The Littlest Lion

Summary: No one questioned it out loud, despite being so curious. No one said anything against the girl...or, even the teachers, but why? It was on everyone's mind, why? Why was a Gryffindor being spoiled by Professor Snape!? And why is she always in the dungeons after hours?!

Anime/Manga/Movie/Book: InuYasha/Harry Potter

Genre: Angst/Romance

Pairing: Kagome/?

Rated: M

-x-x-x-

(November 24th, 1994)

"Not a wonder the two of you would live!"

Kagome watched as Harry lived it up in the center of the mob of Gryffindors, the exception being Padma, who was let in often by her twin sister Pavarti. Kagome had opted out of that circle, her head thumping from the new bond she'd formed with the Dragon. Ah, the bond. She'd been chewed out for that, by Charlie no less. Well, not entirely true, she was chewed out by Barty Crouch, and Charlie scolded her with a smirk, chuckle, and wink to send her on her way. She wasn't sure what message he'd been trying to communicate, but she didn't get it. Fred and George were riling the crowd up while Kagome lay on the couch, staring curiously at the golden egg. She didn't tell them, but she'd already opened it.

"Want me to open it?"

"YEAH!"

Kagome raised a sizeable red pillow over her head as Harry repeated the question, the muffled shrill screech of the egg gave her chills as she recalled dropping her egg in shock. She'd been desperate to shut the blasted thing then, more so now since it wasn't hers.

"What's with that!?" Ron yelled; she made his words out clearly from where her head was hidden from the noise. "I thought they said it was a clue?"

"Kagome, did you already know it would do that?"

Her pillow pulled from her head, she looked at Fred and rolled over so that she wasn't facing him. "I opened it after I left Charlie and the Dragon. I had to hang back, as you know, and while walking back to the Castle, I decided to take a look. I'm surprised nothing in the forest attacked me to silence the offending noise."

George laughed and picked her up before sitting down where she'd been. Kagome curled in on herself but didn't pull away from him. "So that's why you've got yourself a headache now,"

"It isn't funny," she hugged the golden egg tightly, "the design on the egg, you recognize it?"

George took the egg and looked it over, turning it back and forth slowly, he tilted his head before tossing it to Fred. Harry came over and stared on curiously with the rest of the Gryffindors following close behind.

"That's a city. I've seen it before."

"What? Where?!" Harry looked between Kagome and the twins before catching Kagome's eyes.

"It's no good if I give you all the answers." She watched Harry's shoulder drop, sighing, she sat up and faced Harry from George's lap, "it's the city of the Merfolk, beneath the Black Lake. The Lake is vast, and I doubt our task will take place within the underwater city, we're not exactly welcomed. However...it's a clue. The egg, when you open it, you see water in the glass globe, I just...haven't braved the theory that I should listen to it underwater. If I'm wrong, I'm going to have another headache."

"Harry, you try it!" Fred laughed at the look of uncertainty.

"Can't we listen together?"

Hermione gave a small laugh, "Harry, no. You can't listen to it together. The girls' bathroom is off-limits to boys, and vice versa."

He blushed, "I meant in the Black Lake!"

The lions roared in laughter at the Boy Hero's flustered embarrassment. Kagome let herself settle back into the arms of one of her twins. She smiled at her thought process. Not sure of when it happened, but calling them 'her twins' just made her smile. "Go take a bath with it,"

"No fair! The boys will hear it then, and we won't!" Lavender Brown whined.

Kagome smiled, tossing her egg to the blonde, "go knock yourself out. Tell me if it works, won't you?"

Lavender grinned and ran upstairs to gather her pajamas for the night, the rest of the girls chasing after her.

"Wow," Harry shook his head, "Right, I'll just...go bathe then."

Kagome laughed as Fred sat next to George and brushed a lock of her hair aside, "I need to visit Severus still, but I don't want to move. My head has been driving me mad for a good while now, almost a week. This on top of it all."

The twins shared a look, neither moving as it was a rare day for both that she hadn't pulled away from them yet. Instead, with the room emptied and everyone listening to Golden Eggs in shared tubs, they took the time to enjoy the other's presence.

-x-x-x-

(That Night)

Fred snuck around late into the night, down the halls and towards Professor Snape's office. He knocked, feeling a bit out of his element as, normally, he would sneak in unseen and grab what he needed. Only, he didn't know what he needed.

"Enter,"

Walking inside, he peered around the office and turned at the annoyed sigh that came from behind him.

"What brings you to my office after curfew, Mr. Weasley?"

