A/N: WOW! Thanks so much to my new BETA: EyesOfEmerald! She's cool. Ummm that's it for now.
Ella lay awake through most of the night tossing and turning. Something about the look in Oliver Wood's eyes was bothering her. Dumbledore had come by to make sure the door to their wing was locked from the inside, so no one could get in. Professor Fairburn had been distant at dinner, sitting with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ella, but observing Oliver over her treacle pudding the whole time.
Ella sat up in her bed, picked up her wand and muttered "lumos". Her wand tip flared with light, illuminating the whole room. Hermione rolled over in her sleep disturbed by the sudden change in the environment. Ella waved her hand at her wand, exasperated, willing the light to dim. It complied reluctantly, spluttering and threatening to go out until it settled on a muted glow. Ella pulled one of the spell books that were on her night table into her lap intending to read it and make herself sleepy. She knocked some of Hermione's notes onto the floor in the process.
Bending over to pick them up she recalled the evening in the common room. They had been shooting stunning spells at each other, until their strengthened shields were able to withstand three at a time. Hermione had spent the better part of the evening with her Arithmancy book, writing out an addition to the original Protego Charm to make it stronger when the word "fortifus" was added to the end. Ron had been trying different wand movements all night until he found a sort of "wave and flick" that worked well. Harry had quickly discovered that saying the spell in parseltounge doubled its strength and had spent the rest of the evening thoughtfully attempting to stun his friends. Ella had joined him in this since, in her case, it seemed that simply yelling the spell made it much stronger.
The door flew open and Harry rushed in, followed by a disheveled looking Ron. Harry was clutching the curious scar on his forehead, and gasping in pain. Ron spoke for him.
"Harry's had another vision! It's Professor Fairburn; she's in the courtyard! HURRY!" Harry glanced at Ella, his green eyes gleaming with such intense urgency she found herself leaping out of bed and throwing her bathrobe over her shoulders. Ron was dragging Hermione out of bed and pulling her through the door. Harry was still clutching his scar. Ella grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him through the door ahead of her. They rushed through their common room and into the corridor. Four sets of footsteps echoed off of every surface as they careened through the passages. At one point Hermione waved her wand in the air sending red sparks in the opposite direction they were running. The quartet finally reached the courtyard and Harry gave a final gasp, letting go of his scar. Ella glanced at him, about to ask what was wrong when Ron waved a hand in their direction, silencing them.
Professor Fairburn and Oliver Wood were in the courtyard standing about five feet apart, having a rather intense conversation. Their words were muddled and Ella cursed herself for not knowing a good spell for eavesdropping. As if reading her mind someone passed her something soft, squishy and flesh colored. The others were putting one end of the objects into their ears and letting the other fall to the ground. Ella followed suit.
They acted a bit like silly putty, stretching out and crawling across the ground towards the two shadowy figures in the courtyard. Suddenly a voice sounded in Ella's ear. It was Professor Fairburn, speaking to Oliver. The fleshy strings were some kind of listening device.
"Oliver are you SURE you're all right? You said they didn't use Cruciatus on you? That's so unlike the deatheaters. You look so pale! If I could just-" She reached up to touch his face, and he pushed her hand away roughly. Fairburn shrank back, hurt and even more suspicious. She clutched her hand as he spoke, looking at his face apprehensively.
"Marissa, I told you I'm FINE. I'm suffering the effects of veritaserum overdose, that's all." Apparently he took note of her defensive stance and the hurt in her eyes, because he took a step towards her. She allowed him to envelop her in a hug. Ella felt Harry shift uncomfortably next to her. They stood for a moment holding each other awkwardly. The wind had blown some clouds in front of the moon, and for a moment it grew very dark. Oliver's face was expressionless. Professor Fairburn sighed disgustedly and shoved Oliver away.
"No, you're not the same… something's wrong. I can tell." She stepped backwards and the four spying eyes could see her hand snaking around her back for her wand. She gripped it tightly and met Oliver's eyes. He was standing about ten feet away from her, looking confused. "I'm so sorry Oliver…" She whipped her wand out and shouted "DEPREHENSIA IMPERIO" Oliver's shocked look vanished and his eyes rolled back into his head. His limbs snapped together and green light began to scan his body. He started to foam at the mouth, shaking uncontrollably.
"Bloody hell…" Ron was staring open mouthed at the scene unfolding before them. Hermione was shaking, and Harry was watching with a fierce look in his eyes. Professor Fairburn had fallen to her knees, sobbing with her head in her hands. Oliver lay unconscious on the ground, his eyes closed. Professor Fairburn had rushed to his side and was kneeling over him, uncertain what to do.
There was a brief moment of peace. All six of the people in the courtyard were silent. The wind had stopped blowing, and the moon came out from behind a cloud. Then Oliver sat up. Professor Fairburn had her back to him, oblivious. Even from a distance Ella recognized the glazed look that had come over him. Hermione did too, because she screamed a warning to Fairburn.
"PROFESSOR! LOOK OUT, BEHIND YOU!" Oliver was standing over Professor Fairburn with her wand in his hand. She looked up at him, surprised, and began to walk backwards slowly.
"Oliver it's ME! Marissa! You're under the imperious curse." He began walking towards her haltingly. "Oliver listen to me, you're under the imperious curse. Listen to me!" Desperate, The professor began to scream, stumbling over the loose stones in the courtyard floor. "FIGHT IT! FIGHT IT OLIVER FIGHT IT!" She fell to the ground and was crawling backwards, fear radiating from her hazel eyes. "IT'S ME, YOU DON'T WANT TO HURT ME OLIVER! OLIVER! OLIVER!" He raised her wand slowly and difficultly. He was fighting it, but to no avail.
"Averte Statura." Marissa Fairburn ducked and rolled out of the way. A jet of orange light shot past her, connecting with a statue in the corner and blowing it up. Harry grabbed Ella and pulled her down as shards of rock flew by them. Hermione was standing transfixed by the fight. A piece of rock was hurtling towards her. Ron dived at her, knocking her to the ground. They hit the stone path with a sickening thud, the rock rolling clattering away loudly.
"Averte Statura." This time Fairburn didn't duck fast enough. The spell hit her in the shoulder, a bloody wound appearing instantaneously. She shot into the air like a rocket, up above the roof and then back down again. Ella came to herself and stood up. She pointed her wand at Oliver who was standing very still, as if he was un-aware of the havoc he was causing.
"STUPEFY!" He fell to the ground as soon as the spell hit him. In the meantime Harry had managed to catch professor Fairburn with a levitation charm, and was lowering her to the ground. Hermione rushed over to Oliver, cords bursting from her wand and tying him up. There was a clattering of shoes on stone and all four teenagers jumped into their defensive stances, wands at the ready. Dumbledore rushed into the courtyard, followed by a breathless McGonagall.
"We saw Ms. Granger's sparks, what's the matt-" He paused surveying the scene before him. Harry was trying to revive Fairburn, while Hermione and Ella were standing over Oliver with their wands pointed at his head. Ron was sitting on a stone bench dazedly, blood trickling down his face. McGonagall gasped and clapped her hand to her mouth, speechless. Dumbledore summed up the sight with 6 simple words. "Oh my. This is not good.
Twenty minutes later they were all in the hospital wing sipping pepper up potion. Ron and Marissa Fairburn were tucked into beds, bandaged and revived. Oliver however, was sleeping soundly, recovering from the imperious curse that had been lifted by Dumbledore.
"I dare say you handled the situation very well." Dumbledore was staring at all of them sternly. "However." He paused. " Marissa, next time you suspect someone is under the imperious curse, come to me before you do the detection spell." Professor Fairburn nodded slowly, staring at her steaming mug of potion.
Ella was observing Harry curiously out of the corner of her eye. Something had changed dramatically in him. He seemed to be brooding, and the tension surrounding him was coiled like a spring. He was gripping his mug so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"Sirius… Sirius… can you hear me? Dumble… Dumble…dore…" The crowd in the hospital wing turned in unison. Oliver was talking in his sleep. He had begun to toss and turn fervently, clutching the blankets to him. Dumbledore rushed to his bedside and held up a hand to keep the others at bay.
"Do not wake him up." Dumbledore knelt next to Oliver and put his hand on his forehead. "Just as I thought. He's running a-" A bottle of skelegrow exploded, sending ceramic shrapnel everywhere. "A fever." Dumbledore glanced at Harry sympathetically. "Harry, Ella, why don't you go back to your quarters. I expect Ms. Granger will want to spend the night here." Harry stood up, his hands balled into fists.
"I'm staying." Dumbledore shook his head.
"Harry, I'm going to have to insist that you leave." Harry's eyes glinted dangerously.
"He was talking about Sirius."
"I realize that." Harry was obviously trying very hard to control himself.
"What if he says something else? What if… if…" Harry trailed off, the look in his eyes faded to something different. He unclenched his fists and looked at Oliver. Dumbledore left Oliver's bedside and came to stand in front of Harry demurely.
"He's dead, Harry." Dumbledore was speaking very softly, almost inaudibly. "Death is the one thing magic can't reverse." Harry spun away from him, as if Dumbledore had just spat in his face. He walked quickly out of the hospital wing, leaving the door swinging behind him. Dumbledore nodded at Ella. "I think someone should go after him." Ella took this as a hint and ran.
It was amazing how much ground Harry could cover at a walk. Ella just saw his robes flutter around a corner. She began to run again, as quietly as possible following Harry around corner after corner in the castle, giving him time to cool off before she approached him. Finally after about ten minutes he ended up in the trophy room. Ella stood in the doorway as he walked up to a mahogany case at the end of the room. He slumped in front of it with his head in his hands. Ella advanced on him shuffling loudly, giving him warning that she was coming. He didn't move. She sat down next to him. He was staring at the trophies in the case contemplating something. Without looking at Ella he addressed her.
"My mum and my dad." He touched the trophy on the top shelf. "My Godfather." He pointed to another trophy. " And now my friends." He motioned to a shelf that contained services to the school awards. Harry let his hands fall into his lap. "How many people is he going to kill, or hurt before this is over? How many times will I have to fight him before one of us dies? He's already tried to kill me six times. I can't do this much longer." Ella turned to face him.
"I don't know." He looked at her, as if he hadn't been expecting her to answer. " But I do know this. Every time before, I'm guessing you faced Lord Voldemort alone, or more or less alone." Harry nodded. " This time, there's going to be two people he has to fight." Ella pointed at Harry. "You" She pointed at her self. "And me." Harry shook his head.
"I'm just endangering your life, like I've done with so many others before." He put his hand on the ground to push himself up and Ella grabbed it. His palms were dry and cold.
"No. I was born for this. So were you. It's our destiny, our purpose. As much as you hate it, and as much as I'm beginning to dread it, we have to do this. We don't have a choice. Think about it. If you hadn't fought Voldemort all those times." She silently thanked Hermione for the knowledge charm. "How many more people would have died? How many more kids would be without parents? How many more people would lose hope and become deatheaters?" Harry was listening intently now, her words were reassuring him. "I believe in you Harry. Hermione believes in you, and so do Ron and Dumbledore. What more do you need than the support of the people who care about you?"
They stared at each other for a moment, and then Harry did something strange. He hugged Ella. Not just a quick squeeze, a bone-crushing, lung-collapsing death grip. Ella decided that the best plan of action would be to hug him back, so she did so, with a little less force. He loosened his grip on her, not letting her go completely, lingering on her speech.
It had begun to rain outside, and there was water flying in through the open window. It was beginning to collect in little puddles on the floor, and her hair was quickly becoming soaked. The cold water shocked Harry back to is senses and he stood up quickly, pulling out his wand and yelling, "FENETRE". The windows in the trophy room snapped shut, ending their shower. He held out his hand for Ella and she took it letting him pull her up.
Strangely enough, Ella found that she didn't mind at all when Harry neglected to release her hand as they walked back to their wing.
A/N: FINALLY! Sorry that took so long, I've been busy, and right now I'm neglecting my model UN project to finish this chapter. I don't have many thank you's to issue, just one to Aerandir, for reviewing me I think, six times? NO IT'S NOT A BAD THING THAT YOU REVIEW SO MUCH! IT'S AN AMAZING MARVEL OF HUMANITY. And to Magical Muggle, I'm always glad to see a new reviewer! Keep reading! Err, yeah. Thanks. Like I said before, EyesofEmerald is my hero.
Sung to the tune of Eine Kline Natchmusik.
Reeeeeeeeview! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review!
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please
Please…………………
REEEEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!