Chapter Text
Byun Baekhyun sure is sneaky.
From the way his lips twist into a sarcastic smile to the way he leans back and enjoys himself — it's true, Slytherin Baekhyun just loves playing mind games, especially when it's the shy Hufflepuff Kim Jongin and the socially awkward Ravenclaw Do Kyungsoo.
After six months of unsatisfying boredom, far far away from the magical school of witchcraft and wizardry, the brown-haired Slytherin couldn't wait to finally come back and do what he loves to do the most. Pulling pranks on the other students.
Right now, he watches the shitstorm in front of him unfold.
"D-Did you do that?" Kyungsoo asks with a trembling voice.
"No, I didn't!" Jongin's eyes are big and sparkling. "I don't even know how to do such a spell, I swear!" Of course that dumbass can't, I had to practice for ages for that spell to work!, he thinks.
The other students gathered around the two wizards, everyone looking just as curious and amused as Baekhyun does. The Hogwarts Express was driving through a forest in the meantime, rain drumming against the windows of the gigantic train, but Baekhyun couldn't bother, he was too intrigued by the funny act in front of him.
"Do you want me to ... do something about it?" Jongin asks, eyes constantly gazing from Kyungsoo to the wand in his hand. "I'm so sorry!"
Kyungsoo forces himself to stay calm, after all, it takes a lot to actually get angry at someone as innocent as Kim Jongin. "No, it's o-okay." He says, but he sure as hell doesn't look like it. Baekhyun silently giggles to himself.
It was a good idea to smuggle the Green-O-Frogs with him to the Hogwarts Express.
After secretly interconverting Jongin's boring Fizzy Wizzy's with his own self-made Green-O-Frogs, he just waited for the things to take their turn. He couldn't possibly know that Jongin would offer his Fizzy Wizzy's to Do Kyungsoo, who then assumed that it was Jongin's fault. Oh, things were just going so well. And now Kyungsoo's face was green and nobody knew that it was Baekhyun after all.
Well, that wasn't quite true.
"Okay, what did you do to that poor guy?"
Baekhyun didn't even notice that his friend Kim Jongdae was standing next to him until he dared to speak up. "Oh, it's nothing."
"His face is green!"
"So? Remember when I made Yixing fart for twelve hours straight? Fun times."
"No, that wasn't funny it was disgusting." Jongdae sighs, now facing the Slytherin again. It was a rare thing for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to just get along, but Baekhyun and Jongdae make it work. "Kyungsoo looks really uncomfortable Baek, do something about this mess."
Baekhyun rolls his eyes, his arms still crossed in a mocking manner. "Calm down, Dae", he smirks. "I have everything under control."
"Yeah", Jongdae gazes at a nearly crying Kyungsoo and a puppy-like Jongin, freaking out because he doesn't know what to do with a green Kyungsoo in front of him. "Definitely under control."
"Okay okay okay", Baekhyun says. "It's not my fault they can't take a silly joke!"
"But you just had to pick the most insecure students at Hogwarts for you silly joke, hadn't you?" Jongdae looks angry now, throwing a deathly stare at the Slytherin. "Do. Something. About. This. Mess."
Baekhyun gives in. (He can't help it, Jongdae is just too stubborn for his own good.)
According to what Baekhyun read in the Pranking Fellow Students - Here's How! guide, Kyungsoo shouldn't stay green for longer than a few minutes (or hours), so technically there was nothing to worry about, but Byun Baekhyun wasn't entirely sneaky. He longed for his wand, ignoring the thankful expression on Jongdae's face, and just when he was about to-
"What the hell is going on? Why is that Ravenclaw kid green?"
"This can't be fucking happening right now", Baekhyun mumbles to himself, letting his wand slide back into his pants. Out of all the students that could've appeared at this very moment, why does it have to be Mr. I-Am-So-Perfect-No-One-Is-Better-Than-Me Slytherin prefect Park Chanyeol?
"I-I-I don't know!" Jongin cries out, begging for forgiveness. "I just gave him my Fizzy Wizzy's and now he's ... he's green."
