despite the few odd events that surfaced at first, the rest of the week manages to pass by like it does any other week. to the gryffindors' joy,  jungkook jeon is released days after.

from then on, the school has seemingly forgotten of the great quidditch incident. instead, everyone is now buzzing with excitement concerning the upcoming hogsmeade trip. it looks as if things are finally returning to normal, to yeri's relief. the slytherin's on her normal studying routine as usual in the library at the dead of night.

well, alright, it's only ten o'clock, and this isn't quite normal. but it's still past wandering hours, and she only came to the library to jot down some information she needs for her potions essay. the girl knows she'd be in for a detention if she doesn't return cautiously, no matter how much mcgonagall may adore her. and that probably wouldn't aid her in keeping a clean record.

now she only has a paragraph left to copy down. but it certainly isn't easy, writing long paragraphs and watching out for the damned caretaker filch(not to mention his cat mrs. norris). she moves her quill across the parchment rapidly, her lovely handwriting growing more and more illegible by the second.

-these plants are most efficacious in the inflaming of the brain-

yeri halts as her senses catch onto a small, barely perceptible noise outside of the library, in the halls. she strains her ears to hear it again, but no suspicious sounds ensue.

"must've been my imagination," the slytherin says to herself. she continues with copying the passage.

-and are therefore much used in confusing and befuddlement draughts, where the wizard is desirous of producing hot-headedness and recklessness-

thud.

that was definitely not a hallucination, yeri thinks indignantly as she shuts the book and blows out the candle. in the darkness, she hurriedly gathers her quill and piece of parchment paper, sliding it in the potions encyclopedia. she then proceeds to tiptoe cautiously behind the bookshelves, using the small cracks in between to peek at the library door.

the thudding sound of impatient footsteps grows louder, and yeri holds her breath. she moves closer and closer to the other corner of the library, not daring to look between the cracks again. soundlessly, she cranes her head and her eyes widen at the sight of a figure walking inside the library quickly.

it's filch, she thinks miserably. he probably saw the candlelight and now i'm screwed.

yeri turns around, sliding through the maze of bookshelves. she makes way into the deeper section of the library, hoping the caretaker won't catch her.

alas, when the slytherin reaches the restricted section, she realizes the proximity of the figure and the footsteps that stop not too far from her.

she takes in a deep breath and turns around. "filch, i can expla-"

the girl stops as she sees the being clearly under the moonlight. it's not filch, it's jungkook jeon - clutching a yellowed piece of parchment and looking conflicted.

she opens to demand why the bloody hell he's here, but he looks at her frantically and glances towards the path that leads back to the main section. he spares a moment to take a look at the odd parchment he's holding, then takes her hand and slides inside the restricted section. they take shelter in a corner between a shelf and the wall.

both of them are silent for a moment, until yeri glares at him. she hisses, "what are you-"

the gryffindor places his index finger on his lips, and the slytherin clams up. soon, they can hear another sound trailing down the library.

"i saw you going this way," it's filch, snarling. "i know you're in here, boy. you think i can't find you.."

both hold their breath as the footsteps edge closer. they exchange a brief, horrorstruck glance as filch's voice grows louder by the second.

suddenly, jungkook rushes out without warning. yeri jerks her head in angered surprise, peeking out to see him.

is he leaving without me-?

"obliviate."

yeri watches filch's eyes glaze, and sees the unfocused, dreamy smile appear on his face. the caretaker slumps on the carpeted floors of the library with a ringing thud, to which yeri and jungkook both cringe.

the boy turns around to face her, putting his wand back in his robe pocket. "well, that was easy, wasn't it?" he finally says.

"yeah, but..he won't remember a thing, will he?" she inquires cautiously, staring at the unconscious body.

the gryffindor chortles. "you don't need to worry a thing about that, i'm pretty confident when it comes to memory charms. even flitwick thinks it's my specialty."

"alright, but what in the gargoyles are you doing here?"

"i could actually ask you the same thing."

"i was studying, until you came in," she shoots back.

he raises both hands. "i apologize, filch was after me and i didn't see anywhere suitable for hiding. i didn't realize you were here at all."

"but why were you running away in the first place?

"er," jungkook smiles sheepishly. "he caught me nicking something from his wee little office drawer. and- let's just say it's something he wouldn't want us students getting our hands on."

she narrows her eyes at the parchment. "that it?" he nods. "what's so important about the thing?"
 

"well, see-" the boy unfolds the blank yellowed paper completely, and taps it with his wand.

