Wild Magic Chapter 20 (Chapter Finished)

[Kimina]

So yeah... if you're gonna make a suggestion, make it within bounds. There's never gonna be a RanmaXboy in this fic so get over any crazy/stupid ideas that pop into your head now.

[ranger5]

Personally. I'd like to see Narcissa be a good influence (well as good as she can be given the circumstances).

Shopping and showing off Lina. Definately. Lina's a little young to be trying to find dates for ... and given Narcissa's initial reactions I don't see her trying to set up Lina yet. Plus she can always hope that this is just a "phase"

Though later when Lina's attitudes don't change, yep. But she'd be somewhat ... okay a lot more discrete than Nodoka ever thought about being.

Still like the idea of Washu "getting" involved with Lina at some point. There's a lot of potential there, if Lina can get over the idea of her "guardian" being interested. Not to mention the potential for fun. If Narcissa knows the "older" Washu, (I'm thinking she does, but can't remember) have her show up in her younger form as Washu's sister, cousin, daughter or whatever and worm her way into Narcissa's affections, then use that as a way to get a few "dates". If not overplayed it could be fun, and allow Washu to genuinely let Lina know she's interested.

[J. St.C. Patrick]

MinionSeven: Ranma won't have any crush on a boy due to hormones or anything. Ranma's preference is girls. Of course, a temporary issue with a potion of sorts that would cause a similar event for a few seconds would make much more sense considering Ranma's issue with being affected by magic. It wouldn't be long enough for anything to happen, but it WOULD be long enough to gain some embarrassment.

After that, whoever used the potion on her had better be able to run fast, because it would be certain that Ranma would want to pound their ass into the ground 10x over.

Perhaps if it were a Weasley Twin Gag candy. Something that for a short time makes a person act as if they are madly in love with the first person they see and spout Kunoesque love lines - While Ranma might get some satisfaction out of pounding the twins, both for making her sound like Kuno over some boy and for making some boy act like kuno around her ( as much as she'd like to pound the poor boy too she wouldn't because she'd know he wasn't responsible), she'd also get a laugh out of some of the other possible match ups

[KonokoHasano]

Kitsune: I thought about that once merely for gag/amusement purposes. Mostly the thought would be a 'Deja vu-like' think that'd remind her of the whole Tendo mess. However, like many ideas solely for gag/amusement purposes that I think about within my mind, nothing more comes of them. The only way it'd ever make it in the story would be if I decided to do a short omake out of it. Otherwise, it's not going to happen.

Anime_Freak317: Exactly. Of course, if she ever wanted to have a child, I can actually see Ranma pulling a Washu by taking an egg cell and possibly using the Masu -- such as how Washu created Ryoko.

Kimina: It was only a suggestion from a different point of view. XD

ranger5: XD Discretely doing things isn't fully in Washu's nature. She may not outright give into her 'scientific' nature and strap Ranma down to perform 'experiments' on her -- as much as the idea would pop into the woman's mind, -- but she would playfully make references to Ranma about it. It would probably embarrass and make Ranma wary, but considering that she already knows how Washu acts...

J. St.C. Patrick: Hmm... yeah, the Weasley Twins is a good idea. Ranma may get pissed off at them about it, but she would probably also be interested in their joke item at the same time.

[Anime_Freak317]

I don't know why, but when I think about that 'prank' that the Weasly twins would pull, I see this fic becoming rated X. Students being expelled for inappropriate acts on campus leading to new family members arriving in 9 months. I don't see Ranma wanting any part of that.

[Dumbledork]

I have a question about Washu's ability to chnage her age at will. Will Ranma be able to do the same later on? I'm not sure if she can do it because she's a goddess. but if I remember correctly she was able to do it before she remembered her past.

[KonokoHasano]

I don't know why, but when I think about that 'prank' that the Weasly twins would pull, I see this fic becoming rated X. Students being expelled for inappropriate acts on campus leading to new family members arriving in 9 months. I don't see Ranma wanting any part of that.

Well, the prank item wouldn't REALLY make the person in love. It would just make the person slightly attracted and prone to spouting bad romantic poetry.

[Kitsune]

It was meant as gag.
I don´t like Ranmaxmale neither.

But Lucius Malfoy is a pureblood after all,
to marry off one's daughter for its own advantage.

As KonokoHasano said merely for gag/amusement purposes.

[Anime_Freak317]

I have a question about Washu's ability to chnage her age at will. Will Ranma be able to do the same later on? I'm not sure if she can do it because she's a goddess. but if I remember correctly she was able to do it before she remembered her past.

That would be a nice twist to the Ranma-verse. Student (who's older than she looks), marries her teacher (who's WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY older than she looks.) I think it would be a nice contrasting match. One is a n expert on magic, ki, and Martial Arts. The other in science, seduction, and space. I think that the only one who would be better suited in seduction would be Sailor Pluto (see voyager ).

[Kimina]

That would be a nice twist to the Ranma-verse. Student (who's older than she looks), marries her teacher (who's WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY older than she looks.) I think it would be a nice contrasting match. One is a n expert on magic, ki, and Martial Arts. The other in science, seduction, and space. I think that the only one who would be better suited in seduction would be Sailor Pluto (see voyager ).

I second this motion :3

[KonokoHasano]

When/if that were to happen, may heaven have mercy on the universe.

I'm having problems at the moment trying to decide how to go about the shopping trip scene. Narcissa has already tried enough times in the chapter to make Ranma a little bit more 'girl-fied' that I'm honestly sick of that whole angle. Yet the problem is, I can't see a the 'mother-daughter shopping trip' happening without Narcissa attempting to take Ranma clothes shopping.

Of course, I could just make it so that Narcissa just wants to spend the time to get to know her daughter some more, and decides that clothing just wouldn't be good for that moment.

What I'm mostly thinking is having them go to a book store, get some ice cream, end up running into Nashigi and her mother -- both Narcissa and Felicia - Nashigi's mother -- would know each other from Hogwarts, and the latter was a source of perpetual annoyance.

Besides that, I'm not really sure. After the whole shopping trip/day out scene, I'm planning on at least two more scenes with Ranma's family before she leaves to go get Gosaria, Nashigi, and Hermione for a trip to Japan.

[Anime_Freak317]

I'm having problems at the moment trying to decide how to go about the shopping trip scene. Narcissa has already tried enough times in the chapter to make Ranma a little bit more 'girl-fied' that I'm honestly sick of that whole angle. Yet the problem is, I can't see a the 'mother-daughter shopping trip' happening without Narcissa attempting to take Ranma clothes shopping.

Here's an idea. Why not have them talking in the ice cream shop, let the cabbit-girl ask about getting dresses, have the grandmother nodding at the idea, suggest that both her and Lina get try some on, Lina blushing and refusing at first, then caving in later on (with some fake tears from the other two) with a promise that it would only be two and the rest are slacks and blouses.

After all, Ranma/Lina couldn't stand to see a girl cry. Imagine how she would hold up against her 'blood' mother and daughter.

[KonokoHasano]

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 20


Ranma felt like her entire body was about to be crushed into pieces. Now normally, the problem of an object trying to crush her could easily be avoided by either quickly phasing through said object OR using her strength to push whatever heavy object away from her. That wasn’t the case at the moment, and the problem wasn’t coming from an ‘object’, it was coming from a person and said person’s actions. “Mum, if you don’t quit hugging me, you’re going to break me in half!” Indeed, the redhead’s discomfort came from the unusually strong grip of Narcissa’s hug. ‘Since when did she get so strong?’

“Oh! I’m sorry about that, sweetie.” Narcissa responded with minor embarrassment as she loosened up a little on the embrace. “I’m just so excited over the idea of us spending this entire month together. We’re going to have so much fun!” The Malfoy matriarch finally let go of her daughter and proceeded to give the cat-girl a kiss on the forehead.

‘I’m probably going to regret this.’ Ranma thought with a slight frown. Her ears soon twitched as a faint sound reached the cat-like appendages. Turning her head, Ranma glared at her brother, Draco. “Is there something funny, dragon boy?”

“Not at all, ‘Red Cat’.” Draco responded with a hint of amusement as he held Laira. “There’s nothing funny at all. It’s just nice to see that you and mum are going to have a pleasant time together.”

Lucius’s curiosity became piqued after hearing the name Draco called his sister. “Red Cat, did you say?” He had to admit, there was a certain ring to it..

“Yeah, it’s a nickname that someone at school started calling Lina. Pretty soon, the name got around and other students started to sometimes refer to her as Lina the Red Cat.” Draco managed to keep a straight face despite the look of annoyance on his sister’s face.

Narcissa gave her daughter a bright smile. “It’s just your first year, and you’ve already gained a title for yourself.” There was an obvious hint of pride within her voice.

‘More like several, and almost all of them unappealing.’ Ranma thought with a frown. It was mostly luck that the one that stuck the most was one she didn’t mind all that much. It also had a better ring to it than The Crimson Eyed Flaming Devil Girl moniker she earned near the beginning of the year. The latter was cool and all, but it was too much of a mouthful.

“Momma.” Laira’s voice caused Ranma to turn her attention to the cabbit. “Can I show grandma and grandpa my other form? They’ve never seen it.”

Narcissa and Lucius were feeling rather curious about what the small creature was talking about when she said ‘other form’. As soon as their daughter had given the go-ahead, they watched the rabbit-like animal jump out of Draco’s arms and start to change. Their eyes widened considerably as they watched Laira transform into what looked like a humanoid four-year-old child. In fact, if it wasn’t for the light fur, they would have thought she had turned human.

Ranma was glancing at her daughter with her own odd look. The cabbit’s hair -- which was usually purple -- seemed to have started turning red. In the middle of Laira’s hair from the bangs all the way down the back of the head, there was a five inch stripe of crimson that was the same shade as her own. The difference didn’t stop there, however. Laira’s eyes -- Ranma didn’t understand how she didn’t notice before -- had also changed. The right eye was now crystal blue. The left eye, however, was an even mix of lavender and red. Ranma hazarded a guess that the color of the left eye and the coloring of the hair weren’t finished changing colors yet. There was only one possible reason for how Laira changed.

‘The Philosopher’s Stone.’ Ranma thought to herself as she punched a fist into her hand. ‘That has to be it.’ There was also the thought that she would have to bring the issue up with Washu later on. There was a possibility that the diminutive genius could figure out the reason.

The cat-girl was brought out of her musings by the sound of her mother grabbing hold of Laira and gushing about how much more adorable the cabbit had become. She also noticed that her father had a curious look in his eyes as he slowly stroked his chin.

“How exactly did this come to happen, Lina?” Lucius asked in a calm voice.

“Lina mentioned something about Laira eating some kind of magical artifact they found on winter break, father.” Draco responded as he stared at the cabbit’s new colors. “But the last time I saw her hair and eyes, they were completely purple.”

