Someone was crying.

Loud, hiccuping sobs rang out down the abnormally empty Great Hall that still shone with early morning light.

Oikawa squirmed uncomfortably at the Slytherin table, eyes focused on the blank parchment in front of him even as the entirety of his attention was directed to the next table over.

The boy that Oikawa semi-recognized as one of the other first years had his head buried in his arms, shoulders shaking, and Oikawa had absolutely no clue what he should do.

Should he….should he try to talk to him? It was early, early enough that most of the students were still fast asleep but Oikawa had been far too excited to stay in bed. If he approached the crying kid now maybe he could get him to stop quick enough, that way not everyone would see it and the boy wouldn't be known as the kid crying at the Hufflepuff table.

Or he could just ignore it? Oikawa thought that's probably what he'd prefer. He rather not let anyone see his tears, not except Iwa-chan and maybe, maybe the Iwaizumis or his mom if he was feeling brave enough. So maybe he should just let the boy cry and it would be better than forcing him to realize someone else was watching.

The boy let out another sob and Oikawa's shoulders tensed.

There were footsteps and Oikawa could genuinely say he'd never felt so relieved as when someone else approached the crying kid, taking the choice out of Oikawa's hands.

"Hey," the boy from the Sorting Ceremony-Kuroo, that was it-sat across from the crying boy. "Hey, man, you okay?"

The crying kid looked up, breath hitching as he blinked up with watery gold eyes. Oikawa focused hard on his parchment and pretended he wasn't listening in.

The boy wiped at his eyes, strange grey streaked hair sticking against damp, red cheeks. "I miss….I miss K-Keiji."

"Ah, feeling homesick," Kuroo asked.

The boy nodded, drawing in smaller.

"Yeah, I miss my mom, too," Kuroo confided quietly. "Who's Keiji? Your brother?"

"Best friend," the boy answered quietly.

"Younger," Kuroo asked.

"A year younger," the boy said, voice wobbling, "and my sisters are older and they're busy, so….so it's just me." the boy tugged at his Hufflepuff tie, using it to wipe at his eyes in a way that made Oikawa compulsively feel the need to straighten his own. "It's never been just me before. And...and I kept waking up my dormmates so I came down here."

Kuroo seemed to take all this in.

"You know….my best friend Kenma's a year younger, too," Kuroo said slowly, "so, how about-since we both gotta wait a year until they can come here, too-how about we be each other's best friend until then?"

"Really?" The boy perked up, just a little bit.

"Totally," Kuroo stuck out a hand. "Tetsuro Kuroo, I'm in Ravenclaw."

"Kotaro Bokuto!" The boy beamed shyly. "Hufflepuff!"

"Awesome!" Kuroo grinned back, tugging at the other boy's tie still slightly damp with tears. "Come on, let's go grab you a new tie so we still have time for breakfast."

The boy's stomach growled and Bokuto nodded like that was the most important thing that had ever been said.

"I love breakfast," Bokuto said firmly.

Kuroo slung an arm around his shoulders. "Bo, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship."

They strolled out of the hall, Oikawa tracking them with his eyes without looking up. He felt oddly like he'd just done something wrong….or maybe not wrong….but that he'd missed something somehow and he couldn't exactly figure out what.

It probably didn't matter.

The important thing was the kid stopped crying and now Oikawa could focus on his letter and the much more exciting prospect of his first day at Hogwarts.

"Why are you up so early?"

Oikawa jumped hard enough to whack his arm on the table.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa pouted, rubbing at his arm. "I told you! You can't sneak up on people with your big caveman feet! What if I'd whacked my head and then, I died and then, you'd have to tell your mom all by yourself that you killed me with your big feet!"

Iwaizumi ignored him entirely, falling in the seat across from him. "Seriously, Stupidkawa, why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," Oikawa chirped. "It's our first day at Hogwarts! Probably the most important day of our lives. How could I waste it sleeping?"

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, poking at the parchment. "Whatcha writing?"

"A letter to little Tobio-chan! I gotta tell him about what Houses we got," Oikawa said cheerfully before giving Iwaizumi a critical look. "Without me, you'll probably forget all about it so when we come back for Christmas he'll likely have forgotten even your name and I'll be the best mentor by default." He thought for another second. "Not that I'm not already, of course."

"You're a terrible influence and I'm surprised you haven't corrupted that kid already," Iwaizumi said flatly.

