It was approximately a month since she had gotten back from Chudley.

Their video calls got shorter and lesser as the N.E.W.T.S. and quidditch competition inched closer. Jihyun tried her best to understand if Jungkook wanted to go to bed without calling her, or why she hadn’t been waking up to his good morning texts even though he usually did that before.

He’s just tired.

That’s what she thought to prevent herself from getting disappointed. And that’s what everyone said.

She tried her best to be an understanding girlfriend, that she probably had better control of her time since she was still a student - but he was kinda considered a working professional who had a full-time job. He’s probably tired from all the practices.

And despite the disappointment, it was still possible to keep it together, until she opened the silver envelope that an owl dropped on her table during dinnertime.

Dear Miss Kim Jihyun,

We would like to request the honor of your presence at the engagement party of Jeon Jungkook and Park Jieun on the 1st of May at The Shoreditch Hotel, London.

Transport and accommodation at London are fully paid for, and we look forward to having you at the event.

Yours Sincerely,

The Jeon and Park Family

With trembling hands, she took out the remaining paper in the envelope and found a train ticket that will bring her to Central London on 30th April, along with her hotel accommodations.

What the hell was going on?

“Ji!” She heard anxious voices behind her, and she didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

She hadn’t even realised she was crying, till Taehyung wiped the tears off her face and Jimin had used a napkin to dab her cheeks.

“Did you receive the letter?” She asked in choked sobs, and Taehyung stayed silent as he pulled her close, allowing her to sob into his chest. She must look like a crying mess now, and she could hear murmurs around her - but she couldn’t care less. Not when Jeon Jungkook was getting engaged to someone that wasn’t her.

“Do you guys now know how to mind your own business and shut the up?” Jimin raised his voice and the students turned back to their meal quickly.

“Let’s bring her somewhere else.” Jimin whispered to Taehyung as he nodded his head and they pulled her away from The Great Hall.

In the attic, the room was silent. Jihyun had stopped crying after a while, and right now she was in a daze as she refused to speak.

As she stared at the invitation over and over again, she finally broke the silence.

“Jimin, did you know?” She asked calmly as Jimin bowed his head down - unable to withstand the stares of both Taehyung and Jihyun.

“I’m sorry, I did.” Jimin said softly.

Jihyun bit her lips in frustration - it wasn’t Jimin’s fault, and the person who was at fault hadn’t even contacted her.

“Why is Jungkook and your step-sister engaged?” Taehyung asked, still confused.

Jimin sighed before continuing, “Jungkook's parents and my dad want to establish a union so that both families can become even more powerful and established in the wizarding world. They are greedy people, and they would do anything to get to the position they want to.”

“Jungkook and Jieun are just chess pieces in their game.”

“Did Jungkook know?” She held her breath.

“He did.”

“For how long?”

“Since Christmas.” He said softly, and she felt her heart crumble. Her gut instincts were always right.

“He was entirely against the idea, and he doesn’t like her at all. My dad transferred Jieun from Beauxbaton because they wanted them to meet and get to know each other better. Jieun was the one who told his parents that he went away to Chudley. I suspect that could have angered his parents and made them move the engagement closer.”

“When was this supposed to happen?” Taehyung asked, “After graduation, so I’m not sure why the engagement party is held so early.”

No one dared to move an inch.

“I’m so sorry, Ji. You don’t deserve this. I’m sure Jungkook didn’t want this as well.” Jimin sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder while she shook her head, “It’s not your fault, Jimin. You shouldn’t be the one feeling sorry.”

Her phone was buzzing, and she caught a glimpse of Jin and Namjoon’s multiple text messages, along with a couple of messages from Yoongi and Hoseok - but none from Jungkook.

“ it, I’m calling him.” Jihyun said with determination as she typed the number she had memorized easily. She was weighed down by dread as the ringtone continued.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to answer. But she knew she needed to speak to him.

“Hello?” His face appeared on the screen. They hadn’t video-called in days due to their conflicting schedules, and even though there was a pit of uneasiness in her stomach right now, seeing him still managed to calm her a little.

“J-Jungkook?” She asked timidly as she raised up the silver envelope, “What is this?”

He looked calm - as if he had expected it, “You received it.”

