A massive thank you to Louise, Geishaaa and Nomi for reviewing the last chapter for me on Ao3

And a MASSSSSIVE thank you to Swiftla for proof reading 3

This chapter will see the growing relationship between Toshiro and Rangiku! And Hyorinmaru being the best/worst wingman.

Chapter 3 - Bewitched

Toshiro PoV

The news of Ichigo being hospitalised spread around the school as quickly as if it had apparated directly into the brains of every child and faculty member.

Thankfully for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Ichigo had humbly told everyone that it was his fault. Toshiro wondered what everyone was muttering about until Rukia had appeared the next morning for breakfast looking guilty.

'You did what?' Toshiro blinked at her as she shushed him, glancing nervously around. They two and Yukio were the only people sitting close enough to her.

'Yeah, part of me feels bad,' Rukia sighed.

'Why doesn't all of you feel bad?' Yukio pointed a buttery knife at her accusingly, 'you coulda killed him.'

'You know when you say it as deadpan as you do, it doesn't seem so bad,' Rukia gave him a small grin and Yukio narrowed his eyes as she avoided his question.

She sighed in resignation after Hyorinmaru began nibbling at her cheek for answers.

'I just didn't want him spying on my team, obviously. I want to have a few surprises up my sleeve for our match.'

'So you attempted to murder him?' Toshiro asked. He was struggling to feel bad about this situation. Actually he was a little humoured by it.

'No,' Rukia rolled her eyes, 'I got Ikkaku to attempt to murder him.'

Toshiro chuckled at her response. He knew he was being a bit petty and jealous of Ichigo, but he couldn't help it. Ichigo was everything he wanted to be. He was an exceptional Quidditch player, popular, attractive, tall. Instead of focusing on that, Toshiro just made a mental note to thank Ikkaku next time he saw him.

The workload was not kind to them over the next few days. It seemed that along with the threat of upcoming N.E.W.T's, there were an overwhelming amount of essays and quizzes. Even the teachers were directing more questions than usual to the quieter students rather than letting Toshiro answer them in class.

Toshiro tightened up his daily routines. On days when he had Quidditch practice, he'd get up early and do some homework before heading to his first class. The days where he didn't have Quidditch practice, he'd wake up early and go for a morning jog around the Hogwarts grounds instead. It wasn't entirely uncommon for him to find other students out for pre-breakfast walks, especially on mornings when the weather was nice.

Friday morning's weather dawned beautiful. The Scottish sunshine, having risen earlier than most, beat down on his back and with very little wind. Toshiro felt his light tank start to stick to him with sweat after twenty minutes of jogging. He took the longer route through the large arched bridge at the South side of the castle rather than doubling back and doing a semi-circle circuit. He passed Professor Kyoraku and Professor Ukitake who were out taking a stroll themselves. The two paused to wave at him as he passed and Professor Kyoraku shouted something Toshiro couldn't hear because he had his wired headphones in. If he had to guess, he'd have said it was something inappropriate. It was enough to ruffle a few of Hyorinmaru's feathers, the bird changed direction mid-flight to fly away from the man.

Hyorinmaru enjoyed Toshiro's runs as much as he did, getting to stretch his wings while still being close to him. He seemed to stick a lot closer to Toshiro this year than he did last year. Toshiro wondered if it were out of the bird's loneliness now that he was closer to breeding age or if it were something else. He pondered the thought idly as he watched the bird's beautiful tail feathers glimmering in the sunshine above him. Hyorinmaru dove, his wings adjusting to the new breeze that blew around the base of the castle turret that they were running around. Toshiro tried to study how he moved his wings, but no amount of observation could really prepare him for outside flight himself. He'd have to just experience it and try.

Toshiro slowed to a short jog when he began to heavily pant, pulling his tank top that clung to his chest away to wipe at the sweat on his forehead.

'I think that's enough,' he called to Hyorinmaru. The ice phoenix gave a final roll in the sky, gracefully circling back to Toshiro and landing on the arm he held out. 'We'll go and grab a shower and go to the library before class. Accio bag.'

Toshiro pointed his wand at a nearby bush where he'd stashed his book bag and it came zooming out. He caught it smoothly by the handles and turned to march back into the castle. The trek to the fifth floor was only worth it to use the prefect's bathroom. Thankfully Toshiro encountered very few people on his way there as most were heading to breakfast in the Great Hall or catching a precious few extra minute's sleep before class. He only passed two fifth years that shot him funny looks, but he didn't hear what they said because he kept his earphones in and his music up loud.

Toshiro passed the statue of Boris the Bewildered and faced the fourth door.

'Scrub-a-dub,' he spoke the password and the door opened.

Toshiro kicked the door closed behind him. The large white marbled room was dazzling in the sunlight that filtered in through the high windows. The golden beams bounced off the clean marble surface and blinded Toshiro. He raised a hand to block the rays as he made his way around the large pool-sized tub in the centre. The large space had been converted to hold a number of showers since they were more convenient to use, but they were still decked out with the same white marble surface. Toshiro entered the chamber with the shower stalls and dumped his bag down on the bench in the centre, taking his shoes and socks off. He was just reaching down to remove his tank top when his hand was viciously pecked by Hyorinmaru.

'Ouch!' Toshiro hissed pulling his hand back and glaring at the bird who flew around him. He finally pulled his earphones out of his ears, 'what was that for?'

Hyorinmaru gave a loud chirp, the noise echoing off the stone walls and flew out in the direction of the massive swimming pool-sized tub. Toshiro's eyes followed him then finally found what the bird had been warning him about. Lying on a yoga mat with her long legs stretched out in front of her and two curious baby blue eyes blinking at him, was Rangiku.

Hyorinmaru circled her once then flew back to Toshiro, landing on the bench where he'd dumped his bag. Toshiro owed Hyorinmaru big for the warning.

'Wh-what are you doing here?' Toshiro stammered, heat climbing up his neck as he realised he'd been about to strip in front of the other student.

'Oh don't mind me,' she grinned, a beautifully wicked smile stretching over her lips, 'just doing some yoga. This is the only place I can come and not get gawked at.'

Toshiro's brain was misfiring connections, he was pretty sure of it. He watched Rangiku's teasing grin falter and slide off her face as she waited for him to reply, but Toshiro couldn't think of anything else to say.

