Standard disclaimers apply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Forbidden Forest wasn't nearly as scary during the day as it was at night. Never the less, Momiji found himself on guard, his wand clenched between his teeth tightly. "Tohru," he tried to say, but found the piece of wood was in the way.
The chances that Tohru could have actually answered his question was slim at the moment anyway. She was clutching her broom tight, swerving left and right in no particular pattern. It was all she could do to stay on the broom and make it go in the general direction that she wanted.
"Tohru!" Momiji finally cried out, spitting his wand to one hand and using the other to keep himself on the broom. "Watch out!" When it became apparent that Tohru couldn't, he changed his warning. "Kana, move quick!"
The brown haired Ravenclaw pulled up on her broom's handle, raising over Tohru right before she got hit from behind. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking down towards her.
"I'm fine," Tohru said with a sheepish grin, one leg and arm draped over the handle of the broom while the rest of her was falling off. "I guess I'm really not good at this -" she began to add when she was scraped off by a tree branch.
Her broom flew a couple of feet and then fell to the forest floor with a soft thump. "Gomen nasai!" Tohru exclaimed, quickly getting to her feet as Momiji and Kana landed. "I'm just slowly you two down....maybe you should go ahead and -"
"It's fine," Kana responded. "You obviously need broom flying practice and," she shrugged, "I just happen to need it too!"
"You can do it, Tohru!" Momiji cheered brightly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You said you saw Tohru doing what?" Kyou demanded brusquely of Kisa. He had her by her shoulders and was staring at her face with an anxiously worried expression.
When the little tiger didn't respond, he shook her. "Come on, Kisa! This is important!"
"I - " Kisa began, but stopped in a nervous fashion that indicated a fear for speaking.
"You're scaring her," Yuki reprimanded Kyou sharply. He turned his violet eyes to her and said in a soft voice, "Tohru could be in trouble. I talked to some of the Hufflepuff's and they said that she had went off to find Professor Snape." He pulled Kyou's hands off of her shoulders. "It's been three hours since anyone has seen her and Professor Snape is still missing as well..."
"I have to find her!" Kyou exclaimed. "If you know something and you're not telling I'll - " He cut himself off, realizing that his fist was cocked and ready to strike. Kisa had closed her eyes and was bracing for his attack to come. "I don't know what I'd do without her," he murmured. He didn't drop his fist, but he didn't intend to hit Kisa with it either.
"We're going to help Tohru, but we need to know where she is," Yuki murmured, pushing Kyou's fist down so that it hung limply at his side.
"I - I- I'm sorry!" Kisa exclaimed. She turned and ran away, tears in her eyes at her inability to speak. She was frightened for Sissy now, but she was afraid of what Kyou and Yuki would say if she told them what she had seen. She was afraid that it wouldn't be enough and ......
"Hey, Kisa!" Harry's voice called out. He caught her arm and lightly steered her away from the hall that Peeves was rambling down. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, Harry!" Kisa exclaimed softly. She spun to face him and almost hugged him, tears flowing freely down her face. At the last second, she remembered the curse and pulled away. "I'm sorry!" she blurted out again and pulled out of his grasp, running away down a flight of stairs and out of sight.
"Kisa!" Harry called after her, baffled and confused by her retreat.
"Did she come this way?" Yuki asked, slightly breathless from first fighting Kyou and then chasing after the tiger. He was holding his side and his breath was coming in short bursts. Beside him, Kyou looked ready to run eight miles and wrestle a bear at the end.
"Have you seen Tohru Honda?" he asked sharply.
Harry shook his head slightly. "No, but do you know what's wrong with Kisa? She came running this way crying and - " he stopped, not wanting to reveal that she had almost hugged him - almost let herself be comforted - and then run away from him. He was finding Kisa to be a very puzzling person.
He had been alarmed when she had came charging down the hall and then when he saw her tears, he had wanted to comfort her. He still did!
"She'll be fine," Kyou said. "I'll look for Tohru elsewhere...." he turned and raced away.
Yuki paused for a moment longer. "I......you should probably just leave Kisa alone. It'd be better for her own happiness if you didn't..." he shook his head slightly. "She's not ready for a relationship," he muttered. "It would be too hard on her to have it cut off."
