Chapter 29
Eliza stood in complete shock for a moment before realising the severity of the situation. She moved over to where Professor Snape was lying under a barrage of bricks and bits of wall. The top of his head was barely visible and she could see blood dripping down the wall.
Eliza quickly exited the office in search of help and nearly collided with Tonks who appeared to be lingering outside the door.
"Eliza! Are you okay? You look really pale…"
"Please, you've got to help Professor Snape!" Eliza pulled Tonks into the office and the Auror gasped and swore loudly, before dispatching a Patronus and moving closer to the former Potions master.
"Severus, can you hear me? It's Tonks." Snape did not make a sound and Eliza could feel herself shaking.
The office door burst open and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey rushed in. Dumbledore and the matron walked straight over to Snape and began conversing with Tonks and attempting to free Snape.
McGonagall walked over to Eliza and pushed her into a seat.
"What happened Potter?" She asked, kneeling down and forcing Eliza to look at her and not at Snape.
"I…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to!" Eliza cried, breathing heavily and still shaking.
"What happened, Eliza?" McGonagall said, putting her hand on Eliza's knee. At that moment Snape groaned loudly and Eliza felt relief spread throughout her body; she hadn't killed him.
"He…we were doing Occlumency but…he didn't…he didn't give me time to get ready…and then he just kept the spell on…he wouldn't stop…I didn't mean to…I'm…I'm so sorry." Eliza put her shaking hand to her head, trying in vain to supress all the memories that Snape had unearthed.
All her life she had tried to push all the memories away but Snape had kept going, bringing them all back so violently.
"Poppy, have you got a calming draught with you?" McGonagall asked, looking over at the matron. Madam Pomfrey passed her a Potion vial and then turned back to Snape.
"Come on, I'll walk you back to the tower." Eliza didn't move, still looking over at Snape. McGonagall walked to Eliza's side and pulled her up, escorting her from the room.
The walk back to the tower was quiet and McGonagall gave the Fat Lady the password and pushed Eliza through the portrait hole before her. She looked relieved that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the only students present in the common room. Ron spotted them first.
"Merlin Eliza, what the bloody hell happened to you?" The other occupants turned to look at them and Harry ran over to his sister.
"Eliza, what happened? I thought you were in the library!"
"Your sister has been taking extra defence and Occlumency with Professor Snape and…"
"What! Why didn't you say anything? What did he do to you?" Harry's roar broke Eliza out of her fog and she looked up at her twin.
"I…I hurt him Harry…I really hurt him…" Eliza dissolved into sobs and threw herself on her brother who rubbed her back, looking livid.
"What happened, Professor?" Ginny asked, looking at the twins, confused; Eliza wasn't a violent person. Sure she had thrown a few hexes around in her time but they more designed to embarrass rather than hurt.
"Professor Snape was infiltrating Miss Potter's mind and…it appears that she subconsciously conjured a wall that threw him across the room." Hermione gasped.
"One of Eliza's walls hit him?" Hermione asked, thinking of the wall that she had seen in Slughorn's office.
"Yes, it was undoubtedly unintentional but Professor Snape is seriously injured."
"Will Snape be okay?" Ron asked. In spite of how much he hated the man he wouldn't wish the guilt on Eliza.
"I will inform you of his prognosis tomorrow, right now I want you, Miss Granger, to escort Miss Potter to the dormitory, and give her this calming draught."
"Of course Professor, come on Eliza." Hermione took Eliza's hand and led her from the room.
Professor McGonagall watched them leave the room, forbade the students from breathing a word of the night's events to anyone, and then left the tower in search of the hospital wing, where if Severus Snape wasn't already unconscious she would quite happily hex him into oblivion.
It took two weeks for Professor Snape to return to teaching Defence against the Dark Arts and since then Eliza had avoided looking at him. Professor Dumbledore had assured her that Snape would not suffer any long-standing effects from the accident and as no one knew about the incident no punishment would be issued. He claimed that it was accidental magic, similar to when Harry had blown up Aunt Marge.
Professor Snape had not approached her about resuming the lessons and Eliza had no intention of ever letting the man in her head again. After coming to terms with her response, she had decided that Snape had mostly brought it on himself; he had no right to give her no time to prepare, or stay in her head so long. What had he been playing at?
Eliza had told Fred what had happened and he had sent a letter, through Tonks, telling her that she shouldn't blame herself and that he loved her. It had made her feel better and she decided to abandon her homework for the night and go to finish her sketch of the lake.
When she finished, she walked over to the Quidditch pitch just as the Gryffindor team were finishing practice. She waited for Harry and Ron outside the boys changing rooms and joined Harry in his attempts to increase Ron's confidence.
"You're the best keeper in Gryffindor, that's why I picked you!" Harry said passionately. Eliza looked at him and suspected that he had some inkling about what Hermione had done at the trials.
"Yeah Ron, you're great you just need to have faith in yourself." Eliza said, trying to encourage Ron to smile.
When they emerged near the Gryffindor Tower it was to find Dean and Ginny kissing with such intensity it looked like they wouldn't emerge for hours.
"Oi!" Ron said, walking down to them angrily. Ginny and Dean broke apart and looked at Ron.
"What?" Ginny snapped.
"I don't want to find my own sister snogging people in public!"
"This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!" Eliza glanced over at her brother who looked like he was itching to hex Dean. They had still not openly discussed his dreams about Ginny. Dean left the corridor and Ginny turned on Ron; both the Weasleys' ears were flushing.
"Right, let's get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them Ron…"
"Yeah, it is! D'you think I want people saying my sister's a…"
"A what?" Ginny asked dangerously. Eliza felt for her wand just in case the situation got ugly.
"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny…" Harry started, clearly deciding that it was better to intervene before things took a turn for the worse.