'I mean,' Toshiro grabbed at something, 'the door shouldn't let a boy and girl in together.'

'Technically I'm not even a prefect,' Rangiku shrugged, raising the next point Toshiro had been about to make. She glanced down at her hands from where she sat on the mat. 'Gin gave me the password.'

Well that would explain it. The boys and girls got a different password each so the door wouldn't unlock for the opposite sex while one was inside. If Rangiku had used Gin's password, that would explain why they were both able to get in together, considering Toshiro and Gin had crossed paths many times before.

'Oh,' Toshiro replied lamely.

'So don't mind me,' Rangiku repeated with a sheepish smile, lifting her face and peering at him with her baby blue eyes again, 'I won't bother you.'

'I'm not showering in front of you,' Toshiro scowled, feeling his face getting hotter.

'I won't look,' she said, but she was still grinning at him. Toshiro had turned to pick his bag back up and make his way back down to the Slytherin Common room bathroom instead, when Hyorinmaru gave a chirp and flew over to Rangiku. Toshiro hesitated, watching as the bird landed on her leg.

'Hello Handsome,' she greeted him, giving him a good scratch under his beak again, 'you trust me, don't you?'

Hyorinmaru tweeted in affirmation, turning his head to look pointedly back at Toshiro. Toshiro hesitated, his hand on the handle of his bag. Going back to the Slytherin common room would take time, and the showers weren't nearly as good as the ones in the prefects' bathroom. Hyorinmaru had rarely been wrong about a person before, if he liked them and trusted them, usually that meant Toshiro could as well.

'Is he always this indecisive?' Rangiku asked the bird and he chirped again. Toshiro scowled, but his hand moved away from his bag and he turned to sit down on the bench. The sun broke a pale cloud outside and Rangiku was illuminated by the light that streamed in through the massive windows. It lit up her hair, bringing out the more blonde tones and washing out the red colouring. Hyorinmaru's pale, icy feathers also glinted beautifully as he moved to adjust himself on Rangiku's legs and his feathers looked iridescent in their purple and blue tones.

Toshiro thought the two looked rather good together.

'Where is Gin?' Toshiro asked.

Rangiku's smile, which had been in place as she stroked and watched Hyorinmaru, faltered and slid from her face.

'We broke up.'

'Oh,' came Toshiro's expert reply. He stared at her, as her smile turned sad. He realised he'd very rarely ever seen Rangiku without a smile on her face. This sad one didn't suit her.

'He broke up with me the other day and has been avoiding me ever since. I thought…' she trailed off.

'You thought you'd catch him here?' Toshiro asked. Rangiku wasn't looking at him, but she nodded her head.

It made sense. Gin and Toshiro often bumped into each other in the prefects' bathroom. The two shared a similar routine for waking and sleeping, it was likely that Rangiku knew the times he'd come and shower and so came to catch him. Perhaps they'd even come together, though Toshiro had never seen Rangiku in the bathrooms before.

'He gave me the password last year so I could do yoga in private. The common room is full of first and second years who just stare,' she rolled her eyes but the same sad smile was still on her face. Toshiro was sure he should have said something about this as a prefect. The sharing of bathrooms and dorms between the genders was strictly prohibited and yet… Toshiro knew it happened.

'I'm sorry,' Toshiro said finally, settling on apologising rather than reprimanding her. 'I won't pry, but if you want to talk, sometimes speaking to a stranger helps.'

She shrugged and Toshiro could tell this was hard for her. He'd watched Rukia go through several breakups, but Rukia had always been the one to break things off, so there was very little for her to be sad about. This felt more personal, raw, there was something in the expression that Rangiku wore that reminded him of the face his Granny made when she was being strong for him and Momo.

'He said he just didn't love me anymore,' Rangiku said simply.

'I'm really sorry, Rangiku, that's…' Toshiro looked around the massive chamber, trying to find the right words.

'Shit,' she choked and he turned to look back at her, noticing the tears bubbling in her eyes.

'Yeah, really fucking shit,' he sighed.

She sobbed a laugh and brought her sleeve up to rub her eyes. Toshiro noticed then that she was wearing muggle clothing. Yoga pants and a long sleeved shirt that looked too long for her. He wondered if it had belonged to Gin, but didn't want to drag up more painful memories by asking.

'If I see him, do you want me to keep hitting him with a bar of soap until he speaks to you?' Toshiro asked, trying to cheer her up, and she chuckled wetly again.

'Please,' she shook her head, 'I should probably just forget about him. He never treated me all that well.'

'Sometimes we fall for the people who aren't right for us,' Toshiro shrugged. Rangiku looked up at him, the tear marks down her cheeks glinting in the sunlight as she turned her head.

'You've been in love?' she asked, genuinely curious.

'It doesn't matter,' Toshiro said, standing up and moving toward the shower cubicle, 'she wasn't right for me.'

'How did you know that?' Rangiku asked.

'Him,' Toshiro nodded his head at Hyorinmaru, 'he loves her, but he tells me things in his own ways sometimes and I knew that we wouldn't be good together. She was never interested, so I had to learn to move on.'

Rangiku smiled sadly at him, 'was it Rukia Kuchiki?'

Toshiro shrugged, 'like I said, it doesn't matter.'

Rangiku's gaze was so full of empathy and care, Toshiro had to look away.

'What do you think?' she asked, turning to Hyorinmaru, 'should I try and get back together with Gin?'

Toshiro watched as Hyorinmaru very obviously shook his head from side to side. The movement made Rangiku laugh for a second time, but Toshiro watched the tears spill down her cheeks as she wiped them away with her sleeve again.

'Who should I date?' she asked. The question had obviously been rhetorical but without missing a beat Hyorinmaru spread his wings and flew right back to Toshiro's shoulder.

'Very funny,' Toshiro scoffed, feeling the heat creep up his neck, 'good wingman. Go away,' he shooed the bird who chirped irately and flew up to perch on top of the shower divider wall.

If Rangiku was looking at him, Toshiro refused to meet her gaze. Hyroinmaru seemed determined to make a fool of him in front of this woman. He wasn't sure what he'd done to the tiny little phoenix to make him think any of this was warranted.

'I'm going to trust you,' Toshiro said reaching down to pull his tank top off again and glancing briefly at her to check she wasn't watching him. Rangiku had been staring at him, but started and turned away, showing him her back as she faced the window. Toshiro undressed quickly, keeping an eye on her and then grabbed his towel and slipped inside the shower stall, tossing the towel up beside Hyorinmaru before turning the hot water on.

