Harry made his way through the common room to find his three friends finishing homework. Everyone was whispering eagerly about something.

"What's happened?" he asked. Skia looked up for a second and shrugged; She never really paid attention to things unless they changed something about her schedule.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," Ron explained, gesturing towards a notice.

"Excellent," Said Fred, appearing on Harry's right. "I need more stink pellets." Harry plopped into a seat, feeling like an anvil just dropped on his stomach.

"I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," Hermione soothed.

"Ask McGonagall if you can go this time," said Ron. Hermione began bickering with Ron as Skia tuned it out. She wanted to have the homework finished tonight, and breaking up another fight between those two wouldn't get the homework written.

>>>>>>>>>

"OY! GET OFF!" Skia nearly spilled her ink bottle when Ron bellowed, throwing his bag around. Crookshanks hung onto it grimly, ripping at the contents inside. Scabbers came flying out and scurried under a cupboard. Crookshanks detached himself and tore after the hiding rat. Inserting a paw under the tiny space, he struggled to catch the rat.

Hermione hurried over and seized Crookshanks around his stomach. The big cat wriggled, trying to get back at the cupboard. Ron went on all fours and tried to grab Scabbers. Skia sighed.

Setting down her essay for potions, she blew a piercing whistle. Those around her complained as a tiny silver tabby made her way through the crowd. Morgan looked up at Skia and mewed a question.

"Get the rat under the cupboard without harming or toying with it and give it back to the redhead," Skia ordered. Morgan replied with a twitch of her tail as she daintily picked a path through the wreckage Crookshanks made.

>>>>>>>>>

Morgan gave a barely perceptible twitch of her nose as she saw that the way under the cupboard was blocked by a redhead. Unsheathing her rather sharp claws, she gave a quick slash to his ankle. With a yelp, the redhead withdrew and stared at the tiny cat. Morgan washed the blood off her paw and stalked into the tiny space under the cupboard.

Morgan peered around in the darkness. There was no rat that she could find, unless you counted the Human who borrowed that form. Was THAT the prey? Morgan sniffed. This was no rat, but it was the only rat-like thing under here.

Morgan grabbed the rat-human around the neck and walked out of the dusty space. Depositing the rat-human in the astonished redhead's hands, she began the dull task of ridding herself of all the dust.

>>>>>>>>>

Ron stared at the diminutive cat as Scabbers tried to flee once again. Stuffing the struggling rat into his pocket, he wheeled around to face Hermione.

"You keep that monster away from him! He's skin and bone, all because of your stupid cat!" He yelled.

"Crookshanks doesn't understand that it's wrong! All cats chase rats!" Hermione said. Maybe it was Skia's imagination, but Hermione's eyes seemed to be glimmering.

"Oh yeah? What about that one?" Ron said, gesturing towards the grooming tabby.

"Honestly, Ron, Morgan has been trained for these kinds of things. You can't expect Crookshanks to be as obedient!" Skia said, taking up Hermione's side.

"That stupid thing's got it in for Scabbers! Scabbers was here first and, and he's ill!" Ron stomped up the stairs to his dormitory.

"Oooooooh, that stupid, prejudiced wanker!" Hermione stormed up the stairs. Skia followed after she collected her things.

'Talk to Ron', she mouthed to Harry. Reluctantly, Harry went up the stairs.

>>>>>>>>>

Skia entered the third-year girls' room to find Hermione still angry.

"That, that boy is so infuriating," Hermione cried, flinging a brush across the room. Skia ducked just in time.

"Indeed," Skia commented dryly, walking around bits of shattered mirror.

"Oh, reparo! Hello, Skia. Ron is such a bone-head!" The mirror flew together again.

"So were you," Skia pointed out.

"How was I stubborn? It's Ron who was being so mean to Crookshanks! Poor, sweet Crookshanks was just following his instincts!" Hermione argued. Skia rolled her eyes.

"If all the people in the world forgave others for following their instincts, then why is there still so much prejudice against vampires? Ron WAS entitled to some resentment against the cat that continuously attacked his pet, not to mention himself as well." Hermione open and closed her mouth wordlessly.

"Oh," she said finally, plopping onto her bed.

"Yes, oh," mimicked Skia.

"I guess…I better apologize to Ron, then. He's probably really mad at me and hates me right now..," Hermione said glumly. Skia's lips twitched.

"Now why oh why would you sound sooo sad about that?" Skia mused. Hermione blushed.

