Someone was staring at her. When Sana looked up, she met eyes with Luke. He was glaring at her. She looked away, not wanting a stare down.

“You okay?” Momo asked. Her red tie was crooked. Sana straightened it. 

“Another person’s furious at me,” she muttered in Japanese. Mina, Sana and Momo had all met in Mahoutokoro. The under-school for them had started with six years. The political situation in Japan had led their parents to agree that the three would be better off in England. They’d taken the portkey to London together, gone to Diagon Alley together, boarded the train together, and been in the same boat over the Great Lake. 

Momo was not in Sana and Mina’s friend group, which was entirely made up of Slytherins, but she was still one of their closest friends. 

“Oh,” her brow furrowed, “he’s not mad. He’s jealous.”

“Of?” Memories of last year came to her. Her face reddened just at the thought of it. 

“You.” 

“I don’t see why being associated with all this is something you’d want.”

Momo rolled her eyes. “He’s been trying to see Dahyun, but we’re not letting him.” 

She didn’t have to ask why they weren’t. He’d been fawning over Mina ever since fourth year. And he’d hated Sana ever since she’d politely reminded him that he had a girlfriend. Contrary to popular belief she never pursued someone when she was with another. She just broke up with them as soon as her eye was caught by someone else, or she lost interest in the first. 

To top it all off, his girlfriend had been Dahyun of all people. All she knew was that the breakup had been explosive. Rumours about why had flown across the school, and all of them targeted Dahyun. 

Jihyo had said the girl hated gossip. Was that why? Even so, the Hufflepuff had never changed in that time. It was like nothing bothered her. Or at least it looked like that during O.W.Ls. Sana had seen how much it bothered her then. Well, not just seen it. 

“He said he saw me go in, but I didn’t see anyone around whenever I went.” 

Momo shrugged. “Someone noticed. Now half the school knows.”

Maybe it had been because of the people in the Hospital Wing? There was no one there right now except for one. It had probably been earlier in the week. 

She didn’t ask what the new theories were. Momo didn’t tell her. She was glad for that. 

“Girls?” Professor Erthe asked. “This isn’t the place to chat. You don’t want a repeat of the Weirwood shrub.” 

Momo flushed. “No, professor.” Some chuckles arose in the room. Those who took Herbology at N.E.W.T were pretty relaxed. Most of them. 

Sana looked down at the moonstalk. They had to extract the insides without any trace of the outer skin. Highly poisonous. Hogwarts was a safe place. 

As she pressed down on the plant, her arms nearly shaking with the effort. Then she remembered a tip from potions. She started peeling the skin of the leaf, it left dark blue lines on the plant, so she knew what still needed to be avoided during the extension process. This time when she pressed down, the white contents of the moonstalk seeped out. It looked like a snake leaving its skin behind. 

“Glad to see you’re not hacking away at that, Ms. Minatozaki,” the professor smiled. “Well done,” she said.

“Thank you, professor,” she said quietly. “Wasn’t my idea.” It had been Dahyun’s. 

______

DADA was an interesting class. They were talking about sleep. 

“You’ve all made your own sleeping draughts and antidotes in potions, so I bet you think you know all about this,” Professor Bae said, a small smile on her face. “But there’s so much more to it. Sleep is something essential for us. It’s the time when the body are solely focused on its inner workings, like digestion and healing.” She pointed her wand at the board. “Most of you won’t know this, because we don't teach it, but the muggles actually know a lot about sleep."

There was a low buzz in the room. In front of her, she saw some students snicker. Sana also found it hard to believe, but the topic itself struck a chord. She didn’t know why. 

“I’ve put a few mice to sleep,” she gestured to the cages at the front of the room, “please go through the book to find the spell.” 

The cages were lifted into the air and one dropped in front of Sana and Mina. The mouse was laying on its side, breathing so softly you could barely see the movement of its chest. 

As the professor had said, they tried again and again to cast the spell, making variations to how loud they said the charm or how they waved their wand. Nothing worked. 

“Professor, is this really the right spell?” someone asked. 

“Not really,” she replied. 

“Then why make us do it?” 