“Grandma, you’re going to crush me!” Laira shouted in discomfort from the embrace Narcissa had her in.

The blonde woman had the decency to blush as she let go of the humanoid cabbit. Clearing her throat, Narcissa quickly stood up. “I apologize, Laira. It’s just that you are so cute. Except for the fur, you really could pass yourself off as Lina’s daughter.” Narcissa noticed the excitement that seemed to appear on the cabbit’s face and giggled.

Laira turned on her heals to face her mother and gave the redhead a wide smile. “Hear that, momma? People could now know that I really am your daughter by first glance!”

Ranma’s ears twitched as a sweat-drop appeared on her head. She honestly had no clue why Laira was so excited about the whole idea. It didn’t really seem to be something to get excited about. “Great, now I’ll have to explain to everybody why you have fur.”

“Daughter, considering that you have cat appendages, do you honestly think people would question why your-- well-- daughter has fur?” Lucius asked with a faint smirk.

Draco couldn’t help but laugh at his sister’s predicament. “I don’t think anybody would even WANT to guess.” It was true in most instances. Many people in the wizarding world would decide that it would be safer to not ask questions.

“Whatever.” Ranma responded quickly as she grabbed Laira. “We’re going to go take a bath.” She didn’t really want one at the moment, but it would be a good place to just relax.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The bathing room at the Malfoy estate was similar to the bathing rooms at Hogwarts. The bath was built into the floor similar to an indoor pool. The bath was a foot or so smaller in width than the Hogwarts baths, but the room seemed to have an almost permanent sparkle to it. On all of the walls were various multi-colored mosaics. None of the mosaics had a definite picture as the images mostly contained artistic swirls and patterns that reflected light off of them.

Both Ranma and Laira -- with towels and bathing supplies in hand -- entered the area and took a brief moment to glance around at the elaborate mosaics. “This place is still beautiful.” Laira commented after a moment and glanced up at her mother. The cabbit rolled her eyes when the cat-girl stayed silent instead of agreeing. “Momma, could you wash my hair?”

Ranma raised an eyebrow. “Why? We both know that you can wash your own just fine. You don’t need me to do it.”

“Pwease momma?” Laira asked in a child-like fashion as she grabbed the cat-girl’s hand and gave her ‘the look’.

Ranma’s eye proceeded to twitch. “Don’t give me the puppy-dog look, Lai.” Her daughter almost seemed to increase the effectiveness of the technique in response. “Alright,” Ranma finally answered as she closed her eyes. “I’ll wash your hair. Just stop it with the puppy-dog look.” No matter how long she lived, Ranma figured that she would never be able to stand up to that damn look; let alone from Laira.

“Yay!” Laira shouted as she continued to hold her mother’s hand. After a moment, though, Ranma noted something that seemed a little strange.

“Say Lai, show me your wrist.” The humanoid cabbit nodded as she turned her wrist around. Ranma examined her daughter’s wrist closely and managed to figure out what the problem was. On Laira’s wrist was a small -- and almost unnoticeable -- lump. Upon a closer inspection, Ranma also noticed a very tiny opening of sorts that was situated where Laira’s wrist met her hand. “I’ve never noticed this before. Is it on your other wrist?”

The cabbit gave a small nod. “They appeared a day or two after I ate that Phila-- Philosh-- that stone thing. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to try and figure it out.”

“And did you?” Ranma asked curiously. The cat-girl was interested to know just what kind of ability absorbing the magic of the Philosopher’s Stone had given her daughter.

Laira nodded slowly. “Some kind of liquid can flow out of my wrists. All I know is that it sizzles and melts stuff. I-- well-- I’m scared that I could end up melting a person.” She finished as she poked her fingers together. The idea of the liquid doing just that scared her. She didn’t want to accidentally lose control and badly hurt someone.

“Here.” Ranma said as she held out her hand. “Use that liquid stuff on my hand.” She didn’t really want to do this, but they had to make sure that whatever the stuff was, they wouldn’t run the risk of melting a person into liquid. It would be rather bad, and Ranma wouldn’t want either of them to be blamed. “If it melts, we’ll know that hitting people with it wouldn’t be a good idea.” Besides, she could always use her masu abilities to regenerate a new hand.

Laira was reluctant to do it, but finally decided to comply. “O-- Ok, momma.” Placing her wrist above the cat-girl’s hand, the cabbit bent her hand backwards to shoot the liquid onto the hand. However, Laira misjudged the angle and power and accidentally fired the liquid off towards Ranma’s face.

As soon as the liquid hit Ranma, she gave off a painful shout and clutched her face with her hand. “Damn friggin sonnova bloody hell!”

“I’m sorry momma! I didn’t mean to hit you in the face!” Laira shouted with panic etched on her face.

“That burned like bloody hell!” Ranma finally shouted as she removed her hand. Her face didn’t melt, but there were a couple patches of bright red. “The stuff doesn’t melt skin; it burns like a person under the Cat’s Tongue pressure point!” Ranma was brought out of her rantings when Laira wrapped her arms around the redhead and buried her face into Ranma’s chest. “Laira, what--”

“I’m sorry momma!” Laira answered between small sobs. “I wasn’t careful, and if that stuff melted skin -- and did it to your face, -- it would have been my fault!” A few small hiccups appeared within the cabbit’s sobbing.

Ranma sat there for a moment as she tried to think of what to do. Finally, she wrapped an arm around Laira and started rubbing her daughter’s back. “C’mon Lai, I’m fine; except for a couple burns.” That didn’t seem to make Laira feel any better. Mentally kicking herself, Ranma attempted again. “Hey, you know me. If my face melted a little, it’d heal, right? It was just an accident. You’ve probably never figured out how to use it properly, and so that happened. We’ll just have to train so you can get the hang of it.” When Laira seemed to calm down, Ranma gave herself a mental cheer. “So don’t worry about it, ok?”

“Lina?” The voice of Narcissa -- which Ranma had recognized -- asked from behind the duo in the entry-way. “Is everything alright in here?” The blonde woman was, of course, referring to Laira who still had her face buried into Ranma’s chest.

“Yeah, she’s just upset because a new ability she has accidentally hit me in the face.” The cat-girl turned her head to glance at her mother as the Malfoy woman kneeled next to them and softly stroked Laira’s hair. “Why are you here?”

“Well,” Narcissa began, “I decided that we should get an early start on spending our month together, and so our first moment of mother-daughter time will be doing something that we haven’t done together since you were little.”

“You can’t be serious.” Ranma replied with a frown. “Do you honestly want us to bathe together?” The question was rather stupid to ask considering her mother’s current state of un-dress.

“Well, you and Laira are going to bathe together.” Narcissa answered with a finger to her chin. “I don’t see why mother, daughter, and granddaughter can’t have a bath together. There won’t be anybody else, and so we spend some time getting to know each other.” A smile appeared on the woman’s lips. “Come on, honey. I’ll even wash your hair for you while you can do Laira’s.”

“Mum, I can wash my own hair. I don’t need help doing that.”

“C’mon momma,” Laira interrupted as she slowly pulled away from her mother’s chest. “You were going to wash my hair even though I can do mine without help.” The cabbit received a look that said ‘you just reworded that to suit you’. “Pretty please?”

“Alright,” Ranma answered before Laira could do ‘that look’. “I’ll let mum wash my hair while I wash yours, and then we can all get to know each other. Now, are ya both happy?” Ranma finished with an annoyed grumble. Her answer was a pair of hugs from both her mother and daughter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“This is embarrassing.” Ranma complained with a frown. She was currently sitting in the bath water with Laira right in front of her as she washed the young cabbit’s hair. Ranma, herself, was sitting right in front of Narcissa as the older woman washed HER hair. Her only saving grace was that there was nobody around to see her in her current predicament.

“Sweetie, you need to learn to lighten up a little.” Narcissa commented softly. The Malfoy woman was obviously having a grand time spending the moment with her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter. “There’s nobody else here, so you should just relax. This is -- after-all -- time we are spending together.”

‘That’s true.’ Ranma thought to herself. ‘Maybe I should have put a little more thought into it when I agreed that we would spend the entire month together.’ Still, was it really all that bad? The way her mother was washing her hair felt good. The woman was being slow and thorough… almost like she was giving her scalp a light massage.

“Lina, you don’t take care of your hair very well, do you?” Narcissa asked with a frown. At her daughter’s questioning look, the Malfoy woman continued. “There are patches of your hair that are badly tangled, and it just doesn’t seem well kept.”

Ranma simply gave a shrug in response. “It’s just hair. I don’t really see a reason why I should fiddle around with it more than I need to.” Scooping up some water in a small container, the cat-girl dumped it over Laira’s head to rid the cabbit of the shampoo in her hair.

Narcissa shook her head as she worked on untangling some of her daughter’s hair. “If you don’t keep proper care of your hair, it could end up becoming even worse. You have beautiful hair, and so you really should manage it properly.” Narcissa wondered if Laira actually had the same problem with her own hair. “After we get done, I’ll brush both yours and Laira’s hair.”

“I don’t need my hair brushed.” Ranma shot back in annoyance. “If Laira wants you to brush her own hair, ok. I’ll just tie my hair back up in a pony-tail, and so it won’t really need to be brushed.” Why should she have to preen herself?

Her mother gave a small sigh. “You really do need to learn some proper personal grooming tips, sweetie.”

“Give me one good reason why.”

“Well, for one, you are a member of the Malfoy family. As such, you would need to be an example of the family. Keeping yourself well-groomed will help the family image.” At that, Ranma gave off a snort of amusement. “Another reason is if you ever want to make a good impression on a boy of your liking--”

Ranma snapped her head around almost instantly. The look in her dual-colored eyes was one that said ‘you have got to be kidding’. “Tell me you’re not serious about the second one.” She’d be damned if she’d ever do that… unless she wanted to con some food from some fool, or wanted something that the person had.

Narcissa blinked in confusion for a moment. “Not serious about what, honey? I’m sure that you’ll break many boys’ hearts later on.”

“That won’t be the only think I’ll break if they try and pull some stupid crap on me.” The cat-girl commented darkly with a rather sinister glint in her eyes. Her comment actually caused Laira to giggle for a moment.

Her mother’s eyes lit up as a thought dawned on her. “Oh, I see. You’ve yet to enter that phase and are still in the ‘boys are icky’ stage.” The blonde woman let out a small giggle.

‘Now and forever.’ Ranma thought to herself. The day she started liking guys would be the day she forgot that two plus two equaled four. ‘I may have a girl’s body, but that doesn’t mean I have a girl’s mind or certain other feelings.’

“But grandma,” Laira began without a thought, “momma DOESN’T like boys at all. She-- MMPH!” The cabbit was stopped in her talking by her mother’s hand clamped over her mouth. ‘Momma, why did you do that?’ Laira asked curiously through their mental connection.

