Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially those who leave long reviews with suggestions and insightful comments. They really get me to delve back into the story more!
Also, I AM BACK. :) School's been pretty difficult and all, but I think it's starting to wind down a bit. Hopefully, this means more time to work on this story, and others as well!
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Hermione and Ginny fetched Kagome for dinner about two hours later. She had put away all her things, and was now writing a letter to Shippo, letting him know that she had arrived safety. The two watched as Kagome finished up the last sentence with a couple more strokes, watching as the foreign characters appeared with her ink brush.
"Wow, that's so cool," Ginny said, marveling as the ink dried. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Thanks," Kagome said, smiling. Writing with brush and ink always calmed her – she had loved calligraphy as a child, and it bought back memories of the few peaceful days in between those spent chasing Naraku. While Inuyasha dozed in a tree, Shippo colored with his crayons, and Sango cleaned her armor, Miroku would take out his black-purple ink and carefully write out his sutras.
The three girls quickly walked to the hallway and down to the kitchen. The scene that greeted her was both cheerful and slightly chaotic.
"Oh hello, Kagome! I hope you liked your room," Mrs. Weasley said, giving her a warm smile as she bustled around. Kagome nodded, a little astonished as she noticed the pans expertly cooking and flipping food on the stovetop by themselves. Several knives quickly chopped vegetables as Mrs. Weasley turned around to taste her soup with a wooden ladle.
"Ginny, could you take butterbeer to the table? And Hermione, do be a dear and take the rhubarb crumble out of the oven; it should be done by now," the short, plump woman said.
The twins waving their wands around, causing the silverware to make shapes on the table, while Ron carried a large cauldron of steaming soup. They carried on a conversation about something called Zonkos, with the twins, their brother and a lanky gaunt older man with long black hair – Series? Was that his name? – disagreeing with Hermione. Ginny stood by watching it all, piping up once in a while to insert a witty comment.
Kagome marveled at all the food, most of which she didn't know the names of. It was so different from what she was used to – there was no rice, no miso, and no fish. Heavy silverware lined the large round wooden table instead of chopsticks. The table seemed to be set for twice the amount of people currently in the room.
Kagome turned around when she heard steps from the hallway, and an older man with thin red hair walked into the kitchen, the father of the family, she guessed. He wore a dusty green cloak, silver glasses, and carried a wand in his right hand.
"Oh, Arthur, how was your day, honey?" Mrs. Weasley said loudly, over the conversation.
"It was rather slow, only two or three calls, but never mind that. This looks fantastic Molly. Anyone joining us tonight?" Arthur said, looking at all the food.
"Oh yes, because of the – " and here, she casted a glance at the talking teenagers, who were still arguing " – meeting after. Bill's coming of course, Lupin's will be here soon, Tonks said she would drop by if she could, and Mundungus could never miss a free meal," she said, muttering the last bit under her breath, and then brightened up, "And even Alastor is coming!"
"Sounds great," he said tiredly, setting his briefcase against the wall. Soon, she heard three popping sounds in the hallway, a large clunking sound in the hallway, and then, Kagome jumped at the sound of a women screaming loudly, and a plate slipped from Hermione's hand and broke on the floor.
"Tonks," the red-headed children said in chorus. Kagome winced as the sound of an angry woman on a tirade came from the dark hallway. Under the shrieking was the apologetic "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to!" from who she assumed to be Tonks. Bewildered, she followed suit as everyone else plugged their ears with their fingers. It sounded like someone was being put through torture.
"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley said, exasperated, "Oh, Sirius, would you please?" She ran toward the hallway, as the sound escalated, as seemingly more voices joined the first in the screeching.
The tall, black-haired man quickly followed hands over his ears as the horrid screaming continued, on and on. After a couple minutes of the screaming and shouting from Sirius, the sound suddenly died down.
"What in the world was that?" Kagome said, bewildered. Surely they weren't keeping prisoners in the house!
