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

...

...

...

So, okay, Hari had not thought this through. She had not really thought about the fact that going to Seiichi's home (or his aunt and uncle's home) would mean that his family would be there too. And that she would be meeting the said family. Now. Today.

She swallowed nervously as she followed Seiichi through the hallway and tried to calm down. She really wanted them to like her. What if they didn't? What if they told Seiichi's parents that she was not good enough for their son?

"It's going to be fine," Seiichi said when they paused outside a door.

Hari nodded and tried to smile at her boyfriend who squeezed her hand.

"I just want them to like me," Hari admitted.

Seiichi nodded and squeezed her hand again before he pushed the door open giving Hari a glimpse of the elegantly decorated room and she also noticed the vase of flowers on a table before she noticed the people in the room as well.

Seiichi's aunt, Kasumi, was seated on the sofa knitting as she talked to a man who was reading a book. He seemed to be answering with one word and she wondered if he really knew what he was answering. But there was something very intimate and just easy about it that had Hari smile and wish for something like that one day.

"Ah, Hari-chan," Kasumi said when she noticed Seiichi and Hari. "I'm so glad you're still here!"

Hari smiled and noticed that the man who probably was Seiichi's uncle had looked up and was watching her now curiously.

"Hari-chan," Minoru smiled and waved. "You're still here!"

"Of course she is," Seiichi smiled. "Aunt Kasumi told her not to leave before saying goodbye. Well, Hari-chan, this is my uncle, Yukimura Ryouichi."

Hari turned her attention to the man who was now standing and she realised that he was tall and he had the same navy blue hair as his nephew only his was shorter, but his eyes were grey and he was wearing a pair of reading glasses that he was just removed from his face now.

"Hello," he said holding out a hand. "It's nice to meet the young girl who has managed to get our Seiichi's attention."

Hari knew she was blushing slightly but she shook the hand and met his eyes as she did. So she saw the way he seemed to try to read her.

"Nice to meet you, Yukimura-san," Hari said. "I'm Echizen Hari."

He smiled slightly and nodded, "I believe my son has been talking about you as well, Echizen-san. You played tennis with him and his friends a while back if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes," Hari smiled softly and glanced over at Minoru. "We met in a park and ended up playing. It was a nice day."

"It was fun," Minoru said. "And her brother is teaching at my club now too!"

Hari blinked and looked at him.

"Ryoga-nii is?" She asked.

"Mhm," Minoru nodded. "Didn't you know?"

"No," Hari frowned slightly. "He never told me that…"

"You're brother plays tennis as well?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"Yeah, both of them do," Hari said with a small smile.

"Ryoga-sensei is really good," Minoru said.

Hari felt her lips twitch amused. Ryoga-sensei? Oh, just wait until she could call him that…

"I bet he is," Hari said.

"Will you be staying for dinner, Hari-chan?" Kasumi asked. She was smiling and was already moving toward a door to the left and Hari had the impression that she didn't really have a choice. Hari glanced at Seiichi who smiled and gave a slight nod.

"I would love to," Hari said.

"Great," Kasumi said just before she disappeared out of the room.

"You have another brother too?" Minoru asked suddenly. "Did I know that?"

Hari wasn't sure if she had mentioned Ryoma to him before or not so she shrugged.

"I have a younger brother as well," Hari said. "He's a year younger than me."

"Oh. And he plays tennis?"

"Yeah," Hari nodded. "Ryo-chan is a regular on our team. He's good."

"Ryo-chan?" Minoru asked tilting his head to the side.

"Ryoma," Hari said. "I just decided to call him Ryo-chan when I met him."

"Oh," Minoru said. "I'll look forward to seeing him play, then."

Hari smiled and laughed softly.

"They get along great," Seiichi told his uncle who was watching his son eagerly talk with Hari. Ryouichi glanced at Seiichi and smiled slightly.

"I can see that," he said. "That's good."

...

Seiichi excused them so that he could show her something and she glanced at him curiously as they walked to the back of the house passing a library (Hermione would have loved having a room like that) and a small living room before they ended up in a beautiful garden with a lot of different kinds of flowers.

