It all ends here.
Both witches stood stock still. Remus and Ginny looked at the two worriedly. Ginny took Elizabeth's hand in support. Elizabeth gripped it tightly. Her breathing was increasing rapidly, and she was fighting to keep it from showing.
Remus cleared his throat. "Well, I think I'd better show you, girls, upstairs."
He turned around and ushered them out, and caught Elizabeth's gaze as he did so. She looked at him hurt and betrayed, her eyes saying How could you do this? How could you not tell me?
He swallowed thickly. Dumbledore had informed him of his plan of helping Elizabeth and Minerva reconcile, and gave him specific instructions not to tell Elizabeth or Minerva. He silently led the two upstairs, and to their room. It was large, and the walls were a peaceful blue. There were four enormous four-poster beds, and Elizabeth took the one far from the door, her subconscious attempt to be away from everyone else in the house. Luckily, her luggage was on the bed as well, Novo meowing from his basket.
Ginny sat beside her, and let Novo out. He crawled into Elizabeth's lap and started to purr, and Elizabeth rested her head on Ginny's shoulder, staring off into space.
"Did you know?" she asked. She didn't cry. She didn't think she had any tears left after the past couple of weeks.
"No. If I did, I would have told you." Ginny said.
"You would've." Elizabeth agreed.
"Elizabeth?" Ginny asked. Elizabeth removed her head and looked over at her friend.
"You know this wasn't an accident. Remus knew. I'll bet my parents knew. Probably Sirius. They want you to make up with her. And, I want you to too. I know you're hurting, and you're afraid of going to talk to her and being turned away and abandoned, but this can't go on forever." Ginny said boldly.
"And, honestly, I think Minerva wanting to know why you kept the restorative spell stuff from her isn't that unreasonable. She didn't know that it'd be hard for you to talk about, and yes, it was wrong that she pressed you when you were getting upset, but I think the only way for this to be over is if you actually talk to her, and tell her why. Or, at least tell her why it's hard for you to talk about." Ginny told her.
Elizabeth sighed. "I know you're probably right. No, you are right. I've just been so scared to do the right thing."
"It's okay to be scared. Just, don't let fear control your life. I learned that from you, by the way." Ginny said.
"How did you learn that from me? I've spent the last week hiding out at your house."
"True, but you are a really brave person, Elizabeth. Even after the last couple of weeks. You can find that bravery, and use it to resolve things with Minerva, one way or another."
Minerva was furious. At Albus Dumbledore, specifically.
"Why?" was all she said, her anger bubbling to the surface. She was a grown woman, not a child. And yet he had treated her like one.
"I'm afraid it was all my idea." Albus spoke up.
"And what led you to believe it was a good idea for us both to come here, without telling us about your plan?" Minerva asked.
"I wanted to bring an end to your argument. I believed it would be best if you were in the same place, surrounded by people that care about you both." Albus explained.
"And why didn't you tell me?" She inquired.
"I didn't think it would be best. Don't forget that you and Elizabeth are powerful witches, I didn't think it would go well if either of you knew of the plan. Particularly Elizabeth's record of rather explosive accidental magic." Albus replied, referencing the trouble Elizabeth had two summers previously with using her wand.
Minerva nodded. That did make sense. "What do you have planned for now?"
Albus opened his mouth to speak, but a soft knock at the door deterred him. He and Minerva looked towards the door and saw Elizabeth standing there, looking quite nervous.
"May I come in?" She asked.
"Of course." Albus replied. "In fact, I'll leave you both alone to talk." And with that, he walked out of the sitting room, closing the door behind him, leaving Elizabeth and Minerva alone for the first time in weeks.
For a moment, the two just looked at each other.
Minerva saw Elizabeth, who looked the same as she usually did, except she was not in robes, instead wearing a purple shirt and jeans. Her hair was in one long braid, and she looked slightly tanner. What concerned her most were the bags under her eyes. She hadn't been sleeping well, if at all.
To Elizabeth, Minerva looked the same as ever. She still wore her robes, a deep blue hue coloring them today. Her hair was still in a bun, tight and styled to perfection. She was wearing her glasses as well, but Elizabeth could tell there were bags under her eyes, an indication she hadn't been sleeping great either.
Elizabeth looked around the sitting room, examining the walls. They appeared to showcase a family tree, with dark spots blasted off. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was written at the top of the tree.
She knew she had to say something. She had come in here for a reason, she had a purpose. She looked back to Minerva, who had also been looking at the walls, and said, "I'm sorry."
This caused Minerva to look back over to her in curiosity.
"I should never have yelled at you. It was wrong of me. You've done so much for me, it was horribly selfish and ungrateful of me to rebuff it and scream at you." she continued.
"I should never have said what I did to you, either. I adopted you for a reason, Elizabeth: I love you. I forgot that for a moment, and instead ended up making you worse off than you were before. I'm sorry." Minerva told her.
Elizabeth looked back at the wall, focusing her gaze on a darkened spot that she could read the title of underneath. Sirius Black. She looked at that to make it easier to talk.
"I still should have told you about my connection to the wards. You were right, if I had things would have been a lot easier that night. The truth is, it's hard for me to talk about the life I used to have before I was put in the chamber. I can talk about some of the on-the-surface things, but even those are hard to talk about. It reminds me of my parents, my little brother, the other founders, everything I love, and had lost. It just brings the pain back and makes me feel so alone."
Minerva stood up, and walked over to Elizabeth, still giving her the space to talk.
"No one here knows what it's like to wake up one day and have everything changed. Everything familiar just… gone. And how utterly lonely it can be. I feel like I can't talk about it, either, because I didn't want you to think I'm comparing you to my mother, or for Ginny to think that I'm not happy with her as my best friend. And that makes me feel even more alone." she finished.
