Trickie Woo and wytchkat for their wondy reviews!
****
~10~ Great Minds ~

Kestrel stepped out of the shower, dark red hair falling over her shoulders and droplets of water puddling around her feet. Red eyes scanning the dark room, her hand shot out in front of her and a single lamp lit the room. The white canopy bed fluttered in the breeze through the open window and Kestrel, tightening the white towel around her sinuous body, opened a drawer of the white wood dresser and rummaged about for her clothing. As she pulled on her light, white cotton spaghetti strap shirt and light blue, silk bottoms, a strong gust of wind blew into the room and the lamp faltered. Bare feet bouncing on the carpet, she clapped her hands and the lamplight came back full force. She looked out the window at the grassy field before her and the full moon shone its silvery-blue light onto the walls, roofs, and grass.

Kestrel thought she saw a form off near the edge of the cliff where it took a steep turn down to the valley and she squinted. There was a loud neigh and a black form cantered across the field. Her mouth fell open. It can't possibly be... She felt water fall onto her hands and lightning flashed across the dark sky. Thunder rolled in her ears and she held a wet hand over her eyes, trying to discern the dark horse that she had seen. The lamp went out again, but she ignored it. Another flash of lightning and, against it, just for a millisecond, a black horse rearing up and neighing, the sound lost on the wind. She slammed the window shut and locked it as the wind and rain fell harder and banged against the glass. She closed the white curtains and ran into bed, bare feet padding against the floor.

Her dark red hair was a distinct contrast against the white pillow as her eyes darted about the room. The familiar dark forms of her closet, dresser, coat rack, and open bathroom door calmed her and enabled her to get to sleep. When she did, she dreamed. She dreamed of the past.

"What is Miss doing?"

Ten-year-old Kestrel looked up from the thick book she was reading the library and then down to the first floor. Agatha was there and Niki too. Niki was stacking her books neatly on a desk and Kestrel wrinkled her nose.

"I'm reading, Agatha."

"Miss will come with Agatha."

"Why?"

"Miss's father is here."

Kestrel paled and then shoved the book back into the bookshelf and scurried down the ladder. She picked up the books that Niki had just stacked and pulled away a loose section of floor to pile them down there. She looked down at her clothes in dismay, but soon she was wearing a red and orange dirndl dress and red cloth shoes. Her hair was a mess though, but Agatha's magic fixed that too. Kestrel ran out of the library and hopped down the stairs to see her father standing there with none other than Lucius Malfoy. Both men turned to look at her and she came to a sudden halt, hand gripping the handrail.

"Pateras?" she whispered.

"Lucius, this is my daughter, Kestrel. Erchomai, Kes."

Kestrel made her way down the rest of the stairs, hand gliding down the rail gracefully, and she lifted her skirt slightly to step down onto the floor. She lifted her head to stare into Malfoy's icy eyes and then, after glancing at her stone-faced father, dipped into a small, respectful curtsy.

"Enchanted, Miss Rivera. You have your mother's eyes."

"Thank you, Mister Malfoy."

"She is a scrumptious vision, Robert. What do you intend to do with her?"

"We're waiting for a letter to a school."

"And if none arrives?" Lucius looked between both of them, a gleam in his eyes.

Her father shrugged. "I'll marry her to one of the richer village boys."

"Really?"

Kestrel shifted her feet and her skirt rustled into the sudden silence. Both men looked over at her.

"Go back to your room, Kes. We have things to discuss."

She nodded slightly. "Mister Malfoy... Pateras."

She left and hid in her room, shedding her clothes rapidly, mussing her hair, and dunking herself into her overlarge bathtub in a futile attempt to rid the feeling of Malfoy's eyes upon every curve, every dip, every crevice of her body.

Kestrel's eyes snapped open and darted around the room. The storm had abated and now it drizzled. The water ran down the panes of glass and Kestrel turned onto her stomach, burying her face into her pillow before turning her head to the right and setting both her arms over it.

"Pateras, what's that?"

Young, eight-year-old Kestrel looked up at her father, red eyes sparkling in innocent curiosity and hand pointing eagerly out the window. Roberto Rivera lifted his face out of his paperwork and stood up to stand behind his daughter. Hands on her tiny shoulders, he saw what she was watching. A jet black horse eating their grass. There was a single, white spot on its left side. It looked up and Roberto's hand tightened around her shoulders. Red eyes blazing, the horse neighed and Kestrel squealed.

"Look, Pateras, look! He has eyes just like mine!"

"That he does." Roberto released his daughter. "Go. See if you can catch him."

Dirndl skirt whirling around her tiny body, the eight-year-old ran from the library and hopped down the stairs, drawing the amused look of her mother. Tripping over her feet, she whizzed past Altair and raced through the grass, hitching her skirt up. The horse tossed his head and neighed, rearing. She came to a halt and stared at him, mouth parted in amazement. The horse turned her way and eyed her, lowering and rising his head nervously. From the library window, her parents watched.

