Eagle Knocker

“Did you know Minho’s first kiss was Bang Chan?” Changbin casually announced as both friend groups gathered to play chess in the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Minho played against Chan, trying to distract him from the looming second task of the Triwizard Tournament the next day.

Felix, sitting beside Minho, simmered with bitterness after losing his round against him and now had to watch Chan and Minho play.

Around them, others were engaged in their own chess matches. Changbin and Seungmin teamed up against the chess prodigy, Yang Jeongin, but after losing three times, Changbin got bored and turned his attention to Felix, deciding to tease him.

With a playful smirk, Changbin leaned back, clearly excited to see the drama unfold now that he had revealed Minho’s first kiss.

Minho, instead of dignifying either Changbin or Felix with a response, simply slapped his own forehead in frustration. While Chan just spluttered as he frantically looked back and forth between Felix and Minho before finally leveling an angry glare at Changbin. 

“Do tell more,” Seungmin said, leaning forward—of course the harebringer of chaos himself wanted to ignite the fire even more. Felix noticed Hyunjin, Jisung, and Jeongin leaning further in too, wanting to know all the details. 

“I actually don’t know much, except that it happened during our fourth year of Hogwarts,” Changbin said, continuing to smirk. “Maybe Chan and Minho could reveal more?”

Felix turned to look at the two, biting his lip to prevent any insults to slip out against Chan. He knew it shouldn’t matter, the kiss had happened over three years ago. However, that didn’t stop the jealousy bubbling within him, especially with all the rumors he had heard about the two—despite Minho clarifying that he felt nothing like that towards the elder Gryffindor. 

“It didn’t mean anything,” Chan assured as he looked at Felix. 

Minho still had his head resting on his palm, massaging his forehead in frustration. 

"Minho just wanted to learn how to kiss because he had this massive crush on—" Chan started, but Minho cut him off abruptly.

Felix's eyes widened at Chan’s words as he asked, “on who?” 

"That's enough," Minho exclaimed, gesturing wildly to halt Chan's words. "I don't need everyone in the room to hear about it."

However, as much as Felix wanted to respect Minho’s privacy, he couldn’t help but be curious about who this crush was. 

"Who did you have this massive crush on?" Felix prodded. "Was it Chan?"

"No," Minho shook his head. "Not him."

"Okay," Felix sighed in relief as he slouched back in his seat. "I don't care then. That's in the past. As long as you don't still have the same crush, we're good."

Though Felix burned with curiosity about it, he decided it would be best to leave it there, for both their sakes. After all, whoever that crush might be, Minho hadn’t chosen them, he had clearly fallen for Felix. 

However, the exchanged smirks between Changbin and Chan at Felix's words unsettled him, especially when Minho vehemently swore at both to shut up. But Felix decided that if Minho wanted to discuss it later, he would be there to listen.

For now, Felix fumed in silence, still feeling slightly jealous of Chan. It’s not like he could just stop that emotion. 

"I was Felix’s first kiss," Hyunjin declared, unprompted. Unprovoked. Unwarranted. 

Literally no one had asked him to share that information. 

Yet, there he sat, right across Jisung, sporting a smug expression. And as if he was declaring that he had just won the Triwizard Tournament himself, he proudly added, "and he was my first kiss, too."

Felix fought the urge to smack him.

This time, Minho's eyes widened as his gaze darted between the two. Jisung simply scoffed, since he already knew about it. 

"We were like eleven years old," Felix muttered. "First year at Hogwarts."

"You had your first kiss at eleven?!" Minho exclaimed. "I was fourteen and it didn’t even count!"

"Well, mine was a dare, so it doesn’t really count either," Felix admitted.

"How rude," Hyunjin huffed. "I counted it."

Ignoring him, Felix focused solely on Minho, who seemed to find the whole situation amusing, much to Felix's dismay. But then again, of course he wouldn’t be feeling jealous over a kiss that happened when they hadn’t even been teenagers yet. 

But Felix’s jealousy was completely justifiable. Because Minho had been fourteen. And being kissed by the oh so glorious boy who had been plastered on the front page of every Daily Prophet article ever since he was announced as the Triwizard competitor? The same boy who had received countless love letters and well-wishes from all over England ever since those articles began to spread?

Well…it wasn't hard to see why Lee Felix might feel a twinge of envy.

"Who dared you?" Minho asked. 

Felix had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t understood Minho’s question at first but then as soon as he realized what he was asking about, Felix couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at that. 

"You won't believe this," Felix said, pausing for dramatic effect before pointing out the very man himself, "Han Jisung."

Every head in their friend group turned to stare at Jisung, as if expecting some sort of explanation. Even Hyunjin gazed at him, waiting for an answer because they certainly hadn’t been offered anything when they had been dared that year. 

"I wanted to see if cooties could spread after being kissed by a Slytherin," Jisung shrugged.