"What do you mean?" Harry demanded. "What kind of a relationship? We're just friends and - "
"It would be best for Kisa if you left her alone," Yuki replied. "Our family isn't very easy to understand." He felt slightly evil for suggesting Kisa be ignored by what appeared to be the first true friend she had ever had, but at the same time. He felt that he was doing her a favor. He remembered how harsh it had been to lose his friends to Hatori's memory blasting skills. He didn't want the same thing to happen to his cousin.
"No body deserves to be left alone," Hana's voice floated over to him. She turned her violet gaze towards Harry ( who was looking rather confused, but determined not to ignore Kisa ). "Kisa's electric signals are coming from the Astronomy Tower. If you want to find her, I suggest that you check there......"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uotani sighed heavily. Kunero's arm was completely whole again, which was a relief, but now he had gotten it into his head to begin pecking up his meal instead of using silverware. "Kunero," she began tightly. "That's not very intelligent looking."
The young boy looked up briefly. "Uo-chan," he began, referring to her by her nickname. "I believe in trying out all sorts of things and - "
"Have you seen, Tohru?" Kyou shouted, knocking his cousin right out of his chair. "She's missing!"
"I saw her earlier," Uotani responded. "She's with Momiji and Kana - practicing flying."
"She went to find Professor Snape!" Kyou exclaimed. "Which way did she head?" He was pacing from foot to foot, drawing a lot of attention to himself.
"I - er - didn't notice. You were there, it was during Quidditch practice - "
"She must be going to the Forbidden Forest!!" Kyou deducted. "And she flying to avoid being attacked - "
At that moment the door flew open. Yuki hurried in with Hana calmly walking behind him. "Tohru's in the Forbidden Forest," he whispered to Kyou. "I brought your broom, let's go!"
And just like that, they both slipped out of the castle in search of the one that they loved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Rin!" Hagrid called out loudly. He was stomping along behind her, a crossbow held in one hand. "How far you think we need to go?" He scratched his hairy chin and raised one eyebrow skeptically. "It ain't exactly a friendly place we got here."
Rin paused. "As far as it takes to get rid off these unicorns!" she explained softly. "But not far enough to attract any of the centaurs."
"Attract the centaurs?" Hagrid questioned curiously. "What would you be meaning by that?"
"Exactly like it sounds," Rin replied. She rounded on Hagrid, her black eyes glittering. "I was pursued by centaurs and the unicorns came to help."
"But still.....centaurs usually don't want to have anything to do with wizard folk," Hagrid pointed out. "Did you take something of theirs?"
Rin shook her head. "No, I didn't. I - " She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as Hagrid's mouth formed a little 'O'. He was looking at something behind her. Something that also happened to be nudging her with a soft, warm nose.
"Blasted unicorn!" she exclaimed, spinning around and intending to crack it on the head with the palm of her hand. There was nothing behind her. Or rather, nothing that she could see. She could certainly feel the warm blow of horsy breath on her face and feel it's soft lips. "Nani?" she asked tightly, referring to the Japanese equivalent of the word, 'what'.
"Huh?" Hagrid asked, not speaking Japanese. "It's a Threstal. A couple of them actually....."
"That's it, we're leaving the forest right now!" Rin shouted. She jumped on one of the unicorns backs. "Get me back to the castle and don't let anyone follow, okay!"
The unicorn let out a joyful nicker and broke into a fast gallop - the other unicorns and threstal keeping up effortlessly. Hagrid was left behind in a cloud of dust. "Well if that ain't the strangest thing," he murmured, stroking his beard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagura stood before Professor Dumbledore with teary eyes. "I think something awful has happened to my Snappie-poo!" she sobbed. "He didn't come back from the Forbidden Forest last night and hic I think that he might sob be dead!" she wailed.
Dumbledore patted her kindly on the shoulder. "Fear not," he said kindly, his eyes warm behind their half moon spectacles. "Professor Snape is a resourceful man. He is most likely on his way out of the forest at this very second . . . . . "
"However," he continued. "I d not believe that you care for Professor Snape as much as you claim."
"Oh course I do!" Kagura raged. "I LOVE HIM! Dammit, why doesn't he feel the same?" She hefted the chair she was sitting on over her head and prepared to fling it out the window in anger.
Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Please, Miss Souma, put you seat down and sit in it. Have a lemon drop," he suggested, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Uhmm......" Kagura said uncertainly. She eyed the yellow candy suspiciously and set her chair down carefully before sitting back down on it and taking a candy. She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. "What do you mean Professor Dumbledore?"
