The distant sounds of the Spring Ball formed the background to the utter silence in which the two girls stared each other down. As Sooyoung cautiously but unrelentingly tested the force of Joohyun’s grip, giving the occasional tug that she hoped would destabilize the shorter girl and break her free, the unmistakable sound of shoes hitting stone rose above the background music.

Joohyun reluctantly released her hold right before a young Ravenclaw turned the corner to meet them, a shiny Prefect’s badge showing clearly on the front of her gown. She cleared nervously before addressing them.

“Hello, excuse me, is everything alright?”

Joohyun nodded. Quickly weighing her odds, Sooyoung seemed to decide against drawing the attention of the authorities and nodded as well. The Prefect stopped a few steps from them, eyes a little wide but standing firm.

“Right, well,” she carried on, “I was told that I shouldn’t let any student go off alone with Park Sooyoung. On account of, uh, your reputation. And it’s the night of the Ball, so you might be trying to…”

She trailed off as Joohyun scoffed, deeply offended. Did this pipsqueak really think she’d ever stoop so low as to use some love potion? She took a step closer to the girl, who shrank a little at the motion, despite the fact that she had a good two inches on Joohyun.

“Excuse me, who are you again?” she asked, voice a little menacing.

“K-Kim Yewon.”

“Well, Kim Yewon, you are very young and very… eager, so you probably haven’t been paying attention, but do I look like I need that sort of magical assistance?” The girl blinked at Joohyun, a little taken aback, and hesitantly shook her head. “That’s right, I really don’t. So why don’t you go on back inside and let me and my friend here-“

She turned around, pointing out Sooyoung, only to find that she was alone with the young Prefect. She let out a deep, suffering sigh.

“Which way did she go?”

The girl lifted a hand to point towards the nearest flight of stairs. Joohyun took off at a dead run.

It took two floors of chasing after footsteps and nearly missing Sooyoung at every corner, then another of hopelessly retracing her steps before Joohyun realized she’d jumped in one of the secret passages, then a round of the seventh floor with wand in hand, constantly throwing Revealing Charms in every direction, before she managed to track down the Ravenclaw, cornering the panting girl in an out-of-the-way corridor.

“You’re persistent,” Sooyoung gasped out, hands braced on her knees as she caught her breath.

“And you’re ridiculous. Seriously, just tell me what you were going to say so we can both stop playing hide-and-seek and go back to the Ball.”

“I’m ridiculous? You chased me up seven floors!”

“Whatever,” Joohyun grumbled, pretending she didn’t have a point. She edged closer, wand still in hand, keeping a close eye on Sooyoung as the girl backed away to keep the distance between them. She didn’t have far to go, her back nearly up against the wall now. “Just finish your thought. Don’t be shy now.”

Sooyoung’s hands brushed the wall, then pressed flat against it. Joohyun took another step, wondering what the Ravenclaw could possibly expect to do now. Then, in a flash, the wall behind her became a door, swinging easily under her weight, and she disappeared inside with a triumphant whoop.

Of course, Joohyun thought with a groan. The Room of Requirement.

“Just tell me,” she called out loudly as she entered the space that usually came to her as a small practice room, filled with not much more than a few mats on the floor and targets hung on the walls. This time it was huge, cavernous, every inch of it filled with old junk and abandoned or lost possessions.

“Go away!” was the response from a stack of furniture off to her right, and she immediately fired off a blast of magic that sent wooden debris flying in every direction. A yelp, then the scurrying of feet as Sooyoung escaped her crumbling hiding spot. “What are you doing? You’ll get in trouble!”

“So will you,” Joohyun pointed out, unbothered. She sent another burst in the vague direction of Sooyoung’s voice, keeping an eye out for any sign of her.

“If you blow me up, you’ll be in way more trouble than me.”

“Yes, but I’ll be in one piece.”

One more experimental attack, this time appearing to miss its mark. She waited, holding her breath, but Sooyoung didn’t make a sound, clearly picking up on Joohyun’s strategy. She crossed her arms and waited a moment longer, then tried to blow up something else just in case. Still nothing.

A thought crossed her mind.

“Okay, fine, you win.” She swore she heard a sigh of relief from the far-left corner. She ignored it and turned around, slipping her wand back into its concealed pocket. “I’ll just ask Seungwan.”

She took a step towards the exit, then another.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, Sooyoung. I’d like to think you know me better than that by now.”

