Untried Guardians
By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse
Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha
HP: AU after Goblet of Fire (Harry and company's 5th year)
IY: AU set at Two Years after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. Oh how I wish I did…
AN2: OK People, my original Author's Note that was here I decided to move down to the bottom. Just scroll down past the column of 'ooo' at the end if you want to read it first. It was taking up room and unfortunately there were a couple of things that were more important that my continuous babbling. Number One is that I read the Half Blood Prince. Most of you don't care, but if you do, these are my thoughts.
These are my thoughts: oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!
Sometimes we think of the worst of people and we are a hundred percent wrong. Other times we try to think of the best. We honestly believe someone isn't as awful as they truly are. We want to forgive, and sometimes that naïve hope turns around and bites us in the ass. You probably know who I am referring to. I raise my glass to the Evil!Snape camp.
Unfortunately if I followed J.K.R.'s story faithfully I would have to end my story here. When I started UG I had no idea what Snape's past was, who were his parents, what he really was capable of. Luckily we all live in a world that includes AU's. I came up with my own backstory about Snape, filling in whatever blanks there were from the last five books. So from now on my Snape is not the same Snape as the book. They aren't even within spitting distance of each other. So I don't want to hear how this isn't like the books. I split paths after GoF and I'm sticking to my naïve beliefs.
The second thing is that I now have a Beta. Everyone welcome Eluriana Hopefully between the two of us we'll pick up on those pesky spelling mistakes I keep missing.
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Chapter 12 – Pensive
Pensive-1. Engaged in deep thoughtfulness.
2. Suggestin or expressing deep, often melancholy thoughtfulness.
3. The quality or nature of being mentally or spiritually preoccupied.
Ron hated Mondays. Not loathed, not detested, he hated Mondays. It was the worst day in his class schedule. In previous years he had thought it was bad having Potions on Friday. It was pure torture having it on Monday. Nothing could really describe the horror of having Double Potions with the Slytherins with Snape last class of the day. The day didn't even start out good. Mondays were trying all around. First was Transfiguration which McGonagall made challenging, followed with History of Magic. After that was lunch and after that it was Divination. After the triple whammy of History, Lunch, and Divination almost putting him to sleep he had to survive Potions.
Ron wasn't good at Potions. Fred and George had a knack for it, Percy was a good student and even Ginny did well. He was horrible at brewing potions. He even was a disaster cooking at home, the only thing close to Potions in the real world. He could barely make a workable Potion by himself. Maybe he and Harry would have been better if they didn't have 'someone' sabotaging their work. (sends a glare in Malfoy's direction.) By the end of the day he was mentally exhausted and physically aching with the effort of putting magic in random ingredients.
Today was pure hell.
He started the day in the infirmary getting his bandages changed. His hands had split open again during the night and were bleeding under the wrappings. Poppy had happily informed him that the wounds would reopen for months, months! Then he got a quick breakfast in the Great Hall before he and Harry ran to Transfiguration.
The first thing McGonagall did was call him up to her desk before class even started. "How are your hands," she asked.
"They're fine."
"So you buttoned up your shirt all by yourself?" Her tone was not contemptuous. She was stating a fact like it is cold when it snows or Professor Dumbledore picked the most ridiculous passwords for his office.
Ron didn't answer his teacher's question. Harry actually had to do it. That had been embarrassing, his fingers wouldn't maneuver the tiny buttons. He completely skipped the tie and had pulled on the new cotton robe that Dr.Tajiri had brought for him. Actually, all of his clothes he had right now were non-magical. His normal clothes were soaking; the almost magical but not magical Clordian Powder was leeching all the magic out of the cloth. Some items, like his old dress robes, were a loss. The new dress robes that Fred and George got him for his birthday held up better but were fading the longer they sat.
But standing there, thinking about contaminated clothes and non-magic reminded his if he couldn't use his hands to button buttons, how could he write with a quill? Luckily, Professor McGonagall had thought of that.
"This is a Dictaquill," she explained as she motioned to the blue quill lying on her desk. "You can use it only during Lectures until Poppy says you can write with quills again."
"So I don't have to do homework," he said hopefully.
"Homework is required and will have to be done the muggle way."
The 'muggle way' turned out to be common pens and notebooks filled with lined paper. She also handed him a heavy pen she called a fountain pen that he could use when writing on parchment for the essays that would have to be measured. She had sent him back to his seat with the rest of the class staring at him. On top of the stack was a note saying she would show him how to use the Dictaquill and the fountain pen after class. After he sat down she started speaking, talking about whatever they would be learning today. The Dictaquill picked itself up and quietly scratched away.
The Dictaquill followed him throughout his other classes without problem until he got to Potions. For once, Snape was sitting at his desk when he, Harry and Hermione entered the class. The others picked out seats by the front-most worktables so they could hear the lesson. Dictaquills were useful but they sometimes missed words and he had to pay attention and double-check the notes the quill took… well, Hermione actually checked.
Ron approached the Head Slytherin with worry, quill clutched tightly in a bandaged hand. Snape was the one teacher who knew the most about what had happened to the Gryffindor the past couple of days but he was also the one teacher who wouldn't give him any slack.
"You will not need that," the man said without looking up from his papers. The'that' that he was referring to was the Dictaquill that Ron still had in his hand, wrapped in some non-magic paper. "This is a practical lesson, like I explained last class period." He still didn't look up at him. Ron was starting to get annoyed. It was bad enough that Snape was being a monumental jerk like he always was, he didn't even look up when he spoke to the Gryffindor.
"But how am I supposed to work on a potion when I can't use my hands to cut up or powder ingredients," he countered without hiding his annoyance.
"Luckily for you, you will be working with Longbottom on this potion." The grease ball finally looked up at the teenager with a nasty smirk on his face. Ron paled a shade more at the thought of working with the accident prone Gryffindor. He at least was able to complete a potion. Neville's current track record was three failed potion completed and only seven melted cauldrons. Oh, and one potion that didn't stop at the floor but ate a hole to the next level of the dungeons. If it were not a required class, Neville would have left three years ago.
Ron just stomped back to the tables and threw his bag on the floor next to Neville's ninth cauldron. Cauldron Number Eight was still orbiting the planet after the impressive explosion launched it out of the dungeons two classes ago. Neville looked apologetic as he pulled out his battered potions book. Ron pulled out his own war-torn copy and flipped to the third chapter of the book. Finally stopping when the title Adaracke's Vision Potion presented itself, Ron looked over to see that Neville had found the same page.
"Umm. . . It looks like we'll need to get griffin feathers, flax seed, and ahh…" Neville stuttered n the last ingredient's name.
"The Rock Troll Drool?" Ron completed the sentence for the other teen. Both made faced of disgust at the ingredient. It was probably the only reason Snape assigned this particular potion. Nothing probably pleased the man more than making a bunch of teenagers dump buckets of the unsanitary spit into their cauldrons and heat said cauldrons until the smell of cabbage and sewers permeated the air.
