Chaeyoung stretched out on the grass. It was getting really cold and she knew she should have gone inside, but it was nearing the end of the season and she really wanted to enjoy what was left of it. The sun hadn't come up properly yet, but there was a growing amount of light. She scribbled a few notes of what she wanted to draw next: clouds paired with red and yellow leaves and the lake being pelted with rain. It would work so much better with the tall Owlery in the reflection, but she didn’t like drawing buildings. They clashed with her natural drawing inclinations more than she cared to admit. A brick she could draw, a disorganised mess of them also worked, but a full organisation just didn’t click for her. 

Her fingers were starting to freeze. 

“Done yet?” she called. 

“You’ll frighten the owls,” Dahyun said softly, but she was coming out. “All done.” When she got to her, she cast a spell above them. Joining Chaeyoung's water repulsion charm, was a conjured umbrella. It was a bunch of bright colours. It made her grin.  Dahyun wasn't always subtle. 

“Tell your parents what happened?” 

Dahyun stiffened. Thankfully, she didn’t smooth her expression over. 

“I had to order some things.” A laugh. “Hopefully no delivery people this time.” She didn’t continue, but still wasn’t hiding her expression. Was it bad that Chaeyoung expected to see it?

She chose to move on. What she wanted to ask next might make her shut down. 

“Are you gonna tell them?”

“I did.” She pointed at the two owls currently flying out. 

“You used two?”

It wasn’t hard to see, but Dahyun was already wearing out. Chaeyoung hooked an arm around her, careful to avoid the ribs that somehow hadn’t healed yet. 

“The order needed a specific owl.”

Another thing she wanted to ask more about, but thought better of. 

“Did you also say it was an accident?”

She looked at her. “You still don’t think it was?”

“You actually think it was?” Chaeyoung shot back. 

“I know it was,” she snapped. Then she sighed. “I’m sorry, Chaeng.”

“It’s okay.” It wasn’t really, but Dahyun looked so dejected. Exhausted too. The walk here had been difficult for her. Chaeyoung hadn’t thought she’d be making it back in time for breakfast, but here they were. Both were early risers, with Chaeyoung loving to watch a sunrise and Dahyun needing to finish something up just about every morning. A great combination. 

“I really think it was an accident,” she said quietly. I just don’t see how it could have been anything otherwise.”

Now she had to ask it. “Is anything missing from your bag?”

A brow rose. “What do you mean?” 

They were nearing the castle. 

“Mina and I were questioning portraits the other day,” she said. “asking around to see what they knew about Sana’s fall.”

That peaked her interest. “And?” 

“Nothing. One guy was obsessed with the beauty of the curse.”

She snorted. “Must have been really bored.”

Chaeyoung laughed. “I thought the same thing.”

“Great minds think alike,” she winked, “so did you and Mina have a date?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Or do you usually chat with paintings together.” 

Her face felt hot. “No. We just wanted to know if they’d seen something the others missed.” 

They were in the Entrance Hall. 

Dahyun’s face was covered in sweat. She was breathing heavily, but she was smiling. “Sure,” she smirked, “are we gonna pretend you actually talked with your crush?” Then she opened the doors to the Great Hall. As always, people looked up. Chaeyoung was going to start jinxing a few if she heard rumours that they were dating. 

“If you weren’t so fragile, I’d smack you.”

Dahyun laughed, one where her eyes became crescents. “How kind of you.” 

They sat down at the Hufflepuff table with Jihyo, Momo, and Jeongyeon. As they started talking about the upcoming match, she realised that Dahyun hadn’t answered her question. 

_____

Sana came into the Great Hall, hand in hand with Park Chaeyoung. She was pretty funny, something she desperately needed nowadays. 

She actually didn’t like holding people’s hands. No, that was wrong, she held the hands of family members and close friends, not someone she was dating. That she was holding Rosé’s was a statement. It hadn’t taken long for the rumours about her and Dahyun dating to reach the halls. She’d grabbed the first person she knew was interested in her, but hadn’t made their move in the past weeks. That had been Rosé.

As she’d expected, and hoped, people looked. 

“Breakfast?” She shot the girl a smile. “At your table, if that’s okay.”

There was a shyer one in return. “Sure.”

