Chapter Text
The fire crackles in the Gryffindor common room and in its warmth, Koutarou relaxes, sinking deep into a scarlet armchair. It’s late and it’s dark outside, and his body is pleasantly spent from playing quidditch with Kuroo until they could barely see the quaffle anymore.
”Bo?” that very bro says, from where he’s perched in the next armchair.
”Yeah?”
”Do you know who you want to ask to the Yule Ball?”
A grin unfolds on Koutarou’s face, because he does. ”Manon Beaumont,” he says. ”Obviously.”
”Obviously?” Kuroo sits forward and turns to look at him, leaning on the armrest. The flickering flames in the fireplace light up his profile. ”I can’t remember you ever really talking about her.”
Honestly, Koutarou doesn’t know why he has to explain, because it should be totally self-evident, but he does anyway. ”She’s the Beauxbaton tribute and I’m the Hogwarts tribute.”
”That’s it?”
”What do you mean that’s it? It’s a perfect match!”
With an amused huff and a shrug, Kuroo leans back in the deep armchair, disappearing from Koutarou’s view. ”If you say so.”
Koutarou does say so. As he watches the flames dance and eat the logs of birch firewood, its bark blackening and curling in on itself, he thinks of how perfect they’ll look together: him, the strapping Hogwarts tribute and Manon, the graceful Beauxbaton tribute. They’ll look flat out regal.
***
As Koutarou’s feet pound the path at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, all he hears is his own heavy breathing and birdsong. The sun’s out and there’s not a cloud in the bright November sky, the weather’s so mild Koutarou feels like he’d be good in just a t-shirt, but he’s thrown on a hoodie at Kuroo’s recommendation. Sweat runs down his temples as he runs.
In the continuously less distant distance, the Great Lake glitters. Before long, the ground beneath Koutarou’s feet is the rocky beach, and ahead of him, a figure stands gazing out over the water as she swipes a rock back and forth with her foot. She has on a sleek beige trench coat, her brown locks blow in the wind and she’s holding a large golden egg. This must be destiny.
Approaching to Manon Beaumont, Koutarou runs a hand through his hair and puffs his chest out. ”Hey!” he calls out.
She startles before she turns her head towards him—considering the ambience, perhaps Koutarou was being a bit loud—and her pretty light green eyes practically glow in the light of the morning sun. The freckles sprinkled across her button nose are cute.
”Ah,” she says. ”Bonjour, Monsieur Bokuto.”
”Bonjour,” Koutarou matches as he halts in front of her. ”Uh, Madame.”
”Mademoiselle,” she corrects.
”Yeah! Bonjour, Madmaselle.”
She tilts her head back and forth in a gesture of so-so, but she also smiles an amused smile, so Koutarou’s getting an A for effort, right?
”Are you enjoying this fine morning?” he asks, making a large gesture around them at the…well, at the morning in general.
”Yes, it is quite beautiful,” Manon says in heavily accented English. ”A bit crisp for my tastes, perhaps.”
Hmm. Finding something to say has never been an issue for Koutarou, but he’s finding himself at a loss of words. Weird. Maybe the problem is that his chosen topic of conversation was the day, in general. Oh, well! One can always change the topic.
”Does your egg also sound like a cat burning in hellfire?”
A smirk curls Manon’s lips. ”Maybe, maybe not,” she says mysteriously. ”And I quite like cats.”
”Me too!” Koutarou agrees. (He hopes his owl friends know they’re still his number one, though). ”So, did you figure out the clue?”
Manon gazes out over the lake. ”Oui.”
A surprised oh slips out of Koutarou. He hasn’t made any progress on that front. ”Me too,” he lies. One should never reveal one’s weaknesses to one’s opponent. And Manon is very much his opponent, even though he finds her cute.
”Oh, yeah?” she says, as if she doesn’t quite believe him.
”Yeah!” Koutarou affirms with confidence and a grin.
She hums.
Seriously, what is with this not having anything to say? Koutarou wonders, but it’s not like it’s actually a problem. He did come with a pre-planned topic, after all!
Grinning at the girl beside him, he asks, ”How about we go to the Yule Ball together?”
