And as another Saturday comes, so does another chapter! ;)

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EDIT 6/1/12: For a better reading experience, all review replies and old, unimportant ANs were removed. Any questions, just PM me

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor claim to own, anything pertaining to Inuyasha nor Harry Potter. Just the ideas that pop into my mind ;)

—Double, Double, Toil, and Trouble—

James shook his head in amusement. "Merlin Mel, do you go anywhere without that flea bag?" he teased playfully.

Kirara let out an affronted mewl, and Kagome glared at him. "Kirara is not a flea bag," she said defensively. "So she likes to follow me around, what's it to you? She's just a cat," she huffed.

James scoffed in disbelief. "I dunno about that," he muttered under his breath.

Kagome caught it still, and she rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time he brought it up. "Obviously Kirara is a magical cat, I just don't know what kind yet. Lay off," she murmured.

James stared at her. "That cat is not normal – it's like she knows Mel," he said rather dramatically. "The way she watches – it's creepy." He gave an over-exaggerated shiver to prove it.

"You're just mad because you can't sneak into my room as much anymore," Kagome countered smugly. "And you can't set up as many pranks."

James pouted – there was no point in denying it. "It's not fair – a guard cat is cheating..." he muttered and shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe I just said 'guard cat'..."

Kagome just snickered. "Anyways, where do you want to go first?"

James flashed her a wide grin, mood sufficiently brightened. "The candy shop of course!" he exclaimed, and with that, he snatched her hand up and pulled her along.

Kagome just shook her head and ran along with him.

Ever since they turned ten, their Mum and Dad finally relented and let them go to the village on their own. They went there on a regular basis now, mostly to stock up on candy.

After going to the candy shop and filling their pockets with various sweets, they headed over to the village square. The annual Summer Solstice Festival was being held, and they wanted to check it out.

It was like the fair the village held before so many years ago, with games for children, tents with animals and fortune tellers and what not, stands for food and sweets and trinkets and a lot more.

They spent their time doing a little bit of everything, and had a good laugh once they left the tent with the fortune tellers after having their palms read because they knew better and that lady was certainly nota witch.

Later found them perusing the stalls selling assorted sweets, by James insistence of course.

Kagome was looking at the fudges when she felt Kirara nudge her, and she glanced down. She watched as the cat looked at her, and looked to the right with a meaningful glance.

The ten year old girl tensed, hints of concern prickling her gut. "So I wasn't imagining things, was I..." she mulled worriedly. Biting her lip, she forced herself to be calm.

She had been keeping a firm hand on her brother's when she first picked up on the feeling of being watched – not even wanting to chance getting separated. Her grip had tightened even more upon Kirara confirming her suspicions.

It didn't take long for James to notice his sister's clinging grip, he didn't mind and he didn't say anything either. But he noticed when the grip tensed. "Kagome?" he asked quietly, voice worried. He wasn't turned to her, but was looking through the sweets. "What, in the bloody hell, is going on?" he demanded.

Kagome licked her lips in anticipation, and she stepped forward, as if she was leaning in to get a better look. Five little words escaped her lips, making him freeze. "I think we're being followed."

There was a pause, before James slowly dug in his pocket, getting out some muggle money and handing it over in exchange for some rock candy. Face calm, if not a hint tense, James handed Kagome her share. "Are you sure?" he asked softly, glancing at her, the candy hovering in front of his mouth.

Kagome popped the rock candy in her mouth, and nodded. "Mhmm," she murmured tersely, before removing it. "On the other side, across from us. Really long, white blonde hair, blue eyes pale as hell, and clothes that look way over price," she told him, muttering under her breath.

James' nose wrinkled and he snorted. "Sounds like a Malfoy," he muttered.

James didn't know how right he was.

From what Kagome could deduce from the glances she snuck earlier on, the man could only by Lucius Malfoy's father. They had the same signature hair, eyes, and constipated expression.

