The NEWTs finally came, as they’d all known they must. Those final weeks before the exams were hellish, crammed full of more studying and revising than Joohyun had ever thought herself capable of. Everyone was doing their best to prepare for the exams, even the chronically busy like Seulgi. Even the chronically lazy like Hyuna, Joohyun had added in a moment of inspiration that had made her the target of a particularly annoying Wartification Hex.

It was hard, every moment of it, but being with Seungwan was always easy. It made everything easier, too.

Sitting at the library taking frantic notes while Yerim, free from any year-end evaluations, kept them company and shared every piece of gossip she could get her hands on. Meeting with Professors to clear up last-minute questions and only leaving their offices hours later, much more informed and marginally more confused than when they’d entered. Practicing past exam questions, quizzing each other on potion ingredients and counter-spells.

Stepping into Hogsmeade for their very last weekend trip.

Seungwan came with her to the Lionheart and kept her company while they waited for her parents, slowly sipping on a shared butterbeer. Sunny came to chat with them, curious to see Joohyun with someone else, when she usually came to these meetings alone and unnerved.

She was happy for her, Joohyun could tell. Sunny, who had always had a Christmas gift for her. Sunny, who’d found her on that very first trip, alone by the lake.

Joohyun wondered how many people had been caring about her, quietly, giving only as much as she could allow herself to take, for all those lonely years. How much love had always surrounded her, that she’d never dared to acknowledge, for fear that it would… Tear her apart? Remind her of what was missing?

Comfort her?

She wanted to make it up to Sunny, to repay her somehow, and the only way she could find to do it was to hold Seungwan’s hand a little tighter and lean against her as she recounted their history: from two bickering rivals, who found annoyance in each other’s tiniest quirk – she quickly shushed Seungwan before she could intervene with a more accurate description -, to friends, and then to… To more, once they’d realized that all the things they’d thought they hated about the other were exactly made them unique. Special. Perfect.

She saw Sunny’s face grow a little red as she spoke, her eyes darting away from them, and hoped that her little speech had achieved its goal, and that the pub owner would soon be encouraged to rethink her relationship with Choi Sooyoung. It was silly, after all, to deprive yourself of happiness just because you were so insistent that there was only one way to have it.

Seungwan left before Joohyun’s parents arrived, then came to pick her up hours later. They walked up to the Shrieking Shack, because Joohyun was feeling oddly sentimental. Their last time there, they’d been a work in progress. She supposed they still were, they might always be, but that didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Seungwan didn’t ask. She followed Joohyun’s lead and let her take her time. But really, Joohyun didn’t know what to say. She’d met her parents. They’d talked. Without the money to exchange hands, the goal that always brought them together, there was a vague awkwardness to the conversation, like her parents were adrift. Like neither of them knew who they were without the looming shadow of shame hanging over them, the debt that her parents had assigned themselves, forever owed.

It was like meeting for the first time. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t natural, it wasn’t instinctive. It was new.

It was a start. And that was all Joohyun could hope for. All she’d wanted. A bit like chewing on that first piece of candy she’d bought for herself, it was possibility. Change that she’d never thought could be achieved.

Together, they said goodbye to the shack, to the candy shop, to the pub, to the small picture-perfect village. They’d be here again, probably soon, considering that Seungwan would be continuing at Hogwarts, might even end up living in one of those tiny houses, but it was still a goodbye of sorts.

When they came back, they wouldn’t be the same two people. Joohyun was eager to find out who they’d be.

(...)

For the first time, Seungwan had no summer tutoring awaiting her. Her days as a student were over, and time stretched freely ahead of her. When Seulgi invited her over to the Kang home, managing to beat Joohyun to it, Seungwan finally said yes.

Mr. Kang met them at the station. He piled all their bags into the boot of his car, squeezed the girls into the remaining space and drove them, mechanically, Muggle-like, back home. Seungwan was fascinated by the drive, by the steady velocity and the rushing landscape on either side of the motorway. Ever since their last exam had finished and her residual nerves had finally dulled down to nothing, she’d been a completely different person. Joohyun wasn’t sure the smile on her face had died down for a single moment since. She clung to Joohyun’s hand, tugging at it, pointing at trucks and exit signs with childlike glee.