"Yeah," Neville nodded in nervous agreement. "I'll go get them," the brunette boy mumbled as he tripped to the back of the room for their missing ingredients. The potion ingredients weren't too complicated but Snape said last time that it was very dependent on timing. He was so screwed.
"Hey Neville, if it's ok with you, can you cut up all the ingredients while I stir and add?" Ron asked when Neville returned holding their needed ingredients. He did this with the hope that he could head off major disaster. The other boy just nodded and picked up a knife to start slicing shriveled black mushrooms. Ron just sat there for a couple of minutes pretending to read the complicated timing directions. As he was reading, trying to decide if Step16 meant he was supposed to stir counterclockwise every two minutes or stir for two minutes at a time, he felt an arm bump into his shoulder. He looked over to see Harry's concerned face looking down at him.
"Ron, how are you really doing?"
"Like Shit," was his blunt answer. Neville looked up for a second before putting the mushrooms aside to crushing the fireflies in a crucible. The ingredients all had to be prepared in advance since the potion was so time dependent and for the last five steps the potion had to simmer in almost complete darkness.
Ron spared a glance at his partner before turning towards Harry and Hermione on the other side of the wooden table. The two of them had kept a very close eye on him the entire day. He felt like he didn't even have the chance to sneeze in peace. Where Hermione couldn't go Harry did and vise versa. They were practically smothering him with concern as the day went on. The shock of what had happened only a couple of days ago had worn and the reality that they almost lost one of their best friends caused a rash of mother henning that there was no escape. True, he hadn't told them how close it really was but even though he had told two complete strangers he wasn't quite up to reveal one of his darkest secrets to his closest friends.
A nudge reminded him that they were still in class with Snape so he snapped back to the real world and started to throw disassembled potion ingredients into the heated cauldron. What little was said in their half-code because Neville was in earshot. The other boy didn't know the exact details of the weekend so the Gryffindor trio avoided talking about the ritual. Even thought they were careful to avoid the ritual subject Harry was able to relate the conversation he had with 'Snuffles' last night. Sirius was not happy to here what his godson had gotten himself into. Harry winced as he told Ron and Hermione that his godfather would be up to visit in a couple of weeks so they could 'talk'. Harry hadn't been sure what was worse, Sirius risking capture to see him or being lectures by one of the important figures in his life that. The man even implied that he had been disappointed that the teen didn't tell a teacher what they were going to do.
"But I bet he did things just as dangerous when he was in school," Ron argued for Harry.
"I know."
"Did you tell Dumbledore that he was coming?" Hermione asked as she stirred a foul concoction of Troll spit and fairer ingredients.
"I will when we get done with class but I have a feeling the Headmaster already knows," he told his friends in a quiet voice.
Ron nodded in agreement as he started to add the griffin feathers to his own potion. Neville nervously sat down next to Ron as Snape announced it would be five minutes before the torches went out. Ron looked down at the glop in his cauldron.
"What color is this supposed to be again?" he asked his partner.
"Burgundy," Neville said after taking a look in the book.
"Huh?"
"A brownish Maroon," Hermione elaborated for the two clueless teens.
"Oh," Neville said softly. "I think we're pretty close." And he was right. The potion looked more brown than maroon but it was in close. If they got thru the ten minutes of darkness that the potion needed to completely do its thing, he and Neville might get a passing grade.
"Who actually would think to drink this stuff," Harry said with disgust as he took over stirred his cauldron.
"This is one of the potions mentioned in Hogwarts, A History. It was originally a bet between a couple of professors on who could make the best tasting Rock Troll Saliva Draught. Professor Madine was the Potions Master at the time and came up with this stuff. He didn't know that it would make some one able to see in the dark."
"And how many bottles of Firewhiskey did they go through before someone came up with that idea?"
"Seven," Hermione answered.
"You've got to be joking." Ron said with disbelief.
"You'd think it would have taken more to think of that." The Gryffindor trio paused and all turned towards the person who spoke last.
"What?" Neville asked the shocked teens before the lights went out without warning.
"You have ten minutes before I will turn the lights back on. Any fooling around will result in detention with me. Understand?"
Ron froze as Professor Snape's voice sounded a lot closer than he thought it would. He even felt cloth brush past his arm as silent steps carried the potions master past his table. For some reason, that sent a small shiver of pain up his arm. Luckily his wince was hidden in the darkness. It was unnerving standing in the dark while stirring an unseen cauldron. Every thing was going fine though. Neville was sitting quietly away from the cauldron and there was little movement heard though the room.
As with all things in his life, the peace didn't last. They were past the halfway point that was marked verbally by Snape when Ron heard a small plop coming from his cauldron. At this point various cauldrons around the room were starting to let off a faint light indicating that the potions were nearing completion. Ron and Neville's potion had started to light up as well when that small noise was made.
All of a sudden his potion let off a shriek. Ron jumped back and he was pretty sure that the wooden thunk he heard was Neville falling off of his stool. Pain lanced through him as steam poured out of the cauldron. He heard someone yell "COVER!" before he was pushed away from the cauldron and protected as it exploded straight up into the air.
Whoever was behind him stepped away quickly as Professor Snape yelled for the other students to put lids on their cauldrons. The torches were brought back up quickly to reveal the damage. Ron turned to see Harry standing behind him, wand still in his hand. The boy-who-lived just shrugged and put his wand away as Ron whispered thanks. When Harry stepped aside Ron could see that the cauldron was no longer on the floor. Falling ash led Ron's eyes upward to reveal that this cauldron didn't escape the atmosphere like its predecessor. The cauldron, contents and all, was stuck to the ceiling of the classroom. There was a splatter of purple tar imprinted on the ceiling around the suspended cauldron as more ash fell from the bottom. The entire class was silent as everyone stared at the improbable sight. Ron didn't dare look down as dangerously slow steps approached his table from behind.
"Weasley and Longbottom, why do you feel it was necessary to add more mushrooms to your potions after you added the griffin feathers?" Snape's voice was that deadly calm that he used before he ripped a student a new one.
"It was an accident. There was some mushrooms left over and I ran out of time to put them back in the cupboard so I left them on the table." Neville's voice was weak as he muttered his excuse.
Ron dragged his eyes away from the ceiling and sitting innocently on the table was a pile of black mushrooms sitting close to the edge.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor and you both have detention with me. Mister Longbottom on Wednesday and Mister Weasley on Thursday." Snape's voice was still dangerously soft but everyone on the Gryffindor's side flinched.
"Clean up your tables, bottle your potions and get out of here." The potions master said as his young charges scrambled to comply. The cauldron remained on the ceiling as Ron and Neville worked fast to clean up what they could. Without another word the professor stalked from the classroom and into his office, slamming the door.
