some legends are told

“just hurry up!!” honestly there are HUNDREDS of ways anyone could decorate a christmas tree even without magic. unfortunately, they’re both stuck with the burden of making things a little more festive in their common room. “always the harder route for you, isn’t it?” his shoulders are about to give up – seriously? what was in jihoon’s head that made him think of this.. UNTHINKABLE idea. “..did you attach it yet?” it’s the last piece to make their tree complete, and jongdae couldn’t take the weight much longer. the next series of events came a little too fast but it was summarized by a really loud THUD and a disheaveled tree.

he’s been avoiding a great amount of people for a good reason. no, it’s not because he’s antisocial but you know how holidays can switch to holidaze real quick; everyone’s always on to someone jongdae just couldn’t read quite yet.

he is nothing but a crisp and clean scent – a perfect combination for his overly transparent personality. but it’s the holidays and someone in the hufflepuff common room threw in an exploding gingerbread house; jongdae was unfortunately there and his clothes are now festively sweet – he hates it.

sleep doesn’t arrive even at one in the morning; jongdae turns sideways at least a hundred times before finally giving up, groaning and all, as he resolves to a medicine that hasn’t failed him yet. so, he gets out of his bed and changes into a slightly more comfortable for the weather. the packs are snuggly kept in his pocket and a miniature bottle of blishen’s fire whiskey (a little engorgio charm will do the trick) along with it.

there are numerous hideouts in hogwarts that thankfully, thankfully hasn’t been discovered by authorities in school. jongdae swiftly dodges every creeping shadow along the way, and manages to get to one of his favorite spot – a slightly less visited building with an open balcony and the night sky waiting with stars waiting to be counted. it’s the breeze that takes him, the solace and sheer silence that made it his favorite midnight trip.

except it wasn’t exactly empty; jongdae sees a couple of bottles on the floor, not so neatly placed. someone must’ve been here for quite a long time, he guessed as he whispered the engorgement charm on his miniature bottle.

“hey,” a familiar ravenclaw. ah, yes. it makes sense now. “jongup, what the hell?” it was best to answer like this – a open-ended statement for a questionable friendship. sure, jongdae knew him after a couple of drinks but nothing else pushed them to be “friends” according to jongdae’s standards. anyhow, he pops the bottle open, conjures a glass. “having trouble sleeping?”

don’t get him wrong; jongdae isn’t exactly the best person to be with when someone would want to spend a saturday night dancing in dim rooms, waiting for bad decisions to happen just before three in the morning, all glitter and smoke and elbows brushing against one another. no, that’s not what he’s in for during saturday nights.

“it’s not much but i hope this will do,” jongdae notions at two freshly made red currant rum, ice clinking as the elven bartender pushes to their direction. “you really can’t expect me to, you know.” he tilts his head to a swarm of young adolescents near the dj booth. it just doesn’t make any sense for him to waste such energy when most of it ran out throughout the week. he takes his glass for a couple of sips—a little electrifying at first before savoring fruity notes to a bitter aftertaste. it’s all good; much better than jumping aimlessly at some music and become twice as exhausted as you originally were.

“anyway,” he remembers his companion—yes, companion, because this isn’t exactly a date. his sole reason for taking her here was due to a successful pairwork in one of their subjects. jongdae had owe her a drink (or maybe two, three. who knows?) and he’s only fulfilling it now. “olivia, right? we had a good run during our pairwork.” and then silence. what’s next? jongdae took a couple more sips, only realizing then that he’s not a good conversationalist either.

(/ pair works are horrible –– a living nightmare for anyone who disliked awkward and unnecessary introductions before working on yet another crazy task from their professor. jongdae hated his last partner from divinations class –– he literally had to take a puking pastille to get out of her hair and the class, only to find out that she literally believed it and nursed him the entire day. it’s horrible, and he’s once again stuck with the same dilemma for a different class) –– (/ care for magical creatures wasn’t exactly his strength, and it did show through because apparently he’s one of the few students who were given extra credit to ‘make up for his grades.’ ) so, we’re supposed to look for something that dwells in there? (/ jongdae never liked the idea of swimming in the great lake –– he doesn’t even know if he could swim that well. during moments like these, he’s thankful for pair works because he absolutely can’t do that on his own. nope. he’d rather have broken bones and get that bitter aftertaste from skele-grow ) ––(/ he dips his feet in the water; it’s better to start familiarizing the temperature now. jongdae scans the view of the lake before looking back at his partner) chen, by the way. (/ introductions are the worst -- excruciating) i hope you know how to swim?

he never quite understood why it was a good idea for some people to turn their common room into a slumber party kind of mess that’s waiting to happen; never liked how his usual spot next to the window was taken by a fifth year with her legs tucked and shoes ruining the chair’s leather. jongdae just couldn’t stand it. solitude was a privilege after all, he reminds himself and he shuts the door a little too harshly so as to make a point.

what should he do then? he lays in bed, only to find himself tossing and turning and then giving up because sleep just won’t come his way. there was nothing else to do; the skies were clear tonight and jongdae decided to revisit a place he’s missed for a while. jongdae takes his oversized scarf and a new pack of cigarettes he’s recently bought from a common friend.

it wasn’t too far, not when he’s discovered a shorter path after sneaking behind the authorities several weeks back. so when he successfully dodged from any suspicious person walking by, jongdae was greeted by a tapestry of infinite stars he once memorized in 4th year. beautiful wasn’t even a word to describe it. jongdae celebrates – he opens the pack, a stick between his lips, and lights it with his wand.

but something was off – jongdae retreats when he finds a shadow of someone and for a moment his heart skipped a beat because, who the fuck could that be at this hour?

“oh,” he recognizes her from astronomy class. “it’s you.” the tension stops when he finally recognized her, except he didn’t quite remember her name. solitude is, again, a privilege. he’s reminded of that but this time it didn’t quite irritate him as much. he takes a drag from his stick, unafraid, and puffs thin smoke. “what are you doing here?”