Sana pulled her over to the Gryffindor table. She saw Momo and a free spot, but that would just be really awkward for her. She nods at her and Jeongyeon, the latter not quite her friend, but also not on the level of Jihyo or the other Chaeyoung. The short-haired Gryffindor just wasn't a fan of Nayeon. 

The conversation was benign, almost boring. About Quidditch, something Sana should have been more interested in. 

“I heard your broom broke,” she said, sympathy softening her features. “Is that true?”

Sana shrugged. “I got there and it’d been snapped in half.” 

Her brow twitched. “Someone broke it?” 

“Pretty sure there’s no other explanation.” Like a few other recent events. She poked at her food. The broom still hadn’t come. Maybe it was because of the weather. Delivering letters was all fine, but when you had a parcel attached to it, that took longer if it was raining or windy. In this part of the world, that meant delays were pretty frequent. 

“Do you have any idea who?” 

“Nope,” she said. “Just know it wasn't an accident. So until someone’s bragging about it in the halls, I’m clueless.”

Then she heard laughter, a very hearty one. One she recognised immediately. She couldn’t help but look up. Dahyun was walking with Chaeyoung between the tables, her eyes forming crescents, parted in a wide smile. True. 

“Well,” Rosé said, catching Sana’s attention again, “You should be careful.” 

“Guess I should avoid being alone.” She couldn’t help but wink at her. 

The Gryffindor smiled, looking away. Sana felt bad for how easily she’d gotten that effect. And it had been to make sure she wasn’t thinking her eyes had been elsewhere. Because they had been. 

_____

Dahyun stifled a yawn. It had taken long, but after she’d shown Madame Kang that muggle water bottles and thermoses were very much safe against spillages, she’d been able to take both into the library. It had spread to even the non-muggle-associated students, many of whom had taken to enchanting their bottles to refill automatically. If she was going to be confined to the library all day, she would have preferred to go to the Great Hall or the kitchens, if only to stretch her legs. Given the circumstances and the fact that facing the stairs alone gave her a huge wave of unease, she had charmed her thermos to fill with tea or coffee and her bottle to fill with water. She was a hypocrite in that sense, but she felt like was allowed to be easy on herself there. Given the circumstances. 

Today’s essay was another History of Magic one. Fortunately s short one, on the changing views of vampires throughout the ages. 

She was describing how wizards had spread much of the superstition in the muggle world, letting slip snippets of vampire weaknesses so that the people of the night were less likely to attack. In some places, it had worked, in others, not. 

As she finished the paragraphs, a soft pop made her jump. A slip of paper appeared on her essay, smearing the last word. Her heart eased before a panic could take hold. 

Come to the Hospital Wing—MM

Professor McGonagall smiled when Dahyun entered the room. 

“Good afternoon, Kim. I see you’re doing better?” 

The way the headmistress looked at her, Dahyun knew she saw right through the illusions she’d cast. If not literately, it would be figuratively. One could hide very little from their headmistress. 

“Afternoon,” she bowed her head, “and I'm getting there." It wasn't a lie. She told enough of those. 

“We can go to my office now, I just thought it would be more comfortable for you.” She put out an arm. 

Had she been told about the potions? Was this now the subtle chastising so that she’d really not touch them or go anywhere near the classroom? Dahyun was sure it would work. Professor McGonagall had been nothing but kind all of these years, but she had a quiet air to her that you would never want to break. 

Dahyun put a hand on her elbow, bracing herself. There was a sharp crack, she closed her eyes, feeling her chest constrict. The feeling of apparition had never been natural to her, but the added sounds were worse now. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Yes.” 

The elder woman gave her a look, but didn’t say anything. 

The office had a soft rustle to it. Objects were moving, as the paintings were mostly all awake, while other artefacts were going through lazy motions, glowing now and then or rattling. Save for the paintings, it was how Dahyun wanted her future workplace to sound. The only thing missing was the slow bubbling of a potion, as well as soft music. 

“Have a seat, and a biscuit.” She strode to the desk, taking one for herself. 

Dahyun did. They were Walkers shortbread. Just a coincidence?

She smiled. “Yuri is quite fond of them, isn’t she?” 

Not a coincidence. Should Dahyun have felt so surprised?

“What do you know?” Then she caught herself. “Professor,” she added.

“Enough.”

Silence fell. 

Dahyun felt her face burn. “Have you found anything?” 

