Hello everyone! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas in particular to some (or belated, depending where you're at in the world). Here's a present to you guys! Read, Review, and of course, Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor claim to own, anything pertaining to Inuyasha or Harry Potter. Just the ideas that pop into my mind ;)
—Acceptance—
James left her with little choice on leaving Remus alone to his studying downstairs in the Common Room as her twin dragged her up to his dorm. "It's been months," he muttered under his breath as they climbed the stairs.
They found Sirius and Peter already waiting inside, perched on the edges of their respective beds when they slipped in. With his heel, James kicked the door shut behind them before sagging against it. Peering up at Kagome through his glasses with darkened hazel eyes, his lips thinned, pressed tightly into a white line. "And—and he looks like shite, Kagome."
She didn't ask what he was talking about. She didn't need to—outside, the moon was nearly full and yet Remus was still in the tower, despite that he looked haggard, pale, and slightly feverish. They had never seen him the night before the full moon, and now they knew why. He looked absolutely wrecked and others were noticing.
In some way it was fortunate that exams were just in a couple of days, because instead of being suspicious many just thought Remus was running himself ragged just studying. A couple of the prefects had already approached, suggesting that he took a break, but Remus was stubborn and gave them a polite smile before saying he was fine when he was clearly not.
A troubled look coming across her face, Kagome glanced at the others to see what they had to say.
Peter nodded, wearily swiping a palm over his face. "And let's not get into the guy's mood," he pointed out. Glancing over at Kagome, he waved an arm at her, adding, "He almost bit your head off yesterday."
Sirius snorted and pushed himself off his bed. "Guys, I don't think we can blame that on the full moon," he said amusedly, shrugging when they looked at him. "Pretty sure that's just a Remus thing."
The other two boys let out a collective snort. "But seriously though," James said, sobering, "It was a nice thought and all, waiting until he's ready to tell us, but… C'mon, Kagome, d'you still think it's for the best?"
"I know," she moaned softly, scrubbing her hand down her face. Trailing over to James' bed, she fell onto it heavily and stared up hard at the ceiling. "I thought—I didn't realize all of it would just basically end up guilting him!" She bit her lip, her whole body deflating as she sighed and threw her arms across her face. "I think he feels bad, because we're being so nice and he wants to tell us but he's so afraid."
"And it's all just really getting to him," Peter agreed in a soft murmur.
Sirius straightened, "So then…" he prompted, looking over at Kagome.
Kagome sat up, propped up by her elbows. When she looked at the boys, three expectant stares greeted her. She blinked, startled that they were all waiting for her. "If that's what you guys think we should do, then…" She swallowed thickly. "I guess we'll tell him."
o.O.o
It was the afternoon after the full moon when Remus returned from the hospital wing, and they were all upstairs studying when he came in. The door had barely shut when James, without even looking up from his Herbology text book, spoke up. "So, werewolf, huh?"
Remus jerked hard, back smacking against the door. His head snapped up, all color draining from his gaunt face as panic streaked across it. "What?" he croaked, stomach dropping. "What?"
Calmly, James marked his place and shut his book, setting it aside. Kagome had to reign in the urge to roll her eyes at his lack of tact but allowed herself a quiet mutter of, "Oh, for Merlin's sake."
James pointedly ignored her. "You're back early. Usually you spend a couple days with Madam Pomfrey after the full moon. Must not have been as bad, since it's only the day after."
Remus' mouth flapped open and shut uselessly.
"Chocolate?" Peter offered, a bundled block in his palm. "We read it helps the full moon after-effects."
James eyes narrowed at Peter;s before widening shortly thereafter. An indignant noise escaped his throat. "Hey, that's from my stash!" Kagome subtly elbowed him in the stomach, giving him a meaningful look to match his subsequent glare, and he hurriedly backtracked. "I mean," he grunted, still giving his twin the evil eye. "You can have it, I don't mind."
Numbly, Remus stepped forward and accepted the block, unwrapping it silently, almost mechanically so, and popping it in his mouth. Peter smiled before returning to his notes.
Sirius idly turned a page in his own text. James grumbled as he picked up his Charms text book and cracked it open. Kagome watched Remus from the corner of her eye as he chewed slowly, still processing.
"Am I dreaming?" he finally muttered, giving each of them a half-horrified, half-confused glance.
