Magical Rackets

Summary: "Not all wizards use wands, some use their magic through other mediums. Swords, brushes, pencils….and in your case, tennis rackets." HPXover

Favors and Quiddich

Atobe Keigo hated to ask for favors. It was just against his policy to lower himself to ask someone for help. Especially when those favors imposed on someone else's personal problems. Asking for help was degrading to his image, asking for someone to face their skeletons in the closet (which they hid away for legit reasons) was degrading to his self image.

Especially when those personal problems stemmed from the origin of his request.

"Goddammit Atobe, I told you before: I don't want anything to do with your magical crap."

Scratch that, Atobe was definetly getting this favor. Here the great and almighty Atobe Keigo was lowering himself to ask a favor, yet he was unable to be equally as gracious! The nerve. It wasn't like he was asking the impossible and it wasn't like Atobe hadn't helped him either. This transaction was not one way, if Atobe remembered his request correctly. Either way, those who don't attack first won't get the advantage.

Atobe service play.

"That's just because Tezuka petrified you and you wet your pants because you were so scared."

"Atobe!"

15 love. Service Ace. Ah, a low blow indeed. Maybe that was a little below the belt.

"Of course I was scared, tell that to an eleven year old who went to go visit his friend in England being completely unable to move his body after some suspicious masked men came charging into the room and started fighting with wooden sticks that flashed colored lights!"

"But you became so amazed at the whole concept of wizards that you begged me to buy you a wand, which is currently under your bed in the same box that it came with," Atobe replied without missing a beat. 30 love.

"Yes, it's under my bed for a reason," the other retorted. "I never want to use it to hurt others again." 30-15.

"But how many people died already?" 40-15.

"..."

"I'm trying to prevent more from dying."

"It's just taking Seigaku to Hogwarts, nothing else."

Game Atobe. 1-0.

"Thank you Shishido."

-----

Fuji Yuuta usually tried to keep out of his brother's business as much as possible. After all, he had been the one to demand that Fuji stay out of his. But ever since the catastrophe at the new shopping center, Shusuke was acting weird. Well, his brother had always acted a bit odd at times, eating super spicy foods with the same smile or enjoying one of Inui's atrocious juices without gagging. As a genius, Shusuke did some incredible things, and as half a psycopath, his brother did some really creepy things.

If one day someone who crossed Fuji Shusuke disappeared without a trace, Yuuta would not be surprised. He'd be even less surprised if that someone crossed him by messing with one of his friends, mainly Tezuka Kunimitsu. Especially Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Yesterday, Shusuke left the house at the crack of dawn silently. It had been a coincidence that Yuuta saw his brother walk out of the house. It was strange enough that he actually spent the night at home, but with the current poison scare, he felt obligated to stay with his parents for a while. He woke up to use the restroom when he heard the gentle creaking of a door opening and the final click of it closing. Looking out the window of the bathroom which faced the street, Yuuta saw his brother turn the corner wearing casual street clothes.

Dismissing the lack of tennis gear, Yuuta assumed it was an early morning practice or team bonding event before trudging back to his room. But two hours later before he left for practice, Yuuta recieved a phone call from the vice captain, Oishi, wondering whether Fuji was sick because he didn't go to practice.

His brother was a very loyal and committed person. If he decided he was joining the tennis club, Shusuke would follow through by not missing practices and supporting his teammates. The only times their parents were able to keep the elder away from a tennis racket was when he was sick, unable to get out of bed sick. Shusuke hardly played hooky during school either. Faking illness to get a couple hours of sleep, yes (who hasn't done that?), but miss out on school completely, no.

Miss out on tennis practice, never.

Today, he was going to find out whether his older brother was really going to practice like he said.

-----

"So that's what happened," Fuji Shusuke whispered. "I never..."

"He wouldn't have told you," the other said gently. "Tezuka didn't want to burden anyone else with such a thing."

It had been way too easy. Luring the Japanese genius had proved to be a walk through Diagon Alley. All he did was throw out the line and the fish came on its own. Old news of the discrimination Tezuka faced throughout his stay at Hogwarts by his own house, the lies Tezuka was told that hurt him several times, and the self righteous headmaster who sent Tezuka straight into danger. It had been the Dark Lord who saved the boy from his assured death, who wished to end such foolishness by recruiting capable

It was laughable that this boy was trying to find the truth when Tezuka Kunimitsu was so close by. How ironic that the one of his friends was coming to Death Eaters for answers to his questions. And answer he did:

Each lie was part truth, each truth was part lie.

