Sowon had been staring at the same failed rune trinity for the past twenty minutes and wanted to bang her head against a wall a few times out of sheer frustration. She always found Ancient Runes such a fascinating subject, but she wasn’t as naturally inclined toward it like some of her other classmates, namely SinB and Eunha. They always had the highest scores on the exams, but they weren’t exactly the kind of people you could just go to and ask for help. Well at least, one of them wasn’t nowadays for Sowon.

Then, like some answer from the heavens, Eunha walked into the library, blessedly without SinB.

Without even pausing to think about it, Sowon walked over to where Eunha had taken a seat and slid into the seat next to her.

“What’d I do this time?” Eunha asked dryly.

“I need your help on Runes,” Sowon replied desperately. She didn’t even care how pathetic she sounded. “I’ve been staring at this trinity and I can’t figure out what’s wrong with it.”

Eunha barely spared a glance at the parchment Sowon waved in her face before calmly pointing out, “You made it too complicated, so it’s basically overpowering itself. Remove your outer layer and rework it to require less runes.”

“You didn’t even look at it!” Sowon sputtered incredulously. She looked to her parchment and realized with much annoyance that Eunha was right. “How did you do that?”

“I like Runes,” Eunha said simply before opening her textbook. “If you don’t mind, I have actual work to do.”

Sowon frowned and turned back to her parchment, trying not to sulk. She wasn’t sure if Eunha was actually busy or just in a bad mood. Normally, Eunha would at least a bit before pretending not to like her. Or, that’s how Sowon saw it. Either way, Eunha didn’t seem that interested in talking to her today, so Sowon quietly redrew her trinity without the outer layer just as Eunha said.

It had been about a week since Gryffindor lost to Slytherin, but Sowon wasn’t too broken up about it. They’d managed to close the point gap to something reasonable, which was impressive considering how good Slytherin was this year. Sowon believed it just meant Gryffindor would have to work extra hard for their future games and try again in a later match against Slytherin. On the other hand, Yerin had been in a foul mood ever since the loss.

Sowon assumed it had something to do with SinB. During Potions, the two of them wouldn’t so much as look at each other, which was kind of impressive considering they sat right next to each other twice a week. Gone was all the playful flirting. Sowon tried to ask Yerin about it, but she’d gotten such a scathing glare that she’d dropped the subject immediately and hadn’t mentioned it since.

Maybe Eunha would know…

Glancing at Eunha as she took notes from her textbook, Sowon bit her lip. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?

“I have a question,” Sowon said awkwardly.

Eunha didn’t even pause in her writing, merely replying, “What makes you think I have an answer?”

“Because it has to do with SinB.”

This got Eunha to stop writing. It made Sowon feel like she’d said something wrong. Eunha put down her quill carefully and pinned Sowon with a look that made her want to shrink away.

“What does SinB have to do with anything?” Eunha asked emotionlessly.

Sowon hesitated. It was when Eunha used her voice with no emotion that warned Sowon that she was treading dangerous waters. “Yerin has been upset lately… I was wondering if SinB had anything to do with that,” Sowon said slowly, trying to gauge how badly this was going to turn out by Eunha’s expression.

“Why do you assume it’s SinB who did something?” Eunha asked instead of answering.

“Are you telling me it’s Yerin’s fault?” Sowon countered, feeling annoyed by the aversion.

Eunha scoffed, slamming her textbook shut. “What, you don’t think Yerin can do anything wrong?”

“Well, she’s got a better track record than SinB,” Sowon snapped.

Eunha glared at her, but just as she opened , another voice said, “I think you’d better leave now.” Both Sowon and Eunha jumped and turned to see Umji and SinB standing in front of their table. Sowon noticed the way Umji had a hand around SinB’s wrist, grip so tight that SinB’s skin was turning white.

“Please leave,” Umji repeated firmly.

Sowon wanted to argue, but she knew she was outnumbered. She wondered if this was how Yerin felt at the beginning of the year when she ran into them in the library. Sowon threw her stuff into her bag carelessly and stood up. She glanced at Eunha, who was studiously staring at the table, before looking to SinB.

SinB looked more tired than ever. Sowon almost felt sorry for her, but she couldn’t help but remember the way Yerin had been so angry lately.

“Stay away from Yerin,” Sowon said, feeling a sense of deja vu. She suddenly recalled the day she had confronted SinB in front of the castle. That had ended up with her on the ground and a look of danger on SinB’s face. Whatever. “She doesn’t need your .”

SinB laughed humorlessly and replied, “Don’t worry. I plan on staying far away from that show you call a friend.”

“What did you call her?” Sowon growled.

“Stop!” Umji nearly shouted. She looked around, no doubt checking to see if the librarian had heard the commotion yet. Umji glared at SinB before looking at Sowon with a strange mixture of frustration and exasperation. Sowon noticed how Umji still gripped SinB’s wrist tightly. She wondered if that was what was stopping SinB from killing her right now. “Go, Sowon.”

Sowon sighed and shook her head. “Whatever,” she mumbled under her breath as she left. She wasn’t sure how things had escalated so quickly, but it felt like the beginning of the year all over again.

