A/N - Hello all! Finally ready to post this new story! While it isn't my first fanfic, it is my first HP story. I said I was going to wait to start posting it until it was finished, but it has taken on a life of its own (surprise, surprise) and gotten much longer than I thought it would be, so I may break it into two. Regardless, I have a huge chunk of it done and my plan for now is to post on Tuesdays and Fridays and if all continues to go well, I should be able to keep up with that schedule.
This is a story with an original character, well quite a few actually, and fair warning, the majority of the story is about her. I know that some people are not fond of original characters, so if you choose to stop reading now, I will not be offended. :) Never fear however, there will be plenty of our favorite characters as well, but the plot does focus on my original character(s) and her life. There is a dual story line, one is set during POA that will follow canon events of that story and the other is set during the Marauder Era and a bit beyond and will be told in flashbacks, mostly from Catherine's point of view. I have put in the date whenever I switch between timelines, and my sister, who has read the first few chapters, assures me it is not confusing, so I hope you feel the same. It will be mainly an angsty romance, those that have read my other stories will not be surprised by this ;), but there will also be plenty of drama, family interaction and a bit of humor as well.
The story title is taken from the Gavin DeGraw song of the same name. Now that my a/n is long enough, I hope you all read and enjoy and please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, not me.
July 1993
Catherine held the thick, creamy envelope in her hand and tucked a lock of curly brown hair behind her ear. She ran a finger over the elegant green script and smiled. Although it had been 20 years since she had received her own letter, she hadn't forgotten the smell of new parchment or Professor McGonagall's handwriting. It had been the Professor herself who had delivered Catherine's letter, all those years ago. Catherine and her parents had sat in stunned disbelief as the Professor had explained who she was and where she was from. But once she had offered Catherine her place at Hogwarts, there had been no more need for discussion, as far as Catherine was concerned. She remembered how excited she had been and how she had wanted to leave for school that very second. Her father had seen it differently, however, and had asked questions for more than an hour before he finally, albeit begrudgingly, accepted that Professor McGonagall was who she said she was.
Not that his acceptance meant that he wanted his only child to attend Hogwarts, not by any stretch of the imagination. It took days of arguments, discussion and pleading for him to give in. And even when he had, he still wanted little to do with it all. He refused to go with Catherine and her mother to Diagon Alley to get her supplies and conveniently something came up at work the day she had to be at King's Cross. Catherine declined to let his attitude dampen her enthusiasm, however, and she could still remember that day is if it had happened only months ago instead of years.
1 September 1973
Catherine stood in King's Cross station looking nervously at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Professor McGonagall had explained how to get through to platform 9 ¾, but Catherine was having a hard time plucking up the courage to do so. She looked back at her mother, who smiled encouragingly. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, but before she could actually begin to push her trolley toward the brick wall, there was a loud commotion to her right.
Catherine turned and saw a woman and three girls approaching, all with trunks and the oldest with an owl, on trolleys. The youngest girl looked to be around Catherine's age and as Catherine continued to watch them, the girl caught her eye and gave Catherine a wide smile. The woman, not having noticed Catherine, stopped near the barrier and surreptitiously looked around. She then motioned toward the older two and they took off at a run toward the wall, vanishing through it, one after the other, a second later. Catherine's mouth hung open at the sight. While she knew what was supposed to happen, actually seeing it was another thing all together. The woman then took the youngest girl's hand and began to walk rapidly toward the barrier herself, when the girl stopped her and said something, then pointed toward Catherine.
The woman looked up and smiled as she saw Catherine's trunk and owl sitting on her trolley. The girl ran toward Catherine and her mother approached Jane, Catherine's mother.
"Hogwarts too?" the girl asked and Catherine nodded. "First time?" the girl said and Catherine nodded again. "Are you a muggle-born?"
"What's that?" Catherine asked.
"Someone who doesn't have magical parents," the girl replied.
"Oh, then yes," Catherine said.
"I'm Myra MacKenzie," the girl said, smiling.
"Catherine Powell," Catherine replied, returning the smile. Just then Myra's mother came up behind them.
"Come along Myra, your sisters will wonder where we've gotten to," Mrs. MacKenzie said. "Catherine, I've just been talking to your mother and we'll get you settled on the train if you like." Catherine nodded, then went and hugged her mother one more time. "All right girls, let's go." Mrs. MacKenzie herded the two girls back toward the barrier and Myra looked at Catherine once more before turning and running through the barrier.