"Mate, you've got some weird dreaming habits if you think this is one of yours," Sirius murmured.
"A nightmare then," Remus snapped, and they all went still, "Because I could've have sworn James just said—" He choked off, unable to say it—to actually admit it out loud to them.
"Werewolf?" Kagome finished gently. "You'd be right. It's not like it's much a surprise."
"Not anymore, at least," Sirius snorted.
James shrugged, pushing his book away and leaning back to give Remus a bold stare. "We just got tired of hiding it from you."
"You got tired of—"Remus stopped short and shook his head. "You knew—you all knew—" His shoulders fell. He looked resigned. He looked more tired than he did when he walked in, and sadder at that.
He looked like he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"For how long?"
"Since March," Peter admitted. He opened his mouth to go on but paused for a moment, not sure if he should continue, before deciding to and soldiering on. "We were gonna wait, but we figured it might help with studying if you had less to deal with. Now you don't have to worry about lying and keeping it a secret from us."
Silence, tense, heavy silence filled the room and Kagome exhaled loudly. Remus' head snapped over at her and she fidgeted under his heavy, expectant gaze. Not knowing what else to do, she held up her own Charms tome and offered a sheepish smile. "So, since you're here, you wanna review?"
"Do I—that's it?!" Remus exclaimed incredulously, glancing between the four of them. "That's all you have to say? You know that I'm a werewolf, that I've been lying since I've met you guys, and all you have to say is "Do you wanna review?"
Kagome's mouth dropped, and she couldn't believe that Remus was actually glaring at her. "Are—are you angry at us?" she sputtered. "Seriously?"
Remus, for his part, just kept glaring at her.
Kagome didn't know how to feel about that.
James jumped off his bed, stalking towards Remus. "So you have a—a furry little problem once a month!" he exclaimed wildly, throwing his hands up in the air as he approached. Peter and Sirius moved to join him. "What of it?! We're your best friends! You think we care?!"
It honestly was a struggle for Kagome not to grin in pride and coo at her brother's sweet declaration of friendly loyalty.
"I—" Remus looked away, the animosity bleeding from him as his shoulders dropped. "Don't you want a friend that's normal?" he finally said, gaze downcast.
James scoffed, jabbing a thumb in Sirius' direction as Remus looked up. "I'm friends with him, and he's far from normal," he said glibly. His thumb moved to point over his shoulder. "And don't even get me started on my sister!"
Wait—what?
All admiration for her twin vanished in a second flat as she joined Sirius in glaring at him frostily.
o.O.o
Remus, however, was staring at them in astonishment because it just wasn't possible. They couldn't be serious. They couldn't really mean...
"What?" James scoffed, raising an eyebrow at the ousted werewolf and his stunned expression. "You seriously thought we'd actually turn our backs on you, just for something like that?"
Remus said nothing—he didn't know what to say, to be honest. He could only marvel at the light tone James said that with; as if his lifelong, dangerous curse, that the fact he transformed monthly into a wild, mindless beast that could tear them into tiny pieces without a second thought, was nothing but a passing fancy.
The bespectacled Potter snorted, the bangs of his dark messy hair flinging to the side with a shake of his head to give a clear way for his narrowed eyes to pin Remus with a stare. "It'll take more than your furry little problem to chase us away," he said seriously.
My furry little problem, Remus repeated silently with faint incredulity, mouth slightly going slack. The relief that washed through his veins at the sight of their acceptance plain across their faces, finally setting in…it was unimaginable.
They really didn't care…
"We're still your friends," Peter declared with a mild grin.
Sirius threw his head back in laughter as James tossed an arm around his shoulders. "To be honest, mate, you're the one that got the short end of the stick in this friendship."
Kagome stepped up to stand beside her brother, arms crossed as she looked at him with a gentle expression on her face. "Face it, Remus," she told him slowly, adopting a mock-sympathetic tone, like a doctor would a patient when the results were bad. Remus might have been wary if it wasn't terribly offset by the way her eyes danced playfully.
"For good or bad—mostly bad, if you want us to be honest," James added cheekily.
Both she and her brother winked as they cheerfully concluded, "You're stuck with us!"
For a moment, Remus could only stare at them in stunned silence, and they barely got a glimpse of his lips twitching just slightly before he ran a palm across his face. "Nutters," he breathed out, heavy with disbelief as he shook his head. "Nutters," he repeated with more conviction, "the whole lot of you."
