I officially had all of Ravenclaw tower to myself, which wasn't as fun as I had originally intended for it to be. Rather than run around the halls in the carefree manner that I once relished, I gathered all of my books and attempted to catch up on my study.
Looking back, it became apparent that I spent nearly five months in the pipes and tunnels, and after that 2 months recovering from the Basilisk venom. The venom has weakened my body tremendously, and made me even paler than before, and now my hair was well and truly blond under the strain.
It was still hard to wake up in the morning, and Madame Pomfrey said that she had never treated a case like this before, and she didn't know when the affects would wear off. She also offered to send me to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and offer that I didn't decline.
Without regular potion-taking, the pain was still unbearable, and some days, when it was particularly bad, I would wish to be at St. Mungo's, where they would know how to treat me. But, if I went, that would also entail me speaking of my unusual heritage...
That was something that I wasn't prepared to do. I yearned for the days when i had freshly woken up, with Neville by my side and the pain absent. Apparently, when I move and have my blood pound faster, the venom pains me more.
Awesome.
Not to mention that Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban, the apparently 'inescapable' wizarding prison. I felt no fear, but instead worried for Harry Potter, after all, Sirius was after Harry. I could scarcely believe the he had murdered thirteen innocent bystanders with one curse.
Sitting up, I felt a wave of nausea hit me again, and I once more collapsed back in to my bed. I had no energy for trivial things such as waking up and leaving my room... I had to stay here... and rest... Yawning, I allowed my body to lay perfectly still as I slept.
~
"Elysia..." murmured a soft voice, drawing me from my dreams.
"Yes..?" I yawned, keeping my eyes softly closed.
"I'm sending you to St. Mungo's, but first I must teach you something." continued Dumbledore, his softly wrinkled hand heaving my up.
"Teach me what?" I mumbled, rubbing me eyes softly.
My entire body felt like it had been filled with lead, so the simple action of rubbing my eyes sent a new need for sleep through me. Standing up abruptly, blood rushed to my head and I wanted to fall back and sleep, sleep and only sleep.
"As you well know, Sirius Black has escaped... And I have allowed the Azkaban guards to be stationed around Hogwarts, as our guards for a short period. I need you to know this spell, before they arrive." she continued, his voice ever so soft.
I had hoped that these holidays would bring me closer to my father, that we would spend plenty of time together and I would forget Voldemort. Unfortunately, I have spent the past month in bed, and have long since given up on getting out of it.
Stumbling down the stairs, I was supported by my Father, who bore a surprising amount of strength. Wheezing due to the effort, I finally found myself in the circular common room, adorned with every shade of blue possible. Facing my father, I leaned against a bookcase for support.
"This is called, the Patronus. I expect that you have read of it, it is not an easy spell, but you are competent." he began, holding out his wand.
The wand was long and thin, and I could have sworn that I had read of it before... Perhaps in a book mentioning Dumbledore? My wand immediately shot up, barely controlled by my hand. Something between the wands had connected, which made me think more of Dumbledore's mysterious wand.
It attracted my own wand? Odd. Sighing, I listened as Dumbledore instructed me to focus on a happy memory, and then cast the spell. My mouth felt dry, and my eyes felt like tiny pins were poking in to them, but I attempted for my father's sake.
"Exp- Expecto... Patronum..." I whimpered, thinking of the day that I had been sorted in to Ravenclaw.
A feeble stream of silver mist wafted out of the tip of my wand. Dumbledore did not look disappointed, but that only made me want to perfect the spell more. Thinking intensely of the day that Leon had returned to me, I repeated it.
"Expecto.. P-patronum!" I gasped, adding a hint of ferocity to my tone.
The mist thickened, but no more than that. My energy was draining, but I was eager to prove myself to my father, so I decided to try one last time. Mustering every single memory of Neville, I assembled all of my energy to try one last time.
"Expecto Patronum!" I bellowed, using the last of my strength.
A shape did, indeed, burst out of my wand, but blackness overcame me before I could witness my patronus. The sleep was, in fact, a relief, and I was happy to leave the common room for oblivion.