"Go ahead now," Mrs. MacKenzie said to Catherine. "It will be all right." Catherine turned and ran toward the barrier. When she reached the other side, she smiled, pleased with herself that she had done it. Before she had time to contemplate this, however, Myra ran up to her and took her hand.
"Come on," she said. "Let's get on or we won't be able to find a seat together." Catherine laughed at the enthusiasm of her new friend. Myra dragged her toward two older girls that looked a lot like her, as her mother came through the barrier and followed quickly behind them.
"These are my sisters, Maggie and Maureen," Myra said, pointing to the two girls in turn. "Maggie's a fourth year and Maureen's a sixth. She's a prefect."
"Prefect?" Catherine asked confused.
"I'll explain later," Myra said. "Come on!" She began to drag Catherine toward the train only to be stopped by her mother's hand on her arm. "Mu-um," Myra whined. "All the good spots will be taken."
"Oh nonsense, Myra," her mother clucked her tongue at her. "There's plenty of room for everyone." Myra rolled her eyes as Catherine giggled. After a few last minute instructions and hugs and kisses for her girls, Mrs. MacKenzie finally allowed them to get on the train. Myra dragged Catherine by the hand to an empty compartment near the end of the train.
As the two girls settled into seats, Myra began to chatter away about Hogwarts and magic in general. Catherine didn't have to say much, she simply listened and nodded here and there to let Myra know she was still listening. And by the time they had reached Hogsmeade, Catherine felt like she knew all there was to know, and then some, about the inner workings of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As they reached the station, Myra and Catherine moved into the corridor to exit the train. It was crowded and Catherine was jostled and pushed as more students poured out of compartments and surged onto the platform. Just as she reached the steps of the car, she was bumped from behind and tripped, falling headlong into the person in front of her.
"Whoa there," a boy said as he gripped her arms to keep her from pitching headfirst out of the train car. As she regained her balance, Catherine looked up into gray eyes. The boy smiled at her and made sure she was steady before he let go of her arms.
"S-sorry," she managed to stutter out, feeling her face redden.
"No harm done," the boy said, smiling at her and flicking a strand of black hair from his eyes. "It gets a bit bonkers around here when everyone's trying to get off."
"Oy, Sirius," another boy with rather messy black hair yelled from the platform. "Come on!"
"All right then?" he asked, looking at her once more.
"Yes, thanks," Catherine replied and Sirius nodded and jumped down the stairs to the platform. Catherine started down, looking round for Myra and finally spotted her at the bottom of the steps, apparently waiting for Catherine. The two followed the crowd of first years making their way toward the most enormous man Catherine had ever seen. She didn't have long to gape at him, however, as they were herded onto a fleet of small boats. To Catherine's surprise, the boats seemed to actually make their way under the castle and after they disembarked, the children climbed a flight of stairs to be greeted by Professor McGonagall. The woman gave Catherine a small smile as she walked past and she led them into a small room and told them to wait.
Catherine, knowing from Myra that the sorting ceremony was coming next, stood contemplating which house she thought she might be placed in. Myra had told her about all four and Catherine rather doubted she would be put in Slytherin, being muggle-born and all, not to mention that fact that she'd never considered herself particularly concerned about power or prestige. The other three all sounded fine to Catherine, although she was a bit drawn to Ravenclaw as she had always loved reading and school and had done very well there and logical thinking was her forte. Myra's older sister Maureen was a Ravenclaw and Maggie was in Hufflepuff. Myra didn't seem to have much of a preference either way, but Catherine did hope that the two of them ended up together.
They shuffled into the Great Hall in a line and Catherine couldn't help but stare. Myra had told her about the ceiling, but it was still a shock to see the star-filled sky and the crescent moon and realize it wasn't really the night sky she was seeing, but a charm. Professor McGonagall took out a scroll and called the first name. The students sat, one by one, on the stool in front of a table of what looked like teachers, and put on a rather patched old hat which actually called out the name of their house from a rip near the brim. When it was Myra's turn, the hat shouted out Ravenclaw as soon as the Professor had placed it on her head. Myra smiled and waved to Catherine as she took her place at her house table.
