"I love you," she pressed a kiss to Fleur's jaw, resting her head in her neck as they floated in the pool, their sisters' bodies between them. Fleur mumbled something desperately in French, so fast that Elise didn't understand. "I love you, I love you so much…" she whispered, gripping Harriet tightly, before she felt her, them, all three of her most beloved ones, slip away. Then everything in her vision was a kaleidoscope, a rainbow of images slipping by too quickly for Elise to see completely.
Then she was in her bed, surrounded by thick blue blankets. Chest pained, Elise raised her hands to her eyes, holding back tears as the runes burned onto her skin. Such is the price of magic. And Elise knew there would be more – magic always took more than it was owed.
Eventually, when the pain petered out, Elise rolled off of her bed, silent as she avoided the creaky floorboard of her room – Vernon Dursley woke even at the slightest of noises that he wasn't specifically keyed not to wake at, like his bedroom door handle clicking open, and the shower running. Deftly avoiding others, Elise was temporarily stopped as she saw Harriet in her bunk-bed over the desk, dead to the world, wrapped in a single, pale-blue sheet.
It was strange to see her young again.
Looking away, Elise continued her silent adventure to the door, thanking the Department of Mysteries workers for being so specific – in the past, Elise had only just oiled the door hinges yesterday. Opening it, Elise made her way to the bathroom, forcing back the harsh cough that would have wracked her frame.
Pneumonia. Never good when you have open injuries. It was why Harriet had given her all the blankets, and left herself with the sheet.
Making her way to the bathroom, Elise locked the door carefully, being sure not to make a sound as she turned to the sink, crouching down again to carefully slide out the bottom panel beneath the cupboard. There, her garden of potions ingredients waited, in the perfect conditions to thrive. More were outside, hidden in nooks and crannies where the sun and moon could touch them, but these – these lived in darkness, and in moist places.
Picking out the few she needed, Elise hid them again, before taking her ever-present potions knives-collection from her thigh holster. In her nightgown, they were easy to reach, though her sweat-slicked hands caused her to nearly drop one before she even started to use them.
Concentrate, the witch told herself, before starting the process. She'd need a few things from outside, but they could wait till later…relatively later, at least. Cutting and chopping and dicing and juicing, Elise prepared her ingredients, before plugging the sink and running the hot tap, adding the ingredients all together, using a silver knife to swirl them until they had dissolved, the water caused them to lump and congeal into a jelly-like paste. Quickly grabbing it before it could touch the sides of the sink, Elise drained the bowl, before clearing up, ignoring the acids that reacted to her skin.
Soon though, she could leave the bathroom, and she did, going back to her bedroom, placing the gel in a the side of a handy cauldron that she'd yet to dispose of, the innards rusted and just what she needed. Once it was steady, Elise turned to Harriet's bunk-bed, climbing up the ladder and brushing a curl behind her ear, feeling exhausted.
"Sweetie, Harry-baby…" Harriet mumbled something intelligible, causing Elise to smile slightly, before she kissed the side of her head, causing Harriet to wriggle as her breath got in her ear. "Harriet…"
"Don't call me Harriet," the young witch grumbled, cracking her eyes open. "What do you want, Li?"
"I need you to pack a bag, okay – like our emergency bag, when you were little." Harriet blinked in confusion, before sitting up, the springs of her bed creaking. Immediately Vernon's snores stopped, and Elise went over to her bed, getting in as Vernon's heavy steps were heard as he came to check on them, pausing for some reason. Elise made sure not to cover herself up too severely, not wanting to fall asleep just yet – though her sickness, and the warmth of her covers called to her.
Their door opened.
"Next time you go to the bathroom, turn the bloody light off, girl," he muttered angrily, banging her bunk-bed, causing it to shake. Harriet let out a muffled, scared yelp, and Elise had to squeeze her eyes shut in anger at her uncle.
Pseudo-uncle.
