Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!

...

...

Adie bounced the ball against the floor a couple of times before throwing it into the basket aware that someone was watching her. Temporarily ignoring it she picked up the ball again and twirled it on her finger as she walked back to her spot.

"We won't show you any mercy just because you're a girl," Meguro Masami said stopping in front of her. Seeing that he was taller than her she had to look up slightly to get a look at him, he looked rough with his dreadlocks and an unusual amount of muscles. Yet, she would bet he was kinder than he would appear.

"I would be disappointed if you did," Adie said catching the ball she had been twirling on her finger.

"We'll win," he said confidently.

"You'll never know the results until the end of the match," Adie answered calmly. "Good luck."

He gave her a strange look before turning to go back to his team, she noticed the others from his team looking at her as well with a slightly wary look on their faces.

"What did he want?" Hyuga demanded when she joined the others at the bench.

"Nothing," Adie shrugged and picked up the water bottle from the floor next to where she was sitting and took a sip.

The silence stretched for a few long seconds before Riko cleared her voice and started to go over the game plan one more time.

"Like I said earlier this game will be played by Adie-san and the second years only," Riko said. "Kuroko and Kagami will rest this match."

Kagami was openly sulking, but Kuroko had a blank face on as his listened.

...

"Focus!" Adie called out before they entered the court and they looked at her a little started. She levelled them with a serious look and noticed the relaxed shoulders and confidence in their eyes. "Remember what I said earlier! Don't underestimate them! Confidence is good, but don't get arrogant!"

"Adie is right!" Teppei said nodding in agreement. "Let's have some fun!"

"Yes!" the others cheered and Adie noticed the determined look in their eyes.

...

Adie cursed silently as she missed the pass from Hyuga and rushed after the Nakamiya player who was heading toward their basket. She frowned displeased when he scored.

"Bugger," Adie rubbed her forehead annoyed.

They were all panting harder than they should be and Adie knew that even if their minds knew what to do, it seemed like their hearts had trouble following up on it. She also felt, for the first time coming here that she was really out of sync with the others.

She caught the ball again and passed it to Teppei who instead of shooting passed it to Koganei, who missed and Otsuka of Nakamiya stole the ball.

"Time out, Seirin!" the referee called and Adie followed the others to the bench and sat down not looking at any of them.

She fisted her hands against her thighs as her head was bowed. She had to focus, she had to push everything that was on her mind out of it and just focus on the match and what she had to do. Just like she had done before during Quidditch practices and matches when her team had believed that she was just a troublemaking kid who lost them points, or was the heir of Slytherin. Or even lying about Voldemort coming back…

She was suddenly aware that Hyuga was talking and tried to focus on listening to what he was saying.

"…Our goal is to get here," he was saying and she imagined him pointing at something, but she didn't look up. "And all 50 participating schools have struggled to get here, every school carries the feelings of those they have defeated with effort and blood. They have made it this far and only the school who beats them all will get to be the #1 in Japan. It's not something to be taken lightly!"

Adie inhaled deeply as she let her shoulders down.

"Everyone is working hard. When the game is on talent doesn't matter," Hyuga continued. "As Adie-san said before, don't let our confidence become our arrogance! Nakamiya is good and we can't underestimate them! Remember, a small mistake can be deadly! I thought I knew this, but my heart must have forgotten!"

Adie closed her eyes and tried to centre herself, she needed to get a hold of herself. She shut out all sounds from the outside and just concentrated on her breathing and the task at hand.

A flash in her magic had her arm up and grabbing the hand about to collide with her cheek in a steady grip and she opened her eyes to see Riko staring at her wide-eyed. She frowned and glanced at the others to see the burning red handprint on their left cheeks.

"Oh," Adie said letting go of her hand. "Sorry, just reflex."

"Woah! You moved so fast!" Furihata exclaimed staring at her wide-eyed. "You weren't even watching her."

Adie shrugged, "yeah, um… I learned."

"Learned?" Teppei asked but Adie shook her head and got up.

"It's time to get back to the match," Adie said. "Let's show them our best."

...

"Eh?" Adie heard Meguro say when he spotted the red handprints on the second years faces. "Why do they have slap marks?"

"Who knows…" Otsuka said sounding slightly disturbed.

Adie could understand their reactions, who would have their coach slap them to get them to focus? She shook her head slightly.

...

Adie stole the ball from Otsuka who was right behind her as she ran toward the hoop, and she dribbled passed him with easy movements and let her focus on the ball lead her forward. She passed the ball to Izuki who again passed to Teppei who scored.

