Chapter Text
“Try not to strain it for a couple of days,” Kotetsu said as he closed the infirmary door behind him.
This time, the visit to the healers went smoothly. No Skele-Gro, no strange complications. The head medic had been there and dealt with his bad bruise almost without looking.
Kusaka had worried for nothing.
Late in the evening—especially at night—the castle felt far more tolerable to Toshiro than it ever did during the day. Whether it was the dim lighting that brought out the ancient, almost mysterious aura of the stone walls, or the absence of the constant student noise, he couldn’t say. But the difference was obvious.
Hitsugaya walked slowly through the dark corridors, a little tired, his thoughts drifting back to the night he had wandered these same halls with Kurosaki under an invisibility cloak.
At a fork between two corridors, he suddenly stopped. For a long moment, he stood there, confused, feeling with absolute certainty that he needed to turn left. Which made no sense at all, because the Astronomy Tower was down the right corridor.
Toshiro was not the kind of person who acted on instinct or vague feelings. But he couldn’t resist it. That strange, almost frantic urge somewhere deep in his mind drowned out everything else, and, against his own expectations, he gave in.
It was late. He wasn’t on duty. If anyone saw him now, the prefect would be in trouble for breaking curfew.
For some reason, it didn’t bother him much. It was swallowed by an odd, quiet certainty that he was doing the right thing. Step by step, that unfamiliar pull led him forward, making him pick up his pace until he found himself in the dungeons.
Great. Just what he needed, running into a Slytherin after today’s match.
The next time he stopped, it was in front of the Potions classroom door.
More precisely, in front of the Potions classroom door that was sealed with a protective spell.
The remaining fragments of reason in his head were telling him to turn around. Go back, just like he told Kusaka. Get some sleep.
Instead, that loud, insistent feeling inside him drowned out his better judgment almost completely.
“Alohomora,” the prefect whispered, slipping inside like a shadow as the door opened. Strange. He’d expected the ward to put up more of a fight.
Though what kind of prefect he was after this was an interesting question. One for tomorrow.
Inside, the room was dark and empty. Then again, what had he expected?
“Lumos,” Toshiro said, illuminating the tip of his wand.
He immediately flinched, squinting as the sudden light cut through the pitch-black room. Stepping back to steady himself, the white-haired boy bumped into one of the shelves lining the passage, knocking a couple of potion vials loose. They shattered against the stone floor.
“Damn it,” Hitsugaya muttered under his breath, quickly fixing the mess with his wand.
A strip of light sliced through the darkness from the far corner of the room, spilling out of what looked like a broom closet.
“Good thing it wasn’t the shelf across from you,” a voice said, sending a faint shiver down his spine. “That one has explosive stuff.”
Hitsugaya blinked a few times, eyes widening.
Standing in the doorway, backlit from the other side, was Kurosaki herself. What she was doing in a classroom after curfew, and more specifically in what was apparently a storage closet, was a secondary concern. What mattered was that it was her. Right in front of him.
“They’re supposed to be protected against falling,” Toshiro grumbled, trying to keep the smile from spreading across his face.
“Maybe they are. Maybe they’re not,” Karin replied, crossing her arms, the corner of her mouth curling up.
“What are you doing here?” Toshiro asked after a brief pause, already closing the distance between them.
In response, Kurosaki stepped forward, pushing the door shut behind her and leaning lightly against the frame. She was still wearing the blue sweater from the stadium.
She looked good in his color.
The room fell back into darkness, and the light from his wand made them both squint slightly.
“I should be asking you that,” Karin said dryly, tilting her head to the side. “I thought the whole castle would be celebrating your win tonight.”
“They are,” the prefect said, stopping in front of her.
Karin smirked.
“I assumed that included you,” she replied, tapping a finger lightly against his chest.
Hitsugaya fought another smile, schooling his features back into what he hoped was a neutral expression.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” he drawled, glancing past her at the door behind her.
Seeing where he was looking, Kurosaki straightened slightly, as if trying to block his view as much as possible.
Ha.
“For now, this is more interesting,” Toshiro said at last, nodding toward the door behind her. “What’s in there?”
“A broom closet,” Karin replied without missing a beat, the answer coming a little too smoothly.
“And you’re… doing what in there after curfew?” Hitsugaya asked, taking a step closer..
“Me?” Her eyebrows lifted. “Cleaning,” she said without missing a beat.