Ranma answered back with force. ‘Because, Lai, she doesn’t NEED to know. I don’t want her to get disgusted with me, alright?’ She didn’t even know why she said that last part, but she did. If she was lucky, the woman wouldn’t think anything of it.

“Lina, what did Laira mean when she said that? And why did you prevent her from saying anything else?”

“Uh-- well-- you know how children are, mum.” Ranma answered as she nervously scratched the back of her head as her ears twitched. “They usually say strange things out of the blue.”

“Kind of like you are now.” It wasn’t a question at all, but a statement. Even though they had never spent all that much time together, Narcissa KNEW when her daughter was attempting to cover up things with a lie. The girl’s ears would twitch violently, and she would follow it up by scratching the back of her head while giving off a nervous chuckle.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lina Inversia Malfoy,” Narcissa began in the tone that all children dread to hear. “I want the truth, now.”

Ranma gave a sigh in resignation. She could just leave and not explain, but something in the back of her mind was holding her back from it. “Alright, jeez, ya don’t have to use that kind of tone.” With another sigh, she continued. “I don’t like boys, ok? I like girls. The very thought of being romantically involved with a guy makes me want to vomit out the contents of my stomach. If any man ever tries coming onto me, I’ll grind their face into the dirt!” As she finished, Ranma could feel her mother tense and go completely silent. ‘Crap, it looks like I definitely ruined the whole ‘mother-daughter’ month thing. Knowing her ideals, she’ll probably become all disgusted with me.’ Honestly, she didn’t know why she cared about it.

After what seemed like an eternity, Narcissa finally responded to what her daughter had told her. Silently and slowly, she draped her arms around the cat-girl’s shoulders -- and caused said cat-girl to flinch slightly. “A large part of me wants to feel disgusted at the idea.” Narcissa commented softly into Ranma’s ear. “You’re a girl, and so you should grow into a beautiful woman and marry a handsome and strong guy.” Ranma’s annoyance rose a little at was stated. “Being attracted to the same gender is against many things I believe.” Narcissa added sadly. “I should feel angry, disgusted, and disturbed by the very idea. However, a larger part of me does not.”

“Huh?” Came Ranma and Laira’s intelligent replies.

“I’m your mother.” Narcissa stated simply. “Maybe I do have some anger and disgust over the fact, but I am still your mother. A mother should be there for her child no matter what. If said child committed a crime, the mother should still -- deep down -- love her child unconditionally. Some expectations of what a mother expects of her child end up destroyed, but should she give up? Or should she just create new expectations that respond to the change?” Narcissa closed her eyes and tightened her embrace a little. “Honey, I haven’t really known you as much as I’d like, and so I want to get to know anything I can about you. As such, I’ll be here for you if you ever need me. I want to be your mother, and I won’t let anything as silly as you liking the same gender get in the way.”

It was Ranma’s turn to stay silent as she absorbed everything the blond woman had just said. She wasn’t expecting her mother to be so… understanding of it considering the views the Malfoy family had. Hell, many things the woman said caused her to wonder why Nodoka acted the way she did with the whole ‘manliness contract’ that she seemed to live by in her past life. Hell, Ranma remembered a moment a couple years ago when the subject of her preferences came into discussion. For some reason, Nodoka stated a few times that it ‘was only a phase’, and that when the time came, she’d make some boy really happy. It was at that moment that Ranma -- despite still considering Nodoka like a mother -- decided that the woman was off her rocker when it came to certain issues.

Now, though, it seemed as if the second person she considered a mother, and hadn’t spent nearly enough time with, understood almost completely and didn’t care what gender she preferred. ‘Maybe,’ Ranma thought as her hand subconsciously reached up to hold her mothers. There was a strange feeling of comfort growing as she sat there. ‘Maybe I really should just give this month a chance.’ It wasn’t like it was going to kill her or anything to do it. “Mum.”

“Yes, dear?”

“Perhaps later on, I’ll let you brush my hair.” After-all, just like how some sacrifices must be made for the art, maybe some others should be made for getting to know family that you never hardly knew. “And only this one time.” Internally, Ranma still cursed the fact that despite being a girl for 12 years, and that she spent most of the time living around the women at the Masaki residence, she still had a slight weakness to females getting all emotional.

A warm smile appeared on Narcissa’s lips. “Of course, dear.” The Malfoy woman honestly didn’t think the month would turn out like she though, but maybe it will. “Lina.”

“Yeah?”

Narcissa’s voice was filled with amusement. “Did you know that you practically have no breasts at all?” There was an incredible amount of obvious teasing.

“Hey!” Ranma shouted as she jumped away from the older woman and gave her a glare. “What the hell kind of discussion between a mother and child is THAT?” Next to her, Laira let off a loud giggle.

“I know that mine were coming in rather nicely when I was your age.” Narcissa added as she ignored her daughter’s question. “Maybe you really do take after your ancestor a bit more than we thought.”

Ranma pulled the bottom of her eye down and stuck out her tongue. “Bleh!”

“That’s not mature at all, momma.” Laira deadpanned.

“You’re right, Laira. Lina should really be acting more grown up than that.” Narcissa added with a slight giggle.

“Jeez, I just can’t get a break from you two.” Ranma grumbled in annoyance as she crossed her arms, dipped below the water, and sulked. ‘Maybe I really did make the wrong decision.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A wince flashed across Ranma’s features every once in a while as she sat silently in a chair as Narcissa -- sitting on Ranma’s bed -- passed a brush through her hair. Narcissa had decided to wait until her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter were about ready to go to bed before she decided to work on their hair. Ranma had questioned the point of brushing their hair before going to sleep, since it was obvious that the hair would only get messed up again in her sleep.

Her mother’s answer was rather simple. They were brushing her hair to get rid of all the tangles -- which seemed to infest the redhead’s hair like crazy -- so that it won’t get even worse during the night.

“I still stand by my statement from earlier about you needing to learn proper personal grooming, sweetie.” Narcissa commented as she removed another tangled patch of crimson hair. “At least for the sake of your hair NOT becoming a complete tangled mess again.” The woman added with a frown. She was lucky that the tangles could be undone with just a flick of her wand.

“And I still stand by my statement that I don’t. Primping and preening is something girls do look like overly-dolled up fake princesses.” Ranma shot back with a violent shudder. It was one thing to do stuff like that for a disguise, but it was a whole different matter to do it all the time just to look good and be girly.

“You are such a tomboy.” Narcissa answered back with a sigh. “You know, Lina, it’s not just us women. Your father -- along with quite a few men -- tries to stay in the habit of being well-groomed.”

“Yeah, and many look like overly-dolled up fake princes trying to impress others with their lame-ness.” Ranma interjected as she remembered several Juraian and other worldly nobles that she met during her stay at the Masaki residence. “Pops is alright in a way, I guess.” Sure seemed like he had a stick up his ass at times, but he wasn’t all that bad; if you could get past some of the more negative aspects of the man, that is.

Narcissa leaned forward and began whispering into her daughter’s ear. “That reminds me, Lina. I think we should keep your… preferences a secret from your father. He’s a good man, but it’s possible he could become a little temperamental over it. It’ll be our little secret.” When her blue eyes glanced into Laira’s direction, the young cabbit had the decency to blush.

“It’s not my fault, grandma.” Laira answered innocently as she tapped a couple fingers together. “I just seem to have gained the foot-in-mouth problem from momma. She has a lot of bad traits that just seem to rub off on me.” The next thing Laira knew, Ranma had grabbed her by the ear.

“Don’t trying pulling that kind of crap, Lai.” Ranma commanded as her daughter struggled to get her ear loose from the cat-girl’s grip. “You aren’t as innocent as you make yourself out to be. Who’s the one stealing carrots from the Hogwarts kitchens?”

Laira puffed up her cheeks in indignation. “Yeah, well you sneak out of the dorms a lot to prowl around the castle. I wouldn’t consider THAT good behavior, momma. Shouldn’t you be setting an example or something for your own daughter?”

A vein appeared on Ranma’s head. “Oh, I’ll show you a good example. C’mere, it’ll be a good--”

“Ahem.” The sound of Narcissa clearing her throat halted the two in their verbal tirade. “As interesting as it is to watch you two arguing, I think it would be best to cut it short so we could get back to our discussion.”

“Like what?” Ranma asked.

A thoughtful look flashed across Narcissa’s features. “Well, maybe you could explain to me what YOUR preferences for clothing are.” She watched as her daughter blinked several times before glancing down at the nightgown -- that Narcissa had insisted on -- that she was wearing. After a moment, the cat-girl’s gaze focused back onto her mother.

“If I tell you, does that mean you’ll stop trying to get me to dress in cute outfits?” Ranma asked with an obvious hint of hope in her voice. “Because if that’s the case, then there’s only one thing I can really say. Pants. I just want pants. I don’t care about anything else, but if I can have more pants, I’ll be happy. After spending almost an entire school-year wearing a damn skirt, I feel as if I’m in pants withdraw!” She noticed the looks her mother and Laira were giving her. “What? I mean it! You know how hard it is to practice martial arts in a dress or skirt?”

“I still don’t know why you do that martial arts thing.” Narcissa commented with a frown. “I could understand if you only practiced it for the exercise to stay healthy, but you practice it so you could fight with your fists and feet like a muggle.” There was an obvious look of mild disgust when the blonde woman said the word ‘muggle’. “You have your magic, and you can use it without a wand. Not only that, but you have those other powers of yours. With all that, I just can’t see why you need to use your physical body.”

“Because it’s exciting.” Ranma responded as she looked straight at her mother. As Narcissa watched her daughter, she could see the passion in the cat-girl’s heterochromatic eyes. “Every time I find myself up against a strong opponent, there’s an adrenaline rush that grabs hold of me. The full knowledge of me pitting my very own abilities against another person thrills me to no end. Training and practicing so that I can move gracefully and strike quickly and effortlessly--”

Narcissa placed a finger on her daughter’s lips to silence her. “I think I get the picture, sweetie.” The blonde woman stated with a faint smile as she removed her finger. “Now I know how strongly you feel about it.

“Well, I also love figuring out how to incorporate magic into my martial arts as well.” Ranma added with a smirk. ‘I guess science and technology aren’t all that bad either.’ She added to herself. “And figuring out new techniques and spells -- along with revising and improving -- is also incredible.”

A large sweat-drop appeared on her mother’s head. “I think I get it, dear. Your whole life practically revolves around those.” After a shake of her head, Narcissa stood up. “We can discuss more later on, honey. I think it would be best to now get a good night’s sleep.”

“Well, I guess I am a little tired.” Ranma responded before glancing towards Laira. “Huh, it seems I’m not the only one.”

“Go on and get ready for bed, Lina.” Narcissa stated with a smile. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with my pillow.”

“Right, mum-- what?” Ranma asked with a series of blinks. “Why would I need your pillow?”

