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

...

...

England

...

"Ron!"

Ron looked up and saw his mother coming running out of the house in welcome and he smiled feeling warmth fill him as he was hugged tightly. He felt his ears going red.

"Oof, get off, mum," Ron said after a moment and reluctantly pushed her away.

"Oh, I've missed you so much," Mrs Weasley cried pulling back and looked at him like she was trying to memorise his face. Then she looked behind Ron and smiled again letting Ron go and turning to her older children.

"Fred, George," she said before she hugged them both at the same time. "I'm so happy you're back! I do hope you have behaved and not pranked everyone."

"Of course…"

"…we haven't…"

"…behaved!" Fred and George said. "How could you accuse us of something like that?"

Bill and Charlie laughed, "They've been very well behaved considering that they're….them."

Mrs Weasley looked a little sceptical but she smiled. "I have dinner ready and your father will be back from work at any moment now. Hopefully, Percy will be back as well."

"Ah, how is Percy settling in his new job?" Bill asked.

"Oh, he's doing so well," Mrs Weasley gushed proudly. "He says that Mr Crouch is filled with praise for his work and he really does work hard."

Fred and George snickered.

Ron turned to the house and started to make his way toward it. Hermione, who had been quietly standing beside him, looked at him questioningly. He didn't say anything as he once more felt a little on the outside of his family.

"You okay?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Sure," Ron muttered.

"What are the two of you whispering about?" Ginny asked.

"Don't do that," Ron said as he jumped and glared at his little sister. "You scared me!"

"Baby," Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well?"

"Nothing," Hermione said with a shrug.

"Hm," Ginny hummed but didn't look convinced. "Well, did you have fun?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "It was so interesting. So much to see."

"I bet," Ginny grumbled. "I don't see why I couldn't go. Mum is so overprotective and I don't see why you couldn't have fought more for me be allowed to go too."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look. They did feel bad for her not being allowed to come.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Hermione said.

Ginny huffed and looked away just as the other entered the kitchen as well and Mrs Weasley went over to the stove and continued with the food.

"Ginny why don't you help Hermione up with her bags and the rest of you get washed up before dinner," Mrs Weasley said.

...

Ron and Hermione went outside when they had finished dinner and had listened to Percy go on and on about Mr Crouch and the Ministry and did they mention; Mr Crouch? Ron was glad to be rid of him. He had not missed the way Percy would go on about work and rules all the time.

"I did not miss him," Ron groaned. "I can't believe how he goes on about Mr Crouch…You'd think they were dating or something."

"Ron!" Hermione looked scandalised but her lips twitched slightly as well. "He's your brother!"

"So," Ron muttered. "Well…"

"There you are," Ginny said and Ron jumped again.

"Seriously, Ginny!" Ron cried. "Make some noise or something!"

Hermione laughed and Ginny's lips twitched.

"Bet you're glad you missed all the Ministry talk this summer," Ginny said.

"Mm," Ron nodded.

Just then there was a sound like a twig breaking that had them look to the side and saw a large black dog stepping barley out from the shadows from the bush. He stared at them for a moment while Ron and Hermione gaped.

"The dog is back again," Ginny murmured. "He showed up yesterday and stayed for a bit before leaving… I wonder what kind of dog he is… Maybe his owner is in town?"

The dog barked came closer to them making Ginny eye it curiously, while Ron blinked and Hermione worried her lip. Two of the three there recognised the dog and was inwardly freaking out.

"He seems to know you," Ginny said surprised when the dog jogged over to Hermione and Ron and nudged their hands and they both patted his head.

"Um, no…" Ron said his ears turning red.

"Maybe he's just friendly?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe," Ginny said. "Though he didn't come close to me yesterday and I was trying to get him to come closer."

Hermione just shrugged.

"We'll walk him back toward the village," Ron said. "Maybe we can find his owner?"

"I'll come…" Ginny started but just then Mrs Weasley called her. "Or not…"

Ginny grumbled as she left and Ron let out a relieved sigh.

...

