Olivia is good at potions. She is not some kind of exemplary student or anything — in fact, she often misses a few classes — but since Professor Park Bom replaced Choi Minho, her former and completely unbearable potions teacher, she is attending regularly to all the classes of the subject.

Another highlight of her day is that since the schedule changes and teachers, she no longer has to share class with the damn Gryffindor students. For Merlin, she was tired of seeing all that red and gold and their glorious screams after succeeding at something! Now there are cute little faces with yellow scarves all over the room, and that's ridiculously satisfying. She can stand the Hufflepuff a little more thanks to the two Huffles that always sit at her desk uninvited. Besides, the students in this house make the best cakes and sweets.

"Not like this, you fool. You have to mash the seed, not cut it," Olivia tells Kim Jiwoo. She has that low, hoarse tone that intimidates people, but Chuu, Jiwoo's nickname, has gotten used to it after almost seven years being Olivia's best friend.

"I'm trying, can't you see?!" The lower defends herself in exaggerated gestures, grimacing and struggling internally not to abandon the incomplete task.

"You're a child," Olivia rolls her eyes, pulling away as she gives up trying to help. "A child who only knows how to scream."

"A child who will have the love of her life in love with her at the end of this class," Chuu shows her tongue.

"Is that what you intend to do? Forcing someone to like you?" Hyejoo raises her eyebrows. "Jungeun only talks to you to make fun of you, or of your american accent. That's when she remembers you even exist! You're trying to bite off more than you can chew, Jiwoo."

"Look, she already likes me, okay? She just didn't... Realize it... Yet," Jiwoo defends herself, ignoring her words, and if Hyejoo let herself care a little more, she would feel sorry for the girl. "That's why the love potion. It's just an incentive!"

Chuu sighs dully and rests her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. Her gaze is fixed on the pale face on the other side of the room: the Slytherin with straight brown hair. Her gradient eyes are fixed on the cauldron before her and she guides herself without interest in the books to complete the task. Her attitude delivers how much she does not want to be in this class.

"Sure. Best thing since sliced bread," Olivia jokes.

Everyone in the castle knows Kim Jungeun and her bad reputation well. As young as she is, she takes trouble anywhere she goes and takes pleasure in igniting the psychological peace of others. Rude is a dominant word when it comes to her personality and to uphold her unreachable pose, she always acts as if she despises those who have the courage to approach her and closes herself in her shell — she's not very different from Son Hyejoo about that.

Noticing Chuu's gaze on her, Jungeun rolls her eyes and shifts her position so that no small part of her face can be seen from Olivia's desk. Olivia, watching the scene, makes sure not to laugh as Vivi, the other nosy Hufflepuff, returns to the table with her spoons in her hands.

"Did I miss something?" She asks. Hyejoo looks at her light pink hair before answering. It's been two months now since Vivi made a mistake in her potion and ended her colored hair. Hyejoo notices that the color suits her.

"Just Chuu being a passionate muggle, no big deal," she replies and picks up the book to check the rest of the recipe. She has the impression that Jiwoo whispers something to Vivi, but her attention is on the Wiggenweld potion almost ready in front of her.

"I'm going to get the bezoar. I don't think I made the point yet," Chuu announces and walks away.

Hyejoo remains quiet with Vivi by her side, both focused on achieving the goal of the class: Professor Park Bom promised a vial of Felixs Felicis to who best prepare the potion. And Olivia would like some net luck being so close to N.E.W.T.s. She avoids looking the other way because she knows Vivi is not a competitor: Viian is as bad at Potions as Olivia is bad at Muggle Studies. And she is a disaster at Muggle Studies, for sure.

She adds Wiggentree's shell into the cauldron and moves clockwise. Hyejoo likes the bubbles the liquid makes when boiling and is pleased with herself when she sees it change color. She is about to call her teacher when she smells burnt.

"Vivi, what did you do this time?" She asks and takes out her own cauldron from the flames.

"It's not me!"

Jiwoo!, Hyejoo's subconscious mind reminds her and she looks panicked to the side, where Kim Jiwoo's cauldron is unsupervised and bubbles up most of all.

"Bloody hell," she curses. The Slytherin moves the older girl's potion without even knowing where Chuu is, and sighs because she is conscious enough to consult Jiwoo's book and finish the potion for her. Better than having anything exploding around her. "I'm going to kill that muggle dwarf!"

"Look! Professor Bom is coming," she hears Vivi's voice sound panicked.

"Do something!" She says. They are not allowed to make Amortentia and Olivia cannot imagine what Kim Taeyeon — the Slytherin Head Girl — would do to her. Hyejoo is thinking of a thousand different excuses to get rid of a punishment when, suddenly, there is a bang in the room and everyone is looking at Choi Yerim's face. Except Olivia, of course, who is trying to save and hide at the same time the forbidden potion.

She decides to spy on what's going on when she smells hot chocolate and old books, her favorite scents — curiosity: she doesn't know where they come from. Across the room, Choerry has her head down as she listens to the teacher's complaints. Her cheeks and forehead are black from the ashes from the explosion she caused.

"It seems to me that all Hufflepuff are a potion disaster," Kim Jungeun comments. She has a mean smile on her lips and her arms are crossed.

Olivia reads the paragraph of the book once more and puts the potion in a vial when she is sure it is ready. She feels Jiwoo's leaping footsteps before the girl stops beside her with a huge, hands-full smile. She does not look at her.

"Look, I managed to get some-"

"I couldn't care less!" She grunts in anger. "I am not responsible for your things, Jiwoo. Next time, be more careful about what you do!"

She hopes there won't be a next time, but she doesn't know. It's Jiwoo she's talking about. Olivia hands Chuu the vial aggressively and takes the opportunity to leave the room. It had been two long, tiring schedules.

 

(...)