Manon Beaumont stiffens, and her lips part slightly before she pinches them together. ”Oh,” she says awkwardly. ”I am very flattered, Monsieur Bokuto…but I am already going with someone else.”
***
”It’s so unfair,” Koutarou complains, and Iwaizumi gives him a half-hearted pat on the back from where he’s lying.
Koutarou’s perched on the edge of his friend’s bed, in their dorm room, trying to get some empathy from him and Kuroo, who’s offering nothing but the back of his bedhead, having simply rolled away from Koutarou when he pulled the heavy velvet curtains apart. It’s eleven o’clock! Koutarou would bet the Ravenclaws got up and practiced on Sunday mornings, and that’s why Gryffindor lost the Quidditch Cup last year. Because his friends are sleeping slackers.
”Akaashi Keiji, seriously? That feels personal.”
”Why would it be personal?” Iwaizumi grumbles.
”Hello? We lost the Cup to the Ravenclaws!”
It’s seared into his memory like a ghost, all the worse for there being no quidditch this year. The Quaffle going through that damn circle as Kuroo’s fingertips brush it just as Hinata catches the Snitch. Koutarou unable to do a damn thing. The blue team so damn elated. Before the game, Koutarou had really thought they’d found the strategy for beating Ravenclaw’s ridiculous Chaser trio, but…apparently not.
”Yeah, but…what’s that to do with this?”
”The girl I want is going to the Yule Ball with the enemy!”
”I’m not sure I’d call the Ravenclaws our enemies. That was half a year ago, and besides, we won’t be playing them anymore.”
Koutarou reaches his foot out between the beds to poke Kuroo in the back. ”Back me up! Don’t tell me you’re over our loss, too.”
”I didn’t say I was over it,” Iwaizumi protests, bedsheets rustling and moving beneath Koutarou as he pushes himself into a seated position.
Finally deigning to roll over and face them, Kuroo says, in a voice drunk with sleep, ”She’s going with Akaashi Keiji?”
”That’s what I’ve been saying.”
”Huh.” Squeezing his eyes shut, Kuroo pinches the bridge of his nose as he yawns. ”Who asked who?”
”I don’t know,” Koutarou says, leaning back heavily against Iwaizumi’s broad, bare chest. ”But she said she wouldn’t reconsider.”
”You asked her to reconsider?” Iwaizumi asks, aghast, and Koutarou receives a smack to the back of his head. ”That’s really rude.”
”What?” Koutarou waves his hand away. ”You have to shoot your shot! And it would’ve totally worked if it wasn’t for Kuroo.”
”Hey!” Kuroo stops the cackling laughing he’d been occupied with to throw a pillow at Koutarou (the pillow hits Iwaizumi). ”How’s this on me?”
”You told me to start wearing hoodies on my runs! If I’d had my greatest assets on display—” Koutarou flexes his biceps. ”—she’d totally have agreed to go with me.”
Rolling his eyes, Kuroo counters, ”You sure the problem wasn’t how you were red-faced and reeking of sweat?”
”The smell of my sweat is manly and hot,” Koutarou declares, throwing the pillow back at Kuroo’s face.
His mates respond with head shakes and grimaces.
”Whatever! Maybe not to you guys, but it’s not like what you two think is what matters here.”
Kuroo snorts, ”Even if she somehow wasn’t put off by your odor, don’t you think her turning you down might’ve had—oh, I don’t know—a little something to do with that she’s already going with Akaashi Keiji?”
”Right…” Koutarou pouts. The ball was announced only two days ago, so it was seriously unlucky that Manon had already agreed to go with someone else. But Koutarou’s not an unlucky guy, he’s a lucky guy. There has to be a way around this little hurdle. Wait—”Hey! Maybe Akaashi would reconsider!”
”What?” Iwaizumi says, voice dripping with exasperation.
Kuroo quirks an eyebrow.
”I mean, if I explain to him why it makes so much sense for me to go with her, how it’d be iconic and a super good look for our school, then maybe he’ll see sense.”
”What sense is there to see?” Iwaizumi questions flatly. Such a negative guy.
