"Harry...?" The girl asked with wide (E/C) eyes. The Gryffindor felt his heart skip a beat when (Y/N) spoke his name - it's been so long since he heard her say his name. Merlin, he missed her so much.

(Y/N) fully faced Harry and lifted her hand to cover her mouth in shock, revealing the ring that she wore for over five years. Harry saw the ring in her finger and smiled; she was still wearing it.

She remembers him.

Without saying anything, Harry lifted his hand where he wore the ring in his finger for (Y/N) to see. With a small gasp escaping her lips, she grinned. "It really is you!" She exclaimed happily and pulled the black haired boy into a hug.

"Oh my god, I missed you so much!" (Y/N) said with a laugh and almost began to tear up. She didn't want to be too dramatic when she's finally reunited with her old best friend. Harry returned the hug tightly and closed his eyes with a wide smile. Oh, how he missed her laugh, her scent, her smile, her eyes.

Oh, how he missed her.

The girl retracted from the hug and scanned the boy up and down. "Look at you - looking all handsome!" She joked and playfully smacked his arm. Harry lightly chuckled with a small blush invading his cheeks. He didn't know how to talk to (Y/N), he just went up to her because he wanted to see her again.

(Y/N) didn't want to deny - Harry did look more handsome now. He still has his messy black hair, his green eyes, and his round glasses but his masculine features were more prominent now that he's older. He's also grown taller than the girl in front of him.

"You're in Gryffindor, huh?" She asked as her eyes drifted down to the red colored hood of Harry's robe.

"Uh... yeah." Harry nodded and frowned. "You're in Hufflepuff." He said and turned to look at Cedric Diggory, who was still waiting for the girl by the door. Harry's eyebrows narrowed angrily at the boy but immediately returned his happy expression back when (Y/N) chuckled.

"Really, I didn't expect you to be a wizard." She said. "Then again, I guess I should've known that you were one because you did a lot of weird stuff when you were still at St. Grogory's."

"Same here. What a coincidence, huh?" Harry smiled down at the Hufflepuff, who returned the smile with a grin.

"When did you come-"

"Tachibana!" Harry was interrupted by Cedric, who was still by the door. The two of them turned to look around and noticed that she, Harry, and Cedric were the only students left in the Great Hall. Apart from Filch and some professors, who were just tidying up.

(Y/N) waved at Cedric and turned to look at Harry. "Sorry, Harry. Maybe we should catch up tomorrow? It's late, after all." She said. Harry paused and silently cursed at the male Hufflepuff at the door before nodding at the girl with a weak smile.

"Alright. Don't forget to come by at the Gryffindor table, alright?" Harry told (Y/N), who nodded and briefly patted his shoulder.

"Good night, Harry! I'll see you tomorrow." She said before marching up at Cedric. The girl apologized at the sixth year boy, who only chuckled before the two Hufflepuffs walked off to their common room, which was in the kitchens of the castle.

Harry watched as (Y/N) followed Cedric, his lips curling down to an angry frown. He felt his eye twitch in anger but he immediately calmed himself down as he took a deep breath and shook his head.

He was the only student left in the Great Hall. He should go back to the Gryffindor common room before Ron gets worried.

'I shouldn't worry... I'm sure (Y/N) will only prioritize me while she's here at Hogwarts.' Harry reassured himself as he walked out of the Great Hall and back to his common room. 'I'm her best friend, after all.'

»»-----　♡　-----««

(Y/N) walked beside the brown haired boy awkwardly. She didn't know any conversation topics to lift the awkward atmosphere, even though Cedric didn't look too bothered about the lack of communication between the two of them.

The girl cleared her throat and looked at him. "What year are you in, Cedric?" She asked, making the boy turn to look at her.

"I'm in my sixth year." He said. (Y/N)'s eyes widened as she stopped and bowed down to respect her upperclassman.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were older than me!" She exclaimed. Cedric only looked at her and chuckled, finding the girl's flustered look to be funny.

"Don't worry about it, Tachibana. You don't have to bow down to every older student you meet - we don't do that here in Hogwarts." He assured the girl with a smile. As (Y/N) stopped bowing, she paused while staring at Cedric for a few seconds before nodding weakly.

"I understand. I'm sorry, I keep acting like I'm still in Mato." She apologized before the two Hufflepuffs continued walking back to their common room. "I haven't been in any wizarding schools here in England before."

"I could help you get used around the school if you want. I'm the Hufflepuff prefect, after all." Cedric told (Y/N). "I'm also the Hufflepuff Quidditch team's captain. Well, if you're interested in-"

"You play Quidditch!?" (Y/N) exclaimed happily and looked up at the dark haired boy, her (E/C) eyes twinkling in admiration. "I play Quidditch too! Chaser position!"

