Okay, so this part doesn’t have to do anything with Black Gold, but it kinda suits what I’m working on here. I had the honor of collaborating with the very talented Boxxsaltz, who turns out to be a filmmaker/editor, and we made something pretty fun (and nerdy). Check out this video game AU before you read the new chap? Thanks guys!

Enjoy!

Making her way across the lawn of the courtyard, and past the pond, Sooyoung approaches a group of witches seated at a wooden table. Keeping her hands held behind her back, she eventually reaches her friends before she leans down towards Tiffany and tells her, “I got you a present.”

Tiffany’s whole face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning and Sooyoung loves how the Hufflepuff girl can illuminate the entire room when she’s in a good mood.

“What is it?” Tiffany asks, smile broadening as she starts to bounce in her seat.

Sooyoung adores how contagious her friend’s smile is, so she naturally mirrors it. “You got to open it to find out,” she replies, pulling out a medium-sized, pink box out from behind her back.

Tiffany bounces in her seat, clapping her hands at the sight of her favorite color set before her on the wooden table. Without hesitation, she hastily pulls the ribbon, then the lid off, only to jump right out of her seat when this isn’t a present at all.

“YAH, CHOI SOOYOUNG!”

She shrieks as a dead cod stares back up at her from inside the box.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Sooyoung throws her head back, cackling in delight when the other girls at the table burst out laughing too. “Oh my god, your face!”

Pouting and stamping her feet, Tiffany keeps screaming at her friend. “Why do you have a dead fish in a box?!”

As guffaws start to die into chuckles, Sooyoung finally catches her breath. “We’re getting a shipment of griffins from Greece to study and I was helping prep some food and—oh my god—I just had to bring one for you.”

“You’re the worst! You know how much I hate fish eyes!”

“That’s the best part!” Sooyoung counters, thoroughly enjoying the fact that Yuri’s now laying in the grass, hysterically laughing, and even Seohyun’s having trouble keeping the giggles from bursting out. “They even think it’s funny!”

“Your face!” Yuri blurts out between snickers. “Best!”

“Yah!” Even though Tiffany’s throwing a tantrum, she can’t help from laughing herself too. “You guys are the worst,” she jabs, cracking up through a toothy smile and crescent eyes.

“Who? Me?” Sooyoung squeaks, playing innocent by batting her long eyelashes at her friend. “I’m the sweetest. I don’t know what you could possibly mean.”

“Hey!”

Once Jessica steps into their bubble, she panics as their laughter immediately fades. She wants to pout when she thinks of her older sister’s voice saying, ‘there it is! The Sica-effect!’

“I-I’m not interrupting, am I?”

Still smiling bright, Sooyoung shakes her head. “You’re just in time to see the amazing gift I got Fany,” she says, gesturing over to the pink box on the wooden table.

Curious, Jessica peeks in. “Ew! Why do you have a dead cod?”

“Food for the griffins,” Seohyun explains flatly. “Tiffany-unnie hates fish eyes though.”

“Why do you hate fish eyes?” Jessica asks with a chuckle.

“They’re gross!” Tiffany shrieks, clutching onto the Jessica’s arm as she peers over the Slytherin witch’s shoulder to glance at the fish once more. “UGH! I can’t stand it.”

As Jessica perks up at the opportune moment, she tries not to let her eyes wander to Yuri before she focuses her attention on Tiffany. “So, uh, does that mean I could possibly drag you away? I need some help with casting offensive spells properly.”

Tiffany moves to look at the transfer-student. “You’re learning offensive spells? Why?”

“I just,” Jessica shrugs, “think it’s good to know a little bit of everything from every department.”

“Well aren’t you the over-achiever?” Tiffany laughs before taking Jessica’s hand into her own. “Yah, Choi Sooyoung, you take that filthy thing away! I’m leaving with my new B.F.F!”

