If it was possible to fall in love in just a short month, Yuju thought it happened to her for sure.

To be clear, she’d had her fair share of crushes since she started school, but nothing to this extent.

It started the first week of school in her Charms class when she got in late and snagged the last seat toward the front with a Ravenclaw. She hurriedly got out some parchment paper while Professor Im was still doing introductions. She panicked as she searched futilely for a quill in her mess of a bag, and just as she was about to raise her hand to ask for a spare, a pristine quill was held out in front of her face.

Yuju speechlessly took the quill and turned to her savior. Her jaw dropped as she laid on her eyes on what might’ve been an angel. She had light brown hair and a round face, a small smile playing on her lips. Realizing she was staring, Yuju mouthed her thanks and turned back shyly to her paper. It was strange feeling so flustered by this girl when she was normally so comfortable and confident, even with strangers.

The first day of Charms was mostly going over what they’d be learning this year in preparation for the NEWT exam, but at the end Professor Im let them practice their banishing charms. Almost at once, the classroom erupted into chatter, including the tables with mixed houses. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were the calmer houses with less problematic reputations, so they got along more often than not since they were the ones typically on the sidelines while Gryffindor and Slytherin got into fights.

Yuju knew this was her chance to talk to the cute girl next to her. “Thanks for the quill. I’m such an idiot for forgetting one on the first day of class.”

“Don’t worry about it. Like you said, it’s only the first day back.”

“I’m Yuju.”

“Umji.”

“Umji,” Yuju repeated with a smile. She held out her hand and smiled wider when Umji shook it. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m surprised we haven’t met in class before.” Yuju tended to be a chatterbox and had never been one to stick solely to her housemates for company.

“I’d be surprised if we had,” Umji said and at Yuju’s confused look elaborated, “I’m a year younger than you. I’ve just now begun to take seventh year classes, so I can graduate early.”

Wow. Pretty and smart. As if Yuju needed another reason to be absolutely infatuated with this girl. Utterly intrigued, Yuju talked to Umji the rest of class. When she said she talked, she really did mean her. Umji was quiet and shy, seemingly surprised by Yuju’s interest in her. It was strange, her surprise. Umji was a perfectly nice girl with pretty eyes and kind smile.

“You keep looking at me like I’m about to run away screaming,” Yuju finally said.

Umji startled at the remark before blushing cutely. She was clearly embarrassed at being called out but why? “You don’t know who I am, do you?” she asked.

“You’re Kim Umji, the very cute and nice Ravenclaw that saved me from spending my day without a quill?” Yuju guessed teasingly.

“Beside that,” Umji laughed, cheeks becoming an even darker pink. She turned away from Yuju to put away her things and avoid eye contact. “I’m SinB’s friend.”

Ah, that explained a lot. Yuju had heard a lot about Hwang Eunbi. It was hard not to when rumors flew left and right about her on any given day. She was Slytherin’s queen, even if her housemates also feared her like the rest of the school. She was smart and talented and she hardly ever gave anyone the time of day. Of course, that was just the nicer things. Yuju also knew that people often said that SinB believed in blood supremacy and treated muggleborns terribly.

Except that made no sense whatsoever. While they’d been talking, Umji had told Yuju that she was a muggleborn, the first with magic in her family, much to the envy of her older brother and sister. If Umji was a muggleborn, there was no way SinB wouldn’t know that if they were friends, especially if SinB was as much of a blood purist as people said.

Putting off that puzzle for now, Yuju focused on reassuring Umji. “Is SinB a good friend to you?” Yuju asked simply.

“Yes,” Umji asked without hesitation, a new look in her eye dared Yuju to think otherwise. “Is that a problem?”

“If she’s a good friend to you, who am I to judge your friendship?” Yuju had always thought the prejudice among the houses was ridiculous. She’d met kind Slytherins and cruel Hufflepuffs, people who fit their houses’ traits in a different way than the obvious. Maybe SinB was the same way. “You seem cool, Umji, and I’d like us to be friends. You being friends with SinB doesn’t deter me in the least.”

Yuju wondered if she said the wrong thing with the way Umji stared at her with renewed interest, head tilted curiously, like Yuju was a puzzle she couldn’t crack. If that was the case, she could see why Umji was a Ravenclaw (well that, and the graduating early thing).

“I’d like to be friends with you too,” Umji finally said. She smiled, and Yuju felt her heart melt.

