InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Shift of Time ❯ An Awkward Confrontation ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: An Awkward Confrontation

 

Hermione did not care what Ron and Harry said, that girl had done something. She had somehow gotten herself into the school, and Hermione was determined to find out how. However, when she went to tell Dumbledore about her problem, she found that the Headmaster would be gone for some time and Professor McGonagall had merely told her that perhaps she should get some more sleep. The Transfiguration teacher had listened, yes, but in the end had flat out told her that such a thing was not possible and Higurashi Kagome had come to be in the school as everyone else does.

 

Hermione did not believe her, either.

 

She had never forgotten anything. She clearly remembered the time when they went into the third-floor corridor on the right hand side, even after Dumbledore warned them about a painful death, and met the three-headed dog, Fluffy. She vividly remember the ridiculous nonsense that Professor Lockhart tried to teach them in second year, and when he tried to use Ron's wand after they found the Chamber of Secrets. She had a fond memory of using the Time-Turner to save Sirius Black and Buckbeck. And, most of all, she remembered last year, when two other wizarding schools arrived at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament, she made quick friends with Victor Krum, and Cedric was killed in the return of Voldemort.

 

She had not forgotten a moment of it, and she never would. And that was the exact reason she knew Higurashi Kagome had somehow, someway, gotten into the school and done something. Hermione was not sure what, yet, but she had been reading quite a deal of books since she first saw her, and she was pretty sure she was beginning to find the answer.

 

Then again, she could not find anything that would allow a person to make everyone think they had been there for years while singling out a single person. It was all or nothing, and even then the magic was ancient and far too complex for a fifth year to figure out. Even she had had trouble trying to figure out a good deal of the spell, and realized that it needed the combination of a spell and a potion. One of which she was positive Higurashi Kagome not have been able to make, considering a few of the ingredients needed had been used to the point of extinction.

 

So, really, it put her back at square one.

 

Giving a sigh, Hermione returned her attention to the book in her hand. After realizing that the spell would not work, considering the circumstances, there was really no point in reading it anymore. So, she put it aside and grabbed up another one that she had thought might help her with this mystery. Stuffing her nose into it, she scanned the text quickly, searching for anything that might be useful.

 

“Her—mione,” Ron called her name again, drawing it out.

 

“Yes?” Hermione asked.

 

“What are you doing?” Ron asked in concern. He had just seen a student throw a Fanged Frisbee, and yet Hermione had not jumped up to dish out a punishment. And that, in his book, meant something was wrong. For almost two weeks she had been throwing around her prefect badge, stating that the rules would be followed, and then she just suddenly stopped.

 

Harry did not think it was all that healthy, either.

 

“I told you, Ron,” Hermione growled. Flicking a glare toward him, she returned to her reading. Higurashi Kagome would not outsmart her, and she would not get away with whatever she had done to get into the school. Hermione was determined to prove her case, and in the end it would be the Slytherin that lost.

 

“But—” Ron went to complain.

 

“Ronald Weasley,” Hermione stated in her most motherly tone. “How many times must I explain it? Higurashi Kagome is not, nor has she ever been, a student here. She has clearly done something, since I seem to be the only sane person around here!”

 

Harry cast Ron a glance, and Ron understood it instantly. Hermione, really, was the one that did not sound sane. How in the world could someone suddenly pop out of nowhere, especially when the entire school remembered them? So, it was starting to concern them both, since there was a good chance that someone underneath the Dark Lord had gotten underneath Hermione's skin. They would not know, since they had not seen her all summer, though it was a bit odd that she suddenly noticed Kagome a week and a half after school started.

 

“Don't look at each other like that!” Hermione snarled. “You might think I'm the one that's got the facts wrong, but it's you! All of you! Higurashi Kagome has done something to you all, made you think all this nonsense, and I'm going to find out how! Then, I'm going to fix this and make everything like it was before!”

