December rolled through in a flurry of snow and homework. Every fifth year was positively drowning in the stuff and Ron and Hermione were suffering even more so as their prefect duties had increased with the holidays approaching. Ellen had spent all of her time juggling keeping an eye on Harry, spending time with Rhode and Tyki, keeping in contact with the Clan, and regular meetings with Albus all while juggling the tasks of a normal student.
The D.A. meetings were just the cherry on top of the stress sundae she was having. With the holidays coming close they wouldn't have the chance to really meet, with everyone going their separate ways. Hermione was going skiing with her parents while Harry and Ron were spending the break at the Burrow. Ellen, Rhode, Tyki, and the rest of the Clan were all to go to Grimmauld Place for hols so that they could truly start being a part of the Order.
Ellen and Rhode arrived somewhat early in the Room of Requirement for the last D.A. meeting before the holidays. Harry and the others were crowded around each other discussing something glumly. The arrival of Ron, Hermione, and Neville brought the seemingly depressing discussion to an end and within five minutes, the room was full.
"Okay," Harry said, calling them all to order. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break —"
"We're not doing anything new?" said Zacharias Smith, in a disgruntled whisper loud enough to carry through the room. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come..."
"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," said Fred loudly. Several people sniggered.
"We can practice in pairs," said Harry. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."
They all divided up obediently; Rhode and Ellen partnered together as usual, wide grins on their faces. The room was soon full of intermittent cries of "Impedimenta!" People froze for a minute or so, during which their partners would stare aimlessly around the room watching other pairs at work, then would unfreeze and take their turn at the jinx.
The Noahs spent the entire time dueling, as they had in almost every D.A. meeting to date. After so many years of life, they had practically mastered basic defense spells and spent their time throwing increasingly obscure curses at each other instead.
At the end of an hour, Harry called a halt.
"You're getting really good," he said, beaming around at them. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff — maybe even Patronuses."
There was a murmur of excitement. The room began to clear in the usual twos and threes; most people wished Harry a Happy Christmas as they went. Rhode and Ellen helped the trio pick up the cushions as usual, leaving Harry alone in the room when they saw Cho lingering.
As usual, Rhode tagged along with them up until they reached the portrait before skipping off like she had all the time in the world to get back to the dungeons. They climbed in the portrait hole together, Ron shaking his head as they took a seat by the fire.
"I don't know what it is," He grinned. "But I like that midget."
Ellen cackled loudly and launched into a tale about one of the funnier times she and Rhode had gone through together. It had involved a top hat, a screeching umbrella gollum, and four stolen goats. Hermione shook her head good-naturedly and retrieved a roll of parchment, starting on a letter that looked like it was going to be very long.
It was half an hour later when Harry finally returned to the common room. She broke from her story to stare up at him, resisting the urge to smirk knowingly.
"What kept you?" Ron asked, as Harry sank into the armchair next to Hermione's.
Harry did not answer.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, peering at him over the tip of her quill. Harry gave a halfhearted shrug.
"What's up?" said Ron, hoisting himself up on his elbow to get a clearer view of Harry. "What's happened?"
"Is it Cho?" Hermione asked in a businesslike way. "Did she corner you after the meeting?"
Numbly surprised, Harry nodded. Ron sniggered, breaking off when Hermione caught his eye. "So — er — what did she want?" he asked in a mock casual voice.
"She —" Harry began. "She — er —"
"Did you kiss?" asked Hermione briskly.
Ron jerked up so fast that he almost knocked his elbow into Ellen's face. Disregarding this completely he stared avidly at Harry. "Well?" he demanded.
Harry looked from Ron's expression of mingled curiosity and hilarity, to Ellen's sly grin, then to Hermione's slight frown, and nodded.
"HA!" Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over beside the window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry's face as he watched Ron rolling around on the hearthrug, Ellen moving out of his deadly elbows once again. Hermione gave Ron a look of deep disgust and returned to her letter.
"Well?" Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. "How was it?"
"Wet," Harry said truthfully.
Ellen squeaked, holding back her snickers. She bumped against Ron when he made some odd noise, staring at Harry waiting for him to continue.
"Because she was crying," Harry continued heavily.
"Oh," said Ron, his smile fading slightly. "Are you that bad at kissing?"
"Dunno," said Harry, "Maybe I am."
"Of course you're not," said Hermione absently, still scribbling away at her letter.
"How do you know?" said Ron in a sharp voice.
"I've never known a man to make a girl cry with his lack of skills." Ellen piped up, earning a sharp glare from Hermione.
"Because Cho spends half her time crying these days," said Hermione vaguely. "She does it at mealtimes, in the loos, all over the place."
