it was the 16th of december, the final day before the christmas holidays, and the castle of hogwarts was bustling with festive excitement. the walls were decorated with wreaths, and a group of fourth-year ravenclaw girls had managed to cast a spell that made mistletoe appear unexpectedly above random people's heads (and would only disappear if they were kissed). in the great hall sat the twelve beautiful, grand christmas trees, and the classrooms were already filled with the scent of the feast that the delightful house-elves were making. bless those souls, finally being paid and treated well.
the only classroom not being blessed by the kitchen was the potions classroom, where the gryffindors and slytherins were brewing amortentia.
'mr park, why don't you tell us what you can smell?' professor vespertine asked jimin, after praising him in-front of the whole class for making the potion perfectly. jimin wasn't that talented at potions, but he was interested in this particular lesson.
'sure, professor!' jimin smiled that charming smile of his before inhaling the intoxicating fumes of the amortentia bubbling away, crystal pink, in his cauldron. it was almost overwhelming, how the scent of the potion itself made his heart soar. 'i smell...iced americano and tangerines. there's also a musky, earthy scent?' vespertine nodded approvingly.
jimin inhaled again, letting himself indulge in the blissful scent of what his concoction smelled of.
or, who his concoction smelled of.
min yoongi.
the iced americano that the sixth-year slytherin would drink at every meal. the tangerines he would secretly carry around in his robes and peel under the table. the musky, earthy scent he would diffuse the air with whilst walking by.
park jimin had the biggest crush on yoongi. though the elder was a pureblood, he would always pounce at other slytherins in the common room for any sign of discriminative behaviour - from anyone, towards anyone. his sharp words were his greatest weapons, sinking the blade deep into the wound again with no remorse, creating the tiniest crack in the glass and watching the entire piece shatter.
and that is exactly how two years ago, third-year park jimin was defended by fourth-year min yoongi.
'god, he's such a gay boy, what if he tries something weird in our dorm room?!' maxwell flint jeered loudly, making the entire slytherin common room turn their attention onto him and his croonies.
jimin wasn't expecting to be outed like this. he wasn't expecting the boys in his dorm room to find his diary. he wasn't expecting them to read about his sexuality crisis.
'he's a yellow, what do you expect? bet he's actually a she!' jonathan bulstrode joined in, practically cackling.
'such a fag,' craig yaxley laughed, just as jimin began walking down the staircase from the boys' dormitory. he froze in his tracks, staring in horror as everyone's attention turned onto him. his insides churned, petrified.
'line up behind the girls to stick your hands down my pants,' flint taunted, and jimin stood rooted to the spot. some people in the common room laughed, making tears swell in jimin's eyes as he stared at the floor, head lowered in shame. a teardrop slid down his cheek. he couldn't breathe. he couldn't move.
'bold of you to assume anyone would want to stick their hands down your pants, flint.'
a voice, husky yet smooth as honey, silenced the entire common room. it hummed through the walls, permeated through jimin's skin. jimin looked up to see a boy he vaguely recognised as min yoongi, a fourth-year who was a chaser for quidditch team, standing in the doorway. he was gorgeous, with porcelain skin, soft pink lips and a stern glare, that only made him seem more enticing in the black sweatpants-and-hoodie set he was wearing.
'you're really defending him, min? are you his boyfriend?' bulstrode sneered, and yoongi smiled murderously. the other slytherins gasped. all of them knew that yoongi was from a highly respectable foreign wizarding family.
'should've wiped them out when we had the chance,' yaxley drawled, putting his elbow on flint's shoulder.
'that's easy, yaxley, just make us climb up your ego and jump down to your iq,' yoongi said, leaning against the wall beside the doorframe and twirling his wand between his thumb and forefinger, though not having the intention of using it. some slytherins sniggered at yoongi's statement, while others resumed their previous activities.
'i-'
'what're you gonna do, tell daddy about it? too bad he's locked up in azkaban, huh?'
the silence in the common room was so sharp that a pin dropping would be heard like an explosion.
'last i can remember, you're meant to be in a cage getting gawked at by children.'
'shut up!' bulstrode hissed.