And while Tiffany walks away with her new best friend, she makes sure to blow a raspberry back at the tall Ravenclaw girl. Too bad Sooyoung gets the last laugh when she pulls the fish right out of the box just to send Tiffany back into a frenzy of shrieks.

Jessica would be laughing too if she wasn’t distracted by the empty vial of contraband gripped tight in her fist.

***

***

“So what badass spell are you cooking up?” Tiffany asks once Jessica slides close the doors of the empty classroom.

“I-I lied actually,” Jessica fesses. “I’m not trying to learn a new spell. I actually need to talk to you about something important.”

Tiffany stiffens as her bright smile and eyes quickly morph into concern. “What’s wrong?”

Jessica takes one last glance around the room before she opens her hand up and presents Tiffany the small, glass vial. “Do you know about this?”

Tiffany glances down and sees the distinct flecks of teal illumination. It doesn’t take long for her to figure out what the liquid is and it causes her to quickly cover Jessica’s hand. “Jesus Christ! What are you doing with euphoria elixir?!” she hisses in a harsh whisper. “This grade is illegal!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Jessica hisses back. “I found this in Yuri’s drawer.”

“You what?”

“I found it in Yuri’s stuff. She was high out of her mind the other night when I came home. Do you know about this, Tiff? Cause I really don’t need any more trouble. I’ve had an exhausting semester already and I can’t deal if my roommate is a junkie too.”

Based on the way Tiffany’s jaw hangs open and the way the whites of her eyes are showing, Jessica believes that the Hufflepuff girl is genuinely surprised too. “I d-didn’t know. I swear. She sometimes just…” Frustrated, Tiffany just sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Look, I’m not trying to rat her out, but I don’t know how to help her. And I know you two are, well…close.”

“I’ll…I’ll talk to her,” Tiffany whispers, taking at the empty vial. She stares at the remaining traces of glowing flecks in the remnant liquid. “Jesus, this stuff looks pretty close to pure.”

“Well it’s not commercial grade, that’s for sure,” Jessica sighs, uneasy about the illegal drugs her roommate’s taking.

***

After swallowing her last spoonful of bibimbap, Hyoyeon wipes clean on a napkin just as she spots a familiar face in the crowd of students. The blonde witch can’t help but to chuckle as she watches Jessica stand in the crowded the cafeteria, slightly spacing out from the full tables.

“Hey, Sica! Over here!” Hyoyeon calls out.

Glad to spot a familiar group of faces, the brunette gladly wades through the crowd to join them at the table. “Seriously, every time I see you guys, you’re all always eating.”

“Uh, it’s lunch time,” Hyoyeon laughs.

“I know that! I just mean whenever I see you guys on the roof, or library, or the courtyard—you guys always seem to have food.”

“It’s not us,” Sunny stresses, pointing between herself and her follow Gryffindor, Hyoyeon. “It’s these two fat asses that are black holes.”

Puffy cheeks filled with food, Taeyeon pouts, making herself look like a sad chipmunk instead of the scary canine she actually is. “I haf ‘n insanerey high metabowism, I’ll haf you know,” she gurgles through her half-chewed food.

“You’re gross,” Sunny tells the wolf-girl, “swallow your food first.”

As Jessica looks at Yoona, she watches the younger girl shovel a hideously large spoonful of rice into . Jessica pouts, making her face squishy. “It’s really annoying how skinny you are,” she remarks, staring at the tall, thin Hufflepuff.

“Sica-unnie, you’re just as skinny,” Yoona says with a chuckle. “Speaking of skinny, unnie, you should eat more,” she tells Taeyeon, moving her untouched bowl of soup to the older witch’s tray. “You’ll need to strength for tonight.”

“I’ve eaten plenty,” Taeyeon whines. “You guys just keep stuffing me to death.”

Jessica feels her brows jump up, curious. “Tonight? What’s happening tonight?”

With the wolf-girl’s mouth occupied with a new mouthful of food, Hyoyeon answers in a whisper, mindful of other ears in the dining hall. “Full moon.”

