DISCLAIMER: I'm not gonna impersonate J.K. Rowling or the person who created Yu Yu Hakusho, dammit! I don't own HP or YYH, all right?! Now stop rubbing it in!

And now, since you asked for it, I'm going to post up my intended pairings, though they coooould change if I get a humongous brainstorm that leads the romance off in another direction.

Hints of a Ron-Hermione (as you'll see in this chapter) and a subtle Kurama-Thia. Yeah, I know just about every Kurama fangirl does one of these, but what can I say? The temptation is just too strong.

Chapter 8: Hogsmeade and Irony

"Hogsmeade! C'mon people, let's have some fun!" Thia yelled, grinning from ear to ear.

"Your friend's a little, uh... energetic," Harry commented to his fellow Gryffindor as they looked around the magical village.

"No. She's a little insane."

"Shut up, Yusuke," the girl in question threw at him over her shoulder.

"Why don't we all head over to Three Broomsticks?" Hermione suggested, and began to head in that direction. The rest followed.

"So, Hiei. How's Slytherin?" Ron took a chance and asked. The three-eyed demon gave him a cold look-over. Hermione and Harry gave their friend glares as well. Their skepticism about Hiei's nature was not intended to be brought to light.

"If you're thinking of using me as a spy, don't count on it."

"Oh, no- that is- I-"

"Don't make excu-" Kurama clapped his hand over his friend's mouth and rushed to apologize: "Don't mind Hiei, he's a little paranoid at times. It's nothing, really."

"You don't have to apologize for him, Suichi. It's clear where his intentions lie." Eyes near to slits, Hermione gave the little demon a look.

Sixteen glasses of butterbeer, thirty-two pounds' worth of Honeydukes candy, and ten Galleons' worth of Zonko's prank equipment later, the eight Hogwarts students sauntered into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. Hermione and Thia were talking animatedly about this class and that class, with interjections from other members of the group every so often. The boys were gossiping as only boys can gossip and sniggering behind their hands. Hiei and Kurama passed words now and then. And then finally they had to part ways and sit at their separate tables.

"Eh, Hiei, I thought you said you didn't want to be associated with that filth," Malfoy said maliciously. Apparently he wasn't totally over the 'queer' thing.

"Hn. Your minuscule brain probably won't comprehend what I tell you right now, but please bear with me. I don't wish to be associated with weaklings like Potter or you. Yusuke Urameshi and Suichi Minamino are different matters, and therefore worthy of my attention. But once again, your mind is incapable of understanding such a thing." Hiei turned away, clearly dismissing the blonde boy.

"Why you-" was the strangled and furious reply. Crabbe and Goyle looked to their leader and, seeing the utter rage written upon otherwise fine features, they took this as a sign that they would have to trounce the puny-looking offender. Both boys rose from their seats in a menacing manner, only to plop back down when the food arrived.

"G'night!" Stomachs full to the exploding point, Harry, Hermione, and Ron resisted the urge to return to their dormitories to fall straight to sleep. It was understood that there were quite a few things to talk about. Finally, when everyone else had gone to bed, Harry broached the subject.

"Maybe Hiei's playing both sides."

"Do you really think so? I mean, do you really think he's that innocent? He's probably going to let all hell loose on Hogwarts! Or what if-"

"Ron, just because he's suspicious of everyone and everything doesn't mean that he's Voldemort." Hermione, who had given up on saying 'You-Know-Who' last year, watched as Ron gave a great shudder.

"Then why'd he get into Slytherin?!"

"Maybe he's got a past or something. How am I supposed to know?"

"And why are you defending the little brute?! You were the one who said, 'We've got to keep an eye on them!" Ron snapped angrily in a mockingly high pitched voice.

"If the others have faith in Hiei, then so do I!"

"You- you- you mean if Suichi has faith in him, then so do you!" The carrot-head's ears were turning red very quickly and both their voices were rising.

"What is that supposed to mean, Ron?!"

"It means exactly how it sounds! You think that Minamino's right just because- because-"

"BECAUSE WHAT, RON?!"

Don't answer her Ron, don't-

"BECAUSE YOU THINK HE'S ATTRACTIVE!"