They walked to the lake and the part that was hidden from the house before both Ron and Hermione turned toward the dog that was not a dog anymore. In front of them stood a tall man with half-long dark hair, that had clearly been cut since they had last seen him, and his face was not as sunken as before but there was still clear signs of his imprisonment and dark bags under his grey eyes.

"Sirius!" Hermione gasped. "What…? You shouldn't be here!"

"I had to see you," he said with a rather hoarse voice. "She's missing."

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.

"You know about Hari?" Ron asked.

Sirius looked at him, "yes. Remus wrote to me and told me and I did see in the papers that she had been suspended from school because you helped me."

"We didn't want to let her take the fault alone," Hermione said quietly.

"I know, Hermione," Sirius said. "She probably didn't let you get a say in it. She's a lot like James like that."

There was no mistaking the pride in his voice as he said that.

"But what I want to know is where she is now," Sirius said looking at them. "Remus said that she's resigned from Hogwarts. Why would she do that?"

"We don't know," Hermione said.

"She never told us why," Ron added.

Sirius looked at them with a sharp look without saying anything for a long time. He just looked at them before he finally sighed.

"You're a lot like us," Sirius said. "I would deny it as well."

"What?" Ron frowned.

"Hari never told us she was going;" Hermione said. "We never heard from her."

"But that doesn't mean that you didn't figure out where she was," Sirius said. "Or that you've not been to see her now."

"What are you…?"

"Of course not…"

"If you didn't know where she was or how she was then you would be more concerned and not as relaxed," Sirius said. "And I doubt very much that you would decide to go on a vacation now just like that."

Hermione stared at him and silently cursed. She hadn't thought about that…

"They thought it was good for us to get away," Hermione said knowing she had to stick with the story. Hari didn't want anyone to know…

"Don't lie to me!" Sirius snapped his patience breaking. "Look, you are loyal to Hari. I get it. I appreciate it! But she's my goddaughter and I just got her back. I just got to see her again and have her in my life, even if it was just through letters from time to time. I can't lose her now! I can't…I have to know that she's safe and happy!"

Ron looked at him and then over at Hermione. He wanted to say something but he wasn't sure what to do… Hermione looked conflicted as well.

"Let us talk for a moment," Hermione said.

Sirius frowned but nodded.

"You should turn back into Padfoot just in case someone shows up," Hermione added and again Sirius nodded and they watched as he morphed into the large black dog and laid down letting his head rest on his paws while his eyes followed them.

...

"What do you think?" Hermione asked.

"I want to tell him, but…" Ron sighed. "Hari won't like it."

"Hari misses Sirius," Hermione said. "I know she does. She wished she got to know him better."

"But she doesn't want to be found," Ron said.

"I know," Hermione said.

"But I think we should tell him," Ron said and Hermione looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because he's here and he's taking a risk to come here to find her," Ron pointed out. "I think he'll do something stupid if we don't tell him and Hari will blame herself if he gets caught looking for her."

Hermione hummed, "I suppose. Should we write to Hari?"

Ron was quiet for a moment.

"We probably should, but…" he said.

"She'll only fret if we tell her and then she'll probably overthink it," Hermione frowned. "That tournament she's in now is important to her as well. We shouldn't interrupt her preparations."

"Agreed," Ron nodded. "So…we'll tell him?"

Hermione was silent for a moment. She felt conflicted. She wanted to tell him but she wanted to ask Hari as well, but she wasn't sure what Hari would say. She was not really that open to anything from her past now and had barely talked about Sirius while they had been there. But Hermione really did believe that Hari missed him and wished that she had the chance to get to know him better. He was a link to her parents after all.

...

"If we tell you what we know what are you planning to do?" Hermione asked as Sirius turned back to his human self.

"Find her and see for myself that she's happy and safe," Sirius said immediately.

"You're not going to tell Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.

"No," Sirius said. "Not unless she's in danger. Dumbledore seems to have lost her trust and for that to have happened he must have done something bad."

Hermione watched him for a moment.

"She's safe and happy," Hermione finally said. "She's found a place that has accepted her and sees her as Hari and not as the Girl-Who-Lived."

