Rhiannon Aspenfell, an Ilvermorny Thunderbird from New Orleans, is brought into protective custody by the Order of the Phoenix. As she strengthens her magical powers and discovers ties to her mythological destiny, she also finds herself in a love tr...
I know this is a whirlwind chapter, as we move through the last third or so of OOTP. The fact is that our story has pretty much played out and woven back into the canon at this point— of course until our final scene. This chapter is the bridge to get us there. Hope you are enjoying!
Chapter title from "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac. _____________
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The next few months became a welcome routine of classes, grading, and studying. Rhiannon suffered through occasional conferences with Umbridge to further gain the woman's confidence— especially after Umbridge became increasingly suspicious about what she called "ilicit student activities." Snape warned her that they needed to maintain utmost freedom and therefore must stay in Umbridge's good graces. Rhiannon found that she had a way of calming the woman when she would go on a tangent— buying Harry (she assumed) more time, whatever he was doing. If Dumbledore and Snape knew, they weren't telling her.
Harry's Occlumency lessons continued each Monday night, and tensions were high. Rhiannon heard them both shouting throughout in agony, frustration, and hatred. She often wondered if she should intervene, but she knew the importance of the lessons, and that Snape would be murderous if she jeopardized them. A part of her wondered though, if Snape's actions during the lessons were completely above-board. She remembered her father's instructions to coerce Harry to the Ministry at some point. Was Snape planting seeds? He was a double agent. If he was, Rhiannon was sure he had told Dumbledore and that the two had a plan. And a backup plan and another. Severus always did.
Rhiannon saw her father twice more in the months following their initial meeting. Voldemort liked to lay eyes on her and assess her energy, more than anything else, needing to convince himself that her divine spark was still dedicated to his side. Snape found it laughable (and fortunate) that he took what was truly a recognition of father-daughter connection— magical family ties— and interpreted it as a divine magical energy instead. The presence of his own blood in her was so strong, so powerful, he could only interpret it as coming from the heavens.
But the more the Dark Lord belabored the point, the more Rhiannon started to wonder. She spent more and more of her free time with her birds— studying them, reading all the stories she could get her hands on regarding the mythical Rhiannon— the beautiful horse goddess with a betrothed and a beloved whose magical birds had the power to put the living to sleep and to raise the dead to wakefulness. Maybe it was more than just her mother liking a song...
Overall it was a comfortable rhythm she fell into, in spite of the undercurrent of fear that seemed to escalate through the castle as the months wore on. She felt like she was in control of herself and that Severus was a stalwart presence for her whenever she had doubts. He always had an answer for her; she had never known anyone so capable, but she knew a lifetime of constant threat and disappointment had led him to be that way. For her part she kept it simple— she was a place for him to lay his weary head, a body where he could release frustrations, a listening ear for the rare instances where he would open up, and a light-hearted joke or game to lift his spirits when he was willing to let go.
