In the week following the attack, Draco Malfoy had been held in the custody of Aurors somewhere in the castle. On the Wednesday after the events in Hogsmeade, a delegation from the Ministry was dispatched to Hogwarts to question Draco and consider his punishment. Amongst the party was the Minister herself and several senior members of the Wizengamot. They trooped through the castle to the Headmaster’s office with whispering following them through the corridors. They were met at the gargoyles by a sombre-looking Dumbledore, a smug Draco and an irritated Professor Snape.
After two long hours they emerged. Draco departed “ unaccompanied “ in the direction of the Slytherin’s dungeon dormitories, with a wide, sneering grin plastered across his face. Professor Snape looked surprisingly disgruntled and shook his head ever so slightly before he left for his office. The Wizengamot members decided to set off for the Great Hall, undoubtedly following the smell of the glorious luncheon that was on offer. Minister Bones and Professor Dumbledore did not accompany the court members; instead they turned in the opposite direction and took a route to the hospital wing.
As usual, Charlie, Harry, Ginny, Ron sat quietly by Ellie’s bed, munching on a light lunch. Hermione was reading a book in the next bed, having only awoken a few days beforehand. When the Minister entered they all rose, with the exception of Hermione, as a mark of respect to the senior figure. “Good afternoon, Minister,” they chimed.
“Good afternoon to you all. Has there been any change?” she asked politely.
“None,” Charlie answered in thoroughly depressed tones.
“What happened today?” Harry jumped in before she could comment. He saw her and Dumbledore exchange significant looks; it was then that he knew it had not gone well.
“Mr. Malfoy has been freed without charge. However, he will be kept under close scrutiny,” Dumbledore explained with just a faint hint of his suppressed anger.
“Freed?” Harry echoed, without the restraint of his headmaster. “But why? He nearly killed Ellie and you’re just going to let him walk free?”
“I understand your frustrations, Mr. Potter, believe me. However, as much as I would like to arrest Mr. Malfoy for his actions, we were over ruled by a majority of the Wizengamot. Many of the members believe that it is inappropriate to punish a child for obeying an instruction given to them by their parent,” Minister Bones told him regretfully. Harry huffed speechlessly for several seconds. “But I can intend to add it to the list of charges against his father. Encouraging an underage wizard to commit a crime is a very serious offence and you can rest assured that he will be punished for it,” she smiled reassuringly.
“That doesn’t bring Ellie back though,” Harry whispered.
“I realise that. I do hope that she survives. I have had the pleasure of meeting her on several occasions, particularly when she was a child, and let me tell you that your cousin is a fine young woman, Mr. Potter. It is my hope that one day she will give up teaching and join the Auror department as she had intended; we are always looking for talented dark wizard catchers, especially in these dangerous times. However, news reaches me that she is quite an exceptional teacher, is that right?” The Minister paused for a response.
“She is,” Hermione answered. “One of the best ones here, she’s my favourite.”
“She’s everyone’s favourite,” Ron added.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to rob the next generation of such a wonderful influence, I am reliably informed that more than half of the seventh year Defence Against the Dark Arts class have enrolled on the Auror training course that begins this summer. So perhaps I shall have to settle for her aiding our cause in a different way. I am told that three of you have ambitions in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?” Again she paused for them. They nodded. “Good. But my ultimate aspiration is to have a number of Potters in our Auror contingent once again,” she smiled at Harry.
“‘A number of’?” Harry asked intrigued.
“Indeed, the Potters have a glorious reputation with my former department. Your grandfather was Alastor Moody’s forerunner, although nowhere near as paranoid. Both your father and uncle served as Aurors until their untimely deaths, and they were very dedicated to their work. Your headmaster tells me that this generation is perhaps more indomitable than the last so I very much look forward to finding out if that is true. I hope that I shall have the honour of welcoming you all to the Ministry’s employment in the near future.” She smiled very warmly at them all before addressing their headmaster. “I really must go, Albus, but you will send word when she wakes won’t you?”
