Elysian Potter: The Forgotten Queen
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I own the Original Idea for this story. All rights for the characters go to the magnificent J. K. Rowling and the Original idea for the fiction belongs to CharmedMilliE-Karry Master.
Elysian's Theme Song: Castle – Hasley
Chapter Nine: The Worst Birthday
Elysian had been dreading this day for some time now. She, of course, had always dreaded her birthday, after all it wasn't as if she had ever, truly, celebrated it with anyone other than her personal House-Elf Tiana. In all honesty, Elysian would have been so much happier if she could forget this day existed all together and erase it from history – alas this deed was not possible ... yet.
The reason for her dread was simple: the week before her birthday, she had overheard Lily and James discussing the event in a large amount of detail. They had hoped to use this day – the day they had usually always forgotten when it revolved around her and not their darling Harry – to persuade Elysian into thinking in a similar way to themselves. As always, Elysian had expected this – she knew this was a possibility even before she had left Hogwarts and had prepared herself for the constant barrage of questions she had received once she'd returned to the Potter Prison – but she had been hoping to avoid it today. She, sadly, had been an idiot to assume that they'd have any kind of tact when it came to 'their daughter' though it did surprise her that they'd risk ruining Harry's Birthday for her.
They're getting desperate, she thought, or they're being prompted, especially since their last few attempts have ended in failure.
The glare of the sun hitting her mirror temporarily drew Elysian from her thoughts. Ares hissed in annoyance as the panther attempted to shield his eyes from the offending ball of light that had woken him. He was now much larger than before, taking up the entire width of her bedroom door and a bit more. Ares had adopted a guardian space in front of her door after one of Lily's failed plans.
Lily had managed to sneak into Elysian's room while the young girl had been sleeping with the intention of pouring a potion down the young girl's throat only to have accidently stood on Ares' tail, gaining a bite for her trouble. Lily had, of course, dropped the potion and yelled in pain, waking Elysian who had swiped the potion before Lily could even think of grabbing it first. The older woman had stammered out a few words about 'tucking Elysian into bed' before fleeing to have her leg treated. The next morning, Elysian had sent the potion off to Malfoy Manor to be examined by Professor Snape who had proclaimed that this potion was a liquid form of the Imperious Curse.
The revelation that, despite claiming to be all about free will and wanting to protect, Lily and James had been willing to drug their own daughter to get what they wanted came as no surprise to Elysian – she had expected them to try something and had placed enough precautions that even if Lily had been successful, that success would have only guaranteed them a place in Azkaban – so she'd already had plans in place, just in case.
For example: Elysian no longer ate any food that was prepared by any House-Elf other than Tiana. It had upset the poor House-elves before hand but they quickly understood after James had ordered them to place a potion in any food that Elysian would eat; nor did she accept any items of clothing that hadn't been checked for charms, jinxes, hexes and curses from anyone. By doing this alone, Elysian had managed to foil several plans made by not only James and Lily but also Molly and Dumbledore.
Of course, her new stance on these subjects had caused some, rather large, arguments between Elysian and her parents but there was nothing either of them could truly do to her. All she'd have to do – and she'd made them aware of this – is give someone the memory of Lily sneaking into her room with that potion and Lily would be in prison in an instant, fame be damned. After that, they had stopped trying head on attacks – Elysian and Draco had laughed at that, claiming that it was shocked that Gryffindor's could learn after all.
"Miss'," her elf, Tiana, popped into her room holding a sack filled with several packages wrapped in a myriad of beautiful colours, "yous friends bought yous some gifts."
Tiana gently placed them down on Elysian's bed and scanned them with elf magic before popping away to prepare some breakfast. Smiling, Elysian felt tears well up in her emerald eyes as she gazed down at the presents: this was the first time she'd ever had actual presents on her birthday! Sure, the twins would attempt to give her gifts, as would Neville, but it wasn't the same. This was probably the best day of her life, though she knew it wouldn't last long.
Ares chuffed at her, getting up and jumping onto her lap, he licked her cheek and purred before sauntering into his crate and returning to bed. Elysian could have sworn that he was glaring at the Sun but chose not to comment and instead, she focused on her presents.
There were at least six boxes in front of her: the top one was small with bright yellow paper; the two in the middle were medium-sized and were wrapped in gold and red paper; the two just below were large and wrapped in dark green paper and the last was a massive box covered in silver paper. From the colours alone it was easy to see whose was whose and a warm buzz flooded through her senses causing her to grin and immediately grab the top present.
Neville had given her a beautiful diamond potion set – which was very rare and expensive unless you knew where to look – each vial would magically tell anyone looking at them what was contained inside, so Elysian wouldn't need to label things again. Fred had gotten her some instant darkness powder – "Great for a quick getaway," the note had read – and George had gotten her another snow globe which she immediately put right next to the first one – on her desk under an elf invisibility charm. Draco had gotten Elysian a massive stack on books on varying topics, from Potions to Dark Arts books that had been enchanted so that the covers were hidden. Daphne had given her some beautiful jewellery – all in silver and green – that she'd placed carefully into her trunk so that they wouldn't be damaged.
The last gift, and the biggest, was from Blaise – who was in Italy with his mother – and it was a multi-compartment trunk, like her own but this one was top of the line and had multiple enchantments woven into the expensive wood.
Elysian chuckled: "Blaise never could help showing everyone up."
Carefully, Elysian placed all of her new gifts inside her new trunk and activated the invisibility spell the trunk had been made with. When she was sure that no one would be able to see it – and she'd be able to find it again – Elysian grabbed her favourite pair of trousers and her one-sleeved top before going into the bathroom for a lovely shower.
When she finally left her room, after making sure that none of her 'family' was waiting outside, Elysian was immediately confronted by a tiny elf holding a beautiful letter for her in its hand. she accepted the letter with a smile and pulled it open, instantly recognising Madam Longbottom's neat scrawl.
The letter read:
Dear, Heiress Elysian Potter of House Potter,
Heir Longbottom and I would be delighted to invite you to attend the formal Birthday Celebration held at Longbottom Manor this afternoon. It is recommended to bring at least three pairs of clothing as there will be a non-formal party, a formal party and then a ball where those of standing shall be in attendance.
Yours,
Regent Longbottom.
Silently, Elysian thanked the Longbottom Matriarch for saving her and giving her such a formal letter – which was impossible for her parents to deny due to House Longbottom and House Potter being allies – as it would save her from the Hell she was probably about to be thrown into. Calling Tiana forward, the young elf was ecstatic when Elysian told her about the three outfits and immediately popped away to pick out the dresses and jewellery.
It was then that Elysian, regretfully, heard Harry, Ronald, Ginny and their collective parents downstairs in the ballroom. They were cheering and singing Happy Birthday to Harry while he opened presents and enjoyed being the centre of attention. Her heart clenched in anger at the sound but she didn't dare make a noise – not wanting them to come running and attempt to speak to her.
She didn't care that they were celebrating without her – she was more than used to that – what angered her was the fact that they were obviously hoping that she wouldn't notice or hear so that they could pretend that there were celebrating the Birthdays together.
Stepping down the marble staircase, Elysian slipped into the kitchen and grabbed the nearest bowl that Tiana had made in advance and began eating in the kitchen, knowing that she'd be safe. The Kitchen wasn't a place any Potter – other than Elysian – would step inside, not wanting to seem poor or like they didn't have house-elves, so no one would ever look inside for her. Other than the library, the kitchen was one of the many places Elysian spent the most of her time.
"Darling!" Lily's grating voice called from somewhere in the house, "where are you?"
Elysian assumed Lily was calling for Harry and didn't move, still enjoying the fruit salad Tiana had made. She didn't move until another elf – an elderly elf named Cori – popped next to her and informed her that Lily was looking for her.
"Pardon?" gaped Elysian, her emerald eyes wide and dazed, "I'm the one she was calling 'darling'?"
"Indeed, Lady Elysian," said Cori.
Knowing that, Elysian crept out of the Kitchen and groaned when she spotted Ginny hanging on Harry's arm while they looked for her. She had been hoping – and silently praying – that she could sneak upstairs to her room again so she could hide in her new trunk but knew that wouldn't be possible now. Especially when Ginny spotted her and pulled Harry towards her.
"Elysian," Harry grinned, falsely, "where were you?"
It was incredibly clear that Harry was attempting to gloss over their interactions from Hogwarts and ignore them. Elysian's face morphed into a scowl and she didn't reply, simply walking passed him and towards the stairs. Lily and James, as well as Molly and Arthur, were waiting and each one had a massive fake smile on their face – well except for Mr Weasley, his smile was genuine and this was one of the reasons she liked him so much – but those smiled wavered when Elysian continued up the stairs.
"Wait! Why are you going upstairs, darling? It's your birthday, we're going to celebrate," said Lily.
Elysian noticed the involuntary twitch that both James and Lily had whenever Lily called Elysian 'darling' with interest. Spinning to face them full, Elysian refrained from smirking as she handed the beautiful 'get-out-of-Potter-Manor' letter to Lily with a blank expression.
Lily read the letter and her face morphed between an expression of anger and envy as she attempted to talk Elysian out of accepting: "Well, don't you want to stay here? To celebrate among family?"
Raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow, Elysian's eyes narrowed and she allowed a smirk to present itself on her face as she said the four words that would blow their entire argument to smithereens.
"What is my name?"
