Hello everyone, I hope not that many of you wish to kill me for the school-year delay. BUT! I actually have a pretty good excuse, so drop those pitchforks for five seconds please! This was my last year of high school, and what do you know, it's college application time! First trimester was spent searching for colleges and then applying to NYU for Early Decision (didn't get in). The next trimester was spent in applying to six schools, and then start studying for my baccalaureat (I go to a French school and the baccalaureat is like a required national french exam in order to get into French or Canadian colleges, works wonders for credit negotiating in American ones too). And the last trimester was spent keeping up with my studies, deciding which bloody college I wanted to attend (go Eugene Lang!), and studying for my bac. I just got my bac results last night (I passed!) so I'm now officially free, on vacation, and ready to continue writting this baby.
And if that doesn't make people want to drop the pitchforks, I made this chapter longer than the others. I've been working on and off since the school year started so this is longer than any chapter I imagined writting. Although, this time, I promise that the next chapter is on the way. Hope you like this one though, and if it feels rushed, then maybe I do deserve the pitchforks.
Once again, Stone Silence had graced the Transfiguration Classroom. But not for long.
"Hey, cool technique, teach. Is that the only animal that you can turn to? And how many years did it take you to master it?" three guesses as to who would be disrespectful enough to call the Deputy Headmistress "teach".
To her credit, McGonagall only twitched an eyebrow at the "teach" comment. "It's Professor McGonagall, Miss Potter. And yes, I can only turn into a cat, no other animal. It took me about seven years to master it", unknowingly, Aiji had taken Minerva's attention away from the bodyguards.
"That long? Does that mean that we need all the years at Hogwarts to learn how to do that?" asked a curious Sally-Anne. 'Damn, why didn't dad explain about animagi better? I just know that the other people in Slytherin are going to be onto me for that question. Saperlipopette (1), open mouth, insert foot.'
Though, from the looks of it, everyone, including the purebloods, wanted to know the answer. Sally-Anne breathed a silent sigh of relief as she observed this. Aiji's demon ears picked up on her sigh but she didn't say anything. Hey, if the girls were considerate enough to not bring out the Spanish Inquisition on her secrets, then she won't be a nosy bitch.
"No, Miss Perks. Animagi training can only start until you are at the very least fourteen years old. By that time, your magical cores should be mature enough to endure it. This kind of training is very difficult because it requires extensive amount of control over your magic, and quite the amount of magical energy to pull it off to begin with. What makes it even harder is that you do not use a wand, so your focus point for your magic is different. And as for how long it takes to master it, it depends on the person, really. Someone can become an Animagi only after three years of training. Or it can be after ten years."
As she continued her "lesson" (she had not planed on starting with Animagi, but then again at least they will be prepared for third year); she noted that Gryffindor Hermione Granger and Slytherins Lythiel Moon and Sally-Anne Perks were taking notes and hanging on to her every word. Slytherin Morag McDougal was not exactly as radical as the three other girls; however, she was taking (what Minerva assumed) short notes and seemed to be trying to use the course book as a reference. Too bad that she won't find much since they only start to cover animagi in third year. She pegged them to be good students and that she would have no trouble working with them. The rest of the class was also paying very close attention, though some of them were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to become Animagi any time soon.
"Should any of you decide to undergo Animagi training." Here she gave them a stern glance, "Remember that you should take it with a Transfiguration Master or Mistress helping you. Some animals are easy to transform into, and, should any accidents happen, not damage your bodies permanently. However, if your animagus form is that of a fish, for example, then the possibility of dieing due to lack of oxygen is very high. That is why you need a master to help you with the training; we don't want any unnecessary deaths or traumas to happen, do we?" Some of the class looked very scared at the prospect of dieing. "Also, you need to register yourself as an animagus at the Ministry. To be an unregistered one has six months in Azkaban for a consequence"
"What! Wait a minute, old lady. How come the Ministry needs to know that you're an Animagus? That's a technique that you learned and, frankly, it's no ones business but yours. Useless bureaucrats!"
Before McGonagall could open her mouth to respond or retort, Sally-Anne intervened, "So how do you choose your animagus form, Professor McGonagall?" This is what Outer Sally-Anne said in a polite and respectful tone. However, this is what Inner Sally-Anne is saying 'Asinine old bitch! Don't even think about taking away House Points, you fucking old hag! Just try to take them from my friend! Vieille salope (2)!'
No she isn't schizophrenic, nor does she suffer from MPD.
"You do not choose the animal, Miss Perks, the animal chooses you. It depends on personality, character and the such. However, there is a potion that allows you to glimpse at what animal you shall be, should you decide to undergo the training"
"So if I decide that I want to take that training in Japan, do I still have to register myself for the UK Ministry? Back at home you don't have to register yourself if you're an animagus." 'Ah, so it was cultural difference' thought Minerva. That seemed to relax her shoulders.
"It depends as to what your citizenship is, Miss Potter."
"Then I don't have to register since I'm a Japanese citizen" it wasn't a question.
"Quite right" McGonagall responded anyway.
Then Minerva proceeded to do her actual lesson speech and plan. Sadly, after her explanation of animagi, turning her desk into a pig did not have a big an impact as it would've on normal occasions. Though, it did prove to her that Slytherin had a very good student that she would not have minded being in her own House.
"Does the object that you are transforming have to have the same length and/or weight as the thing that you wish to transform it into? And what is the time limit that a transfigured object has?" asked Lythiel. 'If I can't succeed in the practical, might as well know everything there is to know about the theory of Transfiguration'
"Not necessarily, Miss Moon. Because the desk is more or less the same height and weight as the pig that I turned it into, it is a simple transfiguration. The more the object that you wish to transfigure has in common with what you want it to turn into, the easier it is." At that, she noticed that the majority of the class was shocked that what she had done was considered easy. "However, the more the object's weight and the larger their length is, the more difficult it is to do. Transfiguration is an Art with many layers of difficulty that requires fine control. As for time limit, it depends on the caster: how strong their magical reserves are and how much magical control they possess."
After a while of note taking (for some) on difficult wand movements; McGonagall gave them each a match, with instructions of turning it into a needle.
Noticing Lythiel's nervousness, Aiji decided to cheer her up /Hey, relax ao-gan. Neko-baba did say that you need perfect control of your magic to do this. If anything this should prove my theory correct./
/Easy for you to say/ Lythiel mumbled.
Aiji did something that her old teachers would have considered a miracle: she raised her hand. Impolite, rude and juvenile delinquent Urameshi Aiji… raising her hand like a normal student? Oh dear, are those flying horsemen that I'm seeing in the sky? Don't tell me that the huge-ass worm that coils itself around the world has risen from the water!
'Yeah, that would be something that they would say if they saw me right now. Fucking tight-assed teachers. But I kinda need her help on this one'
"Yes, Miss Potter"
"You wouldn't mind doing a couple of demonstrations. It's one thing to be told to do something, another to be shown" 'Come on, do it so that I know how much reiki/magic I have to use'
"Very well, I don't see the harm in that. Though, it is not possible to get it right the first time."
With a well placed Converto, Minerva had changed the match into a needle. Instead of the awe that many other students showed at her obvious mastery, Aiji had a look of utter concentration on her face. She seemed the most focused at her teacher's wand.
'Well that's interesting. Never would've pegged you as a student who wants to do well'
'You know that's not why I want to do this, Hiei-nii. If magic is just a different branch of reiki, then I want to know what kind of limits I have'
'Hn, just so you know, you only need a little bit of energy. It has to be the same size as the object since you're resorting to pure Alchemy here. You might need some more for the pointy part of the needle.'
'How did you know that?' asked a perplexed Aiji.
'You're forgetting that I'm older than I look, Aiji.' Laughed Hiei, 'Also, Mukuro's new hobby is ningen Alchemy. Apparently it alleviates the pain that she seldom feels on the metal parts of her body.'
