Hi! I hope you all had a merry Christmas! Here is the chapter, and I think I'm getting caught up to where I can have a couple chapters stored up before posting them. I'm already a good bit of the way through the next chapter. I just chose to hold on to this one so I could stick to a relatively normal update time. Also, my editor couldn't get to it until about five minutes ago. :P

I'm rambling. I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

The normal disclaimer still applies, blah blah blah, I don't own it.

Chapter 10

A week later, I was packing my bags for the upcoming trip to Germany for Christmas. I roughly shoved a couple shirts in the bag with shaking hands. My heart was beating erratically and I couldn't stop my eyes from cutting to the stack of parchment on my bedside table every few seconds.

I'd just read Lily's notes about skiakyns. As she said, they were overwhelming.

The concept of skiakyns began simply enough. They dreamed of the people they "connected" to, usually only a select few people. But as the years went by, the skiakyns mutated. They connected to more and more people. Not only that, but the wounds received in the dream transferred over into the skiakyn's waking moments. Each skiakyn lived a shorter life than the ones before him.

That was all stuff I already knew from Defense Against the Dark Arts.

But Lily took it a step farther. She even copied a passage from the book she'd borrowed describing one of the first skiakyn's life and his endeavors. He'd connected to a knight of the Round Table during the reign of King Arthur, near the end of his life. The skiakyn had run to Morgana, who seized the opportunity to end her half-brother's reign. But in the weeks leading up to the final battle, the skiakyns began having more and more dreams about comrades and enemies alike. Some began plotting against Morgana; some snapped under the strain of others' emotional turmoil, and killed their companions without discrimination. They had become dangerous. Most of the casualties in the final battle were caused by the skiakyns, and the ones that survived were later destroyed by Merlin himself.

Supposedly.

Skiakyns weren't supposed to be able to reproduce with humans, seeing as how they themselves were barely human. They were born from pure magic, with little human blood in them at all. So that was that. Right?

A sharp tap at the window jolted me into the present.

I looked over, and there was a brown owl with a letter clenched in its beak. I unlocked the window and pushed it upwards, allowing the owl to swoop in and settle on the bedpost. The letter it carried was from Lily, judging by the script on the outside, but she didn't own an owl. Where did this one come from?

I eyed the owl cautiously as I approached, but he hooted kindly and even allowed my to stroke his head as I read Lily's letter.

Alyssa,

EMERGENCY. Leaky Cauldron, ASAP. Drop what you're doing and meet me there. Usual table. I'll be waiting.

-Lily

P.S. Please feed Theo before you send him back. Poor thing has to be exhausted. He belongs to Remus, and I feel bad for using him without asking Remus first, but Theo was willing and I was desperate… I'll explain to Remus later. See you soon.

All thoughts of skiakyns fled my mind for the moment. Trying not to panic over the apparent urgency of Lily's message, I looked at Theo and realized that, for once, an owl had not tried to attack me.

"I like you," I told him. Theo hooted in what I assumed was appreciation.

Tentatively, I held out my arm. Theo flapped his wings and perched himself on my arm, and I felt a strange sense of pride at the accomplishment, even though it was entirely the owl's personality and nothing I had done. It just meant that there was one owl in the world that didn't hate me at first sight.

I walked down to the kitchen and rummaged through a drawer, looking for the owl treats my dad kept for the Ministry owls that came through from time to time. I came up with three in hand and allowed Theo to pick them out of my palm. I filled a small bowl with water and figured that Theo could hunt on his own if he wanted, so I took him and the bowl back to my room and set both down on the desk.

"Stay as long as you like and then head home to Remus, all right?" I told Theo, stroking his head once more. I grabbed a coat and went back downstairs to the fireplace, taking a handful of Floo powder and speaking my destination as clearly as I could without yelling.

I felt the heat of the fire, and the spinning of Floo travel, and when I slowed I stepped out into the Leaky Cauldron. Blinking the soot away, I scanned the room and found Lily at the table by the window, as she said.

