AN: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update! I was studying for my yearlys and when i came to put it up, it was gone so i had to rewrite it and then i got benned from the computer for a while... but, her it is anyways.
I hope you like it.
A Firefly named 'Serenity'
Blue Wings and Magical Things
Hermione whimpered softly as her eyes opened and the bright light flared into them. She quickly shut them again before slowly opening them, squinting up at the light to get used to it.
It had been so long since she had seen light as bright as the light above her. She almost smiled, but pain shot through her body, making her arch up of the bed she was on and her mouth open in a silent scream. When the pain faded, she struggled to sit up, tears blurring her vision.
She stood slowly from the bed and immediately felt the weight from her shoulder blades. Turning her head, she saw the blue wings hanging limply towards the ground. She gasped in surprise. Now that was unexpected.
A thought came to her head and she quickly bent down and felt her calf. When she felt the lump, she sighed in relief. It was still there. Thank Merlin.
Looking around the room she was in, she noticed what appeared to be medical instruments and was curious. Did she get out some how? Did Harry and Ron finally save her? She shook her head with a hollow laugh. If they were going to save her, they would have done so years ago. But, then what did happen?
She closed her eyes to concentrate and thoughts began to fly at her, but the thing she noticed the most was that not all of them were hers. She desperately pushed them away, trying to pull her own memories to the front of her mind.
The last thing she remembered was looking out a stone window and wishing that she could fly again. Be free again. And then they were going to kill her. Was she dead? She pinched herself hard and shook her head. Nope, she wasn't dead. Wait. There was immense pain and then she found herself falling heavily to the dirt. Wait! Dirt? How the hell did she get outside in the first place? She shrugged to herself and smiled somewhat when she remembered looking up at the sky before the pain had set in again. Merlin it was beautiful. She remembered people crowding around her before they began to run away and hide. She remembered seeing a young girl, probably a year younger than herself, come towards her only to fly back, then a young man a few years older than herself that did the same.
And there was a man. A strongly built one at that. She remembered thinking that his mind was so clear when everyone else's was pure chaos. Especially the young girl's. Then there was darkness. Then she woke up.
She shook her head and briefly touched her wings before she realised that she had torn her shirt before, but when she looked down, she could she a blue strip covering her breasts. She touched it and she could feel the softness of it beneath her fingers.
Looking around again, she spotted a scalpel on the side bench. She grinned somewhat. She walked over and picked it up, running it gently over her fingertip to see if it was sharp enough. She gasped softly as it sliced neatly through, sticking her finger in her mouth as the wound began to weep. She tasted the tangy copper liquid on her tongue, but she ignored it as she sat back down on the bed and raised her knee up so that she had a clear view of her calf.
Without pausing to see if anyone was near, she put the scalpel at the bottom of the lump and began to drag it up, putting pressure on the blade. She gasped softly at the pain, taking her finger from her mouth, lest she bite it. Blood spilled down on to the white sheets of the bed but she couldn't find it in her to care.
She absently started to sing softly, a song that she had thought she had forgotten.
'Heaven bend to take my hand
And led me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight
Truth be told I tried my best
But somewhere along the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
But the cost was so much more than I could bear…'
Tears trickled down her cheeks, but they were ignored as she gently started to feel around inside the wound, smiling softly when she felt the wood of her wand that she had not felt in years. She pulled it out, cleaning it on the bloodstained sheets.
'Though of tried I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here and
Tell me I told you so…'
From her place on the bed, she looked around to see if there were any clean, white bandages near, as she knew she did not have the strength to perform a healing charm.
'How are you- what the hell?'
The bloodied scalpel fell the ground with a clatter as her head spun to look at the man in the doorway with wide eyes. She raised her wand with a shaky, bloodied hand, her wings fluttering somewhat. Tears streamed faster down her cheeks, but she made no sound, not bothering to raise a hand to wipe away the tears as they blurred her vision.
'P-please… d-d-don't hurt me… n-no m-more,' she choked out. 'The snake hurt her already. Her brain plays tricks. The ferrets torture her. M-m-makes her scream…'
The man's face softened and he took the tiniest step towards her, his hands held in front of him to show he wasn't armed.
'I'm not going to hurt you,' he said, his voice soft, but calming. 'We need to clean and dress the wound.'
She looked at him confused for a moment before she looked down at her bleeding calf and smiled wetly up at him and held up her wand. All he saw was a stick. She saw memories flying through his mind. Of other bleeding wounds. Of a home. Of a sister. Of his name.
