'Well, this is kinda awkward...' (Y/N) thought to herself as she was sitting right between Hermione and Harry, with Ron sitting across the three with a book propped open laying on his leg. 

The Hufflepuff stole a quick glance at Hermione's face, which seemed to be a bit unamused at the fact that someone besides a Gryffindor was at the Gryffindor common room. Apparently, it's a rare occurrence for students from different houses to visit other houses' common rooms.

Harry being late from their study session with Hermione was bad enough. Bringing a Hufflepuff to the Gryffindor common room most likely would've made her peeved, especially since it's the same Hufflepuff who was making her best friend act weird all of a sudden. 

It even took Harry a while to convince the lady on the portrait to let her in just for a quick study companion with him, Ron, and Hermione.

Of course, the lady on the portrait knowing how persistent the black haired boy can be, decided to not waste anymore energy on arguing with him. Besides, she was tired from visiting her friends who lived in different paintings in Hogwarts - the least troublemaker she wanted to argue with was Harry.

'Maybe I should try striking up a conversation. The awkward silence is really unsettling...' thought (Y/N) with a silent gulp. Summoning the courage within herself to talk to either one of them, she pulls up a weak smile and glances down at the book Hermione was reading.

"S-So, um..." (Y/N) stuttered. "What are you all studying at the moment?" 

Hermione's eyes quickly shifted over towards (Y/N)'s face when she was a bit taken back about how she was the first to strike up a conversation. To her, nonetheless. 

Clearing her throat, Hermione answered. "I'm currently studying for Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes." She brought her eyes back down to her large book. "As of right now though, I need to focus more on Arithmancy. I feel like I've been held back due to the amount of homework Professor Snape had given us this week."

"Oh," is all what (Y/N) could say. She did hear from Harry that Hermione was very devoted to her school works and that she was easily the brightest witch of her age. (Y/N) agreed though; she excelled in all of her classes and was the top student of Hogwarts, next to Draco and probably her. 

"Well, it took me a while to get used to Arithmancy since it kind of confused me... with the numbers and equations and everything." shrugged (Y/N) and remembered how much she suffered during her first Arithmancy lessons in Mahoutokoro while trying to find the right letters that was right with the numbers using the Agrippan method. 

Plus, Math wasn't her strongest subject in her muggle school and it didn't change when she found out she was going to spend the rest of her life studying in a magical school.

"Well, I would say that Arithmancy is a complex subject." said Hermione as she flipped through another page of her book. "It's more logical, unlike Divination." she rolled her eyes at the memory of Professor Trelawney telling her that she didn't have the potential to take the subject. It made her dislike her professor and the subject in association.

"Besides, all the results I've gotten in Arithmancy are satisfactory so far." she added. 

"That's good." replied (Y/N). "I wish I was as good as you when it came to Arithmancy back in Mahoutokoro - I've never been well-versed when it came to that subject." 

"Oh," said Hermione before she retreated back to her own thoughts. She stared at (Y/N) for a moment, observing her face for a few seconds before opening her mouth to speak again. "Well, if you need help with Arithmancy, I can help you."

"Really?" (Y/N) was surprised at the brown haired girl's offer for while until she pulled up a smile, happy at the thought that Hermione's starting to warm up to her a bit by offering to teach her Arithmancy when she needed it. "Thank you, Granger. That's... really nice of you."

Hermione silently sighed through her nose and went back to reading her book. "Don't mention it. You don't seem like a slow learner so it'd spare me the trouble from teaching you the subject. Unlike some others..." The female Gryffindor seemed to remember an unpleasant event that relates to her tutoring other students and she shuddered, to which (Y/N) noticed and giggled for a second. 

Her expression became curious when she felt a harsh poke on her shoulder. Turning around, Harry was facing her with a gentle smile gracing his lips. (Y/N) was taken back by this because she didn't expect him to be close to her like that. She leaned away from him after she composed herself. "What is it, Harry?"

"Oh, sorry to bother you." Harry gave (Y/N) an apologetic smile before leaning away from (Y/N) so she could go back to her normal position. "I just needed help with this topic if you don't mind." Before she could give her answer, the black haired boy already scooted close to (Y/N) and pushed his book close to her eagerly.