"I see that", Chanyeol wore his Slytherin scarf is pride and dignity, a very cocky and superior frown on his manly face. There was a reason why Park Chanyeol was the most loved and respected student at Hogwarts — he was scary as fuck. It was no secret around the Slytherin's that Chanyeol was one of the rare heirs of the wealthy Park household; that gave him status and power. And for fuck's sake, he knows how to handle power.
"Where's the Ravenclaw prefect?" Chanyeol's deep commanding voice roars through the compartment. The other students start leaving in a hurry, having lost the fun once Chanyeol appeared. No wonder.
"He must be in another compartment", the green Kyungsoo says shyly. "I'm sorry for ... this." He points at his face and Baekhyun can't help but grin.
"You're an asshole." Jongdae snarls silently.
Chanyeol shoots a bored look at both Jongin and Kyungsoo, appearing to be so disinterested in Kyungsoo's green face that Baekhyun wonders why he applied for the job as a prefect in the first way. "Seems like someone pulled a childish prank on you."
Jongin gasps, pretending to be shocked (though he certainly isn't), while Kyungsoo nods understandingly. "Who would do that?" He asks.
"Yeah, just who?" Jongdae asks all of a sudden, making the three guys in front of them finally realize that there were two other students standing a few steps away from them. Luckily, they don't notice how Jongdae eyes Baekhyun suspiciously.
"Gryffindor, this is none of your business." Chanyeol says superficially, only staring at the red scarf that Jongdae is wearing. "And Byun, the fuck are you doing here?"
Baekhyun rolls his eyes. "I was actually trying to pee, but then I saw something green and got curious."
"Uh ... same", Jongdae probably regrets saying it the second after the words escaped his lips (and Baekhyun gave his friend a surprised look at that).
Chanyeol, obviously annoyed and bored, opens his mouth to say something ignorant and cocky, but he gets cut off by a female person entering the compartment. The girl had long wavy hair and wore the same silver and green scarf that Baekhyun and Chanyeol did. It's Kim Yoojung, another popular Slytherin girl. "Yeol, what's wrong?" She says, but Chanyeol doesn't need to answer that once she sees Kyungsoo's face. "Oh."
"Yeah, it's probably a first grader shopping at Zonko's Joke Shop."
The girl giggles. "You're helping this poor boy, aren't you, baby?"
"I can try my best but that's it", Chanyeol pats Yoojung's back and lets out a sigh. "Maybe it's not so bad that that Ravenclaw prefect is nowhere to be found. Because actually, I am the best student Hogwarts has to offer." Chanyeol smirks, looking so full of himself Baekhyun could've thrown up.
"Well, he's not wrong." Jongdae whispers before they head back to their compartment.
Professor Dumbledore holds a speech that Baekhyun isn't following (to no one's surprise), he is too hungry to sit in The Great Hall and listen to the same boring speech that the teachers repeat every year for the seventh time. You may not visit the Forbidden Forest, yada yada, You may not enter the common rooms of houses other than your own, yada yada, You may not remove books from the Restricted Section in the Library, yada yada -
Baekhyun knows those in and out.
Also, it's not like he follows the rules anyway.
He's Byun Baekhyun, after all.
"Are you sleeping?"
"No, you idiot, I am eating." Baekhyun rolls his eyes.
Kris Wu grins, showing his perfectly white teeth off. He was one of the only students at Slytherin that didn't hate Baekhyun's guts (probably because they used to attend detention together last year, and probably because he's one of the only students that Baekhyun didn't pull a bad prank on). "I am so used to seeing you sleep at weird places that it's a shocker when you're actually awake."
"Trust me, I'd love to sleep", he stares at Dumbledore and shakes his head. "Truly, I love that man, but how the hell do all of you find the motivation to listen to him repeat the same thing over and over again?"
"Well", Kris leans back confidently. "Hufflepuffs listen out of politeness, Ravenclaws listen because they don't want to miss out on something, Gryffindors only pretend to listen, and Slytherins ...", he gazes over the Slytherin table, frowning. "Seriously, who the heck listens here?"
Baekhyun follows Kris' gaze and starts counting. Not one Slytherin is actually listening to Dumbledore's speech, it seems. Some of them are talking to their friends, some are dozing off, and some are ... "wait", Baekhyun sharpens his eyes. "Where is Park Chanyeol?" ... and some are absent.
