It was the fifth day of winter break, and Yuju was in the library. While she had never been a particularly careless student, Yuju never would have thought she’d be in the library of all places when she was supposed to be relaxing. However, as Yuju glanced beside her where SinB had fallen asleep on top of a stack of books, she knew there was no way she’d be able to relax.

Yuju’s parents had been upset that she hadn’t come home for the holidays, a time for family, but how could Yuju just leave SinB and Eunha to watch over Umji while she went off to celebrate Christmas? Her parents were right. This was a time for family, but for SinB and Eunha, part of their family was hurt. A part of Yuju’s family was hurt. Maybe it had been the way her voice had cracked when she called her parents, but after telling them about Umji, her parents had let her stay at Hogwarts during the break.

Yuju sighed and closed the book in front her, deeming it useless. Since break had started, Yuju, SinB, and Eunha had worked out a schedule. One of them would stay with Umji at all times while the two who weren’t would dedicate their time to research in the library to try and find a cure for the paralysis.

This was the third time Yuju had been paired off with SinB, and this was the second time SinB had fallen asleep while reading. Yuju knew it wasn’t because SinB didn’t care; if anything, SinB cared the most. SinB’s exhaustion could be blamed on the fact that SinB hardly slept without classes to keep her on track. Now, SinB was either in the library or watching Umji, both activities that SinB tried not to sleep during. Seeing SinB like this was painfully reminiscent of her a month prior. It was even worse thinking about it now that Yuju knew why SinB hadn’t slept well then.

Suddenly, SinB jerked up, causing the stack of books to fall onto the floor with a series of echoing thumps. Grimacing, SinB rubbed at her eyes and glared at the books. She scooped them off the floor and carelessly tossed them onto the table. SinB looked at Yuju with a look that said she knew Yuju had been watching her.

“Morning,” Yuju said with a small smile.

SinB rolled her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, groaning a bit as a few bones popped. She smirked when Yuju wasn’t quite able to hide the disgust off her face.

“The book I was looking at turned out to be a dud,” Yuju told her needlessly. None of these books had brought them any closer to helping Umji, and it was maddening and frustrating and heartbreaking. “I was thinking we could take a break and grab a snack from the kitchens.”

“No breaks,” SinB told her sternly.

“You’ve been asleep for the past,” Yuju paused to check her watch, “two and a half hours. I’m pretty sure another hour won’t hurt.”

SinB flushed when she realized how long she’d been asleep and snapped, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“How could I?” Yuju said in a sad whisper. “SinB, when was the last time you slept for longer than a few hours?”

“I’m fine,” SinB said instead of answering.

Yuju sighed and then stood up. She held out her hand and said, “Come on. Umji wouldn’t want you to do this.”

SinB stared at her hand for a long moment before sighing and taking it to pull herself onto her feet. Umji always worked against SinB, and while Yuju loathed to use Umji against her, it was necessary sometimes. Like when SinB was being a stubborn idiot, so only about ninety percent of the time.

When they got to the kitchens, Yuju made SinB sit down while she prepared them some food. The last thing they needed was SinB to pass out near open flames and knives. As she cooked, Yuju couldn’t help but think about how much her life had changed. Just a year ago, Yuju never would’ve dared to think she’d be friends with SinB and Eunha, but here she was, spending almost every hour of the day with them. Yuju never would’ve thought she wouldn’t be talking to Sowon and Yerin, but she hasn’t replied to a single letter they sent her since break started.

“You’re gonna burn the meat.”

Yuju startled out of her thoughts at SinB’s words and quickly takes the pork out from the skillet. At her near food fatality, the elves shooed her away to sit with SinB. With a sulky pout, Yuju did as she was told and plopped down next to SinB on a stool.

“What do you think Eunha is doing right now?” Yuju asked, for lack of a better conversation starter.

“Probably burning another letter from Sowon,” SinB replied dryly.

Yuju winced, “Still?”

“Yup,” SinB nodded. “She’s still pissed about Sowon trying to blame me, but I know her well enough to know she’s just being stubborn. She does want to forgive her, but she’s scared of getting hurt again.”

