#iyfss

“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!” Kagome sang the old tune joyously as she moved about the apartment, decorating every square inch with garland, lights, tinsel and what ever else she could fit into the small space. Unbeknownst to her, her husband leaned against the doorway between the hall and the living room, his arms crossed over his chest and a small smirk playing at the corners of his lips. InuYasha truly enjoyed watching his wife get into the holidays like she always did, though admittedly this year she was going a little more overboard than normal since this would be their daughter's first Christmas.

Moroha was 10 months old but despite the young age, Kagome had purchased no less than 75 presents for their little girl. She had proclaimed with each one that this would be the last, though InuYasha knew better. He didn't mind, though. He wanted Kagome to be happy and if showering their baby with endless gifts on Christmas morning would do that, then by God he wouldn't let anything stand in her way, least of all himself. He continued to watch her move about the room, completely oblivious to his presence, all the way up until she was struggling to reach the spot above the faux mantle that she always placed the sprig of mistletoe.

Her toes were stretched as far as they would go and she still couldn't quite make it. Pushing himself away from the wall, InuYasha came up directly behind his wife, reached up to pluck the plant from her hand and placed it in it's designated place. Without turning around, Kagome asked, “And just how long were you standing there watching me?”

Wrapping his arms around his mate, InuYasha replied, “Oh, just long enough to know that you can't live without me.” Kagome giggled and turned to face her husband. Her caramel colored eyes met his amber and just like the force of two magnets coming together, their lips met in a sweet and tender kiss full of all the love the couple shared. The spell was soon broken by the sound of Moroha waking from her nap with her typical loud wail, demanding that she be paid attention.

Pulling away just slightly, InuYasha whispered against his wife's lips “I'll get her, you finish up in here,” before planting a soft kiss on her forehead and turning to tend to the newly awakened child.

Kagome watched her husband go, admiring the view of his backside in the form fitting jeans that hugged him in all the right places. Shaking herself free from the hold that her hanyou always seemed to have over her, Kagome returned to her decorating, humming various holiday tunes as she worked.

After about an hour more of continuous work, Kagome was finally able to stand back and admire her handiwork. The tree was in the corner by the window surrounded by beautifully wrapped gifts of all shapes and sizes, garland hung from the walls, lights twinkled, and she couldn't help but smile to herself that she had created this beautiful setup as a backdrop for tonight's little gathering. Their best friend's, Sango and Miroku, were coming with their three young children to spend Christmas Eve with them and Kagome couldn't be more excited for this tradition to start with their baby girl. Speaking of which, Kagome realized it was entirely too quiet in their apartment, especially since InuYasha had been with Moroha for over an hour and she hadn't heard a peep from them in almost that entire time.

Making her way down the hallway to their daughter's bedroom, Kagome stopped at the barely cracked door and peeked inside. The sight that met her eyes made her put her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out laughing. In the middle of the room Moroha was sitting watching her father, absolutely captivated by what he was doing. InuYasha had tied one of Moroha's blankets around his forehead, his shirt lay forgotten on the floor and he was using the baby's toy broom as a sword, pretending to fight off hoards of demons. He held the broom in both hands, facing the closet with a very intense look on his face. “Come face me, demons!” he said with false anger. “No one is going to hurt my precious little girl!” Swinging the 'sword' wildly, he moved into the closet and attacked the hoards of demons pretending to be baby clothes. Moroha squealed in delight and clapped her hands together.

No longer able to hold her laughter, Kagome snickered loudly, causing her husband to step out of the closet. He turned and looked at her, his eyes holding a gleam of mischief as he pulled one of Moroha's onesies off of his head. Kagome just laughed even harder, leaning against the wall to support herself as the hilarity of what she had witnessed tore through her. Moroha turned to face her mother, giggling when she saw how red her face had gotten. Slowly, Kagome brought her laughter down to just a light snicker every few seconds and InuYasha used this opportunity to confront his wife.

Using his demon speed, he was in front of her in the blink of an eye, a move that never seemed to fail to steal Kagome's breath away. His eyes narrowed down at her in mock anger as his fists found their way onto his hips. Biting her bottom lip to stop herself from beginning another laughing fit, Kagome looked up at InuYasha's face and feigned innocence. Instead of keeping up the game, InuYasha fell into his own laughing fit after seeing that look.

