The next day, Shiro decided to spend the afternoon with Hagrid. He could have joined Konata and Blaze in discussing the boggart (Blaze's had turned into her father, and her riddikulus had failed too), but decided against it. Draco might see them, and then Konata's biggest fear would become a reality, except she would be taking Shiro's place.

"Hagrid, it's me," Shiro called, knocking on his door.

"C'min." Hagrid's voice was awfully distant and weak. Still, Shiro opened the door with a big smile on his face. He was very used to being greeted by an ecstatic Fang, but was not, however, prepared to see Buckbeak lift his head and give a sort of smile to him. While the Hippogriff was usually tethered up in the pumpkin patch, today he was lying by the hearth inside the cottage.

"Oh, hi there Beaky! You got a cold or something and need to say inside?" Shiro asked in a croon of a tone, ruffling the feathers on Buckbeak's head.

"I wish… Iss worse. Much, much worse 'an that," Hagrid sniffled. Shiro looked up and was quite surprised to see Hagrid was more of a mess than usual, his small black eyes watering dangerously.

"What do you mean…?" Shiro inquired hesitantly, taking a seat in his usual chair.

Hagrid grabbed a handkerchief about the size of a tablecloth and blew his nose in it. "Iss that Malfoy boy's fault! Went 'n told his daddy dearest tha' Beaky's a bad creature. Tha' 'e should be punished. 'Course, I went to court o' some sort with the Committee for the Disposal o' Magical Creatures…" Shiro's insides turned icy at the word disposal. Hagrid blew his nose again, tears exploding from his eyes like water from a dam. "An' I lost my case! Beaky's bin se'enced ter death!"

Shiro felt himself go numb. It was as if he wasn't in his own body. Speechless, he got up and bolted out of the cottage without consciousness of his actions. He dashed throughout the school, searching frantically for one particular person.

"Draco Malfoy!" he shrieked, skidding to a halt in the Great Hall, which was empty besides one blonde boy. Shiro stormed over to him, his eyes shining with anger. Draco looked up from his textbooks casually, smiling.

"Hello there, Shiro."

Shiro grabbed him by the collar of his robes. "Don't play so friendly with me. Why? Why would you want Buckbeak executed? He didn't do ANYTHING to you! You're faking and you know it!"

Draco looked totally unfazed, as if they were talking about the weather on a dreary day. "It's not that I only want that Hippyjiff, or whatever it's called, dead. I mean, I didn't care about the nasty creature, it's as good as dead to me as it is. But you see, if word gets out that Hagrid allowed a creature so dangerous it's been sentenced to death in his class, he'll be sacked ASAP."

Shiro tightened his grip, his knuckles turning white. He finally lost it: he let go of Draco with one hand and brought it against the blonde's cheek with so much force, he nearly knocked a tooth out. With his hair strewn across his forehead and his face burning red, he very much resembled someone who was being dragged off to Azkaban. "You… You inconsiderate, selfish, horrid, accursed, gruesome little…" A white film wiped across Shiro's eyes. When it vanished, his usual beautiful blue color had transitioned to a blood red. His lip began to bleed as his tightly clenched teeth sharpened. His fingernails turned to claws, his tight grip making the nails cut into the opposing fingertips.

Though his cheek was quickly bruising, Draco still managed to wear a look of calm amusement. However, that was now replaced by an expression of panic. "C-come now, Shiro, buddy… I-I was just kidding, you see! Your hillotriff is going to be fine…"

"YOU'RE LYING! I can see it in your greedy little eyes!" Shiro boomed. "And it's not hippyjiff or hillotriff, it's hippogriff. It's hard to get things through your skull, isn't it? Perhaps this will help." At those words, Shiro pressed his palms against Draco's chest and shoved him, sending him flying across the room and slamming into the wall. Dizzy and pained, Draco gulped as Shiro trudged over to him, wand outstretched.

"You're sick, Malfoy. Sick and twisted. You call yourself my friend… Even when we were young and naïve, you were a shitty companion. Always bending the rules to your advantage and taking every opportunity to step all over me. You're the worst thing that ever happened to me, Malfoy! Even if it had been in my father's will that we were to be friends for years to come, I would still LOATHE you," Shiro growled, his free hand clasped around Draco's neck. Whimpering, Draco shakily groped the ground with his good hand for his wand. To his horror, he had left it on the table.

Shiro's mouth curled into a cruel grin, revealing his dangerously sharp teeth. "Time to burn in Hell, you bastard," he said in a disturbed sort of purr. He raised his wand-

"Expelliarmus!" Shiro's wand spun out of his hand, clattering to the floor. "Immobulus!" the same voice called out, their wand pointed directly at Shiro. The voice belonged to none other than Satoshi Ueda.

