"English"
'thoughts'
'thoughts of Sesshomaru's beast'
Hermione was swaying as she got up from her seat. Two weeks had passed since her duel with Sirius. Lord Sesshomaru had finally shown her his library the day after. She had been mesmerized and unbelievably happy about it. It was amazing and she loved spending time there. To her embarrassment, she had hugged him and even given him a kiss on the cheek before she realised what she had been doing. The situation would probably have escalated, if Sirius had not interrupted. Sesshomaru had looked at her almost longingly and had stopped her from running of, holding her in his strong arms.
Unfortunately, she had also had a bout of strong homesickness, which had triggered her obsession to find a way back as soon as possible. On one hand she missed her friends and things from her time on the other side, she was getting scared. She should leave as soon as possible, and not grow even more attached to the people here. She did not want to hurt them, or herself. She had to go back, right? She could not just leave them wondering where she had disappeared to.
That had meant she had spent all her free time reading and studying in the library, barely sleeping and eating. That brought her to this point, where she had stood up after hours of reading and without sleeping or eating, swaying on the spot. She stayed like that for a moment until the world stopped to turn around her. After the swaying had stopped, she took a few steps, and everything turned black.
HxS
Sesshomaru was working in his study and thinking about his little witch. She had been avoiding him in the last few days. She had come up with excuses so not to attend breakfasts or dinners with him. Rin had started to be sad and was asking what had happened. Sesshomaru did not know what to answer his ward. Everything had seemed to go well. He had showed Hermione his library, they had hugged, and she had even kissed his cheek. He had been about to kiss her, as the stupid Black person had interrupted them, and his little witch had fled and immersed herself in the books. He had tried to talk about the situation with her, but she avoided him. He cursed that stupid mutt! And himself, he should have been more patient.
'Stop moping! Let us go see our mate. We will just make her ours!', his beast growled inside his head.
'We can't just throw her down and mate her! She will hate us. Maybe she already is because we were not patient enough!' 'Fine. Still let us go see her. We miss her.'
Sesshomaru sighed and nodded. He set the paper down he was holding and stood up. Then he headed to the library, where he suspected her to be.
'Something is wrong. Mate smells wrong.'
Sesshomaru quickened his steps and burst into the library, where he saw Hermione laying crumpled on the floor. He looked around for any enemies that could have attacked her, but except for her he could neither see nor smell anyone else here or having been here recently. He rushed to her and knelt next to her, picking her up and holding her in his arms.
"Little witch? Hermione? What is wrong? What happened?", he asked her, but she seemed to be unconscious.
He stood up and carried her to his quarters. On the way there he ordered Yamato to go get the physician. Sesshomaru and his beast were very worried about their little mate. What was wrong with her? Was she sick? Had something happened?
Arriving in his chambers he laid her carefully on his bed. Then he paced in front of the bed impatiently. His eyes were tinged red and his control over his beast was unstable.
When Yamato and his physician finally arrived, he ordered harshly to see to Hermione and tell him what was wrong. He was glaring and pacing while the doctor was looking at her.
"Lord Sesshomaru. It is nothing that cannot be cured. The lady is just exhausted and has not slept or eaten enough in the last few days. Sleep and some light meals will bring her back to full health, there is nothing to be worried about", the healer reassured him.
Sesshomaru sighed in relive and nodded.
"I will see to it she will get those. You may leave", he told him and sat next to his little witch.
He kept looking at her and caressing her pale cheek. He pushed strands of hair out of her face. Why had she exhausted herself so much. What was so important? He had to find out. But first he would stay a bit more with her. She needed sleep and he would help her with her nightmares. Had they kept her up?
Sesshomaru had laid next to her and had slept with her in his arms. He was looking at her sleeping face. He wished he could stay with her like this, but he had to find out what had exhausted her so and probably should also work. He got up, changed and then brought Hermione back to her room, where she should sleep more. He did not want to leave her alone, so he sent for Nishi to stay with Hermione.
Before he could leave to get some clues to what had exhausted his little witch so much, he met Rin in front of her room.
"Lord Sesshomaru, good morning. Where are you going?", she asked him looking confused.
He had forgotten about breakfast. He felt a bit guilty.
"Rin, this Sesshomaru must find out what Lady Hermione was working on, she fainted yesterday and is still sleeping. You will have to eat without us today", he told her and patted her head slightly.
Not waiting for a response, he left for the library.
HxS
Hermione slowly blinked her eyes open. She felt better, rested, but still a bit weak. She felt very hungry. She sat up and head to steady herself for a moment.