Some very inelegant shuffling sounds followed, and she knew without looking that Sooyoung had stepped out into the open. She kept walking.

“If you ask her, you’ll make things weird,” the Ravenclaw threw out desperately. Joohyun shrugged, carrying on with her bluff.

“Maybe. Or maybe she’ll brush it off and we’ll laugh at how weirdly you acted. And later, when I’m not around, you two will have a lot to talk about.”

A hand landed on her arm. She stopped.

“You’re evil.”

She grinned. “Yes, I am. Now talk.”

“Okay, fine, she’s got a crush on you. Which, by the way, I’m only confirming it because you’ve obviously got a crush on her too. Weirdo,” Sooyoung added in a lower voice. She began to pat down her hair, which her wild escape had blown out of place.

“How do you know that?” Joohyun asked eagerly, needing to know all the details. Was the whole crush thing just Sooyoung’s speculation or was it confirmed? That was what she’d really climbed seven floors to find out, and it would be well worth the effort. “Did she say something?”

“She hasn’t made any grand declarations of love, if that’s what you were hoping for. But she has said a lot.” Sooyoung threw herself into the nearest chair, a flimsy thing with a wobbly leg, but she barely reacted as it creaked and shrank under her weight. “She has said far more than I wanted to hear.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you chronic interrupter, that she will not stop talking about you. It was fine at first, you know, when you hated her. Back then it was just the usual Seungwan business of wondering why you couldn’t just be friends. Repeated again and again, whenever you two crossed paths. But when you finally made your little truce and became friendly, when I thought I’d be free from the endlessly repeating discussion, it got worse! Joohyun did this, Joohyun did that, Joohyun said this, Joohyun said that, ‘Joohyun helped me cast a Patronus,’” she mimicked with a high-pitched voice and a light lisp, sounding nothing like Seungwan.

“That proves nothing. It was a new friendship, of course she’d talk-“

Sooyoung raised a finger, her previous accusation still shining in her eyes. Joohyun shut with a frown.

“And then, when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, you had your stupid fight. Yes, that’s right, the only thing that could make Seungwan talk more about you than you two being together is you two not being together. I swear I heard every single word you two exchanged in that entire time, just from her repeating it all to me. Very angrily, I might add. I’m not sure how you got her back on your side, after all that. No, wait, I do know how, it’s because she has a huge crush on you.”

“That’s all just your take on things,” Joohyun risked, taking advantage of the pause as Sooyoung silently smoothed her forehead. “Like you said, she was angry. She was… venting.”

“And of course anger would cause her to immediately be on cloud nine as soon as you two made up. Skipping through corridors, humming under her breath. All those typical signs of anger.”

“She was happy that we were friends again,” Joohyun offered weakly.

“She was jealous of Jennie,” Sooyoung deadpanned abruptly. She fixed tired eyes on Joohyun. “She said her name wasn’t even that cool. That’s the Seungwan equivalent of, I don’t know, spitting in her face and calling her a homewrecker.”

The comment sent Joohyun’s mind racing back to that argument in the library, Seungwan’s frustration and short temper, so unlike her. Surely her anger would be entirely justified even without any jealousy, but then there was that last biting remark, sent over her shoulder.

Jennie has a crush on you.

It had been entirely unexpected, and in Joohyun’s opinion, completely beside the point. But what if it wasn’t? What if, mixed in with all the unfairness and helplessness of the situation, there was a hint of something else feeding the frustration?

Sunmi had said it too, at the time. She’s jealous. Was this what she meant?

Sooyoung leaned back and smirked, even as the rickety chair creaked ominously and swayed towards its weak leg. She didn’t add anything, apparently satisfied with the effect of her words.

“Do you really think she likes me?” Joohyun asked, voice suddenly soft like it could barely bring itself to voice the question.

“Oh, wow, sappy Joohyun is disgusting. I hope Seungwan can stomach it better than me.”

Joohyun waved her wand behind her back and smirked as the chair gave out at last, dropping Sooyoung unceremoniously on the dusty floor.

All the way down the castle and back to the Great Hall, Joohyun kept turning the idea over in her head. It was a lot for one day, to become aware of not only her own feelings but Seungwan’s as well. Her mind buzzed with activity, a little numb at it all, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she must be missing something, that it couldn’t all just work out so perfectly.

