Disclaimer: I don’t own Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter.

“Speaking”

‘Thoughts’

Chapter 4

The night that followed Kurama and his family’s arrival went by quickly. Hiei had spent the night scoping out the area, looking for any signs of disturbances, and Kurama had spent the night talking to his family. Kazuya said that they had been invited to dinner by the family next door, and when asked if they would attend, the family said yes.

The next day was spent moving things around the house, cleaning and, just in all, settling in. Shiori had both Shuichi and Kurama working on de-weeding the overgrown garden that was located in the back of the house. The red head eagerly did his task, while Shuichi switched between raking up all of the uncovered weeds, getting anything that Kurama required for the job and doing the tasks that his brother asked of him. Shuichi had learned early on not to argue with his stepbrother while he was working with plants, Shuichi would never win.

It wasn’t until mid afternoon that Shiori let her sons in to get cleaned up for the dinner party. Kurama and Shuichi both showered and dressed quickly.

Shuichi put on a simple dark, blue jumper and plain jeans. Shiori wore a recently bought, pink sundress that had long sleeves to cover up the scars on her arms, while her husband wore a red, button down shirt and black pants. Kurama had opted for something that he was more accustomed to and decided to wear the long yellow and blue tunic with white pants that he had worn during the Makai Tournament.

“Shuichi, don’t you think that you should put something on that will make you fit in more with the people here?” Kazuya had asked when Kurama had come back down stairs.

“Shuichi has always marched to the beat of his own drum.” Kurama’s mother had answered for him.

The red head smiled at his stepfather. “I’m sure that the neighbors won’t mind if I dress in the way that I am most comfortable with.”

Kazuya nodded, knowing that he could never win against his wife (especially if she teamed up with his stepson).

As Kurama walked with his family near the toppling house next door, he noticed a difference in the energy surrounding the house and the rest of the neighborhood. The house seemed to be more alive, more a buzzed.

‘Magic, just my luck, there is a Wizarding family living right next door to us! Couldn't Koenma have warned me about this?’ The Kitsune could hear Hiei snort of laughter. ‘This isn’t funny, Hiei.’

Hiei merely answered, ‘I don’t find this situation funny. I was just merely imagining that I might have to be the one to stop you from killing the toddler, rather than the other way around.’

Kurama smiled. ‘The funny part is you thinking that you could stop me.’ He said with a cocky grin.

The smaller demon growled, but wasn’t given the chance to answer, as the family had just been ushered into the house.

The house itself was cluttered, but it gave off a homely feeling that Kurama doubted he had felt more than once or twice in both of his lifetimes. Judging by a picture that was hanging off the wall, (Kurama was amused to find that it was in fact a moving picture that had been charmed into staying still) the family that occupied the house was a large one, made up primarily of boys. Six boys, all of different ages, one girl, a mother and a father smiled happily at the smaller family that had just walked in.

A plump, fiery, red headed woman welcomed the family into the home, telling them that dinner was nearly done and that Kurama and Shuichi could go into the backyard to meet her sons and a friend that they had staying with them.

Once the two brothers were outside, Shuichi stood next to his brother, while Kurama studied their surroundings. A very, large table had been set up in the center of the yard, fourteen seats and places set.

Near the table, two tall red headed boys talked to each other. One had long hair and an oddly shaped; tooth like earring in one ear, while the other seemed to have on clothes that better fitted a tomb robber than a man living in England.

Farther a way from the table, four boys (three red heads and one brunette) stood talking to one another. A young girl with the same red hair came up to them, with an odd smirk placed on her lips, it almost seemed like she was planning something.

The one thing that Kurama noticed was that every person there carried a wand, some were concealed (though the ex-thief could still find them seeing as he was a thief) while others were openly displayed. ‘They must all be wizards.’ Kurama thought as he inched closer to his stepbrother. It was a well known fact that wizards and demons never got along.

“Umm, Shuichi?” The younger of the two asked.

“Yes, stepbrother?” Kurama replied.

Shuichi motioned to the other people in the yard. “Well, who do you think we should talk to first?”