"Oh, those were the portraits. This is Sirius's house, but he was pretty much the black sheep of his family, so the portraits always can get worked up if they're woken," Ron explained. The explanation didn't exactly tell her much, and she must have still looked confused, since Hermione tried next.
"Magical portraits move and talk, and basically have all the traits of their deceased subjects. That's what all the curtains in the hallway are for – to keep them quiet and sleeping, since most of them don't like us being here. Sirius's family, the Blacks, are traditionally Dark, and since Sirius was not, they disowned him, and their portraits are rather upset because he now owns this house. That's why we tiptoe through that hallway."
Kagome nodded in understanding, even though she was still a little shocked – Living portraits?It's like out of a horror film! – and turned to see a couple newcomers walk in the door. There was a young woman with pastel purple hair, a man with drab brown hair in shabby robes, as well as a rather unsavory-looking man with stringy hair and tattered clothing. The woman cheerfully greeted the teenagers, as the suspicious-looking man talked to the twins, whose eyes darted around, and the other man greeted Sirius.
More people arrived after. Another Weasley sibling apparated in, "Bill, he's the oldest," Ginny supplied. As everyone started to sit down at the table, a grizzled, grey-haired man with a peg for a leg and a rather odd eye entered.
As everyone dug in to the hearty food, conversation began to flow. Kagome was seated next to Ginny and Sirius, and across from the man with the crazy-looking eye strapped to his head.
"That's Moody," Ginny said quietly to Kagome, "He's one of the best Aurors we've got, but he's a little paranoid and crazy."
"Just because I'm missing a leg and an eye doesn't mean I can't hear, girl," Moody growled. Ginny jumped and blushed bright red.
"So, you're the new girl Dumbledore told me about," he growled, turning his spinning eyeball onto Kagome, "You afraid of Death Eaters? Would you help one if they had a wand at your throat?"
The talk at the table died rather quickly, all turning to stare at Moody who was looking at Kagome. Before she had a chance to answer, Mrs. Weasley quickly admonished him.
"Alastor! She's just a child! We're at dinner!"
"Why not? Dumbledore said she's safe, but I want to be sure," he said, still watching Kagome. He was either oblivious to the awkward silence, or just didn't care.
"Er no, I don't like Death Eaters, and I wouldn't help them out," Kagome said, a little spooked. The man's eye was spinning crazily in all directions now. As the conversation began to flow again, Sirius leaned over.
"Relax, Alastor's just paranoid. Although, if I had been attacked as many times as he has, I would be too." Kagome accepted his reassurance with a smile. She then asked him what a Auror was, and he explained to her what the job meant, and then added onto the fact that he had wanted to be one, before he was thrown into prison.
At her alarmed expression, Sirius explained his situation as an innocent, escaped criminal. His expression was dark as he described the Dementors and his escape. Ginny helpfully added what she had heard that Ron, Hermione, and Harry, Sirius's godson, had done. Soon, Ron and Hermione were also jumping in, as the rest of the table listened intently. They, of course, had all heard the story, but never told in quite so much detail.
Several of the adults looked alarmed to hear the entire story of the events of Harry, Ron and Hermoine's third year, especially when it involved so much danger. Kagome noticed that Bill Weasley, the tall one with the dragon fang earring, leaned over Mrs. Weasley and whisper, "Relax Mum. It happened years ago, and there was nothing you could've done."
"There were literally hundreds of Dementors, and I was so scared," Hermione said. Remus Lupin saw the puzzled look on Kagome's face, and quickly explained the nature of the cloak-like, soul-sucking creature. Kagome shivered at the thought of such a dark creature.
"And then Harry came through, and casted this huge patronous. This stag just galloped through and pushed all of them away. Of course, it was then we realized that what Harry had seen earlier wasn't his father, but himself," Hermione said.
This, of course, lead to a brief explanation of exactly who 'Harry' was, and why he was so notable.
