Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Prince of Tennis!

...

...

...

"Hari-nee-chan?" Hana asked making Hari look down and found Hana standing beside her.

"Yes, Hana-chan?" Hari smiled.

"Can you help me find some fun books?" Hana asked. "I want to have children's book too and not only adult boring books."

Hari smiled a little at the tone of her voice and nodded.

"I don't really know any children's books," Hari admitted, "but let's go and see if we can find something together."

Hana grinned and took Hari's hand and they moved over to where the children's books were. Hari had seen the sign earlier. She was a little curious about the kind of children's book they had in the magical world.

They looked around and Hari thought it looked both similar and different from the kinds of books she was used to seeing.

"Oh, look at this," Hana said holding up a book with a moving dragon on the cover.

"Looks cool," Hari smiled. "Roddy and the dragon."

"Is dragons real?" Hana asked.

"Yeah, are they?" Seiichi asked having followed them over.

Hari chuckled and nodded, "yes, they are."

"You're kidding, right?" Seiichi said staring at her. "There's no way they could keep them hidden!"

"They're real," Hari said with a shrug. "Charlie, Ron's brother, works with them in Romania. Magic can keep pretty much anything hidden. Remind me to tell you about how Hermione, Ron and I, well mostly Hermione and I, smuggled out a dragon from school our first year at Hogwarts."

Seiichi stared at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Huh," Seiichi said. "Strange."

Hari laughed a little actually enjoying herself as she looked over the books with Seiichi and Hana pulling out a few as they found something that looked interesting. It was the most normal thing to do, just looking at books in a bookstore, but it was something more.

"Eh?" Hana blinked. "Isn't that like your scar, Hari-nee-chan?"

Hari blinked and looked over at Hana who had a book in her hands and was looking at it. Hana looked up and over at Hari before turning the book and Hari felt herself still as she took in the cover of the book.

A girl with auburn hair and green eyes behind glasses and a lightning scar on her forehead was moving across the cover.

"Wha…" Hari started to say but her words fell short.

The Girl-Who-Lived: and the mystery of the hippogriff.

"Kind of looks like you too," Seiichi said having looked over at his sister's voice.

Hari felt like everything stopped for a long second before crashing back all around her with sounds and colours but all she could see was the cartoonish figure that was supposed to be her at age 8 (?).

"There's more of them here too," Hana was saying and pulled out more books from the shelf she was at.

...

Seiichi looked over at Hari wondering why she hadn't said anything and frowned when he saw how pale she looked as she stared at the books Hana was pulling out. Her green eyes were wide, and he was surprised to note the fear in them as well as the growing anger that he could see starting to build up.

"Hari-chan?" he asked stepping closer.

Hari seemed to snap out of whatever trance she'd been in and moved over to Hana and grabbed the books abruptly from her hands making Hana blink and stare up at her.

Seiichi watched as Hari turned the books over and seemed to read the back one by one and her expression darkened more and more as she tossed one book after the other to the ground.

"Seiichi-nii-chan?" Hana sounded worried.

Seiichi was lost… what caused Hari to act like this? She had seemed to finally relax and enjoy herself, but now…

"Hari-chan!" Seiichi called putting a hand on her arms hoping to reach her.

Her head snapped up and he met her eyes, and he was stunned at the anger and pain he saw in her eyes. The pain was so deep, and he couldn't form a word as he was taken aback at the depth of it. He saw that she was shaking and suddenly he felt like shivering. A strange feeling like pressure or tension-filled him and he heard Hana whimper a little as she pressed closer to him before the shelves of books suddenly burst and the books popped off their shelves and hit the floors.

"Oi!" a voice yelled. "Stop that!"

Seiichi blinked and looked at Hari again who looked scared now as she looked at him and then her eyes fell on Hana who was pressed to his side and he was struck again by the fear in her eyes. She dropped the book she was holding and stepped away.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm sorry."

She turned and fled the store before Seiichi could find anything to say.

"Seiichi?" Sora asked having been talking with the man who worked there and had just come over along with Kouki. He looked after Hari who had just run out of the door making the bell above the door jingle.

"Seriously," the man who worked there said looking at the books. "At least clean up the books when you make them explode out of the shelves like that!"

Seiichi blinked again and looked at the books. "She did that?"

The man looked up, "I imagine so. Though, she looked a little old for accidental magic."