"You are under the effects of a potent - and highly illegal - love potion. Something that I don't believe you should have been messing with. However, what's done is done. So, let's just forget about love potions and clear this little matter up."
"I'm not under the effect of a love potion!" Kagura declared. "I truly love my Snappie-poo with all my heard and soul."
"Maybe," Dumbledore acknowledged. "But I want you to drink this to be on the safe side." He handed her a small vial with pink liquid inside.
"What is it?" Kagura asked. She opened the vial and emptied the contents into her mouth. "KYOU! HOW COULD YOU ABANDON YOUR ONE TRUE LOVE!" she screamed almost instantly. "I'LL MAKE YOU LOVE ME!"
"Ah, young love," Dumbledore chuckled as Kagura tore out of his office. She had taken the chair with her and had a ballistic look on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snape was furious. He couldn't even twitch - that was how tightly bound he was. He couldn't feel his legs or his arms and his head was pounding because of the abnormal amounts of blood pouring into it. He was hanging upside down, bound hand foot and body, from a tree. Several centaurs stood guard, their bows trained unerringly on his heart.
"This is an outrage!" he hissed angrily.
"Shut up, human!" one of the centaur's exclaimed. He pulled a leather band from his hair and shoved it into Snape's mouth. "Or I'll make you," he threatened while carrying it out as he voiced the threat.
Black eyes glittering in rage, he spotted a bright yellow bow sticking out of the bushes. His memory always served him correctly and he recognized the bow as that of Tohru Honda - the first year who had decked him in a suit of armor on the first day of classes.
What was she doing here? Why wasn't she at school? Mentally he vowed to give her detention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There he is!" Tohru exclaimed softly. "But how are we going to get him?"
"I can't fight," Momiji whispered.
"Me either," Kana agreed.
"Maybe we should try reasoning with them," Tohru suggested.
"That might work," Kana agreed. Both girls stood up at the same time.
"Hi!" Tohru said brightly. "We're here to negotiate the safe return of our Potions Master. We need him to teach us how to brew a 'Happy Potion'."
"What?!" the centaurs roared. "Who are you?"
"Souma Kana," Kana said, bowing politely.
"Honda Tohru," the other brunette added, bowing as well. "We're both first year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Sorcery-"
"More hostages," one centaur decided.
"We didn't come here to be your hostages -" Kana began.
"Why do you need hostages?" Tohru interrupted. She stepped foreword. "We don't mean you any harm... And I'm sure that no one else at the school wishes anything bad to happen to you -"
*******************************************************************
"Good afternoon, Rin," Shigure said lightly. "You seem to be in a horrid mood. What's the matter... horse got your tail?" he joked.
Rin whirled on him. "I don't want to talk to you or your idiot buddy!" She nodded her head towards Aya as she spoke. "The both of you are irritating me, now go away."
"Still haven't gotten the unicorns to go home?" Aya asked dramatically.
Rin's smoldering silence was answer enough.
"If they won't go back to the forest, you'll have to make arrangements for them here at the school," Shigure mused.
"They've been joined by Threstal's -"
"Ah, winged horses," Shigure said, nodding his head knowledgeably.
"I GOT it!" Aya proclaimed. "How about they stay at Hagrid's... then you could visit them when you have time!"
"I GET it!" Shigure exclaimed. "That way they won't be prancing around the school!"
Rin sighed heavily and swept her ankle length black hair back from her face. "That will have to work... I'm never setting foot into that ...... place again."
"Just one thing," Shigure murmured. "I hope...."
"That all the centaurs spontaneously combust!" Rin, Shigure, and Aya conclude at the same time.
*******************************************************************
One of the centaurs sneezed, then another. Tohru and Kana were still standing fearlessly in front of them.
"That was odd. It was like someone suddenly wished us dead," one of them declared.
From the bushes, Momiji's bunny enhanced ears picked up the sounds of a fight. "That sounds like, Kyo-kyo!" he exclaimed softly. Glancing back at the negotiating Tohru and Kana, he picked up his broom and crept away from the centaurs and towards Kyou and Yuki.
"There you are!" he exclaimed. "Tohru and Kana need help."
"Where!" Kyou asked, hefting him up by the front of his shirt.
Yuki didn't bother threatening the bunny. Instead he went racing through the bush and burst into the clearing where the centaurs were. "If you lay one filthy hand on Honda-san..... I'll kill you all!" he threatened.
