𝐬𝐞𝐩 𝟐 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟔
"i prepared some concoctions this morning. any idea what these might be?" professor slughorn asked and jaemin, surprisingly, raised his hand.
"yes, mr...?"
"na. na jaemin." he replied and stepped up to the desk, pointing at each item as he spoke. "this one is veritaserum. it's a truth-telling serum. that is polyjuice. and this one is amortentia... the most powerful love potion in the world. it smells different to each person according to what attracts them."
"and what do you smell?"
"i smell... soap, worn-out books and..." jaemin lowered his voice, his eyes darting around the room. "and marshmallow perfume."
"what did he say?" yunhee asked, leaning towards jeno. he shook his head, saying that he hadn't heard. but he had and when she had leaned over, he had caught a whiff of her usual marshmallow scented perfume.
"amortentia doesn't create actual love. that would be impossible. but it does cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. and for that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room." slughorn said, placing the lid on the cauldron as some girls had begun walking towards it.
"sir, you haven't told us what's in that one." renjun said, gesturing to the bottle.
"oh, yes. what you see before you, ladies and gentlemen, is a curious little potion known as felix felicis. but it is more commonly referred to as..."
"liquid luck." yunhee finished his sentence. she had learnt about it from renjun and jaemin who were really good at potions.
"yes, you're right, miss...?"
"kim." she told him, biting the inside of her cheek. she disliked the sudden attention she got from the rest of the class.
"miss kim." he confirmed, nodding his head as he showed off the bottle in his hand. "liquid luck. desperately tricky to make. disastrous should you get it wrong. one sip and you will find that all your endeavours succeed. at least until the effects wear off. so this is what i offer each of you today. one tiny vial of liquid luck to the student who, in the hour that remains, manages to brew an acceptable draught of living death. the recipes of which can be found on page ten of your books."
everyone hurried to open their books.
"i should point out, however, only once did a student manage to brew a potion of sufficient quality to claim this prize. nevertheless, good luck to you all. let the brewing commence."
⚯͛
the group of friends were sat in the library an hour before curfew as renjun had insisted they study astronomy and potions. he and mark were the only ones keeping up in potions, but they were all falling behind on astronomy.
but yunhee was also falling behind on sleep. so when she placed down her book and laid her head on the table, she was knocked out in less than five minutes. and of course, that's when she had her dreams again, only this time there was no death. instead, it was birth.
the birth of voldermort.
seeing the darkest wizard in history, as a child, so terrifying and dangerous, sickened yunhee. she was awake the second the dream was over.
"what's wrong?" renjun asked, noticing how her whole body shook.
"i fell asleep." she said, rubbing her hands over her face.
"another worrying dream?"
"it was creepy." she admitted. "i'm sad that i can't tell any of you about it. it's so hard keeping it to myself."
"you've got this." he whispered, taking her hand and rubbing circles over the back of it with his thumb.
"i sure hope so."
"break it up, lovebirds." donghyuck said, as he stepped in the space between their chairs and dropped a stack of books next to their hands.
"are you trying to break our hands?!" renjun exclaimed as the slytherin pushed him, slightly, and squished himself onto his seat so that they were both half hanging off.
"yours. not yunhee's though."
"while i appreciate your desperation to sit next to me and your crush, there's a chair right there." yunhee joked, pointing to the empty chair next to jeno.
"i do not like renjun and jeno stinks."
"um... actually he smells like honey." mark defended while jeno's mouth went slack.
"i hate honey." donghyuck shrugged.
"no, you don't. you were literally drinking honey with milk yesterday." jaemin said and he turned to glare at him.
"thanks a lot, bro."
"you're welcome, bro."
"i'm bored of studying. can we go do something fun?" chenle asked after everyone had gone silent again.
"studying can be fun." jaemin said.
"uh. you, renjun and jeno are such nerds." jisung groaned, slamming his book shut. jeno rolled up a piece of parchment and tossed it at him.
"this is why you're failing all your classes."
"at least i know how to speak to girls without going all red and stuttering." jisung retorted and jeno stood up, flexing his arms to intimidate the younger boy. "you don't scare me."
"alright! calm down, calm down." mark interrupted, clapping his hands. however, yunhee noticed how he was eyeing jisung's hand, hoping to get a glimpse at his wrist.
"stop it." she said, smacking her hand over his eyes.
"what? i wasn't doing anything." he said, removing her hands.
"mhm. sure." she replied. clearly unconvinced, she turned to chenle so he could back her, but he was nowhere in sight. "where did chenle go?"
"what the hell. how did he just disappear?" donghyuck mumbled, looking around the library.
"i didn't even see him leave. is it possible he learned apparation?" renjun joked.
"i'm literally right here."
they all glanced down at the floor where chenle was laying with a book covering his face and his legs crossed. he knocked the book off his face and waved at them with a toothy grin.
"what are you doing laying on the dusty floor?" mark asked.
"i was trying to sleep since you're all so boooooring."
"find some new friends if you find us so boring." donghyuck replied, rolling his eyes.
"aww. did i hurt poor little hyuckie's feelings?" chenle cooed and when the slytherin stood up, the hufflepuff was quick to get up and bolt for the door.
"get back here!"
"quiet in the library!" madam pince hissed from the other side of the room.
"shut up, old hag!" donghyuck retorted as the others sent each other wide-eyed looks.
"we're leaving now, aren't we?" yunhee sighed, as they hastily packed up their stuff.
"donghyuck is about to get us all murdered, so yes." jeno said. they could hear madam pince storming over to where they were, so they followed after chenle to the exit and found him hiding around the corner.
"got you, you little brat." donghyuck sneered, putting him in a headlock.
"i ask for forgiveness! just please don't kill me!"
"what are you... doing out here, causing a ruckus?" the sly and drowsy voice of snape filled their ears as their blood ran cold. chenle was practically shaking in fear.
"um. we were on our way to our common rooms." yunhee explained, saving them all. but snape ignored her and took a frightening step closer to them.
"i suggest you leave the corridors immediately and get to sleep. wouldn't want to be out... after curfew and get detention... with me." snape said and turned to jisung. "i need to speak to you."
"okay..."
jisung quickly said goodbye to the others then left with snape. this interaction only intensified mark's suspicion of the slytherin. he was already wary about snape and him possibly conspiring against dumbledore, so this made things even more... worrying.