Author's Note: See, as I promised, once I got back on the writing horse, I knew that I could fly through this stuff. We've had another jump in time, just so that you're aware. I am really trying to finish this before I have my surgery and the treatments that follow, but it's only two weeks, so it might not happen. I will keep trying however. Thanks to everyone who is reading and writing those beautiful reviews. Mutt
Chapter 11:
It was all in a Book
September 1, 1992
Ellie and Sirius were at the dinner table, playing a game of Wizard's Chess when they heard their son bound down the stairs. Dinner had been over for about an hour, and the girls were both working on their Herbology lessons in the greenhouse. Harry had completed his homework before supper, so that he would have the evening free. As his last foot hit the floor, his Papa began speaking to him.
"How's Ginny?"
Harry rolled his eyes at the older man, "She's fine. The train ride was really long, but she was able to hang out with Luna and Ron and all was good. She said that Percy takes his whole role as a Perfect way too seriously." Ellie and Sirius started laughing at him.
"Prefect, not Perfect. A Prefect is like a school council member. Ask your Uncle Mus about it, he was one," Sirius said, still chuckling. He chose not to add that his mother had been one as well.
"Well, whatever it is, she said that Percy was being a git about it. Wanted to write home to their Mum because Ginny was eating licorice wands on the train. Git," Harry replied. "Anyway, she said that the castle is huge, and that there was all of this food for dinner that just magically appeared and her bed has this huge canopy and..."
"Harry," Ellie said softly to her son, "if you want to go to Hogwarts, we can take you there right now and you can begin classes with your friends." They had discussed this in the past, and while she was hesitant, she couldn't deny the excitement in the boy's voice.
"It's not that," Harry said as he scrapped a dining chair on the floor and then slouched himself down in it. "I like being taught here, I like that sometimes it's just me and my teacher. But..." he paused.
"Go on, son," Sirius urged him.
"It sounds...wonderful. I want to go someday, but I want my sisters to go with me. Does that make sense?"
"It does, by you do realize that if you wait for Quinney, you'll only go for one year? Are you sure that you want to wait that long?" Ellie asked him, and he nodded his head.
"We've got it pretty good here on the farm. I like Italy, I like that you will let me walk into town and I'm just Harry, the kid who lives on the big farm. I'm not Harry Potter-Black, the Boy Who Lived." He had stated how much he hated the nickname when he was allowed to read the newspaper articles and cards that Uncle Mus had so carefully put away for him when he was a toddler and had just come to live with Mus and Ellie.
"If you ever change your mind, sport, just let us know. We can get you there, and the rest of us can live in the house in Ireland, okay?" Sirius asked and Harry nodded. Ellie and Sirius tried to resume their game, but Harry kept trying to give his Mama pointers about her play, and it was frustrating her. Ellie finally gave up, and let Harry finish the game. Even though he was behind when he started playing, he beat Sirius rapidly.
When Ellie left the table, she went up to the study off of the bedroom that she shared with her husband and started a letter. Since their confrontation at the Burrow the year before, Ellie had softened a bit toward their former headmaster. She wrote him monthly reports on what the children were learning, and had even gone so far to acquire the ICW level exams for Harry to take. He had passed the fourth year exams with no problem, even though he was only twelve.
As much as she hated to admit it, the old man had a right to know how her son and daughters were growing -- they would need to succeed when the time came; and Albus would be the one who would provide them support. She still gave him no hints of where they lived, and Ellie and Sirius had decided that they would not move back to Britain until they absolutely had to.
The letter short, to the point and completely devoid of niceties, was quickly finished and Ellie sealed it with wax and her family crest and then summoned the family owl that lived in the barn. The little tawny owl had recently been purchased, as the very old Scops owl that Ellie had gotten while she was in school had finally died. Quinn was quite pleased with the new owl, as she had often announced that their old owl, Zosimus, frightened her, as it always looked "angry". Her parents had conceded that the tufts of feathers above the eyes did make the owl look like it was glaring. She had made it a project for all of her children to learn the origin of the name, and then explain why it would have been important to a Potions Master. The first Alchemist in history seemed like a good name to Ellie when she was fifteen.
