Blessed With Iridescent Wings

It was the morning of August 6th and a heat wave had been lingering over the highly populated city of London. Lianna found herself plastered on the cool hardwood floor, peering up at the dusty ceiling of a spare room she volunteered to clean with Hermione and Ginny. The walls and wood were dark like every other room in Grimmauld Place and the heavy drapery appeared to have been eaten by moths. Lianna had found Crookshanks clawing at the end of the curtains one afternoon. He had completely shredded the ends.

“It’s ridiculously hot,” Lianna muttered, certain that Ron would’ve had a fit in here with all the cobwebs hanging about the rafters.

The tight tank top she wore was sticking to her sweating skin in the most uncomfortable way. Lianna hadn’t moved in what probably was 20 minutes but she still felt as though she had just run a 50 kilometre marathon. Even in the pair of shorts that her father absolutely hated because they were cut too short, in his opinion anyway, Lianna couldn’t find any form of relief. She determined she’d run around naked if it gave her some breathing time but that probably wouldn’t help matters.

“Yes,” Hermione said, clearly quite perturbed, “But that doesn’t mean you just have to lie there. Honestly, Lianna, if you’d put as much effort into cleaning as you did complaining we’d be finished by now.”

Lianna scoffed and rolled over upon her stomach with as much noise as possible. Ginny, who was pushing her long hair away from her face, released a quick laugh as the tall brunette below her grumbled and groaned as she reached her bare feet. Mrs. Weasley had learned rather quickly that it was much easier to separate the twins from Lianna. Not only did Fred and George still avoid work but adding in the rather lazy encouragement of Miss. Walden did nothing to help. At least by placing her with Hermione and Ginny work went by a little faster, well, when Lianna wasn’t too hot to move.

As Lianna got to her feet she began to brush off the front of her legs. Dust and dirt clung to the wet skin in a disgusting manner.

“So what would you like me to do, Hermione?”

Ginny grinned, “I think you’ve might have missed a spot.”

Sure enough, the white bottom of her shorts had turned an icky brown colour. Lianna grumbled something beneath her breath. She tried desperately to get the grim off but so far it seemed determined to stay in. With a sigh, the tall girl gave up..

“Just wash the walls down,” called Hermione. She was busy trying to gather stray dust bunnies from under the rather rich looking sofa, “Molly left a bucket and a few cloths just over there.”

Hermione Granger had been on edge since the evening of August 2nd. They had learned Harry and his cousin, Dudley, a rather silly named boy, had been attacked by two Dementors. When the commotion occurred, Hermione had been reading upon her bed while Lianna scrambled through her large trunk. Ginny was the one who had heard first from her father and had burst into the room.

Panicked stricken, they had barrelled out of the door and towards the kitchen, both screeching to the confused Lianna to tell Ron once she had gotten her head out of her clothing. She had found Ron in his room taking an after supper siesta with his blanket tangled about his feet. Half awake at the time Lianna wandered in, Ron muttered for her to get the hell out but when she threatened to gather every spider in this house and pour them all over his bed, he was upon his feet in an instant. Annoyed and rather displeased with the girl in front of him Ron had asked what she wanted and Lianna casually explained Harry had gotten himself into a bit of trouble. The redhead had bolted out of the room before she had the chance to mention what had occurred.

After a rather rambunctious discussion in the kitchen, Arthur Weasley had sent them all upstairs. They all found themselves in the girls’ bedroom. Lianna had been by the dirty window, leaning against it when she heard a sharp peck peck. Behind the glass was a beautiful white owl, around its ankle was a thick roll of parchment.

“There’s an owl here,” Lianna had called, calmly opening the window and letting the bird in. The owl hoped over the ledge, perching itself beside her.

“Owl?” Ron had looked up from Ginny’s bed, “That’s Hedwig!”

“Well Hedwig here has some letters,” She replied, carefully unwrapping the message. Hermione was by her side in an instant, snatching the pieces of parchment before the seventh year even had a change to unroll them.

“It’s from Harry,” Hermione shouted.

“Of course it’s from Harry,” Ron scoffed, “What do they say?”

“I've just been attacked by Dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here,” Hermione relayed, “They all say the same thing. One’s addressed to Sirius.”

“He’s in the kitchen,” Lianna muttered, “I can bring it to – ARGH!”

Hedwig, who had been hooting quietly, had taken a rather large bite out of Lianna’s middle finger. She ripped the throbbing digit from the bird’s beak, shoving it desperately in her mouth to stop the bleeding. It had throbbed all the way until the next morning.