Kagome never budged as she waited for the hanyou to compose himself, which he did almost as slowly as she had. “Are all the closet demons slain?” She asked him in faux seriousness. Smirking down at her he replied, “Yessum, all closet demons have been properly disposed of and Princess Yashahime is free to move about.”

Moving to lift her child into her arms, Kagome turned and said, “Good, because this Princess is supposed to help mommy make Christmas cookies in the kitchen.” She lightly poked her little girl's nose and Moroha giggled. She stopped to give her husband a quick peck on the cheek as she passed by him on the way to the kitchen.

An hour later, Kagome was lifting Moroha up out of her high chair and informing InuYasha that he would be bathing her and getting her dressed for the party set to begin in just over an hour. Staring down at his flour, sugar, and lord knew what else covered baby, InuYasha simply smiled, tucked his daughter against his side, gave his wife a peck on the cheek and turned to do as she had asked. He had seen the state of the kitchen after her experiment with making Christmas cookies with a 10 month old. He knew when to just shut his mouth when it came to his fiery tempered wife.

Surprisingly, InuYasha managed to get his daughter and himself bathed, dried, dressed and presentable just in time for Kagome to burst through the bedroom door, one hand holding the towel around her body and the other attempting to keep the towel on her head in place. He silently took Moroha to the living room and placed her in her playpen. Kagome had never been good at time management, but he knew she would somehow still manage to make herself ready by the time their friends arrived in roughly 15 minutes.

Sure enough, 15 minutes later she stepped out and InuYasha couldn't help but stare at the woman before him. She stood in the doorway to the living room putting her pearl earrings on. The tea-length emerald green dress flared out from her waist forming a delicate A-line figure, the straps hung off her shoulders, framing her neck for the simple rose pink jewel on a silver chain she always wore. Her long, ebony locks hung beautifully in loose waves around her shoulders. He knew she was wearing makeup, but it wouldn't be anything more than mascara, blush and lipstick. Kagome liked to keep things simple but she still knew how to make his heart stop in his chest.

Smiling at him, she took in his own appearance, having not noticed on her rampage to finish getting ready. He wore dark jeans, something she knew she could never have talked him out of, but they were his nicest pair. The long pure white hair she had always found to be among the most beautiful things in the world was tied high on his head in a fashion he only wore on special occasions. His shirt was a long sleeved button up in a color of burgundy she had always liked on him, though he had already rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing enough of his chest to ruin the effect of his 'nice clothes' appearance. But Kagome didn't care. She honestly kind of wouldn't have minded if he just slipped that shirt right off so she could run her hands all over his chest while he held her in his arms and pressed his lips firmly down on hers.

The sound of Sango knocking and calling through the door to them broke Kagome from her daydream. She shook her head once and giving InuYasha a knowing look, made her way to the door to let her best friends inside. Sango greeted her by wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly for a moment. Kagome had always adored that her best friend always seemed to want to show affection, so she accepted the hug as Miroku made his way in behind his wife with his 18 month old son slung over his shoulder and his twin 3 year old daughters each holding one of his hands.

InuYasha shook his head at Miroku as he snatched Hisui from his shoulder and greeted the boy with a high five before placing him in the playpen with Moroha. Before he could turn around, he felt his legs become trapped by a pair of arms wrapped around each one. He looked down and saw Kin'u and Gyokuto staring up at him.

“Uncle Yasha, daddy says you and Auntie 'Gome got us presents and we can open them up!” Kin'u asked excitedly. Bending down and grabbing a girl in each of his arms, he replied, “Oh he did, did he?” The girls nodded in unison. Chuckling, InuYasha whispered to the girls, “Well, your daddy is right, but you have to wait just a little longer to open them up. Can you girls be good and wait so your Auntie 'Gome and mommy can talk a little?” The girls faces fell slightly. “Tell you what,” he whispered to them, “if you two can wait a little while and let your mommy and auntie have some time together, I'll give you each a Christmas cookie before dinner. Deal?” The girls both smiled and nodded emphatically.