“Well, that’s not entirely unreasonable.”

“Yeah, but that also means Sowon sent Eunha’s Christmas present to me,” SinB grinned.

Yuju laughed before she could stop herself, shaking her head in amusement. “She trusted you with that?” Yuju teased. “I don’t think I’d give you Umji’s gift to keep. You’d probably tease me mercilessly then give Umji a totally dumb gift instead of mine as a joke.”

“You’re not wrong,” SinB smirked. She nudged Yuju. “What did you get her for Christmas?”

Yuju blushed when she realized she let it slip that she’d bought Umji a gift despite her current state, but when she looked up, SinB was watching her with soft, understanding eyes.

“I bought her a necklace,” Yuju admitted quietly, staring down at her hands. “I bought it about a month ago with Eunha when you forced us to go to Hogsmeade one weekend. We weren’t in the mood, so we just ended up walking around a lot. Then, there was this small store with little trinkets that we went into. It was small and quiet, not a lot of people. The owner was this single mother who made all the jewelry handmade, no magic.”

Reaching into her pocket, Yuju pulled out a velvet box and handed it over to SinB. “I wasn’t really looking for anything,” Yuju continued as SinB opened the box, “but then I saw this necklace. It’s simple and elegant, and it just reminded me so much of Umji.” She takes a shuddering breath and looks at the sapphire surrounded by a cluster of diamonds dangling from a silver chain. “So I bought it. I didn’t even really think. All I could imagine was how beautiful it’d look on her.”

“She’s lucky to have you,” SinB said softly as she handed the box back. Then she smiled and added, “But now my gift looks like crap.”

Yuju laughed and gestured for SinB to go on.

Like Yuju, SinB only had to go to her pocket to grab Umji’s gift. It was a photo, a muggle one, the edges a little worn from being carried around. When Yuju looked at it, she felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes. It was a picture of the four of them: SinB, Umji, Eunha, and herself. She remembered the day well. They’d all been in Umji’s room when Umji had taken out an old-fashioned camera, taking random pictures of everyone. With the help of magic, they’d managed to get a picture of all four of them. SinB had an arm slung around Eunha’s shoulder, tongue sticking out. Eunha was giving SinB bunny ears. Umji and Yuju were leaning into each other, making ridiculously ugly faces.

“How?” Yuju whispered.

“I asked Umji to borrow the camera, and she didn’t question it,” SinB explained. “Instead of taking pictures, I learned how to develop them. I had to ask a muggleborn to order supplies for me from home, but if you ask them, they’ll probably say I threatened them with death. Anyways, I developed a bunch of the pictures for her because she said she didn’t know how. They were gonna be her gift… For now, I just carry that one.”

Yuju hugged SinB, careful not to ruin the picture but unable to keep her tears from wetting SinB’s clothes. She held onto her so tightly as sobs wracked her body, and she only cried harder when SinB hugged her back. Yuju hadn’t really properly cried for Umji yet. Tears had been shed, emptiness had been felt, but there hadn’t been the torrent of pain until now. Seeing how much everyone missed Umji and not just her… Seeing the memories they had encapsulated in these photos… Yuju truly felt the loss.

Yuju wasn’t sure how long she stayed crying into SinB’s shoulder, but when she pulled away, there were two mugs of tea and pork belly kimbap sitting in front of them. She wiped away her tears and took a long sip of tea to avoid looking at SinB.

To her surprise, SinB held her hand and said, “It’s okay to cry. I usually do it when I’m alone with Umji, but you can cry, Yuju.”

“It hurts,” Yuju choked out.

“I know,” SinB told her softly, “but we will get the bastard that did this. I won’t let another muggleborn get hurt. I won’t let anyone else go through this.”

Yuju smiled gratefully but then saw the way SinB’s eyes suddenly lit up. “What is it?” Yuju asked.

“I have an idea,” SinB said. “It might be an incredibly stupid idea, but it just might work.”

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We're winding down toward the and end of the story. I plan for the story to be 30 chapters, so we're nearly there. If you're curious this is the necklace Yuju bought Umji. Thanks for reading and leaving comments. They mean the world to me :)