Little snippets of useless information were exchanged and almost instantly, Fuji Shusuke was trapped. At this rate, he didn't even need to perform the Imperius to convert the middle schooler. The trap was too perfect to be possible.

"Please take me to your 'Dark Lord'."

And the conclusion would be equally as perfect. Yaxley smiled.

Lord Voldemort will be pleased.

-----

Oishi Syuchirou tried not to worry when the genius didn't show up for practice. There was an assortment of reasons for Fuji's absence. Maybe he was sick, maybe he had an emergency, maybe he forgot there had been a morning practice, maybe he was finally defeated by Inui juice, maybe he was helping a pregnant woman, maybe he was…his thoughts trailed from the plausible to absolutely ridiculous.

Even with his irk toward Fuji currently, it was hard not to worry with all these strange and dangerous things going on. A dark lord that wanted to take over the world, a boy half way across the world who was supposed to be the savior, and a bunch of middle school kids caught right in the middle of it. Tezuka who had always been a very emotionally stable force in everyone's lives was also shaken by recent events. Damn, if Tezuka was showing a wider range of emotion than a wooden post then this situation was definitely grave.

With all this going on, Oishi just wished he could keep an eye on all of the Seigaku tennis club members to ensure their safety with his own hands, no matter how useless they were. What if those dementor thing came back and Fuji was…

The yellow tennis ball flew by his ear as it rebounded from Momoshiro's harsh smash. This was the third time.

"Oishi-sempai," the cheerful second year commented thoughtlessly. "You weren't even concentrating on the game! At least give me a serious game!"

A tennis game. Just a short time ago, that was all life was about. The intercity tournament, the Kantou Tournament, and the upcoming Nationals Tournament were the only events that really seemed to matter.

"Are you going to serve?"

Winning Nationals, as Tezuka promised. Being the best doubles pair, as Eijie vowed. Now, it seemed so trivial compared to the recent events.

"Oishi-sempai?"

It seemed so silly compared to Voldemort and the dementors. It seemed silly to be so worried about a game when people were dying. It seemed so silly to still be focusing on a mere match when there were graver situations.

"Eh, Oishi-sempai, where are you going?"

It seemed so….stupid.

-----

"Yuuta, what are you doing here?"

Tezuka Kunimitsu looked up from his paperwork briefly to verify the younger Fuji before returning to his work. His pen scratched soundlessly against the plastic clip board while his mind worked up a fury of thoughts that tore his mind with various scenarios. Over his thoughts he managed to slyly eavesdrop on his underclassmen.

The one who had spoke up was Momoshiro. The second year had wandered out of the courts in confusion of where the vice captain went. The ones who joined in were Inui, Echizen, and Kaidoh.

"Has my brother come to practice?"

"No, not yet. If you came here asking, that mean there is only a 6 percent chance that Fuji is sick."

6 percent? He thought it had been lower. After all, how many times had Fuji gotten sick before?

"If it's Fuji-sempai, I wouldn't be so worried."

The first year was probably the most worried of them all. Tezuka tried not to quirk a smile.

"Normally that would be the case, but think about it! Remember the dementors?"

"Fushhh…speak louder would you, idiot?"

The first and second years that began to crowd around the group quickly dispersed with a quick glare. Kaidoh had always been rather level headed and considerate to the situation, but of course his long time rival brought out the competitive spirit within him.

"What was that?!"

"So what have you heard about Fuji-sempai?"

"He's been out since early morning and no one at my house has heard of him since."

His hand stopped. Fuji hadn't been seen since morning. Normally Tezuka wouldn't worry about Fuji either. (He'd worry about what Fuji was plotting.) But these were strange times indeed. Dumbledore himself had warned Tezuka two years ago:

"Things are going to change. We will go through dark and dangerous times…not now, but soon."

And as expected, they were going through dark and dangerous times. Figuratively and literally, Tezuka frowned as dark clouds hid the sun behind them. Almost immediately, a shadow cast itself on the Seigaku tennis courts. It in itself was ominous.

With that warning was an unspoken word. An unspoken expectation.

"You must do what is expected of you."

His Head of House had said to him curtly. That day, Severus Snape had found him rummaging through his potions cabinet.

-----

Shishido Ryou eyed the car with doubt. With scratches all over the front and sides along with the cracked front and side windows, the seemingly second hand blue car looked worse for wear. It looked like someone had crashed it into a tree and proceeded to drive it through a jungle. The hood was dented pretty badly too.

Whoever had this car in the first place either was a suicidal adventurist or a wizard. Seeing as it came from Atobe, this car definitely belonged to one of the latter type. Opening the door to the driver's seat with a harsh yank, Shishido cautiously peered inside.

