English

'thoughts'

'thoughts of Sesshomaru's beast'

Days went by, and the lessons repeated themselves. However, there were two new lessons, one of them being dancing, where she had to learn different styles of dancing, like for example the fan dance. The other lesson consisted of learning how to walk, turn, kneel, and bow – in short how to move properly and elegantly. Fortunately, Hermione hadn't too much trouble with the two lessons. She was very agile from her experiences of the war and the training she kept up with after it. That helped her a great deal to move exactly as Lady Misaki wanted her to. However, it's true that she had had some slight difficulty at the beginning to grasp the way to move elegantly.

Lady Misaki was a very strict teacher. For the lesson in elegance, she had a wooden stick that she used to hit Hermione's calves every time the witch had walked by her in the wrong way. Thankfully, that had only happened during the first lesson.

Rin was also having the lessons with Hermione, but the strict lady was at least a bit more lenient with her, probably since she was still a child or a 'cub' as Lady Misaki called her sometimes. This gave Hermione a clue to what kind of demon her strict teacher was. She was either a bear or a big cat. She would have to ask Lord Sesshomaru about it.

Hermione and Lord Sesshomaru had eaten and spoken every evening, and he had kept his promise to her. He had shown her two rooms that she could use for her garden and potions lab, and she did not lack anything. Unfortunately, because of her tight schedule Hermione had not been able to work in the rooms; she just set them up and saw to the plants, so they would not die. She also hadn't had the time to see the library, which she really wanted to, but since the guests could arrive at any moment, there wasn't enough time.

Lord Sesshomaru and Lady Misaki were very satisfied with Hermione's progress, except in flower arranging. Hermione just couldn't get the hang of it. She knew possible meanings of the flowers, but she could not arrange them based on the meaning because every combination meant something else, and it just eluded her. The fact that she could not see the use for the lesson was also not helping. The demoness was not happy with that, but even if very reluctantly she had to admit, it was better that she was failing in flower arranging rather than in any of the other lessons. The word failing was quite a harsh way of calling it because Hermione could arrange the flowers; however, it just wasn't perfect enough to the standard of the demoness.

It was almost two weeks after her arrival at the palace that a scout disturbed them at dinner. Hermione was sitting next to Rin, facing Sesshomaru as they were eating and chatting about the day, when there was a knock.

Lord Sesshomaru sighed and called out: "Yes, what is it?"

"Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru, but there is a scout from the border here to speak with you," a male voice was to hear.

Hermione thought she recognised it as Yamato's, Lord Sesshomaru's personal servant and head of servants. This was proven right when he opened the door, and a demon in armour stepped in to the room.

He knelt facing Lord Sesshomaru and spoke: "Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru, I did not mean to disturbed you while eating, but the guests from far away have been spotted at the border and are now being escorted to the castle. They will arrive around midnight."

"Hn," was the only response Sesshomaru gave the scout and waved at him dismissively

After a while, in which he seemed to be thinking, he called for Yamato.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"I trust that the guests' rooms are ready. When they will arrive at midnight, show them to their rooms and assign servants to them. This Sesshomaru will meet them in the morning for tea and the first meal of the day. One of them should be able to speak a bit Japanese, it should suffice till morning."

"Yes, my Lord. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Sent someone to clean up the table and bring tea in an hour."

"Yes," with that he left.

'So, the guests will be here in a few hours, and I will meet them tomorrow. I am getting somewhat nervous. What if I do something to embarrass myself, or Lord Sesshomaru and the Western Lands? I hope everything goes well.'

"Rin, you will have to eat alone tomorrow morning, I will let Tomomi know. Hermione, you will eat with this Sesshomaru and his guests, and you will also serve the tea and translate."

Both nodded in agreement. Hermione did not expect anything else; she had been drilled in the past days for what was to happen when the mysterious guests arrived.

"When can Rin meet these guests?" Rin asked excitedly.

"We will see how the guests react, it has been a while since I have met the man and I was different then, maybe he has changed as well, maybe not. We will see."

That dampened Rin's mood a bit, but soon she was talking about something else and forgetting her disappointment.

After a while, servants came, cleaned the table and brought fresh tea, which Hermione served to Sesshomaru and herself. Rin was escorted out by Tomomi, for it was time for her to go to bed. She went without a fuss, knowing the routine and being tired from the day full of lessons.

Hermione and Lord Sesshomaru were sipping their tea in silence for a while, enjoying the quietness after the long day they had and the long day to come.

Sesshomaru broke the silence by saying: "Thank you for doing this. I know it is a lot of work, and you are doing remarkably. You smell nervous. Is it for tomorrow? You don't have to be. Everything will go well."

She blushed slightly at the remark of her smell and mumbled: "I should put the charm on permanently."

Louder she said: "Thank you for your reassurance and don't worry about it. I am glad I can help you, and you are helping me by allowing me access to your library."

He frowned but nodded.

"What do you mean by 'put the charm on permanently'?"

Blushing again, she replied: "There is a charm that masks scents. I use it during the night, and I was thinking to maybe use it all the time."

"I see, so that is why I cannot smell you when you retire for the night. I presume you have a charm for stopping others to hear and sense you as well?"

"Yes," she squeaked.

"Why?"

"I told you I have nightmares, didn't I? And I let the war bit slip, no? It's because sometimes I still have the nightmares, you could also call them memories, about my time during the war. I don't have them as often now. But I still put the charms up in case I have on, so as not to disturb anyone's sleep."

"Yes, you did. Will you tell me more?" he asked her softly.

She sighed and thought about it for a moment.

