Last Summer

Dahyun sat back, trembling. She'd failed to resist the Imperius curse. Again. She had tried to tell a lie, but nothing in her body let her. It had drained her. 

“Here,” Yuri handed her a steaming cup, “hot chocolate and shortbread.” 

Dahyun gave her a smile. She knew it was a weak one. “Thanks.” 

“It took me a few tries too, Dubu,” she said. “Succumbing to a curse that literally takes over your mind doesn’t mean you’re weak.” 

“But I’m supposed to know how by the end of the summer,” Dahyun replied. She took a sip of the drink. “Can’t I try again today?”

She shook her head. “They aren’t unforgivable for nothing. That curse can make you more pliable if you’re constantly exposed. A harmless command of ‘get me coffee’ will have you obeying even if you hate the person who said it.” 

Dahyun nodded. The severity of the situation dawned on her again. She was treating it as though it were a challenge. Yes, she needed to know how to fight it. If she knew how to resist it, that could protect what she knew. It would protect the department. But it was also a curse. One that stripped you of your freedom. She couldn’t forget that.

“And what about the lies you don’t have to force?” Dahyun asked. “The ones with the people you know.”

“The ones that trust you, you mean.” Her eyes softened. “Honestly,” Yuri set down her pen, “the main thing you’re forbidden from is ever telling someone what exactly it is we do here.” 

“Like the different rooms and projects?” Dahyun asked. 

A nod. “But you actually saying where you work,” Yuri's eyes fell on the table, “that’s not completely off limits for you.” Then she stood and walked over to where Dahyun sat. “The only thing that happens there is that the danger increases for you and whoever you told.” 

Whatever hope Dahyun had of not lying to her friends every day sank. 

“The more people who know where you’re working, that you have valuable secrets, the greater the risk. Someone could target them, discover that they know you’re an Unspeakable, and want to get the secrets out of you that way.” Her fist clenched. “That’s a sure way to get information out,” Yuri said. “And if the wrong people know you’re an Unspeakable, that's dangerous. We wipe the memories of anyone who attacks one of ours.”

“So, lying,” Dahyun said, "that’s risk management for me and others.” 

Yuri squeezed her shoulder. “I’ve been given a hard time for this, but my husband knows where I work, so does my brother and two of my closest friends.” She sighed. “I couldn’t stand lying to them everyday. My friends are in the Ministry, so they have a better idea of the risks. They can actually help me more than not.” Her eyes twinkled. “You just have to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into if you ever tell. What you might be getting the people around you into.” 

____

Dahyun’s eyes burned. Not from the potion, but from frustration. 

She’d messed up the counter-draught. Again. It hadn’t neutralised the sleeping potion, but rather strengthened it. She was wearing a mask and was doing her best to keep the air clean. It was a charm Madame Selen had taught her. She’d used it several times today. 

Cursing, she glared at the mixture of the failed draught and the sleeping draught. It was bright pink. There were hints of white in it too. 

She was about to dump it when she looked at it again. 

Immediately, Dahyun put the vial down, stuck a stopper in it, and labelled it. When she repeated the same, but with the Case Four sleeping draught, they turned purple and then white. Neutralised. More or less.

She summoned a second cauldron. It would be coming from her room. It settled down on the floor in front of her. She got to work.
This potion was beyond easy for her. She could do it in her sleep. 

Most of the ingredients were in lesser amounts than the rest. She sprinkled the boom berry juice in last and stirred it. She knew that Madame Selen would have an absolute fit if she walked in.

She got some out, spilling it. It hit her ankle. She hissed, but didn’t wipe it off immediately. She had to be quick. 

Dahyun’s wakefulness draught was carefully poured into a vial. She snapped on the stopper out of habit.

Slowly, very slowly, she drew out some of the Case Four sleeping draught. 

The stock she’d made of it allowed for many tries (after sending a letter, Dahyun had gotten confirmation that Yuri wanted a counter for both versions). She’d successfully optimised it, the new version also having its own stock. Some of the ingredients were in too huge concentrations. They’d probably lead to the person being comatose, which most likely wasn’t the desired effect. Still, she’d made a note of it, just in case (and she hoped it wasn’t) someone actually wanted to do that kind of thing. 

