A WOUND IN THE WORLD

 

Yeojin was tired of this. She was tired of running, of fighting, of being in this dark hole with no hope of rescue. She wanted it to end.

 

She stood frozen in Quinlan’s path, his wand pointed directly at her heart. This was it. Just a moment more and she would be with Vivi again. She closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable killing curse.

 

Haseul slammed into Quinlan’s side, knocking the man down onto the floor with as much force as she could muster. Yeojin opened her eyes to see the older girl wailing on the man’s face with both fists. Haseul’s own face was something to behold-- Yeojin had never seen her quite so furious.

 

“No. You’re not hurting her. You’re not hurting any of us ever again!” Every word was punctuated by another punch. It was absolute savagery. Yeojin was still stuck in place, her eyes darting over every aspect of the room, trying to take it all in. Jiwoo was carrying Chaewon in her arms. Hyunjin and Heejin had Sooyoung slung between their shoulders. Jungeun had stopped midstep to see what Quinlan was up to. Olivia was picking herself up off the floor. Choerry was standing behind Jungeun, waiting for...something.

 

“Yerim. You can carry Jinsoul, right?”

 

Choerry nodded seriously.Jungeun looked at her imploringly. “I trust you to get her out of here. Now go, and make sure everyone stays safe.”

Choerry put a hand on Jungeun’s shoulder. “What about you?”

 

“I can’t leave without making sure they get out okay. I’ve already lost one friend today.”

Choerry nodded and looked around, trying to blink the moisture out of her eyes. Jungeun waited until she was finished and then, with a lover’s grace, she handed Jinsoul over to the younger girl. With her hands free, she took a glance at Quinlan to make sure he was still incapacitated. When she was sure that he was, she squeezed Choerry’s shoulder. “Hey. You’re my best friend. You know that, right?”

 

“I know.”

 

“Hey, in case I don’t get out of here...when Jinsoul wakes up, let her know that I love her. And that I’m sorry that I snapped at her.”

 

“I will. I promise. But make it out of here alive. Please.”

 

Jungeun shrugged. With a crooked grin, she said, “No promises.”

Choerry shook her head and smiled. “You’re such a jerk.” With that, the two of them parted ways, Choerry following the rest of her friends up the tunnel.

 

Now there were five people left in the dungeon of death Quinlan had brought them to: Quinlan himself, Haseul, Yeojin, Jungeun, and Olivia. It had come down to this final conflict. And Yeojin had made a promise.

 

Quinlan had dropped his wand once more upon being attacked by Haseul. It had rolled into a dark corner of a room, forgotten by everyone. Everyone, that is, except for Yeojin. On her hands and knees, she crawled over to the thin wooden stick that had caused everyone so much pain. She rolled it between her fingers, admiring the smoothness of the wood. This is what she was going to use to do it. To kill Quinlan.

 

She glanced up just in time to see Haseul flying backwards off of Quinlan’s chest. “You think I need a wand to kill you girls? Wands are for the weak!” He shot up to his feet and with a wave of his hand, Haseul was bound to the floor by a set of glowing red chains. Yeojin cursed under her breath. She needed to move fast. Faster.

 

Jungeun hit Quinlan with a stunning spell to the leg before he could move again.He fell to one knee and screamed. “You won’t be able to keep this up. Hyejoo, take care of her.” He jerked his head in Jungeun’s direction.

 

Olivia looked down at him, much the same way one looks at an interesting bug before crushing it under one’s heel. “No.”

 

Quinlan blinked. “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” A twist of his wrists summoned fire out of thin air. The flames shot up from the ground, creating a ring of fire that encircled the entire room. “My specialty is fire. No, that’s not quite right. I am the fire. And you will all burn!”

 

The flames rose higher and higher. Olivia had her wand trained on Quinlan’s head and Haseul was struggling her way out of the chains. Jungeun was struggling to hold the flames back, but it was a fruitless endeavor. The flames were too high and too strong to be stopped, and if Jungeun didn’t take a step or two back, she was bound to get burned. Yeojin acted quickly.

