When Jinsoul got to the Great Hall, a little later than normal, she let herself look over to the Slytherin table. 

Chaewon and Hyejoo were giggling about something, while Vivi and Haseul were bent over a book. Jungeun wasn’t there. Probably sleeping. She hoped she was sleeping. 

She sat down opposite Sooyoung. 

“Morning.”

She hummed once, before raising an eyebrow. “So.” 

Jinsoul frowned. “So?”

“What is it with you two now? Friends?”

“No?” Of all the words to use, that one sounded weird to her. 

Sooyoung’s brow rose. “Oh?” twitched, as if ready to make a remark. 

Jinsoul blushed. “Not what you’re thinking.”

“What am I thinking?” 

“Shut up." She threw a bread roll at her. 

“I just asked you a few things.” Sooyoung smirked at her. “You did all the talking.” A pause. “Good morning, by the way.”

Jinsoul started filling her plate. As much as she didn’t want it to, the idea made her think. Were they friends now? She didn’t exactly think that an actual room made for her meant friendship. Not exactly. 

“But if you can actually see her without having to resist jinxing her,” Sooyoung fiddled with her fork, “we’re having a party tonight and you’re coming.” 

She frowned. “I’m busy.” 

“Prefect duty’s cancelled for you, her, Haseul too.” She took a sip of orange juice. “We talked to Minnie, and you’re off just as long as you come.”

“How many’re coming?” 

Sooyoung rolled her eyes. “Don’t start being our house’s stereotype. When was the last time you even went to a party?”

“The one we had on the first day?” 

“Except for that,” Sooyoung said. “You skipped two.” 

“I had a good reason.”

“For one,” she shot back. “Taking care of a mandrake is a terrible reason.”

“It was sick!” 

Sooyoung pinched the bridge of her nose. “It was put in a healing potion a week later.”

Jinsoul’s heart clenched. She knew they were kept for their healing properties. They’d even saved people from petrification in Harry Potter’s time, but for that they were killed. People argued if mandrakes were supposed to be considered creatures or plants. Jinsoul firmly believed they were creatures. 

“Oh my god,” Sooyoung stared at her, “you’re still mourning it. Please don’t tell me you gave it a name.”

She didn’t reply to that. 

“I’m so happy she gave you that room,” Sooyoung muttered. “You better keep all that,” she waved at her, “out of the dorm.” 

“You just got knocked out once,” Jinsoul said. “You didn’t wear earmuffs like I told you to.”

“I thought you’d put it on the balcony.”

Heejin and Hyunjin had come along. 

“It was freezing out there.”

“I broke my nose!” 

“You already covered this when it happened,” Hyunjin grabbed a cinnamon roll, “and then the week after that.” She handed it to Heejin, who sat down beside Sooyoung, eyes drooping. 

“What happened?” Jinsoul asked. 

“History,” Hyunjin reached over and pinched her cheek, “she wanted to get it done before the party.” 

“But it’s for Monday, I’m guessing?”

“I won’t be doing that tomorrow,” Heejin muttered. “And I’ve got Potions and Ancient Runes for Tuesday, so I’ll save everything else for that and the party.” She glared up at her. “If you’re not coming, I’ll take your new fish.”

“We’re using insults and threats now?” Jinsoul looked between her and Sooyoung. “Because I’ll be getting my children back soon.”

“Not the snail,” Heejin’s head snapped up, “please not the snail.”

Sooyoung cringed then. “Don’t let Jiwoo hear you say that.” 

“Are you bringing back the snail?”

Jinsoul shook her head. “She died.” Another small stab to her heart. “But I’m getting a new one.”

Heejin groaned. “Did anyone tell Jungeun she was enabling?” She peered over at her. “Because I think your beasts are gonna be worse than her—that owl.”

She chose not to reply to that. Her owls could come out of the Owlery now. She’d leave the window open during the night so they could go in and out. There was a chance she’d be able to bring the cats. They didn’t hate the owls like most, and she’d managed to keep them from attacking any snail, snake, or rat, but they’d probably be able to sneak out of the classroom. And then the rest would complain again. 

Jiwoo and Yerim came next. Yerim sat down on Jinsoul’s other side, immediately leaning her head on her shoulder. 

“See what I mean?” Heejin pointed at Jinsoul. “She’s thinking about how she’ll get the most out of it.” 

“Which is what she should be doing,” Jiwoo chimed in. “And you use the Clocktower every year, so it’s not that different.”

“Paintings don’t scratch, burn, or screech,” Hyunjin replied. She’d finished a cinnamon roll, a content smile on her face. “Even the sculptures were peaceful. For the most part.”

“Was it her idea?” Jinsoul asked then. She was also hoping to avoid a debate about whose hobbies were the most destructive. Excluding Jungeun, Jinsoul’s were probably high on that list, though she was pretty sure Chaewon or Yeojin had her beat. 

“The room?” Jiwoo asked. 

Jinsoul nodded. “Or did she ask you what she should do.”

“We talked her down from making an aquarium,” Sooyoung replied. “Or, Hyun and I did.” 

She already felt herself start to smile. The more she thought about the room, the more she thought about how Jungeun had acted the day before. The glaring fact that Jungeun had turned into an owl as a result also sent her head into a tiny spiral.  

“And once I heard about the shark story, I know that was the right call.” Hyunjin gave her a pointed look. “I thought you were supposed to be the sane one.”

“Anyway,” Yerim shot Hyunjin a look, “she didn’t know which idea to go with for a while. Then she found out from Hagrid that one of the centaurs had taught Divination for a while. She figured out how to get the trees and stuff in, but she never got the stars down.”

“Stars?” Jinsoul repeated. Jungeun was generous. Sometimes in questionable ways, like when she'd smuggled some third years out of Hogwarts (who hadn't had any permission slips) and into Hogsmeade. Jinsoul had spotted them first, having had to break the news to two of them that they couldn't go the day before. She hadn't had the heart to make them go back. 

She smiled, almost giddy. “I think she got a blanket to look like that, but she thought it .” Then she glanced around. 

“I think Jungie can tell you the rest,” Jiwoo said, sending her a pointed look. 

“Right.” Yerim looked a bit guilty. “But she would’ve never said anything about the aquarium.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t let her to that,” Jinsoul turned to Sooyoung, “fish can’t sneak out. Nifflers can.” 

The look of realisation made Jinsoul laugh. The one of dread that followed made her laugh harder. 

When she calmed down, she spotted someone walking in. She straightened. 

Jungeun’s face was clear of bruises and she was wearing a black turtleneck and jean-jacket. She waved at some people as she walked by, before reaching the others at the Slytherin table. She caught Jinsoul looking over and smiled. 

She returned it. 

“Would you look at that,” Hyunjin said. “All it took was a killer bird.”

Jiwoo threw a spoon at her. 

Jinsoul looked away from the table, turning her attention back to the table. She ignored the raised eyebrows, as well as the semi-excited look Yerim was wearing. 

It had taken Jungeun being a bird. Jinsoul was still relieved that she was a human again. She also didn't exactly feel that anxiousness that Jungeun was going to start another prank, because she'd already seen the worst case scenario when it came to Jungeun. Even literal destruction of property wasn't much compared to someone getting permanently stuck in the form of an animal. 

No, she didn't feel that kind of nervousness. The other type was still there. It was just a lot more noticeable. 

