Quidditch, Romance, and Near Death Experiences (3/??)
Title: Quidditch, Romance, and Near Death Experiences
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Yabu/Takaki, Yamada/Daiki they're not official but I'm just going to go ahead and put them up here because cmon
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: magic!
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, AU (Hogwarts)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: it's the wave of a wand, and dust blown off the cover of a spellbook. It's learning incantations and kicking off the ground on a broomstick. It's magic. It's a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, full of Quidditch, romance, and near death experiences.
A/N: I'm so flattered by the amount of people that have given this fic love! thank you all so much, I hope this chapter finds you well ♡
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2
Keito and Yuto were still talking about the ovomancy come dinner time, about all of the possible sudden and violent deaths possible that Yuto’s third egg had hypothesised for him, taking seats at the Hufflepuff table.
“Maybe I’ll fall off my broom during my Quidditch tryout.” Yuto guessed, piling food on his plate. The tryout was on Friday, and Yuto was painfully excited about it.
“Maybe we’ll both be eaten by the giant squid.” Keito suggested, Yuto nodding with a laugh.
“You’re eating what?” Came a voice behind them. Yamada and Daiki walked up, Daiki looking concerned. They took seats across the table and Keito began to explain, getting cut off a few words in as Yuto’s face lit up and he waved, asking a loud question over Keito’s head.
“Do you want to sit with us?”
Keito glanced over to who Yuto was gesturing to and seeing a group of four other students, three of them obviously older and the last one of them extremely tiny. Keito only recognized one of them, the tallest boy with a Head Boy badge pinned to the front of his robes. That one was the one Yuto was waving at it seemed, giving Yuto a familiar smile and nodded. The two with Hufflepuff robes sat on Yuto’s other side, and the other two boys, the older Ravenclaw and the tiny Slytherin student sitting together on Yamada’s other side.
“This is Yabu Kota… Right?” Yuto said in an attempt to introduce the newcomers, and the tall and skinny student nodded and laughed, waving around at them. “He’s the captain of the Quidditch team.”
The rest of them introduced themselves, the second Hufflepuff named Takaki Yuya, the Ravenclaw Inoo Kei, and the Slytherin Chinen Yuri. It was a strange conglomeration, Keito found himself thinking; Yuto had gotten enough strange looks when the four of them hung out, being a Hufflepuff in the Gryffindor common room or at the Gryffindor table. The four of them gave introductions back, and Yabu turned to Yuto.
“I’m going to see you at tryouts this weekend, right?” He asked, and Yuto nodded, beaming.
“I wouldn’t miss it.” He answered earnestly. Then a shrill squeak came from what Keito could only guess was Daiki, and everyone turned to him.
“Did everyone else hear that?” Takaki asked, and then Yamada’s hands were searching Daiki’s robes, pulling out a ball of pink fuzz about three inches in diameter.
The table was silent, staring at it as Yamada smiled. Keito had met the little creature the night beforehand, able to hold it a little and even helping Yamada find a name for it.
“Cookie! You’re awake.”
“What is it?” Chinen asked. He was leaned away from Yamada slightly, looking apprehensive, his eyes locked on the poof.
“A pygmy puff.” Yamada announced, placing it on the table. Then he turned to Daiki, sounding concerned. “Do you think I can give it green beans?”
“I don’t think you have a choice.” The pygmy puff was already fully in Yamada’s plate, and Keito could see the big eyes on the creature’s tiny face as it snuffled through the food.
“When did you get a pygmy puff?” Yuto asked.
“Yesterday! It’s for a Care of Magical Creatures project; we have to take care of them for six weeks.”
“You’re in Care of Magical Creatures too?” Chinen piped up. The puff jumped from Yamada’s plate, trying to get to Chinen’s, and he recoiled as though the harmless thing was about to bite him. Yamada nodded, taking the pink ball in his hands and looking over Chinen’s face for a moment, as though trying to place him. It surprised Keito that someone afraid of an animal so small and fluffy would choose to be in the Care of Magical Creatures class.
