Chapter 4: Animal Instincts.

Nephiro's dad seemed to think it was time for me to go home, painstakingly I agreed, really not wanting to return to an empty apartment. Nep got permission to "transport" for him, so I gathered my things as slow as possible.

"If your dad thought I looked like my mother before, he'll never come out of hiding," Nephiro said, referring to her hair.

She was looking into the mirror and combing it for the sixth time that morning. I didn't reply.

"Man, Emi, if I were you, I'd be dying to leave here! Why are you so sad all of a sudden?"

"It's just… I don't know… Home doesn't feel like home. I'm generally alone or in my room. It's as if I'm back at my aunts house again," I mumbled. I looked and saw a worried look on her face, so I smiled. "Don't worry about it Nephiro, it's fine. All done, you ready?" She nodded and approached me.

I think I was finally getting used the Sands of Illusion and I had no sand on me or in my mouth for that matter. Remus and my father were eating nachos in the living room when we appeared. They paused and my father had an expression of shock with a little bit of fear mixed in there. He changed into his Animagus form and growled and I believe it was directed at me more than Nephiro. And for the first time, Remus seemed angry.

He stared at me for a few minutes before opening his mouth and said, in a chilling calm voice, "Emi, would you mind explaining what is in your nose…and your hair?" his tone sent shivers up my spine and even made Sirius whimper. I didn't respond. "Nephiro, I suggest you go home now. Emi will see you on the train."

"But Remus –" I began, about to say that I was going to her house the week after.

"I said, she'll see you on the train," he cut me off, this time with more force.

Nephiro gave a fleeting glance and snapped her fingers. Almost instantly, she disappeared, leaving only a small pile of sand, and me –desperate to go with her. My dad transformed back and placed a hand on Remus' shoulder.

"Mooney, let me –"

"No, Sirius, you stay out of this," he responded harshly, glaring at me. "Take it out."

"No." I stared him straight in the eye and he actually looked taken aback.

"I'm honestly tired of your constant need to defy me and rebelling. Now, I'll ask you one more time, take it out," he commanded, not raising his voice a notch over normal.

"You're not asking, you're demanding," I replied, mimicking his iciness.

Sirius was watching, appearing to be confused, as if he was considering jumping in. I wanted him too; this was his fight, not Remus. My eyes got watery, and I met my father's gaze. Remus was watching impatiently.

"You're not my parent," I said evenly, not really sure if I meant to Remus or my dad. Both seemed as if they took a swift kick in the stomach.

"I'm your guardian! If you're going to stay here, you will follow my rules, Take the bloody earring out."

"Then, I'll just leave!" If their reaction was from a kick, this was a blow to the head. How could he not interject?

"Where are you going to go?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms.

"I –ummm –I'll go –"

"Mildred's? With Sirius? Zandyr?" I shook my head. "And don't you dare say Nephiro's!" I remained quiet. "Do what I say."

I let a tear escape and roll down my cheek. My face had to be flushed with anger. Reaching up to my nose, I sent my father a death glare for not stopping this, and then I removed the peridot. Remus seemed pleased with himself for swaying me without yelling, so I threw the stone at him. It successfully changed his expression. I asked my hair to be normal, and felt the itch of it changing.

"Tú ganas, asno mudo," I told, letting venom poison my vocal cords.

The two of them looked at me confused, obviously not knowing what I said.

"She said 'you' in there… and I think she used 'ass'," Sirius said in a low whisper, probably thinking I couldn't hear him; Remus sighed.

I walked away, heading toward my room. My ears could hear Remus calling me back; I ignored him though, and slammed the bedroom door. Once inside, I let out a frustrated cry, turning my hair brown, to disobey on purpose. The handle turned and my dad poked his head in. I whipped around to curse at him and saw his awed look.

"What?" I questioned, impatiently.

"You look exactly like your mother…" he said slowly. I gave him the finger and shut my door again, this time locking it.

"You can't stay in there forever. See you when you decide to grow up," Remus yelled from down the hallway.

--

Remus was pacing around the living room, rubbing his temples out of frustration. How could she just think she could pierce her nose? He asked himself. Emi's recent defiance was irking him, and he felt that it was mostly because of Nephiro's influence. Once the two of them became friends, a sense of rebel's nature came forth in Emi. It's not healthy.

"Stop pacing Remus, you're making me sick," Sirius commented from his spot on the couch.

He had taken a liking to the nachos sitting on the table, even though they were now cold. Lupin stopped and watched the man intake enough nachos to feed a giant and shook his head disapprovingly.

"How can this not bother you?"

"You told me to stay out of it. It's your problem," he replied, non-complacently. Apparently, Remus' reaction to the situation earlier had hurt more than Emi's feelings.

"Sirius, I'm sorry –"

"Forget about it."

The werewolf went back to pacing before walking over to the fireplace.

"Where in the world are you planning on going off too?"

"I'm going to have a word with Nephiro's mother."

"Ah shit. Remus, do you have a death wish? Naomi used to jinx us just for looking in her direction! What makes you think you're going to walk out of this fine?"

"Hope." He took a hand fill of the Floo Powder, and step into the fireplace. "Miketsu residence!"

The large house was exactly how he last remembered it, with maybe a fewer minor adjustments. From what he remembers, Naomi doesn't really like change too much. Nephiro was standing in the kitchen, getting some water when he walked by. She looked up and muttered "bastard" under her breath.