Toshiro caught the way the Gryffindor’s nose wrinkled just slightly, like she knew she’d said something completely ridiculous.
“At night?” he asked, voice edged with irony.
“Yes.” Karin nodded seriously. “You know, sometimes I just can’t resist the urge to clean.”
“Mmm.” Toshiro gave her a thoughtful look.
She amused him in a way no one else ever did.
“Want some help?” he asked, pausing for a second before closing the last bit of distance between them.
“I prefer cleaning alone,” she replied, clearing her throat.
Karin took a tiny step back to put some space between them. Her back hit the door.
“Mmm,” the prefect repeated, leaning in closer. He braced his right hand against the doorframe just above her head. “It’s a big room. You might need a hand with that.”
Karin blinked, looking up at him with wide eyes.
“I… uh…” she managed, followed by something unintelligible as heat rose in waves to her cheeks.
She was close enough to kiss, but something inside Toshiro stopped him from crossing that line. Instead, he dropped the hand resting on the frame and reached for the metal handle behind her.
“Whoa—” Karin let out, stumbling backward as the door suddenly gave way behind her.
“Careful,” Toshiro said with a smirk, catching her by the wrist at the last second and keeping her upright. “For someone so eager to clean, you’re pretty unsteady on your feet.”
“Hitsugaya!” she snapped, her voice sharp with irritation as she realized he’d tricked her, and punched him in the shoulder.
Hard.
Toshiro winced but decided not to push it any further. After all, he was the one messing with her, not the other way around.
“I have to say,” the prefect began, looking around the room, visibly surprised, “this is the largest broom closet I’ve ever seen.” He lowered his wand as he spoke.
Kurosaki just rolled her eyes and shoved him further inside, away from the doorway, before slamming the door shut behind them.
The room looked more like a small classroom than a storage closet. Right in front of him stood a wide wooden desk, cluttered with parchment and writing tools as if someone had just been working there. Along the right wall were several workstations with burners and cauldrons, one of which was still bubbling. A single chair stood almost in the middle of the room like some kind of misplaced island. But what caught Toshiro’s attention most were the shelves and crates of various sizes lining the perimeter, making the space feel smaller than it actually was.
“Wow,” the Ravenclaw murmured, still taking it all in. “Didn’t know Shunsui got Ministry approval to magically expand a supply closet.”
“Mmm.” Kurosaki pressed her lips together. “I wouldn’t say that…”
She moved over to the desk, busying herself with rearranging the scattered parchment.
Hitsugaya’s eyebrow lifted. Unauthorized expansion like this could lead to a whole mess of problems. Legal consequences aside, the room itself could—
A sharp ripple ran across the floor, like something alive had just moved beneath the surface. The floor buckled in a brief wave, forcing Toshiro to throw his arms out to steady himself.
“…Right,” Hitsugaya muttered, looking at her with a kind of resigned disbelief. “What else do you have here that’s illegal, besides the cloak and the space expansion?”
“I’d rather not answer that,” Karin said darkly, dropping into the chair by the desk and burying herself in her notes with theatrical focus.
“Does Shunsui even know what you’ve done here?” he asked, then stopped himself. “No, wait. Of course he does.”
“We made a bet that I’d brew Amortentia in fourth year,” she said innocently, then added with a sly glance over the edge of her parchment, “I won.”
Hitsugaya stepped closer to the desk, trying to draw her attention. In the chaos of scattered notes, he managed to pick out a few familiar base formulas from Potions, but beyond that, the neat lines of Kurosaki’s writing might as well have been a foreign language. They were operating on completely different levels here, and he was clearly out of his depth.
Amid that brilliant mess of parchment, a pack of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans stood out, shoved off into the far corner of the desk like an afterthought.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just register the room?” Toshiro asked, nodding toward the subtly shifting ceiling and the strange ripples along the left wall.
Karin set her work aside with a bit of exaggerated care and crossed her arms again.
“No,” the Gryffindor said, looking at him with mild irritation. “Too much bureaucracy. And if it’s official, there’s no way they’d let a student use it for experiments. The room is safe. Everything’s anchored with spells, so it’s fine. Just… try not to trip over anything.”
Hitsugaya nodded, mentally filing the issue as closed.
Fine.
Kurosaki was still looking at him with an odd expression, so the prefect quickly shifted the subject.
“Did you come here right after the game?” he asked, clearing his throat.
The brunette let out a tired breath, but nodded anyway.