“You’re not in my class, are you?” He finally asked, and Chinen shook his head.
“I’m a third year.” The Slytherin boy explained, and that was another round of surprising information; Keito had seen first years that looked and sounded older than Chinen did. “What do you think of Professor Ohno?”
“He’s fine, I guess.” Yamada shrugged, Daiki saying,
“I heard he’s only teaching so he can live on the grounds for free.”
Chinen scrutinized the two of them for a second.
“Well I love him.” He declared. “So don’t get any ideas.”
There was a silence, Keito trying to figure out what it was they weren't supposed to get ideas about. Yuto was very loudly trying not to laugh, Takaki speaking up.
“Where’s Hikaru?”
The new crowd shrugged, and Daiki frowned slightly.
“Yaotome Hikaru? From Slytherin house?”
Yabu nodded. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, we’re in Transfiguration class together. We were turning toucans into top hats, and he only transfigured his halfway… Professor Sakamoto wasn’t as excited about his new flying hat as the rest of the class was.”
“Don’t tell me he’s in detention already? It’s the second day of classes!” Yabu shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”
Despite his words, Yabu’s voice suggested that he could believe it quite easily, and it made Keito wonder what kind of a person Yaotome Hikaru was. He seemed like a troublemaker, but at least he sounded like a harmless one.
Then the pygmy puff jumped from Yamada’s plate and suddenly Keito was trying to juggle the creature in his hands, too startled to catch it properly and trying desperately not to drop it. Yuto broke down into giggles next to him, and as soon as the puff got a good enough grip on his clothes it jumped off again, scrambling up Yuto’s arm and perching on top of his shoulder. It greeted everyone around the table but it ended up taking quite a liking to the Hufflepuff Takaki, hiding on his shoulder and behind his hair.
“You’ve been chosen.” Inoo said with a laugh, the table chuckling while Takaki shook his head.
“I’ve heard those words in my nightmares a few times.” He said.
“About pygmy puffs?” Daiki asked.
“About the Triwizard Tournament.”
“You could just… Not put your name in.” Yuto suggested slowly, and Yabu burst into laughter.
“Hey! I know!” Takaki’s voice raised a bit in indignation, but he was smiling. “I mean, I don’t plan on it, but…”
“But gold?” Inoo prompted. Takaki shrugged.
“I mean… It would be cool, wouldn’t it?” Yabu asked, and Keito could tell he looked much more excited about the whole Triwizard thing than Takaki did.
“Are you really not entering?” Yabu couldn’t help but ask for the umpteenth time, and Takaki chuckled a little, putting his arm around Yabu’s waist as they walked.
“I mean, probably not.” He answered, and Yabu couldn’t help but grin. This was better than the flat “no” he was used to receiving; maybe he was wearing his boyfriend down. He knew Takaki didn’t want to put his name in because he felt inadequate, and he wanted to destroy that notion as much as he could. Takaki was excellent at magic when he put his mind to it, and actually had a course of study picked out--unlike Yabu himself, whose focus was “maybe something in Charms”, much to the chagrin of his professors.
“I think it would be fun!” Yabu insisted, trying to sound cute, and Takaki laughed again.
“Yeah yeah, I know.”
It was Thursday after classes, Takaki and Yabu walking from their Defense Against the Dark Arts class to the Ravenclaw common room, climbing the western spiral staircase. The meeting place for their friend group had moved to the Ravenclaw common room after Inoo joined their friend circle in Yabu, Takaki, and Inoo himself’s fifth year. Before then they’d met up in the Slytherin common room due to the Hufflepuff common room’s refusal of any non-Hufflepuff students, and Yabu was glad for the change; as much as he loved hanging out with Hikaru, he had always found the Slytherin common room a bit too cold and dreary for his liking. Besides, they were always given scrutinizing looks by the students, as though wondering why anyone from a house other than their own would want to spend time in their common room. The attitude had taken him aback at first, realizing after a few years that it was one of caution and confusion more than hostility. Students from other houses didn't come to the Slytherin common room just to hang out--many didn't befriend Slytherin students, either. Yabu was just glad they weren't in Gryffindor, or the looks would have turned into pointed questions; there was a good amount of antipathy between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins.