Her own potion didn’t work against the new one. She hadn’t tried it with the other one. The ban on it by Madane Selen might have gotten to her then. But now she’d made it again. She could turn it in to the woman after this. Or just dump it. 

When the black met bright blue, they turned a vibrant purple. Streaks of white appeared. She repeated it with the improved draught. The mixture turned bright pink again. It didn’t quite fit what she’d predicted. She labelled them both. 

Dahyun looked around the shelves of Selen’s office. She spotted a flask of Wiggenweld. It wouldn’t hurt if she used ten millilitres. That was all she needed. Maybe fifteen, because it was the weakest of all the potions she’d made. She could always make Madame Selen a new one. If the woman ever let her brew outside her designated hour. Dahyun was already pushing it now. 

She lifted the Wiggenweld off the shelves and over to her. Took out one of the beakers she’d ordered, measured out the right amount, and set it over the fire. As it warmed, Dahyun lunged for her book. This was huge. Or it might be. 

She noted down the changes. 

The Wiggenweld was boiling. She took out another pair of vials, trying not to tremble as she poured it in. No spillage. 

When she put the two different types in. The one with Case Four turned white. Neutralised. The one with her version turned the pink-purple colour with white highlights. She labelled them. Would the same happen with the Draught of Living Death? 

Then the implication hit her. A sleeping draught whose effects were enhanced by a wakefulness draught. It applied to her own potion as well. At least for one of the tests. She wasn’t about to try its effects herself, but the colour was clear enough of an answer. 

The realisation terrified her.

Dahyun sat there, staring at the cauldrons in front of her. Her disappointment was long forgotten. 

“Out!” 

She jumped, nearly spilling the cauldron of a volatile draught. Both weren’t great to spill, especially not in the Hospital Wing. 

“Wait!” Dahyun cried. She started putting it in the extra containers. She had one more try before she had to either dump a potion or order more. She wanted to keep her failed draughts to see if they worked otherwise. Someone would call her crazy, but this was the closest she was being to a scientist. 

“Do you not notice the amount of fumes you produce here?” Madame Selen was brandishing her wand like a whip, no doubt eradicating said ‘fumes’. "And you've been here long enough."

Dahyun realised then that she could not tell this woman what she’d just realised. She’d never ever be allowed in here again. Maybe she’d petition for Dahyun to be relegated to theoretical potions for the rest of her education at Hogwarts. That’d be a nightmare. 

“Sorry,” she said. “Lost track of time. I’m feeling fine. Promise.” A little shaken, but she felt awake. Not too awake, but awake nonetheless. Her coffee intake was helping with that. Something she’d avoid telling Madame Selen—even if caffeine was ‘permitted’. 

She made sure to label the containers. After the summer, she’d developed the habit of doing this every time she got a sample of a potion. She had to resist the urge to do the same in potions class. Now she was able to. Now she had to. There were at least ten different containers of potions she stored here. Thanks to McGonagall, she had a chest that only opened for her. So even if a curious student ever started exploring, they wouldn’t suddenly find Dahyun’s project. 

Putting the most recent mishap of a draught in the chest, she shut it and locked it. 

“Dahyun.” Selen’s brow was cocked. 

“I’m leaving!” she said. “Thank you!” She almost bowed, but she caught herself. “Sorry for the, you know, fumes.” 

She made a shooing motion. “Go have lunch.” 

Dahyun didn’t mention the fact that she wasn’t in the mood for it. Double Potions was today. She’d used her ban from it to work on potions. Now she had half an hour left. 

She got outside and went straight to a wall, sitting down. One thing she’d actually loved during her class-ban was sitting in the halls when they were empty. It made for a perfect atmosphere. Quiet, for once. And the sight reminded her that she was going to school in an actual castle. When the stairs and paintings moved and one could do magic, one tended to forget that fact. 

Putting her book on her lap, she made sure that she’d gotten all the vials. She catalogued the colours in her notebook. The reactions with the new version of Case Four each had a pink or purple tone to them. But Case Four had been neutralised by the Wiggenweld and Dahyun’s new potion, but not her old one. Her old one had strengthened Case Four. What did that mean? Maybe once she sent Yuri a letter, she’d tell Dahyun that she was crazy. Yet Dahyun was pretty sure she was right. 

She had to tell someone. Maybe her theories wouldn’t be seen as completely mad. Or they would. Then she remembered. There was no one she could tell right now. 

