Joohyun pulled her robes a little tighter around herself to fight off the chill. Her friends, sitting on either side of her, didn’t seem bothered by the temperature, but she’d always been particularly sensitive to the cold, and those few weeks in autumn before the fireplaces began to be lit and the classrooms warmed by heating charms inevitably ended with a stuffy-nosed, bleary-eyed Joohyun.

Sunmi leaned closer to Joohyun, tapping her quill on the desk to catch her attention. “Is it me or did Defence Against the Dark Arts get way more theoretical since last year?” she asked in a whisper. On Joohyun’s other side, Hyuna nodded in agreement. She glanced at the teacher, currently strolling between the desks as he spoke without pause.

“The darkest thing we’ve seen this term is Heechul’s taste in ties,” she opined, drawing a snort from Sunmi. Joohyun huffed in amusement, finding it hard to disagree as the man himself turned around and exposed his red-and-blue checked tie, the lines constantly shifting and blurring together. It was an eyesore, to say the least.

“Or, the darkest in this classroom,” Hyuna pondered, throwing a strangely amused glance at Sunmi. “Outside of it, your performance in the last Quidditch game is still number one.”

“We won, didn’t we?” Sunmi immediately grumbled back, smile fading to nothing.

“Not on your account. A Stupefied Troll would have made a better Keeper.”

Joohyun looked between the two as the back-and-forth continued, not taking either side. It was true that Sunmi hadn’t been at the top of her game, letting a few sloppy shots slip past her defence, but as the only non-Quidditch player in the conversation, Joohyun thought it’d be in bad taste to criticize.

“Anyway, enough about Sunmi’s failings. Joohyun,” Hyuna cut in smoothly after a while, leaning closer to her new victim. Joohyun let her head rest on her hand, too used to the teasing to make much of it. “Why aren't you Head Girl?”

She rolled her eyes lazily. “Why would I be Head Girl? I wasn't even a Prefect.”

“Oh. Right,” Hyuna accepted without further question. She gazed at the teacher absently, possibly considering actually paying attention now that she’d exhausted the entertainment value of both her victims.

“Who is it, again?” Sunmi asked after a brief pause, her look of boredom making it clear that, just like Hyuna, she was really just looking for a distraction.

“The Slytherin Head Girl?” Hyuna piped up before Joohyun could say anything. Sunmi confirmed with a nod. “Ahn Hyojin, right?”

She turned to Joohyun, who signalled her agreement.

“Ahn Hyojin…” Sunmi echoed, clearly having a hard time placing the name.

Hyuna turned around, studying the room, and finally settled her gaze on a Slytherin on the second row, sitting next to a Gryffindor girl. She pointed discreetly, elbowing Sunmi to catch her attention.

“Oh, I know her!” Sunmi immediately cried out, a little too loudly. She went quiet for an embarrassed second, then continued a little more quietly. “She's in my Arithmancy class, she's really nice.”

“Such a rare quality in a Slytherin,” Hyuna mused with a smirk.

“And next to her is Heeyeon, the Gryffindor Head Girl,” Joohyun cut in drily. “Must be easy to be a Prefect in Gryffindor. Don't break every rule in the book and you're already ahead of the curve.”

Hyuna refused to acknowledge the jab to her House, simply shrugging with one shoulder. “You say that like breaking the rules is bad.”

“It is if you're dumb enough to get caught.” This drew a snort from Sunmi, who immediately pretended to study her notes intently in order to avoid Hyuna’s attention.

Even before they'd started taking their NEWT classes together, everybody in their year knew Hyuna as the girl who'd had a full term of detention for trying to dye her hair magically and ending up with seaweed growing out of her head. Despite her stellar record as the Gryffindor Seeker, the seaweed hair was still the first thing that came up whenever she was mentioned.

Of course, that had only been the first in a series of rule-breaking endeavours that, more often than not, ended up in loss of points and detention. Joohyun was willing to bet that Hyuna spent more time in the Hogwarts underground than any Slytherin or Hufflepuff, with all the hours she'd spent working in the kitchen.

“So, Sunmi, we’ve discussed our respective Head Girls. That just leaves yours, right?” Hyuna pointed out casually, gesturing between herself and Joohyun.

A sigh of relief escaped Sunmi at realizing she wouldn't be the victim of the next attack, then the Hufflepuff girl perked up as she seemed to catch on to Hyuna’s intention. Joohyun understood as well, of course, but interrupting now would just call more attention to the issue.

“Oh, you mean Seungwan?” Sunmi asked with a smirk. Hyuna confirmed it with a matching expression. “Yeah, she's just the best. Totally deserves it.”

“My thoughts exactly!” Hyuna’s emphatic agreement, while probably not a lie, was definitely not entirely genuine. “Joohyun, do you want to weigh in?”

“She's adequately qualified for the position,” she declared neutrally, avoiding both of her friends’ gazes. “Also, she's sitting behind us, so keep it down.”

“Wow, how did you just know that? Did you sense it?” Hyuna asked with amusement. Joohyun pondered pointing out that she’d simply noticed the girl coming in a little late, but Hyuna was already talking again. “That’s one of the rumours, you know? That you can smell her fear.”

“Oh, right. Yerim mentioned rumours. Are they all that ridiculous?”

Sunmi nodded, looking endlessly amused. “My favourite is the one where your families are old rivals and you secretly challenged her to a duel to the death once you graduate. Also, you’re a vampire in this scenario, for some reason.”

“How is that your favourite?” Hyuna demanded, sounding almost indignant. “Nothing comes even close to the one where Joohyun casts-” She interrupted herself to break into silent laughter, which took a few seconds to die down. “The one where she casts a Beautification Charm on herself every morning to look like that,” she attempted, and began laughing again.

Joohyun was almost afraid to ask, but Sunmi was now laughing along, clearly having remembered the particular rumour, and she didn’t like being the only one out of the loop.

“So what does Seungwan have to do with it?”

“She saw you without the spell one morning and now you hate her to death for it,” Sunmi supplied helpfully while Hyuna recovered from her fit of laughter.

“Of course, because what could matter more to a woman than her looks?” Joohyun wondered tiredly, while her friends ignored her.

“So what do you think she looks like under that Charm?” Hyuna asked Sunmi, grinning devilishly. “Wart on her nose?”

“Multiple warts, I’d say. A whole constellation of them.”

“Oh, and a double chin. Scratch that, a triple chin!”

“And seaweed hair?” Joohyun offered innocently. This finally shut up the duo, Sunmi with a muffled snort and Hyuna with a glare that Joohyun brushed off without a second thought.

They returned their attention to the lecture, which had barely progressed, and Joohyun took a few hurried notes that she hoped would form an appropriate bridge between the last thing she’d written down and what the teacher was now discussing, managing a few lines before the next interruption.

“Okay, so what’s the truth?” Sunmi asked in a low voice. “Why do you really hate her?”

“I don’t hate her,” Joohyun replied simply, never pausing the motion of her quill.

“Oh yeah? So she’s just afraid of you for no reason?” Hyuna joined in on the questioning, elbowing Joohyun’s arm and nearly ruining half her notes with an ink stain.

“I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe she heard all the rumours and got scared.”

“Come on, we’re your friends,” Hyuna insisted. “You can tell us why you hate the nicest girl in school, we won’t judge.”

“I do not-” Joohyun began, slowly and a little louder than before, then paused as she became aware of a gradually increasing pressure on her back, like somebody’s wand poking her with reluctant force. She turned around, annoyance lining her every move, and came face to face with a wide-eyed little thing.

Right. She’d forgotten Seungwan was sitting behind them. She heard snickering and felt her irritation grow, trying her best not to let it show and probably not doing a very good job of it, from the look on Seungwan’s face.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but you guys are being, um, a little loud, maybe? And a few students were wondering if you could keep it down, just a little, because they’re having trouble following the lecture.”

Joohyun stared blankly at the girl for a moment, struggling to register the words spoken at record speed, especially when Seungwan still held her wand meekly in front of herself, trembling slightly in her grip.

“Sorry,” Seungwan added as the silence stretched.

“Right. Okay.”

Joohyun remained frozen for a few moments longer, gathering the willpower needed to face her friends after this interaction, then turned around slowly, pretending not to notice the way Seungwan deflated in relief at the end of the confrontation.

She immediately buried her face in her notes, but she could hear the inhale that preceded what was sure to be some stupid comment.

“Shut. It,” she hissed between gritted teeth.

“Well we have to, you heard miss Head Girl. So shush,” Hyuna whispered back. Sunmi giggled.

“I will set your brooms on fire at the next match,” she threatened in a low voice, still not looking up.

Hyuna shushed her again.

“Ok, never mind, I’ll set your hair on fire right now.”

She reached into her pocket, but both girls dove towards her arm, keeping it in place in a silent struggle that only broke apart once the teacher turned in their direction.

“Heechul won’t be looking this way forever.” The threats continued, but it was mostly just banter at this point, and all three girls were aware of it. “Watch your back, seaweed hair.”

“Don’t do anything rash,” Sunmi weighed in. “I think Seungwan might cry if she has to give you detention.”

(...)

The sky looked particularly bright overhead and every star, down to the faintest of the faint, was clearly visible. The Astronomy classroom had always offered an enviable view of the night sky, but Joohyun could swear that tonight was special even by the room’s magically-enhanced standards.

She gazed straight up through the tower’s roof, which had been enchanted, much like the Great Hall, to be entirely invisible. By her side, Seulgi stifled another yawn, but Joohyun didn't take it personally. After all, the girl had Quidditch practice early every morning and the late hours required for Astronomy class weren't ideal.

She took her time observing her favourite constellations, grateful as always for the time the Astronomy teacher made at the beginning of each lesson, to let her students get settled in. Professor Mihye was of the opinion that the young witches and wizards in her class must let their surroundings fully soak in and cast off other worldly impressions, rather than jump straight into astral observation and orbit calculations. Regardless of whether or not it had any actual impact on her work, Joohyun had grown to look forward to this quiet time, a relaxing moment in the middle of her demanding schedule and schoolwork.

“Alright, everyone,” Mihye began in soothing tones, and the low murmur that had taken over the room instantly died down. “Tonight, I want to try something a little different. Instead of the usual pairs, you’ll gather in groups of four. You’ll repeat the observations you’ve done in the past, but with this new perspective you should reach some very different conclusions. I expect a reflection on this exercise by the next week, along with the usual star charts.”

The words hit Joohyun like a bucket of ice water. Her favourite class, which she had even come to think of as something akin to a free period, was about to become the most unpleasant of them all, forcing her to interact with anyone other than her best friend. She cast a single longing glance at a few Ravenclaws that were still studying the room, not relishing the prospect of spending the entire hour with them yet eager to avoid the alternative, but Seulgi was already happily waving at the group closest to them, composed of Ahn Heeyeon and Seungwan.

She didn’t even bother trying to escape her fate, which she knew was hopeless, and just studied her parchment stubbornly, letting her hair form an impenetrable curtain around her face. That should keep people from seeing her look of displeasure at the approach of the two girls, which would only feed more ridiculous rumours otherwise. It also helped that it kept her from seeing Seungwan, of course.

“Joohyun, let’s partner up with Seungwan and Heeyeon,” Seulgi called out excitedly.

Composing herself quickly, Joohyun looked up with her best neutral expression. Heeyeon offered her usual friendly yet slightly awkward smile, while Seungwan stood a few steps away.

“If that’s okay with you, of course,” the nervous girl appended with wide eyes. Joohyun bit her tongue to keep her lips from curving downwards.

“Of course it’s okay, why wouldn’t it be?” she asked forcefully, causing both Hufflepuffs to exchange reticent looks. Heeyeon immediately took a seat, oblivious to the tension in the air, and opened her notes with a little huff.

“So, how do you guys want to do this?” she asked while the other two took their seats. Joohyun focused all her attention on the Gryffindor, doing her best to erase Seungwan’s presence from her peripheral vision. “Do we do every step together or get separate results and then discuss them as a group?”

Joohyun’s preference was clear, but she left the choice up to the other two to avoid looking too eager for separate work.

“Well, maybe in the spirit of the exercise,” Seungwan began bravely, then trailed off to silence for a moment. Great. Now Joohyun couldn’t even count on the girl’s instinctive fear of her. She tapped her quill on her notes to clear out her frustration. “We could, uh, get a single set of measurements that we all agree on and analyse them in pairs? And then in the end we compare results.”

