Hella long chapter which I'm not ultra satisfied with, but hope it pleases just the same!

In which Sejeong and Heehyun seek out the access to other houses and get more than what they looked for.

-------

They commence their routine flying practice immediately after Chungha heals, mainly because apart from wanting to get better, Sejeong was also determined to fly circles around her annoying prick of a roommate while simultaneously hexing her, and Chungha did have fun flying with her too. It does help them both immensely, and while Sejeong hasn’t exactly accomplished that goal of hers yet - Chungha hasn’t allowed her to even brush against her wand until she can fly around the Central Tower without Professor Kahi brandishing her wand in preparation for an accident which has yet to happen - she is miles better than her first flight. She also hasn’t fallen, much to both of their relief. Chungha’s movements also seem a lot smoother, subtle flair and grace lacing her ministrations despite powerful bursts of speed. It leaves many in awe, already dubbed as the best flier in their year and definitely the next Gryffindor Quidditch Team Member next year. She always just shyly denies it while Sejeong wholeheartedly agrees beside her.

Flying doesn’t end up being the only class they work on together during their free time; it somehow turns out with their group of 5 spending most of their time after classes together, mainly in the library sharing notes - or so Sejeong and Heehyun would like to claim as they hide away a copy of Hexes, Jinxes and Curses to Fuel Your Pranking Needs from an exasperated Nayoung - or in the Great Hall just chatting.

It is on one such normal day, when Sejeong and Heehyun are lounging on the sofas - green leathered adorning silver patterns - waiting for Chungha and Jieqiong to be done with some house meeting in the Great Hall, that Sejeong gets one of her greatest ideas yet.

“Heehyun, don’t you think it’d be wonderful if we could access all the other Common Rooms?” Sejeong starts and it instantly piques her only company’s interest. “If we had access to the Gryffindor dorms now, we could just be waiting there with Nayoung for the other two, instead of them having to hang around outside our dorm till another Slytherin can tell us that they’re here, and then having to repeat that at the Ravenclaw dorms.”

Heehyun’s face lights up as the mischief slowly washes over in the form of a Cheshire grin.

“You sure have a lot of brilliant ideas for someone who couldn’t make it into Ravenclaw,” Heehyun jokes, earning a light punch from Sejeong. “So, let’s begin with Gryffindor?”

They simper, making a beeline for the door out.

-

“So the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower is through the portrait of the Fat Lady on the 7th floor landing of the Grand Staircase, right?” Sejeong recites and Heehyun nods in confirmation.

“She always asks for a password, though. How are we going to get that if the notice board is in the Common Room?”

Sejeong shrugs, and they climb up the stairs regardless. They’ll figure something out later when they get there.

“Oh, lovely children, where are you off to? Might you have some moments to spare me?” A tired voice calls out to them, pitch higher in an attempt to sound sweet.

Their steps pause, glancing around. There was no one else around, apart from the odd Ravenclaw in the distance heading to the library. The only other movements were the constant, random shifting of the staircases, and the--

Oh.

Sejeong looks to her left where, as she guessed, a portrait was beckoning them.

“Damara Dodderidge?” She reads off the silver nameplate fastened to the rowan frame containing the plump lady. “Were you calling us?”

“Do you see anyone else around?” The portrait snarks back, before slipping back to her lethargic persona. “Oh, I’m so hungry and tired. Could you ask Giffard Abbott - he’s the portrait just down there at the bottom - to send some food up? Just a tiny snack, some beef steak and pork ribs, maybe a little lemon drizzle cake to top it off, and a generous scoop of mashed potatoes with dollops of gravy for the munchies later.”

Sejeong just stares, astonished at a plentitude of points. Before she can even begin to fire her questions on whether portraits even need to eat if they’re technically not alive, Heehyun cuts in.

“Well, we could, but what’s in it for us?” Her drawl keys Sejeong in on her budding plan. She catches on quickly and springs into action.

“We’re so far away from the bottom - we’ve just climbed from the Dungeons where our Common Room is. There needs to be a little reward for helping you despite our aching legs, don’t you say?”

Damara Dodderidge ponders for a while, frowning and groaning as if coming to a difficult conclusion. After a few long moments in which the two imps spend lazily twirling their hair or just letting their eyes wander around, Heehyun decides to give her a little push.

“Well, guess you can wait a little longer for the next student to come around. See you around, Ms Dodderidge!” They wave as they take a step upward, and as expected, the portrait calls out to them.

“Wait, wait! Oh alright, you little baby snakes win! I’ll give you the password to the secret passage I guard in exchange - it brings you to the Clock Tower: ‘meatballs and grape jam’. Now hurry down, my stomach is about to digest itself!” And she plops herself down on the hammock with a grand flop, one arm raised and rested on her forehead as the other shoos them to get on with the errand.

Her words light an imaginary bulb above Sejeong’s head and she smirks.

-

“The Fat Lady guards the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room though; it’s got to be a whole lot harder than getting Damara Dodderidge’s password,” Heehyun remarks, skeptical - and rightfully so, at Sejeong’s plan.

After a little chat with the portrait of Professor Abbott, who Sejeong befriends after an in depth conversation about his dog, he informs that most portraits take a while before sharing their passwords, and those guarding high profile areas typically never do. The crucial tidbit of information he did provide - the one that poked a tiny hole for a glimmer of hope to shine through on Sejeong’s plan - is that sometimes if portraits take a liking to them enough, they just might let the student pass through regardless of possession of password.

“Besides, doesn’t Slytherin and Gryffindor have that centuries old rivalry? Who’s to say she won’t just shun us away once she sees our ties?”

“That would just be discrimination,” Sejeong scrunches her nose. “But to ease your worries anyway, these pastries from the House Elves would do some good in painting a good first impression. I hope.”

“You and your wide connections; gotta thank that lovable personality of yours,” Heehyun begrudgingly admits.

“A nice contrast to what a grump you are,” Sejeong winks as she dodges the predictable elbow to her side. “I think it’s less to do with me and more to do with how you never smile, only smirk.”

“I can’t help it if my default face scares them away,” Heehyun grouses. Sejeong knows it’s a complex she has, about how her first impression usually intimidates others. Her friend really is just a soft jelly kitten inside, though the memory of her charmed blanket just last night disagrees a tad bit.

“We’ll work on that, no worries. Perhaps try a bright, friendly smile for the Fat Lady just up ahead!”

They climb the last step, feet finally on the 7th floor landing after running about the castle for close to an hour. The portrait hangs grandiose on the marbled wall, double their tiny stature. Combined. In contrast to the regal appearance of gold plated frames, ornate carvings and a velvet nameplate with the brilliant cursive lettering of ‘FAT LADY’, the portrait herself appears rather flamboyant and jovial. Nothing like the stately image everything else seems to suggest, considering they’re first greeted by her loud voice echoing throughout the corridor. The high pitches grate their ears, terribly off-tune. Heehyun’s attempt at a ‘bright, friendly smile’ fails immediately.