"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," said Ron, grinning.
"Ron," said Hermione in a dignified voice, dipping the point of her quill into her ink pot, "you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."
Ellen didn't hold back her laughter this time, leaning against the sofa clutching her sides. Hermione looked at her again, but nothing she did could stop the stream of giggles erupting from the Noah.
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron indignantly. "What sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?"
"Yeah," said Harry, slightly desperately, "who does?"
"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" she asked.
"No," said Harry and Ron together.
Hermione sighed and laid down her quill. "Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings toward Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying so badly."
A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, then Ron said, "One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode."
"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have," said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again.
"She was the one who started it," said Harry. "I wouldn't've — she just sort of came at me — and next thing she's crying all over me — I didn't know what to do —"
"Don't blame you, mate," said Ron, looking alarmed at the very thought.
"You just had to be nice to her," said Hermione, looking up anxiously. "You were, weren't you?"
"Well," said Harry, an unpleasant heat creeping up his face, "I sort of — patted her on the back a bit."
Hermione looked as though she was restraining herself from rolling her eyes with extreme difficulty while Ellen laughed even harder.
"Well, I suppose it could have been worse," she said. "Are you going to see her again?"
"I'll have to, won't I?" said Harry. "We've got D.A. meetings, haven't we?"
"You know what I mean," said Hermione impatiently.
Harry said nothing.
"Oh well," said Hermione distantly, buried in her letter once more, "you'll have plenty of opportunities to ask her..."
"What if he doesn't want to ask her?" said Ron, who had been watching Harry with an unusually shrewd expression on his face.
"Then he shouldn't have gone and planted one on her like that!" Ellen snickered. "I'm sorry for laughing, I really am. I just forget how teenage you lot are."
They sat in silence for another twenty minutes, Ellen threw herself back into her story keeping Ron's attention for the whole time, Hermione writing steadily to the very end of the parchment, rolling it up carefully and sealing it, and Harry staring into the fire.
"Well, 'night," said Hermione, yawning widely, and she set off up the girls' staircase.
"Night boys." Ellen nodded at them, following the other girl up the stairs. She changed quickly and settled into bed, smiling when her doxy crawled out of it's warm nest to lay in the crook of her neck. Ellen took a deep breath and let sleep claim her at long last.
"Harry! Harry!"
Ellen shot out of bed with a gasp when her ears picked up the sound of someone shouting. She all but leapt out of bed, throwing on her slippers and dressing gown. Another shout sounded from the boy's dormitory when she took off in a sprint down the stairs and up into the boy's dormitory.
Ron was standing over Harry looking extremely frightened, the other boys gathered around him. Ellen rushed over just as Harry rolled right over and vomited over the edge of the mattress.
"He's really ill," Neville said, fear clear in his voice. "Should we call someone?"
"Harry! Harry!" Ron called again, anything to get his friend to move. Harry pushed himself up in bed, his face pale and sweaty.
"Your dad," he panted, his chest heaving. "Your dad's...been attacked..."
"What?" said Ron uncomprehendingly.
"Your dad! He's been bitten, it's serious, there was blood everywhere..."
"Go get McGonagall, now!" Ellen hissed at Neville, the boy running out quickly.
"Harry, mate," said Ron uncertainly, "you...you were just dreaming..."
"No!" said Harry furiously; it was crucial that Ron understand. "It wasn't a dream...not an ordinary dream...I was there, I saw it...I did it..."
"Harry, you're not well," She heard Ron say shakily. "Neville's gone for help..."
"I'm fine!" Harry choked, wiping his mouth on his pajamas and shaking uncontrollably. "There's nothing wrong with me, it's your dad you've got to worry about — we need to find out where he is — he's bleeding like mad — I was — it was a huge snake..."
Harry went to move out of bed but Ellen rushed over past the other boys to help Ron push him back into the bed. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, feeling him shaking in her embrace. She tried to whisper soft words; promises that Harry was going to be alright, help was coming.
"Over here, Professor..."
Professor McGonagall came hurrying into the dormitory in her tartan dressing gown, her glasses perched lopsidedly on the bridge of her bony nose. Ellen pulled away slightly, allowing the two to make eye contact.
"What is it, Potter? Where does it hurt?"
"It's Ron's dad," he said, pulling away from her. "He's been attacked by a snake and it's serious, I saw it happen."
"What do you mean, you saw it happen?" said Professor McGonagall, her dark eyebrows contracting.
"I don't know...I was asleep and then I was there..."
"You mean you dreamed this?"
"No!" said Harry angrily. "I was having a dream at first about something completely different, something stupid...and then this interrupted it. It was real, I didn't imagine it, Mr. Weasley was asleep on the floor and he was attacked by a gigantic snake, there was a load of blood, he collapsed, someone's got to find out where he is..."