"Pretty," she said looking around.

"You like it?" He asked.

"Yeah," she nodded before looking at him curiously noting the almost nervous look on his face. "Is it your work?"

He smiled and nodded, "aunt Kasumi asked me to help her with her garden last year. I only just finished it."

She noticed the almost sad look on his face and guessed that the reason he was only just finished was because of his illness. She squeezed his hand lightly before she looked around with awe as she took in the stone path surrounded by flowers and on both sides. As they walked down the path hand in hand she noticed some figurines among the flowers and some stones balancing on top of each other. She paused as she looked at them. She noticed the water spurting up from the top of it and realised that it was a small fountain.

"Awesome," Hari said making Seiichi smile.

They continued to walk through the garden and Hari pausing to look at the flowers and Seiichi telling her what kind it was or what they meant. It wasn't a very large garden or the part that Seiichi had created, but it was beautiful and they used time to go through it.

"You're amazing," Hari said when they stopped having reached the house again.

"It's nothing much," Seiichi said almost looking embarrassed.

Hari smiled and stepped closer to him and watched as his eyes widened slightly when she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down. She was not sure where her courage came from, maybe it was the garden or maybe it was the fact that they had gotten over their first fight (or whatever it had been). She kissed him and soon felt him put his arms around her waist pulling her closer and kissing her back.

She smiled into the kiss before he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

"Your garden is beautiful, Sei-chan," she said breathlessly. "You're really talented."

"Thank you," he said before leaning in to kiss her lightly again.

...

Dinner was interesting. With Seiichi's team staying there as well it was lively and while they were not as chaotic as her own team they still created a lot of life. It had Hari really impressed with Seiichi's aunt, and uncle but mainly his aunt, who had opened their home for them during the tournament. She was not sure many would do that, but it looked like Kasumi enjoyed it.

"That serve of yours is interesting," Sanada said looking over at Hari.

Hari blinked at him before she smiled.

"You mean the Phoenix Rising?" she asked.

"That's what it's called?" Sanada asked curiously even if he looked rather stoic.

"It's as good a name as any," Hari shrugged. "And it's a great symbolism of my life as well."

"How did you come up with it?" Sanada asked.

"Well, I managed to get my slice serve pretty good with Tezuka-Captain's help when I started the boys' team," Hari said. "And I thought I wanted to add to it and make it better, but I wasn't sure how so I used the time to research and work on it. I just kept working on my own at first, but then Shu-chan figured out that I was trying something and offered to help."

"But why call it Phoenix Rising?" Sanada asked.

"I kept picturing a bird as I was jumping up to do the follow-up and use the backhand volley," Hari explained. "So, I decided on a phoenix. I really like phoenixes."

"Like phoenixes?" Kirihara asked showing that the others also had been paying attention to their conversation. "They're not real, though…"

Hari blinked and opened her mouth before she closed it remembering that they would believe that a phoenix was only a myth. She silently cursed herself.

"I…I know that," Hari said looking down at her almost empty plate of food. "But I like the idea of them. I read a book that had a phoenix in it and just the idea of them symbolising rebirth and new beginnings… well, it's just what I wanted." She wasn't lying, the book Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them written by Newt Scamander had phoenixes in them and she had read that book.

Sanada looked at her for a moment before he nodded and smiled slightly. They talked some more about tennis in general and Hari noticed Seiichi giving her and Sanada pleased looks but she pretended that she didn't notice as she focused on the discussion with the taller boy.

"Oh, I'm so full…" Kirihara groaned leaning back and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want more, Akaya-kun?" Kasumi asked.

Hari bit down on her lip to stop the laugh escaping when she saw the panicked expression on Kirihara's face as he looked at Kasumi who looked at him with a small pout (an actual pout!) but Hari noticed the mischievous look in her eyes as well.

"Oh…um…" he stammered.

His friends didn't have Hari's restraint and started to laugh.

"Okaa-san, I don't think he wants more," Minoru said with a smile.

"Well, I guess that is okay," Kasumi smiled and looked to Hari. "Do you want more, Hari-chan?"

