Note: My Great Hall seating order facing the head table from left to right - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin

It was the beginning of the end. It was the start of Irene’s last semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But do not be fooled, she did not walk through the castle doors sad nor reminiscent. Rather, she exuded confidence as she always does when she walks through the halls not only with her standard angelic smile but also with a new burst of flirtatiousness.

She waved at nearly every 7th year who dared to look her in the eyes and even sent a few winks at them making the more faint at heart blush and break eye contact. She makes her way to the Great Hall and soon spots her best friends already seated together and makes her way over.

“Someone grab a fan because someone is sure feeling hot today!” Joy jokes as Irene sits down next to her while Jennie facepalms at the cringey line.

“Well, what can I say? I’m in a great mood," Irene smiles wide.

That was true. After Irene left Wendy's house and apparated back home, she had decided that she did not want to spend the last week of winter break nor the rest of her final year at Hogwarts sulking over some stupid girl. So instead, she built her confidence back up to how it's always been over the past six years. Irene knows she's hot and can get anyone she wants so why bother being hung up on Wendy?

"Irene…, " Jennie trails with concern despite Irene's positive attitude. Also over break, Irene had simply sent a brief text to her two best friends that she and Wendy had broken up. She didn't get into any specific details and refused to speak of it any further despite the two others trying to get her to open up. So, it was no surprise that Jennie was still worried about her.

"I'm fine, Jennie," Irene reassures. Although she's still a bit bitter at Wendy, she was honestly more mad at herself for allowing herself to be fooled. She knew she didn’t like Wendy Son from the moment she heard about her and now she wishes she had stuck with that initial judgment instead of getting to know the Ravenclaw the past semester. "Believe me, I'm completely over her."

As soon as the words left , someone sat down next to her.

"Did I hear what I think you said?"

Joy rolls her eyes at the new presence, "Really Suho? Were you eavesdropping on us?"

“No, no, no. It just so happened that I was already heading over here when I overheard,” Suho explained, although it didn't sound that convincing. “Wanted to ask why Irene came in alone since she told me that she and Wendy were spending winter break together. I thought they'd come in attached to the hip, but I guess I know why they didn't now.”

Irene’s hands balled into fists underneath the table as Suho continued to talk about the Ravenclaw, “I knew that loser Son would fumble with you eventually. If you ask me, I think she was an idiot to break up with you-”

“Who said anything about her dumping me?” Irene cuts in sharply. Suho as well as Jennie and Joy were taken aback at Irene’s sudden burst. Irene had actually said it quite loudly, causing some surrounding people to take notice of her words. It only took a few more seconds until Irene finally heard it. The whispers.

“Holy .” “So it’s true..” “They broke up!” “Finally!” “Irene and Wendy-”

Suho clears his throat, “O-Oh, my bad. I mean, of course, who in their right mind would ever break up with someone as amazing as you!? I, for one, would never.”

"Whatever," Irene blows off as begins to grab some food to go. "I'm going to the dorms," she stands and starts to walk out of the Great Hall with her head held high. She tries to stay calm, but word travels fast in the halls of Hogwarts and so she could immediately feel the stares of appreciation, envy, but worst of all, pity.

Irene couldn't understand the pitiful stares. Did they all really think that Wendy was the one who dumped her? If anything, it was definitely the other way around. Wendy should be the one people should pity. Poor Wendy for losing the most desired girl at Hogwarts.

The further down the hall she travels, she notices that the people who are giving her sympathetic stares as they pass by her tend to glance worryingly towards the direction Irene was heading. Her eyebrows furrow at the action, but she tries not to think too much of it as she continues walking. It wasn't until she made a turn at a corner to understand why.

Just a bit ahead of her now was Wendy, sitting on top of a stone courtyard ledge. Seeing Wendy in of itself made it reasonable as to why people were glancing towards this direction, however, it was the pitiful stares that began to make sense. They had practically acted as a warning. A warning to the sight of Wendy with a doting Sejeong clinging to her side.

Irene froze in her spot. Eyes wide, food nearly dropping as her grip loosened.

"Poor Irene... Wendy had already moved on so quickly," someone whispers to her right.

Wendy finally takes notice of Irene and immediately sits up straight, trying to shake Sejeong off at the same time.