 

“Hermione,” Harry said softly. He had seen Hermione explode before, but never over something so ridiculous. Usually it was about homework and grades and the fact that Ron had copied her work yet again, or once in a while it was about them risking their lives unnecessarily. All of it had a good reason for her trigger to be pulled, but this just came out of nowhere.

 

Snapping her eyes up, Hermione's entire body seemed to give off sparks as she glared at him. “Don't use that tone with me, Harry Potter. You name one instance, one, where Higurashi Kagome was actually in this school! Just one!”

 

“Bloody hell!” Ron snapped back. “We can name a bunch of them, Hermione!”

 

“Oh really?” Hermione drew out the words like a snake. “But, I bet you, that each one of them I don't remember, and I remember everything. I haven't forgotten anything that's happened to us, to this school, or anyone that's close to us. I haven't forgotten, which means you are remembering things that you shouldn't be, Ron.”

 

“How can we be remembering something that didn't happen?” Ron asked.

 

“Clearly you haven't been paying attention to anything I've said,” Hermione huffed. “Otherwise you'd know that Higurashi Kagome—”

 

“Will you stop saying her name like that, we know who she is!” Ron cut in.

 

“—That—that Slytherin has performed some feat of magic that is messing with your minds!” Hermione quickly finished. She did not have time for yelling at Ron, not when she was trying to juggle doing her homework and find time to research as much as she could before it was too late. After all, there was no telling what that Slytherin was up to, and she needed to be stopped as soon as possible.

 

“I highly doubt it,” Ron replied. “I come from a wizarding family, Hermione, and I've never heard of a spell that could work on so many people at once!”

 

“Oh, so now you know something about highly advanced spells, do you?” Hermione asked.

 

Harry looked between them, knowing it was probably best to stay out of it. Their fighting was getting worse and worse, and he could only hope that it came to a halt soon. Or they admitted that they liked one another, whichever came first.

 

“Hermione!” Ron snapped. His concern for his friend was outweighing his need to keep his voice down. “You wanted us to name a few instances where Kagome was around us, fine! How about just last year, when you were angry because Krum asked Kagome to a single dance at the Yule Ball? Funniest thing I've ever seen, I tell ya, because that bloody Malfoy was off moping in a corner until they were done!”

 

“You're wrong, Ronald!” Hermione growled back. They were edging toward one another, fire being thrown between their eyes, and a lot of first years quickly left the area. “Victor never once looked at another girl when he took me to the Yule Ball, and he didn't dance with one either! He was the perfect gentleman! And, if I remember correctly, it was you that was sulking off in a corner because you were too afraid to dance with your date!”

 

“Something's wrong in your head, Hermione, face it!” Ron growled back. “You can ask anyone that was here last year, they'll all tell you the same thing. Higurashi Kagome was there, has been here since our first year, and she was not only Draco Malfoy's date, but she was asked by Victor Krum to a dance!”

 

“Blimey,” another student whispered, “what's gotten into them?”

 

The girl sitting next to him shook her head, used to the yelling that happened just before Ron and Hermione decided to part ways for a while. Then Harry Potter would be forced to choose between them, before they decided to stop fighting.

 

“Ohh—” Hermione was so angry she could not speak, and finally she stomped her foot. “I will prove you wrong, Ronald Weasley! I will set everything right and then you'll be forced to apologize for years!”

 

“Ha, I doubt it!” Ron laughed. “There's nothing to fix, Hermione. Face it!”

 

Hermione did not stay to fight with him anymore, though. She turned on her heel and fled the common room in a flurry of black robes. She was so angry that she did not hear Harry yelling for her to come back, nor did she acknowledge how the younger students scurried from her path as she walked. All she realized was that she was heading toward the dungeons, where she would hopefully be able to catch Higurashi Kagome before she entered, or after she left the Slytherin abode.

 

She raced down the stairs, through the last few halls, and finally rounded the corner to enter the dismal dungeon. At the doorway she stopped, allowing the chill from below to sink into her bones. She knew it was stupid, but she was almost afraid of stepping into the snake's den. Slytherins would do anything to achieve their ends, just as the Sorting Hat often said, and she had no doubt that walking into their domain would cause them all to turn on her. Prefect or not, they would go after her and she could only hope to walk away without at least a bruise.

