Still don't own Harry Potter or the characters.
Thanks to my reviewers! It gives me warm fuzzies. To everyone else, please review!
"I never thought I'd feel anything so wonderful as a pair of shoes," Danielle sighed as she slipped on a pair of Ginny's Muggle sneakers. They fit just perfectly and she rolled her ankles around to enjoy the sensation. "Or legs for that matter."
Ginny chuckled. "So what was it like? Being with them?"
Dani pulled her head through one of Harry's sweaters and thought hard about Ginny's question. Sliding her arms into the sleeves she started, "You guys don't know what it's like to be an animagus—yet, I'm sure—but when you become an animal, you have the luxury of also gaining their beastly mind. Merpeople, technically, aren't a creature you can transform into using an animagus. But there are other ways."
"Polyjuice potion," Hermione supplied. She shuddered involuntarily at her experience with the substance. "But polyjuice potion is only for human-to-human."
Dani smiled at the brilliant girl and lifted the bottom edge of her sweater and tee-shirt revealing her upper hip and stomach where bluish-green scales took the place of pale peach skin. "I know. I need to see Madame Pomfrey still." She pulled her tops back down and smiled mischievously at the quartet. "Remind me to stay away from Crookshanks for a bit." She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and let the long, brown tresses cascade down her back in soft curls. "I missed my hair too. It's weird to wake up with teal hair floating about you." She paused, her eyebrows arching as if surprised and then she laughed a tinkling sound almost like bells. "I'll never forget that first night the rest of my life. I kept thinking the potion would wear off and I'd drown in my sleep. Well, what little sleep I got. But the good thing about a human-to-nonhuman transfer? It sticks a tad longer than an hour."
Ron smirked at the memory of someone's lingering tail, nudging Hermione slightly with his shoulder to which she promptly slugged him in the thigh in reply.
"So what were you doing? Why infiltrate the merpeople? Doesn't Dumbledore have a good relationship with them," Harry asked.
Nodding, she responded, "Yes, but those are Selkies. I went to the Sirens in Greece which don't particularly care for human contact. You know, there are some magics in this world that we can't even begin to comprehend yet affect us to our very core."
"Like love," Harry said vacantly, staring at a nail in the floorboard.
"Yes Harry. Like love. The Sirens have a strong, ancient magic that Prof--," she paused, her ears perked a bit and she smiled, "you know what? It's really rather boring. And I think that Mrs. Weasley's expecting you all for breakfast."
The teenagers groaned but she shooed them all from the room with a chortle and a promise to tell them all her secrets later. At the moment, there was a more pressing matter to attend to.
"How long are you going to stand out there eavesdropping?" She asked, watching the open doorway for the figure to reveal himself. When his smirking face came into view, she turned and finished dressing to keep her smile hidden from the intruder.
"You lied to the kids," he said, all traces of having spoken with her the night before gone.
"How so?" she asked innocently, slipping her arms into her robes. Searching for her wand, she stepped over to the bureau next to Sirius, invading his personal space.
"You said an animagus couldn't be a merperson. As far as I can tell, a merperson is the perfect animagus. Which means, you already have one. What is it?"
Scoffing, she turned her attention to the sheets of her bed. He thought he knew her so well. He had just been lucky. "Eagle."
"So, Miss Goodie-Goodie is breaking the rules, eh? Who knew it was possible?"
"I know," she began, a twinkling in her eyes, "it must be this house. It inspires hooliganism. Just look at its owner." She moved to the foot of the bed and started searching the chest there.
"Very cute, Dani," he quipped. But that's all he could think to say. Months of not seeing her, and he was at a loss for words. The conversation from very early that morning weighed heavily on his mind and it was all he could do to keep from bringing it up. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less."
"What? Me being cute?" And just like that, she wished there was a spell to suck the words right back into her mouth. At the very least, she desired a Time-Turner, to be able to stop from making a fool of herself.
Sirius was more than willing to let the uncomfortable silence thicken the air. He would have found her discomfort amusing even, if only he could think of something witty to say. But he couldn't and nothing he could dream of saying would be remotely appropriate or enough to change the mood between them. Scanning the room, he plucked her wand from the nightstand and handed it to her who gratefully tucked it into her back jeans pocket.
The wizard standing at the front door brushed the dust from his shoulders and front and straightened his robes as best he could. The rain from earlier that day had given way to gusty winds which carried with them the grime of the town square. It was just another reason why he hated Grimmauld Place.
"….I think Molly's fixed something good," he heard from a floor above him from the number one reason why he hated Grimmauld Place. He watched the owner of the voice come around the corner, on the landing above him, accompanied by none other than—
"Danielle?"
She turned to her name and smiled. "Severus!" she exclaimed as she bounded down the stairs and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was vaguely aware that he wasn't returning the embrace but he never had before and she wouldn't expect him to now. Pulling away, she smiled mischievously at him and asked, "How long's it been, Severus?"
"Entirely too long, I think," he responded, very conscious of the extra pairs of gray eyes on him from the stairs. He smirked with joy and savored the moment. "Our paths just haven't seemed to cross lately. But I'm extremely interested in catching up. Just like it was when we were in school." He turned his attention to the staircase and sneered, "You remember those days don't you Black?"
"With warm fondness," Sirius mumbled, scooting past them and heading on to the basement. For one last retort, he remarked, "As I'm sure you do as well."
He was never one to back down from a challenge.
"He was always too arrogant for his own good," Snape proclaimed, working his bottom jaw as his aggravation grew. "But, there are always bad seeds I suppose."
"Severus. Breakfast. Now." Danielle commanded, sick of the childish competition between the supposed adult men.
When she got to the stairs, she was surprised to be passed by four very unhappy teenagers on their way up from the kitchen. Grabbing the last by the arm, a very disgruntled Weasley with a plate of food in one hand and a box of cereal in the other, she learned that Mrs. Weasley had banished them to the study so that the adults could talk "Order talk." Danielle was impressed with the exactness of his mother's voice Ron could achieve and she promised to fill him in on all the good stuff when she was done if he and the others would stay upstairs and away from trouble.
Danielle hurried on to the kitchen and was surprised to see so many Order members already there. Sirius, Snape, Dumbledore, Molly, Arthur, Kingsley, Tonks, Lupin, and a couple other older members were crowded around the massive table, excitedly talking in hushed whispers over parchments and notes. Sirius seemed to be the only one to notice her presence, and he stopped his discussion with Arthur and Dumbledore long enough to shoot her a look that he had only ever given Snape.
He did not want her to be there, that much was certain.
Dumbledore, always more aware than she gave him credit for, called order to the other adults there with just a word. He smiled at them and beckoned Dani to his side. "I do believe that Danielle has some information for us."
She heaved a sigh, not ready to have to divulge what she had learned during her time with the Sirens. It had been ages since she'd seen them and all Danielle wanted to do was laugh with Tonks and talk with Lupin, be comforted by the Weasleys and gain some sage advice from Dumbledore but there was no time and she had a responsibility; and a bleak one at that.
"We've got a problem."
"A bit theatrical don't you think Dani?" Sirius asked with a hint of disdain to which Severus exhaled out his nose in disgust at the comment. Sirius shot Snape a look under his brow; a glance that no one was supposed to notice but that Danielle felt to the very tips of her toes.
"No. The Merchieftain is nervous; he's been calling a lot of village meetings lately. He knows something. Knows something about You-Know-Who."
"What are they going to do about it?" Kingsley asked.
"Well, that's why I went. To find out their secrets. To see if we could use them."
"And?"
"Well, it's not going to be easy."
------------
