England had been a very long time ago, so long, in fact, that she'd almost forgotten about it. The lush, green hills, the moderate temperatures, the never-ending rainfall... the magic... Yes, that very strange magic. England had been so, so long ago.

Shiina hopped onto the branch next to Miyu and pawed at the red ribbon wrapped around her right foot. "I sense a lot of Shinma activity, but it's so hard to find!"

Miyu nodded. "That is a barrier we will quickly have to get used to, Shiina. It is probably one reason why this particular Shinma chose to hide out in a place like this." She stared silently past the rest of the dense trees, directly at a castle in the distance. "Hogwarts... I never thought I would have reason to come here again..."

"Miyu," Lava said, trying as he so often had done before to return her thoughts from the past to the present, "we should go now. They're expecting you."

She nodded. "What year am I supposed to be, Lava?"

"Fifth."

Again she nodded, trying not to look down at her never-aging body. Of course it was good for some things, but for others...

She took one step forward as Shiina hopped on her shoulder, and together they fell slowly to the ground. "Bye, Lava!" Shiina said, waving enthusiastically. "We'll see you tonight!"

A rush of mist was all it took for Miyu to walk the few kilometers to the castle in a matter of seconds. The door swung open as she neared, leading her straight into the Great Hall. She had been here once before, so long ago...

The room was empty this early in the morning, except for a tall lady with square-rimmed glasses who wore her black hair in a tight bun. She quickly walked over when she saw Miyu enter. "You must be Miyu... Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you personally before we sort you and get you into your classes. Please come with me..."

"I beg your pardon, Professor, but may I please have your name?"

The teacher smiled thinly and said, "Oh yes, I apologize. My name is Professor McGonagall. I teach Transfiguration. I am also the Head of Gryffindor House."

"I shall hope to be in Gryffindor then," Miyu said, giving one of her polite smiles that almost seem forced, yet are truly sincere.

"Do you have your wand and everything that you need?" McGonagall asked as she led Miyu to Dumbledore's office.

"Yes, Professor. It is made of bloodwood and the hair of... a demon."

"That's... an interesting combination," she commented, paling slightly. "We were expecting you earlier, but I'm glad you made it alright, what with all of the problems we've been having lately... here we are."

McGonagall said a password which caused the gargoyle to hop to one side, allowing herself and Miyu through. They found Dumbledore bent over a piece of parchment at his desk, but his blue eyes quickly darted their direction as they entered. He stood slowly, staring straight at Miyu. "Thank you, Minerva. You may go, now."

McGonagall's eyes widened in a confused, almost insulted manner, but she turned her back and left the office, leaving Miyu alone with her new headmaster. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it, Albus?"

He shook his head, an amused yet disbelieving grin crossing his face. "I never thought that you would actually come. You don't usually make special requests..."

"I trust your judgment. Being part Shinma yourself, you are very capable of sensing others."

"Yes," he said with a sigh, "but unfortunately not capable enough to completely defeat another. It has really only succeeded in giving me a longer life span and making my powers a bit greater than an average wizard."

"You are far too modest."

"Perhaps if I were still young," he said with a laugh, "but my Shinma blood is only a small portion, I age as quickly as any other human... I just refuse to die as quickly."

"There are many Shinma here," Miyu said. "Before I leave I will be sure that every last one of them is sent back where they belong."

"Of course you will," Dumbledore said with a solemn smile. "But you do realize that you are dealing with two different kinds of magic here."

Miyu turned to him, her eyes wide and questioning. "I suppose, but why should it matter?"

"Because the main Shinma you are after has overtaken a very powerful human being, which doubles your problems. I was wondering if you've considered finding help from a human wizard."

"I don't need help from anyone but Lava and Shiina."

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "I didn't expect much less from you, Miyu. In any case, I am going to put you in the House which I think would best suit our needs. You are going to be a Fifth Year Gryffindor."

"Thank you, Albus... or I suppose I should be saying Professor," Miyu said, bowing slightly before turning her back on him to head towards the door.

"Oh, and Miyu... if you need any help- with classes or with anything else- talk to a boy named Harry Potter. I'm sure he would be very happy to help you out."
******************************************************************

"Hello, Harry Potter," she said in her monotone voice as she chose a seat next to him in Potions. "My name is Miyu. Professor Dumbledore said that you would help me in classes until I caught up."

Harry blinked at her in a confused manner, exchanging a nervous glance with Ron and Hermione. "Um... it's nice to meet you, Miyu," he said, swearing that she must be a Slytherin and that they only had this class together with maybe one or two others. "These are my friends, Ron and Hermione."

