dream a little dream of me ; seventeen oneshots

xi. hexed [2ji]

3,642 words - rating: general - warnings: hogwarts!au

The fact wasn't that Jihoon had a problem with Hong Jisoo, per se. There wasn't anything he had against him; in fact, he barely knew him at all. What he did know was that Hong Jisoo was the textbook definition of perfect, and that's wherein the problem lies.

He remembers their first meeting, on the train bound from London's Platform 9 ¾. He spoke softly, had that fresh first-year glow Jihoon has seen countless times that day and handed out his smiles like free candy. Even the snack trolly lady had stopped and spent about an hour fawning over his polite charm and enthusiastic exterior (which, now he thinks about it, deprived Jihoon of his chocolate frog for longer than necessary, and, although petty, is rather a devastating feeling for a wizard who's spent the majority of the summer eating muggle sweets).

His interaction with Jisoo was rather novelesque - quite meet-cute (though at the ripening age of eleven, neither of them were thinking much about romance). His height the disadvantage, Jihoon was struggling the retrieve his travel case from the cart's carrier rack, and, although small, but still a good foot taller than him, Jisoo found it his pleasure to reach it for him.

"Hufflepuff, probably," Jihoon thought bitterly as Jisoo handed him his stylish leather case with a sickly sweet smile. (And, no, he was not blushing as Gryffindor and now-best-friend Choi Seungcheol likes to say. Rather, he was embarrassed from the relatively immature third-years who found it humors to wolf whistle and pat Jihoon's head as they passed - needless to say, the minute Jihoon learned how to hex he gave them all quite an embarrassing fleet at their respective Quidditch games.)

After that their meetings were moderately scarce. Apart from the shared lessons of Herbology in year one, Muggles Studies in year two Care of Magical Creatures in year three, and Potions in year four - in all of which Jihoon found himself constantly challenged (and somewhat frustrated) by the latter's intelligence and determination - Jisoo and Jihoon spoke rather sparsely to one another. Discounting the few times they went for the same book in the library, or the odd smile - typically from Jisoo - thrown over at breakfast, the pair were nothing more than casual strangers.

And Jihoon was willing to keep it that way.

Again, Jihoon had nothing against Jisoo; he was just perfect, too perfect. To list:

He was smart, very smart. If Jihoon remembers correctly, he was the top of his Defence Against the Dark Arts, his Charms, his Flying and his Astronomy classes. In the lessons he was not at the top (in which, Jihoon probably was), he definitely made it clear he was far from falling behind with his keen want to learn and quick integrity in picking things up. Jihoon once tried to count how many times his hand shot up in a lesson, but eventually gave up after finding it equivalent to trying to count the stars.

He was well-rounded. Not only did he take part in extra curriculum subjects, he was Hufflepuff's star Keeper in his fourth year, but left the team after Quidditch season was over to ready himself for the upcoming O.W.Ls in year five.

He was kind (Hufflepuff's are, typically), and loyal (there's a surprise). Never once had Jihoon heard anyone talk badly about Jisoo behind his back, or to his face for that matter. Everyone in their year, and in other years alike, seemed to look up to Jisoo for his kindness, his soft demeanor, and gentle way. But he wasn't just this squishy boy with no backbone. Quite the contrary, he had authority:

In their fifth year, Jisoo and Jihoon became prefects. Jihoon, an example of intelligence and leadership for Slytherins; Jisoo, an icon of goodwill and helpfulness for the Hufflepuffs. Jisoo was renowned through Hogwarts as a favorite for his house - always willing to help, funny, witty (Jihoon once overheard him take down a friend criticising his prefect methods with a swift: "Well, it's a good thing they didn't make you a prefect. You obviously have no idea what you're doing."), but Jihoon become renowned for his fierce control and cold mien - somewhat strict and somehow unlikeable.