Disclaimer: Neither Inuyasha nor Harry Potter and all characters contained within said works belong to Sessha-chan. It tears me apart to admit it but it is the truth.

Chapter 8

The Miracle of Birth: It will Scar the Poor Students

Kagome was in transfiguration when it happened. She had been getting back pains since the day before that she could not account for but chalked them up to the fact she had so much weight straining an uncomfortable spot of her body. Of course, she had not told anyone, not wanting people to worry needlessly over nothing. Inuyasha had noticed her wincing. Sesshoumaru had been right, the closer she got to her due date the more overprotective Inuyasha became. He had hardly left her side or even taken his eyes off her for days now.

She gripped her pencil so tight it snapped, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the class. Inuyasha, who was sitting right next to her asked her what was wrong. She smiled and waved it off. Until she felt...

Well, lets just say that her water broke right then and there, in the middle of class.

"Aw, crap!" she exclaimed with all decorum. If she had not had everyone's attention before, she did now. "Inuyasha, it's time," she gasped, tremendously embarrassed.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he gathered her up in his arms. Kagome snarled.

"Does this look like a false alarm?" she snapped. Inuyasha did not say anything but he hurried through the halls to the Hospital Wing. Slamming the doors open and startling the few students who were being treated by Madam Pomfrey, he quickly deposited Kagome on an empty cot.

"I'll go find Doctor Kunimitsu," Inuyasha promised. Kagome caught his hand as he turned to leave.

"And bring momma, if you can," she begged. Inuyasha nodded and scurried out the doors.

"Mrs. Taisho, how are you feeling?" asked Madam Pomfrey. Kagome smiled.

"When my back's not hurting I'm feeling just fine," she winced as her back spasmed again.

"I would give you something for the pain but Doctor Kunimitsu made me promise that I would not treat you for anything unless you were dying," she grimaced.

"That's fine," Kagome waved it off, "I've been through worse pain. Had a couple of fist sized holes through my shoulder and gut once and no one other than myself who could heal," she laughed, "and I have never managed to be able to heal myself. Guess I gotta have something to keep me humble,"

Her back spasmed again, this time with a trickling flare of pink light. Kagome froze.

"No...It couldn't have been,"

"What?" asked Madam Pomfrey. The other students watched, curious.

"I thought I saw...but I've had that under control since before I married Inuyasha, I had to," she shook her head, "I must be seeing things,"

"Seeing what?"

"It's nothing," Kagome said dismissively.

"What's going on?" asked one of the present students.

Kagome smiled to everyone in the room, "Hello everyone," she greeted, "I'm afraid that you're probably going to be witness to me having a baby. Please let me beg forgiveness in advance,"

"You're in labour?" gasped a girl.

Kagome laughed, though it sounded a little strained, "Well, my water broke if that's any indication," she was stopped from making any further comment by the Hospital Wing doors being thrown open.

"Lady Kagome," Doctor Kunimitsu Kyohei strode purposefully in and made a beeline for his patient. Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi trailed in his wake.

"Doctor! Momma! Inuyasha!" the miko smiled brightly, "Thank you for come- ouch!" another flare of pink light. This time Kagome was not the only one to see it.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha dared not move closer. The Doctor froze as well.

"You saw that too, Inuyasha?" she looked worried. Inuyasha nodded.

"It seems that your powers are flaring," deduced the Doctor.

"They'll need to be sealed, won't they?" she asked. Doctor Kunimitsu nodded.

"Preferably soon, before they could harm the child,"

Kagome thought, her mind racing, "I can't do it by myself," she concluded, "I'll need an outside force. Souta's probably our best chance. He's got the right kind of power and I can coach him on what to do. I'd ask grandpa but..."

"Grandpa has gotten old," Mrs. Higurashi agreed. Kagome nodded.

"I'll get Souta," Inuyasha volunteered calmly. Kagome stared at him. That was out of character. Not the volunteering, he did do that upon occasion, but the calmness. She watched as he vanished through the doors, her mouth hanging open just a bit from shock.

"Was that my Inuyasha?" she asked the room in general.

