“All I’m saying is watch your back, okay?”

“I can take care of myself, Sowon.”

Sowon was worried about Yerin having SinB as a partner. She remembered in fourth year when SinB had been the talk of the school for almost slitting someone’s throat, a muggleborn of course. Then in sixth year, Sinb had punched a boy in the face, breaking his nose. She was violent and volatile, and Sowon knew Yerin could get mouthy. If she said one wrong word, Sowon couldn’t imagine what SinB would do.

This is why Sowon had gone to warn SinB off, hoping to get her point across so she wouldn’t worry so much about Yerin. If anything, Sowon was more worried now. She probably hadn’t helped things by randomly confronting then insulting SinB, but all Sowon had been thinking about was making sure Yerin was safe. She was like her sister, and she wasn’t going to lose her to some crazed Slytherin. Although at this rate, Sowon was probably higher on SinB’s hit list than Yerin.

She’d never seen such dark fury in someone’s eyes as she had when SinB had pushed her to the ground and loomed over her like some vengeful apparition. There had been something feral about the way SinB had threatened her, and Sowon wished she knew if she’d managed to provoke that reaction or if this was normal.

Sowon rubbed her temples. She just shouldn’t have done anything in the first place.

Now not only did Sowon have this to worry about, but she also had her own potions partner on her mind.

Eunha was as much as a mystery as SinB. She would sooner stab Sowon than smile at her, but she was also adorable. Over the past two weeks, it was hard not to notice things about Eunha, like the way she made a cute whining sound when she did something wrong and had to fix her potion or the way she pouted when they were only taking notes and didn’t need their cauldrons for the day. It's not like Sowon meant to remember these things about. It's just when you sit next to someone, you notice things.

Much like SinB though, Eunha’s reputation was known for a reason. If she wanted something, such as for Sowon to get her ingredients for her, she was sweet and would bat her eyelashes. If Sowon were bothering her, Eunha eyed her like she were some pesky bug that kept flying in her face. Eunha was the kind of person to treat you well if you were worth her time and nearly no one was.

This didn’t stop Sowon from trying though. Sowon wasn’t sure if it was her urge to have everyone like her or a desire to be the one to be an exception to Eunha’s cold exterior that pushed Sowon to keep talking, even when she really shouldn’t.

“How are your classes going?” Sowon asked casually as she prepared for her Draught of Peace.

“They’d be going better if I didn’t have to sit next to you,” Eunha replied almost absent-mindedly, as if insulting Sowon was just a default reaction.

Sowon wouldn’t bother to put up with such treatment, except Eunha was really pretty and sometimes when Sowon would say a joke, she swore she saw Eunha trying to hide a smile. Also, she wasn’t nearly as bad as her best friend, SinB. Sure, Eunha was as arrogant as SinB, but she was much more dignified and tolerable than SinB’s confident smirks and constant gloating. SinB was also known to spout more drivel about blood purity and Slytherin pride, so Sowon had heard. Eunha didn’t say much about it, but maybe that was because Sowon was a Pureblood. Sometimes, it was easy to pretend Eunha wasn’t a Slytherin and that Sowon wasn’t doing something incredibly stupid.

“You should really watch what you’re doing, Gryff,” Eunha said suddenly. “You’ll melt your cauldron.”

Sowon looked down to see her draught looking more like vomit and furrowed her brows. She knew she hadn’t added anything, and it had looked fine just a moment ago. She pressed her lips together and glanced over at Eunha who was innocently making her own potion. However, Sowon would recognize that subtle look of victory anywhere. SinB wore the same one when she got Yerin to yell at her in class, loud enough for Professor Jung to scold Yerin. It was times like these that Sowon was reminded Eunha was a Slytherin.

Glancing at the clock, Sowon saw she had just enough time to start over if she worked fast. This meant she was still able to complete her potion and receive a decent grade for the day, but she finished almost twenty minutes later than everyone else. Sowon internally reprimanded herself for getting distracted and letting Eunha sabotage her potion, most likely for staring and for bothering her… Or maybe SinB had told her about their confrontation and that had been her belated revenge. Regardless, Sowon was determined not to let that happen again.

Yerin had kindly waited for her to finish, so they walked to lunch together. It was a quiet walk at first, but as soon as they left the dungeons and were relatively alone in the halls, Yerin exploded.

“I am going to kill Hwang Eunbi!” Yerin growled. “I am going to make a poison so complex that she wouldn’t even be able to replicate it, and I am going to kill her.”

Sowon quirked an eyebrow. This was another way Eunha was different from SinB. Eunha may insult her constantly but she didn’t try to piss her off the way SinB did with Yerin. “Can I know your motive before you become a murderer?”

Yerin just glared at her for making light of the situation. “She’s so patronizing, always asking I need help on my potion. I didn’t make it into NEWT Potions by needing help on everything! And don’t get me started on her flirting, I swear. She turns everything into an innuendo and is always telling me I can do better than the boys in Gryffindor. I mean, she’s right but that still doesn’t give her the right to say that! Who does she think she is, acting like she’s better than everyone else? All with a smile on her face!”

Sowon could only stare as Yerin went on about how SinB had no concept of personal space but had blessedly said nothing about Yerin’s blood status.

“Probably too scared to see what I’ll do to her when she does,” Yerin hissed in such a menacing tone that Sowon had to fight the urge to flinch.

