Chapter 28 - House Elves
Josiah, Alisa, and Daniella landed in a graceless thump in the back lawn of Alisa's house; he quickly scrambled to his knees, bending over Alisa and taking out his wand. He looked at Daniella, then around the yard, frantic.
"Where are they?" he asked breathlessly, but he looked back down at Alisa immediately. "Whatever Sabrina did to her, it's not visible," he said with a hint of desperation. "I have no way of knowing… it was nonverbal, it could have been anything…"
He inspected Alisa critically; the veins around her arms and neck were slowly turning dark and spidery. Her lips were turning blue…
Gritting his teeth, he flicked his wand and muttered several things in very quick succession, concentrating heavily. Slowly, so slowly, the darkness in her veins began to recede… it kept receding until it disappeared, but Alisa didn't open her eyes. He stepped back, shaking his head.
"It's all I can do with a wand," he murmured, looking worried. "The rest will have to be a potion of some sort, but we don't have that many ingredients…"
There was a loud crack, and Noah appeared beside them, carrying Ezra. Josiah studied the other boy for only a moment before looking harshly up at Noah.
"What kept you?!" he asked severely, gently lifting Alisa up again. Despite himself, though, he was filled with relief. As long as they were together, it would be okay… he had to believe that. "Come on, we have to get them in the house…"
Daniella looked up, barely aware of her surroundings, scanning the landscape for Noah and Ezra. "I don't know…" she mumbled, concerned.
She bit her lower lip to keep from distracting Jo while he worked, but it was hard to stay still. "They should be here already!" She looked down at Alisa, at Jo's worried words. "I can make any potion you need. Between Ezra and me, we probably have the ingredients…"
She looked around again, growing uneasy. "Maybe we should go back!"
The loud crack made her jump, startled, and she automatically raised her wand. The stress of the last few hours was starting to take its toll, but when she saw who it was, she ran to help Noah.
Noah, who was limping a bit from the jinx, eased his grip on Ezra. He slid down some, and he huffed, trying to bring him up again. "Can you please be angry with me later?" He panted, starting towards the house. "They did something to him, he's not responding…"
Josiah cradled Alisa in both arms; now that he wasn't trying to run, she was light enough for him to carry. He hoisted her up and carried her for a few meters, reaching the door before Noah. He slid it back with some difficulty.
"It's a botched Memory Charm," Jo called over his shoulder in a worried tone. "We covered them in our final Charms exam, but I've never seen a case that bad… I'm not sure if…" He rested Alisa gently on the squashy couch, looked up at the others, and shut his mouth promptly.
There wasn't any need to worry them. Perhaps he could…
"Stay near Alisa," he told Noah lightly, shaking his wand until the tip shined brightly. He pointed the light directly in Ezra's eyes; they dilated instantly. He shook the light away and put two fingers on the slender boy's wrist.
"His pulse is fine," he told Daniella, trying to comfort her. "His body is responding normally. This sort of thing only happens when two Memory Charms affect the same portion of memory; if someone tries to erase something that's already been modified, for example, or tries to erase something so omnipresent that the two inevitably…"
He stopped, his eyes widening in realization. Then, he looked down at the other boy, biting his lip anxiously. He brushed a few hairs away from Ezra's forehead.
"I think I can restore them," he said quietly to Dan. "But it will bring back everything. I can't control that."
Noah nodded and stood by Alisa's couch, watching over her closely, looking for any change in her current condition. The girl had fought with such determination, more than he'd ever seen in most Gryffindors. He glanced over at the others when Jo explained Ezra's situation to Dan.
Daniella looked from Ezra's pale face to Jo, trying to understand what he was telling her. It was her fault then, that he was like that. Because of what she'd done so long ago she'd never thought of it again… because she'd never fixed what she'd done, he may never be himself again. for a moment, she thought she was going to be ill.
"Fix him…" she murmured, the guilt clogging her throat. "Please, Jo, no matter what, can you fix him? Just… just do what you can…"
Jo looked at Dan for a long time, then furrowed his eyebrows in determination and nodded once.
"Okay," he said, softly.
He held his wand in one hand, trying desperately not to let it shake too much. With his other hand, he spread his fingers, placing two of them gently on Ezra's temple. The other boy didn't flinch; Josiah tightened his grip and closed his eyes.
The spell was nonverbal, but slowly, Josiah's wand began to glow a faint blue-white that grew brighter by the moment. As it got brighter, small strands of light began to shoot off of it and attach themselves to Ezra's temples; where they touched, they quickly disappeared into his skin. This went on for several moments, until the strands were numerous and the entire room was glowing faintly blue.
When the strands stopped, Josiah opened his eyes.
Ezra blinked.
"Welcome back," Jo said evenly, and Ezra stirred more noticeably, furrowing his eyebrows and twitching his fingers. Slowly, he raised a hand to his head. "Can you hear me?"
Ezra nodded.
"What's your name?" Josiah pressed, and Ezra furrowed his eyebrows again.
"Ezra Greengrass," he replied, somewhat flatly.
"What's my name?"
"Josiah Johnston. My head… Merlin's beard."
"Yes, I suppose that's to be expected," Jo said, not unkindly. "I'm sure Daniella can make you a potion in a moment."
