Yuri groaned. After settling Jessica in bed, she ended up falling asleep as well, only to wake up three hours later. It was nearly ten o’clock at night, mere minutes before curfew.

Cursing at the gnawing feeling in her stomach, Yuri peeked over to Jessica’s bed which was right next to hers and was unsurprised at the sight of the ice princess sleeping so soundly. Lying back down, she contemplated whether she should sneak into the kitchens to get food or just let her laziness take over and go back to sleep. The grumbling of her stomach interrupted her dilemma. At this rate, she would be too hungry to fall asleep.

Making up her mind, Yuri slipped off her bed, not caring enough to fix the covers and rummaged through her stuff. Finding the piece of parchment she was looking for, Yuri shoved it into her pocket before grabbing her wand and heading out of the Slytherin dungeons.

Yuri eased through the dark hallways quietly, her legs on autopilot towards the kitchens which, curse her, was all the way near the Hufflepuff tower, a good long walk from the dungeons.

Upon reaching the corridor where the kitchens were located, Yuri found the painting of a bowl of fruit. Raising her index finger, Yuri promptly tickled the pear. It let out a high pitched squeal disrupting the otherwise silent tower, causing Yuri to flinch. She really didn’t need to be caught now.

As soon as the pear turned into a green door knob, Yuri grasped it and turned it, opening the door revealed door and striding into the empty kitchens. The house elves were all asleep in their sleeping quarters, leaving the kitchen free and easy to raid.

‘Lu-’

A sharp clang of what sounded like metallic pots falling, caused Yuri to freeze midway, her lighting charm uncasted.

Quietly, Yuri pushed herself against the walls, trying to hide in the shadows. Someone was in the kitchens with her.

Holding her breath, Yuri could only pray it was a hungry student or a house elf and not something more troublesome.

Sooyoung had once again been unsuccessful in cracking those bloody riddles that the eagle always threw her way. Forced to another night outside of the dorm, Sooyoung headed towards her second home, her sanctuary -  the library.

That is, until she saw another student hurriedly cross the hallway in the distance. Curious, Sooyoung pulled out her invisibility cloak and followed after the figure without any second thoughts.

‘It’s Kwon Yuri,’ Sooyoung realized as she neared the girl. ‘Where could she be going at this time?’

To Sooyoung’s surprise, Yuri ended up in her favorite place in the entire castle - the kitchens. Slipping into the kitchens right behind Yuri, Sooyoung let out a smile as the smell of food and bread invaded her senses.

‘I am quite hungry,’ Sooyoung mused as she looked around for leftovers. A small loaf of bread on the counter caught her eye.

‘It looks fresh. So soft.’

Without thinking, Sooyoung inched forward, only for her leg to hit the counter, causing a pan to fall loudly onto the ground. Sooyoung held her breath, her hands frozen, inches from the bread, as her eyes turned to stare at Yuri’s reaction.

‘Oh this is bad.’

Yuri frowned. She’d waited against the wall in the dark with her wand out for a few minutes now and there had been no sign of movement. Confused, Yuri quietly took out the parchment from her robe and whispered, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

Instantly the parchment sprang to life with names and footsteps. Her eyes scanned over the kitchen area and she internally scoffed as she saw a name she knew way too well.

No longer scared, Yuri stepped forward boldly. ‘Lumos!’

She looked around, not seeing anyone but she wasn’t too surprised.

‘She must be using that bloody cloak of hers.’

Just as Yuri was about to do a Revealing Charm, Yuri watched with disbelief as a piece of bread started floating in midair, only to disappear in huge bites.

Lowering her wand, Yuri called her out exasperatedly. “Sooyoung...I know you’re there.”

The bread in the air froze. Slowly, the cloak slid to the floor, revealing Sooyoung with bread crumbs all over her face.

Yuri scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning her back to the shikshin and started rummaging through the pantry. She had no energy to deal with the giant right now and just desperately wanted some food in her stomach.

Pulling out a sack, Yuri started stuffing it with bread, fruits, and other snacks she could find. She took extra in case Jessica woke up and was hungry. Once she was satisfied, she turned to see Sooyoung in the same exact position as before (though the bread was mysteriously missing), staring straight at her.

