Chaeyoung hated Myrtle’s bathroom for multiple reasons. The most obvious being the fact that it was haunted by a pretty unpleasant ghost. Chaeyoung was of the opinion that no one deserved to be judged solely by their first impression, because everyone had layers, but she’d been at this school for two years and she still couldn’t get any further with Myrtle other than mild tolerance. Tzuyu had suggested an exorcism and honestly Chaeyoung had genuinely considered it for a minute.

The second reason was the bathroom, it was usually flooded and in terrible condition. The third, and most important right now, was that Dahyun used it as her go to place to do stuff she didn’t want the teachers knowing about.

She hadn’t seen her best friend all day, and Tzuyu was also suspiciously absent. So when she opened the door to the bathroom and heard familiar voices arguing, she wasn’t even surprised.

Thankfully, there was no sign of Myrtle anywhere. At this time of the day she was usually roaming through the pipes, although she did enjoy popping up and surprising students whenever the mood hit her. One time she appeared in the mirror when Mina was washing her hands, and legend has it Mina actually screamed loud enough to shatter the glass. Chaeyoung knew that in truth Mina had actually punched the glass, but someone (Nayeon) convinced the first years that Mina was part banshee and that was why she never spoke too loudly. The rumour spread, and now whenever they wanted quiet in the common room all they had to do was get Mina to take a deep breath and open , and everyone would run away in fear. Chaeyoung felt bad for Mina at first, but she actually seemed to prefer it this way.

She found them at the end of the left row of stalls, where the room was darkest. There was a cauldron boiling over a small fire, and Chaeyoung wrinkled her nose at the smell. It was like wet dog hair combined with vinegar, and she was amazed that her two friends weren’t bothered by it. Then again, they were in the middle of a rather heated debate.

“You have to stir it clockwise twice before adding the eye of newt, that’s what every book in the library says to do!”

“Who’s the potion expert here? If I add the newt in now then stir it counter clockwise, it’ll turn out better. Trust me.”

“I’d trust you if you had a reliable source!”

“My source is I’m older and I know better than you!”

“Oh wow, the third year suddenly thinks she’s a qualified potions master!”

“The second year thinks that reading the whole school library makes her the law on newt stirring!”

Chaeyoung cleared , and they both whirled around to look at her. Dahyun’s animated expression immediately melted into a sheepish smile.

“Hey Chaeng.” She shuffled in front of the potion as if Chaeyoung hadn’t already seen it. “This isn’t what it looks like, I swear.”

“No?” Chaeyoung walked over and glanced into the cauldron. “So it’s not you trying to create the potion needed to become an Animagus?”

Dahyun glared at Tzuyu, who threw her hands up in the air as if to say I didn’t snitch. Dahyun waved her hand as if to say then who told? and Tzuyu shrugged.

“How’d you find out?” Dahyun asked dejectedly.

“I know you.” Chaeyoung smirked. “And I knew from the second I told you I was a werewolf that you would try a dumb stunt like this. Also you were holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month, so obviously I did some research as to why you would do that. What I don’t get, is how you got Tzuyu to help.”

“Dahyun told me she was doing this and I realised that if I didn’t help she’d just do it anyway and probably mess it up.”

“Huh.” Chaeyoung leant away as the potion started to bubble. “Fair enough. That actually makes sense.”

“Hey!” Dahyun yelped. “I wouldn’t have messed it up! I’ve been brewing shady potions in this bathroom for over two years now, and not once have I gone wrong!”

Chaeyoung had to admit that Dahyun had a point. She was something of a Potion’s prodigy, with an instinct that couldn’t be taught via books. If she made this potion, it probably wouldn’t go wrong, and with Tzuyu helping with the research Dahyun actually had a chance of pulling the entire spell off.

But it was still a terrible idea.

“We considered getting Momo’s help too, since she’s another unregistered Animagus, but she’d probably try and talk us out of this.” Dahyun pouted. “They’ve all gotten so boring now that they’re in fourth year. We’re supposed to be Gryffindors! Daring and brave!”

“I think it’s more to do with Momo dating a Hufflepuff then with her being in fourth year.” Tzuyu put in. “Their house is all ‘stalwart and true’ or whatever. Can’t get more boring than that.”

“But Sana’s fun!” Dahyun protested. “She’d probably think this was awesome- which it is, by the way.”

She dropped the eye of newt into the cauldron, and Tzuyu put her head in her hands as Dahyun began to stir counter clockwise. Chaeyoung wasn’t too concerned; if Dahyun felt it was the right thing to do, then the potion would probably turn out better than the textbook version.