”Go for it, Bo,” says Kuroo.
That’s my guy, Koutarou thinks. ”I will,” he says, and stands. ”Maybe I could play up the fact that we’re quidditch friends, maybe then he’ll be more inclined to do me a solid.”
”I thought he was your quidditch enemy,” Iwaizumi sighs, bringing a hand to cover his face.
”The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
”That does not fucking fit this context!”
But Koutarou’s already striding out the door.
”Good luck, bro!” is the last thing he hears before the slab of oak closes behind him with a thunk.
As Koutarou leans against the balustrade, waiting for a staircase to move to him, he asks himself, Where would one find Akaashi Keiji? He racks his brain, but aside from on the quidditch pitch or in the Great Hall, he can’t recall anywhere he’s seen him much. Should he wait for lunch? Nah.
When the staircase finally arrives, Koutarou starts to climb his way to Ravenclaw Tower. He’s always happy to climb some stairs! Keeps him in shape! One time, a portrait of a thirteenth century witch even told him he was the fastest climber of stairs Hogwarts had ever seen. It was a big moment for him.
So obviously, Koutarou’s outside the Ravenclaw common room in a jiffy, standing in front of the door without a doorknob. The eagle knocker asks him a riddle, and while he wasn’t planning on trying to get inside, he mulls over it as he waits for somebody to go in or out.
After some time, a group of first year girls come trudging up the spiral staircase.
”Hey, hey!” Koutarou greets, and all their eyes go wide as saucers. ”Does any of you guys know where I might find Akaashi Keiji?”
They blink at him with their eyes, which look so big in their small heads, but say nothing, so Koutarou goes on. ”He’s a sixth year, prefect, on the quidditch team, dark hair, good-looking…” Koutarou makes a gesture around the middle of his forehead. ”About this tall.”
One of the girls, a red-head with braids, swallows and says seriously, ”We know who he is, but we do not know where he is.”
Then they all file past him to the knocker and the red-head answers the riddle. ”A bat.” Of course! The door swings open and Koutarou catches a glimpse of the blue-themed common room.
Continuing his wait outside, Koutarou learns quite a few cool riddles. However, he doesn’t have any luck with getting a hint of where Akaashi Keiji might be. After one guy he asks completely ignores him, his stomach rumbles and he decides to go see if lunch has started by now. He can continue this endeavor when his belly is full!
He starts to jog down the spiral staircase, only to run headfirst into a solid body. For a precarious moment, they grasp at each other and the railing in order to not fall down the stairs. Once Koutarou’s steady on his feet again, he notices that the person with a borderline painful hold on his forearm is Oikawa Tooru. Which is perfect.
”What brings you to the Ravenclaw Tower, Bokuto-san?”
”Hey!” Koutarou flashes a grin. ”I’m looking for Akaashi Keiji, your teammate! Do you know where he is?”
Oikawa narrows his big brown eyes. ”What do you want with Keiji?”
”I just…” Koutarou has a feeling this is not the time for the whole truth. ”…want to talk to him.”
Leaning into Koutarou and fixing him with an intense stare, Oikawa inquires, ”About what?”
”I, uh, have a question.”
”What question?”
”Look,” Koutarou says, rubbing at the back of his head. "I just, uh, want to ask him something.”
”Oh.” Oikawa blinks. Then there’s suddenly, and for some reason Koutarou doesn’t understand, an amused smirk on his face. ”He’s in the library. In the very back, in the Alchemy Section, probably. That’s where he always gets a seat.” Placing his hands on Koutarou’s shoulders, Oikawa reverses their positions and all but starts pushing Koutarou down the stairs. ”Tell him Oikawa-san will be deeply disappointed with him if he forgets lunch again!”
As he walks through the labyrinth of dark wood shelves and dusty old books, Koutarou thinks he might get lost. If Akaashi Keiji spends lots of his time in the library, it’s really no wonder Koutarou doesn’t see him around much. It’s too creepily quiet there, although the smell of books is pretty nice. Is there such a thing as old book perfu—
Ah—There it is! The promised land of the Alchemy Section.