_____

She’d managed to write the essay for Care of Magical Creatures, as well as Charms, along with some decent headway in Potions. What was making her want to give up completely was Transfiguration. She needed to explain the limitations and advantages to species transformations. Somehow, people cared about changing a rat into a bird. Jinsoul still wondered if that was okay to do. Would the creature realise there’d been a change? And if it did, wouldn’t that send it into a panic? 

And then she also had to think about the working of the spell itself. She understood how charms worked, but Transfiguration was something else. And if she tried to use science to explain any of it, she ended up falling into an existential crisis or just a confused breakdown. 

In other words, she hated Transfiguration. 

Jinsoul massaged her temple, fighting the urge to cry. 

“Before you ask,” Haseul took her hand, “you do have to go to this party.”

Jinsoul chuckled. “Want to pre-game?”

“It’s a little early for that,” she gave her a side hug, “take a break?”

“Maybe,” Jinsoul sighed, “I’ll take a walk first.” 

Haseul nodded. “You can leave your stuff here.” She winked. “I won’t give it away unless they offer me a very good price.” 

“Except for the essays, sure,” she stood, “thanks, Seul.”

She left the library, stretching her arms above her head. Sixth year was better than fifth year, but she didn’t know if she was doing enough or not. N.E.W.Ts would be next year and she wanted to get at least an A in Transfiguration. She wanted an O in Charms and DADA, and an E in Potions, but that was looking less likely each day. And that wasn’t even talking about the project they’d be assigned early next year. It was a combination between an essay and some sort of experiment, at least if you wanted to try something new. 

Jinsoul was looking forward to it, but it’d just be even more work. The only thing that saved her was that there were magizoologists who hadn’t even done the N.E.W.Ts. The most ironic part of it was that the most famous one was actually called Newt. 

She was on her way to the Ravenclaw common room, maybe to pick up a snack, but then she realised she had a better place to go. She felt a lightness settle over her chest just thinking about it. 

She kept going until she reached the seventh floor. It was surprising that she still knew where the room was. 

The door was unlocked. Maybe once she got real animals in there, she’d have to lock it. Hopefully it’d work. 

It was exactly like yesterday, with the fresh air and gentle sounds of water trickling in. It wasn’t too cold or warm either. 

Jinsoul went straight to the little pond. The fish were there, swimming a bit closer to the surface when she came, but not directly. They were expecting food, but not hungry. 

She looked around the pond. Was there something they could eat in there? 

That was when she saw it. Tucked by a rock the size of a football were two bags of food. Fish food. 

Jinsoul felt herself smile. She wasn’t surprised. On another day, she probably would’ve been. 

She leaned back on her elbows, taking in the room. It looked a lot bigger somehow. Maybe it was the lack of desks and students. The main giveaway were the windows, but they added something instead of taking away from it. It reminded her that this wasn’t outside, but in Hogwarts. It reminded her that someone had made this. 

She looked up. The ceiling was coated in green with certain parts parted to reveal the stone beneath it. It didn’t matter that the stars weren’t there. She loved the room anyway. She'd have to tell Jungeun that it didn't need anything else. 

Jinsoul closed her eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet. It was exactly the kind of silence she enjoyed by the Great Lake, except even better because she couldn’t hear the other students. The empty quidditch pitch had that silence, sometimes practice too when they were all focused on getting whatever drills Sooyoung had set done. 

But she wasn’t flying now. She wasn’t being frozen by the wind or burned beneath the sun. It felt like both spring and autumn at the same time. 

She laid down properly, the moss beneath her acting like both a mattress and a pillow. She thought about which creatures would be the happiest in a room like this. They’d have to like the enclosed spaces and if there was the risk of them being trapped, she’d have to think of something else. 

At some point she dozed off. She dreamed of an owl and a fish, both of them surrounded by a grey and white light. The owl was completely red. Somehow, the fish was swimming through the air. 

______

Jinsoul woke to the door opening. 

She sat up immediately, nearly falling into the pond. She rolled back, only the edges of her robes getting wet. 

“Sorry!” a familiar voice said, an even more familiar face appearing. “Haseul said I should look for you. You never came back.” Jungeun didn’t come into the room. “I’ll tell her you’re here.” She started to go behind the door again. 

“Wait.”

Jungeun’s head poked out again. “How is it?” There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. 

“I love it,” Jinsoul said. She meant it too. 

“Really?” Her expression was bright even from where Jinsoul sat. “Don’t want something else? I could try for another pond if you need something bigger. Or salt water. I think there’s a spell for that, but I’d also—”

“It’s perfect, Jungeun.” 

Jungeun stared at her. “Oh,” she said. Her voice sounded unusually small. 

Was Jinsoul that intimidating? "Are you busy?” 

“Not right now,” Jungeun replied. “Finished up with Potions and the Transfiguration essay.”

“You understood that?” 

Jungeun pulled away from the door, now half in the room. “Yeah?” 

“Does that come from experience?” 

“Not exactly,” she laughed, “but if you’ve trained an animal enough that it knows what to do when it’s a bird and when it’s a fish, that could be pretty handy.” She frowned. “No idea how it’d be used, but it’s possible.” 

“But isn’t that too vague?” Jinsoul asked. She'd always known Jungeun was smart—she'd gotten through school with exceptional grades, at least in the classes she cared about. Except she hadn't always seen it. Well, she had. She'd seen Jungeun's skill in transfiguration, but as separate from the classroom as it seemed possible. 

“You’re not supposed to get that specific,” Jungeun replied. “He wants us to speculate a little. Actually get creative with what could happen.” She shrugged. “As far as I know, no one really uses those spells unless it’s to mess with someone, or if they actually trained that creature, which takes years doesn’t it?”

“I think it’d take almost its entire life.” Jinsoul was slightly surprised that they could discuss something like this. And not be arguing. Then again, had they ever argued? Jinsoul didn't exactly count the times she'd gotten angry or annoyed with her. Those had been one-sided arguments, if she was honest. She'd probably lost most of them too. 

“Then you transform it into a turtle and problem solved?” 

“I don’t think that’s how lifespans work,” Jinsoul tried to wrack her brain for it, “otherwise people with a turtle as their animagus would probably live extremely long. As long as it’s the right type of turtle.”

“I hope that’s not how it works.” Jungeun grimaced. “I googled it. Owls live until their mid-twenties or something."

“Some cats live until they’re twenty,” Jinsoul replied. “And Professor McGonagall has lived a lot longer than that.” 

She relaxed. “Well that’s something you can write about. It’s a potential limitation.”

“Are you sure that’s what he’s looking for?”

“Remember the last one?” Jungeun asked. 

Jinsoul rolled her eyes. “I was a mark off a fail.”

“What’d you write about?”

“I answered the question,” she sat up further, “transfiguring an object into an animal should genuinely not be possible. It goes against a lot of what muggles have studied and proven, but also what we can’t do. No one can resurrect something.”

“And?” 

“And?” Jinsoul repeated. “You wrote more?”

“It’s still technically possible. All of it’s atoms, at the end of the day, right?” Jungeun sat down opposite her, letting out a soft groan. The bruises were faint across her face. Her eye was still swollen too. “I didn’t say anything about how that’s possible, because, well, it’d be a waste of time.” She huffed out a laugh. “But I said that what those spells do might actually be affecting something on the atomic, or even subatomic level. The energy’s maintained and maybe created,” she gave her a look, “which is also illegal according to the laws of physics. So maybe it isn’t.” She shrugged. “But he honestly didn’t care if my physics knowledge was right, because he has no idea about that stuff.”