"Oh yes he does! Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel…"
"Shut your mouth!"
"No I will not! I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her; it's pathetic! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself you wouldn't mind so much that everyone else does it!" As Ron pulled out his wand both Harry and Eliza stepped between the siblings.
"You don't know what you're talking about! Just because I don't do it in public…"
Ron attempted to push Harry out of the way to aim better at Ginny.
"Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?" Ron fired a hex at Ginny but Eliza shot a spell to intercept it.
"Don't be stupid, Ron!" Eliza said warningly.
"Harry's snogged Cho Chang! Eliza and Fred are practically engaged! And Hermione snogged Viktor Krum, it's only you who acts like it's something disgusting Ron and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!" Ginny stormed out of the corridor and Ron looked angrier than Eliza had ever seen him.
"Did Hermione really snog Krum, Eliza?" Ron asked, turning towards her, looking heart broken.
Eliza intended to lie but her hesitation cost her and Ron ran from the corridor, leaving Harry and Eliza alone.
"Well, that went well" Harry said, making to follow Ron but Eliza held him back.
"Harry, when are you going to do something about it?" Eliza asked, looking at her brother.
"About what?" Harry asked, avoiding her eyes.
"Ginny!" Eliza whispered passionately, Harry looked around checking the corridor was deserted.
"I…I just don't like seeing her kiss Dean because she's Ron's sister…"
"That's complete crap, Harry, and you know it! Do you know how many dreams I've had of kissing her? I can barely look her in the bloody eyes without blushing!"
"Surely that's your pro…"
"Don't even think about going there Harry because if you do I will send an owl to Fred and you will have a dose of what Bill had before Fleur decided that my presence as a bridesmaid would 'make ze photograph's look unbalanced'!" Eliza attempted a French accent on the last part but Harry did not laugh.
"She's Ron's sister" Harry said feebly.
"I'm your sister! You didn't hex Fred!"
"Ron nearly did…I don't know what to do!" Harry tailed off and sighed deeply.
"Well I know one thing you can do."
"What?"
"Practice your bloody Occlumency before you go to sleep!"
"I will, are you going back to Snape?" This time it was Eliza's turn to avoid the gaze.
"No." She said quietly.
"Why? It was an accident…"
"I…I'm not letting him in my head again, Harry! He…he wouldn't leave. He just kept the spell on, it's like he was looking for something."
"What?"
"I don't know but he's not getting in my head again." Harry looked at his sister and knew the conversation was over, and that she wouldn't change her mind.
The Quidditch match the next day was one of the best matches Eliza had ever seen. Harry had confided in her about his plan to trick Ron in confidence at breakfast and the plan had worked flawlessly. Until the after party.
"I can save goals without help, Hermione!"
"I never said you couldn't Ron, you thought you'd been given it too!"
"Let's get to the party" Eliza said, looking uneasily at her brother who looked annoyed with the backfiring on his grand plan. Ron stormed past and Hermione looked crestfallen.
"You go! I'm sick of Ron right now, I don't know what I'm supposed to have done…" Eliza stayed with Hermione as Harry walked back to the party. The walk was silent and Hermione appeared to be rethinking all of her previous interactions with Ron, trying to find something she had overlooked. Eliza felt incredibly guilty but did not have the heart to tell Hermione what her crime was; it had occurred so long ago and there was nothing she could do about it now.
When they reached the common room, the party was already in full swing. Harry appeared to be staring at something that they couldn't see. Eliza and Hermione walked over to him and turned to see what he was looking at.
Ron was wrapped so tightly around Lavender Brown that it looked like they were trying to become one person. Eliza gasped as she felt Hermione turn and run out of the common room. Harry turned in time to see her hair disappear out of the portrait hole.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, turning to his sister. "I didn't see it backfiring quite so spectacularly, did you?" Eliza shook her head, her heart filling with rage at Ron.
Eliza found Hermione a few minutes later in an unlocked classroom, Harry joined them and the twins watched the birds circle above Hermione's head, unsure of what to say.
"Ron seems to be enjoying the celebrations." Hermione said in an unnaturally high voice, a single tear streaming down her face. The twins looked at each other; Harry looked helpless.
"Er…does he?" He asked in a would-be casual voice.
"Don't pretend you didn't see him, he wasn't exactly hiding it, was…"
The door opened and to Eliza's horror Ron entered the room, pulling Lavender in with him, both were laughing. Lavender left the room giggling. Silence reigned.
"Hi Harry! Wondered where you'd got to!" Eliza was two seconds away from whipping her wand out when Hermione spoke.
"You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside, she'll wonder where you've gone." She walked to the door slowly.
"Oppugno!" She hissed. The birds flew like bullets towards Ron and pecked his face and hands. He left the room quickly, leaving the twins alone.
"Harry, have you got the Maraunder's map and invisibility cloak on you by any chance?" Eliza asked, still glaring at the door that Ron had just left by. Something in his sister's expression told him not to ask what her plan was; he pulled the cloak and map out of his large pockets and passed them to her.
Eliza activated the map and then walked to the front of the classroom to grab a blank piece of parchment and quill from the desk.
Dear Fred,
Ron has lost my protection, don't hold back! I'll write more tomorrow, love you.
Eliza
Xxx
"Can I borrow Hedwig?"
"Sure." Harry said carefully.
Eliza left the room and made her way to the Owlery, Ron would rue the day he ever crossed her!
A/N Another chapter for you, I've got another one ready, send me lots of reviews and I'll put it up tomorrow.
Thanks to mozie for beta-ing.
Ryn of Magic- What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, you have to break some eggs to make a cake, it takes both sun and rain to make a rainbow, woman are like tea bags- you never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water (that one's my favourite), blah blah blah!