"Thank you, but I think I will need to stop now," Hari said politely. "It was amazing, Yukimura-san. Thank you for the food."

She smiled and nodded.

...

Ryouichi was watching Hari and Seiichi during the meal and he was interested to see her interacting more with Sanada who always was so calm and stoic. It was interesting to see him initiate a conversation with someone outside of his circle of friends. He also noticed that Seiichi seemed pleased to see the two talking and seemingly getting along.

Ryouichi was curious about the girl that was dating his nephew. He wasn't blind to the shadows in her eyes and he wondered if Seiichi had noticed them or not, something told him that he probably hadn't. Not fully at least, but Ryouichi had and it worried him a little.

He couldn't help but think that the look in her eyes, the shadows he saw, was the same look that some of his friends in the police department had. The look that said that they'd seen too much and maybe even also done too much, but what could give a girl at barely 14 that look? It was troubling. He also noticed the way she had looked at him and even at Kasumi when they met like she was expecting them to turn her away or something.

He knew his brother and sister-in-law was curious about this girl as well. And he couldn't wait until he could tell his big-brother that he had met her. He only wanted to reassure his brother that Seiichi was seeing a good and pretty girl and that she seemed too really like their son…he was not doing it to rub it in that he had met her first. No, not at all…

...

Hari was smiling as she went to bed thinking about how she and Seiichi still were good and the way he kissed her making her feel like giggling into the darkening room. She held a hand over her mouth to stop herself and could feel the grin under her hand.

"I'm going crazy," she muttered to herself as she shook her head. "Crazy. I never thought…but it's Seiichi…"

She sighed and turned on her bed still smiling and her eyes landed on the Defence Against the Dark Arts book that she had been reading (because she had to) earlier and her smile dropped.

Right.

Her scar or head or something had acted oddly earlier and what was up with that?

She had purposely pushed the thoughts out of her head and focused on Seiichi and his odd behaviour and then how to fix it when she had realised why (she really had to thank Hermione later). But now the thoughts came back for full and she knew she wouldn't be able to push it away any longer.

What had that odd feeling she had that wasn't hers meant? Was it really connected to Voldemort or was she just going crazy?

And more importantly; what was she going to do about it? It had been really strange and she couldn't explain it, and normally when things she couldn't explain happened around her it was connected to Voldemort somehow. At least the last couple of years… what worried her most was the fact that she had felt something that was clearly not coming from her, but then who could it come from? And how?

...

The next morning Hari sleepily made her way down to the kitchen where Nanjiro about to eat his breakfast. Nanako was preparing more food at the stove and Hari accepted her plate with a quiet thank you before sitting down to eat.

"Japanese breakfast is the best," Nanjiro sighed happily.

Hari smiled and nodded, "it's good."

"Why are you up already, Hari-chan?" Nanako asked.

"Morning practice," Hari said between bites. She was really tired, though and she felt like sleeping more but knew she had to go to the practice. They would probably already be fewer than normal because of the injuries. But yeah, she was still really tired. She had barely slept anything at all because her mind refused to turn off.

"Morning," a tired voice said and Hari looked to see Ryoga coming into the kitchen stifling a yawn behind his hand. He looked at her with a searching look when he noticed her sitting at the table eating. "Hari-chan, you disappeared yesterday."

"You wanted to see me?" Hari asked curiously.

Nanjiro was pouting knowing where she had been and been told by both Hari and Rinko that he was overreacting and to stop talking.

"Granger-san seemed worried about you," Ryoga said looking at her. "So, I was concerned."

Hari blinked and smiled slightly before she blanked her face.

"Oh, I see," Hari said. "Well, it was just a misunderstanding and me being dense. I fixed it."

Ryoga hummed and sat down to eat as well.

"You're not dense," Nanjiro protested with a frown. "You're just…you."

Hari and Ryoga exchanged amused looks before Hari smiled at her adopted father.

"Thanks, Otou-chan, but I'm afraid I can be pretty dense sometimes," she said.

Ryoga nodded and Hari scowled at him.