"Um... sure." (Y/N), who didn't have much of a choice, scanned the page of the subject Harry was currently having trouble with. The black haired Gryffindor took this chance to lean closer to the Hufflepuff, taking a whiff of her scent which made his shoulders loosen up and his green eyes, that was focused on (Y/N)'s side frame, to be half-lidded in satisfaction. 

Oh, how he wanted to keep her scent and bottle it in a jar so he could sniff her whenever he was longing for her. He wanted to preserve everything that she had. He only wanted to keep it for himself that he wasn't willing to share her with anyone. 

Why should he anyway? 

They're not worthy of her. None of them are worth a speck of the air that she breathes in. 

While Harry was engrossed in his own dark thoughts, he didn't notice that (Y/N)'s attention was far too gone and she was instead focused on another set of students that he was familiar with. Especially since they share the same blazing red hair that his best friend has.

Yes, how could he forget those mischievous little smiles of the Weasley twins?

"This is new - we never really see other students in the Gryffindor common room so it's a surprise." said George Weasley, who was looking down at (Y/N) with a grin. "Isn't that right, Freddie?" 

"I mean, I don't really mind. It's our new transfer student anyway and she's very good friends with Ron over here." said Fred Weasley as he glanced towards Ron, who was sitting across (Y/N), Harry, and Hermione. The younger Weasley's eyebrow raised in curiosity, wondering what Fred was even talking about.

'Sure, (Y/N) isn't as bad as I thought she was but calling us 'very good friends' is not really accurate' thought Ron. He doesn't really know what to feel of the (H/C) haired Hufflepuff yet. Should he be wary of her because she's the reason why his best friend is acting very erratic recently or think of her as a friend because she doesn't really look all that bad?

Meanwhile, Harry was getting a bit annoyed that (Y/N)'s attention isn't towards him anymore. How many nuisances can someone get in a single day? 

"Um, I apologize for intruding into your common room all of a sudden." said (Y/N) as she stood up and bowed down to both of the twins. "My name is (Y/N) Tachibana. I'm a fourth year Hufflepuff student." 

Harry stopped himself from pulling (Y/N) back down to the floor with him. 

"Nice to meet you, uh..." George's words trailed off, wondering how to say her last name without feeling weird about it. He never really knew how to pronounce foreign languages all that well and he didn't want to offend the Hufflepuff since she's clearly Japanese. "I'm sorry, do you mind if I call you (Y/N)?" 

The Hufflepuff shook her head with a smile. "Not at all. Please, call me whatever you like." She replied. "I understand that my last name might be difficult for others to pronounce." 

"Alright then, (Y/N). My name is George." introduced the first Weasley twin with a smile before glancing over beside him and pulling his other twin close to him. "This one is Fred. We're Ron's older brothers, if you can't tell already." 

"Well, you three certainly have the same red hair so it's fairly obvious." said (Y/N) with a shrug. 

"We heard that there's a special spell from Japan that could be very useful for some... stuff we'd like to incorporate in our own um... studies." said Fred while shifting his eyes around the room and trying to think of a plausible excuse for the (H/C) haired girl to buy. "We were wondering if you knew what kind of spell that was, (Y/N)?"

"Well, it honestly depends; what spell are you talking about?" asked (Y/N), who tilted her head to the side in curiosity. 

"I think it'd be best if we discussed this somewhere else." The twins glanced down at the other three young Gryffindors who were sitting on the floor. Hermione's narrowed eyes were piercing through the twins' mischievous ones. Her look was that of a warning; 'I swear, you two better not bring her to trouble with your pranks'. Ron just knew that they were up to no good and felt that it would be useless to talk them out of it.

As for Harry?

Well, let's just say he's not pleased. He never liked it when (Y/N) was focused on someone else. She was supposed to spend the entire day with him. She was supposed to be by his side. She was supposed to be his. 

So why do others keep pulling her away from him?

Did life really not want to give Harry happiness? Was fate just that cruel that the girl he's hopelessly in love with is destined to be with someone else? 

Harry looked down, making his unkempt black hair cover the majority of his eyes. It's now or never. It's a small sacrifice he had to make if it'll make (Y/N) give him her unconditional love and affection.

