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

...

1st year – Teiko

Mac snuck out of the house, she could hear the telly so she knew Dudley was sitting in front of it like normal, and she knew Petunia was somewhere around the house. It wasn't like she was grounded, but if her aunt saw her she would only give her more chores and Mac had worked hard to finish the ones she already had. Besides, she wanted to see Daiki.

Rounding the corner of the street she ran to the court where she normally met her best friend and only real friend. She talked to the others in her class now, but she had trouble letting them in. They had been too easily scared by Dudley when they saw him, so she remained wary about them. Daiki glared at her cousin every time he saw him, refusing to let him intimidating him away from Mac.

"Kenzie," Daiki grinned spotting her as he took a break in his practising. "I thought you wouldn't make it."

"I almost didn't," Mac said, "but I managed to sneak out before aunt Petunia gave me more chores."

"Good," Daiki said and threw her the ball.

Mac grinned and started to dribble the ball trying to get past Daiki who guarded her more efficiently; Mac was starting to wonder that maybe giving him pointers on how she got past him wasn't such a good idea when he stole the ball from her. She rushed after him and managed to get a finger on the ball just as he was about to shoot causing the ball to hit the ring of the hoop and tilt the wrong way and Mac was already past Daiki and caught the ball again.

"You little…" Daiki said but he was smiling and she smiled back as she took a small step back and threw the ball up, managing to make it curve slightly with a small movement with her wrist and the ball fell through the hoop with a familiar swish.

"Ha!" Mac said and Daiki narrowed his eyes in concentration as he picked the ball up again, he crunched down and dribbled the ball as he watched Mac, who watched right back. He uses his speed to crossover the court to get away from Mac who has a little trouble following him.

...

"Are you ready to start Teiko tomorrow?" Daiki asked after taking a sip of water and glanced at her.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Mac asked as an answer, "to be finished with Elementary School and starting Middle School."

"Perhaps," Daiki shrugged, "are you joining the basketball club?"

Mac glanced at him, "I don't think so, at least not as a player."

"As a manager then?" Daiki asked glancing at her, "You should join as a player, Kenzie. You're good."

Mac just shrugged, she didn't want to explain that she didn't want to join the basketball team because she would be placed with the girls and she didn't want to be away from Daiki. As a manager, she could still be with the Daiki and the team he was on. She heard Daiki sigh and knew he was feeling exasperated over her answer, it wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation.

"I would think it will be unnecessary to ask what club you're joining," Mac said amused as she glanced over at Daiki.

"Of course," Daiki smirked, "I've heard Teiko is strong, so it should be fun playing there. I feel excited."

Mac smiled at the genuine happiness she saw on his face as he talked, it was very clear that he meant it and was truly looking forward to it. She did herself, too, but she was also a little worried. A small nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She did her best to push it away though, and it was easy when she saw the happiness on his face.

"I wonder if I'll meet other strong players there," Daiki mused out loud.

"I'm sure you will," Mac said smiling softly. Daiki nodded and threw the ball up in the air and balanced it on his finger spinning it around with ease.

They spent the rest of the day finding others playing streetball and Mac used the new (or not so new anymore) sketchpad that Daiki had given her, to make notes and some drawings as well as she sat on the sides observing. Later she would present what she'd seen to Daiki who would use it to grow stronger, better.

...

Mac threw on her uniform, a black skirt that reached to the middle of her thigh, maybe a little closer to her knees, and a blue shirt with a white jacket over it with the school logo on the left side of the jacket. She was pleased her aunt and uncle had been forced to buy her a new one, nothing of Dudley's could be passed as the school uniform and Mac had been given a new one. She had of course gotten a lot more chores to do as payment, her uncle called it, but at least she would not look too different than the others. She would already stand out by being English in a Japanese school.

"Daiki!" Mac called when she saw her friend standing just outside the gate, his white jacket was open showing the light blue shirt under it and tie, and his hands pushed in his black pants pockets looking lazy and bored, but he smiled when he saw her.

"Kenzie," Daiki greeted.

