double, double, toil and trouble

Chapter 28

As soon as Mark entered the Great Hall, his eyes zeroed in on where Jaemin sat at the Slytherin table, hunched over and foot-tapping manically under the table. Either he had just drowned himself in coffee, or he hadn't slept at all last night either.

After they had gone to the Slytherin dorms and concluded that Donghyuck was gone, they ran to the Headmaster's office, wishing for any sort of explanation to where the boy was. However, as fate would have it, they received no comfort.

Upon arrival, they had been told that their Headmaster had gone to the Ministry of Magic for an urgent meeting and he wouldn't be back for a few days.

All last night Mark was going over so many possible explanations in his head that such thoughts drove sleep from his mind. His boyfriend was gone, missing, and no professor they had spoken to had anything to say to them. They even went to the dungeons to try and find Professor Suh, knowing that if the Slytherin had said anything to anyone that could explain this situation, it would be him. But like Headmaster Lee, it seems as though they had gone to the Ministry together, for he was not in the castle either.

The two boys had no clue what to do next. It wasn't until Jeno had come to find them that he forced them both back to their dorms, abandoning their aimless wandering for clues to get what little sleep they could.

As Jeno was the only one with a clear head, the Hufflepuff also suggested writing to Donghyuck's brother in the morning to see if he knew anything. Part of Mark didn't want to worry Doyoung, but he knew that Donghyuck's brother had a right to know, and he could probably do more than them as he was free outside the school's walls.

And so as he wanders over to the Slytherin table, still groggy, he sees Jaemin chewing on the end of his quill, probably trying to figure out how to word the letter.

"Any luck?" He asks, the Slytherin looking up immediately, showing Mark a weary smile.

"I'm debating just writing 'S.O.S DONGHYUCK MISSING, HELP!' at this point", Jaemin mutters back, placing his quill down for a moment before picking up his goblet, casting a glance to Mark as he does, "This is tea, by the way."

Throwing his hands up as if to say, 'hey, there's no judgement here', Mark then reaches for a fresh goblet in the middle of the table before pouring himself something to drink.

"Do you think Professor Suh will be back now?" He asks, "I mean, Headmaster Lee might not be, but I was wondering because potions class is still going on..."

"I checked before I came here", Jaemin admits with a sigh, turning to face Mark, "Neither are back... plus, don't you have your Head Boy rounds to do or something like that?"

But, at the mention of his duties, Mark just shakes his head, rounds being the last thing on his mind, "I'm sure the Prefects and Head Girl can handle it."

However, at that, Jaemin just sighs, putting his drink down as he turns to face the Gryffindor.

"Mark, with both of them gone, we're probably not going to get any answers within the next hour... You should go and do your rounds. Donghyuck wouldn't want you to disregard your duties for him"

"Donghyuck makes fun of my Head Boy 'duties'" Mark responds, thinking back to all the little comments and teasing remarks he'd face in his boyfriend's wake over the littlest of rules or pointless meetings.

"He's proud of you", Jaemin mumbles softly, "You know that, don't you?"

And of course he does, because although Donghyuck may crack a few jokes about being a teacher's pet, he's the first person who congratulated Mark on his post as Head Boy. Whenever Mark needed to rant or just speak his thoughts out loud to try and make sense of them, Donghyuck was always there. He's Mark's number one supporter, and Mark has never doubted that. Donghyuck always makes sure to remind him how proud he is of every small accomplishment, and even when Mark was unsure about becoming an Auror, Donghyuck talked out his worries to try and convince Mark just how perfect he was for the role.