He waved a wand over the books and they flew up from the floor and back to the shelves in an effortless motion. It reminded Seiichi of the magic he'd seen in one of the Disney films, not that he could remember which one right now.

"Accidental magic?" Kouki asked making the man look over at them.

"It's when someone loses control of their magic," the man said. "It happens from time to time. I have the books here protected from the most common spells that would set them on fire. On doubtfully they would have been from the strength of the spell."

"What happened?" Sora asked looking at Seiichi.

"I don't know," Seiichi admitted. "We were looking at books and Hana-chan showed her one…"

"It looked like her;" Hana said quietly, "but she got really pale…"

"Looked like her, you say?" the man asked. "What book were you looking at?"

"That one," Hana said pointing to the one she had been looking at (now back on the self).

The man pulled it out and blinked.

"You mean she looked like her?" the man asked.

"Mm," Hana said. "It did!"

The man blinked again, "but that can't be. The girl this is about should be attending Hogwarts, the magic school in Britain."

Seiichi frowned. "The girl it is about? Isn't it just a children's book?"

He knew he should run after Hari, but he wanted answers too.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know," the man said. "This is the book series about the Girl-Who-Lived. Her name is Harriett Lily Potter and is from England. When she was fifteen months old, she survived a curse no one else had survived before and defeated a dark lord at the same time. This is the fictional books about her."

"And there are books about her?" Sora asked.

The man looked at them and frowned a little, "of course there are. They are popular even here in Japan and everyone knows her story. She is very famous."

Seiichi frowned wondering why Hari reacted like that to those books and where had he heard the name Potter before…wait, he was being stupid! The first name was a big clue to where he had heard it before, Hari had told him that her old name was Potter before she took the name Echizen when she was adopted.

So those books were about her?

He looked at it again and felt his heart sink. Of course, she would react like that if she hadn't known… it must have been a shock. But why hadn't she known?

"But…" Hana started to say but Seiichi immediately put his hand over her mouth so her words were muffled. She glared up at him and he smiled sheepishly.

"Seems harsh to put something personal like that into books," Seiichi commented looking at the man who shrugged.

"There are plenty of books mentioning her defeat over the dark wizard," the man said. "She's most likely used to it. She's a hero and everyone wants more of her story."

Seiichi frowned feeling upset about the carefree way he was talking about it.

"If you are interested in her story then you can read more in the introduction books, I found for you," the man continued. "Her story is mentioned in full there. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Seiichi scowled but before he could say something Kouki quickly said they had what they wanted and went with the man to the counter to pay for the books. Hana had already given the few books she had found to him (Seiichi was glad to see that she hadn't taken any of the Girl-Who-Lived books).

"Seiichi?" Sora asked.

"I'm going outside to see if she's still here," Seiichi said, and Sora nodded.

...

Hari couldn't believe she had lost control over her magic. She could still feel it almost buzzing just beneath her skin. The last time she felt like that was when she had blown up Aunt Marge when she insulted her parents. She guessed it was lucky she hadn't blown up the entire store…

Why couldn't she just be normal for one day? She had just been having fun for the first time in a long time while doing something in the magical world. She had started to relax, but of course, it wasn't meant for her. Why couldn't she just get one day to enjoy in the magical world without something ruining it?

The anger wouldn't let go. Hurt mixed in as well as she flashed back to those books and made-up stories using her name and backstory as if it were trivial and entertainment. How could they do that? How could anyone sit down and write that? Why hadn't anyone told her about those books? Why hadn't she seen them before when she was in Diagon Alley? If she had known, then she wouldn't have been taken by surprise and lost control over her magic in front of Seiichi and Hana. Scaring them.

Now…and now Seiichi would see that she wasn't worth staying with. That her aunt and uncle were right about her and see that she was a freak. Someone to fear. They had been scared of her. She had seen it in their eyes. She had finally pushed him away. Like a fool.

She stood at the corner of the bookstore having paused there to catch her breath. She made sure her cap was still pulled down to hide her face, and her scar, stupid recognizable scar…

She heard the door to the shop open and quickly stepped into the alley hiding in the shadows as she watched Seiichi coming out. He looked around worriedly. Was he scared she was still there and would still hang around his little sister?

It hurt to think that he feared her now, but he had looked scared. Of her.

She was such an idiot. She never should have gone with them. She should have listened to her own instincts and said no when they asked her. Even if Hana's puppy dog eyes were adorable and impossible to say no to.

