PEP TALK

The door creaked open to reveal the sullen face of one Headmistress McGonagall. The woman was understandably upset at the turn of events, just as the girls were. Yeojin wondered if she was embarassed. She should be.

The Headmistress walked stiffly to the podium at the far end of the room, past the silent, judging eyes of the girls. None of them were comfortable with the situation they had been forced into, and it showed. The Headmistress threw the edge of her emerald-green cloak over her shoulder and put both hands on the edges of the podium. She gave each of the girls a meaningful look, and then she began to speak.

“This is quite a conundrum you girls have put me in.”Her voice was uncharacteristically light and jovial, an effect of her own discomfort. “Jinsoul.” She peered directly at the girl, over the rim of her spectacles. “You were allowed to continue attending Hogwarts on the condition that you and your friends kept your illness a secret. That clearly hasn’t happened.” Jinsoul fidgeted with a lock of  her hair.

McGonagall gazed warmly at the Ravenclaw. “I just want to let you know that that’s okay. Mistakes were made. But it’s something that happens.” She whipped her glasses of and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “Unfortunately, other people are not as forgiving as I. There are several newspapers that want to hold interviews with you girls. I’ve arranged for a small press conference in Hogsmeade so that we can get this over with. Regardless, I will do my best to fight for you to stay at Hogwarts, Jinsoul. You can trust me on that.”

Jinsoul didn’t seem very comforted by the sentiment.

McGonagall sighed deeply and placed her glasses back on her face. “The conference is in two days. Study hard and do your best in the meantime.”

That was easier said than done.

Now that everyone knew Jinsoul’s secret, they were out for blood. Nobody was talking to her, and a few were doing much worse. While walking Jinsoul back to Ravenclaw Tower, they saw a wall smeared with red paint in the shape of letters-- “WEREWOLF S SHOULD STAY AT HOME”

Jinsoul shook her head and climbed up the staircase. She refused Yeojin’s hug and Sooyoung’s offer to hold hands. In her mind, she was alone in this.

Yeojin wanted to do her best to show her that wasn’t the case. So did the other girls. They brought her breakfast the next morning, but she wasn’t seeing anyone. She did attend classes, but she refused to speak to anyone.

Yeojin didn’t see her again until it was almost time for the conference.

THE TRIAL OF JUNG JINSOUL

“So, what do you think about all of this?”

It was Hyunjin’s question, directed towards Yeojin. The two of them were in a lavish waiting room just outside the cleared out dining room that would hold the conference. It was a little awkward, with the eleven of them forced into a room. The reporters probably would have preferred to do it in a more convenient location, but this was an incredible move on the part of the school already.

“I think this is bull!”

Haseul’s head snapped up at that. Yeojin held her hands up. “Sorry, but it’s true. Jinsoul deserves to go to school like anybody else.”

Jinsoul stared at the ground and wrung her hands. “I wish you wouldn’t talk about me like I’m not here.”

Yeojin pressed her lips together. “Sorry. I do mean it. We’re all here for you.”

Jinsoul shook her head. “I know you are. You’re all really good friends. But that Animagus thing….I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t think you guys want what I have.”

Sooyoung rubbed her shoulder. “It’s a chance for companionship. A chance to make yourself a little less alone in the world. Isn’t that worth it?”

Jinsoul gave the black haired girl a small frown. “I’m just saying. Don’t set yourselves on fire to keep me warm. I’m not worth it.”

Jungeun gave Jinsoul a light punch on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t say that! You are worth it. You are. Hey, don’t give me that look…” Jinsoul glared at Jungeun before warming up to her and burying her head in her shoulder.

Yeojin glanced over at Heejin, who was sitting between Hyunjin and Jiwoo. She had recovered rather quickly from her little sojourn to her stepmom’s house. She’d have to, to cope with the rest of her life at school. Still, it was clear that everyone was concerned about her mental state in the wake of such blatant abuse by someone who was supposed to care for her.

“You okay?”

Heejin nodded and smiled. “I’ve had worse. Let’s just focus on Jinsoul.” She pushed her eyebrows together and looked at the blonde girl sympathetically.

Choerry was standing on the tips of her toes, peering out the window at the main room. She looked over her shoulder urgently. “They’re coming, guys. Get ready!”