Snorting, Kagome rocked on her heels. "So, now that the dramatics are out of the way…" She trailed off at Remus' incredulous look.
Snickering at her, James shook his head. "Is there anything we can do to help?" he asked earnestly.
"Aside from help keeping it a secret and dodging any and all questions of a suspicious nature, of course," Sirius added with a slight grin.
"The transformations are hard on you, right?" Peter asked gently. "I mean, your scars…"
Remus became withdrawn, fidgeting uncomfortably. "The scars… they're from myself. The call of the moon is strong, and it's hard on the wolf, its nature, to be contained when there's so much…" he trailed off, trying to find the right word for it. "Energy," Remus finally said, "to be burned off. So, I uh, I usually end up taking it against myself, as a distraction."
The rest of them flinched collectively at the image it conjured.
Not wanting to linger on what was obviously a tender subject, Sirius let out a thoughtful hum. "So, you just need someone to distract you and play with your wolfy self, eh?"
Remus snorted, ruffling his hair idly. "Well, unless you're secretly an animal, there's no way you can get within twenty feet of me before I attack." His head suddenly snapped up as something just occurred to him. "So, no, don't even think about sneaking out during the full moon," he said seriously, fixing each of them with a look, his amber eyes cutting and fierce.
They've never seen Remus like this before, so serious, so severe and commanding.
"I mean it, guys. I mean it. None of you are ever coming near me when I'm—I'm like that," he said with a barely concealed shudder, and his ferocity gave way for something akin to distress. "I could bite you. I could kill you, and, and—I could never forgive myself if I ever hurt you guys." His face was the picture of pleading and his voice the epitome of desperate. "So, please, promise me you'll never go and follow me
They stared at him. "I—shite, of course mate," Sirius hurried to agree as they all nodded, not wanting to see him so upset for a moment longer.
"Don't worry," Kagome added. "We promise never to put you in that position. Ever."
Remus took the time to look at the separately, as if gauging them and the resolve behind that promise. Apparently he was satisfied with what he saw, that they were taking this seriously, because he relaxed, relief taking over his face. "Thank you," he confessed quietly, peering at them with a shy smile. "Really, thanks guys. You—you have no idea how much this means to me."
They all politely ignored how his voice shook when he spoke.
Well, the boys did. Kagome just caved into the urge to hug him. "Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" she said as she stepped forward and gathered him into her arms.
Remus returned the hug with all he had, squeezing firmly and burying his face against the curve of her neck. "Yeah," he breathed out, voice wrought with emotion. "Yeah, I'm getting that."
"Hey," James said, sounding a bit flustered. "You're not—you're not gonna cry though, right?"
Kagome let out a startled laugh, exasperated, and as they pulled away, she caught Remus' gaze, who rolled his eyes at her brother.
"Don't worry," the werewolf said dryly. "No one will be throwing up their feelings on you today."
"Good," James replied with a huff, turning on his heel. "I've got better things than acting like a bunch of little girls."
He stumbled and fell with a squawk when Kagome hit him with a stinging spell.
Peter shook his head, snickering under his breath. "Really mate, you should know better than using being a girl an insult," he murmured as he stepped over his best friend to move to his bed.
"You would think I've trained it out of him by now," Kagome joked as she crouched before her brother. His fierce glare though only seemed to tickle her in amusement. "Sometimes he regresses though."
Remus and Sirius snickered.
James growled as he pushed himself up from the ground. "I really hate you sometimes," he grouched, stomping over to his own bed.
Kagome took her seat beside him. "Love you too bro, love you too," she said sweetly, happily pecking him on the cheek.
o.O.o
Later, however, when they were to head down for lunch, Kagome waited until Remus and Peter had already left before she strode past her brother as he set aside his things, Sirius in tow.
Her eyes swirled with promise as she glided right past him. "You'll be paying for that 'far from normal' remark," she said simply with an undertone that had her brother shivering.
Sirius, the prat, merely gave him an evil, giddy little grin as he walked along with Kagome.
o.O.o
By the time he went to sleep, James figured Kagome's threat was just an empty one.
When he woke up, it was to the sound of laughing. James cracked an eye open only to find his vision blocked by something fluffy and white. Still half-asleep, he just swiped at it lethargically.
