Masako was not the only one who took the walk of shame the next morning. She comes down in obviously borrowed clothing and hand in hand with Sophie.

Gene does likewise but with Yasuhara.

Eugh.

The latter two join me at the Slytherin table.

The hall is generally quite empty, despite most of the school staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Because today is Christmas Day.

A special day for everyone else. A normal day for me.

"So we were wondering what this Quidditch game is about," Gene says.

I decide to ignore that neither of them have done anything about the sex hair look they are giving off.

"The winner gets a prize. If I win, Mai has to go on a date with me on the next Hogsmeade trip."

"And if she wins?"

"Then I will not punish her for being out after curfew if I catch her for the rest of the year."

Yasuhara frowns.

"Are you saying, that if you win and then you catch her that you'll put her in detention?"

"Yes?"

"So if you win," he repeats, "And you go on a date, and it's successful, and she becomes your girlfriend, that you'll put her in detention?"

I blink.

"Yes."

"Maybe she's into that," Gene suggests. "You know… Punishment." He winks and nudges Yasuhara in the side.

I sigh heavily and surreptitiously take my wand out of my pocket and aim it under the table at Gene.

"Colloshoo," I whisper, unheard by my brother.

Stickfast hex.

"Seriously, though," Yasuhara goes on, "Pro-tip, do not put your girlfriend in detention."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Not at the moment, she's not."

I ignore them and finish my breakfast.

"I'll meet you on the pitch in twenty minutes," I say, standing up. "I'm going to get my broom."

As I leave the hall, I hear Gene flailing about due to the fact that his shoes are stuck to the ground. I smirk at the expletive he shouts in my direction and leave him to unstick himself.

Mai is already flying about when I arrive on the pitch. She's wearing her practice kit and has already got a quaffle out.

"Do you know where Yasuhara is?" she asks, coming to hover just in front of me.

"Probably with Gene. They'll be here once they've unstuck Gene's shoes from the floor."

She frowns.

"Why are his shoes stuck to the floor?"

"Because I hexed him."

"Why?"

"He was being inappropriate."

Her frown fails to dissipate, but she doesn't push it any further.

"Ready to lose today?" she challenges.

"Ready to go on a date with me?" I retort.

To my surprise, she blushes.

Gene and Yasuhara come sprinting over at that moment, brooms in hand. Why they don't fly over I have no idea.

"So what's the game?" Yasuhara asks. "Best to seven?"

"Sounds as good as anything."

"Who is refereeing?" Mai asks.

"You think I'll cheat?" I ask.

She coughs and it sounds suspiciously like 'Slytherin'.

"We'll ref," Gene says, indicating himself and Yasuhara. "We'll goalkeep."

No one looks entirely convinced by this, but we have no better option. I enchant the quaffle to fly high in the middle of the pitch and then allow it to drop.

"Game on!"

After I score twice, I begin to wonder how Mai has not realised how rigged this game is. Gene and Yasuhara are most definitely on my side. They want me to win.

Unless…

Maybe Mai wants me to win too?

This thought distracts me so much that she manages to snatch the quaffle from me. I turn my broom around and zoom after her but she's already at the hoops and facing off against Gene.

He fails to stop her attempt on goal.

I scowl. Gene enchants the quaffle to return to the start point and we begin again.

We play for almost an hour when I finally take the winning shot. Mai did well, especially considering Yasuhara was entirely useless. The final score was 7-4.

We land in the middle of the pitch and Mai throws the quaffle back in the trunk.

"You win then," she says.

"You play well."

Mai narrows her eyes.

"You do," I insist. "But your team was shit. And by your team I mean him." I nod my head towards Yasuhara. "He spent half that game making googly eyes at Gene."

"Eugh."

"I'm surprised you didn't ask another member of your actual team."

"Yeah I should have…" she agrees and offers out a hand. "Good game, Oliver. You should try out for your own team."

"So I can thrash you again?"

"If I had a decent keeper, I would definitely have beaten you."

"Probably, but you didn't." My smile falters. "Do you… You don't have to come to Hogsmeade if you don't want to."

"I agreed to the bet. I will go on the date with you, as long as it's not to Madam Puddifoots."

"Deal."

I smile and together we carry the crate back to the broom sheds. Gene and Yasuhara wait for us and then we all head back for lunch.

After eating, we go our separate ways.

I return to my dorm and curl up on my bed with a book. Luna joins me and demands some attention. I give her scratches with one hand and use the other to hold my book up. I can feel her purrs vibrating through my arm.

It's a strange moment of peace.

After dinner, I head out to patrol the corridors. No one wanted to do prefect duty on Christmas Day, but it does not bother me. I head up to the top floor and work my way downwards through the castle.

You would think that everyone would be out and messing about today. But they aren't. They are all cosied up in their common rooms with their friends.

Even Gene is. He has friends in Ravenclaw.

