ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS

Yeojin cornered Hyunjin while everyone had filed out of the room. With some urgency, she whispered, “What was all that about? And what did Heejin mean when she said that her mom wasn’t her mom?”

Hyunjin blinked furiously. She gulped and then she replied, “Don’t say that so loud!” She brushed her hands across the front of her uniform. “Heejin’s mom is a very powerful woman. She’s not very nice, either. I don’t think she would hesitate to do harm to any of us if it came down to it. So...we should really stay at her place for the holidays. And Heejin….you should ask Heejin about that. It’s not my place to tell you about that.” She turned her head so Yeojin couldn’t see her face. “I’m sorry, Yeojin.”

Yeojin opened and closed like a fish gasping for water. Hyunjin walked away, leaving Yeojin on her own to process what she had just told her.  What? How did this happen...are my parents really in danger? What did I even do? Yeojin clapped a palm against the side of her head. She suddenly felt as if she was in way over her head.

Yeojin eventually pulled herself together long enough to ask Jungeun to borrow her owl. The girl let her use it without hesitation. She seemed like she was off in her own world. She almost seemed...angry. Yeojin hoped she wouldn’t take it out on Hyunjin, even though she wasn’t her favorite person in the world at the moment.

So, Yeojin found herself sitting on her bed, staring at the blank piece of parchment on her nightstand with quill in hand. She was at a loss as to what to write, exactly. Nothing came to mind, This was all she and her parents had talked about for weeks. She had really been looking forward to going home and seeing them again. It felt like forever since she had run away. It was a chance to apologize…

But if what Hyunjin had just told her was true, she couldn’t go home. Her parents were in danger because of...because of Heejin’s mom? And Jiwoo’s mom was looking into them for the Daily Prophet? The two had to be related somehow, but Yeojin had no idea how. She was too tired, and too upset to think this through right now.

She clenched her hand into a fist and threw her quill into the wall. The delicate feather snapped in two and fell to the floor.

Yeojin yanked the covers over her head and slammed herself down onto the mattress, where she fell into a fitful, uneasy sleep.

CINDERS IN THE FIREPLACE

Yeojin stood in front of Heejin’s house, trunk in hand. She blinked slowly as she gave the place a one over. The place was like something out of a watercolor painting. Yeojin had only ever seen houses this big on television. But the sight of such a massive residence was even more impressive in person.

The mansion was three stories tall and unbelievably wide. The entire thing was constructed out of a rich, dark wood. The roof tiles were painted the color of liver. Above the wide, double-doored entrance to the place there was a circular stained-glass window. It reminded Yeojin of the sole eye of a gigantic cyclops. The entire thing was coated in thick white snow. It was beautiful. And ominous.

Jungeun pushed past her, her arms full of suitcases. The older girl was clad in a thick winter coat, a beanie pulled down over her forehead. Yeojin wasn’t used to the new look. She wasn’t used to any of this, actually.

The only real exposure she’d had to the wizarding world had been Hogwarts, and before that, Diagon Alley. Both were small views of the larger world. But this was different. This was everyday life in a totally different world. This was the life she was living.

As soon as the girls got off the Hogwarts Express, they were greeted outside of King’s Cross station by a man in a very tidy suit. He was holding open the door to a stretch limo. Emphasis on stretch. It started out as a normally sized car, but as soon as more than two of them climbed in, the car stretched to accommodate them. Pretty soon, the thing was the size of four cars stacked up against each other. Yeojin wasn’t sure how that worked and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

The ride over was surprisingly quiet for the number of girls packed into the back. Yeojin sat next to Haseul, who showed her a neat trick for enhancing the amount of space in her trunk. Jinsoul sat in the far corner while Jungeun ran her fingers through her hair. Heejin had retreated totally into herself, where no one could reach her, not even Hyunjin. Jiwoo, Sooyoung, Chaewon and Vivi sat together, trying their best to enjoy the drinks and snacks that came in the mini-fridge underneath the seats.

In less than an hour, they were at Heejin’s house, which to Yeojin’s understanding seemed to exist in a totally different plane of reality than the surrounding countryside. It was almost mountainous, but of course there were no mountains to be seen.

