Quidditch, Romance, and Near Death Experiences (13/25)
Title: Quidditch, Romance, and Near Death Experiences
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Yabu/Takaki, Yamada/Daiki, Yamada/Yuto
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: The Yule Ball might have been my favorite part of the fic to write it was so much fun
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Yamada couldn’t do anything but nod, beaming down at his feet as Daiki took his hand. They fell in with all of the other couples that were swaying on the dance floor together, drifting a bit closer with every step, until Yamada was so close that if he wanted to, he could rest his forehead against Daiki’s own. He did his best to stay mindful of his distance though, making sure his eyes were looking anywhere but at the slight upturn on Daiki’s lips.
“Hey, Ryosuke?” Daiki asked, his voice quiet and close to his ear.
“Y-yeah?” Yamada asked back, his cheeks turning red when he heard himself stutter, and Daiki chuckled at him.
“I’m going to spin you, are you ready?”
In all honesty no, Yamada wasn’t, but he nodded anyway. He saw a familiar face fast approaching as he turned, twirling smack into Yuto, who put his hands on Yamada shoulders to steady him.
“Guess what?”
Their Hufflepuff friend was bubbling with excitement, the intimate mood instantly broken.
“What?” Daiki asked back.
“Keito and I were getting drinks, right, and then Seeker from the Slytherin Quidditch team smiled at him over the punch bowl and said ‘hey’.”
“...so?” Yamada couldn’t help but ask, unable to understand why Yuto was seemingly so giddy about it.
“So he said hey! And Keito turned super bright red. We have to get them to dance with each other.”
“Do they even know each other though?” Daiki asked, but Yamada found he didn't much care whether they did or not. Any endeavor aiming to make Keito blush was always fun, and he nodded readily, glancing over. Keito was alone at the table he and Yuto had picked out, standing slightly away from a group of Ravenclaw students and munching on a handful of snacks.
“And where’s Yaotome? He’s the Slytherin Seeker, right?” Daiki asked, getting a simple shrug from Yuto in response.
“Okay. We’re in the same year, so I have a couple of classes with him. I’ll find him, you go drag Keito out here, and then we’ll shove them into each other.” Daiki said. “That’ll work, right?”
Yuto nodded excitedly at their incredibly simplistic plan, dashing off again, Daiki grabbing Yamada by the hand and so they could weave through the crowd without getting separated.
“What does he look like?” Yamada asked. “The person we’re looking for?” He remembered seeing the Slytherin Seeker when they’d gone to watch the Gryffindor-Slytherin game, but he hadn’t taken care to remember any details of his face. Everyone was in dress robes, making it impossible to tell who was in what house by simply looking at them, and that wasn’t helping.
“Uh… I don’t know.” Daiki answered, jumping a bit to try and see over the dancing crowd, everyone jamming to the pop music that was blasting through the room. “He’s taller than me, pretty handsome, good at Quidditch…” He said the last quality as though it were something that could be visualized, which made Yamada chuckle a bit and roll his eyes. Yuto met up with them before they found who they were looking for, a confused Keito by his side.
“What are we doing?” he asked hesitantly. “Yuto wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“We are getting you a dance.” Daiki answered with a winning smile.
“What?” Keito asked again, just as Yuto pointed.
“Over there!”
And sure enough, there was an older boy in black robes standing a slight ways away from them, just off of the dance floor on the other side of the room, talking with some friends. His face was vaguely familiar, and he had all of the slightly taller, handsome, good at Quidditch traits that Daiki had described. Yamada looked over at Keito, seeing him looking back at them hesitantly.
“Yamada can’t be the only one that gets a dance with a handsome Quidditch player.” Daiki said, and at that Keito finally understood what was happening, shaking his head quickly.
“N-no!” He exclaimed, rushing off the dance floor before any of them could catch him. By the time they looked back, Yaotome had disappeared again.
“Keito!” Yuto exclaimed, hurrying after him, Daiki giving Yamada a look.
“Should we look for him again?” Daiki asked, but Yamada felt that getting something to drink was long overdue, shaking his head and leading the way to the tables, where their friends, two extra drinks, and a few napkins piled with snacks were waiting for them. It was nice to get off his feet, sitting at the table and watching the party go on.
Everyone was having a good time. The enjoyment of the students went without saying, but the teachers were partying too, and that was hilarious to see. The majority of them were there to keep the party respectable, so to speak, but Yamada had a feeling that at least half of them had forgotten that responsibility. It certainly seemed that way in the case of Professor Takizawa, the Charms professor, who had been swept up in a slow dance with Imai Tsubasa, despite the upbeat music around them, Tsubasa’s free hand on the small of Takizawa’s back and the two of them so full of fondness that Yamada felt that just his gaze was intruding. It was common knowledge that the professor was involved with someone, and while Yuto had pointed out last year that Professor Takizawa’s emergency absences always seemed to line up with Witch Weekly’s reports of seeing the Ministry official at St. Mungo’s Hospital, Yamada had always written it off as some sort of silly conspiracy theory.
