Chapter 70: Hogwarts AU: Year Four

Jin heaved a sigh as she sat down across from her sister, stretching her arms up towards the ceiling of the Leaky Cauldron. After two hours of working the breakfast rush with Mitsuzu-chi, she felt worn but awake. Haruhi, the lucky duck, got to sleep in that morning and therefore looked more relaxed than her sister. She barely glanced up from The Daily Prophet as Jin continued stretching. She stuck another mouthful of rice and eggs into her mouth, swallowed, and said, "Breakfast is good today. Nice work."

"Thanks." Jin brought her arms up onto the table and laid her head on them. Mitsuzu-chi always let her sneak bites of her own breakfast whenever she helped in the kitchen so she was rarely hungry after her morning shift. "What's the headliner today?"

"There was a raid on someone trying to breed basilisks in Essex and Harry Potter was spotted in Scotland on vacation with his family," Haruhi said.

"Ugh, those reporters should leave him the hell alone," Jin said. "Give the man a break. Although, Tamaki has come up with a new plan to get his autograph. I think it involves twenty-three owls… dunno why that number specifically."

"Don't even say that out loud," Haruhi warned, finally dropping the paper into her lap. "They're going to be here any moment! The last thing we need is for him to overhear-"

The doors leading out to the streets of London exploded open with a bang, which was quickly followed by screams of Jin and Haruhi's names. Haruhi groaned, but Jin quickly leapt up to her feet. A pair of arms scooped her up around the middle and swung her around immediately.

"Jin!"

"Tamaki!"

"Oh, I've missed you so much," Tamaki exclaimed, continuing to squeeze her tightly even as he stopped spinning. She rolled her eyes fondly and reached a hand up to pat Tamaki on the head. She knew he would dismiss the fact that they all sent owls to each other all summer if she pointed it out, so instead she just said, "I've missed you, too."

On the other side of the table, Jin watched as Honey and Mori pulled away from hugging Haruhi to let Hikaru and Kaoru have a turn. Of course, Tamaki saw that too. Not having it, he ran off to intercept the twins, nearly knocking Jin over in his haste.

"I see he's gotten more dramatic over the summer," Jin muttered to herself.

"You don't know the half of it."

Jin spun around, a huge grin already spread across her face at the sound of Kyoya's voice. Her friend had snuck up behind her, smiling and holding out his arms as Jin rushed forward to close the short distance between them. She raised her arms up for a hug but stopped short, Kyoya hesitating at the same time. Jin was looking… up at Kyoya's face.

He'd had a growth spurt since they last saw each other.

Jin had to assume her following blush was from surprise, because what else could it have come from? Instead of dwelling on it, she brought back her smile and threw her arms around Kyoya's sides. Kyoya squeezed her back, his chin bumping against the stem of Jin's new glasses, but the hug felt so nice Jin decided not to comment on it. Kyoya didn't give many hugs in the first place, so the first hug after summer break was always a special occasion.

They didn't have a long time to enjoy it though, because soon enough the twins were harping on Kyoya for hoarding Jin and Honey was starting to bounce around, his energy levels creeping dangerously high. After the last of the hugs were exchanged, Jin and Haruhi rushed about to clean up their breakfast and find their dad while the boys moved their suitcases up to their rooms. With the next school year on the horizon, they had collectively decided to beat the heavy crowds and do their shopping as soon as the boys arrived. Twenty minutes after Tamaki first threw open The Leaky Cauldron's front door, the merry band of eight was strolling down Diagon Alley, catching up on whatever details hadn't fit into their many letters.

"Mori-senpai! You're a prefect?" Jin gasped in astonishment at the shiny new badge her friend was showing them all. The golden metal had been shaped into a Gryffindor crest, the word 'Prefect' elegantly etched beneath the lion. "That's so cool!"

Mori smiled and hummed before his eyes cut to where Hikaru and Kaoru were conveniently looking away, whistling a cherry tune in sync. Everyone else in the group snickered to themselves at the one-sided staring contest. But by then they had reached the first shop on their list and the thought of hijinks had to be put on hold. They walked into the apothecary and split into three groups for the three years they represented. It was, as they'd discovered the past few years, the most efficient way to make sure everyone got what they needed.

Jin watched absentmindedly as one of the shop attendants measured out a few ounces of unicorn horn for her. Behind her, Tamaki was rambling on about whether any of them would be chosen as prefects next year. Kyoya responded with his usual bland but realistic take on Tamaki's daydreaming, which sparked phase three of their typical conversation flow. Which was for Tamaki to bring in the third party member.

"Jin! Don't you think we're the best choices for Hufflepuff prefects in our class?"

"Maybe." Jin thanked the attendant before bagging up her new ingredients. "But our class size is pretty big, so there's no telling who exactly they'll pick. Don't forget that we'd have to work close with whoever gets picked as prefect this year. What if it's Manny Hurwitz?"

Tamaki's expression soured at the name and he turned sharply towards the bookshelf. "It's not our fault for being better Quidditch players than him."

"He's going to audition again this year, you know."

"We'll beat him again," Tamaki said with conviction before gripping his bag tighter and walking outside. Jin and Kyoya exchanged a look before following him out. It was hard to make Tamaki dislike anyone, but there were a few things people just did not walk away from. Like when Manny Hurwitz tried to start a scandalous rumor about Jin and last year's Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain when he failed to earn himself the Seeker position. No one believed it, but that was the final straw for Jin's friends. Tamaki's bad mood seemed to dissipate with the late summer sunshine, because he jumped right into another topic as soon as Jin and Kyoya set foot outside, asking Jin what new classes Haruhi was taking this year.

