A/N: Well, that wasn't too long of a wait was it? In Dulcis standards anyways. Enjoy! REVIEW!
Ella sat at the Gryffindor table staring blankly into a bowl of porridge. Harry was sitting across from her but she hardly noticed. They'd been up till at least three in the morning last night, singing various renditions of the Hogwarts school song as the indoor campfire died down. This morning Hermione had decided that everyone needed to wake up at six thirty in order to put the Great Hall to rights. They'd spent the last hour and a half pushing tables back and sweeping up ashes. Hermione and Ron had just departed, and the porridge had just appeared on the table.
Ella wasn't the least bit interested in it. She looked up at Harry, and noted that he too seemed to be falling asleep in his bowl. Ella gave up trying to stay awake and laid her head on the table. She was just drifting to sleep when the sound of loud whistling jolted her back to the land of the living. Oliver had just strolled into the Great Hall dragging his tired looking girlfriend behind him. Oliver walked along merrily; his capped perched at a jaunty angle on his head. Professor Fairburn looked considerably better, although she still appeared rather peaky and ill. But everyone could tell that the worst was over.
"Good Morning all! Guess who's back! Made a miraculous recovery last night didn't you?" Professor Fairburn nodded wearily in their direction and slumped over to the table. She pulled her wand out of her robes, and waved it at the table. A pot of strong black coffee appeared before them. She poured herself a goblet full, and sat down next to Ella on the long bench. Oliver plopped down across from them with Harry and helped himself to the tea on the table.
"Feeling better, Professor?" Ella kicked Harry under the table and he snorted into his goblet of pumpkin juice, jerking awake.
"Yes, feeling better?" He wiped his face on his sleeve and glared indignantly at Ella.
"Much. Although I do think I would have made a full recovery if I'd been allowed some sleep last night." Fairburn glowered at Oliver who stared sheepishly into his tea. "When the fever broke I was forced to spend half the night celebrating jubilantly, as soon as I was able to stand on my own."
"I was happy." Oliver retorted resentfully. Professor Fairburn pulled a face in Oliver's direction, and he contorted his own into an equally grotesque expression. Harry jumped back and looked a little sickened.
"Um Oliver," Harry shifted down the table a few feet. "That's my leg." Oliver turned an intense shade of red and folded his hands above the table while Ella and Professor Fairburn collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Shut it." Both of the boys yelled, lunging across the table at their respective offenders.
"STOP!" Professor Fairburn screamed. Harry stopped halfway across the table and Oliver withdrew his hand, which had been headed somewhere entirely inappropriate for the breakfast table. "Lessons will begin in a half hour. Harry, Ella, push these tables apart. It's going to rain; we'll be inside today." Harry groaned at the thought of pushing the tables around again. Ella glanced up at the ceiling of the great hall. It was blue and still tinged with pink around the edges from the sunrise. Not a cloud in sight.
"How do you know it's going to rain?" Ella questioned her professor as she stood up from the table. Fairburn smiled and leaned down. She pulled up her robes to reveal a nasty looking scar across her knee.
"Curse scar. Harry's warns him about the whereabouts of Lord Voldemort and his minions, mine predicts the weather." She paused thoughtfully. "Useful little bugger, really." She patted her leg fondly and let her robes billow down to the ground again.
Oliver jumped up from the table still thoroughly embarrassed about the recent leg-grabbing incident. He muttered something about going down to visit Hagrid and followed Professor Fairburn's retreating form out of the hall. Ella and Harry were left alone at the table.
"So," Harry looked at her intently, his gaze made her feel a bit uncomfortable. She shifted on the bench, and stared into her porridge again. "I suppose we'll have to go and see my father today and tell him about Sirius, and..." Ella trailed off dejectedly. "That other stuff." Harry stood up and motioned for her to walk with him. They exited the Great Hall and Harry held out his arm. Ella took it and they walked back to the common room. 'What a Gryffindor...' Ella mentally rolled her eyes at his chivalry. A few portraits nodded at them as they walked down the hallway, others stretched and looked annoyed at the students disturbing their last few days to sleep in.
"I know what it's like." Harry's sudden burst of speech startled Ella and she looked at him curiously.
"Know what what's like?" Ella raised an eyebrow curiously. Harry sighed again, sounding tired. The dark look that Ella was becoming so familiar with passed over his eyes.
"Having a purpose." He frowned, unhappy with his wording. "I mean, we all have purposes, but having an obligation. Not being allowed to choose how you want to live your life." He began to shuffle his feet, and looked at the ground while he was walking. Ella nodded.
"I don't know. I only found out yesterday what I have to do, and... I guess I haven't realized the impact of it yet." Harry nodded and gripped her arm rather tightly, continuing his explanation.
"This kind of risking our necks isn't like... donating a kidney." Ella fought back a smile, which faded when she saw noticed Harry's serious expression. "It's much, much, worse. Sure we're saving the wizarding world, but did anyone ever ask us if that was what we wanted? We don't have the option to quit at all." Ella stopped in front of the common room door, and fixed him with an intent gaze.
"Why not?" She stated this rather flatly, and Harry looked as though he hadn't ever considered that being a question.
"What?!" He spluttered, releasing his grip on her arm. Ella crossed her arms and stood in front of the portrait hole, blocking him. He wasn't going to run from his one. This was a conversation they BOTH needed to have.