“What?” Yuri asked, confused by Sooyoung’s wide eyes on her.

“Are you going to share that?” Sooyoung asked dumbly.

“What?” Yuri blinked. “No! Just get your own.” Yuri her heels and strided towards the exit. She had her hand on the knob when Sooyoung called out again.

“Wait!”

Yuri turned around. “What?” She was now super annoyed. She was surprised however, by how serious Sooyoung looked.

“What are you planning to do Friday?” Sooyoung asked with a low voice.

Yuri raised an eyebrow. This Friday was the first weekend third years and above were allowed to go to Hogsmeade. ‘Wait, Hogsmeade?’  Yuri furrowed her eyebrows. ‘Why would Sooyoung ask what I was doing on Friday...unless...Ew!’

“Are you asking me out?!” Yuri burst out in disgust, arms flying to cover her body protectively.

“What?” Sooyoung was equally flabbergasted, but Yuri was too deep in her panic to notice.

“Because if you are, you are totally not my type,” Yuri continued only to get cut off by Sooyoung.

“What are you talking about?!” Sooyoung cried. “Who’s asking you out?! I’m talking about the bloody Kodamas! Why in Merlins beard would I ask you out?!”

Yuri backtracked. “Wait what?”

“I don’t even like you!” Sooyoung continued. “Besides we all know you have a thing for that popular Hufflep-”

“Excuse me?” Yuri choked out indignantly. “Wait, stop, stop, stop, just hold on a second.”

Sooyoung and Yuri both stopped as they stared at each other, minds whirling at the hurricane of a conversation they just shared.

“Okay,” Yuri took a deep breath, her mind still trying to grasp the situation. “How do you know about that?” she demanded with piercing eyes.

Sooyoung tilted her head in confusion. “I thought it was obvious? I mean the way you stare at her like a lost puppy in love-”

“What?” Yuri interrupted, face completely red from anger and embarrassment. “The Kodama, I’m talking about the Kodama.” Gaining back some composure, Yuri pressed harder. “How do you know about the Kodama?”

Sooyoung stayed silent.

“Well?” Yuri pressed.

“Well…” Sooyoung stammered. She really didn’t think this through.

So you were there,” Yuri concluded. “That night in the library.” She scoffed. “What were you even doing there? Got locked out again? What kind of Ravenclaw are you?”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes. “At least I didn’t almost get kicked out of Hogwarts.”

That shut Yuri up. The two glared at each other in a silent battle of unspoken threats.

“What do you want?” Yuri finally asked.

“I want to know about the Kodama,” Sooyoung shrugged.

“Why?” Yuri narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Sooyoung shrugged again. “Just curious. Besides school is seriously boring. It’s the same thing every year. Same material, same professors. This Kodama business though, that’s interesting.”

Yuri frowned. “Right, like you were such a good student to begin with.”

Sooyoung chuckled. “Hey, just because I don’t get perfect grades like the other Ravenclaws, doesn’t mean I’m not smart. Besides,” Sooyoung paused. “I may know a little something about the Kodama.”

Yuri narrowed her eyebrows. It was moments like these that she wished she knew legilimency. She would totally just read Sooyoung’s mind right now if she could.

The Sooyoung she knew hated putting herself in troublesome situations, too lazy to do anything including classwork. If Sooyoung was butting herself in this...Yuri didn’t know what to think except that their secret had been found out by a very troublesome person indeed.

Tiffany woke up to see the beds next to hers empty, one well made and the other...not so well made. Glancing at the clock, she deduced her two best friends were at Quidditch practice. They had their first match against Ravenclaw this Sunday so she knew they were practicing hard.

Sighing, she forced herself to get up and fixed her own bed, before turning to fix Hyoyeon’s as well. Once she was done getting ready, she headed towards the Great Hall and was surprised by two things.

1. Jessica Jung was awake. The girl was usually never awake this early. Tiffany usually sees the transfer student walking into the Great Hall as she’s finishing up her own breakfast.

2. Jessica was alone.  A quick scan of the Great Hall and Tiffany concluded that Yuri was nowhere in sight.

‘Perfect,’ Tiffany grinned to herself. She’d been wanting to talk to Jessica one on one for a while now and there’s no better opportunity than the present. With a light bounce in her steps, she approached the ice princess who was enjoying her breakfast peacefully. To Tiffany, it was the perfect image of gracefulness.

