Wintersalad │ Disclaimer: I do not own "Harry Potter" nor "Inuyasha." │ Written: 8/27/11 │ Posted: 11/24/11 │ Last Edited: 10/30/12

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July 27, 1991 – July 28, 1991

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SWEEPING THE BACK of her hand gently across soft skin, she tenderly brushed away dark locks of ebony black hair. Worried eyes wandered across the sleeping face, inscribing the young and relatively innocent features to memory and heart. She sat by the sleeping figure until the sun began to peek into the modest room, but it was still all too soon when she woke and opened her eyes to the world around her.

"Mama…?"

Lifting her features, Nodoka smiled down at her daughter as she stirred awake. "Good morning, Kagome," she responded quietly. Watching as she fisted her eyes, Nodoka added, "Would you like to help me with breakfast today? We can make hot cakes." Grinning mischievously, she leaned forward to whisper, "Grandpa's not home yet."

Lifting a hand, Kagome blinked slowly at her mother, trying to gauge how serious she was. When she saw the waiting expression, she couldn't help but laugh and chirp out an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

"We'll see what else we can whip up today. Hurry up dear, it's impolite to keep a guest waiting," Mrs. Higurashi imparted as she tucked a stray lock behind a small ear and got up to turn towards the door. "I'll be downstairs."

"…Sensei?"

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PROFESSOR SNAPE was already up, however. Or rather, he didn't really catch much sleep at all. Not after his brief conversation with the young Miss Higurashi earlier this morning. Not when the end of July was so terribly close. He peered up at the approaching figure of the shrine's matriarch from his self-assigned seat at the kitchen table. One had to wonder if he had moved at all since yesterday's afternoon encounter.

"Good morning."

Nodoka stepped leisurely into the kitchen. "Good morning, Snape-sensei."

He watched her move towards the stove. For a good ten minutes, she moved across the kitchen, gathering what he presumed to be ingredients for today's morning meal. Just as he heard the soft footsteps of young Miss Higurashi approaching, Mrs. Higurashi turned and walked briskly towards his side. Slightly alarmed at her sudden intent demeanor, he favored focusing his attention on her sharp movements full of purpose, rather than that of the approaching child, as she sat down a tray of freshly brewed tea and pried the cup he still held away from his grasp. Setting it aside, she then proceeded to pour him a new cup with practiced ease and finesse. Smiling, with just the hint of a warning, she offered him his tea.

Warily, he accepted it. "Thank you."

Nodding, she glanced at her daughter briefly before swiftly turning back towards her morning preparations, his old cup with her. If she was surprised that it was warm to the touch, she showed no indication.

Following her gaze, he watched the girl timidly step forward. With wide eyes, she glanced between her mother's stiff back and his slightly bewildered expression. Pressing her lips together, she suppressed a secret smile. Catching his dark eyes, she sent him a sheepish, if slightly shy, grin. Bemused despite himself, he greeted, "Good morning, Miss Higurashi."

"Good morning, Snape-sensei," she replied, just as grandly. At his somewhat surprised expression, she giggled and fluttered to her mother's side. "What can I do to help, mama?"

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HIGURASHI SHRINE wasn't all that large or special and so they never received too many guests, much to grampa's secret dismay. The grounds were home to just the four of them. No one was interested in studying under grampa (a real shame if you asked him) and the occasional guest or two who took refuge in their home always left after a short stay.

That being said, they still had a nice steady flow of visitors every now and then who required the shrine's services. This weekend was one of those. Apparently one of the locals was about to welcome a new child into their family and everyone was quite excited.

"Good afternoon Kagome-chan! Look at how pretty you are!"

"Be a dear and see if there are any protective charms for safe delivery, would you?"

"Is it still just the few of you manning the shrine today? Poor thing…"

"Oh! Did your mother make those miko garbs? How quaint!"

"How is little Souta? Are you being a good big sister now?"

Kagome invited them all in with two-thirds of her mother's grace and ignored the subtle inquiries and reprimands (because they were there between the tone inflections and slanted glances if you knew to look). She was plenty enough for helping out the shrine and mama made the best things ever. And of course she always endeavored to be the best big sister she could be as well. Kagome had learned to take their comments as observations of the obvious over the course of the years.

As their visitors casually recounted her past accidents and laughed about her clumsiness and juvenile calls for attention, Kagome wondered not for the first time why they ever bothered visiting their shrine if they didn't believe in the supernatural. But mama never denied them, but she also never stood for them, so neither would she. Finding her mother's approving smile from a distance, she felt herself walk with a straighter back and brighter smile as she detailed her little brother's adventure with the laundry and how she heroically aided him from its evil grasps to their visitors. And while she humored her happy guests, she renewed her private vow once more as the image of a giggling Souta running away from magically flying sheets was tucked away safely from the eagerly curious yet scornfully presuming eyes.

