HP!verse: Pumpkin Pasties

[kang2urteuk]

Title: Pumpkin Pasties, Shindong+Sungmin (Friendship)
Length: 3,935 words
Author: shieldkitten
Rating: PG
Summary: Friendship, magic and a mutual enjoyment of sweet things.
Author's Note: I said I would write this for cynicalxcharm and fading_sun_sock in July. >.> I suck.



It wasn't so much fate as a box of eclairs that brought Shindong and Sungmin together one balmy Spring evening when Shindong had only just emerged from the kitchens with his stock of study snacks for the night. By all rights the dining hall was supposed to be empty at that hour, and yet Shindong had found himself swooped upon by a small and chirpy Ravenclaw.

"Hello!" said Ravenclaw had chirped, blowing his hair out of his eyes and fixing Shindong with a dazzling smile. "You smell like chocolate. I'm Sungmin!"

"Shindong," Shindong had said, and because his immunity to Sungmin's brand of dazzling smiles would only develop well into their second year, he had added, "Would you like an eclair?"

And so their friendship had begun, based initially on their mutual enjoyment of sweet desserts, and then on a mutual understanding that while most of the people Hogwarts housed were clearly escapees from St. Mungo's spell damage floor, they were not - at least until Sungmin joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch team in third year and discovered that he would much rather catch the Hufflepuff seeker than the golden snitch.

"Aha!" Sungmin crowed, and Shindong swivelled in his seat in time to see the door to the kitchen swing shut behind him. "I thought I might find you here."

The four long tables were covered with ingredients in preparation for dinner, and Shindong sat atop a high barstool, out of the way of the house elves bustling around his shins. Several of the house elves paused long enough to greet Sungmin and place another barstool next to Shindong's. Sungmin grinned his thanks, settling on top of it.

"Were you looking for me?" Shindong asked, settling his Charms textbook on his lap. He had escaped to the kitchens for a bit of peace and quiet while Eunhyuk fidgeted in the Gryffindor common rooms about something he was determined not to talk about, no matter how many times he plonked down next to Shindong and stared pointedly at him as though hoping Shindong could read his mind. Evidently, he would find no peace in the kitchens, either.

"No, I was looking for them," Sungmin said, pointing to the plate of jam doughnuts behind Shindong and wriggling his fingers. "Gimme gimme."

"Get your own!" Shindong snatched up the plate protectively, holding it out of Sungmin's reach. Sungmin laughed and leaned forward, bracing himself with a hand on Shindong's thigh while reaching for the plate with outstretched hand.

"Learn to share!"

"Learn to respect my personal space!"

"Can't learn on an empty stomach!" Sungmin made a lunge for the nearest doughnut, but miscalculated Shindong's center of gravity by several degrees, and the result was a resplendent crash as the plate flew out of Shindong's hand and shattered against a shelf. Immediately, four house elves in the vicinity stopped peeling potatoes and began to clean up the mess while another group of house elves righted the barstools and helped Shindong and Sungmin to their feet.

"Thanks, er, Bonnie, isn't it?" Shindong dusted himself off as he spoke to the nearest house elf - one with enormous eyes that were trained on Shindong's every move.

"Yes, Shindong sir, it was no trouble, Bonnie was glad to help, Shindong, sir. More jam doughnuts, Shindong, sir?" Bonnie the house elf seemed to whip up a fresh plate of jam doughnuts from thin air.

"Yes, thanks, Bonnie, that's great," Shindong beamed, taking the plate from her. Bonnie seemed to quiver in delight. She gave both of the boys a deep bow before returning to her work at the long tables.

Sungmin quickly snatched up a jam doughnut before Shindong could protest. "She's in love with you."

Shindong eyed the jam doughnut quickly disappearing between Sungmin's teeth and decided it was a lost cause. "I'm just a familiar face, that's all."

Smacking his lips, Sungmin licked his fingers. "Why're you studying in here?"

"Eunhyuk," Shindong said simply, and Sungmin gave an 'ah' of understanding as he reached for another doughnut. "And why are you stress eating?"

"M mot faff iffing," Sungmin said around a mouthful. He swallowed and tried again. "I'm not stress eating."

