𝐧𝐚 𝐣𝐚𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
"we need to plan something."
"jaemin, there's nothing more we can do." renjun replied. the group of friends, excluding mark and yunhee — she was with aerin — were sat in the great hall where their families and classmates were. it had been a while since they said goodbye to mark who went to face voldemort and they had been arguing about what to do.
"if renjun says that, then there truly must be nothing..." chenle said.
"hey..." yunhee mumbled as she approached the boys on the benches. jaemin gestured for her to sit on the free space next to him and she did.
"how's aerin doing?" jeno asked.
"not well. it's one thing to lose someone you loved, but to see them die horribly right in front of your eyes... it's truly traumatising. though, with time, she will heal. she just needs her friends and family support."
"as soon as this is all over i think we'll all need each other more than ever. i don't want to be separated from you guys again. i don't think i can handle it." jaemin said, his eyes downcast.
he felt a hand touch his that was resting on his lap. he watched as the hands entwined then he looked up at yunhee.
"i promise we're not going anywhere." she whispered, squeezing his hand.
he nodded, trying to force a smile but he couldn't focus on her. behind, there was a strange scene of people rushing to leave out the great hall.
up until now, there had been mostly silence, but suddenly people were getting up, muttering incoherently then leaving out the door. confused, the friends sent each other questioning looks then decided to get up and follow the crowds outside.
they pushed their way towards the front to see what everyone was gawking at. across from them was voldemort and his followers. among them there was also hagrid who was carrying something or someone in his arms.
"who's that? who's that hagrid is carrying?" chenle asked, his voice wavering as he seemed to know the answer already.
jaemin's breath hitched when he caught sight of the obvious round glasses on the body's face. he glanced next to him where yunhee was trying to get on her toes to see what it was. he quickly grabbed her and pressed her against his chest, into his arms, so that she couldn't see anything.
"jaemin, what are you doing?" she asked, her voice muffled.
"don't look. i don't want you to look." he told her, placing his hand on the back of her head when voldemort stepped into the middle of the courtyard, his arms raised.
"mark lee is dead!" voldemort yelled and yunhee flinched, trying to push jaemin away from her so she could turn around.
"jaemin! jaemin, let go of me." she fought against him, but he kept a strong grip on her.
"please, don't fight me. you shouldn't see this. i-i don't want you to see this." he muttered. at the feeling of her suddenly no longer pushing him and instead shaking as she cried into his chest, he rubbed her back, whispering comforting words.
"mark lee is dead. it is over! set him down,
hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!" voldemort said and mark was placed in front of him. "you see? mark lee is dead! do you understand now, deluded ones? he was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"
"no! you lost! he beat you!" jeno yelled.
"he was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," voldemort said, lying. "killed while trying to save himself—"
yunhee tried breaking away from jaemin, to step up to voldemort and defend her friend who couldn't do that himself, but jaemin refused to let her. he knew it would have consequences. she would get injured too and in the worst-case scenario, end up dead. he just wanted to protect her. even if they were going to die later on, he wanted her to know she was safe in his arms.
"jaemin! hyejin!" jaemin's father called as jeno stepped forwards to confront voldemort. "come here!"
"jaemin, don't go." yunhee said, quickly wrapping her arms back around him.
"i'm not going." he whispered back.
"yes, jaemin, come here. join us!" voldemort yelled and the said boy cringed. voldemort walked past mark and noticing that jaemin was holding yunhee in his arms, a sinister grin appeared on his face. "join us and we'll let the seer live! we'll let all of your friends live!"
"how do i know you'll actually do that?"
"you have my word. no one else will be harmed if you join me. mark is already dead so i have no need for the seer."
yunhee could tell he was lying. she always knew when people were untruthful. but jaemin, on the other hand, was blinded by his want to protect her to see that it was a trap. she felt his hold on her loosen a bit and she panicked.
"don't leave us. don't leave me."
"but if i do, you'll be safe... right?" he replied, glancing up at voldemort who was holding an arm out.
