A/n: Posting here for the first time since October last year, so it's been a while! Sorry I needed to take a break from writing these two for some time, and then I got a new job and life became too hectic.

But I was inspired this weekend, so I decided to dust off the cobwebs from this Hogwarts WIP which I have been writing since July 2021, yeah it's THAT old! And somehow it's still not over? So consider this a Part 1, just like every other AU of mine at this point xD

A little background for this one is that this is somewhat of a mix of a Crossover and AU, so you might recognise characters from Pokemon and Digimon as well. Another crazy thing to note here is that Tai from Digimon is Tyson's twin brother, this is a weird headcanon of mine I've had for years, sorry for dumping it on you all xD It's not that relevant to the story though so you can ignore it if you like. Even my OC, Charlie makes an appearance btw!

I made a post for Takao Tuesday a while back on tumblr explaining my Hogwarts HC for Tyson specifically but now I can't find it, anyway if you wanna talk more about it, I'm always up for that!

Final note is on the Team Positions because I think that's a bit relevant.

Chasers: Kai (Captain), Tyson and Tai

Beaters: Charlie and Misty

Keeper: Sora

Seeker: Ash

Well then, happy reading!

Tale 28

- x -

It was the odd silence surrounding her that finally stirred Hilary out of her slumber, running her groggy eyes around the compartment she was in and finding it empty was what jolted her awake. She leapt out of her seat, dread seeping into her veins as she realised that the train was not moving and no other students were visible in the aisle outside either. Cursing under her breath, Hilary quickly gathered her belongings from the compartment, grateful to herself for always changing into her robes as soon as she boarded the Hogwarts Express since it saved her time near the end. She couldn't believe that she had managed to doze off during the journey of the one year that she wanted to start as perfectly as possible. Hilary couldn't even begin to imagine the reaction to one of the Prefects entering the Start of the Term feast late, snarky jeering from her fellow students and disappointing stares from her Professors was something she dearly wished to avoid.

Doing a final check that all her belongings were in order, and a little surprised to find that the train hadn't begun to leave the station yet, Hilary almost made it out of the train when her hands brushed past her chest and she realised that something was missing from her robes.

Her Prefect badge!

"Oh, Merlin's beard!"

This time she exclaimed loudly, as she dropped her trunk on the platform and rushed back inside, slightly comforted by the fact that there was still a throng of students rushing about the platform and she hadn't been marooned on the Hogsmeade station for being uncharacteristically lazy. She found the compartment she had been in easily and began searching for the shiny badge, trying to remember whether she had put it on after changing into her robes or had set it aside in her satchel for later. Settling on the latter, since it seemed like the only plausible explanation for the missing badge, Hilary hurriedly rummaged through the tan brown bag that she had lunged across her shoulder, chiding herself for not coming to this conclusion before getting back on the train, she really was off her game today.

Unfortunately, her badge did not show itself inside her bag and defeated, Hilary ran her eyes across the coach once again, when a gold flicker in the overhead compartment caught her eye and she leapt towards it, standing on her toes and stretching her hand as far she could to catch hold of the badge that seemed to enjoy being as far away from her as possible.

Suddenly she felt a pair of hands grab hold of her waist and within a second she was lifted off the ground, her feet dangling in midair as she concentrated on getting her Prefect badge within her grasp, letting out a cry of triumph as her fingers wrapped around the cold piece of metal. As she pulled her arms back, she felt herself being lowered slowly and gently, her feet gradually touching the floor with a soft thud.

There were only a few people in the school who wouldn't think much before invading her personal space without a warning and out of those few, there was no mistaking who the strong hands that had snugly settled around her waist belonged to, despite the protection from layers of clothing, their presence on her still sent a tingling sensation all over her body. And, thus the joy of finding the badge was only short lived as colour flooded Hilary's cheeks. She didn't need to turn around to figure out who had miraculously decided to show up exactly when she needed someone to since this was usually how most of their encounters went, he could be her perfect knight in shining armour, if she had ever grown up believing in fairy tales and if he had a single courteous bone in his body.

"Thank you for your help, but that wasn't needed," she stated. Grabbing his arms and forcefully removing them from their hold on her waist, Hilary turned around to face the culprit.

The amused smirk that greeted her made her roll her eyes but the navy-haired boy decided that he had taken enough risks for the time being and backed away from her, raising his hands in the air to convey his surrendering.

"So we're skipping through the niceties right off the bat then?" Tyson chuckled as he slowly ran a hand through his thick, spiky mass of blue hair, grinning at her, he added mockingly, "Oh and you were doing such a great job before I got here too."

Hilary flushed as she glared up at him, it wasn't fair that every time they came back after a school year he would be just a few inches taller, making it mostly impossible for her to intimidate him during their face-offs.

"For someone who is lauded by our Professors as the brightest witch in our year, you sure do forget to use magic a lot," Tyson remarked. A triumphant glint was visible in his cocoa eyes as he gestured towards the compartment's door, waiting for her to take leave first.

Hilary however, was busy internally berating herself for wasting so much time in trying to look for her badge physically when she could have just used a summoning spell and saved herself some time and possibly this unneeded encounter with the person she had hoped to not run into until the first day of classes. She had no retort for him, so she lowered her gaze and quickly slipped out of the compartment, with him sauntering behind her in all his glory of winning their first argument of the year. Hilary had hoped that with her being Prefect things would change starting this year, that she would finally have the upper hand when it came to their loud disagreements, but that dream slipped out of her hand the moment she decided to leave her brain at home before boarding the train this morning.

Once they were back on the platform, she noticed that the luggage she had dumped there in a rush was already gone, definitely the work of the house elves and felt a bit dismayed. She had sworn that she would do her part in decreasing the burden those creatures were subject to as the caretakers of the school by doing most of the heavy lifting and dirty laundry herself this year, but somehow Hilary had managed to let even that slip out of her hands. She prayed that whatever was happening this evening, was in no way a foreboding for the rest of the school year.

"You can either stand here and mope about the elves doing their job, or pick up your pace and catch the only remaining carriage headed towards the castle."

Hilary looked up and saw that Tyson had already begun to briskly make his way to where the carriage was parked, she shook the thoughts about the house elves out of her mind and followed him as quickly as she could. At least her luck had managed to let her have the last carriage and not forced her to walk to the castle, even if it came with the added pressure of having to share it with Tyson, she could only imagine the things he'd want to talk about when it would just be the two of them.