“Oh, you don’t. I just think that for tonight, the three of us,” her mother motioned between them and Laira, “should sleep together. We haven’t done anything like that since you were little, and I miss that.” Without another word, the Malfoy matriarch spun on her heals and walked out of the bedroom.

“Now wait a minute,” Ranma tried to call after her. “I know we agreed to spend this month together, but c’mon! There’s such a thing as spending too much time together, ya know!”

The portrait of Lina Inverse flashed Ranma a smirk. “I guess you should have put more thought into it. I mean, just agreeing to something without first reaching an agreement is stupid.” The former sorceress ignored the glare from the cat-girl. “Because of your lack of planning, Narcissa’s been the one thinking up all the FUN things the both of you will be doing this month. However, just think of it as time you can spend getting to know the woman. Many of her ideals regarding blood purity and the like can be annoying, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get close to her.”

“I really hate it when you’re right.” Ranma replied as she sat cross-legged on her bed and scratched the upper part of her back with her tail. “The weird thing is that after spending some time with her, I think I discovered that there really is a kind of familial bond of sorts. I mean, if I let my guard down and relax, I feel comfortable and content around her. At least, I think that’s a familial bond. You wouldn’t think I’d have one since I never hung around her for very long.”

Before Lina could respond, Ranma’s bedroom door opened to reveal her mother. The woman was clad in a nightgown of her own and was clutching a pillow in her arm. It was easy to tell that she was trying her best to contain the almost child-like excitement she was having at the prospect of spending the night with her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter. In fact, Narcissa even tossed her pillow at Ranma before practically skipping over to the bed.

‘Not to self: Try to spend more time with mum, otherwise she seems to build up excitement until she’s practically childish.’ Ranma thought to herself as she watched her mother hop into the bed and let out a giggle. It was really hard to believe that a woman who could be completely serious and mature could become so giddy and child-like just over the thought of spending time with her daughter. Ranma was starting to believe that she really did make the right choice, and that if she never agreed to this month, the woman would explode from the emotional build-up.

“This is almost like a sleepover, isn’t it, dear?” Narcissa asked with a wide smile. “I haven’t done things like that since I was a teenager. Of course, we didn’t really sleep all that much during one. We would mostly tell stories, gossip, play some games, and do various other things of interest.” A strange look crossed the blonde woman’s face. “Oh, and there were a couple times where we gave each other makeovers. Maybe I could give you one. We really do need to get your nails painted sometime. Of course, I do wonder if it’d be good to pierce your ears.” Narcissa halted when she noticed the slight twitch in her daughter’s eye. “Oh come on, sweetie. You should try a makeover at least once. We’ll do it sometime this month.”

Ranma placed her arms in an X formation. “No makeovers!” She stated with force. “The clothing you have me wear is one thing, but giving me a makeover is a completely different matter.”

Narcissa gave a small pout. “Please, just once. After just one time, I won’t try and make you do it again.” Her daughter quickly shook her head negatively. “Well fine then, it’s your loss.” Narcissa stated as she crossed her arms. Internally, she decided that she won’t give up on the matter. “Anyway, it would be a good idea to go to sleep now. It seems and Laira already has the right idea.”

Ranma turned her head to see that Laira was already snuggled up under the covers and fast asleep. Deciding to follow suit, the cat-girl dove under the covers. This left Narcissa as the last one to follow. As the blond woman made herself comfortable on the other side of her daughter, she decided to bring up one last subject matter for the night. “Lina.”

“Huh?”

“I was wondering. Do you by any chance have a special someone that you like at school? If you do, I would like to hear. Even if it’s a girl, I might even be able give you some tips and help.”

“Nope.”

“Oh, okay. I was just wondering. Because if you do, a makeover--”

“Goodnight, mum.” Ranma forcefully interrupted.

“Oh alright, then.” Narcissa said with a hint of disappointment. “Tomboy.” She added in a teasing manner as she poked her daughter’s nose.

‘This is going to be a long night.’ Ranma thought in exasperation.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lucius Malfoy glanced out the window to see his wife sitting outside and watching their daughter, Lina. The young girl was deeply occupied with her morning training exercises. Said training exercises consisted highly of push-ups -- two hands, one handed, one-fingered, -- sit-ups, various other warm-up exercises, and light to medium martial arts katas. Laira would join the cat-girl during the lighter segments, but had to sit out during the harder ones. As he continued to watch his daughter train, he noticed that she gradually started to incorporate magic into her movements. The very act caused the blond wizard to pause.

‘Lina has got to have tripped that stupid Trace Charm the Ministry uses countless of times, so why is it Fudge doesn’t send anything to try and enforce it.’ He may have been able to talk his way into the Minister of Magic’s good graces, but that didn’t mean the fool would ignore his under-aged daughter’s use of magic. ‘Perhaps I should ask Lina how she hasn’t been accosted by the Ministry.’ Lucius thought to himself as he stroked his chin and watched his daughter fire off an arrow of ice that managed to freeze the base of a tree. Lina’s seeming dodge of the Trace wasn’t the only thing on the former Death Eater’s mind, though.

Rather, it was the subject of his daughter’s powers and abilities. The girl’s use of WANDLESS magic could put most wizards and witches away without too much trouble. Lina’s physical prowess was also astounding for one so young. Lucius had seen muggle body builders before, and he had no doubt that his daughter would hardly break a sweat in lifting the same amount as them. Lina also seemed to have a greater understanding of how muggle inventions and way of life worked. The only problem, that Lucius was able to see, was that she was incredibly impulsive at times and had a habit of sticking her foot in her mouth.

‘She would make a superb dark witch if she chose to go down that path.’ The blond wizard thought with increasing interest. It was too bad that the girl didn’t seem to desire such a path. Still, Lina did have a great deal of power at her disposal, and power -- no matter if the individual was good or evil -- meant that she would be able to have her own say in how many things went. It was power that often swayed the weak and susceptible, and his daughter had power. Of course, Voldemort had power as well, and he was apparently careless enough to be defeated by a baby. There was still a possibility that Voldemort was alive.

‘Even if he is alive somewhere, it still doesn’t change the fact that the great Lord Voldemort was defeated by a mere infant.’ Lucius thought as he continued to watch his daughter train. Turning on his feet, he made his way towards the doorway. ‘One would have to be a fool to not notice that Lina is still growing in power, and anyone who would try and threaten her will end up being dealt with. Even if she doesn’t become an incredible Lady of Darkness, it would be healthier to stay in her good graces.’ Lucius added as he stepped outside and headed towards his wife. His mental focus on the possible future of his daughter was filed away for later once he finally reached Narcissa. “Lina seems quite energetic this morning.”

Narcissa nodded as she continued to watch the cat-girl train. “I’ve been meaning to see what she does for training, but she starts so early in the morning that I haven’t been able to watch her. I finally managed wake up early enough to catch her.” A smile appeared on the Malfoy matriarch’s lips. “I must admit, she makes such it look graceful enough that it’s hard to believe what she’s practicing allows her to fight and beat people up.” She turned her head to lock her blue eyes with her husband’s grey ones. “Both of our children really are going to go onto great things. Draco’s the heir who’ll be in control of the family someday, and Lina will end up becoming a powerful witch in her own right.”

“It’s also reflected in their grades.” Lucius added as he remembered the results from their children’s exams. “Draco is performing splendidly as expected, and I’m also impressed by Lina’s grades. Her only subject where she’s having real problems with is Herbology, and I don’t really consider that as an important class.”

“Lina has told me that her goal is to become an Auror.” Narcissa responded

A frown appeared on Lucius’s lips. “I’m not sure I really like that. I’m not saying that I don’t believe she won’t be able to do it. I honestly think she could. It’s just that-- well-- you know.”

“I know.” Narcissa answered. “As Lina has said, though, she wants to become an Auror for the excitement and to ‘kick some ass’.” At her husband’s raised eyebrow, Narcissa giggled. “I never knew just how much of a tomboy she really was until now.”

“You HAVE been spending the past few days her. I’m assuming that the both of you have been able to properly get to know each other?”

Narcissa nodded and turned her attention back to their daughter. “It was obvious that she was very reluctant with the idea at first, but it seems that we managed to get past that hurdle and are actually getting along nicely.” The blonde woman’s lips twitched for a moment. “That is, as long as I don’t attempt to do anything overly feminine and girly with her.” Narcissa gave off a giggle. “I managed to convince her to go shopping in London with me today, so we should end up having fun today.”

“I haven’t seen you this happy since in a long time, Narcissa.”

“I guess it really does show that much; doesn’t it?” Narcissa asked as a tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks. She then watched as their daughter finished with her workout and started wiping the sweat off her face with a towel. “That was amazing, Lina. I didn’t know that you were able to move so gracefully. You were also good too, Laira.”

“Thanks!” Laira shouted

“Thanks mum.” Ranma answered with her own slightly pinked cheeks as she toweled herself from her workout. Due to the red tank top she was wearing, her father was able to get a good look at the girl’s muscles. They were formed just enough to show that she was in good shape and regularly trained. However, Lucius still wondered why the girl seemed to be so flat-chested.

“Maybe you could solve a question I recently came across, Lina.” Lucius drawled out. “You were using magic in your training, and you’ve been using some magic over the past few days.” At his daughter’s nod, the blond man continued. “I’m finding it a little strange that you are performing magic when you shouldn’t be able to without the Ministry contacting you with a warning to stop.”

Ranma stared at her father with a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Underage wizards and witches are forbidden from performing magic outside of school by the Ministry of Magic.” Her father answered. “With as much magic as you’ve been using, it would have been guaranteed that you would completely activated the Trace Charm that all underage witches and wizards have placed on them. You would then obtain a warning letter telling you to stop.”

The Trace Charm was news to the cat-girl. ‘I have a charm placed on me?’ After a moment of thought, Ranma remembered feeling as if she had some kind of spell on her that she couldn’t shake off. The feeling nagged at her before she left for Hogwarts. When she was at school, the feeling was gone, but it returned when she went on winter break. ‘Well, at least the first part of it. After visiting the moon, I never felt it again.’

“Lina,” Narcissa began, knocking Ranma out of her thoughts, “once you go change out of your vest and into something else, we can leave on our shopping trip to London.” As the cat-girl made her way inside, Narcissa called out to her. “Oh, and honey, make sure you change into a nice dress!”

“Damn it!”

A giggle escaped from her mother. “I’m only kidding, honey. I think you can wear whatever you want for today.” The two Malfoy parents watched as their daughter’s eyes lit up before she phased out of view. “Hopefully whatever she picks is at least a little cute.” Narcissa admitted. Her husband sweat-dropped, but chose not to say anything.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Can’t we skip it and stop at the other places instead?” Ranma asked as she ate the ice cream sundae that she had gotten a few moments ago. Her mother had decided that it’d be easier to shop around in Diagon Alley instead of attempting to traverse the ‘loud and hectic’ muggle streets of London just to get to a few scattered -- but better quality -- stores. To plan out their schedule, Narcissa decided that they should think about it over ice cream, and so the trio found themselves sitting at an outside table at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Ranma had decided on a large strawberry sundae while Laira chose a three-scoop ice cream cone comprised of mint, chocolate, and vanilla. Narcissa -- to the surprised looks of Ranma and Laira -- had ordered an extra large banana split. The blonde woman embarrassingly explained to her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter that she just had a very large sweet tooth, and that when she ordered anything, she just couldn’t help but ‘order big’.

