Oh. My. Gosh. I am so sorry, everybody. I was scrolling through my fics on and I noticed I haven't updated this one in so long. I felt so bad, I just had to sit down and write another chapter.
Once again, I'm very sorry for the wait. Enjoy the chapter, minna-san :bows:
Majikku no Seirei: Chapter 8
"As you're probably aware, there's no known defense against this curse. Your best bet is probably to jump behind something. If you're in an open field, or some other place where there's no cover, you should get to the ground and let it pass over you. Once it's passed, jump up and run like hell…"
Over their weeks at the school, Hiei had become very apt at ignoring his professors. And they ignored him, for the most part, but there were just some who wouldn't leave him alone.
Like this one for example.
"Jaganshi, are you paying attention?"
A book tapped Hiei gently on the head and he turned to Professor Renton, glaring. "Yes, Professor;" he managed through gritted teeth. 'Be civil to the teachers or Kurama will tie you up in fire-proof vines and leave you out in the Forbidden Forest;' he reminded himself.
The youngest professor in school seemed to take that as an acceptable response and turned away, returning to the board to discuss the course of the Avada Kadavra curse.
Draco Malfoy turned around in his seat. "You weren't paying attention, were you, Jaganshi?"
Hiei rolled his eyes. "Be logical, blondie."
The bell rang, and the class rose to its feet and headed to the door. "Homework—seventeen inches on the defenses against the Unforgivable Curses. Due Thursday." Professor Renton called.
Hiei felt something tap his arm, and a notebook was pressed into his hand. He looked at Malfoy. "What's this?"
"Notes on the class;" Draco replied, smirking. "I knew you wouldn't have them. Later, Jaganshi."
Hiei wanted to glare after him, but somehow, couldn't bring himself to. Sighing, he slid the notebook into his bag and followed the other Slytherins to lunch.
Two class periods later, Kurama and the Gryffindors were enjoying nearly the same lesson from the same professor.
Though he wouldn't admit it, Kurama paid less attention in this class than his others. He couldn't help but watch the young professor. Professor Renton was twenty-three—only seven years older than Kurama's human form. A relationship between them would be breaking a lot of rules, Kurama mused, but still…Lance Renton was extremely attractive. Kurama looked him up and down for what must have been the seventeenth time that day. Very attractive, indeed.
But the attraction obviously wasn't one-sided. Kurama couldn't even count the amount of times he had caught Renton looking at him, and he flirted with Kurama in blatant sight of the class. Given, he did flirt with the rest of the class as well, but, as Harry pointed out, not quite as often.
The bell rang, and Kurama sighed in relief. Harry looked at him. "Why so happy? It was a good class."
"Oh—yes, it was. I'm just…grateful to get to Herbology, that's all. It is my favorite class." He stood up. "Shall we?"
"Wait a minute, Minamino." Professor Renton tapped him on the shoulder. "Could I have a minute?"
"Sure;" there was only the slightest bit of confusion in Kurama's voice. "Harry, you go on ahead. I'll see you in Herbology."
Harry nodded, a bit of suspicion tracing his features, but not enough to actually formulate some reason why his friend and professor needed to meet alone. "Okay. See you, mate."
When Harry was out of earshot, Professor Renton cut straight to the point. "You were watching me today."
Putting his bag down, Kurama sat down on one of the desks. "You watch me every day. Who's to say I wasn't just returning the favor?"
Professor Renton smiled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against his own desk. "You're pretty cute when you're skeptical, Kurama." He looked thoughtful. "Actually, you're pretty cute all of the time."
Kurama raised his eyebrows. "This is a pretty outright advance, Professor. You could get in a lot of trouble if I were to report you to the Headmaster."
Renton grinned, closing the space between them and leaning forward, putting one hand on either side of Kurama, resting them on the desk. "But you wouldn't, would you?" His nose was nearly brushing Kurama's, they were so close.
Kurama shook his head. "No;" he said with a slight smile. "I probably wouldn't."
