"Did you like the book?" Taehyung looked over at Jungkook, who was walking beside him, a stupid grin on his face. Taehyung looked down at the book that was in his hands, just underneath the notebook that he carried around to take notes in all of his classes.

"I've read it before." Taehyung admitted. Jungkook looked down, a bit disappointed at that piece of news.

"Oh...well I wish you would have told me earlier so that I could have picked something else out for you." He mumbled. Jimin glanced between the two, his eyebrows furrowed together, no doubt wondering what had happened between the two to suddenly have Taehyung talking to Jungkook and them being friendly together.

"It's fine." Taehyung said, quick to wave it off. "It's one of my favorites, anyway."

"Oh." Jungkook's face lit up at that information. "Then I guess you enjoyed it?"

"Very much." Taehyung said, grinning in amusement. But he quickly wiped the grin off of his face, going back to its usual neutral expression. Jungkook pouted, sad that he had gotten somewhere, and now was back at square two (still better than square one, which was when Taehyung wasn't speaking to him at all ).

"Well, I'm glad, and if you ever need another recommendation, I'm always in the library. In case, you know..."

"You want to skip class without me again. And then make me go all alone. " Jimin jumped in, sounding rather annoyed (although Jungkook knew that he was half joking, the other couldn't stay mad at his friends for long, not unless they'd done something that equaled a severe fuck up).

"Well, we're all skipping dinner tonight and heading up to our tower." Jungkook said, shrugging. "So you can skip with him there."

Jungkook merely giggled, before shaking his head. "Not everyone has to be with you at all time, Jiminie." He teased. "You can look cool all on your own. Be the broody type and all." Jimin merely rolled his eyes at that. Jungkook teased him some more, before they were in front of Jin's classroom. "I'll see you later!" Jungkook called, waving. "Let me know if you need anything else from me, Taehyungie!"

Jimin whistled as Jungkook scampered off, before turning to him. "I hope you're not planning on skipping again today. Jin may be our friend, but eventually he'll start slapping you when we meet up if you keep skipping."

Taehyung's eyebrows rose at that information. "I'll just report him, then." He said simply. Jimin shook his head, laughing.

"McGonagall is more than aware of our friendship. She'd just laugh at you."

"A professor abusing their students?"

"Jin means well. He can just get emotional at times. He doesn't want us to skip because he wants us to do our best."

"I see." Taehyung said, nodding along to what Jimin was saying. Jimin merely giggled.

"You don't have to take everything so seriously, Tae." He joked. Taehyung shot him a look, but Jimin continued to giggle, shaking his head. "Come on, it's like we're your first group of friends."

"You were my first friend." Taehyung mumbled. He found that his eyes were falling to the ground and Jimin's eyes widened at that, his laughter dying. Now he felt bad. He hadn't known, how could he have known that?

"Tae I--"

"I'll see you at dinner, I suppose." Taehyung said, stopping in the hallway. "Tell Jin that I will accept a hit." Then he turned and walked off, leaving Jimin to feel guilty and at a loss for words in the hallway. But class was starting soon, and he knew that Taehyung wanted to be left alone, so he turned, and walked into Jin's class, mumbling excuses for as to why Taehyung had once again skipped his lesson.

☫

"Albus--"

"How many times do I have to tell you that that is not how you address me?" Jungkook felt a whimper building in his throat, but suppressed it.

"Sorry, hyung." He whispered.

"That's better." Jungkook flinched when the older's hand came up to run through his hair. He wanted to swipe it away, but he knew that that would only end in pain. He didn't like crossing Albus. He had tried to fight back, a long time ago. He hadn't used to take his shit in such a way, but after years and years of bullying and harassing, beatings and touching, Jungkook had come to grow afraid of the older wizard and what he would do if he didn't comply.

There had been too many instances of three on one, too many instances of cheaply thrown tricks and vile spells to make him compliant. And over the years, it had rendered him pretty much unable to fight back. It was mentally ingrained in him to obey this man and he hated it. Hated how it made him feel weak, hated how he could allow someone to walk all over him like this.

"I can't stop thinking about that kiss, you know." Albus suddenly whispered, fisting his hair and pulling his head back so that his neck was arched out at a painful angle. Jungkook gasped, trying to pull away, but stopping when it felt like his hair would tear out of his scalp.

"Your lips were so soft." Albus was leaning in, and Jungkook's eyes widened, going cross eyes as he watched the older's movements. A hand came up to trace his bottom lip, and Jungkook could see the way that Albus' eyes never left them. "I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. I'm sure that you enjoyed it, no?"

