Hello people. I'm sorry about the lack of usual replies; in a fit of rage after reading the HBP, I deleted them and had planned to discontinue my story.
Biggest Anime Fan changed my mind by their glowing review, and I have recently rewrote the chapter.
In my mind, HPB never happened. It's never going to be thought of again. (at least until the 7th book comes out)
Well,… that's about it….
Wait!
Koga won!
And I need reviews! LOTS AND LOTS OF REVIEWS!
Chapter 12
Injuries Suck
Kagura burrowed under the cover, ignoring the sound and smell of Severus's coffee as it ran through machine. Undeniably, it smelled like Heaven, but -in her opinion- tasted like mud. Not to mention a spoon could stand up in it if you gave it half the chance.
There was a low muttering, two different voices, both male, and one was Severus's. She smiled sleepily her eyes still closed, rolling onto her side to tunnel deeper into the warm comforters. In moments, she was still back in her deep sleep.
That didn't last very long.
About fifteen minutes later, light footsteps sounded outside her door, though she could not hear them. The door slowly creaked open, and a tall, slim figure loomed in the doorway. There was a rather masculine giggle before it ran, leaping onto the bed.
Kagura came awake with a scream, pushing at the laughing figure that was Chris as he rolled to the side. Her knee went up, and with a heartfelt groan, he rolled away.
"You're so damn awake!" she growled. "People aren't supposed to be so damn awake at," she twisted to look at the clock, groaning, "bloody five in the morning."
Chris sat up, laughing and braying like a donkey. He curled in the corner of the bed, nearly bent double with it. "You..." he gasped, pointing at her while holding his middle, "...should have... ahaha ... seen... your..." he coughed, "face!" He rolled to the side, still clutching his belly.
She frowned at him, blowing some hair out of her eyes. "Did I miss, or are you really a man?"
Soft masculine laughter drifted from the doorway. Kagura looked to see Severus leaning against the doorjamb, one hand cradling a cup of steaming coffee, his ankles crossed. He looked tall and slim, dressed in pants of some sort of black material and an equally dark turtleneck. Somehow, his hair had been tucked behind his ears.
In other words, thoroughly yummy. Damn him.
"What are you so cheerful about?" she asked accusingly, pulling up the sleeve of the kimono she still used as a nightdress. "And why are you both up so early?" Her gaze traveled between the two handsome men. "There are no classes today." Her face fell. "Are they?"
Severus shifted so his arm propped him rather than his hip. Shaking his head, he took a sip of coffee. "No, no classes. It's Quidditch today. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. "
"Quidditch?" said Kagura. Severus almost smiled at the way her eyes lit up.
"Yes, Quidditch. First game of the season. Numb nuts over there," he gestured with the coffee cup, "is referee, and he wants you to admire his lack of prowess on the field."
Chris made a face at him. "What are you talking about? You can't even mount a broom straight!"
Severus's hackles rose. "Wanna bet?"
"Ladies!" said Kagura, scooting forward. An almost evil look settled over her features. "Why don't we settle this after Quidditch? You can have a small game of your own."
"Perfect!" exclaimed Chris, clapping his hands in a childish manner, glee evident all over his face.
Severus frowned. "Yes, that's all well and good, but I don't have a broom, and I'm not going to use one of those Clean Sweeps, at least not while he's got a Nimbus 2000 something or another."
A positively chilling grin swept over Kagura's bold features. "You two leave that to me." With that, she tugged the sheet off the bed, padding into the bathroom.
Chris blinked owlishly, shifting so that he was cross-legged on the mussed bed. "She's scary."
Severus took a sip of the coffee, absently admiring the mist patterns that swirled above the black enameled mug. "You have no idea."
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray/ Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah/ And now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom on the gray/
Harry bit into his dry toast with more relish than usual. For the first time in months, he felt, as the saying went, bright eyed and busy tailed.
It truly had been a good two weeks at Hogwarts. No embarrassing run ins with Cho, no scar hurting, no Draco being obnoxious, a really hot DADA teacher. Heck, even Snape had been mellower. He'd given them two days to do that five-parchment report on basilisk venom.
A frown drifted over his face. Draco.
There was no longer those hulking figures on either side. Where once you had conjured up a picture of a skinny almost albino boy surrounded by Slytherins and bodyguards, you now say a too tall, scrawny, ashen boy with a body that was too quick, eyes that were too still, and nervous fingers that constantly drummed wild tattoos on his books before class.
