double, double, toil and trouble

"You like him, don't you?" Yukhei asks, watching as Donghyuck stirs the contents of the cauldron, turning it a fierce red colour, "And he likes you..."

At the observation, Donghyuck keeps his eyes on the textbook before him, his finger tracing over the next few steps, "Gurdyroot extract..." he mutters, to which Yukhei passes it to him swiftly.

He adds it bit by bit until the content turns from red to green. Only when he gives the contents a stir does he entertain Yukhei's thoughts, "And how did you reach that conclusion with him currently pining over another boy?"

As the liquid then turns a warm orange, Yukhei sighs, Donghyuck turning to look at his boyfriend's best friend, "Because even under the influence of a powerful love potion, he still wanted you to stay with him."

"Maybe I'm just that good-looking", Donghyuck supplies, but even he hears how his voice falters.

The room falls silent for a moment, the bubbling of their cauldron serving as a grounding force so that Donghyuck doesn't get lost in his mind at Yukhei's words.

It didn't matter what Mark said or even wanted in his state because Donghyuck couldn't process any of it. For now, he had just managed to clumsily tape the shards of his broken heart back together to complete this potion, but it was only temporary. Knowing Mark was under a spell when he kissed someone else wasn't exactly the excuse Donghyuck had hoped for and didn't ease his mind as much as he thought it would, especially not when the spell risked Mark's health.

"And as for you..." Yukhei continues softly, "I could see it, the way you looked at him... you didn't have to help, but I could see how concerned you were for him."

"Of course I'm concerned", Donghyuck huffs, pulling the pile of Wiggentree twigs towards himself, "Like we discussed, these potions can be dangerous, I don't think anyone deserves to have their own freedoms tampered with"

Shutting down the conversation, Donghyuck turns back to their cauldron. He adds one twig at a time till he gets to seven before stirring again, but he could see how unconvinced Yukhei was out of the corner of his eye. He could practically see the questions the other was dying to ask floating around his head, and so Donghyuck was appreciative that the Gryffindor was biting his tongue. He wasn't in the particular mood to discuss his epically complicated love life.

After stirring, he allows the potion to simmer, its colour slowly morphing into something that resembles a soft pink.

"We're almost done", He concludes, beginning to tidy away their desk area, not wanting to get into any more trouble than necessary about using an unsupervised potions lab.

When the delicate spirals of mist rise from their cauldron, giving way to a mother-of-sheen liquid, Donghyuck wordlessly grabs a glass vial from the counter-top and gently fills it to the brim.

Once completed, Yukhei doesn't mention Donghyuck and Mark's relationship again as he helps Donghyuck secure the bottle cap to the vial before they are both dashing out of the dungeons, retracing their steps to the Gryffindor Common Room and back to Mark.

They don't utter another word to each other; they barely share a glance. All they can do is run and hope that Mark hasn't taken a turn for the worse- that he's still twirling around his room reciting poetry.

However, when they finally reach the door to the Common Room, Donghyuck hesitates, which has Yukhei looking back at him in question.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

However, at the question, Donghyuck just flounders.

"I, uh... You should go on ahead," He mumbles, taking a step back from the portrait door.