Harry decided that now would be a great time to leave. The other two hardly noticed, as they were yelling in each other's faces. As Harry settled into bed, he heard wisps of their screaming, such as, "Whatever happened to Vicky?!"

How very like his best friends.

Kurama sat alone in the Ravenclaw common room, scrawling out the last of his homework. Easy, yes, but that was because Potions wasn't all that hard for him. It was very much like science in regular human school. And, as he knew what many (if not all) of the ingredients were, it was a snap.

He tidied up his papers and stashed them neatly in his bag. Everything was just the way it had been when he'd come in. He sat back on the sofa and finally allowed his mind to wander from his schoolwork.

He missed his mother. She sent things to him every so often, but he had conveniently 'forgotten' to leave the address, so therefore, she had to pass things along to Shizuru for them to reach him. And anyway, letters were no match to actually hearing and seeing her.

At school, Kaitou had sworn to write everything down for him so that he could catch up to the rest of the students. Though, as Kaitou had said, "I highly doubt that falling behind is a concern you need worry about, Suichi."

His thoughts rested next on the mission. So far, sending them here had been positively useless. Nothing, contrary to Dumbledore's fear, had happened at all, in fact. Again, what was Potter's whole attraction that made this wizard want to kill him? Revenge. The fact that a baby could defeat the so-called greatest wizard on earth was hardly believable and if Kurama had been in Voldemort's place, he certainly would have wanted to kill Harry. There was also that prophecy that the headmaster had mentioned in passing. Perhaps that might have something to do with it... And what if Harry was killed by Voldemort rather than the opposite? How wide-spread might the effects be? Would Voldemort be able to achieve world domination? Would Spirit World intervene?

If Voldemort did win, the first one on his hit list would have to be Yusuke. If there was anyone who wanted to protect the world, it was Yusuke Urameshi, and right behind him was Kuwabara. Kurama would do anything to protect his mother, and therefore, would also rally against Voldemort.

It was so strange to be making all of these plans even before the event had happened!

And yet, it was the truth. The Order of the Phoenix and the Spirit Detective team were both ready to give their all to protect the world from the clutches of a single evil being.

Kurama wondered if Thianadel counted herself as one of the team. She was certainly qualified, as she had studied under a known and apparently respected psychic and though she had been trained to mask her spirit energy, sometimes it would flare involuntarily, revealing to Kurama the incredible amount of it she had. She was quite intelligent, as well, and intensely serious about school. He remembered the one day in early October that she had had to fly back to New York because the tests to gain entrance into the specific high schools were that day.

"I'm going, mission or not."

Defiant and sarcastic, but also watchful and intense, she had her bouts of utter silliness, as was shown in the ridiculous conversation that they had on the first day. Yet sometimes she sat silently, thinking, until someone snapped her out of it.

"And you're sitting in the common room doing absolutely nothing... why?" Thia watched Kurama from the stairs leading up to the girls' dormitory.

"I was thinking."

"Ah."

Kurama grinned at her.

"'Ah' what?"

"Ha ha. Now go to bed before you fall asleep in class. And don't think I won't let you sleep just to see you get detention." Thia smiled wickedly and went back into her dorm.

Later that night (or shall we say morning?), in the Gryffindor 6th year boys' dormitory, two of the boys couldn't sleep, though both tried their hardest to pretend they were.

Harry Potter, the first insomniac, was thinking. Thinking about Sirius and his parents. Those were the two subjects that plagued his dreams almost as often as nightmares about Lord Voldemort. He had tried not to think about anything but schoolwork for the last week, but now... It was impossible not to think about them. Harry missed Sirius badly and could not bear to think of what had happened just months prior. He wanted revenge upon Voldemort more than anything in the world for what had befallen his parents and Sirius at the will of the Dark Lord. These thoughts filled his head until finally, the 16-year-old fell asleep.