"he's lying. don't fall for it." she insisted and placed her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. "jaemin, please. the same way you asked of us before, don't leave. i don't want to be separated."
"i just want you all to be safe." he said, a tear rolling down his cheek. "i'll go and then you'll be okay."
"no, no. don't."
jaemin turned to jisung and chenle, gesturing at them to take her away from him. they hesitated at first, not agreeing with what he was going to do, but then came to the conclusion that it was probably for the best. they pried her off jaemin as she struggled to reach him again.
he walked to the middle of the courtyard where voldemort greeted him with an awkward hug, his wand placed on his back as if threatening him.
"now keep your end of the deal." jaemin said.
"i said i'd let them live, but i didn't say i'd let them off unharmed." voldemort replied, grinning at yunhee who had broken free from her best friends and was standing at the front of the crowd.
"yun, no!" he yelled when voldemort lifted his wand. he moved quickly, covering her.
"crucio!" voldemort yelled, hitting jaemin with the spell. he fell to the floor, withering in pain. yunhee rushed forwards and held onto him, wide-eyed. she placed his head on her lap so that he would find some comfort in the fact that she was there.
"stop it! STOP!" she screamed, frightened by the sight of him convulsing. she knew what it felt to be hit with the unforgivable curse and watching someone else suffer from it was just as painful. she held his hand, squeezing it and whispering soothing words.
voldemort finally ended the torture but raised his wand again, about to mutter another curse, when from the right of him, mark who had been on the floor, looking dead, had gotten up. he fired a spell at him and the snake.
voldemort cried out in fury, sending bursts of flame at the gryffindor who jumped over a ledge to reach the castle. the other death eaters either disappeared, scared, or ran into the castle to fight again. voldemort and his snake stormed past the two on the floor, completely ignoring them as his main target was mark lee.
"jaemin, we have to go." yunhee whispered, brushing away the hair that stuck to his forehead. "but you're hurt..."
"i'm alright." he mumbled, nodding weakly.
"you're not." she replied, a tear falling from her eye and onto his face. "you stupid, stupid — why would you step in front of the spell? i could have taken it. you shouldn't have—"
"i didn't want to see you get hurt." he interrupted, placing a hand on her face to wipe her tears. "i'd rather be hit with the cruciatus curse twenty times than see you suffer."
"you made me suffer just now. did you think i wanted you to be harmed? na jaemin, if you die because of me, i won't be able to live with myself. never do that again! you hear me?!" she cried and he smiled which only made her cry harder. "why are you smiling?!"
"i want to kiss you so bad." he said and her crying stopped momentarily.
"w-what?"
her heart was beating so fast and she prayed he couldn't hear. she averted her eyes, glancing around at the empty courtyard. everyone else was inside fighting yet they were out here. she felt like it wasn't the right place or time, but as she looked down at him again, the butterflies in her stomach came back.
she knew she had feelings for jaemin. ever since that day he protected her from the bullies and rumours, he had grown to hold a special place in her heart. then he took her to professor slughorn's party and she began to consider it as their first date. she wasn't sure if he thought the same because it was cut short by jisung, but she wanted it to be a date. she wanted him to ask her to go with him. everything was slowly coming together like puzzle pieces.
"can i?" jaemin asked, bringing her back to reality. it was only then that she realised he had moved to kneel in front of her, arms placed on either side of her and his face so close to hers.
"what?"
"yunhee, can i kiss you?"
she slowly nodded her head, in a sort of daze, but the second he leaned in, she snapped out of it, throwing her arms around his neck. he wrapped his arms around her waist and lost in the moment, she shuffled closer, moving to sit on his lap.
his lips were soft, almost silken, and pillowy against hers. he could feel the soft tickle of her breath beneath her nose which he liked as much as she liked the feeling of his fingers resting on her waist. he was so careful with her that she found herself falling in love all over again.
they wanted the moment to last longer, but they knew there were other things they had to do first. he was first to pull away, breathlessly staring at her sitting on his lap. he smirked and her cheeks flushed as she bit her lip.
