Author's Note: I'm so sorry to all of you who are enjoying my story. Between new classes and problems with my computer, this has been hard to keep up with, but I promise that I'll be a little bit more frequent in updating. Thanks for the reviews!!! I really appreciate it. -TG

Chapter 3: A Special Gift

The two girls arrived back to the animal hospital to much commotion. They found Brenda, another technician, being cornered by a large angry Doberman. Its hair was standing straight up, and it was growling fiercely at the frightened woman. "I was just trying to give it its shot. Help me," she whispered.

Cecilia slowly strode over to the dog and sat down on the floor between them. Never taking her eyes off of the dog, she began to whisper to him gently, as if in a deep trance. Immediately the dog sat down and any trace of fear left his eyes. He scooted over to Cecilia and licked her hand affectionately. "He should be fine now. Hand me the syringe."

"I don't know how you do it," Lena said later on as they prepared surgical trays. "I have never seen anyone with such a way with animals like you have. What did they teach you at that veterinary school?"

Cecilia smiled. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Come on. Stop being so secretive."

"Magic," she said matter-of-factly.

"Whatever," Lena rolled her eyes and returned to what she was doing. Cecilia smiled. You have no idea, she thought.

Although Cecilia spent most of her time at the hospital, she couldn't have been more relieved to see the last client go that evening. So many memories had been brought up with the day's events, and the best way to forget was to go home and sleep it off.

She was delighted when Lucy greeted her at the front door. Cecilia had always had a fondness for golden retrievers, because they always seemed to have a sunny disposition. Of course, taking care of dogs and cats was nothing compared to the spectacular awe of taking care of the magical animals that she grew up with. She had been the only one in her family that truly held a special kinship with animals, which then became her magical specialty. When she had finished from Hogwarts she went on to study until she earned her degree. She opened up her own practice in Hogsmeade, where she cared for many of the students' owls, cats, and frogs, as well as all of the interesting creatures that Hagrid had somehow gotten his hands on.

When she decided to leave for the states, the only thing that she took from her past was her knowledge and a few animal-familiar spells, which she often used to calm or to take any pain away from her patients. She hadn't used her wand in years. If Lena had known that I was serious, she would have thought that I was crazy. Living in the muggle world was so much different than home. Not too many of them would allow themselves to open their minds to such magic for fear of the unknown. No wonder wizards stay so secretive around them.

Cecilia plopped down in her favorite chair and stared out of the window. Her home in the suburb of Mt. Washington allowed her to see the whole city of Pittsburgh. The city really lit up at night, creating a beautiful view from her living room. She sighed and briefly wondered if it was completely wrong of her to leave, but when his face flashed in front of her, her stubborn will screamed NO.

That night she had terrible dreams. She was in her parents' house, and a dark figure was looming over her family, whispering deadly incantations. For a moment she thought that the cloaked figure was Severus Snape, but the face was blurry and unidentifiable. She reached for her wand in a feeble attempt to stop him, but pulled out a tongue depressor instead. Confused and frantic, she looked around to find her wand and spotted Uncle Albus in the corner. He was bound with invisible ties, and he looked deathly pale. She ran over to her uncle and shook him. He grasped her hand and his touch burned her. He looked into her eyes pleadingly and vanished. She could hear Voldemort's laughter far away.

Cecilia sat up in bed in a cold sweat. She turned on the lamp at her bedside and looked at her hand. She had a very dark mark on her palm. It looked like smeared blood. Cecilia shuddered with fear. Something was not right.