** this is a fanfic of a fanfic... lol head trama... running in the HP universe of "Adopted by the Darkness", I took such a liking to some of the characters my mind created this... Much of it is creation of mentioned but not explored other regions of the HP universe. **

AN: In keeping with "Adopted by the dark" there is Yoai implied, NO detail and NO MINOR as Ashe is in fact an adult that looks young teen. You have been warned, if this implication bothers you, please do not read (or skip that part).

- I do not own Harry Potter, that universe or any of the characters there in. -

Chapter 10 – Late Nights

Alek sat in his makeshift study, of the tent that the gamily shared at the tournament. The rest of the family had long ago gone to bed, however the question surrounding Astrid, or the Valkyrie girl, kept him from sleep. They troubled him so, that he had gotten up to review what he had found about the girl. It was not encouraging.

To compound the sparse records, there was the business of her having a double image. Worse still, most did not seem to notice or register this fact. He'd asked both Rachael and Ashe about her, what they saw and their impressions of her. Their responses were much like Antonio, she was brilliant and beautiful. It bothered him greatly. Was it to try to charm his boys or involuntary? Why did none remember the mousy girl? None even could recall the change happening.

These questions had him poring over books and spells, trying to determine if she had used a spell. Regardless of the source, it was dangerous. Uncontrolled magic, especially at her age, was most worrisome and generally lethal. He needed to know much more before he wanted his sons near her. To complicate matters further was that slicer of light he'd felt bounded to her.

Getting her name had been a rather simple matter, he'd thought is would have been far more difficult, which was encouraging. Sure the belief of power sharing or taking was a factor, but it seemed more than that. Part of him felt that she considered that no more her name than Valkyrie had been, but that was another matter to look into. The records he had found on Harold Hrafnsmál, Astrid's father, were not much help. The last record was over 15 years ago, the family had gone missing, and no records of Astrid were present between birth and the time she started school.

This was likely a result of her being raised by trolls. Of all dark creature's, trolls. He shook his head. Those foul smelling beast, even by his standard they were uncivilized. Though he admitted that she was rather well spoken considering. He pondered on resources that he could contact to gather further information.

"Alek come to bed." Ashe beseeched sleepily. "The problem will be there in the morning."

"That is part of the worry." He sighed. "I have more questions about her than answers." He leaned into the other's embrace. "One of the more troubling things is that none of you noticed her change. You, of all of them, should have been aware of it." Alek raked his fingers threw his hair. "The light bound to her soul is worrisome in no small part, that art was lost centuries ago." Ashe nuzzled in close.

"I told you before, we will let nothing happen to your young." Came a whispered promise. "Now come to bed. You can do nothing about this further tonight. Leave it. Come back with fresh eyes in the morning. We will find the answers. Worse case, we can be rid of her."

Alek chuckled at that. "Given the way Lucius talks about her, and looks at her, I'm not sure that is an option either."

It was common for coaches and players of age to go for a drink after the game. A show of good sportsmanship. The first round bought by the winning team, to help ease the pain of defeat. While Asrid preferred to leave this to Professor Leifson, he had told her that she needed to socialize more. As he was her advisor, she was obliged to agree. So here she was, buying drinks.

Most of the people talked around her. She was used to it, actually preferred it. Astrid was shy in crowded places, and preferred to watch people rather than interact. Human interaction still confused her, troll-kin much more direct and straightforward. She did not like the misdirection, and subtly of human behaviour.

In the social group that had formed about her, there was some of the family of the players. A red-headed man was speaking in English to the female chaperone from Circopolos, "Actually, I'm here with a friend from work. We were studying Dragon's in Romania with Professor Carlson." He took a drink. "We are on hiatus while he applies to the government for extended permits."

This caught Astrid's interest. "Excuse me sir, did you say Prof. Carlson?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" He smiled pleasantly. While his interest was on the Grecian witch, she seemed pleasant enough. The dark-haired statuesque Grecian, was far more beautiful, but talking about his work might gain him more favour.

"Would that be the same Prof Carlson that discovered and penned the paper on the Dragon's symbiotic relationship with trolls?" Astrid asked, trying to contain her excitement.

"Yes. That is why he's applying for more permits. His theory has caused much controversy." Charlie smiled at her. However, his eyes tried to catch the Grecian, noting that she seemed interested in this. "I was on the team that discovered and started the study."

"Wonderful!" Astrid smiled. "Might I be able to pick your brain sometime? I am working on my thesis regarding Dark Creatures, and any further detail regarding this would be of great assistance."

"Sure." It seemed the Englishman was loving that he had two beautiful witches full attention on him. Strange that he had not noticed how pretty this witch was before now. However, he was not about to turn down a good thing. In fact the more he discussed the troll/dragon relation, the less interested he became in the Grecian.

"At first, we thought that the trolls were stealing the eggs of the Romanian Longhorn, but we watched them tending them. It seemed that the Longhorn would protect the troll from other predators and even bring food in for them. Seems that the cooking food off their horns is done to share with the young and troll minding them." Charlie related. "We don't know if this is isolated or not, but the easy in which the wizards have had removing the eggs seems to suggest that it is common."