Hari saw Sora and Kouki also coming out with Hana between them. They said something to Seiichi who shook his head, and she could tell even from where she was hiding that his shoulders slumped.

Hari fought the urge to step out from the shadows as she watched them. They were discussing something but then they started to move down the street. Away from her.

Go after them.

No. I can't.

Go!

No! It's better that I just leave.

Hari remained standing where she was despite the voice in her mind telling her to go after them. What was the point? They would just tell her to go away and that she was unwanted. It was better to just remain hidden.

She tried to ignore the way her heart hurt and the way her stomach clenched just thinking about it. So she stayed hidden and watched them go. Hating herself as she did so, but unable to make herself move.

...

"You're home late," Ryoma commented when she entered the house.

Hari just shrugged and moved to the stairs. She felt her brother look after her but couldn't bring herself to acknowledge him right now. She fell down onto her bed as soon as she could and hid her face in her pillow.

She was such an idiot.

She finally had a chance to make things right with Seiichi and now she destroyed it.

Again.

Why…

WHY!

She screamed into her pillow as frustration filled her.

"Hari?" Ryoma sounded worried.

Had he followed her up?

"Leave," Hari said but her word was muffled by her pillow.

"What's wrong?" Ryoma asked stepping into her room.

"Everything," Hari snapped turning her head to glare at her brother. "Now. Leave."

He frowned, "no. Not when you're upset."

Hari scowled at him.

"I want to be alone," she said.

"Then be alone," Ryoma said and sat down on the floor by the door. "But I'm staying right here."

She stared at him before letting out a growl in frustration and turned her head into the pillow again. She just didn't have the energy to argue the issue right now.

...

Seiichi was worried. He was worried and he was upset. She had left. She must have left and now he was really worried about her. But why couldn't she just talk to him?

He thought they would make things right now that he finally had seen her. He thought she would tell him why she hadn't answered his calls, but now she had just left, and he was standing there with more questions than before.

"I'm sure she had a reason," Sora told Seiichi.

"I just want her to talk to me," Seiichi said frustrated. "But she keeps pushing me out. She keeps running away."

Sora looked at him, "she must have been scared in the shop, Seiichi. You need to talk to her."

"I would if she would just stay in one spot and not making it so hard," Seiichi grumbled.

Sora smiled softly, "she seemed to be worried since she came with us. Perhaps we pushed too much. There must be something we don't know."

"Yes," Seiichi agreed. "I just… I don't know what to do."

"Let's stop by her house on the way," Kouki said. "I'm worried about her getting home okay."

"That's a good idea," Sora said.

"Do you think she's upset with me?" Hana asked quietly.

Seiichi looked at his little sister, "why?"

"I asked her about the books," Hana said. "I said that the scar looked like hers. Maybe she got upset because of that."

Seiichi sighed a little. Yes, she did get upset because of the books, and he was 99 % sure why she got upset… well, kind of, but he still felt like he missed a lot of the story to be completely sure.

"I don't think it was your questions that upset her, Hana-chan," Seiichi said. "But… I do think it is related to those books."

Sora looked at her, "how?"

Seiichi shrugged and looked out of the window of the car as they now drove toward the Echizen's house. He was worried. He hoped that Hari had gone home… he hoped that she was okay.

He hoped she would answer some questions.

...

They stopped in front of the gate and Kouki pushed the doorbell. Seiichi remembered the time he came to pick Hari up for their date and meeting her family. He had been so nervous then… well, he was nervous now as well but because of other reasons.

"Hello?" a female voice greeted through the speaker.

"Hey, my name is Yukimura Kouki and I'm Seiichi's dad," Kouki said. "We're just wondering if Hari-chan got home alright."

There was a pause, "um, wait there for a second."

Kouki and Sora exchanged looks as they waited. Seiichi soon heard a door opening and then the gate opened and Rinko was there. She smiled a little as she looked at them.

"Yukimura-san," Rinko said seeing Seiichi and then looked over at his parents, "and this must be your parents? Nanako told me you were here."

"Hey, Echizen-san," Seiichi said politely, "yes, this is my dad Kouki and mum Sora, and this is my little sister Hana."

"Ah, Hana-chan;" Rinko smiled down to Hana. "Hari-chan had told me so much about you."

"She has?" Hana asked.

"Oh yes," Rinko smiled before she looked at them. "Um, I'm sorry, but why are you here? Nanako said something about you wanted to know if Hari-chan came home?"

