Hey everybody!

Well, first of all, Happy Holidays, whether it be Christmas, Chanukah, or something else. Consider this a belated holiday present.

Now, I'd like to clear up a few misunderstandings that have come up with the last chapter.

- The main EMOTIONAL yaoi pairing in this fic WILL be Hiei/Kurama. I promise. That's not to say that there might be some physical yaoi, but it will be physical only. There will also be some other yaoi pairings, but those will be coming later.

- Professor Renton is, and I know this will come as a shock, completely aware that Kurama is a male. And yes, he was hitting on Kurama. He hits on everyone. ::smile:: He's based off of me.

- Hiei was HORRIBLY OOC in the last chapter. I'm sorry, Hiei fans. I'll try to fix him for this one. ::pouts:: It's not my fault, Hiei's HARD to write.

- Ditto to Draco. Draco's OOC-ness will be explained further in later chapters.

Okay, well, now that that's out of the way, on with the fic!!

Majikku no Seirei: Chapter 7

Married With Children

This wizarding school; Hiei decided; was far too monotonous for his liking.

By the third week of September, Hiei was already bored with the constant routine of the school—get up, go to breakfast, double Potions with the Gryffindors, Care of Magical Creatures with the Gryffindors, Herbology, have a fifteen-minute break, eat lunch, Divination, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Transfiguration, Charms, dinner, then back to the Slytherin common room to do homework, and then to bed.

It was a welcome surprise when Kurama came up to him at breakfast on Saturday to ask if he'd like to do some light sparring.

Forcing back a shout of joy, he schooled his face into a neutral expression and asked; "Are you sure you're up to it?"

Kurama nodded, pulling up his shirt slightly. The wound had closed as much as it ever would. A raised scar remained, and probably always would, but it was healed. At Hiei's nod, he pulled his shirt back down. "So how about it?"

Hiei nodded, a grateful look coming into his eyes. "I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, Hiei stood next to the lake, dressed in his signature black pants, tank top, and boots. His katana was strapped firmly to his back, and he crossed his arms over his shirt, waiting for Kurama.

The redhead in question came running up to him five minutes later, wearing black training pants and a short, sleeveless black tunic. He smiled, when he saw Hiei's attire. "I take it you're happy to be out of the school uniform?"

"That uniform is ridiculous." Hiei muttered, glancing over Kurama's clothing. "Where are your shoes?"

Kurama wiggled his toes in the damp grass. "Don't need them. The ground is still warm enough."

"In other words, so it's easier for you to absorb ki from the grass." Despite himself, the corner of Hiei's mouth twitched up.

Kurama grinned. "Precisely. So, any particular rules of combat?"

"The first one to get the other in an inescapable position wins, and no critical blows." Hiei said promptly.

"In other words, the usual?" Kurama assumed a defensive stance, threading his fingers into his hair for a seed.

"Hn;" Hiei said simply, whipping his katana out of its sheath and charging.

Kurama brought his rose whip up at the last second, pulling it taut and blocking Hiei's strike. In an instant, the whip had shrunk and stiffened, becoming a simple grass blade, but just as sharp as Hiei's sword.

Hiei's next strike was predictable, and Kurama flipped out of the way, turning a somersault in the air and landing cleanly on one knee in time to parry an overhead swing from Hiei. He was an instant late, and the blade managed to nick his cheek, but he twisted and blocked the full force of the blow. Hiei leapt up, spinning in the air until his body was completely vertical and angling his blade downwards.

Kurama's eyes widened. 'He'll never be able to pull out of that! The little bastard is going to run me through!' He twisted his body out of harm's way, just as Hiei jerked his body the other way, landing cleanly on his feet.

Kurama glared at him. "That was a cheap shot."

Hiei gave him a slightly feral grin.

Kurama sniffed. "Fine, have it your way." Dropping to one knee, he buried his hands in the moist earth. The grass under Hiei's feet sharpened and lengthened, and Hiei let out a surprised grunt of pain, leaping up to avoid being skewered. From the air, he glared at the smirking kitsune. "That's unfair."

"All's fair in love and war, Hiei." Kurama said with a smile.

"And this is neither;" Hiei snarled. He dashed to Kurama, putting ki into his speed. Kurama gasped softly when Hiei appeared in front of him, and felt the point of Hiei's katana at his throat. Hiei smirked. "I win."

Kurama looked startled, then he smiled slyly. "Are you sure? Look behind you."

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Hiei turned slightly. Poised directly behind him were several razor-sharp blades of glass. The point of one glinted wickedly in the morning sunlight. Swallowing, he turned back to Kurama.

The redhead's eyes glinted wickedly. "A draw?"

"A draw;" Hiei agreed reluctantly, sheathing his sword and helping Kurama to his feet.