Professor McGonagall was gazing at him through her lopsided spectacles as though horrified at what she was seeing. Ellen gave the woman a pointed look, rubbing her hand down Harry's back soothingly.
"I'm not lying, and I'm not mad!" Harry told her, his voice rising to a shout. "I tell you, I saw it happen!"
"I believe you, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly. "Put on your dressing-gown — we're going to see the headmaster."
"Weasley and Walker, you ought to come too," said Professor McGonagall. They followed Professor McGonagall past the silent figures of Neville, Dean, and Seamus, out of the dormitory, down the spiral stairs into the common room, through the portrait hole, and off along the Fat Lady's moonlit corridor. Ellen kept a firm grip around Harry the entire time, scared that if she let up for even a moment then the boy would collapse.
"Fizzing Whizbee," said Professor McGonagall, leading them up the stairs that had been revealed. Though it was now well past midnight, there were voices coming from inside the room, a positive babble of them. It sounded as though Dumbledore was entertaining at least a dozen people. Professor McGonagall rapped three times with the griffin knocker, and the voices ceased abruptly as though someone had switched them all off. The door opened of its own accord and Professor McGonagall led Harry, Ellen, and Ron inside.
"Oh, it's you, Professor McGonagall and ah." Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. His penetrating light-blue eyes fixed intently upon Professor McGonagall.
"Professor Dumbledore, Potter has had a well, a nightmare," said Professor McGonagall. "He says"
"It wasn't a nightmare," said Harry quickly.
Professor McGonagall looked around at Harry, frowning slightly. "Very well, then, Potter, you tell the headmaster about it."
"I well, I was asleep." said Harry, shaking under Ellen's grip. "But it wasn't an ordinary dream it was real. I saw it happen." He took a deep breath, "Ron's dad — Mr. Weasley — has been attacked by a giant snake."
There was a pause in which Dumbledore leaned back and stared meditatively at the ceiling. Ron looked from Harry to Dumbledore, white-faced and shocked. "How did you see this?" Dumbledore asked quietly, still not looking at Harry.
"Well I don't know," said Harry, rather angrily — what did it matter? "Inside my head, I suppose —"
"You misunderstand me," said Dumbledore. "I mean can you remember where you were positioned as you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?"
"I was the snake," he said. "I saw it all from the snake's point of view."
Nobody else spoke for a moment, then Dumbledore, now looking at Ron, who was still whey-faced, said in a new and sharper voice, "Is Arthur seriously injured?"
"Yes," said Harry emphatically. But Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Harry jumped, and addressed one of the old portraits hanging very near the ceiling.
"Everard?" he said sharply. "And you too, Dilys!"
"You were listening?" said Dumbledore. The wizard in the portrait nodded, the witch in the other one said, "Naturally."
"The man has red hair and glasses," said Dumbledore. "Everard, you will need to raise the alarm, make sure he is found by the right people —"
"Please sit down, all four of you," said Dumbledore, his voice deceptively calm. "Everard and Dilys may not be back for several minutes. Professor McGonagall, if you could draw up extra chairs"
Ellen whipped out her wand before the professor had the chance and conjured several soft armchairs. She had been on the receiving end of what McGonagall called furniture and it was not something that the boys should have to deal with at a time like this.
They all sat down, watching Dumbledore over his shoulder. Dumbledore was now stroking Fawkes's plumed golden head with one finger. The phoenix awoke immediately. He stretched his beautiful head high and observed Dumbledore through bright, dark eyes.
"We will need," said Dumbledore very quietly to the bird, "a warning."
There was a flash of fire and the phoenix had gone. Harry looked as if he wanted to ask what was happening, but before he could do so, there was a shout from the top of the wall to their right; the wizard called Everard had reappeared in his portrait, panting slightly.
"Dumbledore!"
"What news?" said Dumbledore at once.
"I yelled until someone came running," said the wizard, who was mopping his brow on the curtain behind him, "said I'd heard something moving downstairs — they weren't sure whether to believe me but went down to check — you know there are no portraits down there to watch from. Anyway, they carried him up a few minutes later. He doesn't look good, he's covered in blood, I ran along to Elfrida Cragg's portrait to get a good view as they left —"
"Good," said Dumbledore as Ron made a convulsive movement, "I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive, then —"
And moments later, the silver-ringletted witch had reappeared in her picture too; she sank, coughing, into her armchair and said, "Yes, they've taken him to St. Mungo's, Dumbledore. They carried him past under my portrait. He looks bad."
"Thank you," said Dumbledore. He looked around at Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, I need you to go and wake the other Weasley children."