It had to happen now. He won't let anyone else get her.

It was only he that she needed to be with.

Silently retrieving his wand from his pocket and making sure no one would notice, he pointed the tip of his wand on his arm and took a short quick inhale to muster up the courage to be able to do such an insane act before whispering to himself;

"Diffindo."

Harry made a swift cut in a straight line on his arm, causing him to hiss in pain as he dropped his wand. His groans caused the other five to turn their heads towards Harry, who was now laying in a small pool of blood. His book was slowly starting to get soaked and his face was scrunched up in pain. "Agh...!" He groaned, loudly this time and hoping that it would be enough to get (Y/N)'s attention.

"H-Harry!? What happened!?" Hermione was the first to get to his aid, much to his annoyance. He wished that she would just go away and let (Y/N) pass so he may gaze upon her graceful worried face. 

"Harry, are you alright!?" Ron was the next to crawl next to Harry, his face full of concern and worry for his best friend.

"Nantekotta!? (What the fuck!?)" swore (Y/N) inadvertently as she dashed towards Harry and kneeled down, trying to get close to him by squeezing through Hermione and Ron, who were equally as worried as her. "Harry!? What just happened!?" She yelled, causing a commotion in the Gryffindor common room. 

"I...I c-can't... agh!" Harry kept hissing in pain, but almost cracked a smile when he saw how worried (Y/N) was for him. It felt euphoric - this was how it should be. She should worry about him more than anyone else in this castle. She should be all up on him than anyone else.

Than that Cedric Diggory.

A crowd eventually started to form around the young Gryffindors. Fred and George, who didn't expect this to happen and the ones who were closest to Harry in the vicinity, took responsibility and gently asked the three students to move aside since they were going to take Harry to the hospital wing. "Harry, can you still stand? Come on, we'll carry you, okay?" said Fred worriedly and carried the young boy in his arms after George helped him get up from the ground. (Y/N), Hermione, and Ron obliged and immediately stood up, intending to follow the Weasley twins out of the common room.

Murmurs and whispers echoed in the common room as they watched Harry's body being taken away by the twins. They were focusing on (Y/N) as Harry was finally out of their sight. Suspicions started buzzing around the Gryffindors, thinking that a Hufflepuff was the cause of Harry's injury.

"What's going on? Where's Potter?" A Gryffindor prefect passed through the crowd, eyeing the black haired boy's whereabouts. Instead, their eyes landed down on a certain Hufflepuff girl, who was about to follow Fred and George out of the room. "You, you're a Hufflepuff, aren't you? What are you doing here in the Gryffindor common room?" The prefect asked with distaste in their voice. 

"I-I'm sorry. Harry invited me here to study with... Granger and Weasley." replied (Y/N) to the prefect, feeling anxious and scared at how the students' eyes were all up on her, either on skepticism or curiosity. The prefect didn't seem to like her answer as their eyes narrowed angrily.

"I'll have you know that entering other houses' common rooms is strictly prohibited. There is a reason why we have passwords for every common room in the castle - they're for keeping outsiders outside." scolded the prefect while eyeing (Y/N) down, who was already feeling worse from the amount of attention she was getting from the house. 

"I'm sorry, she's a transferee from Mahoutokoro so she doesn't know all of the rules here in Hogwarts yet." Hermione immediately came to (Y/N)'s rescue, taking a step in front of her and facing the prefect directly. "I'm sure she didn't know that entering a common room that isn't her house is prohibited."

"Yeah, lay off of her." Ron also came to her rescue, standing beside Hermione. 

"Yes, I am aware that she's from Japan. She's caused quite a commotion in the castle upon her arrival because we don't usually get transferees." sighed the prefect at Hermione's words. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that she broke a rule. Besides, as fourth year students who've been here in Hogwarts since their first years, you two should've been more responsible and know that it is never allowed for other students who aren't Gryffindors to be here." 

This made Hermione and Ron back down nervously, not knowing what to say because they knew that the prefect had a point. But they didn't have time for this; Harry is literally bleeding and his arm was almost torn off. They had to go to him immediately. 