The car inside was not that bad actually. Sure the seats and sides looked scratched (by some kind of animal) and the clutch was manual, but the car itself seemed to be able to fit a group of 8 to 10 without any problem. Taking a seat in the worn out driver's seat, Shishido turned on the car engine to hear a rickety hum that toned down gradually.

If he was lucky maybe the radio would work too.

"I see that you're satisfied," a voice greeted with its usual self praise. "Our good friend Arthur Weasley enchanted that car."

"You know those names mean nothing to me," Shishdo replied sharply. Tossing his cap on the other front seat, he realized that the interior of the car began repairing itself. The cracks in the window began to disappear and the scratches on the seats started to mend. It was assumed that the outer cover of the car was similarly fixing itself. The loud sound of metal bending proved his guess as the hood of the car straightened out. He looked in the now repairing side mirror to see the grand magician brandishing a wooden stick high above his head.

Show off.

-----

"We're ready."

"Ah."

"Everything will be fine. I made sure that you and your group would have a decent driver and vehicle."

"I can't believe I said yes to this."

"Come now Tezuka, this is one of my plans. As long as our snitch does what he's supposed to, everything will be fine."

"That is if the bludger doesn't come hurtling at us unexpectedly."

"Well I made sure my beater knows what he's doing, but does yours?"

"I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, you're taking up the post personally?"

"As long as the Keeper can protect our goals."

"That's without asking."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

"Tezu--!"

"…Please hang up and try again."

-----

Kawamura Takashi had a long talk with his father about their impending trip. It was a really bad time, he knew. It was really inconvenient but unavoidable, he knew. It was really important, his father knew.

"Nothing's a coincidence," his father had said gently surrendering to this trip that had no definite return. With a reassuring pat on the shoulder, his father returned downstairs to the restaurant to get ready for the next day.

Fuji did eventually turn up at practice much to everyone's relief. He wrapped himself in his regular's jersey with a slight comment about the abnormal chill. Tezuka made the genius run thirty laps for being late and collect balls with the first years. Yuuta played a couple of practice matches with various regulars and non regulars while waiting for his brother. (Apparently he had skipped his own afternoon practice.)

Tezuka had excused the non regulars early allowing them to rest after the tedious fitness they did. Without much hassle, all the regulars crowded around Tezuka waiting for something. Something in Tezuka's expression had always commanded attention, but now it demanded.

"We are leaving tomorrow," Tezuka said curtly with his usual stoic voice. "He's on the move. We might not get another chance after tomorrow. 11 o'clock at night in front of the school. We're traveling light."

Fuji Yuuta who didn't understand the situation only looked around at the anxious faces with various degrees of emotion, the least being his brother's and Tezuka's.

They left practice with hesitant smiles and reminders about tomorrow morning's practice. The atmosphere was heavy with a superficial happiness to it. Oishi seemed to be trying extra hard to smile and laugh but his hands were shaking. Fuji smiled with his usual charm, but he was clutching his left arm gently as if it hurt. Echizen kept his aloof, nonchalant attitude but flexed his dominant hand nervously. Inui and Tezuka both adjusted their glasses to hide their worried gaze. Eijie laughed and smiled just as hard and as fake as his doubles partner. Kawamura stayed quiet.

The mood they parted was tense and strained, but with a strange assurance about tomorrow.

Tomorrow was finally the day everything would take flight. All Taka planned to bring was a change of clothes, some essentials, and his tennis racket. It sounded foolish to bring a racket along, but as he tested the gut gently, Kawamura just knew it would come in handy.

After all, it was this magic switch that got him BURNING!

-----

Everything came down to tomorrow. If the plan succeeded, they could bring a quick conclusion to the foolishness before the true problem began.

Atobe Keigo and Tezuka Kunimitsu were adept dualists and fearsome enemies, but with just the two of them, it would be child's play to bring their plans into completion. If all the Seigaku regulars were to fully mature their magical potential, it could become troublesome. It was good that Yaxley was able to bring Fuji Shusuke into their fold.

He glanced down at his arm and kissed the unblemished skin of his left forearm. His regular's jersey lay forgotten and discarded at the floor.

Close, he chanted to himself. I'm close.

To completing your wishes, Lord Voldemort.

-----

A/N: YES, FINALLY ANOTHER FREAKING CHAPTER. Dude, I was like on hiatus for like almost 3 years. Crap. I found this unwritten chapter on my hard drive over Christmas and was like 'Oh I should finish this shouldn't I?" Well I finally got things moving. Haha, Shin Prince of Tennis is out now. It's been a while hasn't it?