Hyunjin appeared utterly speechless by his response. Even Felix stared at him with his jaw agape, not having expected to hear that at all.

"Cooties?!" Jeongin exclaimed. "You weren't five, you were eleven years old! What do you mean, cooties?! Only kids say that!"

"Listen!" Jisung threw up his hands in surrender. "All sorts of rumors were flying around about Slytherins when we first started Hogwarts, so I wanted to test out whether there was any truth to the talk about some kind of contagious disease being transmitted through kisses."

"Diseases?!" Seungmin interjected. "You mean infectious viral disease like Mono?! And you thought that was cooties?"

Everyone except Felix and Hyunjin erupted into laughter.

"Well, what first-year is supposed to know what Mononucleosis is?" Jisung protested. "Of course, my mind would go to the only thing I knew about at that time—cooties!"

"And you decided to test that out on me?!" Felix demanded incredulously.

“Well, no I was testing out Hyunjin,” Jisung said. “You just happened to be there.”

“I feel like I was completely justified in making all those death threats over the years,” Hyunjin said as he rubbed the sides of his forehead in frustration. “I can’t believe I stopped just because of that night during the Yule Ball. You’re so insufferable.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” Jisung said as he leaned closer to Hyunjin, lowering his voice but everyone could hear him as he said, “I wanted to test you out at that time—to know if I could safely kiss you.”

Felix’s eyes widened, bringing his palm to cover his agape jaw, before he frantically made eye contact with Jeongin and Seungmin. The trio stared at each other as they expectantly waited for Hyunjin’s response because Jisung had just revealed in his own roundabout way that he had had a crush on Hyunijn ever since first year. 

“You're an idiot, you know that right?” Hyunjin said. 

“I know,” Jisung said, smiling. 

Hyunjin stood up, circled around the table before grabbing Jisung’s arm and pulling him up as he said, “And you know that I will always hate you, right?”

“Of course,” Jisung said as he let himself be pulled up. “I will too.”

“Good,” Hyunjin said before leading him out of the common room, neither of them bothering to say goodbye to anyone. 

The remaining six friends sat there in silence for a moment but that moment was immediately broken as Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin let out the loudest squeals. Giggling and kicking their feets at what they had just witnessed. 

“Why don’t they just make themselves official at this point?” Changbin asked after they all finally quietened down. 

“They have been all over each other since the Yule Ball,” Chan pointed out. 

“I think they have made themselves official in their own ways,” Jeongin explained. 

“They've been official ever since they started calling each other their arch-nemesis,” Seungmin pointed out. 

“I see,” Chan laughed. “I forgot that arch-nemesis is synonymous to boyfriends.”

“It is to them,” Jeongin nodded.

"But enough about them," Changbin said, turning to face Minho and Felix. "Are you two official yet?"

Felix gasped and looked away, feeling his face flush bright red. He bit his lip, aware of Minho's gaze on him.

They had been fooling around for some time, but neither had really defined their relationship. They were serious about each other—Minho had made it clear from the start that he wanted more. By all accounts, they should already be calling each other boyfriends, but for some reason, they hadn't had a real conversation about it.

Before anyone could respond, a second-year student approached them, looking at Minho with the nervous apprehension of someone who had heard all sorts of rumors about him. In a trembling voice, he said, "P-Professor Flitwick is calling for you."

"Professor Flitwick?" Minho asked, surprised. "This late at night?"

"Y-Yeah," the student replied, shrinking away.

"Did he say why?" Minho asked.

"He said it was for the Triwizard Tournament," the student answered. "He mentioned it would take some time and that other students would be there too."

"The Triwizard Tournament?" Minho repeated, puzzled. "Are you sure he wasn't asking for Bang Chan?"

"Nope, he specifically asked for you."

"Alright," Minho said, standing up. The younger Ravenclaw student walked away, seemingly satisfied that he had delivered his message.

"I'll see you later, then," Minho said.

"Should I wait up for you?" Felix asked as he stood up as well.

"No, go to sleep," Minho shook his head. "You heard him, it's apparently going to take some time. I'm assuming they're recruiting some students to help with tomorrow's tournament."

"Okay," Felix leaned over and gave him a peck before whispering, "Good night."

"Good night," Minho said, returning the kiss before turning to leave.

“I should probably head out too,” Chan said, standing up. “Got a big day ahead of me tomorrow.”

Felix leveled him with a glare. 

“I swear I’m not leaving just because Minho left,” Chan protested as soon as he saw Felix’s glare. 

“That’s not why I was glaring at you, but thank you for clarifying that anyway,” Felix said. “I was glaring at you because I was debating whether or not I should say good luck to you for tomorrow or not.”

“You don’t have to,” Chan smiled. “I would do well anyway.”

“Arrogant prick,” Felix scoffed.

“You wound me,” Chan said, placing his hand over his heart in a mocking display of having been stabbed by Felix. 