"How are you and your mother holding up dear? Your grandfather has been away, hasn't he? It is unfortunate, but it isn't the safest for a single woman with two young children these days to be alone," a man queried.

"And it can't be easy," a woman inserted. "Taking care of you and your young brother, all by herself while keeping up the shrine. Your grandfather is also getting on with age…"

"We miss grandfather, but he will be home tomorrow," Kagome replied with a frown. Their comments and gestures were becoming less and less restrained. She knew how people here looked at her mother, a young woman who appeared to have fled home with two young children and no husband. She knew the troubles she went through and how much she didn't deserve to. Kagome didn't care what other people thought of her and her magic (she didn't!), but she couldn't stand having them question her mother and brother. "Thank you for your concern," she added as she eyed her mother's worried expression as they approached her. "I help with the shrine and Souta when mother is busy. She says that I am a great help. And grandfather says he's still plenty young for his age – and I believe him."

They laughed at her self-important assessment and Kagome smiled wryly as she kept leading them onwards.

"Well I certainly hope Ken-chan here will learn from you and be a model older sibling," a lady relative fussed, ushering a reluctant boy forward. "He's been rather..." She game him a small nudge.

Kagome glanced back towards "Ken-chan" and noted his pouty features. He was a year or two younger and she never really spoke with him before, but she supposed this was where she was expected to lend some camaraderie.

"Souta is a lot of fun," she pondered thoughtfully. "But he can be a lot of trouble too. Because they're babies, they don't know how to tell you what they need or want or understand what you need or want, so you have to be very considerate and patient. Mainly patient," Kagome emphasized with a nod. "But that just means that when they're old enough, you have certain rights and privileges over them," she grinned encouragingly. "But don't tell mama I said that," she stage-whispered.

The adults all laughed, but the boy merely scowled deeper. Kagome had the impression he was forced to tag along with his relatives as some gesture of good faith. She didn't quite understand the resentment she felt from him, even if she logically understood how he may have felt due to the impending birth of his younger sibling.

"I don't care about that. Yours is a boy, but mine's a girl!" he exclaimed, his voice growing increasingly louder. "She's not going to be any fun at all! Not now, not ever!"

Startled, Kagome merely stared at him. Having apparently lit a fuse, he continued, "I bet it's the same for Souta! He's not going to have any fun with you! He doesn't even have a dad!"

"Kentarou!"

"I see! You're very right! You make a very valid point there Kentarou-kun!"

Everyone turned to look at Nodoka, but the unperturbed matron continued smiling at the boy with her hands clasped in front of her. "Souta's a boy and maybe for now, his sister and I may be enough to play with, but when he grows a little older, he's going to want to play with boys like himself, huh? Maybe you should bring your little sister over as often as you'd like so you can play with Souta and Kagome can play with your little sister!"

"But you know," she continued, leaning further in closer to his eye level. "Kagome and I have tons of fun with Souta, and he has a lot of fun with us too, so we hope he'll still want to play with us when he's older. We love him very much and there are some things only girls can do as there are some things only siblings can do. You wouldn't want to miss out on all of that now would you?"

Kentarou returned her gaze, but with no intense heat. A puzzled brow creased his forehead while his lips were tilted in skepticism. Perhaps it was because she was an adult with whom he was unfamiliar with, or perhaps it was because it was Nodoka herself with all her perceptiveness and acceptance, but eventually, after a moment, he nodded and retreated.

But not before he sent Kagome a look as well.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry Higurashi-san," the lady asserted. "My nephew was raised better than this." And here she sent the boy an angry glower. "We don't understand what's gotten into him these days. The poor child hasn't even been born yet!"

Nodoka glanced at the still stubborn boy before smiling gently at his aunt. "Children often have reasons adults are not perceptive enough to grasp. I am sure Kentarou-kun has his own to carry."

"I suppose you may be right. Though…" and here the lady averted her gaze. "Since Ken-chan did bring it up, have you given any further thought to the omiai partner I mentioned?"

Motioning to Kagome, Nodoka waved her daughter over and tenderly pulled her by her side. As her mother smoothed her tresses from her face, Kagome allowed her overflowing pride, awe, and love to suppress any other thoughts and emotions garnered from the recent exchanges. She rather preferred their foreign visitor to these local ones. Though he was by far the stranger of strangers, there was consideration and respect in his distance and demeanor that was absent in this lady's familiarity and pretense.

