Chapter Text
Diagon Alley was just as Tsuge remembered it. Too crowded and too narrow but one thing that wasn’t the same was the two Hufflepuffs that accompanied him on his quest to get books, quills and other essentials for the new year.
The three of them chatted as they made their way to Flourish and Blotts. Tsuge tried to pay attention to the conversation but he was too caught up thinking about what new quill he could get with the extra money his mother had given him. The chime rang as they entered the store and made their way to the Year 2 corner. Adachi was completely enraptured with the Herbology section while Fujisaki ran her hand over the the spines of the Charms textbooks.
Dust danced along the sunbeams shining through the high windows as they wordlessly got lost in their own minds. Although the store was busy, there was a calm enveloping it. Tsuge pulled a Potions book off of the shelf and took a moment to read the title. Next year promises to be-
Suddenly, there was a commotion near the Year 1 textbooks. Tsuge rolled his eyes as he caught sight of two boys teasing each other. Kids these days.
One of them even appeared to have dyed their hair blonde. There was no way Hogwarts would allow that. The other one couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself and was tickling the other boy into a fit of laughter. There’s no way they would let ruffians like that into Ravenclaw. I’ll never be able to read in the common room again. Although, for Adachi’s sake, I hope they aren’t Hufflepuff either.
He took one more moment to silently judge the other boys before going back to the textbook in his hand. After getting their books, they made their way over to the stationary section. Adachi was excited to look over the sketching materials as he hoped to add more detail to his drawings in Herbology the coming year. Fujisaki asked Adachi questions about the differences between the wide range of drawing tools. The Hufflepuff excitedly told Fujisaki all she wanted to know and more. Tsuge admired Adachi’s drawing skills and absentmindedly wondered if one day Adachi would want to draw the cover to his book.
After spending way too long debating what materials to buy, they made their way over to the Leaking Cauldron for lunch. It also happened to be where their moms had promised to wait for them. Tsuge slightly dreaded what horrible stories his mother had been sharing in their absence.
Thankfully, all they wanted to do was talk about was how different the textbooks were compared to when they had gone to Hogwarts and compliment Fujisaki on her haircut. Tsuge let out an internal sigh as he readjusted his glasses. He had nothing to add to the conversation and waited mildly impatiently for it to be over.
“Fujisaki got a haircut?” Adachi whispered to him.
The Ravenclaw took a moment to look at Fujisaki’s hair. “I suppose.” It didn’t really matter to him either way. He wasn’t trying to be rude, it just wasn’t something that interested him.
Adachi furrowed his brows and he mumbled to himself, “I need to pay more attention.”
They all sat down and ordered lunch. The conversation flowed naturally until Fujisaki’s mom asked whether Kurosawa would be joining them. Adachi shoulders sagged and his expression became pained even though it was obvious he was trying to hide it.
Tsuge knew Kurosawa had only sent two letters the whole summer. Both Fujisaki and he had stayed the night at Adachi’s house and Kurosawa was always strangely absent. Tsuge could see how awkward the question made Adachi, so he had stopped asking where the Gryffindor was. It didn’t seem like they had fought or anything, more that Kurosawa was incredibly busy but it still hurt the sensitive Hufflepuff all the same. However, if there was truly anything he could help with, he trusted Adachi would share in his own time.
Fujisaki beamed as she directed the curious stares towards herself and away from Adachi. “His family has been quite busy over the summer but we’re really looking forward to seeing him at Hogwarts soon. Aren’t we?”
Tsuge was once again grateful for how elegantly Fujisaki could manipulate a situation to make it less awkward. He nodded and said, “Hopefully he’ll have some new flying stories to tell us.” It was enough to shift the conversation to flying and Adachi’s body loosened beside him.
They ate their sandwiches and shared together what they thought the new school year would bring as their moms reminisced about their own. Eventually it was time to part one last time before they would all meet again on the Hogwarts Express. Adachi gave Fujisaki and him a hug. Tsuge hoped his own arms weren’t too stiff. He wasn’t used to the physical contact but that didn’t mean he was adverse to it.
Later, as Tsuge twirled the new quill between his fingers in bed, he tried to think of the right words to capture the feeling he had seen reflected in Adachi’s eyes when Kurosawa had been mentioned. Tsuge didn’t fault his friend, but he never wanted to be so desperate to see another person that it looked like one wrong word could shatter him. If I get lonely, I’ll get a cat.
He drifted off to sleep dreaming of whiskers and a long fluffy tail.