“Just like with everything, change is inevitable,” she said. “Good in the sense that we can make stronger spells, potions, and artefacts, but also bad because others are doing the same.” Her expression faltered. “I used a variation of this sleeping spell. It’s used in St. Mungo’s to minimise the remnant pain of the cruciatus curse, also helps ward off nightmares.” She paused. “My point is, whatever the light arts are doing, the same thing can happen in the dark arts. The spell I used plunges people into a far deeper sleep than anything they've ever encountered. This spell gets them out of that.” Then she showed them the spell. It was the same word, but she tapped three parts of the mouse’s head first. The animal began to twitch, then squirm, and finally wake up. 

They followed in suit. Sana and Mina’s mouse almost glared at them for waking it up. She was reminded of how it was to wake up Momo. How difficult more like. Sana wasn't the lightest of sleepers either. Would this spell work? 

Then class was over. It had flown by. As Sana and Mina packed up, the latter was wearing a frown. 

“I’ll be right out,” she said before putting her bag on her shoulder. 

“I’ll wait,” Sana replied. She had to write down that spell for a specific Hufflepuff. 

“You don’t,” Mina started, then she shook her head, “nevermind.” Then she went to the front of the room. “Professor Bae, I wanted to ask you about the sleeping potions you mentioned?”

The professor was shorter than Mina, but she still carried an aura that told you she was the one in charge. “Of course.”

“Is there any way a potion can be given to someone without them drinking it? I don’t take potions, so I never got to those lessons.” 

She nodded. “That was another thing the humans found, which is by administrating potions through inhalers. Some people use for lung diseases they have. It’s difficult to do, but some potions can work through the air. It’s really difficult, but it has happened. The better option is injection. It works a lot faster, but it’s usually for specific medications of theirs. Healers tend to avoid it, because our potions are so much more potent, but sometimes you can’t get people to drink the potion.” Then she pursed her lips. "Did I answer your question, or was I too off topic?" She smiled. 

"No no," Mina said. "You answered it." 

She didn't explain why she'd asked it. Sana decided she wouldn't ask. Not yet. 

______

Sana was on the pitch. Finally. The moment she kicked off from the ground, all the weight on her shoulders—the stress, the shame—was left behind. She just flew. She let herself take a lap of the stadium. The broom wasn’t great. Her one had been snapped in half when she got went to the broom cupboard. Now she had a Cleansweep Twelve. Every team had an extra broom. Slytherin had seven. Just in case. 

“Heads up!” Nayeon tossed the quaffle her way. 

Sana caught it with her left hand. She needed to train it. She dodged an idle bludger, dove away as Tzuyu tried to tackle her, and threw the ball towards the left hoop. It went in. 

Georgia whooped. “Even got some spin on it!”

She grinned. This was what she’d been looking forward to all week. She’d made some drills during meals. The new patrol schedule had also let her and Nayeon get away from talking about school and just focus on Quidditch. 

The sky was clear, so the transition from day into dusk and night, was beautiful. Sana took a tiny break to watch the last rays of sun hang from the Hogwarts towers. She smiled at the sight. This was how things were meant to be. 

They trained for another hour, having fought hard for today with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Tomorrow was also up for grabs, but Sana had seen Hufflepuff gunning for it. She’d booked the day after. 

“Dinner?” Nayeon asked. They were finishing up the set between the two of them, the rest having gone to dinner. She was covered in sweat. Sana knew she looked just as dishevelled. Apparently, it made her look hot, but she felt incredibly sticky right now. The broom also needed extra attention. It wasn’t comfortable either. 

“Promise?” She levelled a stern gaze at her. 

“I’ll try,” Sana laughed, “I was tired, Nabongs. That’s all.” 

She wasn’t even fazed by the nickname. “You better come by in time.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, eomma.” 

Nayeon chased her around the pitch. Sana barely avoided a headlock. Then she cut her off by squeezing through the central hoop. She couldn’t stop a giggle as the other girl drew up from above and flicked her forehead. There was a frown and a pout in one. 

“Even with a crappy broom, you pull it off. I’m gonna go eat,” she grumbled. “See you later. Either in the hall or in the dorm. Merlin knows I’ll still be awake.” A stream of curses followed, all directed at their Transfiguration professor. Then she flew down. 

It was quiet in the sky. Sana went through her list of formations, imagining bludgers, opposing chasers, and a lot of seekers coming her way. She threw at the hoops from as many angles as she could. Her throws became messier as she missed more and more. She was close to snapping the replacement broom. 

The teams this year were pretty good, but unlike before, Slytherin’s rival wasn’t Gryffindor. It was Hufflepuff. Not only was Lisa a cunning seeker or Jihyo a shockingly incredible chaser, but Dahyun’s keeping was like a wall. At least it was on good days. She didn’t do well on cloudy days. Rain made her even worse. It was like her reflexes became as dampened as the soil was. 

Just thinking about her brought Sana down to reality. Literally. They’d gotten an assignment in Herbology to devise the best plan for a potions garden. Professor Erthe had told her Dahyun would love it. History of Magic was doing Ancient Roman and Greek wizards, however that was supposed to work. 

Long story short, she still had to go to the Hospital Wing. Mina had told her about the books the Hufflepuff was already reading and the work she’d been doing. Now Sana was coming to add to it again. She wasn’t sure if the girl would be disappointed or glad to have more. 

She showered, changed into her uniform. She first checked if there was some sort of powder or curse on it. This time, there wasn't. She left the cardigan and the tie off. She really couldn’t be bothered. 

Digging into her bag, she headed into the Entrance Hall. It was quiet, but the fires were all still burning. They warmed her. Winter was coming fast this year. 

Sana reached the first floor, the small collection of papers in her hand. Mina had also told her to stop by earlier, but this was one of those days when that just didn’t work out. She also really didn’t want to face Dahyun yet. People were catching on to the fact that Dahyun was healing too slowly. That brought the speculation back, as well as a series of curious and dirty looks. There didn’t seem to be a middle ground. She hated it. It also led to broken brooms, empty ink bottles, and a few jinxed quills. To name a few. 

Some people also felt as if this was the perfect opportunity to hit on her. She shot them all down, some less harshly than others, but just firm enough that the number of hopefuls had gone down. 

She opened the door. Gently this time. There was light under Madame Selen’s door. Sana made her way to the last bed. Dahyun was the only student here. She hated sleeping alone, so she could barely imagine how it was for the Hufflepuff. 

When she got to the bed, her blood went cold. The bed was empty. What the hell had happened? The worst possibilities crossed her mind. Whoever had made Dahyun fall, had they come to finish the job? She debated going to Madame Selen, but what could she do?

Sana drew out her wand. That’s when the scene before her registered fully. The bed was made, the lantern was on, the glasses on the nightstand were gone, and so was her wand. A book was open, the muggle pen on it capped, not open. 

She didn’t lower her wand as she went outside. Either she’d disappeared in an orderly fashion, or Dahyun had just left the Hospital Wing. If it was the former, Sana would sound all the alarms she could think of. If it was the latter, this girl was crazy. 

She went to the first possible place: the library. She walked down the hall, half jogging. The doors opened. Out came a girl clad in a puffy grey jumper and fuzzy slippers. Her hair was down and she wore glasses. In front of her hovered a pile of books. She hopped out, one of her legs in a cast. 

Relief washed over her. “What the hell are you doing?” Sana pocketed her wand, but not before the girl’s eyes spotted it. 

“You don’t have patrol today,” Dahyun said. “And we’re never on this floor.” She was trying to turn things around. Sana didn’t like it. 

Walking closer, she said, “Updates from class.” She raised the papers. They’d been crumpled in her fist. “Sorry, that’s Binns, Erthe, and Alchemy. I can explain the notes.”

Her frown softened. Sana couldn’t help but note that Dahyun’s face was covered in a sheen of sweat. “Thank you for doing this, really, but you don’t have to.” Her voice was still rough, but way better than when she’d first woken up.

I do, she thought. “So why are you out after curfew? Your ankle was just in a cast.” 

“That healed first. It was just twisted.” She laughed softly. It was a warm sound. “I’m out because I realised I needed more books.” She hopped once. Then winced. “Are you going to take points from us?”

“How did you get here?” If she’d hopped all the way here, then she was definitely setting her healing time back a while. 

“Crawled,” she said. Then a smile appeared. Sana wasn’t sure if it was fake or not. She didn’t like that either. “Kidding. I conjured up crutches, but the one I cast wasn’t exactly long-lasting.” Then the Hufflepuff started moving towards the wall, or rather, she hopped again. Then she teetered at one point, waving an arm to catch her balance. She swayed. 