"Of course."
Professor McGonagall got up and moved swiftly to the door; Ellen looked over at the two boys who looked terrified at the whole situation.
"And Dumbledore — what about Molly?" said Professor McGonagall, pausing at the door.
"That will be a job for Fawkes when he has finished keeping a lookout for anybody approaching," said Dumbledore. "But she may already know that excellent clock of hers"
Dumbledore was now rummaging in a cupboard behind them. He emerged from it carrying a blackened old kettle, which he placed carefully upon his desk. He raised his wand and murmured "Portus"; for a moment the kettle trembled, glowing with an odd blue light, then it quivered to a rest, as solidly black as ever.
Dumbledore marched over to another portrait, this time of a clever-looking wizard with a pointed beard, who had been painted wearing the Slytherin colors of green and silver and was apparently sleeping so deeply that he could not hear Dumbledore's voice when he attempted to rouse him.
"Phineas. Phineas."
And now the subjects of the portraits lining the room were no longer pretending to be asleep; they were shifting around in their frames, the better to watch what was happening. When the clever looking wizard continued to feign sleep, some of them shouted his name too.
"Phineas! Phineas! PHINEAS!"
He could not pretend any longer; he gave a theatrical jerk and opened his eyes wide. "Did someone call?"
"I need you to visit your other portrait again, Phineas," said Dumbledore.
"I've got another message."
"Visit my other portrait?" said Phineas in a reedy voice, giving a long, fake yawn. "Oh no, Dumbledore, I am too tired tonight."
"Shame on you, Phineas!" Called out several of the portraits.
"Shall I persuade him, Dumbledore?" called a gimlet-eyed witch, raising an unusually thick wand that looked not unlike a birch rod.
"Oh, very well," said the wizard called Phineas, eyeing this wand slightly apprehensively, "though he may well have destroyed my picture by now, he's done most of the family —"
"Sirius knows not to destroy your portrait," said Dumbledore. "You are to give him the message that Arthur Weasley has been gravely injured and that his wife, children, Harry Potter, and the entire Clan will be arriving at his house shortly. Do you understand?"
"Arthur Weasley, injured, wife and children, Harry Potter, and Clan coming to stay," recited Phineas in a bored voice. "Yes, yes very well."
He sloped away into the frame of the portrait and disappeared from view at the very moment that the study door opened again. Fred, George, and Ginny were ushered inside by Professor McGonagall, all three of them looking disheveled and shocked, still in their night things.
"Harry — what's going on?" asked Ginny, who looked frightened. "Professor McGonagall says you saw Dad hurt —"
"Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix," said Dumbledore before Harry could speak. "He has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you back to Sirius's house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than the Burrow. You will meet your mother there."
"How're we going?" asked Fred, looking shaken. "Floo powder?"
"No," said Dumbledore, "Floo powder is not safe at the moment, the Network is being watched. You will be taking a Portkey." He indicated the old kettle lying innocently on his desk. "We are just waiting for Phineas Nigellus to report back. I wish to be sure that the coast is clear before sending you —"
There was a flash of flame in the very middle of the office, leaving behind a single golden feather that floated gently to the floor.
"It is Fawkes's warning," said Dumbledore, catching the feather as it fell. "She must know you're out of your beds. Minerva, go and head her off — tell her any story —"
Professor McGonagall was gone in a swish of tartan. "He says he'll be delighted," said a bored voice behind Dumbledore; the wizard called Phineas had reappeared in front of his Slytherin banner. "My great-great-grandson has always had odd taste in houseguests."
"Come here, then," Dumbledore said to Harry and the Weasleys.
"And quickly, before anyone else joins us"
Harry and the others gathered around Dumbledore's desk.
"You have all used a Portkey before?" asked Dumbledore, and they nodded, each reaching out to touch some part of the blackened kettle. "Good. On the count of three then one two"
The children all disappeared with the cauldron, leaving Ellen and Dumbledore alone in his office. They stared at each other for a moment, silence hanging heavily between them. "Gather the Clan," Albus told her quickly. "I know you can track Harry, open a Gate near him and bring the others with you. Now, before she arrives."
Ellen nodded firmly and ripped a gate open, slamming it shut behind her. She opened the doors into Rhode's dormitory and snatched the girl away from the window she was sitting by. The gate slammed firmly behind them, leaving the pair alone in the Ark.
She gripped Rhode's hands tight in her own, staring into the other girl's eyes. "I grant you a Key to the Box." Ellen said quickly, dark matter crackling between them.