"Sorry, were you waiting long?" Mac asked.

"No," Daiki shrugged. "Let's go."

Mac nodded and followed him through the gates and she saw the school, she had been there once before with Daiki and his parents to look at it when they were trying to decide which school to go to. It was as large and white as she remembered; only this time the yard was filled with students both new and old. Booths were sat up and she could see people trying to recruit members for their clubs.

Mac walked and chatted with Daiki as they passed several who tried to stop them and have them join various clubs, but they declined every one. Mac noticed a boy with dark green hair and glasses walking past them looking stoic and serious, and he was carrying a phonebook? Why would he carry that around, Mac wondered curiously as she glanced at him one more time before turning her attention back to Daiki who was talking excitedly about basketball, no surprise there.

"Sorry," a soft voice said politely making Mac blink as she hadn't noticed anyone near them when Daiki had been bumped into.

"My bad," Daiki said and turned around before blinking confusedly. Mac turned as well and noticed that there wasn't anyone there, who had bumped into Daiki? "Wait, what?"

"Strange," Mac mused looking around.

"Never mind," Daiki shrugged and they started to walk again.

Mac glanced to the side when she heard someone exclaim: "wow, you're so tall! Please, join our Volleyball-team!"

The one they were surrounding was tall, taller than Daiki, and had purple hair and looked completely bored and lazy. In a way, Daiki couldn't even manage, and she heard him say something about it sounds like a pain in the butt. She smiled slightly.

...

"Oh, sorry," Mac apologized when she collided with someone. She felt instantly on edge, of course, she would collide with someone when she had been separated from Daiki in the crowd.

"No problem," a cool voice said and she glanced up to see two red eyes looking at her curiously and noticed the maroon coloured hair, otherwise he was wearing the same uniform as Daiki so she knew he was a student here. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mac blushed slightly feeling embarrassed. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"I'm fine," he said before he nodded at her shortly and walked away just as abruptly as he had appeared in front of her. She shook her head a little before she went back to looking for Daiki.

It took a moment before she spotted his head over the others in the crowd near the door and she saw his scowl as he looked around and felt a warmth spreading in her chest knowing he was looking for her as well. She saw the relief in his eyes when he spotted her and rushed over to her.

"There you are!" Daiki exclaimed, "You worried me."

Mac smiled slightly not wanting to admit that she had been worried as well, but he knew it as he put his hand on her head, she was over a head smaller than him after all, and ruffled her hair slightly. Something he had started doing when he noticed she was feeling a little overwhelmed. He knew she didn't like crowds, or being left on her own.

They finally found the list of the classes and Mac held her breath as she looked for her name and Daiki's, she really hoped they would end up in the same class. Finally, she found Daiki's name and she searched the list. Her pulse raced and bit down on her lip as she neared the end of the list. There. Her name.

"We're in the same class," Mac said and Daiki's eyes snapped to her and then the list that before he grinned spotting their names.

"Awesome!" Daiki grinned happily. They moved away from the board just as a boy with yellow hair and yellow eyes took their spot, he gave her a happy grin and what she guessed was a charming smile but she just looked away and followed Daiki.

...

"The try-outs for basketball is tomorrow," Daiki told Mac excitedly and sat down next to her in the classroom, the teacher for the next class (which was English) hadn't arrived yet, and he had slipped out right after the last class to find out. He had spoken to an upperclassman that turned out to be on the team, and he had told him about the time and place.

Mac looked up from her drawing on the sketchpad and saw the way his blue eyes shone in barely contained eagerness, and smiled slightly.

"I see," Mac said, "it'll be interesting to see how it goes, then. I heard someone say that no one is accepted directly into the first strings from the first test in the try-outs. Normally the best you could hope for was the second strings, but if you end up in the third strings you should just give up."

Daiki looked at her for a moment before he snorted.

"I'll be first string," he said sure and Mac tilted her head slightly in agreement, she was also sure he would be in the first string. He was good enough. "I never get over how you just know things."

