Chapter two
Elsie entered the small crowded kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld place. Her eyes were cast to there usual spot, the floor. Mrs Weasley lead her over to a chair and sat her down. The urgently whispered conversation that had been taking place before she had arrived ceased immediately. A kind voice spoke out, "Ah, you must be Miss Mackenzie," She pried her eyes from the floor and glanced in the direction of the voice. A tall wizard with a long silvery beard and a kind twinkle in his eye was surveying her over the top of his half-moon glasses. "Y-Yes that's me," She stammered timidly. The tall wizard smiled, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Albus Percival Wulfric..." he gave a slight pause and smiled, "Brain...Dumbledore." She gave a nervous smile. "I hear that you have recently become without a place to stay and that young Harry refused to leave you without a home?" He inquired with a smile. Elsie blushed and looked down again, "Well...yes" she mumbled. "Well we can't have that now can we?" he said, "You are free to stay as long as needed before you attend school." Elsie looked up with a hesitant smile, "Really?" she asked. "Of course my dear, now, Molly, would you be so kind as to take Miss Mackenzie and her belongings and show her to her room?" Dumbledore answered. "Of course Professor!" Mrs Weasley answered, and with that, she bustled Elsie out of the kitchen and into the hall.
She shut the door and turned to face Elsie. "Oh my word, you are thin, poor girl. I'll fix you up a good dinner after the meeting," Mrs Weasley exclaimed in a hushed tone. She turned to pick up Elsie's suitcase but Elsie stopped her, "Oh, no it's alright I'll carry it, I don't want to be a bother," She exclaimed and moved to retrieve her suitcase. As she reached down to get it, Mrs Weasley noticed the large ugly bruise on her arm, "Goodness gracious! How did you get that dear?" She exclaimed. "U-um," Elsie stuttered. "Never mind deary, I'll fix it up for you, quick-smart." With a wave of Mrs Weasley's wand, Elsie's bruise started to fade, but was not completely gone. "Ooh, thats a nasty one. Looks like we'll have to use something a little more advanced." Mrs Weasley said with a grimace. "No matter, I'll patch it up right after dinner." Elsie nodded, "Thank you very much" she said. "Oh, no problem dear! Now, your room is the second on the left but I suppose Harry and the others will all be in his room which is first on the left, I'll call you all down when the meeting is over," Mrs Weasley explained before she hurried back to the kitchen.
Elsie sighed and started to lug her suitcase up the decrepit stairs. She reached the top and took her directions. 'Second on the left did she say?' Elsie thought to herself. Sure enough, she reached the room second on the left of the top of the stairs and found an empty room. A vague attempt to clean it had been made, but that had merely scratched the surface of the layers and layers of dust that had resulted from years and years of neglect. There was a single bed in the middle of the room with a small dressing table next to it. A wardrobe sat in the very corner of the room. Elsie walked over to the bed and sat her suitcase down on top of it. She decided unpacking wasn't the best idea so she chose to visit Harry and his friends instead. She walked out of her room and into the hall. 'Was it first on the left or first on the right?' She wondered to herself. She decided to check the right first. She walked across and knocked quietly on the door. No-one answered. "Hello?" She said in a small voice. No answer. She reached down and turned the doorknob. The door slowly creaked open to reveal another small dusty room. But instead of a bed, or wardrobe, this room contained a solitary piano, covered in cobwebs. 'Harry's room must be first on the left,' She thought 'What a nice piano, I haven't played for ages, I might come in here sometime.' She smiled to herself and left the room, heading to the door first from the left. She lifted her hand to knock but hesitated as her hand hovered above the door. 'What if they don't like me, or, he doesn't like me anymore because he has his other friends back?'