"As strange as he is acting, I am fairly certain that that is your mate," the Doctor verified, "Now, Lady Kagome, tell me about the contractions. How far apart are they?"

"Contractions? I haven't had any contractions – Ouch! – just back pain. It's been twinging for about a day now,"

"Well, sometimes the contractions come in the form of back pain due to how the baby is positioned. How far apart are these twinges?"

Inuyasha expeditiously delivered Souta to the hospital wing and had promptly been evicted. Inuyasha, not Souta. So Inuyasha sat in the hall just outside the doors, his ears cocked back to listen to the happenings going on behind him. Kagome was coaching Souta, giving the boy a crash course on how to manipulate holy energies through ceremony. Kagome had explained that she was not going to teach him how to work with it raw just yet, that would be too dangerous given the conditions. Inuyasha agreed.

Sesshoumaru stood across the hall from his brother, disturbed at the serene air about the hanyou. He had been walking on eggshells for almost ten months now, so why the sudden change?

Inuyasha glanced up at his brother. "What?"

"How are you so calm, Inuyasha?" the Taiyoukai asked. Inuyasha shrugged.

"I dunno. Why do you ask?"

Sesshoumaru said nothing. He glanced towards the closed doors of the hospital wing when he heard a pained cry. Inuyasha's ears flattened against his skull.

"Come. We should not be here. If they require our presence they will summon us," Sesshoumaru declared, pushing away from his wall. Inuyasha, surprisingly, nodded and heaved himself to his feet.

"Yeah, I guess you're right,"

Sesshoumaru was not the only one disturbed by Inuyasha's behavior. Word that Kagome had gone into labour spread like wildfire once classes were let out and, by lunch, everyone who had met the little Japanese miko was silent with worry. Inuyasha sat and ate with the usual Gryffindors, Sesshoumaru by his side just in case he suddenly snapped when reality finally set in, as the Taiyoukai was sure would happen.

But Inuyasha remained the pillar of calm serenity. Even though the entire head table was silent, as well as most of the Gryffindor table, he acted as though he were Sesshoumaru, while Sesshoumaru himself was starting to crack. The tall, stately, unflappable, dignified, composed Taiyoukai was running his hand through his long hair every few seconds, betraying his inner turmoil. His golden eyes, so much like Inuyasha's, were scanning the great hall rapidly and with thinly veiled nervousness.

"She'll be fine," Inuyasha said quietly, "She's a strong woman,"

Sesshoumaru dared not say anything to the contrary. Kagome was strong, yes, but hanyou deliveries were dangerous. Especially if the mother was human, pure human. Add in the fact that her mikoki was running wild and had to be suppressed because it could kill of not only the youkai around her, the Doctor for one, but the child inside of her as well.

Oh, Sesshoumaru understood all of the complications and what could go wrong. He had played the multiple possible deaths of his beloved sister-in-law through his mind a thousand times over and a thousand times more. He watched with despair, in his mind, as his brother fell to a similar fate, following after his mate.

He could not allow that to happen.

They had to pull Kagome's cot away from the wall in order to set up the ceremony. Kagome instructed Souta to take three of her prayer scrolls, unroll them to full length and lay them in a circle about her cot. Madam Pomfrey obligingly transfigured some matchsticks into incense that Kagome then directed to be lit and placed on either side of Souta's position.

Souta nervously fiddled with the single prayer scroll that Kagome let him hold. She gave him constant instructions on what to do, speaking whenever she was not riding through a contraction.

"Just reach – ouch! – down inside yourself. Stay calm and relaxed,"

"Good advice," said Doctor Kunimitsu, "You should follow it yourself,"

"Oh, don't interrupt me," she smiled and continued, "Stay relaxed and calm. Clear your mind, focus on a single object if that helps. Got that? Now repeat after me: Powers of the Gods be Sealed by this prayer,"

"Power of the Gods be Sealed by this prayer," Souta echoed obediently.

"Good, now just repeat that every couple of seconds," She directed. Souta nodded. He had to admit that he held more faith in Kagome's teachings and knowledge on Holy Powers and rituals than he did his own grandfather's. Kagome had trained under two powerful and knowledgeable Priest and Priestesses in the past, before the traditions were diluted though general indifference.

