“I’m going to kill her!”

“Here we go again,” Joy mutters when Irene enters their dorm.

“I heard that!” Irene points with irritation as she plops onto her bed.

“What did she do this time?” Jennie asks from her desk.

“That she-devil-”

“She-devil? That’s new,” Joy snorts.

“Well, that’s what she is!” Irene sits up. “Recruiters for the Quidditch League came today and every time I managed to pull one off to the side, Wendy would always make her way over to us. Then of course, she turns on her stupid charms and suddenly it’s like I’m not even there! And it’s not like I can leave the conversation or else it would look disrespectful, so all I really did during that part of the session was hear Wendy brag on and on about herself. She’s so lucky that I had to compose myself or else I would’ve.. I would’ve… UGH!”

Irene falls back onto her bed with a grunt. While she isn’t entirely focused on making Wendy jealous as much as before, that didn’t mean beating the girl in everything wasn’t a source of happiness. She knows she’s better than Wendy and wants the Ravenclaw to know it. And yet, nothing seemed to be going in Irene’s favor.

**

During their second week of the semester, Irene was sitting in her Transfiguration lesson waiting for it to begin. She was reading the assigned chapter for the week when from the corner of her eye she noticed someone sit down next to her.

“Hey Wheein, did you understand what-” Irene had looked to the right at her seatmate to ask for help only to stop abruptly. The person she was looking at wasn’t Wheein.

“What’s wrong, Bae?” Wendy grins. “Cat got your tongue?”

Irene leans back into her seat, arms falling onto her lap as her eyes sharpen, “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Had a bit of a schedule change that the Headmaster graciously allowed,” Wendy says as she places her books on the desk.

“Well even then, stop placing your stuff on the table. You’re in Wheein’s seat.”

“Yeeaah, it doesn’t seem like Wheein minds though,” Irene follows Wendy’s line of sight and sees that Wheein had already settled herself in another seat, happily talking to one of her fellow housemates. “So, it looks like we’re going to be seatmates for the rest of the year,” the Ravenclaw says teasingly.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Irene mumbles through gritted teeth as she looks around the classroom and realizes that there were no empty seats remaining.

For the rest of the class, Irene struggled to stay focused for the first time. The two of them would keep knocking elbows as they took notes and Wendy would often tap her quill against the glass ink bottle. All the while, Irene couldn’t tell if Wendy was doing all of this on purpose or if it was just accidents and habits. Either way, Irene was annoyed.

She had never felt so relieved when the lesson had finished. Just as she was packing up, she hears Wendy speak up.

“Hey, Bae. Could you stop hitting my elbow next time?”

“What?! You were the one who kept hitting me!” Irene says in shock.

“We’re both right-handed! I barely moved my left arm so how could I have hit your elbow?!” Wendy counters.

“Well then stop tapping your quill on your ink bottle, it’s too distracting!”

“Then you stop fiddling with the tips of your book pages!”

“Ms. Son. Ms. Bae. If you’re going to keep bickering, please do so outside of my classroom and perhaps on your way to class if you don't want to be late," the students’ faces instantly turn red after hearing their professor. 

Once outside, the two share a daggering look at each other before parting in opposite directions.

–

After that cruel start to her day, Irene looked forward to her favorite lesson: Potions.

She loves making potions and it was the course which she excelled at the best. Despite how stressful schooling can be, she tended to find the class relaxing knowing that everything had set steps. While she adored spells and charms, they are dependent on form, pronunciation and often on your thoughts and feelings. Whereas with potions, it is all pre-calculated and only dependent on how well you can follow instructions.

It was one of the simple things in Irene’s chaotic life.

“Yooo, look who’s here! What’s up?” Irene hears one of her classmates say loudly. If she had to guess, it was probably that Ravenclaw Nagyung greeting her friend Jiheon.

Yet, there was still quite a commotion at the front of the room making Irene curious as to why there was now a group of people who had gotten louder. When she looks up, she sees a huddle of blue quidditch rugby sweaters. She shrugs off the sight and just as she’s about to look down, a crack forms amongst the group giving Irene a glimpse at one of the students.