The new little owl was soft and calm, and she had an instant liking to Ainsley. Ainsley announced that the bird had told her that her name was Allegra, and no one in the family would dispute her. Allegra flew into the window and Ellie attached the letter, and told her to fly to Venice. The letter would then be given to an international courier bird to finish the journey.
With her monthly task of writing the Headmaster over, Ellie took out her books and began to again attempt to research what the lack of a discernible future for her youngest daughter might mean. The older that Quinn got, the more it worried her that no future could be read on her. In a few weeks, they would be leaving for Israel, to visit a mystic there, from an ancient family that had been reading futures for over one thousand years. Right now, Ellie was reading about the family and the ways to best ask their questions and to interpret the answers. Sirius quietly slipped into the room, and kissed his wife on her cheek, causing her to jump in surprise.
"I'm sorry, Lolly, I thought that you heard me," he said as he wrapped an arm around her.
"Sorry, I was deep in thought," she told him. "So, was there a rematch and how badly did he beat you?"
"Why do you assume that I lost?"
"Because, Harry bests even Remus, and you've never beaten him," Ellie teased back, easing herself from the chair and taking her husband by the hand. The strode the few feet into their bedroom, and Ellie lead him to the bed and laid down with him, needing his comfort.
"Lol, tell me, what's going on in that brain of yours," he asked her quietly.
"I just want us to stay like it is, right now," she whispered back. "I don't want them to grow up, and face danger. I want my children to..." she stopped as tears had now overtaken her ability to speak. Sirius said nothing, instead just holding his wife and trying to comfort her. These were concerns that we in his heart and mind as well. It was a bit like living life on a boat that you knew was headed for a waterfall, but you couldn't get out or stop it. You would go over the falls, you just didn't know when.
Once her tears had stopped, Ellie pulled herself on top of her husband, straddling his hips and kissing him deeply. Her hands went into his hair and his slipped beneath the soft linen blouse that she was wearing. His hands started to work on the clasp of her bra, and he had it nearly undone, when they heard a voice.
"Mama, Papa, where are you?" The voice belonged to Ainsley, and Ellie and Sirius both groaned in displeasure at being interrupted. They were both feeling the need to find solace and comfort in their lover's arms; but instead they had to go and be parents.
"We're in our room," Ellie answered, rolling off her husband and reaching behind her to refasten her undergarment. "We'll be right down."
"Finish this tonight?" Sirius asked.
"Definitely," Ellie responded, leaning over to kiss him deeply.
"All of these?" Sirius asked in disbelief, staring down at the pile of parchments on the table before him.
"This is nothing," Amelia commented, "you should have seen the pile when she first reached the age of arrangement. Of course, I still think that Harry will have her beat, he had one hundred, sixty one offers when he was the right age."
The parchments all bore the crests of the most famous Wizarding families from Britain and all over Europe. These were requests to Sirius to arrange a marriage between Ainsley and their son. They had been coming in rather consistently, since she came of age a year and a half ago. Now that she was nearing the end of the period, it would appear that families were getting desperate -- they were offering him a dowry for his daughter, instead of the other way around.
Amelia had taken on the task of gathering each of the children's requests, bringing them with her to Italy when she visited and then sending out the polite, but short, notes of decline. Sirius had charmed a stack of parchment so that they all said the same thing, all he had to do was add the child's name.
"There is absolutely no way that I would..." Ellie said sounded frustrated, pushing her way through the stack. "Some of these families. Like I would marry our daughter off to Draco Malfoy -- is that even legal? I mean, his mother is your first cousin, that makes them, second cousins?" A shutter pass through her at this thought.
"It is," Sirius responded, "my parents were."
"I keep forgetting about that," Ellie said.
"Oh, here, how about marrying her off to Gregory Goyle?" Grace said picking up another page. "That boy...when I was last talking with my mother, she said that she isn't sure he can read. What would he do with a girl like Ainsley? Never mind, strike that, I don't want to think about it," she added, reading down the parchment. "Oh, but Sirius, they're offering 200,000 galleons. That's a lot of money. Sure you don't want to sell your daughter off for a small fortune?'