Kagome grimaced, already able to feel her holy powers being suppressed. She tried to follow the Doctor's advice and relax when she felt the contractions building. With the support of her mother she spent the bulk of the time on her feet, pacing around the bed, pausing only occasionally to sit and rest her swollen feet. Mrs. Higurashi rubbed her daughter's back and brushed her hair, anything to pass the time and make the ordeal less arduous.

Inuyasha sat outside on a large and conveniently bare rock just below the hospital wing windows. Sesshoumaru wondered if his brother had even realized that little fact.

"So, how are your daughters and Takiko?" asked Inuyasha after several long minutes of mutual silence. Sesshoumaru looked at his brother like he had grown another head since he knew that Inuyasha already knew the answer to his question. He answered anyway.

"They are well. Mei has taken it into her head that she is old enough to be accepting suitors," Sesshoumaru frowned. Inuyasha looked up at him, surprised.

"What? She can't be that old. How old is she again?"

"She has just reached her sixteenth year. It is an age, as I understand, that can be quite troublesome," Sesshoumaru smirked, "I suppose that I can be looking forwards to you expressing same such grief in years to come,"

"Yeah, I guess so," Inuyasha tossed him a wry grin. "Then again, Kagome mated me when she was only sixteen,"

Sesshoumaru tossed his brother a frown. Inuyasha smirked. Silence again descended upon the brothers as they gazed out over the calmness of the lake.

"Have you and Kagome decided on any names as of yet?" Sesshoumaru asked. He had not realized how out of character it was for him to ask such a question until Inuyasha started laughing. He frowned. "This Sesshoumaru fails to see what is so amusing, Inuyasha,"

"It's strange, don't you think, that you're worried when I, for some reason, am so calm?" he continued laughing.

"Very strange," Sesshoumaru scowled, "Any ideas as to a reason why?"

"No clue," Inuyasha leaned back, "It's probably going to hit me later like one of your Toxic Flower Claws once this is over,"

"And if it does not then I shall hit you anyways," Sesshoumaru was the best of brothers.

Inuyasha winced, absently rubbing the skin beneath his bracelet. Sesshoumaru noticed that the style matched the Necklace of Subjugation his brother wore.

"Is something the matter?"

"The bracelet burns," Inuyasha grimaced, "Kagome spelled it back when we first got here so that I'd know if she was in danger, but it burns when she's in pain too. It's been doing this almost constantly for weeks, what with all the false alarms. Bet she didn't think of that when she made it," he paused, "But it sure did help out when she... when she almost miscarried," Sesshoumaru was shocked. No one had informed him of that particular event.

"When did this happen?" he demanded.

"A couple months after we arrived, near the end of...what is the month called where everyone gets all dressed up like demons and stuff?"

"October?"

"Yeah, that one. Some girl pushed Kagome down some stairs. I'd been out training when it happened. I should have been with her, if I had it wouldn't have happened," Inuyasha hung his head in abject guilt. "When I felt the bracelet burn I just snapped. For some reason tessaiga allowed my youkai blood free and I just got to her in time to perform a bloodhealing for her and the pup,"

"It was a close call?"

"Very close. No one, other than the professors and Hermione, knew that she was pregnant,"

"But you got to her in time,"

"I could have lost them," Inuyasha whispered, stricken, the event still vivid in his mind's eye.

"Yet you did not," Sesshoumaru reasoned.

"But-"

"Inuyasha, there is no reason to bemoan what could have come to pass. I can find no fault in how you handled the situation," the Taiyoukai admitted. Inuyasha did not say anything, just kept rubbing his wrist.

"But she's going to be fine, isn't she?" he whispered, "Even though she's loosing control over her powers and our child has youkai blood,"

"Kagome is a strong woman. Her brother, though young, is capable and will do anything to aid her in the endeavor of containing her holy powers in order to ensure the safe delivery of your child,"

"Thank you Sesshoumaru," And he meant it.