He'd even found it in himself to be hospitable to the obviously nearly broken boy. Or, at least not deliberately cruel. Harry imagined that was his face in the month after Sirius's death. A strange sympathy flowed from him every time he saw him.
He reached for his goblet, watching with some amusement as Ron and Hermione would reach for something at the say time, their hands would brush, and they would look away blushing.
It was so freakin' funny.
Harry took another chomp at his toast, grabbed his books, and then headed for the door. As an afterthought, he rose a hand in silent farewell to Ron, Hermione, and Draco.
Draco stared at him with an open mouth.
It felt good to see shock on someone's face.
Harry stuffed the rest of the toast in his mouth, shifted his book bag, and made his way up the hall.
"Potter."
Harry halted, the toast crammed in his mouth. He turned slowly on his heal, looking at Kagura, who stood in the shadows, fan covering the lower half of her face.
"You're playing against Hufflepuff today, correct?"
Harry nodded. She swept forward with a smile, lowering the fan. "You have a Firebolt, yes?"
Harry nodded slowly. "And your point is…?"
"I want to borrow it after your game." At the look of his face, she gave a small laugh. "I'm not confiscating it, don't worry. I just want to borrow it."
"What for?" asked Harry suspiciously.
Much to his blushing chagrin and pleasure, she slipped an arm around his shoulder. "I'll let you in on a little secret. You know you're new soon-to-be-professor-in-my place?" For the third time, Harry nodded. "Well, tonight, he and Severus, " Harry took a moment to realize she was talking about Snape, "are going to go against each other in a Quidditch match tonight. You're not to say a word, and if you do, I'll kick your scrawny ass."
Harry swallowed. "Okay." He hesitated, then grinned. "Do I get to watch?"
She hesitated. "As long as you do not tell anyone else. And you are not to let Severus know about it. Bring me the broom at 11:30; the match is at twelve. I'll meet you at the owlry." She walked away, griping her skirt in one fist. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Remember, 11:30."
Harry nodded yet again, a grin flitting across his face. "I wouldn't miss it."
Numb is the new deep/ Done with the old me/ And talk is the same cheap it's always
been/
Harry drew a deep breath, then mounted his broom. Not only was he riding high on a broom, he now had something wonderful to observe tonight. From he'd heard from Remus and Sirius, Snape was not a particularly strong Quidditch player, and there were rumors that Professor Yamamoto had been on the Japanese-American team in the United States.
He pondered as he floated about, tagging the Hufflepuff seeker in his futile search for the snitch that lingered just beside the stands. Professor Kagura had seemed to have the utmost confidence in him, and she didn't seem the type to bet on a loser, husband or no. He feinted to the left, pretending to see the snitch. The other seeker zoomed away.
Either way, it promised to really, really entertaining.
About a half-hour later, Harry smiled a wonderfully triumphant smile as he rose high, high into the air. The quaffle flew past his ears, but he didn't care. It felt wonderful to be in the air again. To have it all rushing past his ears.
Gryffindor was up at least one hundred points ahead, and if he caught the Snitch -witch was still lingering by the Gryffindor stands-, they would win, it would be a snap. Over in a few minutes.
Due to his ecstasy of flight, he did not see the person under the stands who was muttering as they stared straight at the bludger.
And I'm only gonna pierce my left ear/ and I've been growing this mustache all summer long/ And my favorite band will always be Tears for Fears/ And I'm gonna wear a pink tux to the prom/
Kagura was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Quidditch seemed to be the perfect sport. It combined everything she loved. Flying and competition.
Even Severus seemed to prefer that Gryffindor won to Hufflepuff, so she allowed herself to clap more enthusiastically when Gryffindor scored. All in all, McGonagall was the only one it was not frowned upon to whoop wildly when they scored, and she hardly ever did unless it was a particularly magnificent score or block.
She found herself tensing in anticipation every time something good happened, which was often, as none of the Hufflepuffs seemed to be the brightest crayons in their box.
Severus was particularly pleased with Kagura's reaction. Every time something happened that she deemed good, she would do a sort of hop in her seat -several times nearly landing in his lap, - as well as gripping his hand tightly, though hers was much smaller than his own.
As he watched her, an odd glow settled over her face. She was happy, happier than he had ever seen her. There was a light in her crimson eyes that he had never seen on any ones save for Potter's face the first time he had participated in Quidditch.
It was an odd feeling, coursing through his veins. He felt too warm, and he had to urge to smile. Not smirk; smile.
It was bloody frightening.
