Changed (Magno & Scylla) (Harry Potter OCs)

[Magno]

Changed

It is well known that any men of good heart should fear nights of thunderstorms. But Thomas Blackheart was not a man of good heart, or if he was, he did not know fear. The rain crashed against his goggles, digging into the unprotected areas of his skin like tiny crystal daggers, clinging into his beard and pushing back his long hair as he dashed through clouds on his broom. He was not in a rush, but taking it easy was just not his style. Life without risk was no fun, and he had always lived by that principle. Of course, Ellie would not have approved of him riding on a thunder storm, much less at that speed, but there were things that he would just do anyway.

Thinking of Ellie drew a smile on his face, at least for a second. She was the light that always guided him in the night, keeping him safe from the dark magic and its temptations. She was always there for him to strive to be better, to be the man who she needed him to be, and after all these years, he knew that he had got to this point because of her. Indeed, he felt lucky, almost as if he did not deserve her. Perhaps one day he would ask her to marry him, but not that day, not during a storm.

The barrier of their house was not visible to either magic or muggle eyes, but he knew well to avoid it. Too many crashes against the protections in the past had taught him well. He took out his wand, a beautiful black oak with dragon tooth centre, and waved it to open a small hole in the middle of nowhere. He dashed through it and closed it again, this time able to see past the illusion. Rain was bouncing against the protections, just to make sure that this storm in particular would not destroy the more fragile elements of their estate. In particular, the greenhouse would have been in danger of shattering under such wind.

From the air, the view of home was even more heartwarming. Their house stood at the centre, with its four floors and its astronomy tower, nowhere near as tall as Hogwarts but still, decent enough for divination on a clear night. To the East was the garden, where all kinds of plants and trees from around the magical world had been growing for years. Next to it, the fragile greenhouse, with even more exotic and valuable species of vegetables, some of which were crucial ingredients for their potions. On the opposite side of the house, there was a little wooden cottage which they called the farm. Now, a magical farm was never easy to keep, so it was actually a fake space, a hundred times larger inside than outside. They kept several species of birds, beasts of different kinds and for a couple of years they had even bred a dragon until it was fully grown. Ellie was the one in charge of all of these things, and it made her happy, so it made Thomas happy.

He landed next to the entrance, levitating the broom onto its holder, so the water could drip off the wood. It was tattered and significantly eroded, but it still did its job. He tried drying himself quickly, but the proper spell took too much time and control, and he was tired so he simply made sure he would not make a mess when he walked in. The door creaked and slammed itself shut behind him as the irregular footsteps of his pace announced his presence in the main hall.

"Ellie, I'm home!" She obviously knew it, but he liked announcing it loudly. After almost two weeks away, it felt good to finally relax in the only place where he knew he could be safe. "I don't know what that's smell is but I bet dinner is delicious!"

Under normal circumstances he would have run to greet her, but the truth was that he could barely walk properly. He sat down on a stool and took off his right boot, since the foot had been paining him for a while. With the rainwater, a few drops of blood also hit the wooden floor. He winced with pain, but refrained from making any sounds which could scare Ellie. It was just a wound, nothing serious. He did not even know what had caused it, some rogue wizard had been coming up with new magic devices outside of the ministry's control and they had been sent to shut him down. It had turned out that the guy was a paranoid and had prepared in advance several traps and spells to guard himself and the arrest had not been easy. Fighting was never fun for any side, but fortunately there had been no casualties.

"I'll be there in a second, sorry babe," he said, as he quickly cast a spell on his upper ankle to stop it from bleeding. The sizzling of the wound as it closed into a temporary scar hurt like hell, but he did not make a single sound.

He could have asked for help from her, but that was just not who he was. Even with Ellie, he always had the feeling of responsibility, of needing to help others, having to be the one who served and not the other way round. Perhaps because her family had been the wealthy one, the idea that he was eternally indebted to her was constantly in the back of his mind. It was not a topic which he wished to discuss, nor bring to his mind, but in that precise moment he could not avoid it. And his foot hurt like hell, too much to put a boot back on. He waited, staring at it, wondering why on Earth he could not remember what had caused that wound.

 

[Magno]

What had he done now? He did not know, so he smiled, stared back at Ellie and shrugged. There was a funny and innocent component to it, and perhaps that would help to avoid worrying her. It was not unusual for him to come injured back, something always happened when fighting against the dark arts. But for him to not know what had caused his injury was indeed new, as far as he could remember. That hint of worry was obviously not so easy to keep away from the love of his life, so he lost the facade when she knelt in front of him and scrutinised him.

"You do know I would love you even if you did none of these things for me, right?" He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead, taking advantage of the fact that her face was close to his. "But... don't stop," he smiled, truly grateful.

After a few seconds of staring into her beautiful blue eyes, Thomas sighed deeply, allowing her hand to rest on his cheek and relaxing. Finally home. She was always ready for him, always helping in every little detail and it just melted his heart every time. He gave her another quick kiss before standing up and limping to the bathroom, drawn in by the warmth of the vapour coming out of the tub. He dropped some items of clothing on his path there, making them levitate behind him and into the laundry basket with a lazy wingardium leviosa.

As he sank into the clear water, it soon became cloudy with the dirt of his body. He looked at the ceiling, relaxing and allowing an enchanted razor to shave the undesired parts of his auburn beard. It always grew out of control during missions, but he liked to keep a decent appearance. He brushed his hands over his body, applying soap. There were multiple scars, not all of them caused by magic, but somehow he had managed to save his face from all kinds of damage after a few years. Hopefully Ellie would still like him if he came back home with one eye less, but he did not want to take those chances. He also liked his eyes.

Following the bath, making sure that he no longer stank of blood, sweat and all kinds of substances, he limped back to the dining room and embraced Ellie from behind, probably not by surprise, but he liked hugging her from that angle. He rested his chin on her head for a while, taking advantage of his size, and then released her. The smell of warm food was making his priorities shift towards the table, but he could not take his eyes off the beautiful woman whom he shared his home with, and soon, hopefully more than that.

It always made him wonder what his life would have been like without her. From his early years, he had been easily persuaded by bad influences, and until he met her, his studies were dreadful. He had even come up with a plan to live in the muggle world by stealing from them, completely unnoticed. A wizard could do that, very easily, and have a comfortable life. But he would have lost so much, on the other hand. The life they had built together, for instance, the plants, the beasts, the intricacies of the magic world, family disputes... Going through these challenges with Ellie was a joy like no other, and he knew that living in the muggle world would just not have made him happy. She had taken him out of the darkness and showed him the way to peace, but he had not done much to her. This was why it kept being so difficult to ask her to marry him. Losing himself in negative thoughts, though, would not help, so he shook his head and sat down,

"So what have you been up to?" He asked, wanting to know about her time. "Do we have any new pets now?" He called them pets but they were, mostly, wild creatures which simply happened to live at their home. "Or any new problems?" He rubbed his head, as if trying to remember something. "Oh! Have the griffin eggs hatched yet?"

The Ministry of Magic had arrested an illegal animal merchant, and since the griffin mother was excessively violent while around the eggs, they had asked him to help out handling it. It turned out that just taking the eggs away was the best solution, and he remembered having left them there in his last visit. Ellie had said that she would keep them warm with magic and hopefully, they had hatched by now. He was excited about that.