The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part Two

257. Witless

Ellis felt dazed as he apparated. Where he was going, where he had landed, he didn't care. Dumbledore was dead. That was all that mattered now, killed by his own stupidity in believing in Severus Snape. Of course he had been a lie. It was all a lie, every look, every warning was dust, and soon, they would know he was a lie too.

He looked up, drawing in a long, deep breath of night air. It was cool and soothing despite the warmth of June. How long had he been hiding now? How long since that night when Dumbledore had toppled over the edge of the Astronomy Tower? What had he been doing anyway? It was all a blur.

Ellis had just begun to wonder where he was when suddenly, a harsh voice snapped, "What are you doing here?"

He turned, fixing his eyes in confusion on the last people he had expected to see.

"Bill," he whispered, taking a weak step forward, as though in a daze.

But before he could take another step, the voice of Arthur Weasley snapped, "Stay back!"

He was at the Burrow. He was safe. He was home. Actually home for the first time since...

"Please," Ellis whispered, his voice breaking.

Ron was with them too, his wand raised threateningly. He could see beyond them the house, twinkling with light and life.

"Please listen to me," Ellis whispered. "I'm going to reach into my pocket and toss you my wand."

"Slowly!" Mr Weasley shouted, raising his wand higher.

Ellis did as he was told, keeping his other hand raised in surrender. The moment his wand hit the ground, Ron took it, putting it in his pocket before backing up again.

"Why are you here?" Bill snapped, his voice cold and angry.

"Bill, please listen to me," Ellis begged. "I didn't - I wasn't-"

He was shaking so badly that he couldn't speak.

"Ron, what's going-" a new voice began.

Ellis looked up. In the moonlight, he could see the face of her. It was her. He jerked, his eyes slamming shut as another image jumped unbidden into his mind. Red hair. White eyes. Black eyes. Gone eyes.

"I-" Ellis gasped, forcing his eyes open, desperate to rid himself of the images. "I need-"

Bill's brows furrowed as he shared looks of suspicious confusion with his father and brother. Gasping for breath, Ellis stumbled back keeping his gaze resolutely from where he knew Althea to be.

"I need - I need to go," Ellis gasped, fighting down air, his breaths rapid and shallow in his panic, growing faster and faster until hardly any air came in at all as he took another step back, turning.

In a panic, Bill flicked his wand, sending a wave of power in front of Ellis, forcing him back. Ellis stumbled, turning the other way only to find his way blocked again. As he turned a third time, his wide, panicked eyes landed on Althea.

"No," he whimpered. Louder, he shouted, "No!" Falling to his knees weakly, he pressed both hands to his head, gasping, "It was my fault, my fault, my fault! Sadie will never forgive me. The girl. That girl! She needs to be protected. Sadie Sadie hates me. Sadie's dead, Lyra killed. The girl is dead. I've killed them all!"

"Ellis," Althea said gently, ignoring the others' pleas for her to stay back. "Ellis," she repeated.

He jerked again, looking at her for a moment before he hid his head in his hands again, rocking back and forth sporadically.

"It's just a dream," he whispered. "It's just a dream."

"Ellis," Bill said, his voice sharpened by panic.

"Bill, he wouldn't let me leave. I wanted to leave!" Ellis cried desperately into his hands. "He's going to make me come back. I don't want - I never want - Snape will tell. He'll tell them I was dust. Snape will kill. He was dust. I'm dust. We're all dust. Dumbledore was dust! Dust! Dust! Dust! Dust! Dead. He wanted me dead. Dead. Dead."

Everyone shared shocked looks. Bill had gone terribly pale as he gave his father a frightened and confused look. He didn't know what to do. An angry Ellis who had turned to the dark side was much easier to manage than this strange, terrified figure in whom Bill could see nothing of the playful, charming curse-breaker who had led him time and time again through tombs of the most evil nature with a smile and a joke. No, this was not the Ellis he had known. This was someone else. A mere shell of the man he had been before.

"What do we do?" Bill asked shakily.

Arthur hesitated, meeting his son's gaze uncertainly. Ellis was still rocking, gasping for breath as he kept his head buried in his hands, his body shaking as he continued to hyperventilate.

"We can't let him stay," Ron said in a shaky voice.

"Ron," Althea said reproachfully, her brows furrowed in concern. "He's terrified. Something must have-"

"So what?" Ron snapped, his voice hard. "He's the one who went off and joined You-Know-Who. He should be ready to face the consequences!"

"Uncle Arthur, what's going-"

Sadie broke off at the sight before her. Arthur, Bill, and Ron standing in a circle, their wands pointed toward the center. Althea, looking frightened and scared. And in the middle of it all, shaking and quivering as he continued to draw in harsh, shallow breaths, was the one person she could have recognized at once, even in such a state.

"Ellis," she whispered, her voice breaking as she rushed forward.

"Sadie!" Arthur cried warningly, but she paid him no heed, rushing forward to crouch before him.

Gently placing her hands on his own, trapping his eyes out of sight, Sadie said, "Ellis, can you hear me?"

He did not reply, so consumed in his terror her voice came only in a haze.

"Ellis," she said. "Ellis please."

Gently, she tried to pull his hands from his face, but he fought her, strong in his fear as his grip on his head tightened inexorably.

"Please, love," she begged, her voice breaking as a tear fell down her cheek.

Slowly, his rocking slowed, his breathing softening into longer, deeper breaths.

When at last he was somewhat calm, he seemed to come back to himself, suddenly aware someone was touching him. Lowering his hands, he looked up in confusion before his eyes landed on her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, her eyes slightly red, but he could still see those same, shimmering green eyes he remembered so well. They felt like they were out of another world now, a world in which he had never joined the Death Eaters, Voldemort had never existed, and it was just the two of them, alone in a green meadow, sprinkled with daisies. The meadow where, when his nightmares took their holidays, his mind was finally allowed to visit in his dreams.

As he looked into her face now, he saw the same face he knew from his dreams, the other ones too where he was a student at a magic school named Hogwarts and he had met a girl named Sadie. Her red hair was tied in a messy bun at the top of her head, pieces falling out to frame her face. Ellis couldn't believe his eyes. But he was awake, wasn't he? She was only in his dreams, peaceful dreams. Something was wrong.

Sadie could see the mixture of relief and confusion on his face as he stared at her before it was suddenly followed by panic.

"Shush," she whispered, reaching up to cup his cheek. "You're okay, Ellis. You're safe now. Nothing will hurt you here. You're safe."

"Safe," he muttered.

"Yes," Sadie whispered, failing to restrain more tears at the hopeless weariness in his voice. "Safe. You're safe now."

Ellis muttered something else after a moment before his eyes drooped and he fell limp.