Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, my phone messed up and I had been using it to write on the go. So the recreation of chapter 12 was needed. As it's been a while, I decided to make it longer as an apology.

Also, I finally set a username!

As I said in chapter 1, our protagonist's name is Cordelia Jade Black, and while believed to be a Potter, was called Roselynn. In the Mafia world and with close friends, she will be referred to as Jade, while (depending on relationship) she will be either Heiress Cordelia Black or Roselynn Potter.

****Still not mine, Still a broke college student****

Chapter 12- The Heiress Black

Slowly, she began to wake. Running through her sleep-ruffled hair was a warm hand, the soothing pulse of the Flame bond between Sky and Cloud granting her reassurance she was not alone. This new bond felt like it was always there… this connection was so strong it felt unbreakable.

Jade knew that it would never be that simple though. Not until those whom she fled from were dead or otherwise disabled.

"Sleep well Little Cloud?" Xanxus purred, his voice sultry.

"Surprisingly I did," she admitted, her face reddened as she realized what she had done the night before. "Usually when we have one of the injured strays arrive, my nightmares tend to be horrifying the next few nights. Odd that I didn't have any last night."

Xanxus smirked but did not add anything to what she had stated. Face still flushed from embarrassment, Jade looked around the room and noticed a book on the nightstand. History and Rituals of the Olde Ways, a text that she had learned from years ago when she had reentered the enclave. "Why were you reading on the Olde Ways?"

"Mammon gave me the book. Said I needed to know the traditions if things were going to happen the way he thought they would. Then the miser charged me 10,000 for it. Told me to pay attention to the Courting Rites, then said he'd have more information for me tomorrow – err, today."

"Courtship?" Jade practically squeaked, unaccustomed to the straightforward way Xanxus lived. The British Enclaves were extremely Traditional, so just "dating" did not happen. During the summer while away from the Magical community, she was practically trapped in the small suburb, and all the boys had been intimidated by Lee and Piers years before, preventing any summer flings from occurring.

"Mmhm," he nodded, "you are already mine, but I will prove you made the right choice."

Jade softly smiled, her heart fluttering as she dissected the meaning of Xanxus' statement. He wanted her! And he was going to prove it to her – but she had no idea how he planned to do so.

A crack broke the silence between the Sky and his Element, causing Xanxus to aim his gun at the new arrival. "Begging pardon Master Sky sir, but little Miss Marcy is awake and asking for you. Master Marcus says to" – the elf twisted her ears before continuing – "he says to get your butt downstairs before he drags you out of bed."

"Thank you Mopsy," Jade said to the elf as she quickly changed into appropriate daywear. "I will be down in a few minutes."

Walking back out of the closet a couple minutes later clad in a pretty amber sundress with her hair in a new twist, Xanxus felt his heart skip a beat. That dress was almost living flames – the amber was not one solid color but many blended together. He could swear he saw hints of his wrath in the skirt's undertones. As he escorted her to the small infirmary they were in last night, he finally asked something that had been lingering on his brain all night. "Why did you speak in Polish last night?"

"Oh, with Marcus?" Jade laughed. "He first decided to call me a brat, and then when he told me his family hails mainly from Poland, I decided to call him that as it means brother, and he is my big brother. We got in the habit of using Polish to speak to each other while in the Snake Pit so it was harder to spy – and to annoy Adrian. Adrian is the worst with languages – if he had not started studying Latin at age five as traditional magical education says to do, he would still be a novice at it.

"When things are stressful, and I start to get into my head about the what ifs, Marcus realized that changing languages would snap me out of the flashbacks, stop me from spiraling down a deep dark hole. I still have bad days, still have those times where I just am not there, you know? Days where everything seems too much to handle, where I wonder what would have happened had I not broken the conditioning that they had programmed into me. It scares me, and I withdraw. One time it took three weeks before they could get me to return from my shell, and that was when Marcus started with the Polish." As Jade had walked through the halls, escorted by her Sky, a small part of her wished that she was still in the bed with him, the warmth that he exuded made her feel warm for the first time since the Dementors were stationed at Hogwarts two years ago.

"Ah, so Polish is his family's native tongue?"

"Yes and no. The Flint's have been in Britain for centuries, but his grandmother was born in Poland and he spent most of his childhood being raised by her. He told me once that the reason he was not a snob like many would have expected was due to her influence."

"Makes sense. I was the same with Nonna. If not for her, I would have been even more of a hellion."

Just then a little girl darted forward and leapt onto Jade. "Corrie! You're here! I was hoping you would be. Look! They fixed my arm and now there are no more scars!" as the little girl spoke, Jade hugged her back and admired the now scar free arm. "Come on, sissy should be awake soon."

Tugging Jade behind her, Xanxus followed amused. This little girl had noticed him, then saw Jade and immediately went to her ignoring him. It was a nice experience to not have someone turning away from him because of his reputation. In the infirmary, the girl from the night before was now awake and sitting with a new male who was casting spells at her.

"How is she Adrian?" Jade questioned the healer-trainee as she approached the bed. "Good morning Marcy."

"Not to bad honestly. Just a little longer for the bones to finish mending and she can get up. I want her back watched for signs of infection as some of the marks will take longer to heal, but Marcy can get settled in her new room later today."

"That's good. I can take you and Eva, as well as any other strays that show up, shopping this weekend. I have an appointment scheduled with the tailors anyways, I was planning on getting some clothing for the closets here in case someone comes with nothing."

"Marcy, Eva can stay with you and spend time in here until you have your rooms completed. Jade your father went back home, but said he'd like to see you at some point today and a message from a shark said that your companion cannot miss today's meeting."

Xanxus scowled. "I was hoping he would forget that."

"I'll go back with you," Jade said, "since I have to meet with Dad anyways and that way I can possible come back and spend the night again."