“Hmm… I don’t know.” Narcissa answered as she fought down a shiver after taking a bite of her banana split. “I understand that you don’t care a great deal for clothes shopping and would rather visit a book store to look for some spell books.” The blonde glanced down at Laira -- who was happily enjoying her own ice cream. “Laira did mention that she would like to try and find some clothing for herself. After-all, the only clothing she really has is from when you were young; so she would like to find some outfits she could call her own.”

Ranma frowned and turned her attention to her daughter. “Since when have you liked dressing up?”

“After obtaining my humanoid form, momma.” Laira answered between licks of her ice cream. “When I only had my other form, being dressed up made me feel silly and weird. Now that I have the ability to change into this form, it doesn’t seem awkward, and it’s kind of fun.”

“Traitor.” Ranma quick reply caused the cabbit-girl to pout cutely.

“Now, now,” Narcissa said to the two in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Lina, we can stop at other stores after we browse for some outfits for Laira. You don’t want her to end up going around in her current form nude, do you?”

Her daughter gave her a half-lidded stare. “She has fur, mum. I wouldn’t exactly consider that to be nude.”

“Never-the-less, I feel that she does need some new clothing.” Narcissa disputed as she calmly ate a piece of banana. “You could use some new clothing as well. You definitely have a lack of it.” Before her daughter could comment, Narcissa continued. “At least try one or two dresses. After that, we can look at slacks and tops.”

Ranma thought over it for a moment before responding. “Well, I guess that seems fair.” She finally admitted.

“Oi, Lina!” The trio at the table turned their heads at the shout, and Ranma was rather surprised to see that it was Nashigi -- along with Gosaria -- heading her way.

“Eh? What’re you two doing here?” Ranma asked as she went back to eating her sundae. She wasn’t expecting to see them until later when she would pick them up before heading to Japan.

“Gosaria’s staying at my place for a couple days.” Nashigi responded as she reached over and attempted to steal a strawberry from her friend-sometimes-rival’s treat. She didn’t make it that far before said cat-girl’s hand shot out and applied pressure on the large busted girl’s hand. “I-- it seems as if you haven’t lost your edge, Lina.” Nashigi winced as she massaged her hand.

“Nashigi’s mum decided to do some shopping for potion supplies and asked if we wanted to come. Nashigi’s sister-- um-- what’s her name again?”

“Amy” The other girl supplied as she attempted to sneak a strawberry from another angle and failed.

“Oh, yeah, how could I forget such a simple name?” Gosaria asked in embarrassment as she tapped her head with a fist. “Anyway, Amy decided to come as well.” The blonde glanced between the trio sitting at the table. “So… what’s going on with you? And is this woman your mother?”

“Yeah,” Ranma answered as she quickly finished her sundae -- much to the annoyance of Nashigi. “This is my mum, Narcissa. Mum, these two are a couple friends of mine from Hogwarts. The big-breasted banshee is Nashigi Rosa, and the blonde is Gosaria Negia.”

Nashigi puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips. “Hey, I’ll have you know that my body is the type that a goddess would dream about, and my laughter makes the angels weep in jealousy.”

“More like your body gives goddesses nightmares, and the only reason the angels weep is because your laughter is threatening to split their heads open.” Ranma answered back with a smirk.

“You know, that does sound more accurate.” Gosaria piped up with a finger on her chin. Nashigi gave the blonde a betrayed look. “Well, it’s true.”

A smile appeared on Narcissa’s lips. “You three certainly do seem like good friends. The way you three bicker makes it seem as if you’re close.”

Nashigi wrapped an arm around Ranma’s shoulder. “Of course we are. We hit it off perfectly the instant we met. In fact, as I recall, it was in the baths. Some girls were taunting Lina about her flat chest, but I--” She was interrupted due to a fist to the back of the head from Ranma.

“The only part of that story that was true was the part about being in the baths!” Ranma growled out before glancing at her mother. “In truth, Boobzilla here came into the baths with her wailing shriek of a laugh. The laugh made me angry, I blasted her with a fireball, she was impressed by it, decided to declare us rivals, and then just started hanging around me and Gosaria.”

“Oh, oh, and we became friends when Lina stood up against my brother for me!” Gosaria shouted while waving her arm in the air. “My brother was picking on me and lied to me that our parents would be ashamed that I was put in Slytherin, but Lina stepped up and defended me.”

“It was no big deal.” Ranma replied as she leaned back in her chair. “How’s the stuck-up bastard doing these days, Gos?

“Watch your language, honey.” Narcissa replied. Ranma’s cheeks reddened a little as the others giggled.

“Well, I think he’s trying to make up for his attitude against me.” Gosaria answered with a look that showed she was deep in thought. “I think he still holds a grudge against you for getting him kicked out, even though it was his fault.”

‘Par for the course.’ Ranma thought to herself before noticing her mother’s questioning look. “I’ll explain later, mum.”

“Ah, there you two are.” The group turned around to see the sprinting form of Amy. “Why did you two just leave like that? I-- oh-- Miss Lina!” The younger girl shouted with widened eyes. “How have you been doing? I assume that you are still continuing your march along the path of justice?”

Ranma slapped a hand over her head as Narcissa blinked at the rather energetic girl. There was something about the two Rosa siblings that was gnawing at her, but what was it?

“Ooohohohohoho, well if it isn’t Narcissa.” The laugh caused both Ranma and her mother to shiver violently. The latter of the two’s face, however, changed back and forth between fear and annoyance. The cause for the reactions was obviously from Amy and Nashigi’s mother -- who became visible and made her way to the table. “My, my, I haven’t seen you since just after leaving Hogwarts.”

Narcissa’s face seemed to go impassive at the sight of the other woman. “Felicia.” She responded with a short and curt not. “What a… surprise it is to see you again. It seems that you still have that loathsome laugh that William’s mother and grandmother taught you. Did you achieve your dream… job in muggle law enforcement?”

Felicia sat down next to the blonde woman and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “You wound me, Narcissa. Whatever happened to the energetic, troublemaking, and rather stuck-up woman I knew? I mean, the stick couldn’t have possible got wedged farther, right?”

The group of five watching the confrontation sweat-dropped as the two women traded insults and memories of old times at each other. It ended up coming to a boil when Narcissa unceremoniously slammed her hands onto the table and pushed herself to her feet. “You truly haven’t changed, Felicia. You are still infuriating beyond imagine, and from the sound of things, you passed some of those very traits onto your daughter.”

“And you still go by a bunch of old-fashioned, prejudiced beliefs when it comes to muggleborns, Narcy.” Felicia answered back with a glare. “Face it, if everything stayed pure blood, the wizarding world would have died out a long time ago; or massive deformity due to incest.” She shivered at the second part. “I can only hope YOUR daughter doesn’t pick up on your beliefs.”

“Wish I had some popcorn.” Ranma mumbled as she watched the two adults. “Watching this catfight is making me hungry.” The other three girls, the cabbit, and the two mothers stopped and stared in her direction. “What? I’m serious here. If you two are going to fight or something, I should at least have some popcorn.”

“You’re part cat, and yet you’re calling an argument between to completely human witches a catfight?” Gosaria asked as she scratched her head. “I’m afraid I don’t understand your logic.”

Ranma blinked for a moment before shaking her head. “Never mind.”

Narcissa continued with her ‘discussion’ to Felicia. “MY daughter is going to be the greatest witch in the world if she does so or not. In fact, I dare say that she is well on her way.”

“Mage!” Ranma corrected.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Narcy.” Felicia bit back with her own impassive stare. “My Nashigi has shown quite a talent in wandless magic.”

“You can think whatever you want, Felicia.” Narcissa commented with her face tense. “But I think it would be best if we stopped acting so… immature. We DO need to set a good example for our children after-all. Some of use more than others, it seems.” Gracefully turning around, Narcissa grabbed both her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter and walked off; leaving behind a glaring Felicia and confused Nashigi, Amy, and Gosaria.

As soon as they were out of sight, Narcissa relaxed and let go of Ranma and Laira. “Well, you two were obviously friendly.” Ranma commented as she rubbed her wrist. “What’d she do, toss frog guts at you in school or something?” The comment earned a giggle from Laira. “Of course, it could have been the laugh, but I don’t--”

“She’s a muggle-loving blood traitor.” Narcissa interrupted with a look of disgust on her face. Glancing down at her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter, the woman had to give a small sigh. “Sorry, I keep forgetting how much you seem to not know. Honestly, what IS Washu teaching you?” Narcissa asked with a stern look.

‘Thermal dynamics, quantum cellular automata, advanced robotics, and a whole mess of things that no normal person would ever understand.’ Ranma thought in response. “Actually, I think I might know what you’re talking about this time.” The cat-girl supplied as she remembered some instances were some more… out-spoken students at Hogwarts decided to explain the ‘pecking order’ to her. “Still, I don’t see why mingling with muggles, or coming from muggle families, is bad.”

“It’s because muggles are of inferior to those who are of magical decent. They have no ability of their own, and they are just wasting space on this planet. The fact that they feared magic users during the Middle Ages and hunted them down as abominations doesn’t help them at all.” The frown on Narcissa’s lips seemed to grow wider. “Muggle-born wizards and witches aren’t any better. They bring absolutely no strong blood into the magical world at all, and they push away and overwhelm the blood families that have been around for ages. They are like vermin that shouldn’t exist, and are inferior in every way to those of stronger and purer blood. Those who mingle with mudbloods and muggles as equals are just as bad. They are nothing more than blood traitors.”

“So, then, mum, by your logic, Laira and I are also vermin who shouldn’t exist?” Ranma asked casually with a raised eyebrow.

Narcissa was taken aback by what her daughter had just said. “W-- what do you mean, honey. You’re nothing like those kinds of people at all. How could you say something like that about yourself or Laira?”

Ranma gave a small shrug. “Well, I do have some muggle friends, and I also know a few muggle-born witches and wizards. Hell, the first person at Hogwarts I made friends with was a muggle-born witch I met here in Diagon when I purchased my supplies. So, by your logic, I’m a complete ‘muggle-loving blood traitor.”

Narcissa had absolutely no idea that her daughter’s first Hogwarts friend was a muggle-born. Instead of complaining about that, though, she had another issue on her hands. “Now honey, I wasn’t talking about you--”

“But grandma, what makes us different than anybody else?” Laira asked curiously. “Momma and I do mingle with muggles and muggle-borns after-all.”