“Professor Ninomiya is actually dancing.” Daiki murmured, his voice surprised but also hushed, as though he were afraid that their Potions master would hear him through the music and all the way across the room.
“Where?” Yuto asked, Daiki pointing, and sure enough he was, in a corner with Professor Ohno, the two laughing at each other as they moved.
“Hey Daiki, you’re in Care of Magical Creatures and Professor Ninomiya likes you; see if you can draw them out of that corner and onto the dance floor.” Yamada said, and Daiki gave him an incredulous look.
“It’s like you actually want me to die.” He responded, and they all laughed.
“Hey, wait…” Keito was pointing this time, in the direction of the food table. “That’s not who the Beauxbatons champion came with, is it?”
Yamada saw where he was pointing; Nikaido Takashi was standing in front of the punch bowl, a cup in his hands, talking about something to a rather doe-eyed Hogwarts student.
“That’s Senga Kento!” Daiki exclaimed in surprise. “He’s in our house; he’s on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.”
Nikaido said something then that must have been incredibly funny, Senga laughing heartily and reaching out to touch Nikaido’s arm.
“Does anyone else want more punch?” Keito asked, but they all declined the offer, their friend getting up with his empty cup.
“Where is our champion?” Yamada asked, looking around. They all fell silent as they searched, Daiki finally spotting him dancing with his date. They were at the back end of the dance floor, off a little bit to themselves, and they looked to be having the time of their lives. They were both laughing incredibly hard, taking turns doing silly dance moves to make each other laugh. Yamada watched them until the song ended, Yabu dropping Takaki’s hand in favor of throwing his arms around the champion’s neck, Takaki taking a few steps backwards under his weight as he beamed, kissing the side of Yabu’s head. The scene made Yamada smile, but somehow he felt a bit sad at the same time, suddenly aware of Daiki’s arm around his shoulders as they sat at the table together.
“Watching all this dancing makes me want to dance!” Yuto exclaimed. “I’m going back out there, do you guys want to come?”
“Sure.” Yamada said, standing. Daiki shook his head, waving a hand.
“I want to eat a few more cream puffs first. You kids have fun.”
Yamada felt a little reluctant about leaving him there alone--Keito hadn’t returned from his punch conquest, yet somehow the punch table was empty--but Yuto had a tight grip on his hand, pulling him away and onto the dance floor.
They caught the end of an upbeat song before the band mellowed out into a slow jam, the energy in the room dipping. It was still fun enough to dance to, and while there was much less fist pumping throughout the room, the both of them somehow ended up in a sort of body roll contest with a small group of older Durmstrang and Hogwarts students. It was very amusing, but Yamada had to drop out when he noticed something--or someone, rather--hitting Yuto on the shoulder and pointing.
He'd found Keito. Their friend was standing at the very edge of the dance floor, out of the way of the flashing lights. Yamada could see a little, blushing smile on his face, listening with all of his attention--and, if Yamada wasn't mistaken, adoration--to his companion speaking.
"It's them!" Yuto exclaimed, his voice very close to Yamada's ear and full of delight. "It's Keito and Hikaru! Should we go and say hi?"
After a moment of consideration, Yamada shook his head. While the two weren't dancing together, like all of them had been pushing for, they were talking, and swaying slightly to the music playing. It was too cute to interrupt; he didn't want to ruin anything.
He didn't want to ruin Yuto's night either, feeling that he'd been a less than stellar date as the dance floor slowed even further, the bright blonde vocalist on stage breaking into a ballad. Yuto was fun, and Yuto was kind. Yuto was his best friend, and this entire fake dating charade was something he actually needed to commit to. So he took Yuto's hand, stepping up close for the slow dance. Yuto chuckled at him, giving him a tight, bone crushing hug before resting his chin lightly on the top of Yamada's head and moving leisurely to the music.
Pablo nipped affectionately at Keito’s earlobe, Keito pausing the opening words of his letter to stroke the bird’s head. He was writing to his father again. It was the weekend after the ball, and for the past three days presents had arrived by owl post for him, all of them from his dad, all of them with ‘Merry Christmas’ written on the tag. He was sending a huge thank you, along with his own Christmas present: a pair of golden cuff links he’d bought for his dad over the summer. They would match well with the “stylish” muggle suits he had taken to wearing, buying them over the summer with the help of Yamada and a strange device called “the internet”.