Once they’d arrived, Seulgi was quick to pull Seungwan away and show her their rooms, luggage trailing behind them with a flick of their wands. Yerim chased after the two, leaving Joohyun alone with Mr. Kang as he scratched his head at the sight that always managed to catch him by surprise, like he hadn’t gotten used to magic even after two decades of being married to a witch.

“Thank you,” Joohyun said slowly, awkwardly, hands shoving into the pockets of her jeans for something to do, “uh… Uncle.”

His face lit up at the word. It almost made her feel guilty, and her hands dug a bit deeper.

“Of course, kid. Any time.” He turned to her, also a bit hesitant, both of them treading unfamiliar waters. “I know that… that you don’t need a second pair of parents. But I hope you know that your aunt and I, we… You’re one of our own, yeah?”

She nodded, tongue-tied. “Yeah, I… I know.”

“Okay. Good. Good,” he repeated stiffly. “Now, you should get going before Seulgi steals your girlfriend away.”

In reality, she wouldn’t have to wait long to have Seungwan all to herself again. Seulgi had been scouted for half a dozen Quidditch teams, the letters arriving one by one while she was still at Hogwarts, and she’d arrived back home already signed to her first choice, scheduled to start full-time practice only a week later.

Sooyoung visited on the weekend, although her attention was entirely monopolized by Yerim. She shared over family dinner that she had decided to officially open up a potions shop in Hogsmeade, finally making her business legal, and Yerim had been an invaluable help in sorting out all the logistics and paperwork – for a share of the profit, of course. Somehow, Joohyun’s baby’s cousin becoming a business partner at fifteen years old didn’t surprise her.

Yerim left only a few days after Seulgi, invited by Sooyoung to spend a few weeks at hers and continue the store planning. She was allowed to leave only after her parents were sufficiently assured that they wouldn’t secretly travel to Hogsmeade to scout out property. It required a few rounds of interrogation and some magically-enhanced promises.

And then it was just Joohyun and Seungwan, left to their own devices for most of the day, while Mr. and Mrs. Kang were off at work. They went on tours of the little town, Joohyun taking care to show Seungwan every single trivial detail, well aware that the girl would be thrilled at the sight of anything from chip shops to neon signs. They lingered at her favorite places to eat, at the park she’d always loved to visit, at the library where she only got to stay for long if she came alone, since her cousins inevitably got distracted playing games or arguing over the exact book that both wanted to read and everybody got kicked out for the sake of silence.

They took the bus to the ice cream shop on the next town over, the one where she’d worked, where they each got a cone and then Seungwan spent nearly half an hour teasing Joohyun over the uniform. In the afternoon, they walked aimlessly through the streets, this place much less familiar to Joohyun, and nearly missed the last bus home.

They also sat at home, especially on rainy days, while Joohyun showed Seungwan their old brooms, the books they’d read and reread, the plays that they’d acted out clumsily. Seulgi’s Chocolate Frog card collection had been left behind, in a carefully labeled box in her room, and Joohyun looked it over with a pang of nostalgia. She was sure Seulgi still cared enough that Joohyun’s neck would be at risk if she so much as bent one of them, but it was still strange to see it here, left at home while Seulgi moved on.

Encouraged by Seungwan’s utter fascination with the Muggle toys of their youth, she dug up everything she could find, and even managed to fish out the old VHS player from its dusky nook in the garage, along with the dozen or so tapes they’d played over and over again. She watched them with Seungwan, sharing a bowl of popcorn, and was surprised to find she still remembered all the songs, all the voices, all the twists.

“This was my favorite,” she shared on one cozy afternoon, sitting close together while the rain fell in sheets against the living room windows. The credits rolled on the TV and Seungwan hummed softly in response, waiting for her to carry on. “He was thrown away from home, from his family, and it was all about proving himself, becoming worthy, so he’d get to go back.”

