Disclaimer: All characters and places from Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. Only those you don't recognise are mine.
Pairing: Draco Malfoy / OC
Rating: M (for future chapters)
Summary: We know everything about magic in the new world. We know, then, that magic exists. What we don't know is how does magic work beyond what we already know about it. What could happen if a new Dark Lord discovers how powerful magic can be outside the established limits?
Author's notes:
First of all, English is not my native language (I'm Spanish) and this piece is un-beta'ed, so any mistakes you find (and I'm pretty sure you'll find more than one) are completely mine. I don't know how this whole beta thing works, so if any of you could kindly explain it to me (or volunteer as a beta lol) I'd really appreciate it.
I've been writing (I'm still doing it) this story for almost a year in Spanish, but just for the sake of practicing my English skills, I decided to translate it to English. I have only translated this chapter so far, and I'm not sure if I'll translate more -it all depends on your reviews-. I know Draco/OC pairings are not common, but I'm changing enough things in the HP universe and I didn't want to completely change one character's history and personality too, so I created my own character(s).
SAHANI (noun)
Aboriginal name from Australia that means "star".
PROLOGUE
CIRCINUS
December 1980. Falkland House School, Falkland (Scotland)
It was a particularly cold December night when Nerida and Bearchan Circinus walked through the vast grounds of Falkland in icy silence; you could perfectly see the mist going out of their mouths with every breath they took, slowly dancing and disappearing in the darkness of the night sky.
Mrs Circinus carried a small bulge in her arms, hidden under her thick robes, protecting it from the cold. Silent tears decorated her cheeks, caused both because of the freezing wind hitting her face and because of the decision they had made. Her husband, Mr Circinus, walked a few steps behind her, his face impassive except for his eyes, darkened by the pain: pain for his wife, for him, but above all, pain for what they had to do in order to protect what they loved the most.
After a few minutes walking in a silence in which you could only hear their footsteps crushing the wet grass, a smaller version of Hogwarts appeared after their eyes. The building consisted of three floors with two small towers on each side, and large windows on the front side of the second and third floors. As it was late, only the ground floor lights remained on – probably because they were waiting for them.
"This is the best option we have, Nerida"Mr Circinus broke the silence, noticing his wife had stopped walking and was protectively holding the bulge under her robes, whispering sweet words in another language ". This is the only option we have if we want to avoid a disaster."
"Is it? "Mrs Circinus voice was tainted with the pain her heart was suffering "Is it really the only option, Bear? Because my heart is telling me that this is not a good idea, it's not going to work."
"Possum*" Mr Circinus sighed and hugged his wife ", you cannot think with your heart in a war. The enemy never does, they have no mercy. We already talked about this. Plus, Dumbledore said this is the safest place to do what we must do."
"Dumbledore is not always right…" she muttered starting to walk once again. Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards of the age and a wise man; she admired him but that didn't mean that the man could dictate their future or the decisions she or her family had to make.
When they reached the impressive wooden door at the castle entrance, they didn't have to knock. A small woman with strange facial features opened the door and invited them in with a warm smile. That woman was no other than Miss Effie McCann, the Headmistress of the place. Her age was not easily guessed as she was the bastard daughter of a human and an elf – that explained her weird appearance: her eyes were big and round, her face looked childish even though it was covered in wrinkles, and she wasn't taller than a ten year old kid.
"Good night, Mr and Mrs Circinus. I hope you didn't find much trouble trying to get here. For security reasons portkeys can't be used on the castle grounds."
Her voice was eerie, high pitched, but it had a relaxing effect. It inspired trust and that, somehow, calmed Nerida Circinus' heart.
"It was just a couple of miles. Dumbledore gave us the right directions to get here easily."
"Brilliant" Miss Effie smiled again ". Please, come in. This way" she guided them inside the castle "Can I offer you a cup of tea?"
Mr and Mrs Circinus nodded and followed Miss Effie through a long aisle, walking in silence until they reached a warm office where an already hot teapot was waiting for them. They sat in a comfy deep red sofa, placed right next to the fireplace; Mrs Circinus locked her gaze in the changing colours of the flames.
"All the documents are prepared; we only need you to sign them and give her to us so you can go. In my experience, it's better if you do it quickly to avoid the suffering"
After hearing those words, Nerida and Bearchan looked at each other, the pain deforming their faces and the doubts surrounding their hearts. It wasn't easy for any of them. Mr Circinus looked again at Miss Effie and took the documents that were waiting for them in the small coffee table in front of them. While he was reading the documents, Mrs Circinus opened her robes to look at what was hidden underneath them.