"So... give him the slip?" James suggested as they shuffled over to the next stand that sold some trinkets and toys.

Kagome shot him a look for even asking. "Well, you know, I'd rather not be abducted," she drawled out sarcastically, grabbing some of her own money, making a couple purchases.

That's the only reason she could guess for his presence, really.

Their father rarely talked about it, but they've been overhearing bits and pieces the last couple of years, and only due to their snooping. People were disappearing, and others were dying. He only gave them a warning though – be careful when they were out, be aware of their surroundings, and stay away from strangers.

Kagome could only guess that the war was rearing to start now. And with their dad as Head Auror as well as the head of the Noble and Ancient House of Potter, there were plenty reasons for people to come after him. Rich, influential, intelligent, strategic, powerful, and most of all, charismatic.

It was a dangerous combination, and they would be hard pressed into either getting him to join, forcing him to, or killing him off.

Kagome had two guesses as to why there was a lackey tailing them, and she was positive they were close to the mark.

Bait or blackmail.

She wasn't planning on them being either.

Kagome felt James tugging on her arm, "Look – there's a pretty big crowd," he hissed softly, nodding towards it.

Kagome nodded and they made their way over. It was easy for them to squeeze through the crowd, weaving in and out of the way numerous legs, before they spotted a nearby alley.

Once there, they briskly walked through it, casting covert glances behind them to make sure they weren't followed. Once exiting the crowd, they tried to figure exactly where in the village they were. James tugged on her again to get her walking after moment once he figured it out, and they were walking again.

After a few twists and turns they figured they were safe. James let out a soft breath of relief. "Blimey, that was pretty easy," he boasted, a hint surprised. "I expected whoever they were to be smarter that," he scoffed, only a hint worried now.

They both froze when a chilling, annoyed voice sneered behind them. "Who said I wasn't?"

Slowly, the two of them turned to see the blonde man standing there ominously less ten feet away from them. Kirara hissed angrily, fur standing on end.

"Crap," Kagome squeaked, "Run!" she yelped, yanking on her brother when he was too stunned to move.

He stumbled a bit but got into momentum as they ran the other way.

They heard the man curse and yell out. "Stupefy!"

They ducked out of instinct, and a bolt of red light hit the ground a few feet from James.

Kagome let go of James hand and dug in her pocket, pulling out a small bag. Without a second thought, she dumped the contents on the ground behind them.

James blinked in confusion as he watched her. "Marbles?" he muttered under his breath.

Kagome shot him a sort of grim, half smile. "Just wait," was all she said.

Right after they heard the man shout out a curse, followed by a loud 'thump'. They looked behind them to see the man on the ground spread eagle and groaning.

James let out loud chortle. "Good one Mel!"

Kagome just shook her head. She couldn't believe it actually worked.

The relief was short lived as they suddenly crashed into a wall.

They gasped as they were thrown back into the ground, dazed. Blinking and shaking their heads, they looked up at the wall they hit only to see it wasn't actually a wall.

It was a man. A man with cold, hardened, malicious eyes and what looked like a permanent scowl on his face.

The two twins gulped as the man stood over them threateningly. They didn't recognize the man, but knew it was a wizard because of the robes. "Gotchya!" he growled, pleased.

Kagome let out a shocked cry and James shouted out angrily as his sister was forcibly yanked away from him.

"Let her go!" James roared hotly, eyes flashing furiously.

"Gerroff!" Kagome gritted out in frustration, struggling wildly. She let out a pained gasp as the man jerked her, tightening his grip to the point where it hurt. Kagome looked at her brother, their eyes locking. "James!" she shouted suddenly and he struck.

James jumped up and leapt at the man, hurtling into the man and ramming into his stomach head first just as Kagome bit hard on the offending arm around her. Kirara let out a furious hiss, jumping on the man and swiping his face with sharp claws.

"Argh!" the man yelped out, and his arms swung wildly. James scrambled back, snatching Kagome and dragging her off. "Fucking hell!"

