Answered Questions

March 1998
Ellie

Ellie sighed as she walked into the common room, her bag full of books weighing her down slightly. She had been in the library much later than usual, working on yet another extra credit essay for potions. Even though it had been weeks since the explosion, Slughorn was intent on making sure she was punished for it, even if Snape had said she wasn't to serve detention. That meant a series of five extra essays and she had just finished number three. Thankfully her research had gone much faster with Nott helping her to locate the necessary texts. But she wanted to try and start on the fourth one before she went to bed and as the library was closing, she had lugged as many of the books as she could carry back with her.

She walked over to a table and slung her bag into a chair then looked around, wondering where Ginny was. Upon closer examination, she noticed that Moira and Meredith were also missing, as was Neville. That was strange. As far as she was aware, there was no meeting for DA that night. Nor were they to do anything else DA-related.

"Where are they?" she muttered to herself.

"Ellie!"

She turned, seeing Colin Creevy rush up to her from the portrait hole, out of breath. His face was twisted in worry as he stopped and struggled to get in a few breaths.

"What is it?" she asked, fear immediately filling her. This coupled with her missing friends couldn't mean anything good.

"We need to get to the room," he managed to get out, motioning for her to follow as he was already starting towards the portrait hole. Ellie took off at a run, pushing passed him. Her heart began pounding as every fear possible ran through her. Was someone hurt? Who? Was it? Ginny? Or one of her roommates? Merlin, had the Carrows found out about her and Seamus?

All she could hear were her shoes pounding against the stone floor, her heart pounding in her chest, the blood rushing through her veins. It felt as though it took hours and seconds simultaneously, but next thing she knew, she was careening into the room of requirement, barely waiting for the door to fully form before she was shoving it open.

She frantically looked around the room before seeing Ginny standing next to a cot, the color drained from her face.

"What's happened?" Ellie said. She couldn't see who was on the cot, but she saw Meredith and Moira standing next to Ginny, their eyes fixed down. Ellie rushed up, seeing a bruised and slightly bloody Seamus lying there.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he said, managing a crooked smile up at her. Ellie dropped to her knees, taking in his injuries.

"Who did this?" Ellie asked.

"Who do you think?" a grim-faced Neville said. She looked up at him and then back down at Seamus as Ginny bent down over him.

"The Carrows," she whispered.

"Honestly. I'm fine," Seamus said, though he winced as Ginny patted a cloth on one of the deeper cuts.

"Which one?" Ellie asked.

"It's me own fault… running my mouth in class. Been in detention nearly the entire year as it is," Seamus said.

"Seamus Finnegan, tell me now! Which Carrow?!" Ellie shouted. He met her eyes as he panted slightly, grimacing as Ginny dabbed at more of his wounds.

"Alecto," he finally said. Ellie figured as much - Alecto had long proven she was far crueler than her brother. But the question was why had she decided to go this far now? Ellie's eyes widened as it hit her. Of course, this would happen. After months of being unable to take out her cruelty on Ellie herself, she was now resorting to torturing her friends. That had to be it.

"What did she want from you?" Ellie whispered. "What did she say to you?"

"More of the same hogwash that she usually says," Seamus coughed out.

"Tell me," Ellie ordered. Seamus took a deep breath and looked up at Neville then back down at Ellie. "Was this because of me? Did she do this because of me? Tell me, Seamus!" He swallowed.

"She told me to tell you that this was a message," he finally said. Ellie felt a white-hot rage course through her for the woman. "There's more where this came from."

Ellie clenched her jaw as she stood and stomped towards the door.

"Ellie, come back!" Ginny shouted. But she didn't reply, nor did she stop. She walked out of the room and quickly made her way through the corridors, not caring how late it was nor if she would get caught by any of the prefects that were out.

She had some words for Snape, and he was going to listen to her this time.

Soon she found herself outside the headmaster's office, though once again she was unsure of how to enter. She kicked at the statue and then cursed loudly when pain radiated through her foot. She then started screaming for him to let her in and making as much of a ruckus as she could. If he were in there, he would certainly hear her.

"Ms. Black, just why are you making all this ungodly racket," Snape sneered from behind her. She whirled around, her eyes ablaze as she glared at him.

"Deny it all you want, but I know you're protecting me. Why won't you protect others!" she shouted. Snape didn't respond, only stared at her. "Alecto Carrow just tortured someone because she couldn't torture me! Are you just going to stand there and do nothing!"

"I cannot keep an eye on every troublesome student, though I should warn you to keep your voice down," he said. "It is nearly curfew."

"I don't bloody care about curfew!" Ellie shouted back, finding herself releasing her all the anger she had kept inside the entire year. Anger for her mother. Anger over her father's death. Anger over the whole stupid, bloody war. "How can you let them do this!? Even you can't be so cold-hearted that you would let them torture innocent students!?"

