Chapter 36

Eliza was awake early on the morning of Harry's trial, since his shouting tirade the atmosphere between the twins had been icy, with the exception of their Potion-induced conversation the previous week. Hearing her brother walk down the stairs Eliza pulled on her dressing gown and followed him.

When she entered the kitchen it was to find a tired looking Mrs Weasley attacking Harry's hair with a comb.

"Does it ever lie flat?" She asked exasperated, Harry shook his head but then started when he saw his sister slip into a chair next to Sirius.

"Hi Eliza." He said sheepishly before taking a bite of the toast that Mrs Weasley had forced into his hand, Eliza nodded and looked down at the table awkwardly.

Listening carefully to the advice that the adults gave her brother Eliza found herself wishing she hadn't come down at all, Harry was never going to hold his temper if anyone called him a liar. He wouldn't be coming back to Hogwarts with her.

Eliza barely noticed Harry and Mr Weasley get up to leave but when they walked past her she made a snap decision. She stood up quickly and followed Harry out of the kitchen, grabbing the back of his jacket she pulled him into the utility room and shut the door.

"Eliza, what are you doing? I need to go…"

"Harry, please…please don't lose your temper…I can't go back to Hogwarts without you!" Eliza was holding onto the front of Harry's shirt, it was the closest she had chosen to stand to anyone since that night.

"It's ok, Eliza…I promise I'm not going to let you down again… "

"Ready to go, Harry?" Asked Mr Weasley with a voice of forced cheerfulness as he peered into the pantry, Harry nodded and made to leave but Eliza pulled him into a hug.

"Please Harry!" She begged.

"I promise." He whispered back to her, she let him go and he left the room.

"Cleared of all charges!" Said Harry happily as he entered the kitchen with Mr Weasley, the kitchen erupted into cheers and singing and Eliza felt herself sag in relief. The rest of the holidays seemed to fly by.

Eliza still barely slept for more than a few hours at a time but whenever she woke she walked down into the kitchen and someone was always there waiting for her with a cup of tea, Eliza silently wondered if they had some sort of system to make sure she was never alone with her thoughts. Sometimes Eliza and whoever was with her would sit in companionable silence, other times they would tell Eliza stories of little importance.

Tonks would often tell Eliza stories about her own times at Hogwarts and her Auror training and Eliza couldn't help but like the young witch. Mrs Weasley would try and get Eliza to help her with baking, even if it was three in the morning. Sirius would tell her stories about her father's Hogwarts days, she hoped he wasn't telling Harry the same stories it might give him ideas. Remus would often sit in quiet as she did some homework, occasionally giving advice or encouragement. Mr Weasley would tell stories of the Weasley household, the thought of all the children growing up in such a loving environment didn't make her as jealous as she had been but she wasn't sure why.

On the penultimate night of the holidays Eliza had a terrible night sleep, she thought it might be the prospect of returning to Hogwarts that had caused the unrestful sleep. She glanced at her clock and saw that it was only two in the morning, she had barely had two hours sleep and they had been filled with horrible nightmares. Sitting up slowly Eliza ran her hand over the Moonstone blanket, the embroidery was exquisite but the betrayal felt heart-breaking. She pushed the blanket onto the floor in anger, and rolled over to try and get some more sleep.

"Ennervate!"

Eliza sat bolt upright in bed and took a gasping breath, looking around wildly, her wand was in her hand but someone disarmed her quickly.

"It's ok, Eliza, you were having a nightmare. We…"

Eliza felt bile rising up in her throat and Tonks managed to move out of the way just in time. Eliza could feel herself shaking like a leaf and she was covered in a cold sweat, Remus conjured a bowl and vanished the previous vomit with a single flick of his wand, he passed the bowl to Eliza and she took it just in time to fill it.

She heard Mrs Weasley order someone from the room to get a Potion and Eliza looked up to see who else was in the bedroom, Hermione was sat on her own bed with Ginny sat next to her, Ron, George, Bill and Sirius were loitering in the doorway . Mr and Mrs Weasley, Remus, Tonks and Sirius were standing around Eliza's bed looking incredibly concerned. Fred walked back into the room quickly carrying a vial of Potion which he passed to his mother before sitting down next to his sister.

Eliza looked around the room for Harry but Mrs Weasley interrupted her search by passing her the potion, she look at it confused.

