It might have been the fact that her first match as Slytherin’s captain was a success, but Sana was on a high. She'd been terrified that this match would be a disaster. Risks had been taken, but they'd paid off. A weight had now been lifted off their shoulders. Even though she hadn’t drunk much, she was already acting as if she had.

“Come on,” she whined to Tzuyu, “you have to play.”

The tall chaser just shook her head. “I came to this party to have fun.”

“It is fun!” Nayeon protested.

“You’re playing a game where you get worse as you keep winning. Not happening.”

“Technically,” Lisa piped up, "things get worse the more you lose.”

“I'm not playing.”

Sana sighed and slipped an arm around Hufflepuff’s seeker’s waist. “We tried, that’s what matters.”

She smiled slightly. “So no teams of three?”

“Sadly no,” she shook her head, “it’s going to have to be a chasers only team.” She shot her a wink. “Sorry.”

“Guess you’ll just have to suffer a defeat by seekers.”

“We’ll see.”

Then she saw them. Her. They’d sent out open invitations to everyone, but she hadn’t expected these people to come. This person even less. She’d ditched her robes, ditched the cardigan, and only had a skirt and shirt on, her tie loose around her neck. She was also wearing her glasses.

“Would you look at that. Slytherclaw is real,” Lisa said.

Sana looked to the right and couldn’t help but smile at what she saw. Chaeyoung and Mina were holding hands, but they let go now. Still, it was a huge step for Mina, even if she’d had a drink. It had taken her two years to warm up to Nayeon enough to link arms. And she hadn’t even had a crush on her.

“Momo!” Hwasa called. “I was hoping you’d show your face.” She had one arm around Wheein already, but she waved the other at the Gryffindor. “Please tell me you’re here for the tournament.”

“We are,” Momo shot back, nodding at Mina. “I’m paying you back for today.” Her eyes went to Sana and then Nayeon. Sana saw a bit of shyness enter her gaze.

“Can’t wait to repeat it.”

“Please tell me you two are playing,” Nayeon bounded over to Dahyun, brushing past Momo as she did, “I need to prove chasers can play this game the best.”

“We’re playing,” Chaeyoung said. Beside her, Dahyun looked like she wanted to say the exact opposite. Then her eyes met Sana’s and she realised then she was still with Lisa. That she still had her arm around her waist.

Sana didn’t know why, but she let go. “Great!” she chimed in. “Nayeon and I are a team.” As she went over to said chaser, she caught Lisa’s shoulders slumping. “Sorry, seeker. We still have a point to prove.”

It would be a lie to say she hadn’t strongly considered making her move on Hufflepuff’s seeker today, but two things held her back. The first reason was that it wasn’t fair at all to Rosé who had lost a game today, after which she’d been told by Sana that their relationship (not exactly that in Sana’s mind, but she’d found out that hadn’t exactly been the case for the Gryffindor) was over. The second reason had just walked into the Slytherin common room and been volunteered to participate in a beer pong tournament.

Everything started out fine. Drinks had been into the hands of the newcomers, while Nayeon, Sana, Jackson, and Mark all filled up the cups.

“You should make a move today,” Sana muttered.

Nayeon looked at her as if she’d just told her to go and fight a basilisk. “Not gonna happen.”

“It should.” She waved Tzuyu over. “Tell her she needs to pull herself together today.”

The third chaser looked between the two of them. She was the most sober at the party, which is why her next words would be especially necessary. “You should flirt with Momo today.”

The eldest of the three slapped both of them on the arm. “We have one priority today, and that is to win.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sana saluted. “Be sure to cheer us on, Chou.”

She only got a raised eyebrow in return.

So, she gave the taller girl her best pout. “At least cheer when we win. Again.”

“Fine.” Then their chaser went off to Dahyun and Chaeyoung, while Mina came over to them.

Nayeon’s face broke into a broad grin. “So,” she said. “Son?”

Their friend’s eyes widened. “It’s nothing. I found them in the library. They came when I asked.”

“Holding your hand?” she leered.