Both Shiori and Kazuya had stayed inside to help the adults with the meal.

Kurama honestly didn’t want to answer his brother. He didn’t want to meet the wizards and witch. The red head was after all still a demon, well, a demon in a human body. Demons detested wizard, as they seemed to enjoy hunting down their kind.

They didn’t have to chose, as the youngest boy walked toward them with his sister and friend next to him.

“Hello mate, my name’s Ron.” The red headed boy, Ron, pointed to the girl next to him, “This is my sister Ginny, and that is my best friend Harry Potter.” He ended by pointing to the raven haired boy next to him.

Kurama bowed slightly at the waist in greeting. “I am Minamino Shuichi- excuse me, Shuichi Minamino, and this is my younger brother Shuichi Hatanaka.” Kurama introduced.

“You two have the same name?” Ginny questioned. “That must get confusing at times.” She laughed.

“We’re not actually related by blood, we’re stepsiblings.” Shuichi corrected.

Kurama flashed them a smile, “You may call me Kurama if you like, so that way you don’t confuse us.” The Kitsune turned his attention to the quiet Harry Potter. ‘Hiei, I have located the boy we are supposed to protect.’

“Kurama?” Ron said, trying out the foreign name, “What does that mean?”

‘Kitsune, does this mean that we can’t leave for the Makai?”

“That’s my secret,” Kurama smiled mischievously, “only my closest friends know the origins of my name.” ‘We can go, but I will need to stay here longer than we anticipated; we won’t be able to stay for two months in the Makai, it will have to be shortened to only two weeks.’

Ron nodded, respecting the other boy’s privacy.

‘I’ll wait for you, Kurama,’ Hiei spoke, ‘even it if does mean that I will have to spend more time in the human world.’

Kurama could hear the disgust in the small demon’s voice and was thankful for his small sacrifice.

“Oi, Red!” A voice called Kurama out from his thoughts.

“George! Be nice, she has a name you know!” Ginny scolded as her twin brothers came over to the small group.

“Alright then, what is it?” Fred asked with a flirtatious smile.

Harry answered this time, “They’re both named Shuichi.”

“You may call me Kurama, it will be easier.” The ex-thief said.

Fred waved his hand in a dismissing gesture. “Nah,” said George, “we’ll just call yah Red, if you don’t mind.”

Kurama nodded slowly, unsure of what to make of these boys. “I guess that would be fine….” He had been called many things during both of his life times, some of them not very nice, but he had never been referred to as Red.

“That’s great, now Red, tells us: are some long lost relative of ours? I mean, I would like to think that we would remember such a beautiful girl like you in out family. Wouldn’t we George?” Fred grinned.

“We sure would, Fred.” George ginned back at his twin.

Kurama tried to smile sweetly, but the act was ruined by the twitching of his eye, “Girl? I can assure you that I am not, nor have I ever been or ever will be, a girl. I am one hundred percent male.”

Dead silence followed.

‘Do you want me to kill them? I can make it look like an accident, Kitsune.’ Hiei commented eagerly, wanting to follow through with is threat.

‘Not yet, Hiei, the last thing we need is to get into trouble before out mission even officially starts.’

The silence continued. Both of the twins had a look of astonishment on their faces, Ginny looked down right embarrassed, and both Harry and Ron were trying to figure out if the new boy was lying about his gender.

The silence was broken, as Shuichi let a loud chuckle which morphed into loud, hard laughter. “Y-y-you me-mean all of you th-thought… ha-ha… that Kur…ha-ha…Kurama was a girl!”

“Shuichi, I don’t believe that it was quite that funny, now please control yourself before you find yourself in hysterics.” Kurama said with a strained smile. He turned to the twin boys, “Do not worry about the confusion, it seems that I get mistaken for a girl not matter where I go. It happens so often at home, that it isn’t even an insult anymore.”

Everyone was starting to look more at ease, grateful that they hadn’t insulted their guest. Kurama, however, was busy thinking up ways to murder the humans and not get caught. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you are) he wasn’t having much luck.