"Get up, Malfoy. Shoo. And if you EVER mess with my little brother again, I'll see to it that something terrible occurs in your pathetic life," he instructed in a calm tone with an edge of frustration. Draco tried to nod but felt it was much too painful, so he instead got precariously to his feet and limped out of the Hall.

"Colloportus," Satoshi called once Draco left, his wand facing the door. He mobilized Shiro, whose eyes seemed to be dancing with flames.

"What did you bloody DO? I was gonna kill him! I HAVE TO KILL HIM!" Shiro screamed, clawing at the door. Satoshi wrapped his arms around Shiro from behind, gently pulling him away from the door.

"Calm down, Shiro. It's okay, buddy, shhh. It's okay."

Shiro continued to flail, his claws raking against Satoshi's cheek at one point. "NO IT'S NOT! It won't be okay until that damn Malfoy is DEAD! I hate him! HATE HIM! He has to die, die, die, die, DIE!" Warm tears began leaking out of his sickly red eyes, which were burning even brighter than before.

Satoshi gradually turned Shiro so that he was facing him. He stared into his eyes, which were beginning to look less and less like eyeballs. He gripped Shiro's arms tightly, leaning over to press his lips against his head. He tried to remember back 6 years to when this transformation last occurred, and what had turned him back. He couldn't recall the counter-curse their father had used, but their mother did help out in a way that he could recall..."Shiro. Your professors love you, you're their best student. Opey loves you, you're like his dad. Mischief and Jakkin love you, you're their master. Konata and Blaze love you, you're their best friend. Your roommates love you, you're, well, their roommate. Sakura loves you, you're her favorite big brother. I love you, Shiro. You're my only little brother," he whispered slowly, his voice beginning to crack.

Even more tears streamed down Shiro's face, his eyes seeming to cool off. His fingernails and teeth dulled; he closed his eyes tightly and fell forward into Satoshi. He made out one soft remark before losing consciousness: "I love you too, Big Brother…"

"Did I really say all that?" Shiro asked quietly. Though very shaken up, Shiro had physically returned to normal. It was about an hour after he passed out, and Satoshi had brought Shiro up to the Gryffindor common room. He had just finished explaining what'd happened with Shiro and Draco, since Shiro didn't remember anything. Surprisingly, Satoshi didn't even bend the truth a little when reciting it.

"Yup. You had quite the potty mouth," Satoshi grinned. Shiro gave a feeble smile that lasted about a second. His eyes- blue for good this time- drifted to the floor.

"Satoshi… Why do you bother to deal with me?"

Satoshi looked down at him. "What type of question is that?"

Shiro shifted uncomfortably, his eyes watering. "I-I mean… You're so popular, while I could probably count my friends on two hands. By my age, you'd had at least 20 girlfriends, while I can't even ask out one girl. You're AMAZING at Quidditch, while I'd rather stick my nose in a novel than even touch a broomstick. Let's face it: you're cool, to say the LEAST, and I'm just a nerd."

Satoshi pulled on Shiro's chin, forcing him to look him in the eye. "So? Shiro, you're my little brother. 'Nuff said. I could get into all the touchy stuff, but I'd rather not. Honestly, the only reason I'd ever have for disliking you is that I'd be jealousof you."

Shiro sniffled. "What's there to be jealous of?"

Satoshi gently punched Shiro's arm. "Open your eyes, bud! You're a child genius; I'm a bonehead. You have an amazing way with animals; they bite me and walk away. I could go on and on, but I'll add just this: all my 'friends?' They're not exactly friends. The only true friends I have are Fred and George Weasley, who I don't even hang out with too much, and Jeffrey." Satoshi had been friends with Jeffrey Knumlach since they were 7, and Shiro had rather taken a liking to him. He was exactly like Satoshi, and treated the Uedas like they were his family too. "All your close friends," Satoshi continued, "are true. Blaze and Konata… I can tell those two would die for you. Plus you have Luna, and Cho, and Michael, and Terry, and Anthony, plus Harry now… You're a real lucky guy, Shiro."

Shiro wasn't quite sure what to say. Satoshi was never really for the mushy stuff, as he'd call it. Normally, he'd gag and walk out on situations like this. For Satoshi to outwardly say he loves him was a change, but rather sweet and reassuring. He leaned into Satoshi, closing his eyes lightly. He felt Satoshi firmly hug him.

"I know we've lost Mum and Dad and Sana and the twins, but we still have a family. We gotta stick together," Satoshi whispered.

Shiro nodded, gripping Satoshi's robes. He opened his eyes a slit to allow tears to fall. He briefly wondered if there was a record for how many times a person who rarely cried had cried in less than a year. He was fairly certain that had there been one, he'd broken it.