It was bliss to finally wash away the sweat which had started to dry on his body. Though he'd said he trusted Rangiku, he was determined to wash as fast as he could, so picked up the bar of soap and hastily began to run it all over his body.

Then he heard a wolf whistle and jumped about a foot in the air. Covering himself, he turned back toward the shower cubicle door expecting to see Rangiku standing there. The door was closed, but the room still echoed with the resonance of the whistle. He heard loud laughter from outside the cubicle when a second wolf whistle sounded around the marble and stone walls.

'Is he wolf whistling at you?' Rangiku laughed and Toshiro glared up at Hyorinmaru who was indeed drawing in a deep breath and then emitted another high pitch wolf whistle.

'You're never getting another bird treat from me ever again. It's a seed only diet from now on,' Toshiro scowled at him.

Hyorinmaru and Toshiro eyed each other for a long while after that, sizing each other up. Then he puffed up his little feathered chest.

'Who's a pretty boy!' the bird called loudly and flew away while Rangiku roared with laughter and Toshiro cursed stridently after the bird.

Oh sure. Hyorinmaru could parrot talk. He very rarely did it, except to speak to Granny and then occasionally like this when it meant Toshiro's humiliation.

Judging by the laughter that Toshiro could hear from Rangiku though, he wondered if that had been the reason why Hyorinmaru had done it. The bird did seem to show a preference for witches, especially when they were upset. It was ever a wonder to him why Hyorinmaru had picked Toshiro as a companion. The bird had come to Rukia's aid, Granny's aid and even though he didn't like her all that much, he'd even comforted Momo before when she'd been sad. Each time always seemed to be at Toshiro's expense.

Washing faster than he'd ever washed in his life, he grabbed the towel and dried off. He wrapped it around his waist before stepping out of the cubicle to find Rangiku doing an upward facing dog yoga pose with Hyorinmaru perched on her head.

Over the worst of his humiliation, Toshiro watched as she changed pose, her eyes remaining closed and Hyorinmaru hopping onto her back as she moved. He was pretty sure that if Yukio had been here, he'd have been staring at Rangiku just like she'd mentioned she got stared at in her own common room. Thinking about that, and recognising the privacy she was giving him, Toshiro looked away. He pulled his boxers up under the towel and got dressed hastily, keeping her in his peripheral vision to see if she turned her head. Rangiku remained true to her word though, proof that once again, Hyorinmaru was right.

'I'm decent,' Toshiro said after a while.

'Hello Decent,' Rangiku said, her body vibrating with laughter as she struggled to maintain her pose, 'I'm Rangiku.'

'Do you always have such terrible Professor Shiba inspired dad jokes?' Toshiro asked, rolling his eyes but smiling as he stuffed things back into his bag.

'I was pretty proud of that actually,' she sounded affronted but when he glanced at her she was smiling, bringing her long legs around to cross under her as she turned to face him once more.

Toshiro shook his head and lifted up his bag as Hyorinmaru flew over to the bench and gazed up at him.

'I'm not talking to you,' Toshiro said to him, watching the bird blink innocently, 'you're the worst wingman.'

Hyorinmaru gave a sad little chirp, pulling his head into his body so his feathers stuck out pathetically.

'I thought he was a smooth wingman,' Rangiku said with a grin and Toshiro glanced back at her. She suited smiling like this, her smile was genuine and brought a light to her face and eyes that chased away all traces of her earlier sadness. 'He made me think of you in the shower, which is pretty smooth of him.'

Toshiro choked, feeling heat climbing up his neck once more as he glared at the little bird who had taken to leaving his beak open in an attempt to look even more pathetic.

'I-I don't know how to reply to that,' Toshiro muttered honestly, slinging the bag up onto his back.

'I didn't think you would,' she smiled slyly at him as he walked past her toward the door, 'so you're not going to deduct points off me or give me a detention?'

'Of course not,' he frowned back at her. 'Besides only teachers can give out detentions and I don't want to take points from Ravenclaw.'

Toshiro had never liked their ability to deduct points. He'd seen a lot of other prefects abuse the power especially close to the end of the year when they were going to announce the House Cup.

'But you're a prefect,' Rangiku pointed out with a knowing smile.

'Do you want me to deduct points?' he sighed impatiently and Rangiku rolled gracefully off her mat and gathered it up into her arms with a grin.

'No.'

'Then stop asking,' Toshiro held the door open for her and Hyorinmaru flew back to her shoulder. Toshiro was going to have to have a serious talk with his bird if he was going to keep imposing himself on her. Rangiku didn't seem to mind though, she cooed at him as they stepped out into the hallway.

'Toshiro? R-Rangiku?' a high feminine voice said, sounding surprised. Toshiro let the bathroom door close behind him and looked over to see Momo standing with Professor Aizen. The taller man was beaming at them, his glasses glinting in the light that spilled through the window to his left.

'Hello Momo,' Rangiku said, sounding more cheerful than she had when Toshiro had found her. He wondered if Hyorinmaru had anything to do with that?

'What were you two doing in the prefects' bathroom together?' Momo's eyes glanced accusatory toward Toshiro who felt heat climbing up his neck again, realising how this must have looked.

'Come now, Momo, Toshiro is a prefect, I don't think anything unsavoury was happening,' Aizen said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

'Innocent as a newly born lamb,' Rangiku said casually.

'There, you see?' Aizen chuckled, 'nothing to worry about. Come, let's discuss your paper in my office.'

Aizen moved without waiting for Momo to reply but the girl scrambled after him anyway. Toshiro frowned, he really didn't like the way Momo followed him around, though there was very little Toshiro could do about it. He remembered there had been a time that Aizen had been unusually nice to him. It had started around third year, when he'd taken the Professor's class, it seemed he favoured students who were studying History of Magic.

'What's wrong?' Rangiku asked curiously.

'Nothing,' Toshiro replied, squaring his shoulders.

'I was talking to Hyorinmaru,' Rangiku said, sounding worried. Toshiro turned back to find the bird cowering under her hair. With a little bit of coaxing, the bird finally moved to Toshiro's shoulder instead, freeing Rangiku up to head back to the Ravenclaw common room. As they parted, she threw concerned glances their way and Toshiro could now understand why Hyorinmaru had taken a liking to her. She came across as a genuinely empathetic person.