"You've probably never heard of Harry Potter, but he's famous in the Wizarding World," Hermione said, and then the brown-haired man named Remus Lupin continued the story. According to the story, he and Sirius had been Harry's father's best friends.
Kagome listened with wide eyes to the tragic tale. It boggled her mind to think that this 'Voldemort' character would attempt to kill a child. The boy now lived with his non-magical relatives, who treated him poorly because of his magic. The twins, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Sirius all looked visibly happier when Tonks announced that Dumbledore said Harry would most likely be arriving within a week.
Soon, dinner was over, and as the dishes magically washed themselves, Mrs. Weasley shooed all the teenagers out of the room. The headmaster, a stern tall woman, and pale man with greasy black locks joined the other adults in the dining room. Kagome was sitting at the top of the steps, unsure of what to do as the rest of the teenagers stayed stubbornly in the dining room.
Ron, Ginny, Fred and George all argued vehemently about being 'of age' or 'almost of age', and wanting to help in the whatever the adults were doing, but eventually they had to leave. Sirius sent them apologetic glances as he shut the door. Kagome approached the others as they stood near the door talking.
"It's not fair," Ron said, irritated, staring at the door, "We have just as much right to help as anyone else. We should be in the Order."
He put his ear up against the door, and then kicked the it angrily, mumbling about annoyingly thick doors.
"The Order of the Phoenix fights against the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who," Hermione explained tiredly, "We want in, but nobody wants us to know anything or even let us help out." Kagome nodded. Of course, the adults wanted to protect the teenagers, but conflict would involve everyone.
"Worry not, children," George said with a little smile and a wink toward Kagome.
"We've figured out a way to end our problems," Fred said, leaning sideways against the wall.
"How the bloody hell are you going to convince Mum to let us in?" Ron said. Both Fred and George pulled out long, flesh-colored strings from their pockets.
"What are those?" Ginny asked.
"We call them – " Fred started.
"Extendable Ears!" George finished. They demonstrated placing one end near their ear and the other end under the door.
Hermione hesitated as she looked at the fleshy end of the string doubtfully. She looked torn, between wanting to know what was going on and sticking to the rules.
"Oh, this is so wrong, we shouldn't be doing this..."
"Alright, you don't have to," Ginny said shrugging, walking right up to the door and plucking an Extendable Ear out of Fred's hand, "But I sure as hell want to know if any progress is being made against the Death Eaters."
"Sorry Kagome," Fred apologized as all the fleshy strings were given out, "We only made enough in the first batch for who we thought would be here. You can share with me though."
Soon, six teenagers were awkwardly crouching by the door.
"...should be more stretchy in the next batch..." Fred mumbled.
"Shh! It's starting to work!" George shushed. Slowly, they could hear the jumble of voices start to clear.
To their dismay, the adults didn't speak about any master plans or imminent battles. Instead, there was discussion on potential new Order of the Phoenix members, as well as a warning by Dumbledore about the potential dangers, as well as security measures that would be taken. There was some grumbling when he announced that many of the members would not know details of some of their plans, as a safety precaution for everyone. Mr. Weasley mentioned wearily that the Ministry was starting to become suspicious and many others murmured their agreement.
Soon, there was a shuffling as the adults stood up and pushed back their chairs. With alarm, the teenagers scrambled up the steps just in time to avoid detection. Kagome felt a twinge of guilt for eavesdropping on these people she didn't even know.
But then again, I'll need to know all the details of this Wizarding turmoil if I'm going to survive here. From the stories I've heard so far, it's a serious problem!
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The next day, Kagome began to learn about Wizarding magic. After the Order of the Phoenix meeting, Dumbledore asked to speak with her and Hermione, which caused a panic among the teenagers, all afraid they had been caught eavesdropping. However, the headmaster had just wanted to let Kagome know of the arrangements that had been made for summer classes.
On weekday mornings, she would floo to Hogwarts for classes with the professors. He had explained that most of them were rather busy, even during the summer, so on the other days, she would be assigned extra homework. Then, Dumbledore explained that Hermione would, if she didn't mind, be acting as a sort of 'assistant professor' to her. Hermione beamed inordinately at this title.
