Thank you for reading! Full Summary:
As Albus and Kaori enter their sixth year, they can't help but become close friends. But how have they never met before? As more and more of their life is shared, how can they support each other before both of them fall apart?
Albus Severus Potter, sixth year at Hogwarts, meandered down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, looking for any empty compartments. He usually sat with his cousins, but he had been feeling a headache coming on for a while and honestly couldn't deal with his cousins' noise and banter.
Finally reaching the end of the row, he reached the last compartment, which people rarely sat in because the door was a bit creaky and there was a crack on the window. Not that it mattered to him- it honestly wasn't that noticeable. Albus pulled open the door and sat down on one of the seats, taking the liberty to lay out across it, seeing as how he was alone.
He heard the creak of the door sliding open and looked up to see a girl standing in the threshold, a cat's basket in one hand and an owl's cage in the other.
"Do you mind if I join you? I was running late and everywhere else is full," she asked quietly, her blue eyes hopeful.
"No problem." Al gestured to the opposite seat and leaned his head back against the side of the compartment.
"Thank you so much!" She stepped in, placed her cage and basket on the ground and stretched out in a similar way to Albus, only facing opposite the door so they could hold better conversation.
They sat in silence for a moment, but neither of them seemed uncomfortable with that. Maybe a few minutes passed before the girl looked over at Albus and asked,
"What's your name?"
He was a bit taken aback by the question. Nearly everybody at Hogwarts knew who he was- son of the chosen one, Harry Potter. And they were already in their later years- surely anybody who followed quidditch at school would at least recognize him.
"Albus Severus Potter." He told her. "Gryffindor."
"Oh! I thought I recognized you from somewhere. I always hear your name, and I sort of remember you from the sorting- I'm a muggleborn, so I was a bit disheveled then... I thought you wore glasses?"
Al blinked his green eyes and shrugged. "Contacts."
"Ah. So, you're our house seeker. Sounds like hard work, " she continued.
"Well, you know how that goes."
"Our keeper graduated last year, right? I'm thinking about trying out for his position."
Albus just stared at her. How had he never seen her before? How could he not recognize her? She was obviously in his house. Al would have remembered her- she was very pretty.
"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" Had she even told him her name?
"I didn't," the girl laughed, "But it's Kaori Belinda Travers. My mum's Japanese, and my dad's English, so I have a Japanese first name, and an English middle and last name." (A/N- If you don't know how to pronounce her name, it's pronounced like Ky-oree. It's spelled like Kay-oree, but I like the way that Ky-oree sounds.)
Al continued staring. Although she was sitting, he could tell that she was only a bit shorter than himself. Her black hair came halfway down her back, and even though it was shiny, it was tangled and a bit unruly. Her skin was light, but not pale. Her blue eyes must have been her father's, but he could see that they were a more Asian shape.
"Speak any Japanese?"
"Anata wa nani o kikitai ka?"
"Sorry?"
"What would you like to hear?" she translated.
Al blushed a bit. "Oh. Errm... I'm not exactly sure."
"Watashi wa seikaku ni wakaranai.I'm not exactly sure. " Kaori joked, smiling before turning her head to the animals on the ground. "That's Jirou," She told him, indicating the black cat. "It means second son, because I got him after Jameson," Kaori indicated the owl. "My dad named him, but I mostly call him James."
"My older brother is named James," Al stated.
"Maybe they'll get on well, then."
Al laughed out loud. "Yeah, maybe. Though it seems like most owls have it out for him. That's why he's always making me send letters for him."
"Has he tried cats?" Kaori inquired, perking up. "My dad is a muggle veterinarian. He's always having to take animals to the shelter after he fixes them up and people decided they don't want them anymore."
"No, I don't think he has. Maybe you could set him up with something."
Kaori grinned back. "Maybe." She glanced out the window and recognized the scenery. "We're getting close. We should put our robes on."
"Yeah..." Al trailed off.
