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Author's Note: This is a sequel, but all you need to know about those other fics is that Rowena adopted Harini and Dumbledore found out that Harini wasn't where he left her.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts 2.0 (T04); RAVEN (2024); MC4A (Fa-Yr7)
Individual Challenges: Watts; Student MC; Red Instead; Condiment Shelf; Willy Shook Here; Flexible; Associates; Xs & Os; Kettle; Delilah (Y); Feather Head; Stacking Fool; Flashers; Royal; Ginger; Blood; Shield; Hogwarts MC; Magical MC [x3]; No School MC; Old Shoes; Sandbox (Y); Crossing Over; Binger; Animated; Cinematic; Graphic; Reader; Singer; Tiny Terror; Elder Berries; Immortal MC; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion [x2]; In a Flash; Bucket Listing (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Outer Limit; Two Cakes (Y); Salt Wrench; Claimed; Lunar Era; Finders; Gender Bender; Hold the Mayo; Rainbow Connection
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 04 - Assignment 02
Subject [Task (Prompt): Arts & Crafts [Task#1 (containing a flashback)]
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Ravenclaw Month [04](Mint Green); Library [Sea of Monsters](Blue); Frenzy [Sherlock#2](London); Center [18 - Blue](Maternal); Pokemon [Lycanroc](Powder Blue); Oct Tetris [Word](Ethereal); Super [SPN#3](Harry Potter)
RAVEN Challenges: A [66](Reciting Info); Traits [58](Old); Colors [47](Jet Black); Items [18](Chair); Settings [100](Zoo)
Other MC4A Challenges: Chim [Patches](Protection; "Isaac" - Bear's Den); Fire [Impala]; Garden [Flowers (Blue)]; Hang [Phrase#01](n/a)
Representation(s): Desi & Fem Harry Potter & Rowena MacLeod; Adopted AU; Chim Song Prompt
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: xBad Beans; Forked Path; Sitting Hummingbird; Some Beach; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; Not a Lamp; White Dress; Found Family; Nontraditional; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Lovely Coconuts; Lyre Liar; Muck & Slime; Rock of Ages; Corvid Brain; Hot Apple); Chorus (Odd Feather; Pear-Shaped; Wabi Sabi; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Surprise!; Turtle-Duck)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Terrarium); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Satisfaction; Gestation); O3 (Oust); HoSE (Sanctuary); Once (Moses Supposes; Santa Fe); War (Sanctuary; Ennui); TY (Ntaiv; Enfant); Mea (Ennui; Bisect; Rampant)
Space Address (Prompt): FaB 4A (Apple); Set 2C (Zoo);
Word Count: 699 words

(Ø)
Through Observation
(Ø)

Rowena MacLeod had a kind of ethereal beauty that Harini had never realized could be real. She was like one of the angels in the old paintings at the museum, right down to how dangerous and fierce she was. Rowena took great pride in her appearance, too. Her clothing was always finely made, out of the best materials. She never left the house with her makeup and hair anything less than perfect.

"We must use what advantages we have," she told Harini as she painted a sharp line on the rim of her eyelid. Harini watched the smooth line of jet black ink flow into place, utterly transfixed. Winged eyeliner was fascinating. "We are physically smaller than most people, especially men, but smaller can mean faster and more agile. Ye know that well, don't ye, mae wee fairy?"

"I was so much faster than Dudley," Harini declared, as she always did when Rowena prompted her. (Rowena was big on keeping the memory of Harini's experiences with the Dursleys fresh. Revenge was a dish best served cold as well as by living well. Rowena also liked acknowledging Harini's strengths as much as her weaknesses.)

"Ye are very quick," Rowena agreed. Her mint green eyes twinkled as they met Harini's in the mirror. Her crimson lips tilted up in a knowing smile that made Harini's insides fill with warmth. "Magic is great but ower showy for public. We dinnae want tae draw attention tae ourselves."

"Because the bad people might find us," Harini whispered, the warmth fading as the memories surged.

(Ø)

Harini had been with Rowena for almost nine months. Living with Rowena was an enormous change from living with the Dursleys. The biggest change was how Rowena seemed to genuinely want Harini around. Not just around either. Rowena wanted Harini to be happy and healthy. She was willing to do a lot to achieve that end, too.

Rowena made sure that Harini ate and drank as much as she wanted. She bought Harini clothing that fit her and didn't make her itch. She was willing to help Harini learn how to properly take care of her hair and style it. She wanted to be woken up if Harini had another nightmare about the green light.

Everything had been going well until the day they had gone to the London Zoo. They had gone into the Reptile House to cool off. (Rowena's fair skin just couldn't handle the sun to the same degree as Harini's tan complexion could.) Both of them had been delighted to discover that Harini could communicate with the snakes.

Then several people in bright red robes had suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. They had started pointing sticks that gave off bolts of ruby red light. Every time a bolt hit a person, the person would crumple to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut.

Rowena had grabbed Harini and pulled them into a tight ball near the wall. She lifted one hand and snapped out a sharp word of Latin. A shimmery violet wall of force created a shell around them. From the protective curl of Rowena's body, Harini watched as the red-robed people checked over the crowd, clearly looking for a specific someone.

Then there was another sharp crack as an old man in powder blue robes appeared. Harini shivered and pressed closer to her guardian. The man looked like the stereotype of a wizard, from his crooked nose to the dancing pineapples on his robes. His blue eyes were as hard and cold as sapphires as they swept over the room. Harini couldn't remember having ever met this man, but she knew that he was a threat.

All of a sudden, it had felt like Harini and Rowena had been squeezed into a straw together. When the feeling had passed, they were behind the armchair in the living room of the flat they had been staying at since they had left Rowena's house in Little Whinging. Rowena had held Harini through the panic attack caused by the attack and Harini's spontaneous use of magic.

Then they had left for the continent, leaving London and Britain far behind them.