'So the secret to Transfiguration is to use as much energy to cover the object and then some more for the modifications. That's why you need to have perfect control over your magic to do this.'
'I don't know. Why don't you test the waters? The Alchemy that I saw did not require that foolish wand bullshit.'
'Yeah, but if you look at it this way, Transfiguration is a form of Alchemy since you're changing the molecules and cells to make a different object.'
'Never knew that Kurama and the ningen girl could be such great teachers and miracle workers. They actually managed to ram some information into your thick skull'
'Shut up. You know as well as I do that I need to know the basics of magic if I want to avoid being found out. Do you have any idea the blackmail and threats that those two did throughout the whole summer? Honestly, it wouldn't be THAT bad if the wizarding world learned of the Reikai'
'You're just saying that because you hate studying. Now quit complaining and get on with it, some of your classmates probably think that you're dead or something'
'Crap!'
"Aiji? Are you alright?" asked a concerned Daphne. Lythiel and Sally-Anne were just as worried. Aiji was just staring into nothing with a pensive look on her face. They may have not known the violent girl for long, but a thoughtful look on her bronzed face seemed odd.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about how I'm gonna do this." 'If Hiei's right then ao-gan should not have any problems in this class, for now.'
'Okay, just take a small wisp of reiki, only take it from the magic branch. Only take enough to surround the match.' One of the good things about Genkai's spirit cuffs training is that it gave you perfect control of your reiki.
Even though Aiji had to concentrate to use only reiki instead of combining it with youki as she usually does, it pretty much helped her blend in with the struggling students. Although using youki would definitely help, it would not be wise to alert anyone that she uses it while she is undercover.
"Converto", the wand movement wasn't exactly the same as the one that the Professor had shown, but, fortunately, no one noticed. Even Sally-Anne, Lythiel and Daphne were too busy trying to turn their match into a needle. However, since her match did turn into a semi-needle, their attention rapidly turned to her.
"How did you do that?" asked all three girls.
"Just used the amount of magic that I would need to surround the match. Though, it doesn't really look like the traditional needle, ne?"
"Surround…what?" asked a lost Daphne.
"Pretend that your magic is like a blue aura, or whatever your favorite color is. Then surround it around the object so that the transformation can complete itself. At least that's how I did it"
Sally-Anne looked pensive. But then she remembered the ki attacks in one of her favorite animes DragonBallZ, 'maybe that's were Aiji got her inspiration from'. With that though in mind, Sally-Anne began to concentrate in a similar manner that Aiji had.
"Converto" and what do you know, after her fifth try, Sally-Anne's match had turned into a perfect needle.
Seeing Lythiel and Daphne's surprised faces, she answered "Used Aiji's advice"
Taking a page from their friends, the two blondes began to concentrate and did the spell a couple of times. After her twenty-ninth try, Lythiel had successfully turned her match into a needle. Daphne took a little longer than Sally-Anne, but after her tenth try, she had managed to make a wooden needle. So Potions and Herbiology were more her thing, sue her.
Of course McGonagall was too busy trying to get Crabbe and Goyle down without hurting them. "That will be five points from Slytherin for fighting, each."
"How much is that each" asked a bored Aiji
"You, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle"
"Excuse me, Professor, I did not fight."
"No but you ordered Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle to fight. That counts as fighting"
Draco blushed in anger at not only losing the fight, but also at losing House Points on the first day. It was all Potter's fault. He glared at her, and received the bird in return. In plain sight. Obviously there are some things about Aiji that will never change.
Luckily, the teacher still had her back turned so no more points were taken away.
Sally-Anne, in desperate move to regain some House Points, raised her hand. As soon as the two boys were down again (and with stern instructions to go to the Hospital Wing for their concussions, which she noticed once they were revived, and ordering Stacie to go with them) Minerva went to their table.
Minerva was shocked that they were done already. Especially since two of them had perfect needles. So far, they were the only students to have any success at changing the match. Sure, Hermione Granger seemed to have an easier time than most muggleborns but she had not managed to transfigure the match yet. It was because magical cores can be influenced. A pureblood can have a stronger magical aura than a muggleborn mainly because they are surrounded by magic throughout their whole lives (in theory, anyway). That was one of the reasons why purebloods looked down on muggleborns.
"Very impressive that you've finished it so soon. Five points to Miss Perks and Miss Moon for a perfect transformation, three points to Miss Greengrass for an almost successful transfiguration. What is this Miss Potter?" asked the Transfiguration Mistress.
"It's a senbon, or an acupuncture needle. Usually used for Chinese medicine, but it can also be used in a fight if you know enough on anatomy." So what if Touya and Jin had taught her some of the overlooked shinobi weapons? It's much more interesting than class-work, that's for sure! And people wonder why she can remember things like that and forget about some school lesson. Humph!
"You did say to transfigure it into a needle, you didn't specify what kind", thank Inari that the translation spell was still holding up. Otherwise Aiji would've had a hard time saying this in one sentence. Hey, she only had a month to learn English, give a girl a break! Besides, she always did like to contradict teachers every time they have that smug 'I'm gonna belittle a student and make myself feel better' look.
"That I did Miss Potter" 'Mental note to self, next time specify what kind of needle I want. Or any kind of object or animal I want them to transfigure' "Two more points to Miss Greengrass and five points to Miss Potter for transfiguring the match into a needle."
She may be strict, but let it not be said that she was an unfair, biased bitch. Oh no, she was not going to sink into Severus' level. That was his fucking title!
As Minerva left the four girls to check up on the other students; Sally-Anne, Daphne and Lythiel couldn't believe their luck that they had managed to regain their House some points. Aiji, on the other hand, couldn't care less about House Points. As far as she was concerned, that was a shallow way of making one House look better than the others. Thus, making the students even more competitive (not in a good way) and distrusting of each other.
'Good thing that the ningen didn't notice that you didn't do the "correct" wand movements. Hell, you're lucky that no one detected you getting that spell right the first time. This is a dangerous game you're playing, detective. If one of them is even remotely suspicious of you, then the chances of Reikai being discovered by the ningens are going to get higher.'
'Look at it this way, Hiei-nii. Even if I do get caught, depending on the person, all I have to do is erase their memories. That or I can threaten them to keep their traps shut.'
'And how exactly are you going to do that? Last I checked you're not skilled enough in telepathy to erase memories just like that. And I don't think that Koenma will allow me to be here at all times, so me erasing people's memories for you has got to be limited.'
'Koenma had already thought about that. So he gave me one of those memory-erasing devices that Reikai used on Keiko-nee when you kidnapped her. Besides, I don't think that some people in Slytherin will actually squeal, the majority does hate the old ghoul's guts, you know.'
'Yeah, but it will be even worse if the ningen with the split souls finds out. It's going to be harder to obliterate that one's memories than the old relic.'
'His days are practically numbered, Hiei-nii. Or are you forgetting the fact that Kurama-nii, Yusuke-nii, Kuwabara-nii and later you are going to search for those Hor-thingies and destroy them? Besides, even at full strength he can forget about beating anyone of us.'
'You do remember the part that said that Reikai has got to be kept a secret before and after the mission is done. This one might take more than one year to accomplish that. Plus, if you graduate from that … school, they won't be on your case if you leave and never come back once the mission is over.'
'Hiei-nii, I already made it clear to that giant hanyou that I'm only here because I want payback on the son-of-a-bitch that killed my parents.'
'Whatever, look, these people have been thinking that you're going to be their savior no matter what. I sincerely doubt that they're going to change their opinions so soon in the game.'
'OK, OK, no more showing off (within limits) that I have complete control of my magic because of my training with reiki, got it.'
A gentle tap to her shoulder brought her back to the transfiguration class. /Are you alright Aiji? You seem to be spacing out a lot/. Lythiel wasn't the only one that was concerned; Sally-Anne and Daphne had worried frowns etched on their faces as well.
"I'm fine guys, just feeling a little homesick, is all." Aiji grinned, "Is Neko-baba busy with the other students?"
