Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Zakuro stared down at her plate, pushing the food around, but not actually eating anything. She heard footsteps and looked up expectantly. She frowned and looked back down at her plate.

"Oh, I guess I'm not the person you were hoping to see," Padma said, taking the seat opposite Zakuro.

"Not exactly, sorry," Zakuro replied, looking around the hall for any sign of strange coloured hair. Padma simply laughed and helped herself to breakfast. When the post arrived, Zakuro scanned all the owls for her owl, Kane. He wasn't among them. Scowling, Zakura dropped her fork onto her plate and something flicked from her plate onto her skirt. Angrily she tried do wipe it off, then pushed her plate away and stood up.

"You not going to eat anything?" Padma asked in surprise.

"Not hungry," Zakuro answered as she walked away. Walking out the Great Hall, Zakuro headed back towards the common room. She might as well get her homework done, as nothing else seemed likely to happen. Reaching the common room, she found it rather full for her liking and decided that the library would be a much better place to do her work. She collected her books and started to descend the tower. Near the bottom of the staircase, distracted by her bad mood, the usually graceful model somehow missed a step and tumbled down the remaining stairs, crashing painfully into something at the bottom. The purple-haired girl groaned and pushed herself into a sitting position. A tall brown-haired boy stared down at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, putting his hand out and helping her to her feet.

"I'm fine," Zakuro sighed, staring down at her scattered books and papers. Her day really seemed to be heading downhill. "Sorry for bumping into you," she muttered as she bent to collect her books. He laughed and bent down to help her.

"That's ok. So tell me, do all Japanese girls come down the stairs that way, or it just you?" he asked as he gathered a pile of notes. She turned to look at him in surprise. "Because," he continued, "while I must admit, it certainly looks like a faster method than walking, it also looks a lot more painful." He straightened up and smiled at her. Zakuro found herself smiling back. Her first smile for the day.

"It's just me. And only when my day is going as badly as it is today," she replied, then frowned. Why had she said that? She didn't need his pity. But then she found herself surprisingly glad when a concerned look crossed his face.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked. Zakuro frowned again. Since when did she need to talk about her problems with anyone, especially with people she didn't even know? But he was still holding the books he'd picked up, so she couldn't exactly walk away without answering.

"It's nothing. It's just, it's my birthday today, and I haven't seen a single one of my friends." Zakuro cringed inside, it sounded so silly now that she spoke her irritation out loud. But the boy's pale blue eyes widened in surprise then he grinned.

"In that case, allow me to be the first to say happy birthday." Zakuro found herself smiling again.

"Thank you," she replied.

"And, as it is your birthday, can I offer my assistance in carrying your work to wherever you were headed?" he asked, holding his arms out for the rest of the books she was holding.

"Well, thank you, that's very nice of you…" She stopped, suddenly realising she didn't know his name.

"I'm Terry, Terry Boot. I'm in your year," he said, either guessing that's why she'd stopped or simply deciding it was time to introduce himself. "I already know who you are, I don't think there's anyone in our school who doesn't." Not quite sure how to respond to that, Zakuro piled her books into his still waiting arms.

"Well I was planning on going to the library," she said, wondering to herself how she'd never noticed him before.

"Then to the library it is," Terry stated.

Terry cheerfully chatted away as the two made their way to the library, Zakuro simply listening and occasionally nodding as he pointed out things and gave useless information about the castle. Suddenly, Masha burst out of a side passage, flying as fast as he could towards them. Terry stared in surprise at the pink fuzzball and Zakuro quickly grabbed him in alarm.

"Masha, what are you doing?" she snapped.

"Emergency! Emergency!" he squeaked, slipping from her fingers and floating down the corridor. "This way!" Terry continued to stare in amazement at the bobbing creature and then turned to look at Zakuro.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking at him, "I have to go."

"Uh, sure, no problem." He glanced at the books he was carrying, "must I take these back to the common room? I can give them to Padma."