"She decided on Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. She probably would've taken Muggle Studies too if Dad and I hadn't convinced her not too. She's always trying to overexert herself academically-"

"Noooo!" Tamaki cried, earning himself a few strange glances from other nearby shoppers. "Why not Divination? Mori-senpai's the only one I can talk to about it and I wanted to help Haruhi with her homework!"

"Sorry, Tamaki. Haruhi just doesn't see Divination as very… accurate magic." Jin winced as soon as the words left her mouth, seeing her friend deflate before her very eyes. It was no secret that Tamaki's favorite class at Hogwarts was Divination, and the blond seemed to have some natural talent with that particular brand of magic. Unfortunately, most of his other friends didn't share that same sentiment. From what Jin had heard, Hikaru and Kaoru would not be joining Tamaki and Mori in that particular elective either.

Jin turned to Kyoya and summoned her most pleading eyes, begging him to fix the situation before the others came out looking for them. Tamaki would no doubt say something that would either make Haruhi upset or make Tamaki feel guilty in the future.

Kyoya rolled his eyes before suggesting, "If you really want a new conversation partner, why not Nekozawa?" The reaction was instantaneous. Tamaki yelped and jumped, backpedaling until his back was pressed against the storefront, his eyes zipping around the alley like their senior was going to pop up into existence in front of them.

Jin pouted at her friend's reaction. "That's mean, Tamaki. You're acting like he's some dark wizard or something."

"He scares me!" Tamaki whined. "He knows things that no one else should know! It's so embarrassing! It's like he used… that curse to make me do things!"

Jin's chest swelled up like a bullfrog, but Kyoya spoke up first. "He made a prediction that you would commit a public faux pas. The day afterwards someone's jinx misfired and burnt your clothes off in the common room. We get it. You've told us your theory a million times, but there is no way Nekozawa actually did that to you or conspired to make it happen. It's no different than when you predicted the twins faking that big argument last year by saying there would be a terrible deception in our group."

Tamaki stammered a bit, looking slightly ashamed of himself, which Kyoya took as a sign he'd done his job. Turning to face Jin, he expected a grateful smile or perhaps for her to still be staring at Tamaki in anger. Instead, he got a facefull of her thousand watt smile aimed right at him. Heart stuttering in his chest, Kyoya looked away, watching as the rest of their friends finally made their way to join them outside. This was going to be an… interesting year.

It only took two days into the new school year and one History of Magic class for Kyoya's expectations to plummet. Why did Slytherins have to share the class with Ravenclaw? It only made Professor Gagliardi worse. And, as Kyoya had feared, this year he was being an absolute nightmare to the Slytherins for taking the House Cup. Thank god his afternoon only held his Care of Magical Creatures class. Sharing a cup of tea with Professor Hagrid after the fact was always a mood booster.

Three weeks into his new schedule of torment, Kyoya slumped into a seat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall with a heavy groan. Across the table, Jin swallowed her bite of sandwich and looked her friend up and down. "You look like you need to rant," she said.

"You have no idea."

Jin continued to chew her lunch as Kyoya launched into his list of complaints. Even though she had already had her first History of Magic lesson the day before and experienced Professor Gag's unpleasantness, Slytherin house definitely had it worse this year. Despite the warnings from his upperclassmen, Kyoya had still had a shred of hope that if he'd stayed attentive in class and prepared himself for any pop questions he would be fine, but it was not the case. If any Slytherin got one detail wrong in their answer, Professor Gag would harp on its "importance" for the following ten minutes and ultimately do his best to make the student feel idiotic. And if they were just wrong in general?

"Five points from Slytherin!"

Kyoya groaned loudly before dropping his forehead to the table, raking his fingers harshly through his hair. He was faintly aware of Jin dishing out food onto his plate so he'd eat before their afternoon class, but for now he was content to just seethe and feel Jin's foot against his underneath the table in a form of silent solidarity and understanding.

"If it makes you feel better, the Ravenclaw house is embarrassed to death with him as Head of House," Haruhi said. Kyoya and Jin jumped in their seats, unaware that they had been joined at the table. Everyone else was there, most of them already tucking into their own lunches.

Jin pulled her foot back beneath her seat before asking, "When did you guys get here?"

"A few minutes ago," Tamaki answered, waving his own half-eaten sandwich a bit for demonstration. "We figured it would be best if Kyoya got all his frustration out of his system before interrupting."

"Thanks," Kyoya said. He stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth, embarrassed and not knowing how to move the conversation along. How had he not noticed the others showing up?

Jin, with her own lunch already eaten, decided to change the subject herself. "So the Ravenclaws are embarrassed by him?"

"Yeah," Haruhi said absently, carefully portioning out her plate so nothing touched. "I guess a seventh year tried to defend his Slytherin friend in class yesterday and got called to Professor Gag's office for a reprimanding. He's serving detention for back talking."

"Shame the quidditch team doesn't feel the same way," Hikaru and Kaoru replied. Kyoya raised an eyebrow at the rice and curry mountain range forming on their plates, but didn't press for an explanation. The twins rarely gave one anyways.

Haruhi sighed, also observing the twin's "lunch" but not bothering to comment. "I know. Most of them are Professor Gag's favorite students. He's promised to connect the older players with jobs right out of school, so they play along when he bad talks the other houses. At least most of them will be graduating soon."

"That's fine and dandy until one of them knocks me off my broom," Kyoya deadpanned. He may not outwardly show it, but he was quite nervous about the first game of the Quidditch season that was coming up shortly. Ravenclaw vs Slytherin. Because of course it was.

The atmosphere at the table took another shift at Kyoya's statement, most of his friends plastering on brave smiles despite the worry in their eyes. Mori gave his shoulder a hearty pat while Jin told him, "Don't worry too much about it. You're a great player, Kyoya, and a brilliant seeker."