Where was this Jungeun during class? She was clearly interested in this kind of thing. Why did she never show it? 

Because she's asleep most of the time, she replied in her head. 

“Then what did you get?”

“O,” Jungeun said. An outstanding. 

“What?” Jinsoul gaped at her. 

Jungeun chuckled. “He wasn’t looking for why it shouldn’t work, or that magic’s just magic and works like it does.” She glanced at the trees then. “He was looking for why it could be possible and potential reasons for how it works. You could be talking out of your and he’d still take it, but it has to make some sense.”

Jinsoul sighed, falling back down to the ground. “That’s dumb.”

“It’s actually a lot of fun.” Jungeun sounded like she really meant it. “He’s one of the only ones where I get away with literal theories. DADA a little, but that’s more when it comes to the ethics and all that.”

She peeked up at her. Jungeun’s face had lit up. She usually only saw her this passionate when she was joking around with people, or messing with her about the next mess she’d made. Jinsoul had to smile just looking at her. Had she always been like this? 

“Hagrid would’ve like you a lot better if you’d acted like that in class.”

“Me being terrified by that Hippogriff didn’t help.”

“You kidnapping a blast-ended screwt didn’t help either.” 

“Right!” Jungeun looked away, but she looked a bit too pleased with herself. “You made my teeth grow half a metre, didn’t you?”

Jinsoul got a flash of that memory then. “You deserved it.” She was torn between still thinking it was funny and feeling guilty. 

Jungeun just nodded. 

“What did you use it for again?”

She bit her lip. “I was gonna set it loose at night to give the prefects something to do. Then I was planning on going to the pitch.”

Jinsoul felt a combination of shock and confusion. “But you’d snuck out before. Without distractions.”

She shrugged. “I was bored, plus I was only in third year.”

Jinsoul shook her head, snickering. “You’re in sixth year now and you had an ink fight with Peeves in the first week back.”

She didn’t say anything to that. 

“How’re you feeling?”

“Good,” Jungeun nodded, “the craziest thing I did today was go up the stairs.”

“I’m guessing you’re probably not shifting for a while?” 

Another nod. “Nope,” she said. “And there’ll be enough of that once Hyejoo turns into some type of dog, maybe a bear.” She looked a bit excited at the thought. 

“If there’s a bear attack this year or next year,” Jinsoul warned. 

Jungeun laughed. “I can’t make any promises!” She raised her hands in surrender. “But I’ll try my best. And then we’ve got that spell you used if something goes wrong.”

“How’d it go wrong yesterday?” Jinsoul asked. “Was it because you were tired?” She didn’t mention that being intoxicated was another potential reason for it. She would later if Vivi brought any alcohol to the party. 

She opened , but nothing came out. Then she closed her eyes, sighing. Her cheeks were tinted pink. 

“Stress.” It sounded more like a question than an answer. 

“You stress about school?” Jinsoul smiled. “I thought you were on top of all this, even with your hundred suspensions.”

“Thirty,” Jungeun corrected. “But it wasn’t,” she grit her teeth, “about school.” Her eyes went to the pond. 

Jinsoul tried to think of how Jungeun had been the night before. She’d been as infuriating as ever. 

But she’d almost panicked when she’d seen Jinsoul. She’d asked her if she’d want to see it too. And then there’d been that look in her eyes every now and then. Usually when Jinsoul had tried to tell her a certain thing was definitely a bad idea. The hint of nervousness would come, then be covered by a teasing smile. 

Jinsoul felt tug up. “Were you,” she leaned forward, dropping her voice to a whisper, “nervous?” She almost regretted getting closer, because Jungeun looked a lot prettier up close. 

Her eyes flitted down her face. Then snapped back to her eyes. “Shut up,” Jungeun pushed her away, “I wasn’t.” 

You so were, Jinsoul thought. She smiled just thinking about it. “I did read that stress makes the turning back process a lot harder.” 

She didn’t reply. She didn’t look up either. Her ears were slowly turning red. 

“Jungeun,” she said. “Wanna tell me what really happened?” 

“Not really.” 

Jinsoul laughed. 

Jungeun smiled. 

A long pause, broken only by the small rush of wind, even a trickle of water. 

“You really put so much detail into this.” Jinsoul took it all in. “How?” She breathed in. It felt like fresh air. 

“Got one of the pipes extended out to here.” She looked proud. “And there’s a spell that can transfigure the air. Works like an air conditioner.” She waved her wand. “I’ll have to cast it once every two weeks. The trees help, but it still gets stuffy.” She pointed at the windows. “Might have to open those to air the place out a bit.”

Jungeun had said it casually, as if this wasn’t a big deal. 

But every two weeks, she’d come here to cast the spell. She’d spent the night here to make a forest. 

And she was doing that for her? 

Jinsoul looked away from the forest and back to her. 

Somehow, Jungeun looked like she belonged here. Even with the blonde hair and the green robes. 

Just like the windows, that mismatch made it better. 

“Are you going today?” Jungeun asked. “To the party?”

“I’m being forced to,” Jinsoul replied. “They even cancelled my patrol.”

Her brow furrowed. “How’d they do that?”

“Probably by inviting Minnie. Or promising her something else.”

“That must’ve bought my freedom then too,” Jungeun chuckled, “because they just told me someone else was covering it.”

Something scratched at the back of mind at that, but Jinsoul ignored it. 

“Well, just keep in mind that having a bit too much fun, could lead to another owl fiasco.”

“But you’ll be able to keep it from getting too bad, right?” Jungeun looked like she was joking, but also not. Jinsoul was reminded of how Jungeun had trusted her enough to cast that spell and it not go horribly wrong. 

"I'll try." 

Jungeun smiled fully then. "I said thank you, didn't I?"

She nodded. 

"I'm thanking you again," she said. "I know you were nervous. Didn't help that it was a painful transforming process." She reached over and patted her arm. "But I'm glad you actually cast the spell."

"But what if it'd gone wrong?" Jinsoul asked. "You know I'm not good at Tranfiguration. Did you really think I could do it, or was this you being crazy?"

"Crazy?" Jungeun laughed. "I knew you could do it." 

"How?" She doubted there'd been any moment where Jungeun had actually seen her succeed at transfiguring something, especially at first try. 

"That spell needs skill, yeah," Jungeun shrugged, "but also intent. You need to be able to force the person to become an animal. It doesn't work that well if you don't know what they look like." Then she glanced at her. "And luckily, you wanted me to be a human again."

The phrasing rubbed her the wrong way. 

"Jungeun," she started, "you keep saying that, like you think I didn't want you to turn back."

"I mean," Jungeun shrugged, "a few more days with me not talking and all that—it might've kept things a little calmer."

Jinsoul sighed. She put her hand on her arm. "There're a couple others who'd make up for it." She squeezed her arm. "But you'd be missed, even if it would've just been for a few days." Not to mention, she wouldn't have ever wanted to force Jungeun to stay as an owl for longer than necessary. 

Jungeun chuckled. "I am the life of the school, after all." 

She gave her a look. "Really?" 

A nod, but she looked like she was about to laugh. "You're a close second with the whole niffler fiasco." 

Jinsoul hid her face in her hands. "It wasn't that bad!" 

Jungeun laughed. "Not that bad, but it was pretty hilarious." 

She lightly kicked her shin. "I was trying to be serious."

"You know me," she blocked her leg from the second kick, "I only take that in small doses." Then her expression softened. 