Mac shrugged lightly, "I observe people and listen. It's not that hard."

Daiki just shook his head in amusement.

...

The next day found Mac standing by the door to the gym, leaning against the wall with her sketchpad in her hand and her eyes focused on the first years trying out for the basketball team for the first time.

"Welcome to the try-outs for Teiko basketball team," the man with brown hair and square black glasses said getting the attention from the students in the gym. "I'm the assistant coach, Sanada Naoto, and I will take you through this try-out. Next to me is the coach for the third string team, Matsuoka Daigo, and before you ask; we split the club up in three strings, and it depends on your talent which string you will be assigned to. So please show us everything you've got today."

Sanada continued telling them about the club and what was expected of the members of the basketball team, regardless which string they got assigned to. Mac was pleased to see that even Daiki was listening, he was known for dozing off when he found something boring and uninteresting, especially if it kept him from playing basketball.

Soon the kids were splitting into groups and started the exercises and Mac flipped open her sketchpad as she sat down and started to take notes on what she observed. Her eyes followed Daiki closely, but she didn't overlook the others either. She wanted to know who would be his biggest rival and if there was anyone who could match him in skill.

The exercises consisted off running to check their stamina, jumping to test their agility, dribbling, defending, scoring, and going one on one against regulars from the first string. From what Mac could tell Daiki was standing out the most, but there were three others who also stood out. Mac was unsure what their names were, but she had seen them the day before. The green haired with the phonebook, the purple haired with the lazy attitude and the maroon-haired one who she had bumped into, all looked to be strong players. Though there was one more that seemed interesting, Mac knew he wouldn't be among the first strings, she doubted he even would be among the second strings and she felt for him. Her eyes found the teal haired boy with the determined look in his light blue eyes, he looked much smaller than almost everyone there, and he was almost invisible in that large crowd. Something about him made her feel like he really loved basketball and needed to be on the first strings, she wasn't sure what though.

"Good," Sanada called and nodded, "we will meet again tomorrow and we will have the results ready for you then. Thank you."

"Thank you!" they all chanted at the same time.

...

"What are you doing in here, miss?"

Mac glanced up to see an older man with thin, combed back lightly grey hair and a well-kept goatee looking down at her, he had a kind face but Mac wasn't fooled. He could be ruthless if he wanted to. His eyes were narrowed down as he looked at her.

"I was waiting for my friend to finish the try-out," Mac said quietly as she got to her feet feeling nervous and refused to shift on her feet in front of the older man.

"And what are you writing?" he asked curiously glancing down at the sketchpad in her hand. "I noticed you writing through the whole try-out, looking very focused."

Just then Sanada and Matsuoka joined them both looking curiously at her making Mac feel uncomfortable and nervous, but she held her back straight and refused to look down.

"I always write down notes when Daiki plays," Mac explained softly, "we use it so he can develop further."

"Daiki?" the unnamed man asked.

"Aomine Daiki," Mac nodded, "he's my friend. I'm sorry if you didn't want me here, I was just waiting for him and thought I would make notes like I normally do."

The men looked at her and Mac noticed how Sanada looked at the older man with a curious look in his brown eyes.

"May I see it?" the older man asked holding out his hand.

Mac hesitated and her hand unknowingly tightened around the sketchpad, she didn't have good experiences with handing it over and she didn't want to lose it. The man seemed to see the hesitation in her and smiled at her.

"You'll get it back, I promise," he said and Mac realised she didn't have much choice so she nodded and carefully handed it over to him.

She watched nervously, biting lightly down on her lower lip, as she waited. She saw the arched brow from the grey-haired man and the other two coaches leaned forward slightly to have a look. Sanada glanced at her before looking back at the sketchpad.

"Kenzine!" Mac looked to the side when she heard Daiki's voice and saw him coming toward her, he had put on his jacket and grabbed his bag so he looked ready to go to the street court they normally went to. He glanced from her to the three men and frowned when he realised they had her sketchpad. "What's going on?!"

