Why did I agree to this, this is a terrible idea, Mina mentally bemoaned, for not the first or last time that Friday evening. A sleepover— she must truly be delusional to think she could make it through something so painfully normal without exposing herself as the absolute loser she was.

The logical part of her brain had told her she should have said no as soon as Sana proposed the sleepover in the first place. But Momo had so much hope in her eyes, and Sana was looking at her in that unnerving way she did, like she perfectly understood what was going on in her brain. Mina didn’t want to disappoint them, and maybe to some degree she wanted to prove to herself that she could be “normal”.

That was all well and fine, of course, except for the fact that in her abject panic on her way out the door of her room she’d decided to bring with her a small box that was tucked under her bed. In the moment, it’d seemed perfectly rational— sure, Mina had spent a decent amount of time with the two Hufflepuffs, but not as much time as she’d be spending with them tonight. What if the conversation dried up, and they had nothing left to talk about, and it just became painfully awkward?

Wanting to avoid that hypothetical situation, Mina impulsively decided to bring the said box with her, hoping that it would perhaps serve as a conversation starter if necessary. Now, however, as she neared closer and closer to the Hufflepuff common room, she just felt foolish. Why would Sana and Momo care about a random momento from her past? Mina wished she hadn’t brought it, but it was too late to turn back now.

When Mina rounded the corner towards the Hufflepuff common room, she immediately spotted Sana and Momo standing in front of the entrance, talking quietly to each other. It was pure instinct that made Mina freeze for a moment, heart sinking in her chest— are they talking about me? As she neared, however, it was increasingly obvious that Momo was simply complaining about something that had happened at her Quidditch practice.

When the two Hufflepuffs caught sight of Mina approaching, both of their faces lit up with easy smiles. Mina outright refused to analyze the way her stomach flipped whenever they looked at her like that— it meant nothing, she was sure of it.

Sana tilted her head down, her smile widening as she noticed what Mina was wearing. “I like your pajamas,” she complimented, both her and Momo giggling.

Mina looked down as well, blushing at her blue penguin print pajama set. Sana and Momo had instructed her in passing the other day to make sure she wore something comfortable, and utilizing her minimal knowledge of sleepovers, Mina eventually decided this set was her best option.

Now, however, standing in front of the two girls, Mina just felt like an idiot. Sana and Momo were dressed in matching dark blue tracksuits, a far cry from Mina’s childish penguin pajamas. How old was she, anyway? “I know it’s dumb, I’m sorry,” Mina mumbled under her breath, shrinking into herself.

“Don’t be silly!” Sana insisted, tapping Mina’s arm until she looked up at her. The Hufflepuff smiled, tipping her head to the side in that way of hers that instantly made Mina’s nerves quiet down. “It’s not dumb, they’re really cute.”

Momo nodded as well, “Penguins suit you!”

Although she still felt a little out of place, Mina allowed herself to relax at least somewhat. It was embarrassing, too, that she always jumped to conclusions like this. Sana and Momo had never shown any unkindness to Mina— or to anyone as far as she knew, really— ever since she’d known them, so logically, she should be able to trust that they had good intentions. Mina wanted to trust them, and maybe in some capacity she did. She was here, wasn’t she? Giving them a chance? Still, there was the lingering sense of apprehension that kept her constantly tense, as if she were waiting for them to turn on her at any given moment.

Perhaps anticipating that Mina was about to apologize again, Sana explained, “I wanted to wear my hamster onesie, but Momo here begged me to match with her.” She rolled her eyes in Momo’s direction, crossing her arms with a pout.

Momo released an offended gasp and shoved Sana slightly, “Liar! I didn’t beg at all! All I said was—“

“‘Satang, can you pleeeeease match with me?’” Sana whined in what was actually a fairly accurate imitation of Momo’s voice, batting her eyelashes. “‘I want to look cool to impress M—‘“

The older Hufflepuff shrieked and immediately clapped a hand over Sana’s mouth, eyes wide in horror. “Ignore her, please,” Momo smiled apologetically at Mina, who was trying to contain the laughter building in .

To save Sana from her best friend’s wrath, Mina suggested quietly, “Should we go inside?”