"Why can't we say no? Who's going to stop you if you decide you don't want to fight Voldemort? Who's going to do anything about it if I decide I don't want to be a key to unlock this weapon?" Harry stared at her as if she very strongly resembled a Blast Ended Skrewt.
"Well for one, Voldemort's trying to kill us every chance he gets-" Ella frowned.
"I don't recall any recent attempts on my life do you?"
"Well,-"
"I said recent." Harry stopped, at a loss for words. Ella decided to get to the point before he got too mad at her.
"There's another reason for this obligation, Harry. The reason I do it, and the reason you do it." Harry looked confused and angry.
"And what's that?" He spat, narrowing his eyes in her direction. Ella grew suddenly exasperated with him. She flung open the door to their common room, and stomped inside. Harry scrambled after her as she barreled down the hallway towards her bedroom. "Wait a minute, what are you mad for?!" He shouted. Ella stopped in her doorway and spun around to face him, livid.
"THINK ABOUT IT! DO YOU GRYFFINDORS EVER USE YOUR BLOODY BRAINS?" Harry took a step back, obviously stunned by this sudden outburst. It was clear he had no idea what to do. "You aren't doing this because you have to. Nobodies making you save the world Harry. You do it for another reason, and I can't tell you that. You'll just have to figure it out on your own." And with that Ella slammed her door, and stalked off to the dressing room. She carefully avoided the mirror, which sniffed resentfully at being ignored.
Taking deep breaths, Ella pulled a set of school robes from the shelf. She slipped into the black skirt and tank top she always wore underneath before dropping the thick, airy robes over her head. She stepped into a pair of flip-flops, the familiarity of what she had grown up with calming her.
She sat down on a shelf in the dark confines of her closet and rubbed her temples. BOYS. They were so aggravating, always hassling her, even the nice ones like Harry. Ella's thoughts slipped back to her hometown in America. Brandon. That kid had been the biggest pain in the-
"Ella?" A soft knock at the closet door startled her. She waved her hand at the door and it opened. Harry stood there in his school robes, His ears the color of the Gryffindor badge on his chest. The candle that hovered above Ella's head lit itself and she motioned for Harry to come inside. He stepped into the little closet looking very uncomfortable but Ella could have cared less. Her head hurt and the last thing she was going to worry about was Harry being shy around girls. He sat down across from her and folded his hands in his lap.
"Yes?" Ella looked up at him and waited for him to speak. Without meeting her eyes he whispered,
"I know what you meant." Ella nodded and stood up. She grabbed her hairbrush off the shelf and walked to stand in front of the mirror. She began to run her brush through the dark brown mess on her head, brushing it back to its normal sleek state. She looked down to find a barrette. Harry still wasn't talking. Ella looked back up at the mirror and was startled to find that he had come to stand behind her. Her fist closed around the barrette and she stared defiantly at her reflection, waiting for an answer.
To her surprise, Harry moved closer and put his hand over the one she had enclosed around the barrette.
"I do it because I love them." He spoke in barely a whisper, and Ella found herself leaning back to hear him better. Her back scarcely met his chest. Electricity sparked up and down her spine making her shiver. He continued, his voice shaky and a shade deeper than usual. "I love them all. Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Dumbledore, Hogwarts, and my parents."
Ella decided to remain in close proximity.
"It's what my mum and dad would have wanted me to do." And still she said nothing. It felt as though talking would ruin this moment. They stood still for an instant, staring at their reflection in the mirror. Dark hair against darker hair, pale skin against tan, blue eyes against green. Complimentary colors. Ella smiled at Harry in the mirror and leaned against him slightly, acknowledging him silently in a way she knew he would appreciate.
"You do it for them. You don't do it because you have to, you do it because they need you too." Harry nodded and replied.
"You understood all along, even before I did." Ella blushed the slightest bit, a raspberry tint creeping up her cheeks. Harry must have found this very endearing. The hand that wasn't occupied on top of hers began to move slowly and awkwardly towards her waist. Ella didn't protest.
The mirror did.
"SPARE ME!" It cried out in an exasperate tone. "GET TO CLASS!" Ella glared at the mirror, and then she remembered, CLASS!!!
She and Harry flew apart, They stared at each other momentarily, looking rather embarrassed. Harry motioned at the door.
"She's going to kill us, isn't she?" Ella smiled and nodded before flying out the door, Harry at her heels.
Oliver Wood skimmed the turrets of the Hogwarts castle on his broomstick, circling carefully, eyeing his prey through a hefty pair of Omnioculars. The lanky blonde was standing by an open window in the great hall, tapping her foot impatiently, and checking her watch much too frequently. It was annoying Oliver to no end. Well, that was going to have to stop, Oliver decided. He shot forward on his broomstick, towards the open window next to Marissa. She was still leaning against the sill, unaware of his stealthy approach.
Or... so he thought.
The minute he burst through the window she whirled around, wand at the ready, and shouted, "Constitutum Defixi!". Oliver's broomstick stopped dead and he tumbled to the ground with a thump. He groaned audibly as the figure of his triumphant girlfriend loomed over him.
"Serves you right you big prat! Trying to sneak up on me like that! It's a damn good thing Moody was my mentor! For me that is, in your case, however-"She was interrupted by the doors of the Great Hall being thrown open, and two very red cheeked teenagers running in. Marissa put her foot on Oliver's chest and stared down her very unpunctual pupils. Wonderful teaching tactic, really. Harry looked at the ceiling, Ella stared back calmly, every bit her father's daughter.
