Hey, are you all seeing this? I updated yesterday morning and now I'm updating again! I'm so proud of myself. :D

However, I'm warning you all that in exchange for such a fast update, you're all going to hate me at the end of this chapter. Sorry guys, but I just couldn't resist leaving it where I did. It was too tempting. But there's a hint within this chapter and in my notes at the end of it as to what's going to happen next time.

Btw, no one guessed right on what the heck the Shikon Jewel's doing here and who's got it.

Thanks for reviewing: Shadowed Rains, froggiesrcool (no Harry and the gang don't really have much of a part in this; the only reason Draco's still around is because he has no where else to go and no, Kagome has to go back to Japan so that she can help defeat Naraku), ohiowriter (I'm so glad I'm not the only one who hasn't read the book yet, lol), Raiyevern (awww, thanks), Purple Candy, Kenjo, inuyasha1111, Harm Marie, mizuki the kitsune, Sesshieluver89, Moonjava, AnimeMoonlightGoddess, RandomInsanePaperPrincess (meh, I may add a romantic twist at the end of this. . . but it won't involve any of the guys that will appear here), Deiety of sorow, Sweet-single, chinadoll27, Angel452, fan, ranchan23, shangxiang10, Shadow-wolf888, katspegussaus, Shadows stalk during the deep of night, Inuyasha's hun, Lady Sunflower, Shavaineth (I think it's more of a case of the wizarding world not really paying attention to things that don't affect them and as for the demons. . . I've never seen Kouga or any of the other wolves transform in the series or the manga and Kouga's gotten pretty pissed off a few times while fighting Naraku or the Shinintai, so I'm going to keep them in human form), Shigatsu87 (knowing me it could be an evil character who has the Shikon Jewel. . . lol), Rkhiara, The Violent Tomboy, animewolfgurl, astrocosmos, dragondolphin1990, Kage Otome and Kyia Star (ok, which part of "I probably will not have read HBP before I finish this fic, so please don't mention what happens in it in your reviews" did you NOT UNDERSTAND! And incidently, yjaki means "wikked energy" unlike youki which means "demonic energy", therefore I'm figuring that yjaki doesn't necessarily have to be produced by a demon. Anyway, that's the best distinction between the two my research came up with, if you know of a website that has a better explanation than the one I found, please let me know. I'd be glad to check it out and use it as reference.)

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't even own the dragon in this chapter. Just the plot.

A Clash of Cultures

Chapter 10 - The Real Dragon

"The Shikon no Tama," she whispered, "I can feel a piece of the Shikon no Tama nearby."

Then she looked up. And gasped.

At the same instance the sorcerers pointed their wands at Ginta and the two twins.

"I wonder how much crucio it takes to destroy the mind of a demon?" Mr. Parkinson wondered out loud. "Too bad I don't have the time to find out."

"Expelliarmus!" the twins cried together.

"Protego!" yelled Mr. Parkinson.

"Crucio!" cried several others and the twins fell to their knees screaming.

That brought Kagome's attention back to what was going on. Her head shot back down to look at the twins. Their faces were twisted in agony as pain rampaged through their bodies.

"Leave them alone!" she cried as her grip on her bow tightened.

Suddenly the twins stopped screaming and collapsed on the ground, exhausted and out-of-breath.

"Or you'll what?" taunted Parkinson. "Hit me with your pathetic muggle weapon?"

"You're a fool Parkinson if you think that's a muggle weapon," Draco answered for her.

"I'd watch your tone if I was you Young Mr. Malfoy. We've heard about your mark and how you no longer have one. You're not one of us anymore, remember that. You're just a prisoner of war."

Kagome heard Draco's breath catch.

"Fine!" she yelled at the sorcerer. "Take us to the Dark Lord. I've faced more evil and more powerful things before and I'm not afraid of him!"

"You have?" Draco and the twins asked, surprised by her revelation.

'Damn, I wasn't supposed to tell them that,' she cursed inwardly.

The masked sorcerers chuckled.

"You may not be afraid of him now, but you will be."

He raised his wand and pointed it at Ginta.