Vivi patted her on the back as she walked by. She rubbed her mitten covered hands together. The sight only made Yeojin wish even more that she had prepared her own set of winter clothes before heading off to Hogwarts. As it was, she only had the thin sweater and jeans she had run away with on that night that seemed years ago instead of months.

Yeojin rubbed her shoulders and shivered in the frozen winter air. Sooyoung tapped her on the shoulder and smiled at her kindly. “You coming? I think they’re waiting for us inside.” Yeojin nodded. It was too cold to speak.

Sooyoung walked Yeojin up to the door, pulling her heavy coat up and over  the smaller girl’s shoulders. Haseul walked close behind the two of them, pulling up the rear of their little fellowship.

Heejin’s servants held the doors open for the girls. Yeojin glanced at their faces as she passed. They seemed grim. Clearly, working for a rich family wasn’t all it was cut out to be.

The inside of the house wasn’t much warmer than the outside. Clearly, wizards hadn’t yet thought up the whole concept of climate control. The main hall was about as enormous as Yeojin had been expecting from the outside. The roof was dozens of feet above her head, and a set of stairs led up to a second floor. There was a massive red carpet thrown down in front of a spacious fireplace. The other girls were similarly in awe, looking up and around in amazement at the grand place they had found themselves in. All of them, that was, except for Heejin and Hyunjin.

Heejin was looking at the floor, shivering. Yeojin thought that it was only partially because of the cold. Hyunjin had her arm around her shoulder. What kind of person was Heejin’s mom, exactly?

She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

The woman climbed down the stairs, hand on the railing, her bright red dress trailing behind her dramatically. Instantly, the reason for Heejin’s hesitation became clear. The woman coming down the stairs looked nothing like Heejin. Neither did the two girls behind her. This lady wasn’t Heejin’s mother. At least not her biological mother.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and threw her arms out theatrically.

“Heejin! My lovely daughter. So nice to see you again. It’s been too long...you never write. I just don’t understand why.” The two girls behind the woman snickered, their pretty blonde hair bobbing up and down as they did.  The woman turned to address the rest of the girls. “And you must be Heejin’s little friends! I’ve heard quite a bit about you. It’s a pleasure. Come, have a seat around the fireplace, make yourselves comfortable.”

Yeojin gladly took a seat on the enormous sofa placed in front of the fireplace. Haseul and Sooyoung sat on either side of her. Haseul watched Heejin carefully.

The woman crooked her index finger in Heejin’s direction. Her face had dropped its false warmth, revealing the cold haughtiness underneath. In a voice that brooked no argument, she spoke.“Heejin. Come here. We need to talk.” Heejin stared blankly ahead and walked over to her ‘mother’ in short, shuffling steps. The two blonde girls, presumably her ‘sisters’, were laughing themselves silly at the sight of Heejin. As soon as Heejin was within arm’s length of the woman, she grabbed Heejin’s upper arm roughly and pulled her in close. Heejin let out a short whimper of pain, but the two of them were already marching into a side hallway, away from the rest of her friends.

Haseul put a hand over and winced. “Poor Heekki….”

Yeojin gaped at her. “What is she going to do to her? Do you know?”

Haseul shook her head. “I don’t...but it’s probably nothing good.”

Yeojin glanced over at Sooyoung, who was similarly amazed at the older woman’s audacity. Yeojin poked her in the shoulder. “Hey, aren’t we going to do anything?”

Sooyoung shrugged. “What can we do? This is her house… I’m still just trying to figure out how I got here.” Yeojin could relate. She was still worried about Heejin, though. She had an awful feeling, deep in the pit of her stomach.

Those two girls’ giggling didn’t help settle her down any.

DINNER AT HEEJIN’S

Yeojin didn’t see Heejin again until it was almost time for dinner. The two girls, who introduced themselves as Jessica and Heather, were incredibly accommodating to Yeojin and her friends. They showed them around the mansion and introduced them to the rooms they would be staying in. Haseul, Hyunjin and Yeojin would room together. Jiwoo, Vivi and Chaewon were all going to be in another room. Jungeun and Jinsoul had their own room, and Sooyoung and Choerry were in the last room at the end of the hall. It was an odd arrangement, to be sure.