Jinsoul took that as the cue to actually go back to what she wanted to say. "Still, I'm surprised you trusted me that much. I haven't exactly been the nicest person to you."

Jungeun shook her head. "Well, this year and last, you were just doing your job." She tapped the green badge on her robes. "And trying to get me to do mine." She winked at her. "Before that, I wasn't exactly your favourite classmate either." 

"That's Yerim," she replied. 

Another short laugh. "Same here." Then she let out a small sigh. "But still, I trusted you, because you're one of the best in the school." She wasn't looking at her, but Jinsoul could still spot the hesitance there. "And you're one of those people who's pretty good in a stressful situation."

The room's quiet noise came back. Along with the trickling water, there were also rustling leaves. 

Jungeun leaned back, relaxing slightly. It looked like she'd been waiting to say those things. 

Jinsoul was sure her face was red. It had to be. 

But if it was, Jungeun's ears were just as red. 

"Anyway," Jungeun said quickly. "I'll go tell Haseul you're okay." She pushed herself to her feet. "I'm really happy this worked out," she waved at the room, "and that you like it." She smiled. "And if you ever need a change to it, you can either try it yourself, or just let me know." 

Jinsoul shook her head. "I won't be changing anything, Jungeun," she told her. "I meant what I said earlier. It's perfect."

Her smile grew. Jinsoul had seen that expression countless times before, but something about it seemed different. 

When Jungeun left, she found herself wishing she'd stayed. 

______

Ravenclaw parties always had two venues. The balcony and the common room. They’d soundproofed the dorms of everyone so that no sounds would go in, but sounds could come out of them. With the way that Hogwarts usually worked, some children got nightmares. 

Thankfully, Jinsoul hadn’t needed to help with setting up. Heejin and Sooyoung had taken that up. She still had no idea how many people were coming. Their quidditch team was definitely coming. If almost half of Slytherin’s was coming, the rest’d probably be there too. Yerim was too much of a bundle of sunshine to not invite a fair amount of her friends. 

And now there was music and people were slowly filing in. Jinsoul had already taken to laying down on the sofa. She’d finished Transfiguration, Jungeun’s method in mind. 

As she’d written it, she’d realised more of how Jungeun actually worked, as well as how she’d been able to get the grades she did. Jinsoul felt guilty for being surprised, but she hadn’t realised how much Jungeun thought through these things. She also hadn’t recognised how skilled she really was at magic. 

And then she’d transformed a room into a forest with a working pond. 

Jinsoul had also really seen why so much of the school liked her. And why the teachers liked her too. Maybe all of those detentions had actually involved lengthy discussions of magic. Jungeun may have been short-tempered at times, especially when she’d been younger, but Jinsoul had never seen or heard her turning a discussion into an argument. Some people couldn’t discuss something without getting mad, but Jungeun wasn’t like that. Even when they’d been paired up for a Charms assignment, it’d only really been Jinsoul who’d gotten irritated. Jungeun had kept suggesting for them to try it on Felix’s hair. 

“You gonna be like this the whole time?” Someone sat down beside her, their voice almost ridiculously airy. 

“Maybe.”

Chaewon sighed. “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna be boring tonight.”

“I’m never boring.” Jinsoul opened her eyes. 

She raised a brow at her. “You sure about that?”

“Since when do you think I’m boring?” Jinsoul asked.

“Your idea of extreme is flying a hippogriff around school.” 

“Which is amazing.”

Chaewon rolled her eyes. “I guess, but you should actually wake up for tonight. From what I can tell, you’re all gonna get even more busy in a couple months.” She poked her side. “So you should have some fun while you still can.”

Jinsoul realised then that this was the younger Slytherin’s method of using ‘tough love’. 

She sat up. 

“You guys ended up finding that book, right?” 

Chaewon nodded. “Hye tried summoning it, and it ended up hitting me in the face, but we didn’t lose any points.” She was looking to the opposite side of the room, a tiny smile on her face. Hyejoo was currently trying to set up the game console she’d brought over. Jinsoul wondered if it was a good thing that past students had figured out a way to get electronics to work in Hogwarts. 

“You’re calling me boring when she’ll be playing that all night?”

“That,” Chaewon sent her a playful glare, “is the best FPS game of the year.” She then grabbed her arm, pulling her up. “And you’re gonna play a round.”

Jinsoul let herself be dragged over and promptly lost five rounds of the game.

“You must’ve had one of these at your house,” Hyejoo stared at her, “how can I  beat you?”

Jinsoul leaned back, face burning. “You’re obsessed. I’m not.”

“You also .” Chaewon had finally stopped giggling. She wiped at her eyes. “Can you play one more?” 

She handed the controller to Yerim. “No thanks.” 

Hyejoo called her a wimp, while Yeojin booed. 

Jinsoul threw a handful of chips at them, before leaving. 

One group were playing beer pong, while another was playing exploding snap. Several people already had singed hair and eyebrows. 

Immediately, she knew she wasn’t joining either of them. She didn’t want to drink today and she wasn’t going to risk burning her hair off any time soon. 

She looked to the sofas again, only to see there was no one there. She almost smiled in relief. 

When she went over, she saw there was actually someone there. They were passed out on the sofa. It was Jungeun. 

“Wake her up.” Sooyoung had walked over from the beer pong table. “She still owes me a game of gobstones.”

“Why me?” Jinsoul wasn’t even going to comment on how Sooyoung was probably going to lose. Again. 

“You and Yerim, and maybe Jiwoo are the only people here who’ll wake her up and not go bald for it.” Then she went off to the snack table. 

Jinsoul looked back to Jungeun, only to see her arm slowly slipping off the cushions. She was reminded of when Jungeun had fallen asleep as an owl. 

She went over and shook her gently. 

Jungeun groaned, turning away. 

“Sooyoung told me to wake you,” Jinsoul said, trying to speak quietly in spite of the music currently getting louder. “And if I’m not allowed to sleep, you aren’t either.”

“Fine,” she mumbled. “Just give me a few minutes.”

“Enough time to go back to sleep, right?” Jinsoul grabbed her hands and pulled her into a sitting position. 

Jungeun whined. “You’re cruel.” Her eyes were still closed. 

“Clearly you’re partying hard.” Jinsoul laughed. She sat down beside her. 

She shook her head. “I’ve never fallen asleep at a party. At least not this early.” She rubbed her eyes. 

Jinsoul leaned over, making sure she wasn’t heard. “And you’re supposed to be nocturnal.”

Jungeun laughed slightly, glancing at her. “This’s like waking up at six in the morning.” She leaned back, eyes drooping again. 

She squeezed her hands. “Need something to stay awake?” She glanced at the table. “They’ve got Monster.”

She grimaced. “If coffee makes me jittery, then that’ll give me a heart attack.” She peered over at her. “Did you guys even put water there?”

Jinsoul looked. “Nope, but there’s soda. Should I get that?” 

Jungeun pulled her back before she could get up. “When they come get us.” Her bottom lip jutted out slightly. Then she slumped back, closing her eyes. “I’m exhausted.”

“Still because of yesterday?”

She peeked out of one eye. “I was chased across school and nearly got burned alive.”

Jinsoul got a vivid flash of yesterday. “Almost slamming into a building probably didn’t help either, did it?”

Her lips twitched. “Not exactly.” Her eyes opened. “What’re you having to drink?” She straightened, looking like she was slowing waking up. 

Jinsoul frowned at her. “You were just sleeping.”

She shrugged. “You’re not tired.” She stood up. “I’ll try not to be.”

