I'M SO SORRY! Nothing can really excuse how absent I've been with this story! I had such a busy year it was next to impossible to write anything, and I'm so sorry for that. I have not given up on this story and I desperately hope you are all still reading it! Here's something to hopefully make up for it! As always I do not own anything, it all belongs to JK Rowling.

The Unforgiveable Curses

As she opened her eyes Ella felt dazed. The dormitory was peaceful. The world around her was gently waking up and starting its day. Nothing was imploding. She had not spontaneously combusted or been devoured by flames. She was still alive despite openly telling Voldemort he was powerless against a fifteen year old girl.

For a single moment, Ella felt like a goddess. It felt like she had taken on the entire galaxy and won without breaking a sweat. She had been brave enough to make Godric Gryffindor himself swell with pride. It only took about a minute longer for the situation to actually settle in. Ella Marie Worthington had insulted Lord Voldemort in a way that would not go unpunished. Whether this dream had actually been a direct communication with Voldemort or something that was bound to happen in the future, Ella had screwed herself over. Showing bravery was one thing, but openly taunting the man who struck fear into the entire wizarding world was a whole other realm of stupidity. Even the twins hadn't manage to dig a grave this deep with their mother, and they'd done some pretty stupid things in front of Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh God, what have I done?" She groaned.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of classes and homework. Ella talked and laughed with her friends, took notes, and practiced new spells, but every waking second of the day, the back of her mind was filled with a thousand scenarios of how Voldemort could react to this. He couldn't control her yet. How long until he gained his strength back? There must be something he needed otherwise he could have turned by this point. Ella figured she would have some time to build up her defenses. The Occlemency lessons could not begin fast enough anymore.

Thursday, Ella made her way to the Divinations Tower after lunch for the first class of the year with Trelawney, who she wasn't looking forward to seeing again after the events during her final exam. She'd seen the events of the World Cup within the crystal ball and later she had seen Pettigrew escaping and returning to his full power. Ella wondered slightly whether or not Trelawney had figured out that she had seen the terror at the World Cup before it came to pass. She received full marks in the course, but that was well before the event actually happened.

"Welcome back to the never-ending torture session. At least something never changes," Cormac grumbled. Ella stifled a snort agreeing with him.

Cho glared at Cormac and Ella, "Don't be so rude about it. She knows what she's doing. Maybe, McLaggen, you'd see she's a good teacher if you stopped making fun of her all the time. And Ella, you and her have the same abilities, shouldn't you be defending her more than anyone else?"

"You're joking, right?" Ella looked at Cho as though she had two heads.

"Obviously not, don't you remember? I saw something last year during the final exam! If I was able to see something in the crystal ball, she must have been teaching us right after all," Cho reasoned.

"It was a bird."

Cho glared at Cormac, "A bird that could have symbolized my flight to a new way of thinking. One that is more positive towards this teacher."

Cormac opened his mouth to retort but Ella held up a hand, "Look, you're right. She deserves a little more credit than we've given her in the past. She isn't a total fraud. She's had real visions before, but the way she pretends to know more about us and the future than she does is absolutely ridiculous. You saw a bird, and believe me I'm thrilled, but you don't want to start worshiping her or trying to be a Seer."

"Why not? What's wrong with seeing the future?" Cho asked flippantly.

"I'm sorry, but would you like to ask that again? What isn't frightening about watching things that haven't happened yet? I've seen the future, Cho, and some of the things I've seen would make your hair curl if you were seeing it. Take it from someone who actually remembers their predictions for whatever stupid reason it is I got this ability, you don't need to see the future because if you don't like it, you can't change it."

"Hello, and welcome back to another year of learning all that the future has to reveal to those who are worthy enough for it."

Trelawney looked as ridiculous as always in her magnified glasses, shawls, and bangles. Ella always got the impression that she was trying too hard to convince others she really was a Seer. Cho leaned forward to listen closely to Trelawney while Cormac did his best to suppress a groan.

Ella leaned over and whispered to him, "If I ever start dressing like that to prove I can see the future, jinx me back into sanity."

"Deal."

Professor Trelawney glanced about the room, "This year we will be moving into dream interpretations. This is one of the most important aspects of seeing the future. Those who can see the future often get their biggest predictions shown through their subconscious mind."

Cormac looked over at Ella nervously, "I suppose you're a bit ahead of the game here, aren't you?" She ignored him and decided to listen to the professor for once.

"These bits of the future can often come out jumbled, so for a majority of the term we will be keeping a record of our dreams in order to interpret what they could be telling us," Trelawney announced. "Please take a book from the center of the table and read the introduction on dream interpretation. After you've understood what you can from the words of Inigo Imago, find a partner and interpret their most recent dream."