Momo hummed in agreement, shooting Sana a warning glare as she slowly removed her hand from the girl’s mouth. Sana simply grinned innocently, pursing her lips to blow an air kiss in Momo’s direction.

In order to enter the Hufflepuff common room, one apparently had to tap a pile of barrels next to a large painting in a certain rhythm. Mina watched with interest as Sana did so with practiced ease, resulting in one of the barrels swinging open. An earthen tunnel was revealed, Sana and Momo leading the way through into the main room. Mina barely had time to appreciate the warmth and coziness of the room before she was being tugged by her hand in the direction of the girls’ dormitory.

Sana and Momo’s room looked quite similar to Mina’s, different only in the color scheme and the plants scattered about the room in wall sconces. There was a large pile of assorted snacks and board games on one of the beds, and when Mina turned to glance at the girls inquisitively, they grinned.

“I convinced the house elves in the kitchen to let me sneak away some snacks,” Momo explained proudly.

“And Jeongyeon let me borrow some of her board games!” Sana added.

Although the snacks were, of course, tempting, Mina naturally gravitated toward the board games. There were the wizarding classics, like wizard’s chess and Gobstones, but she also spotted a few boxes that she didn’t recognize. Monopoly… Was that some kind of Muggle game? Her curiosity getting the better of her, Mina set aside what she was carrying in order to give a closer inspection to the unfamiliar game.

“Oh, I’ve played that one before!”

Mina jumped at the sudden sound of Sana’s voice right next to her ear. She’d been so absorbed in looking at the games that she hadn’t even heard the girl approach, but now she turned slightly to face her.

“Momoring and I played it with the kids once,” Sana explained further— “kids” referring to Chaeyoung, Dahyun, and Tzuyu, Mina presumed, even if they were only one school year younger. The Hufflepuff frowned over at her best friend, and they both shook their head at the memory.

“Chewy slaughtered us,” Momo recalled glumly.

Obviously the girls didn’t seem enthusiastic about this particular game, so swallowing back her curiosity, Mina leaned over to place the box back onto the pile. Before she could do so, however, she felt Sana pressing against her from behind to reach around and lightly grip her wrist. When Mina’s head twisted around to give the girl a questioning look, she almost squeaked at the now incredibly close proximity of their faces.

Sana offered an encouraging smile. “We can play this, if you want.”

“We don’t have to, it doesn’t matter—“ Mina began to weakly protest, but Sana was already taking the box from her hands and passing it to Momo.

“Monopoly it is!”

———

As it turned out, Mina was amazing at games— within a couple of rounds, the Ravenclaw was already running laps around Sana and Momo despite having just learned the rules of the game. It wasn’t the girl’s intelligence that surprised Momo anymore (she’d already been witness to that time and time again), but rather, the competitive streak Mina possessed.

Mina’s style of playing could be described as nothing short of ruthless. When she finally put Sana and Momo out of their misery by winning, Mina’s beaming gummy smile prevented Momo from being annoyed by the loss.

“I think the Sorting Hat made a mistake by putting you into Ravenclaw,” Momo complained teasingly, flopping into Sana’s side. “After this, I’m convinced you’re a Slytherin.”

Mina released a laugh, shrugging her shoulders. “I just really like games,” she admitted quietly.

“You must love Quidditch, then,” Momo said conversationally, beginning to help Sana pick up the pieces of the game. “Were you on the Mahoutokoro team? I heard they were amazing, with a perfect season last year except for their final match.”

Momo didn’t see anything wrong with her comment until she felt Sana stiffen next to her. Glancing up, she immediately noticed how Mina had gone a little pale, her eyes trained on the ground.

Shoot. Sana had warned her to be careful with what she said about anything Quidditch slash broom related around Mina— from what they’d heard, it was a sensitive subject for the girl, and they didn’t want to scare her away. Momo opened to apologize, but Mina spoke before she could.

“I-I guess I wouldn’t know,” she replied, playing with one of the little metal figurines from the game. “I don’t play, I mean, I haven’t played Quidditch before.” Mina’s words were uncharacteristically fumbled, with what Momo guessed were nerves.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume,” Momo apologized, feeling guilty for making the younger student uncomfortable.