"Serves you right," Vernon muttered vindictively, glancing over at Elise. "You'd better be healthier in the morning, girl." Elise hid her grimace, knowing she would be, but not liking the implications behind his words. He left, and once he was snoring again both girls waited a minute or two before moving.
Harriet came down from the bunkbed, while Elise stood on her bed, opening the window and climbing out, thankful for once that they lived in the former guest-bedroom now, rather than the spare room with it's view directly onto the road. Climbing down the trellis, Elise paused a few times on the way down to harvest a potion ingredient that had bloomed in the night before finally getting to ground zero. Once on the damp soil, the roses bending out of the way for their mistress so she could reach the grass, Elise made her way across the green, eyes on her planters hanging from the corners of the garden shed, runes hiding them from non-magical sight.
As she picked the right herbs, Harriet joined her, shivering in the night. "Elise?"
"Yes, baby?" Elise glanced at her, before kissing the side of the planter, going back to number four, the roses once more moving. Harriet followed her like a lost puppy, fidgeting, the roses brushing across her skin in that dangerous manner that said we know you are not Her but you are safe from us. Elise wondered if her movements were because of the extra amount of magic flowing into her soul, or just Harriet.
"Why did I need to get a bag?"
"We'll need it in a few days," Elise revealed, before beginning to climb the trellis, snapping off a long, blue rose from it as she did – no need for Petunia to discover that magic was slowly taking a hold of her garden. Tucking it behind her ear, eyes narrow in tiredness as she hauled herself up, Elise got back to their window before looking back down at Harriet – who, it seemed, had decided to go right behind her rather than wait until she told her to come up. "Harry…" This isn't like her. A smile tried to form on her face, but Elise stopped it, helping her baby sister inside.
"But why?"
"We just will, trust me," the older witch directed Harriet to stay on Elise's bed under the window, reaching over and down to the rusted cauldron, tugging it over slowly, being careful not to make any sounds. "Where's my cauldron?"
"Here," Harriet whispered, leaning over to the end of her bed and hefting the thing up into Elise's waiting arms. "What are you-" Harriet cut herself off, hand whipping over to pull down the drooping collar of her nightgown, other pulling her dark hair out of the way. "Elise, what happened? What did you do?"
"Don't worry, little bird, this will help," Elise lifted up the acidic, gelatinous mass from before, depositing it in the cauldron before adding one of the herbs she had picked. Immediately the mass hissed and bubbled and popped – and due to the wards engraved in the rim of the cauldron, Vernon thankfully didn't awaken. Harriet watched her sister work, silent as Elise created something new.
"What will it do?" Harriet questioned sleepily once she was finished in the small hours of the morning, having stayed up to assist her. Elise answered by tugging off her nightgown, leaving herself in boy-shorts and a sports bra, the enflamed sigils on her skin red and to the bone. "Elise?"
Elise dipped her hand into the now-watery mixture, which upon being lifted from its batch, became a tiny amount more solid. Elise slowly rubbed it into a sigil, watching carefully as it steamed upon contact, becoming rock-hard. "Painless…" she muttered, before glancing at Harriet. "Help me get the ones I can't see properly."
"Are they on your chest-chest, too?" Harriet's nose wrinkled after she whispered the query. Elise's lip twitched.
"I'll worry about that. You'll be asleep when I do those." Her nose wrinkled further, as expected. Even at fourteen, Harriet had been a bit squeamish. Elise, however, at seventeen, was more mature – both mentally and physically.
With the 'time travel' bit though, maybe saying she was more mature mentally was an understatement.
Together, they slathered on the substance to her skin, covering all the bits they could reach without taking the rest of her clothes off. When she finished, Harriet went back to bed, with a kiss on the forehead, and once she was asleep, Elise continued until her entire torso was basically covered.
Pulling on her nightgown again dislodged the blue rose, causing it to fall down, scratching across the solid paste. It melted slightly on contact with the magic-grown flower, revealing Algiz, the skin it laid upon a mottle purple, slowly going blue with death. Elise grimaced, before removing the rose and applying a secondary layer of the mixture over the broken line. The price of experimental magic. Fair is foul and foul is fair. She'd have to wait until the morning to see the full effects.