Sora smiled warmly, "yes, we spent the afternoon with her, but something happened and she left rather suddenly. We worried so we wanted to make sure she got home alright."

Rinko blinked, "you spent the afternoon with her?"

"Yes, at the magical district," Seiichi said making Rinko's eyes widen in surprise.

"Oh, my," Rinko said. "I see. Or I don't, but…"

"Our Hana-chan is a muggle-born," Kouki explained. "We met Hari-chan at the shrine."

Rinko looked at Hana who smiled back.

"I see," Rinko said, "well, Hari-chan did come back. She went to her room, so I haven't seen her. Ryoma is with her, I think."

"Good," Kouki said.

Rinko looked at them for a moment before she smiled, "I'm sorry. I completely forgot my manners. Do you want to come inside?"

"That's fine," Sora said, "I'm sure it was a surprise. And yes, we would like that."

Rinko nodded and led the way into the house.

Seiichi noticed Nanjiro when they entered the living room and saw that he was lying on the floor reading a magazine. He glanced up when he heard them and sat up when he saw the guests.

"You're back," Nanjiro said looking at Seiichi.

"Behave, Nanjiro," Rinko said sternly. "This is Seiichi-san's family. They came because they are worried about Hari-chan since she left in the middle of their visit to the magical district."

Nanjiro blinked and looked at them again.

"Huh," he said. "Didn't know you knew magic, brat?"

Seiichi rolled his eyes, "I just found out, Echizen-san. My sister is a muggle-born witch."

Nanjiro saw Hana and waved to her, "Hey there, young lady! So, you are a witch like Hari-chan! That's great!"

Seiichi shook his head at the change in attitude from the other man but didn't linger at it too much as he was worried about Hari. And upset (not to forget that).

"I'll go and find Hari," Rinko said. "Nanako is getting some tea, please sit down and make yourselves at home."

"Oh, Yukimura," Ryoga stepped into the living room from the garden obviously having been out for a run. "And you here for Hari-chan, I take it?"

"Ryoga-san," Seiichi said. "Yes."

Ryoga nodded easily, "heard you can play again. We should play one day."

"That would be fun," Seiichi agreed.

Ryoga looked to the couple sitting on the sofa and smiled politely.

"Hey, I'm Echizen Ryoga," he said. "Hari-chan's older brother."

"Nice to meet you," Sora said while Kouki nodded.

Ryoga glanced at Nanjiro who shrugged.

"I'll just go and get cleaned up, then," Ryoga said. "See you later."

...

Hari didn't look up when the door opened again. Why didn't anyone understand that a closed-door meant that she wanted to be alone?

"Hari-chan," Rinko said.

Hari didn't say anything.

"She's giving us the silent treatment," Ryoma said.

Take a hint, Hari thought.

"Well, you have visitors," Rinko said.

Hari frowned but didn't move.

"Seiichi and his family are downstairs," Rinko said.

Hari felt her heart skip a beat before thundering in her chest. Seiichi was here?

"Hari-chan," Rinko said, and Hari felt a hand on her leg. "What's wrong? They know about magic now, and didn't you want to tell Seiichi about it?"

Hari turned her head to look at Rinko, "I did. I do. But…"

"Come downstairs," Rinko smiled softly. "I don't know what happened, but they came to see that you were okay."

Hari exhaled shakily before she nodded slowly. She wanted to hide in her room forever, but even she knew that it was impossible. If they had come all the way here, then she should at least apologize and then let them say whatever it was they wanted to say.

She crawled out of the bed.

"I just need to wash my face," she mumbled. "I'll be right there."

"Okay," Rinko said. "It's going to be fine, sweetie."

Hari just shrugged as she walked to the bathroom and looked at her pale face and red eyes in the mirror. She grimaced. She turned the water on and splashed some of the cool water on her face feeling a little better as she did.

She found Ryoma waiting outside the bathroom and smiled a little.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Right," he said blankly.

'...

Hari saw Seiichi straight away when she entered the living room and fought the mixed need to either run and throw herself at him wanting his hug or running from the room and hide away forever.

"Hari-chan," Seiichi said.

"Sei-chan," Hari said quietly before she glanced over at his parents and Hana. She swallowed thickly. "Hey."

"Are you okay, Hari-chan?" Sora asked. "We worried when we couldn't find you after the bookstore."

Hari grimaced and shifted on her feet.

"I'm sorry," Hari said. "I shouldn't have left like that… I just… I was overwhelmed."