Mac shook her head at him and grabbed his arm when he was closer, "they just noticed that I took notes like I normally do when you play, Daiki. Calm down."

Daiki still scowled at the watching men and the older man smiled kindly and handed the sketchpad back to Mac who grabbed it.

"What's your name, miss?" he asked.

"Potter Mackenzie, sir," Mac answered.

"Foreigner?" Matsuoka asked.

"I'm from England, sir," Mac said withholding the sarcastic 'obviously' she wanted to say.

"Have you been in Japan long, Potter-san?" the grey-haired man asked.

"Since I was 8 years old," Mac said frowning slightly wondering why they were asking her all these questions.

"Alright," the man nodded, "please come tomorrow as well, Potter-san. See you then."

The man turned and walked away with the other two following behind him. Mac blinked after them confused and looked at Daiki who also looked confused.

...

Mac winced when she heard Petunia's loud and screeching voice the moment she stepped through the door, she was later than normal and obviously, Dudley was home so that meant she was supposed to be home as well. How she was supposed to know when Dudley was home and come home before him was beyond her, but that was expected of her.

"Girl! Get in here!"

Mac walked into the kitchen where her aunt was glaring at her and had crossed her arms over her thin chest, her long neck seemed unnatural long with the way she was holding her head to look down at her.

"Yes, aunt Petunia?" Mac asked quietly.

"You know what time it is?" Petunia asked. "You should have been home hours ago! I had to cook dinner myself! It's your job to do so!"

Mac inhaled and forced her temper down as she tried to not glare at her aunt.

"I'm sorry, aunt Petunia," Mac said.

"Go to your room and there will be no dinner for you tonight," Petunia snapped.

Mac did as told and was glad she had eaten over at Daiki's house before coming home, Ayano had insisted on her joining them for dinner when she saw her and Daiki at the local park on her way back from work.

...

Mac felt nervous when she entered the gym the next day, she hadn't been able to sleep well last night thinking about what the older man and the two coaches wanted from her, why had they asked her to come back the next day? No, it was more like an order for her to come back. Was she in trouble? But, then they would have said something then and there, wouldn't they?

She took her position by the door like the day before and watched as the same group of students were lined up all dressed in the training clothes. She smiled slightly when she met Daiki's eyes, he grinned back.

"I will now announce the test results!" Sanada called out, his voice carrying loudly over the silent gym. The nerves and anticipation were tangible in the gym as everyone was waiting anxiously for the results.

"We will start with the third string. If your name is called, go stand in front of the third string coach," Sanada said before he started to list a group of names and Mac watched as one by one called out and went to stand by Matsuoka who looked stern next to Sanada. She remembered most from the test the day before and wasn't surprised to see them called to the third string. When the last name was called, Kuroko Tetsuya, and she recognised the teal-haired boy from before that she felt had something more in him, she still wasn't surprised but was slightly disappointed to find him with the third strings.

"Next I will announce the second string;" Sanada said bringing Mac's attention away from the stunned, or was it perhaps disappointed, form of Kuroko Tetsuya who still hadn't moved. She noticed that most of the remaining players looked pleased and accepted that they had made second string before Sanada had called out the names. She realised that there would be some called to the first string with the way he phrased his statement, and she was fairly sure that Daiki would be in the first string.

"Next I will announce the first string," Sanada said and Mac smiled where she sat watching. Daiki was left standing on the floor together with the other three she had noticed before. She saw the clear shock with the others, though, and felt a little amused by it. She saw the smile on Daiki's face, or it looked more like a small smirk and knew he was pleased.

"No 8, Aomine Daiki."

"No 11, Midorima Shintaro," oh, that was the green-haired one with the phonebook, Mac realised. He didn't betray anything of what he felt on his face as he continued to stare straight ahead.

"No 23, Murasakibara Atsushi," that was the lazy purple haired on, he still looked bored and lazy, Mac noticed.

"No 29, Akashi Seijuro," was the last one, Mac recognised him as the one with maroon hair and red eyes she had collided with. He looked calm and like he hadn't expected anything else.