Okay, so it could be worse. At least Seungwan didn’t want them to be interacting for the entire hour.

“Sounds good, let’s do that then,” Heeyeon replied, echoing Joohyun’s thoughts. Seulgi expressed her own agreement and Joohyun pulled the eyepiece of the telescope closer, preparing to make the first set of observations that the others would then cross-check.

A few moments of quiet work followed, marked only by scribbling and Joohyun’s voice calling out names, sectors and angular displacements. The complex system of charms placed on the telescope occasionally provided a correction, but mostly it offered unrequested information on particularly bright stars or useless trivia.

“I hate these educational telescopes,” Joohyun finally huffed out as her careful measurement was interrupted by a cheerful note on how Alpha Centauri was the closest star system to Earth. The rest of the table hummed in agreement.

“Sometimes I miss Muggle telescopes,” Heeyeon mused, mostly to herself. “They might have limited uses, but at least they stay quiet.”

“Oh, Muggles have telescopes?” Seungwan inquired curiously, her pureblood upbringing shining through in her lack of knowledge.

“Yeah, really advanced ones, actually,” Seulgi piped up. “They put a lot of money into it.”

“Muggles like looking at the stars, too,” Heeyeon commented dreamily, gaze drifting up to the ceiling and straight through it.

Joohyun couldn’t help a small smile at the comment, and it only grew as a particular memory sprang to mind. “Mr. Kang got Seulgi a telescope when she was a kid. She used it all the time.”

“I seem to recall you using it a lot more than me,” Seulgi contested at once, leaning closer to bump her shoulder into Joohyun, who had already pulled away from the telescope and devoted all her attention to the conversation.

Seungwan smiled, like the thought of young Seulgi and Joohyun was somehow endearing to her. Ugh. Of course it would be.

“You guys knew each other as kids?” Heeyeon asked with curiosity, looking between the two.

“Seulgi’s mother is a friend of the family. We saw each other during the summer.”

“Right, because your mom’s a witch!” Heeyeon exclaimed as she remembered the fact, turning to Seulgi. “I didn’t know she was a pureblood witch, though. So you’re, like, half aristocrat?”

Joohyun couldn’t help a laugh at that, the amusement also striking Seungwan, causing the Hufflepuff to smile even as she looked down at her notes. As a Muggle-born, Heeyeon didn’t quite understand the subtle - and by now, mostly erased, unless you were asking anyone from the oldest lineages - social hierarchy of purebloods, Muggle-borns and everything in between. If anything, Seulgi’s mother marrying a Muggle had placed her below most half-bloods, her lineage stained by her reaching so far beneath her station. Not that any of that should matter anymore, of course.

“Not exactly,” Seulgi replied with a grin of her own. “It’s more of an all-or-nothing scenario.”

Heeyeon scribbled absently on the corner of her notes, humming along to Seulgi’s explanation. “I guess it must be kind of weird to be a half-blood. You get introduced to both sides early on, so you understand magic without being completely baffled by Muggles...” She paused to nod playfully towards Seungwan, who gasped in fake indignation. “But also… You don’t really belong in either world, right? You don’t get Muggles like Muggle-borns and you don’t get wizard stuff like purebloods.”

Heeyeon stopped talking, a little sheepish at the suddenly serious mood she had created, but Seulgi shrugged it off with her easy laugh.

“Hey, I got to spend my childhood watching cartoons and flying a broom. I’d say half-bloods have it pretty good.”

This was enough to get Heeyeon laughing along, quickly lightening up the atmosphere. The conversation degenerated into a discussion of children’s cartoons, led by the half-blood and the Muggle-born and with the occasional input by Joohyun, while Seungwan followed it all with bewilderment. At a particularly informed comment on Sailor Moon by Joohyun, Heeyeon paused the conversation to fix impressed eyes on the Slytherin.

“Wow, you really do know a lot about Muggle stuff. I guess all that time with Seulgi kind of made you into an honorary half-blood or something.”

Both Hufflepuffs instantly froze at her joke, gazing warily at Joohyun, while Heeyeon seemed more or less oblivious to the potential for offense hidden in her words.