At these words, Ezra's eyes opened wide; he gripped the edges of the armchair he was awkwardly splayed on, trying to sit up.
"Daniella?" he asked frantically, searching the room. He finally found her and, with visible relief, slumped back. "I thought… I was…" he squinted, trying to remember. "My father…"
Just then, there was a loud crack; Jo drew his wand, horribly startled. A small being with very large ears and giant, watery blue eyes disarmed him. His wand fell on the other side of the room with a clatter.
"I am here for Master Ezra," said the elf in a squeaky voice.
Daniella watched as closely as she could without touching Jo or disturbing his work; she barely dared to breathe during that process. She could still hear his father's voice as he took Ezra's memories, his spirit, everything that made him who he was away.
What if he never remembered again? Not her, or his magic, his life…?
She inched forward but Jo was still looking at him closely. When he said her name, though, she kneeled on the side of his chair, cupping his face with one shaky hand, not sure if she was crying or laughing anymore. "Ezra…" She started, but the loud crack interrupted her.
She looked in its direction, vaguely aware that the lack of a proper reaction on her part was a strong sign that she was exhausted; or maybe she was just in shock.
"Pokey?" She looked at Ezra's house-elf confusedly. "What are you doing here?"
Ezra placed his hand over Daniella's, closing his eyes and relishing the feeling. He had the worst headache he'd ever had in his life, and he had no idea where he was, but for now…
The crack gave him a start and made his head throb painfully. He winced, then squinted at his house elf. It was the change in the way she addressed him, however, that caught him off guard.
"Master Ezra?" Ezra repeated, confused. The elves had never called him anything other than Young Master; his father was Master. His father had always been Master.
Pokey's eyes welled up with tears; Josiah looked from the elf and then to Daniella, looking helpless.
"Master Ezra," Pokey confirmed, hanging her head. "Pokey is sworn to serve the heir of the noble house of Greengrass. Pokey will always serve Master Ezra, just as Pokey's mother, and Pokey's mother's mother, and…"
Ezra pulled his hand away slowly from Daniella's, looking momentarily distant.
"My parents…?" he asked, slowly. A large, fat tear rolled down Pokey's cheek. Then, she began to sob.
"Pokey is so sorry, Master Ezra, Pokey is so, so sorry!" The small elf flung herself at Ezra, who patted her gingerly, albeit dazedly, on the back.
Daniella leaned back on her knees. Pokey had gotten there so quickly, no one had had time to tell Ezra what had happened, and now she wasn't sure how to ease the news. To be honest, she suspected, but wasn't entirely sure how he'd react.
She let him hold Pokey for a while, then cleared her throat. "Ezra…" she called softly. "After they erased all your memories, they…" she sighed and pressed two fingers between her eyes.
"I attacked them, I'm not sure how, because I didn't have my wand, but your father turned against me and he was going to kill me and Logan…" she paused then, finally taking a moment to breathe. She studied his eyes, trying to gauge his reaction. "Logan killed your father. Then, they," she gestured to Jo and Noah, who was looking as the scene unfolded still at Alisa's side, "showed up and… well, your mother died too."
She looked at him, not sure what else to say. That she was sorry? After seeing what they'd done to him in that room, she didn't think she could say the words. She brought her hand to his hair, brushing it back softly instead, trying to offer comfort.
Ezra was quiet for a long, long time after Daniella finished talking. He was acutely aware of the fact that everyone who was conscious was looking at him intently. He looked down at his hands, trying to absorb the news despite the pounding of his head.
"Then…" he trailed off, speaking quietly. "The house?"
Pokey's watery eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
"Master Ezra will come home now? Oh, Pokey has so missed Master Ezra! The others will be so glad that Master Ezra is back home!"
Ezra nodded slowly, not entirely sure why he was nodding.
"Yes, we'll all go to the house," he said finally, almost a whisper. "Pokey, please take Masters Ledger and Johnston and their guest to the house. Mistress Daniella and I will wait here for you."
Pokey nodded quickly again. She summoned Josiah's wand, handed it to him, and offered Josiah and Noah her fingers of one hand. With the other hand, she grabbed Alisa.
"Please grab on, Masters Ledger and Johnston! Pokey will take you to the Greengrass estate."
Noah looked a bit dazed at the tiny hand the elf was holding up. Master Ledger?! Convinced he couldn't have any more surprises that day, he took one of Pokey's fingers, giving Jo a 'what the hell is going on' look.
Daniella wiped her eyes as best she could and looked back at Ezra. "How are you feeling?" She asked softly.
Pokey disappeared with the others, and Ezra looked at Daniella again, then away. He wasn't sad, of that he was certain; there was a hole, though, where everything familiar had been just a few days ago and was now gone.
"I'm okay," he said softly, clearing his throat. He rubbed at his nose, then at his forehead. "My head hurts," he added, letting his eyes close for a moment. He wasn't sure that he could speak in complete sentences at the moment.
He did, however, squeeze her hand.
"Oh," he said, as though he'd just remembered something. He looked down at his hand, pulling his ring off with difficulty. He slid it back onto her finger, smiling a small, warm smile. "I believe this is yours, Mistress Daniella," he murmured with a poor attempt at humor.