"What?" He asked.

"You could pretend that I'm not, you know," she said.

"Why? You admit it yourself, "he smirked. "So why should I pretend that you're not dense when you are? And better yet, knows it?"

Hari huffed seeing that he was way too amused. She suddenly blinked and smiled innocently at him making Ryoga blink and look at her a little warily.

"What?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Hari smiled.

"Why are you looking at me like that," Ryoga asked.

"Like what?" Hari asked pretending to look confused and glanced at Nanjiro who was watching them with amusement even as he ate.

"Like…like that!" Ryoga pointed at her.

"I don't understand what you mean," Hari said before smirking. "Ryoga-sensei."

Silence.

Then Nanjiro barked a laugh spraying rice over the table as he did so.

"Ew, Otou-chan!" Hari complained. "That's gross!"

Ryoga was frowning as he looked at her. "Don't call me that."

"Why not, Ryoga-sensei?" Hari blinked innocently at him.

She was having fun despite feeling tired.

"It sounds creepy coming from you!" Ryoga complained. "Where did you get that anyway?"

"Ryoga-sensei, Ryoga-sensei," Nanjiro was muttering. "Hahaha…Oh…So funny…Ryoga-sensei…"

"SHUT UP! STUPID, OYAJI!" Ryoga snapped.

Hari laughed.

"Hari-chan," Ryoga looked at her.

"Minoru-chan told me you were his teacher at his tennis club," Hari explained with a smile. "He called you Ryoga-sensei."

Ryoga frowned, "I tried to make him stop but he won't."

"Ah, don't pout," Hari said.

Suddenly they heard a crash from the floor above them and Hari glanced at the clock realising that she had been sitting in the kitchen for too long and had forgotten the time. She got up just as the hurried steps down the stairs was heard and the door to the kitchen was flung open.

"I overslept," Ryoma said unnecessarily.

"I tried to wake you," Hari shrugged when he looked at her. "It's not my fault you just turned around and continued sleeping."

"Hmph," Ryoma huffed.

"I have some Japanese breakfast for you here, Ryoma," Nanako said turning from the stove holding out a fish on a small plate. Hari saw Ryoma pale and gulping as he shook his head.

"No thank you," he said. "I don't want breakfast. We have morning practice."

Hari knew Ryoma wasn't fond of Japanese breakfast so she didn't point out that he should eat because they had morning practice.

"Come on, Ryo-chan," Hari said. "We're late."

"Don't worry about breakfast, Ryoma!" Nanjiro yelled. "I'll eat your share!"

"Stupid, Oyaji," Ryoma muttered.

...

Since the number of schools participating in the Kantou Tournament was quite a lot they had split the schools up in different groups meaning that while they had their first day of the tournament yesterday other schools (like Rikkai Dai) had their first day now. And Hari really wanted to go and watch them play, but since their school was in Tokyo they weren't excused from school on the days they didn't have a match and had to attend.

So, she couldn't go and watch Seiichi's team play. She knew Seiichi wasn't going to play, he still couldn't, but she still wanted to see his team and support him like he had done for her yesterday. And she kind of missed him even if she had seen him the night before.

She sighed as she got out of her changing room to join the others for their morning practice.

"Hey, you okay?" Fuji asked coming up to her.

"Yeah, you?" Hari smiled at him.

"Of course," Fuji smiled.

"Ah, Kawamura-senpai is here," Hari smiled relieved when she saw the upperclassman talking with Inui.

"He refuses to stay away," Fuji said but there was a fond note in his voice. "Says he can still do some things."

Hari laughed and nodded, "good attitude."

Hari felt her smile slip off her face as she looked over the tennis club. Her friends were here, this was the people who had welcomed her from the start and accepted her as one of theirs. She swallowed as her mind flashed to cold red eyes and a taunting laugh. She couldn't help but think that she could lose all of this…

Fuji glanced over at Hari and frowned slightly when he saw the almost sad look on her face as she looked at the scene in front of them, it was like she was taking it all in but thinking it wasn't for her or something. But what had made her look like that? What was she thinking?