A beautiful girl that was a little older than a year laid in her arms, wrapped in several flannel cloths protecting her from the cold. The girl had cinnamon skin, probably because both of her parents had tanned skin. Adorning her neck there was a silver pendant with her family's emblem on one side and a beautiful 'S' formed with small pearls on the other side. The little girl woke up, opening her eyes to look at her mother with the intensity and adoration that only babies can have. Her eyes were the only thing she had different from her parents; a pair of intense green eyes that reminded of the fresh grass in spring. A pair of green eyes that could be seen even in the darkest of nights, and those eyes were the main reason why the Circinus family had made such a harsh decision. Mrs Circinus smiled, causing an even bigger smile in the little girl's face.
"This is not permanent" Miss Effie's sweet voice made her raise her eyes "This is temporary, according to what Dumbledore told me. Just until the end of the war, and the stars tell me that will be sooner than we think"
Mrs Circinus nodded, looking at her beautiful child again. They had been together for just a year and a half, and they had to be separated. It was needed, though. Dumbledore finally knew how to defeat the Dark Lord, and he needed all the Order members helping him. The only other Order members with children were Potter and Longbottom; both families had just been parents for the first time and couldn't stay away from their babies, so the number of active members in the Order was considerably smaller.
Mr and Mrs Circinus had to make a very important and difficult decision: parting ways with their beloved daughter so they could end with any danger in their child's future. They finally did it when a few weeks earlier they discovered that she was the bearer: when their daughter's eyes started to shine with more intensity. If the Dark Lord ever discovered what her eyes meant, he would, without a doubt, hurt her. They had to protect her.
Miss Effie offered her arms, so they gave her the baby. The moment Mrs Circinus let go of her daughter, she turned and throw herself into the open arms of her husband, her heart already broken.
August 1981. Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
Each passing day they were closer to defeating Voldemort and that fact was the only thing that kept the Circinus family fighting. They had to fight so they wouldn't be away from the thing they loved the most in the world. The sooner they put an end to Voldemort, the sooner they would see their daughter again.
But that hot August evening everything changed: they stopped caring about how far the end of the war was. Nothing mattered for them anymore.
They were at the headquarters of the Order with Regulus, the youngest of the Black brothers, when they saw an unknown owl on the window carrying a letter. Regulus picked it up and knew that the content of the letter was bad news. Mr Circinus opened the letter with trembling hands and started reading it out loud:
Dear Mr and Mrs Circinus,
With great regret I must inform you of the tragic news that have broken our hearts.
A few months ago, Dragon pox reached the school walls, and most of us have fallen ill. Sadly, many weren't strong enough to fight the disease – among those, the former Headmistress, Miss Effie McCann.
Your daughter fought the Dragon pox but we lost her last night. The school healers tried to save her to no avail.
According to the school's rules of Health, her body has been burned to avoid the spread of the disease. We'll get in touch again in a few days to deliver to you your daughter's belongings as well as her ashes.
Please, accept our condolences.
Miss Anne Flinn,
Headmistress of Falkland House School.
Mr Circinus wasn't able to read the whole letter, and Regulus had to do it instead. When he finished, he raised his eyes to look at the young couple crying silently. They couldn't even say goodbye to their daughter.
Regulus didn't understand what had happened – something wasn't right – so he spent the following months investigating and re-reading the contract that Bearchan had signed when they left their little girl at the school. He discovered that there was a chance that the letter was partially fake, but neither Nerida nor Bearchan wanted to listen to him, not even when he highlighted a fact that should have raised their brows.
"Regulus, I understand you're trying to make things right after your little adventure with the Dark Lord, and we really appreciate how worried you are about our happiness" said Bearchan one day, tired of the insistence of Regulus "But you need to let it go. That's what we are trying to do. She's gone. She's…. dead."
"But Bear, you need to listen to this. Your contract said that if your daughter got ill you'd be immediately inform…"
"Regulus…"
"No!" he stood up"Listen to me for a minute, please. Don't you think it's weird that the family pendant wasn't between your daughter's belongings?"
Bearchan raised his eyebrows, surprised. It was weird indeed…
"Stop it, Regulus!" Nerida almost screamed "That's enough. I'm begging you, stop talking about it. Please."
Regulus Black had no option but to obey, as the last thing he wanted was the suffering of the people that forgave all his sins. They forgave the fact that he used to be on the other side of the war, blinded by the lies of her cousin, by the pureblood ideology that run in his family, by the jealousy for his older brother.
He wanted to do something good at least once in his life, and even though he knew that telling the Order how to defeat Voldemort was a nice start, he still felt a hole in his heart; a hole he needed to fill so the darkness within him was completely gone. And in that moment, he knew how to do it.
In that moment, Regulus Black decided that even if it was the last thing he did in his life, he would discover the truth about Circinus' daughter, because he knew that they needed the truth. He had needed it.
*Possum – an Australian term of endearment
I hope you enjoyed reading it! Feel free to leave a review with your opinion! :)