Warning: There is no beta reading, we die like man. Also, this will be a slow burn... we die with slow drama.

Disclaimer: This is a crossover between Harry Potter and Kimetsu no yaiba/Demon Slayer, as such, I do not own the rights from neither of them. This story is obviously for fun, so enjoy!

Chapter 2

Periculum

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She was here again.

She falls on the floor as the chilling coil of a big snake's tail hit her, her body colliding against the puddle of water at the end of a very long, and way too familiar, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents were destroyed by an agonizing Basilisk.

Fawkles had already eating its eyes to protect her from death.

'NO!' she heard the echo of Riddle's scream behind her. 'LEAVE THE BIRD! SMELL HER! KILL HER!'

She was on her feet and running back inside the pipes.

'Help me, help me,' she felt herself muttered wildly, holding the sorting hat to her chest. 'Someone- anyone please! Help me!'

Her feet were hitting the pools of water of the Chamber of Secrets, the basilisk's head far behind her, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to chase after her.

'Keep running!' she told herself as her she almost trip over. 'Keep running and don't look!'

She moved left and hit bars of metal straight to the face. There was no way out. She turned around to find another exit but instead she was in front of the vast, bloody eye sockets of the Basilisk.

'KILL THE GIRL!'

She felt the bite on her arm. She heard herself scream in pain. She felt her blood burning. She was bleeding. She was dying.

The Basilisk opened its now bloodied mouth again.

And lunged.

"Mmmmph!" a scream of pure terror was muffed by a hand. Her hand. That's what had greeted her to a new day at the temple. She released her mouth. "Bloody hell…"

She stood up and cleaned her bloodied hand and mouth, the nightmare still lingering behind her mind. A silent 'Episkey' closed the wound of her hand and was now changing her now sticky nagabujan, putting the green kimono from two days ago.

The expensive mirror that was gifted to her revealed the mess of hair and haunted green eyes, tears still falling from her pale checks.

Kotoha was a living mess.

"Specialis Revelio," she feels herself said as her hands moved to her sides, the spell reveals nothing magical in the temple, again. She let out a sigh. "What am I doing? This place is clean since the first day."

"Umah!"

"Oh, you're awake," Kotoha came to the futon and there he was, her son with innocent eyes shining with curiosity and love towards his mother. Kotoha only laugh when he do his grabby hands motion. She picked him up and pulls him close to her. "I bet you are hungry, my little lion."

"Bah!"

"I think so too." And pushing her kimono aside, she started to feed her son.

'Still strange,' she though while she fixes Inosuke's messy hair. 'But I'm used to it now.'

As her son finished, she changed his clothes, a yellow with some cherries this time, and a craft make dipper, transfiguring another pair and vanishing the dirty one into nothingness.

Kotoha loves magic.

"Alright, today is another day," Kotoha murmured as she put the last of the bandages on her face and masked her magical scars, including her iconic lightning bolt from her forehead. Her wounds from that man were already healed but she didn't want to be discovered. After all, a normal wound like hers would have been healed from at least two weeks, "Another day to explore the temple to its fullest."

Kotoha shouldn't be snooping around this quickly again, Hermione would drag her ear if she was here with her.

"Going straight to danger!" she can imagine her scowling at her. "Again! You're imposible Harry!" Ron will only laugh behind her back.

But Kotoha knows that she is a magnet of trouble itself, so if the danger is not coming soon, she will search for it.

However her stomach growled in protest, scaring Inosuke for a moment who was munching his own foot before giggling, standing to hug his mother's stomach. Kotoha's face was red with the unexpected, but laughs it off.

"Blimey! I guess your mama needs some food too."

"Mah!"

"That's right!" she picks him up and hugged him tightly against her chest, touching noses with her baby son. "Mama needs to eat so she can be strong, and that way mama can protect you against the dark wizards. Always."

Knock! Knock!

"Miss Kotoha?" the witch recognized the voice of Himiko, the close assistant of Lord Douma. "May I come in?"

"Ah, uh, yes sure. Come in!"

Himiko side the door open with a smile, carrying a tray with food.

"Sorry I'm late miss, but here's your breakfast."

"Oh, you shouldn't have brought it!" Kotoha exclaimed feeling guilty. "I could have gone looking for it myself!"

"And get lost along the way like what happened yesterday?" Himiko said skeptically as she saw the woman scratching her hair embarrassed at being caught. "No thanks. It's better to keep you protected here until your wounds have healed properly."