“Depulso!”

 

Jungeun didn’t even have a chance to protest before being sent flying past the flames. She landed with a grunt. As soon as she did, she her heel to go right back. Yeojin shook her head. “No. Stay there where it’s safe. I’ll be with you in a second.”

 

Jungeun looked horrified. “What are you doing?”

 

“What has to be done.”

 

Jungeun shook her head and took a few steps back. One of the pipes built into the walls of the dungeon creaked dangerously. Was there gas inside of those things? Oh no. Yeojin’s question was answered when one of the pipes inside the torture room exploded, sending a jet of flame gushing into their arena. A chunk of the roof came loose from the sheer force of the explosion. This is bad.

 

Olivia hit her father in the chest with three stunning spells. He refused to stay down. If anything, the weak magic only made him angrier. The flames grew higher. Another pipe exploded. The room shook from side to side, as if some giant was rubbing it between his fingers. Yeojin’s eyes focused on her target, focused until it was just him and her in the room. She had to do this. She had to.

 

On dangerously unsteady feet, she limped over to Olivia’s side. The girl was shaking. Her face was streaked with tears. She wasn’t ready for this. Yeojin wasn’t even sure she was ready. Haseul turned wide eyes on the two of them. “Yeojin, what are you doing? Get out of here!”

 

Yeojin shook her head. “I’m not leaving you behind. And I’m not letting him get out of here alive.”

 

Haseul’s eyes got even wider. “You can’t be talking about killing him….Yeojin, the aurors are on their way! They’ll take care of this.”

 

Yeojin turned her eyes on Quinlan’s own. The man was on his knees now. He’d taken over a dozen stunning spells at this point, but he was still conscious. A man like that shouldn’t get to live.

 

“He killed Vivi.”

 

Haseul grimaced and tried to sit up, despite the chains. “I know. But you don’t have to be like him. You don’t have to do this.”

 

“I do. I made a promise.”

 

“The killing curse is an Unforgivable curse, Yeojin! If you kill him, it will stain your soul forever. It’s going to change you. Please...just take Olivia and go. I’ll follow you.”

 

Yeojin refused to acknowledge the tears dropping onto her collarbone. “I’m sorry, Haseul. I have to disappoint you.”

 

The monster chuckled, his bloodstained and tarnished face devoid of humanity. Forget that he taught her for the better part of a year. Forget all the funny jokes and all the good advice he had given her. Forget that this was a person in front of her. He was the one who had killed Vivi. He’d traumatized all of them beyond belief. He needed to die.

 

“HAHAHAHA! You’re going to perform the killing curse on me? You’re a second year, and that spell needs sincere intention to work correctly. You wouldn’t, even if you could.”

 

Yeojin shook her head and set into a grim line. Her tears dried quickly in the heat of the fire, but it didn’t stop her vision from blurring. She stepped forward and pressed her wand right into his forehead. He nodded. “Go ahead, give it a try, girl. I look forward to seeing it bounce back on you.”

 

Yeojin’s fingers shook on the handle of his wand. What was it he had he said in that memory? Avada Kedavra?

 

“A-avada--” She gasped and lowered her wand. She didn’t think she could do it. Talking about killing someone was very different from the reality of….of murder. She closed her eyes. The monster began to laugh again. A deep shame welled up inside of Yeojin’s stomach. She had failed.

 

“I’m here.” A soft voice, a whisper from another universe, found its way into Yeojin’s ear. Long, thin fingers laced themselves over hers. “You shouldn’t have to carry this alone. I’ll help you.”

 

Yeojin looked up, into dark eyes like mirrors. Olivia’s gaze was warm and comforting. It was the kind of look that told you everything was right with the world, even when it had gone dangerously, disastrously wrong. It was exactly what she needed.

 

Together, the two of them pointed the wand at Quinlan’s forehead. For the first time in the entire night, the man looked worried for his own safety. Some small part of Yeojin, deep down, relished the sight. “H-Hyejoo...sweetheart. I know you don’t want to do this. I love you, honey.”