“What the hell was that for?” She snarled at the bird who simply shifted upon her claws in a proud manner. Hermione offered her the thin piece of paper as Lianna rushed off from the bird, glaring at its pretty white feathers.

Since that evening Hedwig had gotten Hermione, Ron and Sirius in a variety of the same places. Ginny explained she was usually pretty docile but by the large gashes Oceana spent her time disinfecting, Lianna hard trouble believing that. Hedwig hadn’t left since then due to any letter Hermione tried to write not being good enough. The bird moved into a sort of pecking frenzy whenever anyone tried to offer it a slapdash letter that even Lianna wouldn’t want to receive.

They knew when Harry was coming now but no one could tell him which left Ron and Hermione in a right state. It had been Dumbledore’s orders to keep their mouths shut and though they felt awful about it, they both followed through. Apparently Harry had been staying with his aunt and uncle, his guardians and the old headmaster had thought it was far safer with the Muggles.

As it seemed, that had been proven wrong.

Lianna released a loud sigh, one Hermione shot her a look for, and bent down to grab the soaked cloth. Magic made anything faster, Lianna knew this, but she was horrible at household spells and she was certain if she even tried to do this the fast way it wouldn’t end up to well. She could already imagine the look she’d get from Hermione as water sprayed all over the place.

“So,” Lianna spoke, slopping the cloth upon the wall. The wallpaper was hideous, old but nothing seemed capable of removing it so it was safe to say water and whatever other substances had been tossed in weren’t going to do much damage. “I know Ginny over there’s mention a couple time she thinks I’m going to be in Gryffindor but no one’s really explained the four houses to me.”

“We haven’t?” Hermione asked, peering over her shoulder in a sort of disarrange, “I was certain I had told you about them.”

Lianna shook her head, her ponytail flopping over her shoulder, “Just the names.”

“Well there’s Gryffindor,” explained Hermione, the broom in her hand settling for a moment. Lianna slopped water on the walls carelessly, missing most of it as it dribbled back down. She was certain she could smell vinegar amongst the mess, “We’ve all been sorted into there.”

“Even Mum, Dad, Sirius and Lupin,” laughed Ginny.

Lianna grinned while Hermione continued. Gryffindor was a house that valued bravery and nerve. It apparently had a mean rivalry with the house Slytherin, which Ginny explained that greasy haired Snape was head of. Slytherin valued cunning and ambition. Ginny made sure Lianna understood all the rotten muggle-born haters resided there and made it quite clear Lianna wasn’t to be setting a foot in that horrid house.

Following Slytherin came her father’s house of black and yellow, Hufflepuff. Loyalty, patience and hard work were what got you in there and Lianna felt herself shrugging because hard work and patience weren’t really her strong suit. Finally came Ravenclaw, a house based completely around knowledge. Lianna seemed confused as to why Hermione hadn’t been placed there.

Hermione than proceeded to tell her of house colours and ghosts and the teachers that headed each. She told her of the House Cup and the Quidditch teams and even explained a little bit about founder history. Lianna hadn’t been interested much in the later but she listened quietly as she continued to slop all the mixed water in the bucket upon the wall.

“So you think Gryffindor’s the house I’ll be in, eh?” Lianna asked tossing the cloth back into the pail. There was barely any water left and definitely not enough to finish the remainder of this room. Lianna had wasted most of it on the first wall and by the rather large puddle at the bottom of the baseboard, not of a lot of it had actually been needed.

Ginny nodded, quite determined, “Have to be, no other place. What do you think, Hermione?”

“Slytherin is definitely out of the question,” replied the girl, “and no offense, Lianna, but I can’t see you having enough drive to be placed in Ravenclaw.”

Lianna snorted, “Nor would I ever want to be. If I had to actually answer a riddle every day to get into my room I think I’d either never come out or just come stay with you guys. There’s no way.”

“Hufflepuff is a possibility,” Hermione replied but Ginny shook her head. She didn’t think so, “Your father was sorted there, wasn’t he?”

“Oh he was,” said Lianna. She had heard about it far too often in her childhood not to know.

Hermione nodded, “In my opinion, you will be sorted between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff but you can never be certain with the Sorting Hat.”

“You know you can actually ask it to place you somewhere, if you want that is,” Ginny muttered, “Just in case, you know?”

Lianna released a loud laugh. It was quite clear where Ginny wanted her to be and Lianna wasn’t arguing at all. If there was anywhere she wanted it was definitely Gryffindor.

Muttering a quick Aguamenti, Lianna had managed to fill the bucket to the top with her wand. The cloth stayed upon the bottom while particles of dirt floated to the top, tainting the rather pure water. Hermione stalked over, broom in hand.