"I-I--"

"You enjoyed it?" Jungkook gasped once more as the grip around his hair tightened, forcing his head back even more. His knees were trembling from the force in which he was being held down.

"I didn't." Jungkook managed to get out. There were things that he would lie about, but he couldn't lie about this. Not when he knew that Albus would take it as an invitation to just kiss him more and whenever he felt like it. Jungkook didn't know if he could handle that.

But it was the wrong answer.

Jungkook found himself thrown to the ground before he could even think about anything else. His books went flying and he tried to push himself up, but a foot landed on his back, pushing him back down. "I don't know why you keep resisting me. I know you want me, that much is obvious. Why will you not just give in?"

"I don't want you." Jungkook grunted. "I never did. And do you really think that by beating me up and forcing yourself upon me will make me like you?"

"You will admit it to me one way or another."

"You're a monster."

"I am the best thing that will ever happen to you." Jungkook cried out when a hit landed on his stomach. He curled into a ball and waited for another one, but it never came. He inhaled sharply, his eyes, which he had clenched shut, awaiting for more hits, opening slowly.

When he looked up, all he could see was Taehyung standing there, Albus' throat in his hand. The boy was gasping, choking for breath as he tried to claw at the other's hand.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Taehyung growled out, his eyes narrowed.

Albus couldn't respond, Taehyung was crushing his windpipe, after all. Jungkook could see Taehyung's knuckles turn whiter as he clenched his fist tighter.

"Mr. Kim!" Taehyung turned, facing McGonagall, who was now running towards them. "Mr. Kim, what on earth do you think you are doing?" Jungkook slowly got up, managing to collect all of his books, which were scattered around the ground.

Taehyung threw Albus to the ground, turning to fully face the headmaster. "He was--"

"He beat up Jungkook!" Albus suddenly spoke up, his voice raspy. The wizard wheezed, trying to collect his breath. "He kicked him in the stomach and when I came across them and tried to stop him, he grabbed me by the throat. He tried to curse me!"

"Those are very strong accusations, Mr. Potter." McGonagall said, turning to Jungkook. "Mr. Jeon, is this true?" Jungkook looked at Albus, then looked at Taehyung, but the other boy wasn't even looking at him. He was looking forward, but Jungkook wished that he would face him.

Albus was glaring at him, and Jungkook slowly shook his head. "No, it's--"

"I can't breath!" Albus suddenly screamed, curling onto the ground and contorting his body in such a way that it looked like he was being tortured, like he was in immense pain. Jungkook turned to him, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Mr. Kim!" McGonagall looked scandalized. "Mr. Kim!"

"I'm not doing anything to that pathetic piece of shit." He growled out. "The only spell that would create that much pain would be cruciatus and I don't even have my wand drawn. It would be impossible for him to be anything but a fake."

McGonagall looked at Taehyung, before rushing over to Albus, who still hadn't given up the act. He was screaming and acting like he was being tortured, and finally he stopped when McGonagall placed a quiet spell on him. She turned to Taehyung, shaking her head.

"Twenty points from Slytherin, and I want to see you in my office tomorrow morning. We are going to be having a long discussion about your treatment of the students here and the way you treat people." Jungkook watched as McGonagall picked up Albus and carried him off, no doubt to the infirmary.

He turned to Taehyung then, who still wasn't looking at him. "Tae--"

"Are you alright?" Jungkook was startled, but he slowly nodded, shuffling from foot to foot, but then wincing as the wound that Albus had delivered to his abdomen throbbed.

"I've had worse."

"You shouldn't let him do those things to you."

"I know." Jungkook whispered. "But..."

Taehyung looked like he understood. And he probably did, although his situation had been far worse than Jungkook's, no doubt. Jungkook didn't even know how he could compare his predicament to what Taehyung's had no doubt been like. "It's nothing." He finally whispered. "I can deal with it. But thank you for stepping in, anyways."

Taehyung took a step back, not expecting how aloof and quiet the boy had gotten. Usually he was the one to be open and talkative and want to talk about things, but now he looked like he was curling in on himself and...Taehyung found that he didn't like that. He didn't like the way that Jungkook was acting, because it was so unlike that kind and bright Hufflepuff that he had come to know.

"Jungkook--"

"I'll be late for my next class. Thank you for helping me again, but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about anything you saw or heard." And then the boy rushed off without another word, leaving Taehyung speechless where he stood. He watched Jungkook scurry down the hall and around a corner, before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

This isn't how he thought this year would go. As he was placed with the sixth years, he would only be attending Hogwarts for two years. He thought that he would just keep his head down and ignore everyone, just get through schooling and then he could disappear off again, doing his own thing. He could be alone again.