"Kagome needed something from you?" He said it like a question, though he knew it was true. "She was comfortable, and her head was hurting too much that she didn't want to leave. I told her I'd grab what she needed."

Fred took a step back when Snape stood and walked off to his cabinet, opening it to reveal several vials. He took two and handed them over, though he didn't let them go.

"Mr. Weasley, how long has she been suffering from head pains?"

"...well, she said it's been bothering her for about a week."

"Watch her, and more importantly, listen to her. If other problems arise, bring them to my attention. Make sure she takes the tonic; this is for her headache."

Fred nodded and took both bottles before he was pushed from the room, and the door slammed shut behind him. "...well...that was unexpected." He gave the liquid in the vials a careful swirl as he walked back to the common room. He was interested in what the one was, having not been told, but he wouldn't pry either. He and George had seen her on the map for years, sneaking off to Snape's office every night. Whatever this was, he knew it was necessary, otherwise, she wouldn't need it daily. "Colloportus," Fred called out to the portrait and ignored her disapproving smile. A love-hate relationship he gathered. The paintings didn't encourage rulebreaking, but they enjoyed watching their antics. When he entered the room, he saw Kagome completely knocked out, the egg sitting on the table with a note scribbled next to it. Lavender's curly handwriting, with a bunch of hearts scattered around it. "What's this here?"

"The girls heard the egg, and Lavender wrote it down for Kagome. The bunch came in squealing over how beautiful the song was, I'm sure she'll want to hear it herself, but she seems to be feeling this headache quite a bit." George shifted a bit and maneuvered his arm so that she slid carefully down the length, resting her head on the red pillow on his other side as he laid her in a more comfortable position. She'd fallen asleep rather quickly, considering Ron and Harry were still awake in the corner of the room, though Hermione was out cold beside the two of them.

"You read it yet?"

George shook his head 'no.' Watching his twin lift it between two fingers, Fred read it aloud.

"Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, and while you're searching ponder this, we've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour-long, you'll have to look and to recover what we took, but past an hour, the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

"Ominous,"

"Is the next task in the Black Lake?"

Sighing, George leaned back comfortably on the couch, "she was certain that it wouldn't be. Dumbledore had to have made a contract with the merfolk below. An hour-long, you'll have to look. The safety of the champions is forfeit after an hour."

"More to the point, how does one hold their breath for an hour?"

"Bubble-head charm?"

"Gillyweed," Fred followed up.

"Or transfiguration,"

The two pondered the task before Fred placed the two vials he'd gone to get down, "she needs to wake up and take them. Snape was adamant, also..." he held his hand up to stop George from waking her, "he wants us to keep an eye on her, more importantly, keep our ears open. If she comments on any intermittent problems, we need to let him know. She's not keeping him informed, whatever that means. This headache seemed to bother him."

"...why does he care?"

"Who knows, but this..." Fred lifted one of the vials, "is no draught or potion I've ever seen. It's what she's been taking daily, I think."

Staring at the vial curiously, George brought a hand to Kagome's shoulder and gave a little shake. It took a couple more nudges before she came to with a slight murmur and groan. "Morning Princess,"

"Morning? There's no way I slept for that long; I'm too tired."

George laughed, "no, you haven't. Fred grabbed your potions from Snape, drink them."

"Them?"

Fred held them both up and watched her take the unfamiliar draught first, "what is that for?"

"...it's...just a Vitamix potion..." the lie was so blatant, she'd cringed as it slipped past her lips. As they rolled their eyes, she tossed her head back and downed the tonic with apparent displeasure tearing across her face. "Merlin! Nothing good, nothing good!" She shook her head and capped the vial before setting it down on the table before her. She eyed the second vial and frowned, "...what's this for?"

"Headache, he seemed a bit bothered that you hadn't told him."

Kagome gave Fred a look of dread and exasperation, "you mentioned it?"

"Of course I did," he pushed the vial into her hand and watched her eyes narrow at the liquid, though he was happy when she uncapped it and drank the contents without argument. Her eyes closed as she tried to ignore the taste of both potions. Finally, she curled back up against George and tucked her face into the crook of his neck.

"Love, you need to go to sleep. All of you do. Our champions have had a long day, Ron, Harry." He said a bit louder so that the two in the corner heard him and acknowledged him. He grinned when both of them looked his way and pointed at Hermione. "Wake her up," he said, "you too," running a finger along Kagome's side, he smirked when her eyes shot open at the sudden tremor that she felt.