Mina shrugged, and now her expression changed to be that of slight embarrassment. “No, it’s fine, I get it,” she hurried to assure. (Typical Mina, Momo thought. Wanting to make me feel better.) After a beat, Mina continued, “I am decent at flying, though. Have had a lot of practice, you know?” She smiled slowly, and Momo may not be as perceptive as Sana, but even she could see clear as day the sadness in Mina’s eyes.

Maybe to lighten the mood (she was always so good at that), Sana whined, “I don’t even know how to fly!”

Knowing quite well the story Sana was about to tell, Momo couldn’t help but grin, fully leaning back to rest her head comfortably in the girl’s lap.

“Doesn’t Hogwarts have mandatory flying classes?” Mina asked, frowning as she folded up the Monopoly board and tucked it back into the box.

Sana released a heavy, dramatic sigh. “We do, but I never really learned anything. All that class gave me was a concussion,” she explained sulkily, one of her hands absentmindedly beginning to pet Momo’s hair.

This explanation just served to confuse Mina even further, unsurprisingly. “Um… How, exactly?”

They’d told the story so many times (to anyone who’d listen, really) that Momo knew this was her part of the tale to recount. “Well,” she began, shrugging innocently, “Sana was having trouble so I told her to get onto my broom with me. And—“

“—the broom was wobbly with both of us on it, so we crashed and knocked our heads together,” Sana finished with another sigh.

“Madam Hooch screamed at us for, like, an hour,” Momo recalled, grimacing at the memory.

Mina burst out laughing at the story, both Hufflepuffs teasingly glaring at her.

“It’s not funny!” Sana insisted, pouting.

Momo admitted, “C’mon, it is pretty funny.” She looked up at Sana’s face from her position in the girl’s lap, reaching up a hand to poke at Sana’s cheeks. Suddenly getting an idea, Momo rolled onto her side to beam up at Mina. “Hey, maybe we could go down to the Quidditch pitch tomorrow! You could help me teach Sana how to fly, and maybe give me a few pointers?” she asked hopefully. “I could even explain the rules of Quidditch, if you want.” Momo knew that she was once again bringing up a sensitive subject, but maybe it’d be good for Mina to step out of her comfort zone a little.

It seemed Mina was quite taken aback by Momo’s proposal, a little “oh” escaping in surprise. After a pause, the Ravenclaw answered somewhat apologetically, “I don’t really fly anymore...“

Trying not to feel too disappointed, Momo immediately nodded, assuring, “That’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

She couldn’t help but wonder what Mina meant when she said she didn’t fly anymore. Did that mean that something happened, and that was the reason why? Momo knew better than to ask about it, not wanting to pry, but she was still curious. Maybe just being the kid of a famous broom maker was enough to ruin the whole experience for Mina, for all Momo knew.

“But I guess…”

Momo looked up at Mina again, having not expected the girl to add more to her answer.

Mina was biting her lip in uncertainty, probably having one of those ‘mental battles’ that Sana explained she tended to have. Both Hufflepuffs gave her a moment to finish her thought, and after a short time, she continued, “I guess we could do that, though.”

“Are you sure?” Sana prompted gently. Even without looking at her face, Momo could hear the worry interlaced in her best friend’s voice. Sana was always looking out for everyone, always mindful of their emotions. She truly didn’t have a mean bone in her body— Sana had many amazing qualities, but Momo thought that one might be her favorite.

“Yeah,” Mina agreed, nodding and offering them a small smile. “It’ll be fun.”

Momo returned the smile in full, sitting up excitedly. “It’s a plan!” she proclaimed, spreading her arms wide. She tossed a smirk in Sana’s direction, teasing, “Let’s see if you can learn flying properly this time, minus the concussion.”

“That concussion was your fault!” Sana whined, standing up and pushing at Momo’s shoulder with a foot. She smiled sweetly in Mina’s direction, “I bet Mina will be a much better teacher!”

Momo gasped in faux offense, standing up as well. She pointed a finger threateningly in Sana’s direction. “You take that back, Minatozaki, or so help me!” she growled, trying to hide the smile itching at the corner of her lips.

Sana simply stuck out her tongue and turned to Mina who was still sitting on the floor, offering the girl a hand up.

