Well now. I've decided to get up off of my lazy bum and get to writing the next installment of this…. Considering its been a good long while since I have anyways. LOL! But that's okay. –grins-

Sooooo sorry for the looong wait! -cant apologize enough about that- College life got the best of me, neh?

All still applies… Voldemort's not back yet, etcetc…. Pretend like… the end of the Triwazard tournament didn't happen… and Harry's just in his 5th year now.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Sailor Moon or Harry Potter…. –cries-

Chapter 11: Hogsmeade Surprise

Hogsmeade was quieter than was usual, devoid of the students that typically made the trek from school. The October air left chills in their bones, making the first trip to Hogsmeade even less appealing. This time however, there was enough gossip floating around about that mornings event that really no one wanted to be out in the open away from school with her.

Makoto did not really mind either way, though she was lacking in companionship. She longed for her friends back in Japan, or maybe even a method to corner Setsuna into talking to her. No matter though, she could just as easily use the time to search the town, though that matter was at the back of her mind at the moment.

Not far off, Hermione was watching her closely, her eyes scathingly focused on Makoto's back, her mind racking through years of information about what that light could have possibly been. She was so absorbed in it, she did not even register that Harry and Ron were talking to her.

"—one? Are you listening?" Ron's voice asked, indignant that she was not answering a single one of their questions.

Hermione snapped out of her trance and focused on Ron instead. "Sorry, Ron, I wasn't. What did you say?"

Ron rolled his eyes in Harry's direction. "We wanted to know if you wanted to go get some butterbeers," he said with a note of annoyance in his voice. "But if you're more interested in that Japanese girl, we'll just go by ourselves."

Harry jumped at the opportunity. "Why don't we invite her along?" Without waiting for their answers, he took off in her direction, intent on asking her to join them. "Hey Mako—" he froze, staring at her as stared off into oblivion, her once green eyes still shining that bloody red. She made no motion to recognize his arrival, though she did turn and look at him. But it was almost as if her eyes were seeing past him; through him. "Makoto," he said quietly, watching her carefully.

She jumped and stared on him instead, the blood dashing from her eyes leaving a green pasture behind them. "Hello, Harry," she said in her broken accent, pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary.

Harry stared at her for a moment before he remembered why he approached her in the first place. "You wanna get a drink with us?" he asked, motioning to Ron and Hermione who waited not far behind as he made a feeble attempt at some sort of sign language.

Apparently, she got the idea, and moved to follow suit, with a slight smirk on her lips as she pulled the jacket a bit tighter around her. If she had understood him a bit better, she might have mimicked his crude sign language to Hermione and Ron, though, considering Hermione was shooting death glares at Harry, that might not of been the best of ideas.

Entering the Three Broomsticks was nothing less than a maze in itself. The few students that did test to come out on one of the coldest Halloween's in memory seemed to be all crammed inside. Almost every table was overflowing, and the floors were crammed with all the rest of the students left standing. Harry and Ron bumped into several to get to the counter to get the drinks, while Hermione and Makoto searched and pushed their way to find a small space in the corner near the windows. Several froze upon seeing Makoto inching towards them, looking anxiously at their friends as they took an unnecessarily long drink from their respective butterbeers, some to the point where they choked and coughed back out a good half bottle over some of the other friends. Hermione, however, took no notice, but proceeded to the corner.

"You think they think I crazy sometimes," Makoto said, in a soft voice meant to break the silence.

Hermione scrutinized her and laughed slightly. "Yeah, well. After that light show earlier, I don't really blame them." She rounded on Makoto, a sort of 'You'd better tell me or you might just get hurt' type look in her eyes. "What was that?"

Makoto just stared right back at her, her typically confident nature faltering momentarily as she thought carefully, both trying to find the words in English, and answer the question herself. "I don't know 'Mione," she said finally, her voice still softer than normal, making Hermione have to strain to hear her even more. "That light was not—"

Ron and Harry had arrived, each pushing a butterbeer into Hermione and Makoto's hand. Makoto fell silent, though she still looked troubled by this sudden realization in Hermione's observations. Hermione looked almost livid, wishing they had spared a few more minutes flirting with the barkeeper so she could get some of her questions answered. Oh well. There was always later that evening in the dormitory. Harry and Ron both picked up on the tension, but neither opted to comment on it whatsoever.

The table closest to them erupted in a fit of laughter, and the blonde-headed boy turned around, shaking his butterbeer slightly in their direction. Making another quiet comment, the Slytherins erupted once more. After a few quiet moments, Makoto put her butterbeer on the table with a few silver coins and excused herself without a word, her eyes cold and unfocused, diving back into her own little world. She headed for the door, and left silence in her wake.

"What was all that about?" Ron asked timidly, watching Makoto's retreating form pull her jacket back around her from the window.

"Japanese girl's hearing is quite impressive, I must say." Draco's surly voice answered rather matter-of-factly. His sharp features faced the window as well, watching her carefully, almost critically. "Too bad though." With that he turned and followed Makoto out the door, almost as though he was trying to catch up with her.

Sinking into the seats, Harry, Ron and Hermione studied one another, all three taken aback by Makoto's flight, and Draco's words. "Wonder what he said," Hermione said seriously, debating within herself about chasing after the two, just for plain curiousity sake.

Draco lurked behind the illusive Japanese girl for as long as his legs would keep up. Too bad she was such a swift mover as well. His cold eyes scanned the trees around the paths leading back to the school, and up to the Shrieking Shack, looking for any little trace of her. Not too far up one of the paths, he heard a soft voice talking quietly in Japanese. Moving with stealth, he crept up behind the tree encasing the voice, carefully listening, though he could not understand a word.

The voice was quiet, almost sedate, saddened obviously, but with a note of fierceness within it as well. But it seemed a bit too rough to be that of Makoto's, but then again, he really did not care to listen to her when she did speak.

Without thinking, he poked his head around the trunk, and almost instantly fell back, his eyes wide in surprise. There, that… that … thing could not have been human!

-insert American Psycho Music-

Well. My first chappie after a seriously bad case of writer's block/college work…. So…. Tell me what you think!

I'm thinking about maybe having a guest slot in one of the future chapters… so…. There is a poll running for it now!

Question 1: What the heck was that thing Draco saw? (worth 5 pts)

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