Oikawa stuck out his tongue. "Oh, please, Tobio-chan loves me! I'm his favorite!"

"No accounting for taste," Iwaizumi said back.

Oikawa huffed. "Just for that you can write your own letter and I'm not telling little Tobio-chan anything about you!"

"Like to see you try when we're still sharing an owl," Iwaizumi retorted lazily.

"...maybe a sentence about you," Oikawa relented. "How's your dorm?"

"Fine," Iwaizumi answered. "I've got the shy kid from the boat in my dorm. You remember him, yeah? Azumane?"

Oikawa hummed in vague assent, already starting in on his letter.

"What about you? How are your dormmates?"

Oikawa considered, thinking of the cheerful strangeness that was Matsu and Makki and the much more subdued confusion that came from half their interactions with Suga.

"Weird," he eventually concluded.

Iwaizumi's gaze sharpened. "They're not being bad, are they? Because of the muggleborn stuff? My dormmates were talking and….just, you tell me if they are, alright?"

Oikawa laughed, looking up at his best friend and rolling his eyes.

"Quit worrying so much, Iwa-chan, you're going to get wrinkles." Oikawa smiled. "I'm fine. There's no monsters for you to fight here."

ooooooo

The giant cobra coiled around their prone query, hissing ominously as their mouth unhinged to reveal glistening fangs.

"Awwww," Noya said. "Look, they're getting along!"

Flumpy remained utterly still, not out of fear but rather from apathy. He let out a small yawn as the snake peered down at it curiously.

In a single motion, the cobra dissolved back into inky smoke before reforming to scuttle back to Noya in a moving blanket of black spiders.

Noya laughed as the boggarts crawled up his arm. "It's okay, little guys, Flumpy's a friend! He's not going to hurt you."

"Huh, you know somehow I don't think they were particularly worried," Tanaka commented, picking up Flumpy from the ground. The flobberlump looked up at him before apparently assessing he wasn't worth the effort to move and curling back up to go to sleep.

"Probably not," Noya admitted, patting the spiders absently as he sat back down on the forest floor. "Well, I guess we should…."

"Yeah," Tanaka agreed, pulling out their files and sitting them in the middle.

They both stared at them.

See, here was the thing….

They had a plan and, more importantly, they had motivation which was always more important than a plan. In the past week, they'd looked through every scrap of paper they could find, from news to family diaries to….to everything that could possibly connect Rokuro and Jin Tanaka to Kirika Uragiri.

Which brought them to two problems.

The first problem: apparently when you're in a super secret, under the table extremist organization, you don't keep great records of the other members. And, once a Ghost is arrested and locked far away in the darkest cells of Azkaban, The Prophet evidently didn't think there was much need to report on them anymore. In other words, there actually wasn't many diaries or much news to look through.

The second problem was…

"We kind of suck at this," Tanaka said bluntly.

"We can figure it out," Noya immediately reassured. "Remember last year, we figured out about Asahi, right? And that was a secret for years!"

"...I guess," Tanaka agreed, "but that's kind of because he transformed in front of you." He winced. "Really we probably should have realized that a while ago."

"We figured out the Heir of Slytherin stuff," Noya argued before wilting. "I mean some of it at least."

Tanaka did not look that reassured.

"Look, Suga and his friends do this like every year," Noya said confidently. "We'll do what they do!"

"What do they do," Tanaka asked.

"They just...I don't know, they read a bunch of stuff and investigate things," Noya said. "We can do that, it's easy. We just need to find the right stuff to read."

Tanaka looked down at Flumpy and didn't say anything.

Noya slumped. "Do you think we should tell the others? They could probably help." He huffed. "Tsukishima would think of something, for sure."

"No," Tanaka said adamantly, looking back up. "There's no way Daichi and Ennoshita won't shut us down. Not unless we already found something. Noya, I can't…," he pressed his lips firm before continuing, "I can't just stop this. I can't keep not knowing."

"Alright," Noya tugged the files forward, spiders crawling off of him to spread along the papers, "so, we'll figure out somewhere else to look. What do we know?"

"We know my parents and Yachi's aunt were Ghosts," Tanaka said. "We know Kirika worked as a spy in the Aurors while my parents mainly worked in the pureblood circles."

"The Uragiris were purebloods, right," Noya said, "maybe they knew each other from that."