Once the door was shut the Slytherin half of the class started to laugh. Ron almost walked over to them when Hermione grabbed his arm. Pansy Parkinson said in an obnoxiously loud voice that that was the funniest thing that she had ever seen that Malfoy should get points for doing that. At that point Neville joined in restraining Ron from flying across the room to give the creepy little ferret what he deserved.
"But he wrecked our potion," Ron growled out as Hermione pulled him towards the door.
"You already got detention. There is no point in getting in even more trouble. Come on, he'll get what's coming to him eventually." Ron still struggled but he allowed his friend to pull him out of the dungeons, thus ending his day from hell.
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"We have it!" a woman exclaimed proudly from the other side of the room. Kagome looked up from her book, Poppy turned from he cabinet she was digging in. Even Inuyasha woke up and turned his attention to the new voice.
The two Japanese teens had been kept pretty isolated so the new arrival drew their notice. The woman that had spoken was someone neither of them had seen before. She was middle-aged with darker hair covered by a pointed hat. Dark green robes hung off her shoulders in elegant folds but the pleased look on her face offset her somber appearance.
"Is Severus coming too?" Poppy asked as the woman closed the hospital wing doors behind her.
"No. He had detentions with Mister Longbottom and the Tallow Twins tonight."
"All at the same time?" she asked faintly.
"He needs tomorrow night free to plan with Ron Weasley."
Poppy shook her head in wonder as she led the woman to Kagome and Inu's side of the room. The entire ward had been divided by a faint chalk line that ran between the two rows of beds. Snape had drawn it after Inuyasha's second escape attempt. The line itself was more than decoration. It was the base of multiple spells that kept the new wizard and witch confined and hidden. The most direct purpose of the chalk was to provide a foundation for the curtain spell that hid the far side of the room. From the side by the doors, the opposite side of the room looked empty with metal beds lined up in a straight row. Once one passed the line dividing the floor, a person could see what really lay on the other side. Kagome and Yasha had taken over the far side of the room. On their side of the room there were only two beds instead of the usual six. In place of extra beds there was a table complete with four matching chairs and all of the cabinets lined up in a row.
The second chalk line spell was designed to keep certain unruly 'guests' inside the hospital wing. It responded to blood, not human or demon power. It was keyed to Kagome and Inuyasha specifically. Anyone else could walk through but they were trapped behind an invisible glass barrier. The spell could easily be broken with a part of the line being erased but even the line was heavily guarded; only Snape was able to wipe away the chalk.
Poppy crossed the line and motioned the woman to cross as well. They both stopped on the other side when the two new wizards were visible.
"Inuyasha… Kagome… this is Professor Minerva McGonagall."
AN I'm using a younger McGonagall than the book, she is in her early forties here. I love Maggie Smith's work but she doesn't fit into my idea. Don't believe me, when you watch HP and the SS look at the plaque with Harry's dad's name for quidditch and look at the other names on the plaque.)
Kagome gave a smile to the woman while Inuyasha just grunted and looked bored. The woman acknowledged the two as she set down a small wooden box and a stack of musty books. "I had wanted to talk to the three of you first before I brought up our ideas to the headmaster. Professor Snape and I have solutions two our two separate problems."
"What exactly are your solutions for?" Kagome asked politely.
"The first one was how to hide Mister Inuyasha's. . . less than human appearance. The second is the fact neither of you want to be sorted nor possibly end up in separate houses."
"Damn Straight!" Inuyasha said with some barely hidden hostility.
"You said you had something that would work?" Poppy asked to get the Professor back on track.
The witch reached from the wooden box onto of the books. She picked it up carefully and sat down on one of the chairs that had been tucked under the table. Poppy took her cue from the professor and took a second chair. Inu stayed on his bed while Kagome jumped off of hers to join the half-demon on edge of his bed which was closer to the table they had set up for the teens' use.
Minerva set the box, unopened, on her lap and started to speak. "Most of the traditional concealing spells will not work on you." She spoke to the unimpressed demon. "Most common spells and potions would have no affect. We ended up looking at some unconventional ideas. Professor Snape and I think that this object will work the best to disguise you Mister Inuyasha."
She lifted the box's lid and reached inside the box. Her hand came out entangled with a leather strap with a hidden weight on the end. It finally lifted clear of the box to reveal a delicate blue glass teardrop hanging from a worn leather band. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"It's a necklace. I'm not going to wear it," he said with finality.
"If I'm correct, you already where one necklace," she said as she motioned towards the rosary.
"Not by choice," he countered as he glared in Kagome's direction. "I am not going to wear it."
"It is much more than decoration. This is the Clockwork Amulet."
"But it doesn't look like a clock." Kagome said this while looking curiously at the necklace.
"'Clock-work' in this case has nothing to do with a real clock. This amulet does not use standard magic but a type of magic based off human technology. In particular, this amulet is magic with gears."
The professor gently held the teardrop and quietly spoke "Patefacio Vestri Moestitia". The glass turned clear and split down the middle. It opened like a rosebud to full flower. The glass spiraled apart to reveal a heart of tiny spinning gold gears interlocked together. A blue glow emitted frond the depths of the gears and illuminated their faces with light. The gears at first seemed finer than sand but they grew and swelled until individual gears were the size of grains of rice and the entire contraption sat nestled in the professor's hand.
"What does it do?" Kagome asked with wonder.
"It's complicated. Each gear is tuned to a specific part of an individual's appearance and body. It changes the very things than make a person look a certain way. In simple terms it will crate the illusion of being human by making you human on the outside."
Blank looks indicative of confusion faced McGonagall on three sides. She sighed to herself and continued.
"The amulet causes changes on the surface to make a non-human look human. You would still be a half demon on the inside while your hair, ears, hands and such become human."
"How do you know it will actually work on me?" Yasha said with much doubt.
"Because the last known individual to use this amulet wasn't human. He was a vampire."
"Umm… do you mean like a real vampire?" Kagome answered nervously.
For her answer, Minerva spoke quietly and closed the amulet but left the shrinking glass in her hands. She then looked at the new wizards seriously as she started to tell them the story of the Clockwork Amulet.
"The story goes that there were a pair of twin brothers. One night they were traveling in a forest and had set up camp near the center of the woods. While they were sleeping the brothers were attacked by a group of unidentifiable creatures. The one twin became so frightened he jumped upon one of the horses and fled, leaving his brother defenseless and alone.
"The brother reached the other side of the forest and found refuge in a village not far from the tree line. He told his wild story of the attack and mentioned that the man with him (who he wouldn't identify as his brother) was killed. The twin did not know that for certain but he feared that the villagers would force him to lead them to the camp and to the creatures he had fled from. He was too afraid of being attacked again so he lied. Only days later he left the village and headed west to get as far away from the forest and the shame of his brother's death.