“Certainly, Amelia,” Dumbledore nodded.
“Good, I look forward to an owl from you any day now,” she said defiantly as she left the ward with an air of authority.
“Hmm…” Harry mumbled.
“What’s up, Harry?” Ginny asked in a concerned manner.
“It’s just…the way she talked about Ellie, all the hopes for her future. She really believes that Ellie’s going to make it. Maybe she will, maybe she’s just trying to give us a big scare,” Harry chortled at the thought.
“That sounds precisely like Elizabeth’s idea of fun,” Dumbledore chuckled.
“She was spending a lot of time with Fred and George this summer…” Charlie added brightly as he suddenly came to life.
“Well, perhaps she is indeed trying to frighten us all. Let us hopes that she realizes that the game is up and she wakes soon so we can all give her a piece of our minds. If you will excuse me, I have lots of business to attend to and your lunches are waiting to be finished.” The headmaster bowed his head slightly before departing.
Over a month passed since the attack. Almost all hope had dissipated from the air in the hospital wing. The healer from St. Mungo’s had visited every week but there was no change in Ellie’s condition. She lay on the bed perfectly still. Her skin was so pale that it made her hair look more vividly red and she had taken on the look of a porcelain doll but without the blushing cheeks. Harry had finally resigned himself to the reality that she would never recover, despite Dumbledore’s protestations that she had not fulfilled her prophecy and therefore had to survive.
Charlie left her beside to go to the toilet and to sleep for a few measly hours each night. Often he paced the length of her bed muttering things to himself. He was thoroughly distraught. Harry had been forced back to classes by Remus and came to sit with her during his free time. His girlfriend and two best friends came with him. Hermione insisted that they do homework because Ellie wouldn’t want them to fall behind, especially Ginny who was sitting her O.W.L.s. Charlie and Remus had agreed wholeheartedly with this suggestion. Remus came as often as he could, he had been sent on a couple of missions for the Order and was dropping in to tell the rest of the family whether Ellie had made any progress or not. It was obvious from his eyes that the former teacher had given up any hopes of her recovery.
From time to time various members of the family dropped by to see her and it seemed that Fred and George felt it the worst. The twins had sat by her bedside in respectful silence, sharing cheerless glances. They left Harry with the distinct impression that they looked up to Ellie more than anybody else. Many members of the student body had called in as well but they were not allowed near her bed. They had brought cards, flowers and sweets which they gave to the school nurse for safe keeping.
Whenever various teachers had free periods they too sat by her bed. He had nearly died of shock one evening when he found Snape standing by Ellie’s bed with her hand very gently clasped in both of his. The dark haired man’s head was bowed and he was whispering to the unconscious girl. Harry watched for a long while trying very hard to hear what he was saying but unfortunately the Potions master’s quiet voice did not travel the distance. “What brings you here?” Harry asked while trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
“I was not aware that I needed permission to visit a sick colleague,” Snape replied, lying Ellie’s hand back on her stomach tenderly.
“You don’t, I just wondered why you were here, when you and she don’t get on all that well?”
“Which once again proves how very little you know,” his black eyes never left Ellie.
“Why don’t you tell me then?” Harry tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice but was only partly successful.
“My relationship with your cousin is none of your business, Potter,” the older man snapped.
“There’s a relationship between the two of you?” Harry asked with evident cynicism.
“I do not have to answer to you.” Snape swished out of the infirmary just as Ron, Hermione and Ginny were returning.
“What did that git want?” Ron asked.
“I’m not sure. He was here to see Ellie.” Harry then proceeded to tell them about the encounter with the cold teacher.
“I think there’s a question you haven’t asked,” Hermione pronounced.
“What d’you mean?” Ron puzzled.
“There’s a very important question about what happened in Hogsmeade that Harry hasn’t thought about yet. About what happened to Ellie.” It thoroughly annoyed the others when Hermione wandered round in circles waiting for them to catch up. Harry and Ron sat staring at each other blankly for countless minutes.