He carried the girls into the kitchen and set them both on the counter next to the sink. Reaching up onto the breakfast bar where Kagome had placed the plate of cookies, he snatched up three of the biggest cookies on the plate and gave one to each girl while taking a sizable bite of his own. The girls giggled at him as they enjoyed their treat. Their attention was drawn by their father walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cookie of his own.

Miroku leaned against the counter across from InuYasha and looked at his friend before speaking, “I see my two troublemakers have already conned you into an extra cookie,” he said, smirking at his daughters knowingly.

Waving his hand dismissively, InuYasha just said, “Bah, it's Christmas Eve. They can be spoiled a little, can'tcha girls?” he asked the pair as he winked at them. They only giggled in response. Miroku snatched them off of the counter and set them both on the floor.

“How about you two go play with your toys we brought in the living room until dinner?” he told them. “Ok daddy,” they said in unison and trotted off to do as they were asked. Miroku shook his head at the sight and stood to face his best friend. He clapped the half-demon on the shoulder and spoke quietly, “Those two are simultaneously the cutest little angels and pure demon spawn, I swear it.” Letting out a deep laugh, InuYasha joked, “Well, they are yours, so that explains the demon spawn!” Miroku glared at his friend, but only for a moment before he gave a light chuckle. “I suppose I could've been a bit of a hellion in my younger days,” he admitted.

“I think your mother would definitely agree with that assessment, considering she had to deal with your endless string of horrible phases in high school and your obsession with every girl you crossed paths with until Sango knocked some sense into that head of yours.”

“Some sense is right,” was the surprise response from the doorway. The men turned their heads towards Sango as she continued, “Some days I look at him and wonder what the hell I was thinking, but then I remember that I love the idiot so I just shrug and keep beating a little more sense into that thick skull every now and then.” She smiled up at Miroku as she stepped in and planted a kiss on his lips. “You two go do something useful and set the table while Kagome and I finish up in here.” She said as she shooed them out of the kitchen with the tableware in their hands.

Before long, both families were seated around the dining room table, joyously sharing their holiday meal with eachother, sharing stories from their past, and reveling in the miracle that was their children. Kagome felt like she was the most blessed woman on the planet to have such beautiful people to share her life with. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she watched her family laugh and smile. She truly could not have asked for a better way to spend the holidays.

As the evening progressed, the children each got to open one gift, as was tradition in their families. The twins each got a new doll, Hisui got a toy truck, while baby Moroha received a white stuffed cat with twin tails and red eyes. She immediately latched onto the toy and refused to let it go, all the way up until she fell asleep next to Hisui in her playpen, holding it in her tiny arms.

The adults spent a few hours talking and enjoying the quiet after the twins also fell asleep in the reclining chair in the corner of the room. But before long, it was after 11 and they began to say their goodbyes to eachother. Sango hugged Kagome and InuYasha and wished them both a wonderful Christmas before she lifted her son into her arms and carried him out to the car. Miroku hugged Kagome and InuYasha as well before he grabbed a daughter in each arm and started out to the car with them. InuYasha opened the door for his friend and watched as he walked down the hallway. He closed the door behind him and silently began helping Kagome clean up. The pair worked in companionable silence for several minutes until the apartment was back in order. By the time they were finished, it was nearing midnight.

Kagome stood in front of Moroha's playpen holding a small glass of wine, just watching her daughter sleep. InuYasha came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. “Everything was so perfect, InuYasha,” Kagome said quietly as she leaned back into her husband's embrace.

“Oh?” he whispered. “Well, then I guess I shouldn't give you this then,” he said as he held a small navy blue velvet box in front of her. Kagome gasped and turned to face him, holding the box in her hands.

“What is this?” she asked him.

InuYasha kissed the tip of her nose and simply said, “Open it.” Kagome opened the lid and stared down at the object inside. It was a simple silver banded ring with a rose pink jewel in the center that matched her necklace perfectly, on either side was a jewel, one emerald and one ruby, which she knew represented InuYasha and herself. On the inside of the band was engraved My red string. Tears brimmed Kagome's eyes as she looked back up into the face of the man that she had loved for more years than she hadn't.

Taking her face into both of his hands, InuYasha wiped the tears and spoke softly, “Kagome, you and Moroha are my everything. I would marry you everyday if you'd let me, but I'll settle for you saying yes to renewing our vows. Marry me again, Kagome. Marry me forever.”