Miyu nodded and "smiled" at each of them. "Pleasure to meet you." She turned as Snape came out of his office carrying a tray of potions to his desk. "Is this class very difficult?"

"You probably won't have trouble with it, he favors Slytherins," Ron blurted out, a little bitterly.

"I am a Gryffindor."

Ron opened his mouth to say something else rude, but Harry interrupted and said, "All the better for you, yes?" with a nervous smile.

Miyu stared at him for a moment. She sensed something in him, something like a Shinma yet it wasn't a Shinma.

"Why don't you sit over there with the loser Gryffindors, you freak," an obnoxious female voice said, interrupting Miyu's train of thought. She looked up to see a group of girls going to the other side of the room push another girl with dark hair and pale skin towards the said Gryffindor side.

"Pansy's Slytherin friends are calling her a freak and sending her over here? This I've got to figure out..." Hermione whispered.

The girl called Pansy stood where she had been shoved, staring after her "friends" and holding her books close to her, seeming very insecure. Miyu watched as she bit her lip to keep it from trembling, to hold back tears. Miyu wondered if it was a Shinma, but didn't sense anything from the girl. No, in fact she felt very little life-force at all. It was as if the person was completely dead. "I will have to speak to Lava about this..."

"What was that?" Harry asked, turning his curious gaze away from the abandoned Pansy back to Miyu.

"Nothing," Miyu answered with a halfhearted grin, then stood up and walked over to Pansy. "Hello."

Pansy jumped, breaking her aimless gaze and focusing her attention and fear on Miyu. "What do you want?" she asked, backing off and glaring at her accusingly.

"Your name is Pansy, yes? I am Miyu. Would you like to come sit with me?"

Pansy stared at Miyu, not about to believe that it was an honest invitation. "Why? So you can make fun of me with your little Gryffindor crowd? I don't think so."

Miyu smiled as gently as she knew, reached out and took Pansy's hand, then led her to a seat. Pansy followed, not having the first idea of how to take this new form of treatment. So many changes at once...

Snape quickly began class after that. Pansy didn't say anything else the entire class. She stared straight ahead, never looking at anyone or anything else but her professor and whatever he was doing, as if afraid of making eye-contact. When class was finally over she remained in her seat until her ex-friends had left the room, and had no intention of getting up when Miyu stood to leave.

"Where is your next class, Pansy?" Miyu asked.

"Are you just trying to mock me?" Pansy asked harshly, standing up and snatching her bag and books. "Just leave me alone!" she shouted, pushing Hermione aside and rushing out the door.

Hermione dusted herself off. "Hm."

"Wonder what happened to her," Ron whispered, shaking his head. "They sure don't seem to like her, calling her a freak and all, not that I disagree with that..."

"You shouldn't call people freaks no matter how different they are," Miyu said quietly, then walked towards the door, never looking back to see if she was being followed.
******************************************************************

"Lava, is it possible for a Shinma to only partially take over a person so that only a trace of them can be sensed?"

"It is more possible that the person was once under a Shinma's influence, but perhaps it moved on."

"No, it's different than that." She looked back towards the castle in the distance, remembering the pale girl with the black hair. "What is it when a person is dead but alive?"

Lava smiled thinly, putting a hand on Miyu's shoulder. "You could be describing a number of things, but most likely you are referring to a human vampire."

"Human vampire? Are they Shinma?"

"No, they are not Shinma, for they have no powers of Darkness. Nor are they born that way. Another human vampire bites them and takes the blood from them until they are almost dead, but if the dying person takes their blood back from the vampire, they too become one of the so-called 'living dead.' Why do you ask?"

"I believe I may have met one. Her name is Pansy, a Slytherin."

Lava nodded. "Perhaps you did."

"She doesn't like me much... Are human vampires immortal as well?"

"More or less. They can be destroyed, but it's difficult. Their main enemy is the sun. If they are caught in the daylight they will die instantly."

"Do they age?"

"Not after the point when they are bitten."

"I should make friends with Pansy. Then I wouldn't have to worry about losing her."

Lava sat next to her silently for a moment, enjoying the sunset. "So you haven't found any true Shinma yet."

"None directly. Maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe."
******************************************************************

"There's a really strange new girl at school!" Harry said as he, Ron, and Hermione stepped inside of Remus and Sirius' quarters. They were both living in the castle at the moment in case Dumbledore had a need for them with the sudden Deatheater scare, and Sirius was usually in his canine form so that the students wouldn't find him out. He was thus very happy whenever Harry and his friends came for a visit. It gave him a chance to stretch his human legs and even speak with more than just Lupin around.