So it did still matter. A little. To the oldest lineages, anyway. Joohyun could imagine the horror on her parents’ faces if they heard that their daughter’s behaviour elicited comparisons to half-bloods. Judging by the uncertainty in Seungwan’s eyes, she could see that it would be quite the same for the Hufflepuff girl. And yet, she was sure that nobody would ever worry about how Seungwan would react to such a comment. That, if Heeyeon had made a similar joke aimed at the girl, everyone would shrug it off without a second thought. Only the big, bad Slytherin could possibly be offended, right?

She swallowed back the frustration that their reactions brought her, the insecurity that bubbled up inside her as she realized that Heeyeon’s comment wasn’t even wrong.

“Tell that to Seulgi, will you? Ever since we were kids, she hasn’t stopped teasing me over all the Muggle stuff I don’t know,” she replied lightly, forcing an unworried smile on her face. Her hand landed on her friend’s arm, hopefully easing her worry.

“Remember when you got super confused about Smurfs?” Seulgi cut in, just as happy to brush past the tense moment. Heeyeon perked up at that, while Seungwan lapsed back into confusion.

“Of course I was confused, they make no sense! And I still stand by that, they’re completely nonsensical creatures,” Joohyun insisted, drawing a peal of laughter from the Gryffindor girl.

“What’s a Smurf?” Seungwan asked timidly, instantly drawing the eye of everyone else at their table.

“Little blue men who live in the woods,” Joohyun explained unhelpfully, unable to avoid a smirk as Seungwan’s eyes widened.

“Wait, and Muggles know about them? Is the Department of Magical Creatures aware of this? They definitely sound like Beings, aren’t they bound by wizarding laws?” she fired off in quick succession, only stopping when all three girls had burst into laughter in front of her.

“They’re fictional characters,” Heeyeon gasped out, laughing once more as Seungwan’s face reddened with embarrassment. “What do you even learn in your Muggle Studies classes?”

“They probably stick to information that ranks above useless trivia,” Joohyun opined, although she wouldn’t put much effort into defending that particular class. One glance at the curriculum and she’d happily struck it off her list of potential electives.

“Fine, useful trivia then.” Heeyeon turned her attention fully towards Seungwan, her gaze calculating. “Do you know how cars work? Non-magical cars,” she added as the pureblood opened happily.

“Yes, actually,” Seungwan replied, happiness unabated. “They have a combustion engine!”

“Which means?” Heeyeon insisted with a raised eyebrow.

Joohyun quickly lost interest in the conversation as it devolved into Seungwan explaining all the different components of a combustion engine. Instead, she pulled Seulgi’s notes closer to begin copying off the observations she’d dictated to the group earlier.

“Hey,” Seulgi called quietly, drawing Joohyun’s attention. She looked up from her notes and one glance at Seulgi’s face told her what this was about. She sighed pre-emptively, returning her eyes to the rows of numbers and comments. “What are you doing for winter break?”

“Well, at first I considered going skiing in the Alps, but then I remembered all that business about the NEWTs and how I should probably study for those at some point.”

She swore she saw Seulgi’s shoulders sag in her peripheral vision, but she ignored it.

“You can always come spend it with us,” Seulgi offered without much hope.

“I already told Headmistress Kwon I’d be staying. Signed the paper and everything.”

“Like she’d have a problem if you changed your mind,” Seulgi pointed out impatiently. “You know you’re always welcome back home.”

“I know, and I appreciate the hospitality,” Joohyun replied diplomatically.

“It’s not-” Seulgi began, then stopped herself, pursing her lips unhappily. “Just… let me know if you change your mind, okay?”

“Will do.”

Joohyun could almost feel it radiating off of Seulgi, the need to keep pushing, but their conversation was cut short as Heeyeon leaned across the table to catch the Slytherin’s attention.

“Joohyun, do you know what a transformer is?” she asked, glancing towards Seungwan briefly. She was clearly trying to prove a point.

“A transformer? Like the toy?”

Seungwan’s face lit up triumphantly at Joohyun’s confusion, just as frustration stamped itself on Heeyeon’s.

“No, not the toy. The other kind of transformer.”

Both Hufflepuffs fixed their gazes on Joohyun curiously, awaiting her response, and she suddenly recalled a distant memory.