“If she’s trying to ward off intruders, she’s got the right strategy down alright,” she grits.

“Snarky comments like that are what shuns people,” Sejeong quips. “But it’s also one of your more lovable traits, so we’ll have to keep that.”

Heehyun sneers as they venture on through disturbing soundwaves. Patiently, they endure a couple more notes from the oblivious portrait, each exponentially more screechy than the former. When the mix of a scowl and cringe carved on Heehyun’s face reaches its peak and she looks like she just might claw the Fat Lady apart like Sirius Black two decades or so ago, Sejeong decides maybe attempting to catch her attention might be best, even if interrupting her singing - or bleating, as Heehyun would call it - might cost them some brownie points.

After a few intentional coughs, clears of and a couple more ‘excuse me, madam’s, volume increasing with each repetition, the Fat Lady finally bestows some well-deserved peace upon them.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t notice you two there,” she chirps, voice still crystal despite all the damage that session must have done to . Maybe it’s a portrait quirk. “You’re not Gryffindors. What could you be here for?”

Heehyun mumbles something sounding very much like ‘I told you so’ and Sejeong just hopes she can make her eat her words.

“My friend and I were just wandering along talking to the portraits along the staircases - you all do make for very good conversation - and as we ascended the floors, we happened to catch on to the faint echoes of some singing. We followed it because we were curious and it led us to you,” Sejeong offers her impromptu explanation, adding an extra raise of the corners of to make her smile extra chipper.

“You heard me? My, my, how was it? I’ve been trying to hone my voice such that it can shatter this glass goblet over here, but I just can’t seem to go high enough,” the Fat Lady laments, flailing said goblet around in her right, before taking a huge preparatory breath, signalling the impending start of another round of overwhelming dissonance.

The two victims exchanged swift panicked glances before Heehyun desperately cuts in. “No, no, you were high enough. Definitely loud enough too,” she lets slip. “Perhaps it’s something else?” She glances at Sejeong, urgently signaling for her to reinforce that point.

“Right! So, I was part of my elementary school’s Choir, and I was thinking maybe it might have to do with a lack of resonance instead…”

Heehyun watches as Sejeong leaps into a lecture on how finding the right resonance might be the solution, and how to use her diaphragm to support her voice to create that resonance instead of forcing it out higher without any grounding, and even more musical jargon which convinces Heehyun that Sejeong had either really - and very coincidentally - been in her previous school’s Choir Club, or is just incredibly well read to be able to bull that well. She somehow doubts it’s the latter. The Fat Lady listens, completely enraptured, and she can understand why with the way Sejeong advises her: she actually sounds fully invested in the conversation, deeply sincere and interested. Heehyun doesn’t know if Sejeong is just a really good actress, or she just genuinely enjoys conversing and possesses the gift of speech and hard-carrying conversations. Perhaps it’s a good mix of both.

“..and that’s it! It’s not much, just what my teachers have taught me, but I hope it helps,” Heehyun tunes back in to their conversation as she hears Sejeong finish up, beaming that sweet eye-smile of hers once again.

The Fat Lady looks absolutely thrilled , eyes lighting up like when Chungha had been informed that she could indeed keep her pet hamster with her for the year. She even does an excited little jiggle - like Chungha, alright.

“Only one way to find out!”

And she starts screeching once more, faster than Heehyun’s face can fall. This was definitely not what she had in mind when she had trusted Sejeong to continue the flow. Metaphorical claws sharpened and readied to mangle her friend, the scathing complaints die on the tip of her tongue when she sees Sejeong with her wand peeking out. She murmurs something, completely masked over by the reverberating shrieks, and suddenly the glass cracks a little in the Fat Lady’s hand. The corner of twitches upwards a little.

The crack catches the Fat Lady’s attention, too absorbed in trying to heed Sejeong’s advice and watching the (truthfully non-existent) progress on her goblet to notice the trick Sejeong pulled. She stops her singing abruptly - thank Merlin - and marvels at the tiny web of cracks along the glass.

“It worked! Oh, my dear girl, you are a genius!” She accentuates each last few words, trembling on the spot in exhilaration. She looks absolutely elated, and somehow so does Sejeong, whooping and fist pumping as if she hadn’t rigged the whole thing. Heehyun tries to imitate the same magnitude of emotion, though frankly she can only feel enthusiastic about the end of the audial nightmare. It’s enough to pass her off, she figures.

“You must be hungry after all that, because I certainly am,” Sejeong reaches for the plate of pastries they had brought over, previously left forgotten on the floor when their cringing had threatened to topple the balance of the baked treats. “I do hope what Professor Abbott had mentioned about your portrait being part of the few in which reality can interact with is true, because it’d be a waste not to enjoy the House Elves’ tea special for the day.”

She offers one delectable pastry to the Fat Lady, heading towards the portrait, and to all of their delights, it passes through. Sejeong had expected crossing the meshing of the Real World and Portrait World to feel a little strange, maybe some sort of hint that her hand had just traversed across a dimension, but instead it just felt like she reached out the window to pass the tart over. Her recipient accepts it gleefully, relishing in the taste as she bites a huge chunk of it off. Sejeong glances to catch Heehyun flashing a thumbs up, one she returns promptly. Now for the hard part: trying to get the password or just getting in.

“Would you like more? The House Elves gave us way more than we could finish before dinnertime,” Sejeong offers; it’s half true, the treats had been a backup plan, but they had gotten it in the first place because Sejeong decided to make a small trip to greet her friends in the kitchen.

“Bribing your way into the Gryffindor Common Room?” The Fat Lady’s words cause them both to freeze up - they hadn’t expected to get caught that easily after all that effort. “The treats alone wouldn’t have worked - even if I do appreciate them - but I must say, they’re a good dessert to the wonderful conversation we’ve had and your humouring of me with the advice and that subtle spell of yours.”

Sejeong grins gingerly, not really sure where this is leading to. “You’re welcome…?”

“I’ll let you in this time, since you’re both such sweet kids. Maybe a little conversation and entertainment of me could be your password in future, too,” she winks, and her portrait swings open with grandeur, revealing a long corridor, smooth white walls with brown marbling and a red carpeted floor, lit by gold ornate lamps perched every few metres on the wall. Nothing short of expectations from the house that screams regal and majestic.

They thank her profusely - Sejeong shouting that her advice had all been real and more practice would definitely get the Fat Lady to her goal - at the granted access and hint of it being a continuous thing, then enter the welcoming hallway, hearts fluttering in anticipation and adrenaline from having achieved their first tall ordeal fuelling their steps.