“The Silencing Spell…” Ginny said after yet more quiet minutes.
“What about it?” Ron inquired.
“Who cast it?” Ginny racked her brains for a memory of that day. Her brother and boyfriend followed suit, only Hermione seemed to be clued-up.
“I can remember hearing the voice but I don’t know who it is, I’m guessing you do.” Harry looked at Hermione’s knowledgeable expression. She looked fit to burst.
“I do. It was Professor Snape.”
Despite his shock at finding Snape at Ellie’s bedside Harry wasn’t surprised to find Professor McGonagall there one day. “Professor?”
“Good morning, Mr. Potter. How are you?” she sniffed. Harry could see that her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were the colour of freshly dabbed skin.
“I’ve been better,” he replied. “Where’s Charlie?”
“I sent him to get some food; the poor boy will waste away if he doesn’t eat. I just wish she would go one way or the other. She deserves better than lying in a hospital bed neither here nor there. I’m not sure that I can take much more of this not knowing. Patience never really was one of my virtues.”
“Me neither,” Harry smiled sadly at his head of house. She was right, Ellie did deserve better than no man’s land.
“I am aware of that,” she answered dryly. “She’s a strong young woman, you know. She won’t give up without a fight.”
“I hope so. I just want some sign that there’s still life in her,” Harry squeezed her hand and gently willed her to squeeze back.
“There is, somewhere. Talk to her, I’ve heard that it can help.” McGonagall rose from her seat. “I’ll leave you alone with her. I look forward to seeing your essay on human transfiguration tomorrow. I assume that it is at least partly done?”
“Finished it last night. Hermione wouldn’t let us stop until it was finished. She was prepared to make our fingers bleed.” Harry closely examined the tips of his fingers for signs of overwork.
“I always knew that Ms. Granger would be the making of you and Mr. Weasley, I saw it that first year after the incident with the mountain troll. There aren’t many who would lie to protect people they hardly knew.”
“You knew she was lying?”
“I have been teaching for forty years and I have found that after the first ten I was able to spot a liar at one hundred paces.” She smiled at him knowingly and left the hospital wing.
With the Transfiguration teacher gone, Harry shuffled forward so he was sitting on the very edge of his seat and grasped his unconscious cousin’s hand again. “There’s a lot of people that love you. You have this weird affect on people. Is it a Dumbledore thing?” He waited patiently for her to answer.
“Must be. Your granddad has that same effect. I wish you would wake up; I really want to talk to you about what happened. Every time I close my eyes all I can see is that spell hitting you in the chest and the way your eyes looked at me when you turned around…I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody that frightened for me. I was scared, not for me but for you… I know that the Weasley’s are like family but it’s not the same as having family of your own is it? I’ve never really had anything of my own. I’ve never had anything that wasn’t taken away…You promised me, Ellie, you told me that I wouldn’t have to lose you again and now look at you!” He couldn’t really explain the anger in his voice.
“Why did you do this to me? You came back and got close to me so that you could die just as I’m getting to know you? That’s not fair, Ellie; you can’t do that to me, to everyone! You’re supposed to be looking out for me. You won’t be able to look out for me if you’re dead!” He paused for a second and calmed himself.
“I don’t want you to die… you’re my cousin, you’ve been like a sister to me and I don’t want to lose you… I don’t want to lose another person that I love. Ellie, please don’t die…” He laid his head on her forearm and began to cry silently in to her bedcovers.
She squeezed his hand.
He looked up sharply. There were no signs of life in her features. Did he imagine it?
“Madam Pomfrey!” he called.
“Has she…is she…” The matron came scuttling to the bed to examine her patient. “She hasn’t changed. What happened, Mr. Potter?”
“She squeezed my hand,” Harry said hopefully.
