Eyyy... I'm back. So soon. Sorry not sorry. The way my fingers are itching for the next, I might have the chapter 8 in the works soon too. I can't give a schedule, tho someone asked. My work includes a lot of writing too at the moment so it's a strange situation. Might pull a muscle or two in my brain from all this writing. Or get into a more permanent flow, who knows... I know I don't.

NEEWAYS, here's the chapter. And Sappho soldiered another great beta for this. Thankssss!

Cheers,

Nova

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I made a promise not to give up. Even with everything that has happened, I shouldn't just stop trying. She still feels something for me. I think I will just—

"Yuzu!" Harumi asked and elbowed her friend right between the ribs hard enough to get her attention. "Did you hear a word I just said?"

"Ah, sorry, Harumin... I wasn't listening." Yuzu admitted apologetically.

"I said maybe it's better if I tag along tonight for the detention. Seems your head is somewhere in the clouds again." Harumi shook her head.

"No, we will be fine." Yuzu smiled and eyed the empty parchment in her lap. They were supposed to be doing their homework, both of them had a free period in the afternoon. "You just go take care of your Quidditch practise, wouldn't want you to miss that because of me."

"You haven't written a single word down on your essay, which —let me remind you— is due next Monday."

"I know, I know. I can finish it during the weekend. I just can't stop thinking about—well, you know..."

"Yuzu... If this is still about the 'Not gonna give up!' mantra you've had for the past couple days, I swear—" Harumi felt helpless with Yuzu's need to fix something that she wasn't sure was even broken. "I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"You don't have to worry about me. There's just something I know I'm missing and I feel like talking to Mei will help me understand what that is," Yuzu pondered while scribbling idly on the corner of her parchment.

"Just be careful. She's proven to be a bit... unpredictable." Harumin tried to phrase Matsuri's 'Crazy Raving Bitch' in a nicer format.

Yuzu straightened up a bit when she noticed the dark-haired girl already standing outside the Caretaker's office. The gloating smirk on Yuzu's companion hadn't faded and Matsuri was looking pleased as ever, despite the looming prospect of a boring detention ahead of them.

Their arrival was unsurprisingly ignored and Mei kept avoiding eye-contact. Yuzu still couldn't help feeling cheerful about spending time with the Head Girl. She had somehow managed to slip away like an eel from all occasions Yuzu had wished to speak to her after the encounter and the Headmaster's office. She also hoped Matsuri would have enough sense to not incite Mei's explosive side any further. Her last provocation landed them in detention, after all.

"Hi!" Yuzu started with a cheerful tone. "I hope we're not late." She knew they weren't but felt like she had to say something.

Only barely noticeable reaction was a slight shift in Mei's posture and she kept her eyes fixed on the Caretaker's door. The cold atmosphere almost made Yuzu shiver. She decided to stay cheerful.

"I wonder what detention is like. I never got into any trouble in my old school, but I heard they had to write lines or essays—"

"Hah! Essays? Last time I was in detention he had me scrubbing the toilets on the third floor," Matsuri scoffed.

I wasn't talking to you, Matsuri. Let her speak...

Yuzu's silent wish of Matsuri shutting up was not met.

"The lazy oaf just dumps all his workload on students. He's probably picking his nose in his office as we speak."

"Lazy oaf, huh?" An amused voice spoke out that made Yuzu jump. Nobody had noticed the Caretaker appear behind them. "What have you done this time, Mizusawa?"

"I didn't—OUCH!" Matsuri was cut off by Yuzu's elbow sinking into her ribs, painfully and abruptly.

"Innocent as always, then." The Caretaker laughed heartily. He was a kind-looking man in his 30s with a long beard and messy hair. Yuzu had to admit Matsuri was at least a little bit right, his whole appearance did scream lazy if anything. "Sorry to disappoint you, though. Toilets are well scrubbed, there's something else we need to take care of tonight. You're all old and skilled enough so I can trust you with this."

Mei simply nodded and Yuzu wasn't sure what she should say. The Caretaker opened the office door with a large old key and gestured to everyone to step inside. A highly astringent stench hit their nostrils the second they entered the small room.

"Wow, dude. This is disgusting, even for your standards." Matsuri said and held her breath.

"Dragon urine. Female dragon urine, to be exact." The Caretaker spoke as if this was an everyday ordeal to store smelly things in their office.

