The Young Pup

The next day Harry had arrived, but he hadn't been able to talk to anyone except Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George. They were on their way down to dinner when they heard a door slam.

"FRED!" a female voice yelled.

"Oh no," Fred muttered, and took off running when he saw her coming after him.

The others watched as she tackled him and took back whatever it was he had taken, it was small so they couldn't tell what.

"Sorry," Fred tried as she started to walk away, she just glared at him.

"Who was that?" Harry asked as George helped Fred up.

"An almost equally talented prankster," Fred told him, smiling.

"I think she'll be able to give us an honest-to-goodness run for our money," George commented. "So to speak of course," he added quickly.

"Oh hey Sirius," Ron said casually as a shaggy black dog walked up to them.

"He looks different," Hermione observed.

"Oh that's nice," Fred said sarcastically.

Harry was still staring at the dog, he thought something was off, but wasn't sure what. As if the dog heard something, it turned quickly and left the room.

"Hello Harry," Sirius said, walking up to the group.

"Have you lost weight?" George asked.

"Huh?" Sirius seemed genuinely confused.

"You're dog form looked a little smaller," Hermione explained. A smile crept up Sirius' face.

"Sky..." he said, a little louder than normal.

The girl from earlier came back into the hallway, laughing. Sirius gave her a look, but couldn't help smiling.

"What? Oh come on, it was funny!" she stated.

"What are you saying Sirius?" Hermione asked. He looked at the girl.

"Show them," he told her.

"Show us what?" Ron asked.

"This," she told him, transforming into the shaggy black dog they'd just seen.

Everyone's, except Sirius', jaw dropped. Lupin walked up to them, seeing both Sirius and a shaggy black dog.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said, looking at Sirius incredulously. Sirius just smiled.

"What's so unbelievable?" Skyler asked after she had returned to human form.

"Not many people can do it," Hermione told her. "What level were you studying at in your old school?" she asked, curious.

"Oh, um...a junior," Syler answered. "I should've been a senior, but I got suspended too many times."

"You didn't go to a wizarding school?" Hermione asked with a confused look on her face.

"Nope," Skyler responded, but after seeing her face, decided to explain further. "As far as the wizarding community is concerned, I don't exist and my mom's dead."

"So did you teach yourself to do that?" Lupin asked.

"No, I just...started doing it," she shrugged.

"Mum said to tell you guys to hurry up," Ginny said before turning to go back to the dining room.

"We should go on down," Lupin said.

Everyone except for Sirius, Skyler, and Harry followed Lupin downstairs. There was an awkward silence for a minute before Harry began to understand.

"So you're..." he started.

"Skyler," she responded.

"She's my daughter," Sirius told Harry, who took a deep breath.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked his godfather.

"And that's my cue," Skyler said, more to herself than the two beside her. "I'll see you guys down there." With that she headed downstairs, leaving Sirius and Harry alone.

"I'm sorry," Sirius told him. "The only other people who knew about her were your parents. Her and her mother went to America a couple months before..." Harry nodded. "Well, you know. I saw her a couple years ago for a few days, but it wasn't safe."

"I get that, but that doesn't explain why you didn't tell me," Harry said, slightly impatient.

"I was just used to keeping her a secret," Sirius said flatly. "You mad?"

"No, just...surprised."

"Understandable." They stood in silence for a minute. "You hungry?"

"Starving."

"Let's go eat."