As if on cue, Dumbledore's voice gets louder; so loud that it is impossible to avoid and Baekhyun finds himself listening to the headmaster's words carefully.
"This year, it is our duty to look after those who need it. Whether it's time for us to learn to love or to forgive. It's time for all of us to finally realize that we can only win as four, whether it be Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw." Dumbledore stops for a second. "Dark times lie ahead of us. And our fight for the good is not over until they lie past us."
Baekhyun fills his plate with lots of chicken.
Yada yada yada.
"What's that, Hagrid?" Jongdae asks curiously, his eyes glued to the ... to the thing that Hagrid was playing with.
"That's a baby Venomous Tentacula, Jongdae, haven't you listened to Professor Sprout in Herbalogy last year?" Kyungsoo asks and seems genuinely shocked. "They are usualy very dangerous."
"What do you mean 'dangerous'?"
"Well", Kyungsoo starts, looking very serious and affected all of a sudden. "Their spikes are deadly. I really don't know why you would ever take that near us, Hagrid!"
"Ah", Hagrid shrugs it off, an innocent smile on his big lips. "Balderdash! They're totally harmless."
"N-No they aren't!" Kyungsoo shrieks.
"It's a baby!"
Baekhyun takes a closer look at the little (seriously harmless looking) plant in front of him. It had lots of veins and a surprisingly cute mouth. "Yeah, just wait until it grows."
"It's not staying here for that long, boy." Hagrid says, his voice sounding sad. "It's just for tonight, y'know. Professor Sprout asked me to take care of them until she prepares her Herbalogy lesson for tomorrow." He shrugs, taking a short look of the dangerous plant before turning back to the three boys. "Anyways ... why did you visit me in the first place?"
At that, Kyungsoo sighs in embarrassment. "If you haven't noticed it until now, my face is green."
Oh right! He totally forgot that!
Apparently, the jinx didn't just last for a couple of minutes, but a couple of ... months. Madam Pomfrey told Kyungsoo that he needed a balm that Hagrid had somewhere in his hut. And because Jongdae wouldn't stop nagging, Baekhyun had to admit that it was him so Jongin wouldn't cry in a corner out of guilt anymore.
"Now that you say it", Hagrid studies Kyungsoo's green face passionately. "Well boys, you should go ask Madam Pom -"
"She said she ran out of Anphritircus", Kyungsoo says 'Anphritircus' as if it is the most common word in the word. "And that you possess it."
"Oh!" Hagrid stands up (and Baekhyun hates how small he looks in contrast to the giant next to him). "I have no clue what Anphradeldus is, but it sounds familiar to something that Madam Pomfrey gave me sixteen years ago!"
Jongdae and Baekhyun exchange a short look.
"First of all, it's Anphritircus." Kyungsoo corrects.
"First of all, maybe you should stay green forever", Baekhyun adds sarcastically.
"... and secondly, is something that she gave you sixteen years ago still useful?" Kyungsoo asks, ignoring the bratty comment of Baekhyun.
"Honestly Hagrid, I don't think you will find it if it's so old." Jongdae says truthfully. "I mean ... it could be anywhere."
Hagrid chews on his upper lip, thinking carefully. "You're right, Jongdae, absolutely right ... I mean, I could try, but I'm not the youngest anymore, y'know. I forget almost everything ... I even forgot that I had a dog last week."
"What ... okay whatever", Kyungsoo shakes his green head. "You have to find it or I'm staying green for a long long time! How can anyone ever take me seriously like that?"
"Don' worry, boy!" Hagrid starts looking in the kitchen, opening drawers and searching for the balm inside of them. "I will find it. I know what it feels like to not get taken seriously, been through that."
Kyungsoo nods thankfully.
"Well", Baekhyun jumps up, giving Kyungsoo a pitiful look. "Seems like we can't do anything right now, we should just go -",
"You just want to go back to the dormitory and sleep, Baek." Jongdae crosses his arms. "It was you who made him become green in the first place. You can't just rush off and force him to accept the situation."
"What, do you want to watch Hagrid look for the balm until they force us to go back to our common rooms? Haven't you listened to Dumbledore earlier? We have a curfew to follow."
"Since when do you actually listen to Dumbledore's speech?"