As with any kind of gossip in a school without internet or television, the news of Rangiku and Toshiro emerging from the bathroom together had spread around to every student and teacher by the end of the day. It spread just as quickly, if not more quickly than the news of Ichigo being hospitalised. Toshiro made his way to dinner and received multiple winks and inappropriate eyebrow wiggles from the other male students and rather judgemental looks ones from the female students.

He was dreading seeing Yukio, and knew that Rukia was going to hound him for answers too.

No sooner had he slipped into his bench and offered Hyorinmaru a slice of apple than the seats all around him were taken. Rukia and Yukio slid into the bench opposite, and Ninny and Noel slid in either side of him, effectively boxing him in.

'Excuse me, my good Sir,' Yukio said leaning across the table, 'do you have time to talk about the good news?'

Toshiro drew a long, suffering breath.

'Seriously, when were you going to tell us that you were in the prefects' bathroom alone with the hottest girl in seventh year?' Rukia asked, being much louder than Toshiro would have liked. 'We had to find out from Noel.'

Rukia pointed at the Ravenclaw girl in question who rather intimidated Toshiro. Noel leaned over him, looking imposing and fixing him with an unblinking stare.

'Did you snog her?' Ninny cackled like the witch she was and Toshiro scowled.

'Of course not,' he glared at Ninny and even Hyorinmaru ruffled his feathers indignantly at the question.

'So what happened?' Rukia asked, hissing and keeping her voice low. Her violet eyes were wide and round and Toshiro felt a pang in his chest. Suddenly he didn't want to tell them, he rather enjoyed having a personal secret to call his own. True, none of his friends knew about his horrendous Animagus attempts, but this was different. This one felt more personal because of how raw and open Rangiku had been when he'd seen her and he was too much of a gentleman to disclose that to anyone. Granny had always said that Toshiro was her little open book, that he always wore his heart on his sleeve.

Well maybe he wanted to keep something to himself, no matter how small it might be.

'Nothing,' Toshiro shrugged, pulling a baked potato onto his plate and putting a small cube of butter into it.

'You have to give us more than that,' Yukio looked desperate now, 'I heard she was wearing a bikini.'

'Get your mind out the gutter, Yukio,' Rukia clicked her fingers in front of his face, 'I heard she was in short shorts.'

Rukia's eyes travelled back to Toshiro, looking for clarification. Toshiro was having fun with this.

'Either could be true, neither could be true,' he shrugged.

'She was wearing yoga pants and a shirt,' Noel said, sounding unimpressed by his lack of response, 'I saw her when she came back to the common room.'

'Oh man,' Yukio leaned away from the table, his eyes glancing up toward the heavenly enchanted ceiling, 'what I wouldn't give to see Rangiku in yoga pants. WAIT! Was she doing yoga in front of you?'

'You need to get laid,' Ninny scowled at Yukio.

'He wishes,' Rukia smirked at him and Yukio glared back at her.

'If any of you ladies would like to volunteer, I'll happily pop your cherry?' Yukio said with a shrug.

Ninny made a vomit noise and stood up from the bench, Noel following her.

'Let's see if Rangiku will be more vocal about what happened,' Ninny said.

As the two moved away from the Slytherin table and toward the Ravenclaw one, Toshiro caught sight of Gin who was glaring at him from the bottom end of the bench where he sat with Grimmjow.

'Ladies! Come back! You don't know what you're missing!' Yukio called after them.

'Yeah a whole two inches of inexperience,' Rukia said rolling her eyes.

Toshiro drowned out their bickering as his eyes slid across the hall toward the Ravenclaw table where a few girls were gathered around Rangiku. Nanao seemed put out by the attention as she sat dutifully by Rangiku's side and Toshiro was surprised to see that even Orihime had made her way over to the table too. After a period of time, the girl went to sit with Uryu instead, leaving Rangiku alone.

'Was I right not to tell anyone?' Toshiro asked Hyorinmaru quietly while Yukio and Rukia's bickering increased in octaves. Hyorinmaru didn't say anything but he hopped over to Toshiro's hand and rubbed his head against his fingers, so Toshiro took that as affirmation.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘ ༓ ∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The week stretched on, elongated by the mass of homework and time spent in the library. Toshiro had been pleased to learn that Rangiku hadn't told anyone about their tête-à-tête in the bathroom either. The woman likely had her own reasons for doing so and Toshiro assumed they had something to do with Gin. Whatever the reason, it caused more stir and speculation than the initial rumour had in the first place.

He hadn't quite realised how far the rumours had travelled until he was back in Yoruichi's office the following Wednesday evening. They'd taken to mixing up the nights to suit both their schedules but also to stop someone (namely Rukia) detecting a pattern and coming to investigate what they were up to. Though Yoruichi had permission from the Head Teacher and some of the other teachers knew what was going on.

'So what really happened between you and Rangiku in the bathroom?' Yoruichi asked, flashing him her signature Cheshire grin.

'Not you too,' Toshiro groaned stepping out of the office and putting his neatly folded robes down on one of the empty student tables. He wished she'd asked him before he put the tight leggings and t-shirt on, he felt way too exposed to get personal.

'Come on,' Yoruichi said with the same grin still in place, 'I know you. I know nothing against the rules happened. I also know that Gin was dating Rangiku and then they broke up.'

'You didn't strike me as much of a gossip, Miss,' Toshiro said, tiling his head.

'I'm not, but Kisuke is,' she shrugged and Toshiro could honestly see that man gossiping with Kyoraku and Ukitake. Shoulders slumping in defeat Toshiro shook his head.

'Nothing happened. I've been practicing the visualisation techniques you've been teaching me before bed, so I hope they work,' he deflected the topic and she restrained herself from asking, recognising that the topic had been dropped. From there Toshiro proceeded to transform into the snowy white barn owl. Though it took several embarrassing backward and forward attempts before he could transform with the leggings still on, it was a vast improvement to only his boxers.

By the following Monday's lesson, Toshiro was able to transform freely with the leggings, but the t-shirt remained the problem. His flight was improving too, though he still struggled to act like an owl.

'You're acting more like Hyorinmaru than an owl,' Yoruichi said, as he hopped around the desk in a bid to follow the ice phoenix. 'You should study the movements of a barn owl and copy them in a mirror.' So that became his next focus, foregoing the transformation with clothes in the evening, he'd sit with a mirror and practice just moving like an owl.