-

A commotion up ahead causes there to be a bottleneck at the entrance to the Common Room, and naturally Jieqiong pulls her forward to check it out. Their house meeting had ended up dragging on a lot longer than expected, and she feels remorseful for having left Sejeong, Heehyun and Nayoung just hanging. She makes a mental note to apologise to them later during dinnertime, only to realise the opportunity has so spontaneously and conveniently graced itself in front of her now, in the form of a Sejeong and Heehyun greeting everyone in the common room with a wave, lounging on the red and gold velvet cushions of the sofa.

She somehow can’t find it within herself to be as surprised as she really should be.

“Sejeong, Heehyun! How did you guys manage to get in?” Jieqiong exclaims as she breaks through the crowd of upperclassmen, dragging Chungha along with her, oblivious to the scathing looks originally cast upon just her two friends and now the four of them. Rather than surprise, Jieqiong just looks downright enthralled, as if wanting to know the secrets of breaking into other houses’ Common Rooms as well. Then Chungha realises it’s probably the case.

“The Fat Lady let us in! We had a nice chat and she decided to grant us access,” Sejeong chippered.

Chungha really can’t find it within herself to be a slight bit surprised by that turn of events.

Having students from another house in their Common Room was not something unfamiliar to Gryffindors, but this usually occurred when accompanied by another Gryffindor. The Fat Lady granting them access on her own accord has always been an extremely rare occurrence, so naturally some of them frown at that knowledge.

“Alright, break it up! These kids entered with the rightful permission of the Fat Lady, so there’s nothing to be offended about. Move in, everyone, let the rest of the house enter too!” The Head Girl commands as the prefects start to usher everyone in, allowing the flow of traffic to start up once again.

The commotion soon dies down as everyone gets their fill of curious stares and disapproving glares, which Heehyun just pretends to ignore while Sejeong sheepishly - though without a single trace of remorse - smiles and waves.

“Why am I somehow not surprised that you both would do something like this,” Chungha sighs as she sits herself down on the couch opposite; she definitely needs a seat.

“Well, we got tired of meeting up being inconvenient and always having to wait around, so we decided to…”

The identical sniggers make her dread the completion of the sentence.

“...Slytherin.”

Chungha slams her head into her hands, and hates herself for actually sputtering out a laugh.

---

She somehow gets dragged into their antics barely two days later; apparently breaking into other houses’ Common Rooms was going to be an ongoing thing between not just Sejeong and Heehyun, but for their whole group now. (“You’ll have to find your own way into Slytherin though, we aren’t going to help with that!”) Their next target was naturally Ravenclaw, where the not-as-delighted-by-the-news-of-them-gaining-access-to-Gryffindor’s-Common-Room Nayoung resided. Nayoung had warned them not to even try with Ravenclaw, as she desperately needed her precious hours of sleep, each minute more valuable than before due to her rapidly dwindling energy levels when spending time with them. The three had pretended she hadn’t said anything.

For the past two days, Sejeong, Heehyun and Jieqiong have been attempting to solve the daily riddle set as the password to the Ravenclaw Tower, but from the lack of a gleeful announcement proceeding elated bounding towards her, she guesses it has been fruitless. It's already nearing dinner time, bringing the count of hours they’ve spent working on today’s riddle to about 4 hours. Chungha does admire their perseverance, if anything. But there’s always a limit to everything.

Which is likely why she finds herself in front of the curved wooden door, bronze eagle knocker the only embellishment visible, with three monkeys looking at her expectantly.

“What makes you think I can solve the riddle?” She asks, doubting herself. She doesn't even bother questioning why she should help them now - Jieqiong wouldn't let her sleep for sure otherwise.

“Didn't you almost get sorted into Ravenclaw?” Heehyun recalls.

Her Hatstall is a topic she has frequently had to touch upon, little band of friends included. She hadn’t mentioned much details about it, just the fact that the Sorting Hat had pretty much been undecided between every single house. Apparently her more deterministic traits are a good mix of each house’s defining ones, so it had resulted in the difficult decision the Hat and her had to make. She doesn’t actually know why or how she had ended up in Gryffindor - the Sorting Hat’s words had been too cryptic, like most of the content within those 5 minutes. All she knows is that those were information she should omit when sharing the experience with others. And omit she did; all everyone knows is that Chungha could essentially belong anywhere, but Gryffindor was the eventual path decided for her.

“Not just Ravenclaw, but every other house was possible too,” Sejeong corrects. “But yes, that does make you a whole lot more likely to be able to get in than us. Jieqiong can only memorise stuff well while Heehyun and I can only hope practicals are enough to keep our grades alive.”

Not a single protest comes from the three of them as they nod gravely in agreement; they really must be that desperate for such an uncharacteristic occurrence. It succeeds in convincing Chungha to at least try, even as she sighs taking a step towards the door. Grasping the ring of the knocker, she taps it lightly, prompting the eagle for the riddle.

“I go all around the world but stay in a corner. What am I?”

An eyebrow raises. This was the riddle that had her friends stumped for four and a half hours? She hesitates; perhaps she was thinking about this too simply. There’s no way they wouldn’t know this, right? She spares a glance at the owners of three hopeful gazes: one Pureblood, one Half-blood and one with wizarding parents (no further information since she had simply smiled her way through evading more details). Perhaps they didn’t know it after all, judging from the massive flock of owls every lunch.

“A stamp,” she tries.

The door creaks open, granting them entrance. They all gape for a while, rooted, somewhat surprised that Chungha answered what the other three couldn’t for hours within a minute.

“A what?” Jieqiong asks, clueless expression confirming Chungha’s suspicions.

“A postage stamp. Muggle post, owls don’t seem to need stamps.”

“Okay, I can understand why Jieqiong couldn’t answer the riddle, but Heehyun, your dad’s a Muggle. Surely you’ve seen these stamps before?” Sejeong questions.

“Cut me some slack, my first and only post back home had been from Hogwarts,” Heehyun brushes aside and strides towards the revealed hallway. “Now are we going or what? There’s going to be a very excited Nayoung waiting for us.”

Chungha watches as Sejeong’s smirk grows wider, ready to tease Heehyun about her “lack of sense, no wonder you weren’t even considered for Ravenclaw.” As Jieqiong joyfully skips down the blue and gold carpet, gleeful hum and squabble from the other two echoing in the corridor, Chungha can’t help but feel a little sorry for Nayoung’s impending chaos.

-

Nayoung loves the break before dinner time. Definitely not a morning person, she has always abhorred morning classes, despite the rampant stereotype of her house. Hogwarts lessons are no different. They always drain an extra amount of energy from her, spent on trying to stay awake and still catching what the respective professors ramble on about.