Felix rolled his eyes before saying, “Minho would want you to do well or he would get sad—I don’t want him to get sad—so do well for him.”

“I will,” Chan said sincerely, but still keeping the same grin on his face. 

Felix rolled his eyes, looked at Jeongin and Seungmin to silently ask if they wanted to head to bed now. Once they got up, Felix waved goodbye to Changbin and walked out of the room. 

______________________________________________________________________

"Minho isn’t here yet for breakfast, and Chan is freaking out," Changbin informed Felix as he took his usual spot on the bench with Seungmin and Jeongin. Jisung hadn’t returned to their dorm last night. “I thought he would’ve been with you.”

“He’s not,” Felix said as he looked around the Great Hall and spotted Chan at the Gryffindor table. Other Gryffindors were cheering him on, but Chan was looking at Changbin, while also frantically scanning the Ravenclaw table, probably looking for Minho. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Changbin sighed frustratedly. “He should be here already for Chan.”

"Maybe he accidentally slept in?" Seungmin suggested while Felix continued scanning the entire room for Minho. "The Professors might have kept him up very late last night."

"Yeah, but he still wouldn’t miss being here to cheer on Chan before he has to go tackle the task," Changbin said. 

“Let me go ask Seonghwa,” Felix suggested. Seonghwa was Minho’s roommate and a fellow Ravenclaw that Felix had befriended throughout the days as each of them met up in one of the other’s rooms to hang out or fool around. He was apparently the only Ravenclaw that Minho considered as a close friend so Felix trusted him too. 

Seonghwa was sitting with his friends, engrossed in their conversation, which abruptly stopped as soon as they saw Felix approach.

Seonghwa turned and smiled at Felix. "What's up, Felix?"

"Hey, do you know if Minho is still sleeping in the room?" Felix asked. "He isn’t here, so I figured he might be sleeping through breakfast."

"Actually, I can't remember if he even came back last night to sleep," Seonghwa replied, his eyebrows scrunching up as he tried to recall. "Yeah, he didn’t. He wasn’t in the room this morning when I woke up either, so I have no idea."

Felix frowned and turned to Changbin, confused.

"I figured he must have been with you," Seonghwa added.

"He wasn’t," Felix answered. "And he wasn’t with Chan or Changbin either."

"Do you think he was up all night studying?" one of Seonghwa’s friends, Hongjoong, a Gryffindor, asked, drawing Felix's attention.

“No, he wouldn’t be tonight,” Changbin answered. “He got called by Professor Flitwick last night to apparently help out with the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.”

“Ohhh, that explains it,” Hongjoong said, as the rest of the guys sitting around him also hummed in agreement.

“What does that explain?” Seungmin asked, sneaking up behind Felix. Felix turned around and noticed Jeongin standing right behind him, raptly listening. Felix looked at the Gryffindor table and noticed Chan getting off his seat and making his way to them. 

“Why don’t you all sit here?” the Ravenclaw sitting next to Hongjoong, Jongho asked. Felix knew the guy, they were in the same year and were often paired up together for Potions classes. 

Felix looked at his friends and shrugged before settling down next to Seonghwa, who offered him another sweet smile. Despite his worry about Minho's whereabouts, Felix couldn’t help but return the smile. Seungmin and Jeongin took their seats beside him, while Changbin hopped over to sit across from Felix. Chan walked over and joined them, settling in next to Changbin.

“There’s a rumor going around that the missing people right now might be part of today’s Tournament challenge,” a Slytherin sitting next to Seonghwa leaned in to whisper. “We Slytherins saw it all happen through our windows this morning. Didn’t Hyunjin tell you?”

Felix glanced around and noticed that Hyunjin and Jisung still hadn’t joined them. He scanned the Slytherin tables and realized they weren’t there either.

“I think they were probably too busy last night to even wake up yet,” Jeongin scoffed.

“Wait!” Changbin interjected, leaning in to whisper back. “Did Wooyoung just say missing people?”

“Oh yeah,” Jongho confirmed. “Didn’t you notice Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons’ competitor, screaming at her Headmaster because she couldn’t find her younger sister?”

“Umm, no,” Felix whispered back, scanning the area where the Beauxbatons students usually sat. Only a few of them were present, huddled together and whispering amongst themselves, all looking visibly distressed.

“And then there were the two fourth-year Gryffindor boys looking quite upset because they couldn’t find their friend, Hermoine Granger,” Jongho added.

Felix looked at Chan to know what Jongho was talking about, recognition must have set in when Jungho mentioned Hermoine’s name because he turned around and looked over at the Gryffindor table and pointed at the two boys huddled together, hurriedly eating their breakfast while also looking quite worried. 

“Umm why are all these people missing? And why did we know absolutely nothing about this?” Felix asked, his heart racing in worry for Minho. 

“So, the Slytherins saw it all happen this morning through the common room window,” Wooyoung said. 