"Cho!" Ella, Cormac, and Cho looked towards Marietta Edgecombe who quickly made her way to the empty pouf next to Cho's chair. Ella wasn't fond of the bratty girl who always seemed to sneer at her. She always felt like Marietta would cause trouble wherever she went. Marietta's undying admiration for Trelawney also didn't make her grate on Ella's nerves any less.

"We simply must be partners, Cho. You've seen the light of the Inner Eye finally, and I wouldn't trust my future with anyone else," Marietta gushed.

"Oh, Ella, won't you be my partner and reveal all of the worlds I will partake in?" Cormac mimicked in a nasally voice. Ella laughed out loud but quickly turned it into a cough when Cho began to glare at her.

Ella smirked slightly, "I suppose I can let you try to interpret my dreams."

The class all worked on reading the introduction of their book, but Ella's interest wasn't really in the art of figuring out the symbols of dreams. She knew a lot of what it said already from her own experiences. She did find it interesting that dream interpretation was considered one of the most important areas of seeing the future. Despite the fact she didn't have much patience for Trelawney or the course she was teaching, she had to admit she felt a bit of pride in her ability since it was one of the most important areas.

"Done?"

"What?" Ella looked over at Cormac realizing he finished skimming the introduction. "Oh, I am. There wasn't much I really needed to look over."

Cormac smirked, "Well then, you can interpret my dream first. A few weeks ago, I had a dream where I was a Seeker for the Quidditch team, but I couldn't catch the Snitch."

"Maybe that's your subconscious saying you are meant to be a Seeker? You don't really have the build for it either, mind you."

He shook his head, "It's more than that. I typically play Keeper, it's what I really want to do next year, but in this dream I played every position, but I failed at each of them."

Ella sat for a moment, thinking over what that could mean, "It's possible you won't be on the team next year and that's what the dream meant. You said you were trying to catch the Snitch but could. Well, maybe the Snitch is what you want, I mean it is the most important ball in finishing the game, so the fact you couldn't catch it means it's out of your reach a little longer. I'm not sure why you wouldn't be on the team, but it's a possibility. The position you want may be out of your reach for another year."

"I hope you're wrong, but let's hear your dream and see if I'm not completely useless in divinations."

Ella looked up at his anxious expression, "I don't think so. You don't need to be wrapped up in the same craziness I am."

"You're being paranoid, I could handle it. I'm tougher than any of the Gryffindors in this school. I don't think your dreams would scare me."

"I'm afraid that is all the time we have for the class today. You will need to record your dreams every night for the next month as homework. We may look at them in class to see what progress we are making towards interpreting the future. That is all," Trelawney drifted back towards her office space and the class began to gather their things grumbling about another large assignment they'd have to worry about.

Refusing to make eye contact with Cho and Marietta who were happily babbling about their dreams or Cormac who was still looking at her with disbelief, Ella packed her things away. She looked towards Trelawney's office door wondering if this was a part of the curriculum for fifth year students, or something she had made up simply to force Ella into looking at her dreams more in depth.

Ella glanced over at McLaggen, "You're wrong." The last thing Ella saw as she descended the ladder out of the classroom was Cormac's stunned expression.

She made her way towards Care of Magical Creatures uncertain of what to expect, but not fully ready to give her attention to something other than her nightmares and the thought of recording them in a journal. Most of the time, Ella wanted to forget what she saw the moment it appeared in her mind, but she never was able to fully manage getting rid of these horrible visions. Maybe if she started recording them, she'd be able to make more sense out of the things she saw. This just might have been the first assignment Ella wasn't going to invent things for, and she had never been more worried.

Hagrid was working more out of the textbook for their class since he recognized the importance of the O.W.L. testing. According to Hermione, who she spoke briefly to in the library the night before, it was the fourth years that were handling something more up to par with Hagrid's typical lessons. While Ella and Katie were blissfully studying bowtruckles and nifflers, the class below them studied Blast-Ended Skewerts, which Hermione assured Ella she didn't want to know about. Ella didn't have a clue what Hermione was working on so diligently at the library, but Ella was too busy drowning in her own homework each evening to ask. The library was a much better place to spend her homework time than the Common Room, which was always exploding with noise.

The lesson passed by without much trouble and Ella thanked her lucky stars that Hagrid wasn't working with his usual caliber of creatures. Instead of going to the Hospital Wing, she could go to dinner with Katie and the others. She'd hardly seen her other friends since the lunch after her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She may even be able to get a head start on her homework for the evening, which would be wonderful since she had her first Occlumency lesson with Snape that evening.