At the two girls confused stares Lythiel said "Neko-baba means "Old Cat" or "Old Hag of a Cat". It's a pun to Professor McGonagall's animagus form and to her old age." Then she directed a raised eyebrow towards Aiji, "You know, she may not be like Professor Snape when it comes to House Loyalty. But you might just give her the excuse that she needs to do so"
"What's the worst that she could do? Give me a detention? Yeah, they're annoying as hell, I'll admit, but it's not the end of the world if she gives me a couple." Aiji shrugged. "Anyway-"
"What are you snakes planning!" demanded the copper-haired Ronald Weasley. Apparently he was not happy about his lack of results with his match. It didn't help that the 'traitor' had already gotten it right without help.
"Take a chill pill Red. What the fuck crawled up your ass this morning?"
"Weasley, I was not under the impression that our conversation was any of your business" Daphne's voice had taken an icy edge, her dewy grass green eyes turned wintergreen. While Daphne did not believe the Weasleys were blood traitors (one of the perks of being from neutral family), however, she hated it when those self-righteous bigots judged all purebloods/Slytherins to be Voldemort worshippers. 'Really, they aren't any better then the Death Eaters'
"Who asked you!?"
"You know, Red, if you keep acting like a yaro (3) to my friends I might have to get violent. I happen to be a bit of a jerk when you piss me off." Aiji didn't really care about the teacher's reaction if she did fight him. No one treats her friends like shit and gets away with it.
"Are you threatening me, you Death Eater scum?!"
"Weasley, no one likes a prejudiced bastard" surprisingly, Lythiel had actually insulted the ill-tempered redhead. She would've preferred to have avoided an entire 'blood war' altogether but calling one of her friends a Death Eater scum is where she draws the line.
"What did you call me!?" demanded a red-faced Ron.
"Are you deaf, Red? You know, you might not treat the muggleborns like horseshit and I can respect that. But you know, your accusations of all Slytherins being Death Eaters makes you no better than old Voldy" at this point Minerva had made it to see what the commotion was all about, mainly because Sally-Anne had signaled for her to come.
"And what, pray tell, seems to be the problem here?"
"They just called me a 'prejudiced bastard'" pointed Ron, gleefully happy to get a bunch of Slytherins in trouble.
"You mean you aren't? With the way that you just assumed that all Slytherins are just… hum, what was it that you called us? 'Death Eater scum'… that indicates that you are just as prejudiced as whom you compared us to" Daphne was on a roll today. No one, and I mean no one, insulted her friends and got away from it unscathed. Just ask Zacharias Smith of the time when he was seven years old and had teased Lythiel to the point that she was in tears. He came back home with a black eye, a bloody nose and a handprint on his left cheek.
"Is that true, Mister Weasley?" Minerva could just feel that migraine of hers coming now.
"Well Potter started it by threatening me!"
"I wouldn't of had to if you weren't such an ass towards my friends. Besides, if you didn't want to fight then why didn't you keep your freckled nose out of our business?" Aiji's voice was flat and laid-back, she'd been in too many situations like these to actually give a damn, "And the name's Urameshi. What does a girl have to do to get people to get her name right?" with a final roll of her eyes, she leaned back on her chair.
"Miss Potter, five points shall be taken for your vulgar language. Mr. Weasley, five points for provoking the fight and another ten points for calling them such a horrid insult"
"You know, teach. This entire 'let's not call Aiji her real name' game is getting old."
"Technically, your real name is Alyssa Potter, so we are calling you your real name." Yep, that migraine wasn't going to leave her alone. 'I'm getting too old for this stupid rivalry'
"Just humor me, will you? I've been Aiji Urameshi for ten years, there's no need to change that"
'I'm only agreeing because of the migraine' "If you insist Miss Po- Urameshi"
"Thank you" 'Finally, one down, a couple of more to go'
Yuusuke Urameshi may the world's biggest lazy bastard, a chain smoker, authority hater, all around rebel and many other things. But right now, he was showing the world just how much he adored, cherished, loved, treasured and just plain worshipped the ground his baby sister walked on.
No he wasn't saving the world, yet. He wasn't off on a Death Eater killing spree. Hell there was absolutely no violence involved in this task whatsoever. His act of love was…
Finding the Horcruxes. On his vacation and time off from school, Reikai and Toranin. And his only companion/partner in this current mission was Kurama, AKA his love interest.
That's right. While Kazuma was off partying; Botan was spending money from the Reikai on shopping sprees with Keiko, Yukina and Shizuru; and Koenma was doing paperwork; he, the Lord of Toranin, was sent to the middle of nowhere with the love of his life-though-he-doesn't-know-it, searching for items that stored pieces of a sick bastard with a snake fetish's soul!
Somehow, he had the feeling that his sneaky little sister had something to do with him being alone, in the middle of nowhere, with Kurama. She meant well, but it's not like Kurama likes him back! (He's a blind one, isn't he?)
I mean, come on! They're in the middle of nowhere, all alone and the heat is unbearable! Unbearable enough that Kurama was going shirtless.
See what his dilemma is? How the Hell do you expect someone who probably doesn't know what the word 'restraint' means to keep his hands off the delectable kitsune? It didn't help that he had to discard his own shirt because of the heat.
Really, searching for a dead man's object-entrapped soul pieces in the middle of nowhere, with the love of his life walking shirtless and looking so fucking sexy next to him, yet he can't touch. If this didn't prove his undying love then he didn't know what will!
"I think that it should be in that cave, the one near the orphanage" Okay, so they weren't exactly in the middle of nowhere, the orphanage that Tom Marvolo Riddle was raised in was!
"He can't just die like a normal person can't he?" Yuusuke muttered, bitter that a bloody ningen with a God-complex had interrupted his, his friend's and his sister's downtime.
'Remind me again why we haven't jumped him' asked Youko, 'We're alone, we're shirtless, you want him as a life mate, I want him as a life mate, he's no longer with the female ningen, his mother approves of us, the cub is trying to get us together… so why aren't you taking advantage of the situation and marking him as yours?'
'Easy, I will not do anything without Yuusuke's consent.'
"Say, Kurama. What do we do when we get those Hor-thingies? How do we destroy them without making a scene?"
"I believe Koenma mentioned that he was going to take care of that little problem himself. We just have to get them to him"
"You mean the slave-driver is actually going to do some dirty work for a change?" snorted Yuusuke in amusement.
Kurama merely smiled at his Toushin companion and continued walking towards the mountains, a comfortable silence cloaking the two demons.
It was not long before they entered the cave that contained Slytherin's locket. At the entrance there was a knife, a stone bowl and in the wall "Blood" was written.
"Not very original, ain't he?"
"Well, he did start his reign of terror at sixteen. They do say that teenagers always think that they are the first ones to do something."
Yuusuke snorted and pricked his finger with the knife, and then he placed his bloody digit on the bowl. A passage opened and the redhead and greenhead both entered the 'safe' for the Horcrux.
The trip on the small canoe, for lack of better term, was filled with comfortable chatter between the two demons. Mainly about their respective territories in the Makai and the annoying (for Yuusuke) political games they have to play. Really, Tommy-boy's little so-called booby-trapped cave of doom was so cliché that they couldn't be bothered by it.
Their little trip ended when they reached an island-inside-a-cave. Like the entrance, there was a bowl, however, unlike its predecessor, it merely contained invisible liquid in it. Thanks to their demon senses, Kurama and Yuusuke were able to see a small object at the bottom of the bowl.
Bingo, they've won the price.
"Five billion yen says that that is poison"
A grunt of amusement. "That's a sucker's bet, Kurama"
"Do you want me to take it, or do you want me to handle the booby-traps that are going to spring right after?"
"How do you know there are going to be booby-traps?"
"I'm the King of Thieves, remember?"