The doors to Naomi's study were closed, so he opened them and strolled up to her as if bothering her while she working was OK. Naomi opened her eyes a little sighed.

"Mrs. Miketsu, I need to speak with you about your daughter."

"Yes?" she replied, wondering what could be so important that it interrupted her meditation unannounced.

"I find it hard to believe that you pay such little attention to the children that enter your house," Remus said hotly. Her eyebrows raised even more.

"Excuse me?" she said, letting some anger slip.

"I entrusted Emi into your house, into your care, thinking when she returned to me she would be safe and whole. Instead, she was pierced and her hair now changes color at will! I know Nephiro is a difficult child at best but I thought that you and Xanu would be able to keep her in line at home."

She rose slowly to her feet and took a few steps in his direction. Remus gulped, and her amber-red eyes glowed with hate. Naomi's expression was one of shock and angriness.

"Are you done now?" she questioned, in a voice as calm as Remus' was earlier.

"Yes."

"Good now listen. How dare you come into our house unannounced, interrupting my work to lecture me on my child-rearing techniques. Maybe if you paid proper attention to her, Emi, would not feel pressured to act out in such ways! You are lucky you are Xanu's old friend or I would have hexed you blind due to your rudeness!

"You, who has not even been a parent, for any length of time, talk to me about my child. Nephiro's a good child and I will not have you sit in my house and tell me different. Now, I advise you to leave before you evoke my wrath further and I change my mind about your relationship to the family."

Her eyes warped, as if she was changing inside. They went from pure angry to bright gold that flickered some from her normal color. Her natural state isn't something to be tempting so Remus backed off, sensing an animal instinct. The scowl on her face was enough to make bones dance in their coffins. The male turned, and exited the room, feeling discouraged.

He walked briskly down the hallway, his anger oozing from him. Nephiro stood by the fireplace, smiling cheaply.

"Did she say what you wanted to hear?" she asked wryly. Remus just glared and grabbed a handful of powder. "Guess not."

"Lupin," he ordered into the green flames.

--

Voices from outside my room had stopped for a little amount of time and I felt at ease for it. The sereneness of the nothingness gave me time to collect my thoughts and cool down. I don't think that went well…

"Don't seem so sad about it," a voice said from besides me. I turned over under my comforter that wasn't to comforting, so see my savior –Nephiro.

"Where? Wha –"

"Oh come on, being controlled isn't the end of the World."

Nephiro took a seat on the end of the bed like she used to do in the hospital wing and with help from the moonlight she appeared to be glowing Her gold streaks caused reflections and made small light spots on my wall, like a disco ball sitting in direct sunlight.

"Remus came to see my mother," she commented, looking out my window. "Oh and by the way, you have a nice view, why do you keep your curtains closed?"

Ignored her question, and leapt at the statement about my ignorant godfather.

"He did, did he?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at his stupidity. "And he managed to make it back here in one piece?"

"I think he took a major dent in his ego. My mom really shot him down and ended up telling him off. I listened in. Rather amusing if you ask me."

I smiled at my friend's humor.

"Where do you want to escape to?"

"Ummm, I'm not sure…"

Nep got to her feet and opened my closet door. Turning on my night table lamp, I saw her pulling my school skirt out of my trunk and a revealing tank top. She had a weird smirk on her face as she threw them at me and began rummaging through my other stuff.

"Miss Miketsu, have you lost your mind? What on Earth are you doing?" I asked, getting up.

"We're breaking out for the night. And before you decide to tell me an obscene comment and that I should go away, listen to me." I stayed quiet. "If I know anything about you at all, you're going to avoid Lupin as much as possible after he put his foot down… again. This will happen, even if it means you are not going to eat nor shower. Believe me –that is not healthy. So get dressed, we're going out."

"Where?"

"Stop asking questions and hustle. The moon is light a giant flashlight, I want to be able to use it," she said, opening my window and taking a deep breath of the Czech air.

I rustled around and managed to throw myself together in enough time to realize Nephiro was reading my journal. I grabbed it from her and put it back into my drawer.

"Nice one Nephiro, real sneaky," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Everyone knows that's where diaries are kept. Are you stupid? It's like asking Remus to find it. Now, are you ready?" I nodded, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

She placed her hand on me, and before we disintegrated, I saw her devious grin, and I felt a little afraid.

We came too, in a dingy alleyway, furnished with overfilled dumpsters and grease stained boxes. Nephiro grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the well-lit street. I gasped. Before us was the biggest cathedral I've seen in my life… although, it's the biggest, I've only seen a few.

The building had to be twenty stories, with a gold tinted window above the doorway. It was majestic –huge windows, beautiful steeples and many side chapels. The structure was something out of my picture books of castles and churches. My breath was taken away. Nephiro leaned in close to me.

"That's St. Vitus Cathedral, part of Prague castle. You like?"

"Definitely…"

It may not seem like much, but being there, in Prague with Nephiro and acting like normal kids was nice. The atmosphere around us didn't seem to add any pressure to us and make us feel like watched prisoners. I felt free for those few hours.

Nephiro brought me home just as the moon was falling behind the buildings and the sun was about the peek out. As I crawled into bed I saw her next to the window again, and throughout the entire night I hadn't notice that glow around Nephiro wasn't from the moon (which was not present at this time), but was a white aura…

"Night Emi!" she said, smiling again. And she only left a small pile of dirt, in the shape of a cat's eye.

"Good night Phiro…" I whispered, closing my eyes.