That’s precisely why the break before dinner time is so precious: it’s one of her few windows to rejuvenate herself after a gruelling day. With the introduction of 4 certain girls in her life, this one window has unequivocally diminished.

Ever since she had slipped that note to Sejeong during Astronomy - an action she’s still undecided as to whether she regrets or not - the Slytherin has somehow managed to catch her at every possible waking moment: waving across the Great Hall, walking in tandem striking conversation along corridors, picking seats beside her in lessons. Before she had known it, she had ended up lumped together with the little litter of exceedingly excitable puppies, her tranquil envisioning of a Hogwarts life shattered. Chungha might fit the previous picture she had had with her quieter nature, and Heehyun is surprisingly reserved when she’s not carrying out one of their latest plans that always only lead to immense trouble, but Sejeong and Jieqiong, especially the latter, may just be the biggest menaces in her life. Somehow, it seems as if they’ve both made disturbing her their goal in life; Sejeong is constantly teasing her (to be fair, she does this to them all equally) whereas Jieqiong has never let her have a quiet moment whereby they’re not conversing yet, even in the library (she hadn’t expected to ever be thrown out of the library in her life before). Chungha says it’s just their way of getting her to open up. Nayoung doesn’t believe that’s the entire picture.

So when Jieqiong, Sejeong and Heehyun had announced that their daily meetups after classes would be on hold in favour of them - intended to be all 5 of them as a group, but Nayoung had immediately declined and Chungha just stayed mum - finding their way into the Common Rooms, she had been eternally grateful for the long-awaited, glorious, daily break before dinner time for her to recuperate. She snuggles into her blanket more, relishing in the recently unfamiliar comfort. Her lips quirk up a little, content filling her. This was definitely the way she wanted to spend her break. No chatter, no chaos, no caretaking.

As she lets herself consciousness wander to Dreamland, she finds her thoughts drifting to the various stories that have been shared with her - those certainly have been interesting, always entertaining her even if they were a little too loud and long; of two green figures wrestling around playfully, sparks and tiny blasts ringing around; of a brown hamster grinning softly, looking into the distance; maybe she doesn’t regret her action in that Astronomy class after all.

With a final fleeting thought that fine, she really does appreciate their little ragtag group and miss them a little, she drifts off to sle--

“There she is! Finally!”

The force of someone body-slamming her rudely jolts her out of Dreamland. The abrupt explosion of noise doesn’t improve her disoriented state, hazily looking around in confusion. She belatedly registers someone firing off in a feverish ramble and focuses a little on that.

Jieqiong, perched on an unoccupied space of her bed, waving her hands around animatedly in recount of their ordeal of getting into her room.

Sejeong, sprawled comfortably on top of her seemingly without any intention of getting off, chipping in to the tale with exaggerated details.

Heehyun, plopped on the floor, inspecting her organised mess of textbooks and library books and notes with comments on how it’s totally not what she had expected of her.

Chungha, standing by her bed, mouthing out an apology but still highly amused despite the slight hint of sympathy.

Nayoung firmly plants her face into her pillow, letting out a muffled in between of a groan and a scream. Scratch that, she definitely regrets what she had done in Astronomy.

---

A waterfall of vinegar appears above them out of nowhere and soon they’re doused in it. Hysterical shouts and screams ring out from the three small figures, clearly outlined by their sopping robes clinging to their skin, as they hop around in hysteria, barrels of the Hufflepuff Basement entrance completely still as if mocking their failed attempt. They sputter, grunts filled with disgust, as they try to get the lingering invasive taste out; it doesn’t work when they’re showered by the offensive substance.

“Now we know that ‘let’s just wing it’ isn’t exactly the wisest course of action?” Sejeong tries, shrugging with a hesitant grin that somehow still looks mirthful.

“You think?” Chungha sighs; her eyes are shut tight to prevent any vinegar from seeping in, otherwise yet another eye roll would definitely be shot Sejeong’s way.

“I knew we should have tried to drag Nayoung along; getting an earful from her for a week would have beaten this any day,” Jieqiong laments, shaking her arms around as if it might help to get herself dry.

Heehyun just cackles at their pitiable state as they curse her quick reflexes.

-

“Okay, so now we know that we can’t just trial and error our way into the Hufflepuff Common Room,” Chungha remarks as she dries her hair with a towel. “Now what?”

Freshly - and appreciatively - showered, they had taken to gathering in the Gryffindor Common Room to chart their next move. With the 5 of them meeting there almost every afternoon, the other Gryffindors had grown accustomed to seeing them around, hardly batting an eye at their presence and occasionally even chatting with them. Nayoung still had to be dragged there, but the diminishing resistance was a good sign, so Sejeong reasoned.

One thing that hasn’t seemed to diminish yet would be her disapproval of their antics, though.

“How about not try any further? Hufflepuffs don’t take kindly to people entering their Common Room unwelcome. It’s home to them; that’s why they’re the only house with a repelling system in place,” Nayoung explains. “Why are you the one asking, anyway? Since when have you defected over to their side?”

Sejeong and Jieqiong pout and pretend to be physically hurt by Nayoung’s implication of their being different camps within their tiny group; Nayoung just ignores them.

“Because if I don’t ask, these three will just go forth with yet another reckless plan. I swear these two should have belonged to Gryffindor, maybe that’s why the Fat Lady let them in,” Chungha sighs; this seems to be happening a lot more than just three months ago. “That’s also why there needs to be someone around to ensure they don’t end up in the Hospital Wing again.”

“That’s rich coming from you - you’ve been there the most out of all of us,” Heehyun taunts lightly. “Just admit it, this is as fun for you as it is for us.”

Chungha sighs once more, though mainly for lack of a better response to that. It is somewhat rewarding to gain these accesses.

“Well, all we know is that the password has something to do with tapping the barrels. There’s no clear question to answer this time, nor a simple secret password, or even someone we can talk to to find out,” Sejeong lists, each fact chipping away at their hope.

“You could just do it the old-school way,” a somewhat familiar voice sounds out - natural tone chirpy and spooled with teasing, as if always speaking in a playful hum. A Third Year Slytherin steps out from the stairwell - Mimi, Sejeong vaguely recalls, with her signature mischief-laced grin.

Jieqiong questions why Mimi is in the Gryffindor Common Room the same time Sejeong asks what the ‘old-school way’ she’s referring to is.

“I came to see Hana. You guys aren’t the only ones with a way into the Gryffindor Common Room, though our methods might differ,” she chuckles, somewhat unsettling. Then again, it’s Mimi. “And that method, would simply be to… approach another Hufflepuff.”