"I'll take the poison, you'll probably know where the infamous booby-traps are before they activate"
The poison hardly bothered the Toushin, namely because of all the antibodies his body had from all of his Reikai Tantei escapades. The Youko was aware of this, and he was glad. That way, Yuusuke would be conscious to watch the silver kitsune in his element and be amazed. It was the Youko way of wooing their suitors: show off your skills in front of your intended and make them come to you.
Halfway through the drinking of the transparent liquid, Yuusuke had to do a semi-transformation to keep the worst effects of the poison at bay. So he did learn a little bit about caution. More like, it was drilled into his head by Raizen and Genkai. Same difference.
Soon the necklace was in plain view and the Toushin snatched it from the bowl. Immediately, a bunch of Inferi had begun to come out of the ground.
Of course, they were no match for the demons.
Kurama made quick work of them while the green haired hanyou watched. A Rose Whip Slash here, a Petal Attack there, and the Inferi fell like flies in front of repellant.
The jinkitsune was rather put out. Really, one would think that the oh-so-fearsome Inferi would be more of a challenge. Kurama may have the infuriating habit of making his death matches look easy, but this was ridiculous.
Wait, oh, nevermind, the Inferi he just defeated are coming back for round two. 'Hmm, I wonder if they will make a decent meal for my Death Tree'
'Who knows, why don't we find out? At the very least it should be entertaining for Yuusuke'
'Is it me, or is Kurama showing off? Nah, poison must be affecting me more than I though. Kuso, why didn't otou-sama warn me that my body was still weak against poisons!'
Above the heavens, Koenma and Raizen were watching as the Youko fed the Inferi to his Death Tree, the zombies seemed quite tasty to the flora.
"When is that son of mine going to realize that he's being courted?" asked an amused Raizen while raising his eyebrow.
"How much you want to bet that Yuusuke'll get his head out of his ass after Aiji gets her first boyfriend."
"There's no need to exaggerate, Koenma, Yuusuke isn't that big of an idiot" pause "though some might beg to differ"
"Then it's a bet then?" Koenma just couldn't pass up the opportunity, not at all. If previous events are any indication, he is weak against temptation. Thank goodness that he won't be the official God of Death for another millennia. Otherwise we'd be doomed.
"With what?"
"If I win, you have to become my personal assistant for as long as I want. That includes taking care of this blasted paperwork"
Raizen gave him one of those 'now you're just being a lazy bastard' looks that the Reikai Tantei team always gives him, "Fine, but if I win, then I have the right to visit my children, give them tips, train them and, if necessary, possess them like I did to Yuusuke with his fight against Sensui." The look on Koenma's face was priceless. If the Junior Shinigami lost, then he'd have a shit load of paperwork to complete for Raizen's 'request'.
"Not backing out now, aren't we toddler bitch?" Raizen taunted in that condescending manner that Yuusuke and Aiji often used around Koenma, particularly when he gives them impossible missions or slacks off on paperwork. 'Maybe some things are genetic after all'
"Of course not! And stop calling me a toddler!" 'Please let Aiji-chan get a boyfriend soon'
Though considering who we're talking about, the chances of Aiji getting a guy friend her own age that doesn't wet himself at the sight of her and/or isn't intimidated by her are rather low in the first place.
Aiji sneezed just as she was going to pop a mochi to her mouth. 'Someone must be talking about me. Wonder if it's Blondie or Red'. She and the girls were eating their snacks before they had to go to Potions class.
"Bless you, Aiji. You're not coming down with something aren't you?" Daphne touched the back of her hand to Aiji's forehead. So she was the mothering type, what can you do about it?
"Nah, someone's probably talking about me" before her non-Japanese speaking friends could open their mouths, Lythiel answered "It's a Japanese superstition. If you sneeze for no reason, then that means that someone's talking about you" then the petite blonde gave the forest haired girl a teasing smirk "Wonder if we should get you a handkerchief for the day?"
"Ah, shove it ao-gan. It's not like kicking Blondie's bodyguards' asses' any big deal. And Red needed a serious kick in the ass and you know it"
"Yeah, except that you're Alyssa Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, and everyone's favorite Light Side poster child" Sally-Anne added, "Even if it's wrong to expect an eleven year old to save the world, that's what people have been doing for years. As far as they're concerned, you're giving them mixed signals"
"I'm living my life like I want to. What's so confusing about that? It's not like I didn't make it clear that I hate snobs, rich bitches and prejudiced bastards."
"Firstly, you're a Slytherin, a so-called Death Eater in the making" Daphne rolled her eyes as she said this, "As far as they're concerned, if you end up in this House, then you're a Junior Dark Wizard who hates muggles and everything associated with them"
"Who came up with that rule?" Aiji snorted, "Just because Hebi-jii-san had a couple of issues with muggles doesn't mean that all the Slytherins are like that"
"And I sincerely doubt that Salazar Slytherin would have appreciated being called Old Man Snake" Lythiel responded with a laugh as she nibbled the last sakuramochi, the little pink cakes had become her new favorite snack, "Even though some people might argue that Slytherin had a good reason to hate muggles – because at the Founder's Time witch hunts occurred left, right and center. But that's another story altogether"
"Secondly, you verbally sparred with Draco Malfoy and had beaten his bodyguards without breaking a sweat. The Malfoys have the bad reputation of being in allegiance with the Dark Lord. Therefore, you are giving people the signal that you are their savior because you just went up against a 'Death Eater's son'" Sally-Anne continued.
"Thirdly, by fighting with Ronald Weasley, even though he's the one that started it," 'the prick', "there is also the fact that his family, though poor, is a very influential Light family. Therefore, you are not giving people the impression that you're the Savior of the Wizarding World" Daphne finished the explanation with a bite to her mochi.
"They got those so-called 'mixed signals' just because two fuckers from opposing sides pissed me off? Jeez, you'd think that they've never seen a rebel before"
"The masses of any population and/or country have never been very bright to begin with" Lythiel muttered bitterly, "Just look at the prejudice that everyone has against werewolves. Though, some might say that this is a cake walk compared to the 1840's, where the Werewolf Segregation Act took place"
"I've heard about it" exclaimed Sally-Anne, "wasn't that the law that stated that all werewolves were to be sterilized to 'avoid passing the malady known as lycanthropy to the new generation'?"
"Not just that, Sally" replied Lythiel, "any werewolves found pregnant were either forced to abort or killed on the spot. If a child had a werewolf parent, even if the child didn't 'inherit' lycanthropy, he or she was sterilized or killed in cold blood. It's impossible to 'inherit' lycanthropy anyway, you can only become a werewolf if you are bitten or scratched by one at the full moon"
Funny thing about werewolves is that they are a low level form of Ookami Youkais (4). Suffice to say that Aiji was not impressed as to how her people were treated. "They did what!? Just because some people had the bad luck of being a werewolf's chew toy for five minutes they're treated like rabid animals!?"
Lythiel nodded her head, "The 'Segregation' in the act also meant that werewolves could not go to any wizarding school, get any jobs or even be accepted at a wizarding hospital. That's why so many of them left for the Muggle World and never came back. That's also why Muggles more or less learned of the existence of Werewolves."
"I knew that there was that whole blood war going on around here but this is getting ridiculous! I ain't saying that the Muggle World's all sunshine and daisies but all the same!"
"That's the way the world works Aiji." Daphne's compassionate and mothering voice pacified the Toushin, it kind of reminded her of Yukina-nee's soothing one, "We're not saying this to upset you, it's just that we want you to be careful. At any moment people can turn around and curse you just because you're not their Golden Savior or any such nonsense."
"Feh, I can take care of myself. Besides it's not like it's the first time that some asshole teachers, policemen or whatever want to start shit with me. The worse that they could do is send me to juvie since I'm a minor, but it ain't that bad over there" pause, "Of course, I was only there for a day before ka-san bailed me out"
"You've been to juvie?!" asked a wide eyed Sally-Anne. Sure, Aiji seemed to disregard authority to the point of being an unrepentant rebel, but she never would have pictured her new friend to have once been sent to jail for minors!
