Weeks had passed since Umbridge had become high inquisitor and Luna had started her training with Kagome. The weather had turned cold, a bitter wind blowing its way through the school grounds and seeping through the old stone walls of Hogwarts. October came and students could be seen running to class bundled in scarves and their thick winter robes. The freezing rain turned to snow and Hogwarts' grounds turned white. But as bad as the weather was, there was also a cause for anticipation for with the beginning of October came the first Hogsmeade trip. Kagome stood with her friends as the students gathered around the front gate waiting to hand over their permissions forms to Filch and head to the village.

"So Kagome are you excited? You've never been to Hogsmeade before being a transfer and all." Chelsey pulled her cloak tightly around her as another cold wind blew through the courtyard.

"Yeah, but remember it isn't going to be all fun and games." Kagome replied with a bit of a scowl on her face remembering why this trip was going to be partially business.

(A week earlier)

Kagome was sitting in the great hall during her study block trying to get her transfiguration essay finished for her next class. When she was just about halfway through her last paragraph Kagome felt the table shift and looked up from her work to see a certain bushy haired Gryffindor.

"What do you want Granger I'm trying to get my work done." Kagome kept writing trying to tune out the other girl.

"I want to talk to you about something." Hermione said leaning forward to try and get more of Kagome's attention.

"And what would that be?" Kagome said as she continued to write.

"I wanted to start a club."

"Alright, what does that have to do with me?" Kagome put down her quill moving her paper to the side.

"It's going to be a defense club." Kagome looked up, now intrigued with the proposition.

"You know that Umbridge will not allow it, right?"

"Yeah but we have to learn how to defend ourselves."

"I thought little miss prefect never broke any school rules." Kagome leaned back trying to gauge Hermione's actions.

"Besides what people think I actually have broken quite a few of the rules helping out Harry. And if learning how to protect ourselves means breaking a few rules then so be it." Kagome smirked and a light laugh escaped her lips.

"Yes I guess you would have, so have you found someone to teach?"

"Ron and I are trying to convince Harry to teach since he has the most experience"

"I guess I can deal with Harry as a teacher. Well you can count me in and I will try to recruit a few more Hufflepuffs for the cause. And don't worry I will only tell them if I'm sure that they will not blab to Umbridge. But it's not like there much a chance for that, the Hufflepuffs are known for their kindness but we all hate the toad just as much as you guys do" The great bell chimed in the distance and Kagome grabbed all her books shoving them into her bag. Hermione stood up too and stopped Kagome with a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you and we will be having a meeting at the hog's head on the Hogsmeade trip next week"

"I'll be sure to be there, see you later Granger" As she walked out of the great hall Kagome realized that she hadn't finished her essay that was due. "DAMN IT!"

(End flashback)

After the meeting with Hermione Kagome had thought about whom she should invite to be a part of the club. The first people she had told about the meeting were of course her roommates and they had all been very eager to go. Kagome had also told Zacharias because as much as a pain in the butt he was, he had the making of a good fighter and could be very helpful in the coming war if he had proper training. Hannah Abbott was also told; she was a nice girl and would never betray the cause. Kagome managed to recruit a few more people to the cause and they had all said yes to coming to the meeting although some of them were a bit reluctant to be taught by Harry. Kagome had also asked Luna at their next training session if she would come and Luna had replied by saying Hermione had already approached her and she had agreed to come.

Now they were all on their way to the Hog's head although it had already been discussed by the Hufflepuffs to stay in separate groups and approach the pub at different times so that it wouldn't look suspicious. However looking around Kagome realized that the word tact was not in the Gryffindor's vocabulary. She watched with annoyance as they all stood in a huge group and whispered amongst themselves. Luckily the Ravenclaws had been smart and had split off to check some shops before heading to the pub. Kagome and her friends where the first to arrive at the Hog's head, she spotted the golden trio sitting at a table waiting for everyone to show up.

"Hey there, we're here for the meeting." Three heads popped up at the sound of a voice.

"Oh hey Kagome."

"Hey Harry so I hear that you are going to be teaching us all self-defense."

"Uh yeah I guess."