“Honestly Lianna, you can’t seriously think you can wash the walls with nothing but water.”

Cheri Walden had made a quick homemade concoction with household items in the kitchen. Lianna was certain by the rather strong scent vinegar had been involved. The remainder of the mixture, the leftovers that hadn’t been already poured into two separate buckets, were lying peacefully in a capped jar.

“There should be some more with Ron and the twins.”

“Alright, alright,” Lianna muttered, dropping the cloth back into pail. Water splashed everywhere from the impact but she barely noticed as she strolled out into the hallway. Fluttering about the dark and dingy area was the brilliant green glow of Blumella, who vanished with a childish wink before Lianna could ask where she was off too.

Since their arrival nearly a month ago, her Faeries had all found a specific region that they had spent most of the summer at. Blumella liked Hyde Park, a brilliant area that would take Lianna a couple subway stops to reach. It was brimming with people daily and Blumella had explained she adored watching the Muggles interact with each other. Despite her snooty nature, Blu had told Lianna in private that’d she’d create beautiful little flowers for the bright eyed children that were able to spot her.

Muggles couldn’t see Faeries, tamed or not, except when they were young. Children had a sight far better than Lianna could ever hope for, a sight that was unbiased and fearless. Blumella had a soft spot for the young and part of the reason why Lianna figured the Nature Faerie had picked her was due to her young age.

Laticia, the Air Faerie, was quite happy sitting with Buckbeak during her days. She’d apparently talk to the silent creature and in return he’d make happy cooing noises that Laticia explained were his way of replying. During the heat wave, Lati would make gentle breezes waft about the room to try and keep the contained Hippogriff cool. Sirius had explained that it seemed like Buckbeak enjoyed the company, at least enough that the cooped up creature kept mostly tamed throughout the summer.

Turnox, on the other hand, was a Dark Faerie who nearly always kept to himself. He had always been some form of a mystery, an enigma that nearly drove Lianna insane when she tried to grasp why he had followed her in the first place. They didn’t speak much because he was a man of few words but when they had Lianna desperately tried to get Turnox to explain the on goings of the Order. For you see, he enjoyed listening in on meetings and because Lianna couldn’t control him there was nothing anyone could do. Dumbledore seemed to enjoy the dark creature, to Cheri’s dismay, and happily talked to him when the chance arose. As for explaining the meetings, Turnox would snarl at the girl and disappear before she could pester him anymore.

Part of her wondered why Turnox didn’t follow Suane to Hogwarts. It would have been a glorious place to explore but Turnox would always mutter a nearly silent phrase that explained he didn’t plan on leaving Lianna, not yet at least.

Finally came Oceana who was easy to find in the midmornings. Sometimes she would be in the kitchen and others she’d be in the living room fluttering about in the corner making brilliant illusions of waterfalls and jungles appear on the wall. Out of all her Faeries, Lianna seemed to assume Oceana was the luckiest. Like most of the elemental Faeries, Oceana could create her designated element at will, a water that could destroy or heal whichever she prefered. Although, not only was she capable of bending her liquid, she seemed to be able to use it in strange ways. Oceana could create illusions and unlike Turnox’s who were used to distract in the most devious ways, Oceana could make beautiful or horrifying scenes with just the flick of her wrist.

Lianna sighed. Oceana’s illusions were probably her favourite because unlike Turnox’s they weren’t in your mind. They were right in front of you and all could see them. They could talk and tell a story and sometimes she’d let you sit upon a hill in Ireland or in a tree in the Amazon for hours if she felt up to it. Lianna knew the stories her illusions could tell where just Oceana’s creative mind singing throughout them but regardless, they were Lianna’s favourite.

Another sigh fell from the girl’s lips as she quietly wandered down the hall. Mrs. Weasley had gotten the boys to tackle an already cleaned room that the house elf Kreacher made a rather horrid mess of when trying to stash away Black paraphernalia. Sirius had found him before he stored most of it away and demanded it to be dropped. The leftovers were still upon the floor when Lianna pushed the door open but had been shoved into a corner out of the way.

Regardless of their pitching and the house elf’s hoarding, a rather large mess with cobwebs hanging in the ceiling and dirt clinging to the dingy wallpaper laid about. It seemed darker than the room the girls’ were cleaning but maybe that was only because of the plaster of dust across the window, something Ron was trying lazily to clean. Lianna watched for a moment, amusement written across her face as the wet cloth Fred was levitating smack his brother in the side of the head.

“Hey!” Ron snarled, trying to wipe away the rather grimy feel against his skin.

Lianna snickered, “Looks like you two are being productive.”

George’s cloth, the one she was certain was meant for cleaning the walls, just missed her face as she ducked.