“I don’t think she did.” Madam Pomfrey was now examining Ellie with some strange looking instruments. “I think you may have imagined it and no wonder, it’s a very stressful time for everyone.” She looked at him sympathetically. So he had imagined it, it felt so real. But he had wanted her to do it so badly that perhaps he had convinced himself that she had done it. When he looked back at her she was as lifeless as ever, the only sign that she wasn’t dead was the ever so slight rising and falling of her chest.
When the last day of term arrived the only people in the mood for a celebration were the Slytherins. Draco was rowdier than the rest of his house put together because apparently it looked like Slytherin were about to steal the house cup away from Gryffindor. If the truth were told not a single Gryffindor really cared about the cup, the entire house was subdued and it wasn’t just them. Gryffindor had won their final Quidditch match and once again taken the Quidditch cup but this time the win went without a single celebration. The N.E.W.T. level students from three of the houses, the ones who had really got to know their teacher, were in a state of complete depression. Harry had continued DA classes on the advice of Ginny, Hermione and Remus but people’s eyes constantly flicked to the seat in a far corner where Ellie used to sit. None of the decent people in the student body cared much for a party when someone’s life was hanging in the balance.
For once in their lives Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were actually packed a day in advance. They had done it almost as a mark of respect for Ellie. At first Harry had refused to pack his trunk, he was adamant that he was staying at Hogwarts with Ellie, until Remus gently told him that she was being moved to St. Mungo’s for the summer at least, and then he packed his things in record time. For the second year in a row Harry didn’t want to go to the leaving feast, he didn’t want to sit in the Great Hall and look up at the empty seat that should have been filled by Ellie, more importantly he didn’t want to watch Draco smirking at it. He didn’t trust himself to be in the same room as Malfoy and avoid doing something that he would regret.
“I understand that, Harry,” Ginny said when he told her his fears. “But you can’t let him get to you; you’ve got to show him that you’re confident that Ellie can make it.”
“She’s right, mate. Show the slimy little toad that his plan didn’t work, Ellie’s fighting it,” Ron voiced his support.
“But she isn’t. She hasn’t changed at all,” he protested.
“She isn’t dead. It sounds to me like she’s fighting,” Hermione said with force. At that point Harry had to submit because he knew they had a point, so he joined them for dinner.
Normally they would have been down in the Great Hall early to get their usual seats for the festivities but they had left it a little bit later to make their trip in the hope that they would be able to file in amongst the rest of the students and avoid particular notice. Unfortunately Harry couldn’t go anywhere unnoticed; the second he had emerged from behind a pack of seventh year Ravenclaws the whispers had snuck around the hall like an oral Mexican wave. The only table not whispering was the Slytherin table. They watched silently as Harry and his friends proceeded to their seats, which had kindly been kept for them by Neville and Katie. Draco’s pointy, pale features leered at him; he whispered something to Pansy Parkinson who then laughed like a hyena. The sound reverberated off the walls of the hall. “Has your cousin popped her clogs yet?” Pansy ridiculed.
Harry barely had time to grab the back of Ginny’s robes as she shot at the other girl, when he looked around Ron had Hermione’s arms pinned to her sides. He shook his head gently and smiled inwardly, this was a complete role reversal. Usually he and Ron were the ones doing the lunging and Hermione and Ginny were the ones trying to hold them back. If only Ellie could see the effect she was having on them. He politely ignored Pansy’s question and sat at his table, pulling Ginny down with him. He watched Ron do exactly the same thing with Hermione on the other side of the table. To his surprise Charlie had taken Ellie’s usual seat and was trying his best to look excited. When everybody had settled Professor Dumbledore rose to give his end of term speech.
“This year…” he began, but was interrupted by the loud scraping noise that alerted the hundreds of students to the opening of the Great Hall’s enormous doors. There, framed by the magnificent archway, stood the tired, stooping frame of Elizabeth Potter.
A/N: Ellie lives!
My last chapter has been submitted *tear* it’s titled… The Unknown Feeling. I’ve been sitting on it for a long time now and I can’t wait for everyone to read it and tell me what they think!
I would like to ask everyone to review again. Are you going to make me beg? I’m not above begging you know. Please review!