Just a little background chapter for Ethel,

Thank you for taking the time to read and sorry for any mistakes.

Comet96 xx

The beauty of Rivendell never ceased to surprise me. I understood now why the elves here always seemed so calm.

Avis, I conjured laughing under my breath as Arwen jumped at the loud bang and smoke that came from my wand before she giggled at the little sky-blue birds that fluttered towards her.

Silent conjuring had been something I had mastered easily a few weeks after finding myself in Middle Earth. My magic here seemed stronger than back home. It seemed every spell I cast was done effortlessly and I could even manage most without the use of speaking. It was strange. I felt like a Mary Sue from one of Hermione's books. Oh my god, I was possibly turning into a Mary Sue and I knew that was bad.

The only thing I had trouble with was wandless magic. I could only do Accio without a wand and my attempts only had been miserable and disappointing. That wasn't a Mary Sue quality, not being able to do something.

"Tell me more about your wizard family," Arwen muttered, her attention captured by the birds fluttering before her. She was attempting to lure one into landing on her hand.

"Arwen, I've told you about my family before." I found it fascinating how much Arwen seemed to enjoy my magic. I would have thought she would grow tired of it by now.

"You never speak about your parents or any other blood relatives, just the Weasley's and how they adopted you much as we have," she replied giving me a pointed look. It was true, I hadn't told her anything about my blood family. "It has been twenty years, Ethel, you must know you can trust me."

"Twenty years and I have not aged a day," I spat the anger at this change still a fresh wound in my mind. I had everything taken from me and my mortality was taken too. Why did it seem like I was being punished by being here? "I'm sorry, Arwen." I sighed. It wasn't fair of me to take out my resentment on her. "I need not be bitter with you, sister, it is not your fault I ended up here."

"Lady Galadriel says you are like the elves, immortal. Your light shines brighter than most, yet you are also nothing like the elves. In fact, I'm willing to bet you are the same height as a dwarf or a hobbit."

I couldn't help the laugh at her dig at my height. It was always something she went on about. She said it made her feel like a proper older sister because she was so much taller than me as well as older.

"I appreciate that you're trying to comfort me, Arwen, but I'm still trying to understand why I'm here."

"Tell me about your family. You have a strange name. I always wonder how you came to be Etheldreda Agnes Rettop."

I couldn't help but smile at her need to know my family. It had been years since I arrived here, yet it had been the same ever since and I wondered when she would give up and forget. It seemed that never was the answer.

"I was named after a great-grandmother or something. It was a family name on my father's side, going back through his father's mother. Agnes was a great-aunt whom I believe was very important to my father." I stopped remembering what I had been told as a child. In wizarding families, it was tradition to pass along names such as it was family heirlooms. They were heirlooms in themselves. "I had an uncle and he had a wife and child. James was the elder brother of my father, Charles by two years. I never had the chance to meet him as we were all in hiding from Voldemort at the time and he died before my father had the chance to reunite with him.

"I'm told that his wife, Lily was a kind-hearted woman and my mother often said I reminded her of her. We both always found the good in people." I looked away from Arwen's face at the sadness that washed over her. I hated remembering what I could have had if Voldemort hadn't existed. "When I was eleven, I was accepted into Hogwarts and sorted into Slytherin. Not many like the witches or wizards in Slytherin, it is the house of many dark witches and wizards, Voldemort included. I also found out I had a cousin, Harry. The son of James and Lily."

"Are you talking about Harry Potter?" Arwen asked, drawing my attention to her as she looked at me in surprise. I had told her many stories of Harry, along with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna.

"The same Harry Potter, yes," I told her, noting the confusion growing in her eyes. "Harry was a year older than me." I continued, not waiting for her to reply. "He came to be more of a brother than a cousin, but my parents couldn't gain custody over him no matter how hard they tried."

"Why not? Surely, your parents had the right to him, seeing as your father is his uncle." She was becoming passionate about it and I admired her greatly for it.

"Dumbledore made it clear that Harry needed to stay with Lily's sister and her family. He was treated fairly bad at the Dursley's but at least we were allowed to visit him. He spent two weeks of the summer between my first year and second year at ours enjoying himself. I was happy to know he could spend time with the Weasley's as well."

"You sound like you're about to say something sorrowful," Arwen said looking surprised as the birds disappeared.

"My parents died during my second year at Hogwarts. They were killed by Death Eaters claiming to do Voldemort's bidding. They insisted they needed to end the Potter line which would help bring Voldemort back."

"But you're not a Potter, you're a Rettop!" she exclaimed rising to her knees in anger. It was unusual to see such anger from an elf. They often hide their emotions well. It was also touching that Arwen was feeling the anger and pain I did.

"Rettop is Potter backwards. It was how my father protected us during the war. After Uncle James died, he didn't want to change it back."

"What happened after your parents died?"

"My godmother, Molly Weasley demanded I be taken into her care. Dumbledore and the Ministry agreed, giving her an allowance for caring for me, but the money didn't matter to the Weasley's. They took care of their own, no matter the cost." How loyal and selfless the Weasley family were. It was one of the reasons I was proud to call them family. They only cared about the simple things in life. "It's how Ginny and I grew to be so close. It didn't matter that she was a Gryffindor and I a Slytherin, we were sisters and best friends."

"You care deeply about the Weasley's?" Was that longing in Arwen's voice?

"Just as I care for you, Arwen, like Ginny you are my sister."

"I always longed for a sister, yet I never thought it would be so until you ended up here," she said smiling at me in gratitude.

"My past is a horrible one, but I have loved every member of my family whether they have my blood or not. Family is important and if I ever get the chance to have my own, I will always cherish them." I had given up hope to see my family again, but I knew they would always stay in my heart.

"I agree," Arwen muttered looking out into the distance in longing.

These gardens and the waterfalls were calming, and I could spend hours sat out here looking at the views. How many years had Rivendell been sat here in the mountains? How many more years would it remain so?

"I'm going to miss home when I'm gone," I whispered knowing she'd be able to here me. I hated the thought of leaving Rivendell, it was my home now and I didn't want to be taken from it.

"You will visit. You're being sent away so you can follow your path, it's not a punishment. You will return." I could also hear the sadness in her voice. She wanted me to leave just as much as I wanted to be gone.

"You'll write to me?" I asked, knowing she would. After training one of the crows of Rivendell to carry my letters, he had grown attached and often found himself perched in my room. It was one of the things I had been most grateful to Arwen for, she was insistent that she train Egil until he got it.

"Every week as long as Egil is waiting for me."

Thank you for reading xx