Belong (D.M)

Part fiftyfour

"I read something somewhere" she mumbled quietly, looking down at her hands as the waves rolled into the shore softly "grief is the prize we pay for love"

"He will come back Ellie" Hermione assured her, squeezing her hand tighter.

"What if he doesn't?"

"He will, I know he will come back for you Ellie"

....

She couldn't help but feel like they were running out of time.

She was sat on a bed upstairs, curled up underneath a blanket. Next to her sat Hermione and Ron and on the edge of the bed sat Harry, holding a bunch of wands that he had taken from Malfoy Manor. Mr Ollivander sat in a old armchair, looking tired and distant.

"Mr Ollivander I need to ask you a few questions" Harry spoke calmly.

"Anything boy" the old man spoke weakly "anything"

"Would you mind identifying this wand? We need to know if it's safe to use" Harry asked, handing Bellatrix's crooked wand over to the old man. Mr Ollivander took it in his hands, twisting and turning it as he inspected it.

"Walnut... dragon heartstring... twelve and three quarter inches" Mr Ollivander hummed before he turned to Harry "this belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange, treat it carefully"

"And this" Harry said, giving mr Ollivander a black and brown wand with two small bands around it. She recognized the wand immediately, and it made her sit up straighter.

"Hawthorne and unicorn hair, ten inches, reasonably pliant" the old man spoke, holding the wand in his hands as he inspected it "this was the wand of Draco Malfoy"

"Was?" Harry asked confused "is it not still?"

"Well perhaps not, if you won it from him" mr Ollivander spoke weakly "I sense it's allegiance has changed"

The old man handed Draco's wand back to Harry, and she watched as Harry took it and looked down at it with a curious gaze. Harry and mr Ollivander talked about the elder wand as she looked at Draco's wand in Harry's hands.

"We'll let you rest" Harry said after a while, eyeing the rest of them. They all got up from the bed and followed Harry downstairs to where Bill, Fleur, Luna and Griphook was sitting by the dining table.

Ron and Hermione went to sit down by the table, and she walked over to a window, gazing out at the sea. Harry walked up behind her, keeping a distance of a few inches.

"What's on your mind Ellie?" the boy with the scar asked.

She sighed, letting her eyes wander along the shore she saw outside of the window.

"Why did you take Draco's wand?" she asked, turning around to face Harry.

"I didn't exactly mean to" Harry said, sitting down in a nearby armchair "I just took all the wands he dropped"

"Alright" she mumbled, nodding her head slowly as she turned back to the window to gaze at the sea. The sight of the water calmed her, and it brought back memories of her and Draco sitting amongst the large rocks by the black lake outside of Hogwarts.

"He didn't identify me" Harry said after a moment of silence "do you know why?"

"Maybe he didn't recognize you, I heard you had some jinx on your face" she mumbled, laying her head to rest in the palm of her hand.

"He knew it was me, besides Ron and Hermione didn't have a jinx on their faces, he recognized them... he knew Hermione wasn't Penelope Clearwater, and he knew Ron wasn't Stan Shunpike"

She turned her head to face Harry slowly, tilting her head slightly to the left.

"If I told you that he isn't as much of a bad guy as you think... would you believe me?"

"After this, I might" Harry said, pushing his lips together as he looked at her.

"He's not the villain Harry" she sighed, running her fingers through her messy brown curls "he's just a boy who's made a lot of bad decisions because he's afraid that his family is gonna get killed, not everyone can be the hero... he's definitely not a hero, but he's not evil either"

"Maybe not" Harry mumbled.

"Can I have it?" she asked, looking at Draco's wand in Harry's hands "he's very important to me"

"Yes uhm sure" Harry said, handing her his wand "you can have it"

....

The days passed at the Shell cottage, and she longed for him. During the days she stared at the sea, and during the nights she gazed up at the stars. She kept wishing that he would appear in front of her, but he never did.

Harry, Ron and Hermione went to Gringotts together with the goblin Griphook, and Dobby went to join the rest of the house elves wherever they were holding up. Bill and Fleur left to go to the rest of the Weasley family and her and Luna decided to go back to Hogwarts.

Ginny and Neville hugged the both of them as they got back, and she looked for her sister. She craved a hug from Rebecka, she needed to tell her that she was alright.

"Where is Becka?" she asked Neville as they sat down in front of the fireplace.

"She went home after you were taken" Neville said sadly.

"It was probably for the best anyways" Ginny added "Hogwarts have only gotten worse since we got back"

"I suppose" she sighed, looking around her "and she'll be safer at home"

"She will" Ginny breathed.

The next morning she sent a owl off to her family, letting them know that she was alive and alright. She told them not to worry about her, claiming that she could hold her ground. She begged her sister not to return to Hogwarts until next term, and she assured them that she loved them all dearly.

And as May came around, Rebecka let her know that she would be staying home. Her sister asked her to come home too but she couldn't, she needed to stay at Hogwarts for she needed to stand by her friends until the very end. She needed to find her way back to him again.

She often dreamed of Draco. Some were dreams of his soft skin and warm embrace, they danced and they laughed and she felt his love sting her heart. Some were nightmares of his lifeless body laying in the darkness, and around him the sky wept. The though of him being stripped of their future life together as wife and husband made her feel nauseous.

She wanted so desperately to reach her hand out to him. She wanted to write to him, but she did not dare. For she had seen his family, she had seen the terror at his house... and she feared for what her writing to him could stir up if he was still alive. She could not afford to make things worse, she could not afford to risk his life even further.

"Wake up Ellie"

Ginny shook her awake, and she blinked her eyes up at the red haired girl who was dressed in jeans and a sweater.

Morning came quick and it brought upon tragedy she thought to herself.

"What's going on Ginny?" she asked, stirring awake.

"Get up, get dressed" Ginny mumbled hastily, throwing a pair of jeans at her "Harry, Ron and Hermione are here"

"Here?" she asked, sitting up straight "like here at Hogwarts?"

"Yes let's go" Ginny said, hurrying her on.

Maybe morning didn't bring about tragedy, maybe there was peace to be found within a close reach... maybe, just maybe.