"Maybe," Tanaka shrugged. "But, from everything we found, the Uragiris were a neutral family with stronger ties to the Light. My parents were definitely Traditionalists."

"What if we're looking at it from the wrong part," Noya said. "We keep looking at it from how they knew each other during the war. Maybe it's less complicated-maybe they just met in prison and Kirika liked them enough to break them out?"

"If they broke out," Tanaka put in, purposefully keeping his palm open and focusing on Flumpy resting in the middle. "If they're not just dead and we're on a wild Hippogriff hunt."

"Nah, this could work." Noya gently brushed the boggarts off the files. "We know Kirika broke out somehow, we know everyone thought she was dead until she showed up at Hogwarts. And we know your parents 'died' like three days after she was found out. It has to be her. She has to be the one who broke them out." He pushed the file forward. "Now, all we need to do is find out how."

Tanaka took the file in his free hand, chewing on his lip. "Maybe we can see if their cells were close together? Get the full write ups from their deaths?" He looked up. "You think that'll work?"

"Definitely!" Noya stood up, eyes already lighting back up. "See, the investigation stuff isn't that hard!"

Tanaka grinned. "How do we get the write ups and the cell layout?"

There was a long pause, filled to the brim with expectant silence.

Noya fell back with a thump and groaned.

"...Crap."

ooooooo

The world was quiet.

Hinata could still feel the aches in his arms, the soreness he hadn't gotten around to healing yet, didn't really want to heal yet because it helped him remember the places he needed to work on.

He poked down at his meal.

When he closed his eyes, he could see plays, feel the sting where the Quaffle should have been in his hands but never was-a hands width away, a meter, five meters, further.

He took a bite without really tasting it.

What did he need to fix?

How could he get better?

What has he been-

"Hinata?"

Hinata looked up to find his friends staring back at him, frowning in a way that said it wasn't the first time they'd said his name.

Hinata stuck on a smile. "Sorry, didn't hear you, what's up?"

"Um," Yachi hesitated, "are you okay?"

"Just tired." Hinata's smile took on a sheepish edge. "I didn't really sleep well."

Kageyama was still frowning at him, brow drawn together and-for once-Hinata didn't really want his odd Quidditch related near mind reading to pick up Hinata's moods.

Especially when Hinata was still trying to figure out what he was feeling himself.

Hinata tried to brighten his smile.

Kageyama's frown got worse.

Kenma looked between them before settling on Hinata. "Trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah." Hinata shrugged. "Kept thinking about stuff, I guess."

"Hinata, is anything wrong," Yachi asked and Hinata felt more than saw the whole table tense.

"Oh crap, someone's not trying to kill you already, are they?" Lev groaned. "It's barely the second week!"

Hinata rubbed his eyes, feeling the weight of tiredness. The itch was back under his skin.

"No, it's not anything like that. You don't have to worry about me." He looked down, fiddling with his fork as the words bubbled out of his throat. "Ugh," he groaned, "I just keep thinking about the Quidditch game!"

"Oh that." Lev nodded like that was reasonable. "Yeah, you sucked."

Kenma elbowed him hard.

"Ow," Lev complained. "What? He did!"

"Lev," Yachi hissed.

"No, he's right," Hinata said. "I did suck."

"See!" Lev rolled his eyes. "But who cares? You guys still won in the end, that's the important part."

"But, I didn't help," Hinata insisted.

"I wouldn't say that," Yachi soothed, "you still did a great job distracting the Beaters, Amani and Misaki wouldn't have scored some of those goals without you."

"But, I could do more." Hinata stood up suddenly. "I can do more, I should."

Only he couldn't.

The soreness of his body ached.

He couldn't.

Hinata looked down at his plate and suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.

"I couldn't catch anything," he said. "I never have any trouble with Kageyama's tosses. But last weekend, I couldn't catch anything."

"I don't know what you're so annoyed at," Kageyama said, speaking up for the first time. "If you play better with me, then just play with me."

"Huh?" Hinata looked up.

"Just keep playing on the same team as me," Kageyama said like it was simple. "We'll talk to Bokuto and Terushima about the sign ups. Matsukawa and Hanamaki already had him work it out so they would only play Beaters as a pair. We'll just ask him to do the same for us."

Hinata frowned. "You really think that'll work?"

