After suffering, there's always happiness, right?

An icy wind blew past them, as the sound of the snow crunching beneath their feet ringed in their ears, the wind blew their hair back behind their shoulders, and one of them gave a quick shiver before returning to her normal position. It seemed she had gotten better after all the care she was given, but her mind was damaged, both their minds were damaged to some point. Someone was always out to get them in some way. Putting their lives in danger, almost killing them.

Naomi had almost been lost a few months ago, during Halloween. A cruel prank, it must have been a prank, had been played while she had been in the Haunted House with the others. Of course what happened to Naomi hadn't affected anyone else but her. Maybe even Brian, though she still didn't see why. He had saved Naomi, without even caring about what could happen to him and he came out hurt because she had been helpless and had not been able to save Naomi herself.

Whatever had happened in the Haunted House was over now. So she didn't have to worry about Naomi being in danger anymore, well in grave danger anyways. There was always some kind of danger around them, that she wouldn't be able to keep her sister from all the time. But those won't kill her, so it was fine. "Thanks for finally bringing me here." A small voice broke into her thoughts, and she looked down. "I would've done it sooner, but you were sick." she responded back simply. "Yeah like always." her sister muttered. "Don't worry about it, Naomi." she wrapped her sister in a hug quickly and continued to the rink.

When they arrived they quickly got everything they needed and they immediately went onto the ice. The two girls already knew how to skate, long hours of practicing on a frozen pond near where they lived before their parents were killed. They skated together for a while, before Naomi got separated from Hitame and she continued off on her own. Hitame merely watched and skated backwards toward the entrance. Not the best thing to do when others were coming in. Before she knew it, Hitame bumped into someone and she fell face first to the ice, but managed to catch herself before she hit it completely.

Ah.... wintertime, the best part of the year in Sophia's opinion for many reasons that she didn't really care to explain right now. Lets just say one of the reason was she didn't have to worry about the heat burining her and she could stay out how ever long she wanted to. Besides it wan't like she got cold anyways for she was always cold. As she walked through the crowded street of Hogmseade she walked through the crowd of students she finally reached the rink. "Yes fianlly!'said Sophia happily to herself that she fianlly found time to enjoy the ice rink they put in. She been so busy at work and taking care of the kids she haven't that much time for herself lately.

As she already had her skates she sat on the bench and put them on before heading out to the ice skating rink before her. As she skated out onto the ice she smiled at the feeling underneath her own to feet for she loved skating. She used to do it all the time when she was at Hogwarts on the frozen lake of Hogwarts school for it was her favorite thing to do during winter break. As she skated around a bit and started circling the rink she was hit by someone making her fall backwrds. "Oh my gosh, are you ok?"Sophia asked them softly hoping they were.

Sophia wasn't hurt for being a vampire not many things hurt her that much, but she was worried about hurting the person. Sophia would feel horrible if she hurted the person without meaning to do it at all but she only didi it due to her clumsy ways. "Please be ok, I would feel horrible if you weren't."said Sophia softly her eyes turning gray with worry. That was the type of person Sophia was always putting others before herself for she cared about others.

All her stealth and strength training in the Forest really came in handy, especially now. Hitame quickly pushed herself up off the ice and landed on her feet with a slight jump. "Yeah, I'm... I'm fine." she said softly, dusting herself off as if she had landed in dirt. She slowly raised her head as she recognized the voice that spoke to her. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the person who she had bumped into. "Uh... S-Soph?" she asked softly, taking a step back from Sophia. "Is that you?" she added covering most of her face with her hair, including the scar on her cheekbone.

Her hand immediately hid behind her back and she just continued to stare at Sophia. She couldn't find anything to say to her anymore. Just at that moment Naomi came skating back toward Hitame. "Hitame!" Naomi called at first, and Hitame turned to see her sister hurdling toward her. She probably couldn't stop, it had been a while since they had gone skating and she might be a little rusty. Hitame extended her arms and caught her little sister just before she could also bump into Sophia. "Thanks." she smiled and regained her balance quickly.

"Who you talki-" Naomi couldn't even finish her sentence when she saw who else was there. She gave a quick gasp, followed by, "Sophia!" and she threw herself into Sophia's arm. "Hi! How have you been Sophia?" she asked, looking up at her. Hitame simply looked at the two of them, and hid her face in her jacket.

As Sophia seen it was Hitame she ran into she smiled glad that she was both ok and to see her one again after not seeing her for awhile. As she asked if it was her, Sophia smiled and nodded. "Yup it's me."said Sophia softly. As she seen her overing her face with her hair Sophia's eyes turned gold with worry in them wondering she was hiding from her. Sighing to herself Sophia shook her head to herself and skated more over towards Hitame. "So how you been?"Sophia asked her softly as she started skating beside her slowly to keep pae with her.