“Coming from the girl whose skippin’ out on her chores,” teased Fred and the wet cloth he had been tormenting Ron with fell upon the top of her head before she could move. Lianna felt the dripping water soak through her hair and down her neck. With a light laugh, she tore the wet cloth off.

“Ah!” Lianna tossed the cloth back at him. She had aimed for his face but Fred caught it with a quick spell and it was again floating about the air, “I am actually here because of my chores. Hermione has oh so kindly explained we need more of my mother’s concoction.”

“The soap?” Fred asked, “I don’t think we have any of that, do we George?”

“No, no soap here, Fred. Little Miss Lianna will just have to go somewhere else to find some.”

“Maybe mother has some with her in the -”

And though Lianna had only known these boys for a few weeks she had come to know when they were trying to use her for some escapade. She shot them the look they were both accustomed to by now, an unimpressed one that the twins only laughed at. It seemed lately they tried harder and harder to get her to produce that famous stare.

“Really?” She expressed. Ron was ignoring them, he found it easier to stay out of the twins’ business, “You’re really trying to do that to me, again? I may not be good at school but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

“Awe Anna!” Fred swung an arm around her shoulders, that charming smile slipping over his lips. Lianna felt herself subconsciously gulp, “We’d never try and trick you into anything... to horrible.”

“This doesn’t have me trying any more of those Skiving Snackbox sweets does it because last time I nearly died -”

George scoffed, “Oh don’t be so dramatic, Anna”

“Dramatic, my ass Georgie! I’m pretty sure -”

Fred cut her off, “Now, now, Anna, all we need is for you to distract our dear Mummy for a couple minutes.”

“That’s it?” and she crossed her arms over her chest, “All you want is me to keep your Mother occupied?”

“That is all,” Fred said with a bright grin, “We need to get a hold of some of the extendable ears she hasn’t had time to toss.”

“Ah,” Lianna released a loud laugh, “I think I can accomplish that quite easily but first I would like the -”

“Oh no,” George said with a grin, a grin that mimicked his brother’s. Lianna found it odd she enjoyed Fred’s far more regardless of the fact they looked the same. “Not until our merchandise is safely hidden.”

Lianna scoffed, shrugging off Fred’s arm despite her insides screaming not to and began to tread towards the bucket and jar her mother had placed her strange cleaning mixture inside. Fred, on the other hand, murmured a quick spell under his breath and said bottle flew past Lianna’s hand and straight into his.

“Hey!” The brunette snarled, stalking towards the tall boy, “That’s cheating!”

Fred, with arms far longer than hers, raised the clear, glass container above his head. Lianna scoffed, trying to reach for it but even on her tippy toes she could only manage to brush the bottom of the jar.

“Don’t make me pull my wand on you, Fred Weasley!”

The boy only chuckled, bright eyes twinkling while Lianna continued to try and reach. In the back of her mind she supposed she could use magic but some part of her said this was more fun and another part sang that Fred’s body was oh so warm as she brushed up against it.

“C’mon Anna, all you gotta do is keep Mum distracted and you get your soap,” George taunted.

“Just give it to her guys,” Ron mumbled, still sloppily trying to pry the dirt off the glass. When Molly wasn’t in the room her boys seemed to care less about the mess, something that Lianna mimicked.

“Yeah,” Lianna snarled, “Give it to me, Fred!”

And the moment she realised what had spilled out of her mouth, her face turned a bright red, so red she was certain it matched the Weasley hair. Usually Lianna was quite content spilling dirty comments left and right. She had once flat out told her friend Kaleb that if his brother wasn’t engaged she would happily wreck his taut build into the floor. Though this wasn’t Kaleb’s brother, this was Fred, a boy who sent her into a tail spin like Christopher River once did. This was a boy who Lianna couldn’t quite grasp why she liked but because she did a very nervous giggle racked her form.

George had begun to chuckle while the grin on Fred’s face simple grew. Lianna didn’t want to look him in the eye but when she did she could see they were still shining. She tried very hard to hide the blush, tried hard to ignore it but being pressed as close as she was to the boy wasn’t helping matters at all.

“My, my, didn’t know that’s how little Anna thought of me,” Fred teased. She tried hard not to turn redder, tried hard to keep the already bright fluster down but Lianna couldn’t stop the blush from pouring farther across her cheeks. Her heart was thumping against her chest and she was certain even Ronald could hear its pound across the room.

Though, lucky for her, not even a second later Fred’s arm slacked and she was able to quickly grasp the jar.

“Hah!” Lianna cheered, her tongue sticking out as she rushed from the room.