No ing way, Irene thinks.

Thankfully, Wendy was swept away by her teammates to a different table meaning Irene wouldn’t have to sit next to her for another class.

**

So to make matters worse, Irene is forced to see Wendy on a near-regular basis and therefore the two bicker almost constantly. To be honest, it’s gotten to the point where she’s surprised that their Transfiguration professor hasn’t made either of them change seats.

She does try to see their shared lessons as a positive though since it’s a chance to prove that she’s better than Wendy from an academic standpoint. Yet since then, doing so has been no easy feat. So far, they often went back and forth as to who was able to successfully do a transfiguration spell or make an acceptable potion first.

Outside of the classroom, there was also no denying that Wendy had taken the Hogwarts’ student body by storm. Everything that once was only Irene’s had now become something she had to unwillfully share with the Ravenclaw. The parting in the hall, a surrounding crowd, attention. 

She almost lost it one day when a student was talking to her but got distracted when Wendy had walked past them. Not to mention that Wendy even looked back at her with a mischievous smirk.

“Well, who cares about talking to the recruiters right?” Joy tries, pulling Irene from her thoughts. “Back me up, Jennie.”

“Yeah! What really matters is what you do out on the field. So focus on that and the recruiters will come flooding.”

Irene is silent for a moment before her shoulders deflate, “Thanks guys… she’s just so annoying.”

“Well hey, I’ve got something to tell you that might cheer you up,” Irene perks up at Jennie’s words. “I do believe it’s my turn to set you up with someone after Joy’s tragic suggestion of Baekhyun.”

Joy gasps.

“How was I supposed to know he’d be that bad?! I based it off of looks! You guys said you were gonna drop it,” Joy says defensively as the other two just laugh in response.

“I know, I know, it’s just fun to tease ya every time and Rene needed a laugh. That was the last time, I promise,” Jennie responds before looking back at Irene. “Anyways, I’ve known them for a few years and honestly they’re really sweet.”

“Are they cute?”

“Would I be suggesting them if they weren’t?” Jennie chuckles.

“OOHH, I’m telling Jisoo that you found another person cute!” Joy points at her.

“Go ahead, Jisoo was the one who helped me pick them out,” Jennie grins, causing Joy to groan.

“So when will I meet them?” Irene brings their focus back.

“Just let me know when you’re free and I’ll send them your way!”

----- 

A few days have passed and Irene was feeling a bit better. She was looking forward to meeting whomever Jennie had in mind and Wendy had been surprisingly less irritating due to the fact that they both had tests coming up and had to really focus in their shared classes because of it.

Still, that doesn’t keep Irene from spouting a few comments here and there.

“My gosh,” Irene pinches her nose when Wendy sits next to her in Transfiguration class. “Would it kill you to lay off that perfume? It’s giving me a headache.”

“Really now? Last time I checked, you really enjoyed it,” Irene doesn’t bother to look at Wendy, but she already knows the Ravenclaw is smiling like an idiot.

“As if. I only tolerated it because I-,” Irene stops, but doesn’t wait a beat to continue to make sure Wendy doesn’t get suspicious. She meets Wendy’s eyes, “Just know I hated the smell.” 

That was partially true. She actually disliked the smell until Wendy came along. Or maybe she just liked what was attached to the scent.

Irene couldn’t tell if she imagined it, but for a brief moment she thought she saw a small pout form on the Ravenclaw’s lips. Either way, it was gone now. That interaction weighs on Irene’s mind throughout the lesson, wondering if maybe she went too far. 

Or if it was what Wendy deserved. That small amount of pain that Wendy may have just felt is only an ounce of what she did to Irene.

As they gathered their things at the end of class, the two remained silent. Irene walks a few feet before hearing Wendy behind her.

“Did I really give you headaches before with my perfume?” The tone in Wendy’s voice was hard to read. 