“Are you sure?” Jinenji asked, tugging his long, swirling robes tighter around him as they bustled through the arched hallways of the castle. Students were everywhere, both fleeing into and out of the library. With O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s so close, wizards and witches at Hogwarts had settled into an almost zombie-like state of mania, complete with the muttering of enchantments and funny hand twitches as they fake-casted spells. As a third year, Jinenji was thankful he still didn’t have to worry about those. At least, not yet.

“Have some faith in me,” his best friend, Kagome, argued. Her dark brown eyes looked up at him, somehow glimmering off the yellow inner lining of her robe, peeking out while they hurried to their destination. Jinenji had met Kagome back when they were both first years, both assigned by the Sorting Hat to Hufflepuff. They had become fast friends and for the most part, the two of them managed to partner on most important projects. “Miroku already finished the assignment. Apparently, his guardian was always going on about different poisons, especially those that could be hidden in a drink.”

Jinenji hummed, believing her. He had never talked to Miroku before but Kagome was a good judge of character. If she trusted the Ravenclaw, then he did, too. “I’m surprised we were given this assignment at all. Aren’t we supposed to discuss undetectable poisons, not create them for homework?”

“Well, we have Gryffindor to thank for that.” His best friend pushed through the grand wooden door of Hogwarts’s library, a hush befalling them, like the outside noise of the castle was cast away. Immediately, they could feel eyes on them, though no one visible stood behind a desk. That was likely because the library was ruled with an iron fist by Mister Myoga, the head librarian and also a flea demon. He used his virtually non-existent height to sneak around and ensure students were treating the books with care or remaining quiet. “I heard,” Kagome whispered now, “that Professor Naraku was so angry that he kicked some Gryffindor out of the classroom and then proceeded to make three Slytherins who cheered cry.”

“You’d think he’d have enjoyed that,” Jinenji mumbled back, trying his best to keep quiet. “Professor Naraku is kind to the Slytherins.” His friend hummed at him, leading them further and further back into the library. Jinenji trusted her to know where they were going, and exactly what they were looking for. “Seems unnecessary that this is our assignment, too. Gryffindor and Slytherin had class yesterday. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw today. Why give it to us, too?”

“It’s Professor Naraku, who knows?”

That, at least, was a fair point that Jinenji couldn’t argue with. Not that he was one to argue much at all.

“Come on,” Kagome whispered, hand tugging on his robe. “There’s a potions book – almost like an encyclopedia – by the greatest potioneer ever, Mukotsu Inada. Terrible wizard. I’m pretty sure he’s been in Azkaban for the last ten years. But!” She waved a hand at Jinenji’s look of horror. “The greatest potioneer ever. If there’s no details on this undetectable itching poison in there, then it’s nowhere.”

Jinenji hid his expression, knowing Kagome was right. At this point in the library, he was completely lost, but his friend had no such issues. They turned a corner at one stack of books before zagging in the other direction, muffled voices coming from not too far away. He watched as Kagome frowned, dragging him still, and when they came to what was clearly supposed to be the right spot, he spotted two other students scouring the shelves: Gryffindors.

“You!” Kagome exclaimed, surprised.

Jinenji blinked, surprised by the outburst, and then finally took a good look at the wizard and witch before them.

It was Inuyasha and Shiori. The Troublesome Twosome of Gryffindor.

Oh no.

X+X+X

Inuyasha Taisho was already in a sulking mood, not that he would ever admit as such to Shiori. “Are you sure it’s here?”

“Where else would it be?” Shiori snapped at him, violet eyes a little crazy. She’d been looking that way ever since Inuyasha and Professor Naraku had it out in yesterday’s Potions class, and Shiori had been saddled with taking down the notes for their joint assignment on undetectable poisons without him. Potions was already the bane of Shiori’s existence; she was far more about actions and spell work, leading the Defense Against the Dark Arts grades. Inuyasha’s snarling outburst at Professor Naraku’s stupidity, followed by his dismissal only twenty minutes into class made Shiori have to do double the work. He owed her.

Still. “And you swear you heard the name correctly? You’re not just making shit up?”