“Bill! Charley! Ron! Ginny! Help us bring out the food!” Mrs. Weasley’s shrill voice sounded from the kitchen, breaking the awkward silence. With a quick nod to Kurama and Shuichi the four Weasley children went to help.

“Oi mate, sorry for the mix up.” Fred apologized with a blush.

“Yeah, we didn’t mean….” George started.

“Do not worry about it.” Kurama soothed, “It will be best if we forget all about it.” The red head smiled

Fred shifted around nervously. “Um, well then, could you please stop smiling like that? The smile is starting to scare us.”

Kurama laughed, “My friends in Japan have compared me to a mythical fox called a Kitsune, because of that smile, they say that it makes me seem cunning and sly.” At the twin’s blank looks the ex-thief decided to elaborate. “In Japan, a Kitsune is a demon fox that they believe to be tricksters, and they are known for the creative ways that they get revenge on those who did them wrong. They are very sly and cunning. This is just something for you to think about, oh, and I suggest not using the salt.” With a brief smile and wink, Kurama walked to the large table that had been set out for all of them. As the adults and children came out with the food, he took a seat. Harry and Shuichi followed him, as did the rest of the family.

“George! Fred! What do you think you are doing! Standing in the idle of the lawn when dinner is being served, come here and sit down this moment! What’s the matter with the two of you today?” Mrs. Weasley’s shout startled the twins. The two ran over and sat down in the seats farthest away from Kurama. He smiled.

Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. “Wow, you really scared them, Kurama.” Harry chuckled every time that the twins would panic when some one asked for the salt.

Kurama turned and smiled at Harry, “I didn’t scare them really; I just made them paranoid. I must say though, that they are truly entertaining to watch.”

Harry made an agreeing sound in his throat, “By the way Kurama, if you don’t mind me asking, your last name is Minamino, but everyone else in your family has the last name Hatanaka, why is that?”

The red head looked around the table, Ron and Ginny were talking to Shuichi and everyone else was talking among themselves, before he answered, “My father died a while ago, and about a year ago my mother remarried Shuichi’s father. She changed her last name from Minamino to Hatanaka, while I decided to keep mine as Minamino. So tell me Harry, what’s your family like?”

Harry’s face turned away from Kurama, a crestfallen look coming onto it.

“I haven’t offended you or anything have I?” The Kitsune asked.

“No, no.” Harry said, “It’s just that my parents died when I was one, and just a few weeks ago my godfather, whom had became a father figure to me, died. I usually live with my aunt and uncle who have a son about the same age as me, but let me just say that they aren’t the best people to be around.” Harry explained, after he finished he was at how easily it was to talk to Kurama.

“That must be difficult for you. A few years ago I lost a good friend of mine.” Kurama stated with a soft sigh. “But let’s not talk about such depressing matters. Tell me, how old are you?”

Harry smiled, happy at the change of subject, “I’m going to be seventeen at the end of July. How old are you?”

“I just turned sixteen.” Kurama paused for a second, “So you’re older than me.”

Harry gaped. “I thought you were eighteen. You seem to be so mature and smart.”

“Shuichi is the top in his class in Japan.” Shiori boasted as she caught the tail end of the emerald eyed boys, “We’re so proud of him, especially since he went to one of the hardest High Schools in all Japan.”

Kurama blushed heavily, “Okaa-san!”

‘Is the little Kitsune bashful?’ Hiei teased lightly.

‘Shut it Hiei, or you’ll get no ice-cream.’

‘I don’t like i-scream or whatever you called it.’

‘It’s sweat snow.’

‘…Shutting up.’

Kurama smirked.

“Shuichi, you know it’s the truth. There’s no need to be humble about it.” Shiori grinned.

“I wasn’t the top in all of my classes, Okaa-san; Kaito was the top in Literature….” The fox tried to argue.

“-And you were second.” His mother interrupted, “but your overall grade point average was higher than his, so you were the top in your class.

Kurama sighed in defeat.

“So… you’re a genius?” Harry asked, he was teasing slightly.

“I guess,” The young red head chuckled, “but what is your favorite class Harry?”

