Chapter Two:
Kagome slowly drew out of her reverie, carelessly wiping away tears that had pooled in her eyes and ran down her porcelain face. Feeling beneath her baggy clothes, she was happy to find that Tetsusaiga was still tucked into the leg of her pants. And that her pants seemed to be untouched. That was definitely a thing to be thankful for.
Kagome was snapped out of her musings when a loud voice broke the silence of the hospital-like room. A scowling woman dragged an injured, also scowling (but much, much more darkly) boy into the room. His hair was an onyx colour and his face was pale, much like hers, only it seemed that his was from lack of sunlight. He wasn't bad to look at and he looked to be about the same age as her, seventeen.
The scowling woman seemed to be lecturing the pale boy when Kagome tentatively decided to speak.
"Um…excuse me?" Kagome asked in Japanese. The woman didn't understand her and started to speak rapidly in English. At this, Kagome was relieved that she had been forced into many English classes by her mother.
"Where am I?" Kagome tried once again, only this time in English.
"Oh thank goodness." The woman sighed. "I thought I would have to get the Headmaster in here to use the language charm. How are you feeling? By the way, you're in Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Kagome let the words process in her head. "I'm in…what?"
"Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, dearie." The woman looked at her gently. Kagome felt a bubble of hysterical laughter at the fact that the woman had said that she was now in some sort of school for magic. It was positively ridiculous, almost as ridiculous as the fact that the woman barely knew her, yet called her "dearie".
Kagome just barely squeaked out an, "I see." before she passed out yet again.
By the time Kagome woke up again, she found two people staring at her, one the woman who had escorted the scowling boy into the room and the other an old man with long white hair and a long beard to match. The scowling boy himself was resting on a hospital bed, the sneer on his face not present as he slept.
"Miss? Are you alright?" the old man asked her, his blue eyes twinkling. Kagome nodded, confusion colouring her face.
"I'm sure that she's fine Albus. The healing potions did their work." The woman said, shooting the old man an affronted look, clearly showing that she was insulted by his lack of faith in her.
"I'm sorry Poppy; I just wanted to hear it from her myself." He said warmly. "May I ask your name, miss?" Kagome nodded slowly and replied.
"Um…my name is Higurashi Kagome, Kagome being my first name." Kagome added the last statement, remembering that they spoke their first names first when being introduced in English.
"Alright then, Miss Higurashi, may you please tell me how you came to appear in Hogwarts?" Kagome say the twinkle reappear, and she realized that she felt a foreign energy in her mind. Gently pushing it out, she saw the twinkle leave his eyes as he stared at her in confusion.
"I really have no idea-" she started to say, but suddenly, a light started to glow from her pocket and cautiously, she reached in and pulled out a single, crumpled feather. It was a beautiful red-gold colour and it contrasted dramatically with the white-washed walls of the room. Kagome's eyes flashed to the old man, and she was startled to see the beginnings of greed slip in and darken his eyes. She would be careful around this one, her instincts told her to. And if Sesshomaru had taught her anything, it would have been to trust her instincts, no matter what, because it would save her life.
She was startled out of her thoughts when the old man addressed her once more. "Ah, Miss Higurashi, my name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts. The way you speak, you are from Asia? Perhaps China or Japan-"
"That is enough Albus! I will not have you pestering my patients. Especially one that so needs her rest. Miss Higurashi, please go back to sleep, your body was in quite a fragile condition when we found you, and I do not want anything further hindering your recovery."
Kagome smiled at the seemingly warm-hearted woman. "Thank you…ah…"
"My name is Poppy Pomphrey, but most refer to me as Madame Pomphrey." Kagome smiled at the kindly witch.
"Thank you." She watched as Madame Pomphrey bustled out of the Infirmary (she guessed) and her attention was drawn to the scowling boy. He looked peaceful, but that was shattered when he started to toss and turn violently, muttering darkly. He looked as if he were in pain. It only got worse as time passed and Kagome involuntarily got up from the less-than-comfy bed. Making her way over to his bed, she let her miko ki pulse around her and soothe the distraught boy. It only worked fro a little while before he started to act up again, only it was even more restless than last time.
Frowning, Kagome carefully pried open one of his tightly clenched fists and slipped her own into his slightly larger one, ignoring the iron-grip that she was now being subjected to. She didn't know what to do at this point, but then she remembered Kaede humming as she fixed Kagome's wounds, which helped her keep the mind off of the pain. Quietly, she started to hum and watched, amazed that the boy slowly started to settle.
Kagome didn't know how long she was humming, but sometime in the night, she started to get drowsy. Futilely, she tried to get out of the very strong grip of the boy's, but she was tired, weak from her injuries, and it seemed that he would just not let go. So she steeled herself for a very uncomfortable sleep and let her head rest on the scratchy covers, her hand never leaving his the entire time.
Boy, what a surprise Severus would get when he woke up.