'You have no idea,' Kotoha didn't widened her soft smile, not even showing her mischievous glowing eyes as the woman before her leaves the tray in front of her.

"Regardless, thank you so much for this."

"Don't mention it," she said with a disinterested tone but Kotoha sees a small smile appear on her face. "I'm only following Lord Douma's orders."

Kotoha's face contoured into one of doubt, just for a few seconds before smiling. She didn't know what to think of the silver-haired man. Although he seemed to have good intentions towards her and her son, her Slytherin instincts told her to keep a low profile with that man.

And although her spell does not reveal anything magical in this place, she senses that there is something very dark hidden within this temple. She can't point to it, but there's always a chill running down her back.

Like a wand was pressed against her skull.

She hated the feeling.

Himiko didn't say anything but she can see the green eyes of the black-haired girl thinking deeply, supposedly bright eyes were now tinged with a darkness that made her nervous. It was like confronting a snake in front of her, right inside her territory, and that at any moment it would attack her if she did or said anything wrong.

Those were the eyes of a survivor.

"You still have doubts," the brown-haired one slowly concluded. "About the Gracious One."

"Could you blame me?" the woman confessed, without touching her food. "I came from a horrible place."

"No one does."

A tense silence invaded the small room, the only child in the room, Inosuke, watched his mother attentively without babbling, his little hands holding onto her kimono.

Himiko maintained her sitting posture while Kotoha was analyzing her, it was as if she opened her head and read her mind. She was terrifying; she had also felt that sensation once in her life.

With Lord Douma.

But she wouldn't say anything that wasn't necessary, it's been that way for years and she wouldn't break her duty as the lord's assistant.

"May you tell me who he is?" Kotoha's soft voice brought her to the present, focusing her blue eyes on hers. "A description of him, so I can understand?"

That was what Himiko was waiting for. It was something she could indulge her without a problem.

"Okay then, let's see," she approached slowly, closing the door behind them to have more privacy. "Lord Douma is the actual leader of this cult," she started with the basics, what could be seen with the naked eye. Seeing her nod she continued. "Thought we couldn't call it much of a cult, not all of us are followers as you can see," she pointed to her to emphasize her current role. Lord Douma had been very clear that they were under his protection and not part of his congregation. "He is known as a wise man that is fiercely loyal to his followers and those who are around him."

"He also has a way of seeing the world that others could not and help those whose path they lost. The way he speaks to everyone, it is as if the entire room fell silent, hanging on his every word," Himiko couldn't let her admiration for the man reflect in her way of speaking, her eyes shining just thinking about the silver-haired man that was her boss. "The Gracious one would do anything to protect us, to ensure our safety and happiness."

The assistant saw how Kotoha looked down; analyzing what she had told her. She still didn't believe her.

"I also came from a horrible place," she decided to admit dryly, trying not to give sentimentality to that horrendous memory. Himiko then showed her mark of servitude of her neck; just an inconspicuous scar was left from it. "As an old slave whose purpose was nothing but serve pigs as men, in all their forms."

To say that Kotoha was surprised would be telling a big lie. The young witch couldn't believe her words; she looked in good condition and had such a calming aura.

However, she took her words as truth. It was ridiculous that she was lying to her about these things, plus she felt like Himiko was being honest with her.

"But Lord Douma saved me," the sweet smile and bright eyes of admiration returned. "He heard my plea and bought me to gave me a new life. Here I am not a slave but an equal. So trust me when I tell you that he would do anything to see us stay safe."

Himiko got up ready to retire for the day, bringing the black-haired woman's nerves with her.

Kotoha didn't want to leave the topic unfinished like that. For once she wanted to open up to someone, and this was her chance to release the frustration that she kept bottled up for over two years since she arrived.

"My adoptive parents sold me not less than a year of adoption to conceive a child from another family."

Himiko's eyes widened at the coldness of her story. However, she did not interrupt, sitting back down in front of the woman.

"That man... no... That monster forced me to get married and took away my freedom," Himiko could feel the air leaving her and the atmosphere becoming very heavy, it was like having a guillotine on her neck. "If it had not been for my son, I would have already entered myself into madness. Kill everyone who crossed my path and burn the world with my own hands."

Himiko felt a chill run down her spine. She had the feeling that Kotoha would have done that without hesitation.

"Thankfully it didn't come to that!" the heavy air was released and Himiko was able to breathe. Kotoha smiled as if she hadn't said that she thought about committing mass murder and, holding her son in her arms, she began to caress him with her cheek. "After all, I have a luck that hates me but at the same time loves me. It was just a matter of when I could get away from my ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law. I guess I'm lucky to arrive here."

