Querencia

Namjoon takes pride on being able to take all available elective courses, get good marks, and not feel too stressed. He likes all the subjects equally, but some will inspire him more than others in different times.

This time, for example, is a perfect time for Care for Magical Creatures.

His life is quite simple: he runs in classes late, finishes homework days before the due date, spends extra hours in the Library reading anything and everything he gets his hands on, eats alone in the Great Halls while reading, practices Quidditch with his team, goes to detention, and roams around the school in search for inspiration and secrets. Namjoon doesn’t spend one second doing nothing, because there’s always something to do, or something to think about.

And in these days, Namjoon thinks about Jungkook and Taehyung. Two unregistered Animagi, each one with an extremely rare gift (or a curse, depending on how you want to see it). Both of them are able to do what was thought impossible. Taehyung doesn’t just read minds; he manipulates them. The Obscurus should’ve killed Jungkook, but Jungkook survives and takes control.

Namjoon can’t help but wonder if he can do the same. Maybe if he works harder, he can rewrite his reputation. Maybe they won’t know him as the son of murderers; maybe they’ll know him as a lifesaver. A hero who brings not evil, but good to the world.

“As I was sayin’,” Professor Hagrid bellows from somewhere in the front. They’re hiking deeper into the Forbidden Forest in search for mysterious creature. He pushes a particularly big leaf out of the way with his giant hands. “Tis creature’s an elusive one. A shapeshifter. Had ter get my hands real dirty ter get one.”

Namjoon knows that Hagrid has a reputation for loving dangerous creatures way too much to be safe to students (he knows that Professor Malfoy once fell victim to one of Hagrid’s creatures. He also knows that Malfoy kind of deserved it), but he admires Hagrid’s passion and bravery very much. Namjoon is, in some way, just like one of those dangerous creatures no one wants to learn about. And Taehyung and Jungkook, just like Hagrid, had been the only ones who dared to like him.

“Look! We’re here!” Hagrid smiles widely at the small group of students, including a few Gryffindors, a few Slytherins, some Hufflepuffs, and a lot more Ravenclaws, and leads them to a lake in the middle of the forest. The lake isn’t as big as the Black Lake, but its size is not to be underestimated. “Now that ya know that tis a shapeshifter and lives in water, who wants ter take a guess?”

Namjoon’s hand shoots up as quickly as a Gryffindor student with pitch black hair. Hagrid is probably surprised to see his students that interactive, because he then says: “Er, Namjoon?”

“A kelpie,” Namjoon says, looking straight in Hagrid’s eyes so that he doesn’t have to meet anyone else’s gaze. “It’s a water demon that drags travelers into the water and eats them alive but leaves out the insides. It usually prefers to take the form of a horse, though there are exceptions such as the one Muggles call the ‘Loch Ness monster,’ which takes the form of a sea serpent.”

Somewhere in the crowd, Skyes snorts and says something along the line of “nerd.” Namjoon probably won’t hesitate to curse the fucker again.

“Correct! Ten points to Slytherin!” Hagrid’s smile reaches his eyes. Then he moves his gaze to the Gryffindor student, who has dropped his hand in disappointment of not getting picked. “Do you have more to add, Hoseok?”

Hoseok? Hoseok Jung? He’s one of the most popular kid in Namjoon’s year, if not all of Hogwarts. The Gryffindor is one of the best Chasers in Hogwarts history and is the Captain for the House’s Quidditch team. Lots of professional teams, including the national Quidditch team, are already inviting him to join, but from what Namjoon knows, Hoseok declines all invitations, claiming that he “needs to focus on school work.”

The Gryffindor, Hoseok, snaps up quickly at the mention of his name, and though Namjoon can’t see Hoseok’s entire face from this angle, he sees a brilliant smile. The smile is so bright the scorching sun above them seems to dim.

“Yes, Professor. A kelpie, when as a horse, has the most beautiful, kaleidoscopic mane that shimmers like gemstones under the sunlight. It kneels for any passing traveler as an invitation to climb to its back. If anyone dares to do that, the kelpie will dive into the water and drown the victim.” Hoseok is staring in the air dreamily. “And even if the victim is smart enough to try to get off the moment they get on, they will find themselves stuck on the magical hide. The only two ways to tame a kelpie is with a Placement spell or with a bridle.”

