Potions today was a disaster. A real disaster. Jace didn't want to report this to his dad, but he simply must tell him, otherwise, his dad would be very worried next time and might not send him next term to Hogwarts all together. Not the good kind of foreshadowing, correct? He's come to love Hogwarts, and Ravenclaw...and for Merlin's sake, he didn't want to adjust to a new school for the nth time.

After separating ways with Azura, Jace immediately went to his dormitory, went for a long, warm shower...dressed himself in a new set of clean uniform for his afternoon lectures, and went to the study tables to re-write his Potions notes, and after a while, pressed on with his...report to his dad...in Japanese.

Merlin. His letter starts off with the pleasantries taught by his almost diplomat papa, the good stuff that happened...and then the bad ones starting with the hag...the creepy doll...and what happened to them in Potions. If his calculation is correct, his father would be in the Ministry now working...it really shouldn't bother him that much, right? Jace was sure that weirder things have happened back in the day when his dad was in Hogwarts...

The walk back to the common room was rather quiet and uneventful. Thankfully. Azura spent the entire trip back attempting to come up with a good enough excuse for her behavior in potions!

But after she and Jace parted, she headed up to take a long hot shower and change into fresh clothes. She really wanted to sleep, but she felt like she should at least explain some things to Jace?

Right?

Sadly her shower hadn't helped her head clear that much.

So she decided to write Jace a letter! She could write things out and explain better than she could say them and hopefully after a few drafts she would be able to write him the perfect letter!

So she took her parchment, and her sapphire blue quill, and headed down to the study tables..

Only to see Jace sitting there!

Her purple eyes went wide and she bit her lip a bit as her heart started to pound in her chest. What was she going to do? She hesitated in the doorway for a moment before moving forward and settling down in a chair beside the Japansese boy.

"Hey Jace." She managed to get out in as normal a voice as she could manage.

Jace kept on writing his letter in Japanese, his face contorted into a serious expression, trying his best to write all the details. He knew his papa would ask a lot of questions, so to spare him, he wrote everything that he can...including his confusion regarding Azura's...confession. Sure, people could ask him anything school related, and he was sure he'd be able to make sense of things in no time...

On their way there, the both of them were awfully quiet. He didn't want to start the conversation...and at the same time, stuck to his resolve that he will pretend that he doesn't remember anything. That too...went down his letter, asking his papa if he's doing the right thing.

The sound of the quill, scratching against parchment could be heard all throughout the study area. The feather swaying from left to write as the eleven year old wrote down his message in Japanese characters starting from the right...up...down...going to the left. He was halfway through the letter when he heard his name being called. "Mm?" Jace paused, turned in his seat and saw Azura again. The Ravenclaw blinked at her, wondering if she needed something from him?

The Ravenclaw didn't need to tuck away his letter. He was sure that Azura can't read it anyway. The only soul who can would be Ichihara-sensei. Logically of course, he'd been wary of the woman, making sure to be careful with what he say and write in Hiragana.

"Hi." Jace grinned at his friend, "Join me? I ruined my notes during Potions, so I re-wrote it again by memory. You might want to copy it?" he asked, gesturing to the single piece of parchment on the table. It was written in English, so Azura won't have any trouble understanding it. The Ravenclaw then turned his back on her, and continued to write his letter to his dad. Merlin, shifting from the Roman Alphabet to Hiragana is sooo hard.

Azura looked at Jace as he spoke and she blinked a little as she looked down at the piece of parchment that sat on the table. Notes? Oh! Yes, she should copy those!

She gave him a tentative smile back before settling back in her chair. She couldn't exactly white a letter to Jace while he was sitting right next to her! So, of course she should write down notes. "Thanks! I'll join you." She said with a bit of an easier smile coming to her lips, before sighing. "Oh thank you! My notes got ruined as well all that water raining down on us." Thank you Matt and other boy for that..

She got out her quill and she started to copy down Jace's notes, all the while her mind was whirling with thoughts. Did he not.. know? Did he.. remember? If she remembered, surely he should have right? But what if he didn't? And if he hadn't, why had he blushed when he had looked at her? Why had he seemed so concerned after call and why insist on walking her back?

Was he just trying to spare her feelings?

Her quill stopped scratching on her parchment as her heart gave a tiny throb. He was so nice to do that for her. Perhaps he didn't want to lose her friendship either? She bit her lip and looked over at him..

Too many questions that needed answers. Too many thoughts that were moving around her head.. and she could feel the tension in the air.

"Uhhhh Jace." She put her quill down, she didn't really want to interrupt his letter writing, but she needed to get this out before her little Ravenclaw brain exploded.. And really, she didn't want to be tiny bits of Azura. She preferred to stay whole thank you very much.

Her purple eyes looked over at him slightly worriedly.. "About potions.." This.. was where she wished she could lie. She could simply tell him it was the potion that made her say it.. and then they could have a laugh at how stupid that was and would have been and go on with their day.. but She couldn't. She had to tell him the truth. And she had to face the consequences that went with it.

