Fallen Dreams - An Aikatsu Stars x Harry Potter Crossover

Epilogue (Part 2)

December 2020

Why are ancient runes so hard to learn?

The twelve year-old was self-learning the subject she was about to learn in less than ten months' time with Ancient Runes Made Easy just to get a head's start once formal classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry commenced. Ako Saotome had never struggled so much with learning before, and she hated it.

She closed her notes and looked around her. Rows upon rows of books stood tall, their spines bearing the titles of famous literary works and academic research over the course of millennia. Though she was supposed to take a break from studying during Christmastime, Ako took to spend almost every day with her boyfriend, having well-planned 'study dates' in Hogwarts' library when everyone else was having fun, as both high-achievers knew perfect scores did not come easily and were willing to put in extra work to achieve their goals. After all, geniuses are only made after hours of hard work, so why not put in the hard work earlier on instead of cramming everything a week before exams?

Perhaps it was her intellect which entranced the Kira family when they had dinner for the first time. Engrossed in a conversation with his parents about the Muggle economy, Ako felt right at home. Never once did she feel uncomfortable while with him, Well, except for the time he had a sudden panic attack while in the shower. Still, she stayed by his side and fed him calming draught while trying not to get embarrassed.

Biting her lip, she glanced at Kanata, whom was now quietly self-studying Muggle physics next to her. The young man always had dreams grander than most of his peers, having completed all thirteen of his O.W.Ls with perfect scores (he self-studied Muggle Studies and Arithmancy). While most would choose to find a job in the Wizarding community after graduating Hogwarts without further study, he set his heart on attending university double majoring in physics and computer science to become a data scientist. Meanwhile, Ako was also planning to follow in her boyfriend's footsteps, handling both Hogwarts' fourth year curriculum and Muggle A-level Accounting, Business Studies, Economics and Mathematics at the same time in her second year, aspiring to take over the family business after university.

Ako couldn't help but notice strands of her boyfriend's hazel brown hair falling over when he looked down at his material. She watched how concentrated his beautiful emerald eyes were behind the pair of white-rimmed spectacles while taking in each word, how he rephrased his information to make it easier for him to remember, typing them down on his laptop, how he would twirl his pen with his long, slender fingers when in thought. She never knew watching someone study would look this attractive.

Focus, Ako. Focus. She buried her head into her hands to hide her growingly red cheeks.

Almost being alarmed by a tap on the shoulder, she turned around to see Kanata scooting his chair towards her. "Are you alright? Do you need a break? Or are you stuck and need some help?"

"Both." She yawned.

He closed his laptop, peering at what she was working on. "Sometimes, just use technology and translate what you don't know, then memorise them and test yourself through flashcards. I used this method to build my vocabulary." He suggested, squeezing her hand in his. "I could show you my flashcards and notes later, if you visit my bedroom."

She gulped. "You can give them to me tomorrow. I'm not going into your room after what you did last time."

Smirking, he pushed up his glasses. "What? You falling asleep on my bed in my hoodie so I decided to cuddle you to sleep? You were the one who got tired in the first place."

Ako said nothing, but gently slapped him on the cheek in response. He only chuckled while pulling her chair closer, to the point her head was able to rest on his chest, then used his arms to tug her towards him so that she was sitting on his lap. He enveloped her from behind, resting his head on her neck.

The calm, warm feeling of being in his arms made all her worries disappear within ten seconds. "We've studied for almost five hours today. I think we should have a break now." He murmured, while playing with a loose strand of her auburn hair. "Let's continue what we left off last week -- it's only fair I convert this beautiful ballerina right next to me into a pro hip-hop dancer. Wanna give it a shot?"

Ako had prayed for him to forget their shared 'deal'. Seeing Kanata attempting ballet was pretty entertaining for her to say the least, but she hated to be on the shorter end of the stick. "Lemme guess, you're gonna be teaching me one of those extremely intense BTS dances that woke up most Ravenclaws at 3am last week and had them freaking out because they thought there was an earthquake? No, thanks. Nozomu thought you had gone mad from studying Transfiguration in the wee hours of the morning!"

"Come on! You can't entirely blame me. You know I dance to relieve stress. Plus, the castle hasn't been renovated for years, it's natural there's gonna be noise!"

They headed down towards an empty classroom Kanata often used to practice during the day. "It still amazes me how you're a self-taught dancer but won the Hogwarts Got Talent during your third year. Subaru showed me a video last week."

"MIC DROP? Oh, that was nothing. My skills were crap back then -- it wasn't until I attended a dance camp in California last year that they were truly polished." He shrugged it off, opening the classroom door. "We danced eighteen hours a day for two months during the summer. It was extremely tiring and painful, I couldn't take you out on dates, but the camp was extremely fruitful because I got to train alongside professional dancers. Plus, I have confidence I'll win this year's Hogwarts Got Talent -- I've already dragged the rest of M4 to sign up with me for the group category, as well as a solo I've started working on."

Ako cracked a smile. "Mahiru would thank you for making her brother dance."

"Oh she will. She'd be surprised to hear Asahi's a natural. It's a total pity he didn't begin dancing earlier."

"I'll remember to tell Mahiru that! In the meantime, you could perhaps show me your solo...?" She asked, with pleading eyes.

"Good thing I've already finished learning the choreography, and the dance practice was so intense it apparently woke up most Ravenclaws at 3-am last week as I repeatedly polished my movements. It's TAEMIN's Criminal, with a dance break so the performance could last for five minutes. I hope you look forward to it." He answered, with his signature grin Ako couldn't get tired of. "Sit down, and let me treat you to a private show, maybe... the first minute-or-so of the song? I can't tease you with the full performance, can I?"

She sat down on a desk. "Go on, love. I'm watching."

***

it has been an absolute pleasure to craft this story, and we hope that it has brought you joy, intrigue, and perhaps even a smile on your face. we were hoping to perhaps bring out the characters' correlation to the original anime -- and since it's canon that ako did ballet and kanata was in the dance division of four star academy, we decided to write about something dance-wise to send them off, as well as some academic details because they're our geniuses here haha!

stay tuned for part 3 <33