Disclaimer: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Brothers, copyright 2001. All characters belong to the fabulous J K Rowling. There is no money being made from this. I hope she and WB don't mind I borrowed these wonderful characters for a while. They needed to spread their wings a bit.

A/N: This is a new story. I needed a small break from Tempest's Fury and that whole story. Let me know what you think of this one. Many thanks go to Amy for her great coaching and her choice of the title. And to Margherita for her kind words. She and Amy make a great beta team!!!

Broken Wings

Chapter One: The Dark Raid

The night was dark, filled with the screams from the many Muggles as they ran for their lives fleeing the hooded men and women who had invaded their small country fair.

It was the first time she had taken part in one of the raids and she didn't like what she saw. Six years earlier, she had been sorted into Slytherin and this was the first time she wondered if the Sorting Hat hadn't made some kind of grave mistake. Feeling somewhat sick, she watched as Muggles ran by, trying to get away from the evil people who were covered from head to toe in black. She saw the panic on their faces as the Death Eaters brandished their wands, sending showers of light in all directions causing the poor unfortunate people to drop in agony as they suffered the effects of the Cruciatis curse. When the twitching in their bodies' started to slow, the figures would shout out Avada Kedavra, but only after a suitable about of pain was inflicted, lest you think the Death Eaters had any shred of human decency in their black souls. Muggles were dropping like flies as the green light wound its way through the crowds, until there was no one left to stand and fight.

She stood and watched in horror as her own mother, a Death Eater since her own 16th birthday, stood over a frightened child of no more than six. "Crucio," she uttered, a smile of rapture filling her face.

As the child screamed in pain, writhing on the ground, she became physically ill as her mother finally released the curse and the child twitched, looking up at her with pleading eyes…

"Oi, Pricilla," yelled Lucius, "I have a young one over here and you know how much I like to share…"

"I'll be back in a moment, Pansy. Keep the curse going. When I come back, we can share in your first taste of blood," her mother said proudly, not seeing the disgust on her daughter's face.

When Pricilla returned, Pansy was standing, staring in disbelief as her mother started to scream at her.

"Pansy! How could you? The Master will not be pleased. There is an order… you know that. I should kill you right now, say you were killed in the fight," she growled, grabbing her daughter by the front of her robes. "But I won't, I'll do worse…. I'll leave you to the Aurors."

Pansy stood there staring at her mother in a daze, hatred filling her body as her mother continued to scream at her.

"Do you know what they do to Death Eaters?" Pricilla asked as she slapped Pansy hard across the face, stunning her. "It isn't very pretty and I am sure they will find you a tasty little morsel. By the time they finish interrogating you…you will wish I had killed you," her mother spat as she raised her wand to her daughter and callously whispering, "Stupefy."

Pansy fell to the ground with a thud, just as dozens of popping noises could be heard across the meadow.

Before her mother disapparated, she kicked Pansy hard in the side of the head, waving her wand over her daughters and muttering, "Dormious."

When Charlie Weasley apparated to the site with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, the silence of the meadow was deafening. It was like a vacuum, no wind, no air, only the smell of death as it lingered through the Muggles bodies as they lay in silence, their faces contorted in the silent scream.

When the clean up was nearly done, Charlie stumbled across the body of a young woman lying face down, who was covered in black robes, blood soaking the ground under her head. Squatting down beside her, Charlie called, "We have a live one here, Remus."

Remus quickly ran over, stooping down besides Charlie, gently moving the matted hair that covered her face. Remus paled, saying quietly, "I know her. This is Pansy Parkinson, she is in the same year as Harry and Ron, a Slytherin."

"So she is a Death Eater then? I didn't think they took them this young."

"Truth be told, Pansy is quite old to be now joining the Death Eaters. Of late, they have been recruiting them as young as fifteen. However, I don't think Pansy is one of them. I never believed that Pansy had the darkness in her. She was mean and nasty, yes, but there was a good quality I could see," Remus explained thoughtfully as he waved his wand over her prone body to awaken her.

"She is covered in dark magic. Someone doesn't want her to wake up anytime soon, but they don't want her dead either. I reckon she has fallen from favor and they wanted us to punish her, take care of her for them. We need to get her back to Hogwarts, wake her and find out what exactly happened," finished Remus urgently as he turned to look at Charlie. "Would you mind carrying her? The moon was full day before yesterday and I am still a bit weak."

