Their sixth year held a surprise that the other years hadn’t. They didn’t realize it was even a possibility.

Their headmaster announced that the school was going to mainland China to participate in an international wizard tournament. Every school sent two students as a pair to win the competition. It was far more regulated than the ones before to minimize the possible deaths. This time, instead of submitting a name into a goblet, the teachers joined together to discuss who’d they send into the competition with the best chances of not only winning, but just surviving.

The Hogwarts professors realized the answer was in front of their faces when they witnessed Harin and Haneul practicing alone on the quidditch pitch. They were both sitting in opposite sides of the stands, casting a number of simultaneous spells, both wordlessly and wandlessly, to recreate a quidditch game with faceless players. It was like a messier version of wizard’s chess. Eventually, Harin’s quidditch know how won out, but it was a brutal game.

“What was that?” The headmaster asked.

Harin and Haneul shifted uncomfortably. “Sometimes we get bored and just feel like trying different things.”

“How long have you been able to do that?”

“Recreate a massive quidditch game?”

“That’s a lot of spells between the two of you girls to do such a thing.”

“We worked our way up to doing that stuff.” Harin shrugged.

“Year four, we learned wandless and wordless magic and how to control it. Year five, we learned how to cast simultaneous spells. All the while learning how to create our own variations, or just entirely new spells.” Haneul answered. “Over the summer, we made a blueprint of sorts for the quidditch game. We failed the first two times, but we eventually got the hang of all of it. It works even better when we have Jungkook here to play the parts of the Snitch and the Bludgers.”

“Jungkook can do this too? What about Jimin and Taehyung? They graduated last year, but they didn’t show such a massive aptitude, though they were clever and talented wizards.”

“No. We just practiced between the three of us.”

“Will you two be willing to participate in the competition as our representatives?”

“Absolutely. I would be more than honored.” Harin beamed.

“I’m a fan of winning, and it’d be nice to see how far these new tricks can take us.” Haneul grinned.

The announcement was shocking to some, and not so shocking to others. Jungkook looked upset, and when Harin had asked if it was because he wanted to participate, he shook his head.

“You two are my best friends. I don’t want you guys to get hurt, but I knew it would be you guys. You’re the best witches in the school, and you’ll definitely win.”

All of the students prepared for the trip over the week. Hogwarts travelled over the land using a massive flying ship. It looked like a Disney movie come to life. When they landed, the ship came apart and reformed to become their new living quarters, separated into four different houses that the students could decorate accordingly.

Hufflepuff decided it would be hilarious to decorate it into a giant cupcake -- of course Harin happily used her skills to oblige such a command. Slytherin designed theirs to look like a massive dragon’s head with its mouth wide open, ready to ‘breathe fire’ when approached by non-Hogwarts people (they were the house closest to the other schools, so they figured something protective like that would be nice -- plus, they had a ing cupcake right behind them that they felt they had to make up for). Ravenclaw decided to spell the house to look like anything the viewer wanted to see. It was their solution to all of the arguing over what they wanted to decorate it to look like. Gryffindor, in true pride and form, chose to decorate their house as a lion with a crown that roared when a non-Hogwarts person tried to approach from the back, copying Slytherin’s idea shamelessly.

When all of the competitors met at a dinner the first night, it was tense. Everyone wanted to win, some more than others of course, but the air was electric between them. It seemed like only those near Harin’s reach were noticeably more relaxed than the others. It was the ‘Harin effect’. She made new friends almost immediately, though Haneul didn’t bother about that at all.

It was all nice and well, until their school houses were revealed. Everyone knew of the common reputations of the Hogwarts houses. Slytherin was evil and Hufflepuff was weak.

Haneul merely yawned in response, though Harin was visibly hurt and offended. “It’s better that you all underestimate us in a fight anyway.”

“Whatever, Death Eater.”

Haneul clamped a hand down on Harin to keep her from jumping up to start a brawl. “Call me what you like. I’ll still win.” She grinned. “Now, dinner is over. You have a good rest of your evening.”

