Chapter 2

The door was black and the corridor was long. Eliza knew that it was the same door that Mr Weasley had been guarding when she had attacked him. Or the snake had attacked him.. She tried to walk towards it but her feet seemed to be stuck, she tried to look down at them but her eyes were glued to the door.

The dream changed to a graveyard, they were laughing at her and pointing. Eliza tried to close her eyes but she couldn't, she tried to run but she was stuck again. She could feel them coming closer; a hand grabbed her wrist…

Eliza woke with a start, there was a hand on her wrist. She screamed and tried to pull away but her Uncle's grip was strong and other flashbacks threatened to return.

"GET UP! Come on, you're going back in that bloody shed!" Uncle Vernon was fuming at her and he pulled Eliza out of bed by her wrist, her legs were tangled in the blankets and she tried to pull her feet out but Uncle Vernon grabbed the bedding as well and dragged her into the landing, the side of her face was against the carpet and she felt the skin burn. He looked set to pull her down the stairs when Petunia caught up with them.

"Vernon you're hurting her!" She yelled, kneeling down next to Eliza and helping to untangle her feet.

"What are you doing?" Shouted Vernon looking at his wife as if she was mad.

"I told you they're watching the house!" Petunia hissed.

"I don't give a monkey's who's watching, she's going in that shed! I've got a meeting today and it's important." Eliza's feet were freed and she stood up. She looked back at Petunia but her Aunt's courage seemed to be failing and she had returned to her bedroom.

Eliza pulled her wrist out of her Uncle's grasp and followed him down the stairs and out into the garden, rubbing the bruised wrist and wanting nothing more than to scrub it raw with soap, they had barely crossed the Begonia bushes when a crack filled the air.

"Hello Eliza, Mr Dursley! It's a bit early to be taking a stroll isn't it?" Mr Weasley's voice sounded strained and both Eliza and Uncle Vernon turned towards him.

"What the devil are you doing..?" Began Uncle Vernon but Mr Weasley cut across him. Eliza shuffled slightly away from her Uncle and curled her toes against the freezing stone slabs.

"Eliza, what happened to your face?" Mr Weasley asked moving towards her; Eliza cast a worried look at her Uncle and remained silent.

"She fell out of bed, didn't you girl? Now what are you doing on my property?" Mr Weasley ignored Uncle Vernon and looked straight at Eliza.

"Is that true, Eliza?" He asked kindly, Eliza nodded defiantly. Technically she had fallen out of bed it just happened to be before the carpet burn was inflicted. Mr Weasley looked at her shrewdly for a moment before turning back to Vernon.

"So what are you doing in the garden at this hour? Collecting something from the shed maybe?" Mr Weasley's voice had lost its gentle edge and Uncle Vernon paled slightly.

"Yes…some extra blankets." Vernon walked down the garden and into the shed, Eliza wondered what he was going to collect from there. She was sure there were no blankets in there.

Mr Weasley took a step towards Eliza and put his hand up to touch her face, she flinched away.

"It's fine." She said, looking down.

"Eliza, let me heal it."

"Don't do magic, he'll…" Eliza's words failed her, there was no way of knowing how her Uncle would react. Mr Weasley nodded and put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small pot.

"This will clear it up in an instant, no magic. We don't want to give the Ministry any reason to extend your suspension." He unscrewed the lid and Eliza nodded, still looking towards to shed to see when her Uncle would emerge.

"Why do you have healing cream in your pocket?" She asked, trying to ease the tension. Mr Weasley let out a small laugh as he dabbed the graze with the cream, the throbbing and stinging vanished instantly.

"Eliza, I raised Fred and George, I'm always prepared." Eliza tried to smile but it didn't quite make it onto her face.

"You'll see him soon." Eliza nodded and saw her Uncle return, with a small metal object in his pocket. She stepped away from Mr Weasley.

"Got a radiator key, I'll bleed the radiator in your room, that'll warm it up." He muttered, clearly clutching at straws because there was no radiator in Harry's room.

"Oh, you have central heating, how marvellous! Do you have a thermo-thing?" Mr Weasley asked, enthusiasm replacing his concerned face.

"Thermostat." Eliza corrected, her Uncle looked at her sharply and her heart constricted. She wasn't supposed to talk.