Kageyama shrugged, beginning to look annoyed. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Ugh," Lev groaned. "But, that'll mean we gotta deal with you two's stupid quick passes again."

"Better practice," Kenma said quietly.

Hinata was still frowning. "Wait, Kageyama, you're really fine with that?"

"Yeah," Kageyama scratched the back of his neck, the scowl pulling back to blush a little. "I kind of….had trouble throwing slower, too. It was….weird." He muttered the last part.

"….What if we get to play less," Hinata asked. "You know because there's not room on the team for two all the time?"

"We can still practice," Kageyama argued sharply, narrowing his eyes, "it'll probably be better for the team, too. For next year."

Hinata sat back down slowly, looking at the grain of the table.

"But, if I keep only playing with you," he said quietly, "then, how will I learn the rest of the stuff?"

Kageyama's hand slammed on the table.

"What have you been doing the last three years," he snapped out.

Hinata flinched back, the words echoing in his ears.

He blinked rapidly, looking back up and trying to focus like he'd been abruptly thrown out of a fog.

"What?"

Kageyama huffed, tips of his ears coloring red as the rest of the table stared at him.

"I just meant," he grit out, voice struggling back to calm, "that what have we been doing the past years if not learning stuff? Together. This doesn't have to be any different."

Hinata was still staring at him.

He was vaguely aware that the rest of their friends had gone quiet, waiting on them.

Kageyama glared at him. "So, do you want to play together or not?"

"Of course," Hinata agreed immediately.

Kageyama's shoulders fell back, relaxing just enough to fall to a normal level where they had been resting just below his ears.

The atmosphere of the table shifted like a held breath had just been released.

"We'll talk to Bokuto later," Kageyama said.

Hinata smiled. "Okay."

The words were still ringing in his head, mixing with the aches of his body and the sting of his hand still waiting.

ooooooo

"But, Suga, you gotta understand it's the perfect plan," Daichi said. "Absolutely perfect!"

"Mmmhmm," Suga said, smiling indulgently at him while resting his feet in his lap.

They'd been sitting on the bench and enjoying the sun for the past ten minutes-over half of those had been spent explaining said plan to keep Noya and Tanaka busy.

"Cause you see the reason it works," Daichi explained excitedly...for the third time, "is that Noya and Tanaka love causing us trouble. I'm pretty sure they live for it actually. I mean first it was the dragon and then there was the map-"

"Maps do sound absolutely terrifying," Suga agreed.

"-and then, the boggarts," Daichi continued, oblivious to his boyfriend's teasing, "but really that was only the main stuff. Which is why the plan works. Because if they already have something they think is driving us crazy, then they're still interested. And if they're still interested, then they're not bored. And if they're not bored, then…..," he spread his hands, "we get a free year. It's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's….it's…."

"Perfect," Suga suggested.

Daichi grinned. "Exactly."

Suga shook his head, pushing up to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you're happy about your plan."

Daichi squeezed the ankle still sitting in his lap. "You're going to be happy, too."

Suga fluttered his eyes, smile going mischievous. "Oh?"

"Less time corralling Noya and Tanaka means more time I get to spend with you," Daichi leaned forward, resting his hand behind Suga's neck. "Merlin, Suga, I'm going to actually get to relax this year. It'll be great, I'll probably de-age or something."

Suga laughed. "Perish the thought. Are you telling me I have to wait another year until your hair matches mine? The nerve, Daichi. I'll have to go find Noya and Tanaka another project right now!"

"You're so mean to me," Daichi said, not sounding at all like he meant it. "So, so mean."

Suga kissed him and Daichi gave up trying to sound annoyed in order to follow his lips.

A perfect year. One without any trouble or any-

Suga pulled back and gave him a look. "You're still thinking about your plan, aren't you?"

"It's perfect," Daichi whispered back, kissing Suga lightly. "Just wait, a year with no problems."

And, then, a new voice rang out.

"Daichi, we have a problem!"

Daichi's head fell onto Suga's shoulder and he moaned.

Suga laughed at him because he was a horrible, wonderful boyfriend.

Daichi looked up.

Ennoshita stopped in front of him, soon crowded around by Yamaguchi, Tsukishima, and Asahi, all staring down at him where he was just trying to have a nice day with his boyfriend.

Suga withdrew his legs from Daichi's lap and stood up, kissing his cheek as he did.

"Sounds like you need to work on your plan," Suga teased. "I'll see you after the ceremony tonight."