“Hello,” she greeted cheerfully.

Jessica looked up sleepily, giving the redhead a full glance over before recognition lit up in her eyes.

“Oh, hello,” she greeted shortly, turning back to her food.

Tiffany grinned at the cute response before settling herself next to the brunette. “Can I sit here?” she asked.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. ‘Why ask when she’s clearly already sitting there?’

Jessica could only nod at her new seatmate, hoping to eat her breakfast in silence. It was only the morning, but it was already unusual. First, she woke up before Yuri. And now, Tiffany is approaching her without her two lankies by her side.

“You know Jessi, you’re from Japan, right?” Tiffany asked. Jessica tensed slightly at the topic of her past but nodded mutely.

“Then how come you’re English is so good? There’s no accent at all! And your name is also English!” Tiffany asked curiously.

Jessica regarded the grinning redhead for a second before deciding that the girl meant no harm.

“I’m Korean American. I was born in America, and moved to Japan,” Jessica answered, trying to stay as vague as possible.

“Oh!” Tiffany’s face lit up. “I’m also from America!” she squealed. Jessica wasn’t too surprised at the information. It explained Tiffany’s lack of a British accent.

“I was born in California! How about you?” Tiffany asked, ecstatic at the thought of a fellow American.

“Same. San Francisco,” Jessica revealed.

“Diamond Bar!” Tiffany squealed. She then regarded Jessica. “You know, you do give off that North Cal vibe.”
 

“And you definitely give off SoCal vibes,” Jessica commented as she fought the urge to flinch at the brightness that Tiffany seemed to exude at all times.  

“I get that a lot,” Tiffany laughed.

“How come you’re studying here then?” Jessica asked, surprising herself at her curiosity. It seemed like had a mind of its own.

“Oh,” Tiffany blinked and Jessica swore she saw the happiness in her face waver a bit.

‘So she wears a mask,’ Jessica observed. ‘Thought so. No one can be so happy all the time.’ Despite thinking like that, Jessica felt genuine concern seeping inside of her for the girl.

“I wanted to see the world,” Tiffany answered, mask perfectly placed once again. “Plus, Hogwarts is the number one ranked wizarding school in the world.”

Jessica tilted her head, but didn’t push any further. ‘I wonder if family is a sensitive topic for her.’ Jessica thought to herself. ‘But Mahoukotoro is still better than Hogwarts in my opinion.’

They ended up eating breakfast together in silence. Tiffany no longer prodded Jessica with questions and Jessica was never the one to start a conversation anyways. Yet despite the silence, Jessica couldn’t deny that it was rather comfortable. For some reason, having Tiffany next to her was...nice. It was reassuring. Maybe it was the fact that they were both American, or that they both had family problems. Whatever it was, Jessica liked Tiffany’s warmth.

After breakfast, the two girls walked to Charms together. Jessica was surprised to find Yuri already inside the classroom, though she wasn’t too surprised that the raven haired girl had her head on the desk, most likely sleeping.

Tiffany bid Jessica a silent farewell before heading to the opposite side of the classroom to sit beside her friends. Jessica watched as Tiffany laughed at Hyoyeon’s crazy wind blown hair before taking her own seat.

Professor Flitwick started class. Apparently they were learning the Cheering Charm today and Professor Flitwick was going to demonstrate the spell. He asked if anyone wanted to volunteer and to no one’s surprise, Tiffany raised her hand, bright smile on her face and everything.

Yuri, who Jessica had no idea when she woke up, snorted and commented under her breath. “Like she needs more cheering up.”

Jessica bit back a smile but unfortunately for Yuri, it seemed that Jessica was not the only one who heard as Professor Flitwick turned to face them with a knowing glint in his eyes.

“Ms. Kwon,” Professor Flitwick grinned. “So nice of you to volunteer. Please step forward. To the front of the class now.”

Yuri groaned, rolled her eyes at Jessica, before getting up and standing at the front of the class. Jessica watched with an amused smile as Tiffany lowered her hand with a pout.

‘Cute.’

However, Jessica’s eyes shifted and caught Taeyeon glaring at her.

‘Wow is it me, or is her glare more intense today? Must be because of the duel.’

