Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Harry Potter belong to their respective authors/owners.
A/N: Happy New Year! Thank you animeangel088 for the pairing suggestion and HalfBlackWolfDemon for her encouragement.
About a quarter started months ago and the rest completed today o.O
Have been very busy lately, including volunteer work at the cattery :D They're so cute.
Familiarity
Draco Malfoy and Kagome Higurashi were going on a play-date. "...I feel exactly the same."
.blue.
"Mother..."
"Nonsense, Draco, this will be a lovely experience."
The Malfoy heir didn't even bother to mask his skepticism, sighed and left. He decided flying would be the best course of action to clear his mind and did just that.
Meanwhile...
"Mama..."
"Really now, Kagome, this will be a new experience for you."
Kagome sighed, nodded and began flicking through the pamphlet her mother had provided.
Draco Malfoy and Kagome Higurashi were going on a play-date.
...:::...
"Hello, my name is Draco Malfoy. I'm seven." The delivery couldn't have sounded more scripted in the boy's dull, flat voice.
The beautiful blonde woman beside him prompted him expectantly, "And...?"
"And a pleasure to meet you, miss."
"Now it's my daughter's turn."
"Hello, my name is Kagome Higurashi. I'm seven too," then the young girl paused, "and I feel exactly the same."
"Well, look at that! You have something in common already. Now run along and play, we'll be here talking," Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed pleasantly.
The children turned to leave, with Draco muttering quietly so his mother wouldn't hear, "Right, run, that's so beneath me."
Kagome rolled her eyes, "You're pretty short to be full of yourself."
Draco's head shot up to stare at her, "You did not call me short."
"Didn't call you short, just said that you are," she replied smugly. Her tutor had become a perfectionist in her recent English lessons.
"You're shorter than me, little girl."
"Hmph, all the better to kick your shins with because you are short."
...:::...
Mrs. Malfoy and Mrs. Higurashi had both won tickets for a trip on a cruise ship on her maiden voyage, not that the Malfoy family needed it. Mr. Malfoy was somewhere below talking to other businessmen and Mr. Higurashi was probably talking to the musicians. With Kagome's mother recently pregnant, it was decided that a cruise would be a lovely vacation. On the other side, Narcissa Malfoy just wanted a break from the re-run of gossip. The two children went along for a family experience, but so far lacking the 'family' part, and now a play-date, but lacking the 'play' and 'date' to be precise. Idle passengers now had free entertainment.
...:::...
The little boy and girl stood side by side but the distance between them was relatively large and awkward. Both stood and stared at anywhere but the other person, sometimes fidgeting and always tempted to leave and find their fathers.
The silence was finally broken by Kagome, "Mama says money can't buy happiness, you know."
"Mother says it depends on how you spend it," Draco returned.
"You have to spend it wisely," Kagome agreed.
The boy nodded, "Like buying one really good, the best available, broom instead of two second-rates." His father had explained that to him.
She cocked her head, "Why would you want two brooms for?"
He shrugged, "To do cool flying tricks?"
Kagome poked her tongue at him, "Boys."
"Girls," he didn't copy the immature display, but only just. The quiet returned and this time it was interrupted by Draco, "Want to see me fly?"
...
"Where are you going? It's over there! There! Nooo, not in that direction! Don't you see the shiny thing?" Kagome shouted, jumping and pointing for emphasis. She didn't care that her blue skirt fluttered with the movement.
Draco yelled back, "If I have seen it, then I wouldn't be going in the wrong way!" He flew down lower to face Kagome's direction, "And it's a Snitch!"
"Hmph, well I bet I'd be better at catching the Snitch than you!"
"Oh really?"
Being seven-year-olds on a large, luxury cruise ship, they reasoned and came to a decision to settle the matter. They'd find out who was better by competing.
"...except that I don't have a broom or know how to fly," the girl shared her realisation.
The young Malfoy shook his head like it was the gravest thing he had ever heard, "Then I will teach you. You can borrow my broom, if," he stressed and narrowed his eyes, which didn't quite achieve the same seriousness as his father, "you promise not to damage it."
"I've never damaged a broom before," Kagome responded thoughtfully, but remembering her sweeping duties, "okay, I promise!"
...
They were interrupted by their mothers who had come over to take them to lunch. However, that didn't stop Draco, future professional Quidditch player, on lecturing Kagome on everything he knew about flying and the sport. They sat at a round table that had a white, lacy table-cover, with the sitting arrangement unknowingly determined when the children immediately sat down next to each other. The women just smiled in their direction and only interrupted every now and then to make sure that they were eating.
"We're only going to catch a Snitch, why do I need to know all the rules for Quidditch?"
"Because, Kagome, flying is awesome and you might like to play another position when I beat you," returned the smug boy.
"Hmph, maybe having a bat would be useful..." Kagome trailed off and giggled at Draco's expression.
"I've never met a girl that's..." he frowned as he searched for the word, "not girly."
"Like a tomboy? My tutor says I am sometimes," she shrugged, "I think it's more fun but I still like my dresses."
Draco glanced at her skirt, "If you're planning to fly, you have to wear pants."
"Okay."
He nodded, "Green and silver clothes too."
Kagome waved her spoon in his direction, "No I don't, there's nothing about that in the rules and you weren't wearing that before."
"I'm teaching you, so my rules."
"Hey, what if you change the rules later so you'd win?" She demanded.
"I wouldn't need to. I have fast hands."
"Oh really?"