Sana didn’t have to think twice about what she did next. She went to Dahyun’s side. Then she slipped an arm around her waist. She took the time to look at the girl. There were no bruises. Even the cut on the side of her face wasn’t visible. She must have cast a spell. And if she’d hide those parts of her, nothing was stopping her from trying to hide the rest of her injuries. 

“Does this hurt?” 

“I can walk on my own, Sana.” The dizziness didn’t seem to have faded yet. She was gritting her teeth. 

“You mean hop.” She tightened her grip. “Just steady yourself, Kim.” 

A few seconds passed. Then Dahyun put an arm around her shoulders. Sana could feel her heart pounding due to the strain.

“So you’re using crutches. Was your arm twisted?”

“It healed,” she said. “Don’t ask how I did it. Just know it worked.”

They started walking, but it was slow progress. Dahyun still had to do small hops, but this time she wasn’t about to fall. Sana, on the other hand, was trying her very best to avoid tripping. 

“Sure,” Sana said. She hadn’t been this close to Dahyun in a while. Her thoughts immediately went to last year. She felt her face warm. She was being ridiculous. 

They hobbled down the hall. 

“How did you sneak out?”

“Silencing charm.” Her voice sounded weird. The books in front of them shook in the air. When Sana looked over, she saw her brow was furrowed, the hand that was holding the wand on her other side shook. 

“Here.” Sana dug out her wand. She muttered the levitation spell. The stack rose higher. One nearly fell from the pile. 

“I could have done that myself.” Then she whispered, “Repulso.” The door opened slowly. Had Sana done that, it would’ve flown open. 

They went to Dahyun’s bed. Sana eased her on. She was light, so it wasn’t hard. What was hard was getting her on without pulling at some injury. 

“I can see it in your eyes,” Dahyun said. “Don’t apologise.” She leant back on the cushions, breathing heavily. At least it wasn’t a wheeze. “This wasn’t your fault. Especially not this time. I was the one to sneak out.” 

“You’re not gonna heal if you don’t let yourself rest.”

She gave her a look. Once again, Sana couldn’t help but compare this to the Dahyun everyone saw—one who was all smiles and jokes. 

“You’d want to get out of here too. And don’t deny it.”

Sana couldn’t. She would’ve gone crazy if she was stuck here longer than a day. Once she’d been in for two and that had led to her being all philosophical. She’d even asked Momo to get her a book from the library. It was terrible. The only plus side was that her Gryffindor friend also stayed in the Hospital Wing to keep her company at night. 

Dahyun smiled slightly. “I’ve rested enough, anyway. I’m just waiting for most of this to heal, then I’m leaving.” 

“And your head?”

“Madame Selen said I’ll be dizzy for a week or so.” She rolled her eyes. “I can barely read without having to take a break.” 

Sana didn’t respond. The heaviness in her chest was coming back full force. 

“Are people still giving you a hard time?” Her voice had completely lost the annoyance. 

She wondered if she should tell her about the broom. No. Sana looked away. 

“I know you are.”

Sana looked up from the ground to see Dahyun frowning at her. She didn’t want to hold her gaze, but she did. They didn’t say anything for a few seconds. The bruises on her skin were finally fading. With her hair dark again, she looked even paler. 

Dahyun looked away first, blinking several times as she did. “So, uh, thanks for helping me. You didn’t have to.” Her fingers traced along one of the books. 

“Are you gonna do this again?”

“Might take a little break, have a night off,” a crooked smile appeared, “I have plenty to read now. New assignments too?” She peered at Sana’s hand. 

She gave her the papers, telling her everything she remembered about what the professors had said. As Erthe had predicted, Dahyun’s face broke into a smile at the assignment. It widened when she told her about History of Magic. 

“Mind telling me how that gets your spirits up?”

Dahyun chuckled. “Spirits.” She shook her head and Sana realised the unintentional pun. “Most of our spells have latin or greek roots. That’s the time where many spells were created.” Her eyes brightened as she spoke. “I’m not saying that all spells have to follow the etymology there, because Korea and Japan have their own, right?”

Sana could only nod. The sheer enthusiasm in front of her made her not want to interrupt. 

“It’s even cooler, because there are a couple of reports and accounts talking about the attempts to create spells, which was a messy process. Of course, the muggles have some of the work, but only in the form of philosophical writings. The crucial stuff, at least in this world, has been taken out by now.”