'Had to get wand. No other way. Was placed so that it could hide, so they could not snap it. Protects her. Her lifeline,' she said with a shrug, but straightened her wand again as began to move towards her again. 'Does not want dressing. Let it bleed. Won't trust the mouldy dressings. They creep in and infect. Make it worse. Will be stronger soon. She will fix it.'
Simon was troubled. He needed to dress that wound. It looked as though she had cut a main blood vessel and it was bleeding somewhat heavily. Before he could contemplate further, Jayne stepped into the room, prepared to ask how the mystery girl was going when he spotted her sitting up on the bed, pale and bleeding, holding a stick in the Doc's direction.
'So I take it she's awake,' he said, looking between the two. 'Honestly Doc, can't ya see the blood. Jus' knock the damn stick out of the way and clean it up.'
Simon just shook his head at him before slowly starting to walk towards the girl again. Before he could get further than three steps, he heard Jayne sigh and the sound of him moving closer to the bed, faster than what he was. Before they could react, the girl had shrieked, 'stupefy!'
Sparks flew from the end of the stick and collided with Jayne's chest. He was through back into the wall.
'Leave her be. Leave her be!' she screamed. 'No mouldy dressings with creeping crucios. Let her do it on her own. She will fix it! She will fix it!'
One by one the rest of the crew came into the room, wanting to see what the noise was. All except River. They found the girl sitting up on the bed, blood staining the white sheets and her hand shaking as it held a sparking stick.
'Well, now. What's going on here?' Mal asked, confused as to why their new passenger was holding a stick and why there was blood on the bed.
Quick as lightning, the stick was pointing directly at his chest. Tears continued to streak down her face.
As she had her eyes on the Captain, Simon had started to walk towards her again, hoping that he could get her doped so that he could fix her up.
'Not. Another. Step,' she murmured, not taking her eyes off of the Captain. 'Will not allow creeping crucios into skin again. Infects. Makes worse. Pain.'
She trembled, taking her eyes of the Captain briefly to look at the stunned mercenary.
'I'm sorry about Stone, but he was getting too close,' she said, her voice shaking slightly. 'He is not to badly hurt. Will only have a headache. Didn't mean to hit him so hard.'
Kaylee, who had been watching the shaking girl with sadness, spoke up.
'It's shiny. He gets headaches a lot, so it makes no diff,' she said with a shrug, taking a slow step forward.
Inara, Mal, Zoe and Simon watched as she slowly approached the cautious girl, each wondering where the little pilot was.
'What's your name, darlin'?' Kaylee asked with her hands at her sides as she looked the girl in the eye. She couldn't be more than eighteen. Nineteen at the most.
The girl hesitated briefly before she muttered, 'Mina. But she broke. They broke her and wanted to know where he was. But she didn't speak. Even if he never tried to save her. Left her to the snakes and the ferrets and they played with her head and wanted her to fly, but she would not show them her wings, so they hurt and they make her scream.'
The girl broke down into tears, her shaking hand pointing in Jayne's direction as she said, 'e-e-enervate.'
Jayne's eyes immediately snapped open and he groaned at the bright light that invaded his sight.
'It's 'Kay. We're not gonna hurt ya, darlin',' Kaylee said softly, not taking her eyes from the distraught girl as the others helped Jayne up. 'You're safe here.'
Mina continued to cry, her wand falling from her limp fingers. Before the others could get any ideas, Kaylee gently picked it up and tucked into her overalls. It was at that moment that River came in with a small, sad smile.
Kaylee didn't see River enter the room, nor did Mina. By this time, the distraught girl had her head buried in her hands and her shoulder shook from her sobs. Her wings started to shrink back into her skin, the blue that covered her breast also sinking into her skin.
'Captain, Jayne, one of you give me your jacket,' Kaylee said, the tone of her voice brooking no room for arguments. Jayne shrugged out of his jacket before Mal could move. They were surprised, considering the girl had just knocked him out. But then again, the peppy mechanic could almost always get things out of him. Kaylee took the jacket without a word and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders, making her jump, her head snapping up to lock eyes with the older girl.
River stepped forward and tilted her head to the side, her dark hair half covering her face.
'Hermione Granger. Gryffindor,' she said, her voice clear.
Hermione looked up with wide eyes.
'She is gone. Broke. No more. Harry and Ron left her behind and didn't come for her. Mina now,' she said, her entire body shaking. Her face was pale and the wound on her leg was still bleeding.
'You need a bandage,' River said, her voice strong.
Hermione shook her head, whimpering slightly and shrinking back.