Ranma snapped her fingers. “Hey, Lai, by mum’s own logic, we should also distance ourselves from those of lesser ability. If so, then everyone who can’t destroy a whole lot of big crap should be beneath us.” The cat-girl gave a small chuckle. “Cool, we could make some kind of club out of it. Nobody without the ability to at least destroy a small city block with little effort is allowed.” Ranma glanced up at her mother. “Sorry mum, but it looks like you won’t be able to join.”

“But you two are different.” Narcissa tried to explain with both shock and worry flashing across her features. “I’m your mother! I don’t care about things like that.” She didn’t want to blow the seemingly good relationship she and her daughter had built so far during the month.

“Sounds kind of hypocritical to me, mum.” Ranma observed as she placed her arms behind her head. “I mean, honestly, how do I know that you won’t end up turning on me la--” The cat-girl halted when she noticed the formation of tears in the corner of her mother’s eyes. “Hey, hold on now.” Ranma waved her arms frantically as she attempted to prevent the oncoming tears. “C’mon, I’m not angry with ya or anything. In all honesty, I don’t really care if you dislike a bunch of people. It’s just that I think your views are a little TOO extreme. I can’t go and make ya knock it off, but I do think that ya should try and work on toning it down, and that--”

Narcissa couldn’t help it as she busted into a fit of giggles. Several passer-byes decided to ignore the rather odd scene and continue on with what they were doing. “S-- Sorry dear, i-- it’s just that your speech suddenly devolved in such a crude matter while you were frantically gabbing away in an attempt to keep me from crying.” She noticed the slight pout she was receiving from her daughter and sobered up. “Sorry about that, dear.” She managed to let out before her face became serious. “M-- Maybe I am overly prejudice when it comes to certain things like that. However, it was what I was told growing up, and I just can’t change those views.” Of course, she’d make an exception for her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter.

Ranma gave the woman a shrug. “Hey, I’m not telling you to completely overhaul your views and beliefs. As I said, it’s none of my business. I just think it’d be better if you tried to tone it down. That kinda stuff could end up pissing off the wrong people someday. Believe me, having someone after your ass can be rather annoying.” Of course, the cat-girl also found it exciting sometimes.

“I guess I could try to work on it.” Narcissa answered with some reluctance. A moment later, she was hugging her daughter. “I’m so glad that I have such an understanding and thoughtful daughter.” She gave Ranma a kiss on the forehead. “Even though you have a rather rude mouth and are rather boyish.” She added with a slight frown.

“I’ll take that as a compliment… I think.” The cat-girl responded as her mother let go.

With a smile back on her lips, Narcissa grabbed hold of Ranma and Laira’s hands. “What say we resume out shopping trip and head for the clothing store?”

“Lets!” Laira shouted as she punched the air with a fist.

“Eh, why not? I ended up agreeing to it anyway.” Ranma answered in a low voice with her eyes closed. “Remember, only two dresses. Then I can look into slacks.”

“I was hoping you’d forget that part.” Narcissa answered with a pout.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[KonokoHasano]

After the wonders of clothes shopping -- in which her mother kept to her word, -- Ranma decided to make her way over to the small book shop to see if she could expand her on her knowledge of spells, potions, and other possible subjects that sounded interesting. Her mother had opted to stay behind with Laira for a little while longer before meeting up with her again. It made sense, really. The humanoid cabbit was honestly having fun trying on various outfits.

‘This Lockhart guy sounds like your average self-absorbed pretty-boy.’ Ranma thought in moderate disgust as she closed a book entitled ‘Magical Me’ by Gilderoy Lockhart and placed it back on a shelf. Reading only a few pages of the book had left a bad taste in her mouth, and there were more photographs of the man scattered throughout the book than there should have been. If that wasn’t bad enough, there were several different books authored by this Lockhart person. ‘Is he a famous author or something?’

Deciding she didn’t really care, Ranma continued on with her search for reading material. After a moment of searching, the cat-girl’s interest was piqued by a book titled ‘Curses and Counter-Curses: Learning About the Dangers and How to Protect Yourself’. Picking it up and skimming through, Ranma noted that the text was quite comprehensive when it came to describing the effects of curses and how -- if you could -- to counter them. ‘This could be useful for later.’ The cat-girl thought to herself.

Continuing on her search, Ranma went on to find a few other interesting reading materials. Magizoology: A Comprehensive Guide to Magical Beasts of the World, Spells for those Seeking a Challenge, and A Field Guide to Magical Plants of the Wizarding World. She may have hated Herbology class, but it was still better to learn about what kind of magical plants out there in nature wanted to feast on her carcass or not. Besides, Washu would most likely also want to catalogue the plants and creatures as well.

Finishing up on her book search, Ranma made her way over to the sales witch to make her purchase. “My,” the sales witch began, “you must really be a seeker of knowledge, my dear.” She commented as she came to the total cost of the books. “Young lady, I don’t mean to pry, but since you entered my store, I couldn’t help but wonder if those ears of yours are real.”

“They’re real.” Ranma answered simply as she twitched and moved her ears. “So is my tail.” She gave a swish of said appendage. “Due to issues with magic going terribly wrong when I was little.” Ranma lied as she placed her money on the counter and grabbed her books. “I think I came out lucky. Hell, I could have ended up with slug parts!” The cat-girl gave a violent shiver at the thought.

“Well, I can honestly say that I think they suit you quite well, Miss.” The sales witch commented with a smile. “Thank you for shopping; please come again.”

As she made her way out of the book shop, Ranma nearly bumped into her mother and Laira as the two of them appeared in front of the entrance. The cat-girl’s reflexes managed to keep her from colliding with the duo. “I already got some books, mum.” Ranma stated as she joined the two outside. “So… where are we going now?”

‘I didn’t think she’d get such boring-looking reading material.’ Narcissa thought to herself before directing a smile to her daughter. “How about we just take a look around until we find a place we might like?”

Ranma gave the woman a small shrug. “That sounds fine.” When her heterochromatic eyes centered on Laira, Ranma noted the new outfit that the cabbit was wearing. “That’s something you just bought, isn’t it, Lai?”

“Yep!” The cabbit announced as she gave a small twirl. The outfit consisted of a dark purple dress with a roped corset-like design on the front. The collar was high and tied with a thin ribbon. The main dress part had a series of frills of frills that circled around back, and the puffed sleeves also contained visible frills. The sleeves themselves were wide at the bottom, and Ranma could see a pair of gloves adorning her daughter’s hands. Laira’s legs were adorned with black stockings, and a pair of boots ended just below her knees. Finally, resting on top of the cabbit’s head was a frilled ribbon Alice band. “So momma, how do I look?”

“You look-- um-- very… Gothic Lolita-ish, Lai.” Ranma answered with a series of blinks. Just where did they find that outfit, and were there really any witches who would wear such a thing? “It actually looks good on you, though.” A small tinge of pink appeared on Laira’s cheeks as the cabbit gave her mother a bright smile.

‘I should have gotten Lina one of those outfits. She would have looked so adorable.’ Narcissa thought as she cursed herself for the missed opportunity. Tossing the thought out of her mind, the blonde woman reached into a bag that she was holding in her left hand. “Lina, the reason I let you go on ahead of us was so Laira and I could actually browse around for some kind of special gift to give you.” Narcissa pulled out a small ornate box and handed it to the cat-girl.

As she received the box, Ranma glanced down at Laira. “So that’s why you were being vague and unresponsive when I attempted to contact you mentally.” The redhead accused as she examined the object in her hands.

“Guilty.” Laira answered with a small smile. “Go on, momma, open it.”

Ranma figured, as she unlatched the opening, that whatever was in the box was some kind of jewelry that she’d probably never wear. Still, she guessed it was the thought that counted, and figured that the best she could do would be to wear it for her mother and Laira until she could take it off later. Honestly, Laira knew that she didn’t care for jewelry.

Once the lid was lifted, Ranma stared into the case and promptly blinked at what she saw. The object -- once the cat-girl had picked it up from its holding place -- was a locket. It was a pure silver heart-shaped locket on a silver chain. On the front of locket’s surface was a red gem in the shape of a cat’s silhouette with a red-flamed border on the sides. Turning the pendant around, Ranma noted the engraving on the back of it.

‘Lina, a very special daughter and mother.’ At the bottom, the names Narcissa and Laira were engraved into the silver.

Ranma was utterly speechless. She had absolutely no clue what to say as she stared at the object in her hand. Normally, she wouldn’t spare any kind of jewelry a second glance due to it not holding any kind of interest to her. However, something attracted her to the gift from her mother and Laira, and she didn’t really know what it was. “Thanks.” It was all she could manage to say.

“Open it, momma!” Laira shouted. “Channel some magic into it and open it.”

Complying, Ranma channeled a little magic into the pendant and watched as it flipped open. In both locket compartments, there was a photo. In the left compartment was a photo of Narcissa; in the right compartment was a photo of Laira. ‘They even put their photos in it as well.’ The cat-girl thought to herself. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice when her mother plucked the locket out of her hand. She did notice, however, when the woman lifted her ponytail up and started fastening the locket around her neck.

“The locket also has another enchantment to it.” Narcissa began as she held the locket in her hand. “You see, this locket is meant to store the photos of those you find close and precious to you. If you need to add another photo, then all you do is channel a little more magic into it. Once that happens, another compartment will appear for you to use. Laira and I wanted to get you something, and once we saw the image of the cat with fire boarder, we immediately thought about you. We know you normally care for jewelry--”

A smirk appeared on Ranma’s lips. “I think I could probably make an exception this time, mum.” Reaching down, she closed the locket and observed the pendant’s surface. The flame border almost seemed to come alive when she added magic into it. ‘It’s kind of cool.’ The cat-girl thought.

Narcissa and Laira gave each other a smile before the blonde woman placed a hand on the top of her daughter’s head. “How about we head home? I think we’ve had enough of this place for a day.”

“Yeah, I have a few things I need to do myself.” Ranma answered with a nod. ‘I need to get something to eat, do a little training, catalogue the information in these books onto my laptop, and some other things.’

‘Are you going to see to that invention idea you were considering, momma?’ Laira asked through their connection.

‘Yeah, that’s also on my list.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Err-- sis, what ARE you doing?” Draco asked curiously as he halted at the entrance to his sister’s room. Her bedroom door was opened, and so he happened to glance in as he passed her room. Draco was rather confused to see the cat-girl sitting on the floor next to her bed and surrounded -- in neat little piles -- by junk. What was even stranger was the set of goggles his sister was wearing as she held what appeared to be a muggle screwdriver in one hand, and in the other was some unknown device. If that wasn’t enough, Draco noticed the note pad sitting on the floor in front of Lina, and that she would frequently jot something down by writing with her foot.