"Avada K-"

The rest of the incantation (Kagome was sure it was an incantation by the way his aura moved to envelope the stick in his hand) was lost when suddenly a white ball of youki enveloped him and those closest to him. When the light vanished all that remained of the humans was a small, black crater.

The twins, who'd been closest to the blast, had brought their arms up over their eyes to shield them from the glare and were now slightly singed. But otherwise everyone else was unharmed.

The sorcerers looked around furtively, trying to figure out where the attack had come from. And who had been their attacker. Suddenly one of them cried out in pain, before falling forward, landing in front of the twins, who were still crouching on the ground.

Blood oozed out of a fatal wound in the sorcerer's back.

Suddenly Kagome realized the Shikon Jewel fragment was much closer than before. Very close in fact.

She looked to her left in time to see something fly through the air and pierce through the body of yet another sorcerer. Seconds later it was being pulled back by a chain. In those few brief moments, Kagome recognized the weapon. It was a sickle attached to a chain.

She followed the movements of the chain back to the hand that was expertly wielding it. And she froze.

Her entire being came to a sudden, grinding halt as she watched what appeared to be a 13-year-old boy with his dark hair tied back in a pony tail, pull his arm back and throw the katana at a third sorcerer. There could be no mistake. He was wearing a demon slayer's outfit and had a Shikon Jewel shard in his back.

'Kohaku,' she whispered.

"Why am I not surprised that you know him?" Draco asked sarcastically, snapping Kagome out of her daze.

Then he cast a hex at the nearest sorcerer to him. The hex was deflected harmlessly by his opponent, who then returned the favour.

Meanwhile, the masked sorcerers had also finally noticed Kohaku and were falling back to get out of reach of his weapon, so that they could use their magic from a safe distance.

Or what they thought was a safe distance.

Kohaku skilfully dodged their curses, and not a single one managed to touch him.

Kagome held her breath as she watched him, wishing there was something she could do. She fingered her bow.

'Maybe there is something I can do,' she thought. She was very reluctant to use her last two arrows though.

Suddenly a spell hit one of the masked sorcerers. His body went completely rigid and he fell over. Kagome looked over and saw the limping red-head and the English wolf. They both looked like they were about ready to collapse, yet they managed to cast spells at the enemy.

With the group of masked sorcerers divided between keeping Kohaku at a safe distance, fighting off an enraged Ginta and exchanging magical firepower with the 'good guys', they didn't notice the shadow falling over them right away.

Kagome did, however. She looked at the thing that cast it. She gasped when she realized that this was what she had seen earlier. Two heads and richly decorated battle armour: it was definitely Sesshoumaru's dragon.

A small figure slid off its back and Kagome blinked at the white beard that she was sure had never been there before.

The dragon opened its mouth and a ball of youki careened at the nearest sorcerers. They disintegrated with a scream.

That got everyone's attention.

Just then the small figure stepped in front of the dragon.

"You stupid, pathetic, stinking humans!" Jaken cried, placing his staff in front of him. "How dare you try to hurt Lady Kagome!"

'Wait, did he just say Lady Kagome!' Kagome stared at him in shock.

"Ok, now that dragon is definitely real," commented the red-head with the limp.

Kagome nodded her agreement.

"What is that?" one of the masked sorcerers asked.

"Dunno, but it looks kinda like a house elf," another one replied.

"House elf! House elf!" Jaken exclaimed in outrage. "I'll show you house elf! Feel the power of the Staff of Two Heads!"

The eyes of the male head on the staff snapped wide open. Then he opened his mouth and flames shot out from it.

The sorcerers screamed as the flames ate them alive. Then the head calmed again and its eyes closed. All that was left of the men that had arrived with Mr. Parkinson were bits of charred flesh and bones.

Kagome looked at the sorcerers who were left. Most of them didn't look very well. In fact, Draco's pale skin seemed to have gone a bit green and the English wolf looked as if he was going to be sick.

"Hey Jaken!" Ginta called. "If you're here, does that mean that Sesshoumaru's still around?"

"How should I know?" the small demon asked bitterly. "I mean it's not like he ever tells me where he's going."

Kohaku meanwhile walked up to the dragon and scratched it on top of its heads.

"Kohaku?" Kagome called to him. He turned around and untied one corner of his mouthpiece.