“I don’t understand why the potion didn’t work,” she said at last, a hint of frustration slipping into her voice. “All the formulas check out.”
She tapped the parchment thoughtfully before looking back up at him.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work,” she added more quietly. “You had a rough match. How’s your arm?”
Hitsugaya felt heat creep up his cheeks and down his neck, settling into something warm and steady in his chest.
“I went to the infirmary,” he said, lifting his forearm to show that the deep bruise that had been there earlier was gone.
“Guess it wasn’t like last time,” Kurosaki said with a laugh, clearly remembering the whole Hanataro situation.
Toshiro’s expression turned colder, which only made her laugh harder. He exhaled slowly.
“And it’s fine,” he added, a bit out of sync with the moment. “That the potion didn’t work. We won anyway. And I won’t have to deal with a guilty conscience.”
“Oh please,” Karin shot back, leaning into her chair. “What’s a victory without a little moral conflict?”
“I’ve already had enough of the fact that you basically reorganized my entire team,” he said, rolling his eyes as he paced slowly around the room. “That Cup is just as much yours as it is mine.”
“Pff.” Kurosaki waved him off. “Flattering, but not true.”
Toshiro gave her a challenging look.
“I wonder what next year’s championship is going to look like,” he said thoughtfully, eyeing the lone chair standing in the middle of the room.
“You mean how fast Gryffindor is going to crush Ravenclaw now that I know all your plays and weaknesses?” she asked innocently, inspecting her nails. “Hmm. I’m guessing we’ll be setting new scoring records.”
Hitsugaya glanced at her over his shoulder.
“Then I’ll have to figure out how to distract you.”
Kurosaki straightened a little at that, blinking a couple of times in surprise, suddenly looking a lot like her younger sister.
He cleared his throat awkwardly, realizing he hadn’t said the main thing yet. “By the way… thanks.”
Smiling broadly, the Gryffindor rested her forearms on the desk and propped her cheek on one hand.
“By the way, congratulations.”
Hitsugaya couldn’t stop the smile this time, though he rolled his eyes to try and hide it.
Two of a kind.
“Sometimes you’re unbearable,” he muttered, clearly aiming for neutrality and failing completely.
At last, his attention returned to the lone chair. With a flick of his wand, it began to spin, its edges blurring. When it stopped, a wide blue velvet couch stood in its place.
“Oi!” Kurosaki exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “What are you doing?”
Ignoring her, the prefect flicked his wand again, sliding the newly conjured piece of furniture slightly back and to the side. The placement made no sense in terms of layout, but somehow it looked right there.
After inspecting his work, the white-haired boy gave a satisfied nod, turned on his heel, and dropped onto the right side of the couch, leaning against the low armrest.
“Blue,” Kurosaki said at last, rubbing the bridge of her nose like she was already tired of this.
“What’s wrong with blue?” Toshiro asked, tilting his head.
“I’m a Gryffindor,” she said, lifting her chin. “And this is my room.”
“This is your illegal room,” the prefect corrected.
“Hitsugaya!” Karin snapped.
Toshiro looked up at her, making it clear he was fully prepared to listen to whatever she was about to say. Kurosaki scrunched her nose, as though all her irritation had suddenly run out of steam, and in the end only said, a little more tired than angry:
“Seriously though, I already asked, but Toshiro, what are you doing here at this hour?”
Karin took a couple of steps forward, stopping near the center of the room, and leaned her hip against the edge of the desk.
“That’s… uh… an interesting question,” Toshiro said, frowning as he tried to come up with any reasonable explanation for why he was here.
Pressing her lips together, Karin did her best not to laugh, remembering her sister’s stories about the prefect’s complete lack of talent when it came to improvising even the simplest lie.
“That’s an interesting question…” Toshiro repeated, then sighed, giving up. Nothing remotely convincing came to mind. And he didn’t like lying anyway. “I don’t have an answer. I just… don’t know. For some reason, I ended up here. Like I was being drawn here.”
Kurosaki stopped smiling. She looked at him for a moment, her expression unreadable.
“Hm,” she said at last, offering no comment on what he’d just admitted.
An awkward pause settled between them.
“Didn’t think you had a sweet tooth,” Toshiro said suddenly, glancing somewhere over her shoulder.
“Huh?” Karin frowned, clearly confused, her brows knitting together as though he’d just interrupted something important with a completely pointless question.
