SILVER WINGS
by: The Raven Dark Angel
Chapter Two: Back To The Old World
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, yadda, yadda, yadda. You know the drill.
…
"Honestly, Jessie! Couldn't you walk a little faster?" Kagome hissed as quietly as she could, keeping an eye out for Filch and his creepy cat Mrs. Norris, the two little spots Jessica had seen moving around in the adjacent corridors on the Marauder's Map,
It was an extraordinary something Jessica had nicked from her mum's cupboard two years ago, after hearing Uncle Fred and Uncle George going on and on about how they had used it back in their innocent, carefree, mischievous days. She didn't exactly know what the Marauder's Map really was, but hadn't bothered too much about it. Nothing that helpful and remarkable could be evil, could it?
And if Uncle Fred and Uncle George used it without much trouble, then there wasn't anything to worry about. All one had to do was just tap on the map and say "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Once you were done with it, a quick tap on the map, a short "Mischief managed!" would do the trick, and it would be no different from an ordinary piece of parchment.
Mum still hadn't known that it was missing, which was a good thing, since they needed all the chances they could to sneak out to Hogsmeade to stock up on supplies.
And speaking of sneaking, Argus Filch's cat seemed to have a sort of sixth sense about things, and even though they were both under Jessie's Invisibility Cloak, it still seemed like the cat could see through to them.
Once she meowed, they were busted.
"Hush!" Jessie snapped, cocking her head slightly to the side. Peeves' maniacal laughter bounced off the walls of the armor room that was just directly above them, and he could float down at any time. Peeves, having a little knowledge of Invisibility Cloaks, especially so when her father had been in school, would surely hear them and report them immediately. Three weeks of detention in the Headmistress's classroom was not a pleasant experience.
To add to that, Jessica could just imagine the look on Inuyasha's face when he found out they wouldn't be back for three weeks. The last time they had exams, the hanyou got so pissed he came out after them and promptly got stuck in the Room of Requirement. Luckily the Room only allowed the two of them inside, and so he had been undiscovered. If he had, there would be hell to pay.
Kagome's backpack jabbed into Jessica's side when she half-turned—for the umpteenth time—to see if anyone was following them, obviously having not gotten quite used to the advantages of having an Invisibility Cloak.
"Don't be daft, 'gome, no one's following us." Jessica said quietly as they passed by the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy for the second time. She had been satisfied to see that Filch and his cat had already left in the direction of the Slytherin common room, and that Peeves had finally moved on to a bunch of empty classrooms. "And concentrate."
"I'm concentrating!" She was pretty desperately wishing for the Room of Requirement to appear; the corridors of Hogwarts gave her the creeps. It was as if the shadows themselves were watching you. And if one listened closely, soft slithering sounds could still be heard within the walls. She'd heard the story about Jessica's father and the Chamber of Secrets, and how he faced down the Basilisk with only Fawkes, a phoenix loyal to Headmaster Dumbledore—the previous Headmaster of Hogwarts—and the Sorting Hat. The information had been skimpy, and Jessica pointedly refused to elaborate on the story, not having the slightest interest in anything that involved her father.
She supposed it was because he was hardly around. From what Kagome had heard, he had always been in some exotic country doing Merlin-knew-what, thereby failing to be there for the most important moments of his daughter's life. It seemed like Jessie had always hated him for that. Oh, he wrote scads and scads of letters, and had sent her different postcards from various places Kagome had never even seen before.
But those letters and postcards had always been returned unopened.
"'gome," Jessica began again, annoyed, when her best friend's enormous yellow backpack bopped her smartly on the side of the head. "What did you put in there? The Giant Squid?"
Kagome scowled at her. "I'll have you know, Jessica, most of the stuff inside this bag is yours. And besides, if I packed a squid inside, it would be a bit wet, don't you think?"
"Oh. Sorry."
"Did we really need the pocket Sneakoscope, though?" she wrinkled her nose. Useful though it was, she hated it when the thing started making it's shrill noise. The darned thing was loud enough to wake the dead, if you asked her.