“But he didn’t go back,” Seungwan pointed out, hand leaving the empty bowl to rest on Joohyun’s leg.

“No. I hated that, I didn’t understand why he’d… Why, after all that, he would throw it all away.”

“For love.”

“Well, yes, but I was a kid, I didn’t care about love. I always thought, if I ever got to go home… Nobody would stop me.”

“And now?” Seungwan asked lightly. “Would I stop you?” she added, playful, thumb tapping on Joohyun’s knee.

“Now…” she began slowly, thinking over each word before she said it. “Now, I think it was never about love. Maybe home is a place you used to be, that you can’t go back to. But if there’s a new place, full of memories, and people you love, a place where you belong, then… That’s home too, right?”

“Home is where the VHS tapes are,” Seungwan offered with a crooked grin.

“Home is where the Chocolate Frog card collection is,” Joohyun added.

“Oh, Seulgi owled me about that. It turns out she forgot it when she was packing, she wanted to know if we could send it over.”

Joohyun couldn’t help a laugh at that, more relieved than amused. It was time to grow up, but they could always do it at their own pace. On their own terms. With whatever, or whomever, made things a little easier.

(…)

The letters arrived in the morning. Two matching elegant envelopes, in thick creamy paper with the official Hogwarts crest. Seungwan turned distinctly pale when Mr. Kang set them in front of them, putting down her spoon halfway through her oatmeal and entirely forgetting to pick it back up again.

They took the letters to Joohyun’s room, still unopened, and dropped them on the bed. Joohyun watched as Seungwan spent close to ten minutes gazing intently in their direction, focused enough to burn a hole in the paper. She said nothing, just held Seungwan’s hand, doing her best to ease the tension with which Seungwan gripped her, and waited.

“Let’s open them,” Seungwan blurted out, catching Joohyun by surprise, but she made no move in their direction.

“Are you sure?”

“No. Let’s do it anyway.”

“Okay,” Joohyun said, and slowly reached for her own letter. Seungwan followed suit with jerky motions.

She broke the seal carefully, finger drawing slowly along the folded edge of the envelope until it broke free. Inside was a single sheet of paper, folded carefully in three. As she fished it out, she began to understand Seungwan’s trepidation, heart beating in at the sudden thought of all that could go wrong. She unfolded the paper, scanned the lines of text, skipped through each of her courses in search of those single letters that could undo her future. A single Acceptable or below and she’d never become an Auror.

She read it through once, then again, until it finally sank in. No Acceptables. No Poors or Dreadfuls, either. Just three Exceeds Expectations and three Outstandings, shining back at her, definitely not the last step to her chosen career but certainly one less gate to cross.

She folded the letter again with a quick gasp as she only then noticed she’d been holding her breath. Next to her, Seungwan stood frozen in time, eyes fixed blindly on her own results.

“Seungwan?”

“Did you do it?” Seungwan asked distantly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did it. And you?”

Seungwan tilted the letter her way. A column of delicate Os drawn almost all the way down, broken only by two pairs of Es: Arithmancy and Potions.

“It’s not perfect,” Seungwan whispered, barely audible.

“It’s not,” Joohyun had to agree, trying to read the blank expression on Seungwan’s face.

“But it’s good enough,” Seungwan said. Her eyes flew to Joohyun’s, then, a little wide, as she added an uncertain, “Right?”

“It’s more than good enough,” Joohyun was quick to agree, a weight lifting from her chest and fading into nothing. A smile spread across her face as relief and pride flooded her. “It’s amazing. With these results, you can get in anywhere.”

“I know where I’m going,” Seungwan said, almost shyly.

“Hogwarts?”

Seungwan nodded.

“I talked to the Headmistress.”

“What? You did? When?”

“After the exams. As soon as they were done, I realized the choice was actually right in front of me. I only had to think for a second, and I knew what always felt the best. The easiest. The more like… magic, proper magic, the way it felt at the start.”