"Some bastard police dude decided to send me there when I kicked his son's ass, nevermind that he started it" Aiji shrugged
Before the three witches could react to Aiji's news, the sound of footsteps alerted them that their break was over. Thankfully, they had finished their snacks so no one could bug them about it.
Although, that doesn't mean that Daphne, Lythiel and Sally-Anne won't continue this conversation and possibly ask if Aiji needed help in avenging herself.
Almost as soon as the other students came to the Potions classroom's door, Professor Snape opened it with a bark of "Inside"
Aiji sat down at the back of the class, as per usual. Her three friends had already figured out that Aiji would always sit at the back, regardless of which House side it was on, so didn't say anything as they sat next to her.
As Snape began to roll call, none of the students made a noise. Snape had the ability to command attention, fear and respect from his students without making a single sound. 'Nifty trick' though Aiji with a wry grin.
For some odd reason, he had stopped at Aiji's name, "Miss Potter, our newest… celebrity"
'Wonder what the hell crawled up his ass' Aiji speculated to herself.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," Professor Snape began. His voice was low and soft but no one in the room would dare not to listen, even those in the back of the classroom caught every word.
"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper on death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
'A hundred diamonds says that he'd use other choice words if he was in another environment.' Aiji mentally laughed at Hiei's "bet".
Despite the fact that Aiji was in Slytherin, Snape was a man of his word. And when he promised himself the other day that he would find out exactly what made Alyssa Potter tick, then by the Spirits was he going to find out what made Alyssa Potter tick.
"Potter!"
Aiji was starting to get a little irritated with people not calling her by her 'real' name.
"What would I get if I added a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
'The fuck?'
'What did you do this time detective?'
'I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to him yet'
Severus was using the opportunity to get a glimpse of her mind. So Legilimency was considered illegal, big deal! Committing a crime isn't really a crime, it turns into a crime if you get caught.
'Hey asshole, didn't yer mother teach ya that readin' people's minds' rude'. Aiji may never reach Hiei's level when it comes to telepathy, but she knows enough to know when someone is snooping into her mind.
'Potter?!' Snape mentally exclaimed in surprise. Since when did muggle raised children know Occlumency?
'No it's your fairy godmother who came to tell ya that yer conscious died, bakayaro. Now get outta my head before I chop off yer dick right this minute!'
Feeling the girl's anger and the seriousness of her words, Severus was forced to retreat.
Hiei felt a rush of pride. It was a powerful moment, knowing that your violent, hanyou pseudo-imouto was putting a nosy ningen in his place.
It was a good thing that Severus was in shock, because at that moment, Lythiel, who was sitting next to Aiji, discretely passed the velvet haired girl a note with the right answer. Aiji, using the moment to her advantage, used her enhanced sense of sight to look at the note while without giving any inclination that she was cheating.
Japanese schools are ridiculously hard, academic wise. Not to mention exceedingly harsh. Whenever Keiko-nee-chan managed to get Yuusuke and Aiji to participate in a test, and managed to scare them into getting a decent grade, the Urameshi siblings would cheat on said tests.
If you got caught cheating in a Japanese school, well, for the audience's piece of mind let's just say that getting a detention and a zero would be the least of your worries. Hell, the word 'cheating' doesn't exist in the Japanese language! Though, with students like Yuusuke and Aiji, that might change.
Ergo, whenever Yuusuke and Aiji bothered themselves into taking a test and getting a decent grade (read, Keiko bullied them to do it), they cheated and no one was the wiser. Or rather, none of the teachers were able to catch them in the act, nor were they capable of finding any proof.
Hearing Matsumoto-baka-sensei swear under his breath as she had managed to cheat under his nose, again, always made the bothersome act worth it.
"Draught of the Living Death"
"I beg your pardon, Miss Potter?"
"The answer to your question is Draught of the Living Death" insert the Urameshi smartass smirk.
Oh, so that's how the little brat wants to play, huh? "Where would I find a bezoar and what can it be used for?"
'Damn, I can't pass Aiji a note, Professor Snape will notice it for sure' Daphne and Lythiel, who knew the answer, thought. Sally-Anne was thinking of various ways of getting Aiji out of this situation without getting on Snape's bad side. A hand stretching vertically, almost as if it was attempting to reach the ceiling, caught the sapphire-eyed girl's eye and gave her an idea.
Fortunately, that was one of the few things that Aiji knew, namely because Kurama had drilled it into her, if only for the practical uses of the bezoar.
"Ya can find those in the stomach of a goat. It'll cure ya from most poisons." This time it's the Urameshi shit-eating grin.
'If this isn't proof that the fox and the ningen are miracle workers, then I don't know what is'
'Urusai, Hiei-nii. I'm not that much of an idiot'
'Do you want the standard answer or the more detailed one?'
"Professor Snape?" Sally-Anne's clear voice and her raised hand interrupted the battle of wills between student and teacher and the mental banter between Hiei and Aiji.
"Miss Perks, what could be so important that you are interrupting an oral exam?", luckily for Sally-Anne, Snape was favorable to his Slytherins and, therefore, only received a slight snarl instead of losing points and receiving a detention for the interruption.
Sally-Anne's face was devoid of emotion and she pointed at Hermione Granger, "it seems to me that someone is eager for her turn"
The bushy brunette blushed (alliteration) but allowed her hand to hang the air.
"Settle down", Snape barked to the Gryffindor, causing her to put down her hand with a fearful tremor. 'Yep, I've still got it' Severus mentally gave himself a pat on the back.
"What Miss Potter" he spat out the word "Potter" like it was a vile curse, "said is correct" 'though I wonder how she cheated', "once a powdered root of asphodel is added to an infusion of wormwood, it becomes such a powerful sleeping draught that it is called the Draught of the Living Death. A bezoar can be found in the stomach of a goat and it will cure you from most poisons. Well, why aren't you all writing this down!?"
Never-mind the fact that it would be impossible to write in verbatim what he said. That wasn't English, that was spit-fire English.
"Yes, Sergeant, sir" Aiji mumbled sarcastically. Sally-Anne, Daphne and Lythiel were the only ones that heard her not-so-flattering comment. Daphne snickered quietly, Sally-Anne subtly smirked, and Lythiel gave in to her silent giggles.
It wasn't long before the students had to pair up to make a potion. Since Sally-Anne and Aiji were the 'Potions Dummies', the quartet decided that pairing the greenhead and the brunette together would not be a good idea.
"Just to warn you guys, I can't even boil water properly. Hell, last time I tried I burned the water" Aiji muttered.
"Is it even possible to burn water?" Lythiel mumbled incredulously.
"Boiling water is the only thing I know how to do" Sally-Anne looked at the blondes for help. She did not feel like going to the Hospital Wing on the first day because she was burned alive in Potions' class.
"How about Lythiel helps Sally and I'll partner with Aiji" Daphne took charge. "Lythiel is more or less at the same level as I am in Potions, so that way none of us fail"
"Just tell me what I have to do and I'll do it." Sally-Anne whispered, glad that at least two of her friends were in their element. "As long as it's not too hard, that is"
"Aiji, Sally, you two get the ingredients while Daphne and I take notes." Lythiel told them, relieved that some of her pre-Hogwarts Potions lessons weren't in vain. When she said that she was going to prove that, even with a low magical core, she could still be a great witch, then bloody Hell she'll make it happen! Even if it means that she has to endure extra hours of study on all the subjects daily!
When the four girls finished their assigned tasks they immediately began to work on the little details.
"Other than boiling water, do you know how to do anything else?" Lythiel asked her wavy-haired partner.
"Not really, no. My talents lie in Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, and History of Magic." Sally-Anne replied to the hard-working blonde.
"How about I chop the ingredients and stir the cauldron, while you boil the water and add the ingredients when I tell you to?" Lythiel suggested.
"You're the boss, Lythiel" Sally-Anne grinned.