Baekhyun opens his mouth to his defense, but Kyungsoo says something out of the blue instead. "No, he's right", Kyungsoo crosses his arms, his green face looking even more ridiculous than before (and Baekhyun truly hates himself for thinking that). "We should go back and let Hagrid look for the balm thoroughly. If we stay here, we might bother him."
"See", Baekhyun says triumphantly, being disappointed by Jongdae ignoring him.
"Are you sure?" Jongdae knits his brows, staring from Hagrid to Kyungsoo to the baby Venomous Tentacular. "I mean, we could find it way faster if we look for it together."
"But the curfew", Baekhyun sings (he swears he can hear Jongdae hiss 'shut up', but chooses to overhear it).
"I rather stay green for another day than to get expelled." Kyungsoo says. "As much as I would love to disagree with Baekhyun, he has a point." Kyungsoo and Jongdae sigh both at once. "Hagrid, I'm sorry -"
Hagrid shrugs, shaking his head. "No, it's a'right, really. Fang 'n I will look for it everywhere. Jus' trust me, a'right?"
The three wizards nod as Baekhyun already opens the door. He watches Jongdae and Kyungsoo wave Hagrid goodbye and can't avoid noticing how the Gryffindor pats Kyungsoo's back encouragingly.
Man, Jongdae really is a nice one.
Baekhyun has always thought he was a miserable person.
He first came to that conclusion when he made his little brother eat dirt at age eight and was pretty sure about it when the Sorting Head told him he was a Slytherin at age eleven. From then on, it was just everybody else telling him that he was a miserable person.
In his mother's eyes, everything he did was miserable anyway. If he would try to bake a cake, it would most likely taste miserable. And if he would come back home at the Holidays, he'd make her feel miserable.
And after a while, Baekhyun got used to the feeling of misery.
When Baekhyun made Kyungsoo turn green yesterday, he didn't feel miserable in the slightest. Not even when they were at Hagrids. No. But when he saw three Slytherins gang up against Kyungsoo at potions today, he did, in fact, feel miserable.
Because to be honest, Kyungsoo looks hilarious and god, Baekhyun would've loved to laugh out loud — but when he heard Oh Sehun laugh at Kyungsoo arrogantly, the smile drained from his face. Sehun was a douchebag. Always selfish, always arrogant, always bullying. And for some reason, no one bothered to stop him. Students just let Oh Sehun walk around and attack whoever he pleases to attack.
"Oh wow, his face is green", Baekhyun rolls his eyes as if it was totally-not-funny, (even though it totally was). "For how long do you want to milk that joke out, Sehun? It's annoying."
The class falls silent.
Ravenclaws and Slytherins have potions together this year, and Baekhyun is glad that Professor Snape isn't here to listen to their conversation yet. Sehun stares at Baekhyun in confusion, almost as if he's disappointed in him for backing a non-Slytherin up. "Wha -", Sehun never finishes whatever it is that he wants to say as he turns back to see who the sudden hand belongs to that rests on his shoulder.
Baekhyun rolls his eyes immediately.
Park Chanyeol appears behind his fellow friend Oh Sehun, the same confident and superior smile on his stupid face as always. He lets out a muffled sigh, letting his head fall back casually. "Looking for trouble again, Byun?"
"Not at all", Baekhyun says. "I just want your friend to stop bothering my friend, that's it."
"Your friend? Since when is that Ravenclaw your friend?" Sehun asks, scoffing.
Chanyeol's red lips twist into a self-satisfying smirk and Baekhyun really doesn't know where he takes all that stupid confidence from. "I don't think Sehun was bothering him. After all, he's wearing our color, isn't he?" The Slytherins behind Chanyeol clap in enthusiasm once they notice that Kyungsoo's green face and silver gloves match their house-colors. "Is he bothering you, Kyungsoo?"
Kyungsoo stares from Baekhyun to Chanyeol, obviously feeling uncomfortable in his skin. As so often, Park Chanyeol uses his dumb 'prefect' status to get what he wants. "No, I don't feel bothered." He says, even though it is clear as crystal that he fucking is.
"There you have it", Chanyeol lets himself fall on a free chair, hands behind his head.