“I bet it was just because she thought I couldn’t walk,” she muttered. Her cheeks had already reddened.

“You walked fine over here,” Sana said.

The response was a light thwack on the arm.

“I’m gonna have even more bruises tomorrow.”

Mina turned serious then. “And you’re sure you’re okay?”

Sana put an arm around her. “For the sixth time today, yes.” Her chest hurt with certain movements, but it was probably just a fracture. If it was really terrible, she’d go to Madame Selen tomorrow. She banned students from alcohol when you drank a healing potion, so for today’s celebration, she avoided that prohibition.

“Are you done?” someone called. “I wanna play.” It was Momo.

“Eager to repeat today?” Nayeon shot back. When Sana looked over, her friend’s eyes were glittering with challenge. At least she wasn't avoiding looking at Momo.

“Be the first to find out?”

“No, no, no,” Hwasa raised a hand. “It’s seekers against seekers.” Then she smiled. “Plus Mina.”

And so began the tournament. With Mina making the first cup with the first ball.

Sana made sure to cheer the loudest, but she had unexpected rivals: a short Ravenclaw.

It continued. Momo got one cup, but Mina got the rest, while Lisa got none, and Hwasa two.

Chaeyoung whooped when Mina sunk the last cup.

“The seekers we can handle,” Dahyun said. “Not sure about Mina.” She hadn’t met Sana’s eyes the entire time.

When Sana went over to hug Mina, she heard Chaeyoung gushing about how ‘unstoppable’ she was. If there was any pair to bet on tonight, it would be those two. When she pulled away, she finally caught Dahyun’s eye. The Hufflepuff looked between the two in question with a raised brow.

Sana laughed and made a heart with her hands. Thankfully, neither of them saw it, but Dahyun grinned in response. She felt relieved that the initial awkwardness was fading. She just had to avoid messing things up. Again.

“Next up, Dahyun and Chaeyoung,” Nayeon called. “Versus Jennie and Wheein.”

It was in that game where Sana saw that there were actually things Dahyun wasn’t good at. She missed every shot, but laughed at each of her failures. Sana had an idea what a tipsy Dahyun looked like. Enough to know that she was pretty much sober right now. This was just the playful of Dahyun at its strongest. Not the fake one either. Her eyes sparkled when she caught sight of them. Otherwise, they were lost in crescents that formed with each new bout of laughter.

“You’re staring,” Mina said in a loud whisper. If there was one change that happened to Mina’s core characteristics when firewhiskey got in the mix, it was that she teased a lot more than normal.

“I know,” Sana replied. She watched as Dahyun put her hair into a ponytail. Purple. Just like last year. Did she also know about the parallel or was it only Sana who remembered details like that? She figured it was the latter. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Dahyun had probably long since forgotten about it. Especially with everything going on. And she didn’t blame her. Sana felt even worse for being so hung up about it.

“I know you’ve been pushing Nayeon to do something. Are we sure you don’t need the same encouragement?”

She shook her head. Several times. “I’m not going down that route again.” Her cheeks flushed just remembering it. Her stomach churned when the embarrassment hit her again. There were few words to describe exactly how much that party had stuck with her. How it had started really great and then gone to terrible in a matter of seconds.

Mina’s playful smile faded. “I get it. So just go have fun?” Her eyes went somewhere else.

When Sana followed it, she caught Lisa looking at her. The seeker looked away with a tiny smile. She didn’t want that kind of fun either.

“I’m waiting for the next round,” she said as Jennie finished the game.

“Sorry,” she heard Dahyun mutter to Chaeyoung, “I’ll take that one.” The Hufflepuff grabbed the cup and drank it in one go.

Her friend laughed. “I didn’t do much better.”

“You got two,” Moonbyul laughed. “There’s hope for you to sub as chaser.”

Sana finally looked away. Moonbyul had her arm around Yongsun. Apparently, they were a new couple, but she'd seen them hanging around each other all of last year too. Maybe they'd had a secret relationship.