“For the love of Merlin, Inuyasha, shush,” Shiori hissed. He was lucky her wand wasn’t out, or he was sure she’d have cast something on him by now. A silencing spell, if nothing else. “I overheard your Hufflepuff girl in the hall. I’m sure it’s correct.”

Inuyasha couldn’t help himself. He turned unimpressed golden eyes at her. “She’s not my Hufflepuff girl!” Ever since their first year, the two of them had been having this argument. Inuyasha didn’t understand why Shiori couldn’t let this go. So what if he thought the Hufflepuff girl was cute? That was normal. She was quick to smile and friendly and basically the opposite of Inuyasha’s entire existence. But it wasn’t like they had spoken or anything, which meant that there was no way Kagome Higurashi, Hufflepuff darling, could be considered in any way ‘his.’

“Whatever,” Shiori replied, kicking him lightly in the leg. “I guess your forlorn staring at her in the Great Hall every evening at dinner means nothing. Fine. Help me find this book!”

Inuyasha sighed. Best friend or not, Shiori was quick to call him out on anything deemed bullshit.

“You!”

Immediately, Inuyasha glared at the intruders to their little library stack, hating being surprised. It was only then that he realized, like some kind of nightmare, that the exact person they were talking about was standing before them. Kagome stared at them in shock, Hufflepuff robes fluttering around her, with another hulking Hufflepuff wizard right behind her looking rather uncomfortable. “What?” he asked, the question coming out far ruder than he meant to.

“Oh, just—” Kagome frowned a little, brow furrowing as she looked between both him and Shiori. Her dark gaze landed on his friend, curiosity taking over her features. “You were listening in earlier!”

“No,” Shiori argued immediately, shaking her head. It didn’t help that the book she was shielding herself with was, in fact, the Great Book of Potions by Mukotsu Inada.

“Just because we’re not in Ravenclaw doesn’t mean we’re stupid,” Inuyasha barked, crossing his arms defensively. “We go to the library for research, too.” He knew that he had a reputation at Hogwarts, and that by association, Shiori did too. Very few witches and wizards ever dared to challenge them at anything. This was almost refreshing.

The Hufflepuff wizard stepped forward then, looking between them and his friend before trying for a smile. He was so tall, his head was the same height as the top of the stacks. If he wasn’t in Hufflepuff and known around Hogwarts as a gentle giant, Inuyasha probably would have been worried about a fight. “We don’t think that at all,” the wizard said quietly, voice shockingly small. “It’s good that you found it. I’m Jinenji and this is Kagome. You’re looking for the itching poison too, right?”

Inuyasha couldn’t help but look at Kagome, swallowing down the words that he already knew her name a long time ago. She smiled back at him despite his unwavering scowl. Inuyasha was begrudgingly endeared even more than before. Shiori could never find out.

“We have Potions class tomorrow and if we don’t complete the assignment tonight, Professor Naraku will have our heads,” Shiori said then. “Specifically Inuyasha’s.”

“Hey!”

“Where’s the lie?”

Inuyasha scowled and looked away. “Whatever. We need the book more. We can give you back the book when we’re done.”

“No way,” Kagome argued, smile slipping. “We have far too many other assignments and this is hard enough that doing it last minute would be terrible.”

“Well then you can copy the book right now.”

Kagome plastered on a smile. “Since I was the one that led you here, you should copy the book.”

Inuyasha eyed Jinenji, the giant Hufflepuff, watching him deflate. “No,” he retorted, just to see what Kagome could do. How far could a Hufflepuff go in friendliness? “We got here first.”

“I have an idea,” Kagome interjected, still friendly but oddly firm. “Since we all want to do the same assignment tonight, why don’t we do it together? That way, we get all the information we need, we all complete the assignment on time and everyone is happy.” Inuyasha opened his mouth but she shot him a sharp look, smile gaining an edge and quelling his argument. “This is the best plan.”

“That’s fine for me,” Jinenji replied quietly. Inuyasha noticed that despite his size, he almost shifted behind Kagome, as if hiding from the confrontation. “Where will we do it? We can’t practice in one of the classrooms at this hour or we’ll be caught for sure.”

“The girls’ Gryffindor bathroom,” Shiori said suddenly, finally speaking up. “No one goes in there, not even the prefects.”