'what's the matter, bulstrode, that thick skull of yours can't understand simple facts? damn, calling you an idiot is an insult to stupid people.'
jimin stared in absolute awe at that boy. every cell in his body felt warm and he'd never felt more safe in this school.
'come on, let's go,' flint muttered to both of them and they begrudgingly walked past yoongi, out of the common room.
yoongi finally looked at jimin, who beamed at him cutely, mouthing 'thank you'. yoongi smiled back.
and god, his smile was beautiful.
'yah, jiminie!' taehyung was yelling at jimin's face, making jimin let out a startled sound.
'tae,' jimin gasped, 'you scared me!'
'you zoned out,' taehyung said, not sounding apologetic at all, 'by the way, you smelled yoongi-ssi right?'
'don't be so loud!' jimin hissed at the gryffindor, elbowing his ribs, 'but yeah, and i can't believe i have to see him now for the prefect meeting!' ah, right. jimin was one of the six slytherin prefects, and so was yoongi. this meant that they had to interact during the new meeting policy, where once every six weeks the prefects of the house had to meet and discuss how to lead the common room. it usually ended up with either a very serious discussion about the ministry of magic, or them having some friendly duels.
'you say that every time, and every time nothing happens,' taehyung pointed out.
'oh, shut up,' jimin grumbled as he packed away his books, 'go make out with jungkook or something.'
'thanks for reminding me!' taehyung yelled and ran out of the classroom, leaving jimin shaking his head affectionately at his best friend as he dusted his robes. he caught the other prefect - esther lavigne - 's eye and she smiled, walking towards him, and they both made their way straight to the common room, which was only a corridor away thanks to it being located near the potions classroom.
the common room was deserted, mainly because it was snowing outside so everyone was playing. lessons ended earlier than before at hogwarts in recent years, so it was only 4.30 pm, meaning they still had four hours until dinner, and an hour would be taken now for their meeting.
'i'm gonna get changed quickly,' esther said, and jimin followed suit. he went to his dormitory, which he shared with three much nicer boys ever since the incident in third year, and changed quickly into a fuzzy caramel-brown hoodie much too big for him that had the cutest bear ears, and pulled on some comfy black leggings because they had no gender and yet were so female-centric. he pulled out his phone for a quick text to taehyung for approval, which he got immediately. hogwarts had finally overcome the difficulty with using technology, much to the credit of luna lovegood.
when jimin made his way back downstairs, all but one prefect were sitting by the fireplace, where two sofas and two armchairs were arranged. yoongi was there, in an armchair, talking very seriously with the seventh-year quidditch captain zhao xiuyen.
'hi guys!' jimin smiled cheerfully as he sat between esther and sixth-year niharika patil.
'jimin, can you play seeker for us?' xiuyen asked suddenly, surprising everyone.
'what? what about tyler?' jimin questioned, looking confused. tyler mills was the unpresent male seventh-year prefect and also seeker for the slytherin quidditch team.
'he's quit, says he can't balance it with his newts,' xiuyen sighed.
'that's such a shame, tyler's good,' niharika said sympathetically, 'how does jimin come into the picture?'
'you're perfect,' yoongi stated in his mellow voice, looking straight into jimin's eyes and making him inhale sharply. that was most certainly not what he expected to hear from his crush the first time they actually interacted. 'i've seen you at the tryouts ever since you were in second year. you did the best every time, but nott didn't even spare you a glance because of flint and his side-kicks.'
'oh!' jimin let out a surprised sound, that was so wholesome that it made esther laugh and pat his head gently.
'you have owls though, so we understand if you don't want to,' yoongi added, still looking at jimin unwaveringly. god, he seemed so thoughtful.
'no no no, i'd love to be seeker,' jimin smiled happily, 'thank you yoongi-ssi.' the honorific slipped out before jimin could stop himself.
'no problem jimin-ah,' yoongi replied, making entire butterfly gardens flower in jimin's stomach.
'sorry i'm late!' a very panicked tyler burst into the common room, 'had to stay behind during transfiguration, had some questions.'
'no problem, and if the workload is ever too much you don't have to come to the meetings,' niharika brushed past, as tyler approached them and sat down in the other sofa beside xiuyen. shockingly, tyler wasn't looking into being a professional quidditch player, hence why he was putting so much effort into his lessons. xiuyen was the opposite, already being scouted by the holyhead harpies as a beater and not giving a damn about her newts.
