A/N: YES! I am the first person to write a Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and Harry Potter crossover! I feel like I have succeeded in something!
So this is my first time writing for either of these fandoms. Which is rather sad, considering I've been a Potterhead since before I even knew what fandoms were. This is a oneshot - another big accomplishment for me, since it seems like everytime I go to write a oneshot I end up with a multichap - but if enough people like this story I may write more of this crossover. It was rather fun! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Free!, Harry Potter, or the song quoted at the end of the story.
The Room of Requirement
A Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and Harry Potter Crossover
Written by Elodie Kumari
Nanase Haruka felt like he was dying.
It had been a week since he last went swimming.
It wasn't like he hadn't tried. He had managed to wheedle the password to the prefect's bathroom from his friend Makoto two days ago, but of course he had run into Peeves as he was sneaking down there and he'd had to skedaddle before Filch showed up. The Black Lake was too cold, but Haru was getting desperate enough to consider dealing with the possible resulting pneumonia, as well as risk attack from the giant squid, the merpeople, and/or the grindylows that dwelt in the lake's depths. Hagrid had already had to save him – twice - from the pod of kappas the gamekeeper was keeping in a tank at his hut for his Care of Magical Creatures lessons; every time Haru saw the stupid tank, he automatically stripped down to the swimsuit he always wore beneath his robes and dove in, forgetting that water demons thirsting for his blood were waiting eagerly for him. Haru wondered if his half-giant professor had stocked up on cucumbers with his name carved on them for the next class, since throwing those into the water were the only way of convincing the kappas not to devour him.
As the young wizard roamed around the seventh floor corridor, pulling at his green-and-silver necktie in irritation, he wondered for the millionth time why he had decided to move to the UK and attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry instead of one of the wizarding schools closer to his home country of Japan. Then again, even if he had gone to a different school, he doubted his swimming situation would have been any different: A) He was sure no one but himself even thought about swimming with all the magic stuff going on around them, and B) even if there was a place for him to swim, he would be hard-pressed to find the time with all the homework his professors were giving him. He had twelve inches of Transfiguration homework from McGonagall, fourteen inches on antidotes for Snape, and fourteen more inches on Goblin Rebellions for Binns; that was almost three feet of parchment right there! Plus he had to practice Vanishing Spells for Flitwick, do an oral project on kappas for Hagrid, start a dream diary for Trelawny (the only reason he was taking Divination was because Mikoshiba and Gou, his friends in Gryffindor, had convinced him and Makoto to take it with them), fill out a constellation chart for Astronomy, and practice Shield Charms for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Amakata. He'd only just finished his first week back at Hogwarts, and he was already behind on his studies. In fact, the only person in his class who seemed to be on top of things was his Ravenclaw friend, Rei. Of course, Haru was in his O.W.L. year, which meant he had exams coming in the spring; exams that would determine his future as a wizard. He should be me more worried about that, but all he could think about was swimming. Five years he'd been at Hogwarts, but he still hadn't found a way to swim during his free time. It was enough to drive him mad.
Haru supposed his predicament would have been made slightly if he wasn't the only one of his friends in his house. The only other people he had ever been really close to in Slytherin was Gou's brother, Matsuoka Rin, and his lackey Nitori Aiichiro, but that was in the past; Rin only considered Haru a rival now, and Nitori did whatever Rin told him to. Haru's other childhood friends were in different houses: Hazuki Nagisa and Haru's best friend Tachibana Makoto were in Hufflepuff, the former being a fourth year and the latter being a fifth year as well as a Prefect; in Gryffindor was Seijuro Mikoshiba, a sixth year, and his girlfriend Matsuoka Gou, a fourth year (there'd been quite an uproar about Rin and Gou, two siblings, being split between Gryffindor and Slytherin); and Ryugazaki Rei was, of course, a fourth-year Ravenclaw. At that moment, Haru couldn't help but be jealous of his younger friends, who had neither O.W.L.S. nor N.E.W.T.S. to worry about for another year. Mikoshiba had offered to help both Haru and Makoto prepare for the O.W.L.S. exams, seeing as he had done them last year, but while Makoto had gratefully agreed, Haru just couldn't keep his mind on his studies.
The irritated Slytherin boy reached a sunlit corridor and blinked as the light hit his eyes. At this moment, his friends were all probably either in their Common Rooms studying or else spending time outside. Mikoshiba was probably drilling the Gryffindor Quidditch team for their opening match against Slytherin in a couple of weeks. That would prove to be an interesting match, Haru thought, since Gou and Rin would play as opposing Seekers. Rin and Aiichiro, who was Slytherin's Keeper, were probably out practicing as well; unlike Haru, Rin had found a distraction from his swimming deprivation through Quidditch. Mako and Nagisa were probably outside as well; the former studying diligently while the latter did Merlin knew whatever came to his mind. Maybe they had managed to drag Rei out of the library to join them as well. Or their friend Sasabe Goro had snuck out from under the watchful eyes of his boss, Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks, to sneak them some butterbeer from Hogsmeade. Or they were visiting Hagrid. Or maybe they were just sitting by the lake side, enjoying the nice weather while it was still around…
Haru growled in irritation and began to anxiously pace the corridor he was in. He shouldn't have thought about the lake. That only made him think about swimming again. If only there was a place I could swim, he thought desperately, his hand still clutching his necktie. That's all I need: somewhere I could be one with the water… I just want a place where I can swim…
A strange grinding noise made Haruka stop in his tracks. It was a low grumble, like stones being shifted or rubbed together. Having now lived for five years in the magical world, Haru recognized the sound of magic when it voiced its presence, but he could not tell if this magic meant ill or well. Turning slowly towards the sound, Haru's eyes widened as he saw a pair of wooden double doors seem to sprout out of what was just seconds before a plain stone wall. A pair of silver knobs popped out of the wood and the grinding stopped, the doors facing Haru with welcoming innocence as he stared at them. The young wizard was hesitant to approach – after five years, he knew very well that this castle had many tricks up its sleeve, some of them quite nasty (he was not at all referring to an accident with the Whomping Willow that included Nagisa, Mako's pet cat, and one of Gou's famous Jelly-Legs Jinxes) – but something in his gut told him that the door had appeared for him. Already suspecting what he might find inside this new room, Haru pulled out his wand (for safety measures), stepped forward, took the silver doorknobs in his hands, and pulled them open with a jerk…
And found himself standing in front of a miracle.
