Chapter 5
Christmas season had rolled by rather quickly. Elethia sat across from Lily and Snape in The Great Hall, while Frank was tutoring Elethia with her homework on History of Magic by writing a paper on Elmeric the Evil. It was not her best subject, so she was thankful that Frank was helping her. He was the one person Elethia always went to for help, because he was rather studious, and he was happy to help every time.
"Guys!" The four students turned their heads to see Marlene and Alice heading their way carrying little balls of paper, while Marlene continued, "Alice and I've been thinking. Well, it was Alice really, but it's quite brilliant really-"
"Get on with it." Lily rolled her eyes yet had a smile on her face.
Alice grinned like a school girl as she explained, "We thought about exchanging gifts between ourselves, so we wrote our names on these strips. Whichever one we pick is the one we have to give a gift to before Christmas break."
"Just like you to come up with a stressful activity, Fortescue." Severus commented with a bored expression as he continued on with his task by writing down more notes for one of his classrooms.
"Come on, Sev. It could be fun." Lily said.
He stared at her, unsure, but finally gave in as he sighed and replied, "Fine."
"Don't worry, Snape. Maybe you'll get the one you want." Frank said with a small smile.
Severus looked at him, almost glaring, or perhaps Elethia was imagining it. It was interesting to her though how Severus always followed what Lily was doing, but they were friends first, so that was probably the reason.
When Marlene placed the paper on the table, they each picked one by one, starting with Lily, then Severus, Marlene, Frank, Alice, and finally Elethia. They unraveled the paper and read the names on the strips. Elethia read the name on her strip. Severus Snape she thought. They all kept the names to themselves, refusing to let anyone know who they got. She then tried to come up with ideas to give to Severus, but she didn't know him well enough since he often was with Lily. Elethia would have been happier if had either Marlene, Alice, or Frank's name of the strip, but Lily and Severus were still her friends. However, seeing Severus's distaste of the activity, proves how much more Elethia wanted to get Severus an amazing gift.
Elethia made sure that Severus's gift would be brilliant by doing what she can to get to know him more, but she knew she had to be secretive about it. She couldn't risk him knowing she had his name, so she had to observe him or maybe even ask Lily, considering how close they were, so Elethia did what she could to figure out what to get for Severus in the coming weeks. It wasn't until she was in Astronomy with him.
They sat together, navigating a charter map of stars. She kept hearing James and Remus laughing as James said a joke about Severus's hair, forcing him to grimace, so Elethia told him to ignore them. When Professor Sinistra told them to name the constellations by pairing up with their partner, Elethia and Severus went to work. He immediately wrote down a few names, which impressed Elethia.
"You're quite good at this." Elethia said with a small smile.
He looked at her before he returned his task and explained, "Not really. It's simply an interesting subject."
"I wish I was better in this class. I usually get an Acceptable in my essays."
Severus dipped his quill in ink before he replied, "I know. You make it your hobby to complain about it just like History of Magic."
Elethia rolled her eyes at his comment, because he was right. It was why she had Frank tutoring her in History of Magic and copying Severus's notes since hers were not that great. He would even explain to her in a bored tone, hoping that she would finally understand.
"So why are you interested in Astronomy anyway?" Elethia asked.
"The stars are always constant no matter where you are. They never change."
"So you like stars?"
"In a manner of speaking. There's something intriguing about them. I remember staring out in the black sky, wondering about the world. They help me forget."
"Forget what?"
"I guess it worked then."
When he looked at her with a coy smirk, Elethia smiled warmly. At that moment, she knew what to get Snape, but she knew she couldn't do it on her own, so she needed help. That was when she went to Alice since Frank told her that Alice was brilliant in Charms, so she told Alice that she needed a favor, and Alice agreed of course. They fashioned a small glass case with an inscription inside that read Constant as the Stars Above, and Alice used her magic to transform a Remembral into a little star. She then thanked Alice before they proceeded into The Great Hall to exchange their gifts with everyone else the day before their break began.