I'm glad about that. Really. If he didn't, he'd want to hang out with me all the time.

I turn into the Owlery and sigh. She's so predictable. Mai spins around and she wipes away hasty tears. I frown.

"Shit, I'm out after curfew," she mutters. "Any chance you want to change your mind about that bet?"

"Why are you crying?"

"It's stupid."

"Most Gryffindor's are stupid, I'll let it slide," I say, closing the owlery door behind me.

"Jerk."

I shrug.

"Everyone in the common room is talking about their families and… I miss my Mum."

Fresh tears come to her eyes.

"Understandable. Do you want a hug?"

I expect her to laugh at me, but she doesn't. She does smile though. Smiles and nods. I step forward and wrap my arms around her. She sobs onto my shirt for a while. I lose track of time, feeling that it would be tactless to check my watch while she's crying.

I think all of Gene's nagging about social rules is getting to me.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles.

"It's a perfectly reasonable thing to be upset about."

"Thanks…"

"I will escort you back to your common room before you get yourself in any more trouble."

"More trouble?" she asks with a frown.

She's still standing very close to me, her hands still resting on my shirt. Her eyes are wide and watery and I think she's genuinely confused.

"You're out after curfew, I need to put you in detention."

Her mouth drops open and she steps back.

"Are you serious?"

I frown.

"You're surprised."

"I just… I thought…"

"That I would let you off because you were crying?" I guess.

"No. I thought you'd let me off because we're friends. And it's Christmas." Her voice quiets as she adds, "And because I was crying…"

She considers me a friend.

"Come on," I say, indicating the door.

She follows me and we walk together in silence towards Gryffindor Tower. When we arrive, I turn to Mai and catch her arm so she doesn't leave just yet.

"Gene and Yasuhara told me I shouldn't put my girlfriend in detention but you're not my girlfriend yet. But you are my friend and friends give each other presents for Christmas. So maybe I'll let you off this one time, for Christmas."

She chuckles.

"Best present I got all day. Last time I got stuck in detention, Urado had me cleaning what looked suspiciously like blood out of a bathtub…"

"Our caretaker definitely has a taste for the macabre…" I say.

"Wait, what did you mean by 'I'm not your girlfriend yet'?"

"Well, you've agreed to a date. I think I'm not without a chance at the moment."

"So what," she begins, obviously amused, "If this date goes well, you'll ask me out?"

"That sounds like a reasonable course of events, don't you think?" I ask.

She laughs.

"I suppose so."

"I mean unless you ask me out before that point," I add. "That would alter the plan."

"Oh no, if you want to do the stressful asking bit, you're welcome to that," she says. "I do not have the balls to ask someone out."

"Even if you knew they'd say yes?"

"Well, yeah. It's scary!"

"You're a Gryffindor," I point out. "You're supposed to be brave."

"Yes, and give me a monster to fight and I'd be happy to. But asking people out is scary so no. Besides, you're a Slytherin, but you're not exactly cunning."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you said you'd been advised to not put your girlfriend in detention, so you could have told me that, then asked me out so I'd be inclined to say 'yes' so that I wouldn't be put in detention."

"That's basically blackmail. I wouldn't do that."

"That's because you're sweet," Mai says. "I know some Slytherins that would totally do that."

"Masako?"

She laughs, but does not deny it.

"Also, if you were cunning, you'd be responsible for the mistletoe above our heads," she adds. "But I think that was Yasuhara's doing."

I look up and see that she's right. There is a large bunch of mistletoe floating above us.

"Ah… I didn't ask him to do that. This was not—"

Mai reaches up and kisses me on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Oliver."

My fingers touch the spot where her lips had touched my skin as she disappears behind the portrait. I give up with patrolling the corridors and return to my dorm.

She kissed me.

A rapping on the window breaks me out of my reverie. It's an owl. No one else is in the dorm — everyone's in the common room — so I retrieve the letter with the idea of depositing it on the named person's bed.

But it's addressed to me.

I open the envelope and begin to read.

Dear Oliver,

I challenge you to a rematch tomorrow. If I win, you ask me out, if you win, I'll ask you out. You can pick whoever you want for your team, but I'll definitely have a better team than Yasuhara.

Pitch at 10 if you accept my challenge.

Love,

Mai xxx

I grin. I can't help myself. She actually likes me.

She like likes me.

Luna jumped up onto my bed and stretches out in front of me.

"What do you think, Luna? Should I accept this challenge?" I ask the cat.

She purrs.

I'm going to take that as a yes.

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay! I was at a conference and the hotel wanted me to *PAY* for wifi and I'm a cheapskate so... Eh... This is the LAST CHAPTER! I could have gone and on with this story but it needed to end somewhere so... If anyone wants to write more of this/if anyone else is writing a Hogwarts AU then please send it to me because I WANT MORE OF THIS! Please review!