“That’s perfect,” Kagome encouraged, nodding. “Great idea.”

Too nice. She was far too fucking nice. At least she wasn’t smiling anymore, menacingly or sweetly.

Jinenji hummed. “Should we go now, then? Meet up in ten minutes so we can get our scrolls?”

“Works for me,” Shiori answered, her elbow digging into Inuyasha’s side.

He huffed. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Wonderful,” Kagome concluded.

Inuyasha watched her and the giant Hufflepuff walk away, mouthing the word wonderful incredulously. Who even said things like that?

X+X+X

The Gryffindor bathroom was haunted. This was very likely why no one came in it, Kagome thought, staring up at the ghost floating in front of her.

“You must be the Hufflepuffs,” the ghost whispered, eyeing her and Jinenji in turn. He was a squat little thing, a toad demon with massive eyes and a permanent frown. While non-corporeal and clearly transparent, the ghost still took off the hat on his head and scratched, assessing them. “You shouldn’t be here,” the ghost warned.

“Leave them be, Jaken! You’re never supposed to be in here anyways, and yet.” It sounded like the Gryffindor girl Kagome had caught hanging around her in the hall earlier that day, right after the disastrous Potions class with Professor Naraku. Kagome wasn’t the suspicious kind, but she had noticed the way the girl had stopped and fiddled with her bag for an overly long time, those violet eyes looking up every once and a while like Kagome wouldn’t notice.

Well, she had. Kagome didn’t mind that she was being listened to, but wouldn’t it have been so much easier if the Gryffindor had just…come to her outright and asked?

Suddenly, Shiori poked her head around the corner and flashed them a smile. “This way! There’s enough room by the stalls for us all to sit.” She eyed Jinenji as she said it, only a brief glance, but Kagome was grateful that the two of them had at least considered her friend’s bulk. Jinenji was too kind-hearted to ever complain and it drove Kagome nuts every once and a while.

A cauldron sat in the middle with numerous jars and bags surrounding it. Seated on the far side was Inuyasha, glowering at it. Kagome tried for a smile, sitting down beside him. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out so Professor Naraku can’t pick on you.”

Inuyasha blinked at her, looking confused for all of a moment before his nose scrunched up. “Pretty sure we could get perfect on this and he would still pick on me.”

“He is, after all, the reason we were even assigned this horrible homework,” Shiori grumbled, sitting across from Kagome. She elbowed Inuyasha and shot him a sympathetic glance. “In fairness, Naraku was being a huge jerk.”

“Whatever,” Inuyasha grumbled, and Kagome watched as he peeked at her quickly before returning his glower to the cauldron. “Let’s just get this over with. If we miss curfew and I get caught again, I’m fucked.”

“We wouldn’t want that,” Kagome agreed.

“I can read out the ingredients,” Shiori offered then, holding the book. “Inuyasha can do the cutting—”

“Actually,” Kagome interjected, smiling to soften the blow of her interruption. “Jinenji is the best with preparing the ingredients. He’s saved so many of our potions I can’t even keep count.”

Inuyasha shrugged, looking like he didn’t particularly care. Jinenji, as expected, turned red at the praise, big hands fidgeting with each other. Kagome knew this would make him the most comfortable though, and pushed over the various ingredients already collected. “That’s fine with me.”

“We can work on the potion itself,” she said, reaching out to get Inuyasha’s attention back. He startled again and Kagome felt helpless but to do anything other than smile reassuringly. “What’s first?”

Shiori gave Jinenji the proper instructions for the ingredients. Some things were quite simple, like pouring in a certain amount of the powdered porcupine quills, but other ingredients required some finessing. Kagome was pleased when Inuyasha and Shiori watched, entranced, as Jinenji deftly prepared the aconite flowers, big hands somehow managing to cut up the petals while only touching the safe stems. He gave Kagome the tiny board he had brought filled with the sliced petals, prepared as always, and Kagome carefully held it over the cauldron while Inuyasha transferred them into the mixture.

They let it heat for a minute, the four of them quietly watching the ingredients mix together. Jinenji, smart as always, started to crush a few of the remaining herbs using a pestle.