"I don't have a crush on Ron!" Hermione protested. Skia grinned.

"I never said anything about that." With those parting words, Skia closed her curtains.

Thump. A pillow sailed through a gap in Skia's curtains to whack her squarely on the head.

"Oh, shut up, Skia," Hermione muttered.

"Never said a word," Skia snickered.

>>>>>>>>>

The next day was awkward, as Ron still hadn't forgiven Hermione. By the time they got to Transfiguration, it was Hermione who was angry from all of Ron's snide insults.

In the end, Hermione and Ron abandoned their squabble in favor of Harry's glum mood. McGonagall had refused to allow him to go to Hogsmeade.

"Look, we'll bring you loads of sweets," Ron said bracingly.

"We'll tell you all about it, so it'll be just like you actually went," comforted Hermione.

"Look, you guys, don't worry about me. Just go….and have fun," Harry said.

Skia put down her bag to place a hand on his shoulder. "If you want, I'll stay behind. It's not like I'll die if I don't go." Ron and Hermione stared at her.

"You're not going!" They asked at the same time. They glanced at each other and away.

"No!" Harry said forcefully. "Look, you just go and bring me back some stuff, alright? I'll be fine."

"Alright," Skia said reluctantly. She let herself be pulled away by Ron and Hermione.

Hermione chattered about all the historical sites she wanted to see, while Ron drooled at the thought of the sweets he wanted to buy.

"Hermione, shush. Ron, wipe your mouth. Now, let's have a vote. Honeydukes or Three Broomsticks first?"

"Honeydukes!" Ron shouted. Hermione shrugged.

"Alright, let's go." They made their way through the crowd to find a brightly lit up shop filled with eager students.

Skia flashed a grin. "CHARGE!" They pushed their way through the mob of students to enter the crowded shop. That was where they lost sight of Ron, who stood there, gaping at all the chocolate. Skia sniggered slightly as she pulled Hermione along. They grabbed a basket and began filling it with sweets.

"Oh, do you think Harry will like these?" asked Hermione, holding up a small bag of Pepper Imps. Skia shrugged.

"If he doesn't like it, pop it into Ron's wide open mouth," she commented dryly. Hermione glanced at Ron and huffed exasperatedly.

"Honestly!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him along. Skia grinned as she picked out a slab of chocolate. Putting it in the basket, she turned, to gape in a manner that was rather similar to Ron.

"Hermione!" The brunette hurried over to see what had gotten Skia so excited.

"Blood pops?" she asked quizzically. "Oh! I see." Skia got another basket and began filling it with Blood pops. Once she decided that she had gotten enough for a good while, she detached herself from the barrel and wandered over to Hermione. She was peering into the basket they had delegated for Harry.

"I think we've got enough for Harry," she said briskly and they forced their way over to the counter.

"Two galleons and five sickles," the clerk said boredly. "And a bit of our new fudge for you to sample." The witch gave them both large chunks of fudge. Grabbing Ron by the collar, they exited the shops.

"Here, pass me the sweets," Skia said, opening her bag. They poured the candy into the bag and set off.

>>>>>>>>>

Throughout the day, they entered a multitude of shops, each one more fantastic than the other. Dervish and Banges was filled with equipment, like quills and parchment. Skia purchased an expensive quill that wrote on its own simply by thought. Hermione lingered over a handsome hawk-feather quill, until Skia told her that her personal hawk would nip off her fingers if he saw it.

After that, they entered Zonko's Joke shop, where there were millions of items. Skia didn't buy anything; she could create mischief on her own. Ron, however, went wild. He bought several things with his limited allowance, and only stopped when Hermione asked acidly if he wanted to buy the entire shop.

They visited Three Broomsticks, where Ron and Hermione bought mugs of hot butterbeer. Again, Skia refused, saying that alcohol and vampires were an interesting mix at best.

Hermione dragged them to the post-office after that, where they saw hundreds of owls, all of them color-coded. Skia carried on a conversation with one until Hermione dragged her off.

>>>>>>>>>

Finally, they finished shopping and went back the castle. Skia was feeling rather heavy with all their purchases.

"Ron, how good are your reflexes?" She panted. Ron gave her a weird look.

"So-so, why?" He stumbled as Skia tossed him her bag.

"Oh, no reason", she said casually over Hermione's giggling. Ron struggled with the bag as they walked up the steps into the Great Hall.