"What's wrong?" I asked, slipping into the booth. I studied her face. She seemed to be fine, at least in the sense that there wasn't any blood or bruises forming anywhere that I could see.

"Lyssie, it's awful!" she moaned. I blinked, slightly thrown off by the nickname she'd given me in first year. I hadn't heard her use it in ages, though.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Um… what is?"

Lily leaned in close. "Petunia's got a boyfriend."

That was it? Petunia got– Wait.

"What?!" I nearly yelled. A few patrons in the surrounding booths turned and stared.

"I know!"

"Wait, what happened to the last one? What was his name– Walter?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Apparently she dumped him a couple months ago. That was news to me. Shame, though. He was actually halfway decent."

"What's this one like?"

She groaned and slumped in her seat. "His name is Vernon Dursley, and he's some kind of businessman. I don't know what for, I was too shocked to ask. And she really seems to like him, but my God, he is the most rude and arrogant prat I have ever had the misfortune of meeting."

That came as a shock to me. "Even including Potter and Black?"

"Even including them."

"Damn," I whispered.

Tom the bartender brought over two mugs of hot chocolate and set them down in front of us. We thanked him as he backed away, and Lily immediately scalded her tongue on the hot drink.

I snorted, and she shot me a glare. "Anyway," she continued. "They already seem to be serious about their relationship. Like, we're talking about marriage serious."

"But they can't have been together more than a couple months, right?" I frowned.

"That's what I'm saying! Dad isn't too happy about it either, but Mum is over the moon." She took a careful sip of her drink before continuing. "And here's the worst part of it all: he knows I'm a witch, that there's a magical world."

I almost choked. "Petunia told him? Why?"

"Beats me. But I can't even describe the look he gave me as soon as I walked in the door yesterday. It was like he immediately loathed me, even without meeting me first."

I winced and tried to phrase my next words carefully. "Well, to be honest, Lils, your sister probably was not too kind in her description of you."

Lily sighed. "You're probably right." She looked at me forlornly. "I don't want Vernon as my brother-in-law."

"I don't know if it's any consolation, but I'm meeting Andrew's girlfriend next week, and she'll probably be my sister-in-law one day." I propped my head on my hand. "I think we should both accept the fact that we might one day be bound by law to people we are not exactly thrilled about at the moment."

Lily scrunched up her nose in distaste, but didn't say anything. However, in the next moment, her back straightened and she looked at me with new urgency. "Did you read those notes I gave you?"

And here I was having a nice afternoon, I grumbled to myself.

I took a huge gulp of hot chocolate and winced as it burned my throat. "Yeah. I read them."

She waited for me to continue.

"What am I going to do, Lily?" I whispered. "This skiakyn stuff… I can't be one. I just can't, I can't be… be this evil, vile creature, can I?"

She hesitated for a moment. I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

"Well, that's something I want to talk to you about," she said. My heart sank. "I've been thinking about this for the past week, and I think I've decided that you're not a skiakyn."

That was unexpected. "What?" I gasped.

She nodded, and there was a tone of hope in her voice when she spoke. "Think about it: the last skiakyn lived over fifteen hundred years ago. He died only about a hundred years after King Arthur's rule ended. That means the skiakyns were only around for about a century total, and this skiakyn was only eighteen years old when he died. And we both know that skiakyns lived short lives. Alyssa, if you were a skiakyn, you wouldn't even have lived past infancy. It was a long shot, anyway. Merlin wiped them out. Furthermore, skiakyns connected to other people and had dreams about their memories. The only things you've seen are your own memories. To me, it sounds more like a stress or emotional damage thing. You know, from…" She trailed off, but I understood.

I took a moment to process what she had just told me. "So… I'm not–"

She shook her head, smiling. "No. No, Lyssie, you're safe. I mean, I'd still like to see what it is going on with you, but I don't think it's anything as drastic as being a skiakyn."

Relieved, I could do nothing but laugh. I slumped back in my seat and laughed for a long time, and soon enough Lily joined me. That earned us a few more odd looks, and we only laughed harder.

