what a shame- those were the words everyone would speak of him and his house, to his family. wasted potential, was it really? he was one of the most prominent wizards in hogwarts, but with his last name and house- it never felt like that.

rosé park hates a lot of things- among them include quidditch (more like quid) and defence against dark arts.

but today, the journey to hogwarts tops her list; scenic view be damned. she arrives much earlier than everyone else- at five am, hoping to board the train earlier trying to avoid him while simultaneously trying to get away from her house as fast as she can. It’s sunny outside but the cold wind bites at her neck, a contrast to the cup of coffee she was (rather desperately) chugging.

but the entire world must hate her because within the first three minutes she spots him, giving directions to equally early first years. it's a good thing he’s supposed to ride with the prefects, as he was one himself. but the last thing she wanted to do was sit on a train for six hours and stare at the countryside. unfortunately, her friends seemed to want what she desperately hated.

if there's anything rosé hates more than trains and magic, it was being left out.

so rosé puts on a brave face and meets with her friends, jennie, lisa, and jisoo (not to be confused with the slytherin head boy, girl jisoo was a hufflepuff who slytherins couldn't even hate). she pretends that no, she really doesn't hate magic and yes- she's excited for their last year.

they're halfway through the trip and so far, rosé doesn't feel the urge to smoke- a habit picked up over summer. the three other pure blooded girls keep rosé entertained with their summer stories- lisa and bambam still haven't gotten together yet, jennie was stuck with her annoying younger cousins the entire time, and jisoo had a joint family vacation with joshua (otherwise known as jisoo).

it's fun and laughter until the girls prod rosé for stories of her summer.

"i had fun. we back to korea with family friends." rosé keeps her tone guarded, the urge to smoke creeping up on her with every word she says. korea was hot and full of bad memories, and for the second time in her life- she couldn’t way to go to hogwarts.

it's too much. lying is ing exhausting sometimes.

she knows that there's a stick left in her blazer, after all- they weren't even at hogwarts yet. but she promised herself that she'd go clean. the two months spent coughing up smoke was just a phase, she tries to remind herself. but it grows and grows, the need swirling in her stomach.

she fiddles with her hands, tapping her leg as she tries to keep calm. rosé doesn't want to follow the advice that he gave her, but out of everything- it seems to work. then she reminds herself that he was the reason she did it in the first place, so he could go himself.

rosé excuses herself, heading for the bathroom. her hand is gripped tightly around her pocket, around the cigarette. if there's one thing that rosé could at least do, was to cast a manignis (the same handheld flames remus lupin cast on this very train) and a flame freezing charm to light it up.

and suddenly, she walks into someone. hard.

she falls, landing on her tailbone painfully. she's ready to give the person- probably a first year- a hard time about being careful. and when she finally looks up, she comes face to face with jung jaehyun, hufflepuff extraordinaire. otherwise, known as the person rosé desperately wished to avoid.

yeah, the world hates her today.

he frowns slightly once rosé dusts herself off, (she swatted his hand away from her, of course.) rosé is tall, but jaehyun is even taller and dwarfs her frame.

"i can't deduct house points from slytherin because we're technically not in hogwarts yet, but you're not supposed to smoke here." he says in a cold voice, and she finds herself hanging onto every perfect enunciation of his.

they're all great at english; but jaehyun's always been a little bit better, and his accent a perfect british one with paired with a deep voice drove girls slightly insane. all of them had american accents except for rosé- a noticeable australian that was labled as "close enough".

it's funny how the one person who stands out blends in so well at the same time. meanwhile, the only thing rosé would ever amount to is being close enough.

"i wasn't going to smoke." rosé snaps, as a result of his face and the cravings.

"i can see the cigarette."

she sighs- mumbles a small apology, and turns around in the direction of the compartment.

"i thought you were going to quit. what happened to the advice i gave you?" his voice rings out, and suddenly rosé feels nothing but pure spite with a tinge of anger and resentment. and behind it all, there's a current of embarrassment. of course, he doesn't lose composure. not even once, and rosé hated him for that.

"they're not here. you don't have a reason to smoke anymore." the spite turns into anger- the red, hot, burning kind that killed men and ended worlds at his words.

" you, jung jaehyun. you're still here." and finally, rosé sees his face break away from being composed of marble, his expression somewhere between sadness and surprise.

good, she thinks. it's simple retribution, for what he did over summer. the train lurches and rosé stumbles a bit.

the silence hangs thick between them.

"why can't you get over this. you're being immature." his tone is now sharp and slytherin like- which is incredibly ironic coming from hufflepuff.

"i can't believe you're not a slytherin! you can't even see past your pride to know that you, jung jaehyun, did something wrong. do you think it's too late to change houses now? you'd fit right into slytherin." whatever fraught tension placed between them grew worse. she's not like this, she swears. rosé usually lives up to her name- rosé, but so does rosé the slytherin. stereotypes, after all, only became stereotypes when they're so prevalent.

he walks away before anything else happens and god, you can practically feel his blase attitude towards him. rosé hates a lot of things- jaehyun has a list all to himself. the way he's effortlessly good at magic, or how composed and diligent he was- all basis for rosé to hate him even more.

but above everyone and anything else, rosé hated herself the most.