It was then he saw it. The bludger was barreling straight for Potter's head, which had just fisted the snitch. He stood up, shouting, "ROUGE BLUDGER!"
It smashed into the boy's head, and he went tumbling down, the wings of the tiny snitch beating helplessly against his fingers.
It seemed to happen in slow motion; Kagura didn't think. She reached for the feather in her hair, tossed it into the air, and in a smooth leap was speeding toward the falling boy.
He fell, slow, oh so slow, down, down, swiveling like a leaf caught in a violent breeze, at the mercy of the blast. She urged her own forces faster, then stretched our her arm.
She caught the unconscious boy by the collar of his scarlet robes, wincing when his weight hit her, pulling her arm out of socket. Somehow, she pulled him onto the giant feather with her other hand, cradling the injured one in her lap.
Kagura brought the feather down, noting that the Weasley girl had caught his broom. Balancing precariously, she jumped down, managing to hold Harry up while she did so.
Ron and several others, along with Madam Pomfrey, grabbed him away, not bothering to pay attention to her. Kagura sighed gratefully, sliding under the stands. She gingerly grabbed her wrist with her good hand. Then pulled.
With a small crunching pop, it went back into place. Kagura gasped, and felt her eyes roll back in her head. She slid down the post onto the ground.
"Kagura!"
She struggled to her feet when she heard Chris and Severus's cries of her name, pasting on a weary smile. Severus rushed to her, pulling her to lean against him, mercifully not touching her throbbing shoulder.
Chris slid to a halt beside of her. "Are you all right?" he asked. She dazedly noted his voice sounded different. It was more like Naraku's when he was serious, yet unlike it at the same time. His voice held real concern, lacking all the usual hints of England and fun, returning to his true Southern accent.
They battered her with questions and reprimandments, both telling her something along the lines of 'if you ever do something so stupid again, we'll lock you away and throw away the key'.
It felt nice.
Once inside, they all headed for Dumbledore's office. "We want an explanation," Chris told her firmly when she asked for the reason.
"For what?" she asked in a nonplussed voice.
Severus frowned down at the top of her head, then looked at Chris. "Is she drunk or something?"
Chris shook his head. "Arm's probably just really sore where she caught Potter, and now she needs a pain killer or two. Nothing to really worry about."
You wish, Kagura thought grimly. A couple of painkillers, my ass. Give me the whole supply, then call me in the morning. The throbbing in her arm was steadily increasing, and felt like there was a fire just under the skin. The shoulder was steadfastly swelling, and her robes felt tight and hot around the injured area.
The weakness irritated her. Succumbing to pain was a flaw she fully intended to work on. One could not go about allowing their husbands to drag them all over because he thought she needed a few bloody painkillers.
It wasn't decent.
Fifteen minutes later, Kagura huddled in the large velvet chair in Dumbledore's office, trying desperately to ignore the stern look he was giving her.
"What were you thinking, Kagura? Revealing your mode of transportation fir all the school to see?" He sighed. "I guess it is all right, but it's up to you come up with an excuse. But what were you thinking? It would have been a simple matter for someone to float him down. "
"I didn't think," she muttered sullenly. "It was instinct. I just… reacted. Moreover, just how in the hell did the bludger go mad? From what I understand, someone has to enchant it, don't they… huh?"
At their odd looks, she huddled deeper into the seat. "It's my process, leave me alone."
Chris, grotesquely serious, sighed and shook his head. "So that's part of your… 'wind sorceress' abilities? You can do more than manipulate it with your fan? At any given moment, you could just toss that feather in the air, and go zooming off into the sunset while directing the breeze like some docile old nag?"
Dumbledore smiled, steepling his fingers. "Yes, that's pretty much it." Wait 'till they see the Death Corpse Dance. Oh, the hilarity.
Severus walked to where Kagura was sitting. "Come on, then. We'll go back to our chambers and let you rest." He gripped the top of her arm to help pull her up.
Kagura let out a hiss, and felt her eyes go unfocused. Her other hand reached up to clasp it, and leaned forward, as if hunching away from he pain.
"You went and hurt yourself, didn't you?" Severus said in an accusatory voice. It was not a question. His voice decidedly softer, he leaned over. "Let me see." Kagura strained away, but his hands were strong, and minutes/ your description might be starting to fit
Harry sourly nursed his aching head and a bottle of butterbeer as Hermione, Ginny, and Ron sat frowning at him from the side of the bed. Madam Pomfrey had gone in the back to collect some more medicine.