The following wink spelled out the unsaid ‘if you know what I mean’. Thoroughly nonplussed, Sejeong noted the various reactions from the other 4: mild confusion (some things do fly past Chungha’s head, after all), slight disapproval (Jieqiong has always been tactful with others), utterly scandalised (Nayoung actually looks downright offended, as if she had been the suggested victim, though to Mimi she probably just looks the same with a slight twitch of her eye), and twinkling curiosity (a plan seems to be germinating in Heehyun’s mind, following the seed planted by their upperclassman).

She had known about this particular method passed down by Slytherins of the past: intimidating and threatening Hufflepuffs into submission. It just never did sit right with her, nor many others in her house now, which would explain why it had become a somewhat obscure and unsaid topic. She hadn’t expected Mimi to suggest that, though. The older might have a reputation for her multitude of methods to achieve her wants, but never had Sejeong actually heard of her doing something severe like bullying .

“Are you telling us to bully--”

A book lightly - or not, judging from Mimi’s wince - taps itself on Mimi’s head, causing Sejeong’s questioning to cut off. Owner of said book steps out from behind an indignant Mimi - now nursing her head which she swears will have a bump soon - to reveal a particularly striking Gryffindor upperclassman, all poise and elegance.

“Were you really trying to corrupt these kids in a Common Room that isn’t even yours?”

“I wasn’t corrupting them, Hana, I simply shared that the best way to getting into the Hufflepuff Basement - their plan without any instigation from me - was to find out from a Hufflepuff. How they go about it is their own choice,” Mimi retorts, glib tongue saving her. “Haebin told me on her own volition.”

Hana rolls her eyes as the two of them leave the Common Room, not before advising them to dismiss whatever Mimi had said and Mimi skipping with a wiggle of her eyebrows. The brief but impactful encounter left a weighted silence between the remaining occupants of the Common Room, crackle of the fireplace the only impediment to the quietude.

Then Heehyun breaks it.

“I might have a decent plan.”

-

“This is nowhere near a decent plan,” Sejeong declares. “Which part of it is even mildly decent?”

“The part where we have a decent chance of succeeding and decently-detailed steps?” Sejeong shoots a pointed arch of an eyebrow to Heehyun; Heehyun gets the message. “Okay, it’s not exactly one of the classiest plans we’ve-”

“You’ve.”

“-thought of,” Heehyun continues, unperturbed by Sejeong’s attempt to distance herself from the idea already. “But it’s just going to be harmless acting. We won’t take it too far, and we’ll get what we want. Minimal damages, maximal rewards.”

“Is the poor victim going to know it’s just ‘harmless acting’? Merlin’s beard, Heehyun, you’re planning for the both of us - why just us two, anyway? - to find a fellow First Year Hufflepuff who ‘looks like they would cough up easily’, corner them and ask for the method to entering their Common Room?” Sejeong’s words increase in pace and pitch. “It’s essentially bullying , just without the physical part.”

“And that’s why it’s not so bad! We can just offer some stuff in return as well, then it’ll be a trade. Also, we’re Slytherins, this is what we’re expected to do.”

“Gallopin Gorgons, that still doesn’t make it decent ,” Sejeong throws her hands up in frustration, ruffling the quilt draped on her lap.

“Why are you so concerned with that, anyway? Being decent isn’t something Slytherins are known for. We get things done, end result before the method. I thought you’d always agree to doing stuff.”

“That’s only if no one gets hurt in the process, and your plan doesn’t meet that criteria this time. Just because we’re Slytherins doesn’t mean we’re mean, expected or allowed to be mean.”

“Really? Because I could have sworn that’s not what some other First Years said to me,” Heehyun snarks cynically, face darkening. “But whatever, if you’re not going to join me on this, don’t come looking for me to spill the secret to getting into the Hufflepuff Basement. Not that you’ll be able to anyway, since I’ll be happily lounging there and enjoying my success.”

Sejeong just stays seated on her bed, watching as Heehyun storms out their dorm room. The retreating back invokes a wave of déjà vu and she tries to suppress the voice jeering that she’s “lost yet another person who walked into her life”.

No, Heehyun hasn’t left her.

And even if she did, it shouldn’t bother Sejeong much.

They have only been friends for three months; no attachments, no heartache, right?

She wasn’t supposed to get close to anyone anyway - the 4 others were just people who had happened to come into her life without her seeking them out.

It’s possible to have people around her and not get attached to them.

It wouldn’t hurt if they were to leave her 7 years later.

She’s alright.

Chanting that mantra in her head, Sejeong curbs the spreading pressure that spilled out, scooping the remnants of invasive thoughts back into her ever upgrading container. Schooling her mentality and expressions back to the usual, she belatedly chases after Heehyun.

-

The good news is she manages to find Heehyun quickly.

The bad news is Heehyun is already carrying out her plan.

The okay news is at least Heehyun and victim are in a secluded area not too visible by passing strangers.

The horrible news is a Hufflepuff Prefect is going to walk by soon and will definitely see them.

Sejeong runs over and hopes she can get them to evacuate before they get into official trouble; being blacklisted by the Prefects from First Year isn’t exactly the greatest start to their schooling career.

“...so really, you should cough up any time now because this will really benefit the both of us--”

“Heehyun!”

“--and oh hey, reinforcements have come! So yup, any time now,” Heehyun hardly acknowledges her and keeps her attention focused on a small, porcelain skinned girl with straight hair so shiny and flowy it looks like ink, flushed cheeks - though that might be due to the suffocating proximity and conversation Heehyun has ungracefully bestowed upon her, pursed lips and a deep frown.

Definitely not a sight for the incoming Hufflepuff Prefect to see.

“Heehyun, we’ve got to go, a Hufflepuff Prefect is walking this way,” Sejeong urged, tugging on her robe.

“Yeah, with Dumbledore in tow right? I’ve almost got this, Sejeong, stay out of my way,” comes Heehyun’s reply, hissed out under her breath so the cowering - wait, is that a wand Sejeong spies pointed at Heehyun?

“Locomotor wibbly!” And Heehyun falls to the ground the same time the girl shouts out a “Stupefy”, shimmering blue bolt flying past where Heehyun had been.

That definitely catches the attention of the passing Hufflepuff Prefect.

“What’s going on here?” The Fifth Year towers over the three of them, demanding an explanation.

“Oh, nothing, my friend and I were just duelling here and one of our spells flew out a little. Sorry about that!” Sejeong apologises, pouring as much fake sincerity into her words as she could muster.

“Duelling in the hallways isn’t allowed, don’t you know that?” He lectures, and she does know, but offhandedly thinks it’s much better than having a bullying case on their record. Not that he has to know. “What’re you doing here then? I know you wouldn’t break the rules, not you.”