That’d been a month ago, and since then, Yuju made sure to always be sitting next to Umji during Charms. She talked to her every chance she could, and some days Umji would be more responsive than others. Yuju didn’t mind in the least. She enjoyed Umji’s company for more than just a conversation partner. Umji had a brilliant mind and kind heart, Yuju was learning. She was also learning it was time-consuming to slowly get Umji to lower her walls, but Yuju thought it was worth getting to see Umji smile more.

It was a Saturday afternoon now, and Yuju was daydreaming about Umji, sprawled out next to her friends, Yerin and Sowon. She’d met them back in fourth year during one of their classes, instantly bonding over quidditch with them. They were good people, a bit annoying with their unwarranted distrust of Slytherins, but Yuju understood it was an unspoken rule for Gryffindors to be like that.

“What’s on your mind, Yuju?” Sowon asked as she tossed a stress ball into the air.

Without even looking up from the book she was reading, Yerin corrected, “More like who.”

“Who?” Sowon repeated with wide eyes.

“Yah, how did you know?” Yuju whined, fighting off the blush that threatened to take over her entire face. “I was just laying here, minding my own business.”

Yerin laughed and closed her book, giving Yuju a look she was far too familiar with. It was the look that told Yuju that Yerin was much more perceptive than she let on. It wasn’t fair. Yuju paid attention too, but Yerin was too much of a closed book sometimes to get a read on.

“It’s just this girl in my Charms class,” Yuju said vaguely. She was good enough friends with Sowon and Yerin to have heard them complain about their potions partners. The last thing she needed was for them to tell her that her crush was friends with the devil incarnate. “It’s nothing.”

“That smile on your face doesn’t make it seem like nothing,” Sowon teased.

Damn it. Yuju hadn’t even realized she smiled at the mere thought of Umji. She was so doomed. She sat up to ignore her friends’ jibes about her crush when she spotted said girl walking by with a girl with dark hair and highlights.

Without giving it a second thought, Yuju called out, “Umji!”

Umji turned in her direction and waved. She started walking toward her as did the girl she was with. Wait, was that SinB? As in the same SinB that Yuju was pretty sure Yerin would like to stab in the eye on a good day? This was going to be fun.

Deciding to pretend she didn’t realize the disaster she’d just created, Yuju cheerfully greeted, “Good afternoon, Umji!”

However, Umji did nothing to hide her nervousness as she replied quietly, eyes darting to Sowon and Yerin. She closed her eyes for a moment, and Yuju thought it looked like she was praying, which she really couldn’t blame her for given their current situation.

“SinB, this is Yuju, my friend from Charms. Yuju, this is SinB.”

“Hey. Umji says you talk a lot during Charms.” SinB nodded, hands tucked away in her pockets with a slouch to her posture. She was definitely not happy about being here but she hadn’t been explicitly rude either.

Yuju laughed and agreed, hoping if she pretended the tension coming off Yerin and Sowon wasn’t there, it’d disappear. “Yeah, I’m a bit of a chatterbox. She says the two of you are good friends.”

A flicker of a smile appeared on SinB’s face as she nodded.

There was an awkward pause before Yuju blurted out, “Why don’t you two join us?”

Immediately, she got four identical looks of pure what the hell. Inwardly wincing, she outwardly trooped on and said, “I haven’t seen you since Charms… I’ve missed talking to you, Umji.” The admission was devastatingly embarrassing because it was true, but Yuju hoped it’d be enough to convince Umji to stay.

To Yuju’s (and Sowon and Yerin’s) surprise, SinB was the one to nudge Umji forward and say, “We can stay for a bit.”

Umji also hadn’t been expecting this answer, judging by the look on her face. She slowly sat down next to Yuju with SinB on the other side of her, sitting across from Yerin and Sowon. If she hadn’t already looked so uncomfortable, Yuju would’ve known by the way Umji kept her lips and picking at the hem of her skirt. She noticed recently that the other girl did that when she was nervous.

Feeling guilty to have brought Umji into this, Yuju was resolved to draw her attention from the eye-dagger match happening between SinB, Yerin, and Sowon.

“I’m sorry,” Yuju whispered, reaching out to squeeze Umji’s hand. “I didn’t mean for this to be so awkward. You can go. I understand.”

Although Umji pulled her hand away, she shook her head and said, “If SinB said she was okay with it, then it’s fine. Besides, I missed talking to you too.”