"Why not? In my time wizards and witches, the whole magical community lives separate from non-magical people we call muggle. In this society, there was a very dark wizard, who believed that pure blood was better than anything else was, and he tried to kill and enslave all the rest – this being hypocritical, since he was a half-blood himself. His mother was a witch from a long line of wizards, but his father was a muggle. He had followers of these mad beliefs, called Death Eaters. I was around two years old when the first war ended. He was killed while he attempted to kill a baby who was prophesied to defeat him."

"The baby became one of my best friends at school ten years later. Harry, that is his name, Ron and I had many adventures together at school. I won't go in too much detail, not today, but year after year, it became more dangerous. The dark wizard came back to live when I was fifteen. We fought his followers when I was sixteen and the year after. Then before I turned eighteen the war broke out in the open – before that it had been kind of in the background, only the ones directly involved knew about it. Since I was best friends with Harry, Undesirable Number 1, I became Number 2. I also was a muggleborn witch, meaning my parents were non-magical. I was looked down on because of that, and in the eyes of the enemies I was scum."

She took in a shaky breath and then continued, knowing the worst was yet to come. Sesshomaru had come around the table and was now sitting close beside her.

"Harry, Ron and I were on the run to search for objects that would help us destroy Voldemort for good. During that time, we were caught once and I was tortured by a crazy woman, who thought that we stole a sword out of her vault. It was really bad, but at least I didn't say anything useful for them."

Sesshomaru growled loudly at that and took her in his arms, placing her on his lap, starting to lick away tears she didn't even realise she had shed.

"We were rescued, and soon after that the final battle took place at my old school. I fought for my life and that of my friends. I saw people dear to me die, and I killed. I still dream of the torture and the battle, even if I know that my side won and Voldemort and the woman who did this to me are dead."

She took a deep breath and chuckled.

Sesshomaru, who was nuzzling her and purring to make her feel safe, asked: "What?"

"Inuyasha was right, I feel slightly better, lighter, now that I have talked about it again. I used to talk to my friends back home, for they knew about it and went through similar things. I am glad I told you a bit of my past."

"So am I," he said, not stopping to nuzzle her or to purr.

She felt safe in his arms, listening to his reassuring purr. Starting to relax more and more, she yawned after a while.

"I think it would be wise for me to go to sleep," she said with a sigh, not really wanting to leave the comfort of his arms.

He sighed too and agreed with her. Reluctantly she stood up and made her way to the door. Before she could open it, she could her Sesshomaru talking right behind her.

"You know, Hermione, you are incredible. You are a strong, intelligent, warm and beautiful woman."

He kissed her cheek softly and whispered in her ear: "I wish you a pleasant sleep. Do not hesitate to come to me if you have any more nightmares. Good night, my little witch."

With that he opened the door for her, and she walked out as if she were in a trance. She went to her room, changed and lay on the futon. Soon sleep took her, but she did not have her nightmares. Instead, she dreamed of a big silver dog nuzzling her and purring to her.

HxS

Hermione was sitting at the low table, so that she would be between Sesshomaru and the guests. She was the first one here and was waiting for the others to come. She hoped Lord Sesshomaru would come soon, for she did not want to meet the mysterious guests alone, not even knowing how to address them.

She had been very flustered when she woke up, remembering what had happened last night. He had kissed her cheek, but what was even more surprising, he had complimented her, told her she could always go to him and had called her 'his' little witch, and she had liked it. Well not the 'little' part, but the rest…

Hermione was startled out of her thoughts by Sesshomaru's arrival. After taking is place, he looked and smiled at her.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Y-yes," she replied softly, while looking away from him and blushing.

"I am glad to hear that. I was…" he began, but was interrupted by the door opening and revealing a kneeling servant and a European looking man.

The man stepped inside while the servant closed the door behind him. He had brown hair streaked with grey that reached his shoulders. His eyes were blue and reminded her of Dumbledore's. He was slightly taller than she was, and he was wearing what looked to her like old-fashioned wizarding robes. 'Maybe these are contemporary clothes? I am currently in a year around 1500.' The man bowed to Sesshomaru and took a seat.

"Lord Sesshomaru, thank you for having me. It is good to see you after so long. If I may ask, where is Master Tabito?"

Hermione translated the last part for Sesshomaru and he replied: "You are welcome, Lord Flamel. It is good to see you as well. Sadly, Lord Tabito has died a few weeks ago. That is why Lady Hermione Granger is here. You may introduce yourself."

'Hm, Flamel… I know that name, but from where?'

This time she translated to English for the lord and introduced herself.

"My name is Hermione Granger, I will translate for you. If there are any questions, do not hesitate to ask me," she said while smiling friendly at him.

He smiled at her too and replied: "Thank you. My name is Nicolas Flamel, originally from France, but now living in England. If you don't mind me asking, where do you come from? And how did you get here?"

She inhaled sharply, being shocked. That man was the Nicolas Flamel! The maker of the Philosopher's stone! An immortal! And someone that had lived in her time!

Before she could say anything, the door opened again.

"Sorry for my tardiness. I couldn't understand what the servant wanted until she growled at me. I discovered I should be able to communicate with the dog demons. It's handy to be a dog Animagus," the new guest said, walking into the room while adjusting his sleeves.

He started to speak again, but stopped when he looked at her: "Forgi… Hermione?!"

She was even more shocked now. In front of her stood a man she had thought long dead or not even born yet, technically. This was unbelievable! However, she felt so happy to see him again, at the same time unsure if it really was him.

"Sirius?!"

AN: So, what do you think? Did anyone guess the second guest? Sirius Black is not dead! More of him in the next chapter.

I am so happy about all your reviews and I am sorry I haven't responded to some of them yet, but I still plan to! Thank you all so much for your support. I hope you continue liking the story.

This story is now betaed by Pyo-Kiyo, I am very grateful for her help. Thank you so so much. She has also gone over the already written chapters, so there might be a few small changes.

Thanks, and enjoy!