"I had no idea you were into such things..." Matsuri kept teasing him. The Caretaker shrugged the comments off with a mere laugh.

The smell was getting too much for Yuzu and she raised a sleeve in front of her nose, hoping it would dampen it even a bit. The air in the room was stinging her eyes too.

How can anyone work in this stench...

"Good thing I won't be the one handling these tonight. The honor is all yours, my dear misbehaving misfits." He pointed at multiple phials filled with deep red liquid in them.

"You can't be serious... What do we have to do with these?" Matsuri asked half-terrified.

"Oh, you'll see," the man said with a wink. "Now, just grab a warm robe from the closet. It's getting chilly outside."

Matsuri opened the closet so casually that Yuzu was sure this was not her first time doing detention outdoors. They were all in a hurry to get out of the office and Yuzu grabbed the first robe that didn't look kid-sized and threw it on. It was slightly too large, the hem was touching the ground but she was already starting to feel sick and didn't care to change it.

The smell was clearly starting to affect the Caretaker as well, he hurriedly grabbed the two buckets containing the phials and darted out of the door. "Well, all of you, just follow me. Close the door, blondie."

"Yuzu," all three spoke out loud and Yuzu and Matsuri shot a curious look at Mei's direction. Once in the corridor, the Caretaker took a better look at the students lined up in front of him.

"Her name is Yuzu, sir," Mei said quietly but was still avoiding eye-contact with anyone.

"Sir? No need to be so formal. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone. I'm just bad at remembering names, there's too many of you anyway. Students, I mean." The Caretaker was getting anxious. He took another look at Mei. "Aren't you the Headmaster's granddaughter? What are you doing in detention?"

"That'd be our fault," Yuzu added quickly, worried Mei might feel cornered.

"Figures. Well, you two rascals can carry the buckets then. Here." The Caretaker shoved the buckets in front of him and they grabbed them reluctantly.

"We're just doing your dirty work here again, aren't we?" Matsuri huffed.

"We're seriously going to the forest to spray this around?" Matsuri eyed the forest while trying to keep up with the Caretaker's hurried steps.

"Yup." He walked slightly faster. "Could you keep a safe distance so I don't have to smell that."

Overall, the man's childish behavior convinced Yuzu even more of the fact that he was a no-good slacker. They eventually reached the edge of the forest. Yuzu had felt the aura of danger from the first time they had gotten close to the Forbidden Forest and Harumi had explained what it was. Standing on the edge of it didn't make it seem less scary. 'Huge spiders, bigger than you' Harumi had told Yuzu when she had asked what kind of creatures she meant.

I hate spiders.

"Won't spraying this dragon piss around lure something even more dangerous to us?!" Matsuri asked and failed to hide her panic.

"No, it's repelling them." Mei hurriedly answered as if this was a lesson and she had to score points with the teacher. "There's a dragon in the forest?"

"Bingo. Should have figured you're the smart one. Someone in the village sighted one last week. A full-grown male dragon." Something in the Caretaker's voice sounded almost like he was in awe of the presence of such a creature.

"You're throwing us to dragons?!" Matsuri cried.

"You're good, as long as you have the phials." The Caretaker smirked at the sight of Matsuri suddenly raising the bucket in her arms as if her life depended on it. It probably did. "Very territorial things, dragons. And the males avoid entering female dragons' territories. Hence, the urine."

"You're hoping it would leave if we sprinkle this all over the forest?" Yuzu asked curiously.

"Well, let's hope it will stay out of the school grounds at least..."

"Hope? So, there's a chance some of us are dragon food tonight?" Matsuri's face was white as a sheet.

"I trust the dragonologists sent us samples from a female dragon that was not in their heat cycle." The Caretaker smiled encouragingly. "Okay, then. Let's split up. I'll take the little menace here with me, you blond—Sorry... Yuzu, wasn't it? You go with the smart one."

Perfect. Well... except for the dragon urine I have to carry around. Might be slightly off-putting.

Mei seemed unaffected by the idea and simply nodded again.

"We go left, you go right. About as much so you can still see the edge of the forest and don't get lost. Don't touch the stuff with your hands. The stink will stay for weeks. You'll be a walking dragon repellant, sure, but also an effective human repellant." The Caretaker laughed at his own joke but got serious after noticing nobody else was laughing. "Right... You two just keep walking till you reach the side of the lake. Break one phial within about 20 to 25 steps."