Daichi watched him go before glaring back at his own friends.

"What," he demanded.

"Tsuki and I ran into Noya and Tanaka after Muggle Studies," Yamaguchi said quickly. "They were coming back from the forest."

"...alright," Daichi said. "Well, that's not too unusual. They do practically live there half the time and don't bring things back most of the time. So, I think we're probably safe."

"They looked bored," Yamaguchi shouted.

Daichi's spine straightened. "Did they have Flumpy?"

"Yes!" Yamaguchi nodded urgently. "They had Flumpy and they looked bored!"

Ennoshita sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I knew it was too good to last. Well, at least we still had a week before-"

"No," Daichi cut him off. "This isn't the end. We can't just give up like this." He focused on Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. "Are you absolutely certain they were bored?"

"That's true," Asahi broke in with wide eyes. "Maybe they were just tired! From Quidditch!"

"Definitely bored." Tsukishima killed that hope quickly. "Trust me, I know disinterest. Shoulders slumped, eyes drifting like they were thinking of something else. Merlin, they didn't even shove Flumpy in my face once." He grimaced. "We're doomed."

"There's still a chance!" Yamaguchi's eyes darted around the group. "Daichi's right. We can't just give up. The flobberlump didn't work for long; but, maybe….maybe we can just distract them with something else!"

"Like what," Ennoshita asked.

Yamaguchi's hands flailed in an aborted gesture. "I...I don't know. We'll find something!"

"We don't have much time," Tsukishima said. "Either we find something to keep them busy right now or they'll probably, I don't know, adopt a baby troll or something."

"We need to keep them busy." Daichi's eyes brightened. "Asahi!"

"Um, yes," the larger teen said cautiously

"Distract Noya," Daichi ordered.

Ennoshita nodded. "That's perfect!"

"W-What?" Asahi spluttered. "You want me to distract Noya? But….but how?"

Tsukishima rolled his eyes hard. "You're literally dating him. I'm sure you can think of something."

"Oh," Asahi blushed, "oh, right."

"So, it's settled," Daichi said firmly, "Asahi will distract Noya and we'll try to find something small and most importantly not dangerous that'll hopefully keep them busy longer than Flumpy. Got it?"

The group nodded as one.

Daichi released a breath and prepared for war. "Let's do this."

He was not giving up his perfect year.

ooooooo

Bokuto paced. "What if he can't find the table?"

"It's our usual library table," Kuroo said. "I think Akaashi can manage."

"What if he forgot the time," Bokuto asked, checking his watch again.

"He won't."

"He could," Bokuto argued.

"But, he won't." Kuroo looked at Kenma. "Hey, when have you ever known Akaashi to get the time wrong?"

"Never," Kenma said quietly.

Bokuto tried to breathe.

"It's going to be fine, Bo," Kuroo reassured. "What did I say? I'm a romance expert! And you've got both me and Kenma here to help you. What better than a study date to set up for a Hogsmeade date?"

Kenma looked down at his book, cheeks turning a faint, faint red before he focused and the color was wiped away.

Kuroo didn't notice. "Plus, it's you and Akaashi. Believe me, there's nothing to worry about."

Bokuto released the breath and seemed to relax….

….for a second.

"What if I forget how to read," Bokuto blurted.

Kuroo rolled his eyes. "That's not going to happen."

"It could," Bokuto panicked. "What if I do?"

"Then, fake it," Kuroo told him.

"...Oh." Bokuto nodded. "Yeah, that could work."

Kenma sighed, already opening his book.

"Hey, wait, smell my breath," Bokuto said before almost launching forward over the table, pushing his face in front of Kuroo.

Kuroo leaned back immediately. "Dude, no!"

"Come on, please!" Bokuto made puppy dog eyes.

"Smell your own breath!"

"But, what if it smells terrible and I'm the only one that can't smell it and, then, Akaashi like passes out or something and he never wants to date me?"

"...Bro?"

Bokuto's eyes got even more pitiful. "You're my best friend."

"Ugh, fine," Kuroo said, scrunching up his nose and moving forward.

Bokuto puffed air out at him.

Kuroo frowned in consideration. "Did you eat pot roast for dinner?"

"...maybe?"

There was a light cough and both turned, Bokuto still laying half on the table, to find Akaashi staring back at them.