“Very good,” Hagrid looks really surprised at the answer. “Twenty points to Gryffindor!”

Hoseok grins, his mouth resembling a big heart. The sun dims some more.

The students around him congratulate him cheekily. Stupid ass-kissers.

Namjoon can’t say he’s not jealous. If he has to be honest, competitiveness is what gets him to his place. It was competitiveness that motivated him to take every single class available and ace all of them. It was competitiveness that helped him in Quidditch. It was competitiveness that made him learn curses and jinxes when he was only a little kid. It was competitiveness that made him curse Skyes, just so he would win that insignificant duel.

Namjoon tries (and fails) to relax his clenched jaw. He moves his gaze away from Hoseok, who seems to sense his glare and turns over. This guy is slowly starting to ruin Namjoon’s good mood for a very stupid reason that shouldn’t even bother Namjoon the tiniest bit, but Namjoon just can’t get over with it.

“Now, if any one of us decides ter walk casually through that little forest trail,” Hagrid points at an incredibly narrow and very bushy trail, “so that the kelpie can see ya and show itself, you will all be able to see its grand beauty! Now, who wants to volunteer?”

Hoseok must be too distracted by Namjoon, because when Namjoon shoots up his hand once again, Hoseok doesn’t make any move. The Gryffindor widens his eyes at the realization of missing the question, but it’s too late. “Ah, Namjoon! It’s probably safer if it’s you anyway. Go ahead, and remember, don’t ride the kelpie!”

Namjoon isn’t bitchy enough to make Hoseok feel bad, so he just follows the narrow trail, swatting away leaves and branches that block his way and jumping over bushes. From the corner of his eyes, through the branches, he can see the water rippling. The kelpie is there.

He walks slowly and noisily so that the kelpie will notice his existence. Sure enough, when Namjoon glances over again, he sees a magnificent stallion stomping its hooves as if still getting used to having legs.

Namjoon doesn’t stop walking until he’s standing face to face with the beautiful creature. Just like how Hoseok described it, it’s sparkling a thousand different colors all at once under the sunlight. It’s slightly bigger than a regular horse, but for a tall guy like Namjoon it’s easy to just climb onto its back.

Namjoon reaches out his hand and touches the kelpie’s muzzle. It neighs softly and presses into Namjoon’s touch. “Hello, handsome,” Namjoon whispers, and the kelpie seems happy with the compliment.

Namjoon caresses the kelpie’s cheek and forehead lovingly, but makes no move to ride the creature. He knows the kelpie is getting impatient, probably hungry for some human flesh. He feels the kelpie inching towards the lake little by little in an attempt to lure Namjoon to waterside, and he pretends he’s falling into the water demon’s trap, just to have some fun. Two can play this game.

“No, don’t climb it!” Hagrid whisper-shouts from a few yards away. Namjoon casts him a sideways glance to tell him that he’s got this. He knows what the kelpie wants, and he knows exactly how he can manipulate this water demon.

“Unfortunately for you, Casanova, not even a charming kelpie like you can outsmart a Slytherin.” Namjoon whispers sweetly and rubbles the kelpie’s muzzle gently.

The kelpie neighs disappointedly, and is about to leave and give up the hunt, when Namjoon’s knees suddenly give up.

It’s the most wonderful moment of his life. His head feels too light, but it’s even more comfortable than sleeping in his fluffy bed. Angels are singing melodiously somewhere around his ears. For that moment, his bad memories are wiped clean. No deaths, no Dementors, no Azkaban, no mean words from classmates. Just him and his parents. He hears their laughter faintly, and it brings a smile to his face.

In the corner of his mind, someone is talking to him. Climb onto the kelpie’s back, it says. Just climb.

Namjoon almost complies, but he’s so familiar with the Imperius Curse he knows immediately that he’s under it. Seven or eight years ago, his parents practiced casting this curse and he practiced resisting it.

No, he thinks to himself. I will not climb onto the kelpie’s back.

He turns around swiftly, and comes face to face with Skyes, whose wand is pointing directly at him. “You fucker,” Namjoon snarls victoriously. “You dare to use an unforgivable curse?”

Skyes immediately puts on his innocent face. “Kim is lying,” He shouts to Hagrid.

Before Namjoon can hear Hagrid reply, something pulls him forcefully down. He loses his balance, and falls into the lake.