"Of course, Mrs. Granger, you will be compensated for your time, and along with that, there will be some extra privileges, such as full access to the Hogwarts Library for educational purposes," he had said, blue eyes twinkling. Kagome wasn't sure if the other girl could physically smile more.
"Please be discreet about the situation, although I am sure there will be no problems with you two girls. Sirius has informed me that the house is Unplottable, and therefore, the Ministry will not detect magic within these walls, so you will be able to practice magic. I trust that you and Miss Granger will only do so responsibly, and only for educational purposes." The two girls had nodded and verbally agreed to the headmaster's words.
And so, the next morning, she and Hermione were sitting in the living room, wands and books ready to go. They had an audience – the rest of the Weasleys currently in the house minus Mr. Weasley, who had gone to work, and plus Sirius, who was sitting in a couch across the table, looking – for the lack of a better word – rather hungover.
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione had all been ecstatic to find out they could practice magic during the summer. Judging from the look on Mrs. Weasley's face when she heard, Dumbledore would've gotten a talking to if he had been anyone else. She insisted that spells could only be cast for practice, not nilly willy. At this point, Ginny coughed loudly, which sounded suspiciously like Fred and George.
"Let's start with Windgardium Leviosa," Hermione said enthusiastically. She talked briefly about the type of spell it was (Charm), demonstrated levitating a feather, and had Kagome repeat the phrase and wand movements several times.
"Now, don't be discouraged if the feather doesn't do much for the first few attempts. That's pretty normal. I was the only one my class who managed to levitate the feather, mostly since I carefully listened to Professor Flitwick..."
Kagome was itching to just do it. Hermione was continuing on about how the spell was first invented, while the miko fidgeted with her wand in her hand. She could hear the rest of the Weasleys, along with Sirius, chuckling about a time when Ron had apparently knocked out a troll with the levitation spell.
"Hermione, Kagome doesn't need to know the entire history of levitation," Ginny finally said.
"Sorry," Hermione said sheepishly, and then nodded for Kagome to go ahead. She took the wand into her right hand. For some reason, it just felt so right in her hand.
With the words Wingardium Leviosa out of her mouth, and a warm feeling throughout her body, the white feather laying on the table slowly, and smoothly, began to sway up into the air. There was general applause from the occupants, and a genuinely shocked look from Hermione.
"Right on the first try," George said, impressed.
"Nice job!" Fred said, "It took us a couple times to get it right, remember George?"
Kagome repeated the spell a few times, and each time, the feather rose more quickly in the air. And then, just for fun, she floated the feather right over the twin's heads, and then back out of their reach when they tried to grab it. Soon, they were jumping into the air, trying to knock down the quickly-moving feather.
When Mrs. Weasley finally made them settle down for fear of breaking something, she smiled at Kagome.
"Kagome dear, you have superb control! It doesn't even seem like this is your first try at magic!" To this, Kagome just smiled and thanked the motherly woman for her words.
Yes, well, it isn't. 'Magic' back then just involved more 'running from raging demons', and 'trying to avoid being something's dinner!' Kagome thought wrly.
"Yes, that was great!" Hermione said surprised, "I don't think any first year would have as much control as you do. Usually, it takes a class or two for most of the kids to cast the spell."
Kagome was just happy that this whole wand-magic thing was working out. She had been a little afraid that learning to use a wand would be as difficult as learning to shoot purifying arrows, but, it looked like life decided to not be hard for once. Hopefully, this meant that at Hogwarts, she wouldn't stick out with her lack of magical experience. A wide grin appeared on Kagome's face.
"It doesn't seem like you need practice with that," Hermione said briskly, "But we'll go over it again at the end of the day just to be sure. Now let's move onto the next spell – we'll be working on transfiguration. Here's a needle, now, the key to this is visualization..."
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