 

Olivia shook her head. “No, you don’t. What you did to me...it isn’t love.”

 

Quinlan blanched. Yeojin’s grip on the wand tightened. This was it. The vital moment. Everything was going to change.

 

Yeojin looked to Olivia for strength. She nodded, and as one, they whispered, “Avada Kedavra.”

 

The monster didn’t even have time to scream before a jet of green light flew straight into his skull.  He froze that way, mouth open and eyes wide like some grotesque statue. It was an image Yeojin knew she would never forget.

 

Yeojin took a deep, shuddering breath and let the wand fall to the floor alongside its deceased owner. She’d done it. She’d kept her promise. She knew she should feel satisfied, feel relieved, feel something after killing the monster, after slaying the dragon, but if she was being honest with herself, all she felt was tired.

 

Olivia put a steadying hand on her back. The chains that had bound Haseul to the floor disappeared. The flames, too. But the damage was already done. The chamber and the tunnel both continued shaking ominously, chunks of stone dislodging themselves from the roof and falling to the floor with a crash.

 

Haseul didn’t say a word as she climbed to her feet. She just looked at Yeojin, her eyes filled with the worst possible thing Yeojin could see at that moment: pity. Yeojin wanted to say something, to tell her that she didn’t need her pity. All she needed was a little bit of understanding. But meaningful words were difficult things at the best of times, and this was damn near the worst.

 

“Hey, we need to get moving before the roof collapses on us.” Jungeun groaned. She was holding the roof up with a spell streaming from the tip of her wand. The older girl was struggling beneath the weight of the tunnel. Haseul grabbed Yeojin beneath her armpit and dragged her up the stairs. Olivia followed close behind. She never took her eyes off of Quinlan’s corpse.

 

The room shook again, hard enough to knock Yeojin over. Jungeun fell down to one knee, the massive chunks of stone that had formerly served as the roof of the tunnel slipped further down. Sweat creased Jungeun’s brow. She jutted her chin out at Yeojin. “H-hurry. I c-can’t hold it for much longer.”

 

Yeojin bit her lip and struggled to her feet. With Haseul’s help, she managed to crawl past Jungeun and the collapsing section of tunnel. Olivia took a little longer because of the limp she’d earned in the fight with Quinlan. Jungeun slipped all the way down onto her back. The tunnel became extremely narrow, with only a tiny gap for Olivia to slip through. Olivia began to panic. “Yeojin, please… I can’t...I’ll get stuck.”

 

Yeojin shook her head. “No, you won’t.”

Olivia took a step back. “I will…” She rubbed her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I should stay here. It’s where I belong.”

 

Yeojin’s eyebrows ascended. “What?!”

 

Olivia nodded, her gaze on the ground. “It’s my fault she’s dead. I should stay here with the rest of them. I’m not a good person, Yeojin. I’m not worth saving.”

 

Yeojin’s response was immediate and volatile. “No. That’s not true. You deserve to live a life without him in your life.”

 

Olivia mumbled something under her breath.

“What? I didn’t hear you!”

 

Olivia looked up and said, “I’m scared. Small spaces scare me. I c-can’t.”

 

Yeojin got down on her hands and knees and squeezed through the crawlspace. “Yes, you can. Now, come on. Take my hand.”

 

Jungeun screamed in pain and the collection of rocks shook once more. “A little speed would be appreciated!”

 

Olivia furrowed her brow. She took a step forward, but she hesitated inches away from Yeojin’s hand. Yeojin did her best approximation of a smile. She certainly didn’t feel like smiling, but if it was what Olivia needed…

 

“Hey. We’re in this together, remember? You helped me, I help you.”