Pokey cracked back into the den, then, and Ezra gave her his hand. He realized a moment later that he probably should have stood up first; when they arrived in the opulent front hall of Greengrass Manor, he was still positioned awkwardly, except on the floor instead of an armchair.
With some difficulty, he pulled himself to his feet. When he looked up, he saw twenty pairs of elf eyes staring back at him, shining and ready for his orders.
"Pokey," Ezra murmured, softly.
"Master Ezra!" Pokey replied energetically.
"Please take… Miss Sparks…" Ezra motioned vaguely to Alisa. "To St. Mungo's. Make sure that she's admitted immediately. Don't leave her side until she's tended."
Pokey nodded her large head so hard that her ears flopped comically. She took hold of Alisa and, wasting no time, disappeared again with a crack.
"I'll make you a potion," Daniella said softly.
She looked at the ring he slipped back into her finger, then curled her fingers as if to keep it from leaving its place again. Tears welled up on her eyes once more, but she blinked them away. She needed to be strong for him, just a while longer. Then, maybe she could sleep for a hundred years. And after that, she could think of all the guilt that was weighing on her shoulders.
When Pokey Apparated them into the mansion, Daniella looked at the place where her life had changed completely, not sure how to feel about all that. It was all happening too fast to make sense. She just wanted it to stop; everything, to just pause so she could breathe and think properly again.
"Ezra needs to rest," she said to no one in particular. "And I need a place to make a potion."
Josiah looked around the front hall, completely awestruck. That one room alone was likely bigger than his entire house; he looked up at Noah, mouthing wordlessly.
"Merlin," he managed finally, looking around at the passel of house elves. "It's like a castle. Where are we…?"
He looked round at Ezra, who was smirking, although faintly. He had one hand on his temple.
"London," he replied, his voice much more gentle than usual. Once Daniella spoke, the house elves began scurrying to work. One of them grabbed her by the hand, looking starry-eyed.
"Mistress Daniella, the potion-brewing room is this way," said a small male elf with impressive ear hair. He began tugging her down a long hallway to the left. The other elves gathered around Ezra, fussing. One of them had found some bruise paste and was dabbing efficiently at his eye. He shied away, feeling crowded.
"Master Ledger and Master Johnston will be shown to the east wing guest room," he said, and two elves snapped to attention. "And we'll be needing lunch… in the rooms today, I expect…"
Five more elves scurried off.
He gently picked up the elf who was dabbing at his eye and put her on the floor.
"I'm going to retire to my bedroom. When Mistress Daniella returns, please inform her of this. You are to take orders from the three of them as though they were my own orders, is that understood?"
The elves, who were too happy by far, beamed at him.
"Thank you," he said softly.
Noah started to follow Jo and the two elves, then remembered something and turned on his heels. He caught up with Ezra and handed him his wand, after wiping it on his now partially ripped shirt (he hadn't changed yet after transforming back into himself). "Erm… if you find any teeth marks… well, sorry, but I was in a hurry."
Before Ezra could answer that, he turned around again and took off after Jo. There was so much luxury he felt a little uncomfortable. His parents had a nice house, by no means small, and they'd never had shortage of money, but this was so far above his head he was afraid to touch anything.
"How many times do you think we'll get lost in here?" He murmured after they had taken three turns, following the elves closely.
Josiah looked up at the impossibly high ceilings, which were painted with impossibly intricate paintings of naked babies and magnificent wizards and flowers. He looked out of the enchanted windows at the bustling center of London.
"I think I'm already lost," Jo said meekly, looking back down the hallway they'd just come down. He couldn't even see the main hall anymore. "Merlin's pants. I'd known he was rich, but I hadn't known he was… y'know, rich-rich. Merlin, I feel like the Queen, God save her."
He hesitantly reached out his hand to a vase standing on a marble pedestal, but wimped out at the last moment and brought his hand back to his side.
"Merlin," he said again, awestruck. The small elf led them up several flights of stairs, down another long hallway, and to an ornate wooden door at the end of said hallway. She stopped and bowed.
"Your room, Master Johnston, Master Ledger," she said in a slightly muffled voice, on account of her face nearly touching the carpet. "If you should need anything from Pinky, anything at all, you only need call for Pinky."
Jo blinked, unsure of how to respond.
"Er… thank you very much, Pinky. You've been very helpful." The elf bowed further, and nearly toppled over.
"Master Johnston is very kind! Pinky is only doing her sworn duty as an elf of the noble house of Greengrass! Now that Master Johnston is living in the estate, Pinky will serve him until she dies!"
Josiah looked at Noah, feeling a bit awkward.
"Oh… well, really, thanks. Perhaps you should… go have a bite to eat?" he suggested, tentatively.
With a watery smile, the elf cracked away, presumably to the kitchen.
Noah managed to keep a straight face, but his eyes widened a bit at the elf's words. They'd just somehow been handed a bunch of very tiny and disturbingly loyal servants, and he didn't think they could get rid of them that easily, if they wanted.
"Was she going to cry?!" Noah murmured, puzzled, when the elf disappeared. He shook his head and pushed the bedroom door open all the day. "Wow, this is huge!"