Unless Dahyun’s intuition was off this time and she ended up stuck in animal form. But since she clearly wasn’t talking Dahyun out of this, Chaeyoung didn’t want to think about all the ways this could go horribly wrong.

Bubbles started popping within the potion, and the bathroom tiles sizzled when droplets managed to escape the cauldron. Dahyun clapped her hands eagerly, like she wasn’t about to drink the wizarding equivalent of battery acid.

“It’s almost ready! Now I just need to get up to the Astronomy Tower and drink this. You have your invisibility cloak, right Chae?”

“Of course, I never leave the dorm without it anymore. But how did I get roped into helping you with this?”

“We’re a package deal. You know this by now.”

Unfortunately, Dahyun wasn’t lying. Ever since Chaeyoung’s first year when they met outside the Headmaster’s office after they’d both been sent there for defending kids from bullying, the two of them had become inseparable. Chaeyoung had been amazed that Dahyun was brave enough to deliberately craft a potion that would blow up in Professor Snape’s face, while Dahyun had been impressed that tiny first year Chaeyoung was willing to physically smack down anyone who dared call Tzuyu a mudblood. Despite the year gap between them, they soon became one of the most infamous duos at the school, and then a trio when Tzuyu gave up trying to stop their adventures and started tagging along to stop them from dying.

“You do realise that we could get expelled if we get caught?” Tzuyu asked tiredly, having never fully given up on trying to talk them out of dangerous stunts.

“You do realise that keeping the Chosen One locked in the Shrieking Shack alone every full moon is a dumb way to protect the prophesised saviour of the wizarding world? I mean, first they let you get bitten by a werewolf as a kid, and then they do this? If anything, the professors should be thanking me for voluntarily giving Chaeyoung backup!”

“And I’m sure you’ll tell that to McGonagall when she catches us sneaking around.” Chaeyoung shook her head. “But fine, since I’m the reason you’re doing this, I’ll smuggle you both to the Astronomy Tower.”

“Yes!” Dahyun cheered and high fived Tzuyu, who looked far less enthusiastic. “We should go as soon as possible, otherwise the lightning storm will pass and we’ll have to wait for the next one.”

“Just how complicated is this spell?”

“It was so hard to understand that I had to use my highlighters on the restricted library books.” Tzuyu said solemnly. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

“You monster.” Chaeyoung gasped, laughing when Tzuyu nodded seriously. “Come on, let’s squeeze in under the cloak.”

Dahyun dipped a vial into the potion, then corked it and stuffed it into her robes. Tzuyu winced, and Chaeyoung assumed Dahyun had made a minor mistake with the spell by doing that, but she was determined not to think too hard about all of this. If there was anything Chaeyoung had learnt from two years of being Dahyun’s friend, it was that consequences were not something she should worry about until they actually happened. It was better for her sanity to just go with the flow and enjoy the ride. Maybe Dahyun would become an Animagus today or maybe she’d turn herself into a cockroach and be unable to transform back on her own. Either way, what happened afterwards was something they’d deal with later.

“Try not to jostle the potion too much.” Tzuyu whispered as they started creeping towards the exit.

“Got it.” Dahyun said, and then immediately skidded on a wet tile.

Chaeyoung continued to forcefully not worry about it.

The lightning storm was dazzling. If Chaeyoung had worries, perhaps one of them would be that they were on the top on one of the tallest towers in Hogwarts, but since she didn’t worry, she just admired how the forked lightning looked on the horizon.

“We’re going to die.” Tzuyu muttered. “Death or expulsion, there are no other options.”

“Not with that attitude.” Dahyun grinned, pulling out the flask. “I just have to drink it now, right? Bottoms up?”

Lightning struck behind her, and Dahyun jumped. Her manic grin slipped for a second and Chaeyoung saw genuine fear in her eyes.

For once, she let herself worry.

“Dahyun wait! Don’t do this!”

“Huh?” Dahyun paused, the vial at her lips. “What? Why not?”

“Well for starters you have to chant the incantation one last time, even I know that. Also, you shouldn’t be doing this for me. Being a werewolf is something I’ve been dealing with for years, and I’m really grateful that you’ve been so supportive, but you don’t have to go this far!”

The lightning struck again behind them, making Chaeyoung’s entire speech even more dramatic than it already was. Dahyun didn’t look afraid anymore, but Chaeyoung couldn’t understand the look in her eyes and that scared her more than the storm and the sneaking around combined.

“You’re right, I don’t have to do this.” Dahyun slowly lowered the vial, and Chaeyoung breathed a sigh of relief. “But I want to. Amato Animo Animato Animagus!”