Or. Maybe. She could. 

She got up and ran for the stairs. She actually jogged, because running drained her too quickly. 

Being mindful not to trip, Dahyun made it safely to the floor of the office. She said the password to the gargoyle, which was, fittingly, shortbread. She caught her breath as the staircase rose, hoping desperately that she wasn’t going to in on an important meeting. 

The stairs rose until she came face to face with Professor Bae. Dahyun would be lying if she didn’t find the DADA professor gorgeous. Everyone did. It was just a shock to see her up close and not from behind a desk. 

“Dahyun, nice to see you.” She smiled. “Everything alright?” The smile faded as concern entered her features. 

“All is well,” Dahyun replied. All is well? “Just had something important to ask, er, tell Ms–Professor McGonagall.” 

Bae nodded. “Okay, well see you later. Don’t overdo it.” 

“I never do.” 

The look the professor sent her way almost made her laugh. Dahyun resisted. 

Then she was descending the stairs. 

“You’re still wearing the mask!” Bae called.

Dahyun pulled it off, before walking further into the office. She was comforted by the many instruments she saw and heard. 

“Am I disturbing you, Professor? I can come later.” 

The headmistress smiled. “Not at all, Dahyun. And you have something important to say.” 

“Yes,” Dahyun reached into her bag, drawing out the first pair of vials, “and you’re probably gonna think I’m not thinking straight, but I think I know how I fell.” 

“Shall we sit first?” McGonagall asked.

Dahyun could see in her eyes that she’d got her. How she hoped this wasn’t going to be nothing. She also hoped that it was. She wasn’t sure yet what it meant for the who behind the fall. 

She sat, ordering the vials along the desk. She had to rearrange two because they weren’t in the right position. 

“These are the products of reactions between sleeping draughts and wakefulness draughts. Including my own.” Dahyun pointed. Now they were going into sensitive topics. “The reaction is the same across all of them. The wakefulness draughts have a synergistic effect.” 

“Synergistic?” 

Dahyun was secretly blown away that she was going to explain a term to the headmistress. She hoped it didn’t show. There was so much Dahyun still wanted to know. Like being an animagi, how did that even feel? Though McGonagall was one, Dahyun didn’t exactly think it was a good idea to ask the headmistress how it felt being a cat. 

“They strengthen the sleep-inducing effects.” 

The room was quiet except for the whirring and tinkling sounds of the magical objects. Dahyun felt her face warm. She suddenly felt very small in this room. McGonagall had been nothing but supportive of her in this time, but she was still very nervous when it came to showing anything remotely academic around her. She actually popped in to classes from time to time. Everyone got nervous. 

“And you think the sleeping draught was given to you?” the headmistress finally asked. “At dinner?” 

“I don’t think so,” Dahyun said. “I was feeling off the entire day. It started when I walked into Potions. We were making the Draught of Living Death.” 

“Which one’s that?” she aimed a critical gaze at the vials. 

“I actually,” now she was blushing, “didn’t get to make it. I got thrown out.” 

Her brow rose. “What are the ingredients? We can make it in here. Just as long as you do not inhale anything and do not tell anyone.” 

Dahyun told her what was in the draught. She then summoned her flask of her wakefulness draught and one of the new one. McGonagall looked at it, a question in her eyes, but she said nothing. 

When she put on her mask, the headmistress conjured up a cauldron, flame, and the ingredients all at once. 

She stared at the sight in front of her. The professor had been a Transfiguration teacher before this. She wondered if McGonagall knew how the class was Dahyun’s worst subject. She really hoped she didn’t. 

“Would you like to do the honours?” She waved a hand. 

Dahyun got to it. She was already feeling self-conscious. 

When it was done, she got rid of the fumes and dug around in her bag for another pair of vials. McGonagall just summoned two, as well a flask for the new potion. 

Dahyun bowed her head. “Thank you.” She filled both containers and went back to the desk. The ingredients and cauldron were vanished as she did. 

When she sat down, her stomach was in a bundle of nerves. What would this prove if the same thing happened? What would it mean if something different happened?

She lifted one of the wakefulness draughts, took a part of it one and heated it. She repeated it with the other. Then she put it in the vial. 

“Are you sure Selen lets you work like that?”

Right, she’d forgotten to take away the fumes for it. “Sorry, Professor.” 

“It’s alright,” she said. “I may be old, but I will survive this.” Her eyes twinkled. 

Dahyun smiled before looking back at the draughts. The one with her wakefulness draught had turned pink. The other one turned white. That also meant something. She didn’t know what. She labelled them. 

It was quiet again. 

“When did you have Potions?” 

“In the morning,” Dahyun replied. “We were the class after another. It might have been the fumes.” 

McGonagall took the vial that had the reaction between Dahyun’s draught and Case Four. “This is a stronger reaction than that other one, I assume.” She nodded at the pink vial in Dahyun’s hand. “You remained conscious the entire day, but sick, if I’m not mistaken. Then you fell into the slumber.” 

Someone had found Case Four in the Ministry. How that had happened, she did not know. But they had used it. Case Four had also been for ‘unconventional applications’.

“An airborne potion?” Dahyun asked. 

She nodded. “Specific to the potion that you made.” 

“But it did the same with the newest one,” Dahyun said. “It might just be a coincidence.” 

“Do you truly believe that or do you just want it to be true?”

Dahyun looked away. 

The sound of chimes broke her from her thoughts. 

“I think you have class now.” 

She’d missed lunch. 

Dahyun stood up. “May I take these?” 

“I hope you don’t mean to drink them.”

She shook her head. “Definitely not, Professor.” 

A smile. “You have a great deal of very strong sleeping draughts. I need to trust that none can be taken from you.” 

Dahyun hesitated. She remembered something that Chaeyoung had asked her. 

Is anything missing from your bag?

Her wakefulness draughts had been, essentially, confiscated after the fall. She’d asked Madame Selen how many there’d been. Three. One had indeed been missing. 

“Something was only stolen from me after the fall,” Dahyun said. “I kept four sleeping draughts in my bag, because I’d made them at different times. They work for a good two weeks, but get less effective as time goes by.” 

McGonagall’s gaze was sharp. 

“Have you told Yuri all of this?”

Dahyun shook her head. “I’m writing to her today.” 

“Bring me the letter,” the professor said. “I will bring it to her myself.” She looked at the vials. “Are you going to test these?” 

“Try to,” Dahyun admitted. “When I’m able to.” When the second Case Four draught had finally been neutralised and when she was allowed to brew potions for longer than an hour. 

She just nodded. “I’ll send to Irene that you had to be somewhere for the first part of class.” 

____

Sana didn’t mean to, but she kept glancing at the empty chair next to her. As if that would make her appear sooner. 

She’d been up all night, thinking over what Dahyun had said.

I don’t regret the kiss. Not anymore.

Not anymore. Did that mean she had? What had changed her mind?  

And what did that mean now? Dahyun didn’t give any signs that she felt anything more than not regretting a kiss. Had she even picked up on everything else Sana was saying? And not saying? 

She’d gone over everything she’d said to the girl in the last few days. Everything had been about last year. Sana had said pretty much nothing about this year. 

I didn’t have it last year and I don’t have it now. 

Did that count? Dahyun probably hadn’t taken note of it. Maybe she’d forgotten. 

“Sorry I’m late, Professor,” someone said, sounding thoroughly out of breath. 

Sana tapped her wand to the sheet and muttered, “geminio”. A copy of her notes appeared. She slid it over.

Mina elbowed her, a smile on her face. Sana felt a blush start.

“We’re revisiting shield charms. Theoretical,” Bae said. She aimed a look at them. Most of them had written terrible essays. 

Then Sana heard Chaeyoung stand up.

Then Dahyun was beside her, obviously catching her breath. She pulled the paper on her desk towards her. 

“You didn’t have to,” the Hufflepuff murmured. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Sana wasn’t sure how many times she’d heard Dahyun say something like that. At first it was because she’d felt she had to, because the fall was her fault. Now she just wanted to do it. It was hard not to when she’d seen that Dahyun tried never to stop working. Momo had told her what they’d been doing in the time that Dahyun was in the Hospital Wing and beyond, making an entire information chain for her to follow on the classes. 

They kept going. Sana hadn’t been terrible at shield charms. At least when it came to duelling. She at the ones meant to protect an area. They’d be working on that again next year. 

