Grateful

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Inuyasha, belong to their respective owners. I never have, and never will, own any part of them. Thank you.

Summary: She arrived at a most opportune time. Harry would forever be grateful. Kagome/Harry Inuyasha/Harry Potter

Harry ducked as a bright flash of light zipped over his head. Wide green eyes searched frantically around him for the culprit. Emerald connected with steely silver in a short battle of wills. The battle ended when the tall, long-haired wizard threw a particularly nasty hex toward the harried teen. Jumping to the side, Harry was able to miss being hit by the blast of color. Taking the time to quickly glance at the states of his friends, Harry was glad to see that they seemed to be doing just fine, if not a bit fatigued. He sure was glad that help arrived at the time it did. He didn't know how much longer they could have held out if the Aurors didn't arrive when they did. He was also quite happy to see his godfather among the group.

He knew that Sirius was tired of being locked up in his dark, old home; tortured by memories of his unhappy childhood. And though Harry was still concerned for his safety, he knew that Sirius needed this time. He needed to get out and feel alive again, even if only for a moment. Besides, Harry was still feeling pretty guilty for getting his friends into this mess in the first place. If only he hadn't listened to the vision that Voldemort sent him. If only he hadn't thought Sirius was in trouble. He could have saved them all the hurt and trouble they were in now. He was sorry for getting everyone involved in his problems.

But if the time came again where he thought his friends were in danger and there was something he could do to help, he would go to help them in a heartbeat. It wouldn't matter if they were truly in trouble or not. He would do everything in his power to help them. Because, when it came right down to it, they were there because of him. He was the reason that they were risking their lives right now. And he would do his best to not let that happen again.

A flash of light passing his face by mere millimeters startled him from his thoughts. Getting his head back in the game, Harry was able to see that the Aurors were gaining the upper hand and it was only a matter of time before they won.

Beside him, Sirius laughed excitedly as he continued to swing his wand from side to side. His arm and wrist twisted and swished in a practiced and well-remembered manner. He may have been out of practice, but he remembered everything he had ever learned. And it felt great to have a wand back in hand and being able to protect his precious godson. He never wanted to leave him. He would never leave him. It was his fault that James and Lily were killed; he would not let them down again by letting anything happen to their son. He swore it. Even if it cost him his very life.

The battle raged on in the dark and dreary Death Chamber hidden deep in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic. The Veil stood ominously in the center of the room; a warning to anyone who dared to enter. Sirius stood, unafraid, in front of it and continued to shoot at his enemies. This was his first mistake. His second came when he disregarded his deranged cousin and her desire to see him dead.

Harry turned in time to watch in slow motion as a bright, green spell careened its way toward his godfather. Before he could even yell a warning, the Veil behind Sirius began to wave and swirl. In the small amount of time it took for the spell to leave Bellatrix's wand and race toward his godfather, the Veil contorted before spitting something out of it and straight at his godfather. Or should he say: someone.

They fell in a heap to the rough floor. Their bodies tangled and bruised. But, as far as he could tell, they were alive. The spell flew past them before ramming into the wall with a resounding crash.

Harry was too preoccupied to notice the echoing silence of the room as everyone took in the strange scene. His only concern was Sirius' health. Nearly dropping his wand, Harry rushed to their side and began to check them over.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked once he was looking into the dark eyes of his godfather.

Sirius blinked while taking in the anxious form of his godson. Before he could answer, he saw his cousin regain her composure and aim her wand at Harry and him. Grabbing his wand, he quickly sent a spell her way and only turned back to Harry once the other Aurors were in pursuit. He would have rather gone after her himself, but he didn't think Harry would let him leave anytime soon. It seemed that whatever just happened really scared him.

"I'm fine, Harry," he was quick to reassure him. "Nothing happened." Well almost nothing.

Harry looked skeptical, but allowed it to pass. Once he was sure his godfather was all right, he turned his attention to the rousing stranger beside him. He didn't recognize her and he didn't know where she came from. As far as he knew, the Veil was not accessible from the other side. So where did she come from?

A groan left the lips of the girl as she slowly sat up. Her hand was holding her aching head as she tried to figure out what was going on. Where was she? How did she get there? The last thing she remembered was being sucked into Miroku's Wind Tunnel when their enemy threw her toward it. It wasn't even Naraku this time, but some big-shot tiger demon that wanted their Jewel shards. Somehow she ended up in his hands and he threw her toward Miroku while he was sucking in all of the tiger's buddies. Maybe he was a little upset about that, but did it really give him the permission to throw her around? Absolutely not! And to make matters worse, Kagome didn't know where she was. But wherever she landed it was fairly soft. At least, it was soft before whatever she hit began to spin. Now all she knew was that she was sitting on cold, hard rock and her back and arms were hurting something awful. To top it all off, there was a weird vibe in the air that set her hair standing on end. There was someone – or something – powerful around her, and she didn't know if that person – or thing – was friend or foe.

Knowing the only way she would get her answers was to look, Kagome blinked open her bright, blue eyes to find herself staring into equally bright, green eyes. With a start, Kagome jumped back only to hit her head on a large stone. Rubbing her aching head, Kagome cursed her current predicament. Why did she always end up in such strange situations?

"Are you all right?" Harry asked the girl dressed in strange clothes. Was she a witch? She didn't look like one. But how else did she come out of the Veil without using magic?

When the question registered in her aching brain, Kagome looked up at the concerned face. English? she thought. She was surprised to hear it, but glad she knew quite a bit of it. Though she was by no means fluent, she had a feeling that that would change pretty quickly in her current situation.

Seeing how upset he seemed to be, Kagome sought to reassure him, "Yeah, I'm okay." His shoulders deflated after that and his warm smile made her stomach flip. She had to admit that he was rather cute, if not a bit dirty. She wondered how he ended up in this dark place and where exactly this dark place was. Kagome didn't have any clue. But she would definitely get her answers. Even if it took all night.

Harry sighed. He was relieved that she was fine. She seemed foreign, maybe Japanese or Chinese? Possibly Korean? He wasn't sure, but that wasn't important at the moment. She was safe; Sirius was safe; they were all safe.

He had plenty of time to get to know her better. At least, he hoped he did. He wasn't sure what they were going to do with her. After all, it wasn't every day that someone was spewed out of the Veil.

In fact, he was sure it had never happened before. Harry didn't know what the procedure was in this kind of situation, but he would do everything in his power to help her out. After all, she did save his godfather from certain death.

He had a lot to be grateful for. And it was all thanks to her. Beacuse of that he was going to make sure that he paid her back 100 times over.

Whether she wanted it or not. They were now thoroughly connected and she had no say in the matter.

AN: Just a short little one-shot that I've had in mind for... too long to remember exactly. I was originally going to flesh this out and make it into a full-length story, but decided against it. I need to get writing more and I decided to just sit down and do this. It took me about an hour to write this (nonstop) and I don't know if I really care for it all that much, but I also don't really care. So here it is. Whatever happens between Harry and Kagome from here on is up to you.