"Exactly!" Tamaki chimed in cheerfully. "And even if you get injured I'm sure you'll still find a way to get the snitch!"

"I didn't say that so you could actually injure yourself!"

Kyoya raised his head off the pillow just long enough to glare at Tamaki for a full five seconds. Falling back, he continued to glare at the ceiling. At his left side, his hand throbbed painfully, sending a shockwave of hurt through the rest of Kyoya's body. Madam Abbott might have already mended the broken bones, but with students still suffering from a prank gone wrong in the sixth year's potions class yesterday, healing the many bruises covering the rest of Kyoya's body would have to wait for her next cycle around the room.

Of course, with the hospital wing so overcrowded Kyoya was only allowed two visitors at a time. Given that half of the Slytherin team was also in hospital beds scattered through the wing, Tamaki and Jin were able to claim the spots by Kyoya's side. The rest of the "Host Club" were, apparently, camping just outside the doors to ambush them once Kyoya was released.

Jin moved by Kyoya's right and he turned his head to watch her lift a goblet of water off of the bedside table. She offered it to him nonverbally and he nodded, gently lifting his head so she could slide her hand beneath it and help with the angle. Jin hadn't said much since settling beside Kyoya's hospital bed, only speaking up to thank Madam Abbott and requesting the water she was now letting Kyoya drink.

So it almost startled Kyoya into a choking fit when she suddenly said, "Professor Gag went to the Ravenclaw team's tent right before the game. He really riled the seventh years up. But it's over now. You won't ever have to play against them again."

Kyoya swallowed before giving her a firm, "Good." Jin nodded back and set the water aside. Kyoya almost stopped her from pulling her hand away from beneath his head. Almost. But he didn't.

On the other side of his bed, Tamaki let out a huge sigh and raised his hands up. At the odd angle, it took Kyoya a moment to realize his friend was making "jazz hands" in the air, shimmying his shoulders as he did. Maybe Madam Abbott would reconsider giving him privacy curtains if he let her see Tamaki's embarrassing display?

"What?" Kyoya asked instead.

"I'm just so excited to clean house after this year!" Tamaki replied, now kicking his feet in the air as well. Kyoya was already regretting asking for his glasses to be put back on his face. "No more nasty Ravenclaw team and no more Cortez!"

Tamaki finally jumped up from his chair, but Kyoya swiftly turned his head away. Given Jin's expression, Tamaki was outdoing his last excited dance number. How was he popular with the girls again? Jin caught Kyoya staring at her when she ducked her face away from their friend as well. The two momentarily held themselves in check, but quickly gave in and started laughing. Tamaki, for his part, didn't seem to notice nor care about what his friends were laughing at and continued to move on the outskirts of Kyoya's peripherals.

"Mister Suoh, if you have a bowtruckle hive in your pants I'm going to have to request you see Professor Hagrid for assistance before coming to the Hospital Wing," came Madam Abbott's voice from the end of Kyoya's bed. All three students jumped at her sudden appearance. Tamaki hastily backed away so she could walk up to Kyoya's damaged side. She stared at the black and blue lump that had once been Kyoya's left hand for maybe two seconds before pointing her wand at it and performing a few twitching motions. At once, Kyoya felt the pain fading away and more pleasant senses coming through from his fingertips. Madam Abbott drifted her wand towards Kyoya's chest, following the flow of his arm and occasionally giving her wand another twitch. The aches and pains faded further until they were no more than a nuisance in the back of Kyoya's mind.

Stopping as abruptly as she started, the nurse put away her wand and addressed Kyoya directly. "I've sped up the healing in your most damaged blood vessels, but you'll still be tender for another few days. It will last longer if you perform strenuous activities before you've fully healed. Now, get yourself to the Great Hall and put some food in your body. Don't think I didn't see how little you ate before the game. Miss Fujioka, I'm counting on you to make sure it happens."

Jin nodded and stood up, helping Kyoya slowly peel himself out of the bed at the nurse's dismissal. True to Madam Abbott's word, his left hand, hips, and upper back still felt tender and stiff. Tamaki busied himself with gathering all of Kyoya's things before joining the other two in heading for the door.

"And Mister Ootori?"

The three turned around and were shocked at the faint smile Madam Abbott was giving them.

"Magnificent catch. Don't do it again."

As if given permission to do so, the rest of Kyoya's teammates let up another cheer, most of them only capable of lifting an arm or two into the air from their own hospital beds. Kyoya ducked his head, trying to hide his blush, and pushed Jin and Tamaki towards the door. His teammates laughed all the way until they walked out, where Hikaru and Kaoru were still reenacting Kyoya's "tuck and roll" win. Kaoru paused in the middle of releasing Hikaru, who was acting as Kyoya's broom, and led the charge in greeting the three fourth years.

Kyoya's flush, if possible, worsened.

" Accio! " Jin snarled, arcing her wand forcefully towards the pillow. The inanimate object didn't move. Kyoya was impressed. He had assumed up til now that if Jin glared that hard at anything it would have no choice but to obey her. If he was a braver man, he might've said so out loud.

Jin groaned for the fiftieth time and stomped her foot on the ground. "This is so stupid! Why won't it work?"

Carefully eyeing his friend's shaky wand hand, Kyoya gently sat down on an empty desk. "Why don't we take a break? We've been practicing charms for an hour." He reached back for his school bag and grabbed a water canteen. Jin stared hard at the offered drink for a long moment before grabbing it and taking a long drink. As he waited for Jin to cool off, Kyoya set his wand aside and stretched out his hands. They were still sore from all the written assignments he'd completed the day before. Asking for five rolls of parchment for any subject was just overkill, in his opinion. Then again, maybe that was Professor Gag's aim?