Himiko couldn't help but look at the now relaxed face of a mother adoring her son, completely forgetting that feeling of death from a few moments ago. Here at the temple she could heal as she herself was healed. Like she said, it was only a matter of time before things got better.

"I'll give it a try, Himiko," Kotoha sighed in defeat, without dropping her smile. "I hope I can adapt to this new life, after all I haven't had this kind of freedom for a while."

"No one is rushing you, Miss Kotoha," Himiko said smiling back. "However, I hope it can be that soon, the healing of your heart I mean."

Kotoha nodded in understanding.

"Now I must retire," Himiko said getting up. "I must continue fulfilling my duties. The Gracious One will not want me to delay my obligations any longer and the doors for the prayers will open soon. I hope you can enjoy breakfast," and bowing her head, she smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Good bye!"

Kotoha watched her leave, closing the door behind her, not noticing the change of a nostalgic look in her green eyes, much less the drop of her smile.

"I was also a slave," she muttered resentfully. "A slave from my own blood."

She took the memories of the Dursleys and shove it inside her mind. There was no time for silly things. She had a breakfast to enjoy.

- In Noctem -

"How is the guest? Has she been able to settle in well?"

The voice of the Gracious One alarmed Himiko, but she was able to compose herself quickly, closing the shoji door with a stony silence.

It was already night, the prayers from today were long gone and the cultists were roaming to their own bedrooms.

As her Lord's assistant, she has to make sure that everything was in order, even the minimal detail. Her Lord was still sitting on his big bag chair, a lot of offerings on his side and the decorative lotus flowers losing their shine. He was fanning himself as he looked at her, expecting her answer.

The question brought her back to the conversation with Kotoha and the cold dread she felt.

She wouldn't know what to say to her boss, although she would like to tell him everything at once. But there was something in that dark woman's gaze that she couldn't ignore.

Both were sold due to the arrogance of the family and it brought them misfortunes, Himiko was very grateful to have been rescued during those years of suffering. She could feel that Kotoha wanted to do the same, but she saw the signs, which she never told in her little shared story.

The lost look full of darkness, the bittersweet way of referring to her adoptive parents and the sadness tone as she said to having lost her freedom.

She was a survivor, just like her, in the servitude of the ignorant and chained to be just a tool.

And there was something about that woman, Kotoha, that made her, for the first time, denies the inquisitive gaze of the rainbow eyes of her Lord.

As an equal companion of those invisible chains, she prefers not to tell him much, even if it would eat her up inside in the future.

"She is still having a hard time adapting," she half-confessed, taking note of not telling much. "But I am certain that her soul will heal eventually, my Lord."

"I see," the silver-haired man closed his fan in a sudden movement that made her flinch a bit, but his calm smile was still there. Putting his closed fan on his lips, the man continued with a cheerful tone. "I hope she can integrate with the others! The poor thing, being locked in one place all day must be boring, in addition to not being healthy for the body."

Guilt came but she just swallowed it. Those words were intoned ironically in his current condition; their Lord is condemned to not go outside into the sunlight.

In the temple there is a clear rule that must always be obeyed: to never open the windows of the temple during the day or in the evening. At night only for ventilation and should never be left open.

Being born with skin so sensitive that it can melt skin is a curse that their Lord must bear in order to be able to bring his current knowledge to the world.

A cruel fate for an entity like his.

"Well, we just have to wait until-"

KABOOM!

FIZZ!

SWOOSH!

That sound made Himiko jump and -surprisingly- Douma himself.

It was unexpected.

Who in their right mind would set off fireworks in a winter night?

Only a stupid person would do it, for sure.

And then why did it come precisely inside the temple?!

"Ara? That's new," the silver man stood up from the bean bag chair, face falling neutral for a moment before placing a 'surprise' mask on. "And in the middle of the night?" then changes it to 'happiness' with a wide smile. "I must check on this!"

"Wait my Lord-" Himiko saw her boss rush out in heavy steps. He was turning into a corner when she tried to reach him. He was long gone.

KABOOM!

FIZZ!

SWOOSH!

'There is it again,' Douma thought with his blank face, trying to locate the source of the sounds but, to his confusion, there wasn't anything in his perception. Not even a mist.

To being honest, the very sound took him by surprise; he couldn't even point it out entirely. How did he miss it in the first try?

His steps went in a hurry as another sound echoed inside the walls of the temple.

