After a long day of prepping the students for their midterm in December, Aileen felt tired and irritable. All she wanted to do was floo home, sit down with a cup of tea, and relax. Peace and quiet. That's what she wanted.

Unfortunately, peace and quiet was not in her future! As she stepped out of the fireplace in her living room, carefully picking any smoky remnants off her clothing, a strange little yip sounded, and she froze. Aileen plucked her wand out of her purse and moved back, mind jumping to conclusions. Had the dagger thief returned, in animagus form? Had some extremely disgruntled student planted another niffler, this time not in her office, but in her home? Had Bombay decided that he was bringing their little war outside of Hogwart's halls, and-

The pattering of four paws on the wood floor interrupted her thoughts. Aileen inched closer to the wall, glancing around for Abby and hoping her sister was safe upstairs. Her fingers tightened around her wand and her mouth set in a thin, grim line. Then the creature turned the corner, sliding towards her on the slick floor, ears flopping and tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Aileen let out an exasperated sound and put her wand away. A... crup?! A crup invasion? Really?

She spotted the red bow around its neck and groaned. There could only be one explanation.

"Abigail Samantha Reid!" Aileen called, her voice caught between a screech and a yell.

Now the patter of teenager feet sounded on the stairs, and Abby slunk towards her with a hesitant grin.

"What is this... this thing doing in my house?!" Aileen ran a hand through her hair, which made it stick up, Cruella De Ville style.

"Not a thing! A crup. Her name is Roxy," she told her in that faux innocent voice that grated on Aileen's nerves day in and day out.

"What is it - Why is it... it's piddling on my floor!" Aileen pointed at the crup, disgusted.

Abby shook her head in mock horror, "Bad Roxy! Bad bladder! I told you to hold it until we got outside!" She ran towards the foyer, rummaged in a bag, and returned with leash in hand.

"Aw, but it's okay," she reassured the crup when it cocked its head at her. "Aileen can clean it up with a Scourgify spell, can't she?" she cooed. Aileen felt her eye twitch.

"No! There will be no... Scourgifying! No piddling! No crup in this house!"

Abby gave her a wounded look. "But she likes you!"

The puppy was by her foot, sniffing at her heels. Aileen stepped back and gave the crup her sternest professor frown, but Roxy merely yipped at her before walking in her own piddle spot and sliding, butt first, on the floor.

She put a hand to her forehead, and plucked her wand from her purse again, eyes getting narrower and narrower as the crup left wet paw prints everywhere she walked.

Crabapple, Aileen's cantankerous old cat, had been staring at the newcomer from underneath the sofa. Sensing her owner's discomfort, she emerged from her hiding place to saunter over and hiss at the puppy, who only let out an excited bark and tottered towards the cat. The cat looked vaguely alarmed and hid behind Aileen's legs.

"No. No!" Aileen commanded the two animals, who only began running in circles around her legs.

High heels weren't the sturdiest of footwear. Suddenly, she slipped and fell, right on her bum. And right in the middle of the ominous puddle on the floor. Abby started giggling, and as the liquid seeped through her robes, Aileen looked up and gave her sister such a murderous glare, that the giggles abruptly stopped.

I am going to murder you, she wanted to say, but instead said, "We're taking the creature back." Her voice was quiet and threatening.

"But you can't!" Abby protested immediately. "The Magical Menagerie is closed right now." She'd planned it that way, Aileen was sure. "Just let her stay one night, one night, and then we'll take her back," she nodded.

Abby had tried this trick before, and gotten away with it. Unfortunately for her, Aileen was more fond of her sister than she was of some crup that her sister randomly brought home. It wasn't going to work this time, she told herself, glaring at the epitome of sloppy evil. The crup's liquid brown eyes gazed up at her as she rose to her feet. The creature wagged her tail in slow, hesitant motions, as if she knew Aileen wouldn't be won over easily.

---

A few days later...


Aileen leaned on the door post of Abigail's room, watching her flipping through a book and taking notes on a piece of parchment. The restless crup sat on the girl's back, and then moved to crawl over her legs, and then stuck her snout in the the book and jumped back when Abby turned the page. Abigail giggled, and Aileen smiled very slightly.

"You're going to have to train it," she announced. Abby looked up and stared at her.

"I won't have a wild animal running around the house, leaping and slobbering on people. You won't be sneaking it treats underneath the table, or allowing it to climb on the furniture."

Abby opened her mouth to say something as her face lit up.

"And it must be potty-trained," Aileen emphasized, giving the crup a stern look. "You'll need to take it for walks, and take it to one of those creature specialists to make sure it's healthy. And-"

But this time, Abby couldn't hold back any longer.

"Yeeees!!" She whooped, standing up and doing a little dance, before catching the expression on Aileen's face and hopping off the bed. The crup was extremely excited now, just because Abigail was, and started chasing her tail in circles.

"I told you it would work out," Abby reminded her pet, grinning at Aileen. "She's not always stuffy or unreasonable, no she isn't," she continued in a syrupy sweet voice, then glanced at her sister and bounded forward for a hug.

Aileen patted the girl's back, surprised by her gesture, and then stared at her for a moment before remembering the point she wanted to make. "There will be rules, rules that must be followed."

"I know," Abby nodded, eyes sparkling.

"And no more surprise pets!" Aileen warned her. "Crabapple has enough stress with this one." So did she, for that matter.

She turned and left the girl's bedroom, annoyed with herself. To think, she'd often worried about how she'd act around children, if she ever had any of her own. She thought she'd be too harsh, or too cold, or too controlling; all the things that her mother was. Now, however, it seemed she was just the opposite. Too permissive? Abby had the upper hand lately, and the scheming teenager knew it.

Perhaps she felt guilt over ignoring her sister's existence for so many years, or perhaps she'd been spending too much time around crazy hormone-driven teens at Hogwarts, but whatever it was, Aileen found herself worrying and thinking about her sister far more often now, and she had to admit, the crup made the girl smile. Not the grin she used to fool people, but a real smile.

The crup had followed her out into the hallway, and Aileen paused too, raising her eyebrows at her as if to say 'what do you want now?'. Roxy inched forward and licked her toes. Aileen let out a stifled squeak at the animal, who wagged her tail merrily and bounded back into Abigail's room.