She half listened. Dahyun’s breathing hadn’t eased up yet, but she could tell the girl was trying to sound normal. She breathed just through her nose, slowly. 

Where had she been? Dahyun wasn’t usually late to class. Scratch that, Sana couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever been late to class. She felt a little weird that she had such a good memory about that. Then again, she had a reason for it. Did that make it weirder? 

“Last year, a seventh year asked me what it would mean if someone ever shot at you,” Bae got to her feet, “and for those who don’t know, they were talking about the muggle weapon. A gun.” 

Sana had heard about those. Many deaths had been caused by them. Bullets were said to be fired at almost the speeds of the Killing Curse. 

“We can actually deflect them,” Professor Bae said. “You just have to be great at nonverbal magic and have the right reflexes for it, but it works.” She threw a ball at the nearest person. That was Luke. “Throw it at me. Use your best throw, Mr. Grent.” 

“Which isn’t that great,” Dahyun muttered. 

Sana fought the urge to laugh. She heard Chaeyoung snort. 

Luke brought his arm back and threw the ball at her. 

The professor flicked her wand and it hit the space in front of her, before falling to the ground like a stone. 

She lifted the ball up. “Care to try?” 

Luke didn’t seem to shy away. He just drew out his wand with a cocky edge to his gaze. Sana wanted nothing more than for the ball to hit him in the face. 

Professor Bae launched it at him. Luke waved his wand madly and deflected the ball. It went straight for Sana. 

But the ball never hit her. Someone had caught it. 

“It’s good not to deflect. You never know if you’ll hit someone else,” Bae smiled, “good catch. With that, class dismissed."

Sana looked at the girl next to her, still half in shock at the ball and the catch. 

Dahyun caught her eyes and smiled sheepishly. “Kinda stole your thunder there, sorry,” she whispered. Then she continued packing. 

Sana shook her head. “I wouldn’t have caught it anyway.” 

Her eyes widened. “Really, Minatozaki Sana can’t catch something?”

Sana looked away then, starting to pack herself. The blush was completing its course. 

“That’s why she’s a chaser,” Nayeon said. “But I’m glad you kept your reflexes. You’ll need em when we play each other.” She winked. 

Dahyun laughed as she put her bag on her shoulder. “Looking forward for it.” 

They all got up and went for the door.

“Sorry about that, Dubu,” Luke said. “Didn’t mean to.” 

Dahyun just shrugged. “As long as you weren’t trying to hit us, we’re good.” 

He blinked. “Uh, right.” Then he was off. 

“Five sickles he was aiming,” Nayeon muttered.

“I’m not taking that bet,” Sana replied. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had. 

She rolled her eyes. “Cause you know I’d win.” 

Then Sana noticed the other three were still walking with them. “Thanks, by the way.” 

Dahyun nodded. “No problem,” a twinkle entered her eye, “but if you want to deflect a jinx at him, be my guest.” Another smile. “I can’t do it, because, you know, people would assume drama.” Then she was walking off too. 

Sana knew she had History of Magic now. Was it also weird that she knew that?

“You also give your approval?” Nayeon cocked an eyebrow at Chaeyoung and Jihyo. 

They both shrugged. 

“Great,” she grinned, “gotta repay him for my eyebrows.” 

_____

Dahyun trudged up the stairs. Today she might have overdone it. The rushing from the Hospital Wing to McGonagall and then to DADA had probably been too much. Before dinner, she'd also gone back to McGonagall and given her the letter. 

All day she had been going over her realisation. What would Professor McGonagall say to Yuri? What would Yuri tell her? The headmistress was more than trustworthy. She knew that without Yuri even having to tell her that.

And yet Dahyun wondered if she was considered trustworthy? Working on these potions was one thing. Knowing their significance and their workings was completely different. Of the potions she had worked on in the summer, the ‘testing’ stages were left for later. Only once she was out of school would she be allowed to see what those stages even entailed. 

Yuri had told her that a degree of divination could actually be used to determine those workings. You still needed to conduct proper tests to know that what you'd predicted was true—not that a sleeping draught shut down an organ or affected something else that was vital to one’s survival. Dahyun wondered if that included tests on animals as it did in the muggle world, or if it jumped straight to human tests. Yuri hadn’t said. That was a worrying fact in and of itself. There was a reason the law required human trials to follow animal tests, and animal tests to follow a strict protocol. Rampant testing of anything without knowing the consequences was dangerous, and almost always unethical. 