"What should we do with the phials after we're done?" Mei asked.

"I don't care. Bury them in the lake if you want to. I don't want them back in my office. Or the buckets."

Yuzu watched the Caretaker disappear into the forest with Matsuri who was still holding the bucket with care.

"So... I guess we need to get going too," Yuzu asked nervously and glanced at Mei's direction.

"I really am sorry I got us into this mess," Mei apologized and for the first time that night, lifted her gaze to meet with Yuzu's.

"It's okay. Well—aside from the spiders." Yuzu kept eyeing the forest for the infamous spiders.

"What spiders?" Mei asked while searching her robes for something.

"The huge ones that Harumi warned me about. The human-sized ones."

"Oh, the acromantulas live somewhere deep within the forest. We won't run into those, I'm sure." Mei dug her wand from her pocket. "Lumos."

"If you're sure..." Yuzu followed Mei to the forest, hurriedly looking for her own wand with her free hand. An uneasy feeling was settling in her stomach and it wasn't because of the faint stench of dragon urine. This was the first time ever she was alone with the skills she had learned during all her years in school. They'd had controlled encounters with various creatures but the teacher was always there. It had been a bright classroom or an open field outside, not a dark ominous forest during dusk hours. The feeling of the cool polished wood in her fingertips made her feel slightly better, if only a little bit. She followed Mei's example. "Lumos."

After a few silent steps Mei apparently noticed Yuzu's head spinning around. "Are you nervous we run into something?"

"Of course," Yuzu lowered her voice to whisper as if to avoid disturbing the forest.

"You won't find monsters with two steps into the forest, stop worrying." Mei tried to sound convincing but her hand held the luminating wand tighter than usual. "And most creatures will run away when they hear sounds, anyway."

"Most... So, the biggest and scariest wont?"

"Probably not. But those creatures live deeper in the forest, so we should still be fine." Mei glanced behind her shoulder to see how far they had ventured. "This is far enough, let's break the first one here and continue towards the lake."

"You can do the honors, I'll keep the light on," Yuzu whispered, a bit louder this time and watched Mei's wandwork when she carefully incantated 'Wingardium Leviosa' and a phial flew out of the bucket to a safe distance from them before she popped it with another careful spell. She levitated the broken phial pieces back to the bucket. "He did say we can just bury them."

"I know. But I don't want broken pieces of glass lying around in the forest. We'll be hunting injured thestrals next..."

"What are thestrals?" Yuzu asked and nervously glanced around for said mysterious creatures.

Mei chuckled at the absurd situation. "They're these big horse-like creatures with wings. But you probably wouldn't be able to see them anyway. And they're not that dangerous, you don't have to stay on alert for them."

"The ones they had pulling the carriages when we arrived at the school?" Yuzu asked, remembering such creatures from her first day.

"You can see them?" Mei raised her voice in amazement and it made something scurry off from the trees above them.

"Please, keep your voice down." Yuzu nervously looked up and realized she hadn't paid attention to anything above them. "But yes, I can see them. Is that weird?"

"Well, no. Sad, if anything. So, you've seen someone die?" Mei asked with a serious tone.

"Yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

"That's how you see the thestrals, after you witness someone die. But who was it?" Mei pried.

"Oh, that's why I see them? Kind of interesting, actually." Yuzu was surprised, Care of Magical Creatures was a class they didn't have in Ilvermorny that she had noticed in the list of subjects when she went through her options.

"You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to." Mei hurried to say when she didn't get an answer.

"No, it's okay. I saw my dad die on the hospital bed. He was poisoned during a work assignment for the Ministry. They couldn't find a cure in time." Yuzu explained. "I was only 3 years old so I barely remember him at all. I just remember how sad Mama was all the time."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Mei looked gloomy. "And I laughed at you for not knowing what thestrals are, I'm so sorry."

"No, don't worry about it. You didn't know." Yuzu tried to cheer Mei up. "I had a happy childhood with just Mama and me. No need to feel sorry, really."

"I really shouldn't have—"

"It's okay. But hey, at least I would be useful hunting the thestrals down," Yuzu grinned and tried to assure she was indeed OK.

"Oh, right... Well, let's hope we don't have to. That would probably be a task for the next unfortunate people landing in detention anyway. I don't plan to do this again."

"Me neither. If anything, I'll make sure to follow every rule by the book if we survive this." Yuzu thought she saw something moving in the corner of her eye and flinched.