Kestrel approached carefully and stopped only two feet away from the horse. It nudged her shoulder and she threw her arms around its neck, giggling. The horse seemed surprised and it nuzzled her hair. After a moment, she pulled away and watched the horse. He reared again, causing Kestrel to fall back with a frightened squeal, and turned around to race away and down the cliff. Her jaw dropped as he simply disappeared from sight. She picked herself up and ran the way he went, skirt once more hiked up around her knees, hair whirling in the wind. She teetered at the edge and couldn't find the horse in the growth of the valley. She frowned.

"Congratulations, Kestrel," Altair said behind her softly. "You've just become a friend of Tsar."

"Tsar, Alt?"

"King of the Valley."

Her jaw dropped again. The horse that so many gypsy myths talked about? The horse of a gypsy leader? The first myth explained that the gypsy leader, Rinardo, owned a horse of great strength and beauty, completely black with a white spot on his left side and ruby eyes. Rinardo named the horse Tsar and when Rinardo died in battle with another gypsy clan, Tsar became wild and renegade, roaming the valleys and hills of Greece. Kestrel couldn't believe that she hadn't connected the horse with the myth in the beginning.

"Best go talk with Rawnie."

And, with that, Kestrel ran to the stables, took out Selini, mounted her, and raced away to the Krokus clan.

Kestrel sighed and rolled over to her side, looking out the window.

"Where are you now, Tsar?" she mumbled into the night before succumbing to sleep.

*****

In the library, Severus was closing the window and drawing the blinds before lighting the lamp and settling down to read. He didn't know of the turmoil taking place in Kestrel's room and, frankly, he probably wouldn't care. The thick book he read was dry, complex, elaborately worded, and (to top it all off) in Middle English. He grit his teeth together and plunged ahead through the uses of Grecian sea animals, both magical and Muggle.

Soon, though, and against his will, his mind wandered to the girl sleeping in the room behind the white doors. They seemed to be the doors to the room of the Zeus and Hera themselves. He stood up and opened the door to the library, interested in finding a book of myths. A simple book of myths is all I ask for, he thought sourly and a book fell onto his head. Scowling, he rubbed his head and picked it up, flipping through it before exiting and sitting down.

Zeus and Danae... Zeus and Leda... Zeus and Europa... Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Apollo... Pan and his nymphs... Apollo and Daphne... Apollo and Isse...

"Her favorite is Zeus and Danae," someone said from the doorway and Severus looked up at the tired and completely soaked gardener. "She doesn't mind the one about Apollo and Daphne much either." He thumped in and fell into chair, muttering a Drying Charm. Now dry, he looked over at Severus, who was eyeing him curiously.

"Come, come, Professor, Zeus as a rain of coins?"

"Ah, yes. She likes that one, does she?"

Altair rolled his eyes. "You should see her sketches. Oh, she doesn't paint, merely sketches. It's an aftereffect after molding those doors with both magic and normal means. She idolizes Titian."

"I refrain from being amazed." Severus flipped through the pages to find the myth of Zeus and Danae. "How did you know I was reading this book?"

"You were muttering."

"Was I? I must be careful from now on, then."

Altair looked over at him again before leaning back and pressing a small plank forward. A section of wood wall next to Severus was pushed back and to the side to reveal an ornate black grate which lit at Altair's command.

"You needn't be paranoid. We are not murderers nor blackmailers."

"Habit."

Alt raised an eyebrow and then chuckled.

"You needn't hide from me, Severus Snape. I know how much you fought for the Order."

Black eyes snapping, Snape stood up. "What are you talking about?" he hissed.

"Take a glance at my family tree someday. Good night, Professor."

Severus swept out of the room, fuming, and into his own. That chit had the most infuriating friends!

"Will Sir be wanting anything?"

Severus looked down at the abnormally small house elf with bulging blue eyes. Niki. He sighed in annoyance and buried his face in his hands before noting he still had the book of legends in his hands. He ordered the house elf to go away and then threw the book against the wall.

****
(Longish) Author's Notes:

Pateras: Greek for 'father'

Erchomai: Greek for 'come'

Zeus and Danae... Zeus and Leda... ....Apollo and Isse...: I'm sure you all know the tales of sexual confrontations and love lives of the gods. Zeus and Danae is my favorite, where he makes love to her as a rain of coins. Zeus and Leda is, of course, when he is a swan. Zeus and Europa is when he's a bull; the 'threesome' is actually when Aphrodite cheat on her husband Hephaestus with Apollo; Pan and his nymphs, of course, everyone knows how much Pan runs after all the nymphs; Apollo and Daphne is when Apollo is running after Daphne the nymph because Eros shot him with one of his love arrows and Daphne with the hate arrows, etc, etc... and she changes into a laurel tree;and then Apollo and Isse which is when... ah yes, he is in the guise of a shepard.

Titian: Ah, Titian. Well known for his Assumption of a Virgin I adore him for his Danaë. I saw it, actually, and it was absolutely beautiful.

Altair's Family Tree: Three guesses and the first two don't count!

Please read and review!
-Mel