Her last words had Yuju nearly swooning. Umji was so quiet and shy about her feelings that hearing that made Yuju feel like she was at the top of the world. Encouraged, Yuju kept up the conversation. “Where were you and SinB coming from?”

“We were visiting Hagrid. We met him back in my second year and just loved hearing his stories.”

Yuju couldn’t help but ask, “He doesn’t mind if SinB is a Slytherin?”

“He was suspicious of her at first and me by association, but when he realized we were just some kids wanting to see some cool creatures, he loosened up then we grew on him.”

Just some kids. She said that like they weren’t just some kids now. It made Yuju feel inexplicably saddened, but she knew this wasn’t the time to ask. Instead she leaned over and tried to talk to SinB. It couldn’t hurt right?

“SinB,” Yuju said and once the girl blankly looked over at her continued, “how are your classes going?”

There was a pause as SinB quirked an eyebrow and eyed her suspiciously. Evidently she hadn’t expected Yuju to take any interest in her, which was dumb of her to assume. If she liked Umji, it’d make sense to get to know her friends, even if said friend had a reputation that she’d kill Yuju before she’d talk to her.

“They’re going well,” SinB finally said, voice low and apathetic. While not exactly welcoming, she wasn't threatening to slit for being a muggleborn. Yuju could work with that. “Umji likes to make sure I stay on top of things.”

“You’re always a willing participant in the study sessions in the library,” Umji pointed out cheekily.

SinB rolled her eyes. “As if you’d let me skip.”

Yuju smiled. It was interesting to see Umji with SinB. She was still quiet, but she was so much more open. It was obvious with the way Umji looked at SinB, like she could do nothing to hurt her. Yuju felt like she should’ve been jealous about something like that, but it wasn’t her place to be jealous of SinB. For now, she’d take what she could get from Umji and just hope Umji would look at her like that one day.

“Maybe you go with her just so she can do your work for you.”

Yuju sighed and watched as Umji and SinB tensed up at Yerin’s words. She’d really been hoping Yerin and Sowon could just shut up for a few minutes.

“What, I can’t have friends now?” SinB asked dangerously. She still had that indifferent, borderline arrogant look on her face, but Yuju saw how her hand casually drifted toward her pocket. “I thought a Gryff would understand friendship at least.”

“Gryffindors do, but I’m pretty sure Slytherins only know how to screw people over,” Yerin retorted. She was calmer than Yuju expected when arguing with SinB, but then again they’d been having these spats for a month now. It probably took more to get Yerin to raise her voice now.

“Stop acting like you know me, Yerin. Gryffindor may think you’re perfect, but I’m smart enough to see that’s a lie.”

“You think I can sit next to you twice a week and not know you?” Yerin scoffed, ears turning red. Uh-oh. That’s the first sign of Yerin losing her temper. “Please get over yourself. You aren’t the mystery you think you are. You’re just like everyone says: selfish, conceited, and a blood purist.”

SinB’s apathy was wiped clean off her face at the last words, replaced with barely restrained fury. “Get over myself? After you, princess. Maybe you should take your own advice. You treated me like first, remember? And despite what you may think, you don’t know me. All you know is that I’m a Slytherin, and that’s good enough reason for you to treat me like I’m some devil in disguise, like I’m really just here to ruin your life, like I’m some terrible person for being sorted into a house when I was eleven.” SinB laughed hollowly, a cold and empty sound. Yerin’s ears were still red, but she was silent. SinB’s words had hit her hard, and SinB could tell. “Who’s the narrow-minded one now?” SinB taunted. “It’s okay though because you’re a Gryffindor, so righteous and pure. Just take the moral high ground like you and your house always do, and leave the rest of us to rot for not being so stupid as to allow ourselves to be sorted there.”

SinB stood up, having said her piece and, and pulled up Umji to follow. She made it just a few steps before she suddenly whipped around hissed, “Insult my friendship with Umji again and the next lashing I give you won’t just be verbal.” With that, she stormed off with Umji hurrying behind her.

Yuju watched them go and smiled sadly when Umji looked over her shoulder at her apologetically. She sighed and turned to Sowon, who’d been surprisingly quiet during the whole exchange, and Yerin, who looked somewhere between pissed off and chastised.

“I can’t take you guys anywhere,” Yuju muttered.