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yatorihell · 3 years

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In The Darkness Chapter 64 - The Cursed Necklace

Noragami x Harry Potter AU

Words: 2,977

Summary: Things take a dark turn during a trip to Hogsmeade.

Also available on Yatorihell AO3

“I’m just saying that what Bishamon did was illegal!”

“Yato, she went over your head and caught the snitch before you.”

“It was practically in my hand!” Yato clenched his fist in front of him, eyes woeful and furious at victory being snatched under his nose.

Yukine rolled his eyes and focused on the frozen path leading them back towards the castle. This conversation was going nowhere.

Hiyori bit back a smile and attempted to brush her tangled hair back behind her ear with her gloved fingers. A few stray snowflakes caught on her jumper sleeve as she did so, melting instantly from the heat radiating from her body.

“Better luck next time.” Hiyori’s tone turned teasing as she looked at Yato’s forlorn expression. “I don’t think we’ve ever won a game that quickly.”

Yato grumbled under his breath, his cheeks tinged pink from the cold and embarrassment. So much for going out with a bang. He knew he should have used that luck potion.

“Either way,” Yukine called back, his breath lacing the air with clouds of white, “It’s not even lunchtime. I say we get butterbeer to celebrate Hiyori’s first victory.”

Yato would’ve pointed out that it wasn’t Hiyori who caught the snitch but kept his mouth shut when he saw her beam up at Yukine’s back.

The warmth of the castle embraced them as they entered, shivering and stamping the dirt from their boots before they split up. Hiyori headed up to Gryffindor Tower, her snow-sodden cloak trailing behind her like a victory banner, whereas Yato and Yukine headed towards the dungeons. Hufflepuff’s assorted wooden barrels and an oaken door marked the point where Yato would leave Yukine, and he descended further to Slytherin.

Yato changed quickly into something warm and dry, opting to wrap his Slytherin scarf around his neck like a badge of honour despite their newest defeat as he walked out the door. He found Hiyori and Yukine already waiting for him at the front of the castle, and together, they made their way to Hogsmeade.

The early November snowfall had picked up and sent flurries to obscure their paths and the faces of other students who pushed and shoved each other playfully in the sleepy roads that led into Hogsmeade. They pulled their hats lower to cover their reddened ears and tucked their faces further inside their scarves as they avoided the stray snowballs and laden shoppers; no doubt starting on their Christmas shopping.

The trees had long since shed their leaves, leaving their branches stark and imposing against the white sky. Just beyond their vision, the Shrieking Shack stood quiet and still.

Yato tore his eyes away from the structure as they meandered through the village and its quaint shops. Images of Sakura, a shell of herself and husked, flashed through his head, reminding him of the woman who risked everything to find him.

As if reading his mind, Hiyori broke the crisp winter silence between them. “Have you had any luck with your visions?”

Yato shook his head in response and a breath of a sigh escaped him and clouded the air.

It had been over a month since any new visions had come to him. Only one was recurring; the locket and ring in Grimmauld Place. Yato beat his brain, trying to work out the connection between the ring’s insignia and the Sorcerer, but none came. He wished he paid more attention to Ancient Seals class. It seemed that Sakura’s ghost haunted him with untold answers.

Hiyori hummed. She knew she couldn’t help, and it would be no use to put pressure on Yato; he already knew that he was the key to finding horcruxes.

The Three Broomsticks lay ahead of them, tucked to the side with snowdrifts already heaping at the doorway and against the frosted windows and empty flower boxes.

The door burst open when they were only a few meters from the entrance. The snow put up little resistance against the man who swung the door open and held it, allowing a small woman to pass under his arm. It took Yato a moment to recognise the way that the man had to duck his head under the door's wooden frame, but the realisation came quickly when he saw the pink curls tucked under a snowy white hat.

“Yato, Hiyori, Yukine!” Madame Kofuku exclaimed, equally surprised to see them outside of the castle.

