A Part of the Family

'But why do I need a brother or a sister?' Guy_T_Sebastian, a handsome blue Bori, whined. Guy_Sebastian_Crazy, his owner, brushed her hair smooth.

     'Guy, we've been over this. I've been waiting for a new pet to become available since we moved to Mystery Island. Now, I want you to treat your new brother or sister with as much respect as you show everyone else,' Crazy said. Guy sat down in a huff, folding his paws across his chest.

     'Shan't,' he said defiantly. Crazy stroked Guy's head and tickled under his ears, which sent him giggling. She bent down and looked him in the eye.

     'Guy, I know it isn't easy. You've been my only pet for so long and we've built a great neohome together. But now it's time to share our hearts and home with another pet,' she said gently, before patting the Bori on the head and leaving. Guy looked at his slumbering Angelpuss, Paulini.

     'But what if I don't want to share you,' he said sadly.

     ***

     Meanwhile, Crazy was at the hatching of a new brood of Hissi. With a tiny pop, a small red Hissi poked its head out of its shell and blinked tiredly. It yawned and stretched its wings, breaking open the rest of the shell. With a flutter, the Hissi's wings dried and it began circling the room slowly, blinking at the old Poogle who was monitoring the hatching.

     'Would you like to go in?' the Poogle asked Crazy. She nodded and was let in to watch the Hatching. The newly-hatched Hissi spotted her and zoomed straight for her. At first, Crazy thought that the Hissi was attacking her, so she put her arms up to defend herself. But the Hissi wound itself around her arms and coiled loosely around her neck. Folding its wings up, the Hissi blinked at her.

     'H-hello,' the Hissi whispered. Crazy smiled. The elderly Poogle entered the room.

     'I see one of them has taken a fancy to you. Would you like her?' he asked. Crazy nodded.

     'Yes please.'

     'You'll have to think of a name for her.'

     Crazy thought carefully as the baby Hissi flicked her forked tongue across her face.

     'Her name is Gryffindor Sebastian.'

     ***

     'You WHAT?!?' Guy shouted as Crazy opened the door for Gryffindor to flutter in. The red Hissi dropped nose-to-nose with the Bori and looked at him.

     'You ARE a funny looking pet, aren't you?' Gryffindor said cheerfully, smelling him. The Bori appeared terrified as the snake-like pet flicked her tongue over him.

     'Crazy, get it off! It looks like a Cobrall! Or a Wadjet! Help!' he screamed and batted at his new sibling's face. Gryffindor backed off quickly and flew to hide behind Crazy's legs. Guy pointed an accusing claw at the Hissi.

     'I thought you might be getting a new Bori, or a Kougra, or a Cybunny! Not something that doesn't know whether it's a Pteri or a Cobrall!!' Guy shouted. Gryffindor's wings dropped. Crazy was livid.

     'Guy! I thought I asked you to show our new family member some respect!' Crazy shouted. Pet and owner glared at each other, before a small voice broke the silence.

     'I'm sorry.'

     Crazy looked at her feet. The Hissi was crying silent tears that glittered on her ruby-coloured scales.

     'It's my fault. I'm not what you hoped for. Clearly you made a mistake. I can find my way back to the adoption agency...'

     'Now hang on a second!' Crazy said sternly. Gryffindor looked up sadly.

     'I never, EVER said that I was going to take you back to the adoption agency. You are a part of this family and you are going to stay,' Crazy said firmly. Guy glowered.

     'That thing will never be a part of this family. NEVER!' he shouted and banged the door to his room loudly. Crazy sighed and looked down at Gryffindor. Gryffindor looked back up at Crazy.

     'I'll show you to your new room,' Crazy said softly.

     As far as her first night with the Sebastians went, Gryffindor thought that her new room was definitely the best part of it. Crazy had fitted a Brightvale Window into her room and bought a new Quiguki Rug for the floor. Gryffindor fluttered over and landed hard on her new Tiger Bed. Crazy smiled as Gryffindor explored her new room.

     'I'm sorry about Guy, he gets a little moody,' Crazy said. Gryffindor flicked her tongue.

     'Admittedly, I am a bit unusual. I don't think I was ready for such a vehement reaction to a non-mammalian pet,' she replied. Crazy smiled.

     'What can I get you for dinner?'

     'Do you have Sun - Dried Techo Claw?'

     'As a matter of fact, we do,' said Crazy, ambling off to fix a meal. Gryffindor looked around her. She was home.

     'Is that her?'

     'Surely not!'

     'Guy, are you sure that's your new sister?'

     'She looks like a red Cobrall!'

     Gryffindor Sebastian endured the whispered taunts as she slithered bravely into the neoschool that Guy_T_Sebastian attended. Guy had already disowned her, despite Crazy's insistence that Guy take care of his sister. She took her seat at the back of the class.

     'You new here?' came a soft voice. Gryffindor whipped around, searching for the voice. She eventually looked down and saw him: a tiny Buzz sitting on the chair next to her. He was a pale blue and his wings stuck out at odd angles. He was wearing a pair of over-sized glasses that were held together with tape, as they had obviously been broken many times.

     'Yeah, I am,' Gryffindor said shyly. The Buzz smiled.

     'I'm Henry.'

     'Gryffindor Sebastian.'

     Henry looked darkly towards the front of the class where Guy was sitting with his red Kougra friend, Swordz_Masterz.

     'You'd be related to Guy, then?'

     'Sister. Yesterday.'

     Henry leaned over, which was quite a feat.

     'Guy isn't a good pet. Crazy's tried to stop him acting the way he does, but being an only pet went to his head. He needs cutting down a peg or two.'

     Gryffindor nodded.

