Chaeyeon arrives (limps) at Ravenclaw fresh from the warm bath she just had a while ago, the exhaustion from the 2-hour game already half gone from her body. All she wanted now was to sleep the night away, not even bothering to eat dinner to fill her stomach.

Feeling disappointed with what she had showcased a while ago, she tells Nako that she didn’t want to eat dinner because her leg was sore from the fall she avoided a while ago but half of it was because she is not in the mood, embarrassed with what her teammates just saw. Nako understood, nodding and giving Chaeyeon a jab on her shoulder.

“You still did well, Captain. Win or lose, you always do well. Next time, better treat us to Hogsmeade for missing dinner!” Nako never fails to put a smile on Chaeyeon’s face with her encouragement, so Chaeyeon agrees, planning to even treat Nako and the team lots of candies from Honeydukes.

Chaeyeon enters their room with Hitomi preparing to leave the dorm, possibly for dinner at the great hall.

“Chaeyeon-nie? Congratulations!” Hitomi hugs Chaeyeon’s side in an awkward but adorable manner, her eyes curving upwards in happiness.

“Thank you, Hii-chan. Off to dinner?”

“Yes. Are you not going to eat dinner? We can go there together.” Hitomi pushes her spectacles back to place, keeping it from falling. 

“I’m too tired. Thank you for the offer, though. Go say hi to the gang for me.” Chaeyeon just dives right in her bed, feeling the warmth and the comfort it was bringing after a very long day.

“Alright. Um… by the way…” Hitomi leans on Chaeyeon’s bedpost while she looks at the owner, her face buried on her pillow.

“Yeah?” Chaeyeon’s voice muffled against the pillow.

“May I borrow your scarf? Kwon Eunbi-chan borrowed mine a while ago.” 

Chaeyeon rises and abruptly sits on her bed. “She what?”

“She wanted to watch the match without having to wear green in a sea of blue, Chaeyeon. I let her borrow it, but I’m sure she’ll return it this dinner!” Hitomi scratches her head. Chaeyeon reaches for her scarf hanging by her trunk and hands it to Hitomi with her eyebrows knitted in confusion. 

“May I ask, Chaeyeon?” Hitomi reaches for Chaeyeon’s scarf being handed to her. “Are you dating her?”

Chaeyeon chokes on her own saliva. “What? No! I’m… We’re just f-friends!” Chaeyeon kept on coughing until she composed herself. “What made you say that?”

“I have been seeing you two together a couple of times I think… two weeks ago? Yes.” Hitomi wraps her scarf around her neck, stuffing half of her plump cheeks inside it.

“She’s very kind, Chaeyeon. I won’t mind you two dating. You look like a couple. Bye bye!” Hitomi runs to the door before Chaeyeon could even catch her. It was one of those rare times Hitomi was teasing Chaeyeon instead of the captain teasing her, and it was because of the girl she has been avoiding non-stop.

Chaeyeon finally lays supine on her bed, just staring at the ceiling while she thinks of what Hitomi just said about the two of them. Then her mind manages to make her thoughts drift to their shared kiss, the kiss that she least expected to happen.

Chaeyeon grunts and buries her face to her pillow again, now eventually drifting to sleep with the head girl in her mind.

----------------------------------------------------

With her body all aching and sore from the day before, Chaeyeon decides to slow things down instead of moving swiftly through the classrooms like she always does. Chaeyeon moved carefully through the hallway, already clad in her uniform and robe while she received a couple of congratulatory remarks from a handful of students all around. Though she walks proud and tall with her chin up, she was struggling to walk, her left leg being the problem because of the role it played when she almost fell from her broom. Chaeyeon blames herself for it, of course. She was not herself that time, she was very out of it.

With her mind focused on getting to the Hospital Wing, maybe apply a simple spell of healing or drink a potion courtesy of friendly matrons, (Which are not that friendly towards visitors: Chaeyeon was once thrown out when she visited Minjoo visiting Yujin because of a broken bone, that’s why.) she then, trips on her own foot, her left leg making it hard for her to avoid having a nasty fall until someone from behind catches her in time, placing her arm on their shoulder. When Chaeyeon looked for who it was to thank them, it was the least person she had ever expected.

“Need help?” Eunbi says, in her full clad Slytherin get-up glory with a shining head girl pin by her chest. Chaeyeon’s face grew warm and she was silently hoping that the crimson color was not tinting her cheeks. It has been a while since she met Eunbi in such close proximity and she continues to remind her heart internally to slow down for Eunbi might hear it beat so fast and loud.

“Oh, Eunbi. It’s alright, I can manage— Ow!” Chaeyeon winces from the pain her left leg was causing.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

As far as she could remember, it was Eunbi who always rejected her advances, it was Eunbi not really needing any help per se, but now, why is Chaeyeon the one saying everything’s okay when it’s clearly not? (Thanks to her leg, by the way.)

“Let’s get you to the hospital wing.” Eunbi carefully guides her to walk, lifting her up, enough to lessen the force on the captain’s left leg. Chaeyeon limps reluctantly, not wanting Eunbi to at least feel how heavy she may feel.

“But, you might be busy or… something.” Chaeyeon doesn’t move despite the nudge Eunbi has been doing on her.

“By busy, you mean tending to students like you? That’s my job after all.” Eunbi lightly chuckles now making Chaeyeon step little by little along the empty hallway on the way down the hospital wing. 

“What are you doing, Chaeyeon? Really, I can manage.” 

“Eunbi, I can manage.” Much to Eunbi’s persistence, she just shakes her head in disagreement to Chaeyeon’s request.

“I insist, Chaeyeon.”

“But Eunbi—” Chaeyeon lets an exasperated sigh.

“Again, I insist.” 

“I insist, Chaeyeon. I won’t leave you without them having to take a look at your leg.” Eunbi looks into Chaeyeon’s eyes, the first time ever since Chaeyeon saw her in the crowd, the same day she hurt her leg, the one they have been arguing about for the past five minutes.

Chaeyeon hates how this scene unfolding is reminding her of the first time she was insistent on having to help Eunbi. Now being in Eunbi’s shoes, she now feels how burdened of guilt the head girl must have been due to her persistence.

Eunbi carries her through the castle, greeting a couple professors along the way. (Yes, including Professor Yoo, congratulating Chaeyeon on a quidditch match win and poking fun of them on how Chaeyeon basically has her arm draped over Eunbi’s shoulder; It was a very embarrassing experience, having to hide her blush and all.)

After a couple of moments, they finally arrive at the Hospital wing, Eunbi finding a vacant bed west from the entrance then letting Chaeyeon sit carefully on it.

“Thank you, Eunbi. I can manage from here.” Chaeyeon manages to smile not so awkwardly to hide the embarrassment she was feeling from having to need help.

“No, I won’t leave you.” Eunbi’s gaze suddenly pierces her soul, making her breath hitch and choke on her own saliva in the process, making her cough like crazy. Eunbi caresses her back in the most gentle way possible but it just made Chaeyeon jump and grunt with the pain her leg was giving her. Chaeyeon thinks today is not her lucky day, she is not normally this clumsy and met with plenty of mishaps.

“Are you okay?” Eunbi squats down to match Chaeyeon’s eye level. “I’ll get Madam to look at you immedia—” 

“No. Just… stay… here.” Chaeyeon manages to speak in between her small coughs, pointing the chair beside the patient’s bed. “Madam will come any minute now, I’m sure.” 

Eunbi now backpedals to the chair slowly, her soft and gentle gaze not leaving Chaeyeon’s as she sits carefully by the chair. 

Silence fills the air around them as Chaeyeon just fidgets with her thumbs whilst she bites her lips in deep thought on how the silence should be broken. It has been so long already since Chaeyeon was alone with Eunbi and the last time they were, Chaeyeon was the first to leave with both of their eyes wet and hearts heavy, and the kiss no one bothers to mention up to this day. It was only the both of them who knew.

“Why are you doing this?” Chaeyeon was the first one to break the silence, wanting to hear a reason she’s been aching for ever since Eunbi caught her by the corridor a while ago. Feelings pooling in Chaeyeon’s chest finally bursts because she had enough of this sudden act towards Eunbi. Chaeyeon became even more confused than before.

However, Eunbi was saved from misery when a matron approached Chaeyeon, pushing her back against the hospital bed while Eunbi explained to the matron what happened when Chaeyeon was asked. Eunbi spared no details behind and asks for the matron to take care of Chaeyeon very well.