And, as promised, sat in the very back pouring over a huge book with such thin pages they only barely exist, is Akaashi Keiji.
”Hey!” Koutarou calls.
Several students emerge from their books to shoot him dirty looks—right, library etiquette—but when Akaashi looks up, he just looks surprised. That look of surprise grows as Koutarou walks over to him and pulls out a chair, its legs scraping against the floor.
”Um, hello, Bokuto-san,” the Ravenclaw Chaser says when Koutarou plops down next to him.
”Hey,” Koutarou whispers, having caught on now.
He waits for Akaashi to ask him what he’s doing there, but the other boy just looks at him, then down at his book, then up at him again, so Koutarou figures he should just go on. ”Whatcha reading?”
Akaashi blinks. ”What?”
”This big book.” Koutarou raises the corners of the pages with his finger and releases them as if he were shuffling a deck of cards. The writing on them in miniscule.
”Oh, uh.” Akaashi rapidly taps his fingers against the book. ”It’s about dragons in ancient China.”
”Cool! I’m taking Care of Magical Creatures, too.”
”Oh, I’m not taking that, I’m…” Akaashi tucks lock of hair behind his ear. ”I’m just interested.”
”You read books this big for fun?”
”Uh, yes…” Akaashi starts picking at the skin around him thumbnail and Koutarou gets the urge to grab his hands and get them away from each other. ”Is that weird?”
”No!” Koutarou protests, much too loudly. ”No,” he repeats in a more hushed voice. ”It’s awesome.”
”Really?”
Koutarou nods emphatically, because that’s like a superpower, isn’t it? Akaashi must know many things. ”Any cool dragons in there?”
”Um.” Akaashi goes back about fifty pages with such speed it feels like the frail pages should be in danger of breaking. ”I don’t know about cool, but…” He flashes Koutarou a small, super quick smile. ”This was a story I liked.”
Patiently, Koutarou waits, but Akaashi doesn’t go on. ”Okay? What’s the story?”
”You would like to hear the story?”
”Yes.” Why wouldn’t Koutarou want to hear a story about dragons in days of old? Maybe there’ll be a hero! ”I love stories.”
”Um.” Akaashi sucks in a breath. ”All right, then…
”There was once a snowy white dragon and apparently it shone like the moon. This dragon would sleep every day of the year, except for one, except the day of the Winter Solstice, and it lived—mostly slept—inside a big mountain. At the foot of this mountain there was a village, and throughout the year the villagers would go to the dragon to pray and leave it offerings. Their name for it was Our Own Moon. During their biggest holiday, however, they’d travel far away from the dragon, to the other side of a great lake where there was another mountain. From caves in this mountain, they’d watch as the dragon emerged from its lair—for the holiday was the Winter Solstice—and watch as it hunted for sustenance. As it breathed fire when it found its prey. And it was said that this dragon had the most beautiful fire…like fireworks.”
Akaashi tucks that same lock of shining back hair behind his ear again. ”I’m sorry, that was rather long-winded. Anyhow, I think that story’s rather nice.”
”Totally nice!” Once again, Koutarou’s being too loud. ”It could’ve totally been longer,” he whispers, because he means it. Besides, Akaashi has a super nice storytelling voice that Koutarou thinks would be really nice to fall asleep to. Or stay awake to. ”You know,” Koutarou continues, leaning in to tell Akaashi something he’s supposed to not tell people. ”We got to pet one of the dragons after the First Task. The Welsh Green.”
Akaashi’s eyes widen. (They’re really nice, by the way, dark blue with long, very black lashes). ”You did? What was it like?”
”It was awesome! Totally gave me a kick!” The dragon and Koutarou had totally bonded; it liked him. When he petted it, it purred. The dragon trainer might’ve said it was a growl, but Koutarou heard what he heard. ”The texture of the scales felt sort of like a turtle shell,” he continues. ”And they were surprisingly cold, you know, what with all the fire and stuff.”
”Yes, that is rather counterintuitive,” Akaashi says, with a short and quiet chuckle as he picks up his quill and twirls it between his fingers. ”Um, you did very well in the First Task.”