“Hello, Miss,” the three replied. Yato’s attention would’ve turned to Daikoku if movement around his legs hadn’t caught his eye.

A boy, no older than a toddler, was tucked between Madame Kofuku and Daikoku. Big, curious eyes peered back at Yato, and then Hiyori and Yukine, before the child hid himself away in the folds of Daikoku’s coat. A small, mitten fist wrapped around Madame Kofuku’s gloved finger, and she looked at the boy with a smile.

“I don’t suppose you’ve met Daigo,” Madame Kofuku said humorously, looking at the three blindsided faces in front of her. “Our son.”

Daikoku wore a smile – one that seemed too soft for a man they’d seen obliterate countless Deatheaters – and urged Daigo forward with gentle words and a guiding hand. His eyes, brown and wide and slightly mistrusting fixated on Hiyori.

Hiyori cooed at the boy, and Yukine bent over with his hands on his knees and attempted his friendliest smile, which only resulted in the child wilt away against his mother. Yato, on the other hand, was having a crisis.

His head swirled. She wasn’t pregnant the last time they had seen her in Potions class. No, that wasn’t right, this child was, what, three years old? Yato tried to do the math and failed. How could Madame Kofuku and Daikoku have a child? The question escaped him before he could stop himself.

“How?” Yato asked stupidly.

Four sets of eyes burned into Yato, either in amazement at his lack of education or the rudeness of the question.

Yato backtracked. “I mean, not how, I know how you… y’know, but how are you… how long…”

Yukine felt his face flame in second-hand embarrassment and buried his face in his hands, silently begging Yato to please, please, shut up. Hiyori seemed to blush the more Yato rambled on, but Madame Kofuku seemed to be humoured by his flailing. She squeezed Daikoku’s hand and pulled Daigo closer.

“No love potion was needed to make this one,” Madame Kofuku interrupted, though her answer brought further embarrassment to Yato, as well as Hiyori and Yukine. “We adopted him.”

The penny dropped, and Yato let out a long ‘ah’. That made sense. He spared another glance at Daigo, not that he saw as his head was under his mother’s coat. “Well, he’s very… cute.”

“Just like his daddy.” Madame Kofuku smiled. “You’ll have to excuse us, we’re Christmas shopping for this little one.”

Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine bobbed their heads with a mix of ‘of course’ and ‘see you on Monday’ as Madame Kofuku and Daikoku moved around them, Daigo holding each of their hands as he tottered through the snow.

“What a cute family,” Hiyori remarked. In the distance, Daikoku hauled Daigo onto his hip and placed an arm around Madame Kofuku’s waist.

“Yes,” Yukine agreed. “Who would’ve thought they’d have a kid together.”

Yato couldn’t help but feel slightly sad as he watched the small family vanish from view. Sakura would’ve loved that boy. Auntie Sakura, he would’ve called her. Yato shook the impossible fantasy from his head and pushed open the inn door.

A wave of heat washed over them and instantly melted any lingering snowflakes that clung to their clothes and hair. It was as busy as expected, with most third-year students on their first Hogsmeade excursion crowded around old sticky tables on mismatched, rickety chairs. Butterbeer seemed to be flowing freely from the number of glasses they could see cupped in hands and abandoned on uncleared tables, the noise drowning out anything they could say.

Yato spotted an empty table in the corner and wrestled his way over to it, dumping his hat and scarf on a wooden chair closely followed by Yukine and Hiyori. He gestured for Yukine to help grab the empty glasses before turning back to the bar, leaving Hiyori to scoot herself into a wobbly chair and guard the chairs from theft.

Three warm mugs of butterbeer – two in Yato’s hands and one in Yukine’s – found its way to the table. Hiyori had hung her scarf over the back of her chair on top of her coat, but her hat was nowhere in sight. Yato dropped into a chair once Yukine had slid into his own and took a big gulp of butterbeer.

