Chapter 14

Harry stared at the five people who he had once called his friends. In the few seconds that were spared after their arrival he managed to quickly analyze his position with each of them. Neville, who had lost quite a bit of weight and now stood a little over six feet with broad shoulders and a confident posture, was always pleasant to him. Though he did seem a little skittish around Harry after Madam Pince's murder, he didn't outright shun him as others had done.

Cho was looking as pretty as ever at twenty years. She was still short and slender, with long black hair and large almond eyes. He honestly didn't know where he stood with her at the moment; he hadn't talked to her all of his sixth year but the break up in fifth had left things awkward between them. He figured he should just view her as a neutral for now.

Next was Ginny, standing in the back next to Neville. She had cut her hair so that it brushed her shoulders and still had the stubborn, determined look that was always present on her freckled face. She was the closest person from the wizarding world that he could call a friend at the moment but three years of thinking he was dead may have damaged that.

Right in front of him was Hermione and Ron. Ron was still tall and lanky at 6'4'' with the same short, flaming red hair but was now obviously no longer adorned in second-hand robes. Hermione's bushy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she only reached to about Ron's shoulder. He did not miss the shine on Hermione's ring finger or the close proximity at which they were standing.

But it was Ron and Hermione who had officially destroyed they're friendship. Distrust and misinterpretations may have corroded it, but it was they who walked up to him and said they thought it was too dangerous to be around him. Despite Inuyasha's preachings about how forgiveness was what set the good people apart from the great ones; he wasn't sure he would ever be able to forgive them. And if he was, he certainly would never trust them again.

Harry shot one last agitated look at the hanyou's direction and was quite dismayed to see that Inuyasha was off in his own little world; happily cradling his beloved book to his chest.

"Harry," Hermione said in a breath sounding half in awe and half hopeful. He turned his attention back to the antsy looking group. They shifted uncomfortable under his piercing demonic eyes. "We need to talk," she continued strongly, stepping from the small group, "We need your help in defeating the Beast."

"Look," Harry said, trying hard not to look directly into her eyes; he could tell that she was skilled in legilimency. Not that he was worried about his own efficiency in occlumency, but it was Hermione Granger after all, "this is really something humans shouldn't involve themselves in much. Just leave it to us and you guys focus on staying out of the way."

This was apparently the wrong thing to say for the once apprehensive looks quickly turned to anger and indignation.

"Stay out of the way?" Ginny hissed, pulling forward from the group, "How can we possibly stay out of the way when people can't even go outside in fear of being torn apart by the demons that are running everywhere? We've lost half the Order to demons! Dung, Owen, Dean, Percy..." she broke off as her throat constricted with emotion.

"Where were you when all this was happening?" Ron said from behind his sister. He had vowed to give Harry a chance, despite his ties with the demons, but the young man's cold conduct towards them struck a cord with him. Hermione looked slightly panicked at her fiancé's words; she knew this was not the way to get Harry to cooperate with them given their delicate liaison.

Harry growled once more, not bothering to act more human around them just because it made them uncomfortable.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with here! This thing started long before the Beast arrived; I have been fighting since before he made his grand appearance," he spat.

The proclamation seemed to shock and confuse the wizards, who had up until then believed to have been one of the first on the scene. Cho was the first to recover.

"Well that's all the more reason for you to come with us!" she said, looking at him with shining, hopeful eyes, "We're in the dark here. You seem to have some idea about what's going on. Just come to one meeting and explain things to us; maybe we can work something out."

"You owe them that much," Inuyasha said lightly, speaking up for the first time.

"I owe them?" Harry cried outraged, turning to his friend. His anger quelled some at Inuyasha's less than furtive wink. It seemed the hanyou simply wanted some closure between the Order and Harry. Harry let some air through his teeth.

"Professor Nagasaki?" Ginny whispered, recognizing the man who spurred her to take up muggle studies years ago. Inuyasha looked at her and flashed her a rogue grin that made her knees weaken. Harry scowled up at him. It seemed he was thoroughly enjoying the lustful looks Cho, Ginny, and Hermione were sending him.