"Yes, come on, time you got back to bed. Get off my property, now." Eliza avoided Mr Weasley's gaze and almost ran back up to bed. Shutting the door behind her.

She climbed under the covers and rubbed her feet to warm them up, her eyes were locked on the door. The landing light was on and she could see a shadow hovering near her door. She stared at it, willing it to vanish.

After a few minutes she heard her Aunt call her husband's name and the shadow disappeared, Eliza waited until she could hear him snoring before she started to relax. She had to get back to Hogwarts.


As January blended into February, Uncle Vernon had not tried to take Eliza to the shed again. After the doctor refused to give Eliza another prescription both Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had bought special earplugs used in the military and simply left Eliza to her nightly screams.

Eliza had been sending all her classwork in by a Hogwarts owl that arrived every night and was receiving average marks for her work, she was tired and the lethargy had leaked into her work. The only subject she had not touched was Transfiguration; she couldn't bear to even open the textbook.

In terms of letters she was doing a bit better, she had replied to most of her owls. Fred's letters had become distant and Eliza was worried he had given up on her. Hermione's owls were full of class notes rather than personal content and Eliza could tell that her friend was starting to panic about exams. Harry's letters were mainly questions about life at Privet Drive. The fact that nobody seem to give Eliza any indication about when she would return to Hogwarts made her fear the worst, it had been over a month already.

Eliza put down her quill and sighed slightly. The Potions essay was taking too much time and she was starting to get frustrated. Aunt Petunia heard her exasperation and looked over at her.

"Is your work hard?" She asked quietly, as if she had always questioned Eliza about her schoolwork. Eliza looked over at her and nodded slightly. Petunia walked over to the table and looked down at the textbook.

"It's Potions, isn't it?" She asked with her brow furrowed, Eliza nodded surprised.

"Your mother always liked that one. She didn't like the one with the plants though, she said they took too long to grow." Petunia smiled slightly and glanced over at one of her house plants.

"Do you still dream about what happened? Is that why you have nightmares?" Eliza looked up at her Aunt alarmed but the out of the blue question. Petunia looked right into Eliza's eyes, clearly expecting an answer. Eliza looked down at her book and nodded.

"It must have been horrible." Said Petunia quietly.

"It was." Said Eliza in such a quiet voice that it was almost a whisper, "I don't dream about it as much a Hog- school."

"That's probably because you're busy with work, you probably get more tired than you do here." Eliza nodded and was about to reply when there was a knock at the door.

"Put your books away and stay there." Aunt Petunia snapped in an abrupt return to her normal manner. Eliza obeyed her and when she looked up at the doorway a few minutes later Remus and Tonks walked in, as if they had a planned appointment.

"Come on Eliza, let's get your stuff together." Said Tonks brightly, Eliza looked to Remus for confirmation before she allowed her hopes to build too high.

"You're going back to Hogwarts Eliza; Professor Dumbledore sorted it all out. Come on let's get moving so Molly can fuss over you and we can Floo you back before dinner."

Eliza stood up quickly, relief flooding through her, and followed Tonks upstairs, they arrived in the bedroom and Tonks cast her eyes around the room looking surprised at the sparse furnishings.

"Did you even unpack your trunk?" She asked as Eliza pulled it out from under the bed, Eliza shook her head and put the few books and clothes that she had unpacked back in the trunk.

"Come on then let's get going so you can have as much Valentine's Day snogging with Fred as you can fit in." Tonks snorted as Eliza looked up at her.

"It's Valentine's Day?" She asked.

"Yeah, didn't your Aunt and Uncle get all soppy eyed over breakfast? My parents are disgusting; they act like horny teenagers, this one time…" Eliza tried to follow Tonks' story whilst trying to push the disturbing image of a horny Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia out of her head. Why hadn't she had a card from Fred?

When they reached the living room they heard Remus and Aunt Petunia in a seemingly heated debate.

"She could have brought a blanket that would have helped with her sleeping but she thought you would confiscate it!"

"She never mentioned it, what were we supposed to do with her screaming every night? Vernon has to work! Anyway the doctor never renewed the prescription so we had to get some earplugs so we could get some sleep…"

"And what about Eliza's welfare?" Spat Remus dangerously.

