a coincidence it kept on fluttering above you?” Lu Han says while still sitting on his broom. “Wait, don’t tell me you didn’t notice. And you’re saying I’m a bad seeker? I’m honestly looking forward to our game then.”
With that he joins his teammates on the ground and lets himself be celebrated. Minseok watches the scene and raises both eyebrows when he realizes what this means for him.
“You were never lucky with bets after all,” Jongdae whispers and from the looks of it hardly can stop himself from bursting out in laughter.
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice the snitch. How cliché is that?” Minseok whines.
~
On the next day Minseok is not sitting at his usual place during breakfast, but sits with Oh Sehun and Kim Jongin, Gryffindor seeker, instead. It’s not like they are super close, but they are friendly with each other. Somehow it became tradition to meet up after games which is why they find themselves in a heated discussion of yesterday’s game.
“I can’t believe you didn’t catch it, Sehun, the victory was almost yours. You were basically robbed!” Minseok tells Sehun, who just shrugs.
“Losing one game isn’t the end of the world, hyung,” Sehun replies.
“But it is for me,” Minseok says.
“Wow, I didn’t know you cared so much about our team. I’ll make sure to beat you at our next game then,” Sehun counters and grins.
“That’s not what I meant-”
“Ah, there you are!” Lu Han interrupts then and runs over to them. “I can’t believe you started without me!”
“I don’t remember you being invited,” Minseok murmurs and feels a little bad about it when he hears Sehun and Jongin’s scandalized gasps.
“Harsh, hyung. Lu Han is a seeker like we are, he has a right to be here,” Jongin argues
“I didn’t mean it like that. You know that, right?” Minseok says.
“I don’t even care to be honest. I’m in such a good mood since yesterday, not even your mean words can bring me down,” Lu Han says slyly and winks.
“All because of a win? Wow, maybe I should take winning more seriously then,” Jongin replies.
“You take it serious enough. Don’t worry about your dedication to our noble sport,” Sehun says and while this could have been taken as inspirational, the monotone voice he spoke it with definitely doesn’t.
“You know what? I have to go. I just remembered I have an essay that I need to write. So please continue without me,” Minseok says then and quickly leaves.
“What it is with him? He’s been strange ever since the game yesterday. I wonder what happened,” Jongin wonders out loud to no one in particular.
“Who knows,” Sehun replies.
Lu Han just smiles knowingly and continues with his breakfast.
~
The next time Minseok meets Lu Han is in the library of all places. He did have an essay to write, so it wasn’t completely made up. He was also surprised to see Lu Han with his school supplies.
When Lu Han stops before Minseok’s table, he smiles.
“You’re not avoiding me again, are you?”
“No, why would I? As you can see, I’m really busy,” Minseok answers and points to the rolls of parchment in front of him.
“In that case, can I sit with you? I have a couple of things to write as well. We could even help each other out if you wanted to,” Lu Han asks.
Minseok is about to just say no to Lu Han’s request, but in the end surprises himself by offering some space for him. Lu Han looks surprised himself as he sits down. They work in silence and this time it isn’t awkward at all, Minseok thinks. In fact it’s quite comfortable and he thinks he might like this. Glancing in Lu Han’s general direction tells him that he might also like this, but that doesn’t really surprise him. It’s kind of funny actually, because Minseok would have never thought that one day he’d be sitting in the library with Lu Han of all people without the urge to disappear immediately. Minseok might also get used to something like this. Admitting it to himself is the first step.
“I didn’t get to tell you this the other day, but you did play quite well,” Minseok says after a while. “Good job, I really didn’t think you could actually play.”
Lu Han looks up, disbelief written all over his face. It’s clear to him that this is something he’d never expected Minseok to say.
“Thank you….I guess,” Lu Han replies and tries to hide his face, even though Minseok can still see a faint blush.
“That doesn’t mean that you’ll stand a chance against me though. Just because last year was an exceptional good year for your team, doesn’t mean that it’ll be the same this year. Mark my words!”
“Your friend is right, you do know how to ruin moments,” Lu Han says with a pout.
“Stop listening to that jerk of a friend, he knows nothing!”
Lu Han laughs a little at that and then goes back to his essay.
With that the comfortable silence is back again. They even finish everything they came for and go back to their respective dorms with the promises of doing it again.
And just like that, Minseok finds out, something changes in their relationship. Minseok thinks he doesn’t mind it after all.
~
Ravenclaw’s first Quidditch match is not soon after Slytherin’s first match. Their opponent is Gryffindor and Minseok smiles when he sees Jongin’s sleepy head just minutes before the game is about to start.
“Good luck! You’re going to need it,” Jongin says suppressing a yawn.
“You need to stop. Be careful you don’t fall asleep on the broom instead,” Minseok laughs.
“Well, make sure you stay on the broom yourself, my friend,” Jongin joins in laughing.
“We’re really not good with this whole trashtalking business it seems.”
“Yeah,” Jongin agrees.
“Minseok, what are you doing?! You’re talking with the enemy, think about what you’re doing and stop immediately!” the Ravenclaw captain shouts from the front and sends a disapproving glare his way.
“Let the boys talk if they want. It isn’t that serious,” comes the reply from the Gryffindor captain.
“Stop encouraging them, this is serious business!”
“No one even talks like this anymore, how about you calm down first?”
This banter goes on for a while, until both teams get the okay to enter the pitch. Minseok and Jongin are the last ones to join their teammates and they do so while still laughing about their captain’s ridiculous banter.
“Just so you know, I will not go easy on you,” Jongin says when they are getting in their positions.
“Neither will I, but you know that already!”
Jongin laughs a little.