 

It was not the best idea to waltz right into the den of any animal, especially not alone.

 

After standing in front of the doorway for a few minutes, Hermione was shoved out of the way when a seventh year Slytherin came running up from the dungeons. The girl did not stop to apologize, only sneering at her slightly, and Hermione had to resist the urge to begin yelling. After all, from the look she had got of her, the Slytherin was also a prefect and would have simply used the position against her case.

 

Another Slytherin came up not long after, glancing at the trim of her robes with disgust. The boy made a deliberate show of the green on his own by running his hand over the outside and pushing it away from his body slightly. However, she was slightly glad that the Slytherin walked around her, instead of trying to run through her.

 

Wondering why so many Slytherins, when a flood of them began to exit the dungeons, were coming up, Hermione almost wanted to hit herself. It was dinnertime, clearly. And no doubt they would be some of the first to be sitting and eating, stuffing their faces and trying to prove that they were better than the rest of the students. Not only that, but they were the closest to the Great Hall, and probably wanted to try and eat as much of the food before another House could get a hold of any.

 

Hermione moved away from the doorway, standing off to the side. She paid little attention to the flood of green that walked by her, though she stumbled a bit when Malfoy came up. The twit had shoved her on purpose, she was sure of it, and she would also make sure that someone knew he was purposely using his position as prefect to cause trouble. He, like the other Slytherin, would probably plead against her, but she was positive she could win against him.

 

“Malfoy,” Hermione scowled. She made a glance at the doorway, wondering where Higurashi was, considering Ron and Harry said they were inseparable. However, she scowled harder when she realized Malfoy had stopped and turned his ear toward her.

 

“Watch where you're going, mudblood,” Malfoy snapped after a moment of silence. “We wouldn't want something to happen to you, after all.”

 

Hermione wanted to growl at him, but he disappeared into the sea of green and black that continued to head toward the Great Hall. She stepped back a little further, noticing the glares and whispers that were being exchanged between the Slytherin students each time they glanced at her. It was clear that she was not wanted so close to the dungeons so late at night. And it was also clear that they would be more than willing to do something about it if she showed up again at a later time.

 

It did not take long for the Slytherins to dwindle, and she heard the distant clanging of silverware as the meal began. She sighed, knowing that she was not going to find the Slytherin girl now, and decided that she should go find Harry and Ron. They were probably wondering where she was, though at the moment she did not really care what Ron thought. He could stuff his face and choke himself without her help tonight, and beg for her forgiveness when she proved him wrong.

 

However, as she turned to head toward the Great Hall, Hermione got a distant feeling in her chest. She stopped, and turned her attention back toward the dungeons. Her chest hurt a little, and her breathing became shallow, as she felt a sharp pain in her head. She reached up to grab the spot, and it was in that moment that she heard the sound of shoes clicking on the dungeon floor.

 

Slowly, like magic, Higurashi Kagome exited from the dungeons. She did not glance at her, Hermione noticed in annoyance, and began to travel in the direction of the rest of the Slytherins. However, Hermione, shaking away the pain in her head, had other plans for her.

 

“Higurashi Kagome!” Hermione called. This was her moment. She did not like the thought of using her position as prefect to interrogate the girl, but she did not have a choice. The Slytherin would probably sneer at her and walk away otherwise, though she would probably try to anyway until she shoved the prefect badge in her face. Most Slytherins were that way, and though Ron and Harry said she was different, she highly doubted it.

 

A student that showed up out of nowhere, and in the Slytherin House, was nothing but evil. Not only that, but Higurashi Kagome had done something to change the memories of everyone around her. That, in every essence of the word, labeled her evil in Hermione's eyes. Evil, just like the rest of the Slytherins she decided to hang around.