They chatted idly, about Potions and Yukine’s accusations that Yato must be cheating and he better not even think about cheating on his N.E.W.T.s. Yato rolled his eyes with a smile and bought the next round of drinks, and the next, until his pockets were empty and they couldn’t drink anymore.

They began to pull on their chilly coats and hats and scarves, but Hiyori frowned when she turned in her seat.

“Have you seen my hat and scarf?” Hiyori asked. Yato and Yukine both peered on the floor and shook their heads. The red and gold stripes of her scarf were no longer draped over the back of her chair.

“Your hat wasn’t there when I came back the last time,” Yato said, then thought back. “Actually, think your scarf was gone too.”

Hiyori muttered something under her breath and shuffled through her coat. They had both vanished into thin air, though she suspected that one of The Three Broomsticks poltergeists had mischievously hidden them; they liked to prank the third-years.

“Well, they’ll show up,” Hiyori said. She stood and shrugged her coat on, and Yato looked at her doubtfully. The scarf was probably hanging like a banner from the trees by now.

The snow had piled even higher, making it more of a challenge to get the pub door open and to keep their footing as they crunched through the fresh snow towards Honeydukes. Yukine led the way, tailed by Yato and Hiyori as they trudged up the path, now sleety from the heavy foot traffic which had turned the snow to mush.

Hiyori felt the chill of a melting snowflake slip down her neck. A violent shudder ripped through her which she tried to suppress, but Yato quickly caught on. He looked at her face which had been bitten by the frost, her cheeks and nose scarlet in the winter air. A hundred snowflakes had already found a home in her hair.

“Cold?” Yato asked.

“N-no…” Hiyori said, trying to keep the shake from her voice. She looked down at her boots, her toes feeling cold already, and hoped they would get home soon.

Hiyori crossed her arms over her chest, more to hide her shaking than to warm herself up. Yato bit back a smile at her stubbornness as she sped up to keep him from noticing her clenched jaw keeping her teeth from chattering.

“Liar.” Yato breathed.

Yato unwound his scarf from his neck, the snow crunching under his quickening his pace as he jogged up behind Hiyori and deftly wrapped the scarf around her neck, flinging the tail end of it over her head like a make-shift hat.

Hiyori stopped short, vision impaired by the green wool which had quite literally been pulled over her eyes. She tugged the scarf down, the fabric piling around her nose and mouth, effectively stopping her from protesting – if that’s what she wanted to do. Instead, the second thing she noticed after its warmth was its smell: deep and familiar, completely filling her senses as a warmth spread over her cheeks. Hiyori was glad that Yato couldn’t see her blush as he smiled at her stupidly.

“Better?” Yato asked.

Hiyori nodded meekly as Yato watched her rearrange the scarf around her shoulders, the green contrasting well against the grey of her coat. Yukine huffed and complained, snapping them out of their moment as he began traipsing through the snow again, eager to get to the shop.

Honeydukes was just as busy as the Three Broomsticks. There was a wall of students lining the outer shelves and the sound of jars clinking and sweets spilling over the counters. A kaleidoscope of sweets and chocolates and boxes in pretty ribbons lined every surface, the jars themselves stacked high on the walls and drifting down every now and then at the whim of a curious student.

Yato swiped his neck with his gloved hands and began to shoulder his way through the crowd. Yukine and Hiyori split in different directions, their attention taken by the multitude of choices as well as the swarming mass that moved them apart.

The shopkeeper looked harried, his hair a mess and running back and forth along the counter as knuts, sickles, and galleons poured from eager hands and the shoppers left stuffing their faces.

Yato looked over the sweets; not that he could reach them as at least three people were practically queuing to get close to the shelves. He could see Yukine had battered his way to the front with no problem and was already trying to sneak peeks at the cards inside chocolate frogs.

Yato’s eyes swept around the room, and movement beyond the ajar storage room caught his eye. For a moment, he could’ve sworn he’d seen Nora’s familiar black hair, but then again, a lot of girls had hair like hers.