She silently worried to herself for a short while until the door opened outwards and smacked her right in the head, knocking her to the ground. "Oh crap! Sorry!" A female voice exclaimed from above her. A male voice chuckled slightly, "Watch out Hermione, don't go knocking everyone about," The female voice huffed, "Shut-up Ronald, I didn't know she was there! I am so sorry, let me help you up," A hand reached down and grabbed Elsie's arm, pulling her up to a standing position. Elsie dusted herself off and looked up. "Elsie? Is that you?" Harry stepped out from behind Ron and Hermione. "Hi Harry!" Elsie said smiling. "So you're Elsie," Hermione said smiling, "Hi, I'm Hermione Granger and this," She made a face and looked Ron up and down, "Is Ronald Weasley," His head snapped up, "Hey!" he protested. Elsie giggled quietly. Suddenly two loud cracks sounded behind her causing her to jump. Two red-haired boys spun her to face them with a grin, "So you're," one said, "The infamous," continued the other, "Elsie," they finished together. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Fred and that's George." They grinned mischievously, "You must be Harry's girlfriend!" They said in unison. "We're just friends," Harry and Elsie said together. Just then, Mrs Weasley's voice yelled up the stairs, "Dinner's ready! Everyone downstairs!" Fred and George disappeared with two more loud cracks and the rest headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
"JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERYTHING!" Mrs Weasley screamed as Fred and George appeared at the entrance to the kitchen. Elsie, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny, who had joined them at the top of the stairs, entered the crowded kitchen. Many chairs had been crammed into the small space to accommodate for the large amount of guests. They all sat down. Elsie sat in between Harry and Hermione and across from Tonks, Sirius and Mudungus. Mrs Weasley and Ginny were bustling around putting the food on the table. Ron reached to grab some but his hand was smacked away by his mother. "Ron, Harry and Elsie get first pick! They are practically wasting away before my eyes!" She scolded. Harry smiled and shook his head before reaching to grab some food form the middle. "Help your self dear," Mrs Weasley prompted warmly to Elsie. Elsie uncertainly reached for some food and put it on her plate. Everyone dug in and started up various chattered conversations in small groups. Elsie ate silently and listened to Harry's conversation with Sirius and Mudungus. Suddenly he turned to her, "How's your arm Elsie?" He said quietly, trying not to draw to much attention to it. She looked up at him, "It's getting better, Mrs Weasley fixed it a little before but she said she needs something a bit stronger so she's going to finish it after dinner." Elsie replied with a small smile. "Can I see it?" Harry asked uncertainly. "If you want to," Elsie replied, lifting up her arm to show him. Unfortunately at the same time Mudungus had looked up from his conversation with Sirius and proceeded to yell quite loudly, "Blimey! That's one 'ell of a bruise you got there young lady!" Elsie's eyes widened in shock and looked down immediately, her cheeks turning red with blush. Mudungus, obliviously continued, "'Owd you get that? Looks like someone hit ya with a sack 'o goblins!" Harry turned to Mudungus angrily, "Quiet down will you! She obviously doesn't want any attention drawn to it!" He hissed. Mrs Weasley, who had heard the commotion shot Mudungus a filthy glare and a sympathetic look to Elsie. "Sorry bout that," Mudungus said apologetically, scratching the back of his neck. "That's okay," Elsie mumbled quietly, still looking down. For the rest of the dinner she stared at her plate. As everyone filed out of the kitchen, Mrs Weasley pulled her aside and fixed her bruise properly with some funny smelling yellow ointment. "That should do it love, It should be gone by morning." She said with a warm smile. "Sorry about Mudungus," She said, her tone suddenly cold. "That's alright Mrs Weasley, and thanks again" Elsie said with a smile. "My pleasure deary, now, you don't have to, but would you mind telling me how you got that bruise?" She said with a sympathetic glance towards Elsie's healing arm. "Uh," Elsie cast her eyes to the floor, "Well...my...I got it when...He was annoyed because...." She kept trailing off uncertainly. Mrs Weasley gave her an encouraging smile. She took a deep breath, "My Uncle gave it to me tonight when I got my Hogwarts letter. He doesn't like me because I'm a witch. So was my mum." Mrs Weasley's face fell and her encouraging smile faded into a sympathetic look. "He was my dad's brother and he thinks mum and I ruined dad's life, so when he read my Hogwarts letter he got really angry and hit me, then they kicked me out." She finished. Elsie hated relaying any of her story. They are memories she'd much rather forget. "I'm so sorry dear," Mrs Weasley said, pulling Elsie into a motherly hug, being careful of her bad arm.