Both Lily and James froze and that was all Elysian needed. She took the letter back from Lily, turned on her head and gracefully ascended the stairs. Elysian returned to her bedroom with a massive grin on her face as Tiana waited with her extra clothes locked in a small travel trunk and her less formal wear laying on her bed.
"Thank you, Tiana," said Elysian, picking up the dark green, silk dress that Pansy had bought her last month and slipping it on.
Elysian settled at her vanity and waited for Tiana to finish doing her hair and makeup. Once that was done, Tiana took her hand and popped her over to Longbottom Manor, barely missing Lily who had stormed in just before they left. They landed, rather gracefully, in the parlour of Longbottom Manor where Lady Longbottom and Neville were waiting.
Neville looked her up and down and blushed: "I swear we said casual for the morning."
"This is casual, Neville," said Elysian with a giggle, "you don't know much about the clothing of Heiresses, do you?"
"No..."
"It's okay. When we're older, I'll teach you what to look out for."
Lady Longbottom was staring at Elysian with a proud look: she had been the one to teach Elysian all about being an Heiress when Elysian was six and Lady Longbottom was happy that Elysian had remembered. Unlike Harry Potter.
"Well done, Elysian, dear. You look like the perfect example of an Heiress, which shall be excellent for tonight. I do hope your parents were alright with this."
"Ma'am," Elysian said with a smile, "we are all aware that no one in this room cares about the wants of my biological relations."
Lady Longbottom laughed and smiled: "You are, of course, correct."
The two twelve-year-olds were soon left to their own devices and Neville grinned as he put on the golden necklace Elysian had gotten for him. The Hufflepuff insignia shinned in the light.
"So, who else is coming to this party?" asked Elysian.
"Well, the Malfoy family, the Bones family, the Davis family, the Zabini family, the Parkinson family and the Abbot family," Neville listed.
"So, both dark and light factions," said Elysian thoughtfully.
~EP~
With the ball fast approaching, Elysian was sitting in the spare room of Longbottom Manor as Tiana finished her hair and makeup for her formal attire. The jewellery Daphne had bought her matched the silver ballgown as did the tiara currently settled in her crown braided hair.
Neville knocked on the door and entered the room, looking her up and down in awe: "you look amazing."
"Thank you, Neville," said Elysian, a grin on her painted lips.
Neville was dressed in a magnificent set of dress robes that were deep gold. He wore his heir ring on his pinkie and was holding his arm out for Elysian – as was traditional for a young Heir and Heiress who were celebrating their birthday at the same time or ball. They could both hear Lady Longbottom greeting guests and getting ready for their grand introduction. Neville sent her a nervous look and opened the door, leading her outside and towards the grand staircase.
"You'll be fine," said Elysian, patting his hand.
"I hope so," mumbled Neville.
Neville and Elysian stood at the top of the stairs just as Lady Longbottom introduced them. With practised grace and ease, both Neville and Elysian descended into the ballroom. Emerald eyes scanned the room and she internally grinned at how many faces she recognised.
"Let the ball begin!" said Neville, as was the tradition.
Immediately, the heirs and heiresses paired up and began to dance, Neville and Elysian being paired. Half-way through the dance everyone swapped partners so Elysian ended up dancing with Blaise for the remainder of the dance. When the first dance was done, Elysian was free to begin mingling with the other guests.
The first set of guests she came to were the Malfoys. Lucius was looking regal as ever and his usually stone façade cracked when he spotted the young girl and he sent her a small smile. Narcissa was grinning from ear to ear when she saw Elysian and pulled the girl into a tight hug before handing over the gift they had bought for Elysian's birthday.
"Thank you, Mrs Malfoy," said Elysian.
"It's just Aunt Cissa, Ely. You know that," said Narcissa.
"Fine, thank you, Aunt Cissa."
Elysian moved on to the next person and came face to face with Amelia Bones. Amelia was a square-jawed witch with close-cropped grey hair and a monocle. It gave her the air of seriousness that often terrified children but Elysian found it very fitting as Amelia was also very fair and strict when it came to the letter of the law.
"Good evening, Madam Bones, thank you for coming," said Elysian, Lady Longbottom's training kicking in.
"Good evening, Heiress Potter, thank you for allowing my niece and I to come," said Madam Bones, her booming voice slightly quiet in comparison to usual. "I was wondering, though, where your brother is?"
"Harry," said Elysian, trying not to flinch out of pure annoyance, "is celebrating with our parents. He was never one for traditional balls, anyway."
Amelia nodded, her eyes narrowing, and it was clear that she had heard the amount of venom Elysian had forced into her words when she said the word 'parents'. Before she could comment, though, Hannah and Susan came running over and gifted Elysian with her present before dragging her off so they could comment on her style and the boys.
It was rather shocking that no one seemed to care that most of the families at the ball were classed as 'dark' but Susan had simply replied: "Well, you've always been nice to all of us... so why not give everyone else a chance?"