Ara's days following Christmas were spent in Sirius' room. As her dad promised, he would teach Ara how to become and Animagus.
"Come on, Ara. Concentrate." He said, pointing his wand at her.
Ara closed her eyes and imagined herself turning into a black Kinatamani.
"Okay, Ara. That's it." Sirius said.
Ara felt her butt softly hit the floor. Thinking she fell, she opened her eyes and saw that she was shorter. She was supposed to say 'Why am I shorter?' but barking escaped her mouth. She looked up at Sirius who was smiling down at her.
"Now concentrate in turning back into a human." He said, pointing his wand at her.
Ara concentrated on the black Kinatamani turning back into herself. She felt herself growing taller and taller.
"Did it work?" she asked. She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. They weren't paws this time.
"YES!" she said.
"Good job, Ara!" Sirius said, putting an hand on her shoulder. "It took James and I about two weeks to master it. I have thought you well."
"Can use it to scare Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" she asked innocently.
Sirius chuckled. "As long as you don't give them a heart attack."
"Okay! I promise!" she said, sounding like a five year-old girl.
She concentrated on herself turning into a dog. When she opened her eyes, she was in dog form. Sirius opened the door for her and she strode off to the second floor. She walked into the room where the trio was talking.
"-the D.A. What do we do?" asked Hermione.
"Maybe we could push her from the Astronomy Tower." Ron suggested.
"Ronald! Even if she's evil, she's still a person!" Hermione scolded.
"Really, 'Mione? 'Cause I thought she was a toad." Said Harry.
The tree laughed and Ara's dog form walked into the room. The three hadn't seen her so she snuck up on Harry and pounced on him.
"Ah! 'Mione! Get Crookshanks off me!" Harry said.
"T-that's n-n-ot Crookshanks." Hermione said shakily.
Ron looked like he was about to faint.
"Then what is it then?" Harry asked.
Ara concentrated again into turning back into a person.
"It's me." Ara said.
"Ara!" Harry said. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"You did it, Ara!" Hermione said gleefully. "You're an Animagus!"
"Yeah! Just mastered it today!" Ara said.
"Don't ever do that again!" Ron said. "That scared the pants off me!"
"No promises!" she said.
Ron turned a bit pale but went back to normal when Harry started talking about the D.A.
"You have to ask if Umbridge invited them for tea." Ara said.
"How come?" Ron asked.
"Because, she could easily slip Verituserum in their drink. She'll know everything." Ara said.
"That's a good observation!" said Hermione.
"Anything to help!" Ara said.
"Kids! Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from the kitchen.
"Hey, can you guys do me a favor?" Ara asked.
"Sure." They said.
"When we go down, I'll be in my dog form. Tell the adults that you found me outside and decided to take me in." Ara said.
Harry and Ron looked amused while Hermione looked disapproving.
"Aw, come on, 'Mione! Don't be a buzzkill!" Ara said, showing of her puppy dog eyes.
Hermione hesitated then finally gave in.
"Yes!"
Ara changed into her dog form and followed the trio to the kitchen. They entered the Christmas decorated kitchen and the trio sat down while she lay under Harry's chair.
"Wicked!" Fred said.
"You guys got a dog!" George said and the twin walked to Ara.
They petted her and stroked her fur. Ara felt relaxed. No wonder dogs like it when people do this.
"Ron! Why do is there a dog in the house?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"We found her outside, mum." Ron said. "She was freezing and we decided to bring her in here."
"No. No dogs in the kitchen." Mrs. Weasley said. "Fred, George, take the dog to the drawing room at least."
The twins sighed and George carried her. Ara concentrated and turned back into a human.
"AHH!" George said and dropped her. "Ara! What the bloody hell was that?"
"You just got pranked!" she said, standing up. "How does it feel to get pranked, prank masters? Not very nice, is it?"
The twins glared at her. "This isn't over, Black."
"Yeah. We'll get you. It may be here, or at Hogwarts-"
"-but we'll make sure that prank will make you pee your pants."
"What if I'm wearing a skirt then?" she retorted.
"Then you'll pee your skirt." Fred said awkwardly.
"What if I'm wearing a diaper?" she retorted, again.
"Enough of this." Mrs. Weasley said. "Ara, it's great that you're an Animagus even if it is illegal," She scrunched her face up while saying the previous. "-but let's all have dinner first so we're all full for Christmas, tomorrow."
Ara nodded and sat down in her usual seat beside Harry so Hermione could sit with Ron.
~flashback~
"Hey there, Harry!" Ara said, entering his empty room, fresh form her Animagus practice.
"Yeah, Ara?" he asked.
"Well, I bet you know about Ron and Hermione." She said.
"WHAT?" Harry stood up. "Are they finally dating?"
Ara smiled. "Just the reaction I need."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, I think we should make sure that they get together."
"I'm guessing you have a plan."
"Of course I do! Now, here's how it goes. We HAVE to make sure they stay beside each other, ALWAYS."
"That's it?"
"Hey! I just thought of that a few seconds ago!"
