My Wings Are Black

Odette looked at the girl in front of her, her hair was shining rich and healthy, the black locks flowing past her shoulders in waves that a ship could sail on, her figure was hugged in a fitting black dress that contained a slit from ankle to mid-thigh showing off an ample amount of slender pale limbs, and a glimpse of tantalising black lace underwear.

Odette sighed, she knew she was beautiful. She’d been told that all her life, she looked like her mother who had taken her vanity to such an extent she spent a majority of her day in front of the largest mirror in her house, brushing her hair, and using everything and anything to help prevent the signs of aging. The rest of her time was spent making sure everybody around her looked as good as she did. Odette had spent her life being preened and polished like a trophy in a glass cabinet. She had been born and raised as an object of desire, a thing her parents could use to their advantage to lure the powers of the darkest witches and wizards, to be in the favour of the greatest one of all, Lord Voldemort.

But now, as Odette looked at herself she wondered what was beyond the reflection she saw. What was beneath the exterior of flawless soft skin and pouted lips. Would all the beauty in the world help her if, at the end of the day, her soul was a crumpled heap of dust within the confines of her body? If her head was a black stone, too dry and hard to be of use to anyone? How would beauty help her then?

Her green eyes met the eyes that reflected back from the mirror and Odette raised a shaking hand to trace the oval shape of her irises that framed dark black pupils that seemed blank, and cruel. A bottomless pit of emptiness. Is this what people really saw? A girl who could not feel? A girl who could not love?

Her eyes were blank, her eyes were cold. What did Fred see in her that others didn’t? He seemed to look past her beauty and within. He knew she was trapped yet somehow he was willing to unlock that cage and set her free. Odette just hoped it wasn’t too late, that her wings had not been clipped before she had the chance to fly.

It would be so easy to run away, to run away from everyone and Odette looked beyond her reflection to the open window in the glass, that called to her, beckoned her to jump, to soar, to rescue herself from a life that meant entrapment, imprisonment and most likely death.

Odette shook her head, allowing her hair to fall over her face, “Who am I?” she asked herself. And she found she could not answer.

~

Once again, Odette tapped her wand upon her head and felt that awfully uncomfortable trickling feeling as the disillusionment charm worked. Like a ghost she stalked the corridors of Hogwarts until she reached the door she sought. The door to the Room of Requirement.

She stood for a minute, not knowing what to do when the door opened a crack, and the light within beckoned her inside. Opening the door silently, she smoothly slipped inside allowing the mask she had so long perfected slip back on over her features. The worries and doubts of less than an hour earlier were gone, as if they were ghosts themselves.

Fred smiled from where he stood at the fireplace of a warm, comfortable room. He had an old piece of parchment in his hand and his wand raised, obviously used to open the door for Odette. His teeth gleamed and Odette wondered at his confidence to smile like that. She’d never known anyone to be so utterly happy…all the time.

Odette said nothing, but turned her head to the side, feigning shyness as Fred came over to remove her cloak. And then as she felt his fingers slide over the skin of her upper arm in the removal of the garment, a thought struck her. Here, in this room with no-one but she and Fred, she was simply Odette. She was not here on a date organised by her parents, she was not here, ordered to be seductive to gain power and a place in the darkest circle of magic the world had ever seen.

Here she was Odette, here she was happy.

“Wow,” Fred breathed softly as he looked over Odette and her long black gown, “you look amazing.”

Odette turned to him, “Thank you Fred..” There seemed to be a second meaning behind her words but Fred just frowned quizzically and ushered towards a large couch, adorned with embellished cushions. He sat her down gently and kissed her on the mouth as if she were a china doll.

Something tugged on the inside of Odette’s chest as she gazed into Fred’s eyes, flickering kindly in the warm light of the fire.

“Why are you doing this Fred?” she whispered, afraid of the answer. Afraid of the truth she knew was going to come out of his mouth.

Fred opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again with a snap. There was a silence Odette had not been expecting, and then a strange coldness suddenly passed over Fred’s face. He sat on the couch beside her, not looking at her but rather down at his large Beater hands,

“What’s going on between you and Draco?”

His question took Odette by surprise and she did not reply for several seconds, “What do you mean Draco?”

Fred shot her a look, “You know what I mean?”

Odette looked away, a pain in her chest. Why was it Fred left her feeling like this? He stripped her of her power, made her feel utterly helpless…

“I don’t think it matters.”

“Don’t say that Odette. You know it matters.”