“I did. So please, tell me what’s the meaning of this.” She choked out, holding back her tears from falling.

“It’s what you think it is, Ji. I’m getting married to Park Jieun.” He said nonchalantly, face void of emotion.

Jihyun felt like her whole world had crashed.

“Are you not going to explain?” She asked with a crack in her voice, “There’s really nothing more I can say.”

She was glad that Taehyung had snatched the phone away from her because she had lost the strength to even hold it as her arms flailed to her lap.

“What the , Jeon Jungkook?!” Taehyung screamed as he grabbed the phone, while Jimin hurriedly placed a hand onto Jihyun. She could vaguely hear Jimin asking her if she was okay, but she couldn’t handle the heartbreak anymore as she crumbled to the floor - her grief pouring out in a flood of uncontrollable tears.

She didn’t know how long she sobbed into Jimin’s arms, or how long Taehyung was talking to Jungkook - she couldn’t focus on their conversation, she couldn’t focus on anything else but the fact that Jungkook was getting married to Park Jieun - and that he wasn’t going to explain himself at all.

What does that mean? Does that mean their relationship was over?

It could have been hours, but Jihyun had run out of tears to cry as she sat dumbly on the floor.

“Ji, can you walk?” Jimin asked quietly, but the girl didn’t respond.

“Let’s bring her back to the dorms.” Taehyung simply said as he swept her up while Jimin opened the door to make way. He placed his jacket over her head as they walked through the hallways despite the curious eyes, while Jimin gave his deadliest glare, holding a wand out to anyone who dared to look their way.

“What happened?!” Mina shouted as Jimin removed the jacket from Jihyun’s head when they entered the room, revealing the girl who looked disheveled and drained.

“It’s a long story, can you help to get her fresh clothes?” Jimin tried to calm his girlfriend down as she rushed towards them. She merely nodded her head as she ran to the closet while Taehyung placed Jihyun on the bed.

“Mina’s going to take care of you, okay? I’ll go let the teachers know that you’re not feeling well so you can skip class tomorrow.” Taehyung said softly, not expecting a response from her - but Jihyun spoke this time.

“Stay.” She croaked out, “T-Tae, p-please stay.” She said timidly as she tugged on his sleeve.

Taehyung knew those three words had a deeper meaning than it seemed. She was afraid that Taehyung was going to leave like Jungkook did.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He said as he placed a comforting hand on hers before sitting on her bed.

“Chim, can you let Professor Potter and Weasley know that Ji and I won’t be attending classes tomorrow?”

Jihyun hated missing classes, but she didn’t even try to fight back this time.

“Sure.” Jimin nodded before continuing, “Mina, do you want to sleepover at my dorm? I think it might be better if Tae accompanies Ji tonight.”

“Of course.” Mina said quickly, “Ji, I don’t know what happened, but I hope you feel better. I’ll come and check on you tomorrow.” She placed her clean clothes beside her before exiting the room with Jimin.

The moment they left, she let out a gut-wrenching sob that tore through her chest. She had thought there were no more tears left to cry and tried to ignore the lump in , but she was proven wrong as she sobbed into Taehyung, staining his uniform - but he didn’t complain as he continued patting her head to calm her down.

“I’m here, Ji. I will always be here and I’m not going anywhere.”

–

The five stages of grief - 1st stage: Denial.

She didn’t know how she got through the past week since the day she received the silver envelope, but she knew it had been hell.

She remembered the second day being the worst, where she spent most of her time in bed while Taehyung sat beside her the entire time, lending her a shoulder to cry on.

Jimin and Mina came in between classes to visit, and Yoona had also heard about the news as she popped by after class with pastries and cakes which Jihyun loved.

But she didn’t have an appetite - not when Jungkook hadn’t even called for the past week.

All of them had received an invite, and everyone except Jungkook had checked in on her. Namjoon had tried to call her once, but the reception wasn’t good on his end since he was in the forest, so they barely spoke. Jin, amidst his busy schedule as a Healer had called her everyday and asked her how she was, and Jihyun knew he was secretly texting Taehyung about her as well since she caught a glimpse of his phone that day.

Hoseok and Yoongi had also called - and they kn