~
"Is she awake?" muttered a distant voice.
It was like sitting comfortably under warm water, but above the surface, you can still hear everybody. The second that you do, your body rises for the lukewarm water, and you have to speak to them, though you would much rather take a further dip.
"I am now..." I grumbled, pleasantly surprised to feel less tired.
Opening my eyes, I found that I was not submerged in warm water, but instead laying in a soft hospital bed, with Neville by my side. Blinking, I realised that I was in St. Mungo's, healing. Somehow, the healer's had removed a certain degree of the pain that had been ebbing through me.
Then again, I could have just been knocked out for a few weeks. Neville chattered on enthusiastically, and I nodded and laughed in all the right places. I tried to re-enter the conversation, but my focus would not budge, so I allowed Neville to continue on talking.
The sound of his voice soothed me anyhow. Not many people had noticed how tall Neville was getting, or the fact that he had just about grown out of all his chubbiness. No, I don't suppose they looked past his teeth and scruffy hair.
"Neville..." I said, quietly interrupting his speech on Danish Self-Watering Sprouts.
"Yes, Elle?" he said, eager to get a proper response out of me.
"How long have I been here?" I said, completely off topic.
"Dumbledore said... about two days? He's really worried about you too, I don't suppose he'd want to lose one of his brightest students..." Neville replied, his eyes seeming slightly confused as he pondered on Dumbledore's involvement.
"And... This sounds weird... But why are you here, and how did you know I was here?" I continued, giving him a weak smile.
"Well, I didn't know you were here. I came here to visit... Well... Anyway... I saw Dumbledore and he told me everything." beamed Neville, casually avoiding on crucial part.
"Who were you visiting?"
Silence. Neville's earnest blue eyes searched my own brilliant blue eyes, and his mouth opened slightly to reply. Coughing nervously, he looked away and tried to tend to his wand, but he wasn't fooling anybody.
"Neville," I began, grasping his free hand, "You can tell me... You don't have to be ashamed."
"Ashamed!" he cried out, giving me an aghast look.
Calming himself, he continued.
"I'm not ashamed... I would never be ashamed of my parents." he said, his voice very soft.
"Your... Your parents? I thought that they were-" I stuttered, before he interrupted.
"Dead? No. Bellatrix Lestrange isn't that kind..." he sighed, staring at his shoes.
He looked up, and saw my thirst for further knowledge in my eyes, so he continued.
"After You-Know-Who died, Bellatrix, her husband and a few others Death Eater's went hunting for him... My parents were Aurors, so they came to them first, and tried to torture information out of them..." his face had gone quite pale, and I could tell that he wanted to retell this tale just about how much I wanted to retell my months in the pipes.
"They wouldn't budge... not that they knew much about His whereabouts anyhow. So, Bellatrix tortured them until they went... until they went..." he said, his voice strained and tight.
Until they went mad. He didn't need to finish his sentence, I understood him perfectly. Tightening my grip on his hand, I allowed him to rest his head against my neck, as he was overcome with grief. As the day progressed, he told me about how his parents didn't even know who he was.
He said that every time he saw his mother, it was like he was a stranger, again and again. He showed me a lolly wrapper that his Mother had given to me, and revealed to me that he collected them, and kept them firmly tacked to his walls.
"The only thing that I have from my Father, is his wand..." he said, sadly looking at a long, plain wand, with a light brown colouring.
The entire time, my mind constantly drifted to the fact that this was all because of one of my Father's. For a few moments, I allowed myself to hate me, for the monster that i was, and worst of all, the monster that I was connected to.
Hours passed, just Neville and me. I hardly noticed that there were other beds around us, other patients. More than once, I saw a little old witch in the bed beside my lake out a long tube, shove one end in to her ear and point the other end at us.
It looked kind of like and ear trumpet, and it made me highly uncomfortable to know that the leathery old woman was eavesdropping on our conversations. The sunk outside sank, and I almost hoped that Neville would stay the night in the ward.