"Whoa;" said a voice.

The two demons turned. A rather large crowd had gathered to watch the sparring, and were gazing at them in awe.

Kurama chuckled. "I think they liked us;" he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.

"Hn;" Hiei snorted. He studied Kurama for a moment, just to make sure his red-haired friend hadn't over-exerted himself. He needn't have worried—Kurama's eyes were sparkling in a way they hadn't in a long time, and the dirt smudging his face, arms and hands seemed to heighten his natural beauty.

Kurama caught him looking. "What?"

"Hn. Nothing." Hiei muttered, looking away.

Kurama laughed. "You don't need to worry. I'm fine. That was more fun then I've had in awhile." His tone was playful, but his eyes were sincere. "Thank you, Hiei."

A faint flush colored Hiei's cheeks. "Hn."

"Right, then;" Kurama said cheerfully. "I think we aught to either change clothes, or go another round." He reached up, tying his hair back into a ponytail, anticipating Hiei's answer. "Well?"

Shrugging off his earlier embarrassment, Hiei smirked. "Get your guard up, fox. After all, you wouldn't want me to slip."

Kurama grinned. "No, I wouldn't, would I?"

"He's staring at you again."

Kurama glanced at Harry. "Who is?"

"Professor Renton;" Harry replied, mixing ketchup into his scrambled eggs.

Kurama peered up at the High Table. He caught Professor Renton's eye. The other man grinned and waved slightly. Kurama looked back at Harry, accepting the plate of toast Hermione passed him. "I don't think so, Harry. You must've been imagining it."

Harry shook his head. "He was definitely staring at you, mate. Back me up, Ron, you saw him."

Ron nodded, swallowing forcefully. "He was. It looked sort of like the way Hermione used to look at Lockhart."

"Who?"

"No one;" Hermione said hastily.

Kurama glanced at Ron, who was grinning. "No, really;" he said, leaning forward on his elbows. "Who was he?"

"Just…one of our old professors;" she mumbled, suddenly becoming very interested in her goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Aha." Kurama raised an eyebrow, but decided to take pity on the poor girl. He looked back at the staff table. This time, he saw Professor Renton turn his head sharply away, striking up a conversation with Professor McGonagall.

"Told you so;" Harry said with a satisfied tone to his voice.

"A'right, then, e'erybody listen up." Hagrid clapped his hands loudly. "Can e'eryone hear me?"

"This is absolutely disgusting." Kurama muttered to Hiei, motioning to the mud they were standing in. The fire demon nodded darkly.

"Now, I know there're some questions about our…er…location for t'day;" Hagrid began.

"No, really?" Draco muttered under his breath. Blaise heard and elbowed him in the ribs.

"T'day;" Hagrid announced, "we're all gonna split into groups of two. Each group will receive a baby Hsigo. Now, can anyone tell me what a Hsigo is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Hermione?"

"Hsigo, or Hsiao, originated in China. They have a human face, the body of a monkey, the tail of a dog, and the wings of an owl. They've been seen by some humans in the past, but are considered folklore."

Hagrid beamed. "Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor."

The Slytherins rolled their eyes, muttering about know-it-alls.

"Now, then;" Hagrid said loudly. "As I said earlier, you're all going to split into partners. The groups will be decided by pulling names out of a hat. Everyone got that?"

The students exchanged nervous glances.

"Right. Here we go, then." He reached into the sack he had been holding and pulled out a strip of parchment. "Neville Longbottom;" Neville stepped forward cautiously. "Parvati Patil." The two of them sighed with relief. "Vincent Crabbe…Seamus Finnegan." Seamus groaned.

Ten minutes later….

"Harry Potter…" Hagrid pulled out the next name and froze. Harry's heart sank. "…Draco Malfoy."

Harry moaned. "Could be worse, mate;" Ron said bitterly. Ron had been partnered with Millicent Bulstrode.

"Last, here…Kurama Minamino, Hiei Jaganshi."

The two demons looked at each other. Kurama smiled, Hiei rolled his eyes.

"That it? Everyone got your partner? Good. One partner, head back to the cabin. You'll find stations set up with food, water bottles, and other necessities for your hsigo. The remaining partner, follow me to pick up your new baby." He grinned happily. "These hsigo are newborn, and will recognize you as their parents. At the end of term, you'll be graded on how well your hsigo has grown. Any questions? Alright then. Off you go."

"It's kind of cute, when you think about it." Kurama said, coming over to Hiei with a tiny, blanket-wrapped bundle in his hand.

Hiei straightened, a basket filled with baby food, spoons, and bottles balanced against his hip. He raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You're not serious."