Tohru and Kana looked up from their conversation. "Souma-san..." Tohru said falteringly.
"I thought you said that no one wanted to kill us!" one of the centaurs roared. "Kill them all!"
Yuki sidestepped sixteen arrows. And caught Tohru by her arm. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Uhhmm, yes, but.... Souma-kun... we were just starting to understand each other." She took a deep breath. "He didn't mean that he wants you dead. He just wants to protect me!" she shouted. "We're good friends and he was just scared for my safety.
"She telling the truth," Yuki said softly. "If you don't mean he any harm, I don't intend to harm anyone."
The centaurs looked around and shrugged. "I guess that's understandable." They started putting their bows and arrows away when Kyou burst out of the bush and punched one of them square in the jaw.
The half horse, half man, toppled to the forest floor with a dull thump. Kyou cracked his knuckles menacing. "You're going down," he declared. And this time there was no stopping the centaur anger.
Kyou and Yuki both took up positions on either side of Tohru, protecting her from the worst of the centaur attack. Both were moving rapidly, kicking and punching arrows to prevent them from finding their mark.
In the bushes, Momiji groaned. He picked up his broom and crept into the camp, and up to Professor Snape. "Afternoon, Professor," he said sweetly. He pulled a small knife from his pocket and started sawing through the ropes.
As soon as Snape was free (sporting a large lump on his head from landing roughly), the bunny gave him his wand.
"Thank-you," Snape said calmly. Then he was casting. Several flashes of light later, Kana was on her broom. Tohru was on hers, and both Yuki and Kyou were on there's.
"Back to school!" Kana declared. "So long, centaurs!"
Momiji grinned. "I guess you get to come with me, Professor Snape," he declared. He hopped over to his broom and jumped onto it. Snape got on the back and they tore out of the clearing.
**********************************************************************
Author's notes; Heh, heh, I bet you thought I'd forgotten about this fic. The truth is... I did. I've got so much stuff going and... time really seems to fly. Anyway, I'm back to writing again. Please enjoy.
Oh, and for those waiting for the herd of dragons... don't worry. They're the reason that this fic was started in the first place. Just be patient.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Forbidden Forest wasn't nearly as scary during the day as it was at night. Never the less, Momiji found himself on guard, his wand clenched between his teeth tightly. "Tohru," he tried to say, but found the piece of wood was in the way.
The chances that Tohru could have actually answered his question was slim at the moment anyway. She was clutching her broom tight, swerving left and right in no particular pattern. It was all she could do to stay on the broom and make it go in the general direction that she wanted.
"Tohru!" Momiji finally cried out, spitting his wand to one hand and using the other to keep himself on the broom. "Watch out!" When it became apparent that Tohru couldn't, he changed his warning. "Kana, move quick!"
The brown haired Ravenclaw pulled up on her broom's handle, raising over Tohru right before she got hit from behind. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking down towards her.
"I'm fine," Tohru said with a sheepish grin, one leg and arm draped over the handle of the broom while the rest of her was falling off. "I guess I'm really not good at this -" she began to add when she was scraped off by a tree branch.
Her broom flew a couple of feet and then fell to the forest floor with a soft thump. "Gomen nasai!" Tohru exclaimed, quickly getting to her feet as Momiji and Kana landed. "I'm just slowly you two down....maybe you should go ahead and -"
"It's fine," Kana responded. "You obviously need broom flying practice and," she shrugged, "I just happen to need it too!"
"You can do it, Tohru!" Momiji cheered brightly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You said you saw Tohru doing what?" Kyou demanded brusquely of Kisa. He had her by her shoulders and was staring at her face with an anxiously worried expression.
When the little tiger didn't respond, he shook her. "Come on, Kisa! This is important!"
"I - " Kisa began, but stopped in a nervous fashion that indicated a fear for speaking.
"You're scaring her," Yuki reprimanded Kyou sharply. He turned his violet eyes to her and said in a soft voice, "Tohru could be in trouble. I talked to some of the Hufflepuff's and they said that she had went off to find Professor Snape." He pulled Kyou's hands off of her shoulders. "It's been three hours since anyone has seen her and Professor Snape is still missing as well..."