Each Tuesday morning he went for his runs, he'd open the door to the prefects' bathroom cautiously and each time there'd be a fleeting feeling of disappointment when he'd find himself alone. Gin had stopped turning up to the prefects' bathrooms entirely, or was doing it during hours when Toshiro either had class or Quidditch practice, because he never saw the Head Boy. In fact, Toshiro barely saw him ever except during meals.

He did see Rangiku, but not in the bathroom. The girl would be studying in the library, her head bent over pages of parchment or books, sometimes she'd be joined by Nanao and other times she'd be by herself. Every single time he saw Rangiku, she'd smile pleasantly at him and then get excited when Hyorinmaru would sit on her shoulder. Not wanting to create any further unsavoury rumours for her, Toshiro mostly left her alone.

September gave way to October and the weather turned from random bouts of sunshine to mild rain and windy gusts. Toshiro woke the first Saturday of October to the wind lashing rain against the dormitory window. He groaned and rolled over, trying to get back to sleep again. Mo's constant snores and the rain pounding the window prevented any further slumber and eventually he gave up and pulled himself out of bed. Hyorinmaru was right onto his shoulder as soon as he stood up, and took to dipping under the water as Toshiro brushed his teeth.

The two of them then made their way down to the common room, Toshiro carrying his book bag with him and debated whether he'd rather study in the common room or in the library. He was surprised to find a couple of fourth year girls gathered around the notice board at the other end of the common room. They were chatting excitedly in their pajamas. He frowned. They really should dress properly before coming into one of the more public areas. It wasn't against the rules, he just found it a bit strange. It was the equivalent of walking down to the lobby of a hotel in your pajamas.

It was these giggling girls that ultimately made his mind up about going to the library but not before Hyorinmaru flew past the notice board and Toshiro spotted what was pinned there. The date of the first Hogsmeade visit was scheduled for next Saturday, 9th October. This perked him up. Toshiro found himself grinning as he made his way out of the hidden door.

'Finally,' he sighed to Hyorinmaru, the bird now sitting on top of his head again. He always allowed himself freedom for the weekend of the Hogsmeade trip so he could spend time with Rukia and Yukio and relax. He'd even care less about the sugar content of the food he was consuming on the weekend visits.

When they finally arrived at their usual corner of the library, Toshiro started when he saw Rangiku already sitting there.

'Rangiku?' Toshiro asked, approaching her. She turned and beamed up at him.

'Hello Toshiro,' she said smiling brightly and then winking at Hyorinmaru, 'and my favourite guy ever.'

The bird was instantly on her shoulder, staring at Toshiro like he'd now been disowned. Rangiku laughed and Toshiro sighed.

'You're up early,' he said moving around her usual table and over to his own.

'Says you,' she continued smiling, 'I was just needing to get some work done and I didn't want to disturb the girls in the dorm. Apparently according to Nanao my quill scratching is loud.' She rolled her eyes and Toshiro smiled, as he pulled books out of his bag. He didn't know Nanao well but he'd seen how strict she was in the library, shushing everyone around her and also deducting points when students spoke in anything other than a whisper. He could easily see the woman getting angry at Rangiku.

'Well I prefer the library anyway,' he said, 'all the fourth years are squealing about the upcoming Hogsmeade visit.'

No sooner had he said the words than Rangiku herself squealed, almost knocking over her cup she'd brought, 'when is it?'

'Next weekend,' Toshiro said, amused at her reaction.

'Oh, I can't wait! I love a bit of shopping,' she sighed, leaning back on her chair, schoolwork forgotten.

'Sorry I didn't mean to distract you,' Toshiro said sheepishly as he pulled his books out of his bag.

'You didn't,' Rangiku replied then made a face. 'Okay maybe you did, but you brought good news so you're forgiven.'

'Well I'm glad to have been of service,' he replied.

'Why do you sit so far away from me, do you think I have cooties or something?' she said leaning over the table and grabbing her cup of coffee before pulling her chair around the side of the desk so she was much closer to him.

'No,' he replied, turning and flashing a smile, 'I stopped believing in cooties the moment I heard about them.'

She didn't reply, just stared at him with her lips slightly parted.

Toshiro felt the grin slide from his face, 'what?'

He was worried he'd said something offensive.

'N-nothing,' Rangiku replied, and Toshiro watched as her face turned pink and she looked back down to Hyorinmaru who gave her a little chirp.

'Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you,' Toshiro was mentally trying to go back over what he'd said in the hope of picking up a clue for her peculiar behaviour.

'No, you didn't, I just…' she turned back to him and offered him a shy smile, the pink still painting her cheeks, 'I just noticed you've got a really beautiful smile.'

'Oh,' it was Toshiro's turn to flush now.

An awkward silence passed over them and he cleared his throat, 'My Granny is a dentist. So we've always taken quite good care of our teeth.'

'That explains it,' Rangiku said beaming at him once more, 'you should smile more.'

Toshiro mumbled incoherently under his breath, sliding into his chair and willing the heat in his cheeks to dissipate. Hyorinmaru was by his hand in an instant and pecked it lightly, sticking it with his little black tongue at the same time, then looked directly at him.

'What?' Toshiro frowned at the bird. Hyorinmaru glanced back at Rangiku who was laughing at the bird's odd behaviour. All of a sudden Hyorinmaru puffed his little body then spoke.

'Pretty girl,' he said followed by a whistle.

Rangiku laughed harder.

Toshiro scowled down at Hyorinmaru, 'are you just trying to embarrass me again?'

'Thank you, Hyorinmaru,' Rangiku said eventually and Toshiro glanced to see her smiling at the bird who flew back over to her, 'I think you're really pretty too.'

They worked in silence for a while, both of them falling into rhythm and the only sound heard was the turning of a page and the loud scratching of Rangiku's quill.

Hyorinmaru was content to sit with them, mostly because Toshiro had brought along a few toys for him to continually knock off the table, including a bouncy ball and a little wooden block.

'This is where you ran off too,' the relieved voice of Nanao drifted down the library toward them and Toshiro turned around to see the tall woman making her way toward them. Her black hair had been swept away into a tight bun and her glasses perched on the end of her nose as she sat down in a chair beside Rangiku. 'Bruno was looking for you.'