 

Hyejoo is in the Great Hall, sitting at the Slytherin table. She is alone and away from her housemates, as expected. She's not a people person, she likes to be alone and enjoy the wind and the silence and, well, herself.

Dinner has just been served and that is why there are few people in the lounge. Some ghost spread that there would be no pudding at the banquet tonight and most witches saw no problem having dinner a little later since they would not have to fight over dessert. But Hyejoo wasn't a candy person either — only when it's cake — so she's there now.

"Have you forgiven me yet?" She hears Kim Jiwoo's voice and within seconds the girl is sitting beside her, her bangs almost touching her eyes and her cheeks full. There is an apple in her hand.

Olivia looks ahead. She is sitting in front of the Hufflepuff table and clearly sees the delicious colorful pies. "It depends. Are you going to share your piece of cake with me?"

Jiwoo laughs like a fool. "Accio cake," she says. An entire cake moves from the Hufflepuff table in front of Hyejoo. The brunette's pupils dilate. "I made it. The elves let me take some ingredients, but it was quite simple. Advantages of being a muggle born."

"Advantages of getting along with everyone," Olivia corrects her. "What about your plan? Did it work?"

Jiwoo's face turns red. "Well... I think it's too early to say that."

"What did you do with the potion, Jiwoo?"

"I put it in a cupcake. See? It's there in Choerry's hand. She will deliver it to Jungeun. She doesn't know what's in it, of course," Chuu points discreetly somewhere on the Hufflepuff table, where Jungeun, Choerry and JinSoul — Jungeun's best friend and roommate — are sitting. The cupcake is still in Choerry's hand.

"Since when are they friends?" Hyejoo frowns.

"They are not. Jungeun and Choerry are cousins, so Choerry told me. They're not that close, but Jungeun's parents make her take care of Choerry in here. You know what these rich, boring pureblood families are like," she complains, forgetting for a moment that Olivia also belongs to one of those rich, boring pureblood families. The smile is back on Jiwoo's lips. "Anyway, everything is under control. I planned every second."

"Oh, really? Did you plan that?" Olivia carries that comedic tone that makes Chuu look immediately at her home table to see no one but Choi Yerim devouring a cherry cupcake. Jungeun's cherry cupcake.

Olivia is laughing at Kim Jiwoo's overly open mouth and her eyes wide in disbelief. She watches Choerry fix her eyes on them and smile in a way Hyejoo has never seen before: ridiculously in love. Yerim gets up quickly and walks over to the girls.

"This is a disaster," Jiwoo mutters, and Hyejoo laughs so hard that she doesn't notice the fuss around her until she has trouble breathing.

"Hye!" Yerim almost moans. She has her eyes closed enjoying the plum scent that comes from Olivia's skin. "You are so, so beautiful!"

"Bloody hell?!"

It doesn't matter to Kim Jiwoo how much Hyejoo is murdering her with the look, with her red cheeks and almost palpable anger. She'll keep laughing until she can't breathe anymore.

 

(...)

 

It's ten o'clock at night and Olivia is in Hufflepuff's dorm room with a really annoyed Kim Jungeun, a shy, downcast Chuu and a Choi Yerim who won't let go of her foot. Literally.

After Jiwoo's burst of laughter in the Great Hall, it became clear that they needed help in solving the mess they got into. The mess Chuu put them into, Hyejoo likes to remember. And Jungeun is not a dumb girl. She immediately understood that something had happened to her cousin as soon as she laid her eyes on all that girl's neediness for Olivia and that Olivia and Jiwoo had something to do with it.

And now there they are: in Jiwoo, Yerim and Vivi's room, trying to decide how to undo the potion. Jiwoo is sitting on her own bed while Kim Jungeun shouts out her ugly words of indignation, and Choerry is looking at Olivia with her sparkling bright eyes. Hyejoo still doesn't understand why Yerim is in love with her and not with Jiwoo.

"I'm so, so sorry, Jungeun," says Chuu for what Hyejoo identifies as the seventh time. "It was never our intention to delight Yerim."

"It wasn't your intention to charm Yerim?" She's being ironic. "Then why the hell did she have a poisoned cupcake in her hands?! Given by you, I must specify."

"Lippie, you are overreacting. The cupcake was great. I'd love to have another wicked one," says Yerim, following Olivia and sitting beside her on the bed.

"Not ever!" Hyejoo screams.

"Olie, you have such beautiful eyes!" And she's dreaming with her attention locked on Hyejoo's face again. Hyejoo blushes.

"Someone do something!" She asks and tries for the thousandth time to break free of Choerry's grip. She had tried everything, but Yerim would not give up.

Jungeun assassinates Jiwoo with the look. She advances to the smaller girl and Chuu rushes to Olivia for help, screaming as she lurks in bed behind her friend's body. "It was not for her! It was not for her! It was not for her!" She shouts, pressing her eyelids, her little hands shaking.

"Who was it for?" Jungeun shouts back, not believing a word. But she stops to think as Jiwoo is unreachable behind both Hyejoo and Choerry's bodies — her cousin is firmly protecting her recent love. "Yerim said someone had done it for me," she closes her eyes as she understands what had happened, but then widens them in understanding what that means. "Oh! Oh, no, no! No, no! Olivia- I-I mean, I- You're not my type!"

"Thanks to Merlin I'm not!" Olivia responds, feeling disgusted by the thought of possibly being in love with her home partner. She shakes her head so that her hair covers her face, to keep Yerim from continuing to try to kiss her. She's getting sick of the girl's cherry aroma. "Chuu made the potion!"

Yerim suddenly puts her arms around Hyejoo again and squeezes her, their cheeks touching so much that their lips almost meet. "No! Olie is only mine! All mine! No Chuu!"

"I think I'm going to faint."

"Chuu?" Jungeun looks at her, totally ignoring Olivia's speech. She is judging the red girl so much. "I should have known."