Mac saw the third- and second string players were staring at the new first-string players with both awe and some fear like they couldn't believe that someone actually made it to first string right away. Mac snorted quietly, that was the reason they hadn't made it. They settled to join the second string the moment they heard it was hard to join the first string.

"Now, the last member will be as a manager," Sanada's voice brought her out of her musings as her green eyes snapped to the assistant coach who was now looking straight at her. "Potter Mackenzie."

Mac blinked as she felt everyone turn to look at her and she felt the need to escape, she bit down on her lip as she forced her legs to move forward and not turn and escape through the door like she wanted to do. Daiki smiled encouraging to her and she focused on him and found herself calming down slightly.

Sanada ended the meeting and told everyone to split into the different strings where they would be instructed further.

Mac swallowed as she still felt eyes on her, but blinked when Daiki was in front of her.

"That's great, Kenzie!" he grinned. "I knew you would be our manager!"

...

Mac followed Daiki who was chatting constantly next to her about basketball and how happy he was that she had made manager without really signing up for it yet. She listened like she always did, but didn't answer. He didn't expect her to either, this was very normal for the two of them, after all.

"Attention!" Sanada called and Mac realised they had entered another gym and saw what she assumed to be the first string team already practising. She also recognised the older grey-haired man standing on the sideline watching them.

The players stopped and turned to Sanada and the entering newcomers, Mac saw the raised eyebrow from a couple of the players and the way they exchanged looks. They quickly lined up though and looked at them curiously, Mac noticed they also looked at her in particular.

"I'm the head coach, Shirogane Kozo," the grey-haired man from the day before said and Mac felt her eyes widen. Was he the head coach? "Nijimura-san, introduce yourself."

Mac looked over to see one of the players who had helped with the test the day before taking a step forward, his short black hair a little sweaty after the work out he'd just been through but his grey eyes seemed kind, Mac thought from where she was observing him.

"I'm Nijimura Shuzo, Captain, and second year," he said.

"Kubota Masaya," the next one said his dark hair covering his eyes and most of his face, Mac wondered how he even could keep an eye on the ball with the hair in the way like that.

"Sekiguchi Toru," the third one said, his hair a dirty blond and spiky on top while he had an intense look about it.

Mac listed as the rest introduced themselves, and made sure to notice everything she could about them. Finally, it was the first years turn and Mac waited until everyone was done and found everyone looking at her. She saw Nijimura glance at his coach before looking at her again.

"Potter Mackenzie," she said softly, "but everyone calls me Mac."

"Um, coach?" Nijimura asked breaking the silence that followed her introduction.

"She's our new manager," Shirogane stated and focused his eyes on Mac who tightened her grip on her sketchpad slightly and forced her breathing to remain calm. She felt Daiki shift next to her, and it gave her the courage to stay still. "She correctly deduced who would go to which string yesterday, just from watching the try-outs and made detailed notes on the strongest players and also their weaknesses, something many will have trouble doing by just watching them play one time."

Mac looked down unable to look at the coach and wanting to hide the blush in her cheek, no one but Daiki complimented her on her basketball analytic skills or on anything really, not that many knew about her analysing Daiki's plays.

...

Mac sat on the bench next to Shirogane with a new notebook; Shirogane had given her one to use for the team, saying she could use the sketchpad for her own use. She was ok with that, so she took the book and started to write as she watched everyone play. The second and third years vs the first years, it seemed cruel but Mac knew it was to test how the first years would work together without really knowing each other. She had been told to focus on Nijimura and Sekiguchi as well as Midorima and Akashi, so she did. It felt strange and almost wrong not to focus on Daiki.

From what she could tell from the practice match she knew that Nijimura strengths were his stamina and mental strength, he also had a nice drive that even challenged Daiki. She wrote down more details on his movements and how he could do things easier.

Sekiguchi was fast and that was his greatest strength, he also had a good combination going with Masaya, they seemed so used to playing together that they knew where the other was on the court at all times.