"Kirara!" Kagome called out, and the cat gave a final swipe of her claws before leaping off and after the two.

Kagome paused only long enough to scoop up the feline before they were off again.

"Y-you don't think there's more of them, do you?" James huffed as they turned the corner, voice tinged with fear and apprehension, eyes darting as if expecting someone else to jump out.

Kagome swallowed thickly and shook her head breathlessly. "I - I mean, we're only a couple of kids, right? Why send more?" she rambled hoarsely. "Probably figured they'd snatch us while everyone's busy with the festival."

James just groaned.

Two cracks sliced through the air. 'Apparation.' The thought came to her automatically, like instinct, and Kagome skidded to a stop. Her senses were on fire.

James stumbled a bit, and looked at her like she'd gone crazy. "Wha-?"

"Shh!" Kagome cut him off. Their head's snapped over hear two more crack's to their right. "This way," she hissed, pulling him the other way. "They've apparated. They could appear anywhere," she explained shortly.

"Over there!" someone called out, and they heard the hurried, stomping feet following after them as they turned a corner after a corner.

They were getting closer and closer, and the two of them were getting tired.

Suddenly, Kagome felt herself being yanked. There was hiss. "In here!" James whispered loudly in her ear, dragging her into another alley, and ducking between a couple trash cans.

The footsteps ran pass them, and they breathed a sigh of relief. They waited, catching their breaths.

"We- we gotta get home and, and get Dad and Mum. They have to know." James gasped out, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "I think we've made it near the edge of the village, but I'm not sure yet."

Kagome nodded wearily. "I know, but the problem is how are gonna make it? It's a long way between the village and home. There's a really big chance we could get caught..." she trailed off uncertainly, biting her lip.

James swallowed thickly, thinking hard. "If we make it, we can lead him to the forest?" he suggested. "We know it better than him," he added.

Kagome's eyes widened, realization striking. "The booby traps," she breathed out.

James laughed softly, grinning like a loon. "I knew those would come in handy one day," he mumbled proudly.

Kagome just shook her head. They kept quiet for a moment, listening.

Hearing nothing, James carefully stuck his head out, peeking around the trash cans. "Coast is clear," he murmured. "Let's go."

They doubled back the way they came in, and quietly but quickly made their way out of the village.

They shared a relieved look once they reached the edge, and broke into a run towards the forest.

That's when the spells started flying at them.

Kagome flinched as a yellow light hit the bark three inches from her face.

James was mumbling something as he stumbled into her to dodge a blue light, and she heard the words 'trip vine' before he herded her a ways to the left.

After about a minute, Kagome heard him hiss the word jump before they did just that. Then they started to run a ways right, hearing an angry, pain filled yelp about twenty seconds later.

"Damn it!"

"Get up! Get up fool!"

"I'm going to kill those brats!"

Kagome and James shared a look and couldn't help but snigger.

They came across a clearing minutes later, covered with leaves. They avoided the center, skirting around it.

It was almost about a minute later when they heard another shout and a crash.

Someone just found their pit...

"Agh! I think I broke my leg!"

"We don't have time for this!"

"Just go – leave me!"

"I think they're falling back some," Kagome remarked dryly as they ducked under a tree branch.

James shook his messy bangs out of his eyes. "How much farther d'you s'pose?" he wondered tiredly. "'Cause I really don't know how much longer we can keep running," he confessed.

Kagome bit her lip, knowing how he felt. She was exhausted and her legs were aching like crazy. She looked down at the feline in her arms, battling indecision.

Kirara's orange eyes gleamed at her, curious, and sharpened when Kagome gave a little nod.

The feline leapt out from her arms and bounded behind them.

James let out a startled yelp, and whirled around. "What's Kirara do-"

He never got to finish.

The both of them gasped as Kirara was suddenly enveloped in flames – James out of shock, but Kagome more out in remembrance.

In her place pranced a cat almost twenty times her original size, flames dancing at her paws.