Face to face with Seungwan and her beaming smile, her conspiratorial nod as Joohyun explained her absence through some vague references to Sooyoung’s business, it felt more and more inexplicable. But it also felt more possible, more real. The way Seungwan looked at her with such fondness, the way her touches lingered.

The butterflies in Joohyun’s stomach grew into a swarm, sending all her nerves into disarray as she contemplated doing something. Because if she liked Seungwan, and Seungwan liked her, she should do something, right? And all the options were as terrifying as they were thrilling, as imposing as they were appealing.

The large tables began to empty out, some of their occupants gathering in smaller groups for more intimate conversations, most of them drifting to the dance floor as the music picked up. Joohyun watched as Sooyoung was happily pulled along for a dance with her date, excited yet still professional enough to exchange a few concerning whispers with Yerim. Joohyun hoped they wouldn’t try a similar trick to the previous Ball, if only because they could only evade suspicion for so long.

Soon enough, only she and Seungwan remained at their table. Joohyun watched her as subtly as she could manage, following her distracted gaze that swept over the dancing crowd. She seemed a little tired, leaning slightly against Joohyun’s side, her warm presence comforting even amid Joohyun’s mounting nerves at the thought that they were alone and she should say something but had gone dry, her head empty.

She tapped her fingers slowly on the tablecloth, the only manifestation of her nerves that she allowed herself. On the outside, she remained poised and neutral, breathing slow and even while she ignored her racing heart.

She turned to Seungwan. Seungwan immediately turned to face her as well, eyes a little wide, like she’d been startled by the movement. Joohyun took in a deep breath.

“Can I ask you some-“ she began, then cut herself off as she realized that Seungwan had said more or less the same, their words mingling into a confusing cacophony.

She let out a light chuckle as they both spoke once again, this time offering simultaneous apologies. Seungwan’s mouth snapped shut and tilted into a tight-lipped smile, equal parts amusement and embarrassment.

“Go ahead,” Joohyun offered. Maybe because what Seungwan had to say might be forgotten in the wake of Joohyun’s topic. Maybe because if Seungwan went first, she’d have a few more precious minutes to stall. Her hands folded together in her lap and she tried her best not to clench them too tightly.

“I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you, really, for inviting me.”

Seungwan’s words, together with the warmth in her eyes as she spoke them, made Joohyun wonder, for a vertiginous moment, if she weren’t about to make her own confession. Then the girl’s face clouded over and Joohyun knew it couldn’t be that.

“And I’ve been trying really hard, you know, to keep all the school stuff out of my mind for tonight and just enjoy myself, and it’s been working, for the most part. As much as it’s ever worked.” She bit her lip. Joohyun wanted so badly to reach out and caress the bruised skin. “I know it’s still early, and all our friends are still here, but do you mind if I… I just, I have an essay for History of Magic and if I don’t do it tonight, I’ll have to wake up early tomorrow, and I already have to do that anyway, because of Potions, and Transfiguration and…” She trailed off into a small, apologetic sigh, looking straight into Joohyun’s eyes. “If I could just get that out of the way tonight, that would already be a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Joohyun nodded, ignoring the sinking feeling in her chest. She pulled one of her hands away from her lap to land on Seungwan’s arm, squeezing it gently.

“Do you want us to go?”

Seungwan’s reaction was entirely expected, an immediate and vehement reassurance that Joohyun could stay, that she could just leave on her own, that she wouldn’t want to ruin her evening. Joohyun waited for a moment, then silenced her with a smile and another squeeze of her arm.

“Hey, you’re my date. I’ll at least you back to the dorms.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. What am I staying for, anyway? Sunmi’s terrible dancing? At most, I’ll miss the traditional spiking of the punch, but I can just ask Yerim about it tomorrow.” Mostly because she was almost completely certain at this point that Yerim would be the one responsible for it. Or, at least, a willing accomplice.

She got to her feet, reaching out a hand to help Seungwan from the table before the girl could change her mind and leave without her. Seungwan took it without protest and rose from her chair, then paused in a sudden realization, hand still comfortably entwined with Joohyun’s.

“Oh, what were you going to ask?”

“Forget it, it was nothing.”

She heard the words leave , cool and casual, nothing like she felt. For a moment, she’d let her dreams get ahead of her, but the truth was staring her in the face and she couldn’t ignore it.

