AN: I did this once before in one of my stories and I did it again. THIS IS NOT A DEAD STORY! I never should write author notes when I'm tired and/or sick because they either turn out incoherent or they come across completely different than what I mean. I may redo Chapter 14 one day but I an definitely not done writing this story even though it seemed that way by the last chapter's author note. I just re-read that chapter and finally realized how that note sounded. I am so sorry!

Crossoverwith Harry Potter and Inuyasha
HP: AU after Goblet of Fire (Harry and company's 5th year)
IY: AU set at Two Years after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13

Chapter Fifteen: Transform

Transform

transitive verb 1 a : to change in composition or structure b : to change the outward form or appearance of c : to change in character or condition : convert
2 : to subject to mathematical transformation
3 : to cause (a cell) to undergo genetic transformation

intransitive verb : to become transformed : change

Late November brought the first vestiges of snow to Northern Scotland. Inuyasha became more restless as the weeks inched along. Despite that, he and Kagome both settled into a routine; drifting between first, second, and now third year classes they continued to learn. Slowly the other students warmed up to the displaced miko and hanyou. Kagome developed bonds with some older Hufflepuff students along with Ron and a couple of his Gryffindor friends. Somehow Inuyasha tolerated a small group of Slytherins and, surprisingly, Ravenclaw students. On any given day the pair could be found at any of the four house tables. That garnered strange looks from the more house-loyal students and it spurred Kagome in to asking Ron one evening why it was sacraligious to sit where ever they wanted. He just twitched and mumbled something about housemates sticking together and she was forced to drop the subject.

It was one of those cold November mornings that found Kagome sliding through the slush to an isolated courtyard adjacent to the teachers' wing. Pieces of canvas stretched across transfigured bales of hay created a ragged row of targets. Standing in the ankle deep snow and ice, she took a steadying breath before pulling out the first arrow from its quiver. The soft thud of wood and metal striking its target broke the silence.

Losing herself to the motions, she spent the entire quiver into the makeshift targets. After two more rounds of ordinary arrows she tightened her control and added her spirit energy. Loud cracks shot across the frozen courtyard as the purifying arrows burned into the targets, their holy light creating strange shadows that dance around the area. Again and again she shot at the targets, the familiar movements missed so much in her exile to this strange, magical school.

A startled gasp broke her concentration. Spinning around, one of her few remaining arrows pointed straight at the heart of the transfiguration teacher. Letting out a tense breath she eased the tension on the bow and pointed the arrowhead towards the ground.

"That was incredible," the woman said as she pushed back dark locks of hair. Professor McGonagall huddled in a robe against the sun-splashed wall. More time had pass than Kagome was aware of, judging by the sun's higher position in the sky, high enough to throw light over the walls.

"If you think that's great, you should see what Inuyasha can do with a sword, Professor."

A masculine snort drew her attention away from the female teacher and to the shadowed entryway into the courtyard and the equally dark wizard leaning against the door.

"Are you going to whine about that damned hunk of metal too?" Snape hissed as he stepped into the morning sunlight, pale skin shimmering with the light reflecting off the snow and emanating from Kagome's still lit arrow.

"No, just stating a fact, Sir," she said as she turned away and buried the burning shaft into the center of another unfortunate target. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you but I haven't had a chance to practice my archery skills. I'm afraid I'm a little rusty."

"It's alright," McGonagall soothed. "Just don't stay out here too long. Today is a Hogsmeade day, something you don't want to miss."

Kagome ignored the ever sarcastic snort from Snape in favor of burying her last two arrows into separate targets. She made her way across the treacherous ground to retrieve the arrows.

"How does one get to … Hogsmeade," she almost tripped over both the unfamiliar word and the slick ground. Behind her she could hear the small movements of the other adults.

"There is a path from the castle to the village," Snape finally volunteered. "Since I will regrettably be busy and staying behind in the castle, I suggest you go with Minerva. I trust she will attempt to keep you out of trouble."

By the end of the sarcastic comment she had traversed the dangerous ground and made it to the hay bales. She twisted the arrows out and made her way back inside with the others, muscles in arms and back burning pleasantly from the exercise. The teachers two bid her a good day and left in different directions, Snape's slightly nasty comment about not needing to smell sweaty, smelly teenagers echoed down the hall as he left.. The professor was unfortunately right; she needed a shower, even if to just warm up before heading back outside for the rest of the day and the trip outside the school. It wasn't as nice as being able to go back to Japan but at least they would be able to leave the school grounds for the first time since they had appeared in the strange school and their lives changed.

oOo

The Hogsmeade village felt surreal to Kagome. It reminded her of the villages in Feudal Japan in the way that they felt primitive and quaint compared to the modern era. It looked nothing like those old Japanese villages but the atmosphere was comparable. Small shops and houses crowded the main road through the town as children and teenagers darted in and out of the various buildings, turning the snow on the ground to a muddy brown. Fresh flakes danced out of the sky and older wizards and witches hunched their shoulders against the cold and the shrieks of joyful children.