"No, especially not when I have a large fortune, and she will inherit one of her own," Sirius said grabbing the parchment and crumpling it and sending it to the fireplace to burn. With a flourish of his wand, the pile of rejection letters began filling in the names and folding themselves. With another flourish, a candle would drop wax onto the seal, and then the Black family crest magically appeared.
"Well, that was...will our people never learn? This is such a..." Ellie stopped, holding a parchment in her hands. "I don't believe it. If she was in trouble..."
"El, what is it?" Amelia queried.
"Is everything okay with Augusta Longbottom?"
"I think so, why do you ask?"
"She's offered us Neville as a match for Ainsley, and if we agree, she is asking for the full dowry paid in advance. I mean, he's a nice little boy and of all the ones on the table, he's the only one I would consider if we were going to do such a thing, but, Augusta has to know that we wouldn't ever arrange a betrothal for Ainsley."
"I only see her when the Wizengamot is in session, but maybe I'll invite her over for tea, give her a chance to talk in private. How does that sound?" Amelia asked and Ellie nodded.
"Thank you, dear," she replied and then watched as Sirius levitated the entire pile over to the fire and burned them. "Well, if all messes were that easy to clean up."
"Definitely," Amelia agreed. "Where is Harry? I haven't seen him since I got here before dinner."
"Ah, well, he's not around much after supper these days," Sirius said with a grin on his face. "He's got other things on his mind."
"Be nice," Ellie told him with a warning look. "He's upstairs on his mirror with Ginny. He's been helping her with her homework every night after dinner for the last month. I get the feeling that she isn't having as much fun at school as she had hoped she would."
"Oh, poor kid," Amelia replied, with the rest of the adults nodding at her. "It's always hard until you've got some friends."
"That wasn't an issue in my life," Sirius piped in. "I went to school with my best friend and my best girl." As he spoke, he brushed the hair away from Ellie's face and put it behind her ear. Unseen by their guests, she spun her wedding ring around on her finger, invoking their private form of communication to let the other know that they were looking forward to being alone.
"You two are still too cute," Grace complained. "I mean really, who is together for half of their lives and still acts that sweet with each other?" She wasn't upset at the concept, but instead, a wee bit jealous of the affection between the two.
"Yes, well, there were years in there where it wasn't so sweet," Ellie said quietly. They all sat there in the thick mood that had floated into the room for a moment, until Grace decided to break the silence.
"So, tell me, whose dating who? What's the hot gossip at the Ministry?"
Amelia chuckled and then answered, "There isn't any, at least not that comes through MLE. My biggest issue is dealing with our Minister. Honestly, I know that he's a kind man, but Cornelius Fudge is well...a bit thick."
"You've been saying that for years," Remus commented, "anything new?"
"Not really, he's just...he's actually campaigning for a second term. No one has ever been asked to have a second term as Minister. It's a ten year post, who'd want it. He's just so much more political than anything else."
"Another good reason to stay in Italy. Their Ministry leaves us alone here," Sirius commented.
"That's just because you make large donations to them to ensure our privacy," Remus sniggered back at his friend.
"Well, it works," Sirius spared back. Before their little match could go on any longer, there was a rumble of shoes on the stairs downstairs, and a very agitated Harry was presently with them.
"Nice of you to come and say hello to Miss Amelia," Sirius started to chide his son, but the look on Harry's face let him know that this wasn't the time for laughter. "Harry, what's wrong?"
"Harry are you sick?" Ellie asked her son, standing and going to him. He shook his head at her. "Is it one of your sisters?" He again shook his head. "Harry, please tell me what's wrong," she begged him.
"Mama, if someone told you a secret, and you promised not to tell, but you were afraid that someone would get hurt if you didn't, would you tell?" Harry asked her, his eyes filled with seriousness.