"Oh come on now Harry if you want anyone to listen to you, you have to have some confidence. I am not going to be taught by some weak spineless little boy." Ron opened his mouth about to yell at Kagome for insulting his friend. The words stopped in his mouth when Kagome turned one of her death glares on him.

"Uh I don't really know what to say to that Kagome."

"Don't say anything, now what do they have to drink around here?" Kagome then turned her back on the trio and Chelsey gave them a small apology for her attitude before sitting down with the others to wait until the start of the meeting.

Kagome was not that impressed with the Hog's head it was dirty and everything had a slight smell of mold to it. Cobwebs clung to the corners and a thin layer of dust rested on the bar counter where the owner of the pub stood cleaning a glass. Although cleaning wasn't exactly a good word since the rags he was using to wipe it looked like it had seen better days. The glass seemed to hold it cloudy hue no matter how hard the man wiped it. Looking at the liquor display behind the bar Kagome caught site of something that made a smirk of mischief creep onto her face.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to order something?" The old man asked

"That white bottle over there on the far right shelf, I will take that please." Looking over his shoulder to see which bottle Kagome was talking about her nodded slightly and looked back to her.

"I got that bottle from a friend but no one really seems interested in it I will give it to you for five sickles"

"Deal" Reaching into her pocket Kagome pulled out the required money and laid it down on the worn counter. Grabbing the bottle and a small glass Kagome made her way back over to the table. Laying down her acquired objects Kagome pulled out her wand and with a quick scourgify on the glass she poured her drink and sipped it leaning back in enjoyment. Of course the sight of the bottle had piqued the interest of the golden trio and her small group of friends.

"Hey Kagome what is that stuff?" Ron asked, leaning over and trying to look in her glass.

"Do you want to try it and see" Kagome arched her eyebrow as Ron reached forward and took the glass from her offered hand. Looking at the liquid Ron then brought the glass to his lips and downed the drink in a one shot. Kagome had to hide her laugh as she and the others watched Ron's face turn completely red before he started coughing and clutching at his throat.

"What the hell is that stuff! It's like fire in your throat!" Kagome just continued to smile as Hermione leaned over and took the bottle bringing it to her nose and smelling it. As soon as the sent hit her nose Hermione pulled it away from her quickly and looked at Kagome in anger.

"Of course it burns Ronald that is alcohol and really strong stuff too. Why the hell are you drinking Kagome you are much too young and then to offer it to Ron, it's horrible!" Kagome couldn't hold it back anymore and began laughing.

"Oh get off it Granger I don't drink that much it's just sake and as for offering it to Weasley, well he shouldn't have been so stupid to chug something when he didn't know what it was." Hermione was about to retort when the door to the Hog's head opened and a cool wind blew inside carrying with it a large group of students. Kagome saw Harry's face go slightly pale and she guessed that Hermione hadn't told him how many people were going to come. Her guess was confirmed Harry leaned over and whispered to his female friend demanding she explain herself about the number of people. The twins came in and got everyone to purchase butter beers except for Kagome who still had her sake with her.

The meeting began and the idea of a defense class was very interesting to most people so they were open to hearing about the club. However when Zacharias had to go and open his big mouth about the Diggory boy's death, things got a bit tense. Kagome had of course never known Cedric since he had died before she had come to Hogwarts but Kagome had heard only good things about the boy.

"If you came here to hear about Cedric's death then you might as well leave!" Harry exploded the fight between Harry and Zacharias battled on before Kagome had had enough.

"Oh Smith just shut the hell up! We are here to talk about defense so that what happened to Cedric will never happen again to any of us. Harry is willing to teach us and I for one, aim to learn all I can and I know you could do well if you put your attitude in the right place. So just sit down stay quiet and let the rest of this meeting happen." Silence fell over the room and Harry sent Kagome a grateful smile. Hermione then stepped forward a piece of paper in her hand.

"Well then if anyone is interested in joining please sign your name on this list and we will contact everyone when we get the first meeting planned." The paper was set down on a worn table and one by one everyone walked up and signed the list although Zacharias did so with a bit of reluctance. Once everyone signed Hermione rolled up the paper and tucked it into her pocket. Everyone started to leave and the golden trio walked out of the Hog's head heads together to come up with a place to train.