Harin glared at everything on their way back to their dorms. “After all we’ve done to stop Death Eater talks.”

“They’ll think what they think. I don’t want them to see how vicious you can be on the first night. Let’s give it some time. They still think you’re nice and ‘weak’.”

That lasted about a night and a morning until some students came to berate the Slytherin students and hiss at them. Some even recognized Jungkook for being a Jeon. “O-ho. We’ve got a true Death Eater over here.”

“I’m not a Death Eater.” Jungkook gritted his teeth, half glad Harin wasn’t here to start making heads roll.

“Mother. Father. Brother. Aunts. Uncles. Who wasn’t a Death Eater in your family?”

“I just told you I’m not a Death Eater.”

“Stop being mean.” The Slytherins stood behind him supportively. “We cannot control what some of our parents have done.” Jungkook noticed a crowd forming and a bunch of other Hogwarts students were quickly getting up to run over to back the Slytherins up.

“A Death Eater is a Death Eater.”

“Excuse me?” Harin’s cold voice cut in from behind them.

“Oh, it’s the Hufflepuff. No thank you, we don’t want any cupcakes right now. Maybe after dinner.” They laughed at her.

The cold edge in her smile and a clear threat in her eyes made them pause. “I’d like you to repeat what you’ve been saying to my dear friends. My best friend in particular. What you’ve got to say to Jeon Jungkook, you had better be ready to die for by my hands.”

“Harin, don’t worry about it. We all kinda expected this anyway.” Jungkook tried to intervene.

“I called him a Death Eater. It’s in his blood.”

“That kind of thought is very common in the Death Eaters, don’t you think? ‘In his blood’.” Harin stepped threateningly forward, the sparks were forming around her fists. “Shall we see what your blood consists of?” She raised her hands, the magical essence forming around her hand in the shape of transparent badger claws. She waved a hand just near his neck and chest. The claws, barely even there, sliced clean through his uniform. “Jeon Jungkook is my best friend. He is not a Death Eater. We do not tolerate such name calling in our school, and we will not tolerate you trying to degrade our students as such. Call me a weak Hufflepuff all you want, but never forget that our animal is a badger, and our claws are sharp.” She moved to graze his neck with a claw, but Jungkook was pulling her back.

“Calm down. Draw blood in the competition if you really feel the need. Don’t do it here.” He sighed. “And I can handle it myself, Harin.”

“You’re my champion. I am yours.” She blinked at him.

Jungkook tried not to blush, but his reaction was too immediate. “Then who is Haneul’s champion?”

“Do you want to imply she can’t and won’t kill someone on her own? She wouldn’t even give me a chance to even try.” Harin’s face broke open into her usual smile, claws disappearing. “You get to live unmarked today.” She glared at the antagonists. “Try it again, and let’s see what happens. My claws aren’t even the tip of the iceberg.”

“Okay, that’s enough threatening people. You’re doing it with too many witnesses.” Jungkook slung an arm around her shoulders and led her away from the mess.

“You’re taller.” Harin noted. “Like… a lot taller.”

“People grow. You grew too.”

“No. Holy crap. You’ve grown a ton. How did I not notice?” She was looking him up and down in shock, still stumbling forward as Jungkook guided her. He blushed and cleared his throat uncomfortably under the attention. “Your jaw is more defined. You grew into your eyes and nose. Aw, Kookie, you’re hot!”

“Please don’t call me that, and I’d rather you not say that.” He removed his arm from her and tried to speed-walk away, but she was just as fast.

“Hey! You get to call me pretty, but I can’t say you’re hot?”

“Pretty isn’t as weird as hot.”

“Fine. You’re handsome~” She .

“Why are we friends?”

“Because I’m stubborn.”

“How true you are.” Jungkook laughed.

“But, no, I’m serious. You look good.”

“Oh? Are you going to ask me out now? You gotta beat me in a duel if you wanna do that.” He joked though his ears were burning.