"Akaashi!" Bokuto scrambled back. "When did you get here?!"

"About a minute ago," Kenma said dryly.

"Why didn't you say anything," Kuroo muttered under his breath. "We're helping, remember?"

Kenma shrugged.

Akaashi was still staring back at them, mouth tilted up in slight amusement.

"Oh, wait!" Bokuto stood up so fast he whacked his knee on the table hard. "Ow! Ow, crap!"

The smile dropped from Akaashi's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Bokuto limped out of his seat. "Here, let me get the chair for you!"

Kuroo nodded in approval.

"That's alright, I got it," Akaashi grabbed the chair a second before Bokuto could grab it. His frown deepened, looking at Bokuto's wince. "Are you sure you shouldn't sit down? That sounded like it hurt."

"It's fine," Bokuto said even though his smile had gone tight and he was gently checking on his knee under the table.

Akaashi was still eying him as if he was considering dragging him out to do healing spells which was just….not good study date goals.

Kuroo stepped in. "So, Akaashi, Bo said you're not entering the tournament."

"I don't see much point," Akaashi agreed, finally giving up assessing Bokuto to grab his books from his bag. "Besides, I don't think I'd have much of a chance of getting chosen anyway."

"What," Bokuto broke in, "of course, you do, Keiji! You're amazing!"

Akaashi smiled. "Thank you; but, trust me, it's really not my place. I can see someone else in the spotlight much clearer." His eyes flickered back to Kuroo. "I take it the rest of you are entering, then."

Kuroo shrugged. "Yeah, except Suga and Oikawa."

Akaashi frowned. "Really?"

"Of course," Kuroo reached out and punched Bokuto in the shoulder. "Hopefully, I can still beat out this guy, though. Won't be easy, sure. What-one of the youngest Hufflepuff Quidditch captains in a century, gifted Arithmancy prodigy, probably one of the greatest wizards of our age, plus" he winked at Bokuto who was quickly turning bright red under the praise, "awesome smile and great arms. I've got pretty impressive competition. Don't you think, Akaashi?"

Akaashi looked at him like he was a crazy person.

Kenma judged Kuroo more quietly.

"Too much," he whispered under his breath.

"And," Kuroo continued because he was on a roll, "of course, the competition's not the only great thing about the tournament. There's also the Yule Ball! That'll be great! Right, Bo?"

Bokuto stared.

"Right, Bo," Kuroo repeated. "The Ball? Even better than Hogsmeade, yeah?"

Bokuto jumped, almost hitting his knee again. "Oh, yeah the Ball! I'm, um, really excited about that, too!"

"Bokuto," Akaashi frowned at him, "you hate dancing. Last time, you fell and broke your arm and nearly twisted your mother's ankle."

"Well, I wouldn't say I hate it," Bokuto winced. "I'm just, um, not great at it?"

Kuroo gave him a look.

"But...I can get better," Bokuto guessed, the last part trailing off like a question.

Kuroo gave him a thumbs up.

Bokuto sighed in relief.

"Hey, practicing for the dance, what a great idea," Kuroo said, turning back to Akaashi, "why don't we all work on it. I bet you're really good at dancing. Yeah, Akaashi?"

Akaashi shook his head. "Actually, I think I'm worse than Bokuto. Honestly, I was probably going to stay in for the Yule Ball and try to enjoy the quiet."

Bokuto drooped. "Oh, you're not going?

"I don't really have a good reason to and dances aren't exactly my favorite," Akaashi said simply before he frowned. "Bokuto, where's your Charms book? We should start studying."

"My book?" Bokuto grabbed his bag, shuffling through it with movements increasingly growing more frantic. "Ah….oh crap, I swear it was here."

"You had it at lunch," Akaashi reminded him.

"Yeah." Bokuto moaned, head falling on the table. "Guys, I think I left it in the Great Hall."

"I can grab it." Akaashi stood up.

"What? No!" Bokuto stood, too, breath hissing out as he put weight on his bruised knee. "No, Keiji, you don't have to do that! The elves probably already packed it 'll take forever! I'll get it from the kitchen and run back!"

Akaashi gave him a small smile. "I don't mind going, especially if your knee's still hurting."

"But….," Bokuto frowned, "But, Akaashi, then you won't get to work on stuff!"

Akaashi's smile took on a slightly bashful edge. "I actually already finished my homework this morning; you just seemed excited so I decided it wouldn't hurt to study more."