'right, does anyone actually have pointers for common room behaviour?' esther asked.
'unless we can kick half the slytherins out, no,' yoongi said bitterly. jimin had noticed this comment being said a lot during other meetings too.
'we can't,' tyler said apologetically.
'um, i have a suggestion?' jimin said, turning everyone's attention onto him. 'you know how we get to tell them off, right? why don't we issue out warnings - three warnings means dorm arrest, they can't stay in the common room for a week.'
'that's actually a good idea,' niharika said, and the others nodded in agreement.
'i like it too,' xiuyen agreed, 'we should announce it tonight since the train leaves tomorrow.'
'oh my god, i almost forgot it's the last day! i can't wait to go home,' esther smiled and after a very satisfying feast, the stuffed slytherins gathered in the common room, and were audibly grumbling at the new rule the prefects had made.
'if you're unhappy, be my guest to leave altogether,' yoongi told them, so they all shut up. everyone hung out past midnight with their friends and pre-christmas excitement, and jimin himself was having a blast with his slytherin friend group. although he didn't actually hang out with them much out of school hours (taehyung being to blame) they were all welcoming to him whenever he chose to. after tuning into the radio and all singing ring the hogwarts bell loudly, many of them began going to the dormitories with some last-minute packing to do.
jimin woke up later than usual the next morning, having turned off his alarms the night before, and replied to a few texts from taehyung. his dormitory was empty, so he assumed the others had already left and boarded the train. he showered in the bathroom connected to his dormitory, not being bothered to go to the prefects bathroom, before making his way to the great hall. it was cheerful, but what he didn't expect was for the slytherin table to be empty. empty, other than min yoongi, who looked at him with a mixture of surprise and relief before tapping the table, arms outstretched, signalling jimin to come and sit opposite him.
'has everyone else gone home?' jimin asked, playing with the material of his white sweater as he sat where yoongi had directed him to.
'yeah. i'm glad it's not just me.' yoongi looked pointedly at the ravenclaw table, where there were two dozen students laughing together. the hufflepuff and gryffindor tables also had at least thirty students, too.
'i wonder if there's something going on,' jimin said whilst helping himself to some waffles and topping them with concerning amounts of strawberries, making yoongi smile. 'oh! there's that exhibition opening, for all the old slytherin monuments, i bet they went there.'
'makes sense, i think niharika mentioned that to me,' yoongi replied. his plate was empty, having finished all of his pancakes, but he still watched jimin eat. the silence between them was awkward, yet mildly comfortable too. professor vespertine looked over at the only two students from her house with a smile. jimin was her favourite owl student, and yoongi her favourite newt student. both being prefects only made the teacher love them more, though she wasn't meant to have preferences.
'do you remember me?' jimin blurted, catching yoongi off guard. he blinked a few times before answering.
'my fourth-year. flint and his croonies outed you. i shut them up. i remember.' yoongi's honey voice was gentle, making the memories that were running through jimin's mind not as nightmarish as he experienced.
'you never acknowledged me after that,' jimin said quietly, holding a strawberry to his lips but not taking a bite. the sight was so pretty, yoongi was certain his heart would leap out of his chest.
'did that bother you?' yoongi asked, seeming genuinely curious, giving jimin his undivided attention despite the gryffindors singing christmas carols way too loudly for his liking.
'i...don't really know. it was so weird, i wanted to approach you afterwards because you just stood up for me whilst i was standing there like an idiot not knowing what to do after everyone just found out that i'm gay. like even at our prefect meetings we never actually talked to each other until yesterday but you trust me with being your seeker,' jimin was blabbing away, his cheeks all pink and looking jittery, and all yoongi could think was cute.
'honestly, jimin-ah, i'm not that great at approaching people and when i do, it's usually because i'm about to put them in their place,' yoongi sighed dejectedly, 'i'm sorry if i ever made you feel uncomfortable that i never talked to you afterwards, personally i thought my appearance would just remind you of the shit that those guys put you through. i kind of just...admired from afar.'