"I have to find her!" Kyou exclaimed. "If you know something and you're not telling I'll - " He cut himself off, realizing that his fist was cocked and ready to strike. Kisa had closed her eyes and was bracing for his attack to come. "I don't know what I'd do without her," he murmured. He didn't drop his fist, but he didn't intend to hit Kisa with it either.
"We're going to help Tohru, but we need to know where she is," Yuki murmured, pushing Kyou's fist down so that it hung limply at his side.
"I - I- I'm sorry!" Kisa exclaimed. She turned and ran away, tears in her eyes at her inability to speak. She was frightened for Sissy now, but she was afraid of what Kyou and Yuki would say if she told them what she had seen. She was afraid that it wouldn't be enough and ......
"Hey, Kisa!" Harry's voice called out. He caught her arm and lightly steered her away from the hall that Peeves was rambling down. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, Harry!" Kisa exclaimed softly. She spun to face him and almost hugged him, tears flowing freely down her face. At the last second, she remembered the curse and pulled away. "I'm sorry!" she blurted out again and pulled out of his grasp, running away down a flight of stairs and out of sight.
"Kisa!" Harry called after her, baffled and confused by her retreat.
"Did she come this way?" Yuki asked, slightly breathless from first fighting Kyou and then chasing after the tiger. He was holding his side and his breath was coming in short bursts. Beside him, Kyou looked ready to run eight miles and wrestle a bear at the end.
"Have you seen Tohru Honda?" he asked sharply.
Harry shook his head slightly. "No, but do you know what's wrong with Kisa? She came running this way crying and - " he stopped, not wanting to reveal that she had almost hugged him - almost let herself be comforted - and then run away from him. He was finding Kisa to be a very puzzling person.
He had been alarmed when she had came charging down the hall and then when he saw her tears, he had wanted to comfort her. He still did!
"She'll be fine," Kyou said. "I'll look for Tohru elsewhere...." he turned and raced away.
Yuki paused for a moment longer. "I......you should probably just leave Kisa alone. It'd be better for her own happiness if you didn't..." he shook his head slightly. "She's not ready for a relationship," he muttered. "It would be too hard on her to have it cut off."
"What do you mean?" Harry demanded. "What kind of a relationship? We're just friends and - "
"It would be best for Kisa if you left her alone," Yuki replied. "Our family isn't very easy to understand." He felt slightly evil for suggesting Kisa be ignored by what appeared to be the first true friend she had ever had, but at the same time. He felt that he was doing her a favor. He remembered how harsh it had been to lose his friends to Hatori's memory blasting skills. He didn't want the same thing to happen to his cousin.
"No body deserves to be left alone," Hana's voice floated over to him. She turned her violet gaze towards Harry ( who was looking rather confused, but determined not to ignore Kisa ). "Kisa's electric signals are coming from the Astronomy Tower. If you want to find her, I suggest that you check there......"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uotani sighed heavily. Kunero's arm was completely whole again, which was a relief, but now he had gotten it into his head to begin pecking up his meal instead of using silverware. "Kunero," she began tightly. "That's not very intelligent looking."
The young boy looked up briefly. "Uo-chan," he began, referring to her by her nickname. "I believe in trying out all sorts of things and - "
"Have you seen, Tohru?" Kyou shouted, knocking his cousin right out of his chair. "She's missing!"
"I saw her earlier," Uotani responded. "She's with Momiji and Kana - practicing flying."
"She went to find Professor Snape!" Kyou exclaimed. "Which way did she head?" He was pacing from foot to foot, drawing a lot of attention to himself.
"I - er - didn't notice. You were there, it was during Quidditch practice - "
"She must be going to the Forbidden Forest!!" Kyou deducted. "And she flying to avoid being attacked - "
At that moment the door flew open. Yuki hurried in with Hana calmly walking behind him. "Tohru's in the Forbidden Forest," he whispered to Kyou. "I brought your broom, let's go!"
And just like that, they both slipped out of the castle in search of the one that they loved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Rin!" Hagrid called out loudly. He was stomping along behind her, a crossbow held in one hand. "How far you think we need to go?" He scratched his hairy chin and raised one eyebrow skeptically. "It ain't exactly a friendly place we got here."
Rin paused. "As far as it takes to get rid off these unicorns!" she explained softly. "But not far enough to attract any of the centaurs."
"Attract the centaurs?" Hagrid questioned curiously. "What would you be meaning by that?"