Bokuto was still gaping at him, trying to think of an excuse.

"I really don't mind. I can drop it off in the Hufflepuff common room." He nodded at the rest of them. "That way you three can still stay and work on everything else."

"Um," Kuroo said, also trying to come up with an excuse and coming up blank.

Kenma sighed, throwing in the towel for the rest of them.

"Maybe we can work something out another time," he said to his roommate.

Akaashi nodded before sweeping back out of the library.

Bokuto's head hit the table with a thunk.

"Well….," Kuroo started, "hey, at least he agreed because you were excited. That's probably a good sign, yeah?"

Bokuto moaned. "Why am I so bad at this?"

"No, come on," Kuroo prodded at his shoulder. "You're not bad; this was just….a missed opportunity. A chance to try something even better the next time and actually ask him out. You only need to get it right one, okay? The rest are just, er, practice runs."

Bokuto looked up, smile a little bit tired but there.

"Practice runs," he asked.

"Exactly," Kuroo agreed. "So, the next time, you can knock it through the hoops, yeah?"

Bokuto nodded, taking in the words, before looking at Kenma. "Hey, do you think I've got a shot?"

Kenma paused, considering his words.

"Keiji cares about you," he eventually said quietly, "sometimes, all it takes is knowing you care back."

"See!" Kuroo beamed, gesturing at Kenma. "If Kenma says you got this, then you definitely got this! You'll be fine!"

"You should also let me check your knee," Kenma broke in, "I think it's starting to swell."

"More sound advice," Kuroo agreed.

"Huh, oh," Bokuto said, obligingly sticking his knee out and letting Kenma run diagnostic charms before a light healing spell. "Thanks."

He looked up at Kuroo, smile widening. "So another chance, a better one?"

Kuroo nodded firmly. "Besides, it's not as if this was a real date, right? This was just helping you practice."

Kenma frowned, looking down to examine Bokuto's fading bruise even after it had healed.

ooooooo

Hinata was late.

He was late and he was running to the front of the castle and his tie was only half tied and the formal dress robes, the ones he almost never had to wear, felt itchy and scratchy.

To make it worse, this time, Hufflepuff's line was assigned the furthest from the castle entrance. Which means people would notice he was late which meant Aone, the Hufflepuff boys Prefect, would see he was late and kill him. Or, actually, because it was Aone, he'd be quietly disappointed in him-which was obviously the worst consequence of all.

He skidded out of the castle a second before Headmaster Ukai was about to start.

And Hufflepuff's row was still half the courtyard away.

He'd have to sprint for it.

No, wait, that was a terrible idea and would definitely get him noticed.

He'd have to, um-

Two pairs of hands grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him firmly into the closest line.

"Late," Oikawa tsked from one side.

"Here, lean over," Suga said from his other, steady hands going to fix his tie and somehow straighten his robes in a way where they weren't pulling too tight against Hinata's chest.

Hinata blinked, still breathing hard as he finally took in where he was standing.

His eyes widened. "This is the Slytherin line!"

"Your powers of observation never cease to amaze me," Oikawa remarked.

Suga hid a smile. "It's fine, Hinata, just hide your tie for now and maybe you can sneak over later."

"But…," Hinata stayed tense.

Oikawa seemed to read it off of him and smirked. "Don't worry, little badger, Suga and I will protect you from all the big bad snakes that want to eat you."

Hinata glared.

Well, now, he was definitely staying.

Suga hit Oikawa's shoulder over Hinata's head. "Hush, the ceremony's starting."

"Yay," Oikawa deadpanned.

"Students." Headmaster Ukai was squinting off into the distance and, now that Hinata could focus, there was something there-a small black spec, slowly getting larger. "Look alive, it looks like our guests from Beauxbatons are about to make land."

The black spec expanded, getting closer and closer until it had spread out into multiple specs and then-

"Oh, wow," Suga breathed out.

Giant golden horses, with large spread wings, soared through the sky-an elegant, finely wrought carriage slung wildly behind them.

In the sunset of the castle, shining off the horses' manes and the gleaming metal of the carriage, it was a gorgeous sight.

The carriage got closer.

A few of the students yelped, moving back quickly as the carriage careened to the earth.

Somehow, through a force that just had to be magic, the carriage pulled to a perfect stop, making it look smooth despite the hasty descent as a young teen in a light blue uniform hopped out and extended the steps.