'Hence why I am here,' Rangiku said, indicating the library with her head. Nanao smiled knowingly at her best friend.

'Couldn't sleep again?' Nanao asked.

'Not since the breakup,' she replied and Toshiro felt like he was listening into a conversation he shouldn't be hearing.

'You're better off without him,' Nanao said sternly, in a voice that reminded Toshiro very much of Granny.

'I know,' Rangiku sighed. There was something in her tone that told Toshiro they'd had this exchange before.

'But don't date Bruno, please,' she added.

'Ugh, never,' Rangiku visibly cringed, 'if he'd stop asking me out I'd be able to actually study in the Ravenclaw common room.'

'You should report him,' Nanao sighed.

'I don't want to cause a fuss, and I don't need you deducting more Ravenclaw points,' Rangiku waved her quill at her friend.

'It's not fair that you have to come here alone to study at ridiculous times by yourself just to get away from creepy men who don't know boundaries,' Nanao scowled.

Toshiro was feeling more and more uncomfortable by the moment. Partly because he was sure Nanao didn't know he was there and also because he was miffed that Rangiku was being treated that way.

'I'm not alone,' Rangiku said, 'I have Hyorinmaru.'

Nanao let out a strangled squeal as the bird flew over her head, his long icy tail feathers brushing the top of her hair and came to land on Rangiku's shoulder.

'Wait-' Nanao's head whipped around and her eyes found Toshiro who hastily glanced back down at his book.

There was a beat of silence as Nanao absorbed the information and Toshiro willed himself not to blush while Rangiku made cute cooing noises at the bird.

'I see,' Nanao's voice held a note of accusation toward her best friend as she turned back away from Toshiro.

'Hyorinmaru will treat me right,' Rangiku laughed and Toshiro sighed.

'He can't cuddle you at night, Ran,' Nanao said patiently.

'Hey now,' Rangiku said, 'I'm sure he would if he could.'

'His owner on the other hand…' Nanao said, her voice low. Toshiro started because he'd never assumed Nanao would make a comment quite that bold without reason. He stared down at his book, not reading the pages but wishing he knew what both girls had been saying about him behind his back. Had Rangiku told Nanao about the bathroom? Probably… they were best friends.

'I don't think he's interested,' Rangiku laughed. Toshiro's face felt hot, surely they were teasing him? 'I said he had a pretty smile and he refused to return the compliment.' There was a mischievous edge to Rangiku's voice now. Hyorinmaru chirped in agreement. Rangiku was doing it on purpose. If Toshiro hadn't spent as much time with Rukia as he did he wouldn't have recognised the playful tone at all.

'You don't think she's beautiful?' Nanao asked ludicrously as she turned back toward Toshiro.

'I never said that,' he instantly defended. Watching as Rangiku grinned behind her best friend's back, fixing him with an unapologetic glance. Nanao raised her eyebrows at him.

'Well?' she demanded after a while. Toshiro's eyes went wide and he blinked owlishly at them, unsure how to respond.

'I'm not going to tell her in front of an audience,' he defended.

'Chivalry is dead,' Rangiku sighed helplessly and Toshiro scowled at her.

'Tell me about it,' Nanao sighed, sitting back in her chair, 'did you know that Kaien was flirting with Rukia again, right in front of Miyako?'

'Why does he keep doing that?'

It was the first time Toshiro had ever heard Rangiku angry. Her voice, which had just been playful and upbeat, was now cold and dangerous.

'I don't know. It's really sick. Rukia seemed uncomfortable too so she started flirting with Miyako to make up for it,' Nanao said.

Toshiro smiled into his book. That was one hundred percent the kind of thing Rukia would do. She had a strong sense of justice and wouldn't stand for someone being treated that way. She had all the qualities that made her a perfect Gryffindor.

'What did Bruno want?' Rangiku asked after a few moments' silence.

'I think to ask you on a date to Hogsmeade, I told him you were going on a date with me,' Nanao adjusted her glasses as she said it.

'Lifesaver, I owe you,' Rangiku chuckled.

'Maybe you could invite your new boyfriend,' Nanao said and Toshiro glanced at them to see who they were referring too, the two of them had taken to scratching Hyorinmaru on his head.

'I don't think he'd be safe in Hogsmeade,' Rangiku frowned.

'Actually, I was going to take him,' Toshiro said, shooting them an apologetic glance for interrupting. 'He's been really clingy and easily spooked recently so I don't want him to be alone.'

'Well aren't you adorable,' Nanao said with a soft smile. Toshiro once again found himselfunsure what to say, so remained quiet.

'Isn't he?' Rangiku teased and Toshiro started packing his bag. He wasn't going to get any studying done here if they were both going to keep teasing him. The hastily packing of his bag caused both girls to giggle.

'Wait, don't go, I'm sorry, I'll leave you two alone,' Nanao made to stand up but Toshiro shook his head.

'No it's fine, I usually meet Yukio and Rukia for breakfast anyway around this time,' he hesitated, his eyes on Rangiku.

She smiled warmly at him, 'I'll see you around?'

'Yeah,' he nodded and then made a quick exit from the library, with Hyorinmaru sweeping after him.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘ ༓ ∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The weekend of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright and sunny. Toshiro had learned not to trust the weather in Scotland and put on his travelling cloak anyway. Plus there were extra roomy pockets inside the garment for Hyorinmaru to hide in if it did start to rain, or he got too annoyed with the local residents. Toshiro made his way down the spiral staircase to the Slytherin common room to find Rukia already sitting in a corner chatting to Ninny. Ninny wore her usual school robes, Rukia had forgone her robes for a chance to wear some of the muggle clothing she'd been excited to bring to school. The pale blue dress, black shorts and black ankle boots brought out her athletic and slender build.

'Who let you in?' Toshiro frowned walking over to her.

'Yukio gave me the password,' Rukia grinned and Toshiro sighed. He wondered what the school had been like before this intermingling of friendships between all the different houses.

'Are you going to take points off Slytherin for it Toshiro?' Ninny asked, a sly smile coiling at her mouth as she considered him with green eyes.

'No…' Toshiro trailed off because he had considered it for a split second. Rukia snorted at him and pinched his cheek.

'You're too cute, Mr Prefect,' she chuckled as he shoved her hand away and narrowed his eyes.