He stepped into the bedroom and felt unusually small. There were two doors on the opposite side of the room, to his right. He looked at the decoration without much interest, but his eyes lingered on the bed, which was probably as big as their entire bedroom in the cottage they'd been living in.
He walked over to explore behind the doors: one led to a giant closet – he wasn't sure he had owned enough clothes in his entire life to fill it – and the other led to a fancy bathroom with a large bathtub, a toilet, a double sink with a large mirror and even a bidet, all in marble.
He went back to the bedroom and looked at Jo, shaking his head. "I can't imagine leaving a place like this to go live in the woods…"
"I reckon so," Josiah said feebly, following Noah closely into the room. He shut the door behind him, and, as he looked around, released a long, slow breath. "Noah, am I dreaming? I am, aren't I? Pinch me," he murmured, coming to stand in front of the massive bed. It was tall, coming up to his waist; he pushed on it with his hands and, with a bit of difficulty, hoisted himself up. He landed with a pillowy bounce.
Then, he looked down and realized that there had been a set of gold-trimmed wooden stairs tucked under the bed, likely for that very purpose.
"The bed has stairs," he hissed, as though this was the pinnacle of luxury. He might have cursed after, but he felt as though cursing in a bedroom that opulent would be a grave offense, like cursing in church.
He was lying on his back on the bed when Noah returned from his short exploration. He pondered his boyfriend's words with a heavy heart; they were only able to enjoy this luxury because, ultimately, Ezra's parents had died.
"Do you reckon he was close to them?" Jo asked suddenly, staring at the molded white ceiling. "His parents. I feel… I feel like we ought to do something, somehow…"
Jo's expression sobered Noah up. He took off the clothes he had on, because they were very uncomfortable. And maybe partly because he wanted Jo to forget he'd gotten back late. He was a little self-conscious when he sat on the bed wearing only boxers, but the mattress was so comfortable he leaned back on his elbow, resting his head on his hand.
"I don't know… probably not. I mean, if he had to run away and if they did that to him, to separate him from Daniella…" he looked down at the fancy, soft fabric of the bedcover. "Maybe we should wait and ask her?"
"Yeah," Jo said lightly, looking over at Noah and giving him a small smile. He shifted, bouncing all the way, and lifted his head to place a soft peck on Noah's lips. "You're forgiven, by the way," he whispered, bringing his lips around to one side of Noah's face and giving his ear a bit of a nibble.
Solemnity mostly forgotten, for now, he bounced off the bed and began to shed his clothes, too.
"I don't know about you, but I fancy a bath after all of that," he mumbled as his too-big uniform shirt fell to the floor. He then began working on his belt, looking up with feigned shyness. "This house is too big, I reckon. I'll get lost if I go outside, so…"
He grinned wickedly.
"Let's just stay in here until lunch, aye?"
Noah's smirk was mischievous. "I'm glad. It's not like I go out looking for trouble, ya know? It just seems to find me."
He let Jo out of the bed reluctantly, but his smirk turned into a wide grin at his suggestion. "That sounds perfect," he said, following Jo into the bathroom to find out what they could do with that large tub.
-/-/-
Daniella followed the elf silently, trying not to think too much of the only other time she'd been in that house; trying not to think much about anything, actually. But her brain was too tired to stop working, strange as it seemed.
"Weren't you the one at the bar, in the last Christmas party?" She asked, thinking she remembered the little elf from somewhere. "What's your name?"
The elderly elf looked back at Daniella, his eyes misting at the fact that she remembered him at all.
"I am called Binky, Mistress," the elf croaked with a slight bow. "Binky is honored that Mistress remembers him. Binky has served drinks at many Christmas parties, yes. It has been Binky's job for sixty years, now. Binky has been serving the drinks since the late Master Leon was still a Young Master in diapers, yes… yes, Binky remembers well…"
The elf stopped in front of a large, slightly rounded door at the end of a short hallway. He bowed.
"The potion-brewing room, Mistress," he said formally. "If Mistress should need anything, Mistress need only to say so. Binky will wait here for Mistress."
"Well, Binky, I owe you a thank you for all the Firewhiskey you served me that night," Daniella said solemnly, smiling faintly, and trying not to think of Ezra's father in diapers. It was just too disturbing, considering her feelings towards a man who wasn't even present anymore.
They came to a stop in front of a door she remembered vaguely from when Ezra had given her a tour around the house. "Thank you, Binky. I'll only take a few minutes."
She entered the room and closed the door behind her, grateful for those few minutes alone. She leaned against the door and rubbed her face. Feeling the warm metal of the emerald ring on her finger, she studied it.
She had to tell Ezra… she had to tell him it was her fault he'd almost lost everything he was. That is, if he hadn't realized it himself by now. And now he'd lost his parents, also because of her. Granted, they had never offered him any love, but still, they were his parents.
Sighing loudly, she pushed herself off of the door and started searching the cabinets and containers for the ingredients she'd need, all the while telling herself that he would still love her after she told him. She had to believe he would forgive her or she wouldn't have anything left.
She chopped, mixed and brewed absentmindedly, but she couldn't help feeling a shred of envy as she found the most amazing ingredients stored there. The little corner she'd set in her bedroom to study her potions was a joke compared to that room.
