"Good morning, Elsa."
Elsa spun around with a yelp, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest at the unexpected greeting. Luna simply looked at her and shrugged as if standing behind people and speaking unannounced was the most normal thing in the world. "Why won't you go inside? Are you waiting for someone?" she continued, unfazed by Elsa's reaction and the sudden gust of wind that came out of nowhere.
Keep it together. Elsa was still clutching her chest and her other hand twitched inside her robe pocket. She was sure that she had frozen her wand, and the thought of going back to Ollivander's petrified her. She was just there a month ago to replace a broken Yew… she was running out of excuses, and the glint in Ollivander's eyes suggested that he knew she wasn't involved in a broomstick accident like she had claimed.
Another problem for later. "I… what are you doing here, Luna?" Elsa asked, nearly wincing at how pitiful she sounded. Of course Luna would ask. Anyone within her line of sight would wonder why she was standing by the entrance of the Great Hall and gawking at the Gryffindor table. Of course Luna was there to eat breakfast since it was a place specifically built for people to eat their meals.
Luna smiled without a hint of sarcasm in her features. "I'm on a very important mission," she replied serenely in a sing-song voice, "I need to talk to Hermione about starting a club to support Thestrals."
"…Thestrals?" Elsa asked as laughter from the Hall drew her gaze back to the commotion within. "That's great, Luna. I'm sure the Thestrals would…appreciate that…" she trailed off, distracted, her eyes now watching two red-headed girls huddled and whispering amongst themselves, a worried expression drawn on their faces.
Elsa frowned. She had expected to see Ginny Weasley with her frequent breakfast companion, and not the one that she was currently speaking with. Something resembling dread bloomed from the pit of her stomach.
Anna was nowhere in sight.
To most, Luna was oblivious and aloof. But nothing really – completely – escaped her. Following Elsa's stare, Luna folded the club pamphlet that she had with her and stuck it back into her pocket.
"I don't think Anna's there right now, Elsa."
Elsa almost gave herself whiplash. "W-why would I look for Anna?" she choked out, failing to appear nonchalant, her gloves suddenly feeling damp and heavy.
Luna shrugged. "Why not? She's your sister. I'd look for my sister if I had one," she said thoughtfully, her brows starting to furrow as Elsa took a step back, shoving her hands so deep within her robe pockets like she was hiding something repulsive.
"If you're not looking for her, then why were you staring at her spot on the Gryffindor table?"
Elsa's mind went blank like she was just asked if she knew He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's whereabouts. But whatever expression she wore did not make Luna reassess what she just said and the weight it carried.
She swallowed the forming hoarfrost down her throat. "I'm not looking for her, I was looking for Neville. He has my Herbology notes and I need them back."
Elsa was proud of herself for not letting her voice break, but the look on Luna's face told her that she was unsatisfied by her answer. Without scanning the Gryffindor table, Luna knew Neville wasn't there. She had passed by him before heading to the Great Hall - he was worried because McGonagall summoned him to her office to discuss some unsatisfactory homework.
Luna was about to open her mouth to comment about the kinds of herbs Thestrals liked and Neville's location when a boy in Elsa's house approached them and cut her off.
"Your Majesty-" Elsa winced at this, cursing Malfoy in her head for convincing everyone in their house to call her that, "there's something you need to know. Madame Pomfrey wants to see you. Your sister lost her consciousness this morning… they tried to wake her up but-" Elsa felt the ice beginning to crawl up and down her spine, whatever control she could muster hanging on a very loose thread, "-she won't open her eyes. They think she's in trouble."
Notes:
Yew Wands are among the rarer kinds, and their ideal matches are likewise unusual, and occasionally notorious. The wand of yew is reputed to endow its possessor with the power of life and death, which might, of course, be said of all wands; and yet yew retains a particularly dark and fearsome reputation in the spheres of duelling and all curses. However, it is untrue to say (as those unlearned in wandlore often do) that those who use yew wands are more likely to be attracted to the Dark Arts than another. The witch or wizard best suited to a yew wand might equally prove a fierce protector of others. Wands hewn from these most long-lived trees have been found in the possession of heroes quite as often as of villains. Where wizards have been buried with wands of yew, the wand generally sprouts into a tree guarding the dead owner's grave. What is certain, in my experience, is that the yew wand never chooses either a mediocre or a timid owner. (Source: writing-by-jk-rowling/wand-cores)
Elsa wondered just what it was that she was doing. She wasn't supposed to be awake, let alone roaming the halls so late in the night, at the risk of being caught by Filch. He had disliked her the moment he laid eyes on her, and getting in trouble with him and Snape was the last thing that she needed.
