Hidden Wings - Part I

Christmas

Mioha landed with a thud on a soft rug. Her head kept spinning even though her surroundings had stilled, so she needed a moment to regain her bearings.

"Uff", she groaned and sat up, clutching her head.
Portkeying was still not her favorite way of traveling.

Mioha looked up and found herself in the empty library of the Grimmauld Place. The only light was provided by the rising sun shining through the high windows of the library, bathing the room in a warm red glow.
She got up on her feet and walked past the aisles filled with books, which were hidden in the shadows. Reaching the door, she turned the doorknob and walked out into the hallway.
Then Mioha cocked her head and listened.

She could hear faint voices speaking downstairs, she assumed they had to be in the kitchen.

Mioha let her wings reappear and hurried down the steps, the wooden floorboards creaking loudly as if they were trying to announce her presence.

Gosh, she thought, if I ever try to have a midnight snack, I might as well invite everyone.

She flew down the last four steps and silently landed in front of the kitchen door. Despite the early hour, she could hear and smell that a lot of people were in the kitchen. A beam of yellow light fell beneath the door slit into the hallway, passing figures casting long shadows onto the floor.
Mioha slowly reached out and opened the door. The voices inside the kitchen fell silent. She carefully peeked into the room and found Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, George, Fred and Sirius sitting at the table while drinking hot chocolate out of steaming cups. All of them looked tired and had dark rings under their eyes. Mrs. Weasley stood by the stove with her back towards her, meddling around with a pot.

"Morning", Mioha greeted everyone shyly.

"Oh!", Mrs. Weasley exclaimed and dropped the pot she was holding. Whirling around, she rushed towards Mioha and wrapped her in a hug before the Slytherin could even blink.

"Mioha!", Mrs. Weasley cried in a tearful voice. "Albus told me what you did! I can't... I can't thank you enough!"
The witch tightened her hold on Mioha, who did not know what to do.

"I'm glad I could help", Mioha croaked, feeling glad that she had been able to help Mr. Weasley. "Professor Snape was the one who got me there."

"I have to thank Severus too of course", Mrs. Weasley said and cleared her voice, releasing Mioha from her grasp. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she smiled gratefully at Mioha.
"Arthur would surely have died without you", she said and turned around briskly, as if that were a thought she couldn't bear to think of.
"What would you like, dear? Hot chocolate? A tea?"

Mioha opened her mouth, but before she could reply, something red crashed into her and held her in a tight grip.

It was Ginny.

"Th-th-thank you", the redhead sobbed. "Harry had a bad dr-dream and told McGonagall a-and we didn't know if it w-was true a-and then D-Dumbledore told us that Dad had b-been attacked..."
She sniffed loudly.

Mioha felt sympathy for the young witch, for she could understand what it felt like to be afraid for your family.
"He's fine now, Ginny", said Mioha softly and looked past Ginny's hair into the room. Harry looked pale and grim, while Hermione was smiling tiredly at her and Ron, Fred and George had gotten up from their seats.

"Thanks, Mia", said Fred gravely and hugged her once Ginny let go. George didn't say anything, but just hugged her from the other side so Mioha was stuck between a twin-sandwich.
She returned their hugs and at last, Ron came up to her.
He looked into her eyes with a relieved look and just wrapped her in a bear-like hug. He almost lifted Mioha off the ground because he had grown so much.