"You two are excused. As for you, Tachibana, follow me to Professor Sprout's office." said the prefect. "As for all of you, get back to what you were doing. There is nothing to see here anymore." They raised their voice at the other Gryffindors, who were still crowding over the four students. The crowd dispersed and Hermione shot (Y/N) an apologetic look before beckoning Ron to follow her to the hospital wing where Harry was.

(Y/N) frowned and watched as the two Gryffindors ran off to the hospital wing. The prefect beckoned her to follow them. The Hufflepuff dejectly followed the Gryffindor prefect, her shoulders slumped as she continued to worry for her childhood friend.

»»-----　♡　-----««

Cedric knocked on the door to Professor Sprout's office, wondering why he was being called by the head of the Hufflepuff house. Upon hearing the professor's words telling him to come in, he pushed the door open, revealing the saddened (Y/N) Tachibana sitting across Professor Sprout's desk. 

"Professor, what's going on?" asked Cedric, who was slowly starting to get worried. He never expected (Y/N) the type to get in trouble and judging from her look, it's evident that she didn't intend to get in trouble at all.

Professor Sprout sighed and beckoned for Cedric to take a seat next to (Y/N). The Hufflepuff prefect obliged, sitting next to the (H/C) haired girl and stealing a worried glance towards his house mate for a second before putting all of his attention towards the professor in front of him. 

The herbologist sighed. "Cedric, I have been informed that Miss Tachibana entered the Gryffindor common room today from the Gryffindor prefect." She said. "Usually, this wouldn't be a problem for me since I could just excuse Miss Tachibana as she hasn't done anything unusual in the common room anyway, but something terrible happened in the Gryffindor common room today." 

None of the Hufflepuffs spoke a word. "Apparently, Mr. Potter's arm has been severely cut. Well, not to the point that it was amputated, but his arm is on a serious condition and Potter could very well lose his arm if it is not being treated properly." 

Cedric's eyes widened at Professor Sprout's words and he slightly stood up from his seat in disbelief. "Wait Professor, are you saying that (Y/N) cut off Potter's arm?" He found it unbelievable. (Y/N) hurting someone? He thought that she'd be the last person to ever do such a thing.

"No no. Miss Tachibana didn't actually do anything to Mr. Potter." Professor Sprout shook her head, causing Cedric to sigh in relief and sit back down. "We checked her wand and the last spell she used wasn't anything that can cause anyone harm. Now thankfully, we are relieved that Miss Tachibana wasn't the one who hurt Mr. Potter but the majority of Gryffindors do think that it is her since she's the only one in the common room who's from a different house." She added, a frown pulling down from her lips.

"That's stupid. Why would the Gryffindors think that when they don't even have concrete proof that she did it?" said Cedric, who was getting annoyed that the Gryffindors were accusing someone from his house for something they didn't even do. 

"That's the problem, Cedric; people always tend to assume things and jump to conclusions too easily. Now, I'm not the one for generalizing, but you know how Gryffindors are." said Professor Sprout with a sigh. "Now, I know that this might be a hefty request, but as the Hufflepuff prefect, may I ask you to take up the role of Miss Tachibana's guide for the rest of the year so she may familiarize the rules and regulations here in Hogwarts quicker?" 

"I figured that you would be the best person up to the job since you and Miss Tachibana have already met on the first night in the castle. You two have become close friends already at such a short amount of time and I'm sure Miss Tachibana would be more comfortable with you." reasoned Professor Sprout with a smile. "This is also to avoid Miss Tachibana from getting into any more trouble. I do not wish any of my students to be wrongly accused of any wrongdoing."

Cedric glanced towards (Y/N), who was still frowning and feeling disappointed at herself for causing this much trouble for the head of her house and Cedric. The brown haired boy knew that she was feeling troubled and he didn't want to ask for her opinion for now. Nodding at Professor Sprout, he smiled at the head of his house. "Of course, Professor. I'll do my best to be a good guide for (Y/N)."

"That's wonderful." Professor Sprout was relieved that Cedric was willing to do the job. She diverted her attention towards (Y/N) and flashed her a reassuring smile. "Do not worry, Miss Tachibana. No points will be deducted from the house and we both know that you did not do anything wrong at all to Mr. Potter." 