When it was finally Catherine's turn, she was rather nervous as she sat down. Just before the professor placed the hat on her head, she caught sight of the boy who had helped her on the train. He smiled and winked at her and then the hat was on her head and slid down a bit over her eyes. It took the hat a few seconds to decide, but finally called out Ravenclaw as well and Catherine smiled as she made her way to the table and sat down next to her new friend. She looked back to the boy from the train, Sirius, and saw that he was applauding politely and smiling at her. She looked at him for another second until Myra grabbed her arm to tell her something. When she turned back, Sirius was no longer looking at her, but laughing with his friends. He punched the other black-haired boy in the arm good naturedly and two boys across from them began to laugh. She turned away from their table then and back to Myra as the girl poked her again.
"Who are you looking at?" Myra asked, looking curiously to the Gryffindor table.
"No one," Catherine said quickly, but Myra only raised her eyebrows. "It's just the boy who helped me on the train when I tripped."
"Which one?" Myra asked, craning her neck and rising a little from the bench.
"Myra!" Catherine exclaimed, pulling on her friend.
"What?" Myra asked, looking confused.
"Don't make a scene," Catherine whispered. "It's the boy at the end of the Gryffindor table. The one with the black hair."
"The messy hair?" Myra inquired.
"No, the other one," Catherine said. "His name is Sirius, I think." Myra looked again and then nodded. She turned to her sister who she was sitting next to and pointed out Sirius, then asked her something that Catherine couldn't hear.
"Sirius Black?" Maureen said, wrinkling her nose. "He's a third year and a bit of a prat, actually. He and his friends fancy themselves practical jokers. They're always playing all these ridiculous pranks on people, mostly Slytherins, but still. I'd stay away from him if I were you."
"Catherine fancies him," Myra said smiling.
"I do not!" Catherine insisted as Myra began to laugh. "He just helped me on the train, that's all." Maureen shrugged and went back to talking with her friends, as Myra began to giggle.
"Myra," Catherine hissed. "Stop it."
"Sorry," Myra said, bringing her laughter under control. Catherine glared at her for another minute before she went back to her dinner. When the feast was over and Catherine and Myra followed Maureen into the Ravenclaw common room, all thoughts of Sirius Black left her mind as Catherine climbed the stairs to her dormitory and fell into her bed. She was still excited, but exhausted as well, and fell asleep with a smile on her lips, dreaming of everything she would experience in the next seven years.
July 1993
Somehow, Catherine sighed, she didn't think Ellie was going to feel the same.
Ellie had been sheltered from the magical world for much of her life. All of her children had. It wasn't until a few years ago that they had any idea that their mother was a witch at all, and even afterward, Catherine hadn't really insinuated herself back into that world.
"Too long spent out of it, I suppose," she mused as she gently tapped the envelope against the edge of the table.
"Too long spent out of what?" her mother asked, as she stepped into the kitchen. Catherine wordlessly handed her mother the envelope and before the other woman even saw the writing on the front she smiled.
"Ellie's got her letter then," her mother said and Catherine nodded. She turned and crossed her arms in front of her, looking out the kitchen window into the garden beyond. "What is it Catherine?" he mother asked, putting a hand to her daughter's arm.
"I just don't think Ellie is going to be all that eager to go," Catherine replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Not like I was anyway."
"You don't know that," her mother said, squeezing her arm gently. Catherine turned back to face her, a melancholy expression on her face.
"She still blames me, Mum," Catherine said. "For her father. I don't think she'll want anything to do with it." She felt the tears gather in her eyes and Catherine quickly turned away. Her mother felt guilty enough for everything that had happened back then, Catherine didn't need to make her feel more so.
"You know that's not true," Jane said, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "She doesn't blame you, not really. Besides, it was as much your father's and my fault. We shouldn't have," but Catherine interrupted her.
"Please, I don't want to have this conversation again, not now," Catherine replied, pulling away from her mother.
"I know that Catherine, but you do know that I'm sorry," Jane said over her daughter's protests. "And if I could go back and do things differently," she trailed off, shaking her head.
"Mum, please. It's over and done with, you can't change it and I really don't want to talk about it anymore," Catherine said, feeling her emotions beginning to get the best of her. Jane seemed to sense this too, for she simply nodded and said nothing more on the subject.
"Are you going to open it?" Jane asked, indicating the letter.
"No," Catherine replied. "It's not addressed to me. I'll just wait until she gets home from swimming."
"All right, well, I have to run to the market. I need to pick up some things for the Richardson boy's birthday cake. Do you need anything?" Jane asked.
"No," Catherine said, staring at the table where her mother had set the letter. Jane looked at her daughter for another second, then crossed the room to her and gave her another hug.