Tyson reached the coach before she did and she was a bit taken aback to find him speaking and smiling encouragingly at the empty space where the creatures who pulled these carriages were supposed to be. Hilary had read enough books about their school to know that these creatures were called Threstals and were only visible to those that had not only witnessed death but also gained an emotional understanding of what it meant. She was also aware that there were a few students around the school who could see these grim creatures but never had it crossed her mind that Tyson would be one of them, even after spending time together at school for four years, he still had secrets that she wasn't privy to and Hilary was unsure about whether she'd prefer it remained that way. As they settled across from each other inside the coach, the thought of asking him about why he could see Threstals did claw at her, but she brushed it aside, reminding her brain that she cared more for tact and sensitivity than for her curiosity being satiated.

When the carriage didn't start right after they were settled in, the two students exchanged confused looks, and Hilary wondered if the little conversation that Tyson had had with the Threstal had given the horse-like creature a wrong idea about what it was supposed to do. But her suspicion was soon lifted as the door to their coach opened and another member quickly climbed in, seating herself next to Hilary and immediately they felt the Threstal take off as the carriage settled into a light, rhythmic movement.

Hilary thanked her stars for the timely appearance of the redheaded third year, who looked equally relieved with herself for being able to catch the coach, unbothered by the wall of tension between Tyson and Hilary.

"Hello, Misty. How was your summer?" Hilary asked, passing a smile in her junior's direction, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Tyson frowned at her actions, possibly annoyed over the fact that she hadn't yet bothered to show any interest in his time away from school.

"Oh you know, just the usual. Congratulations on making Prefect, by the way, they couldn't have picked another person more suited for the job." Misty replied, returning her smile with a bright one of her own.

Hilary, grateful for the compliment, nodded in thanks before asking the golden follow-up question that would surely keep her safe from any conversations with the now annoyed boy seated across from her, "Your sisters give you a hard time?"

Anyone who knew Misty was well aware of her rocky relationship with her three elder sisters, and just how much she loved to complain about it. Her sisters were quite the popular artists in the Wizarding World and would often go on long tours, leaving behind the upkeep of their family business, a small herb shop in Diagon Alley, to the youngest member of the family. Misty didn't even waste a second launching into a long tale about her dreadful summer holding the front at their shop since her sisters left on another tour without warning yet again. Hilary and Tyson had no choice but to listen to the third-year rant in silence, uttering words of support or disbelief and nodding sympathetically at all the right pauses.

"...and I barely had any time to practice Quidditch!" Misty finished with a loud huff, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Don't you worry about that, our Captain's on a war path this year. It's his last chance to snag the Cup after all."Tyson grinned at her, with a hint of humour in his voice, he added, "I'm sure he's already figured out how to run a full day long practice session, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he shows up with a time-turner in our dormitories right after the feast tonight."

Misty laughed loudly at his statement but before she could respond, the carriage came to a halt and the redhead was the first one to jump out throwing a rushed goodbye in their direction as she rushed off to join her peers in the crowd of students making their way up the steep steps leading to the entrance of the castle. Hilary followed in her footsteps, without pausing to wait for Tyson she began her descent into the crowd, but just a few minutes later she felt her arm being grabbed, a tight grip settling around it. She turned and came dangerously close to Tyson's face, shooting a questioning look at his hold around her arm as the students around them continued to make their way towards the castle doors.

He held her questioning gaze for a brief moment, his face remaining free of any emotion that would indicate what he was thinking, his cocoa eyes remained unusually steely and an anxious wave settled over Hilary as he refused to respond and instead pulled her up the steps along with him. It was only when they passed through the huge main oak doors and arrived at the Entrance Hall, which was filled with groups of students catching up with their friends or shuffling along to the Great Hall, that Tyson came to a halt and let go of her arm. Hilary immediately took a few steps back to put some distance between them, concentrating on rubbing the area on her arm that had been under his grasp till now soothingly, to avoid meeting his cold yet determined gaze.

"I wrote you a letter," Tyson stated flatly, coming straight to the point without beating around the bush, so very much like him.

"I was travelling a lot, it must have missed me."

Hilary bit her lip to keep her voice from wavering as the lie left her mouth, she kept her gaze fixed at her feet, afraid that if she looked at whatever expression was on his face right now, all the resolve she had built over the summer would come crumbling down and she'd give in to his whims a little too easily.

She comforted herself with the thought that she hadn't told a complete lie, her parents had insisted on spending the summer traipsing around Europe and she hadn't spent much time at home at all. But his owl had been waiting diligently at her bedroom window when she'd gotten back, only flying away after making sure that the letter was safely in her hands. She'd read it and then re-read it a million times too, spending hours trying to find a spell that would help her ascertain if that genuinely was Tyson's handwriting and his signature, that he really had written the letter and it wasn't just a silly prank one of her friends had played on her. And then some more hours agonising over what she was supposed to do, how she was supposed to reply, rolls and rolls of parchment were wasted that day as she had attempted to put her emotions into words, but eventually had decided that it was best to give up instead.

He wouldn't understand anyway, is the conclusion Hilary reached over the summer, even if she spelt out each and every one of her problems in excruciating detail, Tyson just wouldn't understand what she felt.

As the only muggle-born in their entire year, her future as a Witch depended solely on her performance at school, unlike the rest of her peers who all had a link or a family connection that went back to multiple generations to at least one part of the Wizarding World, and as tiny or as irrelevant that connection was for some people, it was still something, which was more than what she had. The only way that she could match up to everyone else's heritage was by excelling at school work and making a good, lasting impression on all of her professors.

And Hilary couldn't accomplish that by dating one of the most notorious students to ever attend the school, whose weekly timetable involved as much detention as it did the regular classes. She'd slipped up of course, in the last two years, where she'd been swept up in their shenanigans on a few occasions, but luckily had managed to stay out of their teachers' eyes every time. Unluckily, however, Hilary hadn't done such a good job of managing her feelings for this problem child, and even more unfortunately, no book so far had been of any help in getting her to understand why she felt this magnetic pull towards Tyson when he was the farthest person from her ideal.

