A/N: Well, this is mostly a filler chapter, but the next one will include Fai's first class.

owo

"Sir?" Harry's bright green eyes widened. "You – you want me to start a Quidditch team?"

"Well, not exactly," Slughorn amended. "I thought that you would enjoy playing Quidditch this year…"

"Of course he would!" Ron said indignantly. "He's the best Seeker we've ever had!"

Slughorn looked slightly uncomfortable, but continued. "Harry – I'm afraid you will be unable to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year. Neither will you, Ron," he added. "Since I know you both enjoy Quidditch so much, you could run a little extra-curricular Quidditch team with the rest of the eighth years."

"But – I've never played Quidditch!" Hermione said, distressed. "I mean, I've read about it – " ("Is there anything she hasn't read?" Ron muttered) "- but I barely know how to ride a broom!"

"Well, the same goes for everyone here other than Harry and Ron," Slughorn said cheerily. "It's a perfect opportunity for you to get to know each other a little better."

"Excuse me, professor, but… when you say 'everyone,' do you mean us, too?" Fai smiled and gestured to himself and Kurogane. "We're not exactly the same size or age as them."

It was true. Fai stood a head or two taller than everyone else, except for Kurogane, who was even larger and wider to boot.

"Well, why wouldn't I mean you?" Slughorn asked, ignoring Fai's second sentence. "You still need supervision, after all," he continued, speaking to the younger people now. The professor beamed and looked at Harry. "So what do you say?"

"Well…" Harry looked at the others. Hermione looked pleased but worried, as if debating whether or not Quidditch would cut into her study time. Ron was grinning wildly, but the transfers looked either confused or indifferent.

"I guess… I guess it would be nice," he finally agreed.

Professor Slughorn chuckled and set his tea cup down on the table. "Good, good. I'll just tell the headmistress you've agreed, and you can get accustomed to flying before lunch."

---

Harry looked at his friends as they waited in the hallway for Professor Slughorn to return from McGonagall's office. He felt a pang of sadness as he remembered Dumbledore when he had been in that room, always there to help, even if it had been part of his own plan…

"Harry, do you have your Firebolt?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah – it's down in the lockers with an Anti-Theft Charm on it," he replied.

"Excellent," Ron said, grinning. "They'll be learning from the best of the best," he said half-jokingly.

"That's all well and good, but I'm not too sure about this whole Quidditch thing," Hermione put in nervously. "Even though it's our eighth year, we still have to keep our grades up."

"Well –" Harry frowned. "Quidditch is important too," he muttered, slightly embarrassed. He'd been so excited about running his own Quidditch team, he hadn't even considered his studies.

Ron chuckled and patted Harry on the shoulder. "I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something," he said.

"Maybe I can work out some sort of schedule," Hermione mused, tugging on her bottom lip.

"Blimey, why are you so into Quidditch?" Ron demanded, looking at her in surprise. "I was sure you'd say no!"

"No reason, really," Hermione said, but she had gone stiff and was only saved by Fai's sudden appearance

"Professor Slughorn just sent me a message," he said, holding up the little scrap of paper that had popped out of nowhere in front of him. "I think he has a Potions lesson to teach."

Harry jumped to his feet. "Excellent! Let's get down to the Quidditch field." He'd been itching to fly all day. Firebolts were still the best in the league, so he hadn't had to get a new one. And anyway, his Firebolt was from Sirius… he'd never sell it.

The sun was shining, and Harry felt his spirits soar as soon as he set foot on the Quidditch pitch. He cast a glance at Hermione and Ron, who had exchanged their school robes for Muggle clothes, just as he had.

"Oooh! Just look at him!" A rather loud whisper, followed by giggling, attracted Harry's attention to the pair of girls hiding behind the bleachers set up next to the field.

Harry suppressed a groan and was about the give them a piece of his mind when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Let Kuro-tan take care of it." Harry looked up to see Fai, his usually cheerful face slightly less amused than usual.

When he turned back, Kurogane was already stomping up to the girls.

"Look here – it's class time!" he barked. "I'll forget about it this time, since your teacher will probably get you anyway, but if I see either of you cutting class again, I'll ki – er, give you detention!"

The girls left as fast as they could, obviously intimidated by Kurogane's tone. The man sighed and walked back over to where Harry and the others were.

"Stupid brats," he huffed, but anyone could tell there wasn't any real anger behind it.

"Aw, does Kuro-puu like being a teacher?" Fai cooed, flapping one hand at him.

"Shut up," Kurogane replied, more of a reflex than anything. "Okay, so you say this Quidditch you play is…"

"Like soccer, but with more balls?" Fai asked, tilting his head to read the rule book Ron was holding.