 

That seemed to get to her. Olivia took Yeojin’s hand and Haseul pulled both of them back through the hole. When they were safely on the other side, Haseul nodded at Jungeun. “Okay. Now, just try to back up, and…”

 

Jungeun slipped and the roof slipped with her. There were a matter of inches now between her and the stones. It didn’t look like there was any way out of here without her getting crushed underneath. “I think I’m pretty much stuck here, Seulie. As soon as I let go of this, the entire tunnel’s gonna let go to. Unless you’re outside when it happens...god. There’s no chance, is there? I’m not gonna see her again. I’m never going to have a chance to apologize.” Jungeun shook her head. “I’m sorry, Haseul. I’m sorry I never treated you right.”

 

Haseul crouched down and ran a hand across Jungeun’s cheek. “You did your best, Jungeun. I wish we had more time.” Yeojin couldn’t see Haseul’s face from where she was standing, but the sound of sobbing was unmistakable. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

 

Jungeun sighed. The roof trembled inside the cone of influence. “Let her know…”

 

Haseul nodded. “She already knows, Jungeun. You know it too, right?”

 

Jungeun nodded silently and squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears fall free.

 

Haseul gave her one last pat on the head and then she was walking back towards Yeojin and Olivia. Yeojin raised her eyebrows and her voice. “You’re just going to leave her there? But she’ll die!”

 

Haseul shook her head. “She’s doing what she has to protect us. I can only do the same. Come on.”

 

Yeojin tried to cry out, to stop her from leaving Jungeun behind, but she realized that she was right. This was their one and only chance to escape. Yeojin tried to muster up some tears, to let Haseul know just what this meant to her, but her eyes remained dry. She’d cried herself out for the night.

 

Yeojin tried to run back, to say some kind of final goodbye to Jungeun, the first person to really make her feel comfortable in the world of magic. She was so important to Yeojin, important beyond words. But Haseul grabbed her and pushed back, towards the entrance and escape. “No, please.” The words were hardly a whisper. Jungeun was a rapidly shrinking yellow dot in the distance as Haseul carried her out of the tunnel. Her voice was hoarse. She didn’t think she could muster a shout if she tried.

 

Instead, Yeojin buried her face in Haseul’s shoulder and whispered, “Jungeun.Jungeun. Jungeun...” The roof didn’t collapse until they were well out of the tunnel, but Yeojin never stopped whispering her name. Even when the aurors came with their emergency clerics, she didn’t stop whispering. “Jungeun. Jungeun...Jungeun…”

 

Even as she faded into unconsciousness, Jungeun’s name never left her lips. Maybe she thought it would somehow keep her alive, or failing that, keep her memory alive.

 

Maybe...she could just close her eyes and wake up in a warm bed a week ago. Maybe the universe would be kind, this time. This one time.

 

CLEAN BEDS, DIRTY SOULS

 

The universe’s only kindness came in the form of a deep, dreamless sleep for Yeojin. As she awoke in a clean, sterile looking room, she was thankful for that. She was sure that if she had dreamt, her mind would’ve only tortured her with images of Vivi and Jungeun. She was alone in the room except for the lightly snoring shape of Haseul in a chair next to the bed. The hospital. They’d taken them to the hospital. Of course.

 

Yeojin sat up in bed. The devices they’d hooked her up to weren’t invasive at all- and they certainly weren’t electronic. She actually couldn’t even read the functions on the monitor next to her bed. Except for the beeping. She knew that one was for her heart. The beat was surprisingly steady, even after all she had experienced.

 

“Haseul.”

 

The girl continued sleeping. Yeojin hated to wake her up, but she needed help getting out of the bed. “Wake up!”

 

Haseul’s eyes snapped open and she started. As soon as she realized where she was and who had woken her up, she was at Yeojin’s side. “How are you feeling, Yeojin?”

 

Yeojin shook her head. Terrible. But she knew that wasn’t what Haseul wanted to hear, so she told her a half-truth. “Better than I was.”

 

Haseul beamed at her and pulled the younger girl into the tightest hug of her life. “I’m so glad, Yeojin. I’m so glad you’re okay. Some of the others…” She looked away. Yeojin put a hand on her shoulder. “Is Jungeun…”

 

Haseul bit her lip and looked down. Yeojin had never seen someone look so guilty before. “She’s alive.”