'The bleeding must stop. White bandages, no infections,' River continued, picking the bandage in question up. 'Simon will fix it for you. He fixed me. Outside.'
Hermione looked at the bandage then at Simon who was stepping forward again. Keeping herself within Kaylee's arms, she slowly extended her bleeding leg. Simon quickly stepped forward and crouched to look at the wound. She whimpered as he began to clean it, but Kaylee stroked her hair, soothing her somewhat.
'It needs to be sticked up before we can bandage it,' Simon said finally, looking up at Hermione. She nodded hesitantly, watching as River passed the required items to the Doc. She whimpered again as he began to stitch her calf up, but didn't move a muscle, not even flinching as the needle pierced her skin.
When the wound was finally stitched, Simon began to wrap her calf gently. When he was done, he stood and washed his hands in the sink. Hermione drew her leg back up, staring around at the carious people looking at her. She pulled the jacket around her tighter, revelling in the warmth it gave.
Unnoticed by the others (well, everyone except River), Jayne had quietly stepped out and went back to his bunk, coming back with a yellowing and slightly torn picture. Hermione's eye landed on him, but he continued to stare down at the photograph in his hands.
'I'm sorry for hurting you, Stone,' she said, making him look up at her. 'But came too close, too quick.'
Before Jayne could comment, Zoe cut him off by saying, 'we may as well introduce ourselves. I'm Zoe.'
Hermione looked at the tall Amazonian woman and nodded.
'I'm the Captain of this here ship,' Mal said, making the young witch look at him again. 'The one you knocked out is Jayne Cobb, the one in the fancy stuff is Inara and the one who has taken to comfortin' ya is our mechanic, Kaylee Frye. Then there is our trusty Doc, Simon, and his slightly crazy sister, River, who's also our pilot.'
Hermione nodded slowly before she buried her head in Kaylee's shoulder.
'Many people. Big family but not always wanting to admit it,' she said softly. 'I envy you all.'
Inara felt emotions well up in her chest, as did the others. Kaylee just held her tighter and Jayne continued to look at the picture in his hands with a furrowed brow.
It was Jayne that broke the sad silence by looking up at the pair at the bed and said, 'do you know the name 'Weasley'?'
Hermione looked at him questioningly, tears once again welling in her brown eyes.
'Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, R-Ron and Ginny,' she said, choking slightly on the last name. 'Bill worked with cursed artefacts. Mummies and their tombs. Molly always complained about his hair and his dragon tooth earring. Charlie worked with dragons. Big ones and little ones. Molly was always scared for him. Percy worked at the ministry. He turned his back on his family, making Arthur and Molly cry. Fred and George. Jokesters. Made a shop. Molly complained that they could have done better. At first. R-Ron. Harry Potter's side-kick. They left me. Ginny… she was killed during the first attack on the school. She was like a sister. The Burrow was my true home apart from Hogwarts. My parents started to push me away. They were scared of me but didn't want to say it.'
They were quiet for a while before Mal, no longer able to hold it in, burst out, 'why the hell was a school attacked? And why didn't we hear about it?'
Hermione turned her eyes to him and he was shocked at the hollowness within them.
'Snake-man, Voldemort, wanted to take over the school to teach the students Dark Magic. But he had to kill the Headmaster first. No one could stop him. Deter him a little, but nothing more,' she paused momentarily, before she put a hand on her chest. 'He split his soul. Seven pieces. His lucky number. No one could stop him. When he wanted someone dead, they died. Swish of a wand, mutter of words. No more breathing… Only Harry survived. The boy Who Lived, they called him. Snake disappeared but came back and tried to kill Harry again. Harry stopped him. Harry stopped him three times before I was caught. Voldemort wanted ultimate power of the wizarding world, but then it was prophesized that someone would stop him. That Harry would stop him. That's why the school was attacked. Over fifty students were killed in that attack. All between the ages of eleven and eighteen. Two of the professors were murdered. The Headmaster was murdered during the second attack. I was captured during the third.'
Her reply was met with absolute silence until Jayne muttered, 'you shouldn't be here.'
Everyone looked at him.
'Where is here?' Hermione said, cocking her head to the side.
'In 2507. Out in the Black,' Jayne said, still looking down at the picture.
Hermione laughed a little, but it had no emotion in it.
'2507? No, silly Stone, its only 1999. And what's 'Black'?'
There was silence for a moment before Mal said, 'okay, is it just me, or are things getting a mite weird?'
His question was met by silence.
And that was chappy two! claps
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