Her clothes were rather simple as well. The cat-girl wore a simple white tank-top and a pair of black pants. Around her neck was the locket that she had received a couple days ago from their mother and Laira. “And just what is all this junk?” Draco asked. His sister had always been a little on the strange side, but this was pushing it.

Ranma raised her head and stared at her brother; her eyes hidden from view by the goggles. “It’s not junk.” She supplied as she set the screwdriver down. “It’s all part of an invention project I’ve been working on from time to time.” It was also part of a long-term assignment that Washu had assigned to her. The project had no due date for it to be done. The diminutive genius assigned her student to create her own invention. It didn’t matter what kind of creation it was, just so that Ranma had created it herself. The basis for this was to see if Ranma had the skill and ability to continue onto another area of learning: inventing.

It was something that Ranma was actually looking forward to. Washu had mentioned on occasion that once she managed to learn how to properly invent and create, she could go on to bigger and better things. Some of which would include inventions that could end up creating plenty of -- somewhat harmless -- mayhem and explosions. Ranma had no clue why, but the very idea of actually being able to create things that could go boom -- especially if said explosions were huge -- gave her a feeling of excitement.

‘It looks a lot like muggle junk to me.’ Draco thought with a visible frown. “Well, then, what is this invention project of yours?”

“This!” Ranma announced as she held up the object she was working on so that her brother could see.

Draco had to blink several times at the sight of the object. “Lina, it’s a cat head.” The blond boy answered hesitantly. “A…happy SMILING cat head the size of a small bludger.” He honestly wondered if his sister had finally lost it.

“Well, yeah, it is.” Ranma admitted as she stared at the bludger-sized cat head. It was a faint red in color with a light pink nose. There were four-inch long whiskers on each cheek, and its smile was wide. The eyes were closed in a happy arch style, and the cheeks had small dark red circles paint on. The very bottom of the head also had a pair of small paws in a begging pose. “Still, it turned out great.”

“Yeah, but what IS it?” Draco asked. “Some kind of useless muggle object?”

“Hardly,” Ranma answered with a cocky smirk. “Maybe it does require the use of some muggle items to put together, but this is beyond what possibly 95% of them are even capable of doing.” Reaching down, the cat-girl grabbed a hair-band and placed it on her head. Part of the band entered her right cat ear, and the bottom of the band extended to Ranma’s cheek. From their, a part that looked like a microphone rested near her lips. “Alright, Mini-Kitten Bot Version 25,” her brother raised an eyebrow at the number. “The other 24 either fell apart or exploded, okay?” The cat-girl grumbled before tossing her creation into the air. “Activate!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the invention halted in midair. It hovered there for a few moments before its eyes opened to reveal a pair of large blue eyes. The robotic cat head glanced around the room before settling its sights on Ranma. The newly created device moved and hovered in front of the cat-girl’s face. “Mini-Kitten Bot ready to serve, Mistress Lina.” It responded in an energetic and childlike voice. “I will try my best to serve whatever needs you desire!”

“Cool, it was a success!” Ranma announced joyfully. She had figured that the entire thing would be a failure… again. “Ya know, I think you need a name. Mini-Kitten Bot is too much to say. How’s the name Ein? It’s German for one, and you are the first successful mini-bot.”

The robotic cat head thought for a moment before smiling. “I like it! From now on, I shall be known as Ein.” Ein turned its attention to the other person in the room. “Mistress Lina, your guest seems to be acting rather odd.”

Ranma blinked before turning to glance at Draco. Her brother was staring at Ein with a look of outright shock. “Hey, bro, you feeling okay? You seem to kinda be spacing off.”

“What in the bloody hell is that thing?” Draco asked as he pointed at the floating robot. “It can fly and talk like some kind of magical creature, but you created it using muggle methods!”

Ranma rolled her eyes at the blond boy, but he couldn’t see the action due to the goggles obscuring the redhead’s eyes. “I told ya, this is beyond the scope of what at least 95% of muggles on this planet are capable of. I’m just that damn good.” Ranma flashed her brother another cocky grin. “Basically, though, it’s a robot. It’s a being made out of mechanical parts and other materials. At the moment, Ein’s features only extend to floating, talking, and providing video feedback to my laptop. However, I have ideas of other features I could add to its arsenal.” Of course, she’d probably have to end up getting Washu’s help for quite a few of the ideas.

Draco had absolutely no clue what the girl was talking about. “I doubt our parents will be pleased with the idea of you tinkering with muggle-like technology; no matter how advanced or whatever it is.” He finally managed to let out as he stared at the floating robot.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ranma answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Mum doesn’t really like the idea of me messing around with muggle stuff, but she doesn’t say anything. Pops would probably be a hard-ass about it, though, and you’re already as stubborn as an ass when it comes down to muggle and muggle-borns as it is.”

Her brother gave her a glare. “You know, if you weren’t my sister, I’d give you a good punch for that ‘ass’ comment.”

“We both know that I’d pound you into the ground before you could even make a move, anyway.” Ranma supplied with a smirk. “Of course, you’re still free to try, though.”

Draco placed his hands in a warding gesture. “No way, I value my health too much to attempt it. Can you imagine what people will say if they find out that I was beat up by my own sister? My reputation would be destroyed!”

“What, the one where a load of people think you’re a stuck-up and spoiled little rich boy?”

“No!” her brother replied hotly. “The reputation I have for being a highly respected member of a pure-blood family, and the kind I have for my excellent leadership skills and magical talent. And someday, I’ll also reveal to the world just how much of a fake their precious Potter is.”

Ranma’s head perked up in interest as she deactivated Ein. “So it’s a rivalry of sorts, eh?” The cat-girl asked as her tail swished and her ears twitched. “Awesome, maybe someday you two will end up meeting in a duel of -- non-lethal -- magic! Man, watching a magical fight would be so cool, what with all the possible explosions and stuff.” Ranma then proceeded to store her mini-bot away, remove the goggles away from her eyes, and stretch her body to remove a couple kinks. “Jeez, sitting in one spot for so long makes my muscle joints stiff.”

“I’m pretty sure we have some muscle-soothing paste somewhere.” Draco commented. “Dobby--”

“Nah, let’s not bother the little guy.” Ranma interrupted as she cracked her neck -- an action that caused her brother to wince.

“Why not? He’s a house elf, and it’s his job -- along with other house elves -- to do whatever his masters tell him to do.” The blond boy crossed his arms. “And besides, Dobby does seem rather fond of you and would GLADLY do anything you order him to do.”

Ranma placed her arms behind her head. “That’s because I don’t treat him like dirt.” She simply said before yawing and showing off her fangs. “Anyway, I don’t need any muscle-soothing paste. I’ll just go outside and perform some light stretching and exercising. That’ll allow me to relax my body muscles, and after that, I’ll start a little training.”

“Is physical exercising your answer to everything?”

“Of course it’s not.” Ranma responded with a blink. “There’s also eating, sleeping, magic training, and a host of other things.”

“I’m sorry I asked.” Draco grumbled.

His sister halted in the doorway before whipping around. “Hold on, I almost forgot.” Ranma walked back into her room and proceeded to pick up the tools and parts that she used in her tinkering. After placing the tools in storage, setting the writing pad on her desk, and setting her pencil in a pencil holder, the cat-girl turned around and made her way for the door. “Couldn’t just let it all lie there in a mess, ya know?”

Draco stared at her for a moment before turning his attention to the room. The room was as neat and tidy as one could get. Objects were either placed in stacks, bins, racks, shelves, or baskets. The bed itself was also neatly made. “You do realize that you’d make an excellent house elf if you were one, right? You have a thing for keeping rooms mess-free.”

“Hey, I just hate things looking like a pigsty. When a place is cleaned, it’s easier to find something you’re looking for, and there’s also less a threat of tripping over something.” Really, was there anything wrong with keeping a place clean?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma scratched her ear as she glanced through the book Curses and Counter-Curses. The book detailed a majority of curses, but some of the more extreme ones refused to give the instructions on how to perform them. An example of this was a trio of spells known as the Unforgivable Curses. The book went on to explain the history, affects, possible counters, and misc. tidbits of information. As she read through the entry, Ranma began to understand just WHY they were outlawed and so dangerous.

She was, of course, familiar with the Avada Kedavra curse. Anyone would be if they were previously killed by the blasted thing. It was slightly disheartening that there was no known counter to the curse, and that the only real way to prevent the curse would be to either dodge or use an object to block it. About the only helpful info regarding the spell was that the color was a green hue.

‘That really is one monster of a curse.’ Ranma thought with a frown. ‘You’d think these people would try and come up with a shield to fight against it or something.’ The very idea set the cat-girl’s mind rolling. It was possible that she could create a shield of some kind, but without actually knowing how strong the Avada Kedavra was, coming up a shield would be next to impossible. However, when was she one to give up?

“Hey, momma,” Laira began as she held up a small object. The cabbit was in the midst of going through the storage space that she and Ranma shared, and that was when she found a certain small golden key that the both of them all but forgot about. “Isn’t this the thing we found on the moon that took us to that Sailor Pluto lady?”

Ranma snatched the key from her daughter via her tail. The cat-girl then proceeded to toss the key from her tail and into her hand. Lazily, Ranma examined the object for a few moments before tossing it back to Laira. “Yeah, it’s the key that took us to meet Pluto.”

After jumping to grab hold of the key, Laira focused her attention onto her mother as the redhead continued reading. “How about we go and visit Pluto? From how boring things sounded last time, it’d be good to liven things up around there.”

Closing her book and giving it some thought, Ranma soon let a smirk grace her lips. “Hey, why not? It’s been a while since we were there, and I could use at least some excitement before the month is up. Besides, everyone else is currently asleep, and so we can leave and get back before any questions are asked.” And perhaps she could convince Pluto to have a little spar with her. The woman clearly had some skill during their scuffle over seven months ago.

Leaping off of her bed, the cat-girl snatched the key from her daughter a second time. Holding it in the palm of her hand, Ranma found herself at a loss on how to get it to activate. “Err-- Lai, what did we do last time to get it to work?”

“I don’t think we did anything.” Laira responded as she tilted her head. “I think we felt some magic from it, you picked it up, and it then took us to Pluto.”

“Well, I don’t feel any magic coming from it now, so maybe I have to channel magic into it?” As soon as she had closed her hand around the key and concentrated on her magic, both she and Laira suddenly started to feel a strange -- yet familiar -- pull. “I think that did it.”

“Yeah, now we can visit Sailor Pluto at the Gates!” Laira stated. Once the sentence had left the cabbit’s lips, the golden key pulsated and enveloped the two in a blinding gold light. The light lasted only for a moment, and after it died down, the duo were able to see that they were now standing in the familiar void-like plane that the Senshi of Time resided in.