Jackson spoke up then. “The new couple, Moonbyul and Solar, versus whatever Sana and Nayeon are to each other, now that Minatozaki’s single again.”  
Sana didn’t resist pinching his arm as she went to the table. He just laughed. Once again, Dahyun wasn’t looking at her. Lisa was. Momo was sending her a raised eyebrow, to which Sana just winked. They both laughed.

As expected, the two of them won, but not before Moonbyul got three in a row, leading to Solar, Hwasa and Wheein being a cheery mess. They were a friend group with members from each house. It was just a shame that Solar had given up her position in Gryffindor this year. An even bigger shame that she’d given the captainship to Luke and not Momo.

A few pairs went until they reached the third round. Dahyun and Chaeyoung had been eliminated, which Sana found disappointing.

She even went over to the duo while Mina and Momo were playing Jennie and Wheein. “I wanted at least one round with you two,” she muttered. “But you .”

Chaeyoung didn’t glare at her. A nice change. She hoped that was because the girl no longer hated her very being and not because of the party setting.

“Sorry to disappoint. At least you can say keepers and seekers don’t mix well with accuracy.”

“Shouldn’t you guys be able to?” Sana asked. “I mean, seekers have to deal with a tiny thing that basically apparates around the stadium and keepers have to throw the quaffle to the chasers.”

“The difference is,” Dahyun started, before trailing off. “Well, there’s actually no difference.”

“Between your throwing on the pitch and off it?” Even though she knew for a fact that Dahyun had a good arm for throwing.

She gave her a look, which then softened. “Yes.”

“Sana, Nayeon!” Jackson yelled. “Against Lisa and Hwasa.”

And Sana did something she probably shouldn’t have. Nothing new.

She leant closer to the Hufflepuff, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Where’s that cockiness now?” And when she pulled away, she couldn’t help but smile at the wide eyes staring back at her.

“Semi-finals,” Momo said. “Hope to see you two there.” She sent them a wink, but Sana swore it was directed more at Nayeon. She hoped it was.

“Don’t worry, babe. We got this.” Nayeon gave Sana a high-five. The angle of her arm and the contact tugged at something in her chest. She winced. "Sorry," she grimaced. Clearly, she hadn’t picked up on the word she’d said, but Sana saw that Momo had. The Gryffindor also wore an expression of surprise.

Whatever the case, Nayeon made good on her promise. Sana only had to drink twice, while her teammate had one cup. Unless Mina was going to continue her winning streak, Sana wouldn’t get extremely reckless tonight.

Then something was held up in front of her and Nayeon. She saw Tzuyu doing the same for Momo and Mina. It was a sandwich.

“A foundation before the four of you shipwreck.” Dahyun smiled. It was a gentle one.

Lisa squealed then. “You are the cutest!” She wrapped an arm around Dahyun who was noticeably caught off guard. A change of tune for sure.

Sana accepted the sandwich, still not quite comprehending what was happening. “When did you go to the kitchens?”

“After Nayeon started singing “We Are the Champions”,” Dahyun replied. She turned to Nayeon then. “I figured you were losing it.”

“And you’d be right.” The reply was a toothy grin. “Thanks.”

Dahyun nodded, before glancing at the seeker at her side. “You also want one?” Her smile was still on. Genuine too. 

Lisa nodded fervently. “Hopefully you brought your favourite teammate one.”

She laughed. “Come on.”

The two moved to the side of the table. Lisa was still hanging on to her neck.

“I think you’re strangling her,” Chaeyoung said. Sana thought so too.

“Am I really, Dubu?” the Hufflepuff seeker asked. “Where’s my sandwich?” She nuzzled her nose against her temple.

That was when Sana felt a sharp elbow dig into her arm.

“You’re staring,” Nayeon whispered.

She didn’t feel like denying it. Not one of her friends would believe her. “Let’s go.” She caught Hwasa's eye. The girl glanced at where Dahyun was standing. Her face warmed. She looked away.

Sana missed the first cup. Nayeon also missed. Then both Momo and Mina made their shot. Both celebrated, while the rest cheered.

“What was that about chasers?” Momo raised an eyebrow.