"Yes please," Zakuro replied, running after Masha, looking back over her shoulder she added, "thank you."

Zakuro followed Masha through a series of corridors and up a number of stairs. The purple mew and pink fluffy creature gained a number of startled looks as they hurtled past. All the while Zakuro wondered what could possibly be the problem. Where one of her friends in danger? Was there a Chimera? Why hadn't her pendant warned her?

Finally Masha floated to a stop and Zakuro turned to the door in front of her. Her eyes widened. The white and pink doors were incredibly familiar. Reaching forward, Zakuro pushed the doors open.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Standing in front of her, in what appeared to be an exact replica of the Café were her fellow mews, the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and most surprising of all, Ryou and Keiichiro. Zakuro smiled.

"You did remember."

"Of course we did," Ichigo grinned, "but Mint should probably get the credit for this. It was all her idea."

"Lettuce helped," Mint replied modestly, much to the surprise of the others. Zakuro laughed and hugged the blue-haired girl.

"Well, thank you, all of you" she smiled at all her gathered friends.

"Look what Keiichiro made you!" Pudding exclaimed, grabbing the model's hand and dragging her towards a beautiful cake that stood in the middle of a table laden with food.

"Did you make all of this?" Zakuro exclaimed in alarm. Keiichiro laughed.

"No, just the cake" he replied. "The twins are actually to thank for the rest of it. It seems they have a way with the kitchen staff." The twins grinned and shrugged.

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Zakuro watched everyone from where she sat; it was so nice to be back together, especially with Ryou and Keiichiro. Pudding was spinning plates, a trick the Weasley twins were attempting to copy without much success, while Ichigo, Ginny and Harry sat watching, laughing at the twins' efforts. Ron was still stuffing his face while Lettuce and Hermione sat discussing books and Mint drank the tea Keiichiro had just made her.

"Can I have a word?" Zakuro looked over to see Ryou standing next to her.

"Yeah sure," she replied.

"Perhaps it would be better if we didn't talk here," he suggested, walking towards the door. Zakuro stood and followed without question. As the two made their way down the corridor Ryou turned to look at Zakuro.

"Sorry to do this when we're supposed to be enjoying your birthday but I needed to ask something. I hear the Dark wizards have complete control of the Chimeras now." She nodded.

"I was afraid of that," Ryou frowned thoughtfully. "What would you think of asking the Aliens for help?" The question seemed to hang in the air between them for a few minutes until Zakuro shrugged.

"I think it's a good idea. After all, the Chimeras were their creatures. If anyone knows how to put a stop to them for good, it will be the Aliens."

"Good," Ryou replied, "I'll try to contact them as soon as we're done here." Zakuro nodded and the two made their way back to the party.

As they neared the doors, Zakuro turned to Ryou.

"Why did you ask me?"

"Because I already know how the others would react to such a question. They'd know it's the best thing to do but they'd still make a big deal about it. Besides, I think it's best if I don't say anything until the aliens are agreed to help."

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Voldemort regarded the creature in front of him. The creature stared back at him, its dark eyes filled with anger at being forced to submit to these wizards. Wormtail held the bridle tightly in his fists. The Kelpie could only be controlled by bridling it. If it escaped he would have to recapture it and Wormtail didn't want to go through that again. Voldemort drew nearer and the dark horse pulled against Wormtail, trying to get away from He-who-must-not-be-named. Wormtail struggled to keep control of the beast. Voldemort sneered. Yes, this would be the perfect creature to make his next Chimera. Those foolish girls, whatever they were, would stand no chance against his new monster.

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Dear Everyone

Sorry it has taken so long to update. I typed this up ages ago (well most of it) and then my computer stopped working. Then I found myself in the middle of prelim exams and I didn't have time to fix it. But now it's holidays and my computer magically started working today. So I finished this chapter. I know it's short and I'm sorry if it doesn't flow nicely, but it's been a while since I've worked on this story and I just thought I'd post this so people know I'm still writing it. Thanks so much for the comments and followers. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.