InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Shift of Time ❯ Rewind ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

"…suspicious, though, Headmaster, considering Ms. Granger only began to act this way once you decided to take your temporary leave."

Vaguely, Hermione Granger became aware of the world around her once more. The voice was familiar, nagging, yet she could not place where it had come from in her current state of mind.

There was just… so much pain.

"I understand that, Severus." The new voice was calm, reassuring, and strangely enough it put Hermione slightly at ease. "I am not about to place blame on Ms. Higurashi, despite Ms. Granger's frantic letter, considering she has been a student here for nearly as long as Ms. Granger herself. However, you must understand that there is something going on here, otherwise Ms. Granger would not currently be in a hospital bed."

"You cannot seriously believe that Higurashi Kagome had anything to do with this predicament, Headmaster," the original voice snapped. God, it hurt so much. "I have watched that girl grow myself and never has she—"

"That is quite enough, Severus. Ms. Higurashi is your student, yes, but you cannot allow your need to protect the Slytherin students cloud your judgment."

Flashes occurred beneath Hermione's eyelids, reminding her of her task. Her mission to put a stop to the infiltration of one Higurashi Kagome, and figure out how she had altered memories on such a massive scale. Yet, the sharp, stabbing pain in her head distracted her. It shifted her thought, made her wish only to find a way to make the pain go away, and she felt Higurashi Kagome slip into the back of her mind once more.

She could not focus. She could not even force herself to open her eyes. There was so much pain. So, so, so much pain.

Why… why would someone do such a thing to her?

"Headmaster?"

The near soothing voice, allowing her mind to titter near sanity, returned. "Is there something you would like to add, Poppy?"

"I merely wanted to remind you that the girl is in a lot of pain, and it would be helpful if you kept your voice down more than usual." The person paused, before adding, "As you can see, she's crying again."

She… was crying?

No, no, they were wrong. She was not crying. She had no reason to cry. Besides, she would know if she were crying—

Liquid trailed down her cheek once more, surprising her hectic mind.

"Of course, Poppy," the voice lowered. Hermione almost wished they would speak up, considering the pain piercing through her head made it hard to hear them. "We'll be more considerate in the future."

"Is that really all that Ms. Granger's letter said, Albus?" another voice broke into the fray. "I imagine it hard for someone to suddenly appear out of nowhere and begin to change memories, but perhaps Ms. Granger was looking in the right direction. Merely, with the wrong person."

"I had given the thought consideration, Minerva. However, after receiving Ms. Granger's letter, I have attempted to find any source of Dark magic that might have helped Tom changeher memory, at least, without penetrating Hogwarts walls."

"And you found nothing," the original voice sneered.

"That's right, Severus." Hermione could almost hear the nod that followed. "Hogwarts is impenetrable. Dark magic can no longer be performed on such a massive scale without a sacrifice of equal proportion, and many of the items needed during the ritual were used up during the sixteenth century."

"And I imagine that such high level sorcery is far too advanced for Ms. Higurashi to perform," the soft woman's voice stated.

"Of course it is!" the arrogant tone snapped.

"Now, now, Severus. There is no reason to overreact."

"I do not see why not," he snapped. "It is clear to me that you're considering the possibility, when there is none!"

"That is the problem, though. We must consider Ms. Higurashi, Severus, despite the fact I know that she cannot hope to perform such magic, because there are very few possibilities."

"Yes," the soothing voice agreed. "While I do not believe Ms. Higurashi changed the memories of every person except Ms. Granger, there is a possibility that she is being controlled in some fashion and being forced to torture Ms. Granger. You yourself cannot deny such a thing, Severus."

The previous voice did not reply, to which Hermione was grateful for. Her head hurt—"Draco!"—hurt so much. It hurt so much that she was not sure how much longer she would be able to—"You will kindly remove your wand from my friend's face."—remain conscious. In fact, she was not even sure how she had managed to—

"K… Ka…" she tried. She just could not speak, though, and she doubted that anyone around her had even heard the low mummer. B-but, she had to try. She had to try…

"Headmaster, I think it best this is discussed elsewhere."

Something cool touched her forehead, and the thought she had been desperate to cling to slipped away into oblivion. The pain increased, tears slipping from beneath her lids, and she whimpered uncontrollably.

W-why were they hurting her?!

"Poor, girl." The cool feeling retreated. "I'm starting to think it might be best to send her away to St. Mungo's. Whatever she's got, they'll be able to treat her better than I can at this point."