“It’s just because you came later,” Nayeon said.

Mina spoke then. “I didn't."

“I’m betting on the chasers!” Eric called. “Three sickles.”

“Five,” Chaeyoung shot back. “My bet’s on Momo and Mina.” Both missed the next shot. “Still betting.”

“You’re on,” the commentator replied just as Sana missed. Again. “Damn it.” Then Nayeon missed. “Is this about the Wheesa comment? I’m sorry.” Mina made two shots, but Momo missed. “Now’s your chance, Minatozaki. Use that chaser magic.”

She actually made one then. Missed the second one. Nayeon did the same. She wasn’t sure what the problem was either. Not even when she looked over to see the Hufflepuffs, plus Chaeyoung, preparing shots of firewhiskey. Lisa was still standing extremely close to Dahyun.

She redirected her attention to the firewhiskey. There were too many for the ones there, so they were probably for when the game ended. Of course the Hufflepuffs would make sure everyone celebrated the end of the tournament. Last year Wheein had ensured that every wizarding chess participant got their own personal cake. Sana hadn’t participated, but Jimin had. She’d asked him for a slice, which he’d readily given. She felt a twinge of guilt thinking about those few weeks of leading him on.

“Should we change the order?” Nayeon asked. Mina had made another double shot, while Momo'd made one. “Might be better?” She looked as confused as Sana felt at their sudden terrible playing.

“Go ahead.”

Nayeon threw. And missed. Sana threw. Made it. Missed the next one. The Hufflepuffs were back, balancing the tray on Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s heads.

“You got this!” The Ravenclaw gave the Mimo team a thumbs up.

Mina just chuckled as she took in the sight. Then she aimed her shot, her back straight like it always was, the throw graceful. She made it. Sana drank it. Mina missed the next one. So did Momo. Two left. Sana and Nayeon still had seven cups to score. She was starting to feel the effects.

Sana threw first. Made it, as well as the second one. So did Nayeon. They cheered. Three left now.

“Getting nervous?” Nayeon raised an eyebrow.

“Nope,” Momo replied. She threw and made hers. Nayeon drank that.

Hwasa grinned as she cheered. Sana was surprised at the support. Felt slightly betrayed too.

She let out a small breath as Momo missed the next one, but held her next one when Mina raised her arm.

“Minaring,” Nayeon whined. “One more round, please?”

A gummy smile appeared. “We’ll see what we get.” She threw. And made it. Sana had to drink it.

The common room erupted into a chorus of cheers. The firewhiskey was passed out to everyone, even a sullen Nayeon and Sana.

“Don’t pout, you two,” Dahyun said as she handed them the small glasses. “You tried.” There was a small tug on the corners of her lip.

“Yah, you can’t keep a straight face,” Nayeon said.

“Well,” she raised her glass, “at least you can say you had the first win of the day.” A broad grin appeared now. It was a real one. "Great game, by the way."

“Cheers to that,” Sana tapped hers against it and Nayeon’s, “I guess.”

Dahyun laughed. “You two are such sore losers.” She only sipped on her drink, while Nayeon and Sana drank it in one go.

“Right,” Nayeon smirked, “you are the most gracious loser today.”

“Hey, I had a better cup count than last year.” She raised her hands. “Three as opposed to zero.” A laugh. “And when I say three, I mean three in the whole set of games I played.”

She said it so nonchalantly that when Nayeon and Sana looked at each other, they burst out laughing. Dahyun smiled, looking very proud of herself. Was that why she’d come over to them in the first place? To make them laugh?

Then she was off again. Sana saw how she set the still filled glass underneath one of the tables. Done with drinking.

She was tempted to follow in suit until Jennie and Lisa rushed over to them. They dragged them over to the makeshift bar (that was naturally hidden when younger years were present. Good thing they put temporary muffle charms on all of the dorm rooms). The next round of drinks was something along the lines of another shot, but one where you had to salt and bite a lemon. A muggle thing, which tasted terrible. Yet Jennie insisted it got better if you took a second (it didn’t).