'oh no, i'm so sorry you didn't make me feel uncomfortable, it's actually the opposite, your appearance reminds me that i don't need to be afraid of who i am,' jimin told yoongi softly yet firmly, as though he was stating a fact. yoongi smiled at this.
'i'm glad,' yoongi said, 'i'll talk to you more.'
'i'd like that, yoongi-ssi,' jimin smiled.
'yoongi hyung is fine.'
'okay, hyung.'
yoongi and jimin both returned to the common room together, despite not exactly knowing what they were going to do. it was empty, without the usual buzz of mostly friendly banter. yoongi walked over to a window, and jimin followed, both sitting on a sofa and indulging in a basic conversation, getting to know each others' lives.
the slytherin common room was simply beautiful. it was styled elegantly in green and silver, with tapestries of the serpent decorating the walls, but the most stunning part of it was that it was located underwater. the tall, floor to ceiling windows around the room had displays of the marine life, and when the morning sun travelled through the water and into the common room, the warm shades of gold and blue created prisms on the floor.
at least half an hour later, there was a knock at the slytherin common room door, and yoongi raised a brow questioningly. both stood to answer it together.
'hey guys,' it was mashihiro haruki, a third-year japanese boy from gryffindor, 'there's a snowball fight in the courtyard, do you wanna come?'
'oh, sure! thanks haruki,' jimin beamed with a small bow, 'will you come too, hyung?'
'yeah,' yoongi agreed and both followed haruki, who looked confused as to why park jimin was addressing min yoongi so casually, outside into the courtyard. a cluster of ravenclaws were in a battle formation, gathering snow into their fists whilst the gryffindors ambushed them. the hufflepuffs were evidently to blame for the row of snowmen. jimin giggled and immediately went to the end of the row to make his own snowman. yoongi followed and chuckled as he watched jimin struggle to make the snowman's base.
'want some help?' yoongi asked, amused.
'yes please!' jimin smiled gratefully, and before they knew it, they made a pretty good snowman, with yoongi conjuring a hat, carrot and sticks for it. 'it's so cute!' jimin's eyes disappeared into crescents, sparkling beautifully, and yoongi's almost forgot how to breathe when he saw just how ethereal the younger looked with snow decorating his fluffy hair.
'we should take a picture,' yoongi said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, wanting to have a permanent memory of jimin like this. 'if you're okay with that?'
'that's a great idea.' jimin back-hugged the snowman and beamed widely whilst yoongi smiled too, displaying his adorable gums as he stood beside jimin and took a picture. jimin leaned in to see it and clapped his hands together excitedly, 'i've never seen you smile so much!' yoongi laughed.
'can you give me your number?' yoongi asked, surprising jimin, before adding hastily, 'so i can send the picture to you.' and jimin eagerly obliged, the pair exchanging phone numbers and instagram ids.
after lunch, the hufflepuffs invited everyone to their common room for a pre-christmas party, gathering the give-or-take ninety students in the yellow and black hexagon room. it was warm and cosy, decorated nicely in turfs of plants and vines growing up the walls. a group of sixth-years invited yoongi over to their table, whilst jimin stayed with his fifth-year friends. yoongi was surprised that they even knew who he was.
'hey, yoongi,' alina brian from ravenclaw batted her eyelashes at him as he sat beside her and gryffindor's nico d'jenairo.
'hi,' yoongi replied calmly, confused as to why she was suddenly leaning into his personal space. yoongi ignored her and mildly joined in on a conversation with the others. he didn't realise how friendly the students at hogwarts had become, regardless of previous house rivalries. the gryffindors in his year were surprisingly fun to talk to, and the hufflepuffs made him genuinely smile. the ravenclaws had witty remarks that reminded him of his elder brother.
'twenty years ago, people would be disgusted to see all of us like this,' nico laughed as he gestured around the common room that resembled a bee-hive. the others agreed, but yoongi was distracted; alina was getting all handsy with him. her hand was resting on his arm, and she was practically on the edge of her seat, leaning into his side.
'could you stop touching me, alina?' yoongi asked, pulling his arm away. he was trying his best to hide how irritable he was.
'aww, but yoongi, i thought you liked me?' alina asked with a flirtatious pout as she gripped yoongi's arm, and that was the final straw.