Sirius looked at them and they saw how he sank down onto a log and put his head in his hands as his shoulders shook lightly.

"She's safe…" he whispered. "Thank Merlin. I have been so scared…But why would she do something like this? What had her leave like that? Where did she go? To whom did she go?"

The questions came rapidly and he looked up as he seemed to have collected himself again.

...

Japan

...

Hari stared.

The house was quiet and the only sound came from the soft gushing of wind through her window that was left open for Hedwig who was currently out hunting. Though, a purr broke the silence and Karupin came in through the window and landed gracefully on the floor before making his way over to her. He curled up next to her and looked at her with his brown eyes. But her mind was too distracted to really acknowledge Ryoma's cat as she stared. Stared at the puzzle that was finished. Stared at…

Herself.

And Seiichi.

She simply stared. It was a puzzle of them together, but it was four scenes put together almost like a comic strip. At least that was what she thought it resembled. Not that it was any real connection between the pictures; at least Hari didn't think so. Or on second thought; maybe there was a connection between the pictures now that Hari thought about it. It could be seen as the progression of their relationship, she guessed. But was she reading too much into it?

One was of them sitting on a bench facing each other, much like they had spent time together when they first started to hang out. Then the next picture was of them holding hands. The third one was of them sharing a kiss (she blushed looking at that remembering how soft his lips felt against her own). The last picture was of Seiichi handing her a flower. Just one flower.

She had seen it before and Seiichi had told her that the name of the flower was Lily of the Valley. When he discovered that she loved lilies he had showed her a lot of different types of the flower and she had really loved them all. But this one was her favourite because it looked so delicate but still strong. The white flower looked like a bell and she could imagine it swaying in the wind. Though it wasn't as delicate as it looked, it was highly poisonous with a sweet scent. Hari thought it was brilliant.

And Seiichi knew that. That had to be why he had chosen the flower. She had looked up the meaning on the computer since she knew Seiichi loved that flowers had meaning and probably also chose one because of it (at least she hoped so) and found that the meaning of the flower was Promise of Happiness.

Promise of Happiness. Did he wish to give her happiness? Promised that he would give her that? Or that he was happy with her and promised that he would stay happy with her? Or maybe that they were happy? That he would make her happy? That she made him happy?

Just how had he managed to get this done? She couldn't help but wonder about it. The pictures looked like they had been painted, and the puzzle was rather large. It took most of her free flooring in her bedroom and she really was wondering how she would be able to get around the room without having to take the puzzle apart. She never wanted to take it apart…

But how had he managed to get this done? She had to ask him. She had to find out because it was making her crazy. She smiled and giggled as Karupin jumped into her lap and nuzzled closer and she hugged the cat closer to her chest as she laughed (remembering to keep quiet since it was the middle of the night – who needed sleep?).

"Perfect," she whispered. "He's perfect."

...

"Hari!"

Hari jerked awake and sat up rubbing her eyes as she grimaced feeling stiff and sore and her shoulder throbbed something fierce. She sat up grimacing all the way as she realised that she had fallen asleep on the floor. That was probably not a good idea seeing as she was also feeling the effects from the match the day before and now her body was protesting it.

"Why are you on the floor?" Ryoma asked and Hari realised that he was standing in the doorway and was looking at her with a raised brow. He looked behind her and blinked. "You finished the puzzle?"

"Mm," Hari nodded and got to her feet before sitting down on the bed again and rolled her shoulder experimentally. It hurt.

"You okay?" Ryoma asked stepping closer with a concerned look on his face.

"Fine," Hari said, "though my shoulder hurts slightly."

"Hm," Ryoma frowned. "You should try to take it easy today, then. Oh, did Yukimura make that?"

"Yeah," Hari smiled knowing she was blushing.

Ryoma glanced at her before he shook his head. "You're late."

"Late?" Hari blinked. "For what?"

"We're supposed to meet the team today, remember?" Ryoma said. "Something about team bonding or something. Maybe we'll go bowling again."

Hari opened her mouth before she closed it again. Right. She had forgotten about that.

