There was one boy at Hogwarts who is truly peculiar.
He was like snow that fell from the skies and like clouds, and Xingqiu liked his smile. In fact, he was like the books his mother had read to him. Xingqiu never thought that something so warm - born from the cold and snow of icy winters - could be so exuberant.
His name was Chongyun, and the first thing Xingqiu knew about him was popsicles. He came in hot times, - although there was nothing hot for Xingqiu, - and offered him a popsicle.
Xingqiu did not deny it. Just as he didn't deny her company.
Lonely child, he was. Chongyun didn't protest staying.
And he stayed. And he came back.
One thing was, Xingqiu, even after all these years, even when he wanted - as desperately as one needs air. - I didn't know anything about Chongyun.
He could tell he only knew three things about him that he had actually told her: he liked popsicles, he hated the heat, and he had an aunt named Shenhe.
Anything more.
Unfortunately, Xingqiu was like wayward waters and could not be contained.
He would discover Chongyun by the fifth day of autumn, and that was a fact.
Nothing else mattered.
***
"Chongyun!" He sighed, crying out in the snow for someone who might not exist anymore, or might not want to be found.
"Director Zhongli will rip our heads off." He muttered to himself, the sweet freshness of some sweetness in Hu Tao's hut, on the edge of Hogwarts. Chongyun probably got into a heated debate with her again about ghosts and spirits, and even though the witch was one of the masters, it happened at least three times a week.
Calmly he walked to the small cabin, avoiding the forest. Only Hu Tao and Xiangling sometimes came and went, and the latter only for ingredients considered "tasty."
Maybe he and Chongyun also walked around those parts sometimes, but no one would need to know if that happened.
Walked and walked and walked.
When he finally reached the cabin, he reached out to slam the door. Before he could it opened, revealing Hu Tao in all his colors.
"Xingqiu, hello! I hope no one is so deep in the earth that you came to warn me before I prepare the coffin!"
"Good morning to you too, Hu Tao.” Xingqiu sighed.
She worked at a funeral home in her time as a Muggle, and Hu Tao knew how to advertise for her coffins. Probably not a single person at Hogwarts is unaware of the Valentine's Day discount.
('Buy your coffin and get two coupons + a basket of free chocolates!' was on posters all over Hogwarts on February 12, and Xingqiu knows because he helped put them up overnight with a promise of a new book he wanted.)
"Have you seen Chongyun? I can't find it anywhere.” He commented.
Hu Tao immediately became serious in a way that startled him. He'd rarely seen that side of her, and he feared what had caused it.
"Chongyun is on an important trip and will not be returning for an indefinite period."
"What?" Xingqiu whispered to himself, mind like the thousand thunders surrounding Inazuma's high school. "Chongyun never..." never leaves without warning him. "You're lying," he accused.
Hu Tao didn't change his expression, but Xingqiu thought he saw hurt in his eyes. He felt a hint of guilt over that.
"Listen xingqiu.” He hesitated, in a way she doesn't do much. Finally he sighed. “I can't tell you. You'll have to see.” Then her gaze flickered to the table. She was drawing something with her finger.
Xingqiu paid attention. He had to concentrate, and Hu Tao had to repeat, but he finally understood.
Oath
C h i l d e.
C h o n g y u n Danger.
"Where...?!" He muttered in alarm, still not fully registering the information given.
Hu Tao walked past him, but not before lightly tapping the bridge of his nose.
"Find out." He whispered, and then disappeared.