Namjoon isn’t prepared for the impact. His back hits the surface and it knocks some air out of his chest. He holds his breath for as long as he can, and fumbles for his wand. His backpack has already disappeared in the great depth, and though he immediately feels sad for his books, he knows he probably should focus on surviving for now.

He quickly snatches his wand before it floats away, and casts a nonverbal transfiguration charm to turn himself into a mermaid before he drowns for good. The kelpie neighs as he drags Namjoon deeper into the lake, attempting to drown Namjoon before the transformation is complete.

Namjoon lets out a bubble of air when his chest starts to hurt. His hands instinctively go to his neck as his brain starts to feel heavy. He’s drowning. He’s drowning.

But then he feels something sprouting out of his collar bone, like extra flesh that doesn’t belong there. But then when he inhales the water in desperation, water flows in and comes out. His brain clears, and his chest doesn’t hurt anymore. His clothes have melted into his hairless, naked skin (which saves trouble, because clothes would’ve dragged him down quickly). He looks down his feet to find a long, scaled tail of a mermaid, sparkling golden in the faint light. Every time he flaps it, he moves about thirty feet forward. His fingers are webbed and when he paddles, he shoots through the water like a swordfish.

Nailed it.

He turns his attention to the kelpie, who looks slightly surprised at the transformation but still determined to eat him alive nonetheless. Namjoon dodges the kelpie’s large teeth, claws on the kelpie’s face hard enough to make the kelpie wail but not enough to make it bleed, and swims for his life the moment the kelpie lets go of him.

His skin is now very sensitive to wave flow, so he knows that the kelpie is just at his tail (quite literally). He can’t hear anything, not even his own heartbeat, except for the low rumbling of the quick-flowing water. Namjoon dives deep, knowing that merpeople can endure really high water pressure, and makes sure to glance back once in a while to check on the kelpie. Let’s see who explodes first, Namjoon thinks and smiles to himself. He finds the darkest-looking gulf and dives in quickly.

The night vision that comes with the transfiguration saves him a lot of trouble, because even when Namjoon is equipped with that ability, he still manages to bump into rocks (looks like his clumsiness isn’t improved by the transfiguration). Thankfully, his thick skin that protects him from the cold also protects him from those scratches, otherwise he would’ve bled and something nastier than kelpies would come hunting for him.

Namjoon’s hand snaps to his ear when pressure starts building up. Pain stabs into his brain from his ears, and though it’s not extreme enough to be concerning, it’s a sign that he’s losing this battle. If Namjoon keeps going down, he’s going to kill himself and the kelpie is going to have a free meal. That’s not going to happen.

Time for Plan B, Namjoon thinks. And though Namjoon knows that this Plan B isn’t going to end well, his transformation will keep him alive. If he ascends quickly, not only will it scare the kelpie by the sudden change of motion, but it will also hurt himself as well, since not even marine animals are safe from decompression sickness. It can end up with brain damage, but that’s not something Madam Pomfrey can’t fix. This plan probably won’t kill the kelpie, but it’ll deter it from eating Namjoon again.

Namjoon takes a sharp turn upwards, and starts swimming towards the surface at top speed. His head is screaming at him to stop and his ears are protesting, but even in his fazed state, Namjoon knows that this is the only way to save himself.

The kelpie is taken by surprise, and Namjoon smirks at it before zooming pass it. The kelpie halts and takes some time to turn around and continue its pursuit. Namjoon forces himself to at least enjoy the water caressing his skin and weaving through his hair.

The kelpie below him wails as it ascends. It sinks back down into the depths, probably sick from the decompression sickness. It has no choice but to give up on the hunt, and Namjoon sighs in relief. His plan works, after all.

Then, just fifty feet below the lake surface, Namjoon starts choking. Panicked, he flaps his golden tail frantically, only to find the tail gone, replaced by his two skinny, useless feet. His hand clasps on his collarbone and the fish gill is nowhere to be found. His fingers are no longer webbed, and his night vision is gone. His thick clothes are dragging him down again. Namjoon forgets that all spells are temporary, including transformation, and now he’s back to human again.

He holds his breath as panic washes over him. He strokes manically as his lungs start to hurt from the lack of oxygen. He quickly gets rid of his Slytherin robe and his jumper, but has no energy left to get rid of the white shirt or his pants. He’s hyperventilating, his mouth unconsciously swallowing more and more water, as his inertia decreases quickly. Then he starts sinking.

No, Namjoon wants to say, but he knows the moment he opens his mouth, he’s dead. The pain is overwhelming, and Namjoon has to fight all the urge to scream. Swallowing the water will ease the pain, but it’ll kill him too.

Namjoon’s grip on his wand is so tight it’s going to snap any moment now. He points it upwards with difficulty, roughly towards the direction of the shore, and squeezes his eyes shut. He can’t cast the bubble charm now, because he won’t have the focus to manipulate the bubble’s pressure and it will kill him then. So instead of trying to stay alive underwater, he probably should get himself up shore first and preferably be alive doing so.

Incarcerous. A rope shoots out of the tip of his wand and hits something on the shore, tightly binding to it. He grabs onto the rope and climbs, as fast as his fatigued body allows, and prays that someone’s up there to pull him up.

The rope remains motionless, and Namjoon’s uncontrollably convulsing now, his body in incredible need for oxygen. The excruciating pain is all he can think about. He feels himself dangerously close to dying, and his body starts to give up, despite his brain screaming at himself not to. His grip on the rope loosens. He’s going to die.

Namjoon never loses consciousness, so he remembers what happens clearly. Someone’s up there pulling the rope, and the moment his head breaks through the water surface, he gasps for air with his mouth opened. The fiery agony in his lungs ease a little as he’s finally able to breathe. The chilly air makes him tremble. He is so tired he can’t move his body an inch. He just wants to sleep it off, and maybe then his chest and joints will hurt less.

“Anapneo,” A person mutters from above him. Immediately, Namjoon’s throat clears and he’s coughing out more water than his lungs can possibly contain. It feels worse than throwing up, because his lungs actually hurt from coughing water out, but a few seconds later, his airway clears. He takes a shaky deep breath and sighs, thanking the spell caster.

Someone around his height grabs his wrists and pulls him up in one swift motion. Namjoon’s wobbly on his legs, and is extremely confused. He can only see the silhouette of the person, and he’s pretty sure that the person’s talking to him. Namjoon has no problem hearing the words, but his brain can’t comprehend any of them.

The person bends down and carries Namjoon on their back. Namjoon’s head lolls forward, his nose buried in the person’s hair. Cinnamon roll, Namjoon faintly recognizes the scent. Honey. Butterbeer.

Namjoon doesn’t know when, but the next moment he remembers he’s not on a person’s back; he’s on an animal’s back. Its regal black hair is thick and soft to Namjoon’s touch, and the muscles below the fur are rippling as the animal sprints through the thick woods, jumping over fallen logs and crouching a little to dodge low branches. It’s running fast, faster than Namjoon’s broom, but the steps it takes are careful, like it’s trying to keep Namjoon from falling down. That, Namjoon is grateful.

He presses his cheek to the soft fur of the animal and sighs heavily. The animal’s rhythmic movement is going to lull him to sleep soon enough, but he forces himself awake. They seem to be going down the path back to Hogwarts, but why would a beast take him there?

The animal slows down a little and raises its furry head to the air. It howls to the sky, already pretty dark. The moon shines brightly in the starry sky, and if Namjoon’s more awake right now, he’d think it’s poetic. The howl is deep and powerful, like distant thunder, like the ocean waves crashing into rocks, like an erupting volcano. A wolf? Namjoon thinks dizzily, and knows that he should be alarmed by this piece of information but he can’t point out why.

The wolf runs into the Hogwarts castle, its pads stepping silently against the floor. It jumps over disappearing staircases like it knows the place. They somehow manage to avoid patrolling professors and students on their way up the castle. It takes quite a while for Namjoon to figure out where they’re going.

“Wait,” Namjoon says, his voice coming out rough and hoarse. Even if the wolf hears him, he ignores him. Then, the next moment, he’s no longer carried by a wolf; a human takes his place. Namjoon smells cinnamon roll again. “What?”

The person hurries to a painting, and mutters the password. The painting opens, and Namjoon is led into the Gryffindor common room.

