The next day, Ellie was outside with Fred and George as they all built a snowman together. She stood next to George as she patted more snow onto the snowman and curved it out with her hands. She had been really good lately as she hadn't had any more weird visions and her magic hadn't flared it. She was also beaming from all the time she had been spending with George and her feelings for him were growing very rapidly.
She looked over to see footprints walking in the snow but saw no one walking towards them. She nudged George with her arm and nodded towards the footsteps. He saw them and tapped Fred before they slowly walked over to the footprints and grabbed onto what seemed to be Harry as Ellie heard his voice, "Guys, let me go!"
She hurried over to where they were taking him and saw just as he became visible again. "I'm trying to get to Hogsmeade guys", he said. "We know. We'll show you a quicker way, if you pipe down." She laughed as the twins finished each others sentences. She had noticed that they tend to do that quite a lot. She stood next to George and smiled lightly at Harry. She knew he couldn't get his Hogsmeade permission slip signed because of his situation with his Aunt and Uncle and she felt terribly for him. "What's this rubbish?", Harry asked as Fred handed him a rolled piece of parchment paper. Fred chuckles, "What's this rubbish, he says. That there is the secret to our success."
"It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me. But, we've decided, your needs are greater than ours. George, if you will", Fred said before George took his wand out, pointed it at the parchment, and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ellie folded her arms together to try and keep warm as she watched words begin to form on the paper.
"Messieurs Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present The Maurader's Map", Harry said and at the mention of Mooney, Ellie's eyes went wide. She had heard of this map before from Remus and thought that it was long gone. Of course the twins of all people would have found it, she thought to herself. "We owe them so much", George said and Ellie looked up at him with a small smile. If only he knew that his very own Defense Against Dark Arts teacher was one of these Mauraders. Harry opens the map to see a detailed image of Hogwarts with little footprints moving around scattered on the paper.
"Hang on, this is Hogwarts. And that..no, is that really-"
"Dumbledore." "Pacing." "In his study." "Does that a lot", the twins say after one another.
"So you mean this map shows-" "Everyone." "Everyone?"
"Everyone. Where they are. What they're doing. Every minute. Of every day."
Ellie looks down at the map before turning towards the twins with her eyes narrowed, "You haven't watched me pace around in my dorm, have you?"
"Of course we have-" "Not. We haven't watched you, no", George quickly said before Fred could finish. Ellie hummed suspiciously at the two before turning back to Harry. "Brilliant! Where'd you get it?"
"Nicked it from Filch's office of course. First year." "Now listen. There are seven secret passageways out of the castle. We'd recommend this one. The One-Eyed Witch passageway. It'll lead you staright to Honeyduke's Cellar", the twins explained and Ellie could feel her stomach grumble as she thought of the sweet candies at Honeyduke's. "But you best hurry. Filch is heading this way. Oh, and Harry, don't forget. When you're done, just give it a tap and say Mischief Managed. Otherwise anyone could read it", they saw as George taps the map with his wand making the writings dissapear.
Harry thanks them once again before taking off to the secret passageway. Fred heads towards the castle as George and Ellie walk slowly behind him. George could tell that Ellie was cold even in her heavy jacket and hat so he took his scarf off and stood in front of her as he wrapped it around her neck. She smiled and looked down at the scarf and noticed the red and orange patterns. "Did somebody make this? I've never seen this pattern before."
George grabbed her hand as they walked towards the castle, "Mom made it a long with a billion other scarfs and sweaters. She makes a new one every year for all of us Weasley's", he explained as they reached the inside of the castle. Ellie smiled at the sweet gesture from his mother and wished she could have experience that. "She sounds lovely", she said as they reached the Great Hall for lunch time. George nodded and noticed the way her attitude had changed as she seemed more quiet and a little upset, "Are you alright? I didn't say something wrong, did I?", he asked as they sat down.
"No, no, you're perfect Georgie", she said making him blush. "I just miss my mom is all", she said as she felt tears well up in her eyes. It was hard growing up without both of her parents to be there for her and help her with her magic. George nodded his head, "Tell me about her."
"I don't remember much about her. She passed when I was too young to even remember what she looked like. Lupin tells me that she was the kindest person you could have ever met. I just wish I could see her now", she said. George saw a tear escape her eye as he took his thumb and wiped it away causing Ellie to look at him. "I think if she were here right now, she would tell how proud she is of you. Cause in all honesty El, you are one of the kindest and bravest person I have ever met. And I think that's something your mom would be very proud of", he said making her smile at his kind words. He always knew just what to say whenever she was feeling down and Ellie appreciated him so much for that.
