The corridor was long. I looked into many rooms as passed them. Some patients were sleeping. Others were staring blankly at strange places in their room. Everyone was different, but also the same. Everyone was here because something was wrong with them and they would be released if their problem was solved, but I was the odd one out. I had the feeling that my problem was only getting started.
We rounded the corner and walked down another corridor. A black woman in a white coat walked out of the offices and walked into my direction. It was the doctor I had seen yesterday, the one who had introduced herself as Safiya.
"Hey," I greeted her as she wanted to pass me.
"Oh, hey there," she said surprised. "I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you. How are you today, dear?"
"Great. I can go now."
"I know, dear." She looked at the officers and scowled a bit, then returned her gaze at me. "I hope you will find where you are looking for in life, dear," she said sweetly.
"I hope you have already found yours." I replied We both smiled and shook hands.
"I hope I never see you again," she said with a grin.
I frowned in confusion.
"This is a hospital, remember? If you need to come here, it's mostly not for a good thing."
I nodded in understanding.
"Goodbye, Ellea."
"Goodbye, Safiya."
Safiya turned around and walked down the corridor without looking back. I stared at her doing so until someone interrupted me.
Smith snorted. "Seems like you have made quite in impression on her," she stated sneeringly.
I couldn't help but respond to it like I hadn't heard her comment.
We walked further until we had reached the elevator. Brown pressed the button and we waited for the elevator to come.
After a moment, the doors opened. Two heavily chatting doctors and a nurse stepped out. I watched them walking down the corridor until a hand firmly pushed me into the elevator. I stood between Smith and Brown. It made me feel very uncomfortable. Not only because they were unfriendly people, but also because standing so close to someone you don't know is always a bit uncomfortable, right?
Brown pushed the button for the ground floor and the doors closed.
The elevator went down and I thought it was the right moment to ask about the owls.
"How are the owls doing? Does someone take care of them?" I asked a bit too worried.
The officers looked at each other and Brown said: "they are okay, no need to worry." He sounded a bit polite. What were they doing? Good cop / bad cop? But you can't be both roles at the same time then. What?
"Are they still at-" I took a small pause. I needed to choose the next word very carefully. "-Snape's house?"
"Yes, they are. A neighbour takes care of them," he answered curtly and looked at me in expectation of a response. I felt his gaze burning into the side of neck. I turned my head around to face him. His blue eyes seemed to look right into my soul and to know all my secrets, but I knew he couldn't. We stared at each other, hoping the other one would say something, but neither of us said a word.
A loud bell sound. The silver doors opened. We had reached the ground floor. It was crowdy. People with flamboyant flowers walked through the big hall. Nurses and doctors in white clothes. People on benches with IV-drips in their arms, looking at the people who passed them- enjoying the absent company.
Smith stepped out first. Brown and I followed. We walked through the big hall. I looked up and saw bridges above my head. People walked over them, going to their destinations in the hospital. It kind of impressed me. The size. All the people. Overall, a very modern hospital.
My reverie was interrupted by Smith. "I'm sure you want to know where we are going."
I nodded absently, still looking at the bridges above my head.
"You are going to the family of an officer, nut don't worry. He's a good friend of us." She gestured to herself and Brown who nodded in agreement.
"And where does he live?" I asked curiously. Maybe there was a chance I could go to the owls and send a letter to Dumbledore for help.
"He lives in Williamstreet. It's not in Cokeworth. Another village, I believe."
A disappointment. How could I ever reach the owls? Would the village be close to Cokeworth?
An idea appeared in my mind: Where am I now, actually? I looked at Brown and asked him my question.
"We are in Roneworth. A big city near Cokeworth," he replied vacantly.
We walked out of the hospital, a large parking place in front of the hospital greeted us.
Smith still walked in front and let us to their car. A shining black one. It didn't look like a police car and it didn't have sirens on the roof. Strange. Police without a police car?
Brown seated himself behind the wheel. Smith looked at me- in the backseat- from the passenger seat.
"Don't touch the stuff next to you," She demanded firmly.
I nodded.
Next to me stood a closed box. Just a brown, cardboard box and I wondered what it would contain. I kept wondering about it, especially since I had nothing better to do.