"Innocent? You Gryffindors certainly don't make things easier for yourselves," he replied.

"I know this is just an act," Ellie retorted, noting the slight shift in his eyes. "Why? Why are you helping me?"

"The Notts are highly influential at Hogwarts and with the Ministry," he replied. "Even you must know this. You are dating Theodore Nott."

"But you hate me. You hated my father," Ellie shot back. Snape just glared at her.

"Yes, and you certainly have a penchant for making my job much more difficult," he snapped. "Get back to your common room."

"No. Not until you give me a straight answer," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I do not owe you an explanation for my actions, Ms. Black. Now - back to Gryffindor Tower or I will give you detention, so help me," he seethed. Ellie just laughed harshly, surprised at her own boldness. This was the headmaster. Supposed right hand of Voldemort. The man who killed Dumbledore. He could easily kill her now if he wanted to. For a moment she wondered just why he was restraining himself.

"So, this is honestly just because Mr. Nott said so?" she scoffed.

"You are treading on thin ice, Ms. Black."

"Good! If it finally gives me some answers!"

"Silence!" Snape roared, his eyes narrowing at her. "As much as I would love to see you taken down a few pegs - Merlin knows you have far too much of your father in you - I will not have another's blood on my hands." Finally, Ellie remained silent, too shocked by his statement to speak. "You are the top of your year, start using that brilliant mind of yours for more than just homework." He took a step towards her. "Dumbledore is dead. You know who controls the Ministry. Who controls this school. Are you so much like your swine of a father that you'll run straight into his hands? Because I can assure you this, it is only a matter of time before Alecto hands you over if given the chance. As for Mr. Finnegan, you'd do better to warn him against running his mouth. Pass it on to the rest of the Gryffindors while you're at it. That is the only help I can offer."

Ellie swallowed, her eyes wide. She knew that Selwyn was looking for a way to get to her mother. That he would resort to using her. For a moment she was distracted from Snape by the fact that Evan Selwyn just might take her from Hogwarts.

"So… she is working with him," Ellie said, her voice soft. "He is trying to get to me."

"Not currently at the moment," Snape said, his expression shifting, yet still unreadable. He hesitated a moment before continuing. "But she will do anything to earn his favor, even if it means going against my orders, Nott's orders, possibly even the orders of the Dark Lord himself. You better heed my words, Ms. Black - keep your head down. There is only so much I or your so-called boyfriend can do to protect you. And you are not the only one who must tread carefully." He then walked past her, going up and whispering the password. When Ellie didn't move, he turned to her. "Get back to your common room."

He then disappeared up the stairway, the statue quickly barring her way just behind him. Ellie stood there a moment before making her way back to the room of requirement. She would only go back to the common room once she made sure that Seamus was okay. Really, they should have taken him to the hospital wing, but with so many injuries and the new patrols of Slytherins, it was getting harder to get there.

More than that, she was thrown by what she had learned. She didn't understand why Snape would be so candid with her. What did it matter to him if Selwyn got her? It was one less infuriating Gryffindor in his hair. She stopped for a moment, wondering if he truly was trying to protect the students and like the other professors, had his hands tied. Was this his way of helping? And what was that about having blood on his hands? Did he… regret killing Dumbledore?

"I'm fine! Would you stop fussin'!" she heard Seamus shout as she walked in, dragging her from her musings. He was sitting up on the cot, pushing Ginny away as the ginger scowled at him, a bottle of dittany in one hand and a cloth in the other. He then stood, albeit a bit wobbly.

"Seamus Finnegan, you sit still and let me finish!" Ginny shouted, sounding every bit like her mother. Ellie rushed over and started pushing him back down, though it was hard considering he was much larger than her.

"Stop, you need this," she said urgently. He met her eyes, huffed and then sat back. Ellie walked around and took the bottle from Ginny. "Let me do it." Ginny handed the cloth over and walked away, though she scowled at Seamus over her shoulder. Ellie settled on a stool next to the cot and poured a bit of dittany onto the cloth, then began to dab it on a cut on his cheek. She glanced around and noticed that most of the others had left them alone, though Neville and Ginny were in a corner, huddled together.

"Really… it's not that bad," Seamus said, his voice softer.

"What happened?" Ellie asked. "All of it." Seamus sighed.

"Ran me mouth off in class… again. She started in on a load of shite about how muggles weren't worth dirt and all. Usual stuff. I spoke out. She gave me detention," he said, not meeting her eyes. "I mean, I know she does it on purpose, but blimey… me own da's a muggle. What am I supposed to do?" He looked up meeting Ellie's eyes, but she didn't say anything. She had her own struggles with holding her tongue when it came to either Carrow. Dark Arts was getting harder - Amycus Carrow was moving into darker and darker territory.