It was an indoor pool. It was almost identical to the one in the swim club he had gone to as a kid, back when he, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin were all swimming buddies, before Haru had ever even heard of Hogwarts. There still wasn't electricity, since it didn't work with all the magic around the place, and the windows were replaced by several torches that gave the room a surprising amount of light, along with a candle chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The pool had eight lanes, the black lines at the bottom marking them since the floating barriers had been removed, and the water sparkled and shimmered in the light of the torches. Haru had seen many strange and magical things in the last five years, but this one took the cake. His cerulean blue eyes were shimmering as well, his heart skipping a beat as he stared at the pool's surface in complete shock and awe.
Water.
Suddenly, every rational thought Haru possessed fled his mind. He raced into the room, not even bothering to shut the door behind him. He was so eager to get in the water, he almost forgot to take off his clothes first. Shoving his wand back into his pocket, he yanked off his robes, tore off his tie and white shirt, kicked off his shoes and socks, and practically jumped out of his pants to dive into the water.
It was the best feeling in the entire world, like a big glass of pumpkin juice after a hot day on the grounds or a breath of fresh air after being stuck in the stuffy classrooms, but ten times better. Heck, even that was a gross understatement. Haru felt as though he had finally released his true self, his stress about O.W.L.S. and homework assignments and everything else peeling off like dead skin. It was as though the water was purifying him, embracing him, welcoming him home and carrying away all of his worries. He kicked himself forward, feeling his muscles stretch and flex gratefully as his arms cut through the water, carving an opening and thrusting himself through it, the cool, chlorinated liquid caressing his skin and combing through his hair. Finally, there were no kappas, mermaids, grindylows, or giant squids to disturb him: just him and the water, accepting and respecting one another, connected by a bond that went deep into his soul. Haru turned onto his back and allowed the water to gently push him up to the surface so that he floated atop of it, his eyes dancing in the firelight as he let out a relieved sigh, a smile of contentment melting his usually bored and sulky expression. Merlin's beard, he had missed this!
The sound of laughter brought Haru out of his blissful state, and he looked up to see his friends standing at the edge of the pool, Gou and Mikoshiba still in the Quidditch uniforms with their brooms slung over their shoulders and Rei still carrying his usual stack of books. Nagisa bore a cheeky grin on his face, and Makoto, who was standing at the forefront of the group, was smiling knowingly at his Slytherin friend.
"Really, Haru," he chuckled. "After all this time?"
"Always," Haru replied simply. Then he sunk beneath the surface and joined with the water once more.
Welcoooooooooooooooooome all of you to Hogwarts!
I welcome all of you to school!
Did you know that here at Hogwarts,
We've got a hidden swimming pool?
~ Dylan Saunders as Albus Dumbledore in "Get Back to Hogwarts" from A Very Potter Musical by Starkid
A/N: OH YES I DID! I just had to slip Snape's famous line in there, it was too perfect! Sorry if that was too cheesy, but I couldn't resist.
So there you have it! I guess I've just been in a Harry Potter mood since the recent announcement of the Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them movie coming up (EEP!). SO FREAKING HAPPY. That's actually where I got the thing about the kappas is that book. (For those of you who don't know, JK Rowling wrote and printed a special edition for FBAWTFT for muggles to read). The thing about the cucumbers is legit too!
Anyway, if you couldn't get it all, I'll break down how I included the Free! characters into the Harry Potter universe:
Nanase Haruka: Fifth Year, Slytherin
Tachibana Makoto: Fifth Year, Hufflepuff (Badger pride, yo!), Prefect
Hazaki Nagisi: Fourth Year, Hufflepuff
Ryugazaki Rei: Fourth Year, Ravenclaw
Matsuoka Rin: Fifth Year, Slytherin, Quidditch Seeker
Nitori Aiichiro: Fourth Year, Slytherin, Quidditch Keeper
Seijuro Mikoshiba: Sixth Year, Gryffindor, Quidditch Chaser and Captain
Matsuoka Gou: Fourth Year, Gryffindor, Quidditch Seeker
Amakata Miho: Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts
Sasabe Goro: Bartender at the Three Broomsticks
So what do you guys think? Did I sort them right? Haru was darn hard to place, I kept going between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Same for Makoto, I almost put him in Ravenclaw, too, but his nature seemed more Hufflepuff to me. Everyone else was pretty easy, though I only stuck Nitori in Slytherin because that was where Rin was. I wasn't sure about Ama-chan being the DADA prof either, I honestly see her teaching something more like Muggle Studies or something, but seriously, if someone like Quirrell could make it in that position (ignoring the fact that Voldemort was sticking out of his skull), I think Ama-chan would do just fine. Better than Umbridge, anyway. Grrr, Umbridge...
Anyway, I would love to hear you readers' thoughts! Please leave a nice little review in the box down there letting me know your opinion!