Meanwhile, as Daphne started boiling the water she asked her wild-haired companion, "Other than your special talent for burning water," the tall girl snickered at her shorter companion, "is there anything else I should know?"
"I can chop and smash the ingredients if you want," the scarred girl smirked without missing a beat, "according to Keiko-nee, it's a damn good stress-relieving technique." Aiji chuckled "Especially if you have any secret fantasies of murdering someone"
Daphne merely smiled in fond amusement. Although, to be perfectly honest, Aiji was right, chopping things while imagining they are certain individuals' heads is a verrryyyy good stress reliever. The leaf-eyed girl should know, she's been doing that ever since she was seven, mostly imagining it was Zacharias Smith and Cormac McLaggen's Overgrown Heads she was chopping!
Zacharias Smith. Cormac McLaggen. 'What I'd give to murder the little bastards!' Daphne thought viciously, 'Bad enough that the blond arse-kisser doesn't know when to leave Lythiel alone! Oh, no, when the going gets tough he goes to the snob for help!' Daphne's hand holding the knife trembled with barely restrained fury.
To those that bothered to look, Daphne looked like one of those fearful axe-wielding murderers, minus the axe that is. On second though, she looked scarier than the axe-wielding murderers.
The reason as to why she would like nothing more than to gut Smith wasn't a mystery. Neither was the reason why she wanted to strangle McLaggen with his own intestines. It's a simple story really.
Smith antagonizes Lythiel to the point of tears. Daphne teaches Smith a lesson via physical violence. Smith goes crying to his buddy McLaggen. McLaggen throws mud at Daphne's beautiful hair and the radiant champagne locks stayed dirty until a week later. Lythiel finds a potion that will make the drinker have diarrhea for three weeks straight, makes it and discretely slips it into McLaggen's drink.
Conclusion: the boys have become Daphne Greengrass and Lythiel Moon's mortal enemies.
"Ne, midori-gan?" the second shortest member of the quartet interrupted the temperamental blonde's trip down the memory lane. It was her first declaration of war. Her mother was so proud of her!
"Yes Aiji?"
"… Do I even wanna know or is it one of those skeletons in the imaginary closet?"
"I'll just say this: if Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff or Cormac McLaggen from Gryffindor give you any problems, just remember that it won't be any trouble for me to beat them into a bloody pulp"
"Is it that you want an excuse to beat them into a bloody pulp or is that a sisterly warning?"
"… More of the former than the latter, I guess" Daphne chirped with a bright smile that didn't seem appropriate for the conversation.
The students worked together in silence for the rest of the period, some having successfully completed their potions – namely the Slytherins because Snape was not making them nervous by breathing down their necks like he did with the Gryffindors. Until …
BOOM!!
One Iphigenie Longbottom's cauldron was puking out its contents at its owner and her partner, Seamus Finnegan.
Sally-Anne, whom despised potion making with a passion, was not about to let her and Lythiel's hard work amount to nothing because someone else's potion was going haywire; therefore, she scooped a little bit of her potion in a vial and put it in her robes as she and Lythiel got as far away from the possible danger as humanly possible.
"Idiot girl, you put the porcupine quills before removing your cauldron from the fire" Snape snarled callously, regardless of the fact that Iphigenie was barely holding her tears in check due to the burning pain she felt everywhere the potion touched her. As she was the one that took the full blast of the potion, her Irish partner didn't have it as bad.
Daphne felt the stirrings of maternal instincts she used to only have for Lythiel surface up, Iphigenie looked just like Lythiel the first times that she tried to get a potion right without help. Although her blonde friend was better at keeping the tears at bay than the chubby brunette, the resemblance was uncanny.
Lythiel also noticed the similarities between herself and the shy Gryffindor, sure the other girl lacked her conviction to succeed at everything that didn't require a wand but the helpless feeling of being weak, of not being good enough was there in those maroon colored eyes. It was … strange for Lythiel to see someone else wear that expression on their face instead of just seeing it every time she looked in a mirror.
Sally-Anne couldn't help but wince in sympathy as the round faced girl bared the pain she got from potion's burning liquid. There was a reason as to why she wouldn't be caught dead either in a kitchen, a chemistry laboratory, or a potion lab unless if it was absolutely necessary. The brunette could think up of better, less painful ways of dying or getting hurt, thank you very much.
Even though Aiji never really was the type of person that pities people that suffer because of their own blunders, however, she remembered that one time when she was six and she tried to make her own lunch as ka-san was off getting drunk somewhere and nii-chan was at school – read: playing hooky – she ended up burning the water she tried to heat up for her noodles and she burned herself too. Her surprisingly sober ka-san had found her and immediately grabbed her and went to the nearest pharmacy to buy anti-boils cream; she did this not only to apply said cream on her daughter's injured body, but to teach her what to do in case it happened again.
Hurt, Iphigenie looked years younger, like an eight-year-old that was hurt and tried to stop the tears. That was Aiji's downfall, she and her nii-chan always were suckers when it came to kids.
Sighting in exasperation at her own softness – though she would never admit it even under torture – Aiji went to Longbottom and Finnegan's table and she placed the anti-boils cream (that her ka-san and Keiko-nee-chan had urged her to bring for potions class) in the injured party's working station.
"What?!" demanded an embarrassed Aiji as everyone, including Snape, where looking at her between shock and outrage. "Getting burned hurts like hell!"
Finnegan, though he was a Gryffindor through and through, was in utter pain and did not feel like braving through it anymore than is absolutely necessary. As a halfblood, he knew how to use some muggle gadgets, and this one he blessfully knew how to use.
The Irish boy took the lotion and smeared it everywhere on his skin (that he could reach) that the potion had touched him.
Iphigenie, though apprehensive that a Slytherin was supposedly helping her and Seamus, was not about to look at a prized horse in the mouth. Copying her housemate, she applied the lotion nearly on her entire face and hands.
"So Potter, not only do you let this incompetent girl hurt herself, but you now have to play the hero as well" snarked Snape, though he did notice the blush of embarrassment on the girl's cheeks as she did her good deed. 'Odd, I know that she's a Slytherin, but she's still the goody-goody Girl-Who-Lived'
"First off, asswipe, I know as much about potions as anyone here can recite Einstein's theory on the fourth dimension by heart and understand it" Aiji hissed like a feline, her knuckles popping and cracking as she flexed them "the only reason mine and midori-gan's potion isn't a mess is 'cause Daphne-chan actually knows what she's doing. Second of all, hero-shmero, you think I actually like being seen as a softy? As if, I have a bloody rep as the number one heartless bitch to protect!"
You know, this entire Stone Silence arriving nearly everywhere Aiji's at is getting annoying. This is going to be one predictable fanfic if this keeps up. Oro…
"Um Professor, it would have been impossible for Aiji to warn Longbottom as she was too far away" Sally-Anne recovered quickly, after being Aiji's friend for a night and a morning, she had gotten used to her friend's rather… forceful and controversial behavior.
"I couldn't tell that there was anything wrong, and I know potions and I was closer to Longbottom's work station" Lythiel added, even if she was going to sacrifice a night at most of detention, still Aiji was a friend and Lythiel shared the infamous Hufflepuff loyalty when it came to her precious people.
"If anyone is to be blamed, it should be the ones nearest Longbottom's table" Daphne said.
'Damn it all. Now some of my Slytherins decide to show House loyalty, and to the wrong person no less!' Severus spied the nearly impeccable female trio of Gryffindors sitting nearest the dunderhead and her equally idiotic partner. As the Gryffindors and Slytherins had a total impair number of students each, and he didn't feel like dealing with the destructive house rivalry so early in the morning and year, he'd allowed one group of three per House.
One among the Gryffindor girls in the threesome was Hermione Granger, the bushy-haired know-it-all that was trying to show off her intelligence in every subject.