It’s honestly not the first time he’s been here, but it’s the first time someone actually wants him inside (Namjoon’s been to every known corner of Hogwarts, even the places students aren’t supposed to go, in search for adventure. And he doesn’t always get caught). The brilliant flames in the fireplace warms him up almost immediately, and Namjoon sighs in content. He feels so at ease here that he can just stay on the fluffy armchairs and hug one of those embroidered pillows to his chest forever. Unlike the Slytherin common room, which is calming and inspiring in Namjoon’s opinion, the Gryffindor common room is actually warm and homey.

(The only problem is that red and gold aren’t really his thing. They’re too flamboyant to Namjoon’s liking.)

The boy carrying Namjoon doesn’t stop at the common room. He hurries up the mahogany stairs and Namjoon knows lead up to the boys’ dormitory, and Namjoon begins to wonder why in hell would anyone want to bring him there.

The boy bumps one of the rooms’ door open with his shoulder and dumps Namjoon on the only bed in the room before rushing back to the door and locking it.

For a few seconds, Namjoon just stares at the boy, who looks overwhelmed. Namjoon blinks, and realizes that he’s seen this face before. Just a few moments ago, in fact.

“Hoseok Jung,” Namjoon says.

“No shit,” Hoseok groans. “Can’t believe I just did it.”

“Did what?” Namjoon asks.

“Howl at the moon. Seriously, no wolves do that. I’m so embarrassed right now.”

Namjoon takes a moment to piece things together. “So you’re the wolf,” Namjoon says bluntly, rolling onto his side to properly face Hoseok, who’s still leaning against the locked door. “And you brought me to your place.”

“Be glad students get to have individual chambers now,” Hoseok grumbles and scratches the back of his head. “Imagine having to share it with four other students. It was the case before the War. But yeah, I’m the wolf.”

“Right.” Namjoon tilts his head. “So you’re the wolf Animagus Taehyung told me about.”

“That lying piece of shit,” Hoseok says, but the fond smile that creeps on his face tells Namjoon that he isn’t mad. Namjoon also notes that when Hoseok smiles, his mouth forms a beautiful heart shape that even the magically-powered flames down at the Gryffindor fireplace are put to shame. “I’m a wolf, but not an Animagus. I’m a Maledictus.”

Namjoon takes a moment to process this. “But aren’t all Maledictuses female?”

Hoseok scoffs. “It says it right here. Maledictus. Though I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works. I’m the first male in my ancient bloodline to be one. My sister is the first female to escape the curse, if you can believe that.”

Namjoon lies back down on the comfy bed. “You know what? I’m not even surprised right now. So you are part of that gang. And let me guess; were you the wolf that howled because you ‘wanted some dinner?’”

“Correct,” Hoseok says. “You’d surprised how diverse this ‘gang’ is. Half of us aren’t even human.”

“So you’re a Maledictus,” Namjoon says slowly, just trying to convince himself that he’s actually meeting a male Maledictus, goddamn it. “That means you have the ability to turn into a wolf anytime you want, but as you age, you will lose more and more control over your animal form. You will turn into the animalistic side of you when you shift and one day you will never be able to turn back to human again.”

“Bravo,” Hoseok sighs. “That’s the exact definition of a Maledictus.”

They fall into an awkward silence then. Namjoon is aware that he’s currently lying in a Gryffindor male’s bed (not that he will want to lie into a female’s bed. No hetero). “So how are you doing?” Namjoon says quietly, killing the silence.

“Worse.” Hoseok says, looking down at his elegant hands almost forlornly. “I howled at the moon. Like I said, not even normal wolves do that. Don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I’m sure it’s something Madam Pomfrey can take care of,” Namjoon says hopefully.

Hoseok scoffs at that, throwing his hands in the air. “I really doubt that, Voldemort Junior. What kind of school would want a human-shaped-killing-machine? Why do you think I didn’t do that five years ago, when I was just a first-year?”

“Why?” Namjoon asks stupidly. It’s not his fault he doesn’t know much about Maledictuses!

Hoseok takes a deep breath and successfully calms himself down. “Hogwarts is a good place, Namjoon. They had accepted peculiar students before. Slightly more harmless ones like Taehyung and Jimin . . . I guess you don’t know Jimin yet, but whatever . . . and dangerous ones, like Jungkook and me. And you. They accepted Remus Lupin, a werewolf. Professor Hagrid, a half-giant. Voldemort, a Parselmouth.” Namjoon shudders at the mention of a Parselmouth. Yet another reminder of how similar he is to Voldemort.