Everyone scrambled into a neat line in the center of the room. Haseul stood at the head of the line, her face confident and unyielding. She inhaled deeply, and then she began to speak. “This is it. This is the only chance we’re going to get to make things right. The headmistress didn’t say it explicitly, but if we don’t have a strong presence here, Jinsoul’s probably going to get expelled. So, put on your best faces.”

Haseul turned around. Yeojin sighed. This was heavy, heavy stuff. Not for the first time, she wondered how she had managed to get herself mixed up in all of this. The weird thing was, she wouldn’t trade the friends she had made here for the entire world. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for one of us. Us. There had never been an us before.

She was an only child, in every sense of the word. Her mother’s work had taken the three of them all over the country. She’d never had a chance to settle down and make any real, lasting friends. Her brash and loud attitude hadn’t helped much, either. But these girls...they were different. They were more like family than anyone outside of her parents. She knew they felt the same way about her, and that was a great comfort. Especially now.

The door swung open and Yeojin faced the greatest challenge of her very short life. She only hoped she’d be able to rise to the occasion.  She kept her head held up high as she made her way past the man holding the door. The girls were greeted by the incessant flash of cameras as they entered the dining hall. Yeojin took a look around. There were several dozen people crowded into the overly small space that had been cleared out for them. The room was stuffy and hot from the massive number of people stuffed into the room. Yeojin tugged at the collar of her dress.

There was a table that had been dragged up to the front of the room. There were 12 chairs arranged for them on the far side of the table. Yeojin raised a quizzical eyebrow. But there’s only eleven of us? Someone must have miscounted. Besides the odd number of chairs, the table seemed pretty plain. The only thing on the table were eleven microphones, ready and waiting for them.

Haseul shuffled her way along the space between the chairs and the table and sat down at the furthest chair from the door. Heejin and Hyunjin sat in the two chairs after that. Chaewon, Jiwoo and Sooyoung sat next to each other. Yeojin sat between Choerry and Jinsoul, with Jungeun and Vivi at the end to her right. The eleven of them sat in front of the assemblage of people with an electric anxiety. Yeojin blinked the blinding camera flashes out of her eyes.

Once she could see again, she saw Mrs. Jeon sitting near the front of the crowd, arms folded around her handbag. She was smiling. Yeojin leaned over to get a better look at Heejin. The girl had frozen up again, just like she had on the way to her step-mother’s house. That was bad.

The same brown-haired woman that had been interrogating Hyunjin in the hallway was also there, although she was sitting off to the side of the table. She would be moderating this little interview, Yeojin guessed. Jiwoo made a small noise when she realized who it was.

The crowd was talking over each other-- the level of noise was actually starting to become painful. The brown haired woman (Jiwoo’s mom?) tapped her wand to twice. When she spoke, her voice was heavily amplified. “Quiet down, everyone. You’ll all get a chance to ask your questions, but one at a time please!” Her voice was soft and melodious. She reminded Yeojin of a less-hyper, more put-together version of Jiwoo. The din of the crowd settled down into murmurs, and then silence.

On the other side of the table stood the nervous professor who had read out the names on Yeojin’s first night at Hogwarts. He looked a little less nervous now, but he was still fidgety. Yeojin could hardly believe that this was the guy the Headmistress had sent to keep watch over their interrogation. It seemed like a bit of a weak effort on her part.

“Alright, Ladies and gentlemen! Let’s get this started. Remember, be polite and courteous. These girls are doing us a favor by answering our questions. I’ll choose one question at a time. Now show of hands--who wants to go first?”

Every hand in the room went up at once. Jiwoo’s mom smiled and picked a swollen looking man near the front of the crowd. “Yes?”

The man adjusted the lapels of his suit jacket and huffed pompously. “So, I suppose we should start at the beginning. When did you girls first find out about Miss Jinsoul’s….condition?” He spat out the last word as if it were a piece of spinach that had gotten stuck between his teeth.

Jungeun raised her hand to answer but Haseul quickly cut her off by speaking into the microphone. “Jungeun, Yerim, Hyunjin, Heejin and I have known for about a year. Everyone else learned this a couple of months ago.” That sent the crowd into an uproar. Everyone exclaimed their surprise and outrage at the girls keeping a secret like that for so long. The man stood up and jabbed a finger at Haseul with surprising swiftness for a man his size. “Why keep a secret like that for so long? You’ve been putting people in danger!” His face was red and spittle flew from his lips.