Dahyun didn’t know where the Department of Mysteries fell on that spectrum. Was there legislation from the Ministry itself that bound them to protocol? There were projects in the Potions room where they were making poisons. How would those trials be regulated? 

Too many questions. Too few answers. And that was about her future job. It was one that she hadn’t known she’d wanted until she got the internship, but now that she’d had, she desperately wanted to see it through. It also paid well. Dahyun’s parents weren’t exactly well off, but she still had access to a lot of luxuries, which included the many muggle books she’d wanted. They’d been able to convert the money to be pretty good at accommodating for robes, other school supplies, and a decent broom. She was fine on that front. 

But she also wanted to have a good life within and outside of the wizarding world. The pay of the DoM was enough for that. Yuri had said it literally made living a life of secret worth it. Maybe this year would show her if that was true. 

“Hey,” a bright voice called. There were footsteps. 

Dahyun turned to see Sana coming up the stairs. Her hair was wet and her uniform messily put on. She was probably coming from quidditch practice. Dahyun felt a pang. How she longed to get on the pitch again. It was something she sorely missed, but if walking (sometimes running) between classes was still hard for her, having practice on top of that would be a nightmare. And she hadn’t even added patrol to that list. 

She smiled at Sana. “Hi.” 

“What’s that?” The Slytherin was looking at her ankle. The fabric around the area had turned bright blue

“Spilled a draught on it,” Dahyun said. She turned around and started walking. She went slower than yesterday, wanting to both conserve energy and not make Sana feel like she was avoiding her. That had become near impossible nowadays. 

Her eyes widened. “I thought you’re not supposed to be brewing potions.” 

Damn it, Dahyun thought. Of all the slip-ups to have, this was not the one. ”Madame Selen gave me an hour. I had to figure something out.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. It wasn’t a great truth either. 

Sana tilted her head, her gaze half teasing, half suspicious. It made Dahyun feel hopelessly exposed. “She told me to keep you out of Potions, and not even to let you be around the hall.” 

“And you still can’t let me,” she replied. She saw that Sana had missed a button. She stopped walking, Sana did the same. Dahyun closed it. “But the full ban was before the letter.” That was also true, but she wasn’t allowed to brew potions as a result of it. She would have been able to do it. 

“Did you figure out what was in the letter?” Sana’s eyes searched her own.

Dahyun looked away, pulling her hands off Sana’s shirt as well. She started walking again. 

“Yep. It was a mixture of stuff from the muggle and magical world. Typical ingredients of a few potions, nothing enough to be disastrous for me, but enough to cause some kind of deliriousness and sleepiness,” Dahyun explained. “But there was also something that’s in a few medications that make you tired after taking them.” She realised that she hadn’t tried mixing the potion of the letter with a sleeping draught. That was another test she’d have to do. 

Sana was looking at her oddly. Had she said something and Dahyun hadn’t heard it? That usually didn’t happen. Most of the time you just didn’t understand what a person had said, but you still knew they’d said something. 

“So you found that after the potions ban was lifted,” Sana said. “Why is that blue?” She nodded at her ankle. “The potion in the letter was clear.” 

A moment passed. They went around a corner. Dahyun knew the silence lasted too long to go back. Sana didn’t seem like someone who would let this go. 

She could lie to her. Or she could tell her a part of the truth. 

Then it dawned on her. The fact that what she’d found today directly linked to the reason she fell—that concerned Sana more than Dahyun realised. She felt a knot of guilt growing in her chest then. Why hadn’t she thought about this before? 

“I was working on something else,” Dahyun admitted. “I think my wakefulness draughts were a big part of the reason I fell.” 

She shouldn’t tell Sana this. It would lead to questions. But Sana still felt guilty for something that was in no way her fault. Dahyun saw it in her eyes as soon as the words ‘I fell’ left . 

Sana’s gaze dropped to the floor. Did she even know that Dahyun had made a potion like that? She could trust her not to spread such a thing around. That last part stuck with her. She could trust Sana. 

Dahyun would evade if she had to, lie if she had to. But later. 