Adie heard the cheers from the bench as she ran back toward the goal to take her defence position. She stole the ball again and threw a long pass toward Hyuga who scored another goal.

They were much better now and Adie could tell that the timeout had been just what they needed. The cheering from the bench was a steady presence and she knew that they all gathered energy from it. She caught the ball and saw Meguro in front of her with a determined look on his face. She crunched down as she dribbled the ball, making it go fast and make it harder for him to steal the ball. She ducked to his right and managed to round him and passed the ball to Izuki who passed it back to her when she was past Ueno Daichi. Seeing the free path she used it until she shot the ball and watched as it slashed through the hoop.

...

"We did it!" Adie smiled slightly as she heard the cheers from her team, she breathed deeply as she leaned forward a little trying to catch her breath again. She walked to the centre of the court to line up feeling slightly empty.

"Congratulation," Adie heard Otsuka tell Hyuga who looked momentarily surprised before shaking the other Captain's hand.

"Thank you," Hyuga said.

Adie was about to walk off the court when someone stopped in front of her forcing her to stop or collide with him. Her head snapped up to see Meguro standing in front of her, and she was startled to notice tears in his eyes as he stared at her.

"I really wanted to win," he said emotionally. "But you were better. Please, win the next match for us!"

Adie smiled gently and nodded.

"We will," she promised. "Good game today. You played well."

He smiled and nodded before patting her shoulder and turning around to walk back to his team who looked tired and disappointed.

...

Adie noticed Alex standing just outside the door of the arena and felt herself tense, she fell back as the others walked over to greet her.

"Hi Adeline," Alex greeted and Adie narrowed her eyes at the use of her first name, it had become something that only Akashi called her here and she liked it that way.

"It's Adie," she said briskly, "you saw the match?"

Alex nodded and smiled as she reached over like she was about to throw an arm over her shoulder. Adie quickly sidestepped the effort as she gave her a sharp look, she saw the arched eyebrows from the blond girl but she didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I was worried you would lose," Alex said easily through the slightly awkward silence in the air. "You didn't look like you were in sync."

Adie hid a wince as she knew that was true.

"We bounced back," Koganei grinned when the silence stretched. "We came back and won!"

Alex eyed Adie with something in her eyes that Adie didn't like and she squared her shoulders. She was about to say something when she spotted Akashi walking out of the arena with Mibuchi and Hayama. Both grinning and waving when they spotted Adie standing there.

"Hi, Adie-chan!" Mibuchi smiled. "Glad you made it!"

"I thought you were done!" Hayama exclaimed. "You have to make it so that I can beat you in a match!"

"We're in the middle of something here, so go away!" Hyuga glared at them through his glasses.

Adie saw Akashi tensing from where he had been watching them in silence and she was sure she was the only one who had seen the concern in his eyes as he looked at her. She reached out and placed a hand on Akashi's arm to stop the retribution she knew was coming.

"Hi, hi, we mean no trouble," Mibuchi said holding up his hands as he looked at them with a small frown, Adie noticed how his eyes drifted over to a silent Teppei who was staring at Akashi with narrow eyes.

"We don't believe you," Koganei spoke up. "You're up to something."

"Guys, stop it," Adie said sharply. "They're my friends."

"Friends," she heard Kagami scoff and saw the glare on several of the others faces.

"Adeline," Akashi's cool voice sounded and she noticed how her team tensed and glared at the redhead. "Meet me tomorrow for breakfast."

"Alright," Adie agreed.

"Let's go," Akashi said with a final glare at her team.

Adie watched them go and knew how hard it had been for him to keep quiet and not say anything. She felt warmth in her chest knowing that he did that for her. He was trying.

"You let him order you around like that?" Kagami asked angrily.

"How can you not see that he's cold?!" Hyuga asked at the same time.

Adie inhaled deeply inwardly counting to ten trying to calm down. She finally turned to look at them seeing the anger and incredulous looks in their faces. Only Kuroko looked thoughtful.

"He's doesn't care about you!" Koganei said. "He wouldn't even give you a smile or a proper greeting."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Adie snapped glaring at them the comment from Koganei hurting more than she wanted to admit. "Any of you! You don't know him and you have no right to say that. You haven't given him a chance. You all have just decided that you know best and that I must be stupid or something."

"No, that's not…" Riko stated but Adie wasn't listening. The words she had been keeping inside was just slipping out now, unable to stop.