"Dark magic is difficult to counteract, Poppy. None of us will blame you if you make that decision." For a small moment, while the voice drew closer, Hermione had the sense that she was supposed to remember something. Something important. Except, for the life of her, she could not seem to focus on what exactly she was supposed to remember.

"Why? Why?" Hermione flinched, the memory ricocheting around in her head. The image that floated after it was far too blurry to remember, though, and her head hurt so much that she really did not want to remember.

She just wanted the pain to stop.

A gentle hand smoothed over the top of her head, and Hermione pulled away from the madness she found herself within for a single moment. "Ka… go…" she muttered, forcing her lips to form the words that she needed her vocal cords to pronounce.

"She's tired, Albus. We should let her sleep."

"Yes, I quite agree, Minerva."

Then, the voices were gone; insanity tugging happily at the corner of her mind again, and Hermione felt herself slip away back into the darkness.

- - - - - - -

Something was wrong.

Something was definitely wrong.

Hermione's eyes snapped open, her pupils shrinking in horror when she realized that Higurashi Kagome was dangerously close to her face. "W-what—?" It hurt to speak.

Kagome smiled sadly, and stopped just short of touching Hermione when the other girl flinched away from her. "Oh, Hermione," she said. "I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you."

Blocking out the pain that coursed through her body, Hermione pushed herself away from the Slytherin. She managed to back herself up against the hospital wall, curling in on herself, as she hoped that someone—anyone!—would find the awful, awful Slytherin lurking so close to her. "H-how did you g-get in here?" Hermione whimpered. "Y-you s-shouldn't have been a-ab-le to come in h-here."

Sitting on the edge of the bed and holding her hands together, Kagome sighed. "They're talking about sending you away to St. Mungo's, did you know?"

"Just g-get out," Hermione cried.

"I overheard Professor Dumbledore speaking with Professor McGonagall about it, and I hate to think that you might be sent away for something that I unintentionally did." Kagome sighed again. "Midoriko was supposed to grant my wish, she wasn't supposed to hurt anyone."

Hermione briefly wondered who Midoriko was, but the pain in her head stopped the thought before it even had a chance to grow. "Just g-ge-t out!" she snapped, feeling a new set of tears wash down over her cheeks. "P-please, ju-st ge-get out!"

The Slytherin girl seemed to ignore her request, as she fingered the slightly colored jewel hanging from the chain around her neck. She did notice that Hermione flinched at the sight of it, though, and safely tucked it beneath her robes so the Gryffindor would not have to look at it. "I just wanted to live my life the way Midoriko said I would be able to: happy, in love, and without the worry that I would end up hurting someone again. It wasn't supposed to be like this, and I hope that you'll be able to forgive me for hurting you, Hermione."

Hermione only whimpered, curling deeper into herself.

"It'll be ok, though." The Slytherin smiled. "Midoriko will fix the rift that the Shikon no Tama created, and then you won't have to worry about being stuck in the middle. The pain will go away, and, well, I hope that I'll be able to make up for what I've done to you, Hermione. I really do."

Hermione shook her head. She could not comprehend most of what the other girl was talking about—she had done something, which meant she was right!!—and she just wanted her to go away. Her head hurt so much worse while she was around, while she thought about her, and she had every hope in the world that Higurashi Kagome would just disappear!

"I will make it up to you," Kagome declared. "I will."

"Get out!" Hermione snarled, her eyes turning wild. "Get out!"

Frowning, Kagome stood and allowed herself a moment to touch Hermione's arm. The Gryffindor girl flinched completely away from her, hissing oddly, but she did not allow the strange behavior to deter her. "Hermione, I promise you, you won't have to worry soon."

Watching the Slytherin turn quickly on her heel and flee the Infirmary, Hermione blinked at the ominous feeling her retreat left behind. Her final sentence drilled a hole in her mind, tormenting her, and while she sat against the wall, she wondered what the ominous feeling might mean.

B-bu-bump.

Hermione almost choked, as she reached up to touch her chest.

B-b-bu-bump.

W-what was happening to her?!

B-bu-b-bu-bump.

Hermione was not even given a chance to scream, as the world was ripped away from her and she passed out. A single tear slipped from beneath her eyelid, shimmering, before it seemed to disappear into nothingness.

- - - - - - - -

"…mione, Hermione!"

The Gryffindor girl stopped, blinking, as she rapidly became aware of her surroundings once more. "W-what?" she asked.

"Blimey, don't do that, Hermione!" Ron complained. "You almost gave me and Harry a heart attack."

"Now, Ronald—" Hermione found herself speaking on instinct, "—you're far too young to actually experience a heart attack. You're just overreacting like always."

