Hidden Wings - Part II

In the dark

Draco clenched his hands together and narrowed his eyes in contemplation.
"I need to see her", he said suddenly. "Mioha. There has to be a way."

Severus looked at him warningly.
"The Dark Lord will let no one besides me and Lucius close to her. If you want to see Miss Mioha, you need to provide him with an important explanation. One, which you do not have."

Draco grimaced.
"The Dark Lord has always been a fan of perverse games", he said distastefully. "I assume letting him know that I want to see Mioha in pain will be reason enough for him."

Severus thought for a moment and resumed his pacing.
"I will let the Dark Lord know", he said and turned to Draco. "If you are lucky, you may see her tonight. But Draco-"
His eyes glistened with a warning.
"I need not tell you that a single wrong move will end in us both getting killed."

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Esma and Swift were sitting on Professor McGonagall's shoulders as the headmistress conducted the meeting. Present were the staff (excluding Horace) as well as the Aurors that had participated in Mioha's rescue mission. Absent, however, was George Weasley, as he was recovering in the Hospital Wing.

"We were cornered by Death Eaters", Kinglsey continued his report. His dark eyes were filled with guilt as he looked at Professor McGonagall.
"Miss Mioha saved our lives to get us out alive. But she got badly hurt."

"We should not have left her and Charlie", said Fred bitterly. "We fled like cowards."

Kingsley straightened his back slightly and inclined his head.
"I was responsible for everyone on this mission. Had we stayed, we would have all been killed."

"And Mioha won't?", asked Hagrid sourly. He glared at the Auror and folded his massive arms.

"No."
Kingsley shook his head.
"They've kept her alive so far. They need her for something."

"Then what about Mr. Weasley?", said Aurora sharply. "Or Miss Lovegood?"

"You-Know-Who will let Miss Lovegood live to keep Mr. Lovegood in check", said Pomona grimly. "Mr. Weasley will live too, as long as we do not do anything rash. You-Know-Who will use him as leverage to keep us quiet."

Esma's body shivered with anger.
How dare they just assumed it was okay for Mioha to be left behind? Now she was badly hurt and perhaps would even get punished for trying to escape!

Professor McGonagall noticed Esma's fury and turned her head slightly to look at the blackbird. Then she refocused her attention on the meeting.
"Ye-Know-Who will change his manor's location", she said grimly.  "It is unlikely that we will have another chance of finding it."

"Can't the blackbirds follow one of the owls like last time?", asked Tonks.

"You don't think You-Know-Who will let any owls leave, do you?", said Moody gruffly. "He'll be watching everyone closer than your own mother did with you."

"Will she recover?", asked Filius worriedly. "Those wounds are not easy to heal."

Esma peeped frightfully as she imagined Mioha being held captive in chains, bleeding everywhere while a big metal thing was stuck in her side.

When the Aurors had stormed the manor, she and Swift had flown around the building, avoiding the watching owls as best as possible. Once the front doors had exploded, she'd expected to see Mioha come out any moment.

She hadn't.

Instead, the Aurors had dragged an unconscious redhead with them and flown into the night sky, followed by countless masked people on brooms as well.