She trudged back to her dorm with heavy footsteps, mind fuzzy from trying to figure out where all the fighting had come from. She’d thought that things were changing between all of them, but maybe she was stupid to actually believe SinB and Eunha could become better people.

When Sowon opened the door to her room, she barely managed to duck away from the stress ball thrown her way. She cursed under her breath and watched as the ball rolled down the hall. Annoyed, she turned around to glare at Yerin, who was lounging on her bed with a book in her lap.

“Sorry,” Yerin said, tone making it clear she was only half-sorry. “The other seventh years have been bothering me all afternoon.”

“The seventh years have been bothering you?” Sowon repeated with furrowed brows. “Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

Sowon fought the urge to scream in frustration. She was still keyed up from her argument in the library, but she tried to calm down for Yerin’s sake.

“Come on,” Sowon tried, “you can tell me.”

“I said it’s nothing,” Yerin replied curtly.

“Stop spouting bull,” Sowon said. Well, so much for trying to calm down. She slammed the door shut behind her and walked over to Yerin. Sowon grabbed the book from Yerin’s lap and threw it to the ground. “I’m sick and tired of walking around on eggshells with you. It’s been a week, and I thought maybe if I left you alone, you’d just get over it. Instead, you’ve just been a pain in my . Now, tell me what the hell happened between you and SinB.”

“It’s none of your business!” Yerin spat, pushing Sowon away to grab her book. “Go flirt with Eunha instead of annoying me.”

“Excuse me?” Sowon nearly shouted, the pitch of her going up several octaves in surprise.

“You heard me,” Yerin growled. “It doesn’t take a genius to see how you look at her.”

“Well, you’d have to be blind to miss the way you look at SinB,” Sowon retorted hotly.

“Stop mentioning her!” Yerin hissed.

Sowon smacked the book out of Yerin’s hands again when it looked like Yerin was going to walk away from her. “Not until you tell me what happened between the two of you.”

“She played me, okay?” Yerin said, dangerously quiet. Sowon knew from experience that meant she was either really pissed or really upset. It was probably both this time. “I’m getting enough from the other seventh years without you nagging me.”

“What problem do the seventh years have?” Sowon asked.

Yerin scoffed, “They didn’t like me getting so cozy with SinB. Their words, not mine. Apparently, I’ve been setting a bad example for the younger students. They mentioned needing to talk to you about Eunha too. Hypocrites, all of them, like they don’t hook up with Slytherins in broom closets on the weekends.”

Sowon felt all of her anger leave her in a suffocating woosh. She slumped her shoulders and sat down on Yerin’s bed. After a moment, Yerin sat down next to her.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Sowon said softly. “I’ve been worried about you.”

“I’m sorry for acting like a jerk,” Yerin said. She reached out and held Sowon’s hand. She smiled sadly then leaned against her. “I’m an idiot.”

“I’m an idiot too,” Sowon sighed.

There was a pause before Yerin added, “Girls are stupid.”

Sowon snorted and nodded, “Yeah, they are.” She bit her lip and said, “I’m sorry about SinB.”

“Considering your mood when you came in,” Yerin said, “I’m sorry about Eunha.”

Sowon sighed. “We’re idiots.”

“Complete idiots,” Yerin agreed.

Just then, screaming echoed through what felt like the entire Gryffindor dorms. Sowon and Yerin shot to their feet, not even thinking as they ran to the screaming. It came from right outside the dorms. Sowon and Yerin sprinted down the hall where a small second year stood screaming.

While Yerin grabbed the second year to calm him down, Sowon stared at what had the boy screaming. She couldn’t even say anything as she took in the frozen expression of fear looking back at her. The girl was petrified.  

Sowon tried to ignore the urge to throw up, but she couldn’t help it. She turned away and fell to her knees. She felt sick even after she was done. Wiping , she looked back, only to want to vomit again.

The girl was a small, probably a third or fourth year. Her yellow and black tied signified her house as Hufflepuff, but all Sowon could focus on was everything else. She had dark hair, tied into pigtails. She had freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose, and her eyes were a light brown. She was also so small. Had Sowon been that small when she’d been her age? Maybe before her growth spurt. Oh no, had this girl even gotten the chance to have a growth spurt yet? Sowon felt like throwing up all over again.

“Sowon.”

Suddenly, Yerin was grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to look away from the girl. She shook her shoulders roughly, but Sowon couldn’t stop seeing the little girl.

“Sowon, I’m right here,” Yerin said, but it felt like she was miles away. “Sowon, please snap out of it.”

Then, Yerin slapped her.

It stung, and Sowon swore. She reached up to hold her throbbing cheek, but Sowon realized Yerin looked terrified. She blinked a few times and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I just–”

“I understand,” Yerin cut her off. She glanced over her shoulder before sighing and taking a deep breath. “Go get a professor. I’ll stay with her.”

The mere thought of having to stay with the petrified girl made Sowon’s stomach roil, but she nonetheless, she asked, “Are you sure?”

Yerin gave a sad smile and nodded. “Go.”