Baekhyun shoots an angry stare at Kyungsoo. Was he really that afraid of Chanyeol and his dumbo-ears? Why was everybody allowing that prick to do whatever he wants? Why was nobody coming for Kyungsoo's defense other than him? Why wasn't even Kyungsoo himself coming for his defense?
After all, Chanyeol wasn't that scary.
"That little kid totally ruined it all for me", Sehun sighs dramatically, his long, slender fingers pointing to where Baekhyun sits. "I'm not in the mood to make fun of that green boy anymore."
"I just don't understand", Yoojung, Chanyeol's alleged girlfriend, whispers. "I thought he was the one that made the Ravenclaw become green in the first place?"
At that, all the students turn to Baekhyun.
"You?" Chanyeol grins, surprised in a mischievous way. "So that's why you feel the need to protect that kid? Because you are the childish wizard that pulled a prank on him?"
("Not surprised", someone whispers.)
"So fucking what?" Baekhyun tries his best to stay calm, even at a situation as embarrassing as this in which everyone was staring at him in curiosity and hatred. "Kyungsoo forgave me and I regret it, it's all good."
The Slytherin's laugh.
"How the fuck can you be a Slytherin, Byun Baekhyun?" Chanyeol eyes him with his I-Am-Way-Better-Than-You (And-You-Know-It) facial expression, brows arched, lips twitching into a smile. "You're a fucking kid, still. A dumb Hufflepuff, maybe. An idiotic Gryffindor, maybe. But it truly is a pity to have you sit with us at the Slytherin table every day ... pulling your immature pranks on other students and not even noticing how nobody fucking likes you."
"You're useless, Byun."
Now, students gasp and whisper hysterically.
Everyone expects Baekhyun to flip his table in anger, to jump up and jinx Chanyeol, to run away and cry his eyes out (duh, he would never) — but that isn't the case. Instead, Byun Baekhyun smiles. He takesa deep breath, enjoying the looks of plain disappointment on the other student's faces. "You'll regret that, Park", he says calmly, the smile still sitting on his small face. "And you'll take it all back."
Yeah, Baekhyun is totally used to the feeling of misery.
"No more pranks?"
"Yup."
"No more sleeping in class?"
"Yup."
"No more childish jinxes?"
"Yup."
"No more making fun of other people?"
"Well ... -"
"Baekhyun!"
"Well, okay, no more making fun of other people."
"That is ... incredible", Jongdae jumps up and down in excitement and Baekhyun rolls his eyes, already feeling the need to make fun of Xang Yixing who accidentally bumps into Do Kyungsoo. (Idiots.)
Kyungsoo apologizes and quickly runs towards Jongdae and Baekhyun. "Hey, look at my face!"
"It's ... orange?! What the hell?" Jongdae blinks.
"Hagrid sent me an owl yesterday, asking me to come visit him in his Hut because he found the Anphritircus in one of his closets." Kyungsoo seems excited and the look on Jongdae's face is truly amazing. "I guess since it's so old, it heals differently. My face was purple yesterday. Madam Pomfrey said it's only natural for it to turn orange and yellow before the jinx washes away for good."
"Uh ... I mean wow, didn't think that Hagrid would find it."
"At least now you don't look like a Slytherin mascot anymore", Baekhyun remarks and Jongdae quickly kicks him in the guts at that comment. "Ouch, - I mean ... I am glad."
Kyungsoo smiles. "Yeah, and the others seem to have gotten used to the weird color on my face as well. It's not half as embarrassing as it was yesterday anymore."
"Yeah ... it really ... it really does look better." If there's one thing that never fails to amuse Byun Baekhyun, it's watching his Gryffindor friend Kim Jongdae try to lie, and granted, he is a very very very very bad liar. "I mean, h-how long will it take to wash out anyway?"
Kyungsoo shrugs. "In the worst case scenario, a few months." He glares at Baekhyun, this time not half as angry as before. "Oh, and by the way, t-thank you Baekhyun. For ... for what you did in potions."
Baekhyun wants to wave it off, but curious little Kim Jongdae widens his eyes in interest already. "What did that jerk do?"
"H-He helped me with a couple of Slytherins." Kyungsoo turns all shy and timid at the thought of Chanyeol and Sehun, his orange face flushing red and Jesus Christ, it just looks so absurd.