Chuu wants to dig a hole in the ground to have somewhere to hide from the look her platonic love is giving her. She feels guilty that Hyejoo is going through this and feels like crying. She pulls away from the girls and huddles in her bed, tears falling before she covers her face with her arms.

"I'm so sorry!"

Hyejoo feels her heart ache as she hears her muggle friend's tearful voice and she tries to ignore Yerim's grip. "That could have been worse," she says, trying to lift the weight off her friend's shoulders. She finds herself forced to grab Choerry's waist to pull her face away from hers. It does not work, and Olivia notes that Jungeun's firm posture is more relaxed. She realizes that her housemate is bothered by Jiwoo's crying. "Say something!"

Jungeun rolls her eyes when she notices that Olivia is talking to her and crosses her arms. "Well, yes. It could have been worse, I suppose," she allows herself to say. "But I haven't swallowed that one yet! I can't have Yerim like... This for the rest of the year."

"You're not alone at that," Olivia agrees as Choerry pushes her body back and makes her lie on her bed. She feels like a teddy bear, unable to move. "Somebody get her out of here!"

"Sleepover!" Choerry shouts excitedly. She doesn't realize that Hyejoo is widening her eyes in despair.

It is worth remembering: Olivia is not a people person, much less a touchs person. She was never touched all this time in her life. Her parents don't usually hug her and the only one who does that is Jiwoo, with her tight five-second hugs every year when she sees Hyejoo alone in the train cabin.

Hyejoo seeks Jiwoo's eyes. "Fix it. I am begging."

"I can't. I don't know how," the Hufflepuff admits, her eyes apologizing. "But I'm sure it will pass! The potion is strong, but it doesn't last forever."

"How long?" Jungeun asks. Her face is more serene. "We have to go home for the Christmas holidays."

"I don't know... Maybe a week? Maybe two?"

"Blow me! Two weeks?!" Jiwoo's doubtful face makes Olivia think this might last even longer.

"Please. I don't know!" Even Jungeun convinces herself not to press Jiwoo further — secretly, she fears the girl will break — and Olivia thinks she might not be that heartless, but the thought drifts away quickly because soon enough Choerry's body is almost all over hers.

"I think I'll have to sleepover."

 

(...)

 

It's been a week since Choi Yerim is in love with Son Hyejoo and Hyejoo is almost having a heart attack. The Hufflepuff girl has been chasing her everywhere with boxes of chocolates, handmade gifts, and clogged picnic baskets of cakes and sandwiches. And Hyejoo... Well, Hyejoo is hiding. She's good at that. Whatever time and place she sees Yerim, she runs and hides and avoids going anywhere that smells like cherry, even if it means missing dinner and having to take Jiwoo to the Slytherin common room to help her with Transfiguration.

It's not that she doesn't like Yerim or dislikes her: she doesn't. But Olivia is certainly not used to having anyone but Jiwoo in her life and doesn't even know what to do. Of course she recognizes that Choerry is a beautiful, cute girl, and definitely a rare Hufflepuff piece, but if they weren't close before, why should they be now? Now that she's in her senior year at Hogwarts. Now that she's studying with everything she has to reach the average her parents expect to finally be free of any obligation her surname brings.

If it was meant to be, it would have happened before, Olivia's mind tells herself.

"I think you're scared," Chuu says suddenly. They are in Olivia's room reviewing the scrolls that Professor Choi Sooyoung asked for tomorrow afternoon.

"Excuse me?" Hyejoo looks up at Kim Jiwoo's tired face. She notices that Kim Hyunjin, one of the girls with whom she shares the room, is no longer there. She knows Jiwoo is only talking because they are alone now.

"About Choerry. Hye, she likes you."

"She's bewitched!"

"And? She had a certain crush on you before. Nothing compared to now, of course, but you can see this as an opportunity," Chuu interprets Hyejoo's lack of interest as an invitation for her to keep talking. "She is beautiful. And nothing prevents you from exploring the feeling she thinks she feels for you now. This can last until way after the potion's effect is gone."

"I will repeat it for you. She is bewitched, Jiwoo. She doesn't like me that way. And honestly? I do not love her either," Olivia isn't good at controlling her tone of voice, but she tries because she knows it's Jiwoo and Jiwoo is sensitive. She is convinced that this thing about her and Choerry is nothing and it won't last. She doesn't see the point of investing in it.

"You're afraid of liking her!" Jiwoo accuses. "You should at least try, Hye. Choerry is amazing, really."

"Can't you shut up?!" She's pissed off now. Olivia has been trying to not even think about it and ignore Choerry and the fact that she wants to marry Olivia at seventeen, and Jiwoo is throwing her plans into the trash with all this trying talk.

"Hye, please! I'm your only friend since our first year at Hogwarts and I've only seen you relate to one person since then. Do you remember?" She asks. Park Chaewon, a student witch from Beauxbaton who spent the entire fifth year exchanging at Hogwarts. Yes, Hyejoo does remember. Chaewon had that refreshing pineapple smell that Hye loved, but they didn't last long. "And nobody else after her. That's not fair, you have an opportunity in front of you."

Olivia wakes up from her daydream. "What do you want me to do? Yerim will wake up from this magical dream that your bloody potion made her have and will see that she is not in love with me, that she will not marry me, and, especially, that she is not the one to blame if I break my heartbreak."

And that's it. Almost everything Chuu wanted to hear from her. Having someone liking her scares Hyejoo. She hates that Jiwoo knows her so well to know that. She was better off without all this love potion stuff.

"You could just... try. Give it a try, you know?" Chuu has those cute pedantic eyes that make Olivia wonder why they are friends. It's not fair to use this kind of blackmail. Olivia sighs. "Pretty please."

She knows she will regret it. She doesn't want to say it, but she does. "Okay."

 

(...)

 

Hyejoo is at the library reading a muggle novel that she promised Chuu to read when Choerry finds her. The Hufflepuff girl has a smile on her face and a book in her hands. Unexpectedly, the most remarkable thing about her is that her hair is totally purple. Choerry approaches and leans in to speak.

"Olie, can I make you company?" She asks.

Olivia doesn't take her eyes off the book, but responds. "Looks like there's enough room for you here."

After days and days, Yerim is happy that her attempt to get some time alone with Hyejoo is working. She sits next to the Slytherin girl, so close she can smell Olivia's sweet aroma, and analyzes her for a second. "You get so alone at times that it just makes sense? What kind of book is this?"

Yerim is not the judgmental type, and that is why Olivia doesn't mind paying attention to her tone. The Choi's voice can't sound mean at any ocasion.

"It's poetry. Chuu chose it for me," she replies and goes to the next page. "Your hair looks beautiful."

"You haven't even looked at me yet," says Yerim, and seconds later Hyejoo's eyes are fixed on hers. She likes the feeling of being watched by Olivia, it makes her feel noticed and dear by the girl. She wants it so bad.

"Your hair looks beautiful," Hyejoo says so sure Yerim can see how much she means that. She sees the purple in her eyes and knows that the potion's effect isn't gone yet. "Is my compliment valid now?"

"Thank you," her cheeks are ridiculously red when she speaks, and Olivia's gaze drifts to her lips before returning to the book. She feels even warmer.

"What are you reading?" Yerim is surprised that the question came straight out of Hyejoo's mouth of her own accord.

"It's called Jane Eyre. It's about an orphan girl who 'is forced to battle against the demands of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order', as the blurb says," she replies.

"All right, darling?"

"Sorry, what?" When Hyejoo looks at her again, her face expressionless, Yerim feels embarrassed.

"What do you think about it? Are you enjoying?"

"Oh... Right," Choerry laughs at herself. Olivia thinks this is adorable, but she doesn't say it. "I'm enjoying my reading. I personally love Charlotte Brontë. She was a witch, did you know that? But she was so in love with the muggle world that she dedicated her life writing about them and for them."

"Sounds good," Olivia has never heard of Charlotte Brontë, but the way Yerim's face brightens when she talks about the author makes her want to read something by her. She no longer knows how to proceed the conversation, but she is fighting her protective instincts that tell her to go to her bedroom and lock herself in.

"Can you read something to me?" Choerry is referring to Hyejoo's book, and Hyejoo gives her a straight answer. She clears and starts.

 

"My father had little sayings which he mostly shared
during dinner sessions; food made him think of survival:
'Succeed or eggs. . .'
'The early bird gets the worm. . .'
'Early to bed and early to rise makes a man (etc.). . .'
'Anybody who wants to can make it in America. . .'
'God takes care of those who (etc.). . .'

I had no particular idea who he was talking
to, and personally I thought him a
crazed and stupid brute.

But my mother always interspersed these
sessions with: 'Henry, listen to your
father.'

At that age I didn't have any other
choice,
but as the food went down with the
sayings
the appetite and the digestion went
along with them.

It seemed to me that I had never met
another person on earth
as discouraging to my happiness
as my father.

And it appeared that I had
the same effect upon
him.

'You are a bum,' he told me, 'And you'll
always be a bum!'

And I thought, if being a bum is to be the
opposite of what this son-of-a-
is, then that's what I'm going to
be.

And it's too bad he's been dead
so long
for now he can't see
how beautifully I've succeeded
at
that."

When Olivia finishes, there is a dramatic break to the look they share. Olivia is not a very expressive person and Choerry knows it, but even she realizes that there is more to that poem than the girl is saying. Olivia's eyes are proof of that: they scream feeling and loneliness and memories, so many memories — so much that that girl who always drives away everyone hides. However, she is afraid to invade the Slytherin girl's privacy and frighten her away from her again. Choerry can't risk it.

"This is... Intense," Choerry says. "Whose did you say it was?"

"I did not," Hyejoo smiles for the first time in that conversation. It's little, but the fragile line is still there on her lips. "It's Buckowski. Charles Buckowski. It's Jiwoo's favorite."

"Did she make you read it?"

"Perhaps."

"And are you enjoying it?" Yerim's pupils are dilated, she's five inches away from Olivia's face.

"Perhaps."

Olivia leans her body back as Yerim pushes hers forward. She is definitely not ready for that kind of contact yet. But she finds her way out soon enough with a very useful idea.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade over the weekend?" She asks.

"Oh, yeah. I must. I owe a good supply of candy to some people. You know... Hufflepluff tends to make several friendly deals."

"Would you like to go with me?"

Yerim's smile is so immediate and big that Olivia has fun watching. The Hufflepuff girl puts her arms around her in one more of her surprise and super tight hugs. Honestly, Hyejoo is getting used to it. Yerim is a caring person who likes to touch — a lot. She still doesn't know what to do about it, but she feels a lot less uncomfortable now.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Oh Lord," Hyejoo mutters. "Good. Hmm... Yerim... You can let me go now."

Her words have no effect and Choerry squeezes her even more. She kisses Hyejoo's cheek for more than ten seconds — and Hyejoo counts them all in her inner despair that comes with the contact — and then the Hufflepuff girl lets her go. Yerim holds her own hands in each other and has that happy childlike look, as if she had won a new toy. She is still too close from Olivia.

"It will be wonderful!" She almost screams.

Hyejoo takes advantage of the cue to pick up her book and get up with a tender look. "I will meet you in front of The Three Broomsticks. At 3pm. Have a good night, Yerim," Olivia bows slightly to Choerry and steps out hurriedly, giving no time for the other girl to say goodbye.

She has a burning face when she arrives at the Slytherin dorm. Her heart is beating fast. She feels the power of adrenaline for taking charge of her actions. It feels nice.

 

(...)

 

"You asked her out?!" Jiwoo's scream bothers Hyejoo's ears. Hyunjin's bored moan in the next bed makes Olivia think that maybe her room isn't the best place to talk about this kind of thing. Slytherin people can be mean. And impatient.

"Don't make it bigger than it really is," she asks. She is standing looking for something to use on her date with Yerim. "Didn't you tell me to do just that?"

"Yes, but... I didn't think you were actually going to do it!" Chuu justifies herself.

"Argh," Hyunjin moans again. She gets up and puts on her shoes lazily. "I'm leaking out of here," and Hyejoo's and Jiwoo's eyes follow her until she's shut the door in a loud thud.

"You need a new roommate," Jiwoo mutters.

"Tell me about it."

Olivia looks back because Chuu is not saying anything anymore, but suddenly the shorter girl's arms are around her shoulders, her chin on her neck. This time, Olivia squeezes Chuu's waist back.

"I promised you I would try, didn't I?" Hyejoo is getting soft, and she knows that, but she's also starting to think that it might not be a bad thing.

Chuu feels her heart heat up. "Yes, you did. And I'm proud of you. And happy too!"

"Thanks, kiddo."

"I'm older than you, Hye. And don't even tell me that two months is nothing because it is clearly something," Jiwoo remembers and Hyejoo knows she's rolling her eyes. "Even if you make me very angry sometimes, you can always count on me. For anything. Try to remember that, okay?"

They break the hug and Chuu attacks Hyejoo's cheeks, squeezing them. Hyejoo has to slap her friend in the arms to get her away. "That's enough for today, little one."

Jiwoo and Hyejoo's friendship is stronger than Hyejoo likes to admit, and more importantly as well. She doubts that anyone will occupy such a special place in her life as that long-haired redheaded girl — even if the someone is Choi Yerim. Their story is as old as Olivia's stay at Hogwarts and Jiwoo is why Olivia isn't completely broken right now. She is her stone. She's everything Olivia has. She's her only family and source of love: it doesn't matter if she denies it or not.

"I am not that little, Son Hyejoo!"

"I'm easy, my child."

 

(...)

 

It's not such a cold day — in fact, the sun is shining bright in the sky and leaving a nice feeling in the surroundings even if it snowed two days ago and the ground is still a little white —, but it's only two weeks before Christmas and Olivia is pretty warm. She is not a fan of the freezing sensation on her skin, so she is wearing beige cargo pants, a gray blouse, a black sweater and a black jacket tied at the waist.

She is standing in front of The Three Broomsticks at 3pm, as agreed, and her anxiety is making her hands sweat. 'Just act like yourself,' Jiwoo advised her the night before, just before bed, when Hyejoo asked her what she should do and say. And then Hufflepuff added with a funny face: 'Actually, thinking about it, be a little nicer.'

So Hyejoo is nervous. Not that she's letting it show.

She sees Kim Jungeun across the street, in her heaps of black clothes and her choker that makes her look upscale gothic. She is accompanied by Jung Jinsol and the Ravenclaw Ha Sooyoung. Olivia had heard something about JinSoul going out with that Yves girl. She didn't care enough to ask, though. But she cares who Jiwoo loves, and that person is the unreachable Kim with beautiful lips. She worries that her friend will get hurt badly.

Jungeun catches her eyes as she crosses the street and lets her friends enter the bar alone. She gives Hyejoo a boring look.

"Stop waffling about. What is it, Son?"

Olivia sighs and bites her bottom lip. She doesn't want to let the words out, but she does. "She's there and she's going to ask you out. Don't break her heart that much. It's a personal request, Kim."

The girl doesn't show much reaction, but her lips are parted and there's something in her eyes that means something to Olivia.

"Kim Lip! Come on in! It's monkeys outside!"JinSoul is at the door calling for her friend. She smiles and Jungeun walks away from Olivia, entering The Three Broomsticks in reluctant steps.

"Olie!" Olivia hears the excited voice scream behind her. She turns around and her body is struck by Choi Yerim's body and, despite the sudden contact, Hyejoo likes the warmth that Choerry carries. She is wearing a flowery white dress, black tights and a wool shirt. There's a gray beret on her head and Hyejoo likes the way her hair falls on her big cheeks. "It's cold out here! Let's go in, come on!" Choerry grabs Olivia's hand and pulls her to the bar door, but the Slytherin is stronger and makes her stay where she is.

"It's cold, indeed. But I was thinking of visiting this new bookstore. Chuu commented that you enjoyed reading too," she explains and Choerry smiles, getting closer.

"Brilliant! You are so attentive, Olie!"

Hyejoo ignores her own flushed cheeks and allows Choerry to hold her hand as they walk to the next street. She notes that this is the first time she has been holding hands with anyone, although Yerim has already clasped their hands before. This is the first time she likes it.

Olivia enters Honey And Cinnamon with a shy smile on her lips.

Honey And Cinnamon is a bookstore near to The Three Broomsticks that opened just over two weeks ago. The owner is the muggle-born Kim Minju, Jiwoo's aunt, coincidentally, and Olivia loves the place since she first stepped in it, dragged by her best friend. It has shelves full of wizardry and muggles books and vinyl records and all that cool stuff that doesn't belong in the wizarding world.

It's a special place for her that she wants to share with Choerry, and this is something new that makes her stomach turn over.

"Aw, it's so warm in here," says Yerim as soon as the door closes behind them. The noise attracts the attention of the thirty-three-year-old woman with long, manicured hair. She approaches the girls and grins when she sees Hyejoo.

"Olivia! It's so good to see you again!" Her hug makes Choerry's hand pull away. "And you brought a friend. What's your name, honey?"

Choerry smiles back before answering. "Choi Yerim, Miss!"

"Well, any friend of Olivia's is my friend too," Minju sounds happy enough to make Choerry's jealousy go away. "So... What's the craic, my ladies? May I help you?"

"You're not British," this is clear in the same american accent Minju and Chuu have, but Yerim seems to have only been aware of that at the moment, seeing the woman using a UK expression.

"Very well pointed out, dear. You have good ears! I am from my beautiful Texas-"

"We're just passing through, Minju. Yerim needed to know the store," Olivia interrupts, her arm encircling Yerim's waist.

Minju sighs with satisfaction. "That's great! Oh, and in this case, be my guest! Feel free to call me if you need anything," the woman walks away with a — still — bright face and Olivia looks at Yerim.

"Come on. You will like this," she drags the Hufflepuff to the right wall, where there are shelves and shelves with thin rectangular plastic boxes.

"Blow me! Are those movies?!" Choerry's eyes are wide and her body's unrestrained movements tell how excited she is.

"Chuu told me that you enjoyed this muggle activity. She made me watch a movie with her once too, and it wasn't such a bad experience. I thought perhaps we could watch one together."

"Olie! That would be such a dream! It will be lovely!" Yerim gets too close again and this time Hyejoo allows it. The girl kisses Hyejoo's cheek and squeezes her hand. "And will you let me choose?"

Olive shrugs. "Whatever you choose, I suppose."

She shouldn't have said that, because now she's in Honey And Cinnamon's TV room with Yerim and a romance movie that makes Hyejoo roll her eyes just by looking at the cover.

"Again, what's the name of the movie?" She asks and sits on the wide couch. The door is closed, an advantage of being close to Minju, and there are sweets scattered around Olivia. The room light is off. Yerim is trying to put the CD into the DVD player, the television screen is blue while waiting for the next command.

She only responds when she can finally get the movie to play. "It's Call Me By Your Name. It sounds good."

"It better be."

"I have incredible taste for everything, Son Hyejoo," Choerry defends herself, joining Olivia on the couch. She leans against the black-haired girl's body and Hyejoo welcomes her into her arms.

"You're in a date with me. It can't be true."

Despite hitting Hyejoo's arm for saying that, Choi Yerim smiles.

As the movie goes on, their bodies get closer until Olivia can feel Yerim's breath on her neck, and she finds that her date does have a great taste for movies, after all. In addition to a very soft skin and her cherry smell that became pleasant. They share a sweet or two, not mattering if the chocolate is molasses with each other's saliva, and Choerry eats all the others by herself. Olivia doesn't like sweets so much, and besides, she's focused on her task. She is in love with this unconventional and intriguing story that makes her heart flutter as much as Choerry, and can't wait for the end of it. But when it finally comes, there is no magic, but a very very angry Son Hyejoo.

"How can they not end up together?! What's the point of the whole movie?! They just threw the whole development of their relationship in the trash! I hated it! Hated it, hated it, hated it! You have the worst taste possible for movies, Choi Yerim, and you'll never choose another one while I'm on your date!" She's standing pacing as she gestures with her arms and she's really pissed off.

"Is that why there's a tear on your cheek, Olie?" Choerry jokes, but her tone is calm and affectionate. This makes Hyejoo even more energetic in her criticism.

"Don't come to em with this one, Choerry. We'll never watch a movie like this again!"

The Hufflepuff girl gets up and approaches Olivia. She unfolds Hyejoo's firm arms and plays with the collar of her sweater as if she wants something more. And she does. "You liked it. Confess it to me," she asks, but Hyejoo's scowl is still there. "Or to herself, at least."

"Not a chance."

Olivia is beginning to be drawn to the purple streaks in Yerim's eyes, and their faces slowly approach. It's something she imagined would happen, but it wasn't planned. Her blood moves very fast and her body takes the lead in her actions. Olivia grabs Yerim's waist and shifts, leaving the purple hair girl with her back against the wall. Yerim is surprised, but she wants it as much as the magic inside her makes her want it. Maybe even more.

Their lips meet when Choerry's hands are on Olivia's shoulders, and Olivia feels a sudden comfort as this deeper contact with Yerim drives her insane. She didn't expect that. But she is definitely ready.

moves more intensely and she can feel how much Choerry is shivering with the new sensations. It's all so curious. She likes it and doesn't want to stop. Hyejoo is addicted to Yerim's lips and how much they match hers, moving so synchronously and precisely, making her hot and sweat those annoying icy drops that run down her neck.

Oh, lord! The neck. Hyejoo searches Yerim's neck with her tongue. She loves the taste of Hufflepuff's skin and loves the brutality with which Choerry is pulling her hair now and pulling her bodies even closer, as if that was possible.

"Olivia?" Choerry kind of moans, kind of asks.

Olivia leaves her to look straight at the girl. She wants to see the need exposed on her face; wants to see the purple in her eyes that say she belongs to Olivia. The purple that could suddenly make her give up all her limits and embark on that madness with that sweet girl. She doesn't find it. There is just a beautiful dark brown coloring the white of Choerry. No purple.

Suddenly, there's no Hyejoo there too, and an excited and confused Choerry is left alone.

 

(...)

 

It's been a while now since Olivia and Yerim had their first date and things couldn't be worse for Hye. She missed every Potions and Astronomy class of the week and didn't even eat a meal outside her room. The elves are helping her with this by letting her eat before or after mealtimes directly in the kitchen. She found that they are very romantic and a great company while studying Transfiguration because their magic is powerful and precise. And they are patient, although she is quite smart.

She has been leaving Jiwoo out too. Olivia has not been seen anywhere in the school by people other than Slytherin or Gryffindor — the houses with whom she has to share other classrooms. Her feelings extend from shame to longing, a hope thrown in the trash and a small broken heart. She doesn't want to talk about it, so Olivia has silenced Chuu and got scared every time she sees a yellow-striped sweater through the school corridor.

She is confused and alone and, for the first time, she is sad for being alone. Having had such close contact with a true human, carnal and sentimental relationship — Jiwoo doesn't count on this occasion — and then getting back to her lonely wolf routine... is expected to whoever is to feel this way.

But Hyejoo is lying in her own bed reading Bukowski's missing pages when Kim Jungeun walks through the open door. She catches Hyejoo's attention and carries a dark blue briefcase that throws on the girl's bed.

"Jiwoo asked me to give you this," she explains. Hyejoo nods and picks up the folder. Although she has severed relationships with everyone, she is still a good friend and has passed on everything she knows about Transfiguration to that folder. She hopes Jiwoo did a good job on her first assessment. "Ya!" The girl calls again. Hyejoo expects her to leave after the task is completed, but she doesn't. She's there, standing with her arms crossed looking at Hye. "Are you going to be like this forever?"

"You don't care for what I do."

"I certainly do not," she leans her back against the wall by the door. "But a weird and very annoying kid named Choi Yerim unfortunately does."

She ruined everything. She really did. And she knows that. She ed up. But Hyejoo is too cowardly to do anything about it that makes her leave her comfort zone. She is not brave enough to get up and run to Hufflepuff's common room and tell Yerim she's in love because she knows Yerim isn't. She may like Hyejoo and even have a crush on her, but she's not in love. Hyejoo doesn't want to face this.

Jungeun understands how Olivia feels. She is not good at expressing herself or being nice to people, but a little empathy is something for someone like her. "Look, you don't have to lock yourself out of the world just because you like someone. Just get up, brush your teeth and find Yerim because she-"

"Get out," Hyejoo interrupts her. Her book and folder are set aside and she covers her entire body with the warm, thick blanket.

After a few minutes in silence, Hyejoo thinks Jungeun is gone, but the girl's angry voice is back. "You know what? At least Kim Jiwoo does something. She stands up and speaks about her damn feeling and all the things she wants to do with them. It doesn't matter if she's being a completely dumb, she keeps talking! But you... You are way worse than her in a bad ed way. You're all mouth and no trousers, Son Hyejoo."

Hyejoo hears the bedroom door slam loudly and no matter how upset people are about her — no matter how much she hates herself. She is standing there in that shell as she cries silently, missing the picnic basket Choi Yerim, who holds her for more than twenty seconds and has the softest lips in the world.

 

(...)

 

It's Christmas Eve and Olivia is in her big house, in her big room. Her parents went out to enjoy the night at a party at the mansion of one of their very important friends and acquaintances in the wizarding world. They didn't even ask if she wanted to go — but it doesn't matter because she doesn't want to. Olivia is pleased enough at her desk writing a letter of apology to Kim Jiwoo while Black, her white owl, is pecking another of her pillows.

There is only regret in your heart now. And pain — but she's slightly used to this one.

"Hyejoo, my child, will you want to have dinner now?" Tiver asks. He is the Elf who has served the Son family for two decades and was responsible for much of Hyejoo's upbringing, as her parents were too busy honoring the family's last name.

She doesn't care that he comes into her room because he always knows when she's in a good time or not. She actually likes it when the little bald guy dressed in that dark and funny suit offers her tea punctually at 8pm. But it's 10pm and she declined the tea, as did all other food and drink options.

"I'm not hungry, Tiver. But please leave something for me on the table. I might be hungry later," she asks as she takes her eyes off the paper. "And Tiver," the elf looks back, his big eyes open to her. "Go to sleep."

He smiles. "Have a good night, my child."

Tiver leaves the room and Olivia takes a deep breath. She runs her hands over her face and rubs her eyes lazily. There is a white space in her mind that makes her think too much. She also has an unbearable headache and writing is not helping. The girl enters the bathroom and takes a cold shower. She feels better after that, and spends some time looking at herself in the mirror.

Olivia has never cared much about her appearance, although she's a very pretty girl. She never wore makeup and short skirts and fancy clothes and expensive and unusual haircuts. In fact, she hides in her long trousers and blouses and sweaters when she is not wearing Hogwarts uniform, and her hair is almost always stuck or messy. Tiver have to choose what she has to wear when there are special events where her parents demand her, but he has a good taste so that's fine.

She decides she doesn't hate what's outside, only what's inside.

It's 11pm when she comes down the stairs in her black robe and blue slippers. Olivia searches the plate on the table and finds chocolate chip cookies and a glass of warm milk. She smiles in thanks, but then the doorbell rings and her eyebrows rise.

She swallows a good piece of cookie and walks to the door. She is sure it's not her parents, for they would not ring the bell and not arrive anytime soon. "Accio wand," she conjures. The weirdest thing about her night is seeing Kim Jungeun on the polished velvet rug looking up to watch the entrance to Hyejoo's big, luxurious house.

"You have a beautiful house," she says, but looks at Olivia and makes a face of boredom. She looks sick. "Oh, lord. Why do you have to be such a fancy and traditional British kid? My eyes hurt!"

 

“What are you doing here?” She asks. Jungeun walks past her and enters the house, head raised to explore every dazzling corner of the interior.

"It's Christmas Eve and it turns out my family is celebrating the holiday in muggle fashion, with that big tree, the supper full and the fat, ugly old man dressed in red and all that," she says.

 

"And what do I have to do with it?"

Jungeun rushes to the plate of cookies as soon as she sees it. She picks up two and starts eating. “Thanks to Merlin! My sister is on a vegan diet and she is responsible for tonight's candy. I'm afraid of what to expect.”

Olivia raises her eyebrows at Jungeun, as confused as before, and ignores the clear judgment in the invader's eyes. "You know I'm a vegetarian, right?"

 

“Argh, let me be!” She finishes the snack and wipes her hands on her black overcoat. Olivia can see the red fabric of the shimmering dress on her body. She also notices that Jungeun is wearing heels. "You'll have to change."

"Forgive me?"

“Well, we're going to exchange presents and I found out earlier today that one is missing from me. You will help me with that. But not like this, of course,” Jungeun wiggles her wand and mumbles a few words and suddenly Hyejoo is wearing pantyhose, sneakers and a black dress with a white waistband that leaves her arms bare — it's a piece that was on her wardrobe a few floors above. Her hair is combed.

“What the- What makes you think I want to help you?! You cannot come to my house like this and-”

“For Merlin’s sake. Shut the up! It is not like you have something better to do, do you?” Olivia grunts because she knows Jungeun is right. "Come on."

Jungeun offers her hand to her. Hyejoo thinks about it for five seconds before using magic to leave a note for Tiver. She takes Jungeun's hand and they apparate somewhere Hye doesn't know. To a room: It's a colorful and attractive room, the bed has a canopy and silk curtains and paintings on the walls — most of them have Jungeun's face.

"What did you say about me being fancy, traditional and British?" Olivia teases.

“Don't even start!”

“Hyejoo?” The voice that calls her is thin and sweet and carries a tone of surprise. She has known this voice for seven years. She has been the best friend of this voice for seven years.

“Jiwoo?” Kim Jiwoo gets out of the bed with a hairbrush in her hand. Her hair is meticulously straight and behind her ears. Olivia is sure those clothes — the gray sweatpants and the blue shirt — don't belong to her. But Chuu carries a huge smile and hugs Olivia at the first opportunity. "Hey," Olivia says softly, close to her friend's ear. She is surprised. "What is she doing here?"

Jungeun ignores Olivia's gaze and hugs little Chuu's waist as they break the hug. “My grandmother was very excited to meet my new girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” She stares at Jiwoo more surprised than ever. "When did this happen?!"

“Well…” Even Jiwoo's ears turn red. “You kind of weren't talking to me, remember?” Hyejoo is sorry about that, although Jiwoo has no resentment. “But, Hye, everything is being awesome! My parents have let me spend the entire holiday here and Jungeun's parents are doing everything in the muggle way. Her father is even dressed as Santa!”

“Jiwoo! That's so-”

"Yeah, yeah. Everything is good. But now you have something you need to work out because I didn't really buy a present,” Jungeun grabs Olivia's wrist and drags her out of the room into the hallway. Chuu follows them and they stop in front of a dark, decorated door that definitely has too much information. Jungeun hits the wood three times with no delicacy. "Yerim, open that door."

A name and Olivia's eyes widen and her heart is beating too fast. She looks for Jiwoo and the shorter one can see the panic inside Hyejoo, her hands already sweating and her shoulders shaking. Herr breathing is ragged.

“What the- What have you done? Are you out of your plot? I am not- I am not goin to- That's a huge disaster! I shouldn't be here and you-”

“Hey, hey, hey! Cross that bridge when you come to it, Son! Calm down, witch,” Jungeun interrupts Hyejoo's hushed whispers and squeezes her arms, focusing the girl's gaze on her. “Look, you asked me not to hurt Jiwoo. And I did not. It's your turn to return the favor, Son.”

“She likes you, Hye,” Chuu looks surprised by the new girlfriend's confession, but she remains focused on her best friend. “Her mind was not erased by the potion, you know. She has all the moments you both shared inside her. And she misses you, really. She has been sad because she doesn't understand your actions. Just show her you care.”

Hyejoo swallows hard and looks at Jungeun. She looks at her as a friend because now Jungeun is acting like one, and her shoulders relax with one of her older grips.

“Are you ready?” Jungeun asks.

“Yes,” Hyejoo whispers, but she's sure and Jungeun knocks on the door even harder.

"Choi Yerim!"

“Leave me alone!” Yerim screams back.

“I brought your present, you idiot. Open at once!”

“You will not fool me! I know you forgot to buy my present and honestly I don't want it! I'm going to spend all night here in my room and you can't do anything about it!”

"She's just being dramatic, I swear," Jiwoo says. She's almost laughing while Jungeun is almost having a heart attack.

“Stop beating around the bush and open this bloody door, Choi Yerim! Or I swear on my mother's name that I will throw your bloody present at the river and you will never see her again!”

There is a quiet pause and they hear the footsteps from inside the room approaching the door. “Her?” Choi Yerim's head appears in the small open space of the door and she screams when she finds the straight black hair. "Olie?!"

 

Choerry runs into her actions and grabs Hyejoo's body barely believing in what her eyes see. Hyejoo freezes until the warmth of Yerim's breath is touching her skin, bringing her back to reality, and she grabs Choerry back with all the affection she has.

"Hello," she breathes heavily and rests her face on the girl's body. She is so allied that Yerim doesn't hate her. She missed this weird, sweet, needy girl so much that she made her love the smell of the one fruit she hates. "Hello," she repeats. "I'm here. I may be your present.”

“So… Merry Christmas,” Jungeun wishes, feeling awkward about witnessing such an intimate scene, and disappears with Jiwoo seconds later. It doesn't matter because neither girl paid attention to her.

“Will you stay?” Choerry asks. She's looking right through Hyejoo's eyes with her brown — no purple — pearls. They are still hugging, but their faces are facing each other.

“As long as you want me to,” Hyejoo replies, and she lets her cheeks flush because Yerim's happy smile makes her happy too.

"I need to tell you something... I-I must," the certainty in the Hufflepuff's voice makes the Slytherin girl wince. Her heart stops because she's afraid again. “I think I'm in love with you.”

There's no purple there — she makes a point of checking for a second time. The adrenaline is alive inside her and it moves fast. Olivia kisses her, and everything else goes blank.