"You shouldn't say that, Harry," Sirius said with a wink. "That's what your father said when he first met your mother."

"Ha ha. No, but really! There's something about her... something dark... it's kind of frightening."

"Is she a Slytherin?"

"No, Gryffindor. She's in all of my classes now. Her name is Miyu."

"Miyu-what?"

"I... really don't know... I haven't heard anyone mention her last name." Harry sighed and shook his head. "I don't know why I think she's 'dark,' she's been nothing but nice to everyone. She's even been nice to Pansy Parkinson who's been exceptionally more moody than usual. Even her old friends are turning against her, I don't really know why. They called her a freak in Potions. I don't know what's going on with her."

"There's a rumor going around that she was attacked by a vampire," Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"And what makes you the biographer of The Life of Pansy Parkinson?" Lupin asked with a smirk.

"I heard some Slytherin kids talking about it in the hall the other day! So there!" He turned into a dog and went into the corner to glare at his friend.

Lupin shook his head, his smirk never faltering. "Well, it's very fitting for her, and it's the least she deserves... She and her Slytherin friends were always saying bad things about me because I was a werewolf... though I guess it's not very good of me to wish bad things back upon her." He sat back in a chair, looking very bored. "I think we should go on a walk. We've been sitting around here all day."

Sirius (still in dog form) jumped up, scurried into an adjoining room, and came back wagging his tail frantically, a leash hanging out of his mouth as he offered it up to Lupin.

All of them laughed as they left the room, went down the stairs, and out through the Great Hall. The sun was only just setting, and the fun was only just beginning...
******************************************************************

In the twilight they noticed a cloaked and hooded figure disappearing into the Forbidden Forest. Harry couldn't help but think how much it looked like a Dementor. Lupin shifted uncomfortably when he saw it. In fact, he had been acting a little strange ever since the sun started going down. "Maybe we should see what it is, to make sure nothing bad's going on with the Deatheaters or something..."

"No, we really shouldn't..." Hermione began.

"Yes, we should," Lupin answered, a little more forcefully as he headed that direction.

Once they were a significant distance from the castle, just on the outskirts of the forest, Lupin let Sirius off of his leash and he turned back into his human form. "Where do you think it went?" Lupin asked with an odd growl in his voice.

Sirius shook his head and stared at his friend nervously. "It's not... that time of the month, is it, Remus?"

"Huh?" he asked, turning and blinking at Sirius. "No, still have one more week. Why?"

"Because you're acting like you do sometimes just before the night of the full moon... and you sort of smell that way too..."

Lupin threw his head back and laughed. "That's impossible! There's no way for the moon to come a week early!"

Harry couldn't help but peer nervously up through the clustered branches of trees into the reddish-orange fading light, but he couldn't see the moon anywhere because of the leaves. Then he heard something... that sounded remarkably like sobbing. He looked back over his shoulder to see Remus and Sirius still talking, while Hermione looked distracted as if she were trying to figure out a solution to the dilemma, and Ron just looked as clueless as always, so he finally ventured away from them and into the forest alone towards the sound.

It didn't sound like it was very far away. In fact, when he found the weeping cloaked figure from before below him under a ledge, he could still faintly hear his friends' voices. He slid down carefully, trying not to startle the person who, from the sound of the sobs, seemed to be female.

Unfortunately, it didn't work, and the figure quickly rounded on him, so quickly, in fact, that he had hardly gasped in shock when he felt something like two sharp needles burrowing into his neck. Slowly, he began to feel lightheaded, but luckily the figure pulled away before she drained too much of his blood.

Pansy Parkinson stood before him, her hood now hanging loosely against her back, her bloody fangs flashing in the dying blood-red rays of sunlight, and her dark eyes staring intensely into his own. "It was very foolish of you to sneak up on me like that, Potter," she said through clenched teeth. "I could have sucked you dry without bothering to see who you were first. I don't know why I spared you to begin with. I'm so very hungry..." She looked away slowly towards the sky, a crimson tear trickling down her cheek and coming to rest in the corner of her mouth where it promptly disappeared.

The last straggling ray of light kissed the sky goodnight as the deep blue-black darkness engulfed the forest. Harry gazed into the trees, through the branches. Just beyond the tallest tree, he could see a full moon framed by jagged leaves and dead twigs. It was impossible, but it was quite true.

"Dear God!" came a cry through the trees, then a scream....

....and then silence....

Pansy looked back at Harry's ashen face. "Friends of yours?"