“Bertie Bott’s,” Hitsugaya clarified. “I’ve seen that box next to you at least three times now.”
Karin took a moment to process what he meant, then smirked. She turned slightly, reaching behind her to grab the box in question, and gave it a small shake.
“But I’ve never actually seen you eat them,” the prefect added, frowning slightly when she flipped the box over to show it was still closed.
The brunette nodded.
“It’s my personal curse.”
“You mean… one you made? Or…?” Toshiro asked, genuinely confused.
“No,” Karin laughed. “It just means I love the chocolate-flavored ones. And those are exactly the ones I get almost… let me think… never.”
Hitsugaya leaned forward, elbows on his knees, suddenly paying very close attention.
“The last time, a couple months ago, I got one that tasted like dirt,” she said, grimacing. “Unforgettable experience. So now it’s kind of a ritual. I build up the courage and pick one.”
The white-haired boy smirked, one corner of his mouth lifting as he tried to picture it, but the thought was quickly overtaken by a sudden, almost irresistible urge to grab one of the candies and try it immediately.
“Can I?” the prefect asked, holding his hand out.
“What, feeling brave?” she teased, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
“Brave enough to risk one candy,” Toshiro shot back in the same tone.
Laughing, Karin tossed the box into his hands.
“What’s your favorite flavor?” she asked, stepping closer.
“Guess,” Toshiro replied, opening the box and reaching in without looking.
“Oh, no,” Kurosaki groaned, “there are like a million options. We’ll be here until tomorrow. Just tell me,” she added, puffing her cheeks in mock annoyance.
The prefect rolled his eyes and, under her watchful eyes, popped the candy into his mouth.
“Watermelon,” he said.
“Your favorite flavor?” she asked, studying him closely.
Toshiro nodded.
“And this one?” Karin pressed, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Feeling far too pleased with himself, Hitsugaya let the moment stretch a bit.
“This one’s watermelon too.”
Kurosaki’s gray eyes widened in disbelief.
“No way! Lucky you!” she exclaimed, barely hiding the envy in her voice.
The brunette crossed her arms and turned away, pretending to be very interested in the cabinet just to the left of the couch instead of the smug Ravenclaw lounging on it.
“Hey,” the prefect called softly, smiling, “you should try one too.”
Karin turned back to him and folded her arms tightly across her chest.
“No thanks,” she muttered. “I’ll probably get overripe cabbage or a dirty sock again. Ugh.”
With a quiet chuckle, Toshiro shook the box a little.
“Seems I’ve been fortunate so far,” he said. “Want me to pick one for you?”
Kurosaki narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a thoughtful, unreadable look.
Karin hesitated for a long second, then nodded to herself and stepped closer to the empty side of the couch, holding out her hand.
“Go on,” the Gryffindor ordered.
Without a word, Toshiro reached into the box, pulled out another candy, and placed it in her palm. The brunette froze, staring at the colorful piece like it might attack her.
“Scared?” Hitsugaya asked with a smirk.
She clicked her tongue, shot him an annoyed look, then squeezed her eyes shut and popped the candy into her mouth.
“Well?” Toshiro asked, trying to read something from the way her face scrunched up.
Karin’s eyes snapped open like she couldn’t believe it. A second later, once she swallowed, she nearly squealed.
“Chocolate!”
“Told you,” Toshiro said, smiling at her. “So far, so good.”
“Seems that way…” Kurosaki said, her expression shifting from excitement into something more thoughtful.
“Karin, are you—” Hitsugaya started, but didn’t get to finish.
The floor suddenly jerked beneath her feet, the stone rippling like something alive. Caught completely off guard, Karin lost her balance and tipped forward, landing on the couch face-first.
“Hey—” Toshiro leaned forward, steadying her and helping her sit upright. “You okay?”
Blinking rapidly, she looked around, trying to process what had just happened.
“I… yeah. I’m fine,” Karin managed, bracing herself against his arm. “That happens sometimes here. But that’s not what worries me.”
The prefect looked at her more closely.
“What?”
“You said you didn’t know why you ended up here, right?” she asked.
Toshiro nodded, frowning slightly. It sounded ridiculous when you said it out loud.
“Two coincidences with Bertie Bott’s…” Karin muttered, thinking out loud. “And the fact that I decided to check who broke into the classroom this late. I never do that. It’s always Shunsui—” she cut herself off.
A visible ripple ran across the ceiling, the room stirring again, the motion rolling down the opposite wall and spilling onto the floor.