"You surely don't think that trolls are smart enough to do this?" The Grecian witch asked. She pressed herself closer to the red-head. To her credit, Astrid did not react. Charlie gazed at the flirtatious witch.

"Don't know yet." Charlie shrugged. "This behaviour is in their interest. As to the origin of it, that is a dispute best left until after it can be proven that it is common practice." He looked back to Astrid, "If you are that interested, you could always apply to intern with Prof. Carlson." He laughed warmly. Astrid blushed shyly.

Ashe, as appearing too young to be allowed in the bar area, bought some none alchololic drinks to take back to the clan. Alek had been spending much of his time contacting people regarding the mysterious Valkyrie, or rather Astrid. Getting his drinks and thanking the serving-witch he gathered the drinks to go, when he was stopped by the exaggerated laughter of a witch.

He looked over to see if the wizard that laugh was directed at was foolish enough to fall for such blatant false praise. Finding the wizard easily by the smug grin, Ashe was betting, yes, he was believing her. Then his eyes fell on Astrid/Valkyrie. Was that her laugh?

Was she flirting with the red-headed wizard? She definitely seemed to be interested in what he was saying. It seemed that she and the Grecian witch were competing for the man's attention!

Ashe had to relay this to Alek, as if he needed more reason to want the boys to stay away from her. If Lucius saw this it would break his heart, or send him into a frenzy. He took the drinks back to the family. As Alek was rather busy with the boys, he could not get to speak to him alone. So he dropped the drinks off, claiming that he had forgotten something he went back to talk to the little witch.

Ashe wanted to see if he could get more information. Shifting to look older, He returned to the pub tent. Ashe found her leaving the pub area. "Leaving alone?" He asked.

"Pardon?" She turned to him. Her gaze went from head to foot and back in the blink of an eye, assessing threat. Fine with him, most everyone would underestimate him. "Do I know you?"

"Ashe, I'm with the Sharp family." He stated calmly.

"I see." Her body was still tense, as if expecting attack. Her defences up, and though no wand in hand, Ashe did not doubt that a spell was readied for quick cast. Then her head turned, reminiscent of a raven. "You are fylgia (1) to the patriarch, Mr. Alek Sharp."

Ashe's eyes narrowed. "What did you call me?" He asked, after all it was rare something mystical (which it sounded) was new to him after all this time. "You have much nerve flirting like that."

"Flirt? Me? What are you talking about?" She sounded just as confused as he had been a moment ago.

"The red-head," Ashe stated.

"I need not defend my actions to you." She returned. "My business is mine alone." Her confidence seemed to wrap in layers around herself like a cloak. It was then that Ashe saw it. The double image. Mousy, forgettable one moment. Radiant, glorious the next. Was that what Alek had seen?

Ashe tried to focus of the flickering. There was power surging from her, colour reflecting in her eyes telling of her mood. A deep breath and it settled back to before. "I'm leaving." She stated, sounding small but firm. "Good day."

Ashe watches her. There is a definite feeling that she is retreating, running away from him. Strange, he showed no power off to her. Was that display intentional? Was he not supposed to see it? He would discuss this and the red-head with Alek. Alek was protective of his sons, and so Ashe was as well.

"Alek, I saw the double image you mentioned." Ashe told him. Alek looked up from the stack of scrolls on his desk in front of him. He had brought much of the gathered information on the candidates to review, once he had her name. "You have spent all day looking for clues, are you any closer?"

"Not really. Tell me what you saw." Alek asked sitting straight up. Running a hand frustrated in his hair. Ashe smirked and moved closer. He thought Alek's messed hair endearing. Alek snaked an arm to pull the apparent-teen close to him, as Ashe recounted his observations and meeting with Astrid.

"Flickered you say?" Alek pondered.

"Yes, and the colour of her eyes changed. In waves." Ashe replied. "I have a guess, but you will not like it." The father looked at his friend, the spirit was old, much older that the face by a century or so.

"What does your vast mystic knowledge tell you?" Alek sighed. Sometimes, Ashe played game starting this way, to tell him he was worried needlessly for the boys.

"She is a child of light." Both men stilled at this.

"How do you mean?" Alek ask carefully.

"Just as you are a son of the dark, holding a piece in you." Ashe said calmly. "I think she holds a piece of light in her." Alek looked in thought. Ashe continued his argument. "The attraction that Antonio and more specifically Lucius felt was magnetic, quite literally. Opposite poles attract sudden and strongly." Alek nodded as if conceding. "Lucius likes colour, there is colour in her eyes, as if a rainbow was trapped."

"Or the northern lights." Alek joked. This lead to a paused mussing. Then softly he continued. "Ashe a light barer has not been seen for a millennium. Not since the brothers fought. And the knowledge of joining was lost with him. Such is not possible. The girl was raised by trolls. Trolls! They don't even have language, where would she have come by such knowledge? Such an idea is ridiculous!"

"Can you think of a better idea?" Ashe sighed. "I told you that you wouldn't like it. I don't want it to be true, but I can think of no reason that Lucius would be so compulsive toward her."

"It's Lucius, compulsive behaviour is not unusual." Alek sighed. "But he has stayed lucid longer than I thought possible because of that girl."