'I could remove points from Gryffindor though,' he threatened.

Rukia narrowed her eyes back, 'you wouldn't dare.'

The two sized each other up when they were interrupted by Yukio who had finally appeared from the bathroom.

'Are we ready to go?' he asked with a grin, clearly missing the very tense moment.

'There you are, we thought you'd gone to Narnia,' Ninny sighed.

'Are you coming with us?' Yukio asked her hopefully. She gave him a flat stare before shaking her head.

'Nah I'm going with Noel.'

'That's a pity you're missing an entire day of being in my company,' Yukio pointed out as they all collectively made their way outside the common room.

'You're not my type,' Ninny replied.

'I am everyone's type,' Yukio frowned.

'Not unless you've got a vagina we didn't know about, Yukio,' Rukia smirked.

Yukio frowned at her and together they all waited for the proverbial penny to drop. It took him a few minutes longer than it should have before his eyes went wide and his mouth parted a little in shock.

'There it goes,' Ninny said with a sigh.

'Wait! So you and Noel?' he asked.

'I ain't saying nothing, if it means you're going to be visualising anything,' Ninny frowned.

'I do it anyway,' he shrugged and the group collectively groaned. Ninny seemed quite pleased to get away from him when they bumped into Noel in the Entrance Hall. It seemed the Ravenclaws were awake early too. The small group made their way through the front doors and out into the sunny morning. The smell of freshly cut grass and damp earth greeted them, along with the excited chatter of a few groups of friends walking in front of them. Toshiro's eyes trained on the long fiery hair and bouncy curls of Rangiku and the tightly wound black bun of Nanao as they walked ahead of them. Behind them Noel and Ninny were discussing something in hushed voices, clearly not wanting to be overheard.

Rukia stretched loudly, her back cracking as she smiled in the sunshine.

'It feels so good to get out of that castle,' she sighed.

Toshiro hummed his confirmation, his finger gently stroking Hyorinmaru inside his large coat pocket. The bird was still half asleep and liked to be in darkness as he snoozed. The sloping grass finally gave way to a path that travelled down the hill and toward the little village. The walk itself didn't take more than fifteen minutes until they found themselves in the only all-wizard settlement in Britain. The ancient buildings creaked in at the top, giving them a pinched and pulled look against the early October sky. The town looked ancient and at the same time, ageless. Even if Toshiro wasn't a wizard, if he'd seen a picture of Hogsmeade he'd have assumed there was something magical about it.

'First stop, Honeydukes,' Yukio said jogging for a few steps before remembering he didn't like it.

'It's too early for sweets,' Rukia laughed jogging past him and pulling the hem of his cloak up over his head. After Yukio fought himself free and fixed his hair he glared at her.

'If we don't go early enough all the best sweets will be gone.'

That argument won out since Toshiro had been dreaming vividly of sugar quills when he'd woke up. They walked through the dark teal door and into the tight little shop. Each shelf was stacked with rows and rows of the top selling sweets, some kept in jars and pots and Toshiro soon found his quarry. He plucked a handsome looking sugar quill from a stand and turned, finding himself face to face with an entire shelf of chocolate frogs. He counted his money to check he had enough and picked one off the shelf before making his way back to Rukia and Yukio.

'We've got a problem,' Rukia sighed and indicated Yukio's arms which were full of Peppermint Imps, Crystallised Pineapple, Cauldron Cakes, and Drooples Best Blowing Gum.

'I left you for like… two seconds,' Toshiro said, fighting back the urge to laugh as Yukio eyed up the Ice Mice but realised he didn't have enough room left to hold anything.

'It was two seconds too long, Toshiro,' Rukia shook her head dramatically, 'he's going to go into a sugar coma and you've no one to blame but yourself.'

'Fine,' Toshiro narrowed his eyes and stepped up beside his other best friend, plucking a few things out of his arms, 'you don't need all of these.'

'But I want them,' Yukio whimpered pitifully as Toshiro put a box of Cauldron Cakes back on the shelf.

'You wanted a Chocolate Frog too right, for the cards? Get one of them instead,' Toshiro reasoned. The issue with Yukio consuming too much sugar was that Rukia and Toshiro had to put up with him when he'd eaten it all. Halloween was hard enough with the boy without an extra day of sugar going to his head.

Once they'd successfully rescued Yukio from diabetes and left the shop, they made their way to Zunko's Joke Shop. They passed by a lot of other students making their way between buildings and slipped inside. The space was crammed, with a number of sounds and items on shelves that Toshiro didn't trust. He was thankful that Hyorinmaru was still buried in his pocket because the tiny little demon would get up to so much mischief in a place like this. Rukia picked up a couple of Dungbombs and Toshiro noticed Yukio paying for a few sweets that he was pretty sure the boy wasn't intending to eat himself…

Making a mental note not to trust any sweet that was offered to him by his blond friend the three of them then made their way toward the Three Broomsticks.

'Probably should have come here first,' Rukia said looking around to see the entire place packed. There were students everywhere and a couple of the teachers had even ventured down from the castle too, including Yoruichi and Professors Urahara, Ukitake and Kyoraku.

'I can't see a free table,' Yukio said squeezing past a large wizard who gave him a disgruntled look.

'Let's just grab three bottles of Butterbeer and head outside again then?' Rukia suggested, 'we can go and visit the Shrieking Shack!'

'Like we've never done that before,' Yukio said, rolling his eyes. Toshiro's eyes, however, had landed on a nearly empty table, except for two people whom he recognised. Baby blue eyes met his gaze and her face broke into a beaming smile, she held up her hand and waved at them. Toshiro blinked at Rangiku and turned to look around him, making sure she was, in fact, signalling him. When he looked back she was laughing and even Nanao looked amused, and the two girls gestured to him this time.

'I'll be right back,' Toshiro said to Yukio and Rukia who had started to bicker about where to go next. He made his way through some of the other students and toward the table.

'Hi Toshiro,' Rangiku grinned, 'where is Hyorinmaru?' she looked around for the bird and no sooner had she said his name than he emerged sleepily from his pocket and flew onto the table.

'There he is,' Toshiro sighed and the girls giggled.

'Toshiro we got you a Butterbeer,' Rukia said sliding up beside him and smiling at Rangiku and Nanao, 'do you girls mind if we join you?'

