(PoA) CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Another Thin Line
"I'm sure there's an explanation," Fred whispered to her as they were ushered back to the Great Hall. "It's not like he actually hurt anyone."
"Tell that to the Fat Lady," muttered Ellie. They still hadn't found her; whatever he'd done had scared her enough to send her into hiding in one of the other portraits.
How could he have done this? Whatever he needed in the Gryffindor Tower, she would have gladly retrieved for him if he'd only asked. Everyone else surely thought he had been after Harry himself, but that was impossible.
Wasn't it?
"Ellie!" shouted Harry, jogging up to join her and the twins. He'd missed dinner, presumably on account of still being with Lupin. "Are you okay?"
She wondered whether he meant because of the tears in her eyes or because of the fact that her father had just broken into her dormitory. She looked up at him, unable to hold back the tears from falling.
"Hey," he said gently, putting an arm around her. "It's going to be fine. Whatever he was doing there, they'll figure it out. They'll catch him, and you'll get your answers that way."
Ellie tried not to cry even harder at that. He meant well, she knew. Really, she had no one to blame but herself that he didn't know how to comfort her.
"Miss Prince," Dumbledore said when they reached the Great Hall. "Might I have a word with you and the rest of your… er… band?"
Ellie glanced at the twins, who shrugged and nodded. It took her a minute to locate Ginny, who was gathered up with some of the other students in her own year, but Ginny hurried over once she saw them waving.
"I was wondering," Dumbledore explained, "if you might still be in any condition to play. I believe it could be a good way to take everyone's mind off the fear they're feeling at this recent circumstance."
Ellie swallowed. Her instinct was to say no—she was far too wired from the shock of what had happened—but the songwriter in her couldn't help seeing it as an opportunity. She glanced at the others, who nodded eagerly. "Okay," she said, turning back to Dumbledore. "But could we have a few minutes first? I want to get some last-minute writing in."
"Same melodies," said Ellie fifteen minutes later as they took to the stage. "Everything we practiced, just… new lyrics."
"As if you let us hear the old ones," pointed out George with a grin.
She tried to grin back, but she wasn't exactly feeling spirited. She did feel good, though, about her choice of lyrics. Many of the feelings she'd felt when writing it earlier that day still stood—her frustrations with Harry and Fred, for example, and with her own dishonesty. Now, though, she had added her hostility toward Sirius for betraying her trust into the mix.
"I know many of you are feeling scared right now," she said to the crowd after enchanting herself with Sonorus. "And I am, too. But we're all in this together. I wrote this song… well… today, and I hope you like it. It's called Another Thin Line."
The song began with a string of fast, low, repetitive guitar notes from Fred, then eased into her first verse, which was all about the chaos around her and all of the mistakes she was making. The bridge asked a harder question: am I out of my mind for faking what's inside of me? And then it was time for the chorus—It's like I'm walking on another thin line, where these fools keep on thinking I'm blind. I'm in the middle of a crime, losing all that's mine—as I fade away.
When the song was over, a strange stillness fell over the Great Hall. Everyone seemed to understand that there was something deeper in her words—something more than just the fear of an unknown fugitive at large.
Hermione and Ron were the first to clap. After that, Dean and Seamus both let out loud whoops. Then came the rest of the third years, followed by Oliver and the rest of Gryffindor, Cedric and the Hufflepuffs, and then, finally, everyone except the Slytherins.
Ellie tried not to let herself wonder why Harry looked so quiet.
When Ellie went to see Sirius the following night, she didn't bring Lupin or Fred. She knew they would both want to join her, but she needed to do this alone.
She found him in the same pit as before. The second he saw her, he erupted in a spurt of apologies. "I'm so sorry, Ellie. Please—don't be upset. I'll explain everything."
"Upset?" she demanded. "That my father scared my House portrait half to death and now the entire school thinks he's out to kill my boyfriend?"
"I thought that would be it," he said sadly. "I thought he would be there, Ellie—that I would catch him, and this could finally be over, and everyone would understand that I did what I had to."
But Ellie wasn't anywhere close to understanding. "You thought Peter Pettigrew was hanging out in the Gryffindor Tower?" she demanded. "Why?"
He sighed, running a hand through his wavy, dark hair that so closely mirrored her own. "I told you—he's an Animagus. He's a rat. Remember?"