"Right," she said. "But…"

"You want to go and find your boyfriend;" Ryoma said. "Well, I guess I can say you were busy."

"Thank you!" Hari beamed and Ryoma shook his head.

"Your hair is a mess by the way," he said as he turned to leave and Hari stuck out her tongue at him as she pulled a hand through her hair grimacing as she felt the knots in it. Apparently sleeping on the floor wasn't good for her hair either.

"Oh, look at that," Rinko said as she and Nanjiro stepped into the room. "That's beautiful."

Nanjiro made a strange sound as he stared at the puzzle. It almost sounded like a whimper.

"He made that?" Rinko asked looking at Hari.

"I think so," Hari nodded. "Don't know how, though."

"Hm," Nanjiro frowned.

"Otou-chan?" Hari looked at him.

"He's up to something," Nanjiro said.

"Dear," Rinko sighed. "Don't be overdramatic."

"But…"

"No," Rinko said and pushed him toward the door. "You should go to the shrine now…and Hari-chan, it's a nice puzzle."

Hari nodded and smiled lightly as she watched Rinko push her husband out of the room and Nanjiro muttering something.

...

Hari took a long shower and the hot water helped against her aching muscles and even though her shoulder still throbbed it was better than it had been. She got dressed before picking up her bag and was on her way out the door when she was suddenly faced with Akiyama Yuko.

"Ah, there you are!" Akiyama Yuko said.

Hari stopped abruptly and frowned.

"You guys have a tendency to just show up unannounced, don't you?" Hari said.

"Yeah, sorry about that!" Akiyama Yuko said.

Hari sighed. So much for going to watch Rikkai Dai's match against Fudomine…

"Fine," she said opening the door wider and allowing the other woman inside. "But can we please start setting some appointments from now on? It would be helpful…"

"We can talk about that," Akiyama Yuko agreed.

Hari huffed lightly and led the way to the office (Rinko had said she could use that for her magic lessons) since Rinko had left for work already.

"I thought we could set up your schedule and classes," Akiyama Yuko said. "I have found a tutor for you as well and will bring him the next time."

"Who is he?" Hari asked.

"He's a recent graduate from Mahoutokoro and has started to work for the DME," Akiyama Yuko said. "He was a good student and we think he is the right choice in helping you."

"And he will keep the secret?" Hari asked concerned.

"Yes," Akiyama nodded. "He will."

Hari wasn't sure what she thought about it, but she supposed she didn't really have a choice in the matter. She had agreed to study the subjects on her own and she knew she would need the help. At least it would help her stay on track and there wouldn't be any easy ways of postponing the work she needed to get done.

"Of course, Shotaro and I will also help you from time to time," Akiyama Yuko said. "We will be keeping an eye on things and help when you get to particularly difficult parts of the subjects that there might be a need for extra help."

Hari nodded.

Hari watched Akiyama Yuko leave and frowned. It was now decided that she would have the lessons or tutoring lessons (or whatever it was to be called) every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The Sunday lessons would be earlier on the day so that it could last longer if needed, but basically it was decided that the lessons should be about two hours long.

Hari sighed and glanced at the clock. It was already past noon, but if she was lucky she would get to the tennis courts in time to catch the last of Rikkai Dai's match. If she left now.

She got ready and hurried out the door ignoring the throbbing shoulder and made a mental note to mention it to Rinko later. She had promised after her last injury that she would say something if she got hurt, and she didn't want to do something that could turn bad again. She had no desire to scare her family or friends again like that, but an injured shoulder wasn't the same as the bruised rib she'd had. Right?

...

Hari was stunned. She had known that Seiichi's team was good. Of course, they were, but… actually seeing it was different. She had not made herself known to Seiichi since she had arrived late but she had gotten to see most of their matches anyway.

And Rikkai Dai had completely crushed Fudomine. Hari winced internally at the harsh word even if it was just her thoughts, but she couldn't help but think it. There wasn't really any other word for it. She could see the shocked expressions on the Fudomine's players and she knew it had to sting.

Though, it was only the match between Tachibana and Kirihara that bothered Hari. The others had been fair and had just simply been better than Fudomine. Hari was wondering how they would be able to beat them, but that would be a problem for another day.

But the match between Tachibana and Kirihara had been…rough. And that was almost a nice way of putting it. To an untrained eye, it looked like Tachibana was hanging in there and keeping up with Kirihara, and considering the fact that Tachibana had twisted his ankle pretty early in the match… Well, Hari had seen how Kirihara had taken advantage of that.

Tachibana was now being helped onto a stretcher and Hari couldn't help but feel for him. She saw An looking worriedly down at him and only Kamio was holding her back from throwing herself at her brother. Hari could only imagine how she must feel. If it had been Ryoma on that stretcher…

Her eyes found Kirihara Akaya and saw the smirk on his lips. He looked almost pleased and Hari narrowed her eyes. The fun-loving, sometimes childish boy, she knew was not seen in the boy on the court, he had been different during the match. It was almost like he had been someone completely different…

Hari swallowed and pushed herself off the tree she had been leaning against as she had watched the matches and moved toward the court. She saw the moment Seiichi noticed her and saw his widened eyes but she didn't go over to him. Not right away.

She wasn't sure what she thought about how he had not interfered. But what did she really expect? It wasn't like he could do anything, was there?

"An-chan?" Hari said stepping up behind An just as they carried Tachibana away and Hari just nodded to the Fudomine Captain as he was carried off. He nodded back with a brave smile on his face.

"Hari-chan," An said turning to look at her. Her eyes were bleary with unshed tears and Hari felt worried and at a loss for words. "You're here?"

"I came a little late," Hari admitted and motioned over to the trees. "I watched from over there."

"I see," An sniffed. "You're here to watch your boyfriend's team."

There was a coldness to her voice that Hari hadn't heard before that made Hari frown lightly. She glanced over at Seiichi who was looking at her but talking with Sanada and Yanagi Renji.

"And your team," Hari said.

"Hm," An said shortly. "Well, I should get to the hospital."

"Right," Hari said. "Um…Can I do anything to help you?"

An looked at her for a moment and Hari wondered about the anger she saw in An's eyes. There was pain there as well and worry. Hari wished she could do something to help, but there was nothing she could say at the moment.

"No," An said. "Just…no."

"Come on, An-chan," Kamio said pulling at her arm. "We're ready to go."

An nodded.

"I'll never forgive them if Kippei-nii-chan is injured for a long time," An said looking at Hari. "They never treated us with respect! They toyed with us! How can you be with someone who plays like that?"

Hari blinked at the anger in An's voice. It took her by surprise, well maybe not because Hari would have been angry herself if it had been Ryoma injured like this, but still. Rikkai Dai hadn't toyed with them, they were just better. It might seem like they had done that, but Hari knew it came from the difference in skill. It had nothing to do with respect or not. Actually, Hari thought that Rikkai Dai had shown Fudomine respect by not holding back. They did everything they could to win and didn't underestimate them.

"That's not fair," Hari said.

"You're defending them," An narrowed her eyes. "I should have known."

"An," Hari started but An just glared at her and turned around to walk away without letting Hari finish what she was going to say (not that she knew what she wanted to say).

Why did An get angry at her because of how Rikkai Dai played tennis? How was that even fair? Hari felt annoyed and angry but also sad and upset. She didn't want An to be angry at her.

...

"You okay?" Seiichi asked when Hari made her way over to him and by default his team.

"Sure," Hari said. "Congratulations on your win. Guess we'll see you at the finals."

"Yes!" Kirihara grinned.

Hari gave him an unreadable look. She tried to connect the boy she had gotten to know and the one she had seen on the court. There was something off there, but she wasn't sure what. His smile faltered when she didn't respond to his smile and the others looked a little uncomfortable as well.

"We look forward to it," Yanagi said breaking the awkward silence that fell.

Hari nodded. "Good."

"I didn't see you," Seiichi said. "And I didn't know you were coming."

"Just decided this morning," Hari said remembering the puzzle and why she had really come. How quickly feelings could change… Not that she felt any different about Seiichi. Not at all, she was still awed by the puzzle and a little thrown by it, but the giddy happiness had faded having seen the match and the outcome. She also felt bad because An seemed to be angry at her for something that wasn't Hari's fault and Hari didn't like it.

"We're done for today," Sanada said stoically and Hari glanced over at him and saw him look at her before looking at Seiichi. "You came here to steal Seiichi away, right?"

Hari couldn't help it. Her lips twitched amused because hearing Sanada say that with a completely serious face was amusing.

"Yup!" Hari said with a quick grin despite the confusion she felt. "I planned on kidnapping him for the rest of the day!"

Seiichi chuckled and rolled his eyes, "don't think you really need to kidnap me, Hari-chan."

"Good, because that would be a lot of work and I doubt your sister will be very happy with me if I kidnapped you," Hari nodded.

"Go," Sanada said rolling his eyes.

...

"He's not as stern as he tries to make everyone believe, is he?" Hari asked when she and Seiichi were on their own walking out of the park.

"Genichiro? No," Seiichi smiled, "or he has a sense of humour behind the stoic nature, I guess. At least if he feels comfortable around someone. I guess he's gotten used to you showing up from time to time."

"Good," Hari said. She did want Seiichi's best friend to be comfortable around her too and hopefully, they would become friends as well. Thinking about that Hari thought she should try to spend more time with Seiichi and his team, which was probably the easiest way for her to become friends with his friends. Or better friends, she guessed. Would Seiichi want that?

They walked in silence for a little while and Hari glanced down at their hands that were connected. His hand was warm in hers.

"You're rather quiet," Seiichi said after a while.

"Just thinking," Hari said.

"About?"

Hari sighed and looked around. She saw another small park with a playground that was empty so she pulled him over to the swings and sat down on one of them while he took the other one.

"Why did he play like that?" Hari asked.

"Akaya, you mean?" Seiichi asked looking at her twisting the chain on the swing to turn the swing toward her and face her.

"Yes," Hari nodded.

"We don't know," Seiichi admitted. "That's not the worst of his play either, but he tends to lose to what we call his demonic side when playing."

"But why?" Hari asked. "If he plays like that…why do you let him play?"

Seiichi was quiet for a while.

"Because he's good," Seiichi said. "And he works hard."

"He injured Tachibana," Hari said simply. "Don't say that Kirihara didn't notice how Tachibana twisted his ankle at the start of their game."

Seiichi nodded slowly, "I know."

"I am not so naïve to think that everyone plays the same or that to use certain things to your advantage in a match is wrong," Hari said. "I don't think that but…to deliberately injure someone… I don't like it. It's not fair play."

"We're working on having him find a balance between both of his sides." Seiichi said.

Hari looked at him. She didn't like it. She didn't agree that putting him on the court when he purposely tried to injure someone in order to win, and she wasn't sure she understood why Seiichi (and the rest of the Rikkai Dai for that matter) allowed it.

"Akaya is a good guy," Seiichi said. "He's just…aggressive."

"Aggressive?" Hari arched a brow. "That was not just aggressive, Sei-chan."

Hari got off the swing and took a few steps away from Seiichi and had her back turned to him. She fisted her hands at her sides as she tried to think and connect the thoughts that were spinning and confusing. She didn't like this feeling, the feeling of resentment and upset. Toward Seiichi… the lovely and perfect Seiichi.

"Hari-chan," Seiichi said and realised that he had followed and was standing right behind her.

"You're the coach for your team, right?" Hari asked. "You and Sanada?"

"Yes," Seiichi said.

"So you're the one who decides that he's going to play?" Hari had to ask.

Seiichi was quiet for a moment, "yes."

Hari inhaled and closed her eyes.

"Hari," Seiichi said and it wasn't lost on Hari that he had dropped the –chan behind her name and her kind of missed it. "You don't have to understand, but Akaya is my teammate and my friend. He has supported me through my sickness and really works hard. He does go too far at times and we try to keep him in line, but it's not easy. You don't know everything he struggles with."