When Yeojin asked where Heejin would be staying, Jessica and Heather burst out laughing. Yeojin frowned, but did not press any further.

Haseul and Hyunjin passed the time away by coming up with acrostic poems. Haseul was particularly bad at it,and Yeojin had to suppress laughter several times. Hanging around those two always made her feel safe, but there was something about this place that was making her uneasy.

They were called down to dinner at around seven in the evening. The world outside the windows was pitch black and foreboding. The rooms inside weren’t much better.

Heejin’s mom had apparently turned the lights on in their absence. The vast chandeliers hanging above the ground floor were glowing with light. Heather and Jessica guided the ten girls down the staircase and into the dining room, where they were seated on either side of a very long table. Yeojin sat down next to Haseul. There was no food on the table, only empty silver plates. Very shiny silver plates. And cutlery. Jinsoul scratched at her neck nervously. Jungeun grabbed her wrist and gave her a warning look. The girl stopped squirming and settled down.

Heejin’s mother emerged from a door in the back wall. Yeojin caught a glimpse of the kitchen behind her. There was food stacked on a long metal shelf. But there was still no sign of Heejin. Yeojin looked around and counted three empty chairs. Heather and Jessica sat themselves down in two of them, and Heejin’s mom sat in the chair at the head of the table. She crossed her legs elegantly and smirked. Her eyes ran over every single girl in the room, her gaze piercing. Each of them squirmed under the scrutiny.

Finally, she spoke. “Well, I’m glad you girls are here. When Jiwoo’s mother told me the eleven of you were hanging out, I found it terribly suspicious. I just had to see it for myself. And you didn’t disappoint! Which is very good for you. Very good.” She crossed her fingers underneath her chin. Jiwoo visibly flinched.

“Let’s all introduce ourselves. I’ll start. My name is Veronica, but you’ll know me better as Mrs. Jeon. These are my daughters, who you’ve already been acquainted with. Heather, Jessica, say hello!”

The two girls smiled brightly and wiggled their fingers in their direction. “Hello! Very nice to meet Jinnie’s friends.” Heather nodded along with her sister, her blue eyes filled with mirth.

Veronica placed both of her hands on the table. “Now it’s your turn. Hyunjin is excused, as the two of us already know each other.” She tossed Hyunjin a wink.

From across the table, Yeojin could see Hyunjin cringe. Clearly, she wasn’t a fan. Yeojin certainly wasn’t.

Mrs.Jeon ignored her and moved on to the next girl on her list. “Jiwoo! Your mom works for me, did you know that?”

Jiwoo stared intently at her plate. “No, ma’am, I did not.” was set into a straight line. She looked uncharacteristically upset.

“Well, she doesn’t work directly for me. I just own most of the Daily Prophet. Anything they hear, I hear. And I heard about this,”she twirled a finger in the general direction of the girls, “from her. She heard it from the rumor mill, and Heejin’s little friend only confirmed it. So…” She gestured at Vivi. The girl was the closest to her daughters.

Vivi blinked and looked balefully at the older woman. The woman held up her hands, as if to say “what are you doing?” Vivi coughed and began to speak. “M-my name is Vivi.” Mrs. Jeon’s daughters started laughing again. Vivi furrowed her eyebrows. Mrs. Jeon waved them off. “Don’t mind them. My daughters are idiots, unfortunately. Where do you come from, originally?”

Vivi wrung her hands. “Hong Kong.”

Mrs. Jeon nodded idly and moved on, clearly not paying much attention to Vivi’s words.

She turned to face Jungeun, who had switched seats with Jinsoul in an attempt to distance her from the woman’s family. Jungeun waved, a sullen expression on her face.

Mrs. Jeon her chin thoughtfully. “You two. You’re the troublemakers.” Jungeun raised her eyebrows incredulously. Mrs. Jeon stuck a finger in Choerry’s direction. “And this is the blood traitor.” Choerry looked extremely hurt by the words. Jinsoul was squeezing the table with one hand as she ground her teeth against each other. She was barely restraining herself from an outburst that would likely get her in deep trouble. Jungeun rubbed Jinsoul’s forearm with gentle fingers.