This time, Hitsugaya didn’t even have time to react.
As if in slow motion, he watched the floor buckle beneath the left side of the couch, tipping it sharply. The box of Bertie Bott’s slid off the armrest and Karin with it. She barely had time to gasp before she was thrown forward straight into his arms.
Toshiro caught her on instinct, one arm snapping around her waist as the rest of the room seemed to tilt and settle all at once. Her momentum carried her fully against him, her hands landing on his shoulders, her knee pressing into the cushion beside his thigh.
For a second neither of them moved.
Somewhere behind them, a cascade of objects began to fall. The Bertie Bott’s box slammed into one of the shelves, knocking almost everything off.
“Wha—?” Karin blurted out before she could stop herself, overwhelmed by the rush of emotions and the sudden noise.
They were so, so close that his frosty, minty scent slipped into her senses, pulling her back to that dark alcove where they had hidden from Byakuya.
Toshiro’s fingers tightened unconsciously at her waist, probably wrinkling the blue Ravenclaw-embroidered fabric. Something raw and instinctive stirred inside him. He suddenly felt too hot. All the post-match fatigue evaporated.
Karin was the first to snap back, awkwardly trying to pull herself into a more proper position. Instead, one of her hands slipped off his shoulder, pressing her even closer. Her breath caught completely as she watched his Adam’s apple bob, a sharp swallow that made her ache to reach out, to touch him more now that every boundary of politeness had been quietly swept aside by this absurd turn of events.
The chain reaction unleashed by the candy sent a wave of clutter crashing down. Somewhere in the chaos, an old crate with a magical gramophone popped open. A box of records tumbled from the top shelf, scattering its contents across the floor. Black discs rolled in all directions, except for one, which landed perfectly on the gramophone, pulling the enchanted needle into place.
A slow, romantic melody filled the room, the kind that had been popular among wizards decades ago.
Kurosaki blinked, wide-eyed.
“Oh…” she finally breathed softly, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. She was looking at him again, up close, far too close to pretend this was anything resembling their normal behavior.
Toshiro slowly nodded and swallowed hard again, fighting sudden dryness in his throat. He loosened his grip just enough to give her space, without actually letting her go.
“Still think it didn’t work?” Hitsugaya asked, his voice lower than usual. His mind had already put it together.
Karin didn’t answer right away, unable to look away from his lips, her gaze drifting over his face, searching.
It clicked all at once. His intense gaze hadn’t left any room for doubt.
“Oh, Merlin…” she whispered, still struggling to believe it. “You… ending up here…”
Her grip on his shoulders shifted, steadier now.
“You broke into a closed classroom… during curfew…”
She tried to calm herself, inhaling and exhaling sharply, but only managed a whisper.
“And the beans… twice.”
Toshiro mirrored her without meaning to, letting out a quiet breath that could almost pass for a laugh.
“Yeah… looks like it.”
Neither of them looked away.
“It amplifies whatever matters most, doesn’t it?” she said quietly.
Karin tilted her head slightly, still studying him, gathering the last scraps of courage she had left.
“So,” she murmured at last, watching him closely, “Quidditch wasn’t it?”
He didn’t need to answer. Words had never been his strength, so he let his actions speak instead.
His hands tightened slightly at her waist, and in the drawn-out moment of anticipation, one of them slid upward, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face and tucking it gently behind her ear.
“Oh,” she said, softer this time. Karin’s breath hitched, her body almost humming with the quiet warmth of his touch.
Understanding settled in, slow but certain.
Not the match. Not the Cup.
Her.
A smile spread across Karin’s face. Soft and somehow timid. Her eyelashes fluttered as she turned her gaze away shyly for a second, but found herself looking back at him anyway.
“You’re unbelievable,” she murmured without any bite to it.
The old gramophone continued to play, its soft melody filling the room.
Toshiro’s hand returned to her face, his fingers brushing lightly against her skin before gently cupping her cheek.
This time she didn’t hesitate. She leaned into him, giving in to the feeling, surrendering to his warmth.
“You know,” she said, her smile turning playful, “I’m glad it worked… for more than one reason.”
Hitsugaya let out a soft huff, matching her tone as he pushed himself up slightly on one elbow, closing almost all the distance between them.
“I’ll take all the luck I can get,” he murmured against her lips, pausing for a second, “when it comes to you.”
“Good,” Karin whispered back, finally leaving no space between them.