Kagome pulled her plain black cloak closer as they made their way to the sweet shop Ron recommended. She held off a sigh as she listened to her companion complain about the overcrowded streets and the strange smells permeating the air. Inushasha's short, dark hair ruffled with the sharp breeze, the hanyou unwilling to raise his hood for protection. She still was weirded out by the short length but it hadn't grown since he had cut it and slowly it was becoming familiar.

They had stopped at every store to look at the various goods. It was almost like a miniature version of Diagon Alley, shops lining one central road advertising books and goodies and things a student at a boarding school might be interested in. She could see other buildings and houses beyond the main street, quieter areas that made it feel a little less stifling that the counterpart street in London. During the entire time Inuyasha slouched and muttered and walked along next to her, refusing to help carry the couple of packages she had purchased even as he had no trouble helping himself to the candy she bought.

"So what do you really think about the place?" she teased lightly in Japanese, even as his body telegraphed his displeasure at being in the village.

He snorted and growled out low, "Something feels wrong."

She nodded, she had also felt the vague uneasiness trying to chipping away at the festive mood encircling them. The feeling crept on the edge of her consciousness and it made her unnerved and missing her bow and Miroku and Sango. Yasha sniffed the air, fists clenching and unclenching. The feeling grew when they left Honeydukes for the second time, having returned after the two of them had inadvertently eaten the candy they bought for Ron. This time Inuyasha pulled up his hood, shielding his face.

It was the screams spun them around in shock. Loud, horrified screams, too familiar caused the adrenaline to surge and for them to sprint towards the sound. At the far end of the street figures in black fired into the crowd causing explosions and sending bodies scattering.

Her body trembled slightly as instinct from a hundred different fights took over. With a careless word, Inuyasha's wand transformed, growing into a long staff. He stabbed it into the side of a wooden crate outside of a grocer's store before he ran into the fight. She grabbed at the transfigured wood, finding a dark bow and a quiver of black-feathered arrows waiting for her. Throwing back half her cloak she pulled the quiver over her shoulder and drew back one of the black arrow. It buried itself into a masked man fifteen feet away.

She lost sight of Inuyasha as he rushed around a corner, his cloak's color bleeding from black into a bright silver as he disappeared. She didn't spare a second thought as another masked figure pointed his wand at her. She hurled herself to the ground as an angry red light shot above her, cutting through the space she had just occupied. Bow pinned beneath her, she pulled her wand out and shouted "Locomotor Mortis", dropping him to the ground. They both struggled to stand, Kagome just slightly quicker and she buried and arrow in his leg before he was able to raise his wand fully for a second attack. Collapsing to the ground, the man curled up and it gave her enough time to snag his wand and snap it, throwing it to the side before a wizard came up to her side. He shouted and pointed his wand, ropes flying out of the end and tying up the man she had shot. She spared a breath for a quick thanks before she ran in the direction she had last seen the hanyou.

She made it a little ways before coming up on a woman, mask half-shattered and standing in front of a group of terrified students. Kagome found herself pointing with her own wand and yelling Relashio . The woman dodged the bright sparks of the attack but it gave her enough time to pull out an arrow with her finger and thumb, firing quickly . She winged the woman, arrow slicing through her sleeve and causing a small spurt of blood to stain the snow. The woman cursed and brought up her wand up again.

Kagome shot a second arrow, missing this time when a spell passed too close to her face, causing her to flinch. Her hand darted out, pointing her pale wand. "Incarcerous " dropped the woman to the ground, ropes coiling around her torso and limbs. Her way clear for the moment, she ran to the students huddled in the shadows of a store.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a soft voice. They all nodded and she ushered them up, pausing only to fire another black arrow into the shoulder of the woman she had tied up, the same woman who somehow freed herself and how had a moment ago raised her wand to attack. This time the woman fell yelling and cursing but she didn't get up and Kagome was able to grab the fallen wand as the whole group rushed past.

She pushed the children into a side street, scanning the thinned crowed with her eyes and miko senses. Death hovered the the far end so she pushed her charges into the bookstore that was nearby. A couple sixth or seventh year Hufflepuffs greeted her with raised wands ready to attack. Seeing her shielding the younger students, they shepherded the group inside and Kagome re-entered the battle in the street.

This time she was able to find Inuyasha, dashing around the fallen bodies and debris. She caught sight of him just outside the town where fields provided a barrier between Hogsmeade and the forest. As she ran his hand struck out, claws tearing at one masked man's arm. Two others fired spells at him but he just shrugged off the attacks, unaffected by the magic.

She dropped one man with an arrow in the side and Yasha struck with the staff clutched in his right hand, light flaring around the wood as he struck one of the masked attackers. They both dropped and Inuyasha jumped over them, landing near to Kagome. She asked if he was alright, if he was hurt but she was unable to hear the answer as his voice was drown out by new shouting. The both looked towards the right, towards the yelling and finally she was able to make out one word shouted over and over.

"Dementors! Dementors!"