"The books? Hana and Seiichi said that you… reacted to them," Sora said.

Hari looked at Seiichi before looking at Hana. She was relieved and a little confused when she didn't see the fear in either of their eyes. Hadn't they been scared of her?

"Is it because you know this Girl-Who-Lived? The man said that she went to school in Britain," Kouki said.

Hari flinched a little as she looked away. This was it. She had to admit to it now.

"You could say that." Hari said forcing herself to remain calm and look back at them. "I am the Girl-Who-Lived. Before I was adopted my name was Harriett Lily Potter."

Hari noticed that Seiichi didn't seem surprised and had a knowing look in his eyes, but she saw the surprise in the others.

"Oh," Sora frowned.

Hari sighed and walked over to the door leading to the garden and looked out as she gathered her thoughts.

"I was going to tell you," Hari said turning around again, "I knew I had to tell you because you would find out. I'm…pretty well-known in the magical world, and I'm quite sure that I am mentioned in at least one of the books you bought today."

Seiichi looked at her with that searching look of his and she felt like he was seeing straight through her and seeing everything. She tried to not look at him too much and keep her focus on the others. She wasn't ready to really see what he thought yet.

"And the books today…" Sora said before trailing off.

"I was taken by surprise," Hari said. "I shouldn't have, but I was. I didn't know that there were books like that. I thought that it was only the non-fiction books that wrote about me, but I really should have expected the other kind of books too. I mean, I knew that children heard my story as a bedtime story but… I just didn't think it was like that."

She really had just thought that it was their parents telling them her so-called defeat of Voldemort. But her being the 'hero' of a whole book series? No, she hadn't known that…

"That must have been a shock," Kouki agreed. "I'm sorry you found out like that."

Hari looked at him in surprise before looking away again.

"Yeah, well…" Hari shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

"But why are you in books?" Hana asked looking confused.

...

Seiichi was not sure what to think as he listened to her and watched how uncomfortable she seemed. It was almost like she wanted to run away but forced herself to stay where she was. She barely looked at him, and when she did she looked almost scared. Why was she scared?

He didn't like what he was hearing either. She sounded so resigned and lost, but at the same time, he could hear the anger hidden in her voice. This had really affected her but she was trying to hide it.

Hana's question was something they all wondered, but Seiichi almost wished she hadn't asked when he saw the pained look on Hari's face before she blanked it.

"I guess it's time to tell you my story," Hari said.

"You don't have to," Seiichi found himself saying and she looked at him.

"Yes, I do," she said. "But first I want to say that I am sorry that I ran. I shouldn't have done that, but I knew I scared you and Hana-chan and I didn't feel like I had control over my magic…"

Seiichi heard the disparaging tone in her voice, and it worried him with how much bitterness he heard.

"I wasn't scared of you," Seiichi said making her look at him again and he saw the doubt in her eyes. "I was surprised and startled by the books jumping out like that, but I wasn't scared of you, Hari-chan."

"Me neither," Hana said.

Hari frowned, "I saw you. I know you were scared."

She looked away stubbornly and Seiichi frowned. He wanted to push but didn't know what to say. He saw the way her shoulders tensed, and she was waiting for him to do something. He just wasn't sure what.

"Anyway," Hari said, "I am sorry."

Seiichi sighed but kept silent. He knew that she wouldn't believe him right now anyway so he would wait. He would make her believe him.

Sora was looking worriedly at Hari as well and Seiichi saw that she longed to mother her. He glanced over at Rinko and Nanjiro who both looked concerned as they watched their daughter but didn't say anything.

"I guess my story starts when I was fifteen months old," Hari started and Seiichi felt dread as he listened.

...

Hari fell silent having told them the basic of her story without going into too many details. She didn't want to make it worse than it was, nor did she want to scare Hana too much with a darker part of magic. She looked at Hana and saw that she did look upset even now and grimaced a little.

She didn't want Hana to lose the new exciting look she had of a new world.

Hari walked closer to Hana a little hesitantly but the younger girl didn't flinch or show any signs of fear so Hari kept going until she was right in front of her and crunched down, so she was on the same level.

"Hana-chan," Hari said her voice feeling a little dry, "I didn't mean to scare you with my story."

Hana looked at her with wide eyes.

"He killed your parents?" Hana asked and glanced over at her parents.

