Yerin was acting weird. Well, weirder than usual.

As Yerin’s roommate and best friend, Sowon probably knew Yerin better than she knew herself. This meant Sowon was the first to notice the way Yerin’s complaints about SinB slowly dwindled into next to nothing. Sure, Sowon had noticed that SinB and Yerin had taken to insulting each other less, but she just assumed it was them suddenly maturing a bit and gaining the self-control not to attack each other verbally. Then she realized, while watching them in Potions, that SinB was flirting with Yerin, and Yerin was letting her, even going as far as flirting back.

One day after Potions, about a week after this weirdness had started, Yerin was out the door without even waiting for Sowon, SinB right behind her. Curious, Sowon followed after them from a few feet away.

“I find you cute. Is that so wrong?” SinB asked.

Sowon nearly tripped over her own feet when she heard those words, and Yerin wasn’t faring much better if her shocked sputtering was anything to go by.

“Of course it is!” Yerin hissed after she got over her surprise. “You’re a Slytherin.”

“Slytherins are supposed to be the best in bed, you know.”

“Oh my god. You’re impossible!” It was said in exasperation, but Sowon saw the smile that threatened to overtake Yerin’s face.

The bantering continued as they walked, Sowon silently following behind them. It was strange. SinB kept playfully flirting and occasionally insulting Gryffindor while Yerin kept freaking out over SinB’s flirting and occasionally insulting Slytherin back. They could’ve been a real couple if it weren’t for the scathing remarks thrown in every so often.

“I’ll see you later, princess,” SinB said as they parted ways.

“In your dreams,” Yerin retorted.

SinB laughed and winked. “You are in my dreams. They’re very ambitious. I think you’d like them.”

Yerin just rolled her eyes and walked away from her, and Sowon took this as a chance to catch up with her.

“Yerin!” Sowon called.

Yerin jumped and turned to look at her with a guilty expression. “When did you get there?”

“Since you ran out of Potions without me,” Sowon replied dryly with a quirk of her eyebrow. “What’s up with you and SinB?”

“What do you mean?” Yerin asked unconvincingly. If her tone hadn’t given her away, her pink cheeks surely would’ve.

Sowon just stared at her unimpressed for a moment. “What do I mean? I’m talking about SinB seriously flirting with you, and you not doing anything.”

“SinB is just trying to get under my skin again,” Yerin dismissed.

“No, she was trying to get under your skin when she was using every kind of sleazy pick-up line there is and telling you she’s better than your other prospects. Now she’s eying you like you’re her dessert and telling you she’s good in bed.”

Yerin reddened further at the last part and shook her head fervently. “It’s just a game we’re playing. She thinks I’m hot, and I think she’s hot. We’re trying to get each other to confess our attraction to one another.”

“That’s weird,” was all Sowon can think to say. She’d always known Yerin was smart, but this kind of mind game was beyond what Sowon could ever think of partaking in. “It’s like flirting with thinly veiled insults.”

“It’ll be fine,” Yerin rolled her eyes. Then she smiled mischievously. “I’m going to out-Slytherin the most Slytherin of them all.”

Sowon frowned, wanting to ask more questions, but she recognized that Yerin was done with the conversation. She bit back a sigh and nodded reluctantly. She should probably quit while she was ahead anyways. It wasn’t like her relationship with Eunha was any less complicated. Well, they certainly weren’t aggressively flirting with each other as some twisted competition. At least there’s that. Then again, it almost sounded better than what they were doing now.

Sowon wasn’t even really sure what they were doing. It was almost like a toned down version of what Yerin and SinB were doing? While not flirting, Sowon was trying to be friendlier with Eunha while Eunha let her, not outright rejecting her. Sowon wasn’t even really sure what she could blame her fascination on anymore. Maybe she wanted to know if Eunha really was as bad as everyone said. It was confusing. Her gut was telling her Eunha wasn’t bad, but years of rumors and panicked whispers told her she was. Eunha was a Slytherin. Sowon should stay away.

But she couldn’t.

Sowon pondered her dilemma as she did her patrol. It felt like she was constantly thinking in circles.

The smart thing to do would be to just stop talking to Eunha altogether. It’s not like the other girl would miss her anyways. But doing so would feel so much like quitting, and Sowon was not a quitter. If Sowon could just get Eunha to actually listen to her, maybe Eunha could get off her pedestal and realize muggleborns and Gryffindors weren’t so bad.

“Oof.”

Sowon had been so distracted she hadn’t even noticed someone else walking in the hall. She collided with them and reached out to grab them out of instinct. She blinked and couldn’t help but gape when she realized it was Eunha she was holding.

“Hey,” Sowon said dumbly.

Eunha glared up at her (Sowon had always been aware of their height difference but it never ceased to amuse her) and shook off Sowon’s grip.

“You’re doing a pretty bad at patrolling if you didn’t even notice another person walking,” Eunha huffed.

“You bumped into me too,” Sowon pointed out with a frown.

Eunha rolled her eyes and made to leave, but Sowon caught her arm again. She winced when Eunha turned to her with an annoyed glare but kept her hold on her.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m not going to go burn down the school if that’s what you’re worried about,” Eunha sassed. “I was just grabbing some hot chocolate.” She lifted the container in her hands as if to prove her innocence.