“Defense against the Dark Arts.” Harry replied automatically.

Kurama looked thoughtful, “I don’t believe that I have ever heard of that class before, what it is?” Mentally, the Kitsune smirked; this was going to be entertaining.

‘Kitsune, you’re pure evil……… and I have finally completed my secret task.’ Kurama could feel the smug smirk on Hiei’s lips.

‘I am not pure evil……… maybe.’ Kurama sent a wave of his amusement to Hiei.

Shiori and Kazuya looked at Kurama in a state of shock. They had told Molly and Arthur that he was a muggle, but they had forgotten to mention it to the children.

Confused, Harry said, “What do you mean... you don’t mean………” Realization came upon the Boy-Who-Lived, “Oh boy.”

Slowly everyone else began to realize what was happening.

Kurama placed a confused look on his face, “Did I say something wrong? Obviously everyone here knows what class you are talking about, or else they wouldn’t have stopped what they were doing to look over here, and I’m guessing that by the shocked look on my family’s face they also know what is going on. I guess that I have been ‘left out of the loop’.”

Percy narrowed his eyes at that the new kid; he didn’t like this red haired green eyed boy. He was too observant, and he could analyze a situation too quickly. Percy decided then that something was off about this boy.

Harry racked his brain for a reasonable answer and blurted out the first one that came to him, “Umm, it’s a class where we learn how to fight.”

“Fight what?” Kurama asked innocently, it was almost a little too innocently. “I mean, yes that would explain the defense part, but what are the Dark Arts? What type of school do you go to?”

Shuichi decided to answer, “The Dark Arts are……… ninjas.”

‘Let us have fun with this, Hiei.’ Kurama laughed in his mind, ‘Pay attention.’

“So what type of school is this?” he asked.

“It’s a warrior school?” Harry’s answer seemed to more of a question.

“Why would you go to a school like that?”

Ron answered this time, “Because we can learn to be a ninja.”

‘Check...’ Kurama had caught them. “So you take a class to fight warriors when you want to become ninja at a ninja school?” he summarized.

“Yes!” Ron, Harry and Shuichi all said at once.

‘…And mate.’ “So you’re lying.” Kurama smirked, “You said that Defense against the Dark Arts was a class designed to fight ninja, yet you also said that you attend a ninja school.” The three boys blinked and looked at each other sheepishly. “It would have been easier to just say it’s a class to teach you how to fight against the Dark Arts.”

Kazuya looked at his stepson with a startled gaze. “Shuichi, you know what the Dark Arts are?”

“Father,” Kurama took a sip from his glass of water, “most of my free time is spent by tra-studying with my friends at Genki- sensei’s temple. I know magic when I see it, even though I don’t posses it. I know about it, I know about the schools that teach it, and Iknow about what classes they take. I’m not an idiot.”

Percy became even more suspicious, “Then why did you pretend that you didn’t know?”

“I wanted to see how you would react under pressure,” Kurama replied. “I also wanted to have a bit of fun.” Everyone at the table just stared dumbfounded. “Can you all stop staring at me, it’s a little unnerving.” They looked away.

‘Kitsune you’re evil.’ There was a fondness in Hiei’s voice.

‘I know, and you love it.’

“I know George.” Koenma said while pinching the bridge of his nose, he could feel a headache coming on. “Kurama is horrible, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea there so early.”

“Isn’t it a little late for second thoughts, sir?”

“Shut up Ogre!”

Geminidragon: Sorry about how late this was, it was my fault. I just couldn't find the time to finish beta-ing it!

Littlepinkwolf: I would have it up earlier but my dear cousin (who by the way might not make it to see the end of the week when I'm through with her) took forever to beta it...and when she finished it she took two weeks...TWO WEEKS, before she sent it to me. So I'm sorry for the lateness on it, as well as for the lateness of the next chapter. I'm sorry for my lazy cousin, but because of her, you might not see it for a long...long time.

Anywho. Please R&R, I'm sorry again for the lateness, but that's family for you, There are time in which you want to kill them, but you just can. SO until next time

C-ya