They reached the door with the eagle-headed knocker, watching as the bronze bird opened its mouth.
“Feed me and I grow. Give me water and I die. What am I?”
They looked at each other blankly for a second. The answer to the riddle would grant them entry, but Yabu had never once been able to get into the Ravenclaw common room on his own. He never needed to, not when they had their own inside man.
“Inoo! Let us in!” Takaki shouted while Yabu laughed, and a moment later the Ravenclaw boy opened the door for them, a completely deadpan expression on his face. He had his cat perched on his shoulder, a rumbling purr coming from the cat’s chest as Yabu gave his soft head a light scratch. The pet was a fluffy, white creature with darker brown fur on his ears, paws, tail, and around his nose. He had always been nice, if not incredibly passive around all of them, and Yabu had a strange, sneaking suspicion that somehow, Inoo and his animal were able to communicate.
“You guys should at least try to figure out the answers.” Inoo told them with a sigh as they all walked in, and Takaki shrugged back.
“Why would we when we have you?”
The Ravenclaw common room was wide and round, its large windows framed by sweeping blue and bronze curtains. The carpet was a midnight blue and emblazoned in stars, and as they walked further into the room Yabu could see Hikaru stretched out over the entire couch, despite the looks he was getting from the other Ravenclaw students. There had been some dissent when they first began coming, and at first Yabu felt bad--maybe they were being too loud or taking up too much room--but then he began noticing how much less of a problem they had whenever Hikaru wasn’t there with them, and all of his sympathy had disapparated and he simply began to glare back. He was sick and tired of having to justify being friends with a Slytherin.
“I saved us seats!” Hikaru said, a huge smile on his face, sitting up as they walked over. The common room was full of tables and chairs, but the majority of them were stiff and wooden; the couch was the single comfortable piece of furniture in the room and the most popular piece of real estate, so they always did their best to snag it before anyone else could. Hikaru sat up fast when Inoo approached, scooting as far over as the couch allowed, and Takaki and Yabu sat down first, placing Hikaru and Inoo on opposite ends of the couch. Yabu knew that Hikaru didn’t have any qualms with Inoo himself, but his cat was a different story entirely, and Yabu couldn’t figure out why his friend hated the fluffy beast so much. If anything, the cat seemed to prefer Hikaru to the rest of them, always rubbing up on his legs first. Maybe he just liked watching Hikaru squirm; Yabu sure did.
“It’s Thursday.” Hikaru said, nudging Yabu in the side with his elbow and smiling. “You know what that means.”
“That means that tomorrow I compile the Quidditch team that will beat your ass.” Yabu retorted. Tryouts were Friday, and the following day was the start of practice. “I am going to win the House Cup this year.”
The vehement conviction in his voice had the entire couch looking at him, Hikaru raising his eyebrows. Hikaru was the Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team, and since he’d joined Slytherin had ranked incredibly high, winning the Cup the past two years in a row. It was always an extreme cause of banter and competitiveness between them, and after Yabu’s defeat to Hikaru's team last year--Yabu’s first year being captain, no less--he was more than ready to win.
“Is the Quidditch House Cup really what’s important this year?” Inoo asked, slightly incredulous.
“Yes.” Yabu and Hikaru answered simultaneously, while Takaki laughed. Yabu had ranted to Takaki about it all summer, and he only felt a little bad about it.
“Okay, but… The Triwizard Cup is happening.” Inoo said, giving them both looks.
“But I thought you said you weren’t entering.” Piped up a voice from behind them, Yabu turning to see the young face of Chinen Yuri, his chin on his hands, his elbows resting on the back of the couch.
“When did you get in here?” Hikaru asked, giving Chinen a once over. Chinen had hung around their friend group a few times now, and he and Hikaru were in the same house, so there was a slight degree of familiarity between them. “This isn’t your common room.”