"That in itself worries you?"

"Yes," Alek sighed. "The longer the madness is kept back the worse I fear his next snap will be. His insanity will not be held back indefinitely."

"You know that calming effect only supports the theory of her being a light-barer?" Ashe's question was rhetorical. Alek suddenly seemed weighted.

"I was really hoping that you were going to tell me that I was over reacting." Alek confessed as he buried his face against Ashe's neck.

"You wouldn't want me to lie to you?" Ashe smiled, petting the elder's hair. "On the upside, it does not appear that she means them harm."

"You said you saw uncontrolled magic." Alek countered pulling his head back to meet Ashe's eyes. "And if she is sourced from the light, she may not mean to, but it will be deadly nevertheless."

"So, what do you wish to do about her?" Alek sighed, and shook his head. That was the question.

The Beaubaxion/Durmstang game was set to start ten that morning. It was not so early to rush the players, but gave a good amount of daylight for the game. The family gathered in the stands, arriving early to get for prime seats. Rachael was on chaperoning duty for Harry and Veritus. Ashe stayed close and helped Alek with research, but they would not miss Lucius game.

Lucius scanned the crowd looking for his father and perhaps his Valkyrie. Antonio grabbed him. "Why are we here?" The elder demanded.

"To play the game." Lucius rolled his eyes. "Yes, I remember. But I can still look, can't I? The game hasn't started yet."

"Fine, but focus on the game, or I will pull you." Antonio promised. "You wouldn't want me to do that with father watching." Lucius growled at him.

"I'm not a child," His voiced hissed. "I remember why we are here, now leave me be." He pulled away and rejoined the team. Antonio was worried. Lucius had started to hum with energy, energy that frequently happened on the other side of pranks. Had they been at home, Antonio would have warned Father. However, it was unusual to have warning this way, Lucius generally just went (or stayed) insane.

He wondered if it would bode better or worse if Valkyrie, or rather Astrid, came to watch the game or not. Which was more likely to distract Lucius? Some small part of Antonio wished to see Astrid there too. He was rather fond of the spirited discussions they had. Antonio even liked the way she made Lucius smile.

Play kicked off. Both teams strong. The defence stronger on Durmstang, but the quaffle handling was being dominated by Beuabaxeon. The Seekers were off, swooping and diving off the main pitch.

The Durmstang Keeper was making a valiant effort to stop the barrage of shots. Percentage wise he was doing well, block about three quarter of the shots. However, the points were still beginning to climb in favour of the French. The Durmstang Chasers were working hard, and fortunately the French Keeper, was not as good as their own. Still, just over half their shots were good. While this prevented the lead from getting too great, it was creeping.

It became clear to the German team, their only hope of winning would be Krum. They knew that they could not hold against this for too long. However, into the second hour, it was obvious that the French team was getting fatigued. Apparently they did not have the stamina of the Germans. The French Beaters, were jellied arms. The Durmstang Beater far stronger, they'd practiced for a whole weekend with weights on.

After six hours, the Seekers were still nowhere in sight of the main pitch game. Although they would hear commentary about what was happening with them. The weather was warmer than Lucius preferred, but it was not unbearable. Six hours in, the sun was setting, and the Germans were gaining a slight advantage, as the French seemed to feel in more.

However, both teams soldiered on. Neither willing to give quarter. Despite the prolonged game, the crowd, if anything, grew as it went on. Although, most of the players did not notice, they were focused on the game. The score was high, but not far enough apart to be one sided. Either side could easily win, it would only take a single mistake. The French settled into a more tactical game as they fatigued. The Germans, taking advantage of their power, to maximize each surge they made.

Around nine that night the snitch was caught. It was a spectacular diving by Krum. He was fearless, a vertical dive at a speed, that none believed he'd be able to pull out of. There was a rubble and dust sprayed into the sky, blocking the young player from view. Then Krum emerged from the cloud so close to the ground that his foot was touching.

The entire audience was on their feet cheering.

Krum, did a lap around the field, it wasn't really to show off, it was mainly to slow down. The truth was that it was only when he landed, that he heard that great cheer. He looked up at the stands, in shock and awe. They were all cheering his name.

Lucius clapped him on the back, "Brilliant catch." He praised. Krum was still in a bit of shock. The reaction was strange. Usually at least half of the crowd would be quiet, not this.

"Who won?" Krum asked confused. He was being patted and jostled around. Cheers roared in his ears. Both teams giving him praise and tagging him.

"We did." Lucius laughed. "But nobody cares, because that was amazing." His voice seemed to carry under the din of the chaos around Krum. Krum smiled and raised his fist triumphantly, showing the snitch. A roar went up, deafening.

Lucius smiled, they would stay and play his Valkyrie; he was content.

***Author Notes:

1. Fylgia – literally "someone that accompanies," (plural fylgjur) - is a supernatural being or creature which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune. Fylgjur usually appear in the form of an animal and commonly appear during sleep, but the sagas relate that they could appear while a person is awake as well, and that seeing one's fylgja is an omen of one's impending death. However, when fylgjur appear in the form of women, they are then supposedly guardian spirits for people or clans