Sowon smirked at her wit and shook her head. “I’ll walk with you.”

“You can’t even trust me to walk to the Slytherin dorms?” Eunha exclaimed, and Sowon saw a flash of hurt cross her face.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Sowon reassured her. She scratched the back of her neck nervously. “I just meant– I thought you’d like some company.”

Sowon almost regretted asking when Eunha now regarded her with an amused and haughty stare. Almost. Because if Eunha was looking at her like that, it could only mean she was intrigued. That boded well for Sowon’s chances of her saying yes.

“Why would a Gryff like you want to accompany a snake like me besides to keep an eye on me?” Eunha asked airily. Her stare was still amused, but there was something sharp about the way she eyed Sowon, like she was looking for a hole in her defense to take advantage of. “Well?”

“What if I just wanted to spend time with you?”

Eunha clearly hadn’t been expecting this answer because her eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline as she took a step back. She recovered quickly though, surprise melting into scorn. “Does that line usually work for you?”

Sowon blushed at the implication. “I wasn’t hitting on you,” Sowon felt the need to declare. The last thing she needed was for Eunha to think she liked her romantically. She’d be insufferable. “I just wanted to see what you were like outside of Potions.” She felt nervous at the admission because Eunha had a nifty way of misconstruing whatever Sowon said like she just had with her last excuse.

“I don’t see why you’re so interested,” Eunha said, already walking away but slow enough for Sowon to catch up easily. “I’m just your run-of-the-mill Slytherin. Ambitious, cunning, a royal pain in your .” She said the last descriptor with a teasing grin.

Sowon chuckled and didn’t deny it. She tilted her head, admiring Eunha’s side profile for a moment. She really was cute. “I’m sure you’re all of those things, Eunha, but I also think you’re much more too,” Sowon said.

Eunha glanced at her curiously. “What makes you think that?”

“To be honest? Gut feeling.”

“That gut feeling is going to get you killed.” It was said lightly but there seemed to be an underlying warning to it.

“You don’t seem like a bad person,” Sowon said for lack of a response. “When we became partners, I was sure you’d kill me. I’ve heard the rumors.”

Eunha kept her face carefully blank, but Sowon noticed the way her hands clenched tightly around the container of hot chocolate. “How do you know I’m not a bad person?”

“Gut feeling,” Sowon shrugged. “You could be a really good actress though. If you are, I recommend going into film.”

There it was. Eunha’s smile, slight and almost unnoticeable. Sowon felt oddly triumphant when she saw it.

“Noted,” Eunha said. She stopped, just shy of the Slytherin dormitory. “This is where we say good-night.”

“Embarrassed to be seen with a Gryffindor?” Sowon guessed.

Eunha smiled mirthlessly. “More like SinB is waiting for me by the entrance. I’m much too tired to play mediator between the two of you tonight.”

Sowon twitched at the mention of SinB, and she felt Eunha’s eyes track the movement. Since she was already caught, Sowon asked, “What are the two of you?”

Eunha must’ve been expecting something else because her eyes widened slightly. She blinked, and Eunha was back to staring at her coolly. She smiled sweetly, but Sowon could see the mischief in it.

“What’s it to you, Gryff?”

Sowon shrugged, willing herself not to blush. “Curiosity. You should hear the rumors about the two of you. Some of them say you two are long lost sisters. Others say you are… lovers.” She watched Eunha’s face carefully as she said the last part, but her face gave away nothing.

“How interesting,” was all Eunha said as she walked away.

Sowon wanted to call out to her to ask if either rumor was true, but she knew better. Instead, she hovered just out of sight to see if Eunha had been telling the truth. She spotted SinB where Eunha said she’d be, by the entrance to the dungeons, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

Eunha walked up to her and waved the container of hot chocolate like some spoil of war. “I got the goods, babe.”

Sowon nearly hit her head on the pillar she was hiding behind when Eunha called SinB babe.

“I thought I told you I don’t like any of those cutesy names,” Sowon heard SinB reply.

Sowon poked her head around the corner just in time to see Eunha wrap her arms around SinB’s waist and smile up at her dazzlingly.

“You love it,” Eunha said.

SinB rolled her eyes but wrapped an arm around Eunha’s shoulders. She guided her to their dorms, and the last Sowon heard was SinB say, “Well, you’re lucky you’re cute, Eunha.”

Sowon walked away from the dungeons with her head reeling. Were Eunha and SinB dating then? If they were, did Eunha know what SinB was doing with Yerin? Right, Yerin. Yerin was the reason she cared if they were dating. She couldn’t let Yerin get caught up in this if SinB was just toying with her. Even if Yerin didn’t like her and was just attracted to her, it would still hurt if she found out SinB was dating someone. She needed to find out if they were dating.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop as Sowon heard a hurried shuffle of feet behind her. She paused and turned around cautiously. It was probably just some students trying not to get caught past curfew, but her gut told her something else.

Sowon walked to where she heard the sound but found nothing but shadows. Shaking her head, she walked back to Gryffindor tower. First, she was freaking out over Eunha possibly dating SinB, and now she was imagining sounds. Maybe she should get some sleep.