"Yeah. What if Miroku gets lured in by some pretty woman again? Sango's going to kill him."
"Don't you mean pretty youkai woman?"
Her eyes twinkled with humor. "No. Woman. I charmed the Sneakoscope a little…" she winced as she reminisced. "and almost went deaf in one ear. Never knew the blasted thing could make such a piercing sound."
She thought about it a moment. Hmm, she had a point. Sango would be glad for that. "Right."
"And," Jessica began, feeling the need to defend her choices. "We need that Instant Darkness Powder if we want to run away, and we might need all the other stuff in case something happens."
Uncle Fred had so kindly given the stuff she needed without charging, owing to the fact that her dad had given them a considerable amount of start-up Galleons to open the widely-successful Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She'd felt a little bad for taking a little of everything. Thought it seemed a good idea at the time to nick a few Ton-Tongue Toffees, Fake Wands and Canary Creams just in case, she was seriously doubting it's uses. What was she expecting to do to Naraku, turn him into a bird? At least Extendable Ears and Dungbombs had their uses.
You could listen in on any private conversation you liked while being a good distance away—since none of the people in this era knew how to cast an Imperturbable Charm, and you threw Dungbombs at Inuyasha if he was being a bigger jerk than usual. The sheer stench of it would knock him out for hours. Not that anyone actually tried, of course, but Jessica and Kagome had discussed the merits of the Dungbomb as opposed to the 'Osuwari'.
"What I don't get is, why can't you carry them yourself?" she demanded.
"Because the bloody git Nott whacked me a good one on the back when I wasn't looking!" Fingering the egg-sized bruise right smack in the middle of her spine, she scowled. What had originally been a normal practice session had turned into an impromptu match between both Slytherin and Gryffindor players, the former being the one who had tried to muscle their way to the field and drive them out.
The only way to settle it had been a match. Winner took the field.
Of course, it had been too much to expect that the Slytherins would actually play fair, and without Madam Hooch around, things had gotten very ugly very quickly.
"Ouch," Kagome said sympathetically. Quidditch, to her, had always been a boy's game, and for the hundredth time, she wondered what Jessica saw in it. What was so exciting in chasing after a little flying ball, or shooting large balls through the hoops? People got hurt more often than she would have liked, all for just a few points. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Send a little Soothing Spell there, would you?" Jessica grinned, glad that she had asked. "Can't aim properly, and I wouldn't want to blow a buttock off. You know how I get with spells when I'm in pain."
Kagome briefly wondered if there was anyone in the world who walked around with only one buttock, then shook her head. "Oh, all right."
"Ahhh, much better. Cheers, 'gome."
The third time they walked past Barnabas the Barmy with his trolls, the door to the Room appeared. Crossing their fingers and hoping that this was the Room they needed, the girls were relieved when they saw the well, sitting serenely in the middle of the bare room.
"This is it," Kagome muttered, closing the door behind them as Jessica tucked her Invisibility Cloak neatly into her school robes. For how long they were going to be in the Sengoku Jidai was anyone's guess, but at least they didn't have to worry about their long absences. Determinedly trying hard not to notice the two shadows that sped across out of the corner of her eye, she patted the miniscule Time Turner that hung comfortably on her necklace, together with the small bottle containing the Shikon Shards. She'd charmed the Time Turner so that it would not break or be stolen, and had wanted to do the same to the shards, too, only she had met with a fierce resistance. Obviously the shards did not like to be bewitched.
Maybe if they did, Kikyou would not be able to get them as easily as she did, then. She had been surprised—and maybe just a little jealous—when Inuyasha told her they could just find more shards. She had wondered, if it hadn't been Kikyou who had snatched the shards away from her, would his reaction have been the same? The other, larger part of her did not want to know the answer. And she had understood why.
The Illusionary Forest had given her a glimpse into her own heart, the heart that had already belonged to Inuyasha. Her nightmare, her greatest fear had been to see Inuyasha going back to Kikyou's arms.
And of course, it came true when she had stumbled upon them in the forest weeks later. He had drawn her into a lover's embrace, and her heart had broken then.
It was then that she had realized that she was in love with him. It was also the answer to why seeing him hurt by Kikyou had affected her so much. But then again, so what if she was in love with him? He was obviously still hung up over Kikyou and what had happened to them. In a relationship that had no true closure, she supposed she couldn't blame him for behaving the way he did. She couldn't even blame Kikyou, either. She had been a victim of Naraku, just like Inuyasha had been. But still…just because she had no real right to object or stop him from seeing her, did it mean that she had no real right to have her feelings hurt, too?
Shaking her head to clear her suddenly sad thoughts, Kagome exhaled noisily and turned to see if Jessica was behind her.
Jessica muttered under her breath as Kagome's backpack collided accidentally into her skull again. "Oh, honestly!" Whipping out her wand, she barked peevishly. "Reducio!"
She noted, with wide-eyed pride, that the infernal backpack actually shrank a lot in size. In all honesty, she hadn't expected it to work.
"Now, why haven't you done that before?" Kagome asked, impressed. At least it wasn't such an eye-catching thing anymore. Carrying something that resembled a mountain on your back was not fun. Deciding that telling Kagome the truth about how her backpack was used as a test subject was not the way to a long and healthy life, Jessica simply shrugged and perched on the edge of the well.
"Coming?"
Kagome quickly prayed to the gods to let them come back in one piece and alive, then joined her friend at the well. Taking a deep breath, they leapt.
The blue light swallowed them whole.
…
"You're late!" Inuyasha snapped irritably as soon as the girls climbed out of the well. Apparently, he had been squatting next to the well, impatiently waiting for them to show up.
"It's nice to see you too, Inuyasha," Kagome replied archly as Shippou scampered up excitedly to them. The fox kit, she noted with amusement, looked a little muddied around the edges. Inuyasha must've roughed him up a little.
Kagome frowned at Inuyasha, disapproving. "Did you bully Shippou again?"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, looking very much like a petulant little boy. He was happy that she was back here, but being the person that he was, needed the mask of annoyance to hide his real feelings. And then there was the fact that they were really late. "Keh! Don't blame me, wench. The runt asked for it!"
"Kagome, Jessica!" he trilled excitedly, leaping into Kagome's arms. Although he liked the two girls, Kagome was the one who really had his heart. He had long thought of her as his mother, and had been miserable whenever she had to go back to her time.
"Did you get me anything, Kagome? Did you? Did you?"
He peered over her shoulder and frowned quizzically. "Why is your bag so small?"
"Lady Kagome, Jessica," Miroku greeted pleasantly as he and Sango ambled up to them. It looked as though the two had been on a long and pleasant stroll. Doing what else, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
Jessica nodded her greeting to her friends even as Kagome cuddled Shippou close and excitedly queried Inuyasha on where they were going next.
She had beat Inuyasha to digging into Kagome's backpack, at least, removing her own satchel from the pack and slinging it across her shoulder so that he didn't rummage through them and accidentally ignite something. She winced as the strap rapped smartly against her bruise, then rummaged around for the Sneakoscope.
"Ah, here it is!" Jessica cheered brightly, holding up the toylike top and getting everyone's attention at the same time.
Inuyasha squinted. "What's that?"
Beaming, she handed it to Miroku. "Here, something special for you."
"How come Miroku gets a toy?" Shippou asked jealously. "Jessica, I want a top, too!"
Kagome smiled patiently, rubbing his head in an affectionate manner. "It's not a toy, Shippou."
Miroku, for one, was studying the object in fascination, turning it this way and that, trying to see how it worked. Inuyasha, his curiosity piqued, had also wandered over to see what it could do. It simply sat in his palm. Finally, he looked up at a pleased Jessica quizzically, briefly wondering if she had lost her mind. "What is it, Jessica?"