From the day that he had pushed past her on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Hilary had understood that if there was something she was looking for in her significant other, it would be that they have to be the complete opposite of Tyson. She had been devastated a few hours later when they were sorted into the same house, because what could she possibly have in common with someone who didn't have a problem speaking when their mouth was full of pie.

However, over the next few years, she discovered that they were both incapable of keeping their mouths shut at crucial moments, with Hilary it was usually when a question needed answering or a fact corrected and with Tyson, it was usually when someone needed to be put in their place. She also discovered that they were both incapable of turning a blind eye to their friends' problems, while Hilary would work tirelessly to cheer up a sulking face, Tyson would make sure that the person who had caused the sulking suffered appropriate consequences. She discovered that the two were highly competitive about petty things, that they both had the need to get the last word in and that they both took pride in the silliest of accomplishments.

And as she began to spend more and more time around Tyson, all the personal goals that she had set for herself when she had first stepped through the Great Hall started to slowly chip away as she learned that there was no one else in the world who could make her laugh the way Tyson could. That's when she knew, that she needed to step back, that she needed to put some distance between them before she completely lost herself to his many charms. Which is what this year was supposed to be all about, keeping Tyson at a cordial arm's length and only interacting with him a civil amount, nothing more and nothing less.

His letter had obviously caught her off guard but Hilary felt that she had dealt with it flawlessly, by just not acknowledging its existence. She had even managed to find a compartment far away from where he was seated on the train and had completely managed to avoid any interaction until of course she slipped up and found herself getting caught in his flow, the stronghold of her resolve shaking dangerously.

The crowd making its way into the Great Hall had thinned considerably, it would be the right time for her to claim her Prefect duties and make the slip so she could still manage to find a seat on their house's table as far away from Tyson as possible. She looked up at him to make an excuse but when she saw the look of hurt shadowing his face, teeth gritted as he attempted to hold back on the words that were at the tip of his tongue, Hilary felt her voice dying in her throat. She had never seen Tyson look so sad, so upset on her account, it was usually the other way around. Even when they argued, Hilary's insults rarely had any effect on him and he was always able to counter with something much worse, but today he stood in front of her looking like she had crushed him when all she had done was ignore a single letter. It made her feel unnecessarily guilty and anxious, which Hilary thought was unfair because she knew in her heart that she doing the right thing.

"I see. D'art indicated that he definitely handed it over to you." Tyson spoke up finally, his voice was much more guarded now.

Hilary felt her ears turn red at the statement, of course, owls were very smart birds, the very reason they had been chosen as messengers and she had gone ahead and lied about how Tyson's owl hadn't managed to do its job, her brain really was not working to its full potential today.

"Oh." Was all she could manage to squeak out, afraid that if she said anything else she would just end up implicating herself further.

He scoffed at her feeble response and shook his head, obviously having understood that she was lying. It seemed that he placed much more trust in his owl than he did in her which was slightly insulting, but since Hilary had not hesitated to throw the hardworking D'art under the bus either, she decided not to take any offence this time.

"I can't believe I waited-" Tyson muttered under his breath as he ran a hand through his unruly navy hair, the smile that he graced her with was bitter and filled with resentment which surprised her, "I waited like a bloody idiot."

When he furiously brushed past her, she saw how angry he looked and it sent a shiver down her spine. He had never directed this level of animosity towards her, sure they argued all the time but they were both aware that they inherently disagreed on most things and there was never any ill will behind their shouting or name-calling. In her eyes, Tyson had always reserved this kind of anger for people other than her, and Hilary never thought that there would be a day when she would feel afraid of her decision to maintain her distance from him. But when she followed behind the last few students remaining in the Entrance Hall to the Great Hall, she felt an uneasy feeling settle at the bottom of her stomach. Surely Tyson would understand her wish to keep things civil between them? She was a Prefect now, after all, she couldn't afford to get mixed up in fights and arguments in front of others anymore.

As Hilary searched for her place on the Gryffindor table, she wanted to scratch her head and shake all the terrible thoughts out before the year officially started. She hadn't been having any luck with anything ever since she had stepped foot on the train and she desperately needed to turn her day around. She spotted the silky mass of blond hair belonging to her fellow Prefect, Matt Ishida, and was relieved to see that the spot next to him was still empty, making her way towards it quickly and settling down as her eyes moved around the room and she saw that all other Prefects had already taken their places at their respective tables.

"Hey, I was wondering where you were," Matt said the minute she sat down.

"Oh I was-"

Hilary turned to smile apologetically at him, noticing all the people that were sitting around them and her eyes immediately landed on Tyson, who sat diagonally across from her. He glared at her when their eyes met so she looked away quickly, kicking herself mentally for forgetting that Matt was best friends with Tyson and his twin, Tai, so of course sitting next to the blond meant sitting near him. Matt was still looking at her expectantly, and Hilary noticed that he had sleekly pushed his spiky hair down. When she had last seen him on the train, it had still been falling across his forehead like it usually did, and she wondered just when had he found the time to change his appearance.

"I was held up slightly." She replied in a quieter tone, hoping that Tyson wouldn't catch hold of what she was saying. Matt, however, raised his eyes at her behaviour, blue eyes filled with suspicion so Hilary quickly changed the subject, "You did something to your hair."

His ears turned a light shade of pink as a collective snicker went down the table at her words, the loudest one originating from Tai, who did not bother to suppress his ear-to-ear wide grin as he eyed his best friend's new hairstyle. Hilary had taken the seat between Matt and Sora, and she heard her friend sigh tiredly indicating that the table had just gotten over making jokes about this sudden change in her fellow Prefect's hairstyle but her observation had brought the topic back up. Directly across from her sat Charlie, Hilary's closest friend and Matt's cousin, who took immense pleasure in teasing her brother tirelessly daily, so when a sinister smirk settled on the blonde's face Hilary was not at all surprised.

"Too much?" Matt asked her, it was obvious that everyone else had already given him a hard time about this so he was just seeking a single nod of approval.

"Definitely."

Before Hilary could answer him, Mimi responded with a giggle despite being seated a bit far away from them. She saw the colour on Matt's face deepen at the perky fourth year's involvement and he raised his hand above his head, hoping to ruffle his hair back into place but Hilary caught onto his arm and stopped him.