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Elsie woke early the next morning. She rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. After about ten minutes of tossing and turning, she decided to get up and see if anyone was awake. She walked over to her suitcase and fetched a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before heading to the grimy attached bathroom. She decided a shower was a no-go as she doubted the ancient plumbing would run properly without fiddling, so she washed her face and pulled her hair up into its usual messy bun before changing into her clothes and heading quietly downstairs. She heard movement in the kitchen so she headed inside to find Mrs Weasley preparing breakfast. "Hello, Mrs Weasley," She said as she entered. "Oh, your up already dear!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed. "How did your bruise heal up?" Elsie looked towards her arm, "Very well thanks," She said with a smile, "Would you like some help with breakfast?" Mrs Weasley smiled. "That would be lovely dear, thank you." So Elsie got up and headed over to the stove where it looked as if Mrs Weasley had been cooking to feed a small army. "What can I help with?" Elsie asked. "Well, you could set up the table and fetch the ingredients for me if you'd like?" Mrs Weasley replied. So Elsie and chatted to Mrs Weasley while she helped to prepare breakfast until two loud cracks announced the arrival of Fred and George, shortly followed by Hermione and Ginny and Sirius. "George, go wake up Ron and Harry, their breakfast will get cold or...eaten! Fred! Stop eating their breakfasts!" Mrs Weasley scolded. Elsie giggled.
Harry and Ron ventured into the kitchen and quickly ate breakfast before heading to the drawing room to clean and 'de-bug'. Elsie, Ginny, Hermione, Fred, George and Mrs Weasley were all already there. They all looked rather peculiar with cloths tied around the bottom half of their faces and each holding a black spray bottle. "Cover your faces and take a spray bottle," Mrs Weasley said as Harry and Ron entered the room. They obliged. "What's this for Mrs Weasley?" Harry asked eying the bottle suspiciously. "It's Doxycide, I've never seen a worse infestation!" She answered. "Alright, on the count of three, raise your bottles and squirt, once you've immobilsed the Doxy, throw it in the bucket," she ordered, "Ok, one...two...three...SQUIRT!" She wrenched the curtain open and the great war of the Doxy began. Once the drawing room had been converted to a Doxy-free zone, Mrs Weasley left to go and fetch some sandwiches for lunch.
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Later that afternoon, after the days cleaning was done, everyone was sent up to wash up and get ready for dinner. Elsie was ready early and decided to go back to the piano room she had found the night before. She sat down on the seat and performed a muffle charm on the room so no-one would hear her. She played one of her favourite songs over and over until she heard the call for dinner.
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The next few days passed without anything overly eventful happening until during dinner on Wednesday evening, Mrs Weasley turned to Harry and said, quietly "I've ironed your best clothes for the hearing tomorrow. I'd like it if you'd wash your hair tonight as well, first impressions count."
He merely nodded, and with that, the mood of the dinner dropped completely. Elsie shot him a nervous glance and continued her dinner.
Neither Harry nor Elsie got much sleep that night. They were both worried about the hearing. Harry awoke at five thirty the next morning very abruptly. He quickly dressed and headed down to the kitchen to find Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks all waiting for him. He barely touched his breakfast then prepared to head out with Mr. Weasley. He had only walked about a metre from the house when a figure ran out towards him and hugged him tightly. "Good luck Harry!" Elsie said "Thank you" He replied returning the hug. "Don't worry, I know you'll be fine," she said with an encouraging smile. Elsie waved at him as he walked down the road with Mr. Weasley. She waited till he was out of sight before she turned to re-enter the house. "Mrs Weasley was waiting for her at the door. "Come on inside deary, You'll get cold." she said, ushering Elsie into the house.