"Everything is going to be fine," Jane said quietly. "You'll see." Catherine hugged her back, squeezing her mother tightly, before letting go. Jane patted her cheek gently and then picked up her handbag and left the house.
Catherine glanced down at the letter one more time before she turned back to the trousers she had been in the process of shortening when the owl came. It would do no good to worry about Ellie's reaction now, she might as well finish her work and deal with whatever happened later.
When the children arrived home from their swimming lessons, dropped off by the neighbor with whom Catherine took turns driving, it was the usual mad dash to the kitchen for snacks and sweets. Catherine shook her head, smiling. She always chuckled at the ravenous appetite an hour of swimming lessons seemed to produce. It was as if they hadn't eaten in days, the way they attacked the refrigerator and cupboards when they got home. Once they had all been properly fed, Catherine sent Rory and Miranda outside to play and asked Ellie to sit down at the table with her.
"You got something in the post today," Catherine said, handing Ellie the envelope. Ellie took it and read the front, frowning. She looked up at her mother, confusion on her face.
"Where's the stamp?" she asked, pointing to the corner of the envelope.
"Sorry?" Catherine asked, confused herself.
"You said it came in the post," Ellie repeated. "Where's the stamp?" Catherine sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Different kind of post," she said and Ellie's frown got deeper. "Just open it Ellie."
Ellie turned the envelope over and her brow furrowed at the wax seal on the back. She looked up at her mother again, who simply gave a nod of her head, indicating that Ellie should continue. Ellie stuck a finger under the seal and broke it, pulling the envelope open and taking out the pieces of parchment inside. Catherine waited with bated breath while Ellie read the letter, her frown changing to a look of surprise and then shock as she reached the end. She looked up at her mother for a brief second before turning to the second page and looking over the list of books and materials required. She then set the letter down and gave her mothering a withering glare. With her long blonde hair, blue eyes and the look of derision on her face, Ellie looked so much like her father, Catherine's breath caught in her throat.
"Well, I'm not going, obviously," Ellie said stuffing the letter and list back into the envelope and pushing it back to her mother. While Catherine had been expecting this reaction, it still disappointed her a bit and she stared at her daughter for a moment before she recovered herself.
"And why not?" Catherine asked. Ellie rolled her eyes at her mother as if she were completely daft.
"Please Mother," Ellie said. "Why on earth would I want to go to some stupid magic school?" Catherine took a deep breath, willing herself to remain calm.
"I think that we should talk about this, before we make a decision," Catherine replied softly.
"There's nothing to talk about," Ellie said. "The whole thing is ridiculous. Cauldrons, wands, robes." She shook her head disdainfully and wrinkled her nose.
"Ellie, this is a part of who you are," Catherine said, choosing her words carefully. "You know that, you know the things that you've done. The things that I can do. It's important to learn how to control your magic. Hogwarts teaches you that."
"I don't want to control my magic," Ellie shouted, standing from the table. "I don't even want to have magic! I'm not going!" Catherine stood as well, her temper reaching its boiling point.
"Eleanor Catherine, you are a witch, whether you like it or not!" she yelled. "It's who you are and you can't turn your back on that, you can't wish it or will it away."
"Why not?" Ellie demanded. "You did!" And with that, she turned and ran from the room, her feet pounding up the stairs. As she made her exit, a glass of milk on the table shattered, the liquid quickly soaking everything in its path. Catherine grabbed the Hogwarts letter just before the milk reached it and sat down heavily in her chair. Ignoring the milk which slowly began to drip into her lap, she put her head in her hands, hot tears flowing down her cheeks. Because what Ellie said was true and Catherine had ruined everything because of it.
About a half hour later, Jane came into the kitchen, her arms laden with shopping bags from the market. She set them down on the counter and turned to her daughter who was sitting at the kitchen table. Catherine sat as if in a trance, staring out the door to the garden, her eyes unseeing. Jane looked to the envelope she held in her head and then saw the puddle of milk all over the table.
"Catherine, what on earth?" Jane exclaimed as she grabbed a rag and went to wipe the milk up. When she reached the table, she stepped on something which crunched under her shoe and she looked down to see shards of glass all over the floor. She tried to avoid the mess as she quickly cleaned up the puddle. Catherine didn't seem to notice her presence, just continued to stare at the door. After the milk was gone, Jane went to the cupboard for a broom and swept up the pieces of glass from the floor. Catherine still hadn't moved and Jane bit her lower lip in concern. Catherine's posture and the dead look in her eyes reminded her very much of that day Jane had come to the house after Ellie's school had called, wondering where the little girl was. Jane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She would not let this happen again.