"Not at all," Charlie replied. As he reached down and gathered Pansy into his arms, he noticed that her robe was torn across her back. Moving the material to cover her, he saw a number of crisscross marks marring her white skin. "Remus, look at this. Someone has tortured her," Charlie sneered in disgust.

"Then we must hurry and get her back to the school. They may change their minds and decide to come back and finish her off. I would expect Miss Parkinson has some information we may find more than useful," Remus explained nervously.

Charlie lifted her slight form into his arms and, with a pop, they were gone.

~~*~~

They arrived back at Hogwarts an hour later after a very tricky broom ride from Hogsmeade. Pansy was taken to the infirmary and put in Madame Pomfrey's care. She asked Remus to assist her since he was the DADA professor and there was apparent dark magic involved.

"It has been hours since you removed the sleeping curse from her, Remus. Why isn't she coming around?" Charlie asked impatiently.

"I don't know. Something really traumatic must have happened to cause her to stay in this sleeplike state. I don't like it," Remus sighed, wondering what Charlie was doing up in the infirmary. "So, what brings you back up here?"

"Albus sent me as your replacement as he doesn't want Miss Parkinson to wake up alone. She will have many questions and it could be horrifying to wake up in strange surroundings," Charlie related, noticing that Remus looked as if he were ready to drop from exhaustion.

"I brought up some of my lesson plans to work on."

"Lesson plans?" Remus asked in confusion.

"Yes, Hagrid sent an owl saying that he would be gone for the entire school year so Albus asked if I would take over his class," Charlie announced happily.

"Well, welcome to Hogwarts. I think you will do a wonderful job and, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. And with that, I believe I will see you in the morning," yawned Remus as he stood to leave.

"Thanks Remus," Charlie said as he settled in a chair next to Pansy's bed and started to read, "sleep well."

~~*~~

It was sometime in the middle of the night when Charlie realized he must have fallen asleep for he was awoken by a soft sobbing coming from the bed where Pansy lay sleeping.

"No, Mother, please. I promise I will try harder. Please don't hit me again," she wailed frantically, raising her hands to shield her head from imagined blows.

Charlie stood, leaning close to her bed, and softly called her name. "Pansy."

"Oh Daddy, make her stop," she cried as she flinging herself into a startled Charlie's arms. "Please Daddy…" she whimpered, holding on to him for dear life.

"Sshhh," cooed Charlie as he awkwardly stroked her hair, "She can't hurt you now. You're safe." Charlie immediately felt Pansy relax at his words and he lowered her back to the bed, tucking her in as he would a small child.

As he sat back down in the chair, his thoughts ran wild at what her mother had done to cause her such terror. Charlie felt sorry for the young woman, sitting there staring at her troubled face.

Sometime later that night, her nightmare surfaced once more and she started to whimper in her sleep.

"Just a baby…. My fault …"

Charlie stroked her hair again, causing the same calming effect and Pansy slept quietly through the rest of the night. At first light, she started to stir, moaning from the discomfort she felt.

When she opened her eyes, she started to panic. Not knowing where she was her breathing became rapid as she looked around the room in confusion. Noticing a movement form the corner of her eye, Pansy scrambled out of bed to get away from the man with red hair who was calling to her.

"Pansy, it's okay. You're safe," he said reassuringly, reaching out to catch her from falling as she stood, grabbing her head in agony.

With tears coursing down her cheeks, she cried miserably, "Who are you and where am I?"

"My name is Charlie Weasley. You are in the hospital wing at Hogwarts," he explained gently helping her back into the bed.

"Why am I here? What happened to me? And why is my head pounding so?" she asked fretfully, grabbing her head again as another pain shot through it.

"Time for that later. Let me get Madam Pomfrey so she can give you something for the pain."

But before Charlie could even finish the sentence, Madam Pomfrey was there, shooing him out of the room so she could tend to her patient. "You can use the hearth in my office to inform Albus that she is awake."

~~*~~

When Albus and Severus arrived, Pansy was resting comfortably in her bed, her face turned away from them.