"I can take care of myself," Adie said, "I have done so since I was a little kid. I appreciate that you are worried, but what I need is my friends' support and to be there if something should happen. Be there if I need you. What I don't need is for you all to be so jumpy every time he is mentioned or glare at him when he shows up. Because he will show up! I'm happy with him and I say he's not what he seems. What it comes down to is if you trust me or not, and if not… then we have a much bigger problem."

"Adie-san," Izuki started.

"What am I doing on this team?" Adie asked forcing her voice to stay steady and not to allow the tears she felt coming to enter her eyes. "What am I even doing here?"

She turned around without looking at Teppei who had remained quiet, and his silence hurt more than anything. Why couldn't they just give him a chance? Give her a chance? She ignored their calling of her name and as soon as she turned a corner she turned on the spot and disapparated.

...

Apparating to an empty park, the same park she had first met Teppei, she sank down on a worn swing and grabbed the chain with both hands. Her eyes drifted to the basketball court, the chalk marks were almost faded away and the hoops looked ready to fall down at any minute.

In many ways it was like watching her dream of basketball, falling apart and fading away. She could not remember a time where she had enjoyed a game so little, where she had forced herself to cheer with her team. Not like this. Not over something like this…

Why was she avoiding confronting them about their attitude? Why didn't she just tell them to get lost? She would have if it was anyone else, but this was her team. Her friends. They had worked their way into her heart and those she considered family, so it hurt when they so blatantly talked down her choices and happiness.

They had welcomed her with open arms when she first joined the team, and for Adie that meant a lot. She was always wary about meeting new people and getting friends, always afraid of not being good enough. Seirin Basketball Team had pulled her close from day one and made sure she felt like one of them and taken Teddy in under their wings as well. That's why it hurt so much seeing the scorn and anger in their eyes, even if they thought they were protecting her.

Adie glanced at the clock and saw it was getting late, so she got up. Walking out of the park she easily found the way toward Teppei's grandparents' house from the old days. As she walked she could almost see a little boy with brown hair running in front of a smaller version of her with too large clothes and round glasses that were taped together.

"Come on, Adie! First one home will get the first pick of chicken!"

"You cheated, Teppei!"

"No, I didn't!"

"You did!"

Adie could hear their voices echoing in her mind as she walked, their laughter ringing in her ears like a taunt of what had been.

...

Kuroko sat down on the bench as he finished practising scoring with Aomine for the day, he knew he had to rest now or Riko would kill him. Momoi smiled softly at him when he joined her on the bench and he had noticed her watching him and Aomine with a nostalgic and pleased smile when they practised.

"I'm glad to see you two playing together again," Momoi said.

Kuroko smiled slightly and nodded, but he had to admit that his mind wasn't completely on the practice today or on his two friends that were here. He was thinking about Adie and Akashi, and how Adie seemed sad and not herself.

Aomine sat down on the court in front of them and Kuroko didn't notice the way he looked at him at first.

"What's up with you, Tetsu?" Aomine said. "You're distracted."

"Worried about the match tomorrow?" Momoi asked.

Kuroko shook his head. "No."

"Then what is it?" Momoi asked worriedly.

Kuroko looked at his two friends and considered what he should say. This was a problem within their team and he shouldn't bring it out to others, but he really needed someone's opinion who also knew Akashi, and knew him before he changed.

"What do you think about Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked quietly.

Aomine arched a brow while Momoi blinked confusedly.

"Akashi-kun?" Momoi asked.

"Why do you ask?" Aomine asked.

Kuroko sighed. "I was wondering if you think it's possible that some part of his old self is still there."

"His old self?" Momoi repeated getting a pensive look, "perhaps. I never thought about it. He seemed lost after second year."

Kuroko nodded in agreement and sighed sadly.

"Is this about Adie-san?" Aomine asked carelessly. "You think she shouldn't be dating him?"

"I don't know," Kuroko said. "We're all worried about it. Though, from what I can see he's treating her alright. But I don't want her to get hurt because of his more ruthless side."

Aomine nodded and threw a ball up in the air and caught it easily on top of his finger.

"Eh?!" Momoi broke out of the shock she had been in as she had stared wide-eyed on Kuroko. "Adie-san is Akashi-kun's girlfriend?!"

"You didn't tell her?" Kuroko asked looking at Aomine who had frozen on the court and the ball had rolled away from him. Momoi turned to Aomine with narrow eyes.

"Um…no," Aomine said, "I focused on the match and then…well, I didn't think about it."