A quick Legilimency scan on the three girls showed that Brown was about as interested in her classes as Severus wanted to raise a baby (shudders). The only thing that the blonde twit was interested in was make up, clothes, feminine accessories, fashion, and, spirits forbid, boys ('they're already that age?'). The Indian girl Patil just wanted to get a good enough grade to pass her classes in the next four years so that her parents will allow her to work in an internship at Inana (the wizarding version of Lord and Taylor).
Granger, on the other hand, was a smart muggleborn that wanted to prove herself to be as intelligent, if not more, than the purebloods. Severus remembered that the buck-toothed know-it-all had tried to show off her knowledge by raising her hand every time he asked Potter a question. 'Great, another attention seeking Gryffindor, now how did Albus know that I was in dire need of one'
"Granger!" he barked, making the girl in question sit up straight. "Since you were adamant in showing off your knowledge in potions, why didn't you help this imbecile as she was right next to you!?"
"I, well, Professor-"
"Thought she'd make you look good if she royally messed up as she did, eh? Twenty points from Gryffindor!"
Hermione was about to cry at this public humiliation. So far she'd been the one winning her house points, now she was losing them? And for something she wasn't guilty of in the first place! 'This is unfair, this isn't how a teacher is supposed to be!'
"Class dismissed, now scram you incompetent dunderheads." Severus's voice was barely above a whisper, but the effect was instantaneous: the Gryffindors rushed out of there as if Dementors were looking for a good snog, and even a good part of the Slytherins power-walked out of the classroom.
"Oh, and Potter? Detention tonight for your cheek" Snape closed the door with a slam.
"Er, Potter?" a tenor voice with an sweet Irish lilt asked for Aiji's attention, almost unsure if the girl in question would turn to the one speaking.
"Hai?" Aiji spun around and saw Seamus Finnegan and Iphigenie Longbottom approaching her and looking awkward about speaking to a snake, a probable friendly snake, but a snake nonetheless.
"W-we, um, w-want-ted t-to, er, s-say th-thanks" Iphigenie stuttered out her gratitude, unsure if it was welcomed.
"Don't mention it" Aiji groaned, "seriously, don't. I wasn't kidding about protecting my 'heartless bitch' rep"
"Aw, is ickle Aiji-chan embawassed becawse she did a good deed?" Daphne couldn't help it, Aiji looked too cute trying to act tough and being embarrassed because she did something nice. She even pinched the shorter girl's cheek for good measure.
"Daphne-nee-chan!" Aiji exclaimed in embarrassment as she flushed, her face turning a red color that could compete with Kurama's hair.
Lythiel merely rolled her eyes, she was more than used to Daphne's more demonstrative and affectionate nature. Her leaf-eyed best friend was brave and bold, and Lythiel had no doubt that if not for her cut-throat, calculating and vindictive side, Daphne would've been placed in Gryffindor.
"You're embarrassing her, Daff. There's no need for Aiji-chan's face to compete with the Weasley red hair"
Sally-Anne was the only one of the Slytherin quartet that found this conversation twilight-zone worthy. These were Gryffindors, they were not supposed to joke around in front of them. 'It's over, kaput, bye-bye my beautiful inheritance. My money, my mansion, my connections, all gone because I'll be found out-'
"Um, w-we w-wanted t-to g-g-g-gi-ve this b-back" Iphigenie held out the lotion that Aiji had given her and Seamus in potions, her hands shaking as she peered at the strange girls that weren't following the norm at Hogwarts.
"Thank you" Sally-Anne took it, hoping to get as far as humanly possible from the Gryffindors before the other Slytherins stated interrogating them.
"Next time I won't help your pathetic asses when you screw up your potion" the witnesses to this event would have believed Aiji, if it weren't for the blush on her face.
This time taking absolutely no offense, Seamus just grinned his trademark Irish grin at the pretending-to-be-a-bitch-softy. "Sure you won't, and I know exactly what Einstein was talking about every time someone mentions the fourth dimension"
"Urusai!" Aiji barked.
"That means 'shut up' in Japanese" Lythiel chimed.
"Potter, Greengrass, Moon, Perks! What the fuck do you think you're doing consulting with these Gryffindors!" the last word was spat out like it was a worm in one's salad. Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, and Stacie Davis appeared from the right corridor.
"Not just any Gryffindors either" Draco sneered, "but also a halfblood nobody" Seamus met the platinum blond's glare dead on, "and an incompetent, crybaby, almost-squib disgrace" Iphigenie whimpered silently and flinched. Lythiel also winced at the words "almost-squib disgrace", but recovered so quickly that no one in Draco's "gang" noticed.
"Draco, ne crois-tu que t'exagères un peu? Ils ont seulement remercie Aiji pour son aide en potions. Mais tu dois aussi te rendre compte qu'on ne fait pas partie de ton groupe de débiles." Sally-Anne subtly looked down on Stacie and Pansy. "De plus, souviens-toi qu'Aiji peut vaincre Crabbe et Goyle toute seule sans même utiliser de la magie. Elle n'a pas peur de toi ni de tes garde-corps." (for tanslation look at (5) at the bottom of the page) Sally-Anne's French had a pleasant Lyonnais accent, yet it also held a hidden menacing tone to it. 'Oh, what the hell. I'll just say that I'm playing with my alliances, that Aiji's too much of a wild-card or something. This is one gamble that I can't lose'
"Perks, et moi qui croyais que t'étais une fille rusée. Tu vas te risquer dans une alliance avec Potter, une salle fillette au sang-mêlé?" Draco's cold voice was in his no-nonsense business tone that his father used with powerful associates. His brisk Parisian French seemed to make him all the more menacing.
"Et qu'est-ce qu'on sait vraiment sur Aiji? Déjà qu'elle n'est pas une Gryffondore mais une Serpentarde comme nous est cause de s'interroger sur ses positions politiques. Ce serait vraiment con si je perds une alliance bénéficiaire car je pense au blanc et noir comme les Gryffondores, tu ne crois pas?" Sally-Anne all but sneered at Draco, acting as if he were an idiot in dire need of help. While on the inside 'Say as much bullshit as you can in one go, but don't let him trap you at all. Shit, Shit, don't let him figure me out!'
"De plus, je t'en souviens que je suis une Perks, donc je suis cent pourcent neutre et objective en cette guerre des sangs." Sally-Anne straightened her spine and rose to her full height, holding her head up in pride, reminding Draco that she too was of a Noble and Most Ancient House, even if she was neutral in the war.
"Dans le cas de Longbottom: crois-tu vraiment qu'elle est aussi pitoyable et débile en réalité? Ne crois-tu qu'elle songe de tuer à ta tante chaque jour? Imagine-toi Draco, Longbottom peut être une fille prodigue qui masque ses talents pour que ta chère tante et touts tes familières la surestiment. Quand sa farce arrive au dernier acte, son rôle de sotte sera desséché et elle aura sa vengeance. Méfie toi toujours des apparences et des illusions, combiens des sots que tu connais sont des sots en réalité?" Sally-Anne tilted her head towards Vince, Greg, Millicent, and Stacie as if to prove her point.
Draco's eyes widened at what Sally-Anne was implying, taking a second look at Potter and Longbottom.
With Potter, yes he had to agree with Perks that the green-haired witch could not be categorized as a goody-two-shoes that will blindly follow the Light Side. If nothing else, the only alliances Potter openly had were those with Perks, Moon and Greengrass; and those were friendship-based alliances. She never made any kind of political stand, if nothing else she seemed to be detached of the whole blood war going on. Yes, Potter was a wildcard, Draco was willing to agree to that.
But Longbottom, her little incompetent self being an act is about as probable as Severus being secretly fond of neon pink (not happening). He was about to scoff at the very idea, but then again his self-preservation instincts took control: What if Perks was right? What if this wasn't just Perks being over cautious and paranoid as that family was wont to be?