"It looks fine, don't make it worse." She smiled softly at him and was happy to see a relieved look settle on his face until she felt Tyson's eyes drilling a hole into her hand which made her drop Matt's arm as quickly as she had grasped it.

"And stop teasing him," Hilary announced across the table, passing a pointed look in Charlie and Tai's direction, knowing that the two of them had to be the main culprits, which was proved when they both looked away disgruntled that she hadn't let Matt make a fool of himself.

Charlie was not the type who gave up easily however, so she opened her mouth to say something else but her voice was drowned out by the door to the Great Hall opening, marking the entrance of the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Drasna with all the first years in tow. The whole hall quickly hushed into silence as their Professor walked up ahead with the first years nervously shuffling their feet and falling into line behind her until the whole length of the hall was covered.

"There's so many of them." Tai's groan could be heard across their table, at least Hilary hoped that it was limited to just their table.

"That's true, the sorting could go on for hours." Ash joined in with a mopey voice, "When will we eat?"

Sora leaned across Hilary, surprised by the two boys' statements, "Didn't the two of you empty half the trolley in the train? How are you already hungry?"

It seemed as if they had the perfect rebuttal to that but Hilary loudly cleared her throat and passed a stern look across the table, silencing any further interruptions with just a stony glance. Satisfied by everyone's reactions she straightened up and turned to face the front, catching the eye of the Head of their House at the Professor's table. Professor Lorelei smiled approvingly at her, revelling in the fact that she had picked the perfect student for the role of their house's Prefect. If there was someone who could keep these troublemakers reigned in, it was her.

But their Seeker's prediction had been right, this year had seen the highest number of students Hogwarts had ever taken in and the sorting did indeed go on for hours, two to be precise. Their Headmaster, however, noticed the famished faces of his students by the end of the ceremony and kept his speech short so the school could dig into the scrumptious meals that appeared on the table one after the other.

While Hilary was grateful for finally being able to taste the delicious food that she had missed during the holidays, she wasn't sure if she appreciated the sorting ceremony being over and everyone's attention returning to their fellow students sitting around them, which now meant that everyone could sense the tension between Tyson and her. She could feel Charlie's emerald eyes watching their every move like a hawk as she attempted to gauze the situation. She could sense the struggle in Sora's voice as she narrated incidents from the holidays while attempting to keep Tyson out of her stories. She could tell that through the night, Matt had shifted as far away from her as he could just to avoid falling into the line of sight of Tyson's deadly glare that he kept sending her way.

It was by far one of the worst opening feasts she had ever experienced at the school.

The night didn't take a turn for the better when the Prefects were called in to perform their duties of gathering the first years and guiding them to their respective common rooms. The Gryffindor batch was as lively as ever and while with the older students, Hilary had built up a strong reputation of being a stickler for manners, the first years were yet to meet the more strict side of her and were thus, not easy to manage. The only advantage they had were Matt's princely looks which kept the attention of all the girls engaged and gave them time to get the boys in line. By the time she was done showing the ropes of the dormitory to the new girls, Hilary did secretly hope that her own roommates would have fallen asleep and any interrogations that she might need to face would be postponed until tomorrow.

But her bad luck persisted.

When she opened the door to her the dorm room, instead of being greeted by three sleeping figures, she was greeted by her three friends sitting up attentively as if they had been waiting for her to arrive.

Their beds each took up a corner of the room and since Hilary's was the farthest from the entrance, she wasn't even given a fair chance to reach it and cordon herself off from the rest of the room as Charlie immediately grabbed onto her hand and pulled Hilary onto her bed. Mimi who had been lounging across Sora's legs opposite to them now sat up straight with excitement while Sora passed her an attempted apologetic smile, unable to hide her own curiosity. Despite of Mimi being a year younger, she had always shared the dorm with them as she was the only girl in her year in Gryffindor and had been too afraid to sleep on her own when she had first arrived. Usually, her presence worked to Hilary's advantage as she could always use the brunette's support to settle arguments between Charlie and Sora, but today seeing the three of them look at her with so much expectation, she envied the numbers against her.

"I am not sure what is it you want to hear from me," Hilary said, feeling the tiredness from the long day catch up to her, she eyed the comfort of her bed longingly.

"You must have done something to piss Tyson off that bad." Charlie chuckled, letting go of the hold she had on Hilary's wrist and gestured for her to move to her bed if she wanted to. Her exhaustion must've been visible otherwise the blonde was not known for showing mercy to her potential targets.

"I just declined his invitation to meet over the holidays." Hilary passed a grateful look towards her best friend as she got up and made her way towards her bed, flopping face down and hugging the soft pillows, that she had missed dearly these past months, tightly.

"Someone has a big ego." Charlie scoffed.

"Technically, you didn't decline."

Sora's defensive tone made Hilary lift her face from the pillow and turn her attention back towards the girls. It wasn't just her, Charlie and Mimi found her reaction odd too and suddenly all eyes were on the auburn-haired Keeper, who shifted uncomfortably under the spotlight.

"What I meant was," Sora started again, this time her voice less sharp, "that you never replied to his letter. So technically, you didn't decline his invitation. You ignored it."

"Wow, Sora! Who's side are you on?" Charlie's tone was more accusatory than Hilary might have taken but it conveyed her feelings quite accurately.

She lifted her head higher and stared at Sora in disbelief. Even when she and Tyson had their usual arguments, Hilary always tried to make sure that she wouldn't put her friend in an uncomfortable position where she would have to choose between her childhood friends and her, but somewhere deep down she had always hoped that if push ever came to shove Sora would take her side, leaving aside the technicalities, as Sora herself put it.

"It's not like that," Sora shot a glare at the blonde and turned to face Hilary, repeating her words, "it's not like that. I'm not taking any sides. I'm just informing you from a completely objective point of view, that he really did wait for a response from your side. Until the very last day of break, he waited."

"Hilary doesn't owe him a response-"

"I never said that she does-"

Hilary willed herself to get up and close the curtains around her four poster, while it did not drown out the voices of Charlie and Sora arguing on her and Tyson's behalf, it did help her to get her mind to focus on everything else. Mimi eventually stepped in to curb the bickering, somehow convincing the other two girls to call it a night and for that Hilary wanted to express her gratitude but she found it difficult to do anything but stare at the ceiling above her.