Seungwan was too busy, too overworked to have time for things like that. Feelings and dating. She might think of them, or hope to one day experience them, but it wasn’t for the now. It wasn’t for the Seungwan who barely slept, who was stretched so thin she always seemed on the verge of breaking. Joohyun couldn’t force that kind of decision on her, that kind of distraction. Even if she felt the same way, even if she didn’t want to say no, wouldn’t it be better to free her of that pressure?

Seungwan hadn’t even wanted to come to the Ball in the first place. And now they were leaving early, because she had too much work, because she was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t spare the time for such a break, or even enjoy it. If this was how it was for one night, two or three hours to herself before the weight of the world came rushing back, how could she even think of dating? How could Joohyun ever expect it?

“I’m sorry, was it something about the Ball? Did you want to dance?” Seungwan asked with concern, eyes flying from the door to the dance floor like she was weighing the possibility of staying to indulge Joohyun, worry flashing across her face as she probably counted down the hours she still had left before her early rise.

“No, really, nothing like that. It was…” She kept her grip on Seungwan’s hand, guiding her towards the exit as she searched for inspiration. Her eyes fell on the dancing couples. “Sooyoung. Sooyoung and Seulgi. Do you think there’s something there?”

“That’s what you wanted to talk about? Gossip about our friends?”

Despite the dismissive question, Seungwan’s tone showed clear interest in the subject, eyes brightening once more. Joohyun smiled at the sight, letting their fingers intertwine as they walked.

“Sure. I’m a romantic at heart.”

This was fine. All she really wanted was to have Seungwan close, to help her get through the term, to make her smile. She could do all that as her friend, without imposing on her or demanding more than she could give.

“Well, alright, Miss Romantic,” Seungwan returned playfully. “But I don’t know, I mean, you know Seulgi.”

“The greatest passion in her life is Quidditch?”

“By far,” Seungwan agreed with a grin. Joohyun bumped into her shoulder, smiling in return. “I think Sooyoung knows that, though. I doubt she expects anything beyond tonight.”

“It’s a nice night to have,” Joohyun mused, studying the decorations all around them. It might be all they had, as well, she and Seungwan. Just tonight. She stopped herself before her mood could grow gloomy, and threw another topic into the conversation. “I’m still a bit surprised. I thought for a while there that Sunmi might beat Sooyoung to the punch.”

“Sunmi? You think she’d ask Seulgi?”

“I don’t know, maybe? They spend all that time together, the perfectionist Captain and the overachieving star player.”

“Yeah, but do you think she likes her?”

Joohyun shrugged. She was probably the best placed to know something like that, unless Sunmi secretly confided in Hyuna when she wasn’t around, but the girl had always been difficult to read in that department.

“You probably know her better than I do,” Seungwan carried on, clearly agreeing with her deductions, “but the only person I remember her liking was that teaching assistant last year.”

Joohyun smirked at the memory. “Kim Taeyeon,” she recalled, and Seungwan nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, Sunmi definitely liked her. Her interest in Transfiguration has decidedly declined this year.”

“I can understand that, though. Taeyeon was so cool,” Seungwan thought out loud. Joohyun bit back a frown at that, finding a strange pit of jealousy inside her that she hadn’t expected, but Seungwan was tripping over her own words not a moment later, trying to explain herself with a, “You know, as a role model. She knew tons about Transfiguration, and that’s what I’ll be doing after Hogwarts too, higher studies and helping with teaching. So she was cool in that sense.”

“Alright, understood, I’ll let Sunmi know that she doesn’t have any competition,” Joohyun replied airily, snorting as Seungwan smacked her arm in response.

Outside, the empty corridors were almost unpleasantly cold after the warmth of the Great Hall. Seungwan pressed a little closer to Joohyun, who made no move against it. When they stopped by the Hufflepuff dorms, she didn’t step away, keeping their joined hands between them. For a moment, they only stood there in silence. Joohyun wished it could last forever, the quiet comfort of their proximity, alone in the world.

“Do you want company?” she finally asked, fully expecting Seungwan to launch into another flurry of refusals, to insist that Joohyun not miss out on the rest of the evening. Instead, she only smiled and gave a small nod, fingers tightening their hold on Joohyun’s.

The Hufflepuff common room was deserted but, as always, far from gloomy, with its walls covered in lively plants and blooming flowers, its hearth coming to life to cast a cosy light on the two visitors. Seungwan disappeared down the corridor to the dorms, then returned in a puffy sweater, carrying an armful of books on top of which rested a thick blanket.

