Within the Wings of a Storm

Taken by the Sky

Our OC meets her wizards...life is about to be fun.
Chapter title is from "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac
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"The Cruciatus," Sirius muttered, the first to reach the hall and welcome the weary trio that stood on his doorstep. His best friend confirmed his assessment with sadness in his tired eyes.

"I did the best I could to mend her for the flight," Tonks said quietly. "The healing arts were never my strong suit."

"You did fine, I'm sure," Molly assured her, leading all the others, with the exception of Severus, into the hall.

A hush fell over them as they all assessed the crumpled girl leaning against Remus for support, her arms also flung over Tonks's shoulder to steady her as they led her along. She wasn't asleep nor awake- instead in a half dazed state, eyes closed, her head bobbing up and down with muscles twitching periodically. Sirius knew from his experience in Azkaban that the girl was hardly lucid following the curse. In all likelihood she felt like she was moving through a watery chasm with images and sounds drifting in and out of her senses like waves. Her limbs would feel like they couldn't make contact with anything they touched, even though in reality they were meeting everything in range with a huge, over exaggerated thud. Remus and Tonks were no doubt sore and exhausted from supporting her weight with the added burden.

This is hardly the state the girl would like to be introduced to the Order in, Sirius thought, but he could already see that she was lovely in spite of the Cruciatus effects. The golden curls from the childhood photo were still there, longer and fuller, though disheveled from her trauma and the journey. She was shorter than he would have imagined, petite and curvy, somehow powerful. As if all her magical force was packed tightly into a small package about to burst. He should have known to expect such a feeling when encountering the Dark Lord's own daughter, but the tension in the room still took him by surprise.

"Come, my friend, let me help you," he said to Remus, shifting the girl's weight to himself and leading her into the small parlor to the left of the hall. Remus breathed a sigh of relief.  Sirius laid her down on the velvet settee, drawing a worn leather ottoman over to sit beside her.

"Positively electric," he murmured, running a hand across her pale cheek as he brushed the curls away from her face. He was a bit ashamed of the reaction he was having to an eighteen year-old, but quickly justified it as normal given 12 years spent in wizarding prison. Upon settling in his tropical escape after fleeing Hogwarts over a year ago, his first item of business was to find a willing female upon whom to release years of tension, frustration, and deprivation. He had no trouble finding companions, some casual, some a bit more serious, even if just for a time. But after returning to London and to Grimmauld Place, the necessary caution he had to maintain made finding a mate impossible. On this he chose to blame his hurried reaction to the young witch, along with the sheer force that radiated from her body. Any wizard would surely feel the same, although a quick glance at his best friend showed that was not the case. Remus was instead seated in a wooden chair across the room, head in hands as his purple-haired travel partner massaged his shoulders. He looked as if he had suffered under dark magic himself just by being in contact with the girl. Curious.

Minerva soon arrived at Sirius's side, examining the young Ilvermorny witch with a frown. "Arthur, fetch Severus, quickly. Tell him to bundle supplies from the medicine stores and bring them along."

The Weasley patriarch hurried from the room to find where Snape was hiding. Sirius instantly felt a rabid anger at the thought of the snake holding Rhiannon captive in his dungeons for the next year or more. Surely, now that he had seen her, Albus realized his plan was pure insanity. Sirius would have to find a way to intervene and offer an alternative before she was transported to Hogwarts. Perhaps she could stay at Grimmauld Place. It was obviously secure; it was the headquarters of the Order, for Merlin's sake. Sirius had a house elf, and plenty of room. It was an ideal plan. He could assist with her training well enough if given the materials. Maybe Tonks could visit and help. They were surrounded by Muggles so Rhiannon would have more freedom, fresh air, sunshine, and walks in the garden he had taken to cleaning up and replanting. Much better than spending her days surrounded by cold stone with only views of the dreary Black Lake.