(1) Howls of Change (D. Hale)

Chapter Two

A/N – Tbh until the last chapter, I was fully going to have Isla (Sigrid's mother) die during the Battle of Hogwarts, but considering that she is alive, I am open to her being paired with Noah Stilinski. But I will leave it up to you guys.

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Sigrid paces the length of her motel room as she listens to her mother on the phone. Isla is rambling about Beacon Hills without really saying anything about it. Just rambling about how Beacon Hills was a bad choice and she should never have gone there. Sigrid is just listening and nodding along to the complaints. Even if she doesn't currently understand why her mother is so against her being in this single little town in the middle of California, her mother has been vocal about a lot of things over the years, but never this much. And it is so strange for Sigrid. Everything she has been through up until this point, and it is some nowhere town that has her mother this bothered.

"Just tell me why you have this issue?" Sigrid asks interrupting her mother's current thought. "Don't just complain...explain" Isla is silent after that and Sigrid lets out a breath, waiting for her mother to respond. Contemplating the request.

"Do you remember what I told you about your father...?" Isla starts, voice soft but full of regret and pain.

"That he was an American from some small town out we..." She stops when she realises. She sighs a little. "Seriously?" She reaches up and presses her fingers into her head. Of all the towns that she could possibly have been sent to. For it to be the town that her birth father came from, and might still be living in. What are the chances? "Beacon Hills?"

"Yes" Isla admits. Sigrid lets out a breath through her nose in annoyance but reins it back.

"And you didn't think to drop the town name even once....?" Sigrid asks.

"I didn't think it would matter" Isla argues. "I never thought that you would go to America, you've never shown an interest in it before..."

"I was never offered the chance to come out here" Sigrid defends. "But you should have told me" She adds and then takes a deep breath. "Send me whatever you have on him," She asks of her mother.

"You're...not going to yell or scream?"

"What would that do?" Sigrid asks her and shakes her head. There is nothing that she will gain from being angry about this. She has already been through that phase with the truth of her parentage. There is nothing more she can get from anger that she hasn't already gotten. Acceptance that there is more is just the easier path to take. "Just send me the information, we'll talk more when I return home" She then hangs up before Isla can push for more conversation. Sigrid might not be angry, but she doesn't want to discuss this further. Not right now. She sets her phone down on her bed as she walks towards her suitcase. She has only one thing on her mind now. Her father. Both of them. Because she will always think of both Severus and Noah when she thinks about her father. Especially since that truth came out.

Sigrid opens the zip pocket in her suitcase and pulls out a travel book. 101 Places to See. Gifted to her mother by her father during their very short relationship. It's filled with his notes. Places he wanted to go. It's the only thing that she has that belongs to him. She's only known about Noah for a short time but this book she has had since she was a small child. She just linked it to the wrong person. Her mother had told her that it had belonged to her father, at the time, she believed that to mean that it had belonged to Severus. It wasn't until after his death that her mother told her the truth. Likely did not want her relationship with Severus to suffer. He'd put in the work. He'd loved her like a daughter. She was his kid. But she knows that Noah isn't aware of her, that her mother never told him that she exists, so she doesn't hold him being absent against him. It's not his fault. She did blame her mother, she was angry at her mother, for a while, after she was told, but knew it wouldn't change anything. The lie had been told. Her whole life. But she doesn't think it would have changed anything to know earlier. If Noah was aware, then yes, it would have. But he didn't. So nothing would have changed. The lie ensured that she and Severus had a good relationship. She sets the book against her knees as she leans back against the wall and lets out a breath. She didn't give being here a second thought. She was just coming to town to help a friend. And now she knows that her birth father is roaming around the streets. She could go into town and pass him and never know who it is. Part of her wishes her mother hadn't said anything about Beacon Hills. She wouldn't have known any better. She would have done what she came here to do and then left again. There wouldn't be this hesitation that she now feels. If she leaves, it would be like leaving that chapter of her life, that truth of her life, unfinished. How can she walk away without looking for him?

"Eli should know where he comes from" She voices, drawing her fingers over the book cover. "I should know" She adds and then pulls a face. A million scenarios run through her head. Good. Bad. Ugly. They are all in there. "Ridiculous" She scolds herself and throws the book into her bag as she pushes herself to her feet. She isn't going to know unless she does something about it. She can at least run a Google search for the man. Indulge her curiosity for now. She won't be able to sleep if she has this on her mind. She moves to the small dining table where her laptop and stacks of books rest. She opens up her laptop and then sighs. She hates muggle technology. It's always so temperamental for her. For all of those with magic. She sits at the table in front of the device bringing up her browser search engine. She brushes her tongue over her teeth and then types away. Noah Stilinski. Beacon Hills. She lets out a breath, staring at the words in the search bar, not pressing enter just yet. Once she does, she'll have current information. She'll know exactly who he is and where he is. Her mother only had what she found out at the time of her relationship. His name. His home. His job, a military engineer at the time. And that is it. It is not a lot to go off of. But it was enough to find him to tell him about Sigrid. Isla could have done it. She could have reached out but she decided not to. None of this falls on Noah. None of the blame. Sigrid should give him a chance. To at least find out who he is. She presses enter and watches as the web page loads with the results. She takes a deep breath and reaches for the mouse, only to stop herself. She frowns a little and leans back. Her hearing picks up something outside of her room door. She tilts her head to listen. But it's stopped. Someone is trying to be sneaky. Or at least, trying to sneak up on her. Standing, she makes her way to the motel door. Her ears trained on any noise outside. But it is a small town, so it is very quiet. Not even the sound of cars on the road. Her hand reaches out and curls around the doorknob and within a single breath it happens. The door is pushed open and Sigrid finds herself shoved, hard, against the motel room wall.