double, double, toil and trouble

Chapter 14

Jaemin just brushes off his grumblings as he gathers up the scribblings he had done of new Quidditch plays to then reach into his bag and pull out his Care of Magical Creatures handbook.

Donghyuck felt a brief sting of guilt pierce his heart at the thought of keeping his Healer dreams a secret from his best friend instead of wishing to become a professional Quidditch player like they had planned. But right now, with Jaemin whining about Jeno's obliviousness, Donghyuck pushes his own worries to the back of his mind.

"Wow", Chenle exclaims as Jaemin opens his book, "He can read and everything."

And if anything else but Jeno was on Jaemin's mind, a hex probably would've been sent Chenle's way. But instead, Jaemin just starts scanning the page.

Since his Veela charms didn't work on the Hufflepuff, Jaemin came to the conclusion that he's just going to have to impress Jeno the old-fashioned way- through knowledge.

"Did you know there's a creature called a Kelpie..." Jaemin starts, his nose inside his textbook, "It's a water demon, looks like a horse... an angry horse from this drawing", as Jaemin turns his book to the side to get a better look Renjun casts him a glance.

"And why are you telling us this?" He asks, only for Jaemin to hold his book upright again, continuing to recite from the pages.

"It lures people onto its back and then drags them down to the depths of lakes and eats them", He reads, his tone nonchalant as he looks over the group whose faces all read some kind of discomfort or disgust, "Legend says that there's one that occupies this lake..."

As he trails off, going back to his book, he misses the glances of alarm his friends send to one another.

"Okay, the giant squid and the grindylows, I can... I'm fine with that," Donghyuck announces, for these creatures lurked at the bottom of the dark lake, not coming up to the surface, therefore, posing no threat (unless Renjun decides he's had enough and throws him in), "But a water horse demon... maybe we should think of a new spot to hang out at"

"Not scared, are you Lee?" Renjun prods with a smug look on his face, and Donghyuck debates if he could be the one to dunk Renjun into the black waters before their roles are reversed.

"There's this know-it-all Hufflepuff in my herbology class", Chenle chimes in dully, not looking up from his parchment, "And he never shuts up about this lake and all the obscure plants within it, I won't be surprised if one day he goes snorkelling in here, I think something is seriously wrong with him"

Donghyuck casts a glance out over the lake, watching the black waves rhythmically roll and turn as it mirrors the dark clouds overhead.

"And on that note", Donghyuck sings, pushing himself up onto his feet and dusting off his robes, "I left my half-finished potions essay back in the Common Room."

"Can't you just start it again?" Chenle asks to which Renjun makes a snide comment about 'well, how good was it anyway'.

The comment came from a place of bitterness as in their second year, Donghyuck dethroned Renjun as the master of potions and has excelled ever since. Donghyuck knew Renjun was proud of his achievements, and it was nothing more than a tease, therefore he just stuck his tongue out childishly.

"I guess someone doesn't want any Chocoballs then", He sighs, Jaemin and Chenle beginning to chorus all kinds of excited noises as Renjun just motions that he'll zip his mouth shut.

With a victorious nod, Donghyuck then turns on his heel, trudging back up to the castle.

~~~