"i solemnly swear that i am up to no good."

miraculously, traces of ink begin to etch on the previously blank parchment. in astonishment, yeri realizes it's a map of hogwarts- with numerous passageways and strange little feet in all corners of the castle. she stares at one pair of feet pacing in the headmistress' office, with tiny letters that say minerva mcgonagall.

she looks up in awe. "what is this?"

jungkook grins at her proudly. "the marauder's map. it's a pretty popular legend between us gryffindors, because it's rumoured to show every secret tunnel and passageway in the castle. my mates and i snooped around filch's office, cause well, a missing object of enigma can't not end up in his office at least once. we found it in the confiscated and highly dangerous drawer. we'd been planning a little outing with it today."

yeri's not sure where to begin. "i thought you were a 'good student'." she quotes tzuyu rather sarcastically, although jungkook would probably have no idea of it.

as expected, the gryffindor chuckles in slight disbelief. "who says that? i do get fairly favorable grades, but it's not rare for me to get in a detention or two-"

the two go rigid as soon as they hear fast paced steps in the library. this time, they've both got their wands ready.

but it only turns out to be taehyung and a girl whose face is pretty familiar. the slytherin's not sure where she's seen her from, though. taehyung raises his eyebrows in question, looking at the two curiously. he nods hello, though.

"sorry for being late, good job on getting it," the girl says breathlessly. she peers at filch's unconscious body, grinning. "nicely done."

"i know, right." jungkook replies, a hint of satisfaction in his tone.

the girl stares at yeri curiously. "who's this? aren't you a slytherin?" she smirks. "jungkook jeon, don't tell me you're having secret dalliances in the deep corners of the library-"

"no!" the two cry out with such indignance, that the girl raises her hands in surrender.

"alright, alright. hullo there, i'm joy park. fifth year gryffindor. i'm in your divination class, and so is jungkook, which you'd already know." yeri looks up in surprise. she wasn't aware of that, at all. how could she have never seen him? she side-glances at jungkook, who shrugs back. apparently he's not new to this information. i really need to be more attentive, the slytherin thinks awkwardly.

"yeri kim, fifth year slytherin," yeri responds.

"fancy seeing you around again, yeri," taehyung says. "haven't seen you a lot the rest of the week."

"how do you know her?" joy shoots taehyung a look.

"she's a friend, joy-joy, a good friend."

"you sure about that? no one in their right minds would willingly be friends with someone like you," the gryffindor girl speaks dryly. taehyung stares at her in outrage, as jungkook barely stifles a snort.

"where's jongup, by the way?"

"he's sleeping, the lazy arse. started sleeping as soon as he stumbled into the dorm."

"well-" yeri's quite not sure what to say next. slowly, she backs away from the group. "good luck on your outing then?"

she's starting to turn around, and is surprised to hear jungkook say urgently, "wait!"

the slytherin an eyebrow as she halts in the spot. she gives jungkook a questioning look, while taehyung and joy both have funny expressions on their faces, exchanging knowing glances for reasons unknown.

"wanna come with us?" the boy offers, albeit cautiously. "it was originally supposed to be four of us, so-"

"jungkook," yeri interjects, miffed. "i'm a prefect."
 

"so?" taehyung says casually. "it's in the dead of night. no one will notice."
 

"where are you even planning to go?"
 

"hogsmeade," joy promptly replies, a triumphant smile on her face as she sees the prefect's eyes widen a bit. "we're not going to do anything too special, just a few mugs of butterbeer at the three broomsticks and checking out what the town's like at night."
 

"but we're going there anyway next week-"
 

"which means twice the fun," jungkook interrupts.
 

"how can you not get caught, though?"
 

"easy, no one's going to care," taehyung assures. "it's night and there won't be enough light to properly see the emblems on our robes anyway."

"come on, i swear it'll be fun," jungkook pleads, his lips pursed into a frown. yeri has no idea why, but his expression brings a strange fluttering sensation to her heart- something rather foreign, she's afraid to say.

they're all staring at her with such hopeful looks on their faces, and although yeri is a rather level-headed slytherin, she's not immune to puppy faces. in fact, a voice in the back of her head is urging her to accept it. you should break the rules and have some fun for once, it says.

eventually, the girl sighs. "fine, but if we get caught and if i'm stripped from prefect duty, it's your fault."

"sure!" the three gryffindors chirp back. joy throws her arms around her, and the slytherin can't help cracking a small smile. "we're going to have the time of our lives," the gryffindor girl utters excitedly as they move out of the restricted section.

"just don't trip on the train tracks like you did last time," taehyung calls out from ahead.

"shut up, you brain!"

yeri turns around to glance at jungkook, who mirrors her expression with mutual understanding. they shake their heads, chuckling as taehyung and joy bicker on.

(minutes later, filch would wake up utterly boggled and very, very cross.)