“Wait, so you’re saying you only tried that once?” Lisa’s eyes were wide. She was lounging beside Sana, but was nowhere near as flirtatious as before. She appreciated that. She also hoped it was because the seeker had her eyes on Slytherin’s keeper. Now that could also be a cute couple. In the back of her mind, Sana really hoped it wasn't because Lisa's eyes were on the Hufflepuff keeper.

Nayeon just grinned. “Hey, it worked the first time, so I was pretty sure it would the second.”

“But what if you were wrong?” Momo frowned then. “You could have slipped off your broom.”

Her brow rose. “What, so you’re saying you wouldn’t have caught me?”

“I,” she started. “McGonagall definitely would have.”

Sana knew she would have. She’d sent her a letter talking about the risky tactic and that it would come around the time when they were losing. Nayeon had been absolutely safe, but she had only done it once during practice and not wanted to do it again until the match.

Still, she took the opportunity. A bunch of the rest were listening to Chaeyoung and Dahyun’s instructions on how to colour your hair. “You wouldn’t have tried to swoop in, Ms. Bravery?”

There was a bright pink flush appearing. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“The snitch is more important than saving my life,” Nayeon flipped her hair, “I get it, Hirai.”

Sana took that as her cue to leave. She caught Tzuyu’s eye and they both stood up. Lisa, thankfully, followed. Nayeon would definitely rant on about how they’d abandoned her, but if something developed past shy glances and banter, Sana would count it as her second win of the day.

Taking a look around the common room, she saw how the hair colour conversation had played out. Jackson was blonde, Jennie had deep red hair, and Moonbyul had purple hair. Now a few had dispersed around the common room. Four people were around the main table, playing another drinking game that involved the ping-pong ball. It was the size of the snitch, but didn't move and was made of plastic. Impressive how the muggles had developed such a wide use for it. She didn't know what ping-pong was, but it was apparently a sport.

“You missed it,” Dahyun said from one of the sofas. “We taught people the charm and the counter one.” She twirled her wand and the new colour seeped from her roots down to the tips, changing the purple into a deep red. Then she repeated the motion and it went back to the differing shades of purple. "Not everyone got the instructions the first time we spread them 'round school."

Tzuyu smiled then and took out her own wand. “Got it.” She said the incantation and her hair turned a deep blue. She didn’t change it back.

Dahyun grinned. “Suits you.”

Then Tzuyu left, muttering something about checking on Mina. Sana stood in front of the sofa, half turned in the direction Tzuyu went and half towards Dahyun. And she wished the floor could swallow her up. She’d rather take a trip to the empty Chamber of Secrets or crawl through the dead basilisk’s skeleton than stand here, unable to move from the spot.

The Hufflepuff in front of her, of course, seemed unbothered. “And I take it you don’t want to change your hair?” Again with the nonchalant way of talking, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. It suited her.

In that moment, the only thought she had was, why the hell not? “Give me something.” Sana went over and sat down beside her. It was too soft. She winced as her chest was tugged at.

“Are you okay?” Dahyun straightened, her eyes suddenly filled with concern. “Oh, it really got you, didn’t it?”

“No,” Sana said. “It’s fine.” She had not been on the receiving end of Dahyun's concern in a while.

No, that wasn't true. She had. When the letter had come, Dahyun’s face had been covered in thick gashes, but her concern was directed at Sana’s hand. Then yesterday, when Sana had been the biggest idiot in the world and forgotten about the faulty step. Dahyun had stopped her and gotten panicked in the same moment. The stairs had triggered something in her. So even if she didn’t remember much, there was enough that just a quick movement on those stairs scared her. And yet she’d still stopped Sana from falling. When she hadn’t been able to stop Dahyun from doing in the same in the first place.

The Hufflepuff gave her a look mixed with concern and disbelief. “If you’re in pain, just say it.” She glanced around. “No one’s listening, but me.” The corner of her lip tugged up. “And I know a few things about helping with pain.” She waggled her wand. “Do you trust me?”