"Oi! Hari!" Ryoma came over and Fuji noticed the worried look in his eyes as he called out for her. He was sure that Ryoma did it to break the sad look on her face and it worked because Hari blinked and smiled when she saw Ryoma.

"Oh, Ryo-chan;" she said. "What is it?"

"What are you doing spacing out like that?" Ryoma asked.

"Ah, sorry," Hari laughed lightly. "Just thinking."

"Dangerous," Ryoma muttered.

"Oi!" Hari protested.

Fuji closed his eyes again and smiled as he watched the two siblings bicker. It was good to see that Ryoma managed to get her out of whatever mood she had been about to slip into, but it worried Fuji a little with how easy (in lack of better word) it had been for Hari to push it away and smile and hide the shadows away like they never had been there at all.

...

Hari stood beside Ryoma as Ryuzaki gave the morning speech about how she was proud of the work they had done against Hyotei, but that they now had to focus on the next match. It was pretty standard but Hari was well aware that they were missing someone and knew that the rest of the club was aware of it as well.

Just as Ryuzaki was finishing her talk Oishi spoke up and asked the question everyone was wondering.

"Um…About…Tezuka?" He looked really nervous and concerned as he asked and Hari knew he had been holding it in for a while.

Ryuzaki looked at him before she looked over the rest of the team and club with a serious look on her face. She was grim and Hari knew they all understood what she was about to say before she said it.

"You saw his injury," Ryuzaki said. "He won't be back for a while."

"I see," Oishi said bowing his head.

"I'll be counting on you, Vice-Captain," Ryuzaki said looking at Oishi with a surprisingly soft expression on her face.

"Yes!" Oishi said firmly.

"Kantou Regionals just started," Ryuzaki said. "There's no guarantee that the regulars will stay the same! The current none-regular should practice with the goal of becoming a regular!"

"Yes!" The collective answer from the none-regular sounded and Hari felt her lips twitch amused.

It was good to see their spirits were up. She noticed that the others as well seemed pleased to see it even if they were worried about Tezuka. It was a great loss, but there was nothing they could do about it at the moment. They had to do their part in order for Tezuka's will and wishes for the club to not be for nothing.

...

"Here, Oishi-san," Yoshida said handing him some papers.

"Thank you, Yoshida-san," Oishi said. "This is the practice menu for the regulars that Inui and Yoshida have been working on. It's to overcome the difficulties met in the Hyotei game before our next match."

Hari stifled a yawn as she felt the tiredness settle over her. She did want to pay attention to what Oishi was saying, but she was just so tired… She glanced over at Yoshida who was looking determined and excited as she stood beside Oishi.

"It is also a menu that will guide us to the Nationals," Inui spoke up. "Everyone should use this to prepare."

Hari nodded and answered with the others as she accepted her piece of paper from Yoshida. She glanced down at it and saw the detailed and rather complicated notes on it. She arched a brow impressed.

"Here, Hari-chan," Yoshida said holding out two weights for her and Hari nodded as she took them.

"Thanks," she said. "Good plan, Yoshida-san. You've done a lot of work with this."

"It's mostly Inui-san," Yoshida said with a blush.

"You've done your part as well, I am sure," Hari said with a smile. "You and Inui work well together."

Yoshida shrugged and looked over at Inui who was talking with Oishi about something.

"I guess," Yoshida said. "But I feel like he could do this without me as well."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean that your help isn't appreciated," Hari said giving Yoshida a close look. "It must be a relief for him to have someone to help with the burden of being both a regular and a manager. I'm sure you are helping more than you think."

Yoshida looked at her before she smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Hari-chan;" she said.

"No problem," Hari said before waving the paper. "I should get started with this…"

...

Hari jumped up on the low wall before jumping down again feeling the sweat dripping from her forehead. She jumped again feeling the extra strain on her legs from the weights she had put on and refused to allow the strain to show on her face.

A little bit away from her Ryoma was hitting milk cartons off the wall with tennis balls in rapid succession. He was getting faster and faster and looked really determined. She smiled slightly as she noticed this before she turned her focus back to what she was doing. It was starting to get really tiring.

