A/N: I own nothing

"Clio you have to do something!" said Hermione desperately as they headed towards the Transfiguration classroom.

"And what, per say, would you have me do, Mione?" asked Clio as she looked up from her copy of the Daily Prophet. The whole paper was practically dedicated to 'the biggest story of the century' a.k.a. her engagement to Adam Millennium, patriarch of the Noah Family, which had caused quite a buzz in the Magical Community.

"You... I don't know!" said Hermione "But you need to do something about him!" Wow, Hermione really sounded desperate.

"There's nothing that I can really do." said Clio as she looked back at the paper "Until I actually marry my fiancé, what I say is more like a suggestion to the family rather than an actual order. They only listen to me out of respect for my fiancé." she grinned before adding "Besides, I haven't see you this flustered over a male giving you attention like this before."

"This is serious, Clio!" said Hermione as she snatched the newspaper away from Clio "I don't even know why he's doing this!" Clio sighed.

"Listen Hermione," she said as she took the paper back "You're my friend and I love you like a sister but this is something you'll have to work out on your own. It's really not my place to get involved."

"What am I going to do?" groaned Hermione.

"You could always talk to him." said Clio as she folded the paper and tucked it into her bag.

"Yeah?" said Hermione sarcastically "And just how am I going to do that?"

"My fiancé asked me to invite you over to the Kamelot estate for winter holiday." said Clio. Hermione's eyes went wide.

"M-m-me?" she squeaked "Why?"

"You're my friend, Mione." said Clio "And he didn't want me to feel lonely over winter break, so he asked if you'd like to come spend the holidays with us. You don't have to come if you don't want to. I'd understand if you didn't because of Sheril..."

"No, no!" said Hermione "I'd love to! I just need to write home to my parents and let them know, that's all." Clio smiled.

"Thank you, Mione." she said as they entered McGonagall's class and took their seats as the rest of the class trickled into the room. There was a large, ornate mirror at the front of the class and Professor Snape was there as well with a tray of vials. Umbridge was lurking in a corner of the classroom with her clipboard. What was going on and why was the Toad here?

"Everyone, settle down." said McGonagall and once the class was silent, she continued "Today, I have a special lesson for all of you. Professor Snape had graciously brew a potion that will allow you to see your animagus form. I will call you up one by one alphabetically by your last name, you will each take a vial of the potion and consume it before standing in front of this mirror. This mirror will show you your animagus form and over winter holidays, I would like for you to research the animal you see within the mirror and learn everything you can about that animal. From its appearance to its behavior and when you return, we will go over everything you learned before you are given the actual animagus potion. I will teach you how to assume you animagus form over the weeks that follow." McGonagall pulled out the class roster.

"Lavender Brown!" Lavender stood and walked up to the front of the class.

"What do you make of this?" whispered Hermione as she motioned to Umbridge.

"Digging for stuff to use against me probably." whispered Clio "They're still trying to make me look bad."

"I wish that they'd stop." whispered Hermione "It's getting really old, really fast." Clio nodded in agreement.

"I can't wait for winter holidays." she whispered "Though we still have to suffer through another week until the term ends." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Hermione Granger!" Hermione gulped slightly before standing and going up to Snape, who handed her a vial. Uncorking the vial, Hermione downed it in one gulp before moving in front of the mirror. Almost instantly a graceful red fox appeared in the mirror and it silently yipped before sitting down and looking up at Hermione wise eyes. Clio shot a glare at Draco and Pansy when Draco made the comment that Hermione would've been better suited as a beaver with her big buck teeth which made Pansy laugh. Hermione sat back down next to Clio with a wide smile and Clio congratulated her quietly before resuming her wait. As she waited she, several more people went. Neville was a lion, much to his shock. Draco was a peacock and had to endure several taunts from the Gryffindor boys. Pansy was a pug, which was quite fitting with her pug-like face.

"Clio Potter!" Clio took a calming breath before standing and going up to Snape, who handed her a vial with a slight sneer. Uncorking the vial, Clio downed it in one gulp (making a slight face at the taste) before moving in front of the mirror. There was a burst of fire that lit up the mirror before it took the form of the most beautiful bird she had ever seen. It's body was a composite of the best elements from the most beautiful birds in the world such as the elegant tail of a peacock, the long legs of a crane, the graceful neck of a swan, and the large powerful wings of a bird she couldn't identify. It's feathers were black, white, red, blue, and yellow in color and its claws and beak were golden while its eyes were the same shade of green as hers. It spread it's large wings as fire danced about it and it's very presence was just overwhelmingly positive.

"What is it?" asked Clio as she looked at McGonagall "It looks like a phoenix but I've never seen a phoenix like that before."

"That's because it isn't native to Europe, miss Potter." said McGonagall as she stared at the mirror in shock "It's a very rare breed of phoenix from East Asia known in Europe as a five-colored phoenix. You've done the impossible yet again, miss Potter. To have a magical creature as an animagus form is unheard of. There hasn't been a single documented case of this happening before." Clio looked back at the phoenix in the mirror and wondered why her life had to be so complicated.

-later-

"Here it is." said Hermione as she held a book out to Clio, who was draped across one of the chairs in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. Clio stopped stroking Hedwig, who was perched on the back of her chair, and took the book before looking at the page it was opened to.

"The five-colored phoenix." said Hermione "Commonly known in East Asia as the fènghuáng and the hō-ō, among other things. It's a symbol of high virtue and grace. It's very, very rare and the appearance of one is said to foreshadow great events. No one knows what it's truly capable of, seeing as it's rather difficult to study a creature that seen once a century at most and most of what is known is from myth and legend." Clio closed the book and looked at the title.

"Magical Creatures of East Asia?" said Clio "Where did you find this?" Hermione snatched the book back, a light blush coating her cheeks.

"Mr. Kamelot sent it to me with one of his cheesy love letters." hissed Hermione in embarrassment before using the book to whack Clio's shoulder when she grinned "It isn't amusing! He's acting like a creepy stalker!"

"Well don't take your frustration out on me!" said Clio as she rubbed her shoulder "Have you written your letter to your parents?" Hermione nodded and pulled her letter out of her pocket "Well, I can loan you Hedwig." Clio looked at Hedwig "Would you deliver a letter to Hermione's parents for her, girl?" Hedwig hooted and bobbed her head in agreement before sticking her leg out to Hermione, who quickly tied the letter to Hedwig's leg before letting her out the Common Room window. There was a long moment of silence between the two of them until Hermione sighed as she sat down in the chair next to Clio's.

"Why?" said Hermione.

"Why what?" asked Clio as she pulled a novel from her backpack and started to read where she had left off. It was one of the novels Sheril had given her, though this one was a romance novel. She didn't know why her fiancé had nearly throttled Sheril when he had seen the novel, it wasn't that bad plot wise.

"Why do I have to have my own stalker?" bemoaned Hermione.

"Why don't you start your assignment for McGonagall?" suggested Clio "You'll probably have more luck with your animal than me. Plus it will take your mind off of it."

"I guess." said Hermione "I already picked up some books. Let me go get them." Clio made a noise of acknowledgement and turned the page as Hermione left to go get her books. The book was really well written and Clio didn't really see the reason why her fiancé had flipped out about the book. Until she turned to the next page. Her face turned bright red and she dropped the book as if it had burned her. THAT was why her fiancé had flipped out. Sheril was so going to get it the next time she saw him!

-line-line-line-

And here we see Sheril being a bit of a creeper.

side note (just to make things clear): Sheril had been married to Tricia but (unlike in the manga) she had died from illness about a year after they got married.