double, double, toil and trouble

Chapter 29

In their last class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures, Jaemin found himself back inside a classroom instead of stumbling his way through the Forbidden Forest. The Slytherin was incredibly thankful for the location change for two reasons.

The first being that he was still very much so distracted by his best friend's absence, and therefore he doesn't trust himself to be vigilant enough not to accidentally run into something or someone dangerous. And the second is that since it was their last class of the day, the shadow of the late-night sky was creeping overhead, and Jaemin didn't like to admit such a thing out loud, but despite his reputation, he was perhaps, a little scared of the dark.

But as he previously stated, that was a secondary concern. The first was Donghyuck and the fact that Jaemin had been in the classroom for all of a minute and no one had annoyed him enough that he has threatened murder. Salazar, he missed his best friend.

Before he could get in his head too much, a body brushes against him, taking their seat on the same desk, and Jaemin felt himself automatically relax beside the new figure.

"Hi", Jaemin mutters, unable to stop a smile coming to his lips as he allows his mind to fixate on the Hufflepuff's styled back hair and his soft pink lips that turn into a smile upon seeing him.

"Hi", Jeno whispers back, getting settled in the seat next to him.

They share a quick glance and Jaemin wants to forget about this next class and have Jeno talk to him about his creatures, the salamander, and anything else that is interesting. And yes, he knows he's head over heels- but there's something about Jeno that has Jaemin's heart melting like a type of chocolate that has been left out under the sun.

He's helpless, but at least he's self-aware.

However, before Jaemin could open his mouth and possibly embarrass himself, undoing all his progress with Jeno, his attention is drawn to the classroom door as Yukhei and Mark walk in, both conversing in rushed whispers.

For a moment, Jaemin thinks that Mark's owl might have given them some news, but as he looks at Mark's face, what glimmer of hope he had quickly fades.

Yukhei gestures for Mark to find their usual space before he locks eyes with Jaemin across the room, giving him a shrug of his shoulders before plastering on his usual boyish smile, sauntering over.

As he arrives at Jaemin and Jeno's desk, he then places his hands on the surface, leaning over with a noticeable glint in his eye.

Jeno looks from Yukhei to Jaemin and back again.

"So?" The Gryffindor starts, giving a slight shake of his shoulders, "How did training go after you took my wonderful advice?"

"It was... different", Jaemin admits reluctantly, giving Yukhei his focus as he recites what had happened on the Quidditch pitch earlier today, "Hyuckie is our mood maker, and everyone could tell that something was off with me. We couldn't play with a full team either."

They played without a Seeker today- just doing little drills and trying to polish up some plays, but Jaemin knows that if Donghyuck doesn't come back soon, their next game will be disastrous. They need a Seeker, and none of the other team members have trained for such a role- not to mention he needs them in the positions they're in now. It was giving him a headache.

However, at Jaemin's downplay, Yukhei just shakes his head, "I'm sure you led them well."

"I just hope Hyuck is okay and that he comes back soon", Jaemin whines, letting out a rather big sigh and Yukhei seems to do the same- but for a different reason.