"How is that possible? The Slytherin Common Room window has a view from under the lake," Seungmin pointed out. "All you can see is the water, the fishes, and the creatures living inside the lake—nothing else."

"Exactly, we have a clear view of the lake.” Wooyoung said. “And we saw all the missing people being plunged into the lake."

"What?!" Felix screeched, his heart racing at the thought of Minho being dropped into the water of the lake, where a Giant Squid—possibly the Kraken, lived.

"Excuse me?!" Changbin hollered.

"They all looked like they were put into some kind of sleeping daze," Wooyoung continued. "The merpeople were circling around them, looking like they were protecting them from the other creatures in the water—maybe they had some sort of agreement with the Professors for the Tournament?"

"What kind of Professor even considers this as a task?" Chan finally said something, his anger barely restrained. Felix looked over at him; he looked almost ready to jump off the table and fight with the Headmaster over this. Felix sympathized with him.

"Is this why the challenge involves swimming?" Seungmin asked. "Maybe the task is to save them from the lake."

“You better save Minho,” Felix said.

“Of course,” Chan said, nodding. 

“He doesn’t even know how to swim,” Changbin wailed. 

“What?!” Felix yelped. “Tell me you’re lying!”

“I’m not,” Changbin said. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Felix said. “How dare the professors plunge a kid who doesn’t even know how to swim so deep into the waters?!”

Honestly, if Chan got up to jump the Professors right now, Felix wouldn’t mind joining him in throwing hands. He seethed with anger on behalf of Minho. How could they subject their own students to such danger for the sake of a mere competition? 

The first task, facing wild dragons, was terrifying enough—sure, there were dragon-tamers on standby, but it was still an incredibly daunting challenge. Even seasoned wizards would struggle against a fire-breathing dragon. Yet here was Dumbledore and the other Professors, seemingly unfazed by the prospect of their students confronting such danger for what was supposed to be a friendly tournament. Back then, during the first task of the dragon challenge, Felix hadn’t known any of the competitors personally. But now, with Minho in the mix, it felt different. Though Chan and him weren’t exactly friends, Felix wouldn’t wish harm upon him. And as for Minho—someone he knew far more intimately—to be dragged into the competition in such a manner was nothing short of horrible. 

“The only thing I’m glad about is that they’re all kept in a sleeping daze as this all happens,” Changbin said. “I can’t imagine how scary it would be, if they were fully conscious as they are placed deep into the water while merpeople circle around them.”

Felix gulped, desperately hoping that Minho would remain asleep throughout the entire ordeal. He didn't want him, or any of them, to witness such a traumatizing event. Hopefully, they would all remain unconscious until they were safely back on land again.

"Isn’t Fleur’s younger sister only eight years old?" Jeongin exclaimed. "She shouldn’t have been involved in this at all—she’s just a child!"

"That's absolutely terrible," Seonghwa agreed solemnly. "It should never have been allowed."

Felix couldn't understand how any of this was deemed acceptable. Weren't the Professors the ones who decided on each task of the Tournament? How could they all unanimously agree to subject students to such dangers?

Felix wished for the task to begin as quickly as possible so that they could be rescued from the lake without further delay.

“The water must be so cold too,” Felix whispered. “Hopefully they were placed there with some heating charms. Minho hates the cold.”

None of them replied to him, all too busy staring solemnly at each other. 

“Finally found you all. We’ve been looking all over for you!” Hyunjin screamed as he made his way towards them from the Great Hall’s entrance. Jisung rushed right behind him. Both of them looked quite sullen. 

“I saw Minho and two others fully submerged inside the Great Lake!” Hyunjin exclaimed as he squeezed himself in between Changbin and Felix. 

“A simple ‘excuse me’ would've been great” Changbin muttered under his breath but they all ignored him as he was pushed away. Hyunjin kept his eyes on Felix. 

“Yeah, Wooyoung here was just telling us that,” Felix said, pointing at the other Slytherin. “He said that today’s Tournament task might involve saving them or something.”

Chan suddenly hit the table harshly, causing everyone to startle and stare at him. He looked positively angry as he stood up and said, “I’m going to get ready for the tournament, anyone want to join me?”

“Yeah, I’m coming,” Changbin said. 

“Me too,” Seungmin and Jeongin stated. 

Chan waited for Felix’s response, but Felix shook his head. "I'm going to grab some blankets from my room so Minho can be warmed up immediately when he gets rescued from that damn lake. Then, I'll join you all."

Chan nodded, but before he could leave, Felix added, "You better win this and rescue him, or I'll hit you."

"Got it," Chan smiled before promptly leaving with the rest of them.

"Don't worry, Lix," Hyunjin said, wrapping an arm around Felix's shoulders and pulling him closer. "I'm sure Minho will be fine."

"He better be," Felix said, standing up to head to his room for the blankets. “You coming?” he asked the two remaining friends, who nodded and immediately got up. 