“We are doing everything we can. I’ve set enchantments, Professor Bae has counter-measures in place, as does Hest.” 

She nodded. “Two notes were left on me. I still don’t know if they were from a student or the attacker.” 

Professor McGonagall’s expression did not change. “You don’t think it was a student?” 

She shook her head. It couldn’t have been. “They either knew where I was this summer or have a very odd way with words.” She dug around in her bag. The lightness was still so unusual. She’d have to thank Sana for that. “I should have shown these earlier, I know, but if these were from the person who did this. They might still be in the castle.” Then she handed over the notes. 

Just the thought made her feel guilty. Had her inaction to go to someone lead to Sana’s own fall? 

“We would have found them if they were hiding,” Professor McGonagall said. “But if you know anything more, and can tell us about it, do from now on.” She frowned as she looked at the notes, but slid them back. 

She nodded. She would. For once. The guilt within her surged. She had told too many lies to the people who you weren’t supposed to lie to, even today. Some loyalty she was showing. She glanced up at the Sorting Hat. What would it say about her character now? 

“Can I ask you something? Not as closely related to your accident.” 

She nodded again. 

“Is this a direction you want to go? Hiding your injuries? Telling your friends it was an accident?” 

Her face burned. “I have to.” She didn’t want to go that direction. They’d made her an Unspeakable. This was the consequence of that. “They’ll want to know why,” she said. “I don’t know the answer to that, but it definitely won’t be anything I can say." Because if they knew that, they'd want to know more. She couldn't blame them, but she also couldn't allow that to happen. Not only was she not allowed to tell them details, but there were other parts of the summer she really didn't want them knowing anything about. Those were also the parts she didn't want to relive. 

There was an edge to the woman’s eyes. Was it anger? “Will you tell me that answer?” 

“Of course.” 

The headmistress might not have known what Dahyun’s summer entailed, or maybe she had, but was also not permitted to speak of it. Either way, she had to know what the danger was to her school. That had to undermine the secrecy. For Dahyun it did. 

“I doubt they’ll try what they did with me, but we must try to avoid anyone being alone at night.” 

“Are you suggesting a stricter curfew?”

Dahyun shook her head. “Then there will be a greater fear. No one would think it was an accident.” She sighed. How would there be more safety here? Without increasing security? 

“I told you we are doing what we can,” McGonagall said. “This will not be your concern.” She levelled an iron gaze on her. “Understood?”

She wanted to protest. What if she did more patrols? Went on a different route? If she quit the team, then she’d have that time. 

“Dahyun. Whatever they have asked you to do,” she began, “that is more useful than what you would like to suggest to me now.” 

All she could do was bow her head. She was right. 

“Shall I bring you back?” 

Not wanting to hear the cracking sound again, she shook her head again. 

“Madame Selen will not like seeing that,” a small smile, “but off you go.” 

Dahyun smiled. She made her way to the stairs, finally starting to eat that biscuit. It would be time for lunch soon. Might as well get there first. Or try to. 

The staircase to the office was, thankfully, one that moved up and down. She prepared herself for the walk down. Three floors. No way she was getting to lumch early. She could manage two with a long break. This might just need two. She braced herself as she got to the start of the stairs. Looking down, she was overcome by a wave of dizziness. She took a deep breath. 

Don’t worry about falling, worry about moving. The words made her smile. She gripped the banister. She might not have remembered the fall, but some part of her was postive that even seeing a staircase was one of the worst things in the world. 

The descent did need two breaks. She was on the first floor, breathing hard, leaning against the banister. The first people had already started to come. She didn’t move from where she was. She was allowed to look—be—hopelessly unfit. Everyone walked past her, some nodding hi, asking how she was, all of that. 

“Need help going down?” It was Nayeon. She spoke Korean. 

“I’m fine,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. She wasn’t in pain, just exhausted. 

“Come on. All the good stuff will be gone. You Puffs eat like you don’t live right next to the kitchen.” 

Dahyun laughed. “At least we’re not in Gryffindor.” She started to move down the steps. 

Nayeon didn’t touch her, but she walked with her. Slowly. 

“Yep,” she snorted. “That’s mostly Momo.” 

Dahyun resisted the urge to smile. In addition to Chaeyoung and Momo, there was one other inter-house relationship she was rooting for. 