Jessica’s keen about dropping her voice into a whisper too. “I thought the moon doesn’t force you to shift?”

“Most times it doesn’t,” Taeyeon says, shrugging. “But sometimes it does and I’d rather not be in the public eye if I do turn.”

“She just gets a little sensitive,” Hyoyeon laughs. “Like PMS-Taeyeon.”

“Hey!”

Sunny laughs, crinkling her nose as she does. “You do get a little cranky,” she admits, patting her roommate on the shoulder.

“Unnie, finish your soup,” Yoona nags.

Taeyeon smiles at her attentive junior. “Really, I’ll be fine. I’ve gone through so many and I’ve always been fine.”

“Some are worse than others though,” Yoona states with a frown. “Please take care tonight.”

Jessica now wears a frown on her face too. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“What are you, worried about me or something?” Taeyeon teases. “Of course I’ll be okay. Like I’ve said, I’ve experienced dozens of them. It’s no sweat,” she reassures Jessica with a quick wink.

***

“Yuri-ah. Stop by my room later, okay?”

How could Yuri possibly refuse such an invitation?

Sliding black and amber doors closed, Yuri glances around and immediately spots something that makes her grin. “Seriously, where is Bora? You pretty much don’t even have a roommate.”

Tiffany shrugs. “She goes home to see her family, like, every other weekend.”

“I would not travel through that shady- forest every few weeks. Something’s weird with the mist in there. Makes magic weird.”

“Oh you’re just superstitious!” Tiffany laughs. “Bora travels through there dozens of time a year and she’s always fine. Besides, she has a family to go home to. That’s not so bad,” Tiffany says, knowing both she and Yuri can sympathize with the sentiment.

“I mean, I get you all to myself, so that’s not so bad,” Yuri says grinning devilishly as she steps forward and slides her hands onto the other girl’s waist.

Before she leans any closer though, Tiffany halts the girl by pressing her palm to Yuri’s shoulder. “That’s…that’s not why I asked you up here,” she whispers, watching her friend blink in confusion.

Cocking her head to the side, Yuri questions, “why did you—?”

“Are you using?” Tiffany blatantly asks, revealing the dirty vial from the waistband of her charcoal skirt.

Surprised to see that, Yuri takes a step back from her friend. “Where did you get that?” she whispers lowly.

“Jessica found it.”

Yuri’s normally optimistic eyes turn dark at the news. “What is she doing going through my stuff?!”

“Don’t be mad at her! If Bora was using this garbage, I’d be pissed off too!” Tiffany counters, throwing the vial at her friend.

The quidditch captain easily snags the glass from the air. “Fany, you know I just like to—I just need to—”

“I want to know who’s dealing this to you!” the Hufflepuff witch snaps. “Is this a regular thing? How long have you been doing it?”

“Fany, calm down. It’s just the one vial! It had, like, five doses in it.”

“Is someone in the school dealing to you?!”

“You’re overreacting—”

“WHO are you getting it from?!”

Heavily sighing, Yuri sulks in her stance and deeply frowns as she studies the disappointment and anger all over Tiffany’s face. She doesn’t know why she caves and admits, “I got it from Min.”

“Hyoyeon’s roommate, Min?” Tiffany demands clarification.

“Yeah, Hyoyeon’s-roommate-Min!” Yuri snaps back, not quite sure why she’s so frustrated now too. Close with Tiffany, she doesn’t bother filtering her opinions. “You don’t appreciate these experiences like I do! You don’t get it; you don’t know how amazing these...these...rushes feel!”

 “‘Rushes’? You think these ‘rushes’ are such beautiful experiences, but they’re gonna get you killed!”

“This stuff won’t kill me,” Yuri says, laughing. “You know I’m special.”

The Hufflepuff witch doesn’t share Yuri’s amusement. “You’re mortal now. You can only get away with so much, you idiot. You have physical limitations.”

Hurt by the way Tiffany forcefully shoves the truth down , Yuri just whispers, “you don’t get it. I think they’re beautiful.”