“This place sure hasn’t changed.” Ranma commented as she glanced around the flat void that was teeming with mist. In a way, the cat-girl wondered if the location was the actual fourth dimension believed to exist within the space-time continuum that Washu had her begin learning about two years ago. “Let’s go see if we can find her before she jumps the gun and attempts to attack us.”

Laira nodded and stayed at the redhead’s side as the two walked through the misty zone. Since everything looked the same, they really had no idea if they were going in the right place or not. After what seemed like forever, the duo could finally make out a lone figure standing next to a pair of large gates. As they closed in on their destination, they almost found themselves face-faulting at the sight of the great and mysterious protector of the Space-Time Gates.

The guardian of time was sound asleep. Her staff was firmly planted into the ground, and that allowed her to lean against it as she slept. It was obvious that even when she was asleep, she still had the very desire to attempt her duty. The very sight would have seemed impressive to her two guests, but the presence of a small snot bubble ruined the entire image.

“I guess when you’re by yourself for so long, you don’t really care if you look embarrassing.” Ranma supplied as she scratched the back of her head. A smirk soon appeared on her lips as an idea came to her. Ignoring her daughter’s protests, the cat-girl levitated to ear level of the green-haired Senshi and began whispering into her ear. “Don’t look now, Pluto, but you are stuck on a thin platform above a bottomless pit.”

The Senshi of both Time and the Underworld gave a twitch in her sleep.

“Oh no, the platform just gave way! Watch out, you are falling down into the blackness. Falling and falling without anything to save you!” Ranma watched as the older woman started to mumble in fear. “Falling… falling… right into the mouth of a giant creature who’s going to swallow you whole!”

Ranma then decided to add something else with a loud and slightly deep voice. “BWAHAHA, I WILL EAT YOUR HEART!”

Sailor Pluto woke up with a massive jolt. “AAAAAHHHH!!!!” She managed to stop screaming after jerking her head around to see that she was still in the void she considered home. She was about to sigh in relief when the sound of laughter reached her ears. Honing in on the source, Pluto was able to see that it was Ranma. The cat-girl was flat on her back and laughing her ass off.

“Y-- You should h-- have seen your face! I-- I can’t believe that you s-- screamed like a little girl!” Ranma was laughing so hard that she had tears coming out of the corner of her eyes. Next to her, Laira was holding her face in her hand and sighing.

Sailor Pluto’s first reaction was to blush in indignation. Her second reaction was to lose herself in a temper that she never knew she had. “How dare you sneak up on me like that and scare the wits out of me?!” She growled as Ranma continued laughing. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a real jerk?”

The cat-girl’s laughter finally settled down, and she gave the woman a shrug. “Yeah, I used to get that a lot. I still do sometimes.” Using her pinky to clean out her ear, she continued. “So it’s nothing new.”

Taking a deep breath, Sailor Pluto managed to regain her temper and dignity. “How did you manage to find your way back?” Her answer was obtained when Laira held up one of the golden keys that allow transportation to the realm. “I told you before that this place is forbidden to those who shouldn’t be here. Yet here you are, and this time it was on purpose.”

“Jeez, don’t get your fuku in a knot, P.” Ranma answered back in both a casual and dismissive tone. “We were bored and decided to drop in to see how you were doing in your eternally boring job of guarding the gates. You should be happy to have at least SOME company.”

Pluto gave the girl an icy glare before letting loose a tired and weary sigh. “I’ll admit, having some contact with other people after thousands of years is nice. Standing here, day after day; month after month; year after year, in complete solitude -- except for the rare visitor -- with nothing but the gates is enough to make someone weary.”

“I don’t think I like the sound of this job.” Laira commented with a shiver. “How can you stay sane?”

Ranma didn’t wait for an answer before asking her own question. “Jeez, what’s so important about guarding those gates anyway? I doubt any normal person is going to randomly appear and ask to use them. Can you view everything that goes on around you or manipulate events?”

“I can only view what the gates desire me to see. To freely use the gates in such a way would have dire consequences. I am also not allowed to manipulate events or the doings of people in the real world. If there is an event that could have incredible disastrous effects to the very dimensions and timelines themselves, then I am free to do something so long as I am not fully involved. I am a guardian, and that is all I do.” Unless she gained her orders from a certain moon child, that is.

“Damn,” Ranma began, “at least tell me that -- as the Senshi of Time -- you can at least control time in SOME way. If not, then this really is one crappy job.”

“Oh, I have the ability to stop time.” Pluto stated before frowning. “But to do it is forbidden. If I dared stop time for even a moment, my very life would be forfeit.” The Senshi of Time received depressed looks from her visitors. “I can also often feel slight ripples that occur whenever a mode of time travel that doesn’t involve the gates is used. Since the plane we are currently stationed in is located close to the nexus that is the fourth dimension, any form of time travel will cause a slight reaction.”

“Really?” Ranma asked in interest. Washu had only glossed over some details in the Space-Time Continuum idea when she felt that the cat-girl could wait a little longer before getting to the real meat of the subject. “So does time travel have any negative affects?”

Sailor Pluto answered with a slight shake of her head. “If alternate means of time travel are used sparingly, then there would be no negative affects upon the dimensions. However, if there’s too much time-travel being used without rest, then a slight weakening in dimensions could occur over time. If left unchecked, the issue could grow even worse.”

“That sounds bad.” Laira commented with a frown. “You don’t feel it a lot, do you?”

The green-haired woman shook her head. “Not a lot, but I do feel it at times. That means there are people out there with access to time travel that they most likely shouldn’t have. There’s a reason why time travel is dangerous and should only be done sparingly with the correct means. The possibility of someone going back in time and changing an important event could have severe consequences with both the present and reality.”

“Well, if you’re stuck here, you can’t really do anything. Can you?” Ranma asked. She then noticed the calculating look the Senshi of Time was giving her. “Why are you-- wait, no way. I am not going to play errand-girl to your time-travel problem.”

“I think it’s the least you can do, Ranma.” Sailor Pluto answered. “You don’t have to go out of your way to search for any time travel items. However, if you do come across any, then I would appreciate it if you could confiscate them so that there’s no danger to the time stream.”

Thinking it over for a moment, Ranma decided that it wasn’t really all that bad of a deal. “As long as I don’t have to go out of my way. If I do find them, it’ll because I stumbled across the item.”

“That’s a fair deal.” Pluto answered with a kind smile. “I wasn’t expecting you to go on a quest anyway. Just knowing that you’ll do this for me and the safety of the dimensions is good enough.”

“What can I say?” Ranma asked with a shrug. “I can be just too good of a person sometime.”

“Momma…” Laira let out with a groan.

Pluto let a rare giggle escape her lips as she gave the cat-girl a small pat on the head. “Perhaps I will allow you two to visit whenever you get the chance. Both of you make me feel as if a large weight has been removed from my person.” Her features soon turned into a glare as she glanced at Ranma. “Just don’t you ever again pull a stunt like you did earlier while I was sleeping. If you do, I won’t be the one held responsible if you get hit with a Dead Scream.”

“But it’s so much fun to see you scream like a little girl.” Ranma commented with an amused smirk as the woman’s glare seemed to only harden. “What, ya wanna fight? C’mon old lady, let’s see which one is the better fighter.”

“Old lady?” Pluto asked with a tightening of her lips.

“Well, you ARE thousands of years old, right?” Ranma added just before she was whacked in the head by the Garnet Rod. “Alright, jeez, I was only yanking your chain.” The cat-girl rubbed the spot on her head where she had been hit. “Anyway, there’s another reason I came. I was in need of someone to spar with, and since didn’t seem to be half-bad in our confrontation a few months ago, I was wondering if you’d agree to it.”

“Normally I’d have to outright refuse a request such as that.” The green-haired woman answered evenly. “My task of guarding the gates being much too important to partake in such a thing.” A slight smile appeared on the woman’s lips. “However, I am entitled to some personal time of my own for at least a couple hours each day. That means that I suppose I could spare some time to spar with you. My fighting ability is rather rusty after years of not using it, but that doesn’t mean I lack any.”

Ranma’s eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. “Hey, Pluto, what about going to the bathroom? The thought just came to me. Surely you’d have to relieve yourself sometimes, but--”

Pluto placed a hand over the cat-girl’s mouth as a blush appeared on her cheeks. “My needs of food and relief are provided for me when I am in real need for them. Both are rare occurrences due to my guardianship sustaining me without those. If I were to leave this area, then I would, indeed, require food and relief just like a normal person. That is all you need to know.”

Laira glanced up at her mother with a quirked eyebrow. “Momma, how did a question as weird as that ever enter your mind?”

“Hey, I was just curious.” Ranma answered in defense. “There’s no bathroom around here, and since everyone has to go to the bathroom sometime, I had to ask.”

Pluto merely placed a hand onto her face and silently groaned.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Are you sure you don’t want to spend a few more days here at home, honey?” Narcissa asked with a frown. Today marked the end of their month together, and the blonde woman was outright reluctant to let it end. Her daughter had already said her goodbyes to Draco and Lucius, but Narcissa wanted to get a few more words in.

Ranma answered with a nod. “Yeah, Laira and I still need to go and spend some time with Washu.” Part of her actually wanted to stay and get to know her mother some more. She honestly preferred spending time with Narcissa more than she did with Nodoka, and figured it had something to do with the former having better parental qualities than the latter. With Nodoka, Ranma was reluctant to actually open to the woman and lower her guard. Narcissa, however, had managed to bring out the exact opposite in the cat-girl.

“Well,” Narcissa began as she bit her lip, “maybe we can do this again next summer. We could plan out other things to do.”

Ears twitching as she thought about it, her daughter let a smile appear on her lips. “Maybe we can, mum. I actually like that idea. What do you think, Lai?”

“I like it too!” The cabbit announced from her position on Ranma’s shoulder.

After her mother got one last hug in, the cat-girl phased out of view and watched -- from her new perch in a tree -- as Narcissa stood in the doorway for a few more moments before reluctantly entering the house and shutting the door. Ranma then hopped out of the tree and sighed. The moment was getting a tad too emotional, and she just had to quickly get out of there.

“Alright, Lai, transform into ship form.” Before they could even start for Japan, they had to go and pick-up three passengers. Of course, that also meant that she’d have to tell Hermione a short, modified background. “She’s going to outright flip when she finds herself on board a real space ship.” Ranma admitted with an amused chuckle.

xxA.Nxx

This chapter is finally finished. It took an incredible amount of time to work on, but it’s finally finished.

[Dumbledork]

This was really excellent. I really liked your characterization of Pluto. I was able to feel her loneliness. It's nice to see her less anal than she usually is in other fics. But maybe you should have shown us the sparring match between the two.

And Ranma even got a little quest. Will she deliver the Nanban Mirror to Setsuna?

I'm a little surprised about the shopping trip. In almost every fic I've ever read where Ranma is stuck as a girl and has to go clothes shopping the authors always focus on Ranma reluctantly trying some girly clothes on. It's interesting that you skipped that part.