"I think that I would always choose to help someone who told me a secret, even if that meant that I would break my promise," Ellie replied. While they had been speaking, Sirius had gotten up and come over to his son, kneeling down next to him, and rubbing his hand along his back.
"Harry, son, sometimes we have to do what's best in life, even if that's going to make someone upset. Now please, tell us what has you so worried," he asked his son.
"Who is it, Harry? Whose secret are you keeping?" Ellie pleaded with her son. "Is it Ginny? Did something happen at school?" There was a still, uncomfortable quiet in the room until in a very small voice, Harry answered her.
"Uh-huh."
"Harry, we all care about Ginny here. If it has you this worried, can you please tell me what she told you?" Ellie said quietly.
"Uh-huh," he started, and then he sat down on Sirius bent knee, looking frightened well beyond his years. "Ginny was given a book, she doesn't know who gave it to her, but it's like a diary."
"Okay, was it a present from one of her brothers?" Sirius asked him.
"No, Papa. It just was in her school stuff. She didn't know where it came from. She was really sad at school, because Luna wasn't in the same house as she was, and Luna is her only friend," Harry explained.
"Okay, go on," Ellie urged him. "What about this diary."
"Well, she started writing in it, and she told me it does something strange when she does." The adults were all looking at him, nodding along and giving him encouraging looks, so Harry took a deep breath and said a little prayer that Ginny would forgive him for betraying her secret. "The diary writes her back."
Confusion overtook the faces of the adults, and they all looked at him, trying to figure out what it was that he was trying to say.
"Harry, what do you mean that the book writes her back?" Ellie finally asked.
"I mean, she writes something, like a question, and the book answers her. I told her that it wasn't right, but she said that she liked talking to him and that he was kind to her when no one else was." Now that the damn was broken Harry couldn't talk fast enough. "Ginny tells him things and he tells her things back. But, it wasn't nice anymore. I don't like what he's telling her now. I think that she might get hurt."
"Wait, wait Harry, back up here. This diary has a person inside of it, that can answer her questions?" Sirius asked, his background from charms and magical reversal caused alarms at what spell would have needed to be cast to make such a thing happen.
"Yes, and for a while they just had nice conversations. Ginny told her about her family and her brothers, and he gave her advice about making friends. She even told him that we were best friends," he told her, and when he saw the renewed concern in his father's face, he quickly added, "but he didn't tell her where we were or anything like that. Just that we're best friends."
"But tonight, he told her, he wanted her...he told her to leave the dorms on her own and go somewhere."
"Where, Harry? Where did he want her to go?" Remus asked, closing his eyes to remember all of the passages in the castle that they had found while they were there.
"I don't know, she didn't tell me, but," he paused.
"Harry, it's okay," Ellie promised him, using as calm and soothing of a voice as she could, but her insides were racing. This wasn't right, there was no way that this was anything but a danger and threat to Ginny's welfare. "But, what Harry?"
"This happened once before, and she went out at night, but then..." he paused and looked around the room at everyone. "When she woke up, she didn't know where she had been or what had happened."
Ellie and Sirius exchanged a look, and then they looked at their friends. This wasn't just a charmed article, it sounded like she had been Imperioused or possessed. Amelia immediately stood from her chair, and walked away from the group, and withdrew a small mirror from her pocket and tapped on it, calling for Minerva McGonagall. Ellie and Sirius could hear her explaining that we would all be coming to school, and that she needed to go and find Ginny Weasley and bring her, along with her belongings to the Headmaster's office. The rest would be explained when she arrived.
Ellie looked at the stairs. The girls were upstairs with Andy and Rachel, she didn't want to worry them, but this wasn't a trip that they should be taking with their parents. She glanced over at Grace and Remus.
"You don't even have to ask. Be safe," Grace told her, knowing that Ellie was worried about her daughters.
"Love, will you go upstairs and tell them that we're leaving for a while, but that Aunt Grace and Uncle Mus are here?"