Headmaster Ukai nodded. "Headmaster Hibarida. Welcome to Hogwarts."

A middle aged man with styled black hair and a large, booming smile stepped out of the carriage. "Ukai, long time no see. Thanks for having us!"

He strode down on the courtyard, followed by dozens of students filling out-far more than the carriage should reasonably be allowed to hold.

A teen with his face half-covered in a face mask looked particularly uncomfortable, shielding his eyes against the sun as he continued behind the headmaster without making any eye contact unless he couldn't avoid it. This was made particularly difficult by the boy with light brown hair that stood next to him, smile even more present compared to the absence of his companion's, as he eagerly pointed out parts of the castle.

A teen with grey hair tipped in black followed behind them, talking quietly with a black haired boy sporting a particularly blank expression.

All the students, both girls and boys, carried themselves with an easy kind of confidence-a professionalism portrayed in a quiet dignity.

Except-

A short boy, possibly even an underclassmen, with shockingly white hair darted in between the group, eyes wide. "Oh! Oh, hey, look, guys, they have a lake! Do you think we can-"

The teen with the face mask grabbed him by the back of his robes and held him still.

"Calm down," he ordered quietly, "we just got here."

Hinata stared at the white haired teen, eyes drawn.

The teen noticed him staring, giving him an enthusiastic wave that was quickly met with a sigh from the teen still holding his robes.

"Well," Suga whispered at his side, "they seem…."

"Interesting," Oikawa finished before turning down the row, "so, how much did Irihata threaten you two not to plan anything for this?"

Matsu shook his head sadly. "Have we taught you nothing? Threats don't work on us."

"Exactly," Makki said. "He bribed us."

"With what," Suga asked.

"Detention," Matsu said brightly.

Hinata frowned. "He bribed you with detention?"

"Yep, any detention we get this semester is served in the Charms classroom," Makki agreed wistfully.

"Oh." Suga nodded. "You love Charms."

"Ha, yeah, and Professor Ukai always gets bored about ten minutes in and shows us how to do the cool ones," Matsu said.

Oikawa shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"If you ask nicely, we may show you some," Makki said before tilting his head. "Wait, can you ask nicely? Like would you have an allergic reaction or something? Don't threaten your health or anything?"

Oikawa huffed. "Oh, please, I'm the nicest-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as the lake exploded outward, sending a wave that splashed down and utterly drenched the unlucky first years standing in the front.

"Heh," Oikawa laughed.

"So nice," Matsu teased.

Oikawa elbowed him.

The wave crashed back down, revealing a ship rising out of the water before it pulled up to shore. A plank was lowered.

"Here they come," Suga muttered and Hinata looked up, only to find Oikawa already frowning.

An old man, probably as old as Headmaster Ukai himself took the lead, a stern expression sitting heavily on his face and large eyebrows pulled decidedly down.

"Washijo," Headmaster Ukai greeted.

"Ukai," Headmaster Washijo returned.

Headmaster Ukai stepped to the side, gesturing to the castle behind him. "Welcome back."

If anything Washijo's expression got even heavier, scowl deepening as his gaze swept from the castle to the students gathered around it.

He turned back to Ukai. "I see nothing's changed."

He continued on before Ukai could answer and Hinata got the first look at the rest of the Durmstrang contingent.

Taking up the lead was a teen with short cropped brown hair and a serious expression that complemented his headmasters.

He scanned the crowd, eyes immediately landing on Hinata's group and focusing.

Beside him, Hinata heard Oikawa sigh. He looked up.

Oikawa was already glaring at the teen, who was staring right back.

"Great," he muttered, "just great."

ooooooo

A/N:

As always, thanks to all of you so, so much! You're awesome, great, and amazing people and I really appreciate your support!

Also, so my mom's coming next week. With that, I'm taking next week off to hang out with her so the next chapter will be in TWO WEEKS rather than one.

More fun is coming; but, also please check out these awesome quotation art and design of the infamous newspaper article that started Noya and Tanaka's quest: tagged/Hq-at-Hogwarts

Next Chapter: Surprise, Surprise

Post Date: Aug. 1-2

ALSO, GUYS, THE MANGA IS ENDING THIS WEEK AND I AM BOTH SO HAPPY AND SO EMOTIONAL, AAAAHHHH