Minerva placed a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. "I should never have pressured you to talk about it. You were getting upset, and yet I continued to make you talk about it. I'm sorry, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth smiled, relieved to have earned Minerva's forgiveness, though she still wasn't sure whether or not she deserved it. "Thank you. And, I never should've yelled at you like that, even if I was upset. I was wrong to do that." she said.
"I forgive you, dear. And, I shouldn't have let this go on for as long as it has. I'm the adult in our relationship, and I should have acted like it. I was only afraid that I was not suited to be your guardian anymore." Minerva said, being careful not to say mother.
"I was afraid, too. I told you to leave me alone, and then you did let me be alone, and I thought you didn't love me anymore. I said words I can't ever take back, and I didn't think you'd ever forgive me." Elizabeth replied.
"I love you, Elizabeth. I adopted you because I love you, no matter what. I left you alone because I was afraid that I shouldn't be your parent anymore. Which was hard for me, because I care about you so much." Minerva informed her.
"Oh, Minerva…" was all Elizabeth said, tearing up a little. They hugged, and Elizabeth started to unleash a few of her tears, ashamed of the pain she had caused her. But she was also crying from relief, they were finally making progress.
But not enough.
"Minerva, I think I need to tell you the truth about why I didn't tell you about my connection to the spell." She said when they separated.
"Oh, dear, are you sure you're ready?" Minerva asked.
"I'm not, not really. But if I wait until I'm ready, I'll be waiting for the rest of my life." Elizabeth responded.
Minerva guided her to the couch she had previously been sitting on and reading, and gave Elizabeth her full attention to speak.
"The reason that I never told you is that that was the first spell my mother ever taught me. I was very close to her, and when I think about the spell, I think about her. And that hurts because I miss her even more than I usually do." Elizabeth explained, fingering the locket Archibald had given her, and the portrait of her family tucked away inside.
"Is that the picture inside your locket? One of your mother?" Minerva asked, picking up on Elizabeth's fidgeting fingers.
"She's in here, but so are my father and brother. Here." Elizabeth said, opening it for her to see. She realized she had never shown it to Minerva before, only Archibald.
"Elizabeth, this is beautiful," Minerva said, her eyes gazing at the portrait, hungrily looking at the faces her daughter had so delicately drawn, recognizing where Elizabeth had gotten her nose from, (her mother, her brother had it as well) and where her eyes had come from, (her father, the same stormy, strong gray color she sported) the details were intricate and made with such love Minerva have expected them to come flying off the page.
"Thank you. I've worked quite hard on it. I never wanted to forget what they looked like." Elizabeth said, saying her fear aloud. She never wanted to forget who she came from.
"I don't think you ever will, dear. They're very important to you, those kind of people are hard to forget." Minerva reasoned.
Elizabeth nodded. "I feel like I should also tell you why it bothered me so much that you called yourself my mother." She said, wanting to be careful that she covered everything that needed covering in order for this to be put behind them.
Minerva only told her, "If you wish, then yes, I would like an explanation. But I can live off of my theory."
Elizabeth let out a little laugh. She should've known she'd figure it out.
"It's because I only ever call you Minerva, or Mum. And I only ever call my biological mum my Mother. It sort of separates you two, and makes me feel less guilty." she expounded.
"You feel guilty?" Minerva asked in shock. How could she have missed this? She had figured that Elizabeth wasn't comfortable with calling her 'Mother', but hadn't thought about guilt. She had covered it so well, Minerva hadn't even suspected it.
"A little. A lot, actually. I feel like I replaced her with you. Like I shouldn't be calling anyone else that title ever again. So, when you were pressing me for information that reminded me of her, then called yourself my mother, I just lost it."
Minerva placed a hand on her shoulder. "I should've known better. I'm sorry I overlooked that, Elizabeth." she said.
"It's alright. You didn't even know." she replied.
"If you would like to talk about her more, or anything else concerning your family, you are always welcome to, dear. I'll listen." Minerva promised.
Elizabeth bit her lip. "You think I'm hiding other things, don't you?" she asked, not eager to share them.
"If you are, it is your decision to share them, whenever you are ready."
Elizabeth sucked in a breath. Somehow, she felt like this was the right time to tell her the things she'd been holding back from her, and everyone else.
"I, I think I can tell you. But it shouldn't be just you. I'm sure Ginny's curious, and Malcolm, Hermione, Remus, probably Dumbledore. I really don't want to repeat myself, it'd be easier if I told everyone all at once." Elizabeth said.
Minerva nodded. "I can understand that. And I believe most of the people on your list were involved with this little plan to get us to talk. And, they will be attending dinner tonight. Perhaps that will be the right time to tell them?" She suggested.
Elizabeth smiled. "I think that might be perfect." She agreed. "And, Mum?"
"Yes, Elizabeth?"
"I love you. Thank you for being my mum."
"I love you, too."
Did that actually happen? Did I really pull that off? I think so! Yay, they made up! And, Elizabeth has a lot of things in her past that she has never mentioned, for reasons you will find out in the next chapter. Things in her past that even ya'll don't know about, because I kept it all from you for the last fifty chapters! Mwahahaha! I promise a new chapter will be out soon, I will try my best to keep ya'll informed of our girl's mysterious past! But, I am also visiting family, so we'll see how that goes. There will be a lot of surprises revealed next chapter, so it will need to be carefully crafted to make it just right. Writing is a delicate art, and I try my best to make every chapter perfect. Once again, sorry for the angst, but these are legitimate emotions for Elizabeth to have, and I thought this would make her more human.
Please review below! The last few chapters have been torture to write, and reviews make me really happy and encourage me to do better. Review a suggestion, and I will take it seriously into account and PM you for more information.