Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter Fifteen: An Accident
Classes resumed in Hogwarts the next day. Ellie was glad to be back, but she found it hard to pay attention to what her professors were saying. Her thoughts were elsewhere - she knew she had to speak to Dumbledore to learn the truth about her mother, but she wasn't sure how she was going to go about it. Would she have to lie in wait for him the corridors, hoping he would show up at some point? Should she ask Professor McGonagall about how to approach Dumbledore? Even if she knew how to find him the thought of actually speaking to him was daunting.
When classes broke for lunch and Ellie walked into the Great Hall with her classmates she saw Dumbledore sitting at the staff table. Could she possibly walk up to him and ask if she could have a chat with him? No! The idea of it was terrifying! She would see if she could talk to him in some other way before having to resort to getting up in front of the entire school to speak to him. While looking at the staff table she shifted her gaze to the left for a moment to take in Snape. It was a pity he didn't know more about her mother - she may dislike him but he was far easier to talk to than Dumbledore. Ellie still couldn't shake the feeling however that Snape had some kind of strange tie to her. His behaviour last term had certainly indicated something. Was he lying about not knowing her mother that well? Jamie's theory about Snape fancying her mother seemed more and more plausible the more she thought about it. Maybe that's why he didn't want to tell Ellie if her mother had a boyfriend at Hogwarts. Maybe he had been jealous? Ellie shuddered again at the thought of Snape lusting after mother. It made her more uncomfortable when she thought that she looked a lot like her mum too. Snape's stares were creepy enough now but imagine what they would be like in a few years? Ugh!
Ellie's last class of the day was potions with Snape and the Slytherins. Wonderful! It went better than Ellie had imagined however. For one thing, it was a relief to know she would not have to come back to the classroom after dinner to clean it up. For another thing the potion they were working on in class was the most complicated thing they had tried so far and Devin Farley and his cronies were too preoccupied with trying to mix their potions correctly to cause any trouble. Lastly, Snape completely ignored her in class. All things considered it was the best potions class she had ever had. Her potion had turned out perfectly too. If only every other class could go like this then potions could actually end up being one of her favourite subjects.
When Ellie and her classmates returned to their common room that evening, Chris and Thomas huddled themselves into a corner and began whispering furiously. Ellie, who was attempting her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework with Jamie, occasionally caught words like "he told me how to do it", "slimy Slytherins" and "serve him right". Ellie guessed they were cooking up some scheme to show up one or more of the Slytherins. Chris had been desperate to get at them somehow ever since their first potions class together. A few hours later, when Jamie and Ellie had cleared up their work, Ellie noticed Chris and Thomas exchanging satisfied grins. Whatever it was they were planning they were obviously very happy with it. Ellie could not help feeling curious about it. She hoped that whatever it was they were planning, she would be around to see it.
Ellie, and the rest of the Gryffindor first years, found out exactly what Chris and Thomas had been planning two days later. It was a fine day outside so many groups had formed outside on the grass near the lake. Some of the Slytherin first years were there, Devin Farley included. Ellie and Jamie had gone outside with everyone else and were lazing about under the shade of a big tree when Devin approached them.
"Enjoying yourself with your girlfriend Logan?" Devin asked Jamie, smirking. Jamie and Ellie both jumped up, and Jamie told him to, "Get lost." Devin merely sneered and then stepped up closer to Jamie. He had spotted Snape out of the corner of his eye and he suddenly had a plan to get Jamie into trouble again, along with possibly Ellie. Jamie and Ellie had their backs to where Snape was walking and Devin knew they couldn't see him.
Devin gave Jamie a light push, enough to annoy him without actually hurting him. Devin hoped Jamie would rise to the bait; he could see Snape glancing in their direction.
Jamie's eyes flashed angrily, but before he could react Ellie had pushed her way in between the two of them and she shoved Devin. He was taken by surprise at this and fell to the ground. The other students who saw this began to laugh at him. Devin's face went red, and he narrowed his eyes. He jumped up and pulled out his wand, aiming it at Ellie.
"You'll pay for that!" he yelled, but Chris shouted to him from behind Ellie, "I don't think so!" and shouted out a hex. Devin had barely spotted him when he realised Chris was casting a spell at him, and quickly he pushed Ellie in the way. The hex hit Ellie square in the back, and she was thrown fifteen feet in the air. Everyone looked on in horror, Chris in particular who had not expected the hex to be so powerful, and who had also meant it for Devin. Ellie was flipped over in the air and landed with a big thud several feet away. The other students rushed to her to see if she was okay.
Snape had noticed an altercation of some sort going on between Devin and Jamie and had turned a blind eye, but he heard someone shouting and he turned around in time to see Ellie being thrown threw the air and landing heavily on the ground. He rushed over immediately, his robes billowing around him, shoving students aside so he could get to her. A sudden panic had taken over him, and as he fought his way threw the crowd to Ellie he was struck with an inexplicable terror at the thought of her injured, or worse.
When he got closer to Ellie, he saw Jamie bending over her. He roughly pushed Jamie aside and scooped Ellie up off the floor. She was unconscious, and there was a deep cut on her forehead. Other students gasped at Ellie's death-like appearance as Snape rushed past them. The deep red blood trickling down Ellie's pale face made a stark and shocking contrast.
Jamie ran after Snape, not wanting to leave Ellie. They tore threw corridors and up staircases to the Hospital Wing. On the way Snape stormed past Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, who were taken aback to see the injured girl in Snape's arms. The rushed after him, and Jamie almost collided with them in his haste to catch up to Snape.