"That doesn't make it right," Hari said quietly.

"It doesn't mean that others have the right to judge him either," Seiichi said.

Hari turned and frowned at Seiichi who had a serious look on his face.

"What? You think…" Hari asked angrily.

"Sounds like it to me," Seiichi said.

"Fine," Hari said. "Then maybe I should just go then."

"Alright," Seiichi said.

Hari couldn't help but flinch at the quick agreement and cold voice. A voice she had never heard him use against her before. She turned and walked away angry that he could accuse her of judging when all she did was express her concerns. And An's hurt look also crossed her mind making her even more angry and upset that Seiichi had allowed…

...

Nanjiro was lying on the floor reading a magazine when he heard the front door opened followed by footsteps running up the stairs and the slamming of a bedroom door. He looked up at the ceiling with a frown on his face just as Rinko came out of the office having stopped by at home to pick something up.

"Who was that?" Nanjiro asked.

"Probably Hari-chan," Rinko said and Nanjiro frowned and started to get up. "No, I'll go."

Nanjiro pouted but settled down at the floor again while Rinko walked up the stairs. He wanted to go and check on Hari as well but knew that Rinko had a better chance to help her. Probably. He hummed.

Rinko knocked on the door and waited but there was no response from inside. She knocked again before she pushed the door open and saw Hari sitting on the bed and stared at the puzzle that was still lying on the floor.

"Hari-chan?" Rinko asked.

"What?" Hari didn't turn around to look at her.

"What's wrong?" Rinko asked.

"Nothing," Hari said shortly. "I want to be alone."

Rinko watched her for a moment conflicted on whether or not to leave her alone as she wanted.

"Did you and Yukimura-kun have a fight?" Rinko asked.

Hari's shoulders tensed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine," Rinko said. "I'm here if you want to talk, but can I just give you one piece of advice?"

"What?" Hari asked.

"Every couple fight," Rinko said making Hari frown. "I don't know what you fought about, but to allow the anger fester for a long time will not help your relationship."

"He won't want me anymore now," Hari muttered. "He's angry at me…"

"Talk to him, Hari-chan," Rinko said. "Relationship takes work and it's not always easy. The people that we care about also make mistakes."

Hari frowned but didn't say anything and Rinko decided that she had said enough and would allow Hari to think things through on her own. There was nothing more she could really do.

...

Hari thought about what Rinko had said as she remembered her argument with Seiichi. It was different from him being jealous about Saeki, this wasn't anything like that. He had looked so cold and his voice…he had sounded so detached like she didn't matter to him at all. It hurt.

It hurt something bad. Worse than the throbbing in her shoulder.

Okay, so maybe she had questioned him about his team and she probably shouldn't have done that. But still, the way Kirihara had played… Should she just pretend that it was okay?

Well, you kind of ignored it when it was Keigo who played like that against Tezuka, a pesky voice in her mind said.

That was different, Hari thought back. It was not the same. Keigo wasn't really wanting to…no, she remembered feeling upset and angry during the match.

But still…that doesn't change the way Kirihara play or that Seiichi allows it, she thought stubbornly.

But why do you make it a big deal now and not when it was Keigo? When it was Tezuka who got hurt?

Hari frowned as the voice asked the questions she didn't want to answer. Why was it different? Besides, it had been Tezuka who had gone for the long match, not Keigo.

Poor defence, that. Doesn't explain your reaction.

Hari scowled and thought; shut up.

Telling yourself to shut up. First sign of madness, my dear.

She grimaced. She was going mad. Talking or rather arguing with herself must be a sign of madness, but it didn't take away the truth in the argument. She did put Seiichi at a higher standard than anyone else and…and that wasn't really fair.

She looked down at the puzzle and thought about all the work he must have put into it. The pictures looked to be painted by hand and she knew he liked to paint and draw, and she had a really strong hunch that he had been the one painting this. How long had he been working on this?

She had not thought that the day would turn out like this when she had gone to see him. But still, how could he accuse her of judging Kirihara? She still felt that her questions were fair.