“Thank you for sharing the news with us,” Felix said to Seongwha and his friends. 

“Hopefully everything will be okay,” Seonghwa reassured. 

“I’m sure Dumbledore would ensure the safety of all the students involved,” Hoongjong said. 

“It’s the fact that Dumbledore even gave the okay for this to happen is what makes me angry,” Felix said. “I don’t want him to ensure the safety of all them while placing them under such a risky environment in the first place. And even if they are safe, it's still traumatizing enough—I can’t imagine how scared Fleur must be feeling for her eight year-old sister.”

Hoonjong nodded before Felix waved goodbye and rushed to his room with Hyunjin and Jisung. 

“Did they at least look alright when you saw them?” Felix asked as they approached the Ravenclaw Towers. 

“They were just asleep,” Hyunjin answered. “So they didn’t look like they were troubled or anything.”

Felix sighed in relief. He wouldn’t want any of them to be sleeping a distressful sleep while kept in the lake for who knows how long.  

They approached the Eagle Knocker and sighed in frustration when it posed its riddle, “What has wings but cannot fly, and guards a door with an ever-watchful eye?"

“Not a potato,” Jisung said. 

“Well reasoned,” the Eagle said before opening the door for them. 

“What the fuck?” Felix blurted out. “What do you mean not a potato? That could not have been the correct answer.”

“It wasn’t,” Jisung shrugged. “But it was well reasoned enough because it could have been anything but a potato.”

“In that theory, that response could have been well-reasoned enough for anything it asked and would have opened the door for us,” Felix pointed out as they made their way inside.

“Yeah, that’s why I have mostly been answering only that for the past six years,” Jisung said. “Have you not noticed?”

“No, I have not noticed you saying that for the past six years—what the fuck?” Felix exclaimed. “You went by all these years of Hogwarts saying, “not a potato” to the Eagle Knocker and it worked?”

"Yep, that's correct," Jisung nodded. "Although there were times when the correct answer was the potato—but as you can imagine, that’s incredibly rare."

Felix had rarely been left speechless on any topic before. But this? Felix was utterly flabbergasted. He had been berating himself all these years for struggling to answer the Eagle Knocker's riddles, yet here was Jisung, succeeding with the most ridiculous answer imaginable. Maybe Minho was onto something, maybe Felix truly was the cleverest Ravenclaw among them all. 

He had the urge to smack his own forehead in frustration, but he didn’t have time for that as he quickly grabbed a blanket from his bed, reinforcing it with additional heating charms, just in case.

"I think the correct answer was the Eagle Knocker itself," Hyunjin remarked as they exited the tower. "It has wings but cannot fly, and it guards these doors."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Jisung agreed, before mimicking the Eagle Knocker and saying, "'Well reasoned.'"

“I don’t think the Eagle would say that ‘well reasoned’ to that,” Hyunjin muttered. “I think it would say ‘correct’ before letting us in.”

“I can’t believe this,” Felix muttered as he clung onto the blanket and rushed out. Not wanting to think about how he had wasted so many years of his life lamenting over not being able to correctly answer the Eagle Knocker. He kept his thoughts solely focused on Minho and how worried he was for him instead. 

They walked outside into the field, already sporting a large crowd of students gathered around to spectate the second Tournament. 

They spotted Bang Chan, already in his swimming trunks, standing on the plank, surrounded by Changbin, Seungmin, and Jeognin. They immediately rushed over to them. 

“Apparently, they chose specific people to be placed inside the Great Lake because they’re considered the most important person to each competitor,” Changbin informed them as they walked up. “Minho is Chan’s, and he’s supposed to save him from the lake, while the rest of the competitors save those they find most important.”

Felix’s eyes widened as he let that information process inside his head. “Minho is the most important person in your life?!” He squealed out as he turned to face Chan. 

Chan avoided Felix’s gaze, sheepishly admitting, "He was my first friend at Hogwarts."

"Not Changbin?" Felix asked, wondering if there really was something that Chan felt for Minho. He absolutely couldn’t have that. 

"I met Changbin after befriending Minho," Chan clarified.

"So, that means I'm not as important as Minho, huh?" Changbin huffed. "I see how it is."

"I'm sorry, but if I had to choose, I think both of you are the most important people in my life right now, beside my family," Chan reassured. "And I wouldn't want either of you to be plunged into the lake because of that."

"I guess I should be glad that I'm not as important to you as Minho is, because at least I wasn't just dropped into the freezingly cold water," Changbin retorted. He appeared visibly upset, crossing his arms over his chest—though Felix couldn't tell how much of it was genuine and how much of it was just pure theatrics.

“Someone’s jealous,” Seungmin snickered but Felix couldn’t tell if he was laughing at Changbin or Felix at that. 

“I swear I don’t have any sort of romantic feelings for Minho,” Chan said as he turned to face Felix. 