All this time she had only been thinking about how Tyson would never understand her reasons, but she had not bothered to think about whether she needed to explain it to him nonetheless. She tried to imagine how she would've felt if the roles were reversed, and she had sent him a letter asking to spend some time together before school started again and he had never written back. Hilary felt a lump form in her throat and had to stifle a sob rising up slowly. Even in an imaginary situation, she couldn't deal with Tyson ignoring her so how could she just expect him to be okay with her doing the same? She wasn't pleased with how Sora had made her see the error of her ways, but Hilary admitted to herself that at the very least she needed to try and explain her stance to Tyson, whether he decided to accept that explanation or not was a bridge she would need to cross when she arrived at it.

What she felt the most frustrated about was how her decision to keep a moderate distance from Tyson was supposed to help her in focusing on other important school related matters, but from the minute that she had seen him today, her mind had done nothing but revolve around him. She had to do a better job at keeping her feelings in check and building a wall around them so that every little thing that he did, wouldn't end up affecting her so much. She would take the week to gather her thoughts properly and then explain to Tyson that it wasn't as if she didn't want them to be friends or not speak to each other, but they just couldn't be anything more than that for now, but eventually down the line if he still felt the same way about her then they could try…

x

Hilary took a sip of the fresh orange juice and smiled to herself, she could already sense the amazing day that lay ahead of her in the tangy sweetness of the beverage. She had woken up early, alongside Charlie and Sora as the two got ready to attend the very first practice session of the year, even after she had gotten ready Mimi had asked for five more minutes in bed so she made her way down for some breakfast alone. At the Gryffindor table, her class schedule lay open on one side while her Potions textbook rested on the other side of a plate now showing remnants of toast and eggs. Waking up before time, having a good and healthy breakfast and getting some light reading done before class started, these were all makings of a great day in her mind and she was glad that a good night's sleep had managed to put her bad luck from yesterday to rest as well.

Which is why when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Hilary assumed that her two friends would be done with practice right about now and be joining her for breakfast, or what remained of it, but to her not-so-pleasant surprise, the people to walk through the doors were Tyson and Tai, still donning their Quidditch gear and with broomsticks in tow. Maybe the two hadn't noticed her at the table, since they did look tired and famished but without any hesitation, Tai took the empty spot next to her and Tyson sat down next to him.

She had already made peace with the fact that she needed to talk as curtly as possible with Tyson, however, she did think she had a little more time to prepare herself for an interaction today because she wasn't expecting to see him before their first class started. Still, Hilary decided that now was as good a time as ever, she shut the open textbook in front of her and faced the two brothers who were too busy wolfing down whatever appeared on the plate in front of them.

"Good morning!" She chirped up, leaning forward slightly so she could look at both Tai and Tyson more clearly.

"' Morning!" Tai replied first, mouth half full with bacon as he passed her a smile.

Tyson however, did not bother to look in her direction, he kept his concentration fixed on the food in front of him as if Hilary didn't even exist. The air around them became tense as Hilary attempted to keep up her polite smile and Tai shifted uncomfortably between the two of them, he nudged his brother but received a threatening look in response and immediately dropped his arm, shooting a shrug in Hilary's direction as if to say 'I tried.'

She knew that that was her cue to get up and leave, that Tyson did not want to start his day by speaking to her and there was no point in her trying to force herself in between the twins with Sora, their only common ground, missing in action. But somehow Hilary stayed seated, picking up the goblet of orange juice from earlier, now refilled with just the right amount she had hoped for. She could almost hear Charlie's voice in her head telling her that Tyson didn't own this school and she could sit wherever she wanted, if it made other people uncomfortable then they should be the ones to leave.

"Sucks that we have to start our week with Potions," Tai remarked after he had cleaned off his plate, gesturing towards the book in front of her with his head.

"I suppose. Though, this year we share the class with Slytherin and Hufflepuff," Hilary said. Up until fourth year, their Potions lesson were held with Ravenclaws, and while most of the students in their year were friendly and easy to get along with, Hilary couldn't help but compete with them all and answering questions during the class almost became a race with high stakes.

At least with Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, she might not have to face the same level of intense competition.

"Oh, Max will be there then. Isn't that great-" Tai turned to grin at his brother, who ignored his statement and got up. Dusting off crumbs from his uniform and picking up his broomstick, Tyson left the table without speaking to either of them.

Tai sighed with relief the minute his brother was out of earshot, surprising Hilary with his reaction.

"Don't worry too much about it, his tough behaviour is only going to last so long." He grinned, "I give it two days, tops. He's been dying to talk to you all summer."

It was difficult for her to hide the blush that crept up her cheeks at the statement but then the image of Tyson pacing around impatiently as he waited to hear back from her entered her mind and the flutter she had felt in her heart a moment ago died down instantly. Tai must've noticed the change in her expression too, and although the spiky-haired boy was mostly aloof towards his surroundings when it came to catching onto what either she or Tyson were thinking he did a better job than anyone else.

"He is upset about the whole 'not responding to his letter' thing," Tai added as an afterthought, "but the truth is that he just-" he stopped mid-sentence with a panicked look on his face, as if he had just realised that what he was about to say next might get him into trouble with his brother, so instead he just cleared his throat loudly and took a few slow sips out of the goblet that had refilled itself with juice in his hand, pretending that he hadn't meant to say anything from the start.

Curiosity gnawed at Hilary but she too kept quiet and didn't pressure him to finish what he had started to say. Whatever Tai was going to add didn't change the fact that the way she had dealt with Tyson's summer invitation clearly left a deeper wound in his heart than she had assumed. Maybe it would be best for her to apologise and clear the air between them sooner, rather than wait to get her heart and mind aligned before talking to him, who knows how further apart they might drift if she just left him to simmer in his anger.

As the silence between the two of them edged towards awkwardness, Hilary thought it would be the best time for her to take her leave now, get to the dungeons where the Potions lessons were held early and prep for the class in advance, but before she could get up, her two friends joined her at the table. Unlike Tai, Charlie and Sora had changed out of their quidditch robes into the school uniform, their hair still wet from the shower they must have taken before coming down for breakfast. Although their faces still held no sign of freshness as the two girls sullenly took their seats at the table, with Charlie sitting next to Hilary and Sora next to Tai.