Then she stumbled, her arm shooting out to catch herself. Her heart lurched in her chest. Then an arm slipped around her waist, steadying her. The scream died in . She wouldn't have even fallen with that stumble. 

“I mean, it’s obvious it’s hard, but what’s the worst part of going down the stairs?”

Fear I’ll fall again, she thought. “My muscles aren’t working with me. They’re supposed to get stronger with time and elixirs, but too much and I’ll strain them.” Her arm hurt from the sudden movement. The blood in her ears was pounding. Each step she took was with extra care, but the ground felt further away than it should have. 

“Damn,” Nayeon said. “No wonder we’re supposed to send you out of class.” Then her eyes widened. “Was not supposed to say that.” 

“Sana’s told you about my ban?” 

She didn’t look embarrassed. “I was told because we have Alchemy together, Tzuyu because you two actually chose History, Mina and Momo for the rest.” 

Dahyun sighed. She had hardly seen Sana since they left the Hospital Wing. It must have been what, three days? 

“No need to worry. I’ll be fine.” 

They reached the ground floor. Dahyun pulled away from the girl, going to lean by the broom cupboard door. 

“Thank you for helping me,” she said. “Now you really missed a lot of lunch.” 

“It’ll be fine,” she rolled her eyes, “our house doesn’t eat like the rest, remember?” Then her gaze softened. “Need time to catch your breath?” 

She nodded. “Go eat, or else I’ll feel bad.” She already did. Nayeon hadn’t needed to go with her, though she greatly appreciated that she did. 

The girl hesitated, but when Dahyun began to shoo her, she laughed and went inside. 

She walked away from the broom cupboard and went to the steps. It would only be a few meters until she got the tables, but she needed time to recover. Walking into that room, breathing as heavily as she was, she didn’t want to be seen like that. On the stairs it was fine, but here… Madame Selen had been right to make her stay away from the higher floors. She probably should have waited to go to the Owlery, or just taken Professor McGonagall up on that offer. 

As she leaned her head against cool stone, she closed her eyes. It would be so easy to fall asleep here. The potions would still keep her from dreaming too much.

Then she heard a door open. Then giggling. She knew that giggle. That Sana was back. 

“See you later at dinner,” she heard her say. “Got to get something for class.” 

There were footsteps, a low creak as the Great Hall’s doors opened, and a thud when they closed. 

“Are you okay?” 

Dahyun peeked out from one eye. Sana was kneeling in front of her. Her clothes were thoroughly crumpled. Her lipstick was just about non-existent. 

“Yes.” She didn’t want to say ‘fine’ again. People didn’t believe her when she said that. 

Even so, Sana clearly didn’t believe her now. “Do you need help?”

The laugh bubbled up before she could stop it. “I just got some. Nayeon-unnie helped me down the stairs.”

“You call her unnie?” A smile began to appear. Her lips were swollen. 

Dahyun could have kicked herself. She had no right to focus on that sort of thing. 

“Jealous?” That had slipped out. 

“A little.”

“We usually speak Korean, same with Jihyo. I’m sure it’s the same when you speak Japanese.”

She shrugged. “I can always call you Dahyun-chan.” 

“You can.” Again, Dahyun thought, but didn’t dare say it. She got to her feet, not missing how Sana’s hands rose with her. “I’m going to the kitchens.” 

Why she felt the need to declare that, she wasn’t sure. She just knew she couldn’t go into the Great Hall, not after what had probably just happened in the broom cupboard. Not only would the girl Sana had been with get very wrong ideas, but the entire school would. The dating rumours weren’t bothering her, not this year, but the Slytherin didn’t need things getting more complicated. Even if she sometimes liked ‘complicated’. 

It earned her a frown. “There’s still food in there.”

“How do you know?” She raised her brow at her. 

The girl looked away. She felt bad for addressing it. Maybe her split-second decision was right. 

“I just want a snack. They now have a stock of microwavables.” Now that she said it, she was starting to crave a ready-made lasagna. 

“That’s something you can heat up, right?”

Dahyun smiled. She remembered the different terms she’d taught the girl. That Sana remembered them was surprising. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could, but in the grand scheme of magical knowledge, knowing what a microwave was and how it worked wasn’t a priority. 

“See you, Sana.” She nodded at her. 

“Wait,” she said. 

Dahyun did. 