Renton reached over, brushing a lock of hair behind Kurama's ear. "Can I kiss you?"
Kurama said nothing, only brought their lips together.
It wasn't his first kiss in this body, but it was the first kiss he had consented to. And it was far nicer than the ones he hadn't agreed to. With Karasu, it had been forced, painful. With Renton—well, it still wasn't gentle, not by any means, but the force, the battle of tongues for dominance—it was far more enjoyable.
Renton pulled away, licking a small trail of mixed saliva from Kurama's upper lip. "You need to go to Herbology, Minamino." He crossed to his desk, taking out a pass book and ripping two sheets off. On one, Kurama saw, looking over his shoulder, he wrote out "Kurama Minamino to Herbology, 1:34 p.m." On the second, he wrote his room number. He handed both to Kurama. "Come see me anytime if you need more help in the class. You know I'm always open for extra help."
Kurama took them, and he also took the gentle kiss on the cheek the professor gave him afterwards. "Thanks, Professor."
"Lance is fine for the after-class meetings." He grinned. "Oh, and Minamino—you have a Hogsmeade trip coming up, right?" Kurama nodded. "How about lunch?"
Kurama's expression said his thoughts quite clearly—bad idea. "People will see us."
"Disguise yourself. Pretend to be my girlfriend from out of town." He opened a folder, and took out a paper clipped pile of tests. "Noon at the Three Broomsticks, then?"
Kurama raised his eyebrows. "I don't know, Professor. It seems a bit too risky."
Renton shrugged. "Think about it, Minamino." He waved Kurama off. "Now go to class before I get in trouble."
Kurama crossed to the door, paused, then doubled back and kissed Renton on the cheek.
"What was that for?"
"Just returning the favor, Professor." And he left.
"Where were you?" Hermione asked Kurama irritably when he finally joined them in the greenhouses. "Class started fifteen minutes ago!"
"Professor Renton wanted a word. Didn't Harry tell you?" Kurama answered her amiably, tying an apron on and his hair back.
"Yes, but 'a word' doesn't take that long. Are you getting tutored or something?"
'Thank you, Miss Granger, you just provided me with an excuse.' "Yes. I'm getting a bit of extra help because I'm not that familiar with what you've studied in past years. Western magical education is different from Eastern. We've been learning different things."
"Oh, I see." Hermione nodded knowledgably. "Well, you could have come to me if you needed help."
"Sorry. I would have, but…well, humor my masculine pride, all right?" He gave her a smile that would have had the better half of Meiou High School swooning.
Fortunately, it had the same effect on Hermione Granger. "Oh—um, of course."
Ron and Harry exchanged looks and rolled their eyes in unison, while Kurama set to work, innocently transporting potted roses.
Any student at Hogwarts would quite casually tell you that the worst subject in the school was Potions. This year was no exception—the Potions Master was still always in sour temple and glided around like an oversized bat.
And, as Kurama discovered on their first class but never ceased to marvel at, Professor Snape had a profound dislike of Gryffindors.
As he proved quite often, and it was beginning to get on Kurama's nerves.
"If he shouts at Neville one more time, I may have to feed him to my Makai Mimosa;" Kurama told Hiei through gritted teeth, stirring their potion rapidly.
"Kurama, if you stir that any harder, you're going to drill a hole through the bottom of the cauldron." Hiei said calmly, prying the stirrer from Kurama's white-knuckled hands. "Why does it irk you so much, fox? He yells at everyone."
"I know, but it's like he really hates Neville, and I don't understand why. It's not Neville's fault he's not very well adept to potion-making, and I just don't—"
"Minamino! Jaganshi!" Snape stopped in front of their potion, lip curling as he glared at them. "Did I give you permission to talk?"
"No, sir." Kurama replied grudgingly. When Hiei didn't reply, Kurama stepped on his foot, hard.
Hiei bit his lip. "No, sir;" he bit out, glaring daggers at Kurama.