"We've been best friends for six years, Sungmin, I think I know when you're stressed. What, did Siwon-" Sungmin's barstool clattered the the ground for the second time running as Sungmin flew out of his seat, clapping a hand over Shindong's mouth. Shindong made a face as he tasted the jam on Sungmin's palm.

"Shhhh!" Sungmin hissed, beet red. He stared around at the house elves as though they were about to stuff little notes into the roast chicken that Sungmin and Shindong were in the kitchens, openly discussing the Hufflepuff seeker. When he was satisfied that they were all engrossed in their duties, he released Shindong. "Don't say his name!"

"It's not taboo, is it?" Shindong asked, grimacing as he wiped jam from his lips.

"It--Ears! The walls! Listening!" Sungmin was always so inexplicably inarticulate when it came to Choi Siwon. "Anyway, this isn't about him."

"What is it about, then?" Shindong asked, serious now. Sungmin picked up his stool and slumped on it, groaning.

"We're playing Hufflepuff tomorrow!"

"I thought this wasn't about him."

Sungmin sighed and slid off his seat, pacing irritably across the floor in front of Shindong. "It's my team! How am I suppose to impress S--Hufflepuff if every time Taehan gets the quaffle he tries to chuck it at Zhou Mi instead of through the goal posts? And don't even get me started on my beaters. I swear, I would jinx the whole lot of them for picking on Zhou Mi if I didn't need them tomorrow."

"It's true, then? About that Kyuhyun kid and Zhou Mi?" Shindong asked.

"There's too much moping for it not to be true," Sungmin nodded. "I don't believe Zhou Mi wanted to break up with Kyuhyun at all, though. You should see him, he looks like someone's tipped him some draught of despair." He sat up, eyes wide. "You don't think--"

"It takes months to brew up the draught of despair. Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi haven't even been going out that long, have they?"

Sungmin pursed his lips. "I suppose not." He sank back into his chair again, looking troubled. "I need to fix this."

"How?"

"I'll see if I can get Kyuhyun alone tonight. Oh, blast, I can't," Sungmin moaned into his hands. "Detention."

"What did you do?" Shindong asked, wondering what Sungmin could possibly have done to risk detention this close to a match.

"I may or may not have been caught wandering around the corridors to the Hufflepuff common room after hours," Sungmin said, face still buried in his hands. Shindong heaved a deep sigh with years of long suffering behind it and nudged Sungmin's cheek with the plate of doughnuts. Sungmin caught it and stuffed another doughnut into his mouth.

"Anyway, I think you should do it," he said, voice carefully casual.

"Do what?" Shindong asked, eying Sungmin with some suspicion.

"Talk to Kyuhyun for me."

Shindong snorted and shook his head firmly. "No."

Sungmin quickly arranged his features into his most beseeching expression. "Please? Don't you want to help your best friend?"

"There's no use looking like that, I'm immune to your wiles," Shindong told him, folding his arms. Sungmin paused, and Shindong could tell he was calculating his chances of getting a 'yes' by pouting. "Still no."

"Fine. Pass the chocolate gateau, will you?"

The sky had barely begun to lighten. Shindong wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself and wondered why he had agreed to watch Sungmin boss his teammates around the Quidditch pitch at the crack of dawn. It wasn't as though he had an overpowering interest in the sport, or as if he was very invested in the results of the afternoon's match. Still, he settled on a bench in the empty stands and watched the Ravenclaw players walk onto the pitch, dressed in their quidditch robes. Sungmin walked with Zhou Mi, who did look as though he had been taking the draught of despair by the cauldron.

The Ravenclaws mounted their brooms and began to fly in sweeping circles around the pitch. Shindong stood up as Sungmin flew to his seat in the stands, signalling for him to come to the railing.

"I can't hold it past them to try to play pranks on Zhou Mi while my back is turned. Can you shout out if you see anything?" Sungmin asked, leaning over the wooden railing and keeping his voice low.

"Like that?" Shindong pointed behind Sungmin, where Ingyu and Taehan appeared to be chasing Zhou Mi around the stands, forcing him to swerve and weave his way around them. Sungmin gave a roar of outrage and sped off, yelling at the top of his lungs.

It always amused Shindong to watch the change in Sungmin when he was on the Quidditch pitch. He became demanding, almost crazed in his feverish zeal to play a good game. Shindong was very glad he wasn't one of Sungmin's team mates - their friendship would have been irreparably damaged the first time Sungmin ordered him to score ten goals with beaters aiming bludgers at him.