Rhode's eyes widened in shock as she felt her mind connect with the Ark for the first time in over two hundred years. Ellen pressed her finger against the girl's lips, shushing her. "Rhode, I need you to get Sheril and Jasdevit. Now. Bring them here."
The other Noah opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it seeing Ellen's face. Rhode opened a gate quickly and hopped out of it, leaving Ellen in the Ark. Ellen quickly opened a gate into Tyki's bedroom and stepped out. She shook him roughly to wake him.
"Tyki, get up!" She hissed when he grumbled at her. "It's the Order."
He shot up out of bed immediately, staring at her. "Get dressed you idiot!" Ellen fussed at him.
Tyki threw on his clothes at a record speed before following his wife back through the gate. When they stepped back into the Ark the moment Rhode opened a gate, Sheril and the twins following her with wide eyes. For the first time since the Holy War, the entire living Clan was in one place. Ellen felt her eyes prickled and pulled them all into a giant hug.
"Oh, how I have missed you." She murmured. "But now is not the time for reunions. A member of the Order has been attacked. Albus wants us for protection."
They all nodded in agreement, looking uncharacteristically serious. She watched the twins shift into their Grey form effortlessly to match the rest of the Noah in meeting. Ellen took a deep breath and focused the ring Harry was wearing. If she could open a gate to a person instead of a location, it might work. Her eyes snapped open. "He's at Grimmauld Place."
A shining white gate opened with a wave of her hand, her Noah singing in joy at being so near to the others. She shook herself roughly and pushed the gate open, leading them into a sitting room. Sirius, Harry, and the Weasley children were all gathered around holding Butterbeers.
The rest of the Noah filed out after her, earning odd looks from those present. Sirius stood slowly and was nearly thrown back down by the force of Ellen's hug. "Oh Paddy, I'm so sorry." She whispered so that the children could not hear.
She heard the sound of Rhode clearing her throat and pulled away from her friend to look at the others. "Alright then." She said plainly. "Everyone, here are the surviving members Clan of Noah. Everyone, this is Sirius and the children. They've had a rough night so I need you to be kind."
Conversation flowed awkwardly around the room as people got around t individually introducing themselves, along with the shock of the remaining Weasleys finding out that their teacher was a Noah. Sirius pulled Ellen to the back of the room, his voice pitched low.
"Which one is him?" She could hear the protectiveness in his voice.
Ellen pointed over to where Tyki was calmly chatting with Sheril. "The younger one. His name is Tyki."
Sirius's brow rose. "The one that Dumbledore hired?" She nodded. "Wow. I can't say this is how I pictured him."
"How did you picture him exactly?" Ellen questioned, her tone forcefully light.
"Oh, I don't know." Sirius said flippantly. "Lot more warts, maybe a lazy eye or two..."
She smacked him on the arm hard, jumping when a burst of fire in midair illuminated the dirty plates in front of them, a scroll of parchment fell with a thud onto the table, accompanied by a single golden phoenix tail feather.
"Fawkes!" said Sirius at once, snatching up the parchment. "That's not Dumbledore's writing — it must be a message from your mother — here —"
He thrust the letter into George's hand, who ripped it open and read aloud, "Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. Send Sheril to meet me there. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum."
George looked around the table. "Still alive" he said slowly. "But that makes it sound..."
He did not need to finish the sentence. Ellen looked over at Rhode who simply nodded and opened up one of her checkered doors, she and Sheril quietly heading to St. Mungo's.
The girl returned moments later, but the night was far from over. They all sat around the table in silence, huddled into separate groups. No one dared go to sleep, they only watched the candle burning lower and lower. Ellen could hear Jasdevit conversing quietly in the half language that they had always managed to understand. No one made an attempt to speak to any of the Weasleys, leaving them be in their grief as the hours passed by.
And then, at ten past five in the morning by Ron's watch, the kitchen door swung open and Molly entered the kitchen followed by a silent Sheril. She was extremely pale, but when they all turned to look at her, Fred, Ron, and Harry half-rising from their chairs, she gave a wan smile.
"He's going to be all right," she said, her voice weak with tiredness. "He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now, he's going to take the morning off work."
Fred fell back into his chair with his hands over his face. George and Ginny got up, walked swiftly over to their mother, and hugged her. Ron gave a very shaky laugh and downed the rest of his butterbeer in one.
"Breakfast!" said Sirius loudly and joyfully, jumping to his feet. "Where's that accursed house-elf? Kreacher! KREACHER!"
But Kreacher did not answer the summons.
"Oh, forget it, then," muttered Sirius, counting the people in front of him. "So it's breakfast for — let's see — thirteen bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea, and toast —"
The Clan busied themselves with helping Sirius, none of them quite sure what to do in the situation. Ellen kept an eye on Harry, smiling when she saw Molly pull him into a hug.