"Hello Kagome," he smiled slightly. But the smile didn't reach his eyes.

That was when Kagome noticed what was different about him. It was in his eyes. Physically he looked exactly the same as he had the last time she had seen him. But his eyes spoke of centuries passed, told the story of a boy who had the wisdom and experience of a dozen old men. But there was no twinkle in them, no spark of life. As if he had died inwardly even though he continued living outwardly.

"How?" she asked.

"The shard," he answered.

"But we needed to complete the Shikon no Tama in order to stop Naraku. . . so how come you're. . ."

"Later," he interrupted her, ending the conversation.

Then he jumped onto the dragon's back and took the reigns. They headed towards the battle.

"Hakkaku!" Kagome suddenly heard Ginta cry, before he speed off. Kagome looked to where she had seen the wolf demon fall earlier in the battle. He still hadn't moved.

'Oh no,' she panicked, 'what if he's dead?'

That thought in mind, she raced after Ginta. She didn't hear Draco and the others shout after her to stop.

Suddenly she felt a surge of magic at her feet as she tripped over something and fell. She looked behind her, to see what she had tripped over, but there was nothing there.

"My, my, what have we here?" an aristocratic-sounding voice drawled. "I do believe we have unfinished business."

Kagome looked up. It was Draco's father. He looked worn out from the battle, and had a scratch over his left eye, but he still managed to stand straight with a look of pure malice on his face as he pointed his magic stick at her.

Slowly, Kagome stood up, never taking her eyes off the blue gray ones that bore into her with promises of pain and death. This man frightened her more than the Dark Lord everyone was so afraid of.

His stick had remained levelled with her head as she had gotten up. Lucius licked his lips in anticipation, as if trying to decide what he wanted to do first.

"Father no!"

Malice disappeared from his eyes and was replaced with shock. He glanced behind Kagome and his eyes widened while his mouth dropped open slightly. He actually paled.

"D-Draco. . .?" he said in a mixture of wonder and confusion. "But. . .you're. . ."

"Dead?" his son supplied in an amused tone. Draco was now standing just behind Kagome. She glanced back to see him standing with his feet slightly apart and gripping his wand tightly at his side.

'He's ready to fight his own father if he has to,' Kagome realized sadly.

She looked back to Lucius. His face was now blank, void of emotion. Behind him she noticed Ginta helping Hakkaku off the battle field. She noted with relief that Hakkaku was alive.

She felt even more relief when the sorcerers who tried to stop them were suddenly enveloped with blue fox fire.

"What happened to your mark?" Lucius demanded of Draco.

"Kagome purified it," Draco answered, "she's a miko. Father please, lower your wand and let her purify yours too."

Kagome's head snapped back to Draco. She was about to say something about never having offering to purify his father's mark, when she noticed the expression on his face.

There was desperation in his eyes as they pleaded with his father.

"Leave the Dark Lord, he can't win and if you stay and fight on his side you'll die!"

"Traitor!" Lucius hissed and Kagome could almost feel the fury in his voice. Sadness mingled with the desperation in Draco's eyes.

"Please father, I don't want you to die," he said softly.

"I won't. You will. For betraying your master and your family."

Draco gulped and all emotion disappeared from his face except for shock and fear.

Kagome turned around. Lucius was now pointing his stick at Draco.

"No!" she cried, running in front of Draco. "He's your son! Doesn't that mean anything to you! Could you really kill your own son?"

'Not even Sesshoumaru is that heartless,' she hoped.

"I would rather my son be dead than a traitor to everything I have ever believed in and fought for."

Kagome wished she could see at least a glimmer of madness in his eyes; then she could at least be reassured that Draco's father was simply insane. But no, Lucius's face held nothing but steely resolve.

"Get out of the way, girl."

"No, I won't let you do this!"

"Kagome, do what he says," Draco whispered.

"No!"

"Very well then," Lucius said evenly, his aim shifting to her, "Avada Kadavra."

"Kagome!" she heard someone cry in the distance as she watched the flash of green light head straight for her.

Mwahahaha! So do you hate me now? Lol!

Ok, ok, here's a hint : if you think back to an episode when something sort of similar happened, then you might figure out what's about to happen. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait 'till I update. :p