"The dementors will join us…they are our natural allies…we will recall the banished giants…I shall have my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear…" (Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Disclaimer: Do you honestly think I could have made or even POSSIBLY own two masterpieces such as Harry Potter and Inuyasha?

Chapter 4: Alliance

Tap…tap...tap

He gulped as the sound penetrated the long, narrow hallway. His Master had become impatient. He clenched his fist as he continued his course towards the door at the end of the hall.

Tap…tap…tap

It wasn't totally his fault that he was late. He hadn't dealt with matters like these in years. But now his master was back, reborn, from the 'thing' he had been after the incident with the Potter boy. And soon the great Lord Voldemort would start his reign of terror once again.

Tap…tap…tap

He stopped; his feet planted in front of the door. Oh yes, he had gotten lazy over the years of his Master's absence. Killing beasts for the Ministry was nothing compared to what his Master had ordered him to do. The tapping had stopped, which snapped him out of his reverie. Taking a deep breath, he entered the room.

The red slits of his Master narrowed even more, if that was possible. "Tardiness will not be accepted, Macnair."

"Forgive me, Master, he was more difficult to find than was first deduced." Macnair said, as he bowed and lowered his eyes.

"It will be over looked, for now. Tell me the results of your assignment."

Macnair stood straight, but still did not look directly into his Master's eyes. They seemed to radiate raw evil and hatred. "In your…absence he has been rebuilding his forces. He has massed a great army; however I could not judge the level of power emanating from them. He seemed to be suppressing signs of it, to avoid problems with the Japanese Ministry of Magic." Macnair stopped then. His Master would not be pleased with his other news.

"I do not want to wait forever, Macnair." Voldemort said with annoyance. It was not good to annoy Lord Voldemort.

"He has refused to meet with you." Macnair expected his master to lash out at him or send a curse his way, but the cold laughter that graced his ears was not expected.

"You have indeed gotten rusty Macnair. You were followed." Voldemort said and looked past him.

Macnair felt a rush of air as something massed in front of him and straightened, facing his master.

Voldemort smiled a lipless smile. "Welcome, Naraku."

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Kagome sat silently as she watched the scenery go by through the window. She was currently on the train heading for Hogwarts. She seemed to be the only passenger, considering the fact that it was a week before September 1st. She was going to get sorted ahead of time. She silently thanked her mother for making the arrangements. From what she'd heard, the sorting was done in front of the whole school. It must be so embarrassing!

Kagome looked up as the ceiling above her creaked. She sighed. Ever since meeting Inuyasha, she'd learned one thing. Dog demons were stubborn. INCREDIBLY stubborn. He'd insisted on coming with her to make sure she 'didn't run off because she had to take the damn spell off the damn necklace.' That was also something else she'd learned. Inuyasha swore. A lot. Thank God he had the sense not to do it in front of her mother.

BUMP…

Kagome felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Inuyasha had insisted on coming but had refused to sit in 'some human contraption.' So he was currently situated on the roof of the train.

THUMP…

Now she had had enough. She stood up resolutely and opened the window of the train. She stuck her head out and turned it up to the roof. She squinted her eyes as she tried to ascertain where Inuyasha was. She saw a hint of red to her right and yelled in that direction.

"Inuyasha!"

He appeared immediately, his silvery hair blowing back from the speed of the train. "Will you please just come and sit with me!!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha scowled. "Like hell I will!"

God! He was so infuriating! Kagome continued to glare in the direction that he was in even after he had move back into his previous position. If he wouldn't come down, then she would have to just go and get him.

Looking back on it, Kagome had no idea why she had been stupid enough to climb out the window of a moving train. But sure enough, that was exactly what she was currently doing, or rather, attempting to do. With two feet on the window sill and her hands on the roof, she realized at that moment what a mistake it was. The train was moving faster than it seemed and any minute she knew she would lose her grip. When the train took a sharp turn, she shrieked and braced herself for the fall.