"Ella!"

She turned while Katie went to sit down. She saw Hermione coming into the Great Hall with Ron and Harry in tow, "Hullo you three. Everything all right? You look as though you've seen a ghost."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts was…"

"Say no more, I completely understand. Is everyone feeling okay, or did it get to anyone?" Ella asked realizing that Neville would have been in that class as well as Harry who did look a little too pale for Ella's liking. She wasn't one to speak though, she came out of that class quite queasy.

"I'm fine," Harry said noticing her worried glance. She nodded and gave a quick smile.

Ron looked over his shoulder, "Neville seemed a little off though. He was speaking with a really high pitched voice… Professor Moody offered to have a cup of tea with him in his office."

"Did he?"

"He looked like he needed it, badly," Hermione said.

Ella's heart inexplicably beat a little faster, "I'm sure Professor Moody will be able to help him with whatever happened." The three left to sit down, but Ella couldn't convince herself to join her friends. Fred looked over at her and she wanted nothing more than to sit down and be a normal person who didn't know things they weren't supposed to, but Ella knew what Neville was going through. She could hear his parents and their screams. His pain wasn't something she could ignore. Ella gave a small wave to Fred before leaving the Great Hall and making her way to Moody's office.

She made it there but wasn't able to tell if Neville had left yet. If they were having a cup of tea it could take a little while. Ella paced outside the doors to the office. Something deep down made her want to break into the room and pull Neville out of there. It was insane.

"You cannot be acting this way. It's absurd, and you're losing your mind if you think something is wrong."

Never in her life had Ella felt more paranoid than the moment she spotted the new professor. Even Quirrell didn't set her on edge this much. Could it be that the curse had prevented the paranoia? This had to be imagined, right? There hadn't been a peaceful year since Harry arrived and with Voldemort growing in strength, it's only natural that Ella's fears would be projected on the thing in her life she knew the least about.

The door swung open revealing Neville and Moody in the doorway, "Fancy seeing you here. Miss. Worthington."

"Sorry, Professor Moody. I was looking for Neville."

His real eye pierced through her, but she stood her ground, "Very well, off you go, Longbottom. Enjoy those books."

The door slammed closed and Neville looked at Ella in confusion, "Why were you looking for me?"

She looked into Neville's eyes and felt a deep-seated sadness sink into her chest, "Let's go for a walk around the grounds."

Neville and Ella were silent as they walked to the grounds of the school. Ella didn't want to explain it to Neville, but she felt guilty knowing about what happened to his parents. He didn't tell anyone about it. All anyone knew was that Neville was raised by his grandmother. The reason behind it was a mystery Neville didn't let anyone know, but Ella had found out against her will.

"Mad-Eye gave the same lesson to everyone, and I wanted to see how you felt after it. I was worried about what that lesson might have made you feel…" Ella admitted looking at her friend. He only seemed puzzled, "Look, Neville, I don't know how to tell you this but I know about what happened to your parents. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, but I wasn't sure how to tell you or whether or not I should."

"Y-you know about…my parents?"

"Yes."

"But how?"

Ella spent the next thirty minutes explaining her dreams to Neville, the ones that concerned his parents. She knew about Bellatrix, the court hearing, and what happened to them specifically. Before Ella knew it she was spilling it all to Neville, even the knowledge that she heard his parent's screams when dementors got near her. By the time she finished, the two of them were sitting under a tree overlooking the lake.

The two were quiet for a while until Neville sighed, "I've always wondered what my parents were like and what could make them go insane like they did, but I didn't think I'd ever learn the answer. They must have been so brave to face what they did." He had tears running down his face that he quickly wiped away.

"I'd imagine their more than brave, but you know you're their son, right? That same bravery in them is in you. You're a Gryffindor."

"I don't think so, Ella. They were Aurors who opposed You-Know-Who. I'm just a bumbling, clumsy kid who was put in the wrong house."

Ella shook her head, "No. I don't believe that for a second. You were the one who stood up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione your first year. Remember that? Dumbledore even saw how brave that was because it's harder to stand up to your friends than your enemies. You've got something to lose when it comes to friends. I think you're brave, not at all bumbling."

"What about clumsy?" Neville asked with a small grin.

She laughed, "I can't defend you with that, Neville. You are too clumsy for your own good, but maybe, just maybe, you'll grow out of it."

Neville laughed a little, "My gran says my dad used to be just as clumsy when he was my age. Maybe I'll grow out of it someday, like he did."

"I'm sure it's possible."