"Thanks." Jin finally spoke again as she returned the water. Kyoya peeked inside and, seeing as there was still some water at the bottom, proceeded to drain the canteen. "I just… I don't get why this is so difficult! How come I can repel items but not summon them? It's the same principle!"

"Which is why we're practicing," Kyoya said. When Jin's response was to pout heavily in his direction, Kyoya continued with, "You could've stayed with Tamaki instead. I'm sure he would've appreciated your help with Transfiguration."

Jin cracked a smile, but it disappeared when she looked over at the pillow once again. Kyoya pressed forward.

"Maybe you could've helped the twins with their latest attempt to jinx Professor Gag? They were thinking about sneaking something out of Greenhouse 3 to slip in his tea. Or you could help Honey and Mori prepare for their O.W.L.S., since they were studying all through breakfast this morning. There's also Quidditch practice; I'm sure the Ravenclaw team would be happy to share the field with you. The library is always an option with that Potions essay due next week, but Cortez and his cronies have taken over our favorite table to study for their N.E.W.T.S. Maybe they'd let you take a corner?"

Kyoya kept going, trying to come up with worse and worse situations for Jin to consider. Eventually she began to giggle, and soon enough she was laughing outright. Kyoya stopped just short of suggesting she go ask for studying tips from Professor Gag and raised an eyebrow, trying not to look overly smug. When she was done, Jin finally sat down beside Kyoya. Her head dropped down to his right shoulder. He felt her sigh.

"How do you always know how to make me feel better?"

"Because you're my best friend, Dummy."

"You're the dummy, Dummy."

Kyoya felt her lift her head back up and turned to face her. She was still smiling, looking more relaxed than she'd been since they'd first been taught the accio charm. Kyoya felt a swell of pride in his chest. He'd done that. He had brought Jin's pretty smile back. Though, her smile wasn't the only thing that was… pretty. He blinked, his own thoughts catching him off guard.

Jin is… really pretty, Kyoya thought. Not that he'd never thought that before. By all means, Jin was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever known. But right now, for some reason, it felt oddly significant. Even when Kyoya realizes he's been staring for too long and Jin's smile had faded until it was almost gone, he couldn't tear his eyes away. Jin was staring back. Kyoya could almost see his reflection in her eyes…

The door burst open. Jin squeaked like a mouse, both of her hands coming up to cover her mouth. Kyoya jumped and slid as far as he could to his left, creating space between them. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough desk for that and he ended up toppling to the floor in a heap.

"I'm gonna fail! " Tamaki wailed at the top of his lungs, a handful of parchment rolls clutched in his right hand and an old Fainting Fancies box in his left. If Kyoya were to guess, inside said box was probably a collection of buttons with antenna and beetle wings still attached.

Tamaki didn't seem to notice how red his friend's faces were as he hurried inside the empty classroom. As he set his items to the side and collapsed into Jin's arms for a hug, Kyoya frantically grabbed the empty water canteen and ran out of the classroom, calling behind him that he'd return in a minute with more water. Hopefully, that would give him enough time to stop blushing like he'd just swallowed some pepper-up potion.

Jin shivered and shoved her gloved hands further into her coat pockets. Her breath fanned out in front of her face, misting in the cold air. The wind bit heartlessly at her bare cheeks. It was almost like her coat collar wasn't even there.

Looking ahead down the street, Jin could just barely see the Three Broomsticks coming into view. It was still another five minute walk, at least. Another gust of wind had Jin's eyes watering uncontrollably and she quickly brought her hands up to wipe the moisture away. She couldn't risk her eyes freezing shut.

Something soft looped its way around her neck and Jin stopped in her tracks. Kyoya had stopped as well, his eyes focused on his hands as they carefully knotted his Slytherin scarf around her neck. They were standing close enough that Jin's next exhale made Kyoya's glasses fog up just a bit. If her cheeks weren't so cold, she might've blushed.

"Kyoya, what are you doing? You're gonna freeze!"

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Kyoya pulled his hands back and turned up his own coat collar. "You forget your scarf every time we go outside, anyways. I'm sure I've developed an immunity."

"That's now how immunity works!"

"Is that so?"

"Oi!"

The two glanced further down the street where Tamaki was standing, facing them with a look of fury. The poor boy was shivering in his boots, his puffy coat making him look like a light blue marshmallow standing in the middle of the road. "Get over here so we can get inside! I'm not freezing to my death so you two can be cute!"

Kyoya let out a scoff, but started walking in Tamaki's direction. Jin followed, pretty sure that the only reason Kyoya hadn't slowed his pace down obnoxiously was because all three of them were cold. Still...

Jin carefully reached up and touched the green and white scarf. She took a deep inhale. Somehow, even though everyone used the same laundry detergent, Kyoya's clothes always smelled good. She didn't even know how to describe it. She didn't forget her scarf of purpose but… this was nice. She'd have to remember to return it tomorrow, though. Like she always did when Kyoya loaned it out to her.

Once they were level with Tamaki, he harshly looped his arms around both Jin and Kyoya's, all but dragging them along while mumbling under his breath. Something about staying behind with Mori and keeping him company while the 5th year slept off his concussion from yesterday's Quidditch game.

Yes, and then it would've just been me and Kyoya , Jin thought to herself. She felt her cheeks heat up for the first time since stepping foot outside. Why did that make her feel so happy?

"Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Go and do your stuff!"

"Win, win Slytherin! Win, win Slytherin!"

"Go Jin!"

"Get her, Ootori!"

The cheers and chanting of the crowd washed over Kyoya's ears like the rain as he frantically shook his wet bangs out of his eyes. He'd been putting off getting his hair cut for weeks now and was finally paying the price. He couldn't even risk letting go of his broom for a second to push his hair back with how fierce the wind was. Tightening his legs around his broom, Kyoya looped after Jin as best as he could.

