bright | g. weasley

Prologue

Motorbike tires sloshed through puddles from the previous rain as they carried the rider down busy streets. Jack-O-Lanterns decorated the streets of Galway, its residents ready to celebrate the autumn holiday. But this was no celebratory matter.

The man who owned the bike, a tall and slender wizard with long and dark shaggy hair, rode as fast as he could, taking mostly backstreets to avoid traffic and get to his destination quicker. His boots were shaking and he was trying his hardest not to cry as the child sitting in the sidecar shook with fear. Where was she going? What was happening? Why hadn't her mother come, too?

Sirius Black spotted the blue two-story at the end of the street and stopped in front of it. He turned off the engine and turned toward his child, little Nilannah who was still quivering, tear streaks dried on her rosy cheeks.

"Daddy?" the little girl squeaked out.

"It's okay, darling," he whispered to her as he removed her from the sidecar. He took off her helmet, which had messed up her hair. He tried in a desperate attempt to tame her curls, but it was no use. The little girl was the spitting image of her mother, with some traits from her father-- like her hair, for example. Sirius gave her a kiss on the cheek, then proceeded to dry her tears with his thumbs.

"What's happening?" the little girl asked.

"I'm taking you someplace safe. Just for now."

Sirius grabbed Nilannah's one bag from the sidecar and then carried the three-year-old toward the house and up the front porch steps. With a shaky breath, he rapped on the door. Moments later, a woman and her husband answered the door.

"Sirius," Nora Finnigan said. "Is it--"

"Yes," Sirius replied. "I thought we had more time, but..." Sirius trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. He choked back a sob. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Nora replied. Nora's husband, Sean, took the little girl from the tall, lanky wizard. Nilannah turned to her father and Sirius tried sending her a reassuring smile, but nothing came except more tears.

"Will you be okay?" Sean asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I don't think so."

"We'll keep her safe, Sirius," Nora said. "We promise."

Sirius, with tears now spilling over, turned back to his daughter one last time. "Nilannah, I love you so much. I'll see you again one day, princess. I don't know when, but I will be seeing you." Sirius planted a kiss on the little girl's forehead before turning sharply on his heels and rushing off. As he revved up the engine, he took one last look at his daughter before riding off into the night, his leather jacket flapping against him from the wind.

Nora turned to her husband and led him back inside. Once they were alone in the safety of their home, Nora removed her wand from her robe pocket and pointed the end at the little girl.

"Obliviate," the witch whispered. Nilannah's memory over the last three years was taken. Everything she remembered of her birth parents. The little girl began to cry once more as she stared into the faces of the two unfamiliar adults.

"It's okay, Brigid," Sean whispered to the little girl as her features then began to change-- all to the handiwork of Mrs. Finnigan. Her dark, unmanageable curls turned to an ashy brown color and became straight as a pin; her dark eyes were now a light shade of blue. She no longer looked like the spitting image of her birth mother, but more like her adoptive mother. "You just had a bad dream."

"Daddy?" the little girl asked, staring up at the man.

"That's right. Now let's get up to bed, huh? We don't want to wake your brother."

With that, Sean and Nora carried her up to bed, the little girl unknowing that she was going to be a secret for the next twelve years.