These hopes, however, were dashed when a formidable looking woman in strange clothes stormed in to the room. Her hawk-like eyes scanning the threshold until, finally, she stomped over to my bedside, glaring at Neville with a look of pure fury.
"NEVILLE! Where have you BEEN! I leave you for the day with your parents, and when I return I am told that you never even went in to their WARD!" she screeched, awaking any sleeping patients.
"Excuse me... Uhm... Mrs. Longbottom? I-" I stammered, before her gaze sunk down and looked into my eyes.
"And you must be Elysia, the girl that he never stops writing to. It's thanks to you, that Barnabus has been sent to an Owl retreat, to recover from all that flying!" she growled, her voice violently calm.
"Grandma! Elle, is in hospital because she's full of Basilisk venom! She's the entire reason that Harry Potter is alive! She went in to the Chambers, got out and warned Dumbledore's phoenix the night that Harry went in to the Chambers!" cried out Neville, making the entire room fall silent.
"I hope that Elysia won't be the only way that bravery will come in to the family, then." she huffed, before grabbing Neville's arm and storming out of the ward.
Only way that bravery will come in to the family? I tried to suppress a blush, and effort that was not helped but the cooing over the other patients. I tried giving them all an annoyed look, but a smile broke through my mask, and then a laugh, and it all fell to pieces after that.
Every day, a different healer came and gave me another potion to chug. September was nearing, and I wasn't fully healed yet. Growing slightly anxious, I willed myself to get better. Neville also visited every second day, and his Grandmother had long since given up on screeching at me.
I loved seeing Neville so much, and I had missed it dearly, but I needed to get back to Hogwarts. *AVPM REFERENCE INTENDED!* Stretching out, I gasped the warm hand of the female healer, Miss. Truelove, and my other hand went in to Neville's.
Focusing on my under-used feet, I lowered myself from the bed, taking a few shaky steps forward. The entire ward gave me encouraging smiles, especially the little old lady in the bed next to me, who's name turned out to be Blanche.
The past month here had been, strangely wonderful. Blanche and me had become surprisingly good friends, as well as a few other little old ladies. This ward was the elderly ward, but I had been moved here due to my unusual affliction, and lack of bed space.
My foot took another tentative step, and much to my dismay, as soon as pressure was placed upon it, it rolled. Collapsing in to a heap on the floor, I tried to ignore the pain shoot up my right leg. Shutting my mouth tight to avoid whimpering, I allowed Miss. Truelove and Neville to carry me back to my bed.
"You're going to have to heal quickly if you want to get back to Hogwarts." sighed the healer, frowning at my swelling foot.
Miss. Truelove, a freshly trained healer, was not particularly skilled in tactfulness. However, I would prefer a blunt healer to a dishonest healer any old day. Relief spread over me as she whispered a little spell that instantly healed the sprained ankle.
"Oh, calm down, Anita." snapped Blanche, rushing to my defence.
"Well, she's been here a month, and we've nearly got all of this venom out of her. Now, she just needs to learn how to walk again." hissed Miss. Truelove, her voice venomous.
She was sort of like a younger Mrs. Longbottom... Sighing, I rolled over to my side, away from the healer and Blanche, to look at Neville. He gave me a wide grin, gripping my hand tightly in encouragement.
"Your best day yet... We'll be shopping at Diagon Alley any day now!" he beamed, giving me a glowing smile.
However, any day was wrong. We were shopping the day before I was to board the train, much to the dismay of my healers. I still wasn't quite strong enough to walk on my own accord, so they gave me a pair of muggle 'crutches'
"Ready to go?" said Neville, placing a crutch on either side of me.
"Um... Yeah, I s'pose." I muttered, feeling a little nervous to be leaving.
"You're leaving!" cried out Blanche, her wrinkled face creasing even more.
Giving Neville a weak smile, I leaned forward on my crushes, until I was firmly balanced on them. Limping over to Blanche, I sat by her bed, looking at her surrounding photos and flowers. She had barely been visited, but I kept her company enough.
"Yes, I have to get back to Hogwarts." I whispered, giving her a calm smile.
"Right... It's been a long, long time since I was at good old Hogwarts." she sighed, giving me an airy smile.
"Right, but I still have to finish it." I continued, stroking her smooth hand kindly.
"You will come back to visit me, Elysia?" she questioned, her hazel eyes widening.
"Of course! I will come as soon as possible." I beamed, sounding incredulous at the thought of not seeing her.
"I have to admit, I'll miss you..." she said, trailing off.
"I'll miss you too." I replied, smiling warmly.
"Well, here, take this... So you don't forget old Blanche." she concluded, grabbing one of her moving photos.
I looked down at the black and white photo, to see a young Blanche dancing in a wide hall. Her dress was adorned with many, many jewels, and her lengthy hair was tied back in to a high loose bun. Her arms were wrapped around Percival, her long-dead husband.
A sob came out of my mouth as I saw her pained expression when she saw Percival and herself dancing. Giving her a warm hug, I tucked the photo frame into my leather satchel and stood up once more. I waved to the entire ward, the little old men and women eagerly waving back.
I worried about my robes getting caught on my crutches, but I remembered that this year, our uniforms would consist of a grey skirt, a white blouse covered with a black cardigan. I must admit, I liked the idea of a less weighty uniform, and I looked forward to wearing it.
Today, I wore a knee-length dress, covered in tiny, intricate flowers. Limping along, I began to walk out of the ward. Neville followed, his match now meeting mine. I gave him a toothy grin, and found myself faced with a metal cage.
"What... is this?" I muttered, glaring at the metal contraption.
"It's... a muggle elevator. Mungo's got one for people in wheelchairs, or crutches." said Neville, beaming some light down on the mysterious contraption.
"I'm not going anywhere in that." I hissed.
The metal cage was a death trap... Never, would I use it... I could see myself plummeting to my death because of it. I had had quite enough of death lately, thank you very much. Looking back, I saw Neville looking... defiant? No way.
"It will take all day to get you down all of those stairs, you’re going down this elevator." he said, giving me a firm look.
"But I..." I stammered, not used to be confronted by Neville.
"You're going down this elevator." he repeated, dragging the metal cage's door across.
I gave him a pained look, before limping in to the death trap. There was barely enough room for the both of us, but we dealt with it. Every floor we passed made the elevator shake as it brushed with the flooring briefly. Shuddering, i firmly closed my eyes and waited for it to end.
"Did you know that Muggle make thinks called 'Amusement Parks', where they make rides even scarier than this." gushed Neville, giving me a look of awe.
"Why?" I said, looking through my peeking eye.
"Dunno... Just to be scare, I think?" he replied, now looking confused.
"That's stupid." I said, closing my eye.
"Oh come on, you don't have to be grumpy..." he sighed, patting my shoulder.
I replied with a stiff silence, showing him how angry I was. I was going to die... The cage rumbled again... I was going to die... Shaking... Clenching my fists, I took deep breaths to relieve my anxiety, a futile exercise that didn't help in the least.
"Oh, we're here!" announced Neville, patting my shoulder.
Opening my eyes, I saw that he was telling the truth. Dragging open the metal door, Neville waited for me to pass him and walk in to the lobby. Awkwardly jobbing, I limped my way to the front doors, glad to be out of the Hospital finally.
"Dumbledore got your books all sorted, everything’s at Hogwarts." said Neville, smiling simply at me.
"So... where am I staying tonight?" I asked, looking up at him quickly.
"The Leaky Cauldron. Don't worry, Harry, Ron and Hermione are there too, so you'll be safe from Sirius." said Neville, whispering as he uttered the murderers name.
I had almost forgotten the beastly man, but now I was freshly reminded of him. Clutching Neville's forearm, I tried to squeeze out my worry. This, however, only worked to hurt Neville's arm, and did not relieve me of any fear or anxiety.
The day passed quickly. It consisted of plenty of ice cream, a few trinkets here and there, and a weird session of sitting and half-staring and half-talking to each other at a quaint little cafe. At the end of the day, I had the pleasant surprise of seeing Mrs. Longbottom once more, who soon whisked Neville away.
Every time I saw that woman, she seemed to have a new death-stare for me. I had put a name on a few of them, including: The Scorcher, Don’t-Touch-My-Grandson, I-Hate-You, My-Owl-Is-Tired, and lastly the commonly used I-Will-Kill-You.
Thinking of the old bat made Sirius Black look like Santa Claus. Trudging back to the Leaky Cauldron, alone, I tapped the bricks needed and soon found myself in the dark pub. Ron's bright mop of hair shone in the corner of my eye, but I wasn't in the mood to talk.
Instead, I figured out the best way to get up the stairs, which looks shockingly deranged, but it gets me up the stairs, which is all that matters. Though the sun had only just sunk below the horizon, and stars had barely begun to bloom in the sky, I fell asleep quickly.
~
"Miss. Riddle!" cried out a voice, laced heavily with a cockney accent.
"Miss. Riddle, we got some tea for yer!" boomed the screeching woman's voice.
Moaning with annoyance, I rolled over and grabbed one of my crutches to help me to get over to the door. The woman possessed a hooknose, a plentiful supply of warts and a blackened tooth protruding through her parted mouth.
She shoved a dusty, old silver tray in to my hands behind backing away and retrieving another tray, for the next room. On the tray there lay three crumpets, plenty of jam, cream and a steaming hot cup of tea. Splashing some tea into my mouth, I hungrily dug in to my meal.
Pulling on my uniform, I decided that this year I would be ready. Tucking my dress in to my small satchel, I left the room neater than I had found it, before stepping outside. Mrs. Weasley, a short, plump woman with flaming red hair guided her children, as well and Harry and Hermione to the cars assembled outside.
"Elle, dear!" cried out the woman, her beady eyes meeting mine.
"Oh... Hi Mrs. Weasley." I muttered, still making my way down the stairs.
"Dumbledore told me that you were to come with us to the school, so pop along!" she cried out, walking out the door quickly.
I supposed that she didn't happen to notice the fact that I was lugging two crutches as I clung to the rail. I just about rolled down the stairs, actually. In record time, I made my way down the stairs and seated myself in to one of the many cars lined up against the footpath.
I sat between Fred and George, who greeting me in a voice that I supposed was imitating Percy, who had been elected Head Boy, and was particularly pompous about it.
"Simply spiffing to see you!" called out George, his nose upturned.
"Oh yes! This shall be a capital day!" added Fred, in a nasal voice.
I couldn't restrain my laughter for the rest of the trip as they shot out jokes one after another. In what felt like minutes, we were parked in front of Kings Cross station. Everybody, excepting myself, whose bags had already been taken to Hogwarts, had their bags on trolleys and were ready to go.
Walking ahead of the group, I swiftly passed through the barrier dividing Platform 9 and 3/4, and found myself on the magical Platform. A loud 'Crack!' rung out, drawing my attention immediately. Turning backwards, I saw a little, greenish creature crouched in a little corner.
Walking close, I saw that it was Dobby! Squealing with happiness, I ran over and cuddled the little creature. Dobby's tennis-ball eyes widened, before he gasped and squeaked out three simple words,
"I am free!"
Looking down at him, I could only gape. The Malfoy's would never, ever ever in a million years release a servant... Dobby ran through the entire story, and I respected Harry Potter more than ever. Cuddling the little elf once more, I saw that the train was beginning to advance forward.
Giving him one last grin, I ran as fast as I could to the train. I realised, with a bolt of joy and shock that I was running. My crutches were behind me and my legs were pounding with the energy, but it felt brilliant. Beside me, I saw Harry Potter also running to reach the train.
I looked behind me to see a very austere looking Mr. Weasley, looking like he had just told Harry something very grave indeed. Flashing Harry a quick grin, I caught a hold of a protruding handle and jumped through the still-gaping doorway.
Swinging into the passageway dividing the two rows of compartments, I flew in to the first compartment in my way. The momentum of my jump in to the train stopped me from stopping as I flew through the open compartment door.
Sitting up, I saw that I was on the ground, sitting below Neville and Ginny. Ginny looked amazed by my entrance, but Neville looked really worried. He lifted me up and seated her close to him, wrapping his arm around my waist.
At first, this was to stop me from falling, but his hand rested there throughout the whole trip. And, apart form a few 'looks' from Ginny, nobody had acknowledged it either.
"I ran to the train!" I gushed, smiling at Neville.
"That's wonderful!" said Neville, his face flowing with pride.
Ginny, however, looked thoroughly confused. I couldn't blame her; I assumed that she didn't know of my injury. I soon shot off in to a lengthy explanation, which made her face whiten awfully and cheeks blush crimson.
"Elle, I want to apologize..." muttered Ginny, looking fully downcast.
"Look, I know about you and the diary, all of that. But, I understand." I said, comforting her quickly.
Soon, the conversation veered from that morbid topic, and to Neville's favourite topic: Herbology. I realised that this was one of the only classes that didn't regularly require a wand... Plus, Neville's wand hadn't chosen him, he had inherited it...
Something told me that Neville wasn't all that bad at spells, as he thought, but more so he was using an unreliable wand. Musing the thought, I contributed to the conversation enough to seem interested.
Feeling immensely drowsy, as I usually did after using so much energy, I leaned in to Neville and attempted to fall asleep. In what felt like seconds, I awoke to the most awful feeling that had eve felt. A cold wave of air flooded the compartment, and everything went very dark and bleak.
Taking a deep breath, the fresh feeling of revitalisation leaving me as the cold, saddening feeling spread over the threshold. Leaning further into Neville, i tried to find some comfort to relieve this feeling, this, however, only managed to keep me warm.
It was a hungry animal was sucking out of joyfulness, all purity in the world, leaving me alone in a dry, barren land. Outside, thick rain was pummelling the ground, only darkening the bleak scene more. The train slowed, and eventually drew to a halt.
Had we arrived?
The lamps abruptly faded, plunging the cabin in to darkness. Neville gasped in surprise, before standing up to find out why this had happened. I sat alone with Ginny, waiting for him to return with answers.
"So... You and Neville, hey?" teased Ginny, and I imagine that if the lights were on, she would of jabbed me playfully.
"Um... Maybe... Anyway, we should go look for him..." I muttered, standing up and brushing my fingers against the walls.
I heard some surprised gasps two doors down, I, following the walls, I found my way in to the compartment.
"I'm going to ask the driver what's going on..." said Hermione, her voice drawing close as she exited the compartment and passed me.
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was looking for Ron-"
"Come in and sit down-"
"Not here!" cried out Harry, "I'm here!"
"Ouch!" said Neville, and I immediately rushed over to him.
"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice, belonging to a man, not a student.
Squeezing myself next to Neville, I watched as the man procured flames in our midst, and lighted the room enough for us to see his tired, old face.
"Stay where you are..." he said, his voice strained and tired.
The door, however, slid open before the man could reach it. Hovering in the doorway, illuminated by the man's flames, was a hooded figure that greatly resembled The Grim Reaper. Wrapping my arms around Neville, I turned my face away from the beastly creature.
In my ear, Neville whispered the name of the horrid, joy-sucking demon.
~
So, I am literally following the book in these bits, so the dialogue in the bit is legit <:D
This officially starts the third part of this book, YAYAYAY
As a small hint for my beloved readers, I am going to tell you that Elle is going to be a lot more involved with the Golden Trio and Neville (teehee) this year.
Congratulations for reading this far! Oh my god...
You're brilliant! I want to thank you in some way, but your anonymous, so. :l
THANKYOU.
Vote Fan Comment Add to library
Something even cooler? I dont really know?
I just wanted to press tab a few more times...
TUNE IN SOON, READERS, MORE COMING.
Love and butterfly kisses,
Livvi.