Jinsoul realised she was still holding her hands. She let go of one. It didn’t feel weird. 

Jungeun looked at the one she was still holding. The corner of tugged up. She didn’t let go, but shifted their hands to be a bit more comfortable. She just walked to the drinks table. 

Jinsoul purposefully didn’t look around, knowing she’d get a fair amount of raised eyebrows if she did. She just focused on how Jungeun was slowly getting her energy back as she looked over the table. 

“What did you want?” She glanced up at her. 

“Sprite.”

She uncapped it and then poured it into a cup, before handing it to her. She did the same with the cola. Jinsoul was slightly surprised when she didn’t add anything else. 

“Not drinking?” Jinsoul asked.

“You said there’s a risk of becoming a bird, right?” Jungeun sipped her drink. “I’m not taking any risks of that for a while.” 

“Was it scary?

She nodded. “Terrifying. I thought I’d never be human again, then I realised that didn’t happen unless the spell actually went wrong, which it didn’t.” A pause. “But I was panicking. Flying from tree to tree, almost breaking a window, but,” she faltered. “Then I would’ve ruined your room.” 

“My room,” she repeated. “Can other people use it?” 

Jungeun’s brow rose. “Yeah, yeah of course.” She took another sip. 

“Then you can too, you know,” Jinsoul told her. “If the animals coming in don’t bother you.” 

The corner of her lip tugged up. “They can’t be that bad, can they?” 

“Hasn’t Sooyoung told you the horror stories?” 

“A couple,” Jungeun shrugged, “but you know how to handle them, don’t you?” 

“Mostly!” Jinsoul smiled. “You never told me who the person is with the dragon, by the way.” 

“I will,” she returned it, “his name’s Joel. He’s a little like how you were then.” Then she looked a bit uncertain. “I mean that in a good way.” 

“I hope you did.” Jinsoul elbowed her with the arm still attached to hers. Then she let go, wondering why it hadn’t felt weird until that moment. 

“Jungie!” Jiwoo bounded over. “Soo’s ready to try again.” She looked Jinsoul’s way once, her smile somehow growing. 

Jungeun snickered. “Really?” 

“Wait,” Jinsoul tried to find her, “she was serious?”

Jiwoo nodded. “Tries it every time.” She looked like she’d given up. “She’s upstairs, by the way.”

Jinsoul followed the two. When she looked around, she saw that a certain few people had gone upstairs. Very few actually cared for gobstones anymore. Especially since it always made a mess. 

And somehow Jungeun and Sooyoung had made it a tradition that they’d always play a round. Jinsoul had stopped watching after Sooyoung had lost for the tenth time in a row. 

She saw Haseul first when they reached the balcony. She was conjuring some bluebell flames, while Vivi was summoning glass jars for them. 

Sooyoung was currently lining some stones in circles. 

“I thought you’d given up on this,” Jinsoul said. “You didn’t even play last time.” She went closer to one of the flames, crossing her arms. 

“We did,” Jungeun said. 

“You left before the grand finale,” Hyunjin rolled her eyes, “and guess who won that one.”

“I still don’t get why you keep watching,” Jinsoul muttered. “It’s always the same.”

“We all want to see the Ha Sooyoung try her best,” Hyejoo replied. 

“Glad I’m the entertainment,” Sooyoung muttered. 

“You could just admit you ,” Chaewon chimed in. 

No response. 

“Let’s just get this over with,” Jungeun cracked her knuckles, “it’s freezing.” She pulled out her wand. “So what kind of filling, water, or something a little more exciting?”

“You’re not using jelly,” Sooyoung warned, “ever again.”

By the smile that Jungeun wore, Jinsoul knew exactly what she’d be filling the gobstones with. It was almost a relief that she was as annoying with her friends as she was with everyone else. 

The game started. It was spent with Sooyoung cursing and the rest of them dodging the flying bursts of jelly every time she lost a point. The Ravenclaw was half covered in the stuff, looking increasingly irritated. Her throws also went wider because of it. Jinsoul had gotten a nice amount across her trousers, while Hyunjin and Heejin’s tops had both been covered in it. 

“You’re worse than usual,” Hyejoo drawled. “Should some of us leave?” She aimed a pointed look in the direction of Hyunjin and Jiwoo. She was definitely not looking at Hyunjin. 

“Want me to aim this at your head?” Sooyoung lifted the stone. 

“You can try.” She winked at her. 

Sooyoung tossed the ball. It went wide from the centre. Jelly burst from it. 

Hyejoo yelped and moved away, but the stuff got all over her back. 

There was absolute silence as Hyejoo turned around, looking stunned. Even Chaewon looked a bit uncertain. 

“How is this the one time you hit the target?” Hyejoo asked. “How’re you even a chaser?” She snickered, grabbing some of the jelly on her trousers and tossing it at Sooyoung. It missed and splattered on Haseul’s shoe. “Sorry!” 

“I think we’re done,” Vivi said, visibly trying to hide her laughter. “I think you’re in the negatives?”

“Minus nine,” Jungeun threw her ball and hit the next gobstone out of the ring, “or two points if we just count this round.”

“Fine,” Sooyoung dug in her pocket, “you win this one.” She tossed her a galleon. 

Jiwoo pulled out her wand, going to her side. “Tergeo,” she muttered, siphoning away the jelly from her hair. 

Sooyoung smiled sheepishly. “Thanks.” 

“Do you do this just to try?” she asked, hip bumping her, “or do you think you’ll win?”

Jinsoul tuned out of that conversation in a heartbeat. She’d already cleaned her clothes, so she followed the rest away from the balcony and towards the stairs. Jungeun was gathering the gobstones and slipping them into a bag that looked like it was red. It seemed a lot like those blue boxes from the other day. 

“Lovebirds!” Vivi shouted. “You owe me for almost ruining my robes, and you owe me .a little more than that.” She pointed at Jiwoo. 

Within seconds, Jiwoo was scrambling towards the door, Sooyoung in tow, while Chaewon and Hyejoo almost knocked into Jinsoul while running past her. 

Then said door slammed shut. Jinsoul heard a very audible click, then a small bang. The door trembled. 

Jinsoul stared at it, trying to process whatever that was. 

“I think they bet on this.” Jungeun pulled the tie on the bag, before putting it in the corner of the balcony. 

“I think they locked us out,” Jinsoul said. 

Her head snapped to her. She groaned at the motion. “What?” 

“I heard the lock.” 

Jungeun went over to the door and tried it. The handle didn’t even move. 

“Alohomora.” Jinsoul aimed her wand at the lock. There wasn’t even a click. 

Jungeun still tried to push down on the handle. “Should I,” she pulled out her own wand, “burn it down?”

“No,” Jinsoul grabbed her arm, “doors on the outside of school have enchantments against that. There’s a fifty percent chance it’ll freeze you if you try something, twenty-five that your arm turns boneless, ten that you turn into a slug, and five that you get apparatus straight into the dungeons.”

She stared at her. “What?” 

“That’s how one of the spells work,” Jinsoul replied. “And there’s others that’ll actually kill you, but they don’t put any of those around the school.” She nodded at the door. “Especially if a student does something like this.” 

Jungeun looked from the door to her. Then she pocketed her wand. 

“So they blocked the door,” Jungeun said. “From the inside and it didn’t do anything?”

“One way spell?” Jinsoul suggested. “Like those two-way mirrors.”