Draco crossed his arms, "Really." The glared at each other until their mothers told them to finish their dessert, which prompt Draco to whisper to Kagome, "I bet I could finish this before you."
"I like my cake, I accept."
...
However, their Snitch-catching contest was canceled when the Malfoy Head suddenly announced that his family would be socialising and dining with another prominent family. Every occasion after that was swiftly intercepted by the same man. Soon the only way for Draco and Kagome to communicate was through the Malfoy family's House Elf.
The first time Kagome had seen Dobby, she had promptly given him her teddy bear's hat. For that, the House Elf had deemed her worthy of being Mistress, a word the girl still hadn't come across, but then had to reluctantly return the hat before he popped away. It was a start of an unusual friendship, so when Kagome discovered that Lucius Malfoy often mistreated Dobby, she was furious.
"Mama, I'm going to find Draco's dad. He's being mean to Dobby," Kagome declared one morning.
"Do you know where he is, Kagome? Oh and who is Dobby?"
"Dobby is a House Elf, Mama. Um, I'm meeting Draco near that blue restaurant and he's going to take me."
"That's nice of you, would you like me to come?" The mother's casual acceptance stemmed from her thinking that this was just a game. She had heard of Christmas elves and Shoe elves but not House Elves. The Higurashi family still hadn't realised that they were on a cruise filled with magical people. They merely thought that all the unexplainable occurrences were due to technology. Kagome had more belief in magic to accept Dobby but even she didn't understand the full extent of a Wizarding World.
"I'll be fine. Beside, didn't you and Papa have somewhere to go?"
"Well, be careful Kagome."
"I will."
...:::...
When Draco promised to lead Kagome to his father, he hadn't expected this. Maybe she wanted to meet his father or maybe she wanted to ask why they couldn't play together, but certainly not this.
"Girl, are you lecturing me?" His father's tone was edging toward dangerous.
"Kagome, my name is Kagome," she huffed.
"I will call you what I please, Muggle."
Draco's eyes widened. Was that why his father didn't want them together? But she had accepted all the magic...
"Ka...go...me," she insisted.
"Listen here, if I had known that this was a charity cruise hoping to establish bonds between both worlds, I wouldn't have come. My family wouldn't have come. Don't try my patience, little Muggle girl," he sneered, "Come, Draco, we're leaving."
The boy immediately obeyed and tried to block out the girl calling out his name.
...:::...
"Mama..." The mother turned at her daughter's depressed tone.
"Kagome, what's wrong?"
"Mama, what's a 'Muggle'?"
"I'm sorry, Kagome, I don't know."
...:::...
It had been a week since Draco and Kagome had last seen each other or even communicated. Draco had been doing his best to avoid the Muggle girl while Kagome continued to search for him.
'I thought he was my friend...'
'Why did she have to be a Muggle?'
It had been a week since Lucius Malfoy had successfully won the auction and angered a few hot-headed people. They still felt humiliated from being beaten so casually and used that as an excuse to get drunk. Upon seeing Draco, who easily resembled their hated man, they pounced on the boy.
Meanwhile Kagome suddenly felt an urgency and need to be elsewhere, so she left without saying a word. The girl followed her intuition and found two grown men and an invisibly bound Draco Malfoy in the deserted storage room. She called for Dobby but the House Elf must still be on orders to ignore her so she went ahead and burst through the door.
Her unexpected appearance startled the men but they quickly recovered to point their wands at her. She didn't know that she had somehow opened a magically locked door. Draco tried to mouth something but she didn't know what or why he couldn't talk. Instead she shouted, punched, kicked and bit where she could. Kagome's small, agile body and her unpredictable movements made catching her difficult. The spells that did hit weren't working, rather seemed to bounce off and hit the other wizard. This led them having to undo their partner's magic but one strayed and returned Draco's voice.
The arrival of Dobby quickly brought everything to an end. Lucius Malfoy appeared shortly after and he was livid.
...:::...
The incident demonstrated the lack of security, especially for the Muggles, so arrangements were made to dispatch the passengers. The Muggle passengers were to board a small plane while the wizards and witched would travel by Port-key. Before everyone left, they were discreetly drugged with a mild potion that while didn't completely wipe away the memory, it would make recalling the whole affair more difficult. The effect would begin after a few hours. This was business after all.
...:::...
Draco never got to thank Kagome. He wanted to and this time even his father wasn't going to stop him. Dobby wasn't allowed to help and the boy didn't have a wand but he did have a broomstick.
Desperately, he kicked off and flew. He pushed and urged the broom to fly faster but it was no match for the plane. Draco even tried shouting but the wind swept away his voice and wouldn't have been heard over the engine anyway.
He landed a boy filled with regret.
Hours later he was Draco Malfoy with a few hazy memories.
...
Years later Draco Malfoy would brag about flying near a Muggle plane but couldn't remember the circumstances. Years later, whenever the young Malfoy looked at his biggest rival, he would wonder why he sometimes saw another image. Of a girl, not a boy, and one with bright blue eyes, not green.
Many years later when the Malfoy name wasn't worth a second glance and he was an aimless traveler, he would wonder why he often bumped into the same blue-eyed woman and why she seemed so familiar. A few more years later, he would glance down at the small bundle in his arms and smile at the familiar blue eyes.
'...money can't buy happiness, you know.'
.blue.
A/N: If you've read my other one-shots, then you already know the procedure. I'll mark this as complete since it technically is but I may/will add more.
I try to update before or on special occasions (for at least one of my projects) but otherwise I'm really sorry to say that the rest depends on inspiration and time.
Thank you for reading,
Airily