Discovery

74.

"Well, of course, I daresay he's busy," said Slughorn, looking questioningly at Belby. "I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!"

"I suppose . . ." said Belby, "Er . . . he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about . . ."

As Slughorn continued interrogating his guests, it became clear to me that everyone here had been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known.

Zabini has a famously beautiful witch for a mother; Neville's parents, well-known Aurors, had been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange; McLaggen's father was some Ministry prat; and Harry was...Harry, of course.

"Now, Elladora!" Slughorn turned his attention toward me after a long interrogation with Harry. "I'm sure you know I taught your father back in the day, don't you?"

"No," I said bluntly.

"Yes, yes, I was Potions Master then. Your father was the only one I missed out on, I'm afraid. I got Regulus, of course. He was a nice boy...but I'd have liked the set, if you know what I mean..."

"Uh-huh..." I raised my eyebrows.

"It's a shame you followed in his footsteps," Slughorn chuckled. "I've had all the Blacks, except for Sirius. But the Sorting Hat knows best, I suppose."

The afternoon dragged on, and only when the sun set did Slughorn finally release us.

"I'm glad that's over," muttered Neville as we exited the dining compartment. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," said Harry. "How come you ended up in there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith," said Ginny. "I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a really good hex and invited me to lunch! Mad, eh?"

"Better reason for inviting someone than because their mother's famous," said Harry, "or because their father —" he trailed off. "—I'll see you three later,"

Before we could ask what was going on, Harry darted after Blaise Zabini. None of us said a word, and as we continued walking, I felt Ginny's eyes on me.

"Neville, will you give us a moment?" I asked when we reached our compartment.

Ginny scoffed, and Neville left us alone in the corridor.

"Look, Ginny," I sighed, "I'm sorry I ignored you all summer. It wasn't the right thing to do, but I just felt so alone..."

"But you weren't alone!" she snapped. "You had all of us! We wrote you every day, but we never heard anything back! Mum said to give you time, but when you started seeing Fred I figured you'd want to see us as well!"

"I wanted to see you all, I swear, but I just couldn't... I felt like you wouldn't forgive me..."

"Of course we would have! You went through something horrible, Ella, and we wanted to be there for you! You just needed to let us." Ginny looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Gin. Is there anything I can do to fix this?" I sighed.

"Will you talk to me? Will you talk to Harry, Ron, and Hermione?"

"Of course!" I objected.

"Then we're all set." she smiled. "I missed you so much, you know."

"I know. I missed you too."

***

Turns out, Harry disappeared on the train to go spy on Draco Malfoy, claiming he had been initiated as a Death Eater over the summer.

As we walked up to Gryffindor Tower, I tuned the trio out. It was only the first day of term, and they had already found their "mission". I couldn't stand it.

When I got to the dorm, I changed out of my robes and climbed into bed.

"Are you alright, Ella?" Hermione asked me.

"Yeah, just tired, I guess." I muttered, crawling further under my blankets.

Despite how tired I claimed to be, I tossed and turned for hours. Every time I closed my eyes, I was met with horrible nightmares about that night.

Eventually, I gave up on sleep completely. I snuck out to the common room— which was completely deserted— and took a seat on the sofa.

My eyes welled with tears as I recalled the memories I had made on this couch: sitting with the twins as they tried to blackmail Ludo Bagman...watching them test their products on unsuspecting first years...cuddling close with Fred as the fire crackled in front of us...

My heart ached with nostalgia as I longed for these days to return.

As I headed back up the stairs, I heard the portrait hole open and close. The voices of Harry, Ron, and Hermione echoed in the empty common room.

Part of me wanted to go down there and confront them, but the other part knew that I would be wasting my time. So without another glance, I went to bed.