Kagome was sure she was going to die. Sure she had a competent, excellent really, Doctor Kunimitsu as well as Madam Pomfrey supervising, Souta was doing a flawless job containing her powers so that they could not surface and harm anyone or anything and having her mom there was a vast comfort. But the other students in the hospital wing were watching with an obvious horrified fascination as she pushed.

Tired, sweaty and in pain Kagome really had no idea what she was screaming at anyone anymore and she hoped that they would not hold it against her later.

Doctor Kunimitsu kept telling her to push. He had been saying that for ages, as far as Kagome was concerned. She snarled at him to shut up. He did not of course.

Kagome tightened her grip on her mother's hand, swearing that Inuyasha would never again touch her if this was what she had to put up with as a result. She thought it highly unfair and she said as much.

She could sense Inuyasha nearby. With her powers suppressed she could not pinpoint him but he was close enough that she started screaming at him, rather than the poor people in the hospital wing with her.

Oh, she hoped that that bracelet was burning on his wrist.

It was announced at dinner to the whole school that Kagome had given birth to a baby girl. Inuyasha, who had just left the Hospital Wing and his exhausted mate and child, was sitting, still shell-shocked, at the Gryffindor table. He was oblivious to the congratulations that were being passed about his head. The Weasley twins both slapped his shoulders, both of them. Hermione gave him an unrestrained hug and demanded to know when she could visit Kagome. Everyone else cheered and generally made a joyful noise.

Sesshoumaru kept careful watch on his brother not liking the absent look in his eye.

Suddenly Inuyasha stood. He walked, without a word of explanation, out of the great hall, through the entrance hall and down the stairs leading to the peaceful, calm night. Sesshoumaru followed just behind him, waiting.

"I could have killed her," he said, "All that blood...and claws. I didn't think that babies had claws..."

"They were too soft to do any harm, Inuyasha. And there was no more blood than what is expected in a birthing,"

"I could have lost Kagome. And little Izayoi,"

"Inuyasha-"

Inuyasha whirled about and started yelling, "Don't try and comfort me, brother. Your mate was at least hanyou, she could survive more! Kagome is only human!"

"Inuyasha! Your own mother survived birthing you. Your child is only one quarter youkai, you are one half. If your mother could do it and in such primitive conditions of centuries past why could it not be just as possible for Kagome?" Sesshoumaru snapped. Inuyasha growled and lunged. Sesshoumaru dodged nimbly out of the way.

With a fluid motion born through years of hands-on practice, both brothers had their swords in hand and faced each other. Inuyasha attacked wildly unleashing everything but his most powerful attacks. Sesshoumaru alternated between close range combat and taking to the air for better use of his youki whip. It was not long before they had managed to attract the attention of the students and professors still in the castle, unwittingly dragging them away from their meal.

Sesshoumaru was quite aware of their audience and made certain that he kept his brother from unleashing anything that may harm them. He danced around and with Inuyasha in a deadly duet, allowing him to release his pent up emotions in the only manner the hanyou knew how.

After near an hour of battling Inuyasha collapsed to his knees and leaned on tessaiga like a crutch, the massive sword digging deep into the earth. Sesshoumaru sheathed tokijin and moved closer to his brother.

"Are you quite finished yet, Inuyasha?" he asked quietly. Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry,"

"No need," he waved it aside, "It is quite understandable. This Sesshoumaru has been expecting action in one form or another for some time now. It is admirable how long you kept control," he held his hand out. Inuyasha considered for a second before he took the offer and hauled himself back up. He sheathed tessaiga and walked calmly back into the castle. The crowd of spectators parted to let the brothers through.

AN: Could you imagine just how embarrassing that would be? Your water breaking in the middle of class? Don't ask me why she was still in classes that close to her due date. Bet you anything she bullied everyone into letting her. She's tough like that. Not even youkai can stand up to her fury! And those poor kids in the Hospital Wing. They'll never want children now! what an I doing to these poor people? I'm a monster! And as for Inuyasha be ever so calm, it's a nice juxtaposition, isn't it? I kinda figured it would be nice since he's been walking on eggshells for months now, his mind kinda goes into a protective shock and he's so very OOC. And hey! The story's one and only fight scene! Not much, was it? oh well.