"Er, yeah," Ron agreed. "You've all got brooms – Hermione, you too! C'mon!" He beckoned for her to stand with the four travelers. Luna and Padma had opted to stay in the common room.

"Put them on the ground next to you," Ron instructed. "Then, say 'up!'"

Harry watched as Hermione's broom lifted off the ground slightly before flying into her hand. He could remember all to clearly the day they'd had flying class with Professor Hooch, and he was sure Hermione hadn't been able to get her broom into her hand then.

Syaoran and Sakura took a minute to get the broom up, while Kurogane took still longer. He was scowling angrily at the broom when it finally floated into his hand. Fai, on the other hand, caught his broom immediately, much like Harry had on his first day. (1)

"Right! So now that you have your brooms, you get on. Like this." Ron grinned and Harry got the feeling he was really enjoying himself. "Harry, show them," Ron hissed, and Harry mounted his Firebolt, feeling a little nervous with all of them staring.

The five beginners carefully got on (or in the case of Kurogane, glared at the broom until he decided it was safe, and then got on). Sakura fidgeted nervously while Syaoran alternated between looking at the ground warily and keeping an eye on Sakura. Hermione cautiously leaned the broom left and right.

"Once you're settled," Harry continued for Ron, who had left to get the Quidditch balls. "Kick off!"

With his last two words, Harry lifted off the ground and shot upwards, relishing in the fresh air and wind.

He let out a whoop before thinking to check on the others. Hermione was hovering a few feet off the ground with Sakura. Syaoran flew around warily, testing out the feel of flying in the air.

"Kuro-tan, try and catch me now!" A surprisingly quickly moving form made Harry blink and look again. Fai was flying in circles around Kurogane. The latter snarled and reached out with one hand to try and grab him, but his other hand was keeping a firm grip on his broom.

A moment later, an outraged but exhilarated yell alerted him to the fact that Kurogane had gotten over his fear (not that the ninja would ever admit he had been nervous) and was chasing Fai around the field.

Harry chuckled, but he was surprised they'd managed to pick up on how to fly so quickly. Syaoran was going higher and faster, but Sakura and Hermione were still moving slowly.

"Watch out!" Ron yelled suddenly. Harry turned and almost had a Bludger collide with his face, but he managed to duck in time. He let out a sigh of relief, but then he remembered the new players on the field.

The Bludger he had just dodged was rocketing towards Hermione and Sakura. Harry was too far away, Ron's broom was on the ground, and it looked like the only solution was for the girls to learn how to fly fast. Now.

What happened, though, was something different. Kurogane was suddenly there, and he hit the Bludger hard with a bat Ron had thrown him. The other Bludger shot in Fai's direction, but he dodged swiftly and pulled off a smooth backwards flip that caused the Bludger to stop and have to turn around.

"Hey, hey!" Fai called, flying at high speeds to avoid the Bludger. "How do you stop this thing?"

"Hit it!" Ron yelled.

"I don't have anything to hit it with!" Fai shot back, soaring higher still.

Ron cast about furiously but he couldn't find anything.

"Are you a mage, or are you a mage?" Kurogane bellowed. "If you could do it in Record, you can do it here!"

If Fai was at all disturbed by the first mention of the magic he'd done, he didn't show it. Instead, he pulled out his wand. Pointing it at the Bludger, he said, "Impedimenta!"

The ball stopped in its tracks. Fai laughed a little nervously and hit it downwards with the bat Kurogane had thrown him moments ago. He flew down after it, landing gently next to the others.

"Wow, I feel like an idiot," Ron muttered as they grouped around the Bludgers, which had been strapped back into the chest along with the Snitch and the Quaffle. "Why didn't I think of casting a spell?"

"Don't worry about it," Harry told him. "Everyone's fine." Hermione nodded agreement as the conversation between the two professors wound down.

owo

"Ne, Kuro-tan," Fai spoke with an unusually serious expression that was at odds with his words as they walked towards the case holding the four Quidditch balls. "Why did you talk about Record?"

"Huh?" The other man shot a surprised and worried look at Fai. He'd expected Fai to not mention it unless Kurogane asked him, and yet here he was bringing it up of his own accord.

"Yeah, about that." Kurogane narrowed his eyes, going back to his usual tone. "What about this magic? Is it 'different' from what you used before?"

"Oh, very different!" Fai answered with a blinding smile. "You can do this kind of magic too, so of course it's different."

Kurogane made a disbelieving sound and crossed his arms. "We're going to talk about this some time," he warned as they got near the others.