”Aww!” Koutarou claps a hand onto Akaashi’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. ”Thank you!”
”Bokuto-san,” Akaashi admonishes and makes a rather frantic hushing sound; but there’s a hint of a smile in his eyes and on his lips. ”This is a library.”
Sorry, Koutarou mouths, holding his hands up in surrender.
Shaking his head, Akaashi snorts with amusement. Then his brows furrow slightly. ”Um, Bokuto-san, how come you sat down here with me?”
Oh, right! All this talk of dragons has been distracting Koutarou from his mission!
”Oikawa told me you’d be here.” Koutarou nudges Akaashi with his elbow. ”He also said he’d be mad if you miss another meal. You shouldn’t do that! Food makes you strong!”
Akaashi smiles a little smile. ”Alright, I’ll make sure to go to lunch. But, um…you were looking for me?”
Koutarou puts on his most winning and charming smile. ”Yeah.”
”Oh.” Akaashi blinks his pretty eyes. ”May I ask…why?”
Alright. Here goes nothing. Koutarou has a good feeling about this. Him and Akaashi have had a pretty good time just now, haven’t they? The guy seems cool. And if Koutarou finds him cool, then why wouldn’t he feel the same way towards Koutarou? You know?
”I heard you were going to the Yule Ball with Manon Beaumont.”
”Um, yes?” Picking up his quill, Akaashi starts making little scribbles in his notebook; he doesn’t seem to have enough ink in it, though, and only every other line he draws actually becomes a line. ”I mean, I am.”
”Could you maybe…” Koutarou scratches the back of his head and turns up the volume on his smile. ”…not?”
Eyes going huge, Akaashi looks like a deer in headlights. Beyond confused. A bit more of a reaction than Koutarou was expecting, but he will admit he’s being a bit unorthodox, so he supposes it’s understandable.
”What?” the Ravenclaw finally manages, voice breathy.
Koutarou huffs a chuckle. Confused is kind of a good look on Akaashi, he will say. Kind of adorable.
”Isn’t there maybe, possibly someone else you think you’d enjoy going with?”
Akaashi’s lips part in surprise and rosy pink comes to dust his cheekbones. Clearly this topic is very flustering to him. Like, seriously flustering. Like, to the point where he’s unable to speak and just opens and closes his mouth like a fish. Geez.
”I’ve just been thinking,” Koutarou says, deciding he’ll ask quickly. Put they guy out of his misery. ”Wouldn’t it be so cool if the Hogwarts and Beauxbaton tributes went together? I mean, I think everyone would think it was awesome!”
Slowly, Akaashi tilts his head to the side. ”Are you…” His brows knit together. ”…asking me not to take Manon to the ball so that you can?”
”Uh…yeah?” Koutarou tries for another smile, but it’s difficult to conjure because Akaashi’s looking at him as if that’s really not a good thing to be asking. ”Uh, would you?”
”Would I?” Akaashi blurts, a baffled look on his face.
”You know!” Koutarou rushes, and jumps into the same pitch he gave Manon as for why it’s a great idea.
He doesn’t get far into it. Because Akaashi starts rapidly packing up his things, slamming the book shut entirely without library etiquette and spilling ink as he get his quill in its case. He stands up, and the backs of his knees have the chair flying backwards and making an even nastier screeching sound than Koutarou made when he sat down.
”No, Bokuto-san, I will not do that.” His narrowed eyes are focused on the table, where his fingers are gripping the edge of the carved walnut desktop. ”I cannot believe you pretended to be nice to me just ask me that, it was quite rude of you,” he says angrily, before shouldering his bag and storming off.
Left to face the staring eyes of every student in the Alchemy Section, Koutarou mutters under his breath, ”What’s his problem?”
***
Iwaizumi loads another generous piece of fluffy strawberry cake onto Koutarou’s plate.
”Come on, Bo, talk to us,” Kuroo cajoles.
Koutarou groans.
It’s dinnertime in the Great Hall, the stars are out in the ceiling above and countless candles hanging in the air illuminate the vast room. But the cake tastes like paper.