"Kagome," Harry conspicuously coughed into his fist. This seemed to dampen Inuyasha's spirits somewhat.

"Eh...right," Inuyasha said while composing himself, "I believe you have a portkey to bring us to the headquarters."

"Actually it was just Potter—" Ron began.

"He comes with me," Harry cut him off sharply. There was a short silence as the two men stared each other down. Neville quickly fumbled for the portkey that was in his robes, wanting to avoid any conflict that might arise between the hotheads.

"Er...here we are, everyone grab on," he said, holding out the lightly chipped teacup.

It was just by his enhanced demonic balance that Harry managed to stay standing as the ground slammed back underneath his feet. He quickly and quietly took in his surroundings, instantly noting right off the bat that what Ginny said about the dwindling number of order members was true.

Dumbledore sat in a large over-stuffed chair donning heavy bags under his eyes and seemed to have lost even more weight. McGonagall was positioned loyally at his side, appearing almost as fatigued and dilapidated as he was. There was a moth-eaten green couch with Susan Bones, Hestia Jones, and Tonks sitting on it. Lupin was leaning against the arm of the couch and rather close to Tonks; he also looked to be in a bit better condition despite the current events. Kingsley Shacklebolt was pacing the hard wood floor. He was giving off a very high strung vibe and Harry could only imagine what kind of pressure he was under being a head auror. Mad-Eye Moody stood in the corner with his arms crossed; both his eyes were fixated on Harry, scanning him for any hidden weapons and whatnot. There were a few new people who Harry didn't recognize, not that he cared to.

Everyone stared at the new comers as the two demonic beings eyed them back.

The silence was quickly broken with a loud, "Wotcher Harry!"

"Hey Tonks," Harry replied dully with a small smile. This seemed to break a bit of the tension in the air.

"Harry," Dumbledore acknowledged softly with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, "I am glad to see you are well. We've seen and heard some very interesting things about you. Perhaps you would take a sea"

"I'll stand…but can I have some water?" The aftertaste of the Beast's coppery black blood still lingered in his mouth. McGonagall quickly conjured a glass for him.

"I'll sit!" Inuyasha said brightly. He plopped down on the couch, squeezing himself in between Hestia and Susan—neither of which seemed to mind despite the fact that he had dog ears, claws and fangs.

"Who is this?" Kingsley asked the five DA members sharply while gesturing to Inuyasha. He seemed quite upset, "I told you to only bring Potter. We don't need any more demons in here."

"Harry insisted he come," Hermione stated.

"How do you know we can even trust him?" Moody rumbled from the corner.

Inuyasha just smiled and waved him off before anyone could answer.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha Nagasaki?" The Dumbledore said, looking bewildered at his demonic appearance, "Are you the same man I hired for the muggle studies position three years ago?"

Inuyasha grinned and reverted to his human self, drawing a collective gasp from the room full of wizards.

"Yep."

"You're one of them!" Ron cried, jumping from his chair and drawing his wand, pointing it strait at Inuyasha's heart. Inuyasha had simply raised a dark eyebrow before reverting back to his hanyou form. A low growl came from Harry's throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him as he stepped in front of Inuyasha with a threatening posture. He was pissed; not only because Ron had threatened Inuyasha, but also how no one opposed to it. They simply sat in their chairs, supportive of the man's actions.

"I think you're confused as to who 'they' are," He growled to the unabashed redhead. Ron stepped up to him, meeting the challenge.

"Leave it Ron," Hermione said.

"Yes, we don't need any trouble. We brought Mr. Potter here for our assistance, not for you to butt heads with," McGonagall said briskly.

But Ron did not back down. Harry had led them to believe he was dead for the last few years, making Hermione shed tears of guilt. He had the power to kill this thing but had only challenged it twice while the terror never stopped. He was a demon; he was friends with demons...demons who had killed his friends and family. He was not going to deal with this.

"Your position is telling his demonic nature to attack you so I would step back if I were you," Inuyasha said lightly while looking at his fingernails.