"Miss Parkinson?" called Albus gently.

Pansy didn't acknowledge him.

"Miss Parkinson, you will show the headmaster respect," Severus said gently but firmly, causing Pansy to turn her head, tears streaming down her face.

"Miss Parkinson, can you tell us what happened in the meadow? Why you were there dressed as a Death Eater?" Albus queried tenderly, sitting on the chair next to Pansy's bed.

Sniffing slightly, she looked around the room nervously, choosing her words carefully.

"It was to be my first raid. My mother thought, since I was already 17 and hadn't become a Death Eater yet, that it was time to show my allegiance. She was 16 when she joined. I…I… I don't remember anything other than that."

Severus took her left arm and turning it looking for the Mark.

"They didn't mark me yet and I don't want to be… ever. I know they will kill me but it is better than what they want me to do," Pansy declared emphatically, turning her head again, dismissing the men.

"No one is going to kill you Pansy, I promise," Charlie called from the corner where he had been listening quietly.

Pansy turned and glared at Charlie. "How can you promise me that? You don't know these people. I will be dead before school starts. They will hunt me down, do unimaginable things to me and then they will kill me slowly," Pansy spat contemptuously. "Hhmmf, what would you know anyway, you are only a Wealsey."

"I would watch what I say Miss Parkinson, this Weasley was the one that brought you here to safety," Charlie snapped back.

Albus raised his hand to cease the conversation. "Rest assured, Miss Parkinson, you will be completely safe here at Hogwarts. You are well protected. Severus, Charlie, and I will ensure your safety as well as that of the rest of the staff. Please, all I ask is that you don't leave the grounds. I cannot offer you protection beyond Hogwart's walls," explained Albus cautiously.

"You would let me stay here? You would keep them from me, knowing that I was about to… join them?" Pansy asked, astonished that as nasty as she could be, someone could be nice to her.

"Pansy, I have known for a long time that you weren't cut out to be a Death Eater. We have had you under our protection for quite some time," confided Severus, speaking softly as he leaned forward in his chair.

"But I thought…"

"You thought I was a Death Eater?" Severus asked in anticipation of her question, continuing when she nodded, "I am, but I, like you, have had a change of heart. Just trust me when I say you are safe here. We have more than one that has turned to the light, so I caution, during the next school year, don't believe everything you see. .. Now, you look extremely tired. We will leave you to rest…"

"No… please… Don't leave me alone," she cried out, startling herself as well as the three men standing next to her bed.

Seeing the panic in her sad eyes, Charlie stepped forward. "I'll stay if you like, I have plenty of work I can do. That is, if you don't mind a Weasley staying," he offered facetiously. "Besides, all my papers are strewn over the next bed anyway."

"That's fine."

Madam Pomfrey sidled up with a breakfast tray, placing it on the table adjacent to Pansy's bed.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry, I…"

"You will eat if you plan on leaving this room anytime in the near future, young lady. You are entirely too thin," Madam Pomfrey scolded gently.

"I would try if I were you," quipped Albus, "Poppy has a talent for getting her way. You don't have to eat it all, just a good portion. Please."

"I'll try, Sir," Pansy relented.

Clapping his hands in satisfaction, Albus turned to Severus and said, "We have much to discuss, Severus. Shall we?"

"Yes, Headmaster."

Pansy ate most of the offering in silence as she watched Charlie organize the papers on the other bed.

Feeling sleepy, she snuggled down in the covers and drifted off to sleep…

The ground turned red like a river of blood, people cried out in agony as the hooded figures swooped down on them. She stood there staring, not helping, not moving. Then she heard the cries of a child. "Why did you let her torture me like that? Why? I hate you. How could you do that to me? I am going to haunt your dreams for eternity because you could have helped me and you didn't. I am coming for you. I will tell them where you are… you will get yours…"

Pansy bolted from the bed, screaming at the top of her lungs and trying to get out of the reach of the arms holding her, the arms taking her to her death…

"Please… help me…someone help me…"

The strong arms only held her tighter as she continued to scream. "Pansy," came that soothing voice that had helped her last night. "Pansy, you're safe, it was a dream. Pansy…"

As Charlie started stroking her hair again, Pansy relaxed in his arms into a dead faint.