“Oh. You’re in love. How disgusting.”

Jinsoul looked like she was about to shout something at the woman, but Haseul quickly interjected herself into the conversation.

“Hello, Mrs. Jeon! It’s very nice to finally meet you! I’m Haseul. Heejin’s friend. I’m sure she’s mentioned me before.”

Mrs. Jeon chuckled and moved her attention away from the two blondes to face Haseul. She was clearly amused by how upset she was making the girls. Yeojin wanted to punch her.

“Oh, she certainly has. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. It’s curious that you’ve only been around for the last two years, according to Ministry records. Perhaps you could sate my curiosity and explain why that is?” Haseul looked distressed. “Well, I did change my name,” she mumbled. Mrs. Jeon’s eyes alighted like a lion about to pounce on her prey. “What was that, dear? Speak up!”

Haseul her lips and said, louder this time, “I changed my name, ma’am.”

Mrs. Jeon leaned back in her chair and drummed her fingertips along the tablecloth. She looked positively delighted. “Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser…” Her eyes ran over Chaewon. Yeojin’s skin crawled.

“You there. You look familiar. Who are your parents?”

Chaewon looked up, bewildered. “Um...I’m Park Chaewon...of the Forville Parks?”

Mrs. Jeon’s lips split over bright, white teeth. “Finally, a proper lady. It’s been so long since we’ve had one of those in here. How has your mother been?”

Chaewon gasped. The small girl was shaking. “Um...she’s gone. She died almost two years ago, now.”

Mrs. Jeon frowned in mock sympathy. “Oh dear. I’m very sorry to hear that.”

Chaewon leaned on the table, leaning her head down between her shoulders. “T-thank you…”

Mrs. Jeon clapped her hands together. “Alright then. Now that introductions are over with, I think we can begin eating!”

Sooyoung raised a hand. “I think you forgot to ask me and Yeojin to introduce ourselves.”

Mrs. Jeon blinked and looked around in amazement, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She put a hand over her heart. “I didn’t forget. I just didn’t want you two to embarass yourselves. I mean, being a mudblood is one thing, but none of your parents are even wizards. How do you even cope?”

Sooyoung kept her voice a flat monotone. “Very well.” The girl next to her, Heather, let out a soft giggle before her mom glared at her and she stopped.

Yeojin was pissed off. How could this woman say all those things to and about her friends? How could she just trample all over them like that? And the worst part was the fact that none of them were even lifting a finger to do anything to stop her behavior.

Before Yeojin could stop herself, she blurted out, “Where is Heejin, ma’am? We haven’t seen her since we got here.” Her voice was a little angrier than she had intended. She hoped the woman wouldn’t catch on.

Of course, she did.

“Oh my, why so upset? We’re all friends here, right? I thought we would just have a little pre-dinner chat. Make ourselves more familiar with each other. Heejin’s fine, honey. Patience is a virtue. Speaking of which…”

She snapped her fingers, and the doors leading to the kitchen opened with a bang. Yeojin half-expected to see a long line of floating meals making their way to the table. At this rate, she was starting to believe that anything was possible, as long as you had magic.

What Yeojin saw instead made her heart drop into her stomach.

Heejin emerged from the kitchen, dressed in an ugly, worn smock dress the color of overdone pea soup. Her hair was tied back into a tight, practical bun. She was pushing a cart overburdened with food. Her eyes were red. She had clearly been crying. Her cheeks were flushed red with humiliation. Mrs. Jeon smiled wickedly.

Haseul’s jaw dropped. She looked horrified. She probably hadn’t heard much about Heejin’s homelife. She didn’t think any of them had. Heejin very rarely talked about herself outside of what she liked to do. She never talked about her parents or her siblings. Yeojin could see why, now.

“I know, isn’t it great? There’s no need to spend money on purchasing house-elves to do work around the house when I have such a lovely, hard working daughter!” She reached over and pinched Heejin’s cheek. Heejin let out a shocked noise, but otherwise didn’t protest.