All Koutarou had done was ask Akaashi Keiji a question! All he had to do was say no! There was no fucking need to get all angry and look at Koutarou as if he was contemptible and storm off. They’d been having a good time, hadn’t they? And anyway, Akaashi had won, hadn’t he? He’s going to the Yule Ball with the most popular girl at Hogwarts this year, so what did he have to be upset about? So unfair.
”You’ll find someone else to go with,” Kuroo says, throwing an arm around Koutarou’s shoulders.
”I know that!” Koutarou snaps, and throws it off. ”I just don’t get why he had to be so…harsh about it.”
Iwaizumi snorts. ”I’d say it was pretty warranted.”
As Kuroo takes a big gulp of water, Koutarou waits, but then his bro just says, ”Yeah, Bo, I’ve gotta side with Iwa on this one.”
”Hey!” Koutarou protests around a mouthful of cake. ”You told me to go for it! And all I did was ask a que—”
Something cold and wet hits the top of Koutarou’s head and drips down his face and into the neck of his shirt, making him shiver. A exaggerated gasp comes from behind him, and Koutarou turns around in his seat to find Oikawa Tooru standing over him with a hand on his heart. A sarcastic hand.
”Oh my god, I’m so clumsy!” He stares daggers at Koutarou. ”Sorry,” he says in a lilting, saccharine voice, before he keeps walking down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
Looking down at his robes, Koutarou finds them wet and dripping with orange liquid. ”What the fuck?” he exclaims.
Kuroo clutches his stomach, hunched in on himself as he laughs, and a lopsided amused grin has gotten a grip on Iwaizumi’s lips.
”This is not funny, you assholes!” A piece of cake still attached to it, Koutarou points his dessert fork at them. ”You’re supposed to be my mates.”
”Come on, Bo,” Iwaizumi says in a calm, meant-to-be-placating tone. ”You sort of deserved that.
His tone isn’t doing it for Koutarou.
”It was a physical attack!”
”It was pumpkin juice.” Iwaizumi pulls out his wand and points it at Koutarou. ”Tergeo,” he says, and Koutarou’s suddenly clean. ”And now there’s nothing.”
Whatever, Koutarou thinks. If no one’s going to be on his side, then he doesn’t need to be here. He gets up and jumps out from the bench, and when his bros call after him, he just ignores them. Right now, he’d like to be with people who are nice to him. Like owls. Owls are always super nice and cool.
He’s almost out of the Great Hall, owls putting a spring in his step, when he spots them. At the very end of the Ravenclaw table.
Akaashi Keiji and Manon Beaumont are sitting across from each other, playing Exploding Snap. She’s twirling a lock of hair around her finger and smiling an awfully warm smile, and he’s turning over a card with his long fingers and a blank look on his face. If he has to go to the ball with Manon, then he could at least be enthusiastic about it!
Look, Koutarou was really aiming for the Owlery, he swears, but he finds himself walking up to the two of them, standing at the short side of the table, slamming his hands down onto it and saying, ”I challenge you!”
With two heads slowly turning to him, perplexed looks on their faces, Koutarou feels suddenly flustered and restless. Like maybe this wasn’t the best course of action. Like maybe he should’ve explored this idea further than Exploding Snap is my favorite card game. But here he is. Nothing to do but double down.
”Pardon?” Manon asks in French, lifting an eyebrow in an acutely pointed way.
But whatever. Koutarou doesn’t know what the hell that means and he was talking to Akaashi, anyway. ”To a game of Exploding Snap,” he clarifies.
Posture drooping, Akaashi doesn’t look so mad anymore, he just looks tired. And as he takes in Koutarou, there are legions of wariness in his deep ocean eyes. ”Me?” he asks.
Koutarou swallows. It’s not like he wants to make Akaashi’s day worse. Not when he’s already done it once. Not when Akaashi looks like that. ”Yeah, you,” he says, anyway.
Akaashi Keiji sighs. He gives his head a little shake and closes his eyes for a second before opening them again and looking straight at Koutarou. That shade of blue is insane, actually. ”Okay, Bokuto-san,” he says levelly. "We can play Exploding Snap.”