Still grumbling to herself, Momo picked up the Monopoly board and walked over to the bed to put it back on the pile with the other games. About to join the two other girls again, Momo stopped when she caught sight of an unfamiliar box laying on the bed next to the games. Picking it up, she remembered seeing Mina bring it with her. Intrigued, Momo turned around and held it up. “What’s this?”

———

“What’s this?” Momo asked, brandishing the box that Mina had brought with her in a moment of what was probably temporary insanity.

The Ravenclaw automatically reached out to take it from Momo, embarrassment causing her cheeks to begin to flush. “It’s nothing important, really,” she explained dismissively, tucking it under an arm when Momo surrendered it over. “Just a momento from Mahoutokoro, I-I guess I thought it might be interesting to look at it, but it isn’t anything special.”

“Noooo,” Sana insisted, the word long and drawn out, “Please show us!”

“Yeah! Please!” Momo agreed enthusiastically.

With both girls looking at her in that way, with so much hope in their eyes— how was Mina supposed to say no? She was already not great at it, but her ability was compromised entirely when she was around these two. Sighing a little bit, she nodded, mumbling, “Alright, but like I said, it’s not that exciting.”

She opened the lid of the simple pale blue box, revealing what was inside— her robes from Mahoutokoro. Despite what she’d told them about it not being anything special, Mina couldn’t help but smile down at the robes as she ran her fingers over the soft rose gold silk, lifting it from the box to further display it to Sana and Momo. Sure, her time at Mahoutokoro held a lot of painful memories, but these robes served as a reminder of the beauty of the Japanese school.

Both the Hufflepuffs released dramatic gasps, instinctively reaching out their own hands to gently the material.

“It’s so beautiful,” Sana breathed out, her eyes wide.

With a touch of indignation, Momo added, “So much nicer than our stupid Hogwarts robes.”

“You should put it on,” Sana said, and when Mina’s eyebrows raised questioningly, the Hufflepuff continued in a calmly diplomatic fashion, “We can’t get a real idea of what it looks like if you don’t put it on.” Momo immediately voiced her agreement, clapping in excitement.

Mina couldn’t help but roll her eyes with a smile. “If you insist,” she teased lightly, setting the box down on the table next to her and slipping her arms into the silk robes. Pulling it around her, Mina tied the sash around her waist in order to keep the robes closed over her pajamas. Finally, to give the girls the full effect, she used a hand to lift her hair into a bun like the way she wore it everyday at Mahoutokoro.

The first reaction was from Momo, who released a high pitched squeal and threw her arms around Mina, hugging her tightly as she cooed, “So pretty!” Mina couldn’t see Sana since Momo was blocking her view, but she heard the other girl approach.

“You look so pretty, Mitang,” Sana murmured, not too far from her ear.

Whether it was the feeling of Momo’s body pressed against hers, the compliments, the new nickname, or probably a combination of all of these, Mina immediately felt her face and entire body grow hot. “Thanks,” she managed to choke out, unsure of where exactly to place her hands on Momo in the hug. (She didn’t even know how to give someone a hug properly… Merlin help her, she was pathetic.)

After a few seconds Momo pulled away, that lopsided grin of hers making Mina’s heart flip a little. What is it with these girls? Mina wondered distractedly.

Trying to calm the weird nerves that’d appeared all of a sudden in her stomach, Mina moved closer to the table and removed the robes. She folded the silk and placed it back into the box, meticulously arranging it so there were no wrinkles or creases in the expensive fabric. When she eventually turned around to face the girls again, Sana was observing her closely, looking like she wanted to say something.

“Do you miss Mahoutokoro? You must’ve been sad to leave your friends there.”

Sana’s tone was light enough, but Mina wasn’t blind— each word’s delivery was soft and full of caution, like the Hufflepuff was trying her hardest not to tread on some kind of emotional tripwire. It was the way Sana always spoke to her, ever since the first time they’d met, if not a little more pronounced as Sana obviously decided it was an appropriate time to probe a little deeper. Mina didn’t blame her for that— she knew both girls must be dying to know why she was the way she was, so quiet and awkward and hesitant to trust.