>>>>>>>>>

It was a good thing that Skia wasn't holding her bag, because she would have dropped it.

"Krys!" A tall, willowy woman around the age of thirty grinned at Skia and held out her arms. Skia pounced on Krys and gave her an enormous hug.

"Hey, baby sis, how ya doin'?" Skia let go and grinned cheerfully.

"I'm alright, but what are you doing here?" Krys smiled.

"Your big sister came all the way from Beaxbatons just to see you and all you can say is why I am here? That hurts, Skia." Skia rolled her eyes.

"WhatEVER. You went to Beaxbatons?"

"Yeah. And, before you ask, Kitty says that she's alright, but perishing from the lack of boys." Skia laughed at that.

"Beaxbatons isn't co-ed? Poor Kitty! At least Hogwarts is full of cute guys, though they're mostly inexperienced."

"I'm sure," Krys laughed. Skia glanced to her right and saw Ron and Hermione looking at them with confused looks.

"Oh, right, manners. Krys, these are my friends, Ron and Hermione. You guys, this is Krystia Valxia Duval, my oldest sister." Hermione held out a hand to shake, then winced.

"Oops, I forgot about the bloodlust," she said sheepishly. Ron hastily withdrew his hand.

"Nah, it's alright. I've got better control on that. Besides, I use Blood pops to help with hunger pangs," Krys turned to Skia. "Which reminds me; did you see the Blood pops in Honeydukes? If you didn't get any, I have a few extras."

"It's alright, I found 'em," Skia reassured. Hermione glanced at her watch furtively; it was 20 minutes to the Halloween feast.

"Look, you guys, why don't you go ahead? I'll meet you at the feast."

"You sure?" Hermione asked. Skia grinned.

"Would I say that if I weren't?" She pulled out her bag of Blood pops and gave them to Hermione. "Put 'em in my trunk, willya?" Hermione left, dragging ron along.

"So." Krys turned to skia with a stern look. "I know that glint in your eyes. What mischief are you planning?"

"Who, me?" Skia inquired innocently. Krys rolled her eyes.

"Don't play dumb. You're planning something, and I'm not leaving this school until you tell me," Krys declared. Skia glanced around, then dragged her into the shadows.

"I-was-in-McGonagall's-class-and-she-told-us-about-Animagi-and-I-asked-a-bunch-of-questions-and-I-went-to-the-library-and-I-want-to-be-an-Animagi-but-I-need-help-doing-it,"She said in one breath. Krys slowly raised an eyebrow.

"Repeat, slowly," she ordered. Skia took a deep breath.

"I want to be an illegal Animagi." Krys ah-ed in understanding.

"That's all? Good, I thought it would be something bad." Skia gaped at Krys.

"Breaking the law and possibly getting irreversible damage isn't bad?" she asked skeptically.

"If I was going to yell, it would have been at Derek. Our fool brother has decided to use his powers to help with dragons in Romania." Skia choked.

"DRAGONS!" Krys shrugged.

"At least he's not alone. He's got some wizards to help out as well."

"DRAGONS!"

"They do breathe fire, so he's in his element."

"DRAGONS!" Krys rolled her eyes.

"Skia, stop repeating," She ordered. Skia took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Ok. So, how do I become an Animagi?" Krys tapped her lip with a finger as she thought.

"Did you get any books on the subjects?"

"Yes."

"Did you follow the directions?

"They don't make sense.

"Did you think of a dictionary?"

"Duh." Krys hmm-ed, then rapped Skia sharply on the head.

"OWWWW! What was that for?" Skia demanded.

"You should have called me. I'm not letting my baby sister do such a delicate thing by herself." Skia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I've got the notes, but you'll have to wait until my next weekend to help; I'm loaded with homework on the weekdays." Krys shrugged.

"It's alright with me, I have to stay at Hogwarts for a while anyways." Skia wrapped an arm around Krys's shoulders and led her slowly towards the feast. Others were already going as well, glancing at the two sisters.

"I gotta go, Dumbledore wanted me up front," Krys muttered, untangling herself. She gave a brief wave before disappearing in the crowd.

Hehe, haven't really updated cuzI was busy working on a non-fanfiction story.I have yet to decide which is harder, fanfiction or real fiction. o.O

If there are any grammar mistakes, you have permission to kill me. i'm only fourteen so i probably made a LOT of mistakes. hell, the story probably sucks. anyways, make me a happy lil' Asian by clicking the little review button:P