Rinko had said that everyone made mistakes even the one we cared about. Hari knew that. She looked at the last picture of Seiichi handing her the Lily of the Valley and swallowed. This side of him was so perfect, so good and kind. He was the kindest person she had ever met. She couldn't imagine him hurting anyone, but…but she had not really seen him playing tennis or even his team play before. She suddenly realised this and maybe they had a different side to them that she hadn't seen yet.

Did she really hold him above everyone else? Had she placed him on a pedestal thinking that he would never make any mistakes? That he would be perfect?

"I need Hermione," she muttered. "If only they were still here…"

She needed to talk to someone about this. Someone like Hermione. She could write to her but it was no guarantee that she was looking at the notebook now and it wasn't really the way she needed to talk to someone. She would have called An, but she was angry at Hari too.

That annoyed Hari as well. Why did An have to be angry at her because of how Kirihara had played? That wasn't fair either. Hari had nothing to do with Rikkai Dai and how they played, even if she was Seiichi's girlfriend.

...

"You're back early," Sanada said looking up from the book he had been reading when Seiichi came into the room they shared at Seiichi's aunt and uncle's house. The rest of the team was out doing something but Sanada often pulled away like this after matches.

"Suppose so," Seiichi muttered.

Sanada looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Seiichi said.

Sanada arched a brow, "alright."

Seiichi sat down at the bed and looked down at his hands. He was angry but also confused. She had looked so hurt…but why had she talked about Kirihara like that? She didn't know him! She had no right to…

"Okay, you're projecting;" Sanada spoke up. "Did you guys have a fight?"

"Leave it, Genichiro," Seiichi said.

"You talk like you think I'm afraid of you, Seiichi," Sanada said. "What happened? You left with Hari-chan and it looked to be good, so why are you angry now?"

Seiichi glared at his best friend who just arched a brow back at him. Everyone else would have backed off by now but Sanada was different. He knew Seiichi too well and wouldn't back down just because Seiichi glared. Stupid best friend…

"Maybe I just don't want to talk," Seiichi said.

"Then why did you come back here?" Sanada challenged. "If you didn't want to talk then you would have gone to your garden or something. Not to where I was and you know I would pick up on your mood. So start talking."

Seiichi frowned. That was a good point and he silently cursed both of them because it was true…

"She didn't like how Akaya played," Seiichi said.

Sanada nodded, "no, it looked like she was trying to figure him out or something when she looked at him earlier. She's not the first one to question his playing style, though."

"But she doesn't know everything and I don't…she was judging him," Seiichi said.

Sanada hummed, "why are you so upset because of this?"

"What?" Seiichi looked at him.

"So she doesn't like how Akaya plays," Sanada said. "I don't see why you should be so upset over it."

Seiichi frowned. "I…I don't know."

"Well, I guess it would be easier if we had a coach and it was their decision to let him play," Sanada said. "She questioned why you let him play?"

"Yes," Seiichi sighed.

"Fair," Sanada nodded. "But I don't think she was judging you, Seiichi. Maybe she was just wondering what you were thinking about it?"

"It's not that easy to explain," Seiichi said. "I tried, but…"

Sanada nodded, "well, I can't say what you should do or think about it. I don't know if Hari-chan will see it as a problem or not, but…why did you get angry because of this? It's not the first time someone has questioned you."

"But they weren't Hari-chan!" Seiichi said without thinking.

Sanada nodded, "no, and you care about what she thinks about you."

"Of course I do," Seiichi grumbled. "I don't want her judging me and look at me with that look…the disappointment in her eyes was so vivid and I just…"

Sanada nodded again. "I get it. What are you going to do about it?"

...

...

AN: What do you think? XD

A little conflict in this one... I hope you liked it. I thought it is necessary for the development and all that... XD

What do you about the puzzle? And about Sirius? He'll probably show up soon... Any wishes for how he will handle that? Should Ron and Hermione warn Hari about telling him? XD Just curious about your thoughts about this. ;)

Thank you for reading and supporting the story! XD