“But me and Jungkook are nothing like them. We don’t talk to snakes or have diseases that only turn us into beasts every full moon. We are literally going to kill anything and everything if we lose the tiniest control. Jungkook and I can wipe out cities in a second!” Hoseok’s voice raises a little, but just when Namjoon thinks he’s going to lose his cool, Hoseok calms back down. “Sorry about that. Point is, I had perfect control before I met you, then things started de-escalating. And now I don’t even know how long I’ll last.”

“Quidditch.” Namjoon blurts out.

Hoseok raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Play Quidditch. It’ll help.” Namjoon says, sitting up and regretting it when his head starts spinning a little. “I read some books on Maledictus once. It says the relationship between happiness and having a longer human lifespan isn’t scientifically proven, but it seems to exist in most of the documented cases. Keep doing what you love and you’ll have a chance of living a longer human life before fully transforming into a wolf.”

Hoseok raises both eyebrows. “So are you suggesting that you can be what triggers my human death, given that your appearance just made me lose control?”

Namjoon shrugs. That should’ve sound offensive, but for some reason, it doesn’t. “Uh, if you put it that way, probably. But no one knows if the correlation is real, so believe whatever you want to believe in.”

Hoseok opens his mouth to reply, but before any words come out, the lock on the door clicks and someone from the other side pushes the door open. Namjoon can only stare wide-eyed at the intruder.

He’s screwed.

“Hobi hyung!” The said intruder shouts at full volume. His head pops from behind the door and a little part of his Gryffindor scarf peaks out. “Why’d you lock the door? You weren’t there at dinner and I thought you’d be hungry and I brought hamburgers and . . .” He pauses when his big eyes fly to Namjoon. “Hi, Namjoon hyung.”

“Hi, Jungkook,” Namjoon closes his eyes tiredly. He’s going to have a heart attack if his life keeps up its pace like this. So he’s not so screwed after all.

“Anyway, your hamburger,” Jungkook throws Hoseok a packed lunchbox and disappears behind the door, barely able to suppress his smirk. Namjoon can faintly hear Jungkook laughing from the other side.

Namjoon stares at Hoseok staring down at his lunchbox. It has lots of cute stickers on it, like the ones preschool teachers would give to the kids. From Namjoon’s angle, he can see a sticker of a Nifler, Wampus Cat, Swooping Evil, Hippogriff, multiple dragons, phoenix, and Occamy.

“Magical creatures,” Namjoon says, not seeing how Hoseok freezes up at that. “You do love them, don’t you?”

Hoseok carefully examines Namjoon, who’s too absorbed in those stickers to notice the stare. “I do,” He says, his voice ten times softer than before. “I’m one of them, after all.”

Namjoon decides not to comment on that. “You seemed to know a lot about them,” He notes.

Hoseok smiles and looks pretty proud. “Yeah. I get my hands on any book about them. Don’t tell anyone, but I used to sneak into the Restricted Section to read books about magical creatures. The only reason why I stopped because I finished reading all of them and made copies of them.”

A smile blooms on Namjoon’s face, and, unlike what he’d usually do, he doesn’t try to hide it. “Really? I do that too! I sneak in there all the time! And it’s a miracle I was never caught in these five years. It’s as if someone’s always there, protecting me and hiding me from Filch and Pince while I do my forbidden research.”

Again, Namjoon misses how Hoseok freezes at that.

“Actually, this is the only reason I rejected those Quidditch teams’ offer. I never wanted to be a professional player . . .” Hoseok begins.

“. . . You wanted to be a Magizoologist,” Namjoon finishes, shocked and amazed. People might say that Hoseok is wasting his raw and God-given talent for flying if he chooses a career as a Magizoologist, but Namjoon, whose gift lies in the dark arts, would never choose a career as a wizarding world terrorist. Hoseok, like Namjoon, chooses a path he truly feels attracted to, not the path that’s perfectly laid out for him. Perhaps Hoseok is more like him than Namjoon thinks.

Hoseok nods and comes over to sit at Namjoon’s bed. “Yeah. But people don’t get it. Said I’m not thankful for what I have. Those sport scouts told me how this kind of ‘talent’ . . .” Hoseok raises his hands and does air quotes. “is something they almost never see. I’m not bragging, by the way. I’m just emphasizing how disappointed I am at people sometimes. I love flying, but I love those animals more. Can’t I just do what I want?”