"Then when I got there… she… it was like she was possessed or something," he said, looking down at his lap. Ellie frowned as she paused in applying the medicine. "Strapped me down to this chair. Started in on how no one with muggle blood should be let in here and she would leech the muggle blood out of me if she could." Ellie reached for his hand, gripping it tightly. "Then she started ranting about blood traitors… how they should be disposed of as well." For whatever reason, Ellie found herself holding her breath. "She started goin' on about your mother - the whole while making her cuts and such…" Seamus stopped speaking as he frowned and stared at her.

"It's no secret she hates my mother," Ellie said softly. "Fairly sure she's in love with Selwyn… that's why she wants to hurt me so badly… why she wants to know where my mum is." He nodded.

"Figured as much," he replied. "She's mad, that Carrow. I told her she could bugger off - you and your mother were far better witches than she would ever be. That's when she lost it. When she finished… she told me to go back to Gryffindor and tell you that this was a message. To tell you… there's more where this came from." Ellie nodded and started dabbing at his cuts again. "Whatever you do, Ellie, you can't get detention with her…"

"She wants me. She did this because she couldn't get to me. She hurt you because of me," Ellie said, stopping for a moment. He reached up and grabbed her hand.

"No. It's better if I take than you," he said, appearing far more frightened than Ellie had ever seen him. She dropped the cloth, frowning.

"I don't need you taking my punishment for me," she said firmly, trying to ignore the look he was giving her. "Not if it's going to be like this."

"You have to stay away from her, Ellie, at all costs," Seamus replied. Ellie just stared at him a moment before getting back to work, her mind going to what Snape had just told her. "Where did you go?"

"To find Snape and let him have it, like I said," she replied. Seamus' eyes widened.

"Why?" he asked.

"Thought if he really gave a shite about the students, then he should be told what the Carrows are doing to them. And then he basically confirmed that he is helping me," she said roughly. She then sighed and shook her head. "Makes no sense. He knows what they're doing… and then he said something about not wanting another's blood on his hands. Not something you expect to hear from a Death Eater."

"Wait, so he is protecting you?" Seamus said, sounding dumbfounded. Ellie rolled her eyes.

"What he needs to be doing is protecting everyone else by keeping the Carrows on a leash," she said, unsure of just how much of that conversation she should share. She was still trying to make sense of it herself.

"The Carrows aren't just anyone," Seamus said. "Reckon Snape isn't either. He did kill Dumbledore." Ellie sighed and stopped, looking down at the cloth, frowning. "Hey, there… we're doing what we can."

"Yea, but… how can we stop them?" she asked softly. Seamus reached out and lifted her chin up to look at him. "Look at what she did to you…"

"I'll heal up, Ellie. And it's better me than someone else. A younger student. You," he said. She just shook her head, thinking that it should have been her strapped to that chair. And that he only got as hurt as badly as he did because of her. This was a message alright - Alecto was clearly telling her that if she couldn't get to her, then she would take it out on her friends. How long before someone got seriously hurt because of her? How long before she did hand her over to Evan Selwyn?

"I need to talk to Nott about this," she said. Seamus frowned.

"What makes you think he could do anything?" he asked.

"He obviously is able to protect me. Surely there's… something he can do," she said. Seamus snorted.

"He doesn't give Merlin's bollocks about me. He'll protect you, alright, but I doubt there's anything he could do for me," he replied.

"At least let me try," Ellie said. Seamus sighed and shrugged.

"If you think it'll help," he replied. Ellie smiled and leaned forward, kissing him gently.

"In the meantime, please try and stay out of trouble, if you can," Ellie said, frowning slightly. "I'm not the only one who should be doing that."

"I'll do my best."

She didn't really trust his words, but it would have to do for now. And she understood more than ever just how dangerous things were getting. As hard as it was going to be, she was going to have to stem her natural instincts to fight back. Though even she had already drawn her line in the sand and knew there would come a time when she couldn't keep her mouth shut or turn a blind eye.

This wasn't going to be easy. But they had to try.

Probably one of the hardest parts of this story is the Carrows. We know they are horrible and did horrible things, but writing it is a whole different monster. Not to mention the fact that the other professors didn't/couldn't do anything to stop it. I've fought back and forth on that. And with this chapter in particular, I think I wrote that conversation with Snape about a million times. I'm going off the belief that Dumbledore wanted him as headmaster so that he could try and soften the blow. So, he wants to protect the students but just as with the others, his hands are tied in certain ways. But then I fought with the fact that this is probably something he wouldn't reveal to a student. Eh well, this was the best way I could handle that one…

Thanks for reading and following!