"Days later another party traveling thru the forest came upon the campsite by accident. There was a dead horse and blood and signs of a struggle but the body of the abandoned twin wasn't found.
"The reason (that everyone involved learned later) that there was no body was because the tin was killed and turned into a vampire during the fight. In his dead rage he decided to exact revenge on his cowardly twin.
"Traveling by night and darkness the new vampire traveled across countries seeking the man who left him to die, the man who refused to help or protect him. Even though his living brother was a coward, the man was a smart coward. He fled his home country of Czechoslovakia and crossed the channel ending up in England where he married and began a new life, ignoring his past.
"It took years for the vampire to track his still human twin. The dead man was no fool either just like his brother. Somehow along his travels the vampire obtained the Clockwork Amulet. Now the term 'amulet' is misleading since the clockwork amulet is more of a talisman than a true amulet..."
"Minerva," Poppy said with much patience. The younger woman nodded and cut short her impromptu lesson.
"The amulet gave the vampire the power to change his very skin. Now vampires usually forget what they looked like while they were human but the dead man easily overcame the obstacle of the trying memory loss. His twin was an identical match to his former human form. This was doubly good for the twin because it provided the means to exact his revenge. He hadn't traveled for years and crossed water just to give the coward a quick death.
"Weeks after the vampire made his way to the remote village the cowardly twin had settled mysterious deaths started to occur. It always happened during the day and after the human twin had spent any amount of time with a single person alone. The only thing that tied the murders together besides the twin connection was the telltale bite marks that where found on all the victims. Some one put two and two together and the town peacekeepers questioned the human twin until he gave and confessed about the death of his twin years ago.
"With this new information they cornered the vampire and brought the two brothers together for the first time in almost a decade. The town council was sure one of them was the vampire terrorizing the town but they did not trust the human twin so it was decided that they both would be punished. Both men were taken into a hut on a sunny midday and stripped of all clothes. They were both led out of the hut into the sunlight. The vampire still wore the amulet until one of the guards noticed and ripped it off his neck.
"It took almost a minute for his skin to remember it wasn't human and not long after that the vampire burned in an amazing pillar of dark flames until all that was left was ashes. The wind picked up the dark soot and scattered it far away. The human twin did not escape riotous punishment either. While watching his dead brother bur the human's heart gave out and he died that same day."
"Eww!" Kagome gave a shudder and leaned away fro the innocent-looking necklace the professor held in her hands. Inuyasha must have actually paid attention because he got up and strode over to take the amulet.
"Is there any way to hide it?" he asked.
"As long as you have clothes on the amulet will remain invisible if you with it," the teacher stated.
"And no one will know that I am a half demon while wearing it?" he asked without looking away from the glass.
"Yes, the only downside is that you will be as vulnerable to wide range of spells like a full human. However, once the amulet is taken off you will still be the same as you are now, including the increased immunity to magic."
"How will it create this 'human' outside on Inuyasha?" Kagome asked the professor.
"All he needs to do is imagine himself as looking human and the amulet will work with it. It only takes one time to create the general image to be projected and if any adjustments need to be made later individual gears can be fixed. We can do it right now if you want to."
"Do what?" the Hanyou asked.
"Change your appearance," Kagome said with some exasperation.
"I knew that," he said in that bossy, nasally tone.
Professor McGonagall placed the blue necklace into Inuyasha's reluctant hands. After a couple quick lessons on pronouncing Latin, she had Inuyasha open up the amulet and let the mass of glass and gears rest in his hands.
"Now what you need to do is picture how you would look as a human," the witch instructed the hanyou.
He gave her a dumb look before directing a question at Kagome. "So I guess no one told her what I was when we got here?"
All Kagome could do was shrug. Inuyasha turned back to the amulet and made a face, trying to concentrate. Eyes squinted, nose wrinkled, nothing happened to the amulet or the half demon. After an entire five seconds of concentration he gave up and tried to shove the glass necklace into McGonagall's hands. She just returned the contraption before talking to him quietly.
"Maybe 'picture' is the wrong word. You need to feel how it is to be human, to know the difference between a human hair and your own. You know what you should look like. . . now how does it feel to be human?"
With renewed determination, Inuyasha held the Clockwork Amulet. This time, after the five seconds of required concentration, the gears began to spin. Everyone watched the gears spin and shift until all motion stopped. Everything in the world was the same. Well, it was the same besides the dark haired teen sitting on a hospital wing bed. Once that detail was noticed, other things became clear. Very human ears poked out from under the black strands and stubby nails ended the hands that held the amulet. The new human looked up with eyes that were very dark, violet-black in this light. Kagome let out a squeal of triumph that Inu flinched at, like he had done any other time in his demon form.
"How do you feel?" she asked excitedly.
"Like I always do," he replied with some confusion. "What is the big deal?"
Kagome pulled her human-like companion off the bed and to the other side of the room into an awaiting, empty bathroom. They stopped in front of a mirror. It was probably the first clear look Inuyasha ever had of his human form. Mirrors were kind of scarce in Feudal Japan and his aversion to his human form meant he really didn't look at anything that could reflect his image during his time of the month.
Even if he looked human (even his teeth had shrunk), Inuyasha claimed that he possessed all of his normal senses. The two went back to the main part of the hospital wing where Poppy and Professor McGonagall waited. The younger witch stood up as Poppy said a quick goodbye and left for her office. The professor showed Inuyasha how to close the amulet and then settled the blue weight around his neck. With one word the glass disappeared. Now it looked like he was wearing just the rosary.
Kagome wasn't sure how long the two of them had spent in the bathroom because as Inuyasha was playing with his new toy, changing from human to half-demon with a couple of words , she noticed that the chalk line on the floor was gone. When she brought this fact to the attention of Professor McGonagall the other woman had nodded and said that it was time to leave the hospital wing. They had rooms finally set up to use while they were at school.
There was nothing to take with them so after Professor McGonagall asked if they were ready she led them out of the hospital wing and through the double doors into the rest of the school. They turned to the left and started walking. Once they left the first plain hallway the teacher started a narrative about the school. Hogwarts was very old in this time, over a thousand years. Over time it had been altered and added on, mostly adding if the eccentric appearance of their hall was anything to go by.
The thing that stuck out most to Kagome was the paintings. Hundred of landscapes and portraits plastered the halls and the occasional ceiling. The paintings didn't behave like normal paintings did. These pieced of art had a hard time staying in one place. The subjects moved around freely and talked to the passersby. They didn't even stay in the correct frames. She watched a little boy hop from his painting to the next one over as if running behind a wall and not doing something beyond the normal bounds of physics. It made her a little ill trying to keep track so after a few minutes she just kept her eyes on the stone floor ahead of her. Finally they passed a set of heavy doors guarded by a password and left the main hallway for a smaller and much duller one.
The walk to their new rooms left Kagome in a pensive mood. They had nothing as they walked down the nondescript hallway. Plain wooden walls and dark stone floors offered no relief or comfort to Kagome's tired eyes. She wasn't sure which was worse: the dizzying portraits of previous halls or the dark emptiness of this new hallway.
What was even more depressing was that she and Inuyasha walked this path with nothing of their own. Kagome's ever-present yellow bag she took everywhere laid forgotten in Japan. She only had the clothes she had appeared here in. Inuyasha didn't have that. His normal robes were in that lost bag and his sword was conspicuously absent. Only luck had left them with mostly friendly wizards (if one did not count the theft of previously noted sword and the 'small' fight in the hospital wing a couple of days ago).
Kagome's thoughts continued to drift as they traveled the hall. It was a boring hall . . . until thy reached the first atrium. The hall opened into an indoor courtyard filled with tropical flowers and winding vines. Kagome ducked below on particularly tangled bunch as Professor McGonagall led the way on a now curving paths.
"Normally teachers don't use this entrance, there is a more convenient one on the other end of the wing but this is the shortest way to and from the hospital wing. There are sets of rooms on each side of the hallway and each entrance leads into an atrium shared by sets of rooms." She pushed past a stubborn plant with plate-sized leaves to point out the two doors on opposite sides. The heavy wooden doors were easily noticeable even among the foliage. Kagome also saw that there was a bench cleared of plant life and it was standing near the one door.
"All of the rooms have the same basic setup. The door opens in to a large living area. There is a large master suite and two smaller rooms that can become extra bedrooms, office space or whatever else is needed. The rooms you are going to have belonged to our former Muggle Studies professor. He was a muggle-born wizard so he had a lot of amenities put in that most wizards don't ever use. After he retired, Professor Turnbaumb decided he wanted rooms that faced west and no one has occupied the room for the past couple of years.."
As the woman talked, they passed through two more atriums, both different from the jungle atrium they first encountered. The second atrium was decorated like a fancy hotel lobby. Plush and gilded chairs were scattered around low tables and beautifully wrought iron lamps that held a forest of unlit candles. The dark walls were painted in a light taupe color. The third atrium they came to was like an old fashion library complete with leather-bound books. Leather furniture and heavy desks were the main features of the space. The dark wood paneling extended out into the room but it took a whole new tone with the furniture and the space, making it feel almost cozy.
They left the third atrium and continued down the plain hall. Finally they made it to the fourth atrium, their atrium. Unlike the past three atriums this one wasn't cluttered with furniture or filled with uncontrolled plants. The center was dominated by a large water fountain that spilled off multiple tiers and fell in a basin that was lined with small mosaic tiles. Low built-in benches bracketed the two corners of the room that did not open into a hallway. The paneling was painted a light blue and unmoving paintings decorated the walls. McGonagall stepped to the right side of the fountain and stopped outside of a non-descript wooden door, a match to all the other doors they had seen.
"This is it?" Kagome asked nervously.
"Your rooms are the set that face the east. Why don't you go in there by yourself for a couple of minutes?" She pointed towards the door on the right. Inuyasha approached it first. The heavy wooden door stood anonymously on the wall next to some unknown potted plant. Inuyasha took the initiative and grabbed the doorknob. Pulling open the door they were greeted with a sight they did not expect.
The door opened into a large open space that was unbroken by walls until the far wall that was a mural of clear stain glass. Beyond the glass was a panoramic view of the mountains and the Lake. Inuyasha walked deeper into the room while Kagome continued to take it in. On the left side of the room there was a huge brick fireplace dominating the wall with at least one door visible on that side. She looked to the right, past a group of couches and chairs surrounding the fireplace and turned to see the other side of the large open space. Closest to her was a simple wooden dining set with chairs neatly pushed in around it. The far right corner of the loft-like space was an open kitchen. Modern chrome appliances were set with wooden cabinets and granite counters.
Kagome drifted over to the kitchen side of the room while Inuyasha made his way to the glass windows. The space looked like it had come out of one of those designer magazines her aunt had at her business. Everything looked well cared for, if not new to the space. The large island that bordered the living room space had stools on the one side to sit on and the other side had an oven and cabinets stocked with pots and plates. It was when she was looking at the selection of spices that she noticed the bench and painting on the wall opposite the glass windows. She walked into the sheltered space to see a small wall that had been blocking the view of double doors from the rest of the room.
She pushed open the double doors to a darkened space. She passed into the room and looked around. This room was smaller than the main living area and was only lit by the colored light like there had been in the hospital wing. She turned towards the source of the colored light and her breath caught in her throat. The far wall was also made up of stain glass. Unlike the other room, the glass here was colored and it was amazing. The other room's windows depicted some natural scenery but the color had washed out and the glass was clear. The glass in this room was a different kind of clear, more of a clarity of glass since the glass colors ranged from frosty blue to the most amazing red and orange.
"What's so special about the window?" a voice said right behind her.
Kagome gasped and whipped around to see Inuyasha standing there with a clueless look on his face. He reached along the darkened wall and flipped the light switch that Kagome had missed seeing. Lamps all around the room turned on to reveal what must have been the master bedroom. The far side had a large four poster bed and another fireplace with seating around it. In front of her was another open door which looked like it led to the bathroom. And finally on her right was a table, a desk, and all the chairs and bookshelves a person needed.
A voice called to the two of them from out in the main room. Kagome spared one last glance at the amazing stain glass masterpiece before turning around and following Inuyasha back into the living room. She made a promise to herself to study the glass more. She had only had a little time to look at it from a distance and she was already intrigued by what it portrayed.
She let her thoughts trail off as she made it to the newly built fire in the man-height fireplace. Professor McGonagall had wanted to plan how they would get to London in a couple of days to get their school supplies. She also wanted to explain how her and Inuyasha would get away with living together in this suite and get out of the school sorting. She was pretty sure age had something to do with it. The redhead had asked what their respective ages were while they had been walking to the teachers' wing. Kagome answered truthfully, she was only seventeen. The woman made a face at her answer but it at least was a better one than the age that Inuyasha had provided. When he was questioned the hanyou had only said that he was old enough to do what he 'damn well pleased'.
"The first order of business is to get you the equipment and materials you will need to learn how to be a wizard." Kagome sighed as her prediction came true. She settled into the overstuffed couch next to Inuyasha as the three of them made plans. Unfortunately, none of those plans included Kagome getting in touch with her mother or getting the two of them anywhere near Japan or how exactly they were going to avoid the traditional sorting the teachers kept talking about. She just wished she could go home but instead she was left trying to alter her view of the known world, again. At least it was sunny outside today.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It was dreary outside. It was one of those cold, wet days where the clouds hung as if suspended from a cathedral ceiling and the rain never stopped. Kagome pulled her cloak around her in a futile attempt to keep some body heat near her body. She ducked her head as rain started to drizzle down from the clouds.