Sana really hoped she wasn’t going to try to heal her ribs. Maybe it would work, but it would hurt like hell. Then again, Dahyun was good at charms too. Her hair was a prime example of that.

She must have been thinking too long about it, because Dahyun smiled fully. It was a genuine one. Gentle too. “The charm just gives you an ice-pack sort of feeling. I'm not gonna turn you into an icicle."

Sana laughed. “Okay,” she said. “Hit me.”

The Hufflepuff flicked her arm. Then she raised her wand. “Was it in the sternum?”

She shook her head. “Side. Left,” she said. “I hope you’re not surprised I know what a sternum is.” She frequently felt bad whenever she broke Dahyun's ramblings to ask about a muggle concept. It made her feel like she hadn't devoted nearly as much time to knowing about the muggle world when she should have. There was a lot to it.

Dahyun shifted the direction the wand was pointing. Normally if someone else was pointing a wand at Sana like that, she’d have disarmed them. “I’m not. My surprise in wizards knowledge peaked with Pokémon.”

Then there was a cool feeling spreading through the one side of her chest. It was soothing.

“Do you still play it?”

“Sometimes,” she nodded, “not here, but when the new versions come out, I play a little of the most recent one to see if I actually want the next one.” Then she laughed softly. “Sorry, I don't think I ever told you that. The company who makes the games makes a new one almost every year.”

“Aren’t all the games the same?” She remembered Dahyun showing her Leaf Green and Silver.

She wouldn’t say it, but she’d begged her parents to let her have some muggle money. It was the first time she'd gone into a muggle shop. When her father had found out what for, he’d been torn between laughing and grinning madly. He couldn't believe she had such an interest in the muggle world, but he'd also found it hilarious that her main interest was for a game about little monsters. For a second, she wondered why she’d never told Dahyun that before.

Then she remembered how at one point, Dahyun had stopped mentioning the muggle world as much as she had and completely stopped sneaking out at night. All in first year. It hadn’t been enough that she’d noticed much of a change, as so much had been happening in her first year at Hogwarts. Looking back now, even in the early years, Dahyun hadn't ever been so open if something bothered her. Maybe she had been with her closer friends, but not Sana. She felt a pang of regret at that fact.

Dahyun broke her out of her reverie. “I think not. There are new Pokémon added, as well as new regions, and new lore.”

“Lore?” Again she felt bad that she didn't know the things Dahyun mentioned something so casually. It reminded her of the massive divide that had been erected between the muggle and wizarding world.

“It's information about the world, its history, internal stories, rules, that sort of thing.” She tapped her wand to her chin. “Though I guess I did buy into the money-grabs of theirs. The gameplay is pretty similar.”

Lore sounded like just the thing that would grab Dahyun’s attention. Gameplay also sounded pretty self-explanatory, so she didn’t have to ask about that.

“So, the hair?” She should have thanked her for the cooling spell. Should she still do it? Her stomach felt like it was turning in on itself. “Thanks for the spell. You know, on the ribs.” Merlin, she sounded terrible. A thank you should have been easy.

To her credit, Dahyun didn’t comment on it. “What colour?”

Sana’s thoughts went to last year.

Blonde would suit you. Or pink. If you’re adventurous.

It made her cheeks warm. Why did she have to remember every little detail? She didn’t even need a pensieve. Her mind didn’t let her forget a thing about that night.

And here Dahyun was, in her purple hair, lounging on a sofa with Sana, completely unaware of every single parallel that Sana was seeing.

Forget that happened.

Had Dahyun forgotten?

“Blonde?”

“Platinum like Jackson, or something a bit more subtle?”

“Definitely not snow white, no,” Sana snorted. “But I didn’t have anything in mind, really.” She did think of Dahyun’s blonde hair from a few weeks ago.

“How about this.” She reached out and took a strand of Sana’s hair before tapping her wand to it. Not even a whisper of the incantation, she could just do it wordlessly. Her eyebrows twitched as she worked. Then her face relaxed and her expression brightened. “I just did the tips.” She waved it in front of Sana’s eyes.

Yet again, she realised she’d been staring at the wrong thing—person.