And after a week of trying to forget them, an ache pangs Irene's heart as she meets Wendy's soft, brown eyes.

"So I guess Sejeong was the girl to go after all this time," another giggled to her left.

And just like that, Irene's eyes hardened and her grip tightened. Eventually, Wendy stands and tries to make her way to Irene but the Slytherin starts to back away. Irene glances at her fellow housemates nearby and her silent message seems to have been read correctly as the group of Slytherins suddenly block the hallway, making it harder for Wendy to reach her.

As she turns around, she can hear Wendy politely asking others to move but she's still held up. Irene shouldn't have, but she ends up stealing one last look back towards the Ravenclaw before turning around the corner. She can only scoff as she sees Sejeong return to Wendy's side, tugging her arm back, trying to get the Ravenclaw's attention. Irene faces away and keeps her gaze forward as she tries to erase the sight of her girl- No. Her ex-girlfriend? Not that either. 

We were never really girlfriends to her though, were we? Irene recalls bitterly.

-----

Up to now, Irene had successfully managed to avoid Wendy throughout the day whenever she walked around the castle. The last hurdle of the day that Irene had to overcome was the Welcome Back Feast for dinner. Seeing that this was a school-wide event, there was no doubt that she was going to see Wendy in the Great Hall.

“Irene, we’re going to be late!” Joy pulls on Irene’s arm as they run in the corridor together.

“We’re already late! So, does it really matter if we’re even more late?!” Irene whines as she allows herself to get dragged along.

“Yes it- NO! Oh no.. no no no,” Joy says frantically as the two finally reach the Great Hall entrance. The reason for Joy’s distraught state was that the doors were closed and seeing that there wasn’t a loud commotion on the other side, it meant that the headmaster was in the middle of her speech. “If we head inside, everyone will see that we’re the late ones! Oh my gosh it will be so awkward and embarrassing!”

“Can’t we just wait until the headmaster’s finished? It’s not like we have to go in right now,” Irene says casually.

“But all the good food will get taken right at the start! By the time we get to our seats, all the good stuff will be gone!” Joy falls to her knees.

“You do remember that the elves make multiple servings, right?”

“But it’s not the same as the first batch!” her tall friend dramatically wails.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Irene chuckles to herself.

Then, someone clears their throat behind them, making both Slytherins slowly turn their heads.

“Glad to see that I’m not the only one late,” the Slytherin Head of House laughs brightly. “C’mon girls, let’s head inside or else we’ll miss out on the first batch of food!”

“I told you!” Joy mutters to Irene before she’s hit with a sudden realization. ”Wait professor,” Joy starts as their professor heads towards the doors. “As in now!? Right now!?”

“Of course!” Then, the elder woman gently opens the door to try and not draw any attention.

“Okay, walking in with a professor is definitely more embarrassing compared to if it was just us,” Joy whispers in a defeated tone as they follow her inside.

Thankfully, the Slytherin table was on the far right side near the wall so neither them nor their professor stood out as much as they made their way to their seats. Only a few students from the other houses turned their heads, but even then it was only for a brief moment before looking back at the headmaster. Irene kept her eyes glued on the Slytherin bench, refusing to look anywhere that she might regret.

“About time you guys got here,” Jennie whispers once Irene and Joy sat across from her with Joy’ face beet red.

As they listen to the headmaster’s speech, Irene can’t help but feel like someone was looking at her. Despite trying not to, she does a quick survey of the room and to her surprise, she makes direct eye contact with Sejeong. The Gryffindor sends her a mischievous smirk before mouthing two words.

“Thank you,” Sejeong smiles again and then points. Irene follows her finger and eventually realizes that she was pointing at an oblivious Wendy. She immediately looks back at the Gryffindor and does her best to hide a scowl, instead just giving a brief fake-but-realistic smile before turning her attention elsewhere.

Irene shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t be getting riled up at the thought of Sejeong draping herself all over Wendy. Her heart shouldn’t even skip a beat everytime she sees Wendy. She shouldn’t be hurting when she looks at the cup of hot chocolate wrapped around her fingers. Anything and everything that she feels about Wendy Son should be gone. It was what she had repeatedly told herself up to this day.