“So? What was it?”

“I’m going to study Charms,” Seungwan said around a giddy smile.

“You are!” Joohyun said simply, a bit stupidly, maybe. She dropped the letter as her hands flew to cradle Seungwan’s face, to frame the beautiful smile still lighting it up.

“I’m going to stay at Hogsmeade, and you can visit on the weekends, any weekend that you want, preferably all of them. Or probably during the week, because I think my schedule will be flexible, aside from teaching assistant tasks, but I assume you’ll be busy during the week. Or I can visit you! At- I suppose you’ll be at London, for your training. And I thought that maybe we could study for our Apparition tests together, and then we won’t have to take the train or anything, we can just pop right into each other’s living room or-”

“Yes,” Joohyun cut her off, one hand leaving Seungwan’s cheek to carefully brush her hair back behind her ear. “Every weekend. Apparition. Living room. Sounds good.”

“If we have a living room,” Seungwan pointed out a bit more quietly. “You might be in dorms or something. And I’ll probably share a house with any other research students. So it might be a bit rude to Apparate into a shared space like that.”

“We can try each other’s room instead.”

“Or the front door.”

Joohyun hummed thoughtfully. “Actually, I’m not sure you can Apparate to Auror-in-training dorms. There’s probably security measures.”

“Oh, no,” Seungwan gasped softly. Joohyun smiled at the sight, then finally gave in and pulled her into a kiss.

It was still dizzying, the floor seeming to slip away from her as she fell into Seungwan, into her softness, into the yielding pressure against her that was slowly growing familiar, comforting as much as it was thrilling. She let the kiss deepen slowly, steadily, knowing that there was no rush. That they still had days ahead of them, weeks, all to themselves, and even after that, even when life started up all over again, they might go their separate ways but they’d always meet again. Every weekend. By train, by Apparition, by Floo powder. By broom, if all else failed.

And one day, in a few years, they might live together. They might have their own house, to come back to after each tiring day. A kitchen where they’d cook, a living room where they’d spend their evening, a bedroom where they’d fall asleep in each other’s arms.

“I love you,” she said against Seungwan’s lips, a mumbled confession with none of the careful planning or romantic atmosphere that she might have hoped for. But it was true, she was sure of it in that moment, and she couldn’t think of keeping it to herself.

Seungwan pulled back, just enough to gaze into her eyes, for her breath to ghost Joohyun’s lips.

“I love you too,” Seungwan said, managing to infuse the words with all of the weight and reverence that Joohyun had hoped to achieve. Or maybe her own confession had sounded that way to Seungwan too. Life-changing.

Seungwan’s hands slipped around her waist, keeping her close. Their foreheads pressed together and Joohyun breathed in Seungwan’s scent, sweet and soothing.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” Seungwan mused quietly. “Sometimes, it… it felt like it would last forever. You know?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. It’s strange to think that it’s all in the past now. It all seems to matter so much less now that it’s done. Now that it can’t hurt me anymore. It’s almost like it happened to someone else.”

“We can just remember the good parts, now. We can let everything else go.”

“The Headmistress told me that it wasn’t the end of the world. When I couldn’t get out to meet my parents, that weekend. She said it felt like it, but that it wouldn’t, eventually. It made me so mad,” Joohyun said, chuckling along, remembering the powerless desperation that had run through her that day, tearing her apart, too large for anyone to bear. “Maybe this is what she meant. That later, after it’s all over, you get to keep the good stuff. So you can’t let the bad stuff take over. You can’t let go of the good, even if it feels too small to mean anything.”

“Trust me,” Seungwan said with a grin, tightening her grip on Joohyun’s waist, “I’m not letting go.”

Joohyun couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that.

“You are such a nerd,” she huffed out, a protest that died down as soon as it fed the smile on Seungwan’s face. She leant in for another kiss, sure that she would never, ever get tired of doing that. “But you’re my nerd. And I’m not letting go either.”