 

Yeojin grinned. “That’s great! Where is she?”

 

Haseul gave Yeojin a warning look, as if to say, ‘Please don’t ask me that. Ask me anything you like, but not that.’ Yeojin’s grip tightened on Haseul’s shoulder. “Haseul. What’s wrong with Jungeun?”

 

Haseul stood up. “Let me call a nurse so they can take you off of these things. Then we can go see the others.”

 

“Haseul, please!”

 

She looked away, crossing her arms over her chest stoically. “I can’t...I can’t say it out loud, Yeojin. You need to see for yourself. And you’re going to need to be very strong. Okay?” Her voice broke a little towards the end. Clearly she was having some trouble keeping up her own strong front. Yeojin felt a deep dread settle into her stomach. Just what was she going to find when she entered Jungeun’s hospital room?

 

The nurse, accompanied by a medical wizard-- a cleric, whatever-- apparated into the room. After the doctor ran his wand over Yeojin’s body for a few seconds, she was free to go. Apparently, they’d cleared up all of her injuries while she was asleep. Convenient.

 

Haseul didn’t say much as the two of them made their way down the hall to yet another hospital room. She asked Yeojin if she was okay to walk, and then she told her that they were going to see Jinsoul first. She’d been asleep as long as Yeojin had.

 

Haseul held the door to Jinsoul’s room open, and Yeojin stepped into a nearly identical room as the one she had just departed. The only difference was that Jinsoul was hooked up to a bag of red fluid that wasn’t quite blood. Some kind of potion for blood cell growth, probably. Choerry, Heejin and Hyunjin were sitting by her side, watching her expectantly. Choerry’s eyes were red.

 

Hyunjin waved at them as they stepped in. Heejin forced a smile onto her face and did much the same. Choerry just stared at Jinsoul’s unconscious form, chin resting on both hands. Yeojin sat next to Choerry and joined her in waiting.

 

A few minutes passed before Jinsoul opened her eyes. She shocked awake, hands reaching out for something that wasn’t there. “Oh my god. Did we...are we alive?”

 

Choerry nodded and wrapped her arms around Jinsoul’s neck. Jinsoul did a double take. “Yerim? You’re alive?” Choerry whispered something into Jinsoul’s neck that Yeojin couldn’t quite hear, but it must have been ‘yes’, because Jinsoul’s response was “Then Jungeun is…”

 

Haseul stepped forward. “She’s alive.”

 

Jinsoul arched an eyebrow. “Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”

Choerry pulled away and shook her head. “It’s...Jinsoul. She wanted me to let you know that she loved you, and that she was--”

 

Jinsoul shook her head. “No. She’s alive...I need to see her. I need to see her right now.”

 

Haseul raised her hands. “Jinsoul, that might not be the best idea right now--”

Jinsoul snapped. “No, you! She’s alive and I’m going to see her. I’m going to see her and you can’t stop me.” She tore herself away from the monitoring devices and hopped out of bed. The steady beeping turned into a high-pitched squeal. Jinsoul ripped the door open and stormed down the hall, opening every door she came across. The other girls followed her, five steps behind. Haseul looked worried. Finally, Jinsoul found the one she was looking for.

 

Yeojin could only watch as Jinsoul’s face contorted from relief into open-mouthed horror. She clapped both hands over and let out a muffled scream. Choerry raced into the room and pulled Jinsoul into a hug. The older girl cried into her shoulder. “No...no….it can’t...it can’t be like this…”

 

It took Yeojin a little longer to get into the room herself. Haseul had slowed down after Jinsoul had reached Jungeun’s room. Haseul stepped in first, ground her teeth together, and then she reluctantly let Yeojin enter the room. Yeojin gasped when she saw what was in the hospital bed.