~end flashback~
Harry and Ara smirked at each other when Ron and Hermione accidentally touched their fingers while trying to get the pasta bowl.
"This plan's going great!" Harry whispered.
"What did I tell you?" she replied and held her hand up.
Harry stared at her hand, as if waiting for something to pop out of it.
"Don't you know what a high five is?" she asked.
"Oh! Could've said." He high-fived her and they continued eating.
The next day, Ara woke up early, for the first time. She sat up and danced around the room. Ginny and Hermione were still sleeping.
"GOD REST YE MERRY HIPPOGRIFFS!" she sang to the top of her voice.
Hermione and Ginny sat bolt up and glared at Ara.
"What was that for?" Ginny asked.
"It's Christmas!" she said and danced around the room. Apart from her birthday, Christmas was her favorite time of the year. The snow, the food, the presents!
Hermione rubbed her eyes and gingerly stood up while Ginny plopped down in her bed. Ara shrugged and proceeded to opening her gifts. The pile wasn't as large as Hermione, especially Ginny's but at least she got gifts. In the orphanage, Ara only got one gift, which was from the orphanage advisor and they were usually old socks.
She got a large pack of chocolate frogs from Ron, a homework diary from Hermione, dragon's hid beater gloves from Fred and George, a shinny black beater's bat from Ginny, a crimson Weasley jumper and a box of fudge from Mrs. Weasley, a two way mirror from Remus, and a small box from Sirius.
"Thanks for the Quaffle, Ara!" Ginny said.
"Yeah! I've always wanted this cardigan!" Hermione said, putting on a light blue cardigan Ara bought in Dervish and Bangs.
"No problem! Thanks for the bat and the diary!" Ara said.
She returned to look at the box. Why would her dad give her a box? She shook it and heard a jingling sound, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't open it.
"Gah!" she said, exasperated. With a flick of her wand, the box opened and revealed keys, car keys to be exact.
"No. Way." She stared, looking at the keys.
"Why?" Hermione and Ginny rushed to see the box.
Hermione's jaw dropped but Ginny looked confused.
"Why would your dad give you keys?" she asked.
"They're car keys, Gin." Hermione said.
"No way!" Ginny broke into a beam.
"Yes way."
They all turned and saw Sirius at the doorway. He was beaming. Ara ran to him and gave him a hug.
"Oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you, dad!" she said.
"Okay, okay." He chuckled. "Just make sure you don't kill anyone while driving."
"It's okay! I've been playing driving muggle video games." she said, remembering those days in the arcade, playing those driving games.
Sirius left a few minutes later and the Ginny and Ara grinned at each other.
"No way." Hermione said. "I won't have my two friends drive around London!"
"Don't worry, 'Mione, we won't." Ginny said.
Ara nodded and took the keys. The two girls went down and walked out the door. It was snowing, but their pyjamas were thick enough. In front of number twelve was a gleaming crimson and white Volkswagen Camper. It looked like one of those hippie vans you see on the telly.
"Let's ride it." Ginny said.
They both went in the van. Ara turned it on and released the break. They were speeding down Grimmauld Place and entered a wider road. There weren't many cars so it was easier for Ara to drive.
"This is so fun!" Ginny said.
"I know! It's weird that the fuzz haven't seen us." Ara said.
"Well, who cares!" Ginny said.
They ended up in the countryside when they stopped for gas. The station looked sort of run down. The sings were rusting. There was trash on the floor and the gas meter was dusty. While loading gas, Ginny and Ara entered the convenience shop. They were playing corny Christmas songs and the cashier was half asleep. Ara got a small box of Oreos while Ginny got a bag of crisps. They slammed the food on the counter and the cashier woke up.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"Yes, we'd like to buy these." Ginny said.
The cashier gave them a weird look, noticing they were in pyjamas. He scanned the items and typed in some stuff in the computer.
"That would be £1.5." he said.
Ara reached in her pocket and took out her coin purse. There were galleons and sickles. She dug in some more and found muggle coin but she needed 5p. She took out the coin and a galleon and put it on the counter.
"Thanks, mate!" Ara said and the two got their food and left.
A few seconds later, the man ran out the store, the galleon in his fingers.
"Run, Ara!" Ginny said and she jumped into the van.
Ara put some galleons on the gas meter, closed the gas tank and jumped into the van. She started the engine and they sped off.
"Don't worry! That's real gold!" Ginny yelled from her window and closed it, both laughing at what just happened.
They arrived back at Grmmauld Place at around seven thirty in the morning. They knocked on the door and were greeted by a mad-looking Hermione.
"I thought I told you two not to drive that thing!" she said.
"Come one, 'Mione! We had fun! We didn't get caught, made a guy rich. No harm done!" Ara said. She took out her Oreos and handed one to Hermione.
She took it and her expression softened. Ara and Ginny told her what happened and Hermione started laughing.
"That is funny." She said.
"Told you!" Ginny said.
They went down to the kitchen with a huge Christmas breakfast in front of them.
A/N: Sorry if it's too long! If I removed the Christmas part, then it would be too short. Review, please.