Disclaimer: No I don't own Harry Potter etc. J K Rowling does. Elianne is my own character though. And the poetry is definitely mine, and only mine.
Author's Note: I know I said no more chapters til Tuesday BUT I couldn't not give in to writing one as I'd finished one of my projects. So here it is, very roughly only just written so there may be mistakes. Hope it explains a bit more. Not very eventful chapter but should give lots of info as to plots and all the things mentioned as unanswered as of yet. Can't be sure when the next chapter is up but hope this will do for now.
Chapter 17"You Hurt The Ones You Love"
What was it you said?
Something about something
I never truly heard
For I turned away
And
You never questioned me
And
I never asked what it was
We, the best of friends
The closest
Known to the rest
As the closest
They never knew
And
I did not say what I was thinking
And you,
You never wanted to listen
There were things they knew
Not right
As is with all people
And
They never questioned either
And
They never asked what happened
It was all a great mystery
Every day
Of those days
Not knowing what the life was
What the lies were
Where the truth resided
If we could even have
And
We carried on
Words deprived
Faces close, but turned away
Lies not spoken
Lives broken
The way
We lived
Those days
~~
~
Hermione sat reading the daily prophet. No news of Harry Potters return graced the headline. He must have been keeping his head down.
She wouldn't know though. They'd hardly spoken since he'd returned. He'd taken up residence in the house, she would not refuse him that but neither had said a thing.
He spent most of him time out, away somewhere. Maybe with Ron. She had a feeling what Harry had mentioned was to do with the same thing Ron had said was going on.
Reconnaissance?
Who knew what they did.
He ate alone as mostly he only came back at night, when she was asleep, as he thought she would be.
She held the paper up, not really paying much attention to any of it.
This was the first time she'd seen him in two weeks for more than five minutes.
He sat in the corner at the desk writing a letter.
She could have glared at him but they were beyond that.
The history between them wasn't good. The years had worsened it.
He hadn't asked yet either.
So she hadn't told him either.
He kept his secrets, not sharing with her.
So she kept hers.
Not one question.
This didn't improve their present.
Not one question.
And no answers as to where he'd been. Why he'd ignored his only child for eleven years.
Not one question on how she was doing, what she was like, how Hermione had coped raising her on her own.
Did he care?
Nothing suggested he did. Apart from him bothering to come back after all this time.
Maybe he didn't realise it but for her it wasn't just him that had returned. It was the past, the feelings; the whole story was lunked up like an the old box of photos stored in an attic for decades. Brought down with tears.
The life since he'd 'died' wasn't the only complication to their relationship. The questions not asked, not answered weren't the only obstacle to any type of continued friendship in these days.
It was the past that held most of their secrets.
###
The girl cowered in the corner of the dungeon. Crawling further back at the scuttling sounds of the rats.
They'd fed her, they'd been quite nice in the case of not having tortured or killed her.
But it was rank and cold and dark in the cell, as it had been for the fortnight.
Unless of course it had been longer, she found it hard to tell, the sun didn't get very bright at any point in the days around here and she could well have miscounted the sunsets she'd seen through the small high barred window.
They hadn't hurt her. They had however taken her away a few times. Performed spells on her. Nothing bad, nothing she could recognise but they wanted something. It couldn't be long before they discovered she wasn't it.
###
Around the common room there were puffy eyed faces. Flora's continued maintenance of her sincere regret still lingered too.
The blame hadn't laid anywhere but Flora had taken it on along with a few others, Leander, Ayran, Dido; all who felt responsible in parts.
Elianne and Lucretia at least had seen that they couldn't have changed things that night, that others were accountable and that it had sinister implications for the future.
It seemed there were also people who did blame but did not rest it on those who you would have thought.
Through many halls and in many lessons, blank angry stares had been directed to Lucretia.
Even a few Gryffindors had taken to shunning her publicly.
There was no reasoning to this really, just that dull stupid prejudice that scathed the Malfoy name and gave them an excuse to point fingers and lay guilt.
Lucretia hadn't taken it well. The few fortunate things to be grateful for round Hogwarts these days was that Patricia actually defended Lucretia, holding to the idea that the Malfoys being purebloods were honourable. However uncomforting that was in general, it helped curb the rumours and talk.
The other rather odd but pleasant event was that Cassy hadn't had any more visions recently, since infact that night.
Elianne was still reeling over the cryptic and unexplained message directed to her on that night but no visions made Cassy happy even in this saddened aftermath.
Cassy being pleased about this had made no attempts to see a reason to it. Elianne and Lucretia were more astute and after the abduction thought it better to check it out.
Elianne tucked at her friends arm, motioning her to get up.
"The library?"
~~
For where there is sin
And confusion
It is she
She is that voice
That guides mischeviously
You to the taken path
And you may call her pain
And you may call her shame
Though she merely
Echos the other way
The nature
We behold
Tenderly protecting
Our minds from
She is all but the denyer
In her exists the utter truth
The brutality is acceptance
For she is the lover that takes any
Ugliness is her beautiful
The carefree light in the fall
She is that that was not meant to be
The reality that lives
Who we refuse
Under cloak and guile
We will not see
Her face in the mirror
As if it smokes
We flee from she
In tears
As she would bring our world down upon us
Destroyer only, of hopes and dreams
Of subtle ways that are made
With promises she would break
For where there is sin,
And shame
And guilt
There is her smiling face
Ready to embrace
All
~~
She stood back perfectly upright infront of the altar addressing the daily gathering silently for the time being. The temple was an elaborately decorated place. Large gilt statues towered over her on both sides. The walls were painted with dark frescos, picturing mysterious mythical events that were embroiled in pain and power, stormy clouds cluttering their climatic scenes.
"We knew there was a seer. Yet you failed to bring her to me, she still walks freely down their corridors. You failed us. What could have been out tool is a potential liability. You will pay for it Micah, in the only way that is respectful."
She glanced to the man on her left hand side and gave a short nod.
Micah caved in on the floor clothed in rags, begging for forgiveness in front of an audience of the rest of the followers.
Two of them dressed in an ominous black appeared, to drag him away.
The priestess paid no attention to his cries and pleas and did not speak til he had left the confines of the sacred space.
"Does anyone else care to do justice to our master? Do not speak without caution for you know what will happen if you are to fail."
One of the brown robed figures of the crowd left her hunched friend and rose to the platform at the centre, kneeling to the priestess.
"I believe I know how we can use the seer to our advantage."
The priestess warned her verbally, tsking her for her lack of consideration.
"You miss the point that we do not have the seer, Eliza. You should think more carefully about whatever it is you plan."
The woman dared to look back up to her, meeting the blackened eyes of the dark witch with her own equally startling violet ones. They contracted in fear as she spoke back to the higher member of the order.
"Mistress, forgive me but you miss the point. We do not need to have the seer. There is another way."
The priestess walked away from her, skimming her fingers over the boiling black water of the centrepiece of the temple. She stared into its dark abyss with identical emptiness, the temperature not scolding any of her fingers as she dipped them into its depths.
The flames beneath the black waters and its ceremonial bowl writhed in torment to its limits.
"Really; pray do tell all, and you shall be shown that rewards too come from his might."
###
Two words had taken her life away from her.
Two words. Too many years ago.
The memory was fresh, as it is with anything that happens to change you that much.
The memory of that day wasn't happy for her; for everybody else maybe.
///---Flashback---////August, two months after graduation.
The flowers smelled delightful in the fresh light air in the church. Such a thing would have made her smile if she hadn't been here and it hadn't been happening.
It was halfway through the ceremony.
She didn't know why she hadn't said something earlier.
She'd half expected Ron to burst in protesting the union, he hadn't and she'd not had the courage to spoil the happy day as it was for all the gathered persons.
Much of the Hogwarts staff were assembled here, including Severus Snape to her surprise. Harry had invited him but no one had thought he'd actually come.
Harry's guests took up most of the building right and left of the aisle, not only because of his plentiful list of friends and close to relatives but also because of May's lack of any. Her guests consisted of a wrinkly fussy deaf man, her great-uncle and only living relative and one female friend, who was a sharp pointed spiteful looking woman who she was fortunate not to be sitting next to.
For her the backbench had been the best comfort. Further enough away that she could pretend she hadn't heard the words, that she wasn't here in a church at Harry Potter's wedding.
Back in the old days of being 3rd years she'd imagined that she'd be ecstatic on any of her friends wedding days. Especially Harry's, he had so much pain that he deserved happiness. But life hadn't figured out that way.
Ron wasn't even here.
Even Snape had turned up, albeit looking thoroughly bored and acting like the whole affair was moronic. He disdainfully sat watching May who wistfully watched her soon to be husband.
Ron hadn't.
Why had she?
She could have spared herself the pain.
The answer was easy.
Spare herself pain, whilst inflicting it on others.
It would break Harry's heart if she hadn't accepted the invitation.
She came despite the fact it broke hers to be in the sight of this event.
"Harold James Potter do you take Elizabeth May Grinshot to be your lawful wedded wife. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, til the end of your days?"
"I do"
It rang in my ears.
He'd said yes.
A second 'I do' came in the sweet melodic voice of May the next minute.
Both of them had said it.
Like everyone else hoped, like I had known would be true.
Nothing could stop it now.
It was done.
My life was over.
The reception was average. A bad band played in the background heralded the choice of a muggle wedding as Harry had wanted, and she sat drinking a glass of wine.
She'd lost count of how many times men had asked her to dance. She preferred to wallow in the depths of her misery after this morning, finding it best to wallow in the wine for a slow descent into a stupor that would hopefully take the pain from her. Or at least replace it with anger.
Had it all been her fault?
That it ended up as this.
Separate.
The comfort that she wasn't the only one having a bad life or day didn't work anymore.
So what if Snape despised it all? So did she. Not on the same grounds though.
Snape hated these sorts of events. He also, she took it, found May to be less than great.
Much like Ron had.
Ron had gone to the extreme of telling Harry he hated May. That he didn't like her one bit. Because of this the trio didn't exist any longer. But neither was it a glorious due. Things never had been since sixth year. Only the lack of Ron introduced this to the forefront. Harry had gone. Left their lives forever. Forever but for owl posts and dutiful visits to keep up appearances. Too much of that had already been done
From Hermione's eavesdropping of the introduction of the two, May and Snape had an instantaneous dislike. She couldn't see why. Snape should have loved her. Brilliant at potions Harry had said, but Snape wouldn't have stuck around for all the firewhisky in the world.
Snape was now spared that despair for Harry and May had left some time ago for their lovey honeymoon in Scotland.
Then they'd be back to The Grange. She knew she'd never savour saying those words into the floo-fire or thinking them as she apparated. The Grange was as much like all the pain she was tortured with over this, as was May the embodiment of it. The Grange was that place that would for now and all eternity in the Potters minds be the family home.
How long before there was a family to fill it?
And then there would be no room for doubt.
The Potter's were made for each other.
Nothing could pull apart that bond.
///end flashback///