Helping her off his brother's lap, Fred held out her egg and the neatly scrawled note, "worry about it tomorrow, go to sleep, and take Granger with you."

Kagome grumbled her complaint but made her way to the Golden Princess and took her hand in hers. "Come on, bed, up, sleep."

Hermione, in her tired state of mind, understood this in all of its simplicity. Following Kagome, she left her bag and books behind on the table across from Ron and Harry.

-x-x-x-

(November 25th, 1994)

Walking into the Great Hall, Kagome eyed the note in her hand, feeling fresher than daisies as she took a seat across from Lee. Looking around, she didn't see Fred or George and noted idly that the Golden Trio hadn't crawled out of bed quite yet either. Turning her attention to the note as she buttered a piece of toast, she read it over again in her head.

'Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground...that's obvious, the Black Lake.' She took a bite as someone sat beside her, 'while you're searching ponder this, we've taken what you'll sorely miss. An item? Sorely miss...something I would be lost without? What would I be lost without, though? What matters most to me.'

"What's on your mind?"

"Trying to think about what matters to me most. If something from me were taken, something I'd miss, it would need to be important. I don't care about much of anything, except, of course, my family and friends. That's pretty much it. I hold no real attachment to anything material," she looked at the twins and frowned, "unless it's not an item."

The two glanced between one another, "you think it's a person? Well, then who's the most important person to you?"

'Now that's a thought. Who matters to me most?' She glanced at the twins, "I wouldn't know. I don't have that many people I'm close with. It's just the two of you that I hang out with,"

Fred and George looked a bit troubled at the thought of being pulled into a task, "it'll be a bit of a bother if we can't take bets during the second task," Fred muttered.

Rolling her eyes, she gave the two a slight nudge. Glancing up as owls came swooping in, she watched a few fly about as the dropped parcels, letters, and the Daily Prophet here and there. Catching one aimed for her, she smiled as she caught sight of the front page. "Ooh, I'm famous."

"How so, love?"

George leaned in and eyed the front page; the piece was done by a Grace Cumbernickle, which took him by surprise. "Was Rita Skeeter not around to cater to her fans?"

"She had some problems with her camera."

Fred laughed, "problems? Like what?"

"I obliterated it. She was harassing Harry and Hermione; I removed the problem."

Staring wide-eyed at their friend, both gazed on in awe as she read the paper.

"All the rave, young Miss. Higurashi is a favorite of many things; favorite to win the Tri-Wizard tournament after yesterday's exciting task and her magnificent display of song and bravery. Nothing we'd suspected, proclaimed to be the first 'favorite' in over five hundred years. Kagome Higurashi, age seventeen, dedicated her time on the field to serenading the Dragon with what we later learned to be a 'vow of loyalty' to the fire breathing creature. When we questioned Dragon Tamer, Charlie Weasley, about whether this would pose as a problem later on for the Dragon or Kagome, he explained that neither would be able to separate for more than a few months at a time, and not for the first three months of the magical binding. This Dragon is here at Hogwarts to stay. Let's hope our Dragon Whisperer has the common sense not to upset it."

"Cool, so what are your plans for the Dragon now that you and you alone can make it do things."

Kagome shook her head and tossed the paper aside, "that's not how being a 'favorite' works. I can't tell it to do anything. I'm there simply for companionship. I think." She didn't sound all that sure.

-x-x-x-

(December 9th, 1994)

Days passed, and Kagome found herself sitting among a few of her friends at breakfast, laughing at something Angelina said. Kagome reached across Fred and snatched a Treacle Tart up from in front of him. Catching his eyes, he leaned forward and took a bite of the tart before smirking down at her. "I was going to eat that!"

George laughed, "you make it hard not to tease you,"

"How do you figure!?"

"You're so small, such a compact-sized girl you are,"

"Mum sent me a dress..."

Kagome ignored the twins as she turned towards their younger brother.

"Well it does match your eyes, is there a bonnet?"

George chuckled a bit from beside her.

"Nose down, Harry." Ron walked down the table a bit. "Ginny, these must be for you."

"I'm not wearing that; it's ghastly."

Hearing Hermione laugh, Kagome listened in as a smile slipped into place.

"What are you on about?"

"They're not for Ginny. They're for you."