"If you had got her back to school quicker then…"

"Ready to go!" Said Tonks loudly as she and Eliza entered the room, Aunt Petunia looked annoyed and Remus turned to look at Eliza critically.

"So you've not had any more tablets?" He demanded, Eliza shook her head and Petunia answered for her.

"I told you she hasn't had any for a month, why do you think she looks so tired?" Remus looked set to argue but Tonks interrupted.

"Let's get going Remus, this isn't getting us anywhere,"

"I want to go now Remus, please." Said Eliza quietly looking at the floor, Remus nodded and the group made their way to the door. Eliza turned back to Aunt Petunia expecting her to have stayed in the living room.

"Good luck with your exams Eliza and…you can bring that blanket in the summer if it will help." Eliza smiled and nodded in thanks. As they left the door Eliza felt strange, she made a snap decision and turned to Remus.

"Can you just wait one second?" Without waiting for a reply she walked back in the house and found Aunt Petunia still standing in the living room looking lost in thought, she looked up when Eliza approached her.

"Umm…thanks for…thanks. I'll see you in the summer" Aunt Petunia nodded, smiled slightly and watched her niece walk out of the room. Maybe there was hope for them.


"And you promise to go and see Madam Pomfrey before you go to bed?"

Eliza nodded and Mrs Weasley pulled her in for another hug.

"And you'll tell someone if you're worried ab…"

"Molly, let her go!" Said Arthur exasperated, Mrs Weasley had been issuing Eliza demands for ten minutes and she was starting to repeat herself.

"Yes, of course you need to get back before dinner. Now make sure you eat…"

"Molly!" Said Arthur smiling. "Goodbye Eliza, see you in the summer."

"Here you go Eliza; you need to say 'Professor Dumbledore's office'. Have a good term." Remus gave Eliza a hug and passed her the Floo powder, she took it and stepped into the fireplace feeling the tickling sensation from the green flames.

"Professor Dumbledore's office!" Said Eliza clearly before Mrs Weasley could give her any more requests. The whoosh of the flames surrounded her and she closed her eyes. After a few more seconds she felt her feet hit the floor and she opened them again.

"Welcome back Eliza, it's wonderful to have you back, please take a seat." Said Professor Dumbledore smiling and indicating to a seat across from him. Eliza muttered a quiet thank you and took a seat.

"Now I'm sure you have more pleasant ways to spend this time, but I have a few things that we need to discuss."

Eliza nodded but did not speak.

"First of all you will begin Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape tomorrow evening, Harry has already started but I'm sure you'll be able to catch up with him. Secondly you will begin Animagus training with Professor McGonagall on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I believe she will be contacting you before the end of the weekend to sort a few issues out with you herself."

Eliza blushed, silently cursing herself for being so stubborn and not doing any Transfiguration work.

"And finally, Professor Umbridge is not pleased about you being back at Hogwarts but the pressure from the International Federation of Wizengamot's that I was able to generate and the pressure from inside Hogwarts from staff and students forced her to retract her suspension. It would be advisable to avoid her as much as possible. Her presence in this school is unfortunately unavoidable and she appears to be trying to gain as much control as possible, it would be foolish for her to target you again but that doesn't mean that she won't target your friends, perhaps a warning to those closest to you would be prudent."

Eliza nodded feeling guilty; Dumbledore must have sensed her concerns.

"It is not your fault Eliza, none of this has ever been your fault, I trust that you know that?"

Eliza nodded again avoiding Dumbledore's gaze.

"Off you go, I'm sure Mr Weasley is waiting for you." Eliza stood up and was almost at the door when she turned around.

"Thank you, Professor." She said firmly.

"You're welcome Eliza, you're always welcome at Hogwarts. And remember, help with always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." Eliza smiled and left the room. As she climbed down the stairs she could hear excited, and wonderfully familiar, voices.

"…be too much longer!"

"She's probably still getting fussed over by my mom, you know what she's like!" Eliza smiled and walked down the final few steps finding Harry, Ron and Hermione waiting for her.

"Eliza!" Cried Harry before launching himself on her in a hug that was usually more expected from Mrs Weasley, Eliza hugged him back beaming.

"Hi Harry." She managed to stutter before Ron and Hermione joined in the group hug as well, she was home.