Yeojin cringed, but Haseul didn’t budge an inch. She kept that same calm, neutral expression on her face. “We did it for Jinsoul.” The man didn’t look satisfied with that answer, but before he could reply with another outburst, Jiwoo’s mom cut in. “That’s enough, Stan. Let’s move on to another esteemed reporter, another question, yes?”

Another cluster of raised hands came up. Jiwoo’s mother pointed to someone near the back, a middle aged woman in a sharp suit. “Yes, Belinda?”

“How many people has Jinsoul killed?”

Jinsoul’s face blanched. Her fingers squeezed the edge of the table so hard Yeojin was afraid it might crack.

Once again, Haseul popped up to answer the question. “Jinsoul hasn’t killed anyone.”

The woman, Belinda, scoffed. “And what about the student that died last year? Coco Cherry? Ring any bells?” Haseul allowed the slightest amount of displeasure to appear on her face before answering. “That was the werewolf. Not Jinsoul.”

“A distinction without a difference. Are you really going to try to tell me that girl would still be dead if Jinsoul wasn’t around?”

Haseul shook her head. “I’m just saying you can’t hold her responsible. She’s not in control when the wolf takes over...I’m not even sure she’s aware. But Coco is dead, and that’s a tragedy. She was my friend, too.”

Belinda shook her head and pointed at Vivi. “You. Kahei. She was your best friend. What do you have to say about this ridiculousness?”

Vivi pressed her palms against each other and kept her eyes on the table. She edged closer to the microphone until her lips were nearly touching the cool metal of the microphone. She refused to look up. “She was my friend. But she did not want us to hold it against Jinsoul. She was forgiving.” Vivi put her hands on the table, one over the other. Yeojin was proud of her. Jinsoul didn’t smile, but she seemed warmed by the words.

Belinda sat back down in her chair, a sour expression on her face. Jiwoo’s mom ‘hmm’d’ and pointed at another lady towards the front. Her purple hair was tied into a bizarre three-knot style that looked more like it belonged in a sci-fi film than on her head. “Yes, Katelyn.”

The woman stood up and pointed directly at Haseul. “I have a question for you, Miss Cho. “ Haseul looked away from Vivi to focus on the woman, “You don’t exist. Not really. You suddenly showed up at Hogwarts two years ago, already in Hufflepuff. That shouldn’t be possible, not unless you were someone else before. You changed your appearance totally between your fourth and fifth year. And your name. And no one’s brought this up until now. I looked it up, and your mother has four children, all boys. Until you, two years ago. How does that happen, I wonder? Where did you come from? Who were you before?”

That got under Haseul’s skin. Her face burned red, and she was about to scream at the woman when the nervous looking professor cut in. “Hey, hey! We’re here to answer your questions about Jung Jinsoul. If you have questions about any of the other girls, they can wait until a later date.”

The woman harrumphed and sat back down in her seat. The professor mumbled something under his breath about a cut-rate gossip rag. Haseul looked as if she had just been punched in the gut. She looked around at the other girls nervously. Heejin rubbed her hand comfortingly.

Jiwoo’s mom glanced at her daughter with worried eyes. Jiwoo  nodded, and her mom continued. “Okay, any more questions?”

A thin man to their far left stood up and asked his question without waiting to be called on. “How do you know that it won’t happen again? That one of the other students won’t end up dead? Like you said, Miss Jung doesn’t have any control over herself while she’s in wolf form!”

Jungeun and Choerry both jumped to answer the question. They realized they were going to talk over each other and they awkwardly settled the order in a tiny whispered conversation. Choerry eventually acquiesced and let the older girl speak first.  “Me and Choerry have been taking care of Jinsoul for months. Not once has she broken free or hurt anyone under our watch. This is not an issue. We’ve made sure that she stays safe. If that’s just two of us, imagine what ten of us could do?” Her voice went from her usual cool confidence to something verging on desperate.

The man fired back with, “Yes, you’ve kept her away for this long, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t happen in the future!” Choerry stood up this time, her brows furrowed in anger. “Nobody can predict the future. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow, but Jinsoul is not a threat. Not while we’re here. And we’re here to stay.”

Jinsoul’s eyes were edged with tears. Tears not because she was sad, but because she was so touched by her friends’ willingness to fight for her. Yeojin rubbed her back and smiled at the girl. “We’re almost done, Jinsoul.”

Jiwoo’s mom nodded patiently and then moved on to the next phase of questioning. “Okay, one more question and then we’ll move on to final statements from each of the girls. You, over there, in the front.”