"Is there something on my face or something?" Kaori asked, pulling her robe over her clothes.
"What?"
"Well, I mean, you're kind of staring and I was wondering if there was maybe something on my face..."
Al's face went bright red. "O-oh... yeah, uh, there's a bit of dirt right around here," he stammered, pointing to his own jaw.
Kaori used her robe sleeve, which was too long for her, and wiped away said 'dirt.' "Got it?"
"Yeah, perfect."
After disembarking the train at the Hogsmeade station, Kaori went off to find a carriage. Al grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back towards him.
"Hey, why don't you ride up with me and my cousins?"
Kaori just looked back at him curiously, before nodding slowly. He smiled down at her and took Jirou's basket from her, giving her a free hand.
"Oh... thanks?" She said it was though it were a question. Kaori heard whispers from behind her, and turned to see several girls looking her direction and talking in hushed tones. She shot them a glare, and they immediately turned the other direction.
"Just ignore them," Al insisted. "Some of the girls are a bit... obsessive to say the least."
"It's alright, Albus. I'm good at ignoring what people say."
"Al." He said suddenly, as they neared the carriages.
"Pardon?"
"Call me Al. Everybody else does- Albus is a bit of a mouthful," Al said sheepishly, running the hand that was holding Jirou through his hair.
"Oh. Sure, of course!"
Al smiled at her. She seemed genuinely kind and sweet. He wondered if maybe they could be friends...
"Hey, Al! Where were you on the train?" A similar-looking boy called to him from a carriage, sitting next to a red-haired boy and across from a red-haired girl.
"Couldn't stand to listen to you guys- went and sat in the back."
James noticed the basket that his brother was carrying, then the girl standing behind him. "And who is this?"
Al and Kaori climbed into the carriage, next to the girl with red hair.
"This is Kaori- she's in my year. Kaori, that's Rose, my cousin, she's in our year. And then he," Al pointed at the boy with red hair, "is Fred Weasley II, another cousin, seventh year. Then there's James, my brother, seventh year also."
Kaori blushed and let her hair fall in her face as she offered a shy hello to the group.
"No need to be shy," James assured her, smirking and leaning back into the carriage seat. "We don't bite."
Rose peered over Albus and at the girl sitting at the opposite side of the carriage, but didn't say anything. Fred gave Al a seemingly knowing look, raising an eyebrow and grinning. This made Kaori even more nervous- she felt like she was on display.
Al was a bit worried. 'She seemed much more confident on the train, when it was just the two of us...'
"Your hair matches," James interjected suddenly.
Kaori snapped her head up. "Sorry, what?"
"You and Al. You both have messy black hair. Only difference is, it works on you," James laughed. Al crossed his arms and self-consciously brought a hand to his disheveled hair.
"Shut up, James."
The carriage arrived by the gates of the castle, and they all stepped off, though James now had Jirou's cage, while Al insisted on carrying James (the owl, that is). Kaori felt a bit guilty, but Rose assured her that that was just their nature.
Jirou had taken a liking to James, gently stretching his paw out of the basket in an attempt to play with him. Jameson, however, had practically broken out of his cage trying to get a swipe at him.
"I never thought I would like cats... most animals hate me..." James muttered, rubbing Jirou under the ears, making him purr.
"I can set you up with one," Kaori exclaimed, smiling. "My dad would be happy to help."
"Really?" James looked hopeful as Kaori nodded. He threw an arm over her shoulder. "I like you, Kaori. You can stick around."
"Glad to hear it," the girl laughed, loosening up. Albus smiled at her- he really hoped she would stick around...
After the feast, back in the common room, Rose asked Kaori if she had a roommate for the year, and Kaori responded with a no. And that settled it- they would be rooming together.
"Don't you have anybody else you'd rather share your dorm with?" Kaori asked, nervously. "I wouldn't want you to put anybody off..."