Dahyun swallowed the entire vial, grimacing a little at the taste. Chaeyoung’s mouth dropped open as the older girl slowly began getting smaller, her nose getting longer and her arms getting wider.

“What animal did she choose to change into?”

“She doesn’t get to choose.” Tzuyu had her head in her hands. “It’s determined by their personality and their soul. Personally, my money is on a dinosaur.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It’s Dahyun. I’ve stopped asking that question.”

The transformation finished, and the bird formally known as Dahyun let out a squawk. Both Chaeyoung and Tzuyu burst into laughter when they realised what she’d become.

“That dance is really going to follow you everywhere, isn’t it?” Chaeyoung giggled. “Of course you’d be an eagle.”

There was another squawk, and Dahyun tried to point one long feathered wing at them. They just laughed harder, and she flapped around them indignantly for a minute before she gave up and slowly began to morph back. It was a little disturbing to watch all the feathers retract back into her skin, but Dahyun didn’t seem to be in any pain, so Chaeyoung figured everything worked out alright in the end.

In hindsight, that was the moment where she probably jinxed it.

“What are you kids doing up here?”

Uh oh. Out of all their friends, Jeongyeon was the least likely to let them get away with this. Darn Hufflepuff prefect with her morals and rules and mom friend attitude.

“Yes! I still have my clothes!” Dahyun clearly hadn’t noticed her yet. “Mission success!”

“Dahyun.” Chaeyoung hissed.

“What?” She stopped patting her robes and looked up, straight into Jeongyeon’s glare. “Oh.”

“Anyone want to explain this?” Jeongyeon had her hands on her hips, which was her I-mean-business-no-memes-right-now pose. “This place is off limits this late at night, and do I even want to know what was in that vial?”

“I can explain.” Dahyun said quickly. “We…”

She looked at Chaeyoung, who just shrugged.

“We got lost?”

Tzuyu took Chaeyoung’s invisibility cloak and threw it over herself.

“Hey!” Jeongyeon yelled. “Don’t try to run Chou Tzuyu! I saw you clearly just now!”

“She’s probably already gone down the stairs.” Chaeyoung informed her helpfully.

“Not if I can help it!” Jeongyeon took off running, and Dahyun waved goodbye.

After a few seconds, Tzuyu took the cloak off and handed it back to Chaeyoung. She hadn’t moved an inch from where she’d been standing.

“I can’t believe that still works on her.”

“I’m glad it does. ‘We got lost?’ Really Dahyun?”

“Forget about her. She’ll probably write us up and the worst we’ll get is detention.”

“If we get detention I’m hexing you.” Tzuyu said calmly.

“Yeah yeah, you can yell at me later. Right now, can we just celebrate how I’m not partially deformed or anything? Full blown Animagus right here! I think I’m the youngest one in history actually.”

“I think the previous record was thirteen, so yeah, you are the youngest. Too bad no one can ever know since this is completely illegal.”

“It’s ok. As long as I know, that’s all that matters.” Dahyun beamed proudly, and Chaeyoung found herself truly relaxing.

It was over. Dahyun was alive, and not stuck as a rat or a cockroach. Sure, they probably had detention, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

“So, when’s the next full moon?" Dahyun asked cheerfully. "Two weeks right? Should we do a practice run tonight? Or maybe I can fly up to Professor Flitwick's office and try and get a peek at tomorrow's test!”

Tzuyu grabbed the invisibility cloak again, and this time Chaeyoung slipped under it as well.

“Hey! Guys, don’t leave me!" Dahyun yelled. "You know I still get confused by the moving staircases!”

When the next full moon came around, Madam Pomfrey escorted Chaeyoung to the Shrieking Shack as usual. She didn’t notice the eagle swooping around overhead, but Chaeyoung did, and she smiled.

Especially when the eagle got too close to the Whomping Willow and almost lost a few feathers. Chaeyoung almost gave the whole thing away when she couldn't stop giggling at Dahyun's angry bird calls.

Chaeyoung didn’t remember what happened after she transformed. Just like every month, one second she was alone and shivering with her pyjamas tucked away under a plank where the wolf couldn’t shred them, and the next second she was waking up on the floor with the sunlight starting to peek in between the holes in the wall.

Only this time, she wasn’t alone.

“Hey.” Dahyun said, handing Chaeyoung her pyjamas. “I woke up a minute ago and wasn’t sure whether to wake you up or just let you stay , so I got your clothes and then when I came back you were already awake.”