"But.. the full moon is early... How can this be...? Remus!" he cried, turning and running quickly back the way he came with Pansy close behind, only to find that the area he had left them was now deserted.

He heard cries from elsewhere in the forest, and harsh growls. They were running. He followed the sounds until he broke into a clearing where a huge grey rock jutted up from the ground and towards the sky. He couldn't see around it at first, but quickly realized that he didn't need to, for Sirius was quick to join him.

"Harry!" Sirius cried. "The other two escaped, he's following me! Climb the rock as high as you can! We've got to get away from him if at all possible!"

He did as he was told, but the rock was far too slippery with moss and rain from earlier that day. Pansy only stood to the side and watched, her face expressionless and icy, as if chipped out of stone.

They realized all too late that they had done something very bad. They had backed themselves into a corner against the giant rock, where Werewolf Lupin now had them blocked. Sirius shook his head nervously, then, with an exasperated sigh, transfigured into his canine form and approached Lupin. The fur on both of their backs raised. There was going to be a fight, and there was little chance of Sirius coming out of it unscarred.

They rounded off first, slowly circling and glaring at each other, until finally Lupin took the first pounce. The next few moments were filled with teeth, fur, yelps, and growls, until finally Sirius lay motionless on the ground, and Lupin turned his attention once again on the children.

Harry shook his head. It couldn't be over, not after all he had already lived through. "Sirius... get up... please get up..." he whispered.

The body stirred, and Lupin rounded on it once again. Sirius stood, but his poise seemed somehow altered....

Lupin immediately became less intense and turned back towards Harry and Pansy, now with Sirius at his side, anxious to assist. Both werewolves crouched down in the grass, ready to pounce...

The soft whistle of a flute pierced the silent night, and distracted the werewolves who immediately averted their attention to something on top of the rock. The other two looked as well, and saw the figure of a teenage girl in a white robe and purple ribbon playing a flute, silhouetted by the full moon. Her back was to them at first, but as she concluded her mysterious song, she turned to face them, and her golden eyes flashed upon the werewolves as she leapt from the top of the rock to ground level. It was Miyu.

The werewolves didn't move at first, but stood their ground growling ominously, their eyes suddenly glowing a wicked orange. Miyu's eyes flashed at them as she said in her usual calm voice, "That was a very clever scheme for a Shinma, to separate yourself among many, but I will still be able to defeat you. Flame. I call you to seek out and bring me all parts of this Shinma, Demon Tav-Rak! Go!" A small flame that she had been cradling in the palm of her hand suddenly burst into the air, brightening the dark night for only a moment so that it seemed like the morning rays of the sun, but it was gone as soon as it had come.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. He hadn't noticed it until that moment, but he had moved remarkably close to Pansy. She still seemed entirely emotionless to the entire situation, though her curiosity might have been slightly sparked by Miyu's intrusion.

"That was a nice little show," Pansy said icily. "Is that going to get us out of this mess, though?"

Miyu bowed her head slightly. "You know as well as I do that you have little to fear. Perhaps it would have been better for you to have attempted to get them out of this situation before I had to come along, for I do not enjoy sealing Shinma away back to the Darkness for an audience, but I will if I must."

Their conversation was cut short when both werewolves suddenly threw their heads back and howled furiously at the full moon, and began to grow... and melt together... discarding their naked, weak, and helpless human bodies behind. Suddenly dark shadows began to dart towards the creature as it continued to grow, until it stood very tall over them on two legs, its huge fangs flashing with blood and its eyes filled with crimson anger.

Harry looked quickly to where Sirius and Remus lay helplessly on the ground just at the creature's feet. Someone had to help them. He took a step forward, but felt a very strong hand on his shoulder, holding him back. He looked up to see a masked face of black and white, black robes and a cloak wrapped around it. "Stay here, I will bring your friends to safety," said a calm voice from behind the mask, then he moved towards the two.

"Thank you, Lava," Miyu said over her shoulder. "I was hoping that I would not have to sacrifice them for someone as cowardly as this pathetic Shinma."

"Lava!" the beast, Tav-Rak, growled ferociously as Lava passed. "You traitor... I would like most to dispose of you before I bother with your pathetic mistress!" He pounced towards Lava from the side.