Rose shrugged. "I don't really have that many close friends. I know people, sure, but I don't really talk to them. I feel like I could get used to you."
Kaori blinked her blue eyes at her, then smiled a bit. "Let's go, then."
Back in the boys' dorms, Al sat in the dorm which he shared with both James and Fred. There were some three-bed rooms.
"So, Al, you and Kaori?" James pressed, lying on his stomach on his red comforter.
Al blushed. "Shove off, James. We only just met."
"Still, mate, you can't ignore the fact that she's gorgeous. She's your type, too."
"I don't have a type..." the black-haired boy muttered, crossing his arms. He had never been in a relationship before, so how would they know?
"I see you two together by the Winter Ball," Fred hedged, placing a few things from his trunk into the wooden dresser beside his four-poster.
"Wait just a-"
James interrupted with his own prediction. "No, I see them going together as friends. I put them as a couple... after the spring holidays."
"We're just friends!" Al cried. "We hardly even know each other."
"That can change..."
The next day for breakfast, Rose and Kaori were down in the great hall before the boys. They had already finished eating when the three of them wandered in.
"How can you stand being up so early on the first day?" James asked, all but throwing himself down on the bench across from them. "Barking mad..." he muttered, not thinking they would hear them.
Rose grabbed one of her textbooks and brought it down on James's arm, making him wince. Al was quietly chewing on a croissant, Fred was smearing jam onto a piece of toast, and Kaori was gazing off into space.
"Oi, Kaori! Kai!" The black haired girl jumped in surprise.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"I said we're going to be late for divination. Come on," Al said, standing from the opposite side. "You too, Rose."
"Did you call me Kai?" Kaori asked as they made their way up the stairs that would take them to the divination classroom.
Al looked down at his shoes. "Yeah. I just figured you wouldn't really mind... I won't call you that again if it bothers you."
"I don't mind."
They heard Rose snicker beside them, and they both shot her a glare as they got to the classroom. The three of them sat at one of the round tables together, preparing themselves for, arguably, the most useless class at Hogwarts.
An aged and graying Trelawny slowly made her way to the front of the classroom, though it looked as though she might topple over at any second.
"How have you been in our classes all these years and we haven't seen you?" Rose asked. Kaori stared down at her hands, her mouth opening and closing as though she couldn't figure out exactly what to say, but she didn't have to respond just yet because Trelawny began to speak.
She went on for the entire time about seeing into the beyond and what they would be doing that year, and how sixth year curriculum was entirely partner based. Trelawny then split the class into partners: Kaori and Al were together, and Rose ended up with Scorpius, who, despite what most people think, was in Gryffindor.
When Rose received this news, she dropped her head onto the table, and Kaori looked to Al for background.
"They 'hate' each other," Al explained, using air quotes around the word 'hate.' "But we all know that they're going to end up getting married one day and-"
"Shove a sock in it, Albus Severus!" Rose yelled at him, jerking her head up.
"Calm down, Rosie," Al teased, ruffling Rose's hair.
"I hate it. When. You. Call. Me. Rosie."
"I know, Rosie," he said deliberately.
Papers were levitated onto their desks, containing a list of necessary materials and an outline of the curriculum. Al and Rose began reading theirs, while Kaori glanced at it for only a second before reaching into her bag and pulling out a glasses case, putting them on, and resuming reading.
Rose piped up, "You wear glasses?"
Kaori pursed her lips. "Only for reading. And I don't really like them." The lenses were very large, the rims thick. It was what many muggles might call 'hipster glasses.'
"They make you look... different..." Rose decided.
"I think they look cute." He noticed Kaori blush deep red, as well as Rose's questioning stare. "What are you looking at me like that for?"
So how's that for a start? It'll get better, I promise, once they know each other a bit more.
From here on, the story will likely be told from Kaori's point of view, occasionally Albus's. The next chapter gets a bit more revealing, so you better review if you want it ;) At least five would be lovely...
Truly yours,
~ToTrulyBe