'Sure, go ahead,' Rangiku gestured to the seats opposite them and Rukia sat down without a fuss. Toshiro only hesitated for a second before joining them, praying that Yukio wouldn't embarrass them as he openly gaped at Rangiku.

'She's a woman, Yukio, not a strawberry doughnut,' Rukia teased.

Yukio quickly shut his mouth but his face went red. Rangiku had been avoiding his gaze in favour of watching Hyorinmaru who was playing with her hair with his little beak and claws.

'How is your friendship holding up, this close to the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match?' Nanao asked.

'Well Toshiro already knows he's lost,' Rukia said confidently, 'so it doesn't impact our friendship at all.'

'Well, I'll catch the Snitch,' he corrected her, 'and end the match… but it's whether or not I can do it fast enough.'

'Good luck,' Rukia smirked into her bottle as she raised it to her lips. Toshiro sent her a playful glare across the table, but had to look away because his eyes were just drawn to her lips as she toyed with the bottle near her mouth.

'What do you do with Hyorinmaru during the matches?' Rangiku asked, scratching the bird under the beak with her long fingernail.

'Usually he stays with Professor Shiba, since he hates Yukio,' Toshiro shrugged.

'Hey now, he's just warming up to me,' Yukio retorted.

'For the last three years?' Toshiro raised an eyebrow at him and the blond boy visibly pouted.

'Why don't you leave him with Professor Shihouin?' Rukia asked innocently. It was a rather out-the-blue suggestion that instantly had Toshiro defensive.

'Why… would I?' he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. Nanao and Rangiku seemed curious about the suggestion too.

'I'm sure she's gotten to know him really well during all those private lessons the two of you have,' Rukia smirked.

'Why are you the way you are?' Toshiro asked. He felt heat creeping up his neck and across his cheeks because it was very clear she was just teasing him in front of the older students.

'What private lessons?' Nanao asked promptly.

'Nothing, it's just some advanced Transfiguration that's it,' Toshiro said quickly. Rangiku was giving him a searching gaze and he felt hot around his ears now too.

'We're convinced they've got something on the side,' Yukio said, joining Rukia's torture.

'You must have done really well in your Transfiguration O.W.L to get private lessons with Professor Shihouin directly,' Rangiku said, ignoring Yukio's comment.

'Yeah,' Toshiro nodded, happy that had been the conclusion she'd come to.

'The only thing he didn't get an Outstanding in was Divination,' Rukia pointed out. Toshiro wasn't sure why Rukia was acting this way, it was as if she were trying to talk him up and tease him to impress Rangiku.

'That's because Divination is a pile of shite,' Yukio said.

'It is not!' Rangiku defended instantly. She frowned at Yukio who seemed to shrink a little under her gaze and tried to back pedal.

'I mean, if you're good at it and have the Sight and everything then that's fair it's just for us normies it's uh-' he broke off to scowl at Rukia who was making very visible grave digging motions with her arms.

'You believe in it, don't you?' Rangiku asked Hyorinmaru. The little bird tilted his head, but otherwise gave no further answer.

'I'm not the biggest fan either,' Nanao said.

'You're all rubbish,' Rangiku huffed sitting back in her chair. 'What about you, Toshiro?'

'Oh,' Toshiro felt caught in her gaze and tried to articulate his words in a way that wouldn't offend her, 'well, I just think it's not for me.'

Rangiku was unimpressed with his response, but she let the subject drop.

'I told you they didn't come together,' Nanao said quietly to Rangiku and nodded over to a corner. Toshiro turned to see Orihime and Uryu sitting down at a table together. The small table was only designed for two people, and Orihime was chatting animatedly about something while Uryu sat opposite her with a very tender smile on his pale lips.

'She better not be cheating on Ichigo,' Rukia said quietly.

'Orihime wouldn't,' Rangiku shook her head, 'but I am curious about it.'

They started gossiping and Toshiro let it fade into the back of his mind as Hyorinmaru hopped over to him and instantly escaped into his pocket. He frowned at the peculiar behaviour and glanced up to see Gin and Grimmjow making their way through a crowd of people, pushing past Momo and Renji who were attempting to talk to Professor Aizen

Toshiro slipped his hand into the pocket, feeling the little bird nuzzle its head into his fingers. He was broken from his stupor when everyone around him started standing and getting ready to leave. Rangiku in particular looked keen to vacate the space where her ex was.

It felt like there was something happening, and Toshiro couldn't yet put his finger on it. He contemplated as they broke away from Rangiku and Nanao and headed back toward the castle.

'You've been awfully quiet,' Yukio slung an arm around his shoulder and looked at him with obvious concern.

'Sorry, just, lost in thought.'

'Rangiku so pretty she take your breath away?' he asked nodding his head, 'me too.'

'I don't really look at her that way,' Toshiro said.

'Every guy looks at Rangiku that way,' Rukia snorted.

'I don't,' Toshiro scowled.

'Next time you see her, actually look at her. Please, for the love of god, because if any of us stand a chance with her right now it's you,' Yukio begged.

'What if I'm not interested in her in that way?' Toshiro asked.

'Then you're gay,' Yukio raised an eyebrow and Toshiro scowled. 'Seriously Tosh, do it for me. Next time you're with her, genuinely look at her. Look at her through the lens of someone who has never seen her before.'

'Fine,' Toshiro sighed, 'I'll pay attention next time.'

'Good lad,' Yukio patted his shoulder condescendingly, 'maybe one of us will get laid by the end of the year.'

'Unlikely,' Rukia laughed and Yukio picked a stick up off the ground to throw it at her.

Toshiro sighed. He wasn't sure when he'd next see Rangiku again. Probably in Alchemy class, but he didn't want to stare at a woman in class. That would be incredibly obvious. He had a number of other things on his mind he had to prioritise anyway, like Quidditch. The first Quidditch match of the year; Slytherin vs Gryffindor was early next month and he really hoped that Slytherin didn't emerge a laughing stock of the school. It would be on his shoulders to catch the Snitch early, but he wasn't sure how good of a Seeker Karin would be.

Hopefully you all enjoyed that chapter! I think I proofed this one about 6 or 7 times so if there's any mistakes it's purely because I've read it so much I am blind to them HAHAHA!

Hopefully it made you smile at least! :D

As you can see, the relationship between Toshiro and Rangiku will take a tiny bit of time to form, but here's the foundations!

Please feel free to leave me a comment below :D

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