"I swear, Kai better sleep with one eye open tonight." The blonde announced with gritted teeth as she picked up and nibbled on the buttered toast that appeared on the plate in front of her.

"It's like, we're preparing for the World Cup and not the House Cup," Sora leaned forward to meet Hilary's eyes.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Tai piped up, though his voice lacked the cheer needed in situations like these.

At that exact moment, however, their younger teammates appeared at the entrance of the Great Hall, grabbing the attention of almost everyone in the vicinity. Ash and Misty had decided to change out of their quidditch gear as well, though how the raven-haired seeker had managed to do that considering he was lying on his back on the ground and was being dragged into the hall by his robes groaning, at the mercy of Misty who looked like she was absolutely over the whole thing.

"Mist, don't forget to tell my mother how much I loved her…"

"Oh for Merlin's sake Ash, tell her that yourself. Look, they're serving croquettes."

That was the only queue Ash needed to regain his strength as he was on his feet within a second and left Misty in the dust as he raced forward to the Gryffindor table and quickly settled down with a plate full of his favourite food. The redhead followed suit with a roll of her eyes, waving at her seniors when she noticed them, before sitting down to stuff herself senseless too. Sora rolled her eyes at the sight and then turned to Tai to remind him that he still hadn't changed into his school uniform which led to him rushing out of the Great Hall in no time.

Hilary listened attentively to her friends complain about their Quidditch practice in an attempt to keep thoughts about Tyson out of her mind, and mostly it worked. Just as the three of them were about to head to their first class, Mimi sauntered into the hall, expressing surprise over how most of the students were dispersing, when her day had just begun. Leaving her behind as she pouted at their backs, Hilary was glad to have the chance to talk to her friends about something other than Quidditch and boys for the first time since arriving back at school yesterday.

The walk to the Dungeons from the Great Hall was fairly long, which gave Charlie enough time to give them an update about her summer with the American wizarding community, something that intrigued both her and Sora. When the blonde tried to change the topic to Hilary's Euro trip, she gave a brief description of all the muggle-y things she did with her parents so they could go back to Charlie divulging more details about the Americans. In comparison, Sora didn't butt in with anything about her summer, as she had stayed home and mostly lounged about with the twins, a topic that would definitely make Hilary's mood go sour if the dreaded letter was brought up between them once again.

When they reached their Potions classroom, most of the Hufflepuff fifth years were already seated on the right, with some Slytherins taking up the middle row and Matt sitting by himself on the left. Spotting Max among the crowd of Hufflepuffs, Hilary sent an enthusiastic wave in his direction, to which he responded with a grin and a salute. She wished that the kids in her year weren't so hung up on sticking to the House order when it came to seating during classes but that's just how things had always been, so she had no choice but to settle down behind Matt.

A few more Slytherin students trickled in, followed by Tyson and Tai and the remaining two Gryffindors from their year. Hilary had been slightly fazed by Sora choosing to sit behind her instead of next to her, but when the Kinomiya twins slipped into the seats next to her friend, she understood that she needed to stop relying on Sora for company during classes since she clearly favoured her childhood friends over her. She couldn't even count on Charlie most of the time since the latter preferred to sit with her cousin Matt, just so she could annoy him or cheat answers off his notes when called upon by the Professor. So Hilary had to brave sitting alone on the first day of school, which made her feel like she was in a cliched, muggle high school scenario and not attending probably the best school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The thought only intensified when their Professor arrived and started the class.

Professor Jessie was occasionally eccentric but still one of Hilary's favourite teachers at the school. There was truly nothing she didn't know about the craft she taught and Hilary could go up to her with the most difficult questions and come back completely satisfied by the answers she received, which wasn't the case with most other professors in the school. So when their magenta-haired teacher started the class with her usual snide remarks about the state of the school and flair of dramatic pauses, Hilary was the only student who didn't let out a groan when Professor Jessie announced that they would have to brew a potion in a pair for the rest of the class.

Setting difficult assignments on the first day of school was given when it came to the Potions teacher so Hilary turned up her nose at all of her classmates begging for her to go easy on them for the day. The brunette diverted her attention to the textbook in front of her, reading the ingredient list and the brewing method thoroughly before she decided on a partner. Sora was usually very good at being patient with the brewing methods while Charlie focused more on being precise with the ingredients. Hilary thought she would pick her partner based on what the instructions in the book placed the most importance too. It didn't cross her mind at all that while she had her nose buried in the book, her friends might have taken the decision on her behalf.

Looking up from the book, satisfied with the choice she had made in her head, Hilary came face to face with the realisation that her friends had already picked their partners. In front of her, Charlie and Matt had carried all the ingredients to their desk and were now assigning each other parts of the instructions. Behind her Sora was scribbling down the instructions in an easier terminology than the textbook while Tai walked back from the supply closet, carrying too many ingredients in his arms at once. Tyson was still standing by the closet, chatting to Max with a grin on his face, the first time she had seen such a bright expression on his face since their run-in yesterday.

And then it hit Hilary.

That she had no choice but to pair up with Tyson now.

She felt the hand on her hair stand up at the thought, so she turned around and slammed a fist on Sora's desk making her friend jump up in surprise.

"Sora, you can't, please-"

"Hils, I'm really sorry." Sora interrupted her in a desperate tone, "But if Tai and Tyson work together, they will definitely blow up something and get detention."

"And you know how Kai would react if that happened to interfere with our practice sessions," Charlie spoke reasonably from the front.

"Just this once, okay?" Sora pleaded with her, big berry eyes glistening with an irresistible shine as she stared intently at Hilary, making it impossible to say no to her.

"We'll be sure to mention your sacrifice to Kai, maybe get him to lend you his Seventh Year textbooks for some light reading this evening," Charlie snickered, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

But even if Charlie had only meant it as a joke, the thought of getting a chance to browse through textbooks that would give her a chance to understand what she needed to prepare for NEWTs in the future was enticing enough for Hilary to look at the situation in a more positive light. Even if that meant accepting the bitter fact that her friends would leave her out to dry in no time the minute they had to choose between her and Quidditch. Hilary also didn't know if she should be scared or amazed by the said friends, Charlie and Sora, who never saw eye to eye on anything but hadn't wasted a second in coming up with this plan without any verbal communication.