Sophia laughed her tinkling bell laugh as Naomi thre herself into her arms. "Why hello Nao, nice seeing you again to!"said Sophia laughing. As she looked back at Hitame her smile faded off her face and her gold eyes looked at her with worry in them. Sophia was speechless and couldn't say anything to het for her mouth felt like it was glued shut. Alot has changed since she last saw them, but she didn't understand why she couldn't talk to Hitame anymore. It was probably becasue theu both been through alot but not together but by themseleves that they didn't have to speak to each other.

Besides, Sophia could read her mind anyways to see what was erong and up with Hitame not talking to her let alone hiding her face. Sophia didn't get Hitame anymore for she was like a completely different person to her. But one thing was for sure, Sophia wasn't the same anymore as well for she went through alot these pass months. Sophia was surprise she was still sane and walking on her own for the things she faced this pass few months. Many things have changed,but one thing was for sure it wasn't for the better by any means at all.

Hitame slowly lifted her face to look at Sophia and she sighed softly. "Well... I've been better." she stated simply. She really hoped that Sophia wouldn't ask her any questions that would put her in a tight spot. Although knowing Sophia the way she did, and knowing the fact that she could read minds, Hitame highly doubted that any questions would be asked. Either way, it didn't matter, she didn't have to answer Sophia's questions if she didn't want to, and she wouldn't answer them anyways. But it wouldn't be because she didn't want too, not entirely at least, but it would be to protect her sister's life.

"I missed you a lot Sophia!" Naomi's voice broke into Hitame's thoughts and a small smile creeped onto her face as she saw Naomi's excitement to see Sophia. And to think this was the same girl that didn't even want to talk to her when they met. She was like a completely different person with Sophia now. As was Hitame... though it wasn't only with Sophia. No, it was with everyone now. But she though, what was the harm in having at least a little fun? She couldn't live her entire life in fear of Barker, and even if she did, she couldn't ask so weirdly with her loved ones.

"We both missed you a lot, Soph." Hitame added softly to Naomi's remark. "How've you been?" she asked her. Naomi looked up excitedly at Sophia. She was so close to just jumping up and down out of excitement. "Yeah, tell us! How've you been?!" Naomi enforced Hitame's soft question. She was really showing a lot of enthusiasm, maybe she was finally breaking out of her shy shell...

Sophia nodded when Hitame had been bettter. Sophia knew by reading her mind that she didn't want to talk about it. Sophia knew she could read her mind more but she didn't want to invade her privacy. It was hard for Sophia didn't know what to her about anymore. Sophia knew things weren't going to be the same anymore. It almost made Sophia sad that she couldn't talk to people anymore without her feeling uncomfortable.

Sophia laughed her tinkling bell laugh at Naomi excitment of seeing her once again. "I missed you and Hit like crazy but life been keeping us busy."said Sophia sighing. Sophia thought it was funny that Naomi liked her so much when she didnt want to talk to her when they met. Now it was the oppsite now which was weird but Sophia didnt say anything. Sophia knew Hitame didnt want to talk to her about her problems so she didnt asked.

Sophia smiled as Hitame told her that they both missed her. "Like I told Naomi I missed you both." said Sophia softly. As Hitame asked how she was she sighed. "I been alright, could be better but I'm having alot of support from Andrian and stuff."said Sophia softly. "I lost my dear sister who I loved dearly."said Sophia holding back tears. She k new she couldn't break down in front of Hitame and Naomi she just couldnt.

Hitame figured it was best for her to try and act normal. Not just for her but for Naomi, and for Sophia who seemed to be having a hard time with life, just like her. So trying her best to act normal, she smiled up at Sophia. The smile felt weird at first since she hadn't felt like smiling in a while, all she did was cry or just plain hide her feelings from everyone. It seemed everyone had problems with life right now, it was kind of strange, but as long as Naomi was okay Hitame didn't care about anything else.

"Dumb life. Always getting in the way of things." Naomi said jokingly. That comment got a laugh out of Hitame and she shook her head. "Too bad we can't do anything about it." she laughed. "I think we should be able to!" Naomi nodded and laughed along with her sister. "You're crazy, you know that right?" Hitame teased her sister. "Yeah, but you love me anyways!" Naomi responded happily, and Hitame messed up her hair slightly. "Yeah, that's true." she smiled at her little sister.

Hitame nodded and sighed when Sophia said she could've been better. She tilted her head at her boyfriend's name, forgetting for a second who she was talking about. "Andrian? Oh! You're boyfriend right?" she said feeling stupid. Sophia had talked about him before and she had completely forgotten about him. "I wanna meet him!" Naomi said with a serious expression, as if she were trying to protect something. Hitame stared at her and smiled, then put a serious expression on her face as well. "Yeah! Me too!" she said. The two sisters crossed their arms over their chests simultaneously and grinned at Sophia.

When she said that she had lost her sister, Hitame gasped softly and glanced at Naomi for a second. "I'm sorry Soph. It must be hard on you to lose your sister. I know it would be hard on me. I wouldn't be able to handle losing Naomi." she said softly. "What happened to her?" Naomi asked innocently, not realizing that it might be painful for Sophia to talk about her sister.