"No… No I haven't changed my mind," Nodoka smiled grimly, focusing on her daughter instead of looking the woman in the eyes. "I'd like to remain devoted to my children and the family I already have. There's no room in my life for anyone else." And though her eyes remained on her daughter's upturned face, arms looping through hers to hold her close, her voice was firm and confident.

Frowning, Kentarou's aunt ignored the warning hand on her shoulder and remarked, "Really? I could've sworn there was talk of yet another unfamiliar man being welcomed into your home just recently."

"…Pardon?" Nodoka asked.

Ignoring the dangerously charged air, she continued, "Not to imply anything or undermine your family values, but I'm just considering your situation."

"And what, pray tell, would this lovely situation be?"

Standing about two strides away, Severus Snape stood imperiously over all of them, stern and unmoving. Donned completely in black from the roots of his hair to the soles of his shoes, he stared down the shrine's visitors from behind crossed arms, the sun eclipsed by his dark, ominous presence etching his silhouette against the more spiritually reassuring surroundings of the shrine grounds. And again, Kagome could not help but wonder how displaced he appeared in her home. But gazing upon his intimidating visage standing strongly behind her mother and in front of their home, she inexplicably felt a sense of unwarranted pride and gratefulness. Because even as he raised his brow in answer to the lady's poor manners, she knew that while it could not be assumed that he was supporting them or shielding them from ridicule, she saw in him what she coveted all her life: strength.

Grinning, Kagome untangled herself from her mother and ran towards the tall figure still standing apart, giggling delightfully, "Sensei!" Stopping just short of tackling him, she beamed up at his passive expression. "What are you doing out here?"

Staring down at his soon-to-be young charge, he noted the tense muscles at the corners of her mouth and overly wide eyes and slid a glance towards the muggles that appeared to be agitating his hosts. Looking back he gazed into the smaller Higurashi's eyes and contemplated the small revelation to his earlier question this morning and decided to test how true and far that revelation went.

"The boy awoke. He is rather distrustful of me and so I came to find you and your mother."

The girl's grin relaxed into a wondered 'o' during the professor's short but unhurried response. Her eyes remained rather large however – this time in true curiosity. Of course, her facial features quickly tensed up again as she attempted to recall her English lessons as rapidly and accurately as possible while trying to retain as much of what the unmoving man just said. It was rather difficult since they didn't really do practical applications in school and she was completely unprepared for this sudden test of her conversational skills.

Behind the two, everyone else was at a loss. Nodoka, since her guest had always politely attempted to communicate as best as he could in Japanese with them, and the visiting family, since he was an unexpected presence that appeared unexpectedly and without explanation.

"Um… Souta? Souta! My brother! He is awake? From his sleep?"

Expression unchanging, Severus gave a small nod. Perhaps not entirely fluent, but he can work with this. She is not as unintelligent or useless as those dunderheads he must teach and re-teach each year as knowledge unapplied tends to leave their empty minds.

"Yes, perhaps you or your mother should go to him."

Again, Kagome looked down to wrinkle her brow and purse her lips before glancing back up and replying, "Okay. Thank you!" Turning to her mother, she spoke, "Mama! Souta is up! Sensei says we should go see him. I think he's scared or something and is hiding in the house."

"Oh! Of course!" Turning apologetically to her guests, Nodoka regretfully said, "I'm sorry, I'll just be a moment. I assume you'll be wanting some charms for safe delivery, so I'll grab them on my way. I'll have Kagome keep you company in the meanwhile – please let her know if there is anything else you need." And thus said, she turned to tend to her youngest.

They all briefly watched Nodoka leave before turning their attention to each other. Still by the professor's side, Kagome nervously introduced each party.

"This is Snape-sensei. He's staying with us for a while," the girl began. Gesturing to the remaining visitors, she continued in Japanese to the Hogwarts professor, "And this is the Matsuoka family. They are expecting a girl soon and are visiting to receive blessings from our shrine."

Severus raised a brow at the introduction and watched as the girl blush as she realized her mistake. But before she could correct herself and translate, he cut in and spoke in a drawling manner to the family, "A pleasure, I'm sure." Looking the lady who last spoke in the eye, he continued, "I give my congratulations. She appears to be blessed with a splendid family."

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A/N: Don't you love how Slytherin Snape is? And it's almost time for them to leave for Hogwarts! But before school starts, I hope to give their relationship and characters a little more depth first. Can't wait! I'd be extremely happy to hear what you can pick up! There's a lot I want to come through without spelling it out. It'd be a great help to see what works and what doesn't.

* An omiai is basically a marriage interview or blind date.

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for always being so patient with me:]