It was then his fingers brushed over something soft and furry over what was supposed to be his cheek.
He shot up, hands patting his face only to find it completely covered. He reached for his glasses, shoved them on, and froze when he caught sight of his hands. His gaze traveled up his arms with mounting dread.
Feathers. They were covered with feathers. Fluffy, multi-coloured feathers—which, James would admit privately, was a nice touch. A quick tug told him they were stuck on him good.
Staring up at the ceiling of his four poster, James just sighed. Kagome. Of course.
He really needed to figure out a way to get past the enchantment to the girl's staircase. It was only fair that he—or one of the others—could pay her back in kind when such a moment arose. At the very least, they would be allowed to bring their brooms next year so that was something.
His roommates, who were still laughing, laughed even harder at his sigh. It sounded like someone was even choking, and as it came from across the room and to the left, James figured it was Peter.
To his left, Sirius was tucked away in his own bed, smirking at him.
Rolling his eyes, James shoved down his duvet and stomped over to the bathroom. "You guys suck, just so you know," he said flippantly.
Sirius' smirk widened.
And as if the feathers weren't bad enough—because, of course, gaudy feathers weren't nearly enough—when he stood before the mirror he could only stare blankly at his reflection because his hair was coloured a nasty, puke green.
James sighed, lips twitching. At least the hair was easily fixed. The feathers, however, were not until he knew what his sister and Sirius used.
He also had to ask them how they managed to do this without waking him up, especially when his whole body was covered in feathers.
Merlin, he couldn't even be angry. He was too busy bloody admiring their work.
o.O.o
Exam days passed in a blur filled with a flurry of cramming and much moaning on the necessity of exams in the first place.
On what would be their night before the last day of exams found Kagome leaning against Sirius, resting her chin on his shoulder. She tilted her head just so, so that she could see his profile, and for the moment, she watched as he studied diligently.
He didn't really need to study, as he proclaimed multiple times whenever she and Remus needled him. And it was true: he could easily get, at the very least, above average grades on some of the exams without even trying, such as DADA and Transfiguration. He was confident enough, that was for sure.
Sirius was smart and was quick to grasp the theory and practical if the subject was something he was even slightly interested in. The only subjects he ever had trouble with was history—which no one could blame him, Kagome was even hard-pressed to stay awake in that lesson—and occasionally charms. If he had bothered to try, he'd be one of the top students in their year.
Unfortunately homework never did interest him, so he usually did it last minute with minimal effort which didn't do his grades any good. James didn't help either—in fact, they enabled each other to procrastinate.
However, Remus' disappointed stares proved to be too much for him to resist in the end and so here they were, pouring over their past assignments and notes for History and quizzing each other.
They had been studying for three hours when she decided enough was enough. History of Magic wasn't going to be a hard exam at all since the only things Binns taught about were the Goblin Wars. So, setting down her lecture notes Kagome exhaled loudly, almost obnoxiously so, right by her friend's ear and grinned when Sirius' lips betrayed him, twitching. "All work and no play makes Sirius a dull boy," she sung teasingly.
Sirius went still, mouth curving at the edges to from a devilish grin. Her own grin widened as he caught on. But Sirius played it nonchalant, casually setting down his quill to pick up his parchment, feigning looking over it. "And what would you suggest?"
"Well," Kagome drawled out. "It's the end of the year. We haven't really done any pranks, not anything big really, since April Fool's. I figure we should kick off the summer with a bang."
Sirius twisted in his seat to eye her suspiciously, took in the wry curve of her lips and the challenging arch of her eyebrow. "You've been giving this some thought, haven't you?"
Kagome lounged back and gave a lazy shrug. "I got bored of studying."
o.O.o
"And here we sit, another year gone by…"
Gathered together at the Gryffindor table, the Marauders sat with the rest of their House as they and their fellow students attended the end-of-the-year feast.
The Great Hall was decked to the nines in blue and bronze in honor of Ravenclaw who had won the House Cup the previous year, a huge banner depicting the Ravenclaw eagle draped against the wall behind the High Table.
At said table stood Dumbledore as he addressed his students with a smile, the Great Hall silenced to a hush as they paid him close attention. "I won't dither much," he continued on rather cheerfully. "I wouldn't dare, not with such delectable deserts waiting to be tucked into. The house cup is to be awarded, and the thus stand the points: In fourth place, Slytherin with three hundred and fifty-six points; in third, Ravenclaw, with three hundred and ninety-four; Gryffindor has four hundred and seventy-three."