 

The Slytherin came to a halt, turning quickly on her foot. Her black hair swung up around her shoulder, before she reached up to flip it back into place. Hermione knew the act was innocent, but everything a Slytherin did had a purpose and it usually meant harm for another person. And, unlike everyone else, she was not fooled by those big, blue eyes that stared at her with a friendly look etched deep inside them. So, she straightened herself when the Slytherin girl went to speak.

 

“Oh, yes?” Kagome asked. “Do you need something?”

 

Silly Slytherin, of course she wanted something. Hermione almost rolled her eyes, since it was a typical Slytherin response. Trying to make the person second-guess themselves before slinking away. She replied, “Yes, I have a few questions that I'd like you to answer.”

 

Kagome's smile faded a little at her harsh tone, but otherwise she did not appear hostile. Again, Hermione could not be fooled. “I'll try to answer them the best I can then,” she said.

 

Hermione debated for a moment what she wanted to know, before she decided to start out with a simple question. She had always been good at reading people, and she was sure she would be able to determine whether or not the girl was lying. And, by asking her a question that she already knew, Hermione could gage the way she looked when she told the truth. So, she asked, “What is your name?”

 

Confusion filled the Slytherin's eyes, as she asked, “You already know it, so why would you want me to—”

 

Jutting out the prefect badge, Hermione snapped, “Please, just answer the question.”

 

“Alright,” she nodded. Her smile returned, as she took a step toward Hermione, and the Gryffindor almost stepped back at the action. She looked like she understood what was going on, and Hermione became cautious. “My name is Higurashi Kagome. And I'd like to add that though we're not in the same house and we don't often acknowledge each other, I've always thought you had a very pretty name, Hermione.”

 

Hermione was dumbfounded when the Slytherin stuck out her hand for her to shake. The confrontation was already taking a downward path with the simple action, because she had never expected the Slytherin to be so nice. She had expected her to demand the reason she wanted to ask such a question, perhaps spit out that she did not have time for silly games, before trying to escape. She did not expect her to go along with it, answer her question, and compliment her in the same sentence.

 

And, Hermione was pretty sure she was telling the truth! It was not possible for a Slytherin to give a compliment, let alone to a Gryffindor, which meant it could not happen, but it just had! So, she blinked in confusion and surprise, not quite understanding what was going on. The girl was obviously evil and up to something, so why was she so sweet and kind?

 

Again, Hermione had to question her theory. She had not found anything that the Slytherin could have used to not only get into the school, but also cast a memory-altering spell to such a large degree. And, she was positive that even if she had, there was the fact that the girl was only a fifth year like herself. She would have had to get someone extremely powerful to help her with such a thing, which meant she would have probably been working under Voldemort, but Hermione had already crossed out that possibility.

 

“Hermione?” Kagome asked in concern. “Are you alright?”

 

Hermione's thoughts were a jumble. Talking with the Slytherin was changing everything and anything she had come up with, because there was no way someone with such a sweet nature could pull such a thing. But, again, why was she torturing her if she was so sweet by nature? Why would she change the memories of everyone but her if she was so kind and generous like she kept being told? Why would she even think of doing such a thing? Why—it was truly the only question Hermione wanted answered, but she did not know how to ask.

 

“—gome!” Malfoy called, rounding a corner.

 

Kagome was startled for only a moment, turning to the other Slytherin. However, she was quick to smile and let her hand drop. “Draco!” she called. She appeared to be genuinely happy to see the other Slytherin, and Hermione had to wonder how someone could be so happy to see, as Ron would proudly put it, that bloody git. Then again, if they were as close as Ron and Harry made it seem, there were obviously reasons why she might want to see him.

 

Hermione shuddered at the very thought. Her young, intelligent mind did not find the subject disturbing, but the thought of Malfoy doing such a thing was. Especially with someone that was as pretty, kind, and confusing as Higurashi Kagome. She could almost see it from the way the boy's eyes slid over her form in praise, silently marking his territory and showing her that he desired her. And, that very act made the entire situation even more disturbing.

