April 1978
Despite having been swamped with essays and studying, the Easter holiday came as a much needed break to all students. Now that they'd returned to Hogwarts, preparation for N.E.W.T.s was taking precedent above all other activities—including the leisurely ones—which is why Lily, Ellie, and Mary had been in the library all Saturday instead of enjoying Hogsmeade. As much as she would love to have been sipping a butterbeer and shopping around the village, Ellie found herself becoming more and more concerned that she wouldn't make the marks she needed on her N.E.W.T.s. Lily had always been the brains of the bunch, and Mary did fairly well herself, but the only Outstandings Ellie had ever received were because of their efforts combined with Remus's. It would be a miracle if she could pull off the five Exceeds Expectations she needed all on her own.
"Are the two of you almost finished? I'm not really in the mood to study through dinner," Mary forcefully shut her Herbology book.
Of the very few female friends Ellie had, she'd always had a soft spot for Mary. Mary and Lily were polar opposites, and while she loved Lily like a sister, talking to someone who wasn't quite so…intense…was nice on the occasion that Ellie needed a more logical solution to a situation. All of this being said, Mary had been acting very strange for the past few weeks. The normally cheerful and social girl was becoming more and more withdrawn and easily angered. Ellie suspected her change in behavior had something to do with the lack of sleep she'd been getting. Both she and Lily had noticed that for the past few days they'd gone to bed well before Mary and woken up for breakfast only to find she'd already gone downstairs, which was odd because they usually all left together. This, combined with her attitude change, had Ellie becoming increasingly concerned for her friend.
"I think we'll just be another few minutes. I've got to talk Ellie through this concept one more time, but if you want to go—," Lily stopped talking when Mary collected her things and left the table. Both girls watched, dumbfounded, as she stalked out the door without another word to the two.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Ellie asked.
Lily shook her head, "I have no idea; something is obviously wrong though. Has she said anything to you?"
"Nothing. Honestly, we haven't said much to each other for a while besides 'hi', 'bye', and 'pass the biscuits'. I'm surprised she even showed up today actually."
"Hm," Lily's eyes were trained on the library door.
"Let's finish here then go to dinner," Ellie suggested, "We'll sit her down before bed and find out what's wrong."
"It's half past midnight, Lils. Where the hell is she?" Ellie was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, and based on the lethargic expression on Lily's face, she was as well.
The girls had been waiting for the past four hours for Mary to come upstairs. They'd started in the Common Room, where they'd been waiting with the Marauders, who called it quits just after ten. After waiting another hour they'd moved to their dormitory, both girls settling into Lily's bed and trying desperately to stay awake. Lucy had stumbled in about thirty minutes ago, mumbled something about Frederick Freely, and promptly passed out on her bed, snoring shortly thereafter. Ellie and Lily tried to keep their giggles quiet as they maintained vigilance.
"I don't know," Ellie could her the frustration in her friend's voice, "but I'm really starting to worry. It's not like Mary to stay out this late; even recently she's at least been back in the Common Room before we've gone to bed."
"Do you think we should get McGonagall?"
Lily thought for a moment, "Let's give her another thirty minutes. If she's not back by then we'll go wake McGonagall."
And so the girls continued to wait. Ellie had to repeatedly pinch her arm in an effort to keep herself awake. After ten minutes of this she'd worn out the spot on her arm and started pinching Lily. This lasted far longer than she'd anticipated, mostly because Lily had fallen asleep and it took a couple of pinches to wake her up.
One o'clock came and went with no sign of Mary. Gathering their nerve, the girls went downstairs to wake the Fat Lady.
"Erm, excuse me?" Lily said tentatively. She received no response. "Excuse me?"
"Oh for Merlin's sake. Oi! Wake up, lady!" At just after one in the morning, Ellie's patience had abandoned her two hours ago.
Startling awake, the Fat Lady shook the sleep from her eyes. Upon seeing the girls, she glared and crossed her arms, "Do you have any idea what time it is? You can't possibly have anywhere decent to be at this hour!"
Ellie rolled her eyes, "We need you to get Professor McGonagall."
"Whatever do you need the Professor for at such a late hour? Surely it can wait until morning," the Fat Lady looked at the girls in bewilderment.
"I can assure you, madam, that we have a very good reason to wake her. We think somethings happened to our dorm mate." Lily answered.
"Humph," the woman in the portrait signed, "Very well. I'll be back in a moment. Do not move." With that, she turned around and was soon out of sight.
"Bloody stubborn woman," Ellie muttered.
They only had to wait a few minutes before the Portrait hole opened to reveal a rather stern-faced McGonagall. Her sleep roused appearance was drastically different from her classroom one. Light brown and slightly greying hair was braided down her back, and a deep red robe covered her peach colored night gown. So used to seeing her Head of House in nothing but black and green, Ellie was somewhat taken aback by her grandmotherly appearance.
"I assume you have an acceptable reason for waking me?" Despite her uncharacteristic dress, the usual snap in McGonagall's voice was still there—which comforted Ellie oddly enough.
"Yes, Professor. Mary hasn't come to bed yet. We're worried something may have happened to her." Lily answered.