Lily gave Marlene a Flying with Cannons book, Alice gave Frank a sweater that she made herself, and Marlene gave Alice a sparkly blue witch's hat with a box a Honeydukes sweets. When it was Severus's turn, he gave his present to Lily. She smiled at him and unwrapped the bindings to reveal a leather bound book. She stared at it for a moment, unsure what to make of it since there was no name, so Severus told her to open it, and she did. The pages glowed and their eyes widened to see three men carrying wands and stopped themselves to form a bridge using magic. When they tried to cross, a dark figure wearing a robe appeared before them.
"This is The Tale of Three Brothers. Isn't it?" Marlene said with a smile.
"And many of the other tales in The Beedle and the Bard." Severus confirmed.
"I've never heard of them." Lily said.
Alice turned to her with her bubbly personality and replied, "They're children stories that our family's read to us. My favorite was The Warlock's Hairy Heart."
Lily watched the story unfold as she asked, "What is The Tale of the Three Brothers about?"
Frank gave Lily a small smile as he explained, "These three brothers cheat Death, so Death decides to congratulate them and offer them gifts. For the eldest brother, he took a branch from a tree and created the most powerful wand after he asked Death to have a weapon so powerful that it destroys his enemies. The second brother decided to humiliate Death by calling the dead, so Death plucked a stone from the river and handed it to him. The third and last brother asked Death to go forth without being followed, so Death reluctantly gave the third brother his cloak of invisibility. The first brother killed a man whom he had once quarreled with. Drunk with power, he boasted how powerful he was, so when he fell asleep, a wizard snuck into his room, stole the wand, and slit the first brother's throat, so Death took the first brother. The second brother returned home and turned the stone three times to see the girl he once hoped to marry, but she soon turned cold for she no longer belonged in that world, so he took his own life, and Death claimed the second brother. As for the third brother, Death searched for many years, but he was unable to find him. It wasn't until the third brother took off his own cloak of invisibility and gave it to his son. He then greeted Death as an old friend, and so Death took the third brother."
Elethia was familiar of the tale since her father read it to her once when she was a child. She remembered crying when he finished the story, because she did not want Death to win, so he told her how Death was not the villain but rather an aid to show how they all have a purpose in life just as everyone else.
"It's great. Thanks Sev." Lily smiled, revealing her perfect white teeth.
He gave her a smile back before he looked at Elethia as she gave him a wrapping. He took it in two hands and heard a clink, so he carefully unwrapped it to reveal his gift. His eyes nearly widened and his eyebrows piqued with interest when he saw a bright little star illuminating inside the little glass case. Lily, Marlene, Alice, and even Frank smiled at the wondrous Christmas gift.
"It's incredible!" Marlene exclaimed.
"Where did you get it?" Lily asked.
Elethia grinned and looked to Alice before she replied, "I had a little help."
"Impressive." Frank commented.
Severus ran a finger over it, while Elethia said, "And it's also a Remembral, so when it turns red, it means you've forgotten something."
He stared at the case long enough to read the inscriptions. He smiled for a split second before he looked at Elethia and said, "This is really..nice. Thanks."
"Really, Snape? That's the best you can do." Marlene said in a mocking manner.
"It's fine, Alice." Elethia said. She turned to Severus and said with a small smile, "You're welcome."
Frank took out his parchment and handed it to Elethia as he said, "I suppose it's my turn now." Elethia unwrapped it only to reveal a black book with a silver shield deflecting a green spell. She then read the title of the book out loud for her friends to hear, "Practical Defense Against the Dark Arts". She knew exactly why he gave her the book, and she was thrilled to receive it.
"I thought it might be appropriate considering all of the training we've done."
"I love it." Elethia replied with a genuine smile. "Thank you so much."
The next day, the group said their farewells as they headed home through the Hogwarts Express. Elethia sat with Lily, Marlene, and Severus, while Frank and Alice sat somewhere else with two other classmates. When they arrived, Elethia saw her parents, so she waved at her friends and wished them well before she went on her way.
By the time she made it home, a boy who was two years younger than her with chestnut hair and brown eyes came up to her and punched her arm. It wasn't hard enough to bruise, but it still hurt. Thomas and Claire Cromwell stared at the boy. Claire wanted to say something, but Thomas raised his hand, stopping her as he smiled at them.