"He did," Hari said. "He was a bad man. He did a lot of bad things, but there are also a lot of good people in the magical world. And there's a lot of good things, like owls, you like them, right? And dragons. And a lot of different animals that are exciting and new. I know a man who can turn into a dog, and my old professor could turn into a cat!"

"That's not possible," Hana said with a giggle.

"I promise," Hari smiled, "it is possible. My dad could turn into a stag."

"A stag? Really?" Hana asked.

"Really, really," Hari said. "Magic…can be fun and exciting too. Don't let my story take it away, okay? You will have a different experience with magic than I did. My friends have a different experience than me too, so don't worry too much, okay?"

Hana nodded and surprised Hari when she suddenly hugged her. Hari stilled for a moment before she put her arms around the younger girl and hugged her back.

"Magic has good things and bad things just like the world you are used to, Hari said when Hana pulled back. "You'll enjoy magic."

"Thanks, Hari-nee-chan!" Hana smiled.

Hari got to her feet and stepped back again feeling like everyone was watching her. She swallowed and looked over at Seiichi who was watching with a soft smile but also sadness in his eyes. She looked down and knew that she would need to talk to him. She owed it to him.

...

Hari and Seiichi were in the garden now and Hari wasn't sure what to do. She felt her heart beating hard in her chest as she glanced over at Seiichi. He looked as calm as ever, but she could detect a small frown on his face.

"I worried about you," Seiichi said.

Hari flinched.

"Why can't you just let me in?" Seiichi asked when she didn't say anything. "I have waited for you; I've been trying to be patient and wait. But you keep pushing me away."

Hari looked down. She knew it was true.

"Hari-chan," Seiichi said stepping closer. "Can't you trust me?"

Hari looked up at that and stared at him.

"I trust you!" Hari said.

"It doesn't seem like you do," Seiichi said. "I know now that you must have kept back the magic part of your life, and I can understand that. But even now you're holding back. I can see it. I can feel it."

Hari looked at him before she looked away again not knowing what to say or do. She felt his hands cup her chin and tilt her head back to look at him and she blinked at how close he'd gotten.

"I wasn't scared of you," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you thought that I was, but I really wasn't. I was startled as I said, but I knew that you never would have hurt me or Hana. I know that."

Hari could tell he spoke what he believed was the truth. So, why couldn't she believe that?

"I'm…" Hari trailed off for a moment, "I don't want to hurt you, Sei-chan."

"Why do you think that you will?" Seiichi asked, "what happened since I saw you last? You've been acting like your threading on a landmine or something. Just waiting for something to blow up since we met at the shrine."

"I tried to hide it," Hari said quietly. "I'm sorry. I know I keep saying it, but I am. You heard some of my story, Sei-chan. There's…more, but it's not something I can explain now. And I think it's best if you take some time to think. I'm… a risk, Sei-chan. My life… I'm pretending that I'm free here, but I know it's most likely just on borrowed time. I don't know when it will all blow up and I'm worried. I don't want you to get hurt because of me. I…care about you too much."

He stared at her unable to form words and he knew she was serious.

"This…dark wizard," Seiichi said quietly, "he's not gone, is he?"

Hari grimaced, "it's complicated, but…no, he's still out there."

Hari knew that this could be it. This could be the thing that pushed him away and made him leave. She felt conflicted because she didn't want him to leave, but at the same time, she wanted him to get as far away from her as possible. If it could prevent him from getting hurt.

"I'm not leaving," he said making her look at him. "That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

Hari blinked and suddenly he was right there and cupped her face between his hands.

"I know we are young," Seiichi said, "I know I'm just fifteen, but I know that being here with you is right. It feels right. So, I'm not going anywhere, okay? So, please, stop trying to push me away."

She swallowed thickly as she stared up at him. He was…serious.

"I…Okay," she finally managed to say. She would trust him, she would allow herself to do that.

...

Sora looked out and saw Seiichi and Hari talk. She hoped they would clear up the issues between them. She knew that her son really liked Hari if not even loved her. Yes, they were young but even young ones could feel love. Besides, she had met Kouki when she was about the same age and had not doubted that he was for her.

"She struggles with letting others in when it comes to magic," Rinko said making Sora look over at the woman who had adopted Hari.

"She seemed to be a little tense today," Sora admitted, "but she relaxed after a while."

"Her experience with magic hasn't been…good," Rinko said.

Sora looked at her.

"Her family wasn't supportive," Rinko explained feeling they needed to know a little. "I'm sure that was why she left earlier. She thought that Seiichi and Hana were scared of her, and expected them to push her away."