Sophia looked from Hitame to Naomi and shook her head and gave them a soft warm smile.Sophia laughed her tinkling bell laugh at Naomi's comment and nodded. "Yeah stupid life getting in the way I agree with you on that."said Sophia softly. It seemed like life was always getting the way now, which really sucked but there was no stopping it. Sophia knew Hitame was hiding alot from her but she didnt bother her for if she wanted to tell her she would.

Sophia nodded and smiled as she brought up Andrian. "Yes he's my boyfriend and the love of my life."said Sophia softly as she smiled as she said that. Sophia laughed her tinkling bell laugh and shook her head at the two of them. "Don't worry, you two wil meet him."said Sophia softly but simply. "He's very sweet and very much a gentlemen I knew him since my first year at Hogwarts." said Sophia smiling at the memories. "I could tel you two stories about how we met but I don't want to bore you two."said Sophia softly.

Sophia looked at Hitame sadly and nodded. "We never really fougt about anything, now I can't believe I lost her." said Sophia in a cracky voice that wasn't hers. As Naomi asked what happened to her Sophia swallowed hard. "She died Nao."said Sophia as her voice cracked again as she held back tears. It was hard for her to talk about her sister it was like a nightmare to her. Sophia refused to believe it but Andrian as well asthe rest of her friends said it was true.

"Hold onto each other Hit and Nao, for you never know when your going to lose the only person you had left as family."said Sophia in a cracky voice. "Excuse me." said Sophia as she skated over towards the bench away from them and cried. She wished Andrian was here to comfort her but he wasn't so she just cried.

"Yay! I'm agreed with!" Naomi squeaked happily. Hitame laughed and shook her head. "Don't encourage her Soph. Next she's gonna say the people from those comic books we read are real," she laughed. "Oh? But they are real!" Naomi said. "Oops, looks like I got her started." Hitame laughed and sighed. "Don't say things in from of me, if you don't want me to say something, duh." Naomi said sarcastically. "You're getting a real attitude, you know that?" Hitame said practically appauled. "I learned from the best." Naomi said raising an eyebrow. Hitame scoffed and hugged her sister.

Naomi looked at Sophia and grinned. "Ooh, Sophia and Andrian sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" she laughed and then made kissing noises at her. Hitame put her hand on her face to hide the fact that she was laughing. Though it was plain to see that she was, after all it wasn't like she could hide the fact that her body was shaking from the laughter. Stifling a giggle Hitame said, "Naomi! D-don't embarrass Sophia here like that!" she couldn't hold it in and she burst into a laughing fit along with her sister.

Hitame's happy expression almost immediately went away when she saw just how sad Sophia was. "It sucks that families who love one another are always the ones to get separated." she said. "While the ones who don't care about each other remain intact, without any loses." Naomi picked up for her almost immediately. Hitame nodded and replied with a soft, "Yeah..."

Hitame and Naomi nodded at the same time after what Sophia told them. "We will Soph. We already don't let one or the other out of our sights..." Hitame suddenly remembered what happened during Halloween. There was still something that bugged her about that night. How did that man even think of going after Naomi to harm her? Had he been watching them the entire time, even before they had gotten separated when she went into the Haunted House and Naomi went off trick or treating? Itseemed strange. When Sophia left them to go to the bench just outside the rink, Hitame watched her not knowing what to do, whether or not she should go after her to try and comfort her. Luckily Naomi made that decision for the two fo them. "C'mon Hitame! We have to see if she's okay!" Naomi said, pulling on her sleeve. Hitame nodded and the two skated over to Sophia. Sitting on both sides of her, Hitame and Naomi looked at Sophia sadly. "Are you okay?" Naomi asked softly.

Sophia looked up to see Hitame and Naomi sitting on both sides of her asking if she was ok. "To be honest with you to, I'm not but in time I will be."said Sophia in a cracky voice. "Weird how your living this fairytale life and it all the sudden becomes a nightmare you can't wake up from."said Sophia softly. Sophia knew that was a crappy way of desribing how she felt but she couldnt think of any other way to describe it. It was like her world crashed down when she found out she lost her sister.

"I'm sorry for acting like this, I try to be strong for you two and be a remodel for you two."said Sophia softly. Sophia knew there was only enough times you could be strong without breaking down. But she knew she had to be strong for Nikki wouldn't like seeing her like this. She honestly wished Andrian was here to comfort her for he always knew how to make her feel better."I guess I should be lucky for the friends and boyfriend I still have."said Sophia softly.

As she wiped her tears she gotten out her wand and flicked it at herself making her the way she was before she started crying. "How about we go get some butterbeer at the three broomsticks?"said Sophia giving them somewhat a soft warm smile. Sophia knew she had to get over Nikki death and she was going to one baby step at a time.As she flicked her wand her skates turned back into her shoes. Pocketing her wand back inside her jacket she waited to see what they wanted to do before doing anything.