Severus woke up from a surprisingly good sleep. What was it? Maybe Madame Pomphrey had drugged his water with a potion that knocked him out. But there was no potion that could possibly wipe away dreams. Sluggishly, he looked around for something out of the ordinary, but nothing seemed particularly catch his eye. Bed, check. Pillow, check. Blankets, check. Weird girl lying on the covers next to him, check. Bland Infirmary walls, check-Wait. Rewind. Go back. What was that last one? Weird girl. Lying next to him. Holding his hand. He very nearly yelped and jumped up, but stopped himself just in time, observing the strange girl who was in a very bad position, her head being the only thing that was lying on the cot while her back was strained and her knees contacted the ground harshly.
Judging by the white-knuckled grip on her hand, he deduced that he must be the one who had stopped her from going back to her own bed and let his fingers loosen, grimacing at the stiffness in them. Then he put his hand into his robes and drew out his wand, levitating her onto his bed and, after a moment's hesitation, pulling the covers hurriedly over her before scurrying out of the Infirmary. Not without one last look at the girl though.
She was an unknown entity that had suddenly dropped into his life and he didn't like that. Why had she even been holding his hand in the first place? Grumbling to himself, he walked out into the hall and hoped that his life would just get back on track.
Someone really should have told him that when you're with Kagome, nothing stays normal.
When Kagome woke up, she found someone standing over her and immediately panicked, her powers lashing out at the intruder in response. It was only when she had fully understood where she was that she gasped and hurried over to the person she had just flung away from her, checking for any obvious wounds.
"I am so sorry! Are you okay?" she asked a middle-aged woman, her stern face never changing as she took in Kagome. The woman stood, brushing off her robes and standing proudly.
"I am Professor McGonagall; the Headmaster requested your presence in his office when you woke up." She said, eyeing the girl with veiled curiousity. Shaking it off, McGonagall led the confused Kagome through a series of twisting corridors and to a stone gargoyle.
"Pop Tarts." The gargoyle leapt aside, much to the shock of the teenage miko and the stern woman led her up the steps that were revealed. Just before McGonagall knocked though, a voice called from behind the wooden door, "Come in." Suffice to say, Kagome was thoroughly freaked out but kept her silence, choosing to observe instead of blindly blundering into whatever was in store for her.
"Ah, Miss Higurashi. I believe you have a story to tell us about how you came to appear in Hogwarts?" Kagome looked at the man with piercing eyes. Something still didn't sit right with her about this man. Instead of telling the man what he could use against her in the future, she decided to tell some half-truths, hoping to deter him from using the stupid twinkling to try and look into her mind again.
"Well, it all started when I was attacked by a stray dog, its master losing her concentration while at the archery range and accidentally hitting me. Luckily, I was far enough so that it merely left flesh wounds, like I am sure you noticed. When the stray attacked me, I started to run away and I tripped and somehow must have bumped my head against the concrete before blacking out. After that, I don't remember what happened, but from the looks of the glowing feather in my pocket, I'm guessing it had something to do with it." Kagome said. Everything she was saying at least had a partial truth embedded in it.
Inuyasha was a half-dog demon, and he had attacked her, while Kikyo didn't act as if she were in love with him, more like she deserved to have him following after her and her every whim. Which made her his owner of course. She had run away from them and had gotten hit by arrows and while they were by no means accidental, but it had been only Kagome's fumble on the forest floor that allowed Kikyo's arrow to pierce her, because it would not otherwise have gone even near her. Then she fell down the well and blacked-out, and assumed the feather did something.
The feather in itself was a mystery. She had picked it up on the forest floor one day when she had been travelling with Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala after seeing a bright flash of golden light and the most majestic bird ever. It had a plume of the purest red and gold, and the colours were so dazzling that whenever it had moved, it was like flames.
Dumbledore's voice brought her out of her reminiscing. "I am sorry, my dear-" Kagome twitched at that, "-but right now we have no way of getting you back to your home just yet, so in the meantime, we will enrol you in the school and have you place with the…How old did you say you were again?"
Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "I never did say, Headmaster. I am seventeen years old." The Headmaster's eyes twinkled, yet again and he smiled.
"That's perfect! You'll be going into the seventh year classes as soon as we get you sorted!" Kagome let confusion overtake her features for a moment before McGonagall answered her unspoken question.
"In Hogwarts, we divide the new students into four different Houses. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Gryffindor for the brave, Slytherin for the cunning, Ravenclaw for the knowledge-thirsty and Hufflepuff for the loyal. The Sorting Hat sorts you into each House based on the qualities it sees inside your head." Dumbledore nodded at her words.
"We'll announce your arrival tonight when supper starts."
"And when is that, exactly?" Kagome asked. Dumbledore gave another one of those aggravating smiles.
"Right now." He said, standing and striding out of the room, while McGonagall followed. Kagome, in shock, stood there for a while longer before she snapped out of it and ran after them.