“Now, does anyone know what the Cheering Charm does?” Professor Flitwick asked.
 

“It makes a person happy,” a student shouted from the Gryffindor side.

“Correct,” Professor Flitwick nodded. “And Ms. Kwon looks like she could use some cheering up today.”

Yuri side-eyed her professor tiredly. She barely had any sleep thanks to that gluttonous giant. She didn’t need a professor smart talking her. “Sure, sure.”

With a quick flick of the wand, Flitwick performed the Cheering Charm and Jessica watched in amusement as her formerly grumpy friend began to develop of wide, loopy smile.

“How do you feel, Ms. Kwon?” Flitwick grinned.

“Great! Perfect! Today is such a great day!” Yuri grinned and Jessica had to fight back a laugh at how some Gryffindors shuddered at the uncharacteristically happy smile on her friend.

“Great! Now, the charm should wear off in a few hours. For the meantime, why don’t you all pair up and practice the charm on each other? Be careful though, because if you overdo it, your partner will end up in a laughing fit.” Professor Flitwick gestured for them to get up and start practicing. Yuri skipped happily back to Jessica and looped an arm around the skinny girl.

“Hello Yul,” Jessica greeted dully.

“Good morning Sica!” Yuri beamed. “How are you feeling? I’m feeling great!”

“I know,” Jessica grinned dryly.

“Let’s get practicing, shall we? I feel like I can nail the Cheering Charm!” Yuri raised her wand while Jessica raised her eyebrows in alarm.

“Wait-” Jessica tried to stop Yuri from casting the charm, but it was too late. Yuri had already performed the .

‘She definitely overdid that spell!’ Jessica panicked. She did not feel like being reduced into hysterical laughter, so she did the only thing she could think of.

‘Protego!’

Jessica conjured a Shield Charm at the last second, causing the Cheering Charm to ricochet off the protective barrier and hit Yuri square in the chest.

‘Oh no.’ Jessica gulped as she watched Yuri apprehensively, who was bent over and holding her stomach. The girl began to shake violently and Jessica became increasingly worried. Suddenly, Yuri threw her head back and began cackling.

“HAHAHA!! OMG! AHAHAHAHAHAH!” Yuri gasped, doubling over in laughter.

Jessica mentally facepalmed.

Yuri started pointing at Jessica and laughing. “OH MY GOODNESS! LOL HEHEHEHE! KEKEKEKE!”

“Hm, you may need to your friend to the infirmary,” Professor Flitwick walked by at the sound of the obnoxious laughter. In fact, everyone in the room had stopped practicing and was watching what was going on.
 

As Yuri’s laughter increased an octave, Flitwick flinched and gingerly touched his ear. “On the second thought, if you could your friend into a obscure, empty room and leave her there, that may be for the best. Preferably a room away from...everything else.”

“WHY? BWAHAHAHAH!” Yuri burst out, tears in her eyes.

“Wow, she worse than Fany on a sugar high,” Hyoyeon commented, earning herself an elbow to the stomach.

“Yuri, stop laughing,” Jessica spoke up.

“I CAN’T LMAO HAHAHAHAH.”
 

Having heard enough, Jessica pulled out her wand.

“I don’t think that’s the best-” Flitwick tried to intervene but Jessica paid him no heed.

“Muffliato.”

Yuri was still shaking with laughter but there was no sound.

“Thank goodness,” Jessica muttered, before grabbing Yuri by the arm and dragging her laughing to the infirmary.

Professor Flitwick watched the two leave before turning to his class. “Well, now you know what happens when you overdo the charm. Class dismissed!”

AN: I updated just in time before SNSD's anniversary. 

Last chapter before Friday! What's going to happen Friday?

Why does Sooyoung want to join them? What does she know?

OT9 is slowly being pulled together.

What happened between YoonYul? What about Tiffany's past?

lmao idk I was having writer's block so I just sat down and wrote whatever came to mind, no planning whatsoever. This was the result.

Anyways, guess who's going to be in Seoul for the first time this weekend? ME!!! I'm so excited. omg. I'll be there for Soshi's digital release. I'm ready for the Queens to slay. 

And Happy Birthday to Tiffany Hwang! 

Till next time,

Sosh