He regards the fellow Hufflepuff, whose expression shows her thoughts are anywhere but present. She trains her attention in on him when called though, and takes a few moments to contemplate - in which Sejeong discreetly casts a Silencio on Heehyun and nervously jitters - before replying.

“I was just passing by and got caught up at a bad time when her spell went awry.”

Sejeong stops herself from letting out a huge breath of relief.

The prefect takes in her explanation, nodding in understanding. She would have laughed at how easily he had been convinced, had she not known just how innocent the Hufflepuff girl looked, as if the thought of her ever lying was simply absurd.

“Alright well, you’re only First Years so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Just make sure none of us Prefects ever catch you doing this again.”

Sejeong finally lets out her breath of relief as he strides away, continuing his rounds.

“Finite.”

Heehyun’s grumbles sound out as she dusts herself, regaining footing while still muttering. Sejeong doesn’t give her time to recover fully.

“Thanks, and sorry about that. It won’t happen again, I’ll just excuse us now. Thanks once again!” She calls out to their victim-now-saviour behind her shoulder as she drags a protesting Heehyun away in a headlock.

-

“You made my plan fail brilliantly,” Heehyun accused once they had reached the safe confines of their shared dormitory room.

“It was bound to fail - she was going to Stupefy you, not give you the access to the Hufflepuff Basement. Plus that prefect would have caught you for sure, he was heading straight into your path,” Sejeong explains. “I don’t get it, we could have spent a little more time thinking of another way to get into the Hufflepuff Common Room instead of going forth with this plan that not only is extremely uncharacteristic of us all, you especially included, but also has really low chances of success. Why were you so insistent on it?”

Heehyun clams up, sitting on her bed with her arms crossed defensively, gaze scorching holes into the corner of her bedspread. Sejeong sighs after a few moments, taking a calculated guess.

“Did someone say something mean about your first impression and you being a Slytherin?” Sejeong’s voice softened as she gingerly took a seat on the other corner of Heehyun’s bed. She took the silence as consent for her to scoot closer. “Was it those Hufflepuffs again?”

As much as Heehyun’s default face is one of a fierce predator lying in wait to maul, she does wear her emotions on her sleeves; Sejeong notices the way her chin scrunches up a little, lips slightly quivering as her fiery glare douses from unshed tears. Bullseye.

Crossing the distance between them, she pulls Heehyun in for a reluctant - on Heehyun’s part simply because she’s such a stubborn and prideful girl - hug. “People will always judge us on this, but it doesn’t have to be true. We can prove that Slytherins aren’t bad people, and having a mean looking face doesn’t mean that’s all there is to you.”

The weak grunt of approval makes her heart ache even more, but she consciously chalks it up to human empathy rather than a greater magnitude of care for her friend that she’s not willing to admit to yet.

“Though that doesn’t mean that if it happens again next time, you should just it up. We’ll show them who’s boss so they won’t mess with us again, as long as we don’t do anything against our conscience okay?” Sejeong pulls out of the hug to seek Heehyun’s eyes this time, shifting to look up to meet the downcast ones.

Heehyun snorts and it grows into a chuckle, and with the grin spreading across Sejeong’s face at her response, she can’t help but let it evolve to a laughter.

---

Sejeong had chided her ear off the entire night, convincing her to seek out that “poor Hufflepuff girl” and apologise to her. She knows she should, even if she did almost get sent flying across the courtyard by said “helpless” girl’s spell, but Heehyun is nothing if not prideful.

So when she sees the very same girl in their Herbology class beside her workstation the next day, she curses Sejeong for immediately partnering up with Chungha, Jieqiong going off to seek Nayoung already. Of course she would end up being partners with the Hufflepuff who’s just flipping through her Herbology textbook, avoiding any form of conversation with Heehyun.

Damn her crafty little friend.

“So, uh, I never did get your name yesterday. I’m Heehyun,” she tries, a voice suspiciously similar to Sejeong’s lecturing about icebreakers and introductions.

There’s a long pause, as if her tablemate was considering whether to even answer or not (she probably was), before the girl finally replies. “I’m not telling you the way to get in.”

She should have figured her actions would have had a lasting effect. Her pride doesn’t let that sit well within her, though.

“And I don’t need it from you either. You’re not all that special, there’s a dozen and one other Hufflepuffs I can ask,” she scoffs. She doesn’t actually plan on repeating the incident, but the other girl doesn’t have to know that.

Professor Longbottom shouting over the chatter prevents a continuation of their short conversation, and Heehyun takes subtly basks in the slight satisfaction she gets from having the last say. He starts the whole preamble about the plant for today’s lesson, which apparently can be lethal and thrives in dark, damp conditions. Exactly where they’re in, the greenhouse all covered up and the air practically dripping with moisture. She really doesn’t think Hogwarts has understood the whole safety thing well.

Considering the plant really is that deadly, she probably should be paying a little more attention to class, but she’s never been one with nature anyway. Besides, pair work does mean there’s a chance that her partner will do all the work for her, even if they aren’t on great terms. Hogwarts has got the right mindset on shared grades and teamwork alright.

She hears the class break into a commotion and guesses that’s her cue to get down to work. Or, ask what she’s supposed to do.

“Did you not listen to anything Professor Longbottom said?” Her partner stares at her incredulously, to which she just shrugs nonchalantly.

“He talks too much. We just have to contain this somehow, right?”

The other girl looks away and sighs; Heehyun can almost hear her internal lamenting of her fate for the day.

“No wonder the upperclassmen had warned us not to partner up with Slytherins for Herbology,” Heehyun hears the mutters, and it strikes a chord. She really doesn’t like Hufflepuffs - they’re the meanest and sully Slytherin’s reputation the most, but everyone still thinks they’re the ‘nice’ house and Slytherin is the ‘evil’ one. What a load of bullcrap.

“No wonder the upperclassmen had told us to partner up with Hufflepuffs for Herbology then, so they can do our work for us,” Heehyun spits back. “I don’t need you , though, I can do this by myself.”

It’s a pack of lies, but ego does shadow over logical thinking. She’s met with a deadpan, and a gesture to go ahead as her offensive partner take a step back. Heehyun accepts the challenge.

“How dangerous can this thing be, anyway?”

She jabs a still root with her finger and finds out that ‘this thing’ can be pretty darn dangerous.

The Devil’s Snare wraps itself around her arm almost immediately, as if it had been lying in wait for the very gesture she had pulled. At the act of a creepy, moist plant vice gripping her spindly arm, Heehyun reacts how any sane person would: panic. Unfortunately witches and wizards were expected to not be sane, because her fervent struggles only served to make the Devil’s Snare wrap around her more, tightening its coil around her arm and climbing further to her body. Even without the panic, her mind still would have been a blank as to a solution to this. She’s not exactly ready to Bombarda her arm off.