"Sorry, we're late Professor." Ella spoke first, and then prodded Harry in the side, when he continued to say nothing.
"Err...Right. Sorry." Ella didn't offer an explanation and frankly, Professor Fairburn wasn't sure she wanted one.
"Don't let it happen again, please." There was no answer from her students, as they seemed to be occupied with her feet. Marissa looked down, and realized she was still standing on Oliver. Oops. She lifted her foot from his chest and he stood up, brushing at the footprint on his jumper.
"You're dismissed, Mr. Wood." Harry snorted, and Oliver leaned close to her ear.
"Shall I come by your office at eight for... detention?" She smacked him upside the head. Professor Fairburn waved her wand at him and an invisible hand grabbed him by the scruff of the neck throwing him out the door. Another wave of her wand and the doors slammed shut. There was the sound of a small scuffle, and then a muffled,
"All right, I'll see you at half past." Professor Fairburn rolled her eyes, and directed her attention back to the two rather amused looking teenagers before her.
"Right then. Shield spells. Have at it." Their professor stared them down expectantly. Ella decided that the best course of action would be to take her defensive position. She squared her feet with her shoulders, and raised her wand above her head, ready to defend herself. Harry had taken up his position next to her, he dueled with his wand out and ready, feet spread wide, crouched down a bit. A bit eccentric, but then again, this was Harry.
Professor Fairburn continued to stare at them.
Standing perfectly still.
Not – moving – in – the - slightest.
Harry seemed to let his guard down a little but Ella anticipated the attack before it happened. Fairburn suddenly leapt into motion
"TARANTELLEGRA" She shot the spell at Harry who hissed his incantation and deflected it just in time. Unfortunately he deflected it right into Ella, who had already thrown up her shield just in case.
"PROTEOGO!" Ella screamed the spell at the top of her lungs. Harry and Fairburn both dove, flattening themselves onto the ground. The spell bounced off her shield and skimmed over Harry's head, the smell of burnt hair filled the air. The jet of orange light shot into the Slytherin table and a spot on the benches exploded, sending slivers of wood in every direction. They scattered across the floor, then immediately leapt up again, dancing. If wood chips bouncing up and down of their own accord could be called dancing.
Harry whistled and stood up shaking his head in mock distress.
"Pity. That's Malfoy's spot." Ella stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do. Professor Fairburn stood rooted to the spot. She had gotten to her feet, and was gazing at Ella with an odd expression on her face.
"How did you get that spell so strong?" Fairburn shot the question at Ella, her voice as sharp as the edge of a knife.
"I... said it louder?" Ella formulated her response carefully, yet it still sounded dimwitted to her. Fairburn shook her head.
"You're kidding me. Show me a lumos, say it normally first." Ella shrugged and held out her wand.
"Lumos!" Slightly blue light shot out of the end of her wand. A normal wandlight. Fairburn nodded.
"Now do it again. Only this time say it 'louder'" Ella shrugged again, thrust out her wand and screamed:
"LUMOS" Her wand light burst out of the tip of her wand blinding her. She immediately pointed it at the ground and blinked a few times to rid herself of the spots floating in her vision. As her eyesight cleared she could see Professor Fairburn standing quite still in awe.
"Amazing..." Fairburn whispered. "There's something odd about you child. No sixteen year old witch should be that powerful, I don't care who your father is..." Harry was positively beaming for some reason, and Ella was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable. As if on cue her father's voice filled the Great Hall magically magnified.
"ELLA, HARRY, MY OFFICE PLEASE."
Ten minutes later Ella was seated in front of her father's majestic looking desk with her hands clasped in her lap. Harry was slumped into the purple armchair next to hers, trying to look respectful through the expression of doom on his face. Ella was puzzled at Harry's misery. In about five minutes he had gone from gleeful over the destruction of the Slytherin table to despondent over being called to the headmaster's office. Ella was about to tell him to cheer up because his gloom was rubbing off on her, when Dumbledore suddenly appeared in his chair.
Ella jumped back in her chair and squealed. Harry merely blinked and sat up straight. Ella hurriedly smoothed her robes and sat up straight again. Dumbledore's face remained placid, but Ella could have sworn she saw his eyes twinkling mischievously. Dumbledore's long slender fingers were clasped together and his chin was resting on them. He lifted his head and spoke.
"I can assure you, Harry, that no one has died, Quidditch will take place this year, and Dolores Umbridge is currently taking a leave of absence from the ministry." Dumbledore smiled a little, and Harry lifted up the corner of his mouth politely. "However. I'm sorry to inform you that the last two weeks of your summer will not be spent at Hogwarts." Harry slumped back into his chair again, and sighed loudly. Ella's curiosity peaked, and a twinge of sadness blossomed in her chest.
"I understand that Sirius has been in contact with you." Dumbledore motioned at Ella's eyes. "He's also taken the liberty to explain some rather important details of your... destiny, to you." His eyes darkened momentarily and he sighed loudly. "Of course it's probably a good thing he did. As Harry well knows I have a tendency to try and shield those I love from the truth. Because the truth is usually quite painful." Harry turned his head away from them and Dumbledore waited for him to compose himself before he continued.