'I will have to come up with a way to tell them about the room of requirements. I can't do it, it would make no sense if someone who has only been at the school a few months to know about one of its most powerful and secret rooms.'

Kagome was pulled out of her thoughts by Chelsey tugging on her cloak pulling her towards the shops.

"Come on Kagome we want you to see all the cool shops! There's Honeydukes the candy shop and Zonkos joke shop and- Oh there is so much to show you!" Kagome laughed at her friend's excitement and allowed Chelsey to drag her all over the small village. Kagome listened intently as her roommates explained the wonders of each shop. At Zonkos Kagome bought some small fireworks for her brother and some interesting candies at Honeydukes.

"I can't believe you bought those! What are you, a vampire?" Kagome just smirked as she continued to suck on her bright red blood pop. She didn't know why she had bought it exactly guess she was just curious.

"They are not that bad although they didn't get the flavor right these are a bit too sweet real blood had more of a coppery taste to it but still not bad." All the girls just stopped and stared at Kagome, mouths hanging open.

"And why exactly do you know how blood taste?" Angela asked

"Well I got punched pretty hard in the jaw once by this idiot and a bit my tongue really hard. It ended up bleeding and I had the taste of blood in my mouth for a week."

"Oh that makes sense I guess" Chelsey then lit up as she caught site of the Quidditch shop down the road. Kagome could see some of the other Quidditch team members through the frosted glass looking at gear.

"Come on guys lets go to the three Broomsticks I want to see if they have any new gear." Kagome saw how crowded the inn looked with laughing people drinking and having fun and pulled her arm out from Chelsey's iron grip.

"Actually girls, I think I'm going to go look around a bit on my own. I will meet up with you guys at the school."

"Oh but Kagome you haven't gotten to try the butter beer yet. It's the best thing you will ever drink, you have to come with us." Chelsey frowned in disappointment and tried to give Kagome the puppy dog eyes.

"Maybe next time, I'll see you guys later." Kagome pulled her cloak around her and hurried off to the edges of the village. Kagome knew that she shouldn't be pushing her new friends away and joining them in their fun and merriment but although she seemed to have gotten over her past a part of her still hurt. Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and so many more people that she would never see ever again. Her hand strayed to her back where her tattoo was, forever etched into her skin. A constant memory of what she had lost but never wanted to forget. She had been keeping it covered so as to not cause a scene although it was hard to do with roommates. Looking up Kagome noticed that she had subconsciously followed a path to the shrieking shack. The dilapidated building stood stark against the bright white of the snow. Its boarded windows and weathered wood telling a sad story of what was probably once a nice home.

Kagome couldn't help but compare herself to the sad shack. The hardships she had had to endure had made her tough but had also made her tired. She had been tired of all the fighting, tired of lying to her friends and family to keep her secret and not have them worry. Tired of having her heart crushed and split open by a vengeful priestess who wanted something Kagome had no hold on. Tired of burying the bodies of the ones they had been too late to save or watch the ones left behind cry and scream for what had happened to them. Tired of bandaging wounds and going on when all she wanted to do was rest. She had just been tired of it all and had wanted it to end and go away. Well she got her wish, it had gone away. Only that it had taken with it everything she had loved. Tears that had not left her eyes for months welled and threatened to spill over.

"Well look who it is! A puff is out here all alone, did her little friends abandon her? And here I thought you Hufflepuffs were all about loyalty." Kagome turned around, red hot rage burning in her chest. Draco Malfoy smirked at her with his two big cronies standing behind them and the pug faced Slytherin girl hanging off his arm.

"Go away before you do something you'll regret." Pansy's face went red in anger as Kagome turned her back on her.

"How dare you! You should respect your betters Hufflepuff or we could make your life a living hell."

"Leave, I'm in a bad mood." Kagome didn't even turn to acknowledge the Slytherin girl and continued to look out over the white landscape. Now furious, Pansy walked up to Kagome and grabbed her shoulder trying to turn her around.

"Hey listen to me when-ACK!" Pansy flew back into the snow landing on her butt a red mark that was slowly turning purple covered her left cheek. Kagome stood her fist outstretched and breathing heavily.