'if anyone liked you, alina, they'd either be blind or have a automasochism kink,' yoongi smiled as he pried alina's fingers off him and stood up, 'fortunately, i have neither, and i'm gay.' without missing a beat, yoongi thanked the others at the table for the invite, and left the common room. did he just come out to his classmates? yes. would everyone else find out too? yes.
he wasn't going to lie to himself. he did worry a little. not a lot, but a little. there was a little voice in his head pushing him down, little by little. but he would fight it, little by little.
the slytherin common room was peaceful when he entered. the shades of emerald and silver weren't nearly as eye-watering as those of the hufflepuff common room. yoongi took his seat by the window, and smiled to himself as he saw a mermaid swim into the window-frame. another mermaid was chasing after her, and the pair entangled their tails in a hug.
'cute,' yoongi chuckled as he looked away, letting the lesbian mermaid couple share an underwater kiss. it was already the evening, and only an hour or so before dinner, but yoongi was comfortable in this chair, watching the dolphins play around. of course, dolphins weren't usually found in the british seas, but this was hogwarts. there were exceptions. yoongi closed his eyes, letting himself sink into the warmth of the armchair.
yoongi was woken by a pair of small, warm hands shaking him gently. his eyes fluttered open and he saw jimin, looking at him worriedly.
'hyung, are you okay?' jimin asked, his voice soft and soothing, all sugary sweet and smooth.
'hi,' yoongi replied groggily, his mind still clouded with sleep, as he sat up in the armchair, 'yeah, i'm okay.'
'i'm sorry for waking you up,' jimin smiled apologetically, 'it's time for dinner but you didn't turn up at the great hall.'
'i was tired,' yoongi replied, rubbing his cat eyes and sitting upright.
'alina...alina said that you're gay. i don't know if that's true or not, and you don't have to tell me, but i thought you should know that she told everyone,' jimin informed quietly, his hands still resting on yoongi's shoulders and giving them a reassuring squeeze.
'it's true, and i told her,' yoongi said. this was his life, his identity, and nobody, especially not a ravenclaw whore, was going to make him resent it. or were they? min yoongi, the pureblood slytherin from the min family, was gay. there wasn't anything wrong with it, but they would do everything they could to make him believe there was. because he had once resented it. he had once resented himself.
'yoongi, are you sure you're okay?'
'yeah,' yoongi said, his voice breaking in-between, his vision blurry.
'oh no, please don't cry, it's okay,' jimin said worriedly as he saw tears in yoongi's eyes.
'i'm so sorry, i don't know why i'm like this right now,' yoongi mumbled, trying desperately not to give in to that voice in his head. jimin pulled yoongi up onto his feet for a hug, letting the elder cry with his face buried in the junction of the younger's neck and shoulder. jimin's arms were around yoongi's shoulders, and yoongi's arms were around jimin's waist.
'shh, it's okay, i've got you,' jimin promised, rubbing yoongi's back, his own eyes brimming too. yoongi was a reflection, an embodiment, of his past self. 'what's the matter, hyung?'
'i'm scared.'
jimin's heart shattered.
he was so used to seeing yoongi as a confident and strong person, who was always standing up for others, that he was blinded of the elder's weaknesses and fears.
'about being gay?' jimin asked quietly and yoongi nodded against his neck. jimin laced a hand through yoongi's hair hesitantly. 'i won't lie, some people will hate on you for it. and everyone will find out. but there's also so many who will openly support you, and some who don't really care. it's your life, not anyone else's. and knowing you, yoongi hyung, this is nothing. you stood up for me when i was in your situation and you can stand up for yourself, i know you can. i'll be right by you to cheer you on and watch you do it. you've got this.'
yoongi tightened his grip around jimin. 'thank you for this.' he'd never felt more valid.