"A chaser, huh?" Cedric lightly chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm. He didn't expect her to play Quidditch at all, but he liked how her eyes twinkled when he mentioned the game. "You look more like a keeper to me."

"Keeper's an okay position, I just don't like having to wait around the ring and watch others do their thing." (Y/N) said with a shrug. "I prefer just... y'know, having to score for your team and just zooming through the field while trying to avoid bludgers and other chasers! It gives me thrill!"

"What position do you play, Cedric?" She asked while trying to contain her excitement. Cedric being a Quidditch captain made her more excited - she liked talking to captains because she knows that Quidditch captains are just as enthusiastic as she is when it comes to the game.

"Me? I'm a seeker." Cedric replied and remembered a certain black haired Gryffindor who played the same position as he does in his own team. "Oh, the boy you talked to earlier. It's Harry Potter, right?"

"Yeah." (Y/N) nodded. "He's my childhood friend. I didn't expect him to be in Hogwarts but I guess it's nice that we're reunited."

"Ah, I see." Cedric hummed and didn't ask for any further information about the famous boy. "He's a seeker too. Well, for the Gryffindor Quidditch team anyway."

"Really!?" The girl exclaimed once more. She didn't expect Harry to play Quidditch as well - the coincidences today just seemed too odd but nice. "I did not expect that! Wow, that's... nice! Maybe I can get to play with him next year!"

"Oh, speaking of Quidditch, do you have any available chaser positions in your team? I could sign up!" said (Y/N) while praying desperately inside her mind that there are available positions for chaser in Hufflepuff.

"As a matter of fact, there is." said Cedric, causing the girl to squeal happily. "How about I introduce you to the other players tomorrow at breakfast? I could ask Professor Sprout to reserve the Quidditch field for a day to test you and a few other newcomers to play for the team."

"That's great but would that be alright? I mean, there won't be any Quidditch matches this year because of the tournament, right?" (Y/N) asked worriedly.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to get new members this early. Our previous chasers already graduated and the rest of our players are still in their fifth or sixth year. I'm sure Professor Sprout and Professor Hooch wouldn't mind, especially since the rest of the houses probably won't even bother doing Quidditch tryouts this year." Cedric replied, which made the girl smile warmly at his response.

"I'll take your word for it then." She chuckled. The two Hufflepuffs continued their way towards the kitchen of the castle, greeting to some of the house elves that were working there.

"You'd better be careful with tapping the wrong barrels; you don't want to be drenched in vinegar." Cedric told the girl before facing the barrels that covered the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room. "Two from the bottom... Middle of the second row to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff's name."

(Y/N) watched in awe as the barrels moved out of their way to reveal the warm and home-y atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room. "Five syllables in rhythm to these barrels, Tachibana. Do you get it or should I explain it again to you?" Cedric asked, snapping the girl out of her daze.

(Y/N) nodded, smiling up at him. "No, I get it. Thank you so much again for helping me and all that." She said with a bow to respect the dark haired boy. Cedric waved his hand in dismissal and asked her to raise her head.

"It's no problem, really. Tell me if you need anything else, alright?" The boy flashed her a gentle smile, causing (Y/N) to blush softly and nod silently. She never really realized how handsome Cedric actually was until now, she was too caught up with her enthusiasm and excitement for Quidditch.

As the two went inside, Cedric gestured towards a flight of stairs that led to the girls' dorm and warned her that girls cannot enter the boys' dorms and vice versa, or else the stairs would transform into a slide.

(Y/N) said goodbye to Cedric, making sure to thank him again before walking up to the stairs with a smile.

Maybe things won't be so bad while she's in Hogwarts after all. She could start fitting in with everyone else in her house by tomorrow.

»»-----　♡　-----««

As morning came by, (Y/N) almost immediately rose up from her bed when she saw the sun rising up from her room that she shared with other female Hufflepuffs.

The (H/C) haired girl yawned and saw that everybody else was still asleep. She always had the habit of waking up as early as 6:30 AM as the head of every Mato houses woke students up at exactly 7 AM in the morning for breakfast.

Since most of the students didn't want to deal with a professor having to wake them up every morning, they forced themselves to sleep early and wake up just before 7 AM.

Although the head of the Yosamu house was more lenient towards its students when it came to waking them up, it wasn't the same for the others. Shunrai students never fail to wish that their head of their house was as lenient towards them when it came to waking them up everyday.