She was shaking her head as the twins curled in with laughter, the table roaring to life as Hermione explained that the ancient robes in his arms were Dress Robes. Kagome wasn't sure when the genius witch two years below her had learned of the Yule Ball, but she did. Kagome, on the other hand, hadn't known about it either and wasn't quite prepared to go to a ball. "Wait, a ball?" She paled, "Dancing?" She stood suddenly, no longer hungry as she quickly left the Great Hall. 'This explains why the Gryffindors are all having a class together with McGonagall later; it's most probably to discuss the ball.' She could have cried. Kagome was many things. Intelligent, ambitious, polite, and brave, she was almost an all 'O' student, Astronomy aside. She was naive when it came to people, very rarely untrusting. An avid reader, a talented Potioneer, she was skilled in Transfiguration and quite the Duelist if she did say so herself. However, she could confidently tell you that she was by no means a dancer.

'I don't have time to be practicing dance...I need to figure out how to go about holding my breath for an hour.' Stepping outside, she pulled a cloak from her handbag and secured the clasp at her neck before walking off towards the forest. Her eyes glancing back to be sure she was being followed, pulling the hood up, she ducked into the woods. 'An hour-long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took, but past an hour, the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back. Simply put, if it's an item, it won't be so horrible for me not to retrieve it. So that means it can only be a person. Who is most important to me?'

She heard the heavy thrumming of a growl as she made headway towards the Dragons—specifically, her Dragon.

"Where are you off to, favorite?"

Kagome flushed and turned around, seeing Charlie sitting against a tree, she glanced at her hands uncertainly before speaking, "I was trying to find a place to think better,"

"That just happens to be with a dragon that's capable of ripping your head off?"

"He won't hurt me,"

"Your right," Charlie pushed himself up off the ground, "he won't, now. Thanks to that little stunt you pulled in the arena, he will be more of a handful than before. They are talking about having him stay on Hogwarts grounds now, that means..." he held a hand out for her to follow, "a group of us will need to stay behind. You know, I love Hogwarts and all, but I didn't become a Dragon Tamer so that I could come back to school."

She laughed a bit at that, "my apologies, though it could be worse, I suppose."

"For you or me? Oh, one person is happy."

"Who?"

He grinned, "Hagrid. Though he was a bit miffed that you couldn't make your vow with Norbert, he's thrilled at the idea of there being a Dragon on the grounds."

"Say, Charlie, do you think I could get some advice?"

Charlie paused and glanced down at her, curiously, "I'm not the best when it comes to advice; my mum has a strict 'don't ask Charlie' policy."

"Well, it's nothing personal, I simply have to find a way to hold my breath underwater for an hour..."

"Oh? You've figured out the second task?"

"All of Gryffindor has figured it out. I didn't care to be bothered with it yesterday, so the girls messed with my egg and wrote the clue down for me. After that, it was pretty straightforward."

He shook his head but looked on thoughtfully, "the most obvious choice would be the Bubble-Head charm, you've studied it before, yes?"

"I have, but...the problem I'm having is, if the charm is disrupted, I'll be at a disadvantage. More than the one I'm already at,"

"What's your current disadvantage,"

Huffing, she crossed her arms and looked away from the older ginger. "I can't swim. I can't swim, I can't dance, I have no grace in either the water or on the dance floor."

Charlie watched her with growing fascination before he gave a teasing laugh, "well, that is a problem. The champions are required to have the first dance at the Yule Ball, and how you plan to navigate the Lake when you can't swim, Cor! What a situation. Oh, how are you in Transfiguration?"

"O's,"

He grinned, "In Africa, students can perfectly transform into Animagi by fourteen. Hm, but Animagi could take a while. Human Transfiguration, you could try that."

She pulled her wand out and thought about what Mermaids looked like, "I've never seen a mermaid..."

"The Slytherin Common Rooms have windows that look out at the underwater city, don't suppose you've got a friend down below."

She smirked, "I wouldn't call him a friend, but...I know someone."

"You've got three months, while you're looking into that, maybe you should take up swim and dance lessons?"

She looked horrified at the idea, "I'd have to ask for help, and I―"

"Let me help you with dancing, that is. My brothers, I know they would be but hurt if you didn't go to the Ball. I can at least help you with that."

She hated looking like a novice in something, but avoiding that; she figured she would need to undergo lessons. "Fine, but you can't tell anyone!"

He waved her off, "your Dragon awaits, fair maiden," pushing aside a branch and looking ahead of them where the Hungarian Horntail lay nestled on burnt land with tamers at four corners of the nest.

-x-x-x-

Me: Here is chapter eight. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. If you have ideas concerning how she could breathe underwater, making up spells and such is all fine, but I'd rather not delve into the Bubble-Head charm. Let me know what you think~!