After the potion boiled for five minutes, she added a little bit of mint, since it helped clear the airways and gave the brew a nicer flavor. She poured some into a mug, set the container and the mug on a small silver platter and walked out of the room, finding Binky still waiting patiently outside.
"Where is Master Ezra, Binky?" She asked, although she could guess.
Binky bowed as soon as Daniella entered the hallway again, driven by reflex.
"Master Ezra has retired to his suite on the third floor, Mistress, and has told Binky that only Mistress may enter. However, if Mistress should need Binky to show her the way, Binky is more than happy to serve."
Daniella pondered, looking at the hallway. She thought she still remembered the way, but the truth was, she'd been fairly tipsy that night, at the party. "Why don't you show me the way, just this one time?" she asked with a hint of amusement. "I'm sure I'll remember the next time."
Binky tried to bow further, but his elderly elf knees protested, and so he only managed to wobble a bit.
"Binky would be honored," he croaked. He began walking in the direction they'd come, down the long hallway and into the main hall. Then, with difficulty, he began climbing the stairs. The stairwell arced majestically in half-spirals that were visible all the way up from the ground floor; they passed one floor, then two, and came to rest at the very top floor, where the stairs ended. It was darker at the top, and much more homely than the rest of the manor; despite being regularly cleaned by a team of house elves, it was not completely unbelievable that a teenage boy had once lived there.
Binky stopped at the door to Ezra's bedroom, bowing again.
"Binky will leave the Master and Mistress alone now," said the elf nobly. "Binky will now go downstairs to the kitchen and oversee the preparations for lunch and dinner. As always, should Mistress need anything, Mistress need only call…"
Daniella looked at Binky solemnly, pondering if she should ask the elf to stop bowing. She remembered how upset they seemed to get when Ezra was nice to them, though, so she said only, "Thank you, Binky. I will remember."
She looked at the door in front of her. That room she remembered all too well. Letting out a pained sigh, she gave the door a single knock, then slowly pushed it open.
Ezra didn't look up at the knock or the opening of the door; he had ordered that only Daniella was to come into his room, so he knew that it couldn't be anyone else.
He had undressed with some difficulty, due mostly to being wickedly sore. His shirt and trousers and the plain black robe lay in a pile on the rug-covered wood floor. Ezra himself was curled up in two layers of blanket, laying on his side and staring blankly at the wall.
His parents were dead. He was Master of the house.
No matter how many times he repeated it to himself in his mind, his psyche rejected the premise. He knew, in his heart, that his parents had never loved him. He had been merely a tool for them, an extension of their will. He had been raised by house elves, and indeed, had loved Pokey more than he had ever considered loving his own mother.
He also knew that the only reason the house belonged to him now was because they hadn't had time to write him out of their will.
He looked up, finally, slowly, searching Daniella's eyes.
"Hi," he said softly, unsure of what else he could say.
Daniella returned Ezra's look, forgetting all the things she thought might be the right thing to say. What could she possibly say that would ease any of the torturing he'd gone through over the last few hours, physical and mental?
She walked up to the bed and set the platter on his bedside table. She took the smoking mug and offered it to him. "This will help with the headache."
She sat on the edge of the bed, wanting to touch him, wanting to make sure he didn't have any injuries he hadn't shown anyone, but she restrained herself. He didn't like to look vulnerable, didn't like to talk about his feelings, so she wasn't sure how to approach the subject of his parents.
"Are you alright?" She asked, finally.
Ezra sat up with some difficulty, freeing his torso from the blankets and exposing his bare chest. He took the mug gratefully, holding it with both hands and blowing on it cautiously before taking a long, weary sip.
"Thank you," he murmured, holding the mug close and staring into its contents. The bed dipped slightly as she sat on its edge; the potion inside the mug sloshed gently. He felt the agonizing grip of pain around his mind begin to recede, slowly.
In response to her question, he merely nodded.
A few beats of silence passed between them.
"Are you?" he asked in return, looking up at her with a worry-tinged look. If she wasn't alright, he surely wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He paused, then spoke again. "I'm sorry that I… couldn't do anything."
Daniella shook her head dismissively. "Yes, I am." She shrugged, looking away. "I wasn't really the target, I was there just to keep you under control, I guess."
She glanced at him, but quickly looked away. As many years as she lived, she would never forget the look in his eyes right before his father… she closed her eyes. "Ezra, we need to talk. You're not going to like it, so we can talk about it after you get some rest, if you want." She licked her lips nervously and caressed the fabric of the covers distractedly. "I can take care of any preparations you think are necessary first," she added, deflecting the subject. "Anything you want…"
Ezra looked up at her, concern lining his furrowed brows. He drained the rest of the mug's contents, relishing the sweet taste of the mint as it went down. He closed his eyes.
"Tell me," he murmured quietly, finding her hand on the covers without seeing it. "Just tell me, Daniella."
It wasn't as though his day could get any worse, he thought, but didn't say. With a pang, he began to worry; was his inability to rescue them from that situation going to be a factor in whether she wanted to marry him? Was it something else about his parents, or something about the others…?