“I forgot to give these to you. When I’m in the library, you’re not and,” she walked over, “well, here.” There was a small stack of notes in her hands. 

She took them. “Are you sure you forgot and that you’re not just trying to deprive me of work?” She couldn’t stop her smile. This was a side of Sana she missed seeing. It was sad that she only saw it now. 

Sana shrugged. “You’ll never know.” 

“Thank you. I mean this when I say it now, but you don’t need to keep doing this. I’m getting caught up and I don’t want you waiting paper on me.” 

If she wasn’t imagining it, Sana looked shocked. “And Binns?”

“I’m in Tzuyu’s class.” The tall girl had nearly scared her when she’d passed Dahyun the work in the library. It had been late, even for N.E.W.T students. That was when Dahyun had seen what Tzuyu meant when she said she hadn’t slept well at all. Her heart had swelled for the girl, both in sympathy and gratitude. She’d summoned cake for the two of them and they’d eaten it in secret. Madame Kang had either been too tired to see it, or already asleep to catch them. 

“Ah,” she said. “So I’m basically a Magikarp now.”

Dahyun couldn’t stop her laugh. “I wouldn’t say that. You can still be the Gyarados, I just have a lot of water types in the team.”

Sana laughed, a light sound. 

“How do you still remember that?” 

“Huh?” A small frown. “You mean the fish?” 

“Pokémon, but also the fish.”

“I remember you calling it useless,” Sana said. “Unless you’re patient. Pokémon,” she trailed off, “they’re cute.”

“Gyarados isn’t cute.” And a number of other ones too. 

“Pikachu is.” Her eyes were on Dahyun’s uniform. 

The door opened. Out walked some first years. Yuqi and Soyeon.

“Unnie!” the Gryffindor called. “We wanted to say hi, but you’ve been so busy.” 

Both girls rush over. 

“Hi Sana.” Yuqi smiled at her. “How are you, Dahyun?”

“Great, Yuqi-ah. And yourselves?” She feels Sana’s eyes on her. When she glances over, it’s to see a look of disbelief. 

“Good too,” she nodded, “but we’ve been trying to figure out the note. I still don’t get it.” A frown appeared and Dahyun’s chest tightened. “You haven’t gotten another, right?”

“No.” She shook her head. “And I told you, it’s nothing to worry about.” She should have told them not to tell Sana. They wouldn’t have known not to. Sana was Dahyun’s friend in their eyes. She didn’t know what they were and while she did trust her, this wasn’t something that should have been revealed. 

“You’re sure?” Soyeon asked. There was worry in her eyes. 

Dahyun wished they hadn’t seen either of the notes. Then she caught herself. Had Soyeon not found the note, the accident would not have seemed as such to the rest of the school. 

She swallowed the nervousness that had settled over her chest. Instead, she knelt down in front of the Gryffindor and took her hand, as well as Yuqi’s. “Yes. Those notes don't matter.” And it was true. They was nothing to worry about. Not for these girls. “You better tell Shuhua that too.” She squeezed their hands. “Now, get to class or else you’ll be late.” 

They left, but not before Yuqi gushed about Dahyun’s new hair. 

Sana was still there. Dahyun felt her smile slipping, but tried her best to keep it up. This was not good. 

“You should to class too,” she said. Too obvious, she thought. “See you.” Finally, she started to go up the small set of stairs. 

“Dahyun.” 

She turned around. Sana was looking at her, a thousand questions seemed to be in her eyes. Then the doors of the Great Hall opened again. And Dahyun turned away. 

_____

Author's Note

A little bit of a slower chapter this time. Not many revelations, nor disagreements happening, but there's some more establishing being done here. McGonagall knows Dahyun is an Unspeakable, has a very good idea about what happened last summer, but not the full story. 

On the one hand, we have Sana doing who-knows-what around the school, but still coming through when it comes to helping Dahyun out, while the Hufflepuff in question is torn between, lying, telling the truth, and her friends. It's a bit of a muddle. There was a small amount of Saida building up here. Michaeng isn't quite so subtle as they'd probably like it to be, but we're still on a slow-burn level there. 

I don't want to put a huge focus on action here, because for me it's not that type of story. Instead, my attention is on the characters as they try to get through their N.E.W.Ts, but also have to deal with the cause and fallout from Dahyun's fall. Would love to know what you think regarding that :) See you next chapter.