An hour must have passed since I left the house. The Muggle neighbourhood is dark but peaceful. There is nobody outside this late and the few people I meet roaming the street, don't pay attention to me. I was only wearing a thin robe when I stormed out of the house and have cast a warming charm in order not to catch a cold.
When I return to the house, I'm relieved to find the front door unlocked for me. I head straight to the kitchen in order to avoid any confrontation with the Gryffindors upstairs.
Six pairs of eyes stare at me when I enter. Fred, George, and Ginny are sitting next to each other with Hermione, Harry, and Ron opposite of them. All their heads have snapped up when I enter and their conversation falls silent.
I square my shoulders and ignore the people sitting at the table. My uncle is standing in a corner, talking to a black-haired man with a beard who is wearing a deep purple robe. Molly is standing near the stove and looks worried at me. I avoid the house-elf who is sending me a look of disgust and walk around the table to the end.
"Why don't you sit down next to Fred, dear?" Molly says with a warm smile and pushes to towards the empty seat beside Fred.
Before I can protest, Molly has pushed me in the seat and turns to two men in the corner: "Severus, Siris, dinner is almost ready."
My uncle looks at me before taking a seat at the head of the table, closest to us. The other man sits down on the other end. A few people enter the kitchen from the living room and I get to meet Arthur Weasley, Molly's husband and the father of Fred and his siblings.
"Hi! I'm Tonks."
A girl with purple hair holds out her hand. I shake it with a small smile.
"Are you Severus's daughter?" She looks at my uncle at the head of the table before turning back to me.
I shake my head, "No, I'm his niece. My name is Elena, a pleasure to meet you."
Tonks's eyes widen in realisation and a grin grows on her face. She looks at Fred beside me and smirks: "Oh, well – wait, Elena, as in, Fred's girlfriend Elena?"
I nod.
"He told me so much about you this summer, didn't want to shut up about you." Tonks sits down opposite of me and next to Hermione, still smiling.
During dinner – which is truly amazing – I talk with Tonks who asks me all about myself. I ignore the Gryffindors as much as possible. Fred tries to speak a few times, but no words come out of his mouth when he opens it. Tonks seems to notice that something is wrong but doesn't ask.
"What house did you get sorted in?" The man at the head of the table asks. Molly looks at me curiously.
"Ravenclaw," I answer, side-eying the Gryffindors beside me. Fred's expression falls.
The man nods, "I imagine Flitwick being happy to have you be part of his house. I remember him being so font of your sister, Severus."
My uncle nods but doesn't say anything. I feel a lump forming in my throat.
"Your mother was a Hufflepuff and your father was a Gryffindor. He must have been a year above us. His brother was a year below us, right, Remus? They were such troublemakers – I swear they rivaled us sometimes."
He lets out a loud laugh and I flinch. From the corner of my eye, I see Fred lifting his hand and wanting to place it on mine but he stops and lets his hand fall back in his lap.
"I have never seen you around Hogwarts," another man with scars on his face says and he seems to think. Placing my cutlery down, I answer: "I went to Beauxbatons before this year."
The man turns to my uncle with a frown, "You let her go to Beauxbatons?"
"Remus," the man at the head of the table says, "You of all people should know why he did it. He just wanted to keep the girl safe. I never thought I would say it, but he was right in this situation."
I'm starting to have trouble swallowing and quickly grab my glass of water and down it. I force myself to breath in and out.
Molly quickly stands up and smiles, "I've made pudding. Would everyone like some?"
The conversation over dessert has turned away from my parents and back to some of the business the adults were discussing in the living room. After dessert, I help Molly clearing the table and clean the dishes. Hermione leads the Gryffindors back upstairs with one last look in my direction.
"You were gone when I called out for dinner," Molly says with a light tone, "Fred refused to tell me what happened. Are you alright?"
I nod as I dry one of the plates and levitate it into the right cabinet. Molly's eyes narrow slightly but luckily for me, she decides to drop the subject. Once the dishes are done, I stall going upstairs but am forced to when another man enters the kitchen.
"Kingsley!" Molly says surprised, "We didn't expect you to return this soon."
She pushes me in the direction of the hallway and smiles apologizing at me, "I'm so sorry, dear, but this might be important."
I'm alone in the dark hallway as Molly quickly shuts the door behind me. Climbing up the stairs, I whistle once, and Pixie comes out from behind one of the paintings. She flies towards me and avoids the orange cat trying to catch her. When the creature gets too close, Pixie growls and spits fire which makes the cat jump back. Pixie lands on my shoulder and I smile at the little dragon.
A door on the second floor opens and when I look up, I see Hermione scooping up the orange cat. She looks at me before disappearing back into the room.
A second figure appears, and I recognize Fred. We stare at each other for a moment, standing on the small landing on the second floor. Fred looks pained and opens his mouth, but no words come out.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Fred begins: "Elena, I-"
The door downstairs opens and my uncle calls out: "Elena, are you there? We need to head back to Hogwarts before it gets too late."
His voice startles us both. Looking down, I see my uncle standing in the hallway, looking up at me and Fred. I turn back to Fred who stares at me. Fred's expression from before dinner seems sticky-charmed to the front of my mind, the betrayal and pain written all over. I feel tears well up again and decide to head back downstairs before the tears fall.
My uncle holds out his arm and I take it. Before anyone can stop us, we apparate away.
That night, sleep comes difficult. I keep tossing and turning but can't seem to fall asleep. Fed up, I step out of bed and sit down in the windowsill, staring at the Quidditch pitch in the distance. The events of today keep replaying in my mind and the look on the faces of the Gryffindors – especially Fred – haunt my mind. They looked like I betrayed them. Do they really think I would be like my uncle and make the same choices?
A tear runs down my cheek and I lift my knees to my chest.
I spend the rest of the holiday trying to forget the events that happened in the old house. I finish all my homework but am not able to tell you what it was about. There is a dull ache in my chest that just won't go away. I barely sleep and when I do, old memories haunt my dreams.
The morning the other students will return to Hogwarts, I barely manage to get out of bed. I get dresses to head to the welcome back dinner but I feel like a walking corpse. I have left the common room and have almost arrived at the Great Hall when I hear a female voice: "- should apologize."
"Hermione! She is Snape's niece!" I recognize Ron's voice and stop just behind a corner. After hearing a sigh, I hear Angelina's voice: "You can't choose your family, of all people, you should know. And she is right, if you would have known she is Snape's niece..."
"I don't really see the problem," Lee's voice sounds, "Elena is right, she's not a Slytherin so we have no right to treat her differently just because her uncle happens to be Snape."
There is another sigh. "She didn't tell me."
Hearing Fred's voice feels like my heart turns over in my chest. His voice sounds sad and there is a hint of betrayal is laced through it.
A woman laughs disbelieved and Angelina answers: "Do you really think it's strange she didn't tell you? I mean, look at how you're reacting now, Fred."
"If I was her, I won't have told you either. Especially because I know your thoughts about Snape and Slytherin," Hermione says, "The first day of her staying here, she learned that her uncle isn't very liked around here, just like his house. That's a nice welcome. I still think you should apologize, we all should."
I decide I have heard enough and take a few steps back. After a deep breath, I start walking again like I have been walking this whole time instead of listening in on the conversation. From the corner of my eye, I see Angelina, Lee, Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron standing in front of the stairs. They have stopped talking and all are staring at me.
"Elena!"
A voice makes me turn around and I see Roger heading in my direction. He waves at me and brushes past the Gryffindors.
With a bright smile, he holds up his notebook and says: "I have found the perfect formation for our upcoming match against Slytherin. You need to hear me out!"
Disbelieved, I stare at Roger and ask: "Did you really think about Quidditch during Christmas?"
Roger grins and places an arm around my shoulder. Together we begin to walk into the Great Hall. I see Angelina placing a hand on Fred's arm who looks very angry at the brown-haired Ravenclaw.
"Well... actually..."