Chapter Four:
'What is the point of making a uniform a mandatory dress when you cover your clothes with a stuffy black robe?' Kagome thought sourly, picking at the clothes that had been sent up to her with distaste. She looked at the straight cut robe once, more glaring daggers at it as if she were hoping that it would randomly and hopefully combust.
"Who designed these pieces of sh-" Kagome was cut off abruptly when the door opened and a head of striking auburn hair poked through. A tentative smile was on the girl's face.
"Hi, my name is Lily Evans and I was sent to be your guide for today." The girl stated calmly, stepping fully into the room. Kagome raised a cool eyebrow and observed the person standing opposite to her. Then, as if some switch had been pulled, she turned and started to dress in the abhorred uniform, causing the girl behind her to finally loose her calm expression, squawking oddly and then closing her eyes, her face flushed a beet red that clashed horribly with her hair.
"Couldn't you have warned me?!" she asked, terribly embarrassed. Kagome looked at her, amused.
"It's not like it's something you haven't seen before."
"Yes, but I find it odd that a perfect stranger would just suddenly start to change in front of another perfect stranger!" Lily replies, looking righteously indignant. Kagome sighed.
"You know, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from leaving." Lily hurriedly jumped out of the room and slammed the door closed behind her, her last thoughts before it shut about how she admired the girl's confidence.
Kagome looked up from her dressing as the door slammed. Turning and facing the mirror, she thanked Kami that the girl had not seen any of her scars from battling with demons. Boy, would that have been an awkward conversation.
"What happened to you?!"
"Um…yeah…this is from fighting demons in search for this stupid little jewel that grants powers and wishes."
A scoff. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"Is it really that crazy?"
"Yes!"
Smirk. "As crazy as magic?"
"…Touché…"
Quickly finishing up, Kagome threw on the ugly robe and stepped outside of her dorm room, slightly surprised to see that the Evans girl was still there considering the stunt she had pulled.
"Ready to go?" The girl asked, more chipper than Kagome would have been had she been in her position, Kagome would admit.
Nodding, Kagome followed her to what she remembered as the Great Hall and plopped herself down on one of the seats only to jump up as she was painfully reminded of the sword she had strapped to her leg bumping harshly against the back of her thigh as she sat. Rubbing what was sure to be a developing bruise, Kagome gingerly attempted to sit once more, only to be accosted.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the new transfer student." Kagome turned slowly and saw a boy with long blonde hair held up in a ponytail smirking coolly at her, confidence and arrogance shining through quite recognizably.
"Can I help you?" Kagome replied just as coolly, scrutinizing the figure in front of her. He stepped closer and Kagome resisted the urge to either take down what she had deemed as a threat, or step back like a prey would to a predator. Lucius saw the defensive look and smirked wider.
"While you may be in the lion's den, I can see you are much more suited to a snake pit. An alliance would be in your best interests. Wouldn't want you to get hurt." Lucius sneered, once again reminding himself of the pros as opposed to the cons of befriending a Gryffindor. Kagome's stare bore into him and he felt himself growing more nervous by the second, none of it appearing on the surface. Finally, she broke off her observations and sighed.
"Cut the little power-trip blondie. Now what do you really want?" Kagome stated after assessing his true intentions. He wanted something from her. Lucius was only shocked for a scant few seconds before he resumed his smirk.
"My name is Lucius Malfoy, and I merely wish to know how you apparated into Hogwarts, the most secure wizarding school in Europe." Kagome looked at him with confusion. Apparated?
"What are you talking about-" Kagome started but was cut off by a familiar voice.
"Now, what would you be doing over at the Gryffindor table Malfoy? Lost your way, have you? Didn't you know that a snake is a lion's prey?" Sirius drawled from behind Kagome, the other three Marauders standing next to him reassuringly.
Lucius drew up the side of his mouth in a sneer. He turned away from Kagome, but not without a few whispered words. "This is not over, Higurashi. I will find out the secrets you hold." He walked away, his robes billowing out behind him and Kagome stared after, wondering what the hell his problem was.
Remus caught her look. "Malfoy is a Slytherin, and all Slytherins hate Gryffindors. Something about blood purity." Kagome shook her head.
"Blood is blood. There should be no distinction in between." She said calmly, taking back her seat on the long wooden bench at the House Table. The four stood in a stunned silence at her words before slowly they drew out of it and sat down in front of her, Sirius, being the brave one sat down right next to her, a little too closely for her tastes though.
"Kindly scoot out of my breathing air please." She asked quietly, taking one look at all the fatty foods and going for the fruit, which to her disgust was absolutely slathered with grease and sugar. Kagome then decided to not eat anything, for she feared she would not be able to keep it down.
Sirius chuckled. "Still playing hard to get, eh love?" He gave her a once-over. "Well, I must say, it's got me hooked." Kagome rolled her eyes, and Remus gave a quiet laugh when he saw his friend's attempts being easily rejected. Something like that had almost- scratch that, it had never happened, and so it was amusing to see Sirius act like James would around Lily.
"Miss Higurashi?" McGonagall swept down the space in between the tables and handed her timetable. Kagome looked at it with well-hidden dislike.
"Professor. Surely you do not mean for me to attend," Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "I cannot perform this magic you all have." McGonagall looked startled for a moment, and it was then that Kagome realized that she had not told anyone she could not do the witchcraft or wizardry that the school taught.