Daniella linked her fingers with his instantly. How could she start explaining that mess? "It was all my fault…" she murmured after a long silence. "That you reacted so severely to your father's curse. That you may have never recovered…"
She tried to swallow the knot of guilt in her throat and forced herself to meet his eyes. "In the beginning of our last year in Hogwarts, when Logan told you to spy on me… well, I always knew. Jo told me about Logan's threats to his family if he didn't stop seeing me. But I was selfish, I didn't want to stop seeing him, so we figured out a way to talk to each other until I could find out who my spies were. Then, you came to my compartment in the train, and I knew why you'd gone to talk to me."
She paused then and studied their hands. "Do you remember our first Potions class, that year?"
"Don't be absurd," Ezra said, after the words had barely had time to leave her lips. "None of that could have possibly been your fault, Daniella." He shook his head, squeezing her hand. It wasn't until she continued speaking, however, that his heart skipped a beat.
She'd always known? But, then, that shouldn't come as a surprise to him, he thought absentmindedly. She was so sharp, so incredibly gifted… and it only stood to reason that Johnston would have wanted to protect her. Indeed, now that he looked back on it, he was glad that it had happened that way…
"Our first class?" he repeated, trying to think back. It seemed like such a long time ago now that the edges of his memory were slightly blurred, even though they'd been fully restored. "Yes, I believe so. I was… well, I was jealous," he admitted with a twinge of embarrassment. "I was jealous because…"
The events played in his mind like a movie reel, and suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Because you were partnered with Johnston," he murmured, furrowing his eyebrows. "You'd chosen him over me, and… I was jealous… and then…"
Daniella exhaled softly as she nodded at his words. "And then we got out of class and I stayed behind… with you. Remember?"
Each word she said now made her heart ache; it was hard to keep looking at him as she progressed with the story, but for better or worse, she wanted to know what his beautiful dark eyes showed of his feelings. "You weren't feeling very well, and after that class we had Herbology, and I had to walk you to the Hospital Wing…"
She closed her eyes for a moment, hesitating before admitting what she'd done. "I went with you, because I had just changed your memory of that Potions class, so you didn't remember I'd been with Jo and I was afraid I had messed up the spell," she murmured at last, searching his eyes once more; her hand was shaking in his, but she didn't pull away.
Ezra nodded, remembering clearly now.
"Yes," he murmured. "Yes, I remember." He was silent for a few moments, feeling pensive; he couldn't understand why she would bring something like this up now. It had happened so long ago… but her hand was shaking and he gave it another comforting squeeze.
A Memory Charm. Yes, it made sense… he furrowed his eyebrows a bit, thinking about the repercussions of that particular action. It was possible that he was too tired to be angry, but somehow, he didn't feel anything. Indeed, he admitted to himself, wouldn't he have done the same?
Could she really have trusted him then? He wasn't sure that he could say, with confidence, that she had reason to. And that hurt him more than anything.
He looked up, giving her a small, warm smile.
He shook his head.
"I don't see what it has to do with what happened today," he murmured, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it softly. "But thank you for being honest with me."
Daniella tried to smile, but all she managed was a pained lip twitch. "When we brought you back today, Jo said… You weren't aware of anything around you, you were barely responsive and Jo said that only happens when two Memory Charms were used affecting the same portion of memory. I think your parents wanted to erase everything that happened since we started talking to each other, and…" Her voice broke.
"I was just trying to protect Jo's family from Logan, I never thought… I couldn't let myself trust you. I didn't think…" She closed her fingers around his more tightly. "We played each other for weeks and then it wasn't a game anymore, and I really liked you, but I never undid it, never told you anything. And earlier today… Jo wasn't sure he could bring your memories back. He didn't say, but I could see it in his eyes. How could I forgive myself if you had lost everything because of me?!" She stopped talking, breathing more heavily. She searched his eyes. "I'm so sorry!"
Ezra listened patiently, realizing that this moment, this confession, meant much more for her well-being than for his. With striking clarity, he could remember the very moment when his father had begun to erase his memories - the only thing that he remembered before he had woken up in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by his friends. That look in her eyes… the feeling of knowing that he wouldn't remember her…
He eased his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. He rested his forehead against hers as she continued to talk in a watery, guilt-laden voice.
When he pulled away, he brushed her hair away from her face with one hand; it was still red, but that didn't matter to him.
"You were right not to trust me," he said seriously. "Who knows what I would have done? Even I can't know. I was a different person then, and Johnston's life had little or no value to me. There's no telling what might have happened if you hadn't done what you did. It was only after I fell in love with you that I…" he trailed off, shaking his head.
"It was my father's fault, not yours. You did it to protect, because you had love in your heart - my father… my father did it only to hurt me, only for his own gain. If what you say is true, and his Charm might have left me like that, then all the better. If they had taken me… I wouldn't have wanted to know a life without you, Daniella. I would rather be an empty shell, or be kissed by a Dementor, or be dead."
He sighed.
"Come here," he murmured, wrapping her up in his arms again. He kissed the top of her head once, twice. "Just be near to me and hush, now. That's all I want at the moment."
Daniella wiped a stubborn tear off her face. When had she become such a crybaby?! She must be more exhausted than she'd thought. She leaned against him, rested her head on his bare chest, closing her eyes blissfully at the sound of his heartbeat.