The speech at the first completely unified dinner, beyond just the competitors eating together, was given by Kwon Jiyong, the most powerful wizard of their generation, as well as one of the most successful wizard politicians (I was tempted to use a first gen idol like Shinhwa, but I opted for one closer in age). After the loss of many great wizards in Voldemort’s last reign of terror, the next generation of wizards had to step up to the plate. Jiyong was one such wizard.

He was brilliant and talented, also good looking and friendly. He was quite popular. Almost a celebrity -- even Jungkook admired him, Harin could tell by the awestruck look on his face as they watched the man approach the podium.

“It is a great honor to be here as a part of the union of the world’s future wizards. This competition comes with the intent to bring forth our communities and cultures in some friendly rivalry. The point is not to win, it is to form a larger wizarding community. Tragedy struck our European friends 15 years ago, but they have come back stronger. We have all felt the loss, as Voldemort’s reach extended even here. He preached hatred and separation, so it is a beautiful thing to see all of you united here. Let’s have some good games, and see which school will leave this year with bragging rights.” He grinned and everyone applauded raucously.

Jungkook could not stop gushing about how cool the man was, and how inspirational he found him to be. The three were walking slowly around the area until they had to return to their dorms. School was in session again the next day. Haneul had stopped to ask another student about a spell they were using to fortify their dorms (asking about spells is the only time you could catch Haneul talking to a stranger unnecessarily) when Jungkook paused long enough for Harin to get a word in.

“I’m surprised Jeon Jungkook could ever admire someone so much.” Harin teased.

“Not true. I’ve admired you for as long as I’ve known you.” Jungkook stated bluntly before being able to overthink himself into not saying it. He tried not to look like he regretted letting it slip out, but the way Harin blushed and quieted down made him think he said something he definitely shouldn’t have.

“Stop being ridiculous. You’re gonna give somebody the wrong impression.” She laughed, ducking her head.

“What impression would that be?”

“That you actually have the capacity to understand how awesomely nice I’ve been to you for the past 5 years, and how admirable it is of me to put up with you.” Harin pushed him away and ran back to the dorms.

“Why is she running?” Haneul asked when she came back to where she had left her sister and friend.

“I don’t know. I’m a little confused actually.” Jungkook frowned.

“Maybe the nerves from the competition are finally getting to her? Doubt it, though. She loves competing, and she knows she has to be one of the strongest ones here.” Haneul shrugged. “I’ll ask her about it later.”

Haneul finally caught Harin alone after Harin finished tutoring a bunch of younger students (of course they’d already need help on the first day) just before dinner.

“Hey, you doing alright?” Haneul asked, taking one of the recently vacated seats.

“Yeah, why?” Harin was fixing her ponytail, getting ready to head out to dinner.

“You ran off last night for no reason.”

“Oh. That.”

“Okay. I was just gonna chalk it up to you needing to poop suddenly, but that reaction says it’s nowhere near so simple.”

“No. I needed to poop.” Harin starting power walking to dinner.

“What a terrible liar.” Haneul grabbed her twin snapped a bubble of privacy all around them, shielding them completely. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just being weird and stupid. Don’t worry about it.”

“Nope. You are literally one of three, some days four, people in this world that I will ever worry about. From the womb to the tomb. Now, tell me what is upsetting you.”

“When Taehyung and Jimin graduated…”

“Yeah?”

“They gave us all last messages to ‘keep us going though life will never again be as fun without them’.”

“Okay?”

“What did they tell you?”

“To stop being such a ing sourpuss, why?”

“They told me to stop making Jungkook wait and that we belong together -- but like, that’s completely illogical. We’re best friends. Just friends. I didn’t think anything of it, but like… I keep having these moments when I’m talking to Jungkook and I keep thinking about what they said. And it’s making me… really awkward and uncomfortable around him lately. But yesterday was the first time it was overwhelming. I had to run away. Maybe I am as cowardly as they say Hufflepuffs are.”

“Harin, do you like Jungkook?”

“Of course I like him. He’s my best friend and champion. What’s not to like? A+ fellow. 10/10 would recommend for best friendship.”

“Harin.”

“I don’t know.” Harin deflated.

