Itoshii Sune-ku

Itoshii Sune-Ku.
Chapter 21:Doumeiijin.


Harry was running. He had gotten used to this after six days of it, and he was getting better at it, too. He estimated the distance his pursuer was by the sound of the barks, and sped up just a little, clutching his bag of ingredients to his chest. Up ahead he could see one of his older sisters, Amaryssein, if his eye sight hadn't gotten any worse, and his older brother Tremaine, waiting for him.

When he got closer, Tremaine--Karasu, his name's Karasu now--held out his hand, and Harry handed him the bag as he ran past. The two turned and walked into the house that was behind them, talking quietly.

Now normally, this would have worried a boy Harry's age, but no, he just laughed as he was pounced on by the big white dog that was chasing him. The dog licked any part of bare skin it could reach on Harry, and he just giggled like mad.

"Okay! Stop! Stop! You win, okay! You win!" He laughed, pushing the dog away. The dog obligingly sat back, and stared at Harry as if to say, "Ha! I win again. What's it this time, fourth, fifth?"

"Yeah, yeah. Quit gloating. You know, Koran, just because you've won every time since we started, doesn't mean you're gonna win EVERY time." Koran just snorted, and seemed to roll her eyes, saying, "Oh, I'll win. Every time. But that's only 'cause you're just a scrawny little pup."

Harry climbed to his feet, dusted himself off, and placed a hand on the huge white dog's head. Koran was almost taller than he was, just a few more inches and she would be. Harry had found Koran wandering around his new neighbourhood. He had tried to ask people if she belonged to anyone, but everyone said she was just a stray.

Harry had found out that Koran's former owner had died when she was almost an adult, but not quite what she is now.

Since Harry didn't want to go inside just yet, and Koran was nudging him with her nose, trying to get him to play, he decided to stay out for a while longer. Karasu would give the ingredients to Rhapsody.

"Karasu, Tremaine, Karasu, Tremaine. What's the difference? Ugh, oh well. Karasu, it is."

¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤

"Do you think we should go through with it, Hanone?" Kyoushikyoku asked, half-teasing, half-serious. Rhapsody, Amaryssein, Ajalaa, and Tremaine, had allowed Serena to name them. Serena had come up with some very inventive names. She was half tempted to shorten it to something else. Maybe Shikyo. Though that meant 'death.' And the girl wouldn't be too pleased with that.

Amaryssein didn't enjoy her name, either. Hanone, or 'fang,' frowned, and watched as her sister stood at the kitchen counter, on a step stool, and decided to tease back before becoming serious.

"Go through with what? Expanding the step stool to every counter in the kitchen for you and Hari?" 'Shikyo' snorted, and shot back.

"You're a midget, too, you know." Hanone put her nose in the air, and said.

"I'm only half an inch shorter than you, so there!" Shikyo laughed, and stared at her.

"Seriously through. Should we go through with it? I mean, it'll seriously change him. Though he's already one strange kid, to begin with. I mean, he can talk to animals, and he doesn't even realize they answer him back. That is really strange. And he has Speech. The only other person to have that in a few thousand years, is Serena--Sorry, Sumikiru." Hanone snorted, she didn't like Serena's name, either.

"Well, we don't have to. I mean, he's grasping the school work fairly quickly and--"

"Ha! 'Fairly quickly?' He's gotten further than we did at his age. And we're only a year apart! Talk about photographic memory." She rolled her eyes, and continued.

"He's not even having trouble with it. Remember when we started? We had trouble channeling our intentions without a certain wand. But he's brilliant at it..." She trailed off, and watched as Hanone rubbed her eyes, and sighed.

"I'm just worried that he won't be able to use a wand. He has real school when he turns eleven, you know. He'll have to go back to the Alley, and get himself a wand. What if he can't use it? And believe me, it's looking like a real possibility." Hanone said, shaking her head and walking closer to her sister to tug her off the step stool.

"We could just ask him, Kyoushi." Hanone said, glancing over.

"Shortening my name AGAIN, are you?"

"Least you have a name to shorten." The two glanced over to the door, and watched as the newly christened Karasu walked in.

"You can shorten your name, too. Rasu, Kara, Asu..."

"I would rather not be named after some kind of....thing, nor a shell or husk, nor after 'tomorrow.' Thank you very much. Did she give you the ingredients?" He gestured toward Hanone.

"Yes, I got them. Harry still outside?" He nodded.

"Playing with his mutt. Koran, I think her name is." Hanone humph'ed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"She is not a mutt. Just because she's a stray, doesn't mean she's a mutt. You don't call Yochi a mutt." Karasu rolled his eyes.

"That's because she's not. She is a purebred."

"She is a failed experiment, just like the rest of us. So, she's no more purebred than me, Sumikiru, Hanone, and yourself. And would you please get off my stool! I'm trying to fix lunch!" Hanone jumped off the stool and scurried over to hide behind Karasu.

"Where is Harry...? I need to find him. His bird is back with a letter from the red girl." All three looked over and saw one of Harry's snakes, Ashni, coming into the kitchen, and looking up at them.

"Harry's outside. He's playing with Koran, at the moment. If you go out, make sure you're careful where you st....Just make sure you're careful out there. Harry would be terribly unhappy if you got yourself squished." Kyoushi replied, as she walked over to a can that was on the floor and slid it over to the snake. Ashni hissed a thank you, as Kyoushi lifted the can slightly and a mouse tried to scurry away, but didn't succeed. The others watched, and when Hanone spoke, everyone, even Ashni, listened.

"We'll talk to him tonight."

¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤

"Have you found anything?" A voice said to Albus Dumbledore's right. He looked over and smiled sadly at the tall, lean man standing there.

"I have found nothing, as of yet. I don't even know what happened. I am planning on going over to the Dursleys' in just a few minutes. Would you care to accompany me, Mr. Lupin?" Albus tilted his head in question.

"I would, thank you. And it's just Remus. Do you think Harry is okay?" The last was said quietly, almost too quietly for the older man to hear. He sighed.

"What would you like me to say, Remus?" Remus ran a hand through light brown hair, and was about to reply, to comment on the clothing he had just noticed his old headmaster wearing, when he heard a normally bitingly cold voice complaining outside the door.

"I don't see why I have to go. You and Albus can go, you don't need me to go check on Potter with you!" There was a faint murmuring, but Remus couldn't make out the words. The voice Remus now identified as Severus Snape, spoke up once again.

"I don't care! I refuse to wear these disgusting °muggle° clothes! I don't want to go!" Albus called for the ones outside the door to come in, and when they did, Remus saw Professor Minerva McGonagall and, as he'd guessed, Professor Severus Snape.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. I think you look quite handsome. Plus, it's not like your clothes aren't that much different from your robes. You look good, Severus. Now quit complaining!"

Severus was dressed in black dress pants and a black over-coat. Something Remus had never seen him in. Minerva, strange as it seemed, (to Remus, at least) was dressed in a flowing dark green dress. He had never seen her in anything other than her teachers' robes.

"Now that everyone is here, and Remus is joining us, we can head to Privet Drive. And please, Severus, we do need you there. You know Minerva and myself are too kind to curse the Dursleys. We'll depend on you, for that." Remus, Minerva, and Severus all looked at him like he was crazy for a moment, before Severus smirked, as well as Remus.

Just because Remus was a quiet, unassuming kind of guy, didn't mean he didn't enjoy cursing people who truly deserved it.

He hoped, this little trip to Surrey would be rather interesting.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Sorry, it's been so long. My brother fixed my computer, but then it died again. I have to get a new one. Um....Someone said that the five kids were crosses between animals and Voldemort. That's not quite it. You were close, though! :)