She didn't want to think of what her life would be like, if they had taken him, at all. "I love you so much," she said into his chest, shifting on the bed to lay with him.
Just when she was starting to drift off to sleep, they heard a respectful, light knock on the door. "Maybe it's our lunch…" She said, not really wanting to leave the bed. "Do you have your wand?"
"I love you too," he whispered, smiling into her still-ginger hair. He was growing fond of it, really… it rather suited her temper. He looked up at the knock on the door, blinking twice. He'd forgotten that he'd ordered lunch to the rooms - he'd also forgotten, yet again, that he was the Master of the house now. After living in the woods for so long, it was like being in paradise.
"My wand?" he asked, before rifling around on the side table. He produced it, smiling. "Yes, Ledger gave it back to me."
He tucked it behind his ear protectively.
"You may come in," he said, and the door opened immediately. Binky and another, younger elf named Ribbon slid a wheeled lunch cart into the room. Binky bowed and lifted the ornate silver cover off of the platter, revealing a large selection of sandwiches as well as a fresh fruit salad, several pieces of cheese, and two thin slices of chocolate cake.
"Thank you, Binky, Ribbon," Ezra murmured, smiling. "That does look delicious. Have the others been served?" Binky nodded his great head.
"Yes sir, Master Ezra, sir, Pinky took Master Ledger and Master Johnston their lunch just a moment ago," he croaked happily, bowing again for no real reason other than, Ezra suspected, he liked doing it.
"Good. Very good. Well done," he praised them. Ribbon looked up at Ezra adoringly. "By the way, Binky," he said offhandedly, picking a watercress sandwich off of the platter gingerly. "What do you know of… pizza?"
"Pizza, sir?" Binky said, blinking confusedly. "Binky does not know anything about pizza, Master Ezra, sir. What is a pizza, if Binky may so inquire?"
"It's… an Italian delicacy," Ezra said carefully, chewing. Binky nodded his acknowledgement. "It's a sort of open faced pie… with bread dough, and tomato sauce, and cheese, and… Daniella, help me explain to them," Ezra mumbled, mouth full.
Daniella looked at the lunch cart that seemed to move on its own for a few moments, until the house-elves came into their line of sight. She bit the inside of her lip at all the bowing going on. That was going to take some getting used to.
She reached for a sandwich, her stomach giving a thankful growl as she bit into it. She looked up at Ezra as he explained. For someone who had only eaten it once, and grudgingly, he was incredibly well informed about it.
She chuckled, swallowed as gracefully as she could manage and said, "Well, other than the things you said, you can put pretty much anything you wish on it. That's the beauty of pizza. Personally, my favorite has cheese, bacon and mushrooms. But there are many interesting combinations," she added, after she noticed the look of intense concentration on the elves large eyes.
"Hmm, Binky," she called after a moment's thought, "Have you ever planned a wedding?"
Binky nodded seriously, clearly paying incredible attention to everything that Ezra and Daniella had to say about the Italian delicacy that was pizza.
"Do you think we might have it for dinner?" he asked, and Binky nodded again, even more seriously.
"Binky will give the pizza his absolute best attempt, Master Ezra, sir! If Binky can't make a pizza for Master Ezra, then Binky will… Binky will… cut off his own ears and use them as washrags, Master Ezra, sir…"
Ezra grimaced.
"No, Binky, that won't be necessary," he said, not unkindly. "Just give it your best go. That's all I ask." The elf bowed. It was then that Daniella brought up weddings, and Binky froze in his bow for a moment, as though stuck.
"Wedding?" he croaked, still bent over.
"Wedding?!" squeaked Ribbon, putting both of her small hands over her mouth. Her eyes began to water with happiness.
"Oh dear," Ezra said lightly, hearing more tiny feet running down the hallway.
"Wedding?" said another elf, still holding a dusting rag as she poked her head in the door.
"I was going to tell you all at once, but I suppose…" Ezra sighed, smiling. "Yes, I've proposed to Mistress Daniella, and she's accepted me. We'll be getting married."
"Wedding!" shrieked Ribbon, before promptly breaking down into happy tears.
Daniella realized a second too late that maybe that hadn't been a very good idea. When the third elf peeked through the door, she let out a soft sigh. "Uh oh… Sorry," she whispered to Ezra, smiling awkwardly at all the elves now looking at her.
"So, huh… I'll talk to you later about it, Binky. We'll have some details to take care of, but there will be plenty of time for that." She looked at the crib that belonged to Pokey, then back at Ezra. "Erm, we'd like to tell Pokey ourselves, though."
Binky was still bowed; Ezra worried momentarily that he was stuck there. Just then, though, he straightened. His eyes were misty. Ezra smiled at him warmly.
"Binky would be honored to help Master Ezra and Mistress Daniella plan their wedding," he said, nodding. "Binky will start preparing right away."
"Ribbon will help!" said Ribbon enthusiastically.
"Well, good," Ezra murmured, nodding. "Yes, that's fine. And we would… like to tell Pokey ourselves," he said, looking at Daniella and nodding. "When she returns, could you direct her to me?"
"Of course, Master Ezra, sir," Binky said, bowing. "Binky and Ribbon will leave now so that Master and Mistress can enjoy their lunch. Come, Ribbon," said Binky, tugging on the smaller elf's toga, which she was currently using as a handkerchief.