No, it wasn’t the curiosity that made Mina pause, but rather the whole idea of her being treated like this, like she was made of glass. There was something innately condescending about it, but at the same time, Mina knew that Sana’s carefulness with her came from a place of kindness and not of patronization. Mina supposed she was frustrated more with herself than Sana— for appearing this weak, for needing to be tiptoed around at all. (No one had ever been this gentle with her before, she realized. Not ever.)

“I do miss it, sometimes,” Mina admitted after a few seconds of thought, sinking down to sit at the edge of the bed. Her words were carefully chosen, too— perhaps her and Sana weren’t so different after all. “It was a beautiful school. I grew up there… It was my home.”

When she looked up, Sana and Momo had also moved to sit. Sana made eye contact and nodded slowly but didn’t say anything— obviously leaving space for Mina to continue speaking if she chose to do so.

Her voice soft, Mina admitted, “There’s not really anyone for me to miss there, though. I didn’t… I didn’t exactly have friends, not real ones, anyway. People were only ever nice to me because they wanted something from me, or because they thought I could improve their ‘status’. Once they realized I couldn’t offer them anything, or they grew tired of me…” She shrugged helplessly.

She didn’t know why she was saying all of this— it wasn’t because she wanted Sana and Momo’s pity, or wanted to guilt trip them into being her friends. It just felt good to talk to someone about it, like a weight being lifted from her shoulders.

Mina forced herself to smile. “It wasn’t so bad these last couple of years, though. I guess kids are crueler when they’re younger… As they get older, they mostly just ignore you and leave you alone,” she explained. It was her way of attempting to assure the two girls that things were fine, that she was fine, but apparently she didn’t sound all that convincing.

“That’s awful,” Momo breathed out, at the same time as Sana murmured, “I’m so sorry, Mina.”

Again, another dismissive shrug. Mina felt a wave of guilt— this was supposed to be a fun, light-hearted evening, but she’d gone and made it all about her and her own foolish “sob story”. Her first instinct was to apologize, to assure them it wasn’t that big of a deal and she was sorry for having brought it up. Instead, her voice quiet but firm, Mina told the truth.

“It’s different here, though. It’s been… nice.” This time when she smiled at the girls, it was genuine. She didn’t say the entirety of what she wanted to tell them— that they were what was different here compared to Mahoutokoro— but judging by the way Sana and Momo smiled back at her, Mina knew they got her message loud and clear.

——

To Mina’s great relief, after she’d shared those details about her life at Mahoutokoro, the mood quickly lightened again.

Momo had them play another Muggle game that Mina had previously been unaware of— charades, she’d called it. Even though there were only three of them so they didn’t have proper teams, and there was no way to really “win”, Mina was too busy laughing to the point of tears to care. Sana and Momo’s pantomimes were hilariously overdramatic, and they came up with the more ridiculous guesses when it was someone else's turn.

When Sana chose chess as their next game, Mina was near certain what the outcome of the game would be. She’d been playing chess practically since she was old enough to speak— with all respect to Sana, Mina hadn’t met very many worthy challengers in her time.

Imagine her complete and utter shock, then, when Sana ended the game with a bright chirp of, “Checkmate!”

Mina gaped at the chessboard— how did she miss that?!

Giggling at Mina’s expression, Sana explained, “I play chess with my dad all the time when I’m home. He taught me all sorts of strategies he invented himself!”

The Ravenclaw nodded slowly, realizing that was why she couldn’t fully anticipate any of Sana’s next moves. “Well, you’ve certainly impressed me,” she teased lightly, grinning at the other girl.

Sana beamed in pride, turning her head to look at her best friend who had fallen asleep on her halfway through the game. Nudging her shoulder to wake Momo, Sana informed her cheerfully, “I won the game, Momoring!”

“Merry Christmas,” Momo mumbled in agreement, rolling slightly to throw her arms around Sana and push her face into the girl’s neck.

Sana rolled her eyes in Mina’s direction with an amused smile. “I guess that means it’s time for bed, huh?”

Mina hadn’t even realized it had gotten so late, but now that she was thinking of it, her whole body was beginning to feel tired. Nodding her head, she raised herself to her feet and looked between the two beds in the room.