"He did what?!"
Baekhyun rolls his eyes. "Don't act like I've never been nice before."
"No, but isn't it weird that you suddenly want to stop with the jinxes and everything else and are being kind to Kyungsoo in addition?"
"Baekhyun wants to stop jinxing us?" Yixing, obviously recovered from bumping into Kyungsoo, runs towards the three boys and smiles as if it was the best thing that has ever happened to him. "Is this true?"
"Yes!" Jongdae starts getting happy for no damn reason again.
"It's finally happening!" Yixing cries out. "That farting jinx was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me in my life before, I swear!"
"Y-Yeah", Kyungsoo admits. "And nobody wanted to sit next to you for half a year, even though the jinx stopped after one day."
"That was fucked up." The three boys nod — Baekhyun sighs.
Their classes begin in ten minutes and the four boys stand close to the Green Houses, waiting for Professor Sprout to open the door and force them to listen to her lecture about Snargaluffs for way too long. But right now, Snargaluffs sound better than standing here and listening to Jongdae and Yixing talk about how great this year will be now that Baekhyun finally grows up.
They sound just like Chanyeol.
Was it really that childish of him to jinx Kyungsoo into becoming green? Or to make Yixing fart nonstop? Or that one time where he jinxed Jongdae into saying everything that he thinks out loud? (man, that was really amazing, especially when Jongdae told Snape that he should wash his hair.)
"But what changed?" Jongdae asks, now facing Baekhyun kindly. There he was again, the understanding, always accepting Gryffindor, that always tries his best to help whoever he can help. "After all, the jinxes weren't completely rubbish. Some of them were really funny."
Yixing nods. "Some of them were useful, too."
"And it takes a lot of intelligence to create those spells. I think that is really admirable." Kyungsoo says plainly, already forgetting about his orange head. "I couldn't do that just by reading through magical books."
Baekhyun isn't quite sure if he deserves his friend's nice words, but he takes them anyway. "It's childish", he lies. Chanyeol said it's childish. He said Baekhyun isn't a real Slytherin. He said it's immature. He's right. "I should grow up, that's what it is."
"O-Okay", the three boys seem to be overwhelmed by Baekhyun's mood swings, nodding in sync. "But what the hell happened?!" Jongdae asks.
"Nothing."
"Baek I know when something's on your mind! I've been knowing you for twelve years now, you can't fucking fool me!"
"It's nothing, Jongdae."
Jongdae sharpens his eyes suspiciously.
Kyungsoo suddenly raises his soft voice, afraid of saying something wrong. "Is it because of ... Park Chanyeol?"
Damn it.
"WHAT?"
"Of course not!" Baekhyun pretends to find this funny. "Ha-ha-ha, what the hell, of course it's not because of him."
Kyungsoo clears his throat awkwardly. A long silence follows.
"So it is because of Chanyeol, huh", Jongdae figures.
"What ... - haven't you ... haven't you heard what I just said?!" Baekhyun snaps.
Jongdae ignores Baekhyun, turning to Kyungsoo again. "What did Chanyeol tell him? Was he being mean?"
"Well", Kyungsoo gives Baekhyun an apologetic look before facing Jongdae again. "After Baekhyun came to my defense, Chanyeol started picking on him. You know how he is when someone dares to disagree with his opinion ... he was just being a douchebag, telling Baekhyun that nobody likes him and his pranks, but that isn't true of course!"
Yixing intuitively lays his arm around Baekhyun's shoulder, and even though he would never admit it, it was kind of nice to have someone embrace him in some sort of skinship, even if that someone was Xang Yixing; the funny Hufflepuff that always seems to fall asleep. "Yeah, but I didn't care anyway," Baekhyun says quickly. "'s not like I mind."
"So it's just a coincidence that you want to change your ... your lifestyle shortly after listening to Chanyeol criticise it?" Jongdae asks sarcastically, eyeing Baekhyun. "Come on Baek, I know that's not it. In fact, we all do. Who the hell cares what that jerk says anyway? No need to please him, you know."
"You don't get it", Baekhyun sighs, giving in as so often. "It's not about pleasing Park Chanyeol", he explains. "it's about proving him wrong."