'if you need a shoulder to cry on, you've got mine,' jimin reassured. yoongi loosened his grip before taking a step back, smiling shyly and wiping tear stains off his face. 'now let's go and eat something and death stare at anyone who contradicts us and our gayness!' he added cheerfully and yoongi laughed, leaving very briefly to wash his face, and the pair went to dinner together.
five days had passed. yoongi and jimin found themselves constantly seeking each others' presence, enthralled by the endearing little things about the other. yoongi loved the way jimin would have more toppings on his waffles than the waffle itself, or how the younger would glow whenever he realised it was snowing, or how they'd both fall asleep by the fireplace together. he craved the way the younger would brush against him subtly in the sofa, and giggle while watching rom-coms that yoongi hated but watched anyway because it made jimin happy.
he first noticed jimin at quidditch tryouts. yoongi was a third-year, and a stable chaser for the slytherin team; he was very talented at throwing the quaffle in the hoops. seekers were always chosen last, and yoongi had become irritable, covered in sweat from the scorching september sun. the new captain, matthias nott, was being an asshole to everyone other than the so-called 'traditionalist' slytherins, who still believed in the toxic ideologies that people from the past held about the serpent house. yoongi openly criticised him for it, but nott couldn't risk losing his best player. amongst the probable seekers, one particularly small one, second-year park jimin, was doing excellently. he caught the snitch gracefully, until flint had knocked him off his broomstick. nott had made fun of jimin for it, and threw him off every other year he returned to tryouts. by the time xiuyen was appointed as quidditch captain, jimin had lost all hope in trying out for seeker.
'jimin-ah,' yoongi murmured, shaking jimin awake. the younger awoke with his face ridiculously close to yoongi's, having fallen asleep whilst watching a movie and ending up with his head against yoongi's shoulder. jimin flushed pink and stood up quickly to brush before breakfast.
yoongi was sitting alone in the common room after dinner, after jimin was pulled aside by professor hagrid about a hippogriff that hadn't been eating and would apparently would only listen to jimin; the boy definitely had his perks in care of magical creatures. he heard the doors swing open, and jimin walked in looking slightly (very) distressed.
'jimin?' yoongi said, standing up from his chair and eyes flickering from his pretty face to an ornament hanging above his head.
mistletoe.
'the ravenclaws and their christmas charms,' jimin's cheeks were tainted pink from embarrassment as he hid his face in his small hands. yoongi chuckled and walked towards him.
'i think it's cute,' yoongi replied, and jimin peeked between his chubby fingers.
'it's embarrassing,' he pouted.
'we'll undo it, every charm can be reversed,' yoongi reminded. it was one of the first principals of charms professor flitwick had taught them. 'i'll do it for you, we can ask the ravenclaws how.'
'hyung, i know how to reverse it,' jimin said quietly, and yoongi raised a brow questioningly, 'you...you have to kiss someone.'
'oh.'
'would you still do it for me?' jimin was fiddling with his sweaterpaws, looking at the floor nervously with glistening mistletoe hanging above his head.
'yes.' yoongi's answer was immediate. he cupped the younger's cheeks gently, looking into his pretty, sparkly eyes, before pulling him in for a kiss. their lips met, and as though a spark flew between them, connected like pieces in a jigsaw. jimin's lips were all soft and plump, tasting like his watermelon lip balm, and his hands wrapped around yoongi's neck, pulling him impossibly closer. the years they'd missed together disappeared all at once, everything prior to this moment irrelevant. they could've stayed this way for eternity, if oxygen weren't pulling them apart.
'i really like you, yoongi hyung,' jimin told the elder, 'i'm pretty sure i love you.'
'i'm definitely sure i love you too, jimin,' yoongi smiled, hugging the younger gently. 'will you please be my boyfriend?'
'you're like an early christmas present,' jimin giggled, 'of course i will.'
'great, because i really want to cuddle on the sofa and watch every single home alone movie until we feel sick of it,' yoongi laughed, taking jimin's hand and pulling him into the sofa. the couple settled in, wrapping a fluffy blanket around them as yoongi turned on the tv. jimin curled into yoongi's side, hands still interlocked, and pulled out his phone. 'what're you doing, minie?'
'i want to take a picture of this,' jimin beamed, shaking yoongi's hand gently. 'i need to remember the happiest day of my life. and also send it to taehyung, if you're okay with it?'
'you can tell whoever you like, i don't mind,' yoongi replied.
'really? can i post this?' jimin asked excitedly, 'can i tag you?'
'i'd like that,' yoongi smiled.
j.m
you've really got me spellbound !! @agustd 💕