The cat brought back so many memories, both good and bad...

Tears welled in her eyes, but she shoved it back stubbornly.

This wasn't the time...

Kirara let out a loud, terrifying snarl just as one of their chasers caught up. The white blonde man barely had time to gasp Kirara roared – this time with fire exploding from her mouth like a dragon.

"Bloody hell!" James blurted out, eyes wide with both shock and awe. He was grinning excitedly just at the sight, practically bouncing.

Kagome couldn't help herself. She choked, eyes wide, when the fire went as far enough to reach the man even after he jumped to get out of the way. His excessively long blonde hair caught on fire, and the man let out a suspiciously high-pitched scream.

Then a flitting thought came to mind and she exploded in loud laughs.

'Must be from all the hair products...'

Her laughter must have been infectious as James started laughing too.

Kirara had turned by now, jogging back to them as the man, Malfoy, frantically tried to save and salvage his hair. She came over, nudging at Kagome who knew what she wanted.

"C'mon James!" Kagome encouraged, tugging at him as Kirara crouched low enough for them to climb on.

James let out an excited whoop and they both clambered onto the cat, gently grabbing fistfuls of fur before Kirara took off into the air.

The last thing they saw was Malfoy jumping around, yelling and glaring at them before he disappeared, apparating away.

Kagome looked back at James, letting out a breathless laugh. The adrenaline was still pumping in her, making her light-headed. She fell back into Kirara, almost buried in silky, cream colored fur. James saw and followed suit, and she let out a soft "Oomph!" as his head landed right on her stomach. She rolled her eyes fondly.

Randomly, James' comment from earlier came to mind and she giggled."Looks like you were right – Kirara's just not a cat after all."

James stared at her incredulously, and whacked her across the arm.

—o—o—o—o—

As soon as Kirara touched down, the pair scrambled off, running off into the house and Kirara transformed back into her former size.

"Dad!" "Mum!" they both screamed at the top of their lungs, screaming bloody murder. "Mum! Dad!"

Heavy footsteps sounded and their parents were there. "Merlin's beard!" they heard their Mum gasped, as well as their Dad cursing.

They both looked at each, wondering why their faces were so pale already and – oh.

They both looked a mess, with flyaway hair and pale, dirt smudged, exhausted faces with torn clothes.

"James – Kagome, what happened?" Charles asked them quickly, voice calm, collected and stern.

James was busy collecting his breath, so Kagome started. "We were down at the village, at the festival, when we noticed someone following us."

"It looked like a Malfoy – really long hair, pale blue eyes, and over priced clothes," James continued on.

Ella, who was practically snarling and scouring their forms for injuries at the mention of being followed at the same time, snorted at his descriptions. "Sounds like one of them," she muttered darkly.

The twins shared a quick grin before continuing.

"He kept looking at us, watching us where ever we went," Kagome went on.

James nodded. "So we decided to give him the slip."

"We acted normal, as if we were just making our way through the village, until we reached a big crowd."

"Then, while he was busy looking for us, we ducked down and left."

"We were making our way out of the village when he started chasing us. He pulled out his wand and started casting-"

"Stunners," James interjected at their parents horrified faces. "Nothing too bad – well, yet anyways." He shook his head. "Kagome managed to stall him with some marbles – the git fell on his ugly face," he said with a grim, but pleased smirk face.

With the severity of the situation their parents didn't even bother chastising him for his language.

"But then another guy popped up," Kagome rambled. "Didn't recognize him – just curly dark hair and dark eyes really. Never got a good look cause he grabbed me. But James tackled him and I bit him, and then Kirara scored a few good scratches to the face. Distracted him enough for me to slip out of his hold."

"He deserved it." James had a dark, harsh scowl on his face. "No one touches my sister like that..." he growled out angrily.

Kagome looked at him, eyes wide practically adoring and she glomped him. "Thanks James," she whispered fiercely. "If you didn't, I wouldn't be here."