My sides were cramping by the time we quieted down. "I feel like I can finally breathe again. Thank you, Lily."

She shrugged. "What can I say? I'm the best friend ever."

"That you are, Lils."

We were laughing again as we left the Leaky Cauldron and went into Diagon Alley to do some Christmas shopping. I hadn't felt so light, so free in ages, and I spent the time with my best friend acting like total dorks, more so than usual.

I was safe.

o0o0o0o

Two days later, I followed my parents into my grandparents' house in Germany. Almost immediately, my little cousin Luca plowed into my legs as he turned a corner, following his brother Josef. He gave me quick hug around my legs and ran off again in a matter of seconds. I could hear more small voices coming from upstairs, squealing and yelling to be heard over each other. We hadn't been there more than a couple minutes, and it was already chaotic. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Mum went straight to the kitchen to find my grandmother, and Dad went right to the living room, where almost everyone else was gathered. I followed Mum, and as we got closer I could hear my Oma talking excitedly… and in English. Who was she talking to that she needed to speak English to?

The first person I saw when I walked in was my brother. He was leaning across the counter, trying to snitch some of the batter my aunt was working over. She smacked his hand away but I could see her trying to hide a smile.

Oma was sitting at the table talking with a girl I had never seen before, but I figured this was the famous Riley Scott my brother had told me about. I could only see the back of her head, but she had light brown hair straight as a pin. From what I could tell, she was about my height and size. I couldn't help but lift an eyebrow as I studied her. This girl worked with dragons? How had she not been snapped in half by this point?

"Don't let her appearance fool you." Andrew's voice suddenly cut into my thoughts. I jumped, realizing that he was right beside me. He smirked. "She'll twist anyone's arm if you give her half a chance. Mostly me, though."

"And don't you forget it either," said Riley, turning around and pinning Andrew with a stare. She then smiled and stood, walking over to me. I could see why Andrew had frozen under her gaze. Her eyes were a mix of brown and green, but they were piercing. She was watching everything around her so closely I was sure she even noticed the small birthmark on my neck that usually went undetected. I was getting a strange vibe from her that I couldn't quite describe. "Hi, Alyssa. I'm Riley." She held out her hand and I shook it.

Well, she was polite. I could give her points for that.

Oma came over next and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, gushing about how much she had missed me and that she wished we lived closer. I didn't even have time to respond before she grabbed my hand and Riley's. "Come, you both will help me with this cake."

In the next twenty minutes or so, Riley and I both ended up covered in all kinds of ingredients. Andrew had abandoned our aunt's cooking and moved on to bother us. Riley and I took turns smacking his hands away from the batter. Riley accidentally knocked over the flour while lunging for the chocolate icing my dumb brother had nicked, and I spilled a cup of water down my front when I had to do the same thing while Riley's back was turned. Oma finally kicked him out of the kitchen and sent him to talk with the rest of the family, but we could hear him laughing all the way down the hall.

"Idiot," I muttered under my breath, glaring at the mess we'd left on the counter. "How can you stand him?"

Riley laughed. "When you love someone as much as I love your brother, you learn to love their quirks as well."

I didn't have anything to say to that. She said it so casually, so naturally, like their relationship was set in stone. And from what I had observed, it was. The way Andrew looked at her and the way she looked at him, it was easy to tell that what they had was real.

"Hey," said Riley. "Why don't we go take a walk? Just the two of us."

Oh, great. She wanted to have a serious talk. That much was obvious, and while I didn't necessarily have a problem with Riley, it would certainly be uncomfortable. I didn't have a legitimate excuse for saying no, so I agreed.

We took off our aprons, which had thankfully taken the brunt of the cooking mess, and said a quick goodbye to the family before heading out the door. For a few minutes, it didn't seem like it was going to be much of a productive time. I kept my eyes trained ahead, focusing on where we were walking. We were heading towards town, and one of my favorite childhood stores was just around the corner. Maybe I could pick up some chocolate for Lily while we were there.