Snape flew into the Hospital Wing, startling Madame Pomfrey.
"This girl has been injured," Snape panted, depositing Ellie carefully on an empty bed. Madame Pomfrey exclaimed when she saw Ellie's bloody face, and moved in closer to examine Ellie properly. Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Jamie burst into the Hospital Wing together, and Dumbledore confronted Snape immediately.
"Severus, what happened?"
Snape was breathing heavily, both from exhaustion and from shock. It took him a moment before he was able to answer Dumbledore's question.
"There was some argument… someone hexed her… she fell," he breathed.
"Who was responsible?" Professor McGonagall asked. Snape opened his mouth to reply when he noticed Jamie standing just behind Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.
"You!" he snarled, pointing directly at Jamie.
"I didn't do anything!" Jamie protested, as Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall turned on him and frowned.
"I think perhaps we should step outside and have a chat Mr. Logan," Professor McGonagall said.
"I want to stay with Ellie!" Jamie cried, and Snape scoffed. Jamie glared at him and opened his mouth to yell at Snape but Professor McGonagall grasped him firmly by the shoulders and ushered him out, telling him he could come back later.
Left alone while Madame Pomfrey attended to Ellie, Dumbledore cast a long glance at Snape. He saw that Snape's hands were shaking, and he wore a worried expression as he stared at Ellie.
A moment later Madame Pomfrey turned to the two men.
"She's alright. She has a nasty gash on the side of her head and she'll probably have a bit of a concussion when she wakes up, but there are no bones broken," she told them.
Snape sighed, feeling immensely relieved. His relief was quickly replaced with discomfort as he became aware of Dumbledore shooting him another curious glance.
"Well, I have things to do," said Snape hastily, and made a beeline for the door. Dumbledore watched him leave, a thoughtful look on his face.
Professor McGonagall had taken Jamie just outside the door.
"So Mr. Logan, can you tell me exactly what happened?" Professor McGonagall asked Jamie.
"Farley came over making stupid comments. It was his fault," Jamie said. Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows.
"Really? That's the full story is it?" she asked, giving him a piercing look.
"Well… no," Jamie admitted.
"So…?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Farley pushed me, so Ellie shoved him back and he got angry. He took out his wand, but then someone cast a spell at him. He shoved Ellie in the way though so the spell hit her instead of him."
"Who cast the spell?"
"I don't know, I couldn't see," Jamie said, truthfully. He had not seen that it was Chris who cast the spell as he had been standing with his back to him.
Professor McGonagall looked at him for a moment, considering him. She finally concluded that she believed him.
"You can go Mr. Logan," she told him.
"What? No! I want to see she's okay!" Jamie shouted.
At that moment the doors to the Hospital Wing burst open and Snape hurried out, his robes swishing about him. He didn't even look at Professor McGonagall and Jamie as he strode past them. Professor McGonagall looked after him with a look of confusion, but then turned back to Jamie.
"You will do as I say Mr. Logan," she told Jamie, sternly.
"Please Professor McGonagall! Let me see her!" Jamie pleaded.
Professor McGonagall's heart softened. She relented.
"Fine. Let me check with Madame Pomfrey first," she told him, and walked back into the Hospital Wing. She emerged a moment later and beckoned to him to come in.
As Jamie approached Ellie's bed Madame Pomfrey told him he could only stay a minute. Jamie was relieved to see that Ellie looked okay. Madame Pomfrey had cleaned up the blood and put a plaster over her cut. Although she was sleeping, she was breathing steadily. Dumbledore was watching over her on the other side of the bed. Jamie almost chuckled to himself when he remembered that Ellie was desperate to talk to Dumbledore. If he was still here when she woke up then it would be very easy for her to ask him about her mother.
Madame Pomfrey came over to him and told him he would have to leave. He begged for permission to come back later to see Ellie and Madame Pomfrey told him he could. Dumbledore looked up and gave him a smile before he left. Jamie felt comforted by this gesture, and left the Hospital Wing feeling confident that Ellie would be fine.
"Did you discover the identity of the culprit?" Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall softly.
"No, Mr. Logan didn't see who cast the spell. I'll find out though. Someone must have seen it."
Snape sat down his bed, feeling shaken, his brow dampened with sweat. It had been a shock to see Ellie in such a condition. When he saw her hurtling to the ground he was immediately reminded of Claudia. She had died after her fall. What if Ellie had…
He winced at the thought, and sighed heavily. It was more difficult than he had been willing to admit before to separate his feelings for Claudia from Ellie. They were intrinsically linked. Seeing Ellie in danger had sent his world crashing down on him for a few brief moments.
"Pathetic," he spat at himself, a sudden rage rising up within him. He pictured Ellie in his head and felt he hated her now more than ever for having stirred such weak feelings. He stood up, and began to prowl about his room, his breathing getting heavier and heavier, the anger he felt becoming more intense. He lashed out suddenly, and sent the few items that were scattered on his desk crashing to the floor. He felt like roaring. That girl was making a fool out of him. This was it - the last straw. From now on, the girl was nothing to him, nothing. If she wanted to find herself on the wrong side of a hex she could. If she wanted to get herself killed she could. He didn't care. He wanted nothing more to do with her. She was ruining his life, shattering his peace of mind. Not anymore however. No, he was determined to erase her past from his mind. He would drive himself insane at this rate if he didn't.
From now on, he was going to forget he even knew the name "Winterbourne" before the brat came to the school.