Yusuke, on the other hand, was homesick. He missed his mother, he missed Kayko (especially Kayko!), hell, he even missed regular school! Hogwarts and magic didn't come as easily to him as fighting, even though magic and spirit energy were supposedly quite alike. Maybe it was that he hadn't been here as long as the others. Still, Thia and Kurama seemed to be getting all of the stuff. And contrary to popular belief, Yusuke didn't try to fall asleep. It occurred naturally. Except for right now, that is.

Something swished.

Maybe he was hearing things, but Yusuke could've sworn-

Swish.

The wind? No. It couldn't be. Yusuke heard Harry groan in his sleep and turn over. Seconds ticked by and Yusuke relaxed his grip on the wand beneath the pillow.

Swish. And then a faint clatter, quickly muffled. The hand beneath the pillow tightened quickly.

What's the spell, what's the spell, what's the DAMN SPELL?!

Hiei sat up in the four-poster bed. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Soundlessly, he unwound the bandana from around his forehead.

Kurama slipped into the girls' dormitory with the ease of the thief he once was. A trap staircase would have been no match for Yoko Kurama, and so it was no match for Suichi Minamino. He shook Thianadel's shoulder, one hand over her mouth.

"Come." The single whispered word, barely uttered, woke the girl up about as much as a glass of soda.

The Jagan, the third eye of the spirit, searched for the danger that lurked somewhere on the grounds. And then-

A pinprick of pain. It was an annoying pain, directed at the center of the Jagan, and it didn't fade as quickly as it should. Hiei nearly growled.

Then he saw it. A figure at the very borders of Hogwarts. Swathed in shadows and darkness, it waited.

 "Lumos!" Yusuke exclaimed, and the tip of the wand shone, illuminating the entire room. Hey, I actually remembered it! There it was, a figure in a black cloak, standing over Harry. The stunned person turned towards Yusuke, who immediately dove at it.

By this time, the rest of the dorm had woken up and was either running for help or, like Yusuke, pouncing on the intruder.

Kuwabara ambushed the person from behind and held them down as Yusuke pulled off the hood. It was a middle-aged man of average height and below average weight. His wand, half-way across the room, was kicked into a corner where he couldn't get at it.

"Well who the hell are you?"

The man spat at Yusuke's feet.

The darkness was complete, but there were flickers here and there of things moving.

"Help?" Kurama whispered, and then touched her and himself in question. Thia poked him back as her answer.

With his usual stealth and grace, Kurama sneaked out of Ravenclaw and into the dark and winding halls of Hogwarts castle.

Thianadel hesitated a moment, but began to concentrate her energy.

 "What is going on here?!" Professor McGonagall had to shout over the commotion. Soon, what came into view were the two new boys, Koenma's agents. The taller held a cloaked figure in his grasp, and the other had a hard look upon his face. His arm was raised for a punch. Beside him stood Potter, who had a fistful of the person's robes in his hand, revealing-

"Oh my... Someone send for Professor Dumbledore!"

Author's Notes: PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!! My brain has been on overdrive lately (just look at the size of this chapter!), but now I'm nursing a bit of writer's block... Cliffies are EVIL and I wish to rid the world of them, but I have to use this one... It's humongous and it's as evil as Voldemort himself, but what can I say?!?! NOOOO! Please, my loyal readers... STAY WITH ME! For though it is widely disputed, the recommended cure for the "incurable" writer's block is to go out and watch all of my YYH DVD's again! And good reviews also tend to set my brain on high gear...(hint, hint)

Responses:

Katzztar Thanks! I kinda didn't see the point of putting Kazuma in Hufflepuff. After all, if he has all the traits of a Gryffindor, why shouldn't he be put there? I kind of like toying with Kuwabara because he's such a hilarious character, and it'd be a shame not to give him any of the credit he deserves by not writing him as often as Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, or the others.

Bar-Ohki LOL... I have a few...surprises...for the rest of the Slytherins... evil grin

Lobs-StAcEy-Ters Thanks again!

Kuramakicksass Love the name! Thank you, and as you can see, I've put up my intended couplings.

slave2anime Thank you!!! Yeah, that's true, but they've both got pretty hot tempers. And as for Malfoy... evil laughter That's in chapter 10...

DaftSage I guess that was kind of to make up for this very dispicable cliffie. I hope you get better!!!