His friend's hair was tied back in a ponytail, but whenever Kyoya caught a glimpse he saw multiple strands criss-crossed over her face. Jin's mouth was set in a firm line and Kyoya knew she was clenching her jaw. From the cold or the long game, Kyoya couldn't tell. Every so often, he caught a flash of gold somewhere just beyond Jin's reach. Jin made another swipe through the air and missed the snitch by inches. Kyoya's stomach was up in knots.

Around them, the game was still on. Kyoya could barely register that the Hufflepuff team had the quaffle and was trying to get it to the Slytherin side of the field. But after fifteen minutes of getting soaked from the storm, the ball was too slippery to handle well. Holly Ackerman, the Hufflepuff captain, just barely managed to catch the quaffle in her elbow as it fumbled out of her teammate's fingers.

The two seekers swerved around the Hufflepuff goalposts, Tamaki the only player higher up than them. The blond's hair was plastered down to his scalp, save for his bangs which had been pulled to either side of his forehead with bobby pins before the game. When this was over, Kyoya was dragging all of his friends to the Hospital Wing for an emergency trim up.

Kyoya's face was almost directly in line with the back end of Jin's broom when she veered upwards sharply. He followed, squinting heavily to spot the snitch against the dark grey background. And then he nearly went blind when a thick vein of lightning arched across the sky. Jin swerved to the left, also startled by the sudden light. Kyoya spared himself a moment to consider Haruhi, who was somewhere in the castle hopefully blocking out the storm while everyone else was out watching the game.

Now high above the field, the wind grew stronger. Kyoya pressed himself tight to his broomstick and held on for dear life as a sudden gust almost put his broom in a standstill. Above him, Kyoya watched as Jin continued to climb before somersaulting backwards and curving to the right. Even in the storm she flew as gracefully as ever. How unfair.

Kyoya went to follow, already cursing himself for letting her get even further away, when an ominous rumbling rolled overhead. He couldn't hear anything beyond the pounding rain against his ears, but Kyoya swore he heard Tamaki shouting something from far below right before it happened.

Jin gave one last lunge for the snitch just as another strike of lightning zipped across the sky. The tip of Jin's broom connected with the bright light and within a split second, she was consumed by it. Kyoya was hollering Jin's name before she even started to fall. A strong gust of wind slammed Jin and her broom into Kyoya, knocking the girl completely free and nearly doing the same to Kyoya. Without a second thought, Kyoya veered to the right and raced after Jin's falling body.

A whiff of burnt hair assaulted his nose, but Kyoya kept going. Jin's hair tie must've been charred off, because now her wet hair was whipping up past her face. He couldn't tell if her eyes were open, but she wasn't moving. No longer caring about the wind, or the game in general, Kyoya let go with one hand and tried to grab hold of Jin's robes or her hand or even her shoes. Past her head, Kyoya saw the ground approaching quickly.

No no no no no, Kyoya screamed in his head, pushing his broom to move faster. Muddled by the storm, he could faintly hear the crowd screaming with the wind. They knew he wouldn't catch her. He knew he wouldn't catch her. Kyoya stretched his arm out as far as he could, but it was no use-

"Kyoya!"

Kyoya cut his eyes briefly to the right and saw an extremely yellow blur shooting up at them from the ground. Their hair formed an upside down 'V' on their forehead.

"Tamaki!"

Tamaki was shooting up straight underneath Jin, and for a crazy moment Kyoya was scared he would accidentally skewer her. But then the blond tilted his broom and brought his arms out. Jin collapsed perfectly into the spot Tamaki had aimed for, her deadweight sending Tamaki and his broom into a spiral down to the ground, but it was enough. Kyoya met them midair and grabbed Jin around her shoulders to stop the spinning. From there, the two of them were able to gently carry Jin to the ground just beneath the Hufflepuff goalposts.

Before their feet hit the sand Madam Hooch and Kaoru were already waiting for them, Kaoru looking much more panicked than the referee who had likely seen anything and everything even remotely possible during a Quidditch match. Tamaki eased Jin's body to the ground but Kyoya held on, keeping her upper body elevated.

Madam Hooch was kneeling in front of them in a heartbeat, her bright yellow eyes scanning Jin's body while her wand tip was slowly dragged down her body. Her wand stopped at Jin's chest and her eyes zeroed in on the spot.

"Cardiac arrest," she whispered, almost as an aside. Kyoya felt his heart clench in response. Jin's head had fallen back against his shoulder during their descent. He was just now realizing that he couldn't hear her breathing.

Madam Hooch gave the spot a sharp jab with her wand. Jin's body gave a jolt from the shock and Kyoya nearly let go, also feeling the spell fizzing in his hands. She was trying to restart Jin's heart. Of course, by the time Kyoya realized that was what she was doing and started to panic, she gave one more jab of her wand and Jin sucked in a deep breath. She groaned and curled in on herself, turning her face further into Kyoya's neck.

Madam Hooch gave a firm nod and stood. "Right. I'll get her to the hospital wing. In the meantime, Ootori will need to catch the snitch to end the game and-"

A dart of gold flew under Madam Hooch's nose, making a beeline for the two seekers on the ground. It made a single loop around their heads before zipping right into the palm of Jin's hand, its wings curling back into its body. For a total of five seconds, no one said a word. Then Madam Hooch brought her wand up to her own throat.

"SonoRUS! JIN FUJIOKA CAUGHT THE SNITCH BEFORE BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING! HUFFLEPUFF WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"

It was a perfect spring day. It wasn't too hot or too cold, not obnoxiously windy… just perfect. Tamaki took in a deep breath and swore he could feel the day wash over his body like a pure spring. Now, if only he wasn't the only one who was enjoying it.

"Tamaki, if you're not going to help me study I swear I will throw you into the lake."

