Home for the Summer

Authors Note- Five months really isn't that long. But this chapter is all Ryan's fault, he he.

Disclaimer- In five months, I haven't come in possession of anything, we'll see in another five.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Fathers Will

Harry blinked several times, " they said what?".

Hermione was actually laughing, " how can she not exist? That's impossible!".

Madame Promfey shrugged, " it's very odd, but it's from the Ministry".

" Well that makes sense" Harry muttered, " but she's laying right there" he glanced at his suffering daughter.

" I know, there is obviously a mistake. Headmaster Weasley, I mean Ron, will be back tomorrow. Perhaps he can fix the situation. Until then, concentrate on Ella, she should relax through the night. If you need anything, I'll be in my office".

There was complete silence when Promfey left, until Harry said " I'll go get Hailey" quietly.

" No" Hermione piped, " no, whenever Ella's sick, she's more comfortable with you. Stay, I'll go get Hailey and come back later".

He nodded and laid down on the small bed next to Ella. Hermione departed and they were alone. The young girl claimed she wasn't tired, so the two only laid there in the empty hospital wing talking mindless conversations about random things two people of those ages would talk about.

The last thing Ella mentioned in a mere whisper was about Hagrid and the unicorns. She trailed off mid sentence before dozing off. Her head on his arm, her legs over his as he had outgrown that bed years ago, and her deep breathing.

As she soundly slept, Harry softly stroked her cheek. The dim candlelight forbidden him from seeing the marks on her body, he could feel them. The mystery of his daughter was scaring him, more than anything Lord Voldemort could ever do. Ella was his first born, his first baby. Thousands of memory charms would never make him forget the first moment he held her in Hagrid's home, and he knew she'd be his forever. And now, at one of the times she would need him the most, he didn't know how to help her.

Hermione returned his own exhaustion, kneeling at the bedside, " Lavender has Hailey, why don't you go back to the room and get some sleep?".

" If I leave here, I'm not going to sleep".

She sighed, " Madame Promfey is right, we have to wait for Ron. Not only is he the headmaster, he practically grew p in the Ministry. The marks, the files, it'll all make sense soon".

Harry slightly shifted against the mattress, " do you remember, Voldemort's face?" he whispered.

" I try not to, but it's hard to forget".

" Remember the mark, the scar he had across his face. Did it look like the ones Ella has now?".

Hermione's face turned stone cold, " oh god, what are you saying?".

" I'm not sure, I'm just so desperate to figure out something, anything".

" You always do".

Harry gently stroked Ella's golden locks, " never when it was this serious".

" You're wrong" Hermione whispered, standing to sit under Ella's feet, the movement causing the sleeping girl to sigh. " Remember when Draco kidnapped her?" his heart strings wrenched at the memory of him and then baby Ella almost being killed, " you were sixteen- years-old, and you risked your life to save hers, and you did come close to dying. Or what about when Voldemort had the want pointed at her, no one else is brave enough to have ran out there to get her".

He stared deeply into his wife's eyes for the longest time, " but it's because of who we are that put her in those positions". But he didn't doubt her one bit, then again, he never could.

" It's the people around you" she said, " that put her in those positions. And it's because of who you are, the Boy who Lived, that you were able to save her. You're the one that always makes sure she's safe. Why do you think she's able to sleep right now? Because you're here with her. And she knows that if you're here, she'll always be safe".

Harry slowly sat up, carefully removing himself from his daughter, " she's wrong" he said, " because this time I don't know what to do".

" Not yet at least".

" The Ministry of Magic has a record of every bug being killed by a wizard, why not a little girl? They must have had one at some point, they knew she was a half blood".

Hermione shrugged, " perhaps something happened and they lost her file".

" If something, anything, went missing, don't you think The Daily Prophet would have said the slightest thing".

" Then I don't know Harry" she weakly gave in, " but if we don't do something soon, we might loose Ella".

He didn't know how to interpret that, or if he should even ignore it. But it was the truth, " and I don't think that's something I can bare".

Authors Note (another one)- You call it a cliffhanger, I call it writers block!