The man she had indicated stood up, straightened his tie, and looked Jinsoul directly in the eye. “Can you give me one reason why I shouldn’t take my kids out of Hogwarts if you stay?” His voice shook with emotion. This was a concerned parent, not an enemy. Jinsoul bit her lip.

“I’ll give you one reason,” someone spoke. It took Yeojin a second to realize it was her. “Jinsoul is a good person who deserves to finish her time at Hogwarts without being bothered by others. She’s just like your kids, except she changes into a wolf once a month. And she has that part under control. So now it’s up to you to show your kids how to treat her with respect. Because even if she’s a werewolf, Jinsoul is also a human being.” Yeojin’s words were tinged with anger, but that didn’t make them any less truthful. She slid back in her chair and sighed as the man did the same. He didn’t seem comforted by her words. She had to admit that she felt a little bad.

Jiwoo’s mom, just as perky as ever, smiled. “Well, let’s move on to final statements for each of the girls and then we’ll thank them for their time. Miss Haseul, we’ll begin with you.”

Haseul straightened her back and looked over the crowd. “This isn’t right. You know it isn’t right and you’re going to try to do it anyway. I want you to think about this. I want you to think about what you’re doing before you publish your stories. I want you to think about who you’re doing it to. And then I want you to decide.” She looked down into her hands. “That’s all.”

“Miss Heejin?”

“Choerry can probably go on for hours about this, but Jinsoul is a good friend. She’s a good study partner and she helped me get through some of the roughest times in my life. She belongs.”

“Miss Hyunjin?”

“I trust Jinsoul and you should too.”

“Miss Chaewon?”

“I don’t know her that well, but it’s still wrong to expell her for a disease she’s been forced to live with.”

“Jiwoo?”

“That’s Miss Jiwoo to you! Just kidding. Jinsoul’s really funny. I would really miss her if she went away. That’s all.”

“Miss Sooyoung?”

“We can’t see it right now, but this is an important moment. This is where everything changes, if you let it. You get to choose how people see werewolf children now, and maybe a dozen years from now. You have that power. Please don’t abuse it.”

“Miss Yerim?”

“Jinsoul’s a lot of things to me. She’s a mentor, she’s a friend, she’s someone who listens to whatever crap I have to say and never says a word about it. She’s my best friend. My best friend.”

“Miss Yeojin?”

Yeojin stood up, to make sure the people assembled in front of her could see her face, deadly serious as it was.

“I know you guys are all thinking about your kids. You might be scared or worried about this news, but for all of that, Jinsoul is even more scared. Just look at her. She’s the same age as your kids. She could be one of them. Think about how they would feel if they came home to you and you treated them the same way you’re treating Jinsoul.”

Mrs. Jeon scoffed, but it seemed as if she was the only one not affected by the thought. A soft, worried murmur ran through the crew.

“Miss Jinsoul?”

The girl didn’t answer for quite a while. She wiped the moisture off of her cheeks and looked up. When she did, she was smiling.

“I don’t have anything to say, except thank you to my friends.”

Jungeun clasped her hand tightly and whispered something in her ear. The blonde chuckled softly.

“Okay. Miss Jungeun?”

She tossed back her head and shouted, “I LOVE JUNG JINSOUL!!!” She then proceeded to howl like a wolf. They all laughed at that, the tension now and forever broken, regardless of what came next.

“And finally, Miss Kahei?”

“Vivi, please. That is what my friends call me. And that’s all I care about.”

She looked at each of them warmly, from Haseul all the way down to Jungeun. She had been healed for a couple of weeks now, but this was the first time she seemed like she was ready to be with them in the way that they needed.

So, that was it. They had all spoken, they had answered the reporters’ questions, and they had made their final statements. All that was left was to see how the dice fell. It was out of their hands from now on.

Yeojin smiled, and they smiled with her. Nothing could touch them at that moment.

EPILOGUE: A BRIGHT AND SHINING LIGHT

But, of course, there was still some business to be taken care of.

Jiwoo ran into the lair, a piece of parchment clutched tightly in one hand. The excited smile on her face meant it could only be good news.

“It finally came! The faculty came to a decision!”

Sooyoung flicked her wrists and held her palms face-up to either side of her face. “And? Don’t keep us in suspense.”

“Sorry, Sooyoung! It’s good! They’re going to let Jinsoul stay.”

They all breathed a sigh of relief at that.

Haseul perked up from her spot on the chair next to Yeojin. “Any conditions? These things are almost always conditional.”