Fai laughed. "You keep telling yourself that," he said with a grin, but his expression immediately turned serious when Kurogane turned away.

Ron was sitting on the ground, drawing a diagram with his wand and Hermione's help. The grass was smoking slightly, so it could be assumed that Ron had only accepted assistance after he had begun drawing his diagram.

"Harry's going to play Seeker, right?" Ron looked up at his friend, worry momentarily creasing his features. "I mean, unless you don't want to…"

"What? Of course I want to be Seeker!" he retorted indignantly. "You'd better be Keeper, Ron… or what about you, Professor?" he asked, looking at Kurogane.

"Don't care," he grunted, event though Fai elbowed him in the side.

"Er, right," Harry continued after an awkward pause. "How do you feel about being Chaser, Ron?"

"I'd rather be Keeper," Ron replied, looking slightly irritated. "Why don't we do tryouts or something?"

Hermione nodded agreement. "But – oh! It's almost time for lunch. Why don't we come back later?"

"That sounds good," Syaoran said. "Sakura, have you seen my book?" he asked, looking around.

The girl looked around. "I don't see it either. We'd better look for it."

"We'll help! There's a spell that can summon things to you," Hermione said immediately, but Syaoran shook his head.

"You can go back inside and have lunch, Hermione," he said quickly. "This shouldn't take long."

"Oh, but –" Hermione hesitated. Harry got the feeling she was on the verge of just casting the Summoning Charm and getting it over with.

"Don't stay out here too long," Kurogane said gruffly. He turned and set off across the field. Even he could tell Syaoran wanted some time with Sakura – to say what, he didn't know, but oh well. The brat was a nice kid, he supposed.

"Professor McGonagall wants to see Kuro-puu and me, so we can't stay," Fai explained. "C'mon, kids! Let's go!" he said cheerfully, sherpherding the threesome back towards the castle.

Harry and Ron waved goodbye, as did Hermione, who still looked like she wanted to yell 'Accio!' Sakura waved back with Syaoran before beginning the search.

owo

"Professor Flourite, Professor Daidouji."

A stern-looking McGonagall greeted them as they walked into her office.

"Please, just call me Fai," the blonde mage said merrily. "And you can call him Kuro-tan!" Fai dodged Kurogane's grab with practiced ease.

While McGonagall raised an eyebrow at their behavior, she waved them further in and told them to sit down.

"Kuro –" she paused, obviously unsure of whether or not to take Fai's suggestion seriously.

"Kurogane. It's Kurogane."

The headmistress nodded. "Kurogane. Your first class has given me some, er, interesting views on your teaching style."

"Like what?" he asked, curious despite himself.

"Let's… not go into details." Professor McGonagall smiled tightly and continued. "I would simply like to know if you are having any problems with your teaching."

"I need more chalk," Kurogane finally said, not mentioning the fact that he'd chucked most of it out the window, raging, after breaking three sticks when he'd tried writing on the board before class.

"Aw, but you can Conjure more, right?" Fai suggested, elbowing Kurogane's arm.

The larger man huffed while McGonagall only looked slightly amused.

"More chalk? Very well, then." The headmistress nodded and looked at Fai. "And you, Pro – Fai? Is there anything you would like?"

The blonde put a finger to his chin in apparent thought.

"Well, I haven't had my first class yet, actually," Fai said slowly. "But I'll be sure to let you know if I need anything!"

Professor McGongall looked satisfied by Fai's reply. She glanced between the two of them for a moment, taking in Fai's cheerful smile and the scowl on Kurogane's face.

"If that's all you need, why don't we head down for lunch?" she suggested.

"Well, I was going to check on Syaoran and Sakura..," Fai said slowly.

The words had barely left his mouth when the fire in the hearth flared green and a voice began speaking.

"Minerva!" Madame Pomfrey's frightened tone caused the headmistress to stand immediately and hurry over.

"Just now – Ben Crambly – he saw the two transfers – they're –" The witch was breathless with nerves, and seemed to be unable to form a sentence.

"What happened to them?" McGonagall demanded. Her face had gone very white.

"You'd better come see," Madame Pomfrey said after a moment's hesitation. "You too, professors," she added, referring to Fai and Kurogane.

Kurogane nodded grimly and stalked after the headmistress with Fai close behind.

owo

(1) Fai is shown to have an affinity with wind (of sorts) in the Hanshin Republic with his kudan, so I figured he'd be a good Quidditch player.

owo

And there you have it! The gang learns how to fly on broomsticks and a bit of action at the end. Sorry it took so long for me to update. D: