After half an hour, Ellie returned to the kitchen looking very red around the eyes and with Remus’ arm clamped tightly about her shoulders. Dumbledore smiled comfortingly at her as she re-took her seat at the table. “I would like to continue. First of all, Harry, are you happy for your guardianship to be taken over by Remus and Elizabeth?” he looked at Harry piercingly.
“Yes,” he said somewhat tentatively. He hardly knew Ellie and she was going to be able to make some of the most important decisions about his life, yet she didn’t even know him. Apparently no one noticed the doubt in his voice though, as they never pushed the issue any further, instead Dumbledore moved swiftly on.
“As you all heard, Harry and Elizabeth have inherited this residence. Now as you are underage, Harry, its care falls to Remus and Elizabeth. I would like to ask all three of you if the Order of the Phoenix may continue to use this house as headquarters. I will, of course, understand if you wish us to find somewhere else,” he paused momentarily. Remus, Harry and Ellie exchanged glances and an unspoken agreement was reached. It was Ellie who answered.
“The Order is welcome to use Grimmauld place for as long as is necessary and for any means.” Harry and Remus nodded in agreement.
“I thank you all; it will make things much easier. Now I’m afraid, once again, I must take my leave but I will be back before long. Elizabeth, my dear.” He beckoned her forward and she politely rose and moved with swift grace around the table to him. He held out a long and spindly arm to her and clasped her chin gently, “Those we truly love never leave us, please remember that.” He pulled her close for a soothing hug and whispered in her ear, “Perhaps make a start tonight.” Harry saw Ellie giving him the briefest look before nodding to her grandfather. Once again Professor Dumbledore disappeared into the fire.
After a little while the discussion turned to what everyone was going to do with the share they were left. Ginny was talking about getting a new broom while Ron wanted to get a new set of Quidditch robes. Ron asked Hermione what she was going to get several times but all she could say was, “I don’t know.” Mrs. Weasley made it clear to all of them that they had to spend very carefully and they would not be buying anything too extravagant. Harry smiled to himself; this was exactly how Sirius would have wanted it to be.
Charlie was sitting next to Ellie with her hands clasped within his. He was whispering in her ear and grinning at her. Occasionally she grinned back, but the smile didn’t extend to her eyes. Charlie eventually realised that she wasn’t going to be cheered up just yet, so he kissed her on the cheek and set off upstairs to feed Buckbeak, who, to Harry’s utter amazement, was still in Mrs. Black’s old bedroom.
“Harry, could I talk to you?” Ellie spoke so quietly it was almost a whisper; she had sat at the table sipping the same cup of tea for almost two hours, her fingers drumming gently on her jaw and her expression changing every so often as if she was arguing with herself.
“Erm…yes.” He followed her from the kitchen into the upstairs library silently.
Every spare inch of wall was covered in books, there was a roaring fire in the middle of the right hand wall and above it hung a painting of a highland scene. Torches were spaced at regular intervals along the walls but they were extinguished at the moment because of the bright light that was shining through the floor-to-ceiling window that was opposite the door. There were four comfortable mahogany armchairs sat around a small table in the centre of the room. She gestured to him to sit in one of the chairs.
“Granddad wrote and told me all about you and the Mirror of Erised in your first year. What did you see there?” She wasn’t looking at him instead she was eying the floor suspiciously like any second it might pounce up and slap her in the face.
“My family, why do you ask?” He was puzzled as to why she was so interested in something he had seen almost six years ago. She didn’t answer; she rose from her chair and went to a nearby bookcase. She pulled out several books from a lower shelf, paused for a second and moved back towards him. She opened the first book and handed it to him.
“These people?” He looked down at the very large photo in front of him; he recognised the faces smiling up at him as those he had seen in the Mirror all that time ago.
“Yeah, that’s them,” Harry replied. He watched as his mother’s emerald eyes twinkled at him as she waved heartily. His father was attempting to pull her into a dance.
“Do you know who they all are?” Ellie was now sitting on the arm of his chair, smiling down at the people before her.
“Well, I know that’s my mum and dad.” He pointed down at the two figures now dancing merrily around the picture, “I think that’s my granddad.”
“It is. The woman next to him is your grandmother. Their names were Harold and Eliza Potter. They met at Hogwarts; he was two years above her. They fell in love when your grandmother was in her third year; and they married less than six days after she left. They stayed married for almost thirty years. Lord Voldemort killed them two months before your mum and dad. That man stood next to your father, he’s your uncle Andrew and that’s his wife Jane, she’s holding their daughter Elizabeth she was two and a bit years older than you. They were killed six months before your parents.” A quick glance up at Ellie revealed that she was on the brink of tears.
“Voldemort?” Harry knew the answer that was coming,
“Yes, he seemed to take rather a disliking to our families. We’ve both lost people we love. Sometimes I think that you had it easier than I did.”
“How do you figure that?” Harry felt a sudden surge of outrage towards her.
“Harry, please don’t get angry, I know that it’s a stupid thing to think but let me explain. You never got to know them; you never met them, and you…you never got to love them. I was there, Harry, I knew them. I loved them and I had them torn from me when I needed them the most. I had to endure that pain and I’ve had to live with it everyday for the last fifteen years. For you it’s a distant memory, you don’t even remember them properly. You don’t remember the way your father’s eyes used to gleam when he held you or how your mother’s smile consumed every line in her face and made you feel unbelievably warm inside. You don’t remember your grandfather sitting in his favourite chair rocking you gently from side to side while your grandmother stood over the two of you singing Over the Rainbow gently or how we used to laugh when you both fell asleep. You don’t remember your cousin chasing you and Neville Longbottom around the back garden not long after the two of you had learned to walk. You missed out on all that, you don’t have the pain of those memories being dragged around with you all the time. But then I remember that you never got the chance to have all that to remember and I realise that I’m being a bit foolish, it’s unfair on both of us.” A sole tear had traced its way along the apple of her cheek; round the indentation of her fading smile and was on the verge of dropping from her chin. Harry knew that she was right; he had always felt that he had been dealt the bad hand by not being allowed to know his family but perhaps not knowing them was easier than knowing them and having them stolen away. He suddenly felt dreadful for feeling angry with her.
“You knew my family well then?”
“Very, my mother was in the same year as your uncle Andrew, they were Head Boy and Girl together. Both Gryffindors, so they knew each other quite well, very well in fact.” Harry once again saw her smiling down at the people in front of him.
“Tell me about them. Please,” he pleaded with her.
“Well I only remember bits and pieces, I was only a toddler at the time but I’ll tell you what I can.” She sat next to him and they talked for hours, they flicked through the photo album as they did. Ellie shared with him various little anecdotes of the different members of his family. He hadn’t known he had an uncle but from the way Ellie spoke about him he knew that he would have liked him. He sounded a bit like a cross between Sirius and Remus, fun loving but eminently sensible. He had made a lasting impression on Ellie; she spoke of him with reverence. Harry could not help but notice the similarities in appearance between his mother, aunt, Ellie and Ginny. All of them with red in their hair, a sparkle in their eyes and a hearty smile on their face.
After several hours Ron came to tell them that dinner was ready. When Harry watched Ellie eat whilst holding a conversation with Remus his heart felt a little lighter. He noticed how alike he and Ellie were, parents killed when they were very young, the suffering endured throughout their lives. It was a comfort to him. She was someone who understood how it felt to be alone. Although she had Remus and Dumbledore she’d spent a majority of her time thousands of miles away from them, studying and training so that one day she could seek justice for the people that had been taken from her. Yeah, he thought to himself, he and Elizabeth Dumbledore were very alike. Maybe having her as his guardian wouldn’t be so bad after all.