Fleur would be going through the same thing she was.
Swaying slightly, thoughts of Fleur ran through her mind. Memories of soft skin and laughter and a beautiful face becoming harrowing and birdlike in anger…she isn't like me. She won't be able to hide this from her parents. And Gabrielle – Gabrielle would change too, just like Harriet would. Elise and Fleur's dead little sisters, brought back to life in a way Elise barely knew how to control.
We can't control this, Fleur had said. We can only hope.
Placing the blue rose on her bedside table, Elise burrowed into her covers, ignoring her stinging eyes in favour of succumbing to sleep. The next morning, Elise would be quiet as a mouse, brushing the blue rose over the hardened paste, causing it to dissolve into nothingness, revealing deep dents in her skin. They were closed over, but they would be horrifying to anyone who saw them.
"Get ready and come down and cook breakfast for Vernon and Dudley!" Petunia rapped sharply on their door at half six in the morning, an hour after sunrise. Harriet woke immediately, sitting up in her bed and banging her head. Elise didn't take pity on her – Elise had wanted the bunkbed, it was Harriet's own fault for hitting her head every morning. I could probably cast a cushioning charm, Elise mused, if I had my wand, that is. Vernon had taken it at the start of summer, after learning that at seventeen she was allowed to use it outside of school legally.
"Ugh…are you having a shower, Li?" Harriet muttered, practically falling down off the bunkbed. Elise, feeling slightly slimy from the paste, nodded. "'Kay – I get tomorrow." Harriet changed from her pyjamas into the waiting, folded set of clothes that used to be Elise's – though Harriet had always been a string-bean, compared to Elise's more average figure, so the dungarees that should have been full-length were still deciding on whether they were too short or three-quarter length. Having seen her sister in the future, Elise knew she'd grow up to be taller. She should be envious, really, but Elise did like being the short one, when it came down to it.
"We'll be getting you some new clothes, when we leave," Elise said, causing Harriet to pause as she buttoned them together behind her neck, over her grey tank-top. "Though you do rock those dungarees pretty well.
Harriet flashed her a sleepy smile, "Thank-you. Do my hair before you shower? Aunt Petunia'll have my neck…"
"Sure, get over here, babe," Elise shuffled, grabbing some hairbands from around her bedpost and leaning out of the window to snag a little green vine of pretty little bud-flowers that Petunia hated seeing on the trellis. Harriet came over, dropping down in front of her, grabbing a pair of pop-socks to pull on while Elise deftly plaited a crown around her head, including the flowering vine as she did, weaving it in and out like it was just another part of her hair. "There."
"Thanks," Harriet grabbed her trainers, tugging them on and lacing them up just as Petunia called for them. "I can get you fifteen minutes, max."
"Fine, go," Elise hurried her out, shutting the door behind her.
Ten minutes later, she came downstairs, immediately swooping in to save the eggs that Harriet always had trouble with. "Do my hair now – here." She handed her sister a hair-band, who rolled her eyes before combing it through with her fingers before parting it correctly, starting on her own plait-crown. Petunia huffed at their arrangement but didn't say anything, even when Harriet started adding little pins with tiny blue and bronze ravens into the strands.
"Are you making me be prideful today, Harry?" Elise questioned as she felt them go in. Harriet grinned, before Vernon came in, grumbling, wiping the smile off of her face.
"Where's my bacon?"
"Just coming, Uncle Vernon," Elise replied smoothly, serving up three plates and motioning for Harriet to grab them as she finished tying her hair. When Harriet had set the dishes down, she started up two strips each for them both, wordlessly motioning for Harriet to make them toast, before Elise got an egg each going.
Vernon looked over at the smell, "What are you doing with my ruddy bacon, girl?" In response, Elise tucked a five pound bill in the clear glass jar between them.
