Timeless: Hours of Anguish [ATEEZ Hogwarts AU]

Monday, December 5th

With another sigh, Jongho let his head fall back into the soft pillows.

That's when Yeosang returned with Nurse Vane.

She gave Jongho some weird-smelling potion to drink – it tasted like liquid rubber – and explained that she'd been able to heal the two deep cuts the Severing Curse had caused, thanks to Yeosang's immediate help right after it had happened.

"Things could've ended badly for you if it wasn't for your friend here. You should thank him," she pointed out, "he has an outstanding knowledge of healing magic for a student his age. If he'd used one of those spells incorrectly, you probably would've lost your arm – if not your life – after two bone-deep cuts like that."

She looked genuinely impressed with Yeosang as she patted his shoulder.

His face went bright red and he continued to avoid Jongho's eyes. "I just did what anyone would've done..." he mumbled and couldn't hide the hint of an embarrassed smile.

Yeosang's face took on an even deeper shade of red as Nurse Vane continued to praise his ability in more detail. When she finally turned to Jongho again, her smile faded a little and was replaced by her usual seriousness.

"I should let you know however that the wound has left a nasty scar that will probably never fully fade," she told him. "The only thing that could've prevented that would've been Vulnera Sanentur, the direct counter spell. But, of course, nobody could expect a student to know how to perform that incantation."

Jongho only nodded. A scar, huh? He fought off the urge to immediately check whether it actually looked as bad as Nurse Vane had implied it did. Instead, he listened to her explaining to him that he'd have to drink that liquid-rubber-like potion every few hours for today and that he'd be able to return to classes tomorrow.

Jongho nodded and thanked her for her care, and Yeosang sat back down next to him as soon as she'd left.

A slightly awkward silence settled between the two of them until Yeosang cleared his throat. "I'm... um, sorry about the scar thing," he started before he lowered his voice. "I didn't wanna say it in front of Nurse Vane, but I do know Vulnera Sanentur. I knew how it was cast, but I didn't dare try it on you back then. You know, in case I make a mistake or something. I couldn't stand the thought of something even worse happening to you..."

"No, don't apologize for that," Jongho replied, shaking his head. "You did what you could, and you ended up saving my arm and potentially my life. I don't even know how I could ever pay you back for that."

He then looked away. For some reason, the feeling of guilt was stabbing at his chest.

"It was my own damn fault," Jongho decided. "I got way ahead of myself. I fought off so many of those people and got overconfident. I thought I could take all of them and totally overestimated Professor Donovan. I'm such an idiot."

Jongho felt his own features grow dark when he thought about that guy. He couldn't believe he'd sat in a Divination class taught by a dark wizard for more than three years without noticing anything. He should've figured it out somehow, he should've known that something was off.

"You're not an idiot," said Yeosang softly. "You were strong. And you were good. Professor Donovan was just... a little bit better."

Jongho smiled. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Yeosang lightly slapped his healthy arm. "You know what I meant."

"I got you," Jongho chuckled. "I'm just playing with you."

A relieved smile spread on Yeosang's lips. "You must be feeling better if you can joke around like that again," he commented.

"Yeah, I'm okay. This rubber-juice really helps," Jongho replied, lifting up the cup and taking another sip.