'They had picked a good day to shop' was what Professor McGonagall said. 'Good Day' her ass. It was true that they could easily hide under heavy cloaks and determined rain but it didn't mean she had to like it. She followed the woman in front of her, not Professor McGonagall but a different woman, as they headed in and out of various stores. Even with the miserable weather she was trying to enjoy their trip in London, in Diagon Alley. But she was miserable and much of the outdoor wonder was lost to her. The actual shops themselves were very interesting. She wandered past stores with owls and ingredients and other magical relics. The shops they did enter were a blur of off colors and wild sounds as the marched from one dry haven to another. She did have a rest in the clothing store while she and Inuyasha were fitted for floor-length robes and still longer cloaks and even dress robes (which Yasha hated, but he did look good in dark green not that she would ever tell him that).
The woman in front of them, Madame Pooche or maybe it was Madame Hooche, led them to yet another store with windows so dirty that the shop's contents were hidden from the street. The woman turned back to them, yellow eyes peering out from under a sodden hood, and spoke over the rain. "This is the last place we need to go. We need to find you both wands. After that we are going back to the castle."
The woman was on edge, whether it was from the new wizards or if it was just the rain Kagome wasn't sure. The woman turned away from them and pushed her way into the shop. As Kagome passed the threshold she heard the soft tinkling of a bell deep from within the building. There wasn't much to see inside, just a chair and a beat-up counter with an old-fashioned cash register perched on top. Otherwise, the room was cluttered with dozens of shelves with dozens more boxes stacked on top of each other. Each box was small and slim and there were a thousand more just like them.
"Good Day," a soft voice spoke. Kagome whipped her head to the left and she saw that Inuyasha grabbing for the swords that wasn't there. In between two tall shelves was a small man her grandfather's age. White wispy hair floated around his head as he slowly walked towards the three wizards. "I am Mister Ollivander. I saw you outside earlier and knew that you would be here soon."
The quiet voice was unsettling and Kagome wasn't sure what to do. Even the Professor didn't seem at ease in the dusty store. The man blinked at Kagome with large owl eyes, looking approvingly at her. He then turned his head to her companion and said, "You will not need to disguise yourself in here. The amulet will help you out in the world but it will only hinder the right wand from searching for you."
Inuyasha was startled but after a nod from Madame Mooche he gently took off the blue stone amulet. The teardrop shape sparkled for a moment before his hanyou nature took hold of his body. The professor was surprised but the old man wasn't. After watching the process that turned a human into something that wasn't he turned his attention to Kagome.
"Now it takes patience to find the right wand for you. The right wand has to choose you. Come stand here," he said as he pointed to an invisible spot on the floor. Madame Hatche and Inuyasha stood off to the side, the former taking a seat in the lone chair and the latter leaning against the bare wall between shelves and more shelves. The old man disappeared into the bowels of the shop before returning to Kagome's side.
"Try this one. It's Cherry with Dragon Heartstring." Kagome cautiously took the wand from the old man's grasp. She had just taken it before it was snatched out of her hand and replaced with another one.
"Willow and Phoenix Tail Feather, twelve inches." Again Kagome tried to grab for it but it was liberated very quickly. Again the wizard presented a new wand. This time he said it was Walnut with another Dragon Heartstring. After that it was a Maple and Unicorn Hair, followed in quick succession of Juniper, some type of evergreen and some other wand from a tree called a Monkey Puzzle. The types of different wands confused her but the old man didn't let up. He kept pressing different wands into her hands, no two alike.
Hours passed without success (or at least that was how if felt to Kagome). Mister Ollivander looked intrigued. She had tried literally dozens of wands by now but nothing worked right. Suddenly a spark lit up in the dark eyes of the old man and he practically ran to the back of the store. They heard doors slam and it was some time before the old man returned. He held a wand in his hands, no box, and he seemed excited.
"I know that this is an unfinished wand but it might be what you are looking for. It is eleven inches, Ironwood, with a unicorn hair core." She picked it up from his hands, calloused hands touching hers briefly. This wand felt different from the others. All of the other wands she tried were smooth and dead but this one was cold and covered with tiny scratch marks. She held it up like she had with the others and she brought it down, a cascade of blue and purple jumping out from its tip. Madame Hooche cheered but the old man was silent, captivated.
"It's missing something. Those engravings are meant to hold more unicorn hair but that is not what you or the wand needs. It needs something to balance the unicorn hair." The old man puzzled and stared at the wand in her hand. "Demiguise hair might work, or werewolf hair providing you could find a willing werewolf on a full moon. Hmm. . . ."
"What about demon hair?" she asked timidly. Ollivander looked up with her, sharp eyes looking straight into hers.
"It would be perfect if you had hair a demon gave you willingly."
Kagome decided that it would be easier to show instead of explain. She turned around away from the old man, the Madame, and Inuyasha. She lifted the bottle of Shikon Shards out of her shirt and then undid the cord tying the bottle around her neck. She turned and tossed the Shards to Inuyasha before handing the cord to the old man. He took it with gentle hands and held the braided length up to the lantern above their heads. The braid was pure white hair that had been cleverly braided into one tight unbreakable strand.
"Where did you get this," he asked in awe.
"A little girl gave it to me," was her answer. It was too complicated of a story to explain to a stranger. She had saved Rin, Shesshomaru's . . . well whatever she was to him she still had saved the little girl. In the process of the rescue the chain that originally held the bottle broke and was swallowed by the demon Kagome had saved Rin from. Inuyasha destroyed the creature before it had time to completely absorb the shards and before Sesshomaru and Rin left the little girl said she would have a present for the miko next time she saw her. A week later they crossed paths again and Rin had presented her the braid saying it was a gift from her and her Lord. Kag had almost lost it when she saw the fabled demon walk out of the trees to stand next to the little girl. His normally silky hair was tangled into a million little braids like the one she held in her hand. The dog demon only said "Use your gift well, you will never receive another." With that he was gone and Rin left, smiling and dancing around the older youkai.
Kagome had taken the small braid and had used it as the new cord to hold the bottle around her neck. It had not broken once, it had not slipped nor did the knot ever come undone unless she wanted it to. Now the cord's end was undone and a single hair was untwining from the rest. The old wizard gently pulled on it and it came free without any effort.
"It's just the right length, and about the right diameter." He stared at the single hair before he held out his hand for the grey wand Kagome was holding. She gave it to him and he held it up to a faint shaft of light escaping the rain through the dirty window. He then took the hair and gently pushed one end into an invisible groove on the surface of the wand. The hair all of a sudden curled away from the wizard's hand and wound around the wand. With a small flash the last of the hair disappeared on the surface of the wand and it looked the same as before.