"What could he possibly do?" he said mockingly, quiet but loud enough for all to hear, "Potter, you don't even have a wand—"

The next thing Ronald Weasley knew he was on the other side of the room with his front smashed against the wall; a strong arm pressed against his shoulders keeping him in place and his own right arm was twisted backwards painfully. He then heard his wand clatter to the ground, in the same spot he was once standing at before.

"I don't need a wand to smash your face into the wall," Harry growled ignoring the many wands that were trained on him at the moment. Inuyasha just sat back in his seat, thoroughly enjoying the show.

"Spot on, spot on," he said in a British accent. Susan gave him a weird look.

"Mr. Potter, would you be so kind as to release Mr. Weasley, who will take his seat quietly, and explain why you don't have your wand on you? You are still a wizard, are you not?" Dumbledore said pleasantly. Harry strengthened his occlumency shields before throwing the wizard a dirty look and stepping away from the taller man. Ron stalked angrily over to Hermione, who had summoned his wand for him.

"Alright..." Harry began uneasily. He proceeded to explain about his coming into demonhood and right into the theory of spiritual and magical energies with some less than helpful comments from Inuyasha. He gave them a brief summery about what happened with the gates of hell—leaving out Inuyasha's death—and explained exactly what the Beast was and both his and Inuyasha's connection with it.

"Wow..." Tonks breathed, finally understanding the gravity of the situation. Remus rubbed her shouldering comfortingly.

"So you're tell us," he said, "that there is nothing we can do to stop the demons from escaping hell—"

"—the other guardians are doing what they can," Harry added quickly.

"—And magic just may be fruitless against the Beast?"

"Like I said before," Harry said while looking at Ginny, "Its better if you try and stay out of it. I know you would like to avenge your friends, but you probably will just end up getting yourself killed."

"So that's why you don't carry your wand with you?" Mad-Eye asked with disapproval evident in his voice, "Because you've lost the majority of your magical energies?"

Inuyasha answered this instead while shaking his head.

"He still has the intense raw power he had as a human; he just doesn't have as much access to it. By turning part demon, the magical powers in him can only trickle out at a more common rate for a wizard—unlike before when he was considered extraordinary. The spiritual energies he has in him now has staunched the flow of his magic; But, had he been a full half-demon, it would have been blocked completely like in my case. If the occasion calls for it though, it is possible for him to release a large amount of magic—so don't push it," he said while looking at Ron, but not in a malicious way.

Harry stared at Inuyasha, who was still sitting between the two women, blissfully hugging the book to his chest. He had never known that.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you come anyway?" Cho asked suddenly, "you seemed very intent on coming here earlier."

"This is technically my home..." Inuyasha said dryly while glancing around the dark setting with distaste.

"No this is Potter's house," McGonagall argued, "Sirius left it to him in the will."

"You mean the one that I never saw?" Harry replied shortly with a careless glance at Dumbledore, who had the decency to look ashamed, "Anyway, Inuyasha's right: Seniority rules."

"I'm not sure I follow," Dumbledore said, leaning forward with more attention.

Harry opened his mouth, most likely intent on telling him not all the Blacks were dead, when Inuyasha jumped from the couch and grabbed his arm.

"That is for another time. Right now I have to get home to my angry girlfriend and hungry kids."

Harry took the hint and shadow-walked both him and Inuyasha back to his house, leaving a very bewildered Order behind.

Seconds later, Inuyasha and Harry both found themselves in the warmth of the kitchen.

"See!" Inuyasha said cheerfully, slapping a very irked Harry on the back, "That wasn't so bad! Don't you feel like a great weight has been lifted off your shoulders?"

Harry could feel a tick go off on his right temple, but before he could tell Inuyasha how he really felt someone else beat him to the punch.

"Sit boy!"

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Well...wasn't that a fun chapter of...talking...

Sorry it took a while—I've been in a bizarre mood lately and swamped with hmwk (die Spanish die)

Also, it's not that I hate Ron or anything—I'm just trying to make this in accordance to his behavior in Demon Hunter. Anyway, I'm not sure how much I should involve the Order with this, we'll see.

And I'm thinking of a good way to have Shiva make an appearance

Next chap: Kagome's going to be sorely disappointed and we will learn why Inuyasha can do magic.