"Good job," Inui said making Hari pause her jumping and turn to look at Inui.

"You too," she said glancing down at his ankles seeing the weights he was wearing as well. He looked perfectly at ease, though.

"Morning practice is over," he said. "Gather at the court."

"Okay," Hari said.

He nodded and walked away as easily as he had come. She shook her head and stretched feeling happy that she was finally done with her exercise as her legs started to feel like they were made out of rubber or jelly.

"You okay?" Ryoma asked coming up beside her.

"Fine," Hari smiled slightly at him. "Just tired."

He nodded and they walked back to the court in silence.

...

Hari sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly as she stepped out of her changing room again when the practice was over and she had changed into her school uniform. She felt her head throb slightly from the lack of sleep and just how much she was trying not to think about magic or her worries. It was tiring in itself. She blinked when she heard a commotion coming from what she believed was the front of the building. Curiously she walked toward it so she could see what was going on.

She blinked as she saw Kachiro and Arai facing each other, Arai had his back to her so she couldn't see his face, but Kachiro was glaring. He looked like he was physically trying to block the older boy from passing him.

"Using injuries to become a regular is cowardly!" Kachiro said. "Please gain a regular spot the right way!"

Hari frowned slightly as she looked at Kachiro ignoring the rest of the reactions from Arai's friends as she focused on Kachiro. He looked determined and upset.

"If you want to lecture me, beat me in tennis first," Arai said.

Ah, she should stop this. But she was so tired and the look on Kachiro's face had her hesitating. What was he doing? She doubted that he would listen to her even if she did interfere.

"A guy who can't play a game has years to go before he can complain," Arai continued.

Harsh, but kind of true, Hari thought as she saw the shocked look on Kachiro's face before a new determination settled on it as he glared up at Arai.

"I got it, let's play a game!" Kachiro said.

Hari arched a brow. She had kind of seen that coming, but she knew that right now Kachiro was at a disadvantage. She quietly observed how they set the term. If Arai lost he would apologize and recognise Kachiro's comments, Arai even said he would quit if he lost. Kachiro interrupted Arai when he was saying what he wanted Kachiro to do if he lost by saying that he would quit as well. Hari knew that Arai hadn't expected that and wouldn't have asked for it, but the words were out and they both agreed.

Oh. Shit. This was getting complicated.

...

Hari decided to go and see Ryoma during the lunch break and waved at Momoshiro and Kaido who both looked at her as she slipped out of the door. She was curious about what Kachiro was going to do about the game he had set up and knew she probably should help him, but then again this was something he had done by himself.

She was not that surprised to see Kachiro, Mizuno and Horio standing outside of Ryoma's classroom talking with Ryoma. Ryoma didn't look all that interested Hari noted. He was looking at his empty milk carton with a small frown.

"Forget it!" Kachiro suddenly yelled.

Kachiro turned and walked away making Mizuno and Horio call after him as they ran to catch up. Ryoma sighed tiredly.

"He seems to be worked up," Hari said stepping up to Ryoma.

"Hm." Ryoma sighed.

"Well, you won't help him?" Hari glanced at Ryoma.

"What can I do?" Ryoma asked. "He was the one who made the bet."

"Yeah, but he is new to tennis," Hari said. "He doesn't understand how it works yet…and he has an honest character."

Ryoma glanced at her.

"Then why don't you help him?" Ryoma asked.

Hari frowned slightly and shrugged.

"Guess I'm not sure how," she said.

Ryoma nodded and glanced after Kachiro and his other friends. Hari could tell he was worried even if he hadn't accepted to help.

...

Kachiro was fuming. He stalked through the hallway as he felt anger boil inside of him. Why didn't anyone care that Tezuka was injured? That Oishi and Kawamura were injured? Why did they only see themselves and their chance to become a regular?

It wasn't right! It wasn't how it was supposed to be!

And Ryoma…Ryoma was just like the others. He didn't care! Why didn't he care? Kachiro had been sure that Ryoma would understand! That he would care!