Nevertheless, Yato cautiously scanned the faces around him, looking for any hint of his father or the Sorcerer. Though nothing was out of the ordinary, he found that Hiyori was not among them.

With a spine-chilling realisation, Yato knew that he had just seen Nora, and that – without any proof – she had done something to her.

“Yukine!”

Crossing the room in three long strides and hauling Yukine out of Honeydukes, Yato wasted no time explaining. He didn’t know what this feeling was, but Yukine would understand even if he did take the precious time to explain.

His gaze whirled up the street just in time to hear the air-splitting scream.

Hiyori.

Yato broke into a sprint that outmatched Yukine’s, the ground slipping out from underneath them every now and then when they hit a slushy patch of snow. A few stricken shoppers had paused and stared, hands covering their mouths, at the fallen figure on the bridge.

“HIYORI!” Yato shouted.

He had only come within a few metres of reaching her crumpled body when, as if possessed, she was dragged upright and thrown into the sky. Yato skidded to a stop, mouth open as he watched Hiyori, her body suspended, arms and mouth open wide in a silent scream.

Hiyori's body was tossed from side to side, so dangerously Yato feared her neck would snap as he helplessly watched. Her body froze, whatever paranormal force that had taken her hostage, released its grip on her. Her body plummeted to the bridge in a cloud of powdered snow.

"Hiyori!" Yato shouted, his voice hoarse. He ran through the snow as fast as he could, trying to stop himself from slipping on the icy sludge until he reached her side.

Hiyori's eyes were closed, her face half-pressed into the ground and her body limp like a rag doll. A few feet away a ragged cloth lay half concealing something glittering in the snow.

Yukine had stumbled to their side, heaving and asking if Hiyori was breathing. Yato roughly pulled the scarf away from Hiyori’s mouth before tentatively turning her face and pressing a hand to the base of her neck.

A pulse.

What could have been relief rushed past Yato's lips in a sigh, but he didn't notice. Yukine had caught sight of the necklace that seemed to belong to Hiyori, though neither of them had ever seen her wear anything as old as that.

Yato felt a prickling on the hairs on the back of his neck as Yukine reached to pick it up. There was something dark about it.

"Don't!"

A new voice came from behind, and Yato’s head snapped to look. Daikoku, running and heaving for breath with a flushed face, came to a stop at their side. Madame Kofuku approached at a slower trot, Daigo balanced on her hips and face dark with worry.

Yukine's fingers stopped short as he gave a questioning glance at Daikoku, who in return gave a shake of his head. His face darkened as he took in the necklace and its cloth, and its victim unconscious on the floor.

"Don't touch it. Only the cloth," Daikoku instructed him.

Yukine carefully wrapped the cloth around the necklace and gingerly picked it up, thankfully for his thick gloves. Yato cupped his hands around Hiyori's cheeks. Whatever had happened to her, that necklace had something to do with it.

Daikoku crouched beside Yato and, as delicately as he could, scooped Hiyori up. Her arm hung limply by her side whilst the other curled in her lap at an awkward angle, surely broken.

“We need to get back to Hogwarts,” Daikoku rearranged Hiyori into a supportive embrace and began to trudge cautiously towards out of the village, leaving Yato, Yukine, and his family to follow in his wake.

The dark green scarf trailed behind Hiyori, dampening as it dragged through the snow like a fallen banner. Her head bowed forward, resting in a way that Yato could see the pallor of her cheeks and the stark contrast of her eyelashes against them. Yato’s heart thundered so hard he thought it would burst, and he knew in that moment that he would make Nora pay for this.

Silent as a grave, Hiyori remained senseless to the white world around her.

#noragami #noragami aragoto #yatori #yato #hiyori #yukine #daikoku #kofuku #daifuku #in the arkness #hp au #harry potter au #my writing

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