Mrs. Jeon patted Heejin’s shoulder. “Now, now dear, hurry up, I’m sure our guests are starving.”

Heejin nodded silently and began to serve. She put a plate full of food down in front of her ‘mom’ and then she served her sisters. They laughed in her face. Heather laughed so hard that some of her spittle flew onto Heejin’s face. Heejin winced and pulled herself up. She wiped the spittle off with a piece of cloth hanging off of the cart.

She served Sooyoung next, and on and on she went in a clockwise direction around the table, until it was Vivi’s turn. The girls watched Heejin go about her work uneasily. Heejin was silent but her mortification was clear. Yeojin thought this was incredibly cruel.

Heejin grabbed Vivi’s plate off the cart. A foot shot out from underneath the table and sent Heejin sprawling onto the floor, along with the plate of food. The delicate china shattered on the hardwood floor. Heejin whimpered and looked up at Jessica, who blew a raspberry at her.

The food splattered across the floor. It was all a giant mess. Mrs. Jeon jumped to her feet and jabbed an accusing finger at Heejin. “Look at what you’ve done. You’ve messed up this beautiful floor and left your friend without any food to eat. Clean it up and then make another. Actually…” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Eat it. We’re not wasteful people, Heejin.”

Heejin looked like she was on the edge of tears. “But I--” Mrs. Jeon whipped her wand out and cast a spell on the girl. Heejin coughed and tried to speak, but no sound escaped . Yeojin frowned and held Haseul’s hand. Haseul put her other hand over Yeojin’s smaller one.

Heejin cried in silence as she was forced to eat the dirty, contaminated food off the floor. A fair portion of the dish she had made for them was broth, so she was forced to the liquid off with her tongue. Soon enough, she was finished. She picked up the tiny pieces of china and dashed back to the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, her sisters began laughing uproariously. Yeojin’s lip trembled. How could they be so cruel? Heejin was supposed to be a part of their family!

They could all hear the sounds of Heejin working frantically in the kitchen. Mrs. Jeon was carefully keeping track of the clock mounted on the wall. She turned to face the girls after a few moments.

“How are you enjoying your meals, girls?”

Choerry nodded gratefully, filled with chunks of beef. “Tho good!” The other girls seemed to be enjoying the food, but they were wary enough of Mrs. Jeon not to show it so overtly.

“You like your steak rare, right Jinsoul?”

Jinsoul looked confused, unsure of how to answer that question. Did Mrs. Jeon know? She at least suspected.

“....sure.”

Mrs. Jeon nodded her satisfaction. “Well, I’m glad we’re all happy. Vivi, I’m sorry about the wait, dear. Heejin can be such a mess sometimes.”

Vivi pulled her hand off the table and into her lap. She looked at Haseul accusingly. Haseul just buried her fork into .

Heejin came out of the kitchen a few minutes later, holding a scalding hot plate with her bare hands. She carefully placed the plate in front of Vivi, who ran a comforting hand over her forearm. Heejin gave her a small, pained smile, and then she retreated to the corner of the room.

Yeojin shook her head. “Hey, what about Heejin? Doesn’t she get to eat at the table?’

Mrs. Jeon raised an eyebrow. “She’s already eaten, my dear.”

Yeojin realized that she was right, and the thought made her sick.

“Yes, poor Heejin. She’s worked so hard to make up for her father’s absence. Poor man went insane. He can hardly remember his own name nowadays. St. Mungo’s takes good care of him, though. All those too sick to function in society should really be in a place like that. Don’t you agree, Jungeun?”

Now Jungeun was the one ready to fight. Before she could even draw breath to shout, however, Jinsoul slammed her fists onto the table. “If you know something, spit it out already. Confront us! I’m tired of this passive-aggressive . And stop punishing Heejin for hanging out with us.”

The entire room froze. Nobody was quite sure what would happen next. Mrs. Jeon frowned, ever so slightly. “What would I know? How would I confront you about it? I just wanted to meet Heejin’s friends for myself. Unless you’re hiding something that I should know about….” Jinsoul shook her head and sat back down.

Mrs. Jeon scoffed. “If you think you’re going to finish eating in here after your little outburst, you are sadly mistaken.” She pointed at a window with a good view of Heejin’s snow-covered backyard. “Mongrels stay outside.” Jinsoul scoffed and stormed outside, plate in hand. Mrs. Jeon pointed at Jungeun. “You too, honey.” Jungeun rolled her eyes and followed Jinsoul out the door. The door locked behind them with a click. Choerry protested. “B-but you can’t just….they’ll freeze out there!” Mrs. Jeon shrugged carelessly.

They finished the rest of their dinner in silence, terrified of being locked outside in the cold like their friends. Haseul’s fist was clenched so tight that her nails had begun to cut into her palm. As soon as she was finished, Yeojin put her plate down and asked to be excused. Those were the manners her parents had taught her, after all.

Yeojin got out of that room as fast as she could manage without looking rude, and then she ran straight up the stairs and into the room she was sharing with Haseul and Hyunjin. She parted the curtain and looked over the pure white landscape below. She could see a bright fire roaring at the center of a little camp. Two blondes sat on either side of the fire. Satisfied that the two of them would be okay for the moment, she went to sleep.

STONE HOUSE, WOOD HOUSE, GLASS HOUSE

The next week and a half were just as exhausting as the first day. Mrs. Jeon was a very, very bad person in Yeojin’s estimation, and she really wished she hadn’t come out to spend the holidays with her. Her friends expressed similar thoughts. Jinsoul and Jungeun were let in the next day, shivering and half-frozen, but mostly okay. Heejin set the fireplace alight, and then she was off to do some other business for her step-mother-- for Yeojin had realized that this was the only thing she could be to her. Choerry and Yeojin were right there to help the girls change out of their damp, frozen clothing and into something more comfortable.

Luckily, they weren’t confined to the house for the duration of their stay. They actually had time to go shopping in the nearby town. Haseul and Yeojin spent nearly all of their time in Mrs. Jeon’s house out of it.

Yeojin had noticed that Haseul had constantly stuck to her side ever since leaving the castle. She asked Haseul about it, and the older girl had chuckled and told her that she had designated herself as Yeojin’s official bodyguard during their stay. Nothing would happen to Yeojin while she was by her side, this she promised.

That made Yeojin feel a little bit better about the whole thing.

Still, the sight of Heejin scrubbing up after them like a maid turned her stomach. She wanted to talk to her friend, to tell her to stop, but the girl was constantly running around. Yeojin was horrified by the realization that this is what Heejin had had to go through for years, all on her own, with no one to defend her except for maybe Hyunjin. The thought of being so alone broke her heart.

And Heejin was scrubbing by hand too, using soap and water and other things Yeojin thought she could probably just use magic for. This was a mandate by Mrs. Jeon, no doubt. She wondered if she could lure the woman into a snowball fight where she used snowballs packed with sharp stones.

She would occasionally hear sharp screams of pain from behind closed doors, deep in the middle of the night. Yeojin couldn’t stop the tears, then.

One day, when Haseul and Yeojin were returning from a successful shopping run (Yeojin had gotten a ton of new clothes and a couple of new cases to hold them in--Haseul had bought them for her) they saw Jinsoul, Sooyoung and Hyunjin arguing outside. They ran inside to drop off their purchases, and then they joined the fray.

“You need to calm down, Jinsoul! Hyunjin made a mistake, yes, but she’s already apologized and she’s doing everything she can to make up for it.”

Jinsoul shook her head furiously and glared at Hyunjin. “I don’t need to calm down. What I need to do is get out of here. I can’t spend another second inside that house with that ! I was just starting to feel like I wasn’t alone in all of this, that maybe there was a way to live with this thing. I finally felt good for the first time in months, and now...how can I? This is all your fault!” Jinsoul ran at Hyunjin, but she was repelled by an invisible barrier Sooyoung had erected between the two of them. Hyunjin looked down at the ground. “I-I’m really sorry, Jinsoul. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what else to do!”

Jinsoul snarled. “You could try helping your friend. That’s what Heejin is to you, right? How can you just sit by and her do that stuff to her?!” Hyunjin looked away guiltily. “She asked me not to. And what could I do anyway? I’m just one witch. She’d have no trouble at all getting rid of me. No trouble.”

Sooyoung waved her hand in front of Jinsoul’s face. “Hey, hey, settle down. We’re all friends here. This is what she wants. She wants to divide us.”

Jinsoul climbed to her feet. “What she wants is to hurt me. She’s cornered me every single day and asked me weird questions about me and my home life. She knows. She just wants me to admit that I’m a werewolf so that she can destroy me! I’m pretty sure the lady’s an ex-Death Eater--”Sooyoung clapped her hand over Jinsoul’s mouth and shushed her loudly, pointing up the hill at a lone rock. As soon as she did, a lithe figure raced out from behind it, heading towards the house.

Jinsoul shoved Sooyoung’s hand off and gaped at the rock. “! I think she heard us!”

Jinsoul dashed inside, followed shortly by Hyunjin and Haseul. They all looked extremely worried. Sooyoung remained outside, her fingers running across the outside of her satchel. She startled when she realized Yeojin was still outside with her.

Yeojin tilted her head curiously, and then she pointed to Sooyoung’s bag. “Deep thoughts within?” Sooyoung smiled and sat down on a nearby log. “The deepest. Always.” She patted the patch of log next to her. “Come. Sit down. I want to ask you a question.”

Yeojin obediently hoisted herself onto the log.

“Yeojin. You know all of us well enough. You’ve only been here for a few months, but you’ve already changed things. You’ve made them better. Just by being around. That’s a rare gift.”

Yeojin smiled, her cheeks heating up. “It’s nothing, really.”

Sooyoung shook her head. “It’s everything. I really treasure your friendship. And the friendships you brought with you. It’s lonely sometimes, being a muggleborn.” She drummed her fingers against the log. “So, I trust you to answer this question honestly. Would you be willing to change everything...everything about yourself--to keep Jinsoul company?”

Yeojin hummed softly. It was a weird question to ask. It came out of nowhere, too. But Yeojin thought that if she could do anything to make the sad, broken angry girl happier, she’d take that chance.

“Yes. Whatever it took.”

Sooyoung nodded, deep in thought. After a few seconds, she turned to Yeojin and smiled. “Thank you.”

Yeojin nodded, a smile forcing its way out of her despite herself. “No, thank you. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” Yeojin leaped forward and hugged Sooyoung around the middle. The girl jumped slightly, startled by the sudden contact, but then she put a hand on Yeojin’s back and pulled her in closer. The two girls basked in each others warmth for a few minutes before they went inside.

It was surprisingly calm within the house. Haseul had moved their bags up to their rooms, and Hyunjin and Jinsoul were sitting next to each other on the couch in front of the fireplace. Sooyoung leaned on the couch. “How did it go?”

Jinsoul shook her head, dejected. Hyunjin spoke for her. “We couldn’t find her anywhere. She’s going to tell her mom. And that’ll be all she needs to screw me over.” Jinsoul buried her face in her hands.

BACK TO HOGWARTS

The last three days of their holiday break passed without incident. The girls managed to hold a minor New Year’s celebration in the kitchen. It was brief, because they were rudely interrupted by one of Heejin’s ‘sisters’ before they could really get started. Jungeun did manage to sneak a bottle of wine out of the kitchen, but she was quickly reprimanded by Haseul, who demanded she turn it over to her.

Mrs. Jeon didn’t make any overt appearances in those last couple of days. Yeojin thought the woman would be all over them at that point, gloating about how much she knew of their secret, but she was surprisingly quiet.

Finally, it was time to head out and go home. The girls gathered once more in the lobby. They talked amongst themselves, more talkative than they had been in days. It was a relief to finally get out of there, and away from the madness that was Heejin’s house. Heejin’s shoulders sagged with relief. Haseul and Hyunjin pulled her into a warm embrace.

Mrs. Jeon didn’t come out to see them off. Instead, Heather and Jessica showed them out, which Yeojin thought was incredibly suspicious. Still, if she said she wasn’t ecstatic to be inside of the stretch limo once more, she would have been lying.