Why didn't they care? Tezuka and Kawamura had been injured because they did their best to win for the team? And now they all just stepped over their hard work and sacrifice to get a spot for themselves?

"Kachiro-kun," a voice said making him stop and look up to see Hari standing in front of him with a pensive look on her face. Horio and Mizuno exclaimed surprised behind him as they hadn't noticed her either. "You seem to be angry."

"What do you care?" He asked defiantly.

"Well, who knows," Hari shrugged as she put her hands in her pocket still watching him.

"No one cares!" Kachiro snapped.

Hari looked at him for a long moment.

"That is hardly fair of you to say, Kachiro-kun," Hari finally said.

"Eh?"

"Hari-chan-senpai!" Horio and Mizuno cried.

Hari glanced at them before looking back at Kachiro who was glaring at her.

"They don't! Not when all they can think about is who will take Tezuka's spot! They only think about themselves! After all the hard work Tezuka-captain did!" Kachiro had tears in his eyes as he glared at her. He moved to walk past her and she let him.

"You still have much to learn about the sport, Kachiro-kun," Hari said when he passed her. "I admire your determination and honest character, but it will only get you hurt. Sport is about more than just one person, we're a team. All of us. It's not about not caring. It's all about hard work and wanting to help the team. Who's to say that Arai isn't working hard for the team as well?"

Kachiro hesitated for a moment before he continued to walk away.

...

"Come on, Shu-chan," Hari said looking at Fuji. "We have someplace we should be."

"Eh? Where?" Fuji asked.

"Yeah, where, nya?" Kikumaru asked excitedly.

They had been running around the school and Hari wanted to see if Kachiro really was going to go through with his game against Arai.

"The courts," Hari said turning to the courts and jogged in that direction.

"Why?" Kikumaru asked.

"There's something I want to see there," Hari said and they both look curiously at her before they followed her.

"Oh, I see," Fuji said when they reached the court and saw the game that had already started.

By the looks of it Kachiro was losing, but he refused to give up and was running and trying to return every ball. He fell and fell but always got back up.

Hari heard Horio and Mizuno plead with Fuji to stop the game but Fuji just smiled and said it would be alright.

Hari felt a stab of regret for not stopping it when she could have, but at the same time, she hoped that maybe both Kachiro and Arai could learn something from this. Sometimes you needed to clash like this in order to understand the other. At least that was what she was hoping.

She noticed Ryoma standing under a tree watching with focused eyes. She knew he would not be able to stay away from Kachiro's match. She smiled slightly.

Kachiro returned a ball and Arai failed to return it again as he stumbled looking more tired than he should, making Hari arched a brow as she looked at Arai.

Just then Oishi entered the court with Inui and stopped the match.

...

Hari was on her way out of the school gate when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Hari-chan-senpai!"

Hari turned and saw Kachiro coming running toward her. She arched a brow but stopped to wait for the boy to catch up with her.

"Kachiro-kun," Hari said looking at him curiously.

"I…I…" he gasped for breath.

"Calm down," Hari said kindly. "I'll wait for you to catch your breath so don't stress."

Kachiro nodded and took a moment to catch his breath again.

"I wanted to apologize," Kachiro said.

"Eh? Why?" Hari blinked.

"For the way I talked to you," Kachiro looked down. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that."

"It's fine," Hari said with a smile. "I didn't take offence. I know how you felt and it's not entirely wrong."

"But Arai-senpai worked hard as well," Kachiro said. "I know that now. He…he was wearing weights on his legs as he played me..."

"He works hard and so does the rest," Hari said. "And we all care about what happened to Tezuka-captain and the others who were injured, but sports are about chances and luck. Sometimes an injury is your chance to show what you can do and how you can help. It's a good thing to have good players ready to step in when needed."

"I…" Kachiro looked down.

"But you're right as well," Hari said making him look at her again. "Most became too excited and forgot to watch how they spoke. They did become too brash in the way they talked and seemed to be insensitive. It's good to show some compassion and understanding when talking about injuries and a teammate like that."

Kachiro nodded and smiled slightly.