"I don't know if you remember what I said in there, but I meant it. I didn't know myself until the words were coming out to fast for me to stop them. But.. I like you." She looked down at the table as she took a breath to calm herself.. and brace for what was probably going to be the nicest rejection the world has ever seen.

"I'm sorry."

Jace was almost done with his letter, but couldn’t remember what he should be telling his father next. The Ravenclaw propped his elbow on the table, and cradled his head with his hand. Jace began to tap his quill against a ruined parchment, concentrating hard on the words that he will be using on his letter. For once, Jace didn’t want to sound helpless and childish...he wanted straight to the point answers from his papa, thus taking him a good while to write the characters down.

The Ravenclaw decided to keep his mouth shut, and just shrugged at Azura when she mentioned her notes got ruined too during Potions. Jace was sure that everyone’s notes were ruined a while ago, so it was no big deal. Besides, reacting to it would most certainly give him away that he remembers things. He was very much determined to let it pass until he was sure what Azura’s confession really meant.

Jace scratched the side of his head, and continued to write his letter when Azura decided to break the silence. The Ravenclaw could feel the room closing in on him, and forgot how terrible it is to be confronted for things that he did not understand at all. He was too fixated with the sensation of being suffocated by an invisible hand that he barely heard what Azura just said. The only words that retained in his mind were the words ‘I like you’...and ‘I’m sorry’.

Jace blinked and tore his gaze away from his letter to look at Azura. She likes him...and that she’s sorry for it? The Ravenclaw could not comprehend the words at all. What did she mean by ‘I like you’? Was this the same thing he said to Jasper a few months ago that caused the other boy to hide? If that’s the case then, it simply means that she likes him...as in...the warm, fuzzy, I have a crush on you thing. But...why was she sorry? Sorry for what? “Don’t say it like it’s a bad thing, Azura-san.” Jace said grinning at his fellow Ravenclaw. “And...thanks, I suppose?” he added, before turning back to his letter.

This is...too awkward for the eleven year old. Sadly, he didn’t feel anything more for the girl. She is a friend, and he cares for her a lot just like what a friend should be. That’s what all mattered to Jace. He has no idea whatsoever about this ‘crush’ thing. The Ravenclaw took refuge in the fact that he’s just an eleven year old boy, too fascinated with the world he’s living in to even take notice of the beautiful. It will probably take him a good while to notice the female specie.

Don't say it like it was a bad thing?

Azura looked over at Jace, her purple eyes wide as he spoke, how was she supposed to say it then? Wasn't it a bad thing? She had feelings for someone.. who didn't have them back. It was a bad thing.

Thanks? He supposed?

Azura felt her world crumbling down around her as Jace went back to his letter and the twelve year old couldn't take it any more. She was OBVIOUSLY bothering him. Not to mention, she had probably just ruined their friendship which was one of the most important things to her in the world.

Stupid feelings. Why did she have to have them? Why Why Whyyyyyyy?????

She bit her lip as she tried to hold it together. She didn't want to cry in front of him. It wasn't a big deal right? That he didn't like her? It shouldn't be a big deal! But Azura felt a slight stinging in her chest and it felt like it was hard to breathe. She had expected this outcome, which was why she had tried to hard not to like him in the first place. So why was it hurting so bad?

"Well, I'll let you get back to your letter Jace. I'm.. uhh.. sorry again." She got out as she pushed her chair back and picked up her stuff and then turned and moved out of the room..

Though tears were welling up her eyes now and obscuring her vision and she ran straight into the wall first! But she backed up, and holding her nose, she managed to get out of the room!

Jace took another fresh parchment from his bag, and started to write the first few characters of his letter to his papa. Through countless hours of Kendo and Kyudo training, Jace is able to hold up a cool expression on his face, however, deep down inside, he was restless to ask what she meant by that. Why did she like him? He wasn’t special! She was, and he’d expected her to like someone way better than him.

No, she’s being foolish. And why was she doing this to herself? Was it...really a big deal? The minutes passed, and Jace was becoming impatient. He did not understand her at all. Jakub must be right after all. Girls are confusing. They confess, and then they’re sorry for it. It shouldn’t be that way, right?

The Ravenclaw got started when Azura excused herself. Wait, why?

Jace blinked, looked up from his parchment...his mouth open wanting her to stay. Jace felt himself deflate knowing that he was too late...and that there was no stopping her. Jace could only watch from his chair, his small eyes widen to the size of saucers when she was about to hit a wall, “Look--!!” cringed at the sound of her face crashing into a solid panel. Jace jumped out of his seat ready to help her, but then...she just went on to the girls’ dormitory without stopping.

Jace stood alone, and slowly, bowed to where Azura ran off. He didn't mean to hurt her in any way. That was never the intention. "Gommenasai, Azura-san..."

With a sigh, the Ravenclaw picked up his things, and went straight to the Owlery. He needed his letter to reach his papa as soon as possible.