Then she fell silent. Her brow furrowing yet again. Then her face relaxed and a grin suddenly appeared. It was too bright. 

“Sorry, got off track,” she sighed, “you probably don’t care about any of this.”

“I do,” Sana said. She was surprised that was true. “I just don’t care when it’s Binns doing the talking.” She could have slapped herself for how that sounded. 

Dahyun didn’t catch on, or she didn’t want to comment on it. “You know,” she started, “he’s not that bad a teacher if you really listen to what he’s saying.”

“First you have to get past the how,” Sana replied. “Which shouldn’t be as hard as it is.” 

She nodded, her smile softening. “That’s true, but it’s not bad having a history teacher who was around for many of the events he teaches. Or was at least aware of them when they happened.”

“He’s still boring.”

Dahyun lightly tapped Sana with her foot, the smile widening again, but slowly. It was genuine. 

“What?” We’re just seeing why you took that at N.E.W.T, and I dropped it.” She nudged her good leg. 

The silence that fell then was actually comfortable. Sana didn’t feel the urge to fill it. She was surprised at that very fact. Then the silence became uncomfortable. She stood up.

“Goodnight.” She glanced at the books surrounding her. “Are you planning to read all that?”

“Two fully. The rest I’m skimming.” She closed the book on her lap and looked up at Sana. With her glasses and thick jumper, she looked adorable. 

Sana had the urge to poke her cheek, but forced it down. That was one way to make things terribly awkward. Again. She didn’t need any more impulsive mistakes. At least that’s what Dahyun had said it’d been. 

Last year. Last year only meant a couple of months ago, but she was thinking about it more and more now. It was terrible. 

“Thank you for all of this, but you really didn’t, and definitely don’t, have to do any of it. This wasn’t your fault. Plus I’m healing,” she smiled slightly, “did I mention it wasn’t your fault?”

Sana sighed. “Twice.” 

“Actually, I think it’s been three times.” She raised a brow. “Is it sinking in yet?” There was a lightness in her tone. She was actually joking around with her. Sana wondered when this change had come. Then she yawned. 

“You’re tired. No wonder. I’ll get going.” She started to go. Then a hand brushed hers. It was the one she knew was hurt, even if it didn’t look it. 

The girl’s expression wasn’t unreadable. “Are they giving you a hard time?” Her eyes searched Sana’s.

Her stomach fluttered. She looked away again. 

“The latest I’ll be out will be two weeks,” she said. “But I might be able to come to lunch and dinner.” 

“What do you mean?”

"I can say something. Several somethings. We both know they'll be asking." 

“I can handle it,” Sana said. Was she serious, or was this just an empty promise made by a girl too polite to say anything else? When she looked up now, her eyes were unyielding. 

“A few words to a few people can reach a whole house.” The words were said slowly. 

She didn’t respond. The silence didn’t make her uncomfortable. Dahyun was just waiting for her to say something else. Sana didn’t know what to say.

Then she just said, “Night, Dahyun.” It felt better saying that than calling her by her last name.

The girl nodded, lowering her hand. “Goodnight, Sana,” she said. “Sleep well.” 

______

Author’s Note 

I feel like this chapter was all over the place, but it’s a pure Sana chapter. She might be oblivious to the revelations that Mina, Chaeyoung and Dahyun all had regarding her fall, but there are a couple hints all around her.

And there was finally a quidditch chapter. I don’t know about you, but there’s something so wonderful about quidditch to me. Like when you’re in a plane and you can watch the world below you pass by. 

It’s a bit more relaxed since the previous chapter, at least in terms of revelations, but Sana is having a hard time when it comes to dealing with the other students. Remember in Harry Potter when there were quidditch matches and it seemed like Gryffindor and Slytherin were trying to destroy the other team on and off the pitch? A lot of how I treat this story comes from thinking back on those moments, or when Harry was frequently ostracised for something he did or didn’t do, and it seemed like gossip flew around the school. Especially in the fourth book. 

I was also really happy to get a relaxed Saida conversation (even if it started with some tension). Things probably still feel awkward, but there are a couple of reasons for that. 

Would love to read your thoughts about this, even if there was less explicit action this time around. See you next chapter!