All of the cleaning was done so there was nothing that Elsie could occupy herself with to take her mind off worrying about her friend. After hours of pacing, fidgeting and attempting to catch up on the missing hours of last night's sleep, she finally decided to visit the piano room again. She walked across the hall and entered the room, closing the door behind her. She sat herself down at the seat and started to play. However this time, careless with worry, she forgot her muffle charm. She played her favourite song once or twice then proceeded on to what was her mother's favourite. A crowd of people had congregated quietly on the other side of the door, curious as to where this music was coming from. Elsie hit the last note of the song and it echoed in the empty room. She stood up slowly and headed towards the door. She opened it to find Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George gathered in a group. Elsie gasped and her eyes widened, "Did you hear all of that?" She asked, horrified. "We did," Hermione admitted, "You're absolutely amazing!" Ginny exclaimed, "Where did you learn to play like that?" Elsie blushed and looked down, "My mum taught me," She mumbled quietly, "I'm not that good." Fred and George exchanged looks and exclaimed in unison "Yes you are!" A smile of realisation spread across Ron's face, "You should play for Harry's celebration tonight!" He suggested happily. Hermione shot him a surprised look, "What a great idea Ronald!" She exclaimed. "Yeah, that would be wicked!" Fred added. Elsie blushed deeper. "O-Oh I don't think so...I couldn't" She stuttered. "Of course you could!" Ginny said. "Everyone would love it!" Elsie looked up uncertainly, doubt spread across her face. "I'll...think about it," she finally surrendered to their eager and encouraging faces. "Awesome!" the twins exclaimed high-fiving each other and Ginny. They all headed down to the drawing room to wait anxiously for Harry's return.
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"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air, "You always get away with stuff!" Hermione added, "They were bound to clear you, there was absolutely no case against you at all." Elsie sat smiling at Harry. The twins and Ginny had started a chant of "He got off! He got off! He got off! He got off! He got off!" Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes, "Settle down you three!" She smiled, "Why don't we head to the drawing room and put on some music or something? Have a little celebration?" Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Lupin, and the children headed into the drawing room. "Who's up for some Ceslestina Warbeck?" Mrs Weasley exclaimed enthusiastically. "NO MUM!" Every Weasley child exclaimed at once. "We've got something better," Ginny said smugly glancing towards Elsie. Elsie looked up with wide eyes, "O-Oh no, I said I'd think about it!" She stammered nervously. "Come on Elsie, you're really good!" Hermione pressed. Elsie looked doubtful. "Whats going on?" Mrs Weasley asked. "We overheard Elsie playing the piano today and we want her to play for everyone," Ron explained. Elsie's face was in a slight grimace, until a look of realisation spread across her features, "I can't play, the piano's upstairs," She said with relief. "Oh don't worry dear, I'll conjure it down for you," Mrs Weasley said. Elsie went pale and her face held a look of pure horror. "Crap," she whispered. Harry noticed this and went over to reassure her, "Don't worry Elsie, you'll be fantastic." She just looked at him disbelievingly.
Once the piano had been conjured down, Elsie was pretty much forcibly dragged by both Ginny and Hermione to the seat. She sat sideways to the audience and took a deep breath. She started to play her mother's favourite song, then finished with her favourite. Not a word was said the entire time she played. As the last note was struck, the room erupted in applause. She blushed bright red and looked down. "I wasn't that good," She mumbled. "You were amazing Els!" Ginny exclaimed. "Told you you were good," She said with a smug grin. Elsie just gave a nervous smile. "Oh! Look how late it is! It's time you children were off to bed, You start school tomorrow!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed. A collective groan was heard from the Weasley children. "Mum, do we have to?" Ginny whined. "Yes. You do," Mrs Weasley said sternly, "Now off to bed, all of you!" That night, everyone slept soundly and in the morning woke to find utter chaos as Mrs Weasley hurried to get everyone ready.
Author's Note: Hello :) Well that's chapter two, I hope you liked it. I'll try to keep updating soon. Remember, the best way to tell me you like it is through a review! I appreciate them so much :) They make me update quicker *wink wink*