Charlie scooped her up, placing her gently on the bed as Madam Pomfrey came running from her quarters carrying a vial of potion to help her calm down.

"What happened?" she asked Charlie as she examined Pansy's still form.

"She fell asleep minutes ago and started screaming… my God… what did these people do to her?" he asked, looking at her legs as her gown had wound up around her thighs, making more scars like those on her back visible to him.

Poppy noticed where Charlie was staring. "This poor child has been tortured by magic for many years. I tried to heal them but some magical scars can't be healed. I am afraid that she will carry these for life," Poppy explained sadly to Charlie, waving her wand to bring Pansy around.

Her eyes flew open suddenly as the dream came back to her. Placing her hands over her face again, Pansy sobbed heavily, causing her stomach to turn and she lost her breakfast in waves.

"Charlie, why don't you go to the kitchens and get some chamomile tea while I clean Miss Parkinson up a bit. Maybe some dry toast as well. It should help her stomach," commanded Madam Pomfrey as she led a shaking Pansy to the bathroom.

When Charlie returned, Pansy was in a clean bed, looking pale and tired. She turned away when Charlie placed the tray down on the table.

She said nothing when Poppy coerced her to take the toast and sip the tea slowly. When she was finished, Madam Pomfrey handed her a vial.

"This is a dreamless sleeping draught; it will relax you and you will have no dreams as you sleep."

Taking the vial, Pansy drained it like she was told and immediately started to get sleepy. As she lay back on her pillows, she was tucked in by the matron and was asleep instantly.

Over the next few days, Pansy made very little improvement. Every night she was given the dreamless sleeping draught and by day, she sat reading or just stared out the window only speaking when spoken to, never leaving the security of the hospital wing.

Severus came to talk to her on more than one occasion but she barely answered his questions.

~~*~~

"Something happened to her and she won't discuss it, or rather can't," Severus said worriedly to Charlie and Albus one morning about a week after Pansy's arrival. "I have tried to talk to her… to get her to tell me what happened but she told me that she doesn't remember. It comes in her nightmares but once she is awake, it is gone. It's an old piece of dark magic, used to torture someone you want to go mad. It's a slow and agonizing curse. The counter curse is unique to the person it is attached to. She is holding on to something in her subconscious, something she won't let go of. We need to know what that is, if we are going to be able to help her get on with her life," surmised Severus, looking to Albus for advice as Charlie annoyingly paced the room.

"She has broken wings," relayed Charlie, getting a strange look from Severus.

Dumbledore smiled as Charlie started to explain.

"That's what my Mum calls it when something happens and we are wounded emotionally. Like when Cedric Diggory died. Harry had broken wings. When Ginny came home from her first year. Mum said she had broken wings. Same with Pansy. She's afraid. You are right about Pansy needing to talk but she needs a friend or someone close to her age to help her through this trauma. Ginny helped Harry by just being a friend and talking to him. Ginny was helped by us not coddling her but not condemning her either. That is what Pansy needs, not potions," Charlie finished his explanation, sitting back down in the chair across form Severus.

"Well, all of her friends are currently in Death Eater training," Severus snapped sarcastically, annoyed that he had been unable to help the young woman and at the younger man's insinuation that his efforts were not needed.

"I could try, that is if she will let a Weasley help her," announced Charlie. "I was there when she had that first nightmare. I heard her screams, her pleading. Maybe I can use the dragons to get her to open up. I know from Hagrid that she got on well with the unicorns and some of the other more interesting creatures. Maybe the dragons will help her somehow?. They are magical you know," Charlie added, looking to Dumbledore for approval.

"Yes, I think you may have a way here to get through to her, Charlie. However, go slow. She is very delicate right now and she needs to heal physically too. Maybe you could ask her for some assistance in your lesson plans. Ask her what she thinks would interest her classmates. Get to know her," Albus suggested as he turned to Severus, looking deep inside him and knowing that he wanted to be the one to save her, "and just maybe, by the time school starts, Pansy will be feeling better after talking with Charlie. That is what Pansy needs, Severus, not potions. They help her, yes, but she can't keep taking them. Eventually she will have to learn to sleep again on her own. The potions do more harm than good in the long run," Albus said gently to his Potions Master, trying to comfort him with words. "Severus, do you have any suggestions for Charlie before he starts his task?" he stated Severus sincerely.

