Disclaimer: I do not own any of these Characters except Arin. Arin is my creation! Keep your hands off her J.K. Rowling!

Dedication: This story is dedicated to my favorite Pineapple, (brown on the outside blonde in the inside) Lady Liza Lupin.

It begins

In the deep darkness of night, a mile from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there ran a girl with two different colored eyes, one like a bit of sky, and the other green as grass in the spring. Her hair was night black with caramel brown streaks, and she was around 5 feet, 4 inches tall. She was in the 10th phase of breath, which meant she would do what she had to do, and then most likely die. She had to deliver a message to Dumbledore, and nothing would stop her.

It was a dark and stormy night. Not romantic stormy either. Not the kind of stormy that would make you want to curl up by the fireside and drink hot chocolate. No, this was the type of storm that anyone, even a wizard, would cringe to behold. The lightning lit the Forbidden Forrest brighter than daylight. The rain pounded down on the earth like stones on a martyred saint's back. This was horrible, and yet the thunder was worse. Like the "music" of a full drum set in a fifteen year-old male muggle's hands, it could make anyone outside go temporarily deaf. Anyone outside a wizards dwelling, that is.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley all sat together in the great hall for supper. Harry had gone through the first two weeks of his 6th year education in a sort of daze. He was pounds thinner from not having eaten much in the last 2 months. He could not remember his lessons, or the names of the new 1rst year Gryfindors. Though the grief and pain of the last year's ordeal had begun to ebb, Harry knew he would never quite be able to stop missing Sirius. The fact that he had gotten 9 OWLs, 3 less than Hermione, and 2 more than Ron, should have helped, but it only added to the pain that Sirius wasn't there to be proud of him.

BOOM.

Harry was jolted out of his depression by a sound even louder than the thunder. Someone was knocking, if you could call the harsh sound that, on the doors of the great hall.

BOOM.

Harry looked up in the direction of the professor's table, Hagrid was there. Who could be knocking this loud? Madame Maxine?

BOOM!

Then all sound stopped, even the storm. Five seconds later a young girl, looking to be thirteen or fourteen ran into the Dining hall. She seemed to have an unearthly glow about her, her black hair was wild and tangled, and she was breathing in some sort of strange pattern. She ran toward the head table, her eyes locked on Dumbledore. Four teachers ran to block her way, but when they tried to stop her from continuing, they were blown backwards by some unseen force. She sprinted toward Dumbledore, falling at his feet in what looked to be a queer kind of bow.

"Respects of the wer" she croaked, and reached into her pocket for something. She felt around for a moment, then she handed Dumbledore a folded slip of paper. Looking as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders, she sank tiredly to the ground, and stopped breathing.

Arin Firefly Cozad woke in a soft bed, not the cot she was used to, and found herself staring at the hallowed face of the wizard Dumbledore. She hadn't expected to live through her previous ordeal, and she knew that this Idolized man, this practical god to her kin, was the only one who could have saved her. Mother's gonna kill me, was the first thought that ran through her head. She was mortified at the thought of him watching her, she who was a mere mistake to her family. She gathered her strength, rolled off the bed, bowing six or seven times, and in a flurry of words she attempted to explain herself. "I'm so, so sorry for being a burden! Don't hate me! I just wanted to help! I didn't mean to be any trouble, your Lordship, Mister, Sir!" She trailed of as she looked around in confusion at the 25 students who had followed from the great hall and waited for her to awaken. "Who saved me? I wasn't supposed to live…" She trailed off yet again, but she didn't seem partial to speaking up yet another time. Eyes on the floor she gave the impression of a frightened deer, with no escape route and convinced she was about to be shot.

Dumbledore kneeled down beside her, his formidable brows pulled down in puzzlement. "I saved you, child. Now get up and get back onto the bed." She obeyed meekly and he sat back on his chair beside her. "What possessed you? You were in the tenth breath, even I had to struggle to bring you back." Her eyes widened in alarm, and she sat strait up in the bed, looking like she was going to start bowing again, but he eased her back down.

"I'm not important… The message was worth my death…" Dumbledore looked down condescendingly at her, knowing that the things she was saying were non other than excuses. She looked at him defiantly. "I'd rather die than go back anyway!" Then she flinched, clenched her hands and looked down guiltily. "It was worth my death though." A single tear ran down her cheek. "You… You struggled for me?"

"Nothing is more important than a human life."

"But I'm not human…" she answered softly, comment going unnoticed by everyone but Dumbledore. "I really don't want to go back. Can I stay here? Please?"

"Are you sure that would be a good idea? Because if-"

Hermione, who had been in the crowd the entire time, suddenly was pulled forward by a strange an unexplainable force. She pushed past the headmaster as if in a daze. All she knew was that she just had to look into the eyes of this shy, frightened girl.

"Miss Granger!" Dumbledore admonished.

Arin looked over at her with wide, surprised eyes. Their eyes met, and held. No one will ever know what exactly happened then. For the girls, it could not be described. I'm… I'll… I'll never be alone again… They both thought at the same time, the thought echoing in each other's mind. Then both fell, Arin tumbling to the ground at the foot of her bed, and Hermione straight to the ground. Mutually, they rose at the same time, but with very different behavior. Hermione was dazed and confused, also very happy, but Arin jumped up and down, became a huge black wolf, then a girl again, then a wolf, then a girl, Everyone in the room, save Hermione and Dumbledore scrambled for the door in fright. "A witch!" She caroled, "A witch! I finally have a witch!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Hermione gasped. She already knew, though. She would never be alone again. The world had flipped on its head, Paradigm Shift. Arin Firefly Conzad would be at her side forevermore. Arin turned to her with an exultant smile, and said…

"I'm your familiar."