My ankle was completely healed by the next morning and except for some dull soreness it was like it was never injured in the first place. But because I'd fallen asleep so early I was up before the sun and not a soul was in the Great Hall when I got there. Hot fresh breakfast was on the tables though and I sat in the vast silence of the hall and ate. I was physically ready for classes and had my school bag ready but mentally I was agonizingly absent even with Asta's advice. I had, I suppose, fallen into my yearly pit. First day of school was all excitement to see friends again but after that I fell by the wayside for the most part. I didn't do group activities and even on the Hogsmeade trips I went on with Albus and their group they very easily got caught up with each other and I just wasn't a part of that.
I thought more than once in my years at Hogwarts that maybe I did it to myself and maybe I did. I can't be sure. I just know I tried to be the best friend I could and it seemed to work until I felt lonely and then I could only see all the other things wrong.
"Good morning beautiful." I jumped as Asta's breath grazed my ear and then she laughs at me. "Good thing you are sitting this time."
"Last time I was laying down." I grumble she runs a thumb gently over my cheek and I can feel my body temperature rise. "Anyway you're here early."
"I usually get up before the sun does. Lazy thing." Asta grins and it makes me smile.
"Can I ask you something?" She gives me a gesture to proceed. "Will you um take classes with me? I mean if they're doing that this time will you be in my classes?" Asta smirks.
"You're so adorable." My blush deepens. "Yes. I'll take all your genius classes with you."
"They aren't advanced classes." I correct quickly.
"Then they are too dumb for you, yes?" She scrunches her nose teasingly and without thinking I kiss her.
"You are infuriating." I groan and she bursts into laughter.
"I'm not going to complain about kisses from a beautiful girl but it is a little strange that it upsets the beautiful girl so much." Asta sighs and takes a deep breath to try and soothe her laughter.
"I'm going to tell you a secret." I say in hushed tones, "I think you're part veela. I think that's why you have this power over me. I think that's why you make me an absolute fool for someone I haven't even known for a day." She grins evilly.
"And yet I know more than the boy who says he's fancied you for five years?" I narrow my eyes at her.
"But he hasn't injured me either." I say matter-of-faactly.
"You injured yourself."
"And who scared me out of my skin?!" Asta bites her lip and I become self-conscious and turn away.
"Aiko?" I sigh at the sound of my name from her mouth. "Do you like me?"
I fidget. Silently, I battle myself. I think I like her but I've never liked a girl before. I've never thought about it. For five years I thought I just liked Louis. Louis gave me butterflies when he was around. And how do I like someone I barely know. But on the other hand she'd spent more time in the hours I'd know her trying to know me than anyone else I'd ever met. Something about her opened me up and that was terrifyingly thrilling. The way she saw me made me feel important.
"I don't know." I sigh and she nods slowly.
"It's okay. Like I said yesterday, until you know who you are I want to know more about you." Asta's sweetness unintentionally makes me feel horrible.
"Morning!" Scorpius sings dragging Albus behind him.
"Morning." I half smile and then catch the odd look Scorpius gives Asta. "Oh! Scorpius. Albus. This is Asta. Asta, these are my best friends Scorpius and Albus."
"It's nice to meet you." Asta smiles. "Aiko talked a lot about you yesterday."
"Really?" Albus' ears perk and he straightens his slumpy stance. "I mean, sorry. Aiko just doesn't really talk to a lot of people so I'm surprised."
"Yeah I got that feeling when I first ran into her." She smirks at me and I start blushing again.
"You know," Scorpius begins emphatically and I know the devious look on his face, "Our Koko here is single." He says to Asta and she raises her eyebrows.
"My cousin did have dibs on her but he kinda mucked all that up." Albus shrugs and I stare at him opened mouthed.
"Did I really muss it up that bad?" Louis appears just a little behind Scorpius and I looked at him mortified.
"I-" My mouth opens and closes like a dying fish as I die evermore on the inside. "I-" I can't even find words in my whirlwind panic and before I can connect to the logical part of my brain I'm up and running out of the Great Hall. I just kept running. I ran and ran wishing my brain would switch on. I could solve any problem in classes. I could answer any question but now when it concerned me I couldn't even begin. I finally collapsed at the edge of the Forbidden Forest panting hard. My chest squeezing tight on all my exhales.
"I don't know." I whisper into the unknown depths of the forest.
There's a swooshing sound above me and my head snaps up to see Louis on his broom landing a few feet behind me.
"You really need to stop running away from all your problems." He calls to me and I stand to turn around.
"I'm not good at these problems." I look down to the grass at my feet.
"And you never bloody will be unless you face the problems your scared of." He says sternly and I flinch.
"I'm not afraid of the problems." I grumble and he walks closer raising an eyebrow for me to continue. "I'm afraid that I don't know how to answer your questions."
"Are you afraid of me?" Louis asks and I can't help but laugh. "Alright. Okay, didn't need all that." He says slightly offended.
"I'm scared that it's my second day back to school and I don't know who I am." I offer and he nods. "Listen, Louis, you don't actually know me. And the only reason you even kinda asked me out, which you still never officially did, was because you thought someone else would first."
There's a long moment where neither of us say anything.
"And then yesterday when I bumped into Asta I felt- well I don't know. I think I like her and it's so weird for me because I've liked you my whole time at Hogwarts." Laughing nervously I hug myself.