"What'd you go and get yourself hit in the head for, Harry?" growled Ron, crossing his arms as he paced back and forth at the foot of the bed. Must have inherited that from Molly, Harry mused dimly, taking another swallow of the lukewarm stuff.
"What do you mean, what'd he go and get hit in the head for?" demanded Ginny, stepping in front of Harry, her posture similar to her brother's. "We won anyway, so I don't know what you're complaining about," she muttered.
"It's nice to know I'm loved," said Harry in a bemused voice, aiming the bottle for his lips.
Hermione snatched it out of his hands. "I refuse to let you get a buzz, Harry. That's the fifth bottle in a half hour; you're either going to wet yourself, pass out, or throw up all over my new blouse." She set down the bottle with a bang.
Harry sat up straighter. He was a bit fuzzy, but he could still see that evangelistic, narrowed look about Hermione's eyes. She was onto something.
"Now, we all know there's something odd about Kagura. The eyes, the ears, that fan she carries around, not to mention that next week she's going to start teaching wandless magic."
"How'd you find that out?" asked Ron interestedly.
"Don't you ever read the bulletin board?" shrieked Hermione, then composed herself. "Anyway, now, we have this added to the equation. She can manipulate the wind." Hermione raised a finger. "I have been through all the on-school-grounds Ministry records for the registering of non-standard school wizardry. Kagura's name is not on any list for that, nor is there any record of any witch or wizard having that sort of ability."
"So," said Harry, "all that proves is that she didn't register. She doesn't exactly seem like the type to do something just because someone told her to."
"But," said Hermione triumphantly, "on a hunch, I looked under those demons she talked about, I found several references to something called 'wind sorceresses'. Their abilities fit Kagura exactly, though none of them are really specific. All it said was basically they could control wind."
"Well, from what Kagura has made us read on them so far said that they were in general in control of their powers, and that there was really nothing to fear from any of them. Why are they keeping that she's a demon all hush, hush?" asked Ginny, with a frown all too similar to Hermione's.
Hermione plopped down on the bed on the other side of the narrow isle. "So far, all of the couple of paragraphs she's made us read were pretty tame. I read the whole book, as well as the Ministry's list. Demons are a lot more powerful then most wizards, not to mention most are long lived. Think centuries. If it got out that Kagura was a demon, and one with her abilities, there would be wide spread panic all in the Ministry." She sighed. "And for the more conventional of the parents, demons imply the Fiery Pit, if you know what I mean."
"I do," said Harry morosely.
"Speak of the devil," muttered Ron.
Severus, Chris, and Kagura walked into the room, one on either side of her. Kagura was cradling her arm against her stomach.
Madam Pomfrey didn't look up. "I was wondering when you'd get here. Dislocated your shoulder, then popped it back in, didn't you?"
Kagura glared at the woman as she slid onto the bed on the other side of Harry. For once in his life, Snape did not send a snide look at Harry or any of his friends. He seemed occupied frowning at Kagura while Madam Pomfrey ministered to her bruises.
With brisk motions, the old nurse drew the curtains closed, shooing Snape and Yamamoto away, which both gave her disgruntled looks as they trudged out the door.
Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny all looked at each other with wide eyes as they heard the muted voices on the other side.
"I didn't know I hurt her," muttered Harry, rubbing the back of his sore head. Madam Pomfrey pulled back the curtain, again bustling into the back.
Professor Kagura sat moodily staring at the cross wall, her arm in a small sling. "How's your arm, Professor?" asked Hermione worriedly.
"Fine," said Kagura, digging her shoulders deeper into the pillow behind her. After a long, uncomfortable silence, she sighed. "They'll be no entertainment tonight, Potter. I'll have no need of the item I requested."
Harry nodded. "Butterbeer?"
"Give over."
Well, no I don't find faith in your forced feeling/ Not fooled by your misleadings/ Won't buy this line you're selling/ Tired of this lie you're telling/ I won't, I don't I won't do this anymore/
For those of you -like myself- who went out and bought the book, then read it in the space of a few hours, this was written before Book 6 hit the wracks, and so anything I wrote that is any way or form similar to that of J.K.R's novel is purely coincidental.
Behind Crimson Eyes
Oh! Before you leave, I have small info!
Sesshomaru's attacks! Yes, he actually has one in which he shouts it out!
DRAGON STRIKE!
And…
POISON CLAW!
I nearly died when I heard it! See, it's on Inuyasha the Movie 3 The Sword of World Conquest. keels over from the hottness