The blond sighed and sat up, shaking his hair to rid it of any grass that might've gotten stuck to it. "You said you'd take a break with me."

"No, I said when we were done, we could take a short break. We're not done, ergo it's not time-"

"Oi! Keep it down over there!"

Tamaki glanced over his shoulder, leaning back until he could see Hikaru and Kaoru around the tree they were all gathered at. The twins were also bent over their textbooks, Kaoru twirling a quill around his fingers while Hikaru looked like he was two seconds from slamming the book against his forehead. It was rare to see the redheads so engrossed in their studying. They got decent grades but rarely threw themselves into it. Haruhi was situated a few feet away, her books arranged in a semi-circle around her body. There were a few smears of ink on her hands that, if she wasn't careful, would migrate to her face in the next hour.

Tamaki puffed out his cheeks and returned his attention to Kyoya, asking, "Am I the only one here who is concerned about Mori and Honey?"

"No," Kyoya bit out, not even sparing Tamaki a moment to glare at him. It was like they were completely unaware of how hypocritical they were being. Every single one of them had watched as Mori and Honey studied themselves into mental breakdowns for their upcoming O.W.L.S. Jin had finally dragged them both to the hospital wing less than half an hour ago, telling the others to move to their favorite tree by the lake so they could take a break all together. Tamaki was pretty sure she didn't mean for them to keep studying.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," a new voice called out through the open air. Tamaki turned around and felt a jolt of fear shoot down his spine. It was half of the Ravenclaw's quidditch team, all the seventh years. And they don't look happy. Gillespie, the Captain, was in front of the pack and looking every bit like a beater in that moment. The two chasers behind him, Fournier and Yang, looked equally as intimidating. Tamaki noticed his friends suddenly sitting straighter.

Gillespie whistled appreciatively as they approached, looking around at the group. "Impressive spot, you guys. Well done. We'll take it from here, now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hikaru asked.

"It means 'Beat it', brats," Yang interjected with a sneer.

"Now now! No need to get hostile," Gillespie said. "This seems like a misunderstanding. See, the three of us need a nice place to study for our N.E.W.T.S. Originally we weren't too concerned about them because we were going to join professional quidditch teams after graduating, but since our team came last this year we haven't gotten any approval letters from the teams we applied for. Hence, N.E.W.T.S. So if you would be so kind as to give us your spot?"

"Why our spot?" Kyoya was leaning back, like he couldn't be bothered with the conversation. The Ravenclaws couldn't see how his hand was curled over his wand in the grass. "With the common rooms and the library and all this space on the grounds, how come you have to take this spot in particular?"

Gillespie laughed, his curly hair bouncing as he did, before he abruptly leaned down and snarled, "Because you were the biggest pains in our asses all school year. Now scram before things get uncomfortable."

"Okay, that does it!"

Tamaki's stomach dropped to his toes as Haruhi surged to her feet, her whole body radiating anger as she stared up at the Seventh years. To her credit, they also looked surprised at her outburst. Without a trace of fear, Haruhi marched up to the other Ravenclaws and spat out, "Just because Professor Gag can't buy you spots on a professional team like he promised, it doesn't mean you can take your frustrations out on anyone else!"

Gillespie sneered down at Haruhi and Tamaki stumbled to his feet as Yang pulled out his wand. But before anything else could be said, Fournier stepped forward and shoved Haruhi down to the ground.