Irene should’ve kept walking. Or at least, she should’ve lied to make the Ravenclaw feel even worse.

“Just a few times,” she decides to say honestly.

“You should have told me. I would have-”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop acting as if you care?” Irene interrupts as she turns around in her spot to face her.

“Oh my god, you’re still on that!?” Wendy exasperates. “Why the hell would I-”

“Ladies,” the professor clears . “Must I remind you every time?”

The two quickly apologize and head out of the class. Irene was glad to have escaped another sore of an argument before feeling a hand on her wrist. When she realizes it was Wendy, she tries to writhe her hand out but the Ravenclaw’s grip was strong. It wasn’t until the two were in a secluded hall when Wendy finally let go.

“What the , Son. I’m going to be late to class!”

“We need to talk about this, Irene. It’s driving me crazy! YOU are driving me crazy!”

“I’M driving YOU crazy?!” Irene says in disbelief. 

“YES! After we broke up,-”

Irene rolls her eyes.

“-that whole week following I was wondering what I did wrong. Then, I finally get to talk to you during the feast and you tell me that I had a ‘secret plan.’ Back then, I let it slide, but it still kept gnawing at the back of my brain. And now! You’re saying that I’ve been ‘acting’ about the fact that I care for you!?”

“Congratulations, you can hear! Glad to know my words didn’t go in one ear and out the other!” Irene mocks in a sarcastic tone. ”And stop making it sound like a sob story as if you’ve been such a ing saint to me since then!”

“Well you deserved it!”

“And so do you!” Irene lets out as she jabs a finger into Ravenclaw's chest. "You ing broke me, Wendy!”

The air becomes still as it’s filled with heavy breathing from both girls. Their stares are intense and the silence eats at the two of them, both caught off guard at Irene’s last words. They soon hear the bell ring, signaling that classes have started, but neither seem to care now.

“You ruined me,” Irene’s voice comes out small. “My life was so perfect until you came along. You made me love stupid traditions. You made me like playing guitar despite it leaving my fingertips in calluses. You made me used to pecks in the morning. You made me feel things I never knew one could feel. You made me happy that my parents got to meet you.”

Wendy remained hushed as Irene shut her eyes tightly.

“You… you made me think that I deserved to be loved. But to you, it was all just meaningless.”

Wendy takes a step forward. Irene flinches back.

“That’s not true,” the Ravenclaw says firmly. “I don’t know how many times l need to say it until you believe it, but goddamn it Irene, I really, genuinely, ing liked you. So much. You say that I ruined you? Well then, you ruined me too. When we started this whole mess, we each had our reasons. And yeah, you’re right, mine was to get my dad’s approval but as time went on, I started to give less of a about it because of you. You made me like you when we agreed that we wouldn’t go that far. You made it hard for me to go back to the lake because now you are a part of that place too. You made me think that my last heartbreak would be from Rosie,” Wendy takes a shaky deep breath. “You made me wish that my first love was you.”

Irene’s breath hitches and her mind begins to race.

She hates how sincere Wendy sounds. She hates the way Wendy was currently looking at her with so much heart. She hates that she’s begun questioning if the way she went about their break-up was a good idea. 

She hates that she’s starting to think that Wendy was never acting at all.

But at the same time, she’s reminded of how easily Wendy beckoned to her dad’s request and all the pain and hurt returns.

“So just tell me. What did I do wrong?” Wendy’s voice lowered, almost laced with desperation.

Before she could get a handle on her mixed emotions, she just blurted, "Ask Sejeong."

"What?" Wendy knits her eyebrows together, now even more confused than ever. "What does she have to do with this?!"

“She has everything to do with this!”

That just spurs Wendy even more, throwing her hands in the air out of frustration, “For ’s sake, Irene can you stop being so cryptic and tell me!”

Wendy demands, but Irene keeps her lips tight.