“Today I mixed my potion with the Draught of Living Death. The one we were making that day,” Dahyun said. “I started feeling sick during and after that class. Today I found out why, because when you mix them, they don’t neutralise each other.” She wouldn’t mention Case Four or the new sleeping draught. Just this one. “The effects of the sleeping draught actually get enhanced.” 

The hall was quiet, save for their footsteps. 

When she looked over at the other girl, she saw that Sana was deep in thought. The guilt in her eyes had not lessened. 

“Whether you had been there or not,” Dahyun said, trying to make her voice sound gentle, “I would have fallen. Probably missed that step too.” 

“I could have stopped you from falling that far,” Sana said. "Stopped you from getting that badly hurt."

This was not the thought process Dahyun had hoped for. It was better that Sana hadn’t been there. Dahyun hardly knew what the result would have been. Perhaps the fall itself would have been delayed. Maybe when she was on her way down from the library. Something like that. A moment when Sana wouldn’t have been at her side.

But she also couldn’t say that the fall had probably been inevitable. By doing that, she'd admit that someone had made her fall. Which Sana didn’t know. And shouldn’t either. Sana's thoughts would go to how she should have been there, not just to catch Dahyun, but to also have protected her as well. 

“I usually walk faster than you.” Dahyun slowed her pace to prove it. It took Sana a few steps to reach her. “We’re all tired at these times, and you would have been tired then too.” And if the sleeping draught had been in the air then, even more so. Nothing like how it had been with Dahyun, but still something awfully similar. 

“Not so tired that I couldn’t have slowed your fall,” she retorted. 

“Sana,” she stopped walking and grabbed the girl’s hand, “this wasn’t your fault. Stop blaming yourself for it.” When she didn’t respond, Dahyun continued. “I need you to know that there’s no way I fell because of you. The reason I can only drink the potions Selen gives me, the reason I can’t be in a room with a brewing potion without a mask and can’t be in it for longer than an hour,” she said. “That’s all because I messed up my body through the potion I was drinking. It made me more sensitive to sleeping draughts, even in small amounts.”

Sana was looking at her hands. Their hands. 

“And when I told McGonagall this, she agreed with me. You can ask her yourself, or just trust me when I say that no one should be blaming you for this, let alone yourself.” Dahyun squeezed her hands, trying to get Sana to actually look at her.

She did. The girl’s eyes were damp. The sight pained Dahyun to see. She hadn’t realised the extent to which Sana held herself responsible. If anyone should be feeling guilty, it was Dahyun. Since she fell, Sana had been cursed and nearly made to fall down the stairs, gotten her broom broken, been accused by other students for pushing Dahyun, and been blamed by Dahyun’s friends for not being there. She was constantly reminded of the fall and her impression of the event had been deepened each time. 

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done, but you have to stop feeling guilty.” Dahyun reached up and wiped away some of the tears on Sana’s face. She wasn’t wearing her robe, so she was left to use her thumbs. “I know it wasn’t your fault, so believe me.” Her hand settled on Sana’s cheek. “The person who actually did the falling is telling you this.”

There was a tiny chuckle. 

She suspected she hadn’t completely convinced Sana. She couldn’t exactly tell what the look in her eyes was now, but it wasn’t regret. 

Dahyun smiled. “Also, I have evidence. If you want, I’ll bring it next patrol.” 

“I believe you,” Sana said. 

A few seconds passed. Dahyun was pretty sure she’d crossed over some line, or had been too close to Sana for a few seconds too long. 

She pulled away her hand, almost not wanting to. 

“So,” she squeezed Sana’s hand again, “let’s keep walking. Still got a while to go.” She began to pull on her so that she got to walking. 

When Sana did, Dahyun let go of her hand. She also hadn’t wanted to do that. 

“And you’re telling me you invented your own potion?” Sana asked. “Did you charge for this one at least?”

Dahyun laughed. “Nope, it’s a well kept secret among my friends.” She winked. “It doesn’t enhance academic abilities, by the way. It’s more like a coffee that doesn’t make you jittery.” She’d been drinking almost too much coffee now that she couldn’t drink her own draught. There were limits to it. And Dahyun was slowly getting sick of the taste. 

“Does Destin know?”

She thought about that. Technically not. Unless she’d accidentally left a vial in the room. 

“Don’t think so,” Dahyun said. “Clearly, it isn’t a potion that works perfectly.” Not yet. "So I think I'd be breaking a law by spreading it. Definitely a muggle law."