"I said to leave me alone! I don't want to have to deal with your stupidity." Pansy glared at Kagome before turning to Draco tears streaming down her pudgy face.

"Drakey you can't let her do this to me!" Draco fumed at his sister for putting him in this position.

"Crabbe, Goyle get her!" The two boys lumbered up to her and Crabbe threw a punch at Kagome. With no problem at all Kagome ducked under the punch and delivered one of her own right under Crabbe's chin knocking his teeth together and sending him falling backwards. Goyle tried next again with another punch but this time Kagome grabbed his hand before shocking the Slytherin by throwing him over her shoulder. Landing on the ground hard all the air was knocked out of Goyle's lungs and he could do nothing as Kagome walked up to him and slammed her foot down on his face breaking his nose and causing him to go unconscious from the pain. The observing Slytherins where shocked no one had ever beaten Crabbe and Goyle that fast, at least not without a wand. Looking Crabbe right in the eyes, Kagome gestured to the unconscious Goyle.

"Grab your friend and leave." The boy did as she said, hauling Goyle over his shoulder. Crabbe made a run for it, Pansy following right behind them clutching her cheek. They didn't even turn to realize that their leader was not behind them and had instead stayed to confront his sister.

"Why did you do that Kagome do you know what you've done?!"

"It was self-defense and you brought this on yourself."

"Don't turn this on me, it is your fault and Pansy will go running to Snape and I have to explain to my house why we were beaten by a Hufflepuff."

"It is your fault Draco you stupid gaki, you say not to draw attention to myself and I don't then you have to come and confront me. You are the one that put a target on my back Draco and it is now your problem of trying to get your house to stay away from me. Because I'm warning you if anyone tries to confront me I will send them to the hospital wing faster than you can blink." Kagome then turned her back on her little brother and started to walk away.

"You know that I hate you but I will try to stop my house. However there is nothing I can do about Snape he will do what he wants." Kagome just continued to walk.

"Don't worry about Snape he won't do anything"

"What do you mean he won't do anything? You directly assaulted not one but three of his Slytherins, he will not stand by and watch you get away with it." Kagome stopped and turned to look at her little brother.

"He knows, Draco."

"Knows what?"

"He knows who I am." Draco froze his eyes going wide.

"HOW?!"

"I told him, he can and will keep my secret. He also will not go after me because of today so I am safe, see you later little brother." And with that Kagome disappeared into the trees leaving the prince of Slytherin standing all alone in the snow.


(Draco pov)

Dinner had just ended and the Slytherin common room was crowded with all of its members. A house meeting had been called and Snape was going to address the whole house. Draco was stretched out on one of the leather couches staring out the dungeon windows, watching as the lake's water moved against the glass. People were whispering amongst each other talking about what had happened with Kagome at Hogsmeade. It had taken only about an hour for the whole school to know that story. Of course Pansy walking up to the Hufflepuff table and screaming at the top of her lungs for Kagome didn't help. The deep purple bruise completely covered Pansy's left cheek making it easy for people to figure out what had happened.

The story had gotten even crazier when someone said they had seen Goyle in the hospital wing unconscious with a bandaged nose. Crabbe at been sitting alone at the dinner table holding his jaw and saying that she had gotten him by surprise and that was why she had managed to hit him. Kagome hadn't been at dinner that night which was a good thing otherwise a full out battle between the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs may have occurred. Slytherins are a lot that usually stuck to themselves, however when someone hurt a member of their house they stood together. After all no one else was going to help them so they had to take care of their own.

The room went silent as their head of house walked in his black robes billowing out behind him in an invisible wind. Snape looked around at his student's gaze, lingering on Draco before continuing onto the others. For a lot of them, Snape was like a father figure or a least someone they could trust while away from their homes and families.

"I heard that some of my students were hurt today. Would someone please explain the situation to me?" Pansy jumped forward still holding her hand to her cheek, her pudgy face contorted in rage.

"That stupid transfer in Hufflepuff punched me for no reason and then when Crabbe and Goyle tried to protect me from her she beat them up too." The other Slytherins looked at each other trying to gauge what their head of the house would do.

"Well now that is not very good is it? Was someone else there Miss. Parkinson, who could vouch for your story?"

