Thank you guys for being so patient during the last couple of weeks. Here's the first of two cahpters I promised you. The second one should be up by Monday.

Chapter 4

Inuai stood amongst the group of first years awaiting entrance into the Great Hall. She could feel the nervousness of everyone around her as if it were a palpable thing. She slowly rocked back and forth on her feet in an effort to keep her own nervousness at bay. If she let her emotions get out of hand now, the glamour charm she had worked so hard on to perfect would come off. It was the last thing in the world she wanted to happen. Inuai looked around and noticed a young girl with auburn hair and dazzling green eyes walking towards her.

"Hey." the girl said as she stopped in front of Inuai.

"Hey, yourself," she said back, a bit gruffly.

"Umm… my name is Lily. What's yours?" the girl asked quietly.

Inuai thought quickly, trying to come up with some name other than her own. "It's Inuai." she said much to her surprise. She had never told anyone her real name before. "But please don't call me that." she added hastily.

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"I just don't want anybody to know my real name. I don't even know why I told you."

"So, what do I call you?"

"How about…" Inuai thought hard for a moment. "Merry." she said with a smirk.

"Merry?" Lily questioned with a disbelieving look on her face.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm a merry sort of person some days. So, call me Merry." she reasoned.

"Alright, Merry it is!" Lily laughed. Just then, an older woman, who had addressed herself earlier as Professor McGonagall, stepped in front of the group. "It's time," she announced to the group. "Follow me."

Two by two, the children followed her through the giant double doors that lead to the Great Hall. Up ahead of them, stood a three-legged stool with a ragged looking hat. It looked to Merry as if one touch would cause it to break down into strips of fabric or dust.

The children watched nervously as Professor McGonagall stepped up beside the stool with a scroll in her hands.

"When I call your name, step forward, place the hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your house." she said stiffly. She unrolled the parchment and began to read.

Merry and Lily stood nervously, waiting for their names to be called, when suddenly a dung bomb went sailing through the crowd causing everyone to start coughing and covering their faces. Merry turned toward the sound of laughter behind them, trying very hard not to pass out as the smell from the dung bomb hit her nose harder then the rest of the group. Her eyes met the ice blue eyes of a young boy with black locks just seconds before she hit the floor.

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Merry slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a strange room filled with beds. She quickly sat up and looked around.

"Oh, good. You're awake." said a male voice beside her. Merry quickly turned towards the voice. There sitting by her bed was the same boy from the Great Hall.

"And you are?" Merry asked tentatively.

"Sorry," the boy replied. "I'm Sirius Black." He smiled as he said this, and Merry couldn't help but smile back. She had to admit, he was a good-looking kid.

'We might have to have a little fun with him.'

'But what about Legolas?'

'I didn't say we were going to mate with this Sirius kid, just have a little fun.'

'I think I could handle a little fun.'

"So…. Are you just going to sit there with a silly, and might I add very sexy, smile on your face, or are you going to tell me your name?" Sirius asked cheekily. Merry just slowly shook her head and smiled at him.

"Okay…. I'm going to, uh, go get Madam Pomfrey and let her know you're awake." Sirius said as he got up and slowly moved towards the office.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Merry wondered aloud. Just then Madam Pomfrey come bustling over to her bed and gasped.

"Your… your ears!" she exclaimed.

"My ears? What's wrong with my ears?" Merry asked confused.

"You have dog ears!" Madam Pomfrey practically screamed. Merry quickly dropped her ears to her head in an effort to block out the sounds around her as she reached for her wand to quickly mutter the simple glamour charm she had been taught.

"Sorry, my charm must have come off without my knowing it." Merry explained. "Oh, shit!"

"Ms. Inuai! Please watch your language!"

"Sorry, but that boy, Sirius, saw me like this. He knows what I really look like."

"I'm sure he didn't see anything." Madam Pomfrey tried to reassure her. Inuai was released from the hospital wing a few hours after Dumbledore made sure she was sorted, knew the password, and the way to her common room. She slowly made her way towards the Gryffindor common room, silently hoping Lily had been made a Gryffindor as well. The fat lady swung aside after Inuai had given her the password. She carefully stepped into the common room and looked around, hoping to find someone she knew. She spied a black haired boy sitting on a couch close to the fire. Inuai timidly walked over. "Hey."

The boy turned around and nearly fell to the floor. Inuai groaned inwardly. 'Great. It just had to be him.' "Sirius, right?"
"uh… y-yeah." he stuttered. "Where are your ears?"

"They're on the side of my head, just like yours are." she replied sarcastically.

"No, I mean your …other ears."

"Right. I guess I can't just let that go huh?" she asked. Sirius just stared at Inuai as if he expected her to sprout wings and fly at any moment. "Okay, you wanna know the truth?" Sirius slowly nodded his head, still looking very dumbstruck. "Fine, but you might want to sit down first." He slowly got up from his prone position on the ground and resumed his seat on the couch. Inuai slowly made her way around to take a seat, noticing that Sirius never took his eyes off of her.

"BOO!"

"AAAHHHH!" Sirius screamed as he toppled onto the floor once again.

"I'm sorry," Inuai said between fits of laughter. "I just couldn't help myself." She extended her hand to help him, but he scooted away and a took a seat farther away, all the while looking fearfully at her. "I guess I deserved that." she said sadly as she sat down.

Sirius relaxed a little, feeling guilty for hurting the beautiful girl sitting before the fire. He watched the firelight dance on her face and was instantly drawn to her. He knew it would be wise to get to know her. He quietly got up from his seat and moved back toward the couch where Inuai sat. "So… um…" he started out lamely. "What about those ears I saw earlier?"

Inuai looked up, startled as she hadn't sensed his approach. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yeah." Sirius said softly.