Midorima was calm and seemed collected through the whole game and Mac noted how hard it would be to push him out of his comfort zone. Yet, he worked well enough with the others and made shots not many could make, so she wrote down that his shooting ability was his strongest skill.

Akashi was…strong. He was calm like Midorima and seemed content to be the playmaker of the team, the one to get the ball to the one in the best position to score, but Mac knew he had a need to win and would do anything to make it happen. He stood out as a leader, and she wrote it down.

She was barely aware that the coach was glancing at her every now and then and didn't see the curious and yet calculating look in his grey eyes as he watched her. She was too absorbed into her bubble to pay him much attention, which was the only time she wasn't aware of where everyone around her was.

Finally, Sanada called off the game and the first year had managed to get a draw, something that was well done. Shirogane got up and spoke a few words to the players while Mac still scribbled in her notebook.

"Potter-san," Shirogane called and Mac's head snapped up to look at him, he was smiling kindly at her. "May you please share your observations of the four players I asked you to follow?"

There was a murmur of curious question among the team as Mac swallowed and nodded before standing up.

"Coach," Daiki spoke up and Shirogane looked at him. "Perhaps, you should have her give the cliff-notes because otherwise, it can take a while."

Mac huffed and Daiki grinned at her while Shirogane glanced at the notebook and noticed that several pages were used and had to admit that maybe the newcomer was right.

"Alright," he agreed, "let's hear the cliff-notes."

"Um, alright," Mac said quietly, "well, first is Nijimura-sempai who's strength lies in his stamina and mental strength, he also has a drive that could be used more often and in better positions. Used correctly he'll be a more dangerous weapon who can challenge the best of defences."

Nijimura arched a brow in surprise as he heard the summed up notes she had taken by observing him and he had to admit it was correct.

"Next is Sekiguchi-sempai, whose strength lies in his speed and combination play with Masaya-sempai," Mac continued, "though this can be a weakness as well since the opponent will realise and do what they can to stop it and thus stopping his strength."

Sekiguchi looked thoughtful and exchanged a look with Masaya who shrugged a little.

"Midorima-san is calm and will be hard to get stressed to make a mistake, his strengths lie in his shooting and will be able to develop an even more accurate shooting range," Mac said, "he works well enough with the others, but could be better at it."

Midorima barely made a sign of having heard what she said, but his eyes narrowed a little as he stared at her.

"Akashi-san is a leader who will do whatever it takes to win," Mac started on the last one, "he's strong and calm like Midorima-san, but will use it to help his team around him. He's the playmaker who makes sure the ball gets to who has the best chance to score. His strength is with his observation skills of the court and of the players around him."

Akashi arched a brow and looked at her curiously and calculating as he nodded his head in acknowledgement to her observations.

Mac glanced over at Shirogane who smiled at her and nodded looking pleased. He turned back to the others and ended the practice and sent the boys into the locker rooms to change. Daiki ruffled Mac's hair as he passed her giving her a thumb up before running after the others and disappearing into the locker room.

...

"Kenzie;" Daiki called when he was finished, he left the room with Seijuro and Shintaro who both looked over at her where she was tapping her pen against her lip clearly thinking. She looked up and her eyes glanced at the three boys before she got up and was about to pack her notebook when Sanada stopped in front of her.

"Potter-san," he said, "the coach asked if he could borrow your notebook tomorrow and read all of your notes on the practice match today."

Mac just shrugged and handed the notebook over to the assistant coach not that surprised he'd asked for it.

"You'll get it back on tomorrows practice," Sanada nodded at her before turning and left the gym. Mac just shook her head a little and turned to Daiki who frowned slightly as he glanced at the assistant coach.

"Daiki," Mac called softly, "are you ready to go?"

"Sure," he said, "we'll stop by Maji Burger."

"You have to eat healthier than that," Mac scolded him, "you can't live on burgers."

"I need to grow," Daiki protested as they left the gym and a couple of intrigued first years behind.

...

AN: Second chapter. Feel free to let me know what you think in a review or a PM. If you're unhappy about something please keep it constructive.