Wonderstruck

Summary: "You know, I was joking when I suggested you jump into the lake and see if there really is a giant squid."
Michi Hogwarts AU

Author's Note: I wrote this in honor of September 1st, but of course the site was down when I had something to post. So here, have it one day late. Sadly this is rather short, but I could always decide to add more non linear chapters, who knows, everything is possible.
Before we start, you should be aware of the fact that you'll most likely won't agree with me with Mimi's house in this universe, so let me just say: please give it a try, I swear it will make sense and it will only add to the dynamic between her and Taichi. And if you want visual proof that I'm not the only soul in this world who thinks so, please check out this art on Twitter made by Twitter user gecccu: /gecccu/status/498115661315321858
Thanks for reading, and hopefully you'll enjoy this silly fiction.

Rainy.

That was the thing with Hogwarts in November, it was always raining. Drizzling, pouring, sometimes you could even still see some sun rays through the heavy clouds, but still, the rain was there. And she liked the sun, the warmth, and the spring. Late autumn, not so much.

And she surely didn't like being soaking wet, standing by the Great Lake as the rain was falling loudly. She held her Herbology textbook against her chest, as if the harder she kept it close to her frame would mean the less wet it'd get, and she wasn't even wearing her cloak: it was still resting on the back of the library chair where she had been trying to concentrate and study the whole afternoon with no real outcome, because somebody had decided that it was their quest to make her fail the upcoming mid term exams before they'd leave the school for Christmas.

That somebody was currently standing a few feet away from her, so close to the lakeshore that for a moment she feared the dark water crushing heavily against the cliff was going to swallow him whole. Not that she cared if it really did, she corrected her thought right after, but it would've been a pain to explain the teachers why exactly Taichi Yagami had suddenly disappeared near the lake, especially since they weren't even supposed to be out there with that weather in the first place. Plus, it wasn't even her fault if they were there. Or well, technically it was, but that was beyond the point; he had been the one who decided to storm out of the library and she had only followed him because they had been in the middle of an argument that she surely wasn't going to let him win.

She looked at him sternly, but he didn't seem at all stricken by her glaze. If anything, he seemed amused. Where was the entertaining factor in being drenched in water, she failed to know (she didn't mind being wet, but her definition of the term was far from coming close the momentary situation). Her long light brown locks were now sticking to her face, but she didn't dare move her arms, afraid the textbook would be ruined forever.

"You know", she started saying, her voice raised in an attempt to be heard despite the roaring storm, "I was joking when I suggested you jump into the lake and see if there really is a giant squid."

He raised a brow, keeping his ever present smirk printed on his face, now walking towards her with that stupid confident attitude he brought everywhere just because he had been the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for three years in a row now winning every single year the tournament as the cherry on top.

"Are my ears deceiving me? Is the Slytherin princess worried about me?", he replied. He ran a hand through his dark hair, pulling it back from his forehead and then crossing his arms. She noted how he was wearing his long sleeved shirt (usually he opted for the one with short sleeves, and she was pretty sure he did so only to show off his Chaser-like biceps), the collar half buttoned and the knot of the red and gold striped tie loose.

"Nah, it just wouldn't be fair to win against you if you came out the water with clinical dementia.", she retorted, flashing a sneering smile on his way. He shook his head, drops shooting out of his hair indistinguishable from the rain that was still falling, and he pulled up the sleeves of his now see through shirt. Mimi rolled her eyes, asking herself for the umpteenth time why the world hated her so much to have her risk lifelong detention for being there with someone who was supposedly her mortal enemy, considering the House he belonged to.

Not that she cared about all that nonsense, really. Despite being a Slytherin, her extroverted nature had always resulted in her befriending the most disparate people, so it wasn't surprising to see her with a Gryffindor by her side: she had her share of Gryffindor friends. But the thing was, Yagami wasn't her friend. Yagami was a nightmare. Mimi guessed he probably thought just about the same when it came to her, since she was in fact very aware of how exasperating, loud and stubborn she could be when she wanted, and she increased the percentage of those three factors that made up her personality whenever he was around, which, lately, had been a lot.

The thing was, Yamato Ishida, one of her best friends, confidants and housemates (as well as Head Boy) had recently gotten together with Head Girl Sora Takenouchi, a cute Hufflepuff that Mimi remembered had helped her once in her second year when she couldn't get out of the third floor's girls bathroom. Sora was great and Mimi loved her, she was always caring and genuinely nice (a trait Mimi knew she personally lacked of) (okay now, she wasn't bad, she was just very spontaneous) (and it really wasn't her fault if she made that Ravenclaw guy cry the other day, come on). Well, anyway, there was just a downside of spending time with the power couple, as she had started to refer them as for a while now: Sora's best friend was Taichi, and Taichi also had this weird relationship with Yamato as well (that meaning: she still didn't know if Yamato wanted to hug the Gryffindor or strangle him half of the times they were together).

It wasn't like Yagami had always been on her nerves, no. At first, their dynamic had resembled more a flirtatious one; Mimi liked athletic boys, he liked pretty girls, yada yada. That was it, until one day he decided to start flirting with her friends while she was standing right beside him; her pride was wounded, and that was the beginning of the ongoing feud between the two of them. The other week, for example, he took it on a personal level when she decided to flirt with Mr. Ravenclaw Captain. Yagami, the poor fool, didn't even realize she'd done so because she knew he would've started to question his Quidditch abilities and leadership skills.