From the far right, cheers began to erupt. Dumbledore waved his hand across the room; the blue and bronze hangings disappeared and the banner behind the High Table became blank. "Which leaves Hufflepuff to win the house cup with five hundred and seven points!"
A roar broke out from the Hufflepuff table as many jumped up from their seats and cheered. Just as Dumbledore finished he clapped his hands and grinned broadly, yellow and black hangings unfurling from the ceiling and a badger appearing where the Ravenclaw eagle once was, as per usual when the winner of the house cup was announced.
Everyone's skin, hair, and clothes turning into a pattern of yellow and black stripes, however, were not as per usual.
There was a split second silence before most of the students burst out laughing. The cheers kicked up a notch, the table full of badgers throwing their hands up, pumping fists wildly in the air and cheering even louder. There was some disgruntled muttering scattered across the other tables, but for the most part, if the other students weren't politely clapping, they were giving cheers of their own.
Many of the Slytherins, the older ones in particular, were the exception with their glaring.
With his twinkling eyes skipping across the Marauders, Dumbledore shook his head, happily ignoring them as they discreetly tucked their wands back into their sleeves and smiled widely.
"And of course," he said loudly, over the commotion, which quickly quieted down as he spoke up. "Congratulations to the Seventh Years. I offer the best of luck in your endeavors as you all venture into the next stage of your life. You may forget Hogwarts, but Hogwarts will never forget you."
The Great Hall broke out into roaring applause the moment Dumbledore finished his speech. The volume racketed up as suddenly, confetti rained upon them. Cheers and hoots filled the room.
Sirius let out a loud whoop and held out a hand for James to high five. The Potter didn't fail to follow through.
Kagome's grin faltered when she looked down the Great Hall and winced. James chuckled weakly when he saw why.
From up front Professor McGonagall, yellow stripes standing out starkly against her dark robes and hair, was glaring down at them sternly, having no doubt on whom the perpetrators behind the incidents were.
"Well, at least we can't get detention now…" James remarked with heavy relief. The others let out a few feeble chuckles.
Remus idly rubbed at his striped forearm. "Hey guys, how did you manage to get the clothes to change as well?"
Sirius perked up, bouncing in his seat. "Experimented with combining the potions, and using a spell to activate it."
Remus let out a thoughtful hum. Peter spoke up, still grinning. "How long is this supposed to last anyway?"
Kagome and Sirius froze and turned to look at each other. They both cringed.
Remus saw and stared at them. "You don't know," he stated, slowly enunciating each word with a flat voice. Thankfully many were still cheering or too fascinated with their prank to pay attention to what he was saying. "How do you not know? Didn't you test this?" Remus asked, his voice hitching up an octave as he spoke.
"Ah," Kagome said, trying to stall. "Well, we tested it on ourselves, of course. We would never use it otherwise."
Sirius took over from here, giving a sheepish chuckle. "We just… we used the counter-spell instead of waiting it out."
Peter palmed his face and laughed.
"Well, you used the potions from the prank book, yeah?" James asked, unconcerned, picking out a bit of confetti from his goblet before taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. When the pair nodded, James just waved Remus' concerns off. "I reckon it should just wash off then if it doesn't wear off on its own."
"Not if using a spell messed with the effects," Remus muttered.
Kagome and Sirius shared another look. "I'm sure it didn't," she said, not too convincingly. "At the very least it might take a couple of extra washes, but I'm sure it's not permanent."
Remus looked skeptical, but said no more as desert finally appeared and a tempting chocolate cake distracted him.
o.O.o
"So," Kagome drew out two days later, her things packed and ready to go. She was perched at the edge of her trunk as she watched Lily finish up, petting Kirara as the nekomata napped in her lap. The rest of their dorm-mates had already finished and headed downstairs to wait to head over to the station.
"It was okay," Lily admitted grudgingly as she shoved a shirt, balled up, into the edge so that it'd fit. Her hair and skin were still coloured yellow and black—though the yellow was faded so much that they could be only discerned in her hair when the light hit it just right. Whether it was her hair or the amount of times she washed it, Kagome didn't know. "The confetti was a nice touch. I just wish this would wear off already," she mock-complained, tugging at her striped hair.