     'He was really nasty to me.'

     Henry smiled.

     'I'll be your friend. There's a whole bunch of us that don't fit in around here. I'll introduce you to them at recess.'

     Henry was as good as his word. At lunch, he introduced Gryffindor to a pair of twin Jetsams, a heavily-scarred Koi, a shy Flotsam and another Buzz that Henry introduced as his sister, Henrietta.

     'So, why are you all outcasts?' Gryffindor said naively as she shook wings with Henrietta. The group looked mournfully at each other.

     'They,' said one of the twins, pointing over to Guy's group, who were roaring with laughter at a red Peophin's joke, 'don't like us firstly because we're twins.'

     'Secondly, because we don't come from Neopia Central. We moved here from Maraqua because the neopian inflation was a bit too much for our parents to continue living there,' said the other twin. The pair hung their heads. Gryffindor turned to the Koi, who was twitching.

     'What about you?'

     The Koi gulped and looked at Henry in despair. Henry rubbed the Koi's back.

     'This is Fin. Fin was a top battler, but he never learned to talk. His owner lost everything investing in some shady shares on the stock market. Now Fin has to got to school so he can learn to talk and read so he can help his owner in their small shop, selling groceries.'

     The Koi burst into tears. Gryffindor patted his back gently and looked the shy Flotsam.

     'Why don't they like you?'

     The Flotsam blushed. Henry elaborated.

     'She is a wonderful singer, but she suffers from stage fright. At the last school concert, she fainted and fell off stage when she had to sing a solo. Guy's group has never forgotten it.'

     'What about you?'

     Henry looked at Henrietta.

     'We don't have owners. We showed aptitude in Science and Mathematics and are sent here on a scholarship through the adoption agency. That's why Guy and his pathetic mates hate us so much. Guy was pretty much the star before, because he was an only pet. I reckon now, though, if you're related to him...'

     Gryffindor nodded. She got it. As far as she was concerned, Guy wasn't a good pet. Something she would fight to change.

     That afternoon, Gryffindor flew furiously to keep up with Guy as he bolted home.

     'Hey Guy! Wait!' she huffed, zooming ahead. Guy kept running.

     'No way! Like I would ever be seen with the likes of you!' Guy shouted over his shoulder. Gryffindor felt the wind rip a tear out of her right eye.

     Guy ran up the steps of their house and slammed the door behind him. He smugly strode into the living room. He stopped.

     Lying face down on the floor with a Drackonack firmly attached to her arm was Guy_Sebastian_Crazy. Guy screamed. With a bang, Gryffindor threw the front door open and skittered inside. The Drackonack pulled its fangs out of Crazy's arm and hissed menacingly at the pair. Gryffindor swung into action.

     'Guy... do exactly as I say. Back away slowly from the Drackonack and grab a large sheet from the bedroom...'

     'But...'

     'We don't have much time. Just do it.'

     Guy inched nervously away as the Drackonack continued to hiss. Gryffindor fluttered her wings slightly. The Drackonack launched itself at her, but Gryffindor was too quick. In a flash she had the Drackonack bound tightly in her coils so it couldn't move. Guy returned with a large white sheet.

     'THROW IT OVER ITS HEAD!' Gryffindor shouted, struggling to hold the thrashing petpet. Guy obeyed and tossed the blanket over Gryffindor's body. At the last moment, Gryffindor let go of the raging animal and let the sheet blind it. She grabbed the four corners and held them as Guy tied the petpet up in a make-shift bag.

     'Grab some potatoes! We have to stop the poison!' Gryffindor urged. Guy dashed into the kitchen. Gryffindor raced outside to raise the alarm. A passing family of Kougras agreed to get help.

     Guy returned with the peeled potatoes Crazy had started for dinner as Gryffindor shot back inside. She took the potatoes and pressed them against the wound in her arm.

     'Starch stops a Drackonack from getting all its poison back,' she chanted softly. Guy looked disbelievingly at her. She shrugged.

     'Something all Hissies learn. We're very good at poison and antidote memorisation.'

     Guy ran to the door as the witch doctor of Mystery Island clattered up the garden path, flanked by two medical assistants.

     'He's here,' he called out. Gryffindor locked her coils around Crazy's waist and lifted her to the couch.

     'Our job is done,' she said softly as the Drackonack continued to fight for its escape from the bag. Guy looked at her.

     'Listen, Gryffindor, about today...'

     Gryffindor shook her head.

     'I know. You have your friends. I just want to be a part of a family. Your family.'

     Guy smiled sadly as he watched the medics rush in with the stretcher. Two huge Elephantes lifted the tiny owner onto the stretcher and whisked her away. Paulini the Angelpuss looked up from her basket and mewed quietly. Guy looked back at Gryffindor.

     'I never thought that anyone could love Crazy as much as I loved her, that no-one else was good enough,' he said. 'I was wrong about you, Gryff. You really are a part of the family.'

The End

  Author's note: You will be happy to hear that Gryffindor and Guy are now the best of friends and are often spotted playing tournaments at Cellblock. The Drackonack was returned to the Darigan Citadel and set free and Crazy made a full recovery. As a reward for her heroics, Gryffindor_Sebastian was given a Cobrall, which she names Cosima. Henry, Henrietta, Fin, the Jetsam twins and the shy Flotsam made friends with Guy and his group. They are now graduates of Neoschool.

The twins moved back to Maraqua and now work for Kelp. Fin's owner now owns a chain of supermarkets and Fin is the spokespet. The shy Flotsam now has a recording contract with TNRC. Henry and Henrietta were adopted and now have master classes in Mathematics in Advanced Science. A happy ending for all, wouldn't you say?