Telling Hoseok that he feels what Hoseok feels would be too cliché. People say that all the time and most of the time they have no idea what they’re talking about. Hoseok probably hears that all the time, whenever he mentions the tiniest bit of what he really feels. But Namjoon, whose brain-to-mouth filter is usually useless anyway, blurts out: “I know what that feels too. Trust me; once you stop caring about what’s stopping you, you’d live a happy life. If you don’t wanna play Quidditch, don’t. If you wanna be a Magizoologist, just do it. This is your life, not other people’s. Your life is too important to be something you don’t want it to be.”

Hoseok gives him a weird look that Namjoon can’t decipher. “Of course you’d say that.” Is Hoseok getting what he’s saying? It makes perfect sense to Namjoon, but he isn’t sure if Hoseok knows what he’s trying to say. Was he being offensive? But when Namjoon sneaks a look at Hoseok, who turns away from Namjoon for some reason, the Gryffindor boy has a smile on his face.

If Hoseok’s gonna smile that impossibly bright smile one more time, Namjoon’s going to get sunburnt.

“I know you know,” Hoseok says quietly. “Jin hyung doesn’t say stuff for nothin’.”

“Whoever is this Jin hyung, he must be a genius or something.” Namjoon says, remembering how this mysterious person always seems to know what’s going to happen. Like he’s handling life like he’s playing chess.

Hoseok clasps his hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh. “No, not a genius. More like a nosy mom who cares about other people’s lives more than his own and adopts every weird kid he sees. So far he has five. I’m one of those weird kids.”

“And Taehyung and Jungkook are two of those five? And the one you mentioned earlier . . . Jimin, was it? . . . is the fourth?” Namjoon guesses boldly.

Hoseok raises both eyebrows. “Wow, you do remember everything,” Hoseok says. “Remind me not to get on your bad side. If you’re the kind of guy who holds grudges from fifteen years ago, then you’ll be a trouble to handle.”

Namjoon gives him a smile he hopes is reassuring. “The Aurors sent my parents to Azkaban and the Dementors killed them. I don’t go around hunting Aurors or Dementors. I hope that says something.”

Hoseok grins at him and Namjoon is seriously considering to get himself a pair of sunglasses right now. “It does, Namjoon-ah. Great talk. And though I have to admit I’m not anywhere close to a Healer, but judging from how you’re still breathing and alive, I’d say you’re cured from whatever you’d get from being under the Imperius Curse, drowning, and battling a kelpie. And if you’re wondering, Skyes just got expelled, and Taehyung wasn’t even messing with McGonagall’s brain. She’s gone soft.”

“Are you subtly telling me to leave?” Namjoon questions playfully.

Hoseok makes him a finger gun. “Good idea. Get your Slytherin butt out of my room, now that your mission for today is accomplished.”

Namjoon stands up from the incredibly comfy bed (a little forlornly) and frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hoseok shrugs as he pushes Namjoon to the door and opens it for him. “Jin hyung said there’d be a cute guy who would find me a path away from what I was inured to. And you did, just like he said.”

Namjoon throws his arms into the air but doesn’t resist when Hoseok pushes Namjoon out of the chamber. “Another mysterious riddle for me to solve. And by the way, how do you expect me, a Slytherin, to pass through your common room and your fellow Gryffindors, who resent Slytherins?”

“Life finds a way,” Hoseok says, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Did you just quote Jurassic Park at me,” Namjoon says, narrowing his eyes in mock disappointment.

“Thought a pure blood like you wouldn’t know about that movie.” Hoseok wriggles his eyebrows.

“This is probably the first time I regret paying so much attention to Muggle Studies.” Namjoon grumbles at the wolf. "but thanks. For saving me from Casanova.

"Casanova?" Hoseok raises an eyebrow at that.

"The kelpie. Casanova."

"You named the creature that almost killed you Casanova." Hoseok mutters, a pleasant smile ghosting at his lips. "Cute."

"I can get even cuter if you want." Oh god, Namjoon can't believe he actually said that.

Hoseok grins and shuts the door, leaving Namjoon to find his way out.

He’s not even going to question Hoseok about the not-saying-goodbye thing. It probably runs in the adopted family of Jin hyung.