They started talking about potions class where Sana let her know what she was missing. ‘Not much’, apparently, though Dahyun had a strong suspicion that Sana just wanted to make her think she wasn’t missing much. She appreciated it. 

It was nearing the end of patrol when they started talking about quidditch. 

“Are you allowed on a broom?”

“I think so,” Dahyun shrugged, “the ban on practice is a little more than a week.” 

“So you won’t be playing at the match?” 

She shook her head. “I’ll be in the audience.” She poked Sana in the side. “So I’ll see if you’re supporting my team or not.” 

Sana laughed. “You’re gonna make sure?” 

“I might.” 

They got to the top of the stairs. Sana was standing close to her, but somehow it wasn’t too close. 

“So did you train your reflexes while you were in the Hospital Wing?” the Slytherin asked.

“Can’t believe it’s my natural talent?” Dahyun reached for the bannister. Standing here still made her dizzy. 

“Is it?” One of Sana’s arms was slightly raised, as if poised to catch Dahyun if she fell. 

They started walking.

“I don’t think so,” Dahyun shrugged, “but it was training with other stuff. I played catch with my brother a lot. Getting hit in the face before I made it my mission to avoid that.” 

“Didn’t always work.” 

Dahyun looked over at her to see a playful edge to Sana’s gaze. “Not a word.” She elbowed her lightly. “It was raining. That’s my excuse.” 

“Nayeon said she was able to see perfectly fine. I saw the ball hit you perfectly.” 

“Perfectly,” Dahyun repeated. “You seem to remember that day very well.” As she said the words, she thought about the other things Sana remembered. 

“You don’t?”

“Nayeon has a good throwing arm.” It had been fifth year. The first match against Slytherin.

Sana laughed. The sound made Dahyun smile. 

“I was so glad when Lisa caught the snitch. I'd started to think I’d bleed out on the pitch.” 

“So did I,” Sana replied. Her eyes looked a bit more distant. 

They were between two and three. 

“Careful now,” Dahyun nudged her, “the step.” 

Sana nodded. Then she proceeded to pointedly hop over it. She looked back over her shoulder, a brow raised. 

She remembered a moment when Sana had essentially refused to do that kind of a hop. 

Dahyun smiled and did the same. She landed fine, but the sudden speed did make her heart race. She gripped the bannister.

Then a hand closed around hers. “You okay?”

“Yep.” Dahyun put her smile back on. She went to keep going. 

Sana followed. Then after several moments, she let go of Dahyun's hand.

“You really do walk faster than me.” 

“Or you’re just slow,” Dahyun replied. 

There were quicker footsteps. A shoulder brushed hers. 

“I’m relaxed.” Sana laughed again. “You’re just eager to get away from me.” She gently poked her side. 

“I’d race you,” Dahyun said. “But I’m too tired.” 

“And you know I’d win.” 

“Alright fine,” she rolled her eyes, “you’d win.” 

“You humble Hufflepuff.” 

Dahyun felt her face warm then. 

They walked down in a comfortable silence. Their shoulders brushed together every now and then. Dahyun’s face was still warm. 

“Your common room first,” said Sana. “We swap, remember?”

They headed towards the kitchens. 

Dahyun tapped the barrel. The wall opened. 

“Dahyun?”

She turned to see Sana chewing on her lip. 

“Thank you,” she said. “For telling me all that.” 

“I just found it out today,” Dahyun replied. 

“That’s why you came late?”

She nodded. “Yep.” 

Sana smiled. “Goodnight, Dahyun.” 

“Sleep well.” She returned it. 

Then she turned away, heading off to bed. There was a lightness in her chest. 

____

Author's Note

This was a really fun chapter to write. I apologise if I got a tad carried away with the potions scene. However, the conclusions are clear. The draught that Dahyun made in fifth year to stay awake strengthened the effects of sleeping draught from the Department of Mysteries. At the very least, Dahyun's making progress. 

On the topic of progress, Saida's moments were also lovely to write. Something lighter in the midst of everything else. Things might have slowed there a tad (or not?), but more cards are on the table than not. 

Would love to know what you thought! Thank you again for the support on this story. Writing in the HP universe is so much fun for me and I hope it's also entertaining for you.  

See you next chapter.