love potion no. 9;
With twenty minutes left till the end of Valentine’s Day, Taemin climbs down the owlry stairs after sending off his gift with one of the school owls. It was almost his thing, sending gifts last minute but just like Christmas he had been in a debate with himself. Should he send it, should he not? Was it good enough or should he toss out the idea and get him something else? This was Jonghyun Kim he was sending it to and Jonghyun was only getting more admirers as the days went on, how could Taemin’s gift compare or stand out? He could only hope that Jonghyun liked his gift ideas, he had no way of telling what happened after Jonghyun received his present during Christmas. If anything Jonghyun probably threw it in the trash, because honestly, the present was a bit forward and just a tad bit creepy.
This time, Taemin opted for subtly. While all Jonghyun’s admires were sending him gigantic chocolate hearts, flowers, confessional letters, sweets laced with love potion, random stuffed animals, and sing-o-grams (which followed the recipient around until the telegram was finished with its song, Taemin couldn’t even laugh at how pathetic that was---he had gotten his fair share, as well); Taemin had sent in something useful. Something that was completely him and he had given much thought and consideration to. It was in a hexagon shaped box, crimson in color with a golden fabric exterior. Inside hosted a dozen glass vials, all filled with potions, six different varieties.
Jonghyun wasn’t that good with potions; Taemin had observed him during their classes. Potions was a core subject and required for the first five years. Taemin thinks Jonghyun isn’t going to pass their Potions O.W.L next year, sometimes he wants to offer him tutoring but given their public history Taemin didn’t know how to approach and Jonghyun would probably think the Slytherin was mocking him for his lackluster skills while it was well-known Potions is one of Taemin’s specialties.
Taemin brewed all six potions by himself, it had taken months for some of them to finish. Acquiring some of the ingredients had been hard and costly but it was worth it. Just knowing that he was creating something for the person he loved made him work diligently in the room of requirement, sometimes falling asleep while tending to them when it was late, and paranoid that he might ruin one if he didn’t attend to it at the right time. There were times he skipped classes just to stir them or add an ingredient. But they were completed and he could stop stressing now.
Polyjuice Potion was the first potion he started brewing, it was also the one that took the longest to complete.
Each of the potions were labeled accordingly, with a little message attached. ‘Polyjuice Potion’ that was the first potion he started brewing, and the one that took the longest. ‘In case you ever want to have some fun or need to get out of a sticky situation’ ‘Baruffio's Brain Elixir’ a potion that is supposed to increase the taker’s brain power. Taemin thought it was perfect for the Gryffindor and even captioned it ‘you’ll need it during exam time if you want to make it to fifth year Potions’. He may have just insulted the boy he loved and promoted cheating, but he wanted Jonghyun to pass Potions this year and not be stuck on a fourth year Potions curriculum. Who else would he stare at during class? ‘Love Potion Antidote’ it was probably the most random of the six, but Taemin thought it would be the most useful on a day like this. ‘self-explanatory, please don’t eat the ‘homemade’ chocolates your fangirls have given you’ ‘Dreamless Sleep Potion’ it wasn’t hard to acquire this potion in Hogwarts, the healer had a whole stash in her potions cabinet but she always kept it locked. Taemin knew that because he wanted to rummage for potions ingredients and couldn’t crack her advanced locking charm, ‘for those nights when you can’t sleep and your mind is plagued with too many thoughts’ ‘Mopsus Potion’ this one was the most advanced Taemin had brewed and to make sure that he got it right he let Minho try it out. Minho didn’t tell him what he saw, but according to him it worked, so Taemin was exceptionally pleased. ‘just for fun; may your future be bright and filled with many happy things, and maybe… me’ Lastly, ‘Truth Potion’ It wasn’t as strong as Veritaserum (because he had yet to perfect the super advanced potion) but it was a strong potion that lasted all of twenty-four hours on the person it was given to. ‘because nobody likes a liar; try not to take advantage of this one’ Taemin also made sure to brew an antidote and keep it on him just in case Jonghyun plotted against him and slipped some into his morning pumpkin juice. Taemin wouldn’t put it passed him.
All in all, Taemin was proud of his gift, and to add a cherry on top he even gifted the Gryffindor with a dozen flowers. Cheesy, yes, but these flowers were unique and he was sure while everyone was sending Jonghyun roses and lilies, he would never get sent diphylleia grayi. Those flowers were white, and appeared to be like normal flowers, except when it rains, the petals turn transparent. They were Taemin’s favorite ever since he was little. His grandmother used to plant them in her garden and Taemin would be in awe, wrapped in his grandparent’s arms as he watched the flowers turned from white to clear. When he was younger, that was enough magic for him to wrap his head around.
There’s a small card attached around the flowers that reads, ‘If you haven’t noticed, I still love you… p.s: water the flowers immediately; you’ll be amazed, I swear’ Something Taemin thought to add just so Jonghyun would know they were gifted by the same person who sent the charmed bluebell fire. the fourth year Slytherin was bold this time, instead of disguising his handwriting he left it as is. The brunette would never realize that it was Taemin’s neat handwriting from just a glance, as he had never seen it up close before.
Taemin arrives down to the dungeons after midnight without incident, tiredly crawling up the steps to his dorm with a look of jealousy on his face after catching a few couples snogging in the common room. His bed is filled with gifts from his female admirers and he doesn’t take his time to comb over the gifts and write little thank you notes, like he saw Kibum and Minho doing earlier. Instead he waves his wand and watches as the gifts disappear to return back to their original sender. It was the fourth time today he used that spell, not even caring about the hurt feelings the women will be suffering from by the blatant rejection. Taemin was rejected and insulted constantly by the person he loved, and if he could get over it and continue on with his day, they could do the same.
Peeling off his robes he climbs back into his four poster bed and shut his curtains, setting his wand on his nightstand as he reaches over for his extra pillow, hugging it to his chest. He thinks of Jonghyun and of how he should’ve gotten his gifts by now. He thinks of his reaction and how if Jonghyun knew the gifts were from him, he’d probably reject them, too.