Hidden Wings - Part I

Swift

Mioha blinked, gobsmacked.
Then a bright smile brightened her face.

"Esma!", she cried happily and grabbed the little blackbird. She cupped her hands around the bundle of feathers and held her to her chest.
Esma thrashed around wildly, trying to continue with her angry lecture.

"Where were you?", Mioha said chokingly, feeling tears of happiness and relief burn in her eyes.
"I really missed you-"
Mioha broke off, silent sobs shaking her body as she buried her face in her friend's feathers.
"I really missed you", she repeated, hot tears falling out of her eyes.

Esma stopped struggling against Mioha's hold, stilling when she heard the Slytherin cry. The blackbird turned her head to look at the girl, which was difficult because she only had a view of Mioha's hair.

"You almost died", said Esma, sounding a little sheepish by her aggressive tone before.
"As soon as I heard, I knew I had to come and tell you off."

Mioha raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed as she tried to focus her gaze onto the blackbird in her hands.
Her view was blurry, so she quickly dried her eyes on her shoulder.

"Where were you, Esma?", she asked with a thick voice.
"I mean, I get it that you have your own life, but why did you disappear like that? I thought we were friends."

She looked down sadly, lowering her hands until they rested on her lap.
Esma quickly hopped off her hands and landed on Mioha's knee.

"I would never leave you", she chirped, her black eyes shining revealingly.
"You should know that."

"But I couldn't find you!", cried Mioha, "Crookshanks wouldn't tell me where you were, even Hogwarts wouldn't!"

"Because I asked them to", replied the blackbird, stretching out a wing to pat Mioha's knee.
"And I came back because I couldn't bear the thought of you almost dying."

Esma sighed.
"I need to tell you something."

The Slytherin felt worry rise up in her.
Had she treated Esma badly?

Esma turned her head, finally noticing the cat sitting at the edge of Mioha's bed.
"Good day, Mrs. Norris", she said politely.
"I would appreciate it, if you wouldn't eat my friend when he comes."

The disheveled cat tilted her head slightly, her red eyes glowing.
"A friend of Mioha is a friend of mine", she growled.

Mioha snuffled lightly.
What friend?
Esma was not making any sense.

Before she could open her mouth, something else came fluttering through the window, landing lightly next to Esma on Mioha's leg.

Mioha gaped.

It was a male blackbird.

She closed her mouth again, too surprised to say anything.

"Mioha, this is Swift", said Esma, looking proudly at the blackbird next to her.
The male bird ruffled his feathers, trying to look more impressive by fluffing up his wings.

Mioha just stared as the brown female and the black male cuddled lovingly, and something clicked in her head.
Esma had fallen in love.

"That's why", she said quietly.

Swift bumped his head softly against Esma's before straightening and holding his head high as he looked up at Mioha.

"With Esma's permission, I have courted her since the beginning of last summer", he chirped confidently.
"And I have had the pleasure of showing her around on my territory."

And it took you months to do that?, Mioha thought, feeling a little jealous.

As if Esma could read her thoughts, the little blackbird hopped forward and cheeped: "I wanted to have the chance to see Swift's life. I didn't tell you what I had planned because I knew if you would have been against it, I would have stayed.
And it wasn't easy, you know.
I missed you too."

Esma looked a little sad, her wings drooped to the side.
"But when I heard how you almost drowned, I was so worried. So I rushed back."

Mioha breathed in deeply to digest the new revelation.
She should have expected that.
Esma's behavior had started to change last summer, and so had her eating habits.

But who would have thought?

Many thoughts raced through her head.
Why did you not say goodbye?
What if something had happened to you?
Why are you leaving me?

She was upset that her friend had found herself a new life. But at the same time...she couldn't force Esma to give up a life of her own, could she?

"I'm not mad, Esma", said Mioha quietly, fidgeting with her blanket.
"And if you want to go with Swift, then I won't stop you. It's just-"
She sighed.
"Maybe you could stop by once in a while, you know? Don't just go disappearing on me."

Esma fluttered onto Mioha's shoulder, rubbing her head against the girl's cheek.
"I stayed away because I wanted to use the opportunity to get to know Swift. And I knew, if I would see you I would want to come back."

The blackbird turned to her mate, who was still sitting on Mioha's knee.
They shared a long look.

"I am not stopping you", Mioha repeated, softly stroking the brown feathers of the female blackbird.
"And if you decide to drop by once in a while, that would make me very happy."

She smiled sadly.

Esma fluttered back down to Swift, leaning forward and chirping something so quietly Mioha couldn't understand it.
After a few seconds, the larger male nodded.

"We would stay a few days", said Esma, turning back to Mioha with her eyes shining hopefully.
"Is that alright?"

The Slytherin stretched out her hand, onto which Esma hopped without hesitation.
Swift followed, although looking slightly suspicious when Mioha brought her hand closer to her face.

"I'd love that", she said, swallowing back her tears.

After five minutes of finally seeing her friend after a long time, she had to find out Esma was planning on leaving again.

A little note on the side:
I realized that female blackbirds are brown, not black. So if you read in the earlier chapters that Esma has black feathers, I am changing those to brown.
Just so you know.