Earlier that week, Dumbledore had passed a law that strongly forbade students from leaving their rooms at night past curfew. The dementors were back, students' lives were at risk, and Cedric Diggory had died in the hands of Pettigrew. Fear and tension blanketed the entire school, and with Elsa and her notoriety, attracting negative attention was just another fuel to invite more rumors and speculations about her.
Ice queen. Cold-hearted. Sister hater. Cursed.
Drowning out the noises in her head, Elsa steeled herself, biting her lip as she made a dash from the hallway and into the infirmary, noises of her footsteps concealed by a spell.
Ever the quiet and observant one, she poked her head around the door's entrance and caught Madame Pomfrey drinking her tea over a newspaper. It didn't take long for Elsa to cast a quick charm to reverse the effects of Bergamot, leaving the clueless nurse fast asleep on her chair after taking another first sip.
Elsa told herself that she couldn't stay long. Walking carefully towards the hospital bed where the only patient of the infirmary rested, Elsa pocketed her wand. The fluorescent moon casting its beam on the window over her sister's head made her heart lurch – she hadn't seen Anna up this close in a very long time, and an all too familiar ache wormed it's way into her chest.
Anna looked serene, the mellow light filtering from the window touching her face, making her freckles visible like brilliant stars on a clear sky. Elsa noted the length of her hair, and those defined cheeks that no longer looked like they belonged to a cherub. Her sister was no longer a little girl, and this realization triggered a fragment of ice to form inside her throat.
Enough. You don't have time to think of all that you've lost. Do what you came here for.
It had been three days since Anna's Quidditch practice accident. Three days that had left Elsa sleepless and worried sick, her interaction with other students even more clipped and detached than usual. Her armor was slowly chipping away, and she needed to see her sister in fear of falling apart completely.
She needed to make sure that Anna was safe. Alive. Anna's existence was the only adhesive that was keeping her in tact and somewhat whole.
Elsa pulled out a bottle from her robe, her other hand itching to touch her sister's face. Itching to run her fingers along the bandage that covered the side of her temple. Itching for human contact.
I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.
Anna's hand twitched like she just heard Elsa's inner monologue. The sudden movement nearly made Elsa freeze the ground, her heart skipping a beat when Anna's eyes flew open for a brief moment. Elsa was sure that she saw teal, but it lasted for half a second, and Anna was gone again.
Elsa stood by Anna's head, remembering whispers from others of her inability to wake up due to a concussion that nearly killed her. It had taken everything in her to keep her knees from buckling when Snape informed her that they might transfer her sister to a hospital outside of Hogwarts if she didn't wake up the following day.
Whatever spells and charms that they used to wake her failed.
I'm here now. I've got you. No one's taking you away.
No longer willing to waste any more time, Elsa muttered a spell, and she raised her wand to command the bottle of potion that she had to open itself. Wary eyes watched as the bottle floated in the air, its tip reaching and gently parting Anna's lips, a stream of golden liquid pouring itself into her mouth. Relieved that Lupin's anti-choking spell worked, Elsa summoned the empty bottle back to her and into her pocket.
You're okay, Anna. You're going to wake up later and everything will be back to normal.
Elsa's lips rose into a half grin as Anna scrunched her face in disgust, still lost in slumber. The potion must've tasted appalling, but it was enough to satisfy Elsa after seeing that her sister's senses were working again.
As if her feet had a mind of their own, Elsa inched closer to Anna's side. She took in a breath to calm the pounding of her heart, and she reached out a gloved finger and hovered it over Anna's head. Fighting the tears that threatened to fall, Elsa gently swept Anna's bangs to the side, holding back a gasp when a tiny smile graced her face – it was as if she was having a peaceful and colorful dream that Elsa desperately wanted to be a part of.
Elsa stepped back and sighed. Monsters aren't allowed to dream.
…but do you see me in yours?
"Sleep, my darling, safe and sound…" she sang in a low whisper. These words from their mother's lullaby served as a healing balm when things were particularly hard and painful. Elsa clung to this song like a life preserver - the only thing of her mother that she had allowed herself to hold onto.
Giving Anna one last longing look, Elsa wiped a tear from her eye and made her journey back to the darkness of her room.