Jiwoo shook her head. “No, they just want us to continue doing what we have been doing. That shouldn’t be too hard. You can read it yourself, if you like.” Jiwoo handed the parchment over to Haseul, who read it carefully. When she was satisified that everything was in order, she smiled and placed the sheet down on the table in front of her. “You’re all good, Jinsoul.”

The blonde girl let out a long sigh of relief. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Jungeun. The two girls got lost in the other’s eyes.

Sooyoung pulled the Book of Animagi out of her bag and dropped it on the table with a thump. She crossed her arms and looked around the room. “So, now that that’s over with, are we going to do this?”

Jinsoul put her hands up. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. You’ve already done so much…”

Choerry shook her head. “We’re not going to let you be alone out there. We’re your friends. Friends stick together. No matter what.”

There was a murmur of agreement among the girls. Chaewon seemed a little nervous, however. Yeojin pushed herself out of her chair to sit down next to her. “You okay, Chaewon? Like Jinsoul said, you can back out of this if you don’t want to do it. From what I hear, it is permanent. Pretty big deal. But I’ve always wanted a tattoo, haha.”

Chaewon smiled wanly. “No, I don’t have a problem with the idea. I’m just worried about what my Animagus form will be. I mean, we don’t get to choose. You know that, right?” Yeojin nodded, although she hadn’t. “What if I get something gross, like a snake or, I don’t know, a dung beetle? I’d be stuck with that forever!” Yeojin patted her on the shoulder. “Even a dung beetle would be pretty, as long as it’s you in control.” Chaewon blushed and gave her another one of those adorable smiles. Yeojin grinned. “You mean that?” Yeojin nodded. Chaewon wrapped her arms around her neck. It felt nice.

Hyunjin whistled. “Okay. So we’re really doing this. When do we start?”

Sooyoung smiled. “At the next full moon, ideally.” She looked around the room. “If everyone’s okay with that.”

Jungeun clapped her hands together three times. “So, we’ve got a few days. Sounds good to me. What do you think, Jinsoul? Doesn’t that sound great?” Jinsoul grinned. “It sounds perfect, Jungeun.”

Yeojin pulled herself free from Chaewon and sat down at Haseul’s side once more. She held up a finger while she dug through her bag. “Hold on a second, guys! I want to show you something!” She smiled when her fingers closed around the soft surface of her book. She yanked it out and held it above her head. “This is it!”

Heejin raised an eyebrow. “And that is….?”

Yeojin let the smile fall from her face as she gripped the book between both hands. “Um...I’ve kind of been referring to it as The Book of Loona.”

Vivi tilted her head in curiosity. “Loona?”

“Yeah, well, we’re kind of a club, right? We’re friends and everything--- I figured we should have something to call ourselves. Loona’s….Loona’s a good name, right? I just picked it because of the full moon and-- we all came together because of Jinsoul and---” Yeojin shook her head. was running out of her control again. Haseul ran a hand across her back. “Breathe. We’re all listening.” Her voice was calm and soothing. Yeojin nodded and continued.

“Okay. This book is for us to keep track of our time together. What we learn and the memories we create. We’ll probably need more than one, actually. I’ve already filled out the first page with a poem-motto-creed thing? I’m not sure what to call it. But, I’d like to read it out, if you guys are okay with that? And then, maybe everyone could sign it, if you agree with it."

Everyone nodded.

Yeojin swallowed, and then she started to read.

WE ARE LOONA

No one’s life is perfect. We all have our own scars, our own imperfections, our own craters.

But we keep moving, we keep growing, we keep shining.

We might keep those impact wounds hidden or we might show them for the whole world to see, but we are who we are regardless.

Like the moon, we rise every night to face a black sky.

We pledge to illuminate it with our very being.

We pledge to be the brightest thing in the night sky.

We pledge to guide others in that darkness as we have been guided by each other.

Our craters are our beauty.

Our light is our gift.

This is our promise.

We are Loona.

When Yeojin finished, the room was silent. She gave everyone a shy smile. They hadn’t liked it.

The silence was broken by the sound of clapping from Sooyoung. After that, everyone started to clap in  cacophonous, genuine applause. Yeojin smiled. Haseul pulled her into a hug. “That was beautiful, Yeojin. You’re beautiful.”

Yeojin buried her face in Haseul’s shoulder, a bright, unrestrained smile on her lips.

Yes, she had found her belonging.