"Well…this is a problem indeed that I will speak to the Headmaster about, however, for today you will simply have to grin and bear it. We simply cannot have a student of Hogwarts skipping out on classes, magic or not." McGonagall spoke after a moment of hesitation. Then she swept away before Kagome had a chance to respond and was left staring after the Deputy Headmistress with a dropped jaw. She collected herself quickly and sat down, slamming her head on the table.
"Damnit." The four Marauders looked over at her with amusement…well that is, at least three of them did.
"Evans! Go out with me?" James called across the Gryffindor table to Lily Evans, the nice girl who had escorted her to the Great Hall, eliciting both glares and lovesick gazes. Kagome raised an eyebrow at the latter.
"What?" Kagome nearly flipped out when she heard Sirius' voice right next to her ear and turned to him, noticing that he also attracted many, many, many, many, many, many, MANY lovesick gazes, from the fairer sex and some even from the…un-fairer sex. He followed her line of vision and smirked before blowing a kiss at his admirers, causing many of them to faint. Kagome rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on love. Do us both a favour and stop with this little charade you have going on. The sooner you admit you're wildly and deeply attracted to me the easier it is for the both of us." Sirius said, winking at the now-insulted Asian girl. Remus, James and Peter turned, sensing an imminent doom for their friend.
Kagome narrowed her icy-blue eyes at the cocky Gryffindor. "Listen to me, kono bakayarou! Please wrap your thick head around the idea that I DON'T LIKE YOU! If you keep acting the way you're acting, I'm doubtful that that is ever going to change!" Remus and James snickered at their lost-looking friend when he finally understood that Kagome didn't like him. Peter simply tried to comfort Sirius, being ever so suck-upish.
Kagome huffed and grabbed an apple before standing up from the table and leaving. She headed towards her first class, Potions. This was the one she decided would be most likely the easiest to do considering it would probably have nothing do to with magic and more to do with the ability to skilfully combine herbs and other ingredients with a nature useful in that particular mixture to create the desired effect.
Wandering in the direction of what she hoped was the dungeons where the Potions lab was probably located, Kagome opened the lone door and peered in to see many rows of desks where cauldrons were situated next to. Giving a small smile, she chose the backmost desk and sat down on the bench, laying her head on the table and closing her eyes, going into a meditative state.
The next thing she knew, she was being prodded in the side. Looking up in annoyance and fully prepared to give who she thought was Sirius Black a serious (hehe, Sirius-serious) verbal lashing, she blinked in surprise when she saw the warm amber eyes of Remus peering down at her.
"Yes?" She asked in a lighter tone, raising an eyebrow. He smiled apologetically at her.
"Didn't want to wake you, but class is starting." Kagome blinked again and slowly turned her intense gaze to the once-empty classroom which was now filled with chattering Gryffindors, along with the Slytherins. Kagome facepalmed.
"This is just a disaster waiting to happen." She muttered under her breath. She then turned back to Remus and smiled warmly back at him. "Thanks a lot." He looked taken aback at her sudden smile but returned the gesture and went back to sitting next to Peter who gave him a nervous hello. Kagome on the other hand saw both the Lucius Malfoy boy from this morning and the dark-haired boy that had been in the…Hospital Wing was it? So, the boy was in Slytherin. Kagome sighed. Too many prejudices and it was barely nine o'clock.
The door opened to the dungeon room and a rather…chubby man strolled through, flicking his wand casually to close the door behind him. He faced the class.
"Today we will be making the Fever-Reducing Potion. Instructions are on the board. Begin. Half the students split up from their partners and headed for a bunch of large cupboards while Kagome observed the paunchy teacher head for her. "Miss Higurashi, was it? My name is Professor Slughorn, and I was alerted to your…condition," Kagome bristled. "By Professor McGonagall, but do not worry my dear," Kagome's left eye twitched. "You do not need magic to make Potions, however you do need to know how to mix certain ingredients and combine them for the best effect. In a way, it is like cooking."
The dark-haired boy from the Infirmary stiffened and Kagome saw his mouth tighten into a hard line as he cut up some sort of root. Kagome gave the Professor a fake smile and headed for the now-deserted cupboards to gather the herbs and so on that she would need before heading back to her station, looking over some of the items with interest, some with disgust.
Kagome infused some of the ingredients with some of her own miko ki, restoring them temporarily to a mint condition. The leaves of a special tree even un-wilted and became green once more. All the while, Severus observed her out of the corner of his eye, said eyes narrowing when he saw what she had done. The end result of her efforts after adding Essence of Murtlap, caused her potion to turn into a calming green-blue colour, the clearest of anyone's, even Severus'. He looked at her potion with a shred of jealousy and awe.
Kagome gave the scowling Slytherin a tentative smile before gathering her things and waling out as the bell rang.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A cackle made Kagome turn abruptly, and students gathered in anticipation of a fight. "An ickle muggle who should not be here."
Kagome narrowed her eyes at the dark, charismatic girl who had a green Slytherin badge showing proudly on her robes. "Who told you?" Kagome bit out harshly.
Bellatrix Black gave another high-pitched cackle before sneering darkly at the Asian girl and pointing her wand straight at her.
"Incarcerous."