"Well, I'm not completely useless, I suppose. Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I am a natural in Herbology. He gave me all of these books to work with."

Ella smiled looking at the books he hand in his hands, "That's wonderful, Neville!"

"Maybe one day, professors will say that for other classes."

She rested her hand on his shoulder, "I think they will. I really do."

The two headed back to the castle shortly after. Ella had enough time to grab a sandwich off the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall before heading to the library to try and make a dent on all of her homework. The Occlumency lesson was absolutely necessary when it came to protecting herself, not to mention others, from Voldemort, but they were at a really inopportune time considering her O.W.L.s. She didn't find it likely that Snape would go easy on her if she weren't completely prepared for class the next day. Unfortunately, he wanted twelve inches of an essay over the properties of moonstones, which Ella was certain she could easily cover in four, but Snape being Snape made sure their lives would be filled with something unnecessary. Not to mention, they would be working on brewing a rather difficult potion that Ella hadn't even glanced at because of the other homework calling for her attention.

By the time Ella had wrote six inches of her essay and completed half her transfigurations homework, she had to leave to reach the dungeon. Ella got to the dungeon and knocked on the door to Professor Snape's classroom. She couldn't help her clenched jaw or apprehension. She was about to learn magic that was well beyond what someone her age was supposed to be able to learn. She was used to advanced magic as well as a challenge. She'd completed her fair share of complex spells, but this was the first time she felt that the skill could be life or death.

"Miss. Worthington."

"Hello, Professor," she looked into his cold, black eyes. Snape sneered at her.

"Professor Dumbledore assures me this will not be a fruitless endeavor on my part, and that it is of the utmost importance."

"Yes, I think anyone who knows even a hint about my situation and what's currently happening could see that I can't allow the wrong information to fall into the wrong hands. Or was my explanation from last year not sufficient?"

"When working with Occlumency, it is imperative that you learn to close your mind. You cannot allow yourself to remain open. Emotions are your enemy in this endeavor. If you allow your emotions to run rampant like most Gryffindor students, you'll be unsuccessful and whatever it is you see, will be free for the Dark Lord to take. Minds are filled with layers upon layers of information. He is skilled at working his way through an untrained mind like your own. Your mind and what you have seen is not clearly etched out for all to see, but he will be able to find it," Snape said walking to the opposite side of the room. "Clear your mind. Block out that which doesn't belong. Legilimens!"

It felt like the world had slipped out from under Ella's feet and she was staring into oblivion. She could see herself being thrown into a mud puddle by Alison and her friends. Images were rushing past her, some she'd seen and others were still unknown to her.

"Stop!" She shouted at the images and most of the raced away the way they'd came. A few remained flashing past her, but Ella could see they were mundane images of class notes or what she'd eaten for lunch that week. She couldn't figure out how to prevent Snape from seeing into her mind, but she had an idea of how to force him out.

The power struggle seemed immense. She could feel Snape's power with Legilimency, and the more she pushed back, the harder he fought to seek information. Visions of the future began making their way into her mind, but Ella wasn't about to let anyone see them, even a Hogwarts professor. Then an image burst into her mind.

The castle was crumbling, people shrieked as curses bounced off the walls. Ella could see everything unfolding at once. Hooded Death Eaters sprinted in all directions as bursts of light ricocheted of the wall above her head. Someone in front of her collapsed after being hit in the chest with the Killing Curse. Ella screamed and tried running towards whoever it was. She couldn't see, but she needed to know. She needed to stop it. The building around her shook sending her to her knees. The stone wall behind her crumbled with large stones heading towards her…

"STOP!"

Ella was on the floor, her arms shakily holding her up. The rough stones served as a way to keep her grounded. These were intact; there was no war raging in the castle. No one had died. Ella panted and her stomach churned. That vision wasn't brought on by Legilimency, Ella was certain of that. It had come on its own accord; an ever pestering presence in her mind. Despite her best attempts at keeping the future at bay during the day time, she couldn't hold it back.

She looked up, expecting to see Snape sneering at her, or his wand posed and ready to attack her mind once more. Instead he looked to be fairing only slightly better than she was. Snape had one hand braced on a desk and was looking at her in disbelief.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She spat, slowly pushing herself back to her feet. Her body felt oddly heavy and she swayed ever so slightly.

Professor Snape straightened, "Is that the kind of future you see?"

"Typically," she whisper unable to look towards him. "It's the worst of what I've seen. They're not exactly pleasant, are they?"

Snape's jaw clenched, "You managed to do an adequate job with defending your mind from my magic. There was confusion in the beginning, but I would assume you're unused to such a direct approach at taking information. Did you purposefully send images of mundane aspects of your life to me?"

