Chanmi’s eyes flew open as soon as she heard the door click. She had been eyeing her roommate for quite some time now, and she was at her wits end trying to catch her in the act. Seolhyun wasn’t in Slytherin for no reason; Chanmi had never met a girl more stealthy and resourceful than her. Still, Chanmi wanted to believe that she could uncover even Seolhyun’s biggest secret. She had her suspicions, but no evidence yet and so tonight was the night she would finally figure out where the girl was sneaking off to whenever Chanmi was ‘asleep’. She had caught the girl returning early in the morning a few times, or occasionally not coming back at all and blaming it on ‘wanting to improve my quidditch skills’ or patrols but Chanmi knew the girl much preferred the fields at night, just like her. Chanmi had pretended to not notice these holes in her stories but she was certain that Seolhyun was wary of her. 

And that was why Chanmi had to be extra careful about her plan. Not only was it dangerous for herself, it was also quite illegal, but as she has always thought of it, only so if she was caught. The physical aspects of the danger held her back, but Chanmi had already planned too far for her to back down now. All she had to do was wait for a bit, check constantly on the girl’s whereabouts and apparate somewhere close. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

______________________________

As it turned out, a list of things could, in fact, go wrong. Terribly wrong. So wrong that Chanmi would be finding herself facing a Hufflepuff prefect, unable to explain why she was sitting in her bed at almost 2am. 

A few minutes ago, back in her room, after having felt Seolhyun’s movement stop for a few minutes, Chanmi was certain that she had reached the place she had been visiting every few nights a week. Determined to find the answers, she reminded herself that it wasn’t something to be scared of, that she had apparated safely once before, though that was with a professor's supervision. She chose to ignore the last part and focused on where she wanted to be. A picture of her roommate appeared clearly in her mind, she had known the young Slytherin since they were in elementary school and that was why she was so keen to find out the first secret that the girl had been trying so hard to hide from her. 

She held her wand by her side and threw her green robes on, waiting for the image of Seolhyun’s location to grow clearer. She knew she had the determination and definitely the deliberation, so all she needed was the destination. At that very moment, she was extremely thankful for the bonding spell the two had cast together in the second floor bathrooms just a few years prior. 

Faint outlines of pillars dominated the picture forming in Chanmi’s mind, but she couldn’t name the location. Slowly, barrels seemed to appear at the sides, shrouded in darkness. The image wasn’t getting clearer, and while Chanmi had no idea if that counted as enough for a destination, she knew that she had an exuberant amount of the other two D’s and decided to risk it. With the twirl of her wand, she prayed that no splinching, injuries, or professor’s would be seen. 

The seconds she had spent apparating were exactly like what she remembered, which she considered a good sign. Not once did she let the image fade in her mind, and she clutched onto the unspoken 4th D of apparition; desperation. When the sickening motion stopped and Chanmi found herself clutching her head as she tried to stop the walls from spinning, she could barely prevent herself from staying upright. She opened her eyes and glanced around the room, doing her best to find out exactly where she was. The first thing she noticed was how she had all her limbs intact, proud she managed to apparate without splinching. However, the next thing she noticed was a wand pointing right at her, and behind the wand, a witch with shoulder-length blonde curls. 

“If you move, I’ll hex you.” 

While the voice had been soft and almost melodious, definitely a female student by the sound of it, Chanmi had no doubt that the owner of the voice was 100% serious with that firmness in her tone. She stood still, trying to blink away the remnants of the apparation nausea. Slowly, Chanmi lowered her wand, it landing with a dull thud. She kept her eyes shut, partially due to the sickness as well as a means to curse herself for apparating in front of another student. 

“Who are you?” 

The response took some time, but came eventually. 

“Kim Chanmi, 4th year Slytherin,” she replied, thankful her voice did not reflect her internal turmoil. 

She heard the girl place her wand down as well as what sounded like rustles of bedsheet covers. Had she apparated in someone’s bedroom? Past midnight? 

It had become too much for the 4th year to handle, and she felt herself sway before falling off the edge of her bed. Apparating had not turned out as she had hoped. 

____________________

Yuna had not been prepared for the Slytheirn to pass out. She had not been ready for the Slytherin at all actually. To be fair, when she first introduced herself, Yuna would have not believed someone with such shocking red hair was not a Gryffindor if it weren’t for the green robes she was wearing. Having just returned from her night patrols, it had been a matter of seconds after she had changed into some comfortable sleepwear did the girl apparate in her room. She thanked Merlin that the girl had not been slightly earlier, but how on earth did a 4th year, as she claims she is, managed to apparate somewhat successfully? (Yuna says somewhat as she believed that this wasn’t really where the Slytherin wanted to end up. Yet, no signs of splinching while apparating by herself at 4th year was not a feat many wizards and witches good say they had the skill or the guts to do.) 

She had just cautiously placed down her wand beside on her wooden drawer when the girl started to fall backward. She hurriedly lurched out of her covers and grabbed the girl by her arm, pulling her so suddenly that Yuna found herself falling back and hitting her head on the headboard of her bed with the head of the girl on her shoulder. 

Yuna gulped, wondering why it had to be her of all people who had to run into this situation. If she had been thinking clearer, or had it been a more acceptable time of day, she would have had the brains to conjure up a spell to save the girl, or even some pillows to soften the impact but no, Yuna had the girl pressing against her in a way she was not at all used to, at night in her own bed.

She focussed on the task at hand and pushed the Chanmi up. That action seemed to cause a reaction from the girl, and Yuna was glad she had been unconscious during that whole debacle. Chanmi’s eyelids fluttered and she blinked a couple of times before she was staring back at her. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled, and Yuna wondered if she was going to elaborate. 

She was about to start interrogating Chanmi when the girl opened again. 

“Where am I?” 

Yuna’s perception of the girl as a threat faltered.

“You’re in the Hufflepuff dorms.” her eyes softened, just slightly.

“Right,” came the breathy reply. 

Yuna saw her eyes close again and was about to lurch forward to grab her just as she did when Chanmi fainted for the first time, but the girl quickly opened her eyes once more. Embarrassed by her own reactions, that she was about to grab onto her instead of casting a spell again (was she a pureblood witch or not?), Yuna almost missed what Chanmi had said next.

“No, this is the right place.” 

“You intended to come into my bedroom?” 

“No, that’s not what I meant. Actually, it’s because, well, I was.” she stopped her rambling to take in a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” 

Yuna blinked. That was not what she was expecting at all. She let her guard of the girl down a bit more as she struggled to think of what to say or do.

“Did you,” she started, hesitant on whether she should ask. “Did you apparate here?” 

Chanmi nodded and Yuna was struck with wonder. 

“As a fourth year? How old are you?” 

‘15, 16 in a couple of months.” 

Fifteen. The student was 15 and she was apparating by herself with no guidance. Heck Yuna was going for her license soon and she was still worried about splinching. Instead of threatening to report her, which she confesses is what she should be doing, she had another more pressing question at hand. 

“So, why are you here? You know that this is my room right? I should be reporting you or at least deducting points as a Hufflepuff prefe-” 

“Prefect, I know, Ms Seo Yuna.”