 

The only reason Yeojin could tell it was Jungeun at all was because of the single lock of blonde hair emerging from beneath the cloth wrappings she was encased in. In truth, she looked a little bit like a mummy from one of those classic horror films. Only, mummies usually had all their limbs. Jungeun was missing an arm, and both of her legs looked absolutely flattened...there was probably no rescuing those. Her chest was caved in at an odd angle, and she had all sorts of tubes sticking out of her, pumping potions into her unconscious body. The beeping from the monitor was both slow and erratic.

 

“She’s in a coma.” Haseul’s words, prompted only by her thoughts. “They managed to dig her out of the tunnel, but she’s in a coma and they don’t know when or if she’ll ever wake up.” Yeojin looked up at her with wide, questioning eyes. “Magic can do a lot, but it can only ever go so far. This is the best they can do right now. If she was a muggle, she would be dead right now.” Haseul tried to keep the emotion out of her voice, but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

 

Jinsoul pulled herself away from Choerry and took a seat next to her comatose girlfriend. She took Jungeun’s remaining hand in both of hers and put it up against her forehead. “Oh god. This isn’t fair. I thought you were dead, Jungeun, and then I find out you’re alive, but you might not ever wake up? It’s like a sick joke.” She sobbed. “Oh god. I love you too, Jungeun. I love you, even if you can’t hear me.” She leaned onto the bed until her face was right next to Jungeun’s, her lips against her ear. The Ravenclaw swallowed, hard. And then she whispered, “My heart beats for you, Jungeun. Do me a favor and try to do the same, please? I’ll wait for you as long as it takes.”

 

Haseul tugged on Yeojin’s hand and led her away from the room, leaving the three girls alone in their grief. Yeojin had thought that all her tears had been shed earlier, but the drops running down her cheeks proved her a liar.

 

Haseul grabbed Yeojin by the shoulders. Her warm brown eyes made Yeojin feel a little better, even in all this misery. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Yeojin. I tried...I don’t know. Maybe I was wrong. There’s still one more room to visit. Are you sure you want to keep going? We can stop if you’re uncomfortable.”

 

Yeojin shook her head. “No. I want to see them.”

 

Haseul nodded and then stood up, draping one arm over Yeojin’s shoulders. “Let’s go, then.”

 

The last room was at the very end of the hall, in what seemed to be the quietest part of the hospital. Yeojin could still hear Jinsoul crying, even from this distance.

 

Yeojin opened the door this time,  and was greeted by the sight of Chaewon, Jiwoo and Sooyoung all waving hi to her. Sooyoung had a big bandage around the top of her head, but she seemed otherwise fine. Chaewon, on the other hand…the girl was smiling with the rest of them, but she was clearly still having trouble with her legs.

 

“Hey, Yeojin! Hi Haseul! How are you two doing?” Jiwoo spoke first, a bright smile on her face.

 

Haseul smiled, and there was a little bit of honesty to it this time. “I’m okay. We’re okay. How are you?”

 

Jiwoo smiled. “I feel great. Sooyoung’s okay, too. The clerics were able to fix the cracks in her skull in time to avoid, uh, brain damage. She’s still going to have to stay here for at least another week in order to give the potions time to take full effect. Chaewon is…”

 

Chaewon waved her away, a thin smile on her face.“I can speak for myself. So…” She looked down at her legs. “It turns out that that bastard was using a cursed spear. A really powerful cursed spear. So this...this is permanent. I’m going to need a wheelchair for the rest of my natural life. I’m...I’m ing paralyzed.”  She didn’t stop smiling, even as the tears fell from her eyes. Sooyoung pulled the younger girl into a hug and rubbed the top of her head. “Shhh. Shhh, honey.” Yeojin sat on the bed and joined in the hug. Shortly afterwards, Haseul and Jiwoo did the same. “We’re all here for you.” That only caused Chaewon to cry harder.

 

A few minutes later, they all pulled away. Chaewon dabbed at her tears with the edge of her blanket. “Thank you.” She looked at each of them in turn, and Yeojin’s heart broke. She saw how hurt she was, how damaged, and she couldn’t help but want to scream at the heavens, to scream how unfair all this was, to scream that she wanted out. But this was the harsh reality, the reality where one of her best friends would never get to walk again, the reality where one of her best friends was dead and another might never ever wake up.