"Of course, Lolly. I'll grab your kit while I'm up there," Sirius told her. The kit was a traveling bag that Ellie had prepared, containing her personal spell book, smaller than the family one; some of her most potent spell bags, her runic stones and basic potion making items. He took the stairs two at a time, and then Ellie turned and called into the air.
"Collinda." Within a moment, the ghostly princess was in front of her. "We need to leave the house for a while, can you please make sure that there is watch here, as well as with Harry, Sirius and I?"
"Of course, sister. May I ask where you are going?"
"We are headed to Scotland. There is an issue with Harry's friend, Ginny. She may be in grave danger."
"If it would please you, I shall accompany you to ensure Harry's safety. I can also transport you directly there."
"That would beneficial, but could you please make yourself more corporeal, our friend Amelia cannot see you, and I am quite sure that she must think I've gone barmy, speaking to the thin air this way."
"Certainly," she answered, and the gasp behind Ellie let her know that Amelia must be able to see their ghostly companion.
"Don't ask," Ellie turned and told Amelia. "I'll explain later." A tug on the leg of her slacks alerted her to Harry's presence, now sitting in one of the dining chairs.
"You're letting me come?" he asked. Ellie kneeled down next to her son and nodded.
"Of course, you behaved like a brave young man tonight, and I should think that since it was you that Ginny trusted, it will be good for you to be there with her," Ellie explained and Harry threw his arms around his Mama's neck.
"Thank you, Mama. I love you."
"I love you too, my child. I love you too."
Sirius returned and Collinda got them to the gates of Hogwarts instantly. Amelia was the only one surprised by the sensations of the mode of travel.
"That was, wow...make apparating look like a slow broom to China," Amelia said and the others laughed at her. A lone figure in sweeping gowns was headed down the walk toward them, and Ellie took Harry by the hand, while Sirius kept his hand on the boy's back.
"Amelia, what in the world, Ellie, Sirius, Harry, what are you doing here?" Minerva asked, the surprise in her voice getting greater as she saw each of them. And then she saw Collinda, "You're traveling with your own ghost now?"
"Long story, I'll explain later," Ellie said dismissing her. "Did you find Ginny?"
"We haven't found her yet," the deputy headmistress said as they started the long walk up to the castle. "The staff are looking for her right now. The Head Girl went and got her things and brought them to Albus' office. Would you please tell me what's going on?"
"Long story short, Minerva, Harry and Ginny were talking on their mirrors tonight, and she told Harry that she has a diary that answers her questions, and then asked her to do something tonight. We don't know what it was, but we feel that she is in great danger," Amelia explained.
"Please, Ginny's a good girl," Harry pleaded for her. Minerva stopped in her tracks and looked down at Harry.
"I know that she is, Harry. Ginny is very fortunate to have a brave friend like you," she told him, and then quickly turned on her heels and began her brisk steps to the castle, the rest of them in tow.
The party moved quickly through the castle, and Ellie turned around at one point and realized that she couldn't see Collinda with them anymore. She was hoping that the princess was going to the Founder's room to get some advice. When they reached the top of the stairs for the Headmaster's office, it was an awkward moment for them all. Albus Dumbledore was looking at Harry, seeing as this was the closest that he had been to him in over nine years. Harry looked at the man with a puzzled look on his face, not sure who he was. Ellie and Sirius both watched the way that the old man was staring at their son, and it gave Ellie chills. Both Amelia and Minerva were feeling uneasy at how this reunion might go.
The discomfort was finally eased when Ellie pulled Harry over to a settee on the far side of the room and sat down with her arm around her son.
"Are her things here?" Sirius asked, and the Headmaster nodded.
"Could someone tell me what's going on here? Ginny Weasley has a diary that speaks to her? Are you sure that it just isn't something that she picked up at Zonko's?" The Headmaster asked.
"It's not a toy, sir," Harry said in defense of his friend. "I don't like what it tells Ginny. He keeps telling her that she isn't pretty, and that no one likes her. That isn't true. Ginny is the most beautiful girl in the world and I like her, and so do my sisters!"