"I couldn't figure out how to expel you at first; it seemed like a way to exhaust you as well as keep you from anything important."

"What happened at the end? You lost control of everything and revealed critical information to me," Snape's sneer made Ella seethe.

"It wasn't something I could prevent. Visions that come in the daytime are too unpredictable to stop. It caught me off guard. I'd like to see you in all your glory control it. Then again, being a prat doesn't make you any better at controlling an ability no one else has, does it?" Ella hissed.

His eyes glinted, "Talk to me like that again and you'll be losing points before Gryffindor can get a lead."

"That would make your day wouldn't it? Well, take points away and I may let it slip to Harry Potter why you hate him so much," Ella retorted with a glare of her own. Snape didn't show any of the shock Ella could imagine the words caused. She wasn't even sure why she said it. She'd never been one to blackmail, and it was a terrible feeling to threaten a professor, even one who was a git. Snape constantly was unfair to her and her classmates, she was sick of facing people who thought they could control her because they believed they had more power than her. Her fists clenched. Ella knew she had power but didn't want to use it. Not on Snape. Not even on Voldemort.

"I'm sorry." She looked up at him then back at the floor. "I wouldn't…I wouldn't tell anyone something so personal. I just got frustrated. You're a frustrating professor because I know whose side you are on, yet you act so… Forget it. You may be the one who took me out of the Muggle World, but you're certainly not the kind of person I imagined you would be."

"We shall work on your Occlumency until the end of the hour. I'll send word when we will meet for our next lesson. I expect a better attitude then."

For the next twenty minutes, Ella found herself scrambling to build a defense with her Occlumency. It seemed her practice with keeping the future at bay in her dreams was paying off with this. Snape never saw an ounce of the future the rest of the time she was in the dungeon. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't access the dreams.

"You seem to be performing at a satisfactory level with controlling your mind, but you are still weak. The future may be safe but Legilimency does more than delve into the mind, it can go so far as to creating torturing images that leave its victim begging for death or control the other human in a way not so different from the Imperious Curse."

"I think we established early in the evening that I've seen enough horrific images that he couldn't really scare me with it," Ella said. She tried to hide her exhaustion from the professor, but had the feeling that he could tell she was ready to collapse. It felt like she hadn't slept in days, and she couldn't even go to bed when she got back to the Common Room because she had too much homework to finish. The thought of doing homework made her want to vomit.

"You are dismissed."

Ella didn't say a word back and left the room. The trip back to Gryffindor Tower was luckily Filch free, and for once, the portrait didn't put up a fuss about her coming in late. She must have looked as tired as she felt for such humane treatment from the Fat Lady.

There were still quite a large number of people in the Common Room when Ella came back up. She glanced around the room seeing Harry and Ron in one corner of the room with Crookshanks, but no sign of Katie. Ella figured she must have been in the library trying to finish her homework. She finally found Fred and George sitting in the corner working on something by themselves. None of their other friends were anywhere in sight and the two seemed to be shying away from those around them –certainly not something they usually do.

"You two look like you're plotting to rob Gringotts," she joked moving towards their table. George snatched the parchment off the table before she could see one word of it.

He cleared his throat awkwardly as an affronted look crossed her face, "We're working on something."

Ella glanced at Fred then to George again, "And? I'm not telling your mum about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. None of your siblings are. You don't have to be secretive about that."

"It's not that."

"It's private."

She looked at the two of them in confusion, "Private?" The two continued to stare at her. "Fine then, I need quiet to do my homework anyway." She turned from them before they could say another word and went to an empty table across the room.

For an hour, Ella thrust herself into her homework completing it with such ferocity she wondered why she hadn't done homework while offended before. The twins always kept her up to date on whatever they were doing. The fact she was now kicked out of their circle made it feel like she had been completely kicked out of their friendship. Part of her knew she was getting worked up over what was most likely nothing, but their attitude coupled with her mental exhaustion made everything feel irrational. Within the hour she completed her homework for the next day without much of a hitch. She was too focused on not paying attention to the twins, Fred especially, that she'd been able to do what she originally assumed was impossible. Granted, if this was how they were going to act and what she needed to do to pass her O.W.L.s, so be it.

Ella gathered her books and homework assignments into a bag. She passed by Harry and Ron, wishing them luck on their Divinations homework before heading up to the girl's dormitory for bed. She didn't even glance at the twins.

I hope this makes up for things! I've also already got the next chapter completed. If you're not angry with me and could review to show me you're all still here, I'd love to post it! Again, I'm sorry! Hope you liked it!