"Kitten, you should not move to much. When was the last time you ate or slept?!", she heard Sirius say.
She looked around and could see him now, pouring her a cup of water. He held it out to her with a frown. Before she replied she drank down the water.
"I.. I am not sure? But I am fine, don't worry", she said waving him off and wanting to get up.
"Stop right there, you are staying there. Not worry? You were found unconscious laying on the floor in the library! The hell I worry! You neglected yourself! What happened? Why are you closing yourself off in the library?", he asked a bit upset and shoved a bowl of rice into her hands.
Hermione looked down on her hands and bit her lip slightly. She slowly started to eat and thought how to reply.
"I was looking for a way back to our time. We have to find a way Sirius. I miss Harry and the Weasleys…", she said trying not to cry.
Sirius sighed and took her into his arms.
"Kitten. I know. I miss them too. But… I am not sure there is a way you want. I looked. I looked for five years. And I had help from Nick and had magical books. You have to be patient, I-"
"But I can't Sirius! I don't have the time. I miss my friends. If I stay here longer, I… I…", Hermione interrupted him and bit her lip.
Sirius looked at her in a knowing way.
"If you stay here longer, you will grow too attached? Kitten… you already are attached to them. I can see how you miss your friends from the village you told me about. And I can see how close you and the demon dog are", he started seriously and then teased her a bit.
"Sirius! How many times do I have to tell you, that he did not force himself on me!", Hermione said indignantly.
"I did not say he did. I said you have feelings for him. Come on! I am not blind. The way you behave around each other and look at each other when the other is not looking. You like him", he said.
She blushed and hid her face behind her hands.
"N-no. I cannot… I will go back into my time, I can't have feelings for him…", Hermione said stubbornly.
Sirius sighed again and rubbed his face.
"Hermione, even if we find a way back tomorrow. You will miss your friends here and him. I will miss Nick, we have become great friends, so I know what I am talking about. Either way, you will miss your friends. And you will wonder what happened to the ones who are not with you."
He hesitated a bit, before he continued to speak: "Maybe, there might be a way fur us to go back. I know you are a bookworm and am sure you know for what Nicolas Flamel was known for in our time, right? He lived in our time, thanks to the sorcerer's stone. He and I are trying to recreate it. That is why we have come here, for some ingredients we need. We could stay in this time and go back to our time like that. Think about it."
Hermione sat there for a moment, blinking.
"Of course! Why did I not come up with that idea? Why did I forget?! That is really a good solution. We can stay here with our friends and live trough time and just meet up with our friends back in our time shortly after I got into the well… We could even try and save Remus! And Fred and all the others… But.. But we would have to be very careful not to change the course of time… Fortunately I have a lot of history books with me! But we still needed to be careful. Maybe us being here already changed the time…", Hermione exclaimed and then started to think out loud.
"Stop right there, Kitten. You need rest and we have enough time to clear the details. You need to eat a bit more and then you probably should go see the dog lord. He has been in a very bad mood since he found you."
"He was the one who found me?", Hermione asked surprised and finished the food he gave her with a speed that almost rivalled the Weasley boys.
Sirius nodded and explained how he and Lord Flamel had heard from Rin, what had happened. Lord Flamel's Japanese seemed to be better than she had thought.
"You are right Padfoot, I should go see Lord Sesshomaru and talk to him", she agreed with him and stood up.
"Ehm, Kitten? You might want to change first before you go to him. I will send Nishi in to help you and show you the way. I will see you later", he said and laughed a bit, since she was only dressed in a thin nightdress.
She blushed slightly at his words and started to change. Shortly after Nishi came in and helped her finish dressing. Then she led Hermione to Lord Sesshomaru's study.
Hesitantly she knocked on the door. As she did not receive a response, she knocked again. Frowning she looked at the door. She could hear and smell him. Why did he not say anything.
She was not a Gryffindor for nothing, so she pulled herself together and marched in bravely, closing the door behind her. As she turned around she gasped in shock. The study was pure chaos. It looked like a tornado made out of wild beasts had swept trough it. Everything was scattered and there were claw marks everywhere. Where was Sesshomaru?
"Leave", she heard him growl.
Instead of doing what he ordered, she stepped around an overturned desk and saw him leaning against the wall. One leg was angled, and his arm rested on top of it, while the other was outstretched and his hand resting on the floor.
"We said leave!", he growled louder.
"Lord Sesshomaru, what has happened here?", she asked and got closer to him.
He jumped up growling and stopped only inches away from her. Only now she could see that his eyes were tinged red.
"You ask what has happened?! We found you laying unconscious on the floor yesterday. And then we find out, that it is because you are trying to get back to your time!", he roared.
Hermione had to take a step back and could see him better. He was very angry. He had destroyed his study because of that?
He looked a bit shocked for a moment and took a step back as well.
"You were trying to leave us…", he said quietly.
Her heart ached as she heard the hurt in his voice and the look he gave her, angry, hurt, betrayed.
"Leave now, before this Sesshomaru loses control over his beast and we will never let you go!", he growled.
Hermione bit her lip indecisive for a moment. Her heart ached for him. She had talked to Sirius, and she had acknowledged she had feelings for the man who stood in front of her. He had been so good to her. Had taken care of her, stayed by her side and soothed her nightmares. He was a great man, even if he seemed cold to others, he always treated her warmly and cared for her. She knew he was not as cold as he seemed to others. And she really did have feelings for him. She even believed she loved him, if the aching of her heart was anything to go by.
"Then.. then don't."
HxS
Sesshomaru straightened up shocked.
"What?", he asked her confused.
He shouldn't do what? He had been so angry and hurt. He had laid waste to his study in his anger. He had gone hunting, howling, raging in anger and hurt. She had wanted to leave him. But now he was confused. He had just told her he would lose control over his beast if she did not leave immediately, and if she did not, they would make her theirs then and there.
"Don't… don't let me go", she whispered, a light blushing on her cheeks.
Surprised he took a step towards her.
"What do you mean by that? I told you to go or my beast will take control and assault you", he said frowning.
"Well, not that! I don't want you to assault me or lose control at least not at the moment! I meant… I meant not to let me go...", she squeaked and blushed even more.
His inner beast perked up and calmed down.
'Not lose control at the moment? Not let her go? Blushing? Hug. Now. She does not want us to let her go, we will not. She wants to stay.'
Sesshomaru looked even more surprised by his beasts conclusion and took another step toward her.
"You want to stay with me?"
'Hug her!' 'We will not scare her away now!'
He could see her nod, and before she could say anything else he had his arms around her. He could here her gasp and almost let her go again, as he could feel her arms slowly hugging him back. He felt unbelievably happy, his inner beast was howling and wagging its imaginary tail. But still he had to clarify.
"You want to stay by my side? As my mate?"
"Well… that is open for discussion.. It is a bit early to talk about marriage or mating, right? How about we date first? Courting I mean…", she stuttered and blushed.
Sesshomaru could not help but smirk a bit at his little witch. She was flustered. He then nodded.
"Fine, I will court you first", he agreed.
'Then you will be my mate.' 'Our mate. She already is our mate, we will not take another.' 'Yes, our mate. But she has still to realise it. We will curt her and make her ours. Patience.'
Smirking he pulled her closer and leaned down to give her a kiss, but before his lips touched hers, there was a knock and Hermione jumped out of his embrace.
He growled and then sighed. He would need a lot of patience. But she had agreed to stay and to let him court her. That was more that he had hoped for since the moment he had found her papers.
"Yes, what is it?!", ha asked sharply and went to the door.
"My Lord. A group of humans, a little fox demon and a dog half-demon have arrived at our gates. They say you invited them and one is saying he is your half-brother", came the voice of one of his guards trough the door.
Sesshomaru sighed.
"Very well, let them in and lead them to the banquet hall. Let the servants prepare a feast and let Rin know", he ordered while he opened the door.
The guard saluted and was of.
"The half-breed has the worst timing I have ever seen", he grumbled.
He could hear a giggle behind him and Hermione came to stand beside him.
"Don't think that you are off the hook, my little witch. I will supervise you in every meal you take and monitor your sleep. I am courting you officially now, after all. And I have not forgotten about what we were doing before we were interrupted, we will come back to that another time", Sesshomaru told her in a teasing tone.
He could see her blush again and fidget, which made him smirk.
"Let us go great our new guests", he said and held out his arm to her.
She took it and they were off to the banquet hall, where they could already hear Inuyasha's loud boisterous voice.
AN: Your reviews made me so happy! It seems my motivation is back for the moment, so I got another chapter for you, and it is the longest yet! Hope you liked the development of their relationship in this chapter. Was it too rushed? What do you think?
Thank you for reading the story, liking it and/or reviewing it, it means a lot to me. Know that I read all your reviews, even if I don't respond to them. If you have questions or ideas, let me know. Thank you all so much for your support, it motivates me to write more. I hope you continue liking the story.
This chapter is not betaed yet.