"I do have a summer job, you know." And she did, except it was in Diagon Alley, not the muggle world, and that fiver had been nicked from Dudley's wallet. I think I'll have to quit though, with the stunt I'm about to pull. Elise made a note to speak to Florean before she left for work. He's going to hate me for bailing on him right as everyone is going for their school supplies.
"What's your job?" Dudley questioned as he entered, heading straight for the table. Elise glanced at him, surprised he'd even asked – only to see a familiar mark as he rested a hand against his neck, hiding it from his father. His eyes met hers.
"…an ice-cream parlour, actually," Elise's forehead creased. No. It didn't work – they said it wouldn't work because he was a muggle, and there was no-one to support him…he wasn't even in the pool. Then her eyes flickered to his head, as a white streak caught her eye, hidden in his unusually mussed, blonde hair. He must have just enough magic…if they lived, this time around, Elise would keep an eye on his future family. No doubt Harriet would be an aunt to a magical niece or nephew, or perhaps both, or even plural.
"Cool. Do you get free ice-creams?"
"I do," Harriet put in quietly, "Mr Fortescue is very nice to me- to us."
"He's very nice to you, Harry. He's my boss. He's not allowed to be nice to me." Elise served them bacon and eggs, just as the toast popped out of the toaster. Harriet dealt with it, buttering it nicely and sharing with Elise as the girls made their way to the table, settling down to eat.
Soon, though, it was actually time for Elise's shift. Looking to Vernon, she cleared her throat. "Uncle Vernon, I need it. Just to get to work and back." Vernon stilled at the mention of her wand, as per usual, beady eyes flicking to her.
"Just to work and back."
"Of course, sir. Just to work and back," Elise lied, long used to it, even at that time in the original timeline. Vernon stood, plodding off somewhere that Elise didn't follow, deliberately, wanting to see his face as he handed her the enchanted wood. Unable not to smile at their reunion, Elise almost forgot to move back out of Vernon's space as her wand sparked.
"Not in this house!" He shouted, Elise quickly waving to Harriet apologetically, apparating to the courtyard between Diagon and the Leaky – coincidentally, appearing right as Professor McGonagall stepped out from the Leaky Cauldron with a gaggle of muggleborn first-years and their parents.
"Oh! Hello, professor," Elise gave her professor a small smile, getting a warm one in return as everyone piled into the small courtyard. Elise went blank at the sight of so many alive little wix, not lying dead on the ground.
"Hello, Elise. Everyone, meet Elise Potter – your Head Girl, should you choose to attend Hogwarts this year." Elise's eyes widened at the reminder, before she realised this was actually the date she was informed, just like in the original timeline, when she was on her way to work.
"Really, Professor?" She tried to keep the charade up. "Head Girl?"
McGonagall patted her shoulder, "Yes, Elise. Head Girl. Now, why don't you open the alley for us?" She looked to the muggleborns and parents. "Watch carefully. There are no others ways into the alley for those without certain abilities or objects – both of which will be unavailable to you all, unless under specific circumstances or by paying a large amount of money to the appropriate governments, until you or your child is seventeen. Miss Potter?"
Elise twirled her wand in her hand, winking at young Stewart Ackerly before turning to the wall, making sure to let them all see as she tapped out the correct sequence of bricks, causing the archway to form to ooh's and ah's. Turning to them again, Elise tucked her wand away in her wand-holster, giving a polite smile.
"I hope you all have a great day in Diagon Alley, and – for my job's sake – don't forget to visit Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour in the afternoon for literally any flavour of ice-cream you can think of," she tried not to make a face at the gleeful expressions. "And I do actually mean every flavour," She whispered, waving, then giving a nod to Professor McGonagall before slipping into the alley, traversing through the crowds, wondering how to break it to Florean that this had to be her last day – she had no doubt he would hire someone new straight away, until the end of summer, so it would be the end of her job until at least next year.
Now, if she stopped practically having a heart attack every time she saw someone who was dead in the future…