 

Yeojin quietly backed out of the room and into the hallway. There was one more person, one girl she hadn’t seen in any of the rooms. She could tell which room she was in by the sheer number of Aurors gathered at the entrance. Yeojin tried to slip in, but a female auror stopped her with one hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Kiddo. You can’t go in there.”

Yeojin glared at the woman. “Why not?”

 

The woman pursed her lips. “Because the girl inside this room is an accomplice to tonight’s crimes. We’re discussing her options right now. Add to that her use of an unforgivable curse, and it’s just a whole mess.”

Yeojin furrowed her brow and took a step back. Olivia had taken the fall for her? She’d taken full responsibility for Yeojin’s crime. Yeojin couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

 

“She’s a victim of abuse. I mean, she went through the most horrible abuse imaginable, and he--he forced her to comply. He forced her to hurt us. She's not...she can't be held responsible. Did you know that?”

 

The woman nodded. “Yes, she did mention that, and we’re taking it into consideration, but there have to be consequences. She still helped Thomas Quinlan kill your friend. There's no escaping that fact."

Yeojin frowned bitterly. She was right, of course. She’d helped Quinlan, unwillingly, but she’d helped him all the same. Vivi might be alive right now if it weren’t for her. But Yeojin couldn’t bring herself to hate the girl. She just couldn’t. On some level, she just understood Olivia. She wanted her to have a chance to get better, to redeem herself. And if Olivia could reach redemption, then maybe, just maybe, Yeojin could too.

 

Yeojin gave the woman one last look and headed back down the hall, hands in her pockets and her head full of dark thoughts.

 

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

 

Everyone who could be there was there. Yeojin had expected a sea of black, but what she got instead was barely a river. There were maybe eighteen people there, all watching her body get lowered into the ground. It wasn’t what she deserved. No, she had deserved much better.

 

Instead she was being lowered into the ground in a tiny wooden box. Dead at seventeen. Yeojin used to about being the oldest member of their group. She’d called her things like grandma, old lady, and even mom a couple of times. But she was dead, and now she’d never get to be any of those things. It just wasn’t fair.

 

Haseul was next to her. The older girl had been ominpresent at her side over the last couple of weeks. She was worried. Maybe she had reason to be. Yeojin was tearing herself apart, trying to come to terms with what she did that night. She had come no closer.

 

Haseul squeezed her shoulder. “You alright? You look a little pale.”

 

Yeojin shook her head but did not speak. Haseul pulled her into a hug. She was a compulsive hugger now. The old Yeojin might have found the gestures nice, even comforting, but the new Yeojin just thought it was irritating. She was like an older sister...well, she was Yeojin’s older sister, now. It was official. Haseul, her parents and the Ministry had arranged it all. It was about as good as things could have gone after that night, so why did Yeojin feel so angry? Angry at Haseul, angry at the world, angry at whatever cruel god had let this happen to her...it was practically the only thing she felt nowadays.

 

Even as Haseul left her side to say a few words for Vivi’s eulogy, she felt anger. Other people cried. She fumed.

 

Haseul took the stage, the winter sun hanging low in the sky behind her. The sun’s light cast a soft white halo around her head. She looked like an angel. Yeojin let her eyes focus on Vivi’s parents as they mourned their only daughter. Vivi looked so much like her mom, it was scary. The woman was doing her best to keep it together, but her dad...her dad was hard to look at. He was red faced and sobbing, and if Yeojin was being honest, he looked ready to fall apart at the slightest provocation. Yeojin looked away and frowned deeply.

 

Haseul gripped the sides of the podium with both hands, as if her life depended upon it. Her face was calm, almost serene, but she was barely keeping up the facade. The older girl took a deep, shuddering breath before exhaling, breath that turned white in the cold winter air.