She blinked, trying her best to read between the lines. An Animagus—a rat—in the Gryffindor Tower?
Her mouth dropped open as she asked in astonishment, "You don't mean Scabbers?"
His jaw tightened. "I don't want you trying to catch him, Ellie. I avoided telling you sooner for a reason. This shouldn't be your burden to bear."
"You're serious," she said in disbelief. "You actually believe Ron Weasley's pet rat is the man responsible for killing Harry's parents and all those Muggles?"
"Think about it. How long do normal rats live? How long has Scabbers been alive? How shabby and stressed has he seemed this year? How many toes does he have?"
She could hardly believe what she was hearing—and yet, a part of her couldn't deny that it added up. She recalled noticing a missing toe on Scabbers' paw before. And didn't rats only live a few years, normally?
"I've been in the same place as him a hundred times," she whispered. "I could have so easily grabbed him."
"And what would you do when he changed back in order to defend himself? How would I ever forgive myself if he killed you like he killed my friends?"
"I fought Lord Voldemort twice," she told him through gritted teeth. "I think I can handle one traitorous rat of a man."
"I thought I could, too," he reminded her. "The night I brought you with me to find vengeance."
He had a point, she supposed. And yet, how could he not expect her to try?
"I heard your song," he said softly. "Couldn't risk going all the way to the Great Hall, of course, but stayed on the outer wall in my dog form."
She tried not to smile at that. She liked that he had heard her perform. Music was what triggered her Perelli charm for a reason.
"You have a beautiful voice, Ellie. And a talent for songwriting."
"Yeah," she said grimly, "well, it comes easy with the right motivations."
"Ellie?" shouted a voice from above them. It was Fred—sounding more frantic than she'd heard him in quite some time.
She pushed open the top to the pit and hissed at him, "Shhh!"
"Are you okay?" he demanded loudly, blatantly ignoring her shush, as he stormed into the pit with them. He glared murderously at Sirius. "Did you hurt her?"
"Does it look like it?" Ellie grumbled. "I'm fine, Fred."
"How could you not bring me?" he demanded. Ellie reached up to shut the top of the pit, praying it would be enough to keep the Dementors from hearing Fred's freak-out. "After what he did, God only knows what—"
"He was trying to get Scabbers," she interrupted. "Fred, Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew."
Fred stared at her in shock, chest rising and falling with pent-up panic, then, slowly, to Sirius. Finally he asked, slowly and lowly, "My brother's pet rat is a grown man and a murderer?"
Ellie tried not to laugh at that, despite having had a rather similar reaction herself not long ago. Sirius looked equally amused. "He didn't tell me because he didn't want me to try and capture Scabbers," she explained. "He thought it was too dangerous."
"You think?" demanded Fred. "Only… is it not dangerous for my brother to have him as a pet?"
"He's been with Ron for three years now," Sirius pointed out. "As long as Ron doesn't know the truth, he should be safe—another reason not to tell Harry any of this until we've turned Peter in."
Great. Because she'd needed more reasons.
"I would have done it," said Fred then. "Gotten him for you. Better that than you slashing the portrait and scaring the Fat Lady half to death."
"She can't exactly die," Sirius pointed out. "And thank you, Fred. But I wouldn't even allow Remus to do such a thing. I have to do this myself."
"And what if he runs away?" asked Ellie. "He'll have heard about what you did, won't he? He'll fear that being with Ron isn't safe anymore?"
"It's possible, but I don't think he'd get far. He has resources here—sustenance. There's nowhere else around for miles, and he can't Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds—I doubt he could even Disapparate off Hogwarts grounds, with how weak he's become."
"If we did catch him," Ellie said persistently, "what would you want us to do? Bring him straight to Dumbledore?"
Sirius' eyes darkened at that, and she saw in them what he wanted to say to her: no. Bring him straight to me.
But he didn't say that. Instead he cleared his throat and said, "It doesn't matter, because you won't be catching him. Now, go on back to the castle. It isn't safe here."
Well, you didn't expect me to have anyone stay mad at sweet Sirius for long, did you? As always, the original was from Instant Star, also called "Another Thin Line," if you want to check it out. The next chapter, "The Match in the Rain," will include that infamous Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match where a certain someone fell from a certain broom - at least, in the original version. It's also a very pivotal chapter for other reasons. Stay tuned for that and don't forget to leave a review!