"Catherine," Jane said as she stepped back to the table, but her daughter didn't acknowledge her. "Catherine," Jane repeated a bit louder and put her hand on the other woman's shoulder. Catherine flinched then and turned to her mother and that was when Jane saw the blood.
"Catherine, you're bleeding!" Jane exclaimed as Catherine's eyes narrowed slightly, her hand coming absent-mindedly up to her cheek. She pulled it away and saw the blood on her fingers.
"Must have been from the glass," she said, almost as an afterthought, as Jane went and got a clean cloth from a drawer. Jane brought it back and pressed it to Catherine's cheek, then wiped away the blood that had run down her face and neck.
"And you didn't even notice that you were bleeding everywhere or that there was milk all over the table?" Jane asked irritated now. Catherine just shrugged and Jane shook her head, taking the cloth from her face. "It's stopped bleeding now. It's just a small cut, you should be fine." She sat down at the table and took her daughter's hands in hers.
"Now, tell me what happened," Jane said. Catherine looked at her and blinked once, then twice, some life finally seeming to return to her eyes.
"Just what I thought would happen," Catherine said, a wry smile on her face. "I showed Ellie the letter, she refused to go, we had a row and she turned my words back around on me. Quite accurately too, I might add."
Jane looked at Catherine. Her daughter and granddaughter were very similar in personality, although both were loath to admit it. And Ellie was far too mature for her own good. That the two hadn't pulled the entire house down around them with the force of their arguments truly surprised Jane at times. She supposed she should be grateful it was only a glass of milk this time. The day Ellie had blown out the window in the kitchen had been a completely different story. That had been an interesting one to try and explain to the neighbors. Jane chuckled in spite of herself and Catherine glanced at her sharply.
"Care to tell me what you find amusing about this situation?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at her mother.
"Nothing dear, I'm sorry," Jane replied. "I'm just glad it was only a glass." Catherine looked at her and couldn't help smirking.
"Yes, I suppose having all the windows in the house suddenly explode would be a little hard to explain," she said, grinning now. "Exactly why she needs to go to Hogwarts." Her mood turned somber again.
"What did she say to you exactly?" Jane asked and Catherine sighed.
"Let's see, magic was stupid, ridiculous, she didn't want it and she wasn't going," Catherine ticked off the comments on her fingers. "And that if I could turn my back on what I was, she could too." Jane winced at the last, knowing this was the thing that was really bothering Catherine. Of course, Jane was almost as much to blame for that as Catherine was. "She still blames me Mum, I know she does."
Jane reached across the table and took her daughter's hand. How she wished things could be different, that she could go back and do it all again. She would do things the way she wanted to, no matter what Thomas said.
"She just misses the idea of him, Catherine," Jane said quietly. "She knows what he did, but he's not here and she can't blame him, so she turns to you instead. She doesn't truly blame you."
"I think she blames me for being what I am," Catherine replied. "She blames me that she's a witch."
"Well, there's nothing she can do about that," Jane said firmly. "We just need to talk to her. She'll accept it eventually."
"Maybe," Catherine said, sighing.
"You know how much she loves to learn," Jane continued. "We'll approach it that way, talk to her about all the things she could never learn anywhere else besides Hogwarts."
"True, she would love Arithmancy and probably Ancient Runes as well," Catherine said, sitting up a bit straighter in her chair. "Although those don't come until third year, but Potions and Herbology she'll have right away. Those are less about spells and wands than the others."
"See, we'll appeal to her intellectual nature," Jane said, smiling. "She won't be able to resist."
"Why do you have to be so bloody optimistic all the time?" Catherine asked, scowl on her face but enough light in her eyes that Jane knew she was only teasing.
"It's a tough job," Jane said dramatically. "But one of us has to do it." Catherine snorted in laughter and shook her head as the door from the garden burst open and she was pounced on by her two younger children.
Ellie remained in her room the rest of the afternoon and through dinner. Catherine made up a tray once they had finished eating and was taking it up to her daughter. She promised herself that she would remain calm, no matter what Ellie said. You've made that promise before, a little voice in her head said.
"Oh shut up," she muttered as she reached the top of the stairs. She turned and knocked on Ellie's door, but received no response.
"Ellie, it's Mum," she called out. "I've brought you some dinner."
"I'm not hungry," Catherine heard from inside the room. "Go away."
"Please, El," Catherine said. "Let's talk about this." She waited for a few moments, but heard nothing else from Ellie. Catherine sighed and turned to take the food back to the kitchen when she heard a small click behind her and the door opened. She turned back and stepped inside her daughter's room. She set the tray on the desk and then crossed to the bed where Ellie lay facing the wall. Catherine sat down on the edge, putting a hand on Ellie's arm. She gently turned the girl toward her and saw that she was crying.
"Oh, Ellie-belle," she said, tears forming in her own eyes. She opened up her arms and Ellie jumped into them, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck and burying her face in her shoulder. Catherine gently rocked back and forth, rubbing her daughter's back until she quieted. When Ellie pulled back from her, Catherine wiped the remaining tears on her cheeks with her thumbs, as Ellie sniffled.
"Do you want to tell me what this is all about?" Catherine asked. Ellie just shrugged and looked away. "Is this about your father?" Ellie's head snapped around and she looked at her mother for the quickest of seconds before she looked down at her lap and began to pick at the cuticle on her thumb. She shrugged again and Catherine knew she had guessed correctly.
"Ellie, you know that no matter what you do, no matter what any of us does, that he's not coming back, don't you?" Catherine asked gently, but Ellie said nothing. "Sweetheart," Catherine put her hand to Ellie's chin and tilted the girl's head up so she was looking at her. "You know that right?" Ellie's lip began to tremble and Catherine thought she would burst into tears again, but instead, she pulled in a deep breath and looked defiantly at her mother.
"You don't know that," Ellie said. "If I'm not a witch, he might come back."
"But you are a witch Ellie," Catherine said.
"Not yet I'm not," Ellie insisted and looked back down at her hands.
"But if you go to Hogwarts, then you will be, right?" Catherine said, understanding now. Ellie just shrugged again. "Ellie look at me please," Catherine said, waiting until her daughter raised her head once again.
"I know I've said this to you before and I can't make you believe it, but I'm going to tell you again anyway," Catherine began. "Your father is not going to come back. He made that very plain to me the last time we spoke. And I know that you might not remember everything that happened while you were with him." At this Catherine stopped, as Ellie had mumbled something. "What was that?"
"I said, I remember," Ellie repeated a bit louder now. "I remember everything he did and everything he said. And what he said about me staying with him, what we had to do if we wanted to stay with him. I remember what I did too." Catherine's ire rose as she thought about what her ex-husband had put her two oldest children through, not to mention herself, and she wanted nothing more than to hunt him down and show him what a few choice hexes could do. But she forced herself to breathe, to push those memories aside for the moment and focus instead on Ellie.
"That's my point, sweetheart," Catherine continued. "Your father wants you to change who you are, the basic core of yourself, in order for him to love you. It would be like asking you to change the color of your eyes or your height or your intelligence. You shouldn't have to do that, he should accept you for who you are."
"You did it," Ellie retorted.
"I tried to do it," Catherine corrected. "And as we can all see, I failed miserably. I made a terrible mistake, I should have told your father from the beginning. But I was scared and I was lonely and hurting inside. And your father helped take that away. So I was selfish and I kept quiet and I hid things from him. I was wrong but so was he by expecting me, expecting you, to keep doing it once he found out." Ellie sat in silence and if Catherine hadn't known her better, she might have thought her daughter was ignoring her. But Catherine knew she was processing everything, thinking about all that her mother had said.
"Please just promise me one thing," Catherine said after a few minutes of silence.
"What?" Ellie asked looking up.
"Please don't decide whether you want to go to Hogwarts or not, based on something your father said," Catherine replied. "Don't let him continue to rule your life like that." Ellie looked at her and then nodded. Catherine pulled her into another hug.
"I love you Ellie-bell" she said, kissing the top of her daughter's head.
"I love you too Mum," Ellie replied. "And don't call me Ellie-bell." Catherine chuckled and stood from the bed.
"Now let's go downstairs and warm up this dinner," Catherine said, putting an arm around Ellie as she stood. Ellie smiled and picked up the tray, following her mother down the stairs.
A/N2 - I know some people have first-years get their letters on their 11th birthdays, but even Harry got his first letter a few days before his actual birthday and having Ellie get hers in July worked better for my storyline. :)