Hidden Wings - Part I

August fourth

It was August the 3rd, 11:58 p.m.
Mioha and Draco were sitting in the common room again, both staring thoughtfully into the fire.

Neither of them spoke.

Mioha's thoughts revolved around the past week. She and Esma had stopped by St. Mungo's several more times and every time they flashed back to Hogwarts, Mioha felt proud knowing that the next morning more patients could return home.
Plus, she was getting better at flashing. She sometimes missed St. Mungo's by a few hundred kilometers or so, but at least she hadn't landed too far south anymore.
Okay, one time she and Esma had accidentally found themselves in Normandy, in the northern part of France, but that was only around 500 kilometers away from London.
Not to bad when you travel at the speed of light.

She looked up at the clock again.
Midnight.

Tomorrow, Draco would depart and return with Professor Snape to Malfoy Manor. Both he and the Potions Master had grown more and more silent as the day of their departure neared, but when Mioha had finally asked Draco what was wrong, he had snapped at her to back off.

Mioha absentmindedly drew circles on the armrest of the green couch.
It was her sixteenth birthday now.
She remembered how she had never really celebrated her birthday, until Hermione had gotten it out of her and told Harry and the entire Weasley family. Now, August 4th had become a day similar to Christmas.

She smiled to herself.

Harry had celebrated his birthday at Hogwarts too, in July before he had left for his relatives. That had to have been the best birthday he'd ever had.

Mioha glanced at Draco.
He was paler than usual and the light from the fireplace highlighted the deep shadows beneath his eyes.
"Draco", she said quietly.

Draco's eyes flicked to her and shot her a warning look.
He was not in the mood to talk.

Mioha sighed.
"I'll see you when school starts", she said and stood up.
"Goodnight."
She turned to leave.

"Wait", said Draco stiffly and pulled out his wand. While this would have made Mioha flinch a few months ago, she now just watched curiously how he said: "Accio".
She heard the whoosh of something large getting closer and turned her head, only to find something larger and rectangular zoom toward her head. Mioha ducked in time and it landed in Draco's hands.
It looked like a present wrapped in black wrapping paper.
He slid his wand back into his sleeve and stood up, holding the present out in front of him.

When Mioha regarded him with an incredulous look, he said curtly: "Take it."

That snapped Mioha out of her surprise and she carefully accepted the present, noticing it was quite heavy.
Why would Draco give her a present?

She smiled shyly.
"Thank you, Draco. That's very thoughtful of you. Wait..."
She blinked.
"How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Granger", said Draco bluntly and sat back down, then resumed staring into the fireplace again. Mioha sat down as well and curiously set the object down into her lap, not really knowing whether she was supposed to open it now or later, when he was gone.

You're thinking too much, she told herself. Just open it.

She ran a hand over the surface. Whatever it was, it was very wide and felt like some sort of wooden board. She slowly unwrapped it, laying the black wrapping paper aside on the green couch. 
The first thing Mioha saw was the right corner. It looked like some sort of frame.
Then, with one pull, she revealed what was on her lap.

Mioha gasped silently and her hand flew up to her mouth.

It was a large black and white photo, framed in a simple silver frame. There were trees in the background, as well as mountains. In the foreground was a meadow, filled with high grass and wild flowers. And amidst them stood twelve proud, winged creatures with a spiraled horn on their foreheads. Ten were mature Silverwings, while two were small foals. Most of the older Silverwings were grazing calmly, their manes fluttering in the breeze and their tails flicking to drive away flies. The two foals were chasing each other across the meadow, running through the legs of the herd members and playfully rearing up on their hind legs.