"It's a pocket Sneakoscope!"
"A—what?"
"A Sneakoscope," Kagome explained. "It's something from our world. Since Jessie and I feel that you're always getting into trouble with youkai women who are trying to kill you, we decided to give you this. It lights up, spins, and makes this annoying whistling sound whenever pretty wo-youkai women are around."
At the monk's suddenly bright eyes, Jessica elbowed her friend and hastily added, "Pretty, untrustworthy women." Kagome really didn't know the slightest bit about lying.
He looked down at the top, apparently disappointed. "Oh."
Well technically, that wasn't true. Jessica had charmed it so that it reacted to the presence of any pretty women Miroku might have taken a liking to. It was pretty much useless in all other fields of dishonesty and untrustworthiness.
"Does that mean that I can pursue those whom the…top does not light up for?"
"Yeah," Kagome said brightly, and Sango scowled. Wasn't the delinquent monk perverted enough? And now they had to encourage him? She decided not to say a thing, but felt herself relax a little when she caught sight of Jessica winking at her. Oh-ho, so she had something she wasn't telling him. And from the looks of it, Kagome wasn't about to tell him, either.
Hiding a smile, she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look threatening. "Houshi-sama…"
Miroku blanched. He knew that tone of voice anywhere. And if he didn't want a Hiraikotsu to the cranium, he had better get off this subject.
Slipping the Pocket Sneakoscope into the sleeve of his robe, he bowed slightly. "Thank you for the lovely gift, ladies. Rest assured that I will heed it's directions."
"You're welcome, Miroku," Kagome replied sweetly, hand clamped over Jessica's mouth, whose face was purple from valiantly keeping in her laughter.
Inuyasha, however, had already grown bored with the conversation and had dug out two cups of his favourite ramen eagerly. "I'm hungry, wench. We'll camp here tonight, and we head north tomorrow morning. There are rumors of a youkai holding a Shikon shard there."
"All right, then." Kagome agreed with a smile. She was so glad to be around him again that she didn't even bother to be pissed at his tone. She took the two cups of ramen he held out to her and was pleased to see that the firewood had already been arranged for her. With a simple flick of her wand, she muttered, "Incendio!"
The fire burst to life, burning as though it had been merrily doing so for ages. Kagome was also pleased to note that at least Inuyasha had taken the initiative to get water from the well for boiling. Placing the kettle over the fire, she watched as Jessica lazily flicked her wand over the ramen cups that were sitting on the grass. Since she was already seventeen and had the right to use magic outside Hogwarts, she had never failed to see the need to use it every opportunity she got.
In unison, the ramen cups were stripped of their plastic wrappings, the aluminum covering the cups peeled open like happy clams. The individual sachets danced above their respective cups, pouring their contents into them before joining the plastic wrappings and aluminum coverings in a small heap on the ground.
Jessica flicked her wand again. "Evanesco!"
The rubbish promptly vanished.
Kagome, being the only one who was not impressed by the grand display—it was something that had been shown a few times before, though it seemed like none of them could get enough of it—simply smiled and poked Jessica in the rib. "You are such a show-off."
She grinned. "I make do. Not all of us are powerful priestesses, you know." It had been quite a shock to find out that Kagome was actually a priestess charged with guarding the Shikon jewel. In her world, they were a different level of witches altogether, for none of the normal witches and wizards could ever purify anything.
Shippou cheered and held out his Pocky box—yet another Muggle brand of food Kagome had always insisted on getting—to Jessica eagerly. "Can you open this too? Can you? Can you?"
Kirara mewed, sniffing at the harmless looking ramen cups suspiciously.
"Sure!" Jessica said cheerfully, and proceeded to entertain the kit some more. Kirara mewed again, this time opting to stay beside Shippou to watch the show.
It was only on rare occasions that they could have relaxed moments like this, Kagome realized. For the moment, Naraku had been pushed to the very backs of their minds. Of course, he lingered constantly over them like a shadow, but in the light of the fire, even shadows disappeared.
How I wish moments like this could last forever, Kagome sighed wistfully as she caught sight of Sango laughing softly. Kirara had taken it into her head to try to pounce on Shippou, thanks to the little bit of paper that danced merrily on his head. Jessica giggled as the cute twosome gambolled around playfully. Jessica, ever ready to join in the fun, made multi-colored wizard bubbles come out of her wand. The bubbles changed shape even as they floated around, changing from a little kitten to a star to even a banana. Of course, these bubbles had their specialty. Every time you touched one and it burst, your favorite sweet would appear. Kagome had modified the spell slightly to suit Kirara, too, so whenever she burst one, a cat treat would be waiting for her.
Even the dark shadows in Miroku's eyes had lifted slightly as he surveyed the scene. Shippou and Kirara had begun fiercely chasing the happily floating bubbles, trying to get their treats while Jessica laughed and cheered them on.
"Keh," Inuyasha snorted from beside her. "That wench needs to grow up. She's a little too old to be playing with kids." Despite his gruff tone, however, Kagome could see his hidden amusement. It was the minutest of shifts, but she sensed that the tension that had always been present in Inuyasha had eased somewhat. He looked a tad bit more relaxed now, his eyes catching the glow of the fire, turning it into a dazzling, breathtaking gold. Merlin, Kagome thought dazedly, taken aback by his profile, his angled in a way that it emphasized his youthful good looks, perfectly formed lips, and those eyes… Everything about him is breathtaking.
When he turned his eyes on her, she felt her heart skip several beats. She knew that Inuyasha was attractive and very good-looking, but not this good-looking. Not this desirable.
I wonder…I wonder what he Frenches like? She thought before she could stop herself. Would he be a passionate lover? Would he…
The object of her thoughts peered at her curiously, taken aback by the strange intensity of her normally gentle brown eyes, and the sudden spike of…something in her scent. "Kagome?" he waved a hand in front of her face slowly. "Kagome? Oi, are you listening?" She seemed to be fixated on his face, and he briefly wondered what it was she was thinking before she shook her head vigorously and muttered to herself.
Curious, Inuyasha tilted his head towards her, frowning. "What are you thinking about, wench?"
Sometimes, it was possible for him to know what she was thinking about, and he hoped that this time wasn't about him and Kikyou. Or Kikyou. He knew very well how she felt for him, and had been taken aback when he realized that she was actually jealous. Despite that, however, it had been a mark of Kagome's true character when she helped save Kikyou time and again.
He loved her for—amidst other things—that. She had a beautiful soul, so much like Kikyou's, and yet so different. She had willingly stayed by his side no matter what happened, and he had appreciated it, though he would rather hug Sesshoumaru than admit that to her. But Kikyou…he had to make amends, he had to make closure, and that was why he could not really move on. Not yet. Did Kagome understand? Had she considered this? Maybe he should have told her, so she did not look so hurt anymore whenever he went to Kikyou's side and why the hell was he thinking about all these things?
"N-n-nothing!" Her voice came out as a high-pitched squeak when she realized that he was staring at her closely. Kagome fought the overwhelming urge to get the Instant-Swamp from Jessica and proceed to off herself. Inuyasha wasn't that stupid, he would know something was going on! And from the way she was staring at him…
Bad Kagome! Bad, bad!
Inuyasha was about to ask her about her entirely-too-strange behavior when something about her caught his eye. Something he was very sure was not caused by the heat of the fire, since it closely resembled the bright red of his fire-rat haori.
Kagome was…blushing?
And why the hell was his face heating up, too?
…
AN: What did you think of this chapter? Leave me a message and tell me what you think!
Blood-Debt: LOL, thanks a lot for your kind review. And yep, you guessed right! The well's in the Room of Requirement. Strange, eh? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story!
DarkAngelPearl: Hey there. I played around with this story for a while before penning it. I hope you like it!