She’s definitely racking up a commotion, but apparently so is everyone else and Professor Longbottom isn’t the most attentive of professors, so her only possibilities for help would be to miraculously get out of this suffocating situation herself, or have her partner save her.

Who, speaking of which, is just calmly looking on, zero intention of helping.

Looks like she might break Chungha’s record of hospital visits.

“Are you not going to do something? I’m going to die here!” Heehyun innately regards herself impressed for being still being able to sound indignant even in such a situation. It doesn’t really help much practically though.

“I thought you could handle this on your own, oh so prideful Heehyun,” her partner remarks; the almost non-existent mock in her tone somehow grates at her nerves even more.

But when at the crossroads between death to mortality and death to dignity, even she’d have to go for the latter.

“I can’t, and this hurts like hell, so Christ, just do something!” She grits out, words already leaving a bitter aftertaste as her ego crumples from the blow.

Her god-damn jerk of a partner whose personality seems to be the complete contrast of her pure looks takes her wand out, and Heehyun really thinks Hufflepuffs are more evil than she had ever expected.

“Are you crazy? This thing is attached to my arm; you’re not really going to blast it off--”

“Lumos solem.”

Glaring rays cut her off as she shies her eyes, forced to turn to the side at the blinding sun shone right onto her. A pained gasp and a string of insults follow, her arms waving in the general direction of her so-called saviour to stop with the petty tricks. Apparently that was seen by the other girl, since Heehyun observes the intensity of light dimming from behind her jammed shut eyelids, gradually ceasing. She finally opens her eyes to a comfortable dim and doesn’t hesitate to lash out.

“What good was blinding me supposed to do? So I can’t see the damage this thing is doing on my arm?”

And then she belatedly realises that that thing is no longer there, now instead packed neatly into a glass container held by her partner.

Oh.

“Devil’s Snares hate light and warmth, so sunlight is most effective on them. I guess your upperclassmen were right after all, we do do all the work for you lot,” Heehyun watches how the girl’s expression turns slightly resentful, then daintily - everything this girl does seems to just be that gentle and elegant, even when upset - stalks off to Professor Longbottom at the front to claim their Outstanding grade, Heehyun’s not so deserved.

---

Chaeyeon hasn’t been having a good time at Hogwarts.

All her life, she has been that kid everyone picks on: weak, shy, unable to fight back. Not because she’s not able to - which is partly true since she’s too afraid of doing so - but because she knows she’s different and one wrong move might draw even more attention to her.

Hogwarts was supposed to be her leaving her past life behind: away from the bullies, away from the parents who had never wanted her, away from her being outcast.

It turns out that just being magic doesn’t immediately create a sense of family among them, and even the House that’s supposed to feel like home can house some pretty bad eggs as well. Her reserved nature and absence of necessary items due to her lack of wizarding currency results in her getting zeroed in on almost immediately; bullies within a place she was supposed to feel safe in is tainted a different shade of ugly, and it teaches her that ‘family’ does prey on their own kind. She’s thankful for the majority that helps her and disapproves of that certain group’s actions - fuelled by a desire to prove that they’re not weak simply because they’re in Hufflepuff - but the non-confrontational nature of their Housemates doesn’t do much to stop the bullying.

Within a week, the sign ‘Easy Target’ has been floating over her head, somehow attracting jabs along the corridor, jibes in classrooms and jeers within the Grand Staircase. It isn’t exclusively to her, nor is it personal; like how there are those at the top of the food chain, there’s also the tier for those at rock bottom, and she happens to fall into place without her knowledge of the reasoning. The circle of life must go on.

She was wrong to expect that a change of environment had meant a change in nature.

So when a lanky Slytherin drowning in her own robes had skulked towards her with purpose, Chaeyeon had almost resignedly closed her eyes to embrace the incoming rough up.

She hadn’t expected the girl to just start rambling on about striking some sort of deal and the constant emphasis that her cornering Chaeyeon, back flushed against the wall, was “not bullying but just a friendly negotiation with a bit of reasonable pressure”. It had almost been laughable, how her supposed assailant had seemed more uncomfortable than her. A curious sort of confidence had germinated within her, sprouting in the form of a retaliating Stupefy. Despite the spell not landing, she had felt a rush of accomplishment at even being able to fight back. It had lifted her up, floaty feel and all - perhaps this was why people liked asserting themselves. Maybe she wasn’t that weak after all.

But just hours later, she had frozen up at the all too familiar sight of rummaged belongings and missing textbooks, the usual note saying borrowed books were free for all, after all. And just like that, she had reverted back to the her from before that incident.

Then Herbology comes and in some sort of twisted way, the same girl - Heehyun, she learns - gives her that confidence boost once more. She’s still suspicious of the Slytherin and her motives - it doesn’t help that she’s particularly popular among bullies from the House of snakes, bar her own - but somehow not too afraid. And as the lesson progresses, she learns that Heehyun is really all bark and no bite.

It’s refreshing, to know that there’s someone to which she can stand up to on her own feet and will.

Even if she can’t do that to anyone else and it doesn’t change her overall situation a slight bit, at least she’s taken a step up and knows that it’s not just a clear cut pyramid hierarchy set in stone.

-

She finds it ironic how she dreads returning to the dormitory dubbed as the most homely every night.

As much as she tries to stay out late, the dark sky and torch-lit corridors are anything but comforting and she dislikes having to traverse them alone almost as much as having to face the routine incidents back in the dorm. So she finds herself back at the entrance around 9pm once again, tapping the specific barrels to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff. As the entrance reveals itself, she steels her nerves, because sometimes the group starts from the get go, lying in wait in the Common Room.

She does have people lying in wait for her in the Common Room, but it’s definitely not who she had expected, nor ever would have expected.

Seeing a non-Hufflepuff in the Hufflepuff Basement is enough of a sight to behold.

Seeing 2 Gryffindors, 1 Ravenclaw and 2 Slytherins with the absence of any Hufflepuff is way beyond a sight to behold.

Seeing the renowned Top Flier of First Years, her confidence booster one-off attempted bully and her pick-up-service friend being in that group is a sight Chaeyeon cannot behold.

She rubs her eyes; her mind must have finally snapped after everything and now she’s just seeing ridiculous happenings that are the utmost random and impossible ones.

“Oh hey, she came! Now we can kill two birds with one stone,” the chipper Slytherin says, disproving her theory that they were just projections by her delirious mind.

“What… How…?” She whispers out, still disoriented.