The only one who seemed to carry similar inhibitions as her was Tyson, as once he returned from the supply closet and understood the decision that had been made without him, his shoulders dropped immediately. First, he sent a warning look in Matt's direction, as if to say that their friendship was now on thin ice and then he locked eyes with his brother with a deadpan look on his face, which to anyone else didn't seem too bad but to Tai, it must have meant something entirely different as the boy swallowed a loud, nervous gulp and then turned his face around to avoid looking at his brother.

Maybe it was the realisation that her friends didn't seem to care about her situation with Tyson as much as they did about Quidditch, or the fact that all she had wanted when she left home for King's Cross yesterday was for classes to start so she could drown herself in learning new things, something awakened inside of her and she got up from her seat to grab the ingredients Tyson had carried from his hands and set them up carefully on the desk. Without glancing in his direction, she propped up her textbook in the middle from where both of them could read the instructions with ease, and set up her cauldron next to it.

A quick survey of the classroom told her that most of the Slytherin and Hufflepuff pairs had already moved on to adding their ingredients into the cauldron, so Hilary really couldn't afford to waste another minute on this unnecessary drama with Tyson. She obviously wanted to impress Professor Jessie by being the first one to finish the assignment and earning a good amount of points for their house with that feat would just be an added benefit. If Tyson wanted to act like a child and throw a fit about having to work with her, then he was welcome to do so, Hilary knew she was fully capable of finishing the potion by herself anyway.

Her heart did skip a beat, however, when a few minutes later Tyson did finally take his place next to her and his shoulder brushed against hers as he leaned forward to figure out how much progress she had made while he had been seething. Instead of peeking into his own book, he craned his neck to read the instructions from hers, ensuring a lack of civil distance between them that made it difficult for Hilary to concentrate on the task at hand.

It was quite ironic that they were supposed to work on an Erumpent Potion, since the tensed silence between the two of them was enough to make Hilary's heart erupt, for the lack of a better word, from anxiety. With a potion like this where even the slightest misstep could lead to a severe injury, Hilary knew that it would be impossible for them to work together without communicating, but she felt that after how Tyson had behaved just now and at breakfast, it was his turn to put his ego aside and make the first move. Even if with every breath she got a whiff of the comforting and crisp scent that always surrounded him which made her toes melt and her heart want to move closer to him, Hilary used her mind and the somewhat repulsive sight of the Erumpent tail to keep herself steady and not give Tyson more attention than was needed.

She did sneak a glance in his direction from the corner of her eye and found him frowning at the notes she had marked in her book as she had read it soon after making her purchases at Diagon Alley.

"This is what you were doing all summer? Studying?" He muttered grumpily to himself, picking up the tail that she had unconsciously made a face at and preparing to dice it as per the instruction.

"I didn't study all summer, I had plans with my parents too," Hilary said, defending herself even though she knew that she ought to have ignored that remark. But the rush of excitement she felt just because he had decided to be his usual self and speak to her was something that she couldn't avoid getting affected by.

"Of course, just not enough time to fit me in somewhere between the two, right?"

"It's not a matter of time-"

"I knew it!" Tyson hissed fiercely at her and Hilary jumped up in her seat, almost dropping the vial of Exploding Fluid in her hand. She turned to reprimand him for scaring her like that but found him staring at her with narrow, accusing eyes before he pointed out, "So, you admit that you did get my invitation?"

Hilary bit her tongue as she slowly kept the vial back on the desk, afraid that her nervousness might lead to the spillage of the dangerous liquid. How could she be stupid enough to forget that even if she had admitted it to the girls last night, and to Tai this morning, she hadn't yet gotten a chance to backtrack on her lie about not receiving the letter from D'art from the night before to Tyson. She dropped her gaze to her lap as her face turned warm from embarrassment, why did Tyson always manage to bring out the silliest side of her? Why couldn't she act all calm and collected and stern around him as she so easily did with others?

It was unbelievably sweet though, how he had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt even after how blatantly see-through her lie had been. These little things about him that were what always tugged at her heart stronger than any other grand gesture he attempted. There was no point in her trying to cover up for her misstep anymore, however, so Hilary decided to just be as honest with him as she could manage.

"Okay, I am sorry about not responding to the letter." She looked up at him, hoping that the dim lighting of the dungeon would keep him from noticing the blush that appeared on her face when their eyes met, "And then lying about it."

"Wow." Tyson let out a slow whistle, maybe he wasn't expecting her to be so bluntly honest in the first go itself, with a raise of his eyebrows he said, "That must be the first time you've apologised so sincerely to me for anything."

"That's not true, I always acknowledge and apologise for my mistakes-"

"Ask anyone, it's me who always does the apologising."

"I don't want to ask anyone, all our friends are biased towards you anyway," Hilary said, turning her attention back towards the potion they needed to start brewing soon enough if they wanted to catch up to their classmates. She caught a look of confusion on his face at her words and rolled her eyes in response, of course, he was oblivious to how everyone just seemed to gravitate towards him no matter the situation.

Before Tyson could derail them from the task at hand once again, Hilary quickly listed down the things she needed him to do and for a little while the two of them worked on their assignment, in silence and in sync. It always surprised her how instinctive Tyson could be when working with her, following up on her queues before she even said anything to him, complimenting her by-the-book outlook with a focused mind of his own, so Hilary would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy having him as her partner. The other advantage was of course, how she could easily find more excuses to move closer to him, hands colliding over the cauldron every now and then while their knees knocked against each other under the desk. Or the way their foreheads touched slightly when they both leaned forward to peek at the brewing potion at the same time, the warmth that emanated from Tyson completely eradicating the chill looming around their dungeon classroom.

This was all Charlie and Sora's fault, she reminded herself as she quickly rubbed her cheeks in hopes of making the red colour spreading across them fade. Had her friends not forced her into this situation, her apology to Tyson and their subsequent interactions would have stayed short and distanced, without any hints of physical intimacy that made her heart beat at the same speed as the bubbles popping up in the simmering potion. She couldn't even bring herself to wish ill on the sport her friends had sacrificed her for, since Hilary herself wanted their house to perform well this year and snag the House Cup after all the terrible outcomes they'd faced in the last few years. So she sat there with tightly pursed lips, eyes fixed on the cauldron and hands folded in her lap, hoping that somehow the thirty minutes that the potion was supposed to be left untouched would pass by in three seconds.