“So what changed? Are you noticing him differently? More aware of him? Does he make you nervous?”

“Not quite. It’s weird…”

“Tell me. Let’s work it out.”

“Remember Timmy or whatever when we were 5 years old and playing at grandma’s -- the park near her house?”

“The kid you punched in the face because he kissed you?”

“Him.”

“What about him?”

“Haneul. You know me better than I know myself. Please don’t make me try to use my words. You know I’m not great at that.” Harin groaned.

Haneul only smiled a little (a lot) at her sister’s honest struggle to figure out her feelings. “You want to kiss Jungkook.”

Harin flushed. “I don’t even know why I want to let alone even how to kiss. I rejected all those guys because I wasn’t interested but now…”

“But now you wished you could have at least gained experience kissing? No, having feelings? Okay, gained experience understanding your feelings through them. So, how long have you wanted to kiss Jungkook?”

“The first time the thought came to my mind was last year.” Harin sighed. “But it was just once, and I waved it off as a fluke. But it’s like… every time we’re alone and talking and I just… ugh! Sometimes it’s just even wanting to hold his stupid hand for no reason! Neither of our hands are ever cold, so really, no reason. This so frustrating and idiotic.”

“So. What do you like about Jungkook?” Haneul smirked.

“I don’t know.”

“Have you thought of asking him out?”

“And ruining our friendship?!”

“It’s better than you constantly running away. You’re not a coward, so stop acting like one.”

“But Haneul…”

“Harin. You like him. A lot. You want to kiss him. You want to hold his stupid hand, for ’s sake.” Haneul snorted. “This isn’t going to magically go away. You gotta do something about it and see how it goes from there.”

“I’ll think about it.” Harin grimaced.

Haneul removed their bubble. “Now, let’s go have dinner with your crush.”

“Haneul!” Harin flushed.

Harin didn’t do anything for two months. To be fair, they were pretty busy as the competitors and making sure they completed all of their coursework. The first challenge was a week long scavenger hunt puzzle. They came in second place with the spell they created to speed search coming in handy. The answer to the puzzle was a key to the next challenge. That challenge was a little bit more on the life threatening end of things.

They had to use the items they found through the scavenger hunt to get themselves out of a locked room that constantly reduced in size without their wands. Harin and Haneul fared just fine without their wands, but they wanted to do it right, just to see if they could do it without magic, and they could. They were both intelligent and creative, and they were able to use the items to create a potion to blast through one of the walls. Except maybe that was a mistake.

That was how they found out the ‘room’ they were in was placed at the bottom of some sort of body of murky as water that hit them full force. Harin was grateful that she was closer to the wall and took the brunt of it in front of Haneul. She ignored the pain (probably some serious injuries she’s gonna have to attend to soon) and made sure Haneul was okay. They were both suffering some injuries of their own. They used what little (and quickly disappearing) air left in their box of a room to recompose themselves and make new plans.

“I thought this was supposed to be safer. .” Haneul grimaced. “I’ll hold the air in here, but pushing against nature is not what magic is supposed to do.” She put a forcefield around them in their box.

Harin used their searching spell to look outside and see what was around them. “We’re about a hundred meters from the surface. I can see other boxes like ours placed around the bottom. Two other boxes have been broken. I see them. They’re struggling. There are… black blobs with fangs… They’re attacking them in swarms. There are so many of them. But they’re closer to the surface -- they’re avoiding the bottom -- WHAT THE IS THAT?!”

“What? What is it?”

“How in Merlin is this competition supposed to be safer for us?! That’s the bloody Kraken!”

“Kraken?”

“I’ll hold the forcefield, and you look for yourself.” Harin’s eyes faded back to their natural color as Haneul’s brightened to the white opal.

“Boxes… Blobs, they look gross.” Haneul was quickly searching around until her eyes found exactly what had the typically fearless twin. “Oh… Okay… OH! It’s eating a student!”

“It doesn’t look terribly fast, yet, but I’m sure the black blobs are there to trap us under them to make us food for the beast.” Harin sighed.

“We gotta beat it with speed. Luckily, it’s us.” Haneul grinned.