"Keep out of it, you Mudblood c****."

~~~

Tamaki blinked open his eyes. For a moment he was confused. What was he looking at? He squinted, trying to make out any details about the changing scenery in front of him. It was hard to make out. Everything was a tan or black shade and it kept moving sideways, towards his left. It wasn't until he made out an arch in the corner of his vision that Tamaki realized he was staring at the ceiling of a hallway. But instead of feeling proud for figuring it out, he just became more confused. When had he come inside? And why was the ceiling moving? Realizing he must be lying on his back somehow, Tamaki tried to shift so he could sit up but found he couldn't. He was really tired actually. And lightheaded. And a bit short of breath. He sucked in a deep breath and his vision swam, forcing him to shut his eyes.

A few seconds later, Tamaki opened them again at the sound of a door hinge squeaking. He heard a retching noise and managed to turn his head to the right. Gillespie was being ushered along by someone Tamaki didn't recognize, a steel bucket in the Ravenclaw's arms. A second later and he vomited a mouthful of slugs into the bucket.

Still feeling a bit queasy himself, Tamaki turned back towards the ceiling. It was then that he realized a black fuzzy mass towards his left. It was a great, shaggy beard. Hagrid. Tamaki smiled up at the Professor, but he seemed to be looking elsewhere and didn't notice.

Tamaki felt his body being shifted, prompting another wave of nausea and making him close his eyes in response. He was being lowered down onto something soft that supported his whole body, Hagrid withdrawing his arms from underneath once he was settled in. The nausea faded and Tamaki, for a third time, opened his eyes to look around.

To his shock, Honey's face was directly in view, the older boy leaning over Tamaki's body. He kept repeating Tamaki's name, though he sounded much further away than he was. Tamaki also had words to say, but he couldn't find the air to make them. What was Honey doing there? He was supposed to be in the Hospital Wing…

Madam Abbott bustled up to Tamaki's other side. Oh, he thought absently. I'm also in the Hospital Wing.

She moved her wand across Tamaki's face and his vision cleared dramatically. He sucked in a deep breath and, to his great relief, felt no nausea to accompany it. Unfortunately, that was when the pain became apparent. He ached throughout his whole body, especially the back of his head. A groan escaped from his lips and Mori, Jin and Kyoya joined Honey at his bedside.

"Where," Tamaki started before lapsing into a coughing fit. His mouth was dry and his tongue felt like it weighed fifty pounds. He sounded horrible.

Thankfully, Kyoya understood what Tamaki was trying to ask and quickly answered, "Everyone else is fine. They got hit by a few jinks but it's being sorted out."

"Did you recognize what Mr. Suoh was hit with?" Madam Abbott asked.

Kyoya shook his head. "There was too much shouting, but whatever it was hit him in the chest and threw him backwards. He hit his head on a rock."

Well, that explained his head and body pain. Madam Abbott hummed and pulled back. "I'll leave Mr. Suoh to rest then. If another symptom shows up, alert me." As she walked off, two counteractive emotions crashed into each other in Tamaki's chest. If she was walking away, he must be okay. But if she was walking away, that meant the others were worse. He went to shift his weight onto an elbow, a precursor to sitting up, but immediately found eight hands pushing him flat against the mattress.

"Tama-chan, you have to lay down."

"Try to get up again and we'll body bind you, I swear!"

Tamaki sighed, momentarily beaten, but aimed his best pleading eyes up at his friends anyways. Even if Jin was strong enough to resist them, he might be able to weasel some information out of them this way. If the others were hurt, he wanted to know.

It took fifteen seconds before Kyoya groaned, "They're all fine , Tamaki. Hikaru was hit with a confusion hex and Kaoru's already been freed of his body bind. Haruhi-"

"I'm here!"

Tamaki swung his head to the right, already feeling a big smile spread across his face at Haruhi's voice. She had come to see him! She-

She was bald.

Where once a full head of thick, beautiful brown hair had been was now a buzzed scalp. Otherwise, Haruhi looked fine. But Tamaki could not tear his eyes off of the curse's aftereffects. Fournier had called her those horrible names and she lost all her hair? Tamaki felt the sudden urge to use the stinging jinx again. Regardless of all the medical staff watching.

Before he could try to get up again, though, Tamaki heard the doors to the Hospital Wing burst open, accompanied by a loud, unfortunately recognizable voice.

"Where are they? I want to see what they did to my students!"

Tamaki shut his eyes, not wanting to see the expression on Professor Gag's face when he got to them. By his sides, he felt his friends stiffen up. Even Haruhi grabbed onto his arm, her hand shaking a bit. Out of them all, she was the only one the professor could legally expel from Hogwarts. Tamaki felt bile rise up in his throat.

"Prof-" Gillespie gurgled and vomited once again. Tamaki heard the squeak of the professor's shoes on the tile as he ran over to check up on his student. Where had Hagrid gone? Had he gone to get the other heads of houses?

"Slugs, Tarantallegra , and- oh my god! What happened to Fournier?"

"It would seem your student was hit with three spells at once. The stinging jinx hit his chest which caused the swelling, but it would appear he was hit with both the babbling curse and the langlock spell. With his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth, any babbling he could manage caused a strain on his jaw. We've had to immobilize him to help with the excess irritation."

"I see," Professor Gagliardi said, his tone the coldest Tamaki had ever heard. "And those responsible?"

"It was them! Those students over there!" Yang. "Those Japs! They attacked us! We just wanted to study!"

"Hush, Mr. Yang! This is a hospital!"

But the damage had already been done. Tamaki, unable to ignore the situation any longer, opened his eyes. He couldn't see much with everyone standing around him, but when they started shouting at the professor to "leave them alone" he knew it couldn't be anything good. Before he could ask, however, Professor Gag was standing at the end of Tamaki's hospital bed with his hands wrapped around the twin's arms. Hikaru looked like he was on the brink of collapsing and Kaoru was trying to free himself from the professor's hand, but he was holding on tight.

His dark eyes found Tamaki's and he snarled, "Get him out of that bed. Stand in a line."

"Professor! What are you doing! Those boys should be in their beds-"

"They are being punished for their actions! Stay out of this!"

"Absolutely not!" Madam Abbott marched over, her wand at her side. "Let them go, now!"

"Fine, I suppose we're doing this now." The professor released the twins towards the rest of Tamaki's friends who quickly pulled the boys close. Hikaru was sat down by Tamaki's legs. Tamaki pushed himself to sit up even though his head was starting to hurt again.

"Never have I seen such a terrible, unprovoked attack on my students! Never! I hope you understand how serious this is! This is wasted time for them to be studying for their N.E.W.T.S. that will determine their future outside of this school! Since none of you seem to understand the importance of school and you have begun impeding other students from learning, it's only fitting that you are expelled-"

"HOLD IT RIGH' THERE!"

Tamaki was nearly flung from his bed at the roar coming from the front of the wing. He peeked between Jin and Kyoya and saw Hagrid charging into the room, looking just as furious as Professor Gag and much more intimidating. Yet all Tamaki could feel was hope as the large man thundered up to his bed.