"I forgive you, by the way."

Tyson rested an elbow on the desk next to the cauldron and let his head fall into the palm of his hand as he smiled up at her. All the anger, all the frustration that he had felt towards her since last night seemed to have vanished completely from his mind and was replaced once again with affection, as was evident in the adoration that was overflowing through his brown eyes as he looked at her, which made it very difficult for Hilary to resist gazing back at him.

Contrary to her wishes, instead of moving fast, time slowed down when their eyes met.

Suddenly it was as if they were the only two people in the world.

Under the desk, Hilary felt Tyson edge closer towards her so he could rest his knee against hers and from the corner of her eye she saw his free hand drop to his knee, fingers drumming impatiently as he probably contemplated whether he should reach out for her hand or not. Knowing Tyson's lack of regard for her personal space, she knew it was only a matter of time before he did take her hand in his.

Not that it mattered anymore because the fortress that she had built around her heart had crumbled by just that one smile.

A whole month of convincing herself that she needed to stay away from him if she was going to do better at school had gone up in smoke within seconds with just one look from him.

But Hilary wasn't the only crazy one here.

The fact that Tyson could forgive her so easily said more about him than it did her. After the intense cold shoulder he had given her since last night, she'd assumed that it would take at least a full week before he so much as even looked in her direction, but just as Tai had mentioned at breakfast, he couldn't stay away from her either. Even now, he was unfazed by her silence and attempts to stay expressionless, continuing to shower her with his handsome smile and hopeful eyes.

Hilary knew that if she didn't tear his gaze away from him, that if she didn't break herself out of this trance that he had put her under, she would end up agreeing to something that would not be good for the academics centred plan she had drawn out for herself this year.

"I spent a lot of time with my Dad this summer too," Tyson spoke up suddenly as if reading her mind, not giving her the chance to pay attention to anything else but him. "The Ministry asked him to trace some magical artefacts so he let me tag along with him for a little while. Just to, you know, help him with the menial tasks, he didn't actually let me sit in on any of his interrogations."

Hilary nodded along, now would have been the perfect time for her to gain control of her attention and pull herself away from the trap Tyson had laid for her, but she was genuinely interested in knowing the kind of work he had helped his father with so she only found herself falling further into the hole dug by him.

"But they paid him a lot for this so he was nice enough to send some of that money my way too." Just for a moment, Tyson let his eyes drop and she wasn't sure whether she was imagining the pink tinge on his ears when he looked at her again and asked, "So I was hoping the two of us could go to Hogsmeade together next month. I'll uh- treat you to as many Deluxe Sugar Quills as you like." He scratched his nose nervously as he added the last part, turning away once again when his voice stuttered.

Seeing him get nervous on her behalf was a nice, rare sight but the fact that he had put forward another invitation, this time in person, made Hilary's heart sink to her stomach.

How could she possibly look into those warm eyes and say no? And at this point, did she even want to say no?

She realised that she was starting to feel very stuffed inside the dungeon, with the pungent smell of Erumpent potions overtaking the classroom and smoke bellowing above from every student's cauldron, it became difficult for her to keep a clear mind and not panic.

Hilary took a deep breath, and first attempted to straighten her hair that she knew must've gone all frizzy because of the heat in the atmosphere. This gave her a chance to avert her gaze from Tyson's eyes and finally, she felt like she was present in the classroom and time was moving normally again.

She could hear the chatter of students surrounding them, the loud voice of Professor Jessie reminding them that the potions should be ready any minute now, she could feel the strong smell of the potion mixed in with the dingy scent of the dungeon, the humidity in the air around her, the beads of sweat on her forehead that could trickle down any minute, her throat that felt dry and desperately in need of a sip of water.

And with these sensations, her common sense returned to her so she began to build up the wall in her heart once again, brick by brick as she avoided Tyson's eyes and concentrated on the cauldron bubbling at the centre of the desk, preparing to diminish the flame just as the potion reached the right shade of green. Tyson must have noticed the change in her behaviour, since after a few minutes he leaned back in his seat, shifting slightly away from her and setting up a thin, invisible boundary between them.

"You don't have to say yes." He didn't sound disappointed by her silence at all, in fact, he looked even more determined as he added, "Just say something."

Hilary tapped the cauldron with her wand from one hand and raised her other one high above her head, indicating to Professor Jessie that they were finished with the assignment, a satisfied smirk tugged at her lips as she noticed that they were the first ones to do so. However, Tyson wasn't affected by her antics at all and as their teacher took her sweet time to make her way towards them from the opposite end of the room, he made sure that he said everything that he wanted her to know.

"Because if you want me to back off, then I will."

"I don't know what I want."

It was supposed to stay inside her head but Hilary blurted out the words quietly and heard Tyson draw in a sharp breath next to her.

Did he really care about her so much that he would excuse this kind of indecisiveness? After all, fickle-minded people were what Tyson hated the most and that's what she felt like at the moment. When he talked sweetly to her, then she was ready to let go of all her goals in a minute until something else distracted her enough to get back on track. Even now, he had asked her such a simple yes or no question, he had even given her the option to reject him completely, something she had hoped for back when she'd gotten his letter a month ago, but now that the choice was right in front of her Hilary couldn't take it.

The sound of Professor Jessie's heels clicking against the dungeon floor reached her ears and next to her, Tyson let out a loud, tired huff. Hilary assumed that this was it, he was going to tell her that he was done with her annoying behaviour and that he wanted nothing more to do with her. Even if she couldn't give him what he sought from her, Hilary had hoped that the two would at least stay friends and she desperately tried to think of something to say that would help her convey this to Tyson right now.

But her train of thought was cut short as she felt Tyson's hand slip over her folded palms, her breath got caught in her throat when he squeezed her hands tightly before pulling back.

"Relax Hils, you have the whole month to think about it. I'll wait.

For you, I can wait."

x

A/n: Simp Tyson is my favourite Tyson but also extra flirty Tyson is a god xD If I write a part 2 it will definitely be about that Hogsmeade date hehe. I am trying to work on a part 2 for the baseball AU I wrote earlier but it's not going that well, so Idk when the next update will be for now.

Let me know what you thought of this! And if you haven't already, you can read When the Dust Settles which is a completed TyHil fic set in the canon verse!