"It's okay, Harry. Professor Dumbledore is just asking questions, okay?" Sirius explained, coming to sit on the arm of the settee on the other side of his son. Harry felt empowered with his parents on either side of him, and started to speak more clearly.
"Sir, this diary, it told Ginny to go off by herself tonight, somewhere in the castle that she wasn't even sure where it was. Ginny wouldn't do something like that without something bad happening to her. I am sure of it," Harry told him.
"Alright, son, let's see what happens when Miss Weasley gets here," Albus told the child. "Have you gotten in touch with her parents?" He asked Ellie and she shook her head.
"There was no reason to alert Molly without cause. I also believed that it was your place, she is in your care after all." Ellie had meant for the statement to come out as a recognition of his place in the matter, but it came out sounding more accusatory than anything. Her tone wasn't missed on anyone in the room.
Minerva moved closer to the Headmaster, and began talking in very hushed tones. Harry looked around the room with wonder. There were portraits on the walls that moved and spoke, and instruments and things on tables that seemed to be in motion and best of all, there was a great red and gold phoenix that was singing a beautiful tune. He was only distracted from looking at it when he felt his Papa touch his shoulder.
"See that man up there, the one in the painting with all the stars behind him?" Sirius asked Harry and he nodded in response.
"That's my great-great-grandfather up there," Sirius said blandly. "Headmaster Black." Upon hearing his name, the portrait turned to look at the family on the settee. Realization of which one of the family tree had just claimed him came to the picture, and the man quickly made a disgusted noise and left the picture. "That was the nicest that he's ever treated me." Harry, Sirius and Ellie shared a good laugh at it, until there were footsteps on the stairs, big, heavy ones that scared Harry.
"Professor, Professor," a loud booming voice said, "I got her." The man that entered the room surprised and scared Harry -- he'd never seen anyone so large. This giant man was cradling Ginny in his arms, and she looked like a rag doll there.
When he put Ginny down, she immediately ran to Harry, who stood and hugged her. The sight of her surprised Ellie and Sirius, who had entertained Ginny at their home for two weeks in August. In the eight weeks since they had seen her, she had lost weight and her eyes had dark circles under them. They exchanged a worried look and then Ellie looked at Albus and said, "I think we need to contact her parents."
Ellie got up from the settee, and urged Harry to sit her down with him. Ellie knelt in front of the pair, along with Minerva.
"Ginny, can you tell me what happened?" The older woman asked.
"I left my dorm and I just started walking...and then I was with Hagrid. I don't even know where I was," she said through her tears.
"Found her on the second floor, roaming around. She looked like she was in a trance or sleepwalking or something," Hagrid said. Albus nodded and wrote a note to himself on the blotter on his desk.
"Ginny, sweetheart, can you look at me," Ellie asked her and Ginny raised her face. "Honey, no one is angry with you, but we really need to see that diary. We've got your trunk here, can you tell me where it is?" Ginny nodded at her.
"It's under my mirror, which is folded up in Harry's gray sweater," she explained. Sirius rose to get the book and Ellie commented in her head that at least she now knew where the sweater had gone. She'd sworn that it had been stolen by fairies. Sirius gently went through her trunk and pulled out a worn book with empty pages. He handed it to Ellie, who felt a prickle go up her arm and tickle the protection pouch that she wore under her clothes. The feeling unsettled her and made her even more cautious about the item. She reached over and grabbed her kit and took out another pouch and handed it to Ginny. Harry helped her slip it over her head. She also pulled out the items for her truth telling spell, unsure if she would need them, but glad that she had them on hand.
"Ginny, Professor Dumbledore and I need to know exactly how you got this, and what it says to you, okay?" Ellie asked and Ginny nodded.
She started to recount her tale, explaining that it had just shown up in her cauldron when her family took her shopping before school started. Thinking that it was a diary that one of her brothers gave her, she started writing in it the first day at school. She was surprised when it started writing her back.
Ginny went on to tell that she would come back from her classes and tell the diary what she was doing, admitting that it felt like she had a friend to share these things with. Harry squeezed her a little more as she said this, knowing that he had been far away, rather than being here with her.
