All This Time | Enhypen

| 17 |

Lin looked at her sister in disbelief, rushing along her side down towards the Great Hall, where a few groups were gathering to eat their weekend lunch. Mainly just first and second years, as the other students had their trip to Hogsmeade that exact day. Xia and Heeseung simply had decided to not go until they had eaten dinner at the castle.

"What do you mean we're not going home?" Lin exclaimed as they entered the Great Hall, setting their route towards the Gryffindor table, where Heeseung were waiting for Xia.

"Mom and dad's letter arrived yesterday. We can't go home for Christmas," Xia shook her head, leaning down to murmur something Lin - abruptly stopping her in her tracks, "you know mom and dad has some problems with money. We can't afford to have us home at Christmas this year. You'll have to wait till summer."

"But it's not fair," Lin complained quietly, "the others are going home."

"Who is?" Xia frowned.

"Jiyeon is," Lin sighed, "Emiko too. Who will I talk to? I don't talk to anyone here."

"You barely even spoke to Jiyeon and Emiko already," Xia rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder, impatiently waiting to escape to the table to Heeseung, "I'm sorry Pumpkin. I can't do anything. Who is staying here for Christmas besides you?"

"Sunoo," Lin muttered.

"The Hufflepuff?" Xia smiled slightly and raised both her eyebrows, getting a small smile in return, "that's good isn't it. He's kind."

"He is... but..." Lin sighed heavily, "can't I just get on the Hogwarts Express and then they have to pick me up."

"I'll do anything I can for us to go home next Christmas, but this year we'll have to stay here," Xia pointed out apologetically, "but I can't do anything for now. How about we... tell you what. We spend Christmas morning in the Slytherin common room. I'll find a nice little gift for you in Hogsmeade today. We can eat a late breakfast. I'm sure Heeseung and Sunoo won't mind spending Christmas with us either. We can go to the Astrology tower, watch some snow."

"I want to go home," Lin pointed out.

"Why do you want to go home so badly? You don't like being home," Xia reminded in disbelief.

"I don't have any friends here," Lin whispered, eyebrows furrowing out of hopelessness, "Sunoo is not my friend, he can just see through me without permission."

"A friend can see through you, whenever needed," Xia reminded sternly, "he's your friend Lin. You need to stop pushing people away just because you're uncertain of their bloodstatus. It is not important."

"Mom and dad would kill me."

"Mom and dad don't know what we do at Hogwarts."

Xia looked over her shoulder impatiently once again, perking her head back towards the other tables when a call came from across the Great Hall. Two girls waving their hands towards Lin, a yellow clad boy standing a bit behind them, looking in the same direction tehy were waving.

"Lin, come on!" Emiko grinned widely.

"Aren't you gonna eat lunch with us?" Jiyeon called back as well.

"Not your friends, hm?" Xia hummed smugly before patting Lin's shoulder, "go on. Eat lunch. We'll talk about it once we get to Christmas."

Lin pursed her lips before eventually walking over towards the three people waiting for her. Only looking back towards her older sister once, watching how she happily skipped down to the Gryffindor table and sat down by Heeseung.

"Come on. I'm starving," Emiko complained and grabbed Lin's wrist once she was close enough, "do you know what?"

"What?" Lin murmured and glanced over her shoulder once again, letting herself get dragged towards the Slytherin table, where Jungwon and Riki already had poured food onto their plates.

"Seamus Finnigan have blown up the boys' dorm room," Emiko rolled her eyes, "I swear he's a hazard to the entire Gryffindor house."

"He'll blow out a window before he graduates," Jiyeon nodded with a small chuckle, "have you seen him in Herbology, Sunoo?"

"Almost blew the flower off our Moly the first week of school," Sunoo hummed in agreement, as the four of them split up. Emiko and Lin wandering down one side of the Slytherin table with Sunoo trailing behind them. Jiyeon taking the other side of the table all alone.

"Who did?" Riki frowned as Lin sat down across from him with Emiko between Sunoo and her.

"Seamus Finnigan," Sunoo replied calmly and dropped his books on the empty seat beside him.

"Blew up his bed this morning," Emiko hummed, "feathers everywhere."

"The Gryffindor house is in great danger, I see," Jungwon remarked and lifted his books away from the seat beside him, making enough room for Jiyeon to sit down across from Sunoo, "first Harry Potter getting sorted into Gryffindor, and now a small explosive as well."

"Where else would he be then?" Jiyeon questioned calmly and reached out for a piece of chicken with her fork, "he won't be a great Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw either. Slytherin won't do him any good."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jungwon questioned, only earning an arched brow at him.

"As far as I know majority of wizards and witches that's turned evil has been in the Slytherin house, am I wrong?" Jiyeon questioned.

"No, but it's not all of us," Lin reminded.

"I don't say it is," Jiyeon chuckled, "I'm just pointing out that it was probably best that Harry ended up in Gryffindor."

"I agree with Yeon," Emiko added on, "Harry Potter is in the best Hogwarts house."

"You can't just take a few words out of my mouth and arrange them to give the meaning you want," Jiyeon complained and reached out to kick Emiko over her shin under the table, praying it was the right leg she had kicked

"When is it that the Christmas Holidays start?" Lin questioned quietly and sipped impatiently from her cup.

"Next weekend," Riki excitedly replied.

"And you're all going home?" Lin continued.

"I'm not," Sunoo shook his head immediately.

"Why? Aren't you?" Jungwon frowned at Lin, trying to find sense in her not going home for Christmas.

"Mom and dad are too busy to have us home," Lin shook her head quietly, "but you're all going, right?"

"I'll send you a Christmas present," Jiyeon quickly assured, "I'm sure I can find something you'd find peculiar."

"My dad makes the best fruitcake. If I find a fast owl, I'll be able to send you a slice," Emiko continued with a quick nod.

"We always make a big portion of fudge. I'll send you a small package as well with the gift," Jiyeon quickly piped in, "my little sister usually gets sick from eating too much, maybe I could prevent that this year."

"When will she start at Hogwarts?" Lin frowned and Jiyeon shrugged.

"I don't know... she's only seven," Jiyeon murmured, "what will we be in then? Fourth year?"

"Fifth," Sunoo corrected and Jiyeon immediately nodded in agreement, "a few more years. Her birthday is in the summer as well, so imagine those holidays when she gets her letter."

"I know, I was horrible," Lin remarked with a small chuckle, clearly recalling how she had been a pain to her sister since her sister's first year. The summer she actually got her Hogwarts letter was the summer she nagged her sister about every small detail about how it was to be a Hogwarts student.