If Longbottom was secretly planning to off Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange in the most painful way as humanly possible, then there was going to be a problem. While Lucius and Draco wouldn't give a flying fuck either way, so long as they themselves weren't being targeted by a desperate Gryffindor mastermind looking for blood, they didn't care what happened. On the other hand, Narcissa would get her husband and son mixed up in her revenge on the one that killed her sister. While Narcissa and Bellatrix weren't that close nor did they get along that well, Narcissa would try to avenge her sister out of Black pride.
Draco thought that family pride was all well and good, but sometimes there are limits. Besides, Bellatrix was probably completely insane by now due to Dementor exposure without any type of shield against it nor any chocolate at hand.
"What are you saying to my Drakie, you hussy!" Pansy cries, her nostrils flaring angrily at the fact that Sally-Anne had all of Draco's attention. Draco was going to be Pansy's fiancé if her father had any say in it.
Aiji's green eyes darkened in a sinister way "If yer gonna piss on Blondie like bitch marking her territory do it in the pets zone please."
"Parkinson does resemble a bitch doesn't she? First time I saw her I thought that she was a poor dog that wasn't transfigured completely into a human" Daphne laughed nastily.
"With her upturned, pug nose she resembles a bulldog." Lythiel commented lightly, her cerulean eyes sharp like steel "It matches her Gryffindor-worthy brashness, don't you think?"
"It's not just her nose, I could swear to my ancestors' graves that she has some wrinkles under her eyes and the back of her neck" Sally-Anne threw some of her own sophisticated, and French, bitchiness right back at Pansy. "Really Parkinson, make up is not just to emphasize your desirable traits, if you have any, it's also used to cover up or get rid of unwanted blemishes. Oh, and you might want to use a different skirt, dear, this one shows off your rather thick thighs, and really, those look bad with a flat chest."
Draco, Vince and Greg, being the proper masculine cowards that they were, stepped away from the cat fight.
Seamus, whom had at least three older female cousins that got into cat fights all the time, was not a masculine coward and was itching for the right time to make fun of the haughty bitch, if she was Malfoy's girlfriend all the better.
Iphigenie didn't like confrontations at all, but she didn't want to move and make herself a target for these sharp tongues. If she were a boy, she'd be joining Malfoy and his bodyguards in the masculine cowards' corner. So she stepped slightly behind Seamus, almost as if to hide behind the Irishman. However, some hidden part of her was pleased to note that one of her childhood tormentors was finally on the receiving end of an insult.
Pansy looked torn between wanting to cry, wanting to cover her supposedly thick thighs, and wanting to hex the quartet in front of her, if there was one slur that could always get under her skin was the fact that she had a pug face. So far, the four girls had managed to insult her more than anyone else had been able to before.
Stacie was also torn. She didn't know if she should comfort her leader Pansy or if she should stay in the shadows, no way was she risking the wrath of Potter, not after she had sent Vince and Greg to the Hospital Wing.
Millicent was the only one of the trio that knew exactly what she wanted to do: crush the bones of the ones responsible for hurting Pansy.
Aiji stepped in front of her friends and gave Millicent a level three #45 Urameshi Death Glare. This was one of her weaker ones that translated as 'if you even think about decking me then the next color you'll see as you wake up is hospital white', these are usually used for the weak ningens that think a ten-year-old girl is an easy pushover.
Millicent was rather proficient at reading Death Glares. That was the usual way that she and her fellow bodyguards interacted. The stocky and tall girl gave her fiercest Death Glare at the hanyou, but it had little effect since to Aiji that was a weak level two glower at best.
Millicent clenched her fist and kept on advancing on the shorter girl. She was going to start by hitting the no-good tomboy on her boyish face.
SLAM!! CRACK!!!
"Ahhh, shit" Millicent breathed, painfully and slowly removing her hand from the bronze forehead, cradling it as she felt the broken bones on her once fisted hand.
Aiji snorted, she had a hard head from all of the beatings it had taken from training to youkais, but come on! She didn't even have to use reiki or youki to toughen her skin enough in order to break Bulstrode's hand.
Wizards were pathetic, Aiji'd received worse from nerds her age.
"You call that a punch?" Aiji scoffed. She raised her own hand and formed a fist. "This is how you properly deck someone in the face"
WHAM!!! SLAM!!!
Aiji had hit Millicent only enough to knock the girl off her feet; she didn't expect the coffee-haired bodyguard to fly to the wall, slam into it, and be knocked unconscious.
'Even Kurama-nii's ningen step-brother, Shuuichi, can take more damage than that,' of course Shuuichi had once been interested in judo, if only so he could impress the most feared girl of his age group (guess who), and hopefully be able to get rid of bullies himself.
"That's the second time in one day that you've sent someone to the hospital, Aiji" Sally-Anne noted wryly, "is this going to become the norm and, if so, should I prepare excuses and reasons for the Professors?" the sarcasm wasn't as biting as could've been. Mostly because the mahogany-haired girl was rather amused by what happened.
"Who cares about that Sally!" Daphne exclaimed cheerfully, happy that her friend wasn't hurt and got payback, "Aiji, you have got to teach me how to do that!"
"Oh no" Lythiel sighed, "Daff, you can already beat someone up physically and magically"
"Not to the level that Aiji does"
"I'll teach you midori-gan" Aiji grinned teasingly, "One question: how much?"
"How much what?"
"How much are you willing to pay for the lessons?"
Sally-Anne, Lythiel and Daphne just laughed, and even Draco's lips quirked up in amusement.
"Yeah, they're having a good laugh, but what about us? We're the ones that have to fight that monster" muttered Vince.
"Why do you think I never signed up to be a bodyguard despite the perks? I want the ruddy choice to save my own skin" retorted a sardonic Stacie.
Seamus turned to Iphigenie, whom was more flabbergasted than he was, "You know Iphigenie, maybe I should have asked the hat to put me in Slytherin" he whispered.
"What!?" the mousy-haired girl squeaked.
Sky-blue eyes twinkled in amusement as Seamus said "For the free entertainment, of course!"
(1) Saperlipopette: it's the French version of saying "oh, shit!", only it's much more polite.
(2) Vieille salope: vieille means old, and salope is a way of saying bitch in the sense that the person insulted is a whore. Therefore it means "old whore"
(3) yaro: asshole
(4) Ookami Youkai: Wolf Demon
(5) Sally-Anne and Draco's conversation:
Sally-Anne: Draco, don't you think you're exagerating a little? They only came to thank Aiji for her help in Potions. But you also have to be aware that we are not a part of your gang of female weaklings. Also, remember that Aiji can beat Crabbe and Goyle all alone without using any magic. She's not scared of you or your bodyguards
Draco: Perks, and here I thought that you were a cunning girl. You're going to risk an alliance with Potter, a dirty halfblood girl?
Sally-Anne: And what do we really know about Aiji? Already the fact that she's not a Gryffindor but a Slytherin like us is cause enough to ask ourselves about her political positions. It would be incredibly stupid if I lose a beneficial alliance because of black and white Gryffindor way of thinking, don't you think so?
Also, need I remind you that I'm a Perks, therefore I am neutral and objective in this blood war.
In Longbottom's case, do you really think that she's that pitiful? Don't you think that she dreams of killing your aunt everyday? Imagine Draco, Longbottom could be a prodigy that masks her talents so that your dear aunt and all of your family will underestimate her. When her farce reaches its final act, her role of the fool will be shed and she'll have her revenge. Always bewry of appearances and illusions, how many fools that you know are really fools?
(6) For those of you that are wondering why I made Neville into a girl, remember the prophecy in OotP? Well in that case, if I make Harry into a girl, then Neville should be turned into a girl too, otherwise the prophecy would be fucked up.
(7) About the lapses of Japanese in Aiji's speech patterns, remember that she only had two months to learn English and Magic, and that a translation spell is already at least a third year spell. Aiji may be good with ki, but magic is still a slightly different branch that she's only resently discovered. So any lapses in her speech are due to her inexperience with mahou ('magic' in Japanese).