like a moth to a flame;
The glass jar sits on the desk in his room, the blue flame within flickering madly causing the Slytherin to laugh as he observes it from his chair. Bluebell flames. Bright blue fire that was waterproof and can be touched and held without burning the holder. Such a simple charm that was taught in first year, Taemin had learned it on his first try. These flames were different in the fact that they had been manipulated by more powerful and complicated spells. This flame, contained in the small rose colored mason jar, could not burn out until the feelings of the caster ceased to exist. As in Taemin had to fall out of love with the person it was for.
It was a present, or was supposed to be a present for Christmas but he had yet to send it out even as the time continued to tick on counting down the minutes until Christmas was over. He had less than an hour and a half until the grandfather clock down the hall would chime and signal that it was midnight. The present had been ready for weeks, but he didn’t have the nerve to send it by owl then. He wasn’t sure if he had the nerve now even though there would be no way to trace the present back to him. It would be sent anonymously, he had borrowed his sister's owl with that purpose, and the single sentence note he had written inside was written with a quill that would change the writer’s penmanship. In other words, there was no way to trace the present back to him.
His laughter finally dies on his lips as he taps the lid of the jar with the tip of his fingernails. It was a simple present and most receivers of such a gift wouldn’t give it much thought when it arrived, but it weighed heavy on him for so many different reasons. This the most meaningful present he could ever give someone, and he wasn’t sure he was ready. That flame represented his love, it would only go out when his feelings of intense love were no more. The fire was contained into a jar, just like his feelings had to be kept contained within his very being. The Gryffindor that it was going to would never realize just how much thought Taemin had given to this, how many nights he poured over his book of advanced spells and charms to find the right ones. How he spent hours practicing them to perfection, how once he finally set everything up, how he had to spend weeks finding the nerve to send it out. There was a reason Taemin wasn’t a Gryffindor and dawned green and sliver instead.
He places the jar back into the square blue and silver striped box, on top of a piece of parchment embroidered with a single sentence: ‘the flames will only burn out when my love for you dies.’ There’s a gift tag attached to the top of the box with a single name written neatly in dark letters ‘Jonghyun Kim’, he traces the bold letters with his finger as he chews on his lip. He’s going to send it, he decides, placing the top on the box and calling for his sister's owl perched on the windowsill.
“This is going to Jonghyun Kim. It has to arrive before midnight.” He makes sure the package is wrapped tightly and tied securely to the owl’s leg. “Have a safe journey, yeah? I promise to bring you lots of treats tomorrow Vera,” Taemin coos and caresses the bird’s wing before he leads her back to the open window. She immediately jumps off of his arm and hoots before she’s gone, leaving the dark haired male to run his fingers through his hair as he watches her disappear into the dark, cold December night.