"You never wrote me."
"Sorry, Zephyr." Zephyr was Elethia's younger brother, and they've been inseparable for as long as they could remember. "I promise I will write to you next time."
"Is that Elethia?"
The young witch turned to see an old woman propped on an arm chair, so Elethia went to her and gave her a hug as the woman hugged her back as Elethia said, "Hi great-grandma."
Dorothea Cromwell was Elethia's great-grandmother on her father's side, and she was one of the wisest people she knew, because she was a true Cromwell herself. Elethia herself will never forget when she had her visions for the first time. She was only eight years old when she received them. She didn't know what they were at first, so her father took her to Dorothea so that she would explain and interpret what they possibly could mean.
"Alright, Elethia. Go and unpack quickly. We're going to have company over soon." Thomas said.
"Whose coming over?" Elethia asked.
"The Lupins." As soon as he said their name, Elethia's smile dropped as her father continued, "You and Remus are good friends. Right?"
"Ye-Yeah, Dad."
Claire gave her daughter a smile as she said, "Go on and get ready then."
A few hours went by, and the Lupin family arrived. Remus's parents greeted Elethia's family, while Remus gave Elethia a nervous smile and said, "Hi, Elethia."
"Hi."
Elethia did not even smile or give him one measure of kindness, because she believed that he was just as guilty to not say anything to Black, Potter, and Pettigrew.
"Why is your face like that?" Zephyr said drawing a line on his own face where Remus did, forcing Remus to shyly look away.
"Zephyr." Claire said in a hushed warning tone.
"Sorry."
"No. It's okay." Remus said.
Thomas grinned and gestured to the table as he said, "Well, let's not just stand here. Please come in and sit down."
A couple of hours rolled by and the family finished dinner. Elethia went to the backyard with Zephyr and Remus following her. She sat on a swing with Zephyr beside her, while Remus looked up at the night sky. Zephyr soon had to go back inside though, because his father told him to help his great-grandmother.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Remus asked, gesturing to the swing. When Elethia shook her head, he sat down and said, "It's not a full moon tonight."
Elethia looked up and saw that the stars covered the sky. "Yeah."
Remus sensed her attitude, so he turned to her and asked, "Are you alright?"
"You tell me."
He looked away for a moment before he said, "If this is about being with Sirius, James, and Peter, then I'm not going to apologize."
"It's not about that!" Elethia snapped. "It's about what they do and how you don't do anything to stop them."
"I just don't think they're all bad."
"If they're not all bad, then why did they try to kill me?"
His eyes wavered for a moment and a look of surprise washed over his face as he said, "What?"
Elethia looked away from him and explained, "I got a note on Halloween to meet in the Potions Storeroom, and the door locked behind me. Next thing I knew, there was Devil Snare strangling me. If Dumbledore hadn't found me, I wouldn't be here."
Remus stared intently at her as he asked, "How do you know it was them?"
"I know I don't have enough proof, but there was no one else whose been pulling practical jokes on me, and you know I'm not wrong. You've seen what they do."
"Just because I see it, doesn't mean I agree with it."
"Then why be with them?" Remus shut his mouth and stared at the ground, listening to Elethia, "What if they take their jokes too far that it ends up hurting one of us." His eyes snapped to hers in concern when she said, "I was in the Hospital Wing because of what they did, and if you don't say anything to them, how are you a friend?"
His head hung in defeat, and Elethia looked away, refusing to look at him, because she knew she made her point. The next thing Elethia knew, her eyes widened as she found herself on the grounds at Hogwarts. There was Remus staring at a full moon, and then there was a furry creature in an abandoned shack. The wood was clawed at, and there was dried blood on the walls and floors. When the creature turned around, it revealed its snarling carnivorous teeth, and it swung its claws down at Elethia.
The young witch jolted awake from her vision, and Remus stared at her concerned. "Are you okay?"
She looked at him and nodded, ragged, out of breath, "Yeah."
Elethia looked away, unsure what to make of her vision, but if there was one thing she was worried about, it was Remus being attacked by a vicious creature.