They came up with a plan that used Harin’s brute force and Haneul’s control. Harin would launch herself up like a spiraling rocket, magic forming around the bullet that was going to be Harin that could shoot them through the blobs. Haneul would attach herself to her sister to get pulled up, as well as guiding them to the top and towards the land, using her abilities to let them land softly.

It was almost perfect, but the beast was faster, and far bigger, than they had predicted unfortunately. They were at least 15 meters up from the surface of water when Harin stopped propelling them upwards. The twins turned around in the air and looked to where they could land safely. Haneul was already in motion to guide them over to where the crowd was waiting, but their plan went horribly wrong.

The beast reached a tentacle up from the water to wrap itself around Haneul, but Harin was faster (barely) and used a huge force of magic to push Haneul out of the way. It wrapped itself around Harin instead. She formed the claws on her hands and started attacking it, but it had already pulled her back under the water.

“Harin!” Haneul screamed, crawling back to the edge of the lake though the haphazard landing had broken one of her legs and her right arm. She was trying to use her magic to reach in and pull Harin out, but it was all moving too fast, and that kind of work required the ability to move a massive amount of magic, and that was Harin’s forte. The best she could do was take bits and pieces off the monster to weaken it. “Harin don’t you die. You’re not allowed to die.” She growled, using any last bit of energy she had into fighting for her sister. At one point, she could only conjure up enough energy to push all of the air bubbles together to form one giant bubble around Harin so her sister could breathe for a moment before being yanked around again. She had to ignore the sounds of their school trying to push forward to save the princess of Hufflepuff, Jungkook fighting the hardest of them all, but the headmaster herself was holding him back.

After what felt like an eternity, all of the splashing around, the flashes of bright lights being emitted by the condensed magic Harin was using to fight the beast ceased, and the water stilled eerily.

“Harin!” Haneul and Jungkook screamed together, bordering on sobbing.

“Do you see her?” Jungkook asked Haneul. She could barely keep conscious let alone focused enough to use magic, but she did it, for her sister, and searched under the water with tears streaming down her face.

“It’s dead -- it’s not moving like it was before -- but I don’t see her. I don’t… Harin…” Haneul closed her eyes and let herself drop to the ground fully, sobbing.

It was then that the water stirred. The water was swirling the way it had when Harin had propelled them to the surface. But it was angled towards the land where they were standing, more like the movements of an arrow than a bullet. And then they saw Harin break through the surface once more. She stopped spinning, but they saw that she was still holding onto what looked like a rope of magic in her hands. She climbed through the water to make it to land, exhausted. She pulled at the rope, dragging something they couldn’t see -- at first.

She dragged the beast onto the land, dead. “I took the liberty of bringing all of the other students with me after they all eventually broke out of those box rooms.” She huffed, dragging until the entire beast was on the shore. “I really hope this wasn’t a rare and endangered species because I don’t really feel that bad for killing it.” She used her free hand to wipe some water from her eyes and face. She let the rope disappear and reform around her hand like claws. “It’s one thing to try to kill me, but it went for my sister first, and I take that very personally, you see?” She laughed breathlessly before slicing the beast open on the side. She kept clawing up the opening was wide enough and a sac (its stomach) fell out with a sickening and squishy plop. They could see the shadows of bodies inside. “How in bloody hell is this competition supposed to be safer than the ones before it?” She asked, slicing the stomach open, letting the students break free. “I don’t know if they’re alive. I tried my best.” Harin huffed, now dragging herself to her sister. “Are you alright?”

“I am. I thought you’d… I… Harin…” Haneul tried not to cry anymore.

“I wouldn’t leave you alone like that.” Harin smiled and gently hugged her sister. “From the womb to the tomb. Together. Thanks for your help down there. I wouldn’t have made it without you.” Harin noticed all of her sister’s injuries, “You’re hurt.”

“So are you, you numpty.” Haneul blubbered.