A young Joohyun sat on the grass of Mr. Kang’s backyard, a book half-forgotten in her lap as she watched Seulgi from her shaded spot. The girl flew through the air on her old broom, hidden from Muggle eyes by the tall Kang house.

“Hey, Joohyun. You busy?”

It was Mr. Kang, smiling down at her. He held an orange toolbox in one hand and his forehead was creased as he squinted against the sunlight that hit his eyes at a low angle. She shook her head in response and awaited his next words. As always, he was taken aback by her silence, but quickly carried on.

“Think you can help me replace a socket? The only daughter I have who’s old enough not to electrocute herself is currently ten feet off the ground, so…” He trailed off, sneaking a glance towards Seulgi, who sped through the air happily.

“I’ll help,” Joohyun replied simply, shutting her book and setting it aside. Her response seemed to almost startle him.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to,” he assured her. “I can always call Seulgi down.” He studied his daughter again, forehead still creased.

“It’s okay, I can do it.”

Mr. Kang nodded absently, eyes still on the broom that twisted and turned through his backyard. Joohyun watched him curiously.

“Do you disapprove? Of your daughter riding a broom?”

Muggles didn’t like wizarding things. They said witches were ugly old creatures, green-skinned and wicked, cackling as they threw small animals into their cauldrons and cursed men. Mr. Kang had unknowingly married a witch and now his daughter would grow up to be one as well. He couldn’t be too happy about it.

“No, it’s not that,” Mr. Kang replied slowly. His lips pressed tightly together, corners tipping down slightly. “It just makes me a little… uneasy,” he concluded with a shrug. He turned to Joohyun with his best conciliatory smile.

“She’s in no danger,” she pointed out tonelessly. He nodded, looking a little uncomfortable.

“I know, I know. Even if she falls, Jiyoung cast a…” He struggled for the right word, blinking against the sunlight.

“Cushioning Charm.”

“Yeah, that. I know she’s safe, I guess my… Muggle brain just can’t quite let go of the instinctive reaction at seeing my daughter floating that far from the ground with no visible protection.” Muggle. The word sounded foreign when he said it, marking him as the odd one out.

He took a deep breath as Seulgi flipped through the air, chewing on the corner of his mouth, then grinned playfully at Joohyun. “That and regular old dad protectiveness, I suppose.”

“Right,” Joohyun said mechanically, eyes betraying no emotion. Mr. Kang studied her almost guiltily, saying nothing as she got up and brushed bits of grass from her skirt.

“Listen, Joohyun…” He paused, remained in silence for a long time, so long that Joohyun was sure he regretted saying anything at all. Then he blinked and carried on lightly. “You don’t know anything about electricity, do you?”

She shook her head, gazing up at him wordlessly. His eyes flickered between hers, brow slightly furrowed, digging for something that he never seemed to find. Her mother often assured her that her eyes would be one of her greatest assets when she grew older, but for now she knew well that they were too large for her young face, that they made adults uneasy with their guarded yet penetrating stare.

“And I’m guessing they won’t teach you about it at Hogwarts, either. You’ll probably be too busy flying around and casting spells.” She nodded in agreement. “Well, I can tell you a little about it. If you want. Might come in handy someday, you never know.” She nodded again and he smiled, looking relieved.

“Alright, let’s go then.” He nodded towards the house and she walked along obediently as he began his explanation. “So electricity is produced in large power plants and then it’s distributed all across the country through power lines. Those are the big towers with the cables you see on the motorway…”

The memory crossed her mind in a flash, leaving nothing but a vague sense of nostalgia. Back in the present, three expectant pairs of eyes still looked her way, awaiting her response. “A transformer converts voltage, right?”

Heeyeon pumped her fist in the air and Seungwan looked vaguely defeated. “I told you it wasn’t too obscure! That Muggle class is a total hoax!”

Seulgi laughed at the word choice and even Seungwan risked a shy, self-deprecating smile, her gaze landing on Joohyun for the briefest of moments. A moment earlier, she might have returned it easily, letting the amusement conceal her dislike for the Hufflepuff, but now she felt strangely empty and out of place, weighed down by her memories. Memories of a younger Joohyun, mechanically brushing bits of grass from her skirt.