There was an unspoken understanding between Lily and herself—whenever whatever prank she pulled with her friends that in any way included Lily herself, Kagome would keep a polite distance away from the redhead—in the case that there might be any potential hard feelings—until the next day or unless Lily approached her first.
Lily had a temper. Kagome was familiar with it, but only through her relation to James, who had a knack for rubbing the muggleborn the wrong way, much to his own consternation. And since pranking had to do with James, and add in the fact that Lily did not often appreciate their pranking just on principle, it was just better to be safe than sorry to keep the peace in their dorms and between themselves.
Huffing out a laugh, Kagome regarded the redhead with a grin. The stripes on her skin were more pronounced and since her hair was already dark, only the yellow stripes in her hair could be picked out. "Which from you is a huge compliment," she replied, skipping over the colour issue. "I'll be sure not let James in on that, though," she joked, snickering at the horrified face it drew.
Lily shook her head, lips pursed as she tried not to smile. "How did you get everyone's skin and clothes to change colors when Professor Dumbledore announced that Hufflepuff won the House cup anyway?"
Kagome gave a secretive grin. "A prankster never reveals their secret."
Lily eyed her with her large green eyes. Harry's face flickered in Kagome's mind, and she shifted with discomfort. "I'm pretty sure you mean magician," she said slowly, raising a thin eyebrow.
The Potter shrugged. "You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to."
Still eyeing her, Lily let out a small laugh. "You'll write, won't you?" she implored, peering at Kagome hesitantly.
Kagome nodded. "Of course! And, I know we haven't hung out much this year, but maybe during the summer we can?"
Lily looked hesitant and Kagome almost laughed. "I won't bring my brother, if that's what you're worried about."
The red-head looked a tiny bit ashamed. "I know he's your sibling, but I always hang out with Severus, and they—"
"No, seriously Lily," Kagome cut in. "I understand."
She did, truly, because remaining friends with Severus didn't make Lily many friends in her own house. The only other girl she was close to was Mary, and probably because the girl herself was muggleborn as well and wasn't raised in the belief that Slytherins and Gryffindors just don't mix. Unfortunately, Mary was incredibly shy—sweet and almost painfully polite, but ultimately shy.
And she was also pretty sure Severus and his… closed off personality and incredibly dry snark frightened Mary off a bit. First impressions weren't exactly the Slytherin's forte.
Kagome was probably the only Gryffindor that didn't bat an eye at Lily's stubborn refusal to leave Severus and their friendship behind, and that was likely only be credited to her knowledge of the future.
If nothing else, she admired Lily's loyalty to her friend. And Severus wasn't too bad once one got to know him enough that he let his walls down a bit.
"I know they don't get along—they really got off on the wrong foot," Kagome went on to say, lips twitching but not saying anything when Lily snorted at how much of an understatement that was. "And I know that you two don't get along much either. It's okay."
Lily gave a sheepish smile as she continued to stuff her things into her trunk. "Sometimes James is okay. He is…funny," she admitted, though it looked almost painful for her to do so. Kagome snickered, and Lily rolled her eyes at her. "But honestly, other times he opens his mouth and…" she trailed off with a helpless shrug.
Kagome winced and tried to smile. "Yeah, I guess," she murmured awkwardly because he was her brother after all, and she was of the mature opinion that only she could insult or be mean to him.
Not that she would, of course. Sometimes.
Well, only when he was mean first and deserved it, anyway.
Lily knew better than to linger on the touchy subject. "Maybe you can come over? Sleep over maybe?"
Kagome nodded. "I'll bring Kirara too!" she chirped, but then paused, remembering Kirara was a two-tailed cat. "Well, if that's alright with your parents."
Lily grinned, nodding. "Should be," she replied, shutting her trunk. She frowned when it wouldn't close all the way. She sat on it and when she looked down she sighed. The lid was just barely open, but the latch needed a little more room before it could fasten and lock. "Our neighborhood's small, we'll just have to keep her out of sight. Though, my sister…" She trailed off and casted Kagome a pleading look and her grin turned sheepish. "Help?"
Kagome jumped up. "Oh, well that should be easy then," she replied as she walked over, taking a seat once Lily scooted to the side to make room.
The added weight was enough to press the lid shut and Lily made a triumphant noise as she finally closed the latch.