Harry gasped as Tav-Rak's body came closer to Lava's, yet Lava stared forward as if expecting nothing. Did he not know he was being attacked, even though the demon had just spoken to him? But just as Tav-Rak was moments away from succeeding in his mission, Lava held one pale arm straight out to his side, his long, sharp nails like claws from his fingertips glistening in the moonlight, just before they disappeared into the creature's body, only to reappear a second later through to the other side, covered in dark blood. Lava then twisted himself so that he threw Tav-Rak to the ground at his feet, where the demon lay panting on his side, blood gushing from his wound. Lava continued to where Sirius and Remus lay, removing his cloak as he did so, then cutting it into two halves with his arm. Once he reached the unconscious bodies, he draped one half over each of them, picked both of them up, and carried them to the shelter of the rock.

Miyu nodded as he passed. "You make my job so easy sometimes." She walked steadily over to Tav-Rak's body, creating another flame in her right hand. "So much like a Shinma, all bark and no bite. You survived for quite a while here, I know, but now it is time for you to return to the Darkness, Shinma!" She threw the flame forth and watched as it engulfed the body, leaving not even the smell of smoke or a spot of blood on the grass when it was finished.

Remus and Sirius were still completely unconscious when Miyu came back over to the rock to examine them. "I suppose that will be the end of werewolves," she said.

Pansy had gotten much more curious as Miyu had been working, and now seemed quite eager as she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a cure for vampirism, would you?"

Miyu gave Pansy a slow, sad look with her glowing, gold eyes. "Nothing for you, no. I am a vampire myself, though very different from you. But even if I did have a cure for it, I don't think you would have deserved it. You were willing to stand aside and watch innocent humans get slaughtered by forces they have no hope of dealing with, while you could have easily rescued them, at least for a time, granted you do not have the Shinma powers as I have."

Pansy bowed her head, almost looking guilty. "I know... I wasn't afraid, I knew it couldn't hurt me... I've just been so depressed lately because... of what happened... and now my friends hate me... and I'm so lonely... and so hungry...." She stopped speaking and let the tears that dropped down her cheeks tell the rest of the story.

Miyu came closer to her, then took Pansy's hands in her own. "I understand to a certain extent. I have been alive for centuries, and I have had many friends which I have almost always lost in the end, save for Lava and Shiina, but eternity is a long time, and no one knows what the future may hold. That is why it is best to make the best of what you have now, and what you will probably have for an extended period of time. For example, we are both immortal, Pansy, and we are both eternally teenagers. Most importantly, we are both vampires. Is that not enough in common to begin a friendship?"

The tears were falling more freely now, as Pansy fell to her knees sobbing and nodding. "I'm.. I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier..."

"Forgiven."

Harry still stood next to Remus and Sirius, feeling a bit nervous since he was the only conscious being at the moment with a pulse around a bunch of vampires. "So Miyu... does that mean you were only here to get rid of that... Shinma, is it?... and now you're going to leave? Or are you here for something else as well?"

"Oh no, there are many Shinma here, and I am afraid that they will be much more difficult to catch for they have been immersed in this sort of magic for a very long time." She stood silently a moment and regarded Harry, one hand on Pansy's shoulder, the other now holding her wand. "I must admit I don't know very much about it, which is perhaps why I must ask you and Pansy for help."

Pansy rubbed her eyes and looked up curiously. "Us? Help you? How could we ever do that?"

"Because you know the magic, and you probably know a lot about what the Shinma does in this world, whether you know it is a Shinma or not when you see it."

Harry nodded. "I never would have thought that one could get rid of werewolves like you did. That was amazing. So what else are you after?"

"I can't necessarily say, at least not without your word promising me that you will help me in any way that you can."

Pansy accepted immediately. "I don't have much to lose after all, do I?" she said with a sad smile.

Harry couldn't answer nearly as quickly. He didn't know if he could trust her. "Does Dumbledore know about you?"

"Yes. He is the one that asked me to come here. He is also the one that told me I should be in Gryffindor House, I believe for the purpose of meeting you so that I might be able to have your help."

Harry sighed. "Very well. I can't say I feel comfortable with this idea, not having any clue what I'm up against, but I guess I do know enough about the creatures around here, hopefully enough about whatever you will call a Shinma."

"Very good. Now you can not tell anyone about who I am or what I am doing here, do you both understand?" They nodded and she continued with an almost friendly smile, "Then we should be getting back to the castle, yes? Your friends will be worried about you, Harry. And we must get the ex-werewolves back before they awaken. They cannot know what really happened to them. It will just be a pleasant surprise next month when they are simply human, never again to be forced into serving the selfish will of a Shinma."

They began back, and Harry asked, "Can you give me any sort of a hint as to what your main goal is? You certainly sound like you have one."

"I can't tell you that yet," Miyu answered, staring ahead. "If I did, you may back down and then I wouldn't have any help. We couldn't have that."