"You might have already guessed Harry, that Sirius and I decided it would be best for you to spend the rest of the summer someplace safe. Sirius was against sending you back to the Dursley's at first, until I proposed another option. You will be returning to your aunt and uncles house tomorrow, but you won't be alone. I'm sending Ella with you."
Harry and Ella both gasped simultaneously. Ella had heard enough about Harry's life with the Dursley's to be properly terrified of going there, and Harry was vehemently against either of them going at all. Dumbledore held up a hand, and their words of objection were stillborn.
"You are aware Harry, that your Aunt and Uncle cannot stand having one wizard in the house. Thus resulting in your mistreatment for many years? Well, the staff and I have decided that it's time to get a little revenge." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again. "Can you imagine the look on your Uncle's face when not one, but two Wizards show up on his doorstep?" Dumbledore was positively gleaming. Ella wondered if he was quite sane. Harry was the first to choke a few sentences out.
"What are we supposed to do if.. if.." Dumbledore drummed his fingers on the desktop.
"That's precisely it Harry. They cannot do a thing about it. And I do believe you two still have your valid temporary wizarding licenses?"
They sat in silence for a few moments. Ella could hear the wheels in Harry's head turning as he put it all together. Suddenly his face broke into the largest smile she had ever seen.
"Are you saying... That Ella and I can go to the Dursley's, and do... magic?" Dumbledore stared at the ceiling innocently.
"Oh, I was thinking a few charms here and there, nothing that would cause bodily harm of course." Ella was feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Just a bit of before the start of term fun. SAFE, harmless, purely messy, irritating fun."
"What d'you say Ella? Will you come with me?" Harry was exuberant, and Dumbledore was staring at the ceiling again. Ella began to doubt her parentage.
They were both mad. But then again, they were both male, Ella though pensively. She ran through her options in her head. Go with Harry, prevent him from doing any damage to his Aunt and Uncle that would get him in trouble, or stay at Hogwarts.
By herself.
"Sure. I'll come." The words escaped her lips before she had really processed them, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, terrified at herself. Harry leapt out of his chair and punched the air in excitement. Dumbledore checked his watch.
"Well, I suggest you go and finish your defense lesson, and then you can go pack. Leave your school things in your rooms; we'll move them to your respective dormitories before you get back. I have some business to take care of, so I won't be seeing you two till the start of term feast. Have fun, and be good." Dumbledore winked and motioned at the door. It swung open and the spiral staircase began to spin itself down to the ground. Ella turned back to say good-bye, but found that he was gone.
Harry was already flying down the staircase, and when Ella caught up with him he was standing at the bottom waiting impatiently. They walked back to the Great Hall side by side, Harry gesticulating wildly and Ella carefully evading his arms as they swung haphazardly through the air.
"I've never wanted to go back to the Dursley's before. This is bloody amazing!" Ella nodded and stepped out of the way as he threw his arms open wide. "After sixteen years I can finally get revenge. I don't want to hurt them, I just want them to be terrified out of their wits. Especially Dudley." Harry leapt into the air, reaching for an imaginary snitch, and landed on the ground in front of Ella. She jumped back, surprised.
"And it's all thanks to you too! If you hadn't come along I would have never gotten this chance! You're amazing!" Harry was intoxicated at the prospect of fun at the Dursley's, Ella knew that compliments like that were a rare prize from him. She laughed in response and clapped her hand over his mouth.
"Stop already! I'm going with you but we still have our DADA lesson. Unless you want Fairburn to blow your head off with a stunner, you had better pull yourself together."
Harry grasped Ella's hands. Her palms immediately grew sweaty. He looked into her eyes meditatively and stopped jumping up and down for a moment. Ella forgot about Professor Fairburn.
"There's something about you." He looked down at the ground; shy Harry was coming back slowly. Ella regretted snapping him out of his happiness. "You really do bring out the best in me. Ever since you came, I-"
"I hate to interrupt your tender moment, but we do have a lesson to finish Mr. Potter. Kindly release Ms. Dumbledore and allow her to explode the rest of the house tables."
Harry swept a bow.
"Of course. Right away Mrs. Wood..." He threw up his shield just in time. Professor Fairburn raised her wand and shouted.
"FURNUNCULUS" Harry's shield deflected the curse and it faded away. He strolled innocently into the great hall, slipping his wand into his back pocket.
"YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE A BUTTOCK LIKE THAT POTTER!" Professor Fairburn glared at Harry's back. Ella couldn't help grinning. Professor Fairburn shot her an exasperated look. "Honestly, I don't know how you put up with him." Ella turned on her heel and followed after Harry.
"Oh, I don't know... I follow the example of a similar situation." Ella covered her head and ran. Harry's laughter ringing through the great hall, and a slug-belching curse whizzing it's way over her head.
A/N:
WhiteriderSD: You're too picky. :-P lol. GRIP! HOOK! makes a claw
Ever In The Shadows: you have an interesting review leaving format. I like reviews. Cheers.
Magical Muggle (aka. The entertaining one): You write awesome reviews. NOVEL OOTP LENGTH REVIEWS. They make me happy. Veil veil veil.
Jim: Your right. There's McGonagall's fierce loyalty to Dumbledore, her admiration, the fact that she's his right hand, erm... woman. Cheers.
Mdemanatee: Thanks! I looked at your story too, interesting pairing... lol.
And as usual where would I be without my beta: Eyes of Emerald, or her
dormant counterpart: Quaintessence.
Ella sat at the Gryffindor table staring blankly into a bowl of porridge. Harry was sitting across from her but she hardly noticed. They'd been up till at least three in the morning last night, singing various renditions of the Hogwarts school song as the indoor campfire died down. This morning Hermione had decided that everyone needed to wake up at six thirty in order to put the Great Hall to rights. They'd spent the last hour and a half pushing tables back and sweeping up ashes. Hermione and Ron had just departed, and the porridge had just appeared on the table.
Ella wasn't the least bit interested in it. She looked up at Harry, and noted that he too seemed to be falling asleep in his bowl. Ella gave up trying to stay awake and laid her head on the table. She was just drifting to sleep when the sound of loud whistling jolted her back to the land of the living. Oliver had just strolled into the Great Hall dragging his tired looking girlfriend behind him. Oliver walked along merrily; his capped perched at a jaunty angle on his head. Professor Fairburn looked considerably better, although she still appeared rather peaky and ill. But everyone could tell that the worst was over.
"Good Morning all! Guess who's back! Made a miraculous recovery last night didn't you?" Professor Fairburn nodded wearily in their direction and slumped over to the table. She pulled her wand out of her robes, and waved it at the table. A pot of strong black coffee appeared before them. She poured herself a goblet full, and sat down next to Ella on the long bench. Oliver plopped down across from them with Harry and helped himself to the tea on the table.
"Feeling better, Professor?" Ella kicked Harry under the table and he snorted into his goblet of pumpkin juice, jerking awake.
"Yes, feeling better?" He wiped his face on his sleeve and glared indignantly at Ella.
"Much. Although I do think I would have made a full recovery if I'd been allowed some sleep last night." Fairburn glowered at Oliver who stared sheepishly into his tea. "When the fever broke I was forced to spend half the night celebrating jubilantly, as soon as I was able to stand on my own."
"I was happy." Oliver retorted resentfully. Professor Fairburn pulled a face in Oliver's direction, and he contorted his own into an equally grotesque expression. Harry jumped back and looked a little sickened.
"Um Oliver," Harry shifted down the table a few feet. "That's my leg." Oliver turned an intense shade of red and folded his hands above the table while Ella and Professor Fairburn collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Shut it." Both of the boys yelled, lunging across the table at their respective offenders.
"STOP!" Professor Fairburn screamed. Harry stopped halfway across the table and Oliver withdrew his hand, which had been headed somewhere entirely inappropriate for the breakfast table. "Lessons will begin in a half hour. Harry, Ella, push these tables apart. It's going to rain; we'll be inside today." Harry groaned at the thought of pushing the tables around again. Ella glanced up at the ceiling of the great hall. It was blue and still tinged with pink around the edges from the sunrise. Not a cloud in sight.
"How do you know it's going to rain?" Ella questioned her professor as she stood up from the table. Fairburn smiled and leaned down. She pulled up her robes to reveal a nasty looking scar across her knee.
"Curse scar. Harry's warns him about the whereabouts of Lord Voldemort and his minions, mine predicts the weather." She paused thoughtfully. "Useful little bugger, really." She patted her leg fondly and let her robes billow down to the ground again.
Oliver jumped up from the table still thoroughly embarrassed about the recent leg-grabbing incident. He muttered something about going down to visit Hagrid and followed Professor Fairburn's retreating form out of the hall. Ella and Harry were left alone at the table.
"So," Harry looked at her intently, his gaze made her feel a bit uncomfortable. She shifted on the bench, and stared into her porridge again. "I suppose we'll have to go and see my father today and tell him about Sirius, and..." Ella trailed off dejectedly. "That other stuff." Harry stood up and motioned for her to walk with him. They exited the Great Hall and Harry held out his arm. Ella took it and they walked back to the common room. 'What a Gryffindor...' Ella mentally rolled her eyes at his chivalry. A few portraits nodded at them as they walked down the hallway, others stretched and looked annoyed at the students disturbing their last few days to sleep in.
"I know what it's like." Harry's sudden burst of speech startled Ella and she looked at him curiously.
"Know what what's like?" Ella raised an eyebrow curiously. Harry sighed again, sounding tired. The dark look that Ella was becoming so familiar with passed over his eyes.
"Having a purpose." He frowned, unhappy with his wording. "I mean, we all have purposes, but having an obligation. Not being allowed to choose how you want to live your life." He began to shuffle his feet, and looked at the ground while he was walking. Ella nodded.
"I don't know. I only found out yesterday what I have to do, and... I guess I haven't realized the impact of it yet." Harry nodded and gripped her arm rather tightly, continuing his explanation.
"This kind of risking our necks isn't like... donating a kidney." Ella fought back a smile, which faded when she saw noticed Harry's serious expression. "It's much, much, worse. Sure we're saving the wizarding world, but did anyone ever ask us if that was what we wanted? We don't have the option to quit at all." Ella stopped in front of the common room door, and fixed him with an intent gaze.
"Why not?" She stated this rather flatly, and Harry looked as though he hadn't ever considered that being a question.
"What?!" He spluttered, releasing his grip on her arm. Ella crossed her arms and stood in front of the portrait hole, blocking him. He wasn't going to run from his one. This was a conversation they BOTH needed to have.
"Why can't we say no? Who's going to stop you if you decide you don't want to fight Voldemort? Who's going to do anything about it if I decide I don't want to be a key to unlock this weapon?" Harry stared at her as if she very strongly resembled a Blast Ended Skrewt.
"Well for one, Voldemort's trying to kill us every chance he gets-" Ella frowned.
"I don't recall any recent attempts on my life do you?"
"Well,-"
"I said recent." Harry stopped, at a loss for words. Ella decided to get to the point before he got too mad at her.
"There's another reason for this obligation, Harry. The reason I do it, and the reason you do it." Harry looked confused and angry.
"And what's that?" He spat, narrowing his eyes in her direction. Ella grew suddenly exasperated with him. She flung open the door to their common room, and stomped inside. Harry scrambled after her as she barreled down the hallway towards her bedroom. "Wait a minute, what are you mad for?!" He shouted. Ella stopped in her doorway and spun around to face him, livid.
"THINK ABOUT IT! DO YOU GRYFFINDORS EVER USE YOUR BLOODY BRAINS?" Harry took a step back, obviously stunned by this sudden outburst. It was clear he had no idea what to do. "You aren't doing this because you have to. Nobodies making you save the world Harry. You do it for another reason, and I can't tell you that. You'll just have to figure it out on your own." And with that Ella slammed her door, and stalked off to the dressing room. She carefully avoided the mirror, which sniffed resentfully at being ignored.
Taking deep breaths, Ella pulled a set of school robes from the shelf. She slipped into the black skirt and tank top she always wore underneath before dropping the thick, airy robes over her head. She stepped into a pair of flip-flops, the familiarity of what she had grown up with calming her.
She sat down on a shelf in the dark confines of her closet and rubbed her temples. BOYS. They were so aggravating, always hassling her, even the nice ones like Harry. Ella's thoughts slipped back to her hometown in America. Brandon. That kid had been the biggest pain in the-
"Ella?" A soft knock at the closet door startled her. She waved her hand at the door and it opened. Harry stood there in his school robes, His ears the color of the Gryffindor badge on his chest. The candle that hovered above Ella's head lit itself and she motioned for Harry to come inside. He stepped into the little closet looking very uncomfortable but Ella could have cared less. Her head hurt and the last thing she was going to worry about was Harry being shy around girls. He sat down across from her and folded his hands in his lap.
"Yes?" Ella looked up at him and waited for him to speak. Without meeting her eyes he whispered,
"I know what you meant." Ella nodded and stood up. She grabbed her hairbrush off the shelf and walked to stand in front of the mirror. She began to run her brush through the dark brown mess on her head, brushing it back to its normal sleek state. She looked down to find a barrette. Harry still wasn't talking. Ella looked back up at the mirror and was startled to find that he had come to stand behind her. Her fist closed around the barrette and she stared defiantly at her reflection, waiting for an answer.
To her surprise, Harry moved closer and put his hand over the one she had enclosed around the barrette.
"I do it because I love them." He spoke in barely a whisper, and Ella found herself leaning back to hear him better. Her back scarcely met his chest. Electricity sparked up and down her spine making her shiver. He continued, his voice shaky and a shade deeper than usual. "I love them all. Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Dumbledore, Hogwarts, and my parents."
Ella decided to remain in close proximity.
"It's what my mum and dad would have wanted me to do." And still she said nothing. It felt as though talking would ruin this moment. They stood still for an instant, staring at their reflection in the mirror. Dark hair against darker hair, pale skin against tan, blue eyes against green. Complimentary colors. Ella smiled at Harry in the mirror and leaned against him slightly, acknowledging him silently in a way she knew he would appreciate.
"You do it for them. You don't do it because you have to, you do it because they need you too." Harry nodded and replied.
"You understood all along, even before I did." Ella blushed the slightest bit, a raspberry tint creeping up her cheeks. Harry must have found this very endearing. The hand that wasn't occupied on top of hers began to move slowly and awkwardly towards her waist. Ella didn't protest.
The mirror did.
"SPARE ME!" It cried out in an exasperate tone. "GET TO CLASS!" Ella glared at the mirror, and then she remembered, CLASS!!!
She and Harry flew apart, They stared at each other momentarily, looking rather embarrassed. Harry motioned at the door.
"She's going to kill us, isn't she?" Ella smiled and nodded before flying out the door, Harry at her heels.
Oliver Wood skimmed the turrets of the Hogwarts castle on his broomstick, circling carefully, eyeing his prey through a hefty pair of Omnioculars. The lanky blonde was standing by an open window in the great hall, tapping her foot impatiently, and checking her watch much too frequently. It was annoying Oliver to no end. Well, that was going to have to stop, Oliver decided. He shot forward on his broomstick, towards the open window next to Marissa. She was still leaning against the sill, unaware of his stealthy approach.
Or... so he thought.
The minute he burst through the window she whirled around, wand at the ready, and shouted, "Constitutum Defixi!". Oliver's broomstick stopped dead and he tumbled to the ground with a thump. He groaned audibly as the figure of his triumphant girlfriend loomed over him.
"Serves you right you big prat! Trying to sneak up on me like that! It's a damn good thing Moody was my mentor! For me that is, in your case, however-"She was interrupted by the doors of the Great Hall being thrown open, and two very red cheeked teenagers running in. Marissa put her foot on Oliver's chest and stared down her very unpunctual pupils. Wonderful teaching tactic, really. Harry looked at the ceiling, Ella stared back calmly, every bit her father's daughter.
"Sorry, we're late Professor." Ella spoke first, and then prodded Harry in the side, when he continued to say nothing.
"Err...Right. Sorry." Ella didn't offer an explanation and frankly, Professor Fairburn wasn't sure she wanted one.
"Don't let it happen again, please." There was no answer from her students, as they seemed to be occupied with her feet. Marissa looked down, and realized she was still standing on Oliver. Oops. She lifted her foot from his chest and he stood up, brushing at the footprint on his jumper.
"You're dismissed, Mr. Wood." Harry snorted, and Oliver leaned close to her ear.
"Shall I come by your office at eight for... detention?" She smacked him upside the head. Professor Fairburn waved her wand at him and an invisible hand grabbed him by the scruff of the neck throwing him out the door. Another wave of her wand and the doors slammed shut. There was the sound of a small scuffle, and then a muffled,
"All right, I'll see you at half past." Professor Fairburn rolled her eyes, and directed her attention back to the two rather amused looking teenagers before her.
"Right then. Shield spells. Have at it." Their professor stared them down expectantly. Ella decided that the best course of action would be to take her defensive position. She squared her feet with her shoulders, and raised her wand above her head, ready to defend herself. Harry had taken up his position next to her, he dueled with his wand out and ready, feet spread wide, crouched down a bit. A bit eccentric, but then again, this was Harry.
Professor Fairburn continued to stare at them.
Standing perfectly still.
Not – moving – in – the - slightest.
Harry seemed to let his guard down a little but Ella anticipated the attack before it happened. Fairburn suddenly leapt into motion
"TARANTELLEGRA" She shot the spell at Harry who hissed his incantation and deflected it just in time. Unfortunately he deflected it right into Ella, who had already thrown up her shield just in case.
"PROTEOGO!" Ella screamed the spell at the top of her lungs. Harry and Fairburn both dove, flattening themselves onto the ground. The spell bounced off her shield and skimmed over Harry's head, the smell of burnt hair filled the air. The jet of orange light shot into the Slytherin table and a spot on the benches exploded, sending slivers of wood in every direction. They scattered across the floor, then immediately leapt up again, dancing. If wood chips bouncing up and down of their own accord could be called dancing.
Harry whistled and stood up shaking his head in mock distress.
"Pity. That's Malfoy's spot." Ella stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do. Professor Fairburn stood rooted to the spot. She had gotten to her feet, and was gazing at Ella with an odd expression on her face.
"How did you get that spell so strong?" Fairburn shot the question at Ella, her voice as sharp as the edge of a knife.
"I... said it louder?" Ella formulated her response carefully, yet it still sounded dimwitted to her. Fairburn shook her head.
"You're kidding me. Show me a lumos, say it normally first." Ella shrugged and held out her wand.
"Lumos!" Slightly blue light shot out of the end of her wand. A normal wandlight. Fairburn nodded.
"Now do it again. Only this time say it 'louder'" Ella shrugged again, thrust out her wand and screamed:
"LUMOS" Her wand light burst out of the tip of her wand blinding her. She immediately pointed it at the ground and blinked a few times to rid herself of the spots floating in her vision. As her eyesight cleared she could see Professor Fairburn standing quite still in awe.
"Amazing..." Fairburn whispered. "There's something odd about you child. No sixteen year old witch should be that powerful, I don't care who your father is..." Harry was positively beaming for some reason, and Ella was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable. As if on cue her father's voice filled the Great Hall magically magnified.
"ELLA, HARRY, MY OFFICE PLEASE."
Ten minutes later Ella was seated in front of her father's majestic looking desk with her hands clasped in her lap. Harry was slumped into the purple armchair next to hers, trying to look respectful through the expression of doom on his face. Ella was puzzled at Harry's misery. In about five minutes he had gone from gleeful over the destruction of the Slytherin table to despondent over being called to the headmaster's office. Ella was about to tell him to cheer up because his gloom was rubbing off on her, when Dumbledore suddenly appeared in his chair.
Ella jumped back in her chair and squealed. Harry merely blinked and sat up straight. Ella hurriedly smoothed her robes and sat up straight again. Dumbledore's face remained placid, but Ella could have sworn she saw his eyes twinkling mischievously. Dumbledore's long slender fingers were clasped together and his chin was resting on them. He lifted his head and spoke.
"I can assure you, Harry, that no one has died, Quidditch will take place this year, and Dolores Umbridge is currently taking a leave of absence from the ministry." Dumbledore smiled a little, and Harry lifted up the corner of his mouth politely. "However. I'm sorry to inform you that the last two weeks of your summer will not be spent at Hogwarts." Harry slumped back into his chair again, and sighed loudly. Ella's curiosity peaked, and a twinge of sadness blossomed in her chest.
"I understand that Sirius has been in contact with you." Dumbledore motioned at Ella's eyes. "He's also taken the liberty to explain some rather important details of your... destiny, to you." His eyes darkened momentarily and he sighed loudly. "Of course it's probably a good thing he did. As Harry well knows I have a tendency to try and shield those I love from the truth. Because the truth is usually quite painful." Harry turned his head away from them and Dumbledore waited for him to compose himself before he continued.
"You might have already guessed Harry, that Sirius and I decided it would be best for you to spend the rest of the summer someplace safe. Sirius was against sending you back to the Dursley's at first, until I proposed another option. You will be returning to your aunt and uncles house tomorrow, but you won't be alone. I'm sending Ella with you."
Harry and Ella both gasped simultaneously. Ella had heard enough about Harry's life with the Dursley's to be properly terrified of going there, and Harry was vehemently against either of them going at all. Dumbledore held up a hand, and their words of objection were stillborn.
"You are aware Harry, that your Aunt and Uncle cannot stand having one wizard in the house. Thus resulting in your mistreatment for many years? Well, the staff and I have decided that it's time to get a little revenge." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again. "Can you imagine the look on your Uncle's face when not one, but two Wizards show up on his doorstep?" Dumbledore was positively gleaming. Ella wondered if he was quite sane. Harry was the first to choke a few sentences out.
"What are we supposed to do if.. if.." Dumbledore drummed his fingers on the desktop.
"That's precisely it Harry. They cannot do a thing about it. And I do believe you two still have your valid temporary wizarding licenses?"
They sat in silence for a few moments. Ella could hear the wheels in Harry's head turning as he put it all together. Suddenly his face broke into the largest smile she had ever seen.
"Are you saying... That Ella and I can go to the Dursley's, and do... magic?" Dumbledore stared at the ceiling innocently.
"Oh, I was thinking a few charms here and there, nothing that would cause bodily harm of course." Ella was feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Just a bit of before the start of term fun. SAFE, harmless, purely messy, irritating fun."
"What d'you say Ella? Will you come with me?" Harry was exuberant, and Dumbledore was staring at the ceiling again. Ella began to doubt her parentage.
They were both mad. But then again, they were both male, Ella though pensively. She ran through her options in her head. Go with Harry, prevent him from doing any damage to his Aunt and Uncle that would get him in trouble, or stay at Hogwarts.
By herself.
"Sure. I'll come." The words escaped her lips before she had really processed them, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, terrified at herself. Harry leapt out of his chair and punched the air in excitement. Dumbledore checked his watch.
"Well, I suggest you go and finish your defense lesson, and then you can go pack. Leave your school things in your rooms; we'll move them to your respective dormitories before you get back. I have some business to take care of, so I won't be seeing you two till the start of term feast. Have fun, and be good." Dumbledore winked and motioned at the door. It swung open and the spiral staircase began to spin itself down to the ground. Ella turned back to say good-bye, but found that he was gone.
Harry was already flying down the staircase, and when Ella caught up with him he was standing at the bottom waiting impatiently. They walked back to the Great Hall side by side, Harry gesticulating wildly and Ella carefully evading his arms as they swung haphazardly through the air.
"I've never wanted to go back to the Dursley's before. This is bloody amazing!" Ella nodded and stepped out of the way as he threw his arms open wide. "After sixteen years I can finally get revenge. I don't want to hurt them, I just want them to be terrified out of their wits. Especially Dudley." Harry leapt into the air, reaching for an imaginary snitch, and landed on the ground in front of Ella. She jumped back, surprised.
"And it's all thanks to you too! If you hadn't come along I would have never gotten this chance! You're amazing!" Harry was intoxicated at the prospect of fun at the Dursley's, Ella knew that compliments like that were a rare prize from him. She laughed in response and clapped her hand over his mouth.
"Stop already! I'm going with you but we still have our DADA lesson. Unless you want Fairburn to blow your head off with a stunner, you had better pull yourself together."
Harry grasped Ella's hands. Her palms immediately grew sweaty. He looked into her eyes meditatively and stopped jumping up and down for a moment. Ella forgot about Professor Fairburn.
"There's something about you." He looked down at the ground; shy Harry was coming back slowly. Ella regretted snapping him out of his happiness. "You really do bring out the best in me. Ever since you came, I-"
"I hate to interrupt your tender moment, but we do have a lesson to finish Mr. Potter. Kindly release Ms. Dumbledore and allow her to explode the rest of the house tables."
Harry swept a bow.
"Of course. Right away Mrs. Wood..." He threw up his shield just in time. Professor Fairburn raised her wand and shouted.
"FURNUNCULUS" Harry's shield deflected the curse and it faded away. He strolled innocently into the great hall, slipping his wand into his back pocket.
"YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE A BUTTOCK LIKE THAT POTTER!" Professor Fairburn glared at Harry's back. Ella couldn't help grinning. Professor Fairburn shot her an exasperated look. "Honestly, I don't know how you put up with him." Ella turned on her heel and followed after Harry.
"Oh, I don't know... I follow the example of a similar situation." Ella covered her head and ran. Harry's laughter ringing through the great hall, and a slug-belching curse whizzing it's way over her head.
A/N:
WhiteriderSD: You're too picky. :-P lol. GRIP! HOOK! makes a claw
Ever In The Shadows: you have an interesting review leaving format. I like reviews. Cheers.
Magical Muggle (aka. The entertaining one): You write awesome reviews. NOVEL OOTP LENGTH REVIEWS. They make me happy. Veil veil veil.
Jim: Your right. There's McGonagall's fierce loyalty to Dumbledore, her admiration, the fact that she's his right hand, erm... woman. Cheers.
Mdemanatee: Thanks! I looked at your story too, interesting pairing... lol.
And as usual where would I be without my beta: Eyes of Emerald, or her
dormant counterpart: Quaintessence.