"So, it was better to push them away before they did it to her," Sora said in understanding. "Hopefully, she'll see that Seiichi really cares about her."

Rinko nodded and smiled, "she cares for him too. She's been wanting to tell him about magic for a while now, but the laws…"

"We were explained how it worked," Sora said. "I will admit that it is a little daunting to enter this whole new world we know nothing about. I don't know how to help Hana and there will be parts of her life that I won't understand. I don't want there to be walls between us because of magic."

Sora felt better having someone to confide in, someone who would understand. She couldn't talk to her friends about this.

"Hari-chan has only been with us for a few months even if it feels like it's been years," Rinko said, "but I understand. My advice, be there and be supportive. If you don't understand then ask questions. Show you are interested, and I'm sure Hana-chan will come to you."

"Thank you," Sora smiled gratefully while Rinko smiled back in understanding.

...

Hari and Seiichi went back into the house and Rinko invited them all to dinner. They accepted and Hari managed to relax more as the meal continued and was not really surprised when Nanjiro and Kouki got along well.

"Can you tell me more about magic school, Hari-nee-chan?" Hana asked when they had finished eating.

Hari hesitated for a moment before she nodded.

"Just one moment," Hari said getting up and leaving the room and ran up the stairs and into her room where she found the items she was looking for before running back down. "Here, I have pictures."

"Really?" Hana asked coming closer as Hari opened her album but was careful to skip the pictures of her parents. She wasn't sure she was ready to share those yet.

"Is that a castle?" Hana asked.

Hari smiled a little as she looked at the picture of her together with Ron and Hermione standing outside of Hogwarts. Colin had been the one to take the picture and had given it to her at the end of second year as thanks for stopping the Slytherin monster.

"Yes," Hari said. "It's a very old school, and it has a lot of secret passageways and rooms. The staircases move, too."

"Move? How?" Kouki asked curiously.

"Magic," Hari shrugged. "But it was always tiring when they moved when we were late for a class and ended up on a different floor and part of the castle than we were meant to be and had to find another way. The first week at school I don't think I came on time even once. Professor McGonagall threatened to turn me or Ron into a pocket watch in hope that one of us would be there on time."

Hari snorted amused.

"She can do that?" Seiichi asked.

"Transfiguration spell," Hari said with a shrug, "it's difficult, though, and not possible to turn humans into different objects over a longer period of time."

"I don't know if that's a relief or not," Kouki said.

"Can you do it?" Hana asked.

"No," Hari said. "It's a spell only taught in seventh year."

"What was your favourite class?" Seiichi asked.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Hari said, "when we had a proper teacher…which was only last year. Remus, um, Professor Lupin was great. He actually taught us something."

"You know him?" Sora asked.

"He was my dad's best friend at school," Hari said with a small smile.

"I see," Sora said with a smile.

"What other classes did you have?" Kouki asked curiously.

"I had potions, herbology, care of magical creatures, charms and transfiguration besides Defence, of course. And a couple of others…" Hari said.

"Was it fun?" Hana asked.

"You don't have to talk about the classes or school if you don't want to," Sora said, "if it's difficult for you to talk about."

"It's fine," Hari said. "It wasn't the classes in itself that were the problem."

So she talked more about the classes she had and she could see the genuine interest in them and something inside of her softened.

"Wow," Hana said. "That sounds awesome."

Hari shrugged, "some of it is. Magic…has a lot of opportunities, I won't deny that."

Seiichi nudged her shoulder and smiled at her making her smile back (ignoring Nanjiro's frown). She was a little conflicted about talking about magic like this (though still feeling exhausted and wired from all the talk and discoveries through the day), but at the same time, it was easier than she thought. Maybe it was the acceptance she saw in their eyes, or the interest and desire to understand.

Besides, she felt she owed it to Hana to make up for scaring her earlier and show that magic wasn't all bad. She really didn't want to make the younger girl scared of magic before she even got to experience it. She even envied the newfound awe and excitement she saw in Hana. She wished she could feel like that again about magic.

Maybe telling them more about magic would help her remember what it was like.

Maybe?

...

...

AN: What do you think? XD

Hope you liked it! I can't tell you how many times I rewrote this chapter. I struggled to find a nice balance and make Hari's reaction as real as I could get it. It was tough. But this is the best I would get it. :)

Thank you for your support! Thank you for reading! XD