It’s March before Yerin even realized. The rest of February had passed in a mess of hospital visits, interrogations, and crying in relief when she was alone at night. It was almost a gift for it to already be March. It meant Yerin was almost done with this.

Well, maybe not all of it.

Yerin reached out and held SinB’s hand. She smiled at the warm skin, toughened with calluses from playing quidditch. Yerin held the hand up to her lips and pressed a soft kiss to the back of it. SinB laid fast asleep in her hospital bed, much like she’d been for the past two weeks. The cuts Jisung had given SinB could’ve been healed easily, but he somehow managed to slip poison into them. They had healed by now, but they were still monitoring for any lingering poison and side effects.

Not to mention, SinB’s body had been exposed to the Cruciatus curse. For the first week, SinB had been under watch every moment of the day, for fear of her body and mind giving up on her.

However, Yerin knew better. She didn’t hover but merely let her presence be known to SinB. She knew SinB was strong, too stubborn to admit she needed help, so, Yerin simply sat by her side. She talked when SinB was in the mood and stayed quiet when she wasn’t. It hadn’t been until just a few nights ago that SinB addressed the suffocating elephant in the room.

“I wanted to die,” SinB had whispered in the dead of the night, ashamed. “It was indescribable, the pain. I just wanted it to end, even if it meant death.” Then SinB had looked up at Yerin with tears in her eyes and insisted, “I swear, I don’t want to die anymore.”

Yerin had held SinB that night, as tightly as she could, talking to her softly. They talked about how much it hurt for both of them for SinB to go through the Cruciatus curse, but in the end, SinB reassured Yerin she was going to be okay, and Yerin promised she’d be there every step of the way.

It was just after classes had let out for the day, and as per her routine from the past two weeks, Yerin went straight to the infirmary to sit with SinB. Even though SinB spent half her days sleeping so her body could properly heal, Yerin was still there every second she could spare. It didn’t matter to her if SinB was awake to see her. She cared that SinB could feel safe in always knowing she’d be there.

“You’re watching me sleep again,” SinB complained as she blinked blearily at Yerin, still half-asleep as she tried to sit up. Yerin immediately helped her, propping her pillow up behind her. SinB smiled crookedly, making Yerin’s heart flutter, as she said, “Do I need to report you to the Headmistress?”

“Even the Headmistress couldn’t get me to leave your side,” Yerin replied sincerely, kissing SinB’s hand once more. She smiled when SinB blushed and looked away. “You look better today,” she added.

“You’ve said that every day I’ve been in here,” SinB rolled her eyes.

Yerin smiled and reached up to pinch SinB’s cheeks playfully. “Well, it’s true.”

SinB swatted away Yerin’s hand with an annoyed expression, but when Yerin lowered her hands, SinB held onto them tightly. Yerin looked at her curiously, noting the way SinB suddenly looked serious.

“Can we talk?” SinB asked softly. Yerin bit her lip nervously but nodded. Giving a small laugh, SinB reassured her, “Nothing bad. Well, I don’t think it’s bad. I just wanted to talk to you about us.”

“Us,” Yerin repeated, slightly dumbfounded.

“Is it weird I want to talk about us?” SinB asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“No!” Yerin exclaimed immediately. She squeezed SinB’s hands and smiled. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Well, my head is finally done being fuzzy from the healing potions,” SinB joked. She smiled at Yerin, so open and warm that it almost felt like a dream. “After everything that has happened, Yerin, I want to be with you. I don’t us to just be friends. I want to proudly call you my girlfriend.” SinB looked down at their hands, cheeks turning rosy pink. “You make me feel like I can be myself, like I’m not the monster everyone thinks I am.”

“Scoot over,” Yerin demanded. She ignored SinB’s confused look as she wiggled her way onto the small hospital bed, squishing herself into SinB’s side, wrapping her arms around the other girl. Yerin kissed SinB’s temple and then smiled at the way SinB relaxed in her arms. “I would love to be your girlfriend,” Yerin said. “You’re not the only one, you know? You make me feel… so safe and happy.”

SinB didn’t say anything but simply tilted her head up and kissed Yerin. For the next few hours, Yerin laid in bed with SinB, trading lazy and soft kisses with her. They talked a little bit about classes but most of the time was spent cuddling and kissing.