Were two of them going to sleep in one bed, and one person in the other? This was Sana and Momo’s room— Mina didn’t want to intrude, and kick one of them out of their bed. “I can sleep on the floor, that’s fine with me,” Mina eventually decided on saying, giving Sana what she hoped was an easy smile.

The Hufflepuff was helping a yawning Momo to her feet, but at Mina’s comment, Sana immediately burst out into laughter. She shook her head and waved her free hand, “Believe me, that’s really not necessary.” At Mina’s confused expression, Sana explained, “Momoring hates sleeping alone. When she came to Hogwarts in our first year, her parents wouldn’t let her bring any of the stuffed animals she usually slept with at home because they thought she was too old.” Sana gazed at her best friend with undeniable fondness, a slow smile creeping onto her lips. “I hated seeing her upset, so eventually I just told her to crawl into bed with me. We’ve pretty much shared the same bed every night since.”

Sana shrugged like it was the simplest thing, but Mina was still left a little bewildered. Once again, she had little experience in the field of best friendship, but sharing a bed? It seemed obvious, even to her, that that pushed the limits of the term “platonic”. Still, Mina supposed it wasn’t her place to judge— what did she know? Besides, she’d witnessed how close the girls were firsthand, it shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise to her that they were close in this way, too.

“You didn’t have to tell her the whole thing,” a now more awake Momo whined, still clinging onto Sana’s arm like a koala.

What did surprise Mina slightly was how much clingier Momo was toward Sana tonight. Usually, the older Hufflepuff rejected any affection that Sana showed to her, or at the very least complained about it. Tonight, it was Momo being the overly touchy one. Maybe she just doesn’t like public displays of affection? Mina wondered. If that were the case, that was still a bit odd to her, as it seemed more like how someone would act in a relationship versus a friendship. Regardless, Mina decided to dismiss the thought for now, as she focused her attention on the other bed.

She moved toward it and began to remove the board games and what remained of the snacks from the top of it. In a few moments, Sana and Momo were standing next to her and helping her out. Once the bed was cleared, Mina lifted the covers to slip in, but she was stopped by a hand on her forearm. When she turned, she was met with a sad, sleepy pout.

“Are you sure you won’t be lonely, Mitang?” Momo asked softly, gaze earnest even if it was obvious she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

Mina didn’t know how to respond to that. She’d been sleeping alone her whole life— of course she’d be fine. Not wanting to hurt Momo’s feelings, though, Mina’s mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of an adequate response.

Her sleep-addled mind obviously interpreting Mina’s lack of an answer a certain way, Momo’s face suddenly brightened. “We can push the beds together, if you want!”

Push.. the beds… together? Mina repeated mentally, eyes widening. The Ravenclaw glanced between Momo and Sana with uncertainty, both girls looking at her gently. It’s your choice, they seemed to say. Despite her instincts that told her this was probably a bad idea, Mina’s face warmed as she hesitantly mumbled, “O-Okay then.”

With a renewed burst of energy, it seemed, Momo made quick work of pushing the bed across the room to fit right into the side of Sana and Momo’s. Without much further ado, Sana slid into one side, Momo gesturing for Mina to do the same on the other as she went to turn the lights off.

Mina’s heart quickened in her chest as she felt the blankets on her side be lifted. She’d assumed that since Sana and Momo apparently always slept together, Momo would climb in next to Sana, but evidently she assumed wrong.

“Is this okay?” Momo murmured softly, and when Mina answered with a quiet “yeah”, the Hufflepuff crawled in right next to her.

After all three girls had settled in comfortably, Mina lay on her back, sharply aware of the body heat of Sana and Momo on either side of her. As pathetic as it was, she almost wanted to cry just thinking about it. Are you sure you won’t be lonely? Mina had been so lonely for so long she’d almost become numb to it, but somehow these two girls had managed to worm their way into her heart and make her feel actually wanted. She knew, logically, that was silly— she shouldn’t become so attached— but at the moment, Mina didn’t quite care about being logical.

She was already drifting asleep when she heard Sana whisper into the darkness, “We can be your home, Mitang.”

——

Mina didn’t dream of Mahoutokoro that night.