"Dai-chan!" Momoi scolded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry!" Aomine said.

"So, she's dating Akashi-kun?" Momoi asked calmer and looked over at Kuroko. "That explains the protective looks I caught from your team toward her during our match."

"Yes, but I'm afraid we're only hurting her," Kuroko said. "Do you think Akashi-kun would use her?"

"Not the old Akashi-kun," Momoi said, "but this one…I don't know. Have you seen them together?"

"Not much," Kuroko said.

"I never really got along with Akashi so I couldn't tell," Aomine shrugged. "Though, he seemed to be really possessive of her when he dragged her off with him. She didn't seem scared of him either, so I don't think you need to worry too much."

Kuroko frowned but he nodded a little.

...

Adie smiled as she accepted the kiss from Akashi when he stepped into her apartment the next morning, she finally relaxed and leaned into him.

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned.

"Just tired," Adie said. "Didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why?" he asked.

"Teddy has a cold and had a nightmare," Adie said yawning.

"You should stay home today," Akashi said.

"No, we have a match today;" Adie said not looking forward to it but knowing she had to go.

"They can manage one match without you," Akashi said.

"No, I have to go," she said. "They'll just nag if I don't."

Akashi scowled but allowed her to drag him into the apartment. He spotted Teddy curled up on the sofa with blankets around him and a slightly red nose.

"Are you worried about getting sick?" Adie suddenly asked stopping. "Sorry, I forgot… Perhaps we should…"

"It's fine," Akashi stopped her. "Akashi's don't get sick."

Adie snorted and shook her head, but allowed his arrogance to amuse her.

"Hi Sei-nii," Teddy said his voice a little thicker than normal, but at least his potion was helping and she knew he would be better soon.

"Hi Teddy," Akashi said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good," Teddy smiled. "Can we play Shogi?"

"Sure," Akashi agreed.

...

Adie quietly snapped a picture of Akashi playing Shogi with Teddy, both absorbed in the game as one was explaining and one listening closely to what the older one was saying. Adie smiled as she sat down in a chair and leaned back a little. Her eyes felt heavy and she closed them for a second, only a second…

"Adeline," a voice far away called and someone was shaking her. She jerked awake and blinked up to see Akashi standing in front of her a hand on her shoulder. "It's time to get ready if you're going to the match."

"I fell asleep," Adie said dumbly.

"You did," Akashi smiled. "You needed it."

"I'm sorry," Adie said feeling horrible. "I didn't mean to fall asleep when you were here… and Teddy…"

"It's fine," Akashi said, "Teddy and I had a great time playing Shogi together."

"Where is he?" Adie asked.

"He went to get ready," Akashi said. "He said he was going to Aiko-obaasan?" The name came out as a question and Adie realised that Akashi didn't know who that was.

"She's Teppei's grandmother," Aide said. "She's been a great help in watching Teddy for me when I need it."

"Ok," Akashi said.

...

Aide hid her smile when Aiko grabbed Akashi and inspected him closely as soon as they arrived at the house.

"Such a handsome boy," Aiko said. "You have to come to dinner one day with Adie-chan and Teddy-chan. I kept telling her to get herself a boyfriend, I'm so pleased to see she finally have!"

"Perhaps you should let him go before you scare the poor lad off," Haru spoke up from the door and Adie saw the amusement in his eyes, eyes that resembled Teppei greatly.

"Oh, shush! I'm sure it'll take more to scare him off than me," Aiko said but she let go of his arm and he stepped back.

"Nice to meet you," Akashi bowed politely. "I'm Akashi Seijuro."

"So polite," Aiko gushed.

Adie smiled. "We have to go or we'll be late. Thank you for watching him again, Aiko-obaasan, Haru-ojiisan!"

"Of course," Aiko said waving them off.

"Good luck, mum, Sei-nii!" Teddy called from Haru's arms.

...

They stopped just outside the arena, the place had started to fill up and Adie could spot several teams she recognised.

"Thank you for today," Adie smiled. "I really needed it."

"Anytime," Akashi said. "Let's meet after the matches today and we'll walk home together. I'll join you picking up Teddy."

Adie looked at him for a moment before she nodded. Taking a chance she leaned in and quickly kissed him before pulling back and saw the pleased small smile on his lips before it was gone behind the perfect mask he always wore.

"See you later."

...

Adie breathed out a breath of relief when she dried the sweat off her brow and their victory was secure. However, no one seemed particularly overjoyed and she knew that the argument from the day before was hanging over them.