It wasn’t until dinner that they were interrupted by the rest of the girls coming to visit. As soon as Yerin heard footsteps, she smoothly got out of SinB’s bed and placed herself in the chair. She fixed her hair and was casually talking to SinB about transfiguration by the time the girls walked in.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Eunha greeted with a playful smirk.

“Speak for yourself,” SinB replied, and Yerin was amused to Eunha blush but not reply. She shared a look with SinB before breaking out into a smile. Ever since everything had happened, Eunha and Sowon had carefully been tiptoeing around each other, flirting but too scared to go further. Yerin and SinB had a bet on when they’d finally get together.

“We should save that name for the real lovebirds,” Sowon said, gesturing to Yuju and Umji.

Umji looked as healthy as ever, even glowing a bit as she held Yuju’s hand. When Umji had woken up, she’d been weak and her memories had been a bit fuzzy. However, a few days of an intensive routine of potions and healing had her good as new. Then, as soon as Umji was out of the hospital, Yuju had asked her out. She hadn’t wanted to waste anymore time, she’d said. Now, the two were the world’s cutest girlfriends. Even Yerin had to admit, there was something so innocent and pure about them that she and SinB couldn’t even compare to.

“You’re just jealous,” Umji replied smartly, smiling brightly. She let go of Yuju’s hand to sit on the edge of SinB’s bed, holding her best friend’s hand. “We brought dinner again.”

Much like when everyone had meals together when it was Umji in the hospital, now the girls gathered around SinB’s bed to eat. Although SinB never mentioned it, Yerin knew it made her happy to have her friends around her so she wasn’t alone. Today’s dinner wasn’t much different than any other day. They all managed to squeeze onto SinB’s bed, careful not to jostle SinB herself, passing around food as they talked.

It was when they were cleaning up that Sowon mentioned, faking casualty, “Today was Jisung’s trial.”

There was a tense pause before SinB asked, “What was the verdict?”

“Tried as an adult,” Sowon said with an undercurrent of satisfaction. “He’ll be in Azkaban for ten years.”

“He should’ve gotten more,” Yuju muttered under her breath as she reached out to hold Umji’s hand.

“No one died,” Eunha explained with a look of disdain. “That was probably the worst they could manage. Besides, I’m sure there were enough purebloods on the court that agreed with his motivations.”

“If I ever see him again, he’ll regret it,” SinB vowed.

Sowon broke the solemnity by replying, “Yeah, you’re so scary all drugged up in bed.”

The girls burst into giggles while SinB whined about how she was almost healed and when she was, she’d be a force to be reckoned with. Sowon teasingly patronized SinB until SinB got annoyed enough that she threw her pillow. This caused a pillow fight to ensue, pillows flying as the girls playfully hit each other. Everyone steered clear of hitting SinB, but Yerin made sure to gently tap her with a pillow every so often so it wasn’t so obvious.

When everyone tired out, the other girls decided to call it a night and head back to the dorms. In what had quickly become routine, they filed into a single file line as they said goodbye to SinB. For Umji and Eunha, it was usually hugs and kisses on the cheeks with gentle teasing. For Sowon, it was usually high-fives and verbal jabs at each other. For Yuju, it was usually a hand squeeze and soft smiles.

After everyone else left, for Yerin, it was crawling into bed with SinB and holding her close.

“You’re going to hurt your back,” SinB had argued at first. “Or, you’ll fall off in the middle of the night and have to shack up in the bed next to mine.” Then she had softened and said, “It can’t be comfortable. You need to be sleeping properly.”

Yerin had ignored all of her reasons though, only snuggling more into SinB’s less injured side. She didn’t want to have to explain that she was scared that it felt like one day she’d wake up to find out SinB had died in the fight against Jisung. She was terrified she’d wake up to find out it’d all been a dream.

“I need to study for my NEWTS,” SinB mumbled sleepily as she wriggled around and got comfortable.

“Focus on healing first,” Yerin told her with a small laugh. She tucked SinB’s head under her chin and held her close.

At the beginning, Yerin had thought SinB seemed so invincible. SinB was the tough and cruel girl who ruled Slytherin with an iron fist. Now, Yerin felt like SinB had never felt so small and fragile. It had only been a year, but Yerin’s whole world had been turned upside down. She no longer hated SinB and Eunha. She was friends with Umji, had gotten even closer to Yuju and Sowon. There wasn’t a single part of her that regretted this past year.

Closing her eyes with her arms around SinB, Yerin fell asleep with a smile on her face.

A/N: Just an epilogue left now!