"Just to be careful. We don't know what kind, if any, hexes she could be carrying to keep information concealed in her. While they may not have had time to cast any. They could cause her to react unpredictably or also physical reactions to certain unknown stimuli. Good luck Charlie, she is a special young woman and will be a great asset to the Order," declared Severus, standing up to leave.

"Severus, thanks for the advice. If anything comes up that I can't handle, you will be the first to know," Charlie said as Severus waved his hand in acceptance before walking out the door.

"Pansy is special to him, Charlie. She is of his house and he feels responsibility for her welfare now that her parents are lost to her," Albus illustrated as he walked Charlie to the door. "Good luck, son."

"Thank you, Sir."

~~~*~~~

It was right after lunch that Charlie went to the infirmary to try to talk Pansy into accompanying him for a walk about the grounds. After a lot of persuasion, Pansy agreed.

She walked quietly next to Charlie as he led her out onto the grounds on a gloomy July day. He talked to her about some of the creatures he had learned about while he was at Hogwarts. Pansy nodded now and then with small comments but only when asked a question. They stopped for a while near the lake, resting before they headed back. Charlie realized Pansy was getting tired because she was started walking slower. On their way back, Charlie finally asked her, "Are you sleeping any better?"

"Yes."

"The potions are still doing their job?" he asked, looking critically at her again.

Pansy nodded softly as they walked. "Sorry I wasn't much company. I don't have much to say lately," she said quietly.

"That's okay. You know if you ever feel like talking I will listen," he assured her.

"I know. Thanks."

"Want some company for a while?" Charlie asked as they reached the hospital wing, knowing what she was going to say but felt he needed to ask anyway.

"No, I am tired."

"Well, maybe tomorrow we could walk a little further. Would that be all right?"

"I guess."

"After breakfast then. See you tomorrow," he said, wishing he could get her to open up but knowing it was only his first try.

Over the next few days, every morning, Charlie and Pansy would take a walk, every day going a little further, and each day she would talk just a little more.

After about a week, Charlie thought he would give her a treat.

As they reached the spot far from the school on the other side of the Quidditch pitch, Pansy gasped as she saw the dragons for the first time. They were babies, only about 8 feet tall, but they were beautiful.

She stood back in amazement, looking at them in awe as she turned to Charlie, a fire he had never seen, sparkling in her eyes.

"They are gorgeous. Oh, when did you get them?" she asked excitedly.

He smiled and started to explain. "I was a dragon keeper in Romania before Professor Dumbledore asked me to come here to take over Care of Magical Creatures class for Hagrid during his sabbatical."

She looked at him in shock, "You are going to be our Professor?" she asked somewhat astonished.

"Yep, just for next year, and I was hoping that maybe over what is left of the summer, such that it is, you would help me to choose the best creatures to present. Of course, a lot of the year will be devoted to learning the care of various types of dragons, before they grow too large. I also want to do more on some of the more magical and mystical creatures such as Unicorns, Winged Horses, and the like. Is there anyway I could convince you to be my assistant of sorts, to help me prepare for these creatures? Hagrid told me that you had a knack for some of the more interesting ones. Do you think you could help me?" he asked, giving her his most charming smile.

Her face fell as she lapsed into silence again.

"Pansy, what's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to place his hand gently on her arm.

"Are you sure you want me near you? I am a walking target. Besides, your brother Ron hates me and I am sure he would want to help you. He knows a lot about dragons already," she said quietly as she stood there, tears welling up, for no reason, in her clear blue eyes.

"If I wanted that git's help, I would have asked him."

This comment made Pansy smile. "So you think he can be one too?"

"Hey, at least you never had to share a house with him, he can be… well Ron," Charlie chuckled, seeing Pansy try to stifle a giggle. It didn't work, the giggle burst forth as she covered her mouth.

"You have a great laugh," Charlie said, the tips of his ears turning slightly pink.

"Thanks. And yes I will help where I can, even if I am lousy company sometimes."

"Aren't we all?" Charlie asked, bringing another smile to her lips.

"Yep, I guess we are."