“You see, I’m having a bit of a hard time believing you at the moment,” Felix said, narrowing his eyes at him. “You were his first kiss too! Was he yours?”

“He wasn’t my first kiss, but that shouldn’t matter,” Chan said. “I swear to you neither of us are involved like that.”

“Okay,” Felix sighed. “When you save Minho and we have to give him mouth-to-mouth CPR you’re not doing it. I will.”

“Go right ahead,” Chan said as he raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t even know how to do it.”

“You have your Gigglyweed right?” Changbin asked as he pulled Chan towards him. 

“You mean Gillyweed?” Chan asked as he took out a seaweed from his trousers’s pocket. “Right here.”

“Oh that’s what you were researching the last time I saw you at the library!” Felix recalled. 

“Yeah, it apparently gives the consumer gills, allowing us to breathe underwater, and it also grows webbing between the fingers and toes, allowing us to swim underwater with ease.” Chan said. “Apparently there isn’t much research done over its impact on freshwater vs saltwater but I’m willing to take the risk because there was nothing else that I could find.” 

Felix took a few deep breaths, trying to stay calm about Chan, the reckless Gryffindor, diving into the lake based on some risk. He had to trust him, no matter how much it made him want to freak out and get angry.

Not long after, they were told to move aside to commence the tournament. Chan swallowed the Gillyweed, gagging a bit before being ushered away.

“Welcome to the second task!” Dumbledore announced as the crowd settled down. “Last night something was stolen from each of out champions, a treasure of sorts—”

“Something?! Treasure?! It wasn’t a thing or a treasure! They’re actual human beings!” Changbin hollered, causing some students who didn’t know anything about it to gasp around them. 

“Did Professor Dumbledore say ‘stolen’?” Seungmin asked. “Isn’t that basically saying ‘kidnapping’ in a sense?”

“—These three treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the Great Lake. In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough!” Dumbldore said while Felix rolled his eyes at the audacity to call the task ‘simple’.  

“Except for this—” Dumbldore continued. “They will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they’ll be on their own. No magic will save them. You may begin at the start of the canon.” 

“N-No magic will save them?!” Felix spluttered before yelling, “Chan you better save them before that hour ends or I will personally kill you!” 

Chan was too busy getting ready to jump off the platform to have heard Felix. 

It wasn’t long before a cannon shot off and all three competitors jumped into the water. 

Felix and the rest of them cheered for Chan and leaned against the railing to look down at the lake water. 

After a minute or two, Felix couldn’t help but ask, “well, what do we do now? It’s not like we can even see them!” 

It was just a giant lake with stagnant water, no activity for them to witness. 

“They should’ve provided us with something for us to be able to view this!” Hyunjin exclaimed. “Do we all just stand around now? How stupid.”

Tired of standing around and unable to see anything through the murky water, Felix let out a silent scream of frustration before plopping down on the ground and sitting cross-legged. The rest followed suit and sat around him, except for Changbin, who remained standing, gripping the railing so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Felix sent a silent prayer up when he heard Seungmin talking about the Giant Squid that lived inside. Jisung, sensing everyone’s stress, barked for him to shut up.

“I hope they all swam towards the castle,” Hyunjin mumbled after a couple minutes of silence. “Minho and the others were plunged right next to the Slytherin windows, otherwise we wouldn’t have even been able to see anything in such murky waters.”

“Then, I hope Chan is smart enough to figure that out and swam towards that direction,” Jeongin nodded. 

Felix kept quiet the entire time as he heard his friends conversing around him. He started to get more and more irritated as the minutes passed. 

“Miss Delacour has unfortunately been forced to retire,” Dumbldore announced, causing all of them to raise their heads and look at the Professor before swifting gazing out at the water to see if she had surfaced. “So she will take no further part in this task.”

“Oh no!” Jeongin yelped. “What about her younger sister? What will happen to her?”

“Surely one of the Professors has to get the sister out now…right?” Seungmin asked, nervous chuckling. 

However, none of the professors seemed to be moving from the platform they were perched on. If they didn't do something soon, Felix swore he'd get his parents involved and sue Professor Dumbledore and the entire school. Felix didn’t like to use his parent’s pureblood status to get his way—but for this? He would use it. 

“Look! One of them is finally out!” a student shouted, prompting Felix and the others to leap to their feet and peer out over the water.

Felix gasped as he saw what appeared to be the head of a shark with a muscular humanoid body gripping Hermione Granger, who was fully conscious and gasping for breath. The shark's head swiftly transformed into that of Viktor Krum, one of the students from Durmstrang.

Felix sighed in disappointment, realizing it wasn’t Chan and Minho. He watched as Hermione and Viktor were helped out of the water by a red-head and bespectacled Gryffindor boys. Hermione seemed relatively fine, though she was trembling from the cold and coughing loudly while Krum rubbed her back in soothing circles.