"Take it," Mister Ollivander said as he held out the wand. Kagome hesitantly reached out and took the wand. Now it felt different. It was smooth and warm and was a welcome weight in her hand. She brought it up and gently waved it in the air. The blue and purple sparks reappeared but this time they hung without motion. The sparkles looked like water droplets suspended in air. There was a twinkle and the magic rushed at her, it rushed into her. The air shimmered with a residue left over from the magic and beyond that shimmer the other three wizards in the room stared in shock.
"What is it?" she asked. Her voice broke the spell in the air and the shimmer disappeared. It also jolted the others into action. Madame Hooche sat down looking faint. Inuyasha stepped away from the wall and stared at her and Mister Ollivander looked excited. Actually he looked like he was going to jump out of his skin with excitement.
"This is wonderful. Come with me." He pulled on her arm and directed her between two tall shelves. The old man continued on, all the while talking in his wispy voice.
"This wand is actually a creation of my great niece, Michelle Ollivander. She is studying in America and she sent me this as part of a small collection to inspect and sell. This particular wand is made with American Ironwood and Unicorn hair from unicorns raised in Montana. She had carved the wand herself and had planned to inlay another unicorn hair. Strangely, the wand refused any material she used so she sent it to me. Michelle wanted to see if anything I keep here would take."
He led them farther back into the shop, past worn doors and dusty boxes into a dim room lit with ball of bright light suspended in iron cages that swung and pivoted off tables and walls. Some lights were even hung from the ceiling. There was no dust at this end of the shop. The shelves to the right were filled with thousands of sticks. There were racks of whole branches and an occasional tree propped near the shelves towards the center of the room.
On the side opposite the wood racks and shelves there was an army of glass cabinets that stretched from wall to wall. Clear glass fronted the cabinets and allowed a passerby to gaze at its contents. The first set held bright feathers of red and orange and gold. The next cabinets were filled with thousands of spools of silver thread. The final set on the far side of the room was stacked with unmarked boxes that gave no hint to what was inside. Any space left open by the cabinets and the shelves was filled with heavy tables and strange pieces of equipment.
But this view was nothing compared to when Kagome looked with her miko senses. The world exploded with energy. Most of the room glowed with releasing energy that she could actually see. The glass cabinets gave off the warmest glow of all. Their contents colored pure by the light only she could see. In contrast, the wood on the other end of the room let off little light. No more than any other tree in the forests of Feudal Japan. All around there were spikes of light and even some dark light areas she had come to associate with corruption.
She brought herself back to reality and followed Inuyasha deep in the room until the group stopped at a large u-shaped desk that divided the room into two separate halves.
"It is customary for the wand maker to be present when his or her creation finds its wizard. Occasionally that is not possible, like today." The old wizard stopped on the right side of his desk where a small copper basin sat clear of the papers covering the rest of the desk.
Ollivander lit a fire inside the copper container and started to talk to the fire, asking if Michelle was around. While he was talking, Yasha wandered away from the desk and started to look at a rack of large carved branches. The wand wizard directed Kagome's attention back to the fire and the voice now coming from inside. The voice identified itself as the Michelle the old man had been talking about. The woman then began to ask the miko all sorts of questions. The questions ranged from her age and home country to the bizarre like whether she preferred ketchup or mustard on her hotdogs.
Kagome was in the middle of explaining what her favorite color was when a large crash sounded behind her. She turned around wearily to see Inuyasha trying to look innocent next to a fallen rack of branches he had been poking at earlier.
Mister Ollivander quickly ended the conversation with his great niece and doused the fire before walking over to the defensive half demon. The man shooed the demon away before starting to pick up the branches himself. Inu stuck his nose up in the air and said something smart. His comment then ticked off Kagome which earned him a sit right in the store. The hanyou got up and angrily walked over the mess and grabbed the first stick he came to.
"NO!" shouted Mister Ollivander but it was too late. Inuyasha straightened up holding the carved branch. The temperature rose in the room and a flurry of green sparks shot out of the top of the branch. Then the sparks ran into Inuyasha like they had done to Kagome. For a split second she saw something different. Later she could only describe it as a cloaked figure but in that second she saw Inuyasha as he always looked with red pants and sword at his hip. Then there was a crack and the world was back to normal.
The door leading back into the shop was violently pushed open by their witch escort who had opted to wait in the main part of the shop. "What was that!" exclaimed the yellow eyed woman.
"A staff chose him. . ." was Ollivander's reply.
"And that's not normal?" Kagome asked.
"The last staff user was born two hundred years ago. A staff hasn't chosen a witch or wizard before today." He gave Inuyasha a piercing look that the hanyou returned full force. The wizard nodded and stepped back to look over the demon.
"Well, if nothing, you have a good solid staff there. I myself worked that staff when I was young and still traveled to find my own wand parts. This particular one I made in Australia. It is carved from a piece of Lagarostrobos trunk that had a piece of dragon tooth lodged for an unknown period of time. I made it at the time just to prove that I could. I never thought I would ever be in a position to actually see it in use." Abruptly he waved a hand and returned the other staffs to the rack. " It is time for you to go. I will contact Headmaster Dumbledore with more information."
"That's it?" Madame Hooche asked, dumbfounded.
"There is no one alive who even remembers a staff user's work, much less how to use a staff in everyday use. The only time staffs are used today is in ceremonial doings. You will have to learn use that staff yourself." With that the old man went out the back door and nothing else was heard. Kagome, Inuyasha, and Madame Hooche were left alone. They finally let themselves out and returned to Hogwarts in the now pouring rain with even more questions and a shortage of answers.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The bed was definitely softer that the hospital bed.
It was a beautifully carved, incredibly soft queen size bed with velvet curtains that enfolded her with gentle grace and comfort. Warm blankets and the delicate clean-smelling quilt should have left her sleeping until a drowsy sunrise crept over the distant mountains to illuminate the ceiling-high windows. She should have been quietly sleeping in harmless dreams.
But Kagome wasn't asleep.
She wasn't lost in cotton candy dreams or relaxing in the more real bed sheets and blankets. Instead of healthy unconsciousness, she was lying awake within the four post bed, eyes directed towards an unseen ceiling. She had heard something, like metal on silk. An almost nothing sound that had drawn her away from tempting sleep and had brought her to a colder reality.
She lay still, breath paused, waiting for the silent noise. She almost had to breathe, to move when she heard it again. She let out and drew in a fresh breath before she dare move. As quietly as she could she shifted and turned her head to the right, to the great windows that had braced a sleeping Inuyasha hours ago. When she completed the turn all she could see were dark shapes and a land laid bare under a waxing moon and twinkling stars. Her hero wasn't a silhouette against the outside night, nor was he part of the dark shapes littering the floor between her bed and the glass.