"I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for you, Harry," she said in a muffled voice. "They might not have found Arthur for hours, and then it would have been too late, but thanks to you he's alive and Dumbledore's been able to think up a good cover story for Arthur being where he was, you've no idea what trouble he would have been in otherwise, look at poor Sturgis."
She soon released Harry to turn to Sirius and thank him for looking after her children through the night. Sirius said that he was very pleased to have been able to help, and hoped they would all stay with him as long as Arthur was in hospital.
"Oh, Sirius, I'm so grateful. They think he'll be there a little while and it would be wonderful to be nearer Of course, that might mean we're here for Christmas."
"The more the merrier!" said Sirius with such obvious sincerity that Molly beamed at him, threw on an apron, and began to help with breakfast.
"Sirius," Harry muttered. "Can I have a quick word? Er — now?"
The two walked into the dark pantry, leaving Ellen and the Clan hovering near Molly. The continued on preparing bits of breakfast, none of them comfortable enough to say a word.
"I have to thank you, Ellen." Molly said quietly. "Your friend, he, he stayed the whole night to keep us safe when he didn't have to."
She reached down and squeezed the older woman's hand in her own. "Anything you need, we're here."
They all spent the morning sleeping. The entire Clan managed to fit in the bed Ellen conjured for them; not a single person was not touching another at any time. It was comforting and when they finally woke none of them wanted to move from the pile they had made.
The Clan came down for lunch to find that everyone's belongings had arrived from Hogwarts and they were preparing to head to St. Mungo's. Everybody but Harry was extremely happy, chattering away as they changed into Muggle clothes. Tonks and Moody arrived soon to escort them; Ellen squealed loudly and launched herself at Tonks, having missed her new friend dearly while at Hogwarts.
Moody eyed the Noah suspiciously but led them all to the underground anyways. Ellen allowed Tyki to hold her close the entire time they were in Muggle London, just enjoying the feeling of being so public with the one she loved. She could hear Sheril lecturing Jasdevit and Rhode as they tried tormenting the other passengers while the rest of the children just sat there quietly, Harry and Tonks talking off to the side.
"Not far from here," grunted Moody once they excited the underground onto a store-lined street. They moved quickly and quietly until they arrived outside a large, old-fashioned, red brick department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. The place had a shabby, miserable air; the window displays consisted of a few chipped dummies with their wigs askew, standing at random and modeling fashions at least ten years out of date. Large signs on all the dusty doors read closed for refurbishment.
They all quickly stepped through the class, leading into the lobby of the hospital. Witches and wizards in lime-green robes were walking up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes on clipboards like Umbridge's. She noticed the emblem embroidered on their chests: a wand and bone, crossed. They must have been the Healers.
"Over here!" called Molly and they followed her to the queue in front of a plump blonde witch seated at a desk marked inquiries.
"Hello," she said. "My husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us — ?"
"Arthur Weasley?" said the witch, running her finger down a long list in front of her. "Yes, first floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn ward."
"Thank you," said Molly. "Come on, you lot."
They followed her along the narrow corridor, the children and Tonks close behind while the Noah and Moody kept their distance. They climbed up a flight of stairs and followed her into the second door on the right labelled Dai Llewellyn Ward: Serious Bites.
"We'll wait outside, Molly," Tonks said. "Arthur won't want too many visitors at once. It ought to be just the family first."
Mad-Eye growled his approval of this idea and set himself with his back against the corridor wall, his magical eye spinning in all directions. Harry drew back too, but Molly reached out a hand and pushed him through the door, saying, "Don't be silly, Harry, Arthur wants to thank you."
Sheril looked as if he was going to follow but his brother grabbed his arm and shook his head. The twins and Rhode were discussing something quietly further down; Ellen wasn't concerned about them though. She turned to Tonks and Moody with a smile.
"So," She began, squeezing Tyki's hand in her own. "You finally get to meet the lot of us, eh Moody?"
"Scrawny bunch, aren't ya?" Moody replied gruffly.
Ellen and Tonks both giggle and made eye contact. "I might as well introduce you all to them." She gestured down to where Rhode and the twins were now playing a game of slap-hand. "Those three are Rhode, Jasdero, and Devit. The man with glasses is Sheril, though I'm sure you met him last night."
The pair nodded, staring down at the Noah. "And this right here," Ellen lifted their joined hands, "is Tyki. Tyki, this is Tonks and Alastor Moody. They're trained Aurors."
Tyki nodded at them politely before murmuring that he needed to speak with his brother. He walked over to the other Noah, leaving Ellen alone with the two Order members.