Snape snorted. "I never did approve of mixing partners with houses. Let's see how your potion turned out." From the sound of it, he wasn't expecting anything close to perfection, which was what he got. Failing to hide a dropped jaw, he glared at them in disgust. "How did you manage this?"
Hiei rolled his eyes. "You wrote it on the board, you fool."
"Hiei!"
"What? He deserved it."
"Hiei, you idiot—"
"Ten points from Slytherin and Gryffindor, and a detention for both of you." Snape looked quite pleased that he got to give out a detention, and swept past them to compliment Draco Malfoy's potion.
Kurama looked shell-shocked. "Did he just say detention?"
"Yes." Noting Kurama's sudden paleness, he frowned, concerned. "Are you all right?" Out of instinct, he took hold of Kurama's arm, which was lucky, as the redhead swayed suddenly. "Kurama?"
"Eleven years of schooling, and I've never gotten so much as a scolding before." Kurama's voice sounded stunned. "I'm here for two months and I have a detention."
Hiei scoffed, and let go of Kurama's arm. The redhead promptly crashed into his chair. "You're pathetic, fox."
Kurama glared at him. "This sort of thing goes on your record." He moaned softly. "What's my mother going to say?"
"You're at a boarding school continents away from her. She doesn't need to know."
"But—"
"Kurama, shut up."
The hsigo that had been placed in their care by Professor Hagrid had two different names.
After ten minutes with it, Hiei had begun calling it "bakasaru". Kurama, glaring, had told him firmly that the hsigo's name was not going to be "stupid monkey", and had taken to calling it "Saru-chan". "Saru" seemed to register with the baby, and he would answer to just about anything with "saru" tacked on to it.
"You know;" Hiei commented as they sat outside, feeding the hsigo; "I still think it's creepy."
"I'm sure you do, Hiei;" Kurama said patiently, gently tipping the bottle they were using to feed Saru up so that the last drops of formula could drip into the baby's mouth. Prying the empty bottle from the Saru's tiny fingers, he set it on the picnic table and handed the blanket-wrapped baby to Hiei. "Here, hold him. I'm going to get a bit more food for him."
"When did you figure out it was a he?" Hiei asked, reluctantly taking the baby from Kurama.
"Hagrid told me." Taking the empty bottle, he headed over to Hagrid's cabin.
His more affectionate caretaker gone, Saru started squirming in Hiei's arms, feeing its tiny arms from the blanket and reaching for the first thing he could—which happened to be Hiei's wand. Hiei grabbed it back. "No."
Saru's lower lip started to tremble. Hiei nearly groaned—the stupid monkey was already inheriting things from Kurama. Giving in to the monkey just like he did with the fox, he offered it his left index finger. Giggling, Saru wrapped his fingers around the digit, pulling it closer. Hiei glared at him and reached into the basket which held the baby's things, pulling out a small squeaky toy that Saru was very fond of. "Put my finger in your mouth, and Squeaky gets it."
Saru "eep"ed and let Hiei's finger go just as Kurama joined them. Immediately, Saru reached for Kurama, and Hiei quickly handed him over. Kurama's eyes narrowed. "Hiei, were you threatening the baby?"
"No."
"Good." Kurama shifted Saru to one arm, tipping the bottle up again. He looked over at Hiei, looking a bit confused. "What are you doing with Squeaky?"
Hiei put it down. "…Nothing."
Kurama looked at him, and then smiled. "That's cute."
"What is?"
"You. You're finally getting into parenthood."
Hiei glared at him. "Kurama…"
"All right, all right;" turning his attention back to Saru, he let the subject drop.
"Hn." Hiei peered at the monkey, which he could swear was smirking at him. "Bakasaru."
Okay, so, not a lot of Gryffindor/Slytherin interaction in this chapter, and it definitely could have been better. But, I'm in a rush, because I'm going away and I might not be able to get to a computer for a while.