"I'm perfectly serious. Look." He bent down a bit, pulling the blanket away from the hsigo's face. The face was human, surrounded by soft brown fur. It yawned; showing slightly pointed teeth, and opened its eyes. "Oh, Inari," Kurama cooed softly. "Look how blue its eyes are!"

Hiei looked at him in disgust. "You sound like a human…mother."

Kurama chuckled, straightening and adjusting the hsigo's blanket. "Well, I am in a way. After all, we are going to be raising this little one, so we're going to be…surrogate parents, I suppose." He looked at Hiei and smiled. "If I'm the mother, I guess that makes you the 'father', hm?"

Hiei set the basket down and rubbed his temples. It was going to be a long term.

"I can't believe this." Harry muttered.

Draco glared at him. "I'm not to happy about the arrangement either, Potter. But it's this, or fail the class, and you're not worth a failing grade." The hsigo in Draco's arms whimpered at his tone and squirmed. "Hush, kid;" Draco ordered, but his voice was gentler than before. The tiny form mumbled something incoherently and snuggled against Draco's chest.

Harry stared. "I didn't know you were so good with children."

Draco shrugged. "I'm not. This one obviously doesn't have very good judgment yet."

Harry grinned. "That explains it. Can I hold it?"

"I guess. And 'it' is a 'she', according to that oaf who calls himself a professor." Almost reluctantly, he relinquished the baby to Harry. "Watch her head."

Harry obeyed, sitting next to Draco on the bench. Hagrid had set up a bench and table for each group. "Watch what you say about Hagrid. He's really smarter than you think."

Draco snorted. "And I suppose Weasel is smarter than I think he is, too?"

"Yes, for you information, he is."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Look, Malfoy, do you want to take this outside?"

"We are outside, Potter, but I'd be glad to."

"Bring it on, then—" The hsigo, startled by their raised voices, started to wail.

Moving faster than Harry would have judged possible, Draco took the hsigo from Harry and cradled her gently, rocking her into submission. "Shh, now, it's alright, it's okay;" He glared up at Harry. "You need to learn to keep your voice down, Potter, you're upsetting the baby."

Harry looked at him a moment, then burst out laughing. "You just sounded…" he managed to gasp; "exactly like a mother…"

Draco eyed him warily for a moment, and then smiled hesitantly.

Yuck. Fluff, fluff, fluff…okay, consider that your "not-really-eventful-but-sort-of-a-present" chapter. I didn't like it either. I just wanted to throw in a little Harry/Draco interaction, because frankly I think the two of them are adorable. And, of course, I decided to give the Hiei/Kurama fans some HK cuteness…

Don't even ask me what I was thinking with the title of this chapter. I don't know what I was thinking with the title of this chapter.

Reviewer Responses:

J: Hope that wasn't too long a wait.

Chelley Angel: If you feel sorry for Kurama now, you're going to be downright depressed later…Happy Holidays to you, too.

Kami Anya: Wow. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE getting long reviews, so first off, thank you. I hope this chapter gave you a bit of satisfaction as far as G/S interaction. And it's good to know that you're a Harry/Draco fan, because ::covers mouth:: Oops! Almost let something slip…::wink::

Oya: As stated at the beginning of the chapter, YES, they ARE going to get together. Kurama might fall for said bishounen in the meantime, though…

Rogueicephoenix: …wow. I feel loved. I've never actually been worshipped before…I'm quite flattered by the "addictionaddictionaddiction" comment…Yes, there's going to be some action with Prof. Renton. But that's all I'm saying for now.

Bluespark: All will be explained in time. As far as uniqueness goes…um…thank you? I got tired of the same plotline over and over again, too…Harry in danger, Reikai Tantei go to baby-sit Harry, random plot development occurs, etc…I wanted something a bit different, so I wrote my own. I'm glad you like it. And there's nothing wrong with rambling. Look at me, I'm doing it right now. Happy Holidays right back.

JMV: Nope, no prizes, sorry. Thanks.

SeventeenthAngeloftheSixthHour: Do you mind if I abbreviate your name to "SAotSH" when I answer your reviews? Come on, take pity on the poor author…Thanks for the review, as always!

InXpressible: I'm going to respond to all three of your reviews at once…first off all, I'm not smoking anything. I'm underage…::shifty eyes:: Just joking. …Wow. WOW. You just compared me with my fanfiction HERO. Thank you SO much. That's probably one of the best compliments I've gotten in a while. The language barrier that people ignore tends to grate on me, so I threw something in there to explain it. I'm glad you're getting addicted. You and rogueicephoenix can hang out. I hope the update was quick enough for you. Happy Holidays.

I'll get another update up as soon as I can, but it might be awhile. I'm going skiing this weekend, then I'm going to hang out with my girlfriend and go to New York.

So, until next time, happy holidays everybody!!