"Wotcher, he's something." Tonks said, admiring Tyki from across the corridor. "This is all of you?"
"Yup," Ellen grimaced. "Trust me, those five are worth more than an entire army. You shouldn't underestimate them."
"That Sheril fellow stays vigilant," Moody said. "Not so sure about the others.."
He trailed off, eying where Rhode and the twins were still goofing off. They were tossing Rhode's wand back and forth while the girl was trying to snatch it back from them. Ellen snickered under her breath. "Would you believe me if I said that little girl is the most dangerous one here?"
Before Moody could even respond the door swung open again, the children trooping back into the corridor. He and Tonks immediately went into the room, Sheril following closely behind. She walked over to where the teens were congregating around the door, picking up on their conversation as she grew nearer.
"Fine," Fred said coolly, rummaging in his pockets, "be like that. Don't tell us anything."
"Looking for these?" said George, holding out what looked like a tangle of flesh-colored string.
"You read my mind," said Fred, grinning. "Let's see if St. Mungo's puts Imperturbable Charms on its ward doors, shall we?"
He and George disentangled the string and separated five Extendable Ears from each other. Fred and George handed them around, freezing when they met Ellen's eyes.
"Really?" She raised her brow. "Oh for the love of it, just don't get caught."
Harry hesitated to take one. "Go on, Harry, take it! You saved Dad's life, if anyone's got the right to eavesdrop on him it's you."
Grinning, Harry took the end of the string and inserted it into his ear as the twins had done.
"Okay, go!" Fred whispered. The flesh-colored strings wriggled like long skinny worms, then snaked under the door. The children listened for a moment before Harry jerked up, pulling the thing out of his ear. The other children were looking at him with fear in their eyes. They all survived in relative silence until it was time to leave, heading towards the tube.
"Are you all right, Harry, dear?" whispered Molly, leaning across Ginny to speak to him as the train rattled along through its dark tunnel. "You don't look very well. Are you feeling sick?"
They all looked over at him, Ellen's heart breaking for the boy. They spent the rest of the ride speaking among themselves, Harry's eyes never moving from the spot he glued them to.
"Harry, dear, are you sure you're all right?" said Molly in a worried voice, as they walked around the unkempt patch of grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place. "You look ever so pale. Are you sure you slept this morning? You go upstairs to bed right now, and you can have a couple of hours' sleep before dinner, all right?"
He nodded and disappeared for the rest of the day. Everybody else spent the following morning putting up Christmas decorations. Ellen giggled at Sirius's good mood. Her friend was practically prancing around, singling Christmas carols like a giddy little boy. She couldn't help but worry when Harry disappeared again, refusing to take meals.
It was late that evening when Hermione finally arrived at Grimmauld Place. Ellen hugged her tightly and pushed her towards the staircase. "You need to talk to him." She said quickly. "You, Ron, and Ginny. He's a mess and no one can get through to him."
The girl nodded and headed up the stairs to let the others fill her in on what was happening. Ellen could finally hear the sound of her knocking on Harry's door when she heaved a sigh of relief. She followed Hermione's footsteps quietly, trailing behind them when they finally went into Harry's room.
They had just started to confront Harry when she decided that it was time for her to but in.
"Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood," said Hermione sharply when Ellen swung the door open quietly. They looked over at her but jumped right back into the conversation. "Look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the Extendable Ears —"
"Yeah?" growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets as he watched the snow now falling thickly outside. "All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it."
"We wanted to talk to you, Harry," said Ginny, "but as you've been hiding ever since we got back —"
"I didn't want anyone to talk to me," said Harry, annoyance clearly written on his face.
"Well, that was a bit stupid of you," said Ginny angrily, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels."
"I forgot," he said.
"Lucky you," said Ginny coolly.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, and he meant it. "So so do you think I'm being possessed, then?"
"Well, can you remember everything you've been doing?" Ginny asked. "Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"
"No," he said.
"Then You-Know-Who hasn't ever possessed you," said Ginny simply. "When he did it to me, I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there."
"That dream I had about your dad and the snake, though —"
"Harry, you've had these dreams before," Hermione said. "You had flashes of what Voldemort was up to last year."
"This was different," said Harry, shaking his head. "I was inside that snake. It was like I was the snake. What if Voldemort somehow transported me to London — ?"
"One day," said Hermione, sounding thoroughly exasperated, "you'll read Hogwarts, A History, and perhaps that will remind you that you can't Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort couldn't just make you fly out of your dormitory, Harry."
"You didn't leave your bed, mate," said Ron. "I saw you thrashing around in your sleep about a minute before we could wake you up."