"It's just for the sickness you can't have any more sleeping potions…"

"Molly, everyone, could you leave us for a moment?" Asked Sirius quietly. The room emptied, Mrs Weasley stayed long enough to make sure that Eliza took the potion but then left the room looking slightly annoyed that she was being exiled.

"Eliza you…you were shouting in your sleep, gave us all quite a fright actually. You were shouting…it appeared you were shouting at Harry." Sirius sat at the foot of Eliza's bed, she pulled up her legs and hugged them.

"What did I say?" Eliza asked quietly, it must have been awful if Harry had not come to her room.

"You were telling him you didn't want to take the cup and then you starting screaming at him telling him not to let them take you." No wonder Harry hadn't come in, Eliza felt sick with herself.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"Do you blame Harry?" Asked Sirius bluntly, looking away from Eliza.

"No…I don't know who I…it was my fault." Muttered Eliza with the familiar feeling of tears running down her face.

"It wasn't your fault, Eliza; it was Voldemort's fault and his alone. Don't let him win, you need to keep fighting for yourself and for all of us. You're doing well; your talking is really coming alone."

Eliza nodded at the compliment and looked away, Sirius continued to talk to her calmly and after a few minutes Eliza felt herself start to drift off, she lay down and Sirius picked the blanket up from the floor.

"Give it a chance, Eliza, stop fighting it just let it help you." Eliza nodded and closed her eyes.

"We're having a bit of a celebration actually, fourth prefect in the family." Eliza watched Mrs Weasley ruffle Ron's hair fondly and she felt the passing presence of a smile on her face. Eliza knew that Harry was annoyed that he hadn't been made prefect but Eliza felt that Ron deserved it just as much as Harry did.

Eliza raised her glass as Mrs Weasley proposed a toast to Ron and Hermione before sitting down in the corner of the room. She was trying to keep a clear distance between herself and Alastor Moody, she didn't want to ruin the night with a panic attack. Harry came to sit next to her and Eliza rested her head of his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Harry, I don't blame you, not for any of it." She whispered, she felt her brother tense and then relax at her words.

"I won't let you down again Eliza, I promise. Are you looking forward to going back to Hogwarts?" He asked conversationally.

"Yes…a bit, I'll miss everyone though." Eliza muttered looking round at the Weasley's, Sirius, Remus and Tonks.

"We'll see then soon…you're tired go up to bed." Eliza had yawned halfway through his speech, she was planning on arguing with him and staying until the party was finished but she saw Mrs Weasley slip away and wanted to talk to her before she turned in for the night. Nodding, Eliza stood up and walked out of the room, she saw Harry being summoned by Mad-Eye Moody and tried to avoid his magical eye as she exited the room.

As she reached the first floor landing she heard something sniffling, she continued cautiously and pushed open the drawing room door. There on the floor, clearly dead, was Fred. Eliza felt all the breath leave her lungs as she stared into his vacant face, suddenly without warning Fred's body turned into Bill's. Eliza stared at it in confusion before she noticed Mrs Weasley in the corner with her wand outstretched.

"Riddi…riddikulus" Mrs Weasley muttered, Eliza's mind clicked into gear and she realised the bodies were a Boggart, she walked towards Mrs Weasley planning to comfort her when she heard a crack from the creature. Looking back at the Boggart, Eliza saw the faces of those who had filled her nightmares, stumbling backwards away from their reaching hands Eliza slipped down the wall in terror, she could hear Mrs Weasley's shaky voice and hurried footsteps but the faces still taunted her.

The Boggart cracked again and the faces were gone, they were replaced by Eliza's dead body. Looking up at her saviour, she saw that Mrs Weasley and Fred were standing equidistant from the body, they banished the Boggart together and Mrs Weasley walked towards Eliza, she was about to kneel down when Eliza lifted up her hand.

"Fred…please…" Fred walked over to Eliza carefully as his mother retreated; he knelt down next to her still keeping a respectful distance.

"It's ok, Eliza, it was a Boggart, you're safe, don't worry…"

Eliza closed the distance between herself and Fred and he wrapped her in a hug, the tears were coming thick and fast but Eliza didn't care. Fred stroked her back gently.

"Fred…please…please don't leave me." She whispered thickly, she was almost as terrified of the image of Fred's dead body as she was of the Death Eaters, she grasped Fred tighter.

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Fred whispered back, not caring that a tear of his own was falling off his face.