Sharing a look, the pair erupted in giggles.
"Next year, let's look into shrinking charms."
o.O.o
In one of the many compartments of the Hogwarts Express sat five young Gryffindors, laughter filling the room to each corner.
The scenery passed by in a blur as the train charged on but no one but one really took noticed.
Kagome, like the others, was happy that the year was over and summer had arrived. But it was bittersweet.
Another year had gone by, just that much closer to the war. And to 1981, when life would go to hell.
Or at least, for everyone else. She wasn't sure if Kagome Melinda Potter would even exist past October 31st, 1981 if she failed in defeating Voldemort.
Sighing, Kagome curled onto the bench, resting against the wall as she gazed out the window. The thought wasn't one she liked to linger on.
A mute explosion sounded to her left, where the boys were playing exploding snap on the floor. A glance saw a grin plastered across Sirius' face and his eyebrows singed and smoking: half of one was actually missing.
With an amused shake of her head, Kagome turned back to the window to think. Usually she would be down there right with them, but she had begged off claiming she was feeling tired and just wanted to rest on the ride home.
And she was. Just more mentally and emotionally exhausted instead of physically so.
She was young. Too young. That's what she'd been telling herself all year. It wasn't like she could do much, eleven years old and just starting to do magic with no idea how she could defeat Voldemort.
And there was a how. There was a specific how, because why else did Harry Potter, not even of age, be the one who had to defeat the much older wizard when there were other strong wizards and witches with much more experience? Why not Dumbledore, who was proclaimed to be one of the most powerful wizards alive?
There was a catch, she was sure of it. But she had yet to have a flashback that laid out exactly what she had to do.
The jewel said she would receive information when it was needed, so she could only assume she had yet to receive the pertinent information because it was too soon and she wouldn't be able to do anything with it if she knew.
So with what she had, she knew she needed to train—she needed to plan. And she could start by making small changes. Getting close to Severus and Peter was a good start.
She just hoped it was good enough.
Speaking of Peter, he interrupted her thoughts with a quiet question and a soft touch to her shoulder. "Hey, Kagome? You awake?"
She shifted to glance at her friend, looking into his pale, round blue eyes. "Yeah, Pete?"
"Cart's coming through. Want anything?"
After a pause, she nodded, moving to stand up. Peter stepped back to give her room. "Yeah, I could do with something to drink," she commented, stretching, fingertips reaching towards the ceiling.
Peter's face split into a wide smile. "We're gonna get some Bernie Bott's and make a game of guessing the flavors. Wanna join?"
It startled a laugh from her. "Yeah. Sounds fun."
Nodding excitedly, he turned and crossed the room to the door. Kagome lingered for a moment, watching him.
I hope it works. If not to save James and Lily and Harry and Sirius, but to save you as well…
She just wished she knew what turned Pete in the first place, so she could make sure it didn't happen this go around.
(AN –To be deleted later)
Probably should have waited until this was beta-read and properly edited, but I wanted a Christmas update, something to give you guys, and since I'm cooking this year I don't have much time. I'm actually on a break right now from cooking, so yeah, gotta rush. Sorry if this sucks!
If there are any glaring mistakes, feel free to point them out and I'll fix accordingly.
Gratitude to Venas, who I believe once in the past suggested using confetti for a prank, and for the marauders to do a prank for graduation/ the end of the year feast. I wasn't planning to do a prank in the first place, and it wasn't exactly the prank you had in mind.
Someone asked for more Lily/Kag interaction, and I hope this is good enough (for now). There'll be more later, during the summer. And more Severus/Kag interaction as well.
Oh, and there's a fanart of one of the scenes. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but since I finally reached the scene the fanart was actually about, I thought I would do so again. On deviantArt, sweetlessly drew this gorgeous art about the Marauders telling Remus that they don't care he's a werewolf—that he's their friend and that's all that mattered. Fittingly, it's called "Acceptance," which I named this chapter after. There should be a link to it on my profile; if not, just PM me, and I'll pass it on.
Okay, I think that's all. I'll come back later and do a better job at proofing this and fix any mistakes I missed when I have the time. Probably tomorrow.
And for those who read "In a World of Deception," look for an update today. Or maybe tomorrow, if I don't make it in time. I'll try. Again, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and have a happy New Year! Be safe!
—RainLily^^