This, in his entire century, never occurred to him before. Of course, there would be fireworks in the Red district not long down the other side of the temple, he and his followers would gathered there every celebration that they could participate in.

But fireworks inside his Eternal Paradise temple? That cannot do.

KABOOM!

FIZZ!

SWOOSH!

'Where is it?' the sounds were not helping him. He had the feeling that he was walking in circles. As he passed the garden of kois, the sounds were off again, this time he went rushing to it before he could miss it.

He turned to a door, then turned to the left, another sound went off, and then turned right and walks full forward.

KABOOM!

FIZZ!

SWOOSH!

'There!'

Douma took a hold of the slide door.

Clank!

"….Eh?"

Douma expected many things, that's include a foolish rough cultist being igniting a ton of those fireworks outside the window in retaliation with whatever thing he would set off in the person.

However, he had not expected curious green eyes watching him with a child happily giggling and holding a pastel red lion plushy on his mouth, sitting calmly on his mother's lap while said mother was doing nothing but brushing the baby's black locks.

Douma was as much as confused as she was.

"Greetings Lord Douma! Do you need something from us?"

His eyes roamed the room in rapid fire, trying to see something that could point out any smoke or anything related to the sounds. But there was nothing, not even a smell of fire was there. Then how-?

"My Lord?"

Douma blinked in his blank face, returning her now worried eyes before blinked again and a smile –too wide to be concerning– was on him in a second.

"Ah, sorry dear! I didn't mean to disturb you!" he said smoothly as he put his hands inside the pockets of his hakama pants. "I just thought I heard something."

"Oh, do you mean the fireworks?" the woman –whose name he doesn't remember– asked with a smile, tilting her head as her eyes flashed a strange light that, as soon as it come, it banished. "I heard them, too. Is there an important celebration going on?"

"No, there is none at the moment!" he answered, still smiling. "I was curious about the sound too! I was trying to find the source so I could ask what the occasion was," Douma then put a pout on his face. "Though I couldn't find them it seems, the echoes dragged me here instead."

"Oh, that's understandable," she assured him widening her smile a little bit. "The sound was too much that it scared me and Inosuke for a moment. I hope you could find them, whoever they are!"

"Of course!" he took a last look of her before backing up. "Well, I must get going; I just left my assistant alone in the saloon. Hope to see you around!"

She waived at him in closed eyes, her smile still there. "Take care!"

Douma hesitated for a moment for the gesture, but then slide the door close. His blank face was back in an instant as he walks away from that room.

He just got it wrong somehow. There was no trace of anything on the woman's room and, looking back at the scenario, not even remaining of possible cardboard or dust on the floor. Everything was so clean. And the woman's eyes…

He shakes his head comically.

"There is no way that she is related!" he said with his fake smile back, resuming his steps.

'Uh, it seems that the sounds stopped too. How weird...'

Kotoha waited for any sigh of returning from the man before expanding her magic to put a silent charm in her room, face completely flustered.

She almost got caught!

And for some reason it sent her a trill of emotion inside her.

Damn her and her Gryffindor antics.

"That was a close one, huh?" she mocked looking down at the big eyes of her son, still giggling in ignorant happiness.

"Umah!"

"The things I do for you, Inosuke."

Lifting her hands, she recites again the spell of her son's fondness.

"Periculum!"

Tiny fireworks shot out of her fingertips, spark of light from different colors and forms as they surrounded the room (now secured with a silent charm) as they exploded together, gathering the attention to Inosuke who clapped in the pretty sight.

They were not better than the twins, but it was still amazing to look at.

KABOOM!

FIZZ!

SWOOSH!

Some of the fireworks were animated to move, going closer to her son's excited face as the tiny figure of a dragon flies around followed by a stag and an owl, rising into the ceiling to explode in delight.

The happy wail of Inosuke put a smile on her face, and the eyes of a lost childhood was shinning alongside the innocence of the young heir of hers.

'I would do anything to keep him like this,' she swore as she performed more fireworks. 'His childhood should not be corrupted. I will not allow it.'

A yawn was heard and she soon put her sleepy Inosuke on the futon, lowering her hand so the lights went off, leaving the room in darkness. The only thing that it was shown was the determinate green eyes of the witch on her son.

'Even if I have to set the world on fire, I will keep my son protected with my life. He will not become me, I swear it.'

— - — - ϟ - — - —

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Taisho side notes

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"No matter how much Kotoha has changed over the course of her arrival here, she will always be a snake dressed as a lioness.

Or it is the other way around?"