~Pottertalia~ (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 37

---3 years ago---
"Ah, welcome, Kiku," Yao said easily, smiling. Kiku wondered if he over packed, as it was only to be a month's visit. His mother always wanted to visit China, but it was most unfortunate that she had become terribly ill with the flu. He had wanted to stay and care for her, but she would have none of it, and shooed him off.

He smiled as well, bowing a bit to the woman he noticed behind Yao. She smiled, although it seemed a bit forced.

"..Kiku, was it? Welcome," she said, and Yao moved aside to open the door. "I hope you come to enjoy a wonderful month here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Wang. Sorry for the intrusion."

Mrs. Wang showed Kiku in, and Kiku removed his shoes at the entrance.

"You're not intruding on anything," Mrs. Wang replied, waving him off. "Please get comfortable; I'll make some tea."

"Thank you."

Mrs. Wang flicked her wand towards the kettle.

Yao smiled, urging Kiku to take a seat. Kiku looked around. There were various paintings hung up in the beautifully furnished living room, and several vases and statues of gods and dragons strategically put around.

"You're house is very quiet."

Yao rolled his eyes, lips quirking up at the end.

"That's because Yong Soo took the kids to the lake."

Yao grabbed Kiku's hand. "Let's go find them. 妈，我和 Kiku 出去找 Yong Soo，Xiao Mei，和 Jia Long!" (We're going to go find Yong Soo, Xiao Mei, and Jia Long!)

"好！你们去把." (Alright, you two go then.)

---

"Who's Yong Soo?"

"My cousin. He's visiting from Korea. He'll be transferring to Hogwarts the upcoming school year, though."

"Why the sudden change?"

"His parents are moving to Scotland, and they'd like him to be close. I can see why, seeing as what type of person he is."

Yao quickly stumbled a bit down the hill, arriving at a slightly muddy lake.

"Yong Soo, where are you?"

No reply. "Xiao Mei？Jia Long？你们人到那了？妈叫我们回家!" (Xiao Mei? Jia Long? Where did you all go? Mom called us to go back home!)

Yao furrowed his brow with worry at the lack of response. "The kids can swim, so that's no trouble for them. But Yong Soo's incompetent; he's not from Busan or anything, so I doubt he ever swam in his life. He'd better not have fallen in."

Kiku took off his shoes. "I'll dive in to find them-" he began.

"No. Let's look around first before we jump to conclusions."

"哥哥!" (Big Brother!) They heard someone shout.

Yao pinpointed the sound of the voice, about five feet away from them. Xiao Mei stood there.

"Xiao Mei，Yong Soo 和 Jia Long 人了?" (Xiao Mei, where are Yong Soo and Jia Long?)

"我找不到他们!" (I can't find them!)

There was an urgency in her voice.

"Kiku, she can't find them. Let's look for them together, all right?"

Kiku nodded.

Xiao Mei bit her lip.

"哥哥，他是谁?" (Who is he, Brother?)

"我的朋友，Xiao Mei." (My friend, Xiao Mei.)

Yao turned away, face serious.

"YONG SOO! JIA LONG!" He started to shout, running off in a direction.

"Um, you look for my brother?" Xiao Mei asked in broken English.

"Yes," he assured her. She blinked, staring at him.

"O-okay."

Kiku ran off in the opposite direction that Yao went.

---

"I found Jia Long!" Yao yelled a few minutes later, running back to where the fearful Xiao Mei was.

"Jia Long弟弟?" (Little Brother Jia Long?)

Jia Long came out from behind Yao's leg, nodding quietly.

"I found Yong Soo!" Kiku shouted, dragging behind a messy haired teen.

"At least, I believe this is him!"

Yao ran up, and promptly smacked Yong Soo.

"You're both soaking wet! Don't tell me you were dumb enough to fall in?"

Yong Soo shrugged, grinning slightly. "I guess I am."

"Yong Soo!"

Yong Soo snickered loudly. "Xiao Mei, were you scared?"

"I was!"

Yong Soo's smile disappeared as he coughed up water.

"Sorry, then."

---

"Yong Soo, you foolish child!" Mrs. Wang scolded him when she heard of the ordeal. "You were lucky Kiku saved you!"

Yong Soo looked over at the Japanese teen huddled in towels. "Thank you! Although, I don't think I know you."

"I'm Yao's House member."

"'House member', 哥哥？他说 '家人'吗?" ('House member', brother? He said 'family member'?*) Jia Long asked. Yao laughed a bit.

"那个太简单了吧；他说的 'House' 是Hogwarts 的 Ravenclaw." (That's a bit too simple. The 'House' he's talking about is Hogwarts' Ravenclaw.)

"Ah."

Kiku smiled a bit. He had a feeling Jia Long was actually very funny, even if he only had little context and there was a language barrier between them.

Did you like my lame Chinese skills? I'm crying; rip I'm ABC (American born Chinese) so I can only speak and understand Chinese, not write it. I tried my best and made do without Google Translate, though, so I suppose I'm proud.
*'家人' can mean "family member" or "house member". I guess it's kind of a joke, but I'm usually making terrible puns with both Chinese and English anyways, so...