"Shindong," Taehan panted, pausing by the stands while Sungmin shouted at the seeker for letting the snitch zip right past his ear because he was distracted pointing and laughing at a harried Zhoumi. "You're his best friend. Can't you do something?"

"Yeah," Chulmoo, a beater, joined Taehan, his bat dangling from his fingers. "He's gone mental."

"Maybe if you stopped picking on your teammate," Shindong suggested. Taehan scowled and shot off over the field. His movement caught Sungmin's eye.

"Stop slacking!" He yelled, grabbing the other beater's bat from his hands and aiming a bludger at Chulmoo. Chulmoo swerved out of the way, and Shindong yelped, diving out of his seat. The bludger smashed into the stands and showered Shindong with matchwood.

"I'm okay!" He shouted out, waving a hand. Pointing his wand at his bench, he muttered reparo. The wooden pieces had just fitted back into place when Sungmin reached him.

"Are you all right?" Sungmin almost tripped as he climbed off his broom in his haste to reach Shindong. "Did you get hit?"

"I'm fine," Shindong tried to wave Sungmin off even as Sungmin peered at his face. "They're right. You have gone mental."

Sungmin was silent for a moment longer as he studied Shindong, lips drawn into a thin, anxious line. Then, seemingly satisfied that Shindong wasn't fatally wounded, he stepped back. "I'll admit, I got a little carried away. You know how important this match is to me."

"You know how important my limbs are to me." Shindong retrieved his books from under the bench and got to his feet.

"I'm so sorry," Sungmin said earnestly, hand on Shindong's arm. "Did I not say that yet?"

"It was implicit," Shindong grinned, patting Sungmin's hand. "I'm going to breakfast. Good luck for the match, in case I don't see you before that."

"I could really do with a pumpkin pasty right about now," Sungmin sighed, getting back on his broom. Shindong watched him soar back out over the pitch, barking orders at a cowering seeker.

"Alcohol."

"No."

"If you loved me you'd give me alcohol."

"I love you enough to deny you alcohol."

Sungmin sagged against Shindong's shoulder, the picture of utter defeat. "Fifteen minutes, Shindong, fifteen minutes. Worst game in the history of the entire history of Quidditch. Possibly of sport, both magical and non-magical."

"It was not the worst game in the history of--" Shindong cut himself off, deciding not to help Sungmin along the path of self-depreciation. "You're not the worst captain, either."

Sungmin groaned, sinking to the floor, his Quidditch robes crumpled in a ball on his lap. "I hadn't even gotten to that part yet."

There was a knock on the door, but before either of them could react, the door swung open to reveal a very tall, very handsome Hufflepuff seeker.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Siwon asked as he stepped into the locker room, already changed into his school robes and looking as fresh as if he hadn't just single-handedly helped to beat Ravenclaw very soundly. Shindong glanced at Sungmin, urging him to say something, but Sungmin seemed to have been petrified, so it was up to Shindong to carry on the conversation.

"No, you aren't," he said, shrugging.

"I just came to say good game. Your team put up a really good effort. I was just lucky I saw the snitch when I did," Siwon said, returning his attention to Sungmin.

"Nrhhn," Sungmin replied.

"Is he--" Siwon stopped, turning his head. Someone was speaking to him from beyond the door, but Shindong couldn't make out the person or the words, but he did note the flush across Siwon's chiseled cheeks. "Ah, please excuse me."

Sungmin turned to Shindong as the door swung closed behind Siwon, staring up at him with wide and desperate eyes.

"Alcohol," Shindong nodded. "This way."

The long tables were empty when they reached the kitchen, and Sungmin collapsed atop the one below the Slytherin table, burying his face in his arms. Several of the house elves eyed him uneasily, and Shindong fancied they were worried about contaminating the food preparation surfaces.

"Bonnie?" he called out, looking around for the house elf.

"Yes, Shindong, sir?" She appeared at his knee, gazing up at him in a manner that always made Shindong feel a little uncomfortable.

"You know those bottles of firewhiskey I asked you to help me stash? I think I need them now."

"Of course, Shindong, sir, how many will you need?"

Shindong considered the situation. "I think two?"

"Eight!" Sungmin called, lifting his head for a moment. Bonnie looked to Shindong for confirmation.

"Maybe six," he said. Bonnie bowed and disapparated and reappeared so quickly that Shindong would have thought he had only blinked if not for the loud crack that accompanied her disapparation. She held out six bottles of firewhiskey on a tray. "Thanks, Bonnie, Sungmin will owe you one."

Sungmin managed to maneuver himself into an upright position at the sound of a bottle being uncorked. He took a large swig of firewhiskey, and closed his eyes, letting his head loll back. Shindong took a sip of his own bottle and felt warmth spread to his toes. They didn't speak till Sungmin was through his second bottle and starting on his third.

"'Least I got to talk to Kyuhyun," he mumbled. "So I'm not a total failure."

"Do you want a bowl of jelly?" Shindong asked, the upper half of his body lost behind a cupboard door as he rummaged through a pantry shelf. "It's still in powdered form. Hey what happens if you use alcohol instead of water to make jelly?" He emerged from the cupboard clutching the box in one hand and his unopened bottle of firewhiskey in the other. Several of the house elves looked alarmed.

"You sound drunk," Sungmin said. Shindong shrugged.

"Sure, why not."

Sungmin eyed his empty bottles thoughtfully. "I could be drunk, too."

"Sure, why not," Shindong repeated, digging through the pantry for more goodies and upsetting a stack of gleaming pots and pans in the process.

"Perhaps sirs would like to drink somewhere more comfortable!" One of the house elves said, bustling up to them. Shindong stared at him, trying to remember his name. Niptwig or something like that.

"We're very comfortable," Sungmin said, taking a large swig from his bottle, most of which spilt down the sides of his mouth.

"Somewhere more comfortable, sirs, perhaps your bedrooms." There were two clusters of house elves now, one around each of them, and Shindong found himself slowly but surely hustled towards the door. When it shut behind them and they stood facing the portrait of the bowl of fruit, Sungmin started laughing, slapping Shindong on the back.

"I think we just got turfed out by house elves!" he wheezed, as Shindong winced with each smack.

"Do you think this will be a permanent ban?" he asked, worried, because the kitchen was really the only place he could go to for some relative quiet, what with all the drama that constantly erupted in Hogwarts and his reputation as a go-to guy for advice and a listening ear. Although, Sungmin had developed the habit of popping into his sanctuary unannounced ever since he had shown him how to tickle the pear to get in.

"I'm sure Bonnie will put in a good word for you," Sungmin waved his hand airily and turned. Shindong watched him totter down the corridor, pausing every now and then to take a sip of firewhiskey, until it became apparent just where exactly Sungmin was headed.

"Oh no you don't," he said, grasping firmly Sungmin by the shoulder and steering him clear of the Hufflepuff common room. "You've already gotten detention for that once."

"Twice," Sungmin mumbled in anguished embarrassment, "but nobody has to know."

The first classroom they stumbled into was thankfully empty, and Sungmin hopped onto a desk, peeling off his robe and dropping it unceremoniously to the floor before beckoning to Shindong in a most conspiratory manner.

"You know who caught me?" he asked in a stage whisper. Shindong could guess, but he knew Sungmin enough to know when he was gearing up to a grand revelation. Sungmin leaned forward, cupping a hand to the side of his mouth. "Siwon!"

"So you had it planned all along, then?" Shindong asked, getting up on the desk next to Sungmin.

"Of course," Sungmin said, in what Shindong could only describe as an extremely self-satisfied manner. "I think you're forgetting how good I am at being sneaky. Remember your thirteenth birthday?"

Images of a surprise midnight visit, a lot of cake and an unfortunate incident involving Eunhyuk and a bedpost swam in Shindong's mind. "How could I forget?"

"Anyway, it didn't work, did it?" Sungmin asked, reaching down to set his empty bottle by the leg of the table. "There was a distinct lack of sweeping off of feet." He gave an almighty sigh.

"Can you even lift Siwon?" Shindong asked, even though it certainly wasn't the point. He always felt a little awkward discussing Siwon with Sungmin, mostly because he was an observant person, and he had noticed how much time Siwon spent pointedly not looking in Hankyung's direction whenever the two of them crossed paths. He wasn't sure how Sungmin, who had been so intensely infatuated with the Hufflepuff seeker for so many years, would react to that information.

"Let's not talk about Siwon," Sungmin said morosely, hands in his lap.

"Okay," Shindong nodded, glancing around the classroom. They had Potions in here, and Shindong was reminded of the essay on the uses of moonshade that he hadn't even begun to research. He quickly threw back the rest of his firewhiskey in the hopes that it would make the nagging thought go away.

Sungmin shifted, dragging his gaze from a shelf full of bottled potions and seemed to be plagued by the same homework-related anxiety. "On the other hand, let's talk about Siwon."

"I'd really rather not--" Shindong began, but Sungmin was already off his desk and pacing the room.

"He's just so tall," Sungmin said, holding his hand above his head. "And good at everything he does. Have you seen him play Quidditch?"

"Yes, I've seen him play Quidditch." Shindong had heard this entire speech before.

"He's good at Quidditch. And Charms. And History of Magic. And, and, and breathing." Sungmin pressed his hand to his chest. "He should teach. The Art of Living. I would take his classes."

"You would," Shindong agreed. "Like any good stalker."

"It's just that I ache," Sungmin said, fisting the hand on his chest. "When I see him, I'm reminded of just how lonely I am. Don't you ever feel that way, Shindong?"

"Not quite," Shindong said. "I have friends, and I can't say I've ever ached for anyone."

Sungmin strode towards him, and this time there was a light in his eyes that Shindong had never quite seen before. "Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to be with someone? To trust them so completely that there are no inhibitions between you?" He stepped between Shindong's knees, placing his hands on the desk on either side of Shindong.

"Sungmin," Shindong shifted, not taking his eyes off of the Ravenclaw.

"I trust you," Sungmin said, leaning in. Shindong sighed and took hold of Sungmin's shoulders, not pushing him back, but halting his progress forward.

"I trust you, too, Sungmin. And I would trust you to stop me from doing anything stupid, too." He reached up, ruffling Sungmin's hair. "Love comes to those who wait. It might not be Siwon, but it will be someone."

"But I'm lonely now," Sungmin sighed, and Shindong could hear the tears in his voice.

"You'd be lonelier still if you lost your best friend to alcohol-induced sex." Shindong slid off of the desk, giving Sungmin's shoulders a comforting squeeze. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"It would've been good sex," Sungmin said, rubbing the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.

"No doubt about it," Shindong agreed.

"I smell chocolate," Shindong announced, plopping down on the Ravenclaw bench next to Sungmin the next morning, displacing a yelping first year.

"It is the smell of death," Sungmin declared, voice hoarse and head pounding. "Why is it that every time we spend a night drinking, you don't suffer the morning after?"

"That's because you suffer enough for the both of us," Shindong said blithely, giving the displaced first year a buttered roll to make up for surprising him.

"I hate everyone, everyone should just die," Sungmin declared, burying his face in his arms. Henry, walking past the Ravenclaw table on his way to class, skidded to a halt and stared open-mouthed at Sungmin until his friends urged him on. Shindong chuckled, summoning a pumpkin pasty from the other end of the table and lifting up Sungmin's head so he could stuff it in his mouth.

"That will make you feel better. Come on, we have Defence Against the Dark Arts after breakfast. You can look up how to commit mass murder there."

They were on their way to the classroom when Sungmin stopped short, tugging on the sleeve of Shindong's robe.

"Why are you acting like nothing happened last night?" he asked, shuffling his feet.

Shindong shrugged. "You don't usually remember what happens after two bottles."

"Aren't you angry?"

"Should I be?"

Sungmin looked pensive, his grip on his textbooks so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "I'm sorry that I did it. It was rotten of me to try to use you like that. I should've apologised last night, but I was drunk."

Shindong smiled. "You probably should've, but what's a little sexual harrassment between best friends?"

"I still feel bad," Sungmin said, though he relaxed, and they resumed walking towards their classroom. "I could do your essays for a month!"

"No thanks," Shindong laughed. "I think the professors will probably notice something's amiss when I start turning in essays that have Choi Siwon ♥ Lee Sungmin scribbled in the margins."

"That was only once!" Sungmin shrieked.

"He's so tall! And good at everything!" Shindong teased, breaking into a run. "I want him to teach me how to breathe!"

"Stay still so I can hex you!" Sungmin yelled, chasing after him.