"Ribbon is so happy," she wailed, following Binky out the door, which shut with a click. Her sniffles could be heard growing further away as she walked down the hallway.
"Well," said Ezra, smirking amusedly. "That should be a shock for them downstairs." He picked up another sandwich and a small cup of fruit salad, placing them awkwardly on his lap.
"I didn't know they would react quite that… strongly," Daniella said apologetically. She rested her head on Ezra's shoulder and took a strawberry from his fruit cup. "You should invite Pokey. As a guest, I mean, not a servant. And the others too, if you want," she said quietly. "Who else do you want to invite?"
Ezra laughed good-naturedly, polishing off his second sandwich and going back for another; this time, pimento cheese. He was starved.
"No, that's alright. They would have reacted just as strongly if I'd told them," he murmured, picking up a few blueberries to chew before starting his third sandwich. He looked over at her, brushing a bit of cheese from the side of his mouth. He'd been planning on inviting all of the house elves, of course, as soon as he'd known that the house was his. He nodded, though, taking another bite of sandwich.
"No one else," he murmured, shrugging. "They raised me, they played with me, they dressed me, they fed me… they were my parents, my best friends… my siblings, in a rather strange way," he murmured, pondering this. "And we both know I haven't got any other friends, save for you and… the others."
He motioned vaguely to the east.
He smiled at her warmly.
"If you don't mind all of them being there, of course. I do have to warn you in advance… it might get a bit noisy," he said apologetically.
Daniella nodded slowly. There was really nothing she could say about that, and she didn't want to think about anything else sad today.
She snorted softly. "Well, Jo will have company in the crying," she murmured, playfully. She looked at the distance, chewing on her third sandwich thoughtfully. "I don't really have anyone else either. But I would like to invite Jo's family, if that's ok with you. They were the only glimpse of a real, proper and normal family I've had my whole life. I really like them a lot."
Ezra smirked at this, polishing off sandwich number three and honing in on his fruit salad in earnest. He pulled out the melon pieces with his fingers, lifting the food to his mouth and relishing it. He caught Daniella's eyes, then, and smiled with a twinge of embarrassment.
He'd changed a lot since he'd been here last, he realized suddenly.
"Yes, of course," he said, after a moment. "We can have them stay a while. The elves will be delighted to have the company, and it isn't as if we're short on the space."
He chewed while he thought.
"Of course, now that I'm Master of the house…" he trailed off, uncertain as to how to begin. "Well, it changes things rather a lot, as you might expect. It means I've inherited the fortune, for starters."
He looked at Daniella, studying her reaction carefully.
"And the vacation home in France, as well as the beach cottage in Spain... if you should like to get married somewhere nice, then… well, now I can afford it," he said quietly, fidgeting with the edge of his blanket. "Of course, not that it matters where," he added hurriedly.
Daniella grinned. There was something very sexy about him eating with his hands that she couldn't explain. She wiped it off gingerly with a finger, but her grin turned into a restrained laughter as she thought of Ezra being in the same room as Pea.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, well, I hope you remember you said that when you meet Pearl," she shook her head, amused.
The grin turned into a jaw drop as Ezra enumerated his newly acquired properties. Suddenly, she was very glad she wasn't standing, because the idea of owning all those places made her a little dizzy. She was silent for a few minutes, overwhelmed.
"I didn't…" she fell silent again. She met Ezra's eyes and shrugged. "I still want a small wedding, just us and our friends. I don't care about luxurious decorations, or fancy French dresses, or…" she frowned thoughtfully, "well, I'd like fancy food, but that's just me," she finished with a smirk.
"Pearl?" Ezra asked, momentarily confused. Daniella seemed happy about the idea, though, so he smiled, too. "I hope they don't still think that I tried to set their town on fire," he murmured absentmindedly, furrowing his eyebrows.
She grew quiet, and Ezra looked over, worried.
"Have I said something?" he asked, perturbed. "Please don't think that I… that is, I'm perfectly happy to have a wedding any place, at any time," he finished, rather desperately. He didn't want Daniella to think that he'd suddenly changed just because he'd come into his family's money again.
He nodded understandingly as she talked about a small, cozy wedding. They agreed, then.
"Well, that's settled," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "We can tie the knot in our pajamas if you like. Very fashionable. And speaking of fancy food," he said seriously, rolling the lunch cart closer to the bed. "I think I'll have my cake now, what about you?"
He offered her a plate and a small silver dessert fork.
"I'm sure they don't think that. They're lovely people, I think you'll like them," Daniella said lightly.
"It's fine," she said to ease his mind. "It's just… a lot to adjust to. Barely a day ago, we had nothing. And I didn't need any of this, but if we've got it, we might as well make the most out of it. Maybe we could go to Spain on our honeymoon," she suggested, kissing him lightly. "I've never been there."
"But I don't think we could get away with getting married in our pajamas," she said. "You know, Jo would be upset," she said solemnly, amused to put the blame on her friend.
She readjusted so she could use both hands and took the cake, glad to see it was a thin slice. "Thanks, but only a bit. I do want to look nice and slim. I have my vanity, you know? Sometimes."