Inuyasha tapped on the floor of the bathroom, golden eyes seeking Kagome’s the moment time was up. “Now what?”

Shiori, leading them all, was the one to answer. “The effectiveness of the poison is determined by the length of brew. Great Potions tells us what the consistency is supposed to be, so I think as long as we record it on our scrolls, we’ll just have to hope that by tomorrow morning we’ll have the right result. I can bottle it up first thing, one for each of us to deliver in class.”

“Here’s the last of it,” Jinenji interrupted softly, offering what was in the pestle.

Kagome took it and just like their usual routine, Inuyasha made sure it carefully was put in. She nudged gently at his knee, gesturing towards her own wand. “You do the honours and then I’ll stir?”

The Gryffindor blinked at her for a moment before shrugging, grabbing his wand. Inuyasha waved it above the cauldron, and the deep purple mixture bubbled into a dark blue.

“That’s it,” Shiori exclaimed, excited. “Matches the book exactly.”

“Thank god,” Inuyasha groaned, making Kagome laugh. She double-checked with Shiori before putting in the long spoon and stirring seven times exactly, watching the blue liquid swirl around. It was bubbling quite rapidly, despite the low heat, and when she removed the spoon there was a tiny burst of it, popping out of the cauldron and landing right on the chest of Inuyasha’s clothes.

For a long moment, the four of them were silent, staring in disbelief.

“The itching poison—” Jinenji started, but was cut off immediately by Inuyasha’s heavy sigh.

“Why does this always happen to me?” he grumbled, undoing the tie of his outer robe. The problem was that the blue liquid could clearly be seen on the shirt underneath, closest to his skin. The itching poison was supposed to be quite horrible and she really didn’t want to have to take them down to St. Mungo’s.

“Hurry,” Kagome insisted, getting worried. If Jinenji had started to bring up the itching poison, it could only mean that things would go bad quickly.

The Gryffindor scowled at her. “I am hurrying!”

“No, not—” And then Kagome was forcing her way in front of him, pushing at his robe before grabbing onto the buttons of his shirt underneath. “If this touches your skin, you’ll be itching for a month, at least, and you’ll never be able to make it through class tomorrow—”

“I have it!” Inuyasha argued, even as Shiori tugged the robe from behind him. “It’s fine, it won’t—” But then he got somehow impossibly tangled. Shiori wasn’t letting go, pulling even harder, and Inuyasha flailed backwards.

“Oof!” Kagome, her hands on his shirt still, was dragged down with him. It was an ungainly sprawl with Kagome embarrassingly ending up straddled above his prone form, lying on the ground.

She stared at him for a second, horrified, while Inuyasha looked at her with something akin to fear.

And then she saw the blue liquid on the collar, having moved from the fall, and it was so close to his skin. “Off!” she yelled, tugging furiously.

“You’re not undressing me!” Inuyasha shouted back, even though he, too, was trying to avoid the poison.

“You have to!”

“No!”

“Inuyasha!”

“Kagome!”

“Inuyasha!”

X+X+X

Behind them, Shiori crawled over until she was side-by-side with Jinenji. She stared up at him with big violet eyes, trying and failing to suppress her smile. “Should we tell them?”

Jinenji sighed but he looked just as amused as she was. “That the effectiveness of the itching poison doesn’t begin until at least an hour of brewing?”

“Yeah.” Shiori nodded and then stared at Inuyasha and Kagome, yelling at each other and somehow both trying to accomplish the same task. “That.”

“I already tried.” Jinenji shrugged. “It’s not like they can actually get hurt.”

But just as he had spoken, Kagome had finally managed to successfully tug at Inuyasha’s shirt, hauling him up into a sitting position and whipping off the material from the side. They both twisted, and Shiori could only watch, like a train about to crash, as Inuyasha’s and Kagome’s faces collided.

To call it a kiss would have been excessive. Both turned extremely red anyways.

“What are you doing?” Inuyasha yelled.

“Me? What about you? Why would you lean so far forward?!”

“It was that or you were going to dislocate my shoulder!”

“No, I wouldn’t have,” Kagome argued.

Shiori nudged Jinenji, even though her elbow barely made it past his huge legs. “If you and I are going to have to watch this play out for the next four years, we better get an Outstanding on this stupid assignment.”