"...Yes, Professor." is all that (Y/N) could say. Professor Sprout knew that she was still feeling down due to what happened and she gave Cedric a smile, almost as if she was telling him to take care of her.

"Well, best you two be off. There's still time before the day ends. Why not take this time to take a stroll around the castle?" Professor Sprout suggested. "In any case, you two are free to go. Thank you for your time."

The two Hufflepuffs walked out of Professor Sprout's office, the other one dejected and the other one not knowing that to say to the other. Cedric cleared his throat and looked down at (Y/N). "What do you say we walk around the castle, like what Professor Sprout said?" he asked. 

(Y/N) only shook her head in sadness. "I'm... sorry, I'm too worried about Harry and I'm too disappointed at myself for already causing this much... problem for you and our house to even think properly." She replied. She knew that she didn't have to feel this bad when she wasn't even at fault to begin with, but she hated it when she was being accused like this. 

It felt suffocating for her - she didn't know how to defend herself and everytime she tries to correct herself, no one would just believe her. Because of accusations, she immediately overthinks that the Hufflepuff house would gain a bad reputation because of her.

"Hey hey," Cedric grabbed (Y/N)'s shoulders and made her turn to look at him. "It's not your fault, okay? Professor Sprout said it so herself; she checked your wand to make sure you didn't hurt Potter and you actually didn't do it. As long as you know that you didn't do anything wrong, why would you keep being sad about something you didn't even do?"

(Y/N) didn't answer. She knew it was stupid to sulk over it, but she also knew that sulking over it wouldn't solve her problems. Maybe the first thing she should do to feel better is actually visiting Harry in the hospital wing. "You're right... I'll go visit Harry in the hospital wing just to see if he's doing well."

"We can go together. I'm supposed to be your guide, after all." said Cedric as he removed his hands from her shoulders. "You don't have to worry about others accusing you; I'll be here to tell them off." 

"Oh..." (Y/N) blinked in surprise as a light blush dusted her cheeks. "Um... Thank you?" She said, unsure of what to actually say. Cedric lightly chuckled at her tone of voice before beckoning her to follow him to the hospital wing.

"Do you think Potter will appreciate me visiting him since he also visited me when I was there?"

"I'm pretty sure he will. Don't worry."

The two Hufflepuffs' voices disappeared in the distance as they kept walking and conversing in the halls. 

»»-----　♡　-----««

"Diffindo." said Harry as quietly as he could before making a quick slash at his arm, making him hiss in pain as he felt blood seeping out from the gash that appeared on his arm. 

Watching from the balcony, her eyebrow raised in confusion at Harry's actions. Why did he need to do that? 

Even though she didn't specifically hear him use a spell to cut himself, she knew that he did it to himself because of how he moved his arm and how he silently pulled his wand out from his pocket. 

He couldn't be under an Imperius curse; literally no one in the castle is advanced enough to cast that spell. Besides, why would anyone want to cast that on anyone in the first place? 

She found this more suspicious and skeptical. She watched as (Y/N), Hermione, and Ron ran towards Harry with worry. She didn't think that anyone would be that brave to actually hurt themselves intentionally. 

Yes, she couldn't deny that Harry has been acting weird for the past few weeks ever since (Y/N) transferred to Hogwarts but she can't tell exactly why Harry's acting weird because of her. She can't tell what kind of effect (Y/N) has on him. Was it because she has him in a charm? Was it because of that ring that Hermione talked about at some point? 

She's worried for him, yes. But she doesn't know what to feel after she noticed that her crush is slowly slipping away from sanity every day. The worst part is that she notices it. 

Flipping her red hair, she turned around and started to think of possible reasons to bring Harry back. There's no way the boy she looked up to would suddenly just act like that without any reason. She knew that she had to start first with the obvious path if she was going to find out the truth,

and that's by (Y/N) Tachibana herself. 

»»-----　♡　-----««

wc: 4,168 

uh

so guys im now on my way to college. time flies by fast huh.

just two years ago, i was still in 10th grade. 

and im now 19 years old omg,,,,,,,,,

anyways enjoy this update that's very much overdue