"Okay, but you must promise me that you won't utter a word of this to anyone." Inuai said seriously.

"Cross my heart, hope to die." he said. "Besides, I've kept a friend's secret for years now."

Inuai couldn't help but smile at that. 'Good.' she thought. 'At least, I know my secret will be safe.' It was 3 A.M. before Inuai got to her dorm, but she knew that Sirius would keep her secret of being a hanyou.

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"Hey, Padfoot!"

"Yeah, what?"

"you going to Potions?"

"What do you think? You're going to the same damn class, Siri!"

Sirius quickly caught up to Padfoot and Lily as they descended the stairs to the dungeons.

"So Sirius, why do you call Merry, Padfoot?" Lily asked.

"No reason, it's just a nickname. Just like when James calls you Lil." Sirius said with a smirk on his face. Sirius had called Merry that since the day he found out she was half dog demon.

Padfoot watched as Sirius and Lily walked ahead of her toward the classroom, laughing and picking on each other. 'I can't believe it's been five years since I started here. It seems like just yesterday I got my letter.' A shout from down the hallway roused Inuai out of her musings.

"Hey, Padfoot! Move your tail before you're late!" Padfoot quickly made her way into her seat seconds before the professor entered the room and started class.

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DADA was next, and Inuai couldn't help but wish to be some where else. Professor Kettlebaum always went out of his way to torture her in some way or another. 'And today doesn't look to be any different.' she thought as she neared the classroom where Kettlebaum lurked just outside.

"Ah, Miss Merry," Kettlebaum said in a sickeningly sweet voice that made her wonder if she would need to see a dentist after hearing it. "How nice of you to join us today. I'm sure will just love today's lesson." He smiled evilly at her as she scurried into the room.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked as they took their seats behind Sirius, James, and Remus.

"What was what all about?" Remus asked as he turned around. James and Sirius followed suit, interested to find out what was going on with their two favorite girls.

"It's just Kettlebaum trying to get under my skin." Merry supplied. "In fact, I think I've got a cavity from how sickeningly sweet he was acting." she said as she rubbed her jaw in mock pain. The group's laughter was brought to an abrupt halt as the door slammed shut, and Professor Kettlebaum strode toward the front of the class.

"Forget you books." he said sternly. "You won't need them today." The students looked around at each other hoping someone knew what was going on. Merry simply sat back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest and glared at Professor Kettlebaum.

"Who can tell me the difference between a youkai and a hanyou?" he asked as he looked around at the sea of confused faces before him. He smirked as he locked eyes with a defiant glare. "Merry, perhaps you'd care to entertain us?" he asked cynically. Everyone turned toward the back of the room where Merry sat glaring daggers at Kettlebaum.

"Ah, why the hell not?" she said sarcastically. Kettlebaum gave her a look daring her to step out of line again.

"Well.."

"Okay, youkai is a Japanese word, that translated, means demon. So, a youkai is a full-fledged demon. The word hanyou also comes from the Japanese language. Translated, this word means half-demon. Pretty much, the words youkai and hanyou translate to exactly what they are." Merry explained.

"Very good. Now would you care to explain how you know all this." Kettlebaum said with a sneer.

'Careful, chica. He knows something, and he's trying to trap us'

'I know, I know. Just shut up, will you?'

"That's easy, sir." Merry replied. "I was born in Japan and lived there for a few years."

"And you know all about youkais and hanyous, how?"

"Many parents tell their children stories about demons to get them to behave. Most of my brothers and sisters were told such stories."

"Then perhaps you heard the story about Inuyasha?" Kettlebaum asked.

"No, sir. I didn't hear any stories about Inuyasha." Merry spat. She clearly recalled the villagers confusing her with this Inuyasha guy. Even that stupid flea that decided to suck her blood.

"The perhaps you have heard the legend of the Shikon no Toma?"

"Cant's say that I have. Maybe you'd care to enlighten me now." Merry deadpanned.

"Certainly. As soon as everyone starts TAKING NOTES!" Kettlebaum bellowed. Instantly, quills and parchment started to fly as students tried to do as they were told before they last house points.

"Now, legend tells of a jewel that was sought after by many demons and humans alike. It was said that just a fragment of this jewel could make the holder ten times more powerful. The first miko to guard this jewel, the Shikon no Toma, was very powerful, for she could take down a demon with a single arrow.

Now, a hanyou, by the name of Inuyasha, tried several times to steal the jewel from the miko. Every other demon that came after the jewel, the miko slayed. But she never killed Inuyasha. This baffled him to no end. He soon came to find out that the miko had feelings for the hanyou because they lived very similar lives. Inuyasha and the miko soon formed a relationship of sorts.

Around this same time, the miko found and started to help a wounded bandit by the name of Onigumo. Onigumo coveted the miko and the jewel she possessed. There was just one problem. Due to the extent of his injuries, Onigumo was unable to move. So he called forth all the demons in the area to devour his body so the he might make the miko his own. Unfortunately, the demons had other plans. The demons wanted the jewel. So the demons merged wit Onigumo to become a hanyou named Naraku.

Naraku immediately set out to get the Shikon no Toma. He turned both the miko and Inuyasha against each other, resulting in Inuyasha being sealed to a tree."

The bell tang as Professor Kettlebaum finished telling the class about the defeat of Naraku. "SIT!" he ordered. Inuai distinctly felt as though she were being pulled to the ground at the word. 'That was weird.' she thought.

"By the next class, I want you to give me your interpretation of what Inuyasha looks like, and what you think happened to the Shikon no Toma." Kettlebaum glanced around the room. "Now, you are dismissed."

Blanket disclaimer for A Hanyou's Life:

Me no own own. You no sue sue.

I only own Inuai and Kermit, so far.