“I…we, we aren’t exclusive. Me and Draco I mean. He’s the ‘prince of Slytherin’ Fred for crying out loud. I need some sort of…”

“Status, power, control?” Fred’s voice was sharp, hurtful and Odette glared at him,

“You want to know why I’m with Draco Fred? You want to know why I’m sleeping with him, kissing him, letting everybody know he’s mine and that I’m his? I’ll let you know a fucking secret Fred. It’s all a game to me, no, not a game, a pretence. It’s a lie.”

Fred was pale, his eyes wide, “A lie?”

“Yes, it’s a lie,” Odette’s voice cracked and she realised she was on the verge of tears, “I knew people were starting to notice my attentions, my looks towards you Fred. People that shouldn’t know what I feel for you. I needed to show I wasn’t falling for a traitor, a foul blooded muggle loving traitor. I needed to protect you Fred, protect you from the people that protect me, the people that are suppose to care for me. I don’t care if I die Fred, but your life? Your life matters to me!”

“Why does it matter? Why should I matter to you if all I am is a traitor? Someone who shouldn’t claim pure blood? Why should you protect me? Why should you care for me at all if all I am-”,

“Because I love you!” Odette’s shouted over Fred’s angry yells, and then fell silent as Fred’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t meant to say that, she hadn’t even know yet whether she loved him, she didn’t love anyone. But she did, she loved him, she loved Fred Weasley, the muggle loving traitor.

Fred began to smile “You love me?”

Odette scowled, “I didn’t say that.”

Fred laughed, “Yes you did, you said it, you said you loved me.”

Fred grabbed Odette in the middle of the room, where they’d both stalked in the middle of their screaming match. His hand trailed up her back to grasp the back of her neck in an almost possessive way, his hand closed over her mark as if to ward Voldemort away.

His face came towards her and Odette froze as his lips brushed down her cheeks, across her mouth and rested by her ear, “I love you Odette Silver. I’ve loved you ever since I watched you walk down that hall, slipped through that bloody trick step. I love you even though you’re marked by evil. I love you even if you are evil. I love you even if it makes me evil. I love you Odette, and nothing is going to fucking stop me.”

Odette gasped but then her lips were caught by Fred’s again. Her back hit the wall as they both staggered backwards, and she moaned as Fred’s hand moved to cup her ass, and he ground his hips into hers. He was fierce as he was sweet, and her arousal flared as he growled into her ear. Their lips met again in a flurry of moans and gasps, and Odette closed her eyes, allowing herself be overcome by an emotion she had never felt before. Love.

~

Early in the morning, Odette awoke beside Fred, their bodies covered by a soft down throw. The embers of the fire glowed in the pale morning light, and Odette yawned, stretching her legs out, her bare toes scraping the wooden floor. Her hand trailed up Fred’s muscled chest to rest over his heart where she could feel it beat strongly under her touch. He stirred, his long eyelashes brushing his freckled cheeks and he looked at her. He smiled, and pulled her closer with ease, kissing the top of her head,

“Good morning,” he whispered sweetly.

Odette snuggled into his shoulder, a sweet feeling of being protected coming over her, and she whispered back her good morning. Fred’s hand tipped her head backwards to look at him, “You don’t regret last night do you?”

Odette stared at him, his sincere brown eyes holding a kindness and pleasantness she had seen in no other. His hand was still enclosed around her waist, she could feel his heart beat next to hers and again, that whooshing feeling of love, a love she would die for came over her.

And Odette did something she’d never done before.

She smiled.
A real smile, a smile that broke her lips apart and showed a set of perfect white teeth. A smile that lit up her eyes for the first time in years, a lie that was impossible to lie behind. A smile that gave Fred all the answers he needed.

He smiled back, bringing her face to his again in a sweet good morning kiss.

~

Odette snuck back to her dorm, and found Styx waiting impatiently for her.

“Mistress, a letter came for you.”

There was a warning in Styx’s tone and Odette immediately froze. No, she couldn’t have bad news now not after the best night of her life. She had found herself, for the first time in years, she had felt real. With Fred.

Slowly, like a frightened animal Odette neared the edge of her bed, where a white envelope awaited her opening. Her name was spelled in a neat, delicate handwriting and Odette’s blood froze on the spot. No.
Thinking, hoping, she was mistaken, Odette picked up the letter and turned it over. She gave a small moan and sat down on the bed, looking down at the wax seal of the snake upon the parchment.

The seal of Voldemort.

“Open”, she commanded in Parseltongue and the snake wriggled and the parchment came undone. Her eyes scanned the letter the delicate writing anxiously and she began to tremble.

He requested a meeting.