Please, tell me that was just a bird...

"We'll be fine."

After fifty-something phials, the forest was getting really dark. The dusk had settled to what would have been a nice starry night but the trees blocked most of them. Yuzu wasn't sure if it was something about the Forbidden Forest or the bright lights in their wand tips that made the rest of the darkness seem even darker.

"I think we need to move closer to the edge, I'm not sure if I still see it or is it just the light playing tricks with my eyes." Mei said and tried to point her wand to her right side and spot where the trees ended.

"Why would they want us to do this in the dark?" Yuzu asked and shivered at the thought of everything looming in the shadows her wand was casting its eerie blue light at.

"I think the Caretaker didn't think it would get so dark so soon. This is unusual anyway, sending students to the forest. I mean, I've heard stories of people disappearing here for days—"

"Don't say that!" Yuzu squaked. "We're just a few steps from the grounds, right?"

"Hmm, I think so. Maybe we should check just to make sure." Mei was just about to turn and head away when they heard a loud growling noise coming from what they assumed was the deeper forest. Yuzu's heart jumped to her throat and she froze, unable to decide if she should stay as still as possible or run for her life.

"Did you—"

"Yes." Mei was quick and grabbed Yuzu's arm and pulled her closer. "If that was the dragon, we might have to break a phial or two on our robes."

"You mean the walking repellants the Caretaker mentioned before? I don't want to smell like dragon piss-"

"You don't want to die either, do you?" Mei was surprisingly calm.

"You have to ask?" Yuzu's pitch was an octave higher than usual. "No. I do not."

Sure enough, as they stood still for a moment a variety of noises amplified and something was creeping closer. A huge head emerged between the trees sniffing the air curiously. Mei seemed to sense Yuzu was in no condition to react to the situation in any way so she stepped slightly in front of her.

"It's a Welsh Green. I've never seen one, but the markings match," Mei whispered.

"I don't care what it's called. It's a dragon. This is a dragon. A freaking grown-ass dragon. Mei, please. We need to run." Yuzu whispered as quietly as she could.

"No, whatever you do, don't run. It's probably just curious about the scent of the female dragon. Leave the bucket and back down. Slowly." Mei seemed to be in control of the situation and Yuzu obediently lowered the bucket on the ground and it toppled over, spilling the rest of the phials on the ground.

"Shit... sorry," Yuzu cursed quietly and took a step backwards. She noticed a small tug on her back and realized she had stepped on her oversized robe. It was too late, she lost her balance and fell down.

"What are you doing?!" Mei cried with a loud whisper. The dragon in front of them leaped forward towards them. It was so close that Yuzu could feel its hot breath breezing in her ankles when it examined the contents of the bucket. Mei was trying to help Yuzu up and fumbled for the arm holding the wand, the light source was swinging wildly in the dark.

"Break the phials!" Yuzu pleaded. She had no idea if the dragon would respect the faux-territory of the female dragon they were trying so hard to create or would the prospect of evening snack in the form of two young witches be more tempting. She had no option but to place her hopes on the Caretaker and trust the phials would work.

Yuzu kept stumbling on her robe while Mei was dragging her along, trying to help her up. She noticed quickly her efforts were fruitless so she threw on her hood and commanded Yuzu to do the same while ducking down on top of her. "BOMBARDA!"

Pungent smell of urine spread from the phials that were blasted open violently. Yuzu realized immediately why getting covered under the robes was necessary. She was sure they were covered in it too.

"Take off the robe, quickly!" Mei was already undressing the borrowed robe. Yuzu noticed the dragon shaking its head, probably covered in the stuff too. She kept her eyes fixed in the dragon, just to make sure it wasn't charging at them while tugging down the sleeves. She was still laying on top of the robe and it proved to be a painfully slow process. She felt Mei's hands fumbling around, helping with the robe.

The dragon whined in a high-pitched cry, small puffs of fiery breath were shooting in all directions, all of them missing the two girls by sheer chance of luck. It clearly did not like the smell of urine and the possible shards of glass that landed on its face.

Before she had time to register what was happening, she was back on her feet and hurriedly being dragged to the edge of the forest. "Turn off the light!"

"Nox. You said no running!"

"Let's hope it doesn't see well in the dark... I think I see the edge of the grounds, just a little bit more. C'mon!" Mei was still dragging Yuzu along who was trying her best not to trip over again in the pitch black darkness. At times, the faint red glow of the dragon's breath illuminated the path but it was fading. Either they were getting further or the dragon was retreating to the opposite direction.