"maybe we went a bit overboard." he said.
"maybe, but i don't really care." she replied.
"i see that." he chuckled. "yunhee, will you be my girlfriend?"
"yes, jaemin, i will." she said, placing her head into the crook of his neck when she felt her cheeks begin to heat up.
"why are you embarrassed?" he asked, tickling her sides.
"i'm not." she told him, prying his fingers away from her. "i just never expected you to like me back and for us to end up together. i was worried you only thought of me as a friend."
"was it because i wasn't as obvious as the others who flirted at every given chance?"
"well, when you put it like that..."
"sorry. did you want me to flirt a lot and be direct?" he asked, frowning. "did i not do this correctly?"
"no. it's not that. i'm a very dense person." she laughed, nervously. "you're amazing. you're perfect, jaemin. it's just me."
"what do you mean? you're the perfect one." he said, bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss. "i wouldn't change a single thing about you. i like you for the way you are, even if you are incredibly dense."
"stop. i'll cry." she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. "again."
"you're adorable." he pinched her cheeks. "shall we find our friends now?"
"we probably should." she stood up and held her hands out for him to take so she could help him up. he still felt a bit sore from the cruciatus curse.
just as they got back on their feet, two figures tumbled from the sky and to the floor nearby. they recognised the two to be voldemort and mark. jaemin grabbed yunhee's hand, tugging her away from them as they began duelling. he dragged her back to safety and all they could do was watch their friend fight for his life — for their lives.
the battle was coming to an end and there was an obvious winner. mark had disarmed voldemort who was turning into particles, rotting away. soon, he was nothing but tiny pieces of dust floating in the air. dead. he was dead.
mark's hand, that was holding the elder wand, shook as he glanced over his shoulder at his friends. the three stared at each other, in silence, too in shock and too exhausted to say anything or make the first move.
"MARK!" chenle's voice could be heard, echoing. he ran out from the castle, lunging at mark, sending them both flying to the floor.
"jaemin! yunhee!" jisung yelled, running over to them. surprisingly, he was the first to hug them which jaemin wasn't used to. usually, he'd be the one to initiate the hug.
"we were so worried when you didn't come into the castle and we couldn't find you. i'm so glad you're safe." donghyuck told them.
"is he dead? is voldemort dead?" renjun asked, helping mark off the floor then hugging him too.
"he is. he's really gone." mark replied, the others joining his side.
"then what happens now?" jeno asked.
"we live peaceful lives." chenle mumbled.
"well, i don't know about you guys, but yunhee and i have a date." jaemin said, joining his hand with yunhee's. he sent her a toothy grin as the others turned to stare at them, confused and shocked.
"hold on. what?" jisung uttered.
"a date today? really? shouldn't we rest for a while and go out maybe next week?" yunhee asked.
"you want to be away from me for that long?" jaemin pouted, making their friends cringe.
"alright. fine. we can go out today and tomorrow."
"and next week too?" he asked, swinging her arm.
"sure."
"sexy!" he exclaimed then pecked her cheek. she laughed at him, not really understanding why he had said that. she assumed it was just another side of his random personality.
"wait! so you guys are together?" renjun interrupted and the two turned to each other, nodding.
"maybe." jaemin shrugged then ran forwards, pulling yunhee with him.
"come back here! give me back my best friend!" chenle screeched, chasing after them, the others following close behind.
the pair kept running across the bridge until hogwarts was a distance away from them like a memory from the past. jaemin gazed at the girl by his side and in that brief second, he crashed into a tree, causing them both to tumble onto the grass.
they laughed, rolling over to face each other. they went quiet again and jaemin placed his fingers on her cheek then closed the gap between them. when they pulled away, she rested her head on his chest, her smile never leaving her face.
"can we stay like this?" she asked.
"for as long as you want. i promise i'll never leave you again."
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