Reviewer Responses:
ineXpressible: There's probably going to be a few more sparring scenes. I'm glad you liked it. Here's more Kurama/Hiei parenting. Enjoy the update!
megaotaku: Sorry about not responding to your last review. I must have missed it. And yes, it is pretty obvious who he's based off of. Please don't abandon this fic because there's an OC pairing right now. I promise, it will be Hiei/Kurama later. Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HITOME-CHAN :gives birthday hug:
rogueicephoenix: Heh. Glad you liked it. Wow, another person fond of the parenting thing. I thought it was too much of a stretch.
Cattibrie393: Thank you…I think…
Bluespark: Yes. Yes he does. Thank you.
Little Kitsune: Thank you. Here's your update, as per request.
darksaphire: Um…here?
Kami Anya: Whee! Long review! Thank you again! I don't know why it would seem familiar. I promise I didn't steal it. Don't worry; no mpreg. I rarely write it. I'm glad you liked Draco. His very blatant OOC-ness will be explained later, as I said. And you got a bit of the "actual" with Kurama and Professor Renton/Lance. Hope you enjoyed the update.
anonymous: Here you go.
Golden Rat: Heh. Yes, the plot devices are always fun to take advantage of.
Dreams of Goth: Yes, Hiei has a rival in love. And he's going to get quite competitive, as you'll see in later chapters, and our poor, naïve little fox will be stuck in the middle…heh heh heh…I'm glad you liked the Draco-mommy thing. I didn't know it would be such a hit.
JMJV: Jeez, people are really getting into this whole baby thing! Why didn't I think of this sooner :shakes head: Anyways, thank you. Here's your update.
Dark Dragon34: Thanks!
Dreams of Goth: Hello again. The one with the Kuronue look-alike is the second movie, called "Bonds of Fire". The first movie was really just a 45-minute OVA, and sometimes isn't counted as an actual movie. But technically, Bonds of Fire is the second movie. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Tsurishi Karandengu: It's funny now…It's not going to stay that way for much longer. But I'll try to keep adding in some random humor in the angsty parts. And don't worry about looking like an idiot laughing to yourself. I do that all the time.
SAotSH: Nah, it's easier when I capitalize it. Thanks anyways, though. Here's an update!
Geministarz: Don't worry about it, I like getting constructive criticism. I'll clear up a few of those issues that you mentioned, though. Kurama didn't change what the plant was. He took the rose stem that had been turned into a whip and simply reduced it back to a slightly extended stem, without thorns—simply a hardened thornless rose stem. As for Kurama's weird habits—I tend to portray Kurama's personality as a cross between the canon and the fanon versions of him. He keeps the quiet intelligent and gentle teasing humor of the anime/manga, but becomes a bit more feminine and vulnerable at places. I've never quite been sure why I've done this with him, but I always have. As for Hiei being OOC, it's just GOD DAMN IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP HIM IN CHARACTER! DARN YOU, HIEI! Sorry. Had to blow off steam. Hiei's personality is driving me crazy in another one of my fics. I hope that helps some. If you have any other things like this, please point them out—I'm always looking for ways to improve.
Enjeru: Yes, for the millionth time, it WILL be Hiei/Kurama. I promise. Here you go.
HarmonyHanyou: Well, I'm glad you decided to read it. And I'm even gladder that I'm on someone's favorites list! Whee! Here's an update.
EbonysDove: Yay! Another long review! I'm pretty fond of the H/K interaction myself. I agree with your "this is how they act when no one's looking" theory. In both the anime and the manga, they appear closer, and Kurama often teases Hiei, if gently, and Hiei responds with anger that almost looks fake—we all know he'd never hurt our pretty little bishounen, right? I'm glad you liked the Draco-ness, too. I was worried he was a bit to OOC, but…people seem to like him this way. Here's an update, enjoy it!
Lady Starlight2: Glad you think so. Update!
SilvaBluVixen: Thank you.
Once again, BIG thanks to everyone who stuck with me in this long period of update-less-ness…I hope you'll forgive me, and I promise to update more often.
Love you all!
—Rei