It's midnight and the Slytherin common-room is quiet, only the dabbling of the water lapping against the windows keeps Baekhyun awake. He had always loved this; the green light, the stone walls, the Great Lake surrounding them. He feels the most magical when he is here.
The brown-haired boy picks his wand and stares at it carefully.
He got his wand seven years ago when he was eleven years old and met Mr. Ollivander for the first time. Good times, Baekhyun thinks, now sitting up and staring at the many magical books next to his bed. When Baekhyun was young and naive, coming to Hogwarts every year was the most beautiful thought in the whole world.
He got raised by a poor Muggle family; one that struggles with problems so pitiful that Baekhyun would love to stay at Hogwarts forever. His step-father was an alcoholic, an asshole, and Baekhyun can't spend more than a few seconds with him in the same room without casting a damn spell on him. His mom would shout "Baekhyun, stop it", but her voice would always be too weak to actually stop her oldest son from kicking that bastard over and over again. "He deserves it. He deserves it. He is a molester", but who would listen to Baekhyun's words anyway?
Humans ain't shit.
The happy, nostalgic feeling in the pit of his stomach vanishes at the thought of his family, getting replaced by many different emotions at once. Fear, hate, anger, and sadness.
Baekhyun shifts back, his eyes still glued to the wand in his hand.
Sometimes he thinks about what that son of a bitch does to his little brother when Baekhyun isn't there to protect him. He thinks about all the pain that his little brother must go through every damn year when Baekhyun enters the Hogwarts Express and leaves him behind. He also thinks about how bad he wants to see his step-father dead, gone.
"Baekhyun?"
Baekhyun looks up in annoyance, his eyes small and his brows furrowed. He must've looked angry because the first grader that approached him apologized immediately after.
"T-This is for you", he says shyly. "Someone gave me this letter and there's your name written on it ... s-so I thought maybe it's addressed to you."
"Of course it is if my name's on it", Baekhyun mutters out angrily, snatching the white letter away from the small boy. "Thanks", he forces himself to say nevertheless.
Baekhyun watches the boy go back to his bed, shutting the light off again. He sighs, only seeing the shadows of the little, oddly tiny letter in front of him. All he can see was that whoever wrote Baekhyun so neatly, it was no one that he knew. He recognizes Jongdae's handwriting anywhere, knowing it in and out (after struggling for ages to decipher the words Jongdae had written whenever he would try to copy his homework, at least), and this is definitely not Jongdae's handwriting, that's for sure.
"Lumos", Baekhyun whispers, watching as the tip of his wand illuminates.
He opens the letter carefully, expecting it to be Kyungsoo whose face now turned pink or something (he wishes that that whole color jinx would just end already).
Baekhyun sharpens his eyes once the letter is finally open, reading.
Dear Byun Baekhyun,
meet me tonight. 3 AM. The Library.
In love,
Your dearest Friend
What .... what?
He quickly rereads the text, making sure to repeat every single syllable in his head. Is that so-called dearest Friend asking Baekhyun to sneak out in the middle of the night just to meet up with somebody that he doesn't even know? It's probably just a prank anyway. Somebody clearly wants to force him into detention (which he clearly had enough of), but then again, who would write like that?
He chooses to read the letter again.
Nope.
Byun Baekhyun is not completely stupid.
He would not go there, knowing damn well that he will get expelled for it. The Library at night? What if Filch catches him? Oh hell to the no-no — he'd not go there.
Maybe, Byun Baekhyun really is stupid.
Too afraid to mutter out the word Lumos, he walks through the dark castle without being able to see anything. At least his sense of direction is good enough to lead him the way. He knows where the library is, it shouldn't take him longer than five minutes to get there from the Slytherin common room. But still, the fear of getting caught tugs at his chest. (And really, how fucking stupid is he to actually go there?)
Sadly, Baekhyun's curiosity is bigger than his anxiety.
He cautiously uses the moving staircases to enter the first floor, feeling the adrenaline rush through his blood once he's on save ground again. Why am I doing this, why am I doing this, why am I doing this, why am I -
Baekhyun shakes his head.
Because my dumbass can't handle curiosity.