“For future reference, please wake me up.” Chaeyoung slipped on her clothes, wincing at the ache in her bones. “When did you get in last night? I don’t-”

She froze, a flash of memory coming back to her. An eagle flapping frantically in the top corner of the room, and Chaeyoung growling and snapping at it.

“Did I hurt you?”

“What? No.” Dahyun waved her hand dismissively. “You were pretty feisty, but I handled myself just fine. I mean, for the first few hours you just ran around trying to bite me, but the worst you managed to do was snag a few tail feathers. After that you calmed down, and by the end of the night I think I really bonded with your fursona.”

“Dahyun.”

“I know, you're not actually a furry.”

“Dahyun.”

“Chaeyoung.” Dahyun looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m fine. I’m not hurt, and I’m not scared. Next month, I’ll make more progress with wolfie, and by the end of the term she’ll be completely used to me, I promise.”

Chaeyoung sighed, but she couldn’t see any marks that would indicate Dahyun was lying. She nodded once, and Dahyun smiled gently at her.

“Come on.” She helped Chaeyoung off the floor. “Let’s get back before Tzuyu starts thinking you ate me.”

They crawled into the tunnel that led to the Whomping Willow. Dahyun kept her arms ready to steady Chaeyoung every time she slipped, her body still adjusting from the transformation.

“So, I had fun last night.” Dahyun said casually. “It was a pretty great first date, but maybe next time we can do something during the day. Fancy sneaking along to the next Hogsmeade trip?”

“Sure.” Chaeyoung said, and then she froze. “Wait, did you just ask me out?”

“I’ve been trying to do so since the beginning of the year, but yeah, thanks for finally noticing.”

"Oh." Chaeyoung took a moment to process that. “So that time on Valentine’s day…”

“The poem wasn’t meant to be about our bromance, but I couldn’t admit it because you looked so happy.”

“And last week? With the flowers?”

“Yeah.”

“And that time during the Quidditch match…”

“Tzuyu was supposed to start the fireworks in time but she got distracted with Jihyo and it all went wrong so I blew it off as a prank.”

“Oh.” Chaeyoung said. “Oh wow.”

“Yeah.”

There was silence in the tunnel.

“So… do you want to? Go on a date with me, I mean.” Dahyun cleared . “I mean, I joked about this being a date but you barely remember it so I didn’t really mean it, and if you want to stay friends that’s fine because I love you as my best friend and if you don’t want to try romance I get that. You don’t have to be my girlfriend straight away or anything but if you want to try a casual date I’d be super happy but like no pressure or anything I don’t want to make things awkward between us I mean I’m not even thirteen yet it’s not like I’m looking for anything serious maybe just hold hands or whatever I just couldn’t hide it any-”

“Dahyun.” Chaeyoung cut her off before she used up all the oxygen in the tunnel. “I would love to sneak out to Hogsmeade with you.”

“Really?” Even in the dimly lit tunnel, Dahyun’s smile was a ray of light. “Cool cool cool. I can’t believe that actually worked, wow.”

“I can’t believe I got my first girlfriend.”

“Really?” Dahyun laughed, then paused. “Wait, you mean me?”

“No, I mean Momo.” Dahyun looked even more confused. “Yes I mean you! I would love to hold your hand in the hallways and sneak off to cuddle on the benches by the lake and awkwardly learn how to kiss each other.”

“Kissing? Really?” Dahyun gulped.

“We’ll take it slow, obviously. I don’t think either of us really know how this works, but we can learn.”

“A new adventure.” Dahyun looked less nervous, a familiar grin on her face. “I like it. Let’s do it!”

“Right now? Because I can barely see you and I don’t think I can turn around without elbowing you in the face.”

“Ok, first we get out of the tunnel, then we start figuring out how girlfriending works!”

“Deal.” Chaeyoung laughed. “Tzuyu is going to be so annoyed she missed this. How many schemes did you rope her into to try and ask me out?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“That bad, huh?”

“One of the plans involved getting me into the Triwizard Tournament so I could ask you to the Yule Ball. Another involved her setting off this dark object to lure ogres into the castle so I could swoop in and save you.”

“No wonder she went along with the Animagus idea.”

“Yeah, the fursona option was medium bad on our list, but it worked out in the end.” Dahyun’s smile was smug, and Chaeyoung shouldn’t have found it so endearing.

“If we’re going to be dating, I do have one rule.” she warned.

“Sure.” Dahyun agreed immediately. “Anything you want.”

“Never say the word fursona again.”

“Sure thing, furry.”

“Dahyun!”

Their laughter echoed all the way down the tunnel