"It sounds like you're sharing a headspace." A voice piped up from behind Ellen. Rhode pushed her way in and stared Harry down. "I used to do things like that to my host before she gave up. It's rather fun, really."
"Don't antagonize!" Ellen hissed before moving to sit down next to Hermione. "But she does have a point Harry. Anyone in the Clan can tell you what it's like sharing your mind with someone. We've all gotten dreams like that before we awakened. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner..."
"What does that mean for Harry?" Ginny asked. "You-Know-Who is in his head?"
"Something like that," Rhode giggled, sitting herself down in Ellen's lap. "Think of it like a door connecting their minds. Somehow that connection was made and your big, bad Dark Lord has been using it to waltz on in Harry's mind. All Harry has to do is learn how to lock the door and Voldemort won't be able to get in without a struggle."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Harry's eyes were wide with worry.
Rhode's grin became wicked the longer he stared at her. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"
Half an hour later found Ellen in bed with Rhode and Tyki, the former resting her head in Ellen's lap while she ran her fingers through the little Noah's short black hair. The others had left while Ellen and Rhode were speaking with Harry, claiming that they had obligations of their own and that the rest of the Clan could handle themselves. Sheril obviously was right down the street with his wife, but it was surprising for Ellen to learn that the twins had made a home in Germany working as Aurors for their Ministry of Magic.
Rhode sighed softly and snuggled closer against Ellen's thighs. "The Order is keeping information from us."
"What makes you say that?" Ellen frowned, pausing in her motions with Rhode's hair.
"I tried to peek into the old man's mind. He's a good Occlumens but I was able to get something before he noticed I was there." The tiny girl admitted. "I couldn't get a clear read, but he has plans for Harry. He thinks that the boy is special somehow and that there is a task that only Harry can complete. Has he mentioned any of this to you?"
She leaned away from the smaller Noah, her face twisted in confusion. "Albus hasn't told me anything. He's always been very secretive, this isn't new."
"This is your godson, is it not?" Tyki spoke from where he was shuffling a deck of cards. "Your friend should be including you in these plans, he is the one that made the boy your responsibility."
Ellen huffed and leaned back, her bangs falling over her eyes. Tyki did have a point. She has full intentions of allowing Harry to live with her after all of this mess and she needed to know these things. What if he was in even more danger than just facing Voldemort? What was so important that Albus felt the need to hide it from everyone around him, including his oldest friend?
She rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, Rhode piping up from her place in her lap. "Why doesn't the brat live with you anyways? I thought humans gave their spawn to the godparents when they died?"
"He was supposed to go to Sirius, but after what happened with the Longbottoms we had all agreed that if something were to happen then Harry would be safest on the Ark." She explained bitterly. "But when I went to get him, Albus told me they had placed blood wards around Lily's sister's home and that it would protect him..."
The other two looked at each other before before breaking out into derisive laughter. Ellen jerked away from them, scowling. "What?"
"My love, blood wards are only affective if the guardian is fully accepting of the child. From what you have told me of Harry's life the most protection that boy has gotten was from locking the door to keep out burglars." Tyki chucked. "If your Voldemort finds where he lives, the boy will die."
She leaned back to her previous position, her stomach twisted in knots. "So what do we do?"
"We take him with us." Rhode said firmly.
"What?" Ellen scoffed. "We can't just take Harry. The Order would notice the second he was gone."
Rhode rolled over and rested her chin in her hands. "Allen, we stole you from the Black Order multiple times and you literally had someone with you at all times. We can handle grabbing a teenage boy from the suburbs."
"We can't do this without asking Harry. It's his life." Ellen argued. "You took me from the Black Order because I wanted you to."
The smaller girl shook her head. "They don't trust us Allen. I was flying on Lero the other night and I heard them in your common room. Hermione thinks that we're dark, she'll influence Harry before too long."
Ellen sighed deeply and did not speak again. She was too busy trying to convince herself that it didn't matter if the children didn't trust her; she was there for them to protect them and keep them out of harms way. Rhode got up a few minutes later and bid them goodnight, pressing a kiss to Ellen's cheek.
She undressed and got ready for bed silently before settling under the covers, snuggling close to Tyki when he slid in moments later. Her cheek pressed against his warm chest as she looked up at him, her heart in her throat. "Do you really think taking him is what's best for Harry?"
"I do," Tyki murmured. "But you have to make that choice, amor. I cannot make it for you."
"I know," She sighed, her heart sitting in her throat. "I know."
Plans are being made and lines are being drawn. Did someone say sequel set up? I think someone said sequel set up ;)
I've done my best to make Rhode and Ellen have a very sisterly relationship. A lot of what they do and the way that they interact is the way that my own little sister and I are with each other. I can see Rhode being very physically affectionate