“We need a battle plan,” Hyoyeon stated one morning, plopping down to sit  next to Tiffany as the owls rushed in with today’s mail.

Tiffany looked up from her plate, cheeks full of eggs. Swallowing at the sudden interruption, she asked, “What?”

“It’s been a week since you’ve been chosen,” said Hyoyeon as she quickly piled a couple of sausages onto her plate. “And you haven’t done anything. I see that Durmstrang girl training everyday on the deck of that giant ship of theirs. She’s got a deadly blasting curse. Watch out for that. Though I’m suppose I don’t need to tell you that,” she gave Tiffany a pointed look, referring back to the duel they’d witnessed between Jessica and Taeyeon.

“Leo said he’s seen Yoona and Yuri together in the library every day. Who knows what they’re researching. Whatever it is, we need to start doing the same or else you won’t stand a chance,” Hyoyeon insisted with a mouth full of food.

“She’s right,” Leo added, suddenly appearing out of nowhere before settling down across from the two girls. “A Hogwarts education will only get you so far in a tournament like this. You’re going to need to know more than what we learn in the classrooms to be able to face what you’re going to be facing in a month.”

“What have you done since your name got chosen from the goblet?” Hyoyeon asked, using her fork to point at Tiffany. “I haven’t seen you much, so I assumed you were doing some preparation by yourself.”

‘Wallow,’ Tiffany thought to herself bitterly. It’d been a week since she was announced as Hogwarts’ champion. At first she was ecstatic. This was it. She was the chosen one.

However, all that glory fell away quickly as soon as she realized she was way in over her head. Why her? Why was she chosen?

She saw the way Yoona performed perfect charms one after another everytime the  Beauxbaton girl sat in their Charms class. She had to fight back a flinch every time Taeyeon casted a perfect jinx, hex, or curse in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Meanwhile, what could she do? Transform a cat into a cauldron. How terrifying.

She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, measuring her up, trying to see how she compared to the other champions. She tried her best to puff out her chest and hold her head high, but the sad truth was she didn’t measure up to them.

“Nothing really,” Tiffany admitted quietly, putting her fork down. Any appetite she previously had was all gone now. “I’m a little lost here.”

The tournament hadn’t even started yet and she already felt like a failure. Was it too late to drop out and give the title to someone else? Someone more worthy?

Hyoyeon and Leo adorned similar frowns at her answer. Tiffany tried her best to hide her insecurity, but if anyone could see through her defenses it would be her best friend and twin brother. They looked at each other before turning to face her, a resolute look on both of their faces.

“Well that won’t do,” Leo said, shaking his head. He’d sensed that his sister had been sinking into a flunk and he was right.

“Yeah,” Hyoyeon agreed, suddenly taking Tiffany’s hands into her own. “Tiffany, we’re here to help you. We’re going to help you. You can beat those two. I know it. You’re Hogwarts’ champion for bloody hell’s sake! But you won’t be able to beat them by sulking.”

Tiffany nodded demurely, knowing Hyoyeon was right.

“Look,” Leo stated softly, his voice soothing Tiffany with its low warm timbre. “I understand that you feel a little out of your element right now. You’re probably a little overwhelmed and intimidated and I don’t blame you, but you are my twin sister. I know you. You are not any less than any of them. You can beat them. I know that. Hyoyeon knows that. But you need to know that. You have to believe in yourself.”

Tiffany felt herself withering under his earnest brown eyes. She deflated.

“Okay,” she exhaled.  She glanced at Leo, then at Hyoyeon. “Okay,” she repeated. “I got this,” she said, mostly to herself. She needed to say it as much as she needed to her her own voice say it.

Leo and Hyoyeon shot her encouraging smiles.

“Will you guys help me?” Tiffany smiled sheepishly.

“We already told you were helping you!” Hyoyeon playfully smacked the girl on the arm. “Even if you didn’t want our help we would’ve given it.”

“Yeah, you’re not going to be able to get rid of us,” Leo grinned at her.

Tiffany smiled at both of her friends, grateful that she had them in her life. For the first time since her name was called, she was calm. Worthy or not, her name was called. There was no changing that. So she was going to try her best and give the other two a run for their money.

“So, are you and Taeyeon fighting?” Sooyoung asked Jessica. The two of them sat idly on the lawn, catching up on everything that had happened in the year they were apart. The other students all left them a wide berth, all having witnessed or seen what Durmstrang students, and particularly Jessica could do.

A couple thousand feet away, Taeyeon was aggressively shooting curses in every direction atop the Durmstrang ship. All they could see from here were the angry bursts of purple, green and red lights and a small figure prancing about on the deck.

Jessica sighed. “I don’t know,” she admitted, resting her chin atop her folded knees.

“That’s new,” Sooyoung snorted. “You guys never fight.”

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows, frowning a little. “What do you mean? We fight.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes at her ignorant and dense friend. “You guys don’t fight. You bicker,” she stated seriously. “You guys were like a married couple. Neither of you guys could stay mad at the other for long.”

Jessica scrunched her nose at Sooyoung’s words. “We’re childhood friends,” she said defensively.

“You loved her.”

The blunt statement dulled whatever words that were on Jessica’s tongue effectively muting her. The two sat in silence, letting the weight of that truth sink in for the both of them.

It was the first time Jessica had heard it said out loud. She’d never told anyone before. She wasn’t surprised Sooyoung had caught on though. Though she was never vocal about her feelings, she never tried to deny them. She knew denying them wouldn’t work anyways. Instead, she let her love show through her silent gestures and hoped that one day they would go away.

It’d kinda worked.

“I did.” The words slipped past her lips quietly and it felt like a lifetime of burden was released through her shoulders.

“Then why did you leave?” came the immediate question.

Jessica could feel Sooyoung’s eyes piercing the side of her head but she refused to meet her gaze. This was another person she’d hurt by leaving. She felt guilty but she had to.

She couldn’t tell Sooyoung the truth. She couldn’t tell Sooyoung of the worries that plagued her mind. She couldn’t tell her that Taeyeon had changed. The girl wouldn’t unders