A troubled expression crossed McGonagall's face, "And you're sure she isn't simply wondering the castle? Perhaps with a boy?"
Ellie didn't even need to stop and consider that possibly, "No, ma'am. Mary isn't like that. She's been a bit off recently, but she's never stayed out this late. In all the seven years we've been here she's been in bed no later than midnight, and even that's only because we were throwing a par—a-a study session." James and Sirius wouldn't thank her for nearly spilling details of their Quidditch celebrations to their Head of House.
"Hm," McGonagall seemed to consider this information, "Come with me then. The two of you will wait in my office while I go alert the Headmaster."
The girls followed their Professor out the Portrait hole and down several hallways to her office. After instructing them to sit and not touch anything, she left to go wake Dumbledore.
"I wish I'd thought to grab my slippers," Ellie mumbled as she sat down in one of the chairs across from McGonagall's desk and raised her feet from the cold stone. Lily took the seat next to her and sat cross legged, tucking her own bare feet underneath her legs.
"I hope Mary's okay," Lily said quietly.
Seeing the anxious expression on her friend's face, Ellie tried to reassure her, "I'm sure she's fine, Lils. Probably fell asleep in the library or something; you know how tired she's been."
"I know," Lily replied, "Something just feels off though. I can't help but feel like something really bad has happened."
Ellie chose to keep her agreement to herself.
It was over an hour later when McGonagall came to fetch them. The sound of the old wooden door swinging open waking the girls from whichever level sleep they'd managed to settle into. Despite their weariness, the look on McGonagall's face had them awake and alert. The older woman's face was pale, the few wrinkles she had now appearing deeper and more severe. Ellie knew immediately that something was wrong.
"What's happened," Lily beat her to the question.
"The two of you had better come with me," their Head of House turned and exited the office.
Startled, the girls leapt to their feet and followed. McGonagall led them to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore were crowded around an occupied bed. The Headmaster, who Ellie had never seen without a smile, was grim-faced. He and Madam Pomfrey parted to allow the girls access to the hospital bed.
"Oh, Merlin," Lily gasped upon seeing the bed's occupant.
Mary lay tucked under the covers, her brown hair framing her face. From what Ellie could see, bruises and scrapes covered nearly every inch of visible skin; the worst of which was a broken nose and split lip. Tear immediately sprung into Ellie's eyes.
"W-what happened?" she asked the Headmaster.
"Miss McDonald has been attacked. Mr. Filch found her in the Astronomy Tower a short while ago," Professor Dumbledore's usually cheery voice was hard and as angry sounding as she'd ever heard it. The dangerous glint in his eyes making her realize that the stories about Dumbledore's greatness were factual indeed. This was one wizard whose wrath she never wanted to be at the receiving end of.
Lily, who had situated herself on the bed next to Mary, turned to the adults, "Will she be alright?"
Madam Pomfrey answered, "Her physical injuries are relatively superficial. Once she wakes up we'll be able to administer Skele-Gro for her nose. I've already applied a healing lotion to her cuts, so those should be closing up soon," the Healer glanced at Professor Dumbledore, who seemed to encourage her to continue, "However, as she has not yet awakened, we are unable to assess the emotional and mental consequences of her attack. We won't know more until she regains consciousness."
"What does that mean?" Ellie looked pleading to Professor McGonagall.
"It means that it is very likely Miss McDonald was hexed. Unfortunately, since she is unconscious and her attacker is nowhere to be found, we don't know who attacked her or with what spells," the woman answered.
Ellie sat on Mary's other side and took her limp hand in hers. Stroking it gently, she looked down and spotted flakes of red under the girl's fingernails. Well I'll be damned, she thought, she fought back, "May we stay with her?"
The adults shared a look. Typically, it was forbidden for uninjured students to stay in the Hospital Wing overnight, however, as it was nearing three o'clock, Ellie hoped they'd make an exception.
"Very well," Dumbledore said, "Miss McDonald's parents will be here to collect her tomorrow; it might do her good to have some company until then. We'll leave you ladies to it."
Madam Pomfrey stepped forward and closed the curtain surrounding the bed. Ellie waited until the sound of footsteps disappeared before climbing onto the hospital bed. Lily looked to the rickety chair next to bed that was designated for guests before shrugging her shoulders and climbing in next to Mary as well. Both girls lay on either side of their friend, Ellie gently holding Mary's right hand and Lily softly stroking her hair. The met eyes over Mary's head.
"Who do you think it was?" Lily whispered.
Ellie racked her brain for any hint of who may have been behind Mary's attack, "I really don't know. More than likely a Slytherin though."
"Do you think it was…You-Know-Who related?" the fear in Lily's voice was evident.
Ellie furrowed her brows as she contemplated the possibly, "Not directly, but it very easily could've been someone looking to join him after school. You know how it is, Lily, the biggest and baddest at Hogwarts become Death Eaters first."
This was the first time there had ever been an assault on another student though. The implications of this attack were impossible to ignore: Voldemort's influence was growing stronger, so strong in fact, he'd essentially been able in infiltrate Hogwarts via a student who wasn't even a Death Eater yet.
"It'll be ok, won't it Els?"
"I don't know, Lils. I really don't."