"So," Riley said suddenly, and I looked her way. She had her hands stuck in her back pockets, and she was looking at the ground while she walked. "You don't like me very much."

I actually stumbled a bit, catching myself and standing straighter. "What?" I said in a higher voice than was normal. I scoffed unconvincingly. "What gave you that idea?"

I know. I'm a terrible liar. Sue me.

Riley's mouth twitched in a partial smile. "You don't have to pretend, Alyssa. I can tell. I think you're unsure of how to feel about me, especially since this is the first time we've met and your brother and I are already talking about the future. You didn't have any time to prepare."

She kicked at the ground, sending some pebbles clattering a few feet away. "I understand, you know. In a way, I'm taking your brother from you. I felt that way when my older sister got married."

I swallowed heavily. She was right. Andrew and I had always had a close bond. Then suddenly, Riley walked into his life and I had to share Andrew's time and affection. It was a hard adjustment.

"Andrew and I get along better than most siblings do," I said, surprising even myself. "He's the reason behind most of my childhood injuries, and while that may be a point of tension for some siblings, we bonded over it. It gives us something to laugh about." I pointed up ahead. "When we still lived here, and he was home for the summer, he would take me to that park every day and push me on the swings. He taught me to swim in the pond behind Oma's house. And when he can manage it, he still picks me up from Platform 9 ¾ on the holidays so that he can take me out for ice cream, or a Muggle film, even though neither one of us have a clue what's going on." I laughed at the end there.

Riley joined in. "He's a great man, isn't he?" She smiled more easily now. "He talks about you a lot, you know. So I was a little bit scared when we came here, knowing that I would be meeting you. I was actually more scared of meeting you than I was meeting your parents."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm absolutely terrifying," I deadpanned. Especially compared to you, Miss Dragon Warrior.

We had reached the end of the street, where a cluster of restaurants and shops stood. She stopped and looked inside one store at the display in the window. "No, it's like you said. You and Andrew are closer than most siblings are. I was scared that you would hate me because I'm intruding on your relationship with him."

I leaned up against the brick wall of the store. "I don't hate you, or even dislike you, Riley. I'll be honest, at first I wasn't too fond of the idea of my brother being in a steady relationship– a running joke in our family is that Andrew's only serious relationships have scales, claws, bad breath, and are highly dangerous– so when he told me, my first thought was 'Is she human?' I was fully prepared to meet you and be disgusted with you."

I shook my head in disbelief. "But you aren't any of those horrible things– well, Andrew says you're dangerous, but that's beside the point. I knew you were kind and sweet and funny and smart from the very moment you opened your mouth." Here came the hard part. "And as hard as it is for me to admit, I know you're right for him."

Riley was smiling softly at me, and I lowered my eyes when I had finished. She took my hand in hers and squeezed.

"Thank you for telling me that," she said in an almost-whisper. "And just so you know, if you ever need your brother, I won't stand in your way. He will always be there for you. I promise. We both will."

I smiled back.

No more than three seconds later, we heard a voice shouting for us.

"Alyssa! Riley!"

We turned and saw Hestia running towards us. She wheezed as she came to a stop. "Merlin, I thought I would never catch up to you two. Were you ever going to stop? In the next town over, maybe?"

I rolled my eyes. "Drama queen. We didn't go that far."

She took a deep breath and said, "I was sent to bring you both back to the house. Oma says it's going to be dinnertime soon."

Riley's eyes widened and she glanced at her watch. "Have we really been gone that long?"

"Told you! You two walked for ages!" Hestia cried.

Riley grinned at me. "Race you back?"

"You're on," I challenged.

So we both took off, leaving Hestia shrieking behind us, "Come on! Really?!"

I laughed and ran faster, on Riley's heels. She was right. In her relationship with Andrew, I wasn't losing a brother. I was gaining a sister. She nearly plowed over Andrew as we ran into the house. He caught her, laughing loudly. I suddenly thought of the word best to describe Riley.

Intense.

What did you all think? Don't forget to review!

~AMQ