"He does have a point, though, Hermione." Harry smiled a bit. "You did give us quite a scare for a moment there."

"Oh, Harry, I never expected you, of all people, to actually encourage his behavior!" Hermione huffed. What in the world could she have done that frightened them both so much? If she remembered correctly, they were walking to Care of Magical Creatures and it really was not all that odd for her to ignore their blubbering for a bit.

"Well, we weren't the ones that almost appeared dead to the world, 'Mione!" Ron snapped. "We didn't suddenly turn pale, get real quiet, and walk like some, I don't know, vampire that suddenly forgot there was anyone else about!"

"First off, Ron, vampires don't usually hunt in the daytime because the sun irritates them beyond belief, so there's no possible way I could resemble one, and—!" Hermione frowned. Now, really, she did not think it could have been that bad. "—second off—!"

"You just scared us, is all," Harry said, stopping her. "But, you're fine now, so there's nothing to worry about. Right, Ron?"

Ron scrunched up his nose, clearly wanting to argue his point, but decided against it. "Right," he grumbled. "Besides, I can see Hagrid's hut, and there's no way I'm going to be late to Care of Magical Creatures. 'Member what Hagrid said, we're supposed to be studying unicorns today."

Harry smiled, saying, "And, no doubt, you don't want any Slytherin to look better than you."

"Bloody bunch of gits, the lot of them," Ron retorted immediately.

Hermione smiled automatically. Her body felt like it was on autopilot, though, because there was just something strange about the situation she had found herself in. There was some strange sense of déjà vu surrounding her, despite the fact she knew it was silly to believe she had ever been in the same spot before.

"—what about you, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"O-oh, what?" Hermione laughed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Ron cast her an odd glance, frowning deeply. He clearly thought there was something wrong with her.

"I asked if you were looking forward to Hagrid's lesson," Harry explained.

"Oh, of course!" Hermione nodded. "Unicorns are very fascinating, you know. They're one of the few creatures in the world that can sense if someone is rotten on the inside—evil, if you want to say it that way—and because of that, they're very rare. The Forbidden Forest is one of the few places that they still roam through, since the magic surrounding Hogwarts protects them from nearly everything that might try to cause them harm."

"Thank you, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes, "I'm very grateful for the lesson."

Stiffening, Hermione growled, "Ronald Weasley."

"Oh, look!" Ron almost shouted. "There's Hagrid now, Harry!"

"Ron!" Harry laughed, as Ron grabbed a hold of his sleeve and dragged him in the direction of the half-giant. There was no stopping the other boy, though, so he tried his best to keep up without tripping.

Her scowl twisted into a smile, as she watched Ron and Harry grow farther and farther away from her. Hermione realized that Ron was only trying to help her in his own, special, way, and she was not about to hold it against him. But—

Hermione glanced up, as the light sound of laughter distracted her from her thought.

"Eh?" Draco Malfoy, standing off to the side with his Slytherin group, frowned. "Why are you laughing, Kagome? I didn't think Blaise's comment was all that funny."

"Oh, it's not that—"

Hermione blinked. She recognized the small, black haired Slytherin immediately, but now that her attention was turned upon her, she, too, wondered what she found so hilarious. Was it her, Hermione, that she found funny? After all, she was a Slytherin and Hermione would not be surprised if—

"—I just find it a little funny that one little change could make such a difference," Kagome finished. She understood that Draco would not understand, even as she slipped her hand into his, and she was not discouraged by the odd stare he gave her.

"Sometimes, Kagome," Pansy sighed, "I think you say the oddest things."

"Would you like me otherwise?" Kagome laughed.

"Of course we would."

"Oh, Draco, that's so sweet."

"Bah." Pansy stuck out her tongue. "Let's not ruin the moment with your sudden need to snog in front of us."

"Pansy, we weren't—!" Kagome tried.

"Nuh uh, uh, uh." Pansy wagged her finger in front of the other Slytherin girl's face, saying, "We all know that that's exactly what you and Draco do when you sneak off in the common room. It's really no secret!"

Hermione shook her head, deciding that she did not need to hear anymore. Besides, from the way Ron was waving his arm in the air, he was no doubt shouting about what was taking her so long. She might as well indulge him a little.

As Draco's arm wrapped securely around her shoulder, and he leaned her into his side, Kagome cast a small glance in the retreating Gryffindor's direction. Smiling, though it was secretively meant for the Gryffindor in question, Kagome laughed at something Draco commented on and reached up to finger the Shikon no Tama hanging innocently around her neck.

It was transparent, the life within it gone, and for that, Kagome was happy.

Fin