“Fine,” Wendy finally backs off with disdain. “If you don’t want to tell me, maybe I will go talk to Sejeong then.”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

As she watched Wendy storm off to who knows where, Irene can feel the tears that she had been holding in threatening to fall. She knows she can’t head to her class while she’s on the verge of a breakdown, so she goes where she can only hope Wendy isn’t heading to as well.

As she paces in the halls, her mind is running wild. After their talk, all Irene can think about is how she might have actually been wrong. Wrong to have left Wendy without a word all those nights ago without giving the girl a chance to explain. But even so, there was always a chance that Wendy wouldn’t have brought it up when she returned to her room or that she would make a lame excuse for saying yes to her dad, only to break up with Irene eventually. Or maybe, and this thought wrecked Irene the most, Wendy might have just lied to her dad for their sake.

But Irene’s stubborn and can’t let the fact go that at the end of the day, Wendy had said yes.

At last, the door to the Room of Requirement appears and Irene rushes inside with tears blurring her vision. She finds a wall to lean against and slides down to the floor, knees tucked, arms wrapped around them and her head hanging low. It was then, in the eerie quiet, where she let the tears cascade freely down her cheeks. Her breathing shortens and her nose sniffles as she is finally forced to deal with her back-and-forth thoughts all by herself.

“Are you okay?” a hesitant voice comes out suddenly, making Irene jump in fear. Her eyes are wide as she looks to the owner of the voice who was crouched down to meet her eye level.

“Omo- Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” the fellow student immediately becomes apologetic.

When Irene’s heart rate is back to normal, she responds reassuringly as she wipes away her tears. “No, no don’t be! I mean, I probably scared you when I barged in here, so I should be apologizing,” she says in embarrassment.

“Don’t sweat it, no need for you to apologize either,” the other chuckles with a smile. “But, um, you are okay… right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Irene sniffles as she relaxes her posture, although she knows she probably didn’t sound all that convincing.

“Well then, uh, I’ll just head out to give you some space,” the student gets up and heads to a nearby table. It was then when Irene realized that they must have been studying as she saw them gather their books, parchment and quills.

“Stay,” Irene says immediately out of guilt. “You were here first, so I’ll leave.”

Just as Irene gets up to leave, the student stops her, “How about we both stay? It looks like we both could use some quiet time, so I’ll stay quiet if you do?”

They stick out their pinky with a child-like smile. Irene couldn’t help but find it quite cute and so she locks their pinkes together with a small smile of her own, “Deal.”

So now, the two were sitting across from each other with Irene drawing on parchment paper that the other provided while they studied. And for the first time in a while, Irene felt at peace and in solace. She becomes grateful to the other student for not leaving her alone as their silent presence seemed to have brought her some ease as well. She wants to thank them, but soon realizes that she never asked for their name.

For some reason, she found herself shy to ask and it wasn’t until the other stood up announcing that they had to leave for class that Irene finally had the courage to speak.

“Thank you,” is all she manages to say just as the student was reaching for the door handle. “Um…”

“Bona,” the girl answers with a grin. “Kim Bona.”

Kim Bona.

A/N: Oh my... what a rollercoaster hm?

At last, Irene is now dawning on the possibility that she may have made a mistake with judging Wendy so quickly. And of course, the thought of being wrong is something she strongly dislikes, so she may be a bit more hard-headed for a while but just not as much.

And ah yes, Kim Bona. What could her role possibly be? Is she the one that Jennie was talking about? (P.S In case you don't know, Bona is from WJSN and I chose her b/c this is the start of my WJSN agenda--check them out! I was actually planning this person to either be Moonbyul or Han Sohee, yet here we are lmao)

I was also supposed to release this chapter next month, but as today is our lovely Joohyun's bday and with the Feel My Rhythm and Wildside drops, I've decided to release it now in celebration! What's everyone's fav b-side? Personally, I'm an In My Dreams supremacist (and a fic inspired about it may be on the way hehe)!

Hope you enjoyed this lil angsty chap, lemme know your thoughts and thanks for reading! <3

- S (rv_twice5 on twitter)