“Are you going to just stand by the entrance? Come take a seat! Heehyun doesn’t bite.”

Chaeyeon doesn’t know why she listens to the girl - who somehow doesn’t seem to see the irony in her, a Slytherin, welcoming Chaeyeon, a Hufflepuff, to make herself at home in her own Common Room, unfortunate circumstance aside - but she does. She seats herself beside a grouchy Heehyun, who has her arms wrapped around her torso and is repeatedly scrunching her nose with frowns.

“Sorry for intruding,” the star flier of their grade Chungha starts, sheepish smile helping to put her nerves at ease a little. “But these 3 were determined to find a way in regardless of anything, and so Nayoung and I had to tag along to ensure an incident like Heehyun’s doesn’t happen again.”

“No, it’s alright,” she replies automatically - she really does hope it will be alright. “But how…”

The other Gryffindor who introduces herself as Jieqiong then lapses into an animated recount of how they had simply been visiting the kitchen for some late night snacks, courtesy of the smiley Slytherin’s - Sejeong, she learns - amicable standing with the Kitchen Elves, and had ended up spotting some Hufflepuffs returning to the Basement. One thing had led to another, and eventually they had decided to spy on the frequent waves of Hufflepuffs tapping the password to their Common Room till they had managed to memorise it with confidence.

Thus their uninvited - and yet to determine if unwelcome - presence.

It almost makes her forget the impending dread always looming once she has entered the Common Room every night. Almost, because the pack of wolves make their timely appearance and remind her of it.

“Oh hey, the little flower seems to have brought back some pests,” the upperclassman in the center jeers from where they stand obstacle to the staircase; they change positions all the time, as if on some sordid rotation on who gets to relish in leading their nightly fun. “She probably needs the help though, we did just clear out the mess in her living quarters.”

Hollers and slaps on the back ensue, each causing her stomach to lurch and sink further as the bile rises. Three months and counting, and she still can’t get used to this. They top off their gloating with a fling of her quilt, crinkling books and rusty paraphernalia spilling out as the sloppily wrapped package tumbles down the staircase.

The familiar searing behind her eyes invokes the customary trickle of liquid, but she forces them to remain unshed. The least she could do was shorten the moments where they deride her tear-streaked face, path already paved out from the frequent travelling. Her head hangs low, determined not to give them the satisfaction of seeing her tormented countenance.

“Hey! That’s not very nice. Who are you all to mess up her things like that?” Jieqiong shouts out, and Chaeyeon doesn’t have to see her to know that she’s furious.

Her items start flying towards and past her to Chungha, who deftly packs everything back neatly and places it to the side. The frown on her face is evident, apparently just as indignant as her Gryffindor counterpart even if their methods of expressing themselves differ.

She wonders why they even are, then chalks it up to being a Gryffindor quirk. Must be nice to be in that House where people would stand up for you.

“Her Housemates. We’re just showing her how the hierarchy in Hufflepuff works, so stay out of this, outsider ,” the right hand lady for the day sneers as she shouts out a Flipendo, blue light knocking Jieqiong into the air.

They’ve never used spells directly on her before, so the action surprises and horrifies Chaeyeon. But then again no one has ever stood up to them, and certainly not a girl half their size who looks just a twinge more threatening than Chaeyeon herself, so she supposes it must have struck quite a nerve.

Sejeong acts instantaneously, somehow managing to cast a Wingardium Leviosa on the stricken girl’s robes to prevent the impact with their Common Room’s stone walls and consequently, her broken bones.

“Okay, that’s crossing the line,” Nayoung says her first words for the night since Chaeyeon met her, and it scares her how her stoic expression was only broken now, marred with venom. Her declaration appears to be all the approval the ragtag group needs.

“Langlock omnis!”

“Incanto mordere oppugno!”

“Petrificus artis omnis!”

She watches as her intimidating group of oppressors gets reduced to a bubbling mess, incoherent shriek-warbles sounding out from their literally tongue-tied states, various objects flying towards them, enchanted to bite any and every part they can come into contact with and feet stuck to the ground unable to move, subject to the torture without the ability to fight back at all. The teamplay from Nayoung, Heehyun and Chungha works wonders and Chaeyeon is certain they must have planned this beforehand, because it’s almost impossible how they managed to complement each other's’ spells within that split second.

“The next time any of you even think about harming any of us here, this Hufflepuff girl included, consider that it might come back to bite you in the !” Heehyun taunts, though her warning is without a shred of jest. “Also for the record, you lot are the ones who don’t belong in this warm, homely place, outsiders .”

The spells’ effects cease simultaneously and the liberated rats scamper away without hesitation, threats of revenge spilling out from jaws with broken fangs.

Chaeyeon revels in the crushing defeat of her bullies for about three seconds before the realisation that they would just take their frustrations out more on her crashes down. Apparently her change in demeanor is obvious.

“Don’t worry, they won’t be disturbing you tonight for sure. And the next time they do, we’ll be around to teach them again, with me not getting attacked. You’re part of us now…” Jieqiong who now has her feet safely planted on the floor trails off, prompting her name.

“Chaeyeon. Thank you.”

“Chaeyeon,” the girl completes her previous sentence. “Great! Sorry I didn’t even do much, you should be thanking the others.”

The wounded puppy expression she carries tugs at Chaeyeon’s heartstrings and she starts to make an effort to comfort her. It’s the least she could do after the whole group had just saved her from what really is her largest problem in Hogwarts so far.

But of course Heehyun has to cut in again and steal her attention.

“The little flower should be learning to fight back on her own, not rely on us,” Heehyun says. “I guess we’re even now though, right?”

The pet name grates on her nerves and it somehow drives Chaeyeon to act; her adrenaline levels must still be high from the whole debacle.

“Locomotor wibbly,” she recalls the spell used against Heehyun during their first encounter. Heehyun crumples to the ground with a surprised yelp, and she smirks. “Now we’re even.”

She realises a beat too late that she had effectively just ‘harmed one of them’, and panics. But as Heehyun casts the counter spell on herself and lets out miffed retorts about injustice, Chaeyeon takes in the way the others react. Sejeong pats her back, applauding her actions while gloating; Chungha giggles as she helps Heehyun up; Jieqiong regains her boisterous laughter directed at Heehyun, mocking but without any drop of venom; Nayoung looks upon them with a hint of a fond smile; Heehyun rolls her eyes, snarky comments which contain no viciousness spewing out.

Her worry blooms into a hesitant smile, chuckling a little with them, a nice change of how laughter is usually something directed at her.

There’s an unfamiliar warmth of thick honey pouring through her chest, slowly lapping at the rest of her body, and Chaeyeon allows herself to hope that she might have found a family in this hellhole after all.

And family does bite, just not one of their own.