The only reason that he agreed to this in the first place was because there were rumors circulating that some followers of his father were still lurking around, trying to find ways to resurrect him again.

It was a foolish notion, Voldemort was well and truly dead. He was never coming back, despite what many may have hoped or believed.

But that didn't mean that there were either ways to carry out his messages. And since Taehyung wasn't that well of a guarded secret anymore, he knew that someone would no doubt come looking for him.

He had been approached, when he was wandering around some of the towns, looking for a place to crash for a little while, and offered a letter. He'd scoffed at it, he was far older than some of the professors at the school. But then the man had explained to him that by going there, he would not only have a place to live and steady meals, but that he would be protected from those that wished to use him.

Taehyung had laughed at him, telling him that he didn't need protection. If someone came to him and tried to use him, he knew that he was powerful enough to either kill them or make them run the other way. He wasn't weak, not anymore.

And then the man had said that it was a way for him to perhaps build a future for himself. Taehyung had rolled his eyes and told him that there was no future for someone like him.

No one would hire him, there was not a single wizard or witch that would look at him and think that he would be a good suit for their business. He was scorned and turned away at every turn. He had trouble most nights just trying to buy some food for himself.

Then the man had said that people would never change the way they thought about him if he kept hiding in the shadows and running away from everything. They would always think that he was like his father, and that one day, he would become just like him.

Taehyung had still refused, saying that he didn't need other people's opinions to validate himself. He knew that people would think the way they thought, and nothing he could say or do would ever change that. He'd tried once, and it'd ended with him being chased out of a town for threatening an old lady who'd tried to curse him for being the spawn of such a vile creature.

But then the man had sighed, taking a seat on the ground. Taehyung had startled, eyeing him in distrust. He had thought that the man would walk away, everyone always did.

"I knew your father." He finally said. "I was the one that killed him, after all." Taehyung's eyes had widened at that, and he'd taken a step away. The man hadn't moved, just shook his head.

"I know that life must be hard for you. And I can't imagine what you've gone through. I shared a mind with him once, I could feel him, sometimes I could even see and hear the things that he said, the things that he thought. I know that you grew up without love, and that you were tortured. And I also know that people will think what they want to think. I know that they will think that you were by his side, that you were groomed to be just like him. People won't ever listen to the things that they don't understand. But I do. I understand that he had no room in his heart for love, and that the only thing you served to him was something to use. Something to further his thirst for power."

"Then you know that I am not going to accept your pathetic offer? Why would I attend such an institution? The whole world loathes me, it would be like putting me out for display and allowing them to finally nod their heads and go 'yes, he's just like his father'."

"Because I know McGonagall. And I know the school and those that are there to help young wizards and witches grow. I know that they can help you."

"I do not need help." Taehyung had scoffed. "I'm older than you are."

"You may be older, but you are still young. You have not had the chance to grow up."

"I never will!"

"Growing up is not of the body, but the mind." The man had argued. "You have not gotten the chance to live, you have not gotten the chance to just...be a teenager and explore the world. Learn new things and form friendships, find love."

"I do not need those things." The man had just given Taehyung a look at those words.

"You might think that now." He had finally risen from his place on the ground, dusting off his pants. "I will not waste my breath here longer. But just know this. That power inside of you...it will only grow. And I know that someday, you will wish that you had somebody to help you, somebody to be there for you. And you won't find that anywhere else. Hogwarts is a good place to start."

And then he had left. He had left Taehyung there, staring at the letter in his hands, flipping it over and over.

Taehyung Kim it had read on the envelope. Lost wanderer, wherever you may be. Was the address that was on there.

When he'd opened it, he'd open the folds of the paper and taken a moment to read the words.

Dear Mr. Kim,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students will be required to report to...

He had read letters like this before. Voldemort had kept his own in his study, even after all those years. Taehyung hadn't known why, some stupid sentiment, perhaps. But he'd sometimes read it when he was allowed to be out and about, wondering what it would've been like, to receive such a letter. To be normal, like other children. To have had a normal childhood and to have grown up in a loving household.

It had taken him five weeks to decide.

Wandering around and moving from place to place, finally deciding that he'd had enough.

Taehyung took the next chance that he had. He'd bought a broom from someone (admittedly he'd had to threaten them to even let him buy it, but whatever, semantics). And then he'd flown. He'd always loved flying, it hadn't been something that he'd been allowed to do a lot, but he'd been taught and trained, the few times that he had been allowed his lessons were vigorous and his teachings strict.