“That’s no way to treat someone who just battled the kraken.” Harin grinned and waved a hand in the air until their wands flew to them. “I really hope that’s the end of that challenge because I don’t think I can fight anymore. Plus, there’s no one else to compete against…”

Luckily, the students were all alive. Shaken up, injured, and in need of some serious therapy, but alive. The twins won the challenge and the respect of everyone else (especially Harin), as well as much gratitude. It got out that Harin had put all of the students into the beast to carry them out safely, knowing they’d be alive and didn’t want to leave anyone behind. The Harin effect reached every school at the competition then, if not for her heroics, then for her sheer power.

No one dared to look down on those who dwelled in cupcakes anymore, and with that reverence, came no more looking down on all of the students from Hogwarts. Jungkook and the other Slytherins weren’t being bothered anymore, but he found himself not only sharing Harin with other Hogwarts students, but with what felt like every wizard in the world. Her rule of having to beat him in a duel continued to hold strong, and that was really getting on his last damn nerve too. He beat them all, but it was exhausting.

And then the pressure to get dates for the ball and learn how to dance and just… Jungkook didn’t like it.

The competitors had to have dates -- no going stag for them as they were to lead their schools as representatives for the first dance. Everyone was asking one of the twins out until Harin was getting sick of having to redirect them to Jungkook.

“No. I’m going with someone.” Harin finally said to some guy asking her while she was just trying to finish her homework. Jungkook looked up sharply at that. “So, really, I’m flattered, but sorry.” Haneul looked at her twin, amused.

“Who are you going with?” Jungkook asked.

“No one. I just want them to stop asking me.” Harin grimaced.

“But don’t you have to have a date?”

“I do.” Harin groaned and turned to her sister. “Have you decided who you’re going with?”

“I just told Mingyu to go with me. He can’t go with Wonwoo anyway because he graduated last year. Plus, he doesn’t annoy me. He’s quiet, and he can dance.”

“That’s good.” Harin sighed. “I’m going back to the dorm. That’s the only place I can get any work done.”

Haneul waited for her sister to be out of hearing range. “Why don’t you ask her?” She asked Jungkook.

“What?”

“You’re the only person she’d say yes to.”

“And why do you think that?” Jungkook frowned.

“You really need me to articulate an argument for that?”

Jungkook sighed and set his quill down, with it still writing without him. “What if she finds someone she likes here and will want to date or go to the ball with? I’m not getting in the way of that?”

“She’s not gonna find someone like that. If she did, she would have by now. As her champion, you know how many guys have tried to get to know her.”

“Fine. If by tomorrow night she doesn’t have a date, I’ll ask her.”

“Do it soon. Not all of the guys are handling her rejection or their loss to you well.” They both frowned at the rather recent unfortunate situation that had occurred.

(Jungkook had just beaten someone, and Haneul and Harin was there waiting so they could all go to dinner together. The guy got up and starting saying nasty things to Jungkook, so of course Harin stepped in. Jungkook stood between them to hold her back, explaining that the combination of rejection and loss wasn’t an agreeable feeling, so it was understandable. The guy then started spewing venom at her.

It was then that Jungkook whipped around and snapped his fingers at the guy, hatred clear as day in his eyes. The guy’s eyes clouded over from the illusion Jungkook put him under.

“As I snap my fingers, you will see a reality that will come to be if you do not apologize to Harin immediately. You can see exactly what I am capable of as the last remaining heir of a family of Death Eaters. I went easy on you in the duel, but if you dare to insult Harin again, even look at her again in a way that is not simply reverent of her greatness, then the world will become very familiar with how fearsome a Slytherin’s loyalty, to someone other than Lord Voldemort, can become a deadly force to be reckoned with.” Jungkook snapped his fingers and the cloud in the guy’s head disappeared. “Apologize to her.”

“I-I’m s-sorry.” The guy whimpered before throwing up.

“Anyone else have anything but nice things to say to Harin?” Jungkook glared sharply at the crowd. They flinched back and eyed him nervously. “Didn’t think so.” He slung an arm around the stunned Harin and the amused Haneul. “Time for dinner.”)

Except, the next day was weirder than the days before. It had something to do with the quidditch match that night. Every school formed a super team for an interscholastic quidditch tournament. Harin was the only Hufflepuff on the team, a chaser, and Jungkook made the spot for Seeker. Yuju was his backup. Their first match was against Durmstrang, and their abilities were intensely doubted by everyone.

Instead, Harin not only held her own against the much bigger players, but took them down a couple notches with some team play with Jungkook when he saw them coming after her first. Harin scored six times and assisted on four other goals. She tricked one of the other beaters into aiming at her -- but it resulted in them hitting their own chaser. When she saw Jungkook and the other seeker racing for the Snitch, she scored one last time and waited for Jungkook to inevitably catch the Snitch.

“All those hours practicing against you really pays off.” Jungkook hugged Harin first.

So yeah, Jungkook was popular now too. He already had attention, not only because of his family, but for his being best friends with the twins and always around them. After the match, all they could hear were whispers about how hot Jungkook was (in between murmurs about Harin’s play as well) and how talented he was. And then it was Harin watching girls come and flutter their eyelashes at him. He flushed bright red every time it happened and averted his eyes away, only responding politely to them though they flirted so heavily at him. Haneul thought it was hilarious.

He noticed she was upset, and since he wasn’t particularly fond of the sudden attention either, he brought her to a tree he had scoped out a few days prior. “Tree?”

“Yes.” She smiled and jumped up first. He followed her shortly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Harin.”

Harin groaned and rubbed her eyes tiredly. “I know it’s not fair of me to think or feel this, but I do.”

“What is it?”

“I know that you’ve been dealing with this essentially for the entirety of our friendship, but… I don’t like it when we’re interrupted. It bothers me.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“And I know it having gone through years of it because of me too, but the reason I like being with you is because it’s always been quieter. Less messy. It’s natural and very settled between us, and now these girls come in behaving like vapid bimbos with something perpetually caught in their eyes. I’m sorry. I’m being bratty and selfish of your time. I should be happier that people are finally truly seeing you for the really admirable and amazing person you are too, and not just my best friend or just your family name.”

“No. It’s okay. I understand.”

And the next time a group of girls came to their table in the library as they were trying to write a research paper (and Jungkook was still crap at essays), Harin sighed in resignation, but Jungkook just smiled coldly at the girls.

“I’m sorry, but unless I can help you with something, could you guys go away? I’m trying to finish this assignment, and it’s giving me enough of a headache as it is.”

The girls blanched, and almost looked like they were going to cry, but left. Haneul raised both eyebrows at Jungkook, but Harin glared at him admonishingly. “Jungkook, that was mean.” Though she felt glad that he did that inside.

“I think you forget that I’m from Slytherin and that we get what we want. They bother us, so I got rid of them.” He shrugged. “Hopefully word gets around that I’m a jerk so they all stop coming around.”

“But what if a super pretty and nice girl gets scared away?”

“Then I don’t need them anyway. If they can’t handle that I’m a little mean, they won’t be able to handle ever going on visits to meet my family in Azkaban.”

“Is Azkaban scary?”

“It’s… It’s not a fun place to be, but I have to go. I have to visit them.”

“You know, I’ve told you every year that I’d go with you.” Harin sighed. “You could join our family for our summer vacations, or I could join you for your familial duties.”

“No. Azkaban isn’t a place you should ever go. You’re too bright and happy for a place like that. You’re our cinnamon bun.” He joked.

“Fine.” The three went back to their studies until they finally finished their work and headed to their dorms before dinner. Harin was struck with an idea. “Hey Jungkook, can you be my dueling partner? I wanna try out a new spell.”

“Okay. As long as you don’t kill me.”

After dinner, they went to have their practice duel where Jungkook has been holding all of his duels for Harin’s would be suitors. Harin began to try to hedge at something on their way there.

“So… I’ve been having this problem… with someone kind of…”

“Okay. I’ll kill them for you.” Jungkook stated simply.

“What? Jungkook no.”

“I can just maim them for you.”

“Jungkook. That’s not it at all.”

“Then what?”

“Just forget it.” Harin sighed and stepped to the end of the dueling platform. “I’m going to need you to fight me seriously for this to work.”

“Oh god, what are you testing out?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Fine, fine. But only because I know you can handle it.” He rolled his eyes and their duel began with an explosion of magic.

They knew each other too well for their usual tricks to work. The duel lasted a solid twenty minutes before Harin gained the upper hand, even pushing through the mind games Jungkook put her under. Their audience was awed by the display of magical skill. She had him trapped until he couldn’t force through to find an out. He yielded, grinning at her.

“What exactly were you trying? I didn’t really notice anything new.” He tried to think if anything really took him by surprise in their duel (aside from her sheer power and knowledge spells in combination to her quick reflexes).

Harin looked nervous then -- which… Harin never looks nervous. Nervous isn’t a word anyone would ever equate to Harin. She was usually eager, or thinking about what to do next, going through her options. She may be upset or overwhelmed. Sometimes, a hint of discomfort. Harin anticipated things with excitement. Nerves and uncertainty were… Jungkook couldn't remember her ever looking like this. But that's how she looked as she made her way over to him.

“What?” He looked at her, now uncertain as well. If she was uncertain then what hope did everyone else have to be confident in that moment?

“It… Uh… Oh it.” She pulled him by the collar. “I beat you.” She mumbled before kissing him - briefly, so it was more of a peck. Kind of aggressive and it hurt a little, but it was a kiss. She stepped away and stared at him wide eyed, until she her heel and sprinted away with the aid of her magic.

“Hm. I was wondering which one of you was gonna break first. I should've known it was her. She's braver.” Haneul hummed.

“What?”

“Well… You said if by dinner she didn't still have a date, you'd ask her.”

“And I was going to after our duel.”

“Seems like she beat you to it.”

“She just kissed me.”

“It's kind of you to call that a kiss.”

“Does she like me?”

“Because she goes around kissing everyone she beats in a duel? She'd have to kiss so many people…”

“She seriously likes me?”

“Yeah. She wants to hold your hand too. It's cute. But I'm gonna need you to get up to speed faster. Harin is panicking like hell right now. She literally ran away from you. When have you ever seen her run away from something? She killed a kraken with her hands the other day. Hands she wants to use to hold yours and other cute and cuddly things.” Haneul laughed.

“How long have you known?”

“Long enough. You should probably write a thank you letter to Tae and Chim though. They're the ones who helped her realize her feelings. I just helped her put a word to what she felt.”

“Seriously? This would've been the perfect time to meddle. We could've been dating ages ago.” Jungkook groaned.

“You could start dating now if you can find her. Hufflepuffs are the best finders though.”

“I know her too well. She's panicking so she'll revert to what's comfortable. She only has two options, and she ran the opposite direction of one of them.” Jungkook nodded. “Wish me luck!” He called for his broom and flew after her.

He found her at the tree he showed her the other day. When she saw him, she looked like she was going to jump off the tree and start running again.

“Don’t run, Harin!” Jungkook stopped in the air in front of her. “It’s not fair to me or us if you keep running.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you first -- asked for your feelings and consent. Instead I just… I’m sorry. You must hate me now.”

“Well, let’s correct this weird train of thought you went on yourself.” Jungkook grinned. “But first, I need to know for sure, do you like me? Like, romantically?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’ve been in love with you forever.” He smiled with so much relief, so much happiness. “Yes, talking to me first would have been great, but I’m a fan of the surprise kiss. I’m a fan of anything that involves you, honestly. And I could never hate you. Ever. It might take you stabbing me in the neck to make me hate you, but even then, I’m not totally sure.”

“Well that’s hardly healthy.” Harin smiled tearily. “So, forever? How long is forever, exactly?”

“Not long enough to describe how long I want to be with you.” Jungkook grinned. “Do you wanna go to the ball with me? I’m a pretty good dancer.”

“That’s good, because I’m only a decent dancer.” Harin giggled. “I’m so happy.”

“Me too.”

That was the year Jungkook had his dreams come true.