Seeing as how this was how Yerin and SinB’s relationship was faring, Sowon avoided mentioning Eunha around Yerin. With a partner from hell, Sowon doubted Yerin would understand her intrigue in Eunha. It was better to not mention it and just let Yerin release her fury from Potions in a controlled way rather than let her at SinB with a wand in hand. If anything, maybe Sowon could talk to their friend, Yuju from Hufflepuff, about it. She was unbiased enough that she wouldn’t judge Sowon for being interested, in a completely curiosity-driven way, in Eunha. For science, basically.

The rest of the day went relatively smoothly. There was an altercation between two young Gryffindors that Sowon had to take care of as prefect, but besides that, it was just another day. After classes were done for the day, Yerin went to the library to study (sometimes Sowon wonders if she should’ve been sorted into Ravenclaw), and Sowon went out to the quidditch pitch for a much needed fly.

Flying had always been an escape for Sowon. When she flew, she could forget about everything else. All she had to focus on was the feel of the air as it whipped past her, the way she positioned her body just so in a way that allowed for her to move her fastest. It was something she always went to when she needed to calm down or get her mind off things. Her love for flying was why she joined quidditch in the first place. She’d take any excuse to fly.

After circling the pitch for a few hours, Sowon went back to her room to shower before dinner. Yerin was already back from the library but still had her nose buried in a book as she laid on her bed. Smiling at the familiar sight, Sowon grabbed her things and showered quickly. She changed into clean clothes and braided her damp hair. When she walked back out of the bathroom, Yerin had put away her book and was now staring out their window with a strangely pensive look on her face.

“Are you okay, Yerin?” Sowon asked softly, not wanting to startle her.

Yerin moved but didn’t look away from the window. “Just doing some thinking.”

Sowon decided to leave it at that. If Yerin wanted to talk about it, she’d talk about it. They went to dinner and managed not to complain about either of their potions partners, allowing for a peaceful dinner. Yerin still seemed to be thinking about whatever was bothering her in their room, so Sowon left her alone and talked to some of her other friends in Gryffindor, mainly the other quidditch players.

Later on after checking on Yerin once more, Sowon headed out to do her obligatory patrol after curfew. While she understood its necessity, it didn’t make it any less boring. Most of the time, no one was out and all Sowon did was walk around for an hour. Sure, there were the random students out past curfew, usually couples, but Sowon preferred not to be bothered with them. However after patrolling for going on three years, Sowon found it almost relaxing in its routine among the boredom.

As Sowon rounded the corner, Sowon heard voices. She sighed, resigned to the fact that she’d be scolding some kids tonight. She walked toward the sound and found two students who were a lot older than she’d expected.

SinB and Eunha were tucked away in a corner near the stairs that led to the Ravenclaw dorms, whispering to each other. Obviously trying to hide, the two were close, barely any space between them. For some reason, the sight of them like that made Sowon feel irritated and fidgety. She recognized the feeling as jealousy but she didn’t understand why. Sowon had always known SinB and Eunha were close.

Shaking her head, Sowon walked over to the pair and said, “It’s past curfew. Ten points from Slytherin.”

SinB rolled her eyes, and Eunha just said, “Okay, can you leave us alone now?”

“What?” Sowon couldn’t help but sputter. “No, I can’t. You two need to go back to your dorms right now. Have your conversation there.”

“Ever heard of a private conversation?” SinB sneered. “I get Gryffindors are all cozy with each other, but Slytherins are a bit smarter than that.”

Sowon paused, forcing herself not to react. “Gryffindors don’t need to be secretive because we don’t plot to throw under people under the bus.” So much for not reacting.

“Maybe you should learn how then. You’ll learn not everyone is so moral… Of course, you already believe the other houses aren’t as morally outstanding as yours, right?”

“Certainly not Slytherin,” Sowon scoffed. “I don’t know why you bother to call yourselves a house. From what I can tell, you hardly trust each other and are constantly trying to screw people over, even people from your own house.”

“Because we’re smart enough to recognize who’s willing to screw us over first,” SinB snarled. She smirked when Sowon subconsciously took a step back. “Gryffindor is so prideful that you can’t even believe that there are horrible people in your house too. Do you honestly believe there aren’t people in your house who wouldn’t sell out another Gryffindor to save their own ?”

The question made Sowon’s entire thought process stutter to a complete stop. Gryffindors were the good guys. That’s what she’d been told since she was eleven. However, people who were daring and chivalrous could easily do whatever she accuses Slytherins of doing. But they were surrounded by mainly good people, so wouldn’t that be a good influence?

“Looks like I broke her,” SinB remarked dryly.

“Don’t act like your house isn’t messed up too,” Sowon retorted, finally coming to her senses. “Do you realize how few pureblood families there are left? What kind of elitism is that? How does that make you any better? How does that justify how you treat others? I don’t doubt that you probably terrorize the poor muggleborns who are sorted into your house.”

Sowon saw the dark fury come ablaze in SinB’s eyes again and stepped back, preparing to be attacked again. SinB was stopped though. Eunha clamped her hand tightly around SinB’s wrist with a blank look. She looked to Sowon, and Sowon shivered from the utterly fathomless look in her eyes. It reminded her of Eunha on the first day of Potions, indifferent to whether she lived or died.

“I’m tired of your petty fighting,” Eunha said, sounding just as bored as her statement implied. “Let’s go, SinB.”

SinB let Eunha pull her away, but she still looked like she was going to strangle whoever’s neck she could get her hands on. Sowon didn’t envy their dorm mates.

Sighing, Sowon ran her hands over her face. Potions was going to be hell.