“I like it.” She glanced at it. There were varying shades of blonde, going from almost pastel to golden. “Can you also make it dark at the roots?” She wondered if that would make this last longer. She wished it would.

A shrug. “If you want.”

“Go for it.” Then she felt her wand trace along her scalp and couldn’t stop the giggle. “That tickles.”

“It has to be precise, sorry.” Her brow was furrowed in concentration. Sana found it adorable.

“No worries. Just as long as I don’t panic tomorrow when I look in the mirror.”

“I hope you won’t.” A small smile. A few moments of silenced passed as Dahyun’s eyes remained locked on her hair. “It looks good.” She lowered her arm. “But the counter-charm is literally color revelio. Just have to tap your head.”

“So,” Sana put on a mock frown, “you invent two spells and you didn’t feel like making them hard to pronounce?”

A disarming grin was sent her way. “Yep. We kept it simple.”

“And never charged for it.” They were sitting really close together. Dahyun had crossed her legs at some point, so her knee was brushing Sana’s leg.

“What makes you think this was free?” She winked. “Kidding. I think Jihyo actually got Madame Kang’s approval to make pamphlets.”

“You’re joking.”

“Actually not,” she replied. “There’s a charm that can make it impossible to cross out or do anything on the paper. Kang said it’s one that’s on all the library books.”

“And a jinx,” Sana said. “Covers your fingers with ink for the rest of the day.”

Her eyes widened then. “You tried to annotate one of them?” She looked shocked and borderline upset.

“Once! I was bored and thought I’d doodle something tiny in the corner.”

“Please tell me this was first year.”

She looked away then. “Fourth.”

"Oh dear." A long sigh. “Better late than never.” She was fighting a smile.

Sana smiled instead. This felt natural. They'd had a few conversations like this before, but they'd either been pressed in on by O.W.Ls, ruined by Sana's recklessness, or a result of Dahyun getting hurt. This was just them talking at a party. This was the kind of fun she'd wanted.

And then everything was ruined by the person who bounded over.

“Moved on already?” It was Eric. Sana wanted nothing more than to make him turn the other way, either through magic or her own hands.

“What?” Dahyun frowned.

He looked sympathetic. “You didn’t hear? Rosé and Sana broke up." He shook his head. "Anyway, Rona isn’t as great a name as Saida.” It was like Sana wasn't even there.

“Saida? Like the place name? Didn’t know you knew your way around the world, Eric.” She looked more irritated than confused.

Just like that, Sana’s nerves skyrocketed. She wanted nothing more than to leave the common room, maybe go to the pitch, or just go sleep. Merlin, she’d actually go to the library if she could get away from here.

“It’s your ship name.” 

She didn't even have to ask what a ship name was.

Then someone appeared at his shoulder. It was Hwasa. She scowled. "Really subtle, Nam.” She jabbed her elbow into his ribs as she passed by, while Wheein grabbed him by the arm and tugged him away.

“Hey, I already lost five sickles, I won’t get bullied too,” he half-shouted, half-laughed.  

Were Sana a lesser person, she would have certainly hexed him, but she didn't. Instead she was in a state close to shock. It was almost funny—as though the night couldn’t have gone any other way than an organised catastrophe.

“Well,” Dahyun stood up, “I think I’m gonna go sleep. You want any change to your hair, ask me or try it yourself.” A smile. Fake.

Then she was walking away. Sana got the worst feeling of déjà vu, except this time a perfectly normal conversation had been ruined. It was nothing like last year, and yet it was exactly like it too. It nearly made her head spin. She stood up and the room literally started spinning. She hadn’t been feeling the alcohol before. She went after her. At least this wouldn’t involve a mini chase down the stairs.
She saw her walking down the hall, but slowly.

“Dahyun, wait. Please.” She hoped desperately that her words weren’t slurred.

I’ve had a lot to drink.

She turned around. “Already reconsidering the hair?” Her eyes were light, the discomfort from a minute ago gone. She was good at hiding behind a bright facade. Better than last year.