“That’s convenient,” she muttered. “Why the hell would they lock us out.” She looked apologetic. “Maybe this is payback for the bird stuff,” she looked at her, “sorry.” She then started gathering the jars of blue fire. She brought them back to her. 

“I don’t think it’s that,” she said. She had no idea what, but she was pretty sure she was right. 

“Really?” Confusion flickered in Jungeun’s eyes. “You think they’re setting something up inside?” Then she shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to settle with this.” She knelt down, putting the first fire jar down. “Are you warm enough?” 

Jinsoul nodded, watching as Jungeun placed the different jars around them. The blue caught in her pale hair, reflecting slightly in her eyes. Another reminder that Jungeun was undeniably gorgeous. 

“Hungry?” She took out her wand again and waved it. A bag of chips appeared in front of Jinsoul, hovering in the air. “I am.” The chips drifted over to her then. She grabbed it and opened it, holding it out to her again. 

Jinsoul laughed. “You got comfortable fast.”

“Why not?” Jungeun dropped a few chips in . She chewed on them before swallowing. “It’s nice out here.” She sat down, leaning her back on the wall beside the door. “I like our view better, but this one’s okay.”

“Okay?” Jinsoul sat down next to her. 

“We have the lake,” she replied. “And I don’t like heights.”

“You’re a quidditch player.” 

“That’s different.” Jungeun waved her wand again and a bottle of water appeared, as well as sprite. It fell into Jinsoul’s lap. “You forget you’re up that high on a broom.” She took several gulps of water. “And before you ask, I haven’t flown around enough as a bird to tell you if it’s worse or not.”

Jinsoul chuckled. “You’re a little confusing,” she said. “You’re afraid of heights, but your animal’s an owl.”

“And I’m a prefect, but I’ve gotten the most detentions ever?” 

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

“But you thought it.” Jungeun tapped her arm with the water bottle. “Didn’t make a lot of sense to me either.”

“It does,” Jinsoul said. “It makes sense.” 

She looked at her, unconvinced. “Jinsoul, you really don’t have to sugarcoat this.”

“I’m not,” she insisted. “You just have to think about it a little longer.”

“Like a whole year?” Jungeun laughed slightly, but she still looked confused. “Maybe two.”

“Just took me today,” Jinsoul admitted. “They can’t let you off for what you did, but I think a lot of them appreciate it. A teacher can’t exactly get into a war with Peeves unless it’s McGonagall. And no student’s actually going to challenge him to an ink fight unless they’re crazy enough to be prepared for him to attack them at any moment.” 

She looked down at the chips, taking out another handful. 

“And except for one or two times, no one actually got hurt. They were from all houses too, so you weren’t really targeting people.” She thought about how Jungeun would occasionally bombard certain people who still cared about blood status with jinxes. “Unless they deserved it.” 

Jungeun was still chewing on the chips. Jinsoul wondered if she’d summoned them to avoid having to speak. 

Still, she took that as the cue to keep going. “I think I get why you keep dragging first and second years into some of that stuff too.” Jinsoul took some chips as well. “Fighting ghosts is probably a great bonding experience.”

“You should try it,” Jungeun said quietly. It sounded like a quip, but she wasn’t looking at her. 

“I missed the last one.” And she wasn’t sure if she’d go that far when it came to Jungeun. She’d been way too vocal about hating it to join in, even if she was tempted. 

“Next one’s in January.” She peered over at her. Her cheeks were flushed. “And I’m not telling you that so you can block it.”

“I won’t.”

It looked like that caught her off guard. “First you tell me it makes sense they made me prefect and now you’re not blowing up about the ghost fight?”

Jinsoul nodded. “I might, but not right now.”

Jungeun didn’t say anything. Her eyes just flit between Jinsoul’s, as if she wasn’t buying it. Then she laughed softly. 

“What?” Jinsoul liked the look in Jungeun’s eyes. 

“Nothing,” she shook her head, “but,” she raised a brow, “this isn’t coming on because human me is a lot better than me as an owl, right?”

Jinsoul laughed. “I don’t think so?”

“Why is that a question?” 

“Because I’m not sure,” Jinsoul said. “You’re a lot less intimidating now that I know you’re a bird, less annoying on a relative scale too.” She bumped her shoulder. “And maybe I’ll take that room as a peace offering.” 

Jungeun smiled. “It’s not exactly peace if I’m still gonna check off my to-do list.”

“You make a list?” Jinsoul asked. 

“For a few things,” she chewed on her lip, “but yeah.”

She shook her head. Being an owl really hadn’t changed her. “I know you’re not changing that.” She was torn on how to say what she wanted next. “But I mean that I probably won’t start shouting at you anymore. Or try to track you down when I realise you’ve destroyed Myrtle’s bathroom again.” 

“That was once,” Jungeun retorted. “And I was trying to find that entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.”

“You have to use parseltongue.” 

“I know,” she sighed, “and Myrtle and I are on good terms again. She stopped crying once I made that fish and cheese thing.”

Jinsoul nearly gagged thinking about it. Ghosts could taste things if they were really rotten. Jungeun had somehow learned how to accelerate the decay of food and made something that’d filled the second floor with the worst stench ever. She’d given her that as a peace offering. 

“Anyway,” Jinsoul began, “I think I’ll just let all that happen now.” 

“How generous,” Jungeun drawled. “I think I’ll just double my list.”

“That’s not—”

“I know,” she laughed, leaning her head on Jinsoul’s shoulder before pulling away again, “I just needed to see the look on your face for that.” She kept laughing. “It’s sometimes the best part.”

“Of?” 

Jungeun stopped laughing. “Of,” she cursed softly, “oh great.” She put her face in her hands. 

“Did I hear that right?” Jinsoul asked. “The look on my face is the best part,” she trailed off, “and what about the rest?”

Jungeun looked up, half annoyed, half mortified. “You’re dragging this out.”

“Might be payback,” Jinsoul shrugged, “or I just don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was starting to figure out why they’d locked them out here. The thought made her face warm, but she ignored it. 

fell open. “I can’t believe this.” 

“Believe it.” 

Jungeun narrowed her eyes. “You know what, I’m gonna try and see if that barrier’s immune to owls or not.” She got to her feet, turning away towards the edge of the balcony. 

Jinsoul stood up. “Hey,” she grabbed her hand, “wait?” She also knew very well that Jungeun wasn’t going to turn into an owl. She’d said as much herself. 

Jungeun stayed where she was. Even in the blue light, Jinsoul could see her ears were very much red. 

“Sorry for messing with you,” Jinsoul tugged on her hand so she was facing her, “it’s actually really easy.” 

“Please don’t do a whole getting even thing,” Jungeun said, avoiding her eyes. “I like my hair like this.”

She laughed. “If I am getting even, your hair isn’t the first on my list.”

“Do I even want to know?” Jungeun looked up at the ceiling. 

Jinsoul felt a bundle of nerves forming in her stomach. She tried to just focus on the fact that somewhere in Hogwarts, there was a room Jungeun had been stressed enough about that she’d turned into an owl. And that said room had been made for her. 

“Just so you know,” she moved a bit closer, “this isn’t just for the room.” She moved her hands up to her shoulders. 

Jungeun looked up at her, a tiny smile starting to show itself. 

Jinsoul kissed her. 

Then she hummed, her hands going to her waist. She kissed her back. 

When she pulled away, Jungeun went after her, catching her lips again. 

Jinsoul laughed. 

“Did you mean that?” Jungeun met her eyes, both hopeful and careful. “Or did you, well—“

Jinsoul kissed her again, the smell of roses, jasmine, and forests coming back. 

“Wow,” Jungeun muttered. “I kinda just thought you were gonna hug me.” She looked away again, lip tucked between her teeth. “Wow,” she repeated. 

She couldn’t help but giggle. Jungeun looked genuinely stunned. 

Jinsoul made them both sit down, before she tucked herself into Jungeun’s side. 

“So how long have you liked me?” Jinsoul asked. 

Jungeun sputtered. “What?”

“You’re saying you don’t?” She looked up at her. 

She opened , before closing it. She looked a bit like a fish. 

There was a knock on the door. 

“Please tell me you at least hugged it out!” Jiwoo called. 

“Yep!” Jinsoul called back. “We’re cuddling too.”

“Cuddling?” Jungeun repeated. 

“Want me to tell them what actually happened?” Jinsoul knew she was close to being absolutely infuriating herself, but the nervousness from earlier had disappeared. 

Sounds came in from the other side. It sounded like metal being bent. Jinsoul wondered what they’d even done to block that door. 

Jungeun was whacking her arm, but there was no force behind it. “I wanna say I’m surprised at this,” she glared at her, “but you were just like this when you threatened to put me in a cage.” 

The door opened. Jiwoo immediately appeared. 

“Oh my god!” Her smile was blinding. “They’re actually cuddling.” 

“Okay,” Haseul said, “we can let them back in.”

Jungeun straightened. For what seemed like the tenth time, she said, “what?” 

Jiwoo disappeared behind the door again. “Just come back in before we change our minds!”

Jinsoul stood up, pulling Jungeun with her. 

“They,” Jungeun was frowning at the door, “set this up?” When they went inside again, she looked at the ones there. “You were all in on this?”

Chaewon gave her two thumbs up. “You literally tried summoning seven blue betta in preparation for her becoming head girl.” She looked slightly disgusted. “And that’s just a weird present to give to someone who isn’t your girlfriend.”

“Really?” Jinsoul looked at her, only to see her glaring daggers at the other Slytherin. 

“She got one blue betta and six goldfish.” She rolled her eyes. “Guess what happened.” 

“You let it eat them?” 

“It attacked one!” Jungeun looked between the others and Jinsoul. “And then I pulled it out. I didn’t know they were evil.”

“They’re not evil,” Jinsoul shot back. “They’re carnivorous.”

“Well—”

Hyejoo promptly started pushing Jungeun to go down the stairs, holding her shoulders so she wouldn’t trip. “If you break up because Jungeun’s too dumb to understand fish, then I’m rioting.”

“We can’t break up yet,” Jinsoul countered. 

“Yet?” Jungeun squawked, but it was very much a human sound. 

Jiwoo squealed, while Chaewon and Hyejoo exchanged a knowing smile. 

_____

Seventh year

Jungeun practically dragged her up the stairs. 

“Do you never get tired?” Jinsoul narrowly avoided a trip step, but still tripped. “You snored in Charms.” While the professor had been telling them some very important things about N.E.W.Ts. Jungeun had been fast asleep, but her quill had been writing what he’d said down word for word. 

Jungeun steadied her, still wearing that excited smile. Once it would’ve been frightening, but Jinsoul loved it now. “Oh I’m tired,” she said. “But I want you to see this.” She’d recoloured her hair to make it a light brown. She’d insisted on having a streak of blonde and Jinsoul had spent several minutes convincing her to not have a green streak in her hair. She’d gone with red instead. 

She resisted saying the next remark. 

“Nothing’s gonna explode,” Jungeun was saying, “that already happened.” She pointed at her singed robes. “But that’s something else.”

“Something else?”

Jungeun looked sheepish. “You’ll find out later.” 

They reached the seventh floor. Jungeun was practically skipping now, seemingly anxious and giddy at the same time. Jinsoul could almost imagine her as an owl flapping her wings and hopping from place to place. 

“If you don’t want her, we can send her back.” Jungeun put a hand to the door. “And I’ll help you as much as I can. I did a lot of research.” She chewed on her lip, grip on Jinsoul’s hand tightening. 

“This isn’t a dragon, is it?” They’d talked about this. For some reason, Jungeun really wanted to try raising a dragon. Jinsoul had needed to tell her several times that it took actual training. Even the second year, now a third year, had needed to go to Hagrid for help, because Jinsoul hadn’t known enough about it. She did now, but there were only certain dragons she was certain she could tame. 

“Might be better,” Jungeun said, eyes flickering from place to place. “Or worse.” 

“Just open the door,” Jinsoul told her. “Before I start getting worried.”

She did. Nothing jumped out at them except for the coos of a few birds, the chatter of bowtruckles, and the shuffling of cats. 

As always, Jinsoul felt at ease coming back here. It made for a great place to clear her head, but she never came here to study. She always got too distracted, be it playing with the cats, talking to the bowtruckles, or feeding the fish. 

Jungeun walked in, pulling her along. She looked extremely nervous now. She was looking at something on the forest floor. There was a basket, the cloth within it slightly charred. 

There was a soft screeching sound. 

Jinsoul gasped and went over, but she didn’t let go of Jungeun’s hand. 

“Eun,” Jinsoul stared at it, “is that really a—” She knelt down beside it. The bird’s feathers were slightly matted, covered in soot too. The egg shells were still there. They were a deep gold and red. It was tiny, barely larger than her hand. 

“I can send her somewhere for a bit raising it’d be too stressful,” Jungeun said. “They agreed that you might be too young and that it’d be no problem. Just as long as they meet you first.”

“You got me a phoenix,” she carefully reached out a hand, “a phoenix.” She ran a ringer along its head. It leaned into the touch, feathers warm. 

“Is this too much?” Jungeun was frowning. “Because I know they’re hard to domesticate. And whatever happens in the future, it’s definitely yours and—”

“It’s a lot,” Jinsoul nodded, “but not too much.” They’d talked about Jungeun not going absolutely crazy with the room and making it even more extravagant. She’d figured out how to put stars in over last Christmas and then spent days trying to make it more detailed. Jinsoul had had to drag her out of the room to stop her from spending way too much time on it. 

And then she’d promptly told her to stop trying to make up for every single prank she’d pulled. 

“It’s not all for that,” she’d mumbled. 

Jinsoul had felt a small flutter at that. “And if it’s for me, you need to slow down. I with gifts.” She didn’t exactly feel guilty, because Jungeun’s eyes never failed to light up when she gave her something she’d tried charming to the best of her abilities. Still, Jungeun always managed to blow her away with what she could manage with her magic. 

Jinsoul gently picked up the phoenix, running her thumb over its side. Her eyes were burning. 

“I didn’t know if she’d be the right one to get you,” Jungeun was saying, “and then when you chose phoenixes for your project and started talking about how difficult they are to raise, I wasn’t sure if you still wanted one. Especially now.” Her eyes flicked between Jinsoul and the bird. “But since you got Head Girl and—” 

“Jungeun,” Jinsoul leaned over, the phoenix still cradled in her hands, “I’m keeping her.” She pressed a kiss to her cheek. “And if you think it’ll be too much, you can help me raise her.” She lifted the phoenix up. “Have you even held her yet?” 

“They made me carry the egg up.” Jungeun looked a bit surprised when the bird was placed into her hands. “And I watched it hatch on the way up. I wish you’d been able to see that.”

“It’s okay,” Jinsoul grinned, “I’ll get to watch her take her first flight.” Then she realised something, getting excited just by the thought of it. “You could help me teach her!” She could already see Jungeun as an owl flying with her. Jinsoul would fly with them on the broom. “This’s going to be amazing.” She went over and leaned her head on Jungeun’s shoulder. “Please tell me you didn’t pay a lot for this.”

“I didn’t,” Jungeun replied. “They wanted those boxes, so I made some more. Then a little bit of work over the summer. And then I got a really great discount.”

“Did they already give her a name?” Jinsoul melted at the sight of Jungeun holding the phoenix.

She shook her head. “That’s up to you.”

“Blue?” 

Jungeun’s brow rose. “If you want?” 

“You don’t like it?” 

“I mean,” Jungeun glanced at the cat curled up beside Jinsoul, “you did call that cat Pluto.” 

“It’s a great name.” 

“You named him after a dog.” 

Jinsoul was tempted to start convincing her, but she knew Jungeun would give in the moment she did. “What did you have in mind?” 

Jungeun’s eyebrows rose higher. “She’s yours.” 

“You saw her hatch.” Phoenixes didn’t imprint, but Jinsoul wouldn’t tell her that yet. “And she already likes you.” She cooed at how the bird nuzzled it’s head into Jungeun’s palm. 

“I’m worse at naming things than you are.” 

Jinsoul stuck out her tongue. “Try to think of one.” She wrapped her arms around Jungeun’s shoulders. “If it’s better than blue, maybe we’ll take it.” 

Jungeun smiled. She looked at the phoenix for a long time, brow furrowed ever so lightly. 

She couldn’t help but hold her tighter. As ridiculous as she could sometimes be, Jungeun usually took Jinsoul’s love for creatures and animals seriously. As Sooyoung had said many times, she ended up encouraging it too, with most of their friends trying to stop them. 

Of course she , but that came with being her girlfriend. Especially if said girlfriend went on about which creatures she’d study once she got out of school. 

But then she did something like this too. 

“Eclipse,” Jungeun said. “The sun’s almost swallowed by the moon before it pulls away. Then that repeats. Just like she will.” She kissed Jinsoul’s forehead. “You’re always so sad when one of them passes. I was either gonna get you something immortal or something that lives really, really long.” 

“You’re such a softie,” Jinsoul muttered. 

“Says you.” 

“You cried for Goofy too.” She felt a small stab just thinking about that cat. 

Jungeun huffed once. 

“I think Eclipse works,” Jinsoul let the phoenix nip her finger, “wasn’t that a password?” 

“It was the answer to a riddle,” Jungeun replied. “The one when you smuggled me into the common room.”

She laughed. “I think I’m gonna have to smuggle this one in too.” She leaned her head against Jungeun’s. “Thank you, but you need to start giving me bad gifts too. Even things out.”

“I thought everything else I did balanced that out.” 

“Everything else,” Jinsoul said, “has been toned down.”

Jungeun chuckled. “Just wait, I’ve got some things planned.” She brought Eclipse a bit closer, holding her up to Jinsoul. “And then you’ll be sending her after me.”

______

“You’re serious?” Sooyoung was staring at the bird. “You actually got her one?”

Jungeun looked proud as she nodded. “Yep.” 

“They don’t breathe fire, right?” Chaewon peered down at it. “Because if they do, you’re never bringing it to our common room.”

“Or ours,” Heejin added. 

“They don’t,” Jinsoul pinched both their arms, “and are you seriously saying you don’t want to have a phoenix near you?”

“If they attack me, no,” Chaewon shot back. 

“They’re peaceful creatures,” Jinsoul said. “And I already know she’s a sweetheart.” She took Jungeun’s hand, squeezing it lightly. 

Sooyoung grimaced. “You’re so whipped,” she was looking at Jungeun, “and she’s even worse now too. Thanks to finally being able to make her own zoo.” She glared at Jinsoul, but there was no bite to her voice. 

“You haven’t been attacked by an animal in months,” Jungeun replied. “And if you were, it was either Hye’s fault, or mine.”

“You’re not helping your case,” Hyunjin remarked. 

“I know.” Jungeun grinned. “But Jinsoul had a flying seahorse, a kneazle, and pixies at the end of last year, and none of you were attacked by any of them.” 

“What the hell’s a kneazle?” Hyejoo frowned. 

“A very angry cat,” Jungeun muttered, rubbing her arm. “That hates owls.”

“They’re cat-like,” Jinsoul corrected. “And he just hated you.”

Yeojin looked between them for a moment. Then she turned to Yerim. “And you wanted these two to get together?” 

Yerim just nodded. 

As the others started to debate on whether or not they’d seen the kneazle around Jinsoul last year, Jinsoul slipped her arms around Jungeun’s waist. 

“I’m sorry for Hazel,” Jinsoul whispered. 

Jungeun laughed softly. “I told you it was fine.”

“Still,” she sighed, “you should’ve gotten mad at me.”

“It was the mutant cat’s fault,” Jungeun said. “You told me you can’t exactly tame them. You also got him when he’d already decided he hated most people.” Then she pecked her cheek. “And if you end up trying to raise a dragon, a few scratches on my arm will probably be the least of my worries.” 

Jinsoul felt her chest lighten. “You’d help?”

“Help,” she shrugged, “probably wouldn’t do a good job at it, but I’d watch. If you’re okay with that.”

Jinsoul kissed her, before quickly pulling away. Even then, she heard Chaewon gag. “I’d love that.” 

Jungeun smiled. “Great. That’s,” she trailed off. 

“Great?” 

She nodded, pressing a longer kiss to her lips. 

“Get a room!” Hyejoo called. “Isn’t that what you made it for?”

“They stare!” Jungeun grimaced. “And Jinsoul keeps saying they’re too innocent to see any of that.”

Sooyoung cringed. “Spare me the details, please.”

Jinsoul laughed as Jungeun defended herself, her ears reddening again. She pulled her closer as their friends started bringing back stories of how Jungeun had tried and failed to transfigure the room before, making an actual swamp and a desert out of it, before she finally made it a forest. 

She watched as Jungeun busied herself with adjusting Eclipse’s basket, repairing the parts that’d been burned or torn. 

Jungeun caught her looking. "What?" 

Jinsoul smiled. "Nothing." She rested her head on her shoulder. 

She hadn’t told her yet. She was still working on her own gift, a charmed set of trinkets she hoped Jungeun would adore as much as she had the last. She’d also ordered a fair amount of things from Weaselys' Wizard Wheezes and was still trying to figure out how to make an empty music score that’d fill with the notes for the songs Jungeun liked to play. 

And then, once she’d figured out all that, she’d tell Jungeun. 

She just hoped Jungeun wouldn’t beat her to it and say those words first. 

______

Author's Note

And finally, this story's finished. I wrote this in a really short time. I needed a break from the business that is current life, as well as my other stories. This's probably one of the most light-hearted things I've written and I honestly adore it. Loona in Hogwarts is something I knew I wanted to write, but I'd never really known what I'd do. Then I suddenly thought of these two being rivals (which isn't uncommon) and Jungeun being an animagus. The ideas kept coming, which is also why this story is a fair amount longer than I'd intended. 

Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. I definitely want to come back to this world, maybe with the other characters, but at the moment I don't have enough to make another story. Still, thank you for reading this! I hope there wasn't much confusion when it came to the HP universe, but if there was, just let me know. If you had any thoughts while reading, I would love to read them!

Twitter: @hblake44