Hogwarts is silent at night (and creepy as well). Baekhyun sighs internally once he recognizes the old library. Hoping that the door would open as quietly as Baekhyun would cast his spell, he whispers "Alohomora", smiling brightly as the door swings open, exposing the silent and darkened library.
At first, Baekhyun doesn't dare to take a step further into the lonely place, but after standing in front of it for a few seconds, the library gets less gloomy and mysterious. He takes a deep breath before closing the door after him.
It's dark, and whoever it was that wanted to meet up with Baekhyun here, they seem to be absent (Baekhyun dearly hopes so). "H-Hello", his voice cracks. "Is someone there?"
His voice roars through the empty library, echoing.
The only sound that Baekhyun recalls is the hysteric breathing of someone. Of someone. Not him.
"Fuck, Lumos!" He squeels, ripping his eyes open widely. "Lumos Lumos Lumos!"
Light brightens up the room and the breathing stops.
Baekhyun stares, eyes big and prepared. He expects someone to stand next to him, a wand pointed at him, his friend laughing ... just anything. But Baekhyun is wrong. There is no person standing anywhere close to him.
Baekhyun wags around hysterically, his palms beginning to sweat.
It is when his gaze wanders down and he rests his eyes on the ground when he notices the gigantic blood lake right underneath him. It was everywhere. Blood. The library was full of it.
And in the very next moment, he runs away.
He shoves the door open, not giving a fuck about Filch or anyone anymore. Baekhyun runs. He runs so fast and uncontrolled that he almost falls and trembles over a painting. Out of breath, Baekhyun stills, looking back and forth and left and right and fuck -
What the fuck?!
That could've been anything, right? Why blood? It didn't smell like blood! It could've been ... color, or some shit. Why blood? Why?
Baekhyun runs his fingers through his hair, his breathing loud and hysteric.
This has to be a fucking prank or he's going to fucking die right here.
It's not blood. It's not blood. It's. Not. Blood.
Baekhyun starts running again, trying to convince himself that damn, it's not blood Byun Baekhyun, it's ... something.
He runs and runs and runs so far away that he doesn't even know where the heck he is anymore. It feels like his sense of direction isn't as good as he always likes to believe it is, because he feels completely clueless as he finds himself standing in the middle of a tiny passageway leading into yet another passageway.
Oh shit.
Why does Hogwarts have to be so big anyway?
Suddenly, Baekhyun flinches as he hears a voice — a strangely familiar voice — roar in his ears. He hides behind a statue, visibly shaking and trembling from the earlier shock. No blood, no blood -
"I've been waiting for this for so long", someone hisses. I know that voice, I fucking know it!
"The wait was so worth it, babe." And that voice ... he knows that voice as well. But who...?
"I hate pretending to be someone that I'm not, you know", the deep voice says. "But if my family knew ... fuck, they would kill me Sehun. They would literally kill me."
"I know, I know", Sehun says (and Baekhyun tries to figure out how to escape their conversation without getting caught by them). "But that's why you have to serve You-Know-Who even more devotedly. It will make up for it." Baekhyun catches his breath, being so fucking overwhelmed by all the sudden words that his brain just can't seem to register.
You-Know-Who?
What?
"Not so loud, idiot." Baekhyun leans forward and sees the familiar face of Chanyeol wipe away a wisp of black hair from Sehun's cheek. What are Sehun and Chanyeol doing outside of the Slytherin common room at this hour?
The way they stand so close to one another is so weird, so different. Sehun licks his lips, smirking, and moves even closer to Chanyeol.
"Let's do it here", Sehun suggests, and Baekhyun's innocent mind hopes that they are talking about doing their homework or something.
"You really like the thrill, don't you?"
They giggle and -
And kiss.
Baekhyun falls back, shocked, even though he saw it coming, confusion taking over his senses. Park Chanyeol and Oh Sehun have something going on? Are gay? Are having an affair? Are talking about fucking You-Know-Who? Baekhyun gets up, his shaking fingertips holding onto his wand as if his life depends on it.
Maybe he is just dreaming.
Yeah, he is totally dreaming.
And just as he is about to rub his eyes, hoping that he would wake up then, he sees a white letter right in front of him.
Baekhyun,
Thank Me Later.
In Love,
The One That You Will Never Know