The ride back was the first moment of real enjoyment Yeojin had had all break. Jiwoo talked excitedly about the new camera her mom had gotten for her, and its 2,379 different filters. Yes, that was an exact number, and yes, Jiwoo repeated it just that many times on their way back. Chaewon discussed the present Yeojin had gotten for her with some excitement. It was nothing, really. Just a leatherbound notebook she had seen on her way back from the shops. Chaewon seemed like someone with a lot of thoughts to write down, so she had gotten it for her. The girl had squealed--literally squealed-- when Yeojin handed her the present. She blushed when Chaewon gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek. It was nice.

Yeojin knew there was something very wrong as they disembarked the car and made for King’s Cross. There was a bunch of men and women standing outside of the station, quills in hand. Oh god, she’d really gone and done it...she’d told the newspapers about Jinsoul’s secret.

Haseul cursed under her breath. Yeojin heard it anyway.

Jinsoul took a step out of the car and winced. Jungeun was right behind her, hands on her shoulders. “We’ve got to be strong now, baby. They want to see you weak. Don’t let them.”

The eleven girls pushed past the crowd of reporters, past the intermittent flashes of cameras going off, and towards Platform 9 and ¾. There was an incessant stream of pointless and often offensive questions being thrown at them, but they refused to answer. They just stared ahead and pretended as if the others weren’t there.

They boarded the Hogwarts Express and sat in a private cabin near the back. None of them were eager to answer questions from people their own age. Yeojin wondered what exactly would happen when they got back.

Almost as soon as they stepped foot into the castle, they were directed into an empty side room and told to await the arrival of the headmistress. The eleven of them piled into the room and took the spare chairs that had been arranged in a circle around the center of the it.

Haseul sighed. “So I guess this is it.”

Jinsoul nodded solemnly. “I’ll probably be expelled. I mean, the headmistress knew from the start, but she told us to keep it a secret. I failed. Now she doesn’t have any other choice, really. I’m sorry. This is going to hurt your reputations and it’s...it’s all my fault.” Jungeun gave her a back hug. “No, no...this is not your fault. This is no one’s fault except for maybe that .” Jungeun looked at Heejin. “Speaking of which...are you okay?”

Heejin buried her face in her hands and let out a choked sob. “I was so helpless...I’m always so helpless when I’m there. And you saw….you all saw. I’m so weak. I wish I could get out of there. But...my dad…” Hyunjin sat in the chair next to Heejin and draped her arm around her. “Shhh….shhh….” She patted the girl on the head.

Sooyoung contemplated her satchel, and then she shook her head and walked over to the frosted windows that looked out on the winter wonderland that was the Hogwarts school grounds. She glanced at the bag again and then she shrugged.  

She pulled a large book with a blue cover out. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. Sooyoung bit her lip, and then she began. “This is the book of Animagi. It, uh, It contains everything there is to know about Animagi. What they are, how to become one, how to live as one. Original copies are very rare. I borrowed it from Heejin’s library. I hope you don’t mind.” Heejin shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Maybe, after all this is done, we can try it. As a sort of companionship thing for Jinsoul. I know it’s a big thing to ask, but...we can consider it, right?”

Yeojin raised her hand. “What exactly is an Animagus?”

Sooyoung chuckled softly. “It means you can turn into an animal whenever you want. The headmistress is one. I guess, if the secret’s out already, we can ask her for help.”

Yeojin nodded. It was a big thing to ask. But she didn’t hate the idea.

The other girls didn’t seem as sure. Haseul frowned. Jungeun was nodding vigorously. Hyunjin had a blank expression on her face. She was too absorbed in taking care of Heejin.

Sooyoung nodded. “That’s what I thought. We don’t have to decide anything right now. Just...give it some thought, okay? We’ll talk later.”

A series of knocks rang throughout the room. Heejin quickly pulled herself together and wiped the tears off of her face. Jinsoul stared balefully at the door. The bright brass handle began to turn.

To herself, Yeojin whispered, “It’s showtime.”