"You played well," Hari said. "It's good that you didn't give up."

"Thanks!" Kachiro smiled. "Do…um…do you…"

"What is it?" Hari asked when he faltered and blushed as he looked away.

"I was wondering if you could maybe help me with my tennis sometime," Kachiro asked rather rushed but Hari managed to get the meaning.

"Oh. You sure you want me to help?" Hari blinked. "I mean, Ryo-chan will be a much better teacher than me."

"Ryoma-kun is busy and I wanted to ask you," Kachiro said looking at her with wide eyes. "Sakuno-chan always says you helped her a lot with her tennis and she's gotten better!"

Hari considered this. She guessed it wasn't anything against her doing it, but she wasn't sure how much time she had to do this as well.

"Alright," Hari finally said. "But I can't promise that I can do it every day or anything, okay?"

"Okay!" Kachiro smiled and nodded.

...

Hari sighed as she fell back on the bed staring at the ceiling. Her mind back at what had been lurking behind everything the entire day. Voldemort. Had he been responsible for the pain in her scar and nausea the day before? But how could he be? He couldn't possibly be anywhere close to her now…could he?

She turned and stared out of the window. Why did everything have to come back to him? She had left! She wasn't concerned with Voldemort anymore!

…only she felt like she was lying to herself. Why couldn't she just escape from everything? She hated her magic. It had been so promising. Getting her away from her relatives, finding a place where she belonged but the only thing she had found was danger and expectations of her being someone she was not.

"Hari-chan?" Ryoga asked as he opened the door.

Hari turned her head to look at Ryoga who was frowning slightly.

"Nii-san," Hari said turning back to stare at the ceiling.

"Are you alright?" Ryoga asked.

Hari managed to shrug even as she was lying on her back.

"So, how do you like teaching tennis?" Hari asked glancing at Ryoga who sat down on the edge of her bed.

"It's alright," Ryoga said. "Most of the time at least."

"Minoru-chan really likes you as his teacher," Hari said glancing at Ryoga. "He couldn't stop talking about you."

Ryoga smiled and chuckled, "he's a talented young player. It's fun to teach someone like him."

Hari nodded and looked away from her brother again.

"Why aren't you going pro?" Hari suddenly asked. "You're good enough."

Ryoga was silent for a moment as he thought about what to say.

"Because I don't want to make tennis too serious right now," he finally said. "I'm starting the new High School next week, and I want to join the tennis team there. If I'm a pro then I can't do that, and right now I think that I just need to have some fun with my tennis. Besides, if I'm a pro then I will need to travel more and I couldn't stay here as long."

"So, you want to stay close to Otou-chan and Ryo-chan," Hari said.

"And you," Ryoga said and Hari looked at him surprised. "Don't look so surprised, Hari-chan. You're my sister now, you know. I want to watch you and Ryoma play tennis and be here to get to know you even better. Besides, you're the one who dragged me home again."

Hari blinked at him not knowing what she felt as she watched him. Was he serious? It did look like he meant it… She smiled and without thinking about it hugged him feeling him hugging her back and patting her back.

She knew he was probably confused at the sudden hug or why she reacted like this, she could feel tears in her eyes, but he just held her and didn't say anything. It meant a lot to Hari.

This was what she was looking for. A place to belong, a place where she had parents (Nanjiro and Rinko was amazing parents) and brothers (both Ryoga and Ryoma had grown dearer to her than she could possibly explain) and friends (both her team and other teams and even some of her old friends from Hogwarts) and even a boyfriend (Seiichi was too good to be true and she was so lucky that he even noticed her).

And this was what she was going to fight for. She was not just going to accept that Voldemort was out there and after her, she was not going back there and lose this. No. She was going to fight to stay right here with her family and friends.

...

...

AN: What do you think? XD

Hope you liked it! I'm not totally happy with the chapter, to be honest, but it's good enough, I suppose. :)

Thank you for your support and patience as always! XD I really am grateful for every comment/review, kudos/favourite/follower that I get! XD

Japanese words used:
Senpai - upperclassman
Okaa-san - mum
Oyaji - old man/dad