“Oi! What about our deal?” George cried. Lianna didn’t bother answering as she shut the door with a loud but forced laugh. Her hope was the three of them would think that had been her plan all along but Lianna knew that was just a false hope.

With a sigh Lianna had made it back to the girls’ designated room. It was ridiculous, she thought as the door slammed behind her. Ginny jumped. It was ridiculous that the very second she admitted she liked a boy Lianna turned into a sloppy mess. Her mother said that was what had occurred to her father when he tried to ask his wife out for the first time.

Lianna scoffed. Why couldn’t she just keep her nerves in tack?

Ginny peered at the tall and silent girl. She was peering at the floor, nearly glaring at it as she wandered towards the pail. Pouring the remainder of her mother’s concoction inside, Lianna released another sigh.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Lianna muttered to the redhead, “Nothing at all.

But there was something wrong and both Hermione and Ginny would have had to been stupid not to notice. The bushy haired brunette peered over her shoulder with a curious gaze. Lianna was muttering a low spell below her breath and the wet cloth which had a rather pungent aroma of vinegar rose high into the corners of the ceiling.

“Did you see your mother?” Hermione voiced because she knew Cheri Walden had the capabilities of bringing her daughter down an notch in a second.

“Hmm?” Lianna looked over her shoulder and both girls caught the bright red cheeks, “Oh, no, was she up here?”

Ginny shook her head softly. It was odd to see that rather outspoken girl keep to herself. It was a strange sight and neither were sure if they enjoyed it.

“Anna, did something happen with Fred and George?” Ginny asked but Lianna just shook her head and continued to try and gather the old spider webs on top.

“Lianna,” Hermione’s spoke, her voice quite demanding, “You can’t expect either of us to believe -”

Before Lianna could try to come up with some form of a lie a rather loud crack sounded out. All three girls jumped, a different sort of reaction on each face. Lianna felt her nerves rise until she saw it was George while Ginny found herself shaking her head. It was Hermione who seemed to be the most animated.

“Honestly! Do you have to do that every time! We’re just down the hall!” snarled the bushy haired brunette.

Lianna peered over her shoulder, pulling the cloth down and dropping it into the bucket. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not to see George. He was baring quite the proud smile on his face and just as his brother did, his eyes twinkled with a delightful joy.

“What’s up, George?” She asked, fiddling almost nervously with her wand.

His bright eyed smiled warped into an instant smug look that made the tall girl gulp. Clearly both hadn’t believed Lianna’s half hearted attempt at trying to cover her slip up.

“I think now would be the best time to distract our dear mother,” explained George, “And we need you to keep her occupied for a wee bit longer than expected.”

“Longer?” Lianna muttered, “You only have a -”

“Trust me, Anna,” George said with a grin.

“Where is she?”

“Upstairs,” replied the 17 year old, “Don’t let us down, love!”

“Yeah, yeah,” and the tall boy disapparted with another loud crack. Lianna stalked out of the room with something Hermione was certain were a string of swears beneath her breath. Ginny figured they were for her brothers but Lianna was only trying to kick herself.

Sure enough, just as George explained, Mrs. Weasley was humming happily upstairs as she bustled about her room. Lianna stood behind the door, a lie concocted on the spot but one she was certain would work flawlessly. It wasn’t moments later when Molly pulled the old wood open and to her surprise found the tall brunette peering down at her.

“Oh Lianna, dear, is everything alright?”

Lianna nodded, a soft smile across her plump lips, “Fine, I just was wondering if you had a moment. I needed to ask you something.”

“Of course, of course, come in, dear.”

So Lianna wandered into the small bedroom that had been covered in an abundance of colour from the handmade quilts and blankets. It looked quite cozy, Lianna determined, a rather large improvement to the dark area it once had been. Mrs. Black hadn’t been much for colour.

Lying through her teeth, Lianna relayed to Mrs. Weasley how she knew her mother had been on edge lately. She explained that she felt bad and somewhat at fault so she was wondering if there was anyway she’d be able to make a cake for her. Molly, who knew of the tradition Lianna shared with her mother, was delighted and agreed that Cheri would adore it. Lianna wasn’t so certain on that but asked if Molly could show her where everything was in the kitchen so she could sneak in early in the morning.

Mrs. Weasley thought that was a brilliant idea and because Cheri was busy sulking in her bedroom, it was also the perfect timing. The two moved from the bedroom and down to the first floor. As they past the room all three boys were lazily cleaning, the door creaked open. Lianna peered over her shoulder to see the twins grinning. With a quick wink, she hurried after the cheerfully plump woman already down half the stairs.

A loud crack sounded out the moment they reached the main floor.