This better be the right direction or we're done for...

Yuzu saw it too then, the lights of the Hogwarts castle far in the background and a large patch of green grass. She hurried her pace and was too afraid to look back. Mei slowed down when they had taken a safe distance from the trees and collapsed on the grass.

"Hey, you okay?" Yuzu worried and sat next to Mei. After making sure nothing was following them from the forest, she turned back to the other girl, who looked strange grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah... That was awesome!" Mei said, staring at the sky. "My heart is still racing!"

Yuzu let out a long sigh before joining Mei down on the field. "You're insane, you know."

"Oh, most probably, yes." Mei laughed. Yuzu had never heard her laughing like that. Until this day, she had been sure that was not a thing this particular Head Girl would do. Ever.

Completely, utterly, adorable. Harumi was right, I'm screwed, again.

Yuzu grabbed Mei's hand and squeezed. "Thanks for saving me back there. I felt so hopeless, I don't know what I would've done if it wasn't for your stone cold nerves—"

"You told me to break the phials, that was quick thinking too."

"Yeah, I don't know what came into me." Yuzu chuckled. "You think the phials actually worked? The whole territorial thing?"

"In theory, it should. But I don't know... Maybe he just had to check. Like dogs do when they sniff each other's butts."

Yuzu turned her head on her side to see Mei, who was still grinning. "Did you just talk about dog butts? Are you sure you're okay?"

Mei turned her head and stared into Yuzu's eyes. "Yes. Do you want to know what was the first thing I thought while I thought we might possibly die in the next few seconds?"

"Mm?" Yuzu held her breath. She had a faint idea where the conversation was going.

"You. I was afraid I would lose you. I was worried for you."

"Me?" Yuzu's words got stuck in her throat resulting in a small coughing fit.

So I was right? Where's Harumi when you need to gloat in her face? Worried for me, huh...

Mei nodded and stared at Yuzu for a while. Her cheerful expression turned to something deeply troubled. "Would you—uh... Would you come back to our room? Please."

"Hmm, tempting offer... So, all it took was an encounter with a dragon?" Yuzu smiled.

"I don't know why I can't get you out of my head. It's been a lot worse since you left. Believe me, I tried. But I think I just went a little crazy there, staring at your empty bed every night."

"Oh, you think? How often do you attack other students?" Yuzu meant to tease Mei playfully but the response was not as amused as she hoped. Mei's expression went from worried to sad.

"So, you two are a thing then?" Mei asked quietly.

"Oh, dear. No. Have you met Matsuri?" Yuzu laughed and rolled on her side and hoisted herself up on her elbow. There, looming on top of the Head Girl, she could almost see the inner struggle of years trying to live up to expectations of others but now finally, maybe, realizing what she might want for herself. A small hopeful smile danced on Mei's lips.

"She's a bit... impertinent," Mei admitted.

"A bit? Naw, I'm only joking, though. She has also been a good friend to me." Yuzu smiled and stared at Mei curiously. When Mei reached out to tuck a strand of loose blond hair from her face it got Yuzu's nerves lit up white with tingling electricity.

"But this... You... you are perfect. And I have never seen anything so beautiful before," Mei said and her eyes were glued on Yuzu. "I'm sorry, I've caused you so much trouble—"

Yuzu's head was filled with all kinds of fuzziness from the previous adrenaline and the nerve-tingling aftermath. She barely heard what Mei was saying after calling her beautiful. Without thinking about it too much, she swooped down and landed a kiss on her lips. It took Mei by surprise but she recovered quickly and returned the kiss, wrapped her arms around Yuzu and pulled her closer.

We're kissing under the stars. After she saved me from nearly getting killed... It can't get more romantic than this...

Holy hecking dragons, I'm kissing Mei under the stars...

She's kissing me back...

...And I don't want this moment to end.

Ever.

AN: So... I couldn't write this without including some Hogwarts-style adventures. And while the chapter plan has now flown out of the window, I feel like I'm liking this free-form a bit more. There's no Hogwarts without some critters and danger. Or Citrus without drama. I'm trying to find a nice balance. Getting there... maybe. Leave a review if you have enjoyed this so far, or haven't(what are you doing in chapter 7, if that is the case...). -Nova