"Exactly like it sounds," Rin replied. She rounded on Hagrid, her black eyes glittering. "I was pursued by centaurs and the unicorns came to help."
"But still.....centaurs usually don't want to have anything to do with wizard folk," Hagrid pointed out. "Did you take something of theirs?"
Rin shook her head. "No, I didn't. I - " She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as Hagrid's mouth formed a little 'O'. He was looking at something behind her. Something that also happened to be nudging her with a soft, warm nose.
"Blasted unicorn!" she exclaimed, spinning around and intending to crack it on the head with the palm of her hand. There was nothing behind her. Or rather, nothing that she could see. She could certainly feel the warm blow of horsy breath on her face and feel it's soft lips. "Nani?" she asked tightly, referring to the Japanese equivalent of the word, 'what'.
"Huh?" Hagrid asked, not speaking Japanese. "It's a Threstal. A couple of them actually....."
"That's it, we're leaving the forest right now!" Rin shouted. She jumped on one of the unicorns backs. "Get me back to the castle and don't let anyone follow, okay!"
The unicorn let out a joyful nicker and broke into a fast gallop - the other unicorns and threstal keeping up effortlessly. Hagrid was left behind in a cloud of dust. "Well if that ain't the strangest thing," he murmured, stroking his beard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagura stood before Professor Dumbledore with teary eyes. "I think something awful has happened to my Snappie-poo!" she sobbed. "He didn't come back from the Forbidden Forest last night and hic I think that he might sob be dead!" she wailed.
Dumbledore patted her kindly on the shoulder. "Fear not," he said kindly, his eyes warm behind their half moon spectacles. "Professor Snape is a resourceful man. He is most likely on his way out of the forest at this very second . . . . . "
"However," he continued. "I d not believe that you care for Professor Snape as much as you claim."
"Oh course I do!" Kagura raged. "I LOVE HIM! Dammit, why doesn't he feel the same?" She hefted the chair she was sitting on over her head and prepared to fling it out the window in anger.
Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Please, Miss Souma, put you seat down and sit in it. Have a lemon drop," he suggested, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Uhmm......" Kagura said uncertainly. She eyed the yellow candy suspiciously and set her chair down carefully before sitting back down on it and taking a candy. She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. "What do you mean Professor Dumbledore?"
"You are under the effects of a potent - and highly illegal - love potion. Something that I don't believe you should have been messing with. However, what's done is done. So, let's just forget about love potions and clear this little matter up."
"I'm not under the effect of a love potion!" Kagura declared. "I truly love my Snappie-poo with all my heard and soul."
"Maybe," Dumbledore acknowledged. "But I want you to drink this to be on the safe side." He handed her a small vial with pink liquid inside.
"What is it?" Kagura asked. She opened the vial and emptied the contents into her mouth. "KYOU! HOW COULD YOU ABANDON YOUR ONE TRUE LOVE!" she screamed almost instantly. "I'LL MAKE YOU LOVE ME!"
"Ah, young love," Dumbledore chuckled as Kagura tore out of his office. She had taken the chair with her and had a ballistic look on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snape was furious. He couldn't even twitch - that was how tightly bound he was. He couldn't feel his legs or his arms and his head was pounding because of the abnormal amounts of blood pouring into it. He was hanging upside down, bound hand foot and body, from a tree. Several centaurs stood guard, their bows trained unerringly on his heart.
"This is an outrage!" he hissed angrily.
"Shut up, human!" one of the centaur's exclaimed. He pulled a leather band from his hair and shoved it into Snape's mouth. "Or I'll make you," he threatened while carrying it out as he voiced the threat.
Black eyes glittering in rage, he spotted a bright yellow bow sticking out of the bushes. His memory always served him correctly and he recognized the bow as that of Tohru Honda - the first year who had decked him in a suit of armor on the first day of classes.
What was she doing here? Why wasn't she at school? Mentally he vowed to give her detention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There he is!" Tohru exclaimed softly. "But how are we going to get him?"
"I can't fight," Momiji whispered.
"Me either," Kana agreed.
"Maybe we should try reasoning with them," Tohru suggested.
"That might work," Kana agreed. Both girls stood up at the same time.
"Hi!" Tohru said brightly. "We're here to negotiate the safe return of our Potions Master. We need him to teach us how to brew a 'Happy Potion'."
"What?!" the centaurs roared. "Who are you?"
"Souma Kana," Kana said, bowing politely.