But of course, love is a hard thing to try to forget.

Love.

Love? 

I… I was going to tell her I love her.

Loved.

There’s an ache in Irene’s chest that she can’t bear in front of all these people so as soon as the food appears on the tables, she excuses herself and says that she'll be back. She stands up from the bench, ignoring the questions being asked by Jennie and Joy of where she is going, ignoring the curious eyes that always seem to follow her, and steps outside of the Great Hall with quivering breaths. She rushes to the nearest bathroom knowing that it will be completely empty due to the feast. Her hands land on to a sink and she slowly raises her head to look at herself in the mirror. She can see tears threatening to fall but she quickly wipes them away.

What did you think was going to happen, Irene? She asks herself. You can’t get over someone in just one week.

All it took was one day back in Wendy’s presence to break down her walls and she hated it. How had she become so weak? Her knuckles whiten as she grips the sink. Wendy made her weak. This was all Wendy’s fault. If it weren’t for Wendy, Irene would be perfectly fine. Her life would have been just as great as it had been until she met that cursed transfer student. Wendy had ruined her last year at Hogwarts.

“Irene?” The door to the bathroom slowly creaks open as a hesitant voice fills the noise. Irene’s body stiffens.

Wendy.

At the sound of the familiar Ravenclaw, Irene’s blue mood quickly turns red. 

I’ll make her pay for making me like this.

“Get out,” Irene bites out first as a flip switches inside her.

“Irene, are you okay? I noticed you rushed out pretty quickly and uh… I know we didn’t get a chance to talk-”

“What’s there to talk about, Son?” Irene crosses her arms as she turns around to face Wendy. “I’m pretty sure the last time we talked, I made things pretty clear in terms of where we stand.”

“Actually, no you didn’t,” Wendy doesn’t back down. “You broke up with me and then left without me getting a single word in.”

“Wow. You still call it a ‘break up’ even though it was just the end of our deal?” Irene laughs in disbelief. “Eh, whatever. On your way out, do you mind telling people that first part? Everyone seems to think you 'dumped' me instead of the other way around,” Irene says arrogantly. 

When Wendy doesn’t budge, Irene rolls her eyes and their staredown continues.

“What the , Irene? Did everything that happened between us mean nothing to you!? I thought we were doing great.”

“You can drop the act, Son. Everything and anything that happened between us is over now, don’t you get it? All you wanted was your dad’s approval and you got it.”

“But,” Wendy’s shoulders drop but Irene ignores it. “I even told you before you met my dad that I didn’t care what he thought anymore. I just wanted to be with-”

“Just save your breath. You just said that to make sure I didn’t catch on to your secret plan, right? Now, I’ll admit that I was kind of pissed off at first when I realized what you were doing, but at the end of the day, you used me and I used you. That was the deal. No strings attached and no leftover feelings. So do whatever you want now, but just leave me alone,” Irene says with finality and Wendy stands there speechless. “There’s no point in trying to save face. I simply don’t care about you anymore.”

And with that, their staredown ends and Irene starts to make her way out. Just as the two graze shoulders, Irene feels a hand on her wrist.

“I don’t believe you,” Wendy’s voice is low and it sends shivers down the Slytherin’s spine.

Irene pulls her arm out of Wendy’s grip harshly, “Well, believe it.”

Just as Irene’s about to open the door, Wendy speaks out one more time, making her pause.

“You know what? Fine. Then, if that's the case," the Ravenclaw’s voice suddenly comes out smugly, “You’re telling me you won’t get jealous if I start seeing other girls?”

Irene can practically see Wendy smirk despite not looking at her. Still, Irene tries to not let it faze her.

"Funny," Irene scoffs as she turns her head just enough to see Wendy. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that instead?"

And with that, they each part with a new sense of determination against the other.

A/N: We never really got to see them as enemies, eh? 

I just want to thank everyone who has stuck with me so far! Unfortunately I haven't had much time to work on the fic, but your patience is greatly appreciated :) I still want to try to stick with posting one chapter a month, but I also feel bad when the updates are pretty short because of this. Again, thanks for continuing to support my lil fic and don't hesitate to comment what you think!

'Till next time

- S (rv_twice5 on twitter)