James hugged her back. "That's what I was afraid of..." he muttered under his breath, returning her hug with as much fervor.

Ella sniffled, wiping a tear from her eyes at the scene. She was so proud of her babies – especially of James, for protecting his sister. Charles wrapped an arm around his wife, bringing her close and whispering comforting words in her ear.

A fire was burning in one Charles Potter's eyes.

Those bastards crossed a line – no one came after his family and got away with it.

Oh, he knew just his kids' testimony alone wouldn't be enough to pin Malfoy down, but it didn't matter. He'd bribe his way out of it before one could say 'gold'.

Honestly, he'd half a mind to say he preferred it that way.

Because now, he would do everything in his power to make that bastard's life hell for coming after his two ten year-old, defenseless, innocent kids.

"Anyways," James mumbled, blushing embarrassingly at being caught in such a mushy moment. "We managed to get out of the village and lead them into the forest,"

The pair of them shared an evil grin now, eyes dancing wickedly. "And we sent some of our traps on them," Kagome's grin turned into a smug smirk. "Heard one of them broke a leg," she mused nonchalantly, and shook her head in mock sympathy.

Their parents blinked in mixed shock, awe, and pride.

'Well,' Charles thought, grinning unabashedly. 'Maybe not so defenseless...'

"Then Kirara," Kagome began, looking over at James meaningfully.

James was more than eager to explain this part. "Kirara was awesome!" he exclaimed wildly. "I don't know how but she transformed! She was huge – like a hippogriff but bigger! And she breaths fire like dragon and flies!" he went on excited, practically bouncing.

Kagome nodded eagerly. "She set Malfoy's hair on fire," she said slow, quiet voice, grinning like crazy. "It was hilarious."

Charles and Ella shared a look and they both knew what the other was thinking. They both knew how precious a Malfoy's hair was to them, and something like this would be sacrilegious to them.

And because of that, just imagining that bastard's face now, the two adults were reduced to tears.

James and Kagome were giggling. "After that, we rode Kirara back to the house while the git was distracted," James finished rather cheekily.

Once the two adults calmed down, they stared at their kids in astonishment. "I am glad you two have yet to turn all of your focus against us," Ella confessed happily, gathering them into a hug.

Charles nodded, joining in. "The pair of you are a force to be reckon with. I'm so proud," he told the two, messing James' hair up and planting a kiss upon the crown of Kagome's head. "We'll reinforce the wards, and expand them further into the forest," he assured them. "They won't get passed without us knowing," he promised, now scowling.

Ella nodded. "And no more trips to the village – not without one of us. I'm sorry loves, but it's not worth the risk." She snorted. "Even if you can take care of yourselves..." she murmured fondly.

James and Kagome shared a grin. "That's alright," James said happily.

"I think we've had enough excitement to last us until Hogwarts," Kagome chirped cheekily.

Words- 3,707

Hehehe, this was a fun chapter to write! XD One of my favs! James and Kagome combine their skills to take down the baddies, and Kirara shows off some bad-ass abilities XDD

I hope all of you loved that scene of Grandpa Malfoy's precious hair burning – because I giggled like crazy while writing that 'snickers evilly'.

Anyways, I hope you all liked it! ^^

Till laters!

RainLily^^

A big huge honking thanks to all those who read, alerted, and fav'd this fic, and to these awesome reviewers!

Ice Vixen, MoonPrincess1989, demon's purity, darksilvercloud, Bishonen'sFoxyMiko, greeen-eyed beauty, Tenshi 'Gome, SasoLOVE111, ladyyuuki16, ObsidianFrost, KagHieiLuver, kakashixangela, Chelly18, InfiniteWhiplash, Scrawny Scrivener, MidnightReader1, Magykrider, Crescent Melody, jkl, JollyLoser, Venas, Valleygoat, Bunny.W.K, ArmyWife22079,Azure-x-Rose, Callista Moon, ShiTsukisama, Quorinne, Sakura Lisel