They settled on the table nearest to the fire, blanket draped across their legs, and exchanged quiet chatter as Seungwan filled her parchment with notes. Slowly, as Seungwan grew more focused and Joohyun more distracted, their conversation quieted down to nothing, until Seungwan scribbled line after line and Joohyun only watched her, chin cradled in the palm of her hand, thoughts fuzzy and warm.

It always felt so nice, when it was just the two of them. It was easy to relax with Seungwan, to let go of the tension that always kept her shoulders squared, her posture tight.

She hoped she did the same for Seungwan, even a little. That she was a safe port, someone with whom she could be herself, someone that helped things not feel so big and scary.

The fire cast a dancing light, shifting from one moment to the next, drawing unpredictable patterns as it skittered forwards and backwards against the darkness. Joohyun followed it, entranced, mind going blank as her body grew heavy in the pleasant warmth. She blinked, her eyelids harder and harder to raise as the shadows won out.

(...)

Joohyun awoke in the Hufflepuff common room, confused at first as to how she’d gotten there. Her body felt unresponsive, dry, her neck a little stiff from the angle at which she’d rested her head on her arms, all telling her that she’d slept more than just a few minutes.

“What…?” she began in a thick voice, then trailed off, not sure how to phrase her disoriented state.

“Hey there, sleepy head,” Seungwan replied in a gentle voice, abandoning her shuffling of papers to brush Joohyun’s sleep-tossed hair back in place. “You’ve been out for a while.”

She only hummed in response, suddenly distracted by the soothing touch that threatened to lull her back to sleep. Still, something at the back of her head insisted that she remain awake, so she scrunched her eyes tightly shut and tried to push away the temptation of sleep.

“Your essay?” she finally managed, slowly lifting her head from the desk. Seungwan’s hand followed the movement, dropping from her hair to the space between her shoulder blades.

“Just finished. I’ll have a look tomorrow, to make sure I didn’t write any sleep-deprived nonsense, but I think I’m happy with it.”

Finished already?

“Wait, how long was I asleep?”

“An hour? Maybe a bit more?” Seungwan ventured. Joohyun’s eyes went wide. “I think the Ball is over, pretty much everybody has come back to the dorms.”

“How did I sleep through all that?”

“I put a Silencing Charm around us,” Seungwan admitted, a bit shy. “You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want the noise to bother you.”

Still dazed from her sleep, Joohyun found it hard not to let her adoration show, each word from Seungwan more endearing than the last. She rubbed at her eyes for something to do while her brain stuttered, stuck on the gesture and how much it meant to her, late at night and under the warm, flickering firelight.

“Well… I’m sorry I wasn’t the best company.”

“But you were!” Seungwan insisted, endlessly earnest. “You were the best company, all evening.”

“Even when I wasn’t there?” Joohyun asked cheekily, grasping at anything that could lighten the mood before she fell too deeply.

“Maybe not then,” Seungwan conceded. “But only by a technicality.”

Joohyun chuckled at the quick addition, getting to her feet, and Seungwan followed along.

“I mean it, though. I had a wonderful time tonight and you were a lovely date. The best I could ask for.”

“It was nothing,” Joohyun hurriedly replied, feeling her cheeks heat up and her heart do a strange little somersault.

“No, it wasn't.” Seungwan stepped forward, dangerously decreasing the distance between them, and Joohyun stood dumbly in place, too taken by surprise to react as the Hufflepuff leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you, Joohyun.”

She nodded. Maybe she said something, she couldn’t be sure. For a moment, her entire being seemed to be concentrated around that small point where she still felt the press of Seungwan’s lips, only reluctantly spreading to recover the rest of herself, which suddenly felt so unimportant in comparison. She resisted the urge to press her fingers against it, the only intelligent decision she could recall making, while her lips spread into a wide smile that she tried to bite away without success.

She felt a little numb, a little dazed, now no longer from sleep. She stammered out something unintelligible that should have been a thank you, or maybe a goodbye, or maybe a combination of both, and Seungwan smiled back at her.

Outside, on the cold underground corridors that housed their common rooms, Joohyun barely felt the chill on her arms. She only thought back to Seungwan’s smile, Seungwan’s warmth, Seungwan’s fingers carding through her hair, Seungwan’s kiss on her cheek. She finally let her hand reach up and map the flushed skin.