“She was his date at the Yule Ball, wasn’t she?” Changbin asked, watching the interaction. “And she’s already the most important person to him?”

Felix almost gagged. “Isn’t he like 18 years old or something?”

“He is,” Jeongin confirmed.

“But she’s only fourteen!” Felix exclaimed. “Someone get her away from him.”

Felix was relieved to see Hermione leaning away from Krum, relying on the help of the two boys beside her—who thankfully looked to be her age.

“That’s disgusting,” Hyunjin noted, almost ready to intervene, but Krum, likely rejected, was already walking away dejectedly.

“Someone needs to call child protective services for multiple reasons today,” Jisung retorted.

Felix couldn’t agree more as he turned back to face the water.

“Fleur’s already out of the water,” Seungmin said, pointing in the opposite direction. Everyone turned to see her standing among the Beauxbatons crowd, a towel wrapped around her as she shivered and cried for her sister.

“She looks traumatized,” Changbin observed solemnly.

“I feel like weeping for her,” Felix said. The pressure to compete under such conditions, combined with the fear for her younger sister's safety, was unnecessarily harsh.

“Only Chan remains now,” Changbin muttered, turning back to face the lake.

“Where the fuck is he?” Felix wailed while frantically looking around. 

Hyunjin immediately took Felix’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Felix gratefully leaned into his friend's support. On his other side, Jeongin took his position and held onto Felix’s other hand, which Felix squeezed right back.

Suddenly, like cannonballs, three bodies shot out of the water and crashed onto the shore of the lake, away from where Felix and the rest of the crowd were standing. The way they landed harshly looked extremely painful.

Even from a distance, Felix recognized that brunette hair instantly. Without hesitating, he let go of his friends' hands, grabbed the blanket he had brought, and dashed through the crowd toward Minho.

“Minho!” Felix screamed as he pushed others aside and collapsed next to Minho, who was shivering in the cold and coughing up water. Felix quickly glanced around and noticed Chan in a similar state. Nearby, a young blonde girl, who Felix assumed was Fleur’s sister, was loudly crying as she also coughed out water.

Felix immediately took out his wand and cast drying charms on all of them before draping the blanket over Minho's shoulders. He wrapped himself around Minho to provide additional warmth. Minho clung to Felix, still trembling, and buried his face in the crook of Felix’s neck.

“You’re okay now. Chan saved you, and I’ve got you,” Felix reassured him softly, rubbing soothing circles on Minho’s back.

Minho nodded silently, his grip tightening on Felix.

“You’re safe now,” Felix repeated. “You’re safe now.”

Minho nodded again and pulled Felix closer, causing Felix to end up sitting on his lap.

“I thought I was going to die when I woke up underwater. I was almost drowning,” Minho whispered once his breathing steadied. “I didn’t even have my wand to help me. It was only Chan’s quick thinking that shot us right out with an Ascendio.”

And in a barely audible voice, even with their close proximity, Minho said, “And I lost your corsage.”

He unwrapped his arm from around Felix and held out his empty wrist for Felix to inspect. Felix stared at it for barely a second before looking back at the elder Ravenclaw, who was struggling to hold back his tears as he gazed at his wrist.

“Minho, I’ll just make you another one,” Felix said softly, placing his hand over the distraught elder’s wrist.

“It’s not the same,” Minho replied, his eyes glassy as he finally turned to look at Felix. “I wanted to keep it forever.”

“Minho…” Felix mumbled, pulling him in for another hug, his heart swelling. “If I could, I would kill all those Professors for doing this to you.”

Minho chuckled softly. “Please don’t.”

“How dare they do this to my boyfriend?!” Felix exclaimed, pulling back from the hug to examine Minho for any injuries.

“Boyfriend?!” Minho asked, blushing hard.

“You have no idea how worried and scared I was,” Felix said, sighing in relief when he saw that Minho was relatively unharmed. “I’m so glad you’re safe that I couldn’t care less about the corsage. I know you loved the original, but I swear I will make a hundred more for my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend,” Minho said, as if testing the word out before a wide smile spread across his features.

It took a second for Felix to register what had just happened before he was also blushing hard. 

“I’m so happy to hear that my boyfriend was worried for me,” Minho replied, squeezing Felix’s waist and pulling him closer so that their foreheads were almost touching. “But since I just got a boyfriend, I wouldn’t want my boyfriend to go around killing any Professors. It would be hard visiting my boyfriend at Azkaban—you see, I’m not very fond of Dementors.”

Felix chuckled before finally leaning in and kissing Minho. 

Minho instantly gripped Felix’s chin and lightly bit his lower lip, causing Felix to gasp. Seizing the moment, Minho slipped his tongue into Felix’s mouth, deepening the kiss. He kissed him with so much desperation and intensity, it was making Felix overwhelmed—leaving him with a dizzying sensation that left him breathless. The kiss felt like a mixture of relief, pleasure, and an unspoken understanding of their feelings for each other, intensified by the recent ordeal of the Triwizard Tournament. 