Taehyung had no doubt that he was a great flyer. He'd been tortured every time he failed at anything, and so he'd learned how to master things before he'd even tried it the first time. It was just how he'd grown up.

And then he'd come to Hogwarts. And within a week he'd already made friends. He'd already had people that he could go to. He didn't quite trust them yet, and he didn't quite fully understand why they were even nice to him, or wanted to get to know him, but he had been more grateful to get to know them than they knew.

Each time he remained silent and Jimin kept talking only warmed his heart. It showed him that the boy didn't care that he was perhaps a little more quiet than the others. It showed him that Jimin wanted him to feel included and wanted him to feel welcome.

And each time Hoseok had dragged him off to do something fun, it had shown him that he was wanted. That Hoseok wasn't just inviting him out to make him feel better or to make people think that he was giving the loner a chance. Because he would invite him at times when there was nowhere around, he would invite him to do things, just the two of them, somewhere that no one else would be.

And each time Namjoon sat him down and helped him with a lesson that he was struggling with, even if he hadn't asked, it showed that someone cared enough to see when he was in need of help. That someone was paying attention to him and knew him well enough to know that he needed help.

And surprisingly, Yoongi had become a fixture in his life as well. When the man had silently given him a bit more food when they snuck off for private meals after all of the food that he'd grabbed for himself was gone. It made him feel happy to know that someone wanted to take care of him and make sure that he was happy and healthy.

And every time Jin would sit him down and force him to learn something, gently guiding him and making sure that he had it down pat before allowing him to move on, it showed that there were other ways to learn things, without being tortured or mocked.

And then there was Jungkook. Jungkook, who'd fiercely tried to become his friend, pushing on, even when Taehyung was aloof and even downright mean to him. When he would ignore those who would try to ask him about Taehyung, invasive questions and mean jabs. It made him feel loved. Wanted. Made him realize that there really were people out there that wanted him and that care for him. There were people that would stand by him and protect him and that he wasn't alone anymore.

Taehyung never thought that he would find such a close group of friends. And even if they were still in the beginnings of their friendships, and they'd only known each other for a little over a week, Taehyung knew that he would only grow closer to them all. That even though they all had already been friends for years now, they would treat him as if he had been with them for just as long.

And he couldn't help but thank the man for persisting, for sitting down and talking to Taehyung, for convincing him to come here. Because Harry Potter had been right. The man who had killed his father, the hero of the wizarding world had been right.

A man that Taehyung had been told to hate, a man that Taehyung had been told to kill at all costs, had inevitably helped him the most, out of everyone that had ever been in his life. It was laughable, to see how the tables had turned.

"Taehyung!" The man turned, his eyes focusing on Jimin, who was running over to him, shaking him of his thoughts. He must have been standing there for longer than he had originally thought. "Taehyung, there you are. Class ended a few minutes ago, and I was wondering where you were. Come on, let's skip this joint and go do something fun."

Taehyung found himself smiling slightly, nodding. "Okay." He muttered. "That sounds like a lot of fun."

"What do you want to do? What are you feeling up to today? Do you want to go down to the lake and see if we can skip some rocks? Maybe wander around the forbidden forest? Do you want to stay inside, go exploring? We can go look through the dungeons, see if there's any creatures that we can talk to or mock."

Taehyung was full out grinning by now, Jimin's grin matching his own. "I don't know. What are you feeling?"

"Hmm..." Jimin looked off, as if he was thinking rather hard. "I don't know. Let's just go to the dungeons, see if there's anything fun down there. Maybe we can release a troll or something." Taehyung laughed, shaking his head, knowing that even for how mischievous Jimin was, that was something that he would never do.

But regardless, he nodded his head, agreeing to the other's plan and allowed his hand to be taken and tugged alone. "Come on then!" Jimin announced. 'Before we're caught and forced to go to class!"

Taehyung laughed once more, feeling himself loosen up, feeling himself let go for once and just have fun.

Just be the kid that he'd always wanted to be.

He pretended for once that not everyone was afraid of him.

He pretended that he really was a sixteen year old kid, who was just enjoying some of his final years at Hogwarts.

He pretended like he was well and truly happy, like there was nothing holding him back, like he was carefree and had lived a life never having to worry about a thing.

And as he pretended...

Taehyung felt his shoulders relaxing, and he felt something release inside of him.

Perhaps he wouldn't have to pretend to be happy anymore.

Perhaps he already was.