With her eyes squinted shut, she didn't see the red blur that shot towards her the moment her cry left her lips. Kagome felt a hand around her waist as she was pulled back and when she opened her eyes she found herself back in the train. But at the moment she was focused on the golden eyes in front of her, the ANGRY golden eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking of! Doing something so stupid!" Oh yes. He was angry.

Kagome felt her face redden. She HAD been an idiot, but she wasn't about to let Inuyasha get the best of her. "Well, YOU were being stubborn and wouldn't come down!"

"You could have been killed!"

Kagome stopped glaring at that statement. He cared? He actually cared that much for her? For some reason that thought made her happy and she felt her face reddening even more.

Inuyasha seemed to falter after that outburst and had Kagome not been absorbed in her own musings, she would have noticed a crimson shade on the hanyou's face as well. Inuyasha broke the uncomfortable silence that was beginning to form. "For someone as stupid as you, I'm surprised you're not already dead."

This, of course, resulted in another squabble. In the end though, Kagome had gotten what she wanted. Inuyasha had come onto the train.

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She hid in the shadows, low and indiscreet. The length of her centipede body blended in well with her surroundings. With a scowl on her face, she continued her vigil. It had been easy to sneak in on the Hogwarts grounds. The fools hadn't been able to put up a barrier. Creating a barrier against wizards wasn't too difficult. However, Barriers against youkai were different. It required ancient Japanese spells. Only mikos and monks had that power. And thankfully, for her, they were very scant.

At the thought of mikos, her many hands tightened into fists. Hundreds of years ago she had been the most powerful demoness. She had dominated a great part of Japan. Then that damn miko, Kikyou, had sealed her. If only she had succeeded in getting the jewel…

But now what was she? Considered to be inferior. An underling. Part of the lower ranks in Naraku's army. She was forced to do menial jobs such as reporting. It was a job for weak youkai. She, who had once been the greatest! It was unacceptable. It mattered not that the bastard Naraku had released her from her seal. If only the jewel had not disappeared. She would have taken her rightful place and rule over all!

She heard footsteps approaching and pushed herself back, more into the shadows. It would not bode well to be noticed. She watched as a boy walked alongside an incredibly large dog. Looking more closely at these two, her eyes widened.

A lightening scar on the forehead…emerald green eyes…dark, messy hair…it was Harry Potter. The bastard Naraku had given such descriptions to her of important people to notice. However, according to recent information, he should have been with his human relatives.

She watched curiously as he…talked to the dog? Was the human ill? It did not seem to be any sort of demon. The dog turned and ran to the castle and the boy was left alone. Alone and unguarded. She felt an itch to move forward. This mere human had been the cause of Voldemort's downfall and the reason Naraku had been forced to retreat. How easy it would be to sink her teeth into him!

With a shake of her head she turned back. She could not be noticed. She would have to report this to her head, Kagura. She scowled yet again. How she hated having to follow that bitch's orders!

She slithered along, careful to be quiet. Suddenly, she stopped as she heard a noise. Her eyes widened in shock and then a look of glee graced her face.

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Kagome sighed as she followed Hagrid (Professor Dumbledore was busy yet again). When they had gotten off the train, Inuyasha had stopped and began to sniff the air. Frowning he had turned to her and with a simple, "Something doesn't smell right", he had darted off towards the Forbidden Forest.

Glancing at the forest, she tried to discern any hints of red. Seeing nothing, she focused back on Hagrid's back. He seemed agitated about something. He had greeted her with a smile, of course, but he had seemed distant. She suspected something much larger was going on.

The same thing had been happening with her father. He was part of the International Magic Administration. She had gone to Beauxbatons because he was friends with Madame Maxime and. Plus, according to her father, Kagome needed to 'broaden her horizons and look towards the future.' She smiled slightly at this. Although slightly pressuring, her father was always trying to do the best for her

Lately, though, he had been at work more and more. He had been going a lot to Britain as well. He'd been trying to hide it but it wasn't that hard to motice. Something was definitely up.

"…ome? Kagome?" At the sound of Hagrid's voice, Kagome jumped slightly. She been so engrossed in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed that they had stopped. She glanced up at Hagrid, who had a concerned look on his face.

"You alright there?" Kagome felt guilty at making him worry. He seemed to have enough problems of his own at the time.

She put on a bright smile before responding. "I'm fine. I was just daydreaming for a moment there. Why did we stop, Hagrid?"

"I have to go tell Professor McGonagall that yer here. If ya'd like, you can go enjoy the scenery by the lake."

Looking to the side, Kagome saw the sparkling waters Hagrid was referring to. It seemed a welcoming sight. The weather at the moment was anything but cool. "I'd like that a lot, Hagrid."

"All right then. I'll be back in a few minutes. You'd best be careful, though."

Kagome nodded her head. "Don't worry, I will be." He looked at her searchingly for a few seconds, as though making sure she would listen. With a final look, he disappeared as he went into the school.

Kagome sighed and turned and headed towards the lake. In mid step, she stopped. Glancing towards the Forbidden forest, she felt her face frown in worry. Where was Inuyasha? He'd been gone an awfully long while. What if something had happened? What if he was hurt?

Wait! Why should I care? He's a stubborn and insensitive jerk! He's never nice to me, so why do I even bother? With a look towards the forest, her features softened. And yet I still…

She shook her head and looked resolutely towards the forest. Instead of going to the lake she ran towards the dark woods. It took her a minute until she reached the edge. She slowed to a walk and cautiously entered the forest.

This had been where it all started. Where she had met Inuyasha. She wondered for a moment why he had been here in the first place. Youkai (or hanyou in Inuyasha's case) were native to Japan. She shook her head. She would have do ask him later. She had to focus on finding him first. Besides, she didn't want to get distracted too easily. She had to make sure not to stray too far away. She hadn't forgotten the spider that had attacked her the last time.

She heard something snap and looked to her left. "Inuyasha?"

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The centipede youkai smiled in glee. The girl before her greatly resembled the bitch that had sealed her, and yet she was different. But one thing was the same. With a hiss she lunged at the dark haired girl. The Shikon no Tama would finally be hers!

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Kagome cried out as she felt something grab her. She looked at her attacker and froze. Long dark hair graced a pale face and she could see very sharp fangs glinting in the sun that had streamed through the forest canopy. And as she looked past that she saw what resembled a…a centipede? What was going on!?

"I can feel my power returning! Give it to me! The Shikon no Tama!" Kagome looked at the creature with confusion but pain soon replaced that. She cried out as she felt the creature tighten its grip. Was this it? Was she going to die? Kagome blinked as her surroundings were growing hazy. She could barely breathe.

But it couldn't end this way. She couldn't die here! Not like this!

"Kagome!!!"

Kagome was barely aware of what had happened until she felt gentle, but strong arms take her. She breathed in deeply as air was able to fill her lungs again. She looked up to see golden eyes staring at her in concern. "Inuyasha…thank god."

He breathed out a sigh of relief and was about to respond when a dangerous hiss diverted both their attentions. Kagome sat up and saw the monster, now missing three arms, writhing with anger. "You fool! The Shikon no Tama is mine!"

Inuyasha barely had time to shout out a "RUN!" before he and the creature began to fight. Kagome got up as fast as she could. Ignoring the pain in her in her side, she raced towards the castle. She had to get help!

She didn't get far before she collided with something. She and what ever she had bumped into both fell to the ground. Praying that it was not a demon she looked up.

She saw a pair of green eyes looking back at her. Glancing a little further up, she saw a lightening shaped scar. She gasped slightly as she realized who it was that she had bumped into. "Harry Potter!"

    IMPORTANT-PLEASE READ:  This story will no longer be continued.  Due to neglect and The Order of The Phoenix, I've lost my drive to write this story.  However, since people are still reading this, I'll be leaving it up.  But from continual reviews (You guys are awesome), I've decided to start another Harry Potter/Inuyasha fic.  It's actually turning out quite different than this story and I'm hoping that my writing style has improved also.  So check it out -- the title is 'Persevere.'   A million apologies to everyone and a huge thank you to all who reviewed!