The story went on, and Ginny explained that the questions that the diary would ask were getting stranger and made her feel more uncomfortable. She was afraid that her friend was bored with her, until she mentioned Harry one day. That made the boy in the diary very excited.
She told everyone about the first time that he had her go out at night, and how she woke up not knowing what had happened. The Headmaster asked her if she knew what night it was, and when Ginny told them, the staff members went ashen.
"That's the night those roosters went missing," Hagrid said and Ginny looked horrified.
"I didn't have anything to do with that, I swear," she pleaded.
"We know you didn't dear, we know," Minerva tried to calm her.
"Is there anything else that you can remember?" Ellie asked, and Ginny shook her head. "Did he ever tell you a name, or something that you should call him?" Again, she her head shook. "Okay, good girl," she told the young witch as she held her hand.
"Why don't we go down to see Madame Pomfrey, hum," Minerva asked the girl. "Harry can come with you." Sirius went to protest, not wanting his son out of his sight inside the castle, but Amelia piped up.
"I'll go with them," she said and Sirius nodded. Professor McGonagall with Harry's help, lead Ginny out, followed by Amelia and Hagrid. When they left, the diary was moved to the headmaster's desk, and all three adults stared at it.
"Albus, I have never heard of a book that was sentient," Sirius said honestly.
"Sirius, I haven't either," he confessed, which made the couple worried. "Ellie, I know that you've studied the old magics. Have you ever encountered such a thing?"
"No, not really," she answered. "There was a legend that as the city of Alexandria was burning, the Librarian performed a spell on himself, trapping his essence and the knowledge of the Library in one book that was carried out by his aide, so that all that was contained in the books of the Library wasn't lost, but it's just a myth. No one has ever seen such a book. Albus, when I picked the diary up, I felt something move through me. My protection pouch did its job, but, there's something in this book."
They all continued to look at it, finally it was Albus who spoke. "I think that we need to communicate with it. I don't mean to sound improper here, but, since it was conversing with a young woman, I think that perhaps, you, Ellie, should be the one who tries."
Ellie nodded in understanding, hoping that he was wrong because she didn't want to contemplate what that could mean for poor Ginny. For safety, Ellie pulled a cleansing pouch out of her kit and wiped down her hands and the desk. She then did the same with the quill that she would be writing with. Residual magical traces could make it hard for her to get an accurate read on what she was dealing with.
After taking a deep breath, and feeling Sirius lay a hand on her back, she opened the book and quill and wrote one word.
Hello.
She watched as the ink disappeared into the book, and then watched as new words materialized, no longer in the black ink of the well on the Headmaster's desk. These words were written in red.
Ginny, you're back so soon. Is everything okay?
Ellie looked at the words, and then began to write back.
This isn't Ginny. This is her friend, Ellie.
The ink faded, and then new words rose.
It's nice to meet you Ellie. Any friend of Ginny's is a friend of mine. What's your last name Ellie? I want to be able to greet you properly.
Those words faded, and Ellie contemplated what to write. Having a stroke of inspiration, put quill to parchment.
Ellie Potter.
Sirius began to protest, but the words that rose from the page made him stop.
Are you related to Harry Potter?
It was a chilling question, and it went to the heart of the fear that was growing in Ellie's heart. She knew that it somehow came back to her son, she had just felt it when she was listening to Ginny's story. Now, somehow, this paper was making her fears come true. Without asking for advice on what to write, Ellie penned her response.
I'm his mother.
The page was blank for a moment, and then the next sentence made all of their hearts stop.
I thought that you were dead.
There was no mistaking the words, this was someone who knew at the very least the story of Harry, and at worst, the child himself. The trio stared at the words until they had faded.
"Ellie, ask his name," Albus commanded, and Ellie penned the question. The floor fell away and the world started getting black at the name that appeared there.
"My name is Tom Riddle."
Ellie was slipping away from consciousness. As she slipped into the darkness she could hear her husband and the headmaster talking.
"I take it you know who that is?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yeah, we know who that is," Sirius answered.