He also wanted to give his father a recount of what had happened at the Ball, as he had asked for. He opened with the rainbow centaurs, something he knew his father would like; the type of music they played at the ball reminded Keito of the music his dad liked to listen to. He told him about the fun he’d had, and his friends, and the food and drinks that were there.
And… I danced with a few people.
Just sitting there alone, he felt himself blushing too hard to elaborate. He wanted to tell his father about Hikaru--or anyone, really, about his newfound feelings, and the little hope he was holding that they were actually going somewhere--but the prospect of doing so was always too embarrassing for him to ever carry through with it.
Besides, he reasoned as he continued to write, what he and Hikaru had done wasn’t really enough to be considered “dancing”. It was much less interesting in comparison to describe, though it hadn’t felt that way when it was happening. Hikaru had waved at him when he’d gone back to the snack table, snagging his attention despite being all the way across the room. He’d abandoned his drink instantly to walk over, not realizing he was smiling until Hikaru pointed it out. Hikaru had also complimented his robes, reaching for his hands in greeting, giving his fingers a squeeze as he laughed when Keito complimented his bowtie in response.
The physical contact was surprising, even Hikaru seemingly surprised by himself, dropping his hands quickly in favor of simply swaying to the music. They’d chatted for a bit until Hikaru had heard someone call his name, giving a grand bow and disappearing into the crowd. As short-lived as the encounter had been, it was doubtlessly the highlight of Keito’s evening, smiling into his pillow later that night as he tried to sleep.
Keito talked a bit about the heavy snowfall they’d been having, wishing his father well as he finished up the letter. He tied the parchment and the little box with the cuff links to Pablo’s leg, giving the bird another affectionate pat before opening one of the windows in the Gryffindor common room, Pablo flying out into the cold air.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
The voice was loud and abrasive, and it caught Keito's attention, turning him from the window and back to the common room. There was a group of older students standing in a ring, all fourth to sixth years and intimidatingly tall, and all of them looked displeased.
“I'm looking for someone.” Came a voice from within the gang of Gryffindors. It was a higher pitched, male voice, and while young-sounding, he didn't seem intimidated. Not as intimidated as Keito knew he would be, anyway.
“Well, look for them somewhere else, Slytherin.”
The house name sounded more like a curse, and Keito saw an arm lift to shove whoever it was they had surrounded. He stepped forward with a frown on his face, ready to intervene, and to his surprise he met eyes with Chinen Yuri. All Chinen gave him was a glance, but it was all Keito needed.
“He’s looking for me.” He said, cutting into the circle, Chinen escaping to stand close to him. After a bit of grumbling the group of Gryffindors dispersed, though they kept their eyes on Chinen.
“You Gryffindors don’t care much for Slytherins.” Chinen remarked. He seemed rather unbothered by it all, brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his robes.
“Well, some people…” Keito trailed off, unwilling to talk about it. As much as he hated to admit it, the altercation he’d just witnessed wasn’t a sight he was a stranger to. “How did you get in here?”
“The password is ‘boulderdash’, isn’t it?” Chinen asked back innocently. All Keito could do was nod. “Are you busy?”
“...no.” Keito finally answered, confused. He didn’t really have any plans; his friends had headed to Hogsmeade a couple of hours ago, Yuto and Yamada planning on staging a date in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.
“Well, good. Hikaru promised to show me a secret passage to Hogsmeade if I told you he wanted to talk to you.”
“Hikaru?” Keito echoed, his face feeling hot.
“Yeah, he wants to meet you at the ‘regular place’, whatever that means. He said you would know.”
Keito nodded a little. Their regular place was the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Keito shrugging on his winter coat to step out of the portrait hole and into the cold and drafty castle hallway. Chinen walked with him, Keito sending him a questioning glance as to why he was tagging along.
“I want to make sure he shows me the secret passage.” He explained. “What does he want to talk to you about?”
“I don’t know.” Keito confessed, but he felt nervous. He didn’t have a reason for the apprehension--he hadn’t done anything wrong--but knowing that didn’t help quell the tension in his chest.
Sure enough, Hikaru was standing in the deserted classroom, a slight smile on his face when they walked in.
“Oh, Chinen. You’re still… Here.”
Chinen gave him an imploring look, obviously waiting for Hikaru to hold up his end of the deal, and Hikaru sighed a little.
“Um… Do you know where the Gunhilda of Gorsemoor statue is? On the third floor corridor?”
“The One-Eyed Witch statue?” Chinen asked back. Hikaru nodded.
“Meet me there in twenty minutes, okay? I’ll go through the secret passage with you.”
Chinen nodded, turning to duck out.
“Thank you, by the way!” Hikaru called after him, but Chinen just gave a wave of his hand, walking around the corner of the doorway and out of sight.