As she was getting ready to say thank you a sharp pain ran through her head causing her to gasp and grab her head as she heard the yells of a woman screaming no and the sound of a baby crying. It was so similar to the images she saw on the train and she wanted, no, she needed to see more. She needed to know who this woman was. The screaming suddenly stopped as she opened her eyes and the pain was gone. George had his arms around her and was talking to her but she couldn't seem to hear what he was saying. She focused on her breathing and looked at George as she regained her hearing. "What just happened? Are you alright El?", he asked as he was worried that this just came out of no where.
"I..I don't know what that was. I heard this woman screaming and a baby crying. My head felt like a thousand needles were poking it but it's all gone now", she said as she looked at him. She noticed he had a confused look on his face. "What? You didn't hear the screaming?"
George shook his head, "No, Ellie, there was nobody screaming or crying.", he said as he continued to stare into her eyes. He didn't know how to bring this up to her and he didn't want to frighten her anymore. As he looked at her, red glowy sparks swirled in her eyes and stared back at him. He remembered back to when Ron said he saw a red spark in the sky when Harry fell from his broom at the Quidditch game. He thought nothing more of it though as she shook her head lightly and got up from the table, "I'm going to go to find Lupin. Maybe he'll know something.", she said before turning around and walking away without another word.
Remus Lupin sat at his desk in his classroom preparing for his next lesson when he sees his niece barge in and quickly shut the classroom door. "It happened again. Just now but this time it was just sounds, no images. I heard a woman screaming and a baby crying and my head hurt so bad. I don't know what's happening to me and its scaring me", she said as she began to sob and Remus immediately got up and brought her into a tight hug. He comforted her as he felt her sobs rack through her body. He brought his hands to her arms and looked at her in the face and gulped when he saw her redish eyes staring back at her. "Ellie, dear, go look in the mirror", he said to her and she gave him a look of confusion before walking to the small mirror on the wall and gasping when she saw her eyes.
"Did anybody see this happen to you? Were you with anyone when this occurred?", he desperately asked her. She bit help in anticipation as a tear rolled down her face and shook her head, "George", was all she said before she leaned against the wall as Lupin sighed. There was no doubt that the Weasley boy didn't see her eyes and Remus worried that he would begin to ask questions.
"Ellie, listen to me, alright. None of this is your fault. You didn't know this was going to happen but I need you to calm down for me now. Can you do that for me? Deep breaths, in and out. There you go", Lupin said as she began her breathing routine and he saw the red slowly begin to fade from her eyes until they were back to her normal green color.
"Now. There's a possibility that George is going to ask you questions about this. And for when he does we'll have to come up with a plan to excuse what he saw. We don't want anyone knowing about yo-", Lupin said before Ellie blurted out, "Harry knows!"
Remus looked up at her in shock, "Potter knows? How?"
Ellie sighed, "I messed up a couple of times and used my magic when I thought people weren't looking. I used it at the Quidditch game when he was falling because I didn't want him to get hurt or worse die. Ron must of saw it because he mentioned it to Harry and Harry had already asked me about it once when the thing with Buckbeak happened and I denied it then but I just couldn't lie again to him. And I'm sorry if it was a risk telling him but you know this has been affecting me terribly and I'm horrified about what's happening", she rambled on and took a huge breath of air when she finished.
Remus looked at her with empathy. He didn't know how much of a toll all of this was taking on his niece and he should have realized it sooner. After some silence, Ellie was starting to get antsy waiting for him to say something, "Are you mad at me?"
"No. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for not realizing all of this sooner. I'm mad at myself for forcing you to keep quiet about this when maybe telling your friends would help. And for that I am deeply sorry Ellie", he said. Ellie rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, "It's okay Mooney. I think I just need as much help as I can get and Harry is sort of going through something similar as I am, so I thought that maybe telling him would be best. He and I could help each other out."
Ellie released her Uncle as he nodded in agreement. "Your father wanted me to protect you at all costs. I guess I just forgot about the part where you grow up and don't need my protection as much", he said with a small chuckle. "From now on Ellie, I don't want to force you to do or not do anything. We came here to Hogwarts to both start new lives and I've realized that I've been stopping you from doing so. Now this doesn't mean that I'm going to stop keeping my eye on you and I must know if any more of these visions occur, do you understand me?", he said while pointing to her. She nodded her head quickly, "I understand. So, does this mean I can tell my friends about my powers?"
"That's up to you my dear. Just be mindful of who you tell and always look out for anyone who could be listening in."
Ellie smiled widely at her Uncle, "Thank you Lupin! You won't regret it and I promise to tell you anything that happens", she said before giving him another quick hug and rushing out the door. Remus sighed as he sat down at his desk and took out a notepad. He had written down what she saw the last time in her visions on the train and wrote down what she just told him now. He began putting the pieces together and sighed in defeat. The truth was becoming of Ellie and she would soon find out more than she had hoped for.