 

“I remember the first day I met Vivi. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It was her first day in Hogwarts. It was actually her first day in the UK. She didn’t speak all that much English, and she was scared. Really, quite terrified of all these new people and all these new places. But she was always polite, always courteous to everyone she met and especially to me. I tried my best to do the same. I helped her develop her vocabulary, I helped her find friends in an unfamiliar face, and in turn, she was a good friend to me. I couldn’t ask for more.” Haseul sighed and readjusted her grip on the podium. “I was so happy at her graduation. She was going places. You know her dream was to help repopulate the rainforests? She wanted to use her magic to help life grow.” She slammed the palm of her hand against the side of the podium. “I hate that her life was cut short by that monster. I hate that life’s taken us all down this dark road. I wake up, every day and I just remember that she’s dead and it’s just...suffocating.” Haseul didn’t cry, but she was verging on it. Her voice was shaky and uneven. She sniffled and wiped her nose. “I’m sorry. This isn’t about me. This is a day to remember Vivi. So...remember her. Remember her smile, her kindness and her desire to do good. Do something good in her name. It’s what she’d want.”

 

Haseul walked off the stage to join the rest of the black river below, but Yeojin was no longer paying attention. She’d spotted someone at the edge of her vision, someone she very much wanted to talk to. Yeojin checked to make sure Haseul wasn’t looking, and then she was slipping  through the crowd.

 

A solid hand stopped her in place. Yeojin looked up into Jinsoul’s tear streaked face. She didn’t look like a friend. “If you’re going up there to talk to that , you better make sure it’s to tell her to off or we are not speaking.” Her eyes widened as Yeojin jerked backwards. “I’m serious. She’s dangerous. I know you think you two have some sort of connection, but she’s responsible for what happened to Vivi and to Jungeun. A person like that isn’t worth associating with.”

 

Yeojin pulled away from Jinsoul’s grasp and glared at the older girl. “You don’t understand. None of you understand.”

 

“I understand that you’re not thinking clearly and that that girl should be in Azkaban.” Jinsoul hissed. Rage had made her into a scary creature.

 

“Like I said, you don’t know anything. If you don’t mind, I’m going to talk to Olivia. “

 

Yeojin tried to walk past Jinsoul, but the other girl pushed her back. “No, you’re not. She’s not your friend, Yeojin. And if you go up there, I won’t be. Not anymore. I can’t see you destroy yourself.”

 

Yeojin shrugged, rage prickling the back of . She wanted to say something nasty, to start a fight, but Yeojin knew she would regret it. So instead, she just said, “Then look away. I don’t need friends who don’t support me.” Yeojin pushed past Jinsoul, and some part of her relished the shocked look on Jinsoul’s face. Another part felt a twinge of guilt. Jinsoul had just lost her girlfriend, after all. But Yeojin needed to see her.

 

The girl in question stood at the top of the hill, arms crossed behind her back. She looked troubled, but then, they all did. They all were. Yeojin climbed the last part of the hill in a hurry and took a seat next to Olivia. The older girl didn’t acknowledge her, not right away. She was humming a very familiar tune. It took Yeojin a minute to realize it was the song she’d sung to Vivi just before her death.

 

“She’s right, you know. I’m not a good person. I was so surprised when the only thing they did was expel me from Hogwarts and take my wand away. I deserve to rot in some far off place for what I helped him do.”

 

Yeojin put her hand on top of Olivia’s. The girl turned her dark eyes on Yeojin’s own, questions burning in her gaze. “He might have been your father, but you are not him. He forced you to hurt people, to hurt yourself. But you’re free now. You have a chance to change things. You should take it.”

 

Olivia nodded, her hair lifted gently on the cold winter winds. “I wish I could. I don’t even know where to start when it comes to making things right.”

 

Yeojin squeezed her hand and smiled. “You can start with me. I’ll help.”

 

It came then, as unexpected as snowfall on a summer’s day and twice as delightful. Olivia’s lips quirked up and up and up until she too was smiling. They were two of a kind now, and as lonely as the thought was, it brought Yeojin some comfort to know that Olivia was with her.