Kagome surged forward and took her place at Inuyasha's side as they sprinted up a small hillock to see where the wizards were pointing to, to see the dark figured approaching the town. They were different than the masked human, rotted clothing fluttering around as they floated a couple feet above the ground. Around them rushed pale, ghost-like animals that unerringly found and attacked the dark, cloaked figures that felt so different, so utterly wrong.

She could feel their cold leeching heat from her skin and old memories slithered and darted up, trying to distract her. She took a steadying breath and looked with her miko senses. Color all but disappeared from her world, throwing everything into sterile blacks and whites. The ghost animals glowed pure while the cloaked creatures pulsed black and tainted purple. Around her lines of gray connected wizards to other wizards and wizards to animals, their spells crisscrossing the air.

Inuyahsa pushed back the gray cloak, freeing his arms. He settled into a familiar stance, raising his staff at the dark creatures. Kagome braced herself and knocked another arrow, purified air swirling around and teasing the hem of her cloak. Without a word between them, they struck. He swung his staff and somehow his demon blood and magic created he windscar, tearing up the ground and cloaked figures alike. Those spared by his attack were struck down by Kagome and her bow, small arrows darting over the carnage and picking off the 'dementors' one by one. She remained on the rise when Yasha rushed down, his cloak rippling behind, feral grin hidden within the shadows of his hood.

In minutes it was over. They destroyed the last of the cloaked creatures and those behind her stopped shouting spells and started shouting for help. She made her way down, stumbling over the furrowed ground. The danger was passed. She knew it, not exactly sure how but the thought was true. She continued without pausing until she reached the hanyou at the bottom of the hill to the flat ground. Inuyasha stood alone in the field, shreds of black cloth and pure snow fluttering in the faint breeze. She opened her mouth to call out but it was not his name that escaped her lips.

"Guardian."

He spun around, just as surprised at his responding to the title as she was for speaking it. He stood tall, the almost silver cloak dancing around his bare feet. They stared at one another for a long time before he said a single word.

"Shit," he cursed succinctly as he looked around at the mess of the field, smoke starting to fill the air, at them standing in the middle of the mess. She could totally agree there.

"I guess we are the Guardians now," she whispered as he shrunk his staff and secreted it under his cloak. Her eyes trailed the battlefield one last time, looking and not finding any other dangers. He stepped up to her side for support… her partner, her fellow guardian.

"Shit," he cursed again, agreeing in his own way. Looking back over her should she could see men and women descending the hill, all wearing bright green cloaks and wandering all over the place. She slung her bow over he shoulder and stretched, leather creaking as her back popped.

She paused, arms stretched above her head.

Leather...

Slowly she lowered her arms. Her sweater, the comfy pink knit, no longer covered her upper body. Instead, white linen sleeves emerged from under a soft leather jerkin, small flowers delicately embroidered around the cuffs and trailing up to her elbows. Her wrists were encased in butter soft leather, gauntlets that encased her knuckles and disappeared under her sleeves. A hand pressed against her stomach, the leather here thicker, reminded her of leather armor she had seen in Japan.

"Umm…Inuyahsa," she asked, eyes transfixed on her hand where it rested against her abdomen.

"What?" he asked snidely. Her head jerked up and she finally took note of his clothes.

"You weren't wearing your fire rat robes this morning by chance, where you?" she asked cautiously.

"Are you stupid? They got left behind in Japan." Anger flared at his dismissive tone. She reached out and grabbed an arm, leather gauntlets contrasting nicely with his red sleeve. He said nothing, staring at their arms. He looked up, mouth opening and closing for a second, the only part that was visible. Suddenly his mouth dropped into a frown and he reached out.

"You're bleeding," he told her as he pushed her hood away from her face. Light and snowflakes dazzled her for a second as Yasha bit out a curse. She lifted her own hand and touched her cheek, fingers touching tacky blood. She reached into her pocket and luckily the change in her wardrobe didn't change the contents of her pockets. She pulled free a handkerchief that Inuyasha liberated and pressed hard against the side of her face.

"Did something try to take the side of your face off?" he asked as he pressed a little harder, making her flinch.

"It's just a scratch," she defended herself even though she had no idea how bad it was. Yasha scoffed a little at the comment.

"On me it would have been a scratch. Hell, Kagome! It runs down the entire side of your face. I don't know how it missed your eye."

She could feel her cheeks heat up with embarrassment, more so when she noticed exactly how close he was standing. The shadows cast by his hood seemed a little lighter this close up and she could swear she could see his eyes glittering and she wanted to see if he really was worried or if this was just part of his normal posturing.

Kagome reached up and pushed his hood off his head. She tried to step back, shock causing a flight-or-fight response. She only slid back a little ways before his free hand shot out and latched onto her shoulder, claws digging slightly into leather.

"What is it?" he demanded, trapping her while still putting pressure against the wound on her face. Her eyes focused on his, transfixed on their golden color. The eyes were the only thing stopping her from going into a full blown panic.

They stood still on the battlefield and he asked again. His eyes may have been their normal gold but the demon markings, the jagged lines cutting across his cheeks, where a very, very bad sign and she was scared.

R&R