"I was thinking about it too ya know." Louis chews on his bottom lip. "I mean Albus really laid into me last night when you got back to the common room but it got me thinking. Aiko, I can be a little selfish and I did like you- DO like you but ever since I told you I like you all I do is mess up. In the passed forty-eight hours I think I've had more girl trouble than in my almost seven years at Hogwarts." He gives a light chuckle. "And I realized while I was thinking that I've never had to work to win a girl over. They just...love me and I don't have to do anything and that's so wrong."
"Wow. That was a lot of thinking you did Louis Weasley." I grin and he laughs.
"I think you're one of the smartest most beautiful girls to have ever lived and yesterday when I saw you smiling and laughing with Asta on that ship-" Louis takes a deep breath, "I was so angry and jealous and then Albus yelled at me and I realized that I needed to care about you the way Albus and Scorpius do. I need to love you in a different way because I loved the way you smiled. I loved hearing your laugh. And in the five years that I've known of you, been around you, you've never smiled or laughed like that."
"I don't know why. It's just easy with her." I feel guilty but Louis places his hands on both sides of my face and shakes his head,
"You don't need to know why. You need to know that you deserve it. You deserve how easy it is and how wonderful it feels."
"When did you get so smart Weasley." I sniff, teary eyed.
"Oh somewhere in the hours between falling in love and having my heartbroken." He laughs deep from his chest. "Don't apologize for how you feel Aiko. And don't think too much about it. If you like Asta, like her and don't think about anything else."
"And you?" I raise an eyebrow at him.
"I'll be your friend. Me, Albus, and Scorpius; you're best mates. It'll be like Albus' grandpa and his mates back in the day." Louis grins mischievously and I leap to hug him.
"You know you're pretty magnificent in your own way." I breathe into the fabric of his robes.
"I mean, duh." He chuckles and rubs my shoulders. "Let's get back to the castle. Professor Fawn will be getting ready to do schedules." I nod and we both hop on Louis' broom to get back to the Great Hall as soon as possible.
When we get to the Great Hall Asta is fortunately still sitting with Albus and Scorpius so I straddle the bench facing her.
"I'm sorry I ran out." She starts to shake her head dismissively but I stop her. "It was beyond rude of me." I lower my voice, a little bit embarrassed. "It's just that not knowing who I am or where I'm going is not who I have been and that's terrifying to me."
"Aiko" Asta breathes, "Thank you. But I like you and I know from experience how scary something like this," she points from me to her and back again, "I know how scary this can be even when it's not all brand new." She looks over to the boys watching us and for the first time I see her getting awkward. "Ummm, we can talk more later." I laugh.
"Of course." I give a shy half smile and she smirks.
"You are effortlessly cute." She comments and I blush wildly. I can feel the heat of my cheeks spread out across my face and down my chest.
"Teach me how to do that." Louis tells Asta and everyone falls out laughing.
When Professor Fawn comes around for scheduling he gets to me with some hesitance. It was earned though. I had been a massive pain in his neck over classes since the beginning of last year when we went over what I wanted to take for my O.W.Ls. Standard procedure was to then wait for which classes I got the best grades in but since I'd done very well in my O.W.Ls Fawn had moaned about me needing to take my summer holiday to think about what I was going to do for my N.E.W.Ts.
Confidently, I told him that I decides to take all my core N.E.W.T classes as well as Care of Magical Creatures and Alchemy. He looked me over curiously and asked if I was sure. I nodded and he produced a schedule for me.
"Be sure to let me know if this becomes too burdensome." Fawn tells me pointedly. "No good ever came from scholarly martyrdom."
I squint trying to process what he's said and look back up at him, "That's factually incorrect professor". He shakes his head and moves on glad, I assume, to be done with me.
"Is your sixth year here meant to kill you?" Asta stares wide-eyed at my schedule as she agreed to go to the same classes.
"Sixth and seventh." Louis confirms. "In fact, I barely made it through. But Albus helped me out."
"No offense Al but how did you help Louis. You're always asking me for help as it is." I ask Albus and he goes guilty faced.
"Well, see." He stares down at the table then looks back and forth between Louis and I. "See when Louis needed help I would tell him I'd help him and then I'd ask you for help."
"So you had me doing yours and Louis' homework?" I ask incredulously and Albus nods slowly. "I hope you like getting through sixth year by yourself." I huff.
"I've got Scorpius." Albus smiles cockily but Scorpius shakes his head.
"Oh no. I'm not doing your homework. Not a chance. I'll help you but I won't do it Al." Albus looks pitifully at Scorpius so he shakes his head again.
"Aunt Hermione did dad and Uncle Ron's school work for them all the time." Albus pouts.
"Yeah and Hermione got tired of it too." I fold my arms across my chest. "You used me Albus. I'm injured." He hangs his head.
Asta laughs at all our antics but dismisses herself, promising to be back before I needed to go to my first class
Fortunately, she needed to leave to sit with Durmstrang for some morning announcements. Professor Baylin calls the hall to attention seeing that it was now at peak breakfast time and most if not all students had gathered.
"For our guests to experience Hogwarts to the fullest we'll be asking students to please be open to have a Durmstrang or Beauxbatons student accompany them to their classes for the duration of their stay." Baylin taps her wand tip on the podium and all the sixth and seventh years from all schools had either a purple or orange cap on. "Sixth years have orange caps and seventh years have on purple. Meet up with someone in your age group and please have fun." Baylin smiles from ear to ear and giggles.
Asta comes running over and we both take off the silly orange caps.
"Ready for class?" She smirks at me and I nod. She grabs my hand and pulls me from the bench.
"See you in class!" Scorpius and Albus call after us and I wave.
"Be quick to get good seats with us!" I laugh and Asta grins at me, putting heat beneath my skin again.