"A-Adie-san?" she glanced up to see Furihata and Kawahara standing there both looking sad.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Are you leaving us?" Kawahara asked and she could hear the others stop talking and turn toward her.

"Leaving you?" She repeated.

"Quit," Furihata said. "We don't want you to quit."

Adie sighed and pulled a hand over her face, she was so tired.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"Adie," Teppei said. "Please, just…"

"Just what, Teppei?" Adie asked looking up meeting his eyes. She didn't care that they were still on the bench at the court and that others could see them.

"Try to understand what we're saying," he said. "We don't want you to get hurt."

Adie stood up and looked at him for a long moment.

"The only ones hurting me right now is you," she said before turning to leave. "Don't wait for me. I'll find my own way out."

...

Adie changed quickly before making her way to the locker rooms she knew belonged to Rakuzan. Leaning against the wall outside waiting for them to finish she wondered again if she should just say she would be on the bench from now on, that if the team couldn't work with her on it anymore it would be for the best.

The door swung open revealing Nebuya to be the first to leave the room, he stopped when he spotted her though causing Hayama to walk straight into him.

"Ouch! Don't stop like that!" Hayama snapped.

"Adie-san," Nebuya said and the others looked around him to where Adie was standing. She tried to smile to them, but even she felt how flat it was.

"Adeline," Akashi walked over to her. "Did something happen?"

"Did you lose?" Hayama asked.

"We won," she said, "and nothing outside what's normal these days happened."

Akashi fisted his hands and his eyes darkened. Adie reached out and worked his hand open before slipping hers inside.

"Come on, handsome, you promised me to walk me home," she said.

Mibuchi watched them walk away with a frown on his face and knew that his friends also had similar looks on their faces.

...

Mibuchi knew he should just stay out of it, and that Akashi would probably be angry at him for interfering, but he had to do something. He had to speak up. He had told Hayama, Nebuya and Mayuzumi that he would meet them later and walked toward the Seirin locker room.

Just as he arrived a quiet Seirin left the locker room and he spotted Teppei in the back looking miserable. He really would have thought they had lost if he hadn't known the result of the game.

"Kiyoshi," Mibuchi spoke up bringing the attention over at him.

"You're Akashi's teammate," Hyuga accused with narrow eyes. "Are you here to make more problems?"

"Adie-san already left," Kagami scowled at him over crossed arms.

Mibuchi rolled his eyes.

"I know that," he said. "She's with Sei-chan. I'm here to talk to Kiyoshi."

"So she went to him?" Riko asked looking cross and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"What's wrong with her to go and see her boyfriend?" Mibuchi asked.

"He's using her!" Koganei accused.

"Seriously," Mibuchi said. "I came here to try to talk some sense into Kiyoshi, but it seems you all need it!"

"What do you know," Tsuchiba snorted.

"I know that if you all continue like this Adie-chan won't be able to keep Sei-chan from doing something anymore," Mibuchi said, "he is pissed off that you keep hurting Adie-chan."

"We're only trying to protect her from him!" Riko glared at the Rakuzan player.

"Protect her?" Mibuchi repeated. "Don't make me laugh!"

Teppei frowned and stepped forward.

"What do you want, Mibuchi-san?" Teppei asked. "You said you wanted to talk to me."

"What I want is for you to stop being a bad brother to Adie-chan and actually stand up for her," Mibuchi said stunning the others. "She is falling apart and you're just watching!"

"She's…" Riko started but Mibuchi glared at her to shut her up.

"You know, when I first met Adie-chan I thought she was crazy," Mibuchi said stunning the others a little.

"Why?" Furihata dared to ask.

"She interrupted our practice, and no one does that," Mibuchi said, "if they don't want Sei-chan after them! She just took the ball when it rolled off the court and when Nebuya asked who she as and what she was doing, she told us she was there to steal our Captain away."

He noticed that he had their attention now.

"We thought she must be crazy to say something like that, but Sei-chan only stepped forward and they started talking. I never saw Sei-chan talk to anyone like that before," Mibuchi said. "It was clear he respected her. She had a fire to her and we saw it when she played Hayama. She also, proudly claimed you, Kiyoshi, like a little brother. So why are you pushing her away and hurting her?"

"I…" Teppei frowned trailing off.

"You're worried about her, I get it," Mibuchi said, "but Adie-chan is an adult. Actually, she's older than all of you, so why are you acting like you have a right to tell her what to do or who to date?"

...

...

AN: Thank you for reading! XD Hope you liked the chapter! XD