“The puzzles are fun.” Chinen said with a shrug, giving Hikaru a small look for his hypocrisy. “And once the door is open, I might as well come in.”
“He’s in here all the time.” Inoo told them all, and Yabu gave a little nod. He had seen Inoo and Chinen together before the third year had started chiming in their conversations, but he hadn’t known where he had come from, or why.
“Wait, you’re not entering?” Hikaru asked Inoo, what Chinen had said finally sinking in, the kid pulling up a chair next to their couch. “Why?
Inoo just shrugged. “I don’t really care.” He answered. “I want to watch you guys lose though.”
“Shut up.” Takaki told him with a laugh, Hikaru letting out a long sigh.
“All of you guys should enter.” He said. “Since I'm not allowed. I can’t believe I’m turning seventeen this December, but I can’t put my name in.”
“Don’t worry, Kota’s going to.” Takaki told them all, and Yabu felt extremely put on the spot, stuttering a little.
“I-I don’t know!” He told them. “I don’t want to be the only person here to do it.”
“Takaki should do it too then.” Hikaru said, looking at Takaki and raising his eyebrow.
“Do you guys know how fast the Tournament would kill me?” He told them all, slightly incredulous amusement in his voice. “It’s not like I would win.”
“Don’t say that!” Yabu protested, just as Hikaru said,
“Come on, nobody would let you die.”
“Lots of students have died in the Tournament.” Chinen said from where he was sitting. “That’s why they’ve called it off so many times. It’s okay,” He added, noticing the looks on all of their faces. “They’ve modified the rules.”
“The Headmaster wouldn’t let anything happen.” Hikaru said with a confident nod, though he didn’t sound quite as sure as he looked after Chinen’s input. “And if he was too slow--which is a possibility, I saw him take ten minutes to climb a staircase last year--then we would jump in instead. We’ll save you.”
Inoo cooed loudly, Hikaru telling him to shut up, but Yabu couldn’t help the smile on his face. Takaki was grinning too, until he realized what was happening.
“Hey! Why are you talking like I’ve already put my name in?”
“Because you should!”
Everyone nodded, and Takaki heaved a long, loud sigh.
“I will if Kota does.” He said, fixing Yabu with a look. All eyes turned to him, and Yabu felt nerves spiking in his stomach.
“...okay.” He agreed, and his friends all cheered, Takaki reaching around the back of the couch to put an arm around Yabu’s shoulders. Though truly, nothing had happened; it wasn’t even time for applying and there was no guarantee that their names would be drawn, but there was now an excited, apprehensive energy in Yabu’s chest, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Quidditch tryouts went very well the next day, much to Yabu’s relief. There was a surprisingly good turnout, and while the majority of the applicants were decent at least, not many of them had the “beat Slytherin team” pizzaz that Yabu was looking for. He had to admit, he had an eye out for the fourth year Nakajima Yuto, excited when he stepped down from the bleachers, his broom in his hand.
“What position are you here for?” Yabu asked him. Yuto’s free hand was curled into a tight fist; he was nervous.
“Chaser!” He declared, and Yabu nodded. Yuto was thin and tall; he would be able to move fast.
“Good.” Yabu threw him the Quaffle he was holding. Thankfully, Yuto caught it. “Work with Sakuma and score a goal on me.”
Yuto nodded, his face set in determination as he got on his broom and took to the air. He jetted up faster than Yabu could get on his broom, exchanging a quick look with Sakuma before following him up. He was already impressed.
For good reason, he was glad to discover. After a bit of tossing back and forth and lining up the shot, Yuto threw,Yabu just barely able to block the Quaffle with the end of his broomstick. Truth be told, the save was an accident, Yabu turning at just the right time to hit the ball away, but he played it off, awarding Yuto a position. As the sun was set on the Quidditch pitch, cold air beginning to blow, Yabu was standing in front of the six members of his new team.
“Practice starts tomorrow. Don’t be late.”