"Honda Tohru," the other brunette added, bowing as well. "We're both first year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Sorcery-"
"More hostages," one centaur decided.
"We didn't come here to be your hostages -" Kana began.
"Why do you need hostages?" Tohru interrupted. She stepped foreword. "We don't mean you any harm... And I'm sure that no one else at the school wishes anything bad to happen to you -"
*******************************************************************
"Good afternoon, Rin," Shigure said lightly. "You seem to be in a horrid mood. What's the matter... horse got your tail?" he joked.
Rin whirled on him. "I don't want to talk to you or your idiot buddy!" She nodded her head towards Aya as she spoke. "The both of you are irritating me, now go away."
"Still haven't gotten the unicorns to go home?" Aya asked dramatically.
Rin's smoldering silence was answer enough.
"If they won't go back to the forest, you'll have to make arrangements for them here at the school," Shigure mused.
"They've been joined by Threstal's -"
"Ah, winged horses," Shigure said, nodding his head knowledgeably.
"I GOT it!" Aya proclaimed. "How about they stay at Hagrid's... then you could visit them when you have time!"
"I GET it!" Shigure exclaimed. "That way they won't be prancing around the school!"
Rin sighed heavily and swept her ankle length black hair back from her face. "That will have to work... I'm never setting foot into that ...... place again."
"Just one thing," Shigure murmured. "I hope...."
"That all the centaurs spontaneously combust!" Rin, Shigure, and Aya conclude at the same time.
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One of the centaurs sneezed, then another. Tohru and Kana were still standing fearlessly in front of them.
"That was odd. It was like someone suddenly wished us dead," one of them declared.
From the bushes, Momiji's bunny enhanced ears picked up the sounds of a fight. "That sounds like, Kyo-kyo!" he exclaimed softly. Glancing back at the negotiating Tohru and Kana, he picked up his broom and crept away from the centaurs and towards Kyou and Yuki.
"There you are!" he exclaimed. "Tohru and Kana need help."
"Where!" Kyou asked, hefting him up by the front of his shirt.
Yuki didn't bother threatening the bunny. Instead he went racing through the bush and burst into the clearing where the centaurs were. "If you lay one filthy hand on Honda-san..... I'll kill you all!" he threatened.
Tohru and Kana looked up from their conversation. "Souma-san..." Tohru said falteringly.
"I thought you said that no one wanted to kill us!" one of the centaurs roared. "Kill them all!"
Yuki sidestepped sixteen arrows. And caught Tohru by her arm. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Uhhmm, yes, but.... Souma-kun... we were just starting to understand each other." She took a deep breath. "He didn't mean that he wants you dead. He just wants to protect me!" she shouted. "We're good friends and he was just scared for my safety.
"She telling the truth," Yuki said softly. "If you don't mean he any harm, I don't intend to harm anyone."
The centaurs looked around and shrugged. "I guess that's understandable." They started putting their bows and arrows away when Kyou burst out of the bush and punched one of them square in the jaw.
The half horse, half man, toppled to the forest floor with a dull thump. Kyou cracked his knuckles menacing. "You're going down," he declared. And this time there was no stopping the centaur anger.
Kyou and Yuki both took up positions on either side of Tohru, protecting her from the worst of the centaur attack. Both were moving rapidly, kicking and punching arrows to prevent them from finding their mark.
In the bushes, Momiji groaned. He picked up his broom and crept into the camp, and up to Professor Snape. "Afternoon, Professor," he said sweetly. He pulled a small knife from his pocket and started sawing through the ropes.
As soon as Snape was free (sporting a large lump on his head from landing roughly), the bunny gave him his wand.
"Thank-you," Snape said calmly. Then he was casting. Several flashes of light later, Kana was on her broom. Tohru was on hers, and both Yuki and Kyou were on there's.
"Back to school!" Kana declared. "So long, centaurs!"
Momiji grinned. "I guess you get to come with me, Professor Snape," he declared. He hopped over to his broom and jumped onto it. Snape got on the back and they tore out of the clearing.
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Author's notes; Heh, heh, I bet you thought I'd forgotten about this fic. The truth is... I did. I've got so much stuff going and... time really seems to fly. Anyway, I'm back to writing again. Please enjoy.
Oh, and for those waiting for the herd of dragons... don't worry. They're the reason that this fic was started in the first place. Just be patient.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan