Summary: Harry Potter was told that he is the only one who can defeat Lord Voldemort. For the past few months he's been dwelling on this prophecy. But there's another prophecy, one that he doesn't know about yet. There is one person who can help him. A person who is in fact essential to the defeat of Lord Voldemort. She is Albus Dumbledore's daughter and she's been living as an American muggle for the past sixteen years, unaware of her true heritage. Can Harry and Ella defeat Lord Voldemort together? Or are they doomed to spend the rest of their lives searching for the strength to destroy the greatest evil that has ever threatened the wizarding world?
A/N: Well, that was a little more than two weeks, but a lot of stuff came up. I had surgery and my eyeball collapsed, and inspired a pub to be born, but it's better now! So give me three weeks for chapter three. Just to be safe. And please, please, review, because the reviews are what make this worth writing! Thank you beta!
Ella's nostrils were under a relentless attack. A pungent, peppery smell was floating in the stuffy air of…wherever she was, jolting her from her peaceful slumber. Ella blinked her watery eyes slowly, dusty light filtering in from somewhere. Awakening completely Ella sat up. Her mind and body were both racked with drowsiness. Something tugged at the edges of her brain, something she knew she should remember. She shoved the thoughts away and concentrated on getting her bearings. Rouse
Ella seemed to be sitting in a curtained bed, covered with at least three quilts and a knitted blanket for good measure. She held one arm out in front of her and wiggled her fingers. Check. She repeated the process with her remaining extremities, noting nothing amiss except for a dull headache. Finding everything in order, Ella turned and brushed the curtains aside, Put her feet on the ground and stood up. An action she immediately regretted.
Her dull headache exploded with pain. Colored spots burst before her eyes and she clapped her hands to her face, whimpering in anguish. She tried to sit back down on the bed and missed, crumpling to the ground. She heard footsteps in the hallway and clawed at the comforter, hauling herself back onto the bed with great effort. The door creaked open and a blonde head crept around the edge of the doorframe. Although Ella's vision was slightly blurred in pain, she could just make out a forehead… or two… She wasn't sure… crinkled in surprise.
"Oh! You're awake! Merlin, that amount of exertion should have had you down and out for at least two days…" The cheery voice sounded vaguely familiar to Ella and she attempted to croak out a response. All that escaped her lips were a few strangled syllables.
"Are you quite all right?" The woman stepped fully into the room and came over to peer into Ella's eyes. This unsettled her and she leaned back, nearly tipping over again. "Ah, you stood up didn't you?" Ella shook her head ruefully. "Well no matter! A bit of Pepperup Potion will have you on your feet in minutes, in fact-" The blonde woman was cut off by the door being thrown open.
"Bring it in here Ron, careful now, don't trip over the doorframe." A girl of medium height with the wildest hair Ella had ever seen was backing her way into the room delicately stepping over the doorframe.
"Bloody hell, Hermione, I'm not going to drop it, and beside it's just Pepperup Potion! We could have bought some at the apothecary but noooo. You had to make it yourself! Why-" Ron was cut off by the bossy voce that apparently belonged to someone named Hermione.
"You know very well, Ron Weasley that the Pepperup Potion is going to be on our finals this year! And if it's not perfect, Snape will eat us alive!"
"Yeah," he retorted sarcastically. "Along with his morning mug of Hufflepuff blood, that is after he finishes poking pins in his Harry voodoo doll." There was a clunk, and a large sloshing sound. "Bloody hell!"
"RON!" The girl screeched loudly, whereas their entire conversation before had been held in whispers.
"Ahem." The blonde haired lady who stood next to Ella politely cleared her throat.
"Oh, hello Tonks. Ella! She's- I mean- You're awake!" Hermione began to fidget and blush, poking a toe at the puddle of steaming liquid on the ground.
"Hermione! Will you get out of the way so I can carry this ruddy thing in?!" Ron was still trapped between the door and the doorframe and Hermione's body was preventing the door from opening any further. Ella felt a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. Hermione's blush deepened further and she jumped out of the way and began to compose herself.
A mess of gangly limbs, tattered jeans, and riotously red hair stumbled through the door with an enormous cauldron in its arms. Ella couldn't help but smile as the overgrown teenager precariously balanced the cauldron on one knee while reaching for a chair to set it on. Abandoning the cauldron he turned to face her, mopping his brow spectacularly.
"Ron Weasley." He lifted a corner of his mouth in a smile and Ella nodded her head slowly to them both.
"I'm afraid Ella's feeling a bit off after yesterday's events. Hermione, perhaps you could…?" The blonde haired woman gestured at the cauldron. Hermione, looking considerably calmer now, nodded pertly and headed over to the bubbling vat. Ron snagged a rag that was dangling out of Hermione's skirt pocket as she passed and began mopping up the spilled substance.
Ella's eyelids became droopy and heavy again, and the urge to fall asleep was becoming undeniable. Someone pushed a cup of something deliciously warm into her hands and she lifted it to her lips, too tired to notice the pungent, peppery smell. Gratefully she gulped the liquid down, and promptly spat it back out again. Coughing and spluttering, steam issuing from her nose and ears, Ella dropped the cup and it rolled on the ground, spreading the remaining potion in a rather large puddle.
"What was that?!" Ella spluttered. Hermione was standing by, watching the effects of the Pepperup Potion with a pleased and rather smug look on her face. Ron was frowning disdainfully at the puddle of potion on the floor.
"Pepperup Potion. used to treat victims of hypothermia, shock, and EEP. Restores alertness and repairs and non permanent damage to the senses, also can be used as a quick pick-me-up for ailments such as the common cold." Ella blinked. She did feel more alert, and her vision was back to normal.
"EEP? What do you mean… potion?" Ella tucked her legs underneath her, warily staring from person to person in the room. Hermione glanced questioningly at Tonks, who nodded her head after a moment of thought.
"EEP. Excessive Exhaustion of Power. It's when… well, Tonks, maybe you'd better tell her." The blonde woman pulled another chair up to Ella's bed and smiled weakly.
"What Hermione's trying to say is this. EEP is when a witch or wizard uses so much of his or her magical energy that they have to rest up awhile before it can be restored. More extreme cases impair the senses, usually sight." Throughout this whole explanation, everyone in the room had gone strangely tense. Hermione was clenching her hands nervously. Ron's rag was scrunched tightly in one hand, dirty potion seeping from in between his fingers. Tonks was staring at Ella apprehensively, eyebrows furrowed as if afraid she might spontaneously combust at any moment.
"Well it's impossible for me to have EEP because I'm not a witch. Right?" Ella glanced around the room at all three of the anxious faces. No one answered her. Despite the improvement the Pepperup Potion had wrought, Ella began to feel a bit dizzy again. She decided to repeat the question.
"Right?" Tonks sighed resignedly.
"Argh. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. Blonde hair is so difficult to change. I suppose there's no other way though…" She trailed off, and screwed up her face in concentration. Ella stared at her for a moment, bewildered. Then the strangest thing happened. The blonde hair suddenly began to recede into her scalp and as it grew shorter it also changed color. Soon Tonks had pink chin length pink hair. She smiled weakly at Ella, who was speechless.
"Yes, it does make me look a bit peaky doesn't it? Hmmm…" She screwed up her face again, and her skin became several shades darker. "Better?" Ella nodded, unable to respond verbally. Suddenly realization hit her like a boxing glove at a carnival. The voice, the pink hair… The only thing missing were the magenta robes. Ella gasped.
"YOU!" It all came flooding back. The memory teasing the edges of her mind was suddenly returning full force, blinding her with images of a battle, flashes of red light, and one final picture of her sister standing on the front porch, screaming in terror. Ella clutched the bedspread again, her face growing white in horror.
"Eliza, where is she? Is she all right? What happened? I don't remember, you tried to save me-" Ella was cut off.
"And would have failed dismally if it weren't for you. That Stunner you cast; wandless, with no amount of training or previous knowledge behind it, put down more then half a dozen death eaters for their afternoon naps." Ella opened and closed her mouth, to shocked to speak.
"Of course, after I had you settled, I had to wipe your sisters memory and cart all those blokes in cloaks off to headquarters. Right pain in the arse that was."
"Tonks!" Hermione reprimanded sharply.
"Sorry."
"So what you mean to tell me, is that I'm a witch, who was attacked by Deatheaters, and is now sitting in a bedroom consuming Pepperup Potion due to the fact that I've given myself EEP by Stunning a half dozen Deatheaters with a spell I cast without even knowing it?" Ella said this all very quickly and in one breath. Ron looked impressed.
"Essentially yes."
"Are my parents magical?"
"No. Well, yes. But not in the way you think."
"Eliza?"
"Thank Merlin, no." Ella sat for a moment brooding this over.
"How are my parents magical, but not in the way I think? I really don't know what to think at this point. I don't understand." Tonks frowned and seemed to be deep in thought. Her eyebrows changed shape a few times before she answered.
"I don't really know that I'm the one to tell you that… I'll only tell you a part of it." She paused and took Ella's hands in her own, looking straight into her eyes. "Ella. You're adopted. Your adoptive parents are muggles, and so is your sister. Your true parents are wizards." Ella rubbed her eyes deploringly.
"I knew I was adopted… What are muggles?" Tonks smiled.
"A person with no magical ability." Ella nodded placidly at Tonk's response.
"So, this is why I don't remember anything before the age of six, when I was adopted." Tonks nodded. "Well, if they gave me away when I was younger, why do they want me back now? Why couldn't I finish growing up with the family that raised me?" Tonks looked uncomfortable at this, and turned around. She shot reproachful glances at Hermione and Ron. Hermione pinched her lips and shook her head back and forth. Ron shrugged and looked away indifferently.
"…Ah yes. Well I can't explain that to you. You'll just have to wait until we get to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts?" Ella's headache was gradually coming back. Hermione stepped forwards, elbowing Ron out of her way.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. A European school for the education of magical children; it's located near Hogsmeade, the only entirely wizarding village in Europe." Ella stared at Hermione, staggered.
"Yes, she always sounds like she's reading from a text book. Harry and I wonder about that sometimes." Ron smiled fondly down at Hermione, who was a full six inches shorter than him. She crossed her arms and stared back up at him witheringly. Ella couldn't help grinning at the picture they made.
"Who's Harry?" Ella repeated the name she had heard earlier. Hermione immediately brightened and spun around, eager to give yet another text book explanation of something. Or in this case, someone.
"Oh, Harry's just wonderful! He's-" Ron began to glower as the door swung open.
"Talking about me again are you?" A boy of about sixteen stepped into the room. His black hair seemed as though it had been through a rather strong windstorm. The rest of him was only slightly disheveled. He was wearing a faded pair of jeans that too large for him, and a rumpled orange t-shirt that proclaimed "Chudley Cannons" on it in wild yellow letters. His green eyes twinkled behind wire-rimmed glasses. The combination of this and the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips broke through the façade of irritation with his friends.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Nice of you to join us, mate." Ron raised an eyebrow at Harry and he shrugged his shoulders. Brushing his friends gaze away with a sweep of his hand he turned to greet Ella and Tonks.
" 'Lo Tonks… Nice eyebrows, going for the asymmetrical look?" Tonks leaned her chair backwards to look in the mirror behind Hermione's head.
"Oh, sorry your highness. I got a little distracted…" She jerked her head in Ella's direction. Ella tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear and swept a thoughtful look across the room. Hermione was leaning against a dresser of sorts looking nervous. Ron was standing beside her protectively. Harry was standing in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets, watching Tonks with amusment. The mirror meanwhile was offering helpful tips to Tonks as she attempted to grow her hair blonde again. Blonde must have been a particularly difficult color because after about thirty seconds she let out a frustrated noise and changed it to black in an instant. When she turned around to face the little crowd in the bedroom her eyes were violet.
Tonks relaxed against the back of her chair and nudged Harry with her foot.
"Introduce yourself…What's the matter, Moody got your buttock?" Harry whipped his wand out of his back pocket and turned bright red. Hermione and Ron looked confused. Tonks snorted.
"Harry Potter." He awkwardly held out a hand as if he didn't do this sort of thing very often.
"Ella Erodel." She gripped his hand and pumped it up and down a few times. Harry relaxed a little and Ella dropped his hand. He let it fall to his side and swing absently for a moment before snatching it back up as if he had forgotten it were attached. He did a quick survey of the room and when no other seating option presented itself than the bed next to Ella, he leaned against the dresser beside Ron.
Ella raised an eyebrow at his behavior and went back to interrogating Tonks.
"So… Hogwarts. I'm going to a magical school to learn to do magic. What about my family? My real family- I mean…." Ella knitted her eyebrows for a moment thinking for the right expression. " My muggle parents." Tonks nodded.
"They knew the minute they took you in that you would be heading off to Hogwarts eventually. Your wizard parents decided that it would be best if you grew up not knowing the extent of your powers. " Ella tried to take all this in without her head exploding.
"Wait. Hogwarts is in Europe, right?"
Tonks smiled. "Yep."
"Why was a I raised in America?" Ella queried. Tonks shook her head.
"I'm afraid that's another detail I shouldn't share with you." Ella's mouth dropped open in exasperation.
"You're kidding me. When are we leaving for Europe then? Do I get to say good-bye to my parents?" At this Ron started edging towards the door. Hermione stood up straight and followed him, grabbing Harry by the wrist. Ron opened the door and sidled out, mumbling some gibberish about getting a butterbeer. Hermione smiled rather sheepishly as she shoved a protesting Harry out the door.
"Thanks, you lot." Tonks crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as the door clicked shut. Ella stood up and sat down again aware that something tremendous was about to be revealed to her. Tonks vacated her chair and began to pace the room.
"Well, Ella… This is how it is. Due to the attack on your home it's obvious that You-Know-…I mean It's obvious that someone wants to hurt you. So after the fight you were brought here, and I went back to headquarters. After a meeting we decided it would be in your best interest- and your parents', if you had never…. Existed at all." Ella nearly fell off the bed.
"WHAT?" Tonks held her arms out and shook her head frantically trying to quell any emotional outbursts Ella might be inclined to having.
"Listen to me. What if whoever tried to kidnap you went back to your parent's house and tried to get information out of them? There are horrible ways of extracting information from people in the wizarding world Ella, and your parents are muggles. They wouldn't have any defense against it! They also could have attacked your sister, or held her hostage. What would your parents have done?"
"Why not do something else to protect them!? Aren't there other ways then wiping me out? Couldn't you create a barrier or something? Set up some kind of a protective ward, ANYTHING!" Ella was on her feet, shouting at Tonks. Tonks took the few steps across the room to her, and took Ella by the shoulders.
"Ella, your parents don't have the ability to maintain magical wards, and the ministry can't afford to have wizards posted near them all the time. Besides how would like to spend your whole life being followed around by some mysterious chap in robes waving a pointy stick in your face?" Ella took a deep breath, struggling to hold on to the remaining threads of her composure.
"Think of this in their terms. You'll miss them, but they won't have to go through the pain of missing you." Ella glanced up at Tonks as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.
"Will I ever be able to see them again?"
"Someday, but you do realize that they won't recognize you? We've wiped their memories of you completely. Everything that was connected to you was removed from their home. If someone asks about you, they'll wonder why people are asking about a daughter they never had. The person asking will immediately wonder who in the world they're talking about and both your parent and anyone meddling will forget the incident. They'll be quite dazed for a while. We've got a wizard from the American Ministry helping out." This was too much.
An image of Ella's mother popped into her head. Then her father, followed by Eliza. The tears rolling silently down Ella's cheeks cascaded into sobs and she didn't resist when Tonks sat next to her and pulled her into an embrace. Memories of her family passed through her head one after the other. Vacations, meals, and holidays floated by in an endless stream of painful recollection. The thought of her mother, adoptive or not forgetting her made her heart ache. She sobbed into Tonks's shoulder for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, sniffling and wiping at her eyes, she sat up and looked Tonks in the face.
"I'll be all right. It's for their own safety. If they don't know anything, no one can bother them." Tonks smiled and hugged her. Her own eyes looked a little red.
"It's tough losing your family, especially when they're still there." She searched Ella's face for a moment, a thoughtful look flitting across her features. "Talk to Harry. He knows all about this sort of thing." Ella nodded bravely and stood up, smoothing her pajamas.
"Tell you what. We'll get you some clothes, collect those bloody teenagers from the bar and go out to Diagon Alley for a bit. What d'you say?" Ella didn't feel like doing anything other than curling up in her bedroom at home and having a good long chat with her mother, or chasing Eliza around the yard a few times. The thought of home threatened to send her into another fit of hysterics, so she pushed away the memories and helped Tonks dig through a trunk full of her things, all the while fighting back tears.
Twenty minutes later she found herself standing in a pub amidst a bunch of rather tipsy witches and wizards. Ron and Hermione looked at her sympathetically. Hermione offered a relatively awkward pat on the shoulder and Ron smiled stupidly in her direction. Harry sent her a look as they made their way out the back of the pub that really tugged at her heartstrings. The look didn't contain an ounce of pity or the other trivial things that Ron and Hermione were sending her way. It was filled with pure understanding, like he knew what she was going through.
Ella stepped closer to him as the wall brick wall in front of her opened up. She was feeling so numb that she didn't even register the astonishing event that had occurred in front of her face. Without an exchange of words, she knew she had found a friend.
A/N: Phew! Ok- Thankyou's.
EyesOfEmerald: HI! Than? Then? Apple? Banaynay?
Hermionette: The girl who reviews every chapter! Well, here you are , I hope you like this better!
Loadsofwaffle: Have I ever told you guys how much I love your penname? Awww, thanks for the review! I'm blushing!
WotcherHarry: Brilliant you say? Why thank you Watson, I think I've got it! That made zero sense. Our one shot shall be awesome.
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