Honestly? The best kiss of Felix’s life. 

It almost saddened Felix when they had to stop kissing upon hearing their friends calling for them.

“Lix, we need to get them to the fireplace inside Hogwarts,” Hyunjin said, gently separating Felix and Minho. “Stop pouting, you idiot! He could get hypothermia.”

Reluctantly, Felix moved aside and helped Minho stand up, who rose on shaky legs.

“I’m actually quite warm right now,” Minho said and shot Felix a grin. 

“Yeah, we can tell,” Jisung muttered as he pointed at Minho’s groin. 

Felix blushed when he saw the clear indent on the elder’s pants. Minho blushed and awkwardly coughed as he tried to wrap himself furthermore with his blanket. 

Felix decided it was best to tear his eyes away from Minho and look around him. Chan was still on the ground with Changbin on one side and Fleur Delacour on the other. Fleur was fervently hugging Chan and planting kisses on his cheek as she tearfully expressed her gratitude for saving her younger sister. Chan blushed deeply and Felix would have laughed at the scene if it weren’t for the annoyed scowl that Changbin was directing at Fleur. Oblivious to Changbin’s looks, Fleur continued to cry and thank Chan profusely.

Meanwhile, Fleur’s younger sister simply stood nearby, looking much better as she clung tightly to the towel wrapped around her. She had stopped crying but was now gazing at Chan with admiration, her eyes shining as if he were her knight in shining armor. Felix couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“I suppose I should also be thanking Chan for saving you,” Felix said as moved to hold Minho’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. 

“I still haven’t even thanked him yet,” Minho said. 

“I think he’s got enough thank yous for today,” Changbin muttered before pulling Chan out of Fleur’s grasp and tugging him up. 

Fleur and her sister expressed their final gratitudes before bidding them goodbye and running away. 

The friend group quickly made their ways inside the castle while Changbin cast several warming charms on both Chan and Minho. 

Minho held onto Felix tightly as he whispered, “Maybe we should have another lesson sometime.”

Felix raised his brow at that, memories of the Brachiabindo spells flooding back, warming his cheeks before he turned to face Minho.

“Maybe you can teach me how to swim?” Minho suggested.

“Oh, yeah,” Felix nodded. “Sure, I can definitely teach you that.”

Minho seemed to detect a hint of disappointment in Felix’s voice because he smirked and asked, “Why? What lesson did you think I was referring to?”

Felix had to look away to hide how red his face was becoming before muttering under his breath, “Shut up.”

Minho laughed but thankfully didn’t say anything else to tease Felix as they walked towards the castle.

As they walked on, Felix felt relieved to see Minho back to his usual self. He no longer looked on the verge of tears or trembling with fear; instead, he seemed happy as he squeezed Felix’s hand.

“But I wouldn’t mind teaching my boyfriend all those rope binding spells again for our next DADA lesson,” Minho whispered.

Felix flushed before playfully shoving his boyfriend away and looking around to make sure no one had heard that. 

Minho laughed before placing his hand around Felix’s back again. 

Once inside the castle and settled at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, Felix decided it was time to congratulate Chan for successfully completing the Second task and to express his gratitude for saving Minho.

“Chan?” Felix called out. When the older Gryffindor turned to him, Felix extended his hand for a handshake and said, “Congratulations on succeeding in the Second task.”

Chan’s smile widened so much the skin around his eyes creased, as he firmly shook Felix’s hand. “Thank you, Felix.”

“And… ummm…” Felix glanced at Minho and then back at Chan. Gathering his thoughts before saying, “Thank you for saving my boyfriend.”

“Of course—wait, boyfriend?!” Chan exclaimed, his hand flying to cover his mouth, eyes wide with excitement. He pointed at Felix and Minho animatedly before hollering, “You two are official now?!”

The entire friend group turned to look at them, and Felix and Minho exchanged shy smiles before nodding.

“It was about time!” Changbin screamed. 

The rest cheered and offered their congratulations, curious to know when Felix and Minho had officially become a couple.

“Felix made it official by declaring earlier today, ‘how dare the Professors do this to my boyfriend?’” Minho chuckled. Felix tried to hide his embarrassment, but couldn’t help noticing Changbin and Seungmin laughing at him. Felix leveled them with a glare. 

“He was ready to storm off and kill the Professors when I told him how upset I was that the corsage he made for me went missing in the lake.” Minho held up his empty wrist for everyone to see. “That’s when Felix promised to make a hundred more for his boyfriend.”

“I will take the responsibility of counting every single corsage he makes so that his promise of a hundred still stands,” Jeongin retorted, causing everyone to laugh. 

Felix leaned closer to Minho when everyone went back to their own conversations and  whispered, “I might even make more than just a hundred for you.” 

Minho turned to face him with a smile before leaving a soft kiss on Felix’s cheek.