"These students did nothin' wrong, Professor. I was heading up to the castle when I heard your students harassin' Mr. Suoh and his friends. Your students pushed the fight and called Ms. Fujioka… I can't even say it, but it more than rightly-"

"Enough."

Compared to how loudly the other two professors had entered the hospital wing, Headmistress McGonagall might as well have not been there. But as soon as her voice called out the room went quiet. With calm, measured steps, the headmistress walked in towards the crowd. Stopping when she was level with Gillespie's bed, she looked at the three seventh years with ice in her gaze.

"Fifty points will be taken from Mr. Gillespie, Mr. Fang, and Mr. Fournier for harassment, endangering a fellow student's life, and disrespecting their house with their behavior. I am incredibly disappointed in the three of you." McGonagall's voice held no room for disagreement, and the Ravenclaws remained quiet as she doled out the punishment. Tamaki didn't get the chance to feel vindicated before she turned her sights to them.

"For the rest of those who participated in this, ten points will be taken each. While your intentions were noble in defending your friend and standing your ground, you all still participated in a fight that brought most of you into the hospital. I expect better of you in the future."

Tamaki nodded solemnly, unable to even feel proud at how Hufflepuff was now in the lead for the House Cup.

"H-headmistress. Please reconsider." Gagliardi looked like he was about to be fed to the Giant Squid. "Fifty points each? That seems a little outlandish for a first time offence."

"It is not the first time, Professor. Ever since you came to this school, the Ravenclaw house has become a cesspool of egotistical, pompous students whom you have managed to convince are better than their fellow students. If that was your aim, then you have so achieved it. However, egotism has no place in Hogwarts. We are one school with one goal: to teach our students to become bright and functioning members of the Wizarding World. I'm afraid book intellect can only get one so far if they are unwilling to work with and respect those around them. If you, Professor Gagliardi, can not see the importance in that, then perhaps we need to reevaluate your place as a member of my staff. Please, accompany me to my office."

Tamaki had never seen someone's face go from white to red and back to white so quickly. Professor Gag was just asking for an aneurism at that point. But Headmistress McGonagall's order had been rather clear, leaving him no other option than to follow her out into the hallway.

Once he was gone, Tamaki let out a long breath and eased himself back down onto the bed. His friends were quick to look down at him, but he lazily waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm gonna take a nap so when I wake up I can relive this moment again. But if it's all the same to you, I'm gonna wait for tomorrow to continue studying."

The train station at Hogsmeade was still crowded with students half an hour after people started boarding. Jin was grinning ear to ear even as she was jostled by the flow of students. Beside her, Kyoya was cursing under his breath as he tried to maneuver two trunks at once, hers and his. Jin glanced behind her and saw Mori and Hikaru also struggling a bit with their extra load. Tamaki was being kind and occasionally helping Mori when one of the trunks got caught on a crack in the cement while Kaoru probably would've sat on top of his school trunk if he thought he could've gotten away with it. Jin could see in Hikaru's eyes that, if he'd known Hufflepuff would win the House Cup this year, he wouldn't have devised the bet in the first place.

With a snicker, she faced front again and hurried to the next door of the train, holding it open for her friends. Kyoya glared at her as he passed by, but she only smiled brighter. If he hadn't wanted to carry her things, then he should've considered not losing.

The seven of them managed to make it to an empty cabin without much trouble after that. Even though Hikaru looked ready to drop kick his brother when he suggested next year the winners should have their pets carried to the train as well as their other luggage. Jin shook her head and, taking some pity on her friend, helped Kyoya put her trunk in the storage compartment.

Once the trunks were put away, everyone's mood took a turn for the better. After all, it wasn't every year that the worst teacher at school got fired. According to Haruhi, most of Ravenclaw tower had dissolved into a big party after Gagliardi gave them the news.

"You know…" Hikaru drawled as the last stragglers rushed past their cabin's doors. "This is a really big thing to happen. I'm not sure we'll be able to celebrate it properly before we get back to London."

"Properly?" Tamaki asked, clearly confused. Jin understood what he was thinking. When either of the twins spoke slowly like that, they were bound to be building up a plan. Whether it was a good plan remained to be seen. Though at this point, Jin was starting to have to worry about the legality of some of the twins' plans before even considering whether they would work.

"Yeah! I mean, we've only got a few hours together before we separate for the summer again," Kaoru picked up. "And Honey and Mori are going to start freaking out about their O.W.L.S. before school picks up again. It might be a good idea to meet up a little earlier this summer."

"Oh, please. Just say you want to hang out with us and move on."

Hikaru and Kaoru grinned at Jin's statement, throwing an arm around each other's shoulders before saying, "If you insist! We want to watch the Quidditch World Cup with you all this summer if Japan makes it to the finals!"

"Yay!" Honey cheered, bouncing in his seat. The other boys started gossiping amongst themselves, talking about how the Japan team was said to be one of the best this coming season. Jin was a bit sad to have to cut off the celebration.

"That sounds cool, guys. But there's no way Haruhi and I could afford-"

"We'll cover you," Kyoya cut in. His eyes were shining with excitement for their plans. But it did surprise Jin how quickly he'd made that promise. Before she could think about it much longer, Hikaru and Kaoru were already talking about how, since it was their plan, they could cover Haruhi's ticket while Kyoya could cover for Jin. Most of the boy's families were usually invited out to watch the final or sometimes gifted tickets, so it would be remarkably easy to get a hold of them if the need surfaced. Jin barely got out another "but-" when Kyoya took a hold of her hand.

"If you can't come, none of us would go either. We want you there so we will make it happen."

Now, Jin knew that when Kyoya said 'you' he was talking about both her and Haruhi. But for a split second her brain considered what it might mean if he was talking just about her and him. If Kyoya said that he wouldn't go somewhere if she wasn't there. It made her feel wanted and… liked. But not in the way she knew her friends liked her. This felt deeper. And that's when a thought crossed her mind out of the blue.

What would Kyoya do if I kissed him right now?

"Oh no, you don't!"

Jin jumped in place, snatching her hands and arms back to her body like a child getting caught with the cookie jar. For a horrifying second, she thought Haruhi had read her face and realized exactly what Jin had been thinking. It wouldn't have been the first time. But to her great relief, Haruhi was merely glaring at the twins and saying they'd hold this ticket "favor" over her head for the rest of their lives if she allowed it.

The twins laughed and began arguing good naturedly with Haruhi. Jin almost felt like she was watching the scene through a window, feeling oddly disconnected as Tamaki jumped in to the argument. In her lap, she gently clasped her hands together. Her left hand still felt warm from when Kyoya had held it. She risked another glance at her friend as he watched the chaos in amusement. When her stomach and heart swapped places, she looked away.

Oh, what have I gotten myself into?