As (Y/N) took a shower and immediately changed her clothes into her Hogwarts uniform, she suddenly remembered how much she missed wearing her Mato uniform and her golden robe that she worked hard to achieve.

(Y/N) shook her head at the memory and told herself that she's in Hogwarts now. Yes, she missed Mato but she needed to move on from her previous school and focus more on her current school so she may also receive good grades and excel in her studies.

She glanced over at her Hufflepuff robe that was neatly folded on the chair next to her nightstand, thinking that she probably wouldn't need to wear it right away since classes won't be starting for the next hour.

It was also then that her roommates finally woke up from their beauty sleep, making (Y/N) greet them 'good morning', to which they returned with a yawn.

(Y/N) climbed down the stairs of the female dorms and saw that only three or four people were in the common room. She didn't find it too odd - it was early, after all.

Suddenly, she felt a poke on her shoulder, making her turn around to see who wanted her attention. "Oh, Cedric." She said with a smile. "Good morning." She greeted.

"Good morning." He greeted back while combing his slightly messy dark hair with his long fingers. "I didn't expect you to be up this early."

"I needed to wake up early when I was in Mato or else I would've faced consequences from my teachers." (Y/N) replied with a chuckle. Cedric chuckled back and thought about how strict the wizarding school in Japan must be for students to start their classes this early in the morning.

"Since you're here, do you want to come with me to the Great Hall while waiting for the other members of the Quidditch team to come?" asked Cedric.

"Sure," (Y/N) nodded and followed the dark haired boy out of the Hufflepuff common room.

As the two Hufflepuffs passed through the kitchen and greeted some of the house elves, they were surprised to see a certain black haired Gryffindor standing outside of the doorway of the kitchen.

"Harry?" (Y/N) quirked her eyebrow up in confusion and stopped on her tracks when she saw Harry leaning by a wall with his eyes casted downwards to the floor.

Harry's ears perked up when he heard his childhood friend mention his name, a smile curling up on his lips but his happiness immediately plummeted down to the ground once his eyes caught the sight of Cedric Diggory, who also looked at him in confusion.

Harry never went down to the kitchens near the Hufflepuff common room before.

The Gryffindor felt his bad mood rising as his green eyes slightly narrowed in anger and envy. Why was (Y/N) following Cedric out of the common room? Were they close?

He saw the Marauder's Map before he left - (Y/N) should've been leaving alone.

"Good morning. What are you doing here?" (Y/N) asked while walking closer towards Harry, whose expression shifted almost immediately when he saw her walking up to him.

"I was um... waiting for you." Harry replied while briefly glancing at Cedric spitefully from behind her. "I thought we could have breakfast together."

"Oh," (Y/N) blinked and smiled apologetically at the Gryffindor. "I'm sorry, Harry. But I already told Cedric I'll sit with him to meet the other players in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team."

"I see." said Harry, forcing up a smile while trying to contain his envy towards the sixth year boy behind (Y/N). "Um... do you think you can come and sit by the Gryffindor table during lunch then?"

"Yeah, I can do that." The girl nodded. "If you want, you can come with us to the Great Hall. We're just about to go there anyway."

Harry immediately shook his head and laughed nervously. He probably wouldn't restrain himself from giving Cedric a death glare if he came. "N-No, it's fine. I'll just..." He paused, staring at (Y/N)'s confused but smiling face for a moment. "I'll wait for my friends..."

"Are you sure?" (Y/N) insisted since she noticed that Harry looked like he was forcing himself to speak up.

"Yeah... Don't worry." The Gryffindor reassured the girl, who hummed and walked back to where Cedric was waiting. She waved the Gryffindor boy goodbye and walked off with Cedric, their figures slowly disappearing from the halls as Harry watched them leave.

He tightened his fists and bit his lip in anger. He just saw her again and someone's already trying to get her attention away from him.

Couldn't he just be with her for the rest of the day without anyone interrupting them? He had so much he wanted to talk about with her.

Then again, it's the Cedric Diggory that's taking her attention away. He's probably the most popular boy in Hogwarts besides Harry due to his handsome, chiseled face and exceptional academic achievements. He wasn't as smart as Hermione or Draco of course, but he was one of the top.

Harry hated the idea that (Y/N) was already smitten with him on the very first day of school. Many girls liked Cedric after all. He waited for her to come back all these years and this is what he gets?

However, he reminded himself to be patient. There's no use being angry now - he'll always have the chance to talk to her.  

Doesn't matter if he has to create a chance. He just wants (Y/N) to be there with him now that she's back.

»»-----　♡　-----««

wc: 2,816