"Admit it, Mimi, you'd miss me so much if the squid decided to eat me alive.", he stopped Mimi's trail of thoughts as he took a couple of steps onwards in order to stand right in front of her. She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, not once breaking the unamused look she knew he referred as "the basic Slytherin look of superiority" or just, to put it simply, her resting bitch face. As to mirror her decision, he didn't let his own smile fade, he kept looking at her amusedly because, apparently, he liked to do the opposite of what she did. Easy like that.

"Please. Your glory days are already over, you might as well just retire from the field since no one is gonna remember you next year when you're gone.", she was quick to reply, never once taking her eyes off of him. She offered a sarcastic smile, and she was pretty sure she struck a chord because she could've sworn she'd seen his eyes twitch for a flashing second. If that was the case, though, he recovered fast.

He lifted his hand to catch a strand of her hair darkened by the water between his fingers, lowering his eyes to observe it as he twirled it. He looked like he was immersed in deep thought, and Mimi's look softened a bit without noticing; when his eyes looked up again and met hers, the edges of his lips curled up.

"You sure about that?", he asked in a deep yet calm tone that Mimi thought she had never heard him use. She blinked, as she had temporarily forgotten what they were arguing about just a few moments before. She tilted her head a little to the side, her hair cascading softly to the left and she furrowed her eyebrows. She had to admit, the rain didn't make him look half bad, with his hair slicked back while usually it was all over the place, drops falling on his cheeks where she could see the shadow of the stubble that was starting to grow back.

"Mhm?", he encouraged her. His sight fell on her lips, and it took him a few seconds to look up again and meet her glance. He put the strand of her hair behind her ear and Mimi, on her counterpart, felt like her brain was floating somewhere up in the heavy clouds, leaving her to her sole instincts. She knew that if he could've listened to her heart beating, he would've never stopped teasing her about it, but she didn't care, because at that moment the only thing that she had in mind was the image of him, his frame towering over her, and his expectant smile.

"No?", it sounded more like a question than a statement, and Mimi wasn't even sure she even said anything out loud, considering the feeble tone she'd used. He seemed like he didn't care that much though, or he had probably forgotten what the first question was just like her, because he was now moving his hand down to stroke her left arm as lightly as he could.

She felt her skin tingle in the spots where he'd traced his trail, and she wondered if he was that gentle with all the girls he found on his way. Her thought was cut short by the movement of his other hand, now cupping her right cheek. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, but his glance didn't meet hers, as it was fixed on her lips; she felt a familiar knot forming on her upper stomach, and that was her cue to finally close her eyes.

Except, she never remembered having to wait so long for a guy to kiss her, especially when said guy was already so close to her. She didn't count the seconds, at first, since she was sure Taichi had only been stricken by her beautiful facial features (it was only natural for boys to realize just how perfect she was, so she was pretty used to that reaction), but when she felt his hand leave her side, she was forced to open her eyes, thinking he had suddenly changed idea.

She had never been more grateful for a thunder to roar as she was in that moment, crying out loud a panicked yelp that was covered by the sound of the storm.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

He was there, his shirt and pants already piled up on the wet grass, bent as he was motioning to remove his last piece of clothing, named, his underwear. Her eyes open wide, Mimi was too startled to move, or do anything for that matter. He flashed her a smirk, and as he caught the fabric of his black boxers she thankfully managed to shut her eyes in time to avoid seeing him naked, covering them with her hands, momentarily forgetting that doing so would mean letting her Herbology book fall to the ground.

"Seeing if there really is a giant squid, as you suggested.", he answered her as it was the most natural thing to say.

"And why do you need to take your clothes off to do that?", she asked him exasperatedly; the tone he used to reply only fueled her frustration.

"Because they're gonna get wet if I don't."

"They're already drenched!"

As she quickly regained her consciousness, she cursed him under her breath realizing only then that her book was getting soaked in water; as a reflex, her hands left her face and her eyes snapped open in an attempt to grab the textbook and put it safely in her arms, but as she turned she also unwillingly caught the image of Taichi running towards the lake.

"MY EYES!", her scream covered the sound of the water splashing as he dived into it.

"Fuck, it's cold!", his voice filled with laughter topped hers, and Mimi, once again, failed to see how he could find the situation so amusing. It was then that an idea crossed her mind, and a plan started to form as she smiled maliciously.

Turning her back to him, she nonchalantly circled the spot where he'd left his clothes, waiting for him to turn his face to her just so he could witness what she was about to do next. When he finally shifted, he tilted his face to the side, an eyebrow shooting up.

"What's up?", he half yelled from the water.

She offered him a mischievous smile.

She quickly folded his clothes into a ball, making sure that his underwear was in the middle of it so that she'd avoid touching it with her bare hands. When she looked up at him, feet away still inside the lake, she let out a wicked laughter before turning her heels and walking at a calm pace towards the castle, knowing it would talk him at least a full minute to realize what she'd done. She smiled when she heard his voice calling her from far over her shoulders.

"Mimi? Mi- What the- What are you doing? Where are you going?"

She didn't turn, instead she started running, afraid he was going to get out of the water to try to get to her and consequently his clothes back.

"Mi- fuck! - my clothes!"

As a response, when she finally reached the external corridor of the castle, she smiled at him.

And then she flipped him off.