Most roads were country lanes next to meadows or forests or crops. The forests and crops looked all the same, but the meadows were all different. Some had cows. Others had horses. Beautiful black horses. At least, the view wasn't boring.
"Has Snape already said something?" I asked inquisitively. I hoped they would tell me, but I had the feeling they wouldn't.
"You know we can't tell you," Brown replied while he turned the wheel. "But maybe you can start telling something."
I startled. I knew they knew I was lying, but I hadn't expected them to start questioning me like this.
"I have already told you everything I know," I responded monotonously. I saw in the rear view mirror that he frowned.
"We know you are lying. Just tell us. You can trust us," he said, trying to sound friendly, but it sounded ominously to me.
"Do you have proof that I'm lying?" I asked him angrily.
Brown looked at Smith. They both frowned.
"No, no we don't," he finally said.
"Then shut up." I quietly said and no one reacted to it. Only silence after what I had said and enjoyed it. It made Brown and Smith feel uncomfortable, which made me enjoy it even more.
Brown parked the car in a sweet looking street. The houses looked nothing like the ones in Cokeworth. These were more colourful. The houses were all different. Different kind of bricks, different kinds of window frames, different kinds of roof tiles, nothing seemed the same. It gave a nice feeling to the street.
Brown walked to one of the houses. It looked nice. The red bricks stood out among all the dark bricks of the other houses and the white window frames reflected the sunlight.
Brown wanted to knock on the door, but it opened before his hand had even touched the door. A friendly looking man stood in the doorway.
"Hey, Sam," the man said to Brown.
"Hey, Tom," Brown responded.
Smith and Brown took off their coats and hung them on the coat rack.
"Good morning, Tess," the man said friendly to Smith. She nodded in response.
"And you must be Ellea," he said nicely.
"Yes, sir," I responded politely.
He smiled. "You are raised very well. You can just call me Tom." He seemed a like nice man, but I could trust no one at this point.
I heard some giggling on the end of the corridor and saw three little heads around the doorpost. They pulled their heads back when I looked at them.
"Those are my children: Amy, Hannah and John. I'm sure you will become friends."
I doubted that since making friends takes time and I wasn't planning to stay for long.
"Let's go to the living room," Tom suggested.
The living room had nice matching furniture and not as eclectic as at Severus' house. Some toys lay on the floor. A little boy was playing with them. A brown haired woman sat on the couch, accompanied by two girls. They looked a bit younger than me.
"Good morning, Yara," Brown greeted the woman. She responded with a quick 'hey' before she stood up from the couch and walked to me.
"You must be Ellea," the woman said to me.
"Yes, ma'am," I said to her while shaking her hand. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Tom.
"I know," he simply said. "If she can do it than why can't ours?" The woman just shrugged.
She returned her attention to me and said: "you can just call me Yara. Do you all want something to drink?"
"Yes, please," Smith replied and the woman went to the kitchen.
The two girls on the couch were whispering to each other. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew they were talking about me.
"Don't whisper, girls. You both know that isn't polite," Tom said strictly.
The girls stopped whispering and split up. One approached me and introduced herself. "My name is Amy," she said nicely. She wiped her brown hair out of her face and smiled malignantly. She gave me a last look and walked towards her mom in the kitchen before I could even introduce myself to her.
The other girl approached me and said: "my name is Hannah."
"Hey, my name is..."
She interrupted me with: "I know."
Note to myself: no chance to befriend the girls, I thought to myself.
Hannah gave me the same malicious smile as her sister had given me. Jitters glided over my spinal as she did so. Hannah did the same as her sister and walked to the kitchen.
"Take a seat," Tom said politely to the all of us, which meant the start of a very awkward conversation.
Hey reader!
Snape's story continues too! A new chapter in his own story alongside this story. It's chapter four in the story The Magical Daughter (Snape's perspective), which you can find in the stories I have written. If you want to create some more depth into the story and/or if you want to read a small Snape story next to this one, I recommend you to check it out. I hope you enjoy.
I have to remind you that if I post a chapter from Snape's point of view, there will be no chapter(s) next week. Writing both the chapters (Snape's perspective and Ellea's perspective) costs a lot of time, so I need the time to write another chapter from Snape's perspective and one for Ellea's.
See you later!