She broke into action when she heard the noise a third time (or was it her fourth). Cautiously the miko escaped the sheets and dropped her bare feet to the cold wooden floor. From her more upright position she was able to look around the entire room. Small than the hospital ward, it was large enough to dwarf her guarded form. A trickle of light drew her attention to an anonymous door on her left, cut into the wall that jutted out of the wall behind her headboard.
Another repetition of the mysterious noise jolted her into clumsy action. She crept along the wall, only stopping outside of the door that led to the master bath of their suite. The door was left almost closed with only a crack of light escaping the bath. She carefully moved so she could look though the crack into the other room.
The noise repeated itself again. With her closer vantage point it sounded like a metallic snicker, like the cut of a pair of sharp scissors. Motion slipped into her view as a hand carefully, reverently placed strands of raw silk down, or maybe it was slick spider silk that was placed on the counter. The hand withdrew and the snicker sounded again. Another group of fragmented silver joined the growing pile that was about to spill off the flat surface.
Kagome's heart almost stopped. She pushed the door inward, towards her left with trepidation. Denial burned her throat and eyes as the door swung more to expose the owner of the hand and silk.
An unnoticed tear swept down her face as she looked to see her Inuyasha standing with his back to her. A clump of his incredibly long hair clutched in a trembling had. He head was bent down, eyes hidden, as his other hand squeezed the brilliant metal scissors. The deadly metallic jaws closed around the almost white strands, freeing them like released tethers that were linked to the hanyou. His right hand followed the previously cut hair and dropped the silver orphaned strands on the pile.
Her voice refused to come out, unwilling to escape her, unwillingly to abandon the safety of her throat as the hairs were forced to abandon the man, the demon in front of her. Mechanical motions shook with heartbreaking emotion flowed on. Grasp, Snicker, Away was all the world held at this moment.
Coming back to herself she asked "Inuyasha?"
Her voice broke the spell.
The blue metal scissors fell and clattered against the hard floor. The face in the mirror lifted in surprise. Eyes no longer covered by longish bangs sought her out with pain.
"Kagome?" he asked his voice rough. A hand that once broke the silver hair that marked him now reached up to feel the short ends. His hand couldn't have shook, Inuyasha never did that. He was loud and obnoxious, not almost scared.
"I don't know why," he told her reflection. He was shaking. He turned to her and then dropped to the floor, still possessing some grace. She stumbled over to him and sat down like he was with her back to the cabinet and the massacred hair. She sat on his left side looking upon a bared face, free of the curtain of hair that he had had for longer than she could guess.
"A demon's hair is like a symbol of power." He spoke quietly to her, voice no longer shaking but not normal for him. "The longer it is, the more likely that the demon is powerful. That's why I don't trust Kouga, short hair."
"And the fact he's a wolf and that he kidnapped me."
"That too," he agreed with a grim smile. "For a demon, to cut one's hair is like suggesting you are inferior or weak."
"Can it mean anything else?"
He sat for a minute before he answered. "It can mean that you are so powerful you don't need outward signs. You are beyond others."
"Isn't that what you are becoming?" He looked at her for the first time. It was like looking at a twisted mirror. Only one side of his head was covered by short silver spikes while the other still remained untouched, a curtain of silver on his far side. She pressed on. "We are changing, like Professor Dumbledore said. Supposedly we have powerful magic along with what we were before. There are other things about the Guardians that we couldn't even guess yet. You are not just a half-demon."
He looked away but not before a look passed his face. He stared at the far wall thinking. She let him be for as long as she could until she had to ask.
"Why did you do it? Your hair?"
"I just needed a glass of water. This door was open so I got a drink. I just looked up at the mirror. All of a sudden you said my name and half my hair was gone."
"You look cute with short hair, at least from this angle," she mused out loud as she brushed back the shorter spikes. Inuyasha whipped his head towards her and his cheeks turned a very deep red. He then realized she was touching his hair, now straying close to his ears. He jumped back from her touch and the red became even darker. He stuttered something but it was a mess of confused syllables. She just laughed and stood up as he tried to regain some dignity.
"Will it grow back?" she asked to distract him.
'In time' was his short answer.
"Well, since you started . . . how about I finish cutting it?"
"No!" he said sharply. Kagome lost her smile and he looked awkward after his outburst. "You can't be the one to do it," he told her in a more gentle tone.
"Why?" she asked with much hurt.
"If you cut it off it will grow out by sunrise. I have to do this myself." He turned and looked square at the mirror, facing himself.
"Am I stronger?" he asked the mirror, himself, her. She didn't answer as she retrieved the scissors and returned the cold blue metal to him with certainty. She nodded confidently and stood by his side as he took a new lock of long hair in a steadier hand and the snicker of deadly sharpness filled the quiet room.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
END
AN: Looks on with raised eyebrow . . . think Teal'c from Stargate.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE…………………………….
AN: Another couple of months have gone by and I finally have all of chapter twelve in one place and typed up. I know you all wanted it out sooner but I had to take some time out to think. My little typo in my Profile and your guy's reactions got me thinking: where was I really going? It took a lot of driving and a lot of time sitting on the bathroom floor during my son's many baths (my two best thinking places) to figure out where this is going. I surprised even myself on how far this can go. This is the beginning to something much larger.
I know that you are all getting tired of my rambling but I have just one more thing to get off my chest. Part of this chapter is the inspiration I had to actually type and post this fic. I was just driving and mentally writing about halfway to the hospital I worked at when this little scene came into my head and after I mentally ran it over I was like 'Oh my gosh, I didn't just do that!'. Ok, so those aren't my exact words but if I told you what I really said would give it away and I have to see what other people would think.
Oh and just to warn you, some of this was written while listening to Lord of the Rings, so I can't be held responsible for what follows ;)
I want to send thanks out to: shiroi-miko, animebook fan, Cattibrie393, MiaRose 156, GoldenRat, Soramiko, inuyashas hun, Auxana, kag101, QueenTatooine, Gabi Web, Talia Moon, AnimeDutchess, KatzEye, Jenbunny, pokemon-35055, UdUnNoMe, and inknamida.
Jewelle2: I know what you are going to say, and I'm working towards that (as in the next chappie) but one itty bitty, tiny little detail had to be taken care of first.
Auxana : The Wind. . . that's my little secret right now ;) This is definitely not the end and I'll accept bribes at any time. I LOVE POCKY!
KeyToExistence: LOL, I'm glad you're happy. I wanted this to be out sooner but I had to figure out things
Easy-Company-506/101: It's a good idea but at the same time it's too easy and quick. But defiantly something to work with…
female half - breed: I'm not exactly sure what you mean about chapter six. I'll take a look again.
ty-maica : I know, I know. Just wait and I'll see what damage I can do to your perception of Story!Snape.
meetingreality: . . . (reads book 6 and thinks Oh Shit) I do love Dumbledore:( WAH!
angelic demon hunter : NO! NOT THE WHITE ARROW:) LOL