"Yes Draco was there he saw the whole thing! Draco will vouch for my story, tell him what happened Draco." The whole common room turned to look at their prince but Draco looked right at Snape. Draco saw the message Snape was trying to send. Most people thought that the head of Slytherin was a block of concrete when it came to emotions but Draco knew better. Giving his godfather a slight nod of his head he addressed the rest of the room.

"She was just minding her own business and we approached her. She acted on reflex with Pansy and out of self-defense with Crabbe and Goyle. It was out fault for initiating contact we also have never had problems with the Hufflepuffs before and I don't intend to start any over a misunderstanding." Gasps rang about the room and Pansy screamed in distress.

"Drakey how could you defend that stupid puff! She assaulted me and called me stupid; she can't get away with that."

"Well you just called her stupid so that makes you fair. Also don't call me Drakey I hate that name it sounds like I'm four years old" And with that Draco pushed himself off the couch and left the common room leaving shocked faces in his tracks.


(Normal pov)

Back in the Hogwarts staff room Pomona Sprout was pacing the room waiting for Severus Snape to return from his house meeting. The head of Hufflepuff had heard about the incident and knew that Severus was not going to take the issue lightly. She had looked for Kagome at dinner after the Pansy incident at her table but she had not been there. When she asked Kagome's roommates they had said that they hadn't seen her since she separated from them in Hogsmeade. They hadn't even known Kagome had beaten some Slytherins while out and didn't know where she could be now. This caused some problems as she couldn't get her house's side of the story which didn't make for a good case against Severus.

Minerva looked on in pity, her lions got in trouble on a regular basis. The Weasley twins had probably been the cause of most of her gray hairs. However because of that she knew how to handle the punishments and the angry head of house whose student had been offended. Pomona thought had never had to really deal with any of it since her Puffs where almost always so well behaved. Minerva was actually surprised that the Higurashi girl was not in Gryffindor. She made enough trouble and seemed to be very strong headed about what she thought. She had gotten lucky the last time she had caused trouble but her luck may have run out.

Sitting in a chair at the other end of the room Dolores Umbridge was looking positively giddy. She had been trying to find ways to get back at the Higurashi girl but had not managed to find anything on her or catch her doing anything. She had been thwarted from her punishments last time by Severus but this time he would be on her side. With the head of Slytherin backing her Umbridge was sure that she would not fail and that he would be happy to help her inflict punishment. Dolores was hopping that she could maybe even get the girl expelled and sent back to wherever she came from. The door to the staff room opened and Severus Snape walked in his face as unreadable as usual. The other teachers watch in interest as Pomona walked up to Severus prepared to fight for her puff.

"Severus I am asking you to simply hear me out before you say anything"

"Pomona-"

"No just let me speak, I know that Kagome Higurashi hurt some of your students but I think that she should say her part of the story."

"Pomona-"

"It is not fair to her to just choose a punishment without hearing the full story."

"Pomona-"

"She is new and does not know the rules of the school and I know that it is no excuse,"

"Pomona-"

"But I just ask that you give her a chance to-"

"POMONA!" The head of Hufflepuff jumped back not used to hearing Severus raise his voice. Umbridge was smiling from ear to ear sure that the potions professor was about to say his punishment for Kagome Higurashi.

"Yes Severus."

"If you had let me speak then you would have heard that I am not going to press any punishment on Kagome Higurashi. Draco Malfoy was present during the incident and claimed that she acted out of self-defense. My snakes where the ones who established first contact so there is nothing I can use as proof to punish the girl. Now that that is settled I will be heading off to bed, goodnight everyone"

No one moved or spoke a word for a full minute. Then one by one the staff left for their rooms without saying anything. They all left until the only one left was Dolores Umbridge and ten minutes later she left for her own bed.

There you guys go the next chapter and I am so sorry for the long wait. Blame school, although it is because my physics class that I decided to write today to help relieve some of the stress. I want to say a big thank you to my beta and to all of you guys for helping this story hit 100 reviews. I will try to write a bit more but I will be heading to Japan in about 2 weeks and I think that it will prove for good inspiration. Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter or if you have any ideas you would like to see you can send them to me and I will try to use them. Let's try and get this story to 200 reviews; I know you guys can do it.