“Hey,” he says when he looks down. “Did you know your biggest fan is back in all his glory?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see, concentrate on the whistle first!” Jongin answers. And just as he’s done talking they hear the whistle and sprint away in different directions.
While looking for the snitch Minseok soon sees what Jongin was talking about. He sees Lu Han decked in blue - his team’s colours - with huge banners that cheer him on. Minseok rolls his eyes at that - he distinctly remembers telling Lu Han not to go overboard like usually. He’s not even surprised to see that Lu Han didn’t listen. What he is surprised to see however is Jongdae next to him dressed similarly, cheering for him as well. What was that about not being interested in Quidditch at all? Minseok will never make his friend forget about this.
With that, he goes back to look for the snitch, dodging bludgers sent his way. He can’t be distracted by these two, he has a game to win after all. He absentmindedly realizes that his team is currently in the lead by a few points, but he can’t let that get to his head. Better teams have lost because of the snitch getting caught by the wrong hands. And just as he thinks that he sees a shimmer of gold near the ground. One glance at where Jongin’s currently is tells him that he hasn’t noticed yet. Good.
With that he makes a quick dive and urges his broom to go faster, just in case Jongin realizes that the game is about to end. Predictably, Jongin soon joins him, though Minseok is still ahead of him. The Ravenclaw beaters try their best to keep the bludgers out of Minseok’s way, which definitely helps him concentrate on only the snitch and nothing else (okay, maybe Jongin, too, but so far he hasn’t caught up to him just yet, so he’s all good).
He reaches forward and before the snitch can fly away again, he grabs it, making Ravenclaw the winner of the day. Minseok proudly shoves his arm in the air looking for his teammates who are all in various states of celebration. It’s good to win. Jongin gives him the thumbs-up sign, which Minseok returns with a smile on his face. This also comes with the unspoken promise of not making it this easy the next time,
Then suddenly he finds his team captain hugging him, to which his teammates join not long after that..
“Thank you for winning this, my star seeker! I knew you could do it!” he cries.
“What are you crying for? You’re an embarrassment,” Minseok tells him only to receive a stern (it backfires, since there are tears streaming out his eyes) look in return.
Same old same old, but Minseok can’t really complain about it anymore, he’s used to it by now.
~
“Hey, good game! I’m proud of you!” Lu Han tells him when he finds him sitting at the lake.
“I’m not even going to ask how you found me here, some things are better of not knowing,” Minseok replies.
“Ah, about that, Jongdae…”
“Don’t say anything else, I know where this one will end,” Minseok laughs and gestures him to sit next to him which Lu Han does.
“Don’t you think you were exaggerating your support for me a little too much today?” Minseok asks then.
“No? Why would I? If it was up to me, I’d have gone all out, but we agreed not to do it, so I had to compromise.”
“I wonder what your team has to say about your blatant support of another team,” Minseok teases with a smile.
“I don’t think they mind as long as I do my job when it matters. Besides, they don’t have to know everything,” Lu Han answers with a mischievous smile.
“Wow, aren’t you a little rebel today,” Minseok comments.
“Well...I’m your rebel, so it’s okay,” Lu Han answers.
“You did not just say that.”
“I did, and judging from your blush you quite liked it!”
“Who is blushing? Not me!”
“Don’t you think we’re past the denial phase at this point?”
“It feels like we skipped a couple of phases to be honest,” Minseok murmurs and then turns to Lu Han with a smile. “I don’t think I mind though. And I can’t believe I’m telling you this. You of all people.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s me and not someone else.”
~
The game Ravenclaw versus Slytherin happens on a bright and sunny day. Perfect flying conditions, according to Minseok’s team captain, who seems in a particular good mood today for whatever reason.
While both teams line up and wait for them to enter the pitch, Minseok tries his hardest not to look at the person next to him. This whole dating your enemy thing is still a little new for him and on match days he would rather not think about kissing no matter how tempting it might be. That doesn’t stop Lu Han from reaching out to hold his hand though and he lets him for one reason or another.
“You look good in blue, did I ever tell you that?” Lu Han whispers unnecessarily close to his ear.
“Well, you did just now,” Minseok answers with a grin.
“Good, because I’d rather do something else than play against you,” Lu Han’s mouth is still unnecessarily close and Minseok has the urge to push him away. Or blush. Or both.
“Hey, tell your seeker to stop seducing mine on match day! I know that tactic!”
“Oh, let them be. Maybe you should look for a significant other. Maybe you won’t be as uptight as you are then!”
“Who is uptight? Not me! Minseok, come here, you stand in front where you belong! I won’t let my sure victory be lost because the Slytherin team would use unfair tactics to distract my team…”
“Please stop talking, you’re embarrassing,” Minseok interrupts his team captain and this time he really blushes as he takes his place behind him.
“You owe me a date after this!” Lu Han calls from the back.
“I’ll think about it!” Minseok calls back and tries to ignore the disapproving looks from his team captain.
And just in that moment they are called to the pitch.
~
(Ravenclaw wins in the end which led to a lot of tears being shed (mostly by Ravenclaw’s team captain, which he later vehemently denies).
As for Lu Han and Minseok, they got their date.
“You let me win on purpose, didn’t you?” Minseok accuses over a bottle of butterbeer.
“I did not. Why would I do that?” Lu Han denies.
“Because!”
“That is supposed to be an argument?”
Minseok raises a brow.
“Okay, maybe I was a bit distracted by you flying past me. I’m only human after all. Am I supposed to apologize now if my hot boyfriend distracts me from properly doing my job? Which by the way doesn’t mean I let you win, thank you very much!”
“You’re such an idiot sometimes!”
“Well, I’m…”
“No, don’t say it!”
“...your idiot!”
“Okay, you idiot. Maybe I should just kiss you then!”
And so Minseok does.)