Sana still didn't know why Dahyun had walked away from her last year. She didn't know why she was walking away now. Was it because Sana was meeting expectations with dumping Rosé and pursuing someone else? Did Dahyun think that someone else was her? Was it her?

So you regret it?

Yes.

“Can I ask you something?” Sana asked. “Answer one question honestly and give me a straight answer.”

“Well,” Dahyun said, “if you ask me to tell you who’s the best at beer pong, I’ll say Mina. I’m not going to spare your ego there.” A small smile appeared.

Sana felt the same tugging at her own lips, but that was not the point of this conversation. She also couldn’t help but feel like she was trying to avoid the subject already.

Her mind went blank. What was she going to ask? Why was Dahyun leaving? Why was everything good one moment and then flipped on its head in the next? She had a small idea of that. Did she ever think of the last party they’d been at?

One is a rumour confirmed, the other is just the dating update of the week.

“Do you still remember the night we kissed?”

And just like that, she felt her words had broken the Hufflepuff. The girl stared at her and no thoughts seemed to be going through her mind.

Sana was torn between holding her tongue for the rest of the year and breaking the same barrier to talk about the last one. “I do.” There it was. The recklessness. “And I can’t stop thinking about what I’m missing?” She couldn’t stand the distant look on Dahyun’s face.

But the expression vanished, replaced by confusion. “What do you mean missing?”

“Clearly there’s something.” The words should have stopped now. Maybe she should have just stayed in the common room, or maybe actually gone to bed before the early morning hours. “I didn’t have it last year and I don’t have it now.”

There wasn’t a response, just a raised brow.

“It’s the fact that I date around, isn’t it?” She laughed slightly. “That my most Slytherin trait is the fact that I use people’s emotions like that. It’s that isn’t it?”

“Sana,” she started. Was she trying to stop her? Maybe that was the best thing to do. Sana should have been trying to stop talking, but she didn't want to.

“You said you’d just be the dating update of the week.” She was all but certain Dahyun had left that day far off in the distance. But Sana, being the epitome of pathetic, remembered each second of that moment. She still felt a lot of the embarrassment, as well as something akin to loss. "That wasn't true."

“We shouldn’t be talking about this today.” She looked more lost than anything.

She scoffed. “When else? I’m not about to ask you why you did what you did when we’re on patrol.” She reigned in her tone. “I know you want your privacy. In this school that’s hard to come by.”

“And I appreciate that.” Dahyun smiled lightly. It was forced. “I do, but we’ve both drunk a lot. We should both just get to bed.”

“You haven’t drunk much,” Sana shot back. “I saw you stop when the shots came. And I have a higher tolerance than you.”

She looked torn. Sana knew she was pushing her, but the more she was around Dahyun, the more she thought about last year.

“You were never a target."

“Then what was I?” Dahyun's voice was quiet. “You can tell me I was the only candidate for you to flirt with that night,” a crooked smile, “because the rest were way out of their minds. You can say that about tonight too, and it’s fine.”

There was a long moment of silence as Sana tried to find the words. Dahyun was looking at her intently, waiting.

She took too long.

Dahyun patted her arm. “Now go back to the party. Lisa’s got her eyes on you.” A small smile. “Goodnight, Sana.”
____
Author’s Note

I hope you’re alright with one very long scene. It had its stages: the arrival, the games, and the aftermath, so maybe those are minor scenes? Not sure. Either way, this was a really fun chapter to write. It is here where I’m making HP a bit more on the ‘mature’ side than usual with the drinking games and all that, but this is a boarding school and these people are in their final years of school. A tad chaotic of a stage, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, Chaeyoung was being wonderfully supportive of Mina this chapter, Nayeon and Momo had a bit of a back-and-forth, and Saida was, for lack of a better word, complicated. It was an interesting chapter to write, because I really wanted to bring back the fact that these two have a history, but also that things have changed since Dahyun fell. Also, jealousy may or may not have been present throughout this chapter.

Would love to know your thoughts about Saida's current dynamic. Is it like last year or is it different?

See you next chapter!