 

Malfoy glanced up when he reached Kagome's side, hissing out, “Granger.”

 

“Malfoy,” she spat. The same situation had happened not long ago, but Hermione found it even tenser than before Malfoy disappeared into the Great Hall after shoving her. For some reason, Kagome's presence made Malfoy even more hostile, but he was clearly trying to cover it up by using a more polite word to address her. It certainly made the moment even more awkward, because Hermione was not quite sure how to reply after simply spitting his name back at him.

 

Malfoy would always be a git, but she had never had to deal with him while he was acting like a dog protecting what belonged to it. A starved dog, too. One that had gone weeks without a proper meal and was driven by near insanity to get something in its belly each day. She could see the resemblance in his eyes, and she almost took a step back. Draco Malfoy had never been scary, but that possessive look in his eyes almost frightened her.

 

“What exactly are you doing, Granger?” Draco demanded.

 

Hermione went to defend herself, when Kagome tugged at Malfoy's sleeve. The boy looked down at her, and she replied, “Hermione wanted me to answer a few questions she had, was all, Draco. There's nothing to worry about.”

 

Again, Hermione was dumbfounded. The Slytherin girl had just defended her! She could swear she could hear the Gates of the Underworld opening to suck them all in. In a matter of moments the world would be gone, but nothing happened. Hermione was realistic, she knew nothing would happen, but watching the girl defend her in such a subtle way almost caused her to faint.

 

Malfoy looked suspicious, but his glare quickly settled onto her, and Hermione huffed. It was not her fault! Yet, the way Malfoy was looking at her made it very clear that he believed it was. “Well, in that case, we better go get something to eat before Crabbe and Goyle get their hands onto everything worth eating,” he said. “Besides, I've told you that Gryffindors only ask stupid questions, anyway, so you don't have to stop and answer them.”

 

“Oh, I know,” Kagome nodded. “But she was so nice about it, and I wanted to help her.” After she spoke, she began to walk toward the Great Hall, obviously expecting Draco to follow her. However, Hermione was not surprised when the Slytherin boy stayed behind and turned to sneer in her direction.

 

“Stay away from Kagome, mudblood,” Malfoy snapped. “If you don't, you better hope you watch your back, because there's no telling what could happen to you.”

 

Knowing a threat when she heard one, Hermione once again went to reply. She planned on telling him that he could not control whom she talked to. She planned to tell him that he had no say in who she chose to speak with. And, she planned to tell him that he could shove his demand wherever he wished to shove it. However, once again, Hermione was cut off when Kagome began to speak.

 

“Draco?” Kagome called, turning on her heel to gaze back at them. “Are you coming?”

 

Straightening himself, Malfoy nodded, “Yes, I'm coming.” He walked away, easily slipping his arm into Kagome's when he reached her side. Kagome looked like she tried to turn and wave at her, but Malfoy quickly repositioned his arm around her shoulder before she could. Then, they rounded a corner and were gone, leaving Hermione standing in front of the entrance to the dungeons.

 

Hermione's entire plan had washed itself down the drain. She wondered exactly how long she stood in that spot before finally going to get something to nibble on, but did not think it was all that important. Her main concern was why Higurashi Kagome would go to all the trouble to make her life miserable and then act so nice toward her. Everything she had thought up and researched was now a jumbled mess in her head, and it left her with no answers.

 

Sighing, Hermione decided to go to bed and think of a different plan. Her confrontation idea had been ruined the moment that sneaky Slytherin showed her kindness, so she obviously needed something with a little more kick to it. Something that Higurashi Kagome would not be able to get away from by simply acting nice.

 

Something…

 

Hermione, when she finally plopped down into her bed, wished again that Dumbledore had not suddenly disappeared. Now was the time she needed someone as wise as he was, if only to understand a small bit of what was happening to the world around her. So, as she drifted off to sleep, she hoped that soon, very soon, the Headmaster would return to Hogwarts.

 

And hopefully, he would know of something—anything—that could explain what was happening around her.